#the drinks are me with my night watch art and all the chaos unfolding is Life etc

[sphyrne]

realising its april which means its almost may which means its almost 25th may which MEANs i need to get to work on my night watch art i started like in october and also figure out how 2 draw again and-

[justporo]

Scenes from a bathtub

A Night of Fake Smiles and Hidden Lies: Part 1

Author's Note: Here we are, I'm so excited to share the first chapter for this story. The part in which Tav and Astarion start getting ready, enjoying a nice soak in the tub - and some other stuff. Let me know what you think!

Song: Royals - Lorde

Pairing: Astarion/Fem!Tav Rating: Explicit Warnings: Some light smut at the very end of the chapter

CHAPTER LIST | PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

~~~

A few weeks had passed. The night of the ball had finally arrived.

Astarion had actually been excited ever since the invitation had been delivered. He really seemed eager to make it a night to remember for the both of you: so you had actually spent some more evenings waltzing around your space (also trying other dances) and Astarion had very cryptically promised you he’d take care of ‘wardrobe and grooming’. You dearly hoped he’d remember his promise about corsets and wouldn’t turn you into someone you wouldn’t recognise if you passed by a mirror.

It was still hours from then until the event started but Astarion had insisted on starting to get ready. You had looked at the clock and back to the vampire and back at the clock. Had it been only you, you’d probably only have run a bath half an hour before, then quickly dressed and done some basic makeup before arriving a little late. But as you told Astarion that he’d cocked an eyebrow and looked you up and down in such a judgmental way you’d first felt like a young girl getting scolded. And when he hadn’t stopped you’d gotten pissed at his pretentious behaviour. “My sweet sweet love, if you can’t even stand passive-aggressive stares for more than a few moments it’s going to be a very short evening. These people live off judging others and elevating their pitiful selves over you. And the trick is to just always be twice the bastard they are.” “Great, sounds like such a fun evening, Astarion.”

You had crossed your arms over your chest and had felt anxiety creeping up inside you. Already you had worried that you’d be awfully out of place at this event. But Astarion had grabbed your hands that you had firmly tugged away under your arms and placed them on your cheeks, covering yours with his own long fingers. “Don’t worry, my love, you’re fortunate enough to have a master of the art at your side to show you how it’s done”, he had said with a big smirk and given you a quick kiss. “And if that still doesn’t help just step on someone’s skirts or elbow them so they splash their drinks on somebody around and watch the chaos unfold. You wouldn’t believe how quickly these elitist people get physical if they feel their ‘honour’” – he dramatically air-quoted and rolled his eyes – “is at stake”, he had continued with an even bigger almost feral smirk when he’d noticed you were still tense. This – a good old brawl? You had seen and partaken in a fair share of those in your time as a Baldur’s Gate lowlife. You slowly had grinned back at your soulmate then: “No promises, I won’t do that anyway if these rich fuckers annoy me too much.” Astarion had thrown his head back and laughed: “Oh my lovely little anarchist.”

So now you were sitting in your big tub that was lowered in the stone floor of your bathroom.

The two of you loved spending almost whole nights just enjoying the warmth and comfort of a hot bath – talking, drinking wine, taking in the scents of exotic oils Astarion picked up from specialty stores, caressing and massaging each other; often times resulting in more passionate actions. This time the vampire had brought some ‘special’ stuff to really doll yourselves up for this big ball.

Currently, Astarion was sitting in between your legs, leaning back against your naked chest while you washed and detangled his curls and just enjoyed your care while breathing softly. Before, he had put some mud all over his face he claimed would “make his complexion glow even more”. The stuff indeed smelled nicely as it drifted into your nose while you massaged Astarion’s scalp carefully, but he still looked kind of ridiculous. Also you weren’t entirely convinced that this was how it worked for vampires.

Seldomly was the pale elf this relaxed. And this fact alone filled your heart with joy. You let your fingers move through his hair and softly massaged his neck and his ears as well which resulted in a soft, relaxed moan from him from time to time.

Astarion’s chest lifted in a particular deep breath, causing droplets of bathwater to run down his toned chest and the light from the candles you’d lit all over the room danced over his smooth skin. He really almost caused you to forget to breathe sometimes just by existing.

“This is heaven, my love. If this is what the afterlife is like I’ll happily perish right on the spot”, he sighed and let out a long breath. You smiled happily and really buried your fingertips in his curls once more causing the vampire to groan in pleasure and making his head loll from side to side.

With his eyes still closed he reached one arm slowly behind himself – obviously with the intention to reach your face. “Only thing missing now is a kiss from you, my sweet honey pie.”

“Sweet honey pie? What’s gotten into you?”

“Hmhm, can you blame me? Your fingers caressed me into oblivion, cherry muffin.” You scrunched up your nose and pinched the back of his neck. It seemed you really had worked common sense out of the man; he was talking mad.

“You know the implication it makes when you call me food related pet names, don’t you?”, you asked him, leaning close to one of his pointy ears. “Oh, very much so, even though I must inform you, that you taste neither off honey pie nor cherry muffins.”

Astarion started to stretch while speaking, tensing his muscles, reaching his arms even beyond you and yawning. The comparison to a cat was more than imminent. On their way back his hands found your head and stroked your hair despite the awkward angle.

“Aha, so what do I taste like to you, hm? Indulge me”, you requested and wrapped your arms around Astarion’s chest as he sidled up against you again. Your hands rested on each other on his stomach now, you leaned your chin on his shoulder. His arms were still stretched around his back to let his fingers wander through your hair.

“Well, when I first compared it to a good wine that was a very accurate description. But now, with some more, shall I say, expertise in your bouquet, I’d describe it like this: sometimes it’s like a wonderful red wine, full-bodied but with soft floral notes. But sometimes it’s more like delicious fruit covered in dark chocolate. It just… varies slightly: depending on what you eat, how you’ve been feeling, what time of month it is…” The last part surprised you: “You can taste… my cycle?” “Oh, not only that, but I can also smell it as well – I mean besides the obvious. You’d be surprised at what I can find out about you from taking a single nose full of your exquisite scent alone, my love.” You felt dumbfounded, he’d never mentioned that before. And you also didn’t need to see the smirk when he said that to know that it was there.

“Like?”, you simply asked, a bit embarrassed but also very much intrigued about this particular skill of his. Astarion didn’t like talking about the specifics of his condition very much so whenever he opened up about it you grasped the opportunity to learn more about it and him.

“Oh, for example, I can definitely always tell when you want me. And, if I dare say so, the intensity and frequency surprised even me, my wicked little siren”, Astarion explained, his tone deep and full of seduction. Your cheeks were burning, your whole neck and face actually. You softly slid down Astarion’s back and into the bathwater, desperately hoping for a sudden hole at the bottom of the tub that would hopefully swallow you whole.

The vampire had to grip the rim of the tub and straighten himself when you slithered down into the depths of the bathwater. You heard him laugh: “I can also most certainly tell whenever you get one of those full body blushes, my sweet.” He slowly moved to turn around to you, while you had sunk into the water, only your eyes and the top of your head still showing above the water level. Bubbles rose up while the last of your air left your nose and you looked at the vampire in embarrassment who simply looked back at you with a smile – face still covered in mud and only his red eyes contrasting with it; what a ridiculous scene.

Astarion softly grabbed you by the shoulders to prevent you from your attempt to drown yourself. You could see his signature smirk on his face. “Now, now, no need to feel ashamed, my lecherous little nymph. I couldn’t blame you, could I?” His grin split his face and his teeth glinted at you – most prominently his fangs. “Also, I can assure you that the feeling is very much mutual, beautiful. Now give me a kiss!”, he demanded while he had dragged you up from the water successfully.

With his hands still on your shoulders he pulled you towards him, lips already pursed in expectation.

“Not while you have dirt on your face”, you replied in disgust and placed your flat hand against his face to hold him off.

“It’s not dirt!”, Astarion exclaimed, voice rising in annoyance and grabbed your hand from his face. You still looked at him in disgust. “Ugh, fine!” He rolled his eyes and splashed water on his face and rubbed himself clean with his hands.

“Better?”, he asked after a few moments, tone still a bit annoyed. “No wait, there’s still a little bit”, you said and leaned close to him as if wanting to clean a speckle off his perfect face, brows furrowed in concentration. But with a lightning quick move you pinched his nose, making him growl back at you. He grabbed you by the shoulders once more and pulled you close until you were nose to nose while he stared angrily at you. “No poking the vampire!”, he said sombrely. “Or I’ll eat you!”

You giggled and closed the last bit of space to finally kiss him. And that seemed to calm down the beast. Letting go of your shoulders, one of his hands wandered to the front of your neck, softly resting on your collarbone. The other cupped your cheek while his tongue entered your mouth – tasting you, tangling with yours, exploring. Then he broke the kiss, leaving you to gasp, and trailing little pecks from the corner of your mouth over your cheek up to your ear.

You softly arched yourself to him, offering up your neck. “If you want to find out if today’s more of a wine or chocolate day.” The vampire laughed. Promise rang in it. “Deeply appreciated, my sweet, but maybe later. Can’t have you running around tonight with two fresh puncture wounds on your neck, can we?”, he whispered and let his lips wander lightly over your quickening pulse. His hand on your neck applying just the tiniest bit of pressure on your throat.

You could only gulp. “Also, I fear that if I would get lost in your neck now, we are never making it to this event”, Astarion added while lifting his face from your neck. Ah yes, you’d almost forgotten.

The pale elf smirked again at you: “And we still have some work to do on you, my sweet.” “Excuse you?” Whatever had heated your blood was immediately gone – this prick.

“You heard me, now turn around and let me take care of you in return, my love”, he insisted. You sighed and complied because you knew there was no point in denying him. And also, you wouldn’t say no to getting pampered by your vampire.

You let yourself be seated in the same position Astarion had been in at first: between his legs, your back to his chest. He put some of the goo on your face despite your protest (“It’s only going to bring out your beauty some more, my love.” “This face is as good as it gets as is, Astarion, no need to try.” “Hush and shut your nasty mouth or I can’t promise to keep the dirt out of it!”). Then he softly scrubbed you all clean and massaged your whole body, pouring some heavenly smelling oils in his hands from time to time.

The night before he had gone out to run some errands – and returned with bags and bags of stuff. It had been clothes and apparently lots of toiletry. One of the things had been large and very heavy. But about that and some other stuff he’d brought he had wiggled his finger at you to not take a peek.

Everything for your bath time he had neatly lined up next to the tub. You barely had a clue what all the small jars, flasks and crucibles were for but if it made him happy to indulge in it you were the last person to stop him from it.

Then he’d carefully run the bath you were now sitting in. And you couldn’t complain: the bath water smelled heavenly of lavender and cedar. Whatever he was massaging you with smelled of oranges and other delicious fruits and he himself deliciously of bergamot.

You sighed deeply and were aware that you must’ve been the perfect mirror image of what Astarion had looked like some minutes ago.

“Enjoying yourself, my love?”, Astarion asked gently while his hands worked your neck. You only hummed in response. “We should do this more often, darling. You’re allowed to indulge in luxury sometimes, you know?”, he said softly while starting to work on your hair.

“Speaking of – mind telling me how much exactly everything was you brought home yesterday?”, you asked while letting your head fall back into his touch, eyes closed. “Yes, I do mind. Part of indulgence is not looking at the price tag, my sweet”, Astarion scolded you sweetly. “And you deserve to take better care of yourself”, he continued while trying to get out a serious knot from your braids.

You felt your body tense a little and sighed: “You know I’m not good with either of those things, Astarion.” “I know”, he replied simply and shortly lifted one of your hands out of the water to press a kiss to it. “That’s why I’m going to teach you. I’ll have you be a high-maintenance lady ready to splurge at every opportunity in no time, dearest.” You laughed and readjusted your sitting position to lean back against the elf’s chest more. “I don’t think that would be a good look on me.” Astarion sighed dramatically: “Oh well, a shame. I guess I’m going to have to fill this role then.” You softly chuckled at that and thought to yourself that he was already well en route for that.

“I guess I could take up some of your suggestions though – I’m tired of feeling like a gutter rat standing next to you in all your luscious, white-curly glory.” Astarion snickered: “I’ll have you remember you chose the description ‘gutter rat’ for yourself. Also, I think you’re the most beautiful creature the Gods have ever created but to each their own I guess.” You blushed again and sank down a little further between his legs while he grabbed another one of the flasks.

Sometimes he just made you so casually swoon you couldn’t believe it – and never did you know how to reply to his genuine and sweet flattery.

“So, lesson one: you have really beautiful hair, my love, and I know you love your braids, but it all turns into a tangled mess easily. But fortunately,” – he poured something from the flask onto your prepared and detangled hair; it smelled deliciously flowery – “some clever soul came up with conditioner. You use it after you’ve washed your hair. Use only a little and work it into your hair like this.” He worked the thick liquid specifically into the lengths of your hair, combing through them with his fingers and then softly scrunching the strands in his hands. “Then you let it sit a little and only then rinse it out. It helps with tangles and also will make your hair deliciously soft.” Astarion basically purred the last words. Oh, good thing to know this was something he delighted in.

He did as he had instructed you while you patiently sat there and let him work his magic. Afterwards he proceeded to comb your hair through.

You both sat in silence. You enjoyed being taken care of and thought of the evening to come. You couldn’t help but feel some anxiety again creep into you at the thought of having to deal with the society of the Upper City. You’d probably take a good old-fashioned tavern brawl or a heist every day over having to make small talk with people who’d probably also choose the description “gutter rat” for you.

“Now”, Astarion said after a while “for tonight’s event I would like to propose to you to put your hair in some waves. Nothing major, just pinning them, letting them dry and then putting some strands up later.”

You were still way inside your head to fully understand what he was getting up: “Oh uhm, go ahead. Just don’t make me look like a coiffed poodle please.” Astarion scoffed at that and started to pin your hair up carefully.

“What’s troubling you, my love?”, he asked casually because of course he had noticed how you were absent-minded and your body had tensed. By what he had earlier revealed he’d probably smelled it too.

For a second you wondered if you ever could hide something from this man. But then again – why would you have to?

You sighed deeply while you grabbed your one hand with the other and started to press your thumb into the palm of the other – a nervous habit. “I guess, I’m still a bit scared of how the evening will play out”, you confessed and let your head fall down. Astarion wasn’t having it: “Ah ah, my sweet, head up or I can’t work. But also, head up because you don’t need to be worried. If push comes to shove, we can always leave.” You sighed again and relaxed a little. You shortly lifted your hand to grab one of his to squeeze it in thanks.

“Aren’t you scared at all? I mean, like of meeting someone… from before… or from before before?”, you asked silently and looked down at your hands still kneading each other in the water.

The vampire didn’t respond immediately. “You don’t have to answer-“, you started but then Astarion replied. “Not really. Cazador sometimes had us spawn ‘entertain’ his guests during his events but seeing as he either altered their memory or killed them off in the end… No one will recognise me albeit I may know some of the attending guests”, he explained pretty matter-of-fact while his hands kept working on putting up strand for strand of your hair.

Another silence followed.

“As from before that…” Astarion’s words trailed off. You grabbed his hand once more and almost already wanted to say again that he didn’t have to tell you but you kind of felt he wanted to let it out. “I haven’t seen or heard a shred from anyone I knew or was related to since I’ve been turned. Never. And my surname is pretty common among elves – there probably are at least five other Lord Ancuníns running about the city. I guess we might meet our lovely elder neighbour and that’s about it.”

His hands had stopped their task. Your hand was still grabbing one of his and you squeezed it again to try and provide some comfort. “I’m sorry, Astarion”, you whispered quietly and leaned your head back. It connected with his forehead as he leaned forward a little.

“Don’t be”, he whispered back while his fingers started to move again. “You’re my family now”, he said and at that your heart swelled with warmth and love.

“I love you, Astarion.” “Love you too, my little gutter rat.”

You tried to splash him with water.

How could he go from genuine, sincere and melancholy to unbelievable bastard in point two seconds. He was a handful at the best of times.

The vampire just laughed at your petty attempt of getting back at him. Shortly after he proclaimed being done with his work.

“There you go, now wash off your face, my dear”, he instructed. You did as told, then turned around to him: “Are we done now? I feel like I might’ve already grown some fins!”

Astarion smirked at you. “Oh no, there’s one more thing we need to take care of, my sweet”, he said slowly and threw you a glance that immediately made your blood boil. “And what might that be?”, you asked, already barely trusting your mouth to form words with the way he kept staring at you with his crimson gaze.

“Well, I can’t let you go to this event all tense and anxious, can I?”, he asked and moved closer to you, his gaze almost predatory. You gulped and moved back until your back hit the rim of the tub and there was no more space to escape from the prowling vampire. You felt heat form inside of you.

He moved in even closer, putting his arms around you as he leaned in to kiss your cheek.

“Luckily, I know just the right treatment for this kind of ailment”, he whispered and let his lips wander to your neck where your pulse had started hammering. He grabbed you then and lifted you up, so you sat on the floor just in front of the tub that was lowered into the ground. “That’s lesson two my love: always grasp onto the pleasures life offers you”, he whispered sinfully as he moved your legs, so your thighs were placed on his shoulders. You were already shuddering in expectation. You let one of your hands enter his soft curls as he made you lean back.

Astarion lowered his mouth to the space between your legs, letting his devilish silver tongue work its magic and devoured you as if you were a feast and he a starved man.

When lightning had struck the first time with your back arched impossibly at the way he had made you feel and your hand buried in his curls, he rose out of the tub. You watched him as trails of water ran down his perfect body, already yearning for more. To feel him, to love him.

You looked at him expectantly, seeing the love and the desire you felt mirrored in his ruby eyes. He lowered himself onto you on the edge of the tub, moving you back a little and made sure the second lightning struck both of you.

Tags: @aurasyn @margoteve @usuallyunlikelyfox @hollowmasque

[lunarianillusion]

A change in fate

a maribat fanfic

Chapter 09

When the final school bell of the day finally rang Marinette and her pack practically bolted from the building, before the braindead could catch them. When outside she told the others to go on ahead without out her, telling them she would meet them back at the hotel, and that she had to quickly grab something from her room. Chloe was a bit hesitant since the toxic shepherd and her herd were still lurking, but Marinette reassured her as best as she could making her lead the other three away.

The omega made quick work of avoiding her parents, not caring for what they possibly could have said in her migraine induced morning, and up to her room. After slipping in through the trap door the hidden kwami’s all came out of hiding. All very happy to see that the young guardian had recovered from the past morning.

The omega smiled softly at the little gods that cared for her wellbeing. She was truly happy to have found away to release the kwami’s from the box confines. Giving them a small piece of freedom, they needed. She hoped to give them true freedom one day, but for now they needed to focus.

“It is time for step two,” The noirette said, gaining the complete attention from all the little gods. Then they turned to one and other a silent conversation among the concepts of the world and gave each other a firm nod of agreement. “We are all ready to proceed young guardian,” Longg spoke firmly with the slightest hint of longing. She could tell and could not blame him for wishing to meet with his possible soul bearer, but she could not trust the dragon’s soul bearer just yet.

The guardian’s blue eyes turned to onto the light turquoise kwami nearby. “Are you ready?” The snake gave her a small grin. “I am.” “You better take good care of her, understood,” Pollen buzzed while giving Sass a fireless glare. To which he chuckled in return and gave his fellow god words of assurance, as Marinette grabbed the small box holding his miraculous.

-

After procuring the miraculous of change, along a thick binder filled with Lie-la’s inconsistencies and fever dreams, the omega hero made her way over the grand hotel. Upon arrival Marinette encountered Chloe’s loyal butler. He informed her that monsieur Bourgeois was in search of his daughter and so advised the dark-haired girl to take the long route to the nest. As to not alert the dumb mayor that Chloe now has taking more of a residence in her secret room.

Over the time that Chloe has used opportunity to redeem herself to others, she had become aware of how toxic her family was and had been distancing from her parents whenever she needed room to breathe. The staff had been happy to provide her with a special place for the blond within the hotel. One of the rooms had been modeled into a one room apartment specially decorated for the young alpha and kept off the books so that her father would not find it. When they showed her the room Chloe had burst into a sea of overjoyed tears, having been giving confirmation that she was indeed became a better person in the eyes of others. That had been such a relief for the girl and a great boost to her confidence.

Giving the beta butler her thanks, the omega made the long round way to Chloe’s second room that gained the title of the nest over the past months. Upon arrival and entry, the blue-eyed omega was met with the homely interior of the apartment, that made it feel as though you just walked into a hunter’s cabin in the mountains. To the right was the sitting/living area with a large half circle couch and two armchairs standing around a round red wood coffee table. A large flat screen tv hung from the wall infront of the sitting area, with several drawers under it filled with the girls collection of DVDs and blue ray’s. To the left was the kitchen area with a wooden bar counter that separated the kitchen from the hall and living area, around it stood four wooden fashionably cushioned barstools. In the back, past the doors that led to the bathroom and workspace, was a window seat bed that had been transformed into a large nest. Made from a mismatch of blankets, pillows and some articles of close from the two female occupants. A large deep dark red canopy hung from the ceiling that gave the two a feeling of a save close offed space, for whenever the one of the two took shelter here for the rut or heat.

The smile on Marinette’s face came naturally as she past the rooms threshold. This was a place of safety for her, something that her old home could never again be. How she often wished she could live here but her ‘parents’ would kick up a fuss and she really did not need the extra headache’s.

