#when your brain hears one and flips rapidly through the different contexts it could be listening in

[lostandbackagain]

"boy" in german is so similar to "english" in korean that I short-circuited and just stared at my phone for two minutes

[ketchupkio]

Pillow Talk

co-written with @mizuriii!!

Rating: G

Category: M/M

Relationship: Legend/Warriors

Words: 2123

Contents:

established relationship, the rest of the polycule is mentioned, trans male character, fluff, like some cavity inducing fluff, light angst, nightmares, prophetic dreams, phantom pain, chronic pain, comfort, Legend and Warriors being mushy, sleeping in the same bed, lullabies, contains like 1.5 references to sex lol, also a reference to Plot??? OWO???

Summary:

Legend and Warriors get some rest... or try to.

An excerpt of something that was supposed to be canon in the AU, but we didn't think hard enough about the timeline first so it's not lmao. Hope you like it!!!!!

Context: Legend, Twilight, Sky, and Wild have just come back from a excursion and traveled the whole night, not sleeping, because they got freaked out by something. Warriors couldn't sleep either because he was worried about them (...but mostly about Legend, let's be real). Legend saw him and immediately went cling! but Wars started spouting theory and strategy and that wasn't super appreciated by the sleep deprived heroes.

The hero with his face currently buried in Warriors’ scarf groaned in protest. “Babe, c’n it wait until ’ve had caffeine or a nap? Please…”

Twilight looked like he didn’t absorb half of what Wars had said. “Strategist brain is appreciated, but a nap would be good, yeah.”

"Er.... s-sorry. We've got these rooms for the next two days, so you're all welcome to head back upstairs if you want...?"

Legend tugged on his scarf, trying to get his eyes to focus enough to glare at him. “You’re coming too. Ya didn’t sleep either, dummy.”

"I-- .... okay, okay, I'm coming. I just wanted to let them know they don't have to rush."

Warriors smiled at him and let Legend push him toward the stairs.

"Your rooms are the three at the far end of the second floor, and the first right hand door on the third."

“Their room is on the third, if you wanna avoid it,” Wind sneered. Hyrule pinched his ear and Legend flipped him off before managing to successfully shove Warriors into the stairwell.

"Are you really alright?" Warriors asked, slipping an arm around Legend’s body. ".....You look exhausted, love...."

Legend hummed. “No one got hurt, but… haven’t been sleepin’ well recently. Barely got any ‘n past few days… Nightmares… ‘N I have a hard time without you...”

"....Me too. When I turn over and you're not there, it's--.... it's cold, you know? But more than cold."

Warriors kissed his temple as he led up to their room, and produced a spare key for Legend in case he wanted to get up and get breakfast before Warriors woke later on, unlocking the door with it before slipping the key into Legend's waist pouch.

"Come sleep with me, okay...? We'll actually get some rest for once."

Legend nodded, and after the door closed, he let Warriors unbuckle his belt and open his tunic. Legend would have dropped them on the floor, but Warriors laid them over the back of a chair, along with his scarf.

“Stays and boots off,” he instructed, and Legend complied with barely an insubordinate tongue sticking out in return. Warriors chuckled at him fondly as he climbed into bed and reached for him, trying to snag the hem of his shirt as he changed into something softer.

“Love you…” Legend murmured. “C’mere…”

"Your wish is my command," Warriors hummed, settling in once he was changed himself, and nestling up under Legend’s chin. His hands pressed gently against Legend’s side and his back, and Warriors took a minute just to breathe in the smell of Legend’s presence. "I love you more..."

Legend would have protested if he hadn’t been so damn tired, so all Warriors got was a (frankly adorable) grumble as the younger hero slung his arms around him and pressed his cheek against the golden hair at his crown. Warriors could feel the tension leaving him as he relaxed, and with Legend’s steady heartbeat under his ear, he could finally breathe easy enough to relax too.

"......Goddesses, we're such anxious wrecks," he laughed after a minute. "Fuck me sideways..."

"Mmh. Maybe tomorrow."

Warriors snorted, then kissed his neck before settling again.

"Sleep well for me, love.... My night depends on it."

…..Legend tried his best. He did.

There were flashes of the desert, of a different era’s Hyrule Castle, of the shade of a king and a jaded prince taking the throne from a corrupt queen, a furious Sheikah founding a rogue organization, and an old, bitter sorcerer with a young face making a deal he couldn’t refuse. Then, dark, choking mists of acid, plants and grass melting at their feet as they advanced, searching, hunting--

Legend shot awake, gasping as phantom pain shot through his arms and back along old, white scars that coiled and branched off like vines through his blood vessels in place of the stinging, corroding pain of acid from his dream.

He didn’t even hear Warriors calling his name until the pain receded to a strong, but not overwhelming ache.

It was dark, he could hear rain hitting the shutters of the windows, and he could feel the storm in his hands and knees and hips.

“Link…” he managed, in an effort to let his partner know he was alive.

Warriors loosed a gasp of relief and worry, and then pulled Legend tight to his chest.

"Y-you were wailing," the captain said, tripping over his words, "a-and crying for me-- are you okay?"

“Sorry…” he rasped, trying to get his bearings. Gods, his throat was raw and he could feel sweat rapidly cooling on his skin in the chill the rain brought. It’d be nice if he could flex his hands at all, or move his anything without it hurting. “I-I ruined your sleep, didn’t I?”

"To hell with my sleep, y-you're in pain, aren't you? Is it the storm? ....Fuck, where'd I put my potion bag--"

“‘S okay, don’t rush… Potions don’t help a lot when there’s nothin’ to heal, babe,” Legend muttered, sluggish even as a sense of urgency crept over him. “...Had a dream. Been having similar ones lately… I have a bad feeling about it.”

"....... Can you tell me about it?" Warriors asked. "You sounded like you were in agony, it scared me...."

Legend leaned into him as best he could. “O-old pain trying to come close to dream pain… It had a sorcerer in it, and a rogue Sheikah… Didn’t Wild say the Yiga from his era used to be Sheikah? This might have been the first of them… Something about Hylian royalty… I-I had prophetic dreams before my first quest…. This feels like those.”

".....A prophetic dream you have bad feelings about....?" Warriors grimaced. "....Should we wake up Sky and the sprite? If you're having prophetic visions, they might be too, but if they're not we can maybe rule out that there's an evil sorcerer on our case."

Legend wanted to ball his fists in Warriors’ shirt, but he couldn’t make his fingers do more than curl loosely. “If I could move, yeah, but that’s probably not going to be for a while… You could get them if you wanted.”

".......Later. When the storm passes, because I'm not leaving you."

Legend let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Thank you…. Come here and hold me? I’m cold…”

He didn't have to ask Warriors twice. The captain practically wrapped himself around Legend, and pulled in close and tight.

"I've got you, love. I'll keep you warm."

Legend kissed whatever part of Warriors was closest, which happened to be his jaw. “....You’re wonderful…”

….Something nagged at him, though. Warriors hadn’t been a part of his dream that he could remember, but…

“Hey… You said I called out to you…?”

"Yeah.... I think you were asking for help...."

“That… doesn’t bode well,” Legend grimaced. “Can you promise me something, though? I mean like actually promise, no matter the circumstances.”

"......You're scaring me a little.... What is it...?"

“Don’t throw yourself in front of anything for anyone. Not even me. Don’t do reckless bullshit that would get yourself hurt instead of others. That’s not to say you can’t defend anyone, just… don’t jump in where you know you’re gonna overextend and get hurt as a result. Does that make sense? I know that’s both specific and not at the same time, but I can’t explain it. I just… have a feeling. Promise you’ll be careful about that?”

"Don't do something reckless that'll get me killed out of some white knight complex and lack of self preservation? Is that what you want from me?"

Legend tried to shrink further into Warriors’ chest. “....Yes….”

"......You're asking me for quite the tall order," Warriors hummed, pressing kisses against Legend’s temple. "Aren't I supposed to be your dashing knight in shining armor, astride a white horse, keeping all the scary monsters at bay?"

He was trying for humor, but humor wasn't a given promise.

Legend huffed, but the kisses were sweet and he liked the attention. “Yes, and I know that’s a whole personality archetype for you, but Link… I’m worried. Please. This wasn’t in my dream, but it’s got the same feeling. Can you promise me that you won’t do something stupid like that?”

"I--"

Warriors hesitated.

".....Legend-- if something happened to you--"

“No, no, that’s not relevant. Link. We carry fairies and spells and items as countermeasures so if we do get into a dire situation like that, we’ll survive and not have to endanger anyone else in the process. There would be no need for you to risk yourself like that, which is why I want you to promise me you won’t. Hyrule has the goddamn triforce. I’m sure if something were to happen to one of us, there would be some way to help that wouldn’t involve you needlessly throwing your life away. Especially if it’s me, who has items so overpowered that I don’t use them, but keep them in reach so if I need to, I can…. You’re not making me feel good about this.”

"......You didn't hear what you sounded like tonight.... I'm sorry, I just-- ....There's not a whole lot worse than having someone you love screaming for you to help them and being helpless... I don't want to repeat that when there's someone trying to kill us."

Legend scowled, then gave a long sigh. “...We also have three partners at home. We have to think about them too. Minimum number of people getting hurt…”

He… felt like he wasn’t going to get his answer at this rate. Goddamnit.

"............That could also go for you, you know.... but that isn't what you want me to say."

Warriors sighed.

".......If you promise not to get into a situation I feel like you won't come home okay in, I won't do anything stupid. Deal....?"

….That was also a hard thing to guarantee. But…

“I’ll try my best. Deal,” Legend said with a note of finality. “...Now kiss me to seal it. We’re making a contract.”

Warriors smiled and tilted up Legend's chin with his fingers, and pressed a soft, but long, luxuriant kiss against his mouth.

"I love you, love.... Please, goddesses above, get some rest..."

Legend stole another kiss because he needed it. “And I love you, Sir Knight… I’ll try, if I can. Tired…”

".... Should I sing for you...?"

When Legend looked up, Warriors wasn't looking at him, and instead trained his eyes on a particularly interesting lump on the old earthen wall as his ears burned.

"Y-y'know.... t'help you sleep...."

Goddesses above, Legend was smitten. Every day he fell a little bit harder for this man.

He kissed Warriors’ cheek. If his hands worked, he’d be tempted to stroke those beautiful, flushed ears and run his fingers over the scarred edge of his left one. “...I’d love that, baby.”

"M'kay..... Tell. No one. Okay?"

“Why would I? This is just for me. Wouldn’t wanna share it with anyone else…”

"Three reasons. Guess their names."

Legend grinned. “Why wouldn’t you want them to know? They’re our partners, we love them. Two are very musically gifted and would love it. While cute, you’re also being silly.”

"Mhhhhhhh because!! It makes me self conscious and people used to stare.... A-anyway, are you gonna hush and let me, o-or what??"

Warriors’ face was so, so red, and Legend was having some very dangerous thoughts about proposing marriage. Nonetheless, the younger hero conceded.

“Gods above, I’m so in love with you. Okay, yes, I’ll be quiet,” he said, tucking himself more comfortably into Warriors and the pillows.

