#those creepy dark pictures are from when the power went out

[shadowqueenjude]

Eris makes a deal with Keir

for @the-darkestminds

Eris interlaced his hands before him, smiling insouciantly at Keir Darkbringer. Despite technically being Rhysand’s subordinate, Keir had little to no fear of the man, and shockingly, Rhysand had let him stay in power for centuries despite being a despot. Having just learned of his position of power and the second game afoot with Rhysand and the Night Court, Eris set out to figure out why. It seemed that however much Rhysand and his dogs claimed to care for Mor, they hadn’t cared enough to warn her about their deal-making with Keir and himself.

Which left it to Eris to be the compassionate one. Shame; compassion was certainly not his strong suit. There were perhaps only two people in the world he had ever truly been kind to, and one would barely speak to him.

Eris shut out the pain at that thought, focusing instead on the man before him. “Hello, Keir.”

“What is this about,” Keir asked flatly, sitting down at the long table with Eris. They were on neutral ground in the Middle, just feet from the infamous mountain where Amarantha had ruled. Eris gestured towards it. “You know, that’s the place where much of Prythian was trapped and tormented by the dark queen for decades. Seems rather ordinary from here, doesn’t it?”

Keir’s lip twitched. “Quite. But I’m sure all the magic occurred underneath.”

Eris raised one leg onto the table, the picture of the arrogant prince. “You would know all about that, wouldn’t you, Keir? In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Amarantha’s domain was modeled after your own.” Keir’s brown eyes turned dark with rage, and Eris noted his hands fisted against his thighs. “Not my domain,” he hissed. “It was Rhysand’s father who trapped us here. The High Lord is merely continuing the family tradition.”

Eris chuckled. “One would think after fifty years in that place Rhys would be more sympathetic to your plight.”

Keir looked mollified at that, straightening his baby crown over his blonde waves. “Instead he has only cracked down more on us since coming back.”

Eris clucked his tongue sympathetically. “Rhysand got special privileges,” Eris drawled, twisting a golden ring around his finger. “For being Amarantha’s whore, he didn’t suffer as we did. He didn’t need to worry about seeing his mother die right before his eyes, or being impersonated by those creepy Attor, or becoming the nightly entertainment, which typically involved lots of blood and torture. For giving her a little dick every now and then and killing some children, he got away scot-free.”

And Eris knew much of Prythian would never forgive him for it; especially not when Tamlin himself stood against Amarantha for as long as he did. When it was a mere human who freed them all. Eris did not forgive or trust Rhysand, but he supposed he was in no place to judge considering all he had done in his father’s name. He just wished Rhysand would stop acting like such a hero. It made him insufferable.

“Dirty, sniveling bastard,” Keir muttered under his breath.

“Anyhow, I understand your position where even Rhysand cannot. He wasn’t restrained to Under the Mountain like we were. He went there often, yes, but he was free to leave. But now then, Rhysand being a prick doesn’t make you any less of a jackass. Nailing and mailing your daughter to me, Keir? Could you be any more barbaric?” Eris spoke lazily, popping a cork of a champagne bottle as he finished, pouring it generously into a glass he conjured from midair. He then poured another glass to Keir and offered it to him. He didn’t take it.

“She was of no use to me here,” Keir answered coldly.

“No regret about torturing your daughter?” Eris crooned. “Were you hoping I’d accept her still out of pity, perhaps? Surely you knew there’s not a kind bone in my body.” That was true, but preventing Mor from crossing into Autumn territory was one of the greatest kindnesses he could’ve done. Being in Autumn Court territory would have bound her to him forever, and Eris knew she did not wish that at all. Better dead than suffer as his spouse.

“She deliberately disobeyed me and gave herself over to that savage,” Keir snarled, slamming his fists on the table. “This occurred long ago; what is the point of mentioning it now.”

Eris shrugged, tracing a finger across the rim of his glass, toying with Keir. “Well you see, it has always been a lifelong dream of Mor’s to free those girls from the Hewn City. Girls like her who have been trapped in cruel marriages to cruel men. And I can make it happen. I shall, if you wish to make a deal with me.”

“I tire of these games,” Keir snapped. “I already have a deal to be able to access Velaris. Why do I need you?”

Eris smirked. He had Keir right where he wanted him.

“Oh please, Keir, we all know you despise Night Court land, and I wholeheartedly agree,” he purred. “The atmosphere is terrible and the land is barren and who wants to live with all those Illyrian brutes anyway?”

Keir hesitated before he nodded. “True.”

“And as I’m sure you know, I am not merely the general of the Autumn Court armies. I am also lord of the Hestian plains, some of the finest land in Autumn.”

Keir raised an eyebrow, starting to put everything together.

“So, I’ll allow your people to begin to relocate there. But,” Eris raised a hand, interrupting Keir as he was about to speak, “only select citizens of my choice. This is my land, so I get to choose who lives on it. You will, of course, be provided with a fine estate of your own there, and plenty of comforts. Is that not a better deal than the closed city Velaris?”

Keir narrowed his eyes at Eris, considering his offer. “And if I reject your offer?”

Eris shrugged. “You won’t be rejecting it.”

“And what makes you so sure?”

Eris stood up, leaning across the table towards Keir. “There’s a reason you wanted your daughter to marry me so badly,” he murmured. “There’s a reason that after my rejection, you seek me out still. Unfortunately for you, I have discovered it. Why you desire me to be part of your family so.”

For the first time, Keir truly looked afraid. Eris relished that look. “And? What have you found out?” Eris was sure it was meant to sound like a demand, but Keir was far too breathless for his words to sound remotely commanding.

“There aren’t many who delve into the mystical arts,” Eris hummed, not letting his eyes leave Keir’s. “It took…more time than it ought owing to my father’s interference, but I discovered the one you went to before you were trapped under the mountain. And, well, with the right encouragement, the woman was perfectly happy to talk to me.” Eris didn’t elaborate on what he meant by “encouragement,” instead drinking in the scent of Keir’s growing anxiety.

“Your daughter will possess the power of Truth,

She shall attain great success with her strength and youth,

Her spouse shall come from Autumn or Night,

Listen carefully, oh Darkbringer, for she may be your plight,

You’ve been gifted the boon of invincibility,

But such a blessing must always be accompanied by an Achilles heel, silly,

Yours is her. Despair, for you cannot have her killed,

Your destiny by her shall be willed.

Should she marry Autumn’s heir, you shall attain untold amounts of power,

But should she marry an Illyrian, soon not even your servants shall cower,

For Autumn’s son shall be your sword,

But the Night’s son shall be your lord.”

Keir’s skin paled. Eris had recited his prophecy to completion. He knew his darkest secret. He had no cards left to play.

“I don’t think you want this information in the Inner Circle’s hands, do you?” Eris whispered.

Keir’s body swirled with darkness. “I could just kill you and be done with it,” he mused. Eris had to laugh. Powerful though Keir might be, he was no match for a High Lord’s heir, especially not Autumn’s.

Eris let his body encircle itself in flame. “I’d like to see you try. You do know what light and heat does to darkness and cold, don’t you, Keir?”

Keir stayed in a fighting stance for a moment longer before he relaxed. “Fine. I agree to your deal.”

“Swear to it,” Eris insisted. Keir looked murderous, but he grumbled, “I swear.”

Eris watched as black swirls creamed up the inside of Keir’s arm. A matching gold mark formed on Eris’s. He winked at Keir. “Good boy. Pleasure doing business with you.”

Then he winnowed out of the meeting spot before Keir could snarl insults at him.

[camscendants]

Work stuff

[hello-im-not-a-possum]

A Secret Leak: The New Co Writers.

Audrey just went through the hell of an emotional roller coaster of the lifetime. Wilson Arch, Joey Drew, Bendy the Dancing Demon... Those were all names of people she could never think about the same way ever again.

She could never think of herself the same way ever again.

Who she previously assumed was a creepy, yet unassuming janitor was actually a monster who tormented and tortured sentient, sapient people who happened to be made out of ink! That he would've killed her without any hesitation for the sake of bringing his own character to life...

For years, Joey Drew was just the name of the man who created some of the earliest Bendy cartoons, who ran the studio and cartoon before his untimely passing. Now? Now she found out the man was her father of all things! She had so many questions... Why didn't she know before? Why couldn't she remember him? If Joey is her father and she's made out of ink, does she not have a mother or does that make someone or something else her mother (Like the angel Joey told her about)? Was the reason why when she started working here, Nathan gave her the picture of the toon trio because he knew of her origins..? Or did he just know she was Joey's daughter and things were left at that...

And as for Bendy... She had a lot of mixed feelings towards the small, living imp. She had seen the violent nature of his Ink demon form first hand, but she also knew that he's been through hell, and that he was the first to warn her about Wilson's true nature...

Yet he spoke such vile words to her before they became one, even calling her a monster... but a monster, just like him.. Had other people called him that? Joey spoke ill of him when they were fused.. asking her to remember who she was... She felt the Ink demon's rage in that moment as if it was her own... The fact Joey called him evil hurt him more than anything Wilson had ever done to him...

...Were they still... friends..?

Did the small imp before her hate her for going against him, for playing the end reel and pulling him out into the real world in a small, harmless, defenseless form when seconds ago he was at the peak of his full power? ...Or was there a reason why he didn't fight back against her..?

She looked at her inkless, pale skin.. she *looked* human again, but she knew the truth, her 'flexible' and dexterous hands were not flesh and blood, they looked like that, but it wasn't real. Just colored ink on the outside, pitch black ink on the inside..

Audrey escaped not just with new and strange emotional baggage and knowledge of her inhumanity. She had her father's world now, she could change it for the better, but she didn't know the people inside it.. Well, at least, she didn't know them very well. She only knew some of their names, a few personality traits... They were friendly acquaintances, sure, but for the most part. She went through that inky hell on her own, with her only constant and consistent ally and companion being the one who evaded her due to her accidentally hurting him...

...A companion who had lived in that world his entire life, who probably knew Joey Drew's world and the people in it better than anyone.

She looked to the living, cartoon imp next to her. The tired, oh so tired eyes of the toon devil she had drawn over a thousand times before with a smile that was strained and slightly forced... He wasn't the evil, soulless monster Joey believed him to be. But he wasn't the innocent, happy cartoon character either, he had been through too much to ever truly be him in spirit again. But he, like her, was a being born in ink, born in the darkness. But that doesn't mean that he should stay in it.

"C'mon Bendy, we have a lot to talk about, a lot to catch up on, and a lot of work to do..."

The imp's smile seemed a little less forced as he nodded at her and took her hand, happy to be led into the world of light he was denied from seeing for so many years.

It was even brighter, warmer, and more beautiful than he had ever imagined it was.

[josephthesnailshow]

Luigi's Mansion: Hanging Shadow Glitch

You might've thought Burnt Luigi was nothing, just wait until you read this one, this is a really disturbing tale of Luigi's Mansion about a REAL glitch, let's see what this story has in store.

I really liked Mario games, and I still do to this day. I had so much love for everything in the games, but the Mario game I enjoyed the most was "Luigi’s Mansion." That game freaked me out at times, but it was very enjoyable to play, and it’s really cool to hear about it now after first seeing it.

I had most of the Mario games, and sometimes I would emulate the games on occasion; why did I do that? Well, I didn’t really own Luigi’s Mansion and such, nor did I own a GameCube. That’s why I had to emulate them to play the games; however, there are some glitches in Luigi’s Mansion, but it was alright. I mean, it’s from 2001, so of course there are going to be some flaws about it, but there’s a certain glitch that makes people terrified.

I was one of those people who experienced it.

There’s a part in the game where the blackout occurred, and the people who made it this far will know what I’m talking about. Right after that moment, you enter a room with three telephones; this is known as the "telephone room." You hear one of the phones ring, but why would it ring when the power went out? The thing is, this is a Mario game, and it’s not realistic, so don’t expect things to match our reality. You, the player, also known as Luigi, picked up the phone, and it turns out there’s a fellow toad on the line.

The lightning strikes, and you see Luigi’s shadow. It’s off the ground, and it looks like he’s hanging from a noose. Something about the shadow looked very off, and it didn’t look like Luigi at all. Some people thought this was a piece of the beta of the game, since the beta was planned to be much scarier than the final game. Some people also thought the "hanging shadow" was related to that so-called "game over" with the creepy-looking Luigi with eyes that had no pupils; he probably had pupils, but they were very hard to make out.

There was a shadow casting around his eyes; he also looked very weird, and he was staring at the viewer with no emotion at all.

The Luigi on that screen did not look like the normal green plumber we knew and loved. I had sleepless nights and nightmares when I first heard of that creepy picture of Luigi. I had one nightmare where I was in that same telephone room in the dark mansion, and I heard some footsteps coming toward the entrance where you first entered the room, and then the door opened up. It was Luigi from the creepy picture.

The being ran up towards me, and then I woke up as fast as I could. I kept having more and more nightmares about that shadow glitch and the creepy image of Luigi staring at the viewer. The second nightmare I had was of my shadow hanging from a noose in the same telephone room as in the previous dreams, with an eerie jingle playing in the background. I woke up afterward, and then I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I soon found out about the glitch again, and it was finally fixed in the remake for the Nintendo 3DS. Go try it for yourself; the glitch is gone.

I stopped having nightmares about it since I’ve matured a bit, and I could sleep easily knowing that nothing was going to hurt me. I’m currently done writing this down, so I have to end it here. I still wonder to this day: why did Nintendo make the clip, and why did the jingle sound the way it did? That question needs to be answered for me, because I’m confused.All of my questions have been answered; let me explain.

I snuck into a nearby Nintendo headquarters, which was abandoned, and I found scrapped pieces of the hanging shadow glitch. Turns out, it was never meant to be a glitch; there was originally going to be a feature where, if Luigi got attacked by a ghost and lost all of his health, he would have the power to roam the mansion as a ghost.

When you think about it, it actually seems like a really fun feature to play around with, but when Luigi gets a call from Professor E. Gadd, Luigi's shadow appears during every minute of the call, and Luigi's shadow is completely off the ground, and for an alternative scene, that dreaded clip of Luigi is standing in front of the viewer, with those soulless eyes; the last time Nintendo ever used the clip was when they were showcasing Luigi's Mansion to the crowd.

This is why some people consider Luigi's Mansion to be the scariest Mario game. I agree; when I play the game, I also have that unsettling feeling that I'm being watched every time I play the game, and I also have every disturbing visual of the game in my head every time I go to sleep; I think about that picture when I go to sleep.

Anyway, I decided to compile the pieces and create all of the unused content together, and I went on the computer and coded the original Luigi's Mansion by adding all of the missing code pieces. I don't want to leave this building until I check out the whole thing.I pressed start and went through a bunch of cutscenes; luckily, I added a feature that allows me to skip the cutscenes, and in the first part of the game, where Luigi gets his poltergust from Professor E. Gadd, right off the bat, I noticed a few changes.

The assets from the beta were added back. I pulled up the GameBoy Horror, and it showed the Luigi nesting doll, which looked really cute, and I noticed the timer as seen in the trailer. I went upstairs, and I went to the corridor on my left, and I went to the first room of the mansion, Neville's room, better known as the study.

I captured Neville, and I went to the next room. Of course, I avoided the fake door; I'd been playing Luigi's Mansion for a while, so I entered the same room, known as the master bedroom, where you see Lydia; her room was different, and the gameplay was like how it was in the trailer. I captured her, and it was still the same game until I heard the cry from Chauncey, which was louder than usual.

This was my chance to see if my coding worked.

Chauncey's room was named "baby room." That's what it meant in Japanese when Luigi walked in; normally, it would be called the nursery, but since this is based on the beta, things were different, of course, and nothing strange had yet happened.

Chancey woke up and looked at Luigi.

Chauncey said an unsettling line about asking Luigi if he wanted to play, but it wasn't really surprising, since isn't the majority of this game creepy enough? Luigi then agreed, and the ball was launched at the baby. Chauncey got angry at Luigi, and he brought him to the boss's room—a giant crib. I tried making Luigi attack Chauncey three times, since, you know, that's how you defeat a boss in any Mario game.

I defeated Chauncey.

I was sent back to my room, and I got a call from Professor E. Gadd. While we were talking, lightning struck, and Luigi's shadow was seen behind him, striking the same pose as he was, and Professor E. Gadd asked if I wanted to come back to the lab; my options were yes or no; this wasn't in the actual game.

Because I was curious, I chose no; the screen froze for a second, the Gameboy Horror turned off, and shadows on Luigi's eyes began to cast. Staring directly at me, he was looking like he did in the clip.

A brief cutscene starts to play. Luigi puts his GameBoy horror aside and begins to exit Chauncey's room until he reaches the fake door. I regain control of my character, but Luigi retains his bleak, soulless expression. Was I forced to kill Luigi? I have no idea; I might be forced to enforce suicide on him, but I didn't use the fake door; instead, I wanted to continue to explore this version of the mansion, so I left the corridor and went back into the main room. The game took control again, and Luigi explored the mansion by himself.

All of the ghosts were gone.

He made his way to the telephone room; we had discussed this in the first post before, and I had numerous nightmares about this room in the past, and I want to put the mystery to rest.

However, instead of a phone in the middle, there was a noose. I took control of Luigi again, and I walked my way towards the noose to interact with it. Following that was a disturbing cutscene in which Luigi interacts with the noose while still sad. He staggers to a stool, which he pulls over to him, stands on the stool, and then puts the noose around his neck.

It was over; Luigi started choking when he kicked the stool, and the last cutscene showed Luigi dangling around the room, fading into darkness. As the final Luigi cutscene played, his spirit left the mansion, still looking forlorn.

He looked at me.

I destroyed the game and fled the building, never to return.

Nintendo doesn't mean "Leave luck to heaven," it truly means "Leave luck to hell."

[crapitskizaru]

We Die Tomorrow. (Kid x Fem!Reader x Law x Drake)

Word Count: 9,3k

Warning: pure smut, power-play mention, foursome, mentions of death, bastard Law per usual. WANO SPOILERS.

A/N: i really....... went off with this one. i have no idea what came over me

The skull-shaped island loomed in the distance, veiled in shadows of the late night. A view unlike any other, of tiny patches of land sprouting from the dark surface of the ocean and the Onigashima island itself, was spread kilometers beneath your feet.

You could only see blurred lights and silhouettes of ships from the strategic cave far up in the mountains, the wind blew cold and merciless, making goosebumps appear all over your exposed skin.

"(Name)-ya," a smooth voice said behind your back. "Do you remember the floor plans enough to draw them?"

You stirred. The perspective of impending death hadn't deterred you from finding the view simply magnificent, but apparently, the three captains weren't quite as melancholic.

"Of course," you replied and strolled away from the entrance of the cave. It was situated in the middle of a cliff, its opening facing the Onigashima island that was to be raided tomorrow night by the alliance between the pirates and the samurai. It was warmer inside, but the air was stale and heavy and made you miss the fresh wind. "But I thought we have already gone through it?"

"Let's see it one more time," Law pressed on. He had changed into a disguise of a black harness that met in the middle of his chest in a steel ring and leather pants, inked muscles displayed, his hat discarded in the corner.

The other two captains were sporting the same outfit, just like you were - leather and straps. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that your life was to come to an end soon, you wouldn't be able to remain as calm in this situation, surrounded by sculpted male bodies, tattooed and scarred and framed with leather.

But not tonight.

"Fine," you said and leaned over a desk in the middle of the room. A stack of maps and blueprints had already awaited you there. "This is the Onigashima harbor that we can see from here. It elongates into stairs and eventually the entrance to the dome."

You were vaguely aware of two pairs of eyes watching every move of your pencil. The remaining eyes, red and with a dangerous spark in them, were currently bored into the ceiling. "The ground floor looks like this. A set of rooms here, with only one door and two windows-"

"Do the windows overlook the whole harbor? We could sneak a dozen men prior to the actual start of the raid, use them as an emergency backup," Drake spoke softly from a corner.

"We could... technically. But someone would have to take out the guards first, without alerting everyone else."

"I'll take care of it." Law raised his eyes at you, his face illuminated in yellow from an oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. Then he realized your silence was a question. "I'll shambles them to our ranks and we'll kill them quickly, they won't even realize what happened."

You nodded. "Good. So, in front of this set of rooms is the pleasure house-" Your voice wavered. "With three exits and at least a dozen small rooms facing the corridor. It's usually where Orochi spends his days... if he's not plotting on the highest floor, where-"

A fist banged on the table.

"I wish I could tear that creepy pervert apart with my bare hands," Kid growled. A shiver ran down your spine, and you weren't sure if it was from the anticipation of the raid or the bottomless fury gaping at you from those red eyes. "But I won't waste my time on him when there's Kaido to kill."

"One of the Strawhats could take care of him," Law agreed. "Or the samurai. Either way, he's not our concern."

You continued to sketch out the blueprints. Halfway through the first floor, you had lost Kid who claimed he'd already memorized everything and sprawled himself on a pile of mattresses stacked against a wall. The cave had nothing on the luxurious hotels of Sabaody Archipelago, or picture-postcard villas in Dresssora, but at least there was a place to sleep along with three men that could potentially serve as heated blankets.

"Eustass-ya," Law said with a warning in his tone. Leaning over the sketches with both arms spread on the table and the black leather taking up the dull light of the oil lamp, you had a hard time prying your eyes away from him. "Pay attention. There will be no room for mistakes once it all starts."

Kid groaned. "Oh, shut up. Stealth or no stealth, plan or no plan, we all die tomorrow anyway."

Drake, who was propped against a wall with arms crossed on his chest and had appeared deep in thought when you were speaking before, now snapped his head up. "Is that the way a captain should be talking? That's what you're going to tell your men later?"

"Better than to lie and give them false hope." Kid shrugged.

"We have (Name) with us," Drake insisted. "At least try and pretend to be a man."

You managed to notice Law rolling his eyes as if already knowing what was going to happen next before Kid jumped to his feet, red in the face.

"You want to talk to me about being a man? You, a traitor and a mole? Maybe you should tell (Name) how you would leave her to die and save your own skin the second things get real in there?"

That struck a nerve. Drake's sword was halfway out the scabbard as he confronted Kid. "I never betrayed anyone I considered my true ally. Sometimes a way to go can be different than simply mashing everything with fists and metal."

"Drake!" you called out. "Kid, come on! We shouldn't be fighting now. We're supposed to be an alliance, remember?"

Kid's gaze was seething with silent rage as he turned to look at you. His huge chest rose rapidly up and down. "I should have known better than to get involved in alliances."

"Just because you got betrayed once doesn't mean we will betray you as well. Don't you trust me?" You held his gaze. A swell of panic took hold of your chest. What if Kid bailed on you now? What if he decided to face the Onigashima island all by himself? He would be throwing his life away, but something told you that Kid had long stopped concerning himself with whether he lives or dies.

"I don't trust anyone." His voice cut like ice through the warm air.

"Can't you trust my rage?" You went around the table, ignoring Law's disapproving gaze, and stood in front of Kid. "You think I don't want to avenge myself, just like you do? All the years of my youth, wasted away on that island, serving monsters that I hated but had no strength to fight on my own! Now that you're all here, there's finally a chance to take those beasts down. And you can't just step away, Kid. I won't let you."

He raised an eyebrow. Other than that, he seemed unconcerned with your speech. "You... won't let me?"

Drake sighed somewhere on your left but you stood your ground. "That's right. You take down the Beast Pirates with me. Then you are free to go your own way."

Your hip had banged the corner of the table when you were forced to take a step back as Kid lunged, trapping you between his arms, placing them on either side of your body. His face got too close to yours. "Oh, I'll be free to go, you say? Will we get a banquet to celebrate our victory at the end? A souvenir from the Wano Country?" His eyes bore into you and you felt your legs shake. Surely, he could feel it too. "Don't you understand we are marching to our deaths?"

"Eustass-ya..." Law started from behind your back but Kid ignored him.

