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moonstruck-poet · 7 months

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Rewrite The Stars

Pairing - Kaz Brekker x reader

Summary - The story of how you two manage to unravel the complexities that concern a relationship based on the song 'Rewrite The Stars'

Hope you'll enjoy it!!!

You know I want you, it's not a secret I try to hide. You know you want me, so don't keep saying our hands are tied.

Kaz Brekker, you muttered under your breath and kicked a small stone with as much strength as you could muster, ignoring the sharp pain that followed.

He really was impossible that one. Tested your patience to such a level that you were almost considering giving up.

Almost.

But you weren't known as the never giving up person for nothing. You would try to make him see sense.

You halted in your path towards the Crow Club to analyse your thoughts which were a hundred percent occupied by that young boy whom everyone called Dirtyhands.

He had you completely charmed, as could be observed since he was the one running rent free through your mind at all times when you weren't risking your life for the same man.

So taking a deep breath and resting your hand on your holster, you entered your home with a poker face and scanned everything to see that all was going on smoothly.

"All good here?" You questioned Rotty and downed a shot of whiskey, scrunching your nose at the bitter after taste.

"Everything under control ma'am, got a lotta good pigeons," he grinned and your lips twitched sideways.

"What's up, Jes?" You asked the gunslinger who was sitting on one of the stools near the bar, twirling his pistol in his hand.

"Nothing, I'm bored. Need some action," he groaned and stretched upwards.

"Of course you do," you laughed softly. "Where are the others?"

"Off doing saints know what".

"Kaz still ain't budging?" He asked suddenly, his tone a little gentler.

"No," you said shortly and clenched your jaw. Suddenly not wanting to thing about him.

Jesper sighed loudly, "He is one of the most idiotic person I know. He doesn't even seem to realise he's missing out on the best thing that's happened to him".

You smiled at that, it was a small one but nevertheless a smile after all.

"If I wasn't so unbelievably enamoured by messy haired guys who are quite a shot at chemistry, I would've gone for you honestly".

"I'm flattered, Fahey".

"But seriously tho, love. What's his reason for denying you, huh?"

"Kaz thinks we're not good together," you answered abruptly.

"Not good together my ass," he rolled his eyes in utter annoyance. "You deserve so much better than him. I don't understand how you even managed to fall for him".

"Falling for him wasn't falling at all, Jes. It was like walking into a house and just knowing that you're home," you whispered.

And there he was, the hindrance to your concentration, the object of your continuous staring, Kaz Brekker.

He took off his hat, revealing his rather well defined featured that seemed to be sculpted with a help of a knife.

Your eyes took his figure in. Those all black clothes with that unmistakable cane was his entire persona that he had built for himself.

Your gaze softened at the sight of his messed up hair, the few strands that had fallen on his pale forehead making your heart skip a tiny beat.

"You really love him don't you?" You snapped from your staring at Jesper's question."I guess I do," you answered, eyes following him as he walked towards you with what you assumed to be another one of those tasks that he always gave you, just because of the amount of trust he had.

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You claim it's not in the cards and fate is pulling you miles away and out of a reach from me. But you're hearing my heart so who can stop me if I decide, it's on my destiny?

"Fucking hell this idiot of a man," you groaned and ran frantically towards the mount of wounded people.

You had indeed raided one of the most well protected safe of the most dangerous person and there were bound to be major consequences.

Your heart dropped after seeing Wylan lying near a building wreckage and you sprinted despite the throbbing pain in your calf and ignoring the blood flowing down one side of your head and torso.

"Hey," you whispered, getting down to your knees and shaking the boy. "Wylan, come on. I need you, come on wake up," phrases fell from your lips absently.

And he did wake up and you felt as though your feet were back again on solid ground. He woke up, immediately clutching his head and looked around, eyes squinting. "Where are the others?" he said hoarsely.

"Everybody is fine, everyone except for Kaz and we're all looking for him," you murmured, the relief fading away for panic to seize control of your weak heart again.

He immediately noticed your tensed posture and really looked at you, succeeding in reading your internal turmoil.

"Up you get," he suddenly said in an authoritative voice. "We're gonna go and find Kaz right now," he got up and held out his arm for you to grasp.

You simply stared before shaking yourself off and following his lead, glad to have someone to listen to instead of following your stupid thoughts all alone.

The fear in both you and Wylan seemed to increase tenfold after witnessing gruesome scenes all around you. But you both swallowed it harshly and kept a determined spirit, him more than you actually.

Because naturally your heart always seemed to lose its stone cold interior upon the mention of a specific someone.

"Saints," Wylan suddenly came to an abrupt halt and his eyes widened as he pointed to the shed of a shop that was almost on the verge on collapsing entirely. And underneath all of that rubble was Kaz.

"Oh god," was all that escaped your lips and you didn't think before running towards him, not even noticing a large chunk of the ceiling falling om your shoulder.

"Kaz," you said, leaning down in front of him. Your throat burned at his terrible state. His hair completely dishevelled, numerous cuts and blood stains littering his body, eyes half closed as he gazed ahead endlessly.

"Kaz!" You said again and Wylan softly patted his shoulder, accidentally touching his bare skin where the shirt was torn and in the process jolting awake the unconscious boy.

"Good gracious," you prayed and stepped back after seeing the anxiety on his face. "Kaz you have to let me, or you're going to die you bastard," you frowned but waited and turned towards Wylan, "Will you go and tell the others that we've found him? They'll be there at our decided headquarters, just inform them quickly please and get Nina as soon as you can," you instructed and he set off instantly.

"I'm sorry," you whispered and clenched your jaw hard before moving closer and putting one hand behind his shoulders, your heart shattering a little at his sharp intake of breath. "I'm so sorry but I have to do this," you said with a rather broken voice and picked him up.

Halfway through the route he let out a loud groan and you almost dropped him but then steadied yourself and halted.

"What's wrong, Kaz?"

His eyes were scrunched up in pain and it was then that you noticed the bullet which was wedged on the side of his chest and you froze at the sight.

"No no no," your muscles seemed rooted to the spot and the only thought runnung through your mind was that he was going to die. Kaz Brekker was going to die.

"Shit," you muttered and hastened your pace, struggling slightly under the weight of his rather heavy body but you did manage to reach the secret meeting place just in time.

"NINA!" You yelled and placed him on the nearest couch. "NINA!"

She was out in a second, all others following close behind and breathing in sharply at the sight of their leader beaten up so badly.

"Th- There's a bullet through his s- side," you said, panting as suddenly there was a lack of oxygen in the air. "There's a bullet Nina! Quick come on you gotta get it out. You have t- to get it out, quick!"

"Wylan," Nina gestured with her eyes and he understood, gently taking you by the shoulders and pulling you away.

"No! What're you doing?! Wylan stop it!"

"He's going to be okay, let me clean up your wounds too".

"I'm fine! But he's not! He needs me okay? I- I can't leave him lying there like that! I can't- I can't-" you broke off and gulped. Your eyes tearing up as you let yourself be pulled away from him.

But tell me, how is one supposed to survive when their lifeline itself is im danger?

You were sitting in one of the rooms all alone, looking out of the window absentmindedly. Wylan had graciously cleaned and bandaged all your injuries amd you didn't even have the heart to say a simple thanks to him.

Inej had dropped by a few minutes ago with a small plate of food and you hadn't bothered to appreciate her with a small nod.

All that rang through your mind was Nina's conversation with Matthias that you had accidentally overheard.

"There were not one but two bullets, Matthias. And they were the poisonous kind, the ones that work on paralysing and slowly killing the body of the victim. He's taken quite a hit that one".

He's taken quite a hit that one...

A lump welled up in your throat as you mulled over every incident when you were on the brink of losing him forever.

Once when you two were fourteen, once when you were sixteen and now at the very tender age of seventeen, Kaz was slipping through your grasp again.

Fate was constantly pulling you apart, making you go as far as possible from each other but it had been enough now, you simply couldn't handle it.

You swallowed down the burning sensation and went quietly towards the room where Kaz was fighting for his life. Your breath got caught upon seeing his rather peaceful face. No furrowed eyebrows, not a crease on his forehead, he seemed very much at ease.

You took a seat next to him, tears on the verge of falling but you blinked then away stubbornly. You weren't one to cry that easily, but control seemed to jump out of the window whenever he was involved.

"Kaz," you whispered as though he would open his eyes that very second and you would be met with dark brown irises that you so loved.

"Here we are again huh," you murmured and heaved a deep sigh. "Its been what 3 times now that we were in this same scenario?"

You kept on making small talks, it beimg useless towards him but actually helping you to get over your emotions.

"You don't understand the way my heart breaks when you get hurt this badly, Brekker," you said softly. "I've tried to tell you so many times but you're one stubborn asshole aren't you?"

You exhaled and your eyes gazed at his beautiful features, from his sharp eyebrows, to long eyelashes and then to his perfect lips.

"You have to wake up, Kaz. You will," you said firmly. "I don't think I can function properly without you," you looked down at your hands.

"Get well soon, love," you whispered the words and despite being unconscious, rhey ringed in Kaz's ears. Love, you had called him. He felt something brush against his forehead, pushing away strands of hair and tickling him a little.

But then the warm feeling was gone and once again he was alone, cold, and empty.

===============================

What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine. Nothing could keep us apart, you'll be the one I was meant to find. It's up to you, and it's up to me, no one could say what we get to be. So why don't we rewrite the stars? And maybe the world could be ours, tonight.

"Saints this is all so ridiculous," Jesper muttered and frowned deeply at the comedic costume that he was supposed to wear. "Couldn't you have gotten something better?"

"You either have the choice to wear it or run around naked, I don't care. All I want is a proper distraction. The choice is yours," Kaz said easily and went back to scrutinising the map placed on the table.

Jesper rolled his eyes but wore the clothes anyways and you snorted making him give you a sharp glare.

"I'll shoot you, I swear," he threatened weakly when you fully cackled. "It's not fair that you get to dress up like a literal princess when I'm here looking equivalent to a clown!"

"I'm afraid you won't make a very pretty princess Jes," Inej smiled as she sharpened her knives with without even looking at them.

"Oh I don't, Inej. He might make a wonderful, lovely girl," Nina piped in and you laughed.

"Enough chatting please," Kaz interrupted your lighthearted teasing making the Heartrender scowl.

"You always have to interrupt the best moments between us don't you?" She glared but the man didn't as much give a shit.

"Wylan you're ready with your explosives? Confident they'll go off exactly when we want them to?" He asked and received a confirming nod.

"We'll leave in about five minutes exactly," he checked his watch and scanned all of the faces staring at his intently. "Off you go then. I want absolutely no detours from anyone, I'm talking especially to you, Jesper," he narrowed his stare to the Zemeni who merely shrugged and grinned.

"Goodluck everybody," he said and they all left for their respective work. "Let's go," he said to you and you got up, instantly feeling uncomfortable in the rather beautiful dress and the heels.

This was new and uncharted territory, something you had never even worn before in your entire life. But you liked it. It didn't match your usual attire at all, but a change at times was welcomed on your part.

You two were invited, or rather you had invited yourselves to the ball that was supposed to take place. It was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate and steal.

"Remember all we have to do is stay for the entire program, we cannot afford any mishaps to happen. No tiny slipups at all or the entire plan goes down the drains," Kaz said as you slowly walked to the venue.

"I know Kaz," you sighed at his nagging. "You can trust me, you know?"

"I know," he said lowly and looked straight up, refusing to make eye contact.

Your eyes flitted to look at his side profile. It was sharp, the streetlights highlighting his carved features and your heart started running at an unbelievable speed.

He had for once ditched his long coat and had instead worn an all black suit with a black tie. And saints did he look amazing. Kaz Brekker seemed to have no idea at just how unsettled and in love you were.

Just as you were about to enter the grand hall, he stopped you and offered his arm. He was also not wearing his gloves, wanting to stay off suspicion as much as possible.

"You sure? We don't have to do this," you said softly but he insisted and you hesitatingly wrapped your fingers around his elbow.

Kaz didn't as such flinch from your touch, which just proved that he did trust you a lot.

"Ah there you are! Mr and Mrs Helvar am I right?" An elderly man beamed at you two and Kaz instantly transformed into a complete stranger in mere seconds.

"Absolutely!" He smiled widely, his lips stretching in an unfamiliar way and you almost cringed at how fake it looked, but that was only because you knew him.

"Alright alright that's enough," you whispered after the host went away to greet someone else. "Please bring back the Kaz I know".

He rolled his eyes and returned to his cool demeanour. You were lounging near the bar, sipping drinks to pass time while also maintaining a strict checking of the area.

"How much longer do we have to stay?" You asked after about an hour.

"The party's only just began. It'll take time I think," he answered and looked around.

"These heels are killing me," you groaned. "I need my shoes back".

He didn't say anything but his jaw had clenched, as it always did when he felt a little helpless and unsure. He glanced at your feet before returning his gaze back to the ballroom.

"Saints he's here again," you said suddenly and he turned to see the same man walking towards you two once again.

"You've been sitting for quite a time now! Come on then let's get you on your feet. Don't keep such a beautiful lady waiting, Mr Helvar," he grinned cheekily, eyes clearly trailing down your body.

"I'll make sure," Kaz answered rather tightly, stepping in between his line of sight and blocking you from his filthy eyes. He looked at you and held out his hand, you stopped for a tiny second before placing your bare palm into his cold one.

He inhaled sharply but at the same time gently pulled you towards the dancefloor, keeping his eyes on the host who seemed to be watching your every move.

"He's just wrote himself a death wish," your fake husband grumbled in annoyance which soon turned into a forced smile after waving at someone.

"Loosen up now, we have to dance," you said and were surprised immensely when his fingers intertwined with yours and his other palm was slowly making its way to be placed on your waist.

He glanced in your eyes and all you offered was a gorgeous smile. That seemed to be all that was required and the tips of his fingers brushed your waist before halting there.

Your free hand was on his shoulder and you two swayed, your bodies closer than ever before. And you thought to youself, you could definitely get used to this.

Not the elegant gown or the grand party, not at all. But these small but significant moments of intimacy with him.

"This is nice," your small whisper broke the silence as you danced, engaged in your own little rhythm. Too occupied with each other to even pay the slightest attention elsewhere.

"It is," he nodded and this time made eye contact without hesitation. The force was so strong and powerful that you couldn't feel anything except for the rapid thumping of your heart.

Everybody else seemed to fade as you two danced the moment away, completely taken by each other as you swayed. And you thought, it wasn't so bad was it.

And Kaz gave you a look which seemed to answer your question, it was as if he had clearly read your mind.

It's not so bad, his eyes reflected and you couldn't stop the small smile which soon fell off after another question had plagued your mind.

'Then why? Why can't we give this a shot? Give us a shot?'

"It's always up to us you know," you murmured suddenly, not bothering to elaborate because you knew he understood it well enough.

"Nobody has a damn say in what the hell we do with our lives. It's always up to you and me," you repeated and smiled tightly.

While he just stared at your face, taking notice of the way your heart was literally shattering in front of him. And all he wanted was to tell you that he loved you too, had been loving you since ages.

But you already knew that, you weren't oblivious for saint's sake. You knew he had fallen as hard for you as you had for him. His problem was that he refused to accept it, for god knows what reason.

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Ahem ahem... do we need a part 2?

Preferably from Mr Brekker's pov? 👀

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accioharrington · 10 days

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ashes to ashes, kaz brekker

pairing: kaz brekker x inferni!reader

synopsis: you lose your powers, in an accident. you distance yourself from the crows, so kaz comes to confront you.

warning: hurt, comfort, angst.

word count: 1.3k

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ THE FLICKERING FLAMES HAD always been a comfort, a reminder of the power that surged through your veins. The control over fire was more than a talent; it was your identity, your weapon, your shield. But now, staring at your trembling hands, you saw nothing but the stark absence of what once defined you.

Kaz Brekker's lair was as cold as the man himself, a labyrinth of shadows and secrets. You found solace in the corners of the Crow Club, avoiding the pitying glances of the Dregs. Losing your abilities had turned you into something you despised—a liability.

Days had turned into weeks since the accident. A heist gone wrong, a trap set by an enemy too clever and too cruel. The poison they used had severed your connection to your Grisha powers, leaving you as ordinary as the common folk you once scorned.

You felt like a shadow of your former self, a specter haunting the halls of the Crow Club. The looks of pity from the other members of the Dregs were almost unbearable, and the whispers behind your back cut deeper than any blade.

One evening, after another day of feeling utterly useless, you found yourself sitting alone in the dimly lit room Kaz had given you. The silence was suffocating, pressing down on you like a physical force. You couldn't escape the gnawing feeling that you were a burden, a weak link in the chain.

A knock on the door jolted you from your thoughts. Before you could respond, the door opened and Kaz stepped inside. His presence was imposing, his eyes scanning the room before settling on you.

"We need to talk," he said, his voice devoid of the usual edge.

You swallowed hard, trying to steady your trembling hands. "About what?"

Kaz closed the door behind him, leaning on his cane. "About you. About what's been going on."

You looked away, unable to meet his piercing gaze. "There's nothing to talk about."

Kaz's eyes narrowed. "Don't lie to me. You've been distant, avoiding everyone. You're not yourself."

A bitter laugh escaped your lips. "Not myself? Of course I'm not myself. I'm nothing without my powers."

Kaz took a step closer, his expression unreadable. "Is that what you really think?"

You stood up, anger and frustration boiling over. "What else am I supposed to think, Kaz? I was useful. I had a purpose. Now I'm just...I'm nothing. A liability."

Kaz's eyes flashed with something you couldn't quite place. "You're not a liability."

"Yes, I am!" you shouted, your voice breaking. "I can't fight, I can't defend myself, I can't do anything! I'm useless to the team, useless to you."

Kaz's eyes, dark and calculating, bore into yours. "Feeling sorry for yourself won't change anything."

You clenched your fists, the nails digging into your palms. "Easy for you to say. You haven't lost what makes you...you."

Kaz's face remained impassive, a mask of calm authority. He limped closer, each step deliberate, measured. "You're more than just your powers," he said, his voice steady.

"Am I?" You turned away, unable to meet his gaze. "I don't feel like it."

Kaz was silent for a moment, the air thick with unspoken words. "You think hiding away is going to help you feel better? You think isolating yourself will change what's happened?"

His words cut through the fog of your despair. Kaz Brekker, the Bastard of the Barrel, pushes you to face the harsh reality. It was almost unthinkable. You turned back to him, searching his face for any sign of insincerity, but found none.

"How do you expect me to face everyone?" you asked, your voice barely audible. "How do I keep going like this?"

Kaz's jaw tightened, his expression unwavering. "You find a way. You adapt. You survive. Hiding doesn't solve anything."

