#those cages are build for big dragons okay | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hoe-doroki · 4 years

Text

We’ll See

Happy birthday, to my sweet boy, Kiri. Glad I managed to just barely get this out in time for you.

pairing: Kirishima x demisexual!fem!reader

genre: gen, light romance, light fluff, light comfort

word count: 6.3k

summary: After a fateful meeting where he saves you from a villain attack, you and Kirishima keep running into each other. And although he’s so nice, you only feel fear around the fact that he might be interested in you. Even though all you want is, for once, to let yourself be happy and maybe fall in love, you can’t seem to be able to. You just can’t.

a/n: I’ve been trying to think about what a comfort fic might look like for a demi reader because romance stories never match my lived experience and sometimes make me feel worse. I think I’ve finally managed something here. I hope this provides comfort to anyone who has difficult romantically/sexually for any reason, especially those of us who are acespec. My ask box is always open for acespec or similar requests as well. <3

edit: I no longer write x reader but here’s my old masterlist - mobile | desktop

For a moment, you thought it was hail. Little flecks of white—not quite white, really—falling from the sky at a more precipitous pace than snow, and bigger, more irregular. More dangerous.

Then, when you looked up, you didn’t know how you’d missed it.

You were always attentive when walking in the city, even in your Sisyphean commute to work: home, walk, train, walk, work, day after day. You held your bag close on your shoulder, had your pepper spray at the ready, and didn’t bother changing into heels until you got to the office. You always had your eyes on the surroundings, so, just before it happened, you could have told the cops that it had been a lovely spring day, white and pink flowers just beginning to bloom, but still jacket weather—not at all a day for hail. The streets had been congested with people just like you, all headed to work or school. The woman in front of you had been wearing a brightly striped sweater, standing out against the sea of black suits.

Then, concrete had begun raining down.

You looked up in time to see a slab from one of the old concrete buildings give way, suddenly casting shade right where you were standing. And the next thing you knew, you were on your back, and there was a man on top of you. Your first thought was that he must have been a dragon. Hard scales, sharp teeth, all jagged edges sharp enough to scratch grooves into the pavement below. He could kill you in an instant.

His arms were caged around you covered in fabric. But upon closer look at his exposed neck, you saw he didn’t have scales; his skin was like rock. Rocks that hadn’t yet been touched by the erosion of wind or water. They were new ones that were unbroken.

It took a moment of stillness, a moment of him trembling under the weight of the concrete wall for you to realize he wasn’t here to brutalize you—he was saving you. And when you realized that, your brain snapped into focus. There was chaos around you—you could hear the screams. Maybe they were civilians who were worried that you’d just been flattened to a pancake, but maybe they had greater fears than that. There was probably a villain on the loose, and this hero was wasting his time on you—just one person.

“Go!” you shouted, making eye contact with him for the first time. Red eyes like uncut rubies encased in cracked ivory. “I’ll be fine!”

For a moment, he struggled to lift the broken remnant of the building off of you both, but then you honed your focus. You stared at the concrete and it lifted off of the hero’s back, watched as his shoulders settled in relief. He looked at you in confusion for a second, taking in your furrowed brow and tense mouth, frozen body. Then, he took you in his arms and carried you to safety before you gasped, and the concrete fell with a smash.

He left you gasping on the sidewalk and ran into the fray, where it looked like a villain with a power-up quirk had crashed through the office building onto the sidewalk, where they were now wreaking havoc.

Someone offered a hand to help you up and you took it. Telekinesis always took a lot out of you, especially when an object was as heavy as, oh, say, a side of a building, but you shook it off as best you could, just focusing on getting your breathing under you.

More pro heroes were turning up, either drawn by the noise or the masses of pedestrians fleeing the area. The latter of which was exactly what you should have been doing.

But you couldn’t.

You’d never desired to be a pro hero. Yeah, you admired them, but as a job it sounded, well, awful? Seeking out trouble, always in danger of major corporeal damage, a constant target on your back—you’d never be able to handle the stress. You desired consistency in your life and, even if it wasn’t saving the world, an office job gave you that. Still, you’d always told yourself that if you even found yourself in a situation where you could help, where your quirk would be useful and it would be a net gain for you to stay instead of run, you would help. It was your duty.

Awfully hard to live up to when the situation actually came, though.

“Get out of here!” you said to the guy who’d helped you up as you staggered forward, hands on your knees. You were fine, you were standing. You didn’t have to fight—you absolutely shouldn’t fight—but if there was anyone who needed your help, you’d provide it.

As you pushed yourself up straight, the guy threw you one last look and then joined the crowd running from the scene while you stood, planted in it.

The fight was moving away from the building as multiple heroes took on the one huge villain, whose club-like arms were able to send them flying back before anyone could restrain him. But that was perfect. The building was still crumbling and you could check if anyone was stuck.

As you got closer, it looked as though you’d been the one hit by the biggest piece of debris—which, frankly, was a miracle. You were likely the one person in the crowd with any chance of surviving that, and the red-eyed hero had been there to save you anyway. But there was a lamppost that had been knocked over, thankfully pulled out of the ground so you could hold your breath and levitate it, vision just turning black around the edges as you dropped it harmlessly back to the ground. The victim likely had a broken leg, but some others managed to haul them out of the fray and hopefully to a hospital. One person saved.

The move left you capsized, back on your knees as you blinked color back into your vision. Fortunately, there wasn’t too much rubble—not yet, anyway—so all else there was to do was find a couple of the people who’d been knocked down or injured and send them out of the line of fire to where someone else could take care of them. You could use your quirk to keep back, not have to get too dangerously close to the fray in order to help these people. So you did your best to stay in the shadows of the punched-out building where there’d be no attention on you. Each time left you strained, but not broken. You just needed a little rest, and then you could keep moving.

You’d fallen to hands and knees after the last person, wheezing greedy gulps of dusty air. It felt like there were hands around your chest, squeezing palms against your heart and thick fingers against your throat. You weren’t practiced enough with your quirk to move this many heavy things successively, but you’d also never overused your quirk before. Never had to. You didn’t know where the line was, but so long as you were conscious, you’d keep moving.

But you felt lightheaded. The weight was suddenly off of your knees and wrists and you wondered if you were about to faint. Suddenly, the you felt a new compression around your waist as you were flipped upright, and you opened your eyes, looking down to see gray, damp skin pressed against your middle, and your feet dangling off the ground.

Oh, shit.

This was why civilians weren’t supposed to get involved when villains were around. You could become a liability for the heroes. Now they wouldn’t be able to fight all out against the villain, because you were effectively a meat shield. A hostage.

This wasn’t a net gain. Sure, you’d saved a handful of people, but now the villain couldn’t be caught. They had more power than just their quirk—they had leverage.

You thought quickly. You weren’t going to be the reason these heroes’ mission failed. You needed to take control of the situation so that no one else would get hurt. You needed to get the net gain back on your side.

You closed your eyes and took a couple breaths. After one last big one, you sent the villain up in the air, and you with it. As your ears began to ring, the last thing you heard were worried cries rumbling out from the chest you were pressed against. You felt the air as you both rose up in the sky, and then their arms loosened around you.

And then, you began to fall.

The next thing you heard was beeping. Gentle, even beeping to the rhythm of your gentle, even breaths. You weren’t heaving, weren’t gasping anymore. You must have been feeling better.

You took a breath and tried to push yourself up, instantly regretting it as your ears began to ring. Again. Suddenly, you remembered where you’d just been, what you’d just done.

Ugh, you were an idiot.

“Woah, you okay?”

You cracked your eyes open and saw a man in front of you. Definitely not a doctor, if his total lack of a shirt was anything to go by. You could feel your heartbeat in both ears, pulsing like a rock concert and waking up a headache you hadn’t realized you had. You closed your eyes and relaxed back down again.

“I’m okay,” you tried, but your voice came out all raspy. You wondered if dust had come out with it, expelling like smoke from your dry lungs.

“Here, let me get you some water.”

You blinked your eyes open and saw a straw being held up to your lips. You craned your neck up enough to purse your lips around it and took a small sip. Better.

The man in front of you had strange cuffs on his shoulders and something almost like a cape around his waist. But when you saw the wire piece around his face, you were finally able to place him.

“You’re the rock dragon,” you said.

The man laughed and you saw how young he was. When he’d been in his rocky form he could have been any age. No wrinkles or actual hair to go by. But now it was obvious that he was likely in his early twenties, just like you. Impressive for him to be a hero.

“Rock dragon?” he echoed. “I’ll take that.”

“Did you guys get the villain?”

That’s all you wanted to know. It didn’t really matter what had happened to you—evidently you were in one piece, so it was all but irrelevant.

The hero nodded. “They’re locked up, not too many major injuries on the scene. Thanks to you.”

“Urgh,” you groaned. “I’m so sorry. Usually I don’t do stuff like that.”

“Stuff like what?” he asked. “Save the day?”

“No, just…” You were glowing under his praise, but you didn’t want to. What you’d done had been idiotic and so easily could have gone sideways. More so than it seemed like it had. “I’m not usually so impulsive.”

“Must be good to know that you have good impulses then,” he said. “Although, I gotta ask, what was your plan there at the end?”

Plan? There hadn’t been any plan, and judging by his cheeky smile, bumping one cheekbone up against his wire mask, he realized that.

“I figured if I levitated that villain, then they wouldn’t be able to do any damage to anyone except me,” you said. “Of course, then there were a million questions about what could happen after, but the worst case scenario was that only both of us got hurt.”

“Very self-sacrificing,” he said. “You should be a hero. Although, we usually have to get the self-sacrificing impulses beat out of us a bit. But still, you’ve got the quirk for it. I have a friend who’s got a similar one. The world would love you.”

“No,” you said, shaking your head and feeling your brain slap against each side of your skull. “I think this was my first and last foray.”

He clutched his heart jokingly. “Oof, really one to break hearts, aren’t you?”

You froze. Suddenly the pulse that had been between your ears and behind your eyes moved back to your chest and was squeezing uncomfortably. Had he been saying that flirtatiously? Was it a joke you were just taking too seriously? Did this guy just use his hero costume to lay a bunch of girls and you should be kicking him out before he got any ideas?

“I’m really not,” you mumbled, reaching for the water glass again and drinking from it yourself. You felt the tug of an IV hooked up to your arm and you were only part way through the drip. You were stuck, unable to go anywhere until it was done. The good news was, your limbs felt generally fine. Just a little stiff and achy. The only real pain was in your head—the aftermath of using a psychic quirk.

“No,” Kirishima agreed. “You seem too nice for that. And, hero or not, the world was really lucky to have you today. So I just wanted to thank you for helping and, you know, make sure you were okay.”

“I think I’m okay,” you said.

“That’s what the doctor said,” he confirmed. “I’m just glad I caught you.”

So that’s what had happened. You weren’t sure if you’d passed out before or after the villain had landed, but you remembered focusing on trying to lower them to the ground slowly before everything had gone black. But you couldn’t use your telekinesis on yourself, so you’d resigned yourself to plunging to the ground. Not that you’d had much time to make peace with it.

“Sorry you had to save me twice,” you mumbled.

“I’ll save you as many times as I need to.”

Okay, that definitely felt like flirting. His smile was so open and genuine—he didn’t look like a fuckboy, but it didn’t matter. You didn’t want him interested in you, even if he was a hero. Even if he was attractive. Even if he was nice. You couldn’t deal with it. So you put the water back and pursed your lips awkwardly, unsure what to say.

“Oh, I’m Red Riot, by the way,” he said, extending a hand towards you.

You took it, feeling how callused his hand was. It wasn’t hard, like it had looked back when he’d been made of rock and gemstone, but had the feel of a fighter. Yours were soft as a baby’s. “Y/N,” you said.

“I know,” Red Riot said with a grin—his teeth were sharp even when he wasn’t transformed. “We found your ID in your wallet when you were being admitted. So you’re not a Jane Doe.”

“Oh.”

You supposed that was comforting. If you had fallen and broken every bone in your body, at least your family would have found out.

Your attention was diverted when someone walked into your room—a woman in a white coat and definitely wearing a shirt. This must be the doctor.

“Red Riot, you were supposed to press the button when she woke up,” the doctor chastised, though her voice was light.

“Sorry, doc, I was just seeing if she was lucid,” he said with a grin. “She remembers her name and everything that happened.”

“Right,” the doctor said, not looking especially amused. Still, there was a friendly energy between the two of them, and you wondered if heroes had close relationships with hospital staff. They probably found themselves in hospitals often enough—it would make sense. “That will be all, Red Riot.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, standing up from the folding chair he’d been planted in and pushing it against the wall. Then he turned back to you. “I really can’t thank you enough for what you did today. You’re a really good person.”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” you said, not sure what to do with the praise.

“Anytime.”

He waved and gave you one last smile before heading back, returning to duty. And as you were able to breathe easy again, answering the doctor’s routine questions and making sure that you actually were okay, it felt like Red Riot’s lingering smile never left.

The first thing you learned afterwards was that most ‘life-changing’ events weren’t actually life changing. They confirmed what they confirmed in your worldview, but, largely, life went on as normal. Like, now you knew for sure that you were the kind of person who could act in a crisis. But that was the story you’d been telling yourself before too, so what was the difference? After your day of heroics—and a day of rest, necessitated by the doctor—you went back to work and life became about staring at numbers on a screen once again.

Some of your coworkers asked about what the rescue had been like—apparently bits and pieces had reached the news, and there’d been footage of Red Riot and the others, but thankfully nothing official about you. They were suddenly very interested in your quirk—your quirk had never been a bad one, but you’d never made a habit of talking about it. And they wanted to know about the heroes.

Apparently, Red Riot was a name that some people knew. You didn’t tend to watch news about heroes and villains—you didn’t figure you needed to know much more than a bit of politics and the weather in your day to day—but those who did knew who Red Riot was. He was a rising star in the hero rankings and had graduated a few years ago from an apparently notorious class at U.A.

Even you knew what U.A. was.

You told everyone he was very nice but that you didn’t know much else. You hadn’t talked to any of the other heroes and if wasn’t like you were besties with Red Riot now. You didn’t even know his real name. Or you hadn’t, until some of your more eager coworkers informed you it was Kirishima Eijirou.

But…you didn’t like the questions. You didn’t like people asking you about how attractive or fit he was, people talking about how in love with him they were, as if you should be drooling and agreeing. Because, nice as the boy was, you didn’t feel that way. A pretty face was a pretty face and a kind soul was a kind soul. But you didn’t have a crush because, well, you almost never had crushes.

And the reminder of that, how different you were from your fantasy-having, simpering peers made you remember just how alone you were. How without those feelings, playful though they were, you felt like you would always be alone. Destined to shy away whenever a sweet boy flirted with you, to say no whenever one asked you out, to cry in your too-large bed on the days where you couldn’t convince yourself that just because you’d always been single, didn’t mean you always would be.

The second thing you learned was that, in actuality, life was always changing. Down to a simple train ride.

Public transit was one of your favorite things about living in the city. Sure, waiting for trains was irritating when you were running late, but you loved that on your morning commute you could read a book or do work instead of staring at a license plate in front of you, trying not to shout into gridlocked traffic.

You always made a habit of pausing your reading the stop before yours, just so that you could double check that your bag was tucked close, still zipped, and that all of your belongings were still on your person. You didn’t like fumbling with a bookmark and your purse just as the doors were opening and stumbling out, hoping you hadn’t left something on the seat—on the days that you were lucky enough to get a seat, that was. This time you’d been stuck, pressed against the window at the back of the car, but, when the stop before yours came, you put your book away and began pushing toward the door.

When the doors pinged open, you were one of the first ones out, flooding onto the platform as a crowd eagerly waited to take your spot, the train destined to stay full until sundown. You’d almost made it out of the station when you heard your name shouted above the din of the train pulling away.

You turned back abruptly, forcing the people behind you to split around you as you wondered if you’d made it up, heard a phantom voice without a source. But then you saw someone pushing through the crowd toward you, sharp grin present on his face.

His torso was hidden under a graphic tee, appropriate for how much warmer the weather had gotten in the past few weeks, but you’d recognize him anywhere. Really, even if you hadn’t had the reminders of people shoving phones with his picture in your face, he was unmistakable from his hair to his eyes to his teeth.

“Red Riot?” you said with surprise, noticing that he was getting a few stares from passersby.

“Ah, you can call me Kirishima,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “Red Riot’s just the guy in the uniform.”

“What are you doing here?” you asked, wondering if this man, Kirishima, was going to be imprinting himself on all ends of your commute by the end of the year.

“Day off with my friends.”

Kirishima gestured behind him at a few other people, visible now that the station was thinning out. There was a scowling blond who looked vaguely familiar—probably another hero—two other boys and a pink girl with horns.

“You’re coming home from work?”

You looked down. You were one of the youngest people in the office, so you always tried hard to look the part by dressing as professionally as possible in a button-down and slacks. It definitely stood out against his friends’ casual wear. “Guess it’s pretty obvious, huh?”

Kirishima nodded and you wondered if this was your cue to leave. Cool to see you again, bro, but I’ve got a hot date with Netflix and some leftovers, so why don’t you and your friends enjoy a real Friday night while I begin my descent into my final crotchety cat lady persona?

“Kiri’s told us all about your awesome quirk,” the pink girl said, dark eyes sparkling. “He said you were really brave.”

“And he told us how pretty you were, but man, he didn’t do you justice,” one of the boys—the blond who wasn’t frowning—said.

You bit your lip. The praise was flattering but…uncomfortable. The boy’s brows were raised in what could be interpreted as a suggestive manner, and you wondered what Kirishima had said. Something like She was really brave, cool quirk, kinda cute too or Next time I see her I wanna tap that ass.

Honestly, they made you about equally uncomfortable.

“Cut it out, Kaminari,” Kirishima said, having the decency to flush a little bit. “Listen, we were just going to go to the park and hang out if you wanted to come along?”

“Oh, I…”

You glanced at his friends. All of them—except the one—were smiling and looked like friendly, genuine people. And you usually did like hanging out with people when you actually got up the gumption to do so.

But…your mind was always ready to supply you with a lot of ‘buts.’

But, you’d just gotten off work, looked like an idiot in your slacks and needed to get changed.

But, it was uncomfortable to be in a group where everyone knew each other but you.

But, what if any of these boys were interested in you and tried to get with you?

The last thought always felt so stupid—who did you think you were to assume that any man who looked at you might be thinking about you in that way? Not that you honestly assumed they did, but you feared it. And that didn’t feel much less stupid, to be honest.

“That’s really nice of you,” you said, putting extra cheer and enthusiasm in your voice so it didn’t sound so much like a rejection. “But I haven’t had dinner and work was rough, so I don’t think I’d make a very good impression.”

“Oh, no worries!” Kirishima said, his voice holding the same false merriment as yours. Or maybe you were projecting and he was being totally genuine. “Maybe next time.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, managing a laugh. “If you manage to catch me on another part of my commute—and there’s no villain involved—I’ll make sure to say hey.”

“All right, Y/N,” Kirishima said as he and his friends began to walk on. “I’m counting on it.”

And the third thing you learned was something you’d actually known for a long time. When things changed, usually they changed slowly.

You’d only said what you’d said to Kirishima last time because you figured there was no way in hell you’d be seeing him again. After all, it was a big city with hundreds of thousands of residents, and it wasn’t exactly like accountants and pro heroes ran in the same spheres.

But it seemed life was getting a kick out of keeping you to your word these days.

It was a weekend and you’d actually managed to leave your apartment to hang out with friends. As predicted, you actually did have a good time, though that didn’t keep you from dipping out early—mostly because you were never excited about heading home alone at night. So, purse clutched close to your side, you walked through the streets, reassuringly lit by friendly lampposts and the many bars that were still open.

When you saw the shocking head of red hair, you thought your brain was making up. Because why would he be here, walking the streets on your route home again?

Judging by his shirtless state, it was because he was on patrol. Which, you know, made sense.

It didn’t take him long to spot you. Because while you were attentive—and especially alert, since it was after dark—he was a hero. Trained not to miss a thing.

His face brightened at the sight of you and he jogged over.

“Y/N!” he said. “I thought you were gonna say hello next time you saw me.”

“I said on my commute,” you quipped, feeling the burn of awkwardness that he’d caught you looking at him. “I thought heroes needed to be detail-oriented.”

“Touché,” he said. “Well, it seems you’re spared again. Can’t hang out while I’m working.”

“But you can do this?” you asked, gesturing between the two of you.

Kirishima grinned. “Of course! This is just me building a relationship with the citizens!”

You didn’t know if that was a thing or not, but it sounded legit enough for you. At the very least, it you were in no place to accuse Kirishima of not being good at his job.

“So, I know why I’m here,” Kirishima continued. “What are you up to?”

“Oh, I was just hanging out with friends,” you said. “Heading home now.”

“But that stop that we got off at a few weeks back,” he said. “That’s the stop for your house, right? That’s still pretty far from here.”

Ah, so he was attentive. You had to give him points for that, even if the fact that he’d paid so much attention made you feel…squirmy. Your flight reflexes were humming under your skin, waiting for the moment he said something that made you think too close, too far, too soon.

“I feel safer walking,” you said, subconsciously gripping onto your purse’s strap.

Some people felt safer taking the train home in the evening, but even if it doubled, tripled the length of the trip, you preferred being in a space where you could run away if necessary. And in the city, there were always potential witnesses outside, if you were ever to need them.

Kirishima’s brows furrowed a bit. “Do you want me to walk you? I can go with you at least to the end of my beat.”

The humming increased. His offer was gentlemanly, chivalrous. It reminded you of old-timey courting—and you were being crazy. You didn’t want to walk home alone and a hero was offering to accompany you part way. You ignored your nerves “That would be really sweet, thank you.”

So you walked and talked. He had more to say about your quirk and you told him that you’d never had much interest in them. Rather, you were an accountant who worked nine to five and quite happy living a quiet life with modest success. You didn’t need a lot—certainly not fame or recognition—and you were mostly content. You didn’t mention the chronic loneliness or bouts of fear around dying alone, but that was how you got by. Loneliness was something you were always trying to outrun, and most days you managed to. Letting it catch up and thinking about it never made you feel better and talking about it rarely did either. It was something you felt powerless to change, so the best thing you could do was try to be happy with the rest of your life and hope for the best.

“I’ll admit, the fame is pretty different in real life from what you think it’ll be as a teenager,” Kirishima said.

“Oh, I don’t know,” you said. “I thought about famous bands and stuff and even when I was a kid I didn’t want the kind of notoriety that they have.”

“I’m not sure I ever wanted that either,” Kirishima said. “I just wanted people to look up to me the way I looked up to Crimson Riot. And now that I’m starting to have that, I like that people can rely on me, even if they don’t know me personally.”

You smiled. “That’s a pretty nice way to look at it.”

“You think?”

“I do.” You nodded. “I can see you on the street and feel safer for your being there.”

Kirishima’s shark teeth showed through his smile. “That’s exactly why I’m allowed to talk to you during my patrol.”

“I see,” you said, beginning to think that there was a lot more to heroes than you’d thought.

“Speaking of which,” he said. “I’d love to take you all the way home, but I can’t abandon my post. And this is kind of the end of it.”