"When I take down Kaido... and Big Mom... you think I'll have any strength left in me to defend myself from all of that Beast's underlings? Who will defend me then? You? They'll swarm us and kill us as we're exhausted from the fights."

You swallowed audibly. "We have the Strawhats with us. And the samurai. And the whole country on our side."

"Those years spent in captivity really didn't do you any good." Kid's voice dropped to a mutter. "There are only so many of us against thousands of them. I'm fine with going down fighting. I'm not scared. But I don't want you to sleep tonight believing in your delusion that we have a future after tomorrow."

Your eyes were squeezed shut as you gulped down the muggy air. "Kid... I know all that. But I refuse to die until we take them down. If they fall, I don't care what happens next."

"Then we're on the same page." He finally let you go, leaving you with a racing heart and dizziness behind your eyes.

You realized the maps and blueprints on the table were all crumpled from how your fingers grasped and reached in anxiety. Your cheeks burned.

"Wow. What a show," Law mocked, watching Kid fall back on the mattresses and cover his eyes with his palm. "You must have been a theatre kid."

"Shut up," Kid muttered. "I'm going to sleep. You get on with your silly plans."

"If you had an ounce of intelligence in you-"

Law and Kid continued to bicker but their voices started to fade away in your ears. Your gaze traveled to the mouth of the cave and the dark sky outside. After Kid's words, the realization that this really could be the last night of your life washed over you, and your limbs went numb.

Every last bit of strength, every surge of energy, and every breath - you would give it all to take down the Beast Pirates. But what about the samurai, the allies, the good pirates that agreed to help free the Wano Country? None of them deserved to die a premature death.

And the three captains? Each of them unique in their own way, each of them with ambitions and plans and goals. Why did they have to die?

"Did he frighten you?" A soft voice murmured in your ear. "I should have stepped in."

Drake's electric blue eyes stood out even against the dim lighting. They looked exactly the same as a few weeks ago when you had seen them for the first time.

"No, I'm just... I... I don't want you to die," you whispered, careful not to let Law and Kid overhear, the two of them still snapping at each other. You wondered if Kaido himself could hear them all the way from Onigashima. "You rescued me from that island, and now we will be going back there to our deaths?"

Drake gave you that renowned smirk of his. "I knew I should have stepped in. That red dumbass knows how to put on a show and now you're doubting yourself. And me, on top of that."

You fiddled with a leather strap on his shoulder. It left a red mark on his skin when you shifted it, causing it to fall off at his side. "You... on top? I'd like that," you teased.

There was no telling where that had come from. Maybe the anxiety and the constant fear had finally worn you out. Maybe the stress in your body had raised to the maximum level and yearned to be let go by some form of stimulant. Or maybe you just wanted to enjoy yourself, to feel alive, on that last night of your life.

Drake frowned, a bit taken aback, and you cursed internally. One or two makeout sessions didn't exactly give you the right to call him your lover, certainly not anything more than that. You weren't even sure if the word 'friend' covered whatever your relationship was.

You didn't notice how much sweat your body was producing until Drake's arm looped around your exposed waist, the courtesy of your skimpy outfit following the 'less is more' rule. Suddenly you grew anxious, wishing for a shower. Drake didn't seem to mind, however, his own skin hot and clammy.

"So that's what you've been truly thinking about?" he spoke directly into your ear, the tone low. "Well, if it consoles you... I'd like that, too."

Your heart went back to the same frenzied beating that Kid had caused before, but with Drake it felt more natural. "That day when we kissed for the first time, we talked how we would go, um, all out," you stuttered out, "once this is over. But if what Kid said came true, we won't get another chance other than tonight."

"You're saying we should do it here? Now? On this table?" The raspiness in his voice came out, scattering your thoughts into panic. Your eyes shifted away from his, trying to escape, and landed on his chest with the 'X' inked in the middle. Where the two black lines met, there was a silver ring held by the leather straps, same as Law's.

You tried leaning against the table for support. What was it with pirates and leather and tattoos? First Law, then Drake. It was hard to look away, hard to hold back, hard to think.

"Uh, I don't... I don't know."

Drake smirked again, amused by your reaction. The worry that had creased his forehead before vanished. If humiliating yourself was all it took for this man to stop stressing, you were more than ready to sacrifice your dignity.

"Oi! You two are gonna start fucking or what?"

You peeked behind Drake and saw that Law and Kid had finally stopped their dick-measuring contest, with Kid gluing his eyes to where Drake's arm met your waist. Law sat beside him on the mattress, giving you a mildly curious look.

"Shut up, Kid!" you squealed, causing all three of them to laugh. At least Drake had the courtesy to try and mask it into a cough. "What are we even doing? We were supposed to go through the plan again." You pried yourself away from Drake's embrace, immediately missing it.

"Don't worry, (Name)-ya. We can leave him," Law pointed at Kid with annoyance, "out of it. If I can remember the plan, it might be enough."

"Fine with me," Kid concluded and turned to face the wall. "The plan will go to shit in the first minute anyway."

Law ignored him and approached the table. "Where were we?" He picked up the crumpled paper, smoothing it out and handing you the pencil. "First floor, if I recall correctly."

"Um, yes..." Your eyes took in all of him before they rested on his face. "Right."

The corners of Law's mouth twitched. "Well? Work that pencil. The night won't last forever."

Law was the one you couldn't quite get a grasp on. With Drake it was easier. Drake was gentle and usually composed, at least when he talked to you. He could also be quite driven by his goals, although you weren't quite sure what those were, yet. And Kid? Easy enough. Big. Loud. Scary. Better to watch your mouth around him. You were sure he had a good side to all that red anger, but so far there weren't many opportunities to uncover it.

Law... what was it with Law?

You had witnessed him using the 'scan' technique of his Devil Fruit once. Now, under his watchful gray eyes, you felt like you were being scanned yourself.

"(Name)," Drake called softly, making you flinch. "What's wrong?"

"You're right, Law. The night won't last forever." You put down the pencil. Law shot you a look that seemed to say: I just said that a second ago. What's wrong with you?

"After the night ends... we will get down from this cursed cave and reach the ships," you continued. "We regroup. Wait for the dark. And sail to Onigashima. Fight. Then die."

You felt Drake shift as he came up behind you. His mouth leaned over your shoulder and left a small peck; you barely felt it in the humid air. Law watched the two of you but it was like he couldn't see at all, his mind far away. Maybe he was thinking of his crew.

Neither of them denied your words, and that was all you needed to proceed.

"I don't know about you," your voice suddenly turned crystal clear, "but I'm not ready to die..."

"I'll do everything I can to protect you, but I can't-" Drake started but you interrupted him.

"...yet." And with that, you stood on your tiptoes and kissed him. Aware of Law's annoyed eye roll, aware of Kid pretending to sleep but in reality listening in. Your heartbeat sped up, the blood rushed in your veins. It felt like you were alive, truly.

Drake's arms rested on your waist as he gently pulled you back. His lips felt hot, almost feverish.

"(Name)... I know what we talked about earlier, but I don't think this is a good idea when-" He searched for words for a while, then gave up and gestured frantically at the staring Law.

"Don't you understand? There won't be anything after tomorrow. No future, no us. This is the last moment. And I want to... I want to have, uh... you." When the words finally got past your lips, you blushed like mad but you were content. The embarrassment, the stress. It wouldn't matter. Not in the long run.

"Seriously, (Name)-ya? I took you for the more responsible type. And I could hear everything you said, you know that?" Law complained but you only paid attention to Drake and the shade of blue in his eyes.

"I could hear it too," Kid called out from the mattresses without turning. "Sounded kinda hot if you ask me."

"So..." Drake frowned, his arms tightening around your waist. "You're saying... with them? Watching?"

"No, with them. Period."

Perhaps, out of all four of you in that cave, you were the one most surprised with your confidence. But how could you willingly march to your death without spending the last moments being as close as possible with those beautiful men? That sounded like a good way to go, when you thought about it.

"What about the plan?" Drake asked, but his tone was less reluctant and more eager. The change made you smile.

"Fuck the plan. Only Law gets any real use out of it, and we had already discussed it anyway. I don't want to waste any more of my time on it."

"Even hotter now. Nice." Kid laughed on the far end of the cave. Then he gestured to you and Drake. "You two go on."

You raised an eyebrow. Okay, so Kid was willing. That wasn't too hard to wrap your head around. The previous night, as you had already settled yourself with Drake on one mattress, with Law in the other corner, you all heard Kid push his pants down and start wanking without a care in the world. The man had no shame whatsoever.

"Oi, oi." Law made a time-out gesture. "What the hell are you even talking about? You want to have sex? Now?"

A sudden surge of fear grasped at your throat when you looked over at Law, then Kid behind his back. It was all fun to talk about when you were safely in Drake's arms, but what would happen once you move on to the other two? Could you handle Law if he wasn't as calm as he posed to be in bed? Wouldn't he overwhelm you? And Kid, with how rough he was, and unpredictable, could you handle him?

You bit your lip. There wouldn't be a better time to be overwhelmed and to test your capabilities.

"Yes, Law," you responded, then wiggled out of Drake's grasp and posed playfully. For once, you were thankful for the revealing outfit. "Don't you like what you see?"

Law snorted and leaned over the table. His arm muscles made you want to pounce on him without a second thought. He must have seen that scenario plastered all over your face because he smirked shamelessly. "You should be asking yourself, (Name)-ya. You think I didn't notice how you look at me?"

"Oh," you stammered, "uh... Oh. Fuck," you cursed at yourself but Drake's laughter immediately lifted your spirit.

"I can't believe you actually asked for this, (Name). But I like it. It's certainly better than to sit around and brood," Drake said.

Did you just discuss a foursome with three members of the infamous Worst Generation? Maybe the cave you were in was magical, a wishing cave. Either way, it didn't matter. The present moment was of all significance. If you were to wake up the next day and it turned out to be a wet fantasy, so be it. You were going to enjoy every second.

"Glad we agree." You praised yourself for keeping your voice casual. "But you have to give me a moment of privacy."

You threw your hair back to give yourself some much-needed confidence and strolled further inside the cave, grabbing the scarce cosmetics that you had thought to bring along. As it elongated into a tunnel, you felt pairs of eyes watching your every step. Soon, the three captains disappeared when you walked around a bend.

There, you let out a sigh. Was this really a good idea?

Oh, stop it, you scolded yourself. No turning back now. No second thoughts.

You brushed your teeth with the last bits of toothpaste and rinsed with stale water from a container. There were some wet wipes as well that you used to rub away the sweat from your face and the back of your neck. Immediately, the freshing-up had caused your confidence to rise.

You could handle those idiots.

When you thought of how Drake could make you feel, how he would use his mouth and fingers on you... Your abdomen tightened, your heart rate accelerating. Then Law, with his gorgeous eyes and mesmerizing tattoos... And Kid who could surely last until sunrise... You shuddered in anticipation. Yes, this was definitely a good idea. You tried your best to reign in your thoughts and not let them wander to what was going to happen after the sunrise.

"Having second thoughts?" Drake's voice made you jump in surprise. You hadn't noticed him approach in the dark tunnel. "It's fine if you are."

"No. I was just, um, preparing."

His arms enveloped you, and once again you found it hard to breathe, even though the air in the tunnel was less humid than in the main cave.

"Do you want to stop this madness?" Drake murmured in your ear, smiling.

"Definitely not." You pressed yourself against him. "Doesn't it make you feel alive? The adrenaline?"

"It does. I'm almost... grateful."

"Almost?"

"I might change my mind about this once I see Trafalgar naked."

You laughed and pulled him in a shallow kiss. "Or you could get even more eager. He's totally gorgeous."

Through the darkness, you could see him frown a bit. "But I think he doesn't indulge in intimacy very often."

"I think so, too. We can teach him a few tricks." Another kiss from him, and you found yourself having to reach for a wall for support under Drake's intensified affection. His tall posture made you drown in his embrace, his hands reaching for your thighs and chest, fumbling and rubbing. The lack of lighting made your sense of touch more perceptive until you let a shameless moan escape you and echo through the tunnel.

You flushed. You could already imagine Law's and Kid's comments on it.

Drake, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned, his lips caressing the corner of your mouth and dipping behind your ear.

"You think he's a virgin?" you asked, making Drake chuckle.

"As much as I would love to talk more about Trafalgar... I only wish to think about you now." He had to bend over to reach your breasts that were still bound with the leather outfit. "I guess we will find out soon, though."

"Yeah, okay, no more talking about Law." Your head reclined back against the wall as you fully gave in to Drake's touch. It felt so freeing.

"Can I be the one to undress you?" Drake asked from between your breasts, your hand reaching for his hair.

"Yes. And Drake," you started, feeling your abdomen tighten with thrill, "I want you to be the first one tonight. And the last one. Okay?"

He let out a low affirmative, fingers pulling off the straps of leather until he exposed your body completely. It was so right, so natural. Simply exhilarating.

Every bit of your sensitive areas was now available to him, and he made sure to take advantage of that. His tongue caressed your breasts, kissing and sucking on your erect nipples with a vulgar sound that only strengthened the yearning in between your legs, his burning breath vexed your skin and caused you to fidget with want.

He hooked your leg on his shoulder, dropping to his knees, blue eyes on you as he kissed you where you most wanted him; first on your clit, sucking lightly, then skimming lower to prod your entrance with his hot tongue. Your fingers scratched and grasped at his scalp as you turned into a moaning mess, now unperturbed with the fact that the other captains could surely hear you, probably along with Orochi and Kaido all the way down at the island.

"Drake... Oh, God, I love this... Please, don't stop," you begged, eyes shut and head thrown back. His hands clamped around your thighs and held you steadily as you trembled.

"Do you want me to make you come?" he asked from between your legs, his tone sultry and deep. Your imagination ran amok as you visualized his glistening lips, closing around you and sending you into an orgasm.

"Yes, Drake, darling." You felt him smile against your skin at the affectionate term. "Please, right now."

His name poured out of your lips as he pleasured you until the tightening in your stomach couldn't take it anymore and eventually washed over your legs and belly, the cold bliss leaving your pussy throbbing. A few drops of your wetness ran down your inner thigh when Drake released you from his grip.

"Give me... a second," you panted and wobbled back for the wet wipes, cleaning yourself up, your heat still sensitive from the orgasm.

"Do you want to go back there?" he asked, arms looping around your from behind. You could faintly feel his hard cock on your butt through his leather pants. "I mean... you're not tired yet?"

You smiled, letting yourself fall back into his hug. "Not yet. I can take a bit more than one orgasm, Drake. Why? Are you going to be jealous now?"

"No. I'm just asking."

His tone made you laugh out loud. "Let's get back. They must be getting pretty bored now."

But his grip still hadn't relented, his head nuzzled in the crook of your neck. "(Name)... You don't have to go with us tomorrow. Stay here, where it's safe."

"Thank you for offering, but you know I can't do that. How could I let you go, knowing that you won't come back? Don't be silly. Let's just," you hummed and relished in his embrace, breathing in his scent, "enjoy ourselves tonight."

He muttered under his breath but eventually released you.

"Could you take care of Law for me? Just for a while," you added when he choked on his saliva. "Because I know Kid will have a lot to say when we go back. I want to shut him up."

"What do you mean by take care of him?"

"Oh, don't tell me you've never thought about him that way. Everyone swoons over that guy."

Drake hesitated. He may have blushed as well, but you couldn't be sure. "He and I... We do go way back."

"See? Find some common topics. Ask him about his favorite color and stuff." You didn't know where you were drawing your confidence from, but it sure did feel liberating. You strolled back naked into the main area without an ounce of fear.

And stopped right in your tracks as if you had slammed into a cement wall.

Law and Kid were entangled on the mattresses, making out in such an obscene way you fought the instinct to avert your eyes. It was hard to tell where one body started and the other ended, their muscles rippling and merging into one.

"Holy shit..." Drake halted beside you. His mouth hung open.

"They, um, they look good," you spluttered out.

"You still think he's a virgin?" Drake asked, eyeing the particular way in which Law grasped Kid's bicep and dug his nails into the pale skin, making Kid groan into the kiss. Law's leg was draped over Kid's lap, leather rubbing, steel clinking, the inked chest contrasting against the milky white.

You didn't know how it was possible to be so rough and so affectionate to each other at the same time, but they were pulling it off right before your eyes.

Eventually, Law ended the show. "Seems like we have an audience, Eustass-ya," he regarded and pushed Kid off of himself with firm hands on his torso.

"Oi, Trafalgar." Kid sounded slightly winded as he lay sprawled, his hair tousled and makeup smudged. Some of the straps had fallen off his shoulders. "I sure as hell ain't done yet."

"Good. Because I'm not done with you, either." Law didn't look back at him as he approached you, sweeping you with an up-and-down. "Well, (Name)-ya? Who will it be now?"

Unlike Kid, Law looked more put-together, his black hair only slightly disheveled, a few red lines sprouting between his tattoos, lips tinted red. Only his pupils, blown wide, betrayed his lust.

You raised an eyebrow. This Law was so clashing with the Law you knew - the one slumped over piles of papers, the cold tactician, the mastermind behind brilliant plans. So who was it? The calculating doctor, or the god of sex? Perhaps you would never have a chance to know.

The thought that first told you to restrain from a fantasy got disregarded by other, wilder thoughts - so without thinking any further, you made the fantasy come true and took a step forward, diving into Law's arms and right for his lips.

You heard Drake take in a breath behind you, but you were too lost in bliss to pay it any mind. Law held you tightly, your breasts pressing up against his chest, your fingers encountering the leather straps as you tried to rake them across his shoulders.

"Me?" he asked, voice low, gray eyes taking you in.

It was tempting to agree, but you forced yourself away from him. "Later." You smiled, taking his hand and guiding him towards Drake. "Is it alright?"

Your question was for them both, but you kept your gaze on Drake.

"Trafalgar, I just want you to know that if it wasn't the last night of my life, I wouldn't-"

"Don't think, Drake. Just act. Let yourself feel good." You gave him a wink. "This is the time for it."

As you were turning around, you saw Law give an appreciative nod to the other man, and a familiar smirk rose on Drake's face. You wanted to marvel at their beauty longer, but a voice made your spine tingle.

"Oi. You think I'm going to just hold my cock for the whole night, watching yall?"

Kid certainly made himself comfortable. His legs were spread - pants already lost - leaving only the black harness that clashed with his white chest. He was stroking his erection, jerking at the tip, and his eyes were on you. Not your face, but your breasts, then going lower to glare at your thighs and between them.

"Come here," he told you, and your legs listened before you had a chance to think.

Your eyes strayed from his face to his cock. It was impossible to decide whether to suck on it until he fell apart underneath you and begged for your lips, or to sit on it and dominate him. Perhaps both.

But he made the decision for you.

"That's right," Kid teased lowly, "you like my cock, huh?" He made a point of swirling his fingers around the tip, then going back to stroke the whole length. "Make me feel good. Kneel."

Your body tensed. This time, you managed to refrain from following his order right away and started climbing onto the mattress instead. Your inner thighs chafed, causing you to feel the wetness between your legs.

"At the end of this night," you said, straddling his lap, "you will be the one kneeling."

Surprise mixed with desire shone in Kid's eyes as he regarded you. One of his hands started to touch you, first to fondle your breast and then down low to reach your pussy and tease it. You mewled, making him smirk, and finally he rested his hand on your buttcheek.

Your heart almost jumped from your ribcage when you realized how vulnerable you made yourself before this man. His pearly skin felt so soft under your fingers when you struggled to get comfortable on top of him, grabbing onto his arms for support, clenching your thighs around his waist. It felt natural to lean in for a kiss, but you didn't want to give in quite yet. He'd have taken it for granted then, your attraction to him.

You stared into his red eyes just to show him you weren't afraid.

"So what? You want to dominate me? You want to feel in control?" he asked and shifted on purpose, almost causing you to fall off but you managed to dig your nails into his shoulders. "Good luck to you."

"I don't need it," you sang quietly, holding his gaze. "Kid... This isn't some powerplay fantasy for me. I just want to pleasure you, but in my own way. We don't have to fight."

Suddenly he leaned in and nuzzled your neck, then bit your skin where it was sensitive. You yelped but held your place.

"Oh, we most definitely have to fight," he rasped, now grasping your body in both of his arms, his cock left erect on his abdomen. He felt so heavy around you, you struggled to remain on top. Your thighs trembled from effort. "That's what's hot."

Could he hear how wild your heart was beating? Did he know he made adrenaline rush into your veins with every single touch? And when his lips closed and kissed your skin, you wanted to moan just from that sensation.

Your hand reached for his cock, wanting to stick it inside you already, but he seized your wrist.

"Not yet," he said. "I want you dripping first."

"I'm already dripping," you complained loudly. "Come on, Kid! We don't have all night."

He smirked at you, resuming the pace of his hands on your body. He pinched and squeezed, causing your heart to skip a beat, he rubbed your breasts and inner thighs. You could feel how wet you were already, but it still wasn't enough for him.

With each passing moment, your patience was wearing thin. You were the one who was supposed to dominate him, and yet you were all flushed from just his touch, whereas he had barely broken a sweat. His tousled look was only caused by Law, for now.

"Eustass-ya," Law said from somewhere behind your back. You wanted to turn around and peek, but Kid held you in place firmly. "Don't be a jerk. Fuck her if she asks you." Law's voice was calm, but there was an audible strain to it like he was only reigning himself in. "Don't worry, (Name)-ya, I'll come and help you in a second."

"You think you two can handle me, Trafalgar?" Kid asked. "Look at her. She's already begging for me. And you will beg, too."

A loud groan echoed around the cave. Your abdomen tightened in excitement.

"Drake?" you asked, trying to push Kid away and look, but he was too strong. "Kid, let me see!"

"Trust me, baby, you would have cummed on the spot if you could see what I'm seeing right now."

"I hate you," you huffed, falling on his chest in defeat.

"How am I going to live with that?"

His self-satisfied smirk was driving you up the wall, and the fact that he seemed so cool and unbothered while you were practically soaking wet before him made the adrenaline in your veins turn into pure anger.

Your lips shot forward, claiming his as roughly as possible. He grunted with appreciation, but you paid it no attention. You joined your hands together at the nape of his neck, your fingers scratching and teasing his scalp until he winced in pleasure.

"There you go," he breathed against your lips. "Fight back."

Your breasts rubbed against his chest. The steel ring in the middle was cold when it met your nipple, and it made you flinch.

"I'm not fighting you, you idiot," you growled. Your hand leaving his neck to reach his cock, grasping it tightly and stroking up and down. "I just want us to feel good."

His hips stuttered forward as he leaned into your touch. He missed a breath and you smiled triumphantly.

This time he didn't protest when you attempted to mount him, too busy devouring your lips in a fiery kiss. You moaned into his mouth when his cock slipped so easily inside you.

"See?" you panted out. "I'm so wet for you."

He smiled, helping you find your pace with a hand under your thigh. "Come on, then. Fuck me."

You squeezed your eyes shut as you elevated yourself on him, then plunged straight down. His length filled every inch, stretched and poked your walls and caused you to call out in pleasure every time.

Your worries and anxiety long forgotten, you had immersed yourself into the bliss and let go. His lips claiming yours, muffling the sounds of your delight, then already moving to suck on the crook of your neck, his strong hands aiding you in grinding on his cock.

He had moaned out your name, quietly and so that only you could hear it, and your chest swelled up with pride.

And so you already knew how Eustass Kid was in bed. First teasing, wanting to see your lust for him, then receding into the act like a tamed lion so that you were free to guide him. Perhaps, if you had more time, you could have gotten to know this man better...

"Faster, baby," he said, the soft words meant only for you. "Go faster on me."

His cock throbbed inside. If you hadn't bitten your lip until it bled, the whole land of Wano would be able to hear you screaming his name.