Warriors kissed him again, and sighed, letting his thumb rest on Legend's cheek, the circles it ran over his skin serving as his metronome. A gentle lullaby brought Legend back to gentle shorelines, warm sand and easy, soft sunlight. It nestled him against merchants fabric that smelled lightly of spice and fairy dust, to old books with knowledge ancient and timeless. It brought him round to soft white linen and blue silk, and rocked him gently on the heels of someone taller than he was, pulling Legend over to a gentle heartbeat.

It brought him home even though home was a thousand miles and goddess only knew how many years away from now.

There was something to be said for song magic, because Warriors was doing it, whether he intended to or not. Legend could feel the intent of a spell woven into his voice. It made him feel warm and safe, eased the pain and fatigue of his body, and relaxed him enough that he immediately started to drift off, awash in the calm sea of Warriors’ voice.

He was out like a light.

Thanks for reading!!! Reblogging and/or screaming in tags/replies/inbox is SO appreciated!!!

[sunsetinmyvein]

My Foot is in the Door - Patrick Stump

Eyyyy, thanks for the request from the prompt list lovely anon! I went with a slightly different angle with the “ I’m calling to cancel our date because I’m actually in the ER right now, sorry. I mean… sure? I guess you can come down here but- okay…” context, since I’ve done it once already for Mr Healy and wanted to spice it up. Hopefully you still enjoy it. (Also, it didn’t eat the bottom half of your ask, I’m just a dumbass lol)

“Pete, I just don’t know why you set me up on this date.” Patrick huffed into the phone as he tried to find his tie. Where the fuck had he put it? When did he last even wear it..? Probably for that shitty wedding two years ago.

“Because you need to get laid, ‘trick.” His friend’s voice echoed down the line.

“I’m fine.” He grumbled as he flipped his laundry basket over. It wasn’t there either.

“It’s been ages.” Pete droned.

“Just because you need to fuck someone every three days doesn’t mean I have to.” He shot back, only to hear the bassist laugh in response. “I’m not gonna sleep with someone I’m not into. You know that, right?” He asked as he finally caught sight of the dark blue tie sticking out from one of his dresser drawers.

“You should.” He yanked hard on the tie, but it wouldn’t budge.

“That’s not how it works.” Patrick spat angrily as he pulled on the tie again.

“It is for me.” He could just hear the smugness in Pete’s voice. He didn’t want to go on this stupid fucking date. He’d done it as a favour and it had just backfired on him. The restaurant was ages away and way too fancy, he didn’t even like this girl, and now he couldn’t even get his fucking tie to look half decent.

“Pete, I swear to god-” He started as he spun around and kicked his door in frustration, only to feel pain shoot up his leg and leave him crumpled on the floor.

  At the sound of the phone clattering to the floor and Patrick’s strangled cry of pain, Pete became slightly concerned. “Are you okay?” The singer heard his friend ask. His phone was only a metre away, but he felt like if he let go of his ankle he might die. Patrick also saw the sizeable hole that was now in his bedroom door.

“No. Obviously I’m fucking not!” He shouted in the direction of the receiver.

“What did you do?” Pete continued.

“Probably just broke my foot when I kicked the door because I was mad at you and my stupid tie.” He stared daggers at the piece of fabric in question as he said it, hoping that it was able to feel his wrath.

All he could hear was laughter. “You’re a dumbass.” He was going to choke on his rage any second now and just die here on the floor with a broken foot.

“I’m going to fucking smash your bass over your car if you don’t take me to the hospital.” He eventually said through gritted teeth when Pete’s laughter died down.

“Shit. I’ll be there in five.” He mumbled as he hung up the call.

“You fucking better be.”

  The drive to the hospital was mostly just filled with the crackling of Pete’s shabby old radio. Patrick was in too much pain to speak. He worried that if he opened his mouth he might just scream, so he opted to keep it shut. He was also still mad at Pete for being the cause of this. But at least he’d gotten out of the date. Shit. The date. “I’d better call her and let her know not to go to the restaurant…” He muttered as he fumbled in his pocket for his phone.

“You probably should, yeah.” Pete nodded as they pulled into the carpark.

Patrick scrolled through his phone for her contact, before begrudgingly hitting the call button. She picked up after three rings, which was a shame – he had hoped he could just leave her a voicemail. “Look, I’m really sorry but I need to cancel our date.” He sighed.

“What? Why?” She asked in what sounded like frustration.

“I, uh… I think I’ve broken my foot?” He answered hesitantly.

“Oh my god!” She gasped loud enough that Patrick had to pull his phone away from his ear.

  “So, it needs to be looked at-” He continued.

“Let me drive you!” She offered instantly. He could hear her shuffling around on the other end of the line.

“No, it’s fine, I’m already here-” He shook his head vehemently, even though he knew she couldn’t see it.

“I’ll meet you there. Just let me find my jacket.” She interrupted, clearly not listening to what he was saying.

He decided to just get to the point and be honest with her, “Seriously, I’d rather you didn’t-”

“I’ll see you soon!” She called out, before he heard the click of the call ending.

“I… guess?”  He said in disbelief as he stared at the phone in his hand.

“Come on.” Pete said, gesturing in the direction of the hospital doors and holding a hand out to help Patrick get out of the car. Patrick slapped it away, deciding to hobble to the doors by himself.

  Once he had checked in, taken a number and sat down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, he let out a long sigh. At least it wasn’t too busy in the waiting room at this hour. He felt far too dressed up to be here, still in his good pants and crisp shirt. But no emergency room was complete without a crying baby and a TV that was turned up slightly too loud. The jarring noises rattled around Patrick’s skull incessantly. Why couldn’t he have grabbed some headphones on his way out of the house? He let out another defeated sigh.

“You gonna tell me what’s wrong or you just gonna wallow in your angst?” Pete asked, not even looking up from his phone.

“Why did you set me up with this girl?” Patrick moped. He could’ve had a pleasant evening by himself. But no, here he was with a fractured foot and a jerk.

“Because I am older and therefore wiser than you.” He spoke in an entitled tone.

“Get fucked.” He scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

  “Because she’s hot.” That sounded much more accurate.

“Then why didn’t you just take her out?” He questioned.

“I took pity on you.” Pete said as he clapped a supportive hand down on Patrick’s shoulder, which he instantly shrugged off.

“I don’t fucking need your pity, Pete.” He frowned. The notion that he required relationship help from someone like Pete was just downright offensive.

“Well, you need something to help you out. You’re doing pretty hopelessly at the moment.” He said as he tried to wrap his arm around the younger singer.

“Hey! Fuck you!” He nearly shouted, moving to grab Pete’s arm off him. But he was too fast.

“I’m doing you a favour, man.” Pete chuckled. He was about to also need to check himself into the emergency waiting list if he continued like this.

  “Mr Stump?” A voice called, right as Patrick had lined up his fist with Pete’s teeth.

“Oh, that’s me.” He mumbled in surprise. “This isn’t over.” He added, glaring at his friend. Pete just flashed his shit-eating grin in response. Patrick gave him the finger.

“He can come too-” The nurse started to offer.

“No!” He cut her off instantly. “He absolutely is not coming.” He said, scrambling to get to his feet and limp over to the nurse. She eyed him in concern before taking a few steps closer to help him walk.

“Come through here.” She instructed as she motioned towards a set of double doors.

“Sure thing.” He nodded as she wrapped an arm around his waist to try and keep some of the weight off his foot. Patrick couldn’t help but feel the little nagging voice at the back of his brain informing him that the attention was nice.

  “Just sit here and let’s take a look.” She said as she sat him down in a chair and began rifling through a few drawers. Patrick watched her as she tried to find whatever equipment she was looking for. She was quite pretty. That just made this all the more embarrassing. Having an attractive person deal with your stupid, anger induced injury? Awful.

“I think I might’ve broken it, or fractured it.” He started to explain as he took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, trying to fill the awkward silence. She nodded along, listening to him elaborate on his pain.

“All right.” She finally said, having removed his swollen foot from his shoe. “Let me know if this hurts.” She said as she began to try and roll his ankle around. He took in a sharp breath, the pain was instantaneous.

“That… yep.” Patrick squeaked, trying hard not to yank his foot away. “Definitely hurts.” He nodded rapidly.

“One a scale of one to ten?” She asked as she gently put his foot back on the ground.

“Nine. Nine point five.” He said quickly, rubbing at the stubble on his chin to stop himself from crying out in pain.

“Okay.” She said, turning around to make some notes on his file. “There doesn’t seem to be any abrasions or cuts, what did you do to it?” She questioned.

“I… er… I was worked up on the phone and kicked a door too hard.” He admitted sheepishly as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

  “Must’ve been an intense conversation you were having there, Mr Stump.” She said with an amused look.

“My friend out there set me up on a shitty date.” He said, jabbing a thumb towards the door.

“Oh? Why was it so bad?” She asked as bandaged his foot to try and keep the swelling compressed.

“The girl he set me up with is more of his type of girl than mine, and now he’s just trying to guilt trip me into going on a date with her.” He explained with a huff. As he said it, he heard her familiar shrill voice echoing in through the waiting room door. “Oh my god, that’s her.” He said, shrinking down in his chair. “Please don’t let her know I’m back here.” He pleaded. He was trying not to sound desperate, but was absolutely certain he was failing.

“You don’t want her to know you’re okay?” She asked with a confused frown.

“I really don’t want to be on this date.” He said truthfully, scratching at one of his sideburns. “I told her I was going to the ER and she just told me she’d meet me her. I tried to ask her not to but she insisted.”

“Fair enough.” She shrugged as she grabbed a set of crutches. “I’m going to send you off for an x-ray to verify exactly what you’ve done. It’s just down the…” She was about to send him back through the waiting room to go down to the x-ray clinic, but then realised he probably didn’t want to go past this date of his. And the puppy dog look he was giving her was too sweet to resist. “Let’s go the back way.” She suggested.

“Thanks.” He grinned.

  After a slow and shaky trip down to the x-ray machines, the nurse left him in the technician’s capable hands. The scan took less than five minutes. But then a further ten minutes was spent by Patrick prying to know what his foot looked like. Was it broken? Fractured? Sprained? The answer of ‘I’m not the doctor, I can’t tell you’ just wasn’t good enough. Also, he’d rather not leave this nice, confined room just yet. But eventually he had to give up and go back to the waiting room. He apprehensively pushed the door open, feeling a rush of relief to see Pete sitting by himself.

“Hey, man. What did they say?” He asked as Patrick hobbled over.

“I don’t know. They have to wait for the x-ray to come back.” He said as he tried to sit down. Crutches made everything so much more difficult to manoeuvre.

“Do they think it’s broken?” He continued to question.

“I don’t know.” He said again. “Where did she go?” He asked, glancing around the waiting room.

“She went out to go get a coffee.” Pete answered. A coffee at 11pm? Geez. “Did you want me to-”

“No!” Patrick instantly shouted, earning a death stare from the receptionist at his volume. “No.” He said again, quieter.

“I’ll let her know when you’re free next?” He suggested. It looked like he was trying to contain his stupid smile.

“Please don’t.” Patrick groaned.

  The bandages soothed the pain somewhat. Which was helpful considering it was another hour in the waiting room before the results of his x-ray came back. “Mr Stump, please come through.” The same nurse called out.