The simplicity of his words stung, but they also resonated. You had always admired Kaz's resilience, his ability to turn every disadvantage into an opportunity. If anyone knew how to rebuild from ashes, it was him.

"I don't know if I can," you admitted, the vulnerability in your voice unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

Kaz's expression remained cold, a mask of indifference. "You can. You're still you, with or without your powers. Your mind, your courage, your loyalty—those are what make you valuable."

A lump formed in your throat, and you struggled to speak past it. "It doesn't feel that way. I feel...lost."

Kaz took another step closer, his eyes never leaving yours. "You're not lost. You're just finding a new path. And you don't have to do it alone."

His words were a lifeline, grounding you in a way you hadn't felt since the accident. Kaz, in his own way, was offering you more than just comfort; he was offering you hope.

"You saved my life many times," Kaz said quietly. "And most of the time, it wasn't because of your powers."

You looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember Pekka Rollins' ambush?" Kaz's voice was steady, but there was an edge of intensity. "You got me out before they closed in. You had no time to use your powers, just your quick thinking and courage."

Your mind flashed back to that day, the chaos, the desperation. "That was different. I was still useful then."

"And the Ice Court?" Kaz continued, his eyes never leaving yours. "You navigated us through that labyrinth. No fire, just your wits."

"Anyone could have done that," you muttered.

Kaz's voice grew firmer. "What about the Heartrender at the Little Palace? When we had to kidnap the Sun Summoner? You shielded me from her attack, with no time to conjure a flame. You saved my life."

Tears welled up in your eyes. "But that was then, Kaz. Now, I can't even—"

Kaz cut you off. "Your value isn't just in your powers. It's in your loyalty, your intelligence, your determination—those are things that can't be taken away."

You sank back onto the bed, burying your face in your hands. "It doesn't feel that way."

Kaz moved closer, his cane tapping lightly against the floor. "Feelings can be deceiving. You need to see yourself the way I see you."

You looked up, meeting his gaze. "And how do you see me, Kaz?"

He held your gaze, his voice unwavering. "I see someone who's strong, even when they don't feel like it. Someone who's valuable, even without their powers. Someone who has the potential to adapt and overcome."

The intensity of his words struck a chord deep within you. For the first time since the accident, you felt a glimmer of hope.

"But what if I can't?" you whispered. "What if I can't adapt?"

Kaz's eyes never left yours. "Then I'll help you. We'll find a way, together."

The sincerity in his voice was undeniable. Despite his cold exterior, Kaz Brekker was offering you something you desperately needed—belief in yourself.

"Why do you care so much?" you asked, your voice barely audible.

Kaz's expression hardened slightly, but his eyes remained steady. "Because you're one of us. And we take care of our own."

The simplicity of his words brought fresh tears to your eyes, but this time, they were tears of gratitude. Kaz wasn't known for his kindness, but in his own way, he was showing you that you mattered.

"Thank you," you whispered, your voice choked with emotion.

Kaz nodded, his demeanor as composed as ever. "Don't thank me yet. We still have a lot of work to do."

You managed a small smile, the first in what felt like an eternity. "I guess we do."

Kaz turned to leave, pausing at the door. "Remember, you're not alone. We'll figure this out."

As he closed the door behind him, you took a deep breath, the weight on your chest feeling just a little lighter. Kaz was right—you weren't alone. And with his support, maybe, just maybe, you could find a way to rise from the ashes.

#kaz brekker #kaz dirtyhands brekker #kaz brekker fanfic #kaz brekker imagine #kaz brekker x reader #six of crows #shadow and bone #angst #hurt/comfort #kaz brekker angst

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screamingatanemptyroom · 4 months

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Please Fix the Story pt 28- The Higher Realm

New part is up! More with Liam and Bel!

Masterpost linked here

_________________________

A few days passed, and although it couldn’t be said that I grew stronger in this realm, at least I wasn’t any weaker. Every morning Liam would bring me a cup of his blood, and I would drink it silently, pretending not to notice the strange color and taste.

Despite the need for blood to keep me alive, the days were surprisingly fun. Liam and I would go out each morning and explore the forest. We would find more rocks for his collection, and the rare patches of fruits or edible plants that had survived in this life-stealing realm. We spent the time talking, learning about each other.

“You know I actually like this forest quite a bit.” He said one day as we walked, his hands idly picking dying leaves from the branches as we passed by.

The confession caught me off guard. “I thought you called this place your cage.” A cage for a monster, in fact, which Liam is the furthest thing from.

“Well that’s not the forest’s fault! It might seem a bit lifeless and dull at first, but the close you watch it, the more things you can discover!” He grinned, the expression bringing a warmth in my heart. “There’s the stubborn trees and flowers that survive, the occasional crow and insect! Sometimes when I’m fly… when I’m running through the forest, I see so many different types of life I can’t even count them! There’s something new to find every day!”

Soo.…Liam can fly, right? He definitely said fly.

I didn’t say anything to him about it, though. He clearly was hiding something about himself. He was just as clearly extremely bad at keeping secrets. But I never pressed him. I just hoped that when he felt comfortable enough, he would tell me. Watching him laugh and talk about exploring his realm… his cage... and finding the beauty in it made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. What a wonderful person…or whatever it is that he is.

I watched him continue to explore with an excited look, unable to hold back a smile myself.

No matter what Liam really is, nothing could be worse than the company I was keeping in the higher realm. I forcibly turned my thoughts away as they drifted towards Adonis and his betrayal. No use wasting any time or energy on him.

Looking ahead, my eyes widened in shocked delight as a I spotted a familiar object.

“Are those apples?!”

Liam rushed ahead, still much stronger than I was even with his blood, and examined the fruit closely. Finally, he picked one with a broad smile. “It is! I didn’t even know there were any apples in this world! See I told you! Something new every day! Let’s take a break!”

He cleaned off a tree stump and helped me sit down, before leaning on a tree nearby. I pointed at the fruit in his hand, unable to contain my excitement. “Can I have one too?” I had eaten nothing but meat for the past few days, and although Liam’s cooking had improved by leaps and bounds, I was still craving something else.

“Of course, no need to ask! This one is for you!” Liam pulled a knife from his belt and began peeling the apple. His actions were neat and efficient, with the ease of familiarity. It took only a few moments, and then the freshly peeled fruit was passed over to me.

I held it in my hands, confused. “Liam… How did you know I like peeled apples?”

Liam grabbed another fruit, preparing to peel that one as well. “You told me.” He seemed unconcerned.

“No… I didn’t.” I thought back to our conversations over the past few days. Apples had never come up.

Or had it?

_________________________

“Why the hatred for the apple peel?” The young man seemed genuinely curious from his tone of voice as he handed me a freshly peeled fruit.

_________________________

A brief memory, flashed before my eyes.

“No… you did… I think.” Liam’s hands paused and his brow furrowed, something deep within his eyes seemed to flicker and grow.

Silence stretched between us.

Unnerved, I tried to stand up. At the quick movement, I felt lightheaded, almost falling to ground. Liam rushed forward, the apple in his hands dropping to the ground, and caught me, hugging me tightly in his arms. His eyes stared into mine, with only a short space between them.

His eyes were so familiar. I could feel it, even if the memory was just out of reach.

My hand brushed his face, tracing his eyes.

“Who are you, Liam?” I whispered. “How did I know you before I met you? How do you remember things about me I’ve never said?”

Liam turned bright red, but his hands tightened around me, refusing to let me fall. “I’m sorry Bel. I don’t know the answers to your questions.” He gently set me back down on the stump.

“I don’t really even know who I am, other than what others have told me. I’m a villain. I’m a monster.”

He picked up the fallen apple from the ground, cleaning it on his shirt.

“But even if I don’t know much… I know what you are, Bel.”

I watched his actions, curious. “What am I?”

He smiled, then turned and walked back to the tree to pick more apples to take home.

“You are a treasure.”

I didn’t know what he meant or how to respond to that, so I sat in silence until he came back to help me up. Together we went back to the cave. Back home.

*** Soul transfer 37% complete. ***

_________________________

After the apple incident more days passed. Without Liam’s blood I knew I would be close to death. But together, we had found our own little peace in this barren world. I was happy, happier than I had ever been in the months in the higher realms traveling with Adonis. Our forced, stifling partnership had been my only social interaction for so long, that I had become resigned to it, considered it normal. Now, I was slowly getting used to being around someone who actually listened to me… cared about me. It was frighteningly addictive, this caring. I wouldn’t, I couldn’t go back to the higher realm, even beyond the desire to spite Adonis and his stupid fate.

But as happy as I was, there were lingering concerns:

First, was the knowledge that Adonis would come back. As much as I hoped never to see him again, I knew it was the inevitable outcome. He had sent me here, yes, but not to die. I wasn’t sure yet what his plan was, but I knew it was going to involve his eventual return.

Not being willing to sit around moping about, I quickly began planning about how to “welcome him” when he did. A few mornings I left into the forest on my own to set up the surprise. Liam was a little concerned when he saw me sneaking around, but I persuaded him it would be worth the wait. I let out an evil laugh as I did so, and strangely enough, the sound seem to reassure him.

The laugh also prompted another change in the glowing blue counter that followed me.

*** Soul transfer 49% complete. ***

The counter was the second concern. It had gone up steadily over the time I had been in this realm, with no clear indicator for the source of its growth. I did think that Liam’s presence might be a catalyst given how slowly it had grown over the time I had been in the higher realm, but I couldn’t quite figure out what about him or my interactions with him was driving it upwards.

Even more infuriating, since the counter had hit 49 percent, it once again was stuck and hadn’t moved. I had grown used to it slowly ticking upwards throughout the day, but now 2 days had passed and it didn’t budge. Any experiments to recreate moments that had led to prior growth ended in failure. I found this incredibly frustrating, wishing I could find whoever was responsible for putting this counter in my head and beat them to a pulp. As that didn’t appear to be a viable option, however, I finally decided to ignore it again.

There was one last thing that kept my time in this realm from being truly happy:

Every night, Liam was forced into a lower realm.

It took me a while to realize it was happening so regularly. I had seen him fall out of the portal when I first arrived, but had heard no similar sounds since. He would say goodnight to me with a bright smile, close the door to my room, and when I woke up in the morning, he had breakfast ready with the same happy demeanor. He never gave any indication that something was wrong, or that he had suffered in any way, and so I continued forward in blissful ignorance.

Until last night.

I had gone to bed, and Liam and wished me goodnight and closed the door like usual. A few minutes later, however, I had a strange feeling that something was wrong. Unable to shake my uneasiness, I stood back up and opened the door. From a different room I could hear the clinking of metal and a muffled grunt of pain. Following the noise, I opened a different door, to a room I hadn’t explored before, not since he had expanded his cave during one of my solo wanderings. As the door swung open, I felt my heart drop.

Liam was in chains.

A glowing portal, similar to the one I had seen him fall from before, hovered before him. Metal chains had extended out from the edges of the portal, wrapping themselves around Liam’s arms and legs. He looked defeated but not surprised by his binding, fighting it uselessly. Slowly the chains started to retract, pulling him into the portal.

“Liam!” I tried to run forward but struggled to move as quickly as I wanted. Liam looked up at my shout, his face shocked for a moment before giving me a sad smile.

“Don’t worry, Bel. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No!” I cried out, reaching out just as the portal closed around him. My fist slammed on the bare wall that was left behind.

BAM!

I felt uncontrolled rage. The sight of him in chains… his sad resignation… I couldn’t bear it. I thought about Liam calling himself a monster.

BAM! The skin of my hand broke under the force as I slammed it again. Red blood stained my fingers, dripping down onto the ground, the bright red color quickly dulling and turning greyish as the world absorbed the energy from it. For a moment in my mind, I saw the bright gold blood Liam gave me each day, his insistence that it was “normal, human blood.”

There’s still so much I don’t know about him.

I sat on the floor, staring at my bloody hands. I prayed silently, desperately, that his words were correct, and that he would be back in the morning. Until then, I could do nothing but wait.

It was a long night.

_________________________

After what felt like countless hours, the portal opened up again. Liam dropped down onto the ground onto his back, his hands holding his head, his whole body shaking with pain. It was too similar to the incident that happened the night I arrived.

“Liam!” I hugged him tightly, ignoring his shocked yelp as he was yanked into my arms.

“Bel?” He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and then sat next to me on the floor. “Have you been waiting here to whole night?”

“…” I hugged him tighter. Liam hesitated, then slowly wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

“Bel… are you okay?”

I buried my face against his chest. “I was scared.”

“Scared?”

“Scared you weren’t coming back.”

“…” I could feel him freeze in shock at my words, and then a happy chuckle echoed in his chest. “Of course I came back, Bel! You’re here waiting for me. Nothing could stop me from returning to you.”

“What if you found a way to escape this cage? Wouldn’t you take it?”

“Only if I’m bringing you out with me.” One hand slowly rubbed my back as he spoke, a soft, comforting motion. “It’s not really freedom if I’m leaving you behind.”

Finally, after a long while, I backed out of his embrace, ignoring his sad puppy eyes as we moved apart. “What happened tonight? Did you get pulled into a lower realm?”

Liam nodded silently.

“I’ve seen this twice already, on both nights that I left my room. Does this happen to you every night? Have I just been completely clueless and left you to suffer alone?” I felt my eyes fill with tears but held them back.

He panicked, “No it’s not that bad, it’s not every night!” He paused, seeing my silent stare, and slowly admitted. “Okay, so it’s most nights, but still, there’s nothing wrong with you sleeping while I’m in the lower realm. You’re weak from this place sapping your energy, it’s better that you rest so you can do what you want at other times.”

“What about you? How could you be getting enough sleep?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine!” He waved a hand. “I hibernate every few months for a day or so… I mean…" He blanched. "... I sleep a normal human amount…”

“Right... Liam, I want to go with you next time.” I interrupted his ramblings on normal human sleep. “Don’t do this alone.”

“…” Liam fell silent, looking uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to traveling the lower realms, I can watch your back!”

“No I know. You are extremely capable.”

I met his gaze. “So why do you look so concerned?”

“… I don’t get assigned very good roles to play in these worlds.” His hands wrung together his eyes not meeting my own. “Sometimes weak, sometimes powerful, rarely beautiful, often grotesque.” He hesitated again. “Always evil.”

“Just because you’re assigned the villain role doesn’t make you evil.” I laughed bitterly. “You’ve already seen what the so called ‘hero’ is capable of. I don’t care what character they force you to be. I’ll be there to protect YOU.”

At my words, a smile slowly spread across his face. “Okay then. Let’s go together next time.”

_________________________

The next night, we waited for the portal, hand in hand.

“We’ll have to move quickly once it arrives.”

I nodded in agreement, and then had a thought. “What about the chains?”

“Those only come out if I try to avoid entering the portal.” His voice was calm, but I winced at the memory of him being dragged into the lower realm. It’s okay. I’ll protect him this time.

Before I could say anything further, the portal appeared, hovering in the center of the room.

“Let’s go!” Liam grabbed my hand and rushed forward. I closed my eyes, leapt through the portal, and then in the darkness between worlds immediately lost the sensation of his hand within mine.

“Liam!” I reached out, but I could feel nothing, see nothing, hear only the sound of my own ragged breaths.

And then the darkness cleared.

_________________________

Splash!

Someone threw wine in my face. The smell of alcohol overwhelmed my senses, and I felt the room temperature liquid run down my neck and soak my dress.

What a great way to start off. The sarcastic thought quickly came and went as I sighed,wiping my hand across my face. I could now see that I was in a crowded room of well-dressed strangers. The woman who was the likely wine-throwing culprit, stood in front me with a gloating smirk. She was clutching an empty glass in one hand and a man’s arm in the other. The man with her was watching me with disdain, his expression ruining otherwise classically handsome looks.

“Oops, my mistake.” The woman shrugged and gave a fake laugh. “My hand slipped.”

The man beside her smiled with approval at her action, chuckling at the site of me. “Looks like red is your color.”

Hmm… No idea what kind of story this is, but one thing IS for sure…

I grinned, and punched the woman in her face.

I’m gonna make sure they regret trying to humiliate this lady. I could still feel my character’s deep sadness and sense of betrayal. Whoever these two were, they weren’t good people.

The woman fell backwards from the blow, clutching her face. I watched her fall with a smile, all while speaking in a monotone voice. “Oops, my hand slipped, my bad, teehee.”

Stating the word “teehee” out loud particularly seemed to enrage her, which only encouraged me further.

“El, don’t be childish!” The man snapped, only to break off with a shriek as I kicked out his knee, knocking him to the ground on his back besides the woman.

“Oh no. Look what totally happened by accident.” I continued blandly, while stepping carefully on his crotch. “I’m just so clumsy you see, and it gets so much worse whenever I’m confronted by stupid.”

“You Bit…AHHHH!” The man broke out in another cry as my stiletto came down again.

“Bitahh?” I shrugged. “Haven’t heard that one before. Perhaps you meant, ‘awesome’? I would have also accepted ‘terrifying’.”

He gasped for air, his eyes filled with rage. “Pretend all you like, I’ll never love you!”

I felt a stab of pain in my chest, a holdover from the character I had become, but all they saw from me was a broad grin. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

I walked away, leaving a stunned, silent crowd behind me. As I hurried away, a phone in my pocket went off. I grabbed it, pulling up the familiar text.

**** NEW WORLD: Love is Torture ****

This is a dramatic romance story featuring the bright and innocent young Ella and her husband, the rich, handsome, dark and broody Cameron.

“Oh, you got to be kidding me!” I nearly threw my phone. “I’m married?!”

This dark tale of lies and misunderstandings focuses on the forced marriage between the two leads. Cameron, under the false impression that his younger sister was murdered by a rival in business, dedicates his life to revenge. Forcing the man’s daughter, Ella, to marry him to save her father, he spends his energy trying to break her spirit, hoping her pain would hurt the one who killed his family. He insulted her, humiliating her both publicly and privately. He brought his mistresses to public events, encouraging them to bully her as well.

“So Cameron is the villain, right?” I groaned. “Why did you say he was the lead?”

Little did he know that his sister was not dead, but had in fact suffered amnesia and was living quietly in a small town nearby. In fact, Ella was the kind stranger who saved her life. His deep misunderstanding of her, however, causes a large amount of drama as he fights his growing attraction to her.

“Gross.”

The first book was met with mixed reviews, as most of the readers struggled to support such an abusive male lead. As the story continued, and more and more controversy circled around it, the author abandoned the whole series in disgust, leaving the world unstable.

The Author’s regret was not being able to bring a happy ending to the heroine of the story, leaving her trapped in an abusive relationship and facing a dark future. Your mission is to give the heroine a happy ending.

**** DO YOU ACCEPT THIS MISSION? ****

YES? NO?

“…Does the ending have to involve a relationship with Cameron?”

NO.

“Great!” I tapped the "Yes" button with a grin and found a corner to sit down in as I slowly accepted the memories of this poor character.