You looked at where you were, about to cross a major intersection. You wondered if there was a hero on the other side who would be happy to walk you to the edge of their patrol too.

“No, thank you so much for walking with me this far,” you said. “You didn’t have to do that and it was really sweet.”

“I was happy to do it!” he insisted. You moved to keep going, about to wave your hand in goodbye when he said, “Wait!”

You stopped, heart beating loudly. Flight, flight, flight.

“I was wondering if you’d like to hang out sometime?” he said, a hint of nervousness and hope on his face. Too much hope. “On purpose, you know?”

“Oh,” you said, wishing you could go back in time. Wishing you could have left faster or maybe not even walked with him, even though the walk had been pleasant and comforting. Wishing you were a different person entirely. “I, um, can’t.”

“Oh, do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, the nerves eclipsing the hope. “If so, I’m really sorry if it seemed like I was assu—”

“No, no, I don’t have a boyfriend,” the words almost pulling a wry laugh out of you. A sardonic choke. “I just…I don’t really date.”

“Oh,” Kirishima said again, short brows scrunching in confusion. “Um, sorry, and you don’t have to answer but…what do you mean?”

“I’m on the asexuality spectrum?” you began, hating how apologetic the words sounded. Hating that you couldn’t seem to find a way to be proud of your sexuality, that you could only wear it as a burden. “I’m demisexual. Which means that I can’t feel attracted to people that I barely know. So dating is just…really hard.”

Kirishima’s brows raised. “So…you need to get to know people really well before you’d even be interested?” he asked slowly, clarifying.

“Yeah,” you said. “Very…slow burn.”

“So you’re saying,” he continued, his face becoming warm with a smile again, “that I’d have to see you more often before seeing you officially.”

“Oh, yeah, uh, not that simple,” you said, nervous and confused that he hadn’t let it go yet. “I don’t casual date either. Like, I wouldn’t want someone showing interest in me and then dating other people while they wait to see if I come around. Which I know isn’t fair. Basically, seeing me would be a lot of risk for potentially no reward, because even if we do spend time together, I might never like you. So, yeah, you understand the dilemma.”

The concern was back on his face, and, somehow, your entire urge to flee went away. You’d scared him off, and there was some comfort in that. Sure, maybe it was running away from your problems, but you were able to trick yourself into thinking it was the mature thing to do because you were telling the truth. You were being honest about what the situation was.

“So this really is hard for you.” There was compassion in his voice that took you aback. That wasn’t him running. That wasn’t him being scared off.

“Um, yeah, it kinda sucks,” you said.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Kirishima said, and you thought, hoped that would be the end of it. But he kept going. “But, honestly, spending more time with you sounds like a really nice thing, even without any expectations or anything on it.”

Some boys had made this offer in the past. And it sounded nice on paper, but no matter what you did, you couldn’t remove the expectations in your mind. The fact that you knew why they’d looked at you in the first place, what they were looking for, and that you were still in a position to lead them on. You always made it so hard for yourself, even though you just wanted with everything in your heart for it to be easy.

“And, just so you know,” Kirishima said, glancing down shyly, “I don’t date a lot either. I’m not sure what kind of impression I’ve given off, but really, I don’t have that much time because of this career, and the time that I do I try to spend with my friends. So, it would make more sense to, you know, try and do that anyway. I just…as a hero, I often see the worst of people and so I want to spend all my other time with good ones. And you seem like a really good person.”

“I…” You had one last shot. One last thing to show the worst of yourself and see if he’d turn around on you. “When I’ve tried dating before, I’m not the best version of myself. I get really uncomfortable, so I treat people in a way that’s less than they deserve. I don’t think you’d like that version of me.”

“It’s a good thing we wouldn’t be dating then,” Kirishima said. “Just…two friends trying to become better people.”

You were at war with yourself. He was saying all the right things but you were still so scared. Of someone liking you when you couldn’t like them. Of you falling for them after they’d put you in the friend zone. Of falling in love and it not working out. Of falling in love and getting everything.

“How about this,” Kirishima said. “I’ll be here tomorrow—my shift starts at six. And if we happen to bump into each other by accident, well, that seems to be our pattern, so how bad could it be?”

You smiled, having a quick response for that one. “I could be held hostage by a villain, pass out, and need you to take me to the hospital.”

“Well, at least we know we can get out of that one.”

“I suppose so,” you said. It was casual. It was literally the lowest stakes invitation you’d ever heard in your life. If you couldn’t say yes to this, then what were you doing? “I…okay. I might see you tomorrow.”

He grinned at you and you became immediately convinced that his cheer was totally genuine. He was just a happy guy, and maybe nothing he said had any innuendo or hidden meaning to it. It probably never had. “Is it okay if I give you my number? I just want to know that you get home safe.”

In the bright lights of the busy street, you’d almost forgotten that it was quickly becoming the middle of the night, and that you’d had such unease when you’d first stepped out into it. You’d felt totally safe for a minute, even in this strange world you lived in.

“Okay,” you said. “If I’m not home in twenty minutes, you have permission to get worried.”

“I’ll send a search party,” he said. “I know a guy.”

You laughed. “Sounds good. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise…”

“Tomorrow.”

“We’ll see.”

He nodded. “We’ll see.”

It was half a promise, the start of a maybe friendship. It was probably nothing at all, you had to remind yourself for the whole walk home, otherwise you might go crazy with nerves.

But, also, it might be good.

Time would only tell.

#kirishima x reader #bnha x reader #acespec #acespec fiction #acespec fic #demisexual fiction #demisexual fic #bnha lgbt #kirishima imagine #kirishima imagines #eijirou kirishima x reader #bnha imagine #bnha imagines #mha imagine #mha imagines

109 notes · View notes

dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years

Text

Yggdrasil

"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Toyama sat in his office behind a cup of tea across from his patient Tigre.

Tigre had been absent for two weeks performing entry exercises for Battlefield Training level 1. He'd performed exceptionally well, surpassing the students in his troop and complying dutifully with the strict schedule and regiment. At this point, not only was he physically able, but now he had experience in shooting, keeping watch, and setting up camp. He looked more tan, a bit stronger, more energetic. He kept decorum, but every time he saw him, he couldn't help but feel happy at his success.

Tigre had two more weeks of academic pursuits before returning to Battlefield Training for the next round. Toyama had been seeing him for his weekly counseling and needed to catch up with his mental health after missing a session.

Tigre took a deep breath, turning the delicate tea cup in his scarred hands. "I've been thinking a lot about where I come from. I didn't really care before. But people ask me questions like: where am I from? Who is my family? Where did I go to school? But all I remember is the cage. I should have memories growing up. Like going to school. I didn't learn to read and write in the cage. Who taught me? I don't know my real name. My real name is not Tigre. That's what they called me."

Toyama listened carefully. "Do you think these questions are important?"

Tigre was thoughtful for a moment. "No. That's not it. They're not important. I just don't want to tell people I lived in a basement all my life. I don't want to say that I don't know my real name. I don't know where my parents are…"

"But this is the truth." Toyama said gently. "How do you feel when they ask you these questions?"

Tigre thought about this and Toyama pulled a tissue from the box next to him and offered it to him.

"Sad…" Tigre said, wiping his face.

"What do you feel sad about?" Toyama asked.

"Just not knowing. I don't have anything to say… they ask who your parents are, you say I don't know and they… they look at me like they're sorry."

"That makes you feel sad?" Toyama asks. "Or are you sad before then?"

"Um…" Tigre tries to think. "Starting out, I never thought about my past. But now I'm afraid that every time I meet someone, they will ask questions like that. I'll already start getting sad before they ask that."

"So you feel bad in anticipation…"

"Yes. That's it."

Toyama nodded and made a note. "So when you meet someone, you feel sad because you feel like you can't open up to them about your amnesia. Then they ask about it. You tell them. They feel sorry, and then you feel sadder. Because they're sad."

"That's the gist of it."

"How do you think that is affecting your social life?"

"Probably not good. It's not easy to meet new people. I don't want to talk about myself."

"Understandable." Toyama was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, and, as though to signal a change of subject, he switched legs.

"Have you tried to remember?"

"Yes." Tigre licked his lips. "I remember hearing a big crash and seeing Chu Zihang walk out. I called him brother. Before that, I was lying down in the chains. I…"

Toyama kept quiet, making notes.

"I remember… fighting. Killing something or someone. Their faces were distorted. But I don't remember when that was. I remember people calling me Tigre, but they are just shadows in my mind."

"You don't remember doing anything else? Only rescue, fighting, lying down… and the shadows?"

Tigre sat still. He tried to focus. He was recalling images from his captivity. But he couldn't understand what order they went in. They called him Tigre… when? He killed that creature… but when? How long was he stuck down there? Which image came first? His memory was like two mirrors facing each other creating an endless array of identical reflection.

"What about before your confinement? Do you remember anything?" Toyama asked.

Tigre closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to think of a memory of his childhood. He tried to remember life under a bright sun and a blue sky. The feel of the warmth of the day on his skin…. and was struck with a sudden wave of nausea so intense that the tea he just drank bubbled into his mouth like a geyser. He rushed to the trash bin, knocking over his chair, and barely made it in time.

Toyama watched him gagging helplessly and stood up. "Do you need help?"

Tigre was shaking and struggling to catch his breath. Toyama knelt next to him. "It's okay. Just relax." He handed him a tissue to help him wipe his face. "Did anything come to mind?"

"No… nothing."

Toyama pulled Tigre's hair back to keep it from going into the vomit. "It's not a failure. We will find a way to recover your memories. Every attempt is progress. I'd like to propose something… I'd like to get a scan of your brain."

Tigre gave him a fearful look. "Will it hurt?"

"No. But I think we can both agree that just the act of remembering something forgotten shouldn't have this reaction right? This reaction is more physical than mental."

A few hours later, Tigre is back in the clinic, in the lab on the fourth floor where they had the MRI machine. Tigre was lying on his back listening quietly to music and staying as still as he could.

Toyama stood in the room behind the imaging machine and the technician operating it sighed in irritation. "None of the images are clear."

"Is he moving around?"

"No that's not it. I'm getting interference in the magnetic resonance. Does he have any metal on him? Or any implants?" The technician asked.

"Implants…" Toyama whispered. Could something have been implanted in Tigre? Something blocking his memories? "Can you see any implants?"

"I can't see anything with these terrible images! I have to stop the test." He clicked a few times on the program to abort the test. "Oh come on… what is happening…"

"What's wrong?"

"The computer screen just froze!" In the next second, the computer switched off and all the lights went out.

Red emergency lights from a generator came on. "Tigre… stay where you are, I think… ah the communication system isn't working either." The tech said.. "I'll go get him."

From the technician booth, there was a window. So Toyama saw the technician enter the room. He had barely gotten three steps in when the man abruptly collapsed to the floor and began convulsing.

Toyama started to hurry down but stopped. If he entered the room would he start convulsions as well? Tigre was not moving. Was he dead?!

Power suddenly returned to the room and the man stopped his seizures and lay still. Norma's voice suddenly came over the loudspeakers. "A very strong EMP was detected in this building. Agents are in route to investigate. I am assessing the damage. "

EMP? Electromagnetic pulse? The MRI machine was smoking!

Toyama rushed down to help the technician, kneeling down close. His eyes were rolled back white and he was breathing bloody foam.

Tigre had slid out of the MRI machine and looked stunned at the scene. "What happened?"

"You're alive! Thank God. Here, call for help."

Toyama tossed him his phone. He expected Tigre to catch it but it fell and cracked against the tile floor. Tigre just stared at him. "Who are you?"

Toyama felt the blood rush from his face.

Tigre looked at him in confusion. "Where am I? What is this place."

Toyama stood up. "No…" His voice trembled. He stepped towards Tigre in a daze. "No!"

Tigre backed away until he could back away no further. "Stay away!"

Toyama's eyes suddenly blazed yellow. While it was true that students could not use Yanling on campus, due to the nature of his work, Toyama would need special access to his Yanling at all times. A top secret method of defeating the Alchemy matrix that suppressed Yanling was granted him. So even though no one on Campus could use theirs, he could use his.

He stared into the wide and frightened eyes of Tigre and dove into memories that were already fading, burning to ashes like trees in a wildfire! Memories of them together in the hospital. Memories of his first day of school.

Burning fury burst from Toyama and he opposed the force operating on Tigre’s mind in a single burst, roaring like an angry lion and rushing in the fight. Such a reaction may have struck many as unexpected. Toyama was a gentle soul. He was a professor, a psychologist and a priest, but he was also a member of the Secret Party and a Hybrid. The trail of blood he left was invisible, the battles were fought on the stage of the mind. He’d erased family, friends, lovers, precious moments. So long as they were contaminated by memories of dragonkind, those thoughts were his to slaughter.

For the first time, this peerless psychological warrior was being tasked, not to destroy but to protect. He planted himself in the middle of this mental obliteration and started to rebuild it. Tigre didn’t understand how much Toyama knew him. He’d walked these neural pathways more ways than he could count, like a woodsmen in a forest, he knew the trails of the memories he created. He rebuilt them.

“Who are you?” He demanded this mental fire. “What are you?”

He received no answer, only a corresponding increase of force, like a bull locking horns with him. As their strength collided, Toyama received a vision that he’d never received so far. This was alien, not native to Tigre’s mind. An outsider thought.

A great tree, shrouded in mist, grew out of the desert. It was so tall that it pierced the cloud cover. Toyama watched in wonder as the white gleaming speck of a 777 passenger plane looked like a sparrow flying through its branches. At the base of the tree was a black dragon, but the dragon was dead. One of the tree’s roots ran through its eye socket. “Yggdrasil?”

Toyama could feel his own hands squeezing Tigre's arms tight while the other man struggled. Brainwashing was supposed to be a painless process. You were not supposed to be able to perceive the changes. Tigre didn't realize he was forgetting everyone around him a few moments ago. He had just failed to recognizeToyama. But now that he was both forgetting and having memories restored at once, he was trying to pull away and crying in fear, unable to control his own thoughts as two powerful entities struggled for custody of his mind.

Toyama held on to him. He regretted the trauma he was no doubt inflicting. Even though he was not religious, he worked in the Church on campus as a junior priest and knew how to pray. For the first time he actually did. He was up against something powerful, otherworldly. Even if Tigre would never trust him again, he prayed that he could at least remember him! The force that was erasing his memories was relentless, but it wasn't smart. It didn't try to figure Toyama out. It just erased memories in the same pattern once he restored them. Toyama could learn that pattern.

So long as Toyama safeguarded those memories, the attacker couldn't advance. The memory of meeting Chu Zihang the first time, waking up the first time in the hospital, the 3E exam -- these were the main points of interest to this mysterious entity. Toyama stood as a bulwark against them, and instead attacked this tree. Where is it?

Tigre's mind suddenly shut off and he slumped against him. Toyama's mind was kicked abruptly back into his body. Toyama felt unbearably hot and thirsty. Sweat dripped onto the linoleum floor.

Toyama reached up and felt Tigre's pulse through his neck. Though he was pale and limp, Tigre was still alive.

If there was really something implanted in his head, there should be a mark, a scar. Toyama carefully started running his hands over Tigre's scalp, looking for any deformity. His fingers ran over a small series of ridged right on top of his head.

Toyama tilted Tigre's face toward him to see and pulled his hair back with his thumb and forefinger. A scar, in the shape of an Alchemy rune? It was a perfect circle in a circle. Like an eye!

At this moment, members from the Executive board rushed in and surrounded him. “I’m alright! The situation is under control, but I have an urgent message for the school board! This is a serious situation!”

Toyama made sure that Tigre was moved to the 5th floor. “I’m sorry. But you have to be returned to quarantine. I don’t know if you can hear me...” Toyama whispered to the unconscious Tigre.

He raced back downstairs towards the library. He climbed to the second floor and burst into the door. The library was like a beehive that had been struck. It was full of workers trying to reconnect with everything that had been knocked offline by the EMP blast. Schneider and Guderian were watching. Who know where Manstein was.

“I need a word.”

Schneider looked at him in surprise. His shirt was wrinkled, and transparent against his chest and his hair stuck to his forehead.

“Guderian get our systems back to normal.” Schneider strode away and Toyama didn’t wait, immediately leaving the room to a side office.

“Here, it’s not much but at least wipe your face off.” Schneider offered him a tissue box.

“I’ve finally figured Tigre out. Tigre is not a dragon. He’s a hybrid. But there is something in him that is dragonkin. That is what is erasing his memories. I suspected something physically wrong with him for a long time. So I had an MRI scan done of his head. But when the scan began, a huge EMP blast exploded on campus! When I approached him, he acted like he didn’t know me. So I used my Yanling to peer in his mind and something else was there. Another thought, thoughts that weren’t his. These things were pruning his memories.”

“I dove into the mind of that thing and I saw a memory of a tree. A great tree in the fog. So big that a plane flying by looked like a bit of office paper in the wind. And at the roots of the tree I saw a dragon but it was dead.” He flipped over a piece of paper on a desk in the office and pulled the cap of a pen and held it in his mouth while he drew. I thought, Yggdrasil, but it’s not Yggdrasil. I believe this is a dragonborn thing.”

“Is it controlling him?”

“It’s erasing his memories for a purpose. It was after all memories of dragonkind in his brain. It didn’t seem… conscious. I didn’t adapt strategies, it kept going after the memories… like a zombie, mindlessly trying to eat his brain.” He finished his drawing and leaned on the desk. “I know that dragons can sense the thoughts of humans and can either attack or evade. So this sort of behavior isn’t unheard of. A dragon can manipulate the thoughts of humans. After all.. I can. I defended his mind as best I could. But as for now I’ve returned him to the quarantine area of the clinic to make sure he’s safe.”

Schneider rumbled. “An unfortunate turn of events.”

“I feel bad for him and for Chu Zihang. I know rescuing Tigre meant a lot to him.”

Schneider froze.

Toyama chuckled. “I know that boy too Schneider. He’s a kind person. He was happy to save Tigre and followed his progress because he cared. You kept Tigre alive for his benefit right?”

Schneider sighed softly.

“But we have to … face reality.” Toyama hung his head, leaning on the desk. “If that thing is in his head and it can’t be removed… it will likely kill him at some point. Even if we’re not forced to kill him.”

Schneider walked over and placed one hand on his shoulder.

#Dragon Raja

7 notes · View notes

idontmeantosoundrudebut · 4 years

Text

To start this off this HTTYD WHUMP Collection, I'm taking inspiration from a whumptober list and the second on the list was Gutspill and I had a fucking brainstorm (do mind my french, I swear like a sailor and a trooper, I'm also British). I wrote this five days ago and finished it, but as I was highlighting it so I could copy it to move here, I accidentally deleted half of it so... after my five-day meltdown, I've finally finished it and I think I turned out even better than it did the first time. I hope you have a box of kleenex or whatever tissue brand you have in your country, this one is a corker.

(you can also find my works on my archive of our own, name in profile)

__________________________________________________________________________________

There is blood everywhere. It's on his hands, on his face, on his sword, the world has become a thing of blood and ash, they clog up his lungs and he's choking on it. But his blood, it boils in his veins like water over fire and his heart pumps it hard throughout his body, hungry and starved for flesh, for death. Snotlout is a warrior, born and bred, and there is a mercifulness inside him that has long kept this beast at bay. But today, on this battlefield where mercy leaves you dead, he can let the starved beast writhing in his chest out and allow it to sate its hunger. Just for today, just for one day, he'll be an animal.

The shores of Berk are red with blood and will be for days afterwards. The bodies, broken and bloodied, add a layer onto the sand like a second crust, piling upon each other and almost looking like some gruesome, horrible beast that stretches on for miles. Those muddy, grasping hands, those black, gaping maws, those dead, dead eyes. The sky is terribly blue and dragons soar down with fire in the chests, spewing it across the enemy like they are wild monsters again, like they've forgotten kindness.

Today, everyone has forgotten the tenderness of mercy.

Snotlout slashes his sword across a man's chest and blood sprays across his face. The enemy falls onto one knee with a cry and lifts his mace to retaliate, but he's too slow to stop the blade from plunging into his stomach. Through the slits of the enemy's helmet, Snotlout notices that his eyes are green and, before he dies, that they are full of fear. Those eyes will haunt him tonight, but today there is no compassion in his heart for those who dare to threaten his home.

Pulling his sword from the corpse, he looks in awe at how it steams from fresh blood. Snotlout's face is hot with blood that is not his own and he can taste it on his teeth, a coppery wash on his tongue. Blood tastes like lightning. Two men try to rush him, but he cuts one down with a swipe to his legs and the other he grasps by the neck, headbutting him angrily. He drops the unconscious enemy and impales the floored man through the back. More blood, but it's not enough the please the hungry thing inside him.

He hears a mighty battle cry and turns to see Ruffnut, braids matted with blood and bleeding from both nostrils, she looks wild like a creature. She feels it too, she's also got a hungry beast inside her, she's also been starved of blood. She grabs a man, pulls his back to her chest and slices his throat with a smile some would say is mad. Today, we are all mad, mad things are best at killing.

Tuffnut is not far from her and he's swinging in circles, fatally hitting anyone brave (or stupid) enough to get close to him. Snotlout watches Ruffnut kill again, and he's falling in love with her all over again as she buries her dagger to the hilt into a man's eye. He screams. She laughs and slices his throat too. Her face and chest are washed with blood from his squirting neck.

They catch each other's' gaze and, just for a moment, the starved monsters crawl back into the darkest corners of their hearts to allow the tenderness to come back. Ruffnut's eyes soften, those thunderstorm eyes lose their madness and gaze deep into Snotlout, conveying all the words that they both struggle to say. He lets out a short, breathy exhale because, Gods, she is so beautiful, she must be from a dream.

Suddenly, Tuffnut is in the picture and he looks both disgusted and displeased.

"Uh, guys, big battle happening all around you," Tuffnut yells over the sound of war, gesturing around him with a blood-caked Macey II, "don't think this is an appropriate time to be making-love via eye-contact,"

An axe-wielding enemy charges towards Tuff and Ruff from behind. But before Snotlout can even open his mouth to warn them, Ruffnut throws her arm back and the man goes down hard and fast, a dagger lodged in his throat. Oh, by Freyja, he loves her so much. Ruffnut gives him a smirk, sharp and deadly, before charging away with a dragon-roar cry.

"See you on the other side, Princess!" Snotlout shouts and then the beast lunges out from the shadows of his aortas, he's back to being an animal again and races deeper into the battlefield.

His eyes catch sight of a monstrous opponent. The Commander. He's tall and wide, built like a mountain, decked out in black, hateful-looking armour and he's pulling his sword from the chest of a Berkian shield-maiden. Snotlout doesn't recognise her, almost mistakes her for Astrid from her blonde hair, but she's far too young, far too small, far too innocent to be here. Doesn't matter now, she's dead and being carried away on the backs of Valkyries to Valhalla. Still, she was too young.

Then, the all too familiar sonic-whistle fills the air and he watches the Commander look to the sky.

"NIGHT FURY!" A man distantly warns. Everyone ducks to the ground in fear. Snotlout remains standing. So does the Commander.

There's only a flash of Toothless, a black dart across the pale sky before a purple blast dives to the battlefield. The explosion is bright and blinding behind the dark silhouette of the Commander and a shockwave sends those already crouched down to the sand, but still he remains standing, unyielding. Snotlout also stands, unbowed.

