#why did i go through the lengths i did for a silly found family anime

[head-empty-just-sigma]

hhhhhhmhmmhmmnnnnmmh Buddy Daddies is making me Think Thoughts and Feel Feelings

but i’m not gonna be doing any analyzing of the show or plot itself since 1. i know absolutely nothing about Japanese family/culture/norms/society in general and there’s plenty of amazing posts that talk about that already and 2. the show doesn’t really keep things hidden like a series like bsd does, so there’s not much to theorize about. so i’m not going to go searching for things that don’t exist in the story

however, what i am going to do is over analyze and look for things that probably don’t exist in the songs in the OP and the ED of the anime. yep. my brainrot is that bad

listen episode 7 did something to me okay

i think both songs symbolize Rei and Kazuki in their own ways, especially the OP since i think it encompasses both of them from the first to second verse of the song. the ED is where it really gets interesting, since for now it only really symbolizes one of them

🔺spoiler warning for episodes 1, 3, 6 and 7 and also basically the entire premise of both Kazuki and Rei's characters lol🔻

also long post warning. like, really really long post. i pulled out all the stops in my analyzing for this thing

The opening - SHOCK! by Ayase

fun fact Ayase is the vocaloid producer for the duo YOASOBI

So for this song I’m taking both the translated lyrics provided by Crunchyroll subtitles and the translation on the Miraikyun website I found while digging for reliable translation sources (I found… almost none for this song tbh). But I’ll include screenshots from the OP mostly for the first verse of the song that’s actually used for the opening of the anime.

So at first this song came off as lighthearted to me because the music itself is pretty upbeat and pop-ish, and while yes it is both of those things, the lyrics definitely tell another story of their own. The overarching theme is essentially the contemplation of what love is and what it means, and how the person singing isn’t able to understand love when they see it. They also don’t know what’s going on in another person’s head (who is potentially experiencing said love that the singer doesn’t understand). Immediately this makes me think of Rei’s character, in a couple of ways.

In his character PV it explicitly says that he’s someone who “doesn’t know love”, specifically using the character 愛 (ai) which is used for a more general type of love (could be family or other long-term relationships) and doesn’t necessarily have romantic connotations. This is a perfect example of how Rei, as a person, doesn’t understand the concept of “love” in general. It’s foreign to him, and it’s pretty obvious after episode 3 that he wasn’t raised as a normal child by his parents, he was raised to be a hitman by his father who wanted Rei to only refer to him as his “boss”. I don’t think I need to explain how much that would mess up someone’s perception of love in any sense of the word, and the anime actually does it for us by showing Rei as unfit for taking on a proper parental role in the makeshift family in the first few episodes. Hell, even in the beginning of episode 7 he seemed more like another kid in the house instead of Miri’s caretaker. He’s not used to being responsible for another human being, and it shows, but it’s because he genuinely has no idea about any of it since he doesn’t have any parental figure to base his standard of being a ‘parent’ off of. Kazuki is arguably the same in that regard, but he’s much more mature as a parent compared to Rei because he knows what it’s like to not have any parents or caretakers at all, and he wants to make sure Miri has good parental figures in her life so she doesn’t go through the same thing.

The lyrics in the first half of the song and the lyrics in the chorus can absolutely be used to symbolize Rei’s character here.

Rei does want to be a part of the family here, we solidified that in ep3 when he declared that he was Miri’s Papa. That was a key piece of character development for him, since before this we don’t see them interacting during the episodes as much as Kazuki and Miri do. So the lyrics about ‘wanting love’ is symbolic of him admitting to wanting to be a part of the family. The part about the city being ‘madly in love and excited’ is just how he sees things, since he was taught to never smile or really express any emotions for that matter, so everyone else is automatically more expressive than him. He stays home a lot to play video games nonstop and chain smokes through all-nighters when Kazuki isn’t there, and he also tries to go home before ultimately being dragged outside by Kazuki. The next few lines could symbolize how Miri entering his life turned everything he was used to upside down, and his perception of life is slowly being torn down by Miri as he learns what it means to love and be loved in a parental way. The chorus just further drives in the fact that he truly has no idea what ‘love’ is, literally saying ‘How the heck should I know?’, but also that he doesn’t entirely understand Kazuki and why he’s so adamant on being a good parent. The ‘I don’t know what’s going on in your head’ line is perfectly fitting for ep6 when Rei was questioning a lot of the things coming out of Kazuki’s mouth (same. ‘our genes’ bro what). He’s also dragged through shenanigans time and time again by Kazuki and despite his complaining, he goes along with it anyway. The line about being unfairly friendly could be towards Miri or Kazuki, since sunshine Miri accepted Rei as he is and she loves her Papa no matter how emotionally dead he is, but also because Kazuki is probably the only real friend Rei has (which is something I’m sure will be explored in a future episode. Hopefully). The last one is directed at Miri, since Miri is also able to drag Rei into playing with her and doing other things despite his reluctance (just look at ep3). However, he still very much acts like an irresponsible child and more like Miri's sibling that Kazuki also has to take care of, so he has a long way to go before he's any sort of model parent…

Kazuki on the other hand is 100% symbolized in the second verse of the song.

I will die on this hill because there’s literally no counter argument after ep7, where we are explicitly shown that Kazuki is clinging on to his past to his own detriment. He’s scared of changing because he’s scared of forgetting Yuzuko if he’s fulfilled by something else (his family). He also calls himself pathetic in ep7, connecting the line about laughing ‘at my pitiful self’. This part of the song truly captures how Kazuki feels on the inside for the first 6 episode and the majority of ep7. The chorus could be a bit different in regards to 'it's not fair that you're so friendly', since that could be directed at Karin because she wants Kazuki to be able to move on and be happy with what he has since she believes that that's what Yuzuko would've wanted.

The ending lyrics symbolize that changing and looking towards the unpredictable future is okay, but oh my god did the ending hit like a freight train after episode 7. Just. Just holy emotional damage. Oh. My god.

The ending - My Plan by DURDN

I was able to find a translation that was basically the same as the Crunchyroll one on Genius Lyrics to reference the second verse yipee but I also included screenshots from the ED itself of course

I cannot get over how impactful this song became as the ED, especially at the end of episode 7. It’s basically an entire episode dedicated to Kazuki’s backstory, which we were shown glimpses of back in ep1 for crying out loud. And oh my lord it did not disappoint, that’s for sure. Emotional damage for everyone. So much character development in one single episode. I just--it's just great. That's all I can say.

I love this image and it lives in my head rent free. Sleeping Rei is always 10/10

The song has a theme of accepting the future and that things are going to change, but that it’s okay because there will always be something consistent there, like a home to come back to every day. It also has a lot of references to love, like the 'I softly whisper a lullaby' and 'let's try to share our love together', which is symbolic of Kazuki as a father. It doesn't really have any romantic connotations at all, it's just wholesomeness. Plus 'I chased after you as you ran barefoot' is reminiscent of the few seconds in the OP where we actually see Kazuki running past other people going the opposite direction, and then following behind Miri with Rei at his side.

Also episode 7 really brings out the last 5 lines, from 'and it'll shine down on our sadness' to 'when the future is unpredictable'. That scene where Karin told Kazuki that he should move on and be happy with what he has because that's what Yukuzo would've wanted, and then the rain stops so the sun can come out and shines on Kazuki's new outlook on the future and accepting change... It's so fucking beautiful and symbolic. Not to mention it's taking place where he and Yuzuko first met, where she was his proverbial ray of hope when he was wounded in the rain, now the rain stops and Kazuki is able to see hope in his future with his new family. I just cannot express how impressive that is from a storytelling standpoint, and it's all literally just using the changing of the weather.

Also the line of 'maybe one day, you'll surpass me' could be referencing how Kazuki wants Miri to be able to have the things he never did: a family, stability, and that familial love. Kazuki is painfully self-aware that he became a hitman (and a malewife) because he grew up with no parents and had to fend for himself his whole life. He wants to make sure Miri never has to go through any of that, and have more opportunities that he never did when she gets older.

The ending song doesn't really fit Rei as a character, even in the part not used in the ED. The second verse is still very much relating to Kazuki and Miri's interactions day-to-day and him enjoying raising Miri, and knowing he'll be endeared by everything she does no matter how old she gets (like any other parent, I assume. idk I'm a Rei kinnie). But we know that Miri is changing Rei slowly, from ep3 when he begins to see what being a Papa means to ep7 when he learns that sometimes taking care of another human being can make you feel powerless in the face of a 'crisis'. Most other times we only really see him being a real parent to Miri when he's dragged into it by Kazuki, but ep7 showed him going from irresponsible second child of the household to going to Kyu-chan in a panic because Miri is sick and he has no idea what to do as a parent. Hopefully we get to see this built upon further in the coming episodes, even if we don't get to explore his backstory as much as we have Kazuki's this season.

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

Feeling like a family

Summary: Y/n visits Harry during his lunch break, letting him in on the relationship both her and Milo have with Xavier. Then they go to the zoo and have a little family day :) 

warning/ disclaimers: swearing, family issues. 

Things have been going amazing with Harry and Y/n. Ever since their date a couple weeks ago they have been seeing each other more and more. Harry has been coming into her bookshop while she’s working when he can. Just to surprise her and make her day a little better, sometimes he brings her lunch on the weekends and she visits him when he is spending hours after school hours grading art work and setting projects up for his students. 

It’s been new and exciting, and extremely fun. Not to mention the kissing has definitely been a plus. They went to have coffee with each other a couple days after their date, spending a good portion of the morning together. They have basically been inseparable since, Harry even invited Y/n and Milo over for dinner so they could all get to know each other better. Loralie was just excited to have guests that weren't family, and also to see a friend from school outside of school. She had a great time with Milo, they played together while Harry and Y/n cleaned up dinner together and snuck kisses in the kitchen. 

It's another Wednesday. Harry had Loralie and Milo's class now and he is letting them finger paint. It’s mainly been a calm class, he didn’t have to deal with much usually and if a kid did have a melt down the teacher and/or teachers assistant would deal with it instead of making Harry deal with it. “Looks great, Lora,” Harry says, kissing the top of Loralies head before scooting past her and walking over to his messy desk. He has papers, projects, markers, paints, all over his desk, even with all the time he spends after school he feels like he may never get it organized. 

“My mummy likes your daddy.” He hears, looking up to see Milo and Loralie talking. His cheeks turn crimson when he hears it, did they really give it away that easy? Their children now caught onto the fact that the two were dating? That was just embarrassing. “My daddy likes your mummy.” But that was more embarrassing. 

Harry ignores it (and the burning in his cheeks) and just hopes that the teacher will hush the class. He busies himself with cleaning his desk, trying to shove the papers into the drawers and file folders that they belong to but his mind is still distracted. He’s gonna have to tell Y/n that their kids know. The bell rings and he looks up from his desk. “Okay, you can leave your paintings where they are. I'll put them on the drying rack and you’ll get them tomorrow!” Harry sings, moving over to Loralie to kiss her cheeks and say a goodbye until he sees her at lunch time. “Bye daddy” she says, waving to him after kissing his cheek and joining her class. 

Harry laughs, letting out a sigh and putting the messy finger paintings on one of his many drying racks. It’s his lunch time now. He has to supervise lunch so he gets his break before everyone else. 

He wanders around his class room, doing random things and cleaning up his messes that he’s made from the two days of the week before him. He didn’t have plans for lunch, he would probably just have an extra big dinner. He’s happy to find Y/n cured his rumbling tummy when he sees her walking through his classroom. He smiles, chuckling at her big dramatic smile that was obvious teasing. “Hi, darling.” He says, leaning over his desk to press a kiss to her lips. 

She sits on the art table in front of his desk, setting two to-go boxes down. “Hi,” she says back, handing him one of the to-go boxes. “No sitting on the tables.” Harry teases while he reaches out to take the white Styrofoam box in his hands, quickly thanking her. “Suck it up.” She shrugs, her feet setting in the chair that was once tucked under the art table. “I just got you a sub and fries.” She says, plucking a chip from her box and taking a bite out of it. 

“Why Are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, of course.” He smiles, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze. She shrugs, tapping her shoes down on the chair while she pulls her food into her lap. “I forgot to put Milo's' lunch box in his backpack so I had to drop it off.” She says, making Harry smile. So he thought she would have lunch with him? She’s adorable. “So how’s your week been, babe?” Harry sings, sitting back in his big office hair and relaxing into it while he eats. 

“Fine. Milo's dad visited.” What?! Since when did he come around? And since when was he “Milo's dad” and not “Xavier”? Harry knits his brows, gulping down his food before he responds, a little nervous. Harry and Milo are best buds, they have grown closer and he’s tried to pay him more attention when he sees him in class as well, he doesn’t want their friendship to be ruined now, even though what he is thinking is selfish. Milo deserves a good daddy. 

“Since when does he come around?” He asks, Y/n rolling her eyes at his tone. “He’s a photographer so he’s always traveling the world. I mean he pays child support, he’s not a shit dad. I just have my own issues with him.” She says, her tone heavy with annoyance. Harry was under the impression that he was a horrible dad and didn’t even try to care for Milo, but now he hears he pays child support and visits? 

“I just thought he didn’t care.” 

“Well… he’s trying. Like I said he’s traveling the world so he can’t always see him but he pays child support and he’s trying to come around more. He did come over and take some cute photos of Milo though.” Y/n smiles, remembering how her baby posed so well for the camera. He was shy at first but then they found a stray kitty out on a walk and he was more than willing to pose with it. 

Harry nods, taking a bite out of his sub. He finishes his bite and wipes his mouth with the brown paper napkins, “Is he gonna take Milo for the night or something like that?” Harry questions. Y/n is happy that Xavier is trying to see him more but she doesn’t think she would be able to be away for a night, especially when he doesn’t see Milo that much anyways. “I don’t think I would be comfortable enough to let Milo stay with him, for now at least. But he’s flying off and leaving Friday so I don’t have to worry.” Y/n confesses, taking a bite of her sub while she waits for Harry’s response. 

“Yeah, I understand that.” 

They eat together before Y/n deems it time for her to go. Giving him a hug and a kiss goodbye before she heads out and opens the book shop back up, letting Harry finish out his day. 

*********************************************

Harry and Y/n had made plans to take their little ones to the zoo. Y/n told Harry that Milo had been going on and on about lions so it was the perfect time for them to go. Harry has packed up Loralies stroller, putting snacks, his wallet, and her diaper bag in the bottom carrier. Luckily (but also unluckily) Milo is at the age where he does not want to be in a stroller, every time Y/n tries to put him in it while they are out he complains and tries to get out of it the whole time. 

Harry had picked them up, driving about an hour to the zoo. Milo and Loralie babbled to each other the whole ride which made their parents happy- meanwhile they were just humming to the radio and making small talk the whole ride. 

“Are you ready to see the lions?” Y/n coos to Milo, pulling him out of his car seat and setting him on the ground, holding his hand so he doesn’t run off in the car park. Harry pulls Loralie out, pulling out her stroller from the back, preparing to put her in it. “No! I walk today.” Loralie says with a bit of aggression in her voice. Harry hands with his hand up defensively, “okay, but you're gonna want it after walking in the heat for hours.” Harry takes her stroller despite her not wanting to be in it, she takes Harry's hand instead, walking next to Milo. 

Their first stop is the stingrays, getting the food from the people who work there then getting down in front of the large pond to pet their slimy skin. Milo and Loralie giggle the whole time, pulling their hands away as soon as they feel like slimy stingray and making dramatic gross faces that make their parents laugh. The kids definitely had fun feeding them and petting them but Harry and Y/n instantly shipped them off to the bathroom so they could wash their hands. 

Next is the walk through aquarium, “come on, it's this way.” Y/n says, cooing down at Milo and fast walking toward the cave shaped aquarium. When they walk inside it's lit up blue. They look all around them and they see lots of fish, big whales, all different things. “Woah!” Loralie exclaims, making Harry laugh, kissing her cheeks. All of a sudden Milo breaks out in loud giggles, pulling at the length of her mom jeans. “Mama, Look!” Milo giggles, pointing to a fish sticking to the aquarium glass, looking like it's making a silly face at everyone. Y/n laughs, squatting down and wrapping her arm around Milo, resting a hand on his belly. “Let's go see them” Y/n says, pulling him up on her hip and kissing over his cheeks. She takes him over to the silly fish while Harry lets Loralie look around, staring above her at the large fish swimming by until she stumbles back. Harry catches her, standing her back up and taking her over where Milo and Y/n are, showing her the fish that Milo was trying to touch through the glass. 

“He's so cute.” Harry compliments, laughing at how Milo's is so obsessed with the silly looking fish. Y/n turns to look at Harry, thanking him cockily- taking all the credits for his adorableness. Harry bumps his nose with hers in a butterfly kiss while their kids are looking straight ahead. He gives her a peck while the kids are still distracted then he turns back to the fish. “Okay, it's time to go look at the animals!” Harry cheer, pulling Loralie off of the ledge she was standing on. 

They walk through the entrance of all the animals, seeing some monkeys. Loralie and Milo start to imitate the monkeys, giggling at each other and the animals. They move onto koalas, waving at the cuddly animals before they get to see the lions- this is what Milo has been waiting for. “ROAR!” Milo yells, trying to climb on the wooden fence between the people and lions. Y/n giggles at him, pulling him off the fence and on her hip. “You’re a baby lion, aren’t you?” Y/n coos, kissing his forehead. Milo nods before she pulls him in her hands, extending him out. “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!” She sings, making the boy giggle, roaring again before she pulls him back in, kissing all over his face, making him squeal and push away. 

Meanwhile Loralie wants to pet the real baby lions. She’s got a frustrated face on since Harry didn’t let her climb over the fencing and pet the furry lions. Harry can’t help but laugh at her. They walk a bit more, walking for a while until they go to their next exhibit. 

It’s all calm until Milo starts screaming. He sees a bird wandering free, it was a large blue bird with huge feathers framing its head. Y/n knew that the peacock was harmless, they wouldn't let it wander free if it was, but Milo was gonna be scared of it regardless. “No, no!” He yells, backing away from the bird, trying to scold it for just walking around. Y/n laughs while Milo grips onto her leg, wagging his finger at the bird and yelling at it for scaring him. “It’s not gonna get you, bubba.” She laughs, pulling him into her hip while they get to the penguin house. 

They walk into the cold penguin house, their noses instantly crinkling from the smell. “Brrr” Loralie says, running her arms up and does while her teeth chatter. Harry laughs, tossing her little jacket over her shoulder to warm her up. “Look at the baby penguin.” Harry coos to Loralie, holding her up to the glass so she can wave at the little puffins. “Tiny!” She squeals, waving at the baby penguins. 

“Yeah,” Harry laughs at her. “They are tiny, Lora.” He agrees with her, giving the back of her head a kiss before settling her back down on the ground, letting her wander off a few feet away to look around at the penguins a bit more before they leave and look at the polar bears. 

After the polar bears, they head to the gift shop, Loralie gets a purple bucket hat with a blue monkey on it and a stuffed penguin she named “tiny”. Milo got a shirt of the name of the zoo and a matching stuffed penguin that he couldn’t choose a name for just yet. 

They head back to the car, Loralie’s legs are tired on the walk but she refuses to go in her stroller, instead Harry holds her while they take the long walk back, one arm holding Loralie up to his hip and the other latched with Y/n’s hand while her other hand holds Milo's. Once they get to the car Loralie and Milo get buckled up in their car seats, sure to fall asleep soon. 

Harry and Y/n get into the front seats, their hands instantly finding the others. “I had a nice day with you.” Harry smiles, his face only inches from hers. Y/n blushes, giving his hand a squeeze. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun.” She says, focusing on Harry’s thumb rubbing at the back of her hand. They hear little whispers and giggles, turning their heads back to their little ones. “Kiss, kiss, kiss!” They whisper- chant. Their parents' cheeks instantly burn, looking back to each other with big cheesy smiles on their faces. 

“Well?” Harry shrugs, leaning in and pressing his lips to her. She giggles on his lips, both of the kids in the back yelling. “Ew!” Loralie says. “Gross!” Milo agrees. 

The parents laugh, pressing one last peck to each other's lips before Harry starts up the car. They had a good day together. Harry got closer to Milo and Y/n got closer to Loralie. It kinda feels like they are becoming a little family.

Hii!! if you liked this please reblog and tell me what you thought of it!! please let me know if you would like to be on my tag list!! and please make sure you have read the first two parts :) 

tag list: @romionefp @iaalien @hopeyoustaythenight @evanjh

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 127: Out of the Fire

At first James thought the concussive, ear-splitting shrieking noise was coming from him. He knew he wanted to scream, but the air felt lodged in his throat now, because he couldn't see Sirius! Had he been vanished into an unknown abyss for dying in this future!?

They were in a very dark room and something massive was moving about, a sunset was forcing painful light into their eyes from cracks around the edges of heavy curtains only illuminating movement but no distinct shape. The rank smell of several unidentifiable things left him gasping and wheezing and he just kept flailing madly around, he wouldn't stop until he found him!

Something painfully tight latched onto his neck and forced him to bend over double, he shrieked in fury, trying to pull away and blindly going for his wand, but he couldn't find it! He must have dropped it when he landed-

"Prongs, stop, moving," Remus hissed in his ear with more stress than he ever would have believed him capable of, hand probably white-knuckled on his neck, he was holding so tight and suffocating him a bit, but it was obvious Moony didn't dare let up.

Heart still thudding, the maddening scene of Voldemort murdering his brother slowly ebbed from his eyes to really take in their surroundings.

Buckbeak finally began to calm now that all racket had deceased, but he was still clicking his beak in fury even as all of them edged as far away as they could bent double. He was standing much taller than usual, and James's eyes finally adjusted to see him perched on a bed. There was fresh hay and sawdust all around, plus a bag of dead rats sitting where the pillows should, leaning against a wooden frame like a mock bag of feed. There were deep scratches in the posts, ruining whatever design had once been inlaid, like Buckbeak often rubbed his sharp beak against it. The real problem of why he didn't go back to his meal came apparent when they saw all the blood around him wasn't from his food, but a deep cut in his front leg.

Sirius finally came into view, and James breathed in relief and tried to move towards him, but Remus kept him in the forced bow with bruising force as Padfoot began gently, "hey there buddy, wow that looks like a problem. I bet it hurts, how'd you manage that huh? Come here Buckbeak, come on, I promise I'll summon up whatever your favorite is if you let me have a look."

Maybe it was the gentle tone, maybe it was the familiarity of the person even if he was several years younger, in Remus's opinion it was just Sirius's innate ability to soothe anyone if he wanted to with that natural charisma when he unleashed it and nobody could resist. Regardless, Buckbeak finally folded his wings and made a pitiful cooing noise as he nudged his head against his shoulder and shuffled forward on three legs while Sirius kept up his inane chatter and carefully climbed up beside him, never moving to fast.

There were already some bandages and cotton balls waiting open and ready at the foot of the king sized bed, Sirius ruddy hoped someone was up here helping the poor thing out. He could now only wish it was himself though, it would be the most useful thing he'd ever done in his life at this point instead of- nope! He was doing it now, taking every care to keep chatting with the hippogriff as he cleaned the wound and wrapped it up tight. He didn't dare draw his wand to try anything else, these beasts were notoriously shy about magic in their presence.

The others began cautiously rising back to normal, and Buckbeak allowed it as Sirius began hand-feeding him from the bag of rats. His tail was still thrashing, binocular vision able to track everything on both sides of his head, but he remained at Sirius's side standing on the bed rather than trying to chase them off, which would do no good, he'd already seen Evans try the door out of the corner of his eye.

James tried edging forward, but Buckbeak spat a dead rat in his face, tearing up his bedding with his good claw as he heavily pawed the ground. Sirius reached up and pat his beak while catching James's eye with the most comforting smile he could offer. "Relax Prongs," his tone was still more honeyed than it had ever been speaking to his best mate, he usually reserved such a thing for teachers he was trying to flatter out of detention. It never worked on anyone but this hippogriff before. "I'm, I'm fine-"

He couldn't keep lying, his voice shook and his fingers began to tremble and the restless animal easily sensed his distress and began ruffling his feathers in unease. Sirius quieted himself and began running his hand along the gray feathers now, stopping to scratch in between the shoulder blades and the back of the neck, those hard-to-reach places that had him almost cooing with content and finally relaxing into him.

No, he was not fine. Of all the trouble he'd ever caused his friends, this was by far the most grievous one yet, now with Harry added to the mix! His godson, his poor godson forced to see this, live Voldemort's pleasure of murdering him! All because he couldn't do one stupid thing right and suck it up in this house. Perhaps he should take a page out of Wormtail's book and start distancing himself from them, give them all a break from his never ending catastrophes!

They watched in distress as Sirius worked himself up to a silent storm, he was clearly making the animal ill at ease as well no matter the affection given, so when Smith grabbed the book up off the ground and began reading, both startled badly yet again. Buckbeak threw his wings to their full extent and shrieked at her while Sirius flinched and had no time to duck, earning the retaliation of being thrown into the heavy curtains and sent them all on top of him, throwing the rest of the room into sharp relief.

Out of the Fire, into the frying pan, Remus finished in his head as he and James rushed forward to help untangle him while the powerful horse legs kicked wildly at the wall, sending a splintering noise in the very foundation while the bellowing shrieks began again.

Alice dropped the book and immediately bowed in apology, mildly appeasing the hippogriff enough he didn't lunge off the bed to attack her at least. He still didn't seem able to settle though, making a keening noise of longing and clicking his beak as he began pacing restlessly on the bed.

It was the most splendid thing in here. The midnight walls had silvery threads in the design up to the ceiling like veins that seemed to seep right down to the canopy that was torn to shreds, but the grandeur ended there. Regulus had only been in here once to even know such a thing was in his parents' room, otherwise it was unrecognizable as all of their things had vanished. They were forbidden from entering, but obviously that hadn't stopped Sirius's purge of the house, which of course made perfect sense why Sirius had put his ruddy pet up here.

His brother smiled, just a bit when his mates got him back on his feet and he realized the same of his own destruction. Regulus longed to throw at him it was doing shit like this why he brought so much of his own troubles on himself, he'd never really tried to make peace with mum and dad. Instead he seemed to go out of his way to do things they dislike just to complain that they hated him.

Regulus cringed at the idea of going back and attempting the same. He'd never be so blatant and in their face at it as his brother, but he didn't much like the idea of them shouting at him the way they did Sirius if he told them he had other plans for his life. He still longed for some kind of peaceful balance.

Potter and Lupin both seemed reluctant to let him back out of arm's length, but the creature refused to settle until Sirius got back on the bed with him and snapped dangerously at anyone who tried to join him. Sirius offered him another rodent carcass and waited until he'd gnashed away at it before nodding back at Smith with that calm aloof air once more he was so familiar with, it was impossible to tell what he was really thinking when he shut down like that, just how they were raised. Mother may actually be proud of him at that moment.

Now his idiot brother was going to die because he'd been in this house too long and refused to listen to anyone, but at least he'd have someone around to notice like Harry and Lupin. The shock of it all felt like an insulting blow to his world view. Sirius was going to be murdered for doing the opposite of what he'd done, was there really no right answer?

She began again in an attempt at a soothing tone like his, and though the bird head was tossed in agitation, he didn't throw his companion aside again but allowed the noise as it did him no harm and her voice was very soft, with fear. She read with dread of poor Harry's panic as he tore off for the Hospital Wing for McGonagall, who wasn't there. She'd been transferred to St. Mungo's.

Harry only had Snape to turn to for help, and that idea didn't seem to be occurring to him as his friends caught up and he had to explain the whole maddening concept to them.

Regulus listened with pity for Harry having to live through this, but something else was ebbing to the surface as he watched the Potter in here. Envy. Sirius kept looking to him, offering him that carefree smile as he kept patting at the beast and even winking at Lupin like this was some joke, making silly faces and even starting to hum a tune under his breath as he continued scratching at the animal, and when he wasn't doing that he was just the haughty Black heir. For all anyone could tell his godson was out having a picnic with him. It was a very good farce a lesser person would have fallen for.

Sirius didn't even look at him. Not to gloat this was the proper way to go against the Dark Lord, not to sneer and mock him for being up in this room he shouldn't be or even to have a laugh about it. He'd known for a very long time now James Potter was his brother's equal in a way he never could be, but this hadn't felt quite so insulting until this very moment where he clearly wasn't even going to be a passing blip as his brother was probably over there pondering what his last thoughts would be.

Frank had his hands on Alice's waist as she read, holding her close as her voice trembled for Harry's pain. They didn't even know Sirius, not really, they felt they had a better understanding of the man he'd become through Harry than the teenager who seemed so determined to ignore the proceedings.

Their aching sympathy though didn't dim their downright confusion at the circumstances. He caught Lily's eyes and saw the same confused expression as she watched him, Hermione's pertinent questions that had no effect on Harry had the three of them very worried something about this wasn't feeling right.

Sirius shouldn't have been leaving this home for this plan to be possible, but this was the same man who'd broken out of Azkaban, that part wasn't so unbelievable no matter who told him what. Why would You-Know-Who need him to get this weapon though? That was a very stumping question, and one they hoped they weren't privy to. If Harry dipped back into the other's mind and heard, the answer would give no relief to these transgressions.

Ron's answer was, plausible, but one look at Regulus didn't make it hold much weight. He'd been killed very soon after his entrance, it seemed laughable he'd even been in You-Know-Who's presence, let alone had some key of knowledge.

Ginny and Luna arriving stopped the impending argument, Harry was so desperate with anger by now that it was a miracle a plan was agreed by all to use Umbridge's fireplace to check this out.

The only one he spoke to for his troubles was Kreacher, laughing about the entire painful situation. Sirius really wasn't there, and now they may get a live version of hearing the great and mighty Black turn out like them if he was tortured while Harry was forced to watch. Neville now being in the very room with them nearly made reality splinter before their eyes.

Lily finally dragged her eyes off of James Potter's white face and buried her own away in her hands so she didn't have to see his reaction when Harry finally remembered Severus Snape was a member of the Order. She didn't even believe anymore he would have helped Harry, she didn't believe much of anything anymore. Here she was, nearly crying in sorrow for these two and only able to imagine her poor son losing someone again, and hating her best friend, what on Earth was this future? How could it be possible something like this could exist?

Something in her sparked traitorously as she looked back up when she heard him lying to Umbridge. Veritaserum was far from the only truth serum, and for him to pretend he wouldn't have any others was laughable. She turned mechanically back to Potter to see his silent screaming was still in full blast, but his wand was in Lupin's hand and he didn't even seem to care. Even the simple fact that he hadn't a reaction for Severus and only had eyes for his best friend felt right to her. If he'd gone about insulting him now, at a time like this, she'd know he was heartless. Instead she was now reasonably confident, almost hopeful again that Severus really was still in the Order for Dumbledore's secret reason rather than any plot of You-Know-Who's. Sev had no reason to lie to Umbridge and help Sirius anymore than he would Harry, but that's exactly what he was doing.

Harry seemed to miss this revelation, he watched his potions teacher go with the purest loathing once more, and she couldn't blame him, after everything Snape had done to her boy. She wrapped her arms around herself as if torn in two. Was this just another false wish then? She still wanted to see in him that childhood friend? It didn't excuse what he'd called her, but maybe if he really saved Sirius Black's life it would show he wanted to change...