“Oh dear, this was worse than I thought.” I muttered.

Ella, the poor girl, had been so very innocent. She had no thought but to save her father, whose business had been crushed by the mis-aimed revenge of a madman. After the marriage, she resolved to make the best of the situation, trying to get to know the handsome man who had become her husband.

Her efforts only brought her pain.

Fortunately, he avoided touching her at all costs, which limited any physical abuse. But the constant insults, tearing down her appearance, her talent for art, her speech. Any perceived flaw was trotted out and exposed for all to see, breaking her heart each time. He flaunted his affairs in front of her, shattering her dream of any loving, committed relationship, frequently and vulgarly comparing his conquests to her which only further spiraled her self-confidence.

I frowned as the memories moved forward in my mind. I hate drama romance leads the most.

This party actually marked a turning point in their relationship. After having wine dumped on her by Cameron’s mistress, she had cried and gone upstairs to change. There, a triumphant and intoxicated Cameron had forced her mid-change against a wall, kissing her. He had soon left, disgusted himself for succumbing to his attraction to her, This was the first time they had had physical contact, and from then on Cameron had found himself more and more drawn to Ella, and she felt trapped, unable to refuse his advances, hoping to protect her father.

I leaned over, puking into a trashcan.

Ella’s memories all too clear about her suffering. After emptying my stomach, I stood back up, wiping my mouth with a shaking hand. I should have crushed his genitals harder. I was so relieved at having derailed the plot.

Now to go derail it further....And then I need to find Liam.

Following Ella’s memories, I went straight to the home she shared with Cameron, only changing my clothes once I was back in my own room with a locked door. Grimly, I put on loose, comfortable clothing, and packed a bag with Ella’s original belongings in it. I ignored the expensive, shiny jewelry on the dresser, leaving behind anything that could be traced to Cameron’s money.

I also made a phone call to one of Ella’s father’s old lawyers, who agreed quickly to bring the requested paperwork to the house within the hour.

And then, packed, dressed and papers ready to go, I sat on the couch with a hot cup of coffee, and I waited for my hero to arrive.

SLAM!

Cameron rushed into the house, his face red with rage. Seeing me sitting calmly he paused, as if confused, but then stepped closer with his fist raised threateningly.

“I’ll make you regret what you did tonight!”

I smiled. “Actually, unless you want my knee in your crotch and my hot coffee in your face, I suggest you sit down and talk to me like a big boy sociopath.”

“…” He didn’t seem able to process my words, but in his shock he sat down on the chair across from me so I counted it as a win.

“Good job!” I applauded briefly. “Now, onto the important stuff.” I tossed the partially signed paperwork onto the table. “Divorce.”

“No.” His voice was an unrecognizable growl. “You’re mine! You are stuck with me. You have to pay for your father’s sins.”

I sighed. “Okay, Mr. Broody McPsychopath, as much as I’ve NOT enjoyed playing house with you, listening to your abuse, and watching your affairs, I’ve got more important things to do.”

“I AM the most important thing to you! You OWE me!”

I tossed another paper onto the table, this one with a photo and an info sheet. “ I heavily disagree with that statement, however, I also would prefer you not stalking me in a pitiful attempt at misguided revenge. So take a look:”

He picked up the paper. “What is…” His eyes widened in shock as he recognized his sister.

“She’s not dead. I saw a picture of her on your desk today, and recognized her as a person I helped out of a car accident several years ago." I made a reason for my sudden knowledge of the plot with ease. "She had amnesia, and settled in a nearby town. The info is written there.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, I know this is foreign, but what I’m doing is called COMMUNICATION. It’s where we talk clearly about things to avoid stupid and painful misunderstandings.” I pointed at him. “First: you forced this marriage to punish my father, under the foolish impression that he arranged for your sister’s death. Two: Your sister is alive and well, and even a cursory investigation into the car accident will help you find the actual people responsible for the accident. And finally…” I pointed my finger at myself. “I only married you to protect my father, and thus with this misunderstanding resolved would like to be free of you.”

“…” He seemed overwhelmed by the concept of not having misunderstandings. I nodded sympathetically and sipped my coffee, giving him time.

“You won’t leave.”

“Pardon?” I asked, confused.

“You can’t resist me. I’ve felt your eyes following me,” He smirked. “Even if I divorce you, you’ll be back and begging for more within a week.”

“Hmmm… Okay. Let’s totally go with that delusion, and have you sign the divorce papers to prove me wrong.”

He reached out, now overly confident, his pen hovering over the paper. “Are you sure, Princess? This is your last chance to have a claim. After this you’re just like any other woman to me.”

I struggled to keep a straight face. “You mean less to me than the house plant that I killed, and that was made of plastic. I think I’ll take my chances.”

He signed the paper, shaking his head with a smug look and a light chuckle. “Here.” He passed it off, trying to brush my fingers with his but I took the papers with kitchen tongs I had brought instead. No accidental physical contact for gross jerks! ”I’ll see you in a few weeks when you come to beg me to take you back.”

“Sounds good, buddy.” I stood up and waved, taking my signed divorce papers happily. “And don’t forget to leave cookies and milk out for Santa while you’re at it. He’s about as likely to visit you as I am!”

I walked out, with a hearty, evil laugh, the sound familiar and comfortable.

And now… I have a villain to find.

_________________________

I found Ella’s car and drove out of the long private drive from Cameron’s mansion. As I traveled, my phone rang. I quickly answered, whistling cheerfully.

“Ella!” My character’s father’s voice rang out, clearly worried. “What happened? I’ve heard all kind of rumors…”

“Oh hi Dad!” I called out cheerfully. “Great timing! I just lost some weight! A whole load of abusive, nasty annoying dead weight.”

“What?”

“I divorced the dirtbag! Aren’t you proud of me?!”

“YOU DIVORCED CAMERON?! It can’t be official, right?!”

“Already uploaded the signed paperwork to our lawyer! Should be submitted any minute now and I’m a free woman.” I thanked my lucky stars for the unrealistic insta-divorce setting in this world, which was great for generating quick drama that a years-long court heavy process wouldn’t.

“GO BACK AND QUICKLY TELL HIM YOU ARE SORRY!” Ella’s father yelled, panicked. “Hurry, he might still take you back!”

“Oh, dad, I’m so sorry…”

“You should be…”

“I didn’t realize you were in the throes of dementia.” I sighed dramatically. “I guess age catches up with us all! Don’t worry Pops, I know a few great nursing homes where the staff are nice, the colors bright and the food soft and easily consumed without teeth.”

“ELLA!”

“It’s okay!” I interrupted, speaking slowly and loudly. “I’ll take good care of you!”

“Stop being ridiculous!”

“I’m not the one talking nonsense, old man." My tone was now serious. "Cameron is a psychopath, abusive, piece of trash. If you had any mental capacity left, you would be absolutely cheering at the news that your daughter was free of him.”

“What about my business?”

“If you can’t run your business without your daughter’s marriage to protect you, then you are better off leaving the business world and moving to the nursing home. And I’m happy to help you do that.” I paused and then added with emphasis. “Anytime. Just try me.”

I then hung up, betting internally on whether or not he would come to his senses.

_________________________

I headed over to a club on the fringe of the city, called “Fortress.” From my character’s memories, I knew I would find the villain there.

A mysterious club owner who rarely showed his face, the club was a front for his secret criminal organization. His group has clashed several times with Cameron’s, leading to a growing feud between the two men. At the end of the first book, close to the end of Ella’s memories, the villain had kidnapped Ella to try to force Cameron into giving up on a business, only to be shot and killed by Cameron in the rescue attempt.

Most likely, Liam had become the club owner/crime boss villain of the story.

I parked in front of the non-de script club, and knocked on the front door.

A very large muscular man opened the door, a deep scowl on his face. “We’re closed.”

“I’m a friend of the owner.”

“Sure you are, lady.” He tried to close the door, and I shoved my shoe in the way, glad I wore boots.

“Trust me, if you call him, he will definitely want to see me. Just tell him Bel is looking for him.”

With much more convincing, I finally managed to enter the club. TO my dismay, Liam wasn’t there. I sat awkwardly on the couch in the VIP lounge, snacking on peanuts, waiting patiently.

I could here the men in the background arguing.

“How could you bring her here?”

“She says she knows the Boss!”

“I thought the Boss hated women.”

“The Boss hates everyone.”

“True… should I get rid of her? I already called him!”

“I think…”

The door slammed open, and a panting disheveled man in a suit came tumbling in. In one hand he held a large baseball bat, the other clutching a cell phone. I studied the man carefully, taking note of his dark hair, a face covered in scars, including a long diagonal slice across one eye. His eyes however, were a familiar blue.

I jumped up, and threw myself into the man’s arms. “Liam!”

_________________________

After Liam calmed down, we found a quiet place to talk.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, quietly clutching my hands in his.

“I’m fine.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “I was so worried! When I got here, I saw the story… saw what was going to happen to you at the party… and I rushed over.”

I thought of the baseball bat he was carrying. “What were you planning to do when you got there?”

“Education.” Was his firm answer.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“But when I got there, it was just a bunch of crowds of gossiping people, and a really loud woman who kept screaming about how she was going to kill someone. That’s when I got the call you were here.” His hands squeezed my own. “I’m so relieved you are okay!”

I explained to him my actions so far, which caused him to laugh and congratulate me on my quick divorce.

I added, “Fortunately, I didn’t feel Adonis’s presence in this world.”

“Yeah, he’s been less frequent about coming into the lower realms since pushing you into my realm.”

I thought about that. “Wait, so are you in every lower realm I’ve visited?”

“I don’t know for sure." Liam shrugged. "I get set to a different realm every night. Sometime Adonis is there, sometimes both of you, plenty of times it’s just been me.”

I had a strange realization as I thought back to the last world I had gone to, the two kingdoms realm. Remembering the familiar feeling I had gotten from the kingdom-destroying beast... “Liam… you wouldn’t happened to have been a large monster before, would you?”

“WHAT?! I have no idea what you are talking about!” He turned pale and panicked at the question, avoiding eye contact.

“Really? In the lower realm where I was the princess? Didn’t you help me take over the world?”

Liam grabbed his chest and let out a sigh of relief, “Oh THAT’s what you meant!” He nodded. “Yes that was me.”

“…” I once again knew I was missing something, but felt too awkward to keep pushing. Instead, I explained to him the mission given to me, to have a happy ending.

Liam offered to hand over all of his underground criminal organization resources to my disposal. “What do you want to do?”

The question caught me off guard. I'm still not used to having someone ask me what I wanted to do, instead of trying to force me to follow a plan or some predetermined fate.

I smiled at him. “I think the best revenge for a woman who was humiliated by her ex-husband to get revenge on her father, and who was sacrificed by said father to save his own business… is to become more rich and powerful than both of them.”

"Sounds good." Liam nodded. "Let's go to work!"

And so, we got to work.

_________________________

I had lived in more than enough lower realms that centered around business, and was fairly comfortable with how to build a company up, (especially in the cheat worlds of romance novels where rich, handsome men who somehow spend zero time on their company abound). With Liam donating some starting capital, I was able to grow a business over the next year that became the talk of the town. Soon I pushed my father’s business into a corner, and began a forced acquisition. His horrified and bewildered expression once he realized it was me in charge of the mysterious rival company, gave me a nice warm feeling inside and prompted another villainous laugh.

As for Cameron…

He had reunited with his sister, and through the magical medical treatment available in the novel, gotten her memories back. He had tried to contact me twice that I knew of. Once after finding her, and another a week later. I blocked his number and ignored all other attempts. Taking advantage of his distraction, I snatched up a large portion of the big deals from his company, using the memories of Ella and the previous story of this world to be able to pinpoint which ones to target.

I was quickly becoming the richest person in the world, and my mission progress bar was slowly up-trending.

In between becoming a rival CEO to destroy my father and the male lead, I spent the rest of my free time with Liam. It became the norm for us to spend time together every day. We always found time for something, whether it was eating a meal, going for a walk, watching a movie, or just sitting next to each other while we dealt with the paperwork of our respective business empires. We told jokes and laughed, plotted and schemed against the male lead and my insufferably self-righteous father, and overall continued the comfortable existence that we had lived in the woods of Liam’s realm.

One night, we both fell asleep on the couch at “Fortress,” me holding a laptop, him clutching a remote and a bowl of popcorn. The next morning, I woke up and looked over to see his scarred, strange but still familiar face. I had a sudden urge to reach out and touch him. If I had woken up in this world, and the man I had been married to was Liam instead of Cameron… I would have been happy to just stay married.

The realization of that thought hit me hard, and I stood up, confused.

Do I have feelings for Liam?

He was a strange person, much like me. A mysterious existence with too many secrets. One I knew very little about. But he was also kind, gentle and caring person. Someone who I wanted to protect with everything I have, and who I trusted to protect my back no matter what.

Liam woke up, seeing my staring. “What are you looking at. Do I have something on my face?”

“…” I hesitated unsure of what to say, but after taking a deep breath, blurted out: “Liam… let’s get married!” I looked away, filled with horror once I realized what I had just said, but at the same time, felt no desire to take it back. Why not? What better happy ending for Ella on top of being rich and powerful than being in a nice healthy relationship with someone wonderful?

“…” The silence stretched on. I finally worked up the nerve to look over to Liam only to see wide eyes filled with shock, and a bright red face.

“Bel…” He finally said with an embarrassed look. “Before I give you an answer, I need to tell you something: We talked about your mission in this world, to save and stabilize it… but you never asked about what MY mission was.”

“You have a mission too?” I asked, distracted and mildly confused as to why this was relevant to my sudden marriage proposal. “What is it?”

“It’s…”

Before he could answer, a man burst into the room. Behind him in the club, the sounds of fighting and shouting could be heard. The man stood before us with a vicious grin, holding out an outstretched arm.

He was holding a gun.

“Cameron what on earth do you think you are doing?!” I shouted, standing up. Liam got up next to me, his hand grabbing mine.

The look in Cameron’s eyes was feral. “I’m saving my wife from this villain!” He snarled, pointing the gun at Liam.

I stepped in front of Liam. “First of all, that’s ex wife to you! Second of all, why would I need saving from Liam?”

“He kidnapped you! I know everything, Ella! He built up a rival corporation to compete with me and your father…”

“No that was me…”

“He even forcibly acquired your father’s company!”

“Still me…”

Cameron kept talking, as if he hadn’t heard me. “And I know that he’s been preventing you from contacting me, or answering my phone calls.”

“No… I blocked you. And I didn’t want to see you.”

“It’s okay!” He smiled at me, but the expression sent chills up my spine. “I’m going to make things right, by getting rid of this snake first.”

I held my arms out. “You’ll have to go through me.”

“Bel.” Liam whispered.

“What is it Liam? I’m kind of busy.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“For what…?” I broke off into a horrified gasp as he stepped around me, distancing himself and moving into a clear line of site from Cameron.

BANG!

Liam fell to the floor.

I saw red.

Grabbing the baseball bat, I swung it as hard as I could at the man’s offending hand.

CRACK!

I felt his wrist break from the blow. He let out a scream of pain, looking up at me with a confused expression. “Why are you doing this, Ella? I’m saving you! I love you!”

I glared at him, kicked his gun away, and swung the bat again, hitting his chest. He fell to the floor with a grunt.

“Love? You call your madness and selfishness love?”

Crack! I broke his other arm.

“No, you’re just a petulant child, whose mad because he thinks that other kids might play with his toy.” I smiled coldly. “Well guess what?”

I kicked his chest, knocking him onto his back. “I’m not your toy. And just like you don’t really love me, I don’t love you.” I put my foot in “crotch stomping” position.

“And I’ll make you pay for killing the man I lo…”

“Bel!” Liam’s weak voice called out, interrupting my rant. I dropped my bat, causing it to hit Cameron’s face as he let out another groan of pain and rushed to Liam’s side.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded, showing the clear wound on the muscle of his shoulder. Just a few inches to the left and the bullet would have… I shook my head, and hugged him, trying to avoid the injured arm.

“Why would you step out like that?”

“I tried to tell you... my mission.” He held up a cell phone, and to my surprise, I saw an interface very similar to mine.

100% complete.

**** You have finished the mission! ****

I stared at the words. “Your mission was to get shot?”

His smile was faint and bitter. “That’s the villain’s job. To create conflict and then to get defeated. My ending was liked by the readers. They didn’t want it to change.”

“Is every world like this?” I was horrified.

“Pretty much.” His expression became happier. “But on the bright side, since I’ve been shot, but didn’t die, I can answer your question!” He blushed, but pushed forward with a whisper. “Yes.”

“Yes?” I was confused, and then realized what he was saying, and coughed, trying to cover up my embarrassment. “Well then, I guess we have a wedding to plan.”

“Bel?”

A strange voice called out. I looked over to the bruised and beaten Cameron, who was staring at me with an incredulous look… and with contained rage.

I knew that look.

“Adonis.” I said quietly, positioning myself in front of Liam to protect him. "Welcome to the party."

“Why are you here? Did you get dragged through the villain’s portal?” He shook his head. “Even if you try to escape, you can’t. I’m your only salvation. Only the hero can save the princess from the monster.”

“I think you and I have very different definitions of the word ‘monster’.” My phone chirped and I looked down to see a notification that the latest deal had gone through, officially making me the richest and most powerful person in this small world. Between that, and an upcoming happy wedding… I waited a moment, and sure enough:

100% complete.

**** You have finished the mission! ****

My mission was complete as well.

Adonis try to scramble to his feet. “Wait, Bel, what have you done?”

“Fixed the world again. Without you. The usual.” I tilted my head, staring at him with a cold smile. “Don’t try to come after me again, Adonis. You won’t like what will happen to you.”

“Bel!”

The portal opened, swallowing Liam and I both.

“BEL! I AM COMING FOR YOU!”

I waved cheerfully, and Liam flipped him off as we disappeared.

“YOU HEAR ME?! I AM COMING FOR YOU!”

We were back in the villain’s realm. Immediately I felt tired, as the drain of the world set back in. I leaned against Liam shoulder, which was fortunately no longer injured and gave him a grin.

“So… when’s the wedding?

*** Soul transfer 59% complete. ***

Liam stared at me, shocked. But before he could answer, he stopped in his tracks, and seemed to sense something. “As much as I would love nothing more than to talk about this, Bel, we’ll have to save it for another time.”

“What’s going on?”

His serious gaze met my own. “Adonis is here.”

#writing #PFTS #fantasy #romance #violence #hope you like it #next part will have more about Liam

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factorialsotherfandoms · 6 months

Text

TW: Unreality, major character injury, poor medical technique (and IC they know they're not getting it quite right too), panic attacks, brief vomitting

Maybe a bit long for tumblr, but eh, you'll live, and I'll upload it eventually.

