#the three of them try to one up each other EVERY TIME

[poisonf0rest]

The Best Dreams Come in Threes

♱⋅── rafayel x reader x xavier

♱⋅── about: Rafayel and Xavier have always been there for you. One is your fire, your passion, the twin flame to your temper. The other is your light, a guiding beacon, your twin star. So when you have a nightmare, they take it upon themselves to comfort and remind you of their unconditional devotion. Even if it does lead to competition every now and then.

♱⋅── word count: 7.5k (mf...)

♱⋅── warnings: mdni, smut, it's just nasty, threesome, jealousy, somnophilia, oral, pussydrunk boys, breeding kink, double penetration, slight spoilers

♱⋅── a/n: apologies to the two random strangers on the plane that I sat next to when the idea of this fic possessed me. I really, really hope you didn't read anything I was frantically writing down in the midst of me finishing my work report cause that shit was nasty.

art credit and inspiration due to the wonderful @/sakimenz

Lonely star, who do you shine for?

The weight of all your pasts- of all your futures- the guilt and pride you carry will only cause you to collapse, and all that will be left will be an all-consuming black hole. 

Your desperation won’t bring your sun back. 

Lonely king, don’t you know a kingdom devoid of life is a crown devoid of purpose?

You were the fire that left them, and all you have to show for the betrayal is a drowned memory and a heart wrenched from your chest, a broken promise and a forgotten story. 

You’ve changed with each lifetime, but you’ll forever be at the mercy of fate. 

And you? You’re the very curse that haunts them. 

Claws, so cold they burn, emerge from the darkness before piercing through flesh, tearing through muscle and bone as they dig into your ribcage, dragging you down into the shadows. Drowning, falling. You’re spiraling through lifetimes of failure, lifetimes of pain both your own and not, all while the claws dig closer and closer to your heart, clutching the muscle like a songbird in a cage. 

It’s the price, the price you must pay for all this pain you’ve caused, for dooming a star and killing a god. 

The clawed hand wraps around your heart, the piercing into the fluttering pulse faster and faster until—

You wake up crying. 

A hot trail of tears slides into the pillows, and a sniffle rakes through your body, the sudden movement causing a subtle disturbance to the two forms still sound asleep on either side of you. 

Funny, you can’t remember a thing, but there’s a painful throb in your chest. You’ll take another dose of your heart medicine in the morning. 

But for now, your bedroom is still dulled by the pale blue moonlight filtering through the curtains, and you’re in no hurry to get out of the warm covers and their embrace. 

The nightmares have become routine at this point. You never remember what they are, but you wake up with a sense of fear and dread, as though you can feel the pain all over again. It’s best not to think too much about it.

Taking a deep breath and closing your eyes, you inhale shakily one last time, trying to shake off the looming feeling when the arm around your waist shifts, tugging lightly at your loose sleep shirt before slipping under to massage the skin beneath. You let out a soft sigh, a light shudder going through your body as the gentle hands work away the tension.

“The same?” Rafayel’s words are slurred with sleep and concern, hot breath dancing along the crook of your neck as he props himself up on his elbow. You nod.

Rafayel makes a small, displeased noise before his other arm pulls you closer, his bare chest now flush against your back. The sudden movement forces Xavier, who was once tucked against your shoulder, further away, grumbling at the loss even in his sleep.

His face scrunches, brows furrowed together before the corners of his lips turn downward, and he blindly reaches for you. He eventually finds the curve of your waist, and his hand tightens on the fabric of your shirt as it slides in above Rafayel’s.

A huff, and Xavier buries his face back into your chest, his warm breath tickling you. And then, gentle snores— you should've known better than to think that would be enough to wake him.

Rafayel, still pressed firmly against your back, begins to move, propping his body up just enough to look you in the eyes as he wipes a stray tear from your cheek. "Wanna talk about it, cutie?"

“I… I think you were there, both of you. But it felt lonely, painful.”

Rafayel's face contorts into a worried expression, his hand moves down your cheek, cupping your jaw, and you lean into his warm caress with a sigh.

You place a kiss on his palm. "It's okay, just a scary dream. Nothing real. Nothing to worry about." You repeat it, more to yourself than Rafayel, but his arms wrap around you anyway.

And yet Rafayel looks at you with a deep furrow in his brow, a seriousness you’ve almost never seen on him.

You give him a questioning look, but his lips press to yours in a searing kiss, stealing the air from your lungs. He pulls away only for a second, whispering sweet nothings against your skin before returning his lips to yours, the hand cradling your face slipping down to rest on your hip.

He kisses you softly, gently. First pressing a trail of light, chaste kisses along your jaw, the corners of your mouth, and nose, then moving back to your lips. “We’ll never leave you. We’d tear through every universe, every destiny to get back to you.”

Strange, how Rafayel says it with all the reverence of a vow. 

You want to tease him for the sudden declaration, for making all this fuss over a stupid dream, but you never have the opportunity, not when Rafayel's signature smirk settles back onto his lips. 

His hand slides down to your thighs, fingers teasing around the band of your sleep shorts, toying, pressing, but never crossing the self-imposed boundary of your clothes. “Unless, you’d prefer it if I proved it to you?”

“Rafayel,” you warn, hoping your narrowed glare would dissuade him.

Of course the man only seems to take that as a challenge, smile widening as you flinch at the cold touch creeping under your shirt. One palm traces up your ribcage, long, nimble fingers rubbing circles against your skin until he brushes the underside of your breast. 

You shudder, hissing out another string of curses before turning around so your back is to Rafayel. 

Really, you should know better than to think that alone would be enough, and a hot trail of kisses now joins his wandering hands down your shoulder blade. They start innocent enough, sweet, lingering touches along the hem of your shirt, but that quickly changes when Rafayel’s arm under your shirt practically yanks it up, sucking wet, messy kisses into the bare curves of your chest.

Each nip against your sensitive flesh forces the possibility of sleep further and further away, and you resort to distracting yourself with the motionless silhouette of Xavier. Petting through his hair, your rhythm is jolted every time Rafayel decides to leave a mark, nails pulling through Xavier’s locks as you bite your lip on a moan.

You don't miss the curve of his smirk against your skin, and the next kiss is accompanied by a bite, hard enough to elicit a sharp gasp that stirs Xavier. Tense, you scan the blonde's face, but he's nothing if not a heavy sleeper, and he nuzzles further into your touch, still unconscious as his head tucks under yours.

You don't get to sigh in relief. Instead, a whine builds in your throat, the wet heat of Rafayel's teeth tugging on the strap of your underwear as he fists your sleep shorts down.

"Rafayel, stop it,” you hiss as his hot breath hits the already embarrassingly damp center of your underwear.

His smile grows, lips brushing against your clothed core as he tilts his head. “Hmm? But you don’t sound like you want me to stop. And she certainly doesn’t sound like it either.” Two fingers dip under the band, and he parts your cunt with a lewd click.

Your face flushes in embarrassment, refusing to acknowledge just how easily your body gives in to them. One hand leaves Xavier, roughly fisting into Rafayel’s curls as he groans from the sharp pressure. “That’s because you and Xavier refused to wear protection!” 

The accusation earns a hushed laugh, his shoulders shaking against the insides of your thighs. It would have been innocent, the same contagious sort of smile gracing Rafayel’s face, if not the shadows cast across his face in the dark, teeth gleaming like fangs as he traces his tongue up the entire length of your clothed cunt. 

"M’sorry, we thought you'd enjoy the mess," he says, words muffled over your thighs, nose practically buried in between. "How can I make it up to you, cutie?”

You don’t get a chance to respond, not when Rafayel’s tongue dives into your clothed cunt, moaning against the soaked fabric as you gasp and force him closer by his hair. To muffle his sounds, you tell yourself. A pathetic lie considering how much louder he gets now, nose grinding up against your clit as his tongue tries to press into your fluttering cunt even with the barrier of cloth in between. 

God, he’s addicted, and it doesn’t take long until Rafayel’s spit and your slick soak through your underwear, the near-translucent fabric sticking to your lips as the bare minimum friction nearly drives you insane. 

“Say it,” Rafayel whines, nuzzling his face against your inner thigh. “Please, just tell me how badly you want me. Tell me, and I’ll do anything you ask.”

Like he wouldn’t already.

But how could you ever deny him when he begs so sweetly? 

Your palm cups his face, watching his near-wrecked expression and flushed skin tremble beneath your fingers.  “I’m yours, Rafayel.”

And the fabric is ripped into pieces. 

Refusing to even breathe, Rafayel places an opened-mouth kiss on your cunt, lapping up your slick with the most satisfied moan. He doesn't waste any time, not while your confession coated his mind with the sweetest type of intoxication, eating you out like he was depraved.

He might as well have been with how he moans, hips grinding desperately against the edge of the mattress, his not-entirely human tongue curling in and out of you as it writhes with terrifying accuracy against your walls.

It feels too good to be ashamed of the noises you make, gasping and crying out until you slam your palm over your mouth, biting down hard as the other claws into Rafayel’s hair. You can barely control yourself, half fighting to squirm away from the overwhelming pleasure, half rocking your hips up and down his face as you jerk him closer. 

“Mhm, greedy.” Fucked-out, broken little grunts leave his throat before his words are muffled into your cunt, not baring to part for even a breath. “Pull on it, please. Harder.” 

You tug Rafayel’s hair almost in vengeance when he purposefully kisses away from where you need him most, licking and sucking obscenely into your thighs just to hear your frustrated cries even over your hand. 

He loved being used like this, so long as it was you. 

So long as it was him that turned you into such a beautiful, pathetic mess. 

It's not long until Rafayel pulls you close to the edge, nose pressing against your clit while thrusting his tongue into you, eyes rolling back from the taste and from the thought of your tight heat fluttering around his cock instead. 

And then, he stops, pulling away and leaving you gasping into the tear-stained pillow.

You bite back a sob, releasing only a choked little noise that has Rafayel's eyes flicking up to your face, the soft, concerned look in his eyes melting into something far more dangerous.

With viciously dilated pupils and your slick dripping from his mouth, Rafayel stares you down as every inch the dangerous siren the legends claimed him to be. He smiles, tongue raking over his teeth as though he couldn’t get enough of your taste, and you swear you’d let him eat your heart and soul. Gods, you’d let him eat you whole. 

You realize you must have made a sound, because Rafayel hushes you, pressing quick kisses to your knee. "Aw, what happened to being quiet? Aren't you afraid we'll wake the poor sleeping bunny?" 

At the mention of your other partner, you turn to where Xavier’s nuzzling his face further into your side, each warm breath damp against your feverish skin, still lost to the realm of dreams.

Not that Rafayel allows your attention to turn away from himself for too long. 

He leans over Xavier, the hand that wasn’t supporting his weight cupping your face, and his lips are crashing into yours with all the viciousness of a summer seastorm. Your lips part, and Rafeyel fucks his tongue into your mouth the same he did your pussy, wet and desperate, the taste of yourself enough to make you dizzy. 

"Tell me,” Rafayel’s tone dips into something darker, kissing down your throat and stomach as he eyes Xavier. “Who’s the better lover?" 

Xavier's fingers flex, the tips brushing against the curve of your breast as he sleeps, and Rafayel's smile is almost predatory.

"D-don't ask stupid questions you dumb fish," your voice cracks as Rafayel's mouth ghosts over your cunt, teeth bared to your thigh, threatening to bite. "I chose you both."

The confession, as expected, doesn't please him. If anything, he seems overly offended, pouting and huffing a cold breath of air right against your aching core. The chill makes you squirm, trying to force him back to your center with the grip you have on his hair.

"No. Nope. That's not an answer."

"Raf–"

His name breaks off in a moan, sound ripped from your throat as Rafayel's thumb starts rubbing firm circles around your neglected clit. He doesn't relent, the pressure too much, too quick, your body already trembling from the pleasure Rafayel knows how to torture you with.

Only, it seems that all your sudden noise and movement have finally begun to affect Xavier. Not enough to wake him, but enough that you can hear his breathing become heavier, following your every twitch and buck from Rafayel’s onslaught as his body begins to grind into yours.

Mumbling into your neck, Xavier’s hand tightens around your waist before slipping under your shirt to palm your breasts, squeezing and kneading until the touch has you keening.

Xavier's still fast asleep, nonsensical words slurred against your skin, and yet his body is now far from it. His erection is thick and heavy against your hips, grinding desperately into your warmth almost in time to Rafayel’s ministrations, whimpering under his breath with every forceful thrust. 

Rafayel notices too, his gaze drifting up to the blond. You can't see his face, already busied between your legs once more, but a pleased hum vibrates through his entire body, fingers finally slipping into your cunt as he curls them just right, your back arching off the sheets with a silent scream. 

Xavier whines at your sudden thrashing, tugging you closer and unknowingly forcing you immobile and at complete mercy to Rafayel’s unfairly skilled fingers. "Mhm, so warm. Please, m’want to..." Another needy, slow grind against you follows his sleepy request. 

"Rafayel," you choke out a muffled plea, but his eyes only narrow, taking a breath as his free hand grabs at Xavier's ass, the touch just light enough to tease and make him rut harder against you.

"What is it, cutie? Don't pretend like you don't want more, not when your pretty pussy's drooling for his cock. She’s so needy, am I not enough?”

Rafayel rests his head on the inside of your thigh, fingers thrusting roughly into that sweet spongy spot inside you just as his other hand wraps around the base of Xavier's cock through his boxers, thumbing over the pre-cum staining the dark fabric. 

You're forced to bite down on the pillow beneath your head to stop the desperate cry tearing itself out of your throat. "This isn’t- ah- isn’t right."

"Isn't it? You’re dripping and the little bunny’s still asleep, yet look how desperate he is, rutting against you." Rafayel's voice dips, a raspy edge from his throat still fucking into you making it even more sinful, slurping everything you give him around his fingers before it drips down his wrist and into a puddle below. A huff, “I should get rewarded with how much effort I’m putting in.”

You cry out, legs trembling as his thumb begins its relentless attack on your clit, tracing mindless circles just random enough to keep you on edge. You're close, and Rafayel can feel it.

Xavier isn’t faring much better, whimpering a string of incoherent pleas into the crook of your neck as his hips keep rocking into the fist around him. He doesn't take his mouth away from the skin of your shoulder, biting down on it as he cums, shuddering and whimpering as the mess splatters down Rafayel's knuckles and onto your thighs. 

“You’re next. If you won’t be honest with me, I’ll make your body is.” Rafayel’s taunt is the last coherent thing you remember before you come. Hard. His words ring against your skull as his fingers pump into you faster, and the pressure against your clit becomes almost unbearable, and you're falling apart, crying and thrashing, the only thing keeping you grounded is the feeling of Rafayel's weight and the scent of Xavier's strawberry shampoo, and then—

Rafayel finally shuts up to let you ride his face through your high, letting you use him as your thighs lock around his head, grinding desperately as though he were no more than a toy. No chance of breathing, no chance of escape. 

Not that he could care less, not as long as he could keep his lips around your gushing cunt, humming and sucking into your release as cum sprays over his tongue and down his chin. Gods, he could never get enough of this.

You're still shaking through your orgasm, pliant and stupid from the dizzying pleasure, that you don't notice the rustle of sheets until a second pair of hands slide down your thighs. 

"You’re doing this without me?" 

Xavier’s voice is a whisper, husky from sleep and his orgasm as he presses a kiss right below your ear, fingers squeezing rougher against your breasts.

"S-sorry. Didn't want to wake you," you try, biting back a gasp when his thumb flicks over a nipple. Rough. Mean. 

Rafayel snorts. "I think it's a bit too late for that.” A glare at Xavier over your leg, showing off your cum still dripping from his lips and fingers. ”Besides, I didn't need you."

You want to argue, really, but then Xavier is grabbing a fistful of your hair, tugging just hard enough to push your head back, coaxing a moan from your throat as he marks down your neck with kisses intending to bruise. He’s pouting, grabbing your jaw as he forces your gaze away from Rafayel, nipping your bottom lip until you surrender to his drowsy advances.

“Why…” Another kiss before Xavier's licking desperately into your mouth, “Why didn't you wake me?"

The question comes out a little breathless, almost petulant, eyes hooded and dark as he looks over the mess Rafayel has made of you. He can't tear his eyes away, watching Rafayel even as he kisses you. His fingers flick over your nipple again, twisting and pinching until you're shaking, your thighs squeezing Rafayel's face, all while Xavier watches.

Said man only smiles, all smug arrogance. "Didn't you hear her, Xav? She said she didn't want to wake you, so don't blame me."

Rafayel drags a wet, open-mouthed kiss over your cunt, the overstimulation making you break the kiss with a gasp.

"Liar." Xavier's voice trembles, and you can't tell if he's referring to Rafayel's words, or the way he's staring longingly at Rafayel's lips now, still slick with your release. "You just wanted her all to yourself."

He doesn't bother giving Rafayel a chance to retort, taking the punishment out on you as he dips his head underneath your folded-up shirt, groaning as his hot tongue rolls over your nipple, sucking at the stiff peak as his hand continues to assault the other. The onslaught has you whimpering, pushing and clawing against Xavier’s shoulder to try and fight him off as he refuses to let go for even a moment. 

Rafayel's not one to be ignored, not when he has the advantage, and his tongue is back to fucking into your cunt with no reprieve, a cruel smirk on his face as you writhe and beg for their mercy.

Your hips roll, torn between pleasure and oversensitivity, unable to escape either of the men. It's overwhelming. Too much, too quickly, you only just came and you're already getting dragged back.

"Ah! Stop, I'm already mhm—"

You're interrupted by Xavier's tongue slipping into your mouth, a filthy, lazy slide that makes you grind up into Rafayel's tongue. It's like he doesn't even need to breathe, the wet, sloppy sounds of him eating you out drowned out only by the sound of Xavier kissing you senseless, pausing just to nip and suck at your breasts as though he'll get rewarded if he just tries hard enough. 

"You want him to stop? Is the mermaid not enough to satisfy you, princess?" Xavier taunts, lips brushing against your ear as his hips push up, grinding his cock against your thigh. "If that's the case, perhaps we should switch. I can give you exactly what you want, remember?"

“Shut up, I’m the one making her cum.”

“Only cause I wasn’t awake yet.”

“You snooze, you lose. Whose fault is that? Oh ya, yours.” 

They're at each other's throats yet again, practically clawing and snapping at each other, and you're helpless to try and intervene when they take their faux anger out on your poor abused body. 

You can't think, can't focus, can't do anything but shake and pant and sob into the pillow, their combined weight on top of you, forcing your pleasure higher and higher. 

“Xav—" He cuts you off with a kiss. 

“Shh, just take it."

You can't even tell who’s sloppier anymore- Xavier fucking your mouth with his tongue or Rafayel still eating you through your second orgasm, the sudden hit of it thundering down your body. 

“You look so pretty when you come," Xavier moans into your lips, his eyes half-lidded and glazed, hand coming up to stroke your cheek as he watches you, a sharp contrast to the other still rolling against your swollen nipple, loving the way you jerk into his touch. Then a glare to the man below. "My turn.”

Your body is still trembling, Rafayel's merciless fingers not allowing you to come down from your high, aftershocks of hypersensitivity crashing down your spine as every muscle spasms. No more. No more, please. You can’t possibly come again. 

You don't realize you’re begging out loud, not until Xavier shushes you with another bruising kiss. 

But it doesn't seem like Rafayel has any plans on stopping, not until Xavier’s hand skims down your thighs and yanks him up by the chain of his necklace. 

Rafayel growls as he's practically forced off your weeping cunt, eyes bleary and unfocused as he fights the blond's grip. And god, he looks absolutely wrecked, spit and cum dripping from his mouth and chin, connecting his lips to your pussy in sticky wet strands before they break, and you feel the unmistakable bulge of his cock straining against his soaked boxers. 

Xavier yanks him forward, pulling the necklace chain until he crashes his lips onto Rafayel's, all teeth and tongue, desperate to get a taste of your cum from his mouth. It's filthy, and Rafayel is the first to give in, still drunk off your taste and now Xavier's too.

"Mhm, you taste like her," Xavier whispers, pulling him closer until their bodies are pressed together, his mouth still moving against Rafayel's swollen, parted lips.

"Ya?" Rafayel’s grin is predatory, all fang and sin. "You wanna try too, don’t you? Give in then, bunny, lie down for us.”

"I don't take orders from you." 

Xavier scowls against Rafayel's lips, but you can feel his resolve breaking, his arm trembling where it rests against your thigh. 

"No, you take them from her, and she asked us so, so nicely to make her come. You wouldn't dare deny her that, would you?”

The Lemurian is nothing if not dangerously persistent, one hand coaxing Xavier backward so gently you don’t think he realizes how easily he’s falling, the other clawing down his abs as Rafayel bites against the erratic thud of Xavier’s pulse. Sharp and bruising, a silent promise for what to come. "Or do you wanna eat her out like I did? Have her ride your face while I fuck into her poor, desperate cunt? I can't decide, there are so many options."

“No.” It’s more a plea than a demand. Xavier's voice shakes with need, and you watch, dizzy and panting, as Rafayel's fingers slip underneath the waistband of Xavier's boxers. His fingers, still dripping with your cum, brush down the length of his cock, thumb circling the sensitive head and smearing the copious amount of pre-cum leaking from it. “You had y-your turn.” 

He can hardly finish his objection, not when Rafayel’s thumb comes up to abuse his leaking slit, Xavier’s words slurring into a desperate whine as he practically collapses back onto his elbows. Immediately, Rafayel is atop him.

"A competition, then." Rafayel leans down to whisper into Xavier's ear, but the words are purposefully teased out loud enough for you to hear, “But you lose if you cum first, and I get to fuck her.”

It's a low blow, a challenge he knows Xavier can't turn down. 

A challenge that somehow has you poised once again as the torment and the reward.

And it's true, because the second the words register, the blond's eyes shoot open, and his cock jerks violently against Rafeyel’s palm, a broken sound leaving his lips as his eyes lock back onto yours with all the promise of a starving hunter.

"Deal.”

Xavier doesn't allow the agreement to go without a price. Something snaps, the bedroom flickering with a sudden darkness as all the light vanishes. 

One moment, you’re lying against the bed, and the next Xavier manhandles you to your knees, one hand forcing your arms behind your back as he tugs you against him, the other pinning Rafayel to the mattress.

Rafayel’s the very picture of smug sin, the feral expression far more genuine, less threatening and much more amused as he nestles further into the pillows, one arm tucked lazily behind his head. 

Cold fingers dance up your hips, and Rafayel drags your bare cunt over his thighs and onto his lap, a pleased sigh escaping his lips as you're pinned deliciously between his cock and Xavier's sculpted back.

"So needy, little bunny."

"Shut up. I'm not the one who's leaking."

Rafayel snorts, and before the two can start fighting again, you're leaning forward, a hand resting against Rafayel's abs as you cup his erection through his boxers. And when he moans you believe every myth, every fairytale singing the doom of sailors to a siren song, because every sound he gives you is addictive and sweet enough that you’d drown to hear it again. 

Pulling Rafayel's cock out from his boxers, you’re stunned yet again by the slightly non-human beauty of it, heavy and thick in your palm, the flushed, ruddy tip already drooling precum as you thumb at it in vengeance. You know Xavier's watching from the way his own cock twitches against your back, hands digging bruises into your hips. Then, the warmth at your back disappears. 

Instead, a pair of hands drag your ass up, forcing you into a deep arch as you scramble for purchase against Rafayel’s thigh and the bed below.

“Closer.” Xavier’s hand laces into your hair as he pushes your head down, forcing your mouth to nuzzle against the base of Rafayel's cock. 

The movement pulls a gasp from both of you, your hot breath teasing the sensitive skin of Rafayel's shaft and forcing a shudder from his entire body. 

Seeing the two of you completely at his mercy does terrible, horrible things to Xavier, and his fingers dig bruises into your hips as it takes him everything not to forgo the competition and fuck you right there. 

"Good girl,” he hums, voice trembling as his grip tightens against your hair, giving you a harsh glare when you whine and squirm in his hold. "Now open."

You can't bring yourself to say no, not when the sight of Rafayel's eyes rolling back the second you do makes your stomach clench. His cock twitches against you as you lick at the copious amounts of cum leaking from his tip, then obediently wrap your lips around him.

With a smile that would have you shaking, Xavier leans down, barely able to continue guiding your head as he’s entranced with the mess between your legs, licking up the slick dripping down your thighs as he sucks against the delicate flesh, marking right over the sensitive bruises Rafayel had only just left behind. 

 “This- hah-” Rafayel curses under his breath, the single word breaking off into a moan, the sound muffled by his palm as his chest heaves. “This is hardly fair.”

But his complaints feel half-hearted, not with the way he’s already rutting into your mouth, Xavier’s iron grip keeping you in place as Rafayel thrusts himself into your mouth in one breath. You yield pathetically quick, flattening your tongue against the slick underside of his cock, another stream of pre-cum flooding your mouth as you nearly choke on it all, unable to pull off to even take a breath as Xavier guides your head up and down in a steady rhythm that has Rafayel falling apart. 

It’s cruel, but you can't help each pathetic moan that gets muffed onto Rafayel’s cock, the vibrations forcing his back to arch off the bed, head rolling back as it thuds against the pillows, Adam's apple bobbing as he gulps in shallow breaths.

You almost wish he would let you see his eyes, but then you'd miss the view of his chest, every muscle tight and twitching under his skin, the mesmerizing sight now blurry from the tears forming in your eyes. You can't resist reaching up, dragging your nails down his abs, watching his body jerk against every new line of red.

"Please,” you're not sure if the broken whimper belonged to Rafayel or yourself. “Please, I can't wait anymore, wanna feel you— fuck— wanna fill you up again, please let me cum." It's like just the very thought has Rafayel keening, his hips jerking up into your hot mouth with reckless abandon as Xavier forces your spine up into a deeper arch.

You're nearly bent in half, the new angle leaving no part of you hidden from Xavier's hungry gaze as he watches you practically drool over Rafayel’s cock, lips meeting his pelvis as he breaches your throat. 

Xavier’s going to win. He needs to win. 

The thought makes him frantic, tongue fucking past the tight resistance of your cunt, his hand sliding up to tease at your clit. He won't be the one to finish first, not this time. Not when he's wanted nothing more than to feel your cunt gushing around him ever since Rafayel woke him up, ever since the two of you had the audacity to start this without him.

Rafayel can’t last much longer, especially not when you bring one shaking hand down to massage his swollen balls, hardly in control of your own movements as you feel dizzy on the addictive combination from the lack of oxygen and pleasure as Xavier begins to eat you out like a man starved. 

The room’s filled with the sounds of each slick, messy movement, whimpers from the man beneath you and breathless pleas from the one behind, bed rattling with every thrust. 

And yet you’re still so painfully empty. So, so, empty as your cunt flutters around Xavier’s tongue before he relents to kiss your clit once more, dragging a dissatisfied whine from you as you fight yourself off Rafayel’s cock. 

"F-fuck me. Please," A sob, and you feel both Rafayel and Xavier shudder. "It’s not enough. Want your cocks inside me, wanna cum on it. Need it, please-"

Oh, and when you beg like that, they should have known they never would have stood a chance.

"Shit."

"Ah, please-"

It's a blur. A rush of hands, of pleasure and pain, all of it colliding and dragging you to the edge. The room spins, the ceiling above you falling until the familiar, comforting feeling of slick muscle embraces you, grounding you as you focus on the erratic heartbeat between each ragged exhale. 

You're still sandwiched between them, lying on Rafayel as Xavier's weight drapes across your back, head propped up on the former's chest as you stare blearily at his silver pendant, unable to move. You're not even sure if you can, not with the way Xavier's still gripping the backs of your thighs, spreading you open as he forces one leg higher up.

Then, the blunt head of his cock grinds between your folds.

Xavier’s pressing his forehead against your back, wrapping his arms around you before biting into the crook of your neck. "You mean it? You’ll let us come inside again?"

Rafayel laughs, a raspy sound still raw from his orgasm. "Well, we both lost. Now what, bunny? We can't just leave her like this, poor thing is trembling." 

"Mhm,” Xavier forces you up, “We both fuck her then."

His words only make you whimper, body jerking uselessly against Xavier's grip. His hands lift you as Rafayel flips you around so you're now facing the blond, flinching violently as his cock brushes your swollen clit, any semblance of protest quelled as Xavier pulls you into another messy kiss. 

It’s demanding, Xavier mumbling achingly sweet praises into your open mouth as he begins to press you down, faster, harsher, forcing you onto Rafayel’s lap in a reverse cowgirl as you slide down slowly, taking inch by inch of Rafayel’s throbbing cock. There’s hardly any blue left in Xavier’s blow-out pupils, too mesmerized by the slick mess you’re gushing down their thighs. And just when you begin to squirm, impatient and desperate, Xavier slows their pace even more.

"Shhh, we need to make sure you'll be able to take both of us."

Rafayel's hand is wrapped around your waist, thumb rubbing small circles into your stomach, and if it weren't for Xavier's arms locked around you, holding you upright, you would have collapsed the second Rafayel pressed into the spot his fingers had found.

"Look at you," he purrs, a low sound that has you gasping. "So pretty when you’re needy. Can you feel me?"

It's hard not to. Everywhere feels warm, and every slow thrust, no matter how gentle, has a small burst of ecstasy building in your stomach, a wave crashing higher and higher as the two of them slowly fuck you full. Just as you’re nearly seated all the way onto Rafayel’s length, Xavier’s palms come up to the back of your knees, folding them up and forcing you backward until you’re practically lying prone atop of Rafayel.