Alice nearly shrieked and wanted to throw the book away from herself when Umbridge's next solution was to use the torture curse on Harry. Buckbeak was still no calmer in the heavy environment and glowered at her, but Sirius was quick to keep his attention, a murmuring promise of more spoils for him as soon as he could. He was starting to lose his composure though, they could all see the cracks now. He wasn't even looking at his best mate anymore, his fingers were trembling in the soft texture and his hair was covering most of his face.

The two had once been each other's salvation in escaping Hogwarts, Sirius fought the mad desire to try so now. Throw open that window and ride off into the sunset on the back of the hippogriff, maybe animals could come and go from this nightmare.

He knew he couldn't though, he felt like a coward for even thinking it. His friends might be better off without him, but damn it all, even Hermione was coming up with quite the story to Umbridge's face and got Harry out of that situation, the three of them heading off to the Forbidden Forest! If that girl, who hadn't even wanted to help him moments ago, thinking Harry was having some nightmare, could manage that, he'd suck it up and be there for them any way they wanted him.

[pulaasul]

Lightning and Nexus

Billy, as Captain Marvel, was patrolling Fawcett city when he came upon a glowing red hexagon near the train station where he first met the Wizard Shazam.

Naturally, he investigates.

FFN I Ao3

Preface: Not at all related to my Justice League Unlimited in the DC Animated Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover, but I'll be using the Billy Batson of that crossover but minus getting sucked in during Endgame.

If you want to read the fic, it's called "Undo".

--------

Billy was just minding his own business, he was patrolling Fawcett City when he noticed an eerie red thing glowing at the alleyway near the train station where he first travelled to the Rock of Eternity. He cautiously approached the glowing hexagonal thing.

Upon closer inspection, the red hexagon had tints of blue around it.

He cautiously tried to reach out it when the Wisdom of Solomon warned him of it.

That was when he learned that the glowing red hexagon was a combination of spells that were cast by the homo magi from before the Salem Witch Trials.

"Mom! H-he-help me!"

Billy could hear two voices coming from the hexagon, two voices that the Wisdom of Solomon supplied to be coming from children.

"SHAZAM!" Billy shouted

Thunder cracked as lightning lit up the night sky before lightning struck Billy's champion form.

Billy soon found himself, as a fifteen-year-old, inside the Rock of Eternity.

"I'm sure the Wisdom of Solomon has informed you that those were cries of help young Billy Batson." The Wizard Shazam's ghostly form appeared sitting on the lone throne.

"Is it safe?"

"You are the world's mightiest mortal young Billy Batson." The Wizard offered, "The gods, your benefactors, through the nexus of the multiverse has provided you with the power."

"Nexus?"

"A being, place, or thing that is outside the confines of time and space," Shazam explained. "The constant in every universe," Shazam's ghostly form approached the teen. "Only you and your family can pass through the nexus of all realities, even a lord of order like Doctor Fate will have trouble passing through there."

Billy looked a bit reluctant as he processed what the wizard told him.

"Young Billy, what does your heart say?" The wizard asked his young champion.

"I want to help."

"Then you go help."

"What about this universe? What about Fawcett City?"

"I'm sure young Mary and young Freddy are up to the task."

Lightning struck the ground a few paces beside Billy before he saw his twin sister and best friend stood the ground where lightning just struck.

"Billy? What's the emergency?"

"Young Billy is about to travel to a different universe." Shazam informed the new arrivals.

"Travel?"

"Different universe?"

"A hexagonal portal just appeared in Fawcett," Billy supplied. "It's a call for help."

"You want to help them, don't you Billy?" Mary sighed.

"And we're called here so we can pick up the slack." Freddy raised an eyebrow. "We'll be this world's champion of magic while you go dimension-hopping to help someone in need."

"This show of humility and selflessness proves that I chose well in you young Billy." Shazam's ghostly form smiled.

"What about me?" Freddy pointed out. "I get why Mary was called here but without Billy, no one would give me Shazam's powers."

"Freddy's right, Billy shares his powers with Freddy," Mary nodded.

"Do not worry young Freddy, you'll still be able to transform into your champion form even if young Billy is not in this universe." The Wizard assured.

--------

Not before long Freddy, Mary and Billy were in front of the glowing red hexagon in their mortal forms.

"I trust that you'll take care of things here." Billy smiled at his best friend and sister.

"Don't worry Billy, I've got the league handled." Mary assured his brother.

"And I'm taking care of everything else." Freddy proudly announced.

"Oh please Freddy, we're taking care of everything in Billy's absence." Mary rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, what about Pedro, Eugene, and Darla?" Freddy voiced out. "They'd want to know where you've gone to, especially Darla."

"Not to mention Batman would go to great lengths to find where you've gone," Mary muttered to herself. "He might commission Superman's services to check the areas where technology is still sparse or outright non-existent."

"Just tell everyone that the wizard sent me somewhere to restore order," Billy instructed. "As the Wizard was once a Lord of Order."

"Wouldn't they ask Doctor Fate about that?" Freddy questioned.

"Doctor Fate is the least of our worries," Billy shook his head. "We have to worry about how Constantine is going to react."

"Why Constantine?"

"Because he's as unpredictable as sorcerers and homo magi go, one of the rare homo magi that have been to hell and back," Billy answered. "Just tell Constantine everything from my encounter with this thing." He gestured to the hexagon.

"Tell the family and Constantine the truth then tell everyone else that the Wizard sent you somewhere to restore order." Mary summarized the instructions.

"Got it one Bill." Freddy grinned.

"So this is goodbye?" Mary asked.

"For now." Billy smiled at his sister. "I promise that I'll come back."

"SHAZAM"

Lightning struck Billy Batson, and Captain Marvel was standing where the young boy stood.

"I'll leave everything in your hands." Captain Marvel smiled.

Captain Marvel reached out to the glowing red hexagon and braced himself for what was about to happen.

All Freddy and Mary could was watch as Captain Marvel was yanked into the red hexagon even when he was already approaching it.

----------

Captain Marvel found himself in an empty street wearing some sort of cosplay of his hero costume; form-fitting red shirt and red form-fitting trousers, bright yellow belt, and boots with a big black lightning bolt with yellow outlines printed across his shirt.

Thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon, he was able to identify that he was supposed to be in some sort of sitcom-like reality, and apparently it's just starting their Halloween episode.

"SHAZAM!"

Lightning struck the heroic captain and was replaced by his mortal form, Billy Batson.

Billy was wearing a smaller version of the outfit he was wearing as Captain Marvel from the form-fitting shirt to the bright yellow boots.

Billy shook his head and decided to forego thinking up of theories and possibilities like he used to when he was fighting with the Marvel family and ran straight ahead.

As Billy was running he noticed few people were out and about, standing stationary in their places. He narrowed his eyes and approached one of them. He waved his hands in front of one kid, trying to get a reaction but to no avail.

He tried to do the same from an adult but to no avail. He even tried poking them in areas he knew most people were ticklish but he barely got an 'eep' from them.

Not a moment later, everyone around him started moving, children running around going house-to-house trick-or-treating some adults were putting up Halloween decorations in their lawns.

"Sorry boy, I didn't see you there," The adult he was just poking earlier stated. "Let's get you to my front door."

The adult escorted Billy to the house.

"Trick or treat!" Billy exclaimed, trying to blend in.

"Here you go boy, you're costume looks great, a circus performer right?"

"Yeah! I just love them! Especially that one family that does all their acts together." Billy grinned.

It didn't escape Billy's notice that everyone started being responsive and moving when a woman in red walked with what seems to be her family.

-----------

Billy continued trick-or-treating but he kept passing by the odd family. Apparently, the man the lady was with was her twin brother and the two boys were her children. The four of them were dressed in costumes that one would find in the pages of a comic book.

From passing by them constantly, he was able to put faces on the voices he had heard back in Fawcett city. The other boy's voice back then was just overpowered by his brother's voice. They were clearly trying to get some help, they were trying to call their mom to help them.

Acting against his better judgment, he decided not to approach the family.

It can never be said that Billy can't learn from his mistakes or the mistakes of others. He knew that he did the right thing when he and Superman fought because of Luthor's machinations. He just hoped that Superman can learn from his own.

That was during this moment that Billy noticed that all his candy were gone and he was covered in silly strings. He looked at the family only to find the red woman talking to a man in a zombie costume. He looked around his surroundings and he can see the blue and red streaks breezing around his immediate surroundings.

-----------

Night came, and the family was at the town square and they pointed at Billy as if they finally found him.

"Mom, that's him." Billy heard the boy with the red cape exclaim.

The family approached Billy and handed him a handful of candies.

"Now boys, what do you say?"

"We're sorry," The Maximoff twins apologized. "We won't do it again."

"It's fine," Billy smiled at the twins. "I understand the feeling of having all the candy to yourself especially on Halloween night," He stated. "What do you say that you two split the candy you got from me earlier?"

"Really?" Tommy looked at Billy expectantly.

"Are you sure?" Wanda asked.

"I'm sure," Billy nodded. "It's my fault that I wasn't attentive that you were able to steal my candy," He grinned. "I've been an orphan for years and that was basically what I first learned after running away from my uncle. It's my fault for letting my guard down after being sent to a foster home here."

It wasn't a complete lie, after Billy ran away from his uncle Ebenezer, one of the very first things he learned was how to guard all of his things and make sure that none of them end up getting stolen. Ever since Uncle Dudley took him in and then by the Vasquezes, his guard had been lax.

However, Billy knew that super speed was applied during the Maximoff twins' candy heist, but they didn't need to know that he knew that.

Wanda glanced at her twin brother and frowned.

The Maximoff twins looked at each other then looked at their uncle.

"If you're sure." Wanda nodded, unsure how to process the information. "What is your name?"

"I'm Billy Batson." Billy introduced himself.

"No way!" The other kid exclaimed. "My name's Billy Maximoff!"

"No way!"

"What should we call you little dude, I don't think we can call our Billy any other name." Pietro offered.

"You can't even tell the difference between us." Billy Maximoff fired.

"Hey! I've been here for a day only," Pietro defended himself. "You can't blame me if I can't tell the difference between you two demon spawns."

"You can address me as Batson, my family name." Billy Batson suggested.

"Now boys, what do you say to Batson after he graciously told you to keep the candy that you stole?" Wanda asked her twin boys.

"Thank you, Billy." The Maximoff twins expressed their gratitude.

"It's no problem," Billy grinned. "Gotta run, I have a few more houses to get to, assuming you returned the candy you stole to the others." He gave off a smirk. "See you around."

"See you around Billy!"

-----------

As soon as Billy was a distance away from the Maximoffs, he can sense something different from the twins and their supposed uncle. It may just be the Wisdom of Solomon leaking out to his mortal form, but he just had this feeling.

Billy nodded to himself as a plan formed in his mind.

"SHAZAM!"

Billy transformed back into his champion form of Captain Marvel. He flew upwards and gained a fair distance from the ground.

He looked around and finally found the family he was looking for.

It seemed like the feeling he had as Billy was right. The Wisdom of Solomon has informed him that the boys were mere constructs, living constructs, of the mother.

The uncle on the other hand has a different feel from everyone he had encountered so far, minus the Maximoff twins. It felt like he didn't belong in this universe, just like he was. Then there was the fact that he the man was showing signs of magical possession, and Wanda, the mother of the twins, was none the wiser.

But before he could even take action, he saw that the boys approached their mother frantically which was followed by Wanda blasting her supposed brother with red energy.

It looked like Wanda has just realized who the man was.

The next thing Captain Marvel knew was that everyone around Wanda, minus the twins and the man who was just blasted away stopped moving in the middle of what they were doing as if time had stopped for them. Someone was even jumping when they froze in the air.

A pulse of red energy was released from where Wanda stood and engulfed everyone it came in contact with.

When Captain Marvel came into contact with the pulse of energy, which was when things clicked into place.

Magic.

Wanda was casting magic through sheer willpower. She simply has to think of what she wants and the magic, as if it was subservient to her will, would follow her desires to a T.

It was a good thing he was in his champion form or the red magic would have placed him completely under Wanda's control and cast him to a role in this reality-warping magic. The rock's magic protected him from the supposed effects Wanda's magic would have had on his mortal form.

As soon as the effects of the pulse subsided, everyone was suddenly walking to their respective houses all robot-like with no conversations, no laughter. They were just like machines ordered to go back to their storage centers.

----------

Captain Marvel soon found himself in the morning when everything has changed shape as if trying to depict a certain era: buildings, advertisements, even the cars were changed.

He ignored the fact that it was suddenly morning and decided to fly around the area and see what the effects of the red magic pulse earlier was. Much to his surprise, the area seemed to have expanded as there were areas that weren't present before.

Captain Marvel decided to descend near where the circus was situated. He saw, an unconscious man?

A machine?

A synthezoid?

A synthezoid that emanated the same magical signature as the twins, which would mean this man was also a product of Wanda's magic.

He was about to approach him when the circus became lively. People were coming out of circus tents and started practicing their supposed routines and acts.

-----------

Only a few short moments have passed and the machine woke up from slumber and approached the woman in chains, her supposed role was that of an escape artist considering the ease she showed in escaping from the chains she was previously bound in.

A few more moments of observation, the synthezoid pressed two fingers on the woman's temple. It unscrambled the magical energy that was lingering unto her heart and brain, suppressing it.

Captain Marvel was about to approach the duo when he noticed what he was wearing. It was certainly something. He was now wearing what Clark Kent would wear when covering stories. He supposed that Wanda's magic rewrote his clothes into that of a journalist considering that he was a radio reporter himself, despite the rock's magic protecting him from further alterations.

He shook his head and decided to approach the duo who were now about to board an ice cream truck.

"Excuse me." Captain Marvel called out. "William Batson from the Daily Planet, I would like to ask the escape artist some questions."

"Sorry," The machine apologized. "We really have to go, we were double booked."

"It's fine, this is an ambush interview, and I could ride with you to your destination." Captain Marvel bargained.

"Fine, he can come with," The former escape artist acquiesced.

The ice cream truck moved and both persons talked to each other as if they didn't have any other passenger with them. This does work to his advantage, he didn't have to ask any potentially triggering questions that would be detrimental to anyone involved.

"This was fueled by grief." Captain Marvel shared his conclusion.

"Wha-?"

"I'm sorry I had to lie earlier," Marvel apologized. "I didn't lie that I was supposed to be a journalist set to cover the circus in town but I knew that I didn't have the same mentality as the rest of them," He admitted. "That gist of what I knew was that I was suddenly in a place where people acted differently."

"You noticed that we acted differently from the others, that's why you approached us." The man in red surmised.

"That's the gist of it."

"What do you mean this is fueled by grief?" The woman asked. "I'm Dr. Darcy Lewis by the way."

"I'm The Vision."

"As far as I know, based on your explanation, this Wanda person seems to have more powers than what was recorded: telekinesis and telepathy. Why not say that her power evolved through grief or even say that her powers are magical in origin?" Captain Marvel offered.

"Magic would make a lot of sense," Darcy nodded. "Especially considering what's happening."

"A sitcom-like reality where nothing dangerous or traumatic ever happens." Captain Marvel nodded along.

"I'm still stumped on that fueled by grief part." Darcy frowned.

"It makes the most sense, according to you, five years ago this universe experienced an extinction-like event that erased half of the universe's population out of existence and it wasn't until a few months ago that those who got their existences erased returned."

"For Wanda, when she returned, my death was only a few minutes earlier."

"And in turn make your death only a few months old from her perspective," Darcy concluded.

"Grief has five stages and Wanda's on the first stage of grief – Denial." Captain Marvel somberly stated. "Add that with magic, and she can essentially deny the reality of her losses."

-----------

As the conversation inside the ice cream truck evolved to a myriad of topics, they waited for the group of school children to pass through the intersection. Captain Marvel must admit, if he wasn't being subjected through these circumstances, he would get a good laugh about this situation.

Not a moment later, Vision the synthezoid, flew upwards and phased through the truck's roof and left Dr. Darcy and Captain Marvel inside the truck.

"O-okay, meet you there." Darcy remarked belatedly.

"Dr. Lewis, I suggest you hold on tight." Captain Marvel suggested as he exited the truck from the back door and lifted it up in the air.

"Gaah! What are you doing?!" Darcy exclaimed in surprise.

"Getting us to our destination faster."

Captain Marvel lifted the truck off of the ground and flew towards the direction where the Vision flew.

------------

Captain Marvel placed the ice cream truck at the town square where a lot of Westview's citizens were living their days as they cast of Wanda's sitcom reality.

"Take a minute to compose yourself then do what you need to do." He instructed before he flew off.

Captain Marvel flew towards a strong magical presence, not of Wanda's, that's filled with mal intent. The feeling he got from this magical presence was the same feeling he got from facing one of the seven deadly sins way back when.

Captain Marvel utilized the speed of mercury and increased his flying speed that he was able to overtake the Vision and see what was happening near Wanda's residence.

"Let my brother go!" Captain Marvel heard Tommy demand as both he and his twin struggled from the purple strings tied around their necks. "

Captain Marvel summoned a lightning bolt to his hands and threw it towards the strings that connected the noose to the floating woman's fingers, cutting the captive boys free.

As soon her twins were free, Wanda immediately launched two red energy balls at the woman, knocking her back a few meters away from where she floated.

"Go to your room boys." Wanda ordered.

"Mom, we can help." The twins protested.

"Listen to your mother boys." The woman remarked as she got up from the pavement just by planting her feet on the ground.

"But-"

"I'll take them home." Captain Marvel volunteered.

The lightning hero flew towards the twin boys and carried them under his arms towards their residence.

"Who are you? How do you know where our house is?" Tommy frowned.

"Never mind that boys, you need to get inside while I go help your mother."

Captain Marvel left the boys and tackled the woman in purple robes and actively utilized the Wisdom of Solomon once more.

The woman before him was Agatha Harkness, an ancient witch from the Salem witch trials. She dabbled in magic that was above her station that cost the life of her entire coven when they punished her for going above her station.

"Another magician in the midst." Agatha smirked.

The purple witch sent out a pulse of purple energy that sent Captain Marvel flying towards the sky however she failed to notice the flying car that Wanda had summoned and slammed her into a nearby house.

By the time Captain Marvel was able to regain his bearings from being unceremoniously blown away from where he was, he immediately flew back to where he knew Wanda was at only to be greeted by the Vision flying towards a white version of himself and Wanda chasing after Agatha.

Captain Marvel was about to chase after both witches when he saw clear signs of magical tampering on a certain house. He flew towards the top of the house and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"SHAZAM!"

As thunder cracked on an otherwise clear sky, he immediately flew away from the structure as the lightning he summoned dispelled whatever magical spells the house was under by way of a purple-tinted glass dome shattering to pieces.

As soon as the purple dome shattered, the lightning hero could feel insidious magic emanating from the house, magic that would even make the Lords of Chaos back in his home universe giddy with excitement.

Marvel shook his head as he immediately headed for the window at the top of the house in question only to be greeted by a woman straddling a man.

"Nice to meet you, Ralph."

"Hello, Peter." Marvel greeted.

"H-how…"

"None of that right now, Peter your speed is needed now," Marvel ordered. "I fear the residents of Westview are going to be caught in a crossfire between a fight amongst witches, and robots, once the dome we're in opens, I need you to transport all of the civilians outside."

"Gotcha!" Peter nodded.

"As for Captain Marvel…"

"You mean me? I'm not her." Monica raised an eyebrow.

"Right, Danvers is the Captain Marvel of this universe." Captain Marvel muttered to himself, "You're on guard duty, your powers can be used to protect the civilians unlucky enough to get in between Wanda and the other witch."

"How will I get there?"

"You're going flying with me."

"See you on the flip side." Peter saluted before speeding off towards the town square.

----------

Monica and Captain Marvel flew towards the town square only to be greeted by a screaming Wanda Maximoff, whose magic seemed to strangle the crowd that formed around her.

"Wanda, control your magic," Captain Marvel called out. "I know grief can be drowning and this magic is the only thing keeping you afloat but you need to control your powers so you won't hurt others in the process.'

Wanda looked around and saw for herself what was happening, everyone around her on the ground struggling to breath.

"No! Stop!" Wanda forcibly dispelled the spell that she unconsciously cast on the townspeople. "Stop! I'm sorry."

Captain Marvel nodded to Monica as he set her down on the nearest sidewalk, intending to assist Wanda.

"I will, I will let you go, I will." Wanda remorsefully nodded.

"What's stopping you?" Agatha inquired. "Use your power and do it now." She urged the grief-stricken hero. "Heroes don't torture people."

"You've done enough damage, Harkness." Captain Marvel growled.

The lightning hero summoned a lightning bolt to his hand and threw it right at the purple witch, missing her by an inch. He summoned another one and threw it in the same direction.

"Were those supposed to hit me?"

"No, they weren't."

As if on cue, the billboard behind Agatha started to crumble and fell towards the witch. He knew that the witch was able to save herself from the oncoming fall, but it was enough distraction so that he can tend to Wanda.

Before he could even approach her, Wanda screamed and summoned a pillar of red magic that pierced the skies, opening the hexagonal dome that trapped all of Westview.

"Go!" Wanda ordered. "All of you! Now!"

"Peter now!"

Two by two, Peter Maximoff carted off the residents of Westview just outside the premises of the dome as military-grade trucks entered its premises. The speedster ignored the people going inside in favor of getting the residents out of the dome Wanda has created.

As the surroundings flickered back and forth to different eras, Captain Marvel was vigilant and observed everything. Even with the powers of the gods at his beck and call, he still doesn't know where Harkness would soon reappear next.

He was a bit surprised when the Vision plummeted towards the ground, slowly but surely disintegrating. He soon witnessed Wanda's twin boys arriving, also sporting the affliction that plagued their synthezoid of a father.

The recent turn of events has made Captain Marvel come to a conclusion: All of Wanda's living constructs are tied to the dome that she created. Dispelling the dome would technically kill her family as well.

The family that kept her afloat from the sea of grief within her.

"Now do you see?" Agatha appeared in front of the downed billboard. "You tied your family into this twisted world, now one can't exist without the other."

"Mom!"

"Boys!"

"Save Westview or save your family?"

Peter managed to return to the dome and nodded to Captain Marvel.

"Wanda, close the dome!" Captain Marvel ordered. "Every man, woman, and child of Westview has been evacuated."

Wanda looked at her husband and sons, and that was all the motivation she needed to close the dome that was slowly and but surely killing her family as painful as possible.

With the dome closed, the Vision, Billy, and Tommy Maximoff reformed to their original states.

"M-mom!"

"Mom! Are you okay?" Billy Maximoff asked his mother.

Wanda simply hugged her boys as a response while the Vision hugged his family.

"Really?!" Agatha growled, sending a beam of purple magic towards the family.

"Oh no you don't"

Captain Marvel threw a car to intercept the purple beam and exploded as Wanda erected a red shield to protect herself and her family.

Agatha didn't give up and sent another purple beam towards the Maximoffs, this time Peter reacted and was able to whisk away the younger twins with the lightning hero grabbing both Vision and Wanda.

"It makes me wonder," Agatha spoke. "How come I haven't absorbed your magic sorcerer?"

"I know how your absorption magic works Harkness," Captain Marvel responded. "You're not getting a whiff of mine or any more of Wanda's magic."

"Let's see about that." Agatha smirked as she fired off purple balls of magic towards Captain Marvel, all of which were dodged.

As Captain Marvel dodged every attack that came from Agatha, military-grade trucks came running before military personnel exited their vehicles and pointed their guns at the Synthezoid-Human family in the center.

"Listen, boys, your mother and I never really prepared you for this." The Vision started, eyeing the military personnel pointing the guns at him and his family.

"But you were born for it." Wanda finished.

Vision flew towards his differently-colored counterpart as Wanda and the twins stared at the military before them.

As Captain Marvel continued to dodge the purple balls of magic coming towards him, some of the military people pointed their guns at the flying beings in the sky, namely himself and Agatha.

With one final purple ball, Agatha shifted her attention to the gun-bearing men and lifted them off of the ground.

"Same story, different century." Agatha scoffed. "There will always be torches and pitchforks for people like us Wanda." She smirked as she faced the lightning hero.

Agatha dispelled the floating spell she cast on the military men, with gravity doing the rest of the work for her.

Captain Marvel was quick to save a few of them, as did Peter who was watching from afar not knowing what really to do next, but there were some of them left who would surely plummet to their own deaths.

Wanda was quick to act and saved the remaining few with her magic and stopped the momentum of their fall before unceremoniously dropping them on the pavement.

"Boys," Wanda faced her sons. "Handle the military, mommy will be right back."

Wanda flew towards Agatha.

The military turned their guns on the Maximoff twins but Billy Maximoff already had a plan in mind. He immobilized everyone from the military, who were pointing their guns at him and his twin, through his magic, while Tommy used his super-speed to steal their guns, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses.

"Right on, my dude!" Peter praised.

"Uncle P?" Tommy questioned, unsure.

"Not exactly kid," Peter shrugged. "But close enough." He grinned.

Another person exited his vehicle and pointed his pistol right at the celebrating kids.

From a distance, Monica was riding the ice cream truck with Darcy as they helped Peter in evacuating the residents of Westview, saw what the man was about to do.

"No, no! That Hayward!"

"What about Hayward?" Darcy questioned when she noticed what her passenger was doing. "Monica! What are you doing?!"

Monica ignored Darcy's questions, and the fact that the vehicle she was in was still moving, and exited it before rushing towards the boys, leaving behind a golden streak, and placed herself between the twins and the man firing his pistol.

The bullets passed through Monica before falling just behind her, losing their momentum, but one lone bullet whizzed past her, helpless to stop as she did the bullets before.

Billy Maximoff used his magic to stop the bullet in its tracks before he dropped it to the ground.

"Nice tricks." Monica praised.

"I like yours too!" Billy Maximoff returned the compliment.

"I'll take this."

Captain Marvel landed before the man, Hayward, and grabbed the emptied gun from his hands and crushed it all the while glaring at the man who dared to shoot at children.

Hayward scrambled to get to his vehicle to make his hasty escape. He was able to successfully drive the car backward only to be slammed by an oncoming ice cream truck, stopping him dead on his tracks.

"Have fun in prison." Darcy quipped.

Monica was quick to rush to Darcy's aid, even if she still didn't know how to open the door that was most likely slammed shut from the driver's stunt earlier.

Billy Maximoff knew what to do, he immediately used his magic to open the door as Monica helped the relatively unharmed driver out of the truck.

With the de-facto leader pinned inside his vehicle and the other military personnel deprived of their guns, and he just saw the white version of the Vision fly upwards, Captain Marvel instantly knew that the remaining threat was the witch, Agatha Harkness.

Captain Marvel looked around and there he saw Agatha looking down on the Vision, his kids, her supposed husband, Monica, and Darcy. He was about to charge when he saw Wanda approach the unsuspecting witch, albeit creepily, and whispered something to her ear.

The next thing that happened was Wanda and Agatha jumping off of the roof before flying towards the sky.

Wanda began attacking Agatha, firing off red energy balls, some of them hit the other witch right on the chest while some outright missed.

Vision and Captain Marvel flew towards Wanda only for her to cast a dome right at the both of them, which the lightning hero was able to evade leaving Vision trapped inside the dome which left him with no choice but to land back towards his sons, hugging them.

"What are you doing Wanda?" Captain Marvel shouted.

That was when Captain Marvel realized, he looked at the places where the energy balls hit every time Wanda missed Agatha.

Wanda was casting runes, magic dampening runes.

Runes that would make any other sorcerer, witch, or wizard incapable of using their magic once inside them.

Before Captain Marvel could react, Agatha started the process of absorbing Wanda's magic.

A few moments passed and it seemed like Agatha has absorbed every ounce of magical energy inside Wanda as she floated lifelessly in her place.

"About our deal, once cast, the spell can never be changed. This world you made will always be broken." Agatha blinked. "Just." She raised a lone finger. "Like." She pointed at Wanda. "You."

Agatha raised both of her arms, intending to deal a finishing blow towards her opponent, but once she placed her arms forward, her spell failed to materialize.

She repeated her actions but nothing still happened.

Wanda slowly straightened her body as the effects of having her magic drained on her body faded and reflected her age, with a slow turn of her wrist, the runes Wanda has cast beforehand revealed themselves.

"Runes?"

"In a given space, only the witch who cast them can use her magic." Wanda quoted Agatha. "Thanks for the lesson.

Agatha glared at Wanda.

"But I don't need you to tell me, who I am."

"No, no, no." Agatha panicked.

An ethereal red crown appeared on Wanda's head as magic around her, including the magic that Agatha has absorbed from Wanda and various other witches, were going towards her.

It took everything in Captain Marvel's power not to get swept up in the magic absorption that was happening but he successfully landed on the pavement, albeit on his knees.

"SHAZAM!"

Thunder cracked as lightning flashed the sky, not a moment after, lightning hit Captain Marvel's chest, much to everyone's shock, to which he turned back into his mortal form, Billy Batson.

"No way!" Billy Maximoff exclaimed. "You're that lightning dude!"

"Yeah, I'm the lightning dude." Billy Batson nodded.

"How?" Darcy questioned.

"How did you do it? Did you just de-age yourself? Why would you go back to being a kid?"

"Slow down." Billy Batson chuckled. "To start with, I'm Billy Batson, I turn into lightning dude, I call myself Captain Marvel while in that form."

"Captain Marvel? I thought I heard you say 'Captain Marvel of this universe'."

"He also mentioned how this universe experienced an extinction-like event." Darcy chimed in.

"Who are you Billy Batson?" the Vision questioned.

"I'll explain once Wanda's done with Agatha." Billy smiled at the group.

As Billy, Darcy, Monica, and the Maximoffs, including Peter watched how Wanda close this threat.

"So what now? Just gonna lock me up somewhere?"

"No."

Billy tensed at Wanda's response.

"Not somewhere."

"Wanda no," Billy immediately spoke up. "I know it can be tempting to exact vengeance but that will never satisfy you, it may bring temporary relief and closure, but it's just that, temporary. You just have to believe that if you're good, good will follow."

"Here." Wanda paid no heed to Batson's outburst.

"Here?" Agatha questioned.

"I'll give you the role you chose, the nosy neighbor." Wanda approached Agatha.

"No, please!" Agatha begged.

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," Agatha scoffed. "You're cruel."

Wanda ignored Agatha's last verbal stance and approached her some more.

"No you, you have no idea what you've unleashed, you're gonna need me." Agatha bargained.

"If I do, I know where to find you."

"Wait, wait, wai-"

Wanda touched Agatha's left temple and a red swirl of magical energy morphed Agatha's whole appearance to that of an unassuming person.

"Hiya hun, say, that's some kinda get up you're wearing," The woman who was known as Agatha grinned. "Did I leave the oven on, is that just you, hot stuff?" Agatha chuckled.

"You live here now, no one will ever bother you."

"Okay dokey, artichoke."

"I'll be seeing you, Agnes."

"Not if I see you first, hun." Agatha-turned-Agnes fired back.

"Mom!"

The Maximoff twins ran towards their mother and hugged both in joy and relief. Wanda returned the hugs with kisses on both the boys' foreheads.

"So it would appear that our dream home has been reduced to a fixer-upper," Vision commented. "I know you'll set everything right." He looked around. "Just not for us."

"No," Wanda shook her head but in affirmation. "Not for us."