Theoretically safe in his room, FitMC is awoken by the sound of his warpstone activating. He sits, and reaches for a knife, and feels Pac sleepily grasp for him as he disturbs the man's sleep.

"Pac," he keeps his voice as quiet as possible. "Let go. Someone's here."

Pac does not wake as cleanly as Fit, but still grips the knife passed to him, hiding it under the blanket and still pretending to be asleep.

Whomever came takes a while to find them, but eventually there is a knock on his bedroom door; Fit grips his sword, wishes he'd realised he had time to dress and put armour on, and calls "come in!"

Two small figures run into the room, and he tucks the sword away - keeps it close, just in case these are imposters again, but tucks it away.

"Tallulah?" Pac has noticed them too, sitting up as soon as he does and opening his arms. "Chayanne? What's wrong?"

Tallulah runs over and hides in Pac's arms before pulling out a sign; Chayanne gets straight onto writing his. Neither child has their hat or their backpack, and there's the slight glow of a potion over both of them.

'/Something's wrong with dad/' Chayanne writes, then pulls out another sign.

'/Papa says the house is on fire. It's not/' Tallulah writes.

Right. Fuck. Another message? After the last one... Fit's genuinely concerned. He believes well enough that the messages are real, but he worries about the doubt they cast into Philza's mind - and also what something like that contacting his friend could possibly mean.

'/He said find you/' Chayanne's second sign reads. '/Will you help him?/'

'/He was scared/' Tallulah adds. '/Tios, papa is so scared/'

Fit and Pac share a look. Pac nods, and Fit wishes he were telepathic and so could send his roommate an apology for the disturbed night.

"Why don't I go help him out?" Fit offers. "I'll go look after him and have a chat. Pac can look after you two."

"A sleepover!" Pac's grin at them both is strained, but Fit doubts the children notice. "Let's go to my home and eat all the chocolate, yes? Chayanne, do you want to make a cake for your papa?"

Fewer people know of Ilha Chume Labs than Fit's hole in the ground, and even if he means Chume Labs proper the warren of labs will keep them safe.

The kids are still hesitant to agree; Fit smiles at them too, and nods, "your little secret. I know Phil says no snacks after bedtime, but he left you in my care and I say you can."

It doesn't really win them over; Chayanne puts down another sign '/you promise to help dad?/'

Fit makes eye contact with the boy, deadly serious, "everything I can. I promise."

'/you leave first/'

Fit doesn't know if Philza trusts Pac with his children, but Fit trusts him, and honestly they're the least of his concerns. The old crow thinking himself trapped in a burning house - why the hell didn't he leave with the kids - is far more of his worry. Is it the Ender King again? Or some other fucked up entity contacting him in the most bullshit way possible?

"Alright," he says, and grabs his warpstone and a shirt. "Be good for Pac, okay?"

"They're sweet," Pac promises. "They'll be good."

Fit knows that’s a lie, but Pac wrangles Richas well enough, so surely he can manage Philza's kids.

He trusts his faith, and worries for a friend, and warps away.

---

Phil and Missa is quiet, and still, and just as calm as it always is. The moonlight reflects on the glass, and it looks nothing like a house that two children might have fled from. Nothing at all seems wrong, but nothing ever does seem wrong; Fit knows better than to take it at face value.

He’s already opened the hatch before he remembers just how jumpy his friend is, and calls out a loud “oi, Phil!”

He’s already in the main room by the time he hears a reply, glancing between the three options as he fails to choose one.

“Kitchen,” Philza’s voice is quiet, broken, strained as though speaking on an over-strained throat. “Be-” a cough “be careful!”

Careful of what? Tallulah said he thought the house was on fire, so… It’s a waste of resources, but Fit splashes himself with a fire resistance potion anyway. Just so he can tell Philza he’s safe, and not have to lie about any follow up questions.

Depends how bad the vision is, really.

Because Fit is pretty sure they are visions, not hallucinations. It’s just the after-effects on his old friend’s mental health are worse for it.

The kitchen is the door to the left. When Fit steps in, he makes a show of checking it. Everything is normal - down to and including the pot on the stove - except for Philza himself. Still in his pyjamas, stood with his back to the wall. He looked like he was reading something, but glances over his shoulder as soon as he hears Fit approach.

There’s nothing in his hands, not that Fit can see, but they still hover like they’re holding up a book.

His eyes are shot wide open, so wide it goes past terror to border on head injury. His breathing, too, is fucked - Fit can see him panting - but that’s a panic attack for you.

“You good?” Fit asks someone who very, very obviously isn’t. “I was worried, so I asked Pac to watch the kids. Chayanne and Tallulah said something was wrong…?”

It looks like Philza is about to reply, but then he starts coughing. Fit gives him a moment, but it keeps going. His body shudders, gasping for air between coughs as he slumps against the wall.

It’s fucking terrifying; Fit runs forwards before he knows what to say, only stopping himself once Philza manages to catch his breath, and Fit remembers what a fucking terrible idea it is to charge someone whose brain is trapped outside reality.

So he slows to a stop, and brings up his hands.

“Easy, easy,” Fit drops his voice lower, trying to project calm he absolutely does not feel. “What can you see, Phil? Because whoever’s talking to you, they’re not talking to me.”

“Not- ah- not talking?” Philza takes a deep, sharp breath - gasping again. His voice is shaking, distant, so quiet Fit has to strain to hear it even over the silence. “Fire. It’s- It’s fucking… hell in here. Lava. Netherrack. Soul- Soul sand. The whole- whole lot, Fit, the whole damned lot.”

The Nether? Shit. Nobody likes the Nether, so no wonder Phil is panicking so hard he’s choking himself. Fit eases himself forward a little more, trying not to scare his friend more than he’s already terrified.

“What else?” he asks.

It’s not exactly grounding when Philza is seeing another reality, but it’s the only thing Fit knows how to try.

“Book, blackstone, blaze rod, quartress.”

That train of words is said much more clearly, more certainly, but still sounding called from a much greater distance than is between them. Fit can hear the panicked tears threatening to spill over with every word, and his heart fucking breaks.

Gentle, gentle, do his best to help. Fit’s not a gentle person by nature, but if his friends need him he’s going to try.

“Hey, hey look at me,” he orders, trying to be kind but knowing he’s a bit sharper than usual. What can he do to break the tension? Flirt? Flirting always goes down a treat. “See this sexy bald head of mine? I’m not going to let any Ender King hurt you /or/ your kids.”

Fit isn’t exactly sure how he could stop anything with such a name, but he’d certainly try.

Then Philza says something. It’s so quiet and broken up he can barely hear it, his breathing growing faster and more desperate as he does.

It takes Fit a moment to parse the words - “not him. Blaze Em-press. His enemy.”

What?

“That’s why she set your house on fire? Pissed he got you first?”

It’s the only sense he can make of the enemy of someone Philza is so fucking terrified of making him think he and his house are burning.

“A friend,” Philza says, and begins coughing again. “She’s- a… friend. But’s she’s- … Also the Nether… You know? I-I think- Fuck, my head hurts.”

No bet.

Philza coughs again, spit hitting the floor. At first Fit thinks nothing of it, then he notices the discolouration - not black, not fully black, but slightly speckled with it.

Shit. The coughing isn’t because he panicked himself into not breathing right. The vision… The vision isn’t a hallucination, and it isn’t just a vision, because whatever Philza’s brain can do it can’t fucking fake smoke in his lungs.

Smoke that as far as Fit can tell /does not exist/.

“Not really,” he answers, shaky himself now but needing to reply to the ‘you know’. He has friends, yeah, but if they set his house on fire and tried to kill him by smoke inhalation they wouldn’t be soon. “Let’s get you out of here, and grab some water.”

And once Philza is away from the smoke, get him to Pac and hope the engineer has fucked around in the lab enough to know what to do, because this is far beyond Fit’s abilities to treat.

Philza doens’t reply; Fit closes the rest of the distance. He kneels down infront of his friend, touching his shoulder and trying to assess his condition - no burns on his face, at least. From what Fit remembers, burns on your face mean you’re extremely fucked.

The touch at least seems to break Philza’s trance a little; he reaches out and touches Fit’s shoulders too, using them to lever himself up. Having realised his friend is legitimately and physically hurt, Fit keeps his hands near.

Just in case.

“I’m sorry,” it seems hard for Philza to breathe, and harder still for him to talk. “I must look… I’m sorry.”

He’s back to himself a little, then, but it’s still awful words he says.

“You’re scared,” Fit says, and he’s terrified too - he’s just forcing his breaths steady, his heart calm, and accepting the fact he’ll have nightmares about this day for months. “It’s fucking scary, just thinking about the idea. Entities from elsewhere lasering shit into your brain? Making you think your house is on fire? No thanks.”

Philza laughs, and it’s blissfully familiar for a second.

Then the coughing starts again.

Philza borderline collapses, his body unable to take the force of the coughs. Fit grabs him, keeping him from the floor. He helps him bend a bit better and rubs at his back. That’s what you do to help someone stop coughing, right? Rub their back?

Fuck, he’s so out of his depth right now.

“Easy, easy,” he tries. “Let’s just get out of here. We can talk outside.”

Under Fit’s guidance, Philza manages to walk. It’s slow going, and Fit has at least half of his weight, but he manages. It’s not far to outside, at least; the bunker is big for a bunker, but it’s still no labyrinth.

And then Philze drops from his hold.

“Fuck!”

Fit doesn’t even know what happens. One moment they’re walking, the next Philza is on - in - the floor. He has no way to comprehend it, his entire mind fucking straining to compute seeing both the wooden floor and Philza /inside/ it at once.

And Philza is screaming in agony. Agony, agony, fuck Fit doesn’t think he’s ever heard him scream like that before.

He doesn’t - he doesn’t know what to do.

So he grabs Philza and yanks him up. The floor gives him up easily, and Fit scroops him into his arms.

There’s burns, there’s so many burns - every bit of Philza that was below the floorline - thank fuck not his chest or his head, the survalist managing to catch himself like so many times before - is burnt. His hands, his feet, lower arms, most of his legs…

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” Fit tries to reassure.

He doesn’t worry about taking it slowly or about stopping the injuries getting knocked - what Philza needs is out, and away, and he knows Pac has shit for burns they’ve just got to get there.

But first, cold water. Chume Labs is huge, and Chayanne’s paddling pool is a quicker walk.

And every step of the way, Philza screams and sobs and chokes on his throat.

He keeps up the promises of it’ll be okay, trying desperately to soothe at least one of the three. He carries Philza outside. It’s not glamorous or comfortable, but they get there. They get there, they fucking get there.

Fit as good as dumps Philza in the paddling pool, making sure the burns are covered by water. There’s a shudder in the screams, and the sobs start winning; with one hand he rubs Philza’s back, still awkwardly promising his presence, while with the other he grabs his communicator.

/You whisper to pactw: Where are you?/

The reply isn’t immediate. He considers texting the injuries, but… maybe best to assess them first. Let Pac know exactly what they’re dealing with, and also make sure Philza is okay with the Brazilian’s help.

Speaking of… Philza has mostly stopped choking.

But he isn’t doing much of anything else.

“Phil?” he asks, keeping his voice low and simple. “Can you hear me, Phil?”

Philza moves up a little, like he’s straightening to answer. He opens his mouth and- and then leans sideways, over some of the nearby flowers.

Fit can only support his back and watch in terror as Philza vomits into the bushes, flecks of sticky black smoke clinging to that too.

He can feel his own hands shaking as he supports his friend, keeping him from getting vomit on his injuries or in the water, and trying to comfort him all the same. It’s horrible, it’s terrifying, but there’s not exactly much he can do.

Hopefully it’s just panic nausea. He hopes to Hausmaster it’s just panic nausea.

After only a little bit the vomit ends, Philza leaning back and being caught against Philza’s chest.

“... Fit?” his voice is even weaker than before.

“Right here, big boy,” Fit tries to keep his reply lighter than his horror. “You with me?”

There’s a shuddering breath, followed by a nod.

Philza could probably do with a potion, but the only one he has is in Fit’s pocket. He didn’t grab his bag or anything before heading over, and he’s regretting it now. But to access it…

“Okay, fuck,” he breathes, clearing his mind with the swearing. “If I let go for a second, can you keep yourself above water?”

There’s a hesitant nod - Fit slowly lets go as Philza adjusts, making sure he is steady before digging through his pockets. The potion is… Somewhere. It won’t fix everything, not for shit this bad, but it’ll help with the shock and any infection risk and take the edge off the pain. Maybe heal some of his throat on the way down, too.

He finds it, and puts it to Philza’s lips. It doesn’t take much effort to convince him to drink, pink liquid going easily down.

When he opens his eyes, Philza looks a little more present, and Fit sighs in relief.

“What happened?” his voice is still quiet and scratched, but more solid than when they first got to the pool.

“Fuck if I know,” and honestly, it’s true. Fit can guess and such, but half of the reason he believes in magic crap so easily is because it constantly happens and he has no idea how to parse it, so may as well just take it at face value. “The lava burns are real, though. There was nothing there, it was like watching… I don’t fucking know, you glitch into the floor? Then you screamed, and there’s lava burns.”

He watches Philza examine his burns. With a worried hand he stops him from taking them from the water, massaging his shoulder with a thumb he can only hope is comforting.

It’s comforting for Fit, at least.

“Can I message Pac about this?” he asks, because fuck he’s out of his depth, and Pac and Mike have dealt with enough lab accidents to know some weird medical areas.

Philza quirks something like an attempted smile, “assumed you’d already told him, mate.”

“Not about this,” Fit hasn’t, either; only asking where Pac is since he left. “But… Look, I can stop the burns killing you, but I can’t treat them properly, and I’m pretty sure your lungs are fucked.”

Confusion crawls across Philza’s face. Fit watches in concern as he raises a hand to his lips, it coming away with some of the discoloured, sticky mucus.

He sees the terror in Philza’s eyes as he glances up to meet them.

“Can we not scare the kids?”

Fit takes that as permission. He opens his comms, to find Pac has already replied.

/pactw whispers to you: at Chume Labs

pactw whispers to you: got Chayanne and Tallulah asleep in Mike’s room

pactw whispers to you: how’s Philza?

you whisper to pactw: not good. You got anything for lava burns and smoke inhalation?/

“Pac says they’re already asleep,” Fit promises, and keeps any wondering about how that happened to himself. “They’re going to notice, but we can just tell them in the morning.”

But at least by then the burns will be covered up and their dad might have his head back.

Philza nods, and Fit returns to his comms.

/pactw whispers to you: the fire was real?

you whisper to pactw: real enough to hurt him, not real enough for me to see

you whisper to pactw: it’s freaking me out, but i know what burns look like

you whisper to pactw: and vomiting up smoke ash/

He looks up from the comms to find Philza’s eyes closed. For a moment his heart stops; “don’t sleep just yet.”

Philza gestures at him in reply, and he isn’t sure what it is, but it’s a sign of life at least.

Something approximating fuck off, he’s sure. Fit turns back to his comms, but keeps a closer eye on his friend.

/pactw whispers to you: bring him here

pactw whispers to you: i’m not a doctor but we have some supplies

pactw whispers to you: will get it set up

pactw whispers to you: or would the order be better?

you whisper to pactw: will ask/

“Okay,” he looks at Philza more critically, assessing the damage for himself. “Pac’s got stuff at Chume Labs, and luckily for us that’s also where he took Chayanne and Tallulah. He can either meet us there, or at the Order.”

“Kids,” Philza immediately replies, and Fit is not the slightest bit surprised.

/you whisper to pactw: we’ll come to you/

“Right,” he glances over Pac’s confirmation, and shuts his communicator away. “Do you think you can manage your warpstone?”

Fit really, really hopes that Philza pulling it out means yes, because he’s not sure how to get him anywhere otherwise.

So he pulls out his own, and warps over there.

---

When he arrives Chume Labs, Philza is half-collapsed against the waystone, and dripping wet. Neither is unexpected; Fit scoops him back up, and carries him to the turtle. There’s worryingly little reaction, but his eyes are open and blinking normally, and he winces properly when he coughs.

Managing the turtle while carrying someone is a bit awkward, but Fit manages. Just like he usually does. As it makes its way across, Fit texts Pac to let them know they’re there. He expects a message back saying which floor to go to, but instead Pac meets them at the elevator.

“Fit?” he asks first, then. “Phil? Are you okay?”

Philza manages to mumble something which sounds mostly like a hello; the look Fit and Pac share is worried. Fit sits them both down while Pac sets the floor, and the mechanism crawls to life.

“Here, I bought splash potions,” Pac shows them first to Fit, before throwing them on Philza.

Fit gets splashed as well, the tingle running along his skin. Philza’s body relaxes somewhat, his breathing steadying a little.

“Thank you, Pac,” Fit says. “I didn’t have my bag.”

“Did you have anything?” Pac asks, hands trembling as he visually checks them both over.

“Gave him a basic potion just before I messaged you,” Fit replies. “Otherwise… Got him in cold water, but I didn’t know what else.”

Pac nods, shifting between his feet, “we need a real hospital.”

“We need a real doctor,” Fit points out.

Pac can do nothing but agree to that. He’s about to say something else, when the lift arrives.

There’s a bed with some equipment set up on one side, but Pac leads Fit and Philza over to a chair instead. It’s just like the ones Pac constantly leaves around, except red this time. A whole pile of equipment is beside it, and it faces an open door.

One which shows Chayanne, Tallulah, and Richas safely asleep in a little pile.

Fit places Philza on the chair, only able to stand and watch as Pac fits an oxygen mask to his face.

“He should really have,” Pac gestures a bit, frowning as he pulls the elastics properly. “I forget the word. But nobody knows how to do it, so…”

“That bad?” Fit asks.

“There’s not much to do. Makes it really scary,” Pac frowns, hands twitching a little as he pulls them away. “Can you help me? With the burns.”

“Of course. What do you need, Pac?”

Something useful to do is better than any other option. Fit is handed potions and ointments and dressings, and told the order to apply them in. While Pac works on Philza’s legs - the more extensive of the burns, with more of them deeper in what can only have been lava - Fit takes one of his arms.

He’s treated burns before, even extensive ones. Not usually with this many things, but he knows what he’s doing.

When the first of the potions is applied, Philza visibly flinches. His eyes, still wide, flicker between both of them, and then to the door - relaxing noticeably when he spies his sleeping children.

“Sorry it stings,” Pac smiles at Philza, and Fit can see how shaky it is.

“It’s fine, mate,” Philza’s voice is a bit drifty, but the surprise of the treatment seems to have drawn him back. All the way to full sentences, too. “Just means I still have feeling.”

… Fit might understand that sentiment, but he’s not exactly thrilled about it.

“Only you, Phil,” and his voice is more affectionate than he means it to be.