Her eyes drifted around counting all of the current occupants in the den. Nathaniel and Marc sat snuggled together upon de couch, enthusiastically discussing their new comic idea, Chloe was in the back near the nest looking for something in one of the large bookcases lining the wall and Tim was in the kitchen making the holy elixir, COFFEE. “Can you make me a cup too, Tim,” the female omega called out gaining her packs attention. Though Chloe was the only one that gave a verbal response in the form of a pained groan and calling her an addict. She ignored her friend in favour of focussing on the steaming cup of coffee that the dark haired prepared for her. She gave him a grateful smile and a small thanks as she took a seat at the kitchen counter and dropped her thick binder with a thud onto the wooden surface.

She took a careful sip from her given ambrosia and then pulled on her business face. “So now that we have all gathered, shall we get started on the downfall of the delusional spider and her plague of insects.” The crystal blue eyes glanced around the room once more and taking in the malicious smiles of her pack. “Oh yes, let’s get started,” the blond female nearly cackled as she pulled out to binders of her own. Yes, they were ready for the hunt.

-

And so started of several hours of compiling all the tall tales that had past Rossi’s lips from the lady blog, their phones and school camera’s, curtesy of Tim’s hacking skills. But as people will agree after a certain amount of time one gets side-tracked, especially if you have a petty alpha female wanting revenge. Surprisingly the two male omegas’ were very much on board with the pettiness.

“But wouldn’t she simply blame Marinette,” Chloe interjected. She and the male omegas having a thorough discussion over how to trick Lie-la into spraying herself with skunk musk. They discussed it for over an hour.

“Not unless she believed it to be a gift for Marinette,” Marc began to supply, making Chloe pull a face. “She would say she was so thankful for the gift while just taking it,” The jade eyed male continued. “But either me or Tim or me would say it was for Mari,” Nathaniel took over, “She in a fit her supposed supremacy will spray herself and then come to the horrid realization of the disgusting odour. This will work in our favour two ways. One Lie-la will smell just as horrid as her soul is,” “And two, because they will think we ‘tried to do this on Mari’ we can get in the flies good graces and here about any possible plots to hurt our leader and prepare for that accordingly.” Marc finished, devious smiles on both his and boyfriend’s faces.

“You two are bloody devils,” The blond alpha started, eyes filled with wondered surprise before beginning to laugh gleefully. “And I love it!” she exclaimed as Marinette and Timothy were just finishing up all the processed evidence that they had gathered. Next time they were going to look into things Lie-la had done before she had come to Dupoit. But for now, it was pack bonding time.

-

“I AM DISCUSTED, I AM REVOLTED, I DEDICATED MY INTIRE LIFE TO THE ARTS AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET!!!!!!” Nathaniel roared as he hurled his sketchbook.

“Nath please cal-”

“NO Marc he is right. They gods have deceived us. COLOUR IS A LIE!!!” Marinette exclaimed as she threw her sketchbook across the room. Whirling around she grabbed the redhead and raised her hand to the window. “OPEN THE WINDOW WE MUST FLY!!!”

“NNNOOOOO!!!!!!!”

-

“Mari, Tim, put the mugs down,”

The two in question raised the offending cups to their lips.

“I swear to the powers from the beyond, don’t you two dare drink that! That is your fifth cup in the past thirty minutes.”

The alpha omega duo took exaggerated sips from their cups, the sound penetrating the air. Within seconds the blond was chasing around her two coffee addicted friends around the room in a made chase screaming profanities every so often. The two coffee worshippers always two steps ahead of the girl with surprising agility, not letting a single drop of the elixir of life spill from their containers. Whilst Nathaniel and Marc watched the chaos from the couch unfold, sharing a bowl of popcorn.

-

After a long chase, that resulted in Chloe’s loss, the pack had nestled themselves on the couch and chairs around the tv. They had some action movie playing and were making all sorts of critics, on the fight scenes mostly. It made for a rather peaceful atmosphere.

Marc and Nathaniel were snuggled together within a wool blanket on one of the large armchairs. Chloe and Marinette had claimed the couch, their heads on opposite ends and legs tangled in the middle.  Tim sat on the other chairs, his legs dangling over the side and hid eyes taking in more the people around him then the movie. Taking in every detail of the scene around him and committing it to memory as his senses were lulled by the peaceful atmosphere, making him feel safe.

-

As the late evening came Marc, Nathaniel and Tim went to their own homes, begrudgingly. Leaving Marinette and Chloe in the nest, for Mari had no interest in returning home for the night. And she also had a mission to fulfil.

The two having just finished the dishes, from the room served meal, sat curled up in the nest/bed area talking about the day events and other random thoughts. When, to Chloe’s surprise the noirette omega took on a far more serios exterior. Her blue eyes calculating and analysing the blond before her and her posture straight as an arrow and rigged. “What’s wrong Marinette?” the alpha asked, using her full first name instead of one of her nicknames.

Taking a small breath, to try and calm her nerves, Marinette spoke: “I need to ask a favor of you Chloe Bourgeois, something of great importance. But I need to know that I can fully trust you with what I am about to ask of you.” The mayor’s daughter opened her mouth to say that ofcourse she could trust her, but the darked haired held up her hand to stop her having not yet finished. “I know that I can trust you with anything that happens in our normal lives, but this is not something that can be considered normal and many things are at risk,” she took a moment to let the gravity of the situation sink in. “So, I need to know that I have your compete loyalty and that you will always have my back trough whatever may come. I need to know that you will not stab me in the back,” the last part had been whispered almost so quietly that Chloe might not have picked it up had she not given the omega her full attention.

The last words that were spoken stung the blond a bit, but she understood the meaning behind them more then anything. For those she had once considered her most trust pack members had turned their back on her for the stupid lies of a filthy leach that now trespassed on their territory. She understood the words very well. But Marinette asking this meant that she trusted Chloe so much that she was about to reveal possibly one of her most precious secrets to her friend. A swell of pride and determination flowed through the alpha as the implications of her request made itself clear in the former bully’s mind. And she swore not to let that trust in her go to waist. Chloe poised herself and stared straight into Marinette’s eyes conveying as much determination as the blond could muster through her gaze and scent.

“Marinette, you have given me so much even after all the years of torment I dragged you trough. You forgave me when I finally got my act together which was already more then I deserved, but you also let me join your pack and supported me as I tried to see what I needed to do to become a better person. You made me realize what I truly needed to be happy and because of that I have finally found who I want to be. I will never be able to fully for all that you have done for me. So, whatever secret you share with me I will take to the grave, whatever deed I must do no-one will lead it back to you. I will have your back in all the fights that are to come,” she took a deep breath, to keep her rage for those who did betray the omega at bay, but gaze filled with determination. “I swear I will never betray you for as long as I breath. That I assure you,” Chloe finished.

Marinette could feel her eyes tearing up, but she forced herself not to let any of the tears fall. No was not the time for tears. Even so, the words and emotion that the blond had expressed made Mari so happy and it took away all of her doubt. For no lie was uttered and the absolute devotion coming from her alpha friend sealed that fact.

Carefully she pulled out a dark octagon box with a red sigil painted on the lid. A box the omega knew Chloe recognised. She smiled at the wide eyes she got from her friend before dawning her hero persona. “Chloe Bourgeois this is the miraculous of the snake, that will grant you the power of change. I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng former hero known as Ladybug, current true holder of peafowl and guardian of the miraculous ask you to join me in the fight to end the terror of Hawkmoth. Will you accept?”

A long tense moment of silence followed after the proposition was finally spoken. Both party’s staring intently at the other, their minds whirling with uncoordinated thoughts and question, as fate awaited an answer.

Hesitantly Chloe broke the silence not with an answer to the question, but with a question of her own. “Am I worthy of a miraculous?” Her self-doubt shining through in the quiver of her voice.

Marinette’s demeaner softened at her friend a surge of reassurance washed over the omega, she made the right choice. “Yes Chloe, you are most definitely worthy of a miraculous,” Marinette assured, but could see that the blond was not fully convinced. “You said it yourself, you have taken the road to better yourself in both in your own eyes and the eyes of others. I and many others have been beside you watching you take that rocky road head on and witnessed the fruit it bore. From all the people you helped with charities and donations, from the kids in the hospital that smile so brightly every time you come to visit, form Trevor and Miranda who practically see you as their own daughter, from our friends that would come running at slightest of whispers of you being in danger. I assure you that you are worthy to wield a miraculous. So will you stand beside me as my partner and friend through the coming battles?”

As the finale words sunk in, Chloe felt her resolve strengthen. Whipping away the tears that had gathered in her eyes she gave her friend another look of determination, as she took the small box from Paris’s true hero hand. “I would be honoured,” the blond spoke receiving a grateful smile from the noirette in return.  

Opening the box, a turquoise glowing orb circled around the alpha, making her reminisce of her first meeting with Pollen, before the orb took on the form of a snake like being. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Chloe. I am Sass, the kwami of change,” the snake kwami spoke. “The feeling is mutual,” Chloe replied sincerely as she took the miraculous from its confines and placed it around her wrist. The band camouflaging the moment it was clipped on. The twisting turquoise band turning into a single rose gold band with two swirls circling a sapphire rose with a few clear diamonds. As the miraculous settled the new kwami and wielder pair turned to the young guardian with Duusu now floating beside the omega.

“I will have you know that I have many questions for Dupain-Cheng,” the female alpha said without any heat behind her glare. Making Marinette give a small at her friend. “I would not expect anything less from you,” Mari sighed light heartily, before she turned a bit more serious once more. “But let me first tell you the full extend of what has been going on.”

Author note: This chapter was honestly hard to write, with the heart to heart between Chloe and Marinette being an especially hard point, but I hope you could still enjoy the chapter it and please tell me what you think of the story so far.

[rubysunnday]

Tree

A/N: my Christmas tree is up already so, here you go

It was only the first week of December and already Small Heath was coated in a thin layer of icing sugar like snow. It’d been fallen slowly the past few hours and the tracks made by the passing cars were quickly covered up with a fresh layer.

The Cut hadn’t yet frozen over but if it kept getting colder, it just might. The water butts outside the stables had been frozen over the past few mornings and it’d become routine to smash the thing layer of ice open before filling the buckets up.

The front door to Watery Lane had been frozen stuck and it’d taken a few good kicks to get it open and shut. The door mat had quickly become soaked with snow walked in from the outside and had become home to numerous pairs of wet, snow covered shoes.

It was tradition within the Shelby family – and those who’d been married into it – to go and find a decent fir tree to be erected in their respective homes as well as choosing another one for Tommy’s front room at Arrow House.

As she’d gotten older, Y/N had become the unofficial head of Christmas. Whenever the other members of the family tried to put the trees up – or even chose a tree – it ended in a lot of yelling and someone storming off to the Garrison to get drunk.

But since Y/N had taken over, things had gone rather well. Everyone got the tree they wanted, the decorations they wanted and they all, somehow, managed to decide on a tree for Tommy’s front room. She had the entire thing down to a fine art and was almost military like in the way she organised it.

“It won’t fit in the car.”

“It will.”

“It’ll stick out the back of it and get chopped off when you take a corner to fast!”

“Oi,” Y/N called, coming to stand in-between Esme and John before an argument could break out. “It’ll fit in the trailer of Uncle Charlie’s car, alright. We can do multiple trips, now, put the tag on it before someone else steals it.”

John took the tag from his sister. “How do you do it?”

Y/N frowned, burying her hands in the pockets of her coat. Well, the coat she’d borrowed from Arthur three years ago and never given back. “What you on about?”

“This,” John said, waving a hand around. “How do you manage to stop all of us killing one another and make this enjoyable?”

“Easy, I watched Aunt Pol for years,” Y/N replied, smiling. She turned and caught Finn and Isaiah trying to lift a tree by themselves. “Finnegan, halt, you’re gonna knock over the rest of the trees!”

Y/N jogged over to her brother and best friend, grabbing the stump of the tree and lifting it up. Finn had the top of the tree and was staggering backwards in the vague direction of where his car was. Isaiah was holding the middle of the tree, his entire body had been swallowed by the pine needles, and he was struggling not to laugh as Finn tripped down the curb.  

“Do you need a hand, Finn boy?” Arthur called, chuckling.

Finn turned to glare at his brother, but Y/N snapped at him and he quickly turned back to the tree. Somehow the tree managed to make its way into the back of Finn’s car – even if the action was accompanied by a significant amount of swearing and death threats.

Once content that the tree was, relatively, secured in Finn’s car and that it wasn’t going to magically roll out on his way home, Y/N turned her attention back to the issue of choosing Tommy’s tree.

Tommy, naturally, had declined to join them Christmas tree hunting, insisting that he had numerous pieces of important paperwork to fill in.

Eventually they chose a tree for Tommy’s house and Y/N managed to squeeze herself amongst the pine needles and into the car. They were all meant to reconvene at Tommy’s that night for roast dinner and decoration of the tree – which was significantly taller than her – with Tommy’s children.

Arrow House was completely dead when Y/N pulled up. She sighed as she clambered out the car, knowing Tommy had probably sent the maid away and forgotten to turn any of the lights on.

She left the tree in her car – mainly because it was bigger than her and when she tried to carry it last time, she almost got crush, John had leapt in to save the day – and headed to the front door. There were no lights on in the front porch and Y/N reached over, clicking on the light next to the door.

“Tom?!” Y/N called, untying her scarf and throwing it on the back of a nearby chair. “Tommy?!”

She left her coat on as she walked towards Tommy’s office, her heels clicking on the wooden floorboards loudly. As she passed she paused to switch on the lights and lit a few candles with the lighter in her pocket.

“Tommy?” Y/N asked, poking her head in his office door. Tommy looked up at her, eyes furrowed behind his glass. “Ah, afternoon.”

“Afternoon?” Tommy frowned, glancing at his watch. “Oh, so it is. Where’s everyone else?”

“Christmas tree hunting,” Y/N replied, shrugging her coat off and sitting down in the chair opposite Tommy’s desk. She crossed her legs and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, pouring herself a glass. “The one for your front room is in my car – don’t ask how it got in.”

“You want to ease up on that?” Tommy asked, nodding at the almost full class of whiskey.

“Nope. Finn nearly killed me with a tree, and I got threatened with a pinecone by John,” Y/N replied. She took a big swig of the alcohol and winced, coughing slightly. “That is strong.”

“It’s new,” Tommy replied, leaning over and taking the bottle away from his sister. “And expensive so don’t drink it all at once.”

Y/N pressed her lips together and leant back in her chair, bopping her foot about in the air. “So… whatcha doing?”

“Didn’t realise we were being sociable,” Tommy muttered, eyes back down on his work, brow furrowed. “Thought it was going to be comfortable silence.”

“Awkward silence? Uncomfortable silence?” Y/N chuckled, throwing back the remainder of her drink. “You finishing soon?”

“Why?”

“Because there’s a tree in my car. And it’s dark. Spiders, Tom, spiders,” Y/N reminded, setting her glass on his desk and pushing it forward. “You can finish this later, come on.”

Tommy sighed, throwing his pen down onto his desk. “Fine, fine, fine,” he said, standing up and groaning as his limbs popped. “Come on.”

Y/N giggled, grabbing her coat and throwing it back on as she bounded from the room and out onto the driveway, a begrudging Tommy following after. Between the two of them they managed to drag the tree out the car and into the house. Tommy propped it up against a wall as Y/N went off to go find the stand for the tree.

By the time she’d returned from her adventure into the cupboard of doom – it was a room at the back of the house were everything unneeded or unwanted was abandoned – the rest of the family had arrived at Tommy’s house.

Y/N handed the tree stand to Tommy and was immediately whipped away by Charlie and Rose to go look at the very interesting bauble they’d found in a box. She sat down on the ground and held out her hands, letting them hand her numerous decorations and other odd bits and bobs.

Once the trees were in the houses, Y/N stepped back from being in command and let the chaos unfold. There was lots of yelling as the boys tried to get the tree into the stand and get it up straight and John and Tommy nearly got into a fight over if the tree was in the centre of the room.

Y/N’s final traditional job was putting the star on the top of the tree. The only issue with this, however, was that Y/N was one of the shortest members of the family. And standing on the stairs above the tree did nothing.

“If you drop me, John, I swear to god,” Y/N warned as she stood on the bannister, John holding on to her waist.

“I’m not going to, calm down,” John muttered. He tightened his grip, slightly, though.

Y/N stretched out over the bannister and, somehow, managed to get the star – one Polly had bought many years ago, it was silver and sparkly and very, very glittery – on the top of the tree. There was a moment where she thought she was going to knock the entire tree over, but John managed to save her.

“Is it on?” Y/N called, letting John lift her off the bannister and back onto the floor.

Charlie and Rose let out a screech of happiness and Y/N assumed that was a yes.

John put an arm on her shoulders and smiled down at her. “Nicely done, one again, Y/N/N.”

Y/N shrugged but snuggled closer to her brother, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Practice makes perfect, Johnny boy.”

John chuckled and pressed a kiss to her head. “Merry Christmas.”

[ji-yaaan]

•𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑩𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒂!•

Leona Kingscholar x Reader Oneshot

Note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEONA! YOU HAVE JURISDICTION OVER ME NOW! I made the art and writing in a rush cuz I'm busy with real life soooo- forgive me. BUT HAVE SOMETHING SHORT AND SWEET IN RETURN!(´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ)♡♡♡

With bustling music, drink spilt from golden goblets filled up to it's brim. The drums that beat a rhythmic sound, matching melodies with the tambourines and maracas. Fine silk adorned the ceilings with intricate patterns that decorated the fabrics. Exquisite food and liquor filled the buffet tables full. The song that were being sung were accompanied by people dancing for joy and entertainment.

This was a night to celebrate the birth of the wonderful second prince of Afterglow Savannah, yet the celebrant himself was nowhere to be seen by any of the spectator's gaze. "A toast for my brother Leona to celebrate his birthday!" Leona's brother, Farena said with a thrilled and delighted tone, slightly tipsy and intoxicated from a few drinks downed in a span of an hour.

"Wait? Where's the birthday boy? Leona? Brother? Where are you? Geez... the kid never learns... He ran away again..." Disappointed from the absence of the birthday celebrant, the king just instructed a few servants to search for his beloved brother. The night was still young...

Sighing exhausted from the rowdy and stuffy atmosphere in the banquet room "Finally! I escaped! Mission complete! Nice~" with two plates of chocolate cake you held in your hands, a victorious grin paints your face. No one knows where the cynical second prince is at, but not you... You knew exactly where the arrogant prince stays in refuge of chaos.

Excitedly sprinting in the long hallways, far from the banquet halls that rang from wall to wall with it's rowdiness and noise that resonated within. With each step you take, adrenaline rushed up your body from excitement and delight to see Leona.

In the long series of curtains and doors, there was a simple room at the end of the hallway. It was an old empty guest room. Shabby... but cozy in its own way... The serene atmosphere was calming, free from the loud music and laughter that resounded the crowded banquet tables. A perfect place to catch a break...

You make your way into the room, closing it from behind with your legs since your hands were preoccupied with the plates of snacks. Making your way to the balcony as chiffon curtains flew from the night breeze, a mystical scene unfolds before your eyes.

The dim glow of the moonlight lit the young man moonbathing under. The tranquil silence accompanied with a refreshing breeze as you view the balcony that overlooks the royal gardens beneath. Nothing could beat the sound of water from the fountains with the sound of rustiling leaves from the trees. Unlike the boisterous laughters back the the party, this peaceful air was a million times better...

"Well... I can't blame him for always going here.." Placing the plates on the wooden railings, you crouched down to peek at the sleeping prince under.

"A birthday celebrant escaped his own party... Pfffft... Classic Leona..." Strand of wavy locks framing his face flew from a momentary gush of wind. This scene feels like it came straight out of a movie... But you're not one to complain...

Moving away the hazel locks from his face, gently tucking the strands behind his ears. A hand reaches out for yours catching you off guard for a brief moment.

"Oi herbivore... It's not a good habit to snoop around sleeping people..." Groggy from sleep, he lets out a low husky growl. Classic leona... He may have grown a bit older, but it's good to see he never changes.

"Pffft! Then why is the birthday boy hiding in here away from his party? Hmm~" you teased the prince as you poke his arms for answers.

"Tch... Why are you even in here? If you're going to be noisy, better go back to the party and let me sleep. Or if you are quiet enough, I'll allow you to be my pillow." Teasing you back with his trademark arrogant smile ™.

"Wait I have a reason to be here!" You replied with a pout from the stingy remarks you got.

Leona raises his eyebrows, piquing his interest with what you've got to say. Rummaging through your pockets, you tried to find something inside. AHA! Found it~ putting your hands behind you holding something in between. Just what was that "something" you're holding from behind?

"Close your eyes! I'll count to three and then you open them!" You demanded with your usual bright and cheerful smile.

"What? No. Just show it to me already."

"Awww don't be a party pooper~ Close your eyes first! Please?~"

Who can decline your offer when you look at him with those eyes? Leona got more curious on what your holding with each second that passed. Curiosity and anticipation flooded his mind, sinking and eventually accepting into your demands.

1 . 2 . 3 .

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEONA!~" with the biggest grin and cheerful greetings, you hand out his present between your hands.

A plushie? What? Nonetheless a plushie of himself? Leona was confused, shocked and amused. His ears twitched as he stared at you.