"It's time, should we head home?"

"Yeah."

Darcy, Monica, Billy Batson, and Peter looked at the family of four with sympathy, especially for Wanda. They knew that this will be the last time they'll see this family.

Wanda looked at the four of them but only nodded in acknowledgment.

Monica and Darcy simply nodded back at them.

"I promise you'll get your answers, but there is something that I need to do first."

"I'll take you there."

Peter placed his hand on Billy's shoulders before they disappeared from view.

-----------

"Boys… Thank you for choosing me to be your mom."

Wanda turned off the lights and closed the door.

"SHAZAM!"

Billy transformed back into his champion form and entered the boys' room. He looked at their sleeping forms as they were slowly but surely disintegrating one piece at a time as the barrier of Wanda's dome inched closer.

Captain Marvel raised his arms sideward, each hand hovering over one of the boys. Harmless bolts of electricity seeped out of his hands and made contact with the Maximoff twins.

Captain Marvel was going off of what he did to Freddy years ago, after his fight with a villain resulted in broken bones and losing a grandfather. While he may not have fully healed the broken leg, it did protect his best friend from further injuries even as Freddy Freeman.

Despite the minimal amount of contact Captain Marvel had with the boys, both as Billy Batson and Captain Marvel, he knew that the Maximoff twins were sentient and possess a soul of their own, and they just lack a body.

As they were beings constructed with magic, there is a high chance of them being used against Wanda, and he was hoping that what he was doing to them, that by sharing a small amount of divine magic to them, would protect them from malicious beings that would use them against their mother.

As soon as he was done, it took everything for Captain Marvel not to keel over from the experience. He might have done something more, something unexpected, to the boys and the experience was draining, to say the least.

Captain Marvel looked at the boys for one more moment and that was when things clicked, thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon. He left a small imprint of himself, of Billy Batson, on the magic that he shared with the Maximoff twins.

All things considered, it was probably for the best, now he knew that the boys would have someone else with them, regardless if that someone was just a small projection of his mortal self, at the very least the boys won't be lonely by themselves.

Billy knew loneliness and no one deserves that fate, especially not children who chose the Scarlet Witch as their mother.

With everything done, Captain Marvel exited the boys' room and shouted his magic word before transforming back into his fifteen-year-old self.

Almost as soon as Captain Marvel returned to his mortal form, he and Peter made contact with the contracting dome of magical energy as everything transformed back into what it should be: including the disappearance of the house in front of them, leaving one Wanda Maximoff standing at the center of the lot.

Peter immediately approached the grief-stricken mother.

"Can I hug you?" Peter asked.

Wanda simply nodded, still unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Why did I have to lose everyone dear to me?" Wanda muttered to herself.

"I can't give you an answer to that myself." Peter rubbed Wanda's back.

"You're not Pietro." Wanda removed herself from Peter's hug."

"I'm not."

"Why do you have his power?"

"It's because he's your brother in another universe." Billy answered.

"Batson."

"What do you mean another universe?" Peter frowned.

"Ask Wanda of something you're sure to exist." Billy urged the speedster.

Peter decided to humor Billy and looked at Wanda.

"Do you know of a Professor X?" Peter asked Wanda. "The X-men?"

"Professor X? X-men?"

"You mean to say that there are actually multiple universes out there?" Peter exclaimed at Billy. "There's no way mutants don't exist!"

"Mutant?"

"You're standing in one Peter." Billy smiled.

"I'm a long way from home." Peter realized.

"Who are you Batson?"

"I'm just someone from another universe who's here to answer a call for help," Billy answered. "And no, it's not someone from Westview or the people from the military." He sighed. "Frankly speaking, I don't think I'm done with this."

"Not done?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure myself, it's just this feeling I've got."

In truth, the Wisdom of Solomon who alerted Captain Marvel had informed him that he wasn't done just yet. Billy does have a sneaking suspicion that he may have travelled to a point in this universe before the boys, Wanda's twins, were asking for their mother's help.

"How did you come to this universe, Peter?" Billy asked. "I came here through a hexagon portal in red of my own free will."

"I'm not sure…" Peter trailed off. "I was on an en errand by Professor X when I felt like one of my sisters needed me," He admitted. "The next thing I know was that some woman approaching me and forced on me a necklace then I found myself at your doorsteps claiming to be your 'long lost brother'."

"Sisters."

"It's possible that you responded to Wanda's grief and pulled you out of your home universe." Billy hummed.

"Did I… No." Wanda gasped. "I promise that I will send you both back to your home as soon as I understand my powers."

"No need to rush sis," Peter grinned. "I can wait."

"As I said, I came here of my own free will," Billy repeated. "I can wait, maybe even assist you."

"No, I need to do this on my own."

"I understand," Billy nodded. "But if you need me, you can simply cast one of your spells and I'll immediately come to you."

"Count me in on that too."

"I have to go." Wanda excused herself.

"We'll go together." Billy smiled.

---------

As Wanda walked towards the town square of Westview, she has her hood up as if hiding from the glares the citizens were giving her.

Billy and Peter tried their best to shied Wanda from those stares. No matter what they did, it won't erase the fact that they were held hostage by someone who should have been their hero. The feeling of betrayal was there, and Billy was familiar with that kind of feeling.

Especially after his bout with Superman years ago.

Wanda approached Monica.

"They'll never know what you sacrificed for them."

"It wouldn't change how they see me." Wanda sighed.

Monica simply nodded, agreeing with Wanda's sentiment.

"And you, you don't hate me?"

"Given the chance, given your power, I'd bring my mom back." Monica nodded. "You know, I would."

"I'm sorry, for all the pain I caused."

"I know,"

"I don't understand this power, but I will."

Wanda looks around her before looking at Monica's eye.

"Goodbye, Monica."

"Bye Wanda."

Wanda turns her back on Monica before transforming her clothes into something else and flew off to who knows where.

"As for the both of you." Monica looks at Billy and Peter. "Care to tell me who are you both?"

----------

"Let me get this straight, you two are from a different universe, different from this one." Jimmy questioned.

"Seems to be the most plausible explanation," Peter shrugged. "Seriously, no one here knows about mutants or even the X-men or even the brotherhood of mutants."

"Where are you from then Billy? If that even is your name."

"I came from a universe where one of our heroes dresses as a bat." Billy shrugged.

"A bat? Seriously?" Peter snickered.

"Hey I was an orphan who was given these powers by a wizard, I'm not one to judge on why he dresses as a bat."

"No more joking this time." Jimmy groaned.

"I'm not joking." Billy told the trio seriously.

"And so am I." Peter nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I'm still lost at 'the different universe' part."

"Yet you're not at all surprised that the Norse god of thunder is part of your hero lineup." Billy raised an eyebrow.

"He has a point." Darcy conceded.

"Why are you here Billy?" Monica took over the questioning. "What about your home universe?"

"I've got my family to pick up the slack." Billy smiled.

----------

"M-mom!"

"H-help us!"

"I don't know if Billy can last much longer."

--------

Somewhere, Wanda in her Scarlet Witch costume, opened her eyes as it glowed red.

[seodami]

Our story | LSM

Part 2

This is our story. From the day we met till the day we part. Black on white, our most precious moments, never leaving us. I love your forever.

LSM

Genre: Fluffffff

Warnings: none

Word count: 2271

Pairing: Idol!Lee Seokmin x fashion student reader

Note: Here is the second part and I have to say I really enjoyed writing this, imagining how easy and funny it must be to talk to DK :)) what would I do to talk to him once :’) Enjoy!

Previous | Next

Our story Masterlist | MASTERLIST

You both were frozen in your tracks for a moment, you still panicking about what to say or do and him wondering why there was a stranger in his kitchen.

Seokmin hadn’t been feeling well since yesterday evening so since he was feeling even worse this morning, Seungcheol and his manager wanted him both to stay home for at least today until he felt better. He wasn’t exactly keen on staying in an empty apartment alone all day, especially when he wanted to be a part of their schedule. It often made him feel lonely and miss his members. It was stupid honestly, he thought. He saw them everyday and often needed his alone time at times, but he still felt so empty without anyone around.

He was still sleeping when he faintly heard the doorbell ring. Yet he thought it was just in his dream. But when he soon later slowly woke up due to noices from the kitchen, Seokmin wondered if their aunty might have come and would make him a warm soup for his sore throat.

So with still messy hair and puffy face, he made his way over to the kitchen with tiny steps, just to be greeted by a strange face of a girl he never saw.

“O-oh my god. I’m so sorry. I thought no one was home?” You stuttered out totally embarrassed to actually be caught. That was your doom day. Dokyeom found the rambling rather endearing, yet he cautiously made his way over to the kitchen aisle, you were working on.

It took you by huge surprise how handsome and cute this man could look at the same time. Were all idols this pretty?

“Uhm... hi... I don’t want to sound rude but I really... have no idea who you are.” The boy a few feet away from you came to an halt. His voice was a tad hoarse and he sounded a bit sick. He let out a shy chuckle, clearly feeling somewhat uncomfortable in this situation.

Little did you know, the little voice in his head was laughing at him how ridiculous and ugly he must’ve looked with his bare face right after bed. Seokmin had always had his insecurities about his body or face. He never seemed to fully like the way he looked. He would cringe so much looking back at his old childhood pictures, when he had a few pounds too much on him. It just never dawned him how his fans would call him handsome. Most of the times he would just smile and thank them but never really accepting their compliments, thinking it must be the good make up or the stylish hair. Yes, that must be it.

And now standing in front of a pretty woman, he felt it in every fibre of his body and it made him unbelievably uncomfortable.

“Oh... Right... I am Oh Jangmi’s daughter. Nice to meet you.” You quickly muttered, not daring to look him in his eyes for more than a second. You bowed as you typically did, seeing him bow as well.

“Oh aunties daughter? She told us a lot about you. Nice to finally meet you. I’m Dokyeom.” His uncomfortable face was immediately replaced by the brightest smile, you had ever seen. You swear, in that moment, your heart melted in an instant. You heard your heart beating loudly in your ears, unable to grasp this mans beauty. Never ever have you seen such a dazzling smile in person.

“Is aunty not coming today?” He asked curiously leaning against the other side of the aisle. He was way too close for your liking. And you were definitely still panicking. This man was more than gorgeous.

You shook your head, noticing his hoarse voice. “No unfortunately s-she broke her foot on the way here and went to the hospital. So she... asked me to step in for her. She will be coming tomorrow again though.” You completed your sentence while only taking short glances at the male in front of you, who was giving you 100% of his attention. You were more than flustered.

A worried expression replaced his smile. “Oh no... is she alright?” Your heart made a small jump.

You nodded with a small smile, fiddling with potato in your hand. He noticed and hummed. “Do you need help cooking? I mean... I’m not the best but I can chop vegetables without chopping my fingers off I guess.” He smiled at you once more. If he would keep smiling like that, you swear, you wouldn’t be able to see tomorrow.

You let out a small giggle, still denying his offer. “Ah no... it’s fine really. I’m just making jajangmyeon. And you sound like you’ve caught a cold so I won’t be bothering you with doing anything.”

You quickly placed the potato in your hand on the cutting board and started slicing it into small cubes.

“Yeah I actually did. It’s not really pleasant to be honest.” Dokyeom said before caughting in his elbow as on queue.

“Wait a second. I’m gonna make you a tea. I’m a pro in dealing with colds, trust me.” You insisted, already reaching for the water boiler to fill it up with fresh water.

“Thank you. You really don’t have to though.” He giggled coughing again.

“No I want to. I’m sure you will feel better after this tea. I made it every time my siblings were ill.” You smiled at him, feeling already a tad more comfortable with this man, you literally just met.

Seokmin took a seat in one of the high chairs on his side of the kitchen aisle while watching you chop the vegetables. He noticed how soft your hair looked like, falling gently onto your face. He took his phone out to check his messages. There were just a few from his manager about their usual schedule and some silly messages in their group chat. He softly giggled reading through all of them, wondering how he even got friends like this.

You couldn’t help stealing short glances here and there at the beautiful man, noticing how he swept his fluffy bed hair with one hand out of his face. Something about him was immensely attractive and you couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was. But hell no, you were not going to develop a crush on a man you literally met one time. Nope. All idols would probably have this effect on you, right? They weren’t idols without a reason.

Soon enough you finished Dokyeoms tea with a last pinch of fresh mint leaves and handed it over to him with a smile. He thanked you, white teeth showing and crescent eyes forming. Melting, definitely melting.

“Wow... It’s very good.” He carefully slurped from the warm tea. You sent him a bright smile, deep down thanking your tea making skills you’ve even improved thanks to your job at the café. That was definitely a pro from working there.

“I sometimes work in a small café, so I had plenty of time to practice. I probably could make you every drink you want.” You laughed while taking out a frying pan to avoid his interested eyes following your every movement.

His laugh mused in with yours. “I always wanted to know someone, who could just magically let all the drinks I wanted appear in my kitchen. Thank god I stayed at home today.”

You both were pleasantly surprised how easy talking to each other was. There was a spark of fun in your conversation, which you both couldn’t get enough of. There weren’t many people you knew, If any, who you just clicked with so easily. It was definitely weird but you liked it.

“The food will still take a bit so you are free to make one more drink wish.” You chuckled, glancing over at Dokyeom leaning his head in the palm of his hand.

A genuine smile was displayed across his lips. “Mhh I have to think, this is a very important desicion, I don’t want to make a mistake.” You both snickered in unison. My god, how were you getting along so well with him?

“Alright, you still have exactly 28 minutes and a half to decide.”

“How generous, I will think about it.” His smile was even brighter now, it was impossible not to smile. There was just something about it that gave you an enormous serotonin boost and transformed you into one of these giggly anime Highschool girls. The bad thing was, you didn’t even remember acting that was after experiencing such a rush of being in his proximity. You liked it more than you could have imagined.

However, this was just the starting point of your wholesome conversation this day. It all just came so naturally, you nearly forgot to keep cooking. Seokmin on his side felt incredibly happy compared to his usual happy demeanor. He truly enjoyed your back and forth conversations and he felt greatly satisfied, seeing a bright smile or hearing you laugh because of his comments. It was at times like this when he remembered how much he missed talking to new people, especially when the two of you were obviously on the same wave length. He kept forgetting that he probably shouldn’t talk that much when he was sick but he just couldn’t stop, even if you mentioned it more than three times already. He enjoyed it that much.

You two talked about funny stories of your mom, ridiculous ones of the other members (you really wouldn’t have expected an idol group to be this funny) and also about your own interests, hobbies and families. You snorted when he told you how their trio Booseoksoon sang one of their songs at his sisters wedding in order to make the married couple kiss. The more you got to know each other, the more you forgot how time actually flied.

He even begged you to stay and eat with him when you finally finished cooking, which you hesitantly accepted after seeing his pleading puppy look. What did you get yourself into?

While eating, you told him excitedly about your new fashion projects, you were working on. He was more than hooked listening to every detail. He always loved it when people told him about their passion and he could clearly see that this was yours with how vivid your eyes were beaming and how big your smile grew. It secretly increased the warmth in his heart more and more.

It was the same look he had on his face as he told you about his fans, their next album preparations and the amazing concerts all around the world. You just loved listening to him, even though you both probably finished eating since over an hour already. Sitting so close to him while looking at his dark shining eyes made your brain just automatically foggy.

It only was when your friend and roommate Minji called to ask where you were for your groups project meeting, that you realised how long you actually let yourself swaying in Dokyeoms presence. You were already over half an hour late to your meeting.

You quickly told her you were on your way and hung up, while carrying the plates to the sink. Seokmins sad eyes followed you as he stood up to help you. “You have to go?” He asked immediately, now standing next to you, taking the plates out of your hands, while towering a good piece over you.

You nodded with a sad smile, suddenly feeling every effect he had on you even stronger.

“Yeah I’m sorry. I already stayed way too long. My group is going to kill me.” You tried joking. He chuckled, searching for your eyes.

Seokmin knew when he was interested in a person and it even was obvious for him that you sparked a deep interest inside of him after today. He just knew he wanted to see you again.

“I really enjoyed talking to you. It’s rare to have such a nice conversation. I literally forgot time.” His rich chocolate eyes met yours. “Yeah, I feel the same...” you chocked out, heart beating way too fast again. What was it with your heart today?

“Are you coming over again or...?” He asked almost timidly while fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He looked adorable. Absolutely adorable.

You sent him a shy smile, shrugging your shoulders. “Maybe... I am kind of busy this month because of work and university. But... I would love to talk to you again.” A sudden wave of confidence hit you and took even you by surprise.

A sigh of relief was heard from his side and you giggled. “Thank god. I really wanted to ask you for your phone number.”

God he really was adorable. Such a cutie.

With a grin, you searched for a piece of paper and a pen nearby and quickly scribbled your number onto it. You really had no worry about him being secretly a creep so why not.

“Here you go. Oh and I still didn’t make you your second free drink, so make sure to text me with your order.” There you both went into a giggling mess again.

“Will do. It’s all I’m thinking about.”

So after swiftly cleaning the plates together and saying goodbye and also telling him to get better soon, you made your way out of the building with such an energy, you had no idea where it came from. But you loved how you felt after spending time with Dokyeom. And you were definitely looking forward to your next meeting.

[thebiasrekkers]

Make It Right [BTS Mafia!AU]

Plot: “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?

Rating: NC-17 // NSFW

Genre: Series | Mafia!AU | Crime!AU | Angst | Romance/Fluff | Smut

Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC

Warnings: Graphic Violence (bloody violence), Heavy Language, Angst, Slow Burn, Smut

Additional Warnings: Actual smut (strip tease, heavy foreplay, fingering, hand job, body worship, pre-cum), allusion to kidnapping

Previous Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Links: FAQ || BTS Masterlist || Admin E’s AO3 || Admin E’s WP || [ REQUESTS ARE OPEN ]

Word Count: 4,315

Tag List: @prisczero​, @pinkpjmin​, @btsaudge​, @flowerwrites06​, @unoriginal-username15432, @halussali​, @shrimpmsg​​,

AN: So...this is the beginning of the end. To everyone who has faithfully followed this series from the start, I thank you. I appreciate you. It’s about to be a very bumpy ride. I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance. I’m sorry for the hurt and pain that is coming. Please stay with me  until the end.

Chapter 48: Home

“We won’t talk but we’ll be comfortable. If only I have you, it’ll be my home.“

© thebiasrekkers (Admin E). All rights reserved. Reposting/modifying our work is prohibited. Translations are not allowed. Plagiarism/stealing is not tolerated by any means. Legal action will be taken in instances of theft.

Hwaseong – Gyeonggi Province South Korea

Eden smiled as she felt Jungkook wrap his heavier coat around her shoulders. Children raced past them, squealing in delight as they chased each other. One child barreled into her back, causing her to stumble forward a little. Jungkook cuffed the little boy on his head and Eden tugged at Jungkook’s ear to get him to stop. The little boy sniffled, apologizing, and Eden gave him a few bills so he could buy some snacks with his friends. Jungkook smirked, watching the little boy blush as he looked at her, bowed, and then scrambled off to be with his friends.

“You’re too easy on them,” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “They’re just kids. Let them be kids.” Eden paused as they reached the corner of the street. “They should have that luxury, don’t you think?”

When she looked up at Jungkook, something flickered across his gaze. His brows furrowed and she immediately regretted saying what she had. Her intention hadn’t been to make him feel guilty, but he still did. Old memories were dredged up, something that they talked about in length once when they were up late watching Korean gangster movies while sharing a bottle of whiskey. They both never really got to be kids; the world forced them to grow up and deal with the adult world before they physically became adults.

It wasn’t a life either of them chose for themselves, but it wasn’t a life they regretted either. It made them who they were now. It was the life that led them to each other.

“I’m sorry, Jungkook-ah,” she said softly, “I shouldn’t have said that…”

He shook his head roughly from side to side, taking her arm and looping it through his. “No, you’re right. They should be able to run and play and rough around like they want while they can.”

She smiled, relieved to know that he felt the same way she did.

They continued down the path, passing various street stalls that sold food, clothes, and other trinkets. It was Spring and Summer would soon be approaching. Flowers were blooming and green returned to the once barren trees that lined the streets. The air was starting to warm up, but there was still that little bit of chill in the air that swept through and touched the marrow of bones.

Most women would have found coming to a back end province like Hwaseong deplorable – especially for a honeymoon getaway. But Eden insisted that this was the place she wanted to spend time with her husband – the place where he sealed away all his childhood memories; where his dreams first began.

The place where he called home.

Hwaseong was rural in most aspects, but there were industrial districts. She preferred the softer sides of his hometown, the places where all the rolling hills and lush forests flourished. It was peaceful, quiet, and a place where she could gather her thoughts. Jungkook pointed out the places that meant the most to him and she made mental notes of them; filing them away to be explored in depth later.

One by one, he went by all the places that his brothers called home. Some of their family members came out to greet them and Jungkook simply introduced Eden as his girlfriend. She didn’t mind, seeing as how they were both wearing their wedding bands as necklaces. But just for now. Eden agreed that it was better if they kept their marriage a secret, especially since tensions between the Jade Fangs and the former Golden Jackals had the potential to escalate. It was the safer and smarter way to go about things. Jimin was the only one who knew and they would keep it that way until everything finally settled down.

As each day passed, she was able to see the lake where he first met the others – the ones he called his brothers. They were all children back then, playing around the Han River in their underwear and throwing rocks at the lake while fishing. He took her to the orphanage that cared for him until he was old enough to get a job and go to school. As painful as it must have been, Jungkook even showed her the home he used to live in with his parents before they threw him away. A different family lived there now.

Everything was a precious memory, good and bad, and Eden tucked them away without judgment.

They returned to the hotel, deciding to order takeout and have it brought to their room. Lavish as their lodgings were, it seemed a bit silly, seeing as how Hwaseong became a bit of a tourist trap in recent years. It gave the community a chance to build something expansive and eye-catching, grabbing at the ankles of wealthy tourists to come and spend their money on pricey hotel suites and cheap souvenirs boasting ancient history in the inner square’s markets.

But it was the little things that counted.

After they finished eating, Eden began washing dishes in the sink of the suite’s kitchen. As she placed a few on the drying rack, she felt Jungkook approach her from behind. He slid his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as she continued to work. She smiled when he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck and she wiggled a little, his fringe tickling her cheek.

“Let’s go back to Seoul tomorrow,” he said suddenly, lacing his fingers together across her stomach.

She rinsed off a plate, intent on focusing on the task at hand. “Why? I thought we were staying here for a few more days?” Eden pouted, casting a sidelong glance at him. “Are we cutting the honeymoon short?”

She understood if it needed to be done. Sometimes work couldn’t be avoided. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.

Jungkook laughed, pressing his mouth to her temple. “No, we’re not.” He reached up to brush some of her hair behind her ear. “I actually have another surprise for you.”

“You and your surprises,” Eden muttered, unable to hide the tiny smirk that appeared.

“Trust me,” he whispered, “you’ll love it.”

Seoul – Itaewon; Yongsan District South Korea

“Uh, Jungkook?”

“Hm?”

“What is this?”

“What is what?”

Eden turned to look at Jungkook, seeing the look of pride all but explode over his face. He was practically beaming and he took a moment to meet her gaze. Eden blinked up at him, then craned her neck to look back at the large house surrounded by a thicket of private trees. There was a small stairwell that led up to the front door, a small awning perched from the siding of the slate walls. A large front deck wrapped around the house, a two-story home that boasted modern features with a hint of traditional landscaping.

She pointed to the house – her finger aimed at the large window on the second floor.

“This,” she said again, “what is this?”

“A house,” he said, amusement laced through his words, “our house.”

Whipping her head to look at him. She could see no trace of a lie or even a tease. “Excuse me, what?”

Laughing, Jungkook grabbed her by the hand and tugged her along – pulling her up the short set of steps while rustling around for a set of keys. Slipping it into the door, he twisted the key and ushered her inside. Eden was only barely able to get her shoes off as he helped her into a pair of house slippers.

“I’ll get an electronic lock installed later. I just couldn’t wait to show this to you.”

She had no words. Even if she had, Eden was positive they would have tumbled to the floor in a meaningless collection of jargon she wouldn’t have been able to understand. Everything was brand new. The floor was made of polished hardwood, the furniture sleek and modern. Only the throw pillows were unfashionable as they sported various characters from anime that Eden liked – a large Princess Mononoke throw blanket draped across the back of the large couch in the living room.

Eden took a few steps forward, her eyes darting in every direction to take everything in. The kitchen was large, sporting a marble island with stools around it. Large windows allowed for natural light to flood the rooms, showing off the view of the front and side gardens. A huge flat screen television decorated the wall near an ornate entertainment center – a fireplace nestled in the corner with freshly cut logs near the hearth to be used during the colder months.

Turning to look at Jungkook, she didn’t have time to speak before he was already scooping her into his arms and carrying her up the stairs.

“We can explore the rest of the house tonight,” he said, leaning in to press his lips along the shell of her ear, “but there’s one place I want us to go.”

Eden felt her cheeks getting warmer. She knew the look in his eyes and understood what his intentions were. So it didn’t come as a surprise to her when he pushed open a door with his shoulder to reveal a large master bedroom. Without wasting a moment more, Jungkook set her down so her feet hit the floor, his lips moving to capture hers in a heated kiss. She moaned unconsciously into his mouth, her hands moving to rest on his shoulders as he hurriedly popped the buttons of her jeans loose.

His large hands moved to all but tear the hoodie from her, pulling it up and over her head so that it landed on the floor without a second glance. She tried to say something – anything – but the words were lost as he kissed her; his tongue slipping in between her lips to brush along her canines. Eden took a step back, her calf hitting the edge of the bed and she nearly stumbled backwards. Jungkook caught her by the waist, his hands warm against her skin. His fingers pressed into her waist, curling into the waistband of her jeans and she felt her breath hitch when he knocked his hips against hers. She could feel his erection through his pants, and she squeezed her thighs together a little bit tighter – attempting to get friction where she needed it most.

Jungkook’s kiss grew a bit more feverish, a hand moving from her waist to trail up her exposed back. Eden felt her skin pepper out in goosebumps – chasing the path that his hand made along her skin. Pausing to rest at the nape of her neck, Eden can’t help the sigh that managed to escape – lost in the cavern of his mouth. She tilted her head slightly, trying to get at his mouth at a better angle. But he chose that moment to break the kiss, trailing his mouth along the column of her neck. She felt his body almost vibrate as she reached out to pull at his shirt, yanking it free from his pants.

She felt his hand moving from the back of her neck, his fingers slowly clambering up to thread through her hair. His other hand was still at her hip and she could feel him tracing small circles around her skin before dipping below the waistband of her panties. Eden gasped softly as the sound of her zipper sliding down seemed to ricochet off the walls.

Jungkook broke the kiss again, moving a step back so he could slowly sink to the floor to his knees while taking her pants with him. He urged her to step out of them completely when they were bunched around her ankles and she complied, her legs trembling when he pressed his lips along her inner thigh. A hand slid down to the crown of his head, carding through his hair. Delicate hands moved to caress along her skin, finally smoothing over the curves of her thighs and then gripping onto her panties. He dragged them down, his lips giving chase to the material as he let it fall to her ankles.

Without having to be told, Eden stepped out of them as well.

Clad in just her bra, she felt overly exposed in a way that felt a little embarrassing. It was still broad daylight and Jungkook was being shamelessly intimate. The curtains weren’t drawn over the windows and while she knew the home was nestled in their own private sanctuary, Eden felt like someone was watching her; like they were being watched. It was a weird kink that she never believed she could properly give a voice to, but Jungkook indulged her whenever he could.

Licking a trail up her body, he paused just long enough to press his lips atop the swell of her breasts. He reached behind her, unhooking her bra and she let it fall to the ground. It, too, would be forgotten until it was deemed fit to be remembered.

Eden pouted as he smiled down at her, his eyes full of dark arousal. She could tell he was holding himself back a measure and she lightly smacked him on the chest with the back of her hand. His eyes crinkled in the corners, his gaze softening as he looked back at her.

“I’m the only one naked,” she murmured, “no fair.”

Reaching out to grasp one of her hands, he moved so that it now rested along the center of his chest. She could feel the heavy thrum of his heartbeat beneath her palm and he quirked a brow at her. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to ask her.

“Then make it fair,” he replied, his voice low and raspy.

Eden couldn’t keep the look of surprise and amusement from dancing over her face. She bit her lower lip, her hands moving to undo each button before shoving the material back and off his shoulders. He shrugged out of the shirt, shaking his hands so he was free of the material. Eden immediately went to his belt, pulling the leather through the loops of his jeans and then dropping it to the floor.

She could admit she wasn’t nearly as patient as her husband and he laughed, watching her popping the button of his jeans loose while frantically pulling at the zipper. His hands moved to still over hers and he lifted her easily off the floor. Eden wriggled when she felt him kissing her stomach, laughing as he tossed her onto the bed.

She cooed softly as he slid out of his jeans and boxers in one swift motion. His shaft twitched in response to him drinking her in. She could see his pupils dilating as he climbed over her like a predator about to devour his prey. His hands slid between her thighs to press along her folds, feeling the slickness that escaped from how heavy her own arousal was. Moaning at his touch, Eden tried to move away from him, but he wouldn’t give her any quarter. Instead, he lowered his head to capture an exposed nipple between his lips.

Pleasure exploded over her skin and she nearly bucked from his finger pressing against the sensitive nub between her legs. He rubbed agonizingly slow circles around it before dipping into her slit to caress at her inner walls. In the haze of her lust, she could see the milky white fluid beading at the slit of his tip. She wanted to taste it but her selfish desire was knocked clean from her mind when he slid another finger into her.

Her hips lifted, pushing his digits further inside of her. Jungkook moved his face to lavish affection to the other nipple. He pumped his fingers in and out of her, his thumb continuing to rub circles over her clit. Electric shocks exploded behind her eyes and he lifted his face to catch her mouth in an open-mouthed kiss. Sucking on her tongue, Eden closed her eyes and moaned – unsure how much longer she was going to be able to handle this assault against her entire person.

As if he’d read her mind, Jungkook removed his fingers from her folds. Eden whined, shocked at her internal outrage to being deprived of her own pleasure. She watched Jungkook using her juices to coat his erection, his hand slowly stroking over himself. He gripped the base of the shaft and she felt herself getting wetter just watching him. After a moment of this, he straddled her hips – positioning himself as he pressed the tip of his erection against her clit. Again, she hissed in pleasure, feeling her walls growing more and more slick as he teased her folds.

“My god,” Jungkook whispered, “you’re beautiful.”

“Jungkook-ah…”

“You’re my wife.” He smiled down at her. “How did I get so lucky?”

Eden felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She laughed softly, not caring that they leaked out and into her ears. Jungkook leaned down to press a kiss to her mouth, his lips moving along the curve of her jaw until he caressed the lobe of her ear.

“I love you,” he said softly, pressing the head of his erection into her entrance. She sucked in air between her teeth as he inched forward a little bit more. “I love you so much, Eden.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer. “I love you too, Jungkook.”

As if those were the words he’d been waiting for, he pushed himself forward completely – filling her insides. Her walls clamped down around him instinctively, holding him in place. As he pushed and pulled against her, the friction created was almost jarring. The pace was slow at first, but it didn’t take Jungkook long to speed things up. Eden rocked her hips against his, rising to meet his as he came down along her. There were wet, sloppy sounds of skin slapping against skin and it didn’t take long for their sweat-soaked skin to glide over each other with each hurried pulse of their movements.