Your head lolls uselessly against Rafayel's neck, gasping at the force of the new position,  and you're not sure if it's the tears in your eyes or the overwhelming pressure against your walls as they stretch around his cock that's making the world so blurry. Xavier soon follows you down, pressing you closer into Rafayel’s chest as his lips trail your jaw, your neck, your sucking against every sensitive spot behind your ears until you're distracted from the pain.

"You're doing so good, princess. Just a little more."

The sudden onslaught of pressure of both of you atop him has Rafayel flinching, and he hisses out a pained moan, hips jerking up into the slick heat of your pussy, and it's only Xavier's grip that keeps the two of you from slipping off.

"Hah- hurry up-" Rafayel's eyes are glassy, his head tipped back and face twisted in pleasure. 

Strings of incoherent pleas are whispered against your ear, Rafayel marking up the left side of your neck while Xavier’s still busy with the right, that is, until Xavier switches sides, biting right over Rafayel’s marks until he’s pulled up into a desperate kiss.

The wet sounds of their lips are filthy and obscene, each hot breath and moan brushing past your ear as you writhe, pressed between them. Rafayel's cock is already swelling, twitching against the fluttering walls of your pussy, unwilling to fully pull out, settling to just grinding up in slow, cruel thrusts before something in him snaps and he switches to pounding against your abused walls.

Every time you think you’ll finally come Rafayel switches pace, the obscene slap of skin on skin muffled only by your sobs and their kissing. 

You’re close, so so fucking close you feel your muscles begin to shake. Xavier only pushes you down further, every angle a new cruelty, smothering you between them, rendering you unable to do anything but take it.

Again, Rafayel slows, and you slur curses down at him as your thighs tremble from overstimulation, shaking violently until you feel something grab your calf. Xavier massages the quivering muscle, gentle until he’s suddenly pressing your knee higher and higher, going until it’s pinned to the mattress up against your head.

And now Rafayel is hitting impossibly deeper, abusing your poor g-spot with each thrust. 

Xavier kisses your ankle, then calf, making his way up your leg until he can nip at your inner thighs now folded over his shoulder. And then you feel the pressure of his cock at your already full entrance. Xavier’s hand dips down between your bodies, trying to bully himself in alongside Rafayel, but his cock slides past your navel, slick and covered in your combined cum. 

"No, no no, not gonna fit- ah- Xavier!"

Your words break off into a wail as he tries again, grinding closer so you’re tightly cradled between the two, Xavier leaning fully atop you both. A snarl grits through his jaw when his cock slips past again, readjusting you so your legs fall apart wider, the burn in your thighs turning delicious and overwhelming, pussy weeping around Rafayel’s cock as Xavier’s swollen, leaking head bumps against your clit. 

Xavier watches the mess, every thrust and messy squirt of cum, brows furrowed and flushed a deep red, as he whines into your shoulder, "Please- can't stop- please let me fuck you too, you'll look so pretty with both of us filling you up, taking us so good- don’t make me stop."

He’s reduced to babbling against your neck, biting down hard enough to bleed when your cunt finally yields to him too, cockhead bumping into Rafayel’s as he slowly pushes in inch and inch, trembling from the combined pleasure of your walls and the violent throbbing of every vein now grinding together.

It's too much, it’s not enough, the stretch and the friction and the pressure leaving you fucked stupid, hands scrambling for purchase. Rafayel grunts when your nails drag across his thighs, his own hands coming to latch onto your wrists, pinning them above his head, forcing you motionless between them.

You can do nothing but sob, tears streaming down your face as your entire body convulses. And when they finally, finally bottom out together, the world goes white.

"Shh, you're alright," Rafayel soothes, although his voice is trembling, the sound broken as he tries to catch his breath. "Doing so well for us, cutie, so perfect."

Xavier growls, his hands grabbing the headboard. He's barely holding on, not with the way Rafayel's cock twitches against his own, your hot walls clenched tightly around the two of them as you beg.

"Please, can't- too much, more, I need-"

There's a broken sob, and then Xavier’s slamming his hips forward, fucking into you with a brutality he usually saves for Rafayel, the force sending the three of you rocking against the mattress, headboard splintering under the strength of his grip. The other leaves to thumb at your nipples, lips following suit as he rambles, drunk off your pussy, "These would look s'pretty filled, even more sensitive. Bet you'd let us milk you, fill you up even more."

"And here, you'll feel us here too, won't you?" A hand moves lower- whose you no longer are coherent enough to care- brushing over the swell of your abdomen, the slight bulge appearing and disappearing where both of them are thrusting violently into you. "Be a waste not to. Imagine it, a painted mess filled with us.”

And you are. You can't think about anything else, not with the way they're stuffing you full— every time Rafayel's cock would settle near your g-spot Xavier’s would ram back in, forcing the former up against your cervix before pulling out entirely, repeating the vicious rhythm as the pain bled into pleasure. 

Tears stream down the side of your face, room spinning into dizziness until all that remains are the burning trails of their touch, the only things keeping you grounded. 

Rafayel's sucking into your shoulder, biting the sweat-slicked flesh, and you can feel his hips begin to stutter underneath you, already reaching his high despite Xavier still pounding into you with the same intensity, desperate to catch up.

The moment Xavier feels Rafayel's release, it's over. Your back arches up against him, convulsing against their hold, your abused walls clenching down so tightly that you’re practically begging for them to come inside, sucking them in deeper and deeper until it’s impossible for them not to follow.

It's a violent orgasm, hot squirt of your cum drenching Xavier’s abs, the intensity of it causing Rafayel’s vision to white out too, unable to hear the desperate sounds of your moans, not when his blood is rushing past his ears.

Then, the world comes crashing back.

Rafayel’s panting, still thrusting weakly into the slick, tight heat as he emptied himself inside you, the sheer overload of it gushing down your legs and onto the sheets. 

"Ah- Xavier," you whine, the sound muffled into his chest as Xavier continues to chase after his high, too lost in his late orgasm to pull out.

The overstimulation is torture, your body twitching and trembling with every sloppy thrust. The moment he finally pulls out, the mess follows, thick, white rivets leaking down your thighs, the sheer volume near damn concerning had you the capacity to focus on it.

Rafayel laughs, fingers swirling through the cum as though painting your thighs, "That's not going to be easy to clean up."

"S'gonna look pretty. Messy. Full." Xavier murmurs, still pinning the both of you beneath him as he collapses in exhaustion, fingers dancing over the small swell in your stomach. Pressing lightly, he watches in fascination as their mixed cum gushes out faster, and you whimper, gripping his wrists to stop before they get any more ideas. 

You're not sure what's worse, the fact that they're both still hard and the way they're looking at you, or the fact that their words have your exhausted body already trying to recover, a shiver running through your sore muscles as the room's cool air brushes over the slick, sticky mess between your thighs.

"You're both so disgusting," you groan, the words coming out slurred and barely audible. 

"You love it."

"Yeah," Xavier's agreement is soft and almost hesitant. "You love us."

"Yes, I love both of you. Now get the fuck off of me." A shove, your shaking arm barely affecting Xavier as he finally relents, a small smile on his lips as he rolls the three of you down into the bed, resting on your sides. 

The muscles in your thighs scream in relief as they’re finally placed down, every inch of your body sore and marked up in one way or another, every visible bruise and bite getting pampered in faux apologies by the two men snuggling up next to you.

It’s a tangle of limbs, Xavier already claiming your chest again as he nuzzles into your breasts while Rafayel simply curls himself around your back. A hand there, an arm there, and a little more muffled bickering. Yet you all fit together, and sleep comes easy now. 

And the nightmares never return. 

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC John Constantine's How To: Ghost Kids (pt.2)

[<- part 1]

"Oh, yeah," John jerks his head up like he just remembered the fact people are supposed to have names at all. He gestures to the kids, pointing to each of them as he introduces, "Daniel, Daniel, and Danielle."

This time, all three kids flip him off simultaneously. Bruce clears his throat, trying to figure out if Constantine is messing with him and, if so, in which parts. Since, so far, everything the man has said sounds like a poor attempt at pulling his leg.

"I don't think they like those," he cautiously says, and the kids whip their heads at him, nodding furiously. Bruce can't help but be just a little enamored with the way they behave.

"Of, sod off, at this point I don't care what they like," John straightens up with a dismissive, albeit weak, wave of his hands, and rubs his face, "They are menaces. Sometimes by accident, but mostly on purpose. Their grandfather thought it would be easier to handle them if they were not teenagers, and while I agreed with his reasoning at the time, I-" he glances at the kids, who all have displeased grimaces of various levels on their faces, "I have been made to reconsider. I swear that ancient bitch is laughing his ass off wherever he is now."

The kids suddenly grin. They are not very friendly, nor polite smiles - if anything, they look a bit nightmarish. An old grandfather's clock in his study makes a very loud ticking noise.

"See?" John whips his head to look at said clock, the expression on his face bordering on insane. His eye twitches.

If Bruce doesn't do anything now, he might become one of the very few people who managed to witness John Constantine, the Laughing Magician, have a meltdown. So he sighs and decides to solve the problems one at a time.

Which means that no matter how alarmed or suspicious he is, his first move would not be to interrogate either the man or the kids.

"You can sleep in one of the guest rooms, I trust you can find it on your own," he tells John, almost softly, as he catches the girl from slipping away from his lap, "Is there anything I need to know about children before you fall unconscious?"

John slumps with relief, so obviously that Bruce almost smiles. Hardships of raising - or, watching, for that matter - kids, he understands.

"Yes," he breathes out with an air of exhilaration and turns to the kids again, pointing to the middle child, "Danny is the original. He is from this dimension and timeline, that is. Dan," he turns his finger to the older boy, "is in the wrong timeline, he's Danny's future evil self redeemed into older bratty brother. Dani," he switches to the girl, "is Danny's clone, made by his arch-nemesis of a godfather. If she starts melting at any point, wake me up immediately. If any of them start floating, sprouting tentacles, speaking to walls in static, or glowing, don't."

Bruce looks down to the kids. So, definitely metas, that would explain the government trying to get them... Or, no, it wouldn't because he is fairly certain no government is going to blatantly ignore the Meta Protection Acts.

"Don't let them raise the dead, and if you give them food, make sure it doesn't have a face. If you find more than three of them, it means one of them has duplicated, don't worry, they will absorb it back later. Absolutely don't let them touch any guns," Constantine is backing down to the door as he speaks, his gaze flickering from the kids to Bruce and back every second. Like he is leaving a ticking bomb in Bruce's lap, and not three children. "Danny is, comparatively, the most responsible one, the other two are up for any dubious trouble they can get to at any moment. Oh, and their memories are wonky because of de-aging, they remember some things but not others, so if they say something particularly disturbing, it's most likely some random piece of knowledge they managed to keep."

Bruce raises an eyebrow. He did get the part about the kids being, well, abnormal in the matters of their origins, but the disjointed set of rules and advices doesn't help as much as Constantine probably thinks it does.

"Allergies, preferences, ages they were before?" He tries to get at least some more info down before John disappears through the door. Actually, maybe he should send someone to handcuff the man to the bed lest he disappears completely.

"None, but don't let them eat cutlery. Danny likes space, Dani has a thing for exploring, and Dan likes violence." The older kid stirs in Bruce's lap and says something in the direction of Constantine. No sound comes out, but the man seems to get what he's trying to say anyway, "Okay, yes, that was rude of me, sorry. Dan likes... exercise," he ends up with, and that placate the boy enough to slump down and cross his arms. John sighs, "They were seventeen, fourteen, and twenty respectively. Now," he snaps his fingers, and suddenly Bruce can hear the girl - Dani - humming a tune under her breath. So, he lifted the silence spell, it seems.

"Good fucking luck," John wishes to Bruce, earnestly, and all but vanishes away.

Bruce sighs and looks down to the kids.

"Are you hungry?" He tries, and all eyes are on him at once, attentive and unblinking.

"Fruitloops," Danny says, and while Bruce is positive that's the name for a cereal, he gets a feeling that's not what the kid meant.

[eternalbuckley]

Together. — aemond targaryen

SUMMARY: Aemond and you still love each other even if you weren't together anymore. So what happens if you're hanging out with your shared group friends and he invites you to a drink in his apartment? You might end up tangled with each other in his bed and talk about your feelings the next morning.

word count: 5,658

genre: slight angst with fluff, smut with plot | afab!reader, queer!reader, bipoc!reader and plus-size!reader friendly

warnings/tropes: modern au, 18+ MDNI!! NSFW (this part is divided with dividers so you can skip the actual smut part if you want), p in v sex, no use of protection (wrap it up folks thanks), cunnilingus, creampie (again, use protection), descriptions of alcohol use, mention of tipsy reader and aemond, slight cursing, use of they pronoun once, english is not my first language, slightly proofread — if I forgot something, please let me know!

a/n: it's my first time writing p in v smut, so please bear with me, i'm still trying to figure it out! this entire fanfic turned out to be the longest piece i've ever written lmao.i hope you'll enjoy it <3 reblogs, likes and comments are appreciated and highly welcomed!

disclaimer: please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work or post this anywhere without my consent. do not translate my work and post it anywhere — i give you no permission to do that. i only post my stories here, so if you find my work anywhere else please let me know!

18+ MDNI divider by cafekitsune

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The breakup between Aemond and you was mutually decided. Both of you were quite busy with your jobs and barely had time for each other anymore, which ended in a lot of arguments. Many of them were based on miscommunication or if anyone of you felt like the other one wasn’t giving them enough attention and love. This was the reason why you both mutually decided to break up after you’ve been together for a few years, both of you thinking it was the best decision during this time.

You still loved and cared for each other, but it wasn’t the right time to be with each other, as each one of you had a stressful period of your life, and the constant arguments outweighed most of the soft moments between you. You tried to be each other’s support, but it ended up in the opposite way during this time. It was clear, to everyone who knew you, that you two were still longing for each other over the months since you broke up. You tried dating other people in hopes you could fill the void that has been there ever since you parted ways, but it didn’t work out for either of you.

Aemond and you shared the same group of friends, or at least shared a few friends that hang out together every two to three weeks. Two times you and Aemond invited the people you were seeing to hang out with your friends. Meaning you and him would see each other as well. This didn’t work out quite well because the people you were seeing noticed how you and Aemond constantly looked in each other’s direction. They quickly realized that neither Aemond nor you stopped loving one another or knew that you still had some sort of feelings for the other one, even if you both tried to ignore or deny it, you knew the truth.

Your friends noticed this longing dynamic between you two ever since you told them that you decided to part ways for now. No one could say that they didn’t see the longing stares both of you had whenever the other one wasn’t looking, or the gentle touches you had on each other from time to time that were just lingering quite too long for friends.

Many times, Aemond would ask his sister, Helaena, who was one of your closest friends, if you had already found someone else or how you were doing. Especially if he noticed that you seemed off one day you and your friends hung out, he’d immediately try to find a moment to get to text or talk to Helaena alone and ask her about it. If she was able to tell him something, she would give him a few details. And you would do the same if you noticed something different about him and asked Helaena most of the time. Sometimes you would go to Aegon, in hopes that he hopefully might know something. It would depend on the situation. It was hard to ignore or deny that you two still deeply cared about each other.

Both of you were currently hanging out with your friends again, sitting next to Helaena and having your legs over hers as you laughed with her. Watching the boys as they turned on the fire of the campfire. Aemond sat opposite from you and Helaena and tried not to look over at you too much and to focus more on the conversation he had with one of your friends. It was a cozy and quiet night; everyone was having a good time. Helaena excused herself for a moment to get herself another drink as you took a swig from your own bottle. You noticed how she slightly nodded in Aemond’s direction as she went back into the kitchen of the house. A few seconds later, you saw how he slowly walked over to you.

“Can I sit down?” He asked with a soft tone in his voice and motioned to the seat next to you. You looked up to him and nodded, slightly scooting to the side to make more room for him to sit down. Your arms brushed against one another as he sat down next to you, sending a slight shiver down your spine, but you tried to play it down and didn’t pay attention to it.

You took another swig from your bottle, even if it was almost empty. You could have gotten up to get another bottle, but you didn’t want to ruin the moment with Aemond. You haven’t really had any conversations with him in the past few weeks, only having your eyes on each other. It was quite a comfortable atmosphere between you, as you watched the fire and listened to its crackles, but he had his eyes on you, admiring you as the fire cast a beautiful light on your face. He reached out and removed something from your hair, causing you to look at him for a moment, slightly confused. But in the short moment his fingers brushed over your hair sent a warmth through your body.

“It was just a tiny bug,” he tried to keep his voice low. Your lips turned into a small smile, “Thank you.”

Neither of you really knew what to say, you wanted to have a conversation with him, but you didn’t quite know what you could talk about. You could have asked him about his life, what he was up to at the moment, but you weren’t sure if he was even ready to talk about it.

As you wanted to ask something he got pulled away by Aegon. “Sorry, my lady,” he had his hands on Aemond’s shoulders and grinned, “I need my brother for a moment! He will be back at your service in a moment,” he giggled, clearly drunk as he dragged Aemond away.

You sighed with a smile on your lips and didn’t stop him, sometimes it was hilarious when Aegon was drunk. Occasionally, you wished things were different, but it was what you and Aemond had decided, so you must stick with it. You slowly nodded to yourself and got into the house to get another bottle, joining Helaena and completely missing the way Aemond longingly looked over to you as his brother talked his ear off.

A few hours later, you were talking with Helaena again, sitting together with Aemond on a bench in front of the campfire. He sat next to you, and you felt the warmth of the flames and his body, it was a pleasant feeling that filled you. His arm was resting behind you on the backrest of the bench you were sitting on. Helaena left you and Aemond alone for a moment after she had finished her story.

When she left, he slightly leaned into you and whispered into your ear, his voice casual. “Would you mind joining me for a drink back in my apartment?” He was nervous about how you would react. He already expected that you would refuse him, but he raised his eyebrows for a short moment as you accepted his invitation. Aemond cleared his throat and nodded, happy that you said yes.

A few minutes later you and him said your goodbyes to your friends. Helaena had a smirk on her lips as she hugged you. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do with my partner, babe,” she teased you and whispered into your ear.

He was slightly nervous as he led you to his car and opened the passenger side for you. You occasionally looked at each other during the drive to his apartment but didn’t really talk with each other, perhaps both of you were too nervous?

One drink turned into two, and two into three. Both of you were slightly tipsy by now and were talking with each other as if nothing had ever happened. You sat next to each other on his couch, and he had one arm on the backrest, resting behind your head. Your legs were slightly bent in his direction. You noticed the way he looked down at them sometimes, and you wished he’d just grab them, but both of you knew that neither of you would dare to cross the line without completely knowing if the other one wanted it too. But you both wanted it deeply. The conversation died down between you a few minutes ago, you’ve just looked at each other. The air had already been thick before, but it was getting worse in that very moment. You found yourself looking down on his lips, and he did too. Both of you leaned into each other but stopped when you were only a few movements away from each other’s faces. Should you really give in to what you’ve wanted ever since you broke up all these months ago or not?

You felt his breath on your face and just wanted to give in, you wanted to feel his lips on yours so badly. You could swear you stopped breathing when he carefully brushed your hair out of your face and cupped your cheek, you leaned into his touch and held his gaze.

“Aemond…” You dared to break the silence with a shaky whisper. You craved his touch, as much as he craved yours. Your lips were parted as your gaze went down to his lips.

“Tell me to stop if you don’t want it,” he looked up from your lips into your eyes to find any hesitance, but he saw the way your pupils dilated as he held your gaze again. “I don’t want you to stop,” you whispered eagerly and hummed as he immediately captured your lips in a passionate and desperate kiss. Both of your tensed shoulders relaxed eventually,

His hand still cupped your cheek, stroking it with his thumb, your hand found his cheeks immediately and pulled him into you, while his other arm, which was resting on the backrest of his couch, wrapped around your waist to pull you into his lap. You straddled him and deepened the kiss as both of you opened your mouth to feel each other’s tongue, completely losing yourselves in the kiss. It’s what you’ve both been craving, and neither of you wanted to stop the moment. You didn’t want to think of the possible outcome or how it would change the current dynamic between you two, maybe you would find your way back to each other or it wouldn’t change a thing. Maybe it would just stay at making out with each other, but both of you wanted and needed more.

He missed to feel your skin against his, the way your curves felt when he traced them. The way you’d always react to his touch, arching your back whenever his hand found its way between your thighs. The way you always reacted to his kisses, whether it was a more heated or soft and slow kiss. You loved each of them, and so did he. Aemond loved the way your hands felt on his skin, the way you’d always end up tracing his arms, hands or face whenever you cuddled or were next to each other. He appreciated and missed these moments with you. It may only have been a few months since you two broke up, but the more intimate moments between you had been missing way before you eventually parted ways.

Both of you slowly pulled away from each other, faces still close as you spoke against his lips. “Are you sure we should be doing this?” You whispered, your voice slightly raspy from the lack of air in your lungs. Both of his hands had found their way to your hips and gently circled his fingers on your clothed skin, squeezing your skin.

He nodded. “I… I just need you, darling. I’m sure,” his voice was low and raspy as well. His good eye filled with desire as you looked at him and kissed him again. “Me too,” you whispered between kisses.

Aemond lifted you by gripping down on your thighs and placed you underneath him on the couch. He pulled away from you with a cheeky smile and kneeled in front of you as he pulled you on the edge of his couch. His hands roamed over your thighs to the button of your pants. Aemond looked up to you, slightly asking if he could continue. You nodded and didn’t break eye contact with him as he slowly opened the button of your pants and motioned for you to lift your hips so he could pull off your pants. His gaze never left yours, and he noticed the way you had your lower lip between your teeth as you lifted your hips eagerly, knowing what would follow. His fingers gently traced over your now exposed skin. His lips found the skin of your hip bone, which was still covered only seconds ago. His eye closed for a moment to capture this moment in his mind.

He pressed open kisses on your covered and uncovered skin, “I missed this so much,” he mumbled as he firmly but also gently gripped down your thighs while looking up at you again, silently asking if he could part your legs. You slightly sat up and parted them, causing him to smirk and move between them. His hands brushed over the flesh of your thighs and caressed them as he slowly moved them up to brush over your panties. Your breath hitched as he brushed over your still-clothed heat.

“Please, Aemond,” you whimpered as he teased your clothed clit with his finger while a smirk was on his lips. You hated how desperate you were for him, but you finally needed to feel him again. In every way you could have him. “Don’t tease me now.”

“Very well,” he hooked his fingers with the fabric of your panties on your hips and slowly pulled them down. You lifted your hips again, so it was easier for him to take your panties off.

A soft hum left his lips as soon as he tossed your panties away and saw your already glistening heat. He leaned down and pressed more kisses on the area of your heat, but not where you needed him. It frustrated you, and that made him chuckle. He always used to love to tease you, but he knew it wasn’t the perfect time for that right now, as it only tortured him as well. He couldn’t wait any longer and just wanted to get his mouth on you, his growing bulge in his pants could wait for a few moments. He wanted to give you the pleasure first. A moan left your lips as soon as he pressed his lips on your clit and made eye contact with you again. Aemond took a long drag through your slit with his tongue, your mouth stayed slightly open. He groaned into you as you grabbed one of his hands that were still on your thighs and held on to him as he devoured your cunt. He missed those pretty sounds that left your lips, especially how you tasted. For a short moment his mind went completely blank.

He started sucking on your clit and licked through your folds, causing you to tighten your grip on his hand, nails digging into his skin and your moans to get louder. He flicked his tongue in long and slower licks and changed the technique every so often to a faster and shorter pace. Completely devouring everything he could get from you. You didn’t even think about keeping it quiet, as it was overwhelming to feel his tongue on you. All the build-up tension over the past months is finally being relieved. Who would be better than him? No one.

You felt the all too well-known knot in your stomach, signalling that you were close to your climax. Aemond knew you were close as he noticed the way your panting increased, and your head fell back against the backrest of his couch. You cried out for more and wrapped one of your legs over his shoulder, which caused him to moan into you.

“Fuck– Aemond, I’m close! I…” Your grip on his hand tightened even more, if that was even possible, your back arched, and eyes closed as you focused on the building pleasure in your stomach.

“Don’t hold yourself back, darling. Come all over my face,” he panted against your cunt and got his mouth back on your swollen clit to sloppily circle his tongue around it, savouring each second while being between your thighs. Your mind turned blank as he continued to pleasure you, he still knew how to take care of you perfectly.

A strangled moan left your lips as you came on his tongue a few moments later, your legs slightly shaking as he fucked you with his tongue through your orgasm. Aemond could swear he almost lost his mind as he heard your moan and tasted you on his tongue, his hips humping into his couch. A soft chuckle left your lips as you exhaled and looked down at him. He was still kneeling between your legs, and his chin was glistening with your arousal and some of his spit. After you gained some strength again, you leaned forward and kissed him while your hands were on his cheeks, moaning as you tasted yourself.

“You did so well for me,” he praised you with a whisper as he pulled away from the kiss. “Can I take you to my bed or do you–“

“Please,” you nodded eagerly with a hushed voice, “Please do, Aemond.”

He gently picked you up, his hands digging into the skin of your thighs and placed open kisses on your exposed neck as he carried you into his bedroom, kicking the door as you were inside to close it behind him. He carefully placed you on his bed and hovered over you as he continued to kiss your neck and jaw. Your hands found the hem of his shirt and pulled on it, he moved his head away from your neck so you could pull off his shirt. You tossed it somewhere into his room, not caring about where it landed and traced his chest tenderly. He captured your lips in a kiss, his hips slightly buckling against you as you wrapped your legs around his hips to pull him closer to you. You took off the rest of your clothes from each other in a few motions, leaving both of you naked as you straddled his lap. His hands roamed over your thighs, caressing them as you leaned down to leave kisses on his chest while feeling his length underneath you.

He sharply inhaled as you wrapped one hand around his aching cock and stroked him a few times which already left him gripping down on your thighs, and he wasn’t even inside you yet. You smirked because of his reaction, you understood how he felt and eventually positioned his tip at your entrance and slowly sank down on his length, feeling how he stretched your walls. A low, needy moan escaped both of your lips, your hands on his chest, holding him down on his mattress, and his were holding you by your hips. You waited a few moments before you started to roll your hips, finding a pleasant rhythm for both of you. Aemond was completely at your mercy, it took him his entire strength not to come immediately. The sounds you made and how your hands roamed over his torso only added more levels to the pleasure he felt because of you. His body shivered, and his heartbeat increased. He felt you clenching around him and groaned with a hitched sound.

“Fuck you feel so good, darling,” he moaned. Your gazes met again, and you wished you could stay like this for eternity. His face was flushed, his back slightly arched, and his mouth agape as he didn’t hold back any sounds anymore.

This only reminded you of the beginning of your relationship, he barely voiced any hints of his pleasure and barely made any sounds whenever you slept with each other, but over the time, he let his walls down and started to be more vocal. This meant the time you were apart didn’t change that factor about him, and you loved it even more. You slightly leaned forward, feeling him deeper inside of you and grabbed his hands to intertwine your fingers, the slightly changed position adding more pleasure to both of you.

You continued to roll your hips and to hold eye contact with him, moaning his name repeatedly. After a while, you pulled him up against you, a soft gasp leaving your mouth as you captured his lips in a heated, passionate kiss, and he wrapped his arms around your waist. You wrapped your arms around his neck and stopped moving for a short moment, enjoying the close and intimate moment between you as you kissed each other. He lifted you from his cock in a quick movement, both of you whimpering at the loss of each other. He rolled on top of you and gently placed you underneath him, your legs on either side of his while he slowly slid into you again and captured your lips in a kiss again. A soft gasp left your lips, and he used the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth. He held him up with one arm while the other held you by your hip and thrust into you with a steady, slow pace. He swallowed your moans as he continued kissing you. You gripped on his biceps, leaving crescent marks in his skin and had your eyes shut.

He fastened his pace as he felt you clenching around him.  “I can’t get enough of you, darling,” his voice hitched as his climax neared, “I don’t think I can go much longer.”

Skin slapping against each other, and moans filled the room. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck and placed sloppy kisses on there as his hips snapped against yours. You knew he was getting close to his climax as his movements were getting sloppier. He tried to hold on, wanting to get you close for a second time the night, but it only left him whimpering against your lips as he kissed them.

“You can come inside me, Aemond,” you panted, your eyelids half-lidded as you met his gaze. “Are… Are you sure?” His breath hitched in his throat. He groaned after you nodded and lifted his head, so he could look at you as he thrusts into you once more before you felt his seed filling you up, his cock twitching inside of you.

He had a satisfied expression and moved one hand between your bodies, his thumb rubbing on your clit to get you over the edge as well while he continued to thrust into you. A cry left your mouth, and you pulled his face close to yours.

“Come for me, angel,” he exhaled.

You clenched around him, which caused him to whimper from feeling slightly overstimulated as you came shortly after him all over his cock, your legs shaking and moaning. He continued to pound into you in a slow pace to help you ride out your climax. Both of you tried to catch your breaths from the pleasure you both just felt after months of not feeling it both of you fucked out. With a low whimper, he slowly pulled out of you, and collapsed on top of you, your arms wrapped around him. Both of your bodies were covered in sweat and were heated up, your chests heaving. His face was in the crook of your neck, your fingers gently tracing his back, which caused him to get goosebumps. He occasionally placed soft kisses on your neck while he gently traced the sides of your body. After a while, he got up and helped you to get up, holding you as your legs slightly gave up for a short moment.

“Do you want me to help you clean up?” Aemond asked, a tender tone in his voice, but you shook your head. “You can wait in your bed for me,” you smiled at him affectionally, which he happily returned. He was happy that you would be staying over the night. He gave you his shirt so you could go to the toilet after he made sure you were able to stand. When you came back, he already laid in his bed and waited for you to join him. He pulled the blanket over you and him.