Countless people with great statures and names gifter the "Kingscholars" the brightest diamonds, the finest silk, sparkling gold and priceless liquor. But you on the otherhand... A plushie of him? A toy?

He was baffled and amused. With all the gifts he could possibly receive, A toy made him this happy? Who would've thought a man like him with easy acces to riches, would be delighted to receive a toy of himself.

"Pffft- A toy of myself?" He bursts out laughing with an ear to ear smile, you could've sworn you can see tears in his eyes from laughing too much. But seeing this childish side of his wasn't that bad.

"Well if you don't like it, then don't accept it. I guess what I made wasn't enough to satisfy this arrogant prince-" You tried to stand up on your feet, only to be stopped by arms that held unto your waist tightly from behind.

"No... I'll take it... You gave it to me and there's no take backs now." Leona burried his face in the nook of your shoulder. "I guess birthdays weren't that bad huh?"

"Of course it's not! It's your birthday and you're supposed to enjoy it!" You tried to reason.

"Enjoy? Ok then... let's stay like this for a little longer herbivore..." Even if you can't see his face from behind, a gut feeling tells you that you're 100 sure that Leona was smirking.

The short silence was accompanied with the rustling of the leaves and the sound of water that can lull anyone to sleep. The cries of the crickets in the night as the moon watches over the both of you basking beneath.

Time passed with the peaceful serenity that surrounded the both of you. You could've sworn in the series of breaths you both took, a whisper of thank you was said in between...

“Y/n... You won't leave my side right? Let's sleep in my room tonight, I'll allow you to be my pillow...”

"Pffft- you never really change...."

Happy Birthday Leona♡

Note: Yep that's how good it gets! My brain in rotting from art and fiction writing... Send help. BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS ILYSM! (´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ)♡

[greekbros]

"greek-Bros: Character headcanons

Dionysus:

He loves anything with any level of alcohol in it and his favorite is obviously wine. However, because of his godly abilities, he functions the in the same way a saltwater fish wood if you placed it in a tank of freshwater. only instead of dying instantly, he just slowly loses his powers and becomes dangerously close to being a mortal. So he usually keeps a supply of wine with him at all costs, and it really doesn't have to be his own wine, it could be any form of alcoholic beverage as long as he consumes it.

He has a mane of curly thick dark hair that accidentally acts like a pocket dimension. he can store something in there, completely forget it and then when he remembers it he can take it out with ease. nobody really cares about how he's able to do this except Athena, she hates it when Dionysus does this and it confounds her to no end, nobody really knows why she hates it but it's speculated that she just doesn't like his chaotic nature.

True to his wild natural look, he actually has two pairs of horns; curled ram horns and long bull horns. He has no memory of it he purposefully grew these horns himself or they may have resulted in his consumption of his wine....but he doesn't care find it to be more of an excuse to adorn his head with more interesting things he finds.

He doesn't have eccentric tastes per se but he does enjoy interesting looking jewelry, placing random objects in his hair and like his brother Apollo enjoys wearing whatever the hell he wants to wear. It doesn't matter if it's a woman's dress or overly ornate armor for no other purpose than to just wear it. The function of the clothing does not concern him, as long as it looks nice on him.

He's very simple god....in the same way your stoner friend is simple, he's is early philosophical for a guy has type and often times you'll see him do weird things that in reality actually have some serious purpose. For example you would pile small stones to form a tower only to have accidentally created the druidic tradition of establishing a location. Another good example would be him having decompulsive need to pile pine cones, according to him he's still trying to figure out what would be the purpose of this but he found out that pine cones are extremely flammable thus perfect as kindling.

He consistently smells of merlot and sweat, it's not that he isn't clean, it's just that with his consistent consumption of his own wine, he doesn't sweat normally anymore... He literally sweats wine thus occasionally giving his skin a pinkish tan hue occasionally, when he bathes his skin goes back to a normal olive-ish tan.

Although he's extremely lazy in some cases, people wipl often mistake him for being soft or weak, it has been noted that in terms of strength he has rivaled both Aries and Heracles in some bizarre manner. nobody really knows if this could have anything to do with his previous incarnation of being a very powerful entity of chaos or if it's just his god-given abilities.

Unlike his fellow gods, he loves being around mortals. He enjoys their nuanced lives and daily endeavors and tries his very best to keep everyone happy.

He's primarily a "good vibes" man 95% of the time and tries to keep the peace, but that doesn't stop him from either justifyingly getting angry or sitting back and watch the drama unfold without his assistant. You also kick your ass and he will do it again if he needs to.

His primary circle of friends/family are Apollo, Hermes, Heracles, Hypnos, Artemis, several nyphs and satyrs, Kale (Delphi's only competent broker/financial expert) and whom ever he can befriend. His secondary basically consists of everyone else whom I've not mentioned.

His wine can actually physically change you with prolonged consumption but with varying results. Many of his leopards for example, have obtained a pinkish, purple hue from drinking the wine dionysus has made for them especially, prolonging their life spans, raising their IQs a little and making them more docile.

On the topic of wine, Dionysus has made several different wines with different properties. He's made wine that acts very closely to a truth serum, a wine that can heal/cure nearly everything, a wine specifically for bacchanals and festivals, wine that actually doesn't effect small kids (for safety reasons) and a wine that can do miscellaneous things.

He's into everything in terms of entertainment, he's surprisingly very cultured in spite of his perceived persona as "the god of drunkards and heathens". So in truth there's never a dull moment with him.

The best to describe him is "a semi-chaotic force of existential calm". He's so chill about so many things, one can mistake this for being aloof or uncaring, but don't worry he's got your back.

He has a list of "dislikes"; he recently has a burning dislike of Romans, drinking water, entitled rude people (because you can be entitled but ultimately unaware of it in an ignorant way), having to do the same task over and over again, being sober (because he believes being drunk keeps something inside him at bay) and frogs....he finds frog to be extremely unreasonable in conversation.

In a more sensual sense, he's up for everything asking as it's not painful or would end in a possible bad way. This explains why he tries his best to stay away from Aphrodite as much as he can help himself.

He doesn't hate Ares, he just finds Ares to be a little too aggressive when it comes to the concept of fun.

He has 0 idea about the existence of some older members of the family, such as Eris for example. He literally has no idea he's not the only agent of chaos in Greece.

He had formed a secret "Drunkard's Society", it consists of other deities from around the world whose specialties occasionally revolve around making alcoholic beverages... if anyone asks yes Jesus (yes he's canon in greek-Bros as the son of "A God" of which no one really knows who) is part of the club by default for some reason sine he used his abilities to make wine. There's very little rules for the club, the only rule is that if possible, bring drinks.

Although he primarily is Pansexual, he is in an very open marriage with Ariadne. Being his only functional braincell, Ariadne is the one who keeps him grounded when making certain decisions, she pretty much completes him in the sense of companionship. She's also pretty compatible with his personality given her upbringing, in spite of her upbringing as a royal, she's always been more carefree and empathetic with her subjects. Plus she doesn't object to most of what Dionysus does but she knows when to step in as his partner on more serious matters. Deep down, Dionysus believes that Ariadne is the second reason why he's still alive. His first being "because my dad mpreg'ed me into existence".

He may or may not be aware of his previous incarnations, he gets weird dreams that feels very violent and feverish at times of a stress filled day. He knows he isn't like the other Olympic gods in many ways.

His seat in Olympia was gifted to him by his aunt Hestia. Hestia, being the oldest child of "The Big 6", felt it was time for her to "retire" from being part of the Olympic gods, no one really understood why she made this decision but she was extremely happy to give the seat dionysus as she personally felt he had a "certain spark" that felt was appropriate as her successor. He too, has no idea why he was given this gift but he assumes that if Hestia felt it was appropriate than it was.

Out of all the olympians, he has made friends with the most deities outside of Greece, second place would be Hermes and third would be Ares.

Apollo

Unlike dionysus, he's extremely calculative, considerably well sorted and more formal. There's always a visible method to what he does and everything has a scientific explanation, in contrast to dionysus's unpredictable meme energy.

He has a bizzarly faire complexion with literally no flaws and his skin almost glows with warmth. His blond hair has been known to also glow depending on the light. His eye color is the same shade as the sky with white pupils, but when it's night time his usually white pupil turns into the normal black, representing the passing of the daytime. The same thing happens to Artemis.

Being the god of the arts and sciences, he loves to educate people. Delos (his home island) is home to one of the best schools of thought in all of Greece.

His first passion of playing the lyre and it still is to this day, if he wasn't the god of the sun, he'd be the god of music.

He puts this persona of "the perfect guy" to mostly everyone he knows, with the exception of Hermes and Dionysus who pretty much know he's a big sensitive softy.

He's an extremely beautiful man with perfect mesomorphic body. He has very gentle mannerisms with a contrasting burning and passionate reaction to anything that could anger him. Pretty much, he's the embodiment of the sun, beautiful, giving, warm but he will burn you.

His personal tastes are similar to dionysus's in terms of preference of clothing. Anything goes and when he looks fashionable in anything, he especially loves wearing lose dresses because he feels the most comfortable in it. He barely sees a reason to assume clothing can be specific to gender norms, as long as it does its function, it suits him pretty well. To him, clothing is clothing.

He's one of the best chariot riders in Olympus, rivalling Triton and occasionally Hades.

He's pan/bisexual to put it best, but he seems to have an easier time forming lasting relationships with men than he does with his female relationships, as evident his mythos. He's not very sure why, and he desires to get better at it considering he actually has the most children in the pantheon.

He's an extremely loving father to his offspring, he's taught most of his children in the ways of art and sciences but is always surprised to see them flourish with their own specific passions and talents.

He thought Orpheus would be the son who's take his place if anything were to happen to him....until he was killed and sent to the underworld. Apollo still mourns for his son's death and doesn't blame Dionysus or his maenads. He believed that Orpheus's was too powerful, even for him

He chooses his lovers, not the other way around. It's an unfortunate trait he inherited from Zeus and it probably is the main factor in why he has such a difficult time with having female companions.

He literally knows about almost everything on almost every subject.

Like Ariadne, he's Dionysus's other braincell. Because of this, the two seem to have an ongoing battle of ideologies that grew into an extremely friendly rivalry to see who can get the most apostles and followers. There's no competitive energy between them, it just feels like a huge game to them.

His circle of friends oddly enough don't stop at Hermes and Dionysus, along with Artemis, his lovers and his muses, it seems Apollo has a surprisingly small circle of friends out of the "the bois". Inspite of his more intellectual relationship with Athena as a fellow scholar and "thinking person", he doesn't necessarily consider her an ally. In fact he actually has a very interesting list of possible foes that are mostly other members of the family. His number one rival however seems to be Eros, who has repeatedly caused him grief in the past, he's probably the second factor as to why he has such a complicated relationship with female companions.

He's a very accommodated individual, it baffles him till this day as to why his twin finds more comfort being in the outdoors than in Olympus, seeing how both of them were raised the same way. He doesn't like being dirty or getting too dirty, he's a bit if an introvert most of the time.

His favorite foods is anything grown under the sun. The only thing "fermented in the dark" he would ever consume is Dionysus's wine, which outside of ambrosia, is the only drink he trusts other than his own.

It may not look like it but he's actually a serious fighter. Especially loves using his bow and arrow and trains alongside with his twin sister.

Give me look pretty, but he will still kick your ass if you deserve it.... Or not he could just simply incinerate you out of existence. In terms of powers, out of the trio he actually does overpower them through natural force than anything.

His Muse's basically are a mixture between his group of female friends and essentially sisters by covenant. He's only had one relationship with one of the muses but outside of that he has NEVER once thought of any of them as calcubines. He will retaliate if anyone assumes otherwise, the reason being is because he would never harm or have any intentions of hurting any of his muses. They see him as a brotherly figure and teacher of the arts, NOT as a master.

Hermes

He's the one god in the family who's decided to make his life a lot more harder by having more hats to wear. He ironically likes it because it always makes him feel "closer to normal".

He's the hardest working of the trio, the only other individuals who works as hard as him is Hestia, Hephaestus and Hades.

Simultaneously, he loves lounging around eating his favorite snack, high energy foods. Bread, surgery fruits, nuts, anything to use to help his caloric intake for his long days of running.

He's literally fast enough to travel forward and back in time. At first, he was just found it strange when he would mention someone, it would be either in past tense or no body would have known who they were. After he found out that he was literally running forwards and back in time, he's been carefully pacing himself.

His favorite thing to do is observe anything really, especially loves seeing what happens after he effects something. For example, he could miss place a cup for no reason other than to see what will happen next.

Although being older than Dionysus, he's the shortest and "youngest looking" of the trio. His youthful complexion however has a dismal purpose. He notices that mortals find him a lot more approachable then the other gods. He primarily looks like a young lab in between the ages of 19 in comparison to Apollo's late 20 something and Dionysus's mid 20 something with a positive youthful disposition, the reason why is because in his "real" form, he actually is taller, pushing to late 20's to early 30's, has a little bit of facial hair, facially stern looking face of some hardened by life and overall "intimidating", not in an Ares sort of way....more like as if you can't really read what's on his mind. This may actually have something to do with the fact his speed could have actually been something he inherited from grandfather, Chronos. He hates his original body and does everything in his power to avoid showing even Apollo and Dionysus this version of himself.

He bisexual with a preference for women. He loves to experiment but that's when he gets in the most trouble. A great example would be the primary reason why his sort of least favorite son, Pan, is the way he is.... because he actually mated with a woman....in the form of a goat, since then, he has had to keep on eye on Pan due to his pension for causing problems....the bad kinds. His favorite children are Hermaphrodite and Hermanubis, he believes they're both his best out comes and both children have the best qualities of both parents.

He's extremely terrible at coming up with names for his children.

He dangerously takes more after his grandfather than he does Zeus physically and powerwise. Due to his incredible speed, his connection to everything from the underworld, to the intricate influences he has on mortal life, and even the fact he actually feels time catching up with him when he over runs, Zeus feared that his father's dark influence was on Hermes and protected him as much as possible from the scrutiny of his other siblings. This fed the fear that Hermes was to be the son to overthrow Zeus....until Apollo became Hermes's closest brother and friend and until Dionysus came along and basically padded the weird "dark prophecy" down to a grinding hult. Since then, Hermes secretly is forever in dept to both brothers for essentially proving everyone else's assumption of his dark nature wrong.

He has an extremely interesting relationship with his demigod brothers like Heracles and Perseus, with a lot of convincing, Hermes was able to get both Demigods to be considered full fledged gods by Zeus's blessings. Since Demigods age far more slower than normal mortals, unless consecrated into Olympus by Zeus, Hermes always consolidates his demi-siblings since he knows unlike the Gods, they will too one day die. He just really didn't want to lose his favorite half-brothers.

Out of the trio, he's seen the most shit. He's seen painful and peaceful deaths. Being a psychopomp isn't all fun and games unfortunately, it's the equivalent of being a doctor in terms of emotional disturbance. He does find it comforting that the only people who completely and fully comprehend what he internally goes through is Thanatos, Hypnos, Charon and Hades. All four of which constantly consolidate him on how he feels and that it's ok to go through the motions of what they call "indiscriminate mourning", a feeling of constent mourning for those who have no relevance to him but which one constantly feels empathy. In a dark humorous way, a demon in Tartarus suggested to remove his "empathy" to ease his suffering but Hermes refused because he'd rather have it than feel nothing.

Being the god of deception, he actually hides his insecurities and personal on-goings extremely well. He knows what's important is the present of things, he's seen death (literally and the god) and has seen what life has to offer. It's not going to stop him from having the best time with his brothers. Lucky for him, he tends to forget he's pretending and goes on as best as he wants to.

He loves animals. He's especially sympathetic to turtles and tortoises, he absolutely admires them for just being such a slow animal who can also be close to home. He recently discovered sloths in the continent that will soon be discovered as South America, and is completely enchanted by their slowness. He also loves 'racing' with faster animals like horses and antelope.

He is the only living being Cerberus let's through in and out of the underworld. Mostly because Cerberus never seems to catch him, thus the beast doesn't really bother, plus Hermes always brings treats for him so that helps.

The wings on his helmet are emotive when active and melds into the metal when inactive. Being the most 'human' of the trio, he can slip into a crowd unnoticed.

Out of the trio he seems the most normative, being more down to earth like Artemis. However he doesn't show the same amount of contempt for the pampered life of a god as much as Artemis does, he's comfortable where ever.

Like Dionysus, he has a very wide range of companions, friends and allies. he doesn't have a lot of enemies that he can name but he does have a bit of a complicated relationship with Ares. He doesn't really hate Ares, but he does enjoy occasionally making a fool out of him. Ares in truth doesn't mind this considering Hermes did save him from some Giants who put them in an urn....is early enough it's not that he's indebted, it's just that when he threatens to kill her is it really isn't anything.

Hermes enjoys antagonizing people isn't very fond of. Hera specifically, he tries to find every way to anger her as much as possible. Even if it results at some else's expense.

He can and will, consentingly fuck your wife. And he would do it again.

Juxtaposed to his complicated and emotionally heavy job as a psychopomp, he's an absolute funnyman. It even borders on 'Bugs Bunny' like antics.

[k-itsmaywriting]

AnS Fic Rec Bingo

A fic that got you involved in fandom: Drink Deep of Lethe by @sabraeal​ | T In short: it has everything I love about early Shirayuki, early Obi, and early Obiyuki. Two people, both on the run, meeting in the deep Wood and converging paths by pure chance. It’s such a fun read!! I first read this on Obiyuki Week 2016 and was just so inspired that I was like “man, I really want to write something for this event too” :D So that is how it got me involved in the fandom.

Made you laugh out loud: I Should’ve Met You Yesterday by @bubblesthemonsterartist | E First of all, I eat ‘Obi gets a support system kicking and screaming’ with a spoon. Second, and more specific to this bingo square, bb Aki is an agent of love and chaos and Obi has absolutely 0 game when it comes to Shirayuki. And it’s the cutest and funniest story!!! Things that made me laugh include: the entire chapter Obi and Aki meet Zen and Mitsuhide, “Here lies what was left of Obi’s game” scene, and Aki trying to get dada to kiss Shirayuki’s booboo, AND MUCH MORE.

Favourite trope reversal: An Earthly Knight by @claudeng80 | T I find fae stories really intriguing and interesting even though (or maybe even because) I know like, the bare minimum of background info. Like they’re just so cool and fun. ANYWAY, I loveddddd how even though Obi is Shirayuki’s guard, this fic is her trying to rescue him in a way only she can - with DETERMINATION and IMMENSE BRAVERY <3 A beautiful story.

Action-packed fight scene: The Moon, the Window, the Knife by @glitter-and-golden | G Over 2000 words and my breath was held the entire time. A super cool fic about Wistal castle being attacked by NINJAS which also means OBI BADASSERY :’D But also it’s not Obi if he doesn’t get hurt in the process and him and Shirayuki protecting each other, because we love that food. Delicious. 5 stars.

Gen fic: It’s a Difficult Conversation by @nebluus | T A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION IT WAS INDEED. For Ryuu, being barely a teen who has people he really looks up to, seeing those people hurt is rough. And for a healer, not being able to help them in the way he knows best is DOUBLEY ROUGH. But I just love that Shirayuki sits with him and explains this very hard stuff about trauma in the most compassionate and understanding way.

Canon divergent: i am become death by @bubblesthemonsterartist | M So in 2017 Bubbles and ISM decided to have an angst battle and the rest of us took a ton of collateral damage to the emotions like NYC at the end of an Avengers movie. In answering the question ‘what if Obi didn’t find Shirayuki in time during Tanbarun arc?’, Bubbles weaves this piece of Absolute Art and it’s just...amazing. Horrifies me in the best of ways.

Wept real tears: Nothing Was My Own (Before I Loved You) by @sabraeal | T Specifically, Making Good made me cry real tears. We love a good slow burn, especially that moment where one of them realises they’re in love with the other and just HOW important they are in their life. It’s beautiful and moving!! And also has fluffy AND funny Obiyuki moments that make me squeal. But also the entire WFB series is an AMAZING fic of everybody’s journey thru college and young adult lives and I think about it all the time.

FREE SPACE: The Most Versatile of Guards by @claudeng80​ | T A favourite of mine!!!!! :DD So many fun and cool adventure times with herbwitch!Shirayuki and shapeshifter!Obi and I loveddd the Mihaya interludes. The entire world is just so creative and seeing all the characters as different beings is so much fun. And their romance makes me SQUEEEEEEE.

Fav fanmade OC: I gotta give this one to Aki from I Should’ve Met You Yesterday. Number one precious bb with the MOST personality and he’s so much fun to read.

First AnS fic you read: The Automation Heart by @infinitelystrangemachinex | T The first chapter ALREADY had me wrecked. In general AND for this ship. I am also due for a reread. But I remember reading all the chapters that were published then in a single night just being like “oh my god this is so good. MOAR PLS” *clicks next chapter*

Favourite minor character: Garack Gazelt, particularly in The road to Clarines is gravel (M) by @codango​, (don’t go) making something out of nothing (T) by @sabraeal, and Dead Men Tell No Tales by @bubblesthemonsterartist (T) (the last which I need to go into the AO3 comments and yell about because OHHHH MY GOD). I always love seeing her. She’s badass and smart and amazing and every time I see her I go *heart eyes*

WIP: Damned by @ruleofexception​ | No rating ZOMBIES ARE SCARY BUT YOU KNOW WHAT’S ALSO SCARY??? BEING ALONE. AND HAVING YOUR FREEDOM TAKEN AWAY. But no really I love sooo many things about this fic, like the wonderful Found Family, tragic backstories and some amazing story arcs. I look forward to every time this updates.

