#waiting for her son so i can get his weapon and pull his constellations too

[elysiumarchieve]

Ohh! I have a request, but you may skip if you'd like!

But- what if the reader meets Raiden while going through a commission in Inazuma? (like she was strolling around the city) They're curious to know about his past so they ask questions (they only met Scara while he was still a harbinger) but Scara finds the reader and his mother getting along.

How about he react? 👀👀

Sorry it's so long! ❀

dw that's not long! and i really like the idea actually omg

meeting the raiden shogun by accident

warnings: mentions of scaramouche's past, mentions of ei's past, this is somewhat angsty??, scaramouche being scaramouche, 3.2 archon quest spoiler, traveler is a giant snitch

✧ scaramouche was already upset that he had to help with those stupid commissions

✧ not only was that absolutely below him, he didn't know why exactly he should help random people who could do most of their shit on their own and not ask the adventurer's guild for her help due to their incompetence (in fact, he was now forbidden to do any commissions involving people after he threatened to beat up that one author from the yae publishing house for wasting his time)

✧ thankfully, you were also there (as you also did most of the speaking, too), in the middle of inazuma city helping out ogura mio to find new patterns for her kimono designs, something that you decided would be a good choice to also let scaramouche help

✧ you still got baffled at how quickly he could put a nearly flawless facade, turning from that grumpy and snarky idiot to a well mannered gentleman in seconds when you approached ogura mio, who had already been waving at you

✧ helping her was fairly easy, with you handing her some of the cor lapis you had gathered just days ago that you didn't need (or rather, to prevent a certain handsome wansheng funeral parlor employee from finding you and explaining in detail at how hard it was to gather cor lapis properly)

✧ it was only when people erupted into gasps around you that you and scaramouche glanced over to the bridge leading to tenshukaku that your jaw almost dropped immediately - wasn't that the raiden shogun herself? in town?!

✧ you had seen her just once before, but that was when the traveler had been around as well. much to your surprise at that time, they even appeared to get along well with each other, what eventually lead to you also being greeted by the shogun personally

✧ from her sheer appearance, their similarities were almost uncanny - the hair color, their eyes,,, it was amazing how much he resembled her in terms of appearance

✧ back then, you already had many questions but didn't dare to ask them. you were well aware of how scaramouche was 'created' and that the shogun before you was just another puppet and not the actual shogun herself - but the way she talked was so different from how the shogun puppet spoke that it convinced you that she had also taken note of you

✧ in fact, when her purple eyes landed on you, your entire body shut down. was she deliberately looking for you?! why is she walking towards you??

✧ when you tried to nudge scaramouche's side you feel nothing and you almost panic. did he actually just ditch you the moment he sees his mother?! is he actually for real?! your head snaps around almost furiously trying to find out where your lover had gone within the blink of an eye

✧ ogura mio almost panics as much as you when the shogun halts before you, a hand on her chest as she greets you in a soft tone, causing you to meekly greet her back

✧ scaramouche didn't see this, already far away from where his creator and you were. he did not want to see her nor did he want to hold a conversation with her - he even doubted the possibility of the shogun even remembering him so why should he stay?

✧ he frowned at the thought. there was nothing he could talk about with her and he believed that she wouldn't want to talk to him either, considering she just abandoned him without giving him the possibility to just,, stay by her side

✧ she didn't even have the heart to kill him and free him from a life with no purpose, so what should he talk about with her? he'd probably only get angry at her either way, or atleast that's how he reasons his sudden disappearance when he already finds himself in the middle of nowhere

✧ you, on the other hand, were having a nice conversation with the shogun, or rather as she wanted to be called, ei, in the middle of tenshukaku. if you had any idea your day would've turned out like this, you might have changed your clothing to wear something formal

✧ ei had immediately noticed the person dressed in blue who disappeared the moment she laid eyes upon you behind a house, but she didn't mean to impose nor assume who it was - she might've even partially be aware of who it was guessing from how nervous you were at her appearance

✧ after what happened in sumeru, it was the traveler who came to tenshukaku and told her everything that had happened - about her puppet trying to become god, about how they defeated him and how he even received a vision while staying with the dendro archon

✧ of course, the traveler didn't leave you out and it almost shocked ei that she had met you before - just like you had many questions, so did she have a few things she wanted to talk about with you about kunikuzushi

✧ now that her views had changed as well, on her people and on the eternity she seeks, hearing that you and presumably him were in inazuma city, she didn't waste any time to try and have a conversation with you two so she could see the way he might've changed too (considering that he went absolute hamshit in sumeru, she was interested in what might've caused all of this)

✧ while you felt (obviously) intimated by the shogun, she immediately asked you to not talk to her as the shogun, but to her as ei, as a friend (which actually scared you even more)

✧ "how has he been? i heard that he was in a coma before you two set out."

✧ you tell her that he was,,, pretty okay but that he was still the same old scaramouche you knew. at that you can see her eyes soften - she didn't even know what he was like nor did she ever try to see for herself (she blamed her past self for being too self absorbed in her own grief and failed to ever get to know him)

✧ when you finally dare to ask why she created him in the first place, ei merely sighed. she knew that question would come and it was also natural for you to wonder about this if you were his lover

✧ so she tells you solemnly, about her sister makoto and her demise, about her grief and her desire to protect inazuma from the same fate that had befallen khaeri'ah by keeping everything the same - up to the point to which she was so scared of becoming her own enemy that she created puppets to rule in her stead, something in which she alread failed kunikuzushi the first time

✧ you are certain that the things she's telling you are not meant for your ears actually, telling you all about how she planned to store the gnosis in the puppets and that she was going to meditate endlessly inside her plane of euthymia to prevent herself from eroding (a concept that you, as a mortal, had only heard about in old forgotten tales)

✧ the conversation, though grim and rather depressing, brought to you new inside on how his creator acted and thought about him - and it almost made you even sadder that scaramouche had left the moment she appeared because this is actually a conversation these two should have with each other, not his 'mother' and you

✧ even though he wrecked havoc across sumeru, she tells you that she would never act out against him. she wanted him to live his own life and make his own experiences, set him free from the duty she did not want him to bear (and besides, she also made her fair share of mistakes that she felt terrible about)

✧ when you glance outside and see that the sun is setting, you almost panic that he might get mad at you for having been with the shogun for so long - although you feel like yo should rather get mad at him for running off like that)

✧ ei takes notice of your sudden worry and she just smiles. considering that he had ran away before she actually had a chance to talk him herself, he must probably already been waiting for you to come back

✧ you can tell that ei really wants to see him atleast once, but you tell her that the next time you two happen to be in inazuma city, you'd bring him with you so they can finally have the heart to heart talk they should've held already a long time ago - she thanks you (which made you incredibly nervous) and tells you that she'd come with you to take you back to inazuma city

✧ and in fact, he was in the middle of inazuma city and almost fuming over the fact that, according to ogura mio, the shogun herself invited you to take a walk through inazuma city before both of you just headed back to tenshukaku

✧ sitting on top of a random roof, he waits for any sign of you, until he finally catches a glimpse of you and,,, her

✧ his first instinct was to leave again, but then he sees the two of you and something in his chest hurts - he can see you smiling and giggling and even the shogun seems to be,, in an incredibly good mood herself

✧ no, he did not yearn to be part of this. he doesn't even want to be near her nor talk to the person who betrayed him right after his creation, but seeing you teo get along so well really pains him

✧ scaramouche sees the shogun handing you something and his hand subconsciously clutches onto the golden feather dangling from his vision - she was giving you the exact same one and placing it gently into your palm with a smile

✧ he wonders for a short time, did she hand him that feather the same way or did she leave it with him when he was already asleep? he couldn't remember it, but he remembers very strongly about what so many people had once said about it

✧ when you finally depart from her, he waits until the raiden shogun is far away enough from him before appearing sround the corner, almost scaring you as you had been too focused on your new accessory in your hand

✧ his arms are crossed and he asks you with a deadpan stare if you were having fun - when you answer yes, he's almost irked at how happy you appear (but he's also glad that everything went well)

✧ you notice rather quickly how he focuses on the golden feather in your hands and you grin, proudly declaring that the shogun gave you the same feather as him and you jokingly say she did it so you could have matching accessories - and he just stares at it with a look you cannot quite pin down (it's like he's trying to figure out whether or not she actually said that)

✧ "i think, next time we're here you should talk to her"

✧ at your suggestion he huffs. why should he do that? there is nothing that needs to be discussed between the two of them anymore

✧ "oh, and, she said she's very proud of you. she's glad you found your own way."

✧ he almost thought he didn't hear you correctly so he just stares at you wide eyed, but he catches himself and immediately turns away from you, an unreadable expression on his face

✧ "it's not like she contributed to any of it."

✧ you laugh at his stubbornness when he simply walks away, his hat pulled down into his face as you follow him with a big smile

✧ "this gold ornament is a proof of identity granted by the almighty shogun, a symbol of my, ei's, gratitude. thank you for keeping him safe. he should be proud about his growth."

[xwing-baby]

I Don’t Trust You (Din Djarin x gn!Reader)

for @propertyofdindjarin​ - sorry its so late but i hope you enjoy this!!

Characters: Din Djarin x gn!reader (i dont think i used any gendered language in this but let me know if i did and ill change the tag)

Word Count: 8k (this really ran away with me lol)

Warnings: enemies to lovers, description of injury, canon level violence, little steamy (kissing, insinuated smut), threat of death, like one swear word, pre show! Din

Summary: The Mandalorian killed you two years ago, yet here you are alive and well on a different planet. The Mandalorian is called in to help you and your team of royal guards find a missing princess. Things go horribly wrong and you are left to journey home with your worst enemy...

A/N: shout out to the random radio 4 play that gave me the idea for the plot of this and to @propertyofdindjarin for the request for enemies to lovers! i’ve never done this trope before and im not sure if i really did it justice but i enjoyed writing it at least hahah i hope you like it too darling and thanks for requesting! 

--

“The Master is calling in reinforcements from a bounty hunter for this mission,” The general in charge of your squad spoke as the team dressed.

“Who?”

“A Mandalorian,” The general answered.

“We don’t need a Mandalorian,” You spoke up bitterly, looking up as you finally pulled your boots on. The general sighed, used to your defiance and vocal hatred of The Mandalorian. He rolled his eyes at your attitude.

“We need all the help we can get on this,”

“I don’t need a Mandalorian,” You corrected yourself.

“I don’t care about your opinion. My word is final. And besides, there is nothing you can do he is arriving… now,”

A knock at the door turned everyone’s heads. The general nodded and it was opened to reveal the shining armour of the Mandalorian. You scowled as you watched the Mandalorian swan into the room, newly polished armour glinting in the light. You frowned and turned your attention away from him, just the sight of him made you exasperated.

You didn’t understand why The Master would want to bring him in, he was expensive and more importantly an asshole. All the hard work you and your team would put in on this mission would undoubtedly be overshadowed by him. He would be praised no end and paid a handsome fee while you would probably be berated for not meeting his standard and not get any reward for returning the princess.

It was the second attempt to get the Master’s daughter back from her kidnappers. The first time had been a complete failure and caused the gang to go into deeper hiding. It had taken weeks to locate her new location, there was no room for error this time. The princess had to be returned.

The Mandalorian had noticed you the moment he entered the room. He was surprised to see you alive at all, he’d assumed you were dead, having killed you two years prior. But here you were in a brand new system, alive and well. He didn’t say a word on the matter, he’d been paid for your bounty already, it wasn’t his fault you had miraculously survived.

You sat in silence, glaring at the Mandalorian across the room, while the General spoke about the plan for the mission. You grumbled and rolled your eyes when he made suggestions. The nerve of him. Coming here invited and not trusting your plan. The grumble earned you a sharp elbow in the ribs and a hiss to shut up.

With the plan set, you began the long trip out to the location. It was far, a days trip by speeder at least. Across plains, over mountains, through valleys and finally to the destination. A small building atop a large hill. It was strangely open, considering how long it had taken to find. The sun was going down by the time you arrived. You were apprehensive to approach so quickly, wanting to wait out but you had no power amongst this group, especially with the Mandalorian validating the plan there was no way you’d win. The group dismounted the speeders mere feet from the entrance, loaded their guns and went inside, barely stopping for a second once their feet touched the ground.

You however did not follow. Ordered to stay outside, they didn’t trust you. You were to keep watch, not that there was anything to watch for. Two years on the planet and you were still considered an outsider. Your reputation had not preceded you but it quickly caught up. Within two weeks of your arrival, whispers of your real name had floated across the galaxy until it landed into the mouth of the Master. You were allowed to stay, only if you joined the royal guard to put your skills to use.

The royal guard didn’t trust you, used you as a scapegoat on any occasion and sent you in many suicide missions purely because you were expendable. But as even the Mandalorian knew, you were very hard to kill. You came back every single time with nothing more than a scratch. Instead of your action gaining their trust it bred jealousy and mistrust.

You scuffed around the site, listening out for signs that the mission was complete or anyone was in trouble. The moon rose slowly into the sky, stars appeared with it giving you some entertainment as you tried to spot the constellations familiar to you. A twinge of anxiety cut your stomach, they should have been out long ago. You should have followed to help

Suddenly, a bone-breaking thunderous sound erupted from below and the ground began to shake. You were frozen to the spot until your spot began to fall away. The ground beneath you shook and collapsed inwards. You scrambled out the way, moving to where the ground was stable again. The building your squad had gone inside had collapsed, screams and cries of terror could be heard from inside. The building fell, then fell further. All you could do was watch in horror as where the building once stood, a crater appeared. Dust plumed from the wreck, filling your lungs and scratching your eyes. You coughed and spluttered, shielding your face from it.

Soon the dust settled and things became clearer. The devastation was all that was left. And the Mandalorian. Stood alone on the opposite side of the great crater, he looked down into the hole for a moment, thinking, before making his way around to where you were. He didn’t stop to talk to you as he passed, simply readjusting his vambrace and walking away. Disturbed by his lack of reaction it took you a moment to react, you watched him walk a few paces ahead before running after him.

“Hey!” You called after him, “Where are you going?”

“There’s no speeders. We’ll have to walk,” He said, not stopping.

“They’ll kill us if we return without the princess!” You protested.

“They’ll kill you when you don’t return with the girl,” Mando corrected you, “Unless you want to walk climb in there and search through rubble, the only thing to do is walk back,”

“It’ll take days! There’s no way you’d make it back to the city in one piece,”

“Who said I was going back there?”

“You have to finish the job,”

“The job is finished,”

“You arrogant son of a bitch,” You scoffed as he continued to walk away. He picked up his pace, “I told Illana that we didn’t need you,” You shouted angrily. Din didn’t reply, trying to block out your whinging. “You’re a waste of money, everyone knows Mandalorians don't work well in teams. There’s a reason you all got wiped out,” You snarled. That comment bristled Din. He knew you were only baiting for a fight, angry your squad had died and he wasn’t going to give you what you wanted. It wasn’t advantageous for anyone, “What happened in there? You blow it up to make the job easier? You killed them all,”

Din ignored your questioning. He hadn’t killed them, he had barely made it out alive

“She was just a child and you killed her, for what? Tell me!”

He turned when he heard the load up of a blaster behind him. Your blaster, loaded and waiting in your hand was pointed at his back while he walked ahead. He whipped around just as fast, his blaster pointed at you too.

“Really?” He asked.

“Talk,”

“It was a trap,”

“Liar!” You shouted.

“The girl was tied to some kind of trap that blew up the mines below the building. I was not in the room when the extraction happened. I didn’t do anything,” He explained, you didn’t reply, grinding your teeth as you tried to get your head around it. “Why would I kill them? I needed her alive,”

You hated that he was making sense. There was no real logical reason for him to kill the princess. He needed her alive to get his payment just as you did. You glared at him, fingers twitching over your blaster.

“Keep walking,” You said sternly. You turned the safety back on to the blaster though never lowering it. Din lowered his weapon. “I’m not having you anywhere out of my sight. Can’t trust you as far as I could throw you,”

Din huffed in agreement and turned to continue walking. Your blaster wasn’t going to do anything more than scuff his armour, he didn’t worry about you attacking him from behind. If you’d wanted to kill him you would have tried by now. Whatever made this whole ordeal go faster was what he was going to do.

You walked across the grassy plain for hours in total silence. At least outwardly silent. In your mind, you were cursing his name in every language you knew to any deity you could think of. Cursing him, his stupid armour and his stupid helmet. You cursed the planet, you cursed the city, you cursed the entire universe for forcing you to be stuck with the one man you hated most. You wished you had followed the squad and died with them, it would be more pleasant than this. At least with the pace the Mandalorian kept, you were going to be back to the city in record time, this nightmare could end.

Soon the grass gave way to shrubs and weeds, trees that were rare before now crowded around you. You came to a path, well-trodden and open, surprisingly. If it was this clear it was only a good thing, you were on the right path back.

“Stop,” You ordered as the path forked out in two directions. Din had chosen one path already, a few paces ahead. He stopped and turned around to see what the problem was. You were facing the second path, motioning with your blaster to cross over. “There’s a shortcut,” You said, “That forest opens back up in the West of the city. If memory serves me correctly it’ll cut our journey in half,”

“I don’t trust you,” Din said warily.

“Never said you had to trust me. If you carry on that way it’ll take another three days to walk around a huge lake and a ravine. This way cuts that out and we’ll be back in the city in two days,”

You walked forward into the break of trees, turning back when you didn’t hear him follow. He hadn’t moved, still calculating the decision. “Not scared are you, Mando?” You taunted him. “We don’t have much sunlight. Move,”

For a moment Din contemplated shooting you right there. You were rude and arrogant, nobody would question your death at all if he did it. His hand hovered over his blaster, before finally deciding against it. He needed the payment and with you alive at the end of it he would have proof he didn’t slaughter the entire garrison.

He followed you into the forest, walking in front of you as before. The trees were so dense, a few minutes of walking cut out all light. Spotlights of dusty yellow light broke through the canopy providing enough light inside to see your footing directly in front of you but nothing more. Roots covered the floor, winding around your ankles trying to pull you in so your body could supply nutrients for the plants. Branches caught on the Mandalorian’s shoulders, snapping back into your face often when they released. You learnt quickly to keep a few more paces back to stop the attacks.

You had heard stories about these forests. Fables told to the children in the city warning them of the dangers of the expansive green land. Most of them you knew to be just stories, but like most legends in the universe, there was truth to some. That knowledge kept you alert as you continued the walk.

Suddenly, the Mandalorian stopped in his tracks. You nearly crashed into him, not looking where you were going you were met with metal.

“Keep walking,” You ordered. He didn��t move, turning his head to look up at the canopy. You frowned, growing impatient. “What?”

“Quiet,” He hissed. You paused as you heard another shuffle you had thought to be Din moving. It was above you, beside you and behind you. Then you heard it, a shrill echoing cry from above. A cry you had been told to fear since day one on this planet.

They descended from every side. Five or six strong and lean warriors armed with metal spears and knives swarmed you and Din before you even had time to run.

A flurry of metal and blaster bolts occurred. You were quick on the draw taking two warriors quickly before another knocked your gun from your hands. It was immediately lost to the undergrowth. Dodging one strike then another you grabbed hold of one of the warrior's weapons, forcing it back on them to push them back. Pull, push, slash. A splash of blood as the spear cut into his skin and another dead.

You had one left. Flipping a small knife in his hand, the warrior snarled at you before pouncing. Taking out your own, you threw yourself at the warrior. Each attempted strike on your part was blocked effortlessly. Your advance became a backwards pace as you were slowly overpowered. The knife scraped against your vambrace as you blocked yet another strike creating sparks.

The warrior growled something in a language you didn’t understand as you stepped backwards again, finding yourself cornered to a tree. You growled and surged forward again, catching a slice to his cheek and shoulder before being pinned to the bark.

You cried out as a sharp bite pierced your skin, the warrior slipping past your armour and plunging their blade into your side as your hands came up and used your knife to slice their throat. A spray of blood hit your face as they fell to the ground. You fell backwards leaning against the tree for support as your head went light, you watched Din take out the remaining warriors. One on their spear, another with his blaster. He was surrounded by bodies but looked like he’d barely broken a sweat. He surveyed his area before finally noticing you. The ambush had happened so fast he barely had time to spare a glance in your direction to see how you were.

You grimaced as he walked over. He didn’t come close, not helping you, just watching. He saw the leather strapped blade on the ground beside you and the body next to you. You hissed as you tried to push yourself up, even minimal effort was aggravating the wound.

Your hand let go of the injury, revealing the blood to Din. You wiped it on your pant leg, laughing dryly as you looked up at him. You could barely see him, eyes hazy, even speaking was an effort as your throat was stinging with the threat of vomit. Din lurched forward holding out his hand. “I don’t need your help,” You garbled, trying again. This time you were successful, only for a moment as your world spinning and went black for a moment., “Stars above,” you gasped, falling forward into the Mandalorian. He caught you quickly before you fell to the floor.

“Where are you hurt?” He asked urgently.

“Under there,” You slurred, waving your arm weakly at your side. Your eyes were dropping, skin pale. It was the end, killed by a forest warrior’s blade with the Mandalorian by your side. Not how you wanted to go.

--

You came too in the dark. You startled, immediately on guard. The sudden movement made you cry out as pain overtook your body.

“Don’t move,” Came a gruff reply. It was the Mandalorian. Ignoring his request, you slowly pushed yourself to sit up, wincing at the pain but you couldn’t just lay there.

You then realised your armour was gone, top feeling practically bare in your undershirt. A bandage was wrapped around your ribs, soaked in blood. He had saved you.

You looked at him across the fire, confused. You had expected him to leave you for dead. You certainly should have died. Either the gods were playing a horrific joke on you by drawing out this quest with your supposed enemy or he had cared for you. You wondered how long you’d been out for. Could have been a few hours, a few days. You doubted he would care for you for that long but evidently, the bounty hunter was full of surprises.

“You should have left me,” you finally spoke. Your voice was coarse and you coughed to clear your throat. “Why’d you do that?”

He shrugged. You frowned but decided not to press the matter. You preferred living over being dead.

“How long was I out?” You asked.

“A few hours,” He replied, “Nice to have you quiet for so long,”

“Where’s my armour?”

“Here,” He said, patting the pile of metal next to him. You watched him carefully now. You needed that back if you were going to make it and didn’t entirely trust he would give it back. Parts were beskar. You knew he would try and stake a claim to it despite the fact he knew where you’d gotten it from. He’d tried it before and that had ended with you at the bottom of a rocky gorge, “I’ll give it back in the morning. You need to rest and you can’t in that,”

“It’s very important to me,” You stated.

“I know,” He said.

“How do I know you won’t take it?”

“You’ll have to trust me,” Din said. You were not about to do that. You pushed yourself to stand up, grinding your teeth to not let out the sharp pain that was splitting through your side, “Sit down,” Din ordered.

“Give me-,” As you stood up your vision went blurry, you stumbled forward into the fire pit. Luckily the Mandalorian had quick reflexes and caught you before you fell into the flames

“I didn’t save your life for you to fall into a fire,” he scolded you, helping you back to the ground. Sit,”

You shoved his hands off you and shuffled away from him. “I’ll kill you if you take it,” you grumbled.

“You would try,” Din agreed. Both of you knew you would not be a threat. While the Mandalorian had managed to flush out most of the poison some of it remained in your system. Not deadly in dosage but enough to weaken you significantly. You wouldn’t be able to get real help until you returned to the city.

Silence fell over the camp again. You stared into the fire, watching it spit and spark. A physical manifestation of your rage and embarrassment. Not only were you weak and wounded, but you were also stuck with the one person you swore would get revenge on if you ever crossed paths again. Now the only revenge you could manage was maybe to scratch his armour. You had slaughtered people, entire towns had met their end through your hands. Now your life lay in the Mandalorians’s. You hated it.

You glared at him for what felt like hours. Neither of you was going to give in to sleep, too suspicious of the other to succumb to the vulnerability. The three moons travelled slowly overhead, animals scratching around the clearing of the forest none would dare to venture into the foreign light of the Mandalorian’s fire but you could feel a thousand eyes in the darkness watching you intently.

Suddenly he stood up. Suspicious you watched him walk the short distance to you. Without warning, he passed a silver packet of food to you and walked behind you. You looked dumbly at the packet and turned your head to see what he was doing. You had barely looked over your shoulder before his gloved hand came to the side of your face, pushing you away.

“Turn around and I’ll kill you,” Din warned you.

“Ok! Kriff, calm down I don’t want to look anyway,” You scoffed at him. Somehow, his insistence that you didn’t see his face only made the idea more enticing. You heard a scuff of metal and the sound of something heavy on the grass, his helmet was off.

You kept your head straight forward, moving only to look at what you were eating. It was very similar to eating next to a wild animal, any movement you made while he ate could be your last. You knew enough about Mandalorians to know it wasn’t him being territorial but to do with his ‘creed’. They could never remove their helmets, never show their faces to anyone except family. It didn’t seem like the Mandalorian behind you had any family, there was barely a caring bone in his body. Except he had saved your life, though that was more an act of self-preservation than anything else you thought.