And then he hit that spot; the spot that drove her half-mad. The spot that almost always left her fucked out of her head. Eden dug her nails into his skin, leaving half-moon marks along his muscles. She dragged her fingers down, red angry trails chasing after her fingernails before she clamped onto his forearms. He was practically jack-hammering into her, reaching his own favored spot, until she was seeing stars from the orgasm that began to overtake her. Her voice started off low until it soon escalated to a scream; one that she was almost positive rattled the windows. Jungkook wasn’t far behind her, her name bellowing from his lungs.

Heat filled her core, spreading over her entire body. She felt Jungkook shift his body slightly, collapsing beside her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, still buried inside of her, and pulled her close so that she was nestled perfectly against his form. He whispered words of love into her ear and Eden was barely conscious enough to hear them. But not before she was able to tell him that she loved him back.

They’d made a mess over their brand-new bed; their new bedding.

Neither of them cared.

Five Months Later

“I’m proud of you, y’know that?”

Eden smiled while rolling her eyes at the phone situated on the nightstand. Raelyn smirked back at her on the screen. They’d been Face Timing each other since Jungkook left for work in the morning. He had a few errands to run and she was leaving the shop in Minki’s hands. Eden folded a few more items on the bed, organizing them, and then placed the clothes into the small suitcase.

“I’m serious. This is pretty gutsy of you and I’m glad you’re doin’ it.”

After she threw the small plastic bag of toiletries on top of the clothes, she moved to sit on the bed. She picked up the phone and flopped back onto the bed.

“I know,” she said with a sigh, “I’m just a little nervous, I guess.”

“Don’t be. I mean, do be, but don’t let that shake you up.” She watched Raelyn’s brows furrow. “They know you’re comin’, right? You’re not just showing up unannounced?”

Again, Eden rolled her eyes. “Yes, they know I’m coming.”

Raelyn held a hand up. “Look, I’m just makin’ sure, alright?” She paused and Eden lofted a brow. “I’m a little surprised they agreed to this.”

She scoffed, clambering off the bed. “Like they have a choice. From what I was able to find out, I’m the only child my mother ever had before she died. I’m sure they’re just as curious about me as I am about them.”

She still didn’t know why she was doing this. Part of her wanted to call the whole thing off. It wasn’t like things were going to change by doing this. Seeing her mother’s family, the people who treated her like the black sheep of their bloodline, only angered Eden. But she also knew that she couldn’t abandon them. Not until she really got to see them for who they truly were. After that, she would make her decision on whether to continue having them circulating around her life.

“Well, when you get there, you show them exactly who the hell you are and that you ain’t playin’ any games.”

Eden couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “I think you should be more worried about that little troublemaker growing inside of you, don’t you?”

“Girl, don’t get me started,” Raelyn said, the bitter tone evident in her voice, “between Anastasia’s mood swings and Taehyung being my damn shadow, I don’t have time to get into anything stupid.”

She closed the suitcase and secured the locks, picking it up and unlatching the extended handle. Eden made her way out of the bedroom and headed downstairs, the suitcase rolling behind her as she continued to hold the phone up in front of her.

“Good,” she said once she made it to the ground floor, “because I don’t need to be working my nerves while I’m on this trip. They’re frayed as it is.”

This time Raelyn scoffed. “You’ll be fine. Is Jungkook takin’ you to the train station?”

“No. He’s busy with work and I told him not to worry about it.”

“Three days, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Though depending on how the trip goes, I may come back early.”

“I heard Daegu is beautiful this time of year. Make sure you take a lot of pictures.”

“I will, I will,” Eden reassured. She opened the front door and closed it behind her, the electronic lock beeping to let her know it was secured. “I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Alright. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Hanging up the call, she pulled up her messages. She shot Jungkook a quick text to let him know she was heading to the train station. Eden knew he was busy at the recording studio and didn’t want to interrupt him while he worked.

Jungkook: Be safe. Call me as soon as you’ve arrived. I love you.

Smiling, she sent him a heart emoji. She was never a big fan of texting and he knew that about her. He never nagged her about it. Eden was a woman who believed that actions spoke louder than words. She’d always been this way. She was thankful that Jungkook understood and accepted this – always willing to meet her halfway.

He sent her two heart emojis back.

Making her way toward the front gate, Eden pushed it open and pulled her suitcase behind her. She turned to close the gate, tugging at the bars to make sure the latch caught properly. Checking her watch, she saw she had plenty of time to get to the train station.

Maybe I should call him anyway, she thought, moving to head down the long walkway leading from the house.

Eden managed to take a few steps forward before someone stepped in front of her. The heels of her sneakers scuffed along the ground as she stopped, lifting her head to see who was blocking her path. He looked a little familiar, but she wasn’t quite sure from where. Blinking a few times, she watched the other man’s small smile growing little by little.

She didn’t have time for this. Maybe she was mistaken.

“Excuse me,” she said through clenched teeth, moving so she could side-step him. He shifted to resume blocking her path. Eden shot him a glare. “Move.”

“You’re still as feisty as ever, I see,” he said. She said nothing, narrowing her eyes. “I know it’s been awhile, but I’m a little hurt you don’t remember me.”

“Should I?”

The man lifted his hand in the air, miming holding a shot glass. He made a motion to show he was tipping the glass back into his mouth. Eden scrutinized him a moment longer and he merely continued to smile.

And then it hit her.

“You,” she growled, her eyes narrowing to slits. “Yoo Kihyun.”

He snapped his fingers. “Bingo.”

Eden reached into her pocket. “What do you want?”

He shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious?” When his eyes met hers, they were dark and cold. It caused Eden to hesitate for just a moment. “It’s you.”

That moment of hesitation was her undoing. She failed to notice the look of triumph painted over his face. She’d missed the sound of movement behind her. And before she could register that she was being ambushed, Eden felt a sharp prick to the back of her neck. 

It didn’t take long. If given the chance, she would have only been able to count to five.

Five seconds before the world went dark.

[callsignbaphomet]

Ok, so, originally this was gonna just be a million fuckin questions, and it'll prooooobably turn into one of those question chains from several months ago. BUT to start I think I can do just like, three. First, tell me ALL about the area in Norway where Jelani was growin up, absolutely anything and everything you can think of about it. Secondly, tell me ALL about babby Jelani! Again just anything and everything you can think of! Lastly, how exactly do those magic weapons work? :o Like, once they're made can anyone grab them? Can he only have one at a time? Stuff like that! Basically just use this as a chance to talk about all those things! :3

❤️❤️❤️

So Jelani was born and raised near what is known as Hammerfest today (woohoo subarctic climate!). Honestly he’s been everywhere and just about seen everything but nothing compares to when he was growing up in that area and watching the Aurora Borealis with family and friends in a comfortable silence while just taking it all in, ya know? Being born in 870 CE meant there was no light pollution so every night the sky always lit up and the stars were so shiny and there were millions and millions of them which was absolutely insane to see and had a lot of significance because of his mom’s culture and their relationship to the stars.

They were close to the coast so there was a lot of fishing and sailing. He was also partial to that area because it was close to the sea and close enough to the mountains where it felt like a happy in between. He’s not a fan of being too far from some source of water. That place was perfect as he could see all kinds of sea dwelling animals like whales and seals, squids though he’s not a fan, he’s kind of scared of squid especially the really big ones he saw every once in a while. He especially liked puffins as a kid since he thought they were kinda silly. Inland he saw his fair share of reindeer, foxes, bears, wolves and otters which he completely fell in love with and still loves as an adult. Show him pictures or videos of otters and he’ll melt, if he sees one irl he’ll practically die from the amount of cute. There were also the more supernatural creatures though he mostly grew up around a lot of werewolves.

Oh! And sure, he’s not a big fan of the sun but even he has to admit that the midnight sun is pretty impressive and beautiful in its own right. It was gorgeous to see it and he did enjoy walking around in the middle of the night and still see the sun out.

Also, despite the location, he was exposed to a lot of different people as the village was flagged as a safe area which saw a ton of traders and all were welcome regardless of who you were or if you were human or non-human. He saw everything and interacted with all sorts of people from the local Sámi People, Middle Eastern, Asian and even other African people. And after his mom found out her family were still alive and well they’d also visit each other when they could. Honestly, his upbringing was kinda fairy tale like.

______________________________________________________________

qasdxcfgbhn well, Jela as a little kid was always hanging around his parents, grandparents and especially his brother. Since Loke’s 13 years older than him Loke often watched him and played with him a lot, he wasn’t even asked to he just did it because baby brother. Like the instant Lo first saw him it was like love at first sight type of shit. He learned to speak clearly very early on which surprised everyone at how clear and structured his speech was for a kid so young and then they learned he was a very fast learner and really smart and was always curious and asking tons of questions.

Even since he was little he really loved animals so he was always seen chasing after them or somehow petting them and playing with them. Learned to ride and care for horses pretty fast and when he got his own it was like fireworks went off in his head. Even in present day he sees a horse and it’s like instant childhood memories flooding him. Btw his first horse was a mare he named Dagny, just like his ball python in modern times lol, it was a Fjord with a grey coat and a two tone mane and he loved her to bits. Aside from that there was the family dog named River because she loved to swim. He also liked cats but they didn’t have a cat because Loke was scared of them and Sanaa (for different reasons related to another creature) wasn’t fond of them. They don’t hate cats but they’d rather just keep ‘em at arm’s length.

Then teen Jelani who was...I don’t wanna use the word difficult because he wasn’t but let’s just say different for lack of a better word. It was around this time that he was realizing he wasn’t like his family and it actually hurt ‘im a lot. Especially since his mom was an arcane berserker and it was like a huge deal so they all thought he was gonna be one too. So in come the feelings of alienation and the doubts and the semi angst and the moodiness. He was never disrespectful to anyone but he was often moody and often felt down. Around this time he was also learning he had some unique abilities of his own that no one else had and since no one else had them he learned to control them but not without incidents. Not to mention that since he was very little he could see and hear and talk to things that no one else could really see. Some were friendly and others weren’t. Mix in the regular hormonal shit teenagers go through during puberty and it made for a bit of a mess. This kind of “weakened” him and his old self (which he nor anyone else knew of) was starting to rear in and it was kind of scary. He was actually fluctuating between his old personality which was chaotic af and his present self and both seemed to clash a lot. Once this started happening the migraine attacks and the nosebleeds began as well as the sleep paralysis, night terrors, insomnia and the nyctophobia and they all seemed to hit him really hard and suddenly. So all of that mixed in made the ages of 13 through 17 really, really fucking messy.

But family and friends were with him through it all and at 17 and a half he chilled out and learned to control himself and managed to suppress his old self. He’d learned to use and handle his abilities responsibly, still felt a little out of place but his family was sure to always let ‘im know they loved him no matter what and his grandfather especially let him know that his differences weren’t a bad thing and that they made ‘im special. By 18 he was back to his cheerful old self though sometimes he still felt bad about being different but didn’t let it get him down. However, he now had to cope with migraine attacks, night terrors, nyctophobia, random nosebleeds, insomnia and sleep paralysis which he still has even in present day.

______________________________________________________________ 

Okay so berserkers are non-humans that have the ability to summon powerful weapons and very sturdy armor from nothing thin air. The armor can take a beating but if they get targeted by a barrage of attacks the armor can break and they’d have to summon the armor again but there’s a cool down of about half an hour so it’s better to hang on to the armor even if broken or get your ass to safety. The weapons don’t break though. Oh and if an armor broke and they summon it again it’ll show up as good as new. Berserkers can summon up to two different weapons so which ones they summon depends on the person’s taste and comfort level.

These weapons can be summoned and dematerialized at will and have no cool down. Anyone can grab them if the berserker it belongs to doesn’t mind though why would a berserker use another one’s weapon unless they wanna be offensive and kill ‘em with their own weapon? It’s not offensive, more like yikes.

Now, since Jelani isn’t a berserker he managed to figure out a way to mimic berserkers’ ability to summon a weapon from thin air though unlike grown up berserkers he isn’t limited to just two types of weapons. For example Loke is able to summon a two headed axe and a bow, nothing more nothing less. Jelani can summon whatever he wants as he can manipulate the shape. His mom’s tribe are partial to glaives so he mainly uses a glaive. His weapons however are made of an unknown material that’s insanely hard and impossible to even crack. His weapons can’t be wielded by anyone other than himself bc as soon as someone else touches them they dematrerialize. It also looks weird, like it’s so dark it swallows all light and no light bounces off of it. He can’t summon armor though so that’s where the blacksmith comes in. His uncle Jørgen made his look like his dad’s and his mom’s.

[wisteriamoons]

Pinky Promise AU

Summary: Kotoha Lives AU! This is called the Pinky Promise AU. In a oneshot I wrote called “Pinky Promise,” Kotoha managed to escape Douma’s cult and live in a Wisteria House with an older woman named Himari. Shinjuro and a group of demon slayers stay one night a month later and Kotoha is given a final push to become a demon slayer and, eventually, a Pillar. You can just refer to this summary or feel free to look up “pinky promise au” tag on my blog(Lowkey scared to link it as ya’know posts with links tend to not show up in tags) 

Also if you are not fully caught up on the manga DO NOT PRESS ON unless you don’t mind spoilers!!

-Kotoha spends five years training in an undetermined breath at first, however, she finds it hard and wants something to fit her own feelings, so she makes her own breath style; Bell Breathing

-Inspired by the one-hundred and eight rings of the nearby Buddist bell on New Years Eve, she decides to make the style. She wants to inspire people like bells do, with a balanced form set and sweet, comforting sounds 

-Kotoha took to the bell motif seriously, even making a bracelet of small suzu bells and wearing it around her dominant wrist. The balls inside that make the bells ring are removable, making stealth missions easier

-Kotoha’s Nichirin Blade is colored a sort of pastel shade of yellow, and has aesthetic-only empty bell shells tied with a red ribbon on the end of the hilt. The guard is bell-shaped, naturally. 

-Her blade forager was in fact Haganezuka, being one of the few people who stuck around even with his more rather… extreme personality. She’s one of his first clients, and they have a fairly close friendship-- she always has mitarashi dango for him when he visits or when she visits. She hasn’t broken her blade thus far

-Her uniform is the usual one but with a under-the-knee-length skirt like Kanao’s. She wears yellow tabi with zori underneath. She has a dark blue haori with yellow/white suzu bell designs all over it. She also wears her hair in a tight bun with a comb kinzashi with purple flowers and blue ribbon--she considers it a good luck charm. She also wears a bird masquerade mask and a cloth to wrap her hair in to cover her identity when on slaying missions, because,

-Kotoha is mainly into undercover and stealth missions due to her flexibility and natural beauty, making her fit in just about anywhere. She wears a kimono and more plain haori when out on such missions. No one suspects such a beautiful and gentle woman! 

-Inosuke loves the sound of bells while growing up ‘cause they remind him heavily of his mother. He starts collecting various bells at the age of seven, keeping them in his room in the Hashibira Estate. Tanjiro finds this sweet while Zenitsu laughs at him for being so rough yet has such a soft hobby. Inosuke might’ve whacked him a couple times because of this

-Kotoha is a mother first, demon slayer second. Never changes, even after she becomes a Pillar

-Speaking of which, it only takes her up to a year to become a Pillar. She kept on insisting to take jobs, so her demon count rose very quickly. She also mastered Total Concentration within weeks with Himari and her mentor’s help

-Her and Inosuke have a very very close familial bond. They tell each other almost everything with no hesitance and do many things together. They might have one argument every few months, but it’s usually over something silly and it’s resolved quickly

-Hell, Kotoha even offered to teach him Bell Breathing but he refused, having already started to develop his own technique (which would be obviously Beast Breathing)

-Kotoha is without a doubt one of if not the first Pillar to trust Nezuko. She trusts her son unwaveringly with every vein in her body, and if he trusts her, then she does too

-Because of her Pillar status, her Estate is close to the Butterfly Estate and she has a close relationship with the Kocho sisters. She cares a lot for them, and mothered them a lot, seeing them also as daughters she never had

-She also has a close relationship with the Rengoku family, Shinjuro being an older brother to her and Ruka like a sister, and Kyojuro and Senjuro being nephews. Though they also saw her a second mother on occasion. Shinjuro helps Kotoha get used to being a Pillar and gave her advice before his wife’s death and subsequent alcoholism. Their relationship becomes strained after this, for obvious reasons

-On a lighter note, this means Inosuke is much closer to Kyojuro and Senjuro, having grown up with them, he sees them as brothers--making Kyojuro’s death a little more harder :)

-Speaking upon Inosuke, Inosuke has his original personality and abilities intact, but with more… class?

-He still likes to be competitive and has a stupidly high temper, but he’s also not constantly headbutting people and has slight more consideration of others. Also doesn’t have his boar head, and wears the normal demon slaying uniform (though has a habit of discarding the upper layer, and usually doesn’t wear a haori unless it’s winter). Still dumb as rocks though

-He also still prefers his swords chipped, but his original swords being chipped was from training too much with normal swords and found that when they’re chipped they cut better to him (plus lets be real he likes how they look) When he deliberately chips his new ones Kotoha does scold him for it for disrespecting his sword and sword maker, though admittedly found it just a tiny bit amusing

-He also adored animals as a child, finding boars especially to be really cool and studied their movements a lot along with other animals, which influenced him in many, many ways

-Inosuke can’t help but perhaps sometimes feel a little inferior compared to his mother. Don’t get me wrong, he loves her with every goddamn breath and won’t hesitate to tell her, but sometimes he feels he can’t match her skill. Kotoha tries to treat him equally but sometimes her constant mothering and protectiveness can be grating

-Kotoha holds a heavy grudge against Douma for basically fucking with her, and it only grows deeper after Kanae’s death. She’s in on Shinobu’s poisoning plan, and while she’s against it she knows she can’t stop Shinobu. Makes Shinobu’s death hard on Kotoha because she knows she should’ve been more assertive, but also knows it was what Shinobu wanted

-Inosuke still has a tight platonic bond with Shinobu, though he sees her more of a sister than a mother for obvious reasons. He also has a soft spot for Kanao, and while she’s older than him he still treats her like a little sister anyway. He was probably the first person she met around her age after being adopted into the Kocho family. Inosuke wasn’t too close to Kanae, but was also saddened and angry after her passing by a demon’s hands

-Inosuke is also on pretty decent terms with the little sister trio (they like to play with his hair, he lets them while he eats usually), though has a sort of tough relationship with Aoi since they both tend to clash heads. A bit of a crumb for you AoIno(?) shippers, but the two are on decently friendly terms, finding each other tolerable enough, they’re just both stubborn

-Kotoha also never tells Inosuke, at least not at first, why they lived in a Wisteria House and why Himari wasn’t his real grandma despite thinking she was. She fears it might bring him trauma or nightmares, big plus she doesn’t want him going after Douma

-It was a slight bit of a hassle for Inosuke to make his mother agree to making him a demon slayer too; she was obviously worried for his safety, but eventually wore down, but made him promise he try to be as careful as possible. This is obviously not followed through for many reasons, but we already know them so I won’t go into too much detail

-Treats pretty much almost everyone younger than her like her children in some way, shape, or form. She’s a heavy mother figure to everyone and wears this with pride (even if she sometimes doesn’t realize it)

-In fact, Zenitsu, Kyojuro, and Mitsuri are big offenders on accidentally calling her mom. It’s less accidental for Kyojuro as he knows he sees her as a mother and has been doing it ever since they met (‘cause children do that, it’s just grown to be a habit at this point, and plus Ruka never minded so it doesn’t bother him) though he’s more likely to call her “Aunt Koto” around others by now

-She’s close to Mitsuri and they sometimes swap feminine advice and cook together, and Mitsuri isn’t as embarrassed by calling her mom now than she was the first time she did. They have a tight bond and Kotoha sees her as the daughter she never had, exchanging secrets as well

-Zenitsu has an unclear past, so I hc that his parents were probably neglectful or died by the time of his debt. So, Kotoha becomes the mother figure he hasn’t had/never had in a long time. He def didn’t realize it at first and became heavily flustered and mortified. Kotoha found it adorable. Inosuke isn’t a big fan of this btw aksjasj but he tolerates it a little more as time goes on

-Zenitsu has had such a big helping of respect women juice because of Kotoha that he is less flirtatious and weird about girls, though his love for Nezuko doesn’t waver in the slightest 

-Tanjiro also sees her as a mother, heavily reminding him of his own mother in fact. He respects her a lot, and even has platonic affection for her, especially after she so quickly accepts Nezuko despite her hate against demons

-She smells like freshly baked bread and flowers, and has a calming presence. She has a sweet sound to her, like suzu bells, as Zenitsu puts it

-Also she teaches Tanjiro how to properly take care of Nezuko’s hair and the like so Nezuko’s hair isn’t always a rat’s nest when they come back to the Estates

-Nezuko, speaking of, like Tamayo sees Kotoha as her own mother. Thus, Nezuko always feels calm around her and lets her wash her clothes and brush her hair

-Sanemi and Genya have subconscious drawings towards her, as the pattern keeps going, they see a lot of their own mom in her. While neither of them have called her mom ‘cause it’s painful to even think about, there’s no doubt they’ve had fleeting thoughts about her being a mom to them

-Muichiro also subconsciously sees her as a mother, with his memories gone he has no qualms about it but he doesn’t let it slip out loud. Likes it when she brushes his hair though. After his memories begin to return he doesn’t regret thinking of her as a mother

-Giyuu doesn’t have many maternal feelings, finding her protective nature to be a bit overwhelming, however he doesn’t hate her. In fact, Kotoha doesn’t hate him at all and loves him a lot. I think maybe he might see his sister in her a little actually

-Uzui has zero maternal feelings towards her as well, in fact he probably flirted with her a little. Nothing huge or meaningful, just harmless, it’s who he is. She never really realized it anyway, seeing him as just being nice, and cared enough but not enough to see him as a son. Saw her techniques as flamboyant, of course, and she was saddened by his departure from the Pillars

-Obanai feels a little… indifferent? Towards her? Like, he doesn’t hate her, but I don’t think he’d quite see her as a mother figure either. He does admire her drive though, and she cares about him enough to make them good partners in combat if need be

-Gyomei doesn’t have maternal feelings towards her either, since they’re extremely close in age, same for Kotoha. But he still does also admire her, tbh I can see them being more like just good friends and confidants. Being the two oldest Pillars they have much in common

-Kotoha and Ubuyashiki have a typical follower/leader relationship, considering he’s much younger than her she doesn’t see him as a father figure, but she does admire him a lot and is extremely loyal to him. She also finds his kids to be adorable and is friendly with his wife (Edit: I realize Kotoha most likely met him when he was 13-14, so yeah, def doesn’t see him as a father figure or anything. Probably thought he was adorable too aksjaksj)

-You want to face off both mother and son? Don’t.

-Seriously, don’t. 

-You’ll regret it.

-See, they’re both ferociously protective of each other, and bounce off each other so well it’s fuckin bonkers! They go hand-in-hand, easily matching their breaths and everything. They’re like a machine together in battle. When they’re on their own they do well but when they’re together they do exceptionally. It’s both amazing and downright terrifying

-Need advice? Need a shoulder to cry on? Kotoha has your back

-Also, at least once a month all Pillars and any visiting demon slayers are invited to a feast at Kotoha’s, cooked by the woman herself and occasionally with the help of Mitsuri and Shinobu. The Ubuyashiki’s are always invited, but they never really make it. It’s still one night without any worry, just bonding time and fun, and that’s what matters

-Mother and son constantly write each other letters when apart, no matter how many miles are in between them, and give them to their crow to deliver. If one party doesn’t reply after the given time, the other is instantly going to look for them no matter what

-Also, I hc that Inosuke has ADHD and social anxiety. Kotoha is very patient with him and helps him through the daily struggles they bring, and he’s so grateful for this. 

-While I don’t have any ships in mind for this au (except perhaps KanTan and ZenNezu, maybe AoIno if you squint), if anyone wants to take this au and mold it to their own ship (within reason--if I find you use this au to ship pedo/incest I will find you) I give you full permission. However, if you find yourself shipping Kotoha with anyone, I would like to note that she has a few walls put up due to the abuse she suffered, and it isn’t too easy for her to fall in love

Bell Breathing and it’s Techniques/Forms

-Bell Breathing involves a lot of speed, along with agility and grace. Kotoha became more flexible and obviously more quicker, along with some muscle. It involves many parries, quick strikes and counters.

-Kotoha developed this with her newly gained strength and her natural swiftness in mind, along with her warm personality

-There are currently six forms, three mainly defense and three offense. 

-First Form: Voided Ringing- The user steps out of range of an attack before replacing it with their sword, slashing in an upwards motion at whatever the enemy was about to attack with

-Second Form: Suzu Dance- The user advances on their opponent slashing their blade in swift, shallow motions, aiming mainly for the arms 

-Third Form: Crotal Advance- The user blocks their entire body with their blade, using all their strength, and then they twist the blade to slash whatever is attacking them

-Fourth Form: Chiming Deflection- The user deflects attacks in a circular motion with quick succession

-Fifth Form: Quiet Ringing in Winter- Much like Blessed Rain after the Drought, this move is used when an enemy surrenders, making it a swift and painless death, making a soft sound like jingle bells during Christmas--or, rather, like suzu bells during a Kagura dance

-Sixth Form: The Death Bell Tolls- The user goes as fast as possible, quite like they’re dancing around their opponent and then strike from the air, going straight for the neck in one swift round motion, making a sound like the ringing of a bell 

Extra: I made Bell Breathing without one breath in mind as I researched different sword techniques and looked at all the breathing styles, and while I’ve been leaning towards Wind, Thunder/Sound or Water, but if anyone has an idea I’m open to hearing it

[lemonsandstrawberries]

Christmas Sweaters and Christmas Socks

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony), Avengers (pre-Stony to Stony), mentions of OG6 Avengers team

summary: Every Avenger brings holiday cheer into the Tower and Steve is the most intrigued by Tony’s way, but isn’t he always the most intrigued by Tony anyway?

length: 2 972

a/n: it is a Christmas miracle and I actually found some time to write! so, as my gift to you all I give you this fic - took inspiration from this prompt, but made it more Christmasy. hope you will like it, feedback, reblogs and likes are welcomed and needed!

——————–

Christmas Sweaters and Christmas Socks

There was something mysterious and confusing about December. On one hand, Christmas atmosphere was in the air, gingerbread houses and smiling Santa Claus resembling figures appearing in every shop display, streets were decorated with colorful lights and pleasing the eye. On the other hand, it was an extremely busy month, people running around trying to find the perfect gifts, perfect food for Christmas dinner while being bombarded with commercials promising their products to bring the perfect, cozy mood.

The pattern repeated in almost every house and Avengers Tower wasn't an exception.

On the outside, the tall building in the middle of New York was decorated with lights going around the tower and topped with Santa's sleigh and a row of reindeers, twinkling with colors. Inside matched the exterior, with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in almost every room that could fit a one, something Tony personally coordinated and took care of, garlands and Christmas wreaths stretching from wall to wall. It was a nice distraction and a calming breath in the near end of the year chaos, while everyone kept rushing from place to place, trying to wrap things up, both work and personal.

In all the rush, the team members didn't forget to bring the Christmas atmosphere in, and so, Thor cooked up a storm in the kitchen, giving out plates of homemade gingerbread cookies with the most delicate, intricate patterns done in royal icing. Natasha, rushing through the corridors with stacks of SHIELD papers, put a headband with reindeer antlers and small bells in her red hair, making everyone who looked at her smile. Bruce served cups of amazing hot chocolate and herbal tea, infused with a secret mix of spices that warmed up everyone, and Clint left small notes filled with uplifting messages and holiday sweets in various corners of the Tower for anyone who needed a quick pick me up. Every team member had their own unique way of bringing Christmas cheer into the Tower and into their family and it was a welcomed distraction in the busy month.

Steve also found his way and switched his usual white cable knit sweater for an array of the infamous Christmas sweaters - his current pick for the day, was an all red sweater with white patterns and reindeer on the arms and knitted 'merry Christmas, ya filthy animal' on the chest, a quote from a movie that was a must to watch during the holiday season in the Avengers Tower. His collection of Christmas sweaters was carefully selected and eye-catching in a bad way and photos of him in more or less offending sweaters were all over the press and people were going crazy. Steve wasn't bothered, and he even ordered everyone else on the team their very own, personality matching Christmas sweater, already wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree for the official unpacking of the gifts. That would be one Avengers group photo, Steve couldn't wait to be 'leaked' into the press.

In all this pre-Christmas chaos, Steve found his quiet corner in the library. It was filled with rows of various books on every topic imaginable and comfortable furniture and Steve took a particular liking to a big armchair where he could curl up with a book, while a Christmas tree was blinking at him with colorful lights and swirls of steam rose from a cup of hot chocolate. It was his place to relax and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.

It didn't take long until his hiding spot was found out and he began to have company. It started pretty innocently, with Tony barreling one day into the library, eyes circled and hair in a crazy mess as there was a lot of paperwork to be done for SI before the end of the year and it kept Tony awake, probably following the scent of chocolate. It was a short break, Steve and Tony chatted, Steve allowed Tony to drink his hot chocolate, and Tony was on his way, back to his home office. The pattern repeated for a few days until Tony started to bring his tablet with himself and stretch out on the couch, just to change his surroundings a bit. Steve didn't mind, Tony, usually chatty, didn't try to engage him in a conversation and they just sat together, both in their own worlds and enjoying the quiet companionship. Just with time, Steve found it pretty distractive to be around Tony, as something was attracting his attention.

No, two things.

Meaning Tony's feet, always dangling over the couch armrest, lightly kicking to some pattern. Tony's feet were not large at all, they couldn't be, as Tony had a sturdy, short frame, and big feet were not needed, unlike in Steve's case. He had big feet and needed big shoes to balance all the muscles and keep him stable from toppling over. Steve was a practical man, and for those reasons his choice of underclothes was pretty monochromatic - it was easy to train in white tank-tops and dump them into the washing machine with white socks and white boxers, and or do the same with a set of black underclothes.

Tony represented an opposite view. To start with, Tony had a liking of walking barefoot, which seemed natural as in some part of the Tower the floor was heated, and rarely wearing socks, but when he happened to wear ones, they were blindingly colorful. Steve noticed that some time ago, and as most of Tony's wardrobe was in cool, perfectly matched tones, the socks were an explosion of colors. Bright yellows, cheerful oranges, screaming pinks, or vivid purples. Sometimes one color, sometimes striped, or polka dots, sometimes mismatched. Sometimes socks told a message like some had a periodic table or multiplication table, but with roman numerals or list of time periods, starting on one foot on prehistory, ending on middle ages, to start with modern history on the other foot and continue up to contemporary times.

It was quirky and adorable and oddly charming and somehow fitting for a guy like Tony.

That's why for the first few days, Steve didn't notice when Tony switched his colorful socks for Christmas themed ones, and once he did, he started to pay very close attention to them, trying to keep a low profile and not seem creepy. Penguins, reindeers, candy cane stripes, rows of small Christmas trees. It was pleasant to look at and was supposed to make people smile, opposite to Steve's idea of wearing increasingly ugly sweaters to make everyone cringe. In particular, the colorful socks were always bringing a small, fond smile on Steve's lips whenever he had caught a glimpse of them, while Tony was working on the couch.

