#‘If I was transported back in time… I’d try to pass myself off as a man for greater freedom.’

[canichangemyblogname]

I watched all eight episodes of season 1 of Blue Eye Samurai over the weekend. I then went browsing because I wanted to read some online reviews of the show to see what people were thinking of it and also because I wanted to interact with gifs and art, as the series is visually stunning.

Yet, in my search for opinions on the show, I came across several points I'd like to address in my own words:

Mizu’s history and identity are revealed piece-by-piece and the “peaches” scene with Mizu and Ringo at the lake is intended to be a major character reveal. I think it’s weird that some viewers got angry over other viewers intentionally not gendering Mizu until that reveal, rather than immediately jumping to gender the character as the other characters in the show do. The creators intentionally left Mizu’s gender and sexuality ambiguous (and quite literally wrote in lines to lead audiences to question both) to challenge the viewer’s gut assumption that this lone wolf samurai is a man. That intentional ambiguity will lead to wide and ambiguous interpretations of where Mizu fits in, if Mizu fits in at all. But don't just take my word for this:

Re: above. I also think it’s weird that some viewers got upset over other viewers continuing to acknowledge that Mizu has a very complicated relationship with her gender, even after that reveal. Canonically, she has a very complicated relationship with her identity. The character is intended to represent liminality in identity, where she’s often between identities in a world of forced binaries that aren’t (widely) socially recognized as binaries. But, again, don’t just take my word for this:

Mizu is both white and Japanese, but she is also not white and not Japanese simultaneously (too white to be Japanese and too Japanese to be white). She’s a woman and a man. She’s a man who’s a woman. She’s also a woman who’s not a woman (yet also not quite a man). But she’s also a woman; the creators said so. Mizu was raised as a boy and grew into a man, yet she was born a girl, and boyhood was imposed upon her. She’s a woman when she’s a man, a man when she’s a man, and a woman when she’s a woman.

Additionally, Mizu straddles the line between human and demon. She’s a human in the sense she’s mortal but a demon in the sense she’s not. She's human yet otherworldly. She's fallible yet greatness. She's both the ronin and the bride, the samurai and the onryō. In short, it’s complicated, and that’s the point. Ignoring that ignores a large part of her internal character struggle and development.

Mizu is intended to represent an “other,” someone who stands outside her society in every way and goes to lengths to hide this “otherness” to get by. Gender is a mask; a tool. She either hides behind a wide-brimmed hat, glasses, and laconic anger, or she hides behind makeup, her dress, and a frown. She fits in nowhere, no matter the identity she assumes. Mizu lives in a very different time period within a very different sociocultural & political system where the concept of gender and the language surrounding it is unlike what we are familiar with in our every-day lives. But, again, don’t just take my word for this:

It’s also weird that some viewers have gotten upset over the fact women and queer people (and especially queer women) see themselves in Mizu. Given her complicated relationship with identity under the patriarchy and colonial violence, I think Mizu is a great character for cis-het women and queer folks alike to relate to. Her character is also great for how she breaks the mold on the role of a biracial character in narratives about identity (she’s not some great bridge who will unite everyone). It does not hurt anyone that gender-fluid and nonbinary people see themselves in Mizu's identity and struggle with identity. It does not hurt anyone that lesbians see themselves in the way Mizu expresses her gender. It does not hurt anyone that trans men see themselves in Mizu's relationship with manhood or that trans women can see themselves in Mizu when Mama forces her to be a boy. It's also really cool that cis-het women see themselves in Mizu's struggles to find herself. Those upset over these things are missing critical aspects of Mizu's character and are no different from the other characters in the story. The only time Mizu is herself is when she’s just Mizu (“…her gender was Mizu”), and many of the other characters are unwilling to accept "just Mizu." Accepting her means accepting the complicatedness of her gender.

Being a woman under the patriarchy is complicated and gives women a complicated relationship with their gender and identity. It is dangerous to be a woman. Women face violence for being women. Being someone who challenges sex-prescribed norms and roles under patriarchy also gives someone a complicated relationship with their identity. It is dangerous to usurp gender norms and roles (then combine that with being a woman...). People who challenge the strict boxes they're assigned face violence for existing, too. Being a racial or ethnic minority in a racially homogeneous political system additionally gives someone a complicated relationship with their identity. It is dangerous to be an ethnic minority when the political system is reproduced on your exclusion and otherness. They, too, face violence for the circumstances of their birth. All of these things are true. None of them take away from the other.

Mizu is young-- in her early 20s-- and she has been hurt in deeply affecting ways. She's angry because she's been hurt in so many different ways. She's been hurt by gender violence, like "mama's" misogyny and the situation of her birth (her mother's rape and her near murder as a child), not to mention the violent and dehumanizing treatment of the women around her. She's been hurt by racial violence, like the way she has been tormented and abused since childhood for the way she looks (with people twice trying to kill her for this before adulthood). She's been hurt by state-sanctioned violence as she faces off against the opium, flesh, and black market traders working with white men in contravention of the Shogun's very policies, yet with sanction from the Shogun. She's been hurt by colonial violence, like the circumstances of her birth and the flood of human trafficking and weapons and drug trafficking in her country. She's had men break her bones and knock her down before, but only Fowler sexually differentiated her based on bone density and fracture.

Mizu also straddles the line between victim and murderer.

It seems like Mizu finding her 'feminine' and coming to terms with her 'female side' may be a part of her future character development. Women who feel caged by modern patriarchal systems and alienated from their bodies due to the patriarchy will see themselves in Mizu. They understand a desire for freedom that the narrow archetypes of the patriarchy do not afford them as women, and they see their anger and their desire for freedom in Mizu. This, especially considering that Mizu's development was driven by one of the creators' own experiences with womanhood:

No, Mizu does not pass as a man because she "hates women" or because she hates herself as a woman or being a woman. There are actual on-screen depictions of Mizu's misogyny, like her interactions with Akemi, and dressing like a man is not an instance of this. Mizu shows no discomfort with being a woman or being seen as a woman, especially when she intends to pass herself as and present as a woman. Mizu also shows the women in the series more grace and consideration than any man in the show, in whatever capacity available to her socially and politically, without revealing herself; many of the women have remarked that she is quite unlike other men, and she's okay with that, too.

When she lives on the farm with Mama and Mikio, Mizu shows no discomfort once she acclimates to the new life. But people take this as conclusive evidence of the "only time" she was happy. She was not. This life was also a dance, a performance. The story of her being both the ronin and the onryō revealed to the audience that this lifestyle also requires her to wear a mask and dance, just as the bride does. This mask is makeup, a wedding dress, and submission, and this performance is her gender as a wife. She still understands that she cannot fully be herself and only begins to express happiness and shed her reservation when she believes she is finally safe to be herself. Only to be betrayed. Being a man is her safety, and it is familiar. Being a boy protected her from the white men as a child, and it might protect her heart now.

Mizu shows no discomfort with being known as a woman, except when it potentially threatens her goals (see Ringo and the "peaches" scene). She also shows no discomfort with being known as, seen as, or referred to as a man. As an adult, she seems okay- even familiar- with people assuming she's a man and placing her into the role of a man. Yet, being born a girl who has boyhood violently imposed upon her (she did not choose what mama did to her) is also an incredibly important part of her lived experience. Being forced into boyhood, but growing into a man anyway became part of who she is. But, being a man isn’t just a part of who she became; it’s also expedient for her goals because men and women are ontologically different in her world and the system she lives under.

She's both because she's neither, because- ontologically- she fits nowhere. When other characters point out how "unlike" a man she is, she just shrugs it off, but not in a "well, yeah, because I'm NOT a man" sort of way, but in an "I'm unlike anyone, period," sort of way. She also does not seem offended by Madam Kaji saying that Mizu’s more man than any who have walked through her door.

(Mizu doesn’t even see herself as human, let alone a woman, as so defined by her society. And knowing that creators have stated her future arc is about coming into her “feminine era” or energy, I am actually scared that this show might fall into the trope of “domesticating”/“taming” the independent woman, complete with an allegory that her anger and lack of human-ness [in Mizu’s mind] is a result of a woman having too much “masculine energy” or being masculine in contravention of womanness.)

Some also seem to forget that once Mama and Mikio are dead, no one knows who she is or where she came from. They do not have her background, and they do not know about the bounty on her (who levied the bounty and why has not yet been explained). After their deaths, she could have gone free and started anew somehow. But in that moment, she chose to go back to life as a man and chose to pursue revenge for the circumstances of her birth. Going forward, this identity is no longer imposed upon her by Mama, or a result of erroneous conclusions from local kids and Master Eiji; it was because she wanted people to see her as a man and she was familiar with navigating her world, and thus her future, as a man. And it was because she was angry, too, and only men can act on their anger.

I do think it important to note that Mizu really began to allow herself to be vulnerable and open as a woman, until she was betrayed. The question I've been rattling around is: is this because she began to feel safe for the first time in her life, or is this part of how she sees women ontologically? Because she immediately returns to being a man and emotionally hard following her betrayal. But, she does seem willing to confide in Master Eiji, seek his advice, and convey her anxieties to him.

Being a man also confines Mizu to strict social boxes, and passing herself as a man is also dangerous.

Mizu doesn't suddenly get to do everything and anything she wants because she passes as a man. She has to consider her safety and the danger of her sex being "found out." She must also consider what will draw unnecessary attention to her and distract her from her goals. Many viewers, for example, were indignant that she did not offer to chaperone the mother and daughter and, instead, left them to the cold, only to drop some money at their feet later. The indignity fails consider that while she could bribe herself inside while passing as a man, she could not bribe in two strangers. Mizu is a strange man to that woman and does not necessarily have the social position to advocate for the mother and daughter. She also must consider that causing small social stirs would distract from her goals and draw certain attention to her. Mizu is also on a dangerous and violent quest.

Edo Japan was governed by strict class, age, and gender rules. Those rules applied to men as well as women. Mizu is still expected to act within these strict rules when she's a man. Being a man might allow her to pursue revenge, but she's still expected to put herself forward as a man, and that means following all the specific rules that apply to her class as a samurai, an artisan (or artist), and a man. That wide-brimmed hat, those orange-tinted glasses, and her laconic tendencies are also part of a performance. Being a boy is the first mask she wore and dance she performed, and she was originally (and tragically) forced into it.

Challenging the normative identities of her society does not guarantee her safety. She has limitations because of her "otherness," and the transgression of sex-prescribed roles has often landed people in hot water as opposed to saving them from boiling. Mizu is passing herself off as a man every day of her life at great risk to her. If her sex is "found out" on a larger scale, society won’t resort to or just start treating her as a woman. There are far worse fates than being perceived as a woman, and hers would not simply be a tsk-tsk, slap on the wrist; now you have to wear makeup. Let's not treat being a woman-- even with all the pressures, standards, fears, and risks that come with existing as a woman-- as the worst consequence for being ‘found out’ for transgressing normative identity.

The violence Mizu would face upon being "found out" won’t only be a consequence of being a "girl." Consider not just the fact she is female and “cross-dressing” (outside of theater), but also that she is a racial minority.

I also feel like many cis-het people either ignore or just cannot see the queerness in challenging gender roles (and thus also in stories that revolve around a subversion of sex-prescribed gender). They may not know how queerness-- or "otherness"-- leads to challenging strict social stratifications and binaries nor how challenging them is seen by the larger society as queer ("strange," "suspicious," "unconventional," even "dishonorable," and "fraudulent"), even when "queerness" (as in LGBTQ+) was not yet a concept as we understand it today.

Gender and sexuality- and the language we use to communicate who we are- varies greatly across time and culture. Edo Japan was governed by strict rules on what hairstyles, clothes, and weapons could be worn by which gender, age, and social group, and this was often enshrined in law. There were specific rules about who could have sex with whom and how. These values and rules were distinctly Japanese and would not incorporate Western influences until the late 1800s. Class was one of the most consequential features to define a person's fate in feudal Japan, and gender was quite stratified. This does not mean it's inappropriate for genderqueer people to see themselves in Mizu, nor does this mean that gender-variant identities didn’t exist in Edo Japan.

People in the past did not use the same language we do today to refer to themselves. Example: Alexander The Great did not call himself a "bisexual." We all understand this. However, there is a very weird trend of people using these differences in language and cultures across time to deny aspects of a historical person's life that societies today consider taboo, whether these aspects were considered taboo during that historical time period or not. Same example: people on Twitter complaining that Netflix "made" Alexander The Great "gay," and after people push back and point out that the man did, in fact, love and fuck men, hitting back with "homosexuality wasn't even a word back then" or "modern identity didn't exist back then." Sure, that word did not exist in 300s BCE Macedonia, but that doesn't mean the man didn't love men, nor does that mean that we can't recognize that he'd be considered "queer" by today's standards and language.

Genderqueer, as a word and as the concept is understood today, did not exist in feudal Japan, but the people did and feudal Japan had its own terms and concepts that referred to gender variance. But while the show takes place in Edo Japan, it is a modern adult animation series made by a French studio and two Americans (nationality). Mizu is additionally a fictional character, not a historical figure. She was not created in a vacuum. She was created in the 21st century and co-written by a man who got his start writing for Sex in the City and hails from a country that is in the midst of a giant moral panic about genderqueer/gender-variant people and gender non-conforming people.

This series was created by two Americans (nationality) for an American company. In some parts of that country, there are laws on the book strictly defining the bounds of men and women and dictating what clothes men and women could be prosecuted for wearing. Changes in language and identity over time mean that we can recognize that if Mizu lived in modern Texas, the law would consider her a drag performer, and modern political movements in the show creators' home country would include her under the queer umbrella.

So, yeah, there will also be genderqueer people who see themselves in Mizu, and there will be genderqueer fans who are firm about Mizu being queer to them and in their “headcanons.” The scene setting being Edo Japan, does not negate the modern ideas that influence the show. "Nonbinary didn't exist in Edo Japan" completely ignores that this show was created to explore the liminality of modern racial, gender, class, and normative identities. One of the creators was literally inspired by her own relationship with her biracial identity.

Ultimately, the fact Mizu, at this point in her journey, chooses to present and pass as a man and the fact her presented gender affects relationship dynamics with other characters (see: Taigen) gives this story a queer undertone. And this may have been largely unintentional: "She’s a girl, and he’s a guy, so, of course, they get together," < ignoring how said guy thinks she’s a guy and that she intentionally passes herself as a guy. Audiences ARE going to interpret this as queer because WE don’t live in Edo-era Japan. And I feel like people forget that Mizu can be a woman and the story can still have queer undertones to it at the same time.

#Blue Eye Samurai #‘If I was transported back in time… I’d try to pass myself off as a man for greater freedom.’ #^^^ does not consider the intersection of historically queer existence across time with other identities (& the limitations those include) #nor does it consider the danger of such an action #I get it. some come to this conclusion simply because they know how dangerous it is to be a woman throughout history. #but rebuking the normative identities of that time period also puts you at great risk of violence #challenging norms and rules and social & political hierarchies does not make you safer #and it has always been those who exist in the margins of society who have challenged sociocultural systems #it has always been those at greatest risk and who've faced great violence already. like Mizu #Anyway... Mizu is just Mizu #she is gender queer (or gender-variant) #because her relationship with her gender is queer. because she is gender-variant #‘queer’ as a social/political class did not exist. but people WE understand as queer existed in different historical eras #and under different cultural systems #she’s a woman because queer did not exist & ‘woman’ was the sex caste she was born into #she’s also a woman because she conceptualizes herself as so #she is a woman AND she is gender-variant #she quite literally challenges normative identity and is a clear example of what sex non-conforming means #Before the actual. historic Tokugawa shogunate banned women from theater #there were women in the theater who cross-dressed for the theater and played male roles #so I’m also really tired of seeing takes along the lines of: ‘Edo Japan was backwards so cross dressers did’t exist then!’ #like. please. be more transparent won’t you?

[theycallmequeenie]

Angel Reyes x Reader Request

Master List

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five:

A/N: Again, I just want to say that I am not Latinx and am completely winging this and in no way trying to disrespect anyone or anything in the Latinx culture. If I do get something wrong, please tell me and I will fix it right away. I have not finished the show and to be honest probably won’t solely because of how they finished Happy’s story. There is an image that accompanies this fic it will be linked both here and in the fic where it applies for the convince of those who prefer an uninterrupted fic experience. Now onto the next part of the story…

Y/N thought for a few minutes pondering her options before speaking up and verbally working through her thought process, “Well, you and Angel will both insist on being involved, as will Coco and Gilly, And the rest of the club, but if it must be a member, I’d prefer Hank. I think he’d probably be the one that would be the calmest about being stuck with babysitting duty, Though Phillipe would be the fairest option to the guys. I still say I’d be okay by myself for a little while, it’s not like I’m going to be running off anytime soon…” 

Bishop nodded acknowledging her statement. “I’d prefer one of the guys with you just for safety’s sake. I’ll call Hank and have him sit with you until Angel is available. We aren’t letting you be by yourself in here or at home, Sweetheart.”

Y/N nodded and made an annoyed face. She knew that this would be a long recovery with these guys on babysitting duty. She hated the idea now and she wasn’t even discharged from the hospital yet and hoped that they would ease up on that way of thinking. If not, she was certain her sanity would be put in question. 

She watched as Bishop pulled the burner phone back out of his vest pocket and hit the buttons, he needed to, to call Hank. She watched as he had the conversation and closed the phone. He offered her a smile and told her that Hank was on his way.

The two of them made small talk as they waited on Hank to get there to sit with her while the rest of the guys went and took care of the scumbag that put her in that bed. She knew roughly what was about to happen or at least knew enough to not ask questions and act like she knew nothing. 

As Bishop’s phone buzzed letting him know Hank was at the hospital, Bishop asked if there was anything else he could do for her before he left to take care of business. 

Y/N nodded, “Bish, promise me something…”

“Sure anything, Kiddo…” He spoke gently and with a slight smile.

Y/N’s facial expression went cold as she answered him, “I know what has to be done and I just want you to promise me you guys will make it hurt…”

This shocked Bishop but he nodded and agreed. He told her that he would pass that request along. She was never the revenge type but something like this could change a person. He hoped that this would be only a temporary change. She was the sweetest, kindest, most loving person he or the club ever encountered, and that road wasn’t one that he wanted her to go down. 

He kissed her forehead and said his goodbyes telling her that once she was moved to the regular room, he would bring the guys in to see her. He offered her a smile and walked out of the room.

Y/N enjoyed the approximately twenty minutes of alone time before Hank had made his way into her ICU room greeting her with a sweet smile and a hello.

The two talked for a few moments before a pair of nurses came in smiling say that her new room was ready, and they were there to transport her to it. They gathered what needed to be gathered and started to move her. Hank followed closely answering what little random questions the nurses asked along the short trek through the hospital to the observation room and he did what he could to help get Y/N situated again. 

Both Y/N and Hank thanked to two that transported her as they departed expressing well wishes as the left. Hank sat in the much more comfortable chair that was in this room than the hard plastic one that was down in the ICU.

Hank offered her another one of his sweet smiles and held out his hand for her to take if she chose too. He spoke in a gentle tone, “Hey Mija. You don’t know how happy I am to see that you are back on the upswing. I was so afraid we were going to lose you.”

“I know, Hank. Everybody was afraid of that, including me. I wasn’t ready to leave you boys. Especially like that…” She frowned and looked down away from Hank. Only to feel him pat her hand reassuringly. She gave him an obviously fake smile and reached for the TV remote, “Come on you big teddy bear. Let’s some forty-year-old television shows to pass the time, yeah?” 

He chuckled at her and nodded doing his best to squash any lingering concerns. He knew she would have a long road to get back to herself, but he had confidence that between the Reyes men and the rest of the club she’d get back to being her in no time. 

They sat there for hours just channel surfing and watching reruns of old TV shows. They had settled on a Dick Van Dyke Show marathon about midway through the day. It wasn’t one of Hank’s favorites, but he knew it was one of Y/N’s and he enjoyed seeing her smile and laugh at the black and white shows high jinks. Part way through one of the episodes Hank’s phone vibrated in hiss vest pocket, and he tapped out a short message before putting it away. He managed all of this without distracting Y/N. 

He knew they only had about another hour before the entire club would be there with them. The message he had gotten told him that things had been handled and the guys had dispersed to clean up and change before meeting there to see Y/N. Hank replied with her new room number and that they’d be waiting. 

That hour came and went and slowly the men from the Santo Padre Chapter of the Mayans MC trickled in. First to arrive was Coco and Gilly followed by, several moments later, Taza and Creeper, and within the hour the rest of the MC had arrived apart from Angel. 

No one knew where he could be. They all knew that this whole situation was a much needed wake up call for him, there was no way he wouldn’t just not show up. Bishop stepped out and started calling him. After about the fourth unanswered call Bishop left a very not nice voicemail telling Angel that wherever he was wasn’t where he was supposed to be and that he needed to get his butt to that hospital. 

After another half hour of the club hanging out in the hospital room talking amongst themselves and analyzing bits of the show that was left on the TV in the room, Angel finally rolled in and was met with several ‘Where the hell were you’ statements. 