Din wouldn’t usually risk eating like this with someone like you nearby. There was no privacy, no guarantee you wouldn’t turn and catch him but his hunger was overtaking his logic. It had been days since he’d eaten, he was the lowest on credits in his life the small amount he’d earn from this bounty was desperately needed. If he was going to be paid at all now.

He ate quickly, wolfing down the scraps he had found in your pack. It was bland and chalky but it was food, nutrients, and that was all that mattered. He had to survive until the next. Once he finished, he picked up his helmet and placed it back on his head. Safe inside his metal shell he stood up and walked to his previous spot on the other side of the fire.

He watched you while you ate. He took in the way your skin glowed in the firelight. Wisps of unruly hair caught the light giving you a halo over your head except there was nothing angelic about you. You knew murder and destruction just as well as he did. You’d killed many and cursed more to the haunting image of your destruction. You were one of a small few in the galaxy who had survived the Mandalorian.

There was something oddly satisfying at the fact you couldn’t get away now. You couldn’t do anything if he tried to kill you again now. All your power, all your strength, was in his hands. It was a dark feeling he wanted to avoid, he didn’t think about it too much. If he’d wanted to kill you he would have left you to die.

Once you finished your food you threw the packaging into the fire and settled back. You watched the Mandalorian pick through your pack, pulling out whatever he could find useful for the rest of the travel. You knew we wouldn't find much, the thing had only been packed for a two-day trip maximum. You ached from head to toe, tired and more hungry than the nutrients bar could stave off you longed for your bed. Soft and warm it was the only good thing in this place, the only thing that had kept you here for so long. Comfort was never something you had been given freely, you were going to hold onto this one for as long as you could.

Soon you couldn’t fight sleep any longer. You lay down next to the fire, watching the Mandalorian until you could no longer keep your eyes open.

—

The next day something had shifted in your dynamic. The fact he’d saved your life had changed things. You weren’t so angry at him. He was careful with you, helping you up from the ground and you didn’t miss the way his helmet stayed on you for longer than needed as you pulled your armour back on. He’d cleaned it too, wiping off the blood and dirt from the metal.

You walked mostly in silence, Din still in front of you. You may not hate him anymore but you didn’t entirely trust him yet. He was on neutral ground as far as you were concerned. He'd tried to kill you once, he’d saved you once, They cancelled each other out and now all was left as to gain any opinion either way about who this man was. Was he a killer or was he kind? His actions thus far, surprisingly, offered the latter. Despite that, your hand never left your blaster, though not drawn it was ready in its holster if he decided to turn on you.

Every time you hissed or groaned as you walked, he would stop, look at you and check you were okay before continuing. If it wasn’t for the cold nature of his helmet it would have been endearing.

You travelled together through forest and fields, over a small mountain and down a ravine. Your legs ached, back sore from carrying your pack but at least your stab wound had gone numb. Your pain receptors were so fried now your brain was trying to forget it all together so you could survive.

You flagged behind Mando, gritting your teeth and forcing yourself forward until you couldn’t take it anymore. You let out a small cry of defeat before calling for the Mandalorian to stop. You sat on a rock above a reed bed, leaning on it with one arm while the other pried your armour from your body. Din stopped walking as soon as he heard you.

“I need to rest for a bit,” You admitted, struggling with your straps. One-handed it was impossible to get them off but if you didn’t you couldn’t breathe. You pulled and tugged at the buckles until you were stopped by the Mandalorian’s gloved hand on yours.

“I’ll do it,” He said quietly. You moved your hand, turning a little to let him have better access to the buckles holding the metal to your body.

You didn’t say a word, knowing you couldn’t do it by yourself. His skilled fingers worked the buckles open and pulled the chest pieces away from your body. There was care in his touch, his fingers momentarily gracing over your exposed skin for a moment. The light touch sent shivers down your spine. You turned your head for fear of showing just how affected you were by his touch. You sighed in relief when the weight was gone and the strain on your muscles was decreased.

“Thank you,” You mumbled.

“We can set up camp here for the night,”

“It’s not even dark,” You protested, “Give me a few minutes we can keep walking. It’s not safe out in the open like this,”

“You’re in pain,”

“I’ll be in pain wherever we are,” You said, “There are caves just over there, it will be safer to stay there,”

“That’ll be two hours walk,”

“I can do it,”

“I’m tired too. We’re staying here,” He said, “You can bathe in the river, clean the wound again,”

“Mando-,” You protested.

He wasn’t listening anymore. He’d set down the weapons on his back and set to creating a fire. If it was going to be as cold as last night you were going to need one.

You were silently relieved. Your entire body was screaming for a break, the wound throbbing so much you could have thrown up. You needed to rest. You knew you weren’t far from the city now, it was on the other side of the pass, you could see ships land and take off in the distance, specks leaving white trails in the sky. You would be back by the next evening, you predicted. Only one day left free of consequences.

As the decision had been made to stay by the river for the night, you decided you could get out of your armour again. You sat up slowly, leaning to one side to avoid putting pressure on the wound on your side. You piled the pieces up next to the rock.

Din was still busy searching for suitable wood, a good distance away from you you decided it was safe to strip off and explore the water you could hear behind the reed bed. You pulled aside the plants, creating a path for yourself and revealing a beautiful stream. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the sunset colours above you.

You waded into the water, holding up your tunic so it didn’t get wet. The current wasn’t strong, stones were stable under your feet and you let yourself walk further into the river until it got to your hips. Creatures in the water scattered as your legs invaded their home. You pulled your tunic over your head, throwing the fabric back onto the riverbank, then untied the Mandalorians bandages leaving them with the tunic too. The cool water soothed your aching muscles, washing away the sweat and dry blood as it passed over your skin. You groaned at the heavenly feeling before dipping down under the surface, letting the world melt away in the stream.

Din returned to find you missing. He dropped the sticks he’d found and looked around for you. He hadn’t heard a struggle, he’d have seen someone if you’d been taken. He spotted your armour in a pile while you’d been lay, too neat to be stripped of you in a hurry you must have taken it off. None of his weapons missing either. Then he heard your voice from behind the tall reeds surrounding the lazy river, a pained groan. He was quick to action fearing you’d fallen and been hurt again. He barrelled through the reeds, nearly falling down the riverbank into the water until he saw you. Entirely naked, facing away from him, standing waist-deep in the cool water. Every scar, every bruise, every lump and bump was on view under the golden sun instantly transfixing Din.

He didn’t want to stare but he couldn’t bring his eyes away from the view. Drenched in golden light, your wet skin sparkled. His eyes fell slowly down your body, his own body was fighting between leaving you alone and joining you in the water. Your shadow cast on the opposite bank of reeds showed a broken image of everything you had hidden.

“Can you pass me my clothes when you’re done staring please Mando?” You spoke up suddenly, looking over your shoulder with a smirk on your lips. Din startled, snapping himself out of the trance he’d fallen into, nearly falling in the water. He coughed and spluttered, the sound coming out strangely through his vocoder, which made you laugh. He nodded, muttering something you couldn’t hear before disappearing back through the reeds to retrieve your clothes.

You were used to washing with no privacy. Being in the places you’d been, privacy was a luxury. You could ignore the lustful stares men gave but something about Din watching you set you on edge, it excited you. You couldn’t see his face, couldn’t tell where he was looking but his vision bore like laser’s into your skin. You felt electric. He could have watched forever and you wouldn’t mind at all.

You dunked under the cold water, cleaning yourself and cooling off the heat of your body. You found your clothes laid out on the bank, where Din had been standing before. You smiled, dried off and dressed before re-emerging from the reeds.

The sun was going down now, barely a sliver above the horizon. Stars came out, colouring the night sky with constellations. The Mandalorian had a good fire going. A field rat hung over the flames cooking away.

“Sit close to the fire so you can dry off properly,” He said as you approached. You smiled and nodded, feeling brave enough to sit next to him rather than across as you had done the other night. He was opposed to your decision and didn’t move when you settled down next to him in the grass. “The wound looked like it's healing well,” He said after a moment of quiet.

“That’s all you were looking at?” You asked with a smirk.

“I didn’t mean to pry,” He apologised, a little ashamed at his voyeurism.

“I didn’t say I minded,” You smiled, sweet on the surface but the wicked fire in your eyes told him exactly what he wanted. He shivered under your gaze and moved quickly to get away from your scrutiny, turning his attention to stoking the fire again. You laughed to yourself and settled back onto your elbows to watch the stars.

This night was so different from the one before. You didn’t watch him so intently, trusting that he wouldn’t suddenly try to rob you or kill you. You were relaxed, as much as you could in the circumstances. Your earlier question of the character of the Mandalorian was slowly being answered. He was a mixture of good and kind, and cold and calculated. You couldn’t forget how viciously he had attacked you all those years ago, how bloody and raw those warriors had been left in the forest. But simultaneously you couldn’t forget his kindness in saving you, his care for your wellbeing as you walked today. How bashful he became when you confronted him about his peeping. You could hear the embarrassment in his voice. If he was a cold and heartless killer like you thought him to be, he would not take your teasing. He wouldn’t be embarrassed. No, this Mandalorian much like everyone else was complicated. Under that beskar somewhere lay a man, who unfortunately you were starting to like.

You couldn’t hate him. Not when he had found and cooked food for you to share. Din had pulled the field rat off the spit, opened it up and pulled out the cooked meat. He passed you half before collecting his own. You initially curled your lip at the charred remains in your lap but there was no other choice. It was that or starve.

Din opened his mouth to speak, to tell you to stay put as he sat behind you but was astounded at how quickly you’d turned your back on him giving him the privacy he needed. Metal hit the ground with a thud, you stayed perfectly still. Din noticed instantly, his chest becoming heavy as he saw your fear. You had been friendly all day, talking as if you were friends but the way you sat in front of him like caught prey reminded him that wasn’t the case.

You surprised him, it was rare for people to understand so quickly, let alone someone like you. Someone who hated him, had tried to kill him, usually, they’d mock him and refuse unless he threatened them, like he’d done to you last night. You didn’t say a word. You respected him.

So, he ate slower. Taking the time to enjoy his food, as much as you can enjoy slightly burnt field rat. He picked at the meat, pulling it apart with his fingers. His quiet groan of pleasure at the taste of his food made your ears prick and hair stand up on edge. You’d teased him for watching you in the river, but if he sat behind you and made sounds like that you were going to have to do something. Call it Stockholm syndrome, some kind of weird lapse of judgement due to the stress of your predicament but you found yourself liking the Mandalorian. He had tried to kill you before, he should terrify you, but the fact he was such a mystery, and a dangerous one at that, made him all the more enticing.

Din didn’t miss the way you’d pricked up at the noise he’d made. He didn’t mean to, it had just slipped from his lips. A new kind of hunger took over him as he finished his meal. He wanted you. The memory of you in the river cast over him. He wondered how soft your skin would feel, fresh from the mineral waters you’d bathed in. You smelt so fresh from where he was sitting, how much better would it be with his nose in your hair. He’d been hungry for days, but this hunger had gone unsolved for months, he could hardly remember the last time he’d held someone, kissed someone, fucked someone.

Without realising it Din had moved closer to you. His hands ghosted over your hair, wanting desperately to run his fingers through it. He wanted to touch you, to feel you. He leant over, just outside your peripheral vision and placed a kiss on your cheek. It was short, shorter as you startled at the sudden touch. Din retreated quickly, your sudden movement startling him too.

“What was that?” You asked sharply. Din frowned, instantly regretting his action. To his surprise, you didn’t make a move to look at him.

“Wh-what do you mean?” He stuttered, all confidence draining from his body.

“Kiss me properly if you’re going to kiss me,” you said confidently. A simple touch of his lips to your cheek had set you alight, you were startled but didn’t want him to stop.

Din grinned in the dark and surged forward to kiss you properly. The sharp scratch of stubble surprised you as he kissed you. His lips were soft as passion dripped into your mouth as your mouth opened to him in a gasp. The Mandalorian pulled you closer, turning you to face him properly. You hissed in pain when his hand brushed over your wound. He whispered an apology, moving down to your jaw. His nose brushed along your jaw taking in the clean and earthy scent of you.

His kiss travelled down your neck. The burn of his stumble on your soft skin made you sigh and open up to him more. Din could feel himself falling into you, your scent and taste, the noises that you were making just from his kisses were driving him insane. He could stop if he needed but he didn’t want to. He could trust you.

His hands stroked down your arms, taking your wrist into his grip. He continued his assault on your neck as he lifted it. He placed your hand over your eyes, holding your wrist tight to keep it in place. His warm hand over yours was oddly comforting.

“Move your hand and I stop, yes?” He whispered in your ear, his hot breath tickling you and sending a shiver up your spine, “I don’t want to kill you, but I will,”

“I understand,”

--

If there was any way you could have predicted the ending of your adventure with the Mandalorian there would be no way you could have predicted the events of the previous night.

He was good. Surprisingly good. You were a little shocked, having thought he was some celibate mercenary monk type character, but he knew what he was doing. If there weren’t stars above you, he’d made you see more. He was careful not to hurt you but didn’t hold out. Edges of your previous hatred for one another dipped in, adding so much to the event. You woke up sore in a completely different and entirely satisfying way.

You set out for the final stretch of the journey with a smile on your face. Your blaster was left alone in its holster and the Mandalorian walked beside you. You trusted him.

The final stretch was the most challenging. Through a rocky ravine, you had to climb over boulders and through tight passes. If you could have gone over you would, but the hundred-foot sheer cliff faces took that option away from you pretty fast. The Mandalorian walked slower to allow you to keep up, taking hold of your chest armour when the weight became too much to take anymore. You still couldn’t understand the reasoning behind his kindness but accepted it easily. He wouldn’t leave you more than ten foot behind, despite your insistence on leaving you to catch up on your own he refused and waited for you before enforcing a rest stop so you could catch your breath and continue. After hours of walking through the rocky pass, red stone finally gave way to green grass and blue sky once more.

You saw the city gates on the horizon and your heart began to ache. You had almost forgotten what you were walking back to. You had to tell the Master that his daughter was dead, that your entire team was burnt alive and you were the only survivor. You were dead for sure. Being the outsider anyway put you on rocky ground, this would be the final straw.

Din could sense your nervousness. Even if you didn’t express it verbally, he knew you were anxious to return. He thought you were brave for doing so, but you didn’t have a choice. If you ran you could never stay hidden from the Master. You were dead either way, at least if you brought yourself in you could argue your case.

Citizens lined the wall of the city, flags waving and cheering songs danced on the breeze as soon as you and the Mandalorian were spotted. You walked through the outlying villages with heads hung low as the people ran up to you expecting their princess in tow. When they saw the two of you alone their cries of joy turned to silence.

You reached the city gates and it seemed nobody had noticed, bells rang out and drums echoes from inside. Children waved from the wall, happy and excited to see you. The whispers started, turned into murmurs and soon the yells of praise and joy were spitting insults and exclamations of pain. People yelled out questions, what had happened to the princess, where was she, who’d killed the princess. Why hadn’t you saved her? Your heart sunk, you couldn’t lift your eyes from the ground as you and the Mandalorian were escorted to the palace.

Din always hated a failed mission, letting targets getaway in mistakes was what kept him up at night, but this was so much worse. He didn’t have any personal connection to the girl but the vitriol spat at you and him as you walked through was tough to take. He kept his head up, trying to think of a plan for what might happen next.

The news of your failure had spread fast, arriving at the Master’s feet before you did. You knelt at his throne, the Mandalorian standing beside you.

“What news do you bring?” The Master asked. He didn’t need your answer, he just wanted to watch you squirm.

“I am afraid we were unsuccessful Master. An accident occurred at the camp and we two are the only survivors of the event. There was no way of recovering your daughter, I apologise,” You said finally looking up at him. Your voice was calm, collected and confident. There was nothing you could do now, it didn’t matter whether you were visibly upset or not.

“Mandalorian? Do they speak the truth?”

“Yes. Charges were set in the mines beneath the location and set as soon as we arrived,” He elaborated.

“I appreciate the aide Mandalorian, however without a successful return of my daughter I cannot pay you,” The master said. Din nodded, having expected as much, “Guards arrest L/n,”

“I assure you we did everything we could to get your daughter, none of this was their fault,” Din insisted.

“You are dismissed, Mando,” The Master ordered. Din didn’t move, his blaster raised at the guards approaching, standing between you and them to protect you.

“Stop it,” You hissed at him, alarmed that he was putting his survival at risk for you.

“Put the blaster down, Mandalorian. You are far outnumbered here. I suggest you leave me while you still can unless you would like to join L/n in front of a firing squad,”

“It’s not worth it,” You whispered, as you pushed yourself to stand up. You gritted your teeth as pain shot through you. You both knew this was how it would end, there was no other way, “I accept my fate,” You spoke loud enough for everyone else to hear. Din didn’t accept it, he refused to. He had only just got you into his life, whatever the relationship was between you two he wasn’t going to let you die for something that wasn’t your fault.

You were surrounded inside the palace. Din’s defiance was only drawing more soldiers in. The chances of either you or Din coming out alive were drawing in. You knew the Mandalorian was worth more, something inside you told you he had a great destiny before him. While our crossed paths had arrived at a pleasant spot you would like to continue, if that was the final destination of your lives then you wouldn’t be the one pulling him to a halt with you.

You stepped into the Mandalorian’s vision, soldiers drawing closer, and you placed your hand over his blaster. You looked directly into his visor, staring directly into his eyes. You didn’t have to speak, he knew it was over. Slowly, Din lowered his weapon and stepped back. With his hands up he nodded to the Master who smiled smugly and gave you one last look. As soon as the Mandalorian walked away the guards were on you, hands roughly tugged behind your back and into harsh cuffs.

Din didn’t look back. Couldn’t. If he did he would do something he would regret. The Master’s voice echoed out of the Palace doors relaying your sentence. You were to be executed at sundown. Din pulled himself into a comfortable stoic calm, and indifference forced upon himself to allow him to carry on. He walked out of the city with nothing. Penniless, hungry and alone.

The Razor Crest provided some comfort as it always did. No matter what changed around his outside could always be corrected inside the silver confines of his ship. He had enough fuel to get him to the next populated planet, hopefully, he would find work there to get food. He settled into the cockpit, flicking through maps for a while to see where he could go. After a while, the exhaustion of not sleeping properly for three days caught up and Din fell asleep in the pilot seat.

--

“Oi! Mando! Open up!” Hard rock being thrown at the front of the Crest and the sound of your voice startled him awake. It was dark now, the moon high in the sky above him. Din’s heart sunk, it was just a dream. You were gone now.

He let himself wonder for a moment if he could have done more, knowing that probably wasn’t true. The galaxy had a way of making things work out the way they should no matter what he did. He settled back against his chair again, head resting on his chest when something slammed against the side of the ship and shouted for him again and he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

He did a double-take when he saw you at the door. Dishevelled and breathing heavily, you grinned up at him. “I thought you were dead,” He said.

“I will be if you don’t let me in in a minute,” You looked over your shoulder as speeder lights approached over the brim of the hill. Din had barely stepped aside before you barreled into the ship.

He stared at you in the low light of the hull. confused by the image you presented. Your armour was half missing, only your chest plates and one thigh plate remained and you were covered in blood. You were not only alive but you had fought well for it. Considering the state you had been in just hours before, barely able to stand up unaided, he was astonished.

“What? It’s not my blood if you’re worried about that,” You wiped your face with the back of your hand then wiping it on your pant leg. “Hurry up and get this ship in the sky. We need to go right now,”

A blaster shot ricochet off the side of the Crest, the sound of bikes coming closer, setting Din back into motion. He raced back up to the cockpit to set off. You followed quickly and watched as the Mandalorian set to getting the ship into the air while under attack. You jumped into the seat behind him, giddy with excitement as the weight of what you had just done inside the city walls had not yet settled in. You were high on adrenaline. The engines roared into life and suddenly the Mandalorian turned back to look at you.

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” He said.

“I’m glad I’m not dead too,” you smiled, warmth spreading through your body at the sentiment,  “now please can we go,” A shot hit the front window making you duck instinctively. “Go!”

--

happy may the fourth guys!! omg i missed writing din so much!! 

tags: @beskar-falcon @peterssweetpea @beskarbabs @wille-zarr @this-cat-is-dea  @dameronology @fandom-blackhole @artsymaddie​

[thatringboy]

Me to me: Nooo don’t make an Inazuman oc you already have two OCs from Liyue and Natlan who you said you’d revamp and besides, you’re probably going to lose interest in this one soon Also Me, getting way to invested in Inazuma lore: HEY EVERYONE COME MEET MY NEW OC HIIRAGI YORICHI, A HYDRO SWORD USER WHO’S AUTISTIC LIKE ME

Link to picrew used for profile

Buried Beauty

“My duty is first to the people of my homeland, then the Kanjou Commission. Make no mistake, Baal must be stopped, but not at the expense of the people.”

The firstborn son of the Hiiragi Clan who’s name means “first gift”. He grew up in Sumeru Academy, but has returned to Ritou to take up his father’s yoke over the Kanjou Commission

General Information

Name: Hiiragi Yorichi

Age: 28

Affiliation: Hiiragi Clan

Birthdate: January 17

Starsign: Capricorn

Constellation: Thesauros Sepultus

Weapon: Sword

Vision: Hydro

Voice Claims

CVA: Zhang Jie

JVA: Tasuku Hatanaka

EVA: Kyle Phillips

Voice Lines

Good Morning: Hmm? Oh, yes, greetings Traveler and Paimon. Sorry, I didn’t see you there… I’m not much of a morning person

Good Afternoon: Did I miss lunch again? Eh, oh well. Traveler, wanna run by Miss Ryouko’s to get some food?

Good Evening: If I don’t get back soon, Chisato will certainly send someone out to find me

Good Night: Can you get back on your own? I’m afraid that I must return to Ritou for the evening

When It Rains: Quickly! The rain will cover our tracks!

When It Snows: Huh? Wow it got cold fast! Better go find some shelter before I accidentally freeze us

When It’s Sunny: Be careful, our enemies can see clearly in broad daylight

Favorite Food: Mmm, I could go for some Mondstat Grilled Fish right about now… I had it once during their Ludi Harpastum Festival that my Senpai took me to one year and I’ve just fallen in love with the flavour!

Least Favorite Food: Is… is that cabbage? No no, there’s nothing wrong, just don’t expect me to eat any. Why? Well… I don’t like the texture at all! Eating it feels like slime going down my throat which closes up my airways and then that sensation makes my brain feel like someone shoved a wet blanket between my ears and wrapped it around my brain! Please… never make me eat cabbage…

About: Vision: My Vision? How did I get mine? Well, since you asked so nicely, it appeared to me in a dream during the end of the first year of the Sakoku Decree. I had cried myself to sleep because of the anguish I felt coming from those who had their Visions stolen - those who I had sworn to protect as a Clan Heir - and I cursed out Celestia for allowing this to happen. In my dream, I appeared before seven giant thrones all glowing with elemental magic. In the blue throne sat a woman who gave off so much power that I could not gaze upon her. Yet, her words always resonate in my heart: “Your loyalties may change, but never change your principles. Do no harm to others, but do not let harm fall upon you and those you love.” When I woke up, the Vision was tucked under my pillow!

About: Kanjou Commission: One day, it will be my duty to oversee the Kanjou Commission. Am I ready? Probably not. Do I have a choice? Also no. I just want to make everyone proud… but how can I do that when father has already deemed me an embarrassment to the Hiiragi Clan simply because of who I am?

About: Sumeru Academy: The Academy? I grew up there! Fourteen years I spent roaming the halls absorbing all of the knowledge I could! *Sigh*… maybe if the Travel Ban gets lifted, I’ll show you around my old stomping grounds!

About: Ritou: I’m friends with some of the guys at the Outlander’s Trade Association. What do you wish to see? Want to head by a jewelry shop? Get some food?

About: Interests: Wanna know a secret? Deep down, I’m an alchemist at heart! Anything alchemy related, I’m sure I can be of use! It’s my special interest! Did you know that the luminescent spines of a firefly can—wait wait no I’m sorry. Father says that people get bored of my ramblings, my apologies for wasting your time…

About: Swords: You may have noticed that my sword technique is different from the samurai of Inazuma. That is because I learned how to use my blade at the Academy. I forged this blade myself when I turned twenty. Would you like to hold it?