"Kid-" Your throat closed, legs weak and head dizzy, as you finally found a steady pace on him. Your hands were shaking when they tangled in the red hair, pulling and grasping for support. "I love your cock, you know that?"

"I heard that one before," he hummed, burying his face in your breasts. "But you can say it again."

Right there, seeing him coming apart underneath you, a warm feeling spread over your chest. And it wasn't only because Kid had been sucking and caressing your boobs for the past few minutes.

You wanted to shield him from every enemy. You wanted him to stay there, with you, as you held him and pleasured him, seeing only delight in his face. Who would have thought you would ever feel so protective of him?

"Did you hear it from Law?" you teased, leaning in. You were already out of breath, struggling to both ride him and talk at the same time.

He stirred. But there was no answer. The adrenaline coursing through your body had seemingly frozen over, the blissful cold spreading along your thighs and abdomen as you struggled to keep up the pace, adamant on bringing yourself to your climax.

"Did it feel good? When he kissed you before?" you panted. "I bet it did."

"You will get your turn with him."

"So will you, I imagine."

Your words made him blush, only faintly, but you noticed it.

"Shut up and cum already," Kid said, bringing his hips upward to meet the underside of your thighs. His lipstick was smeared from the way you kissed him, hungry and impatient, his hands now clamping around your waist. A droplet of sweat pooled on the nape of your neck, and you felt it travel down along your spine.

You threw your head back, unable to stop yourself from voicing your pleasure when his cock filled you so well, the friction against your entrance making your abdomen flex and then turn rigid from the impending climax. "Oh, Kid!"

"(Name)-ya, you're still going?"

Your head snapped up to see Law, licking his fingers clean, with Drake looking utterly spent behind him. The sight of them - muscled and naked - caused you to tighten around Kid.

"Don't mind them," Kid breathed and turned your head towards him. "Look at me."

And so you did until his cock took you over the edge, your muscles spasming and mouth spilling his name without your permission. Your vision turned hazy and you only had the strength to hold on to him for dear life as he pounded into you still, eager to catch his own release.

You tried not to pay attention to the fact that you were being so closely watched by not only Drake, but Law of all people. Your cheeks burned in embarrassment, and you hid your face into Kid's neck. He only chuckled, his pace stuttering.

Your soft mewl made him kiss the shell of your ear. And then he moved his palm from your waist to the back of your head, concealing you more.

His cock slipped in and out of you, the slicky sounds filling the room until he eventually reached his limit and pushed inside one last time, his hips shooting upward and his cum filling you as he groaned right into your ear.

Law drew a sharp breath somewhere behind you.

You fell right into Kid's chest, your breath ragged and your body covered in sweat, saliva and semen.

"Sorry, Trafalgar," Kid huffed, although he didn't sound sorry at all. "I don't think you can hit it now."

An alarm went off in your tired brain. Was that it? Did Kid only tease you and wear you out to get back at Law? You squinted your eyes at Kid. But no, he was holding you with a slight tint on his cheeks, his hair in disarray and a small smirk on his lips. Seeing your gaze, he brushed a stray wisp of hair out of your face. "Don't worry, (Name). I didn't fuck you out of spite, if that's what's on your mind. And I sure as hell loved that you let me cum inside."

This time it was Drake who groaned quietly, the man sounding both turned-on and sullen.

Kid is enjoying this, you thought. Something dripped down your thigh, and you weren't sure if it was cum or your own wetness.

"Fuck off, Eustass-ya. My turn."

You regarded Law for a second, your cheek still pressed against Kid's chest. Law didn't seem much different from before, only his hair was now as wild as Kid's and a droplet of white hid in the corner of his lip but he licked it away. It made you wonder what he and Drake did when you couldn't look.

His gray eyes studied you expectantly, flicking down to your breasts for a second, and shooting back up again. Following the lines of his tattoos, you traveled from the pointy end of the heart all the way down towards his cock as he held it in his palm.

Feeling how spent you were, you didn't know if you could handle Law. You needed an ally in this, someone as swooned over Law as you were, or maybe even more.

You squeezed Kid's shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere," Kid mumbled to you, then turned to Law. "I told you, Trafalgar. I ain't done yet."

Oh, you could get behind this. Mustering up your energy, you shifted to kneel in between Kid's legs as you kissed his semi-hard length and wiggled your butt, hoping Law would catch a hint.

And so he did. With Kid's muscled chest in front of you, you felt Law position himself behind you, his thighs connecting with the underside of yours. His cock was hard when he rubbed it in and out against your entrance. He must have held back his orgasm when he was with Drake.

Drake himself chose to recline back, the mattress dipping under his weight. "I'll stay out of this one," he said, meeting your eyes. "You look good like this, (Name)."

You smiled against Kid's cock, dotting it with kisses. "Law, what did you do to him?"

Law only chuckled behind you. He brought your thighs closer together so that there was more friction for him as he prodded against your inner thighs but not yet entering, your previous wetness acting as a perfect lube. "He'll be fine. You should be worrying about yourself."

A slow lick to the tip. A swirl of your tongue around it. Then taking half of it into your mouth and sucking lightly. Then repeating. You set that pace for yourself, trying to breathe through your nose and maintaining your sanity with Law's ministrations on your behind and Kid's occasional grunts and breaths of pleasure. You weren't aiming to make Kid cum again, you only wanted to prolong the pleasure for him.

Eventually, you couldn't take the teasing anymore. You released your mouth to speak. "Law! For God's sake, will you stick it in already?"

"Will you be able to cum?" Law asked, his voice somehow collected despite his painful hardness.

"I don't know. Doesn't matter. I just want to feel you."

"You heard her, Trafalgar. Go on," Kid backed you up. His hand cupped your cheek and guided you back to his cock. A part of you wondered whether he wanted to see you getting railed while sucking him dry or to see Law at his most vulnerable as well as his sexiest. Maybe both.

Your belly spasmed with excitement when Law eventually pressed himself against you, his warm hands kneading your waist as he pulled you back onto his dick, filling you slowly. You restrained yourself from moaning with Kid's cock still in your mouth.

Your legs shook even more than before. Law must have noticed because he guided you to rest on his thighs, the whole weight on him. His pace was steady and you were almost able to handle it, but then you felt one of his hands on your clit as it traced fast circles, his touch causing pleasure to spike up again. You were glad you couldn't see him or you would have reached your climax right there.

He must have been quite a sight because when you peeked up at Kid, you only saw how smitten he was. His eyes were on Law, emitting pure lust, his mouth parted and you knew it yearned for Law's lips.

Law was the perfect lover, you now had the first-hand proof. His cock prodded you exactly where you wished, his girth not too much and not too little. The speed in which he took it out of you and then shifted it back inside made you see stars and caused you to gasp out loud every other second, your breasts jolting. And the way in which he caressed your clit, aware exactly how to stimulate it - it was as if he'd known you and your body for years.

"Law..." you moaned, releasing Kid and struggling to keep yourself in place. "How the fuck are you so good?"

He only scoffed. "Save your breath, (Name)-ya."

Law knew, he must have known how amazing he was. For some reason that riled you up. Kid must have felt the same because he suddenly stood up, leaving you to lean yourself against the mattress. You watched him as he approached Law, stroking his cock.

And then he knelt beside him and kissed him in a kiss so searing, you felt it in your insides.

Law's hips jolted forward, pushing his cock deeper into you, but you only paid mind to them, not your pleasure.

You followed the movements of their lips, conjoined and bruised, the way Law's hands raked against Kid's chest and neck, causing the other male to stir and lean into the sensation, their chests mending together in a heap of leather straps and muscles and tattoos.

Law's cock still hadn't left you. You prepared to take him out yourself and give them an opportunity for some two-man action, but then you felt the mattress shift.

"(Name)..." Drake muttered, his hand stroking his cock. "As much as I would have liked it, I don't think we can beat them when it comes to visuals."

"Agreed." You raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to stay out of this one?"

"How could I, when you look so beautiful?"

His abs twitched with every stroke of his hand along his length, his hair wild and sticking to his temples.

"What did Law do, before?" you asked, unable to contain the curiosity. "Does he have a beer-flavored cock or something?"

Drake flushed and shifted. "No. But he's really good with his mouth."

It was hard not to roll your eyes. Was there anything that guy wasn't good at?

"Well, then. I might not be as good as Law, but I can try." You licked your lips and eyed his cock. Drake came closer, allowing you to reach his tip and give it a kitten lick.

And that was when Law resumed his pace inside you. His cock throbbed, and you imagined how much self-restraint it must have taken in order not to let himself cum yet. Drake drew in a sharp breath. First you thought it was because of how you rubbed your tongue on the underside of his dick, but then you noticed his eyes were fixed behind you.

Kid was standing beside Law, grasping his hair and pushing his cock in and out of his mouth. The movements of Law's lips caused Kid to throw his head back and groan, eyes shut and back taut. Their chests heavied, glistening with sweat, and you moaned at the sight. How was Law handling both you and Kid at the same time? You barely made it out with Kid alone.

You could feel how close Law was, and you let yourself fall back to meet his thrusts to help him orgasm. Drake's cock was already hard in your mouth as you grazed it lightly with your tongue.

"Oh, fuck! Law!" Kid growled behind you, and a series of curses and groans that followed suggested that Kid had reached his peak. It was the first time you had heard him say Law's actual name.

You wished you had seen that moment, but you were too occupied with regarding how gorgeous Drake looked before you, vulnerable and on his own edge.

You felt a weight on your back, and suddenly there was Law speaking right into your ear, his pace picking up, his attention fully on you.

"(Name)-ya... Is this fine?" he asked with that low voice of his that was capable of driving anyone crazy.

Drake guided his cock away from your mouth and began stroking it wildly, eager for release.

"Gods, yes, Law!"

Law's hands took ahold of your breasts as he thrust into you, the hilt of his dick slamming against your sensitive skin and his hot breath tickling your ear. It was still too early for you to cum, but the sensations were far too good for you to care.

"Inside?" he rasped deliciously, his hips halting mid-thrust. Even then, he had the strength of mind to stop right at his edge.

"Yes, please," you breathed, and that was all the confirmation he needed to proceed, his cock throbbing one last time and finally releasing inside you, his weight doubling on your back as he lost control of himself for a split second, groaning against the crook of your neck in delight.

You stayed like that for a while, relishing in the pleasure, before he composed himself and looped his strong arms around your waist to support you.

There was no energy left in your body, not an ounce, but Law had caught on. He picked you up and settled you on the mattress right beside Drake.

"You did well, (Name)-ya. Need any help with that?" Law directed his question towards Drake and his still-hard cock in his hand.

Drake flushed but managed a smirk. "No, thank you."

You couldn't help but giggle at the exchange. Despite being covered in various bodily fluids, exhausted and aching to sleep, you wanted to help Drake come before you settled for the night - or the remaining of it.

Law only shrugged and walked over to where Kid was standing on the opposite end of the room, both of them dressing up.

"So," Drake started, "did you enjoy yourself?" His hand moved slowly along his shaft, his blue eyes on you.

"More than I imagined. I can't believe we thought Law was a virgin." You bit your lip. "But all of this made me wish to live even harder."

His kiss was as slow as the movements of his hand - lips connected, you attempted to push the negativity back out of your mind for at least a while more.

You let your hand rest on his, then guided it so that you were the one stroking him, your thumb rubbing on his tip and causing him to breathe deeper.

"Will you come for me?" you asked, picking up the speed.

He only nodded, his jawbone taut and lips pressed together. "Please," he stuttered out, "darling, if you let me."

And so you did, your hand swirling and rubbing all of him until his whole body flexed underneath you and he thrust forward into your palm, his release coating your fingers and dripping on the mattress, his moan ringing around the room and causing Kid and Law to look up.

"There we go," Kid teased. "Finally."

"Don't mind him," you whispered into Drake's ear and wrapped your arms around his neck after making a point of licking your hand clean of his release.

Suddenly you were picked up in his arms. The stale air of the cave changed into the fresh wind as Drake sat against the wall right by the entrance. The night was still around you, Onigashima flickering beneath your feet.

The air made you shiver, but Drake only pulled you closer into his embrace. His skin was hot despite him being as naked as you and he heated you up in no time.

You stared at the skull-shaped island and the tiny lights around it. All your previous worries had come flooding back. When you were with the three captains before, surrounded by their strong bodies, you had never felt safer. You knew they could shield you from any harm and enemy.

But tomorrow, when they would be swarmed by the masses and the Beast himself...

You buried your face in Drake's neck. His hand immediately flew to stroke your hair.

"I know... I'm thinking about it, too," he said, his voice somber. "I'm only hoping I'll be strong enough to protect you."

The wind howled. You had said nothing as you both stared off at the island of Onigashima.

[artistfingers]

Do Sam and Tucker have their theories on how Danny Phantom passed away? In the undercover au, if so what are they? and how ridiculous do they get after they finally start hanging out with him????

[Undercover AU]

Sam and Tucker’s Theories on how Phantom Passed Away…. Yeah, I’ve got ideas there 👀

Below the cut: ramblings on their theories about Phantom in general, including how he passed away, and if he’s different from other ghosts. One or two spoilers for the comic I’ve got in progress and some I have loosely planned, btw.

Before they met Phantom, Sam and Tucker’s theories were in line with everyone else in town. One leading idea, that could have held a grain of truth, was this: that Phantom was murdered young and came back as a ghost to seek vengence… against the very ghosts that ended his life. Sure, it’s dramatic, but it makes a good story, and it kinda explains why Phantom protects humans. But they’re pretty quick to discard this idea once they befriend Phantom; it’s just not accurate to call him vengeful. But what do they surmise instead?

Well. It starts with little clues that Phantom doesn’t realize he’s giving away.

Early on, they learn Phantom is 15. Was he 15 when he died? Has it been 15 years since he died? Something else? How do ghosts count their age? They don’t really know. Phantom won’t really say.

Then, Phantom mentions he wanted to be an astronaut before he died. And that sends Sam down a rabbit hole to set out a potential time frame for when he lived and died. The Space Age began in 1957, with the launch of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite. And if you account for the fact that Phantom’s an American teenager (assumption: his accent), then a likely candidate for his interest in space was the Moon Landing in 1969. Maybe Phantom lived through it.

Running with that assumption, and if Phantom died at age 15… The earliest he coulda been born was like, 1954, or thereabouts. Of course, he coulda been born any time after that, but it’s a good starting point.

Later they learn from an offhand comment that Phantom likes Nasty Burger. He went all the time before the accid—he used to go a lot, like, every week. Which gives Sam and her little detective notebook another clue: Phantom lived in the region where NB’s popular. I’m picturing Nasty Burger as a regional chain, like how In-N-Out’s mostly a West Coast thing, Nasty Burgers are pretty difficult to find outside the Great Lakes region. So that vastly narrows down for Sam where he lived.

...Honestly, Sam’s got one of those cork boards covered in pins and yarn and newspaper clippings. All Tucker can do about it is stand back and say, “Sam, this is getting a little creepy.”

After all, he’s more content to let Phantom open up when and if he’s ready. But Sam makes it difficult to resist thinking about, and she needs someone else’s perspective to bounce ideas off of.

And it is interesting, especially because Phantom is so close-lipped about his life and death. They have to wonder, is there a reason for that?

They even ask him point-blank: “Do you remember your life?”

And Phantom shifts uncomfortably, looks up at the moon that’s fat and full and bright, and says, “Yeah. A little too well.”

The strained look on his face tells them that they shouldn’t push it any further than that.

They start to research teen deaths that fit the right region and timeframe Sam drew up. Beyond their insatiable curiosity, maybe there’s something nice they can do for him if they can learn a little more. Celebrate his birthday? ...no, that’s in poor taste.

In more than sixty years of obituaries, there’s altogether too many young deaths. They find more Phantom-Likelies than they’d like. They don’t even know how he died, aside from one or two small things. They did learn he died in an accident, though (Sam tosses out all candidates that were murder or natural causes). The bigger clue is that the accident that killed him fucked up his right hand. Like, a lot. It’s pretty nastily scarred in his ghost form.

(As a side note, the scar isn’t visible in his human form, but in both forms he deals with chronic pain in that hand; maybe even a loss of sensation in those fingers. He’s taught himself to write with his left hand by now. Later on when Sam and Tucker meet Fenton, some of their theories about the Phantom-Fenton connection might utilize the fact they’ve both got messed up right hands.)

Even if his death is a touchy subject for Phantom—as with any ghost—I can see him using dark/morbid humor and quips around it. Close call with Technus and electricity? “Wouldn’t be my first rodeo.” or, the three of them giving a burial to a bird that got caught up in the telephone wires? “I know how you feel, little guy.” and so on and so forth. (Sam: I’m sensing a theme here….)

Tucker throws out some pretty ridiculous ideas. “Maybe he worked in a power plant and a hurricane tore through the place and he got buried in wires—” “Tucker, how old do you think you have to be to work in a power plant??” “I was just saying!”

Sam’s theories are a little more grounded (hah), but either way, the two of them agree that Phantom’s death must have been grisly. Not only for Phantom to die so young, but for Phantom to become a ghost at all, let alone such a powerful one.

It’s a pretty well-known fact by now that natural, peaceful deaths don’t generate ghost cores.

...and finally, because we can’t not beat up Danny a little bit, after helping him out in enough conflicts, Tucker and Sam start to notice that Phantom’s injuries are not like other ghosts’. He actually bleeds ectoplasm. Bleeds it like blood. Other ghosts are a bit loosey-goosey with their ectoplasm; it congeals and coagulates quickly, and often can be bent to their will much the way the rest of their body is, at least until the point of destabilization or complete separation from the core.

While Phantom neither destabilizes nor breaks down, his ectoplasm doesn’t coagulate like that. It flows out of him like, not nearly as viscous as it should be. And every time it does, the pain on his face is way too alive for comfort.

So there’s something about Phantom, something that’s different. Sam and Tuck can’t confirm too much, but this is Phantom; this is their friend. And they’re worried about him.

[anntoldst0ries]

None shall sleep (Ethan x MC)

Book: Open Heart 3, post Chapter 5 Pairing: Dr Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr Noelle Valentine) Word Count/Rating: ~1.8k, T Summary: In the privacy of the diagnostic's office, Ethan & Noelle reflect on recent changes around them. Category/Warnings: Fluff, None Trope: And there was a bit of Hurt/Comfort

A/N: This chapter reminded me of things that have never been addressed... so this is a story of how things left unsaid all collided in my head. Hope you enjoy.

Also - yes, Ethan Ramsey can sing arias. Is anyone still truly surprised by the fact that this guy can do anything?

There is something mesmerizing about watching the lights of day go out, overpowered by darkness, ablaze with colours - from the depths of blue, through indigo, navy and all the way to pitch-black.

About how, in a sense, it washes away all the bothers and allows you to start anew with the next rise of the almighty sun.

Ethan Ramsey was hoping for this exactly, maybe more than ever, but all the signs showed it wasn’t in the cards for him.

Or at least not today.

He stared into the void, interwoven by occasional human figures passing by through the front lobby. No voices of the day were able to reach him on the 7th floor of his kingdom. Behind the glass wall, he was almost in a different world.

It had been yet another day that brought him more gritted teeth, holding himself back and resigned sighs, than actual satisfaction from helping those who counted on him. All these ‘activities’ were not only annoying but also highly energy-consuming.

Bringing the index and middle fingertips to his pulsating temples, he started to compress and massage them in small circles, trying to soothe the pounding inside his skull. He could hear the blood rushing through the highways of his veins, the sound almost drowning out all external stimuli.

But there were certain sounds his expert ear was trained on, the ones he would’ve recognized even in his sleep.

Like the one reaching his ears right now, the sound of the door handle being pressed.

With his back facing the door, he couldn’t see who was trying to impose on his much-needed solitude. But since the unexpected guest did not precede their ministrations by knocking, the possibilities narrowed down significantly. There were only two people on the premises of Edenbrook who could invade his personal space without a modicum of manners.

“Can I help you?” He modulated his voice to ensure the tone was expressing two things: annoyance and irony in the otherwise polite question.

“I’m sorry.” From all the voices, this one he did not expect to hear now. A melodic tone was joined by a scuffle of retreating steps. “Do you want me to go?”

Ethan curled his lips in a tiny smile. They both knew she wasn’t apologetic and that he wanted anything but her to leave.

“No, it’s just that there are only two people in this hospital that wouldn’t bother knocking and I thought it was one of them paying me a visit.”

“Let me guess… Zaid and Baz?”

“No, but in terms of concept, you were actually close…just another type of evil ‘twins’."

“Oh, you mean his majesty King Bloom & his annoyance Dr Carrick?”

“Even as a joke, it sounds creepy and horrible.”

“Well, count me as a third now. Heads up though, I will only stop knocking after twilight.”

It was clear as crystal Ethan’s already specific sense of humor had less than ever space for amusement.

“I brought you this.” She put a brown paper bag on his desk, which immediately revealed the aroma of something delicious. “I figured you’re probably gonna stay here all night, so I thought I’ll pop over and check on you.”

He didn’t say anything, staring into the darkness. Not because he didn’t want to - he simply didn’t know what. This simple gesture was very touching and filled him with gratitude. But he was lacking the right words.

Then, for the first time since she’s interrupted his train of thought, he turned around to look at her. Tired and with puffy eyes, she’d still put everyone else to shame. Even on the worst of days, the light radiating from her turned heads and made the room brighter.

She extended a hand and when their fingers touched, he felt this weird, tingly feeling that has traveled from his palm, through his arm and neck, and then straight to his core.

Pressing him gently against the edge of the desk, she took his glasses off. Then loosened his tie and nonchalantly disheveled his hair. Ethan wouldn’t let anyone else in the world touch them, let alone put them in a state of such disarray.

With her, all the rules existed only to be broken.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on in this big brain of yours?”

“Smart move, Valentine. You’ve pacified me so that now I will have no choice but to tell you whatever you want to know.”

“You always have a choice, let’s just hope you’re gonna make the right one.”

Ethan nodded, no sound escaping his lips. She knew she’d have to take it upon herself to get any information out of her stubborn converser.

“So, how are you holding up? I want an honest answer."

“I’ve been better.”

“I thought so.”

“It’s just that… Tobias is driving me crazy. His presence really tests my patience… I don’t know if I would’ve stopped myself from punching him had it not been for you.”

“Why thank you, I didn’t know my therapeutic services were that good.”

“They are.” Ethan cleared his throat. “But it’s… not just that.”

Dead silence lingered between them and he knew he had no other choice but to continue.

“The only reason why I haven’t wiped this ridiculous smirk off his face yet is that whenever I look at him, I… I see you in that room with Travis. I’m trying to remind myself that, as much as I hate to admit it, he was crucial to finding the cure on such short notice.”

“Ethan…”

“I already told you” - he interrupted her as if not to stop the words from flowing, afraid they may be trapped forever otherwise - “that there was so much more at stake last time Tobias set foot in Edenbrook.”

She took a deep breath, her eyes going slightly wider.

“The truth is, for me… everything was at stake. I would’ve done anything he’d asked me to, I’d have forgiven him if it meant saving you.”

Elle turned still, all her body movements, her breathing and even her blinking ceased.

It was one of those moments that mean so much but leave you with so little to say.

Using the power of non-verbal communication and their deep affinity, she bestowed on him the most gentle, loving and grateful expression her face could muster after yet another exhausting shift.

Ethan extended his arm and before she realized it, her back was gently pressed to the older doctor’s chest. Having wrapped her slender frame with his broad shoulders, Elle inhaled his familiar aroma. He smelled of comfort and felt like a safe harbor. He nudged her hair with his nose and placed a featherlight kiss on the crook of her neck. She smelled of calmness and felt like coming back home from a long journey.

“So,” - he murmured directly into her ear - “whether you like it or not, I am using you to soften the blow every time I look at Tobias’ face.”

“I think I can live with that.”

“But I can’t guarantee it will always be enough, he is a cocky son of a bitch.”