His ears are ringing from the explosion but there's an anger in his chest, building and building and building, soon its going burst out of his chest. Warriors lay around them, disorientated and directionless, and the Commander turns to him, his only worthy opponent. Snotlout breaths violently through his nose, a deep rage coursing through his blood like a forest fire and there is nothing that will stop the inferno in him. His entire body is shaking, like a dragon ready to take flight. Gods, if he was a dragon; the world would be ashes at his feet.

For a moment, they size each other up. Dragon-fire reflects of the Commander's black armour and Snotlout's blade of steel becomes a spine of flames. Everything in his life has been leading up to this moment, this moment which will change the course of his life forever, this is what the Fates have planned for him. Prove your worth, Dragon-Rider, Fire-Swallower, prove your worth to the ones who believe you to be nothing.

Snotlout closes his eyes and wraps both of his trembling hands around the hilt of his sword. The sounds of battle are distant and his heartbeat pulses in his ear like a war drum. This is it. Let the beast free, let it out the cage, let it off the chain. Let it kill them all.

Snotlout opens his eyes and that unbridled rage comes forth in the form of a thunderous howl, tearing through his throat. He runs towards what could be his beginning or his end, either will be fine but he'll die proving he's something, something fierce, something brave, something worthy. The Commander too starts to run, charging towards him with his blood-shining sword and he's silent like death, his eyes shimmering like stolen sapphires beneath his helmet.

And as they get closer, Snotlout raises his sword into the blood-thick air and again roars his worth for all to here, a stream of fire bursting like dying stars behind him.

But the beast is a primal thing, while the Commander is a calculating thing, silent and cunning; Beasts are sometimes made to be fools in their wrath.

And as Snotlout brings his blade down for the kill, the Commander falls and skids across the sand, kicking it up to momentarily blind him. It takes him a moment too late to realise the grave, fatal mistake he has made.

As the Commander slides past Snotlout, he slashes his sword across his gut and the terrible feeling of his skin and flesh being carved open makes him halt on the spot. His ears are ringing again and there isn't even pain, there is just a hotness in his gut and the vague feeling of something slipping, he doesn't understand what's happening. Dropping his sword, he stares wide-eyed into the distant and gasps for breath, it feels like he's been hit in the chest with a war hammer.

Over the ringing in his ears, Snotlout hears the movement of feet disturbing stand and the whistling sound of a sword cutting through the air. In the distance, far away, he hears a woman screaming in despair. He thinks it might be Ruffnut.

That primal beast wakes up again and he isn't even thinking when he turns around, hands up ready to catch something. The blade of a sword falls into his grasp and it cuts through his leather gloves, digging deep into his palms as he pushes the sword from his face. He bares his bloodied teeth like a cornered animal and stares deep into the eyes behind the helmet, blue and angry and hateful; they gaze back.

He's going to die, oh that's okay, but by the Gods is he taking this bastard with him.

Snotlout releases one hand to immediately grasp at the Commander's armoured wrist. The blade digs further into his hand, hot blood tracks down his arm. It is only due to the rage and adrenaline burning through him that allows Snotlout to twist the Enemy's hand till it near breaks before dislodging the sword from the cursing man and, as quick as lighting, he wraps his fingers around the hilt and does a half turn.

The sword is plunged deep into the Commander's stomach. Snotlout lets go of the stolen sword and allows it to fall with its owner behind him. He smells blood and ash, tastes it too. Gods, he's choking on HIS blood and he doesn't know what to do. Looking down to his stomach, Snotlout is full of horror as he sees his guts partially hanging out of the slice in his belly. He touches them with his hands and they come away red, hot, steaming.

"The Commander is dead!" Someone cries, "Retreat! Back to the boats!" Others chime.

Snotlout falls to the bloody-encrusted shore on his back and stares up the terribly blue sky, disturbed only by dark rising smoke and the shadows of retreating men that leap over his body. His breath is loud in his ears and he can feel the blood pouring from him, soaking into his tunic and running down his sides to stain the sand beneath him. There should be fear in his heart, but he can only find the sweetness of victory, the relief that the battle is over and they came out the victors.

A body skids beside him and he looks up to see Ruffnut, eyes white and wide with fear as she stares at his stomach, at the blood that pours and oozes, a never-ending river draining from his body. The tide will come in soon and wash it all away. Maybe it'll take his body too, the sea stealing him away and dragging him to the ends of the Earth, it sounds like a peaceful end.

"Gods, you idiot, what have you done?" She whispers, voice raw from screaming, from terror, and he watches in a dull sort of morbid curiosity as she pushes the exposed intestines back inside him.

The pain is suddenly everywhere as his cut flesh is disturbed and his body goes into spasms, agony setting his nerves ablaze and making tears sprout in his eyes as he shakes his head side to side. Snotlout lets out a broken scream, by Gods, won't he just die already. When the torment simmers down, he opens his watery eyes to see Hiccup knelt opposite Ruffnut, his hands using the fabric of one of Toothless' spare tails to stem the bleeding as he shouts orders to people. ("We need Gothi here! Now please!")

"Did we win?" He croaks stupidly, because he knows that they have but he wants to here it, wants to make sure it wasn't some illusion from his deluded mind.

Hiccup snaps his head to him and those green eyes are vast with panic and dread, but still a smile cracks across his cousin's face as his trembling hands are stained with his blood, stark against his pale skin.

"Yes, we won," Hiccup breathes, then swallows, "Thanks to you, Lout, we won and they won't be coming back, you did great, you were amazing! And you have to keep being amazing now, okay? You have to stay awake, just for a bit longer,"

"I-I don't think-" Another bout of pain, another agonized yell.

Ruffnut pauses for a brief moment, her hands hovering over his gut as she looks at him with anxious eyes, but she's an experienced healer and knows that the more time she wastes, the more blood he loses. The higher the chance she has of losing him. She continues to cut open his tunic so she can start to bandage him up. Snotlout recovers and regains his breath, body sweating and shivering from the pain.

"I don't think you can fix this," He whispers honestly, because there is so much blood and he feels so tired, Gods, there's a hole in him and it won't stop bleeding.

The sun is starting to set and the stars are faintly beginning to shine in the darkening sky, it's making everything feel like a dream, nothing feels real. Hiccup stares at him with low brows and a firm face before he replies, determination shimmering in his eyes as he looks back down at the blood-sodden fabric in his hands.

"Of course, I can,"

Ruffnut and Hiccup briefly share a look over Snotlout's bleeding body, she can see the dread beneath his determination, she can see his doubt. So can Snotlout.

"Where is he? Where's Snotlout?!" Comes a harsh, familiar voice and Snotlout watches as his dad pushes through the crowd circled around him, Chief Stoick and Gobber close behind him.

His dad pauses at the sight of him, dulled eyes glazing over as his chest expands with his shocked inhale, his axe slipping from his loose-fingered hand as he crumbles to the sand, crawling over to him. Snotlout has never seen this look on his dad before, never seen him broken like this, and it's making him realise how bad of a state he is in, how a jaded warrior like Spitelout can be brought to his knees just by the sight of him.

"Dad," Snotlout says quietly, he has never felt so relieved to see his dad in his life.

"I'm here, boyo, I'm here," His dad answers as he sooths his scarred hand over Snotlout's head, pushing away stray strands of blood-slick hair with a tenderness he has never shown to possess. (Spitelout lost all his kindness when his wife died, she took his heart with her)

"I'm sorry, my boy," He whispers, voiced choked from the sobs lodged in his throat, his other hand coming down to rest against Snotlout's jaw, "I've been a cruel man to you and I know-"

"Dad-" Snotlout interrupts, not wanting to hear his father's regrets because he can see them in his pale eyes, writhing around like trapped birds begging to get out. His dad, unsurprisingly, doesn't listen.

"I know it's too late now, but- But I don't want you going believing that I wasn't proud of you," And Snotlout gasps shakily at those words because that is all he's ever wanted, isn't it? His dad's acceptance, the knowledge that he wasn't some burden, that he was loved, "because I am, Snotlout, I am SO proud of the man you've become, a man I could only dream of being,"

Tears drip from his dad's eyelashes and the wetness that's gathered in Snotlout's eyes finally break over, pouring down the side of his face as his throat tightens up. He can feel Ruffnut swathing bandages aground his abdomen, the terrible pain nothing compared to the relief in his heart that if he dies today, he dies with everything he's ever wanted. He'll die like how good men should; worthy, accepted, loved.

"I'm not scared, dad, I'm- I'm not scared," Snotlout reassures, voice tight as more tears spill over, he needs his dad, everyone, to know that he's no afraid of dying, "I'm not afraid anymore,"

His dad smiles with quivering lips and lowers down to press his forehead against Snotlout's, he closes his eyes and he feels like a child, protected in his father's embrace, calloused hands cradling his jaw and head. This is goodbye and Snotlout only feels like he's just got his dad. But it doesn't matter, at some point in his life, his dad was proud of him and this small moment is enough. His dad presses a kiss to his head.

"I'm proud to call you my son," He whispers against his blood-caked skin and suddenly Snotlout knows what it is to be a son, knows what it is to be whole.

With hands hesitant to let go, Spitelout stands and stumbles backwards from his son, not daring to take his eyes off him. Stoick wraps a comforting arm around his back and takes hold of his bicep, squeezing it sympathetically.

Snotlout can see the others standing there too, watching him die. Astrid has her shaking hands over her mouth and tears streak through the grime on her cheeks, he hates that he's caused that strong woman so much grief. Besides her, Fishlegs stands with his war hammer clutched in his grasp like it's the only thing keeping him from falling apart, his face taut with sorrow and sadness. Tuffnut has his arms thrown up over his head and his teeth are bared in anguish, staring between Ruffnut and his broken body as his tears fall, gathering along his jaw.

He wants to apologies, but he feels so weak. It's nearly time to go.

Hiccup is still, sat back on his ankles with a despondent and grief-stricken look on his face as he watches Ruffnut securing his bandages, adding more layers as more blood seeps through, her hands frantic in their movement. And Snotlout thought he was the stubborn one, surely, she can see he's times up.

"Ruff-" Hiccup starts with a sob-choked voice but Ruffnut is shaking her head feverishly, face full of denial.

"No, we just need to get him out of here to Gothi's, she'll stitch him up and he'll be fine-"

"Sis-" Tuffnut steps forward, trying to reason with her.

"HE'LL BE FINE!" Her scream echoes around them all and it's so ferocious, so heartbroken, so desperate, he swears the stars will fall upon them.

Taken aback by the savageness in her eyes, Tuffnut quickly steps back and Ruffnut goes back to fussing with bandages, drawing more out from a compartment in her side armour so she can stem the flow. It won't work, he's lost too much blood. Snotlout know it, she knows it. He's too tired to do much, but he has to make her understand that this is it for them and he doesn't want to die without telling her.

With what little strength he has, he raises his hand and cards his hands into her hair, the part he's latched onto is silky smooth and free of blood, pure. Tugging her braid, Ruffnut turns to look at him, her wet eyes are wild with grief and anger and her lips are curled into a snarl tight with both sadness and rage.

"Don't," She growls, voice wavering, grabbing his hand to pull it away as she looks back to the already soaked through bandages, but he hasn't long left and he wants her to know, needs her to know, he needs to say it one last time.

Snotlout takes her hand into his and rubs his thumb over her bleeding knuckles with a tenderness that aches deep inside him, Ruffnut pauses and turns her head to him, looking hopeless and afraid.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," He breathes repeatedly, his mind is going dizzy but he doesn't need to think, he just needs to feel and the words come out on their own, drenched in his love and adoration for her, "Ruffnut, I love you, I love you, I love you, only you,"

With her head tilting, the tears dribble down her blood-slick face and over her trembling lips as she finally understands that this is it, sobs racking her body as she crawls swiftly over to him. They kiss because it's the last time they will hold each other again and it feels like freedom, feels like coming home. He touches her face gently, branding her eyes, her lips, her hair to his memory in hopes that he keeps it when he goes. If he can't live without her in life, he can't live without in death.

"Snotlout," Ruffnut begs with a keen, her quaking hand weaving through his hair, and he smiles at her, his hand falling from her face.

"It's okay, Princess... you can let me go," He murmurs softly.

Gods, he's going to miss seeing her in the morning, going to miss her barking laugh, going to miss the feeling of her hair in his hands as he braids her hair. He's going to miss her so much; he'll die again in Valhalla from the pain her absence.

"I don't want to," She weeps, shaking her head, cradling his face in her hands, "I don't want to let you go, Mutton-head, don't you get that? I can't!"

"You ca-can," He cracks, tears mixing with blood on his face, and he squeezes her hand, "Let me go,"

And with that, she slips her hand from his. She's taken the first step, she has to do the rest on her own now.

Suddenly, the sky is trembling with a roar and the Earth shudders as Hookfang lands upon the battlefield.

The Dragon's hide ignites when he sees his Rider and he kicks up bloodied sand as he races over to Snotlout, warriors scrambling out of the beasts frenzied path less they be trampled. Hookfang comes to him with alarmed noises in the back of his throat as he dances lightly around his Rider, a dreadful look in his eyes as he tries to find out what's wrong with him. When he sees the blood, an awfully sad wail leaps from his maw and his flames die out. Gods, Hookfang already looks sodden with grief.

"Hooky," Snotlout murmurs tiredly and he turns his head to look at him, his fire-streaked eyes are slitted in horror and with a desperate whine, digs his snout under the Rider's arm before lifting it up, but it falls limply back to the sand.

Get up, Hookfang is begging him, get up, get up, let's go home now.

"I'm sorry, Hooky," Snotlout apologises brokenly, shaking his head, "I can't,"

The Nightmare tenderly nudges his muzzle against Snotlout's red cheek with a guttural purr, the familiar warmth of his scales helps to ease his hurting heart. He lifts his head and again stares at Snotlout with that look, asking him to come home. Snotlout softly shakes his head, blinking away tears so his vision isn't blurry. This is the last time he's going to see his best friend; he can't waste a single second. After a moment, the desperation in Hookfang's eyes morphs into acceptance.

Weakly, Snotlout lifts his hand and holds it out to Hookfang, too exhausted to stretch it out any further, but his friend understands and meets him halfway. Gods, it's like the first time they touched all over again and there is a deep grief in his heart, he's never going to touch Hookfang again, he's never going to fly again. He'll fly with the Valkyries, but he'd choose Hookfang over them any day. He'd chose dragons wings over honour any day.

"You're my best friend," He says softly and in Hookfang's eyes, he sees himself. He doesn't have to say more, doesn't have to pour his heart out his mouth for Hookfang to understand, he just has to look at him and it's enough.

Looking to the sky, he feels his heartbeat slowing, feels very tired.

"Thank you," He breathes weakly and closes his eyes.

Snotlout's palm slips from Hookfang's muzzle, fingertips dragging against the scales like they don't want to let go before they fall, and his hand hits the sand with a sense of finality.

#how to train your dragon #how to train your dragon fanfic #rufflout #WHUMP #snotlout whump #snotlout #ruffnut

30 notes · View notes

senseandaccountability · 4 years

Note

If you'll take another one from the poetry prompts, how about #50 (“With a memory all fragmented but inclined to miracles”)?

Small secret spaces Iron Bull’s Tamassran reflects on the boy she raised. Also on AO3: here

This is soft, okay? I’m soft for tiny babies and their not-mothers. * * *

They call her Aqun, a nickname that sticks through the years, though to all the children in her care, her flock of imekari, she is Tama. Tama with the stories, with the stern reprimands, with the cool hands in the middle of a sweaty nightmare. Some of the women work with paper and quill, some with breeding administration, yet some can be found in the temples and the hospital wings tending to those with the broken minds that qamak leaves behind. She has friends that re-educate and friends that deal with nothing but death, its final stages, its remains, its practical matters. Aqun considers herself lucky that her place is to work at the other end of things. Imekari are life, messy, brutal life that shakes her up every day, at every turn. It keeps her awake, it smashes her heart open. She will lose them. She will lose them all, but some will carry pieces of her with them as they go; it’s a thought that sits well with her, a flash of pride that she allows herself. A Tamassran’s job is to evaluate and educate; she isn’t meant to have favourites but she always has. She considers it a rebellion, a reward, or both. * Ashkaari is a big baby, arrives loud and dark-haired and screams for half a day when they place him in her arms. He’s the genealogical product of a Sten, now lost to glorious battle, asit tal-eb, and a re-educator nicknamed Asta though Aqun does not know this. The Tamassrans in charge of recording never show her the notes of the children given to her house. It would cloud her judgement, upset the scales. Aptitude triumphs over inheritance, as it must in any civilized society. Because he will not settle at night she rubs his back and stomach, sings to him to drown the screaming. He is meant to cry it out, they all are; infancy is a test, one of her old instructors echoes in her memory. But Aqun’s head hurts from listening, so she sings. A made-up song of a made-up nug, the king of all nugs, living in a cave. She feeds him another bottle of milk, mutters a rhyme she vaguely recalls from her own childhood and places her mouth against the crown of his head. A snug little nug, small as a bug. The baby looks at her, blinks, and falls asleep. The warm weight of him in her arms, the softness to his mouth, his tiny fists against her palm. That swelling in her chest, its terrible gentleness. The Qunari don’t have motherhood; she understands why.

* The streets boil in the afternoon heat but the heart of the classroom is cooled by heavy stone and clever architecture. Some of the smaller children shiver as they huddle over the letters, painstakingly forming them with mouth and quills. Baqo sits near Ashkaari and Vasaad, one head shorter than the boys but her mind is sharper, her feet faster, her capacity for mischief endless. They love her, magnificently; Vasaad and Ashkaari would both lay down their lives for the troublemaker with the red eyes. Words have always wielded themselves easily out of her, her mind is strong and supple and she makes up stories where the Qun ends, follows its logical conclusions into tales of dragons and war, of ancient times and endless knowledge. “Tell me about the green dragons in the desert again,” Ashkaari implores, big and towering but gentle, his hands shields rather than weapons. He’s apt at storytelling himself, prone to the fantastic and the untrue. Vasaad heeds them both, moving around them like a protector.

Tama allows them slices of freedom when she can. Moments of play, of pretends. Soon enough they reach their true calling and get scattered across the North but days like today, there are green dragons and friendship, willfully blind eyes and make-believe. *

The Arvaarad comes for Baqo only months later, in the middle of the day, as the other children make equations and build models. Four men march in and lift her up, without a word. Her eyes are wide with fear, her mouth open in a silent scream and Vasaad holds Ashkaari back - or perhaps it’s the other way around, perhaps it will never truly matter. They are two now where they used to be three. Aqun shoves the children back into the classroom, hands on their shoulders, their backs. Herding them like cattle. It’s not a bad metaphor; cattle, too, are meant to serve. “She will serve the Qun with honour,” she tells Ashkaari; his eyes are narrow and dark. “She has found her purpose,” she tells Vasaad who stares back at her, his lower lip trembling. They do not cry over saarebas, she reminds them. They do not cry over finding one’s place, wherever and however that place may appear. The one who was called Baqo takes the chains, takes the stitches and Aqun thinks she can feel them, every single one.

The one who was called Ashkaari becomes Hissrad, becomes a grown man so tall and broad of shoulder that Aqun ages a decade just looking at him. He still calls her Tama, still comes by to see her though he has no reason for it anymore. She tells him this once and he scoffs. They share a mindset, she knows, a flair for the inappropriate, a disregard for the brutality of absolute truths. Some days she thinks that it is her greatest failing that she has allowed it to slip into him, a poison in his soul.

* She learns that Hissrad has been given command. That he’s tracking down Tal-Vashoth. That he’s transferred to Seheron. What an honour, she says to everyone who needs to hear it. Basks in the knowledge that she had been right, that she had seen the boy’s cleverness behind those fists, the sharp wit inside the body of a warrior. The other Tamassrans nod and tut, the way they do. All of them know there is also regret, unspoken, treacherous regret for every name they put down on the lists for the positions that will take their imekari far away, into danger and death. The one that was called Ashkaari, who slept soft-faced and defenseless in her arms when no one was looking, takes the orders he is given and Aqun thinks she can feel them, every single one, the devastation of them rattling inside her chest. * Once, he comes to visit. He’s in Par Vollen, temporarily liberated of the burdens of Seheron, his face cut in stone but his embrace is tight and warm and Aqun smiles into the crook of his neck when he lifts her up from the ground. He’s brought cocoa beans and spices; she makes supper and refrains from staring at him like an overbearing old Tama. They don’t speak much at all; he stays the rest of the day. * Once, in the Viddathlok of Qunandar, she sees him when he has returned. He’s shipped from the island of asala-taar like a caged beast, rumour has it; he arrives in chains and is accompanied by soldiers on each side of him. The gossip is unremorseful, crisp, but it tastes of ashes. They had found him surrounded by so many dead they had lost count. That’s a lie, Aqun knows, they always count. The Qun is nothing if not a balance. Ashkaari who used to fear demons, his teeth clattering in the dark, his hands tugging at hers. They get inside your mind, he says. I don’t know how to hit things that live in my head. Hissrad who spends two months with the re-educators but they refuse his request for qamak. It’s partly her fault that they send him off, his faith broken and his mind all fragmented but inclined to miracles. The one that got away. * The one who was called Hissrad becomes the Iron Bull and Aqun first hears it in the queue outside the baker, waiting for her daily bread, then from an agent with red eyes and a hoarse voice.

She hears it and all the way home, her heart hammers the rhythm of the words. He got away, he got away. The Ben-Hassrath agents frown over her, towering like conquerors before a bas and Aqun looks them in the eyes and says: “yes, I failed. I should have seen. He was unfit for the job. I will do better, allow me to make amends.” Says it, while she thinks run, Ashkaari, there is much to struggle against, you always knew. There’s a note, deep and low, singing of her own defiance and she thinks one of the agents can hear it because he holds her gaze for so long Aqun begins to prepare for her own re-education. Then he lets her go. She’s old, she’s beginning to lose her rough edges and her patience shrinks with every passing day, they don’t count on her to rectify her mistake; they let her go. They will go after him instead. * Years later, she hears the news in the streets outside the market. This time, no one deems her in a position to have the reports so she has to make do with gossip. They tell her the attack that Par Vollen loudly condemns while sending resources to Orlais, sneaking ships and coin past all boundaries, has been a failure. That the Inquisition still has the Tal-Vashoth in their midst, that he had not listened to reason or respected the chain of command. They tell her the Viddasala’s direct orders had been refused by the one they once called Hissrad. Nothing but a savage now. His soul is dust. He’s lost. The words sound like curses but they fall like relief in Aqun’s chest, fall like tears on her aging hands that used to hold him. She has educated her last flock of imekari, told her last batch of night time stories. They have been so many, her body is full of their voices, their faces, their nicknames. She has been theirs. Some of them, like Ashkaari, have been hers. She will lose them all but some will carry pieces of her as they go and she has given him her heart, as much of it as he has ever dared to give and loved him in all the small, secret spaces she was never allowed.