About Ayaka: Miss Kamisato? I’ve met her once and she seems nice, but I still feel uneasy around her. But maybe that’s just me

About Raiden Shogun: You want to know why I refer to the Shogun as “Baal”? Well, that’s because I didn’t grow up in a place that calls her the “Raiden Shogun”. I’m used to my peers referring to her as “Baal” and I’ve yet to drop the habit. Also, I don’t have much respect for her, but don’t tell anyone that

About Ayato: Never met him, but his description gives me the creeps! Never appears in public, leaving his little sister to do all the work? The nerve of that guy! O-oh… that sounds like me? Ehe-he… oops

About Yoimiya: Oh Miss Naganohara! She makes the best fireworks! She and I are actually a lot alike. What, you don’t see it? I guess that comes from me spending a lifetime hiding my inner enthusiasm while she never quite grew up. We should go to the next firework festival to see her, I’m sure she’d love that! But… from a distance please. The popping noises from the fireworks hurt my ears

About Kaeya: The Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, huh? I’m curious to see how the pieces fall into place… what was that? Oh, it’s nothing… just gossip from some old colleagues

About Diluc: Diluc? Who’s that? Owner of the Dawn Winery? The Ragnvindr Clan? Nope, doesn’t ring a bell. The Darknight Hero? Of course! Why didn’t you just say that?! Yeah I know who you’re talking about now! What? He’s got a Vision too? I guess that guy’s just full of surprises

About Childe: So, that weasel is actually a Fatui Harbinger? Why am I not surprised... O-oh when did I meet him? After I graduated from the Academy. Did I sound too surprised about his identity? Sorry, when I knew him, he used a different name

About Albedo: Ah… the son of Rhinedottir. His master actually attended one of my lectures when I was younger in secret. I think they were using an alias during that time but I spoke to them in private. It was interesting to learn different things about ancient alchemy techniques from another land. I think Albedo is currently an alchemist in Mondstat, right? I’ll visit him when the Travel Ban is lifted to exchange notes

About Klee: Klee, daughter of Alice? Eh, I haven’t heard good things. I’m not a big fan of explosions... but that doesn’t mean that she’s a bad kid! I’m sure if I met her, we’d be friends

About Lisa: Minci-Senpai! We worked together a lot at the Acadmia! Why did I call her senpai when I’m older than her? Well, because she’s the Grandmage!!! Everyone knows how smart and powerful Minci-Senpai is! Once, she tasked me with finding ways to preserve pure Electro organisms. So, I coated the inside of a jar with Hydro Slime condensate so that her Electro roses can continuously be charged by the Hydro energy… Sorry, I’m getting carried away

About Mona: What, do you think that all Hydro users who practice magic know each other? Well, I do know Miss Megistus, but you can’t assume that! I met her and her master once during a lecture on fortune telling with the use of elemental abilities. Now that I have a Vision of my own, I will see if I can implement their techniques into my own practice

About Sara: To be perfectly honest, I’ve never met her. We may be the heirs to our Clans and our respective Commissions, but I’ve never had a conversation with her. Naturally, as a Vision holder and she as the spearhead of the Tenryou Commission, I am her enemy. However, as the heir to the Hiiragi Clan, I must keep up formalities. Besides, my dear sister Chisato is being courted by another member of the Kujou clan, Kujou Kamaji, and I don’t want to do anything to ruin that. You won’t turn me and my Vision in to her, right?

About Cyno: Ah, Master Cyno, one of the smartest members of the Academy. I owe a lot of my development to him. I don’t think I would have finished my Thesis paper on the eighth nation without his guidance

About: Names: You know, my name means “first treasure”, but despite such an endearing name, my father has yet to reveal my face to the public and claim me as his heir. He was also the one to send me away when I was a boy to Sumeru because I was not like other children. Was I meant to be gift to my family? To the other nations? Was I an unwanted gift? … Oh, sorry about that. I don’t usually get dark like that! Tell me, Traveller, what does your name mean?

About: Politics: Ugh… Sakoku Decree this, honor the Commissions that, I don’t understand any of it. If I’m ever left in charge, I’m sure that I could handle the bureaucratic side, but the people side? I get overwhelmed when talking to people I’m not comfortable with. I shut down mentally, fumble over my words and eventually I end up having a panic attack and Chisato has to pull me from the room. My father thought that I would have grown out of those outbursts when I got older, but I’ve only found a way to mask my behaviors. But you’re different, you haven’t looked at me like a child nor spoken less of me simply because I’m different, why is that?

About: Family: My mother passed away while I was gone, my father Shinsuke is the head of the Kanjou Commission and my younger sister Chisato is his main assistant. When my father gets upset, Chisato is always the one who has my back and in turn, I’ve begun escorting her secretly to Kondo Village to meet with her secret lover, Kujou Kamaji. I guess that’s what siblings do for each other, we protect each other from everything because no matter what we go through, no matter what arguments we have, we always will have each other. Ah, Traveler! I didn’t say anything to make you upset, did I?

About: Khaenri’ah: … You ask a lot of questions, don’t you? What do you think I know about that cursed place? Yeah, I wrote my Thesis paper on Khaenri’ah, but that was a while ago and I’ve learned my lesson. Now, the only connections I have to that place are hearsay from lecturers, rumors at the Academy and the plucked plume of a proud peacock.

About: Time Gap: Huh? Oh yeah, I went to Sumeru when I was seven and studied there for fourteen years. Uh… what did I do for the missing five years of my life before returning to Ritou? Ehe-he… I don’t think I’m allowed to say everything, but I can tell you this: that’s the time that I met a disgraced Knight, a bloodthirsty child and learned how to wield a sword. I was able to travel with them while writing my Thesis paper. Ah… how time flies when working with like minded people

This is the most thought I’ve ever put into an OC, I hope you like him!

[mandos-lightningbeforethunder]

Start Again - Chapter Six (Din Djarin x Reader)

SUMMARY: Arriving on Orus, Din learns more about the girl and forces himself to make a choice when the planet isn’t so welcoming after all. 

CHAPTER WARNINGS: discussion of sexism/gender roles, canon-typical violence, non-consensual touching, mention of blood, and panic attacks/anxiety attacks. 

Author’s Note: This chapter sits at 3k words! It’s the longest chapter yet and a lot happens! I would also like to give credit to @kyberpistol​ for starting the headcanon of haunted!Din. I love the concept and I felt like I could use it in my story. Please heed the warnings. Feel free to like and reblog! 

CHAPTER SIX - THE FIGHT

Landing on Orus is difficult, the terrain is not suitable for ships of Idrionna’s size. Din should’ve known that the moment Cara suggested the planet to him, but it was the first suitable planet on the list. It was also the closest, so fuel was not a concern.

When they arrived, the suns had already set over Orus, making the trek to the city of Opseg dangerous. A drop in the canyon could be hidden in the darkness, leaving them with no choice but to set up a camp for the night. Din knew that the girl would rather not sleep in the cot on Idrionna, at least for one night. Not that the sand was any more comfortable, but for at least one night it could be.

“It’s a bit of a drop,” The girl says, peering down the canyon below their feet. Even in the darkness, Din could see the dip in the edge of the canyon. Her voice echoes off the walls, giving Din an idea of just how far the drop was. Couldn’t have been more than a couple hundred feet, he thinks.  

“It is,” Din says, looking across from where they’re standing. He could see the bustling city of Opseg just on the horizon. It had a medcenter, big enough to take in the girl for a physical examination without a long waiting time.

Cara had mentioned that Orus had been overlooked by the Empire. An old mining planet, when the Empire had arrived to steal the planet’s profit, they found that the mines had been wiped clean by a flood. Locals had called it a “hundred-year storm”, which had wiped out half the population as well as all the loot. With no profit to be made, the Empire sought other planets. Since then, Orus had been running an underground mining operation, making millions of credits in a single day alone. Once a ghost town, Opseg was on the up and coming. The city was expanding by the day, housing a growing population enriched by the planet’s rare ores.

“It’s beautiful,” The girl murmurs. Din turns, his eyes catching the lights of the city. It glows in the darkness of the surrounding landscape, making it all the more beautiful. He glances back up at the girl, catching the light just glimpsing off her face.

Despite her suffering, she was still full of life. The way her face contorted in excitement as she merely stared at the city ahead of her. Her entire life was stolen from her, yet she still saw the universe in the same innocence a child would. Shaking himself out of his daze, Din takes one more look at the city, before turning to start the fire.

“You didn’t get off Puvo much?” He asks, collecting enough firewood to keep them warm for the night. It was their luck that the wind hadn’t been terrible, a light breeze to keep the embers of the flame away from their faces, but not enough to put the fire out. Surprising luck for a mountainous planet.

“I wasn’t allowed to,” she replies, her voice distant. He turns to see her still staring at the city ahead of her. “Tatooine was my first. I had to convince Valara to let me go off-world. When I first started venturing out on my own on Puvo, I was told going off Puvo wasn’t an option. They were worried that if the Empire found out I was still alive, they’d come and finish the job.”

“They were probably right,” he says, igniting his flamethrower to start the fire. Although meant for combat, it usually came in handy when fires needed to be started quickly. Din watches as the flames jump, licking up the wood.

“They were,” she sighs, “But eventually I needed answers. So, I employed that pilot and then I found you. You’re the only one who’s willing to help me.”

Din pauses, looking back over her. Her focus remains on the city, but this time her face was troubled. Conflicted, perhaps, over the thought of leaving the only home she had ever known. She had left the one safety net protecting her from the Empire all in the name of seeking out answers that may not even exist.

“Besides, washing plant leaves on Puvo wasn’t what I wanted.” She chuckles, shaking her head, “I knew the work that was expected of me, but I wanted something more. Everyone thought I was too fragile.” She mumbles, shaking her head.

“Too fragile for what?” Din finds himself asking. He watches as she joins him by the fire, leaning against her pack.

“I don’t know…work that wasn’t just washing leaves and preparing them for transport.” She laments, looking up at the constellations above. “I stole a communicator off a pilot back on Puvo. It was so easy. The pilots that fly in, they’re so full of themselves. I let him talk about himself and he didn’t even notice it was missing.”

“You stole a communicator?” He asks. It’s not a surprise that she was able to steal one so easily. Most of the pilots he had come across in the New Republic Era were cocky, thinking themselves as the best of the best. In reality, had they been flying when the Empire was still in power, they probably would’ve never left the ground on any planet.

“I did,” she chuckles, “Valara couldn’t believe it, but I think she knew deep down I was capable of more. Over time she knew I was growing bored of the same chores we did every day.”

“What did you want?” Din finds himself asking, looking at her as she sits up. Her eyes look to the fire and Din admires the way the light of the flames flicker off her skin.

“The war was over and Puvo had been at peace for a while. Didn’t mean that they weren’t prepared for something. I saw the training that the soldiers went through. If the boys wanted to, they could go off to receive training. Puvo is a traditional planet, the women stay home for the families and the men work. I wanted to train, Valara blamed it on the post-traumatic stress but at the time, it was all that I could think about. I was so angry at the Empire after I found out what they had done to me, I wanted revenge and I thought learning to fight might help.” The girl shrugs, tossing a couple of sticks she had gathered into the fire.

“What stopped you?” He asks. Twisting a vibroblade between his fingers, he carefully begins to carve at the end of the stick, sharpening the edge.  

“On Puvo, if you’re a woman wanting to fight, a council has to rule in majority favor to let you train. Valara could count on one hand the number of times a woman had been allowed and she didn’t have much hope for me. I guess she was right, the council voted overwhelmingly against me. Something about how my head wasn’t in the right place and I wasn’t fit to serve.” The girl sighs, wringing her hands together as she looks toward the horizon again. “But the more time I spent with Valara’s grandmother, I realized that I was more hellbent on revenge than actually healing. If they had let me train and fight, I probably would’ve been killed.”

“Do you still want to? Learn to fight, I mean,” Din asks, watching as her head turns to face him again. After a beat of silence, she nods.

“I’m better than I was before,” she murmurs, “I know my head still isn’t in the right place but I don’t care about revenge anymore. I just want Castin back.”

A wave of emotions hit him. Emotions he hadn’t felt since that day he watched Grogu go off with the Jedi. It had been the same words Din had said to Gideon, he didn’t care about power or money, he just wanted Grogu back safely. Nothing mattered more to him at that moment, just that Grogu was in his arms and away from the fist of the Empire.

“You going to teach me, Mando?” She teases, obvious in her tone that she’s not serious.

“I could,” Din breathes, watching as her eyes widen. She may have not been serious about the offer, but if they were going to be searching for her son, she was better off knowing a few things to protect herself.

“You’d do that?” She clarifies, still unsure if his offer is real.

“It’s safer for you to know how to protect yourself. I could teach you a few things in self-defense. I’m surprised they didn’t teach you anything on Puvo.” Din says, looking up as she bites her lip.

“Puvo is about tradition. Men fight so the women don’t have to.” She reminds him and he hums at her statement. “Not to mention they never expected me to leave. Here I am, systems away,” she laughs, and Din chuckles too.

“I’ll take the first shift,” Din tells her. She nods, pulling the poncho over her shoulders as she lays her head against her pack. He watches as she turns over, facing the illuminated city.

“Mando?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Din hums, smiling underneath the helmet as he fiddles with the vibroblade, continuing to sharpen the stick in his hand. He would need to make two so that he’d be ready to teach her first round of self-defense by morning. He tries brushing off the feeling that manifests from her words.

“Get up.”

Din wakes up to a voice that does not belong to the girl. When his eyes open behind the helmet, the barrel of a weapon stares right back at him. Not moving, he eyes the camp and sees that the girl sits defeated, hands cuffed in front of her.

“I said get up Mandalorian! What are you, deaf?” The voice demands again. Looking past the barrel, he stares at a Devaronian. His face contorted in clear anger, a snarl on his lips just barely hiding the sharpened teeth.

Slowly, Din sits up from his position and with the shove of the barrel, he stands. Raising his hands, he watches as the Devaronian’s partner, another Devaronian, lifts the girl up by her cuffs, growling at her to stand. Din can see the swelling just below her eye, hinting that there had been a scuffle before he had been woken up.

He chastises himself, knowing he should’ve taken the last shift instead of the first. Or maybe he should’ve taken both, in order to protect the girl better. And how could he have slept while she struggled? Din curses himself as his hands are placed in front of him and cuffed.

“Quite the loot, ain’t it, Zek?” The Devaronian behind him says, chuckling to himself.

“Ah well, we still have to decide what to do with them, Vroth.” Zek huffs, rolling his eyes. His yellow eyes turn gleeful as the girl continues to struggle in his grip and Din sneers as Zek sniffs at her hair.

“Keep your hands off her.” Din demands, stepping forward. He’s stopped by Vroth, his blaster jamming into his lower back just underneath his armor.

“Ah, ah, I make the demands here, Mandalorian. You’re the one in cuffs.” Vroth smirks, “You’re the only one of value here, beskar is still of some worth on the market. The girl is just an added bonus.”

“We’re not here to cause trouble—” The girl says, interrupted by a blaster butting against her face. The thump of her hitting the ground angers Din, but he knows that he has no control here. Not at the moment at least.

“Don’t make me hurt your pretty face again,” Zek snaps, pulling the girl up again. The daze in her eyes is clear as she leans against the Devaronian for balance. Zek seems to appreciate it as he holds her, taking another sniff of her hair. “She smells so good, Vroth. I should keep her to myself.” He licks his lips, smirking when Din tenses.

“Just a moment,” Vroth spits out, focusing his attention on Din. They care more about his armor and the credits it will bring them.

“You won’t find anyone willing to buy my armor.” Din says, “Orus has their own resources, they’ll overlook your highly-priced beskar and look the other way.”

Both Zek and Vroth seem to pause as the statement, looking to each other for their next move. Din takes the time to study the girl again, watching her as she sways. She’s too out of it to contribute to the fight, but now, more than ever she needs to see a doctor. He’ll have to take the Devaronians on alone.

Their strength is the one thing they have against him, as well as the cuffs around his wrists. Looking around the camp, they haven’t ransacked his weapons yet or found the girl's credits. Good, he thinks, they’re too tied up in the armor to survey who they’re actually going against. They knew he was a Mandalorian, but Din’s more than aware now that not all those who wear the armor are actual Mandalorians.

“I’ll take the girl!” The arguing takes Din out of his thoughts and he watches as the two snap at each other, Zek pulling the girl close to him once again. Vroth marches over, removing his blaster from underneath Din’s armor, presumably to argue with his partner over who will take the girl. Din has to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Catching a glimpse of her behind the mass of Zek, Din notices the blood crusted on her forehead, just within her hairline from where the blaster broke the skin. He seethes with anger at the thought of them hurting her. The dazed look in her eyes only tells him that he needs to act now.

The cuffs hang loose around his wrists, clearly meant for a creature of a bigger size. With the two Devaronians distracted by the girl, he slips his wrists out of them. The blaster at his hip is gone, probably confiscated while he was still asleep. The beskar spear had been left on the ship, leaving Din with the one weapon he refused to use. The dark saber.

Wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the weapon, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Treat it like any other sword, he reminds himself. Save her and deal with the two mercenaries.

The ignition of the saber startles both Devaronians and the girl. Zek and Vroth’s faces turn into snarls, lips turning up as they bare their teeth at the threat. Din breathes out and moves first, swinging the saber up as Zek fires his blaster. The shot ricochets off the humming blade, burning a hole in Zek’s forehead, right between his horns. The thud of Zek hitting the ground fills Din with a certain satisfaction from a deep part inside himself. He suppresses the feeling and breathes out again, ready for the next move.

“Stop! Or I’ll shoot her!” Vroth demands. His hand quivers, the blaster wavering against the girl’s temple. Din stares at the girl as she looks up at him.

“I just killed your friend with his own blaster fire. Do you really want to try it out yourself?” Din asks, almost breathless with the adrenaline running through him. The saber hums at his side, awaiting the next move. Din still waits for a response from the Devaronian, the realization hitting Vroth that there’s no way out from this situation.

Din could choose to let him live, but that could lead to word getting out that he wielded the dark saber. It would send Bo-Katan into a frenzy trying to find him, believing him ready to fight for the saber simply because he used it.

“You bitch!” Vroth snarls and Din watches as the girl falls out of the way of the angry Devaronian, giving Din the opportunity. Vroth brings the blaster up, finger hovering over the trigger just as the blade slashes through the barrel.

In shock, Vroth stumbles back, tossing away the smoking blaster and reaching around for another. His scream pierces the air as he falls back into the canyon, a resounding thud echoing off the walls.

For a moment, Din stares in stunned silence. The saber recedes back into the hilt and Din clips it back to his belt, focusing his attention now on the girl.  

She’s sitting up in the sand, trying to remove the cuffs herself. Her breathing is shallow and the glaze over her eyes tells him that she’s panicking, in overdrive to get herself out of harm’s way.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he tells her, gently reaching out with his hand to ground her. “Let me take those off, okay?” He says. She offers her wrists to him and he carefully slides the cuffs off, tossing them aside.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “If I had just—”

“No, no, it’s fine. We handled it. It’s over. Just breathe. Can I take a look at your head? He hit you pretty hard,” He asks, watching as she winces and then nods. Her shock and adrenaline are wearing off, leaving her to feel the effects of her wounds.

Taking a gloved hand, Din cups her face, turning her face so that he can get a better look at the cut. It’s not deep, a simple bacta patch will repair the skin. The bruise under her eyes is another problem, it’s already swelling and he doesn’t have much to work with to stem the swelling.

Her hand swipes at her mouth, leaving a streak of blood behind on both her hand and the corner of her lips. It’s not her own.

“You bit him?” He asks, not sure if he should laugh.

“I did,” she murmurs, the usual glint in her eyes returning as she looks at him. “Didn’t taste very good.”

Din chuckles and sits back, reaching into his pack and pulling out a canteen of water for her to rinse her mouth and to wash away the crusted blood on her forehead. With the edge of his cape, he wipes the blood off as she spits the water out next to her.

“Should start that training soon,” Din mumbles, placing the bacta patch against her skin.

“You think?” she smirks and although she can’t see it, Din smiles underneath the helmet.

Read Chapter Seven - The Diagnosis here!

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Lost Souls: Story 11

Something New

Lost Souls Summary: Merlin awakens early from his sleep. He decides  that he doesn’t want to leaving anything to chance and kidnaps the young  James Lake Jr. to began training his Trollhunter as early as possible.

Barbara  is determined to hunt down the man who kidnapped her son. In her  efforts to get her son back she finds a strange old radio that speaks to  her in a woman’s voice. The radio leads her to an underground society  of shapeshifters.

Mother and son meet again years later as strangers on opposing sides.

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

~~~~

“Head up! Don’t block the blow: redirect it.”

Eli tries to comply but it’s hard when his arms feel like they’re made out of jelly. Instead of being redirected Jim’s staff pushes Eli’s down causing him to bop himself in the forehead with his own weapon.

Eli topples over like a load of bricks and lays there. A low whine seeps through his lips as his tailbone pulses with pain from hitting the ground too hard. That will be another bruise for his collection.

He’s actually managed to get more bruises training with Jim than he has from Steve. Which is really saying something.

“Are you okay?”

He opens his eyes to see Jim hovering awkwardly over him, staff still in hand. He’s shifting back and forth on his feet in a way that tells Eli he’s debating whether to keep pushing him or end the session here.

Eli doesn’t really want to disappoint him, so he tries to sit up. All his muscles protest. He lays back down. Yeah, he isn’t going anywhere. The training montages in movies really fail to capture just how much pushing oneself to the limits hurts.

“We’ll stop for the day,” Jim decides.

He sets his staff against the house before retrieving Eli’s and setting it there too.

“Can you get up?” Jim asks.

Now that he’s not in training mode he stands a little less straight and his expression softens from his previously sharp focused gaze.

“Yeah… maybe,” Eli says, his voice squeaking a little. “Just a second.”

Eli lays on the ground just breathing and trying to summon the energy to make another attempt at standing up. He knows he’s going to be sore in the morning again.

He honestly wants to give up. Clearly he isn’t cut out for this.

There’s movement to his right and Eli looks over to see Jim laying down beside him. The blue skinned troll blends in almost perfectly with the night; except for his eyes which glow a faint, ethereal blue. He settles on his back, head propped just slightly up by his horns.

“So…” The troll says slowly. “You were telling me that human constellations are different than troll ones?”

Eli nods slightly, unable to look away. His glasses slide down his nose. He quickly pushes them back up.

“Do you want to compare?”

“Really?!” Eli squeaks, surprised.

Next to exploring the strange and unusual, stars and space has always been one of his greatest interests. Something about the vastness and boundlessness draws him. He studies every book he can get his hands on.

This is a chance to learn what a being that isn’t human sees. That’s… that’s something beyond his wildest dreams.

But more importantly, it’s a chance to talk about something that he loves with a friend.

“Eli?”

Jim is looking at him rather nervously. Eli realizes that he’s teared up.

“I’d like that,” He says. He pushes his glasses up to swipe at his eyes before giving Jim a smile.

~~~~

As predicted, Eli is very very sore.

He spends the day limping through his classes. He wonders if this is what old people feels like. He’s so glad when it’s time to go home.

His arm positively aches as he transfers the textbooks he doesn’t need to his locker. As much as he enjoys spending time with Jim he’s glad that the Trollhunter won’t be over tonight. He doesn’t think he can take another round of training.

He plans to take it easy when he gets home. He can get his homework done and then he’ll see if he can snag enough of his friends from the forums to play a round of Among Us.

Eli flinches as a hand lands on his shoulder. Without turning around he already knows who it is. Automatically his shoulders draw up toward his ears as he pulls his arms in close to his chest.

“What do you want Steve?”

“Why, I was just worried about my favorite nerd,” The blond bully says with mock sincerity. “I haven’t heard any of your wild conspiracies and was starting to be concerned about your health.”

Eli hasn’t been sharing his theories and discoveries since meeting Jim because he promised Jim to keep trolls and the other creepers… creatures running around Arcadia secret. He still discusses aliens but he’s been sticking with his friends online and Jim now, since they don’t laugh at him.

He figured since he had been keeping to himself Steve would ignore him, but now he’s seeking him out because of that.

There really is no winning, he realizes.

“Can’t you just leave me alone?” Eli asks quietly.

Steve doesn’t appreciate that.

The blond bully shoves him and he hits the locker hard sending a violent jolt of pain through his back. His books fall out of his arms and scatter on the ground.

“Don’t talk back to me butsnack.”

Eli glances around but there’s nowhere to escape in the crowded hallway and, as usual, no one seems inclined to help.

“I think you need to spend some time in your locker until you remember your manners,” Steve continues with a glint in his eyes.

A whimper escapes Eli at that. He doesn’t want to spend another hour stuck in the locker again. His eyes dart around frantically.

Steve reaches for him and takes a step forward, his foot landing just in front of Eli’s spilled textbooks.

“Use your surroundings as a weapon.” Jim’s voice whispers in the back of his mind.

With no other options presenting themselves, Eli kicks Steve in the shin as hard as he can. The bully lets out a yelp and grabs at his injured leg. Eli doesn’t wait for him to recover. Ignoring the protests of his aching muscles he shoves him hard in the chest. Normally it would have done nothing but Steve, already off balance, stumbles and his foot lands on Lord of the Flies. He topples over backward and slams hard into the ground.

The hallway goes completely silent.

Eli stares, his heart still racing. He can’t believe it. He actually managed to take down Steve.

Steve Palchuck! The boy who’s been tormenting him since kindergarten.

Around him all the other kids start murmuring.

Then someone cheers and then the whole crowd is whooping and hollering.

Steve seems to have recovered from his shock and is getting up. He’s turning a violent red and it’s pretty clear that he’s going to get revenge. Eli has the feeling he won’t get lucky a second time.

“Hey! What’s going on here?”