“Let's make a deal then. I see how much it costs you and I’m not telling you to trust Leland or forgive Tobias, I still believe you should be cautious. Let’s just wait and see where this goes, I think we’ll know sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we should focus on what matters the most, our patients.”

“Where is the deal part?”

“If it turns out you were right, I will hold Tobias and you will punch him. Deal?”

“I believe it should be the other way round. Declan Nash’s face told me your right hook is exquisite, Rookie.”

They both laughed at the memory which seemed so distant now, almost as if it's happened in another lifetime.

But Ethan went quiet again and she felt his body tense up, his arms tightening gently around her. It wasn’t very obvious, but she knew. It still came as a shock how well she actually knew him.

“Ethan? What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Ethan.”

“I’m sorry, I am not the most cheery companion today. You’re probably better off not spending too much time with me before you turn into a cynic.”

“Dr Ramsey, what a pathetic attempt of trying to get rid of me. You’ve never been the most cheerful type and I’ve survived your gloomy companionship, hell, I think it grew on me over time. So I should be ok today, too.”

It looked like silence was very much their third companion today.

“I’m thinking about Francis.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I’m thinking about how hard it would be not to see. So many beautiful things, colors, all turning into nothingness.”

“I take it you mean the opera?”

“That too, but let’s just say I’ve learned to appreciate things that are right in front of my nose… literally and figuratively.”

The butterflies started somersaulting in her stomach.

“I didn’t want to add more to your plate at the time, but I’ve already felt this way… when we diagnosed Caroline and Leland.”

It was funny that, despite his obvious animosity towards Bloom, whenever his wife was in the picture, he spoke about both in an almost affectionate way. His doctor’s instincts were kicking in, because first and foremost he was a doctor who had his patients’ best interest at heart.

“The thought of not being able to touch you…it reminded me of touching you through the layer of hazmat suit. And now with everything Francis has been through, I just can’t be bothered to think about anything else but you. This is my true personal connection to this case.”

It was her turn to be speechless.

Ethan tightened his grip over her once again, this time protectively rather than out of stress. Slow hum started filling the air, the melody soon joined by lyrics, which he sang in fluent Italian; a private concert, performed for her and her only.

Tu pure, oh Principessa

Nella tua fredda stanza

Guardi le stelle

Che tremano d'amore

E di speranza**

She remembered their patient’s face, which seemed calmer once Ethan started singing the aria before the depths of illness contorted it with pain.

Francis' husband's words echoed throughout her head.

Even though the man holding her in his arms didn’t say it, there was no need.

She knew.

He will always be here.

And she will always be here, too.

-----

** Lyrics - aria "Nessun Dorma" (‘None shall sleep’) from the opera "Turandot".

Translation:

Even you, oh Princess,

In your cold room,

Watch the stars,

That tremble with love

And with hope.

Tag 🔖 list: @starrystarrytrouble @genevievemd @sophxwithers @maurine07 @lovingramsey @iemcpbchoices @oldminniemcg @schnitzelbutterfingers @archxxronrookie @jamespotterthefirst @the-pale-goddess @queencarb @fireycookie @qrkowna @coffeeheartaddict @utterlyinevitable @gryffindordaughterofathena @xxsugarplumfluffsxx @wingedhairstylemusicweasel @mrs-ramsey @tsrookie @fayeswiftie @mercury84choices @lisha1valecha @lucy-268 @stateofgracious @danijimenezv @alina-yol-ramsey

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[eunoiaflow3r]

when worlds collide - h.p. x gn!avenger!reader

a/n: bahahahahaha no one reads harry x reader lmaoo you don’t have to tell me - i know. but still, i thought this was a cute idea and i went with it. hope you enjoy :)

not edited.

also: timelines don’t match up bc i don’t want to do the math so harry is like 20 - 21 and your like 19 - 20 in 2020. Civil War and everything on didn’t happen. Fred didn’t die.

gn = gender neutral

warning(s): “language!” - captain america.

word count: 3.1k

request(ed): no.

summary: stephen sends y/n to a strange new place with...wizards?

————————————-&—————————————

Never doubt Stephen Strange. That's something that pretty much everyone has accepted. Never second guess the wizard man. Usually you'd agree. Usually you'd just let the man babble about whatever he needed to and then go about your day.

Not now.

The fuckery.

Now you were here (wherever here was) after some flashes of orange and a "be careful." Did he even do the spell right? Is this really where you were supposed to be?

It was dark, and dirty and you just wanted to go home and not talk to anyone so you turned yourself invisible.

You were born with your powers - you think. You were adopted so you wouldn't know where your powers came from. All you know is that one day your parents couldn't find you, even though you were right there. Instead of thinking you were some kind of alien and throwing you out to labs, they helped you control it the best you could.

It was difficult at first, all things considered, but you got through. You discovered you had another power as well. Force fields. Those came in handy during the battles. (You helped where you could), and Tony Stark took you in afterwards as his own. He helped you create your suit, and your name, and discover more about your powers, he was basically a dad to you.

Your parents were a little hesitant letting you join the Avengers, but once they realized this is what you were meant to do, and you had people just like you protecting you, they couldn't keep you from that. They just couldn't.

So here you were, invisible, in some dark and creepy alley. There were doors either side of you, so you got out of the way considering they could open and smack you in the face at any given moment. You heard loud voices and laughing and cheering from both ends of the alley so you walked towards the one in front of you.

The voices were so loud and echoey that you really couldn't focus on anything else. Maybe that's why you didn't hear a boy behind you trip and fall into you from behind.

"I'm so sorry." he said helping you up.

You turned around to help him, he got awfully dirty, and searched for his glasses that fell off his face.

Once standing, he took out a stick, waved it over him, and all of a sudden the dirt and gravel was gone.

"How did you do that?" You were no stranger to magic, but this was something you've never seen before. And why would he do it in front of you? For all he knew, you were an unknowing human.

"What?" He asked eyebrows furrowed together, accent strong.

"With the stick."

He chuckled shoving the stick back in his cloak.

"The stick." He smiled and looked you up and down. "It's a wand. You must not be from around here."

"Yeah, what tipped you off?" You noticed the lightning bolt scar on his head. You wondered how he got it.

"The accent, the clothes, the inability to recognize a simple wand, the ability to be here, not recognizing me, and wait - where is your cloak?"

"Cloak?"

"You were just invisible a moment earlier but I don't see your cloak anywhere."

"I don't have one. I can make myself invisible without a piece of fabric or your fancy stick." You say sarcastically. Were you flirting?

"Handy." He grins. "The name's Harry Potter."

He holds his hand out for you to shake. "Y/N L/N."

He asks you if you want to talk somewhere besides a dark dirty alley. You agreed. It took some convincing though to let him use his stick to clean the clothes you had on, but to change your outfit to something less, standout-ish.

When you felt the witch hat on your head you immediately snatched it off your head and glared at him.

He just laughed.

Once out of the alley, you breathed in the now clean air, and was mesmerized. People were bustling in and out of small shops, animals were flying and chirping around their owners, children were running around with their friends and siblings, and people were waving sticks, or wands, just like Harry used.

"C'mon, this way." He smiled at your awestruck face. It reminded him of when he first arrived with Hagrid all those years ago.

He brought you inside a coffee shop, and sat you at a booth near the window knowing you'd probably want to still look outside at the new scenes.

After ordering, and a few moments of silence as you looked around, you decided to ask some questions.

"Where am I?"

"We're in Diagon Alley. It's like an outside mall."

"I mean like, planet? I guess?"

"Earth."

"Earth?"

"Well, more specifically London. Diagon Alley."

"London?! I'm in London?!"

"You've never been? To Earth? Or London?"

You rolled your eyes silently cursing Strange. "I'm from Earth. The United States, actually. I just wish he'd put me on a fucking plane or something instead of making it seem like I was going to Mars."

"He?" Harry was very curious.

You looked into his green eyes, your mind wandering. The guy in front of you was very attractive. His dark hair complimented his eyes, and his glasses made him even more attractive.

"You guys are wizards right?"

"Really? What gave you that impression?" He asks sarcastically. "The sticks, the pointy hats, or the big bowl with green liquid sitting outside?”

You rolled your eyes. "Very funny. It's not my fault you live into the stereotype of brewing potions in your cauldrons -"

"Oh well I can only assume you're one of those Avengers from the States, yeah?" He grins. "You guys are all over the news."

"Yes, sure -"

"And don't one of you wear capes and another shoot lasers or lightning or whatnot? Sounds very stereotypical to me."

You laugh as the waitress brings over your drinks and muffins. You thank her. "No, well yes, that's Strange and Thor, but that's besides the point -"

"Well of course it's strange." He grins and winks and you over his mug. He was purposely annoying you and found great joy in it.

"Anyway," you sigh getting back to the point. "Do you guys have a Wizard here, like a powerful, trusting, all-knowing kind of guy?"

His eyes dropped slowly and his smile dimmed for a moment before slowly widening once again.

"Had. His name was Dumbledore."

"Our guy is Stephen Strange. Or Dr. Strange. He sent me here, and I'm not sure why."

"Hmmm." He hums setting down his mug. "Are the states in danger? Were you sent here on a secret quest that would put you through tough trials that would risk your life but would ultimately save everyone you've ever loved so you just have to do it?"

You were in a silent shock. "Uhm. No, not that I'm aware of, no."

"Well then perhaps your Wizard Strange is playing matchmaker."

"Matchmaker?"

"Well you were sent here weren't you?" You nod. "Arrived outside the exact place where I was and I just happened to bump into you? Sounds like a set-up to me."

"Or a coincidence."

"I'd like to think it was fate that I bump into the most attractive person I've ever seen and they don't know who I am and won't judge me 'cause of my past." He took a bite of his muffin.

"Should I be worried?"

"I guess you'll have to figure that out yourself." He winks.

You decide to eat your muffin as well. It was a comfortable silence until you looked out of the window and noticed a guy crouching down behind a cauldron...with a camera.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Why is there a man outside taking pictures of you?"

His eyes widened. "Oh shit." He whispered. "Here." He took out a baseball cap and put it over your head, hiding your face from the camera.

He gets out of his seat quickly pulling you along with him to the back of the shop but before you could say anything he had his wand pulled out.

Next thing you saw was a couch and living room.

"Wow." You panted. "What a way to bring a girl home."

"I apologise Y/N, I block them out so much I forget they're even there and now they've seen you, and have a story and -"

"Wait, wait, wait, are you wanted for murder or something?"

Harry walks over to his bookshelf and pulls out a rather large book. After opening up on the table, he waved his wand over it and beckons you over to read it.

'Boy who lived.'

'Golden boy defeats Voldemort'

'winner of Triwizard tournament'

And there was so much more… 'Harry Potter' in bold just strewn across the pages. His whole life story.

Your eyes widen at everything. "So both and neither. War hero. How come I've never heard of you? Or any of this?"

He smiles at the pages fondly, running his fingers across the letters and reminiscing on his times at Hogwarts.

"Unlike you Avengers, we like to keep our business private and quiet. We don't like prying eyes."

You scoff. "Not our fault we have alien invasions every year."

Harry agreed and for the rest of the night you sat on his couch talking and sometimes arguing, over every little thing. It felt like you two had known each other forever.

You're not sure when, but you fell asleep there and woke with your head on his chest and his arm wrapped around your waist. You're not sure how the two of you ended up this way, and you realized you were practically strangers, but you didn't want to move. You just wanted to tangle your fingers through his dark hair.

But you didn't. Instead you stared at his closed eyes, and focused on his long, dark, eyelashes that fluttered a little from time to time. You thought about how you could get used to this. Waking up with his arm wrapped around you.

You told him last night that if he was actually a serial killer, and wanted to kill you that you had a whole team of people who would rip him limb from limb. He had no doubts and looked actually scared of your threat.

You thought about what it'd be like to live here among people like you.

Stomach grumbling, you decided to get up and see if he had anything you could make for him. It's the least you could do. His face turned when you left his arms, but you quickly pulled the blanket over him so he would be able to sleep a little longer.

You found his bathroom, and washed your face. In your backpack was a toothbrush and some toothpaste so you brushed your teeth, fixed your hair, and got dressed.

By the time you got out of the bathroom, you noticed Harry was still sleeping so you went into the kitchen and tried to find anything remotely close to breakfast foods. By the look of his inventory, you could tell he was very good at cooking but hadn’t been to the store in a while. He did have some eggs and toast though so you decided to make that.

In the middle of it, you got a phone call from Strange.

“Strange?”

“Harry Potter.” he says.

“What?” you were so confused as to how Stephen knew ANYTHING.

“You’re in his place, we've been tracking you.”

“So I guess we should probably have a talk about privacy? I don’t know, it just seems like something we should discuss you know? Cause usually people can respect that - especially people who just DUMP you here in the first place -“

“Calm down that’s what the mission was. While you were sleeping, we searched the place with a camera we put on you and he’s not who we thought he was. You completed the mission L/N. Great job.”

“Is he a danger?”

“Not necessarily. Just making sure your fine is all.”

“What -?”

He hung up.

Why wouldn’t Strange tell you his intentions? Why would he let you stay here if he thought Harry might have been a bad guy? Why would he risk that?

Right as you hung up Harry Potter walked into the kitchen with his lenses in between his shirt - he was cleaning his glasses.

His dark hair hung over his eyes but his eyebrows were raised.

“You made breakfast?”

“It was the least I could do. I didn’t mean to fall asleep but thank you for letting me stay.”

He smiled and put his glasses back on. In doing so his gray shirt lifted and you could see his abs. You turned away a blushed.

“It was no big deal. Thank you for making breakfast, love. You didn’t have to.”

You didn’t say anything and instead placed both of your finished plates on the dining room table. He followed you and sat down immediately digging in.

“These are the best eggs i’ve ever eaten Y/N thank you.”

You smiled in response but then frowned remembering your conversation with Strange. You should probably tell Harry.

“So,” you cleared your throat. “You were wrong.”

He gave you a look that meant “about?”

“Dr. Strange - the wizard I work with - he likes to check out potential threats and make sure that ya’know - the earth stays safe and everything. Je can kind of see the future and its propabilities. He did the same thing with Thor and his brother Loki.”

“Okay, go on.”

You cringed. “And so he called me and told me that he sent me here so he could see you? I don’t know I guess he saw you as a threat and wanted to make sure you weren’t.”

You looked at Harry but his face was clear of any and every emotion. He just continued to eat his eggs. It was silent.

You ate a bit at your eggs too until he spoke up which made you look up.

“I can’t say I’m very surprised honestly. With everything you guys manage to fuck up there I’d wanna know if someone else was about to create shit problems too.”

You sighed with relief. He wasn’t mad.

“I’m sorry really Harry, I didn’t even know.”

“No yeah it’s fine. I get it. I still think he sent you specifically for a reason though. There’s just no way we aren’t soul mates or something.”

“Oh shut up Potter.”

He smiled. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Gee your head must hurt.”

He squints at you jokingly. “You should let me take you out. I can show you around today. Y’know, so you can see what wizards are like.”

“Is this a date?”

His face flushes red and he looks down at his plate. “Yeah, yeah it’s a date.”

And a date it was.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Harry! Again?!” You practically screamed. Harry called it aparation but you call it hell. You let it go the first time but damn. He barely even warned you, just took your hand, held it tight, pulled you close, and waved his wand.

It was teleportation. Something you’ve never ever done before.

“Fucking hell Potter I’m going to murder you.”

“And Strange was worried about your safety? This is like your 4th time threatening to end my life and besides, it wasn’t even that bad.”

You rolled your eyes.

Throughout the day Harry showed you all sorts of things you’d never ever seen before. This consisted of every flavor jelly beans (and by every flavor they really meant every flavor), a chocolate frog, and never ending bubble gum. And that was just on the candy side.

He took you inside this joke shop ran by two of his friends from his old school he called hogwarts. They were twins that went by the names of Fred and George. The only twins you had ever met was Wanda and Pietro but telling the story of Pietro’s death seemed to sour Harry’s mood but excite the twins. The fact that he sacrificed himself for a little boy made him a hero in their eyes. They begged you to tell them more stories.

By the end of the day you went back to Harry’s place and you were exhausted. You can’t believe all that you’ve seen and eaten. How was this stuff even possible? How was it all hidden? You were amazed.

Harry was glad to see you had a good day and glad that he had met you. When you got back, he told you that you could stay another night...and perhaps in the bed instead of the couch. He hadn’t meant it in a dirty way but that didn’t stop you from laughing until tears came out of your eyes. He was so awkward at times. Once he had to ask if it was okay to take your hand while you were in the street and it was so cute how he couldn’t really find the words even for something as simple as hand holding.

“Harry?”

“Hm?”

You both were laying in his bed facing the other.

“I had a lot of fun today. I feel like i’ve known you forever.”

He grinned from ear to ear and was glad that you couldn’t see him. He would have been beyond embarrassed if you’d seen how unmistakably happy that made him.

“I had fun with you Y/N. You’re great company.”

You were silent for a moment.

And another.

“Harry?”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?”

You were scared of his response and your heart was practically beating out of your chest. What if he was just being friendly? What if he just wanted to be friends? You would have made a huge fool of yourself. You were going to turn away embarrassed until his hand came up to your face and slipped onto your cheek. He was so warm. His lips pressed against yours for a moment and then he pulled away.

After a moment he reconnected and moved his lips against yours slowly. Your hand went to the back of his neck and toyed with his hair. He groaned into your mouth. You smiled and scooted even closer to him. All you could hear was the sound of your breathing and kissing. You didn’t want to pull away but you had to.

“Harry.” you said practically breathless.

“Yeah.” he was breathless too.

“I want to show you my world. You should come see New York.”

“Yeah? You wanna show me those alien invasions and robot attacks?”

You laughed and snuggled into Harry. He wrapped his arm around you and kissed your neck.

“Mhmm.”

“I’d love to see it.”

Tags:

@romance-geek @gooseyhouse

[dearmantis]

Blood on your hands

Pairing: Pietro x Reader

Summary: Westview was your home, but the nightmares you have every night tell a different story. When hallucinations start to take over your day to day life a around the same time Wanda introduced you to her brother Pietro, one of your best friends tries to help. 

Help herself, not you. 

! Part two of Old wounds ripped open, can be read on it’s own though ! 

Warnings: spoilers for episode 7 of WandaVision(?), mentions of death and blood, angst, nightmares, a bit of survivors guilt, horror (if you squint a bit), hallucinations, some weird/ creepy stuff involving a corpse (not Vision and not sexual, it’s just weird and a bit sad)

Word Count: 3.2k

Author's Note: Blood on your hands is less focused on Pietro and instead centered more around the Reader and their experiences after the events of Old wounds ripped open. It does involve Pietro again though, don't worry.

Also, some parts of this seemingly got mixed up for some reason so if some passages make no sense and feel out of place that's why. I've been trying to fit it but I mightve overlooked some parts so please tell me!

You had weird dreams since your first day in Westview, your head filled with blurry scenes, blues and whites bleeding into each other as calm voices spoke to you, warm hands caressing your skin, creating scenarios that made no sense but felt familiar enough, like they had had happened once, in a world, a life, vastly different from the one you lived in now.

It would’ve been quite beautiful if they weren’t accompanied by a deep feeling of melancholy, sadness seeping into your body and clinging onto your bones every night, the pictures becoming clearer and the feelings stronger with every passing day. 

The night a day before you met Pietro, Wanda's twin brother you don’t remember ever hearing about even though you had been best friends with Wanda since you were 4, the dreams changed.

Suddenly, the sorrow and heartache transformed into fear, cold sweat clinging on your skin every time the panic got strong enough to rip you out of your sleep and you woke up, drenched and shaking.

There was no comfort in the emotions that overtook you during those dreams, no warmth in the sorrow that seemed to fill you up like water, drowning out everything else.

Just this overwhelming sense of terror and grief, slowly choking the air out of your lungs and turning your muscles weak.

You thought about talking with Wanda about what you saw and heard in your dreams, about the gunshots, the screams, the blood, but something held you back. As soon as the idea came up in your mind you knew that this was not an option, no questions, no but’s.

You just knew.

However, as the days went on, the dreams became worse.

People turning to dust, Wanda crying and screaming, a man dying, burns all over his body, a stone being ripped out of the forehead of a strange man, his body falling dead on the ground… and a man with white hair being shot and killed.

All you were able to do was watch, unable to prevent what was happening.

In those dreams you could heal, your hands glowing in a warm golden light, heat burning in your fingertips, but no matter what you did, people continued to turn into dust, the burns stayed, the stone was still gone and you were always too far away to save the man, distancing yourself further every second no matter how hard you fought to get closer to him.

You felt useless, helpless, undeserving. 

The fear of Wanda finding out about your nightmares grew steadily with every dream, the outside signs of your sleepless nights becoming more and more obvious, but no matter what tricks and tips you tried, not a single night was slept through calmly.

It didn’t help that the scenarios all held the same familiar feeling the ones before the meeting with Pietro did. Melancholy and pain now ruling hand in hand over what was once supposed to help you relax and restore your energy for the next day.

You started hallucinating after 2 days. Vision was always gone or with Wanda and something about Pietro's company made you feel uncomfortable, so you started to spend your time more by yourself, now really regretting that you didn’t get a dog when the idea first came up.

It began with randomly seeing people on the street turning to dust.

The first time it happened you felt like you were going to turn to dust as well, your heartbeat loudly hammering in your ears as you ran out of the house screaming, trying to help and save your poor neighbors from certain doom. It happened two more times before you realized that your mind was playing tricks on you,, too exhausted to work like it was supposed to.

Halloween night was the worst.

Knowing that you wouldn’t be able to actually rest, you decided to spend the night on the couch, watching any kids show or movie you could find, until you slipped back into unconsciousness at around 11 pm during a scooby doo marathon.

Wanda had invited you to come along with her, the twins and the boys since both Vision and Agnes would be busy that day but you refused, claiming that you felt sick and wanted to spend the night in your bed sleeping and watching TV. The young mother had looked you up and down, pity in her watchful eyes, before she took your hand, squeezed it, and told you to call in case anything happened and you needed help. You had nodded, thanking Wanda and promising her to come over as soon as you felt better.

The reason why Halloween was the worst was because the dream you had was different once again, this time for seemingly no reason at all.

Wanda was currently being dragged away from a body, the body of the man you had seen before in previous dreams. The one who got shot while you were in the air, unable to get closer to him no matter how hard you tried. Her hysterical screaming was the only thing you could hear, sokovian insults directed towards those dragging her away, someone named Ultron, and you.

You were on what you recognized to be a helicarrier, even though you don’t remember ever having seen one or heard of one, the word unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.

Wanda stared at you as you slowly approached the body, still being held back but now silent like everyone else around you, all of their eyes focused on you and you alone.

An empty feeling had started to fill your mind since the helicopter had landed, not a single emotion or thought racing through your head when you lifted your hands, a warm golden glow engulfing them, and placed them on the man's chest.

The wounds healed, golden threads filling the wounds before turning into normal human tissue, but his heart stayed still, no matter what you did.

“This is your fault too. You promised you would be there! You promised you would keep him safe, you disgusting liar. I tried to defend you so many times but HYDRA and Ultron were right. You’re useless.”, Wanda uttered, her eyes wild and glowing in a deep shade of red, her hands called to fists.

Your powers got stronger and stronger, now able to rebuild entire missing limbs like you had done just a few minutes ago to save an old man instead of only healing small cuts like during your first weeks with HYDRA, but death was still irreversible to you.

A part of you simply accepting what she had said as the truth.

You should’ve been there. You directly disobeyed orders. This is your fault too. There was no denying of these simple facts.

Another part of you however, the part of you that was trained by Hydra and followed Ultron, filled with toxic thoughts and jealousy because Wanda was stronger than you, got more attention than you, was more important than you overall, saw a chance to strike.