#prompt fic #brightoncemore #the iron bull #iron bull #dragon age

67 notes · View notes

sasskarian · 4 years

Text

Fanfic Masterpost ... sort of

In honor of Fanfic Appreciation, I put together a list of my fics for anyone who’d like to look

Under the cut, because length

Dragon Age:

After the Glitter Fades (Glitterverse): Hawke x Fenris, modern AU. (Long fic, WIP) Hawke and Fenris are movie stars in a torrid love affair. Fenris has a mysterious past. Also Cassandra is investigating a murder mystery? Varric, as ever, is a delight. (*this is borrowed from @nug-juggler‘s excellent and shorter summary!)

Memorable quote: Fenris observed candidly was something sacred. For a moment, Hawke fiercely wished she were an artist. The scene in front of her was too… every word she could think of— beautiful, elegant, breathtaking— was trite, a pale description of perfection.

In the Heart of the Woods: Lavellan x Fairbanks rarepair. (WIP) Inquisitor Lavellan’s heart is broken by a certain Commander, Fairbanks has an appreciation for her, and a love story blooms like elfroot in the Emerald Graves.

Memorable quote: This kiss, she thinks, two mouths moving in perfect unison, is a spell of its own. Not quite love, not yet, but close enough she can pretend it is. Hope wells up, a solid thrum beating in counterpoint to her heart, and for one perfect moment, the world just bows down and… stands still. All that exists, all that ever has existed or ever will exist is wrapped up right here, right now, in Fairbanks’ lips on hers. Motes of dust turn golden in the sunbeams splashing through the roof, and a touch— his thumb, her cheek— says a million more words than words ever could.

Yesterdays: Surana x Zevran, mild Surana x Alistair pining. Post Origins, complete. A Warden’s sacrifice means something only as long as someone remembers it. A king looks back, balancing regrets with happiness.

Memorable quote: With a half-sob, he realizes he’s forgotten the sound of her voice. Oh, he remembers how it made him feel, all those years ago, all the glorious, shining moments where happiness dwells still. But what she truly sounded like, what sounds she made as she buried herself in books, the snap of her magic, the low buzz of her and Zevran whispering in their tent, all of that is gone. He knows it happened, but the memory is lit dimly in his mind, a torch burned too low to be flame but not low enough for embers yet.

If You Ever Did Believe (for my sake): Lavellan x Cullen. (On temporary hiatus) A wary Commander. A lost Dalish mage. Two hearts beating alone and exhausted on a battlefield, their only rest coming from each other.

Memorable quote: “Does your Maker hate us so much?” Isera asked bitterly, and for a moment, Cullen felt as though years had rippled, bringing his past self— still clanking through the halls of Kinloch Hold in Templar plate— and his current together. He’d asked Ser Greagoir the same question once, after a Harrowing went wrong and the body of a former apprentice lay at their feet. So much potential wasted, so much fear in the mages’ eyes after that. For once, Greagoir had shown a hint of emotion, clapping Cullen’s shoulder briefly before walking away, but hadn’t answered.

Voiceverse: Lavellan x Solas/Dread Wolf. (WIP) Building off of the great works of @khirsahle and @athreehundredthirtythree. All mages are born with a soulmate--a voice they hear in the darkness of the Fade all their lives. The lucky ones find their soulmates and forge a bond strong enough to threaten the very foundations of the Chantry. At least, that's what they claim. So what happens when a Dalish mage hears the voice of their most reviled and feared god shaping her dreams?

Memorable quote: Accompanying the thundering voice, great fissures ruptured around her hiding spot, green light streaking upward as they gathered into a roiling cloud. A wave of raw sound— howls, cries, pleas— rolled over her, forcing her to her knees. Iveani clapped her hands over her ears, losing her own scream among the agony thundering through the Fade. All caution, all her hard-won lessons about walking the Fade, vanished into the back of her mind under the need to simply ride out the explosion and survive.

Mass Effect:

Home is Where You Are: Ryder x Jaal (WIP). Ryder didn’t cross two galaxies and 600 years in search of love. But damn if she didn’t find it anyway.

Memorable quote: “I should take a shower,” he mumbled, as the same time as Sara said, “Would you like to stay?” Both of them broke off, staring at the other, and she laughed nervously. That feeling was back, the one from the tech lab, fragility and strength and affection turned fierce and bright tumbling over and over one other.

A Song of Sea and Stars: Garrus x Shepard x Thane (WIP). Our favorite turian badboy sees right through the mask the galaxy’s most famous Commander projects. Neither of them expected to fall in love on a host of impossible missions. And both are taken by surprise by a pious Drell who steals both their hearts.

Memorable quote: (He opens his eyes, shocked how it feels to look into her face, intimate and hungry. He hazily notices that up close, her eyes are thulium-gray. There's a hot, tight knot in his chest and she's pressed so close, he thinks he could count each faint freckle on her face.) (They look like tiny stars.) (…there are twenty-eight on her right cheek. Thirty on her left. And fourteen, right across the bridge of her nose.) (Those are his favorite. They remind him of his own markings.)

the sound of shattering glass: Generic Shepard, post-Tuchanka, pre-Citadel II. The Shroud explodes, taking a beloved friend with it. Shepard only has herself to blame.

Memorable quote: “Damn Reapers,” he said, striving for nonchalance. “Always throwing us around.” “Banged us up pretty good,” she agreed, and he knew she wasn’t talking about their bumps and bruises. “So what do we do about them?” “Get back on our feet. Keep fighting.” Garrus hummed as she shifted closer, pressed her forehead against his neck. “Maybe find a way to use some really big canons I spend half my time adjusting.”

Star Wars:

He Might Like That: Mandalorian x Cara Dune pining. So they argue. So they took down Gideon, and have a magic green frog baby older than both of them. That doesn’t make them a thing. Does it?

Memorable quote: He tunes back into the not-so-friendly argument in time to hear Greef splutter. “You trash talked while holding hands! If that’s not flirting, I’m a kowakian monkey lizard.” “It was arm wrestling, not holding hands,” Din points out mildly.

Star by Star: Post TRoS. Ben x Rey pining, Finn x Rey x Poe. Can three hopeless idiots in love fill a wound as deep as the death of a dyad? Maybe not, but they’re out to try anyway.

Memorable quote: “You know,” Poe whispers, a glint of mischief in his eyes, “if we ever did tell him we loved him, he’d probably sleep right through it.” Rey touches her fingers to his lips, tracing the shape of his questioning smile. It’s an invitation to play, that smile. A careful offer of love, of comfort. And though she’s not sure if he can really understand when even she doesn’t, she’s finally ready to try a little.

Counting The Days (Since Exegol): Finn x Rey x Poe, Ben x Rey. Its been 42 days since Palpatine’s death. 42 long days since she felt the surge of light in Ben Solo. And in her dreams, something whispers on the edge of the Force. But she’s shut it down too tightly to hear it.

Memorable quote: True to form, Poe can’t resist the urge to kiss away Finn’s troubles whenever possible, and Rey looks away to give them a moment. Some love stories work out, yes, and she loves Finn and Poe more than almost anything else. But that doesn’t stop the way bitterness floods her mouth as the memory of Ben surfaces, and it isn’t until Poe gently squeezes her knee (and she throttles back the near-instinctive urge to break his fingers from a lifetime of fending off handsy scavengers on Jakku) that she comes back to the moment. His brow furrows and she reaches for him, smoothing out the lines of his frown with her thumb. “I’m okay,” she says, answering his unspoken question. It’s mostly a lie, but she has to say it. Most days, she’s okay enough.

A Language Made for Lovers: SWTOR (NSFW). Torian Cadera x Bounty Hunter, gender neutral. Reflections on love and marriage under the glow of hyperspace.

Memorable quote: He murmurs in your ear, words that should sound harsh in that still-new tongue scalding your mouth, molding you from aruetii to mandalorian. But the love in his voice softens them, steeps them in warmth and adoration. Still the language of a hunter, of those brave souls willing to be reforged, but with a gentle side, a language reserved for lovers. Words like cyare and riduur, words that mean I love you and forever and home.

Malicious Compliance: SWTOR (NSFW). Malavai Quinn x Sith Warrior, gender neutral. Far away, in an apartment no one knows about, a Sith Lord plays dire games of control... and trust.

Memorable quote: It takes a man with the courage of an entire fleet of Mandalorians to love a Sith, and oh, how he loves you. Like you hung the moons and the stars and all the spaces between. Like you are his other half, like loving you is his sole purpose in life, does Malavai Quinn love you. Your old masters spoke nothing of this, of this enraging hunger gnawing at your bones and curling into the hollows of your rib cage. ... Is it really even love if you don’t want to devour him just a little?

Misc:

Tumblr Prompts: Grab bag of every fandom and series listed above. Prompts filled originally here on tumblr.

Visual Files: Collections of art and commissions from talented friends and artists here on tumblr.

Every Beautiful Thing: Crimson Peak. Thomas x Edith, Edith x Alan. Edith learned, in the dark halls of Allerdale, not to take ghosts lightly. But still she waits, every year, for a chance to see Thomas again. Until the night their son tells her he can see him too.

Memorable quote: Snow heralds nothing but pain in Edith’s world: first her mother’s funeral, smothered in fat white flakes wet on her lashes like tears, then her father’s. Smaller ones, then, rain slowly freezing and scattering on the ground; the ones that night at Allerdale were the smallest yet, more ice pellet than snow. Jagged, hateful things scraping at her with a cold that burned through skin and encased bone.…God, how she has come to hate the snow.

Where I Can’t Follow: Co-authored by @suspendnodisbelief. show!Witcher, mild Geralt x Jaskier. (Temporary hiatus) Drawing from a variety of inspiration, including greek mythos. Geralt takes a blow meant for Jaskier, finally granted the death by battle he expects Witchers to end by. And Jaskier is not having it, at all. It’s his turn to save Geralt, even if he has to walk the entire bloody underworld to do it.

Memorable quote: “Geralt, get up. Come on, open your eyes. You’re going to upset Roach if you keep this up, and she’ll bite me. You know you aren’t allowed to be dead, because Yennefer didn’t give you permission, and neither did the Princess, and I’m pretty sure they both outrank you.”

#dragon age #Mass Effect #star wars #the mandalorian #the witcher #crimson peak #swtor #my fic #fanfic writer appreciation day

24 notes · View notes

lay-d-l · 4 years

Text

Zoyalai Modern AU

This spring I joined @grishaversebigbang and for whatever reason I signed up as a writer. Not a very smart idea it was very stressful and I don’t even like it that much, but y’know, next year, I’ll be ready.

I worked with incredibly talented people who are, generally the sweetest human beings you could meet.

Materialki:

@someofgennie x

@edmeom x

Corporalki:

@shelbychild

Fic summary: Zoya was living day for day, not caring really, not after him. After she bumps into a guy at her favorite coffee shop, her life gets interesting again. Will she let herself feel again?

you can find my fic here *it’s not there yet, so if you wanna see it, keep reading*

It was a wet Tuesday morning; it had been raining all night and I wasn’t feeling like going out. But things happen 24/7 and that means reporters, like me, work 24/7. I wiggled out of bed and went to the bathroom. Seeing what I saw, I groaned. It's Zoya's-Famous-Bed-Hair. Once, in junior year, I woke up late and didn't have time for hair and makeup. So, naturally, I put on the first thing I got my hands on and ran out. Which is usually okay, right? Yeah, well Os Alta Speciality School has uniforms. Though, they’re not like Ketterdam ones. In Ketterdam, it's regular pants-shirt-jumper; in Os Alta they wore keftas. That's not the point, though; the night before, Genya and I were out, partying, so I wore clothes from last night's party. The principal suspended me for the day. This morning, I braided my hair, took my laptop, and left for the Dragon Scale. Dragon Scale is a coffee shop just around the corner from my apartment. Since I started drinking coffee when I was fifteen I have always gone there; it felt safe. Mostly because no one, not even Genya, knew about it. Just like every other day, it was almost empty. One person at the counter and a few others scattered in the back. I went to the counter and Anna, the barista, smiled at me. "The usual?" she asked. "You know it," I smiled back. "Could you bring it to me though? I have a lot of work today." Not turning from the shelves she said, "No worries." With that I went to sit by the window. I liked looking at people as they passed by, even when it's not a busy day. I opened the laptop and started writing: the elections are nearing, are you ready to decide between our two competitors? Is it going to be the cunning Petyr or the sly Nikolai Lantsov? I was never into politics, but Shelby, my publisher, insisted I write about this year's election. I love my job, I really do, but this is incredibly boring and the campaigns don't start until a few weeks from now, so when Anna brought my frappe, I looked to the street. I was like a less smart Sherlock Holmes. Meaning I can't really deduct, I just notice how people walk and dress, or if they have any ticks. Like if their left shoulder is lower than their right one. There was a woman in a hot pink coat, which was an unusual choice considering not many people wear bright colours at this time of year. A pig tailed girl who had stuck a lollipop to her mother's jacket. And a guy who was trying so hard not to be seen, but who obviously failed. With nothing else to do I packed my laptop, took my cup and went out. As I was turning to say bye to Anna, I bumped into a wall. I said, "Really? Couldn't have told me I'm going into a wall???" She started laughing hysterically. "What?" "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm no wall." I turned around. He definitely wasn't a wall. "Witty remarks are really unnecessary." I said. He put his arms up in surrender. "I am sorry that I bumped into you though." “Don’t worry, it could have been someone not as pretty as you.” “Thank you, I think. I’m going to go now. Bye Anna!” as I was walking out I heard Anna talking to the man.

Next day, I was sitting in the park, trying to write something on the elections but it was a no go. I was closing my laptop when I felt someone sit beside me. I looked to my right and saw the guy from the coffee shop. “What does ‘Z’ stand for?” “What are you doing here?” I asked, “Are you following me?” “No, I was walking, and I saw a familiar face, thought I say ‘Hi’. What does ‘Z’ stand for?” “It stands for Zebra.” “Really?” “No, of course not, it stands for Zoya.” “Oh that’s a nice name, is it yours? What does it mean?” “Yes, of course it’s mine. It means ‘life’”I said. “And you are?” “Nikolai.” he looked at his watch, “As much as I liked this encounter, I must go now.” “Bye?” He bowed to his waist, “Farewell.”

I snoozed my alarm three times, but it kept ringing. Then I realised it's not a regular alarm, it's a Genya alarm. "What is it, Kostyk?" I said into the phone. "Oooh!" she exclaimed, "Kostyk, that sounds nice. Not used to it though." "I know that's why I said it. What's the rush?" "It's Saturday." "Oka-" "ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU FORGOT OUR WEEKLY MEETING???" "Don't yell," I said. "Of course I didn't forget, you'd kill me if I did. I just didn't think it'd be this early." "Early?" she asked, "Zoya it's 11:00 in the morning!" "Oops? Okay, well, I'm obviously awake now, so what were you thinking of doing?" I asked. "The Zoo! Winter is coming, and I want to see all the summer animals before they stop going out." "Sure, meet you at the park in two hours?" "Yeah, love you!" she said, and hung up. I got up and went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was empty, guess I forgot to go to the store. So I decided to go to a bakery down the street, hoping they still have something warm. Luckily for me, they did. I bought two dollars worth of mini-whinnies and got back home. It was a relatively sunny day, so I sat at the balcony. And for a Saturday, it wasn't really busy. Besides Genya days, Saturdays are usually the farmers market days too. Most people don't have time to buy groceries during the week. I looked up to the Grand Palace. Tourists always said it was the most beautiful building in Os Alta, but I could never see it. It's not ugly, I just found the Little Palace more interesting. The Grand Palace is like any other palace ever, with big towers and shiny roofs, I can see that in any place that had a royal dynasty. But only we have a huge library with a fountain next to the royal Palace. I looked at my watch and yelped, I'm gonna be late!, I thought. I changed from my sweats and tee, and put on jeans, a jumper and boots, In case it rains. Took the leather jacket and keys from the hanger and ran out. The park wasn't far from my apartment so I walked. When I got to our usual meeting spot, Genya was already there. I waved apologetically. She rolled her eyes: "At least you're here, let's go!" "Fine, fine, I'm going!", I laughed. We sat in her car and went to the zoo. During the ride we talked about what we did during the week, how's married life and how's David in general, but all that was dropped the moment we walked through the gates of the zoo. First we saw the birds; pigeons, eagles and those funny colored ones that sing. Next animals were sheep, llama and deer. Their cages were around a pavilion that had horses and ponies you could ride, but those are mostly for kids. Few years back, Genya asked if we could ride but they wouldn’t let us. She said “it wasn’t fair that only kids can do fun stuff…” and continued to tell me how when she has kids they will be free to do whatever they want. We walked next to the deer cage. David loves them so every time we’re here we tend to stay a bit longer. Today we saw there was a new addition to the family. On the cage it said she was a doe named Lola. Next stop were the ostridges and the emus, we skipped those, mostly because one ostridge bit me a few years back when I tried to feed it. Genya got it on camera. On the other side of the sidewalk were the bison, and we always acted as if they were the flying bison from Avatar: the Last Airbender. We named all of them Appa. The seals were sleeping so we went to the reptiles instead. Most of the snakes were also sleeping, as was the aligator so we decided to skip the hippoes too and went to see the wolves. Though they didn't pay attention to us as they were eating. The monkeys were mostly shitting onto their hands and throwing it at each other… The petting zoo was empty so we had all the little goats to ourselves! When I was a kid, and my mom still my mom, I tried to take one of the goats with me home, but I couldn’t carry it alone so it stayed in the petting zoo. When we got to the bears most of them were in the water, but there was one who went in circles around his pond, like he was trying to catch fish. Lions were lying around, hyenas were laughing at the visitors, which is not creepy at all… At that point we got tired and went to the big pond where the ducks and the swans are. I sat on a bench while Genya bought ice cream. “Strawberry?” she asked. I just nodded. "So," she started, "you're not seeing anyone, right?" I choked, "What?!" "Are you seeing anyone?" "Where is that coming from?!" "David recently got together with a childhood friend and when he got home, he said you'd like him and that you should go on a date." she said, casually. "Genya, you know I'm not the one for dating…" She touched her eye-patch and looked away. "I know, but just try? I mean, just meet with him, then decide what to do. Not everyone is like Alex…" I sighed, "Sure, wh-" "REALLY?", she exclaimed. "Yes, chill. Who is he?" "Oh, oh… I have no idea. David just called him Sobachka, but-" "Genya…" "But he can't be bad if he's friends with David. If you don't feel like staying, I'll pull you out." "Okay, Pinkie Promise?", I asked, and she smiled, "Cross my heart, hope to fly!" We threw the rest of our cones to the ducks, passed the safari animals, and finished this year's last visit to the zoo. Next to the zoo is an empty parking lot that has a small adventure park. Ever since I befriended Genya, after the zoo we go to the ferris wheel and the bumper cars.

Since I agreed to go on a blind date I decided it was best to do it in a familiar setting. So I told Genya that I wanted it to be in a coffee shop near my flat. I put on my battle armor, jeans and a sweater, and went out. The streets were empty, even for a weekday. I went into the shop and looked around to see a familiar face. Anna, behind the counter, Gennie in the corner, drawing probably. I sat in my usual place next to the window and waited. Anna came by the table. “Hey, what can I get you?” I looked up, “Nothing yet, I’m on a date…” “That’s a new one, how did that happen?” “I was out with Genya and she suggested it. And it’s Genya, she thinks he’s good, and she would not stop until I said yes so I’m here to see what happens.” She smiled, “Well, I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” “Yeah,” I said and looked behind her, “Gennie’s calling for you.” She turned around, “Oh, I better get that, she’s trying out a new technique.” Then she left. The set time was 17:00, I came a little earlier, just in case. I took my phone out of my pocket to see the time. He’s late. Door opened and Nikolai came in, he looked around and rolled his eyes when he saw me. He came and sat at the chair opposite of me. “Honestly Zoya, is it not tiring to follow me? You could just ask for my number.” I scoffed; ”Don’t flatter yourself I’m here for a date.” His eyes widened, “Come again?” “You thought you were-” “You’re a friend of David’s.” “What? How do you know that?” I asked. He scratched his head, “I, oh Saints…” “You’re my date, aren’t you?” “I would seem so.” I frowned, “Hey, don’t look so pissed I didn’t know either.” “Do you want to do this?” I asked. “I don't see why not.” he said. “I have no expectations, we sit and talk. If we click, cool. If not, we had an interesting afternoon. Deal?” He put his hand out. I shook it; “Zoya Nazyalenski, nice to meet you.” “Nikolai, my pleasure.” he smiled. Anna came by again, “This, it’s hilarious.” she said. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that.” Nikolai replied. She laughed; “ What can I get you?” “I’ll have a Frappe.” I said, “ What do you want?” Nikolai looked at me, then at Anna, “I’ll have what she’s having, and a plate of biscuits.” Anna nodded, “Coming right up.” “So,” I started, “do we start again, or do we just continue where we left off?” “We continue, can't pretend like you’re not my biggest fan.” i laughed, “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. On another note, how do you know David?” “We lived in the same neighborhood when we were kids.” he said, “One day, when we were 8, there was an explosion in his garage. I was playing in my backyard when it happened, I came running to see what happened, to see if he was okay. Spoiler alert he was, but I think he burned his eyebrows off.” “What happened?” I asked eagerly. “When?” I sighed, “What caused the explosion?” “Oh.” he looked confused, “I don’t know. I never asked. And how do you know David?” “I’m afraid my story isn’t so interesting, we met at highschool.” “You went to the same school?” “Yes but we were on different courses. I took journaling, he took engineering. He wasn’t social, I barely knew him before my best friend, his now wife Genya, worked up the courage to ask him out in junior year.” “Yeah, he definitely wasn’t a social butterfly. I was really surprised when I heard he was getting married.” “But I didn’t see you at the wedding.” I stated. “My father got sick, I couldn’t come” “I’m sorry to hear that.” he smiled; “I’m not, he’s an ass” “Who’s an ass?” Anna came with our order. “His father.” “My father” we said at the same time. I looked at him and smiled, he winked at me. “I see where you get it form” He gasped; “you didn’t” “I did.” Anna facepalmed. “I can see this is going great, so I’m gonna go.” “Thank you Anna.” Nikolai said. She waved him off. “Since we’re basically playing 20 questions, what else do you want to know?” I asked. He looked out the window, “Cliche, but, what is your favorite season and why?” “Winter, because there is nothing better than a wool jumper. My turn. Why does David call you Sobachka?” “This got very personal, very fast.” “Oh,” i said, “I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” “No it’s okay, no one is ever that direct with me.” he said and ate his last biscuit. “Why? Is it because you’re in this year's elections?” “I thought you didn’t recognise me.” “Oh please, I’m writing an article about you and the other guy” “Huh, he really is ‘the other guy’” he said. “So, are you going to tell me what’s behind your nickname?” “Right, ugh, I’m not my father's son, my mom cheated. Not many people know this. The ones who do call me Sobachka, y’know, like a dog.” “That’s rough buddy… So it doesn’t bother you?”I asked. “No, not really.” I chuckled, “Not many people are like that.” Indeed they are not.” he looked at his watch, “This has been fun, but I’m afraid I must go now. I would like to see you again.” “I would like to see you too.” I smiled.