Eli is about ready to collapse from relief when Coach Lawrance’s voice breaks through the noise. The crowd of students disperses like cockroaches. Steve backs off, shooting him glares.

Eli gathers his books and slinks off to get his bike with the distinct feeling that this incident will come back to haunt him.

~~~~

“Can you believe it?” Mary squeals.

Her fingers are darting rapidly over her phone. No doubt she’s already uploading a video to one of her many social media accounts. Steve is going to be livid.

“Girl, I saw it but I still don’t believe it,” Darci says.

Eli Pepperjack getting one up on Steve was the last thing she had been expecting out of school today.

“What do you think Toby?” She says nudging him in the ribs.

Since they’ve made it to high school and have Claire and Mary to hang out with, she’s determined to get him to come out of his shell.

Toby blinks and looks up from his phone.

“Yeah it was pretty cool,” He says, eying the other two girls hesitantly.

Claire give him a friendly smile and he awkwardly smiles back before quickly returning his attention to his phone.

Darci sighs and shoots Claire an apologetic look. Claire shrugs in response and then she, Mary and Darci continue to discuss the strange happenings of the day sans Toby’s input.

~~~~

“Would it hurt you to try to be a little friendlier?”

Toby winces. Yeah he deserved that one.

“Sorry,” He says, a slight flush crawling up the back of his neck.

Darci lets out a little huff.

“You should be, Mary and Claire are the best. Come on TP you’ve got to give them a chance.”

Toby doesn’t reply. Instead opting to instead focus all his attention on the game. His fingers fly over the controls. He understands what she’s getting at. He really does but well…

“I guess I’m just not ready for new people.”

There’s a ping as they reach the end of the round. Toby hazards a brief glance up and sees Darci looking at him with a puzzled frown.

“But you know Mary and Claire,” She says. “I’ve been friends with them for as long as I’ve known you. You’ve hung out before and never had a problem with them.”

“I know,” He mutters. “It’s just…”

He doesn’t want to admit it. It’s pathetic.

“It’s Jim, isn’t it?”

Toby gives her a weak grin.

“Have you been taking lessons from your Dad? Cause that was some real detective work there.”

Darci snorts.

“It doesn’t take a detective to figure that one out.” She gives him a little poke on the shoulder to emphasize her point.

Toby sighs and drops his controller.

“It’s not just Jim,” He admits in a subdued tone. This is something he’s thought about a lot. “It’s Mom and Dad, too… Heck even Dr. L just up and left. It was fine hanging out with them once in a while as your friends but what’s the point in me becoming friends with them? Once we get done with high school everyone is just going to move on. I just don’t want to deal with that.”

It would be bad enough when Darci moved on.

He can feel her staring at him.

“You know I’m not going to abandon you, right?” She asks.

Toby winces. It sounds bad out loud. She puts her hand on his shoulder and he glances up hesitantly. She’s smiling at him in a very gentle and sad way that makes his chest ache.

“Even if we end up on opposite sides of the world I’ll keep in touch. You won’t lose me okay?”

“You don’t know that.” It slips out before he can stop it.

Darci sighs.

“Look I… I guess there really is no way to know for sure but do you really just want to give up? Just like that? To spend your whole life alone?”

“Not really…” Toby says slowly.

“Then can you give them a try? For me?”

He can’t resist those big brown eyes.

“Okay,” Toby says. “I’ll give them a chance, but no promises on results.”

Darci’s smile and quick hug makes it worth it. Toby just hopes he won’t regret this. He clears his throat roughly and focuses his attention back on the screen. He starts another round hoping he can drown out the uneasy feeling in his gut.

“You know I really could use a larger audience to practice my magic for. You know all of my tricks anyway.”

Darci claps her hands together

“Oh! That reminds me. Mare told me there’s a new bookstore in town. She was going on and on about how cute the guy who was working the counter was, but, more importantly, she mentioned there’s a huge selection of magic type books. Want to go check it out?”

“Sure,” Toby says. “That sounds like fun.”

He doubts there will be anything real there but maybe he can find some cool props to use for the next talent show.

~~~~

~~~~

Author Notes:

Steve has really come a long way. He was a major bully back in the beginning of the series. Hopefully we'll get to see more character development for him in Rise of the Titans. (Also more CreepslayerZ! I miss the CreepslayerZ.)

Jim grew up with Kanjigar and Merlin's training so his version of "going easy" is still really pushing it for an inexperienced human. It's going to be a while yet before Eli is not sore again.

Jim learned the Trollish constellations from Kanjigar. While he never took him to Trollmarket, Kanjigar did start taking him outside within Merlin's barrier. Stargazing was Jim's absolute favorite thing to do with him.

Next chapter we get to see Jim's visit to his old home before he became a troll!

If you like this be sure to tell me what you think :)

[chimaerakitten]

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2eF2BW8QhNO2UesloUNkuk?si=SfOWQO6CTQy28MPE0ndjMA)

so, now that I am officially free of both finals and my work on the TQT title sequence animation, I thought it would be a good time to turn to my other bit project for this fandom, Chi’s crazy-long chronological playlist. I started this. One week after ROTT came out. ONE WEEK. I thought I’d get it done and written up in two or three days. It is now. December the 15th. Two months. TWO MONTHS, THIS HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS

Bellow the cut: A writeup explaining the position of each song + a little bit more commentary on it from me (spoilers. everything is spoilers all the way through ROTT below the cut):

This is a mix of some pretty typical fanplaylist fare (there is. A lot of Bastille on here) some Queen’s Thief must-haves (can you really have a Queen of Attolia playlist without Achilles Come Down?) and my own really weird music taste (Filk like Tin Soldier and Courage Knows No Bounds)

Some of the ones I’m most proud of are Monster by Starset for the Mede camp scenes in ROTT (I mean, it starts with “Under the knife I surrendered” It’s kinda perfect) Laughter Lines for Relius and Teleus (I have it on good authority that that caused a lot of heart pain for other fans) and Soft to be Strong for Irene and Relius.

without further ado, the song list:

“Eddis”��Warriors

“Thief!”—Second Child, Restless Child

The Thief

Whatever it takes—“I can steal anything”

Tin Soldier—“Nobody would mistake you for anything but a tool, Gen.”

Centuries—“His name would be carved in stone on a stele outside the basilica, and mine would be written in the dust.”

Everybody Wants To Rule the World—“He doesn’t want the queen…He just wants the pass through the mountains so that he can invade Attolia.”

Patron Saint o’ Thieves—Eugenides and the Sky God’s Thunderbolts (I will be honest. This one was chosen based on title and Vibes, tm, not lyrics)

The Only Exception—“But if there hadn’t been one that I loved, I wouldn’t have landed myself in the king’s prison.”

Thief—Before braving the temple of the Aracthus.

Come Wayward Souls—Inside the temple.

History Has Its Eyes On You—The answered prayer for silence.

The Queen and the Soldier—“You are more beautiful, Your majesty... But she is more kind.”

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)—Walking to Eddis.

Stand By Me—“Oh, It’s you, Eugenides.”

Family—Helen, Eugenides, and the Minister of War.

“Destruction”—Dread Sovereign

The Queen of Attolia

Run Boy Run—The chase through the palace.

Icarus—Eugenides, caught.

When the Chips are Down—“I still think tradition might hold the best solution to my problems with you.”

Achilles Come Down—Eugenides, after returning to Eddis.

Heroes—The Secret War and the expectation that Eugenides will die soon.

Burn It Down—Burning Sounis’s navy.

Sit Still Look Pretty—“It was her fiancé who gave her the name shadow princess.”

Heroes and Thieves— “She pulled the bedclothes up as far as they would go and suppressed a perverse wish to have her old nurse come to chase away the darkness, perverse because she didn’t know if she wanted the shadows to be empty or not.”

Thousand Eyes—The plan to take Ephrata.

We Remain—“There’s an easier way for a man to become king,”

Black Water—“She reached up to push the wet hair out of her face, wondering when she had sunk so low that she had begun torturing boys.”

Simple Song—"I watched you walking between the rows of cabbages and then dancing under the orange trees. I was above you, in one of the trees.”

She’s Always a Woman—"Eugenides had accepted gladly and read carefully, trying to see whether Attolia could be the monster in human guise she was accused of being, or only a woman who ruled without the support of her barons.”

Queen of Peace—“Just asleep,” Eddis reassured her.”

I’m Not Calling You A Liar—“I sometimes believe his lies are the truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie.”

Losing My Religion—“You made a mistake,” Attolia agreed. “You trusted your gods. That was your mistake.”

Pompeii—The vision of the volcano.

All I’ve Ever Known—“Love I am not familiar with.”

Love Love Love—"Who am I, that you should love me?

A Healing In This Night—“And she believed him.”

The King of Attolia

Bow to the Crown— “He dropped to his knees before his queen and lowered his head almost to the floor.”

Shut up and Dance—"Her queen danced like a flame in the wind”

Carry Your Throne— It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife.”

It’s Alright—"If it was embarrassing to wake like a child screaming from a nightmare, how much more embarrassing to be the reason your husband woke screaming.”

Believer—“like a god revealed” and the fall of the house of Erondites.

I CHOOSE YOU— “He was very likable—Eddis would have married him.”

Hunger— “I did not say that I am afraid. He is, though, I think. Afraid of his own desire for power.”

Soft to Be Strong—"I have learned that there is a flaw in your philosophy. If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”

Gold—Eugenides on the crenellations.

True & Destined Prince—“He is an Annux, a king of kings.”

“Knife Dance”—Human

A Conspiracy of Kings

Things We Lost In The Fire—The raid on the villa.

Constellations—Sophos and Moira in the dream library.

Welcome Home, Son—“I didn’t want a choice; I wanted to stay right where I was and build walls and share poetry with an avid audience and enjoy a swim with friends, but I didn’t want it to be my choice.”

Words as Weapons— “Eugenides looked me in the eye as if I were a complete stranger and said, “The simplest way to end a war is to admit you have lost it.”

Share Your Address— “You made a proposal in your previous letter. Perhaps it was only hypothetical?” “It was not.”

I Love You—“When I was working in the fields, I knew how unfounded my hopes were,” he said. “I was a poor excuse for an heir of Sounis when I made the proposal and then became even less than that.”

Iron—“I will go to Melenze. And hope to delay the Medes long enough to find some other solution to their imperial expansion. Of course, that assumes the king and queen of Attolia intend to honor the laws of hospitality and allow me to travel safely to the border.”

Young Volcanoes—“Just what makes you think you can get away with that?” he asked the young man standing over him with a butter-won’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression incongruous on his scarred face.”

The Fates—Sophos’s naïve speech before the first vote.

Handmade Heaven—Shooting Hanaktos and Akretenesh, lifting a hand to the sky for a lightning bolt that will not come.

I Bet My Life—"There is no reason I can see that I would not be honored to join Eddis to you.”

Flaws—“Eddis stared at him for a long time, knowing that forgiving someone because you have to is not forgiving him at all.”

For The Dancing And The Dreaming—“Are you certain that you want to be my wife?” “Absolutely,” said Eddis, quietly. “Eternally certain.”

Blood Brothers—"He had been saved by the men Eugenides sent, though he did not yet know the ferocity with which the king of Attolia had stripped those men from other posts, the capital he had expended, the secrets that had been revealed in order to send help to Sounis.”

Thick as Thieves

I’ll Believe In Anything—"If there had been any alternative, I would have taken it, but I could see none, and there was no time for hesitation.”

You’ve Got A Friend In Me—“Head wounds bleed, but we can stitch it up, I’ve done it before, don’t be afraid. Kamet, I wouldn’t tell you this if it weren’t true. I swear to you, I am not going to leave your dead body beside the road to Perf. I didn’t come all the way to this godsforsaken cesspit so that I could go home and tell my king I failed him.”

Desert Song—Costis and Kamet crossing the empire, eating caggi.

Empire—"It would be possible, I supposed, for an outsider to see disruption and think the empire might collapse, but it was too all encompassing, too well sewn together to come apart. As each smaller nation was absorbed, it was integrated into the whole, enjoying all the benefits of being in the empire.”

Fell In Love With A Girl—Kamet’s story of Marin the dancing girl.

Foreigner’s God—Kamet’s encounter with Ennikar while Costis is in the well.

The Hell If I Go Home—Kamet trying to leave in Sukir.

Stray Italian Greyhound—“If you had told me in Sukir, I would have let you go.” / “Costis,” I said, using his name for the first time since he had told it to me, on board the riverboat at the start of our journey. “Costis, I’m sorry.”

Poet—"I began this narrative in the palace of Attolia but have only recently neared its completion. I will eventually send it to Relius, when I am sure it can be delivered without interception, and I hope he will be satisfied with my account, as I would be honored to have it added to his library.”

All This And Heaven Too—“Immakuk and Ennikar,” he said. “Where?” I snapped my head around to scan the dock, and he nudged me with his elbow. “Idiot. Us,” he said.”

Return of the Thief

How Far We’ve Come—Exordium.

The Great Escape—Pheris finding a place for himself.

The Heart Is a Muscle—“Someone loves me very much, even with all my faults”

I Will Wait—“His heart is unlikely to be in his work.”

Laughter Lines—Relius and Teleus saying goodbye.

Stole You Away—“Attolia says she leaves with you”

Poison & Wine—“I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes”

United at War—“Sounis will not run…nor Eddis.”

This is War—Arrival at Leonyla.

No Light, No Light—“All wars make men monsters, all wars and all men.”

Survivor’s Song—The Etisian winds came early.

Daniel in the Den—The ambush and the Mede Camp.

Monster—“Nahuseresh tells me I am not king. We’ll see if he really prefers the Thief.”

Natural—“Once, when I said he had saved me, you said I had saved him. From what?”

Tomorrow I Leave For Battle—Before the Naupent.

March of Cambreadth—The Naupent.

Courage Knows No Bounds—A pyre that burned for three days.

Bad Blood—The pardon of Sejanus.

Call the Names—The naming of Hector and Eugenia.

Here’s To Us—Dancing on the Roof.

I lived—Pheris, and the gods were pleased.

“Alyta’s Missing Earring”—Falling and Empire

final note: I did my best to have songs have at least one meaning in the pace they were put, plus more meaning when considering the series as a whole—for example, “Tin Soldier” appears early on in the context of the king of Sounis and the Magus using Gen as a tool, but if you loop back around to it after Return of the Thief, Gen being “weapon more than child” gains a whole new meaning. "She’s always a woman” is an Irene song in the context of QOA, but the more we learn about Helen, the more it applies to her, etc. etc. Not every song is like that, but I wanted to give the playlist at least a bit of re-listen value, in the spirit of the books’ reread value.

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette/Lila Fake-Dating/Emotional Blackmail: Betting Against the House: Chapter Eight

Read it on AO3: Betting Against the House: Chapter Eight: Revelation

Adrien woke a little before sunrise with strands of hair in his mouth and Marinette’s pointy collarbone probably leaving an imprint on his cheek.

He was a little too warm, despite the fact that they had fallen asleep snuggling on top of the covers, and his street clothes felt stiff and uncomfortable.

Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to move. He wanted to lie there with Marinette forever, memorizing her scent and tracing constellations out of the moles on her arm. He didn’t want to return to the rest of the world…reality…Lila.

Marinette breathed in deeply, shifting beneath him and blinking heavy eyelids open.

Reluctantly, Adrien lifted his head and smiled down at her in awe.

“Good morning, My Princess,” he whispered, his breath causing her hair to stir ever so slightly.

She grinned up at him, barely able to contain her joy at this proof that it hadn’t all been a dream.

“Good morning, Chaton,” she chuckled, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair.

He let himself float in that moment, indulging himself just a bit before he forced himself to look up at the alarm clock on the shelf above Marinette’s bed in order to confirm what he already knew.

“I should go,” he sighed, already missing her. “I need to get back before they come to wake me.”

“Okay,” she unwillingly agreed, even though if she could have had her way, they would never have to be separated.

She lifted her lips to his in a quick, bolstering kiss. “Come pick me up on your way to school. We’ll go face this together.”

“You’re not going to make me late, are you?” he snickered teasingly.

She rolled her eyes and batted him on the arm. “I’ll be early.”

“Mmhm,” he hummed with a smirk that revealed how little faith he had in her ability to get up on time.

“I will,” she insisted. “Now go, you silly cat. Don’t get caught…. I’ll be waiting for you.”

He stole another quick kiss, assuring, “I’ll look forward to it, My Lady.”

He transformed with a wink and escaped through the skylight.

 When Adrien returned a few short hours later, he didn’t expect Marinette to be ready.

He came in through the bakery and noted how slow it seemed for a Monday morning. Perhaps the first wave of the rush had already hit and this was just the lull between periods of manic chaos.

Adrien waved to Théo Barbot at the register (that man seemed to have part-time jobs everywhere) and wondered if he still had a crush on Ladybug.

Théo gave a polite nod back and bid him good morning.

Tom came out from around back just then with a fresh tray of baguettes and stopped when he spotted Adrien.

He turned to Théo, handing him the tray. “Can you man the ship alone for about ten minutes? Thanks. Call up if it gets too crazy.”

Without waiting for Théo to respond, Tom turned to Adrien and motioned for him to follow.

“Marinette is shoveling down her breakfast at the moment, but she should be finished soon,” he informed as he led Adrien through the back and up the stairs to the apartment.

“No worries,” Adrien assured with a fond chuckle. “I figured she’d be at least a little late, but I don’t mind. We’ve still got plenty of time.”

“This is actually a record for her,” Tom hummed distractedly.

It was then that Adrien noticed the lack of the usual joviality in Tom’s voice and the tension knotting up his broad shoulders.

Adrien gulped. “…So…what exactly did Marinette tell you about why we’re friends again now?”

Tom sighed, opening the apartment door for Adrien. “She told us the truth.”

“Oh,” Adrien breathed, voice tight, throat dry.

His insides twisted up when saw the tormented look in Tom’s eyes.

Adrien looked away and slunk inside of the apartment, muttering, “It’s not a big deal. I’m fine.”

He could see in Tom’s eyes that he was blaming himself, beating himself up for not knowing, not realizing something was wrong, not helping.

Adrien appreciated that Tom cared so much, but, at the same time, it was painful. It poked at the old, infected wound in Adrien’s heart that knew that his own father’s reaction would be so far divorced from Tom’s. It just reminded Adrien of what he should have…what he didn’t have…what he would never have.

“Adrien!” Marinette cried through a mouthful of granola and yogurt, scrambling up from the table and nearly upsetting her chair and her drinking chocolate as she rushed towards her boyfriend.

Adrien’s mood immediately lifted as he caught her in his arms and spun her around.

“I missed you so much,” he chuckled into her hair, squeezing her just as tightly as she was squeezing him.

She pulled back with a laugh. “You just saw me.”

He shrugged. “So what? I bet you missed me too, didn’t you?”

She averted her gaze in an attempt to hide her blush, claiming, “Lucky guess,” as she poked the tip of his nose, making him smile harder.

“Marinette?” Sabine called from the kitchen. “Why don’t you finish your breakfast, Dear? You don’t want to make Adrien late.”

“Coming,” Marinette called back, giving Adrien a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to her meal.

Sabine stepped out of the kitchen wearing a serious expression that made Adrien shudder. She was angry, and Adrien had seen her use a bread peel as a weapon before, so he was concerned for the safety of whomever she had in her sights.

“Adrien, may we talk to you?” It wasn’t so much a question as a politely disguised pronouncement. They were going to talk whether he wanted to or not.

He wondered if this was what it felt like to have a real parent, one who took an interested, hands-on approach to raising a child.

Suddenly, he wasn’t sure if he liked it or if what he had seemed better.

“Can we…not?” he pleaded through a grimace.

Sabine shook her head, closing the distance between them and pulling him into a hug.

And then Tom was there too, and they were both holding Adrien and petting his hair and his cheeks and swaying from side to side, and Adrien was trying not to cry and failing pathetically.

Silent tears dribbled down his cheeks as he sniffled and tried to protest, “I’m fine”.

“It’s all right, Son,” Tom soothed, giving Adrien’s back a supportive pat. “It’s going to be okay.”

Sabine pulled back just enough to look up at Adrien while still keeping her hands on his arms. “Adrien, Honey, what’s been happening to you isn’t okay. This is very serious. Now, have you told anyone about this? Your father? A teacher?”

Adrien shook his head, keeping his eyes averted. “No one would believe me, even if I did tell them. I mean, I told Nino last week, but I made him swear not to say anything because everyone would be on Lila’s side, and then she’d find out I told, and she’d hurt Marinette, so…”

He looked back up at Sabine with entreating eyes. “I’d really rather we just deal with this privately. I really am fine. I don’t want this to be a big deal because it’s really not.”

Tom and Sabine exchanged a look, having an entire conversation without words.

“Adrien, it really is,” Tom stressed, placing his hand on Adrien’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

Sabine nodded in resolute agreement. “I personally think this is a matter for the authorities, but we’re at least going to talk to your father.”

“Good luck getting an appointment,” Adrien snorted darkly.

“Oh, Adrien,” Sabine sighed, pulling him back into a hug. “It breaks my heart that you didn’t feel like there was a single person you could trust with this.”

“You should have told someone,” Tom added gently. “This is a problem for adults to deal with. You shouldn’t have had to go it alone for so long.”

“How could I go to an adult when the adults were initially the ones causing the problem by believing Lila over Marinette?” Adrien wondered bitterly. “There wasn’t anyone to trust.”

“It’s okay now,” Marinette cooed, sliding back in on Adrien’s left to loosely slip her arms around his waist. “We’re going to be okay, and, going forward, you know you can come to us with anything, right?”

“We’re here for you, Son,” Tom promised, giving Adrien’s shoulder another squeeze.

“Whatever you need,” Sabine insisted with a soft, affectionate look in her eyes that reminded him of when he was small and believed nothing bad could ever happen to him so long as his mother was holding his hand.

“Thanks,” Adrien hiccupped, feeling completely out of his element.

He didn’t know what to do with so much unconditional love and support, and he wasn’t exactly sure he trusted them yet.

A lot of people had let him down spectacularly over the years. He wasn’t sure that Tom and Sabine would be any different…but he was willing to give them a chance.

 “Please let me handle this,” Adrien begged after he’d cleaned his face up and he and Marinette were walking the block to school.

Marinette gave his hand a squeeze even as she snorted in discontent. “Fine, but know that I’m conscientiously objecting to this. I’d rather rip her face off and expose her as a fraud and a predator in front of the whole school.”

“Ladybug can’t go around ripping people’s faces off,” Adrien snickered softly into her ear as he pressed a grateful kiss to the side of her head.

“No, but Marinette can,” she countered.

“No,” he chuckled. “Marinette can’t either.”

“Don’t think your lawyers could get me off on the charges?” she hummed teasingly.

He rolled his eyes. “Seriously, though. I don’t want this to be a big deal. I don’t want a scene, and I don’t want her to turn into an akuma. I just want this to be over as quietly and painlessly as possible.”

“…Okay,” she agreed in earnest as they climbed the school steps. “I know. I get it. I just…want her to suffer like she’s made you suffer.”

Adrien shook his head. “Taking revenge never ends well. Besides, she’s not going to change for the better if you expose and humiliate her. Have you ever heard of ‘kill them with kindness’ or ‘malicious compliance’?”

Marinette arched an eyebrow. “I’m guessing you’re a master at both.”

“I am, indeed,” he affirmed as they went through the main entrance and began their trek across the courtyard.

Most of their classmates were gathered off to the side, clustered around one of the benches upon which Nino was standing, addressing the crowd.

“Wonder what they’re up to,” Marinette hummed.

Chloé was the first to spot them, and, when she did, she made a mad dash for Adrien, leaping through the air so that he had to let go of Marinette’s hand and catch her.

“Adri-chou!!!” she cried. “Why did you never tell me?!”

“Tell you what?” Adrien responded, totally perplexed.

“I can’t believe this,” Alya declared, shaking her head.

Others were shaking their heads too, and their faces all showed anger, distress, or shellshocked expressions.

“That doesn’t sound like something Lila would do at all,” Kim agreed, looking around at the others for confirmation.

“I always knew I hated that witch,” Chloé seethed as Adrien put her down. “I’m going to have Daddy throw her in prison for this. She’s not going to get away with it.”

All the blood drained from Adrien’s face as he turned a look of befuddled, betrayed disbelief on his best friend. “Ninoooo! How could you?! You promised not to say anything!”

“Mec, I just couldn’t stay silent and watch anymore. I’m sorry.” He shrugged his shoulders helplessly, his eyes pleading for forgiveness.

“I told you they wouldn’t believe me,” Adrien groaned, looking to Marinette who took his hand back in hers and gave it a squeeze in solidarity.

“Adrien,” Alya begged, “is Nino for real? Tell me that this is a joke.”

“Of course it’s real!” Chloé snapped, stepping protectively in front of Adrien. “How could you doubt Adrien like that?! I’ve been trying to tell you all along that Lila was garbage, but you all didn’t listen. Now just look what she’s done to Adrien.”