It was unexpected of someone who was such an important figure in the business and science world to have such silly socks and wear them so casually and Steve thought that Tony was someone really special, even if he himself didn't realize that.

Steve never asked about his teammate's choice of socks but found himself waiting for the moment when Tony would join him in the library, sporting a new set. And then came a day, when Steve kept squinting at Tony's feet for way too long and just had to ask.

"Are those music sheets?"

"Huh?" Tony twisted to the back from his laying on the stomach position, looking at Steve with a thoughtful face. Even when he turned around, he kept tapping on the tablet, which was quite impressive.

Steve smiled, feeling nervous, but trying to act casual. "Your socks. I can't figure it out," he said, trying to not sound like a creep who had spent last days staring at his teammate's feet.

Finally understanding, Tony turned around, a light, playful smile appearing on his lips. "Come closer and find out for yourself," he advised, turning his attention back to the device.

It was an unusual offer, but Steve decided to take it. He wouldn't pass an opportunity to get close to the brunet and seeing that Tony invited him over it would be a shame to not take it. Steve walked closer, and the mystery solved itself. Indeed, on the background of a light cream color were music lines with notes, but no lyrics.

"Oh," Steve said, looking at the notes. Tony giggled and wiggled his toes playfully and maybe Steve got a little mesmerized by the sight.

"Satisfied now?"

No, not yet. Steve, of course, didn't say that and looked at the back of Tony's head.

"What song is that?"

"A Christmas song."

Well, duh. Steve's shoulders lowered a little in disappointment after hearing the clipped answer. He was hoping for something more specific.

"Yeah, but which one?" Steve tried to push, without sounding too pushy. After all, it was supposed to be their quiet time.

Tony didn't answer, just tapped more on his tablet. "How about you try to play it and find out?" he asked playfully.

Steve felt a little bashful. It seemed like crossing some boundaries, but Tony was in one of his friendlier moods and Steve would beat himself up forever if he didn't take the invitation.

"Okay, move," Steve demanded in a surprisingly firm voice, that was used solely to convince himself to do it, batting on Tony's calves lightly.

Tony made a quiet, surprised sound Steve didn't miss and obediently turned on his back and sat up, pulling his legs to himself while maintaining a sideways position, not really expecting Steve to play along. Using the recently freed space, Steve sat down and pulled Tony's feet into his lap, a very bold move that made Tony's eyes bulge out in surprise, but Steve didn't really pay attention. The socks still intrigued him and he carefully placed his hands on Tony's ankles, as if informing the brunet of his intentions. Tony didn't react and Steve took it as a signal to continue. He slid his hands further, gliding palms over the smooth material until they stopped at the toes, and Steve lightly pulled on the socks, smoothening out the creases to get a better look at the design. The notes were on the upper part of the sole, stretching over pads and ending all the way down to the heel. He put his fingers against one note and gently pressed as if it was a piano key.

He didn't expect Tony's knee to jump and his whole foot wiggle. Steve stopped his fingers at the reaction, but Tony didn't take his feet back. Instead, they still stayed in his lap, regaining their stillness.

There was something very sweet about this situation and Tony granting Steve this moment of closeness. He put his fingers back against the pad, and resumed the light pressing on the notes and started to hum, trying to decipher the song. The whole time, Tony kept his face hidden behind the tablet, but the quiet, muffled giggling, and the small body jolts from time to time, were giving him away.

Steve never before had an occasion to be so close to Tony, and brunet clearly craving his touch was giving him hope for the future. He kept gently tracing the pattern, letting his fingers venture lower and scribble back up the soles, and Tony quietly giggled away and curled his toes. Steve noticed that he was still holding the tablet as a disguise, but his free hand was not pointed at the screen, but covering his eyes as he kept giggling away. Steve really wished for the tablet to be out of the way. After a less than a minute of soft warm-up, he felt confident enough to increase the pace and pressure, and moved his fingers more roughly, not sketching, but really digging into the material.

"HAH!" Tony yelped, almost sending the tablet flying across the room, quiet giggles changing into a steady flow of laughter. "HAHAHAHA!"

Steve was utterly delighted. Tony was beautifully responsive to the ticklish sensations on his soles and his whole face scrunched up while giggling away and it was as adorable as Steve expected it to be. Feeling more confident, Steve changed the up and down pattern to a more chaotic one, brunet's laughter rising by an octave. Good thing that the library was in a secluded area and not visited by many, or they would have a lot of explaining to do.

Steve continued to tickle the wiggling feet, even though Tony tried his best to stay in place and not end the moment. Just when Steve pushed Tony's feet back and wiggled fingers into the spaces between the toes, brunet completely lost it.

"HAHAHA! You ahahahahare not plahahahying!" Tony pointed out, trying to tug his feet away and Steve was fast to wrap one arm around them, locking them in place.

"I am," Steve said happily, temporarily scribbling his fingers back on the pattern, "it is just a really hard song and it seems that my instrument is malfunctioning."

Tony took a swing, which Steve efficiently ducked away, but instead of feeling offended, it just made his smile brighter.

"Okay, so you see, I am playing on the notes, but instead of a song, there is this high pitched sound coming out-"

"Whahahat the-?!"

"- I don't know, maybe I need someone to repair it -"

"Steheheve! Doahan't! Hahaha!"

" - or a mechanic! You're a mechanic, right?"

"HAHAHA! I gihihhihve up! It's -"

Steve didn't want to hear the answer yet. Instead, he dug his fingers into the spot below the big toe on Tony's left foot, which turned out to be a reaaallly good spot, because Tony completely lost it and flailed his arms around. He pushed himself so hard away that he fell off the couch with a loud thud and a big smile, while Steve was left with one sock in his hand and an equally big smile at such reaction.

Tony took a minute to regain his breath and when he uncurled from the floor, he looked at the soldier with sparkling eyes, his face full of a healthy pink blush Steve's antics had caused.

Steve just calmly examined the sock in his hand, and while not on wiggling foot, the notes became pretty clear.

"Oh, it's 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer'," Steve said with a fond smile. "You kinda look like Rudolph now yourself," he playfully pointed out, locking eyes with Tony's.

"You jerk!" Tony laughed, doing the not well-thought thing and trying to kick Steve. Supersoldier reflexes or just pure luck, Steve easily grabbed Tony's foot by the ankle and brought wriggling fingers closer to the bare foot, slowly enough to let the other man know his intentions. Tony screeched and tugged his leg away, standing up in panic as he saw the mischievous expression on the soldier's face. Quickly, Tony understood what a big mistake it was to let Captain America know about your ticklishness. In a second, Tony bolted out of the library and ran for his life, fearing that Steve might want to test on what other parts of Tony's body he could play. Steve laughed and quickly followed the one socked genius. He even tried to trick Tony into slowing down by promising to give him his sock back, but Tony only yelled that he could keep it and kept running. It was a bizarre sight, but when Steve finally caught Tony there was a lot of laughter.

In hindsight, it was one of those moments that pushed Tony and Steve to go on a first date, and in consequence, become a couple.

"Hey! Come here faster!"

"Okay, okay," Steve laughed when one year later, he watched his boyfriend bounce on the bed, holding a colorful package he had just taken from underneath the Christmas tree in their shared bedroom. The Avengers team was supposed to exchange gifts tomorrow, but before that, Tony and Steve wanted to have their personal moment, almost a year after the evening in the library that helped to unblock something in their heads. When Steve sat on the bed, Tony stopped bouncing and handed him the package right away.

"Merry Christmas!" he exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear.

"Merry Christmas, babe," Steve smiled back and after a kiss, Steve started to unwrap the silver paper. "What!" he laughed, seeing a six pack of colorful Christmas underwear and socks, in bright, blinding colors and patterns. Just like Tony's socks were. Once, Steve had wondered if Tony's bright socks matched his underwear and after a year of dating, he could say with all confidence that yes, yes, they did and it looked like Tony was trying to push his stylistic choices on Steve.

"Hope you like them," Tony smiled brightly, "your white boxers and socks were driving me crazy for the past year," he justified his choice of a present.

"So is this for you or for me?" Steve asked in a playful tone.

"For us both," Tony decided with a laugh.

"Convenient," Steve smiled and handed Tony his present. It wasn't half as neatly packed as Tony's, but it didn't matter, as Tony was already tearing the paper to get to the inside. His mouth fell open when he saw his present.

"Seriously?" he asked, taking out a pair of knee high socks. White. "This is what you want me to wear?"

"Look at the bottoms," Steve smiled and watched with pleasure as Tony's eyes widened when he did that.

"Oh," Tony murmured softly, putting their presents aside and purring invitingly, "I am gonna wear them for you every day," he promised, before locking their lips in a kiss, and pushing Steve on the bed, starting their celebration.

On the edge of the bed, next to the colorful underwear, were two white socks, one with 'kiss my feet', the other one with 'tickle my feet' written across on the sole in bold, black letters.

[floatingpetals]

Peace and Quiet?

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Angst-ish, language, the reader makes a poor decision, fluff as well  

Word Count: 5900+ 

Request: “I seriously love your longer one shots! Could you please do a Cap (or Bucky) + reader, where the reader is kinda loud/outgoing because of not wanting to be forgotten or something? And the reader figures they make him uncomfortable and shuts everyone out, leading to him confessing he likes the reader? Fluff please?” @homeybadger

A/N:  Wow so uhh, this has been a request that’s been sitting in my inbox for sooooo looonnng. No seriously, like super long. I feel so bad that it’s taken me just now to get to it. I wanted to do something nice with it, but I just couldn’t get it right, then I forgot it was there and then I remember and scrapped the whole thing. I hope you enjoy this story and I hope the length makes up for it! I did not mean to take so long on this! I hope you all enjoy!! 

**I’m also debating on doing a second part, but it all depends on the feedback I get. So please let me know what you think! ❤

Gifs not mine, credit to the creator!

“Oh, bad luck. You landed on Boardwalk,” Sam smirked, a giggle beginning to bubble in his chest as the rage that was settling on Y/N’s face across the table. She glared at the double dice, a freaking snake eye, that had been against her the entire game. “And if my math is correct, with my three houses you owe me $1400. And from the looks of your very sad pile, you’ll have to sell everything on top of declaring bankruptcy.”

“I hate this game!” Y/N screamed, throwing down the $300 hundred she had left.

“Hey, don’t hate the game!” Natasha shot back, grinning behind her beer bottle. Y/N shot her glare.

“Oh, shut up! You and Clint have been cheating the entire time and you know it!” she growled. Clint gasped but was cut off by a sharp jab in the ribs by Bucky. He grumbled and pulled out the chance cards he had stashed away, and nudge Natasha to pull out the money she had hidden away. “See! This game sucks!”

“Now, now. No need to go all green on us.” Tony grinned. Bruce made a noise before letting out a puff of air. Irritated with both the game and how smug everyone was acting, Y/N exploded with a primal battle cry.

“Fuck this game! You people are all cheaters!”

Everyone had enough time to grab their drinks off before Y/N flipped the table, the pieces flying everywhere. Bucky and Wanda both doubled over in their seats, howling when Y/N began to scream at Tony, who jumped up and was yelling back at the same volume. Clint and Natasha were grinning like idiots as the mayhem grew. Bruce rolled his eyes when Sam jumped in, normally the tone the room shifted would set him on edge, but this wasn’t unusual. The only person that wasn’t reacting, save for Vision who had no idea why tensions were so high over a silly game, was Steve.

He had decided to sit this game night out. After the Mario Party debacle, he wasn’t ready to jump back in the ring. Thor spun a wheel and tossed a dart to cut someone’s stars in half. He landed on Y/N’s. While she was once in the lead, that cut her stars in half and she was suddenly in last place. That was fine. It was when she was hit by Bowser, who Tony was playing as when they managed to let him loose of his little prison that she flipped her lid. The team got a kick out of her raging at the games, and all banded together to see how quickly she could snap. Steve, however, didn’t see the charm in it.

To put it lightly, Y/N was a lot to handle. She was everywhere all at once to begin with, her voice carrying through walls. There wasn’t a single mean bone in her body, aside from her intense competitive streak. She seemed to win over anybody. Steve still wasn’t sure. He’d admit, she was sweet and everyone else seemed to love her. Steve thought she was cute too, sometimes she would fall asleep on the couch and he’d find himself taking advantage of her stillness to stare. But she never stopped to breathe once it seemed. He couldn’t recall a time where she wasn’t talking loudly about something or practically bouncing off the walls from excitement. She was a lot more than he was used to. Y/N made his head spin. It wasn’t terrible, but it was a bit exhausting after a while around her. It also didn’t help that sometimes her power manifested with her growing emotions. Which is what was happening right now.

“You’re the one who wanted us to play this stupid game!” Tony accused, rolling his eyes.

“Did not! I specifically said that I thought it was a stupid idea because I always end up flipping a table! You’re the one who then said we had to play it since learning that bit of information.” She countered pointing a finger at him. Tony stopped, a sly grin spreading across his face.

“Oh yeah.”

“Ugh!” She grumbled. “You people are so frustrating! Why do you do this to me?!”

“Because it’s fun.” Tony grinned, his eyes flashing with glee. That was the wrong thing to say. Now Y/N really was angry. She grits her teeth and balled her fists at her side. If this was a cartoon, she’d have steam coming out of her ears she was so angry. Unbeknownst to her, her powers started to manifest with her mounting fury, afflicting the others in the room.

Y/N’s power was special and even a bit strange considering how specific it was. Since she could remember, Y/N always had the gift to control the aura around her to suppressed others authority and leadership skills. It was a power that had come handy in her life, but also hindered her more than it helped. She had a rather strong grip on it at all times, but sometimes that control slipped. Tony’s face paled, and everyone else around her started to shift uncomfortably.

“Uh-Y/N.” Wanda reached out, her fingers gently brushing against the back of Y/N’s arm. Wanda flinched, the contact enough to send her the full force of Y/N’s strange power, but she fought to stay strong. Y/N blinked, quickly realizing the shift in the room was because of her. Her shoulder’s dropped and the suffocating aura surrounding her disappeared. The room sighed collectively in relief.

“See. This is why you shouldn’t poke the bear.” Y/N huffed, crossing her arms against her chest. Tony chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s nice to know you’re aware.” Sam let out a laugh as well, grinning widely at her. She grumbled under her breath and turned to sit back in her seat. As she did, she scanned the room and noticed a spot empty. Standing straighter she glanced around the room.

“Hey, where did Steve go?”

The group collectively turned around, just now noticing the empty seat their Captain once took up as well. Bucky frowned and shot a look to Natasha, who seemed on the same page. Slowly, he turned to back to Y/N.

“Uh... Maybe he decided to turn in early.” He tried. The team seemed to take it, albeit skeptically. He had been doing this a lot lately, getting up at disappearing without a word. No one wanted to say it aloud, but they all noticed it happened around the time Y/N came to the team four months ago.

Y/N stilled, her eyes hardening for a split second before they seemed to glaze over. Shaking her head, she heaved a sigh.

“I’m gonna turn in early too. Sorry, this little outburst just took a lot out of me.” She said, stepping over the discarded pieces and was out of the room before anyone could argue. The room had shifted into a subdued atmosphere, everyone thinking the same thing.

“Someone needs to talk to him.” Wanda murmured. Bucky nodded, letting out a sigh.

“I’ll talk to him.” He said. The rest all murmured in agreement, slowly trickling out the room since game night clearly was done for the evening. They could only hope tomorrow would end on a better note.

~~~~~~~

Y/N sat on her bed, clinging to her favorite stuffed animal wondering just where she went wrong. Since she joined the team a few short months ago, she had been trying her best to get close to the rest of her teammates. Naturally, she was a bubbly person. But her gift made it harder for her to get close to anyone. Her parents thought it was odd, the power came from nowhere when she hit the age of three. It took them time to figure out that it wasn’t because she was incredibly intimidating and that she was unintentionally suppressing their confidence level.

They spent years taking her to doctors and specialists that might be able to help her control her powers. It wasn’t without consequences. Because she struggled for so long to control her powers, she spent a lot of her life unintentionally hurting those around her.

Her classmates didn’t know what exactly, but they knew something was wrong with her. She spent the majority of her school years alone in the corner, shunned from taking part of anything in her classes. If anyone tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, something always went wrong. They were terrified of her. The fear turned to indifference and eventually, they paid her no mind. No one wanted her in their lives. But for Y/N, she wanted nothing more than to be accepted and included.

Which might explain why she was the way she was today. It took years to master her control, but she did it. And now that she was an Avenger, she was surrounded by people who were like her. Special and unique. Nowhere else could she be herself as she could here. This was her last chance of being free and she never wanted to be forgotten.

It didn’t take her long to win over the others. They were more than aware of what she could do. Not a one batted an eyelash, no one shrank away in fear they’d be subjected to the smothering fear she could plague them with. If anything, it fascinated them. She was the one who they’d send in to interrogate. Whether on location or in a holding cell, it didn’t matter. Her power was a gift to get the tightest of lips to talk. For the first time in her life, Y/N felt as though she had finally found her calling.  

Y/N was proud of how far she had come. It was years of uphill battles and year left in the shadows. But now, she had it all, friends, her family and a job she loved. All except the acceptance of Steve. He was polite, but he always had an air of discomfort around her. Not with anyone else, just her. Y/N hated to admit it, but it hurt.

Since the day she met him, Y/N fell hard. Who couldn’t though? He was charming, cared for his friends and protective of his family. But for some reason, he just didn’t seem like he enjoyed being around her. Perhaps, she thought, it was something she said to him. She couldn’t recall anything that might set his teeth on edge, but she was at a loss.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Y/N set her stuffed animal down on the bed and swung her legs over the side. She knew she shouldn’t dwell too much on it. He could very well be in a bad mood, and it could confidently only be when she’s in the same room. She snorted. Yeah, that was it.

No, she thought, there was something more about it. Thinking back all the times she noticed he’d got running, realization hit her like a freight train. Every time he ran, it was because of something she did. It was her. A broken sob crept it’s way up her throat. She was the reason, that was the only thing it could be. Steve Rogers, the man who unknowingly held her heart in his hands, was uncomfortable with her. She clenched the sheets of the bed and held back her tears.

Y/N had to change. Her behavior had always been a problem, she knew that. She was so terrified of being left alone and forgotten again, she let her eagerness go too far. Falling back on the bed, she stared at the ceiling and came to a life-altering decision.

~~~~~

“Hey! There you are!” Natasha grinned motioning Y/N over to her mat. “I was wondering if you’d ever show up or if I’d have to go up to pull you out of bed.”

Y/N didn’t respond with her usual quip, just sent her a tight-lipped smile and a soft apology. Natasha blinked her lack of typical response slightly off-putting. Where was her boisterous hello and never-ending pouts of energy? It was one of the fun things about working out with Y/N first thing in the morning. This wasn’t usual of her at all.

“Okay.” Natasha drawled, looking over Y/N to try and decipher her new attitude. “Well, let’s get started on stretching you at, then we’ll get on the mat to spar.”

Y/N wordlessly nodded, moving over to where the yoga mats were laid out waiting for her. Natasha took up the spot next to her, keeping her eyes especially close on Y/N. Aside from her uncharacteristically quiet demeanor, it didn’t seem like there was a hair out of place on her. Although, her movement seemed a bit on the robotic side. Y/N was just going through the motions, getting done with her stretches before wordlessly making her way over to the mats without a glance to Natasha.

Natasha sat up and watched Y/N leave without a word, flabbergasted. Things seemed fine last night, aside from Steve’s abrupt disappearance. As far as Natasha knew, Y/N had gone straight to her room to sleep. And everyone was either here in the gym or Tony and Bruce in the lap. So, what happened to Y/N?

“Hey, you okay?” Natasha asked, catching Y/N’s elbow.

“What do you mean?” Y/N tilted her head to the side, brows furrowed.

“I don’t know,” Natasha said slowly, her gaze narrowing the longer she stared at Y/N. “You just seem… off today.”

“Oh.” She uttered simply. “Yeah. I’m good.”

Pulling her arm away from Natasha, Y/N wandered over to where Sam was now standing with Bucky. Their smile grew at the sight of her, both unaware of Y/N’s new behavior.

“Good morning sunshine!” Sam beamed at her, wrapping her up in a hug. Y/N let out a faint giggle as she hugged him back. Bucky grinned and tilted his head in greeting.

“Morning doll. You sleep okay last night? I didn’t hear your snores through the paper-thin walls last night.”  He teased, nudging her with his shoulder. Y/N huffed but surprisingly bit her tongue.

“Morning Bucky. Yeah, I slept fine.” Y/N shrugged, her face showing little to no emotions. “We ready to get started.”

Both men were stunned, completely thrown off by her sudden change. They shot Natasha a startled look, who could only shrug. She hadn’t the faintest idea either what happened. Y/N wasn’t supplying them with anything either, so all they could do was continue as if nothing was wrong. It didn’t mean they weren’t going to question her later of course.

Getting done with their training was odd, uncomfortable even. Y/N didn’t speak unless spoken to, and even then they were short simple answers. There was none of her usual spunkiness that fought back with each quip Sam sent her way. He even tried to rile her up, he almost pulled out all the stops in a hope to gain a reaction from her. But she didn’t move an inch. Bucky tried to get her to react when he threw a punch harder than necessary her way. They thought they had her, there was a spark of fury in her eyes after she picked herself up, but she quickly wiped the expression on her face.

In the end, Y/N went through the motions, doing what needed to be done without her usual flare. At one point, Wanda had even commented on how unusually quiet she had been. When Y/N left to head to the locker room, she cornered Bucky and Sam.

“What did you two do?” she hissed, jabbing a finger in Sam’s chest. He made a noise in the back of his throat offended at the accusation.

“What the hell makes you think we did anything?” Bucky crossed his arms across his chest. Wanda turned her narrow gaze to Bucky.

“Well. Something happened to her. And I know Natasha wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

“Oh and we would?” Sam snapped, shaking his head. “We didn’t do anything to her Wanda, she was like this when she came in.”

“He’s right.” Natasha interrupted, siding with the two men. “She’s been like this all morning. I have no clue why.”

The door the locker room opened, Y/N walking freshly out of the shower and a new change of clothes. She stopped short when she saw all four eyes locked on her across the room. Awkwardly, she waved to them before heading to the exit. Right as she reached it, Steve swung open the door, towel in hand. His steps faltered and a tight-lipped smile passed on her face.

The group couldn’t see her face from where they stood. All they could see was her nod her head once before stepping around Steve with a wide berth to head out the exit. Steve was left stunned. It wasn’t normal to not have his ear talked off when it came to Y/N. Blinking rapidly, he wandered over to Bucky, brows furrowed in confusion.

“What she say?” Wanda asked. Steve’s mouth fell open to answer but couldn’t find the right words.

“Uh… Nothing.” He shrugged.

“And you don’t find that strange?” Wanda asked the group, pinning each of them with her stare. Bucky bristled at the insinuation, his hands balling into fists.

“We never said it wasn’t. We just have no idea what’s wrong with her.” He snapped, stepping up with his back straighter and shoulders set. Wanda glared right back, red seeping into her eyes. Natasha wiggled her way between them, grumbling under her breath.

“Alright. Alright, enough.” She held her hands out to both, pushing them back. “Wanda, we have no clue what happened. Y/N walked in like this. It’s probably nothing and she’s just having an off day. Why don’t we just let whatever happened run its course and see how she is through the rest of the day. No point on biting each other’s heads off when we all did nothing wrong.”

The group grumbled their agreement, still not at ease with how the morning had turned. Steve was just as concerned as the rest. It was odd that she didn’t greet him with her megawatt smile when he walked in the gym, and it was odd how her face seemed to tighten at the sight of him. All he got this morning was a tight-lipped smiled before she ran out the door. What was even odder was the fact that she seemed to give him as much space as possible. As if she didn’t want to get too close.

Steve turned to the door, his brows creased and mouth in a tight line. Something was going on with Y/N, but who was he to worry about her?

~~~~~~~~

Things hadn’t gotten much better with Y/N over the next few days. She had stopped taking part in the loud discussions that always managed to start up in the kitchen or the living room. Her words were short and few in between, but she didn’t seem upset. Just much more subdued than usual. When someone would speak to her, so would she. But it was never the same volume as before.

Sam and Clint both made it their mission to get her to snap. They did everything from switching her sugar to salt in her coffee to going into her room and putting baby powder in her hair dryer. Nothing worked. She would just sigh and turn her back to them, shoulders tense. They thought she’d give up and go back to her old ways, but nothing worked. Not even Natasha could get her to admit what was wrong.

Steve, however, was taking her attitude change harder than the rest. Don’t ask him why he didn’t even know. He thought he’d prefer her at a lower decibel, he assumed she would be more manageable and easier to get along with. But this, this wasn’t what he thought it would be like. To him, it almost seemed creepy. This wasn’t the Y/N he had come to know. The wasn’t the same woman in the slightest. It was as if someone else swapped personalities with her.

Y/N hadn’t shown any improvement in her attitude in the field either. Actually, she seemed to be less productive now. One of the ways she managed to get people to confess was using her power and then releasing it. There she’d act like a good cop, bargaining with them for information and if they didn’t give her what she wanted, she’d switch her powers back on again. Now, she just threw herself into it. There was no build up, no false sense of security.

Just last week they needed information about the next hit Hydra ordered. They apprehended one of the agents and sent in Y/N to get out the information when he wouldn’t fess up. The team assumed the old Y/N would come out now that she was in the field. Instead, she walked in and used the full force of her powers on the man. She was already so powerful, but she had a strong grip on her control. When her power flared to life, even with the thick walls it suffocated everyone.

The agent instantly started sobbing, blubbering like a small child before it grew to mindless screaming for mercy. As it turns out, her power can actually break the human spirit and shatter their sanity into a thousand pieces. It only affected the man in front of her, but it still rattled the rest of the group. Steve was furious.

“What the hell was that?!” He snarled, dragging Y/N into a conference room. She blinked, her face unmoving despite the rage rolling off him in waves. Tony, Fury, and Maria both sat around the meeting table, their mouths pulled into thin lines. She tore her gaze away, refusing to look at anyone in particular as Steve raged on. “You ruined any chances of getting information out of him!”

“Actually Cap, she ruined any chance of him being a normal human being again,” Tony interjected, pulling up a hologram of the doctor's report. The mental status report had been sent in a few moments before Steve dragged her in. The poor man couldn’t remember his name let alone the information they needed.

Y/N pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers and let out a heavy breath. When she opened them, their faces hadn’t changed a bit. Settling on a point at the table, the brief glimpse she caught of their expressions was burned in her mind. Steve was livid, Tony seemed borderline irritated with a hint of amusement, while Fury and Maria both had a hard expression that told her she was in for it for the next few weeks.

“Look. I’m sorry. I let a few personal matters get to me and clearly, I didn’t handle it well.” She said calmly. Steve flinched at how lifeless she sounded when she mentioned her personal matter and shot Tony a concerned look. Tony tilted his head in acknowledgment, he too aware of the pain she seemed to be suppressing. “I can’t promise it won’t happen again by accident, but I’ll make sure to put more training in to ensure it doesn’t.”

Fury shifted in his seat, folding his hands on his crossed knee. His single eye narrowed as he looked her over and gave her a curt nod.

“See that it doesn’t agent. Dismissed.” He said curtly. Y/N’s eyes fluttered shut for a spilt-second before she jerked her chin and spun at heel to leave the room. After the door shut behind her, Fury grunted.

“What did you people do to her?” He accused, leveling Steve and Tony with a stare. Both men frowned and glanced at the other.

“We didn’t do anything.” Tony snapped, narrowing his eyes. Steve set his hand on the back of a chair and sighed.

“She’s been like this for almost a week now. This is the first time she’s actually admitted something wrong.” Steve replied, his brows furrowing at the tightness in his chest at the idea. It wasn’t like Y/N to keep everything bottle up inside her like this.

“Well, whatever’s wrong with her, fix it,” Fury ordered. “She needs to be in complete control and that can’t happen when her minds on other things.”

Pushing back the chair he stood, Maria right behind him. Not waiting for a reply, he grabbed the folder off the desk and briskly left the room with Maria following. Steve flinched when the door snapped shut behind them. Tony scoffed.

“You can get rid of that sad puppy dog look, Captain.”

Steve frowned, his head snapping up to Tony.

“What’s with the tone, Tony?” He asked. Tony rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.

“We all know you don’t like Y/N, you put up a good front though.” He waved a hand absently. “But when you dart out of a room anytime she comes in, or you won’t sit to talk with her when she comes to find you, it gets pretty noticeable.”

Steve stood taller, his mouth drawing into a tight line. He opened his mouth to argue, but it dawned on him. He hadn’t been the most welcoming person to Y/N in the few months she’s been here. Was that really how everyone perceives him? Tony smirked and shook his head.

“To put it simply; you’ve been an ass to our Y/N, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something you did.” Groaning softly under his breath, Tony stood and grabbed his tablet. Steve’s face fell, the notion her change might have been because of him made his stomach turn. Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder, his mouth pulled into a tight line. “Like Fury said, we’re going to fix this. But don’t worry. We won’t waste your precious time.”

At that, Tony left Steve alone in the conference room, the sting of his words lingering behind. Steve’s shoulder slumped. Maybe this had been his fault. But when? How? He really didn’t think it would have been that big of a deal to leave early after the game. Maybe he thought wrong and she did take it wrong. That wouldn’t mean this complete 180 though, would it? It wasn’t the first time he escaped a game night gone wrong, and she didn’t seem upset them. Perhaps it was something else. That had to be it. He really hadn’t done anything wrong, at least he didn’t think he did.

“Hey FRIDAY,” Steve called. Immediately, the AI system responded.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Go back to the last game night, the one with monopoly, did anything happen to Y/N between the time I left, and she went to bed?” He asked. Silence met him as the computer searched the data.

“No, it doesn’t seem like anything happened. She never left her room once she entered either.” FRIDAY replied. Steve frowned, even more, confused than before. So if there wasn’t anything that happened to her then what was with change?

Clenching his jaw, Steve knew he needed to get to the bottom of this. Not just as a Captain to his team, but as a way to make up for being such a shitty housemate. And maybe even as a way to start an actual friendship with him. Now that he’s seen this side of her, he realized how judgment and close-minded he was. He needed to find her and talk with her.

~~~~

Y/N had just stripped out of her suit and into her PJs when there was a hesitant knock on the door. She frowned. She wasn’t expecting anyone tonight, especially not after she just got her ass handed to her. Reluctantly she went to open the door and was surprised at the person on the other side.

Steve stood there awkwardly, his hands in his pockets. She blinked and took a step back.

“Uh… hi?” she greeted cautiously.  Steve smiled hesitantly and shifted from foot to foot.

“Hey. Can we talk?”

“W-Why?” She clutched on the handle and shifted behind the door in an attempt to hide behind it. Steve noticed and his smile fell. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I know I’m the last person you want to talk to. I’ve not been the most welcoming and I want to apologize. Can I please come in?” He asked earnestly. Y/N was caught off guard at his sincerity. Nodding numbly, she pulled the door open and let him in her room.