“You knew that he was still getting used to his powers, Wanda. And you knew that he was already getting exhausted, making him slower. It was your job to protect him too. After all, you’re the one who can rip through those robots like nothing. I’m just a useless healer.”

Both of you would regret these words years later, Wanda sitting in her room only two months later, hysterically sobbing and shaking like a leaf, none of the other Avengers being able to do anything other than calling you, begging you to take a break from helping with the rebuilding of Sokovia because something was wrong with Wanda and no one knew what to do. When you arrived you laid in each other's arms, trying to calm each other down, talking about how much you missed each other and what happened during and after Pietro's death.

Oh, something was definitely wrong.

A loud knocking on your door was what ripped you out of your sleep, quickly jogging to it, thinking it must be Wanda trying to check on you. Instead, Agnes was standing in front of you, a sweet smile on her lips.

How Wanda saw his dead body everywhere, and how you couldn’t touch wet things anymore or wash your hands with cold water because it kept reminding you of his blood soaked shirt and the way your hands were covered in his cold blood, the red liquid dripping from them until it dried to a dark brown layer.

“Hey Y/N,”, she greeted, moving past you to get into your house. “Wanda told me about you feeling a bit sick so I came over to check on you. You’re my friend too, afterall. I wanna make sure you’re doing alright.”

Slowly your eyes moved down, landing on your hands. 

Agnes was already waiting for you in the kitchen, preparing two cups of tea like this was her house, shooing you back into the living room while loudly talking about how important it was for her to take care of her close friends. You were about to sit back down on the couch when you finally heard it.

Dripping. Something was dripping.

Red.

Turning, your eyes followed the path you had walked as well as you could, moving from the couch, small red drops leading to the door with its now blood covered doorknob, to the kitchen, and then back to the couch.

You silently watched her from the door, your mind still half stuck in the dream you had, trying to understand what was happening when the door slipped out of your grasp, closing on its own. 

“Oh Y/N, I didn’t send you into the living room for you to just stand here and stare into nothingness. Sit down, sweetheart. The tea is nearly done, just give it another minute.”, Agnes suddenly said, setting two cups and a small bowl down on the living room table before pushing you down onto the couch and turning the sound of the TV lower.  She quickly sat down next to you, covering you and herself with the blanket that had fallen to the floor while you had slept. 

“So, darling, tell me about how you’re feeling. Wanda seemed awfully worried about you. She kept babbling about not knowing what was wrong with you, a true sweetheart, isn’t she?”, Agnes laughed, patting your knee before carefully pulling the tea bags out of the cups.

You knew it had to be a hallucination, the man's blood on your hands coming out of the dream you had, just like the people turning to dust, but it looked so real, the feeling eerily familiar to you.

With a big grin on her lips, she gave you one of them, taking a big sip of it while watching you do the same thing from your own cup. 

You were nearly finished with your tea when you noticed that you hadn’t told Agnes or Wanda about what was wrong with you. the cup covered in blood when you sat it down, the liquid on your hands seemingly unending and refusing to dry like it had in your dream.

For a while you sat there, together, watching scoobie doo while drinking tea, talking about the boring ads or about your time in Westview. 

“Agnes, why aren’t you with Wanda and the twins right now?”, you asked, your voice not louder than a whisper, somehow aware that asking about her knowledge about the nightmares wouldn’t end well for you. 

“Like I told you, I wanted to make sure you’re alright and don’t feel too lonely. Now finish your cup of tea so I can leave knowing that you’ll sleep well tonight. I even put out a big bowl of candy on your porch to make sure no one will ring the door to wake you up tonight.”

If that was all it took for her to go, you would obey, you thought to yourself, downing the rest of the bitter tasting tea in one go before standing up.

With every passing second, Agnes company seemed to make you more and more unconfortable, her aura more dominant than usual. You needed her out of your house. Now. 

Agnes smiled at you, took the cups and stood up to go to the kitchen. “Not before I washed these, sweetheart. Then I’ll leave you alone to sleep. Wanda will be fine for another few minutes.”

“Come on, Agnes. I bet Wanda already misses you greatly. You should meet them before the twins go to bed.”, you exclaimed, lifting the blanket from her body and folding it.

A sigh escaped your lips as you walked to the door, suddenly stopping when your eyes jumped to the middle of the hallway.

You were frozen in place, unable to move even when Agnes came out of the kitchen.

She dried her hands with one of your towels before carelessly dropping it on the floor, grinning at you before leaving with the words “Have fun tonight, Y/N. I know you missed him so much.”

When the door fell into its lock, you dropped to your knees, hands shaking and legs weak like pudding.

Pietro.

Pietro, Pietro, Pietro, Pietro, Pietro Pietro.

Here.

On your floor.

You didn’t know how long you sat on the floor, staring at that body, just that you still hadn’t moved when the sun started to rise again, your eyes glued to the corpse while you tried to sort through your newly gained memories.

Dead.

Of course your immediate thought had been to blame Wanda. She was the only person you knew who had the power to take away memories and manipulate your thoughts and feelings and she had a motive.

She was your best friend. Your best friend since kindergarten and the only one who knew about your crush on her twin. Memories from inside Westview also came to mind, from when you woke up in Wanda's kitchen after she introduced you to Pietro for the first time, a day before the introduction you actually remember, your memory coming back after “Pietro” had introduced himself to you.

Wanda had tried to explain her decision to bring you to Westview. Reasoned that you were still so depressed and she just wanted you to feel happy, to get the fairy tale ending she thought you deserved, even if it had to be without Pietro.

Wanda, who probably controlled everyone in Westview, including Agnes who had just talked about missing a man while you stared at the hallucination of his corpse in your hallway. 

And she would never be cruel enough to you to give you the nightmares and hallucinations you had now. 

There was no way Wanda had possessed Agnes to do this to you. 

But she had also claimed not to know where the other “Pietro” came from.

As soon as the realization hit, you stumbled to your feet, the world turning as you ran out of your house, pushing past people as you tried to get to Wanda’s house as quickly as possible. She, Vision, the twins… everyone could be in danger.

This wasn’t Wanda. 

If a dead robot and two probably imagined or possessed kids can even be in danger...

You didn’t bother to knock, simply storming into the house, screaming for your best friend.

She immediately reached out to touch you, giving you another once over with her eyes.

“What is going on?”, she responded, a confused look on her face as she came out of the kitchen, panic visible in her eyes as soon as she saw you. “Why are you covered in blood? What happened last night?”

“It’s Pietro’s blood, not mine.”, you said quickly, like that explained anything.

“What blood? Hell, Y/N, you look like you died twice. And what’s this about Pietro’s blood? Do you mean that impos-”

Her eyes began to glow red and you knew she was searching through your mind, trying to make sense of your words.

“You knew it wouldn’t hold for long. Me and Pietro were never as affected by your powers as others were.”, you whispered, trying to answer the unasked question that was hovering in the room.

“Not that Pietro. I mean our Pietro. The one who died in Sokovia in 2015. The one I loved… love. The one I love. It’s his blood.”

“I didn’t give you the nightmares or the hallucinations. I didn’t do that. That wasn’t me. I made sure to keep them as far away from you as I could.”, Wanda insisted, probably more to calm herself down than to prove something to you since you also didn’t think of her as capable of that cruelty.

Her eyes lost their glow but she continued to watch you before quietly saying “Go upstairs. Vision is away and the Twins are with Agnes today. Sleep, I’ll make sure you won’t have nightmares. The hallucinations wont stop if you don’t sleep. You’ll keep seeing the blood on your hands and the corpse on the floor.”

You nodded, walking up the stairs like she had told you before entering the bedroom, only pausing for a second when you saw Pietro’s corpse laying on the right side of the bed before laying down next to it.

“I know Wanda, I know. But someone else did, and I want to find out who without being under the control of someone else. I can’t help when you do that. I can’t use my powers if I don’t remember that I have them.”

Slowly, you reached out to lay your hand on his chest, the glow of your powers only slightly dimmed by the blood. If you closed the wounds maybe you would be able to pretend this was simply a happy dream. A happy dream of a life you could’ve had if you had listened to Steve's orders to stay on the ground with Hawkeye to heal civilians, or if you had simply been less of a coward and told Pietro about your feelings before that last fatal battle.

Like seeing his dead body in your hallway and being covered in his blood wasn’t already traumatizing enough, your mind had to one-up itself once again.

If, if, if.

Always those stupid useless if’s.

You carefully covered the body of the now healed hallucinated corpse with the blanket before getting more comfortable yourself and closing your eyes.

You had completely forgotten to tell Wanda about your suspicions concerning Agnes.

[kncrowder88]

Voyager and Romance

So, the thing about Voyager and romance that sticks with me is they seem to do one couple really, or more accurately two characters, any real justice overall. And that is B’Elanna and Tom. While moments for that relationship may not be perfect that is rather realistic for relationships, as no relationship is perfect all the time so that is tolerable. This post though isn’t going to be about looking at that particular relationship though but primarily at other relationships. Largely because a discord server I am in was talking about Counterpoint and I realized why I both love the episode but also have weird feelings with it. Which, I’ll touch more on that specifically after I discuss the relationship stuff (as that plays a part).

So, I will preface this with it has been a bit since I’ve done a binge of Voyager and really a full binge of Star Trek in general. As such, I may forget a few relationships on the show and overall, throughout Trek in general. From what I can really toss together … I honestly am beginning to believe that when it comes to Voyager and the other shows (the older ones not the new ones – I am not including any NEW Trek in this) that for some reason the relationship writing with Voyager was rather different. Like, they gave 3 characters active relationships prior to being stranded. That being Harry Kim, Kathryn Janeway, and Tuvok. Out of these three we get Janeway and Tuvok holding onto those relationships in their own way while … it seemed mildly convenient for Harry to mention it when it suited him, I guess (like that time Tom wanted to set them up for a double date or you know when he ended up in that alternate timeline but still wanted back with Voyager even more like). Like, the reason I don’t list Tuvok-T’Pel above is because we don’t actually get to SEE that in full, we just get to see Tuvok’s side of it and his dedication – we don’t see the relationship, we don’t see the couple.

Harry and Tom, prior to his relationship with B’Elanna, seem to frequently do this sort of two bros dating around thing which is fine but like … same time the show used them for that. And once they settled Tom with B’Elanna they used Harry in those plot lines when it worked. Thus the alien STD episode and the “how dare you not get the standard permission from your CO and CMO” line (like they really put that into a Trek ep and I’m still unable to not picture Riker, Kirk, Picard, and everyone other Trek character constantly getting permission for their latest romance – just remember Jadzia and Worf likely had to get permission from Sisko and Bashir if the Trill and Klingon weren’t already approved of in the system just saying, that’s a thing that happened). Anyways … my point is they went out of their way on this. Like, when Kes was with Neelix they wrote Neelix to be that jealous judgmental boyfriend who literally got upset she knew where other people’s quarters where, she was nice to Tom, she was … just yeah. They wrote Tom to come off as a player pulling Harry into it, when Tom settled down Harry seems to pick that up (I mean you got his “omg Seven” phase and the alien STD stuff and lord knows what else I’m forgetting with him).

And to top this off I haven’t even touched on the “Janeway can’t have a romance” stuff yet. Which is where my real problem is. Like, its bad enough they brought in Jeri for the sex appeal (which lets be honest stems from the fact they couldn’t use Janeway for that – which I get, Kate was right in the whole concept of the audience target having to keep respect for a female lead and sex appeal couldn’t be a focal point but they could have balanced it right and regrettably because they couldn’t that meant Jeri got all of the other side of the coin). Many of Seven’s eps center on romance or social stuff and honestly that is a whole other WTF post in its own right because it all leads up to the sudden get with the one person on the ship who didn’t want you here in the first place and who also would have served better as the male adult guidance figure/father figure than as a ROMANTIC partner but hey BS happened behind scenes to cause that chaotic romantic on screen set up. But yeah … this is just another example of the poor Voyager romantic plot lines.

Chakotay’s romantic plot lines are usually – and by that, I mean pretty much always – with these strong independent women. But usually, at least from what I recall, they are also typically the “needs help” (damsel in distress/can’t do it alone/etc.) plot. Like, Riley was strong independent but also set up to need help in regard to getting her little collective put back together on the planet. You got Kellin, again another strong lady who yet again also needed help. At least in the ep she’s in and if I recall much of the info on how they fell in love during that time as well – primarily with getting away from danger at the start and then during the initial romance finding her target. Valerie is the only one who doesn’t fall into the needs help plot and that’s largely because she was being manipulated by Chakotay for information – which honestly just goes to show how well Chakotay was at the whole undercover stuff (which tells us a lot about what he could have been doing as a Maquis). Seska was the plot point of “you once dated her, now she is going to badger you to get with her again and when that fails, she’s going to assault you” …. like all of Chakotay’s romances are literally him either 1) being manipulated (as that’s what Seska and Riley did) or 2) being the kind guy or 3) not an actual relationship (either because its undercover work or because the writers were too cowardly to make him and Janeway canon).

Then you got Janeway. Then you got KATHRYN JANEWAY. You know, the one where Kate Mulgrew said no romance, no sexualizing, no doing that sort of stuff because the audience had to maintain respect for the character. I’m sure someone has the exact various quotes out there. Like … this is why we don’t have JC as canon. But what we do got instead is …. Janeway in Prime Factors being flirted with by the administrator as if that’s going to get him what he wants because “female leader means flirt with her”. We got Janeway and a period drama holodeck adventure in the early years which was clearly meant to be her romantic tête-à-tête early on that never got followed up with. We got “delete the wife” with the Fair Haven plot point (because its totally respectable to see the FEMALE LEAD, the STARFLEET CAPTAIN, just straight up DELETE THE WIFE of another individual - yeah, I get its meant to be humor factor because hologram but come on). You have her whole thing with Mark which we get tidbits off but again similar to Tuvok we literally only get to see her side of it – the only couple moment of theirs we get is the comm call in Caretaker.

But Jaffen? You are correct. We got that lovely and touching and wonderful romance with Jaffen …. Oh wait … they had to remove her from the ship, strip her of her memory, and her autonomy in order for her to have a relationship with another individual. And yes, by losing her memories, by losing what made her who she was as a person, she did lose a sense of autonomy. She entered into a relationship without a full sense of independent choice. The point in which she made a choice in that episode, the point in which she – Kathryn Janeway – made a choice with all of the person, the individual she is, was at the end when she had her memories back and could decide based on the values and beliefs and all that she is. What I’m getting at is the people on that planet deliberately took away who she was, they took her memories and her ability to make the decisions they knew she would make --- they did that deliberately (that’s even established in the episode) --- and as such her decisions while in that state are not truly her full independent decisions but the ones impacted by the state she was forced into.

And while I love Resolutions, while I love all the JC goodies, we get in that ep … Yet again the only time we get to see Janeway in any sort of romantic situation is when they remove her from the ship. When they remove her from command. When they strip her of that setting. This time, though – well the first time – she keeps awareness and has to go through lose of it all in order to even start to let it all happen. I love the episode, I do, but I just find it rather amusing they went “’Hey we gotta strand them what should their tasks be on the planet?” and they immediately went “Well Janeway is scientist how about that” “Okay and he can build, Chakotay can start building. Man builds house, right?” and then like went “oh and then she can start a garden” …. Like really? Really? That’s what you got for me. Oh, and then there is the monkey. That’s the romance this ep. Boat, science, monkey.

Then we got Kashyk. We have dealt with Kathryn throughout this series dealing with various leaders of various styles. As mentioned, Prime Factors guy attempted flirting. Other leaders pulled similar or worse or even dismissed her …. Like the list goes on. Counterpoint is a great episode because it deals with prejudice and is rather dark. The thing is, had Janeway been able to have a healthy romantic relationship on screen to counter this episode this episode probably would have come off better. Episodes like Prime Factor could have been done different (that leader didn’t need to be as flirty for example). One or two eps through the series having creepy dudes she had to deal with, fine, whatever … that be a nice impact for the audience. But when you have to many prior to Counterpoint – even if its minor, small stuff – it makes this episode so much harder for fans. Especially the female fans who deal with this constantly.

See, here’s the thing with this ep…. Some of the fans who watch … we know Kashyk well. We know that character. He is that male leader, that male power figure, who uses the power he has to manipulate those in his control to get what he wants. And Kathryn … Kathryn was in his control. Kashyk is listed as a relationship on memory-alpha. But much like how I view Seska with Chakotay … I do not view Kashyk as a proper relationship. In Devore space, Kathryn did not have proper power. She had people in her command, on her ship, that she had to protect. That she knew she had to protect. Her own best friend … lives in her hand … and Kashyk right there willing to kill them. Willing to snatch them up and destroy them. And he used that power to manipulate her and play her. Yes, she played him right back but … did she truly have a choice? Did she have any other choice but to play his game? What would have happened if she said no? And that … that is why this episode is so unsettling for some people. And why this relationship being considered on is so off putting … that the writers, that memory-alpha, that the fact I’m putting it on this list as one of the ones on here for Voyager says so much … they wrote this as one of her relationships while out there … she had to do what so many women had to do to stay safe, to keep people she loves safe, and that’s not a relationship.

Voyager could have done romance/relationships such better justice.

[cosmixbun]

For those who don’t know the song ‘Hallelujah Money’, it is a song released by the band, ‘Gorillaz’ on the ‘Humanz’ album on January 17, 2017. Or more known as the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration (keep this in mind, it’s very important.). The majority of the vocals were sung by Benjamin Clementine, the rest of course, was 2-d. The lyrics can be found here, if you want to read them. The music video can be found here. I suggest watching and reading both before really looking into this.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a big music person, I only find music video interest in the Gorillaz music videos. If I say something that you do not believe or have differing opinions, great. This is just what I bring to the table all these years later. There’s plenty more where I come from.

THE VIDEO:

I’m going to explain as best as I can with both parts so bear with me. Again, it would help to watch the video to see the background and the emotions in the video as portrayed by Benjamin. So, in the music video upon opening, we see the only person who will be the center of the whole music video, Benjamin. We see him in a shiny, gold building. This hallway, in the building, is a reference to the Trump Tower and Benjamin is portraying Trump, or at the least his ideals. The background images that are used in the music video are disturbing and can sometimes set an uneasy feeling. I’m not going to go super in depth on each image or video because there’s a lot but you can find the breakdown somewhere. In the music video we see flashes for symbols or things that symbolize power, such as the pyramid with the eye on the back of the US dollar bill (which is said to represent God or the illuminati, so pick one), a cowboy, and even a creepy clown video (not really a ‘power’ in a societal sense, but they affected how we lived for a while.) While the videos and pictures are shown in the back, the lyrics are being said. The majority of the time, the video and pictures have somewhat no connotation to the lyrics being sung. The end of the video ends with a clip of Spongebob screaming and crying, this was taken from the episode called ‘Karate Choppers’ from season one. The clip is right after Mr.Krabs, his boss, tells him that he’s fired. “You’re fired.” is one of Donald Trump’s signature quotes.

THE LYRICS:

Going into the lyrics I will also tie into the things that I had talked about in the music video. The lyrics in the beginning are more of acknowledging that the US is a growing country and that everyone is allowed here, except for `The scarecrows that come from the far east”. Benjamin then sings that to keep them away “Is by building walls, Walls like unicorns In full glory and galore” making a reference to the wall Trump had promised in his campaign that he was going to build. A lot of people in the states were looking forward to this and as it states, it was going to be a big project that would be looked at by many. Benjamin at this time in the music video is calm and collected and seems to be confident in what he is saying. He is also singing his thoughts about the American Dream, and how it is only for the starving, To me, this is saying that the people who don’t have it bad in this country don’t even have to think about the American Dream because they think they are already living it. Those who are struggling to get by everyday dream about the day where they won’t have to get up and wonder what their next meal is or even if they will see next week. Those people have their own dreams about the American Dream. He then thanks the people for trusting him, a reference to the fact that he is going to get inaugurated the next day. I’m going to skip 2-d’s parts for now and skip to the next time Benjamin starts to sing. The next verse that Benjamin sings is ‘Trump’ saying that even though this is how life is, we can’t do much about it, everyone in the world just wants power. We can’t be upset over something that is bound to repeat itself. He even says, “And the whole beasts of nations desire, Power”. In some way or another we want power. Trump definitely understood this and had taken it to a whole new level.

Now going into 2-d’s parts he sings both bridges in the song. In both parts that he sings he is singing directly to Benjamin. He’s asking these questions that we still ask today, “When the morning come, We are still human, How will we know? How will we dream? How will we love? How will we know ?” These questions are from the people and they are asking that if the world is so corrupt, how will we ever be able to love each other if all we can do is fight and argue. The first time 2-d comes to ask these questions, all Benjamin can do is listen. 2-d sits in Benjamin’s silhouette and Benjamin stays still. The second time he sings the same lyrics, Benjamin seems uneasy and worried, scared, and fearful. Benjamin’s hands are shaking and the book he’s holding, he is weary about. The music becomes more, ‘anxiety filled’. Then not too long after 2-d is done, Benjamin goes back to normal. Symbolizing that in his campaign and unknowingly, the years to come, he was going to be questioned and under heavy watch because not only was he a public figure, but a lot of allegations and scandals came up about him. In the same moment, he starts to sing, “Hallelujah Money” and rub his hands together in a way that you would say money, with your thumb, pointer, and middle finger. This was then showing that even after all of that, he still had support and his fame, all the efforts did nothing to him. He wasn't phased by a single thing that came towards him.

MY THOUGHTS:

So what are my thoughts on this music video? Three words.

Absolutely.

Fucking.

Incredible.

This music video was not only amazingly made, but Benjamin did the entire music video in one take. But coming away from that, the message that this brings to the table about how the former president saw the American Dream? How he felt about power and wealth? I think it captured it perfectly. The imagery that was used in the back of the video is stunning. The way they used the analogies in this was so intricate, but it worked and fit so well. The way that they went into it and went, ‘Ya know what. Let’s give it to em’.’ My absolute favorite part of this was the lines used to describe the different sides of the American Dream. The way they also used the tree analogy in the beginning to describe the idea of western prosperity just really sold it for me. The way this song was produced and how it sounds like a choir is singing with Benjamin to me is just the opinions of the people who agree with Trump and his ideals and them being like, ‘yeah, for the money.’ The kind of tone that song has is kind of 'rejoiceful' but having that hint of that ‘uneasiness’ that I had mentioned earlier. It just makes you think that it’s a normal Gorillaz song. The entire song is just powerful to me and after seeing it once again and hearing the song once again, and celebrating 4 years of the album...My appreciation only grows for it.

That’s pretty much it but I would like to close out with a quote from none other than Murdoc Niccals himself:

"In these dark times, we all need someone to look up to. That's why I'm giving you this new Gorillaz song, a lighting bolt of truth in a black night. You're welcome."

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 3--Hunted.

 Most of you lovelies already realize this, but my thoughts tend to zig and zag quite a bit, lol.  So.  To save some of you the headache and spare you from seeing spoilers you’d rather not see yet, I’m again placing them behind a cut.  

First things first.  I have totally turned into Yvette Nicole Brown with her TWD notebooks, lol, and I’m not even sorry.  I just felt like it would be fun to go back when the final episode is in the books and see how well my thoughts from these early episodes line up with what I’m feeling when we say our (not-so) final goodbyes.  

But that’s enough about that. Let’s get to this thing.  

It really is insane how very much I love Melissa McBride.  Just hearing her doing the previously on TWD recap voiceover makes me ridiculously happy.  

Cole!  Dude!  We hardly knew ya.  

Not gonna lie.  That first shot of Maggie in all the chaos reminded of a shirt I’ve seen.  It says--”Well, well, well.  If it isn’t the consequences of my actions.”  

I have to hand it to Angela and the rest of her team.  These opening scenes--on all 3 episodes--have been BOMB so far.  They really hook you in right away.  At least IMHO.  