Marinette stepped in to back Chloé up and add some credibility to her outburst of temper. “It’s all true. Lila’s been a liar from the very beginning. All the things she’s said she’s done, all the people she says she knows…it’s all a lie.”

The class stared, dumbstruck, and then, as one, they turned to Adrien.

He took a deep breath. “I know it’s my word against hers, but what Nino told you is true. Lila’s been blackmailing me for years so that I’d be friendly with her in exchange for her not trying to hurt Marinette or spreading malicious rumors about her. Lila’s latest price increase was for me to pretend to date her.”

Confused whispers began to buzz amongst the class as they each grappled with this perspective-warping information.

“There you have it,” Chloé snorted as if the matter was settled. “Now, what are we going to do about it?”

“Nothing,” Adrien objected, moving in closer to address his classmates.

“Nothing?” Nino demanded incredulously. “Adrien, I’m not gonna let Lila continue to walk all over you. I’m done. I can’t take anymore.”

“Look. I have a plan, but you’re all going to have to play along, okay?” Adrien motioned for them to gather in closer.

Some remained skeptical but did as asked, hearing Adrien out and reserving judgment for later when their heads weren’t spinning.

“I just want this to be over,” Adrien explained. “Lila’s not going to magically become a better person if we all turn on her and treat her like crap. She’s only going to change when she finds that her old tactics no longer work, so what we’re going to do is pretend that nothing is wrong.”

“How is this going to help?” Chloé huffed, pursing her lips like a duck and crossing her arms sullenly.

“One, it hopefully won’t get Lila akumatized,” Adrien pointed out. “You all know she’s a manipulative liar now, so you can be on the lookout when she tries to deceive you in the future.”

“So…we what? Keep being friends with her?” Rose sought to clarify, feeling utterly lost.

Adrien nodded. “Just keep acting like nothing’s changed. Only, when she says something, take it with a grain of salt. Fact-check her. Maybe when her lies stop having the desired effect, she’ll stop lying all the time. Maybe she’ll learn that she doesn’t have to lie to get people to be friends with her.”

“Maybe she’ll turn into even more of monster than she is now if we let her get away with this,” Juleka grumbled.

Adrien winced. “Maybe. You’re right. This plan could totally backfire, but I’d much rather try it and give her a chance to get her act together than back her into a corner and ensure that she becomes a monster,” he stressed, trying desperately to convince them. “There has got to be something salvageable inside of her. I don’t think she’s actually a bad person.”

Chloé snorted. “I think she’s a bad person. I’m an excellent judge of character. I can tell these things.”

“She’s definitely a bad person,” Marinette muttered, reluctantly agreeing with her rival.

“Marinette,” Adrien whined. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side,” she assured. “I don’t have to subscribe to your ideology in order to go along with your plan and support you. That menace has been threatening me and giving me grey hair for years now. I’m allowed to think she’s a bad person.”

“Hold up,” Alya growled. “She’s been threatening you?”

Sadly, Marinette nodded.

“Oh, Girl,” Alya breathed mournfully as she pushed through the crowd to wrap her best friend in a fierce hug. “Marinette, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“You believed Lila’s lies,” Marinette whispered. “You wouldn’t have believed me.”

Alya pulled back with a stricken look on her face. She opened her mouth to insist that she would have believed her best friend…but then a little tendril of doubt wriggled into her mind.

Would she have believed Marinette? She was having trouble believing what Adrien was telling her to be true, and she knew that Adrien had no reason to lie.

How deluded had Alya been over the years? She liked to think of herself as a good judge of character, but…she considered Lila a close friend. If all of that was a lie…what else had she been missing?

It was clear that some serious reflection would be necessary once she got home that evening where she could sit and think things through.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Alya whispered, knowing that it wasn’t enough but hoping that it was a good start.

Marinette’s lips pulled into a weak smile, and she rested a hand on Alya’s arm. “It’s…okay.” The words were difficult for her after everything she’d suffered, but she wanted to say them. She wanted to start to heal the rift between her and her best friend. “You’re a victim of Lila’s lies too.”

“Adrien, I’m pretty sure Lila is evil,” Juleka jumped in, putting them back on task as she tucked her bangs back out of her eyes.

Adrien groaned in defeat. “Okay. Fine. Maybe, but maybe she’s not, and, if she’s not, the right thing to do would be to help her realize her potential to be a good, functioning member of society, right?”

The class seemed unsure.

Nino stepped in and slid an arm supportively around Adrien’s shoulders. “Come on, guys. Adrien’s the biggest victim in all of this. Let’s do him a favor and live in his optimistic fairytale world for a bit, yeah? Happily ever after and all that.”

With a chorus of shrugs and grumbles, they all seemed to agree.

“I’m only doing this for Adrien,” Chloé loudly informed them.

“You and me both,” Marinette snorted.

“Guys, I don’t think Lila has ever had friends before,” Adrien tried to appeal to them once more. “I kind of know what that’s like, and I also know how intimidating it can be meeting new people, hoping that they’ll like you. Maybe lying was her way of trying to get people to like her, but it got completely out of control. Maybe she just needs to see that people can like her even without all the lies.”

“Or maybe she’s just evil,” Chloé hissed. “I don’t know how you can defend someone who’s put you through so much.”

“It’s because he has a truly good heart,” Marinette informed as she sidled up beside Adrien, wrapping her arms around his waist. “He’s a hero. Our Everyday Chat Noir.”

“I try,” Adrien chuckled, blushing as Marinette placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Whoa!” Alya exclaimed. “Hold on! When did this happen?!”

“Last night when I found out what he’d been doing for me all this time,” Marinette hummed happily.

“Oh my gosh!” Rose trilled. “Details! Details!”

“Details later,” Adrien assured, separating from Marinette with a gulp. “Lila’s here. I’m going to go break up with her, and I need you all to act like you feel really sorry for her and to comfort her so that she doesn’t get akumatized and kill me and Marinette. Okay?”

“Oh, we’re going to comfort the tar out of her,” Juleka promised, slipping her hand into Rose’s and giving it a squeeze.

“On it!” Rose cheered. “For the sake of friendship and true love!”

“She’s not getting through us,” Alya assured, looking like she was ready to fight a pack of wild bears with her bare hands.

“Wish me luck,” Adrien sighed, striding forward to meet Lila halfway for the final showdown.

“Good luck, Man,” Nino encouraged, giving Adrien a pat on the shoulder as he passed.

[slytherinbarnes]

Sub Rosa [15]

ii. inclement weather 

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Language, allusions to past assault, mentions of nausea.

Summary: Being locked up sucks, especially when Shumway is locked in the cell beside yours. 

a/n: happy show day! so many of you liked the twist from the last chapter, and I’m glad! season 2 is my FAVORITE season of the 100, so I’m very excited to share this season with you guys. As always, feedback is appreciated and the taglist for this series is open!

previous chapter // season masterlist // series masterlist

You turn away from Bellamy when you hear the doors slide open behind you. 

You both stand, watching as Kane hands off his gun and steps into your shared cell, gaze already hardened as he looks at you both. You step closer to him and ask, “How long are you going to keep us locked in here?”

“Until I'm confident neither of you are no longer a threat to others.” He pulls out a chair and sets it in the middle of the room, getting comfortable. “Let’s continue.”

He gestures to the two chairs in front of him, side by side, and you and Bellamy exchange a glance before settling into them, resuming the interrogation from earlier. “Now you said there were hundreds of Grounders attacking. 200, 300?”

“We were too busy getting killed to count.” 

Kane glares at you, but ignores your tone. “Why do you think they attacked? What provoked them?”

Bellamy answers first, “We were here. That was enough.” His voice grows louder as his frustration grows. “We’re wasting time. The others didn't just vanish into thin air. They were taken, and we need to go after them!”

“A search team is prepping to leave, but not before we've gotten the intel we need from the two of you.”

You lean forward in your seat, voice begging. “We need to be on that team, please.”

“That’s out of the question. Neither of you are trained. It’s too dangerous.”

“Those are our people out there!”

Kane ignores your outburst. “They’re my people, too. You want to help them? Tell me what we're up against... Grounder tactics, their numbers, what kind of weapons they used.”

Bellamy answers for you, “Arrows and spears, axes, swords. Their teeth.”

“No guns? You had guns.”

He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. “The guns we found at the aid depot leveled the playing field, and maybe, maybe if we'd had more bullets, we could have-”

Kane cuts him off, “There were more bullets.” You and Bellamy turn to each other as Kane adds, “Search team just returned from the bunker. They found two more barrels full of rifles and a third filled with bullets.”

You feel a look of horror pass over your face, and Bellamy whispers, “We should have looked harder.”

The door slides open, ending the conversation, and two guards pull Murphy into the cell. You and Bellamy both stand, angry. “What’s he doing here?”

“Excuse me, sir. Dr. Griffin cleared Mr. Murphy out of medical.”

Kane nods, “Put him over there, Major Byrne.”

They lead Murphy to one side of the cell, and force you and Bellamy to the other side, grunting, “On your knees. Come on.”

You both comply, and the guard slips cuffs around each of your wrists, and then attach you to a support beam in the middle of the room. Murphy catches your glare and mutters, “Well, this should be fun.”

Kane looks over at him, ready to respond, when the sound of gunshots pop off in the distance, and the room jumps into action. “Let’s go! Move, move, move! Go, go, go!”

You’re all forced to watch the retreating figures run from the cell and out into the camp in search of the sound, while you’re all left behind, glaring at each other from opposite sides of the room.

A voice reaches you from the next cell over, “Wonder what that’s all about.” You cringe at the sound of it, the voice that haunts your nightmares. Kane’s interrogations were pointless, but they had given you temporary reprieve from him. 

Murphy eyes the man in curiosity. “Who’s that?”

“No one.” You snap back.

“It breaks my heart to hear you say that.” His voice grows closer, and you know he’s moved until he’s standing just on the other side of the wall, but you don’t turn to face him. “I thought we were closer than that, little la lune.”

Your skin crawls at the sounds of your nickname coming from his mouth, and you fail to suppress the chill that scurries down your spine. Beside you, Bellamy yells, “Shut up, Shumway!”

He laughs, “No need to get defensive, Bellamy, we’re just having a little fun.”

You can feel your emotions rising, threatening to spill out and over, and Bellamy must sense it too, because he reaches for you. The restraints keep him from offering anything more than a hand to hold, but you take it, grateful. You close your eyes and focus on the feel of his hand in yours, warm, safe, and picture the night sky, tracing constellations from memory. 

When you feel yourself grow calmer, your eyes open and land on Murphy, who’s giving you a strange look. You see his gaze bounce between a tensed up Bellamy, your intertwined hands, and then to Shumway, and an odd expression passes over his face, almost like he’s tucking the information away for later. You’re about to throw an insult over to him when the sound of Raven screaming cuts through the camp and into the room. 

“Yeah. That was me at the Grounder camp. You now, I did everything I could to not scream, but eventually…”

You glare at Murphy, and Bellamy tenses even further, grounding out, “But eventually, you broke and you told them everything.”

“And you wouldn't have because you're better than me.” He says it like a statement, not a question, but Bellamy answers him anyways. 

“Damn right. I’m not a traitor. I didn't tell them where they could find us.”

“And I did. Yeah, I did. After they tortured me in their prison camp for 3 days, but go ahead. You just keep on believing, even if you are in here just like me.”

Bellamy opens his mouth to answer, but Shumway beats him to it. “Three days?” He lets out a low whistle. “Too bad they didn’t get you, Bellamy.”

You spin around, finally allowing your anger to run free. “Shut up, Shumway! You worthless, pathetic, piece of shit! Just shut up!”

He smirks, and his eyes drop down to your hand, intertwined with Bellamy’s, now in his view. His smirk grows. “Now this is interesting.”

He looks like he wants to say more, but you can hear a set of doors slide open, and he turns around. A muffled voice reaches your ears, “Shumway, you’re coming with us.”

“Why?”

“We just lost three of the Guard, and the Chancellor wants everyone with weapon experience on watch.”

You try to stand, held back by your restraints, and yell out in protest, “You’re gonna give him a weapon? He’s a psychopath! You can’t let him go!”

Shumway flashes you a smile over his shoulder. “I hope you haven’t forgotten about our deal. I’ll come to collect once you’re out.”

The words drop you back down on your knees, and nausea rolls through you, nearly pushing its way out of your chest and onto the floor. You hear your blood rushing in your ears, and beyond that, muffled words from Bellamy. You shake your head to clear it, his words now coming through. “Don’t listen to him. I’m not going to let him near you, do you understand? I’m going to keep you safe.”

You feel yourself nod, and he squeezes your hand. “You should try to get some rest, you’ve barely slept in days.”

And as if his words remind you, you finally notice the heavy feeling in your limbs and your eyes. The emotions and trauma of the last few days stretch and blanket over you, weighing you down further. You nod again and lean against him, dropping your head onto his shoulder and allow sleep to take you. 

-

A hand closes over your arm and shakes you gently, and you wake with a start. Finn is kneeling in front of you, pulling a pair of bolt clippers from his bag. “Get up. We’re going after them.”

He cuts your hands free, then Bellamy’s, who quips, “It’s about time.”

You both stand and start for the door, but Murphy stops you. “Wait, wait. What about me?”

Bellamy bends down and lifts the discarded bolt cutters and walks towards Murphy. For a second, you think he’s going to knock him out with them, and Murphy must think the same, because he cowers behind his hands. Instead, Bellamy cuts the lead on his cuffs, keeping him restrained but allowing him to leave. Finn protests behind you, “No! What are you doing?”

Bellamy pulls him to his feet, “He’s coming with us.”

You cut your eyes towards Bellamy and your brows furrow in confusion and Finn responds, “No way.”

“He’s been to the Grounder prison camp.”

“He’s right. I can bring you there.”

Finn considers this, then lets out a quiet sigh. “Fine.”

He heads for the open door, past Monroe who is waving you through as she keeps watch down a separate hallway. You follow Finn out of the building and along the back of the camp, until he slips underneath the fence in a poorly guarded area. You all duck beneath the wire and follow, running towards the wall of trees that line the camp, using them for cover. Bellamy whispers, “You don't think anyone saw us?”

Finn turns around and gives him a sharp look. “Shh. Keep it down.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, a pair of flashlights land on you, and you all freeze in place. You start to contemplate how far you can run before they can get a shot off, when a familiar voice cuts through your thoughts. “You're late.”

They lower the flashlights, and you see her, your mother, along with a member of the guard that you’ve never seen before. As soon as your eyes land on her, you think of your father, and what she did to save you. Conflicting emotions run through you, but guilt stays at the forefront, strong and heavy. Your mom passes Finn a pistol, and the guard passes the rifle in his hand to Bellamy. “Here. Find my son. His name is Nathan Miller.”

Bellamy nods and the guard un-shoulders a second rifle and passes it to you, and your mom’s gaze bounces over each one of you. “Bring them home.”

Finn starts to run off, followed by Monroe and Sterling. Bellamy pushes Murphy ahead, and you bring up the rear. As you pass your mom, she grabs your arm to stop you. “Bring Clarke home.”

You look up and see tears in her eyes, and she brushes a finger over the moon around your neck. “And stay safe.”

“I will.”

She drops her hand and releases you, and you jog off, turning around to look at her one last time. Her eyes meet yours and she gives you a sad smile, before you turn back around and catch up with the others. 

-

next chapter

[tripleaxeldiaz]

all was golden when the day met the night

chapter 2/5

read on ao3

start from the beginning

The bell above the door to Armageddon dings as Eddie steps inside, met with the blast of air conditioning and loud music (he recognizes the band, it’s one Buck has played for him before. 10 Years Sturdy? Something like that.). He’s exhausted after a day of back-to-back-to-back deliveries, including two weddings, some kind of charity gala, and a funeral. He does arrangements for funerals often enough, but he still can’t get over the way his stomach turns every time he walks into a funeral home. The memories of being in one, after his last tour especially, mourning his brothers and sisters in arms never leave him alone. They coil around his brain, reminding him that they would be here if he had saved them, if he had been a better leader, a better soldier.

So he’s physically and emotionally exhausted, and all he wants to do is pick up Chris, go home, shower, and sleep for 48 hours. It’s only Wednesday, and he does have work in the morning, but the thought is still nice.

He heads towards the back room, waving at Chimney who gives him a salute back, not looking up from whatever he’s doing on his client’s calf. The guy hisses in pain, and Eddie snorts as Chim rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

As he enters the back office/lounge, he sees Chris and Buck hunched over the table against the side wall, heads leaning together, the surface covered in discarded sketches and crumpled drawings deemed too terrible to save. He sees them like this more often than not, whether in this room or The Greenhouse’s back room or his kitchen table, but it never fails to settle something in him. It’s been Chris and him against the world for so long, it’s nice to have another person in their corner, someone they can rely on. Not to mention, Chris has been Buck’s shadow pretty much from the word go, and Buck always seems genuinely happy to hang out with him. The day they met, Chris spent almost a full hour asking Buck about every tattoo he could see, Buck patiently explaining each one in as much detail as he could give an eight year old. When he offered to show him some of his paper drawings and give him some pointers on his own, Chris had looked at him like he couldn’t quite believe he was real, like he had just offered to draw him a new constellation in the night sky.

Like father, like son.

“He really loves that kid.” Eddie turns towards the soft voice behind him, sees Maddie with a small smile on her face. “I think he likes having someone to teach that doesn’t talk back as much as Chim and me.”

Eddie smiles as he looks back, sees Buck offer a hand for a high five before ruffling Chris’s hair affectionately. “He’s an easy kid to love, that’s for sure.”

“Dad! Come look, Buck taught me how to draw snakes!”

Eddie walks over to the table, peers down at pages of cartoon snakes in various positions. He can see the progression of Chris’s practicing on the pages, going from shaky and unsure to something more realistic as Buck guided him.

“You were halfway there dude, you just needed some help with the movement,” Buck says as Chris preens.

“These look great, buddy. Can you stick them in your backpack so we can get going?”

Chris gathers up his good drawings, pushing the rest of them into the trash can under the table. He picks up his crutches and makes his way to the other side of the room to his backpack and coat.

“Thanks again for watching him, I really thought we’d be done with deliveries by the time school was over,” Eddie says. Buck just shakes his head, a smile similar to Maddie’s on his face as he watches Chris.

“It’s never a problem, Chris is awesome. He offered to hold a girl’s hand that Maddie was working on because it was her first tattoo and she was scared. And then I got to draw with him! That’s definitely a win for me.” Buck looks back at him, and Eddie feels the warm glow of his smile try to sink into his chest. It would’ve, too, if he wasn’t still on edge from his visit to the funeral home. He can feel that his returning smile doesn’t meet his eyes, and Buck looks at him for a moment before setting a hand on his shoulder. Eddie tries his best not to melt at the touch, but feeling the heat through his shirt doesn’t make it easy. “Hey, you good?” Buck asks quietly. “He can keep hanging here for a while if you need some alone time.”

Buck doesn’t know everything. He knows Eddie did two tours, and Eddie had let him draw his own conclusions on how that may have affected him. Whatever Buck thought, he didn’t know the truth, didn’t know the poison sloshing around in his soul, the constant reminder of the light he left behind in Afghanistan and the blackness he brought back instead. And Eddie will do everything he can to keep Buck in the dark, to make sure he never sees those ugly parts of him that even Eddie can’t fully face.

But god does he make it hard. When he looks at him like this, earnest and open, like he can see right through Eddie, all he wants to do is break. Let the poison come spilling out because he knows Buck will help him clean it all up and get rid of it, maybe for good. But he’ll get burned in the process too, and Eddie refuses to let that happen.

So he just shakes his head, forces his smile to a normal size, pats Buck’s arm that’s still holding onto him. “I’m alright man, but thanks. We’ll see you tomorrow, say goodnight Chris.”

“Bye Buck! Thank you!” Chris wraps his arms around Buck’s middle, while Buck bends in half to squeeze back. 

They leave with a wave, say their goodbyes to Chim and Maddie too as they walk out the door. Chris doesn’t stop talking about his afternoon with Buck until he’s tucked into bed. As Eddie goes to bed himself, he tries not to think about a warm body with blonde curls and legs for days taking up the spot next to him, wrapping him in his arms, keeping him safe from the monsters that wait for him in the dark.

~~~~~~~~~~

His brain doesn’t really care what he does or doesn’t want to think about, it seems. 

The dream starts as it often does: he’s in the desert, hiding from enemy fire behind the wreckage of his helicopter, surrounded by the corpses of comrades that he couldn’t save. The others, still alive, are looking at him, outraged and not fighting back, like they already know he’s led them to their deaths. Bullets ricochet off the metal, and one by one the bodies fall, blood spilling out of them, flowing towards him. He’s surrounded by noise and heat and death, and the blood keeps coming, soaking into his boots, staining his skin. He drops his weapon, knowing there’s no use in fighting back. He waits for the inevitable bursts of pain when the bullets finally get him, but after that, he knows it’ll be nothing but blissful, all encompassing silence.

Except this time, when he falls into the darkness that usually wakes him up, he’s not alone. He catches glimpses of sky blue eyes, a lopsided grin, a birthmark that looks like a kiss from the heavens. He sees skin covered in intricate patterns and designs, the ink coming to life as he reaches out to touch. He can’t quite reach it, but it doesn’t matter because he feels safe. Protected. This presence, this warmth that’s surrounding him, makes him feel centered in a way that he hasn’t since...he can’t remember when. And he can’t do anything but sink into it, wrap himself up and burrow into it like he knows he won’t allow himself the same luxury when the sun comes up. It feels like home, like salvation. Like the thing Eddie’s been needing to make him feel right again.

So he takes. He knows it’s just a dream, so he takes and he takes, and he doesn’t feel bad. 

When he wakes with a start, hands twisted in his sheets, he desperately tries to hold onto as much detail as he can, but it’s all slipping away as he becomes more and more conscious. Some things stay — the eyes, the smile. The overwhelming warmth. And there’s an ache, too. A longing, physical ache that still lingers in his chest even now that he’s awake.

He tries to breathe through it, but then he remembers whose eyes those are, and it pulls him under all over again.

“Shit,” he whispers into the night.

~~~~~~~~~~

The ache is still there as he opens the shop the next day, dull but ever present. He’s pretty self aware, so the depth of his feelings for Buck isn’t news, but he really thought he’d have gotten over it by now. He thought Buck would have stopped in one day to get flowers for someone that wasn’t Eddie, and Eddie would have been crushed, but he’d have been able to start the process of moving on. 

But Buck hasn’t done that. He’s gone on dates, but no more than one or two, always claiming they “just weren’t right for each other.” And Eddie’s dumb heart fluttered every time he said that, and his feelings kept growing and growing, and now they’re physically hurting him and haunting his dreams.

He’s so, so screwed.

The bell above the door dings, and of course it’s Buck, the one time Eddie doesn’t actually want to talk to him. Eddie feels the ache grow, feels it pushing at his ribs, but there’s also that warmth and sense of safety from his dream. That feeling he always gets around Buck, no matter what. It’s hot and cold at the same time, and he can’t even begin to figure out how to process that.

“You know, if you keep glaring like that, you’re gonna scare off your customers. Your smile is a much nicer greeting in the morning.”

Eddie snorts and rolls his eyes, not fighting said smile that spreads on his face. It’s almost scary how easily Buck can get him to relax. “Says the man with the leather jacket and a nose ring.”

“Hey, I have a very sunny disposition, even if the clothes don’t match. Plus nose rings are cool, not scary.”

“Whatever you say. Here for your flowers?”

Buck smiles brightly, and there goes Eddie’s heart again. “Yep. Whatever you’re feeling.”

Eddie reaches towards the cases of flowers and pauses, because the only thing he’s feeling is how much he wants to grab Buck by the collar and kiss him until they can’t breathe. How much he wants to wake up next to him, cook breakfast with him, make a life with him. How he’s the first person he’s even thought about showing his darkest parts to because he’s getting tired of carrying them all by himself, and he trusts Buck intrinsically to shine his light on them and start to make them better. Start to make Eddie better in the process.

He cannot, however, say any of that out loud. So he settles for the next best thing.

Aster, gardenia, and pink camellia. Trust, love and longing. It’s unbelievably on the nose, but as he hands the bouquet to Buck, he feels a little lighter. Not like he’s getting over it, but like the pressure of holding it all in has been released just enough that Eddie doesn’t feel like he’s drowning. When Buck waves goodbye, he smiles a little easier, because he did tell Buck, in his own way, and he didn’t have to subject him to any of his mess to do so. 

So maybe this is fine. Maybe he can handle these one-sided love declarations that only he understands. Maybe, maybe, he can make this work, until his heart decides it’s had its fill and starts to move on. 

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s definitely not working. 

Because rather than working it out and moving on like he thought he would, rather than feeling the relief he felt the first time, he just wants more. With every mallow, moonflower, and red tulip he hands over to Buck, he wants to let him know exactly what they mean, exactly how Eddie feels about him.