“Coming!” He spoke, quickly getting to his feet. Pete watched his lack of coordination with the crutches with amusement, at one point sticking his foot out just to be difficult. Patrick stomped on it with his good foot, earning a yelp out of the bassist.

“Take a seat.” The nurse said when he eventually managed to get into the room.

“Is there a reason you never say my first name?” Patrick asked as he leaned his crutches against the wall.

“What?” She asked, seemingly caught off guard.

“You keep calling me Mr Stump.” He elaborated, adjusting his glasses.

“Oh, well… it’s just procedure, I guess? We’re told to refer to patients by their surname.” She answered.

“You can call me Patrick.” He said. She looked over at him, and he suddenly felt self-conscious under her stare. “Uh, if you want, anyway.” He added with a nervous grin. She just smiled back at him.

  “Looking at your x-rays, it’s not broken.” She said, bringing them up on her screen.

“Oh, that’s good.” He said, the news brightening his mood.

“You’ve just dislocated it.” She continued, pointing out the leg bone that wasn’t sitting flush with his foot like it should be on the scan.

“That’s… not good.” He said quietly. The worries started building in his head about what that meant for their gig next weekend. Would he even be able to walk by then? Let alone be on stage for an hour?

“It’s not great Patrick, no.” She laughed lightly. The way she said his name pulled him out of his spiralling. “You really did a number on yourself.” The smile on her face made his heart rate start climbing. He realised after a second that he was just staring at her like a love-sick puppy, and should probably say something.

He cleared his throat before speaking, “So, um… What do I do now?” He asked, leaning forward in his seat to get a better look at the x-ray.

“We’re going to need to move the bones back into place.” She replied. He instantly grimaced. “It won’t be as bad as you think. It’ll hurt less once it’s sorted.” She reassured him.

“I’ll take your word for it.” He nodded grimly as he pulled a hand through his hair.

  “We’re going to need to take you through to one of the doctors to get them to do it.” She said as she stood up and started moving towards the doors.

“Aw, man. More walking?” He complained. “These crutches are so hard to use.” He mumbled as he got to his feet.

“Have you adjusted them?” She questioned.

“What?”

“Have you adjusted them? To be correct to your height?”

“Oh, uh… no? How do I do that?” He stared down at the large metal contraptions. After a brief moment of laughing at him, she helped him sort out the crutches to be more comfortable. Usually, he would get pretty defensive at being laughed at, but in this moment, he was just happy to have made the cute girl laugh. Maybe all the adrenalin was messing with his brain.

  As they stepped out into the waiting room, the nurse nudged his shoulder. “It would seem your friend is having a better night than you are.” She said quietly.

“Huh?” He looked around the room in confusion, before spotting what she was referring to. He caught sight of Pete walking out of the hospital, with his date hanging off his arm. The bastard then had the audacity to turn around and flash Patrick a thumbs up over his shoulder. The fucker.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Patrick said through gritted teeth, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his crutches.

“Wait until your foot is better first.” He heard the nurse say.

“What?” He frowned.

“Don’t wanna give him any extra advantages or you might not succeed.” She explained.

He looked at her in bewilderment for a second, before starting to laugh. “I’m liking you more and more by the minute.”

  She ushered him through to the doctor’s room, leaving him sat there waiting and worrying for the next twenty-five minutes. Finally, a doctor came in to reposition his foot. They ran him through a few things that they were going to do, before just jumping right in. The pain was on a new level from anything he had felt before as the doctor forcibly moved his bones. But once it was set as it should be, it started to ebb away slightly. Once the procedure was done, the doctor relegated him back to the nurse’s office. He sat quietly, massaging his ankle slightly to try and relieve some of the ache.

“Patrick, good to see you still in one piece.” She said as she came back into the room.

He looked up at her in surprise, unable to stop himself from cracking a smile. “Good to have my foot reconnected to my leg.” He shot back.

“The doctors sorted you out, then?”

“Yeah.” He nodded as he fiddled with the hat in his hands. “They said you had some medication for me?” He added.

“Yes. I do.” She began grabbing a box out from the cupboard above her computer before handing it to him. “Only take these painkillers once a day - I’d recommend using them to sleep.” She instructed with a serious expression.

“Got it.”

“Keep your foot elevated when you can to reduce the swelling, ice it if it’s hurting too much.” She continued.

“Okay. I can do that.”

  “And if you’re really struggling,” She started, handing him some paperwork. “Feel free to ask me for help.”

He looked at her in confusion, before looking down at the papers to see a number written across the top. It took him a second for the pieces to click into place. “Really?” He grinned in disbelief.

“Take care of yourself, Patrick.” She smiled sweetly.

“But if I don’t, I’ll see you more.” He pointed out.

“You can see me without injuring yourself.” She laughed, rolling her eyes at his suggestion.

“Good to know.” He felt like his heart was beating so fast it might explode.

“Terrible night a little bit better now?”

“Much.”

[sweetwritertanya]

Noble Heart (Part 4)

Summary: The day has finally come and your doubts still persist, despite the good moments you spent with Augustus over the last few days. When you are questioning your decision, he comes over to talk it out with you.

Warnings: there will be SMUT on this one! Also, the reader has a mild anxiety attack, so if that triggers you in any way, either skip the beginning or don’t read at all! So, as for the smut, this part will only include: erotic body touching, fingering and first time (for female/reader).

Word Count: 3378

Pacing back and forth, you had finally the room for yourself. Getting your Mother and sisters out was a feat, your own panic making it harder for them to understand your desperate pleas even as you were screaming and almost crying to be left alone.

Your heart was uncomfortably stuck on your throat, beating rapidly and making it hard to breathe. Somewhere in the depth of your mind you knew you were over ventilating, sweating cold and probably in some sort of anxiety attack, but you couldn’t control it. The tight corset your Mother and maid had helped put on wasn’t helping. This was the biggest decision you had ever made in your life and the doubts and fears that you made the wrong choice hadn’t stopped plaguing you since the day before. You had barely slept at all during the night.

Your hands are fidgeting with each other as your steps grew quicker and your nervous eyes kept going back and forth between the door and the window, two possible ways out if you changed your mind.

The striding feet under you only stopped once you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. It felt too late now, with a big wedding dress already on, long flowy fabric falling to the floor and a short tail following you, white veil covering your carefully styled hair and detailed make-up embellishing your features.

Today was your wedding day. Only about a week ago, a strange man came into your home demanding to marry you. And here you were, about to walk down the aisle with him. No matter how you tried to put it in your mind, it sounded crazy.

Not that there was anything wrong with Augustus. As it turned out, you two got along just fine, at least as far as you could tell in the amount of time spent together. He was a gentleman, surprisingly respectful and curious about you. Oh, and the fact that he was a wonderful kisser didn’t make matters too bad at either.

You thought that the first kiss you two shared was some way for him to tease you, to embarrass you for his own personal entertainment later on and it honestly scared you that you had fallen into such a trap. However, it seemed Augustus had no intentions of making that a one-time event. For the few days after, every time he came to your house for the already agreed-upon afternoon together, he would find a way to steal kisses whenever alone with you. Be it when he would suddenly, in that silent way of his, appear way too close to you, making your chubby cheeks blush profusely and him remarking on it before leaning down to kiss them, slowly making a path to your mouth; or as a goodbye at the end of the day, starting by the ever present peck at your hands only to pull you closer and catch your lips before walking away.

If you were honest with yourself, you didn’t dislike Augustus at all. In fact, and as much as that scared you a bit, you grew to really like him. It was the context of how everything happened that bothered you so much, tainting the wonderful memories with fears that all of it was just so he could become the Duke. That the person you got to know the last week was only a façade to get you to agree to the marriage, that he would change completely once the matrimony was official. That you were being fooled and would end up heart-broken and humiliated in the end.

Which was a big reason as to why you were having such a panic attack right in the last few minutes before the ceremony started. You had already promised not only Augustus, but yourself and your family that you would not change your mind. Yet your mind kept pressing on how this was not right, not the way it was supposed to be.

A knock at your door made you jump a little and your head jerked towards the opening door. You swallowed a sob once you recognized Augustus coming in.

He looked more handsome than you had ever seen him. In a black wedding suit, black vest under the peak lapeled jacket, white-pearl shirt with a tuxedo wing collar poking out behind the perfectly made bow-tie. He had cut his dark chocolate curls somewhere between the day before when you last saw him and today, you noticed. The sides were shorter, losing almost all definition of a curl, but the top was still fluffy enough to retain those enticing swirls, some covering just the edge of his forehead. With bushy dark eyebrows pulled together, his hooded honey eyes searched for you with worry, the bottom fuller lip hanging just a bit open from his thinner upper one.

“Adela? Your Mother informed me you weren’t feeling well…”

Once finding you, Augustus’ next words died in his tongue at the sight of his bride. You both loved and hated the relief it brought when you saw his look of appreciation, eyes wide and darkening, slowly taking your form up and down, a glint you had grown to recognize as desirability glowing in the honey colored eyes of your fiancée. It calmed your worries down a bit, only to originate another completely different kind of nervousness.

“You, hum… Well, you look beautiful, Adela.” He complimented with a sweet smile on his lips as his eyes feel back on yours. “The most beautiful bride I had ever seen.”

You smile back but your sight falls to your hands, slowly backing away to the window, turning away from him. Taking a deep breath, you explain to him what was going on before he has the chance to ask again.

“I… I was having second thoughts” you confess, letting the sun bathe your skin as you lean against the windowsill, facing the greenery outside.

“About the wedding.” He specifies, not in a question but a statement, voice eerily neutral.

“It all just… it just feels wrong to me, still” you explain, trying your best to convey your thoughts without hurting his feelings in the process. “Marrying someone for a noble title, someone I barely know for a week and-”

“You have known me better this last week than most of the people in my life had gotten to know me for years” he interrupts in a resolute tone, deep and controlled.

You turn to him at that, allowing your self a second to be surprised by how close he had gotten without you noticing, before setting your gaze back to his in skepticism. He notices it and answers the question you were about to make before you speak.

“It is true. People I grew up with back in my town know nothing about my grandfather or the inheritance he left for me. People I know here in Welsham know nothing about my life before I arrived. You are the only one who knows of both.”

“And yet there is still so much more I do not know” you counter back in a soft voice, crossing your arms in front of you.

His stare hardens a bit at that. He knows there were a lot of questions he never gave you an answer about, most precisely about his own family and the environment he grew up with. It seems he was still not ready to talk to you about that.

“Do you wish to call the wedding off?” He opts to inquire, tension palpable in his lower jaw.

“If I said yes, would you allow me to?” You lean your head to the side as you analyze his reaction. His eyes fall to the ground for a split second in disappointment, but quickly rise back up and stare at the window behind you, rather than at you, with resolve.

“Yes.” He assures.

“Even if I already promised I wouldn’t do it?”

“I would allow you to break this one promise.”

You actually chuckle a bit, head hanging low as you close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose, trying to soothe the hurricane of anxiety swirling inside your chest.

“Here’s a proof we still do not know each other very well after just a week together. You still don’t know I am not a woman who breaks her promises” you point out.