Neither of you said anything and just enjoyed the moment while it lasted, even if it meant you wouldn’t speak about it the next morning and act like you just didn’t have your best sex in a long while. Both of you wrapped your arms around each other as you slowly drifted off to sleep. You and I finally had a good sleep after months again, laying arm in arm felt right. And it was right, was it?

A soft hum left your lips as you slowly woke up the next morning, feeling completely comfortable but slightly sore. Your eyes immediately opened and widened as you realized where you were and what you did last night with Aemond. Your back was turned towards him with his arm loosely over your waist. You let out a quiet sigh and slowly wiggled yourself out of his grip, trying not to wake him up. After you successfully got out of his bed without waking him up, you noticed that you were wearing his shirt. As you picked up your shirt, you quietly left his bedroom and got dressed after you picked up your panties and pants that were in his living room. You put his shirt on the backrest of his couch as memories from last night flooded your mind. The pleasure you felt, god it was so fucking good. You missed him and how well he always treated you and exactly knew how to get you over the edge quickly, but what if he regretted it? You didn’t want to face him or the situation, you were afraid of what could happen when he would wake up.

You deeply inhaled and made your way to the door to put your shoes back on, took your handbag and were ready to leave without saying goodbye. But you sighed as you grabbed the door handle.

What if this night was a sign for both of you? What if that was the sign that you were ready to be with each other again?

You cursed yourself, took off your shoes again and left your handbag on the floor next to them. You were willing to see what could and would happen as soon as he would wake up. You decided to wait until he did, waiting on his couch. Saying you weren’t nervous would be a lie. While you waited, you paced his living room a few times, thinking about what you could possibly say to him.

You nervously waited almost an hour until you heard noises from his bedroom. He woke up with a low groan and stretched his body, the events from last night filling his mind immediately. He sighed as he opened his eyes, rubbed his good eye and noticed that the side you slept on was already empty. He immediately sat up, and his eye roamed the room, he noticed that your shirt wasn’t on the floor anymore. ‘They already left…’ He thought and groaned as he cursed himself for having possibly ruined the only chance to get back together with you. He wanted to make things right and give you the love you deserved, not like this immediately.

What if the events of last night chased you away from him even further? What if there was no chance left anymore with you?

You fiddled with your fingers and immediately looked up from them as you saw him walking out of his bedroom. He yawned and rubbed his good eye again. Maybe he hasn’t noticed you yet? But as soon as his eye focused on you, he stopped in his tracks. “I… I thought you had already left.”

“I… Well, I was about to leave but…” You stood up from his couch, “But I don’t think this would have been my best option.”

 “Oh… I…” He slowly nodded, considering what to say, and walked into his kitchen, which was connected to his living room. You nervously fiddled with your fingers and followed his movements with your eyes but didn’t move the rest of your body. “I’m glad you didn’t leave,” he mumbled as he made himself a coffee, but you heard him, and a small smile formed on your lips.

“Do you want one as well?” He pointed to his coffee mug, but you shook your head and thanked him for the offer. He poured the coffee into his mug after it was done brewing and then walked up to you.

Both of you sat down next to each other, but there was a tiny distance between you. Neither of you said anything for a moment until he broke the tense silence between you. “Do you… Want to talk about last night?” He spoke softly, the nervousness in his voice was noticeable.

You nodded and turned your gaze in his direction, turning your body towards him, “I think we should.” Aemond inhaled and nodded as well, unsure what to say for a moment before he continued. “Do you regret it?”

“No,” you paused for a moment, “Not at all.” His shoulders relaxed immediately, “Neither do I.”

“Can I be honest with you?” You asked, a hint of nervousness in your voice again. After he nodded, you continued, “I… Uhm… I miss you. I miss us. I know we decided to part ways because of all the things that were going on back then but… I never stopped thinking about you or the time we shared. And last night… Maybe it was a sign? And maybe it was what we needed to realize that we’re ready to be with each other again.”

Aemond didn’t respond immediately, he was quite stunned, but he felt the same and agreed with you completely. He noticed how you continued to fiddle with your fingers and put down his coffee mug to gently lean to you and grab your hands to distract you. The contact calmed you down a little bit. You looked down at your hands as he brushed over the top of your hands with his thumbs. He still knew what calms you down, and you appreciated it a lot.

“I feel the same, darling,” he whispered softly, “I tried to move on, but it was impossible. There was always something missing in my life without you. I couldn’t stop looking at you whenever we hung out with our friends, and I…” He paused, “I still love you. I never stopped loving you, and when I woke up and thought you had already left, I was angry with myself for possibly having ruined any chances with you. You’re… You’re simply the best thing that has happened to me, and I don’t want to lose you entirely.”

You squeezed his hand and looked at him, “Nothing is ruined. I… I never stopped loving you either, Aemond.” You loved him, you always have. Many nights, you’ve found yourself thinking about the rest of your life with him together. How you’d grow old with him, maybe living somewhere peaceful. Together. Maybe you’d have a dog or more than one? Maybe a cat? Or any other animals you could take care of together. Both of you even had thought about adopting a dog or cat together when you were still together. You two already had different name ideas, one of them being Vhagar.

He smiled and scooted closer to you to lean his forehead against yours while he still held your hands tightly and gently. Maybe you were able to have a chance again. “Do you want to give us… Maybe another chance? I… I can’t continue living like this anymore. Every night, I think about you before I fall asleep, and you’re the first thought in the morning when I wake up. Wishing you were in my arms like you always used to. I just… Miss it,” he admitted quietly. His vulnerability was noticeable.

“I’d like to try again,” you smiled while tears built up in your eyes, completely out of happiness. You’ve been hoping for this moment for so long, and now you were sitting here together. Where it all started first because the first kiss you had with him before you were a couple happened in this apartment, on his couch in the same place you sat on currently.

Both of you smiled and fondly looked at one another before you eventually finally leaned in and captured his lips in a slow and tender kiss. He continued to brush his thumb over your hand and hummed into the kiss with a smile. He was truly happy. He pulled you into a hug after you pulled away from each other, stroking your head as he put his on top of yours. You closed your eyes and wrapped your arms around his waist. It was everything you needed, and maybe the break between you was needed to find each other again with a better mindset.

“I missed this,” you whispered after a while. “I missed this too. I missed you,” he admitted and kissed the top of your head. You finally had him back, he was your safe space, and you were his. And you both won’t let the other one go again. No matter what, you’d be able to get through everything together.

[eggyrocks]

ENCOUNTERS

00 prologue: dumped

All Suna wants is a relaxing, post-show cigarette in the parking lot. But that girl’s fighting with her boyfriend again.

For as long as they’ve been a band, she’s been coming to their shows . And as long as she’s been coming to their shows, she’s been fighting with her boyfriend at them. The same boyfriend every time too, the gangly looking one with the constantly messed-up hair.

He flicks the end of his lighter, watching as she takes several steps back from him, laughing in indignation, throwing up her arms up in exasperation. The boyfriend’s just standing there, outside the driver’s seat of his idling car.

They always fight about stupid shit. The boyfriend’s controlling. She likes to do whatever she wants. He yells at her about lying about where she was going for the night. She yells back about him going through her phone. Honestly, Suna’s not even sure why the two of them are still together. It seems like they really, really fucking hate each other.

He can hear a bit of what she’s screaming now, something about not trusting her or respecting her individuality and him shooting back that she’s done nothing to earn his trust, and she has no personality outside of liking this stupid fucking band.

Suna inhales and crosses his arms over his chest. He’s not sure why he’s getting dragged into it.

Honestly, he figures he should probably count his losses with the cigarette and go back inside, let them have it out like they normally do alone, in the privacy of this empty venue parking lot. But his morbid curiosity gets the better of him, and he stays, watching aptly as they tear each other’s throats out.

And, oddly, he kinda feels compelled to stick around, to make sure she ends up okay. He doesn’t know anything about her really, and he hardly remembers her name half the time, but her unrelenting dedication to his band has kind of earned some loyalty in return.

Enough for him to stick outside and keep an eye on her while her boyfriend loses his mind.

Suna watches as he turns away from her, and flings open the backseat of his car. He watches as she yells out, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” and he watches as the boyfriend pulls out three, large, overflowing duffle bags and deposits them at her feet, despite her protests.

And then, he gets in his car and drives away.

His loyalty is being tested.

All Suna can think about as he approaches her is how badly he does not want to. But she’s collapsed now, sitting on top of her pile of duffle bags and sobbing, right there in the middle of the parking lot. Plus, if Kiyoko found out he left a crying girl alone in the parking lot, she’d probably skin him. So he drops his cigarette to the ground and snuffs it out with the heel of his shoe. “Hey,” he greets, because he doesn’t know what else to say.

She looks up, wet eyes wide and covered in smudged, black makeup. She inhales sharply. It could pass for a hiccup. “Oh, hey. Good show tonight,” she sniffles.

“Yeah, thank” Suna nods, looking at the ground beside her instead of directly at her. He feels strange standing above her like he is, so he kneels, weight on the balls of his feet. “Are, erm, are you okay?”

She blinks, and hiccups again. At least her crying’s slowed. “Um, no, not really. I just got dumped, and also, like evicted, I’m pretty sure.”

Suna looks at the bags underneath her. “This all your stuff?”

“Most of it, I think.”

“Okay,” Suna starts, trying to come up with anything useful or productive, “so, can you like, call a friend to stay at their place for now or something? I don’t think I wanna leave with you just like, here.”

Her eyes start to water again, and Suna immediately feels like he’s done something wrong. “No, not really. I mean, my old roommates got new places out of the city and I don’t know who they live with or even where and my other friends all live together in a two bedroom but there’s three of them and I couldn’t even stay in there if I tried because there’s no room, and I don’t like my mom and I guess I could ask this one friend but I know she won’t answer and I don’t know where I’m going to stay and I’m kind of-“

“Okay,” Suna cuts her off, dread already forming in his stomach. Because he cannot, in good conscience, leave a crying girl in the middle of a parking lot. He cannot let her just figure it out on her own. So he knows what’s coming next. He sighs and stands upright. Fuck, he better get some good karma for this. “Do you wanna stay at my place for the night?”

taglist: @wyrcan @thechaosoflonging @localgaytrainwreck @cherrypieyourface @eclecticeggknightpsychic @httpakkeiji @does-directions @needtoloveoutloud @causenessus @kawaii-angelanne @thatonecroc @v1oletfury @lonesomedrive @nnnyxie @bakery-anon @cheriisae @chososcamgirl @honeyfewr @soulfullystarry @snail-squasher @angee444 @itsdragonius @lees-chaotic-brain @miiyas @atsumuenthusiast @iluv-ace @cupidsblonde @tetsuswhore @soobin1437 @starkyu @bakugouswh0r3 @wakashudou @softpia @phoenix-eclipses @angelichwv @rory-cakes @bbybibi @lllaw @kameyyy @sleepzyy @s1ckntw1st3d @savemebrazilhinata @whorefornoodles @keeboismine @angsty-microwave @cyberpsychedelic @v3nusplanetofluv @darkandstarrynight @lunasfics @miss-manupilative @t8tiana @bzzahbee @evening-latte @Rebirthbunny @rvm1ne

[avocado-writing]

Not a request but just imagine DP & Logan taking such good care of you on your birthday.

Literal Princess/Prince/Royal treatment.

God and don’t even get me started on how good they’d be to you in the bedroom. Logan and Wade always make sure to treat you good but just imagine how much more special they’d try to make it.

You wanna be Eiffel towered? Absolutely it’s your birthday

You want them both in one hole? Deal. Logans already rock hard and Wade’s grabbing the lube.

You just wanna watch them fuck? Wade’s never been more in love with you.

minors dni

”can I watch you two fuck? please?”

you say the question with doe eyes and twisting hands, like you’re asking to stay out late rather watch your boyfriends go to town on each other. Logan chokes on his mouthful of beer at the unexpected request. Wade lights up.

“pookie, I love you. marry me,” he says, deadpan earnest. you giggle as he pulls you in for a kiss. Logan harrumphs but doesn’t seem too sour about it, it’s been a nice celebration of your birthday after all; taking you to all your favourite places, watching you light up at the fancy café they treated you to lunch at, spoiling you rotten in every shop you wandered into.

so maybe this is just the icing on the cake for you. who are they to deny you every single little thing you want? you’re worth indulging after all, and they both love you. (they love each other too, but those confessions are left for hazy post-coital cuddles which slip into sleep).

“fine,” Logan sighs, as if it’s some great feat, as if he hasn’t been inside Wade a dozen times already. you squeak and clap with joy before sprinting into the bedroom.

“cmon, old guy. keep up,” Wade says with a wink and a slap to Logan’s ass. he growls a warning… but follows anyway.

you set yourself up in the chair in the corner of the room, grabbing one of the bottles of lube the three of you have stored around the place and throwing it to Wade. he likes to make a show of stripping for you, you whoop when he takes his shirt off and swings it around. Logan is more utilitarian about it, tugging his flannel over his head and his jeans off his legs, pushing Wade down into the mattress the first chance he gets. Wade yelps and you gasp in anticipation, hand crawling lower on your body.

”oh, buy a girl dinner first…” Wade hums, Logan silences him with a ferocious kiss. the kind which has their teeth colliding. out the corner of his eye he’s aware of you shucking off your shorts, dipping your fingers in your underwear to start touching yourself. Logan ruts his hips against Wade’s, grinning against his lips at how into this he’s getting.

“Mouth, you talk a big game for someone who gets this hard just from being kissed.”

“you think that’ll work on me? I like being bullied, it makes me cum. get back down here.”

Wade tugs him by his blowjob tufts and kisses him longer, before letting his hand reach down to cradle Logan’s cock.

“slow down, Red. we gotta put on a show, remember?”

they turn to where you watch mesmerised, bucking up into your own hand, mouth soft and agape at the sight before you. you grin.

“I like being in the director’s chair. Wade, can you get on top?” you breathe, pleading. you both look to Logan for his confirmation, and he nods. fuck it, why not. it’s your birthday after all.

“as you wish,” Wade says in a perfect mimicry of Princess Bride, and flips Logan back-down into the mattress.

they go slow for you, and you eke out your orgasms to their lovemaking. Wade bends Logan over and eats him out as you instruct him what to do with his tongue. Logan uses your favourite toy to stretch Wade open. when they fuck their eyes are half glued to each other, half wandering to you sweaty and writhing on that damn chair. once they start properly, it doesn’t take long for them to both finish, making a mess on the bed. you come around your fingers and whine in pleasure.

Logan waits for you to relax before picking you up off the chair. you squeak.

“Lo—!”

“what, you think you’re not gettin’ a turn?”

he places you into Wade’s willing arms, and you feel they’re both beginning to get hard again. ah, the inevitable exhaustion which comes from dating two mutants.

“happy birthday, baby…”

“boys…”

it’s the last word you’re able to say for a while.

[iinryer]

I feel like 43 (piggy back ride) and 49 (leaning on the other for support) would pair with each other SO well 🤗☺️

A little scene prompt game to get me writing!

[43: piggy back ride + 49: leaning on the other for support]

—

“Come on, Buck,” Eddie grits out, as loudly as he can to be heard past the mask over his face and the roar of the flames a few floors above them, “come on, four more flights, we can do it,”

Buck just lets out a pained laugh, tightening his hold across Eddie’s shoulders—he’s been losing his footing more frequently and Eddie’s getting increasingly worried that they’re not going to make it to the ground level.

Eddie has been feeding him a litany of come on let’s go you’ve got it almost there the entire descent from the collapsed 11th floor, and at this point he’s not sure whose benefit it’s for.

The next time Buck stumbles, it’s on the landing between the third and fourth floors, and it’s accompanied by a weak, “Ed-Eddie, I can’t, I—,” before he pulls Eddie with him as he’s bracing against the wall and sliding down to the floor.

Eddie crouches in front of him, grasping the sides of his head, trying to get a better look through Buck’s cracked face mask.

“Buck—Buck! Hey!” Eddie gives him a frantic shake, “Hey, look at me, bud—yeah, that’s it, let me see those eyes,”

“Eddie, I’m—,” Buck cuts himself off with a cough and a harsh swallow, pupils visibly different sizes, “I can’t, I can’t—I’m so dizzy, Eddie, I can’t,”

Adrenaline zips down Eddie’s spine, hands tingling with it where he’s holding Buck’s face, separated only by the barely-functional protective gear, “Hey. Yes you can—Yes you can! Come on, we’re so close, we can swap masks for the last few flights—,”

Predictably, Buck interrupts him with a severe look—one that’s undercut almost immediately by the weak push to Eddie’s chest and slight slur of his voice—saying, “No. No, Eddie, not a chance,”

”Buck,” Eddie tries, again, like he has every other flight since floor 11, “I’m not the one with the concussion. Please—,”

“Diaz, Buckley—what’s your status,” Bobby’s voice crackles over the radio.

Eddie takes a frustrated breath before keying his radio, “Over three-quarters down, Cap. I can get us there, but Buck’s in pretty rough shape,”

Buck glares at him weakly through the crack splitting his mask.

Eddie glares back.

“Copy,” Bobby says, strain in his voice evident even through the radio, “IC is still adamant on personnel evac, they’re not permitting new entry unless both of you are compromised, the upper floors are too unstable. But we’ve got the best of the best waiting for the two of you by the eastern stairwell door,”

“Understood,” Eddie says, “Tell Hen and Chim they’ll see us soon,”

”We’d better,” Hen chimes in.

When the channel chirps closed, the only sound Eddie can hear is his own breathing inside his respirator as the two of them look at each other. Eddie gives them to the count of five in his own head before he’s saying, “Come on, Buck, time to go,”

Eddie pulls Buck up roughly, only for his limbs to ragdoll so quickly that Eddie ends up dropping harshly on his knees to be able to throw a hand out to keep Buck’s head from hitting the railing on his way back down.

To his horror, he can see tears spring to Buck’s eyes—ones that he’s sure have nothing to do with the smoke.

“I—I can’t, Eddie, I—,” Buck’s voice trembles, fumbling to grasp at Eddie’s turnout sleeve, “it’s spinning, and it hurts so—hurts so bad I can’t see,”

Concussion symptoms: loss of motor control, dizziness, pain, mood dysregulation.

Something above them crashes and roars.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Eddie tries, dipping down to press the front of his helmet to the top of Buck’s for a frantic moment, “I’ve got you, man, okay? I’ve got you,”

“Okay,” Buck nods against him, shakily, “Okay, you’ve got me,”

It very quickly becomes clear that Buck will not be able to hold himself up enough to simply lean on Eddie like before, so Eddie reconfigures.

Despite the weak protests, he manhandles Buck forward so he’s seated on the top step off of the landing. Eddie positions himself a step down with his back to Buck’s chest, and heaves the increasingly limp form behind him onto his own back.

There’s a muffled groan over his shoulder when he hoists Buck into a better position after standing, his own body screaming in response. But stand he does, and step by step, flight by flight, they move.

Almost like a mantra or a prayer, Eddie finds himself immediately falling back into the teeth-gritting promises of I’ve got you I’ve got you I’ll get us there I’ve got you all the way to the ground floor—and they’re promises he intends to keep.

[now posted on ao3!]

[albertasunrise]

Work Wife - Two

Masterlist

Summary: Working as a Secretary and Miller & Sons c”Construction, you fall hopelessly in love with the eldest son Joel. What you don’t realise is that Joel’s completely in love with you too. What will it take for the two of you to realise whats’s right in front of you?

Pairing: Young Joel Miller x Reader

Warnings: Like AO3, I choose not to give any so the plot isn’t spoiled. This fic is 18+ (So here’s the first chapter as promised! I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what y’all think ♥️… I wrote half of this on my iPad so sorry for mistakes 😅)

Series Masterlist - One

After two days of you being frosty towards Joel and Joel desperately trying to make up for whatever he had done to upset you, you decided that it was pointless to be upset with him. He hadn't known your reasoning for going to his house so the fact he had a girl there wasn't really a valid reason to be angry at him.

If you were being honest you were more angry at yourself. Your pride had been wounded and that was something that you needed to work through on your own. So by Wednesday, you were somewhat back to being smiley and sweet but there was still a tension there that you knew would take time to dissipate. You just hoped that your date with Simon would take your mind off what had happened.

Your second date with Simon went even better than the first. He was sweet, taking you to a restaurant he remembered you mentioning you loved, and after, he took you for a few drinks at a new gin bar that had opened up. So inevitably, two dates turned into three.

It felt like with each interaction you shared with Simon, the less seeing Joel every day, and knowing that he didn't return your feelings, hurt you. What you didn't realise was that your budding new relationship with Simon was tearing Joel apart. Simon couldn't help but gush to the other contractors about how special you were or how amazingly things were going.

How he was starting to think that you might be the one.

That statement made Joel want to find a remote canyon so that he could lob Simon into it. Yet he knew he had no right to feel jealous. It's not like he'd ever had the guts to go for it. It was his own fault that he was suffering now. Yet that didn't make him hate Simon any less. What he hated more was you talking to him about the dates that his 'so-called' friend was taking you on.

It was killing him.

"Oh Joel, you would have loved the walk Simon and I went on over the weekend." You gushed as you sipped at your coffee "I would show you some pictures but I'm still waiting for them to come back from the developers so…"

"That's fine." Joel replied, trying to keep his tone from sounding as pained as he felt.

"Perhaps you could take Eliza there sometime." You continued, completely oblivious to his torment "It's so romantic and-"

"Eliza and I are just casual." Joel interrupted and you couldn't help but snort.

"Please." You rasped "She's practically living with you now. Fuck buddies don't spend most nights together."

"We're just hanging out."

"And I'm the Queen of England." You rolled your eyes and how oblivious he was to what was going on straight in front of him "If you're just looking for casual then perhaps you need to tell her that."

"I did! I have…" He argued, his hip cocking to one side as he rested his on it.

"Well, perhaps you need to have that conversation with her again because from an outsider's point of view. You and her seem pretty serious."

Joel's stomach twisted at the thought that he was leading Eliza on. She was sweet and he liked her but he wasn't looking to settle down. Not yet.

"Talk to her Joel." you said sweetly as you placed your hand on his "Don't lead her on."

So talk to her he did.

…

Eliza was in the kitchen when he returned that evening. There was already a tense atmosphere hanging over the house as he entered but he didn't have time to ponder why. Not when he needed to get things out in the open.

"Hey." He said gingerly as he stepped into the kitchen and Eliza turned to greet him.

"You're back late." She stated as she placed a plate of food down in front of him before sitting on the chair across from him, her arms crossed.

"Meeting with the wood supplier ran late." He replied and Eliza nodded.

"Eat up." She said, watching him then as he nervously pushed his food around his plate, little appetite when he had an anvil hanging over his head.

"What's the matter with you this evening?"

"I don't think we should do this anymore?" He stated simply, eyes drifting from his plate to Eliza.

"Can I ask why?"

"When we started 'this' up, I told you that I wasn't looking for anything serious and well… it's been brought to my attention that it kinda has and that I need to be honest with you… Make sure I'm not stringing you along."

"And who said that you are?" She demanded and Joel shook his head.

"It doesn't matter… what matters is that I don't want to-"

"Was Pip wasn't it?" Eliza growled "You know she has feelings for you right? Only reason she's seeing shit that's not there."

"Eliza… Pip, doesn't have feelings for me. This is just about us and I-"

"You really are blind aren't you." Eliza cackled and Joel stopped in his tracks.

"Blind to what?"

"Pip is head over heels for you… She told me so herself back when we went for those work drinks and I-"

"She told you that?" Joel interrupted and Eliza huffed before nodding "She told you she was in love with me?"

"Well, her exact words were that she was crazy about you but she knew you didn't feel the same and so she's never told you." Eliza waved off the statement like she wasn't telling Joel everything he'd ever wanted to hear.

Were you crazy about him?

"Look, I told you that I didn't want anything serious either and I still don't." Eliza stated as she shrugged "If this has gotten a little too cosy then we can cool it."

Joel wasn't really sure what to say. The information that you possibly feel the same way for him is running laps around his head.

"Joel?"

"Right… yeah… sorry." He said and he shook his head and returned to reality "Look I still think it's best that we just call it quits." He stated plainly, wincing at the growl it pulled from Eliza.

"Fine." She practically spat at him, getting up abruptly and grabbing her stuff as she went "I'll see myself out."

Joel didn't even get a chance to speak before she was slamming the door behind her. Leaving him to ponder over the events that had just transpired. What should he do?

Should he talk to you about it?

Is that what you had come here to talk to him about all those weeks ago?

It would explain your reaction to Eliza being there.

He knew he couldn't, not, talk to you about this. He needed to know whether or not you still felt something for him, because if you did he wanted to fight for you. For with you, he wanted something real.

…

Months went by before Joel plucked up the courage to talk to you. Each time he decided it was time, he talked himself out of it. Whether it was a story that you or Simon had told him about your latest adventures as the world's most perfect couple or just him watching the two of you together. But, finally, he had decided that enough was enough… He needed to be honest with you and lay his cards out on the table. He had thought long and hard about what it was he wanted to say and so had arranged for the two of you to meet up for a coffee on Saturday. This wasn't a conversation that he wanted to have with you in the office.

He still had to labour through an afternoon of Simon gushing to the guys about how things were going with the two of you and up until now it had been fairly easy to drone it out.

"So you two finally did the deed huh?" Piped up a voice, grabbing Joel's attention.

Joel had known that you and Simon hadn't been intimate yet. You had confided in him about how you had never been with anyone and that you wanted to save yourself for the right guy. Obviously, you had decided that Simon was that guy.

"Fuck did we." Simon practically growled "Was so worth the wait… Girl's so hot… we-"

"Let's not discuss such personal matters at work, hey chaps?" Joel tried to sound calm but his stomach was twisting in knots.

The knowledge that you and Simon had been intimate was tearing him up inside. Had Eliza been wrong about your feelings for him? Had she lied? Either way, he wasn't sure what to do with the knowledge that you and Simon were now sleeping together.

"Come on boss…" Teased Rick, one of Joel's youngest employees "Just 'cus ya jealous."

"What?" Joel growled as he turned to face the younger man.

"Well, the guys all told me how you're sweet on Si's girl. It's not his fault you missed your shot."

Joel felt his anger start to boil over as he said "Keep it professional Rick or you'll be looking for new employment." Walking away then to cool down.

…

You were just clearing the dishes away whilst Simon wiped down the sides, always the gentleman. 8 months had shot by in the blink of an eye and it felt like he'd blended so perfectly into your home life. It was like the two of you had always done this. Things were so seamless.

"So Joel threatened to fire Rick today." He stated as he wiped his hands dry with a dishcloth.

"Really?" You asked and your brows shot up in surprise "Why?"

"We were talking about you and me and Rick kinda ribbed Joel a bit." Simon replied, shrugging.

"Ribbed him how?"

"We were just talking about how you and I had… well you know and Joel got pissed. Rick kinda teased him about how he's sweet on you and how he missed out on his chance with you."

"One, I'd rather you didn't discuss our sex life with my colleagues… Two, Joel's not sweet on me he's with Eliza and three… even if he was, that's a pretty dickish thing to do." You admonished and Simon chuckled as he replied.

"Joel is still very much sweet on you and he and Eliza broke up."

"What?" You were shocked to learn this information and hurt that Joel hadn't told you.

"Yeah, been like 6 or 7 months now… guys probably got blue balls." Simon chuckled as he tossed the dishcloth in his hands onto the counter.

You'd always talked about everything Joel and so to learn that he had broken things off with Eliza and he hadn't talked to you about it stung a little. Had things between you really become that strained? They hadn't been the same since you'd gone to his house to talk to him about how you felt. They certainly hadn't been since you had started dating Simon.

"You're not sweet on him are you?" Asked Simon, pulling you from your thoughts.

"Hmm?" You hummed as you looked at your boyfriend who was watching you closely, analysing every expression that crossed your face.

"Joel, you aren't sweet on him too are you?"

The colour drained from your face as your mouth moved to answer him but no words left your lips. The longer you took to respond, the more frustrated Simon grew.

"You are, aren't you?"

"Simon…"

"No, don't try and spin me any bullshit." He growled out and you flinched at his tone "Are you in love with Joel… Yes or no?"

"Yes… but-"

"I need to leave." Simon choked as he threw his hands up when you tried to reach for him "I can't be around you right now."

"Simon please…" You pleaded but he was having none of it.

He just grabbed his stuff and left.

Leaving you sobbing in his wake. \

…

You sat in the cafe you and Joel had arranged to meet at, your eyes red raw from crying all night and most of this morning. You were sipping on an overly sweet latte. Needing the sugar to try and boost your mood. Joel was already ten minutes late but that wasn't unusual for them man. No doubt he'd be stumbling through the cafe doors in a few moments, huffing and puffing whilst he rambled on about what it was that had delayed him.

Only after half an hour… he still wasn't there.

You were on your second sugary coffee and coming to the painful realisation that Joel had stood you up. Who gets stood up by their best friend? Well, it would seem that you do and you wondered if it was because of what Simon had told you yesterday. How Rick had teased Joel about missing out with you when he'd learned you'd lost your virginity to the man you'd been going steady with for almost 9 months. That thought made you go from sad to plain pissed.

Was he seriously going to stand you up because he was jealous that you had slept with Simon?

Finishing your coffee you stomped out the door and towards your car. You weren't going to let him get away with this. Not after everything you had been through in the last 12 hours.

You don't recall the drive to Joel's house but you feel your anger flare when you see his truck on his drive. You pull up behind him, get out of the car, then make a point of slamming the door in the hope that he'll hear you coming.