Philza turns and glares at him, and Fit swallows a laugh at how ridiculous he looks.

“You have said that before,” Pac points out, though it takes Fit a moment to realise it’s directed at him. “It /is/ true. Still hurts, though.”

Philza adjusts his position slightly, and Fit concludes that it must be the potions actually working that keeps him so present when he was spaced out so badly before. “Don’t worry, I’ve survived worse.”

Fit thinks of his friend knee-deep in lava, without the right protections, miles from home and alone in the Nether, living in a world where a single death means you’re gone forever.

He shudders, and hates it, and it really is not helping his fear.

“You know that’s not actually reassuring, right?” he tries to joke.

He needs to leave this ointment for a little bit. Fit shifts from working on the right arm to the left.

Philza shrugs in reply, but his throat catches. Pac is already bolting up to help and Fit reaching to support his back by the end of the stuttered breath. Philza manages to avoid the coughing fit, though, taking a few deep breaths of the oxygen and settling his lungs.

Once he has, he says whatever he meant to say. He keeps his voice quiet, and the hoarseness is still apparent, but at least Philza manages to avoid the breaking this time. “I do appreciate the help, guys, but I have fallen in lava and been fine before. Didn’t even have bandages then.”

That statement only serves to make the imagined scenarios worse. Fit tries to glare at his friend, only to soften when he sees just how exhausted the man looks.

He can’t win against his friends. He never has been able to.

“I get it,” Pac replies for him, deft fingers now bandaging Philza’s legs. “We didn’t either. But… It will heal better. Faster, cleaner, less infection risk.”

Fit nods along to Pac’s words, and uses the time to gather himself. Philza’s at least chatting, now; it’s easier to suppress the terror.

“Don’t you want us to care about you, Phil?” Fit reaches over with one hand, squeezing his shoulder like he always does when trying to give comfort. The idea of it actually hurts, now he’s vocalising it. “Are you saying you won’t let us worry? Don’t want us to care?”

They see Philza try to reply. This time, the stuttered breaths do turn into a coughing fit. He pulls the mask up to spit out the mucus, but holds it close, still trying to use that air. It doesn’t stop with one cough, or with two; Pac reaches up from his feet, resting Philza’s head against one shoulder as he loops arms around his back. Fit leans down, rubbing circles and hoping they help.

It keeps going and going, and Fit sees his own terror reflected in Pac’s eyes. He’s about to resort to screaming for Cucurucho when the coughs finally cease, Philza’s body weak and trembling from the exertion.

Gently they ease him back into the chair. Fit fixes the mask back into place, while Pac clearly frets about something in his mind.

Even Philza seems to notice that, his eyes shifting to watch Pac.

It breaks the seal.

“How, ah, bird are you?” Pac clearly doesn’t know if that’s a polite thing to ask, and, honestly, Fit has no idea either. He can only shrug in reply to the unspoken question. “I don’t know crows, but…”

Philza takes another moment or two, chest heaving but at a much slower pace than before, “not sure, sorry, I just live like this.”

The reason why Pac asks suddenly clicks - canaries in a coal mine, but all birds are more vulnerable to smoke than humans. Their respiratory systems just being weaker to it.

At least Fit can reassure that one.

“We’ve run through a fire together before,” he says, skimming over the terror of that event too in his mind. “If he took the smoke worse than me, it wasn’t enough to notice.”

Pac may as well collapse in a heap on the floor for all the relief in his eyes - he doesn’t, but it seems a close-born thing. “Still… you really need a hospital.”

It’s muttered, it’s quiet, it’s been said before, but it’s unfortunately very true.

Fit can see the laugh growing on Philza’s face, and also how he struggles to hold it in.

“Welcome to the island, Pac,” Philza manages to say instead. “You read an out of date medical textbook ten years ago, and it makes you about the best we’ve got.”

“It was a biochemistry book,” Pac corrects, and it either explains a lot or nothing at all. “And some websites. I’ve practiced on Mike, though. We both set many things on fire.”

Philza cannot escape an amused snort this time, but it clearly messes with him enough to fuck his breathing once again. Fit keeps an eye on it as he finishes treating his arms, and sees Pac doing the same with his legs.

They drop the topic to work, using each other as a support they might not even really have.

Once the bandages are all in place and Philza seems to be doing better… Well there’s a goat in the room, isn’t there? Because someone set Philza on fire, using lava Fit couldn’t even see.

“Phil…” he isn’t sure how to phrase it but it needs to be said. “I have some idea, but… what did you see?”

“Not a lot,” Philza answers willingly enough, though he twitches as he does. Fit places a hand over the back of his neck, and hopes it’s reassuring. “Kinda like the other two. The bunker was on fire, there was a trail to a book and some items and pictures. Used fire res, but I only had the one… Ran out about when you arrived.”

That gives them a timescale for just how long, at least - fire res offers some smoke protection, so… But then, perhaps he was breathing it in before he awoke or used the potion, too.

“And the book?” he asks, because it’s always the books that seem to scare his friend the most - it was the book Fit couldn’t see he was reading and rereading when he arrived, that probably stopped him leaving before the fire res ran out.

“What do you want me to say?” despite his weak voice, it’s clear Philza is frustrated by the whole thing. “It’s the Blaze Empress, but what does it matter?”

“Is she liable to kidnap you?” Fit asks first, because after the Ender King talk he /needs/ to know if this is another threat or not. “I know you were worried about…”

He glances at Pac, and realises he will actually have to explain that later. Now Pac’s been here and seen this and is kinda involved all over again.

“I don’t know, Fit,” Philza doesn’t seem as scared this time - still terrified, but more burnt out, more exhausted, more likely to give in than run. “In my dreams of her realm… lava is… people. And the quartress has a bee farm. In the /Nether/. It’s not… It can’t be… There’s no sense here.”

Fit and Pac share a look, and Pac agrees to take on the burden of speaking.

“You burnt from the lava,” he hesitantly offers. “I don’t think… you can hallucinate that?”

Yeah, no, Fit’s seen a lot of cases of mind over matter, and none of them result in that sort of happening.

They watch Philza struggle for a time. Pac starts putting the leftover bandages away, constantly glancing back to check on their shared friend. Philza’s lips move, and reassass, grimace and frown and just… don’t seem to know what to do.

The building distress is obvious, though.

Fit’s about to try soothe him again when Philza opens his mouth again. This time, it’s not just weak - they can hear genuine vulnerability, and the first hints of terrified sobs.

“If she’s real, the war is real. She… She can reshape reality, but the Ender King can steal it. /Has/ stolen it,” Philza stops for air, tears trying to streak down his face. “Entire swathes just… gone. In the blink of an eye. He did it to her… the quartress… hangs in a void… I- I can’t- They’re fighting over me now, Fit, they fought over the world and now they’re fighting over me and there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s… There’s not going to be a world /left/, Fit, not if they fight again! If… If they come, if they take me… Don’t try to stop them, don’t come after me - /please/, Just…”

Philza glances at his children. The sobs break his speech, but it’s so obvious what he means.

“Oh Phil…” Pac whispers, barely audible.

“Of course,” Fit promises - at least to looking after Chayanne and Tallulah. He’ll never promise to never try rescue a friend, not if he sees the option.

The sobs continue, and there’s nothing either of them can really do.

“I-” Philza breaks through them to try to talk, turning desperate eyes on Fit. “I’m scared- I- don’t… I-”

Fit lets the air entirely out of his lungs, and leans over to hug his friend. It’s awkward and it’s difficult, but they manage all the same. He hopes its comforting - Philza presses hard against his chest - because it’s all he can do.

Pac scrambles up onto the arm of the chair, then hesitantly leans over. He presses his weight to Philza’s back, and wraps his arms around his front.

Together they hold him as he sobs, hoping it’ll be soothing enough to avoid another coughing fit.

It isn’t.

This one isn’t as bad as the last, but it’s still terrifying. Fit does his best to soothe in tongue clicks, while Pac rubs his back and begs him to breathe.

Sobs bubble harder into the coughs, eventually winning back over.

“You need to calm down,” Fit says - not because crying is terrible, but because it’s causing his friend to choke. “Please, Phil, you need to calm down.”

Philza doesn’t. He keeps crying and crying and crying, shaking and terrified and seeming so small where he’s trying to curl in the chair.

There’s no chance to ask him about it, either; the tears have to end eventually, but they only cease as he drifts off to sleep.

Fit gives him a moment, checking that, and turns to Pac.

“He cried himself out,” he whispers. “Do we need to wake him up?”

Pac hesitates, clearly trying to remember. Eventually he shakes his head, “put him on the bed. We just…keep an eye on him.”

“Alright. Can you get the oxygen?”

It’s easy enough to move him to the bed, far easier than carrying Philza to the pool in the first instance. Pac moves various bits of equipment around them, clearing the path and making sure the tube on the mask doesn’t tug, the last one being to pull down the sheets.

Philza is very definitely asleep by the time he’s laying on them. Pac sets up a little more stuff, pushing fluids into his veins and tracing his heartbeat just in case, but there’s only so much he knows how to do. Roier knows more - did more for Forever - but Roier is missing, and Pac’s knowledge is from scientific testing, not medical.

Once Pac is done fiddling, Fit tucks the blankets around his friend. He’s led to a pair of chairs positioned to watch both Philza and the children, and collapse into them.

“Well, fuck,” Fit says, because he really has no other words for the situation.

“Will he be okay?” Pac replies, glance flittering between Fit, Philza, and the sleeping children.

“You’re the closer to an expert than me.” Fit drapes an arm over his eyes, trying to hide from the very bright lighting.

“The burns were a lot, but didn’t have time to get very bad. His breathing is worrying but it’s, ah, improving. I want to do more, Fit, but I don’t know what to do,” Pac shuffles in his chair. “I am not trained for this. But… I meant… in his brain. Will he be okay in his brain?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it,” Fit frowns. “The shit he sees is definitely real, but it’s not the same real so he’s still going to be left doubting it all. And Philza does /not/ handle doubt.”

“The same real?” Fit peaks out under his arm, and sees confusion writ on Pac’s face.

“Yeah,” he frowns himself. “The lava? I couldn’t see it, even as it was burning him. Hell I was standing on the same floor he tried to walk on. It was a brainfuck - he fell through the floor into the lava, but it was still there.”

“Like BadBoy’s ghost blocks?”

“Not really,” Fit, still not sure what he saw, struggles to explain. “Or, kinda? But like the ghost block could also have lava inside it. The lava and the floorboards were in the same place, just you sink in lava.”

Pac pulls a long series of faces, clearly struggling with the concept. After a bit, he clicks, “more like… hiding cables for storage?”

“Maybe?” Fit doesn’t really know a lot about that. “Whatever it was, it was terrifying. And the beings contacting him? Being powerful enough to do /that/? He asked me not to intervene if he gets kidnapped, but I don’t even know if I could!”

Pac scoots a little closer, leaning over the arm of the chair to rest on Fit’s shoulder. Fit reaches up, entangling a hand into his hair. “You’d try.”

“Damn right I would,” because of course Fit would. They might all be as good as powerless here, their actions having even less meaning than in the Wasteland, but he’s still going to /try. Good friends are hard to come by, and he’s not going to let some extra-dimensional fuckery steal one of his away.

Not if he has a choice, anyway.

“It’s just…” Fuck, Fit has to tell Pac, doesn’t he? “Does the name the Ender King mean anything to you?”

Fit watches Pac think very hard about the question, focus and concentration mixing into one. After a few minutes he looks back at Fit, “like… Enderman? But a king?”

“I guess?” Fit shrugs a bit. “Phil did say he’d have no idea if he were here - there’s no marks of him, but he mostly exists in another realm.”

“No, then,” Pac shakes his head a little. “Just… that. Phil said something?”

“Yeah, few weeks back,” Fit pulls a face. “With the egg shoes? It was when he called me off that day.”

Pac nods, “the shoes were cute.”

“They were,” Fit smiles a bit at the happier memory. “But Phil… Chayanne and Tallulah were with him, and I swear its only that that stopped him having a panic attack. He’d had that other message - the one you were there for? That scared him, but the second one /terrified/ him. Was promising Chayanne and Tallulah he’d always get back to him, to behave if he was kidnapped, laugh-sobbing when Chayanne promised to kill whatever scared him, the works.”

“And it was the Ender King? He mentioned it today, too.”

“Yeah…” Fit trails off, unsure what else to say.

There’s quiet for a moment, before Pac speaks up again, “how did Phil, er, how does Phil know them?”

Fit takes a deep breath, trying both to remember and work it out. “He /says/ it’s from his dreams. He dreams of living in another world, really consistently, really vividly, and these… entities are its rulers. He doesn’t remember all of them, though, it’s still just a dream.“

“Memories, maybe?” Pac asks. “Does he have amnesia too?”

“Maybe?” Fit frowns. “He remembers shit with me well enough, but I don’t remember enough about the rest to compare. Could be the Feds just stole part of them.”

“Which means we all might have all-powerful supervillians after us,” Pac’s eyes are a bit wide.

“And who would even be after you?” Fit laughs, already knowing who is after him.

“I am an international criminal wanted in five countries,” Pac mocks some offence. “Entire governments want me dead!”

They can both only hold it for a moment before descending into giggles. It takes a few moments to recover, their foreheads pressed together.

“The Blaze Empress sounds… fiery,” Pac muses, once he has recovered. “And Endermen hate water. Maybe he should make an underwater safe zone? Just in case.”

“We can suggest it once he’s feeling better,” Fit promises. “Knowing Phil, he’s already got one hidden away somewhere, he just hasn’t thought of it.”

Pac might be the least paranoid of the three of them, but that really is not saying much. Fit can already see the calculations running, and so gently pokes his nose. There’s a jolt of surprise, and a soft smile. “Fit?”

“Thanks for your help,” Fit says, trying his best to be genuine. “Sorry about the night… We can talk more in the morning, and rearrange to another time?”

“Philza is important,” Pac shrugs. “We can adjust.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’ve done the same for Mike,” Pac’s voice is a bit soft.

There’s not much Fit can say to that. Instead he just moves on.

“Do you want to sleep first, or shall I?”

Pac glances at Philza, then the time, “you sleep first? There’s more likely to be problems earlier.”

“Alright,” Fit doesn’t want to leave either of them, but they all need sleep. “Wake me in a few hours, okay?”

Pac nods, and shoos him off.

There’s too much to talk about in the morning - Fit already knows they never will finish the conversation, not even if Philza is stolen from their watch and tormented by gods from another realm.

It’s fine, though, it’ll be fine.

He lays awake, failing to think of a solution, listening to Pac watch low-volume Brazilian romance films until his own dreams steal him away.

#qsmp fanfic #qsmp fit #qsmp pac #qsmp philza #hurt/comfort #nobody is having a good time here #I hate the ending but it'll serve #it was the only way I could make them stop talking #and I really needed them to it was getting ungodly long #fun fact - this is my current longest qsmp piece #and it was supposed to just be an alt PoV on the much shorter Philza PoV of the same stuff #prompt: hallucinations

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gojoshooter · 1 year

Text

They say, all good boys go to heaven — Gojo Satoru

Pairings : atheist!gojo x choirboy!reader, m/m

A/N : doing smth with my angst skills since people seemed to like the previous post, so here goes another one :P reblog if u like? ♡

Genre : angst, fluff, hurt and comfort

WARNINGS : homophobia, gojo doesn't have powers, no one has — actually, claustrophobia, male reader is not geto, secret relationship

Disclaimer: this hc is based on catholic beliefs where few of the description might be exaggeration of reality. so if you feel uncomfy, u may kindly exit.

"N' if I win, you stop bringing yer' church boy to our place".

"Got it." a darker hue of blue seemed to fill in Satoru's crystal orbs, as he sits down the wooden chair. A new sense of raw competitiveness swirling in his eyes.

You can hear the smirk in his voice though the man you're looking at is Satoru's supposed opponent, who appeared rather scary with a buzz-cut and cat eyes.

You were far from where you were supposed to be — watching men arm wrestle in the wilder outskirts of your town that Satoru once assured you to be a 'fun place'.

Your thoughts were cut short the moment the white haired male locked eyes with you, a way to make you look at him win the round.

You caught him biting his bottom lip too, either in an attempt to take the opposing arm down or his cocky trademark that he liked to show you off, you'd never know.

And if the way his muscular biceps flexed in his tight grey hoodie made your cheeks hot, he wouldn't know either.

It was a matter of seconds and the buzz-cut's arm banged on the wooden table, the slam unforgiving. He hissed as the small crowed erupted from Satoru's side, the said male standing and patting his toned left arm with the right, pompous of his built.

"I told you! Maybe you can catch up to me in a few years, ay? " Satoru's mocking sweetness dripped off him as he patted the lost boy's head.

You expected him to join the boo-ing of the losing team, but then he turned around to walk you towards the exit of the run down cabin they used as a common party place, clutching your hand.

"Satoru, what was that? " you sighed, trying your best to hide the funny proud feeling.

"That? Just a friendly match with kids." He grinned, swinging your hand lightly in his hold. You couldn't help but shake your head.

"Yeah... friendly... you kept beating the kids." He chuckled at your comment, head thrown back slightly. "Hmmm, I was about to let them have the last round y'know. It's that brat's fault " he shrugged with his pouty lips.

You gave up the never ending argument, but for some reason, that made you feel giddy inside.

"I think you enjoyed my choir practice session more than I enjoyed that " you add with a huff, trying to convince no one but yourself about who gave the other a 'better part of the evening'.

The beautiful orange hue was starting to darken, the wind howling loudly.

Satoru was too lost in his thoughts to speak, meanwhile you were suddenly too shy to start up a conversation. There was a comfortable silence between the two of you as Satoru walked you home.

Your teeth chattered lightly at a particular gust of wind, making Satoru's head snap to the side. That was him, the young tire shop owner from the outskirts — Satoru

"You're cold." He frowned, already removing his grey hoodie.

"Oh no, it's fine-" you began before he threw the soft fabric on your petite body. You blush furiously, grateful as it was getting dark out.

"Thank you." You mumble softly, unconsciously sighing when you inhaled Satoru's minty cologne. The sweater was definitely big on you, creating cute sweater paws that had Satoru smiling. It amuses him — your doe eyes, your big cute grin, brown hair with curls similar to the men in old greek sculptures.

He couldn't bring himself to ask. What if you don't see him as a friend? And all your 'subtle' shy glances were friendly gestures? Or worse, what if you see him more than a friend? Then good lord, he's sure he'd mess up someday.

Satoru presumes it possibly can't be the later one, considering you're the town's renowned pastor's only son and the local church's choir boy. Following the 'right' path and doing 'holy deeds' runs in the blood.

He talked for the reminder of your way home, his cold hands in his pockets. You were two houses away when you giggle adorably at something he had said.

Walking further close, Satoru becomes aware of the dark figure standing on top of the porch of your house.