I was walking down the stairs when I heard my phone ring. “Hello?” “Hi, is this Zoya?”said the voice. “Yes, and you are?” I sighed as I got to the bottom and went to check my mailbox. “Is my voice so plain to you that you do not remember it?” “Nik, it’s not like I have your number saved in my phone. How may I help you this fine evening?” “I was wondering if you are free tonight? For a stroll in the park.” “We saw each other two days ago!” “Please? I need a friendly companion.” he paused, “We’ll eat doughnuts?” “How dare you use doughnuts against me?! Of course I’ll come. Meet in front of the Little Palace fountain in an hour? “Done. I’ll see you there.” I smiled fondly. “Bye Nik.” During the past few weeks I have been seeing him more and more. One Saturday he and David tagged along on our weekly meeting. I got out of the building and went across the street. There were lots of cars so I decided against calling a taxi. It wasn’t a long walk to the Little Palace, but I had to go to the Library first. There weren't many people in the Library so it was a quick stop. The Librarian, Kuwei, is a friend of Nina’s so I paused to chat with him, but he had work to do so I left him to it. When I got to the fountain, Nikolai was already there. I kissed him on the cheek and sat next to him. “What’s up?” He picked up a bag and gave it to me, “Doughnuts first.” “Honestly I don’t know how can someone not like you.” I said and took a bite of the doughnut. “So good…” “Me or the doughnut?” he asked. “What?” “You said it’s good. Me or the doughnut?” “Oh,” I laughed, “definitely the doughnut!” “HA-HA, very funny. Look I didn’t want to ask you, but I really need help with my speech.” I wiped my mouth to get rid of any leftover sugar and took out a notepad out of my bag. “Sure, what's it about?” “Well, this showing is supposed to be about children. Their education, the schools, hospitals, even orphanages.” he rubbed his neck. “That’s great, children should be taken care of, we know that first hand.” “Yeah, but I don’t know how to phrase it. I thought you could help with that.” “Of course. You’re gonna tell me everything that you want to say, we’ll write that down and work our way from there.” We were working on the speech until the sun went down. I looked up at him and said:”It’s getting late, I should go…” Nikolai scratched his head, “Yeah, no, of course, we’ll see eachother on David's birthday, right?” “Yes. This has been fun, I’d like to be more involved with your campaign if you’ll have me.” “You’re always welcome, always.” he hugged me, “I’ll see you in a few days. Bye Zoya.” “Bye Nik.”

“Botkin is making a reunion.” “What, when?” “I don’t know, some time after today.” Genya said. “Hold on, how do you know that?” “Didn’t he call you?” “Not that I know. Wait let me check,'' I took my phone from the table and looked at my phone log, “Oh, right I do have a missed call from an unknown caller. But do I really have to go, I mean I’ll see everyone I like tonight.” Genya sighed, “Zoya, it’s a party, you are going, you are going to have fun.” “But-” “End of discussion.” “EnD oF dIsCuSsIoN” I mocked her. “Oh, piss off. Just don’t be late.” “That’s you Kostyk. Gotta go, love you!” I ended the call. We are celebrating David’s birthday tonight, I had to go and buy him a gift. A normal person would have done that by now, but I just love to do everything last minute. I dressed up, took my wallet and went out to the hardware store. It started to rain during the taxi ride, I was, naturally unprepared for that, thus making me a bit damp when I entered the store. One of the older workers came up to me and said:”A bit unexpected, isn’t it?” “You have no idea.” I replied. “How can I help you?” “It’s my friend's birthday, and he likes to repair regular household items, or just make up new things, so i thought to buy him a new tool kit because his old one is really worn out and probably very rusty or just damaged.” “Right.”he said, “Would you like a completely new tool box, or separate objects and a tool box?” I looked around, “Well, if it were for you what would you get?” “Is there a price range?” “Not really, no. But let’s not make it more than a weekly paycheck.” After a series of isles and relentless explaining of different brands of the same monkey wrench, he recommended a box with wrenches of all sizes, seven different screwdrivers and some kind of special doorknob key that is also in different sizes and very useful. When I bought the tool box, I went to the liquor store to buy Genya’s favorite wine, but the rain hadn’t stopped. I was dripping wet when I came to their apartment. I knocked, twice, when David opened the doors, he went in for a hug, I put my finger up “No, no, we’ll do that when I’m dry.” He shrugged. “If you say so.” “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” “Thank you Zoya, come on in.” he let me through.I pointed my finger at Genya, “See, not late! And not the last one to get here.” “Not to burst your bubble, but you are the last one.” it was Mal. I looked around, Mal and Alina were on the couch, Nina sitting beside them. Toyla was on the armchair next to the couch. Tamar and Nadia were on the loveseat opposite the couch, near the kitchen. Leoni and Adrik on the floor beside them. Genya was on a stool, her back turned. “No I'm not, Nik isn’t here”. I took off my jacket, and sat on the edge of the couches arm rest.. “Nikolai isn’t coming, his father got worse. Didn’t he tell you?” “No…” I took my phone out of my pocket, “I really need to get this serviced, don’t I?” Nina raised a glass and said: “Yes, yes you do.” I stuck out my tongue to her, “Shut up.” “To change the topic, Zoya, are you going to the reunion?” Leoni asked. I groaned. “Yes… But I don’t really want to.” “Why is that that?” “I don’t like people from highschool, plus, half of them hate me because I acted like a bitch. “ i said, “You all are enough for me.” “That’s cute.” Adrik said. I smiled, “Yeah, cute. And honestly what can we do there and not here? I mean the only highlight of that reunion is Botkin.” Genya looked at me, “Zoya. You are going. You can Ask Nikolai to come with you.” “I doubt Nik would say yes. It’s a highschool reunion full of people he doesn’t know.” “You’d be surprised.” said Alina. “And with that comment we conclude this topic...” I said.

“That’s enough talking about food, It’s making me hungrier than I already am.” David said after an intense discussion of ‘Are Waffles Better Than Pancakes’. If you ask Nina, they are. Though, for Nina, waffles are better than anything. David stood up, “The boys and I will go to Jess’ to get pizza, you try to be nice and leave some wine for us, okay?” We started to laugh, “We’ll do our best.” said Tamar. “Oh, do you think Darina’s working?” asked Tolya. “Why?” asked Mal. “Well, she likes to draw, if she’s working, we could ask that she draws David with ketchup on one pizza, and write ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ on the other.” “Huh, could be fun.” said Adrik, as he went after the others and walked out of the flat. “Bring umbrellas, it’s still raining!” yelled Nadia after them, “Idiots…” she muttered. I looked at Genya, “Kostyk.” “What?” “Go bring out the good wine.” I said. “Ooh, yes, bet! Alina, with me, we need to find the wine.” They stood up, and went to the kitchen. "Okay," Tamar started, "so there's this game Tolya and I used to play as kids, when the boys get back do you want to try?" "Yeah, sure." I said and turned my head towards the kitchen, "Girls, Tamar has a game idea, come here!" They stumbled back to the living room. Alina sat down and asked "What's the name of the game?" "Um, I don't really know? We always called it Nervous Breakdown, cause no one would believe Tolya, but I think it's called Werewolves." she said. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" yelled Leoni. "I think I know that game, but we called it Mafia. You played it with cards?" Genya sighed, "That's great and all, but we don't know how to play." "True." I pitched in. "Okay, so this is kinda complicated so no interruptions and questions are after I explain how the game works, cool?" Tamar asked. "Yes mom." we said in usion. "Genya, go grab the cards, rest of you sit around the table." When Genya got back and sat down, Tamar started to take the playing cards. She started explaining: "Point if the game is to find out who's the werewolf. We sit in a circle. Everybody has a card that's in front of them, that's your card and there's a card in the middle. After you see what's your card and what role are you playing you put it down and don't touch it. You put your hand next to it and close your eyes. Then when I say your role you wake up and do your roles part "Since it's seven of us there's eight playing cards. Two Jokers, they're the werewolf, they change the middle card with anyone's card and touch the person who's card they changed. But they touch with the card not the hand. Nod if you understood." We all nodded. "Then there's a Queen, she's the helper for the werewolfs, she wakes the same time as them and does nothing during that time, but when we all wake she tries to convince the rest of us that she's the werewolf so we'd kill her instead of the real werewolf so that the werewolfs would win. "Then there's the Jacks, he's a psychic, he can see anybody's card and the middle one, but he doesn't touch and he can't see his card in case it's been changed during the werewolf time. "Next up is King, he's a thief. He changes his card with anybody's card and touches the person who's card he changed. And then there's the Aces who are villagers and do nothing." she finished. I looked at all of them one by one and started laughing. Everyone was throwing a fit, there were a lot of spilled drinks. "No joke now, I think we could try, but everytime someone makes a mistake we drink!" Nina said. "You're gonna be the first one!" We started laughing again. And after a few more useless tries, we got serious. They all had so many questions that took a long time answering, boys got back with food before we could even play. So as we ate, we tried to convince them to play, but it was useless since they were drunk off their minds. To be fair I wasn't much better. We spent the night eating and drinking. Mostly drinking. And eating. It was getting late, most of the group left. Alina, Mal and I were still at the flat. David and Mal were talking in the kitchen, Alina was in the bathroom. Genya and I were on the floor.“Zoya?” “Yeah?” “You’re drunk, right?” asked Genya. I looked up and back down, the room was wobbly. “Yeah, definitely.” “Do you like Nikolai?” “Of course I like Nik, he’s a great friend.” She shook her head, “Do you like Nikolai? Like, like-like.” “Oh…” “Well?” “I- no. Maybe, how does one know that? Is there a test I can do online?” Genya started squealing, “HA! I knew it!” She turned toward the kitchen, “I raise my bet to 20 dollars!” But I didn’t hear that. I was thinking of Nikolai, of his face when we see each other.

I came home from Genya and David’s. I showered and put on my pajamas. I fell asleep. I woke up. My phone was ringing. It’s election day. I fell asleep. I woke up. I tried to write. I tried to eat. I fell asleep. I woke up. I got another text. “We won the election. -Nik”. I fell asleep. I woke up. I failed to write. I failed to eat. I fell asleep.

When I finally decided it was time to get out of the house, I went to Dragon Scale. It was extremely windy outside so I put on a beanie. When I walked in, my head was bowed, I went full face into someone. “I’m so sorry.” I said and continued forward,when someone took my hand. I turned around and saw Nikolai. “Zoya.” “Hi.” “Why didn’t you answer my calls? Genya said you were alright but you scared me to death!” I just stared, "Zoya, talk to me!" "Can we go and sit?" I asked. He followed me as I went to the corner booth and sat down, Nikolai a few steps behind me. "I got really drunk at Genya and David's. And I said something to Genya. And I got scared, because if it's true it might end bad for me, just like last time." "What are you talking about?" "i was in many relationships, but none were very serious until I met this guy, it was years ago, when I was in highschool. He was older than me, and I really liked him, at the beginning. But as it went on I realised he was being toxic. It… escalated." "Ecsalated how? Did he hurt you?" Nikolai asked. "No, not me, but Genya. You know that eye-patch she wears?" He nodded. "He did that, I don't know how, I was at work when it happened. I asked her to tell me but she refused, I just stopped pushing." I bowed my head. "Zoya." I looked up. "Nik, if I were to tell you that I was in love with someone, what would you do?" "I tell you that I'm happy for you and that he is an extremely lucky guy." He looked kinda sad. "And what if I told you that I'm in love with you, what would you do?" He shot up in his seat. "What?" I smiled, "I'm in love with you Nik." "I-" "Do with that what you will, but I don't want it, this, to ruin our friendship." "I'm afraid it did." He got up, leaned across the table and kissed me.

Next month was full of TV screening and restless nights as Nik and I wrote his speeches. But Botkins' reunion was soon, so he would take a few days off to have fun. I spent every free moment with Genya and Alina, shopping for the reunion. As much as I didn't want to go, shopping was fun. Genya found a dress in the same shade as her hair and Alina found a bodysuit in black and gold. I had a really hard time finding something I like. But the day before I found a perfect dress in victorian blue. Nik wore a gray suit and had this beautiful waist coat. When we got to the ball room in the Little Palace, it was already full, but we kept close to the outer ring. Most of the people were dancing, even Genya and David, but I went to talk to Botkin. "Mr. Botkin." He turned to face me, "Oh, Zoya dear, how has life been treating you?" That was his signature line, "Good. I just wanted to see how have you been doing?" "Never better dear." he looked behind me, "Now go off, there's a handsome young man waiting for a dance." "What?" I turned around and saw Nik. "Oh, thank-" he was already off to talk to someone else. I walked towards Nik. He bowed, "May I have this dance?" I looked around, nobody seemed to notice us. "Yes, yes you may." The music changed to a slow dance. We twirled around, and around. Once we stopped, I realised we were alone on the dance floor and there was a light on me. I turned to face Nik, but he was kneeling on the floor. "Nik," I said carefully, "what are you doing?" He took a box out of his inner pocket and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful emerald I have ever seen. I knew what it ment. “Would you do it?” he asked. I looked up at him, puzzled, "What?" "Well, y'know…" "No, I don't." He sighed: "Make me the happiest man alive. Would you do it?" "Yes." He got up and hugged me, I thought I was going to fall over, when these balloons started falling from the ceiling. I kissed him. "I love you." I said. He smiled, "I know." And kissed me again. When all the balloons fell, Genya came through. "Do you like it?" she asked. "What? Wait, how do you know?" "Oh silly we all knew." I looked around to see my friends standing around us, laughing. Mal said: "We had a bet on when are you getting official." Tolya raised a hand, "I won!" "You lot are unbelievable! Come one, you are being punished, this is a group hug!" That night ended up to be one of my favorites.

I didn't want to wait. We booked a venue for our closest friends. Genya bought me my wedding dress for "being strong, and being my best friend". It was a floor length dress with long sleeves. Top of my hair was in a bun, while the bottom part flowed in the wind. Alina even bought me a crown. I was walking down the aisle when someone came bursting in. I turned to see who it was. "I don't know why am I surprised, you always were a bitch." Genya answered, "What do you want Alexander?" Nik ran down to me and took my hand, "That's him?" he whispered. "Yes, stay here." I told him. "What do you mean "what do I want"? Isn't there a part when I get to the object?" I looked at him. "Alex, if you do not walk out right now, I'm gonna call the cops." "They didn't stop me then, they won't stop me now." "Ugh, you're so full of yourself." I said. Long story short, the cops stopped him. We continued with the ceremony. The priestess looked at me, then Nik and said: "If you went through that, on you wedding day, you can go through anything. Are the vows really necessary?" We shook our heads. "Then, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." And oh boy did he kiss me.

We're at McDonald's. And we're celebrating. Genya took her milkshake and stood up. Everyone followed her. "For our friends, may they have a long, happy life. Cheers!" There was a long choir of cheers going around. I sat back and looked at Nik and his Happy Meal, "Is it too early to get a divorce?" He looked me and said, with his mouth full of french fries: "Why'd gou go dhat?"

#grishabigbang #gvbbfic20 #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #zoyalai #modern au #genya safin #david kostyk #alina starkov #mal oretsev #tamar kir bataar #tolya yul bataar #nina zenik #nadia #adrik #leoni

15 notes · View notes

coneygoil · 5 years

Text

The Home We Built Together, part 22

Two young Vikings. An arranged marriage. Hiccup always wanted to win the girl of his dreams, but not like this. Now he and Astrid must learn to live together and maybe one day, learn to love…

It was strange how an unexpected turn of events could bring two people closer together. When Hiccup imagined Astrid discovering he’d sided with the enemy, he hoped she’d understand and hear him out. He could hope all he wanted, but in all honesty, he expected her to be a ball full of rage and come slicing with her axe. Thankfully, the former happened and somehow, this crazy friendship with a dragon had brought him and his wife closer than ever.

Maybe it was the comradery of keeping an earthshaking secret between them. Maybe Astrid changing her attitude towards dragons had opened a door inside her to let Hiccup walk in further than he’d ever been. Whatever it was that had changed, Hiccup was enjoying every second of it.

He glanced at Astrid from the corner of his eye as they strolled through the village hand-in-hand. She insisted on walked him to the forge every morning instead of saying goodbye at the front door of their home. There were still traces of awkwardness between, unsure moments of bridled affections. Those moments were becoming less.

“Are you asking him today?” Astrid inquired as they approached the forge.

“Yeah.” They stopped at entrance their hands still intertwined. Hiccup sucked in a deep breath. “Are you ready for this if Gobber says yes?”

Astrid pressed her lips into a thin line, her gaze wandering before bringing it back to Hiccup’s face. “I’ve seen what you’ve accomplished, Hiccup. I know you can do this.” Her free hand cupped his shoulder, reassuringly. “We can do this.”

Hiccup beamed at her. Toothless trusted him. Astrid trusted him. Someone finally had faith in him.

Astrid tugged him to her, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Now, go to work!” She laughed, pushing him into the forge and jogged off.

Hiccup knew he’d never tire of the lightness rising in his chest as he watched her leave.

“Lookit ye two lovebirds.”

Hiccup jumped. “Ahh! Gobber! What’re you doing watching on us?”

“Ah, don’t get your knickers tied in a knot, lad. It’s not like you two were trying to hide your affections. It’s good to see you two falling in love.”

Hiccup’s eyes bugged and he nearly choked on his own saliva. Love? He’d been in love with Astrid long before this whole marriage ever existed. At least, he thought he was in love, but he’d come to realize his affection during that season of his life was projected onto an idea of who he thought Astrid was. Strong. Level-headed. An aspiring warrior. Well-renowned for what she was doing right. It also helped that she was incredibly attractive.

The way he viewed her had changed. He knew he loved her still, though it wasn’t as clear and to the point anymore. But the real question was, did she love him?

It was obvious she’d developed a fondness for him. She wouldn’t subject her lips to touch his or allow him to hold her in their bed if she didn’t share the same affection. She enjoyed his company. He’d never heard the ring of her laughter until they’d grown close, and he wished to hear it for the rest of his (most likely, short) life. She seemed content, but was Astrid really falling in love with him? Entertaining the very thought sent Hiccup’s mind reeling.

Hiccup pushed aside the massive revelation and focused on the task at hand. “Hey Gobber, who takes care of feeding the training dragons?”

Tinking tap noises filled the forge as Gobber flattened out a door hinge. “You’re looking at him.”

Hiccup nodded, scanning through the inventory pile of the day. “Me and Astrid were discussing taking on more responsibilities and thought maybe…feeding the training dragons could be one of them.” He pulled out a shield that needed some bolts replaced. When he turned around, he nearly jumped out his skin at the sight of Gobber right behind him, smiling widely.

“Exceeding at dragon training, taking on responsibilities, proving that you could be Chief material.” Gobber wiped a single tear from his eye. “I knew you had it in you.”

“Uh…thanks—” this was turning out to be the most awkward conversation he’d ever had with Gobber, and that was saying a lot. Hiccup diverted off this unexpected (and uncomfortable) ride to get back to the point. “So, where do you get the food for the dragons?”

“I mostly use the rejected fish from the daily catches. They’re put in a barrel on the docks.”

“Wait, that’s all you feed them? Rejected fish?”

“Basically.”

“Why aren’t you feeding them the food they need?”

“What’s the point, lad? They’re going te die anyway sooner or later.”

A chill crept down Hiccup’s spine at Gobber’s haunting words. He knew the training dragons would be killed one day, whether during a training lesson or euthanized, but that known knowledge didn’t make it any less horrifying. His thoughts zeroed in on Toothless and how he’d taken care of him the last few weeks. Hiccup made sure the Night Fury had everything he needed, not only food but affection and companionship. Those poor dragons locked away in the cages were underfed, lonely, and afraid. Hiccup was determined to change that. He would save those dragons from their ultimate fate.

***

Toothless grumbled as he dived down to scoop up another mouthful of fish. Hiccup patted his friend’s neck. “Oh, come one, bud. You’re doing some extra fishing for a good cause.”

The next morning before the sun had awoken, Hiccup and Astrid left for the arena to begin training the dragons without the prying eyes of the other villagers. It was a risky move, training the dragons with a chance of others catching them. But the arena was a fair distance from the early morning activities of the village. Maybe they had a shot at this without getting caught.

Hiccup stood in the middle of the arena floor sweeping his gaze back and forth, lost in thought. He had to choose wisely which dragon to earn trust from first. The Gronkle was smaller than the rest of the dragons (besides the Terrible Terror), and maybe it could be easily won over by a pile of tasty rocks.

Something kept pulling Hiccup to the Monstrous Nightmare. If he could earn the trust of the most dangerous dragon then the other dragons would likely follow. Taking a deep breath, Hiccup squared his shoulders in determination and strode to the Nightmare’s cage.

“You’re starting with the Monstrous Nightmare?” the voice of reason floated from the back of him. He glanced over his shoulder to find Astrid looking positively aghast. “Do you have a death wish?”

“You trusted me this far, Astrid,” Hiccup pointed out.

Astrid stepped up to him and poked him in the chest. “You’re right, but don’t make me have to bring you back from the dead just so I can kill you for making me a widow.”

He snatched her finger and pushed it back towards her with a grin. “Have I told you I enjoy your heartwarming encouragement?”

Astrid’s eyes flew skywards. “Just go already.”

The playful banter had eased the nerves that were building in his stomach. Hiccup wondered if Astrid sassed him on purpose to help with that. He turned back to the present task: training the Monstrous Nightmare.

On the cage door was a smaller door that swung out. Hiccup unlatched the door and immediately ducked as a flaming stream shot through the opening.

“Hiccup!” Astrid yelled, ready to run to his aid.

“I’m okay!” He got back to his feet and grabbed a fish from the basket nearby. “Hey, big guy,” he greeted with an air of friendliness, “I’m not here to hurt you. I want to be your friend.”

Hiccup stuck the fish in view of the opening. When no more fiery blasts flew through, he peeked his head up. The Monstrous Nightmare stood several feet away, watching him with sharp, cautious eyes. His nostrils flared causing a dusty cloud to stir up at his front feet.

“Are you hungry?” Hiccup kept his tone light. He stuck the fish further into the opening. “Do you like cod? It’s much tastier than those sad little herrings you were being fed.”

The Nightmare snarled and shifted closer.

“There you go,” Hiccup encouraged, emphasizing the fish with a shake to draw the dragon nearer.

When the Nightmare had drawn close enough, Hiccup tossed the fish his way. The clamp of the dragon’s jaws echoed off the stone walls. Hiccup smiled when the Nightmare looked at him expectantly for more.

“Astrid, go raise the lever.”

Raising the lever meant releasing the dragon. Releasing the dragon meant risking being flame broiled.

The playful exchange from a few minutes earlier had completely fled as a tinge of worry shaded Astrid’s words. “Are you sure?”

He’d faced certain death at the mercy of a dragon who should have taken his life with the snap of the jaws. But he was still alive and whole and that dragon was considered his friend. Hiccup couldn’t guarantee that the Monstrous Nightmare would take the same path, but he had to try.

He met Astrid’s concerned gaze. “If this goes wrong, promise me you’ll take care of Toothless.”

“That’s not comforting, Hiccup.” The edge in her voice was evident, but Astrid wasn’t making an attempt to stop him. “Of course, I’ll take care of Toothless.” Squeezing his shoulder, she added, “But promise me, I won’t have to.”