Canon compliant: Knots by @krispy-kream | G ABSOLUTE FANDOM CLASSIC 10/10. I just love how it all starts as a game for him. Because why take it seriously when he can’t have her for real? AND THEN HE GOES OH SHIT, OH FUCK I’M IN TOO DEEP. And things just unfold wonderfully from there!!!!! Like it’s such a classic “Obi is wrecked and he is slowly losing it with how much he likes his Miss”.

One-shot: Life Eternal by @ruleofexception​ | No rating Devil!Obi and Angel!Shirayuki is just...THE MOST WONDERFUL OF CONCEPTS. And not only are they on opposite sides, working against each other to either make people’s lives better or worse, she becomes a literal devil’s GUARDIAN ANGEL. And that makes way for such an interesting story and I love its open end <3 It was a really fun fic!!

Rare pair: Cookies for Shikito (Shirayuki x Shikito) by @claudeng80​ | G PLS THIS FIC IS SO FLUFFY <3 <3 <3 They’re such a cute ship. Just two absolute cinnamon buns spending time together while Shirayuki makes cookies and Shikito PROTECCS. They’re so fluttery and adorable!!!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!!

AU you took a chance on and now love: Sic Semper Monstrum by @sabraeal​ | T I simply do not know many Things, including common source materials for AUs. Including Pacific Rim, which I still haven’t watched (but need to, PROBABLY) but I. LOVE. THIS. AU. The importance that is placed on intimacy and emotional connection with the entire concept of drifting and also just like, life in general??? I thoroughly enjoy (as always) the exploration of everyone’s thoughts and backstories and relationships and also psychologist!Shirayuki <3

Pre-canon: ashes in the mouth, char the tongue by @infinitelystrangemachinex | T Both a pre-canon (childhood friends) and future fic!! The summary explains it better than I could: “Obi finally takes Shirayuki back to Tanbarun, but she gets more than she bargained for.” This fic ruined me (in a good way) and kicked my heart out of my chest and it rolled into a gutter (in a good way) and I almost missed my tram stop the first time I read it because I was so wrapped up in it. It was a RIDE.

[vapcrwaves]

━♡ guess the 24 YEAR OLD JULY baby just arrived to dallyeog! it makes sense, because AOKI IMOJEN is just as BLAZING as the month of JULY. wait, why do they remind me of HIRAI MOMO? beyond that, they seemed SELF-RELIANT & BUOYANT upon first glance. i heard someone say they’re sort of INSURGENT & RECKLESS though. i hope they get acquainted here in COMPLEX # 3 / APARTMENT # 2 / FLOOR # 2 ; they seem to have a lot going on with HER job as TATTOO ARTIST / BASSIST. 

bonjour , y’all !! my name’s jade ( she/her , twenty-one , gmt+8 ) !! and i’m super excited to meet and write with everyone !! this is my spunky kid , imojen , and i hope you’ll come to enjoy her as much as i did writing everything about her :D if you wanna plot , do not fret because i’ll be dropping in everyone’s IMs hehe , but if you prefer to plot over at discord , don’t hesitate to tell me !! <3 

*   𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖌𝖚𝖊   ╱  ʙᴀꜱɪᴄꜱ   .

name  :  aoki imojen  nicknames  :  yoki , jen . age  :  twenty - four . birthday  :  july 27 , 1996 . zodiac  :  leo sun , aquarius moon , sagittarius rising . place of birth  :  tokyo , japan . currently living  :  seoul , south korea . occupation  :  tattoo artist , bassist . pronouns  :  she / her . orientation  :  bisexual biromantic . ethnicity  :  japanese .  spoken languages  :   japanese , korean , english .  character insp.  :  kat stratford from 10 things i hate about you , bridget vreeland from sisterhood of traveling pants , effy stonem from skins uk , young carol rhodes from gossip girl tv series , rhonda smith , mia’s backstory from if i stay . label  /  tropes  :  hoyden , icarian , insurgent , reveller , the rebellious spirit . pinterest  :  here .  aesthetics  :   scared of commitment , but has 7 tattoos. a habit of endlessly lighting a lighter. platform boots to boost your height. but then again, sneakers for comfort while running from the cops. forgetting to discard empty cigarette packets from your bomber jacket. spilling your fifth espresso onto your drawings and designs , maybe it’s time to sleep. a frightening look on your face which millennials like to call a resting bitch face. the heat ruining your collection of leather jackets. finding comfort in your friends who seem to understand your mood swings. having a pet cat who’s as feisty as you. spontaneous adventures live inside your head and your friends fall victim to those ideas. liking the rays of the sun more than the moon despite being a night owl. oversleeps anyway. trimming your bangs yourself because you couldn’t be bothered to go to the salon. overcooking your sunny side up eggs. sleeping to forget problems. drinking to forget problems. epitome of a ride or die. 

*  𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗    ╱  ᴘᴀꜱᴛ   .

aoki imojen was born to understand what it was to live a life with no structure. her father was part of a rising band in the 90s, toured all over small venues in japan that they slowly rose to a known local name, and imojen has seen all the chaos unfold from backstage in the arms of her mom. however, slowly transitioning into the year of 2000s, the economy was still struggling from the lost decade and the income from touring never sufficed for a growing family. imojen’s father was forced to leave the music scene with the help of her mother’s influence: “it’s time to be serious”; and work multiple jobs in order to fully provide for his first child and the another growing one inside his wife’s womb. 

growing up, imojen’s no stranger to music and her father loved to introduce rock music and bands to imojen’s upbringing. she adored b’z and the gazette, and it leaves no doubt that imojen’s father had been her greatest influence in life. as she grew older, not only did they share identical music preferences and influences, but imojen’s learned to play various instruments— the bass being her favorite. imojen’s also stemmed from that infamous reckless behavior his father’s known for back in the day, and when the teenage years came, so did the impetuous reputation begin. 

imojen and her mother aren’t exactly as close as she was with her father. in fact, their relationship was a toe out of the civil line. it got worse when imojen started to focus on the band she created with friends instead of school and late night practices turned to never returning home for a few days and having the audacity to blatantly lie when asked where she was when asked. it’s hard not to blame her mother when she assumed things for the worst. imojen’s gone quite defiant especially when she discovered that her and her father’s relationship had began to run askew. imojen blames her mother’s interference with her father’s music career as much as her father did, she loved him so much that she was completely blindsided to always take his side. and when the divorce papers came and went, imojen chose her father as she always would. 

her father got a job as a musician locally and eventually overseas, however, money didn’t come by so fast and easy initially. instead of going to university, imojen invested in learning the arts in tattoo design and worked as a tattoo artist to help with the bills. the pair finally thought to settle in korea when imojen’s father got a permanent job. and at this time, imojen has decided to try pursue a career as a musician as well, hoping that the thrill in her early band days are still well stored in her system. 

*  𝖘𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖉 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗    ╱  ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛ   .

imojen can never be satisfied of living in the same area for so long, or at least under the roof with the watchful eye of her father. work’s payed well and imojen decided to move out and get an apartment of her own. hence, she found dallyeog, parties almost every single day, drags everyone into spontaneous adventures, comes home terribly drunk and wakes up with a huge hangover—well, still pretty normal. aside from the norm, imojen working at the tattoo parlor and taking gigs at bars as a bassist, imojen’s investing in writing music as well. she hopes one day to finally finish at least one song she’s been procrastinating for far too long and convince her father to make them a rock duo instead, but a band of her own would fantastic too.  

*  𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖉 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗    ╱  ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ   .

imojen looks quite mean at first glance, and it doesn’t help that she’s indifferent towards anyone who isn’t part of already her friend. she doesn’t hate, hate is such a strong word, she simply doesn’t have the attention span for people that don’t interest her or she doesn’t know fully well to enjoy a conversation with.

honestly has the gina linetti energy “how was i supposed to know there’d be consequences for my actions” as she literally does anything she wants before her brain can even weigh the pros and cons to it.

imojen enjoys taking risks despite the relaxed attitude and seemingly nonchalant view in life. it might be a surprise to learn that she’s quite ambitious, but underneath, she does aim for the highs (both meanings) in life, except there isn’t exactly a time frame for those and would much rather pursue them steadily. 

everyone can depend on imojen to have a good time, or if someone needed a friend to vent to, she can surprisingly be all ears, but never follow her words of advice. she does mean well, it’s just that she doesn’t know what she’s saying half the time and is quite reckless,, like ask her to pick between two choices and she’ll advice you to take the riskier one bc “it’s fun don’t be a prude”.

she is more sympathetic than she let on. imojen’s not very vocal especially with her emotions and on what she exactly feels about other people’s situation. serious conversations? catch her yeet away from those. they render her uncomfortable, most especially if it is about her. however, seeing her friends gloomy doesn’t sit right with her that she does anything to make them crack a smile. 

believes that people should be left to roam free and that authority is useless and ruins the fun— hence why she’d always be caught defying them. yes, she uses her brain, but acts more towards intuition and what she felt like doing that day. so yes, she might loves setting her life on the line.

*   𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖍 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗   ╱  ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ .

plastic hearts   ╱   someone whom imojen shares a passion for music with. the both of you are like peas in a pod as you both are in the same wavelengths as each other. they may not have the same types of music, but open enough to share a plethora of music playlists.

angels like you   ╱   the typical bad-good influence trope wherein imojen’s reckless behavior and liberated thoughts on legalities have gotten your muse in various dangerous but fun adventures. on a flip, your muse may be the reason why imojen’s woken up at 8 in the morning, bright, well, and not hungover.

prisoner   ╱   an angsty and toxic relationship that imojen could not get enough of. everyone sees this partnership (romantic or platonic) of destructive nature, both of you may or may not know, but regardless it can never be broke off no matter how hard both try. 

gimme what i want   ╱   the typical fwb relationship, we can add spice to it, but on the base that’s the idea. 

night crawling   ╱   imojen’s ride or die, the person she would instantly run to for an adventure, midnight strolls, alcohol escapades, and vandalism. but as things you both do burst into haywire, you’re both aren’t afraid to be open to each other too and spill secrets or bodies hidden in the closet. 

midnight sky   ╱   perhaps a new acquaintance?? friend?? that doesn’t exactly have a first good impression of imojen?? maybe vomited on your muse the first time they met, or jen was really mean for no reason under the influence of alcohol?? she’s chaotic so perhaps it wasn’t a good first meeting. 

bad karma   ╱   imojen hasn’t been exactly an angel all her life, and perhaps karma has run around to bite her in her ass. your muse might’ve been somebody who hurt imojen; either a terrible break up or severing trust, let’s explore :D 

golden g string    ╱   a band :D maybe nothing too serious, just a group of pals playing and making music together :D  or maybe the group's been playing gigs for awhile now and wants to head into the big leagues :D

honestly im so down with anything so !!!!!!

[another-sonic-blog]

The Fanfictioner

Synopsis: Amy Rose secretly writes fanfiction out of the not so famous 'Sonic Boom' show in which she and her friends are the main actors. Everything was fine, filming the show and then writing. However, everything changed when the famous actor, Shadow the Hedgehog, showed up to participate in the show. Just like Amy, Shadow hides a secret. He loves to read fanfiction but will never admit that out loud. Shadow one day stumbles upon Amy's fanfiction and without knowing, they develop a friendly bound over comments, likes and messages of support. On work, Shadow and Amy have a normal co-worker relationship that will never develop more than that. However, one night, they hang out together due to special circumstances.A few days later, Shadow starts to read the new fanfiction that his favorite author published. As he keeps reading, he is starting to realize this person was writing about something personal that happened between him and Amy. How did this author know with so much detail what happened between them?

I want to thank @jhojuju  for drawing content that inspired me to write this story! If you haven't done so already, you should check out the artist's art!

ShadAmy 6K500 (DRAFT)

The Fanfictioner

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The moon was above them and although it was a cold night, they didn't care. Sonic got closer to Amy, emeralds eyes shone brightly with love and desire. He caressed her as he softly placed his hands around her face, pulling her closer to him. Amy licked her lips as they begged to be touched by the blue blur. They have fought to be together for a long time and now nothing was stopping them. Finally, they could express and show their love to the world with no restrictions, with complete freedom. Sonic got closer to his lover, their lips just a few centimeters away and then-

"Amy, what are you writing?"

The pink hedgehog slammed shut her laptop as she mentally cursed herself for not being more delicate. Today was filming day but she promises her followers that she was going to update a new chapter of 'Falling Petals' by tonight. Of course, like the good fanfic writer that she was, she always kept her promises.

Amy shifted her body from the chair to look at the standing blue hedgehog behind her. She tried to hide the panic on her face but it seemed like this picked Sonic's interest even more.

"Um... my shopping list?" That came out more like a question than a statement. Once again, she cursed under her breath because although Sonic wasn't the smartest hedgehog out there, he wasn't dumb either.

"Then why are you acting so ... strange?"

Sonic had the sincerest of interest. He cared for the pink one and her recent actions had just baffled him. Recently Amy was acting quite strangely. Before Sonic was free to use her laptop whenever he wanted and now, she kept it to herself and hid it as her life depended on it. The blue bur knew that Amy likes to write from time to time but now? Sonic found her writing whenever he visited her at her house. She would be checking her phone constantly and even smiled as she typed on it. The thought had crossed his mind that maybe Amy was 'seeing' someone and the thought alone just made him pay more attention to her.

"Are you sure-"

"Everyone get on ready on set!"

Amy was saved by the show's director once again. She smiled awkwardly at her blue friend as she placed her laptop on her chair. She heard Sonic sigh in defeat and Amy felt a little bit bad that she made her friend and love interest worried. However, she just couldn't go to him and say 'Hey, I know I have been acting strange but it's because I am writing fanfiction of Sonic Boom and I don't want you to think I am weird.'

Amy greeted everyone as she stepped on set. The camera, lighting crew and just every who crossed her path. Of course, her friends were there as well looking as fresh as they could be. They were outdoors and currently they were filming Sonic Boom's most recent and most wanted episode 52 of season 1.

"Hey, guys! Amy greeted her friends, Sticks, Knuckles, and Tails as they waved their hands from right to left, Sonic followed from behind.

Amy's attention was focused on the red echidna who had sleepy eyes. This was very strange because Amy knew that Knuckles was one who appreciated his sleep especially because he always woke up early morning to go workout.

"Hey Knuckles, you alright?" Amy asked. "You look very sleepy.

Knuckles let out a yawn as he stretched his body. "I didn't sleep much I was binge reading this book I found online and-

"WHERE IN CHAOS IS SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG?" The director of the show screamed in desperation as everyone was ready to go but the star of today's episode.

" I still can't believe they hired Shadow the Hedgehog to do this roll." Tails said with a bit of amusement in his voice. "I mean he is the same guy who appeared in Chao in Space 2."

"And in Anti-Vengers the Final Game," Sticks added.

"And in Fast and the Glorious 8," said Knuckles.

"It makes me wonder if Sonic Boom produces that much money for them to pay someone like him," Amy looked from side to side, in hopes that the black hedgehog would appear. She hasn't met him yet and if she was completely honest, she looking forward to his approval.

"He is not that big of a deal," Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I mean, I was in Chao in Space 2 as well."

"Yeah, as a side character. Shadow was actually the protagonist." Tails was saying this because it was the truth and not to annoy his blue friend. However, it was quite funny to see Sonic jealous over at Shadow the Hedgehog's accomplishments. Tails were lowkey a fanboy of the black hedgehog, although he would never admit that out loud.

"What is all of this fuzz about? I am right here,"

Finally, the hedgehog that everyone was waiting for arrived. He had an energy drink on his right hand and in one gulp he drank all of it. He then turned around to give it to his assistant who quickly took the can away from him. He stepped on the set where the rest of 'Team Sonic' waited to start.

"Mr. Hedgehog, nice to meet you!" Tails said as he extended out his hand, shaking a little due to the excitement. "I am Tails Miles Prower and I-"

"Yeah, I know who you are," Shadow said with a monotone voice.

The yellow fox leaned into Amy's ear and he whispered, 'Did you hear that Amy? He knows me.’

"You are the only one who has ... descent acting skills," Shadow let out mocking laughter as he looked down on the rest of the 'actors.'

Everyone looked at him, offended at his comment. It seems like the rumors that the black hedgehog had a prepotent personality was true.

"Says the one who can only portray edgy characters."

Everyone turned to look at Amy in disbelief. Actually, she had thought of that in her head but in one way or another, it came out of her mouth. The set was filled with silence until Sonic let out a big laugh and wrapped his right arm around Amy's shoulder.

"That was a good one Ames!" Sonic said.

Shadow wasn't expecting that from the pink hedgehog in front of him. Who did she think she was? She was no one compared to the great acting career he has had. Of course, he wasn't going down without a fight.

"My apologies, I don't accept criticism from people who can't even act," Shadow replied.

"Well maybe if you did, you would get a different type of role from time to time," Amy replied.

By now Team Sonic was static. There was so much tension between the two and they had only met two seconds ago. Vermillion eyes met emerald ones and neither one of them wanted to quit the internal battle.

Shadow the Hedgehog had to admit, this was interesting.

"Shadow!" Sonic Boom's director interrupted the moment as he had finally eyed the black hedgehog. "You are late! What were you doing?"

Mia, a brown girl hedgehog, and Shadow's assistant was watching the scene unfold from afar. She watched the director seated on his high chair and to prevent Shadow from getting scolded, she answered on his behalf.

"He didn't get enough sleep yesterday sir-" Mia said loud enough but the director, who was an old and strict monkey, raised his hand and interrupted her.

"I want him to tell him,"

In all honesty, if it wasn't because he was the director, Shadow would have said something offensive. However, the black hedgehog always had a sense of responsibility and respect towards his job and especially to the director.

Shadow sighed and looked up to the director, "I was up all night on my phone ... reading."

"Hey, me too!" Knuckles said in surprise. "I was reading this really good story about our show and-"

"I am sure that whatever you were reading doesn't compare to what I was reading," Shadow interrupted him and rolled his eyes

The director faced palmed himself and loudly he said, "I don't care! Just make sure this doesn't happen again, Mr. Hedgehog."

Shadow couldn't say anything more. It was his first day on set and he almost wanted to leave ... almost.

"Yes, sir."

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The day ended worse than Amy expected. Shadow wasn't only prepotent, he was mean, rude and jerk. He took in every opportunity he had to bully and tease the hell at out of Amy. The black hedgehog mocked her acting, made fun of her lines and bumped into her multiple times.

And today has only been the first day of filming for this month's episode. Good thing that filming only took around two weeks to complete due that the episodes were short. They started every first day of the month. Today was September 1, they will finish on September 14 and they will have the rest of the month free. Thirteen more days to go, thirteen more days that she had to endure Shadow's presence on set.

She was quite disappointed when she found out who the real Shadow was. Just like her friend, Tails, Amy was secretly a fan of the acting he has done in the past. Although his roles were kind of repetitive, his acting was always exceptional. Even today, his acting techniques were really good, she even liked the character he was portraying.

Amy stretched her back as had finally reached the insides of her home. During today's break, she was able to finish the last chapter of 'Falling Petals' and to make it extra special, she wrote a 20 thousand final chapter. This chapter was filled with a lot of drama, romance, and fights which will lead to the second book. She couldn't wait to just upload it to her page so her readers will enjoy and maybe cry a little with her writing.

After showering and changing to her pajamas, Amy comfortably laid on her bed with her computer on her legs. She logged into fanfiction.com where she had already hundredth of comments in her work, reading for her to read. She always made sure to reply to them whenever she had the chance. The pink hedgehog even had created a bond with a couple of people who always commented on her fanfics. She scrolled down the comment section as she replied to them and a familiar username came into her screen.

"I've following your work since I stumbled upon 'Blue Rose' and in all honesty, you are the best fanfiction writer out there. Every story you publish is great and you develop the characters amazingly well. Yesterday, I was re-reading all 30 previous chapters of 'Falling Petals' and I got late to work but it was worth it. I can't wait to read the final chapter tonight."

By: The Fanfictioner

Amy smiled to herself, she was always happy to read comments and it was one of the few things that kept her going through the day. She took a few moments to think about what to write and finally she began to type.

"This means a lot to me. 'Blue Rose' was the first story I published and I am really happy you still enjoy it. I appreciate you a lot, I see that you always like and comment on my work. I'll keep working hard for you and my other readers. I hope you like the last chapter of 'Falling Petals' ... Thank you!"

By: A Rose Without Thorns

After she finished typing and hitting 'Enter', our adorable pink hedgie was now ready to publish the last chapter of her latest work. She uploads her writing file from her laptop, publishes it and waits for her reader's reaction. Amy closes her laptop and places it next to her, closing her eyes, the pink hedgehog drifted into sleep.

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"CAN YOU GUYS BELIEVE SONIC LEFT AMY TO GO SAVE THE WORLD?!" Knuckles, who has his bubbly self again was walking right and left on the set. "AFTER EVERYTHING THEY WENT THROUGH, HE LEAVES!"

"Knuckles, I am right here," Sonic said as he read a magazine. It was early morning and 'Team Sonic' was waiting for everyone to arrive. "Also, I am not going anywhere. I have to save enough folks on the Island as it is."