Steve glanced around the room, noticing the number of pictures she had hanging up on her wall, pretty fairy lights cascading down the walls illuminating each photo. Her comforter was a light lilac with stuffed animals on the bed. He eyed the little knickknacks matched the rest of her décor on her desks and shelves adding to the warmth and homey feel her room had. Realization hit him that he really hadn’t taken the time to get the real her.

“Go ahead and have a seat.” Y/N waved to the bed before sitting on the other end. Steve sank into the plush mattress, taking a moment to look over Y/N. She refused to make eye contact, to busy wringing her fingers together to notice him staring. Once again, he was struck by how beautiful she was, and how poorly he handled everything.

“Look Y/N, I don’t know what happened the past few days and why you’re acting different, but somethings changed. We all can see it.” He said. Y/N opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it. Steve continued on. “I don’t know what happened, but it hurts all of us to see you like this. It’s like you’ve lost a huge part of yourself and we’re seeing this empty shell. I mean, Sam and Clint both are losing their minds because what ordinarily would work on getting you riled up is doing nothing. And Bucky’s beside himself, Natasha and Wanda are worried sick, and Tony is pissed because-.” Steve stopped short, his face twisting into a pained expression. “He thinks I’m the reason.”

Y/N tensed, her breath catching in her throat. It was minuscule, but Steve caught it. He sat taller and his stomach sank.

“It is because of me.” He whispered sadly. He tore his eyes away from her to stare blankly at his hands. Y/N closed her eyes but didn’t deny it. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve not been accepting. I didn’t mean to hurt you though.”

Y/N nodded slowly, biting her lower lip as he kept talking.

“Truth is, you intimidate the hell out of me. I’ve never met someone who was so sure of themselves and so incredibly proud about it. You held nothing back and you’re so willing to put your heart on your sleeve, I kind of envy you a little. People loved you right of the bat and your just so sweet inside and out. I mean, you didn’t let anyone tell you to chill out before. Which leaves me to ask, why now? Why did I affect you so much that you changed everything about you?”

That caused Y/N’s face to heat up. No way was she going to admit it aloud! It was already embarrassing enough Steve knew he was a reason why she changed, but for him to know what the full reason was mortified her.

“Y/N.” He gently took her hand in his, the corners of his lips turned up. “You don’t have to tell me. I just want you to know that no matter what you think, I don’t hate you. I never did. Matter of fact, I really like you. More than I thought. It didn’t hit me how much I’d come to admire and appreciate your take on life until now. I miss hearing you bicker with Tony about the best brew coffee first thing in the morning or when you and Bucky gang up on Sam. I know Natasha and Wanda miss having their best friend. And game nights will never be the same without you threatening and then following through with flipping a table.”

Y/N giggled and ducked her chin. His grin grew, finally seeing a glimmer of her former self.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me for how I’ve behaved. I can only ask you’ll give me a chance to make up for being such a shitty person.” He grinned.

“Language, Captain.” Y/N teased.

“Is that ever going to die?” Steve groaned and rolled his eyes. “Wait you weren’t even there!”

“I know but hate to break it to you, it’s here for the long haul.” Y/N giggled and shook her head. Steve’s laughter joined hers, his smile stretching from ear to ear. He titled his head to the side after a beat before letting out a sigh.

“So, are you going to be okay?” He asked hopefully. Y/N let out a deep breath, for the first time all week feeling lighter. She was so drained from keeping her emotions in check, it took every ounce of her strength not to react to the attempts at making her snap. She knew it was ridiculous trying to change, but she really thought it was for the better. Turns out, it not only damaged her but everyone she loved.

“Yeah. I think I’ll be okay.” She spoke confidently. Steve patted her thigh and quickly stood.

“Good, because Tony discovered some new game called The Jackbox Party Pack or something along those lines.” He extended a hand and waited for her to take it.

“Wait, right now?” She asked surprised. He nodded and took her hand.

“Yup. Come on. Team bonding time.”

Y/N laughed, letting him pull her up and drag her out of the room. He looked at her over his shoulder, his breath catching in her throat at the way her face lit up from her grin. Turning back quickly, he hoped she didn’t notice the way his ears turned pink. He was an idiot for not taking the time to get to know her. He wasn’t going to ruin his chance with her a second time. Maybe it wasn’t going to easy, but for Y/N he knew it would be worth it.

Perma Tag: (CLOSED)

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Steve Tag: (Open)

@biologik / @screamimalive / @ahsokastarwars / @bucky-smiles / @robfangirl /

(Let me know if I missed you, the strike means I can’t tag you for some reason.)

[burnt-tomato]

The Red String of Fate

The Red String of Fate links two soulmates together signifying that they are made for each other. This certain string can appear when you are born or when you and your soulmate finally meet. Though this string can be broken, whether because of arguments, long distance, any of the two meeting someone else they like, taking the two too long to meet, or when intentionally cut. If the string was accidentally cut, it would come back. But the string can be fixed if and only if one of the soulmates has enough energy or power to revive it.

warning: curse words, boy x boy

pairing: IwaOi ( Iwaizumi x Oikawa )

anime: Haikyuu!!

this is my first fanfic so I apologize for any grammar errors. it may also seem rushed and might not be pleasant to read and I also apologize for that. even if english is my second language, my vocab isn't as good as other writers

- - s n a p - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !!

That sound. The sound that sounds so painful yet so relieving. The sound that I can't decide whether if I like it or not. The sound that just might decide things for me. The sound that would me you feel ill and 'empty'. I t h u r t s b a d l y .

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

Crap. What time is it?

"Hajime! Are you awake yet? Get ready for school already. At this rate you'll be late for the first period. Tooru's waiting for you outside."

Oh. Shit. I overslept again. And how the fuck is that Shittykawa waiting for me? Most of the time he's the one who's late. Too late for that then.

I quickly got dressed and went downstairs. I didn't even bother eating breakfast. I dashed out of the door just to be greeted by Oikawa.

"Why isn't this a surprise, Iwa-chan! For the first time I'm the one waiting for you."

"Haha very funny Crappykawa"

"Can't you call me anything else other than Crappykawa?"

"So which do you prefer? Shittykawa or Trashykawa?"

"E-eh?? I'd go for Crappykawa then!" Oikawa pouted afterwards.

We both rushed to school and barely made it just in time. Teacher got mad at us though for arriving last minute.

Oikawa Tooru. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember, although to this day I'm still wondering why I even agreed to being with him. It was more like a forced friendship because we were the only kids in the neighborhood of the same age. He's also the reason I got into volleyball. Well, sort of. He kinda forced me into learning how to play just so someone can spike his tosses. Actually, eversince he came, something's been going on with my life differently.

10 years ago, there was this family that has just moved in into our neighborhood. I was 7 or 8 at the time. Mom called me to come downstairs to greet the new people. When we opened the door, it revealed a tall woman with shoulder length brown hair with dark brown eyes. Beside her was a kid a few centimeters taller than me with brown hair and an ahoge, and seemed to he right at my age. After our greetings, mom invited them inside and in just a few seconds, this random kid was in my room.

"Uh... Tooru, do you want to do or play anything?"

He didn't answer, but he did go out and returned with a volleyball in his hands. He tugged my shoulder sleeve and took me outside. And then I just found myself playing with a kid I just met, although I didn't know how, but he did teach me.

When the sun came down, they said that they were going home.

"Bye Iwa-chan! See you tomorrow"

"Bye Tooru."

Just as he said, the next day we found ourselves playing with each other again. This has been going on for awhile now.

On a normal day, I woke up with a red string tied unto my pinky.

"W-why i-is there a r-red string tied unto m-me??" In panic, I fell down my bed. I debated in my head on whether mom should know about this or not, and came to the conclusion that I would tell her if she noticed. While eating breakfast, even if I tried giving her hints and putting my hand in the most open and obvious spot, she didn't seem to notice at all. Was this just my imagination? Maybe it doesn't actually exist.

I tried my best to just ignore it and just enjoy the rest of the day (Even if having this stupid red string tied unto me. And the fact that it's even going through the walls! Holy crap that's frikin weird.)

I stepped outside to play with Tooru again. Maybe if mom couldn't see it, maybe he can't too. Or should I confirm it with him and ask? Is this string even real? Is it even solid? Why does it look like it's just floating through air? Why is it-

"Iwa-chan! Do you want to play again?"

Why. Why is the damn string attached to him, to the same finger as mine. Why is it connecting the two of us. Should I just ignore it?

"Yeah sure"

I guess I decided to ignore it.

Ever since this string appeared, we seemed closer than usual. There are even times that I forgot it existed. Every time I woke up, it would just be there. It looks like it doesn't have a specific or permanent length, in fact whenever me and Tooru separate, it just extends.

So I decided that I'd cut it. I mean.. what's the harm?

- - s n i p - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ! !

"*cough* *c-cough*...!!! I-I c-can't b-breathe...!! M-mom! H-help m-me..!!"

.

.

.

.

.

Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt!!!

H-huh? Why am I on the floor? Did I fall asleep here? I don't remember much from last night... What happened??

I took a glance at my hand. Oh. It's gone.

Honestly though. I don't know if I feel relieved or... something else. My chest feels heavy, actually. Maybe if I go out and play with Tooru I'd feel better-

"Sorry. Tooru's not feeling well today. Just this morning when he woke up, he was sobbing and refused to tell me the reason. I'm sorry Hajime-kun. Maybe tomorrow."

What. Why? Does this have something to do with the string? Ah, don't be stupid Hajime, he probably felt ill. That's all.

I hope so.

When that string appeared, it reminded me of my friendship with Tooru. When we finally started playing as actual friends, that string appeared. It almost felt like a reminder or sign of our connection. Geez Hajime, when did you become so cheesy. Haha yeah I know. And when I cut that string, it felt like I cut my ties with him or in other words, broke away.

That's probably just my imagination though. I really have to stop overthinking things. Despite my arrogance and cold attitude, I do sometimes think about this thoroughly, even if it sounds cheesy and cliche.

.

.

.

"Hey Iwa-chan. Sorry I haven't gotten to play with you for a week. I know it was sudden, but I actually got a high fever, although before that I didn't even feel ill. But I'm okay now! We can finally play agai-! ... Iwa-chan?"

Oh. I didn't even notice that he was talking to me, or even that he was ok now. Eversince he got sick, I've been spacing out more frequently and felt really lonely.

"Ah. Sorry 'bout that Tooru. I'm fine. Are you sure you're not ill anymore? If not, sure let's play some volleyball."

We did. When he got better, even I felt better.

And just when I thought things were finally going to go smoothly...

Ah. It appeared again. The stupid red string. And without a doubt it's tied unto Tooru too. Sigh. What am I gonna do about this...

.

.

.

.

.

"Toor- I mean Oikawa. Can you set to me some of your tosses? I want to practice spiking."

From the benches, I could hear Matsukawa and Hanamaki snickering about how I almost called Shittykawa by his first name.

...

Up to this day this string is still tied unto our hands, mine and Oikawa's. Up until now, I've been constantly cutting that string, but it's not like I cut it because we had arguments or misunderstandings, it's just really... uncomfortable. And the fact that only we can see it, or perhaps, only I can. Oikawa's been spending more time in my house nowadays. We've been getting closer during these years of growing up together. Still, I wonder what this string means. Every time I cut it, after me and Oikawa hangout again, it just comes back. Freaky honestly.

.

.

"Alright everyone!! Practice is over! Go home already, it's getting late. Don't forget that next week we have a practice match, ok?"

We all separate ways, and me and Oikawa walk home together.

"Goodnight Iwa-chan. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you too."

. . .

Huhhhhhhhhhh. Oikawa just texted me.

"Hey Iwa-chan, some fangirl asked me to go out with her. You think I should??" Sent 8:52 PM

Huh...? Why did he ask me? And why do I feel like I got rejected...? Seriously, whenever he gets requests or confessions he always asks me first. It's not like I control him.. But honestly a part of me wants him to not go..

I wonder why...

"Idk. Do u even like her?" Sent 8:54 PM

"Mmm. Not rlly...." Sent 8:54 PM

"Then don't. Bye." Sent 8:55 PM

"Eh? Are you mad? Iwa-chan???" Sent 8:55 PM

"Iwa-chan??"

"IwA-cHan??"

I ignored him. He should just do what he wants.

.

.

.

Fuckkk. Why alarm clock's been ringing for 20 minutes already. It's past 7 AM already. First period starts at 7. Why am I still here..? Is it because I didn't want to see Oikawa hangout with that girl? Haha don't be silly Hajime. I just didn't feel like going.

.

.

.

Hmmm..? It's 5PM already? Fuck how long have I been here? Was I just staring into nothing. I'm hungry. I went down and ate. Then went back to my room.

I stopped. The scissors. The scissors I use to cut the string.. should I?

I grabbed the scissors then-

.

.

"IWA-CHAN!!! WHY didn't you go to school today??? Are you ill? I brought you your homewo-"

I stopped. When did he get here? Did my mom literally just let him in without letting me know? Well, this is just fucking awkward. I'm standing, a bit bent down, holding a pair of scissors against this red string that I don't know if he could see. Up 'till now, I don't know if he could see the string, nd I've been carelessly cutting it.

He dropped everything.

"I-iwa-c-chan... w-why...?? So you've b-been cutting t-he string? It was y-you?..."

Oikawa started sobbing and dropped to the floor. I dropped the scissors, causing a loud thud on the floor, and rushed to him.

"What do you mean? You could see it this entire time? Why didn't you tell me?

"Why have you been CUTTING IT?"

Fuck. I've never heard Oikawa raise his voice. Ever. His voice overlapped his sobs.

"Do y-you not want to be with me? I rejected the girl b-because..."

His voice softened. It got softer right after he shouted.

"W-what? What do you mean? Of course I-I d-do.."

I looked away, hiding my embarrassment.

"Then why have you been cutting it?"

I didn't even notice that we've been on the floor this entire time. His face I held on my chest, my shirt's wet from his tears. After his question, I was dead silent. It's true. Why did I cut the string?

"Iwa-chan, do you not even know what the string means?"

Oikawa muttered softly, his voice being overlapped by the broken sobs echoing in the room.

"Ah... No."

Right after I answered, Oikawa's hands gripped the back part of my shirt tighter. His sobbing got quieter, his face still buried on my chest.

"Iwa... It meant that we were soulmates. The red string signifies that we were meant to stay together, to be there for each other. Eversince I moved into this neighborhood, I had a strong feeling when I first saw you. And I was right. The string appeared after we settled with eachother."

"I... I didn't know that..... Tooru im-!"

"I like you Hajime... I always have... but honestly I never thought about how I could tell you... I was scared that you'd reject me and find it weird that a guy likes a guy..."

He looked down, gripping tighter unto my back.

How could I have been so stupid. I've been cutting that string without a reason, and worst, I never even told him. If I had told him sooner, maybe I could've at least prevented hurting him...

"Hajime...I like you... I love you..."

"Tooru I-"

He gripped my shirt tighther, burying his face deeper unto my chest. He breathed softly, and I could hear his heart beats thumping fast.

"Hajime..."

Oikawa jolted as i wrapped one arm around him and pulled his body closer to mine.

I'm sure he got my answer.

.

.

.

.

.

"EH?? Are you serious, Iwaizumi-san???!!!"

"IWAIZUMI SENPAIIII!!!"

"Why tho"

I held Shittykawa's hand tighter.

"Haha... yeah. We are."

A

Im sososososo sorry this looks sooo bad. I tried to make it as good as I can and literally failed lmao. If you have request, u can ask away <3333

-♤

[bestwishes86]

A snippet from "The Audition" leave comments and critiques

Best of Me : Book One – Moon

Chapter One – The Audition

    One Thousand is the number of head shots and resumes the thirty two year old director and her best friend and sister Luna had looked through for two days while drinking glasses of wine and smoking countless cigarettes. Together the pair had consumed nine bottles of something French before culling that number down to two hundred. Luna, the natural beauty with skin the color of green tea with too much milk in it had done the real leg work. Her fingers were numb from all the typing and retyping of all the names and seeing who had been used in prior work. Who had made 'experimental films' and who had nudes anywhere on the internet. Over dinner the pair had cackled like hens as they watched the films and decided whose penis was the best and whose was the worst.

    Any name they found was instantly rejected and the head shot and resume thrown into the shredder. Valentina longed for the day when these celebrity wannabes wised up enough to know.

    “Why give it away for free if someone will pay for it,”

    Barring those had swiftly brought the candidates list down. But then she was left with two hundred men who she had to pair with the two leading men of the Lakorn film movement, She looked at Luna, the milk tea goddess was dressed in one of her muscle bound husbands shirts which fit her like a dress two sizes too large. Her long thin legs draped across the arm of the brown leather couch while she was on the phone with the hotel they would use for the venue. The shirt, a white with black stripes button down complimented her skin and long, dyed ruby red hair which fell around her half halo face in waves.

    Valentina had born as a boy whose name was Kerrin. Kerrin had once been an actor in her early days in the business. She had been born a male, with a femininity that made her stand out from her all boy's school classmates. It had been this that caused them to tease her and hate her. But there was no denying that as a boy she had been sexy. Large doe eyes, high cheek bones, a small button nose and natural light skin the bravest boys would try and share her time. They would secretly be nice to her. It had confused her then because those same boys had been the ones to spit on her or call her names. Her sister Luna had suggested she try acting, since she could lie to their loving and caring parents about her time in school to the point they believed her. Why not? And she did.

    Soon her face as Kerrin was one many knew. The soap opera he starred in took off. Money came easy enough then. But she hated every second of it. Smiling for the camera, seeing that stranger's face where her's should be. It had been her wish back then to die. But instead she did the next best thing. She paid an obscene amount of money to a doctor who cut away any trace of Kerrin. It was painful the numerous surgeries, the days of bed rest, the rehabilitation. But what had hurt the worst was when she had gone to see her parents and they had hit and cursed her. Only Luna had defended her and called the man who at that time was named Perth who kicked in the door and beat her father while she lay on her side. Bleeding from where her father's foot had stomped on her head. This was the 2000's and plastic surgery wasn't what it is now, the damage done had called for another round of surgeries and this time Perth had paid for those. But two years later Valentina was born from the boy who never had been in love.

    “Val did you fall sleep with your eyes open again,” Luna's soft concern snapped her out of her revelry.

    “No just remembering Kerrin, sorry what were you saying,” Valentina asked looking at the empty bottle of wine and wondering if it was too late in the evening for food. Beauty came at a cost and for her it was the freedom to eat whenever she wanted. Standing at six foot without heels, her body was taut from hours in the gym daily, her breasts small and perky and her ass the shape of a healthy apple. She wanted to keep everything in the right place and the right shape.

    “Bond is coming tomorrow is that ok,” Luna asked again and Valentina nodded while internally cringing. Luna went back to the phone conversation while Valentina rose from the couch she had been sitting on and walked to the window like wall of glass that framed the loft apartment on one side. Her simple white dress flowed around her as if she were Sailor Moon which was secretly her spirit animal. Her hip length golden blond hair was styled in a similar manner and her eyes were reshaped to look Japanese instead Thai. She reached to the small end table made of glass and metal by her personal couch and picked up her rose gold Iphone and dialed the long password to the phone. Her work phone lay in her work bag, her personal phone was one that only two people had the numbers for. Luna and Titan. They were her friends and the only people she considered family. She tapped Titan's name long changed from Perth and put the phone to her ear as she watched the rain fall down on the city twenty stories below her.

    “Hello Beautiful, how was day drinking.” a deep yet soft voice teased her and she felt her eyebrows come together.

    “Terrible without my husband, how was your day? Bed any new costars or is it pop singers this year?” Valentina cooed back. The two had known each other since they were little boys, and he had been the only one besides Luna happy to meet Valentina.

    “A Gentlemen doesn't kiss and tell,” Titan said back without skipping a beat.

    “I'm sorry I must have the wrong number, I thought I was calling Titan the man who couldn't keep his pants up if they were sewn to his skin. Not a Gentleman, I will let you go then,” Valentina said and was surprised by her own tone of voice. The mere mention of the name Bond did this too her.

    “Whoa whoa who has got my wife in this state, I will break his legs,” Titan said with amusement but a serious undertone.

    “If only you had when you had the chance,' Valentina said and pressed her forehead to the glass.

    “What has Bond done now...?” Titan asked knowing instantly who she was thinking of.

    “Nothing yet, But you know Bond. He insists on attending the auditions tomorrow. Probably to scare away your future costar.”Valentina said calmer now that the cool glass was touching her skin. Maybe she had drunk too much on an near empty stomach.

    “I will be there.” Titan said and Valentina felt a smile cross her face. When they had been children Perth had always come to her aid. No matter how many boys had her cornered Perth would fight for her. Somethings never changed, even if she had.

    “No you won't you have costume fitting at the same time as the auditions,” Valentina reminded him as she moved back from the glass and switched over to speaker phone.

    “My measurements haven't changed in ten years. I will be there to keep Bond out of your hair like a good man should. Speaking of, have you been on any dates lately,” Titan asked the open air and Luna snorted sitting up at the sound of that question.

    “Excuse me...!?” Valentina asked shocked at the question.

    “Well neither of us are getting any younger my love and I worry that you're intentionally warding off men with your moods,” Titan explained and Valentina wanted to drop her phone and step on it. Perth had never cared if Kerrin had liked men or women, and made a point to find every boy in the school who preferred steak to chicken and bring them round. None met what he called Kerrin's standards when in all honesty each time it had hurt. Because all Kerrin had wanted was Perth. Now Valentina was nearing that time in her life where honesty and lies were almost the same thing. And still all she wanted was Titan.

    “Twenty years later and I still want to throttle you,” Valentina said through gritted teeth.

    “But you love me too much to do it, I know. But maybe you should share that love with someone who deserves it.” Titan said and there was no joking in his tone.

    “Is this because my birthday is coming up, the one we aren't celebrating,” Valentina asked feeling a rising sense of fear at the mention of it. Titan had always gone out of his way to make her birthday special. And it unnerved her the level of care and effort he put into them. Each year it gave her hope that he would kiss her and she knew that was a silly fantasy.

    “You only turn twenty nine 3 times, we agreed this year you become thirty. How can I not use some of the money I made starring in your shows to shower you with unwanted attention from people you believe hate you,” Titan sing songed and Luna giggled and Valentina shot her a death glare.

    “Fine Fine, I become Thirty and you and Luna get to see my youth wither and dry, is thirty too soon for menopause?”Valentina asked and all three laughed openly and all thoughts of Bond were forgotten.  

---

Valentina is inspired by the Thai transwoman - Blossum and Titan is inspired by Earth P

[gaasaku-fanfests]

Devil’s Due

Title: Devil’s Due Author: darkcivet Rating: M (just in case) Word Count: 3,313 Summary: They called him a monster. They said he was a demon. So he decided to summon one to kill them all. Warnings: Character death (not Gaara or Sakura). OOC. Author’s Note(s): (The title is a working title and I’ll change it if I think of anything better.) This is a bit of a creepy one-shot I guess: I’m numb to this kind of thing, apparently. Enjoy. ^_^

Trope: Dark Gaara or Dark Sakura

“Don’t touch that!”

Gaara jumped slightly, frozen in place; his arm outstretched and his fingers curled in a coaxing motion. He wanted the cat to come to him. He wanted to touch it. So bad. Just a tiny bit of warmth in this cold, empty house he was forced to live in.

“I said don’t touch that.”

That familiar voice had the gall to repeat itself.

Breaking out of his rigid stance slowly, he forced himself to relax and stood up; Gaara supposed he had looked quite suspicious, positioned like that. He felt it necessary to look like an animal on the hunt. Stretching his muscles in an almost cat like, lazy manner, he turned to face his irate sister.

Since his growth spurt, she hadn’t been able to look down on him in the literal sense, but Temari always maintained a commanding stature compared to him, nonetheless. Even next to Kankuro, who was also taller than her, she was never of lower standing. She was the only one that took after their father in that manner. But right now, she looked extremely nervous; her wide eyes and high pitched voice angered Gaara more than the demand. She was both angered and fearful of him. It annoyed him to no end that his siblings listened to the malicious rumours of his demonic heritage.

‘How else could he have turned out so monstrous?’ People asked. ‘His mother must’ve been taken by the devil to produce a child so vile.’ It was just a silly pack of superstitious lies. But sometimes, when the moon was full and his desire to watch blood drip from an open vein was strong enough, he believed them.

Years of neglect did that to a person. When he was a child, the ignorant villagers in town would pelt him; they took their cue from the great Sabaku clan that the youngest son to Rasa was just a lunatic who would grow up useless and insane. The story that his mother had been raped and gone mad was rampant among the lower class idiots.

Not that he would expect anything else from people who still traded goats for pigs.

Gaara refrained from frowning at his sister; he was used to the backwards superstition from strangers, but for some reason he just couldn’t stomach that his blood family would stoop to such idiocy. If he was indeed related to them at all.

‘We don’t have a lot in common.’

Perhaps he was just adopted? These kinds of questions swirled around in his head for years before he gave up asking them. It was only at times like this, when one of his siblings was glowering at him and telling him to stay away from the household pets (like he was going to kill them, sheesh), that the dissimilarities between them made him question his own parentage.

He was seventeen now, and almost old enough to leave home. If he had been born a peasant, he could’ve done so long ago, but his father would not let him go until it was appropriate.

‘Bastard.’

“Did you hear me, Gaara?” Temari waved a fan toward the cat, scaring it away. “Don’t touch the animals on the compound. You’re not supposed to be near them. You’re just a-”

He was a demon in her eyes, and always would be. The demon that killed her mother.

“Fine!” He screamed, startling Temari almost as much as he startled himself with the outburst; her hand went instinctively to the curved blade she kept hidden at her belt. “You want a demon? I’ll give you one!”

He ignored the sounds of his father and brothers’ approach, mixed in with the harsh whispers of nearby servants. The only silence in the area came from his sister. Their family was rich, renown, and powerful; and even a demon child among the clan couldn’t diminish their reach.

Gaara ran toward the only place he knew could help. The only source he knew of that could help him summon a real demon.

‘And kill them all.’

.:.

There were so many books on the occult in his father’s library that Gaara hadn’t known where to start; he’d been reading about demons for a while now, looking into the fables and folklore, trying to figure out which one the villagers viewed him as. There wasn’t anything in those books that would explain away his lust for violence, his predisposition toward lighting things on fire and fascination with the way blood travelled outside the body.

Rasa had a secret stash of black magic books that Gaara only knew about because he’d followed him that one time, in the middle of the night. Perhaps he’d collected them for the same reason the redhead perused them – to figure out what he was. Perhaps not.

All Gaara knew was the pounding of blood in his ears, the anger, the hate, and the desire to tear something limb from limb to be free of this place. Blood red spots obscured his vision as he rifled through the books as gently as his foul mood would allow him to. There were a number of books he remembered that talked about summoning imps and faeries to do favours, but he didn’t need something so low levelled. He wanted to enter a bargain with something that was dangerous and foul beyond words.

‘It’s not real. It’s all fake.’

His logical mind wouldn’t allow him to entertain the idea that he was just lashing out in vain. That if demons were real and could be summoned so readily, his father would’ve done so and gotten rid of Gaara years ago. His heart just wanted to hurt something.

‘Found it.’

A scroll that felt like leather; old, worn, and yellowed, it hadn’t been maintained well it seemed. But perhaps it was older than it looked, even. Gaara stared at it, unfurling the xuan paper carefully, almost like it could break under his hands.

“How to summon darkness.” He ran a finger over the intricate kanji. The title said it all.

He smiled.

‘I have it.’

“Gaara?”

His head snapped up at the sound of his brother’s voice, echoing through the library hallways. Kankuro couldn’t see him, but he was closing in on his position. Perhaps he’d been followed after all?

“A servant saw you enter here.”

That explained it.

“You know you’re not supposed to-”

Gaara blocked out his voice, feeling a new surge of anger rise with the familiar mantra of what he was and wasn’t allowed to do in this place. He’d contemplated summoning demons before – mostly out of fun – and even cast a few fun spells that were supposed to amplify the bad mood of everyone around him.

It never worked.

But something different was rising up in his throat this time; something far more disgusting than bile. He couldn’t explain it, but this time was going to end better. He was going to get his revenge.

Hugging the scroll to his chest and feeling far more immature than he should about this, Gaara fled the library. There were preparations to make and sacrifices to perform.

Blood to spill.

.:.

‘How did I forget the full moon?’

That was why he felt different. As the sun went down and Gaara found himself mesmerised by the faint light of the moon hanging over the Sabaku compound; a place that overlooked a maze of a town of sycophant peasants. It bathed the area in a soft glow that almost calmed him down enough to knock him out of his desire for blood and revenge.

‘Nothing will come of it; I’m just going to end up having to hand this scroll back and be punished.’

He wanted to avoid the morning, and the pain that would inevitably come with it. He’d snapped. He could feel it like a cord wrapped around his throat that had broken and clung to his skin in desperation. Something inside of him wanted to rip it apart and be done with this world.

But the blood sacrifice had to come first.

Carefully, he made his way to the loafing shed in the back of the estate; all kinds of animals were kept for slaughter or milking on the grounds, to funnel the resources through the pockets of his father. It meant that he controlled even the most domestic income of the region; and fear of him kept the populous from revolting.

Gaara found the goat house quickly, tugging on the hood covering his distinctive red hair, just in case one of those nosy servants spotted him. With the scroll in one hand and a double-edged knife in the other, he coaxed one of the goats forward and grabbed the chain that hung around it’s neck. The sharp sounds of discomfort were momentary; he started reciting the words the scroll dictated, holding the knife to the animals throat as he tried to concentrate on the summons.

With eyes wide open and expectant, Gaara slid the knife across the goat’s throat, making sure to cut across the full breadth of it’s gullet; deep, steady, and clean across. The goat gargled and thrashed for a moment, but he held tightly to the chain, transfixed by the trail of blood as it trailed down the length of the animal’s shoulder, down the brisket, and onto the ground. He watched as the blood began to move against gravity and common sense, slithering along the ground; forming what he couldn’t tell.

It spread out around Gaara, encircling him. He felt panicked, suddenly wary about this new development. Nothing in the scroll had indicated sentient blood.

‘Magic.’

That had to be it. Years of searching for a way out. Months of perusing and playing with low level spells that never worked out. Now it decided to heed his fury and revenge?

Gaara groaned when he realised the blood was forming a seal; it had a shape not dissimilar from the goat he had just killed. But the blood morphed again, leaving his enclosure and coagulating and stilling in a patch of grass, as though it had not been moving under it’s own will seconds before.

“What the hell?” This was getting out of control.

“Is that really a wise mantra, given the situation?”

Gaara dropped the scroll and knife in fright, his eyes blinking heavily. A woman stood before him, seemingly having materialised over the blood, a smile on her face, hands on her hips, and wearing the most strangest of scant clothes; robes made to cover so little, it was giving him ideas.

He cleared his throat. “You’re not the demon I wanted to summon.”

She was more like an angel. With pink hair, bright green eyes, and a smile that lit up her entire face.

“Oh?” His disappointment didn’t seem to bother her. “Who were you trying to summon?”

“The Tanuki.”

“You mean Shukaku?”

Gaara nodded.

She pouted; hands on her hips, lips pursing in what he decided was a very seductive manner.

“That trickster wouldn’t know a good summons if it bit him on the nuts.”

He couldn’t help the small, nervous laugh that bubbled up inside of him. “Who are you?”

“A friend.”

“I don’t have any friends.”