Ten minutes of harassment later they finally let Angel Near Y/N. As he sat on the side of her bed, carefully making sure not the sit on any wires or tubes, he reached into the chest pocket of his vest and pulled out a ring box. 

Opening it he gave Y/N a Cheshire cat smile and held up the ring, “Well, Mi Amor, What do you say? Will you marry me?” 

The entire room fell silent enough to hear a pin drop waiting on Y/N to give Angel her answer. She sat there quiet for what felt like ages waiting to see how long she could hold out simply to exact a little bit of revenge for him taking so long to get there. 

Finally, right as Angel was about to crack under the pressure she spoke, but not to Angel, “Well Boys what do you think? We having a wedding?” She smiled and nodded at Angel as the guys all cheered much to the rest of the floors and the staff’s annoyance. After the nurses came in and asked why the noise was so loud, they were told congratulations and to keep the noise down to a dull roar as to not disturb the other patients on the floor.

After the staff chastising the entire room, they all agreed that it was time to head out for the night. After each one of the guys hugged and said their goodbyes to Y/N they all went along their way to their respective homes.

Angel stayed with Y/n, he curled up with her on the hospital bed making sure not to hurt her or catch anything that was attached to her. He had her tucked under his arm and as up against him as comfortably as she could be. They slept through the night and into the morning, being woken up by the nurses saying the Doctor was making rounds and would be in to see her shortly. 

Within the hour the Doctor was in to see Y/N and told her that as long as she had someone with her for the next several days that she was good to finish her recovery at home. Angel and Y/N were both excited that she was finally cleared to go home. And the Doctor excused themself to go take care of the discharge paperwork and to give Y/N some privacy to change out of the hospital gown.

Angel had grabbed her a pair of pj pants and a tee shirt of his for her to have on hand for when they did release her. As he was helping her change a nurse came in to show him how to change her dressing and to care for it correctly. After all that she was released and sent on her way, safely back to her home with Angel.

To Be Continued… 

A/N Part 2: Alright my lovely readers, this is the last big part of the story, and I will do my best to wrap it all up in a pretty bow with an Epilogue at some point in the (hopefully) near future. (Gotta keep my posting cycle in check.) I hope you enjoyed this part of the fic and I want to do what the show runners rarely do and tie up any and all loose ends. Love to you all, Queenie.

@ xnarca @withmyteeth @carma-fanficaddict @dreamy-caramel

Epilogue

#queenie writes #queenies fanfiction #angel reyes fic #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans fandom #mayans imagine #mayans mc

[sweetswesf]

Hello, everyone.

I had a good time with my mom. Despite what we’ve gone through, I put all that aside for the weekend and just tried to honor her the best I could so that she could enjoy her time and so that we could make a new memory. At the end she gave me some money and told me she would help me with rent so that I could stay in SF because it didn’t make sense for me to move back home if I needed to move back suddenly for a job.

At first I was like, “how sweet and naiive of her to think I’d get a job shortly after I move back” because I truly don’t know how long this unemployment time will be…

She saw what my day to day was like, and she felt sorry for me. She saw all the homelessness, my small space, heard about my lack of friendships and community here, how non-Black people just walk all over me on the street and don’t respect my space, and she knows I haven’t wanted to be here for a while, but she understands the smartest option at the moment is to just stay here…

I can say that I was really stressed this week. I didn’t have much motivation to do a lot of algorithms, but I still did what I could. I tried a few new food places out trying to fill a void. It helped a little bit, but with me being so conscious about every hour, calorie, and dollar, I’m not quite sure it was worth it. I went to a bakery that is usually really busy, but because I went while most people were at work, it was empty. The loneliness of that was just a reminder of my situation. The other place was in the financial district at lunch time. I didn’t plan to get there at lunch, but with public transportation and how slow I was moving that day, it ended up being at that time. I’m sure the people I saw working probably wish they had time off, but I was thinking “man, how nice would it be to have a job right now and not have to think you’re being irresponsible by eating $15 noodles you could have made for much cheaper…”

I’m continuing to pray and be hopeful for the best. I have to remind myself to keep studying, keep interviewing, keep trying, everyday. My Medi-Cal application STILL hasn’t been approved yet, and what’s better: they won’t answer their phones. I don’t want to go back to pay $700+ for health insurance.

I took SOOO many naps this week just exhausted from my mom’s visit. I did an interview. Interviewer was yawning and not paying attention. I would ask him questions, sometimes repetitively, but he wouldn’t respond to them. I guess he was tuning me out. One question in particular he didn’t respond to, so I continued with the design on that assumption, and he later corrected me on it. I had to remind him that I asked him about that and he didn’t say anything so that he wouldn’t give me negative feedback on that part, but once you call them out, it’s not a good look for you either 🤷🏾‍♀️. I asked for feedback and he told me he couldn’t give me any but that, “I definitely did some good things.” But the way he said that makes me think there were a lot of negatives.

There was some “okay” news for the role I’m hoping for and another person who referred me to a different role said she would bump the recruiter. I just hope I can stay focused, not forget what I have learned thus far, and not be so distracted by my circumstances so that I can get what I want.

I’m struggling with confidence and thinking about all the money I have spent during this time. Every day I wake up like wow, I’ve gone 9 months without a job…

The longest I’ve heard of someone going without a job is 2 years. With every passing day, I feel like I get less and less attractive to open positions and that doesn’t feel great, because I don’t want to settle for a position just to have something.

I won’t forget this time. It’s been traumatic. I still cry everyday.

I’m so emotionally sensitive as well. My mom bought me groceries after I had just bought groceries and it angered me. Just give me the money. I am not lacking in food. I probably am eating too much. I need money for rent and health care, primarily. It made me wonder if she didn’t trust me to spend the money she would give me wisely. She also bought me something that would give me more counter space and it frustrates me because it reminded me of how small and frustrating my counter space is and how I want to be in an apartment with more counter space. I also felt like that money she spent on that could have gone to rent or health care.

I told her how I felt. She understood. Just saying those words to her made me cry. I was frustrated and I was frustrated that I was frustrated. I felt ungrateful. She was trying to help and I was trying to dictate how she should help me. It also just reminded me of my situation again. I didn’t have this stress when I had a job. I didn’t have to have these hard conversations. I didn’t have to be so hyper-vigilant about every dollar.

I’m trying my best to stay calm and just focus on His promise for my life. And just appreciate things, no matter how “sweet” I used to have it. I have to believe that great is coming and that I’m going through this for a reason.

My little brother moved back to LA from Korea. He was there probably less than a month. I thought my mom knew he was on anti-depressant and anxiety meds when I saw them after I had his room cleaned. Apparently she didn’t know. Apparently when they went on their vacation to Arizona, he didn’t take his meds and my cousins told my mom that he was freaking out. Apparently, he didn’t take his meds on his trip to Japan and had a panic attack that my mom had to pay a $1k hospital bill for. Apparently, he wants to move to my grandmother’s house, the house I planned to move to if I had to move home.

My brain couldn’t process all of this and I just shook my head. I want my dream job real bad and healing for myself and my family.

With all this exhaustion, the thought of jumping right into a job fatigues me. Sure I could “take mini breaks” now, but how do I do that on a small budget without over consuming social media?

Speaking of which, I want to try next week to just consume less social media. If I need a break, I need to just walk around, open my Bible, close my eyes.

I wished one of my “friends” who stopped contacting me a happy birthday and offered to take her out. She said she felt really withdrawn. I haven’t heard from her since Monday. I feel that relationship has ended and I need to stop putting so much effort into maintaining it when she’s showed me so many signs that she’s done.

I was thinking about how Lil Wayne said he wanted to kill hisself after he was told he couldn’t rap anymore. I get it. If something you’re so passionate about gets taken away from you, you know you’ll be missing that thing forever and nothing short of God can replace that gratifying feeling. Not saying that it’s smart to consider that, but I don’t judge him for feeling that way. I could see why he felt that way. There is always a brighter day and reason to live and keep trying.

My mentor from my old team who’s been practice interviewing me hasn’t left my side. He’s remained encouraging, and consistently meets with me. I owe that man SO MUCH! I’m thinking about giving him $1k after I get a job, but he deserves SOOO much more than that.

I’m grateful for all the blessings and this time. I know more than what I want is coming and that I’m stronger than I think I am.

#software engineering #san francisco #python #silicon valley #coding #women in tech #software engineer #black in tech #black women in tech #tech layoffs #bay area #codeblr

[igotanidea]

Counterparts : Morpheus x OC Chapter 4

Prologue

Chapter 1: sometimes reality sucks

Chapter 2 : Welcome back to reality

Chapter 3 : A rough nightmare

Chapter 4

Crumbling.

-Something’s off, Lucienne.

-What do you mean, Kayleen?

-I … don’t know, but I can feel it. Something happened in the Waking. Something happened to Morpheus. It’s taking too long. – Oh, maybe Death was right.

-I don’t think we should worry, Kay. Lord Morpheus has his own ways of doing things, you know that well enough. He’s…. individual.

-Normally I would accept that, but not this time – I shake my head – I’ve learnt to trust my instincts. I need to go back.

-If that’s what you wish. But he won’t be pleased with your interfering.

-I won’t interfere. I will just …. Check on him.

-Well, that’s no better. He’s gonna be furious.

-Not the first time. I’ll risk it. I’ll see you later Lucienne. – I rush toward the exit, transporting myself back to the Waking.

At first glance everything is normal. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, people are doin their normal activities. No sign of anything gloomy. So why do all my senses are tingling. Almost like I was a freaking spider-man. There’s one more thing I can try to calm myself down? Since we are in my domain I can sense everyone’s energy and in that way connect with any being I wish to – human, demon, nightmare and even an Endless. Normally it’s just a sensation of life around me but I’m quite capable of searching for particular one. So, where are Dream and Corinthian? I sit on the bench closing my eyes trying to pick up his strand of energy. I can sense it. Somewhere. Almost like he was masking himself, which is odd. He’s still in the Waking  that is for sure, but I can’t say where. As for Corinthian I can sense him too, which means Dream did not deal with the matter in seconds. I don’t really know what to think now. But, if The Dream Lord does not respond to my calls I will not be the one to push him to. He’ll know where to find me if he decides to. I should really think what to do with that freaking nightmare who’s still up and running.  Even if I risk overstepping my competence and Morpheus’ wrath. I must protect the Waking at all cost.

-Corinthian – I whisper to myself scanning the world in search for him. Oh, there he is. Berlin, seriously? Given his work I would rather place him in London, which his Jack the Ripper style of behavior. Anyway, Germany here I come.

***

Did I mention, that traveling through the Realms is a menace. Well, space jumps are no better. That was my father’s ability to just do it at will with no consequences. Wish he taught me that before his… well.. time passed. When I arrive in Berlin I need a second to regain my composure and get back on track.

-Are you ok? – someone gently grabs my arm before I collapse. When I lift my eyes I see a young  man, approximately my age, looking at me with concern – I’m Todd. Is there anything you need?

-I’m fine, thank you. Just got a little dizzy. Must be the pressure.

-Oh, yeah, tell me about it. The work’s been killing me.

-Oh, poor boy, you have no idea how stressful work can be when you’re dealing with supernatural beings.

-I meant more like the atmospheric pressure, but both might be the factor.

-Oh, right…. – he scratched his head, obviously embarrassed – but if the weather is the case – maybe you got time for a cup of coffee? My treat.

He seems so nice. And I could use some human contact for a change. Maybe something nice will come out of this. I;m about to agree (hell, my body language is clear that I’d love to have a coffee with him), but my rational part brings me back.

-I’m sorry. Now is not the right time – he saddens – but…. – I continue – how about later on? When I’m dealt with… my issue.

-Yeah, great, I would love that. Can I give you my number?

-Be my guest – I smile. I’m really hoping that I can work something out from this meeting. It only takes me a couple of minutes to realize that he’s mortal. I’m not. There’s no point in even trying to get into a relationship since he’ll probably be dead in 50 years or so. I try my best to shake my depressing thoughts when I spot a gathering. Oh, yes, I’m on a right track. A crime scene, with police cars and people gathering all over. I make my way to the front to – ironically – see with my own eyes that there’s a man laying on the ground with his eyeballs chiseled. 

-I’m sorry officer, what happened here? – I asked one of the officials

-I’m not allowed to say anything, miss. Please, go back to your home, there’s nothing to… see here.

-I dare to say otherwise. Besides, I need to know the truth, so …. Pretty please  - I look at him, my voice vibrating.

-Apparently last night  a man showed up out of the blue and attacked the poor victim. He was still alive while he’s eyes were taken out. Such atrocity. People are so cruel and violent this days.

-Yeah, people are. – I mutter under my nose. – How did the man look like, officer?

- I didn’t really get anything credible, but some neighbors claims that they saw a tall, blonde man dressed in white suit and wearing dark glasses who’s been in this area approximately at the time of the murder. Not really a familiar face so for the time being he’s the main suspect.

-Thank you officer, you’ve been a lot of help to me.

- I have been a help to you? What do you.....?

I don’t really wait for him to finish the sentence. I need to act immediately before Corinthian become sure he can do whatever he want. When I reach a corner of the buildings something tells me to stop there.

-I can sense you ,you know? Might as well come out to play.- I spin on my heels and there he is. The Corinthian himself. Smiling like nothing is happening.

-Hello, Kayleen. So nice to see you - he grins.

-Wish I could say the same. What’s gotten into you? Killing people? Taking their eyes out? What is going on in that nightmare-ish head of yours? You have no power in the waking.

-That’s the belief of the past, dear Kay. Now, with The Dream Lord gone, I’m gonna reshape this world. There so much I can do here.

-I’m not going to let you do that, dear. And what do you mean the dream lord gone?

-Oh, you don’t know. He’s .... unavailable for the moment. It might take him a while to come back, if ever. Wouldn’t be the first time, one of the Endless got tired of one’s duties, right? I bet you can sense that he’s masked, don’t you.

-That is not of your concern - I say firmly convincing myself I can’t let him get inside my head. Not in the Waking. I rule here. I feel burst of energy raising in my fingers.

-And as for you. You will stop your little murder spree, right now. You don’t belong here, at least not as long as you keep your action.

- Kayleen, you know better than that. I was made to haunt people. That is my purpose. And what if I take it a little bit further than just their sleeping hours?

-You are going to stay here - I say, voice resonating. At this point he won’t be able to move for a while. I can’t just turn him in to the police because that would only cause more bloodshed. I know well enough that the only one who can stop him is Dream. And if he’s really gone than essentially, both Dreaming and Waking are screwed.

-You can’ t keep me here forever! You may have your Reality Powers, but how long can they work on a Nightmare, dear? - his voice haunts me when I leave the alley, my mind racing and desperately trying to figure out what to do if Morpheus is really gone.

taglist: @asianfrustration13 @musicconversedance @hyper-half-blood

next : chapter 5

#morpheus x oc #morpheus fanfiction #morpheus x reader

[storiesofstratos]

Chapter 5: The Junkyard

Our heroes finally make it to the junkyard, finding something strange...

October 14th, 2042

The school day passed without any incident. Boring, to be honest, and looking at the clock every five minutes definitely didn’t help it go by any faster. I couldn’t help myself though. I was getting impatient. I’d heard from an acquaintance that there were some good parts to be found at the junkyard today, and I wanted to drag the guys down there as soon as humanly possible. So once the final bell for the day rang, I practically jumped out of my seat to get my stuff from my locker so I could meet Daniel and Jack in the courtyard.

“Well well, so you two actually decided to show up,” I didn’t think they would actually ditch me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t poke a little fun at them.

“Well duh,” Jack shot back as he cracked open the can of coffee in his hands. “I wasn’t about to risk you texting me tonight and getting on my case about it.”

“You know me so well,” I shot a teasing smirk his way before glancing over at Daniel. Geez, he looked like hell. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about. Maybe he didn’t sleep well? “You get enough sleep last night Dan?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah I’m okay,” He responded, but he wasn’t as quick with it as he usually was. Something was definitely going on in that head of his. The only problem is, I wasn’t exactly a mind reader. I had no idea what he could have possibly been going through. I’d have to remember to ask him more later, but I decided to drop the subject for now. He was already a little out of whack, and he didn’t need me pushing the boundaries.

“Great! Let’s get going!” I set my backpack down and pulled my scooter out of it, unfolding it to its full length while Daniel and Jack got out their skateboards. I led the way, kicking off and riding down the same way we always did. Three blocks away from the school, make a left. Another ten blocks, and the junkyard would finally come into view. It may have taken us almost half an hour with our smaller transportation, but it definitely beat walking, that’s for sure.

We parked our stuff near the back, making sure nobody was watching before I had Jack boost me up, jumping off his hand to grab the top of the fence and pull myself over. Daniel was next over the fence, and before he fully went over, he helped pull jack up so we could all make it over safely. I had given both of my compatriots a shopping list of what to find. Daniel headed to the north side to find scrap metal, Jack was to the east gathering wheels of roughly equal size, and I stayed to the south, trying to find computers or anything technological that had working circuit boards that I could rip out and take home with me. Hopefully, this would go over smoothly and we wouldn’t get caught. The last thing I needed was my parents finding out I was digging around in the junkyard again. I popped my headphones in and started my little shopping spree.

I completely lost track of time, but I’d gathered up one hell of a haul. I figured it would be a good time to call a meeting and see what the guys had found, but just as I took out my earbuds, I heard a loud crashing sound accompanied by a scream. Wait, was that Daniel I heard?

I rushed over toward the source of the sound, finding Jack already there, standing over Daniel laying on the floor, clutching his side in pain.

“Oh no! Daniel, are you alright?” I hurried over to his side and knelt down. What I saw was unmistakable. It was blood. “Oh jeez, okay, here, move your hand and let me take a look,” Luckily, he didn’t seem to feel like arguing with me. As he moved his hands away, I saw the tear in his shirt, but underneath..it was fine? He had a nasty scratch but there was no bleeding or anything. “What the--?”

“You took a nasty fall Daniel,” Jack reached out his hand to help him up. Daniel accepted and was soon pulled up onto his feet. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Daniel rubbed his side, still clearly feeling some pain. “What the hell did I fall on though?” That was a good question. What had he fallen on to cause something that bad? Something sharp, probably. At least that seemed like the obvious answer until he knelt down and started to brush away the junk. He stopped after a moment and went silent. “Is that a doorknob?”

What? I knelt down next to him to inspect it. He was right. There was a doorknob sticking out of the ground. What in the world was that doing there? I was going to suggest that we leave it alone, but it appeared Daniel had other plans, as he grabbed it and immediately pulled on it. Before I could actually say anything, the knob clicked, and a hatch swung open to reveal a staircase that led down to some sort of cellar.

“What do you think this leads to?” Jack asked with a curious glint in his eyes as he gazed down into the cellar.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Daniel, always the type to shoot first and ask questions later, immediately started down the stairs without any thought behind his actions. I respected it, but damn it, now was probably not the best time. “Man, it’s dark down here.” His voice echoed out from below us. Jack and I looked at each other before silently agreeing we should follow him to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a doorway, with a door laying flat on the ground behind it. The hinges must have given out. Was this some sort of maintenance tunnel? That was the most logical conclusion I could gather, at least, until the tunnel that stretched out began to slowly descend further, opening up wider, and wider, until it came to a large, heavy metal door. On either side of the door there was a keypad, likely both of them had a code that needed to be entered for the door to open. It was like some sort of secret lab entrance.

“Look here,” Jack pointed out one of them. “The keypads have worn out numbers. This one here on the left has the numbers one, three, five, and zero worn out. This one here, has one, two, and five worn out. You think it’s some kind of code?” Jack punched in a code on it, tapping at the numbers. The light above flashed red and a buzzer sounded. That code clearly wasn’t right. He tried a few more combinations, but they all turned up nothing. I didn’t think we would be guessing the code any time soon, but if he wanted to try, I wasn’t going to stop him.

“Hey, let me try something,” Daniel chirped up as he approached the keypad. Jack moved out of his way to let him attempt. He didn’t seem to believe what he was doing was going to work, but he tried anyway. He put in the numbers, zero, five. “Sorry, it’s just that these digits are my birthday. I just think it would be funny if--” One, three.

The light on top of the keypad lit up green, and we all just sort of stared at it in stunned silence.

“Hell of a coincidence,” Jack finally spoke up after a few moments.

“Don’t suppose you know what this other one is then, do you?” I questioned him, mostly teasing, but with his luck he could probably figure it out. “If that one over there is four digits, then this one probably is too, but only three numbers are worn. So, one of them has to repeat, right? That only leaves us with so many combinations. Maybe we can brute force it.”

It took us a little while of trying, but eventually we were able to get the code. One, two, one five. Daniel looked even more perplexed by that number. I wonder what he was thinking just then.

But we didn’t have time to question him, as suddenly lights flickered to life and the door slowly, squeakily began to open, sliding off to the sides to reveal some sort of..