He couldn’t. No simple promise could keep a fierce and angry dragon at bay. No promise could shield him from the fiery blasts Nightmares were known for. Hiccup offered a tight-lipped smile that couldn’t convince a fish it lived in water. Astrid moved to fulfil his request and in a minute’s time she was on the rocky ledge hovering over the lever.

Hiccup backed up at what he prayed was a safe distance. Filling his lungs with a calming breath, he nodded at Astrid. The massive wooden peg lifted, and the cage doors swung open to reveal the frightening dragon that was adequately named for haunting nightmares.

The Monstrous Nightmare loomed ominously, puffing smoke, the orange eerie glow of its eyes staring right through Hiccup. Hiccup expected more of a reaction, for the dragon to rampage out on fire. But it remained calm as it glared sharply at him.

Hiccup had planned to take the affable approach; to show the Nightmare that he wanted to be his friend, throw in some lighthearted conversation like he had a minute ago when he offered the fish.

That planned changed the moment the cage door opened.

The Nightmare approached, it’s terrifying claws scraping the ground and head dipped into a strike position. Hiccup stayed planted in his spot a few feet away from the creature that could be his demise. The Nightmare’s hot breath blew over him.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Hiccup reassured, and with every fiber in his being, he spoke the words that he had resolved to in his mind for weeks, “I’m not one of them.”

The Nightmare gurgled curiously, blinking its orange eyes.

Hiccup held his palm out in front of him and with one decisive step, his skin made contact with dragon scales. He hadn’t realized how fast his heart had been pumping. His face split into a relieved and overjoyed smile as the dragon’s nose pressed firmer against his palm.

His gaze flicked up to find Astrid. Both hands covered her mouth, her eyes round in shock and awe. He nodded at her in silent agreement and she returned the gesture.

Their crazy plan to train dragons may work after all.

tags: @martabm90 @chiefhiccstrid @lauracalabresi @drchee5e @celtictreemuffin

#httyd fanfiction #hiccstrid #arranged marriage au #the home we built together

51 notes · View notes

inke-ri · 6 years

Text

A HTTYD 3 AU

@hiccup-is-left-handed did a thing (which I cannot link because mobile) and I really don’t wanna hijack their post but credit where credit is due ok? Ok.

This got way out of hand, I apologize for the long post… Idk how to put it under a read more on mobile, heh <3

—

So. The Hidden World AU where Toothless and the Light Fury are friends/“just like me” sort of situation + Hiccup is the one captured:

• That add on where the beginning was dark and grimy, yes. • The Grimmel scene happens between him and a fallen drago. Drago desperately needs a new Alpha to control his dragon army, so he enlists Grimmel. • The Light Fury in the cage is not in fact our LF girl, but a young male, about Toothless’ age in HTTYD 1 • Grimmel’s comment about him is around the line of “Furies are social creatures”, so through that line we learn that Toothless would in fact crave a “pack” (I keep calling a group of furies a pack bear with me), except he doesn’t really know that yet.

• Toothless meeting this equivalent of yearling male would go the same way except the dynamic would be (as hiccup-is-left-handed mentioned) similar to spiderverse’s “you’re like me”– a connection but not a romantic one

• Grimmel would still attack Hiccup’s home, but his deathgrippers actually torch down a good deal of the village • Because of the grimy beginning we see this is just another attack and Berk’s people have been suffering (injuries, slings and stuff in the great hall scene) • a bigger deal is made out of them leaving, there’s probably a scene where Hiccup is sitting next to his father’s statue after the meeting and talking to it, asking for advice • Astrid comforts Hiccup there– you’d have time for this since we’d cut most of the Hesitant To Get Married subplot, it’s in fact treated as something to happen someday in the future but both agree with the current situation it’s best to postpone it • or maybe Valka, since because we’re removing the marriage subplot, she could still get One Good Scene with Hiccup. It would still be a little stiff between them, since she’s still relatively new at this mom thing, but they both try. It’s up to you. Either way, Hiccup is convinced they must leave now. • Personally, because I’m a nerd, I’d make the beginning of the scene about Hiccup telling one of them (Valka or Astrid, your call), about how when he were little he always wanted the glory, and to be a Hero to his tribe… But he has so many difficult choices to make and it’s hard. And Valka/Astrid comments that yes, indeed, some people win glory “easily”, how Hiccup would have gotten had he killed that Night Fury, others… Well, others like him need to become Heroes the Hard Way <3 • Probably a scene of the Berkians sadly looking back to their old island and and then forward to their new future

• The yearling doesn’t go back for Toothless, but (in Nova Berk) Toothless does pick up his scent and follows him to that beachy area Toothless tries to woo the LF in the actual movie • There we find out the yearling male has a sibling, a sister, and THAT would be our girl. He calls out to the mountains and she appears and makes a huge fuss about him being back (which gives them both some nice personalities as well as showing their devotion to each other)

• Toothless is in fact attracted to her, but it’s a very minor thing in the grand scheme of him meeting others like him • Toothless tries to join them, and like in the movie Hiccup tries to coach him through befriending these dragons which are so like him • LF girl still gets offended, Toothless still falls down from the tree. yearling LF is very amused at this but also very curious about the branch, so he picks it up and starts playing with it in a rather catlike fashion • Toothless decides to show them how HE plays with the branch, so he picks it up and starts drawing • It’s no big fancy drawing, just his usual scribbles, but both siblings are very intrigued and impressed by it • Toothless still growls at the LF when she tries to step on it, and she growls back (they do NOT get started on the best terms despite Toothless’ original attraction– it could even be read as him just being curious about the fact that she’s a female), but the young male does get it, so he hops around the lines like Hiccup did, grabs the stick and flies away • Following her brother’s example, the LF tries to get to Toothless by hopping around the scribbly lines • We’d get a similar scene to Hiccup hitting his back on toothless and looking up at him, except the LF just gazes at him and Toothless smiles a little at her • She in turn tried to copy his facial expression and smiles as well, and it’s -then- that they click • The siblings still find Hiccup, but Toothless stands between them and his friend so they just choose to leave instead • Toothless still falls on the water trying to follow them but he doesn’t glare at his lack of tail, just looks longingly up at them

• Hiccup does NOT make a new tailfin right away for Toothless. Instead, we get a very “See You Tomorrow” montage, except it’s with Toothless going between the dragons and Hiccup, and each time he learns something new about himself • You could also show Hiccup looking a bit down/feeling left off during this montage, but trying to be happy for Toothless • Eventually, Hiccup decides to make the new tailfin. The scene would go basically the same way except there’s a bigger moment for Toothless not wanting to leave Hiccup, he smells the old saddle and Hiccup comforts him, saying it’s okay. He would have explained to astrid the reason why he made the new tail is not cause Toothless “never had a reason to leave”, it’s just cause Toothless is discovering a new side of him and Hiccup wants him to be happy

• the “third date” scene would be mostly be a platonic scene between the three furies, where Toothless learns to harness lightning • The difference would be the young male gets separated from them for a bit, chasing after some bird or something (he’s young and excitable, also a personality point for him) • You’d then get a smaller version of a romantic scene, but you can clearly see that after that wrong first impression the LF and Toothless do seem to like each other. Still would get the scene of them flying up into the moon and Toothless kissing her, and the “wing holding”. That was cute, and I like that scene, but the romance would still be comparatively secondary • The young male would interrupt the “hand holding”, and that’s where they’d find the hidden world. Male goes in excitedly and toothless hesitates but LF cheerfully drags him down after her brother

• The Hiccup side of it remains the same. They go after Grimmel, there’s an emphasis on all the anti-dragon humans banding together to take down berk. • Grimmel’s villain speech gets a flashback in which we get a scene more akin to the one of the first Dragons movie, there’s a slight discrepancy compared to Grimmel’s words. In the flashback, Grimmel -hesitates- before killing a wounded, sleeping night fury (it could even be faking its sleep, kinda like how Toothless just closed his eyes and waited for death, but that might be too much for a kid’s movie), but eventually does kill it • All the riders make it out of Grimmel’s trap.

• Hiccup and Astrid still go after Toothless • the Hidden World scene is expanded upon. We actually get two things that Hiccup sees: one (and this is optional but a personal headcanon of mine) being the LF siblings introducing Toothless to small, wary, scarred group of night furies (complete with Hiccup’s awe at finding more of them but also his realization that HUMANS did that to those dragons, they’re scarred and crippled because of them) • The other would be that Toothless doesn’t have the time to meet them properly, he gets distracted by squabble between two groups of wild dragons over food. Toothless instinctively uses his alpha command to take one of the groups to another feeding location, avoiding a fight. • The dragons recognize Toothless as a benevolent Alpha, and bow to him. It’s then that Astrid says that “now that’s a king” line.

• Hiccup chooses to leave Toothless there (the shock and pain of the Night Fury survivors being a factor of Hiccup deciding Toothless is better off without him, and besides, we’ve been building up on that “Toothless prefers his new friends over me” issue Hiccup is dealing with) • The whole rumblehorn thing happens and Toothless still brings Hiccup home, but Toothless isn’t angry or anything. The two light Furies do follow them. Seeing them actually only hardens Hiccup’s resolve, and he essentially kicks Toothless out, but he’s lashing out out of hurt, worry, rejection, and overall being overwhelmed by his duties as a Chief (namely the very large group of vikings bent on destroying Berk due to their philosophy) and his love and worry for Toothless • Toothless does leave, looking hurt but he does. • Astrid tries to comfort Hiccup again, but this time he just wants to be alone. Once she leaves, Hiccup mourns a little, but then he’s suddenly shot with one of Grimmel's darts. Astrid sees him be taken, but it’s too late to rescue him

• Hiccup wakes up in a ship of the armada his mother had seen on Cloudjumper, and is surprised in a very angry way to see Drago there (we hadn’t seen him since the moment he lashes at Grimmel for letting the Berkians get away– but he does so in a logical and tactical way) • Drago wants the location of the Hidden World – something he probably got from Grimmel who overheard it during the raid on his lair – and he plans to use Hiccup for it • Remember when Hiccup was called a devil in the beginning of the movie? This scene would get its payback here!! In a very clear parallel to Dragons 1, Drago would shackle Hiccup and sail east, and in a very Stoick-esque way, tells him to “lead the way, [to the nest], little devil” • Y'know like what happened to Toothless in HTTYD 1

• Cut to Toothless in the Hidden World. He’s looking at his tail, rather forlorn and lost • The Lightfury comes to see him, looking rather affectionate- they’re a couple, it seems. Toothless looks to her and then to behind him, where the other Light/Night furies (and some other dragons in the background) are waiting for him • Toothless isn’t ready yet. He licks the LF (think of a “I have to” kiss on the cheek Hiccup gave Astrid in HTTYD 2), and flies towards the waterfall and out of the hidden world, back to Hiccup.

• Drago is sailing towards the general direction of the hidden world, guided by the direction Toothless flew off before he captured Hiccup • Hiccup is unable to free himself, but then he (and the antagonists) is surprised to see that Berk is flying towards the armada to free him, en masse. All seem determined to defend the Hidden World’s entrance from Drago’s fleet • It’s a nice shout out to both HTTYD 1, where that small team fought the read death, but also to how the vikings have changed, how Hiccup has changed them. A small team has become a whole village. • no one can quite get to Hiccup tho, but then Drago is surprised to find Toothless there, looking very very angry • Grimmel still threatens someone Toothless loves, but it’s Hiccup this time. For a brief moment, Toothless controls the dragons away from the fight, so Hiccup isn’t killed. Toothless cannot let Hiccup die. He can’t. He loves him too much. • Drago and Grimmel however, are distracted long enough for Toothless to grab Hiccup and flee– not by humans but by the whole group of light and night furies. It seems as though Furies are a very territorial species, and act as protectors of the hidden world.

• Grimmel still grabs the LF, Toothless still follows him with Hiccup. The whole thing that went down in the movie happens here. Grimmel dies. Toothless is rescued by the young, excitable LF Male, while our girl, who has always been more distrustful of Hiccup, saves his life. She does smile crookedly at him, that very Toothless smile she learned from him.

• Drago is still out there, though. Hiccup, Toothless and the dragon gang regroup while most of Berk still fights. Hiccup is alive, but feels lost, he always wanted to prevent a war and now a war has happened anyway • This is where Astrid comes in again, and where she repeats that “what are you going to do about it” line • The gang goes after drago– and surprise: Hiccup is using the old saddle, but Toothless still wears the new tailfin, one last big fight for the two of them: this time, while they’re still connected, they’re able to fight apart from each other– maybe it’s here that we get that sword/explosion/look between Hiccup and Astrid. Toothless is flying on his own, and Hiccup is fighting on his own as well. By mutual choice this time, knowing how their differences don’t affect their devotion to each other • The furies fight alongside Hiccup, Toothless and the Berkians, showing the beauty of cooperation and mutual respect between humans and dragons that do decide to work together… As well as allowing Hiccup one big flight with Toothless and other night furies, as was his dream for his friend. • Drago is defeated, and the army scatters (how it’s up to you, I’m still fond of the jailed idea, except Drago falls under water and drowns, or something. Idk. For a man who’s so determined to control and dominate, dying in a cage designed to control and rip freedom away would be pretty good poetic justice, but idk.)

• Hiccup and Toothless still part ways. Hiccup’s speech isn’t really about how his dream wasn’t the dragons’ dream. Instead, much like the books, he says that Humanity isn’t quite ready to share the world with them, and that Toothless needs to take them away for their own safety (basically the same message of the movie but sans the weird “hiccup is clinging to toothless” subplot.) • That heart-wrenching scene still happens pretty much the same way.

• The ending is also very much the same, the babies and stuff. We’d probably see more light furies and one or two night furies on the other rocks surrounding the hidden world– they still act as protectors. • the ending goes very much the same way: I’d just tweak the words a little to explain that this isn’t just about hiding the hidden world’s secret (though you do see that in a way, Hiccup and Berk = the Furies’ role, all are guardians of the Hidden World, kinda binding them together even if they are away), but also about spreading the message that one day humans and dragons (wildlife?) can coexist someday, and when We’re ready, the Dragons will one day return.

— ……. Well that was long. I’ve been furiously typing on my phone for a good hour and a half actually. My fingers are dead but I just love this idea so much.

Also very much Not Revised so forgive any grammar/spelling mistakes!

Sorry for like. Making this way too big, Hiccup-is-left-handed. I got way too excited about it :’D

376 notes · View notes

welcometothepenumbra · 5 years

Text

SECOND CITADEL – THE HALLOWED HALLS OF HELICOID (PART ONE)

SOUND: RAIN. TRAIN ARRIVES, CREAKS TO A STOP. DOOR CLANKS OPEN.

CONDUCTOR: Ah, good evening, Traveler. And welcome… to The Penumbra.

SOUND: DOOR CLANKS SHUT.

Take your seat, please, take your seat.

SOUND: TRAIN MOVING.

MUSIC: STARTS.

The junction lies ahead, so if you’ll allow me just a moment.

SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE.

We are now approaching Fort Terminus.

SOUND: TRAIN BRAKES.

Our next stop?

The Hallowed Halls of Helicoid.

SOUND: DOOR CLANKS OPEN, RAIN.

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

***

MUSIC: STARTS.

SOUND: WATER DRIPS, ECHOING.

RILLA: Quanyii? Can I ask you a question?

QUANYII: Oh I so hope you will, Rilla.

RILLA: If magic is really, um—

QUANYII: My favorites are the ones I don’t feel like answering, because then I just lie! Or sometimes, I lie just because it’s fun. Do you ever do that, tall, dark, and cranky?

SIR CAROLINE: I don’t.

QUANYII: See? She’s doing it right now!

RILLA: Uh… okay. So, if magic is inconsistent, and unreliable… how could you just make the sun look like it was setting, or make this brace that helps me walk without—

QUANYII: Ughhh. Boo. It’s no fun at all when you ask me a good question. Fine, fine. It’s really very simple…

SOUND: RECORDER STARTS.

Oh!

RILLA: That’s good. Just speak clearly into the receiver.

QUANYII: Ohhh, what is this?

CAROLINE: Have mercy, they’re encouraging each other.

RILLA: It’s an audio recorder. I made it.

QUANYII: Ohhh, I adore it! And it’s so handy – usually I just put my voice in a rock when I want to remember something, but I always forget where I put it.

RILLA: You can just… do that?

CAROLINE: Ughhhhh.

QUANYII: Oh sweets, that’s nothing. Give me a few days and a part of your soul and I can teach you to put your voice in anything! (LAUGHS) That was a joke, obviously. The soul is useless. I’d probably ask for a toe.

RILLA: Just one? That’s not bad…

CAROLINE: Enough.

SOUND: RECORDER CLICKS OFF.

You have outstayed your welcome, witch. We have agreed to your terms. But you will not continue meddling in official Citadel affairs like this. Leave us.

MUSIC: ENDS.

QUANYII: Oh, she’s angry now. Do you think I should have asked for her toe instead?

CAROLINE: When I tell you to do something, witch, I mean now.

SOUND: SWORD UNSHEATHING.

QUANYII: Oh no, a sword. How pointy.

RILLA: Sir Caroline!

QUANYII: You’d really hurt me? Me? With the sword that I gave you, after the big, bad monsters stole yours?

CAROLINE: I am on the job. Technically, I would be justified.

QUANYII: Oh so we’re talking technicalities! Well if that’s the case, then technically, without me, you don’t have a sword. Pop!

SOUND: POOF, JINGLE.

All gone!

CAROLINE: Ughhhhh.

QUANYII: If you can’t handle one cursed sword, cutie, you’re not ready for this fortress. And definitely not ready to fly solo.

CAROLINE: I have broken out of many prisons before, and I am stronger than I was then. I can handle whatever these monsters have in store.

QUANYII: Breaking out? Breaking out is nothing compared to what we have to do next. We’re breaking in, then out.

CAROLINE: We don’t need you for this.

QUANYII: It’s not about need, babe; it’s about want.

SOUND: WOOD CREAKING.

Like how I don’t want you to get crushed by that wall trap you’re ignoring above your head.

CAROLINE: …What?

RILLA: Sir Caroline, look out!

QUANYII: And stop!

SOUND: CHIMES, CREAKING STOPS. CLOCK TICKING.

RILLA: You froze it in midair!

QUANYII: Stopped time around it, actually. It will continue on its course… in a second.

CAROLINE: Magic.

QUANYII: Okay babe, maybe step out of the way of the falling trap and then whine? Because this is starting to get exhausting.

RILLA: Sir… Caroline?

CAROLINE: Hmph.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS.

QUANYII: There… we’ve passed… through!

SOUND: BIG WOODEN CRASH. TICKING STOPS.

(BIG SIGH) And that, sweets, is how you make magic work for you. Magical spells, commands, etceteras, and so-ons only work if the universe feels like answering them. If I asked the universe to stop that pile of wood from crushing our sweet little knight, it might work once every hundred times. But, if I ask the universe to take this watch I worked on so very hard, and pretty pretty please, universe, can you just make it a time-stopping watch, just for me, just if I do enough so it’s basically already one anyway, then—

RILLA: Then the impossible, magical phenomenon isn’t stopping time… it’s making the thing that can stop time.

QUANYII: Very good. See? And you wanted to leave me behind. Whatever would you do without me?

RILLA: Thanks, Quanyii.

Sir Caroline?

CAROLINE: (SNORTS) Hrrraaaah!

SOUND: CRACK.

I would have been fine. Goodbye.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS.

QUANYII: Now what did that trap ever do to her?

RILLA: Excuse me just a second, Quanyii.

What is your problem? I thought you said you didn’t hate witches!

CAROLINE: I didn’t until today. She doesn’t belong here.

RILLA: So? She’s helping us, isn’t she?

CAROLINE: Only because she’s more likely to get what she’s after by helping us than not. But this is not the arrangement.

RILLA: What arrangement?

CAROLINE: It doesn’t matter for you. This will likely be the only day you ever see a real witch.

RILLA: Well, then… what does it matter? We need to help the Citadel, right? Maybe this witch is breaking the witch-rules, or whatever, but, that only affects her, right?

CAROLINE: (FRUSTRATED SIGH)

RILLA: Why can’t you just accept that we got lucky?

CAROLINE: Because this is my investigation, under my control. And I will not allow anyone to insinuate that the first investigation I earned was a success only because I got lucky.

RILLA: So you’d rather fail?

CAROLINE: I would not have failed. I would have solved it on my own. And now she has taken that from me.

RILLA: Okay, fine. She broke you out of the cell, you didn’t get to come up with a big plan, cool. But unless you want me to lock you in one of those cages myself, that’s over. So deal with it and do your job.

CAROLINE: (SIGHS) Fine. We will use the witch. But if you breathe a single word of this in the Citadel—

RILLA: Sure. Whatever.

CAROLINE: Good.

Witch!

QUANYII: (SHRIEKS)

RILLA: What?!

CAROLINE: Are you alright? Damn it, why wasn’t I watching her—

QUANYII: I’m fine! It’s my pocketwatch! Your mean little show making me work extra hard to save you from that falling trap put a crack in my pocketwatch, you beast! My poor baby! Shhh, it’s alright; we’ll get some crushed dragon-eye jelly on you in no time, little tick-tock.

RILLA: Wait… dragon’s eye? L-l-like from—

QUANYII: Dragons, silly! They exist just a little outside of time themselves, you know. That’s why there never seems to be one around when you need them; because they’ll be around some other time instead.

RILLA: So… you study monsters? Use their parts?

CAROLINE: Where do you think all those magical powers come from? Witches are scavengers. They take stronger creatures’ power because they can do nothing on their own.

QUANYII: I couldn’t say it better myself! Very smart of us, isn’t it? I know grumpy is impressed.

CAROLINE: I am not. It’s pathetic.

RILLA: Aren’t you here because you literally pushed Damien down a flight of stairs and stole his job?

CAROLINE: You, charmed one, probably haven’t noticed the disadvantages one starts out with in a field brimming with people who want to see you fail. I will do anything to level the playing field.

RILLA: So you think you’re better than me because you made it big in the boys’ club?

CAROLINE: I know I’m better than you, actually. The men have nothing to do with it.

RILLA: Despite the fact that my job is so dangerous, difficult, and illegal that nobody else will do it? That’s really where you’re putting your foot down, here?

QUANYII: Oh, are we measuring how hard our lives are? Should I take out my magic hardships yardstick?

CAROLINE & RILLA: (IN UNISON) Yes!

QUANYII: Well, I don’t have one, because that makes so little sense even magic won’t touch it. Instead of measuring your problems, why don’t we just agree that we all have it hard, and try to make things better for one another? Everyone deserves a little help. Everyone.

RILLA: That’s… not bad advice.

QUANYII: Yes, we all have problems, ladies. Look at me, for example. I have this little cough that just won’t go away. (FAKE-COUGHS) And on top of that, I’ve wanted the four thumbs of a reptilian familiar for nearly ten minutes now and I still don’t have them!

RILLA: His thumbs?!

CAROLINE: The lizard is mine. He must answer for his crimes.

QUANYII: And does he need his thumbs to answer for them? No? Good. See? We help each other and we all get what we want.

CAROLINE: Hm. That’s the first sense you’ve made all day, witch.

RILLA: No! You- you can’t!