"I am not talking about you! I am talking about the Sonic on the story I am reading!" Knuckles replied again. "The writer said that they will punish a second book, so I have hope that they will end up together."

Amy, who was sitting on the actor's small circle, was interested in what Knuckles were reading. Especially since it seemed like he read the last chapter of her most recent work.

"Out of curiosity," Amy said. "What are you doing?"

"I read 'Falling Petals' by A Rose Without Thorns in fanfiction.com," Knuckles replied. "I just love their works is so good!"

Amy hid her evident blush by taking a sip of her coffee.

"What if Knuckles is TheFanfictioner? He did say that he stayed up all night reading and his comment right now sounds a bit similar to the one of last night."

"Wait, fanfiction.com?" Tails who was quietly drinking tea finally spoke up. "You read fanfiction?"

"I do," Knuckles said, still not seating down on his chair. "We need to support fans that create free content for others and besides ... Some of these writers are way better than the ones we have here."

"That, I do believe," Sticks puts down 'Theories Magazine', the issue of this month was government space theories. She was reading a very interesting story about a project that was created on a space colony and it was shut down due that scientists created a powerful ultimate life form.

"Still, it's lame," Sonic said, still not looking at his friends directly. "I understand your curiosity Knuckles, but I still think it's a bit weird. Especially the writer ... It's so cringy."

"It's not! Look!" Knuckles pull out his phone and shoved into Sonic's face, making drop the magazine that he was reading. "Read the first chapter! It's really good!"

The blue bur leaned his head a little, as he tried to catch a glimpse of Knuckle's phone. He read the first lines of the story and a smirk crossed his face. He grabbed Knuckle's phone and stood up from his seat.

"Although I was always pushed away by him, Sonic the Hedgehog was the only hedgehog that I ever wanted." Sonic made his voice sound in a higher pitch, pretending to be the female hedgehog. "His green eyes, his strong form, and heroic personality were some of the things that made me fall in love with him."

Tails and Sticks began to laugh. Even Knuckles who wasn't laughing at the story itself, but at Sonic's overly bad acting, let out a giggle or two.

"See? This is so bad!" Sonic said as he pointed to Knuckles' phone.

The blue one noticed that Amy was awfully quiet, just there, seating on her chair. As to look for her approval, Sonic asked, "Don't you think this is lame Amy? I mean just that fact that you love is ridiculous enough!"

"Yeah, haha," Amy looked down to the floor, as she tried to hide her evident embarrassment. "It is pathetic."

She had never felt such embarrassment before. When she stared this was because she enjoyed writing and loved to write about the Sonic Boom characters. However, looking at her peer's reaction made her wonder. They were the ones who interpreted the characters and they thought it was lame. Maybe, she wasn't as good of a writer as she thinks she was. Doubt filled her mind and before she could say to do anything else, Knuckles was jumped to say something.

"You all are just uncultured," Knuckled said as he took his phone away from Sonic's grasp "You guys will never know how deep and life-changing 'Falling Petals' is until you read it-"

"Will everyone just shut up?"

The prince of dark and gloom appeared and to say that he looked bad was an understatement. Shadow the Hedgehog had dark circles under his red eyes. He arched his back and his stance was way too weak. He looked sick even. Shadow walked towards his chair and sat down with a cup of black coffee on his hand.

"Well, did someone forget to read today's script?" Sonic said mockingly.

"I had a very emotionally draining experience last night, I don't need your jokes at this moment," the black hedgehog replied. He was wearing a black leather jacket and out of one of the pockets, he pulled out some shades and puts them on.

"It wasn't a joke," said Sonic. "There was a change in plans yesterday and we are supposed to record another scene today, did you read your script?"

At that moment, Shadow thanked Chaos that he was wearing shades because otherwise, everyone would have seen his confused face.

Just like he sat down on his chair, he stood up.

"I need to talk to my manager."

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It was already 11 in the morning and they still haven't started filming. At this rate, they were just going to lose the day. It was September and the sunlight was running out short. Sonic Team was already eager to start but there was no sign of the director. Even less Shadow.

"Everyone takes one-hour break, come back at 12 P.M." the show director appeared. He had a tired face one that showed that he was done with his job.

The director came into the circle of actors and approached Amy directly.

"Ms. Rose, I need to speak to you ... Privately," he said as he made a motion to follow him.

"Of course, Mr. Johnson," the pink hedgehog stood from her chair and followed the old monkey. Once again, they were supposed to be filming outdoors. They had closed a small part of Hedgehog Village so they could film. Her friends were on the other side while Amy and Mr. Johnson had already placed themselves behind the camera crew to get some privacy.

"Ms. Rose, I need a favor," Mr. Johnson said. Amy nodded, not expecting that from the director. "I need you to stay here and help Mr. Shadow the Hedgehog finish memorize his script. I know you are the best at that."

Great, this is what she needed. To spend her break time with Shadow, the rudest hedgehog she has ever known. She knew that this wasn't really a favor but part of her job and she normally wouldn't have a mind. Amy was glad to help her friends memorize their scripts but Shadow? He was far from being her friend.

"I'll do it but, can I ask something?" Amy asked.

"Go ahead."

"Why is he here? Don't get me wrong but Sonic Boom doesn't seem like the type of show that an actor of his caliber would want to do."

The old monkey sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. "To be honest I don't even know either ... He just came in saying that he wanted to play a role in the show. He is charging us half the price he normally charges and this will definitely increase the rating of the show ... I know he doesn't have the best personality but for everyone's sake ... Just be nice to him."

Amy nodded. She knew that Shadow was hard to deal with, but just like the director said, having the black hedgehog on the show will help everyone. More ranting equals more money. Also, there was a small part of Shadow that intrigued Amy. Why would he want to be in this show if he could literally be in anything he wanted? Maybe if she could make him open up a little can find out.

The pink hedgehog looked back at her friends who were laughing again at her fanfiction as she saw that Sonic was once again holding up Knuckle's phone. Spending time with Shadow didn't seem so bad now.

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It took all the strength in the world to come to terms with herself. Our pink hedgehog was backing out of the previously made decision as she waited outside Shadow's dressing room. She knocked once and she wished for Chaos that whatever Shadow was doing will stop him from opening the door. Amy looked around nervously, it wasn't like she was afraid of the black hedgehog, well maybe just a tiny bit. She was more scared of having to go through an awkward situation or saying something that might cost her head. In the coming steps of the were heard by the pink one and in a blink of an eye, Shadow was in front of her holding the door open for her to step in. She looked at him with an awkward smile on her face as she made her way in, in a sense, it was her way of greeting him. Yesterday, they didn't have the best of days but maybe Amy could make up for that by helping him. As she made her way in, she realized that his dressing room was way fancier than hers. All black, a bed, a small kitchen, and even a small dining room. For all, she knew this could a small house.

"So," Amy pushed her thoughts away as she sat down on the small dining table. "Today's scene we are going to be introducing your character ... do you know any of the script yet?"

"Not really, I wasn't notified about today's change and I didn't have time yesterday, " Shadow sat down on the chair facing Amy.

"No worries, change in plans happen a lot around here so it's best if you get used to it now," the pink hedgehog kept her eyes glued to the script. "Alright, your dialogue start on page seven so let's go from there. If we can't finish memorizing the script then we can improvise-"

"Why are you helping me?"

The question took Amy by surprise, finally, she looked at the black hedgehog in front of her who had a monotone look on his face. His right hand served as support for his face as it delicately rested on his right cheek. The sunlight coming from the window highlighted Shadow's feature and especially his eyes. Vermillion eyes studied her deeply and Amy could see why he was so popular with the ladies.

"To be honest, because they asked me to and ..." Amy sighed as she shook away the thought. "Because a part of me wants to start again with you"

"We didn't have a good start, didn't we?" Shadow looked outside the window as if he in deep thought. Three seconds pass in which Amy thought it had been minutes, a very unpleasant feeling ran down her spine. She wanted to end with the awkwardness but Shadow beat her to it.

"There's no way I am going to memorize all 50 pages in one hour," Shadow said as he looked back to look at the pink hedgehog.

"Then improvise!" Amy replied. "This is your character, create your own dialogue."

"I don't know who this character is! And I am sure not even the writers know," Shadow stood up from the chair and walked towards the small bed that was across the dining table.

Amy looked over at the black hedgehog who was resting comfortably on his bed.

"Then even better! Make it your own!" Amy raised her voice a little. "Look, for what I know your character, 'Shadow' is mysterious and he may come off as rude but he actually cares for others. He just doesn't know how to properly show it."

Shadow looked over to Amy and with a plain expression he asked, "Meaning?"

Amy stood up from her chair and placed herself in front of the black and red striped hedgehog. She looked at him as she placed her hands on her waist. "Meaning that maybe he had a tragic past, something that explains his personality. It makes him an interesting character ... You can work something from that."

"I don't know, doesn't it sound too-"

Shadow would have never expected what happened next. At one moment, he was lying peacefully on his bed. The next moment, he was still lying peacefully on his bed but the difference was that Amy was on top of him. Her hands were placed on the sides of his head. Her legs were slightly touching his as she had positioned them to the side of his.

"You need to stop!" Amy said, her face close very close to Shadow's. "You have beaten up my friends! What are you after us?"

Shadow blinked multiples times. First, nothing made sense but his brain connected the dots. This was similar to the scene he read on the script. Where the Sonic pinned him down to the ground after a fight. He was pressured and he only had a few seconds, what should he respond?

"I am not after you nor your friends! I am trying to complete my mission and you are just on the way!"

A few seconds passed in which Amy and Shadow only stared at each other's eyes. Amy was looking at him, surprised that he actually followed along with her plan. And Shadow? Where he was starting to get lost. Lost in the pink one's emerald eyes and for a small fraction of a second, he had forgotten where he was.

"That was good!" Amy said as she made Shadow wake up from his trance. "It's a bit vague but that leaves up to interpretation and further build-up for the story."

The pink hedgehog moved away and took a sit on the edge of Shadow's bed. She didn't think too much about it. However, Shadow couldn't let go of that thought that easily.

"You are a strange one," Shadow said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, next to the pink one. "Last time someone confronted me like that was Rouge and it was a different circumstance."

"Rouge as ..." Amy gulped. " Rouge the Bat? The famous actress?"

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"Of course, I do! she is the best actress of our times! She is great!" Amy said excitedly. Shadow noticed that Amy's tail was wiggling from side to side, it was something that he would normally make fun of but he had to admit that it is cute on her.

At that moment, Amy remembered a couple of days ago she was reading a celebrities’ magazine. There was a rumor saying that Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat were in a secret relationship. She wanted to ask him about it but decided not to since that would be crossing the boundaries. Maybe she would ask ... Later on, if they ever get to be that open with each other.  

"Anyways," Amy turned around to look at Shadow, who was once again looking at her with his vermillion eyes. "Should we keep practicing some more?"

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 Filming the scene did not only go great but Shadow got praised all from everyone after the shooting. Even Sonic had to admit that he had done a good job and Mr. Johnson went personally to Shadow and thanked him for his commitment to his character. Every time this happened, Shadow looked back at Amy and gave her a small smile to acknowledge her help. He didn't exactly thank her, but Amy knew this was the best thing she could get from him.

More days like this came. In two weeks, Team Sonic had slowly made up their minds that Shadow was going to be sticking around for some time. There was still some conflict from time to time but it wasn't anything that they couldn't handle. The black hedgehog would even 'compliment' the other members once in a while. 'Not half bad', 'Could be better but it wasn't horrible', 'If you are going to say that, at least keep your head up. It will make you look more credible.'

Shadow had slowly made his way into the Sonic Boom family and nobody was complaining. He still had his prepotency and pride, which he would show more often than his soft side. But at least he was trying. Amy Rose didn't care now. He wasn't interfering with her job nor she was interfering with his. They didn't have much communication since she helped him improvise. Maybe just the casual, 'Is there any coffee?' and a 'Yes, it's over there.'

It was the last day of filming and as usual, Amy said goodbye to everyone on set. She won't be seeing them until the next month so she made sure she got to say her goodbyes to every last one of them. Finally, her friends were last. She didn't care too much about saying goodbye to them because she knew she will seem them in the next couple of days. Probably when Eggman is attacking or something like that. Strange enough, Eggman never attacked them on filming days, it was as if he knew and didn't want to ruin their day on purpose.

"I say we should go to the beach soon," Knuckles said.

"I am down," Tails said and Sticks nodded in agreement.

"Same," Sonic was then quick to turn around and face Amy who seemed to look at something or rather someone else. In hopes that she will give him some attention, Sonic raised his voice a little. "What about you Ames? Do you want to go to the beach?"

"What about Shadow?"

Amy's response wasn't the answer Sonic was looking for and instead, he proceeded to walk towards the pink hedgehog and placed his arm around her shoulder in hopes to comfort her. "I don't think he is the type to go to the beach."

"Should we at least invite him?" Amy said, still looking away. She was a bit embarrassed that Sonic was doing this more and more often. "I mean just out of courtesy ...It doesn't matter if he says no."

"I guess if you want to you can do that but ..." the blue one faced the direction that Amy was looking at. His green eyes met the black figure and a small hint of jealousy treated overtake the blue blur seeing that Amy was giving too much attention to Shadow. "You are still coming with us, right?"

The pink hedgehog had finally faced her blue hero and saw a small smile placed on his lips. She returned it and kindly she said, 'Of course!'

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Shadow the Hedgehog was glad that the filming was done. A part of him was enjoying filming for this low-quality show but he still felt relieved that this was over ... for now. He walked outside the set where his beautiful black motorcycle waited for him. Today was going to be a relaxing night. Just him, a glass of wine and re-reading some of his favorite stories.

"Hey, Shadow!"

The black hedgehog recognized that voice, he turned around and met a running pink hedgie running towards him. Almost out of breath as if she had been looking for him everywhere. When she finally reached him, she took a few seconds to get air back into her lungs. Shadow watched every single moment of her and waited until she was ready to speak again.

"This month's episode is coming out next week. To celebrate the launching, my friends and I are going to the beach," Amy looked around, a bit nervous to look at him in the eyes. "I was wondering, I mean, we were wondering if you wanted to join us?"

Alright, this was something he had never experienced before. He was usually invited by other acting peers to go to parties and formal get-togethers where a large group of people was present. However, he had never been invited to such an 'intimate' activity before. Going to the beach? As for playing volleyball together? As building sandcastles? Doing a cookout and eating together after playing in the water?

Was Amy Rose that crazy?

"My apologies," Shadow said. "I am not interested in such things."

Amy mentally sighed in relieve, her job here was done. "It's alright! I won't see you for a while so if you need a friend, hit me up. I am one phone call away."

The rose hedgehog was already making her way out, she walked a few steps away until she felt something small hit her head.

She turned around again to face Shadow who was proudly playing with pebbles on his hand. "You said to hit you up if I need a friend."

Amy didn't know how to react to that. It was clever and even sweet of him. However, Amy didn't know until what extent he meant his words or he was just saying it to tease her.

But she was about to find out.

"Well," Amy walked towards the black hedgehog, a small smirk decorated her face. She wasn't completely doing this, but she still decided to give it a try. She mounted Shadow's bike and placed her hands on the accelerator and the break. "I can be your friend right now."

It was very interesting, the strange dynamic that the two had. Shadow wasn't even complaining which even surprised him. He didn't let just anyone ride his bike, but if it was the pink hedgehog then maybe he could make an exception.

Her character and persona were just very intriguing to him. She was a simple hedgehog, very plain looking but still, there was something about her that attracted him to her.

"Very well then," Shadow said as he took a sit on his motorcycle. He placed his hands delicately on the pink hedgehog’s hip, trying to touch as little as he could. They were close but Amy didn't seem to mind the contact at all. "Where to next?"

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That night Amy and Shadow didn't speak a word. Nothing else was said as they only enjoyed each other's company in silence. Amy took Shadow across the island to see things he had never seen before. The moon provided enough light for them to fully appreciate the beauty of the forests, beaches, and even small villages. Amy let out a small smile whenever Shadow got excited about the smallest things. Did he see a pretty flower? His ears would move excitedly. Did he see a pretty view? Again, his ears. Did he try a fruit that he liked? Ears. He was very expressive with them and Amy was found of such a cute act.

When their time as running out, Amy drove to her house. She thanked Shadow for the night and a sense of her told her that Shadow didn't want to say goodbye just yet.

She climbed out of the motorcycle and watched Shadow take her previous seat. The pink hedgehog was ready to enter her house but before, she had to properly say goodbye to those vermillion eyes.

"I'll see you next month Shadow," Amy said as she kept eye contact with the black one. "I hope you enjoy this month's chapter."

"Chapter?"

Holy shit.

"Episode! I meant to say, I hope you enjoy this month's episode!"

Amy cursed mentally at the fanfiction writer inside of her who was so used to saying 'I hope you enjoy this chapter.'

"I will ... I believe," Shadow replied.

"Well, you are a great actor," Amy said quickly. "Whatever you are on it, I am sure it will be great."

Her words weren't meant to come out of her mouth so easily. She said them so naturally that it caught her and Shadow in surprise. The pink hedgehog looked around nervously as she tried to hide the evident blush on her face. Amy wanted to disappear, to get inside her house and just start writing the new fanfiction she had in mind.

A few seconds in which no one said a word until Shadow decided to break the silence.

"It will be great ..." Shadow said as he turned on his bike again, ready to leave. "Because you helped me along the way."

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This month's episode of Sonic Boom wasn't great ... it was fantastic. People were just loving the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog into the story. After a few hours of being aired, people were already talking about it their social media and other types of platforms. Amy even had to admit that if it wasn't because she was already in love with the blue bur, she might have been a Shadow fangirl. He acted amazingly well and he made his character his which was very hard to compel.

Right now, the pink hedgehog was comfortably sitting on her sofa, as the TV was on and she was scrolling to her fanfiction web page. Tomorrow she was going to the beach with her friends and maybe she could take her laptop with her to finish some writing.

An idea crossed her mind and to celebrate the brand-new episode of Sonic's Boom, she decided to open up prompt requests.

She began to type on her laptop.

"Sonic Boom's new episode was really good, wasn't it? To celebrate today's episode, I'll be opening up prompt requests! Send it right away and I'll answer as soon as I can!"

By: A Rose Without Thorns

The pink hedgehog clicked 'Enter' and soon after she began to receive multiple notifications. She opened one from a username she clearly recognized. This person was a long and loyal follower of her and it was now her personal goal to give them the best story they could even ask for.

However, her heart skipped a bit when she read the prompt request.

"As I watched this recent Sonic Boom episode, I realized that Shadow and Amy's characters have great potential to develop a relationship. Can I request a story where Shadow and Amy fall in love? Thank you."

By: The Fanfictioner

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A/N:  Can you all believe this is the first Sonic Boom AU I’ve written since my first story ‘First Impressions’? That was probably the longest synopsis I have ever written as well lol and still it’s not even half what this story will be about. I am honestly very excited to write this. I was thinking that this story could have around 10 chapters with 10K words in each chapter (I may look for beta readers, because this a lot of work) This one is barely 6K500 because this is a draft.

Still, I wanted to lay out some ideas with this and in the actual story, some things could change.

I may work on this again after I finish writing the prompt request I have left. I don't know you guys tell me if you would like some more. If I do, this story will probably only be available of Ao3 (Because I am planning to change there really soon) Anyways, thank you again for reading! Until next time!

[steebharringt0n]

sanctuary - part 5

summary: Subject 001. That’s what you’ve been called your whole life. You’ve known nothing but pain, violence, and isolation. You were their greatest secret weapon, but when your final mission is to ensure the end of the universe, you escape to Hawkins, Indiana to team up with Eleven and to put an end to all this chaos, once and for all - you just never expected to fall in love with the resident bad boy along the way.

rating: m

pairing: billy hargrove x reader

warning: graphic violence, slurs, abuse, curse words.

A/N: I am still completely floored by all your responses, once again thank you, thank you, thank you. PLEASE NOTE! I could not tag some of you! I think you have to update your tumblr settings to allow me to tag you! So if you asked me to tag you and you are not in this list, please check your tumblr settings!

tagged list: @thefandomzoneisdangerous @jujurandy @littlebrownngirl @harduy @art-flirt @bish-ima-clown @lynnskata @snakelaufeyson @creativedogs @nightshade7117 @letsloveimagines @sorry-didnt-mean-to-stab-you @sighsophiia @blackravena @universefinds @jesus-jagiya @justatadbonkers @thedarkartsstuff @asheseiler @rad-lad-gone-mad @sophiajiyeon @sweetamren @frostygilbert @hufflepuff-writings @strangerchalamet @frenchzodiacgirl @sadgirlnumber92899 @all-american-fangirl @eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy @solfolgi @magnitude101999

001. prologue 002. firestarter 003. spitfire 004. friend

--- 005. sister

“Mike can you please pass the marshmallows?”

Eleven sighed, looking at her boyfriend - who was fully engrossed in telling a story to Will - across the campfire.

“Mike?”

No answer.

Max nudged her on the side, “Just use your powers - he’s too caught up in telling Will what happened in gym last week - which by the way was totally gross” Max shuddered at the story, remembering what Lucas had told her in very graphic detail. Eleven nodded at Max, she turned her attention to the bag of marshmallows by Mike’s leg, staring at it in complete concentration. She inhaled sharply, and the bag started to move towards her. She felt her nose start to trickle with blood as Max quickly grabbed a napkin and handed it to her.