Well, it could really only be described as a secret lab. Screens lined the walls, tools were strewn about all over the floor, random pieces of tech and various other items were scattered all over the place. It was like someone grabbed a bunch of stuff in a hurry and left behind whatever they had deemed unnecessary. None of the computers were up and running, as it seemed the power was out at the moment. There had to have been some sort of generator around here.

“Looks like we hit a gold mine,” Jack commented after a few moments of just looking around the lab in a sort of stunned silence. “Bet you could take all sorts of stuff from here. Looks like this place hasn’t been touched in a couple decades, I’m sure whoever was here before won’t miss it.”

“No,” I wasn’t completely listening to what he was saying, all I knew was I didn’t want to take anything from this place. This was something way better than a place to pick up spare parts from. If I could find a generator that powered this place, who knows what sort of cool information I could pick up? I couldn’t let this go, I had to find that generator. I took a flashlight out of my bag and flipped it on. “I’m gonna take a look around. You two try not to break anything while I’m gone.”

Even with the flashlight, it was hard to see where I was going. This place was huge, and no doubt it had been abandoned for at least a couple decades, like Jack had said before. But I could only imagine what I could find if I got the power working. That was what drove me forward. Fumbling my way through the limited visibility of the flashlight shining the light in front of me, I found some sort of back room. I almost tripped over a power cable on the floor. Bingo that must have plugged into the generator. I lifted it up and pushed it into the socket, before pulling the lever on the generator. It slowly powered up, whirring to life and within the next few minutes, the lights slowly started to flicker on, letting us see the mess the lab had become in full light.

But what was even more interesting was the computers. The big screen on the wall flickered life as the computer booted up. We all stared in amazement as a massive map of the city popped up. Dots started to litter the screen, in seemingly random places across the city. Some of them were labeled “PT”, whatever that meant. I was the first to approach, tapping the keyboard on the desk, and the display changed to camera feed. There must have been dozens of cameras, placed in different points all over the city. What was all this? It had to have been some sort of surveillance, but what were they surveying? Who owned this lab?

What had we just stumbled upon?

#Hero's Dawn Arc #Nico POV

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Ten Into The Fog (Part 23)

“We can take you to Republic City.” Sokka proposes. “Now that you’re more comfortable with this whole ten years thing. Yakone is going to be looking for you here so if we take you back to Republic City, we can buy more time.”  He looks from she to Zuko and then back to her. “And it’ll probably be better for the baby. They have some medical advances that will make the delivery easier.”

Azula shudders to herself, she has very much been trying to avoid thinking about that. As much as she wants this baby out of her body, she dreads getting it there. Between her memory loss, readjusting,  and Yakone and father, she hasn’t had any time at all to prepare for delivering a baby. 

She has heard her servants talk about exercises to help ensure that the delivery will be as seamless as possible. She hasn’t had any such preparation.

“If you take me to Republic City then we lose the advantage that we have. From here we can monitor father more carefully and it will be easier to transport him back to prison; you all couldn’t even handle transporting him from one Fire Nation prison to another and you want to try to transport him overseas?”

Zuko’s face flushes. “That was one error.” 

Azula shrugs. “One error is plenty in this case. The solution isn’t to run. It is better to face it and be done with it.” Agni knows that they had thrown that sentiment in her face tirelessly. 

And Zuko very much takes the chance to remind her of that. “Face it head on? You chose to pretend like there was some big conspiracy that we were all in on instead of facing the truth.”

“And look how well it turned out for me.” She grumbles. She is now stuck dealing with father. Father who, if nothing else, had been inspired by her weakness to go through with his escape plans. Stuck dealing with two enemies at once. 

She grits her teeth and the tears prickle in the back of her eyes; father is her enemy.

Father who had been proud of her.

Father who praised her for her blue fire and keen bening.

Father who had treated her like a respectable adult. 

Father who had always given her such lavish gifts.

Father who now wants to make her into a lavish gift, decorated nice and pretty to pass off to Yakone.

“I don’t want to go back to Republic City yet.” She holds firm.

“And we don’t want you to get hurt again, Azula.” Katara gives her input.

“I can handle myself and I will have back up. Besides, the trade is supposed to happen tonight.” And she is thankful for that. The sooner they take care of father, the sooner she can try to come to terms with her predicament. She holds a hand against her belly. The sooner she can learn how to make this whole ordeal more comfortable for herself. If she is going to have this baby she is going to do it right and in a way that won’t leave she or her baby in some state of distress.

“Tonight!?” Sokka and Zuko shout at once. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Aang asked.

“So you all would have less time to protest.” She replies simply. “I’ve already come up with a plan. Father is under the impression that I am…not myself. He equates that with weakness and foolishness. He’s going to pass me over to Yakone who is probably under the same impression and from there…”

“Wait, your plan is to let Yakone take you?” Sokka sputters. His face is quite priceless, laughable under any other circumstance.

“That’s correct. I’d rather be captured on my own terms. It is as simple as continuing to play confused and pitiful. I have already picked out a guard to take down–Mai will take her uniform and she will be the one ‘keeping me in line’.” Azula pauses. “The guard I have in mind is Komin, I’ve been observing her for some time now; just after sunset she likes to break away from her team to smoke poppy seeds. This will give Mai approximately three hours to prepare before she has to report to father.”

“Azula, I don’t like this at all.” Ursa mumbles. “You should let your uncle and I take care of this.”

“You never protected me from father before, why start now?” Azula hisses. The woman looks so terribly stricken that Azula almost feels bad for having made the comment. No doubt, the woman is no longer used to those kinds of biting remarks.

“So let me help you this time.” Ursa implores. “I let you and Zuko down before but I can help the both of you now.”

“I already have a plan, mother.” 

“Let me be a part of it. Let your uncle…” 

“I’ve managed without both of you before and I can do it again. I’ve already made my plan and it doesn’t have room for either of you to meddle.” 

Iroh bristles at this.

Iroh bristles at everything that she says.

Spirits, that is much more comfortable than how little offense everyone else is taking to her bluntness. The bluntness that they are probably well accustomed to. That they seem to understand or accept. 

She swallows. For the first time she considers that they might just truly like her for who she is now as well as the person that they had lost. Somehow that is even more terrifying than the thought of being abandoned as soon as they realize that councilwoman Azula might not come back.

.oOo.

Watching Azula follow Chen-Zhang is like watching someone ascend a volcano and take a head first plunge. Even with Mai there, walking on her other side. Azula casts a glance back over her shoulder. 

He almost doesn’t want to follow her. 

Doesn’t want to watch her walk off to wherever Ozai is going to take her. Doesn’t want to see her in the same area as Yakone. That is if Yakone truly is the ally that Ozai has taken to. 

“She’s going to be fine, Sokka.” Katara assures him. But watching her walk away (even if he will be only a few minutes behind) is a rewind of the past, he can’t imagine that her mind can handle another memory loss.

Can’t handle another injury in general.

The baby certainly wouldn’t be able to handle one. 

He sneaks across the palace garden, tailing as closely as he can without finding himself at risk of being noticed. All in all it is a nice night, balmy and with an aroma of fire lily and maple and a touch of cinnamon wafting from the palace kitchen. 

It had been a rather nice day the first time he had almost lost Azula. 

Spirits, she is the one in the most danger and he feels as though he is more terrified than she is. There is probably still a part of her that thinks or wants to believe that her father would never do something that would hurt her so thoroughly, let alone kill her.

But Sokka isn’t so sure, the man will do anything to have his power and control back or so it seems. 

He watches Chen-Zheng help Azula board the small ship. Chen-Zheng had always seemed so friendly, had always seemed fond of Azula’s company. And Sokka wonders if there is any residue of that care left. 

If any of that care and respect had been real to begin with.

Azula doesn’t look exactly comfortable to be sitting in that damp rowboat but she does look as poised and collected as ever. 

She certainly doesn’t look as though she is about to possibly be traded away 

But he knows her. He knows her well enough to know that it hurts her terribly.

At any other time he would take her into his arms and remind her that he loves her. That there are so many people who do. And that the majority of those who don’t, at least have a healthy amount of respect for her and the things that she has done.

The accomplishments that she can’t remember and appreciate. 

They have already told her about her greatest failure, whenever she gets back he promises himself that he will tell her all about her greatest achievement.

#Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Avatar The Last Airbender #Fanfiction

[cockatrice-writers-guild]

anyway I wrote a bonus chapter for LOVESTORY because why not. This one takes place somewhere between chapters 10 and 11. hope you enjoy it!

Chp 10.5ish - cake pain

warnings: swearing

I was jerked violently out of what I could only imagine was an absolutely amazing dream (I forgot it the moment my eyelids were dragged open) as my alarm started screeching. After trying (and failing) to slow my heart, I reluctantly sat up and reached for my phone to turn the alarm off, glancing out the window as I did so. I was greeted by the beautiful view of the infinite, all consuming darkness of night.

Confused by this, I checked the time on my phone. 1 am. This cleared up absolutely nothing and I was fully prepared to go back to bed when the date caught my attention. Because today was I day I’d been preparing for for weeks. Thad’s birthday. And I’d subjected myself to waking at this horrible hour because I wanted to do something special for him.

Like, sure I’d already bought him a gift (a simple velki sized black cord necklace I thought would suite him. Picking it out was the easy part. It was the Getting Home part that was the problem. But hey, it’s like the old saying goes: You can never truly appreciate the size of your giant best friend unless you’ve had to carry a dang firehose of a necklace on public transport for them) but I wanted to do something more.

See, I wanted to bake him a cake.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. He’s a million times my size. How on earth could I possibly bake him a cookie, much less a whole cake? But worry not; about 2 weeks ago, while daydreaming in class, I found the perfect solution: I’d bake him a cupcake instead. A velki sized cupcake. In my human sized kitchen. It was fool proof!

I slowly crept downstairs and into the empty kitchen, inspecting my new domain (taking in the quiet atmosphere, the empty surfaces and all the clean plates. …yup, this was going to be a mistake) before I started setting up. I picked out the largest baking vessel we had (an extra large pizza pan) and set it to the side before preparing the ingredients I’d been stockpiling (using my allowance) in preparation for the Big Day.

My plan was simple. I’d just bake a bunch of thin cakes in the pizza pan (Thad probably wouldn’t notice a little extra baking powder) and then stack them on top of each other, icing each layer so the cake wouldn’t collapse during assembly (hopefully). I’d continue doing this until the height of the cake at least matched the width and then continue if I had some spare time (and leftover ingredients). I chose a simple chocolate cake (his favourite) recipe so I could successfully recreate it as many times as needed.

I pulled up the recipes on my phone, washed my hands and mentally prepared myself for what was to come.

Then I dove in.

1:15 – First batch of batter done. Oven preheated. I might actually be able to pull this off somehow

2:00 – Things are going well so far! 3 cakes are already cooling with a fourth in the oven and thanks to the extra baking soda, they’re rising a bit more than I expected (luckily they still taste good). If I finish this quickly, I might even get some time to nap before Thad gets here

2:30 – 5 cakes done. I’ve pretty much memorized the recipe by now. Wish I had some music or something to pass the time but I don’t want to wake my parents

3:00 – 8 cakes done. Nice

3:30 – 10. Man its quiet around here

3:32 – Aaaand I just heard a noise. Great. Its fine. Everything’s fine. It’s probably just the house settling or something

3:37 – The hallway is very dark

3:38 – I’m going to go turn on more lights now

4:00 – 14. Well, I’m not dead yet at least. I’m starting to lose steam though

5:00 – 20. Tired.

5:30 – 23. Both Mom and Dad woke up and tried to go about their day as if chocolate cakes weren’t cooling on nearly every available surface

6:00 – 25. After saying their goodbyes (and good lucks), my parents left for work, leaving me alone with my cakes and my thoughts

6:14 – I never thought eating chocolate cake would be this painful

6:30 – 28. Very tired. Almost done though. I think. I hope

7:00 – 31. I think I’m done with the cakes. Now, the icing

7:26 – Icing’s done. I just had to multiply the recipe by like 15. I had to put bags of icing sugar into it though. Bags. I’m glad Thad’s a velki cuz if he wasn’t, the sugar intake would have killed him.

7:41 – It’s done. I had to climb on the counter to ice the last few layers but its done! YES! YES! I’M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!

I dumped the rest of the icing on top of the cake to complete the look before climbing off the counter and admiring my handywork. To put it lightly, the cake was huge. A dang monolith, really. Hopefully it would be enough.

I grabbed my phone (after washing my hands) and wished Thad a happy birthday before asking if he could pick me up. Then I went back to the cake to add some finishing touches while waiting.

By the time I felt Thad shaking the ground, I’d finished carving the top of the cake to make it look more…cupcakey. I sprinkled the cake shavings on top of the icing mountain just as Thad stopped in front of the house. I let out a breath. It was done.

My phone buzzed.

Thaddeus: you ready?

Syren: Yeah. Give me a sec

Thaddeus: sure

I was about to go open the door for him when something stopped me in my tracks. Thad couldn’t get in here. Which meant I had to carry the cake out to him. With my bare hands. WHY HADN’T THIS OCCURRED TO ME BEFORE?

Trying not to panic, I looked around. The cake was too tall to fit out the kitchen window so that only left the front door. Okay, I had 2 options here. Ditch the cake and just give Thad the necklace or try to deadlift the Wedding Sized And Then Some cake by myself.

…I grabbed the edges of the pan and experimentally tried to lift it. It didn’t budge. I pulled some more, trying to recall whether you were supposed to lift with your back or your knees. The cake slammed back onto the table and I doubled over, panting. It definitely wasn’t the back.

Thad’s muffled voice came from outside. “You okay in there?”

I winced and pulled out my phone.

Syren: Yeah

Syren: Everything’s cool

Syren: Don’t worry

So lifting the cake wasn’t impossible. I just had to really want it. I tried to assess the distance I’d have to endure when I ran into yet another issue. Assuming I even managed to make it to the door, there was still the matter of walking down the steps. No can do.

Syren: Actually could you help me with something?

“Sure,” he replied. “What do you need?” If anyone passed us right now, they were probably going to think Thad was engaged in a one way conversation with an empty house but hey, he didn’t tell me how to live my life.

Syren: Could you hold your hand outside the door?

“…okay?” he replied, sounding confused. I couldn’t blame him.

I walked over to the door, counting the number of steps I had to take to reach it, and pulled it open. Thad sat in front of the house and smiled when he saw me, though I swore I saw confusion flash through his eyes for just a second. Maybe the lack of sleep was starting to get to me.

“…so how do you want to do this?”

After a few awkward, confusing and somewhat embarrassing failed attempts, Thad just let me drag his hand to where I wanted it to be and I pulled it as far into the house as it would go. The less work I had to do, the better. After signalling at Thad to wait there, I walked back over to my Archnemesis, took in a deep breath, let it out slowly and grabbed the tray.

…so deadlifting hurt. Who knew?

But finally, drenched in sweat, beyond depleted and having completely recited my will internally, I felt Thad’s fingers bump into my legs and slowly set the cake down, barely managing to push it far enough to prevent myself from face planting directly into it when I collapsed.

“Sy, holy shit,” Thad said upon seeing my defeated form. Turns out running on 2 hours of sleep and leftover cake shavings for several hours was actually a bad idea.

I felt Thad grab my sides and gently pull me the rest of the way onto his hand before lifting me into the air.

“You good?”

It took me a full minute to gather enough strength to even flip myself over (though finally managing to do so rewarded me with a full view of Thad’s concerned face). I brought up one of my aching arms and held up an index finger like, ‘Give me a second’ before turning to look at the cupcake.

And my heart sunk a little.

Because now that I had Thad for scale, I could see how miniscule the cake actually was. The thing wasn’t even half the size of a regular velki sized cupcake.

…why did I even bother?

Nevertheless, I turned back to Thad and pointed at the cake before letting my arm fall back to the ground.

Thad turned to look at the cake and I expected him to starting laughing at how small it was or something but instead he just stared at it.

Several moments passed in complete silence.

Then tears started to form in his eyes.

As you can imagine, I was a little distraught by this.

WHY WAS THAD CRYING? WAS IT BECAUSE OF HOW PATHETIC THE CAKE WAS? WAS THIS MY FAULT? WHAT HAD I DONE? I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA. I SHOULD HAVE JUST GIVEN HIM THE NECKLACE. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH JUST THE NECKLACE. UGH. AND THE CAKE LOOKED SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM. IT WAS TINY. WHY’D I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? I COULD HAVE JUST BOUGHT HIM SOME CAKE FROM A CAFÉ OR SOMETHING AFTER SCHOOL. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME? WHY COULDN’T I GET ANYTHING RIGHT?

Thad finally turned to face me, causing my stomach to summersault. “Sy…you made this?” His voice was quiet.

I gulped. Looked away. Nodded.

“For me?”

I nodded again.

“…this is…I…,” he trailed off. Looked at the cake again. His lip quivered and then he let out a laugh. Then, to add to my growing distress, the tears started falling from his eyes. He sniffed. Laughed again. “Shit, my makeup,” he mumbled and started fanning his eyes with his free hand, giggling every now and then. Shaking his head. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who needed more sleep.

He took a few seconds to compose himself before grinning at me again, his eyes sparkling now.

“Sy, I mean this with love, but look out.”

The word ‘love’ caught me so off guard that before I could even begin to process the rest of the sentence, Thad’s free hand had already completely engulfed me.

So, Thad had a grim reaper printed on his shirt today. I found this detail significant because the next thing I knew, I was dang near making out with it. I’m glad I had so much time to catch my breath earlier because Thad accidently knocked it out of me again. It took me a few seconds to even register that he was hugging me, one handed no less (nothing was supporting my feet). Still, I did my best to reciprocate the gesture.

After a few seconds of pretending I wasn’t melting into his embrace, Thad’s hand wrapped around me once more and soon I was seated next to the cake again. Thad lifted me up to his face and gave me a soft smile.

“Sy, thank you. Like, seriously thank you. This was…insanely sweet of you. Like,” he glanced at the cake again, “how long did this even take you?”

Syren: Like 7 hours

“Damn, really? I kinda don’t want to eat it now.”

Syren: Please do

Syren: I’m literally begging you

Syren: If I never saw a chocolate cake again for the rest of my life it would be too soon

Thad laughed. “Well, if you insist.”

And just like that, several hours of work (and weeks of preparation) were gone in a single bite.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

He set the empty pan down next to me and grinned, his eyeliner running quite freely now. I smiled back before typing out my next message.

Syren: Wait could you put me down for a second

Syren: I need to get something

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”

He lowered his hand to the ground and, after picking up the pizza pan, I climbed off his hand and headed back into the house as Thad started to redo his makeup. I put the pan in the sink (I’d clean it…and the rest of the kitchen after school) before running back upstairs and into my room. I located the necklace and hoisted it over my shoulder (it was a little heavy but not nearly as heavy as the cake had been) before making my way back down the stairs carefully.

I walked out the door and presented the necklace to Thad, who took it after a moment. He uncoiled it and held it up, beaming.

“I’ll admit, you know me well.” He slipped the necklace over his head before turning back to me. “How does it look?”

I gave him a thumbs up.

“Good. Cuz I’m never taking it off.”

His smile was contagious and before I knew it, I was smiling too.

“…we should get going,” he said after a few seconds, breaking the silence and the start of yet another staring contest. “Don’t want to be late and all.”

I waited for him to offer his hand or pick me up or something but instead he just continued staring at me blankly, as if waiting for something. I stared back and a few seconds later, that confused look of his came back in full force. He pursed his lips before one corner of his mouth went up in a half smile.

“…Sy, are you really going to school in your pyjamas?”

#writeblr #original writing #original story #Syren and Thaddeus #ocs #the rooster crows

[the-worst-gryffindor]

Actually, I think if I saw Aphrodite, I don’t think I would see her as any celebrity or something. I think I’d see her as some of my friends over the years. My friend from early childhood that ended up being popular and we grew apart. My friend from middle school that I always thought was too cool to be friends with someone like me. My friend that was a junior when I was a freshman that I absolutely idolized in an unhealthy way. My friend from right after high school that always talked down on me and made snarky comments about my looks and my skills and my personality, but who also made me laugh more than anyone back then.

But, and I don’t know if this is even possible, but I think she would shift through all of those, like she shifted through them for Percy, before settling into a semblance of… me. Because the person I am now can recognize all of those friendships, all the joy they brought me, and I can look at them now as good times then (and good times still in the case of those I’m still friends with), but ultimately, I have been through so much and what is more beautiful than something that the entire world seems to be trying to destroy yet it perseveres. Against everything. After all I have been through, increasingly traumatizing events, I am still going, day after day, even when I don’t want to.

This post started out as a Percy Jackson post, and has turned into me waxing poetic about my trauma, but quite frankly, I think I needed it, so TRIGGER WARNING for the rest of the post for loss of pet, grandparent, loved one, and mentions of suicide.

I’m currently rereading The Hunger Games series, and it’s transporting me back to sixth grade, and the day I got off the bus, and found my dog in the garage. She was old and it was her time, but that didn’t make it any less painful for eleven year old me to sit with her while she died.