His smile drops, and you must have noticed what Satoru was looking at as well, appearing nervous. He lowered his voice as both of you reached the front of your house, very aware of the person watching them.

Satoru was about to say goodbye to you but a loud harsh voice from the top of the stairs stopped him from doing so.

"Get inside."

His eyes stayed solemnly focused on the small boy that was you, as he gives you a weak smile. "Shit, isn't his father a crazy one?" he thinks to himself.

Satoru looked up only to see the angry eyes of pastor staring down at him.

He glared back at him, watching as you silently disappear behind your father into the house.

You had already informed your father that you'll be gone in the evening for the choir practice so he wouldn't go crazy looking for you. So why does he sound so mad? You lowkey agree with Satoru, sometimes he's too much.

Once inside, you realize Satoru's hoodie is still on you. The loud slam of the front door had you flinching lightly, cutting your thoughts off.

"I thought you were going to church to practice your singing " He spat out in rage. You shrunk lightly under his burning gaze, feeling so small.

"I-I was. It's just that my friend came along and we practiced together." That wasn't a lie, was it?

"I better not see you near that boy again. He's a good for nothing street rat. Do you understand me? " He ordered, jerking you by your shoulders as he spoke, tone threatening. He never stops screaming, never. Sometimes you wonder if he will bargain his way into heaven with that skill of his.

"...Yes father." you whispered, head bowed down. You want to cry, but held your breath instead.

"Speak up you disgrace of a child! " He roares, stepping closer to you. "Dad, stop it " came a shaking voice from you, tears building up in your eyes. You did not notice her, just heard the sound of your mother that tsked behind you. It wasn't going to get easy for your tonight.

Your breathing hitched the same time your body fills with fear, palms sweating profusely as the town pastor approaches you with big steps and grabs your hand rather roughly. Your father ignores you as he opened a familiar dark closet at the end of the hallway.

"No, please." You whisper, knowing that no one could save you in that moment.

"You want to go against the Lord and hold hands with that dirty street rat like some fag, then have at it with the consequences."

You sob loudly as you begged your father not to do it, body shaking uncontrollably. You shook your head furiously, trying to pull away and making your father angrier in the process.

"Please, don't, dad " you screamed helplessly as your father shoved you inside with a harsh push. "You will stay inside untill you learn to follow the lord. " The pastor sneered, closing the door just when you ran up to it.

Only if you knew he cared less about the 'lord' and more about his reputation in the town.

No one liked the poor 'outcasts' of this region you often marched proudly with. You never understood the whole point, wasn't it in our own will wether to or to not believe in god? He would love all his children equally.

"Dad please, I can't breathe in here " you screamed, your fear of the haunting little spaces of the empty closet kicking in as you desperately banged at the door. The room was small and stuffy, your breathes coming out labored as sweat truckled down the soft damp skin.

It was dark but you've been there enough times to know where the flashlight was by now, reaching out blindly. You sniffled and sobbed, grasping the flashlight once you found it. You quickly turn it on, feeling less panicked now.

You flash it towards the floor where a Bibble and a Rosary were sitting together. With gritted teeth, you shakily reach out to grab the book as hot strings of tears flowed through your red eyes. A whimper leaves your lips, opening the book to recite passages in a soft whisper.

You cried and cried until your eyes felt puffy and sore. You couldn't help but inhale Satoru's lingering scent from the hoodie you were wearing.

It was a vein to wait for the dinner, you'd probably not even get a breakfast the next morning. That's how it has always been.

It must've been a few hours later when the door finally opened, the bright light blinding your sight.

Your tears have already dried on your cheeks, feeling your face numb as your stood up from the floor with blank eyes.

"Go to your room" your father barked before turning away, leaving you disoriented and traumatized.

You shakily grab the Bibble from the floor as you made your away to your room.

"God is good. " You whisper.

The day went in a blur of you practicing for your new prayer this Sunday, futile attempt at reading something in the local library, and in the town's school teaching the young kids of the town. That was probably the only good part of the day, you loved children as much as they loved you, though the fact that your father kept an eye on you the whole time kept you bugging. You need a release.

You wave at the little kids in distance as they ran around happily at the sound of the class dispersal.

"Get in the car "

You turn around to see your father waiting for you in his white truck. The smile on your face fell quickly, eyes losing their shine.

School just ended for the day and the pastor was not joking about bringing you home right after. You sigh as your father drove off with a straight face.

After the whole incident with your father catching you and Satoru, he forced you to read three passages of Bibble before you eat breakfast. You read and read until the letters seemed like an unreadable mess, tears clouding your eyes every two minutes. It only made you feel worse as you read about all the things that lord considered to be sins.

You wanted to be good. You wanted to be pure and clean of heart. To be a son of God.

"F-father?" you ask softly, terrified of his unleashed hot temper. Your father grunts in response.

"Could you...um- may i be dropped at the church? " came your unsure voice like a small whisper. Once again the pastor did not reply, eyes focused on the road. You had already accepted defeat, trying not to seem too upset.

It was a few moments later that you notice your father take a left turn instead of right. You release a breathe you did not know you held, relieved that you wouldn't be stuck at home.

You looked out of the window watching cars and people pass by and wondering when will you be free again.

The truck came to a complete stop, you snap out of your thoughts to see you're now in front of the church. You hesitantly look to your father, waiting for him to say something.

"Are you going to get off? " he barked. You quickly scrambled to unlock the door, muttering a quick apology.

"I expect you home by seven. Remember to pray for your sins! " the pastor spoke before driving off.

You watch your father leave with blurry eyes, tears waiting to fall. It seemed like these days all you did was cry, but he couldn't help it when his father accused him of betraying God.

It wasn't fair.

A loud sob left your lips once your father's pick up truck disappeared down the road. You quickly turned and ran inside the church, not wanting anyone to catch you crying.

Unfortunately you failed to notice the tall figure walking down the opposite side of the street.

Satoru.

He had been on his way to his repair shop when he caught sight of you being dropped off at the church. It's the first time he sees you after your father had caught you and Satoru together.

His eyes focused on your faint distraught whimpers, listening to you cry before you disappeared into the building.

His heart broke the second a pitiful sob left your small body.

Satoru frowned, crossing the street quickly. He stood by the lawn in front of the church, eyes contemplating his next move.

He bit his lips harshly, remembering the promise he made to himself about never entering a church. The nasty people of big name — the reason of his and his little family being out-casted preached and prayed here.

But the memory of the your tear-stained face had him more determined to be by your side. All he wanted was nothing more than to comfort the beautiful boy he's in love with and wipe his sadness away.

"Fuck it. " He whispered angrily before stepping forward, into the sacred building.

Sinking to your knees in front of the alter, you ignored the pain in your bones at the impact. You were glad the church was empty, this way your emotional release would be easier to get off. In that moment you didn't try to hold back your sobs, letting them out freely.

You wanted to scream your lungs out, but the only sounds that escaped you were your loud sobs.

"Please God," you cried, bottom lip quivering "take this pain away." you croaked, staring up at the statue of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Hot tears rolled down your cheeks but it felt so good to just let go.

"I can't take it anymore." You grab at your heart. Memories of your father cursing and telling him he's a sinner flashed through his mind. He never seemed happy regardless of what you did.

The thought of him punishing and locking you made you cry even harder, feeling like a failure of a son.

"I-I need a sign, please I-" you begged desperately, vision blurry with tears.

"y/n"

You heard your name echo throughout the church hall, making you whip your head towards the sound.

Satoru stood at the back of the church looking around unsurely before he ran down the asile towards the broken boy. The sound of his heavy leather shoes hitting the floor sounded loud in your ears.

You felt relief fill your body at the sight of Satoru there with you.

When the male finally reached you, he gently squatted down placing his hands under your arms, hoisting you up.

"Come on, get up." he whispered softly as you got up off your knees. Satoru did not want to focus on the sacramentals starring down at him, he focuses solemnly on the boy in front of him.

Pressing your face into Satoru's chest, you sobbed your little heart out as he quickly wrapped his arms around your body.

Satoru's heart broke the second you screamed into his chest, the sound muffled but still there.

"Shh, let it all out " he whispered, rubbing small circles with his warm palm around your small back.

"He hates me" you cried, looking up at Satoru with a messy damp face. "Trust me, nobody can." He took it upon himself to wipe your tears with gentle strokes of his thumb.

Satoru knew the pastor was a bad guy, but being an asshole to his own son? A sense of protectiveness kicks in him as he holds you tighter into his muscular arms.

"N-No matter what I do, I upset him. I'm a bad son." you sniffled.

"My, my, little baby. That's not true. They're lucky to have someone like you as their son. You're... a perfect boy."

Satoru gently cupped the boy's cheeks with both hands, feeling your breath begin to even out. "If beating up your dad doesn't work, we can just run away." The seriousness in the white haired male's voice made you chuckle into his arms.

There was something about your tears that made his heart crack.

Perhaps it was because someone like you didn't deserve to shed a single tear.

Or perhaps it made him want to hurt whoever made the angel in front of him upset. He thinks — if heavens exist, that's where you truly belong.

"Let's sit for a bit, okay? " Satoru suggested, holding your shoulders and making you sit in one of the benches.

"Hmm. Let's see, what can we do to get your mind off things? " Satoru spoke softly. His mere voice calms you down every time. There is this thin string of bliss and delight wrapped around his vocal cords that enchants you, brings you closer and closer to Satoru the more he talks. And you, as if in a trance, can not help but be pulled no matter what how harsh the punishment your earn each time.

"I... I like to pray the Rosary." you pulled out the beaded necklace out from under your shirt.

"Okay let's do that." Satoru encouraged with a smile, watching with curious eyes as you grab the wooden cross from the necklace.

You breathe in deeply before starting, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Satoru watched fascinated as you did the sign of the cross, with head slightly bowed, making him do the same.

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty" you began focusing on your prayer.

You carry on as if nothing happened, but you can feel Satoru's warm hand slip in yours. He closes his eyes as well, listening to your sweet voice reciting the prayers.

Satoru had no idea what they meant, but if that brought you comfort and peace, he would sit there to accompany you.

Because whether you knew it or not, God did give you a sign, in the form of a troubled boy named Gojo Satoru.

A/N: aaand that's it! i didn't plan to extend the hc this long, but oh well. reblog if you enjoyed it <3

Tags: @luckimoon @nanamikentoseyebags @jspenft @aikaisnika @gh0stwish @dianagracesworld @Icheerymotion @tamakin7

#satoru gojo #gojo satoru #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #gojo headcanons #gojou satoru x reader #gojou satoru x y/n #gojo stan #gojou satoru x you #gojo fluff #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #gojo sensei #gojo #gojo x male reader #jujutsu gojo #gojo sfw #jjk satoru #gojo fanfic

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iamthemain-character · 1 year

Note

hi! I rlly loved ur recent Kaz Brekker fic n I was wondering if u could do one where the reader had an ED. Like how Kaz would react to it and what he would do to help?? I’m currently getting over an ED n need some comfort rn xx

Hi! Thank you so much for reading and for requesting! As someone who watched many loved ones go through recovery, let me just say how proud I am of you (and anyone reading this!) for trying. You’re amazing and doing great, I promise. <3

Not Giving Up

show! kaz brekker x reader

gender neutral pronouns

TW: eating disorder (following the symptoms and recovery for anorexia nerviosa), low self esteem, mentions of restrictive eating. nothing graphic, and there is comfort/healing in this fic, but please be careful when reading

shadow and bone masterlist

Kaz Brekker didn’t know how he never noticed it before.

When it came to you, he typically was so attentive, noticing even the smallest details. And he did technically notice all the symptoms; the way you were always cold, the way your wounds would take longer to heal, or how you would sleep too much or none at all. But it wasn’t until The Crows were gathered for brunch one Sunday morning that Kaz finally put all the pieces together.

It was a joyous occasion, and despite being some of the most secretive people in the Barrel, the seven of you made quite a ruckus. But it was joyful, everyone teasing and messing with each other. Weekly brunch was Nina’s idea, her having lamented that she never got to see everyone all together anymore. So everyone agreed that once a week, they would all get together, the true Crow Club.

And every week, you would join in on the fun, laughing and joking with everyone. But as Kaz watched you nonchalantly tell the waitress, “Oh, I’m not really hungry”, that something clicked in his brain.

As the gears in Kaz’s mind began to turn, he soon came to realize that you said that every week. And beyond that, Kaz couldn’t recall a time where you had eaten a full meal around him or any of The Crows. It was plausible that you ate alone or when Kaz wasn’t around, but when compared with some of your other behaviors and symptoms, Kaz was fairly sure of what was happening.

Not wanting to cause more distress, Kaz had the good sense enough to leave you be during the brunch. But the moment the both of you got back to the club, he uttered only three words as he walked pass.

“My office, now.”

Despite being close with Kaz, those words still brought a chill up your spine. Cautiously you followed your friend up the stairs and into his office, following his gesture to sit down. For a while, the two of you sat in silence, Kaz staring at you with his chin resting on his clasped gloved hands.

Finally, you couldn’t take it any longer. “Is there someth-“

“Do you have an eating disorder?”

You weren’t sure what you had expected Kaz to talk to you about, but it was certainly not that. Your jaw slack, you rapidly blinked, trying to collect your thoughts.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kaz’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have an eating disorder?”

You started breathing rapidly, wondering how this man had put the pieces together when you had been so careful to hide it. “I’m fine Kaz.”

“Why don’t you eat with us? Or ever?”

“I-I,” Your words failed you, your brain trying to find some way to combat Kaz’s questions. “Like I said, I’m totally fine. I’m just not hungry a lot.”

With a deep sigh, Kaz got up and moved around the table to sit next to you. When you looked into his eyes, you were surprised by just how gentle they were. “You don’t have to lie to me…or to yourself.”

As you saw the pure concern and affection in Kaz’s gaze, you felt the dams break. Tears freely fell from your eyes as the fears you had been holding in for so long finally came out. Kaz gently placed his hand on your back, trying his best to show comfort and support.

“I don’t-I don’t like my body. Or me in general. Or life. I just…” You trailed off, hanging your head. “I just thought that if I could control what I ate, everything would be so much better.”

“And did it?”

Closing your eyes, you let the truth come out in the smallest whisper. “No.”

“I didn’t think so.” Kaz responded, his voice thoughtful. “Do you want to get better?”

Slightly surprised by the question, you looked back up into Kaz’s eyes. “I—I think so. I’m just scared of what might happen.”

Kaz took his hand off your back and took your hand instead. “You don’t have to go through this alone.” He promised.

“You want to help me?” You asked, searching for any sign of doubt or falsehood in Kaz’s eyes.

But as his blue eyes pierced your soul, you felt the truth of his words. “Every step of the way.”

———————————————————————

Good to his word, Kaz Brekker was there for you through everything. He found the best physician and psychologist in Ketterdam, and he was there for every meeting to be a support. Kaz also let you tell the other Crows at your own pace, but when you did, your support system went from one to six instantly. Your little family was there for you, and even though you were scared, it gave you comfort.

Following the treatment plan was difficult. The old inner demons that had haunted you for so long constantly reappeared, making eating difficult. But Kaz and the Crows made sure that you were never alone at mealtime, and they never shamed you for struggling with a particular food or for needing more time. So slowly, with the help of everyone and especially Kaz, bit by bit you learned to heal your relationship with food and your body.

———————————————————————

It was a surprisingly clear and sunny Sunday that spring when Ketterdam’s deadliest gang walked down the street, laughing and cajoling the whole way. Upon entering the familiar restaurant, all seven of the crows managed to squeeze into their familiar booth, with only a few complaints and pokes along the way. As you all settled in, a serving girl came up to the table.

You and Kaz were sitting closest to the edge, but the girl elected to talk to you first. “Are you ready to order?”

Kaz held his breath as he watched you hesitate for a moment, looking at the menu on the table.

Looking back up at the serving girl, a bright smile adorned your face. “I’ll have [your favorite breakfast food], please.”

The girl nodded as she wrote down your order, and moving on to Nina, who launched into her elaborate waffle order. But Kaz felt his heart swell with pride, knowing deep down the effort that you were putting in. Kaz reached out underneath the table, and softly he took your hand inside his gloved one. Slightly surprised, you looked up at him, but looking into Kaz’s eyes told you everything he couldn’t say aloud.

Gently squeezing Kaz’s hand in return, you looked around at the little family you and he had built. The journey ahead was long, but your future was bright and full of love.

———————————————————————

Recovery is possible; you are wonderful and loved, and you deserve happiness. Real, true happiness. If are struggling with any kind of ED and you are in the united states, please go to this link and get the help you need. <3

#shadow and bone #netflix shadow and bone #season 2 shadow and bone #six of crows #crow club #the crow club #kaz brekker #kaz brekker x reader

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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 1 year

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i adore reading your analytical posts abt soc so much jts not even funny; stumbling upon your account was like a coming across a goldmine 🙏 ALSO I RLLY WANT TO ONOW ABT THE SHE TREATS US LJKE MARKS ESSAY IVE NEVER THOIGHT ABT THAT RLLY also i loved the mr crimson post anw im sorry i’ll shut up now

Thank you so much, I’m so glad you like them!!

This is the first time someone’s submitted a question so bare with me because if there’s any way to do this wrong I’ll probably manage it, but here are my thoughts on the red herrings :)

She’s treating us like marks - an analysis of Leigh Bardugo’s use of red herrings in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

*warning: CONSTANT SPOILERS AHEAD!*

I happen to be an absolute sucker for a good bit of foreshadowing, I think if it’s done well it’s one of the best literary techniques out there, so it’s something I always like to try and be on the look out for when I read. With books that I go back and reread, in this case many many times (seriously I’ve never specifically counted but I’m pretty sure I’m at over ten times each for the duology, it’s ridiculous), I like to find the things I didn’t realise were foreshadowing the first time round. When rereading six of crows and crooked kingdom, I realised that a lot of the things I expected to be foreshadowing didn’t actually come to fruition whilst other, seemingly less important, details were the actual foreshadowing. I LOVE IT! It’s genius, because it leaves the reader worrying about one thing so they’re too distracted to realise the groundwork is being laid for something else. But you know what that makes me think of? Kaz’s ideology of “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet? […] Tell him you’re going to steal his watch,” and “you have to let the mark feel like he’s won”. Leigh Bardugo literally cons us, and she tells us that she’s doing it in Crooked Kingdom when the group are certain that they know where Inej is being kept, but Kaz says “Too obvious. He’s treating us like marks”. GENIUS

So I compiled a few of my favourite examples (in no particular order), if you know of any I’ve missed please add more I would love to see them!!