A hand comes up to cradle your left cheek and that makes you look up at the man standing just a foot away from you. Honey eyes were calmer, warmer now, the right corner of his lips tugging up more than the left one as he tried not to break into a grin.

“I had my suspicions” he refutes. His hand descends your face to turn into an index finger prompting your chin to look up at him. “So… Will you marry me, lady Adela?”

Your heart does a flip that lands in your throat and you smile, realizing you had yet to hear him asking you that. It somehow pacified you a bit to hear it.

“If you’ll have me, sir Augustus” you reply.

Not able to conceal his smile any longer, his teeth shine behind his lips as he leans down, eyes focused on your painted lips the same way yours had been focusing on his mismatched ones.

“Good. It would be such a waste.” He declares in almost a whisper, few inches from your face.

“It would. The already paid for venue, the guests, the wedding dress and your suit and-”

“Not that” he murmurs as he leans further down, his lips ending up landing at the side of your neck, just bellow your right ear. You shiver and freeze. “I meant a waste of you in such a beautiful gown.”

He pecks again at the skin of your neck, his hands having somehow attached themselves to your sides before you knew it, and you feel your skin flushing and your heart rate picking up.

“That… T-That should be the least of your concerns” you try to keep a rational mind, but it becomes increasingly difficult as the fire scorching your skin seems to be melting your brain away.

“It’s at the top of my list” he disagrees, this time the kisses forming a path up your soft jawline.

With everything going on and the state you were in just a few moments ago, this should really not be how you make use of your time. And yet, you can’t control yourself as you turn your head towards him when he is pecking at the side of your mouth, making his next kiss to finally land on your burning lips, aching for his sweet caresses.

A satisfied noise resonates from the depths of his throat at your reaction. One of his hands come back cupping your collar, his cold long fingers coiling in the hairs at the nape of your neck. The pressure of his velvet lips on yours enhances, moving slowly at first before a desperate vigor overtakes him.

Augustus takes a step forward to flush his body with yours, your frame leaning backwards into the open window with the strength he pulled himself against you. You had your hands around his arms but give in to the urgency to wrap them around his neck and do your best to pull yourself up, standing on the tip of your toes.

When he tentatively skims your lower lip with his tongue, you gasp and your fingers automatically grasp at the shorter hairs behind his neck. Augustus exploits the parting of your lips to delve deeper, tongue sinking into your mouth to kiss you slow and profound. The strangest noise you didn’t know you could produce escapes you in a muffled cry against his mouth.

The hand at your neck joins his other at your lower back and he pulls you in, away from the window, only to instead have you pressed against the wall next to it, away from any observant eyes from outside. You couldn’t really do anything more than go along, always being on the defenseless side when it came to these intimate encounters since they were completely new to you. You just do your best to mimic the way he kissed you, a mixture of your memories and instinct that seemed to be enough for him, if his reactions were any indication to go by.

However, your brain kicks in again when you realize that his hands were no longer at your back but instead slowly pulling the fabric of your dress up, the palm of his right hand then sliding against the warm skin of your fleshy thigh. Your hands come down to push at his chest, the man’s lips leaving yours only to replace them with the skin of your neck. Panting and still lightly intoxicated by all of him, you try hard to speak with coherence.

“A-Augustus! We are – Ahh…” He kisses a particular sensitive spot at your neck that fries your brain for a solid moment. “W-We are not married yet!” You finally manage to protest, catching his wrist and moving it away.

“But we will be soon.” He rebutted, finally lifting his head in order to level his eyes with yours.

The brown of his eyes was almost completely eaten away from the enlarged pupil, a thin veil of desire glazed over them, his high cheeks slightly colored and his nose almost brushing yours. He was so close you could see that the two beauty marks under his left eye were actually of two different shapes, one oval and one round. He made it incredibly difficult to think at all when this close to you.

“We are already switching the proper order of almost anything with our relationship, Adela. What’s stopping us from switching this as well?” His whispers smell like fresh mint against your skin.

He seemed so sure of what he said, so convinced he was right. And yet he waited, eyes locked with yours as he suspended his breath before you could answer. Truly, you really wished you had even just thought about brushing him off and go out to start the ceremony, get married before you yet again changed your mind. But the tips of his fingers were still stroking your upper thigh, your swollen lips aching to be devoured again, the most uncomfortable hot tightness on your lower belly making it hard to focus. You weren’t the best advocate for religious customs anyway and the logic behind his words was hard to contradict in the state you were in.

So, you didn’t.

“Alright” you agree, hand slowly letting go of the wrist you had caught going up your leg.

He smiles. Not a smirk or those polite fake smiles you saw him throwing around at other people, but a true honest smile that you had the privilege of seeing a few times while you were together. The one that reached the corner of his eyes, that showed off his pearly white teeth. The one that always made you smile back.

Capturing your lips yet again in a passionate kiss, you feel his hand going around your leg, pressing at the back of your thigh where you knew your flesh sunk in small dimples. He squeezes the fluffy skin, not showing any revulsion at all. Your arms go under his to grasp his shoulders from behind tightly, pulling him as close as possible, feeling his hard chest against yours even with the layers of clothes still in between.

Then his fingers play with the hem of your lace white knickers. Your heart feels like it’s hammering against every single cell in your body, so loud in your own ears that you can barely hear the hisses that escaped you. You have half a mind to feel scared of where this was going, being all too new and too sudden, but his middle finger starts stroking your covered center and you lose all rationality.

“Adela…” he murmurs your name when he moves his hungry lips to the juncture of your neck and shoulder, sucking the skin harshly, pulling with his free hand the sleeve of your dress down.

In your mind you are whispering his name back, but in reality you had your eyes closed, head thrown back against the wall and lips parting but with no sound other than needy moans.

When he moves inside your undergarments, the rough pads of his fingers sliding easily against your slick center, dragging against the sensitive silk skin, your legs fail you and you claw at his shoulders so powerfully you certainly left marks even over his clothes. This rush of pleasure spreading from your core to the edges of your body took you completely by surprise.

A single finger finds your drenched entrance and easily penetrates to the bump of his knuckle. You let your head fall against his strong shoulder, muffling your embarrassing sounds against his jacket, your hands fisting the fabric tightly. You felt like a live volcano, heating up to impossible degrees and building up what was certainly a deadly explosion.

Augustus then twists his wrist expertly and cups your mound in his broad hand, jiggling his thumb against a sensitive pearl in small circles. You wail as electric jolts have your body contorting against his, heat rising off of you in cascades. His finger is joined by a second and he begins to stroke them lazily, in and out, in and out. The pressure in your womb builds deep and low in your abdomen, currents of arousal dashing across your veins at every brush against your inner walls.  

His mouth kisses your ear as you keep your head on his shoulder, his hot breath sending shivers when panting against your damp skin there. You turn your face to him and he merged your lips together, plundering your mouth with his tongue at the same pace of his fingers slipping in and out of you, so deep his teeth scrapped your lower lip.

The novelty of all these lustful actions has the tightness in your stomach bursting suddenly as you trip into a shuddering orgasm, the warm thread that kept pulling your insides unspooling and pleasure flooding your entire body as Augustus’ fingers help you ride it out.  

You are panting heavily, cheeks flushed, spine tingling and absentmindedly gasping Augustus’ name when he removes his hand from beneath you and drops pecks all over your face, from your forehead to your nose, your cheeks and chin.

“I must confess… I can’t wait to have you as my wife” he admits, resting his forehead against yours, small smile tugging at his lips.  

“What… What about you?” You ask as soon as you can find your voice.

Even if all of this was a first for you, you were not completely naïve. You knew he did not get to climax like you did, that it was only you who felt such an earth-shattering pleasure by yourself.

“You needed this more than I did, dear” he explains. But a predatory smirk appears when he locks eyes with you. “We’ll continue these endeavors and much more tonight, I assure you.”

You weren’t sure if it was supposed to be a promise or a warning. It made the heart that had beginning to calm down flip again, blood rushing again under your skin.

Augustus pecks your swollen lips before stepping back and crouching down as he helps pulling your wedding dress back in place, straightening the fabric as it fell to the floor as if nothing happened. You see the content smile on his lips as he raises back up, taking one last look over your figure in the dress before focusing back on your face.

“Shall we go and get married, lady Adela?” he questions, straightening his own clothes too.

You release a breath, all the torment from before dissipated completely as you smile at him with your still colored cheeks.

“We shall, sir Augustus.”

He holds an arm out for you, which you gladly take with your hand on the underside of his elbow, and you both make way out of the room, into the venue downstairs where you were about to get married in.

[attemptsatwriting-exe-blog]

Tease (Lotor x Reader)

This is an x reader posted from my previous account, @whysleepwhenyoucanwrite. It can also be found on my AO3.

Prompt: Guess who xD Cannnn I have a LotorxReader with the prompt, "How have you made it this long without someone throwing you out an airlock or something?" Because that sounds funny

A/N: Absolutely NO idea who this is XD Sorry this took so long! I’m gonna try and get my other prompts out soon aha. Sorry if you’ve been waiting for ages! I promise I’m working on your request (or will be soon). Anywho, thank you for requesting, ‘anon’!

Tease (Lotor x Reader)

Lotor had switched sides. That was what he claimed, anyway, after saving all of you and having a “discussion” with the team. He’d been a constant presence in the castle for the past few days; none of you trusted him, especially Keith and Allura, but as Shiro had pointed out, he didn’t have much reason to lie now he had been declared a traitor to the Empire, and you could keep a better watch on him if he remained in your vicinity.

So, the nine of you (if you included Matt, your newest arrival) had a tenth addition to the castle.

Which was all well and good, except he was so annoying.

It wasn’t as if there was any specific act he had committed that infuriated you; it was just his general attitude. The way he walked around as if he owned the place, that stupid smirk on his face and his fucking hair -

Another thing; he was unfairly attractive. Unfairly. Lance would be the first to agree with you - you’d caught him trying to enter Lotor’s room one time, claiming that “I need to find out what hair products he uses! It’s not fair!”

He also decided that the chair next to you was the one he sat in at every meal, making mealtimes awkward as hell. One time you’d been happily eating your food goo (or, well, as happily as you could be, considering it was food goo) when you’d turned to see Lotor staring directly at you. When you’d raised an eyebrow, he’d simply placed his spoon into his mouth, and winked. To your utter horror, your face had heated up, and you’d looked away to see Keith staring.

From that point on, you’d firmly decided to stay far away from Lotor as much as possible.

But he made it so hard.

At training he’d insist you be his sparring partner, and despite your constant glares at Shiro, he’d agreed. When you were all relaxing, he’d somehow find an excuse to sit next to you. Even when you were hanging out in the kitchen with Hunk - your safe haven - he’d miraculously appear, claiming he smelled something good - then sending you a smirk.

It was weird, and borderline creepy - scratch that, just creepy. You hated it.

“Do you have an obsession with me or something?” you’d suddenly blurted out one time in the corridor, when the purple pointy-eared bastard had shown up at your side again. Lotor simply gave you a side-eye, then smirked.

“So you have noticed my interest in you.” Not even glancing your way, Lotor huffed in amusement. “I wouldn’t call it an obsession. It’s simply more pleasing for my eyes to be around the best looking person in this castle.”