“That’s sad.” She moved slowly toward him and Gaara couldn’t move away. She poked his chest. “A young, strapping lad like you must be a big hit with the ladies at least.”

He shook his head.

The girl giggled. “A virgin? Well, no wonder Shukaku didn’t answer your summons, that rambunctious whore. You’re more my type, anyway.”

This was insane. “Uh...” Gaara realised all the anger and resentment that had been fuelling this encounter, was gone. In it’s place was wonder, bewilderment, and wariness.

‘With a hint of arousal.’

But that wasn’t important.

She chuckled. “Relax. I don’t bite unless you want me to. But I’m no sex demon, so get that lascivious look off your face. I’m joking,” she assured him when started to stutter at her. “Jeez. Kids these days. Alright!” She made a show of swishing her short robes and fixing her hair. “Let’s get this party started. What, mere mortal, is that deep desire that has caused you to summon me?”

Gaara glanced up at the full moon without thinking. This was why he’d summoned her… or at least, tried to summon a demon. Legend had it that Shukaku was the demon to call for a rampage. But, this girl who looked around his age, didn’t look like she was ready to slaughter hundreds of people. Her skin was soft and creamy. Her face was angelic and happy. She even had painted fingernails and toenails to match her outrageous outfit. She might’ve looked more at place in the nobilty – albeit one with a less strict dress code. She was also very beautiful, and delicate looking. Could she even grant this wish?

“Come on, don’t keep a girl waiting.”

He inhaled deeply. “I… wanted Shukaku to, uh… kill everyone.”

She blinked heavily at him. “Kill everyone? Like, your whole family and that little village nearby?”

He nodded.

She didn’t look convinced, and he wasn’t surprised. “Death and destruction? Are you sure?”

Was he, though? This wasn’t a request he could take back.

‘Why am I chickening out?’

The girl sighed. “Look, I am a demon, but I’m not here to carelessly slaughter people. If this is what you really want – to go full dark – then you should know you’ll suffer consequences too.”

“What consequences?”

She shrugged. “Oh, nothing compared to what the humans you want to kill will experience. Their end is nigh and I can help with that, but I need something from you.” She took his hand and held it palm up. “Blood.”

Gaara cried out, not expecting the open slash to his hand; she wasn’t even holding a weapon.

She smiled humourlessly. “Call me when you make up your mind.”

Gaara sighed, rubbing his wounded hand. “What’s your-”

She disappeared; her outline faded and blurred out of existence. Almost like she hadn’t even been there. How was he supposed to call her when he didn’t know her name? And what was this consequence she spoke of?

‘Probably for the best, anyway.’

He felt the sting on his hand as though he’d just awakened from some kind of dream. What had he been thinking, summoning a demon of all things? Even one as beautiful and seemingly harmless as her. He may be odd, and crazy, and a lover of all things macabre, but he was no killer. Not today, anyway.

.:.

The days following his break into Rasa’s library, and Temari once again ratting him out about trying to “commune with the beast”, were torturous. Locked away in one section of the compound, all Gaara could do was try to stave off boredom and hunger by trying to remember what the demon girl had looked like. It seemed the longer he went without seeing her, the less coherent his memory was. The wound on his hand had festered and was clearly infected, but nobody bothered to try to treat it. One servant even gave him a bewildered look when he asked for a healer for his hand. They were idiots, anyway.

Three weeks were all it took to break him.

Deep in the recesses of his mind, tied to the cellar and dankness of his prison, he felt the demon inside cry for release. The small bed in the corner of his new “room” beckoned him and he stayed, wrapped up in the thin blanket, reciting that summons that had infected him so. The call to the demon who had ignored his invocation.

When food came once a day and through the hands of yet another faceless servant, he could barely eat. Images of the townsfolk and his blood family writhing in pain and blood were his fuel now. His desire for retribution sustained him.

Twenty-one days on from his incarceration saw him summoning again; this time using his own blood. It wasn’t enough to sacrifice some insignificant animal. He had to give of himself. As he felt his life beginning to ebb under the cut he couldn’t remember making, Gaara was startled to hear her voice in his head. Out loud.

“You’re a right mess.”

He chuckled, looking up at her from the small comfort of the bed. “And you’re an angel.”

She scoffed. “Hardly. Come.” She leaned down to pull him to his feet. “Your desire for revenge awaits.”

“Hey...”

Seconds passed in which he wasn’t sure if this was a hallucination. It was the pink haired girl again.

“I… called for you?” He hadn’t called for her, had he?

She nodded. “You cried for me in your sleep. You must want me real bad.”

He lowered his eyes to the ground, fighting the blush warming his face. She slid an arm under his to support his weight.

“Don’t go gushing just yet,” she said. “I still have a promise to keep.”

A chill swept through his body; one moment he was in a dank room and the next they stood on the roof of the goat house where he’d performed the first summons.

“Tell me.”

Her voice was just above a whisper, tickling his ear, and slightly desperate. He couldn’t comprehend her urgency.

“Tell me to kill them.”

Ah. She was eager to get with the killing. He’d summoned her to slaughter his family, to kill the townsfolk who tormented him, and leave none alive. His anger had brought him to this moment, where he was bleeding out and only the cold arms of his demonic contractor might give him some reprieve before he died.

“Gaara-”

“Kill them.” His voice was croaky but he no longer cared. Whatever infection was festering in his body, it didn’t matter – the only thing he had left was the darkness in his heart. The evil she wanted to bring out in him. That demonic nature the people in his life were sure had been there all along, waiting for an excuse to butcher them all.

The girl smiled, tilted her head slightly, and pressed her lips to her summoner’s mouth. It wasn’t a kiss, but it sure felt like one – not that he knew what those felt like. As he opened his mouth to let her in, it occurred to him that this was probably how all her deals went.

He didn’t like that.

A foreign feeling of possessive jealousy boiled up inside him; screaming and wailing sounds in the distance couldn’t distract him from the fervour he attacked her mouth with. When she finally pulled away, breaking the contact he longed to prolong, Gaara’s brain began to clear.

Burning flesh, howling dogs, screaming women and children; the pink haired devil paid no attention to any of that. She just stared at him, running her fingers along his cheek. Her nails scratched his forehead and he hissed at the pain.

Was she marking him?

Gaara glanced toward the scene he hadn’t been cognisant enough to acknowledge was his own fault. He could hear his family screaming; there was an inhuman growl echoing throughout the compound. He could see, from afar, the village burning; something born of hellfire was rampaging in the streets tonight.

His heart broke in that moment, with the sounds of innocents. And he realised with clarity, that they had all been wrong about him.

“I was never a demon,” he said, tearing his eyes away from the carnage. He could no longer bear to look upon it. Instead, his naive eyes turned hard and dangerous, staring at the woman who now held him lovingly instead of in support. His body felt invigorated – reborn. He was something else, now.

Sakura smiled, brushing his fringe, and kissing the scar she’d left on his forehead to mark their new partnership. She growled; the sound was otherworldly.

“You are now.”

[thesanguinerose]

Week One Apprentice April Asks

I wanted to post the remaining asks for my boys, so here you go!

Questions already answered are linked. Also RIP to mobile users. I’m so sorry.

For Rory:

1. The Basics.  What is your character’s name?  How old are they?  How tall are they?  Skin color?  Eye color?  Hair color?  Gender identification?

Riordan “Rory” Enda Tanner is 26 years old at the start of the game. He was born April 11 (Aries), and is trans (he/him only, please). He does identify as gay, though he has been known to have some wiggle room - rare as said wiggle room is. He stands at a towering 5’2” (though he wears heeled boots 99% of the time so really everyone sees him at….5’5”), is incredibly pale and rosy and freckled, has green eyes, and brown hair that’s usually pulled back into a ponytail or braid. Sometimes he leaves it down, though, and it is close to waist length. He likes to wear silver earrings (cuffed up to his cartilage), and his colors are Navy, Cream, and Silver. He made his own binder by developing a modified stay, though his build is slight enough that he doesn’t require it all the time. His general outfit is a white undershirt, with the sleeves rolled up, his modified stay, a navy vest/jerkin, and brown trousers and boots. Fairly simple and standard. Doesn’t garner much attention. He also cannot see very well and has circular spectacles. However, due to his clumsiness, Rory keeps them on a chain in case they fall from his face. Which they do. Frequently. (Further outfit info can be provided on request for pre-death/masquerade/etc purposes if interested!)

2.  Love Interest.  Who does your character love?  What attracted them to that particular LI? 

Answered here

3. Familiar.  Does your character have a familiar?  How did they meet?

Answered here

4. Hobbies.  What kinds of things does your character like to do for fun?

He likes to sew. One of his passions is designing and sewing together outfits or finding fun ways to design practical clothing items. He makes all of his own clothing and post-game experiments with many different kinds and colors of fabrics. He also enjoys writing - mostly journal entries as he doesn’t want to forget any other aspect of his life from now on. Also enjoys horseback riding and general tomfoolery!

5. Hidden talents.  Is there something neat that your character can do?  Tie a cherry stem into a knot with their tongue?  Say any word backwards perfectly?

SFW - He’s a very good dancer, though usually just when others aren’t looking. He is also a fan of sleight of hand tricks, using magic or just by being slippery.

…..he has some NSFW ones, but those are available upon request ^_^

6. Magical talents.  Is there a specific type of magic that your character excels at?  Any magic they aren’t so great at?  Or do they actually shy away from magic altogether?

Rory has some natural talent and some learned. Naturally, he is adept with fire based magic, and prophetic divination, most of which is involuntary. He is also prone to emotional outbursts that result in items being broken/people being hurt. Learned, he excelled at alchemy, illusion, and magical theory. He likes the balance and physicality of alchemy, versus the creativity and freedom of illusion, and how they play into one another. Most of his learned magic was lost, but Asra retaught him a bit of it :)

7. Interaction.  How does your character typically interact with people?

Answered here

8. Romance.  What is something that your character and their LI love to do together?  How do they show affection?

With Julian, they like to go on adventures. The more places they can go, the better. They are also both very good at surprising each other with events, gifts, vacations. Sometimes, just the simple things like making breakfast in the morning, or a comforting hug after a bad day. Rory primarily shows his affection with words and actions - he is very much a fan of telling people that he loves them and why, and wants to hug and touch as much as he can. He requires the same, though usually the words are the important part, especially as his insecurities show up. He just needs reassurance that he is loved, and he is glad to provide the same as is needed.

9. Travel.  Does your character like to travel outside of Vesuvia?  How often?  For how long?  What kinds of things do they do away from home?

Now he does. He was raised on a farm in a small village about a week’s travel southwest of Vesuvia. He ran away from home at 18, stayed briefly with his aunt in Vesuvia, went to school in Prakra for magic, then returned to Vesuvia to help his aunt with her shop. Up until his death, however, he stayed within the general city limits. Once he is brought back, he stays at home up through end-game. At that point, he and Julian travel all over the world, for months at a time, especially once they get Julian his own ship. They regularly travel to Nevivon and galavant across Prakra, but always return home to Vesuvia. Every trip means a new place that Rory hasn’t seen, and if Julian hasn’t been there, either, all the better!

10. WTF.  Has anything just…weird ever happened to your character?  Something that made them stop and go “What just happened?!”

Answered here

11. Crime.  Has your character ever been arrested?  If so, what did they do?  Have they ever helped stop a crime?

He’s never been caught ;) See Question 10 for stopping crimes, though that hardly counts, doesn’t it?

12. Secrets.  What is a secret that your character has?  Are they in line for the throne in a far off land?  Was there this one time at band camp…?  Are they secretly involved in an assassin’s guild?

Answered here

13. Overcompensation.  Is there something that your character just HAS to do better than anyone else?  Or are they just that dang good without trying?  If they see someone else showing off, what is their kneejerk reaction?

Answered here

14. Fight Club.  Is your character a good fighter?  What kind of skills do they have?

Answered here

15. The Arts.  Is your character a creative type?  What kinds of things can they create?  Can they act?  Street perform?

He can sketch! Not well, and not people, but he likes to sketch out landscapes and plants. Professional Doodler ;) He also does stage magic and sleight of hand for fun, and has been known to do some work down at the community theater. He can sing, but he’s a better dancer, preferring to let his body do the talking for him. Wishes he could play an instrument, but for everyone’s sake...best not to let him near one!

16. Goofy.  Is your character a clown?  Do they like to make people laugh?

Answered here

17. Language.  Is your character multilingual?  How many languages do they speak?  Do they have an accent?  Is it sexy?  Is it silly?  Do they have a multilingual lisp?

Answered here

18. Embarrassment.  What is something really embarrassing that your character has done/said?

Honestly, when he first went to Prakra, he was a bit of a bumpkin. So just his overall reactions to being in a metropolis, plus his shy demeanor, led him to act in some embarrassing ways around people he wanted to befriend. In game, Rory is notoriously clumsy, not quite used to his limbs, like a young colt. He laughs off his embarrassment, now, at least!

19. Memory.  Has your character gotten any of their memory back?  If so, what?  Did it change them?

Not properly. When he became strong enough, Asra gave Rory back his old journal, which documented Rory’s life from the ages of 16 to 22, when he died. Rory can’t read it for too long or, yes, the headaches start. So instead of getting his memories back, he just sort of re-reads what his life was from the point of view of someone that he...quite simply doesn’t relate to anymore. But it’s good for him to know, he thinks. To see what he was like, and to avoid making similar mistakes. It does inspire him to make his own journal, and to keep track of his days so he never loses another moment again.

20. Family.  Talk about your character’s family.  Who were they?

Answered here

For Riley

1. The Basics.  What is your character’s name?  How old are they?  How tall are they?  Skin color?  Eye color?  Hair color?  Gender identification?

Riley Aeron Tanner is 24 years old at the start of the game. He’s a Virgo, born September 17th, and is cis, using he/him pronouns. Highkey a bisexual disaster who doesn’t quite know what to do with all the feelings he has, and also pretty oblivious to people liking him! He’s 6’2” and built like a brick shithouse, warm skin-toned, easy to tan, but still very clearly pale. He has brown eyes and dark brown hair, which he tries to keep short, but he’s not very good at cutting it, so it sometimes hits near chin length. He can be found wearing very practical clothing that makes it easy to move as he does a lot of stocking/lifting/errand running for the shop, as well as odd jobs around town. Also very earthy in his tones - lots of greens and browns and oranges! He’s also not incredibly hairy, but he does have a fair amount of body hair - including a full beard, which he tries to keep neatly trimmed. Unlike his brother, he can see without glasses, so any accessories would be practical - a bag, tools, and the like.

2.  Love Interest.  Who does your character love?  What attracted them to that particular LI?

Answered here

3. Familiar.  Does your character have a familiar?  How did they meet?

Answered here

4. Hobbies.  What kinds of things does your character like to do for fun?

He likes to play the lute, go for walks outside the city, and people watch. He’s definitely a people person and his favorite is going into the marketplace and just complimenting people on their wares, or drawing the animals he sees running around. And just being an all around good guy...Those are hobbies, right?

5. Hidden talents.  Is there something neat that your character can do?  Tie a cherry stem into a knot with their tongue?  Say any word backwards perfectly?

Answered here

6. Magical talents.  Is there a specific type of magic that your character excels at?  Any magic they aren’t so great at?  Or do they actually shy away from magic altogether?

Honestly, Riley isn’t good at magic at all. He’s never shown an affinity for it, and it’s never been that big a deal to him. In his canon, Rory dies when Riley is 15, and so he pursues magic as a way to honor him, even if it’s hard. He gains an affinity for Green Magic and enjoys tarot, but he still isn’t particularly good at either of them. After he is brought back, of course, this changes, and his magical powers develop very quickly.

7. Interaction.  How does your character typically interact with people?

He. Loves. People. He’s like a big puppy - loud and excited, kind and helpful, constantly the life of the party. He tries to help people in need whenever he can, and if he ends a conversation with the other person grinning, then he has succeeded! Generally well liked, but not smug or rude about it. He’s just a good dude!

8. Romance.  What is something that your character and their LI love to do together?  How do they show affection?

With Portia, they like to go on adventures together either in real life, or in their books. He likes it when she reads to him, and he likes to read to her. He likes to surprise her with events and little shows of physical affection - neck kisses, spinning her around, humming into her ear, massages after a long day. He likes to doodle her - though he is so upset that he can’t catch her likeness in his stick figures, not properly. Riley also serenades her - out in public or in the privacy of their home - doesn’t matter!

9. Travel.  Does your character like to travel outside of Vesuvia?  How often?  For how long?  What kinds of things do they do away from home?

He doesn’t travel very often. He’s stayed in Vesuvia since he moved there at 15, so I guess you could say he’s a bit of a homebody. He will travel occasionally, especially if Portia wants to, and is open to adventure, but it doesn’t occur to him to leave unless someone else suggests it.

10. WTF.  Has anything just…weird ever happened to your character?  Something that made them stop and go “What just happened?!”

Answered here

11. Crime.  Has your character ever been arrested?  If so, what did they do?  Have they ever helped stop a crime?

Riley is generally pretty lawful good, though in both Rory and Riley’s canons, he does take up with a small militia to fight some of Lucio’s men. I suppose that was a crime, though I would argue the validity of that claim. He’s stopped a robbery or two in the past, but he generally tries to stay out of trouble.

12. Secrets.  What is a secret that your character has?  Are they in line for the throne in a far off land?  Was there this one time at band camp…?  Are they secretly involved in an assassin’s guild?

Answered here

13. Overcompensation.  Is there something that your character just HAS to do better than anyone else?  Or are they just that dang good without trying?  If they see someone else showing off, what is their kneejerk reaction?

Answered here

14. Fight Club.  Is your character a good fighter?  What kind of skills do they have?

Yes. He can punch, he can throw, he can swordfight - He’s just very good at fighting. In canon, he is a practiced fighter, and in most AUs, he has done boxing or wrestling in addition to weightlifting. Boy can Fight!

15. The Arts.  Is your character a creative type?  What kinds of things can they create?  Can they act?  Street perform?

Answered here

16. Goofy.  Is your character a clown?  Do they like to make people laugh?

Answered here

17. Language.  Is your character multilingual?  How many languages do they speak?  Do they have an accent?  Is it sexy?  Is it silly?  Do they have a multilingual lisp?

Answered here

18. Embarrassment.  What is something really embarrassing that your character has done/said?

Asra tried to tell Riley he loved him once before Riley’s death, and Riley just said, “Oh, wow, buddy! I love you too!” because he didn’t realize what Asra meant. Once he did realize, it was deeply embarrassing for both of them and Riley felt really bad about it.

19. Memory.  Has your character gotten any of their memory back?  If so, what?  Did it change them?

He hasn’t. But maybe it’s better to forget, y’know? He can move forward instead of looking back on what he lost.

20. Family.  Talk about your character’s family.  Who were they?

See Rory’s answer for most of this. The only difference is the dynamic. Riley was raised as the “perfect” child in contrast to the abuse Rory faced, and so developed a weird complex around being “perfect”. He was spoiled, though did not want to be, and was uncomfortable with it. He also looked up to his older brother like he was made of everything good in this world - Riley wanted so much to be like Rory.

[d3-iseefire]

A Fairy’s Tale Chapter One

This is my second most bookmarked story, which is weird as it’s one of my least subscribed to stories, but so it is! I really like it myself! It’s Bilba and Frerin! :D

You can read the rest here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4452956/chapters/10116950

Once upon a time, according to rumors and legend amongst certain hobbit families, there lived a hobbit with a fairy wife.

This was in in ages past, before the hobbits embarked on what would be known as the Wandering Days, when the Fae existed in more than fable.

They were rarely seen, but it was well known they existed, in the woods, empty valleys and lonely moors. They danced with the wind between the branches of towering trees, chattered with the birds as they flew and ran with the deer and foxes.

They were wild…and they were hunted.

The Fae, though related to the elves, were not immortal. They did, however, possess lifespans so long that, to other races, they might as well have been. This in and of itself would not have resulted in the Fae becoming prey to the darker powers of Middle Earth had it not been for one, unique, aspect. Magic. The Fae were, by nature, magical creatures and their magic filled them so utterly that it overflowed, radiating outward to affect those closest to them. Those who lived near them experienced lives far longer than any of their race ought to have had. They also tended to enjoy great health and abundant crops.

Sorcerers, Necromancers and others sought them, binding the Fae with spells and dark rituals in attempts to extend their own lives or stripping them of their magic to augment their own. This action resulted in the death of the Fae for magic was as much a part of them as the blood in their veins and they could not survive without it. The Fae, for their own safety, were forced to either hide themselves or seek refuge and safety from the elves.

It was rare, therefore, too see one even when they did exist in great number and it was rarer still for one to fall in love, marry, and choose to live with their spouse in the open. Such situations, generally, invariably, ended in tragedy.

Such was ultimately the fate of the fairy who bound herself to a hobbit…but that was the end of her story and before it came she and her husband enjoyed many years of happiness.

They had many children and grandchildren, in whom the blood of the Fae ran strong. It continued in the veins of her descendants, passed Age to Age long after her own story had passed into legend and myth.

The descendants of the fairy were different than the rest. They were a little bolder, a bit more prone to adventure, slightly more reckless. As time passed they stepped to the forefront and took up leadership positions. Eventually this bloodline adopted the surname of Took and, as the Ages passed, they grew to be one of the oldest, wealthiest and most respected of families.

And the strangest but never too strange and they were regarded so highly that most of the unusual things they did were simply written off as eccentric or as the whims of the wealthy.

For the most part anyway.

Fae blood, after all, was every bit as wild as the fairy who had once carried it and, every so often, it would flare up. When this happened a child would be born in the line who, for all intents and purposes, was more fairy than hobbit. In the earliest days of the world, when the hobbits were so young a race they had not yet dreamed of a place called the Shire much less lived there, many of these children were forced to leave their families to live amongst the Fae. They were not full fairy and did not possess the same level of power the Fae did but they were still powerful in their own right, still lived long lives and lengthened the lives of those around them. For this reason they were endangered as much as any fairy and if they failed to leave on their own it would not be unusual for them to vanish one day, never to be seen or heard from again.

Eventually the Fae, weary of the world, fled for lands safer to their kind. With their passing the blood settled in the veins of the Tooks and though the occasional child would still be born with a slightly stronger adventurous streak than was usual even for a Took there were no more fairy born in Hobbit flesh. Time passed. The Hobbits left the lands they had called home and began the Wandering Days. This time lasted untold years, so many in fact that it became all they knew, the time before it fading until it was almost entirely lost. Eventually the Hobbits settled in a new home, one that came to be called Shire, and here they found peace and comfort.

By this time tales of such things as fairies had faded into myth and lore and, as is often the case with such things, much of it became exaggerated and twisted. Instead of fairies being in danger they became the danger, sorceresses and sorcerers, workers of dark magic who brought evil and mischief wherever they went. They became the creature hiding under the bed, the thing lurking in the shadows waiting to carry off misbehaving children. Parents would gather their children about on stormy nights and regale them with tales of hideous creatures with horns, sharp teeth and pointed claws, of heroes sent out to wage war against them and wrench forth victory from the practitioners of black magic.

It was into this setting, sometime in the Third Age, that Bilba Baggins was born. It was impossible to tell why the blood of that ancient fairy decided to act up with her birth. Perhaps the magic laying nearly dormant within the veins of her mother was somehow angered by the way fairies were portrayed, perhaps there was some higher reason or purpose behind it or, perhaps, it simply was for no reason at all.

In any event, Bilba was born, the first and, as it turned out, only daughter of Bungo and Belladonna Baggins, previously Belladonna Took, and from the beginning it was clear she was quite different.

She was born with brilliant violet eyes, so bright that, at times, they almost appeared to glow Her ears were larger than normal and came to a sharper point while her hair, once it started to grow was brown and ash blonde, with brilliant streaks of deep orange and red like the changing leaves on a tree in autumn. It grew in thick waves, falling all the way to her feet. Her mother tried repeatedly to cut it only to find it grown back almost overnight. She finally gave up and simply began tying it into a braid as thick as her arm that swayed and danced as the girl moved. Bilba always seemed to have flowers worked into it, though no one ever saw her pick any, and as long as they stayed in her hair the colors remained vibrant and alive.

She was small, even by Hobbit standards, her frame delicate and refusing to put on the curves or plumpness that was common to their race no matter how much she ate. When she walked she seemed to glide and if one were to pass by later it would not be unusual to find flowers and grass cropping up in her footprints. She had a melodic voice and when she laughed it was almost musical, the sound enough to draw a smile from even the most hard hearted soul.

It was not, however, just her looks that were different.

Weather appeared to have no effect on her. She always wore thin sundresses regardless of it being the height of summer or the dead of winter. Animals had a tendency to appear near her, foxes and deer, a wolf a time or two and a wide assortment of birds. There were those that insisted they had seen her talking to them and even witnessed the creatures obeying her commands. If she were near a garden for any length of time it was guaranteed to produce twice as much, and twice as big, and indeed her mother’s pumpkins began to win contests every year after Bilba was born.

Many also noticed that Belladonna and Bungo never seemed to look any older, or grow sick, after their daughter’s birth. Others who were ill also reported feeling better simply by being in her presence though the girl would often complain of fatigue after being around them and would retire early to bed.

All of those things were certainly odd, garnering speculation and rumor, but perhaps the strangest thing about the young girl was her propensity for dancing.

She danced almost constantly, whether she was going to the market or simply playing in the large fields behind the hill where her home sat. Sometimes, particularly when the moon was full, she could be seen dancing through the fields and streets of the Shire. Some swore the wind itself was her partner, swirling about her and following her movements as she leapt, spun, twirled…and occasionally disappeared altogether.

The disappearances didn’t happen all that often, maybe a few times a year, and never more than a day or two at a time. When she would reappear it would be with her hair unbound and flowing wildly around her, her eyes gleaming. She would claim she had no idea where she’d been or why she’d gone and no one ever reported having seen her while she’d been gone.

Most of the adults dismissed the majority of her oddities. Bilba was the most gentle and kind soul any of them had met. She cried at the slightest sign of suffering or pain in another living being and was open and friendly to all who knew her. She was a Took most said nodding their heads sagely, and the daughter of Belladonna, a woman known for being eccentric and doing decidedly un-Hobbit like things. It was understandable her daughter would share many of her traits and as for anything else that was odd, well, it was clearly misunderstanding, deceiving eyes or exaggeration. They were adults and not prone to believing in silly things like legends of Hobbit sorcery and, even if they were, the girl looked nothing at all like the monsters in those tales and, therefore, could clearly not be any such thing.

Such stories were for children and, as such, it was the children of the Shire who ended up believing in them. They had been raised on such tales and heard their parents discuss the oddity of the Baggins girl, just the tiniest hint of doubt in their voices as they dismissed anything overly unusual about her.

To the children, the decision that Bilba must be one of the sorceresses of legend was a natural one. They lived in a world where magic, though rare, did exist and the thought of seeing it up close was exciting. That the stories they’d heard told of a being capable of dark magic and mischief added an air of danger and bravery for those willing to dare interact with her.

Girls would dramatically scream and run when they saw her coming, often throwing themselves into the arms of nearby boys they held interest in. The boys, meanwhile, would dare one another to approach her, some would challenge her, trying to make her the villain in their own story. When Bilba never reacted they became bolder, often bullying or taunting her. Girls would approach her to ask for love potions or hexes for those they felt had wronged them. When she insisted she couldn’t do such things they refused to believe her and turned on her, spreading cruel rumors and lies about her.

During one incident, when she came near a group of children they all began to scatter, running from her in all directions. One small boy tripped and fell and when he sat up his arm was bent at an unnatural angle and he cried from the pain, giant tears welling in his eyes. Bilba immediately went to him and knelt to take the arm. The little boy later reported that his arm glowed with light and when she released it, sagging in exhaustion to sit beside him, his arm was whole and unmarked.

The adults dismissed the story, insisting the little boy’s arm had clearly never been broken in the first place. They went back to their lives and continued to ignore anything that suggested their world was not exactly as they desired it to be.

Among the children, however, the incident proved to be a dividing one. There were those who believed the boy’s story, and feared her as a result. They began to avoid her, convinced she really would cast a spell or hex on them in revenge for past wrongs. As they grew they became superstitious, convinced every negative thing that happened was a result of Bilba acting against them. They even coined a phrase, “Bilba must be having a fit” to explain bad luck.

Others dismissed the boy’s story as the adults had and never changed their ways. As they grew their bullying changed into sullenness toward her, or cattiness in the case of some like Lobelia Sackville. She had never forgiven Bilba for refusing to create a love potion that would force a young man she’d had her eye on to fall in love with her.

A third group of children, however, believed the boy’s story and, for the first time, actually bothered to truly look at Bilba. They found a small girl who laughed constantly and trusted absolutely, even when she shouldn’t. A child who rescued spiders, put out food and water for stray cats and often carried around a three legged fox she’d once befriended in the woods.

His name, they came to learn, was Sir Reginald.

These children felt guilt for their actions, realizing Bilba was not an object to feature as the villain in their make believe. Regardless of what she could, or could not, do she had never shown the slightest hint of cruelty toward anyone and had never treated them with anything but kindness, no matter how badly they treated her.

These few changed their treatment of her and, for the first time, Bilba had friends. They would rush off and spend hours playing in the woods, often coming back with stories of speaking to animals, riding about on trees that moved and spoke to them, and of dancing with the wind. Their parents would pat them on the head, brag to their friends about how creative and imaginative their children were, and go on about their lives.

And so life continued, much as it always had, and much as it always would have…had it not been for the winter of Bilba’s twenty-first year.

At first people assumed it was simply a normal winter as with any other. As the days passed, however, it grew colder, and colder still. The Brandywine froze and word began to spread that white wolves, and worse, had crossed over and were attacking those who lived on the outskirts of the Shire. Crops froze and, as time passed, starvation set in. Many began to die, the cemeteries of the Shire growing faster than the frozen ground could be broken to make more room.

In Hobbiton the effects of what would come to be called the Fell Winter were not as harsh. There was never any sign of a wolf or goblin and though crops froze they did so slower, the fruits and vegetables proving hardier than one might expect. The fish in the lake also proved almost unnaturally hardy while the ice simultaneously was weak, allowing those brave enough to venture out and fish for food for their families.

Bilba’s friends thanked her, believing it was her doing that kept the worst of the Fell Winter at bay. Those who felt differently, however, who were already used to blaming their woes on her, grew angry. Whispers of a Sorceress of great power living in Bag End began to spread outside Hobbiton.

Some dismissed it.

Some did not.

Strangers arrived, shady looking characters who asked for the location of the supposed Sorceress. Belladonna and Bungo hid their daughter and, when asked, insisted she was no Sorceress and was currently visiting distant relations.

One day Bella and Bungo found themselves facing down a particularly dangerous looking Man who was not at all inclined to take their answers for the truth and leave. Just as they feared he would force his way inside to search for the so-called Sorceress a sharp voice called out. The Man looked down the lane, blanched, and departed with great haste.

Belladonna saw a tall elf walking up her lane, next to an elderly Man with a staff. He, she recognized, though she had not seen him for many years, since well before Bilba had been born. She’d heard he’d returned, along with the Rangers, to help them in their time of need but he had stayed on the outskirts where the suffering was the worst and had not ventured into Hobbiton.