CAROLINE: Excuse me, herbalist? Do you have something you’d like to say?

RILLA: Yo- you can’t hurt him! I- I have to talk to him!

QUANYII: Oh, that’s perfect! Then you can talk to him while I take off his thumbs, and then the knight can have his head. And if you decide you have more questions later, I’ll just put my hand in his skull and we’ll have a little chat! (LAUGHS)

RILLA: But—

CAROLINE: This argument is over. Her terms are fair enough for now. We can decide the rest when the lizard is dead.

RILLA: No, we actually can’t—

CAROLINE: And in the meantime, if he is as heavily-guarded as you say, witch, we should have a plan of attack before we press on. What can we expect from this fortress?

QUANYII: Ooh, just the biggest, spookiest, creepiest-crawliest monsters of all! Fort Terminus is the monsters’ last stronghold in the Northern Wilds, and that’s saying something. Monsters as individuals love to stake claim to a spot and stay there; but as a group, they can never agree on one place to defend together, let alone a building. I hear even their Senate never meets in the same place twice. So the fact that they work together to keep this place up should tell you how badly they need it.

RILLA: For what?

QUANYII: Things so horrible no monster wants to be near them. (LAUGHS) Oh, that was a face! Do it again, again!

CAROLINE: Then this is their point of exile.

QUANYII: It is. And the few times they’ve managed to work together to come up with a combined method of attack… it’s their armory. (WHISPERS) A warehouse of horrors.

RILLA: Few times? Like… they aren’t now? But aren’t we at war with them?

QUANYII: You are! So imagine how you’d do if they really unified!

RILLA: Saints…

QUANYII: Oh, don’t worry, sweets. They’ve only done it once in all of recorded history, and that was nearly three thousand years ago.

Though, of course, that one was so bad it wiped out most of recorded history before it.

RILLA: Three thousand years… the Fall of the First Citadel?

CAROLINE: That’s enough about the fort – one mission at a time. How are we approaching it?

QUANYII: Because the monsters fear it so, few know how Fort Terminus is operated from within. There are no guards assigned to it – that would defy their freedom – so I can only tell you about what the monsters know: the entrance. Fort Terminus has no front gate. Instead, its only entrances are through its cells, each of which have two sealed doors: one on our side and one leading into the fort itself.

CAROLINE: So the lizard’s sealed in on our side… and then whatever operates the fortress takes him in from the other side.

QUANYII: It takes some time, I hear, but yes. And that’s why we’re headed toward those cell blocks now.

CAROLINE: (CHUCKLES) So that’s your strategy? Entering through the front door?

QUANYII: I made it all by myself!

CAROLINE: Of all the inane, stupid—

QUANYII: And I will not be accepting criticism at this time.

CAROLINE: If you had consulted a strategist – like the one you’re speaking to right now – you would know that approaching an encampment from the front is a recipe for failure. If there is ever a way to approach from behind, you take it.

QUANYII: Oh, she likes it the other way in, does she? When’s our date, again?

CAROLINE: The other way– uh, opening– uh, hole! Augh! The other one! Yes, the other one is the only one that makes sense!

QUANYII: Oh, the other path, you mean, that’s fine. Well, we’ll just turn around and go that way.

CAROLINE: I think we should.

QUANYII: Right now?

CAROLINE: This instant.

QUANYII: And then we’ll just navigate this labyrinth backwards, wake up the gigantic snail-slime-beastie that so easily trapped you and sent you down here in the first place, kindly ask him to scoot over so we can access the hidden chamber that he’s sleeping on top of, and then, navigate a second and far more dangerous labyrinth, directly into the monsters’ high-security nightmare-fort, just so we can take the back door in to trim the gecko you’re after. Sounds fun, sweetie! Lead the way!

CAROLINE: (AFTER A PAUSE, GROWLS)

QUANYII: (LAUGHS) Oh, don’t be so grumpy. You wouldn’t want to take that other path anyways. Musty, smelly, covered in that nasty Judge’s slime… oh, and positively dripping with deadly boobytraps. Everywhere. Floors, walls, you name it. You’d have to be… (LAUGHING) You’d have to be a complete idiot to go in through there!

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

***

TALFRYN: (FADING IN, YELLING)

SOUND: RUNNING FOOTSTEPS.

JUDGE HELICOID: (FADING IN) Get back here! I say, get back!

SIR DAMIEN: Talfryn! Another spike wall, on your left!

SOUND: CLINK.

TALFRYN: Guhaaahaaaahh!!

SOUND: HEAVY CREAKING, SQUELCHES.

SIR ANGELO: Come now, Sir Damien. If you tell him about every obstacle, he’ll never learn!

DAMIEN: And if I don’t, he’ll never live, Sir Angelo, so– pit trap!

TALFRYN: Whoaaaaaaahhh!!

SOUND: STUMBLING FOOTSTEPS.

ANGELO: An excellent attempt, warrior-in-training! One pointer: most great jumpers lift off with their legs, not by spinning their arms in a circle—

DAMIEN: Pit!

TALFRYN: Again?! Gah!

SOUND: THUD.

Ooof!

ANGELO: Much improved! Now may I recommend landing with your feet instead of your face?

TALFRYN: You guys… you guys, I can’t run forever!

ANGELO: Think of it as training, Talfryn! A knight must have an open heart, and jogging does wonders for the valves!

TALFRYN: But—

JUDGE: If you don’t want to run, then don’t. Listen to your instincts, hem hem! (SNORTS, SPITS)

TALFRYN: Whoa!

ANGELO: Excellent work! Remember to stay hydrated, now!

DAMIEN: Sir Angelo, this really isn’t the time!

ANGELO: (GASPS) Not the time?! Sir Damien, there is always time for two things: hydration, and stretching! And he has that wonderful backpack canteen his brother made him, with the straws and… what is that called again, Talfryn?

TALFRYN: Backflask! Please!

ANGELO: Backflask! Ingenious invention. I’ve already ordered five of them myself.

TALFRYN: Please, guys! You gotta help me find a place to hide!

DAMIEN: A room! There’s open space just ahead, Talfryn. A perfect place for you to make your stand against this terrible snail!

JUDGE: Don’t you dare!

ANGELO: Excellent advice, my rival!

SOUND: CLANKS.

Stare the beast down, spear in hand—

SOUND: CREAK.

—and it will surely listen—

SOUND: CLANKS, THUD, CLANKS. RUNNING FOOTSTEPS & SQUELCHES STOP.

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) …Saints, man, did you just close the door on us?

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Open this door! Shellwrecker! Open it, I say! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: BANGING ON DOOR.

TALFRYN: I just gotta… find a place to hide until… (GROANS)

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Intolerable rudeness! To come into an honest universe-fearing snail’s home and invade his basement. And without even the simplest formal request!

SOUND: BANGING ON DOOR.

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Hmmm! Sir Damien, did you hear that?

DAMIEN: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Do you mean the creaking of the wood, or perhaps the giant squelching beast of slime that threatens to kill us both unless someone does something about it, Talfryn!

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) No, no. Something the monster said gave me an idea.

DAMIEN: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Well, what is it? Quickly!

SOUND: BANGING STOPS.

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Yes, yes, I too would like to hear this plan.

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) It’s…

DAMIEN: (THROUGH THE DOOR) …Yes?

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) We’re waiting.

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Well that’s no good. I’m afraid I’ve let the dramatic pause go on too long and now I’ve forgotten.

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Alright. Back to it, then. Hmph! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: BANGING ON DOOR.

TALFRYN: Nowhere to hide! Just a bunch of tapestries and stone walls and rugs and chairs and… why does a snail need a chair?

Ahh! No time!

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) A basement! The gall! A snail’s basement and nothing more! (GRUNTS)

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) The idea! It happened again! When he said snail!

DAMIEN: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Don’t build it up, then, just say it!

TALFRYN: (STRAINING) This rock seems… loose!

SOUND: SCRAPING.

(GRUNTS)

SOUND: FABRIC RUSTLING.

Stuck! No! Third lunch, why would you do this to me? I gotta leave my armor outside! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: FABRIC RUSTLING.

ANGELO: (THROUGH THE DOOR) Snails fear salt! My satchel is still upstairs, and it is full of the finest salt, which you must throw on him, young Talfryn!

TALFRYN: (QUIETLY) Now he wants me to run all the way back?

JUDGE: (THROUGH THE DOOR) No! No, I say, no! Not the salt! I, a land snail, cannot bear salt! Oh, you wouldn’t dare! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: BANGING ON DOOR. BIG CRACKS.

Ha! Nearly through!

SOUND: FABRIC RUSTLING, SCRAPE.

(MUFFLED GRUNT)

SOUND: MUFFLED BOOM, SPLINTERING. HEAVY CREAKS, SQUELCHES.

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) At last! Run for the salt, my… begads, where has my pupil gone?

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) And why is his armor in a pile on the floor?

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) Well, that’s simple enough, Sir Damien. Nudist combat must be a specialty of this family; we’ve seen as much from his brother—

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) It’s only his armor, Sir Angelo.

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) Oh! Then the answer is simple. I have no idea.

JUDGE: (MUFFLED) He can be as clothed or as nude as he likes; I say, as free or as contained; but please, gentlemen, he cannot use the salt! Aaanything but the saaaaalt!

TALFRYN: (QUIETLY) Okay, salt. Maybe I can make it to the door while they distract the big snail… (DEEP BREATH) It’s just one monster. You can do this, Talfryn.

Sir. Talfryn.

JUDGE: (MUFFLED) Defensive measures must be taken! (GROWLS)

SOUND: BUBBLING.

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) Sir Damien!

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) It wasn’t me! The bubbles are just… appearing!

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) My friend, for such an impressive storyteller that excuse was shockingly unimpressive.

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) Sir Angelo, listen to me! The slime itself is boiling!

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) Oh my, it has become a bit warm, hasn’t it?

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) He’ll boil us alive, Talfryn! Slay him! It is your duty!

JUDGE: (MUFFLED, STRAINING) Not… boiling… just…

SOUND: SEVERAL WET POPS, BIG SIGH. BUBBLING STOPS.

…birthing. Now that’s better.

BAILIFFS: (MUFFLED, IN UNISON) Most Horrible Judge Helicoid! Tell us how we may serve!

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) Little soldiers of snail’s slime! They’re everywhere!

ANGELO: (MUFFLED) Hm, yes. Perhaps it is time to end our lesson for today, Talfryn! There are… rather a lot of monsters out here now, and we may have jumped from Basic Knighting to Extremely Advanced. Now, Sir Damien and I will free ourselves and slay these fiends! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: STRETCHING, SNAP.

Oh, dear. You weren’t pretending to be stuck, were you, Sir Damien?

DAMIEN: (MUFFLED) No. No, Sir Angelo, I was not.

JUDGE: (MUFFLED, BIG LAUGH)

TALFRYN: (WHIMPERS)

JUDGE: (MUFFLED) Now, Bailiffs. Your instructions are quite clear: we guard the entrance to Fort Terminus, and no humans are to pass the doors of our court without our capture. Is that understood?

BAILIFFS: (MUFFLED, IN UNISON) Yes, your Horror!

JUDGE: (MUFFLED) You two will stand guard by the entrance. And the rest of you: search this room! Every crook and crevice! I want that human found immediately, this moment, at once! Hem hem!

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

***

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS, CAVE AMBIANCE.

QUANYII: (WHISPERING) And… stop.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS STOP.

This is just about the place, ladies. Ohhh, who’s excited? I’m excited! It’s supposed to be so very dangerous!

RILLA: (QUIETLY) What kind of security measures do they have?

QUANYII: (QUIETLY) A guard, for one thing.

CAROLINE: And?

QUANYII: (QUIETLY) A second guard. (NORMAL VOLUME) And that’s it! But they’re really very powerful, I hear.

TROTTER: (DISTANT SQUEAL)

PORCUS: (DISTANT) Ha! How’s that for master prankster, ya stupid—

TROTTER: (DISTANT SQUEAL)

SOUND: THUD.

Wipeout, dude!

PORCUS: (DISTANT) Loser! You big… dumb…! (SQUEALS)

TROTTER: (DISTANT) Hey, man, you started it. Just give me back my nosh!

PORCUS: (DISTANT) Get lost!

TROTTER: (DISTANT) Give me the bones!

CAROLINE: This is your high-security prison cell? Two pigs fighting over scraps? (LAUGHS)

PORCUS: (DISTANT) Fine! Take ‘em!

SOUND: CLATTERING.

You stand guard here. I’m gonna wait around the corner.

TROTTER: (DISTANT) Suit yourself, brah. (CHEWING, CRUNCHING)

PORCUS: (QUIETLY) Moron. He didn’t even count them.

CAROLINE: If it’s just a few monsters that need slaying, I can finish this in seconds. So. Witch. Can you stop those pigs in time, like that trap in the hall?

QUANYII: They’re much bigger, sweetie. I might be able to manage one.

CAROLINE: One’s enough. Herbalist?

RILLA: I’d be able to do a lot more if you’d give me back the compounds you confiscated.

CAROLINE: Mmm, yes. Then that’s a dead end. I threw your weeds away when my bag began to stink.

RILLA: You threw away all my…! (GROANS)

CAROLINE: But, you can sing, can’t you? Do that.

RILLA: Why would I sing?!

CAROLINE: I’ve been advised to use my subordinates’ strengths when strategizing. If it works, wonderful. If not, you can tell the Queen she’s wrong later. And that’s beautiful in its own way.

RILLA: Sir Caroline—!

CAROLINE: It doesn’t matter what you do, because I will be doing the actual work here. Just distract it for one second and it will be dead the second after that. Do you think you can do that, herbalist?

RILLA: (SIGHS) Fine. But I’m not gonna sing.

QUANYII: Booooring.

CAROLINE: Witch: freeze the wide one. I’ll sneak up where the unsettlingly muscular one can’t see me and behead his frozen comrade. Then, herbalist, you will distract the musclebound one, and when he sees you I’ll behead him, too. It should be over in seconds. Now: places.

RILLA: But I—

CAROLINE: You will follow my orders or this will fail. Remember the courtroom? Now: places.

RILLA: Fine.

QUANYII: Someone’s cranky.

CAROLINE: Freeze the pig.

QUANYII: But still, babe, you’re being a little harsh to—

CAROLINE: Just do it!

QUANYII: (SIGHS) Alright.

SOUND: CHIMES, CLOCK TICKING.

PORCUS: (VOICE SLOWS TO A STOP) What? Trotter, did you hear…

QUANYII: You only have a second. Go!

CAROLINE: I know that. Stop holding my hand.

QUANYII: I’m only worried about—

CAROLINE: I meant literally!

QUANYII: Oh, oh, right, there you go.

CAROLINE: Good.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS.

And… ha!

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP.

QUANYII: (EXHALES)

SOUND: TICKING STOPS.

CAROLINE: A clean cut. And, ugh… softer than I expected.

TROTTER: Porcus? Did you say somethin’?

CAROLINE: Come on, herbalist…

RILLA: H-hey! Hey, you!

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS.

TROTTER: Whoa, dude, your voice got really different! All high and nice and stuff!

RILLA: No, look over here! Over here!

TROTTER: Whooaaaa, huh huh, I am trippin’ on these bones, man; you sound like you’re behind me or something! (SQUEAK-LAUGHS)

RILLA: (SINGING) Hey, I’m a human and I’m over here!

QUANYII: (QUIETLY) Oooh, she is good!

TROTTER: Huh?

Candy-canes! Whoa-hoa-hoa-hoa! What are you doin’? (CHUCKLES)

We just locked you up, didn’t we?

RILLA: Uh… yeah.

SOUND: DISTANT FOOTSTEPS.

TROTTER: Gnarly, candy-canes. ‘Cause there’s really only one option from here.

SOUND: BLADE UNSHEATHING.

RILLA: Sir Caroline, any second now!

CAROLINE: Now.

SOUND: RUNNING FOOTSTEPS.

(BIG GRUNT)

TROTTER: Whuh—

SOUND: SLASH, SQUISH, WET THUD.

RILLA: Saints, they’re really just… bags full of blood, aren’t they?

CAROLINE: They were, until they met my blade—

QUANYII: Caroline, the pig!

SOUND: RUNNING FOOTSTEPS.

PORCUS: (BIG SQUEAL)

SOUND: HEAVY BOOM.

CAROLINE: Ahhh!

PORCUS: You’re pretty quick, ain’tcha?

CAROLINE: You…?! I cut your head off!

PORCUS: Yeah, and. What’re you gonna do about it?

CAROLINE: Cut it off again, obviously.

PORCUS: Wha—

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP.

CAROLINE: There. He’s dead this time, yes? We can all agree that the pig is dead?

SOUND: BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS.

QUANYII: Well, he definitely was dead.

RILLA: But… but he’s…

PORCUS: Back in business, candy-legs. Trotter, now!

TROTTER: (SQUEALS)

SOUND: RUNNING FOOTSTEPS.

RILLA: Whoa!

SOUND: CLANG.

TROTTER: Dang, candy-canes, you can really hustle—

CAROLINE: (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP.

PORCUS: Whoa!

SOUND: CLANG. BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS.

TROTTER: Man… (CHUCKLES) …that always feels cool.

PORCUS: A little help, Trotter! (SQUEALS)

SOUND: CLANG.

TROTTER: Ughhh, just a second, dude, just a second.

CAROLINE: (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP.

TROTTER: I’m comin’!

SOUND: BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS. CLANGS, GRUNTS.

RILLA: Saints, she’s… taking turns dueling both of them?!

SOUND: DISTANT WHOOSH, POP. THUDS.

QUANYII: Fun to watch, but not very useful. (CALLING) Cutie, unless you’re going for a personal best on most times you’ve killed the same pig, I don’t think this is getting you anywhere!

CAROLINE: Well I don’t see you helping! Can’t you throw lightning-bolts or something?

QUANYII: Lightning bolts! What do you take me for, some cheap little sorcerer?

CAROLINE: Yes, actually! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP.

QUANYII: Ooooh, that’s so sweet! But I don’t do lightning, babe. It makes my hair all frizzy.

SOUND: DISTANT WHOOSH, POP. THUDS.

CAROLINE: Well, do something, you—! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: CLANGS.

PORCUS: This ain’t workin’, Trotter! We’re gonna have to take her on together!

TROTTER: But, uh… I mean, what if she, y’know…

PORCUS: Don’t be a moron! It ain’t like she can fight both of—

CAROLINE: (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP. BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS.

PORCUS: Nyeeaah! I said, it ain’t like she can—

CAROLINE: (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP. BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS.

PORCUS: (SIGHS) I said—!

CAROLINE: (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP. BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS.

TROTTER: I think I get it, dude.

PORCUS: Ugh, good! Now get her!

TROTTER: Okay…

SOUND: CLANGS, GRUNTS & SQUEALS.

RILLA: He sounded… scared.

QUANYII: Wouldn’t you be? She’s a force of nature with that blade, isn’t she?

RILLA: No, I mean if they keep coming back to life, why would they be afraid of teaming up against her?

That’s it. (CALLING) Sir Caroline! They’re magically bound! I think they’ll only stay dead if you kill them both at the same time!

TROTTER: See, bro? This is what I was tryin’ to—

PORCUS: I told you to shut up! (SQUEAL)

SOUND: GRUNTS, SQUISH, HEAVY CLANG.

PORCUS: Wuh-oh.

CAROLINE: Thanks for the help, pig. Now let’s test her theory! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: STAB.

PORCUS: (GASPS)

(PAINED) Alright. Alright, knight, ya got us.

CAROLINE: I know.

PORCUS: (PAINED, GASPING) Ya beat us, fair and square. Damn, you’re good. Hoo-ee!

CAROLINE: I know that, too.

PORCUS: (PAINED) Please… just… one more thing, lady… now that ya got me. Somethin’… super important… about this fortress… (GASPS)

CAROLINE: Your words. Then your head.

SOUND: SHINK.

PORCUS: (PAINED) I just… gotta tell ya… that…

SOUND: DISTANT WHOOSH, POP. THUDS.

Every one’a you losers likes to gloat over your wins, don’tcha? (GASPING CHUCKLE)

CAROLINE: Why, you…! (GRUNTS)

SOUND: SLASH, WET POP.

(PANTING) Damn, he was stalling! Herbalist, look—

TROTTER: (SQUEALING LAUGH)

SOUND: GRUNTS, RUSTLING.

RILLA: Let me go!

QUANYII: Oh, his sweat smells like barbecue! Get him off, get him off!

TROTTER: I’ve got both of your human buddies, dude! Let Porcus through or I give ‘em both the kibosh!

SOUND: BIG WHOOSH, PIG SQUEAL, POP. THUDS.

PORCUS: (GRUNTS) Good goin’, Trotter! Now kill ‘em and let’s get outta— (YELPS, CHOKING)

SOUND: FABRIC RUSTLING.

CAROLINE: Give them both if you want your friend to leave here.

TROTTER: Haw! You blind, brah? You can kill him as many times as you want.

CAROLINE: But we heard you in court. The herbalist said it herself—you’re magically bound. If he doesn’t leave here, dead or alive, neither do you. And I may not be able to kill you, but I can certainly make you wish I could.

PORCUS: (CHOKING) She’s got a pretty good point there, Trotter!

CAROLINE: Give them here and you both leave.

TROTTER: (SIGHS) I’ll toss you one now. But, you don’t get the other ‘til Porcus and me split.

CAROLINE: Fine.

RILLA: What?!

QUANYII: Oh, babe, I knew I could count on you! Just say the word and—

CAROLINE: The herbalist – the one you call “candy-canes.” Give her here.

QUANYII: You beast! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!

TROTTER: Bummer. I’ll miss ya, candy-canes.

RILLA: Ahh– oof!

CAROLINE: And here’s yours.

PORCUS: (SQUEALS)

QUANYII: How dare you! You take that back! You take me back! You’re heartless, heartless, HEARTLESS! (SOBBING)

PORCUS: Just… shut up and go, Trotter! Take the witch with you!

TROTTER: Obviously, dude! Smell ya later, humans! CAROLINE: What’s that? No ‘thank you’? Nothing?

RILLA: (PANTING) That… was so stupid!

CAROLINE: Of course.

RILLA: Why did you pick me? Quanyii could’ve helped you more! She could’ve stopped time, or put them to sleep, or something! You could have killed both of them!

CAROLINE: That is very possible, Rilla. But slaying monsters is only the second of a knight’s priorities.

RILLA: What?

CAROLINE: Instead of taking two irreplaceable trophies, I have chosen to protect you, a citizen of the Second Citadel. I will never forgive you for it. But it is my duty, and a good knight is bound to her duty.

QUANYII: Duty! I’ll show you duty, you fairweather knight!

TROTTER: Aw man, dude, listen to her! She’s so heated!

PORCUS: Just move it, already!

QUANYII: Deal-breaker! Ice queen! Frost-fraud!

SOUND: SIZZLING.

TROTTER: She’s– o-ow. She’s like… really heated, actually. Ow– ow, ow!

CAROLINE: And also, I knew the witch could take care of herself.

PORCUS: Trotter, what the hell is it now?

TROTTER: Hot, brah! She’s hot! Hot! Yeeeeowww!!

SOUND: SIZZLING FADES.