You were pounding on the door, not caring if you were attracting attention. You wanted answers and you wanted them now. An exhausted Joel opened the door and you felt anger flare at the thought that he'd stood you up because he'd slept it.

"Pip this isn't-"

"A good time?" You growled, "It never is Joel."

"Please, I'm sorry I stood you up but-"

"No, I'm going to speak." Venom dropped from your words as you poked his chest "Simon told me what happened yesterday and I just can't believe that you would stand me up because I slept with the man I had been dating for over half a year!"

"That's not… I didn't stand you up on purpose I-"

"You what? You overslept? Your latest conquest only just left?" You barged past him with a strength you didn't know you possessed as you started to look around the house.

"Pip-"

"Where is she… where is the reason you decided to stand me up the morning after Simon broke up with me." You choked as your hurt started to slip through the cracks.

"Simon dumped you?" Joel asked and you nodded "Why?"

"Because I'm in love with you Joel… and I-"

"Do you want to scream any louder?" Growled Joel's mother as she walked down the stairs with a bundle in her arms "You're lucky she's so milk drunk. Not even the apocalypse would wake her right now." She said as she handed Joel what you could now see was a newborn with a gorgeous caramel complexion.

"Oh, Pip sweetheart, so lovely to see you." Said Mrs Miller as she pulled your stunned body into an awkward hug "It's been a bit of a mad house for the past 12 hours." She chuckled as she walked over to Joel to give him a kiss on the cheek before pecking the baby's brow. "I'll let Joel catch you up, I need to get diapers and formula. Will be as quick as I can sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mum." He said, smiling at her as she waved at you all and left.

Finally leaving you and Joel alone with this tiny baby you had just learned about.

"You… You have a baby." It wasn't a question.

Joel nodded as he looked down at the tiny person in his arms, a sweet smile gracing his lips as he brought her brow to his lips.

"I have a baby." He confirmed and you let out a shaky breath as you continued to stare at her.

"Is she…?"

"Eliza's?" He finished for you and you nodded "Yeah." He replied as he walked towards his couch and carefully sat himself down, watching as you followed him and sat down beside him "She came by last night. Dumped her in my arms and said she was mine and that she wanted nothing to do with being a mother."

Your eyes snapped to his at this statement and found him looking at you with a tearful expression "Left me enough formula to last me till tonight. No cot, clothes, nothing."

"How could she just leave her?" You sobbed as you looked at the perfect little girl in his arms and Joel just shook his head.

"She said she didn't want to be a mum." He replied "After we broke up she moved back to Austin. Had no idea she was pregnant. Not even Gloria did… then last night she just turned up at my door with her."

"Oh, Joel."

"I'm not ready to be a dad am I?" He asked as he looked at you again, his expression indicating just how scared he was.

"You're going to be the best father to this little girl." You said as you cupped his cheek and moved his face so that he looked you in the eye "You aren't going to be alone in this." You promised him "I will be here whenever you need me to be… day or night I will be here."

Joel nodded. Knocking a few tears loose and you watched as they rolled down his slightly stubbled cheek.

"Thank you, Pip." He breathed, giving you a small smile before he looked down at his little girl again "Her name's Sarah." He said after a short pause and you smiled sweetly at her.

"Hi, Sarah." You said softly as you leaned in to look at her better "Well aren't you just perfect."

"Would you like to hold her?" He asked and you nodded eagerly before carefully taking her off of him and settling into the plush cushions at your back.

You gazed at her sleeping form for what felt like an age. Her perfect little button nose and long black lashes making you swooning.

"I'll let you off." You piped up after a while and Joel hummed he as looked at you in confusion "For standing me up… She's a pretty good excuse."

Joel chuckled as he rested his head on your shoulder, you both continuing to gaze at her.

"We'll get through this…" He said and you nodded.

"Together."

Next

For updates follow @albertasunrise-ficsblog

[bleachification]

⸻ EVERYTHING IS BLUE

pairing: dabi x reader

word count: 2.2k

synopsis:  when life gave you a second chance to meet your supposedly dead childhood friend, you never expected it to be in the form of a villainous encounter. your once beloved toya is now dabi—a cruel, twisted silhouette of the gentle boy he used to be. 

note: includes mentions of grief and insomnia

+ + + + + + + + + + + +

There is a very famous saying: Love conquers all. 

Supposedly love transcends time. 

Space. 

Death. 

It buries sin and cures suffering, lightening the world and its burdens. It is presented with such a peculiar resemblance to what some herald as Heaven’s gift from above—a sublime feeling only justifiable by the overpowering divine or mystical. You see it in the stars; unreachable. In the sunsets and dawn; dazzling.

But you also see it in the darkness; for the act of love has made fools of many, robbing them blind of reason and humanity. It has made liars and killers—corrupted and instilled madness. And it seldom lets its victims go. 

Love creates weakness. 

You vowed to never let it make you weak again. 

After all, the last time almost killed you. But who could blame you? Toya was dear to you. Toya was special. The closest thing to a soulmate you could ever fathom. The boy was your childhood best friend and the earliest memory of happiness you can recall. Now, that is all he is—a distant, fleeting memory that whispers of fractured promises and bygone dreams. He is never more than a nostalgic breeze tickling your skin, or a particularly bright star on an early winter night. 

He exists between the lines of your past. Simply there. But never next to you. Never in arms reach. 

As time passed agonizingly, you had slowly begun to forget the most basic things, such as the bright tenor of his laugh and the soft sound of his steps—sensations you used to know by heart. 

Sometimes, you can only remember the features of his face by looking at an old photograph you had kept. It is one of black and white film, stained on the back and crinkled at the edges from the wear of time. In it, Toya is smiling, a small hand raised up in a wave at whoever was behind the camera. You can’t remember. 

Was it your mother? His? You hope it was the former. She always adored Toya.   

His left arm was slung over your shoulder and the both of you had cake and icing smudged on your faces, courtesy of one another. 

That day—your birthday—is one of the last times you saw him alive. 

So why on earth do you see that little boy in the eyes of a villain?

The face of a young man covered in gnarled purple scars is plastered across the city. Video footage from a high speed chase is being shown in an emergency broadcast on every single screen covering the downtown core. 

His name is Dabi. Prominent member of the League of Villains. It is an organization the Pro Heroes—your colleagues—are adamantly trying to dismantle. 

The man’s picture is blown up on the big screens alongside three other criminals, each involved in the chase currently carving through the city blocks.

Something about him is so familiar, but you can’t grasp exactly what. 

Grief and nostalgia must be playing tricks again. To see a dead child’s face in a villain’s visage is ridiculous.

Laughable. 

But it wouldn’t be the first time you had… hallucinated Toya’s image. 

With a sigh, you peel your dry eyes away from the ward’s television and shut the channel off. The room is eerily silent in the late night, void of the tv’s noise. You like it. Silence helps calm the mind. Settles the chaos. 

You stand and make your way out of the ward, down the empty hallway, and into your personal office. The room is clean and tidy, the only thing out of place is a stack of research papers strewn across your mahogany desk. You round the corner and settle into the soft velvet seat of your armchair before running your right hand along the underside of the table. A familiar click sounds as you locate the button and a small cabinet pops open from the left shelf. 

Three bottles sit inside. Unassuming white ones with generic labels. You pop the smallest bottle open and dump a pill out. The red medication tastes like chalk as it grazes your tongue. 

After a second of consideration, you take another, hoping these sleeping pills will be strong enough to stave off the nightmares and vivid hallucinations. 

Hope. It’s such a small word, but also such a large one. Hope was all you had at one point. It was the only thing grounding you to a reality without him. You had hoped it was all a mistake—a joke, even. Toya would pop his head from the corner and yell: “Gotcha!”

He would be fine. Alive. 

Anything but a husk of a human, burnt beyond recognition, suffocating in the flames of his own blood.

Now, hope is nothing but a pretty word to throw around when meaning is lost. 

You close your eyes and lose yourself to a dreamless sleep. 

✧ ˚ 　· 　　 . 　  

You are experiencing a startling sense of deja vu. The television glitches, interrupting regularly scheduled programming. A familiar figure appears. 

I, Toya Todorioki, was born as the eldest son of Endeavour. 

The world—your world freezes. The only thing you can comprehend is the man on your screen.

You stand up, shaking. Then, you run. Heroes and medical staff alike shout after you, but it all fades into a blur. There is only one destination in your mind—and it is a dangerous, painful place. 

It doesn’t take long for you to locate him. The city is in turmoil, buildings have been razed to the ground and rubble covers the once bustling space. You spot Shoto and his father up ahead, mere steps away. And in front of him stands Dabi—no—Toya. Your Toya. 

His hair is white now, the natural color no longer concealed once he revealed his identity. The scars have spread from the last time you saw him online. No matter. You knew it. You knew it was him. How could you forget?

Enji rasps out something in disbelief. 

Toya only smiles wide and responds with a sardonic confirmation. You could see it in their eyes—a living nightmare had come true for the Todoroki family.

But you? All you cared about was reaching Toya. None of them have seen you yet, so you take advantage of that by quietly making your way closer. The muffled voices turn clearer as the distance shrinks. Toya is speaking to his father and brother, words spilling out in frantic turmoil. The rawness of his voice rings through. Such intense anger and hatred cannot be faked. The two others are stricken by Toya’s address. You don’t blame them; the brutality of his language guts even you. 

Shoto notices you first. His eyes widen, almost imperceptibly, but Toya notices anyway. Your old friend whips around in your direction. You freeze as his eyes land on you. Recognition immediately flashes across his face.

His face. You feel as though you have been hurtled through space and time, brought back to simpler days. A scraped knee on the playground. Food fights in the cafeteria. A million pinky promises made.

A kid you called your best friend, reduced to ash and bones. 

These memories, both awful and radiant, wash over you with so much force you almost collapse. You silently praise yourself for keeping upright against the emotional onslaught. 

“Y/N, get out of here!” Shoto yells out, urging you away in a panic. 

You ignore him. Nothing else exists right now. Not Shoto. Not his father. Only him. 

“Y/N.” The way Toya says your name is almost questioning. As if he can’t believe you’re even here. 

You’ve somehow ended up right before him. Inches separate you, if barely. 

“Hi Toya,” you breathe, voice barely above a whisper. It would crack otherwise. 

He’s stunned, looking like the air was knocked from his lungs. Seconds fade into forever as his familiar gaze locks onto yours, searching—but for what, you can’t tell. It takes a moment for him to seemingly gather himself. The cynical persona quickly slides back into place.

“This is a nice surprise, but I’m afraid you have me all wrong. Toya is dead, Y/N. Dabi is all that is left—all that I am.”

You swallow. The air tastes of blood. “Somehow I don’t believe that.”

Don’t? Or won’t?

He shrugs, feigning nonchalance. “Well, it doesn’t matter what you believe. C’mon, Y/N! Don’t tell me you still have faith in who I used to be. That kid you knew is dead. Gone forever.”

You shake your head, refusing to take in his words.

“And yet, you’re standing right in front of me… how…?” Without thinking, you raise a hand up to touch his cheek. You’re operating on instinct, not logic. It's the instinct to comfort him—just like he did for you when you were children. 

But you stop yourself right before making contact with him, unsure. Toya’s gaze flits to your hand for a split second before returning to your face. There’s a question in his eyes—one you aren’t sure either of you can answer. 

“Why pretend you care? It’s cruel,” he murmurs, a subtle accusation coating his tone.

“What are you talking about? Of course I care.” You answer, bewildered. 

Pretend? How could he even begin to think that? When you’ve spent your entire life missing him?

“Then why did you move across the world the second you hit adulthood? You couldn’t even stay.”

“I thought you were dead. I mourned you. I grieved until what felt like my last breath. I left because every single second I stayed felt like reliving your death all over again.”

“And when you finally came back you were, what, healed? Moved on?” He laughs bitterly, arms spread in mockery. 

“Moved on?” You shake your head, the pain in your throat almost suffocating. “I saw you everywhere. Not just in dreams and nightmares. Hallucinating a dead person… I thought I was losing my mind! Even right now I’m praying this isn’t some sick, twisted nightmare.”

He drops his arms as well as the smile on his face. “Well, you’re in luck, Y/N. This is very much real. See, I thought things could change. That the consequences meant something to them. They lived my death and nothing happened! They saw what it did to me—the power, the ego, the fucking obsession that ruined this family—and did nothing!

“He’s a disease, don’t you get it? They all are. I’m simply here to rid the world of that sickness. I’m the cure, Y/N. I’ll burn the rot right out of the earth.”

Endeavour scrambles. “Son, don’t do this! Don’t—!”

“Son? Son?” Toya sneers. “You lost that right a long time ago, oh mighty Number One Hero.”

“Toya, please.”

He turns back to you. “No. Sorry to disappoint, Y/N, but you don’t get to participate in this dance.”

“What? No, Toya wait–”

An arm circles your waist before you can get another word out, and all of a sudden, you’re being carried away at breakneck speeds. 

Your screams are lost to the wind. 

An explosion in the distance. Red taints the sky and fills your vision. 

You have never felt so helpless.  

The next time you see Toya—the little that is left of him—is at the end of it all. He is confined. Half-alive. Burnt beyond recognition. It is like he is dying all over again. 

“I should hate you.”

You sit at his bedside, speaking your turn after his family just left. 

Toya is… tired. You can see it in his eyes—at the lack of fire. The passionate, ambitious boy you once knew is truly and utterly gone. 

But some of his kindness has returned. Or perhaps he has just accepted his fate, which is all the more heartbreaking. 

“You’ve done… terrible things. Hurt so many people,” you pause, considering your next words. Three tiny things lodged in your throat, struggling to be set free into the world. “You hurt me.”

He doesn’t look at you. You’re not sure if that’s any worse than his silence. 

“I didn’t think you would ever hurt me,” you whisper. 

Silence drags on for what feels like the longest minute of your life. He still has not turned his head. Still has not acknowledged you. Your heart sinks. Maybe this really is it. Maybe there’s no affection left—all of it burned up with the last of his lingering sentiments. 

You stand up, turning your back to him, ready to leave. For good. 

“I didn’t think I would either,” Toya murmurs. 

His soft voice breaks the silence—and it is overwhelming. 

You haven't turned around to face him yet. 

“In another life, would you have stayed?” 

“I…” he swallows, voice rasping. “I don’t want to leave this life. Don’t want to leave you behind… not again.”

Tears are streaming down your face. You don’t care; you sit back down right next to him, where you rightly belong. The ache in your chest is so heavy you think it might pull you to the ground and bury you below its surface to try and muffle your misery. You almost wish it did. 

Despite the pain, you muster out your next question. 

“You think we could be happy?” You take Toya’s wounded hand in yours and gently squeeze, careful not to hurt him. 

To your relief, he doesn’t let go. In fact, he squeezes back. It’s faint but the action is felt. “Yeah. Yeah, I think we could.”

And if another life exists, you are. 

Undoubtedly so. 

[jjzzhyunie]

UNDER HIS GAZE | HAECHAN #1

pairing: haechan x fem!oc

title: chapter #1 ‘me and the devil’

prologue: “Do you even know what you're doing? You don't even know how to use it correctly.”

summary: Parents murdered by vampires, Yoo-jin Seo seeks revenge on Donghyuck by hunting him down.

genre: thriller drama, vampires, modern au, vampire hunter x vampire, plot twists, enemies to lovers trope.

note: this is a series.

©️ everything belongs to @jjzzhyunie 2024

In the tapestry of time, death spins a web of tales, each moment woven with care into memories to recall. Yet Yoojin eyes afire, holds fate in trembling palms, against the hourglass' constant sand.

As Yoojin walks through the forest woods, the memories of her parents' funeral seep in, wearing a tradional korean attire in all black comes back to her. The solemn procession, the sounds of wailing, and the sight of her parents' pictures being lowered down with the coffin to the ground.

This all flickers like a tape in her mind, Yoojin pushes onwards despite all of this. Determination was a weak word for what she is feeling. The pain on that day was a fresh wound, still bleeding.

'I'll catch him.' Yoojin tells herself, like a mantra that strengthens her doubts. She will catch him.

She contiues down her search in the unknown secluded area, parts of the forest were barely lit by the sun and Yoojin can't help feeling a sense of uneasiness. The trees seem to loom over her, their shadows dancing eerily in the dim moonlight. Every rustle of leaves makes her jump, every snapped twig sounding like a potential threat. But Yoojin pushes through the fear.

Looking for any signs of life but her own, Yoojin was unsuccusful at it. Though her body was nothing but left weak. Hunger, a constant companion on the journey with her, it's presence felt in every pang of emptiness. But grief and anger, stronger than any hunger that consumes her, leaves no room for respite.

A relentless restlessness grips at her soul, as the darkness of mourning and rage take take their tol. Each step, each breath, a struggle against the troubling tide of pain, fueling her ceaseless pursuit.

Going up somewhere the soil sinks under her boots, four men start to spot Yoojin and their presence immediately setting off warn signals in her body, even before her mind had fully registered the danger. The two men behind let out a whistle of some kind, which made Yoojin's arms stand up with hair.

Their smirks were a big gateaway that they cannot be trusted, with their rifles in their hands casually held. "You look lost," was the smooth reply from one man. He looks to be older, mid forties and the leader of his three friends behind him.

Yoojin was ready to reply to them instantly. "I'm heading somewhere," she said cooly.

They looked at each other, their expressions sly as they exhanged looks. "Well, we wouldn't want a beautiful young miss like you getting lost all alone in the forest. Especially with vampires lurking around lately." One of them said.

"Maybe we can help you out?" The man in front of Yoojin said, his tone drippng with insincerity.

She grits her teeth together, her body tensing as she prepeared to defend herself in neccessary when the men took few steps forward to where Yoojin stands. She keeps her vague answers sharp.

"I appreciate the offer, but i can manage on my own." Yoojin replies with her gaze sweeping over the group, sizing them up nearly.

Yoojin quickly went past them around and starts to walk the front path to leave them, but one spoke behind Yoojin and the men hurdle to follow Yoojin anyways, despite her protest from earlier.

"Now now, lets not be hasty. We're just trying to protect you from the vampires that can be around." The sinister tone was a camouflage by the fake-pretend chivalry.

Yoojin could see right past it with her uncomfortable intuition.

Before she could react, the two leap to the front and block the path, their large bodies looming in the narrow pathway. In blink of an eye, she was suddenly pressed up against them, her rifle falling to the ground with a loud thud. And soon enough, before she knew it Yoojin felt a rough hand grab her arm and push her down. Face hitting the rough ground betwen soil and auburn dry leaves. Pinned up behind four men.

Men's laughter rang out, a cruel sound that sent chills down her spine. Yoojin struggles to get out, any sort of movement was impossible under the weight of four men. It became tiring, a tug of war rather to escape this clinch.

Yoojin grows numb real quick, despair clawing at her as the men overshadow behind. The sounds of clothes become a scary alert to her. Yoojin's eyes widen and she panics once more.

"Now isn't the time to be screaming," He laughs. "No one can hear you anyways. We're deep in the forest."

The three men that watched everything unfold suddenly turn towards the sound of a twig snapping. The three rifles turned towards the trees and steep flooring. The man pinning her down looks up too.

"Go check it out you three," their leader said nonchalantly but fimrly too. They can only glance back at him, the tension was papable in their hesition to walk up to where the sound came.

Then without a humanly possible warning, a flashing scene through the trees from above landing on one of the men with a deadly precision. There was a brief moment of shock.

"It's a vampire!"

Chaos erupts when the two remaining men saw how their friend was dismembered and killed with a single slash, the sounds of rifles being fired sets Yoojin's adrenaline on fire.

But it was too late, the figure had moved way before the human eye could counter.

The vampire dispatched the two men next, his movements like lightning came to life. Only one remaining was the leader and it wasnt long until the man moved off Yoojin to grab his rifle to deal with the vampire. He raised it up to fire at the shadow-figure only to be met with a deserved fate.

Yoojin took the advantagr to crawl closer the familar weight of her own rifle in arms. With a determined cry she rose to her two own feet, spinning around and firing both the man and unknown vampire.

He fell to the ground and mortally wounded, but the vampire was merely scratched and its eyes ablazed by the challenge.

In quick movements it lungs to Yoojin. She leapts back, her own rifle clutched title to her hands. Yoojin knew she had to run away, she did not stand a chance against this vampire.

She ran for it. Yoojin darted through the forest, her feet pounding against the ground as she ducked under low hanging branches and leapt over a fallen logs. It was as if the trees themselves were closing in on her, their trunks forming a disoreinting maze that all looked the same.

Each step forward felt like a step eeper into a nightmare, as if she was trapped in a cycle of endless chase.

Yoojin stumps her foot over a rock, tripping on the ground front face. As Yoojin stumbles and fell, her eyes catching sight of the abandoned hospital in the area. Its crumbling walls cast long shadows across the floor. Before she could even process the situation, the vampire leaned down his hand grasping her arms.

But just as he moved closer, a voice cut through the stillness breaking the tension. As Yoojin looked up, she saw Donghyuck standing there. His eyes fixed on the other vampire, his stance was tense and intimdating.

The guy looks so familar, then it all clogged Yoojin's mind. That was him. The night of her parents death, he was the last one Yoojin saw before disappering in the night.

The tone in his voice was like a challenge between sarcasm and unbothered. "What are you doing in my territory?" he echoed, his gaze narrowing studying the other vampire. He looks newly turned and batshit-crazy to Donghyuck.

His words were met with defiance, the other vampire refused to answer or move out of the area which Donghyuck has claimed since last night.

Yoojin watched in silence, her gaze flickering between the two vampires with uncertain fear and fasincation. She had never seen such an interaction, and she wasnt sure what is going to happen. What will this mean for her?

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife as Donghyuck's rolled up his sleeves, his body language was a clear gateway to how threatening he became. Before Yoojin could even react, he took a decisive step forward, his gaze locking onto the other vampire. In the moment, the vampire's face shifted to Donghyuck, dropping Yoo-jin carelessly to the ground.

"I am going to count to three, and you better run off."

For a brief moment, the vampire hesitated, as if hoping for some sort of reprieve. But Donghyuck's tone was clear, his expression firm. Before the vampire could fully proces the situation, Donghyuck's voice rang out.

"One."

Suddenly the latter ran off, he took the cue and left for Donghyuck's final number. Yoojin’s body became tense, a sense of familiar danger alerts her to run for it. She grabbed her rifle and took off running. As if her life depends on it.

Donghyuck’s eyes on her as Yoojin fled suddenly. But she didn’t dare to pause to look back at the killer of her parents.

Unfortunately, her escape was cut short when she trips up over a patch of loose soil on the edge of a steep slope.

She stumbles, losing her balance and then she starts to roll down the hill, tumbling recklessly down like a sack of potatoes.

As Yoojin lands front face to the bottom, at the base of the hill. She groans, her body aching from the rough fall and landing. She felta wave of embarssment wash over her.

Suddenly, Donghyuck's voice rang out above, and she looked up to see him standing at the top of the hill. "What an idiot," he muttered, his tone laced with annoyance, as he begins to go down the slope to get to her.

She could feel her cheeks burn with anger and shame. The humilation was enough to sent her to her early grave. Her legs felt like jelly amongst the many bruises from the fall.

Donghyuck approached her, his expression unreadable. Under his gaze was this human girl, who strangely looks at him as if she's already known him. Hated him.

But he can't seem to remember her.

Yoojin found herself in a situation sooner than she expected. She takes a small peak and saw that Donghyuck is armed with a knife, not only that, but his foot on top of her rifle when she reached for it. She was once again, weaponless.

"It's you." Yoojin said with an itch to now seek her revenge.

Donghyuck tilts his head slightly at the sound of how hateful she sounds to him, as if she already knows him. He turns to look down at the girl properly with his eyes.

"Do i know you?" He asks smoothly with an undertone sarcasm in it.

"No but i know you." Her reply begins. "You killed my parents!" Yoojin starts while turning her lips to a thin unwelcoming line. Fists clenched together.

Donghyuck's mouth twitchs slightly at the accusation. He narrows his eyes at the human girl, Yoojin was slowly getting up from the ground. Dusting off any bits of dirt remaining to the clothes.

"Killed your parents? I don't ever remember laying a finger on them, darling." Donghyuck casually said, uncared for the situation of the loss. It's more like he's certain that the accusation is wrong.

Yoojin never expected such belief that seems so real, but she saw Donghyuck that night. She remembers a face like his anywhere. "Liar, i saw you that night and i'm going to kill you."

Yoojin's hand reached out a knife to slash forward to the vampire's shoulder blade. It never crossed Yoojin's mind there would be a power difference, even though thats the most basic knowledge out there. Vampires are much superior in terms of hunting. But she didn't care for her safety. She was driven by grief and revenge more than the fear of dying.

Donghyuck was amused more than surprised by the attack. An attempt, he would call it rather. He easily pushed back Yoojin and twists her around until a single push to her back makes her fall over a large tree to the front. Completely he parried a knife, not even using his vampire genetics. More just his heightened survival.

"Do you even know what you're doing? You don't even know how to use it correctly." He said with his head tilted with arms crossed over his chest.

Was he seriously just correcting Yoojin on how to land a slash on him? She felt insulted. Belitted.

Which only caused her grief and anger to mix together, close to exploding like an erupted volcano. Yoojin turned back and lung her hand forward, the knife creating this whoosh sound in the air. Donghyuck takes simple steps back to avoid being slashed by a basic knife, a kitchen knife it looks to be.

She then ends up being tripped up, again, for what felt like a hundreth time falling over on the ground. Donghyuck saw how she was so easily tripped by his feet. Yoojin's defence was down, she's not rationally thinking. Donghyuck made sure to put a stop to her mindless swinging with a knife.

It looked like child-play to him.

Yoojin lets out a small eugh when she lands on the ground with her head slightly bumped. The rifle was somewhere on the ground between the auburn leaves, and her knife laid next to her face. Her blurry vision grew to normal, Yoojin saw Donghyuck standing above her in front.

She flashed him a glare, her hair completely roughed up with leaves in them from the fall. "What do you want?" Yoojin throws because Donghyuck was just staring at her, not impressed.

An eyebrow was raised on his face when he saw that glare on her face. He sighs tiredly.

"Get up," Donghyuck says simply looking around the area, his voice smooth yet demanding. He doesn't make any move to remove his foot from the ground, he just waits for her to get up from the pathetic ground.

Looming over her, he did see a few things in the dim light outside on her face. Donghyuck saw the minor cuts and scratches on her face, indicating it from the falls. Maybe even struggle against the troublesome people earlier.

She grunts when leisurely going up on her feet, Yoojin blows some of her messy hair away in a huff, like a small child does. Yoojin made sure there was a good enough distance between the vampire and her eyes ocasionally observe the surroudings.

"What do you want?" She asked again. "Going to kill me like you killed my parents, huh?" Yoojin slowly brought up with an intent to provoke malicous to him.

Yoojin saw Donghyuck let out an exasperted sigh, the patience starting to wear thin. He rolls his eyes slightly and crosses his arms. "I already told you, i didn't kill them." He repeats sounding frustrated.

But when he saw her eyes constantly looking down towards the rifle, he simply reached for the weapon and shown it to her. He held the rifle with his two hands. "Looking for this?" he mocks, tapping the rifle on the ground.

Yoojin tried to hold the urge to just, try and stab him again. But she failed because the next thing that happened was Donghyuck quickly dodging a knife in the air that Yoojin reached for nearby before. He gave a disappoited eye roll.

The next thing she knew, she was held in a tight grip. Wrist held by a very strong hand forcing her to drop the knife and Donghyuck wasn't being so, tolerant anymore.

His grip was pretty tight but not enough to snap a bone yet. It is strong enough to keep the girl from not atacking him every five seconds like a maniac.

His expression is unreadable as he looks down at her widen eyes full of fear, his dark eyes piercing into them. The amusement from earlier is gone and now he was simply serious on the matter.

"I'm going to let go of your wrist now, and if you try anything i'm going to break it. Got it?" Donghyuck threatens sternly. But he saw Yoojin's non verbal reply as a sign that she understood it.

Yoojin was tempted but she didn't act on it this time. In fact she stood still and slowly takes back her wrist released from his hand. Donghyuck trails off next.

"See? I'm trying to be Mr nice guy, i don't usually do that." He points out sarcastically at the sudden quiet girl, but all he got was a glare. And as if she wants to just run away. Far away from him.

He sighs again. "Look, you're hurt and you must be lost. I have enough space for you to camp in my home."

"How do i know you won't kill me?" She shot at Donghyuck, defensively holding suspicion.

He gave her a look, as if thats the most obvious thing in the world. Donghyuck matter of factly points out. "Because if i wanted you dead, you'd already be dead."

She scoffs but Donghyuck already started to make his way back up, he assumed the girl will follow. She has nowhere else to go and her chances being safe from other vampires are high with him.

"Didn't realise vampires have sense of hospitality." She sarcastically shouts but eventually Yoojin weighs the pros and cons. Ultimately she starts to slowly tag behind Donghyuck.

Maybe she can always get back at him. But not right now.

[imtryingbuck]

Three

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Summary: Y/n L/n becomes Queen of Astoria not that she wanted to. Prince James of Winterfeld meets her and falls in love.

Word count: 2,575

Warnings: angst. fluff. mentions of being hung and murdered by arrows (it does not happen!) groping.

Masterlist   Series Masterlist

All she had to do was spend time with the man, it didn’t mean she was going to marry him on the spot and begin trying to pop out heirs. Her mother promised her that if she did not like the man then she would drop the topic all together. Even though she was now Queen and one of the most skilled warriors in the army she was still a child at heart, holding up her pinkie finger she made her mother wrap her own around her digit and pinkie swear.