Every time I hear the a certain name, it takes me back to being a sophomore, and desperately trying to talk someone I had only known for a couple months, and only online, out of suicide. Trying to get in contact with her the next day to discover that I failed. More than that, that I was the last person she spoke to.

Seventeen years old, and my senior year was cut short to COVID. The week after school ended, my grandma passed away. It was her time, we all knew that, she was 98. But she was the matriarch of the family. We were all shattered. Myself included. But I felt the need to be strong for my family. So I didn’t let myself cry in front of them. So they knew they had me to support them if they needed it.

At twenty, I got my first boyfriend. I had fallen in love with him at seventeen, but life is complicated, and we didn’t get together for another two and a half years. We didn’t work out and I last spoke to him in August of this year. At the end of October, he lost control of his car. And at twenty one, I lost the only person I’ve ever been in love with. He was in a car I drove him to buy, loaned him money to help pay for, and encouraged him to get it. I still loved him. I assumed we would end up together because we always came back to each other.

My brother told me I’ll be okay because I’m strong. And usually that would mean something. But right now I am just so tired of being strong. Why do I have to be strong over and over and over? Why do I have to keep going and moving on when I feel like a cobweb: built to last through frost, through wind, through rain, and through storms? I just want to be happy and lead a happy life. And yet… and yet. I am out through hardship after hardship. And for what?

Anyways, I started this thinking I was going to talk about how I would see Aphrodite as past friends that a small part of me was always jealous of, and then it got away from me. And I wouldn’t usually post something so… personal, but I can’t bring myself to delete it, so it’s getting posted, sorry to whomever has read this.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Dragon’s Treasure Ch12 The Battle Tower

"An invite to a tournament held by Leon?"

"Uh huh. That's right. He just dropped them off this morning and asked me to give you yours. He seemed to be in a hurry."

After Leon left his curiousity peeked and he went ahead and opened his own letter reading the contents over before he decided to come and find you to give you the good news. He smiled holding out the second unopened invite to you knowing you'd want to have it as soon as possible, so he came right to your workplace to hand it over. Not surprisingly he found you behind the counter again handing over a cup of coffee to a random customer before noticing him and motioning for the gym leader to come forward but now you took the invite from him blinking down at it.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I kinda already read through mine. There's gonna be some battle events and a party afterwards. All the gym leaders and their extended families are invited."...Ocean blue eyes smiled a bit wider at you. "Plus we each get to pick out a plus one as a date to the party. So I figured I'd ask if you were busy at the party.~"

...You gave him a deadpanned look raising a brow. "You just wanted an excuse to ask me out again. Didn't you?"

"I mean...Did it work? If not we got some time before we have to leave so that's plenty of time to try and convince you.~"

With a roll of your eyes you sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Be my date?"

"Ok. Fine. But only because I don't want you on your knees begging me everyday."

-Small Time Skip-

"Tell me what's going on again there," he said while folding a shirt to put into the almost stuffed suitcase.

Sebastian, ever the one to help his mentor with whatever he needed, sighed. "We're invited to Wyndon's first ever Battle Of The Leaders Tournament to show the world Galar's strongest pokemon trainers. It's in honor of Prince Lear from the Pasio Region."

"Ah, right." He continued fumbling to fold the shirt back and place it back down. "And that's Who again?"

"The special guest that we need to impress," Sebastian sighed before stating matter of factly," He's coming all the way from Pasio to pick and chose who gets a chance to compete in the Pasio Region's Masters League with other Gym leaders, trainers, and people from all over the world. It's a big deal that the Chairwoman thinks will help Galar's reputation back on track."

He nodded. "So what's the main events we're doing there anyways?"

"The Battle Tower event's first," He explained holding up something made of paper towards him. "Mr. Leon sent you all the details in the letter if you just want to read it yourself."

"Sebastian please."

"*sigh* Basically the battle tower is going to be for all the new pupils the gym leaders have taken on, myself included. We're going to battle our way up Rose Tower until there's only one last person standing, and that person's going to have the chance to battle Mr. Leon himself. I think it's to show off Galar's future leaders."

"And what's the second one?"

"Dunno. It only says that one's staying a surprise until we get there but there's gonna be a couple guests battlers joining us for whatever it is," Sebastian said adjusting his glasses.

"Sweet! I can't wait to see 'em. Battling a Prince is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

A week passed by within a blink of an eye and soon it was time to go. People were lining in the streets and sidewalks near the exit to Hammerlocke to see them off. It brought a smile to his face. The flying taxi Leon had called in advance to tell them that would be their transport was there, and when he got there, you were already there backpack thrown over your shoulder and Silver at your heels. He would not let you go by yourself it seemed as the little drizzlie literally clung to your leg like a toddler not caring if he embarrassed you. You were staring at the flying taxi with an uncomfortable look but when the sounds of cheering from the crowd picked up you turned your head and smiled upon seeing the two siblings walking towards you.

"Hey! Raihan," you greeted with a wave and smile. Ba-bump. Oh..Arceus. He could feel his own cheeks light up a bright pink at her beautiful smile. He came to a stop in front of you followed by the triplets. Stopping in front of you. "I thought you guys weren't going to make it. I was waiting here for a bit and then this.." You gave the taxi another unenthusiastic look. "..ride showed up."

''Didn't Lee tell you in the letter that'd we'd be going by taxi?", he asked raising a brow.

You nodded. "Yeah..I'm not too fond of flying. Why is it always flying?"

"Well if we wanna get there on time we've got to take the fastest transport ta get there." He gave a look back up to the giant corviknight and it's driver perched high and mighty above the sturdy metal taxi cabin. "And this is it. We'll be there in no time."

You groaned but nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. But I don't understand why we couldn't just take the train! Wyndon has a train stattion!"

"Well that would've taken us a lot longer ta get there then if we did, and it'd be rude to refuse the taxi when the driver was already paid for in advance to get us. Don't you think?"

He could almost chuckle when you groaned and let your arms flop to the sides. But since you wanted to go, and you felt obligated being formally invited by the Champion and Chairwoman, you would have to travel with Marnie and Piers inside the flying taxi. Needless to say you had sadly gotten used to this kind of travel even if you didn't like it. The trip over there was a blur to Raihan. He remembered the cheers the crowd had given you all as you stepped into the taxi, him letting you go first. Ladies first as they say, and waving to the crowd, and snapping a picture captioning it 'Off to beat the others again' before he himself sat on the seat, next to you, and watched as you gripped the seat with one hand and on instinct grabbed his hand with the other just before he gave the taxi driver the go ahead to take off and the lunge into the air made you grip tighter despite you had buckled yourself in. The mighty strength of the corviknight easily taking off into the air and thus the traveling began. With you sitting next to him. Things weren't as bad on the trip to Wyndon as he thought it'd be. It was silence for a bit and the triplets talked almost non stop about how excited the girls were to see their brother compete and possibly battle against Leon himseld. And it was...easy. You smiled at him like there was nothing awkward between you two and you both chattered about anything and everything like old friends and it gave you a good chance to chat with his trainers more and get to know her. And you found it easy to talk to her about as much as him. It was nice to get to know them. Raihan however watched with a soft expression seeing you and his kids get along as one day turned to two and two turned into three and so on. It was..nice seeing someone he liked getting along so well with his trainers. The easy going atmosphere helped to calm him but he still turned a shade of light pink whenever you leaned against him in your sleep at night, making him give some soft smiles at you. On your way to Wyndon you all sometimes stopped at small towns to recharge for the night or restock on supplies before continuing onward. Until the day arrived. It was early in the morning that you were woken up by someone shaking your shoulder and with a snort you woke up with a groggy look blinking towards Dragon Boy who just smiled and pointed out the window.

"Look. We're here."

Blurry eyed you turned to the window. The sun was just starting to come over the sky so it was still fairly dark, and down below you could see the world lit up in lights and that's when you all saw it. You all looked out at the sight of a GIANT brick wall going as far as the eye could see. The horizon blocked off my what must've been hundreds of skyscrapers and Rose Tower. From your place, you could see all the shiny buildings lit up in the early morning light making it look almost heavenly. It was beautiful. Your smile widened and eyes lit up immediately reflecting all the pretty lights like stars in a mirror. It made Raihan mesmerized just looking at that beautiful scene in your beautiful eyes-

"So where are we landing? Not just somewhere in the middle of the city I hope."

"What- OH! *ahem* Leon said everyone's meeting at the Rose of Rondelands and to wait for him there. Something about wanting go over everything with us before the Battle Tower two days from now, and whatever else he has planned. We can check in our luggage and take a small break from flying since you don't like it too much."

"That sounds like a good idea," you agreed.

After another rough landing ensued when you all descended through the air and ended up landing right in front of the giant famous hot in Wyndon and you all piled out leaving the taxi behind. Felt good to stretch your legs. And you looked up and up at the tall building that shadow loomed over you. Ah. This brings back memories. Good thing the invite said all the rooms would be paid for in advance. Couldn't imagine how much one of these much costs. But what really caught your attention was the giant crowd gathered in front of the hotel, you didn't see them until you stepped out of the flying taxi and onto the ground..And then the large amount of cheers filled the air. One look behind you told you where it was coming from. People. What must've been hundreds upon hundreds of people backed up against each other at the front of the Rose of Rondelands, blocked by barriers and police officers much like last year when the Champion Cup took place at the stadium. You were steered away by Sebastian who shooed you after his mentor towards the hotel's entrance and all five of you entered. The shimmering gold interiors shining brightly again like you had remembered and there was an even bigger surprise waiting for you inside because when you walked the three of you were met with yet again another sight. It was a few gym leaders you had seen. Lounging and sitting in fancy armchairs and couches. A whole long table was set up with delicious looking food that your f/c eyes laser focused on and made your stomach growl just seeing it everyone was eating from. Melony and Gordie looked up to glance your way as the door was opened and the five of you walked in to which Raihangve some waves and greetings.

"Hey, Gordie! What's up, Bro? Ms. Melony, you're looking as lovely as always."

"So the Tamer of Dragons has arrived," Gordie said with a smile. "And here I thought you wouldn't make it."

"Psh. You know I wouldn't miss this for the world. Where's everyone else?''

"You're early. No one else arrived yet. You're gonna have to wait."

Raihan blinked. "Really?" Gordie nodded and he hummed. "Well I wasn't expecting that, but hey! That just means we just gotta wait for a little while. Now would be a good time to eat too." He said eyeing the food table. "Those waffles look pretty good."

The triplets were way ahead of him, already swarming towards the tables like a pack of hungry munchlaxes. You were hungry too so why not? Silver could some food too. So you all had the chance to grab your food and sit down and you ended up chatting with Melony as you waited for everyone else to arrive. Slowly they all appeared one after the other. Kabu, Nessa, Milo, Bea, etc. Until it seemed like the only one you were all waiting for was Leon. And then someone else did arrive. A few somebodies actually but they weren't Leon. Because Leon wouldn't have nearly tackled you to the floor or shouted your name. A flurry of 'Y/N!' flew through the air and before you could even turn around three small things tackled you one after another and you tilted backwards. Your backpack falling to the ground and your arms coming out on instinct to help keep your balance as Silver chirped in surprise. You blinked and looked down at yourself at the clinging creatures attached to you.

"What the-"

"Y/N!" A familiar voice and face beamed up at you and you stared at her smiling face until it suddenly clicked.

"GLORIA!?" Your voice happily shouted as your mouth forced itself up in a smile before noticing the other two right next to her. "Victor! Hop!" It was them. The original trio. And they were all here again. You hadn't seen them in forever! "Where have you guys been!?"

"Do you mean outside or in general?," Victor asked raising a brow. "If ye mean jus' now, Hop wanted ta show us his wooloo's new evolution. If ya mean anywhere else...Eh. It's a long story we need ta share with ya later." He sighed before rubbing his face. "Let's just say a LOT has happened with our training."

You chuckled and slowly got the three to release you from their hug. "I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of time to tell me what happened since we're still waiting for Leon-"

You yelped when Gloria tugged your hand to the side. "I've gotta tell ye what happened at the Isle of Armor! You'll neva beleive it!"

You were dragged by the trio back over to the sofa and made to sit down. Once you sat down on the couch, you were bombarded with tales of what they were up to. Hard to follow along ultimately what came down to it was that Gloria had one heck of a hard time being trained by whoever this Mustard character was before returning. Which including plenty of push ups, made to battle in front of a crowd of other students, chasing slowpokes, mushroom and diglett hunting, finishing her pokedex journal, her new rivals, being gifted more pokemon-

"An' then Hop dropped by to surprise me n' we went out ta find this honey for Urshifu," Gloria continued babbling along happily and a record scratch went off in your mind.

"Wha- Wait, wait, wait. Stop." They looked at you and between holding your plate of food, pointed at her. "Hop was there?" Gloria nodded. "...How? I thought he was training with Sonia to become a Professor?"

Gloria turned to Hop who coughed and reached a hand up to rub his neck pink tinting his cheeks. "S-Sonia and I split up places to survey. And she opted for the cold and snow and all. The Isle of Armor was t-t-the only other option." You weren't totally believing that based off his bashful reaction but you'd let him have it. "I-It was great to see Glory again tho. I had lots of fun until we both caught a ride back here with Lee when he delivered some invites to some people on the island."

Gloria giggled and poked Hop playfully. "Ya shoulda seen this cute lil petilil grab a hold 'o 'em. Hehe. It was so cute! The wee babe wouldn't let go of him until we found it's mother." Hop quickly flushed a deeper red at her words.

"What were you doing on the Isle of Armor anyways?"

"Huh? OH! *ahem* I-I was taking some samples of different pokemon nector f-for Sonia," he explained with a stutter, "A-And some max mushrooms and m-max honey so w-we can study it's connections to dynamaxing."

"Oh." That certainly sounded like something Sonia would have him do. "You said you came back with Leon right? Where's he?"

...He shook his head. "Dunno. He dropped us both off here a while ago and said to wait for Sonia and Kabu to arrive. Y'know since we're kinda studying under them and all that."

Ah. You supposed Leon was still preparing everything else that needed to be prepared before these special events happened. Made sense you supposed. In the mean time you were having fun eating the absolutely delicious food and listen to the three's adventures in the Crown Tundra and on the Isle of Armor. Victor was proud to show you his pictures of the ancient pokemon and Reggie-pokemon shrines and the giant tree he had discovered while there mentioning them to Leon who mentioned it to the Chairwoman and lo and behold...Victor had unintentionally saved the Town of Crown Tundra from dwindling away by giving the Chairwoman chances to set up tourist attractions for the locals to sell galarian twig crowns and sweaters. That's Victor for you. His determination for preserving nature one way or another came through again. Nessa was sure proud of her pupil's accomplishments. ...In fact..Both twins seemed to be fairing..MUCH better than before. Gloria didn't seem to be bothered all that much anymore by the thought of battling in front of a large crowd, and Victor seemed confident enough in his battling skills to give it a try himself.

....But that also brought other questions.

You know Gloria trained under a Mr. Mustard who trained her up before she continued being trained under Kabu, so who helped Victor? Well you asked and he told you who it was. Nessa of course since she was training with him constantly since they got back, but there was someone else. A man who sent Victor on a couple fun adventures and helped him build confidence in himself through having fun like he never had before. Going on Dynamax Adventures in a place called the Max Lair-

"Hey! I know that place!," Hop piped up as soon as Victor mentioned it, "It's like a maze of underground tunnels under the tundra that's just chalk FULL of natural dynamax particles! Sonia was checking it out for the Chairwoman along with some other things. Sometimes you can find rare pokemon in there. They think it'll be a huge hit for the Special Guests we got over here...Whoever he is?"

Yeah. You were wondering that too. You knew there would be some special guests but you didn't know who. The time passed some more until FINALLY the man of the hour arrived. You were all sitting there as Champion Leon himself walked in through the door with an older woman beside him. A flurry of 'Leon!' left a couple peoples' mouths and your face lit up in a smile as he arrived.

"Leon! Where have you been?!"

"S-Sorry everyone," he apologized giving a guilty look and holding up his hand. "I uh...Kinda got lost on my way here. Luckily I ran into the Chairwoman on the way here. Speaking of which." He gestured to the woman next to him who you all know gazed at. She looked around Kabu's age with grey hair and wearing a blue business suit. She was smaller than Leon too, about Nessa's height. "Allow me to introduce Ms. Dahlia. The Chairwoman of Galar and the creator of the games that'll be taking place."

"Welcome Everyone," she greeted with a smile and nod. "I want to thank you all for coming and on such short notice. I'm well aware you all must be wondering what I had Leon call you all here for." She said gesturing to everyone. "Some information you were already given in your invitations such as the first event, but the more important bits I wanted to save until I was able to speak to you all face to face." She began gesturing with her hands. "As many of you are aware the Battle Tower will be taking place the day after tomorrow at Rose tower. The lucky gym leader in training that wins will have the honor of battling against the Champion himself at the top of the tower. That trainer and their three runner ups will also be allowed to perform along with others in the final grand tournament."

"Um..Yes. About that. Forgive me if sound a little rude here, but what exactly IS this whole second half is?," Bede asked raising a brow, "I believe we have the right to know considering we'll be a very important part of it I'm assuming."

The Chairwoman nodded. "Yes. You'd be right about that. That is the thing I wanted to dicuss most. All of you are here to battle it out in the first ever Galarian Star Tournament for none other than Price Lear of the Pasio Region in hopes he'll chose some of Galar's finest trainers to compete in Pasio's own Master League and get a chance to take home the title of world's strongest pokemon trainer." By the surprised looks and raised brows she got, that certainly was a surprised. She held up her hands. "I know it must be a shock to receive such news so late, but I assure you I didn't plan this. Prince Lear will be arriving tomorrow morning if nothing goes wrong, and the day after will be the Battle Tower. And then at the end of the week, the Galarian Star Tournament shall take place with everyone here as well as a few honored guests that will fighting alongside you and afterwards They shall be arriving later this week closer to the second event. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior during Prince Lear's stay with us. For now you all are dismissed back to your rooms until then. Be sure to arrive at Rose Tower first thing in the morning. We'll have much to discuss then."

And that was it. More words were exchanged by the Chairwoman and Leon but most were words of encouragement before they departed again and you all were dismissed. With nothing further to do you all went back to your rooms for the night bidding everyone good bye. The first thing you did was faceplant face first into the soft bed when you got back inside. It was nice to lay on a bed for once instead of a taxi seat.

-Small Time Skip-

The time had come.

Two days had gone past in a blink of an eye and by the second day you had woken up early because of the commotion going on outside your room forcing you to get up and get dressed before walking out the door only to nearly bump into Ms. Opal as she was passing your room towards the elevator along with everyone else. So you apologized before scooting to the side and following the crowd of gym leaders to the elevator, down to the lobby, out the front of the hotel, and out towards your rides there-..And you groaned. Flying taxies. Why was it ALWAYS flying taxies? There was at least somewhere between eight to ten of them. Enough to take everyone to Rose Tower. And you could BARELY hear over the noise. LOTS more people than there were yesterday. All cheering and holding up signs with different gym logos or peoples' faces on them all showing their support for their favorite gym leaders. You had to grab Silver and carrying him in your arms in order to keep the drizzlie from keeping trampled and ended up climbing into the last taxi before it could take off...Blinking when four people were already sat down inside. It looked a little cramped-

"Y/n! Here. Ye can seat by me. There should be 'nough room if I scoot over some."

And that's how you ended up sitting between the taxi wall and Victor with Silver on your lap. Next to Victor's other side was Nessa and across from all three of you was Kabu and Gloria. Both twins with both their mentors with opposite elements but both fit the twins personalities. Gloria's fiery spirit and Victor flowing patience. Looked right they were already ready to do battle as well. Gloria wore an all red shirt with Kabu's logo on the front with the rest of her attire matching and the same with Victor wearing Nessa's gym logo and wearing a matching outfit of blue and white. And it was then that it hit you. Gloria and Victor were both gym leaders in training now. That by itself wasn't a bad thing but now..they were going to be battling against one another in the Battle Tower. Victor and Gloria had never battled against one another before not when you were with them and they must've realized at one point but neither of them seemed to give it much mind as the two siblings just sat there smiling and chatting away excited like nothing was wrong as you sat there frozen with Silver on your lap. The whole ride there wasn't anything special except when you all arrived and got out of the taxi there were more blockaids and police to control the cheering crowds and a reporter woman who was speaking to a camera pointed directly at all the gym leaders and Rose Tower itself. You stood there for a moment looking around before spotting the twins start to walk towards the Rose Tower and you went to start following them- Someone tapped your shoulder and with a jolt you snapped around to Kabu who shook his head.

"Not there," he clarified to you raising his voice to let you hear you over the large crowd cheering and instead pointing towards other gym leaders and everyone else who was walking towards a different entrance into the building. "That is only for the children who'll be participating in this event. You and I must go that way."

"Oh..Ok! Thanks!"