But anytime he even entertains the idea of coming clean, that little voice in his head reminds him that it doesn’t matter because he’s not enough. If he tells Buck how he feels, he’ll just laugh in his face because even he knows that Eddie wouldn’t be able to give him everything he wants. No matter how supportive he may seem, Buck will take one look at the shredded bits of Eddie that he keeps locked away and leave, because no amount of goodness and light will ever be able to put them back together in a way that resembles someone worthy of that goodness.

Eddie’s never been able to ignore that voice, so he listens and keeps his mouth shut and keeps hoping that one day, he’ll give Buck a bouquet and all of his pent up feelings will just disappear along with it.

A month on, and that day still hasn’t come. It’s cool this morning, so Buck’s leaning over the counter in a hoodie and black beanie, shivering slightly, and Eddie wants to wrap his arms around him and warm him up himself. Or better yet, take him up to his apartment, wrap him in his comforter, and never let him leave.

They talk like normal, and Eddie’s glad he can keep this part up, that their friendship hasn’t suffered any outward damages just because he can’t get his shit together. Hen joins them while Eddie is wrapping Buck’s flowers, and pauses briefly when she sees what Eddie picked out — orange lily and marigold, desire and pain. A strange mix, but it’s exactly what Eddie’s feeling.  He wants Buck so bad it’s starting to hurt.

Buck, thankfully, just smiles as Eddie hands the bouquet off. “These are perfect. Not quite as perfect as our friendly neighborhood florist, but they’re coming in at a close second.”

Eddie just shakes his head, blushing as always. Buck winks, waves to Hen, and steps out the door, letting in a hint of chill as he leaves.

As soon as the door clicks shut, Hen turns to Eddie, fixing him with a pointed look that almost makes him flinch.

“What?” he asks, straightening up the front counter just so he doesn’t have to look at her too long.

“I know what flowers mean too, you know, and I see the ones you keep giving to our favorite tattoo artist.”

Eddie breathes out hard through his nose, rests his head on the counter. It takes more willpower than he’d like to stop him from banging in on the hard surface a few times.

“You really should talk to him.”

He looks up at her, vaguely panicking at the thought. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Because his friendship means too much to me, and to Chris.

Because I refuse to open myself up and drag him down to this hole with me.

Because I’m not what he deserves, and I never will be.

“It’s complicated.”

Hen shakes her head, shrugs as she turns towards the back room. “All I’m saying is, he’s in here all the time, and flirts with you like it’s his job. I don’t think that’s all for nothing.”

She heads to the back, leaving Eddie to wallow. Maybe she’s right, maybe Buck does feel even a fraction of what Eddie feels, but that doesn’t change anything. Buck is still one of the best people he’s ever met, and Eddie is still full of unfixable darkness.

And he’s still so, so screwed.

[angst-king]

Buko no witch Academia

(this is my BNHA witch AU, I do not own any of the characters in this fict so don’t come for me^^)

Ever since the normies have been getting more aggressive, Inko has been very nervous about allowing her son to attend UA Academy. That was until her husband came home with great news, sitting on the couch Inko was folding the laundry with Izuku when Yagi came in with a wide smile on his face. "I am home!" He cheers "with great news!" heads turned to the blue eyed blond, Inko smiles. "what is it dear, you seem like its big news." Yagi took off his magic canceling bracelets and took out a letter. Clearing his throat while he unfolds it he prepares to read the information to them. "Due to all the recent normie attacks against Magic users and the hesitance of parents allowing students to attend UA. We are implementing a dormitory to keep them safe. They are still able to leave the dormitory campus to go into town or on the weekends to see family. This is to diminish the chances of your child from being out of our reach. We also as staff will share some what of a joint custody of your child. If something were to happen or if they needed a legal guardian to provide protection or sign for a document we are able to step in. Believe us when we say we will put their lives before our own if anything were to happen. We hope to have your child attending UA. Sincerely the joint staff of UA." When Yagi finished both Izuku and Yagi then look to Inko, "So mom can I go?" the healing witch bites her lip contemplating herself but. "Come on honey I'll be there too ya know, and you know that I will not let anything happen to Izuku and it will allow him to finally get into depth with his magic. He may even be able to awaken it." Yagi persuaded "please mom, this is a once in a life time chance" Both males were begging her and this time she couldn't bare it any more. She sighed and looked Izuku in the eyes. "Please please promise me you'll do your best to be careful." She pleaded Izuku hugs her tightly, "I promise mom"  hugging back she kisses his forehead happily. Yagi joined in pulling them both into him, the family of three now having a group hug in congratulations. It was everyone's first day and Izuku was honestly pretty excited he couldn't wait to meet more magic users. Hugging his crying mother good bye, she wished him well and let him go. Arriving at the school Izuku had his luggage bag of his clothes rolling while his book bag was on his shoulder. Spacing out over the excitement of now being able to attend UA. Izuku's clumsiness caused himself to trip over his own shoe. As he was falling he suddenly felt a sudden surge of magical energy and then boom! He wasn't falling anymore but hadn't collided with the side walk's pavement? He felt himself becoming weightless, and with a look around it was real. He was floating in a bubble!? He freaked out a little, he hadn't activated a floating or a bubble spell. He frantically looked around until he heard a "Oh gosh sorry if I scared you!" A young brunette haired girl hurried to him, looking up at Izuku who chuckles. "Its alright, at least I didn't face plant" Being inside the bubble was a bit overwhelming and confusing, besides he needed to get out to meet her and thank the girl properly. "Uhm could you let me out of the bubble please?" Blushing heavily the girl nods apologizing once again before lowering the bubble which allowed it to pop freeing the small Midoriya boy. "I'm so sorry I shouldn't have just did a spell like that to you" Izuku smiles and makes sure he has all his stuff on him. "Its alright I mean you kept me from face planting, that was a cool spell by the way." He then stuck out his hand "I'm Midoriya Izuku" taking the hand sweetly shaking it the girl introduces herself. "I'm Uraraka Ochako nice to meet you, we should get going though." Uraraka says which earned a nod from Midoriya, so the two walk up to the dorms. The giant double doors were already open, strolling inside the place was huge and filled with students! Looking around Izuku immediately notices a certain red eyed blond. Sure they were childhood friends but, Izuku knew it was one sided and grew apart from Katsuki Bakugou who tormented him. The only common ground they shared was that they both had the same type of magical energy. Katsuki's main magic was earth magic, he could grow flowers, vegetables, studied crystals and such in other words, Katsuki is a green witch. Izuku's magic was energy magic, he could sense almost taste other's magical energy around them and could guess the type of magic that they use or main. Energy magic was also called generalized magic, it meant you don't exactly have a main like Inko's healing medicinal magic. Though energy magic users main use is to energize or enchant something like weapons, or to weaponize an object with their magical energy. They can also share magic with another magic user like Uraraka. Izuku would be able to link into her magic and use her abilities on his own but the original holder still is able to use the magic. the only draw back is that Izuku's magic is like a life source, the more he uses it the weaker he is, it is a stamina based magic. Trying to avoid Katsuki wasn't working when he hears a "Oi what the hell is Deku doing here?!", Uraraka looks to an annoyed and slightly anxious Midoriya who rolled his eyes. "do you know him Midoriya?" Midoriya sighed "sadly yes i do-" "oi lil normie fucker don't ignore me!" Barked the blond who stomped over and grabbed Midoriya by the collar. "What the hell are you doing here Deku, you weren't supposed to get in with your weak ass magic!" "Looks like you haven't changed a bit have ya Kaachan?" Rolling his emeralds eyes at the scarlet eyes glaring down at him. "What'd ya say ya lil normie, I'll shove a vine up your ass!" "Kaachan do you have to do this on our first day? I haven't even put my stuff away yet." Grumbled Midoriya who used his magic to lightly burn Bakugou on the wrist for him to let go. "the hell was that Deku!?!" Regaining his footing Midoriya just adjusted his book bag and huffed, thankfully Midoriya was able to pull out his slip of paper that had his dorm room number on it before Bakugou could try anything else. He scattered over to the elevator to go and find his room. Up in his room, Izuku was setting it up. Izuku uses his magic to arrange his room the way he wanted which made the process a whole lot quicker. Right now he was finishing up and prepared to go and maybe meet some new people. Maybe he'll see Uraraka again, he'll probably ask for her number so they can always be able to talk to each other maybe share social medias too. Walking out of his dorm he's already greeted by a much taller male with blue hair and glasses, standing next to him was Uraraka. He seemed to be carrying some things for her, which Midoriya found sweet of him. "Oh hey Midoriya, did you finish setting up your room?" "yeah, have you?" "No I've been struggling to get my stuff up here but thankfully I met Iida and he wanted to help me." Midoriya looks up to Iida with a smile "hello Iida, I'm Midoriya Izuku." "Hello Midoriya, sorry I can't shake your hand at the moment but once my hands are free I will greet you properly." Midoriya then looks to Uraraka "Need any help setting up, I can help you guys?" "that would be great Midoriya would you mind carrying this?" She hands him a medium sized box with a smaller one on top, which he willing takes. Uraraka goes to the front and leads the boys to her room. Opening the door to the empty room, the boxes are set down. "Now lets get started, should get the bed and dresser together. and in place first." Suggested Izuku "yeah lets do that" Uraraka got out the contence to make her bed it was quite the mess with all the pieces and was pretty overwhelming. "u-um s-so like we need the instructions right?" Iida pardoned himself towards the scattered parts, arms out Izuku knew what the other was going to do. He could feel Iida's magic energy powering up to be used. With a flash the pieces and parts were floating and Iida was putting them together, constructing the bed with a vision in his head. Both Izuku and Ochako watched in amazement, Izuku could sense that Iida was a tech witch just by his focus on the task at hand. It was done in ten minutes and now while Uraraka was putting her bed spreads and decors  on the bed, Iida moved on to her dressers. When the dressers where done, Izuku decided to help put together the bookshelf which wasn't too hard, the instructions were simple. When the room was done the trio looked proud of themselves, Izuku noticed Uraraka's collection of space themed books and the over all decor of the room. "Uraraka, are you a celestial witch?" "yup I am" She says proudly Iida huffed and stretched his arms before going to shake Izuku's hand "Now we can properly greet each other, I'm Iida Tenya." Midoriya shakes the male's hand "nice to meet you Tenya, you must be a tech witch." Iida chuckles and nods while Uraraka is confused as to how Midoriya guesses so easily. "I can sense your guys's magic energy, also I'm very observant." Explains Midoriya, "oh that's so cool!" compliments Uraraka who's blush appears in strange form, it was a soft galaxy look constellation like freckles twinkle gently. "wow that's so beautiful." Iida blurts out then ended up turning red in the face and apologizing. "S-sorry if that was inappropriate Uraraka!" The girl only giggles, Iida is still blushing about it. "Its alright Iida, and thank you glad you like it. Also thank you both for your help in setting up my room." "You're welcome Uraraka, hey why not trade numbers we can text each other if we ever wanna hang out or something?" Offered Midoriya who had his phone in his pocket anyway, "Oh yeah that'd be great, hey Iida wanna trade numbers?" Iida didn't decline and got out his phone, the three were now giving each other's numbers.

[themadhatterofficial]

Tony Stark’s Guide to being a Child Star

Continuation from here

Tony is most definitely the protective and nurturing kind of parent, and his upbringing would heighten that.

I can see Tony trying to shield Peter from the paparazzi like he wasn’t. He would prevent Peter from falling down the child star rabbit hole that ultimately drove Tony to drugs and alcohol.

So, no one would really know that Peter exists. Granted, the media gets a hold that the great Tony Stark has a kid and goes nuts. Pepper wrangles the media storm and whenever they go out Tony’s stroller is completely covered and his baby bjorn (because Tony most definitely has a baby bjorn and the baby bjorn most definitely has flames all over it) is set up so little Peter’s face is to his dad’s chest and has a blanket over him to avoid his face being seen. At one point Tony develops a tech blanket that’s yellow and super soft for Peter and made so no one can see in, but Peter can see everything that’s going on.

It goes like this for years. Eventually, the media gives up on learning anything about the infamous Stark baby (even if they did Tony and Pepper catch it before it gets out) and Peter has a relatively normal childhood. He adores his papa more than the world, always hanging on him and trailing after him, watching him in the lab and learning all he can. Tony indulges him with everything, smiling and laughing and tickling Peter until he can’t breathe and they spend late nights spilling over cookbooks trying desperately to figure out how to cook literally anything and ultimately it all results into a gigantic mess and eating french toast with smiley faces made out of fruit and whipped cream on the kitchen floor.

They live primarily in California, flying to New York every other week or so to visit May for around a day before heading home. Tony has his own private stretch of beach and they build sandcastles and Tony teaches him how to fly a kite and how to swim and Pepper and Rhodey love coming with them and May comes over whenever she can get away from work and papa even brings a speaker thingy so Jarvis can talk and spend time with the family and it’s a little different from what’s normal but normal’s overrated and Peter has the best family in the world and he wouldn’t trade it for anything, especially not a mom who dumped him on her sister’s doorstep with a half-assed note and decided that she never wanted anything to do with him.

His papa did want him. The family he had has always wanted everything to do with him, and Peter grew up never doubting this for a second. (Not to say he never questioned about his mother or why he was always hidden. Or that he never got angry. Puberty was fucking rough.)

Peter loves his life and everyone in it. Except for one person. Obi is tall and scary and makes Peter’s stomach feel yucky for some reason. Papa tries to make them spend time together, but Peter starts screaming and crying every time they’re anywhere near each other. Papa tries to keep them apart once he realizes this is something Peter isn’t going to grow out of for a while and Papa tells Obi he can’t drop by their home anymore like he always could because Peter is the most important and for whatever reason he does not like Obadiah Stane so Peter is very happy about that and Obi is very upset.

Life is good for the Stark boys, Peter goes to public school with his full name (“Peter Anthony Stark” because Tony doesn’t want to confuse him on what his name is) and wears big yellow glasses and isn’t very good at making friends, but that’s okay because there’s this kid named Harry who always sticks around Peter and invites him over after school and another boy named Wade that’s a grade higher but he beat up one of the boys who’d been picking on Peter after school at the park so with bloody lips and bruised cheeks they spit on their hands and shook on their friendship, and now they’re always stuck to one others’ hips and always playing cops and robbers at Harry’s home. (His home is huge, but not as big as any of Peter’s. He wisely doesn’t say anything.) Tony puts down his middle name instead of first, - Edward Stark it is then - so no one knows that Peter Stark is the secret child of the biggest billionaire and weapons manufacturer in the world.

Then, when Peter is six papa goes on a business trip like always. He goes on Friday morning after dropping Peter off at school and promises to pick him up from Harry’s on Sunday night. Peter is sad that he won’t see his papa , but excited to spend so much time with Harry and Wade.

But papa doesn’t come on Sunday.

Peter sits outside Harry’s house with his friends when Aunt May and Uncle Ben pull forward. Peter’s excitement at seeing them drowns out his confusion at not seeing his papa and he jumps in the backseat when Aunt May joins him.

Uncle Ben is quiet and Aunt May is crying and suddenly Peter’s heart is beating really hard and his hands are shaking like papa’s does sometimes and he tries to breathe like papa taught him.

They get back to Peter’s home and Aunt May leads him inside. Uncle Ben gets some water and he moves really slow and Aunt May is holding Peter too tight.

Peter doesn’t understand the concept of ‘kidnapping’ or what it means to disappear. Everyone always goes away sometimes but they always come back when they say they will. You can’t break promises. Especially not papa. Papa never breaks promises.

But he understands what it means when someone says no. So when Uncle Ben says that papa wanted to come home, some really bad people said no. And until papa could get away, he couldn’t come home. He couldn’t be with Peter.

Whenever someone said no to Peter, it was so he couldn’t get hurt, or that he needed to learn something. Aunt May made sure he knew that papa didn’t do anything wrong. They weren’t trying to teach him anything. They were just bad.

Peter doesn’t go to school the next day. Or the next. Or the next. He doesn’t go to school for three whole weeks. He spends that time screaming and crying and wanting his papa and spending all day locked in his room, talking to Jarvis who says that he is working very hard to find papa, because the bad people won’t tell anyone where they are. Uncle Rhodey isn’t home a lot because he’s busy looking for papa and for a while Aunt Pepper isn’t either until she shows up one night when he’s having a really bad panic attack and Aunt May and Uncle Ben are trying really hard to help but they don’t know how and Peter gives himself an asthma attack on top of everything but when Aunt Pepper walks in everything slows down and she rubs his back while puffs from his inhaler calm down the young boy and she kisses Peter’s head and she’s crying really hard and Peter is crying even harder and Aunt May is holding on tight to Uncle Ben and they’re both sobbing and Jarvis lights little stars on the ceiling like papa asks him to when neither father nor son can sleep and everyone climbs into the bed that’s much too big for a six-year-old staring up at the mesmerizing pattern of constellations and Peter feels a sense of calm in Aunt Pepper’s arms and falls asleep with his father’s deep and gentle lilt whispering in his ears about planets and galaxies far away and of the gods that have been immortalized within the stars.

A few days into March, Peter goes back to school. Everyone is shocked to see that Peter is still alive and Harry is very mad that Peter never said anything or called his home and Wade sees the redness of his friend’s eyes and cheeks and holds him tighter and tighter and tighter.

They go to the park after school to wait for their families and Peter starts crying on the foot of the slide. He finally tells his friends that his papa is gone and he’s probably never coming home to have smiley face french toast again and will never be able to whisper in his ear about mountains and gods or be there to smile and push his glasses up his nose again and how he just wants to hear his papa say one more thing. How Peter wishes he would have hugged his papa just a little tighter the last time he saw him.

Then it’s May and and his Aunt and Uncle are in New York again and school is almost over and papa won’t be there when Peter graduates kindergarten. He won’t be there when Peter sits next to Harry in his cap and officially becomes a big kid.

Peter doesn’t decorate his cap.

And then during reading, Peter gets called down to the office only an hour into school. The teacher says to grab his things from his cubby because he’s not coming back. He shrugs towards Harry and walks to the office.

Aunt Pepper is there and she’s crying and she takes his hand and they walk very quickly to the long car he barely ever rides in and Happy is there and Peter is kinda scared. The last time someone was crying was because papa was gone.

“Pep?”

Aunt Pepper looks over.

“What’s wrong?”

Aunt Pepper’s eyes go wide and she’s breathing hard before she’s smiling and laughing and crying again, reaching over their seatbelts and hugging him tight like Aunt May did.

“Nothing, Pete.”

“Why are you crying?”

Another loud laugh comes from Aunt Pepper’s chest and it sounds like a sob. “Good crying, Peter.”

“Oh.” Peter swings his legs where they don’t touch the floor. His tiny hands hold loosely onto Aunt Pepper’s forearm braced around Peter’s jawline. Her hand cradles the side of Peter’s head and makes his glasses tilt weirdly in front of his eyes. “Why are you good crying, Pep?”

Aunt Pepper pulls back and giggles, laughing even harder when Peter instinctively pulls his sleeve over his scrawny knuckles to wipe gently at the tear tracks cutting down Pepper’s cheeks.

“We’re going to see papa.”

And suddenly Peter is jumping and screaming and throwing himself into Pepper’s lap to start crying harder than he had in months, and Aunt Pepper is laughing hysterically with tears soaking into Peter’s hair and Peter’s big yellow glasses are wet and foggy and he can’t breathe right he’s so happy.

But that’s okay because twenty minutes later he’s squeezing Aunt Pepper’s hand too tight and she’s squeezing his back too tight too, and Peter starts screaming at the top of his lungs when Uncle Rhodey comes into view, immediately followed by none other than the great Tony Stark, pale and hurt but standing as tall as ever.

All of that strength bleeds out of Tony Stark the moment he sets eyes on his son, his knees stumbling forward and he falls to the pavement when Peter full-body tackles him and his arm and ribs hurt like a motherfucker when he does but it fades instantaneously when Peter is still screaming and crying in his ear and Tony is crying too, big ugly open sobs that he for once doesn’t give a single shit about who sees because he truly believed he would never get the chance to hold his baby ever again, and squeezes him with every ounce of strength in his body. He wants to hug Pepper too, and Obi and May and Ben when they get here, but right now he doesn’t want anyone coming near him and his son. He just wants to feel this moment. Just them.

They go to Burger King. Peter gets a Hershey Pie.

And when they go home, they decorate Peter’s kindergarten graduation cap together.

[the-stories-in-my-head-95]

To Change the Future

Bucky Barnes x Tony Stark and WinterIron x Daughter!Reader

Summary- You live in truly the darkest timeline. Ultron killed your parents and basically the entire human race. Will an accidental trip to the future change that?

Message- I take some aspects of The Next Avengers movie, but their back story isn’t exactly the same. Sorry if this sucks.

Warnings- Death

Word Count- 2046

All of the Avengers died long ago. You were a member of The Next Avengers, you worked with your team to help protect the Earth as those who survived Ultron’s Apocalypse rebuilds. You were all the children of the Avengers, James was the son of Natasha Romanoff and Steve, Francis is the son of Clint and Linda Barton, Azari is the son of T’Challa, Torunn is the daughter of Thor, and you were the adopted daughter of Bucky Barnes and Tony Stark. They had found you as a baby in a Hydra base, days after you had been injected with the super serum.

You were on a mission with Azari and James, when it all goes weird. The three of you are pulled into a portal, you feel yourself falling for what feels like forever. Then you hit the ground with a sudden jolt.

“Everyone okay?” James asks.

“Yeah.” Azari moans.

“I’m just going to lie here for a minute.” You groan and your two friends laugh. The three of you get up and start wandering around, searching for any clues as to where the three of you had landed.  

“Alright, hands up.” Someone says as they put a gun to the back of your head. So you put your hands up and slowly turn around, and your shocked at you see.

“Papa?” You whisper.

“What?” Bucky says looking at you in surprise.

“Papa.” You sob. “You’re alive. Is Daddy- who else is alive?” Then you hear James give out a joyous shriek. It’s enough for Bucky to lower his weapon and you take off. You find James hugging a very confused Natasha.

“Mama. H-How are you here?” He sobs.

“Auntie Nat?” You ask. Her head swivels to look at you, her confusion only growing. Then you hear Azari it sounds like he is crying as he say Dad over and over.  Then a door opens and in walks your Uncle Steve and your Dad.

“Dad?” Both you and James gasp as you look at the men standing in the doorway.

“Ummmm. What?” Tony asks.

“Dad, it’s me Y/N.” You say.

“I think you have me confused with someone else.” Your Dad says. Then you look at him, really look at him and you realize that he’s too young, even younger than he looked in your baby photos.

“Oh my God. We’re in the past.” You say looking at James. You both crumple a bit. “Azari, come here!” You hear some rustling and Azari comes bounding in T’Challa following him.

“I think we’re in the past!” Azari says, sparks of electricity jumping off of his skin.

“Yeah.” James says. “We figured that out.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Steve asks.

“These three seem to be under the impression that they are our children.” T’Challa says.

“That’s because we are! We fell through a portal and ended up here!” Azari exclaims electricity sparking from his hands.

“Okay, Sparky, calm down. I mean jeez who’s your other parent? Thor?” Your Dad says, motioning to his hands. The three of you burst out laughing.

“No, Uncle Tony, my Mom is Storm!” Azari says.

“Storm?” T’Challa asks curiously. But the three of you don’t answer.

“Wait but you called me Papa and then you called Tony Dad?” Bucky asks.

“Yep.” You say.

“That would mean we-.” Tony starts.

“The two of you adopted me a little after your first wedding anniversary.” You say gently. Then Tony starts to laugh, the laugh kind of sounds manic.

“He killed my parents!” Tony shouts.

“Don’t say that.” You whisper. You could feel tears starting to run down your cheeks. “You always said that it wasn’t Papa’s fault!”

“Y/N.” Azari murmurs, putting a hand on your shoulder, pulling you into a hug.

“I miss being taller than you.” You murmur into Azari’s chest, which vibrates with his laughter.

“You asked me how I was alive. Am I- am I dead in the future?” Bucky asks.

“You all are.” James murmurs.

“Oh.” Steve says, looking around the room.

“How are you my son? I-I can’t have children.” Natasha whispers after several minutes of tense silence.

“Aunt Helen found a way to combine Dad’s and yours DNA to create an embryo and then Auntie Wanda volunteered to be your surrogate.” James explains. Then Natasha pulls him into a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I never thought I’d get to be a mom.” Natasha murmurs.

“Maybe we should spend some time with our children.” T’Challa says starring at Azari.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Steve says, looking on as Natasha murmurs softly to James in Russian. Soon you, your Papa and your Dad are the only ones left in the room.

“Where are we anyway?” You ask.

“The basement of the compound.” Tony answers, looking at anything but you.

“You said we adopted you?” Bucky asks quietly and you nod.

“The two of you found me on your one year anniversary.” You say smiling. “Daddy was so mad that the two of you had to cancel your plans for the day, but Uncle Steve needed your help raiding a Hydra base, Auntie Nat couldn’t go because James was sick. Anyway you found me in one of the labs. They had injected me with the super soldier serum. Papa always jokes that I was your anniversary present.”

“Let’s go upstairs. I feel like we should be sitting for this conversation.” Tony murmurs and you and Bucky nod. The ride in the elevator is silent, and so is the walk to Tony’s lab. The three of you sit on a couch in the corner.