“Please spend more than five minutes with the man before you decide.” Y/n nodded reluctantly, her original plan going straight out the window.

Prince Brock Rumlow was the man her mother had chosen. It was less than five minutes before she wanted to leave and call the meeting off. Yes he was a attractive but truthfully that is all he had going for him. He was dull, rude and so full of himself she struggled to remain stoic as he talking about himself and himself, oh and more importantly himself. She made the mistake of looking at Carlson who stood by the wall with the rest of the knights, he put an imaginary noose around his neck, closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out - she failed to stop the unattractive snort noise she made.

“What is so funny?”

“N-nothing, my prince. Please continue.”

The kingdom was bustling with the arrival of the King and Queen from Winterfeld - a neighbouring kingdom - that was coming to meet the new queen for the first time. The queens mother was busy greeting them and their family as Y/n was dying a slow and painful death called boredom as Prince Brock droned on and on.

“I am sorry that the Queen is not available at this moment, a feast will be held tonight in honour of your arrival.”

“It is understandable. Where is the Kings second wife?” Queen Winifred asked.

“S-she passed away.”

“Oh, oh I am so sorry! How are the princess’s doing?”

“I will admit they aren’t doing great but they are strong little darlings.” Her mother was giving them a tour of the castle before showing them to their chambers that they would be calling home for a week.

As her mother was busy with the King and Queen of Winterfeld, Y/n had changed out of her dress and into her training clothes and made her way to the training grounds with Carlson and a handful of her most trusted knights following closely behind her. It took her slightly longer to arrive as the townsfolk would stop her to say their hello’s and wishing her good luck in the makeshift circle, she spoke to each and every one of them.

“You have not been here for quite a while now, I do not know how you will do.” Carlson said with a smirk on his lips.

“I will pick you for my first opponent then shall I?”

“And lose? Surely I will be hung for treason”

“I will never have you hanged, no I would shoot a thousand arrows at you” Carlson gasped dramatically as she laughed.

As they arrived they noticed that there was a small crowd around the circle, some of them there she did not recognise. Those that did noticed her and moved over so she could lean on the wooden railing and watched as two of her warriors fought against each other, she was told a wager had been made - if Luka won he was able to propose to Lelands sister, his opponent, if Leland won Luka had to run around the whole kingdom in his birthday suit. She had to laugh, and admit that she didn’t know which one she wanted to win more.

Luka won.

Leland was not happy.

Carlson jumped over the wooden railing, Y/n throwing his shield to him, he looked around analysing each person there to pick out the person who would fight him - even though he already knew who he was going to pick. “You.” He smirked and pointed his sword towards Y/n.

“Me? Oh how kind of you!” Y/n was quick to jump over the railing too, her shield being passed to her. As she got into position she heard an unfamiliar voice.

“A woman? That is not fair, she should not be fighting.”

Y/n smirked and nodded to Carlson, who winked before lunging at her - not at all going easy on her. The loud clanking of their swords battling against one another rang out in the air, Carlson knocked her shield out of her hand - Y/n smirked, and lunged at her friend, her sword beating off the shield, using the side of her sword she hit him in his side. He dropped his shield and surrendered. This action made her and win the round. Everyone cheered, the new men that had made their presence known all laughing at Carlson for losing against a woman.

“Which one of you fine gentleman said that women should not be fighting?”

“I did sweetheart. You only won because he went easy on you, you know on the battle field the enemy won’t go easy.” She looked over to where the voice came from and smiled. A man leaning on the railing like the rest - handsome man with light curly shoulder length hair, slight stubble of hair on his face, his eyes were bright blue.

As handsome as he was he was a fool for two reasons, the first being that he obviously had no idea who she was, and secondly for daring to call her sweetheart.

“And who may you be?”

“Prince James of Winterfeld, and you?” Bless his heart, he laughed along with those from her kingdom thinking they were laughing with him and not at him.

Foolish man indeed.

“Well Prince James, I am the person who challenges you to get into the circle with me, just as long as you do not mind going easy on me.”

“Challenge accepted. And I promise you sweetheart, I will not.”

Carlson hands over his sword and shield to the brunette, telling him ‘good luck’ before climbing back over to where he was stood originally.

“Come on then sweetheart, I promise not to embarrass you.”

Y/n rolled her eyes at him, and began circling him - making him follow her every movement, she knew exactly what she was doing. The second he took his eyes off her she lunged at him, he stumbled back not expecting the attack but he managed to gain control. Once again the only sounds being heard from the woods were the sound of two swords clashing with each other.

James had to admit that he was impressed by her moves, her grace and the fact that she wasn’t struggling for breath even though this was her second round in the circle. She began getting the upper hand against him, he was trying to justify that by getting distracted by her beauty. He had truly never laid eyes on more of a beautiful woman before in his life.

To gain the upper hand against the woman who wasn’t backing down, James ducked as she swung her shield from the side trying to hit him, in his crouched position he sliced her right leg with his sword, blood quickly flowing from the wound. The hiss she let out satisfied him as he was growing annoyed at how he was being bested by a woman. He wanted to laugh at the men from the kingdom who were willing to jump over the railing to protect her, and how they looked concerned when she shook her head and carried on with their fight.

James looks to the side where the woman looks to - not realising it was a distraction - he had no time to react to the woman’s leg sweeping his own under him. Her sword being pointed to his chest, his hands went up.

“Looks like you have lost to a woman, my Prince. I apologise if I have embarrassed you.” He gives her a tight lipped smile watching her climb back over the railing, the man who she was fighting with before whispering something in her ear and she leaves.

“You alright Buck?” Steve asks his best friend and Prince.

“I think I am in love with the mad woman.”

The large hall was full of Lords, Ladies, knights and servants, James - who preferred to be called Bucky - had to admit that the hall was better than the one at home. After introductions and handshakes with the lords and ladies, his family was introduced to the Princess’s, Bucky had to admit that they were all beautiful but his thoughts were on the beautiful mad woman who had bested him earlier that day.

Sitting down next to Steve his eyes darting around the hall in hopes that she would be there, slumping back in his seat he turned to Steve. “After I have met the Queen I am going to leave and try to find the mad woman, cover for me please.”

“The woman from earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you want to find her?”

“Hopefully I can make her a princess.”

“You call her a mad woman when you are talking about marrying a woman who bested you. You are the mad one.” Steve laughed.

“Yes, we can be the mad married couple.”

Steve goes to reply but gets cut off by the Royal Herald announcing that the Queen had arrived. Every single person in the hall stood up, the knights shifting their stances as the large wooden doors came open.

Bucky’s jaw dropped.

It was her. His mad woman. She was the Queen of Astoria.

She walked with her head held high, a crown sitting upon her head, her dress was a dark red and black. Before walking up to her seat, she greeted the King and Queen with a slight nod of her head, Bucky knew that she could feel his eyes burning a hole at the side of her face but she was ignoring him.

Steve had to pull on his arm to sit after everyone else does, he was so lost in trance that he didn’t notice everyone sitting. All that kept running through his head was that the beautiful mad woman was a Queen. A Queen he had fought against. And that’s when it dawned on him, he had hurt the Queen! That’s why the men tried to intervene, they were protecting her after he had sliced at her leg!

“- and this is our son, James.” His mothers words snapped him out of his spiralling mind.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, sweetheart.”

Nobody around them questioned the nickname she had given him, though Carlson and Steve chuckled. “The pleasure is all mine, my Queen.”

Throughout the meal Bucky couldn’t keep his eyes off her as she talked to the man who he found out was named Carlson, and talked with his parents. He was waiting for her smile to drop and order her guards to drag him into the dungeon before having him hung but so far a pretty smile was still sat on her lips, he was also nervous of tension brewing between the two kingdoms and him having to admit to his parents that it was all his fault.

“I have heard they call you the Warrior Queen, why is that?” His mother asked her, she tried to repress the smirk off her lips as she sees James sinking slowly in his seat.

“I am the only woman to ever fight in my father’s army, I have been to many battles for him.”

“How many battles have you been in?” The King then asked.

“My first one was when I was sixteen. My father did not know I was there until the battle was over.” She chuckled, the King and Queen joining in.

“Will you continue to fight now?” The Queen asked.

“Of course. I will be right at the front and centre, my men will not fight without me being there.”

“A true Queen you are” King George said, she smiled at him. Though her smile quickly dropped off her face and that had Bucky’s heart pounding. 

“You. Yes you, come here.” She points at a knight who looked absolutely terrified. His eyes darting between her and his King, as he slowly made his way over to her. “You may get away with groping the servants where you are from, but you do not come into my home and do the same to mine. I see or get informed that you have done it again I will hang you myself. Is that understood?”

“Y-yes Queen.”

“Larissa, come here.” Larissa’s cheeks heated up as all eyes went on her as she moved forward, bowing to her Queen she waited. “Apologies to her.”

“I-I am sorry.” He was mortified. He was a knight and was being made to apologise to someone lower than him.

“It’s fine.” Larissa mumbled.

“Larissa darling, you may go back to what you was doing. You, get out of my face. I will say this once and never repeat myself, any man regardless of your station touches my girls I will hang you all myself. Now let the music continue.” She sits back in her seat and turns her head to Carlson having a quiet conversation.

The King was furious. Not because the young Queen had scolded his knight but because the knight had done something that even he wouldn’t permit. “Queen Y/n, I must apologise for his behaviour. I can assure you that I do not let that happen in my home and I will promise you that he will be punished for his behaviour.”

“It is fine, I believe the man has learnt his lesson.”

“My Queen, may I be bold enough to ask you for a dance?” Bucky spoke up, truthfully unaware where he had gained the confidence. When she nodded and stood the crowd dispersed off the floor, sitting down to watch their Queen dance with the Prince.

As the music began again Bucky took her hand in his, the other going to her waist. “When are you going to tell my parents what I did?”

“What do you mean?”

“I harmed you!”

She chuckled. “It was a scratch. I have had worse.”

“Are you going to have me hung?”

“It would have already happened if I wanted that. Do not fret sweetheart, I do not want to kill the only son of the King and Queen of a neighbouring kingdom.”

“Very well. I am sorry for what I did, though if I had known who you really were I would not have gotten into the circle with you.”

“Why?”

“Because you are a Queen…”

“I am a daughter, a sister, a friend and a solider before I am the Queen and you do not need to apologise, you put up a good fight.”

“I could have won if you had not distracted me!”

“If I agree will that help you sleep easier tonight?”

“Yes…”

“Very well. If I had not distracted you, you would have still lost.”

His parents and her mother watched as they danced, they all hear the dramatic gasp falling from the princes’ lips and the giggle from the queen. The two mothers share a look of joy and hope.

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Tags: @sapphirebarnes | @sebastians-love | @sidraaaaaaaaa | @mrsnikstan | @barnesxstan | @hi172826 | @alexdarkacademia | @supraveng | @baw1066

[addicted-to-dc]

Jekyll/Hyde Part 2 - Taskforce 141 x Reader

Tags for those who encouraged me to write this. Thank you!!! @greeniegreengreen @aeilani @poetslastdeath 

Link to Part 1

Content Warnings: Typical CoD violence, ptsd, reader is going to be unhinged (even more so in the next chapters).

The computer does all the work for you nowadays. Honestly, you expected this to be your time to think things over. ‘Meditate’ as Laswell calls it. Rumination sits better on your tongue. How in the world can you ruminate in conditions like these? The overhead lights are buzzing, a high-pitched constant ringing that’s giving you a migraine. It feels like an ice pick was shoved through your eye socket, the cold metal turning warm as it disturbs thousands of nerves.

The seclusion you needed has fucking left the building, leaving you alone with a team of walking dead men. Laswell didn’t tell them why you had so many deaths. One would assume that the common denominator (i.e. YOU) are the reason why families mourn their loved ones. With every step you take you can hear the jingle of all those tags, so many souls gone because you couldn’t stop digging for the truth.

You pinch the bridge of your nose, trying to drag yourself out of your exhaustion. Your efforts only reward you with a sharp pain in your skull. Checking the time, you internally groan. Less than an hour until your dogs are here. Fuck, you miss them.

There’s a flick of a lighter, the scent of leather and wood assaulting your nose. Then tobacco invades your senses. “What’s on your mind?”

Captain Price, the man who started it all. He’s a survivor. He might stand a chance at what’s coming next. It’s been a while since you’ve interacted with a man this intense. He’s a smart one. The cigar erases the mustiness of the room. Smells like home. You can feel your body relax, albeit slightly. Maybe you just need a smoke.

“The only family I have left,” you reply, yanking out your cigarettes. Your only photo lies folded in the nearly empty pack. You flick it to Price, your aim true as it rolls to the edge of the table. “Three dogs. Sir, Bear, and Ruse.”

Ghost shifts slightly in his chair, dark eyes on the photo as soon as Price uncrumples it. “Cerberus?”

You can see recognition flash in Price’s eyes. In all of theirs. At least they don’t try to hide it. Sunshine leans forward, his eyes reevaluating you. “You’re The Huntress.”

It’s not a question. He knows. They all do. Price hands the photo to Mr. Mohawk. You shake your head, “I haven’t been called that in a long time.”

“Fuckin’ unstoppable is what you should be called,” Mr. Mohawk chuckles, looking up from the photo. “I’ve seen yer work. Thorough, precise, efficient, and batshit crazy.”

“They say you’re a sniper hunter,” Ghost states, eyes blazing with intrigue. “That true?”

You nod, your index finger running over the scar on your chin. Mr. Mohawk’s bright ass blue eyes bore into your own. “Why the name change?”

Your muscles tense, feeling the weight of hundreds of hands pulling you down, down, down… Broken nails tear at your flesh, opening old wounds that never fully healed right. The screams ring in your ears, curses that taint your very soul to this day. “A story for another day.”

“Is this your original taskforce?” Price asks, pulling your attention away from his sergeant.

“Yes, it is,” you reply, lighting up your last cigarette. “Picked every single one of them myself. Two Polish battering rams, Maryna and Urszula Kowalski. They were always at each other’s throats, but they were the devil and angel on my shoulder.”

You take a long drag. They were the first ones to die.

The frequent migraines and metal plate in your skull are because of them, cracking your skull open before you could even walk off the transport. Their deaths were too quick, but watching the Semtex burst in the sisters’ faces was cathartic. Liars always fail to earn mercy from you. Traitorous ones at least. You exhale, releasing the tension. They don’t deserve to weigh down your conscience.

“August Lindemann, a German tech genius. Spoiled us with all the newest gadgets on the field.” You chuckle, dark eyes meeting Price’s. “I always said they’d make us lose our edge.”

For all the brains he had, they didn’t look so special splattered across the wall. You fought through the entire base to get to him. Cowering like the leach he was until he was the only one left. It didn’t even take cutting off his precious fingers to find out who organized all of this: General Sheperd. You know this leads deeper into the abyss, merely scratching the surface of this conspiracy.

“The last one is American; best shot I’ve ever seen and an even better medic. Dane Reid was a serious man, but he always kept everyone together.”

His ring lies against your chest, right next to yours. You scratch your right ear, digging your nails into what’s left of your upper cartilage. He was the best shot, but your dogs were loyal to no one except you. Even your husband. Using yourself as a decoy was risky, but Sir, Bear, and Ruse tearing him apart made the sacrifice worth it. And the bullet you put into his heart? Even more so.

You can’t wait to see them again.

“You and the dogs are the only ones left?” Sunshine asks, gently taking the photo from Price. “How did Laswell find you?”

“Wandering the Russian forest with stolen data,” you reply, picking at your broken nail. “She found me and the dogs months later.”

“An’ yer team?” Mr. Mohawk questions. “Wha’ about them?”

“I killed them all,” you answer, putting out the cig. You’ll save it for later, death usually ruins the taste. “They tried to sabotage the op. I only got one name when all of it was said and done, and you want to know who it was?”

You scan over every single one of them. The truth always hurts to tell, but you need them to live. You can’t lose anymore, not when Laswell holds these men to the highest regard. What did she say to them? Oh, yes, you need a team to survive with you. There’s too much death permeating the air. The smell of burnt flesh burns your nose.

“General Herschel Sheperd,” you snarl, the rage of Hyde breaking past Jekyll’s walls. “Laswell says you’re looking for him, and I want my pound of flesh.”

You’re sure they can see the insanity in your eyes, the ferality that consumed you in the forests of Russia and nestled its way into your very soul. Split into two beings, one desperate for peace and the other salivating for revenge. You’re not a Captain anymore. You’re nothing. Just a revenant walking amongst the living until your duty is fulfilled. Peace was never an option for you in life, only in death. You accepted that the day you lost your team, your only family. One gaze bears the most weight.

Your eyes catch Ghost’s. Dark eyes penetrate your soul, reading the scripture of your heart. Loyalty broken, trusted allies and friends betraying old bonds. Killing them. Broken, a living being inhabited by the scraps of its own psyche. Two peas in a fucked-up pod. Your phone vibrates on the table, one singular message popping up on your screen: They’re here.

“Thank fuck,” you mumble, pocketing your phone. “They’re here.” You’re itching to leave, to run to the last semblance of family you have.

Clearly, you’re too easy to read. Price stands, the others following suit. “Let’s go meet them then.”

Sunshine barely has the door open when you slip through, quickly maneuvering through the shitty corporate layout of the building until you reach the side lot. You can see them. Tears threaten to cloud your vision as you see Sir chase Ruse around the grass. Bear lays in the shade. Laswell notices your approach, giving you a small nod. You whistle loudly, their playtime immediately put on halt. It takes a second for the noise to bounce around their brains, immediately whining once it finally clicked. Sir, the eldest German Sheperd, is the first one to make it to you, whining and jumping in your arms. His love is always overwhelming, but it’s welcome.

Sir manages to hold onto your shoulders, forcing you to catch him to regain your balance. Only for Ruse, the younger Shepherd, to knock you to the ground. It startles a laugh out of you, a smile following soon after. God, it’s been too long since you’ve seen them. Bear in all her glory runs up and sits at your feet. Your smart girl. A Rottweiler mix, probably shepherd, but her fur pattern always draws you in. You coo, using whatever body part you can to pet all three of them. “Yeah, I missed you, too.”

You sneak them treats, whispering sweet nothings to each of them as you try to make up for lost time. Six months away from them has been torture. Then again, you thought you’d never see them again. Every op feels like the last.

“Forgive them, it’s been half a year since we’ve seen each other,” you turn to the group, sputtering when Ruse licks into your mouth. “CERBERUS!”

They fall in line perfectly, ears perked and waiting for orders. A hand pops into view, and you take it. Sunshine pulls you up, chuckling at the slobber left behind. He tilts his head, eyes catching something on your chest.

Frowning, you look down. Your rings are exposed. Tearing off the necklace, you shove it into your pocket. You’re allowed to have your secrets.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

[literaila]

Make a list of every single shenanigan teenage reader and Gojo have done

Doesn't have to be detailed I just want to know what these losers did to make Yaga so mad

• broke a vending machine because gojo kept trying to pull the drink reader wanted out of the machine with cursed energy instead of letting her pay for it

• accidentally bleached everyone’s clothes when it was readers turn to do laundry because gojo swore he “knew a secret”

• broke a tv remote when wrestling over it because gojo kept turning the volume up to 1000% when reader was trying to sleep

• set the oven on fire when trying to bake a cake for suguru’s birthday and then gojo “accidentally” pointed the fire extinguisher at reader instead of the oven and ruined her clothes

• picked the locks to the gym so reader could show gojo how to take the basketball hoops off of the wall

• spent a whole day scaring people by gojo teleporting them both around into peoples rooms for “practice”

• stole a car in the middle of the night just for fun

• when everyone was gone one weekend the two of them just went around everyone’s dorms and replaced the framed photos of their families with pictures of gojo

• developed a dance routine except the “dance routine” involved them tackling each other in the classroom and getting suspended from class for three days

• when reader found out that gojo was using his six eyes to cheat a look at his christmas presents and pulled his hair until he was crying from his pretty blue eyes

• sneaking away from group outings at popular districts to go and get dessert approximately 17 times

• sneaking out in the middle of night to get gas station food and inevitably getting caught each time because of the barriers around jujutsu high approximately 26 times (yaga but a deadbolt on the outside of gojo’s room to lock him in but then he learned how to teleport)

• “forgetting” to complete their chores and spend their time beating each other at video games instead

• hiding all of the food in the kitchen in suguru’s dorm and replacing it with empty bottles of suguru’s fancy hair conditioner that they’d both been collecting for up to six months

• pretending that the other died for multiple hours at least once each (everyone believed it)

• throwing everyone a surprise birthday party (so it wasn’t a surprise after the 3rd time) but timing it so that yaga would only show up after everyone was gone and the classroom was a mess

• changing the newspaper out with fake versions to mess with yaga (this is readers personal favorite. also includes more pictures of gojo)

• endless prank phone calls

• literally endless (suguru eventually stole satoru’s phone but they would just use readers instead and shoko threatened to stab them both where “no one would realize it wasn’t an accident”)

• kept messing with nanami’s coffee in the mornings until eventually he got a thermos with a lid instead of a mug

• reader picked haibaras lock and they drew on his face (he thought it was funny though ((includes chibi gojo))

• reader got geto to start collecting fly heads and he assisted the two of them in letting them go in the common room right before yaga came back from lunch

• stealing the files yaga had on the gojo clan

• using shokos medical books that she “studies” to make paper airplanes to see whose would fly the furthest

• gojo replacing readers sheets with digimon ones (she kept them)

• making six voo doo dolls of yaga and leaving them around campus (you know how he feels about stuffed animals)

• reader hiding all of gojo’s candy in the library where he would never find it (yaga sat him down the next day and accused him of using school space as his own personal pantry and got banished to the library for several sparring lessons)

• sparring so late at night that suguru would inevitably send a curse to bite satoru

[allio-corporations]

Another Hannibal (Hannigram) AU:

This time a G/t au! Or more correctly, a plethora of supernatural (monster/magic) g/t AUs and just plain g/t AUs!

This is a comp of a few avenues of g/t Hannibal.

- Supernatural AU! -

This AU has supernatural creatures, and mixing of different creatures leads to some going underground/traits not present unless something triggers their dna to do so

Will has empathy based psychic abilities, along with some lineage(s) that may explain what happens to him in this AU. One of them being part Veela (think Harry Potter type lore for that creature)

Hannibal has heightened senses, more so due to his bloodlines. A lineage of Wendigo that reappears in the family when he’s forced to eat Mischa. The wendigo traits are able to maintained and keep him civil due to his diet and other lineages. Lastly, he has a third line of inhuman species, called Nephilim - meaning giants but also in some interpretations of the Bible and Torah, it means children of (likely fallen) angels + humans. - It’s giants that are born of angels and humans, but some of the traits go quiet for many generations at a time and can only be triggered in someone due to certain circumstances. It explains the success and power the Lecters had in their lives, both sides, and essentially ensured their nobility (also Nephilim were seen to use magic to change or use abilities other creatures had, but every magic comes with a price of course).

Other lineages types include:

Jack - some type of griffin-human

Bella - siren, think fish type that can go on land and into water whenever

Alana - Selkie (mostly human)

Beverly - Wraith

Jimmy Price - vampire

Brian Zeller - human

Freddie - nymph + banshee (fire based)

Chilton - goblin + fae

Francis (red dragon) - obviously a dragon hybrid (maybe one that’s not seen as very powerful but he’s able to essentially become more feral with each kill)

Abigail - Wendigo

GJH - Wendigo

Randal Tierr - werewolf-esq hybrid (wolf-bear hybrid)

Mason - shape shifter + pig-hybrid

Margot - shape shifter (did not get the expressed pig gene)

Peter - human (with strong abilities to work well with animals)

I’ll think up more of them later, or would welcome any alternative ideas for the side characters aka ones besides the murder husbands

Alright, so some head canons or background situations, and a few different timeline/alteration ideas (I’ll try to make sure I mark ideas for when I write for different jumping off points!)

G/t AU 1: Divergent point from the second half of season 2 (the cases are the same, but Will is convinced to drop accusing Hannibal entirely, and Jack/Fbi stops suspecting him, but don’t think Will was to blame either, they just think the encephalitis confused Will).

- so Will is genuinely connecting with Hannibal, but is still debating on if he’s going to try and take him out on his own or give in to his own wants.

- obviously some aspects of the supernatural exist in this AU

- we’re skipping over their development to this point bc maybe I’ll cover it later. But by now they’re on good grounds (honest with each other, Abigail is alive and they make it seem like the ripper or copycat (who the fbi doesn’t know) let her go similar to Miriam Lass). So the three get a murder family that isn’t fleeing the country yet.

- Beverly is also alive. She didn’t go to Hannibal’s house, and girlie is thriving. (She doesn’t fully suspect Hannibal, but isn’t as social with him now.)

- Hannibal still helps consult on occasion, Will is still helping Jack, but in his own terms now

- After Abgail goes off to college (girlie wanted to go abroad to escape this mess and good for her, we’ll see her later), there’s a new normal. Will is over more often, the dogs usually join him now, the two are kind of together. Others don’t know if they’re properly together, but they essentially are - even if they are still learning to communicate and work around/with each other.

Now we go to the case that starts the shit show;

During one case, one not shown in the series, making one up - Will is pursuing the suspect. Jack got his leg hurt and Will is just going for it bc doing bad things to bad people feels good (he’s being honest with himself and Hannibal, or trying to be, it’s progress).

During the pursuit, Hannibal is slightly behind Will, because of course Hannibal would rather see Will go feral/see what Will does to a suspect.

Perp is some type of fae, so enjoys causing issues and it killing people or greatly changes them. Has bags of powder, think like the Love god episode of gravity falls. But not for love, for chaos and making people be honest/situations kind of like jigsaw.

Perp can tell that Will and Hannibal are kind of together but yknow, they’re them, so he hits each of them with a powder during the pursuit. (Powder’s actions essentially can trigger dormant traits/lineages in person). So it acts the same but the outcomes depend on the person. And while creatures and such are accepted and fairly common, some lines and traits aren’t and haven’t been present since the beginning of recorded history essentially.

Will starts choking from it, Hannibal stops bc if he can’t watch Will further his becoming, and he’s actively in distress, why pursue the fae? So the beloved sassy science squad (this time Beverly), comes in with a great shot, and stops the threat. Doesn’t kill the fae, but he is apprehended properly.

Since both got that powder on them, medical checks out Hannibal and Will, doesn’t know what it is. They take samples, do some tests. Besides higher BP and fatigue the two are fine. So, the two head back to Baltimore until the next case or whenever Will would need something from wolftrap. They think this case is done. They were very wrong.

At home, the two are making dinner and discussing the case. Hannibal is cooking a roast of loin and rump (from a very vocal pig who unapologetically spilled a hot cup of coffee on Will during a previous case). While Hannibal is down in the cellar picking out a wine, he hears a clatter, crash, and yelp from upstairs.

Hannibal, who chided himself on letting Will sous chef while not feeling well, turns the corner, and can’t find Will. He knows he couldn’t have left, and there’s no one else there. No blood, no sign of struggle beyond a knocked over pot and two lids on the ground. The pot had been empty as well when he went downstairs, not even on the stove yet.

After a few more moments of investigating, and calling out for Will, he hears a response - muffled and soft but definitely something or someone calling out his name (though likely he wouldn’t have been able to hear it if he was human). The even odder thing is that the sound came from the pot on the island.

Hannibal lifts the pot, finding what he had hoped wasn’t true: Will, under the pot, on the island, barely more than 3.5 inches tall. Safe to say, Hannibal is amused, and slightly concerned, though has a good theory of what happened.

Realizing that he was right in his assumption on what could make up Will’s lineage, and the fact the powder probably caused this, Hannibal realized that he should start monitoring any changes in himself as well.

Will, on the other hand, is not having a good time. He’s already knows this wasn’t Hannibal, that it was the damn fae who did this, but can’t help the anxiety that is coursing through his veins. Despite being pretty sure that Hannibal wouldn’t harm him - at least to a point he can’t fix - his nerves were still fried due to sensory overload and giant cannibal whose pot he is under at the moment. Likely thinking back to the damn endangered songbirds Hannibal had drowned, plucked, cooked, and ate whole. The only solace Will has from the powder is that his clothes were also affected, preserving his dignity, at least for a time.

Cutting back to Hannibal, he too is remembering the songbirds they had eaten not too long ago. But, he quickly concludes that he prefers Will not on a plate (at least now).

Hannibal has also decided that if there’s anyway he could find that fae, once they figure out the powder composition, he’s definitely stealing his pancreas and lungs.

When the two of them come out from their mind palaces/mind scapes, they work on finding a way to communicate easily without Will going deaf or sensory overload occurring. But before Will gets a word in, Hannibal decides it’s time to relive his days in the medical field, which Will is not happy about. It occurs without real incident once Will just goes with it, knowing it’d be faster than mildly inconveniencing Hannibal’s speed.

The two decide on a mix of whispering and writing things down, with some universal signs or part asl to help as well.

While Will is still partly anxious about Hannibal finding the thrill of the chase when Will inevitably freaks out, Hannibal doesn’t have much of a bloodlust of thrill of the chase when the target can’t escape an area without help, that he is always in arms reach of (at least most of the time).

One aspect that worsens is the amount of cannibal puns and jokes Hannibal makes on a daily basis. (As in his mongoose has turned into a morsel for the snake(s)). Will is not amused.

Will is also not a fan of how cold everything is now. While he didn’t enjoy the night terrors and waking up drowning in his own sweat, being constantly cold if left without a heat source within his personal space definitely was a downgrade in a lot of ways. (Though he didn’t hate the fact that he got to spend more time with Hannibal.)