With that, he’d continued on his merry way, boots clacking against the floor as you stood stock still, sputtering in shock.

“What do you mean he called you the best looking person in the castle?!” Lance shrieked, the hairbrush he had been calmly passing through your hair jerking and probably pulling out fifty strands with it. You yelped, and Lance hurriedly apologised, going back to brushing smoothly. “I thought that was me,” he whined.

“Aw, Lance,” you giggled. “It is you.”

“Well, I’d certainly hope so,” he replied indignantly. “Otherwise there isn’t much else going for me,” he added, voice low enough you almost couldn’t hear.

“Excuse me, what?” you exclaimed, turning around abruptly. “What do you mean, not much else going for you?!”

Lance had frozen, looking like a deer caught in headlights. “Well, I mean, uh…”

“You’re our sharpshooter!” you practically yelled, your face barely inches away from Lance’s. “And you’re the one that boosts morale, that glues the team together… not just that, you’re smart, you’re protective of your friends, and you’re the best damn shot I’ve ever seen. The team wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Lance smiled, eyes glassy, and you reached around for the mirror behind you, then held it up to his face.

“Now, repeat after me; “you is smart, you is kind, you is important”.”

Lance chuckled a little, but did as you instructed, speaking into his reflection. “You is smart, you is kind, you is important.”

“Hell yes you are!” you shouted, and wrapped your friend in a hug. “Now keep brushing my hair, I like it.”

It was one thing receiving glances and vague gestures. Now he was being forthright about it.

When you were sparring, he’d lean in and whisper “you always look your best like this,” then flip you over his shoulder while you were still stood in shock. Then, while you were pinned down:

“I must admit I’ve already imagined you below me, although it was in quite a different context to this.” You shoved his smirking face away from you.

That was the first straw.

The second straw came when Allura and Shiro were explaining bayards to Lotor in depth, per his request. When Lance demonstrated how a Paladin could switch the form of their bayard, switching from his blaster to a rifle, Lotor leant down and whispered “You’ve already unlocked my bayard,” his breath hot on your neck.

Through your frustration, the soft ‘oof’ that came from the Prince as your elbow made contact with his midsection was quite satisfying.

After the group had disbanded, you approached Allura, figuring she’d at least have some idea of how to deal with unwarranted flirting.

“Princess.”

Allura turned to you, blue eyes questioning. “Yes, Y/N?”

You’d planned to be quite calm and collected when you approached the Princess about this; after all, she clearly appreciated maturity, and you wanted her full attention on this.

Instead, your voice cracked as you managed a desperate “help me.”

The last straw came at dinner, after a brief respite period with no random invasions of privacy, no pick up lines, and no flirting. In retrospect, you should have known it was coming.

He’d been silent next to you for the entire meal, which should have been a warning sign in itself. Right when you were least expecting it, the uncomfortably familiar sensation of whispering in your ear was present again, paired with the words “While this food goo does prove itself satisfactory, I’d much prefer to… how you Earthlings might say… eat out.”

That was it.

Within a second, Lotor was blinking at you through the food goo that dripped down his face and hair, looking ultimately displeased. Before anyone could open their mouth, you beat them to it.

“How have you made it this long without someone throwing you out an airlock or something?” you exploded, standing up for emphasis. “Do you treat everyone like this, you fucking dickass?”

“Language,” Shiro chided, and you turned to him hoping your eyes were screaming murder as much as your brain was, because really?

A tense silence descended upon the table, with you staring daggers at Shiro, and Lotor glaring at you through food goo, before it was broken with an indignant cry.

“His hair!”

Of course, Lance.

“Don’t you understand how much effort goes into having hair like that? The - all that work - gone to waste -”

“It was FUCKING WARRANTED TRUST ME,” Pidge spoke through gritted teeth, staring at the table with wide eyes. Matt sent her a confused glance, before turning to Lotor.

“What did you just say to traumatise my little sister?”

A heavy weight dropped in your stomach as you realised - “Oh GOD you heard that.”

Pidge nodded, still not looking anywhere but directly in front of her. Even Lotor had the decency to look relatively ashamed. Allura narrowed her eyes at the prince, crossing her arms, while Keith’s eyes darted rapidly around the room with confusion.

The room became instantly more uncomfortable, and you felt a hot flush creep up your neck. Any minute now -

“So, uh… what did he say, exactly?” Keith asked, eyebrows raised.

“You don’t want to FUCKING KNOW,” Pidge groaned, leaning forwards to whack her head on the table. At this, Shiro frowned at Lotor too, shoulders rising. The half-Galran looked around the room; Lance appearing conflicted, Keith, Hunk and Coran confused, Matt and Shiro intimidating, Pidge mortified, and Allura murderous. Evaluating his choices, he appeared to come to a smart conclusion, because the prince mumbled an apology in your direction before leaving the room in a hurry.

As you were getting ready for bed that evening, you were disturbed by a knock at the door. Opening it to see Lotor, looking sheepish, you tensed, back straightening.

After waiting for him to say something, and instead meeting an awkward silence, you cleared your throat.

“What do you want?”

Cheeks flushing a slightly darker shade of purple, Lotor refused to meet your eyes as he spoke.

“It has been brought to my attention that my behaviour towards you has been… extremely inappropriate.”

“You can say that again,” you snorted, and received a harsh glare. Unfazed, you smirked in return. “Just telling it like it is, Prince L’Oreal.”

“It was not in my intention to make you uncomfortable.” Still looking anywhere but at your face, Lotor continued. “I wish to apologise for my behaviour.”

Analysing the man in front of you, you considered your options. You could refuse his apology, and either he’d stay away from you… or he’d keep the comments coming with a vengeance. That, or you could accept his apology and see how things went.

“You’ll stop with the unwanted comments?” “Of course.”

You fixed Lotor with a suspicious stare, scrutinising him with your gaze. While he still didn’t meet your eyes, he did appear sincere.

“Fine.”

He looked up at that, blue eyes gazing directly into yours. “… ‘fine’?”

“Fine.”

Appearing satisfied, the prince turned and walked away. Just as you made to return to the safety of your room, he swivelled on one foot and appeared in your doorway again. Your eyelids lowered in exasperation.

“What now?”

Once again, he wouldn’t meet your eyes.

“The Princess, ah… advised… that if I really desired you the way I do, I should court you.”

You blinked.

“Court me?”

“Yes.” Gaining confidence, Lotor extended a hand to you. “Spend time with you. Buy you gifts. Make you happy.”

Courting. No one on Earth did that anymore; romance had mainly descended to ‘send nudes’ and the occasional date. It sounded… old-fashioned, sure, but kinda nice.

The only thing you were doubtful of was the person you’d be courting.

You began to evaluate the decision in your head. First and foremost, Lotor was certainly not lacking in the looks department, that was for sure. However, you’d been fighting against him for months, and still weren’t necessarily able to trust him. Also, he’d been a dick similar to the fuckboys you’d encountered back home. Ew.

Still, he seemed sincere in his apology, and his intent. Besides, you could easily end the process whenever you wanted to - with the knowledge that Allura would kick his ass if he did anything to hurt you.

Well…

“You know what? Sure.”

Before Lotor could speak, you uttered one last sentence before closing the door in his face. “But I expect flowers, bitch.”

[mister-lucky-bunny]

Scooby Doo: Monster Menagerie Chpt. 8

Description:  Mystery Inc. finds a secret while Sibella confesses something to her friends.

Scooby Doo: Monster Menagerie

Chapter 8: Using Your Noodle

When one observes a class called "Mad Science", one must always expect the unexpected. After all, creating life as if you were God already crosses the boundaries of ethics and morals, regardless of what you do with your abilities. It can't be blamed too badly in this context, however. Monsters learn differently, it seems, and if a perversion of science is what helps them with their education, far be it from Velma to judge them. With that being said...

"Do you suppose those are human brains..?" She asked the detective quietly, leaning towards him as her eyes remained glued to the lesson. The reason she asked wasn't because she was unsure if they were really human brains, of course. She was smart enough to know they were in fact real. She had merely asked out of sick curiosity, a second question forming in her brain to ask later. 'Where did they get them in the first place?' Miss Grimwood had assigned the girls to create something with their given specimens. Before the class ended, they would show off their projects and allow everyone to see what they had created. A gruesome and macabre project to be sure, even if it was quite creative.

The creepy detective had his notebook open, eyes quickly moving from his pages back up to the girls working before darting back down, his hand continuously scrawling numerous diagrams and words on his pages in vast interest. Upon being asked by the bookworm about the authenticity of the brains, his hand stopped for a little so he could move his eyes over at her. His already wide grin formed into a toothy smile, letting out a couple of dark chuckles before moving back to his notebook. Velma whispered a small "Jinkies..!" to herself, definitely freaked out by both the detective's answer and what was going on in front of her.

Elsa, naturally, had taken to the project like a fish to water. It wouldn't be long before she examined her given brain, using measuring tools to determine the size of it. After quick measurements, the Frankenteen had decided to dissect it, using a scalpel to cut the brain in a state that showed off the two hemispheres so she could examine the insides for closer inspection. Once she determined that the brain itself was quite healthy, she began to sew it back up, not unlike how her own stitches were. Using various sized wires and plugs, she would route some sort of system, connecting various regions to each other. After that, she gently held the wired organ, moving over to a miniature tesla coil. With one hand gently cradling her 'invention', the other one reached out, a finger extended. A bright flash of electricity would quickly form to Elsa's finger. While it didn't seem to effect her, the electricity also inducted into the brain, making it shudder and smoke some. After a couple of minutes, she removed her hand and let the brain rest on her work table, moving around to scrounge for something else. Of course, everyone was quite interested in what she was doing, even if they had their own project to take care of. Eventually, she'd wire an old telegram up to the brain, making sure it was in working order. In no time, the telegram went to work, beeping out a message in morse code. Elsa, as well as the detective made sure to quickly jot down the message it was rapidly putting out.

.- ... . .-. . / .- - / .. / - ... / -. - -.. / .- ... -.- / -.-. .- -. .-. - / .. / ... . . / - .-. / ..-. . . .-.. / .- -. -.- - ... .. -. -. / .- ... .- - .-. ... / -. - .. -. -. / - -.

The message would continue on in the same manner, beeping out into the classroom. While the detective began to translate the messages, Velma's eyes continued to scan over the other students' handiwork. For Sibella, her project would have similarities to Elsa's, although instead of wiring, her brain would be connected with clear surgical tubing. Carefully using a syringe, she would inject blood into it, simulating a blood stream into the organ. Oddly enough, the brain seemed to react a lot like a heart would, in that it would begin to pulsate somewhat, steadily keeping the blood going. Velma had no idea how this was possible, but found it better to not ask questions about this sort of ordeal.

Phanty, for the most part, seemed to be shoving various bits of metal into the brain in front of hers, with seemingly no goal in mind. It was quite weird and disturbing to watch her prod around with a metal fork in a region of the brain before shoving what looked like a long metal pin into it, connecting numerous wires from each pin to one another in a haphazard manner. Whatever the reason, it managed to make... something happen. Holding up two fingers on each hand, she'd reach down at the brain and begin prodding at each different part of the brain. Somehow, the vibrations of it elicited a weird noise, almost like a garbled, echo-y squish. Rubbing her fingers along it would change the pitch of the odd noise. Soon, Phantasma was playing her own little brain theremin concerto, giggling wildly to herself. This got the attention of everyone else, the detective even stopping his scrawling to stare at the odd scene.