Mike stopped mid-story, noticing the floating back of marshmallows out of the corner of his eye, and turned his attention to his girlfriend, frowning, “Hey, I could have gotten that for you”

“She called your name like 3 times nimrod” Max spoke with a dry tone. 

Eleven quickly dabbed away at her nose, catching the bag of marshmallows as they landed in her hand. “It’s okay Mike, I didn’t want to interrupt you”

“Hey, hey hey! What did we say about using your powers! This is a strictly no power camping trip!” Hopper suddenly thundered, a tinge of anger in his voice. He appeared from one of the 3 tents that surrounded the campfire. Eleven looked up at her father, giving him an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry Hop” she quietly spoke. 

He sat down next to her, taking the bag of marshmallows from her lap and shoving one in his mouth. “This is supposed to be a relaxing weekend with your friends alright?” his tone much more calm with his daughter.

Eleven nodded quietly, taking the bag back from Hopper’s lap and grabbing a marshmallow and shoving one on her stick. She grabbed the stick and outstretched her hand so that the marshmallow hovered right above the flame.

“Careful El, don’t put it too much in the fire or it’ll burn and burnt marshmallows are not tasty” Mike chided in.

“Hey, hey, hey! Guess who’s back with dinner!” a voice suddenly announced from the trees behind Mike and Will. Out of the darkness appeared Steve, Lucas and Dustin, a triumphant smile on their faces. They all had fishing rods under their arms, but Steve was carrying a large cooler. He placed it near the fireplace, landing with a loud thud.

“Oh shit, you guys actually caught something?!” Max exclaimed, walking over and opening the cooler.

“Why must you always doubt us Max?” Lucas huffed, taking a seat next Mike.

“Because you’re boys, and boys are always to be doubted” she retorted back. She glanced into the cooler and saw 4 large cods. She loved her friends - her guy friends, but she would get sick of their nonsense every now and then. She loved that she found a friend in Eleven. Although Eleven was still learning about the outside world, she didn’t mind teaching her a thing or two.

“Okay, wow rude Max, I’ve been nothing but nice to you” Steve interjected, taking a seat next to Hopper and grabbing a stick near the fire. He reached over Hopper’s lap and grabbed the bag of marshmallows out of Eleven’s lap, earning him a dirty look from her.

“You know you could have, asked her for the bag right?” Hopper stated.

Steve shrugged, shoving 3 marshmallows in his mouth, “This is quicker”

Max scoffed, “And you wonder why you don’t have a girlfriend”

“Okay one, ow, two aren’t you like 12? What do you know about boys?” Steve questioned, shoving more marshmallows in his mouth.

“Uh one, I’m 14, and two I’ve been dating Lucas for the past couple of months, I know plenty about boys … “ she trailed off, looking over to Lucas and Dustin who were engaging in a heated game of Chubby Bunny, shoving as many marshmallows they could in their mouth. Max rolled her eyes, “See what I mean?” she gestured over to them.

“Hey, hey! Idiots! Stop shoving marshmallows in your mouth, you’re going to choke!” Hopper exclaimed, getting up from his seat and snatching the extra bag of marshmallows off of Lucas’s lap. The two boys frowned, but were hard to take serious since their cheeks were all puffed up from all the marshmallows shoved in there. 

Eleven quietly stood up and walked over to Will, who was surveying the chaos unfolding around them. Eleven liked Will, she enjoyed his calm presence. It was refreshing considering that Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Max could all be wildcards when they wanted. But not Will, he was always quiet, always standing in the background. Eleven took a seat next to him, a soft smile on her face as she adjusted her shirt.

“It’s nice isn’t it? To be away from it all for a bit” Will commented to her, continuing to watch as Max and Steve bicker, and Hopper scold Lucas and Dustin.

Eleven nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, “Yes … I like being with friends, outside, I don’t have to hide”

Will nodded. He had been through a lot these last couple of months. With the mind-flayer taking over his body, Joyce though it’d be a perfect idea to go camping with his friends. It would be a good way for him to reset with those closest to him. That didn’t stop his nightmares though. His PTSD would occasionally reappear in the smallest way. Whether it be something tickling his neck, or a cold draft through his bedroom. He always felt like he was being watched by it - waiting for the right time to reappear and strike again.

“Have you been doing okay Will?” Eleven asked, turning her gaze to the small boy.

Will shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve been okay, it’s been a couple of rough nights here and there but - “

Will froze.

His face suddenly paled, his eyes went round as he pressed his lips in a straight line. He lifted his right arm and carefully reached over to the base of his neck, his fingers ghosting his skin very delicately. His stomach dropped, heavily, as if it were being dropped down a roller coaster.

He wanted to vomit, he wanted to cry.

Eleven quickly took notice of his behavior, placing her hand on his arm. Her eyes searching for his, “Hey, are you okay?”

Will quickly snapped back to reality, twisting his neck to look at a concerned Eleven. He wanted to scream, he wanted to tell her what he felt.

But he stood quiet.

He swallowed quickly, giving Eleven a quick nod. “Yeah, just a bug on my neck” 

She gave him a half smile, squeezing his arm gently as she turned her attention back to Hopper who was trying his hardest to teach the boys and Max how to gut a fish. It was not going well. Eleven got up from her seat, now intrigued by the commotion around her as she stood next to Mike, looping her arm around his. But Will stayed seated, frozen, as fear slithered through his veins. 

He knew that feeling, he could never, ever forget that feeling of dread, of emptiness. 

It was back. The mind-flayer was back.

---

You stepped out of the warm shower, grabbing the white towel that hung from the door and quickly wrapping it around your body. You relished the feeling of being clean, feeling safe and warm for once in your life. You stood in front of the fogged mirror, wiping it down with your hand.

Taking in your appearance, you finally had some color to your face (besides the fading bruises). Your hair was glistening in the light, slicked back from being wet. You felt human, you felt normal for once. Glancing down at your wrist however, you knew that you could never really be normal. There was always going to be a part of you that was always going to be different. The three numbers etched on your skin proved it.

You sighed heavily, grabbing a smaller towel from the towel rack and quickly drying your hair with it. Grabbing a brush from the sink, you brushed your hair back, carefully drying the ends so that your shirt wouldn’t get wet. You put on the clothes that Nancy had let you borrow, a pair of athletic gym shorts that were a tad bit too small for you, and a large crewneck sweater.

You hesitantly stepped out of the bathroom where Nancy, Billy and Jonathan were quietly conversing. Billy still sitting on the couch while Nancy and Jonathan sat on the floor. Billy noticed you coming in and stopped mid-conversation, sucking in a tight breath as he did a double take, his eyes drinking in your figure as you took careful steps towards them.

The tiny pair of shorts showed off your long, toned legs, and if Billy loved anything besides a nice ass and a nice pair of tits, it was nice legs. He loved how the shorts showed off your figure, something that you were hiding underneath your other pair of clothes. 

He would never admit this to you however.

“Hey, wow, you look so much better” Nancy remarked turning her head around to you, Jonathan nodding in agreement.

You looked down at your bare feet, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear, “I feel better, I feel refreshed. I’m just really tired” you spoke gently.

“Well, Jonathan and Billy are about to head home. I brought down some pillows and blankets so you can crash on the couch. We can regroup tomorrow since it’s Saturday and hopefully we can get in contact with the kids and Hopper”

You nodded at Nancy’s statement. The three of them promptly then stood up, it was nearing to be 12 AM and your body was absolutely wrecked. You couldn’t wait to fall asleep on a warm, cozy couch. 

“Hey, I’m gonna let Jonathan out the front door. Billy you know how to go through the back door right?” Nancy asked the blond, who nodded silently at her. 

“I’ll see you in the morning okay? Just be sure to stay quiet - I don’t think my parents would be too happy to know I’m housing you” Nancy said to you, giving you a soft smile. You let out a laugh, “Yeah that’d be weird to explain”

Jonathan gave you wave as the pair headed back up the wooden stairs, leaving you alone with Billy in the basement. He walked over to you, towering over your frame as you shyly looked away from him. He took out his unused cigarette from his leather jacket and placed it on his lips.

“One more light for the road?” he mumbled to you.

You frowned, looking up into his eyes, “Nancy said you can’t smoke in here”

Billy let out a chuckle, “One thing about me doll, I don’t like to play by the rules”

He leaned in closer to you, cigarette still hanging by his mouth. You licked your lips as you snapped your fingers, holding up the flame to his cigarette as he took a deep inhale, then a loud exhale.

There was silence amongst the two of you as the thick smoke dissipated in the air. 

“Will I see you tomorrow?” you asked softly, tilting your head to the side.

His mouth twisted into a half smile. His mind quickly wandered back to a couple hours ago, how seemingly normal everything had been and in an instant he had suddenly been roped into this whole save the world plot with you. But he laughs to himself, his life had never really been normal anyways. He took the cigarette from his lips and stared down at you. He raised his free hand and brushed his fingers against the yellowing bruise by your eye.

You close your eyes, inhaling shakily as you lean into his touch. His calloused palm now rested on your cheek, his thumb making soft circles on your skin. His warm touch was something foreign to you, something you never knew that existed, a feeling that sent shock waves through your body.

Without saying a word, his hand quickly left your cheek. You opened your eyes and Billy turned on his heel and left out the back door. You stood planted on your feet as the loud roar of his camero left the neighborhood leaving you standing in the Wheeler’s basement in silence.

---

“Let’s spy on Billy!”

Eleven groaned, twisting her body over in her sleeping bag to face an eager Max who was wide awake at 12 AM.

“Max ... it’s super late ... I’m tired”

She weakly cracked open her eyes to see her red-headed best friend hovering over her, a wolfish smile on her face.

“Please, please, please! Last one, I know Mr. Wheeler wasn’t the most exciting person to spy on but Billy could be” Max pressed on.

Eleven sighed heavily, slowly sitting up and adjusting herself. “Last one okay?”

Max nodded happily, “Yes, last one, I promise”

Eleven reached over to her backpack and pulled out a black bandana, carefully placing it over her tired eyes. Max grabbed the portable radio that was by her sleeping bag and quickly messed with the knobs, until she reached a station that was playing nothing but static.

Eleven inhaled sharply and concentrated on the static. Her mind wandering through different channels until she reached a dark void.

Her feet splashed quietly as she looked around for Billy, but kept seeing nothing but darkness.

“Will I see you tomorrow?”

Eleven whipped her head around at the voice, trying to find where the source came from. She wandered around the void until she found Billy, his back turned towards her. She quietly tip-toed over to the blond, watching his movements carefully. Watching as he raised his hand and placed it on a girls cheek.

A girl.

“I - I see Billy ... he’s with a girl”

“Oh please tell me they’re not naked or anything” Max groaned.

Eleven ignored Max comments and continued to watch the pair. She watched the girl lean into Billy’s touch, his eyes intense as he held her cheek in his palm. Eleven had never seen Billy be so gentle with a girl before, let alone with anyone. If anything she was always told to stay away from Billy, but this, this surprised her.

She watched as Billy snatched his hand away from the girls cheek and quickly left through the backdoor.

The backdoor.

Wait, she knew that backdoor, she’s been through that backdoor.

“He’s at Mike’s house ... with a girl” Eleven stammered out.

“Wait, what?!”

Eleven quickly turned her attention to the girl standing there, frozen, as if being stunned by Billy’s soft touch. Eleven examined her features as she walked closer to her. Her face was bruised, her eyes weary, tired. She was wearing shorts that were too small for her, and a sweatshirt that engulfed most of her frame. She watched as you pulled up the sleeves from the sweatshirt, turning your body away from Eleven as walked away from her.

Then, she spotted it.

Eleven’s breath hitched, her eyes widening as she felt the blood drain from her face.

001.

There was the number, tattooed plainly on your wrist.

Eleven began to hyperventilate, the feeling of uncertainty gnawing at her stomach. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know what to say. 

“El?! Are you okay?! El?!”

Eleven ripped off the bandana, blood streaming down her nose as tears began to prick her eyes. Her breaths were coming in short pants as she turned to Max, a worried expression written all over her face.

“What did you see?!” she stressed, there was panic in her voice.

“I - I saw ... my sister”

[brownstonearmy]

2020-09-25: Juiced! (Part 5)

August 7 (Friday midmorning)

After the events of the previous day, you'd think our lovely band of adventurers would catch a break. BUT YOU WOULD BE MISTAKEN! Messages, insights and calls to action proliferate throughout the party.

Lucky receives a letter from Miss Mavis asking for a favor:

"Lucky, can you and your friends help me find a crystalline energy amplifier? I need one for a restoration project. They're worth a hefty price, but I'll gladly reimburse if you find one."

Norm, meanwhile, has learned that Yance Elbereth is convalescing at SHART HQ. The time to strike against his assassination target is nigh!

Spleenifer has learned through meditation and spiritual attunement that the waterskin from the monk is a type of holy water and the decorative bowl is actually a bowl of Commanding Water Elementals. And on Spleenifer's first day of official work as Mayor Dunwall's assistant, she has been asked for her input how best to solicit donations to help the Mayor with reelection.

Q (going as Jay on this auspicious day) found a note under their door:

"From one bard to another, here's a piece of advice: never trust a Stout you can't drink. I have Stout problems of my own, if ever you want to meet for a pint at the usual bard hangouts. I'm easy to find, since the scales stand out. -Kadana Meristan"

Everyone splits up to start on their respective tasks, so let's follow one adventurer at a time and see where things lead!

Up first we have have Jay, and they strike out for the Juicy Lyre tavern to meet up with the mysterious author of the letter. Kadana, an attractive dragonborn, is nursing a pint while composing a song on the back of a playbill. After Jay takes a seat, she explains that Lawrence Stout was once her patron. But like Jay, she got into some hot water when things got a little too close between Kadana and Russell Stout. The younger Stout seems to have a habit of fraternizing with the arts (as the euphemism goes). But in Kadana's case, her arts funding got cut off as punishment.

Jay and Kadana muse for a bit on strategies to get back at Lawrence and/or Russell. The best way to strike back seems to be breaking up the Stout family businesses, but neither of them are quite sure how to go about doing that. Kadana excuses herself to attend to some other bardly matters, but it's clear that Kadana is playing this as a playful round of hard to get. Folks, we're seeing the beginnings of a beautiful friendship (and possible romance)!

But we must fade to black for now and pick up on Spleenifer's tale! She's back at the Mayoral Manor to discuss the upcoming election strategy. On the way over to the Mayor's place, she found a slightly-charred scrap of paper that probably fell out of someone's pocket during the events of last night. It reads: "You promised me I could use the ring to fix my problem. -Rooney"

Spleenifer stuffs the scrap in her pocket and focuses on the task at hand with the mayor. Since Zaribeth Quickfingers is mounting an unexpectedly strong campaign (though really, any campaign at all is probably unexpectedly strong against Dunwall), the incumbent mayor needs to take the special election preparations seriously. Spleenifer suggests mounting a spin campaign to solicit donations, but her methods are a bit... unorthodox:

"Make it say incontinent instead of incumbent!"

That'll surely take away from the discontent brewing about the mayor's presumed incompetence! What's a giant dung beetle to do? Approve the suggestion and blast it out across town, of course!

Now we switch POV to Lucky, who suggested at the start of the adventure that the party should investigate an unusual announcement in today's Brownstone Bugle where the Meyrick family was looking to hire someone to kidnap their daughter for ransom. But Lucky isn't abandoning Miss Mavis's task! In her words, she's gonna try to kill two stones with one bird.

Lucky is already familiar with crystalline energy amplifiers, and knows they can be found in certain naturally occurring crystal deposits. The catch is that only the biggest crystals (worth at least 1,000GP) can function as a proper amplifier, but she's got a lead on a potential source in a mine about 10 miles east of town. If Lucky can win the audition to kidnap the daughter, she could potentially stash her quarry in the mine while looking for crystals.

She knocks on the the door of the Meyrick estate, and the butler escorts her Mr. Meyrick's study. Mr. Meyrick is a skinny man with wild hair that is graying at the temples. If Gary Busey was a used car salesman and the characters knew what car salespeople were, that's what everyone would say the elder Meyrick looks like.

Mr. Meyrick asks Ms. Lucky Proudfoot what her plans for his daughter are, and she explains the plan. She also plans to scurry off to the mines in a mobile house on chicken legs for extra dramatic flair. The daughter can work in the mines hunting crystals while waiting for the ransom payment to arrive. Meyrick thinks this is an excellent plan and hires Lucky on the spot. He just needs some time to subdue his daughter before she'll be ready for the exchange. Come back later this evening, he says, and she'll be Lucky's problem for the next few hours.

Now's the perfect time to switch over to Norm, who's sneaking his way to where Yance is staying. The recently-concussed trader of illicit antiquities is laying on a cot staring at the ceiling. Norm applies some of the St. Ignatius's Re-Dead Juice to his dagger and moves in for the kill. But Yance rolls over just as Norm enters the room and makes eye contact.

All is not lost, though! Norm shifts into playing the part of an ally who is checking in on him after the concussion. "How many fingers am I holding up?" Norm asks. He goes through a series of simple tests and then "checks for bumps" on the back of Yance's head. That's when Norm makes a tiny nick at the base of Yance's hairline with his poison-coated dagger. Yance passes away seconds later, peacefully slumping back onto the cot.

Sounds of a loud scuffle erupt outside, and from Norm's vantage point, it appears to be a fight between five drunken sailors and a sober-seeming ship's officer. Despite being split up, the rest of the party is close enough to hear the sounds of the brawl and everyone converges on the scene.

Lucky triggers a wild surge and casts Suggestion on one of the sailors, telling him to "make love, not war." Every time she blinks, a duck appears nearby. The sailor under the influence of Lucky's Suggestion grabs a fellow sailor by the arms and pulls him over for a deep kiss. The sailor on the receiving end of the kiss is surprisingly receptive to the romantic gestures, and they stumble away from the fray to keep the passion burning.

Norm exits his building, dashing through alleyways so as to make it look as though he came from a completely different building. There's a drunken brawl and a separate manly make-out session and at least a dozen ducks by this point. What the heck is happening here?

Spleenifer, having been a sheltered woman of faith, has never seen men kiss before. She grabs a duck and announces to her newfound companion: "Let's watch together!" Regardless of the duck's opinion on the matter, it's along for the ride. The passionate pirates are flattered by Spleenifer's audience, but their ships don't really sail that way, if you catch their drift.

While all this chaos is unfolding, Lucky has a bit more fuel to add to the fire. She drops her suggestion and casts invisibility on two pirates and the officer. It's hard to fight when you can't see each other, right? Well, it does stop the fight for the most part, as the two invisible pirates stumble off to rob a bank with their newfound invisibility powers.

The remaining pirate is lifted up by an invisible force (spoiler: it's the captain) and slapped. Now the captain's visible again and orders him to return to the Rising Howl, their ship that is currently docked until the river rises high enough to let them sail. Spleenifer grabs another duck from the flock (now called Prongle), while still restraining the original duck (now named T'Pam) in her sturdy arms. She manages to coax them into pecking at each other like they're kissing.

Norm dashes over to where the sailors were fighting and is nearly overpowered by the stench of alcohol. He pulls out a match lights it to see just how much of a drunken cloud the sailors left behind. Lucky adds a little pizzazz to the situation with a little bit of flammable luck, and the cloud ignites in an impressive cloud of flame in the air that leads in the direction of the fleeing sailors. Jay leaps in front of the two kissing sailors to shield their love from the explosion.

Once things calm down (always only briefly in this town), the party swings by the general store for some pickaxes for their upcoming mining expedition. Not wanting T'Pam and Prongle to feel left out, Spleenifer fashions some miniature pickaxes out of twigs to give to the ducks. Lucky snags a caterpillar cocoon (foreshadowed magical purposes!) on the way to contact the lizardfolk to borrow their house.

At the Meyrick estate, Mr. Meyrick greets the party and directs them to a wagon containing a tied-up sleeping giantess (technically half-giantess, but still LORGE). Once their "hostage" is safely aboard the house, the party contemplates what to do.

"I've never done kidnapping before," asks Lucky "but is it reasonable to ask for her emancipation?" But that is soon answered once the giantess wakes up. Lucky is able to communicate with her, and learns that the giantess's name is Tina. She's well-spoken and her family loves her a lot. This whole kidnapping thing is a publicity stunt to get some sponsorship deals. The house gallops toward the mine, reaching the entrance after about 20 minutes.

Tina agrees to help the party mine for crystalline amplifiers and takes up a pickaxe along with the rest of the party. Lucky uses the cocoon to transform herself into an umber hulk with a sweet, sweet burrowing speed. But after some time has passed, a group of eight drunken brigands arrives at the mine's entrance to hide out.

Norm puts down his pickaxe and sneaks toward the boisterous brigands to assess the situation. One of the group has a rucksack full of books, while the rest carry sacks of more conventional treasure. As Norm listens in from the shadows, he learns that the treasure comes from their recent break-in of Salem's.

The sound of picks against stone catches the attention of the brigands, who drop their spoils and tread deeper into the tunnels. A massive chunk of crystal has just been unearthed, and it could function as a quality crystalline amplifier if it can be completely excavated. However, that's the time the drunkards show up. One of them makes obscene and probably physiologically incompatible advances at Tina and a fight soon breaks out.