Jack and the gang do in fact get told a little later about Will’s condition. The pair had been laying low for about 2-3 weeks, trying to play by ear, and take this time to actually work through things, but Jack got nosey, and the cat was out of the bag (more so, Will was out of the pocket).

During those few weeks of working things out, the two actually start communicating like adults when it matters, and learn to work with each other in more domestic settings. (Though domestic, it’s not normal).

Hannibal does essentially spoil Will - new clothes (too many in Will’s opinion), rigs and set ups to move around more efficiently, more warm blankets/articles and heaters around the house to keep Will’s body temp safer, even getting custom made pieces of furniture and appliances, even custom dishware and tools. Because while Hannibal enjoys having Will rely on him, he knows Will and that eventually he’d go stir crazy.

So, to make Will not lose his patience, plus the amusing nature of the situation, Will tags along to Hannibal’s therapy sessions with patients (asleep/listening while in his desk or where his handkerchief resides). Then, Hannibal attends the opera a bit, slightly less than usual, during that time period, reserving out and entire higher up booth to him and Will, as to better enjoy the opera but also be able to communicate with Will when/if necessary. In return he concedes in secretly taking Will to a scene with him, Jack not knowing what’s going on in the slightest. The two do get to hear about updates on what the powder was. (Midwest in origin, a mix of different magic/properties. Definitely needs more time to study and interrogate the fae before Hannibal can throw another proper dinner party).

Hannibal over time does become more unrested, irritable with anyone besides Will. Will finds it endearing but slightly worrisome. It at least keep Jack off his back, to the point where he sends Hannibal footage and pictures for Will rather than try to force Will out there (lessening the chance of Hannibal losing it on Jack).

When the rest of group finds out about Will, they all take it differently. Jack is still too loud, overbearing, and rough (causing a nasty set of bruises on Will’s rib cage once), and it takes Will pleading with Hannibal to not kill and cook Jack by flaying his skin to stop Hannibal from dropping the mask when he found out. Jimmy and Brian are a bit better, too inclined to stare at Will like a lab rat, which isn’t horrible since both are fond of animals, but just feels demeaning. Alana overcompensates trying to act normal and overprotective, so careful to the point of forgetting Will’s still himself. Beverly acts pretty normal, enjoys joking and is more careful, but can read a room better than apparently a psychiatrist (Alana) and the head of the BSU. Will ends up enjoying Hannibal and Beverly’s company the most to no one’s surprise.

Since Will was past his encephalitis, and decided to not turn in Hannibal/accepted his growing becoming, it’s easier to look. But, he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to. Jack can’t come and force him to do so, thanks to Hannibal. (If Will tells Jack he’s not feeling up to going/not feeling well, Hannibal takes his word for it and doesn’t take him to the scene. The crew won’t show up to try and convince Will, because Hannibal just won’t answer/repeats what Will said and excuses them out. Jack can’t even get them to budge.)

Though they two do visit the lab a fair bit to hear updates on the samples from the fae’s powder that hit them. Plus, do a basic physical and bloodwork once a week, usually if they’re already in the lab for a case. Will only lets Hannibal do his bloodwork, because of his surgical precision and as a form of trust. (Bc they are in the equivalent of a post fall communication era, but hiding in plain sight).

They find the powder isn’t entirely of fae origin, something from the Midwest, and a bit from the north east. Both of their vitals are steady. Will’s vitals come back faster, similar to small mammal’s in metabolism, need for heat, and just a faster heartbeat. Hannibal’s remains very similar to his base vitals, but they do notice while Hannibal’s vitals are normal and Will’s are faster, they’re still in sync with each other. (As in every fourth beat from Will, he and Hannibal sync up. Like a snare roll matching up and beating at the same time a timpani beats. Which I based off the study that couples who are shown to be in love/have high present levels of love hormones end up with matching heart beats/in sync with their partner). The science team find it endearing, Jack not so much, him and Alana are a bit unnerved.

Back to the boys: during the time Hannibal and Will are the only two (along with Abigail to an extent), know about Will’s condition, the two definitely learn to communicate. Because the first week consists of a lot of writing and whispering on Hannibal’s end.

During these early stages Hannibal takes it upon himself to get Will plenty of tools and day to day items. (Lots of clothes, with an accompanying wardrobe, his own bed which honestly doesn’t end up getting much use, small fashionable blankets to put around the house bc Will should not get cold when in this state, plenty of small appliances for hygiene and self care.) (Utensils, plates, kitchenware, furniture that matches the room’s aesthetic while still being comfortable, attachments to help Will get between rooms or on surfaces if need be, etc. But Hannibal still loves carrying Will around/having him within arms reach, and Will doesn’t complain much when Hannibal or eventually Winston carry him around. He hates being grabbed by essentially anyone or anything else though; enjoys being carried around by Winston but not the other dogs. Loves Hannibal carrying him around/Hannibal being the only person Will actively enjoys and seeks out to have physical contact with. He is okay with Abigail or Beverly helping him, but doesn’t like being held by them for long periods of time. Dislikes but tolerates Price (Jimmy) or Alana helping him out if needed. He actively avoids being touched or helped by Zeller or Jack, has risked falling multiple times just to avoid them bc his other options were not in the room or didn’t hear him. And the one time either of the Freddies, Lounds and Chilton, tried to be within a few inches of him, he nearly bit them before threatening to take a finger if they tried anything. Hannibal is was incredibly amused for the rest of the case.)

Hannibal doesn’t mind cooking the extra meals for Will, he enjoys being such a large part of Will’s day, especially considering the meals are just portioned smaller and last longer over time. Though he does let Will pick options more now bc not only is it their communicating + compromising era, but Hannibal is obviously simping for the Graham cracker.

First day, or partial day of this has Will trying to not retreat into himself. With Hannibal genuinely unsure of what do exactly do, because while he could never entirely predict Will, this is on another level.

Will, instead of running warm like he used to, now gets cold easily, so he’s essentially glued to either a heat source or Hannibal, usually the latter. And due to this, the first night, Will ends up sleeping with Hannibal (which would have been like normal for them, but due to circumstances, they had to rearrange). Pillow on Will’s side is swapped for a smaller pillow that won’t cause Will to easily roll off. Then temporarily until Hannibal can start spoiling Will, pocket squares and cuts of old fleece material (that had been packed away for Will to use to mend some of his fishing/outdoor gear) act as blankets. The pillow is set up near Hannibal’s head, and everything goes off without issue. Hannibal also turns up the heating in the house for him.

Even when Will gets proper bedding that is on Hannibal’s nightstand, Will ends up either in his old spot or on Hannibal (with Will refusing to move)

Should also bring back up the lineage stuff - Hannibal’s traits are usually muted, horns and such in one of his forms aren’t often present and usually Will is the only one to detect them, except for his eyes going red. Then he has the original wendigo shape of being longer and emaciated, which was what Will saw when he was sick in S1. Lastly there’s the incomprehensible form of being part nephilim, Will able to detect parts but doesn’t look at it fully, despite seeing Hannibal behind the human veil quite a lot. While Will’s eyes have a slight blue glow to them while he’s using his empathy in a controlled manner.

Hannibal ends up not being the only one with a slight thrill of the chase when Will darts around too quickly (Hannibal has enough self restraint and frontal lobe activity, unlike some, to not act on such impulses 99.99% of the time, at least not without thinking them through first). Jack ends up swiping at Will in the lab. Will had been pacing on one of the examination tables, doing his job. He had gotten lost in thought, and had begun to pace faster and look around the body more before he could zone in and “look”. As he’s turning to look the body in the face, Will sees something in the reflection of the table and a very quick shadow coming his way. Will scurried out of the way, ducking under the partially posed and elevated neck of the body he has been examining. As Will dove to hide, loud squeaks of shoes on the floor, and nearly incoherent rumbling from the others caused him to curl up and begin to lose himself/retreat inward. (Which wasn’t good considering he was just beginning to properly “look” at the situation for this case.)

Thankfully before the hand can reach where he has just been, a faster hand which had been the other mass in the table reflection grabbed the first wrist, twisting it sharply and efficiently. Jack had reached for Will, knocking over tools in the lab, unaware of his own actions/impulse. It wasn’t until Hannibal had quietly, near silent, grabbed his wrist, putting his body between Jack and Will, that Jack had snapped out of it. The rest of the crew were shocked, and a bit worried, not only for Will’s safety but also shocked by the actions of both Hannibal and Jack.

Once the commotion settled down, only then did Will even dare to look out, seeing Hannibal’s back to him, acting as a shield from the entire group. Jack not even being allowed to explain really. Will just quietly asking if everyone but Hannibal leave the room so he could focus, then he’d send over a report later. The team obviously complying, likely due to not wanting to further the situation, they waited outside in the hall.

When Hannibal walked out of the lab, the others noticed Will wasn’t in Hannibal’s hands or in his shoulder. They each had their own guess to what happened. Will hadn’t wanted to see or feel everyone’s eyes on him, especially Jack due to feeling fidgety still. So, he ended up hiding in Hannibal’s inner chest pocket of his suit, allowing him cover and not end up freezing.

Hannibal hadn’t let Jack even stop him as he walked out, knowing it may be rude, but nearly attacking an (unofficial but technical) employee was worse, he thought it fair to walk off, telling Jack he’d get the report and hear from himself or one of the others what the plan was going forward.

While it had been stressful, the two realized fairly quickly they’d both had such a strong reaction to Jack because not only is it a naturally stressful experience (mainly for Will) but also because it’s Jack. This being made more apparent when Beverly had suddenly moved to keep Will from falling off a counter in the lab a few weeks later - Will needing to just catch his breath due to nearly falling. Hannibal had still had a notable reaction though (shoulders slightly raised, more blunt in his tone at first, and moving closer to Will/acting as a barrier more so implicitly). Yet they didn’t leave suddenly and Will had continued his work that day fairly normally, with Hannibal remaining nearby, so not as nearly as strong of a reaction compared to Jack earlier.

This was further proven when Will decided that during a day in - more mundane and no cases, which was rare - that he’d get Hannibal to finally chase him. Will had been bored, unable to work on new lures, the dogs being in and out and besides Winston were too rowdy to safely deal with, and not much else to do. Will began to run around surfaces as Hannibal was reading. Thanks to the add ons Hannibal got so Will could move about easier, and using the coffee table, backs of furniture, etc. he was able to get Hannibal to silently set his book down. Hannibal could tell Will was enticing him, wanting to have a more physical recreation of their old “cat and mouse chase.” Which, who was he to turn down yet another surprise from Will?

Will would swear that if Hannibal had a tail it would have been swinging like a house cat tracking something, his eyes becoming an even more bloody shade of red. Once Will knew he had his attention, he took off towards the floor, where he knew he could get under furniture to prolong the chase. Hannibal, not immediately jumping up, rather watching to see his plan first, had toed off his shoes to be faster, then began the chase.

The chase and stalking lasted for about 15 minutes. During which Hannibal’s antlers had began to be visible, limbs looking more emaciated and longer, revealing that Hannibal was either not focused on maintaining his appearance during the chase or was shedding his human veil for the purpose of seeming more monstrous (possibly to make Will slip up). Didn’t matter which one it was, only that it was just them. Eventually, Will had given away his position on a bookshelf, and had no plan of escape. Will came out from behind the small stag sculpture on the shelf, allowing himself to get quickly swept up. By the time he was caught, Hannibal’s eyes were blood red, antlers longer than Hannibal’s forearms, and his limbs extended + emaciated, with his teeth sharpest they’d been in months. With a slight fuzziness around Hannibal, meaning he really hadn’t been keeping a lid on his veil or himself in check beyond his own nature.

Despite what should be terrifying, astronomically more dangerous than Jack’s mere swipe, Will wasn’t worried, wind slightly knocked out of him by the sudden grab yes, but not fearful. Once grabbed, Will saw Hannibal’s features spike then slowly fade back to what he looked like normally with his human veil tightly sewn on. Hannibal, surprised by how long the chase had been, remained somewhat hopeful that it wouldn’t be a one off thing.

The two going back to relaxing, this time in Hannibal’s study/library. Will going between curling up on the desk, next to Hannibal’s empty hand and book from earlier - Hannibal carefully helping Will relax by massaging the knots and kinks out of Will’s back to the point of him being putty. To then scurry to in crook of Hannibal’s neck & collar bone to lounge. Will moving around periodically to keep himself entertained until Hannibal was heading to cook dinner, once again one of Will’s favorites.

Of course their chases didn’t stop there, Will periodically deciding on days when they usually had little to do, he’d suddenly dash away, and their game would continue until one of them, almost always Will, got tired, or if Will reached a dead end. Then they would go back to what they were doing.

This was somewhat inconvenient at times. Especially when Will decided to run around Hannibal’s office shortly before a patient came in, Mason Verger.

Thankfully, Mason is too self absorbed to notice Will beyond asking Hannibal about his food preferences when he’d possibly picked up on a specific smell (which Hannibal thought he wouldn’t bc again it’s Mason, but because of his piggish nature, smell for him is increased significantly, nowhere near Hannibal’s but enough to smell Will and his, Hannibal approved aftershave/cologne). But beyond the rude remarks, he didn’t see Will quickly retreat to where Hannibal was, across the room. Both slightly tense, but unnoticeable to the untrained eye, until Will was again in Hannibal’s inner handkerchief pocket. With the appointment going the same as usual, Mason being insufferable for an hour.

All of this ends up paying off later during a case though - Jack insisting they join for the arrest, and Will feeling up to it putting them in that situation. In an old warehouse, with unsecured rooms, the assailant, a serial killer, another fae, using different people of different lineages to try and make…. Something. During the arrest, the two had walked in and the perpetrator lunged at Hannibal, causing Will to nearly fall off Hannibal, being placed down quickly as the attacker broke free from his cuffs to try and seemingly steal at least one of Hannibal’s eyes. Will had quickly gotten distance, knowing that he couldn’t fight back. But that mad dash took the assailant’s attention, causing an unprompted chase around the room. While it lasting for less than a minute, the moment the man had nearly grabbed Will before Hannibal had broken the man’s arm - from the bones near his second knuckle to the shoulder joint - and proceeded in dragging him away from Will had been tense.

The two left silently once they saw the man get loaded into an ambulance due to Hannibal’s interference.

Hannibal got a lot more…. Protective (well, possessive) over Will by that point, which didn’t seem to surprise the sassy science trio (more so Jack and Alana were surprised and off put to varying degrees).

They kind of settle into a new normal at this point. Well, normal for them, similar dynamic, but slowly becoming domestic bc it would be really not opportune to remove the scales from the other’s eyes about their nature at this point. So, focusing on finding out what happened/what the two were hit with, is the main focus while working with each other/learning how to be with one another.

Eventually, after enough tests are run and they’re waiting it to hear more news about what is found in the mixture, Hannibal is able to plan a trip to Europe, specifically Florence, with Will obviously accompanying him. While Beverly and Alan take turns watching the dogs. And on their trip, they plan to visit Abigail (she’s been let in on the situation but hasn’t seen the full on perspective).

They obviously travel private, thanks to Hannibal’s connections, and off the two went for a few weeks. And while doing tableau wasn’t out of the question, Hannibal having a set of drawings ready, they’d obviously have to be careful and not do an exact Ripper MO, but they both hoped that maybe this would help them clear their minds before anything else changed, since it seemed no new information would be found for a while.

(And while neither Hannibal or Will would admit it, at least not for a long while out loud, they were enjoying the situation to an extent, Hannibal more so than Will, and hoped that if they figured out what exactly this was, that they’d be able to find a way to control or at least use it again, if Will ever did return to his original state).

That is what I have for now, will definitely update this later. Let me know if yall got any ideas or suggestions to change some details or questions about plot points. This is mainly weeks of sleep deprivation in random bursts mixed with a few of my hyperfixations. I would love to hear some feedback! Thanks for reading.

[nebbyy]

A list of my most unpopular ASOIAF opinions and theories

Please remember this is all based on the books alone, and there also might be SPOILERS for Fire and Blood and the Game of Thrones book series.

ALSO I might open the requests for Game of Thrones fics and headcanons, and maybe for Baldur's Gate as well once I get back into it.

Okayyy so here we gooo.

1. Maegor's story doesn't add up

Don't get me wrong, he must've obviously been a horrible king and a shitty husband, but reading the chapters that talk about him in Blood and Fire, it all just felt like a list of rumours and versions of all nefarious crimes he would've committed. There are about five versions of whatever he did with each wife of his, each of them more depraved than the one before.

Again, I don't think he was an angel or anything, but my theory is that his history was written by biased sources. His reign was made illicit by Jaehaerys, so it would've been in his best interest to have him remembered as nothing more than a viscious monster.

It's a form of "damnatio memoriae" that we've already seen, in a way, with Mushroom and the Dance of Dragons. When in a conflict, and especially after a victory, each side wants to depict the side they beat as badly as possible Caesar did a similar thing in "De Bello Gallico", the book about his conquest of the modern French and Swiss territories. In this book he excuses his conquest with the supposed preparations for an attack by the Helvetians, a fact that was proven to be misinterpreted as it was a mere pacific migration. And again, he did the same thing when he accused them of cannibalising each other while being under siege, another untrue fact made up to just make them seem worse.

So in a way, Maegor's reputation could've been made worse by following historians to legitimate Jaehaerys' reign over Aerea's claim.

2. Incest has no effects on Valyrians

Okay, this is a bit weirder. My theory is that Valyrians practised incest because it had no effect on their offspring.

Looking at the Targaryen family tree, I noticed that the cases of madness increase the more Targaryens marry with other houses. Baelor the Blessed was the first mad Targaryen, and he had a grandmother of house Harte and a great grandmother who was half Arryn.

Before Baelor, Helaena is questionably considered mad as well, which would prove my theory furthermore had it not been for the amount of trauma she endured in her life so I'm honestly not gonna count her as "mad". Rhaegel Rargaryen was the second confirmed mad Targaryen, with a Martell mother; his daughter Aelora is questionably considered mad too, and her mother is an Arryn.

Aerion Brightflame was another mad Targaryen, with a half Martell father and a Dayne mother. The last two mad Targaryens were Aerys II and Viserys III, but at this point, the bloodline was mixed with others enough to make the Targaryen madness an unpredictable factor.

So I think we could theorise that Valyrians can perform incest so long as it remains within pure Valyrian blood.

3. There is no good or bad in the Dance of Dragons

Rhaenyra had a claim on the throne because of Viserys' will, but Aegon had a claim on the throne because of the laws of Westeros themselves. You can argue that Alicent wasn't the nicest stepmother, yet you can't look me in the face and tell me a woman in the middle ages married to a KING to whom she had given THREE SONS wouldn't complain when the king dismisses all of them and their claims in favor of his firstborn daughter.

Otto may have manipulated Alicent, but that was just how a Lord was supposed to act in that situation: have her marry the best candidate (the king), have her birth at least a son (she did) and make sure those children are first in line for the throne (as it should be, by the laws).

Viserys shouldn't have remarried if he already had his heir, period.

At the same time, Rhaenyra had every reason to fight for her claim and try and go against the actual laws of Westeros, but it was inevitable that many would've seen badly her attempt at claiming what was Aegon's birthright.

Lucerys was an asshole for mutilating Aemond and never showed remorse, quite the opposite. Aemond was an asshole who shouldn't have had all the power he had, plus I hardly believe his and Alys relationship was really consensual so there's that..

In the end, they all had their rights and wrongs, but that doesn't matter at all. The only point about the Dance is the fact that a pointless conflict led to the downfall of one of the strongest families in Westeros history.

4. Rhaegar didn't love Lyanna

I hate the series for making them marry. Like, seriously, have D&D ever read the books? Have they not read what happened between Maegor and the Faith when he took another wife??

Never, not even in the most twisted of universes, would the faith let Rhaegar kidnap and marry a Stark girl while he was still married to Elia. That just wouldn't be plausible.

And I also don't think he'd just fall in love at first sight with a random girl at a tournament. She was a beautiful soul and had many qualities, but she had nothing that could truly make a man throw away his whole life to pursue her.

He needed another child. The dragon has three heads. He had Rhaenys and Aegon, but Visenya was missing (I just made up the name for the third possible child considering he was naming them after the three conquerors lmao). He needed Lyanna to have that third child, and he knew how to get her to get what he wanted.

Perhaps we'll find out this isn't true. Perhaps Rhaegar really was head over heels for Lyanna, but I honestly really really doubt it.

5. There is no certainty on who the Prince that was Promised is

No matter what the show wants us to see, we still don't know who it is. It could be Daenerys, it could be Jon, it could even be Stannis and we're not gonna know it until Martin reveals it.

I honestly think Daenerys is Azor Ahai, but I'm still curious to see why we would need to revive Jon then. And considering Stannis' sword possibly being Azor Ahai's sword, is it a fake one made by Melisandre to get what she wanted from him, or does he actually possess the original sword?

Well, these are the first theories and opinions I could think of right now, I might post more in the future. Again, please don't slander me in the comments, these are just my personal opinions and I respect all others.

[cozzzynook]

may we have dratchrod cuddling their sparkling while she naps? (each taking turns, then all 3 at once)

- Their daughter cuddling with Ratchet is during his off days or during his breaks. He takes more time off now that his bitty is here and he loves every moment he has with her. She’s a little sire’s girl when he doesn’t smell like the medbay so he showers down during breaks and as soon as he comes home. He loves to have her snuggled in the crook of his arm where he just sits in his chair with a blanket on and stares at her. He loves to watch her recharge and he loves feeling her vent in his arms. He can go all night watching her little chassis rise and fall.

- Their daughter cuddling with Drift consists of Drift getting in an odd meditative pose while holding her as she squirms in his servo, cause she’s just that small, or with her clothes in his denta. He’s truly scruffing her gently like a cyber cat and it scares the fragile out of Rodimus the first time he sees it. Ratchet…he says I told you so when Rodimus knocks him over and grabs their daughter flashing his own little fangs at Drift. The swords mech can admit he understands but he does flash his own fangs back and ends up with a swell on his helm for challenging a scared carrier. Ratchet is laughing so hard and Drift is just, “whose side are you on?” Ratchet is on no one’s side, he’s enjoying the show.

It’s only a few hours later does Drift try holding their bitty by her scruff again with an array of pillows beneath them. He’s not doing the same meditative pose that maayybee a bit dangerous. No, this time he does a servo stand, calm venting, with their little bitty instinctively balled up like a kitten as she yawns. Little optics closing shut as she mewls just like her other sire Drift and falls into recharge with the large mech scruffing her by the clothes again.

Rodimus admits he overreacted last time and apologizes but he does make a rule of, “please don’t do this without pillows,” so his spark doesn’t stop beating. Seriously, they didn’t expect him to be a worry wart creator but it’s a little funny to see.

Drift is a cyber cat at spark and this is how he remembers being held. Sure he had thicker plating at this stage than his creation but it’ll grow in eventually. His own carrier used to hold him like this and he gets so excited flicking his finials like a cat consuming treats when he holds her like this and gets her to fall asleep. She doesn’t cry, doesn’t feel cold, she just curls up and sleeps so long as Drift is the one holding her like this. Drift loves it. And everytime after, he curls around her just like an cyber kitten and purrs.

- Their daughter cuddling with Rodimus is a pretty common sight since she is a very fresh new spark and doesn’t like being away from the most familiar spark she still thinks is her own. Their bitty is a bit of a Velcro sparkling and she uses what little strength she possesses to hold onto Rodimus even if she doesn’t have to. She tries to stay awake the most with him so he has the longest routine of the three putting her to recharge. He’ll scoop her by the bottom, lift her right to his cheek and rub their olfactory sensors against each other just so she is covered in his scent. Thats usually the first step and the second is him getting her giggling by nipping at her chubby cheeks and tummy. He lets her rub her little helm all over his and get slobber on him, it’s gross but he’s dealt with worse.

He then watches her yawn and blink tiredly, she always fights her sleep and looks him straight in the optics when she does. Her efforts are futile though because by then they’re facing the window at their little private spot aboard the ship. It’s reserved for creators and their creations to have private time. He shifts her so she can see the stars in space and himself. Holding her audial to his spark beat, digit rubbing along her developing metal spinal strut. Kissing her helm as he rocks, watching her shutter optics that look so much like Ratchets before she recharges curled up like Drift. He always gets the urge of cuteness aggression when he sees it but saves biting for when he sees Drift and Ratchet.

- When all three mechs are home they make a pile of their frames on the berth and have their bitty on each of them in some way. Be it their bitty starting on Drift’s chassis over his spark with Ratchet and Rodimus holding her tiny servos letting her digits flex in their palms. To Ratchet holding their bitty in the crook of his neck cables where he inhales her fresh scent and enjoys the warm vents she puffs onto him while Drift lightly tickles her pede and Roddy slides a digit up and down her chubby little thigh protoform. With Rodimus holding her on his bare protoform to let her fuel as she’s lulled to recharge. She doesn’t stay awake long like this but she does hold optic contact with each of them letting her little em field happily clutch onto theirs. She’s still too young to see beyond spark energies but she can see the emotions clear as day in their optics that over flow with love for her. Ratchet tugs gently at her little pedes and Drift tugs at her little helm flares that are the same as his but Ratchets red coloring.

Overall, she is very very loved.

[imagines--galore]

||The Thread of Fate|| Part Thirty-Three

Summary: Soulmate AU. They say the Thread of Fate connects you to your one true love. It may tangle. It may stretch. But it will never break. Wrapped around your little finger it tightens when it feels your soulmate is close and loosens when they are far. And becomes visible with the colors of your soulmate’s Nation when you finally fall in love with them.

Pairing: Zuko x OroraOC (ATLA)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T+ Romance. Adventure.

Previous Chapters - Masterlist

A/N: Hello loves! Sorry its taken me so long but I haven't been feeling the best lately but I'm slowly getting back on track and hopefully whatever bad juju I've been cursed with is now dissipating. Also slight mention of a dislocated shoulder and it being put back in place, so I hope you don't get too squeamish! Anyway! Back to the story! And get ready for a LONG ASS chapter!

Though she had finally removed her bandages from around her abdomen for good, Orora still had the area covered with the sash she had put together. Mostly to hide the hole at the side of her shirt where the fabric had been cut by Zuko to tend to her wound, but also because, well, the remaining sight wasn't exactly that pretty.

Not that she had anything against scars. She had plenty. It was the looks of pity she wanted to avoid whenever she was around her friends. Though mostly, she didn't want Zuko to see it.

The idiot would go ahead and feel guilty about what had happened, even though it hadn't been his fault.

So it was best to keep it hidden.

Out of sight, out of mind.

"You should go back Orora. We'll both be fine!" Sokka spoke up from where he stood next to her, watching as Zuko prepared the balloon for launch. Glad to have a distraction, the Waterbender didn't even spare her brother a glance as she secured her gloves around her forearms.

"I find that a little hard to believe Sokka." She said. A look of offense creasing his features, he turned to Orora. "What? You don't trust us!?" He demanded, his tone high and accusing at the same time.

Sighing the girl shook her head. "Oh no, I trust the both of you." She paused before continuing. "It's just you and Zuko tend to rub each other the wrong way. And sure its hilarious to see you two get on one another's nerves, I would prefer you didn't do it on such a high stake mission." Her admission had Sokka blinking in surprise. Yes, he did tend to tease and make fun of Zuko, but mostly because he was so uptight about everything. Well everything except Orora.

There was also the fact that Sokka still hadn't figured out how to act around Zuko. They'd been enemies for such a long time that sometimes, when he would see Zuko walking around camp, doing chores, or even just sitting and having dinner, it would throw him off a little. These were all such normal tasks and if there was one word he would never have used to describe Zuko, it would be normal.

Honestly, there was nothing normal about their situation.

Clearing her throat, Orora bit her lower lip. "So my aim on this mission is to make sure you two don't argue to the point of getting caught, getting in trouble, or worse."

Worse was bad.

Worse was very bad.

Katara would kill him if he got into worse.

Seeing the genuine worry in her blue eyes, Sokka sighed, before reaching out and wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to worry, Sis." He reassured her with a soft smile. "I promise my main focus will be the mission, and not making fun of Zuko and his grumpy expressions."

Though she offered Sokka a smile in return, she couldn't help but ignore the tightness in her stomach at his words. Hopefully he wouldn't become too focused and ignore every sign of danger that came their way.

She would just have to be super vigilant to make sure her boys stayed safe.

"I also don't trust either of you from making needlessly dangerous plans, trying to overdo everything and getting into unnecessary trouble."

Sokka looked utterly aghast at such a deceleration. Orora grinned. "I mean you were about to go off to a highly secured prison surrounded by water without a waterbender, which kind of proves the point I made just now." Playfully patting him on the head, she shouldered her water pouch and walked off to join Zuko in the balloon.

Leaving Sokka to follow after her, grumbling under his breath.

                                            ————————–

Leaning back against the metal railing of the war balloon, Orora allowed her fingers to flit through the clouds as they passed by. She'd almost forgotten how calming it was to travel by air. Or rather traveling by an Air Bison. Dragging her eyes away from the open blue sky, she shifted her attention to her two traveling companions.

Two rather awkward and wary looking companions.

It was strange to see how stiff the two boys were being around one another. If it weren't so painfully awkward, she would be laughing till she cried. But Orora kept her mouth shut and lips pressed in a thin line.

Throwing his hand out, Zuko sent a burst of fire into the tank to keep the hot air moving upwards and into the balloon. As he closed the metal door, she saw the both of them glance at one another before looking away.

Spirit, this was ridiculous.

Over Zuko's head, she caught Sokka's eye and mouthed at him to say something.

Sokka looked panicked for a moment, his head swiveling from one side to the other, as if he were looking for an interesting topic.