"...okay, now I want to know how this all works," Velma murmured to herself, hand resting on her chin as she saw the detective draw a diagram of the brain theremin. The only thing close to words on the page would be numerous question marks.

Tanis, thankfully, did something that made slightly more sense than whatever the phantom was doing. Any pins and wiring that would be connected into the brain would be much more organized. Unlike the phantom, though, the mummy girl pushed two old fashioned glass tubes into either side of the brain, making sure to connect them. After figuring out how to connect an alarm clock to the front (with the help of Elsa), she would soon succeed in making something like a potato clock, only instead of a potato, it was a brain.

Winnie, for the most part, looked very unsure as to what to do with her brain. She never felt like the creative kind, so for half of the period, she would be nudging and poking the squishy membrane with a claw in a bored manner. At one point, she had connected a single wire into an area of the brain, connecting the wire into a switch and flicking it on and off, watching the current shoot through the brain and watching it react. After the third or fourth time of doing this, her eyes lit up as an idea hit her. With a scalpel in hand, she began to cut various lines throughout the brain, pushing in more wiring and connecting it to the switch. Near the end of the period, she had created what looked like a weird brain flower that would fold and move like a kinetic sculpture when she flipped the switch.

Miss Grimwood was quite impressed with what everyone came up with, praising their work as she had them put them upon a shelf for display purposes. As the detective continued to scrawl in his notebook, his smile still as wide as the day is long, Velma walked over to Elsa, making sure that the telegram was properly set up so it wouldn't fall off the shelf. "That's... quite a creation you made, Elsa," She began, trying her best to put on a polite and not at all creeped out smile.

The flesh golem girl flashed a sheepish smile at her, shrugging. "Thanks for saying so, Velma. Truth be told, I didn't really know what else to do with it."

As morse code beeped out continuously, Velma nodded and looked at the brain. "I know it's not my place to say so, but doesn't it seem a little... inhumane to keep them alive like that?"

Elsa shrugged, nonphased by such a notion. "Perhaps, though it's not like they're connected to anyone anymore. No pain receptors of any sort." She pointed at her project and continued to explain through the morse code. "You see, I connected spasms created from the hippocampus, so it can communicate with it's past memories. It can't hear or learn anything new, though, so it's only going through confused repetition at this point, I believe." Her explanations were slow and methodical, a hint of pride in her own work. "Don't worry, if it gets too annoying to deal with, I'll just disconnect the telegram."

Velma blinked at how nonchalant Elsa was about this whole thing. She supposed that the more you're around the macabre and weird, the more used to it you get. Her eyes drifted towards the other brains... and then to the detective. She looked back at Elsa and nodded a little. "I see. Well, I won't keep you from your next class," She ended with a small smile, which her friend returned before heading to the other side of the room with her friends.

As Velma walked back towards the exit, the detective shut his book and put his pencil into his pocket, walking with her. "Well that was quite interesting, yes?" He asked her curiously.

"Definitely interesting," She replied, feeling unsure if that was a good thing or not. To help get her mind off of the weird scene, she looked back at the detective. "Come on, let's see if the others have made any progress in finding a secret entrance anywhere yet."

________________________________

"Have we checked under the stairs yet? Maybe there's a hidden cupboard or something."

"Like, sorry, no hidden rooms there."

"Check under creaky stairs, then! There has to be something under one of those, right?"

"No ruck rith the rug..."

The group of five had been searching around the foyer for the entire hour, slowly growing more and more frustrated with their lack of findings. Freddie was leaning against the stairwell, scratching the back of his head as he looked around the room in confusion. Googie was sitting on the stairs themselves, doing the same as Shaggy felt around the side, looking closely for hidden doors. Daphne and Scooby were finishing up pulling a rug back into place after having looked underneath it.

"Maybe there just isn't any secret passageways around here," The redhead sighed, shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips.

"There are still plenty of other places to search, at least," Freddie continued, looking thoughtful as he rested his chin in his hand. "I could've sworn there would've been some sort of secret room here, though. The two largest rooms in the building and nothing!"

Shaggy stood straight up, stretching a little after having spent the last few minutes crawling on the ground. "Like, I dunno about you guys, but I think it's time we took a little break. We've been at this for, like, a good couple of hours," He sighed, leaning against the rounded top of the newel. As he did so, though, his hand pushed against the top, making it open up, in a sense. Because of this, the lanky man lost his balance and stumbled forward, gripping onto the post for support. "Zoinks! Hey, like, what's this?"

The others moved over to where Shaggy stood, surprised with the sudden development. Like a hidden compartment of sorts, hidden underneath the round post was a small hook with a single, small key. Etched into the wood near the hook was a symbol, that could best be described as a spiral with a single line going through it. Googie helped Shaggy stand to his feet as Fred gathered the key, a big happy grin forming on his face. "Alright, progress! Great find, Shag!"

"Now all we have to do is figure out where that key goes to, right?" Googie asked, looking over to the other blond, who nodded.

"Does that mean we'll have to search through the whole school again?" Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow. The thought of going on a wild goose chase for a key hole that may or may not even be located inside the house did not thrill the red head any more than it did looking for a secret in the first place. Still, it was nice to have actually found something.

"We may need to, Daph," Fred explained, still keeping the key in his hand, not wanting to lose it.

"Rucky rind, Raggy!" Scooby barked, looking up at his tall friend, who chuckled and started to scratch his head. Soon enough, Velma and the detective came walking to the huddled group, having just left the laboratory. Both of them quite curious as to what they had just discovered.

"I take it you all found something of interest?" Velma asked, a smile on her face as she looked in to see the new clue. Freddie presented the key proudly, beaming as his friend exclaimed out, "Jinkies! How'd you all find that?"

"Shaggy over here knocked over a stair post and revealed it to us," Googie explained, pointing over to the newel, which was still opened up. Velma examined it, fixing her glasses a little as she inspected the symbol inside.

"Do you think that could be a clue to where the key goes?" Daphne asked, watching as the detective soon scribbled down the drawing on a blank page in his notebook.

"Could be..." Velma mused, moving to shut the newel back. Who knows if they were even supposed to find this in the first place? Best to keep their discoveries as conspicuous as possible.

"Like, I wonder how long we'll have to look to find out where that key goes?" Shaggy asked, already feeling mentally exhausted just thinking about it. After all, the building was indeed quite big, and searching through every nook and cranny for a little keyhole sounded like a daunting task.

"We probably won't have to look too far," The detective added, his smile seeming to grow as he formed an idea. "I believe I've seen that symbol before." The others looked at him expectantly, though instead of immediately explaining to them, he began to walk back into the living room, curling a finger to have them follow. After sharing a quick glance to each other, they followed.

Soon, the group of investigators were standing in front of a bookshelf, the weird man's finger soon scanning over each book spine. After a few seconds, he pulled out a rather thick, worn green leather bound book. "Look here, on the cover," He said, pointing to the front. Embossed on it was a similar pattern, a title written in a different language.

"Woah! Is there anything in there?" Googie asked curiously, tilting her head. Soon, he began to flip through the pages of the book, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Velma and Daphne, meanwhile, began to look over the bookshelf again, checking it out to see if there was anything hidden.

"...hm, nothing unusual besides the language written..." The detective tutted, shutting the book, his smile lessening considerably.

"Hey guys, check this out! I think I see something," Daphne called. The group was soon back to the shelf, Velma starting to carefully pull books out of the shelf and setting them to the side. Behind the books would be a very small key hole, hidden from view by all of the strange books in place.

"Now we're getting somewhere! C'mon gang, let's see what'll happen," Freddie began, holding the key out and extending his arm into the shelf. Shaggy gulped, looking about as nervous as his dog was.

"Like, careful Freddie! There might be a reason why the keyhole and it's key was hidden away!" Scooby concurred, nodding as he hid behind his tall friend.

"Relax, Shaggy. I doubt that if anything were alive in there, it'd still be alive," Googie reassured, patting his shoulder gently. Velma however, thought aloud with a hand on her chin.

"Not necessarily, Googie. Rats, bats, snakes, spiders, and all sorts of insects could be living in a closed off room for years without being discovered..." The strawberry blonde turned to Velma, scowling a little, but obviously unnerved.

"...thanks, Velma," She muttered, making sure to stick close to the even more shaken foodie, who was also not fond of running to a large group of rats or snakes. Before he could make any sort of protest though, a loud click was heard. Freddie had turned the key into the hole, quickly stepping back as even more, smaller clicking noises emitted from somewhere behind the shelf.

The gang waited out the noise, some sort of machination working and moving around, hidden somewhere underneath the floorboards. Soon enough, the floor stopped it's clicking as the book shelf slowly opened outwards. Freddie and Shaggy helped tug the shelf out more, being careful not to do it too quickly so the books wouldn't fly out. Everyone gazed inside, seeing another small, stone staircase leading downwards into a very dark room. A few roaches spilled out from the cracks of the wall, skittering out into the room and hiding away. Scooby and Shaggy let out an audible shudder. Googie looked between everyone as a cold chill from the unknown room below spilled out onto the group. "So uh... who wants to go first?"

Without hesitating, the detective began his descent down into the room, not saying a word. The others gulped as Daphne pulled out her phone, quickly utilizing it's built in flashlight. "If we're gonna explore it, might as well be able to see..." The others soon followed her lead, slowly following their strange new companion. Daphne, of course, stuck to Freddie's side, while Velma, Scooby, Googie, and Shaggy moved closely as one group.

They all soon reached the bottom, everyone shivering lightly from how surprisingly cold the room felt. They flashed their lights in different directions, taking in what they saw. Along the walls of the room were gas lamps, dusted and covered in cobwebs after years of not being used. None of them were even sure if this place had gas. On the floor, covering all three walls were more bookshelves, although instead of reaching up to the ceiling, they reached up to about their hips. They were also quite dusty, although there were also numerous instruments that looked like they could have been used for witchcraft. A mortar and pestle, an opened spell book, various runes scattered about, a deck of tarot cards left out in the open, and a cracked crystal ball were some of the few items laying around.

"Jinkies! This must've been a secret room used for spells and potion work. The question is, why was it hidden away..." Velma said, eyes wide in surprise as Shaggy and Scooby shook in place, hoping that nothing would jump out at them.

Freddie and Daphne watched the detective in front of them, as he was just standing in the middle, not moving an inch. "Hey, are you okay?" Freddie asked, flashing his light to the back of his head. The man slowly tilted his head towards them, eyes wide as usual, grin as big as it can be.

"I believe we've found a lead. Take a look downwards."

In their haste to glance around at the walls, they had all neglected to look downwards. When they all did so, they all gasped exclaimed in surprised. In the middle of the room, drawn in some form of dark colored chalk or paint was a summoning circle.