The cannon at the Ice Court. When the Crows first arrive in Djerholm they see a cannon built into the the cliff face, a defence mechanism for the Court, and Kaz says what might be one of my favourite underrated lines of his: “I’ve broken into banks, warehouses, mansions, museums, vaults, a rare book library, and once the bedchamber of a visiting Kaelish diplomat whose wife had a passion for emeralds. But I’ve never had a cannon shot at me”. Jesper jokes that “there’s something to be said for novelty” but then continues to say that a cannon would be useless against a ship as small as theirs and that it’s designed for “invading armadas”. They don’t mention the cannon again, but it stuck in my mind when I first read it as a looming threat, a reminder that the danger wouldn’t end when they left the court. So when they arrived in the harbour was I expecting soldiers, or a heartrender, or for Nina to take parem? Nope, I was too busy worrying about the schooner being blown to pieces - especially when the Crows all have such specific painful and/or traumatic experiences linking to water, with 4 out of 6 of them being drowning related. But that isn’t to say that the waiting soldiers at the dock weren’t foreshadowed. All the way through Leigh Bardugo constantly reminds us that Matthias had never seen black protocol in action, and that his time in the prison sector had been brief, but she lulls us into a false sense of security by letting us believe that the secret bridge onto the White Island was all Matthias was hiding. We trust him by this point, so we don’t expect anything to be different to what he’s told us, even though this is an aspect he couldn’t possibly have predicted. Bonus points for the fact that Nina’s poor well-being in the aftermath of the drug is foreshadowed by a joke at the awful Inn they go to before the job; the food is disgusting and she says “when I don’t want to eat, you know there’s a problem”, and in Crooked Kingdom it’s many times emphasised that she’s unhealthily losing weight and her appetite has vastly decreased, with Matthias buying her chocolate biscuits “in the hopes she’d eat something”.

The poison pill. Leigh Bardugo worked very hard in Crooked Kingdom to make us think that Nina might die. We went into that book knowing there was a strong possibility that she wouldn’t come out the other side; we knew very little about how she was coping with parem withdrawal at the end of soc, but we had seen around a minimum of five grisha being destroyed by the drug so far. (That’s a guess I haven’t actually counted). So we went in with the idea that she was already in a precarious situation, and even though we begin to see her regain herself she struggles throughout the novel both physically and mentally in the aftermath of the drug. Matthias begins to dream of being lost on the ice in the worst storms known to Fjerda, knowing that she was out there somewhere and that he could not reach her. This sounds like it’s foreshadowing her death. Then when the pair go to the Ravkan embassy, Tamar gives Nina a small yellow pill that Genya made; she explains that it kills instantly and painlessly, saying “we all have them” to make sure they cannot be drugged and enslaved by the Shu government, who are hunting for grisha with the Khergud at the time. Matthias is terrified by this, but Nina just slips it into her pocket without a second thought. At that moment I thought that Nina would almost take the pill only to be stopped by someone else, because it felt too obvious that it would kill her, but I did wonder if the Khergud would be the ones to stop her and so she would still be lost. But the pill never gets mentioned again, except when the Dime Lions come for Nina at Sweet Reef and she briefly remembers that it’s still in her pocket. Then never again. And Matthias’ dreams were, of course, actually foreshadowing the FESTIVAL OF PAIN AND TORTURE that is chapter 40.

Mr Crimson. I’m so glad you like my Mr Crimson idea! Basically I posted saying I think that he represents death in the novels and I’ve also talked before about how I think the Komedie Brute costumes that the characters usually adopt are representative of their character; Kaz the Madman, Nina the Lost Bride, Inej and Wylan the Grey Imp, and Jesper and Matthias Mr Crimson. I won’t go into detail about all of them but if you’re interested the post is on my page, but with the idea that Mr Crimson represents death it’s very important to me that, although all of them wear his cloak at least once, he is the only Komedie Brute character taken on by Jesper and Matthias (at least to my recollection, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). So of course I would argue that Matthias taking on the image in Crooked Kingdom foreshadows his death, but in that case what does Jesper’s represent? I came up with two options but I actually think you could combine them into one: it’s a red herring to make us align him with the literal death of Matthias, whilst actually foreshadowing the metaphorical death that his addiction and mental well-being are driving him towards as he tries desperately to stop them - in his own words to Colm “I’m dying anyway, Da, I’m just doing it slow”

Oh god sorry that this is yet another long post I hope y’all enjoyed this enough for it to be worth the time it takes for you to read all my ramblings 😭

Tagging people who asked for this one in the replies to my essay titles post - @the-magnificunt @flerkenkiddingme @luridorangeandviolentviolet @snowblack-charcoalwhite

#grishaverse #leigh bardugo #six of crows #crooked kingdom #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #nina zenik #jesper fahey #matthias helvar #wylan van eck #kanej #wesper #helnik #overanalysis #books #book #essay

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vanveronicango · 1 month

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okay yall i'm def going to liveblog my soc/crooked kingdom read WEEEEEE (feel free to blacklist '#andie reads six of crows' and '#andie reads crooked kingdom' if you don't wanna be sick of me or see any spoilers)

let me just get some thoughts out from the almost-130 pages i've read so far because i got em!!:

the kaz/wylan parallels already!! like i've read some opinions that they're two sides of the same coin but the fact there was already something before wylan was even introduced... at the end of his meeting with jan, jan says "i do wonder what a boy of your intelligence might have amounted to under different circumstances." this is literally the exact opposite of how he feels about wylan. from what i've seen other readers say, at least, he sees wylan as inherently stupid in his illiteracy, and it doesn't matter that his circumstances were 'perfect', he absolutely doesn't belong to the van eck empire. it's almost like, in this line alone, jan - somewhere subconsciously, at least - wonders what it would have been like to have someone like kaz as a son instead. leigh the things you've already made me feel

kaz's personality. already i absolutely love his characterization: he's a dick, an asshole to those around him, but he also has this snarky, almost silly side where he doesn't feel above occasionally joining in on his dregs' banter, while simultaneously being secretive and completely rigid in his own arrogance. he's both unlikeable and charming, and already he's feeling so layered and developed and interesting. i'm going to be honest: usually i'm not a huge fan of fan-favorite male characters that are dicks with extensive skills and massive egos hiding insecurities underneath. i think it's overdone and i'm not interested in it. but there is something about kaz that just completely flips the trope on its head for me and i can't quite place my finger on why that is but i'll be sure to bring it up when i finally figure it out lmao

BOOK NINA BOOK NINA BOOK NINA. i already absolutely adored her in the show, but only from the bit i've read, book nina is on another level. her work at the white rose, the way she completely shifts in her personality for that work but is also so so confident in who she is. the FLIRTING. the HEARTBREAK when she finally meets matthias again. she is so wonderfully written and such a joy to read

matthias is absolutely breaking my heart fr like... when he was forced to kill the wolves... the way he went from feral animal in the ring to tears... damn. damn. the way he's written it's like he's literally at war with his own mind, just being ping-ponged between sheer, violent rage towards nina interspersed with flashes of... oh her skin is so soft... the dreams about loving her hurt more than the ones where i kill her... he must be so tired :(

the kaz & wylan relationship. i knowwww that he's fully using him and everything he does is a means to an end like I KNOW THAT but the way he defended wylan when the rest of the crows were calling him stupid and less talented :( "hidden depths" "marketable skills" OH MYYYYYYY gosh :(((((((((( their relationship is so special to me already.. like kaz is extremely upfront (well as much as kaz brekker can be lol) to wylan about why he's there ("why do you think i'm keeping you around" "i'm good at demo" "you're passable at demo. you're excellent at hostage") which i actually do appreciate, but right now he's also objectively the only one on wylan's side rn, even if it's all bc of ulterior motives

wesper. OH. OH BOOK WESPER. my absolute beloved already. the way jesper can't stand him. the way wylan doesn't back down when jesper comes at him. their bickering means literally everything to me. am i absolutely heartbroken that he literally called wylan useless? you're damn right i am :((( but man their growth is gonna HIT i can feel it now. i see how different book & show wesper are now (i've heard but actually reading it is a whole other thing) and both are so special to me... it's like alternate universes bless em. i'm so excited to read more of them (they are my favorite couple and i will be commenting on them a lot okay)

i really wonder how this book would be if i had literally zero spoilers BUT. reading wylan say "i'm not useless" when everyone is attacking him for just being there (jesper calling him useless and nina calling him stupid got me feeling a little feral)... he's so used to being belittled and treated like a fool by everyone around him but he still tries :( he still puts his all into helping. he tries to make everyone understand that he should be there and that he is talented at what he does and that he's not useless. i think he's trying to convince himself, too

i'm so excited for more jesper pov. i absolutely love this man and i wanna get into his head gdi that beautiful insane little sharpshooter brain

inej... so far she's giving the p much the same vibe as the show so i don't yet have much to comment here (i just love her. anyone who feels anything less than unwavering adoration for inej ghafa is not to be trusted) EXCEPT honorable mention for the absolute thirst that comes over her watching kaz get half naked and bathing himself. the way she just gazes at the water running down his body and his HANDDDSSSS miss ghafa has a hand fetish confirmed good for her good for her good for her

okay okay that's enough for now, i'll be more specific as i go further but i had to get my thoughts so far out somewhere lol anyways im about to continue reading so i'll see ya in the next post~

#andie reads six of crows #six of crows #wylan has been my fave ever since i first watched s2 and that bias is carrying over a bit as you can see lol #but there is not a single main character i'm not deeply invested in already #let's goooo ice court heist eeeeEEEEE

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bucknastysbabe · 1 year

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hear me out: jon whimpers and whines during sex and he makes the cutest faces AND he has a heavy praise kink. Can you write something about him👀??

He’s such a bitch I just know it and NEED IT Jon would prob cum after calling him lord stark of winterfell in bed and cry about it later

Anyways I haven’t written about my fav thing ever inna while ✨~BJS~✨ Sorry for the wait, enjoy❤️

Ratings: Explicit

Tags: Jon snow x free folk!reader, twinky baby virgin Jon, oral(m!receiving), praise kink, he’s a noisy pup, she’s loving IT, soft soft soft, poor jon has so many issues from Catelyn

The crow who cried wilding

“What’s little lord crow doin’ about my tent?,” the free folk woman asked. Her friend, Talla laughed harshly, biting into some sinewy rabbit leg. She retorted, “You haven’t noticed him mooning over you at all?” The other woman grinning, sharpening her knife with a whetstone. Her eyes flickered up to meet the crow’s dark orbs.

His eyes flicked down and he darted away towards Mance’s encampment. She licked her lips, concocting a plan. Turning to Talla she hummed, “I bet he sounds as pretty as a songbird.” The elder guffawed, adding on, “For a tough lad, he’s about green as they come huh?”

She snickered at her friend, imagining the young Lord Commander sniveling and biting his pouty lips under her thighs.

Later on that night, she was retiring to her tent. The free folk, or so deemed wilding had enjoyed mead and merriment for the night. They had a long haul tomorrow— get away from the abominations up north. When the woman ducked to enter the fur lined tent a voice interrupted.

“E-excuse me my lady,” the crow, Jon, stuttered. You could almost pinch his cute cheeks. He stood, eyes averting your gaze, shifting his weight from foot to foot. The wildling chuckled, “I ain’t a lady, what’cha need Lord Crow?” Jon’s freshly shaved cheeks blushed up nicely, plump lips opening to say, “I’ve seen you around, you’re a wonderful spear wife. I wanted to get to know you.”

Putting a hand on your hip, she amusedly smiled and gave the shy lad her name. He stammered, “T-that’s pretty!” Cocking her head she stated, “Well, did you come here to recruit me or get your cock wet? I don’t have all night!” Jon made a soft noise, gloved hand drawing tight on that strange sword. He seemed to be fighting in his head.

In a softer tone she added, “Yer’ not a true free folk if you haven’t broken alllll of the vows. C’mon I’ll be easy, (my lord).” The crow nodded and darted inside, like he was hiding a big secret. Must be a kneeler thing, so devout to their rules and the idea of loyalty. She smiled at his red cheeks, admiring the way he gently put the sword aside and clasped his hands, dark orbs watching the woman intensely.

She pulled off her copious amounts of furs, baring skin in the dark tent. Jon’s breath hitched, his leathers squeaking softly. The wildling purred, “Yer’ a pretty one for a crow. Not one of those old grizzled ones or plump third sons,” she crawled towards the man, “Better lips than most maids.”

The dark haired man whimpered softly, letting her take off his inky cloak. She cooed more praises, making his blood heat up in a way he had never felt. When she shucked down his breeches Jon moaned, “I-I’ve never.” He could see her teeth glinting in the lowlight as she chuckled, “I know sweet lord. Don’t worry about a thing. Jus’ testing the ice.”

He murmured breathlessly, “You’re gorgeous.”

“Thank you, precious.”

Jon felt too hot again, her praises making his cock throb like crazy in the chilly air. He craved the compliments, made that aching hole created from his past tamp down. The spear maid wrapped a tough hand around his cock, pumping the strained flesh. Jon let out an agonized moan, biting down on his lip to be quiet.

She teased, “Can’t have anyone hear the Lord Crow crying like a bitch huh? S’okay we don’t care.”

She slid a thumb over his weeping tip, pressing her wind-bitten lips to his plump ones. Jon whined in his nose, opening up to her insistent pressure. Their mouths smacked together, Jon’s pathetic noises intermingling with her raspy sighs. He lapped at her tongue tentatively, beginning to pant from excitement. She returned the favor, allowing the kiss to get sloppier, wetter, messier.

He moaned into her heated embrace, soft lips already swelling from the pressure and her maddening little nips. Jon warbled her name when the wildling asked, “Ye’ ever got yer’ cock sucked, pretty little crow?” He shook his head dramatically, dark curls bouncing with the movement. She smiled and thumbed at the scars across his eyes, purring, “Yer in for some fun. I bet you cry pretty.”

Jon spasmed under her touch, begging with needy kisses and the subtle spread of his milky thighs. The bastard whined at the loss of her kisses, but quickly returned to ecstasy as she laid lush kisses down the hard, scarred lines of his body. One of her hands maddeningly stroked at the soft skin on Jon’s inner thighs.

She groaned lowly, lapping a fat stripe up Jon’s cock and continuing to dig into his weepy slit. Jon fell back like a chopped ironwood, calloused fingers digging into her crazy hair. He sucked in a breath, exhaling with the most wanton whine.

Pulling back slowly, she cooed, “Yess, that’s it baby crow, just let me take care of ye.”

She moved back to bob on his throbbing length, hollowing her cheeks and stroking the rest. The tent filled with lewd slurping, making the tips of Jon’s even flush up. He held back from shoving himself down the wildling’s throat, instead writhing in place. Jon rambled, “Others take me- s’good. You’re s’good.”

The spearmaid smiled around him, slurping up excess spit and suckling on the fat tip. The hand stroking him swirled right underneath the tip, making the Lord Commander shake and mewl. His brows were pinched, plump bottom lip trapped between his teeth. Jon knew he was getting close, body trembling and singing with pleasure. His lower belly was tight and getting tighter.

She pulled back again for a breath, breathlessly sighing, “Oh my sweet crow, I’m stealing you away fer’ myself. Can’t have such a pretty maid unprotected like this. All mine, boy.” Jon babbled, “Yes, yesyes, let me be yours! I’ll be good to you!” She hummed against his twitching cock, hot breath fanning out, “I know you will. Sweetie.”

When her perfect mouth enveloped Jon again he arched into the touch, whining even louder,

praising the woman in a broken crack. His thighs twitched, cock pulsed. When her lithe fingers pulled at Jon’s heavy balls he came apart with a elongated shout of her name. She pulled off and jacked his hot spend onto her belly, praising Jon again. She cooed, “There we go, got ye all relaxed huh? My baby is always gonna feel good.”

Jon whimpered, blinking away tears. He warbled, “You will always have me?” The wilding whispered with a gentle kiss, “Always sweet crow.” She wiped away his spend carefully, smiling and leaving more praises and pet names. Jon floated happily, sighing in pleasure, clinging to the powerful woman.

#jon snow x reader #got fanfiction #wilding reader #jon snow x you #asks answered

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raayllum · 6 months

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Very non-consequential, but still fun question: what animal do you associate with each of the main trio? (plus anyone else you feel like doing!)

I overthought this question because I couldn't just do animals in general and had to go with specific species so:

Callum is a bird, obviously. The boy loves his Ocean arcanum too but birds have the wings, and the intelligence and mating for life bonds (more often), and sharp little beaks that can gouge your eyes out. Man has teeth. Let's leave them there.

From there it was whittling down which bird to pick, so I learn towards either a standard Rock Pigeon or a Clark's Nutcracker bird.

Rock Pigeon

Rock pigeons for a few reasons.

Elegant but not overly pretty, which fits Callum pretty well. He's grown into a handsome boy but he'll always have a tiny bit of awkwardness, and the green sheen nicely ties into his eyes

Callum's name means dove, and pigeons and doves are very similar overall. However, Callum is less squeaky clean/outright peaceful than just a dove would indicate, so pigeons have a more grey/black down to earth colouring felt right. "Dirtying yourself with dark magic" and all that

They mate for life, which is a memo re: Rayla Callum has definitely gotten on board with lbr here

Pigeons are very smart, remembering faces, see the world in complex colours (artist anyone) and able to navigate complex routes to find locations / their way home (hence why they were used as messenger birds during wartime).

At his best, Callum is very communicative, has a great memory, and will eventually learn to navigate his own path away from others' imposed destinies on him

Clark's Nutcracker

They're in the Corvidae family like crows and ravens, which makes me happy, as those are two of my favourite birds

Again has the intelligence that our boy needs/deserves; these guys in particular are very good at prying seeds apart with their beaks, which gives me key of Aaravos / Callum unlocking secrets vibes

Sharp pointy beak to bite/stab people with. It's what he deserves

They also mate for life hell yeah

I also feel like they somehow match him better aesthetically but Idk why so grain of salt

Rayla I defaulted pretty easily to either a wolf or honestly more likely an arctic fox.

I wanted something smaller and more solitary than a wolf, since even within her village community Rayla has always been an outsider

Also very influenced by aesthetic (white, fluffy, slim) in addition to being loyal the way canines tend to be + a hunting animal bc like look at her swords

They also change colours as their coats update with the seasons, which felt very on par with how Rayla has transformed her wardrobe colours and herself / tries to take on different faces and identities depending on where she is on her arc

Constantly shifting like the moon amirite?

They are described as playful, cunning, cheeky, and curious

Bc they're heavily arctic animals / places with long winters, they depend more than other animals on hiding and stowing food away for later, which makes me think of how Rayla is pretty consistently carrying secrets / stashing the coins away in Stella's portal

Ezran to me is a Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog.