As if it would fall out of the sky.

"Pretty clouds." He finally stated, prompting Zuko to glanced around as well, missing the way Orora smacked her forehead and let out a silent groan of frustration.

"Yeah." The Prince responded, nodding in agreement. "Fluffy."

Another beat of silence, one where Sokka avoided any eye contact with his frustrated sister. Zuko, meanwhile, glanced in her direction with a helpless look on his face. Knowing this was so new to him and that he was way out of his depth here, Orora gave him an encouraging smile and gestured for him to continue.

Normally she would jump in now and act as the medium between the two boys, but not this time. They had to learn to get along on their own.

Just then Sokka began to whistle, prompting a slightly panicked Zuko, to turn to him. "What?"

Sokka stopped whistling. "What? Oh, I didn't say anything." He stated, a little defensively.

Maybe it would be better if she just threw herself off the war balloon and avoid this awkwardness altogether. She did the next best thing though, and that was closing her eyes.

"You know," She heard Sokka say. "A friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."

Zuko hummed in interest. "No kidding." She opened her eyes to see him opening the metal hatch once more.

"Yep, a balloon.....but for war." Sokka continued, looking a little dismal that someone had taken something as innocent as a balloon and turned it into a weapon of war.

Zuko blasted more fire into the tank, prompting the balloon to rise higher. "If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war." His tone was dark as was his expression as he turned his eyes downcast. A surge of protectiveness raced through her, yet Orora stayed quiet.

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, it seems to run in the family." He was referring to Zuko's ancestors, though the Firebender wasn't about to agree with him.

"Hey, hold on." He said, the defensiveness in his tone evident as he turned to face Sokka. "Not everyone in my family is like that."

Holding up his hands, Sokka nodded. "I know, I know, you've changed." He said, his voice placating. To which Zuko shook his head.

"I meant my uncle." He said, the mention of him prompting both him and Orora to feel the wise old man's absence even more so then ever before. "He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down." She'd told herself she wouldn't interfere in the conversation, but that didn't stop Orora from reaching out, taking Zuko's hand in her own and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Zuko closed his eyes briefly at the contact, drawing comfort from her presence.

Sokka crossed his arms over his chest, a contemplating frown on his forehead. "I think your uncle would be proud of you." He said after a moment of silence. Zuko turned to look at him, a little surprised at the words of encouragement that followed. "Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard."

Glancing briefly at his soulmate, who was pretending she wasn't actively listening in on the conversation, Zuko felt the corner of his mouth lift in a small smile. "It wasn't that hard." He said, his voice soft, his hand sliding out of Orora's grip, only to take it again, this time with their fingers intertwined.

She was standing on his other side, which allowed Zuko's form to hide their little touches of affection from Sokka.

Sokka, frowned. "Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?" He asked, finding it hard to believe that Zuko didn't have anyone who cared for him in his own home.

"Well," He trailed off, glancing at Orora out of the corner of his eyes before he continued. "I did have a friend." He admitted. "Mai."

The water tribe boy frowned, though there was a smile on his face. "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" He asked, to which Orora glanced at him from over Zuko's shoulder. "Wait, you've met her?" She asked, genuine interest coloring her tone. Sokka nodded. "Yeah! She was one of the girls who attacked us with Azula."

Orora blinked, raising an eyebrow in Zuko's direction who was smiling sheepishly. "Way to go making friends with people who have a vendetta against your current friends Zuko." Her tone was heavy with sarcasm, as was the look she gave him.

"Well none of my relationships have ever been easy, so I guess the same could be said about my friendships." He responded with a laugh. Finally letting go of her hand, which neither of them had noticed they were still clasping, he sent a burst of flame into the metal box.

"Everyone in the Fire Nation thought we were dating, but I was only helping cover for her while she visited her Soulmate. And before I left, I made sure to cut all ties with her. In the eyes of my Nation I was effectively betraying them and I couldn't drag her into the mess I was leaving behind." He briefly wandered how Mai was doing. It had been days since he had thought of her.

Hopefully she was happy with her Soulmate, just as he was with his own.

Orora, however, was a little fixated on a minor detail. "So, the entire Fire Nation thinks you two were dating?" She asked, a sting of jealousy coursing through her body as she crossed her arms over her chest. Zuko shot a slightly panicked look in Sokka's direction, who mirrored his expression. "It was all just pretend." He quickly said, hoping to amend the situation. "She even encouraged me to go out and find you again."

Orora, however, continued to give him a skeptical look.

Thinking that perhaps his intervention would help, Sokka opened his mouth and said the first thing that popped into his mind. "My girlfriend turned into the moon." He blurted out.

The news were more then a little surprising to say the least, and it had Zuko turning to look at Sokka with a shocked expression. He glanced towards the sky, as if he would be able to see an actual girl walking among the clouds. Turning his head back towards Sokka, he gave him a sympathetic look.

"That's rough, buddy."

Not exactly an appropriate answer, but then again, what did you say to someone who's girlfriend became the moon?!

Though as the two boys continued to talk, Orora figured it was better then anything.

At least they were past the awkward stage.

Somewhat.

                                            ————————–

She fell asleep while the boys talked, and only woke up when the sun was setting, accompanied by the sound of someone snoring. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and picking her head up from where she had placed it on the side of the war balloon, Orora was a little surprised to find a blanket covering her. One glance in Sokka's direction told her that he was fast asleep. Zuko, however, was still awake and tending to the fire inside the metal box.

He turned his head in her direction, smiling slightly as he watched her run a hand through her slightly ruffled hair. "Perfect timing. We'll be there in an hour or so." He said, reaching down for the pack of food they had brought. She'd slept through the meager lunch he and Sokka had shared.

Taking the bread, Orora bit into it, realizing just then how hungry she was. Though the gnawing in her stomach was nothing compared to the strange heaviness she felt in her chest. Averting her gaze from Zuko, she continued to nibble on her lunch, hoping he wouldn't broach the subject she was sure was bothering her.

"You know, nothing happened between Mai and me."

Sometimes she cursed just how well Zuko knew her by now to know exactly what was bothering her. She heard him close the small metal door and leave his post to come and stand next to her, the both of them gazing out at the orange and yellow hues the setting sun cast all across the sky.

Taking her silence as the invitation he needed to explain himself further, he continued. "I mean she was insistent at first, but then she saw me talking to you or rather, talking to your illusion that only I could see and hear. She confronted me about it, and I had to tell her everything." His head turned slightly so he could look at her as she stood beside him, her gaze unwavering as she stared straight ahead. "And she admitted to finding her own Soulmate, and we-"

"Zuko, you don't have to explain yourself to me." Her voice finally came, low and soft as she began to break pieces of the bread and dropping them to the ground. "She's your friend and you helped one another out because that is what friends are supposed to do."

Sensing her hesitation, Zuko reached out to gently lay a hand on top of her forearm. "Then whats on your mind?" He asked, his voice gentle, as he tried to coax her to unburden her mind. Closing her eyes, and throwing the last bit of bread into the wind, the girl allowed her head to fall forward, drawing comfort from his strong, warm presence.

"Its just," She sighed, before raising her head and continued. "Your entire Nation accepted the fact that you were dating Mai, even though you weren't. And I just can't help but think what their reaction will be when they find out that your Soulmate is not only from the Water Tribe, but also a Waterbender. I doubt either of those two things will work in my favor." She had wanted to pause there and give him the chance to speak, but the flood gates had opened, and all the worries and thoughts she had kept hidden began pouring out.

"You're a traitor to your Nation already, would having me as your Soulmate win you any support if we ask for it? And I've read how rigid the Fire Sages can be when it comes to the Royal Family, and I don't want to cause any more rifts between your people more then there already is. Then there's also the fact that ever since we've gotten back together we haven't even kissed yet, which has been making me think that maybe you're treating me a little more cautiously because of what happened, because if you are then know that I have forgiven you and that you don't need to prove yourself to me anymore an-"

The rest of her words were cut off with a gentle yet firm hand covering her mouth. Orora turned her head to glare at him, but found Zuko shaking his head at her. He stepped forward so that they were almost chest to chest.

"Orora." He said her name in a manner that had her heart skipping a beat. "I don't care what my Nation or people think about you being my Soulmate." His admittance had a flare of surprise running through her body, though it was more pleasant then she had expected it to be. "There was a time when I would've thought the exact same things and just gotten angry and frustrated at the entire situation, but I've learned not to do that anymore." The hand over her mouth slowly slid up to press against her cheek, cradling her head. Orora, in turn, nuzzled against his warm touch, sighing softly, her eyes never looking way from his. "I spent so long trying to deny what fate had already decided for me when it came to my heart, and I don't want to do that anymore. I just want us to be together." He stated, his expression just as honest as his voice as he gazed at her.

"And as for not kissing you." A blush stole across her cheeks at that part. She'd been hoping he wouldn't focus on that. Zuko simply shrugged with a smile. "If you want me to kiss you then fine I will, but I was kind of waiting for a special moment to do that."

Orora blinked at him. "What kind of special moment?" She asked, her words coming out a little breathless as she found her hand lifting to trace the scar that marred his face.

He shrugged, keeping his eyes on her, despite the urge to close them just so he could savor her gentle touch. "I have no idea." He admitted, prompting her to let out a small laugh, before stepping forward to wrap her arms around him. He returned the embrace, closing his eyes and feeling that warmth in his chest spread throughout his body.

There was a small stretch of silence, broken only when Sokka would let out a particularly loud snore.

"You know," Zuko said softly. "Its weird that I'm the one telling you not to worry when, just a couple of months ago, you were the one doing it for me."

Orora rolled her eyes at him as she pulled back from the embrace. "What? Only you're allowed to freak out in this relationship and not me?"

"Well you are the more rational and emotionally mature one out of both of us."

"I'm overall more mature then you Zuko."

"We're the same age, Orora."

"And yet, I've never tried to get myself killed during a lightning storm."

"......."

"That's what I thought."

                                            ————————–

True to what Zuko said, it was nearly an hour later, when night had fallen, that the prison came into sight. It was rather an impressive construction. Built in the center of a volcano, a gondola the only way in and out of the massive building that apparently housed every single dangerous individual in the Fire Nation.

Or rather those who had been deemed dangerous. Sokka had woken up at Zuko's exclaimation, and all three of them were watching as they neared their destination.

"There's plenty of steam to keep us covered." Zuko said as he assessed the surrounding steam rising from the boiling water. "As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught." No sooner had he said the words when the balloon began to loose altitude.

Frantic, Zuko began to blast even more fire into the tank. "We're going down! The balloon's not working anymore!" As a last resort, he blasted fire up into the balloon itself.

Orora's eyes darted towards the island that was getting closer and closer, as well as the boiling water as they began to drop at an alarming rate. "The air outside is just as hot as the air inside so we can't fly!" Sokka exclaimed, quickly realizing the scientific reason behind the balloon's failure.

The balloon began to sway from side to side, prompting all of them to grab the sides and hold on. "So what are we supposed to do?" Zuko asked, the panic clear in his voice.

"I don't know! Crash-landing?" Sokka responded. Orora quickly stood, raising her arms to create a sheet of ice over which the balloon could glide over. But the faster she tried to freeze the water, the faster it melted.

"Argh, its no use! The water is too hot. I'm gonna need to freeze the a big patch of ice, and I can't risk anyone seeing that even with the mist." She said, frustrated at being unable to help. Just then the balloon skidded along the boiling water, forcing Orora to hold on to the side railing for dear life. The balloon floated along the lake enough to reach the island atop which the prison stood, and tipped over, ejecting the three of them onto the rocky shore.

They sat up, groaning and rubbing whatever sore spot the tumble had caused them. Zuko was the first to look to the now destroyed balloon. "How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?" He asked, standing up before reaching out and pulling Orora to her feet as well.

"We'll figure something out!" Sokka stated, a hint of resignation in his voice as he did. "I suspected it might be a one-way ticket." Orora's mouth fell open in surprise, an emotion Zuko mirrored as he said. "You knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway?"

"Sokka, are you insane?" Orora shrieked in a low voice. Truthfully she wanted to scream at him, but that meant drawing unwanted attention. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Sokka ignored them both as he walked towards the balloon and began to gather up the broken parts. "My dad might be here! I had to come and see!" Orora pursed her lips, making a mental note to talk to Katara about whether or not Sokka had been dropped on his head too many times as a baby.

"Uncle always said I never thought things through. But this," He threw his arms out in frustration. "This is just crazy!"

The resident waterbender nodded. "I agree. Sokka you should've thought this all through. This recklessness could get you hurt, captured or killed."

Shooting both of them a glare, Sokka paused in his work. "Hey, I never wanted either of you to come along in the first place! And for the record, I always think things through! But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time, I'm playing it by ear. So there." With that he kicked whatever was left of the war balloon into the boiling water and watched as it disappeared under the steaming surface.

Zuko stepped forward, a little alarmed at the rather mild mannered water tribe boy's show of aggression. "What are you doing?"

Sokka shrugged, walking towards the prison as it loomed over them through the dark and fog. "It doesn't work anyway, and we don't want anyone to find it."

Behind him, both Zuko and Orora glanced at one another, uncertain and yet determined at the same time. The girl quickly reached out the catch her brother by the shoulder. "Sokka, just try not to overdo it. I don't want you getting hurt." She said, hoping he would start thinking with his head rather then let his emotions rule his every judgement. "I hope you know what you're doing." Zuko stated as he followed after Sokka. "There's no turning back now."

                                            ————————–

Finding a way in wasn't that hard to do. A pipe that was clearly used to pump water into the prison was their way in. The metal grate that covered it was quickly sliced to pieces by Orora. A task that didn't take her too much time since years of water damage had rusted the metal rods already. Bending the water out of the way and keeping a firm control on the pressure of it, she lead the way in, with Zuko holding up a small flame in his hand to guide the way, while with his other, her did his best to bring down the temperature of the water to a more tolerable level.

Luckily they entered the water storage room, with the water cascading into a large metal tank.

"How do you suppose we sneak around the prison?" Orora asked as they climbed out of the water tank, completely dry thanks to her creating a small ice platform to slide down from. Sokka looked around the room, assessing it to the best of his ability.

"Since this is the water storage room, I'm willing to bet the room where they keep spare guard uniforms is nearby too." He glanced in Zuko's direction, who gave a quick nod. "I'll go out and see. Even if someone sees me they might not raise the alarm since I'm dressed in Fire Nation clothes."

With that, he quickly exited the room, sparing Orora only a brief glance of reassurance as he did.

The time he was gone, the girl paced the floor, chewing on her lower lip, hoping he wouldn't get caught. Sokka looked around the room, spying a small unused cupboard he figured they could store their stuff there once they wore the uniforms.

The sound of the door opening had both teenagers dropping into defensive positions, only to heave a sigh of relief to see that it was only Zuko with a large sack over his shoulder. "I was only able to find the men's uniforms." He said, setting the sack on the floor and pulling the items out. Sokka shook his head.

"Its fine. Its best if we stay together even while we share sleeping places. Plus Orora can disguise her voice can't you?" He said, looking to where Orora was collecting the pieces of her uniform, a helmet tucked under her arm.

She nodded. "I won't speak unless I'm spoken to." With that the girl walked away to change behind one of the coolers that were placed throughout the room. A few minutes later, all three of them emerged from the room, disguised and barely recognizable with the helmets covering their faces.

"Lets take the rest of the night to explore the prison. Get a bit of layout." Sokka suggested, to which the other two nodded. As the boys moved to walk away, Orora suddenly stopped them with a hand around their wrists. "Wait! We have to decide on some sort of signal." She whispered, prompting Sokka to raise the visor of his helmet and look at her curiously. "Why would we need that?"

Orora scowled at him. "Use your brain Sokka. Everyone will be dressed the same with their faces covered. How would you like to walk up to someone who you thought was either Zuko or me and blab about everything?"

A beat of silence.

"Can't believe we didn't think of that." Zuko said, sounding a little admonished that such a minor yet major detail was about to slip past them. Sokka pouted briefly. "I don't blab Orora, but you're right. We should come up with a code word. Something neutral." He hummed under his breath, tapping a finger against his chin as he did.

Orora rolled her eyes at his attempt to put so much thought into something so simple. "I think there's a full moon tonight." She said, adjusting the braces of her armor. "Its easy to remember and if we drop it in a conversation, it can just be taken as an observation."

The Fire Prince nodded. "We'll meet back here in two hours."

                                            ————————–

"Well the only thing I learned about this place is that its near unbreakable." Orora whispered to Zuko as they both walked into the Mess Hall and picked up their trays. He hummed in agreement. "Except for where we got in from." He reminded her, to which she shrugged. "Only if you're a waterbender. And I haven't seen any waterbender prisoners. Though I doubt they would keep them so close to a water source." She mused to herself as she picked up a bowl of soup and placed it on her tray.

It was only the two of them at the moment, since Sokka had been ordered to take one of the prisoners to the Cooler. Whatever that was.

They'd spent their time scouring the entirety of the prison and so far hadn't seen any water tribe prisoners. Then again, they hadn't talked to the guards yet.

Orora glanced over her shoulder at the various guards as they ate, drank, chatted and laughed while on their break. It was a little strange to see such normal faces under the helmets, but then maybe that was the reason they were forced to wear them as part of their uniform. To make them appear terrifying to the prisoners. "We need to get information about the prisoners here without raising suspicion." She whispered to Zuko who was loading his own tray with food.

Of course neither of them had removed their helmet.

"We can always just ask directly." He stated, looking around at the guards as well.

Orora made a face, her forehead creasing in worry. "Won't that be too obvious?" She asked, nervous that they would get caught instantly. Zuko, feeling a little in his element with so many Fire Nation people around him, shrugged. "Lets find out."

She realized a second too late what he was about to do. "No! Don-" But he was already turning away and walking towards a nearby table, asking his questions as he did. Orora stayed where she was, gathered her food, and quickly made her way towards an empty table. Not even ten minutes later Zuko joined her.

"That was reckless." She whispered, lifting her bowl of soup to her mouth and taking a big gulp of the warm broth.

"I got the information we needed so, it worked didn't it?" He responded with a slight grin as he finished up with his own food.

Orora pursed her lip and slammed her elbow into his side. Zuko nearly choked on the gulp of water he had just taken. He coughed harshly, clutching his ribs as he did. "That is not the point." She growled, picking up her now empty tray of food. "Come on, lets go find Sokka before he does something reckless like you."

"Yes, ma'am." He coughed.

                                            ————————–

Returning to the platform, Zuko approached the lone guard standing there, Orora a few paces behind him.

"Hey there, fellow guard, how goes it?" He asked, prompting Orora to clench her hand to stop herself from reaching out and punching her idiot Soulmate for not using the code phrase. Then again, her brother wasn't the brightest either, since he lifted the visor of his helmet and exclaimed loudly. "Zuko?"

"Spirit! Its like you two want to get caught." Orora hissed, glancing around to make sure no one was listening to them. Thankfully the platform was empty.

The two boys did wince at their mistakes, but quickly shook it off, eager to share what they had found. Or rather hadn't found. "Listen, I asked around the lounge." Zuko said, shaking his head. "There are no Water Tribe prisoners." He, too, lifted the visor of his helmet. "I'm afraid your father's not here."

Orora felt her stomach churn at the realization that they had failed their mission. Or rather, the mission had been a failure from the start. "What? Are you sure?" Sokka asked, not wanting to believe they had come all this way for nothing. "Did you double-check?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Zuko nodded, as Orora lifted her visor as well, a sympathetic look on her soft features as she approached Sokka. "We both asked around Sokka. I'm afraid he isn't here."

But Sokka was done listening. He banged his fists against the metal wall, growling in frustration. Orora quickly reached out to stop him from hurting himself by grabbing his wrists.

Zuko stood with his own eyes shining with sympathy for the clearly anguished boy. "I'm really sorry, Sokka."

He was trembling, she could feel it from where she clutched his wrists. "So we came all this way for nothing?" He asked, eyes closed in frustration. "I failed.......again." His shoulders drooped, as Orora quickly wrapped him in a comforting hug, hoping to reassure him somehow.

"We'll find him Sokka. Even if we have to break into every Fire Nation prison." She promised, conviction running through her veins as she thought of the kind, brave man who had taken her under his protection. In the few weeks when they had traveled after escaping Ba Sing Se, Hakoda had shown her how a real father acted. And though she had been envious of Sokka and Katara, she couldn't help but thank the Spirits that at least she had caught a glimpse of what true fatherhood was. Something that Hakoda had extended to her when he had claimed her to be Sokka and Katara's sister.

Her brother's breath slowly calmed, and he pulled back from the embrace, giving her a small smile of gratitude.

Holding his chin, Zuko hummed under his breath. "What would Uncle say?" He mused to himself, hoping a few words of wisdom would ease Sokka's frustration and worries. He glanced up to the sky where the clouds lazily passed by. "Sometimes, clouds have two sides." He said, walking towards the railing. "A dark and light." The two Water Tribe siblings glanced at one another, utterly confused at what Zuko was saying. "And a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich!"

Orora clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud at what her Soulmate was saying. Meanwhile, Sokka had moved to stand by the railing as well, looking down at the prisoners as they milled about in the yard below.

"So.......when life seems hard......take a bite out of the silver sandwich!"

She could feel her ribs cracking from holding back her giggles. Sokka, however, had completely lost interest in both his companions as his eyes caught sight of a very familiar figure in the yard. He gripped the railings excitedly, his whole face lighting up as he did.

"Maybe we haven't failed after all!" He exclaimed, his excitement prompting Orora to forget her own mirth and stare at him inc confusion.

Zuko grinned. "That's the spirit!" He encouraged, folding his arms. "I can't believe that worked. I didn't even know what I was saying." He muttered to himself.

"No, what you said made no sense at all." Sokka stated, quickly shattering whatever notion had been forming in Zuko's head that maybe he could go around sharing his wisdom with the rest of the world. His mouth dropped open. "He's right. If I knew it wouldn't attract attention, I would've been laughing my head off." Orora added, which only made Zuko grumble under his breath, a little miffed that the both of them would think that.

Pointing excitedly in the direction of a lone girl sitting in the yard, Sokka nearly fell over the side of the railing. "It's Suki!" He cheered, barely noticing as Orora grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him from tipping over. Though his reveal had her own eyes widening.

"Suki?! You mean your soulmate Suki!?" She asked, turning her own excited gaze in the direction he was pointing. Sokka nodded. "Yes!"

Ice blue eyes blinked. "But then why didn't you feel your string tug?" The girl asked, a little confused. Though that confusion turned to sheer frustration with her brother's response.

"I did. I just thought it was malfunctioning or something."

Without missing a beat, Orora reached out to completely remove his helmet, and slap the back of his head. Hard.

Zuko couldn't help but let out the bark of laughter at Sokka's reaction. Orora was seething because how in the world was she saddled with two complete idiots?!

"Soulmate strings do not malfunction you dodo!" She hissed.

But her frustration was short-lived, as they began to form the next steps of their plan that now included breaking out Suki.

                                            ————————–

Of course, all their plans went down the drain and up in smoke the moment Zuko was thrown in prison.

"Oh this is bad! This is really bad! What if someone recognizes him and tells the Fire Lord where he is?"

Both Orora and Sokka were in the water storage room, with the latter watching his sister pace the length of the room as she ranted and panicked over the minor hitch they were currently facing.

"What if he gets into a fight and gets hurt? You know how his temper can be. What if someone inside the prison recognizes who he is and the prisoners turn on him? He won't be able to fight all of them off." Sokka glanced over the edge of the water tank he was leaning against. Sure enough the water within was churning and roiling, responding to Orora's emotions.

She'd been ranting for a good ten minutes now, or maybe more. With Orora, Sokka had learned that it was best that she had her emotions out of her system, since she would allow them to fester inside her.

Reaching out, he grabbed Orora by the arm as she walked by, pulling her to a stop and gripping her shoulders so that she was facing him. "Orora." He said, his voice firm and yet gentle at the same time. "Nothings gonna happen to Zuko. He'll be fine. He knows he has to keep his head down and he will."

Her eyes were still wide and panicked, so Sokka continued. "We're all gonna get out of here safe and in one piece. I already have a plan to cross the boiling lake so don't worry about that."

That caught Orora's attention.

"You do?" She asked, to which he nodded, finally letting go of her shoulders. "I do. Now go tell Suki and Zuko to meet us by the northern stairwell during cleaning hour. I have to do some scouting work for our escape."

Nodding, the panic and worry being replaced by a sense of determination, Orora quickly pulled on her helmet. "I'll meet you there too." She said. Sokka nodded and smiled. "We'll be fine Orora." He reassured her again, using the voice he reserved for both his sisters that he knew would calm them down.

This time the girl nodded, lifting the visor of her helmet briefly to flash him a smile before running off to do her task.

                                            ————————–

Her first stop was Suki's prison cell.

Quickly slipping into the room, she closed the door behind her and turned to the young girl sitting on top of the uncomfortable looking cot. "Sokka?" The girl whispered as she stood up. She couldn't be much older then her, Orora guessed as she quickly reached up to lift up her visor. "No, but I'm a friend of Sokka's. I'm-"

"Orora." The girl interrupted, prompting the Waterbender to frown in confusion. "Sokka mentioned he was here with you. Said I would recognize you by your hair." She gestured to the small white patch that was only just visible from being pressed against her forehead under the helmet. Orora couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Trust that idiot to give you a physical description where it won't do you any good." She grumbled to herself. Suki grinned. "I tried to tell him the same thing, but we kind of got interrupted by the fight outside."

The Water Tribe girl winced, remembering the skirmish that had resulted in Zuko's capture. "Oh yeah, that was my Soulmate covering Sokka's impromptu meeting with you so the both of you wouldn't get caught." She explained. Suki blinked. "Wait, Sokka said he was here with you and Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." The girl's mouth fell open as she raised a finger to point at Orora.

"Does that mean he's your...." She trailed off, while Orora lifted her finger which had the now always glowing string tied around it and nodded. "Yup! He's my Soulmate." She let out a slightly derisive laugh. "Fate really has a sense of humor doesn't it?"

A moment of silence, where both girls simply stared at one another before Suki shrugged. "I guess you win in that department. I mean my Soulmate kissed the Moon Spirit herself, so really your Soulmate being the Prince of the Fire Nation shouldn't be too surprising." The other girl hummed. "I suppose. But hey, at least he's on our side now, so that's good."

A development she was thankful for every single day.

"Well he did burn down my village, so it'll take me some time to trust him again." The information had Orora wincing. "Yeah, I guess I should apologize on his part, but I'm sure he'll be sorry for his actions as well. He was a different person back then." Suki shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for. I'll judge how much he's changed when I meet him." Orora nodded, before a small smile pulled at the corner of her lips.

"You know, its strange. I've never met you before but I feel like I can trust you with anything." Suki grinned. "I'm glad. Cuz that means I'm not the only one who feels the same way."

Orora laughed softly before holding her hand out for Suki to shake. "I'm Orora." She introduced herself, as Suki shook her hand. "And I'm Suki, its nice to meet you Orora."

The Waterbender all but beamed at the prospect of a new friend. Normally it took her a long time to trust someone and open up to them. She'd had months with Zuko before she had learned to trust him. Not to mention with Aang, Toph, Katara and Sokka, it had taken her time to get used to having them around and trusting them to keep her safe, just as she tried her best to keep them safe as well.

And here she was. Speaking so openly with a girl she had only just met.

Strange happenings really.

The sound of the bell ringing notified her of the change in shift. "Sokka said to meet by the northern stairs during cleaning hour. We'll catch you guys up with the rest of the plan there." Suki nodded, a determined gleam in her eyes. "Got it. I'll meet you there."

Sliding her visor back in place, Orora opened the door to the cell to step out. She paused at the threshold and glanced back.

"We'll get you out Suki. Don't worry." She reassured the other girl who smiled and nodded. "I know. Thanks Orora."

With one final smile, Orora locked the door behind her and walked off.

                                            ————————–

Her second stop was Zuko's prison cell. Easy to find. All she had to do was follow her string.

"You going for a new fashion statement?" She asked as she closed the door behind her. Zuko had been stripped off his guard uniform and given the standard prison clothes to wear. Her Soulmate gave her a deadpanned look. "At least it isn't brown or green." He retorted, recalling back to the time they were hiding in Ba Sing Se and he had to wear Earth Kingdom clothes.

He really hadn't liked those colors.

Orora rolled her eyes, an act that was visible to him since she had removed her helmet to allow her hair to breath a little. They were all out of place from being stuffed inside a helmet for so long. She looked oddly flyaway in her current state, and Zuko found she looked adorable.

Maybe it showed on his face, because Orora raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" She asked, knowing there was something on his mind. Zuko shrugged, the start of a smile on his lips. "Nothing. Just noticing how cute you are."

The effect of his words were instantaneous.

Pink flared across her tanned cheeks, and a gasp of surprise escaped her lips as she averted her gaze, suddenly feeling shy. It was ridiculous how Zuko had the ability to make her want to wring his shoulders and elbow him for being an idiot, to becoming shy and uncertain in a matter of seconds.

Trying to get back on track, she cleared her throat, the pink still evident on her cheeks. "Sokka says to meet by the northern staircase during cleaning hour. Suki will be there too so we can make the rest of our plan......there."

The last word was spoken in a slightly breathless whisper. To distract herself, Orora had begun to fiddle with her arm braces, and had not noticed Zuko walking towards her. Only when she looked up did she realize that he was standing before her, with barely an inch between them.