“How old were you when we died?” Tony murmurs.

“I was the youngest of the kids, so I was 9 I think. Azari was 10. James is the oldest he was 13, Torunn and Francis were 12.”

“Who are Torunn and Francis?” Bucky asks.

“Torunn is Thor’s daughter and Francis is Clint’s son.” You murmur and they both nod.

“What happened?” Bucky whispers.

“Ultron.” You answer.

“That’s impossible. We destroyed him.” Tony says and you just shake your head.

“That’s what you thought then to. But he came back- with a vengeance. H-he came for you first.” You sob. “W-We were on vacation- you wanted to teach me how to ski- a-and he came into the cabin. Papa held him off while we escaped.”

“That’s how I died?” Bucky murmurs and you nod. Then he pulls you onto his lap and you cry into the crook of his neck, just like you had when you were upset as a child.

“Dad wanted revenge.” You whisper. “Y-You figured out how to take him down. You, Uncle Clint, Auntie Nat and Uncle Steve dropped left us in Wakanda with Uncle T’Challa. That’s the last time we ever saw any of you.”

“The mission failed.” Tony asks and you nod.

“Ultron took over the world. Wakanda was the last country to fall. When it did Thor came from Asgard and took the 4 of us to with him. He raised us alongside Torunn until we were old enough to return to earth. It was then we finally defeated Ultron. That was a little over a year ago, those who survived are now working on rebuilding. Ultron destroyed a lot.”

“I-It’s all my fault.” Tony whispers. “I cause the Apocalypse.”

“No!” You say sharply. “It wasn’t your fault, no one blames you.”

“Yeah, Okay!” Tony huffs after several minutes of silence he looks at Bucky and then you. “How do we get from this to married?”

“What do you mean this?” You ask.

“He means a little over a year ago the two of us tried to kill each other.” Bucky murmurs.

“The civil war.” You say nodding. “Uncle Thor told us about that. I-I don’t really know how you guys ended up married. I mean I was only nine when the two of you-.”

“Died.” Tony murmurs. Taking your hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“But for what it’s worth the two of you loved each other so much.” You whisper, smiling. “Daddy used to take us on these insane trips, all over the world. But our favorite place was a house you bought in California. It’s where you taught me how to swim. W-We used to wake up really early and go down to the beach to collect shells and sea glass. At night Dad would tell us about the constellations while we sat around the fire pit, roasting marshmallows. I-I would always burn mine, so Papa would trade with me.”

“That sounds amazing.” Tony says, and Bucky nods.

“It was.” You whisper.

“Tell us more.” Bucky murmurs. You spend hours telling them about the first nine years of your life, the three of you laugh and cry and laugh some more. Then you start feeling tingly and a portal opens up in front of you.

“Guess it’s time for me to go.” You murmur, after asking FRIDAY to inform Azari and James about the portal. “I’m glad I got to see the two of you again.”

“I can’t wait meet you.” Bucky says.

“Same.” Tony says, shifting his weight from one foot to another. Then you pull the two of them into a hug.

“I love the two of you. I-I miss the two of you every day.” You whisper, then you kiss each of their cheeks.

“What’s your last name? D-Do we hyphenate?” Tony asks.

“Stark-Barnes.” You say, smiling. “The two of you hyphenate to.” Then Azari and James walk in followed by their parents. The three of you hug your parents and then you all walk through the portal.  Then you’re falling again. Then you see yourself laying in a bed, you had become transparent and you fell into your own body. Memories of a different timeline- a better time line come flooding into your mind. Ultron was defeated before he could even become a threat. All of the Avengers were alive, including your Dad and Papa. You shoot out of bed and go racing for the kitchen.

“Dad! Papa!” You yell and they jump up from their seats at the breakfast bar.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Tony asks.

“Y-You’re alive!” You sob and they both look at each other and then look at you.

“I always wondered what happened when you went through that portal.” Tony murmurs as Bucky pulls you into a hug.

“Everything is okay. You’re safe. We’re alive. We love you, so much sweetie.” Bucky murmurs.

“James and Azari.” You say.

“I’m sure they’re okay. We can call them later, to make sure.” Bucky says as he leads you table, so you can sit. Tony places a plate in front of you and you start to eat.

“What do you remember?” Tony asks.

“Everything. From both timelines.” You murmur.

“That’s incredible.” Tony says.

“I’m so happy.” You sob. “I-I can’t believe-.”

“I know, but you gave us a chance to save the world, Honey. You, James and Azari saved the world.” Bucky says

***

(The Past)

“I can’t believe we have to work on our anniversary.” Tony grumbles.

“Shut up, Tones! You’re just as excited as me! We’re going to become parents today!” Bucky says, practically vibrating in his seat in the quinjet.

“Don’t get your hopes up to much. We-We don’t know what change, them coming to the past could have changed everything.” Tony murmurs.

“Shut up.” Bucky says, rolling his eyes. As soon as the Quinjet lands Bucky goes bounding off the jet, dropping Hydra agents as he does. He finally gets to the lab, he stops when he sees a squirming bundle on one of the tables.

“Guess I was wrong.” Tony says, as he catches up to Bucky. They walk over to you together, Bucky picking you up in his arms when they do.

“Hey there, Honey.” Bucky whisper. “I’m your Papa and this is your Daddy. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.” You gurgle in response and they both laugh.

“We love you so much, Y/N. We’re going to teach you how to swim and ski. We are going to love you no matter what and protect you no matter what. W-We’re going to change the future for you.” Tony says, as he takes you into his arms.

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[allonsy-yesiwill]

Prepared to Die

For : Triple Threat!!! Challenge  @beckawinchester and  @riversong-sam Sorry I was late kids time got away from me. But I hope you like it :) 

My prompt was Swan Song

Pairing: Dean x Reader, Sam, Bobby, John, Reader’s Sister and Parents

Summary: 20 years ago life sent you on a mission and now as it’s almost over, approaching the grand finale to a beaten and bruised life, your swan song.

Word Count:2473

Warnings: Profanity, angst, character death, violence

You sit behind the wheel of your 1979 Scout, taking in the interior and sending a silent thank you to your dad for teaching you everything you needed to know to take care of his car after he passed. A single tear drops leaving a soft trail on your face as you remember that night.

_____

Your family was camping for a week, not too far from town. The night it happened was your last night there. You and your dad stayed up late, he was showing you the stars and teaching you the name of the constellations. Then all of a sudden he stopped talking and put his hand up for you to be quiet, you did. You watch in ah as he puts out the fire and hands you the car keys telling you to not start it but just get in and hide. Then he turned to the other tent to get your mom and sister. You were the oldest 14, on this trip your dad started to teach you a bit about hunting. You told him you couldn’t kill a dear they are too cute, he smiled at your kindness and continued to share all of his hunting and tracking knowledge with you. With your new tools still in the front of your mind, you moved quickly to the car, and took note of the other shapes moving in the dark.

You were in the car hiding under a blanket when you heard the gun go off. You jumped  and covered your mouth to insure no noise come out as the tears fell from your face. You didn’t know it at the time but hunters has just made their move on a vamp nest not to far from where you were camping, 5 of the vamps took off and ran right into your campsite. Your dad tried to defend his family however he didn’t know what he was up against. When the bullet failed, the vamps teeth were already draining his blood.

Soon after the shots were fired you heard voices yelling one deep and angry, “Winchester, I should have known.”  You hear a struggle and what sounded like slashing and then things went quiet, until they start taking.

“Bobby, did any of them make it.”

“No John, and it looks like there are 3 missing vamps.”  You mind freezes taking the words in, vamp like vampire.

“Let’s see if we can get them, we can come back and clean up this site before dawn,” the man you are assumed is John said before you hear them leave.

That night was the last night you were a child. You packed up what you could tears rained down your face the whole time. Before you left you pressed your warm lips to the cold forehead of your mother and father, letting them know you loved them and you would not let them down. Before you drove off you looked everywhere for you sister but she was nowhere to be found. She was smaller only 8, you figured that had taken her and hoped that this John or Bobby would be able to help save her.

_____

20 years later you now sit. In those 20 years you learned about all of the monster, you found Bobby and also lost him.  However Bobby told you that sometimes they would take a feeder, there was one time other hunters found a girl that was never turned but just used to bring them people to feed off of, so you had hope for you sister. With Bobby’s knowledge also came connections. One of them gave you the location of the cabin that now sat only 400 feet away from you, Grath confirmed that you would find the nest with the three vamps that got away that night, fingers crossed also your sister. Grath told you to wait for backup but you were going to do this, this is your grand finale to a beaten and bruised life, your swan song.

You had been sitting there for little over an hour, no one has come or gone and the sun was still up. You only had about 1 more hour before the sun was setting so you made your move. Machete in its holster on the side, the gun in your hand held a round of custom made bullets full of dead man's blood and in your interior pocket a needle full of the same just incase they caught you and turned you.

Approaching the house you, using all of your skills and knowledge to not make a sound, you can see that everyone is sleeping a total of 8 inside. Fuck that’s more than you have ever taken out before. You move around the cabin quietly taking the vamps in looking for you sister, quickly recognizing the 3 vamps that helped end your families life. While you never saw them that night, Bobby had been tracking this nest for awhile and shared all of his info.

That’s when you see it, your sister laying next to the one that probably took her.But you can’t tell if she’s been turned, she is older than that day but is she old enough, you don’t know. You plan you attack, knowing when the first shot is fired everything was going to move with lighting speed. You steady your weapon and as you squeeze the trigger, you doubt your resolve to take down your own sister.  

Your shot does not fail and hit the vamp sleeping next to your sister and everyone springs to life, you take a few more out before you are hit from the side taking you down. It’s now hand to hand, you had trained for this, you could and were taking the punches while you slowing released your machete from it’s holster and relieved the monster of its head, jumping up after.

4 vamps plus your sister are circling you, only one left form that fateful night. “ Do you know who I am you mother fucker, My name is Y/F/N, you killed my father, now prepare to die.” Before you took what was probably going to be your first last step you looked at your sister, sharing a silent exchange after quoting your favorite shared movie. After that you moved quickly, killing the one final vamp that escalated your life into adulthood and as you again were knocked to the ground you find you gun taking out at least one more vamp before darkness falls.

When your eyes reopen you find yourself bound to a chair. Trying to take everything in, you feel light headed, you are pretty sure they have drank from you. You lick your lips to insure that they did not try and feed you their blood, you feel nothing and let out a breath of relief. You whole body is screaming in pain, with many things broken after the battle.

“Oh look she’s awake, Y/N it’s like a family reunion that no one ever wanted ,” you sister let out,” You know before they turned me I used to hope and pray that you would come from me. But now, well it’s just to late and clearly you have become a hunter. So that leaves me with an interesting dilemma, do I suck you dry or do I turn you? If I turn you, you will undoubtedly kill yourself.” She pauses pulling out your needle full of dead man’s blood,”It looks like you were already prepared for that.”

She stops talking as another vamp enters the room pulling her out to talk. A tear falls as you take in your sisters words, you failed her and know you created this. Your heart sank. She enters the room again this time she places a small knife in your hands whispers, “The Winchesters are coming, they will save you but just in case. Thank you for coming Y/N, I love you sis.”

As voices approach she stands tall and gives a look of I am sorry before back handing you yell, “Who the fuck did you tell about us, fucking hunters.”  You mind it running 100 miles an hour, Winchesters like John. Bobby did tell you he had sons and how did my sister know that they would save me. Your sister continues to give the appearance of torturing you, however you know she’s not using all of her strength just enough to sell it to the other vamps and the blade she gave you is slowing cutting through the ropes that bound you.

You are freeded just after the door is broken down, all of the vamps attention is turned on them until you are free, you are taken back down quickly and without a weapon you had a little chance. Your sister knew that and quickly borrowed the blade from the taller brother was going to use on her and slid it your way.

While you reach for the blade and remove the head you will never heard the conversation between the man you will soon know as Sam and your sister. “ Please save her, Y/N, she’s my sister please.” This made Sam pause, not killing her instead he turned his attention to his brother who was yelling his name.

You sister is the only vamp still standing in the room, as you slowly move your broken body into a standing position you hear Sam yell , “ Dean don’t.”  Your sister is holding you, apologizing and crying. Sam is holding Dean back only able to watch.

Pulling out of the hug, you pressed your foreheads together both in tears.

“I am so sorry turtle, I ….I , “ your voice cracked. “It’s okay Y/N, you came, you saved me. Like I always knew you would. I am going to need you to do one more thing for me Rabbit,” she paused but you know what she was going to ask,” I never wanted this, I can’t continue like this. I know those two over there will help you, I helped John many years ago and he told me that you were still out looking for me. I assumed he never got the message to Bobby or else you would have been here sooner. But these are John’s kids, they are hunters too. John promised me he would treat you as family, and I am assuming these boy will step up to the plate as well.”

You sister pauses to turn her attention to the boys, who both now understand. John had told them about the two sisters Turtle and Rabbit, how John had failed to save both of them that night and continued to try to make it right. As you turn you realize your recognize one of the boys

“Y/N,” the words softly leave Dean’s mouth.

“Agent Ford,,” you question your sister laughs.

“That’s one’s actually Dean and the other is Sam, John told me a lot about both of you. I am surprised Dean over here doesn’t just go out and call himself Han Solo, “ you sisters words made everyone chuckle.

You turned back to your sister, “ I don’t know if I can, can’t we wait a bit. I just found you again.”

“We can’t wait, I don’t want you to remember me as a monster. I want you to remember me as your little turtle. Always slowly chasing behind you, hoping someday I could grow up to be as fast as my older sis.”

The tears are falling fast again but you smile and nod and share one last hug. Before stepping away you let out, “You are as fast as me sis, I am so proud of you. I love you”

As you are stepping away you sister calls out, “ Hey Han over there, make sure you take care of this princess for me.”

You share a smile with your sister both eyes filled with tears as you raise your blade, you sister give you a look of love and says “ Thank you Rabbit.” You swing and with that both of your bodies colplass lifelessly to the ground. The only difference is the heavy sobbs exiting your body as your blade falls

Dean is there to catch you just above the ground, he holds you sitting on the floor, letting you cry, whisper soft comforting words in your ear. You weren’t too sure how long you stayed there but as you ran out of tears you felt like it was too long, so you pushed yourself away from Dean.

“Y/N, we need to get you banaged up, “ he said softly brushing some hair behind your ear.

“I need to take care of her first, she needs a..a…” you can’t bring yourself to say it.

“Shh princess, Sam is already taken care of that,” he says helping you stand up. He puts his arm around you helping you to carry some of your weight as you walk outside.

You can see Sam finishing up the pyre, cutting the last few pieces. Your tears start to flow again, as Dean wraps you in a hug. You cry out, “ Why won’t this stop.”  You feel Dean chuckle a little, “Because you loved her, she is family.” He softly presses his lips to the top of your head as you let it all go.

Limping closer to the pyre, you see her wrapped in a white sheet,on top. You aren’t tall enough to give her one last kiss like you did your parents, Dean notices and picks you up just enough to reach her forehead. Just like your final goodbye with your parents you let her know you love her and that you would not let her down, you closed your eyes and pressed your lips to the top of the sheets. Dean place your feet back on the ground and handed you the torch, keeping his body firmly pressed against yours with his hand on your hip as you lit the pyre.

As the fire burns you feel everything wash over you and you take a moment to tell Dean you might need to lay down as you feel your body starting to fail. Before you let Dean help you back to the car you let out your last words to your family, “Thank you Turtle.”  

Let me know what you think....I had a hard time wrapping this one up so if you want to another chapter let me know. 

[agent-7-at-your-service]

Future Plot: Project Prometheus - Chapter 6 (Part 2)

(( Sandra (Not in this chapter), Telemachus (Not in this chapter), Justinian (Not in this chapter), and Chaodis/Pyrrhus belongs to me

Camille, Lee, Depiction of Callie, Janine, Malina (Not in this chapter), and Pacling (Not in this chapter) belong to @inklingleesquidly

Nebula  (Not in this chapter) and Wis (Not in this chapter) h belong to @myzzy and @agenttwo  

Mysteeri  (Not in this chapter) belongs to @dreadangel

Designs of Marina and Wish belong to @teamuntyblue

Emerald and Sapphire  (Not in this chapter) belongs to @twelvetailedkitsune and @son-of-joy

Celeste  (Not in this chapter) belongs to @alpinesquid

Arsenic  (Not in this chapter) belongs to @a-demo-of-a-hero

Jovana  (Not in this chapter) belongs to [classified] ))

Pyrrhus and Jovana were still walking around the Parthenon, patrolling.

"So all this time you were just an unlucky prince of Thessaly that moved to Japan?" Jovana asked.

"I had no claim to rule that part of Greece, and that claim is too old to take. Afterall, Greece is a republic now. My parents brought me to Inkopolis, Japan, to have a fresh start. When I wanted to be a racer, they never spoke to me for the whole middle school." Pyrrhus was looking at the stars. "And I already told Camille about how I just keep moving forward with a smile no matter what. Kept positive."

"And then the Titanomachy came," Jovana pointed out.

"Yeah... I think Camille is still mad at me for wasting that emotional moment in the underworld." Pyrrhus scratches the back of his head. "At least I'm alive and well, and we can start a fresh new relationship--"

"Camille is somewhat a strange girl when it comes to love and trust." Jovana has been chatting with Camille a bit too much. "But she is able to make things work without 'slowing down'."

Pyrrhus stops and looks at Jovana. "Do you think our new relationship won't last?"

"I think it's going well." Jovana then gave this uncomfortable and somehow threatening smile. "Just don't go around breaking her heart."

"Ummm... Okay?" Pyrrhus steps back.

The conversation continued as they continued their patrol.

Back at the Gazebo, Camille is in her silk hammock, about to sleep. She slowly closes her eyes and relaxed. As she falls into a deep sleep, she opens her eyes, finding herself with a caravan that is The Hunt.

The caravan was heading towards Athens.

From the last trials, Camille has received only one ally of the Hunt: Telemachus. Other than him, there's Lee, Callie, Janine, Emerald, Icarus, Cedalion, Morpheus, and Prometheus.

Icarus was gliding over Camille, and he landed by her side, chattering something to her. Camille was still trying to understand the animal.

"Uh..... hey." Camille carefully got up.

"You're up, that's good." Prometheus is riding his horse close to the cart that Camille is in. "We're approaching Athens Parthenon. Let's hope Athena's blessing is still with you."

Camille can see the Parthenon from a distance.

"Also, your grandmother, Janine, is still asleep." Prometheus nods to another cart in the caravan. "And so is Emerald and Telemachus. It seems their personas, Atalanta, Telemachus, and Hyacinthus, will be out of this Trial if they don't wake up once we arrive."

When The Hunt arrives at the Parthenon, the Acropolis around it is already showing signs of turning into ruins. Dinner is being prepared using grains, olives, olive oil, apples, and a few proteins; Lee and Callie were cooking this time.

Morpheus and Prometheus were on the lookout, making sure the opponent faction arrives.

Icarus and Cedalion were fighting over something. The bronze automaton demi-god has his helmet feather plume missing. the flying squirrel has it in his mouth. Camille decided to intervene, kneeling down.

"Woah, alright guys, what's the going on." Camille separated them in case they fight.

The flying squirrel began chattering.

"Princess Camilla, Icarus stole my feather plume for my helmet, and he won't give it back!" Cedalion pointed his sword at Icarus.

The flying squirrel chattered in reply. Cedalion reacted in annoyance.

"You take that back!" Cedalion wanted to get closer.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Camille looked at Icarus. "You need to give the feather back to Cedalion, Icarus."

The flying squirrel still didn't want to give the feather plume up. In second, he reluctantly has the feather plume back to Cedalion. Cedalion attached the feather plume back on his helmet before walking away with a "hmph".

Later, the stars of Constellation, Auriga the Charioteer, illuminated and aligned. The next trial is coming, yet the opposing faction hasn't come. The Judges of the Underworld, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus, and Minos, aren't surprised that a faction is late.

"How incompetent of the opposing faction," Aeacus stated in annoyance, "They're late."

Camille leans against a pillar. Prometheus stood close to her, holding his orb of fire.

"I can sense them coming..." Prometheus detected.

"Wait, here they come... it can't be...," Rhadamanthus stated.

"Is that...?" Mino is also surprised.

An inkling woman arrived, dressed in finest silk chiton and cotton cloak and adorned in gold and bronze. She has auburn hair and light skin; she is blind with her eyes closed with a calm look. She carried with her a satchel attached to a storage jar -- a vessel that once carried something eldritch and vile.

Beside her is an adult inkling in a tunic and cloak with his ink hair is beige. His eyes are orange, and his skin is light. He is armed with an ax. He looked foolish yet positive, and he's different from the clever Prometheus. However, there was a trace of guilt and weakness in his smile and laid-back eyes.

"Pandora," Prometheus addressed grimly before looking at the inkling beside her, "Brother... Epimetheus."

The inkling named Epimetheus look at Prometheus. He then looked down, not wanting to speak. Pandora sighed.

"This relic of the Pantheon, according to The Hunt, is responsible for tampering with the Trials, "Aeacus speculated, "Sadly, there is no way to punish her for this is the first time it has happened."

"It's been awhile, Prometheus," Pandora began.

"It has, Pandora..." Prometheus is staring at Epimetheus. "Brother, you don't need to follow her."

"But she's my responsibility," Epimetheus argued.

Prometheus didn't leave a comment. He shook his head. He knew what else was left in Pandora's vessel, but it was opposite of evil. He used it before.

"So......,." Camille steps in, ready to perform the trial, "What should we call your faction, Pandora?"

"You'll see," Pandora replied.

"So be it!" Aeacus boomed. "The Hunt shall face Pandora and The Penitence. You all know the sin of this woman, and it's mortifying that you'll face her."

"And I am not alone... I can sense Morpheus is among your faction." A shadow walks around Pandora, standing by her side.

The shadow reveals itself as a centaur adorned with grey rags. The human half is an inkling with black messy inkhair, pale ashy white skin, and hollow eyes with a glow deep in the darkness. The stallion half is that of a black mare. He wielded a scythe and lantern.

"Icelus Phobetor.... brother of Morpheus," Prometheus addressed, "God of Nightmares."

"Brother..." Morpheus didn't look too glad to meet him.

Icelus didn't say anything, but he did point his scythe at Camille. His look was that of hostility. Camille can feel that vibe hit her, but she tried to overcome the fear it brought. Her glare made Icelus stop.

"An interesting trial," Aeacus observed.

"This is the first time factions faced each other in a trial with both under the guidance of gods or goddesses," Rhadamanthus stated.

"Still, Morpheus and Icelus cannot participate," Minos reminded, "It's the rules."

"The Trial this time is a return to simplicity," Aeacus stated, "With a twist."

"A twist?" Camille questioned.

"Yes, Princess Camilla, a twist," Aeacus replied, "This shall be the Trial of Duels."

"One-on-one?" Camille raised an eyebrow and crosses her arms. "That's it?"

"But it's just not one-on-one with weapons and all." Aeacus is then heard clapping hands once. "In this trial, you will not just have your own weapons and magic at your disposal. The Pantheon's assets are yours for such a battle."

"But the assets you'll earn depend on the deity you'll swear your pledge to," Rhadamanthus specified, "Or at least have already sworn to."

"Pick your champion, factions," Aeacus commanded.

Pandora steps forward, having already decided it should be her. Prometheus began to step in to face what is legally her sister-in-law. However, Camille and Lee pull him back to consult with the other members of The Hunt.

Janine, Telemachus, and Emerald were still asleep in this dream realm, meaning they're still awake outside. The only available members were Lee, Callie, Icarus, Cedalion, and Prometheus. Morpheus, again, can't participate since he's a dream god.

"Emmy, Telly, and Grandma Janine aren't gonna wake up any minute, so now what?" Camille asked.

"I want to do this," Prometheus volunteered.

"No way." Lee can tell the family tensions between Prometheus, his brother, and Pandora. "It doesn't feel right to step in just to settle personal conflicts."

"And it would hurt your brother more if you end up defeating Pandora," Callie rationalized.

Prometheus knew the risks, but it was a hard decision that he needed to rethink. It was either defeat the woman created out of his "sins" or crush the hope of reconciling with his brother. He shook his head.

"I'll leave it to the leader of the party then, as always." Prometheus looks to Camille. "Who shall go?"

Camille looked at those who are available. She doesn't want to put either of her parents in, and she didn't want to put herself between Prometheus and her brother and his brother's wife. It would sound cruel to send Icarus in, worrying that he would end up as ashes. And she hates to imagine Cedalion ending up as scraps.

Morpheus then informs her about Icelus.

"Camille-- I mean Princess Camilla." Morpheus look over his shoulder to look at Icelus. He then looked at Camille. "Their dream god, Icelus, works for Moros. He's part of the Children of Nyx."

Camille quickly decided. "Then I guess I'll go."

Afterward, Camille steps forward to face Pandora. She looks over Pandora shoulder and gave a death stare are Icelus.