RILLA: So, you didn’t learn anything? This was still just part of your plan?

CAROLINE: Oh, well, now you’re both whining. Isn’t being in charge a treat?

QUANYII: Nobody likes a cop, babe. Thanks for the reminder. And those dates you begged me to go on? Cancelled.

CAROLINE: There are no dates.

QUANYII: Cancelled!

TROTTER: Let’s get outta here, man! Forget the Senate!

PORCUS: Right behind ya!

CAROLINE: Enjoy it while you can, pigs! Your heads are mine!

TROTTER: Over our dead bodies, dude!

PORCUS & TROTTER: (SQUEALING LAUGHTER)

SOUND: RUNNING FOOTSTEPS DEPARTING.

CAROLINE: Yes! That is very literally what that would entail! You stupid…! (GROWLS)

SOUND: CLANG.

RILLA: Whoa!

CAROLINE: (PANTING) Thank you.

RILLA: But… you saved my life.

MUSIC: STARTS.

CAROLINE: I’m going to make something absolutely clear: you will have questions about what I say next. I will not answer them.

RILLA: Uh, okay?

CAROLINE: I’ve lived a lot of lives before this one… Rilla. And when you reinvent yourself, or when you’re forced to reinvent yourself, well it’s… (SIGHS)

RILLA: Like the old versions of you keep bleeding into the new one. It gets hard to draw boundaries and figure out the new rules. I know.

CAROLINE: That’s… yes. Precisely. (CLEARS THROAT) I like my life as a knight much better than any other I’ve had yet. I’d like to keep it. So thank you for reminding me how to do that.

Well?

RILLA: Well what?

CAROLINE: I said you’d have questions.

RILLA: No, it’s cool.

CAROLINE: Well I told you, I won’t answ- what?

RILLA: You’re a knight now. And you’re even a good one. So… I don’t care what you used to be.

CAROLINE: Good.

Thank you, Rilla.

RILLA: Thank you, Sir Caroline.

QUANYII: And thank me, Quanyii—

CAROLINE: Quiet.

QUANYII: Hmph.

CAROLINE: That’s a good girl.

(DEEP BREATH) Now, let’s get you two patched up, and then we’ll find our lizard.

MUSIC & SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

***

SOUND: TRAIN MOVING, MUSIC.

CONDUCTOR: If you’ve enjoyed this tale, please consider donating to The Penumbra on Patreon. Our artists work tirelessly to bring you these stories, and if you have the means, we hope you will support our efforts. Every dollar helps. You can find that page at patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast.

You can also support The Penumbra by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter @thepenumbrapod, following us on Tumblr @thepenumbrapodcast, telling your friends about us, telling your friends to tell their friends about us, and especially by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. Every rating, comment, and kind word spreads our stories further and inspires us to keep creating more and better tales to come.

We would like to give special thanks to all who support us on Patreon, but especially to Minchowski, Aurora Cyr, Demi Prince, Camille Blanton, Ota Arcana, Christine Kim, Rowan Collins, Garrett M, Jay Iannuzzelli, Karin Z-H, Fiona Parker, Regan, Ko, Kim Zeugin, Atha Lang, Charlie Spiegel, and Jaimie Gunter for their incredibly generous contributions per episode. Thank you.

Did you know that The Penumbra has merchandise for sale? It’s true! The Penumbra has partnered with DFTBA to bring you the posters, shirts, and pins your heart desires. Just go to dftba.com and search for The Penumbra Podcast.

This tale, the Hallowed Halls of Helicoid, was told by the following people: Melissa Ennulat as Rilla, Leslie Drescher as Sir Caroline, Melissa De Jesus as Quanyii, Jason Mellin as Talfryn, M Sutherland as Sir Angelo, Matthew Zahnzinger as Sir Damien, Glenn Moore as Judge Helicoid, Stuart Evan Smith as Porcus, Michael Underhill as Trotter, and Kate Jones as the Bailiff.

If you wish to know more about our ever-expanding, infinitely-creative team of artists, musicians, editors, designers, and managers, you can read about them in the show notes of this episode.

I’m afraid this is the end of the line for today, dear Traveler. We hope you will ride with The Penumbra again soon.

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

#second citadel

6 notes · View notes

neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years

Text

603-604: "Launching the Counter Attack! Luffy and Law's Great Escape!" and "Get to Building R! The Pirate Alliance's Great Advance!"

DING, DING, DING! It’s round two. And you know Luffy ain’t playing this time.

Not a huge amount happened over episodes 603 and 604. Still, the episodes were essential. The story needed a transition phase to tie up the plot threads and set everything up for the final push against Caesar.

Everyone is safe inside the lab, the Strawhats are all accounted for (sans Chopper, who is still in Caesar’s lounge), Luffy is in an alliance with Trafalgar Law and - I never thought I’d say this - Vice-Admiral Smoker of the Marines!

Actually, what the hell am I talking about?

Loads of big things happened.

Including this sweet and juicy nugget of off-island context that has me rubbing my hands with glee.

Juicy Opening Reveal Alert!

Attention: Kidd, Hawkins and Scratchman Apoo are discussing an alliance. This is not a drill.

It started out fairly innocuously. I say “fairly”. The Brokers and Dodgy Characters of the OPverse were kicking back and watching Caesar’s madness play out. Pekoms and Tamago had some lines, so I focused in on them.

“How did those big names get caught by Caesar?” Pekoms asked. “So that’s where they are now. What should we do?”

“We wait a bit and see how things play out,” Tamago answered.

This was a teeny tiny scene. But it was interesting. Why? It revealed Pekoms and Tamago know Caesar by name. Maybe Caesar introduced himself to his audience and I missed it, but if he didn’t, then that’s interesting.

After that, the action switched back to Kidd, who had also been watching Caesar’s broadcast. Kidd has earned himself a 470 million bounty, which is impressive. His right hand man, Killer, has a 200 million bounty. Less impressive. Kidd seemed happy Luffy had finally made some moves. He switched off the feed. “You’re not the kind of guy who wants to play an arms dealer, are you Killer?”

Not sure what Kidd meant by that. Does he mean Killer’s not interested in what Caesar has to offer? Or that he doesn’t want to get involved with an obvious head case like Caesar?

They walked off through their extra edgy hideout complete with gloomy paint job and atmospheric candelabras (lol). They discussed Law and his shenanigans on Punk Hazard. Kidd couldn’t believe they were all there together. He thought Law had lost his mind when he became the World Government’s lapdog. But now... Law was definitely up to something. Kidd does not want to fall behind, so they’d have to make a move too.

Upon opening the door an explosion boomed them right in the face. It was Scratchman! At first I thought, is this an assassination attempt? Then the camera panned to Hawkins and I thought.... okay, so a team-assassination attempt?

Nope. Killer had called them to Kidd’s hideout to discuss forming an alliance.

This is cool. I like this seemingly random development. Oda has made a good move here showing the other rookies in the Worst Generation are also working hard behind the scenes. They’re in the New World now. The Yonko are a-callin’. If they don’t team up, they’ll be destroyed. (R.I.P. Gangster Pirate dude and dinosaur guy. Still not sure what Urouge is up to.)

I kind of hope their alliance works a little more smoothly than the Strawhat/Heart Pirate alliance does at the moment. xD

Just Get Out of the Damned Cage, I Don’t Even Care Anymore...

There are a few teething problems but I’m sure Law has now realised that Luffy is a major loose cannon and will learn how to point him in the right direction. Maybe. At some point. In the distant future. (Ahh, that golden moment when Robin and Franky straight up told Law not to turn his back on Luffy because he’ll be off like a rocket, yelling their secret plans at the top of his lungs.)

Law’s cunning plan from the episode 402 cliffhanger was revealed. It was surprisingly simple and dangerous. But then if it’s not dangerous, is it really a good One Piece plan?

Absolutely not.

Law asked if anyone could set the nearby broken ship on fire. Franky obliged.(That fireball was badass, by the way. Just need that on record.) Once the rising smoke had obscured Caesar’s view of the cage, Law revealed his sneaky ruse. While he had freeloaded at Caesar’s house, he swapped most of the seastone chains with normal ones. Law broke free from his and freed Luffy, Robin and Franky.

Once he had failed to convince Luffy to stop cheering like a madman, Law dealt with a spot of business.

Smoker and Tashigi. They knew too much. They knew Joker’s real identity. He had their destiny in his hands. I knew he wouldn’t kill them (not evidence for that, I just didn’t think Oda would go there) but I was not prepared for what would happen next.

Law unshambled them and struck a deal: he would spare their lives because if they made it back to Marine HQ it would make life difficult for Vergo. In exchange, Smoker and Tashigi were to FORGET everything they had heard about Law and Joker. This was not a favour. It was a condition of their release.

Now, this had me bewildered. Why, if Law is no longer working for Doflamingo, is he still protecting the guy? If Doflamingo goes down, then surely Vergo will also go down and the whole operation will fall to pieces? Unless what you guys hinted at is bigger than I thought and Doflamingo has so many side hustles that some Marines being mad at him is small potatoes.

At any rate, the deal was accepted, despite Smoker’s pride, because of Tashigi’s sense of duty and practicality overcame it. She basically said, “Yes, untie us for the love of god. We need to live because if we don’t, we can’t save our people from Vergo and we can’t rescue Caesar’s experiment kiddies!”

So the deal was done. The neatness of Law’s plan was totally ruined when Luffy bent the bars of the cage and pinged out in a fit of enthusiasm. Then Franky basically turned to Law and said, “Yeah, I’m gonna pass on the plan. I’m off to look after Sunny.”

Then he farted himself out of the plot.

I think I just made a new sentence there.

Deal done, Law roomed them all to the back door, whereupon the sneaked inside the lab and pulled a Very Important Lever that meant the Fodder Marines outside did not die a horrible, painful death from Caesar’s chemical weapon.

Yay!

And there was this great, dramatic reveal moment.

Look. Look at this Beautiful Shot

While Luffy, Law and Smoker stood with their backs to Caesar’s bemused minions like total badasses, the poison gas rolled over the island.

Zoro, Sanji, Brook and Foxfire still hadn’t caught up to the dragon. However, Sanji because super motivated by tits and found a sudden burst of speed. The only thing was, the dragon wasn’t quite good enough on its own. It was tiring too.

Luckily, Nami and Usopp rode up on the back of Brownbeard and caught Brook just as he fell off the dragon. They all leapt on Brownbeard’s back (dragon included) and galloped to the front door.

Which was rapidly closing, as the Marines had all scuttled safely inside!

Indoors, the Marines squinted. What was that white, powdery cloud in the distance approaching at speed?

It was the rest of the Strawhats trying really damned hard not to die.

Zoro and Kinemon teamed up to slash the doors and force their way in. I thought it was majorly dumb at first (to be fair, so did most of the other characters). But the Fodder Marines patched up the hole with a speed that makes me think they’ve missed their calling and should be flipping houses instead.

Still think the gas would probably seep through those gaps but maybe Caesar’s got some wicked air filtration system going on. I mean, it is a state of the art lab specialising in chemical weapons research.

Have I Left the Stove On?

There was a moment after the Strawhats reunited where the action cut to a shot of the devastation Caesar’s weapon had wreaked across Punk Hazard.

If you thought the island was screwed before, it’s beyond help now. Utterly Pompeii’d. Every inch of it is covered in petrifying, poisonous ash. There is nowhere on Punk Hazard that is now habitable. Caesar took immense pride in this achievement. Some people just love destroying stuff, right? The only thing that survived outside was a single DDM protected by a bubble for Caesar’s broadcast.

Brook’s ghostly form confirmed it. Going outside would be a Bad Idea.

Inside, a lot of guns were pointed at the Strawhats and Brownbeard (Brownbeard was just pleased the Marines had remembered his name. Awww...you’re infamous now, Brownbeard. Just like Luffy. Enjoy it!)

Once the plot threads and outstanding issues of the whole reuniting scene were dealt with (Law unshambled Nami and Sanji and also told Smoker not to let his men stand in the way of the pirates), the plan to fight back against Caesar and escape the hell of Punk Hazard began.

As Law had been a guest at Caesar’s Weird Hotel, he knew the layout of the labs. They were in the foyer of Building A. To escape, they must force a path through to Building B, the large central area. There, they would find a gate at the back leading to Building R and a door marked R-66. Behind that door, is a passage to the sea that would be unaffected by any poison gas.

Law declared he’d rather not have to create a massacre, but could only give everyone about two hours. To anyone staying longer than that, Law could not guarantee their safety.

And the idiots still tried to attack the Strawhats, so I don’t have much hope for them.

One of the most interesting scenes here was the one between Zoro and Luffy. While fighting Marines, Usopp updated Zoro on what had happened. Caesar had soloed everyone with his de-oxygenation trick. Even Luffy had fallen for it. Zoro took that hard. He had flashbacks to Sabaody, to everything he had trained for in the past two years. What the hell? How could Luffy just lose like that?

Luffy (who had hatched a secret plan with Robin I know nothing about yet because Oda did let us hear it), was heading for the next room. Zoro caught him before Luffy barged his way through.

“LUFFY! GET A GRIP. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW WORLD!”

And Luffy replied, “YEAH, SORRY. I WON’T LET MY GUARD DOWN AGAIN.”

Then he tried out a hilariously dumb UFO move on the Fodder Marines and Zoro performed a mental facepalm.

I liked that glimpse of the relationship between Luffy and Zoro there. Sometimes, even though Zoro has his moments, he’s always there to give Luffy a kick up the arse and deliver some home truths on occasion. And because Luffy respects Zoro, he will take them on board and acknowledge them. But of course he’ll still have a damned good time and try out dumb moves on fodders because when else can you do that, am I right?

He Did Not Leave The Stove On

In the lounge, Caesar was about to take a special delivery from the Bad News Fairy.

One of the nice things about Caesar is that he is not a total dumbass. He looked at that cage. He noticed there were no petrified bodies clawing at the front door. He *knew* something wasn’t quite right. He asked Monet and Vergo. Vergo actually hypothesised that the Strawhats had broken free and helped the Fodder Marines escape too. But Caesar ignored him.

Then the Bad News Fairy arrived. A minion burst through the door. “Master! All of the enemies have entered the lobby with Strawhat Luffy in the lead!”

You all probably remember Spandam and Enel and those golden freakout faces. Caesar is giving them a run for their money. I love how he can shift seamlessly from twirling round the room in joyful glee, to “wait a minute....” suspicion, followed by shrieking outrage.

Two in-universe hours, Caesar. That’s how long you have.

Can’t wait to see what nasty tricks you’ll pull in your increasingly futile attempts to cling to power in Punk Hazard.

And they will be futile, because if there’s one thing we all know about Luffy, it’s that he always, always learns from his mistakes.

He is going to kick your ass and kidnap you.

At least he recycles?

76 notes · View notes

iwritesometimes · 5 years

Text

filigods replied to your post

“thank you to the gorgeous @wordssometimesfail for tagging me in a get...”

s o n g r e c s

so THANKS (much belatedly for tolerating my fucking out of control need to word vomit about music at literally all hours of the day and night; forcing others to listen to songs i like is literally one of the few joys that makes life worth living. also, idk if this was intended in a “hey cool, song recs” way or a “hey, yeah, link me those songs” way, but @filigods, BABY YOU’RE GETTIN THOSE LINKS and also more because i am insufferable.

below the cut: links to just Some Music What I Think Is Cool, organized...pretty dubiously, but an attempt will be made. also, now and at all times, anyone who feels so inclined should always link me to music they’re liking right now or that they loved in the past or that they think is just the bee’s knees...anytime. ANYTIME.

okay so the songs i mentioned the other day are all in here, but i wanted to organize it a bit more than just a random grab bag to give you some direction so that you know what you might be into, if you’ve never heard of some of these (my music taste isn’t all that niche but i’ve gone through a lot of phases in my life XD). particular “omg please listen to this before you die” faves will be in italics.

best of pop/pop rock

stuff by Keane, My Fave Band:

“Crystal Ball”

“Won’t Be Broken”

“Sovereign Light Cafe”

“Bedshaped”

“My Shadow”

stuff by Tokio Hotel, my first RPF subjects

“Übers Ende der Welt”

“Spring nicht”

“Wo sind eure Hände”

stuff by Elliot Minor, classically trained and sadly disbanded

“Parallel Worlds”

“The White One Is Evil”

“The Broken Minor”

“Solaris”

“Shiver”

“Electric High”

stuff by Dino Merlin, Bosnia’s Elton John

“Zid”

“Sarajevo”

“Majka Ruži Kćer”

“Heroes of Earth” by Wang Leehom (listen to more of his stuff - he’s insanely talented and has albums in several different genres)

“Sun Goes Down” by David Jordan

stuff by Gorillaz, you’ve definitely heard them but may not have heard these

“Stylo”

“November Has Come”

“Feel Good Inc.”

“Broken”

“Busted and Blue”

“Du erinnerst mich an Liebe” by Ich + Ich

stuff by Josh Groban, HE’S GOOD ADMIT IT TO YOURSELVES

“Never Let Go”

“Remember When it Rained”

“You Are Loved”

“Weeping”

“Tigerlily” by La Roux (whole album’s great, but this one’s gayyyy)

“Grace Kelly” and “Origin of Love” by Mika

“Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright

“Make This Go On Forever” and “Set the Fire to the Third Bar” by Snow Patrol

stuff by Owl City, the fluffiest synthpop to ever make me happy

“Fireflies”

“Swimming in Miami”

“Meteor Shower”

“Strawberry Avalanche”

“Running Up That Hill” by Placebo covering Kate Bush

“Velvet Sky” by Los Lonely Boys

“Chasing the Sun” and “Satellite Call” and “Eden” by Sara Bareilles (WHOLE ALBUM!!!)

“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer

“Sad Clown” by Jars of Clay

stuff by Michael W. Smith, i can’t help i was raised on CCM please forgive me

“Cross of Gold”

“Lamu”

“Secret Ambition”

“Breathe in Me”

“Love Me Good”

“Faith My Eyes” and “High Countries” by Caedmon’s Call

stuff by Daft Punk, FUCKING SUPERB YOU FUNKY LITTLE ROBOTS (listen to all of Discovery and Random Access Memories!!)

“One More Time”

“Aerodynamic”

“Give Life Back to Music”

“Technologic”

“These Dreams” by Heart

“Even Rats” by The Slip

“To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra

“Mandolin Rain” and “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range

“I’m Still Here” by John Rzeznik

“Ue o muite arukou” by Kyu Sakamoto

“Love Me Dead” by Ludo

“Just Communication” by Two-Mix (Soundcloud link because it’s not on YT?? however, this bitchin cover is!!)

“The Book of Love” by Peter Gabriel covering the Magnetic Fields

best of rock/rap rock

stuff by linkin park, baby’s first rock band (meteora and thousand suns, BEST albums)

“Forgotten”

“Somewhere I Belong”

“Breaking the Habit”

“Iridescent” (accidentally called this “The Radiance” in the op)

“The Messenger”

“Welcome Home” by Coheed and Cambria

“Televators” by The Mars Volta

“Isolation” and “Life Must Go On” by Alter Bridge

“Nemesis” by Arch Enemy

“Like a Stone” by Audioslave

“Lonely Boy” by The Black Keys

“In One Ear” and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant (whole album!!)

“Jordan” by Buckethead

“Paralyzer” by Finger Eleven

stuff by Gackt, j-rock boy of my dreams since 2003

“Mirror”

“Vanilla”

“Returner”

“Orenji no Taiyou” (with Hyde)

“Through the Night” by Masahiko Arimachi

“Magick” and “It’s Not Over Yet” by Klaxons

“Deliverance” and “In Mist She Was Standing” by Opeth

stuff by Panik, my good good german boys who just couldn’t make it work

“Revolution”

“Geht ab”

“Grau”

“Perfekt”

“Morgencafe”

“Bevor du gehst”

“Careless Whisper” by Seether covering Wham!

“Seasons” by The Veer Union

“Cold” by Static X

“Change (In the House of Flies)” by Deftones

“System” by Chester Bennington

“Whipping Boy” by Train

“Chevette” and “Some Kind of Zombie” by Audio Adrenaline

“Colossal” and “Witchcraft” by Wolfmother (whole album is great)

“Whiskey in the Jar” by Metallica and “Turn the Page” by Metallica covering Bob Seger

“Gravedigger” by Dave Matthews Band

“Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls

“Icky Thump” and “Blue Orchid” by The White Stripes

“Crazy Bitch” by Buckcherry

“You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Big Balls” by AC/DC (there is NO CORRECT VERSION of Big Balls on YT...sorry for the spotify link)

best of choral (most of which i’ve sung so i’m biased)/instrumental/soundtrack

Lux Aeterna and “O Magnum Mysterium” by Morten Lauridsen

The True Story of Cinderella (i was the queen in this :3)

Knock Knock and indeed anything by P.D.Q. Bach

“i thank You God for most this amazing day” and “Lux Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre

“Magnificat” by Arvo Pärt

“Set Me as a Seal” by René Clausen

“Cloudsong” and “The Heart’s Cry” by Anúna

“You Are the New Day” by The King’s Singers covering Airwaves, aka, the greatest love song of all time

“Castle in the Mist” and “You Were There” by Michiru Oshima (voc. Steven Geraghty)

“Prologue” and “The Farthest Land” by Ko Otani (the whole soundtrack is sublime, please listen to it!!!)

“The Mighty Rio Grande” and “They Move on Tracks of Never-Ending Light” by This Will Destroy You

“On the Nature of Daylight” by Max Richter (also, there’s a great mashup of this with “This Bitter Earth” by Dinah Washington)

“To Zanarkand” by Nobuo Uematsu (obviously, listen to everything the man ever wrote, but ofc my fave is the FFX OST)

“More Streets” by Zpiderflower

“I Was Born for This” by Austin Wintory (from the stellar Journey OST)

“The Ballad of Fiedler and Mundt” by Disparition

“Sex (Daedalus Remix)” by Slugabed

Castlevania malarkey

Best of “Bloody Tears”: official 1, official 2, official 3, fanmix 4

Best of “Vampire Killer”: official 1, official 2, fanmix 3

Best of “Simon’s Theme”: official 1, official 2, fanmix 3, fanmix 4

Super Castlevania IV (PLEASE listen to the whole thing but my faves): “Forest of Monsters”, “The Submerged City”, “Clockwork Mansion 2″, “The Library”, “Dracula Battle”, “Ending”

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (ditto above): “Dance of Illusions”, “Dracula’s Castle”, “Marble Gallery”, “Lost Painting”, “Dance of Pales”, “Wandering Ghosts”, “Final Toccata”

“Clotho”, “Atropos”, and “Lathesis” from the Columns OST

Zelda shenanigans

“Title Theme (Wind Waker)”

“Dragon Roost Island”

“The Great Sea”

“Main Theme (Breath of the Wild)”

“Riding (Day)”

“Riding (Night)”

“Stables”

“Kakariko Village”

“Rito Village (Day)”

“Tarrey Town”

“Maze Forest”

“Hyrule Castle” and “Hyrule Castle Interior”

okay i gotta quit - i’ve had this tab open for like a week and a half now and i just keep adding stuff. this is enough to get anybody started. i hope y’all find something you like. :)

#filigods #music

5 notes · View notes