Her blue eyes widened in surprise, while a teasing spark glinted in his golden eyes. She gulped. "You know we really shouldn't be letting our guard down." The girl whispered, gaze darting to the closed door over her shoulder. Gentle fingers coaxed her to turn her head back in his direction. He smiled at her. "I timed the guard's rounds. We have half an hour before they make their rounds again. We're safe." Zuko reassured her, his thumb stroking along her chin.

"For now." She whispered, the last dregs of worry dissolving as she lost herself in his warm, familiar and loving golden gaze.

Not exactly the location to have a moment, but they neither of them were about to complain.

His head began to lean down, his intent obvious with the way he tilted it as he closed the distance between them. And Orora wanted to let him close that last few breath of distance between them.

She really did.

But her hand came up to gently press her fingers against his slightly parted mouth, stopping him. Zuko blinked at her, a little surprised. "You said you wanted our kiss to be special." She reminded him, to which he nodded. "What did you mean by that?"

The boy shrugged as Orora removed her fingers to allow him to talk. "Its just something silly." He admitted, not wanting to say his thoughts out loud. But the expectant expression she gave him had the Prince sighing as he reached up to toy with her silver hair. "Its just our entire journey as Soulmates has been full of unexpected and, at times, unbelievable, circumstances. I mean how many other people can say they met their Soulmate while saving their lives?"

She hummed. "True, but that's what makes us unique doesn't it?" Zuko chuckled at her response and nodded. "You're right it does. But since I came to the Air Temple I've been planning on going about things normally."

"Normally?" She repeated, a confused look on her face that had him shrugging and looking away from her, suddenly feeling uncertain and sheepish. "Yeah normal, like, going out on dates, just hanging out and acting like a normal couple and not with the weight of the entire world on our shoulders." He admitted. "Is that too much to ask?"

A small moment of silence followed his admittance. Orora smiled softly. "Zuko? Did you want our kiss to be after our first date or something?" Looking more then a little sheepish, as well as uncertain, the boy shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't be opposed to it." He admitted, and Orora felt her her heart turn to mush inside her.

"You know what." She said, the smile evident on her face as she looked up at him. "You're right. We do deserve a bit of normal in our lives. And when we have it, we'll go out on that date like normal teenagers do."

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" Zuko asked, to which Orora shook her head. "Mind?! I would love that! And yeah kissing for the first time as a couple in prison sounds exciting and all, but we've had too many exciting moment in our lives and having a normal boring story to tell would be amazing."

Zuko grinned, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to her cheek. And if he lingered there for much longer then was necessary, neither of them mentioned it. Or were bothered by it. "In that case, I promise, that when we get one moment of peace in our crazy lives, we'll go out on a date."

"I'll hold you to that."

                                            ————————–

The next part of Sokka's plan had gone off without a hitch.

Aside from a couple of hiccups.

One of them being Chit Sang, another prisoner, who wanted in on their escape plan when he overheard them talking about it.

Alright, no problem. Easily taken care of. And since he helped get Zuko thrown in the Cooler, that worked out well.

The second hiccup came in the form of Sokka being unable to retrieve Zuko from the cooler. He was pulled away for some guard duty. Luckily Orora had been standing next to him, and he had quickly told her where to find Zuko and let him out.

She was only ten minutes late to her destination, and opened up the Cooler, her heart hammering in her chest at the sight of Zuko crouching on the floor.

"I'm here to take you back to your cell." She stated in a deep fake voice for anyone around to overhear her. "If you've learned your lesson that is." She added, using the code-phrase she had insisted upon since they couldn't ask outright if the screws had been removed or not.

Once again Sokka had been about to overlook the minor detail. Which Orora had remedied quite quickly.

Orora watched as Zuko slowly raised his head from where he had it buried in his arms. A small burst of fire escaped as he exhaled, before looking up at her and smirking. "Yes I have."

He lowered his arms to reveal the bolts and screws he had removed. "Completely."

Trying her best to suppress her smile, the girl quickly leaned forward, lifting her visor as she whispered. "Sokka is getting Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells. They'll be waiting for us at the shore." Sokka had found a door that led to the shore. It had been hidden behind one of the boilers in the water storage room.

Zuko was about to step out of the Cooler when the sound of footsteps accompanied by voices had him halting. "Someone's coming." No sooner had he hissed the words when he was grabbing Orora by the wrist, and yanking her into the freezing Cooler and shutting the door.

The cold instantly reminded her of the temperature at the North Tribe. A shiver ran through her entire body, prompting Zuko to pull her against him, his warm body providing her with instant relief.

With bated breath they waited for the people outside to pass.

Only to learn a crucial piece of information as they did.

"War prisoners." Zuko whispered, recalling what the guard outside had said a few moments ago about the new prisoners arriving the next day. "It could be Sokka's father."

Orora nodded. "I know." Either they escape now and not investigate further. Or they forfeit and see whether the war prisoner was really Hakoda or not.

Zuko turned his head to look at Orora. "Well, what should we do? Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"

Shaking her head, the girl opened the door of the cooler and stepped out. "We have to tell Sokka. This is his mission. He gets to decide what our next step should be." She stated firmly, as she led him down the corridor towards their escape.

Though she had her doubts they would be escaping that night.

                                            ————————–

The moment Orora burst through the door and caught sight of Sokka, Suki and.....three other prisoners, not the problem right then, she blurted out what had been burning at the tip of her tongue the entire time she had Zuko had been sneaking their way through the prisoner.

"Sokka! New prisoners are coming in tomorrow. And there might be war prisoners in the batch." She panted out, having dragged Sokka away from the other four so they could speak without being interrupted. Barely drawing a breath she continued. "Hakoda might be..." She trailed off once she caught sight of Sokka's face. A plethora of emotions flickering in his eyes.

Zuko stepped forward. "You wanna go through with this?" He asked, knowing just how torn he must be feeling. "Or do you want to wait?"

Running a hand through his hair, Sokka pursed his lips. Uncertainty and hope swirled inside him, drawing a cloud of confusion around his brain. "I don't know!" He whispered, more to himself then the two of them. He glanced up to where Suki was looking in his direction, the curiosity evident on her face. "Is it right for me to risk Suki's freedom, all of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?" He turned to look at Zuko and Orora, almost as if he were silently begging them to make the decision for him.

"It's your call, Sokka." Zuko said, his tone soft as he reached out to place a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Are you sure you wanna go? You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself. Redeem your honor. Rescuing your dad is your chance."

Normally, Orora would've recommended putting everyone's safety over honor, but she knew that Sokka needed to do this. Needed to get his confidence back and start thinking with his head straight on his shoulders once again. Too many rash decisions had been made up till now, all based on emotions.

What was one more?

"Your dad?" Suki's soft voice cut through the tense silence as she finally approached the trio. Orora nodded. "He might be transferred here tomorrow. But we don't know for certain" She explained.

Turning to Zuko, Sokka sighed in a resigned manner. "If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess." He glanced away, looking dejected and hopeless. "Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail." His shoulders drooped and for the first time, Orora saw the look of defeat cross her brother's features and settle into his very being.

And she didn't like it one bit.

Her Soulmate seemed to think the same, since he shook his head. "No, it's not." A determined look in his eyes had Orora stepping back towards Suki, giving the two boy the space they needed to talk. "Look Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."

Sokka scowled. "That supposed to make me feel better?" He asked in a slightly miffed voice before he began to walk away. But Zuko was persistent as he followed after the Water Tribe boy. "Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again-"

"Seriously, not helping."

Reaching out, Zuko pulled Sokka to a stop with a hand on his shoulder. "You have to try every time." His eyes flickered in Orora's direction, prompting the girl to stand up straight, tilting her head curiously. "You can't quit or stop trying because you're afraid you might fail."

Silence followed Zuko's words.

Sokka stared at the scarred Prince, a little surprised at how much what he had said made sense.

Chit Sang, who had been standing by the cooler boat, and was growing impatient, called out. "Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?"

His entire demeanor changing, Sokka turned to the giant man. "No. I'm staying. You guys go." He turned to Suki and grasped her hand. "You've been here long enough."

Orora knew the answer before Suki even gave it. "I'm not leaving without you, Sokka." The Kyoshi Warrior stated firmly, prompting Orora to step forward and make her decision known as well. "I think I can say for both Zuko and myself that we're not leaving." She glanced in Zuko's direction, who nodded in agreement. "I'm staying, too."

That was all the confirmation the other three needed. The boat was pushed off and the three escaped convicts disappeared into the mist.

The four teenagers stood on the bank of the shore. "We gave up our only chance of escaping." Sokka said, sounding just a bit unsure. "I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."

                                            ————————–

It would seem the Spirits had decided to side with them for the mission.

Chit Sang and his friends were caught rather quickly, and were hauled away into solitary confinement.

But the real winning point?

Was when Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe stepped off the gondola and reaffirmed Sokka's faith in himself. Orora couldn't help but smile at his relief. Glancing in Suki and Zuko's direction, who were mirroring the relief the son was feeling at seeing his father, she nudged Sokka forward.

"You go talk to your dad." She said. "I'll get these two back in their cells. Meet me back here in an hour and we can start making the new plan."

With a nod Sokka ran off to locate his Father's cell.

                                            ————————–

Gently knocking on Suki's door nearly two hours later, Orora slipped inside, locking the door behind her as she did. "Sokka met with his dad, and they've come up with a plan." She whispered softly as the two girls leaned their heads forward. "He's gone to tell Zuko, but I wanted to talk to you about a minor detail before he decides to execute the plan."

Suki frowned slightly. "What detail?" She asked, prompting Orora to purse her lips briefly before speaking. "Hakoda suggests that we take the Warden as our prisoner."

A surprised look was all Suki responded with, before she raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh, and how does that plan go?" She asked to which Orora let out a groan of frustration. "That's just it. That is all they've come up with. Honestly, sometimes I think its just pure luck that Sokka has survived this long in life with the way he plans things and forgets the minor details."

Suppressing a smile at Orora's obvious frustration, Suki shrugged. "Well, its a good thing he has us to help him out." She leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest as she did. "What do you propose we do?" She asked, to which the other girl grinned.

"I have a few suggestions." The excited glint in Orora's blue eyes had Suki mirroring her grin as the both of them began to iron out the finer details of their own plan.

                                            ————————–

No sooner had Sokka explained the plan when Zuko found himself being escorted away by a couple of guards. Or rather being dragged away, since he wasn't about to let them take him without a fight.

"What are you doing?" He demanded to know, his voice echoing in the otherwise empty corridor. "Where are you taking me?" Of course the guards offered no response. Instead they opened a door and three him inside a bare room where the only item was a wooden chair in the middle. "I didn't do anything wrong!" He called out as the guards disappeared, leaving the door open.

"Come on, Zuko." A familiar voice cut through the darkness. His head whipped towards the corner of the room where a very familiar figure stood half-concealed in the shadows. "We all know that's a lie." She stepped forward, the anger that was evident in her voice, flashing in her eyes as she glared at him.

He felt his mouth fall open in shock. She was the last person he had expected to see here. "Mai! How did you know I was here?" He asked, his mind racing, wandering if his sister was here as well. The three of them did tend to travel in a pack.

"Because I know you so well." Mai responded. While any other time, Zuko would've picked up on the heavy sarcasm that laced her words, this time his brain was a little slow to catch up.

"But, how-?"

Loosing patience, Mai simply snapped. "The warden's my uncle, you idiot." A beat of silence, before Zuko facepalmed. He should've remembered that little detail. Orora would have his head if she knew he'd forgotten such a crucial piece of information.

Pulling out a scroll, Mai held it out in front of her former friend. "The truth is, I guess I don't know you. All I get is a letter?" She demanded. Angry wasn't the appropriate word to describe what she was feeling in that moment. Enraged came in pretty close. But there was also, hurt and the feeling of being betrayed. "You could have at least looked me in the eye before ending our friendship."

Guilt gnawed at his stomach. Unable to meet her gaze, he dropped his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to-" He said, his voice muffled, but was cut off as. "You didn't mean to?" She demanded to know, before unrolling the scroll and reading his words to her in a slightly mocking tone.

"Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving."

The urgency within him to find Orora and the others rose tenfold. He had to get out of here if he wanted to make it in time for their breakout. "Stop!" He said, standing up. "This isn't about you." His voice was firm as he continued. "This is about the Fire Nation!"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Mai rolled her eyes. "Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better." She hissed, throwing the letter at him. Taking a step towards her, he changed tactics, his tone imploring as he spoke. "Mai, I never wanted to hurt you. But I have to do this to save my country." The last few words had a tinge of desperation in them. Something that Mai picked up on, causing her to purse her lips.

And yet her anger remained. "Save it? You're betraying your country!" She said, her voice getting louder with each word. "I told you to go after your soulmate Zuko. I didn't say you could go and betray your entire Nation."

Zuko's own voice raised in retaliation. "That's not how I see it." Mai only scowled at him. "I've traveled the world Mai, and I've seen the devastation and destruction the Fire Nation has caused since the war began." Memories of all that he had seen but never noticed before rose to the forefront of his mind.

"We have been fed nothing but lies since we were born. The Fire Nation isn't interested in sharing its glory with the rest of the world. Its only looking to destroy it and take what it can give." He paused to draw breath. "Mai, I've seen families torn apart because of the Fire Nation. Mothers, father, children, sisters, brothers, Soulmates. No person has been shown mercy by our people. My great-grandfather wiped out an entire Nation, Mai. Aang is the last of his kind in the world." Mai's face began to loose some of the rigidity and anger as she gaped at him. "Children are starving and their parents can't do anything about it. Our people are being forced to serve the army. They're just as effected as the rest of the world. And I have to stop it." He declared, standing up straight, tall and proud.

"Its my destiny to restore the Fire Nation's honor and help Aang. I was so blinded by my own problems that I never looked beyond that. Uncle and Orora helped me see. They opened my eyes to what I was blind to and I'm not going to turn my back on those I can help."

His eyes were fixed on Mai as he added. "And if doing the right thing labels me as a betrayer then fine. I've lived with several titles, whats one more added to the roster."

Silence.

Which was quickly broken by the arrival of a guard, claiming to have been sent to protect Mai since there was a riot happening. The information prompted Zuko to act and he quickly made his escape using the guard to knock Mai down.

He locked the door behind him, glancing back to see Mai glaring at him through the slot at the top of the door.

"I stand by my beliefs Mai." He stated. "And I won't apologize for it."

With that he ran off.

                                            ————————–

One would think that starting a prison riot would commence with a punch being thrown.

But in this prison, that was not the case.

All it took was for Chit Sang, who they had to add into their group as well since he didn't give them away, was picking up another prisoner, holding the squirming man above his head and yelling out two words.

"Hey! Riot!"

A beat of silence.

And then all hell broke loose. Prisoners started to punch, kick, scream, claw, bite and do all manners of bodily harm. The Firebenders began to use their bending as well. All around them was chaos.

Exactly how they had planned.

But even better.

Hakoda looked shocked at the sudden turn of events. "Impressive." He praised, a little reluctantly.

Just then the panting figure of Orora ran over. She'd gotten rid of her helmet and was wearing her water bending gloves. "Hey guys! Have you guys seen Zuko?" She panted out. Pausing, she briefly turned to Hakoda and smiled brilliantly. "Its great to see you Chief." She said, sounding genuine and relieved at seeing him safe. The older man smiled. "And you Orora."

Another brief smile before her attention turned to Sokka.

"Where is Zuko?" She asked again, though barely had the words left her mouth when she felt her string tug. The boy in question, somersaulted over a prisoner, slamming them to the ground, and landing flawlessly in front of their little group.

"You called M'lady." He said with a teasing smile, making Orora roll her eyes at him before she moved to stand beside Suki as Sokka stepped forward.

"Zuko! Good, we're all here. Now all we need to do is grab the warden, and get to the gondolas!" The Water Tribe boy stated excitedly. The Prince nodded. "Right, and how do we do that?" Sokka's shoulders dropped and a sheepish expression overcame his features as he rubbed a hand behind his head. "I'm not sure." He admitted, prompting Zuko to groan and facepalm.

"I thought you thought this through!" He yelled out in frustration, which had Sokka responded at the same level of volume. "I thought you told me it's okay not to think everything through!" Zuko growled in frustration. "Maybe not everything, but this is kind of important!" He rubbed his forehead, his mind racing, trying to come up with a solution to their new problem.

Just then, Chit Sang spoke up.

"Hey, uh, fellas. I think your girlfriends are taking care of it."

Both boys jumped up and peeked out from behind the wall they were taking refuge.

And sure enough there was Suki and Orora.

With the former hoping on the heads of the rioters, using her momentum to push her forward. Never once did she loose balance, or miss her target. And even if she did, she found a small pillar of ice boosting her whenever she would run out of heads.

Orora, meanwhile, had decided to take on a more direct approach. The moment she had stepped out from behind the wall, she'd waved her arms and tiny drops of frozen water had emerged from her person. She'd spent the entire time in prison with the greatest weapon concealed in her uniform. And now, she was using it to the best of her abilities.

Which was saying something since she was only a few steps from becoming a true Master.

She was sliding along the ground, a sheet of ice creating a path for her through the crowd. Anyone who stepped on the ice slipped. And anyone who stepped in her way, retreated when several sharp ice daggers would be thrown in their general direction.

She was only a few paces behind Suki and as the Kyoshi Warrior began to scale the wall, Orora threw her hands out, creating ice-holds that would help the girl boost herself up faster then her already hurried pace. Creating a whirlpool of water around her, Orora quickly rose to the top, using the same whirlpool to create a wave that swept away any remaining firebenders that Suki hadn't already taken out. They went over the edge of the tower.

Suki, meanwhile, swept her leg out, defeating the final guard who was protecting the Warden and grabbed the man-in-question, grinning in triumph as she did.

"You wouldn't dare." The man growled, though he did look intimidated with the two girls looming over him. One who had defeated his high trained guards with just her bare hands, and the other who'd only used her abilities at the bare minimum when it came to the actual fighting.

Suki grinned, tying his hands together and using his headband as a gag. "Sorry warden. You're my prisoner now." She slammed the warden against the wall. "Impressive." Orora said as she quickly threw her leg out to waterbend a few straggling guards who were trying to sneak up on them. "You're not so bad yourself." Suki said, grinning from ear to ear. Shrugging, Orora gave a modest smile. "I try." She said, before the two girls giggled.

Spying the rest of their group approaching, Suki called out. "We've got the warden! Now let's get out of here!" The four males paused to catch their breath, funny since none of them had done the actual fighting.

"Those are some girls." Hakoda said, once he'd caught some of his breath.

Sokka and Zuko, both still trying to catch their breath, looked proud and a little love-struck at the same time.

"Tell me about it."

                                            ————————–

Getting to the gondolas was a bit of a challenge.

Luckily, they had two highly trained warriors, one seasoned warrior, two formidable benders, and a criminal who had probably done shady stuff in the past to have landed at such a high-security prison.

"We're almost there!" Suki called, even as they were stopped by two guards who launched twin fire blasts at them. Zuko quickly shoved Sokka out of the way and blocked the fire. Another two tried attacking from behind, only to be thrown aside by one of Orora's water whips.

As more guards approached, Zuko called out. "Back off! We've got the warden!" His words had the desired effect. Every single one of them stopped dead in their tracks and dropped their stances. "Let's go!" Zuko urged, grabbing Orora's wrist and pulling her beside him, her with twin ice daggers clutched in her hands, gleaming threateningly, while he never dropped his defensive stance, ready to attack should anyone make a move.

But no one did.

Reaching the gondola, Suki quickly opened the door. "Everyone in!" She called, which had Zuko quickly pushing Orora in the direction of the gondola. "Get on!" He called to her, racing towards the lever which would start the machinery. As everyone piled in, Zuko began to kick the lever several times.

"Zuko!" Orora called out in alarm as the gondola began to move. Several guards tried to move in on him, but a few threatening ice daggers being embedded where their feet were had them stepping back.

The lever broke, and Zuko raced towards the edge of the platform before leaping off and towards the gondola. Orora threw her arm out, ready to catch him, with Sokka right beside her.

But what she hadn't factored in was the momentum behind Zuko's jump, as well as his weight when gravity caught hold of him. He did grab her arm, while also grabbing Sokka's, but Orora's arm took the brunt of his weight.

And was pulled clean out of it's socket.

A scream of sheer pain sounded from her lips. And she would've dropped Zuko if Sokka hadn't gotten a hold of him as well. Stumbling backwards, Orora dropped to the floor, clutching her shoulder, whimpering as she saw her arm bent at such a strange angle.

"Agni! Orora! Are you alright?" The moment she had scream, Zuko's heart had plummeted in his stomach. And seeing her on the floor, with Suki and Hakoda already hovering over her, he crouched in front of her. "Spirits! I'm so sorry!" He said in a low voice, guilt racing through him. Orora shook her head frantically, breathing raggedly through the pain.

"Not your fault." She whimpered, as Hakoda inspected her injury with a critical eye. "We need to put the arm back in place." He said, gently but firmly, grasping Orora's arm. "Brace her." He advised Zuko and Suki, who both grabbed her by her uninjured shoulder to keep her in place.

"Hold on Orora. This will feel better soon." Hakoda said reassuringly. The girl simply nodded, panting as her entire body tensed. "On three." He warned.

Though he didn't bother counting.

The shoulder popped back into place, and Orora's entire body jerked as she roared from the pain. Or rather her body tried to jerk but both Suki and Zuko kept her in place. The relief was instant, but now a consistent throbbing seemed to run through her entire arm. "I'll be alright." She whispered softly. Suki stepped back, as did Hakoda. Zuko, however, cradled Orora's face, brushing her hair back as he did.

"What was that? Why'd you stay behind?" Sokka demanded, not liking that Orora had gotten hurt because of what Zuko did. "I had to make sure they didn't stop the gondola." The scarred Prince responded, barely looking up from Orora who was now breathing a little normally as she began to calm down.

Sokka blinked. "Huh. Way to think ahead." He praised, making Orora laugh softly as she patted Zuko's hand where it rested against her cheek, signalling to him that she was fine.

"We're on our way!" Suki said, sounding a little in disbelief as she stared at the other side of the platform as it neared. She'd been locked up for so long she didn't think she'd get free.

And now it was so close.

"Wait!" Hakoda called out from where he was standing in front of the window. "Who's that?" He asked, his question prompting Sokka, Suki and Zuko to race to the window, with the latter helping Orora to sit on one of the chairs along the wall.

"That's a problem." Zuko said, pursing his lips. "It's my sister and her friend." His words has Orora looking up from where she had water pressed to her shoulder, about to begin her Healing Session. "Azula?" She exclaimed softly, moving to stand but falling back down as pain radiated up and down her arm. "You stay where you are Orora." Hakoda said, resting a comforting hand on her uninjured shoulder.

"Yeah, cuz this is a rematch I've been waiting for." Suki said, her eyes narrowing in determination as she glared at the two girls on the platform.

Zuko flexed his fingers, feeling them burn hot as fire rose to the tips. "Me too." He added, before moving to the window to climb out to the roof.

"Be careful you three." He heard Orora called out to them.

The Waterbender, meanwhile, turned her attention back to her shoulder. The water on her hand glowed as she slowly began to heal herself. "Chief Hakoda, I'm gonna need you to make a sling for me." She said as the gondola began to sway from side to side and there were thumps and sounds from above.

Clearly the fight had begun.

She reached into the bag Sokka had brought and pulled out a piece of cloth she had cut especially for an injury like the one she had. Once she'd healed herself as best as she could, and the throbbing had dropped to a dull pain, Hakoda quickly had her arm in a sling, tying it behind her neck.

With Chit Sang looking up to the ceiling where the fighting was happening, none of them realized the Warden had wriggled free of the gag around his mouth and was shouting through the window for the lines to be cut.

Wasting no time Orora threw her arm out, slamming a block of ice around the Warden's mouth and effectively shutting him up.

But the damage was done.

"They're cutting the line." Zuko said as the three fighters slid back inside. Orora stood up, feeling a little better after her Healing Session.

Hakoda glanced around in worry. "I hope this thing floats." He muttered. "Maybe I can freeze some of the water underneath?" Orora suggested, stepping towards the window and glancing down at the boiling water below. "Zuko can't you bring the temperature down a little?" She asked to which he shook his head. "Even if I bring the temperature down at one spot, the heat will quickly come back." He said. Orora frowned, trying to come up with another solution when something caught her eye.

"Who's that? And why is she stopping the guards from cutting the lines?" She called out, which had everyone rushing towards the windows and peering towards the platform.

Zuko's eyes widened in shock. "It's Mai!" He whispered, sounding just as surprised as he looked. Whatever she was doing, it worked. The lines weren't cut. Azula and her friend had left the gondola long ago.

They reached their destination, the gondola rocking to and fro as it hit the platform. Everyone rushed out, with Zuko helping Orora make her way down the side of the volcano.

"Sorry Warden! Your record is officially broken." Hakoda called to the struggling captured man as a goodbye.

Climbing over the rim of the volcano, Zuko helped Orora sit down on a small boulder. "Wait here." He said, his gaze flickering around as if he were looking for something.

"Well, we made it out. Now what?" Suki said, looking around a little lost. Sokka noticed Zuko's strange behavior and stepped forward. "Zuko, what are you doing?" He asked, as Zuko came to a sudden stop.

"My sister was on that island." Sokka made a face. "Yeah, and she's probably right behind us, so let's not stop!" He urged, grabbing the other boy's arm and pulling at it to get him to start walking.

The Prince shook his head. "What I mean is she must have come here somehow." He walked up to a large hill and saw what he was looking for. "There!" He called out, pointing towards the airship.

"That's our way out of here!"

Suki helped Orora up before their small group began to make their way to commandeer the airship.

                                            ————————–

Mai stood atop the platform, detained by two guards with Azula and Ty Lee before her. The latter looked terrified and concerned as she glanced between her two friends. Azula, meanwhile, had her signature poker face, devoid of all emotion. Though Mai knew her friend good enough to know what was going on beneath the surface.

"Leave us alone." Azula commanded. The guards gave the Princess a bow before exiting. Mai stood her ground, the defiance evident in her very body language as she stood before her friend.

Well, former friend.

"I never expected this from you." Azula said, the disbelief evident in her tone. Ty Lee's eyes began to water as tears rose to the surface, her entire body trembling as she waited for what was to come.

With her hands behind her back, and her forehead creased in a frown, Azula continued. "The thing I don't understand is 'Why?'. Why would you do it? You know the consequences." She added, wandering if perhaps she hadn't made those clear during the years they had known one another.

Mai scoffed. "I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do." She said, her voice taking on a rather mocking tone when she said the next two words. "You miscalculated."

What Zuko had spoken to her about, had shattered whatever denial had been left within her.

"I value my friendship with Zuko more than I fear or value my so-called friendship with you."

Whatever intrigue had plagued Azula went up in smoke as her face contorted to one of absolute rage. "No, you miscalculated! You should have feared me more!" The Fire Nation Princess angled her fingers, ready to strike her friend with lightening. Mai readied herself, gripping one of her knives between her knuckles, ready to attack.

But before either of them could move, someone else moved first.

A few quick jabs, and Azula found herself falling to the floor in a helpless heap. Ty lee stood by, a little shocked at what she had done. Mai too was staring at her friend.

With no time to loose, Ty Lee quick ran to Mai and shook her out of her stupor. "Come one! Let's get out of here!" They're barely taken a few steps when they were surrounded by guards.

"You're both fools!" Azula hissed from where she was being helped by two guards.

"What shall we do with them, princess?" One of the guards asked, keeping a firm hold on their prisoners. They may be children, but the guards were now aware just how deadly these youngsters were when it came to the skill set they were experts in.

They'd already had a breakout. They weren't about to loose anymore prisoners today.

"Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again!" Azula spat out, sheer anger and disgust behind her words as she glared at her former friends.

"And let them rot!"

                                            ————————–

It was nightfall, by the time the airship reached the Air Temple. Sokka, Zuko and Orora stepped off the platform, looking more then a little pleased with themselves, with the latter two holding hands and smiling brightly.

Katara was the first to step forward. "What are you doing in this thing?" She asked, looking up at the construction in awe. "What happened to the war balloon? And what happened to Orora's arm?" The girl added. Despite the minor squabble that was still ongoing between the two girls, it didn't stop Katara from showing her concern for her sister.

"Its alright, Katara. Nothing too bad." Orora was quick to reassure the younger girl.

Letting out a sheepish chuckle, Zuko shrugged. "The balloon kind of got destroyed." He explained, sharing a look with Sokka who shrugged his shoulders in a What can you do? way.

Aang chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sounds like a crazy fishing trip." Toph stepped up next to Orora, sensing her heartbeat. Once she was sure it was normal, she turned her attention to more important matters. "Did you at least get some good meat?" She asked.

"I did." Sokka proclaimed proudly. "The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood." He looked way too proud for someone who had been trying to come up with something clever to say for the past few hours. But that didn't matter, as Suki, Hakoda and Chit Sang all exited the airship. Suki, Hakoda, and Chit Sang exit.

Though Chit Sang tried to introduce himself, his words were drowned out by Katara who called out for her Father and raced up to embrace him. Hakoda returned the hug just as fiercely and lovingly as it was given. "How are you here?" Katara asked, her voice high with both joy and disbelief as she grinned at her brother. "What is going on? Where did you go?"

"We kind of went to a Fire Nation prison." Her brother responded with a grin. Orora smiled as she watched Hakoda pull his son into the embrace. Tears burned behind her eyes, which she quickly blinked away as she moved to rest her head on his shoulder. Beside her, Zuko was smiling as well, their hands still twined together as he leaned his head down slightly to rest his head atop her own.

Of course, Toph had to go and ruin the moment by saying:

"Seriously? You guys didn't find any meat?"

                                            ————————–

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