I realize I’m behind the game on this little tidbit, but how much do I adore the fact that Dog is now in the opening credits?  

Okay.  Alexandria might look like it’s been on some kind of post-apocalyptic bender but all our girls are looking beautiful as ever.  Maybe it’s Maybelline, lol.  

I love to see Kelly and Carol still gravitating toward each other.  It really speaks to each woman’s heart.  Carol wants to make amends so badly and Kelly just has the most lovely, warm, forgiving heart.  

Carol’s point about Alexandria still needing the horses to help with the heavy lifting and pointing out the walls and rebuilding won’t matter quite as much if they’re limited by their  hunger and what they can physically lift on their own isn’t wrong.  But I’m sure the same viewers that were okay with Daryl and Co. going out on Maggie’s suicide mission (using the same reasoning) and saying it made sense for the bigger picture will pretend not to recognize that the same element is there in Carol’s desire to go out there and look for the horses.  You know.  Because it was Carol’s idea and not that of their fave(s).  

Aaron, Man.  Or maybe I should say Angela.   You just had to put a pit of dread in my belly mentioning Buttons like that.  RIP, Buttons.  You deserved better.  I’m still traumatized.  

Look at all the babies bonding.  Look at RJ getting to sit at the big kid table.  

“My mom always comes back.”  She damn well better.  Those babies need her.  Until she does, though, Uncle Daryl and Aunt Carol (and Aunt Rosita and everybody else) are going to be there.  

Anyway.  Poor RJ.  He barely ever gets any lines, lol.  

Hershel and Judith are obviously the mini-adults in this group and baby Rhee is already more cynical and jaded than his sweet daddy was until they reached Alexandria and the wheels started to come off.  

So.  Does Maggie just think everybody’s already dead here or what?  Hmm.  

You know.  Any building can be creepy AF when the lights are off and it’s dark, lol.  Any building.  

So much darkness so far this season.  I’m going to have to invest in some blackout curtains.  I just know it.  

Where are all those stairs leading?  Why am I thinking of Hitchcock?  Am I mixing up my scary, suspenseful movies?  Probably.  

Of fucking course, Maggie dropped her flashlight.  Thank goodness she had that lighter at the ready just before Ghost Face Reaper took a swipe at her.  

Is that Father G with a screwdriver impaled in his thigh?  Listen.  These people deserve a Mega Bottle of pain killers and a week just vegging out in a soft, luxurious bed.  

All these horror movie tropes.  Some of them are cheesy, yes.  But I’m totally here for it.  

LMAO.  That’s it, Maggie.  A good old punch in the nuts works every time.  

Alden really is having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  

Negan is still Negan.  Self-serving and looking out for number one.  But I believe the man really does feel the group is his group too.  He’s like that long lost, sketchy uncle nobody wants to acknowledge much less invite to the dinner table, but that bond?  However thin?  Is there.  

I am both hating that Maggie is being forced to work with the man that murdered her husband (my baby Glenn) and finding it fascinating the lengths she’s willing to go to survive.  This your plan, Angela?  

Rosita and Carol!  How sad is it that the last really significant scene I can remember the two of these women sharing was way back?  Before Rick and Co. attacked Negan’s outpost and Maggie and Carol were subsequently taken?  If only the show had done more of these kind of scenes.  

How much do I love all the girls working together?  Gimps would never.  They’d all be stuck back at Alexandria minding the kids and the community.  

Shallow aside--Rosita is so pretty in this scene.  

Rosita being worried about Carol honestly makes my heart hurt, because it’s about damn time more of them actually did.  Her saying Abraham is trying to tell her something in her dreams is interesting.  Angela sure loves her dreams, doesn’t she?  

Where are Daryl’s dreams, hmm?  No.  Seriously.  I guess they want to give some viewers plausible deniability until the bitter end.  

“Really?  We’re just gonna go toward the screaming?  Cool.”  Hahaha.  You know.  Even the smart people in horror movies sometimes bite it, Negan.  Just saying.  Maggie really does need to “stop running up the staircase” when she could just run out the front door though, lol.  

Poor Duncan.  I think you could have been another Tyreese, Jerry type for me.  

WTF does this show have against horses?  Those poor creatures.  

Kelly is totally me right now.  I’d be freaking inconsolable.  

Carol needed that hug.  Thank you, Magna.  From the bottom of this tired fangirl’s heart, thank you.  

Why give us that beautiful, golden shot with the horses when you’re planning to stab us through the heart later and twist the knife.  Oh.  Yeah.  That’s exactly why.  

Oh snap!  Father G’s delivery when he tells that Reaper “I’m not.  God isn’t here anymore.”  Cold as ice.  

Judas.  That the Reapers’ work.  Or.  Damn.  Either way, that’s harsh.  

Back to what Alden was saying.  All these oprhaned children.  Who’s going to take on Adam if he dies?  That poor kid has had a rough go of it.  Knowing that, makes you wonder what Alden was thinking volunteering for the suicide mission.  

Omigosh.  There went Agatha.  Terrible way to go.  Right, Beatrice?  

I’m sobbing.  Carol with the horse.  That hurt my baby so much but she hurt herself for her family the same way she has been doing since the Prison.  Melissa Mcbride?  When she cries, I cry.  Every effin’ time.  Aaron being there just made it hurt more.  But at least someone was there to see how and really take in how she continues to break pieces of herself off to keep her family as whole and safe and happy as she can.  

Rewinding a minute--that Magna and Carol conversation.  I get Magna’s reasoning too.  I do.  But Angela is just making everything so dire right now so that the sun when Connie is ultimate found shines a ltitle brighter.  

Those babies know they’re eating horse.  I could never.  

That’s got to be a different Coco.  She’s even smaller.  But she’s gorgeous.  

Fucking finally.  Angela having the other characters notice after an eternity of being blind to it, just how much Carol sacrifices of herself for them.  It’s so long overdue and I imagine Rosita’s even more worried for Carol now.  It’s a shame it’s taken 11 seasons.  My baby’s had blood on her hands trying to keep her family safe and whole and happy and fed for a long damn time.  So heartbreaking watching her try to scrub the blood away.  

Sweet, sweet hug that Kelly gave Magna.  She’s such a sweetheart kid sis to all of them, isn’t she?  

Interesting place of refuge.  A gutted church.  A visual symbol, Angela, of where Maggie and the rest of our people are now perhaps?  

“It’s easy for you, isn’t it?  Being reckless with sombody’s life...”  Maggie.  Maggie.  Those words would have hit so much harder if we hadn’t spent the majority of the last 2.5 episodes watching you ignore sound advice just because it came out of the mouth of somebody you (justifiably) hate.  

But will Alden be there when Maggie and Negan get back?  That is the question.  Or will he eventually Lucille himself?  

That little bit of lineup Negan music to remind the audience of Negan lovers and sympathizers that he once took great pleasure in murderously swinging a bag at people’s heads was a nice, subtle touch there.  Like agree with her or not, Maggie  is literally left to rely  on the hope, however small it is, that Negan has changed just enough that he won’t try to finish a job he taken on years before--killing what’s left of her.  

Oh lawd.  Next episode sees the return of a character literally nobody asked for.  How excited am I not?  

Dog better not be harmed or so help me.  

Now for Angela’s weekly explanations of WTF she/there were thinking because they been doing this plausible deniability thing so long some people out there watching with biased, muddy stan glasses can no longer separate head canon from canon.  

Is Maggie worried at all about Daryl or does she just assume his superhero powers are in full effect in this episode?  

“You can’t really say it wasn’t going to happen anyway.”  Not Angela pointing out that simply laying the blame for literally everything bad that ever happens at Carol’s feet isn’t the answer.  Say it louder for those in the back.  Alpha was going to do what Alpha wanted to do.  

“There is love there.  There is respect there.  However, there’s also frustration...”  You damn skippy.  Friendships and human relationships are complex AF.  Like Carol. She’s honestly one of the most complicated characters on this show and any show, IMHO.  That’s what makes her so memorable and such a lightning rod for discussion.  

I know I might be in a minority, but I really feel like they need more of those little scenes between the kids to keep things real.  

Kang saying she always feels like she’s going to get murdered in a staircase or parking lot is relatable, funny, and sad all at the same time.  It’s a girl thing.  

Why is Carol’s story giving me Dark Knight vibes?  Like I feel like she’ll gladly shoulder the burden of their distrust, their hate, or their judgment as long as the hard choices she makes keeps them safe.  And she’s still ultimately going to come back to save their asses even when they forsake her.  Just like Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Am I reaching too far, lol?  Because sometimes I do that.  

Anyway.  This is the third episode of the season and the third episode in a row that I mostly enjoyed.  I don’t know if I’m just so relieved and happy to have all the characters and my show back or what, but overall?  I’ve been pleased with the episodes and found something to love in all of them.  

There’s a much stronger horror vibe woven throughout Season 11 so far.  I feel like it’s a return to the roots of the show and I like that.  Literally none of the characters are making perfect choices and this viewer is here for it.  My only complaint so far is there hasn’t been enough Carol but what we’ve been given has felt like a gift and significant in a way that Gimps’ version was not.  Also?  I really hope the trend of the ladies working together and supporting each other continues because they rule the TWD world, lol.  

Hope you enjoyed at least some of my TWD word vomit.  

Until next episode.  

[noladyme]

My Only Sunshine - Chapter 5

Liv is as human as they come – faults and all. After a dark experience in her past, she is determined to live life on her own terms, and never let anyone claim her as theirs again. This becomes an issue, when she meets a 1000-yearold vampire, who is dead-set on claiming her as his own.

CHAPTER 4

Every person I met on my way back to the elevator, looked away from me, as if I didn’t exist. Once I entered the elevator, I drew in a stuttering breath. My clothes felt sticky from the spilt TruBlood, and I was shaking.

Taking a deep breath, I entered the suite, where Pam was going through some official looking papers. She looked up at me, and seemed confused. “TruBlood”, I croaked. “He’s in there”, she said, and nodded towards Eric’s room. The door was closed. “On the phone with your other boss”. “Bill?”, I asked. Pam’s lips drew up in a smirk.

The doors to Erics room opened, and he came out, with my old phone to his ear. “… That’s between you and miss Sunday”, he said into the phone, before looking up at me – suddenly frowning. “I’m fine…”, I muttered. “She’s back now, if you want to speak with her”, he said into the phone; before handing it to me. Before I put it to my ear, he wiped his thumb down my cheek, and then put it in his mouth to taste. He seemed to relax when he found that the blood on my face had in fact come from a bottle.

“Bill?”, I said into the phone. “Liv…”. It was Sam. “Sam… hi”, I said. “What the fuck? You said you were taking a vacation… Then Sookie tells me you’ve gone to Dallas with… him? You know what you’re getting yourself in to?”. “I’m ok, Sam… I’ll be back in a few days”. “Liv’, you’re a walking, talking hamburger to those people. Come home!”. He sounded angry.

I walked in to my own room, and went to stand by the window. It was 2 am, and I knew Merlotte’s was closed; but I heard talking in the background – figuring he and Terri were cleaning up after the evening service. “I’m perfectly safe”, I lied. “No one’s fed on me without…”. “Without what? You mean you’ve been letting that fanger suck on you?”. “That’s none of your business. I’m a grown woman”. Sam sighed deeply. “Just… Don’t come home with any visible marks on you. I don’t wanna scare away the costumers”. “That’s mean, Sam…”, I croaked. “I know… I know, cher’; I’m sorry. I just care about you, is all”. I heard him moving around some glass. “I got something in the mail today, you should know about. It was a picture of you…”. My breath hitched. “You… what?”. “You didn’t tell me you used to dance… if you can call it that”. “So, now you’re shaming me for my former job? Tell me, Sam. How much student debt do you have?”. “I’m being an asshole, aren’t I…?”. “Yeah, you are… Am I fired?”. “No… Of course not”. “Good”, I said, a little more edge to my voice than I had planned. “Was there a return address on the envelope?”. I noticed Eric entering the room behind me, and coming up next to me by the window. “No… It was just sent to Merlotte’s. Is someone trying to make you look bad?”. “Is it working?”, I muttered. Sam chuckled. “Hell, no. You look hot as fuck”. “That’s inappropriate, Mr. Merlotte”, I smiled. Eric tensed up next to me. “Only if I was flirting with you, cher’. I’m just stating facts”. Gazing up at Eric, I decided it was time to end the call. “Sam, I gotta go. I’ll be back soon, no marks and in one piece”. “Be careful… and call me if you need anything. And call vampire-Bill. He’s worried as well”. “I will. Take care… And could you let me know if you get anymore pictures?”. “Of course. Talk to you later”. I hung up, and went to drop the phone on the bedside table.

“Shifter-daddy is worried”, Eric muttered. “He’s just protective…”, I said. “Why were you on my phone?”. “The ringing was annoying”, he said. “Why are you covered in O negative?”. “Because Rose thinks humans are cattle, and wants to start a civil war…”, I said. I was surprised to see that Eric didn’t even flinch at my words. “I expected as much”, he said. “Tell me what happened”.

I spent the next 20 minutes retelling what had occurred at the meeting between Carl on Rose. Eric and Pam sat still as statues as I spoke. “This just confirms what you’ve been saying”, Pam said. “We always knew Stan was power-hungry, and that Rose was a cunt. Now we got proof. Liv just has to…”. “She can’t… They’ll kill her”, Eric said. His eyes were focused the table in front of him, as if he was far away in thought. “So…?”. “Thanks, Pam”, I sneered. She smiled sarcastically at me. “Why would they kill me for telling the truth?”. “Rose tried to glamour you. A human that can’t be glamoured won’t sit well with vampires on any side of the fence”.

“So, what do we do?”, Pam said. “Stan as sheriff… that’s bad for business”. “You’re worried about money?”, I asked. “She was talking about humans like nothing but… animals! Who is running against you in Area 5?”, I asked. “No one”, Pam said, before Eric could answer. “They’re all too afraid of Eric, or too lazy to pick up the mantle”. Eric nodded agreeingly. “There’s no one willing to take it on”. “Seems like Area 5 politics are quite different from the rest of the country”, I said. “But at least you’re one of the sheriffs that don’t just see my kind as meals”. Eric gave me a smirk as if he was undecided. I rolled my eyes.

“With Stan taking the post, civil war won’t just be a possibility. It’ll be an actuality”. He looked at me seriously. “And it won’t be good for vampires or humans”.  He took another moment to think. “We do nothing. For now… I will speak to Isabel; tell her you heard some rumors about Rose working with Stan”. Pam frowned. “Me? But I’ve been with you all night. I haven’t been talking to anyone to make that believable”. Eric raised a brow at her; and Pam looked even more disgruntled. “That means I’ll have to… mingle”. Her master smiled slightly. “I’ll buy you a new dress”, he said. “Two”, Pam sneered. “You owe me one for the one you ruined last night”. She left the room, leaving me alone with Eric.

“Are you going to ask me about Godric?”, I said with bated breath. “No”, he replied shortly. “Why?”. He looked at me, as if I was from a different planet. “Don’t ask me questions, you wouldn’t understand the answers to”. Feeling chided, I cleared my throat, and looked down at my blood-stained clothes. “I’m gonna get cleaned up… Unless you have any more spying for me to do”. I got off the couch, and headed back towards my room. “You can use my tub”, Eric said. I stopped in my tracks, and looked over my shoulder. Eric got off the couch, and held out his hand to me. “You’re giving me whiplash, with your mood swings… Don’t you have some tanning-salons to see to?”, I asked. “I have all the sunshine I need right here”, he said. “Come”. I sighed, and put my hand in his outstretched one, letting him lead me towards his own room.

There was a large, freestanding tub in the middle of the large bathroom; which – save for the tub – looked like the one connected to my own room. I went over to look in the mirror by the sink, and drew in a stuttering breath. My face was covered in specks of synthetic blood, and my top was beyond saving. Without even thinking about the fact that Eric was standing in the doorway, I pulled it over my head. The blood had seeped through, and I looked like I’d been in a fight, except for the fact that there wasn’t a bruise or cut on my body; other than the fang-marks Eric had left there.

“You look delicious”, he said. “That’s creepy”, I muttered, and rubbed at a stain on my neck. “I’m a creepy vampire. You’ve told me more than once”. He walked over to the tub, and turned on the water. I opened the button of my pants, and kicked off my shoes. “My clothes are ruined”, I said. “Then it’s good I prefer you naked”.

Eric came over to me, and hooked his fingers into the waistband of my pants; tugging them down. “Sit”, he ordered, and I sat on the edge of the tub. He pulled the pants down, and off me; throwing them in a corner. I realized even my underwear was soaked through. “Taking this job for you, has ruined all my good underwear”, I said. “You only have to two sets of good underwear? Maybe you should just go without…”, Eric smiled, and raised me to stand, by taking my hand again.

Eric leaned down to kiss my cheek, and when I found him running his tongue down my jawbone, I realized he was licking up the splatters of TruBlood. “Are you hungry?”, I asked, finding the situation kind of strange. “I could eat…”, he breathed, and ran one hand down between my legs, letting his index finger trace the edge of the fabric of my panties there. Feeling my walls begin to quiver, I grabbed his wrist. “Do you want me to stop?”. “I want to take a bath”, I whispered, looking up into his eyes. I unhooked the bra on my back, and took it off. Eric hooked his fingers through the fabric of my panties, and pulled them down; letting me step out of them. As he crouched in front of me, he put his hands on my bottom, and buried his face in my curls. “Eric, please…”. Eric stood back up, looking quite unhappy. “I’ll leave you alone”, he said. I grabbed his hand. “You don’t… You don’t have to go”, I said. “With everything that’s happened tonight, I don’t want to be alone”. “If you’re looking for conversation, why don’t you call Sam Merlotte?”. His voice was cold.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortably exposed, I grabbed one of the large fluffy towels by the tub, and put it around me. “Should have known that was all you wanted from me. I was stupid to think…”. I couldn’t finish my sentence, but in stead made my way to the door. “You know what I want from you”, Eric said, his voice level. “Yeah, you just made that abundantly clear”. Eric suddenly stood in front of me, blocking my way out of the bathroom. “Get in the tub”. “Fuck you”, I snarled. “No, you’re apparently not in the mood. Get in the tub”.

I pushed at Erics chest, to no avail. He stood firm in front of me, and looked down with a raised brow. The towel had fallen from my body. “Fine…”, he said; and flung me over his shoulder, carrying me back towards the bathtub. Before I knew it, I was dropped into the water; which instantly turned pink from the blood on my body. “Asshole!”, I yelled. “What the hell is your problem?”. “You’re my fucking problem!”, Eric roared; a hint of an accent showing. His face was contorted in rage, and he grabbed on to my shoulders to keep me from standing up. “You put yourself in danger by disappearing for hours, and then you mouth off to one of the most powerful vampires in existence. You won’t be mine… You won’t even take the bath I’ve drawn for you. Why can’t you just behave and göra vad helvete jag säger!”. “English!”, I screamed in frustration; and smacked him across the face.

Eric sprang out of the bathroom at vamp-speed. I heard crashes and roars from his bedroom; but didn’t dare get up. I sat hugging my knees for a few moments, before Eric returned in the doorway; a somber expression on his face. He met my eyes; his own looking almost pained. “I’m sorry…”, I said. “No you’re not”, he retorted. “Yeah, you’re right… You deserved that. You have no idea what I went through for you today…”, I croaked. “The people I had to face”. “You were never in any real danger”, he said. “You don’t know anything…”, I whispered, and wiped away a tear running down my cheek. “What he did… You don’t know”. Eric tensed up, and took a hesitant step forward. “Carl?”, he said. I looked up at him; and he suddenly looked like I’d struck him across the face again. “Godric…?”. “No… not Godric. He is… He never hurt me”. Eric came over to the tub, and crouched to my eye-level. “Then, who?”.

I’d said too much; but there wasn’t a chance Eric would let me leave the room, before I answered his question. Depending on my words, I could bring danger on both him, and the rest of his family – because that is what they were. His family. “That photographer…”, I rasped. “He’s the one who hurt me in San Diego, a year ago”. Eric pulled out his phone immediately, probably about to call someone to find Thomas. “Please, let me finish”. Eric visibly tried to calm himself. “Talk”, he demanded. “He’d been coming around Sugar and Spice, to take promo-shots for the owner. He asked me out, and I went on a date with him; but I wasn’t really interested. He kept coming around the club, telling anyone who got too close to me, that I was… his”. Eric straightened his back slightly. “One night, he came up after I’d just performed. Asked me to have a drink with him. He swore it was just a drink – that he was gonna back off, and leave me alone – he just wanted to have a drink as friends. So, I said yes”. “And you shouldn’t have”, Eric said. I shook my head in agreement. “He put something in it… drugged me. I blacked out”, I said. The water in the tub looked the color of the Watermelon Margarita Thomas had gotten me that night, before he took the picture of us together, that had been sent to my house. “When I woke up… We were in the back alley, and I tried to fight him off, but he was so strong… I think he’s on V”. “He… hurt you”, Eric growled. “I fought like hell, but he got a couple of hits in… He didn’t have a chance to go any further”. “Why?”. I began trying to wash off the TruBlood from my arm. “A vampire stopped him. In return, I let him have my blood. I had a gash in my chest, and he fed from there”.

Eric stood back up, and began pacing the floor. “This happened in a dry state…”, he said. “Who was the vampire?”. “I don’t know…”, I lied. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the consequences of letting him know the truth on that matter. “But… he glamoured Thomas to forget me… At least he was supposed to”. “The pictures…”, Eric snarled. “Merlotte told me about the one sent to him”. “He shouldn’t have”, I muttered. “It’s my problem”. Eric shook his head. “Not anymore. I put you in danger, by having you go see him”. “You didn’t know”. “I know now. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it”, Eric said, his voice cold. “What’s that supposed to mean?”, I asked worriedly. “That he’s a dead man”.

Eric pulled out his phone again, and went to leave the room. I sprang out of the tub, and raced after him; almost slipping from my wet feet. “No, Eric, you can’t!”, I said. I pulled at his hand; trying to pry the phone from it. “He wouldn’t want you to!”. “Who?”. Godric. Godric wouldn’t want you to. “Just… please. Leave it. I just want to forget about him”. “He hasn’t forgotten about you”, Eric said. “He’s been sending you pictures”. “I don’t know that he has… When I saw him today, it was like I was a complete stranger”. “Then who sent them?”. I shook my head. “I don’t know… Maybe someone’s just messing with me”. Eric turned the phone around in his hand. I took him by surprise, when I put my hands on his cheeks; forcing him to look at me. “Please, Eric. Don’t…”.

As series of expressions travelled over Erics face. Indecision, anger, and finally determination. “He could still come for you”, he said. “From now on, you don’t leave my side. If I’m not around, Pam will be with you”. “You need me for things during the day”, I said. “I’ll get someone else for day-tasks. You stay in this suite, unless one of us are with you” “You can’t keep me locked up here…”, I scoffed. “I can, and I will. I made a vow to protect you”. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I only opened them again, when I felt Eric put his hand on my cheek; and his forehead to mine. “I’m going to keep you safe. Please help me do so… Do as I tell you”. “Ok”, I whispered. “I’ll try…”. Eric raised a brow at me. “I said I’ll try!”.

Eric picked me up again; this time, carrying me bridal style into the bathroom. “What are you doing?”, I asked. “Taking you back to your bath”, he said. I looked down into the bathwater, and recoiled. “It’s all… yucky”, I said. Eric shrugged and sat me down on the floor again, before sticking his harm into the water to drain the tub. As I stood by, he opened the tap again, to refill it.

“Bubbles, this time”, I said. He looked at me, and smiled slightly. “There’s my greedy human”, he said. “Still not yours… Not like that”, I muttered. “Så envis”, Eric muttered, before meeting my disgruntled eyes. “Stubborn”. “You know it”, I said.