I chose this one cause I feel like an amphibian of some sort would best reflect Ezran, given his associations of being torn more explicitly between two worlds and two things. On the one hand, he's a child and should be treated/respected as such, and on the other hand, he's also a king and should be treated/respected as such. So amphibians having water and land, the way that Ezran does well both in times of conflict and times of peace (the latter being something Rayla really struggles with in particular) is well reflected. Also Bait, obviously

I went with orange > red even though Ezran wears the latter, cause orange feels warmer than the danger! zone red puts in, as well as mixing well with Ezran's brown hair. The touch of blue is for his eyes and his connection to Zym, and a tropical lil guy who likes sunshiney weather. Frogs are also pretty slippery and fast and Ezran (esp pre-series) is pretty wily and mischievous, getting into nooks and crannies he shouldn't be and then getting out of hot spots later on in show, so that matched up in my head

Other notes:

Viren always makes me think of serpents, and Claudia and Aaravos always make me think of spiders, so I'll toss those two in as well (although I feel they're more self explanatory symbolism wise / more offered within the text itself).

#requests #fandom crack #at least partially #imminent-danger-came #brotp: we're in this together #thanks for asking #the dragon prince

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legendofmorons · 17 days

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Rank the Links from most compatible to u to least and y? Not who ur favorite is or whatever but like relationship compatibility. I’m sad bc I love Wild and ik him the best but we’d be pretty incompatible. He loves nature and adventuring and rather chaotic. I don’t like physical activities and I like more calm down to earth people.

Most to least compatible with me

This took a while to figure out, some like Legend and Wind I knew immediately, but for others like Warriors and Four, I had to really think about it.

Eventually, I think I'd be good with all the links, but I think I'd get so with some better/ faster than others. Content under the cut

Legend -

most compatible off the bat. He's a grumpy jerk at first but hot damn do I vibe.

I'm stubborn, happen to think I'm funny, and sarcastic. Obviously I care about people and spread kindness but I enjoy sarcasm.

I think he's funny, and I think he'd find me funny too

I know we'd get along several of my friends have similar personalities

I appreciate his honesty

Twilight -

I hear his accent and am home.

We understand eachother, he's hardworking and loyal, I am loyal and always looking out for loved ones. We both love kids, we both love animals, we both are tired of the red neck jokes.

At heart we have similar values and would get along well

Time

Time seems a little stand off-ish at first, not rude just- reserved

That's fine, though. I don’t mind reserved.

We'd bond over trying to keep the others alive and sane.

Wild

My little gremlin best friend

We both enjoy cooking and have a general lack of regard for our safety

Not to mention the love of outdoors and creatures

Wild would help me find and raise a snake

Warriors

He's a charmer but I feel awkward if I pick up on flirting.

I think we'd get this sorted out sooner than later. He respects women and I appreciate honest people who do the right thing.

We'd probably bicker but that's okay.

We would definitely go shopping, I would drag him through the farmers market and we'd get distracted by shiny things

Wind

Look man I understand this little gremlin. He just wants ants to be treated like a person not a kid

I'd act like I do either all kids. Like their capable, he's old enough to start a fire and fight monsters he's old enough to be trusted

Annoying little brother acquired, I'd die for him

I'd also kick his ass in Mariokart

We'd go to the beach with a metal detector and find stuff

Sky

I love Sky so much but we would not get along as fast as I would with others.

Sky comes off as passive at first (to me at least). I don't think I'd hate him or anything but I prefer people who are passionate about things

After we got past that (perceived) lack of fire we'd be cool.

Sky is laid back and once again, honest. He loves deeply and he loves birds

He'd befriend the crows with me!

We could just hang out doing different things and I love that.

Hyrule

Kind of the same boat as Sky6 comes off a little too calm and easy going for me.

I wouldn't know how to handle him, and realistically he might feel the same about me. I'm stubborn, passionate, loud about what matters, and reckless.

But we'd figure it out. His healing and my interest in medicine would be a fast bond

Also he'd see a lot of me. I get into weird accidents a lot.

Hyrule and I would share folklore and info dump together

Eventually, I think we'd be close but it would take a while

But we both have a HUGE sweet tooth and I think we'd bake together

Four

I love him okay? But we'd have some problems

He obviously wouldn't be upfront about the colors. And I'd probably pick up on the fact he's hiding SOMETHING

I HATE feeling lied to/ left out. I wouldn't confront him outright unless I felt it was a dangerous secret but I would NOT trust him

I wouldn't think he's like out to get me or the others, but still.

This would damage our compatability

After I found out I'd wonder what else he's hiding

And we'd probably get along fine but I do better when I trust you and he would probably want to be fully trusted

Eventually I'd trust him fully but it'd take a while

#lu #linkeduniverse #misty answers #lu four #lu hyrule #lu legend #lu sky #lu time #lu twilight #lu warriors #lu wild #lu wind

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slayfics · 1 year

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Behind the Mask

Inosuke x Reader

Inosuke has left on another mission and Shinobu is starting to notice your feelings for him.

Chapter 6

The next day you found yourself excited to interact with Inosuke again. After the risk you took yesterday of kissing the demon slayer on the cheek you were up all night wondering how your next interaction would go. He didn’t seem to mind the kiss, in fact he even blushed.

The day seemed to take forever and finally when you had free time you went around looking for him. You checked in all the places he would usually be, but you couldn’t seem to find Inosuke anywhere. You didn’t see his two friends either...

“Is something wrong?"

“Hu?” You turned to see Shinobu. “Oh hi.... I was just um looking for someone.” You replied.

“Mhm.” She said with a mischievous smile. “The boar demon slayer? I’ve seen how you checked up on him multiple times when you didn’t need too.” She spoke.

“Oh..” You found yourself blushing.

“Don’t worry your secret is safe with me. But he left with the other two boys and Tengen.”

"What?? Did Mr. Uzui say what the mission was for?”

"Something about a demon at the entertainment district.”

“THE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT?! That’s where they went??” You felt the room start to spin. The thought of Inosuke out in the entertainment district made your stomach sick.

“Don't worry, they were just going to uncover some information is all. Beside that boar head is so uneducated I doubt he knows what really goes on their anyhow.”

“Yeah...” You tried to convince yourself that Shinobu was right. Beside they were following Mr. Uzui’s orders and that man has three wives so it’s not like he would be bringing them around to order any entertainment anyway. Your stomach was still in knots though.

“I’m sure they will be back before you know it. Meanwhile help me fold all these sheets, will you?"

“Of course!” You said and got to work.

A few days had passed and Inosuke and the others hadn’t come back yet. How long would it take them to get this information... Just as you were starting to wonder what he might be doing right now a crow came in through your window.

“GOOD MORNING, LETTER FOR YOU!” It said and flew off.

You quickly opened the latter having recognized Tanjiro’s writing which meant Inosuke must have had him help write you another letter.

Hi!,

I didn’t get to say goodbye before we left but I'm out on a mission with the God of Festivals!

Which sounds cool but to find the demon we had to disguise ourselves as girls. It’s awful how do they wear this stuff all day?? It’s so constricting. And the whole time I can't talk because the God of Festivals said it would blow my cover.

I have found the demons hiding spot in the house though! So we will be wrapping up and heading back soon.

Don’t worry I'm coming back unlike those other weak demon slayers you’ve run into!

You noticed some squiggles at the end of the paper again. Inosuke’s way of signing letters.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Inosuke disguised as a girl. And here you were worried some other things were happening out there. You smiled and placed the letter on your desk. You took this as confirmation that the demon slayer was also thinking about you too.

#demon slayer #inosuke hashibira #inosuke x reader #inosuke x y/n #inosuke x you #kny x reader #kny x you #anime x reader #anime x y/n #demon slayer x reader #kimitsu no yaiba #anime x you

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sissytobitch10seconds · 6 months

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Cup, Crow, Rose

Fandom: Grishaverse: Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone Summary: Soulmarks are complicated. Nina's life is already so complicated that she doesn't want to seek them out. Like her teachers always warned, though, her soulmates seem determined to find her one way or another. Warnings: Canon-typical trauma and soulmates Word Count: 2,648 Ship(s): Nina Zenik/Matthias Helvar/Inej Ghafa/Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck/Kaz Brekker

Archive link!

A/N: Is anyone really surprised that I chose to go with polycrows for the free day? I love them so much, lol. I also had a lot of fun exploring the soulmate AU that I wanted to do for this, so I hope that you guys also enjoy it! One day I might expand this into something bigger but I kind of like having it as a character study type thing. Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

Each soulmark was different. A pair or group of soulmates would have a throughline that placed them together so that they could find each other, with varying levels of intricacy, but the soulmarks would all be different. For a pair of soulmates, the mark would be the same except for one thing that would represent the other person. For a group of soulmates, the mark would be different for each person that they were to meet so that it went in a sort of circle. Group soulmates were complicated and very rarely did the entire group actually find itself.

Nina had grown up seeing the soulmarks of the people around her, presented proudly once they had found and married each other. Her older sister figure Zoya’s was a mix of leather wings pocked with scales that shimmered iridescent when displayed in the light correctly, conversely swapped on the back of her soulmate. Her other friend Genya had a book with ancient writing and a vile of dark red liquid on the back of her hand, a perfect match with her own soulmate. Nina had even been exposed to a queerplatonic soulmate marking too, a Inferni named Harshaw that had a cat made out of fire wrapping around his neck and collarbone before it met with a sunburst across his chest. She didn’t know the man’s soulmate so hadn’t seen how it had changed towards the other person, nor had she ever actually gotten a good look at a group of soulmates with marks like what hers appeared to be.

Nina’s mark was a crow grasping for the last little bit of liquid in a wine glass, the beak and head warped with the shape of it. In addition to that was a single knife that touched the bottom of the glass. It tilted towards the crow but did not slice, like the bird was somehow performing a trick while trying to get its drink. She had learned how to hide it under the layers of her sleeves when she was out and how to cloak her skin over the top of it so that it was obscured when she had to undress in front of someone. For a spy such as herself, it was very dangerous for people to be able to identify her by her soulmark.

The first time that Nina saw one of her soulmarks, she was trapped in the belly of a slaver ship. She had her hands chained above her and could barely keep her eyes open because of the water seeping through the slats above her. It was dark and she was shivering with the force of the cold around her, so it was hard to make out. The mark had stood out starkly even amongst the heavy furs and wool that the Druskelle was wearing, black lines evident on his pale white skin. The crow drinking from a nearly empty cup appeared to be the throughline of their soulmark group because they were identical on the man in front of her as they had been on her own skin before she had hid it. The only difference was that the liquid at the base of the cup was holding a single rose that was weeping petals down onto the bird.

She of course hadn’t acted on it. There was no way that he would be able to see her own mark and know that they shared the same throughline. She had no idea what the Fjerdan stance on soulmate groups was, it was one of their closest held secrets because those types were so rare. She didn’t know what he would do if he found out that part of his group was a Grisha either. Nina doubted that he would have killed her in that moment because he was so adamant about the idea of her getting her trail for her crimes when she finally arrived in his homeland.

There were many chances for her to reveal her soulmark to him when they had wrecked the ship and washed up on those rocky shores, yet she used what little of her energy that she had left to keep it covered. She wasn’t sure what she could trust him yet when he was still spouting the ideas of the people that he had trained with like if he didn’t then he would cease to be. He wasn’t safe because she was the witch that the hunter was doomed to kill, even if she was falling more and more in love with him by the day.

The next soulmark that she saw didn’t belong to her, but she was sure that the one on her arm belonged to the girl. She had just been through a whirlwind that left her feeling as though she was going to die. She and Matthias had traveled together like they were not sworn enemies over miles and miles of land until they had arrived at a port where she had found some of her people. In a move that she came to regret almost immediately after seeing the way that he looked at her, Nina lied and said that he was a slaver so that he wouldn’t be taken back to the Darkling’s court to be sentenced and killed as a witch hunter. She had tried to retract her statement when she got back, but she was simply given enough money to buy passage back to Ravka. She knew that she couldn’t do that, not when the only soulmate that she might ever know, the one that held her mark, was locked in a jail that she had made for him.

She had been approached by a man that offered her a job. She was promised that she wouldn’t have to work on her back, but rather putting on a show of her powers to anyone that came requesting it. She had said that she would think about it and then buried herself away in the covers of the room that they had lent to her. A young Suli girl broke into her window almost immediately after she was left alone, and it only took a couple of seconds for Nina to see the mark on her own arm.

It was the same crow reaching into the wine glass for the remnant of liquid. The changed element for her was the end of a cane that was pushing the cup closer to the crow, though it was only a few inches and thus not very identifying. Nina had seen it and then stood in the same spot, like the Saints had turned her to stone as she took in the appearance of the other girl. She had long black hair that was tightly pleated into a braid that hung over one of her shoulders. Her skin was bronzed and smooth, though her eyes were so dark that it made her entire face disappear as soon as Nina’s gaze locked with them.

She was offered a place in the Dregs and a job through the White Rose, protection under Kaz Brekker’s name. Inej was the girl, apparently, and she had explained that there was no true safety in the Barrel but there was a fear associated with the name of that man.

Nina and Inej began a relationship only a week after they had found out that they were soulmates. She hadn’t been sure that anything would actually come of the discovery of another one of her soulmates since so little had happened with Matthias. She knew that meeting a criminal offering her a job was different than being kidnapped by a man trained to kill her, but it had still set a precedent in her mind that was rather difficult to overcome. Inej was more than happy to begin to get to know her and after only a month of dates spent under the moonlight on the rooftops of Ketterdam, they held hands and agreed to pursue a relationship.

Only two months after she had decided to work with the Dregs, Nina met Jesper. She immediately knew that she liked him and that the two of them would become very close friends. He was already close with Inej, though the girl refused to tell Nina how and why. Nina knew that there was something dark in Inej’s past that meant that she was very secretive about things that she felt were personal, including interpersonal relationships. Jesper hadn’t been offended by the relationship that had cropped up between the two girls, in fact he seemed amused out of his mind about it.

His soulmark was revealed to her after a month of her trying to find out by various means of subterfuge. Eventually she had gotten so frustrated about being left out of the loop that she had walked into his room and then slammed and locked the door behind her so that he didn’t have the chance to run. He pulled up his sleeve to reveal the crow reaching into the cup, though his had a delicate pen that had spilled the ink inside. The throughline had confirmed that they were soulmates, though it meant that there was another person out there somewhere for their group.

Jesper and Nina started dating much faster than she and Inej had. It was easier for them to strike up something romantic, and then later sexual, because Jesper didn’t have Inej’s trauma and had already been getting to know Nina throughout their friendship with the intent of eventually dating her.

Her life had only just begun to feel like it was leveling out when she met another member of their relationship. Wylan was a young boy that Kaz brought on to be their demolitions man whenever they had need of explosions. He and Nina didn’t tend to run in the same circles in the Dregs, which meant that she knew of him in name only. After his second mission with the gang, Jesper had broken into her room in the White Rose only moments after her latest client had left to tell her about Wylan’s soulmark. According to Jesper, it was the same cup and crow but with the paws of a wolf standing on either side of the crow.

Nina had felt like her entire life was shattering at that. She had been thinking about the circle that they made and how many people could be missing but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Matthias was for her, she was for Inej, Jesper was now for Wylan, Wylan was for Matthias, but Inej’s mark didn’t land with any of them and Jesper was still missing someone for him. That meant that there was at least one more person that they needed to add before they could truly feel complete.

She only found that person after she had finished collecting the others. She, Inej, and Jesper, had started up a relationship with Wylan not long after finding out where he was living after they discovered his soulmark. The four of them found one of the biggest rooms in the Slat and then decided that they were going to keep it as their own so that they could live in the happiness and safety of their soulmates. Wylan wasn’t attracted to Inej or Nina, so they eventually discovered that he was meant to be their queerplatonic soulmate.

It was difficult and there were quite a few bumps in the road as they figured out how to navigate being soulmates while also being criminals, but they were all stubborn enough to make it work. Secrets were spilled, trauma was revealed, and love was confessed. They found out that Inej had been taken and forced to work in the Menagerie, that Jesper was zowa, that Wylan couldn’t read and who his real parents were. It could have very easily driven them apart but instead it only served to weave them into an intricate, loving mess with each other.

Yet, despite everything that her lovers had shared with her, she was unable to tell them anything about one of the missing members of their circle. The night before the beginning of the Ice Court, though, it had all piled out of her. She admitted what she had been before she came to Kerch and then how she had met Matthias. She told them about the way that he laughed, how he ate his reindeer meat only after soaking it in water because chewing made his jaw hurt, how he snored in his sleep, and how he was the sweetest man she had ever met when not trying to kill her.

They rescued him and then the others had forgiven her for keeping him a secret. She nursed the bruises on her neck while crying into Jesper’s lap while Wylan held her spare hand. It was hard to know that her soulmate didn’t want her, that he was unwilling to give up the way that he had been raised for the two people in his group that he had been taught to hate when they would bring him only joy.

Then the Ice Court had happened and he was deprogramed after seeing the way that they all cared for each other. They didn’t have time to talk about it after she had taken the jurda parem so that she could save them on the dock, but she knew that he loved her again.

They had spent a lot of the journey nursing Nina back to health and talking about the little house in the country that they could get. Inej had spoken about a boat that she wanted to get so that she could hunt slavers, and Matthias had seem keen on joining her so that he could put his skills to good use. Nina knew that Wylan wasn’t suited for that kind of work and would prefer to make art in the comfort of his own home, so she was okay with staying with him during her long recovery before she joined the others.

They came back to their city and found out that none of the money was waiting for them. They lost one of their soulmates and were stuck with the captive that they had just stolen from the most prestigious prison in the entire world. Kaz planned and schemed and they followed after him like they always did. Eventually, they got Inej back and things kept rolling. They were able to create a convoluted but thorough plan to take Jan Van Eck and Pekka Rollins, the two men hunting them, down.

Finally, everything was over. They were able to get Wylan’s mother back from the countryside to the home that she had chosen and where she belonged. Alys was sent up to a boathouse where she could live with her real soulmate and birds in peace. They all needed a good deal of time to recover, so they moved in the Van Eck mansion since it had plenty of room for them to grow and expand.

Kaz came to their door on a very rainy evening almost a month after all of their problems had seemingly been solved. Nina had been the one to check the door, so she welcomed him as their friend and invited him to come and dine with them. Her other soulmates were seated on the floor in the living room while they ate something that Inej had made. They were all very excited to see Kaz but they stayed quiet because it was clear that he was bursting with some kind of information.

Just like that, Kaz had rolled up his sleeve to reveal a crow reaching for the liquid in the bottom of a wine glass, the stem of which had been shattered by a bullet that was resting next to the completely unharmed crow. He was the last link of their circle and they finally had him.

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #ao3 #archive of our own #six of crows #soc #shadow and bone #sab #kaz brekker #nina zenik #inej ghafa #matthias helvar #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #polycrows #save shadow and bone ship week #save shadow and bone #six of crows spinoff

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