_____________________________________

Sibella's eyes never wavered from the blackboard in front of her as Miss Grimwood kept up her explanation of calculus basics. While the same definitely couldn't be said for her werewolf friend, who was just about ready to fall forwards and pass out from boredom, the vampire's mind was elsewhere. While she would've preferred it to stay focused on the lesson at hand, she found it quite difficult to ignore the thoughts in her mind.

The reason being because of the fact that her dreams were plagued with fire, as it was the night before she left for Grimwood's. Fire, evil laughter, screaming... and the worse part of it was that half of the time, she would've even be able to see anything, which was quite unusual for a dream. Figments that were not visible, but were audibly quite real. It also didn't help that she could almost feel the flames engulfing her body. To make matters even worse, it was mixed in with the sensation of being stabbed and sliced by what felt like waves of knives. It took most of her willpower to not immediately start screaming as she finally managed to wake herself up. A quick glance over her body afterwards confirmed that she was not injured. Not physically, anyways. It was not normal for her dreams to feel so... real.

"...-bella? Sibella, did you hear me?"

For what seemed to be the first time in a few minutes, she blinked, the voice of her teacher bringing her back into the conscious world. The first thing she would process was the fact Miss Grimwood was staring at her, arms crossed as she had a stern, yet patient, look on her face. Apparently, she had asked a question and expected the vampire to be quick to answer, as she usually was. Either that or she finally took notice of her eyes glossed over, lost in thought.

A quick glance around the room would reveal that the other students were curious about Sibella's silence. Usually, with her answers, she'd be helping everyone understand the material better, or at least be able to follow along. Even Winnie seemed a little more alert by not having her daze snapped out of by Sibella's explanations of mathematics. Naturally, being ever the graceful one, she quickly composed herself, clearing her throat and answering as if nothing was wrong. "Ah, pardon me, Miss Grimwood. I believed I zoned out a little. Been awhile since I've last had sustenance, you see," She explained calmly. She felt like it wouldn't be wise to make anyone nervous about her dreams, though. At least not yet. Sibella thought that if they persisted, she would come forward about them.

Miss Grimwood raised an eyebrow, finding her answer somewhat satisfactory as she smiled and continued her lesson. "Well, lunch is after this class, so we'll be sure to find something for you. Until then, could you answer the question on the board?"

Sibella nodded and provided the answer, almost effortlessly. With that, the lesson continued, the vampire finding her focus working back towards the lesson. The other girls, while turning back, would now begin to worry for their friend. It was definitely not like Sibella to act like that, even when she hadn't had blood lately. There was something wrong, and it didn't seem like she wanted to let them know about it just yet. A silent gaze shared between the other four let them all know that they'd have to ask about it when they had private time.

________________________________________________

The investigation team couldn't help but stare downwards at the circle for awhile. Inside the circle, besides the odd detective, was a star, drawn in to match that of a pentagram. Unreadable symbols were also around the circumference, though oddly enough, there weren't any candles. A closer look from the team brainiac, however, saw small circles, possibly made from wax. If there were any candles, who ever set them there had removed them.

"Jeepers! Does this mean..?" Daphne exclaimed, trailing off her sentence. She honestly hoped that it wasn't something satanic, but with a slow nod from the ever grinning man, everyone would become quite shocked.

"Zoinks..! Like, do you suppose whatever was brought in is still lurking around?" Shaggy nervously asked, holding his scared dog in his arms as usual.

"Relax, guys, I don't think it's still here. At least, I hope not," Velma added, fixing her glasses and bending to the ground to get a better look at the circle. The detective and Freddie had done the same thing, both of them gently rubbing their finger along it.

"Jeez... this feels kinda sticky. It's also kinda... metallic. Is this...?" Freddie began, his eyes widening in fear of what he was touching. The detective nodded once more, sniffing his own fingers for confirmation.

"Blood. A thick amount of it too. Not surprising, since it's so cold," He said in his usual low voice, eyeing over the pattern of it all, almost appreciating it. Googie couldn't but imagine him putting his fingers to his mouth, tasting it. That nauseated her and decided to think of something else.

"Can you tell if it's... human?" She asked, starting to eye over her body a little, just in case whoever drew the circle happened to take it from her. Thankfully, she saw no scars or needle holes. Still, the case of where the blood even came from was still something that she felt like she needed to know.

The man glanced up and merely shrugged. "Googie, was it? Most blood smells the same. Whoever did this could've used any nearby wildlife. Wherever they got the blood, they did an amazing job with what they were doing..." He trailed off, giving the pentagram another admirable look before standing. A couple rolled their eyes, everyone slightly creeped out by his comment.

"Do you think we should let someone know?" Daphne pondered, using her phone flashlight to take another quick look around. "Even for a place like this, I doubt this is normal."

"Would it be wise to point this place out to the ghouls, or even Miss Grimwood?" Velma thought aloud, turning to look to her red-headed friend. "After all, whoever hid the key away did a pretty good job of making sure this room wouldn't be found. What if we tip off the culprit on accident and they make sure to keep the key hidden next time?"

Everyone shared an uncomfortable look, the detective raising an eyebrow at this. "Velma, are you implying that... this was the work of a student?" Freddie asked, looking perplexed. However, before she could answer, a different voice interjected into the conversation.

"Like, hold on a second! There's no way any of the girls did this." Shaggy's nervous waver was still present in his voice, although it was taking a back seat to his slight indignation. "I've, like, known these girls longer than anyone else here, man. While they do like a bunch of freaky, weird stuff, they, like, wouldn't ever consider something like this!" It somewhat surprised everyone to see Shaggy show his support in such an assertive manner (well, assertive for Shaggy, at least). His dog, still clinging onto his neck, nodding in support.

The others looked somewhat embarrassed, the thought of accusing those that they considered their friends to be in on this. After all, he did help stop an evil witch from brainwashing his students. The chances of one of them committing a heinous, Satanic ritual were slim to none.

To the detective, though, he merely shrugged again, starting to move closer to the group, out of the circle. "We can never be too sure, Shaggy. The circle isn't that old, and unless someone's been breaking into the school to commit a ritual..." He trailed off, eyeing everyone over with his wide eyes. They stopped on Shaggy, who looked like he was about to say something else, almost looking insulted. "But, as they say in court, innocent until proven guilty. The only conclusion we can draw from this is that someone's been busy."

When no one seemed to have anything else to add, the man kept walking towards the stairs. "In the meantime, I do believe the hour's almost up. Let's get out of here before anyone sees this place. Best to keep crime scenes as pristine as we saw it in, yes?" He continued, flashing his creepy grin at the group before heading up.

Everyone followed after, thinking about what he had said. It was certainly hard to digest that anyone in this school could consider doing such a thing. There were various factors, though, and none of them knew what they all were as of right now. Until then, they'd have to keep searching around the grounds, gathering information from the students if they could.

__________________________________________

Lunch today seemed to consist of a type of chili, though strangely enough, this would probably be their quietest meal time today. No one seemed to have much to talk about, the most common sound being heard was Shaggy and Scooby's noisy eating. At times, someone would ask another a simple question about the day or some random tidbit of information, but for the most part, everyone stayed silent. Mystery Inc. would bet thinking about where to investigate next, deciding to keep their discovery a secret from the ghouls for the time being. The detective was always naturally quiet, so it wasn't that unusual.

Sibella's thoughts began to wonder how and when to explain to her friends about her dreams, and whether or not she would share them with Miss Grimwood, Shaggy, or any of his friends. In the meantime, she'd eat her meal, gently grasping a nearby unlabeled bottle of some sort of thick red sauce, putting a generous amount in her bowl. Miss Grimwood kept her word, managing to find some proper sustenance for the vampire girl. As for the other ghouls, they kept quiet, knowing that all of them would confront their vampire friend about her strange behavior in class. Of course, despite how worried they all felt, one ghoul in particular seemed to be noticeably uncomfortable with the heavy silence that fell upon the table.

With twitchy eyes and an occasional manic giggle, Phantasma's eyes quickly darted between everyone, her spoon quite shaky in her hand. A few times, she was the one to try and start conversations with the others. Firstly, excitedly asking Shaggy if they found anything, to which he replied to the negative, quite bluntly for that matter. The second time, she had desperately tried to engage Sibella into talking about their previous math class, although not bringing up her moment of dazing off. Instead, she tried to ask her if she could help her study up on her math, to which the vampire kindly accepted, not saying much else.

While that would give her and her friends the opportunity to confront her about what's obviously been bothering her, the phantom's ears were still ringing from the amount of not-talking everyone was doing. Her hands shook more, eyes twitching like crazy as she kept scanning everyone in an insane manner. Why was everyone so quiet?! It was enough to drive her bonkers!

"Hey Phanty, like, are you okay..?" Shaggy decided to ask, stopping in the middle of his fourth helping to look at the twitchy ghost.

Immediately after he asked that, she yelled out something to finally break the silence. "I MADE AN INSTRUMENT OUT A BRAIN TODAY!" With how loud she said that, everyone immediately stopped eating and looked at her, taken aback by the sheer volume of her statement and, to those that weren't observing the class at the time, the strangeness of what she had just said. If it was quiet before, it was nothing compared to right now. Phanty, realizing her outburst, merely let out a few small giggles, feeling her mood deflate a little. She soon stared into her bowl, feeling very embarrassed about the whole thing.

Tanis felt sorry for her ghostly friend, reaching over to gently pat her back (or at least make the gesture of it, since she was a phantom). The little mummy tried to comfort her friend, feeling a bit guilty. "It's okay, Phanty. I think we forgot just how... uncomfortable silence makes you," Tanis said in a comforting manner. Her ghost looked up at her, giving a small, weary looking smile in response.

Of course, everyone else saw this, the ghouls deciding to casually try and start up conversations again. It seemed to work this time, everyone muttering to one another about the food, classes, progress on investigations, and other similar things. The detective remained silent, though, since he usually did.

____________________________________

After lunch was over, it wouldn't take long for Phantasma (who was thankfully brought out of her funk), to remind Sibella about a study session. Soon afterwards, Phanty giggled in her usual manner and floated through the ceiling, deciding to meet her there. Just as the vampire was beginning to walk up the stairs, she noticed that the other three were following. Once she gave a quick glance behind her back, cocking an eyebrow up in confusion, Elsa spoke up.

"Uh, hope you don't mind us joining," She requested simply. With a mere nod from the purple girl, she continued her ascent up to her room, the rest of her class in tow. She knew the exact reason why they were following her. She wasn't stupid. Sure enough, when she entered her room, she saw the ghost girl floating in mid air, legs crossed as if she were sitting on the floor, no math book to be found. While she gave a wide smile and a wave to Sibella, her eyes suddenly became very interested in whatever was hanging on the wall, avoiding her friend's stony gaze.

With a small sigh, she walked in and let every join her, making sure to shut the door and lock it behind her. Sibella turned to her friends, who had gathered in a small group, looking expectantly at her. Ultimately, it was Winnie who decided to get straight to the point.

"So, what's the deal?" Her tone wasn't meant to come off as too stand-offish, or even mean. It was just the werewolf's natural bluntness wanting to know what was bothering her friend. The vampire took a look at everyone's face, somehow knowing that it wouldn't have been long since the others caught on to her somewhat unusual behavior. Elsa's face was, as usual, very analytic, yet thoughtful. Winnie's eyes looked thoughtful as well, though her stance let Sibella know that she wouldn't want to wait long. Tanis was quite worried, looking up at her with her nervous blue eyes. Phanty had also gotten her attention back to Sibella, giving a little shrug with an apologetic look.