After pouring some soap into the rising water, Eric began undressing. I couldn’t take my eyes of him as he did. “What are you doing?”, I asked. “What does it look like? I’m taking a bath with you”, he said, and removed his underwear. I began covering my body with my arms. Eric stepped forwards. “You said you didn’t want to be alone”. “And you said that if I wanted conversation, I’d have to call someone else”. Eric stepped in to the tub, and reached for my hand. “I was wrong. We just had a very long conversation, and that turned out fine”. I raised a brow at him. “You call that long?”, I asked. He smiled leeringly at me; and with a firm grip of my waist, he lifted me into the tub – getting me to sit down. “Long… and very hard”, he said, and sat down in front of me.

Putting a hand on the back of my head, and an arm around my back, Eric pulled me up to straddle him. “How do you do that?”, I asked, and looked down at his fully developed erection. “I mean, you don’t have a natural blood-flow… Is it like magic?”. “Do you care?”, he asked, and caught my lower lip between his own. The blunt tip of his penis was already probing my entrance, from the position we were in. The only thing keeping it from entering me, was the fact that I was on my knees over it. “Not really, I guess”, I smiled. “Then sit down”.

I bit my lips, and turned off the faucet behind him; raising my breasts to his eyelevel. He caught my nipple in his mouth, and tugged at it with his teeth. I pulled at his hair, to get him to unlatch from me. “We were supposed to be taking a bath”, I said; and sat back in the tub – moving my admittedly quivering folds from the Viking-penis. Eric furrowed his brows at me. “Are you saying no again?”. “I’m saying… Bath first”.

Eric sat back, and smiled at me. “Bath first. Then we’ll get back to my magical erection”.

---

I was drying my hair, bundled up in a lush robe and seated on the edge of the tub; while Eric was draining it, nude as the day he was born – the first time, that is. He opened the sash on my robe, and pushed it off my shoulders. Putting his hands on my bottom, he lifted me to straddle him, and walked us towards his bed; where he laid me down. Though he was fully hard, he didn’t go for the home-run yet. Instead – as I traced his back-muscles with my fingertips, he kissed his way down my belly. “Did you eat?”, he asked. “Yes…”, I croaked. That granola-bar had to count for something. “Good. I don’t want you passing out on me”, he smiled, and kissed my clit; flicking his tongue over it. I let out a gasp, as his long middle finger entered me; and another, as he grazed his teeth down my inner thigh. The finger in me crooked, and stroked against the spot inside me he had found gave me the most pleasure. Going back to suckling my nub, he looked up at me – his light-blue eyes warm in spite of the cold color of them. “Another…”, I whimpered, and Eric let his index finger join the one inside me. I was quivering already – Eric was a master of getting me to my climax quickly, I’d learnt that the night before – but it seemed that he wanted to draw out my pleasure now, because he unlatched from my clit; and began kissing his way down my thigh. I let out a dissatisfied whimper, to which Eric smiled. Once he’d brushed his lips over the inside of my knee, he put it over his shoulder; forcing my leg upwards as he went back to my folds.

All the while, Erics fingers had been working inside me – stroking and prodding. I was feeling the coil in my lower stomach tense to the point of snapping, when Eric looked at me again, and lifted his head – baring his fangs. His eyes grazed over my inner thigh, near my groin; before they met mine, asking for consent. “Do it…”, I said, almost as a plea. Two sharp pangs of pain hit my skin near my warmth. As Eric began suckling at my flowing blood, his fingers sped up their movements; and I unfurled – feeling every beat of my heart and spasm of my climax, send my blood flowing in waves, into Erics mouth. I didn’t understand how something that was dangerous, painful – at least in the second it took for him to bite me – and should be so wrong, felt like it was the single best thing in the world. After what seemed like forever, and at the same time, only a second of intense orgasm, Eric licked over his bite, and pulled back. I realized he was healing the fang-marks, when I felt the familiar tickling sensation on my skin, where he’d bit me.

Crawling up to lay over me, I once again found that Eric’s temperature had changed. “You’re warm…”, I whispered. He placed himself between my thighs, and immediately pushed himself in to me. “It’s your blood”, he breathed, beginning to thrust slowly. “It’s moving in me”. I let out a soft whimper, as Eric kissed my neck gently. “Does that always happen?”, I asked. “Not like this”, he replied; moving his head, to nuzzle his nose against mine. “Your blood… it’s so alive”. I kissed him deeply – tasting only a small hint of blood – and put my leg around his hips. We moved together, with Erics hand on my thigh, to hold me in place around him; so that we were never out of sync.

We moved like this for the longest time; kissing and touching ever part of the others body we could reach, as Eric thrusted in to me. “I want to look at you”, he said, and flipped us around, so I was on top. I sat up, and looked smilingly down at the admiring Viking; without moving. Lifting me slightly by my waist, Eric thrusted in to me once; letting me know he wanted me to move. “Who’s greedy now?”, I grinned; but instantly gasped, as – with a firm grip on my hips – he began moving me back and forth; grinding against him. I tried to move faster, but he held me steady, moving me so that I was riding in a calm, steady rhythm on him. “Slow…”, he said. “Like this”. “Are you asking me to be gentle with you?”, I smiled. “Always”, he breathed, an almost pleading look on his face. I looked in wonder at this suddenly fragile figure under me.

Leaning down to kiss his soft lips gently, I then sat back up; taking his hands to put them on my breasts. I rolled my hips back and forth, letting Erics groans guide me as to how to pace myself. The constant grinding of my clitoris against him, made me once again see stars. I wanted to move faster, so that I could reach the explosion of pleasure I knew was waiting; but he moved his hands to my hips again, holding me in place. He was forcing me into drawn out, waves of pleasure; instead of mindlessly screwing me to a final climax. I collapsed on him, and grabbed on to his hair; kissing and nibbling across his collar bone. “Please, Eric… Please”, I rasped breathlessly. “You’re doing so good. Don’t stop…”, he whispered in to my ear; and raised me up to sit again, by my shoulders. “Don’t stop”.

My whole body shaking, I began raising and lowering myself; fucking myself into oblivion on Eric’s cock. As his eyes buried themselves in mine, he helped me move; while my quivering thighs were getting too weak to do the job on their own. With Eric’s help, my pleasure kept dragging out, filling my entire being. Eric stared at me, almost in amazement; as I threw my head back, and cried out in extasy; from the longest, most intense orgasm I’d ever had. Eric lifted me slightly and pistoned up into me; roaring a series of words I didn’t understand, and finding his own release from my clenching walls. In that moment, my body gave in. I didn’t have the strength to control my limbs. Quickly but gently, Eric wrapped his arms around me, and laid me down on the bed – pulling out of me in the process.

Reaching over to press the buttons for the blinds, Eric then wrapped his body around mine. The action was a strange one from a vampire, I thought; but I supposed this was as close to human as Eric got – full from a feast of blood, and blissed out from a session of mind-blowing sex. At least it had been mind-blowing to me. “Do you… I mean, did you enjoy that? As much as I do?”, I asked, a little worried about the answer. “You mean, did I come?”, Eric smirked. I frowned in embarrassment. “I guess I shouldn’t be asking questions, and just… enjoy the magical erection”. Eric chuckled softly, and pulled at me to lay with my head on his shoulder. “You can ask. I want to tell you”. He seemed almost excited about talking about himself, the smug bastard. I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s just… You can’t really let yourself go with me”, I said. “You’d hurt me”. “I won’t do that”. “I know… That’s what worries me”, I muttered. “That you’re not… getting as much out of it as me”. A rumble of laughter went through Eric’s body. “You’re joking… I’ll add funny to the list of things you are”.

I moved out of his hold, to grab at the duvet; wanting to cover myself, and disappear. I felt like Eric was laughing at me, in my most vulnerable state. Once he realized, what I was doing, Eric put his hand on my cheek. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad… Look at me”, he said. I shook my head. “Liv… Look at me!”. I tentatively met his eyes. “Part of being a vampire means, that I see, smell, taste and feel much more intensely than a human. The only thing you should feel bad about, is the fact that you don’t get as much pleasure from sex, as I do”. I pondered his words for a moment. “It’s really that good?”, I muttered. “Because that… was pretty great”. “It is…”, Eric said with a smile. “With you, even more so”. I felt my cheeks flush red, and he kissed my temple.

Erics fingertips grazed the fang-marks on my neck. “If you still want me to, I can remove them”, he offered. “No… It’s fine. Just do it before we go back home”, I said. “Why didn’t you feed from me, when I first offered it?”, I asked. Something unreadable ghosted his face. “I swore I wouldn’t force myself on you”, he said. “That night… you didn’t want it. Not really”. “I wouldn’t think that should be a problem for a vampire”, I said, remembering Rose’s words. “It’s different with you…”, Eric said. I bit my lip, and began playing with a lock of my hair. “You’re fidgeting…”, he said; and pulled my hand away – merging his fingers with mine. “I’m thinking!”, I said. “It’s just… You say you can’t sense my emotions, but then how could you know that I didn’t want it? I didn’t even know”.

He turned me slightly to meet my gaze. “When we have sex, I bite you; because it’s part of the pleasure for both of us”, he said. “At least, you seem to enjoy it”. He put a hand on my cheek, and brushed his thumb over my lower lip. “I do…”, I smiled. “I didn’t see any lust in your eyes that night, just fear. And that wasn’t how I wanted that experience to be; for either of us". “That’s strangely human”, I said. Eric frowned a little. “Yes, it is…”.

I suddenly yawned, surprised at my own exhaustion. “You need to sleep”, Eric said. I groaned in frustration, and tried to crawl on top of him; kissing my way across his chest. “I need to sleep. The sun is coming up soon, and if I try to stay awake, I’ll get the bleeds”. I sighed heavily, and latched my pouting lips to his nipple, while running my fingers down his torso. Eric growled, and grabbed my wrists, to stop my wandering hands. Holding them up over my head, he looked seriously but mischievously into my eyes. “Liv, I have to rest… Or else, in about five minutes, you’ll be going from nymphomaniac to necrophiliac”. “It’ll kill you?”. “The bleeds won’t kill me; but combined with you sucking the life out of me through your vagina…”. “Fine”, I sighed. Eric pressed his lips to mine, hungrily devouring me in a kiss. “Don’t worry. I’m not done with you”, he breathed against my lips; backing up the promise in his kiss.

He laid his head back on the pillow, and closed his eyes. Soon, the breathing he’d been doing to be able to speak to me, stopped.

---

I must have slept all day, because when I woke, Eric was gone. When I pulled the covers off me, and went to get out of bed, I winced in pain. My hips had hand-shaped bruises; reminding me of my session with Eric.

The vampire in question was fully dressed in a bespoke suit over a black tank top; seated in the living room, going over some papers. I had wrapped myself in a robe, and gave him a slightly self-conscious smile on my way to my own room, to get dressed. Eric raised an amused brow at me. “Sleep well?”, he asked. “Like a dead woman”, I said over my shoulder, and walked over to my suitcase; which was still laid on the bed – that so far, I hadn’t slept in. “Far from it”, Eric said, having moved from his seat, to lean against the doorway. “Did you know you snore?”. “Sorry…”, I muttered. “Don’t be. It’s cute”, he smiled. I found it an interesting word for a 1000-yearold vampire to use. I began to unwrap myself from the robe, but stopped when I saw Eric didn’t divert his eyes. “Are you just gonna stare at me?”, I asked. “Yes”, he smiled; his arms crossed across his chest. I sighed, and took off the robe.

For a moment, Eric just looked at me appreciatively, before his eyes met the bruises on my hips, and they went dark. “I hurt you”, he said quietly, his voice pained. “I’m fine… It’s just a little bruising”, I said. Eric walked over to me, and stroked my hips gently. “I don’t want you walking around in pain, because of me”. I felt a warm sensation stream through my body; which was soon switched in for slight disappointment, when I realized something. “Then I guess my fantasy about you ravaging me again is off the table…”, I muttered. Erics lips twitched into a sly smile. “Ravaging… I like the sound of that. I think that can still be arranged… Come here”.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and pulled me down to sit sideways on his lap. The cool fabric of his suit, sent goosebumps across my naked skin. “What are we doing?”, I asked. Eric extracted his fangs, and bit into his wrist. “Bottoms up”, he said. I looked at the wound for a moment, before suddenly it closed up again. “Really? Just take the blood. We already know it won’t create a blood-bond”. He bit in to his wrist again; and with a frown on my face, I put my mouth to the wounds – sucking at them. His blood tasted as delicious as it had the last time I’d had it; full and nourishing. With his free arm, Eric stroked my hair; and nuzzled at it with his nose. “That’s enough”, he whispered. I pulled back, and made a final swallowing movement. Looking down, I saw that my bruising was completely gone. “As long as you let me heal you, I see no issue with ravaging you as much as your hearts-desire… You don’t seem to get high of my blood, as other humans do".

I felt for the fang-marks on my neck, but they were gone as well. “Now everyone will know you’re giving me blood… or they might think I’m free”, I said. Eric shrugged. “I could bite you again…”, he said. “Ok”, I said. Eric was taken aback. “Really? Just like that?”. “Yes… Bite me”, I said.

He looked at me disbelievingly, before he finally accepted that I was serious. He grazed my jaw with his knuckles, before kissing me deeply. I put my arm around his shoulder, and savored the feeling of Erics tongue against mine. Eric squeezed my knee, then pushed at it to spread my legs slightly, on his lap. Agile fingers stroked up my inner thigh, and as they found my folds – warm, wet and wanting – I let out a whimper against his lips. Tugging at my lower lip one final time, Eric kissed his way down to my neck. Flexing his middle and ring finger, they entered me at the same time as he bit into my neck.

Erics fingers began moving up and down, and the heel of his hand rubbed against my clit. He wasn’t forceful, simply moved his hand to the rhythm of my heart pumping my blood through my veins, and in to his mouth. I felt Erics penis stirring under my butt, and let out a pleased whimper. Eric took this as a signal to speed up his movements inside me. I grinded against him, and Eric growled against my neck. It felt like my core and my neck were linked by pulses of electricity. Fisting the front of Eric’s tank-top, and grabbing on to his hair; my whimpers turned in to loud moans. Eric never relented; simply moved his hand faster – stroking and pushing me, inside and out. My walls tightened around Eric’s fingers, and as I cried out from my orgasm, he unlatched from my neck.

I was shuddering with after-shocks in Erics lap, as he gently licked over the two new fang-marks. I looked down at myself, and realized the mess we’d made on his lap; both coming from my juices, and – from the look of Eric’s blissed out expression – his own. “I’ll have to change…”, he smirked. “Woops…”, I croaked Eric lifted me off him, and got up to stand. I went to stand myself, but immediately stumbled. Eric caught me, and had me sit down. “You’ll have to wait a while, before you let anyone feed from you again. I might have gone a bit overboard…”, he said. “I’m not going to let anyone else feed from me…”, I said. A strange smile ghosted Eric’s face, and he walked towards his own room, shedding the layers of his clothes all the way; once again letting me have the pleasurable view of his naked form.

Pam barged in to the room with Carl in tow. I quickly put on my robe. When he saw our visitor eyeing him, Eric disgruntledly put on a pair of black sweatpants; that hung so low on his hips, I was having trouble focusing anywhere else than there.

“I see I’ve interrupted breakfast”, Carl said, and raised a brow at me. “Sheriff Rockford has something he wants to speak to you about. You should hear this…”, Pam said. Eric went over to sit on the couch; while I went to stand in my assigned spot by the window. “Have a seat, Carl”, Eric said, plastering on the fakest smile I’d ever seen. “TruBlood?”. “Still not sharing?”, the other vampire asked, and looked towards me. Eric looked at me with hard eyes. “Pamela, take Liv up to the restaurant. She hasn’t eaten”, he said; before moving his eyes to Pam. “Stay with her”. There was no room for questioning him in his tone.

I apparently didn’t have time to get dressed, because Pam grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the room, in nothing but my robe. “What’s going on?”, I asked, once we were in the elevator. “It’s an N.Y.B. situation…”. I looked at her questioningly. “None of Your Business”. “Fine…”, I muttered.

---

At the restaurant – which, to my luck, was open 24 hours, save for during private parties – I ordered a pasta-dish the size of my butt. Pam looked at me, like the sight of my eating was sickening. “I can’t believe I used to do that”, she said. “You probably used to poop, too”, I smiled. A shudder went through her body, and I smilingly popped another penne into my mouth.

“Why do you hate humans so much?”, I asked. “I don’t hate you all… Some of you are delicious”, she said. “So I’ve been told”, I muttered. Pam’s eyes went to the fang-marks on my neck. “Yeah, well; Eric says you’re off limits, so I’ll just have to imagine how you taste”. “Guess so…”, I said. “Seriously, though. It’s like we’re all just meals to you. You must remember what it’s like to be human; and to have someone you care about”. “Humans didn’t exactly show themselves from their good side, when I was alive, either…”.

I picked up my napkin, and began separating the layers. “Stop fidgeting. It’s annoying”, Pam said. “There’s that family resemblance”, I muttered. “When did you two meet, anyway?”. Pam raised a brow at me. “What, are we girlfriends now?”. “Just making conversation… Come on, you can tell me”. Pam brushed a non-existing piece of lint of the shoulder of her pink power-suit. “Back when I was a madame. 1871. He was a costumer”. “Of yours?”, I asked. She smirked at me. “Are you asking if you and me are phallus friends? Penis pals?”. “Well… yeah”, I admitted. Pam sat back in her chair, and narrowed her eyes at me. “We fucked. It was good. We don’t anymore”. “Because you prefer women?”, I said. “Because even Viking-dick gets boring after a few decades…”, she said. I raised a brow at her in disbelief. “Yes, because I prefer women. I don’t think any dick-lover could ever get sick of Eric”. “Huh…”, I said, and returned to my meal.

Pam suddenly smiled at me. “I just told you that I used to have sex with Eric, and you’re acting like it’s no big deal?”. I remembered what Godric had told me about Eric and Nora being former lovers. “Your ways are just different, I guess…”, I muttered. “I also told you, I used to screw for a living… You didn’t even wince”, Pam said. “Was I supposed to? Sex-work is work”, I shrugged. The vampires eyes seemed strangely warmer. “You are different”.

I finished off my drink, and poked at the food on my plate. “So… You had sex… And then, he turned you? Why?”. “Because I asked him to”, she replied. “Why? You worried he’ll turn you?” “Are you?”, I retorted. Pam shrugged. “Maybe I like being an only child”, she said. “Stop talking. Eat your… food”.

For a good while, we just sat there, before another shudder went through Pam’s body. “I didn’t even say anything!”, I said. “No. Eric’s calling for me… Us, I guess”. “Well, I’m finished”, I said; and we left the restaurant.

---

[alj4890]

Angst Prompt

Dawn’s Early Light

(Part Three to One Fateful Night)

As requested by many of you.

(Liam x OC) in a one shot continuation of the angsty One Fateful Night.

A/N Here's some happiness to the angst so many sent messages about. I know it is still bittersweet in a way, with Riley being dead and all, but I think it gives our favorite prince a chance to find true love after all. On another note, I had at one time considered Liam meeting someone in Washington D.C. in another story where Riley died the night of the Homecoming Ball in Book 2. I guess this makes up for deleting it and never posting, LOL.

Part 2 The Dark Before the Dawn

 @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @yourmajesty09   @gkittylove99 @krsnlove   @mom2000aggie @twinkleallnight @lodberg @sweatyrysconnoisseur ​ @motorcitymademadame ​

Masterlist

Dawn’s Early Light

Somewhere in Maryland...

"Sir?"

Liam grimaced at the voice coming through loud and clear from his cell phone. The one time he convinced Bastien that he could travel on his own and the man still made certain to call every hour.

"Yes?" He huffed.

"Your current location?"

"That at the moment is a little difficult to pinpoint." Liam squinted through the pouring rain. "One of the roads was flooded and the numerous detours have sent me further east of D.C."

He could hear frantic mutterings in the background, papers shifting and clicks from computers.

"Pull over and we will try to locate you." Bastien ordered.

Liam looked about at the flour lane highway, barely able to see five feet ahead of him. "There isn't a spot to do so. I'll call once I find a safe place."

"Your majesty," he could hear the frustration in his Head of the King's Guards' voice, "this is why I insisted we fly down together."

"And I knew this was my last chance to take a road trip of sorts." Liam countered. "You worry too much, Bastien."

"And you don't worry enough." Bastien muttered. "If you haven't found a place within the next hour, I am coming to find you."

"Make sure to bring a rowboat." Liam teased. "That's probably the best way to travel here."

His jest was met with silence.

"Bastien?" Liam glanced down at his phone and saw the call had dropped. Tossing it back in the passenger seat, he continued on down the road.

*****************

Outside of Annapolis...

"No!" Autumn pleaded when her tire burst. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Pulling over onto the shoulder of the highway, she tried to call her parents.

"Gee, thanks for no bars." She grumbled, chucking her phone back into her purse.

Reaching for her coat she prepared herself mentally to change her own tire.

Why did Dad have to make it so boring? He knew I wouldn't pay attention!

It had been ten years since she had sat through that lesson, day dreaming of the cute guy who sat next to her in chemistry class.

And just like her lack of luck with Mr. Chemistry, she was about to fail miserably with her tire.

She pulled the flashlight and tools out her father insisted she keep in her vehicle at all times and stepped out into the rainstorm.

"Any creepy serial killers out there," she yelled towards the darkened woods that lined the highway, "now is NOT the time to mess with me!"

She paused in removing the jack from her trunk. "That goes for any wild animals unless you're the helpful kind from fairy tales."

She snorted at her own joke as she set reflectors along the road. "And if you know of any princes, do send them my way."

"Alright car, you and I have been through it." She patted it's side. "All the snow storms in Pennsylvania. New jobs. New apartments. Ex boyfriends." She knelt by the flat tire. "Let's get through this and I'll treat you to a tank of premium gas."

She removed the hubcap and blinked when a pair of bright headlights pulled up behind her.

"Didn't I specifically demand no serial killers?" She muttered to herself as she saw the silhouette of a man start walking her way.

"Pardon me?" A cultured voice called out. "Are you in need of any assistance?"

She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the light. "I wouldn't say no to some help."

Her mystery person stopped a couple of feet away from her and studied her tire.

"Where's the jack?"

She handed it to him and watched as he expertly began to raise the back end up.

"Here's the tool kit." She handed it over, discreetly keeping a screwdriver in her hand in case he was a psycho.

"I hate to keep you out in the rain, but could you shine your flashlight here so I can remove the lug nuts?"

"Right. Of course." She dutifully lifted it where he directed.

"Perfect." He turned to smile at her. "Thank you."

She blinked at how handsome he was. "I, no problem. I should be thanking you."

"My pleasure." He looked around. "I don't suppose you know where we are, do you?"

Oh no. A hot psycho. Just my luck.

"Um, don't you know?" She took a cautious step back.

"I've never been in this part of America before." He explained, unaware of her trepidation. "I lost GPS about two hours ago."

"Oh." She relaxed and stepped closer. "We're about forty-five minutes from Annapolis.

"How far is that from D.C.?" He asked.

"About forty minutes or so depending on traffic." She tilted her head. "Let me guess. You're a politician or aide of some sort."

He chuckled. "Not really."

"You certainly don't sound like the men in Washington."

"Oh? And how do they sound?"

"Arrogant jerks. Every last one of them. Even the mailroom guys act like they rule the world." Her nose wrinkled.

"Ah." Her handsome stranger removed her flat tire and placed the spare on. "Not fond of men in power, I take it."

"Not really." She squatted next to him, hoping she would remember his actions in case she had another flat tire some time in the future. "I guess there's bound to be one man out there who actually wants to serve the people instead of having them serve him."

"I see." He glanced over at her. "I like to think there are honest rulers out there."

Her brow furrowed. "Rulers?" She studied his profile. "You're not American, are you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Where are you from?" Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Your accent is hard to place."