Smites, spells, and sneak attacks smash into the metaphorically-smashed sailors. Lucky's burrowing triggers a small tunnel collapse, and her confusing gaze disorients even more of the sailors. Spleenifer smacks at the base of the crystal to uproot it before the tunnel collapses further, and soon the party emerges victorious.

Mr. Meyrick arrives to collect his daughter just as the last brigands flee into the night. He mentions that the sponsorship deal fell through, though he still brought the promised ransom. Maybe they'll be able to collaborate on another scheduled kidnapping in the future? Who knows!

The party searches through the stuff left behind by the brigands and finds wealth of many types. Material wealth in the form of gold and gems is most obvious here, but there is also informational wealth. Among the books that were stolen from Salem's is a copy of Zaribeth's accounting ledger. As in, the true version that depicts all the shady stuff going on with Zaribeth's businesses.

With that realization, the adventure concludes for the night and everyone advances to level 12. Stay tuned next time for more!

[saltytyrus]

Andi Mack ~ October 1st traditions / hcs

▪️Its tradition for the GHC to stay up until it's exactly 12am, October 1st

▪️Cyrus is usually full of energy drinks. He tries his absolute best but if he falls asleep before 12am, they'll usually wake him up at 11:58 so he doesn't miss it

▪️They alternate which house they spend the night at each year

▪️Currently it's Andi's turn; Bex and Bowie had a date night so they're spending it at Cece's

🍁

▪️This time around they invited the Dumbass Trio + Amber to bring in October with them 

▪️Since they added to their tradition this year, the four newcomers were each told to bring over their favorite Halloween movie:

Amber: Fun Size 

TJ: Paranorman 

Jonah: Poltergeist

Marty: Nightmare on Elm Street

🍁

▪️It's mandatory to wear Halloween themed pajamas! (bonus points if your socks are halloween themed as well) 

🍁

▪️While they waited for the clock to hit 12, they baked several different kinds of muffins and cupcakes. (Honestly though, what's the difference between muffins and cupcakes?? Please be nice, keep in mind there are no stupid questions...just me being stupid :)

▪️Marty and Buffy thought it should become a competition to see who could decorate muffins/cupcakes the best. 

▪️ It's currently the GHC vs The Dumbass Trio (Amber eagerly opts to be the judge - mainly to watch the chaos unfold in peace. She decorates a few of her own)

▪️As u can imagine, the dumbass trio absolutely destroys the kitchen... Marty and TJ get in an icing fight at one point. Jonah doesn't take part in it but is a casualty as a result anyways. He panics when TJ went to throw sprinkles at Marty and it ended up in his eye. Buffy drags Jonah out of the kitchen to flush his eye and throws a playful "dumbass" over her shoulder as she walks past TJ and Marty.

▪️Cece walks into the kitchen at one point (Marty in mid icing throw) and everyone freezes/the room goes dead silent. For a good thirty seconds she stands in the door way, face unreadable, everyone's holding their breath. Just as Andi expects Cece to kick everyone out she begins apologizing, Cece simply walks over to the counter and stops at Amber and points at her plate of cupcakes. Although very unsettled, Amber gets the hint, nods and quickly pushes the plate towards Cece. She takes two cupcakes, gives Amber a pat on the shoulder and a smile. She continues to head towards the fridge, pours herself a glass of milk and just as she's at the archway she turns around, takes in the scene once more, shrugs and leaves with a "Make sure to clean it up". Everyone let out a relieved sigh and continued working (TJ and Marty calmed down).

▪️Ofc the GHC wins thanks to Andi, plus the dumbass trio (minus a wounded Jonah) kind of self sabotaged any chance they had

🍁

▪️Painting your nails black and orange (+white) is apart of their yearly tradition, meaning everyone gets their nails painted

▪️Buffy and Marty ofc make it a competition to see who can do the best nail art (with a twist, which is that they're painting each other's nails)  

▪️Marty tries, he really does…but the nail polish ends up all over Buffy's fingers and instead of a pumpkin, Buffy's gets a swirl / excessive amount of black and orange nail polish on every other finger 

▪️Meaning Buffy wins; although Marty likes to argue that he's really the winner because he ended up with nearly perfect candy corns / ghosts on his nails, while all she got was the bottle of nail polish remover

▪️The rest of the group didn't take part in the competition, but TJ does end up painting Cyrus' nails for him. (He's had enough practice over the years with Amber forcing him to do hers and is shockingly good at painting them)

▪️TJ also ends up doing Jonah's right hand (aka Jonah got frustrated halfway through - his left hand is a mess and he begged TJ to take over)

▪️ Amber overhears Cyrus and Jonah comparing nails / complimenting TJ and she screams "You're welcome, Thel" from across the room

▪️TJs stomach drops, Cyrus goes silent, and Jonah responds with, "Thel?". After shooting Amber a glare he lies and tells Jonah that Thel is apart of their twin language / it's another word for brother. Jonah thankfully buys it with a shrug and a smile

🍁

▪️TJ, Cyrus, Amber, and Andi end up on the floor making bracelets throughout one of the movies. 

▪️Cyrus gets halfway through his second bracelet when he suddenly lays his head on TJs lap with a, "I'm just resting my eyes for a second". (TJ and Andi both immediately make eye contact and share a knowing look) 

▪️Cyrus ends up completely knocked out within 5 minutes.

▪️At some point TJ stopped making bracelets and just ran his fingers through Cyrus' hair / continued to watch Marty's pick of movie (Andi and Amber speak through facial expressions and Amber sneaks a video of TJ/Cyrus). 

▪️When TJ can no longer power through the pins and needles coursing through his legs and feet he asks Marty and Jonah to carry Cyrus to the couch. 

▪️The two may or may not had nearly dropped Cyrus on their way to the couch…

(just imagine TJ and Buffy teaming up to yell at them if they had dropped him - also sidenote but I could definitely see Cyrus still remaining dead asleep and unbothered only to wake up hours later like, "when the hell did I get this bruise?!?")

🍁

▪️Part of the tradition is to switch to something light regarding movies/shows (they usually turn towards Halloween themed cartoon episodes) 

▪️So about halfway through the night they switch to: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

🍁

▪️Buffy and Marty face off for the last time that night regarding who falls asleep first

▪️At last, Marty finally wins at something. He takes a quick photo of Buffy sleeping, and sent it to her along with a, "better luck next year 👻". Then he passes out

🍁

▪️Jonah fell asleep at some point while on a video call with Walker. Andi took his phone and showed Walker the bracelets they made / introduced him to Amber. They talked for around 10-15 minutes.

🍂 

▪️Amber and Andi end up being the last two awake and they spend the rest of the night in Andi Shack eating cupcakes and talking / freaking themselves out with conspiracy and true crime videos. 

( @randomsmilingpotatoes @extrairwin @i-swear-its-just-me @heart-eyes-kippen @ambitioncunningpridemieczyslaw )

[jahaanofmenaphos]

Art by the awesome @tommieglenn!

Of Gods and Men Summary:

When the gods returned to Gielinor, their minds were only on one thing: the Stone of Jas, a powerful elder artefact in the hands of Sliske, a devious Mahjarrat who stole it for his own ends and entertainment. He claims to want to incite another god wars, but are his ulterior motives more sinister than that? And can the World Guardian, Jahaan, escape from under Sliske’s shadow?

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QUEST 07: DISHONOUR AMONG THIEVES

QUEST SUMMARY:

Due to his status as the World Guardian, Jahaan wound up as part of Zamorak’s heist team. Their task? Steal the Stone of Jas from Sliske and return its power to Zamorak. Jahaan gets to learn more about a god propaganda had always skewed, but will he be on board with Zamorak’s plan in the end...

CHAPTER 1: TRAVELLER’S TALE

Jahaan had always existed as a ‘have sword’ and ‘will travel’ kind of person.

He had run across a few hapless souls in his travels, requesting his assistance in one way or another, and he’d obliged as much as he could - being an adventurer, it came with the territory. Then there were those people that weren’t as much ‘hapless’ as they were ‘helpless’, like a chef that didn’t have the right ingredients and for some reason couldn’t just walk to the farm and get some himself; Jahaan tried to help them anyway. Reward was always promised, and he ate well that night.

Then there were the outright bizarre situations Jahaan didn’t realise he was stuck in the middle of until he was playing matchmaker between a yeti and a Fremennik queen, or brewing rum for pirates to keep the alcoholic zombies at bay, or stealing footwear for a genie who requested the ‘sole’ of the Mayor of Nardah.

Life in the adventuring world was crazy sometimes.

Now that he’d become the World Guardian, things had only gotten worse. Seems like everyone thinks Guthix’s ‘chosen one’ can solve their problems, and no amount of explaining the whole ‘right place, right time’ mantra helped. Still, if he was being brutally honest with himself, Jahaan quite liked the attention, the travelling, the questing… all the reasons he’d set off from Menaphos with sword in hand in the first place.

This time, he ended up playing matchmaking for trolls, gave marriage counselling to a seagull, helped liberate the fairies from the ork invaders, invented bacon and, best of all, dealt with penguins wanting to take over Gielinor and trying to freeze the desert with a portable fridge.

Sir Tiffy was right all along.

Still, he found it quite refreshing to not be dealing with any egocentric gods, or idiot Mahjarrat trying to ascend to godhood.

That was a nice change.

“...and then, the the goblin generals needed orange slices that weren’t orange, some maggots that weren’t bland, and some bread that wasn’t crunchy!”

Jahaan had finally met up with Ozan all the way back in Varrock after he’d promised to help Queen Ellamaria decorate her palace garden - the ordeal was NOT worth Her Royal Snobbishness’ behaviour - and began recounting his tales since the two departed almost eight months ago. It had been a long time apart, yes, but life had separated them in the past. Some way, somehow, they always found one another, usually at a bar. This time it was The Blue Moon Inn, quite near the centre of the city, and therefore packed to the brim with the usual Varrockian riff-raff. Most of the attention was around the famous ex-vampyre slayer, Dr Harlow, who’d stopped by for an ale on his way east.

Chuckling, Ozan took another glug of his bitter. “So what did you do?”

“Dye and spice was involved. The pot ended up exploding anyway - shot through the roof and all! It’s a miracle there was anything edible after that.”

“Well, they are goblins.”

“Aye, that they are,” Jahaan concurred, finishing up his drink. The cup was refilled before he had time to protest. “So how’s Ariane?”

“She’s alright, but spending a lot of time in the Wizards’ Tower as of late. She had a premonition about the tower up in flames. Ariane was a seer - you gotta take visions like that seriously, y’know?”

Biting his bottom lip, Jahaan agreed, “Of course. These seer and gypsy types are frighteningly accurate sometimes…”

After Ozan finished his round, he looked out of the window into the night sky and remarked, “Damn, how long have we been in here?”

“Enough to build up quite a nice tab,” the barman sauntered over with a smug smile, wiping down the spillage underneath Ozan’s glass.

Wincing, Ozan ventured, “No chance I could reduce that tab with an enthralling tale of how I stole Sir Vyvin’s armour?”

“No chance,” the bartender asserted, his smile broadening. “And you owe me for the damage that little troll runt of yours has caused.”

Eyes wide, Ozan bulked, “Don’t call Coal a runt!”

“Whatever,” he slid across a messily written tally on papyrus. “Here’s the tab. Cough up.”

After shilling out his hefty portion of the tab, his coin pouch feeling an awful lot lighter now, Ozan and Jahaan departed to their rooms, saying they’d meet up in the morning to walk to Draynor together. Jahaan had some unfinished business with a chef in Lumbridge, so it wasn’t too far out of his way.

Jahaan entered his rented room and closed the door behind him, the sounds of the Varrockian bustle fading into the background. 

However, that didn’t last for long; the familiar sounds of a teleport spell alerted him to the intruder’s presence first, and he drew his swords in the direction of the disruption.

Soldiers had come into the war hospital in Al Kharid telling stories of a twisted, hybrid of a woman. Something inhuman, but not like any race they’d ever encountered. She was Zamorak’s right hand, a fierce general under his command. Gold-plated armour clawed around her bony form, her skin iron-like with patches of something that resembled normal flesh, but hardened and slightly scaly. Magenta energy twirled itself around her arms and wrists constantly, a low crackle becoming white noise in Jahaan’s mind. Her eyes were a striking shade of pink, too, matching the gem she had embedded in her forehead.

“Greetings, World Guardian,” her voice was harsh and brittle as she remarked, “You are not a hard man to find.”

Jahaan edged a couple of inches backwards, allowing the tall woman room to breathe. “I know you. You were at the Battle of Lumbridge.”

“Moia,” the woman introduced, simply. “Your swords. I’m not here to parry. Put them away.”

“A stranger just barged into my hostel room. Forgive me if I’m less than welcoming.”

Sighing, Moia rubbed the crystal on her forehead. “Very well. I come here on behalf of my master. He wishes to recruit you to retrieve something of his. The reward will be handsome.”

“No need to mince words - you want me to steal something,” this wasn’t the first time he’d been requested to ‘retrieve’ something. Jahaan didn’t mind - it paid for his meals, after all. “What’s the prize?”

“The Stone of Jas.”

Jahaan did a double take, his expectations shooting up. “Oh yeah? And who’s your master?”

“The rightful god of Gielinor, Lord Zamorak.”

...and his expectations were thus cut down a little bit. “Yeah, I haven’t had many dealings with Zamorakians.”

“Isn’t it time you rectify that?” Moia suggested, impatience bubbling under her desperate attempt to appear civil. “I did not see you fighting for Saradomin in Lumbridge. There is hope for you yet.”

“Yeah, but didn’t Zamorak lose at Lumbridge?” the remark wasn’t meant to sound as insulting as it did, but when Jahaan saw the mist boiling around Moia’s palms, he regretted his careless tongue.

Swallowing hard, Moia forced the mist to decapitate. “They were dark days. Zamorak is healing, and will get revenge upon those who fought against him. But right now, there are more pressing matters. I repeat: the Stone of Jas.”

Jahaan inquired, “Why does Zamorak want to hire me? I’ve never exactly seen eye-to-eye with his chaos ideology.”

“My lord believes you are instrumental, and if he does, then so do I,” Moia explained, brushing her fringe from her eyes. “We are in need of your… unique skills.”

“Because I’m the World Guardian?” Jahaan surmised. It wasn’t a hard guess.

“Precisely. Somehow, your fate is bound to the events that are unfolding. We wish for you to be on the right side of history. Zamorak requests a meeting. Agree, and you shall discover where your true loyalties should lie. Assist in our mission, and you get to strip Sliske of his power source and end his little farce once and for all.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Jahaan began to grin. “The least I could do is hear him out.”

Moia didn’t smile. Jahaan didn’t think she was capable. Instead, she retrieved a device from her utility belt. It was a tiny little box with a dial on it. Nothing fancy. Handing it to Jahaan, she stated, “Use this to be transported to our headquarters. You will arrive promptly on Erysail at full sun.”

Sheathing his swords, Jahaan took the device, and after a brief ‘farewell’, Moia teleported herself away. Jahaan watched her form fade away, utterly baffled, fiddling with the device in his hands as a reminder that he didn’t just dream that encounter.

Slumping down on the edge of the bed, he tried to think why Moia looked so familiar, and yet so alien at the same time. She didn’t match the description of any race he’d ever heard of, let alone encountered. That gem in her forehead was rather beautiful, he thought to himself, trying to unravel the mysteries of this woman. It looked like… like the Mahjarrat gems. Was she another female Mahjarrat, like Enakhra? She wasn’t at the Ritual, and she doesn’t look completely like a Mahjarrat. A half-breed, perhaps? Is that possible?

Suddenly, it tweaked in Jahaan’s mind - It IS possible! Sliske mentioned Lucien mated with a human woman. Could Moia be the offspring?

Feeling rather chuffed at his deductions, Jahaan was tempted to ask for confirmation upon next meeting her, but realised in good time that might be a little rude.

Removing his sword belt, Jahaan let these thoughts twirl on inside his mind as he began to unwind. Erysail was three days away, so he had time to decide whether or not he was going to take the meeting.

“What a tantalising proposition!”

“Gahh!” Jahaan bolted forwards, his hand instinctively clutching into the handle of his sheathed dagger. He shot around with indignation in his eyes and saw Sliske materialise in the doorway. “Have you been here the whole time?!”

Tutting, Sliske replied, “Honestly Jahaan, what’s the use of having the ability to see into the Shadow Realm if you never use it?”

“That’s not answering my question!”

“Ah, you mean, did I hear your conversation with Moia? But of course! The girl was naive to think she could corner you without my knowing. Oh, and take your hand away from that little knife of yours. We both know you’re not going to use it.”

Jahaan didn’t budge. “Why are you here, Sliske?”

“Well, it’s like this,” Sliske began, “I know of Zamorak's plan to steal the Stone of Jas, and you know I know, but they don’t know that I know that they know.”

Jahaan shook his muddled head. “Wait... what?”

“Ha! Did I lose you? In short, I know that one of Zamorak’s agents has found the Stone, and they’ll come for it soon enough. When they do, I'll be waiting.”

“So... you want them to find it? Why?”

“My contest has slowed somewhat since Bandos's death. Sometimes a Mahjarrat must provide his own entertainment. I think it’s time to spice things up,” Sliske explained, casually making himself at home on the edge of Jahaan’s bed, his long and bony fingers exploring the floral patterns embedded in the duvet. Jahaan followed him with a calculated glare. “You know, you really aren’t a very welcoming host. You haven’t even offered me a drink.”

“You were saying?” Jahaan impatiently pressed, thinking the sooner the Mahjarrat got to the point, the sooner his hostel room would stop resembling a menagerie for the criminally insane.

“Right, yes, spicing things up - that's where you come in. If I were you, I’d lead them on, go and meet with ol’ Zammy. Then, wait until the most deliciously dramatic moment to betray the usurper! Together, we could have some real fun on this one.”

“And who says I’ll play along?” Jahaan challenged, smiling wryly. “Maybe I’ll like what Zamorak’s selling. Maybe I’ll join his cause.”

“Maybe you will... but that would be terribly boring now, wouldn’t it? You know, Zammy really is a lot of fun to deceive. Oh, how I used to play with him all those years ago…” Sliske stood up from the bed, his hunched over posture doing him a favour as Jahaan doubted he could stand up straight without hitting his head on the ceiling. “But I think you’re much more fun to play with, Janny.”

Jahaan forced himself not to flinch as Sliske approached him, half-lidded eyes and an amused smile carved into his striped face. He failed and shivered ever so slightly when Sliske cupped his chin, bony fingers digging lightly into his throat, tilting his head upwards.

The grip on his dagger tightened. Jahaan gulped, hissing sharply through gritted teeth, “Get off me.”

This only made Sliske smile more at the challenge; he leered down closer. “Or what?”

Sliske had barely gotten the last syllable out before Jahaan had his blade across the Mahjarrat’s throat, returning the challenging glare.

Sniffing a laugh, Sliske drawled, “Well, I did say to look me in the eyes as you slit my throat. So, what are you waiting for?”

He forced himself further into the blade, biting down on his grey flesh hard enough to draw a thin line of blood as his face loomed closer to Jahaan’s, his defiant eyes never leaving Jahaan’s green ones.

Matching this, Jahaan twisted the blade in such a way that it pressed tightly against the Mahjarrat’s jugular, watching with satisfaction as Sliske’s usual calm and collected expression flashed briefly with fleeting panic.

Sliske licked his lips and flashed a daring, thin smile. Seconds ticked on like years; Jahaan held his gaze steady, dancing across Sliske’s yellow iris’ which had an unmistakable glint in them.

It’d be so easy, Jahaan’s eyes narrowed into slits, steadying his breathing in order to prevent his hand from shaking, which was easier said than done. From the look in his eyes, it was almost as if Sliske was daring him to do it.

I could. I could and he couldn’t stop me. He’s pressed too hard into the blade. It’d barely take a second and I could put him out of my misery. Out of everyone’s misery.

Now his hands really were shaking; Jahaan couldn’t look Sliske in the eyes anymore and instead rested his glare upon Sliske’s jaw, which soon transformed into a cruel upturned sneer. Blood trickled down Sliske’s neck as Jahaan’s unsteady grip caused the blade to scrape against his flesh; Jahaan could feel the rhythm of Sliske’s pulse beating against the metal, but he knew his own heartbeat was going even faster. As the blade dug dangerously deeper into the flesh, Sliske inhaled a sharp breath, hissing through the pain that came with it. 

Jahaan’s grip on the handle tightened; he was properly shaking now, closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to keep some resolve.

But it didn’t work.

With a foul curse, Jahaan threw the blade to the ground, a loud metallic clang on the battered wooden floorboards reverberating around the room. He tried to gain some distance from the Mahjarrat by backing himself up against the wall. By accident he met Sliske’s gaze, and it was a mistake, for it was like Sliske’s eyes were claws that grabbed his throat, squeezing tightly and cutting off the circulation. It made Jahaan’s attempt to recover his breathing even more of a struggle.

Sliske wiped the blood from his neck with his palm, examining it amusedly.

“I knew you couldn’t do it,” he remarked, a malicious undertone layered in his voice.

Gulping, Jahaan’s eyes fell to the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck and whispered, “Leave, Sliske. Please… just go.”