The vampire's face softened up a little, seating herself in a nearby chair as she let out a sigh. "Very well. It'll do me no good hiding this, anyways," She began, letting everyone else take a seat opposite from her. They wouldn't have to wait long before Sibella began telling them about her strange dreams. "It all started when I was still back at Castle Dracula. Everything was going as normal, up until the night before I left for Grimwood's. That night, I had a nightmare unlike any other I've witnessed in the past."

The others wouldn't interrupt, although they did share an uneasy look towards each other before looking back at Sibella, silently urging her to continue. "I could see flashes of fire, blood, and someone being attacked, although I have no idea by what. The biggest thing that perturbed me, however, was the fact that during most of the dream, I could not see anything, yet I could hear the sounds of someone being attacked by... something." She said, her eyes narrowing as she looked off to the side. Her hand rested on her chin, as if thinking about what could possibly be attacking.

Before anyone could interject, the vampire turned back to the group. "I could also hear someone, or rather, something talk to me." She paused, trying to remember what it said to her.

Tanis spoke up in a quiet voice, obviously quite nervous. "Do... do you remember what it said?"

The vampire looked to her and gave a small nod before replying with her answer.

"The fear you sense is nothing compared to what will soon happen.

Nothing can be done to stop what is already in motion.

Unless you feel the need to join my cause, you will fall with the others."

Sibella did not continue afterwards, letting her words sink in. Winnie's eyes were wide open, unsure of what to make of her statement. Phanty and Tanis shared a scared look to each other while Elsa kept her chin in her hand, thinking to herself. It wouldn't be long before she looked back up, a serious tone in her deep voice. "You had this dream again recently, didn't you." It wasn't formed into that of a question, and more like a statement. It was the only logical conclusion to be made, since Sibella had taken the time to tell her friends about her dream at home.

Sure enough, the vampire gave another nod. "Yes. This time it was much more severe though," She replied, shifting around in discomfort. "You see, while the dream was ultimately similar to the other one, the voice was much more sinister and evil. What's worse is that I could feel the fire. And I could feel someone attacking me."

Winnie straightened up, as if ready to run over to her. "Are you okay?!" She quickly exclaimed, concerned about her friend's health. Thankfully, her friend gave a small smile.

"Don't worry, Winnie, I'm perfectly fine. I didn't even wake up with a scratch." Her smile turned back into a thoughtful frown as she leaned back in her chair. "Still, it all felt so real. I'm worried that if I have that dream again, it will only get worse."

After a few seconds of quiet, Phantasma spoke up, using a serious tone of voice that was rarely used for the ghost. "It couldn't be... her, could it?" Everyone knew exactly who she was talking about, although Elsa was the one to answer her.

"Shouldn't be. After her castle exploded, there were no other indicators that her magic continued to exist. Her castle wasn't rebuilt, there were no signs of her spider-bats. We threw her wand into her cauldron, destroying her source of magic, for the most part," She explained calmly.

Another few seconds of silence passed, Tanis looking at Sibella with a desperate look. "Sibella, you have to tell Miss Grimwood about this. Whatever it is can't be good."

Sibella gave a small nod, but sighed and crossed her arms. "I've considered it, but it just doesn't feel right to make her worry about something like this."

Winnie huffed and crossed her arms as well, rolling her eyes. "Listen, Sibella, now's not the time for keeping this kind of thing from her. Like you said, things could get worse. You've gotta stop this brooding and let someone know."

The vampire knew her werewolf friend was right. Just like she had told her friends, she needed to let her headmistress know. Still, bringing it up would be quite uncomfortable. She felt like her teacher was already busy enough as it was teaching her students most of their classes. It felt wrong to pile more worries onto her.

Phanty snapped her fingers, her usual semi-cheery voice back. "Hey, I've got an idea! Why not tell Coach? Him and his friends are sure to know what's going on!"

Elsa gave a nod, a small grin forming. "Yeah. Besides, maybe this connects with their mystery in some fashion."

"We did say we would help in any way he can..." Tanis added, hopefully egging the vampire on to confess to someone about her odd dreams. Sibella figured that everyone would come to this conclusion eventually, as she had that exact same thought herself.

It would definitely help them, of course. Sibella stood up, deciding to ride out her discomfort and swallow her pride. "Very well. It would make me comfortable if you all went with me, though." Of course, everyone got up, willing to follow her out. A small smile of confidence grew on the vampire's face, glad that her friends were there for her. She just hoped Shaggy and his friends would be able to help.

__________________________________________

Mystery Inc. would watch as the ghouls made their way upstairs, leaving them time to plan things out a little. Shaggy was slightly confused by this, but didn't figure too much of it. They'd just get more training in another day. For now, though, the whole group was sitting in the living room with Miss Grimwood, doing a sort of interview.

While they all decided to keep their recent discovery a secret, it wouldn't hurt to see if there were any more potential secret areas to the house. Of course, the headmistress was happy to help, sitting with them and doing her best to answer any questions. Strangely enough, though, when Freddie asked about secret passageways, Miss Grimwood merely shook her head and answered in the negative.

"I've lived here for most of my life, and unfortunately, I haven't had time to create one. It would certainly help me a lot, though. I could always use more room for books and classes," She replied with a small laugh, sipping at some tea. Everyone else had a cup as well, though upon being told it was 'toadstool tea', none of them really made an effort to drink, save for Shaggy and the detective. The former because of the fact that he was used to the odd flavor, and the latter for curiosity's sake.

Her answer was quite strange though, as it obviously didn't go along with what they all saw earlier. Velma's mind began to think back to a book that only she and the detective had read. History of Grimwood. She didn't recall reading anything about secret passageways. There were paragraphs talking about how some were attempted to be built, but for some reason, a catastrophe would happen and seal it up. If that was the case though, why was the one they found earlier still in tact?

She lifted her head from her thinking position and asked, "How long have you lived here, Miss Grimwood?"

"I'd say a little over a century and a half," She answered simply, taking another sip of tea. This woman was definitely unnatural, if she was alive that long. "However, this place was here when I moved in and decided to form a school from it. It took a bit of 'cleaning out', but in no time I had this place up and running to where it is now." Miss Grimwood seemed quite proud of how she owned and ran her school. The question in Velma's mind was now what 'cleaning out' meant.

Before anyone else could ask something, they were greeted with someone clearing their throat. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything..?" Came the purr of a familiar vampire. Everyone looked over to see her descending the staircase, looking between everyone. Winnie was beside her, giving her a couple of nudged with her elbow, indicating something. The vampire flashed a look to her and kept moving to the group.

"Oh not at all, Sibella. What is it you'd like to ask?" Miss Grimwood greeted pleasantly. A smile did not form on her face, as she instead sighed, almost not feeling up to repeating her story again. Still, it had to be done.

"I think I have something that may help your case." She said, looking over to Mystery Inc.

___________________________________

"Where'd you say you saw it?"

"Da nearby graveyard! I was visitin' my granny's grave when I saw th' body!"

The deputy nodded, making sure to take down as much information as possible. "I see. We'll get some people out on the scene to investigate it." It wouldn't be long before he sent out officers to the graveyard, telling them to close off the scene of the crime and keep civilians away.

If this witness was correct, this would be almost similar to the last homicide that happened just a few days prior. The deputy sat at his desk, rubbing his forehead with a hand. He knew that he had to call him. He reached out for the phone and put in the number.

_____________________________________

Everyone listened to Sibella's story with intrigue. Miss Grimwood, Shaggy, and Scooby were obviously surprised with it, as well as how much it seemed to be affecting her. The wellbeing of a student was very important, after all. The rest of Mystery Inc. listened as well, trying to make connections in their heads. As the vampire stated, her dreams may be tied in some fashion to the murder. The detective made sure to record everything down, as if he were a scribe.

Once she was finished with her story, Sibella looked quite drained, finding herself an empty seat to rest in. Out of concern, Winnie remained close to her, Shaggy keeping an eye on her. She definitely looked more tired, though on the inside, it felt as if a small weight had been lifted. It really did help to tell them about her problems.

Miss Grimwood looked thoughtful, a finger tapping against her cheekbone gently. "Thank you for telling us about this, Sibella," She said in a serious tone. "Maybe it would be in our best interest to keep an eye out for any further dreams like this." She glanced at everyone else, her face not changing. "This goes for everyone. Do not hesitate if anyone hears, sees, or dreams something like that. Dreams are more powerful than one can imagine, and if the seem to deviate from how they normally act, than something is wrong."

Daphne turned to the vampire, voicing her own concerns. "Does your dad know? I figure a powerful vampire such as him would be able to help."

Sibella gave a small shrug. "I've told him about the first one, though I shrugged it off at the time. Still, he thought that returning here might be bad for my health."

"And you still came here..?" Googie continued, lifting an eyebrow of hers. "Is there any reason? Not that I don't trust your judgement, of course!" She quickly added, not wanting to offend the vampire by any means. "It's just that... it's clear you know what your visions could mean if they continued. It seems risky to stay as far away from home as you are with this going on."

At this, surprisingly, Sibella turned her head some, her face flushing just barely. "Well... this is a little embarrassing to say..." She muttered shyly before speaking up. "I... didn't want to be away from my friends." She finally replied, brushing her hair out of her face, trying to act as casual and nonchalant as possible. A quick look at the ghouls showed that they were rather touched by this, a few returning the look of a shy smile.

Phanty, being herself, couldn't help but exclaim, "Awww..!" Sibella flashed a grin to them at this. The rest found themselves quite touched by this too, with Scooby joining Phanty in her statement. In an instant, though, the detective had shut his book and got up in a sudden manner. Because of this, a few flinched, looking over at him in confusion.

Rather than provide an explanation, he pulled a hand into his pocket, muttering out, "Excuse me." He turned his back to the group, walking a short distance away as he pulled out what looked to be a cellphone, buzzing in a call. He answered the call with a quiet, "Hello?"

The rest of them watched for a couple of seconds before Freddie spoke up to everyone. "Anyways, thank you for sharing this with us, Sibella. Every clue helps, and to be honest, I think this may be our biggest one yet!" His confident grin was evident on his face, hoping to liven everyone's spirits a little.

"You're quite welcome. As much as it's been bothering me, I know that it'll help all of us get to the bottom of it." She replied, a genuine smile showing, flashing her fangs.

"Like, you can count on us!" Shaggy added, happy to see his students happy once again.

Miss Grimwood was quite pleased as well, slowly standing to her feet. "I'm glad as well! Now, I do believe it's time for our next class, yes?" Before anyone could make a move, though, the detective returned from his phone call, a hand covering his mouth in thought. His eyes remained wide open, though it was unsure if his smile was still there or not.

"Yo, Freaky, what's the story?" Phanty called, curious about his sudden thoughtful look. The detective looked up at her, although not out of annoyance of the nickname. His eyes moved from her, to the group of ghouls, and then to the group of mystery solvers. He removed his hand from his face, his grin still as wide as it ever was as he spoke.

"There was a body found in a nearby graveyard."