"Cordonia" he grunted as he tightened the lug nuts. "Have you heard of it?"

"It sounds familiar." She muttered.

"It is a tiny but beautiful country in Europe." He explained.

"Isn’t every European nation?” She teased. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of of one that I would turn down a vacation to.”

He began to lower her car back down with the jack. "All done."

"I don't know how to thank you." She pushed her wet hair back, wondering how horrible she must look as she picked up the safety reflectors

"No need." He smiled warmly. "Have a good evening, my lady." With an instinctive bow, he turned and walked back to his own car.

"My lady?" Her lips quirked with humor. Perhaps the fairy tale animals had sent her a prince. "Hey! Wait!"

He paused with his car door open. "Yes?"

"There's an all night diner a few miles ahead." She took a deep breath. "Would you like to follow me there? We could dry off and I could buy you a piece of pie as a thank you."

Her hero's smile grew brighter. "I'd like that. Lead the way."

********************

"I'm Autumn." She held her hand out as they waited to be seated.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Liam." He took her hand and bowed over it.

"Is that how people greet one another in Cordonia?" She asked.

"It is the norm from where I grew up." He responded with a sheepish grin.

He shook her hand. "Is that better?"

"Your way was fine." She glanced down at their clasped hands. "I just feel a little under dressed for such a proper greeting."

"Nonsense." Liam continued to hold her hand. "A little water logged perhaps, but lovely nonetheless."

Her lips parted in surprise.

"Just the two of you?"

The pair turned toward a waitress.

"Yes." Autumn replied. "Just us."

"Follow me." She sat them at a table and handed over some menus. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coffee, please." Autumn replied.

"I'll have the same." Liam added.

"Coming right up."

*********************

"Autumn?" Liam tested her name. "Were you given that name due to being born in the fall?"

She shook her head. "My parents have a warped sense of humor. I was born in April."

He laughed causing her to smile once more.

She thought his laughter had such a warm encompassing sound that made her want to hear it often as she could.

"They also wanted to have their kids' initials for Pennsylvania." She rolled her eyes. "My older brother, Patrick, took care of the P while I completed it with an A." Her own laughter bubbled out. "Then my unplanned younger brother was born and threw those initials out the door."

"What did they name him?" Liam asked.

"August, since he was born in January. Being that he was a surprise, they went with another A name to have an, aaahhh, moment at the end of P.A.."

Liam shook with his laughter over her parents. "They sound delightful."

"They sound that way," she teased, "but when you live with them..." Her smile softened. "They really are great parents and my brothers aren't too bad either."

"I have an older brother." He told her. "Leo and I were never as close as I wished we could have been. He spends so much time traveling and exploring the world that I don't have the heart to pressure him into coming home more often." A sadness came over him. "I've never seen him so happy as when he sends me pictures from his latest adventure."

"He's a wandering soul." She added.

"Precisely." Liam refocused on her. "And a wanderer withers and dies if tied down."

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"My mother died when I was very young and my father passed away about five years ago." He explained. "I'm close to my stepmother, Regina. She and Leo are all I have left for family."

"I'm sorry." Autumn mumbled. "I didn't mean to dredge up painful--"

Her breath caught when he laid his hand over hers. She thought she could actually feel herself getting lost in his blue eyes...which was something she teased her friends over every time they mentioned something like that. Yet here she was, finding herself falling for a man who changed her tire in the rain.

He gently squeezed her fingers. "Nothing to apologize for. I miss them but I am done grieving."

As their waitress brought them a fresh pot of coffee, Liam realized how true that statement was. He was done grieving for all of his lost loved ones.

******************

"Now then." Liam looked up from his menu. "Do you work in Washington?"

"I do." She replied. "Not in a political aspect though."

"What do you do?" He asked.

"I'm an archivist at the National Air and Space Museum."

His expression brightened with interest. "I've always wanted to visit the Smithsonian. To work and preserve the very fabric of your nation's history must be fascinating."

"It is!" She leaned forward as she became more animated about her work.

Deciding to prolong this conversation, the two ordered a meal before indulging in pie.

Liam listened, asking questions that only made her more excited in sharing this piece of her life.

It was rare for Autumn to find anyone interested in what she did.

"Right now, my team is working on digitizing everything we have on rocket tests during the 1950's." She explained. "Reading through the vast paperwork, various film and photographs, all audio recordings; I get to sift through every bit of it for our records."

"I once assisted an archivist at the palace library." Liam told her. "I discovered long ago manuscripts and journals in a hidden nook." His smile softened at the memory. "It was all by accident. My best friend and I were playing in one of the ballrooms when the soccer ball we were kicking around struck a piece of the baseboards, causing a hidden door to open."

Autumn's eyes widened. "It's a wonder you didn't get in trouble with the palace curators. They do not appreciate anyone playing around the exhibits."

Liam chuckled. "I was lucky the curators were fond of me."

"You knew them?" She asked. "Were they family members?"

"They aren't family, but I did know them." He replied, being deliberately mysterious about who he was.

He hadn't had a normal conversation in years. When she didn't recognize him, he felt a lightness he had felt on that long ago night in New York. He had forgotten how it was, how it made him feel. So often, people said the things they thought he wanted to hear. He missed the back and forth of sharing personal tidbits.

Autumn grimaced when she realized she had basically dominated the conversation for nearly an hour.

"Enough about my work," she smiled at him, "what do you do? Did you come here for business or to finally see the Smithsonian?"

He chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. "As much as I would prefer spending my days wandering through museums, I am here to meet with government officials."

Her nose wrinkled. "I’m sorry. I do not envy you for that." Her eyebrow lifted. "What's the government like in Cordonia? Do you have a prime minister or something similar to our president?"

"We are a constitutional monarchy with the king as the Head of State." He explained.

"I see. Then you work in some capacity for him?" She continued. "You must to be here for meetings."

Liam lowered his eyes. "I suppose you could say that."

"So what's your job title?" She persisted. "Are you a member of the house of lords or whatever you have? Aide to the king?"

"I have a higher position than anything like that." He hedged. "Which is why I'm the only one to attend these meeting the next couple of weeks."

Her brow furrowed. "The king doesn't handle stuff like that?"

"He does which is why I'm here." He focused on her eyes. "The king is the only one to handle the approval for trade agreements and maintaining friendly relations with other countries."

"Then why isn’t he..." She burst into laughter. "You really had me going there for a moment." She shook her head at him. "Nice try, but no king travels alone on highways in a Nissan Altima."

"I do when I want to appear a regular man." He explained.

"Because isn't that royalty is all about?" She giggled some more. "Living life as a middle class man."

"I'm sincere." He argued. "I really am the King of Cordonia."

Her laughter died. "And just when I thought you weren't mentally unhinged." She sighed while picking at her piece of blueberry pie. "I knew you were too good to be true. No man can be both selfless and handsome without a few screws loose."

Liam's elation she found him attractive caught him by surprise. It wasn't that other women had not said similar to him at various functions. It was that he actually felt attracted to her too.

"I can prove I'm the king."

"How long have you believed you were king?" She asked. "Any chance you've thought you were someone else at one time? Napoleon Bonaparte? King Tut?"

He snorted on his laughter. "I've been king for over six years now. The rest of my life was spent as a prince."

"Uh huh." She poured them each another cup of coffee. "Guess that explains why you weren't banned from the palace for playing soccer."

"It is my home." He pointed out.

"Sure it is." She patted his hand. "And I'm sure you're the best king out there who knows how to change a tire."

"I only know because my best friend taught me." Liam explained. "He was one of the few people in my life who did not allow me to become a spoiled prince."

"Right." She smiled at him. "It's been great and all." She reached into her purse for her wallet. "And I do thank you so much for your help with the flat tire, but I should go."

"You don't believe me?" He asked.

"I believe you believe it." She said cautiously.

Liam quickly pulled his phone out and handed it to her. "Look up Cordonia."

"Just because you think you're a king doesn't mean you can order me around." Her eyes narrowed in warning. "Besides, I wouldn't use your phone. You'd probably have me looking at some doctored photos of yourself."

"Forgive me I didn’t mean to make it sound like a command." Liam ran a hand through his hair. "I've never met anyone who didn't believe I am who I say."

"First time for e everything, huh?" She hesitated when she saw his disappointment. "Fine." She searched for her phone. "I'll play along if you find our waitress. I'm going to need more pie as I research you."

He grinned while doing as she asked.

Autumn wandered of it was because it was the middle of the night that made her sit here with some guy claiming to be--

"No!" Her eyes darted from the images of King Liam of Cordonia to the Liam sitting at her table. "You're really a king?!"

"Would you care for another slice of blueberry or a different type of pie?" He asked with a bright smile.

"Blueberry." Her jaw was still dropped.

"Another slice of blueberry please for the lady and I'll have a slice of apple."

"Why on earth are you traveling lone highways in Maryland?" She asked when their waitress left.

"I flew in to New York for a few meetings with U.N. representatives. Our representative is new to her job and I wanted to encourage her." He explained. "Then I suppose I caught a bit of wanderlust from my brother and wanted to drive down to D.C." He took a bite of his new slice of pie. "It's rare I am able to convince my security team to let me out of their sight, but there are times when I like to be alone with my thoughts."

"I guess you have a lot of people demanding your time." She conceded.

"I do, which is why I make time for the people and activities that are important to me." He looked up at her. "Experience has taught me how fleeting time can be and we should make the most of every moment we are given."

"I like that." She cut into her slice with her fork while scrolling through images of Cordonia. "A lot of people get so easily wrapped up in their work and don't realize that they are missing out on so much more."

"Are you one of those people?"

Autumn paused chewing to consider his question. "Sometimes. I can get so wrapped up in a project and shut out the world going on around me." She shrugged. "Then something happens to shake me back to reality."

Liam grinned when it hit him that his being confirmed king had not changed the way she spoke to him.

As if reading his thoughts, her fork clattered on her plate. "I can't believe you really are a king." Her head tilted as she studied him. "You really don't act like how I imagine one would."

Liam folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. His bright blue eyes held her gray ones. "How should I act?"

She snorted. "For one thing you wouldn't have stood out in the pouring rain to change a tire."

"Aren't fairy tales filled with princes rescuing damsel in distress?" He countered.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "It isn't like you slayed a dragon."

"According to your imagination, what should I have done in that situation?" He countered, delighted with her not putting him on a pedestal.

"First off, if you were on a," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "road trip, you'd probably be in a limo since your private jet is tucked away in a hangar somewhere."

"But then I would have a driver and thus not able to be alone." He reminded her.

"True." She propped her chin on her hand and smiled. "We'll forget the car then since you are chivalrous and in need of a break." She gestured with her free hand around the diner. "A king wouldn't come her, happily order food, nor be willing to sit here for hours listening to some girl talk about museums."

"Why not?" Liam asked. "He could have been hungry since he had been lost for a while."

"I guess that's a reasonable possibility." Autumn muttered.

"And if he wanted to know more about the damsel he rescued, then shouldn't he be at least willing to remain here with her?"

"Maybe." She forced herself to look away from him. "Then again, maybe this is a night for things out to the ordinary to happen." She asked their waitress for their check.

Autumn shushed his arguments, insisting on paying for his meal.

At that moment, Bastien and some guards walked in.

Liam's eyes widened. "Bastien? How did you find me?"

"We have a tracker on your phone, your majesty." He explained. "We really need to get you to Washington. You have an early morning of..."

Liam tuned him out and focused once more on the lady he had met tonight.

"It's my fault." Autumn spoke up. "I wanted to thank Liam with some pie for his help earlier."

She stood up and held her hand out. “Thank you again for helping me.”

Liam pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Autumn."

"I..." She could feel her entire body blush with that simple touch. "I'm happy to have met you too, Liam." She grimaced. "I mean, your majesty. Should I curtsy?"

He chuckled. "Just Liam with no curtsey is fine."

"Liam no curtsey." She winked at him. "Nice name for a king." Nodding farewell toward his guards, she slipped out of the restaurant.

Liam watched her drive off from one of the windows.

He wondered if he had just met the one.

[ellaenchanting]

Hypnovember Day 18: Monster

Ellen sat in the back room of the coffeeshop quietly sipping her tea. The other members of the hypnosis meet up group were slowly gathering after their break,  chatting and catching up before practice portion of their group officially started. She strategized about what it would be helpful for her to practice tonight. Her traitorous brain eagerly supplied some silly power fantasies. She quickly suppressed them. That kind of stuff wasn’t fair to think about here. It wasn’t everyone else’s fault that she was so warped.

Ellen both loved and hated the group. She wasn’t just into power fantasies- she was genuinely interested in hypnotherapy and doing hypnosis for fun. She had been very surprised to find a local hypnosis practice group existed at all where she could practice her skills and learn more . (It was tiring having to work up the nerve to bug her friends to volunteer to be practice subjects.) Of course, she was the youngest person there and usually the only woman but- that was OK. She had long ago accepted that that most actual hypnotists were middle aged men and she was an odd aberration.

She felt like an aberration in other ways too. Few of the hypnotists here seemed to struggle with nerves in the way she did. Group practice often brought those nerves on . She hated the way they would make her words come out stilted and wrong, her gestures awkward, and her metaphors so mixed up until they ultimately went nowhere. When it got really bad, Ellen’s childhood stutter would return in full force. It felt important and meaningful to her that she got it wrong so often- like she had failed to perform in some cataclysmic way.

 It also felt meaningful when she got it right. Ellen would feel proud of herself  for her mastery of something and then almost immediately the thought would sneak in- “if only they knew”. It’s not that the hypnosis she was doing with the group had a sexual charge- group members ranged from kinda- to very- not-her-type- but she could only imagine the disgust her subjects would feel if they knew the full range of thoughts she had about hypnosis internally. Or, even worse, if they could see her web browser history. How would they feel being taken advantage of by such a perverted monster?

In a lesser but still meaningful way, Ellen also felt annoyed that she had never quite been hypnotized yet despite many, many attempts. Usually practice time involved pairing up and switching turns being the hypnotist and the subject. Ellen would usually go along with others’ inductions and give them some technical feedback afterwards, but the truth was she rarely felt anything besides plain, comfortable relaxation. She knew there was more- she could see it in the reactions of some of the people she hypnotized and the incredible mental feats they performed. She had evidence that this kind of deep hypnosis existed. She just couldn’t access it herself. 

Ellen was shaken out of her reverie by a voice.  

““Hi! I heard your name was Ellen?””

She looked up to see the group’s newest member. He was a little older than her- probably mid- to late-twenties- and had a nice dark beard. When she replied with the affirmative, he extended his hand and shook hers confidently. 

“Hi, I’m John.  Do you have a practice partner yet?” 

Ellen and John socialized a bit before starting their practice. This was normal at the meetings- partially because of mutual nerves but also because everyone  welcomed the  opportunity to geek out about an unusual personal interest. John said that had been doing hypnosis for about 5 years- around the same time she had- but he had already started a stage show and was planning on turning it from a hobby into a career. She was impressed. She found herself feeling surprisingly connected to him. She wondered if he had that effect on everyone he met. If so, it was a neat trick.

When they finally got down to practice, Ellen started by doing a modified Flowers induction. She had come in with the intention of throwing in a lot of language patterns into her induction- she had been drilling her Zeebu cards lately- but an odd change of mood happened as she watched John start to sink into hypnosis. Something about the way he responded to her words, melting and  seeming to almost to throw himself into trance, triggered something in her. She found herself hovering closer to him, her voice going softer as she spoke closer to his ear.

She almost reached out and touched his arm when she remembered- no. That would be inappropriate. She caught herself and reminded herself to be professional. She gave John a few generic positive suggestions and then brought him back up out of trance.

John took a surprisingly short amount of time to recover, his expression showing alertness almost immediately. When she remarked on it, he told Ellen that he was actually a very practiced subject- that he had purposefully worked on his ability to be hypnotized. Ellen hadn’t even known that was possible to do- the research she had read strongly suggested that someone’s ability to be hypnotized was pretty static and unchangeable. She confessed to John that she always had difficulty being hypnotized and envied people who could access that state easily. She worked to keep the longing out of her voice as she described her desire for the experience of knowing she was deeply and truly hypnotized. 

John paused for a moment after she spoke.  He gave her a curious, searching look. Then his face cleared as he seemed to decide on something. 

“Hey, do you mind if I try something a bit different?” he asked.

Ellen nodded. She switched positions with him and made herself comfortable as per his instructions. 

“Can I touch you?” John asked.

All things considered, Ellen thought she hid her spike of excitement quite well. She nodded again.

John started steadily and confidently speaking to her as he traced a finger lightly up and down her hand. He wanted her to focus on the feeling of the finger going up and down, he said. Ellen gamely focused her attention. It felt nice, that light touch.

John continued to talk to her, telling her she didn’t have to worry about going into trance or getting sleepy or being hypnotized- all she had to do was focus on his touch. That was good- Ellen had historically bad luck with those concepts.  She dutifully focused, even as she had some stray thoughts about how amazing John’s voice sounded. John’s fingers started to move to trace her arm up and then back down, all the while continuing to talk to her about focus and enjoying how the touch felt. Ellen still noticed some of the clever words he said, but the specifics were fading. It was all beginning to feel like a general wave of instruction washing over her. She was vaguely aware he was speaking to her more directly now and telling her how good she was doing and enjoyed how pleasant those things were.  Suddenly-

“Sleep!” 

John’s hand grabbed her arm and pulled it gently downwards. Ellen felt her eyes close as her head nodded forward. Her whole body slumped. Fortunately, John was kneeling in front of her and waiting to catch her. Once he did, he took her shoulder and rocked her deeper and deeper into trance with his words and his touch.

It felt amazing- just like she had always hoped that it would. John finally stopped rocking and took her hand. That gesture felt so right and lovely and perfect that Ellen felt herself quietly moan in response.

And then....she noticed she had done it.

Suddenly thoughts flew back into her mind. What was she doing? Did everyone else hear her? Were they watching her now? Were they realizing what a creepy pervert she was?

Ellen violently sat up, opened her eyes, and yanked her mind awake. Shaken, she took a moment to clench and unclench her hands, reminding herself that she had power over them. She was up. She had control of herself. She was OK. 

After a few breaths, she looked around the room and noticed that no one else seemed to be looking at her. She resisted the urge to cry in relief. 

She finally noticed John was there, still on his knees and giving her a concerned look. “Ellen?” he asked firmly. “How do you feel? What happened?”

She took a moment to respond. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to....I made a noise and I didn’t mean to be...awkward. I’m really sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he replied, going back into a more soothing voice. “Being hypnotized feels good sometimes, yeah? It’s ok to enjoy it. Is that what happened? It felt good in..in a way you weren’t expecting?”

Ellen nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m..weird, I didn’t mean to be weird,” she replied, still very flustered.

He looked at her gently. “You’re not...you’re not that weird. Listen, I get you might not want to talk about this here but- we could talk about it after practice maybe? I think we may have some things in common.”

Ellen thought about everything she had seen about erotic hypnosis online. All the misogyny. All of the shame and degradation people wrote about. She pictured the sexy stage show she had downloaded parts of and how much the hypnotist seemed to relish in people’s genuine embarrassment. 

She remembered that she didn’t really know John at all. 

“No!” she replied sharply. Then gentler-  “I mean, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s OK. I’m OK.”

He nodded. “You are, you know. And it’s OK if you’re....if you’re not ready yet to talk about it. But- “ He made sure she was looking at him as he said the next part. “There’s nothing wrong with you. And- if you do ever want to talk more about it or even ask questions, here’s my card. Call me anytime, ok? I mean it.”

He produced a business card out of his pocket. Ellen hesitated, then took it.

Just then, the leader announced that their practice time was over and moved onto wrapup. Ellen waited for everyone’s attention to be gathered, then snuck out the back on the building. She needed some fresh air. She was done with hypnosis for tonight. 

But she thought of the card, still in her jacket pocket, the whole bike ride home.  

[starsfic]

The General’s Crypt

Summary: The Mummy AU- Our heroic trio finally finds what they’ve been looking for.

Notes: Some actual archaeological processes because the Mummy didn’t do that and it made my heart very sad.

-_-

“So, let me get this straight.”

The trio were taking a short break. Xiaojiao had started asking questions about what the duo were looking for exactly and it had led to this: a conversation about different funeral traditions. Red was busy absently swinging rocks, listening in.

“In Egypt, they ripped out your guts and stuffed them in jars?” Xiaojiao repeated, sounding grossed out.

“And they took out your heart too. Ooh, guess how they got your brains?”

“Uh, Noodle Boy? I don’t think she needs to hear this.”

Xiaotian continued on. "They would take a red hot poker, stick it up your nose," He made a jabbing motion with one of the trowels Red and Xiaojiao had tracked down for him. The guide winced. "And scramble it all around-”

At that moment, Red swung, the rock hit something, and then there was the sound of a rope snap.

Something big slammed through the ceiling.

There were several yelps. Xiaojiao and Xiaotian had fallen off the column they were sitting on. Red had hit the deck the minute things started falling apart. Now the trio picked themselves up, staring at the massive crypt that had fallen through the ceiling. The eldest looked sheepish at the destruction he had caused.

“Oops.”

“Let’s go!”

The trio set to work. Xiaotian pulled out his camera, one of the few things that had survived the boat fire, and walked around the crypt taking pictures. “Are there supposed to be chains like that?” Xiaojiao said, pointing to the oddly gleaming white chains. Red shook his head, stepping forward to brush off dust.

“There’s no name,” he reported. Red continued to explore with his fingers, brushing off dust. Including the lack of a name, he also found no protection spells or anything, something he made a mental note of. This had to be the General’s crypt, all records said that nobody else was buried here, but why would their name not be recorded? Finally, he reached the front again. He frowned at the chains before turning his attention to the large keyhole. He pulled out the blue and white skeleton key.

Characters, much like the box that held the map, formed a circle around the keyhole. The prongs on the key shifted around as he slid it into the keyhole. The key turned with a satisfying click. The chains fell off-

Then there was an explosion.

The trio screamed, flying back and hitting the wall. Red and Xiaojiao held onto Xiaotian as best as they could. Finally, the wind died down. “Gods,” the eldest said when they finally caught their breath. “I hate it when those things do that.” What Red didn’t say was the fact that the crypt opening was much more powerful than usual.

The doors creaked open, revealing the inside.

Xiaotian stepped forward and then inside, snapping pictures as he went. The inside was dark with a faint glow of blue, the walls carved with hundreds of characters. Much like the outside, chains came from the wall and connected to the sarcophagus in the center of the room. Giant carved hands held down the lid of said sarcophagus- not like they were much use. Part of the lid had broken off, revealing the inside was full of bones.

“The lid must’ve broken when it fell.” Xiaojiao said, taking careful steps inside.

“I don’t think so.” Xiaotian called. He pointed to the side of the sarcophagus, on the broken part’s side. Three deep gashes had been clawed. “And look.” Putting aside his camera, he shoved the broken part until it flipped over, revealing similar marks. “Fingernail marks. Whoever was buried here was buried alive.”

“That would explain the chains.” Red said, considering the characters with a frown. “And these.” He tapped them. “These are all spells of binding. The people who buried this person definitely didn’t want them getting out.” Legend said that the General had been respected, worshipped- all of this evidence suggested something entirely else.

Xiaojiao shivered at the thought. Something brushed her hearing and she looked around. “Did either of you say something?”

The boys stopped their study. “No, I thought you did.” Xiaotian said, sounding confused.

Silence stretched.

“Okay!” Red broke the silence as he pushed away from the wall. “We’re all tired and this is creepy, so we’re imagining things. We should head back to the campsite, we can’t really do anything until we get some more tools.” He nodded to the lid. “And something to try and open that.”

“Right.”

“Sounds good!”

The three scrambled out, leaving the crypt open behind them.

None of them noticed a faint blue mist surround the bones.