The older man nodded before turning around and jogging off towards the other entrance and you followed still carrying a bored looking Silver. How was he able to keep up a pace like that so easily? Once inside you were greeted to the same lobby like room you first saw when storming Rose Tower to find Leon last year. Only this time chairs had been set up alongside a giant TV on the wall, obviously for everyone to watch the speckacle and as you looked around you noticed something. There was an extremely fancy wooden chair away from the plastic ones almost as if it was a throne for someone important. That was odd. Was that for Leon? You had seen him and the Chairwoman greet everyone at the hotel before coming here so maybe. Silver had spotted something amiss and his pink hand collided with your cheek. Blinking you threw a scowl at the pokemon in your arms before he chirped and pointed over at something..Or should I say someone. A FEW someones in fact because you blinked at them. There was Leon and the Chairwoman...and three other NEW people that you had never seen before. But the two of them were smiling and introducing these three to everyone as they walked in and sat down. There were two bodyguard like people. A man and woman. The woman was about Nessa's height with dark purpel hair that was in a spiral pigtail haircut and purple-magenta eyes. She wore a giant pair of square sunglasses on her head, grey coat with very long sleeves, and red and black attire underneath. The man was much taller than both the woman and other shorter man in front of them with dark grey eyes. He wore a grey-white suit with a black undershirt and red tie, gold rings on his fingers, and a pair of black sunglasses sat upon his own head. But it was the third person in front of them that seemed the most important. He wore a suit similar to the first man but more fancy looking. Grey-white all the way from his shoes to the silk gloves he wore with a black undershirt and red tie. His grey-white coat had a black fur collar and red sunglasses were over his eyes so you couldn't tell what color they were but he did have grey-white hair matching his suit. He stood by Leon with his presumed bodyguards at his sides as the Champion smiled and introduced him to everyone. This stranger's expression neutral. Kabu bowed in front of him as you slowly walked in.

"It is an honor to be able to have you in Galar, Your Highness," the older man greeted with a deep bow.

"Very charmed," the man replied back in also a neutral tone. Neither happy or bored but it was enough to also not come off as rude either.

"I think that's everyone. The only ones you haven't met are the gym leaders successor's who'll you'll be able to watch from here." The man hummed at Leon's words. You slowly walked forward and Leon turned his friendly gaze to you, lit up, and waved his hand in a 'come here' motion. "Hey! Y/n! Right on time." The man next to Leon turned to you, did a double take, and raised his brows staring at the pokemon cradled in your arms like a child as you walked over. "Just the person I wanna see." Once you stopped right in front of him his hand gestured to the man beside him again. "I'm glad you can make it. Y/n, it's my pleasure to introduce you to his highness, Prince Lear. He's come all the way from the Pasio Region for the events." His smile became even wider. "He's also asked to meet you personally."

"He...did?" You stared at the new man in front of you blinking. So he was a prince huh? You remembered the Chairwoman mentioning a Prince Lear coming two days ago, and this man could certainly pass off for a prince easily even if he didn't wear a crown. But he asked to see YOU? Why? You didn't have any fancy titles like a Champion or Gym Leader or Chairwoman?

"Um..Well not exactly by name," Leon explained with a nervous smile, "He's heard about the heroes who averted Galar's crisis twice in a row and was interested to meet the people involved."

Ah. Well that made more sense.

Prince Lear stared in your direction and even though you couldn't see his eyes, you could tell he was looking you over...before a smile finally graced his face. "I've...read the books. Your Professor Sonia took great detail in documenting your region's history."

You nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been able to read her books yet, but I have no doubt Sonia's books are as good as her science. But I didn't expect anyone not from Galar to read them."

The man chuckled amused smiling a bit wider now and both his bodyguards gave a look at each other behind him. "On the contrary. If I'm going to be choosing people from a region to compete in MY Master Leagues I must do my own research on top of meeting them in person to form my own opinions. Don't I? Your region's current troubles just happened to peek my interest."

You hummed thinking a moment before agreeing. "Well I guess so. I'd want to know about someone too before I invited them to anything."

"Hehe. My thinking exactly. ...Hm. You are Ms. Y/n L/n correct?" You nodded and that seemed to peek his interest more. "So you are the one I've read about. Hmhmhm. Saving the Champion and the rest of the region. Twice...That's not an easy feat." He complimented looking at his gloved hand.

"Well. Actually I didn't save Galar."

He paused. Before looking back up at you. "Oh?''

"I only witnessed it and watched from the sidelines." You shook your head. "I'm no hero. The real heroes are Hop and Victor and Gloria. And of course the pokemon who helped us. I just lent a hand where I could."

"Hmm...You know. Modesty is always beautiful on a woman." You blinked as with a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed your hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. "I look forward to seeing these events." And then you froze as he raised your hand to his mouth and like in some cheesy fairytale fantasy he kissed your knuckles gently.

A cold chill ran down your spine as you could feel everyone looking at you. Along with a tense gaze you could feel glare daggers into the back of your head from..someone but you weren't too sure. You were stuck in a bit of a shell shock as he lowered your hand..but you eventually did react. Chuckling nervously and giving a forced smile before gently pulling your hand back away and grabbing Silver as an excuse.

"Well!..I'm glad you think so! It's always nice to get a compliment," you forced out to not be rude. Arceus forbid if you were rude right now but it'd be best if you kept your anger down for now. "I'm sure you'll really enjoy watching them."

Leon sensing your OBVIOUS distress gladly took the attention from you. "Hey. The battles about to begin. Y/n why don't you go take your seat next to Raihan? He seems to have saved you a spot. Prince Lear, shall we?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes let's. I look forward to seeing how well your region's gym leader's train their successors."

Leon pointed his hand and steered Prince Lear towards the fancy seat off to the left which you took as your chance to scatter like a mouse being chased by a cat back towards the crowd of other who either had confused looks from what just happened or ignored it in favor of turning their attentions towards the TV. True to Leon's word, there was in fact an open seat between Raihan and Hop and you found out where the glaring at the back of your head came from. Yep. Raihan was staring at Lear with the same strained smile and narrowed eyes he gave whenever he wasn't amused. You paused staring at him for a few minutes but Hop's waving for you to come here encouraged you to walk up to them and take your seat between the two. Hop spoke first seeing your sour face as soon as you turned away from the prince.

"You ok there, Mate?," he asked raising a brow, "Haven't seen that sore of a face since we last stopped those weirdo hair duo from wreckin' Galar as a whole."

"..Yyyeeaahh." You examined your hand for a moment wincing feeling that guy kiss it before rubbing the back of your hand against your jacket. "Just don't let me forget to wash my hands the first chance I can get."

You jumped feeling a hand grab yours without a care in the world and looked up to Raihan smiling at you. "You alright there?" You nodded and he sighed. "Oh good. For a moment I was worried I'd have to breath fire down his neck. He shouldn't just grab another guy's gilfriend's hand like that."

"Hey now. He is a prince. I'm sure they do it all the time," you said wanting to steer away from the topic and gestured towards the TV as it turned on. "But I think right now we ought to pay attention to the telly. Wouldn't wanna miss Sebastian's big show."

That seemed to do the trick because Raihan's attention was quickly turned to the TV too as the mention of his surrogate little brother was announced, and Sebastian's sisters paid very close attention to the screen sitting in front of you. And Hop gave a fist pump.

"Alright! Now we get to see Glory and Vic in action! They're gonna mop the floors with the competition!"

You admitted you were excited to see Victor's style of fighting and seeing if it differed from Gloria's or not. Gloria had already proven she could be great in battles and use her head but would that hold up? She wasn't able to defeat Raihan on one and one battles. There wasn't any sandstorms to hide behind with him and as Gloria said it. He was too strong. That's when it had really hit you. While this world was like the game this WASN'T a game and was real life, so there was the real possibility of Gloria losing to someone like Raihan and she did. If she couldn't make it past the top gym leader on a fair field then there wasn't any way she could've bested Leon. And while it did surprise you and you were a little sad for Gloria, you were also relieved. That might've been the only reason you were still here now living your own life and with your friends.

"GOOD MORNING GALAR!" You were snapped back up hearing a reporters voice and face show up on screen. The woman with the microphone smiled as the image of Rose Tower appeared behind her. "This is Marcos Cosmos Newscast with Gillian coming to all you folks at home live in front of Rose Tower where the crowds have been waiting for hours to see who'll be victorious in Galar's first ever Battle Tower competition. A true testimony to how well Gym Leaders train the future generation of Galarian gym leaders. Each contestant will go three rounds and the best one will move onto the next round and next floor eventually reaching the top where the Unbeatable Champion Leon awaits."

What? Leon wasn't- You blinked. Looking around you couldn't spot Leon anywhere in the room. Where was he? You yelped when a hand grabbed your shoulder and you looked up only to come face to face with Nessa. You sighed in relief suddenly seeing her standing above you.

"Arceus Nessa!," you hissed at her in a whisper Silver looking up at the both of you. "What'd you have to go and scare me for?"

"No time to explain!," she whispered back pointing at Silver with a VERY worried expression, "He can battle right? You have his pokeball on you?"

You were a little taken a back at the random question but answered taking Silver's pokeball out of your pocket to show her. "Yeah. He's been in battles before. Why?"

"Victor's short one pokemon and he needs six to rotate out. You don't happen to mind if we borrow him right?" You opened your mouth but before you could speak the pokeball and Silver were snatched into her arms without warning Silver giving a loud chirp of alarm. "Thanks Y/n! I owe you one! I promise I'll make it up to you later!''

"H-Hey wait! Nessa! I didn't-" The fashionista didn't stop as she soon disappeared with a squawking pokemon under her arms out the entrance leaving you sitting there staring.....

What just happened!?

"Will this be the day the Champion finally loses a match or will his record remain unbeatable? Only time will decide. Let's go right now live as the first battle takes place on Floor One on Camera One."

Time's up. The reporter disapeared from the screen and all fell silent as the camera showed a LARGE empty metal room except for one person inside. A man wearing a black and white referee outfit as he stood there. And then two doors from either side opened and two contestants walked in.

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FIRST ROUND BATTLE OF ROUND ONE OF GALAR'S FIRST EVER BATTLE TOWER EVENT!!," an announcer spoke from no where. Must've been a speaker. "THE FIRST BATTLE IS UNDERWAY WITH OUR FIRST TWO BATTLERS!!" You heard Raihan from somewhere to your right give a small cheer as Sebastian appeared on the scene. "THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN THE FIRE OF HAMMERLOCKE STADIUM SEBASTIAN AND THE FANTASTICAL BEDE OF THE BELLONLEA STADIUM!!" Hop gave a grumble as Bede also proudly made his way onto the battlegrounds. "WILL HAMMERLOCKE SPREAD THEIR WINGS TO REACH THE NEXT ROUND OR WILL BELLONLEA TURN THAT CHANCE INTO A JUST FAIRYTALE!? WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE!! BATTLERS!! TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE!!" Both teens did. "POKEMON READY! GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!"

And just like that the first battle was underway. Raihan's hand around yours slightly tightened as he watched his own trainer begin to battle, a small orange rotomi phone popped out of his pocket. Sebastian must've improved from the last time you saw him because he easily won the first round against Bede to which both Raihan and Hop cheered at. Raihan using his rotomi phone to take plenty of pictures of his boy winning like a proud father. But unfortunately Sebastian didn't win as Bede completely swept through him during the second and final round. Marking him as the clear winner.

"FINAL ROUND OVER!! BEDE HAS BESTED TWO OUT OF THREE!! THEREFORE BELLONLEA PROUDLY MOVES ON TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!!"

Raihan groaned which turned into a sigh as he closed his eyes. "Ah well. Can't win them all I suppose."

"That's very sportsman like of you," Opal commented back at him making the Dragon Type Gym Leader chuckle and smile.

"Well I certainly hope so. I wouldn't want to come off as a Negative Nancy." He then blinked and turned his head to you as you smiled at him.

"He did his best. You trained him really well." Which again caught him off guard..but earnt another soft smile your way.

"SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" And your attention's went back to the TV as none other than Marnie and Gloria entered next through the doors.

"ALRIGHT GLORIA!," Hop shouted next to you becoming more excited. "This is gonna be great!"

You nodded. You were excited to see how this would play out. "SECOND FIRST ROUND MATCH IS BETWEEN THE BURNING COAL OF MOTOSTOKE GLORIA AND THE SPUNKY MARNIE OF SPIKEMUTH!!" Both girls taking their places on the field. "PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE COURSE! POKEMON AT THE READY! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!"

It was a glorious battle. It always was with both Marnie and Gloria. First round Gloria won. Second round Marnie. Third round now. Gloria won. Cheers filled the air.

"GLORIA WINS THE SECOND MATCH AND WILL PROCEED TO THE SECOND ROUND AND FLOOR!! THIRD ROUND BATTLERS PLEASE GO ONTO THE FIELD!!" Two more teens walked onto the course and all three of Milo, Gordie, and Melony cheered as both Felix and Elsa made their way onto the fields. "HE HAS THE BEST GREEN THUMB INTRODUCING FELIX OF TURRFIELD AND HIS OPPONENT THE COLD HEARTED BRAWLER ELSA OF CIRCHESTOR AS THEY READY TO FIGHT FOR MATCH THREE!! BUT WILL TURRFIELD GROW TO THE NEXT ROUND BEFORE WINTER FREEZES IT'S ROOTS!? LET'S FIND OUT! BATTLERS TO YOUR PLACES!! GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!!" All three cheered in front of you. Milo for his little brother and Melony and Gordie for their little sister/daughter. It was a tough battle but in the end Elsa won. "CIRCHESTOR ADVANCES TO THE SECOND FLOOR AND ROUND!! WE WILL BE TAKING A FIVE MINUTE BREAK FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREW TO FIX THE FIRST FLOOR AND READY THE SECOND! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE HAVE A WORD WITH OUR SPONSORS AND FIGURE OUT THE NEXT MATCH PAIRS!"

Poor Milo. he must've been looking forward to seeing his little brother advance forward but Felix did put up a good front against Elsa's Ice type pokemon. Which means that meant Elsa, Gloria, and Bede would be advancing to Round Two and since Victor didn't have anyone to battle with he got an automatic win to advance to Round Two as well. With three of the trainers out of the running that leaves four left. Nessa returned in the time you were speaking to Hop and Raihan to pass the time until the second round was announced by the announcer on the TV and a new floor and referee was shown.

"ALRIGHT FOLKS!! NEW ROUND AND NEW FLOOR ARE NOW HERE!! THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN DECIDED! LET'S GET THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO STARTED!" Here we go. You wondered which twin would be first or if either would go first. Or maybe neither? Both entrances opened and two made their way out. "THE FIRST MATCH BETWEEN BELLONLEA AND MOTOSTOKE IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE!! BATTLERS PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!!" Gloria and Bede took their places. "GET SET!! LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!"

Bede and Gloria huh? Not a bad start to a first match..But also with an unexpected twist. Gloria won first round. Bede second...and then Bede the third? It was just one slip up by Gloria. One mistake that allowed Bede's hatterene enough access to grab Gloria's raboot and proceed to literally rear itself and literally toss the poor rabbit pokemon right out of the in boundaries and crashing into one of the tower's walls just before it could late a critical and probably final blow to the hatterene's weak point. Making Bede the winner by a small inch.

"BEDE'S HATTERENE HAS KNOCKED RABOOT OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE BEDE ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND AND FLOOR! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE WAIT FOR THE NEXT MATCH TO BEGIN!"

"WHAT!?," Hop shouted hands rushing to grab his head which was followed by many looks thrown at him and shushes from the others.

"Hop. Don't be so loud," you whispered at him. Luckily Prince Lear didn't seem to notice Hop's outburst. "We have a guest here."

"I know but-.." he stared back at the screen where Gloria and Bede now excited the floor. "HOW could've she lost against him of all people?! Glory beat him every other time they battled and she trained under the very best! It doesn't make any sense."

"Well not everyone can win against every battle they fight," you explained, "You win some. You lose some. Even Gloria. I mean she lost to Raihan in the finals didn't she?"

"Not everyone loses. Leon doesn't."

"Didn't he lose to Eternatus?" Your brow rose. "I thought that was the entire reason of you two saving him."

Hop went silent for a moment before crossing his arms and mumbling. "I guess so."

You smiled. "See? It's not so bad. Besides you have to remember Bede's going to have to fight either Elsa or Victor in the next round anyways, so it's not like he's home free yet.''

That seemed to lift Hop's spirit's a bit because he nodded with a hum. "That's true. We'll have to wait and see."

Well you all didn't have to wait long because the entrances opened again and two others made their way onto the course. "THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL NOW COMMENCE BETWEEN CIRCHESTER AND HULBURY!! PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON AT THE READY!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Round one. Elsa wins. Round two. Victor wins. Last round...Victor wins. And no sign of Silver being used which you were a bit concerned about. "ELSA'S GLACEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THEREFORE HULBURY ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND AND FLOOR! BUT ONLY ONE TRAINER WILL MAKE IT TO THE TOP FLOOR TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WHO WILL IT BE!? FIND OUT AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK SO STAY TUNED!!"

"Yeah Victor!," Hop cheered throwing a hand out and a determined face smacked onto him now. "I knew he could do it! He's gonna wipe the floor with Bede's mop head."

"Hop!," you scowled at him, "I thought we agreed to stop calling him names. And you shouldn't count your poke eggs before they hatch. We don't know who's going to win yet."

"Yeah. But if Vic doesn't ground Bede into dust then Leon sure as Arceus will."

Well...He did have a point there. As a commercial for some kind of pokemon food product came on the TV you wondered what exactly Victor was thinking. Ten minutes passed in a blink of an eye faster than expected because the TV showed a new room with both Victor and Bede making their way onto the scene and stopping. Here we go.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS! ROUND THREE IS ON THE WAY!! THE WINNER SHALL GO ON TO CHALLENGE NONE OTHER THAN GALAR'S OWN UNBEATABLE CHAMPION! BUT WHO WILL TRIUMPH AND WHO WILL LOSE!? LET THE THIRD ROUND MATCH GET UNDERWAY!! TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY! GO!"

And then both sent out their pokemon of choice. Bede a rapidash and Victor a vaporeon. And it didn't take long for one of them to react as Victor pointed right at Bede and shouted a command. "Vaporeon! Quick attack now! And ready your shadow ball!" In an instant the vaporeon did as it's master said. With a small battle cry of it's own, darted forward at lightning speeds. The making of a black ball forming at it's mermaid like tail.

A huff came out of Bede as he shook his head. "Don't you know dark type moves aren't that effective on fairty types? Rapidash! Show them your power with psycho cut!" The horse pokemon let out high pitched whinny. It's whole body glowing a white light as it powered itself up for the move and thrusted it's head forward. Pointing it's horn at the approaching vaporeon. Slashes of that light cutting through the air towards it-

"USE SHADOW BALL ON THE GROUND NOW!!" With a back flip the vaporeon went head over heels, slamming the shadow ball into the ground and allowing the built up momentum to send it cascading through the air and right over the Rapidash's still lowered head. "AQUA TAIL!" A glowing blue light and wave swung forth. The powerful tail absolutely SLAMMING into the poor rapidash's head. A niegh of pain coming from the horse pokemon slammed head first into the floor...and that's where it stayed.

"RAPIDASH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! VICTOR WINS FIRST MATCH OF ROUND THREE!" Bede's expression changed to one of amusement to shock to frustration as he returned his fallen rapidash. "SECOND ROUND IS UNDERWAY!! PLEASE READY YOUR NEXT POKEMON!!" The Vaporeon stayed as Bede brought a second pokemon out. "GET SET! BATTLE BEGIN!"

"HYDRO PUMP!" Victor was quick to strike first ordering the vaporeon to shoot the geyser of water from it's mouth and it did. Which the gardevoir gracefully dodged with a large jump allowing it to get closer to Victor's pokemon. "SHADOWBALL!!"

"Gardevoir use teleport!" Just as the vaporeon shot out the shadowball the gardevoir disappeared. Only to appear in a blink of an eye behind the water type a little bit aways from it. "Psyshock!" Gardevoir obeyed. Splaying it's arms out circles of bright pink-white light before the same light circles appeared around the vaporeon and darts of lights shot down out it. Causing it to shriek as the light darts made contact with it's body. "Finish it off with shadowball!" It held it hands in front of it's chest as a black ball of energy formed, before as quickly as a scorbunny could run, the gardevior reared it's arms back like a baseball pitcher and threw it. The shadowball cascaded right through the air and exploded on contact. Smoke flew into the air as the explosion started to die down and everyone waited with baited breath as it slowly faded away. And their the vaporeon laid fainted against the ground.

"VAPOREON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! BEDE WINS THE SECOND MATCH OF ROUND TWO! PLEASE READY YOUR POKEMON FOR THE FINAL MATCH!!" Both pokemon were retracted and next to you Hop for Victor to win under his breath as both readied their final pokemon for the last match of Round Three. Both brought out their final pokeballs. "GET SET! GO!"

Both finally sent out their final pokemon and your eyes widened when you you saw none other than Silver being sent out by Victor along with Bede's Hatterene. The drizzlie giving a shake of his head and looking around confused- Before giving a squeak of fear at seeing the much larger hatterene staring right at him.