Now, as he and the elf strode up her steps Belladonna straightened, put her hands on her hips, lifted her chin and declared, “She’s not a Sorceress, Gandalf. Leave her alone.”

Gandalf gave her a bemused look in response and replied, “I simply want to meet the child, Belladonna. Won’t you bring her out?”

She started to deny him, to say that Bilba wasn’t home, but then, as if she’d been summoned, Bilba’s voice spoke up from behind her.

“I’m here. Who are you? Oh! Are you an elf? I’ve never seen an elf before!”

Belladonna tensed but there was little she could do as her daughter ducked under the arm she was using to block the doorway and stood in front of her.

Bilba barely came up to Belladonna’s chin, a pixie in more ways than one. Her eyes were guileless and her smile brilliant as she happily invited them both in for tea.

The elf looked stunned for a second and then, to Belladonna’s surprise, a delighted smile crossed his face. He took a step forward and crouched down to put a hand on a slender shoulder.

“Hello little cousin,” he said gently. “My name is Elrond, and I am very pleased to meet you.”

Bilba, as was her custom to anyone she met, positively beamed in response.

***

It was Elrond who explained, to both her and her parents, what she truly was. Not the twisted, dark creature of myth or legend but a figure of light, peace and harmony. Hobbits, he pointed out, were themselves peaceful and gentle souls so wouldn’t it make sense that if one had taken a fairy wife it was due to them having at least somewhat similar natures?

He offered to host all of them in Rivendell for the duration of the winter, until the rumors died down and the Rangers could make it clear that strangers entering the Shire to harass its residents would not be tolerated.

Belladonna agreed at once, excited at the prospect of her daughter being around those who understood her and could teach her more about her heritage.

They turned Bag End over to Gandalf and the Rangers, giving them a location from which to better aid the rest of the Shire, and more directly deal with anyone looking for Bilba. They then packed up and set out for Rivendell. For anyone else the journey would have been dangerous in such conditions. For them, with Bilba along, it became little more than trying.

Bilba loved Rivendell and the elves and they adored her in turn. They had mourned the passing of the fairy and were pleased to have one of her kind back in their midst, even if she was technically a Fae in Hobbit flesh as opposed to a fairy in truth. They understood her, showed her what her powers truly were and how to harness them, taught her to recognize, and control, her nature. They taught her, too, about the times she disappeared. The elves loved the water and the stars, fairy in turn loved the wind and in times when she vanished it was due to her nature getting the best of her and whisking her off to wherever the wind wished to take her.

They also told her about her healing powers and how lucky she had been when she helped the boy with the broken arm. Her magic, as they explained, did not know the difference between an injury that had just taken place and one that had happened years ago, nor did it recognize injuries or illnesses that were beyond its power to heal, and those did exist. It was far too easy for a fairy to inadvertently drain themselves of magic in the course of healing, to the extent their own life was placed in jeopardy. To this end it was vital that Bilba take great care in who she chose to help to ensure she didn’t die herself in the process.

Bilba listened intently to all they had to say and when Gandalf returned for her at the end of the long winter he found a young woman somehow wilder, and yet more grounded, than the one he’d met so many months before.

They all returned to the Shire together, along with a number of elves determined to make sure their little cousin came to no harm.

She did not. In her absence her friends had spent much of their time pointing how foolish it was to think she was so powerful she’d created a winter that, according to travelers passing through, was affecting land all the way from the Blue Mountains to Rivendell.

At the same time the Rangers had dealt with a number of strangers who’d wandered into the Shire to cause problems and word had quickly spread, as they intended, that the Shire was off limits to ruffians and unsavory folk. The fact that no sign of the supposed Sorceress was ever seen or felt also helped quiet down the rumors and unwanted visitors.

It was to a quiet and peaceful Shire they returned, one damaged by the winter but that had survived and was working its way slowly to recovery. Bilba visited every garden in Hobbiton, ensuring they produced twice as much to help make up for the food shortages. She wanted to try and heal people but her mother refused to let her, worried about Bilba’s health in the process as well as word getting out that she had the ability. Elrond had explained the kind of danger Bilba would be in if word got out about her for practitioners of black magic still existed and would seek her for their own use if they knew about her. Belladonna also knew her daughter well enough to know that, if she allowed it, the young woman would run herself into the ground trying to help every single person who asked.

And so Bilba did what she could and returned to her quiet life with her parents in Bag End.

And so it continued for a year until shortly after Bilba’s twenty-second birthday when things changed.

Yet again.

***

Bilba had been staring at him for close to ten minutes before she realized it.

She sighed, her shoulders slumping as she took in her surroundings. She was crouched in the rafters of what appeared to be the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. Her hair was in a tangled mass about her body and her bare feet were caked with mud and dirt.

She’d gone and gotten lost again. Her first thought was to wonder how long it had been this time and to hope she hadn’t left soup on the stove again. She’d ruined her mother’s favorite pot the last time that had happened. Her mother had been less than pleased.

Her second thought was about what exactly it had been that had called her back.

Usually it was exhaustion or hunger and though she did feel a little tired it was nothing so extreme that would have called her back. A few other times it had been the elves, who had all developed an overprotective streak since learning of her existence, but she didn’t sense any in the vicinity.

She focused on the room again, in the direction she was already facing, and barely suppressed a start of surprise.

There was a Man sitting in a booth in the far corner. He was dressed all in black with a staff leaning against the wall. It looked almost like the one Gandalf carried but shorter and oddly twisted. She could feel power radiating from it but it felt…wrong somehow and she wondered if he’d perhaps cut a branch off a sick tree and that was what was causing the problem. Was he perhaps a wizard in training and didn’t know any better? Did they even do that sort of thing? She’d never spoken to Gandalf about it and had no idea how he’d come to be a wizard.

He hadn’t been what had caught her attention. She’d been looking next to him, at the person standing, barely, next to the table. He was stick thin, the rags he wore barely hanging on his skeletal frame. His hair and beard were matted and dark with filth and the rest of his body was streaked with dried sweat and mud. Through rents in his clothing she could see evidence of welts and other wounds, possibly even infection and the way he held himself suggested an injury to a leg, possibly his spine as well.

Her eyes went to his throat and the thick collar locked around it. A chain led from it, the end laying on the table.

She didn’t understand. Was he a prisoner? But, if so, why was he allowed to be in so poor a condition? What crime could he have possibly committed that would warrant such a thing?

And if he wasn’t a prisoner then what was he? A captive?

She studied him, trying to make sense of it. He was shorter than a normal human but the beard meant he couldn’t be a child. A dwarf perhaps? She cast about and found a handful of other dwarves in the Inn. Several of them were casting angry looks toward the Man but they made no attempt to approach. No one, in fact, was doing anything, giving the Man and his captive a wide berth instead.

Why? Bilba wondered. Why did no one help?

As she watched the Man finished his food and stood up. There was no food present for the dwarf and he didn’t seem to expect any. He stared blankly ahead at nothing, his eyes empty.

He had blue eyes, Bilba noted, strikingly blue, an odd contrast to the rest of him. At the moment they were dull and lifeless and she found herself trying to picture what they had been like when he’d been free, if he, in fact, ever had been.

Dwarves were a proud and honorable people who took great pride in the bodies gifted to them from Mahal. They also took great effort in the care and upkeep of their beard and hair, the mess his was in would be considered a great dishonor to both his bloodline and race.

How humiliating must it be for him to be here? Where other dwarves, and members of other races could see him?

She hated it. His obvious suffering twisted her stomach, made her limbs feel weak and start shaking, brought on severe nausea. It was the same any time she witnessed pain. She simply couldn’t handle it.

The Man headed toward the door. He’d picked up the end of the chain and, as it grew taut, the dwarf obediently moved after him.

Bilba dropped down from the rafters, landing silently on top of an empty table. No one saw her, she didn’t want them to so they didn’t.

She hurried out after the two. Outside it was raining, the wind cool but not biting.

The figures she was watching were vanishing from her sight, out the gates of Bree, and she darted down the steps, flinching as wet mud splashed up her calves, and ran after them.

The Man and dwarf left the gate and began heading up the road, into the wild beyond Bree.

Bilba shivered, her arms crossed over her chest. The rain wasn’t particularly cold but that didn’t mean it was comfortable. It had already soaked through her clothing, plastered her hair to her body, and even then was running in rivulets down her face, pattering in drops on her head.

She chewed on her lower lip for a second, then made a decision and followed after them. She had no idea what she planned to do but the dwarf was suffering and she couldn’t stand turning her back on him.

The Man traveled the rest of the day and well into the night before finally stopping and making camp. By that time the rain had stopped and the clouds parted, revealing bright, glittering stars overhead and a fat moon. It had been painful to watch for Bilba to watch the two travel. The dwarf was not capable of more than a slow, shambling walk but the Man had been merciless in his trek, often causing the dwarf to fall, only to be wrenched back up and forced forward once more. Several times Bilba had nearly given herself away by crying out, tears in her eyes at the horrible treatment.

She still didn’t know what to do and spent most of the night watching and worrying over it, climbing a tree to settle down and watch the distant camp fire. She could probably get in and get the dwarf out but, if she did, the Man would notice the next morning and the dwarf was far to injured to be able to travel quickly.

The solution finally came to her just as dawn was beginning to break over the landscape, a simple answer she really should have thought of earlier. She reached a hand into the pocket of her dress, curling it around a small coin pouch. She never knew exactly when she would end up losing herself to her fairy side, or how far she would go, so she’d started carrying a substantial amount of money with her to use to get home. Surely she had enough to tempt the Man to sell her his broken down captive, right? He’d certainly be able to move much quicker with money instead of an injured dwarf.

She moved forward and quietly got down from the tree. She pulled the pouch out, holding it in one hand, and started to walk toward the camp, resolute.

She barely made it a few steps before a hand caught her wrist.

“Bilba, what are you doing?”

Bilba spun to see three figures in a semi-circle behind her. They all towered over her but that wasn’t so surprising, thanks to her fairy blood even other hobbits were taller than she was.

She grinned brightly at the three and held the pouch up, balanced on her palm. “I’m going to go ask to buy that dwarf.”

Elladan, the one who was down on a knee, holding her wrist, gave her an incredulous look. “That’s…not a good idea Bilba.”

Bilba frowned. “Why not? I have plenty of money and he can’t be attached to that dwarf, not with how he’s been treating him. He’ll probably be happy to have the money instead of the dwarf.

Behind Elladan, his brother, Elrohir, looked confused. “Why do you want him, Bilba? Do you know him?”

Bilba shook her head. “He’s in pain.” It was a simple answer, and enough of one in her book. He was in pain, she had the ability to stop his pain. That was it.

She tested Elladan’s grip on her wrist, tugging lightly, but he simply raised an eyebrow and held on. Bilba was mildly irritated she hadn’t felt their presence. There always seemed to be at least one elf nearby, keeping watch over her, and she was so used to it that it simply hadn’t registered. She had no idea how they always knew where she was and they refused to tell her for fear she’d use the information to dodge them, which she would of course but that was entirely beside the point.

She focused her attention on the third figure, the adopted brother of Elladan and Elrohir, Aragorn. He was a Man and, hopefully, more reasonable.

“Aragorn, would you please tell your brother to let me go?”

“I don’t think so,” the young man replied. “You can’t go in there, Bilba.”

So much for being reasonable, Bilba thought. He’d undoubtedly been around elves far too long.

Behind her, she heard the sounds of the Man beginning to move about, preparing to leave. She was startled at the stab of pain that raced through her at the thought of the dwarf being taken away. She locked eyes with Elladan, her lower lip beginning to tremble and her vision blurring.

“Elladan,” she asked, her voice just barely wavering, “please? You know I can’t stand it. Please?”

He sighed and stood up without releasing her wrist. “I never said I wouldn’t get him for you. I said just it wasn’t a good idea for you to do it.”

Bilba gasped and gazed at him hopefully.

Elladan snorted. “Don’t give me the sad little waif look. I already said I’d do it.”

He nudged her over toward his brother, while gesturing for Aragorn to come join him. “Stay with Elrohir, Bilba. We’ll be back.”

Bilba nodded. “Okay. Oh,wait,” She stepped forward, offering the pouch. “Don’t you need this?”

Elladan gave her an innocent grin. “Don’t worry. We’re going to try a different tack. I’m sure he’ll be very open to listening to us.”

“Will you be alright with just the two of you?” Elrohir asked and Bilba frowned, confused. Why wouldn’t they be alright?

“We’ll be fine.” Elladan said. “We aren’t petite fairies who get blown away by the smallest gust of wind.”

Bilba stuck her tongue out at him. Elladan laughed and then turned to head into the campsite, Aragorn at his side.

They’d barely been gone when Bilba felt a prickling at the edge of her consciousness, a familiar sensation though not one she’d felt in a while.

“Oh, she said, spinning to look behind them. “I need to go over there.”

Without waiting for a response she headed in the direction, flitting over the ground so fast it almost appeared she was flying.

“Bilba!” She heard Elrohir hiss in exasperation, but she ignored him. She wasn’t going far and she was going away from the Man after all.

She found her way into a small clearing and stopped, studying the area. A flash of bright red fur drew her attention and she headed that way, dropping to her knees before a small fox. The animal was caught in a trap and was huddled in a small ball that was a mix of pain and shame. He’d most likely been following her and hadn’t paid attention to where he was going. He only had three legs and with the one trapped, and clearly broken, he was unable to stand. The animal whined deep in its throat, eyes focusing on her.

“Oh, Sir Reginald,” Bilba said. “I’m sorry.” She reached down and gently freed the animal before scooping him up to settled on her lap. She took a deep breath and placed her hands lightly on the injured leg.

Immediately glowing white light shone from her hands, spreading out to cover the small animal. Bilba didn’t know much about the anatomy of a small fox, or anything else for that matter, but her magic didn’t need her to. All she had to do was direct it to heal and it obeyed her, spiraling through the fox and fixing not just the damage it currently had but any lasting damage it had ever had. She hadn’t seen Reginald in a few months and, as usual, he had managed to pick up quite a few injuries along the way. She felt as his ear reformed, a chunk torn out some time ago filling back in, broken tail straightening once more and the leg under her hands straightening out, the torn flesh and broken bone knitting together until the leg was stronger than ever. She couldn’t replace the leg that was gone, she didn’t know why. It had been gone when she first met him and not even her magic could make it grow back. As Elrond had said, her magic had limits. It was depressing but nothing she could change.

The light faded and she sagged back, fatigue tugging at her. The fox jumped up and stood on its hind legs to lick her face in thanks. Bilba laughed and patted it. “Be careful, alright? I may not be close by next time.”

The fox gave a short yip of agreement and bounded off, vanishing into the underbrush.

“Is that the same fox you had before?” Elrohir asked from where he was leaning against a tree. “Don’t foxes only live a few years?”

“Some can live longer,” Bilba said shortly, refusing to comment further.

Elrohir raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. It had started to become increasingly clear over the years that Bilba had inherited the fairy ability to extend the lives of those around her and the elves worried over what would happen when others started to notice. It was one of the reasons they had started trying to convince her to come live permanently in Rivendell, a notion she had stubbornly resisted.

The Shire, and Bag End, were her home and she wanted to stay. So far they had respected her wishes enough to not mention anything to her parents but she imagined the day would come where they would say something and then she’d undoubtedly have to deal with the elves and her mother and father pushing her to return to Rivendell, permanently.

Footsteps had Elrohir pushing up and turning just as Elladan strode into the clearing. He had his sword out, strangely enough, and was wiping the blade down. As soon as he saw her the cloth vanished and he sheathed the blade.

Behind him came Aragorn. He held a chain in his hands and, at the end of it, stumbled the dwarf.

Bilba gasped and scrambled to her feet, rushing over to stand in front of him. Up close he looked even worse. He was covered from head to toe in what appeared to be layers of grime, filth and dried blood and gave off a smell so sharp it burned her nostrils. She could see every bone in his body and the few cuts and the injuries visible under the grime were brutal, many of them edged in the puffed flesh suggesting infection had set in. His clothing had probably once been trousers and a tunic but had fallen apart to the point where they barely provided him modesty much less any protection from the elements. He was barefoot and she could see evidence of broken toes and damage from being forced to walk in such a manner when, as dwarf, he wasn’t built for it.

His left leg was bent up, barely any weight being put on it, and he leaned to the left as if his back was damaged.

Bilba looked him in the eyes, seeing absolutely no acknowledgment, no sign of there even being a soul present.

“There’s some kind of spell laid on him,” Elladan said gently. “I don’t know what exactly it’s done to him but he appears only capable of obeying commands and little else. He showed no signs of recognition that we’d rescued him, simply followed us when we told him to.”

Without thinking, Bilba lifted her hands toward him only to immediately have Elladan drop behind her, wrap both arms around her waist and drag her back against his chest, keeping his arms around her in a light bear hug. “No, Bilba,” he said, his voice compassionate. “You can’t heal him, it’ll kill you.”

“You don’t know that,” Bilba said, her voice wavering. “He’s in pain.”

“It’s black magic, Bilba,” he said shortly, “and it’s still in effect even thoug--” He cut himself off at a sharp noise from Aragorn. He took a deep breath and said. “What’s been done to him took extremely dark magic, Bilba, and it may well be irreversible.” He put a finger under the dwraf’s chind and lightly raised his head, revealing a face free of lines or tension. “Does he look like he’s in pain to you? I don’t think he feels much of anything.”

“You don’t know that,” Bilba accused, “and you don’t know trying to heal him will kill me.”

“And you don’t know it won’t,” Elladan said gently, “and I’d rather not be the one to tell your parents we let you take a chance, and lost you in the process. Does their pain not matter also?”

It was a low blow and he knew it, but it was also effective. Bilba sagged in his arms. “You’re cruel,” she said, her voice soft and without heat.

Elladan squeezed her in a hug and then released her. Bilba took a deep breath and stepped forward to address Aragorn. “Can you at least take the collar off, please?”

Aragorn pulled a key from his pocket and turned to remove the collar from the dwarf’s neck.

As he did, Bilba asked, “How did you convince the Man to give him to you?”

Elladan shrugged. “We can be very persuasive,” he said simply. He nodded at the dwarf. “What are you going to do with him?”

Bilba frowned. “I had planned to help him get better and send him on his way. If he can’t take care of himself and you won’t let me heal him--” She shot a look at Elladan, hoping he’d change his mind.

“If he obeys orders he can probably be ordered to take care of his basic needs,” Elladan said, ignoring her look and her comment about healing him, “he’ll need someone to give him the orders though.” He saw the look she was giving him and sighed. “Bilba, I’m not a monster. The monster is the one who did that to him. If I knew how to help him, or if I thought you could help him, safely, I would do it. He’s in no danger of dying and I’m not willing to risk your life in an attempt to free him when, odds are, it wouldn’t work anyway.”

Bilba looked away, her shoulders falling. She hated it when he made sense.

“You have him now,” Elladan said, “You can still make his life a thousand times better than its been and, who knows? Perhaps the spell will wear off naturally and he’ll return to his senses on his own.”

“Perhaps,” Bilba agreed softly. She studied the dwarf. She felt no power or darkness radiating from him as she had with the Man’s staff. He just felt like a dwarf, a normal dwarf. “Hopefully you’re right. In the meantime, he can stay at Bag End, indefinitely if need be. There are certainly enough rooms.”

“Your parents may have something to say about that,” Elladan said, amused. “Aragorn will escort you home. Elrohir and I will need to go take care of a few things.”

Bilba darted forward to throw her arms around him. “Thank you.” She hugged the other two as well and then went to stand in front of the dwarf. “You hear that? You get to come home with me and you’ll never have to wear a collar again and I’ll get you new clothes and food and everything will be better, you’ll see.” A thought occurred to her and she said looked at Elladan. “I don’t suppose you know his name, do you?”

“He had a name for him,” Elladan said, “but I don’t think it would be appropriate to repeat.”

“Oh,” Bilba said under her breath, “well that’s not very nice is it?” She grinned brightly at the dwarf. “How about I just call you--”

“Not Reginald,” Elladan broke in dryly and Bilba glared at him.

“That was a phase.”

Elrohir raised an eyebrow. “You named everything Reginald, for an entire year.”

“Reginald is a noble name,” Bilba said primly before turning back to face the dwarf. “How about…Paladin? I’m sorry, I know that’s not your real name but I don’t want to just call you dwarf and Paladin is a nice name, right?”

“I doubt he can hear you,” Elladan repeated gently. “Most likely the spell he’s under has stolen his body and completely repressing his mind.”

“You don’t know that,” Bilba said again, the stubbornness she’d inherited from her mother raising its head, “and, since we don’t know, wouldn’t it be better to go with the idea that he can hear and see us? It would be awful, I think, to have people ignore you simply because they thought you couldn’t hear them.”

It would be awful to think he was fully aware with no control over his own body and, to that end, she found herself hoping Elladan was right and his mind was sleeping, hopefully dreaming of peace and comfort. Still, hoping for something didn’t make it reality and she didn’t want to ignore him on the off chance he could, in fact, hear her.

She reached out and gently worked her hand into his, holding it carefully to avoid putting pressure on any of his injuries. “Come on Paladin, let’s go home.”

She started to move and the dwarf obediently went with her, his steps slow and shuffling. Elladan and his brother headed off while Aragorn fell in beside her, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword.

***

It took quite a long time to get to Bag End. Even without being starved, Paladin’s injuries and back issues prevented him from doing anything more than the slow shuffle she’d seen him do with the Man. Bilba had no intention of treating Paladin as the Man had and was content to match his pace, walking beside him and guiding him by the hand. She chattered as they walked, to him and Aragorn, telling them both about how things were going in the Shire. She told Paladin all about her parents and Bag End and how she was going to get him as healthy as she possibly could.

When they arrived back to the borders of the Shire they stopped for Bilba to shoo away the small animals that had started following them. Hobbits tended to frown upon her showing back up with wolves, foxes, deer and assorted birds in tow.

Her parents, as expected, were more than a little startled when she showed up with a clearly very ill dwarf in tow.

Startled, but not entirely surprised. They were more than used to their daughter arriving home with all manner of injured or in need living creatures. That she would one day show up with a person in equal need, in hindsight, made perfect sense.

To their credit they recovered quickly. They were hobbits, and compassionate ones at that, and were more than willing to help. Belladonna invited Aragorn into tea and to rest before having to return to his duties while Bungo took Paladin off to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

While they settled in Bilba started making a pot of bland soup and a second kettle of weakened tea. She doubted Paladin would be able to handle anything much stronger than that, at least not at first.

Bungo reappeared after a while, asking Belladonna to come with him and then headed back down the hall once more. It was a long, long time later that she and Bungo reappeared, this time with Paladin. Her father looked exhausted and in need of a nap but Paladin…Bilba nearly didn’t recognize him.

The layers of grime and dirt were gone leaving clean skin behind. The wounds that were still open, or infected, had been dealt with as well and sported poultices to help them heal quicker. Bungo had put some of his own clothes on Paladin and they sagged on his body but were far better than the rags he’d worn previously.

His hair and beard had initially been a matted mess, actually grown together at points so it was perpetually tangled around his throat. In the end there had been no way to save it. Belladonna had been forced to cut it until it was short spikes all over his head and she’d shaved off his beard until it was barely stubble.

Bilba winced when she saw it and approached to carefully take his hands in hers, studying his eyes. “I’m sorry it had to be cut,” she whispered. “I know how important hair and beards are to dwarves. It won’t be forever, though, alright? I promise. We’ll let it grow back and we’ll take care of it this time too so it won’t ever have to be cut again.” She released one of his hands to run her palm lightly over the stubble on his head, feeling it prickle against her skin. It appeared to be a dark, golden blond color and she tried to picture what he would look like once it had grown back in properly. As she looked at him she was surprised to find he was young, far younger than she’d initially thought.

“Come along, dear,” Belladonna said, coming up to Paladin’s side. “Let’s let your friend eat and then rest, shall we?”

Bilba nodded and helped Paladin over to the table. Once there they found that, with his hands as damaged as they were, it was nearly impossible for him to properly hold the spoon or feed himself, most likely explaining, at least in part, his malnutrition.

Without hesitating, Bilba took the spoon from him and started feeding him herself, taking it slow so he could get used to it.

As she did, Aragorn related the story of how they’d come to have him, complete with Bilba’s desire to heal him, which earned him a glare from her.

Before her parents could react she said, “I was thinking, maybe if we got him as healed as we could, maybe it wouldn’t be so dangerous?”

Bungo was already shaking his head. “Dark magic isn’t something to be messed with, Bilba.”

“You aren’t a full fairy, Sweetheart,” Belladonna added. “You have greater limitations than they did. You know how tired you get just after healing broken bones. How much worse do you think it would be going against dark magic? Especially when Aragorn is saying it probably wouldn’t even work.”

Bilba’s hands nearly itched with the desire to try and heal him but they would just pull her away and, as Elladan had said, she couldn’t stand even the mental image of her parents’ pain if she were to die in the process.

“Maybe it’ll wear off as Elladan said,” Aragorn broke in. He didn’t sound like he believed it any more than Elladan had but Bilba gave him a grateful smile anyway.

“Perhaps.” She studied Paladin. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I truly am. I would try to free you from the darkness if I could.”

Paladin was soon finished and Bilba and her mother helped him to one of the spare bedrooms while Bungo stayed in the living room with Aragorn.

As they got him settled in the bed, Bilba asked, “Do you think he can stay? He can’t live on his own.”

Belladonna frowned, pulling the blankets up to his waist. “Don’t you think he might have family worried about him?”

“How would we find them?” Bilba replied. “We don’t know his name or age or even how long he’s been with that Man. What would we ask, or send in a letter? Is anyone missing a young dwarf, exact age unknown, with dark blond hair, no idea when he went missing or from where?”

“You have a point,” Belladonna agreed. She stood back to study Paladin. His eyes were already drifting closed, his body relaxing into the mattress. “Why don’t we just take it a day at a time, alright? There’s no use worrying about the future when we aren’t even through today yet.”

“Okay.” Belladonna left, squeezing her daughter’s shoulder as she passed. Once she was gone Bilba curled up on a chair near Paladin’s bed, studying him as he slept.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered to the dwarf. “I’m going to take care of you. I promise.”

[saintnalini]

You said your askbox is open (mine is too!), so I was wondering if you could maybe write a snippet about a girl who finds out her brother is a fae changeling? And she's scared of what he might do to her and her family? You can go as dark as you like :D

*whispers* I hope I did this right

It is a common truth in the world that everybody has a secret. They’re big, they’re small, they’re insane, they’re reasonable. What was the point of a secret?

They stay untold in your mouth for the sake of protecting yourself. How do you know how the world will react to what you’ve kept hidden? Haven’t you heard the stories of the lengths humans will go to to keep a secret?

Haven’t you heard the stories of non-humans, whose entire existence was a secret? Now what would happen if you were a non-human raised as a human?

The sticky, dusk sunlight filtered through the trees of the forest and onto the plush grass, warming her skin but also plastering it to her shirt. She skipped over roots and ignored the ominous shadows the plants cast. Her brother walked ahead of her, feet eerily quiet while hers cracked the fallen branches and dried leaves.

This was a sibling ritual. Her brother would take walks in the forest and she would follow without questioning where they were going; he knew the forest better than she knew herself. Somehow it always seemed like the forest was growing, every week her brother found a new clearing or a denser section of trees to climb before he got bored and found another one. He had always been drawn to nature, and it was something she could never understand, no matter how hard she tried.  

“You know, it’s going to get dark soon,” the protagonist called. “Mom’ll want us back about now.” She wasn’t lying exactly, but she was also making up an excuse to leave. The ghost-feeling of bugs crawling up her arms was making her shudder violently. “[Name].”

Slowly, the trees became denser and the grass faded into packed dirt and scratchy bushes. As they passed by a circle made of mushrooms, faint laughter whispered in the air and she turned to it, missing the way her brother went rigid.

Were there other people in the woods? That would be highly unusual. The woods practically started from her house’s backyard, marking the edge of town and the start of unclaimed land. Rarely did anyone else besides the two siblings venture out of town. Even the car roads leading to the interstate avoided passing through. Town folklore had always said anything outside the borders were haunted.

They both had grown up hearing stories of the woods being inhabited by wild creatures that were neither animal nor human. Of things that could trick you into a deep slumber and eat away at your soul, of possessed not-women who sang a siren tune and ripped away the ribbons from your hair as they lured you into disappearing forever. Her brother had been entranced by these stories, more so than anybody else their age. One day he went into the forest, and as a seven year old girl who idolized her older brother, she had followed and never stopped. She reasoned that the stories about the cornfields were scarier, anyway.

But it was getting dark, and she would be lying if she didn’t admit that she was beginning to believe that every tall tale were actually warnings. “[Name], please.”

“Don’t be afraid, Amelia,” he chastised and she rolled her eyes; he always told her that. “The trees aren’t going to be the scariest things tonight.”    

“Tonight? Please don’t tell me we’re going to stay here after dark. Mom will kill us!”

“It’s already dark.”

“Don’t give me attitude dickhead -”

“- Then shut up and listen!” Her brother breathed deeply. “I - I have something I need to tell you.”

The protagonist crossed her arms and shivered as the temperature dropped and night officially made an entrance. Even this far away from town lights, the stars were not visible. The air prickled with something she could not place and the shadows grew. She swore the laughter became louder. “Why are you being so dramatic?”

Her brother finally turned around, and she winced. He was exceptionally beautiful, much so that she could hardly believe they were related. Any newcomers to their town didn’t believe they were siblings either, at first. They didn’t look very alike. His face was angular, with a sharp jaw, ethereal skin, and eyes that never seemed to be one exact shade of green. In the daylight, he was pretty. In the night, he looked like a monster.

The shadows and the moon’s light were making a twisted visage on his face. It looked like his ears were gently pointed.

The protagonist stumbled backward, shock grasping her heart and squeezing hard. She could barely breathe.

“You’re-”

“I’m fae.”

“A changeling,” she whispered. Her mind went frustratingly blank.

So she turned tail and ran away.

The laughter reverberated in her ears, and only then did she realize it was the laughter of the fae. She was going the wrong way.

Her legs burned, her lungs burned, the feeling of the darkness around her burned. It was never just night, wasn’t it? Her brother had always been drawn to it. Now she knew why.

She could run away from him, but she couldn’t run away from her mind. I’m - I was - we were living with a fae. Oh my God. My brother isn’t human. He’s a monster. He isn’t my brother.

Her heart bleated in terror. Oh God, now that he knows I know, is he going to threaten Mom and Dad? Don’t be silly - they raised him. He loves them, right? But does that matter to a changeling? He isn’t human. Not human. Not human. Not human. Not my brother.

“Amelia, wait!” then a faint, “Please, listen to me. You’re my sister!”

She forced herself to go faster, but dread weighed heavily on her shoulders. The fae were unpredictable; if her brother caught her, would he leave her alive? It was better than leading him directly into the hands of her parents.

Not human. Not human. Not. My. Brother.

In the end, the fae changeling caught up to the human girl, who screamed in terror at his pointed teeth and curved ears. To the changeling’s deepest regret, he had to silence her. Humans were unpredictable, after all, but he had the feeling her new opinion of him would never change. There was no telling what would happen if she had escaped.

But he was a fae, and the fae always delighted in drama and bloodshed, no matter whose blood it was. This time, when the forest leaned into him and the laughter sounded again, he laughed back.