"You judges know who blessed me, and she's the one I pledged to," Camille played along as Camilla.

"My pledge is to Zeus," Pandora declared. Then her hands emit lightning from the elbows to the fingertips.

"And just before you fight," Aeacus lectured, "The games ends when the fighter collapses first. Now go!"

Camille puts on Camilla's helmet before having the bronze spear and wooden shield out, and owl wings sprouted from her back. She flapped them gently and flew in midair. She narrowed her eyes.

"I've fought your kind before," Pandora stated, "The Amazons are quite superior to mortals. Orion should've gone for one rather than raping--"

Camille wasn't impressed and quickly cut her off. "Oh shut up!" She threw her bronze spear down at Pandora.

Pandora sends a lightning bolt at the spear, breaking it into pieces. She then whipped lightning strikes at Camille. Camille uses the wooden shield to deflect the bolts. Instead, the wooden shield ends up burning, so she unequips it and disposes of it. She took out a bow and some arrows.

"Take this!" Camille fire three arrows with the best aim she has.

Only one arrow was able to hit Pandora, and it only left a small cut on her ear.

In response, Pandora shoots arrows into the sky which in turn sent smaller bolts down on Camille in the form of rain. This forces Camille to stop flying.

Camille took this as a chance to deliver an attack during her landing. She takes out Camilla Penthesilea’s signature bronze ax and lands towards Pandora. Once she's close she was about swing downwards with the ax.

Pandora steps back to avoid getting hit. Camille then took off her helmet and threw it at Pandora which leaves her opponent getting out of balance. This simply made Pandora fall back.

Camille knew she won, but then glaring upwards -- specifically staring at the Judges of the underworld.

".......That was too anti-climatic, is it not?" Aeacus asked.

"We need to work Athen's trial, Aeacus," Minos concluded.

Pandora got up and giggled. "But know this, Judges! I came to tell you that I have control over the Trials now. I've changed the rules."

This left the three judges surprised and outraged.

"How could this be?" Rhadamanthus commented.

"How dare you, Pandora!" Aeacus boomed.

"We still hold the responsibility to spectate and inform the factions," Minos replied.

Prometheus, Morpheus, Camille, and Lee run over to stand by Camille's side. Icelus and Epimetheus stood by Pandora's side again. Callie and Lee grab Camille and bring her back to The Hunt's caravan.

"You're doing this to get a better chance to rejoin the Pantheon," Prometheus accused.

"I belong in Olympus," Pandora stated.

"I suggest you relieve your control over the trials back to the judges before you hurt the chances of the other factions," Prometheus urged.

Epimetheus steps in. "Leave Pandora be, brother."

Camille looks up and noticed the next constellation. She took out her sea glass spectacles and watch the stars align. The next constellation revealed itself, Hercules, aligning its stars. Its brightest star, Beta Herculis (Kornephoros), beams a light down northeast and into the mountains. The next trail was in a waterfall in a land called Scythia which is quite far. 

 The name almost made Camille laugh, but she was in the center of a somewhat-heated conversation.

Morpheus and Icelus leave both factions after that conversation.

When Camille was going to leave the dream realm, she can feel the dream become clouded with nightmares. This annoyed her at first, but that annoyance turned to fear. She tosses and turns, but was soon calmed by a gentles touch.

Callie and Lee were there, but they were also asleep, leaving the dream realm.

Janine was awake.

"You can't hide behind the mask forever." Prometheus entered the tent.

Janine looks behind her and at Prometheus.

[fakesurprise]

Bends in the Road

5.

We walk slowly and I use the time to shake the last of my talent loose. Causing pain is easy; feeling it never is, and I can feel Noah’s skin and Wilbur’s knees and back longer than I’d like. The town falls away in under thirty seconds of walking, the road narrowing like a clogged artery. The forest gathers about us. Trees old and new, the road a slice of human power between them all. The forest is so solid here, it’s hard to think a town is around a few bends, even if it is barely a town at all. Hard to believe we managed to force our presence into the woods at all, even though we’ve done so much more than that the whole world over.

The cemetery is set far enough back from the road that you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t look for it. Some days I think too much of the world is like that. There is a small wooden fence, the kind that is more wooden posts than fence, the ground inside mowed. A dozen grave stones, some probably for pets, a few others beyond damaged and overgrown.

The girl sitting between two graves is pale, with dark jeans, sweater, long black hair. She isn’t moving. I glance over at Noah, who shakes his head, then at Wilbur. “Anything?”

“Nothing from the cemetery. Or her.”

I shrug and head up the narrow path leading into the cemetery. Wilbur follows, with Noah behind him, and we spread out as we enter it. Nothing weird or strange happens, and then they girl hears us.

“Mark, if – wait, no one breathes like...” Her eyes snap open, drawn to Wilbur. She is halfway to her feet before she flings her hands up over her face and falls back onto her ass with a sharp cry.

I stop. The girl – Becky – stands slowly, lowering her hands from her eyes. “What – what are you?” she breathes, focused on Noah.

“I’m starting to think we can’t take you anywhere,” I say with a sigh when Noah doesn’t respond.

“He burns. Like a sun.” She doesn’t add anything about Noah being more than a sun at least. Her eyes are watering as she rubs them, stepping back, shaking her head. “You – you I don’t know about,” and her gaze flicks from me to Wilbur.

Becky swears. Softly. Stops dead. “You are – a constellation, hiding light with distance.”

“Interesting.” Wilbur gestures, and Noah moves behind him. Becky relaxes visibly, rubbing tears away. Too shaken to make her own gesture defiant. “You have some capacity for Sight, but I think nothing else?”

“I want it. The else, the magic. I can feel it it in the world. See it sometimes. People blaze, fade, but some don’t fade. People just walk around being able to do things, and they don’t even know. But you know and you’re – you’re – what are you?” she asks again.

“We have talents, we use them to deal with problems. We were told there was one in Oscars Bend, so we’re trying to find and stop it,” Wilbur says smoothly.

She shakes her head a bit more, puts on a glare. Being thirteen is sometimes about who has the best glare. “Let me guess: you were told it was my fault.”

“We were told to talk to you. Mark didn’t blame you, he just said you were into wicca and hung out at the cemetery.”

“So you connected the dots.”

“We came to ask questions. That’s what you do when you don’t know the answers,” Wilbur says.

“Yeah? Most people I know ask them because they know the answer already!”

“I imagine that sounded better in your head.” I smile, and it’s one of the nasty ones I used to practise in the mirror. Becky steps back, looking uncertain. “We don’t care about family dynamics, or who hates who. An entity that isn’t from around here is in this area, and we need to find and stop it.”

“Or what?”

“Or worse things than us show up.” Wilbur turns around briefly. “Anything, Noah?”

Noah moves around Wilbur to stand near me, and Becky just stares at him. Finally seeing him instead of his talent. “Holy shit,” she breathes. “Your talent damaged you?”

Noah blinks. “No. This is just me. And it is – odd.” He walks toward her. Me: I’m scary, sometimes when I don’t want to me. Wilbur is big, and people can see that as strength. Noah is Noah. She doesn’t run, even if his talent is scary in size. He’d make an amazing serial killer if he couldn’t be found so easily. “She can See, like you said? I can’t tell that, but I can tell you she has been pulling. Hard. And nothing has ever answered, which is – odd. She’s like a fishing lure but nothing takes the bait?”

“Huh.” Wilbur walks forward, slow and careful, avoiding gravestones and tree roots.”What makes your seeking a wanting, Becky McTavish?” he asks, and his voice is deep and resonant for a moment.

“Power,” she says, the word gasped from her. “You – you made me –.”

“I asked a real question. It desired an answer,” Wilbur says smoothly, the resonance gone. “You want power just to have it, to lord it over others?”

“I want a secret that’s just mine, okay? I know magic exists. I know what’s real, because I can See power. I’ve looked for grimoires, I’ve bought wiccan books, hunted the internet for every spell I could find and nothing ever worked! Nothing!” She steps toward Wilbur, hands clenched into weapons. “Your friend burns with power and I have none.”

“Like looking out a window. Seeing the world, not touching it,” Noah says softly.

“Oh, what would you know?” Becky snarls.

“More than you,” Noah said mildly. “As for a talent: I can’t help you get one. I don’t even know how that happens?”

“It is about desire,” Wilbur says. “Need. Luck, too, I think. But power is meant to be in the world, being used and growing, tested and testing. Wanting power just to have it, to be strong in a way that only makes others weak: that doesn’t help anyone get a talent. Being a magician is far different, of course. Magic can be sought, but it can’t be learned. It can be found, but not taught. I think the same is true of talents to an extent.”

“And I’m not a freak,” she says flatly.

“Heh. People probably call your brother a freak, and Paul has no talent for any kind of magical weirdness. Try again,” I offer.

“You –.”

“I pass for normal. Wilbur is just fat. Noah does, I grant you, have a prodigious amount of freckles and an unfortunate case of acne, but that’s hard the same as being freaks. It’s also an odd turn to take when we know more about the weird side of the world than anyone you know. Unless you enjoy being ignorant?”

Becky steps back, saying nothing. I just look at her. Waiting in the way Mr Pickles does; no one can wait like a cat can. “I don’t know what’s going on, but everything is wrong,” she says, filling the silence with a stumble of words. “Everyone has been on edge for the past week, looking for fights. Even Paul, who is – pretty quiet.”

“And?” Wilbur asks.

“I tried a spell. To calm everyone. Gathered hair, nails, had candles, ground myself in the earth. It didn’t help. Everyone has been – odd. I don’t have words for it, but it’s like everyone is blurred when I look at them? I thought I –. What if I did –.” She looks away. “I think I changed everyone and I don’t know how.”

“Sit. Please,” I say, and I sit first. Noah follows; Wilbur just leans against a gravestone and stands. Becky McTavish sits slowly, not quite looking at us. “Things have been tense the past week, and steadily getting worse?”

“It happens. Edith always brings everyone food, keeps everything together, talks to everyone. She’s been baking less this week, so maybe that started it? Everyone says small towns are where everyone knows your name, all of that, but Oscars Bend is not even legally a town, I think? It was once, but now it’s all generators and us hoping the wells don’t run dry, that the old septic system remains intact. People come here to get away, so mostly we don’t pry.”

“And if you did?”

“Jennifer Smith. She’s new, and Mark and Peter looked into her. She used to be John Smith. Some TV psychic who got rumbled and fled to Oscars Bend. I don’t think he’s really Jennifer, I mean not a cross-dresser or anything more: it’s just a wall to stop people from prying. Robert Plint was big in banking, escaped just before the crash and he tries to keep the authorities at bay from his son. He probably spends more money on that than he would have if Alvin went to a school.”

“And your family?”

“Dad and I moved back two years ago, when mom died.” She shrugs. “They wanted somewhere to make wilderness survival videos: Oscars Bend is far enough from Appleford and Rivercomb to be nowhere, but close enough that we’re still part of things. Being in a town of twenty helps Peter sell it online. I think gran and grandpa moved because Edith asked them to, but I don’t know the details. There are guns here, but not any smoking ones. Nothing that justifies that,” she says, waving her right hand to Noah; it trembles a little.

“Okay.” I look over at Noah, up at Wilbur. “Anything else?”

They shake their heads, so I stand alone with Noah, nod to her. “Thank you. If things change, we’re at the motel.”

As if we could be elsewhere. It’s a measure of how shaken Becky is that she doesn’t laugh.

We walk back out of the cemetery. I wait until we’re at the road. “I got no excessive pain from her, emotional or otherwise.”

“She didn’t pull or push at me,” Noah offers quietly, but nothing else.

“I think she might be outside this,” Wilbur says slowly. “Not just the Outsider that’s here, but also us. She can See things. Even if they have to be close by and in her line of sight, it’s more than most people ever see. If you can sense power, and you want it, you’re a lure.”

I glance over at him. “Something anchored her?”

“I think so. Or is going to in the future, so until then it’s protecting her against anything else. The Outsider that’s here might not find breaking through the barrier around her worth the effort, or keep her as a control group since everyone else is a variable. Which is assigning human motives, so it is probably wrong, but the gist of it might not be?” He shrugs. “I think no matter how this goes down, we want her on our side.”

“Also normal things. For oddness?” Noah adds when we look at him. “Her dad moved back here. Why? She either knows or hasn’t asked?”

“And it’s damn weird if she hasn’t asked. Good point. But I guess the sun has lot of good points.” Noah rolls his eyes at that. “Also, how Edith and Gerry convinced the McTavishes to move here. And remain. YouTube has been around since about 2005 or so, and it’s wasn’t big as a source of income for awhile I think. All of which isn’t necessarily important: drawing the Outsider outside is.”

Wilbur shakes his head. “How long have you been waiting to say that?”

“Not important,” I say, but return his grin. “Problem is that we’re noticeable. We can’t do weird shit and not be found if someone goes looking. Noah cutting loose with his talent would draw the Outsider to us, I think, but we’d also be left with twenty people seeing Carrie-level shit and interpreting it how they wanted to. Probably badly. We’re out of cell phone range with Lia and Aram, I’m pretty sure Mr. Pickles doesn’t have one –.”

“He said magicians generally don’t use them,” Noah says. “I asked. Apparently it’s a magician thing and not a cat one?”

“It’s hitting afternoon. Let’s check out the store, buy things, go back to the hotel. I want –.” Wilbur pauses. “I need to sit and rest for a bit. We need to find out what is going on here, and I think we’ve run out of mundane methods?”

“All right. Food, motel, and plans.” Noah leads the way toward the corner store and I look over at Wilbur. “You have been using your talent a fair bit today. But we all have.”

He doesn’t look at me. “We drive a lot. We don’t – walk like this, and not this often.”

It’s been more standing than walking. I let it go; sometimes it’s all you can do. The small convenience store has an apartment above it complete with two satellite dishes, generators out back, and a couple of rusty trucks beside it. There’s open lawn in front without anything like proper parking stalls. The interior is an actual store, though there is one freezer, one fridge, and the shelves are mostly an assortment of random canned goods either bought on sale from somewhere else or donated.

Which causes me to pause for a moment. One doesn’t normally think that way about a store. There is one black cat lounging in a windowsill, a table set up for checkers or chess by it, generic coffee machine, antique cash register. The man behind the counter is bearded, mid-twenties, devoid of the usual blank stare of customer service. He’s definitely heard of us being in town. It doesn’t stop him from staring at Noah and Wilbur, but he tries to hide it. I get a few stares too as we figure things to buy. The sign at the register says cash only, so Noah pulls some from his wallet and hands it over. He has a stack of twenties because Aram is nothing but prepared.

I’d wonder how Aram can afford this, but it’s safer not to.

The man behind the till hands the change back, bags the energy bars and Gatorade and hands it over.

“Noah.”  Noah stops at my voice, glances over at me.

“You didn’t charge us for half of those energy bars.”

“We don’t get many visitors,” the cashier says with an easy shrug.

“I bet. I’m Anya, this is Noah, Wilbur. You?”

“Daniel. I run the shop. My boyfriend runs an online store. It keeps me out of his hair, and I mostly read books, chat with whoever comes in, supply things.”

“Edith said Gerry was getting supplies in Appleford.”

Noah has moved back, away and behind Wilbur.

Daniel stares at me. “For their family, yes.”

“Then how do you break even? I mean, at all, not even with giving us stuff for free?”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

I stare at him, but he says nothing else.

“Anya,” Wilbur says, close to the tone I used with Noah.

I let it go and follow him outside.

“What was that?” Noah almost snaps. “I’m not –. You kept –.”

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking about you. I had a thought when we entered, but I hope I was wrong.”

“About?” Noah presses, or as close as Noah gets to that.

“How the store runs. It’s not part of the rest of this. I think.”

“And it is?” he asks, but with less urgency.

“I was volunteered at a food bank a few years ago. Use of talent, disrupting a classroom: not important. Point is that you get a feel for the food people bring in, and why. Everything on those shelves reminded me of that.”

Wilbur stops dead at that, turning to me slowly. “You think the convenience store gets its stock by collecting food from a food bank and selling it?”

“It fit. Somehow, in my head.”

“More reasons to be glad telepathy isn’t a thing,” Wilbur says, and Noah snickers a little.

[sometimesrosy]

The Carriage House, ch 4: A Little Problem Or Two

rosymamacita

Chapter 4 read on AO3

It's the night of Vera's house warming barbecue, and Bellamy and Clarke have to put on a show, and pretend they're really married. In front of EVERY BODY. Even Clarke's MOTHER.

They've never even kissed.

“We have a problem.”

Bellamy turned from the giant batch of guacamole he was making to look at Clarke. She was dressed in a pale blue sundress for the housewarming barbecue and her bare shoulders made his mouth water. But he could focus. “What problem do we have?” He had learned his lesson. Nothing was easy. And this housewarming extravaganza that Vera was hosting, inviting all their friends and all her “kids” was going to kill him.

“My mom is in town.”

“Your mom.” Bellamy knew that Clarke loved her mom and loved to see her, but she lived in DC, and was very busy with her work as a surgeon and her charities and her whatever else it was that society people did in DC. He wasn’t quite sure. “Why is this a problem?”

“Well, my mom has a very… uhm… clear sense of right and wrong.”

“Good. I share that with her. Morals are good.”

“Yeah. Uhm. But she really hates lying.”

Bellamy blinked. He was beginning to see the problem. “No, Clarke.”

“I told her we were dating. She’s okay with the marriage fudge, her mother was very conservative and didn’t always understand more modern ways of doing things.”

“Clarke. Your mother thinks we’re living together. As a couple. Romantically. Your mother.”

“Why is that worse than Vera?”

“Because she’s your mother. Holidays. Visits. Your future. Grandchildren!”

“Grandchildren!” Clarke snorted. “You’re taking it too far. We’ve never even kissed.”

“Yeah. And now we have to pretend to be MARRIED and legitimately romantically involved, not only in front of the landlord but also our assistant principal and YOUR MOTHER.”

“And the school superintendent.”

“The superintendent is coming to our housewarming party? Why is the school superintendent coming to our housewarming party?”

“Jaha. You know, he’s the one that suggested this house and recommended us and I grew up with his son. I used to make pillow forts in his family room. He goes to Vera’s church or something.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

Everything he’d heard about this housewarming party made him dread it more and more. It would have been fine with just their friends. They were in on the ruse. But this was huge. This was everyone. He braced himself on the counter and hung his head. This was too much. “We have to pretend to be married in front of everyone all night long, and do it convincingly. Clarke.”

“Bellamy, we’re great together. We just have to be ourselves. We don’t have to put anything on. We’re close already. We’re partners. We’re together. It’s going to be easy.”

He turned around and glared at her. “We have to pretend to be…” the words were so hard to say. “…In love.” He ground his teeth together. “And we’ve never even kissed.”

He watched emotions flit across her face and for once, he couldn’t really figure out what was going on in her head. She was a mystery. “We can fix that,” she said, and stepped up to him.

“What are you—“ he started. She looked at his lips.

“We should practice first. In case…” she said, words trailing off.

His breath stuttered from his lungs. His brain stopped, but he reached for her waist. Not to push her away.

“Is it okay?” her voice was a bare whisper.

He nodded.

She was tentative. Nervous. Her lips just brushed his and it was like the sun had come out from the clouds. Then she pulled away.

He flexed his fingers on her waist. “What kind of kiss is that? Are we married or Junior High kids at the prom?”

He pulled her back in and kissed her for real. His brain had long since shut off and he was just going on instinct, on feeling.

She gasped and he deepened the kiss, holding onto her jaw to get a better angle, licking at her lips. She opened for him. Her hands rose up to clutch at his back and he tangled his fingers into her silky hair. She pressed full length into him and his senses were dazzled. She tasted like peaches. She smelled like summer. She was so soft against him. He could have kissed her forever.

He pulled back. He shuttered his heart. This was not who they were to each other. But he couldn’t apologize.

She laughed breathlessly and grinned, looking up at him through her lashes in a way that made him want to drag her back to his room and throw her down on the bed. “I don’t think anyone’s going to ask us to kiss like that either, outside of a porn shoot. Maybe something in the middle, more like this…” and instead of being bashful at what they’d just done or angry at him for kissing her way out of bounds, she came back in, with a smile, two hands on his face, and kissed him, firmly, but lovingly. She pulled back, and then gave him another peck. “Like we actually like each other?” She raised her eyebrows at him and her eyes were filled with joy.

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s better.” Her lips were soft. They curved in a gentle smile. He stroked her cheekbone, and pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back just slightly. “Like we actually like each other. I think we can do that.”

She laughed and the sound filled him up. He laughed, too. “See, Bellamy? Don’t make everything such a drama all the time. We’re good. This is a party. We’re not married, but—but I love you anyway, and we’re great together. Yeah?”

His heart turned over when she said she loved him, but he knew she didn’t mean it the way he meant it. He laughed again and it was only a little bit at himself. “You gonna make me a friendship bracelet next? Spell out ‘BFF’ in beads?”

She slapped him on the chest, but then grabbed onto his bicep and slid her arm up to his shoulder to squeeze. “Clearly it would spell ‘hubby.’ Then she winked.

“Clearly.”

“We good? You over your nerves?”

“We’re good. Not sure I’ll ever be over my nerves about lying to everyone about this.”

Her brows drew together. “If you want to break up— I mean, move out— we can look for another place. I mean, that is if you still want to live with me. We don’t have to.” She swallowed.

“No. That’s not what I meant.” He sighed deeply. “It feels like we should be part of a play or something, but really, we’re just us and not doing anything differently are we? Just telling people that we’re together. And then acting the same.”

“Nothing different so far. And Bellamy, I’m really happy this way.”

He was too. He was happy. She made him so happy. And he didn’t want to lose that happiness, even if he yearned for more from her. Yearned to hold her tight, and kiss her for real. He licked his lips, remembering. It was for real. But he wanted to kiss her when it was real for her too.

He realized he was staring at her as she waited for him to respond. He wanted it to be real. She blinked when it took him too long. He saw a fear slip into her eyes, as if he was about to tell her he wasn’t happy living with her. Wasn’t happy being with her, in whatever this was. As friends. Partners. “I’m happy too, Clarke,” and she let out her breath.

Their front door slammed open before he could add the “…but…” that was on the tip of his tongue.

“I’m here bitches! Now the party can begin! Holy crap is this place awesome! Now I see why you lost your mind.”

“Octavia!” Bellamy shouted, hurrying to intercept her before she shouted any secrets throughout the house with open windows and a courtyard full of people who only knew the lie.

His sister was visiting from Ann Arbor where she lived with her boyfriend, come specifically for this. They’d had a falling out some time back and had been slowly working their way back together. They talked regularly and he’d visited her in Michigan, but she hadn’t come to New York, not since he’d gotten close with Clarke. Not until now. Now that she knew he was faking a marriage to get an apartment, she’d done whatever she could to cover her shifts so she could come, torture him, and see the ridiculous situation he’d been tweeting her about.

“Octavia…” he said again as he walked into the living room and she was spinning around slowly, taking in the beamed ceilings, hard wood floors, and french doors and windows. “Octavia… You’re going to be good, right?”

She looked at him and made a face that made him more suspicious than ever.

“Why would you think I wouldn’t be good, Bell?” Her face lit up. “So is this my new sister in law?”

“Octavia,” Clarke said, her hand outstretched for a shake as she came out of the kitchen. “It’s so good to mee—“ Octavia grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a hug. Bellamy winced. He knew how strong Octavia was and how tight those hugs were. Sometimes they felt like some sort of aggressive maneuver she learned in her martial arts classes.

Octavia released Clarke and she stepped back. “Oh. Okay.” She looked back and forth between Bellamy and Octavia.

“Clarke, meet my sister, Octavia. Octavia, do not attack Clarke.”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “So married at the courthouse, huh? Yeah. I never would have believed that. Because, he may act all cool, but my brother is a romantic. Ro. Man. Tic. He’d want to be married in some, like, garden or shit. With all his friends and family around him. And like I’d have to bake the cake for him with all my fancy pastry school learning. Oh, hey!” She smiled evilly and pointed out the door at the garden. “This is the perfect garden for a wedding with your closest friends and family.”

“Shut up, O.”

“LOL.”

“Don’t say LOL, O. This is not a text.”

“ROFLMAO.”

“Shut up, O.”

“Yeah, where’s my room? I need to freshen up.”

“Up the stairs and on the right.” She gestured behind her at the duffel bag in front of the door.

Octavia went up the stairs, whistling in approval at the carriage house. “A skylight! OMG Bellamy, you are sleeping under the stars! Can you see the constellations?” she yelled down the stairs before whatever she was saying got too garbled to understand.

“So that’s your sister. You always talk about her like she’s a dangerous weapon.”

“Hmm,” he said, noncommittally

“I can take her.” She looked up at him through her lashes again, and his stomach flipped. “There’s a reason the kids call me Commander of Death.”

“Yeah because you fail them if they don’t do what you say.”

“Correct. I think this is going to be fun.” She gave him a dazzling smile. He was dazzled. “Hey Octavia, let me show you the bathroom,” she called, and started up the stairs.

Great. He had more things to be worried about.