"Hatterene use calm mind!" The hatterene gave off a cry as light surrounded it and in a moment disappeared. That couldn't be good. Bede gave Victor a proud smile as the other twin pointed at him.

"Silver! Water pulse quick!" Quickly regaining his composure, Silver produced a water balloon looking thing from no where and sent the water pulse cascading towards the Hatterene who...didn't move? Bede didn't even make an attempt to order his pokemon as the attack collided with it- And then bounced off right back towards Silver The drizzlie gave a high pitched sound before diving right onto his stomach to avoid the attack that had been magically rebounded at him.

"That's Magic bounce!," Hop said in disbelief next to you. "It sends an enemy's attack right back at them! How'd he teach his hatterene to do that?!"

"Hatterne bedazzle your audience with dark pulse!"

"Silver! Dodge it and get close to that hatterene!"

You could only watch in terror and worry as Silver basically looked like he was tripping on banana peels running around the battle field with a terrified expression ducking and diving away from the calm hatterene's attacks barely dodging Bede's commanded attacks. Anytime Silver was able to get an attack in it was rebounded out back at him and just giving him another thing to dodge from but he did slowly start getting closer towards the hatterene. Your hands clenched feeling the dread and worry in your guts seeing your poor pokemon put through that. Until one well placed dark pulse by Bede sealed the poor pokemon's fate. With a shriek Silver went cascading through the air along with a terrible ripping sound which was the result of his little hoodie tearing right down the front and ruining it as he landed with a hard thud sound right in front of the hatterene. You nearly let out a shriek yourself. Silver wasn't even given time to recover when something grabbed him in an iron grip and lifted his struggling form into the air.

"Give him a few slams onto the ground!," Bede ordered. And what Bede wanted he got. Over and over and over Silver was slammed into the hard metal ground with enough force to leave behind some dents before it finally brought a dazed and limp Silver up to it's face. The tatters of his jacket falling onto the ground. "Not surprising since you don't have much Pink! Stand by with psychic to finish them off!"

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Silver's eyes blinked open. Watching as the tatters of the once nice jacket slowly fall to the ground like forgotten leaves in autumn. The poor blue fabric scraps hitting the ground and leaving no more trace of it- No more trace of YOU with him had him staring wide eyed at the ground from the hatterene's grip. He hurt. He was scared. And he was alone right now. Like how he first felt back when he was just a sobble. He certainly fell like crying in that moment but then something happened. Something snapped in him and the hatterene was certainly surprised when the once scared drizzile in it's gripped reared it's head up and yelled at it's face.

"SILVER USE POUND!"

The hatterene was forced to drop the limp drizzile as a hard sucker punch was delivered directly to it's face via Silver's tongue and with another thud Silver landed on the ground-..And then his once limp body shimmered as if the starlight itself emanated from his own body and he glowed. Brighter and brighter and brighter he became until his body changed and morphed. The hatterene watching in shock and horror as the lit up body grew even taller than itself until the starlight disappeared and a very, very, VERY tall Inteleon stood in it's place above it. Gold eyes staring dangerously down at itself and the hatterene let out some frightened noise instantly leaning back away from this dangerously smiling pokemon.

"Our turn now! Silver let's give these two a piece o' their own medicine!" The hatterene shrieked as a whip like tail snatched it up from the bottom of it's body.

"HATTERENE!!" Bede could only watch in horror as his beloved hatterene was given the same treatment it gave Silver as the now Inteleon slammed it over and over and OVER into the metal floor with such ANGER and furosity that it made the purple eyed boy stare on in horror.

"GIVE IT A TOSS!!" A crack of a whip sound went off as Silver with one twist of his body let lose the hatterene and sent it flying into the air with a high pitched shriek of it's own. It's eyes wide in fear as it went around in circles head over heels- "SNIPE SHOT!!" Like a sniper aiming his weapon, Silver held up his hands in a similar way and a stream of a deadly water attack shot out. Not missing it's target and landing with expert skill colliding with the hatterene who gave one last cry of pain before it landed on the ground with a hard thud. ...And didn't get back up.

"HATTERENE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE!! VICTOR WINS THE THIRD ROUND AND SHALL PROCEED ONWARDS TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!!"

"YES!!" You were spooked out your jaw dropped stupor and blinked when Hop jumped up throwing both hands into the air. "HE DID IT!! VICTOR'S GOING TO CHALLENGE LEON!!"

Silver...evolved! You let out a breath you didn't know you were keeping in your mouth as you sighed and continued staring at the Tv. Bede had already returned his hatterene and seemed upset as Victor cheered himself. But it was the actions of Silver that had your eyes staring at the screen. White hands of the knelt shiny inteleon gingerly picked up some of the few remaining tatters of the jacket before standing up. The gold eyes inspecting the remains of the fabric before closing his eyes. A sigh escaping his nose before he turned up a smile towards the cameras for whatever reason. Thank ARCEUS he was alright.

"STAY TUNED FOLKS AS WE TAKE A SMALL BREAK BEFORE THE FINALLY WHERE THE LUCKY TRAINER WILL GO ON TO BATTLE THE CHAMPION HIMSELF! WILL THERE BE A NEW VICTORY AGAINST LEON OR WILL HIS UNBEATABLE REPUTATION STAND STRONG?! ALL OF THAT RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK!!"

Hop wasn't the only one celebrating. Nessa looked rather pleased at the results and even received a congrats from Opal which was nice. Bede did his best. The wait was awful. Just sitting there watching commercial after commercial after commercial. Until the stage was finally set and it was announced that the last round was underway. The top floor of Rose Tower was shown on screen with the one and only Leon standing there. Silently waiting for his special opponent to arrive. And he didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Victor arrived. Walking in through the entrance way. His breath was heaving and sweat ran down his forehead. His hands felt sweating and the grip on the pokeball in his hand tightened. Each step echoed through the entire place until he stopped.

Leon smiled. "Victor! I've been waiting for you. Always knew you'd be able to win your way here." Nothing but a smile and praise was given to Victor and it helped to relax him. "Nervous?"

"Is it obvious?," Victor asked back rubbing his hand on his face.

"Hey. It's alright to be nervous. I was too when I first faced off against the Champion."

"Y-Yeah. But.." Victor looked down. "I guess I wasn't ever expectin' ta actually ever fight against ye is all. It feels so...w-weird. I-If that makes sense. I always thought it'd be Glory who'd be standin' 'ere to face ye."

"She is a strong fighter and she came really far in the gym challenge," leon agreed with a nod, "But so are you. Anyone who was able to make it this far deserves where you stand now. I'm proud of you."

"Y-You are?"

"I'm not the only one either. Nessa. Gloria. Hop. Your mom. ..We all are." And for a moment his eyes closed with a sigh. "My dream has always been to make the people of the Galar Region stronger. And this battle tower is making that dream come true! Think you and I can get stronger too?" His eyes opened back up. "A fierce battle is the only way to do it! Now how about you take on Champion Leon with everything that you've got?"

After a moment Victor took a breath and finding new courage nodded. "I-I'm not gonna hold back!"

"Hehe. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now come on! Let's show everyone an absolute Champion time!"

And thus the battle began. Everyone watching with cheers or silent stares or worried looks with baited breath. You were one of those ones with baited breath especially when you saw Silver get released back out against Leon ...and get knocked to the floor only seconds later with a heavy thud in defeat.

"INTELEON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!! THE WINNER OF THE BATTLE TOWER IS THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!"

So that was it huh? It was all over. Leon won. Not that no one didn't expect that possibility after all. This was Leon. You didn't look away from the screen as Silver was returned to his pokeball and Leon walked across the room to most likely congratulate Victor and steer him back towards the exit.

"All right, Lee!" Hop cheered next to you. "They were so cool!"

You nodded to not be rude but you were more worried about Silver right now so you stood up to go see him. Seemed you werent the only one who had the idea because Prince Lear also stood up.

"Your display pleased me today," he spoke back in that neutral voice, "If this is what I can expect later is week as well then I have much to look forward too." He turned his head towards the Chairwoman. "I think I would like to speak with the Champion now. Is that possible?"

Ms. Dahlia nodded. "Of course. I'm sure everyone else is itching to go and take a break as well." She then nodded towards everyone. "Everyone is dismissed until this Saturday. Please excuse us." You watched as the Chairwoman left with the prince and his bodyguards right behind him.

You did look behind you as Raihan stood up though along with the others. "Heading to see Sebastian?" He nodded with a hum. "Think I'll head that way too. I want to see Silver again."

You both filed out with everyone and went around towards the front of the tower ignoring the cheering crowds..Except for Raihan who hammed it up winking and waving and flashing that smirk of his. The show off. Ironically it seemed the others had the same idea as you guys because you ran right into Victor and Gloria as they came around the corner. Victor looked exhausted from the day's events and Gloria was excitedly congratulating him which Hop soon joined in and Victor could only tiredly smile at the rapid fire of talking the two spouted at him. Which was added to by Nessa who gave him a pat on the back and you received Silver's pokeball from him. Sighing in relief as he was safely back in your hands again. Now what? Well everyone who battled in pokemon was going to head over to the nearest pokemon center before either returning to the hotel or somewhere else. You also decided to tag along to the pokemon center in order to have Silver looked over and ended up sharing a taxi over there with Kabu, Gloria, and Hop. The trip there being nothing special other than both Hop and Gloria chatting excitedly about the day's events.

"Hey! Lee's taking me to Wyndon's research center tomorrow! Y-You can come along too if you want?"

To your surprise Gloria actually shook her head no. "Can't. I promised Bede I'd hang out with him after we were done."

Hop froze. And you counted down to his reaction. Three. Two- "WHAT!?"

She smiled excitedly. "YEAH! We're goin' ta this theater and watchin' the Tale of Two Queens! It's the story o' how the ancient kinds supposedly fell in love! And get this! He says we can ride his rapidash there too! I'm so excited ta see the beauty up close that isn't in battle."

...Hop plastered on a grin. "Hey. That's...grrreeeaat, Glory. Real, real happy for ya! But..Maybe we can go around Wyndon tomorrow? Just like old times!"

Her face could not get anymore happier. "I'd love too! We can visit that cafe Lee took us too last year!"

Well. Guess the game was on between those two again. Once you all had arrived and filed out it was also nothing special. There were also a few other people there including Victor and Bede who Hop sent a dirty look but Bede only smiled oh so innocently back at him. From there it was easy. In. Let Nurse Joy look over your pokemon. She healed them all up and recommended to let them rest for a day or two with plenty of food and water. Out. And you smiled at the pokeball in your hand. You'd let him out as soon as you were back outside. But that was where the problems began. As you were getting Silver looked over Bede had walked outside with Gloria chatting away, probably to go hang out like they had planned after the battle. You were planning on walking around for a little bit until you could find someplace to eat with Silver, but something nearly startled you into dropping the pokeball. A shriek. A high pitched (and for some reason familiar sounding) shriek passed through the air just outside the center, and even though it was muffled, everyone inside turned their heads towards the door hearing it. Despite being startled at first you headed towards the exit real quick and threw open the door. What you saw on the other side was something you weren't expecting. At all.

IT WAS OLEANA!!

Or at least the remnants of her. She stood towering over Bede and Gloria who both stood there staring up wide eyed and horrified at her as she shrieked at Bede.

"YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON CHAIRMAN ROSE AFTER EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR YOU!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SITTING COMFY ON THAT CHAMPION STATUS IN A BETTER SOCIETY IF YOU HADN'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS TAKE OFF!!," she shouted between incoherent babbling and rambles pointing her finger at Bede accusingly.

Oleana!? But-..Why?! HOW!? What was she doing here!? Wasn't she in hiding after that whole incident with Eternatus last year!? In your stupor you stared at the woman still rambling before shaking your head. That didn't matter right now. If she was here then that only meant trouble. And trouble there was. In the middle of her rant her finger actually poked Bede and he reacted instantly. By flinching and making himself (and Gloria) take a step back purple eyes shrinking more in fear. And you saw red. No one saw it coming let alone Oleana. As something suddenly grabbed her extended arm and with a yank over she went. Colliding with a wall away from the two scared teens and other hand placed itself firmly against her other shoulder. Dazed she quickly shook her head and GLARED at you but any bite she might've thrown at you was shoved aside from your response. You were ANGRY. You were TIRED. And you were going to finally give her a piece of your mind!

"SHUT UP!!" Your bellow echoed across the street and into the air demanding silence especially from the woman you kept away from Bede. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! For Arceus sakes just shut up already! Do you ever just be quiet instead of yelling!?" You were getting very hard Pearl vibes from last year which only added to your anger. Oleana was VERY much a karen as well."You absolutely dumb excuse of a walk in closet!! I'm getting real tired of people like you trying to make my life and others lives a living heck to deal with!! And you happened to catch me in a bad mood." Your face pushed itself closer to her and she stared unsure as if this never happened to her before. Which probably hadn't. "Maybe if you didn't wear those stupid shoes you'd be able to pull your head out of the clouds and realize that you're not big, bad, or in charge anymore. AND YOU'RE REALLY TICKING ME OFF!" She made a squeaky gasp noise as you increased your grip on her. She was NOT going to get away. "Maybe your big head makes you think you're fat enough to throw your weight around and can get away with stuff, but you couldn't even get away with swatting a bug now!" Your scowl hardened. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM BEDE!! YOU HEAR ME!? ...LOOK AT ME!!" Her once eyes glancing around for an exit looked back at you from your second bellow. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!! YOU DON'T LOOK AT HIM! YOU DON'T TALK TO HIM! AND YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU HEAR ME!? HE'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH BECAUSE OF YOU!! AND SO HELP ME IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL SEARCH GALAR UNTIL I FIND YOU AND THEN I'LL DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING TO THE NEAREST PRISON MYSELF AND MAKE SURE OF IT!!"

Silence. Cold. Dead. Silence. No one spoke. No one made a move. And you didn't loosen your grip or move your gaze away from Oleana silent wide eyed stare. That is. Until something touched your shoulder. You instantly snapped over your shoulder and you blinked at the confusing sight of a pink and mint green umbrella on your shoulder.

"Well I certainly couldn't have put that in better words myself," an eerily voice said and when you looked behind you your eyes widened. Standing there with her umbrella to your shoulder. Behind her Bede was peeking out wide eyed at you and beside him was Gloria looking calmer and less afraid also glaring at Oleana. "Come now. Let's put her down. I believe she's learnt her lesson." You didn't move at first still surprise but then the tip of the umbrella poked your shoulder a couple times. "We're not getting any younger, Young Lady. Put her down." She spoke in an almost grandmotherly voice. That tone your grandma would use as a warning before you got into trouble.

You looked back to Oleana as she stared back at you. Scowled hard...And let go. Oleana slid down the wall until she sat on the ground. Until you jolted again before whirling around and meeting the eyes of..Raihan? With Sebastian behind him. Oh..Guess they were also part of the group that came here to get their pokemon checked also.

"I was wondering what was taking you children so long but this seems to answer that question." Opal gazed at Olena before humming and turning her gaze to Bede who blinked at her. "Go on now. Take your friend and go wait in the taxi, Dear. I do so love a good performance and I'm not planning on missing this one." Bede didn't even get a chance to answer before she then turned her gaze to Raihan. "Why don't you go grab dear Kabu to watch over her before the authorties arrive? Hm? And take your ladyfriend here to go calm her mind." She tilted her head to you as you still scowled at Oleana from Raihan's grip. "It would do her good to calm down."

Raihan nodded and instantly began to coax you away from Oleana and used his stronger strength begin to pull away from her and the crowd watching. However unknownst to all of you there were some other people watching. A special someone especially with red sunglasses.

"I am so sorry you had to see that, Your Highness. I promise it's not like that all the time. The woman. Oleana. Has been a troublemaker for quite sometime."

"Hm..No need. On the contrary." A smile spread across someone's face as they watched the Dragon Tamer scoot you away. "I find modest and strong women, very alluring."

#Raihan #Reader x Raihan #Raihan x Reader #Pokemon Raihan #pokemon shield #pokemon reader #reader #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon sword

[thefanficmonster]

Unconditionally. Completely. Infinitely.

Corpse Husband x Pregnant!Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Five months in and Y/N is not having such a nice time with the tenant that’s living inside her. She loves the company and wouldn’t exchange it for the whole world, but all the disadvantages are getting more annoying with each passing day. No worries, she’s not tackling it alone. Her amazing boyfriend, soon to be fiancé has her back.

Requested by Anon. Thank you so much for you request! As I mentioned in the reply, this is my first time writing a pregnancy fic so if I got anything incorrectly I sincerely apologize. I did some research but I can’t be sure I got everything right. If there’s something you’re not happy with, feel free to let me know. I’d be more than happy to fix the fic to your liking. Hope you enjoy ❤❤❤

“How are you doing, babe?“ This is his third time checking up on me in the last forty minutes and it’s downright hilarious. Since I can’t drink, for obvious reasons, I shoot my group chat a quick text to take a shot every time Corpse drops by to make sure I haven’t chewed off my own arm in frustration.

I’ve been chilling with a bun in the oven for about five and a half months now and it feels like I’m climbing a mountain that never stops getting steeper. I’ve progressively gotten more passive aggressive and cranky as though I myself am a baby. I think I’d be more aggressive and less passive if I could stand on my two legs without the room spinning right round. If I do manage to stand up, my feet won’t let me remain in that position for too long. I’ve heard foot massages help but to me that sounds like hell - I don’t like massages and especially not foot massages. I’d appreciate it if no hands came in contact with them, thank you.

“Yeah, I’m good. Don’t worry about me, I’m not that helpless.“ I give him a reassuring thumbs up. “Go do something fun, babe. Heck, do it twice - one time on my behalf. I don’t want you stuck with me like this.“

I’ve been trying my hardest to be my regular cheery self around Corpse. He’s been nothing but sweet, supportive and loving since day one and he doesn’t deserve to see me during my low points where my frustration is through the roof. Sure, this was kind of an oopsie for the both of us, but I’ll never forget how happy he was when I told him.

“So, you say it’s mine, huh?“ He jokes like this every now and then, never failing to get a giggle out of me.

“I don’t leave the house, silly! Of course it’s yours.“ Is my usual response. And it’s true. I really don’t leave the house. I didn’t leave it before and I can’t leave it even if I wanted to now. The pregnancy is hitting me hard and I spend almost all my days in bed.

It’s not a pleasing sight and I try to spare Corpse as much as I can. I try not to ask for too much from him, or from anyone really. I know I can do most of the things, if not everything, on my own, so why bother my loved ones to have to deal with my messy self.

“I’m not stuck, Y/N. I want to be here.“ He sits down next to me, “Plus, playing video games without you isn’t fun.“

I automatically cuddle up to him when he gets settled on the bed, resting my head on his chest, “Aw I miss play with you. But right now all of my little bit of energy is concentrated on not falling over whenever I stand up.” I start absentmindedly tracing abstract patterns on his chest, “Who knew that in order to develop a human you lose the ability to function as human yourself? I feel like a whale washed up on land. Big, tired and sad.”

He snorts, restraining his laughter just in case it might piss me off. He’s such a sweetheart, but he should know it would take a lot for him to piss me off. Even in this state. “How can I help? I’d do anything, you just tell me what. Maybe a mass-...” I lift my head to give him the well known finish-that-sentence-I-dare-you glare. “Maybe not...”

Suddenly, I feel pressure on both my temples. It’s not yet pain, but I know it will get there soon. I cringe as I force myself to remove my hand from Corpse’s chest, reaching towards the nightstand where there’s always Advil and at least two small bottles of water. I swallow one pill and chase it with a long gulp of water, making a mental note to take another if the pain doesn’t go away in 30-40 minutes.

“You know how you can help me?“ I say, carefully adjusting my position so the both of us are comfortable, “Distract me. Talk to me. Tell me how you see the future with this misfit that’s already giving me headaches.“

He chuckles, the noise vibrating throughout his chest. I can hear the speed on his heartbeat change - it has quickened. I can only write that off as excitement when he speaks: “I don’t think the headaches will go away. I have a frightening feeling they’re just gonna get worse. A lot more sleeplessness, but a lot less vomiting. A lot more standing up and walking around. A lot more smiles and laughter. More of our friends at out house. Who am I kidding? Rae alone will invade the entire house just to spend time with the baby. You and I be damned.”

I find myself visualizing every detail he describes, all the pictures so vivid and so realistic. A smile spreads on my face as I let myself get transported into Corpse’s version of the future. To be honest, his version is almost the exact same as mine, “If she’s so occupied with the baby, maybe we’ll be able to dip out for a date night every now and then. We may be parents, but we’re not even in our mid-twenties yet.” I sigh, closing my eyes for a second, “I now regret not leaving the house more often while I could, you know?”