Raising a curious eyebrow, Sliske examined Jahaan like he was looking at him for the very first time. “You're an interesting specimen, Jahaan,” he finally spoke up. “Very well, I shall take my leave. After all, you have to regain your composure for the big meeting with Zamorak. Until next time... ta-ta, my dear…”

Blowing him a taunting kiss, Sliske vanished. Once he'd gone, Jahaan slid down the wall and onto the floor, his hand unconsciously still at his neck while his heart remained firmly in his throat.

Jahaan didn’t wait for Ozan next morning. Instead, he slid an apologetic note under the door, lying about an emergency - vague enough to cover all bases, specific enough to be believable. From the silence inside when Jahaan rested his ear against the splintered wooden door, Ozan was still sound asleep, and would likely stay that way for the next few hours. So, huddled up in a second-hand cloak he’d acquired, Jahaan set off into the brisk chill of a Varrockian dawn.

He wasn’t ready to explain himself to Ozan, how he had the opportunity to dispatch Gielinor’s greatest adversary, but couldn’t. But at the same time, Jahaan didn’t think he could take hiding it from Ozan much longer. Thus, the easiest option was to avoid him altogether, for now at least, until he’d figured things out in his own mind.

After tossing and turning for a lot of the night, Jahaan wasn’t much clearer on anything, so why a walk in the freezing cold would help is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, along he trudged.

Why couldn’t I do it? The question haunted his mind relentlessly. I’ve killed people for less. Why couldn’t I kill him?

Jahaan sighed to himself, hoisting his backpack further up towards his shoulders, marching onwards, going nowhere.

“Damnit Sliske…” he muttered under his breath. “How dare you get in my head…”

DISCLAIMER:

As Of Gods and Men is a reimagining, retelling and reworking of the Sixth Age, a LOT of dialogue/characters/plotlines/etc. are pulled right from the game itself, and this belongs to Jagex.

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[shironekooo]

Art in it’s truest form

Chp. 7 - What’s behind a mask

Kamski x Reader

Words: 1975

Tag: @tallfrenchgirl

For the New Years celebration Elijah was asked to attend the social event at the town’s hall. There were no plans between you two for that night, so being a public figure he graciously accepted the invitation also adding a plus one – you.

So now you’re wearing your third dress in a month and it’s even more captivating than previous two. The theme of the ball is Maquerade, so Chloe put you in a puffed and lacy black dress decorated with crimson red flower patterns and pearls going down your bare back. More than that, you had your hair and makeup professionally done, tuning you into a high class attendant. You didn’t actually think, that Elijah will take you with him. It’s not like he has to. He could have gone alone and you wouldn’t mind, especially since the trick you pulled on him during Christmas. It was all in good fun, but Elijah took it a little too seriously. You didn’t apologize and apparently there’s no need to, as he’s taking you out on a social event anyway. Not that you would. That man needs to taste his own medicine and perk up a little. Sitting comfortably on his throne he got a little soft… Looking at the mirror you understood why though. Who could keep up their guard when this gorgeous fox is wiggling its tail. Though now you were radiating threat more than anything else. Black and red colors were too much in a vampire style. You guess Elijah likes to stand out and make himself center of “unwanted” attention. Typical from a man with this big of an ego. You chuckle putting on couple of drops of perfume onto your skin and then get ready to meet Elijah at the front door.

As always he’s already waiting, wearing a suit that matches a color scheme of your dress, which turns him into a vampire too. A tasteful crimson scarf fastened with antique looking brooch and carefully tucked under the vest only amplifies that look. It’s like you were aristocrats that had the pleasure of living for a thousand years yet stuck with Victorian London style. Not that you complained. You were ready to spill some blood and dance under the moonlight with your immortal lover.

***

The place is full with the most elaborate costumes worn by men and women both. It’s hard to recognize anyone around, but that also works in their favor. Elijah takes off his mask so he could say his “hello” to some important people and you follow behind, being all mysterious and none talkative. Elijah enjoys the attention you two get and introduces you as so many different personas, simply making fun of others and creating elaborate lies for your own amusement. His good mood gets you excited too, so after a while you sneak away to have your own little fun.

You scan the crowd looking for someone interesting to talk to, when a waiter approaches offering a refreshing drink. You take it and after a single sip feel soft bubbles tickling the back of your tongue. That is the most delicious and probably expensive champagne you ever tried. You could easily spend the night just drinking, dancing and trying all the different foods. Sometimes even an expensive dress can’t hide your comfort loving side. Instead, you decide to strike a conversation with a young looking gentleman. He introduces as an heir to the biggest pharmaceutical company in Detroit, yet his manners and intellect are very much of a spoiled rich young man making it easy for you to smile and laugh at his attempt to woo you. He seems pleased with himself though. Poor soul. But you play along, mainly because you can see Elijah out of the corner of your eye. He’s also chatting up some ladies and politely smiles at their flirtatious laughs and subtle touches, but you know that expression way too well. He’s bored and you make it your job to entertain him. You theatrically laugh at something your companion says holding up a hand to hide your smile, after flip your hair and finally put your hand on his. Since the live orchestra is filling the air with their melodies, not too loud, but just enough, you also lean in closer to say some nonsense into the guys ear, still touching his hand in a more than a friendly manner. He’s charmed, but you know that this is just a child’s play. Still, isn’t that a little entertaining to watch? Unexpectedly the young man puts his hand on your waist and also gets closer to answer your flirting. You can feel his breath hitting your neck as he speaks near your ear. He’s suggesting to find a more quiet and private place and your eyes light up. You can see Elijah looking in your direction and it makes it even more exciting. You agree to take a walk, but not before giving a cheeky smile to your audience.

You think his name is something like Ron…Ronald? Doesn’t really matter, but he’s taking you to what looks like an office. Seems right, knowing that this is town hall. A remote place where no one should wonder in. Couple of doors should be opened so you could end up here.

Ronald closes the one behind him and pushes you onto the desk. He acts impatiently: starts groping and kissing you wherever. You roll your eyes and turn the head to the side, so he wouldn’t try to eat your make up off. It grosses you out, but you still answer to his actions with silent moans and passionate movements, so he would be occupied long enough. Long enough for the door to silently open.

Elijah leans on the doorpost, crossing his arms on a chest and watches your little performance. He seems slightly amused and intrigued, waiting for whatever you’re going to do next. The fact that Ron’s hands roam under your dress and he’s deeply buried into your neck and breasts doesn’t concern him. You also grin putting on fake expressions of pleasure. But this is not the true reason you brought these boy here. You seductively touch your leg and slowly lift the skirt up revealing over knee socks attached to lacy strings. Around the thigh there’s also a sheath and you take a knife out of it. Elijah fidgets in place sending you a questionable look. You simply wink and raise the knife behind poor Ron’s back, carefully moving it closer with a sharp pointy end almost touching his nape. You can see that Elijah tries to hide his disapproval as he finally decides to approach. You keep your victim closer as you wait for your partner’s signal on how this all should end. Very easily a blood could flow. Elijah stops right behind Ron, who is enjoying this opportunity a little bit too much, and takes the knife from you. He shakes his head and you pout. Elijah hides the murder weapon before drawing Ron’s attention to himself. Poor soul jumps in place getting scared shitless.

-What the hell, man? – he gets all worked up before recognizing who’s standing in front of him. Face drops.

-I’m afraid this is my companion you’re trying to fuck, - Elijah smiles, but he’s very much ready to murder the guy with eyes only.

-Shit, - he murmurs to himself and dashes out not even looking back. Smart move.

-Official waltz is about to begin, – Elijah doesn’t say anything about your misdemeanor, which is completely different reaction from that evening at the restaurant. His growing trust in you is arousing. You grab him by the jacket and pull closer.

-Do we have to be present? – you wrap your legs around him leaning in for a kiss, but he turns away. Silently he takes out a handkerchief and wipes away the traces of other man’s presence from your body. This very much melts your heart.

- I guess we should go, - you say standing up and fixing your dress. He smiles being pleased with your answer and holds out his hand. You take it and you both return to the main hall.

People already started to move to the sides, clearing out the floor on which the main event is about to take place. It is Viennese waltz. Selected couples take their respectable places while orchestra slowly introduces the melody. You and Elijah join them. Bow to each other, stand into joined position and in a couple more moments slowly start moving to the melody. Neither you nor Elijah practiced dancing together, but to know how to dance Viennese waltz is considered a requirement in your life, so just with the first step you synch and deliver a perfect performance. You can feel your dress floating around with every single turn, the grip with which Elijah is holding your hand and waist is electrifying. All the colors flashing around merge together putting you in a dreamy state and only you two are present in this moment. If you were to describe how falling in love feels, this would be it.

Out of nowhere a strong cough disturbs the atmosphere. It’s slightly annoying, but things happen. Except that cough repeats and gets only worse. Couples are forced to slow down and stop, to look at the person in question. It’s the same young man, Ron or whatever. He’s holding onto his chest with pale face, not able to catch a breath. People get worried and approach him, but none of them are fast enough to ask or do anything as he collapses with even more dreadful look on his face. You and Elijah are watching from farther away.

-Who could have thought that poison kills people…, - you sigh putting on a sad expression as people rush in to check on a dying man, shouting for help and whirling around not knowing what else there is to do.

Elijah’s face lights up. He looks at you in disbelief, but also pleasantly surprised.

-You weren’t going to use the knife, were you?

-Well of course not! I’m not that stupid. That would have been so messy…  I used a peculiar mix of perfume, - you grin. - Don’t kiss me below lips tho...

Elijah lets out a silent chuckle and turns back at the unfolding tragedy. After giving it a little thought he gets genuinely concerned:

-Why do this though? It’s dangerous. Risky. You could get caught.

-Because it’s boring your way, - you lay it down as it is. -  It’s too quiet and too comfortable. This rush and exposure makes you feel more alive. Can’t you see? The chaos that’s going on right now - it’s our doing. We can literally set the world on fire and watch it burn while we stand in the middle of the blaze. And it’s just you and me. This is our moment.

You speak with so much emotion, your true colors spill out in the open. You devote this evening to your partner. This is your confession. And Elijah responds with a very loving gaze.

As the time around you slows down, you two kiss. No need for the fireworks and champagne. No celebrations or congratulations. This is how you start the New Year.

 Couple of days later –

It’s an early morning, but both of you are up and in the kitchen, playfully making breakfast while blasting some fun tunes to which you’re dancing to. Mood is delightful. Everything’s just peachy. Elijah holds you in his arms planting ticklish kisses on your neck as you giggle and try not to burn food in the pan.

Chloe also joins, but her expression isn’t so carefree. She very seriously announces:

-Detroit police is here. They want to see you, Elijah.

[itsomgitsgreenblogging]

Boys Boys Boys: A Solangelo Fanfiction

I’ve been severely lacking in inspiration because of how busy I have been. So I went back to basics: some personal experiences I’ve had at bars in NYC and around where I go to school, and a College AU set up. Could I be inspired to continue this? Heck yeah I probably could. 

I hope you all enjoy!

Trigger Warning: homophobic slurs 

Also read on AO3 

Preview:

Will immediately half-swerved, focusing desperately on keeping his gaze forward at the line of liquors mounted on the wall, and not ogling at the dude next to him because damn he was fine—the kind of fine that would have him sobbing on the carpet of Lou Ellen’s dorm at four-in-the-morning while stuffing his face with veggie pizza and watching Ru Paul’s Drag Race later. But for now, it definitely wouldn’t help him to freak out the dude by staring. Besides, everyone knew that hot guys in leather jackets who wore Iron Maiden tee-shirts were generally as straight as boards. No use getting his hopes up.

It had started out for Will as a relatively tame night out with his two best friends Lou Ellen and Cecil. Will barely ever had time to actually hit up bars, drink, or do things that could be considered vaguely social. But Lou Ellen had burst into his dorm room with a half-empty box of wine, sporting a new undercut with a lightning bolt design and hair dyed silver, and an idea about how she wanted to spend the rest of her weekend, and Will found it extremely difficult to argue with her.

               That was the way it generally went. Will Solace tended be a workaholic. If he wasn’t at class or the lab, he was studying, doing homework, taking care of the plants he crowded around his window, helping out the Bio Society, or doing the million other things he occupied his time with. He was always thankful for his best friends though, they seemed to always somehow know when it was time for him to take a break. Whether it was Cecil showing up with chicken wings at four in the afternoon, or waking up to find Lou Ellen casting spells in the kitchen, both of them had a knack for knowing when it was time to have fun.  

               So there he was at a bar that was trying to be something between classy and sporty, with dark wood bar, spindly stools and tables, but playing WWE on a projector towards one certain side of the room while some pop song played. But the generally pleasant vibe was being ruined by the painfully drunk dudes who kept bugging the bar tender for more shots that they obviously didn’t have the stripper-ones to pay with and their girls who kept wandering in looking to use the bathroom without getting any drinks despite the bouncer’s warnings. Cecil, Lou Ellen, and Will had occupied one of the tables and had split a bottle of whiskey between them and had been talking while the shenanigans continued to unfold behind them, talking loud enough to be heard over the subtle roar of people and music and TV.

               “I’m telling you dude, I just can’t get a date to this formal coming up,” Cecil groaned as he took a sip of the beer he was using as a chaser. “This is literally the third girl who’s turned me down.”

               “Well it would help if you asked out girls you didn’t just see in the SU without any context,” Lou Ellen scoffed as she knocked back another shot.

               “Listen, she was my soulmate. She had the cutest fucking dimple you’d ever seen in your whole life and her hair was doing that thing where it was artfully falling down—artfully, I swear to God,” Cecil half-sobbed before he pounded the table. “Why are girls so cute, man?  Where do they get off on doing that?”

               “I think you are preaching to the wrong choir here with your gay best friend and an ace from outerspace,” Will told him with a pat on Cecil’s shoulder. His face was feeling pleasantly flushed, and he rolled his shoulders back. Will felt good, extraordinarily good. It was just so nice to talk with his friends and not worry about the ten million assignments he had lined up in the future.

               “Oh come on, we’re on the same team really. You think girls are cute, but you just don’t want to date them or do any hanky-panky, and Dr. Frank N. Furter is our religion,” Lou Ellen pointed out.  

               “Wow, thank you Captain Obvious,” Will said as he stifled his laughter, which didn’t end up working. Instead, all three of them broke out into a chorus of giggles as Will poured himself another shot and held it up. Lou Ellen and Cecil mirrored his actions. “To Cecil’s search for a girl, and to my continued support. If one should ask me, I’ll scoot them his way.”

               “Against their own self-interest!” Lou Ellen snickered.

               “You guys suck and I love you,” Cecil said with a wide smile.

               “Next time don’t wear a Cubs jersey and fluorescent orange socks when you are out to woo a lady!”

               “Don’t go dissing the socks!”  

               They all laughed and clinked glasses and downed their shots, the alcohol burned pleasantly and smoothly on the way down. Will reached over for his glass of water and found it empty except for half-melted ice-cubes.

               “I’m going to go grab some water,” Will announced to them, before getting up. He used extreme caution as he navigated the tables and chairs and drunk people considering he was also slightly tipsy. He ordered his water from the bartender and waited patiently as he leaned against the counter.

               The first thing that caught his attention about the guy sitting next to him on a stool was the flash of silver—a skull ring he kept twisting around his long fingers. Long dark curls that were mostly held back by a pony tail, amazing facial structure that made him look like a piece of art, from the bottom of his (chained) combat boots and skinny jeans to the vintage leather jacket on his shoulders.

               Will immediately half-swerved, focusing desperately on keeping his gaze forward at the line of liquors mounted on the wall, and not ogling at the dude next to him because damn he was fine—the kind of fine that would have him sobbing on the carpet of Lou Ellen’s dorm at four-in-the-morning while stuffing his face with veggie pizza and watching Ru Paul’s Drag Race later. But for now, it definitely wouldn’t help him to freak out the dude by staring. Besides, everyone knew that hot guys in leather jackets who wore Iron Maiden tee-shirts were generally as straight as boards. No use getting his hopes up.

               Will had just managed to get his water from an apologetic bartender, when suddenly he was knocked into by one of the very drunk dudes with only ones in his pocket. He barely kept the liquid from falling into hot-guy-in-the-jacket’s lap.

               “Uh, excuse you?” Will asked the lump of muscle that had plowed into him. The guy blinked at Will blurrily for a second, acknowledging for the first time the person who wasn’t the girl half glued to his arm, and he snarled at him.

               “What? Why you looking at my girl?” the drunk guy slurred, and Will held up his hands.

               “Trust me, I’m very much not interested in girls—uh, your girl, and girls in general yes but—“ Will blurted out over his booze numbed tongue.                

               “Excuse me, you fucking faggot?” Drunk-and-Ugly growled, puffing up like an angry rooster.

               “What the fuck did you just say?”

               The words came out of nowhere and half stole the breath from Will’s lungs. Suddenly the hot guy next to him had gotten off the stool. He wasn’t physically big or imposing, he was a head shorter than Will himself and was built slender and wiry, but something about the way he stood tense and ready broadcasted: WRONG PERSON TO FUCK WITH.

               “Butt out!” Drunk-and-Ugly warned, and Will noticed the other people at the bar moving away but found himself rooted to his spot.

               “What did you just call him?” hot-guy demanded, his jaw working with rage.

               “I called him a faggot,” Drunk-and-Ugly repeated with angry glint in his eye.

               “You better apologize right now!” Hot-and-Scary growled at him, his voice a combination of deep and gravely that would have been amazingly sexy if not slightly terrifying and if Will hadn’t been a little drunk and horrified he might have been able to sift out what was what.

               “Why? You some kind of faggot lover?!”

               Drunk-and-Ugly took the first swing, but Hot-and-Scary answered by punching the dude right in the face so hard that the dude dropped like a sack of potatoes, and the next second he was on asshole and kicking the crap out of him.

               “How does it feel to get your ass kicked by a faggot you piece of shit!” Hot-and-Scary yelled as he continued to unleash righteous vengeance on the dude, with Drunk-and-Ugly managing to get in a few punches of his own, until Will reached to grab Hot-and-Scary under his arms and pull him away by force as Hot-and-Scary thrashed in his arms. “Let go of me! Let me at him, I’m going to rearrange his face!”

               “Woah Nico, calm down!”

               A much larger Asian guy helped Will haul Hot-and-Scary, whose name was apparently Nico, away from the unfolding action, as the bouncers tried to deal with the group of very angry drunk friends who kept being egged on by the fact Nico kept yelling things along the line of “Fight me bitch” at them. The chaos was controlled by the time the cops rolled in, and by that point a bunch of very disappointed drunk college students were in the process of stumbling home.

      ��        Will was interviewed, and told his story to a relatively understanding cop. Eventually Will ended up meeting Nico on the curb after the cops had let him out of the car. Will handed Nico a cup of ice for the black eye he was now sporting (and somehow made look so good), and Nico pressed it against his face.

               “Thanks…sorry. I kind of really lost it in there,” Nico said and Will gave him a smile as he sat down on the curb beside him and held out a napkin. “What’s that for?”

               “I’m Will Solace, senior bio-major. Your nose is bleeding,” Will informed him. In the lamp light and blue and red flashes, Will definitely caught Nico’s ears redden.  

               “Nico di Angelo. Classics and Italian double major,” Nico answered as he took the number hesitantly as he sniffed and wiped at his nose which was dripping blood. “Ah, shit. You’re right. I think I broke my fucking nose.”

               “Let me see,” Will said, touching Nico’s face. His expression flickered before settling into a guarded façade, as Will inspected his nose, gently probing the side. “You seem to be okay. It was probably just the trauma.”

               “I would have been pissed if he had managed it. Bastard had a wimpy punch anyways,” Nico reported, as if this definitely wasn’t Nico di Angelo’s first rodeo. Will directed Nico on the proper way to pinch his nose to stem to bleeding, and held the cup of ice for him as they sat together. Will noticed a pretty African-American girl and the Asian boy speaking the police, as well as Lou Ellen and Cecil. “It was supposed to be my sister’s night—Hazel, she’s over there. She just totally killed her interview and got her internship. But I just can’t seem to human properly.”

               “Well you protected my honor, and you were a total badass. If you were going to get thrown in jail, they probably would have handcuffed you, so I think you’re good and she’ll forgive you.”

               “You were pretty cool to. I mean, I lost it, but you pulled me off. Thanks for that.”

               “I don’t think we’re even though,” Will told him, as he placed the cup on the ground. He called over a lady who handed him a pen from her purse. “Here, give me your hand.”

               Nico held it out, obviously confused. Will quickly scrawled his number on Nico’s palm and then released his grip. Nico stared at the number dumbly for a moment, before comprehension flickered over his features and he blushed. For a guy who had kicked the shit out of another human being about a foot bigger than him, Will was finding him increasingly adorable.

               “Will, you’re a free man! Our Uber is here!” Cecil called out to him as Will stood up and brushed off the street-grime from his jeans.

               “Call me,” Will told Nico di Angelo with a sunny smile. “I’ll take you out, if you are interested, and I really hope you are.”

               “Uh—yeah, that sounds—yeah,” Nico stuttered, offering an almost shy wave as Will walked away and loaded up in a Honda Accord with Lou Ellen and Cecil.

               “Please tell me you got his number,” Lou Ellen told him as she shook his arm. Will watched Nico’s sister give Nico a hug as the car pulled away, and he smiled.

               “I don’t think I’ll be free next weekend to be your date to the formal Cecil,” Will reported.

               “Damn way to leave me hanging, Solace.”