“Oddly enough, I do too. I feel like I haven’t taken you on enough proper dates. We didn’t seen enough of the world while we had zero responsibilities, it almost feels like it’s too late now.“

I frown, sitting up to be at eye level with him. I gently rest my hand on his cheek, making sure he doesn’t try to avoid eye contact. “Listen here: Fuck the date nights and fuck the responsibilities. I wouldn’t mind being stuck in a single room if you’re there with me.” I think for a second. Deciding not to make the conversation too serious, I add, “That is if we have food and water. Wouldn’t want you to turn into a cannibal on me.”

He smiles, “I’d never and you know it.” I’m aware his response refers to both halves of my statement, putting my mind at ease.

Having sent my message across and having it well received, I sink back down in my previous position. His hand travels to my hair, his fingers combing through it carefully and sweetly, giving me that feeling of being in a bubble of love and safety. His touch has the ability to calm me down, comfort me, encourage me. He is my guiding light through the fog that represents the confusion from all the pain and exhaustion I’ve been suffering through recently. I know those bad sensations will pass, but the power he has over me is forever.

Him and I are forever. Well, Him and I and a new addition in the next four months.

“I love you so much, Y/N.“ He whispers, cutting through the comfortable silence.

“I love you too, Corpse.“ I whisper back.

“I hope our baby is like you. I hope it’ll be smart like you. Talk like you, act like you, look like you.“ He trails of, his voice wavering.

“I hope it’ll sound like you.“ I say mischievously, hiding my smirk in the fabric of his shirt

He laughs, “Sure, unless it’s a girl.”

“Are you kidding me?“ I giggle, “Especially if it’s a girl.“

His laughter rings in my ears, reminding me there’s always gonna be something to hold onto when you’re in pain. Be it his laughter, his touch, the look in his eyes. I’ll always have him there to relieve my pain. To take my mind off all my troubles. To love me.

And for me to love him right back.

Unconditionally. Completely. Infinitely.

@susceptible-but-siriusexual  @simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @hacker-ghost  @itsminniekat  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17  @chrysanthykios  @maehemscorpyus  @loraleiix  @letsloveimagines  @annshit  @i-cant-choose-a-username-help  @enigmaticmaze  @divine-artemis

#corpse husband #corpse #husband #corpse simp #corpsehusband #corpse x reader #corpse x y/n #corpse x you #corpse imagines #corpse imagine #corpse husband fanficiton #corpse husband fanfic #corpse husband x y/n #corpse husband x reader #corpse husband imagine #imagines #corpse fluff #fluff #love #romance #pregnancy #pregnant #reader #x reader #x y/n #requests open #request

[noladyme]

As It Should Be - A Raymond Smith One Shot

Raymond is the perfect gentleman, with a perfect home, and very settled habits. One of those habits had become to cancel dates at the last minute; and in stead spend the night in with his girl.

Now, she's had enough, and decides to challenge him on it, doing everything she can, to get on his nerves. The result is much more interesting than she'd anticipated.

Hell hath no fury like a girlfriend of a gentleman gangster, who has been stood up one too many times.

Ray had given me a key a few months before, during dinner at our favorite steakhouse – his backyard. We’d been celebrating 6 months together, and he’d handed me a small wrapped box, with a pretty bow tied around it. He’d most likely used a ruler to get the paper and the ribbon exactly the sizes he needed, to make it look as perfect as possible. His perfectionism both drove me mad, and turned me on immensely.

My hands had been shaking, partly in fear – I was no near ready for any diamond rings – but Ray had given me a slight smile. “Don’t worry, darling”, he said. “Nothing near as serious as you’re worried it might be”. “You telling me we’re not serious, Raymond?”, I replied snarkily. “Just open it, love”, he said.

Inside the tiny packet lay a golden key. “It’s for the house”, Ray said. “I want you to be able to come and go as you please… Just don’t try to break in to any locked freezers”. I raised a brow at him. “Is this because you don’t like my flat?”, I asked. “I know you have issues with council estates…”. “You spend most nights here anyway”, Ray said. “Look, I’m not asking you to move in… Unless you want to of course”. I laughed at his amused expression. “You wouldn’t last a week with me in the house!”, I said. “First time I use the wrong glass for red wine, or leave water stains on the bathroom mirror; you’ll go mad”. Ray blinked – his little adorable tick. “No, I won’t”. I tugged at his beard, and smiled. “Yes you will”.

Ray pressed the key into my hand. “Just… keep this, alright? The house feels more like a home when you’re here”. I leaned towards him, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I didn’t get you anything…”, I blushed. “That’s alright”, Ray smiled. “You can give me head in the shower later”.

I had used the key on more than one occasion – admittedly preferring Ray’s more comfortable bed to my own lumpy mattress in my one-bedroom rental. And both Ray and me had enjoyed when I’d been waiting for him in it, naked and ready to help him relax after a tense day of whatever it was Mickey had him doing all over London. Tonight, my plan was different.

Ray had cancelled four dates in a row, just as I was about to leave the house. He’d call just as I would be about to put on my shoes. “I’m so sorry, love. Work ran late. I’ll have Bunny pick you up, drop you at the house, yeah?”. And once again, I’d end up waiting for Raymond in his house, in my pretty dress; until he’d show up – an hour later – with a bouquet of roses or a pair of earrings too expensive for the queen, takeout from some fancy restaurant; and an apologetic smile on his face.

I was beginning to wonder whether Ray didn’t want to be in public with me. I wasn’t the kind if woman he’d usually meet while wining and dining lords and ladies all over England. Maybe my teacher’s salary and fondness of things like public transport – he’d practically begged me to let him get me a car, which I’d declined vehemently – was becoming too lower class to him. I decided to challenge him on it – and maybe, just maybe, I wanted to punish Ray just a little bit, for cancelling our plans for the hundredth time.

This time, I was ready. Ray called, on cue, just as I was about to slip on my shoes. “I’m so sorry, love…”, he began. “It’s alright, Ray. I understand”, I said. “I’ll pick up dinner on the way”. Ray paused for a moment. “I don’t want you waiting in some restaurant alone”, he said. “Don’t worry, babe. Bunny will be there”, I replied. “Tell you what. You can pick up the wine”. “Ripasso?”. I heard the smile in his voice. “You know me, I’m not choosey. Just make it red”, I said. “See you soon”, Ray said, and with after a few more warm words, we said goodbye, and hung up.

Bunny gave me large grin as I jumped into the back seat of the large Mercedes, dressed in leggings, a hoodie, and a smug expression. “Hello, Bunny”, I said. “We need to make a stop”. “Of course, miss. Where?”, he asked. “McDonalds drive-through”, I said. Bunny’s smile became impossibly bigger. “Ray is in for it, isn’t he…?”, he asked. “You fucking know it”, I smiled, and leaned back in my seat.

Once inside the house, I began my preparations. My first stop after kicking off my shoes and setting down the bag of food in the kitchen, was in Rays closet. I checked to see Fletcher wasn’t hiding in it, as he’d done once before; and then went through the collection of shirts. I chose a white Armani, shrugged of my hoodie; and put it on. For an extra touch, I left the closet door open, mussed up the sheets on the bed, and threw the duvet and a pillow on the floor. Next up was the bathroom. I opened the lid to the toilet, washed up – making sure to spray some water on the mirror – and dropped the towel on the floor, once I’d wiped my hands.

I dropped my hoodie on a chair in the hallway, and made my way to the kitchen. Being a big fan of Rays espresso machine, I made myself an americano, poured it into a tea mug – drank half of it – and left the mug in the sink. I took out two plates, carrying them over to the coffee table. I chose the actual silver silverware from the drawer, and put it by the plates.

With a few final touches, and after touching up my makeup, I sat down in one of leather recliners, and put my feet up – waiting for Raymond to come home. It wasn’t long before I heard his keys turn in the lock, and I readied myself for a potential catastrophe. I heard his footsteps in the hallway, and got up to stand. “Darling?”, he called out. “Something smells… deep fried”. I heard him stumble for a moment, probably over my sneakers on the floor. “I’m in here”, I said, and went to meet him in the kitchen – knowing his usual route when he got home.

Ray looked as dapper as ever, in a tweed jacket, a vest, and a pair of dark grey slacks. He looked mildly annoyed about having tripped over my shoes; and was holding a bottle of wine in one hand, and a wrapped box from Selfridges. When he saw my relaxed attire, he looked confused.

“I love when you wear my shirts, but that’s…”. “Armani. I know", I said, and tugged at it. “It’s very comfortable“.

Ray shrugged, put down the wine, went over to slip an arm around me, and kissed me deeply. I was finding it difficult to keep my composure, as I stood pressed against his firm frame; and inhaled his scent. “I brought you something… to apologize", he said, and handed me the beautifully adorned box. “You didn’t have to, Ray", I said, and suppressed the urge to open it; in stead tossing it on the kitchen island. He looked at me with narrowed eyes, and I kissed his cheek. “Dinner’s ready. Go wash up". Raymond stole another kiss, and squeezed my bottom, before going back out into the hallway, and towards the bathroom.

“Is this your sweater in the hallway?”, Ray called out to me, as he passed it. “Probably”, I responded. “You don’t usually wear hoodies”. “You could hang it…”, he said. “Never mind, I’ll do it”. I smiled to myself, imagining his grumpy face as he hung my 15 quid hoodie, next to his own Burberry trench on the coatrack.

Once Ray returned from the bathroom, I was sipping some of the delicious red wine, from one of the cognac glasses. Ray didn’t say a word about the state I’d left his bathroom in, but he did twitch at my choice of glass. “Something wrong?”, I asked sweetly. “Nothing at all”, he said, and tried for a smile. I handed him a glass of his own, and he struggled with not holding it in his palm, as he would have, had it been filled with brandy. I clinked my glass to his, and smiled. “Everything alright with work? What made you late?”, I asked. “A meeting with some people… Nothing that would interest you”, Raymond said, and turned towards the counter, noticing the half full mug of coffee in the sink. “I’m happy you’re making yourself at home”, he grunted, and peeked out the corner of his eyes at me. “Well, you told me to…”, I said, and linked my fingers with his.

Rays eyes twinkled, and he leaned in for another kiss; parting his lips, to deepen it. His tongue probed for entry to my mouth, but I pulled back. “Let’s eat”, I said, and walked towards the living room area. “I’ll set the table”, Ray said. “I already did”, I smiled. He looked confusedly at the dining table. “We eating outside?”, he asked. “No. I set us up over here”, I said casually, and threw myself on the couch; patting the seat next to me. Ray looked flabbergasted. “I have this lovely dining table…”, he tried. “Bring the wine”, I said, ignoring his words.

Ray sat down next to me, and filled my glass. I picked up the paper bag of food, and began distributing burgers and fries on the plates. “I got chili cheese tops and chicken wings as well”, I said. “Eat up”. I picked up the knife and fork, and began cutting into my burger. “That’s a … salad fork”, Ray said, his voice choked. “There’s salad in the burger”, I shrugged. Ray looked at me incredulously, as I dipped a few fries in my ketchup, and then – deliberately – let some of it fall and stain his shirt I was wearing. “Woops”, I said, and grabbed a napkin, beginning to dab at the stain. “Fuck, darling. That’s dry clean only!”, Ray sighed. “I’ll get it out… maybe some bleach”, I said. His eyes widened.

“What’s going on with you?”, he asked. “Nothing", I said, feigning confusion. I took a big bite from my burger, using the silver salad fork to put it there. “Yum". Ray took the fork from me, just as I was about to take another bite. “What are you doing?", I frowned “Why are you testing me?”, he demanded. “I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean, babe", I said. “I’m just enjoying a date with my darling”. “In a stained Armani shirt, and leggings?”, Raymond said. I shrugged. “It wasn’t like we were going out anyway". “I had reservations at…”, he began. I blew a raspberry at him, catching him completely of guard. “Like there was ever a chance we’d use those", I said.

Raymond’s eyes finally lit up in understanding. “You’re angry that I was late, and we had to change plans tonight". “Tonight?”, I sneered. “Try the last… five dates we were supposed to go on". Ray pinched the bridge of his nose, and took a deep breath. “I see… This isn’t how I’d seen the evening going either, love". “Sure it was", I said, getting up from the couch with my cognac glass of wine in hand. I took off my socks, and walked over towards the door to the yard. I opened it, and threw my socks outside. Ray got up behind me, in shock. “Its fine, really. I don’t mind the fact that you don’t want to be seen in public with me. That I’m not worth enough to be taken out somewhere nice”. Using a chair as a step, I walked onto the dining table, and made a little catwalk back and forth. Ray looked equal parts terrified, astounded and enraged. “This way, I can show you how truly at home I feel here".

“Please get off the table", he croaked. “No”, I said, taking a sip of my wine. “Please", Ray tried again, obviously trying to control himself. “Not happening", I said. I stopped my leisure stroll back and forth, and looked Raymond square in the face. We were both quiet, and it was like a standoff in one of those old western movies. “Get off the fucking table, or else…”, Ray said, patience clearly wearing thin. “Or else… what?”, I challenged him.

Though enjoying my little game, I was also beginning to fear that I was digging myself into a bigger hole than I could get out of. Raymond’s eyes were on fire, but I thought I could see something behind the rage – something quite intriguing. I decided to keep my game going. Either Ray would kick me out on my ass, or something else would happen; something much more fun. Either way, I’d have some sort if closure. “I will spank you six ways from Sunday", he said. I hadn’t expected that. “Is that a promise?”, I asked, not sounding remotely as confident as I’d hoped to.

As I lifted the glass to my lips again – all the time keeping my eyes on Ray’s – I shifted my fingers, so that I was palming it in my hand. Ray blinked again, twitching from my teasing.

Suddenly he made a jolt forwards, as if launching himself at me, and I almost fell of the table as I stumbled backwards. Looking down myself, I realized some of the red wine had splashed onto his shirt. “You made me spill my wine!”, I said. “Last fucking chance, darling”, Ray said, walking towards me; almost on the prowl. “We gonna dance now?”, I said. I walked to the middle of the table again – downed my drink – and used my toes to push the bowl of fruit towards the edge. Ray caught it just as it toppled over.

He walked over to the kitchen island, put down the bowl, and calmly took of his jacket; before rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He walked over to the head of the table, cleared his throat; and set down his palms on it – his eyes dark. “Right. This is going to hurt me more than it will you”, he declared, before pouncing on me; catching my legs, and throwing me over his shoulder. He gave me a hard spank over the ass. “Will you behave now?”. “No!”, I yelled. He set me down, and turned me around by the shoulders; forcing my upper body down over the table, with a hand pressed down between my shoulder blades. I could honestly say I’d never been more turned on in my life.

“I asked you nicely, and you still acted like an imp”, he said. He used his free hand to pull down my leggings, exposing my panty-clad bottom; and as I kicked my legs, he removed them completely. “Impish behavior demands punishment”. He delivered a hard smack on my left cheek. “Ow!”, I yelled, trying to wrestle myself away from him. “You’re spanking me like a child, now?”. Ray leaned to hold me down with his whole arm. “Well, if you’re going to behave like a child…”, Ray said, and spanked my right cheek. His hand rubbed over my skin afterwards, almost soothingly. “You’re the one who should be punished!”, I growled. “You’ve been cancelling all our plans lately”. Ray spanked me on the left cheek again. “That’s what you’re doing? Punishing me?”, he asked. He gave my right cheek another smack. “When all I’m doing is keeping you happy… getting you flowers and presents; telling you to make yourself at home in this nice house… Oh, no; love. I’m a fucking prince to you”. “Yeah, I’m really feeling my princess Di fantasy here!”, I scoffed.

Raymond began spanking both my cheeks in turn. I let out yelps and whimpers at each hit; as they sent signals straight to my core. “This is for the silverware (smack)… This is for throwing the towel on the floor (smack)… For the glasses (smack)… For leaving your shoes about for me to trip over (smack)… And this (smack), is for walking all over my dining table on your bare feet (smack)…”. I was struggling in vain to get free; and at the same time wanted this torture to never end. His fingers ghosted my covered folds, and I drew in a short breath. Ray pulled me up to stand, and raised a brow, as he looked down at me. “Now, will you behave?”. “Not in a million fucking years”, I said.

Before he could catch me, I sprang towards the kitchen island, crawling on to it. Ray caught my ankle, but I managed to get free; and got down on the other side – the island now a barrier between us. I smiled wickedly. I grabbed the half full mug form the sink, and held it up as to spray the coffee at him. “Careful, Raymond. I know how you dislike getting dirty”, I smirked. “I’ll show you how fucking dirty I can get, babe", Ray growled, and sprang over the island, making me drop the mug back into the sink in pure shock.

Ray pulled me into his arms, pinning my arms down at my sides, and attacking my lips with a feverish kiss. I didn’t struggle now; my body responding by completely giving in to lust. After a moment of passionately kissing me, Ray let me go; and ripped open the shirt. “You ruined my shirt”, he growled, and pulled it off me; leaving me in my bra and panties. He was still impeccably dressed himself. The mix of his warm body and the cool fabric of his vest pressing against my naked skin was heaven. I began leaning against Ray, and bit my lip with a smirk. He shook his head. “You want to use things the way they’re not supposed to be used? Fine. Get your ass on that counter”.

My jaw dropped. Sex with Raymond was always thrilling, and we’d enjoyed these sessions, not only in his – and a few times my – bed, the backseat of his car, and in the shower; but also, one time in a fitting room, where Ray had come with me to help chose a dress for a job interview at a private school. I made the mistake of bending over with my back to him; and suddenly found myself pressed against the wall, with Ray covering my mouth with his hand, to muffle my moaning as he screwed me into oblivion. I hadn’t gotten the job, but I did gain a memory for life. In spite of this, we’d never had sex in his kitchen. Ray had this obsession with keeping everything in his home as it should be, and I had a feeling that it might be because he needed to control at least some things in his otherwise quite unpredictable life.

I gave myself a second to feel bad for having disrupted his perfect home base; before he lifted me up to sit on the kitchen island. He snatched a pair of scissors out of a drawer, pulled out the fabric of my panties, and cutting through them at my hips. “You bought me these!”, I said. “I don’t care”, he growled. “I’ll get you some new ones”. He ripped the ruined panties of me, and looked down at the apex of my thighs. The cool wooden surface against my bottom made the sting from the spanking subdue, and I shifted to get more comfortable. The moment seemed to drag out forever, as Ray just looked at me. He took a deep breath. “Don’t move”.

Ray left the room for a moment, and then returned; having poured himself a proper glass of probably very expensive scotch. Leaning back against the counter opposite me, crossing his legs; he took a sip of the drink, and commenced his staring at me. “I have to say, that is the most appetizing piece of meat laid out in my kitchen in a long time”, he said. “Ray…”, I said, feeling myself melt under his gaze. A wicked smile ghosted his face, when suddenly his phone buzzed in his pocket. He leisurely took it out, and picked up the call.

“Yes?... Handled it this morning. Meeting’s set up for tomorrow afternoon… No, you didn’t interrupt anything, boss. Just preparing dinner…”. He began strolling calmly around the kitchen, and I didn’t dare move. “I was about to ask her, but she’s a bit preoccupied at the moment… I’m sure she’d love to, count on us…”. He took another sip of his scotch, and then held the glass to my lips; seemingly for me to taste. As I opened my mouth, he pulled the glass back, and dribbled some of the amber liquid down my chest instead. I frowned, and parted my lips to speak; but Ray set down the glass, and held a finger to my lips. “Will we be needing extra security…? I’ll take care of it… Yes, of course, I’ll wait…”.

With the phone still to his ear, Raymond licked the trail of scotch on my skin, from my collarbone, down to the top of my breast. My breath hitched at the sensation of his hot tongue. Just as he was about to move the cup of my bra down, to go for my nipple, he stepped back again. “Yes, I’m here… Did he…? Well, he’s a right cunt, but consider it handled… I’ll keep you in the loop. Goodnight, boss. Give my best to Rosalind”.

He hung up the phone, and put it on the counter next to me. His fingertips travelled over my thighs; avoiding my warmth. “Sorry about that, but you know how it is”, he said. “Now where were we…?”. “You were wasting a 1000-pound scotch on my tits”, I jeered. “1500”, Ray said. “And I wouldn’t call it wasted”. He took another sip of the scotch, but before he swallowed it, he put his lips to mine; letting me have a taste. “What was that about you not being worth enough? I usually don’t baste my meat in expensive whiskey”.

He put his hands on my ass, and made me scoot forwards on the counter. His fingers travelled down my belly, and finally met my folds; dipping in between them. I drew in a ragged breath, as he slid his fingers up and down. “Let’s have a taste”, he said, and removed them again, putting them into his mouth. “Sweet, bit tangy, perfectly moist”. He dipped his fingers again, this time letting one of them dip in to the knuckle, and crook upwards. I threw my head back, and closed my eyes. He removed the finger again, and I groaned. “Quit with the games, Ray”, I complained. “You started this, love”, he said. “I’m just finishing it”. “Then, bloody finish it!”, I retorted.

Raymond stepped back, corrected his glasses, and clicked his tongue chidingly. “Now, now. No need to be greedy. We’ve got all night. As you said, dinner plans are out the window”, he said. “Fine. I wasn’t hungry anyway”, I said. He raised a brow at me. “No? Let’s see if we can wake that appetite”. He thrusted two fingers into me, and used his free hand to get me to lie back; before moving it down to brush against my clit. “Please…”, I whimpered. “Please, what? Forgive me, Ray? I’ll never be a brat again, Ray?”. He thrusted his fingers upwards, touching my sensitive spot inside, as he began rubbing circles on my nub. “No…”, I said, not wanting to give in. I struggled to keep my composure, but as Ray began thrusting harder, and stroked deliciously at me, I was soon too far gone to speak. “I’m…”. “That’s what I thought”, Ray said calmly. I clambered to hold on to something, put found nothing but a rolling pin; which fell to the floor, making a clanking sound to accompany my own cry of passion, as I came.

Ray gently withdrew his fingers, wiped them of in a handkerchief from his pocket; and took my hand for me to sit up. “All good?”, he asked, his face not giving away an ounce of emotion. His pants were giving away enough, though; as the bulge on the front of them had grown quite a bit. “Living room”, he ordered, and as I got off the counter, and walked towards the door, he turned around, and quickly washed the mug in the sink. “Tea mug for coffee. Honestly…”, I heard him mutter.

As I stood in the dimly lit living room alone, waiting, I shivered from the chill entering through the still open door to the back yard. “Ray?”, I called out. “Coming, darling”, he responded, and he came through the doorway; walking over to the patio door, and closing it. He gestured at me to get over to the couch. “Knees”. He was carrying the whiskey-glass, and refilled it. “Don’t I get one?”, I asked. “No… I said; knees”. He sat down on the couch, legs spread casually, and looked on, as I got down on my knees in front of him. The elitist machismo in the room, was thick enough to carve with a butter-knife. “How’s the appetite?”. “Getting there”, I admitted. “Well, bon apetit”, Ray said, and gestured towards his crotch.

I rested my elbows on his thighs, and unbuttoned his pants; pulling down the zipper. Ray made no move to help me unwrap his erection, so I went on to pull down the elastic of his boxer-briefs as well. He let out a silent grunt, when I wrapped my hand around him; and I smiled at his respond to my touch. I began stroking the velvety skin on his hardness; and Ray took a sip of his drink as he watched me. I stuck out my tongue, and flicked the tip over the sensitive spot under the head; before flattening it, and sucking him into my mouth. Ray tasted as good as he looked and smelled. A perfectly expensive taste, with an undertone of something animal – dangerous even. I bobbed my head up and down, hollowing my cheeks to make my pull on his penis tighter. Putting my hand into his bowers, I managed to get his testicles over the elastic as well. This made me able to massage them gently; rolling them in my palm the way I knew he liked.

My vagina was still sensitive from Rays former treatment, so when he leaned forwards, ran a hand down my back – between my cheeks – and slid a finger between my folds; I almost came from just that second of contact. Ray sat back again, and continued his viewing of my work on his cock. “Don’t stop on my account”, he said. I made a swallowing movement, and another stifled groan came from him. I hummed slightly; making vibrations to add to the sensation. I added pressure to his testicles, and felt them tighten in my hand. Apparently, Ray was even more impacted by my treatment, than his face gave of. I released him from my mouth with a pop, and smiled sweetly up at him. “Enjoying yourself, Raymond?”, I asked. He cupped my chin. “You know I am, darling”, he smiled. “But it seems to me, you are as well”. I nodded, and bit my lip.

I went back to sucking him off, while he finished his drink. I could tell he was struggling not to grab on to me, so I took his free hand, and put it on my head. At first, he simply ran his fingers through my hair; but then held on to it, and began controlling my movements. I let go of his testicles, and held on to his thighs, as I let him take charge of me. Ray led me to take him shallowly; then pressed me as far down as I could take him. After a few minutes, he couldn’t keep quiet anymore, and let out audible grunts and gasps, accompanied by a series of fuck, babe and that’s perfect, darling. With one final deep push, his cock twitched; and he came in my mouth – holding me there until he was completely finished. He let go of me, and I sat back on my heels; swallowing.

Ray took a moment to calm his breathing, before getting on his feet, and helping me to stand in front of him. He put himself back into his pants, and led me in front of him, towards the bedroom. I knew we’d end up there at some point; and suddenly felt a chill down my spine, when I remembered the state, I’d left the room in. Before he could open the door, I stopped him. “Ray… Uhm…”, I started. “What?”, he asked. “I sort of left a mess in there… The closet…”. “Fletcher wasn’t in it again, was he?”, Ray growled. “No, nothing like that…”, I said. He gently pushed me out of the way, and opened the door; stepping inside, and turning on the lights. “The fuck…”, he said from inside. I moved up behind him. “At least I didn’t spill ketchup on anything…”, I tried.

Ray began removing his vest and shirt, not saying a word all the while. I was worried – and at the same time hoping – that I was in for another spanking. I went to sit on the bed, and heard Ray open his belt behind me. “No", he said calmly. I turned to face him, and saw he was shedding his pants and boxer briefs. Undressed, Ray was no less regal. He might as well be wearing a dinner jacket, and holding a glass of port. As it was, he was naked as the day he was born, standing proud and fit. I sent a thankful thought to his personal trainer; or, Coach, as I knew him. Ray put his clothes in the hamper, removed his glasses, and placed them on the dresser in the spot he always did.

“Seeing as you’ve thrown half the bedding on the floor, we might as well start there”, he said. “But the bed is right there…”, I said, slipping an arm around his torso. I ran my hand up his chest, and back down, running my nails through Rays pubic hair – as always, well groomed, and blonde as his head. He raised a brow at me, and caught my wrist, as I was about to take a hold of his penis. “And the red wine glasses were right within reach too, but you still chose something else", he said. “You asked for this, love. Its upside down-day".

With a swoop of his arm, Ray had me on the floor, and he patted my hip to make me roll onto my stomach. Once there, he gave me hard smack over my bottom. “Lift", he ordered, and when I did, he took the pillow; putting it under my hips, so my ass was raised in the air, and my chest against the duvet covered floor. I looked back over my shoulder, and saw Ray kneeling behind me. The view of my bottom and wetness had made him hard again, within record time; and he stroked himself a few times, while he probed my entrance with his fingertips. Stroking my cheeks with his free hand, he then gave me one more hard spank. With a firm hold on himself and one of my hips, he pushed into me; bottoming out with the first thrust.

“Oh, my… fuck!”, I cried out. Ray stroked my back up and down gently, and then spanked me again. “I thought my spanking was over”, I whimpered. Ray leaned over me, to kiss my neck, and speak into my ear. “Why would I stop, when you keep making those delicious little squeaks every time I do?”. He smacked me one more time, and I whimpered loudly. “There we are".

He began moving his hips, the blunt tip of his cock rubbing perfectly against my front wall. I rolled my lower body, and with the pillow under my hips, my back was perfectly arched to make the sensation of Ray inside me more intense than ever. Ray kissed and nibbled at the sweet spot on my neck, as he moved in and out of me. “You taste better than a Big Mac, any day of the week”, he chuckled. His warm breath against my skin, sent small jolts to my warmth, and I moaned wantonly. I clenched the muscles in my tunnel around him; knowing that it was one of his favorites among my tricks. “Fuck, you know what that does to me, love…”, he croaked. I repeated the action, and Ray let out a choked moan.

He placed a hand on either side of me, and held himself up to thrust shallowly, before bottoming out again. I craved his closeness, and tried lifting my body to have his chest against my back; but Ray pushed me down. He took each of my wrists in one hand, holding them behind my back, and grabbed a handful of my hair – holding on tightly, as he forced me against the floor. I was completely at Raymond’s mercy in this position. I couldn’t move my arms, lift my back or my head; and he had placed his knees between mine – making it impossible for me to put my legs together. All this brute dominance, and his casual upper-crust demeanor, had me feeling like I was in sex-paradise.

He went back to shallow thrusts, and then one deep one, trying to make me reach my climax by stimulating my g-spot. Soon after, he was successful; heat rose from my feet and all through my body, and I felt my walls contract. I cried out in extasy. I heard Raymond groan, trying to hold back his own orgasm; apparently not finished with me yet.

After I’d settled around him, Ray pulled out. “I’d love to shag you in the backyard now, but its late, and cold; so, if you don’t mind, let’s go for the bed", he said. “That works", I agreed, though my body was still convulsing. Ray leaned down and left small kisses up my spine. “Do you need to stop?”, he asked softly. “No! Please…”, I pleaded. I managed, with Raymond’s help, to get onto the bed; my legs shaking, and breath ragged. Ray grabbed the pillow and duvet, and quickly made the bed up properly; an impressive feat, as my exhausted body was splayed out on it. He got under the duvet with me, and gently spread my legs, to lay between them.

Hooking a leg around Ray’s hips, I pulled him towards me. “I think you’ve learnt your lesson, now”, he smiled, and stroked my cheek gently. I put a hand behind his head, and lifted my head to catch his lips with my own. Our tongues stroked softly against each other, and I let out a content sigh. “Soft finish?”, I smiled. Ray lifted his head, and raised a brow at me. “Fuck no”, he declared.

Suddenly, both my knees were hooked over his shoulders, and he pushed into me with a groan. My eyes rolled back into my head, as Ray began thrusting hard and fast into me; without mercy. Every thrust felt like it reached the deepest parts of me. Gone was the well-groomed gentleman dom. Ray was a wild animal, his jaw clenched, and pupils blown. His hands were holding on to my breasts, making his arms force my thighs together. I was sure that I would have bruises on both my breasts and my thighs from his attack, could not give less of a fuck; from the extreme orgasm that was building in my core. Crying out wasn’t enough; I screamed Ray’s name so loud, I was sure his neighbors would show up with noise complaints. In his current state, I was convinced he’d probably meet them in the door naked, telling them to either get in and enjoy the show, or fuck right off.

I grabbed his biceps, and dug my nails into his skin, leaving my own marks on my lover. My legs stretched out, and every muscle in my body tightened, as I exploded. Ray growled from my walls tightening around him, and the pain my nails were surely bringing him. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes burrowing into mine. My orgasm was at its peak, and my voice hit a pitch I didn’t know it could. Ray kept thrusting, and the feeling was getting so intense, I was unsure whether or not I’d pass out before long. “Please… I… Too much!”, I whimpered; as my body was thrusted back and forth from Ray’s movements. “Almost, baby. Keep going…”, he growled.

Just as I began thinking this is it. I’m going to die from too much orgasming, Raymond pounded into me three final times, and came inside me with a roar.

I was shaking as Ray dropped my legs from his shoulders, kissed my unmoving lips; and pulled out of me. He laid down next to me, and gave a me a crooked smile. “You still with me?”, he chuckled. “I just came… a lot!”, I croaked. “I could tell…”, he said, and moved a lock of my hair out of my face. “You’ll be happy to know, that so did I”. I laughed hoarsely.

“I should get cleaned up, before I get cum all over your Egyptian cotton sheets”, I sighed. “Fuck it. They were on sale”, Ray shrugged. I shook my head in mock confusion. “Excuse me?”, I said. “You bought something on sale?”. “Just keep it between us, love”, he said, and pulled me close, to kiss me. I tugged at his bottom lip with my teeth. “I still have to go pee”, I said. I crawled out of the bed, and made my way towards the door. “Please put the towel back on the hook, when you’re done washing your hands”, he called after me. I smirked at him over my shoulder.

Once I’d finished my business, I made my way back to the bedroom. Ray had already fixed up the bed, and left his spare robe for me over a chair. Putting it on, I searched for him; finding him clearing up the mess I’d made around the house. I leaned against the doorway, watching him. “I’m sorry”, I lied. “No, you’re not”, he said. After having put the plates in the dishwasher, he walked over to me, taking my hand and pulling me with him, to sit down on the couch; where earlier he’d been enjoying my lips around his cock. “And as much as I enjoyed screwing you senseless just now, I’d like to know where all this came from”.

I looked down at our joined hands. ”You’ve been avoiding going out with me”, I said. “I know I don’t fit in to your posh lifestyle, but…”. “That’s what this was about? Getting back at me?”, he asked. “Partly”, I admitted. “And I suppose I wanted to… make you see what I’m really like. So, you could make a decision to either accept me, or…”. “Finish it”, Ray finished my sentence for me. I nodded.

He sighed deeply. “Darling… First of all, the fact that you don’t give a shit about which fork to use, and throw your clothes around, annoys the hell out of me; and makes me love you even more”. I met his eyes, and let out a short breath. Raymond had never used that word before. “Love…?”, I whispered. “Fuck yes, I love you”, he smiled. “And you not only fit in my life, you’d leave one hell of a hole, if you left. So no, I don’t want to finish it. You’re not getting rid of me by feeding me fast food, and throwing your socks in my yard”.

I frowned. “Then, why are you always working late? Cancelling our plans?”, I asked. “Well, that is the second part of this conversation, I suppose”, he said. “I knew we’d get here at some point, but I’ve been putting it off… You know what I do, isn’t exactly legal”. “Of course I do”, I said. “It’s not normal to sleep with a .48 in the drawer of your bedside table”. Ray brushed his thumb over my knuckles, and continued. “We’ve been having some issues with another… organization, in town”, he said. “They’ve been making some threatening moves… I’m worried, that of you’re seen with me, they’ll try to use you to get to me”. My jaw dropped. “As in… They’d kill me?”, I croaked. “I don’t think they’d go that far, but I’m not willing to take that chance”, Ray said firmly.

I took a few moments to think. “Ray… you can’t keep me locked up in this house”, I said. “I’m more than happy to do what you ask me to keep safe; but at some point, I’d like to get out… make all those posh cunts jealous of my arm candy”. I tugged gently at his beard, winking at him. “Who says you’re not the arm candy, darling?”, he smiled. “What, in my 20 quid H&M dresses, and worn shoes?”, I scoffed.

Ray stood up, and led me into the kitchen. He grabbed the wrapped box. “Actually, that’s why I got you this”, he said, and handed it to me. “Now, that was quite a bit more than 20 quid, but I’m sure you’ll look just as lovely in it, as you do in everything else you wear”. I blushed, and began unwrapping the box, opening the lid, to reveal a beautiful cocktail dress; in my exact size. “I don’t have anywhere to wear this!”, I said. “And it’s too expensive to keep at my flat. I’ll get robbed. I had to buy a lockbox for those earrings you got me”. “Michael has a birthday-party coming up next weekend. His wife will have my bollocks, if I don’t show; with a date”, Raymond said. “So, I can’t cancel on you this time”.

I took out the dress, and held it against me. “Bringing me as your date for your boss’ party… that’s pretty official, love”, I smiled. “It is, and it’s about time”, Ray responded. “And as far as where to store it…”. He tilted his head, and looked pleadingly. “Please leave that rat infested hell hole of a flat, and move in here permanently. I have to take a shower every time I come home from that place”. “It’s not that bad”, I said. “My next-door neighbor bakes me cookies every Christmas”. “And the one further down the hall, sells smack out of his trunk”, Ray retorted.

I bit my lip. “You really want me here? With my novelty mugs, and sneakers littering the hallway?”. “Absolutely”, Ray assured me. “Gives me ample opportunity to shag you on every surface we didn’t make it to tonight”. “Even the table in the backyard?”, I grinned. “We’ll have to make sure the grill isn’t so hot, you burn your perfect ass”, he said. “What do you say…?”. “Fuck it. Why not…?”.

Ray smiled warmly, and wrapped me in his arms. “Just for future reference; I prefer Burger King over Mickey D’s”.

--- 

#raymond smith x reader #ray smith #raymond smith #Ray smith reader #Raymond smith x oc #Ray smith x oc #the gentlemen #Raymond smith smut #Ray smith smut #Raymond smith fluff #charlie hunnam

[starlight-loki]

Music Heals the Soul (Loki x Reader)

Or, That Time Loki Discovered His New Favourite Pastime With You

Warnings: nothing but fluff -- although this is really corny if i must say so myself, my sincere apologies.

Word Count: smol guy -- 995 words

A/N: I'm nearly done with finals, so once I regain my full brain power I'll be back to tackling my requests and longer fics :') Just thought I'd whip this lil fic up in the meantime for some good ol' fluff before I go back to writing angsty stuff hahah

enjoy ❤️

"You, of all people, seem like the last person who would ever enjoy music."

You frowned at Loki, who mirrored your own confused expression as he leaned against your doorframe. Lightly tugging off your headphones, you paused your music and squinted at him as you tried to comprehend the question he just asked you.

"What?" You asked incredulously, a laugh of disbelief erupting out of you as you beckoned him into your room. Loki sat down across from you on your bed, and you caught the distasteful glare he quickly shot towards your phone.

"I feel like I should be offended by your comment," you continued slowly. "But at the same time I feel like your definition of 'music' is different from mine."

"I mean Midgardian music, obviously."

You could've sworn you saw Loki's lip curl in disgust as he spoke.

"Oh, and Asgardian music is better?" You retorted, crossing your arms over your chest as you tried your best not to crack a smile.

"In fact, yes." Loki showed no sign of amusement as he nodded earnestly at your question. "Our music is far better than the cacophony that Stark plays every day. But... I would've thought you'd have better taste than that, Y/N."

Unable to contain yourself, you burst out laughing as you realized what Loki meant. Tony had been playing so much metal and classic rock with little other variation that Loki must've assumed music on Earth was nothing more than electric guitars and Ozzy Osbourne.

"Loki, we've got more music than what Tony plays!" You exclaimed through your laughs. You tugged your headphones off, and reached forward to place them over Loki's ears. The Asgardian, in response, recoiled away from you with a frown.

"What do you think you're-"

"It's okay." You reassured him with a smile. "They don't hurt, they just go over your ears like this. See?"

You put your headphones back over your own ears to show him there was nothing to fear. Loki nodded hesitantly, and you set your headphones gently back over his ears.

"I will never forgive you if you play DC/AC." Loki grumbled, his hands already hovering over your headphones in preparation to throw them off.

"It's AC/DC, doofus." You snorted. "And put your hands down, just relax okay? This will be much better, I promise."

"You're lucky I trust you."

You quickly scanned through your playlists, before coming across a series of old songs from the 1930s.

Perfect, you thought to yourself as you tapped on the first one. There was nothing quite as magical as the dusty crackle of an old recording. Old music had that indescribable ability to transport you to another world, and you knew that was just what Loki needed to experience.

Biting your lip in anticipation, you sat back and watched Loki's reaction as the first few notes of the song began to play. His eyes widened in confusion, and you noticed his hands tense over your headphones as he began to lift them off.

"Y/N, what is this-"

You reached forward quickly, placing your own hands gently over Loki's to keep them in place.

"Just wait a few more seconds," you pleaded quickly, shooting him your best smile. "Please? For me?"

Loki rolled his eyes and nodded slowly in resignation.

"Fine."

As the music continued to play, you noticed Loki's resistance began to melt away. You could see it in his eyes, it happened slowly, then all at once: his stoic expression softened, his eyes glazed over, and his hands drifted into his lap like leaves falling gently off a branch.

Loki sat there in front of you in silence, seemingly forgetting you were in the room with him. You could tell from the look in his eyes that he was somewhere far away as he listened, and you smiled to yourself at the dramatic change in Loki's behaviour.

As the last few notes of the song rang out, Loki lowered your headphones gently and gazed at you with shining eyes.

"It's beautiful." He seemed lost for words as he spoke softly to you, and you nodded in agreement as you took his hand and held it in both of your own.

"Isn't it?" You couldn't seem to keep the smile off your face as you took in Loki's wonder-filled expression. "Old music just has that... magical touch. It heals the soul."

"Unlike Stark's music, which destroys the soul." Loki retorted with a smile. You nudged the Asgardian playfully with a laugh.

"Loki! There's more good music out there than you think, I promise."

A moment of silence passed between the two of you as Loki examined your headphones with a frown.

"What's wrong?" You asked curiously. Loki looked up at you with warmth in his eyes.

"Is there a way for us to listen... together?"

You nodded and sprang up from your bed, grabbing your earbuds from your nightstand before returning and connecting them to your phone.

"Put this in your left ear," You instructed, sitting back down beside Loki before passing him one of your earbuds. Loki watched as you took the other one and placed it in your ear, and he copied your movements with a small nod.

"More old music?" You asked. "Or would you like to try something newer?"

"Old music, please." Loki requested, leaning back to lie down on your bed. He looped his arm around yours with a grin and tugged you down so you were lying beside him. As you giggled at his actions, Loki curled in closer to you.

"This'll be our secret, okay? We could make this a routine?" You whispered with a smile. Loki closed his eyes, but hummed in agreement.

"I would love that." He replied, a small smile of his own gracing his features.

You never thought you'd spend your evenings curled up with the God of Mischief himself, listening to big band music, but there was a first time for everything.

And what a beautiful thing it was.

_

TAGLIST: @startrekkingaroundasgard @justasmisunderstoodasloki@delightfulheartdream @pastyoverlord265 @lowkeytesss @levylovegood @that-little-zebunny

#loki x reader #loki x gender neutral reader #loki imagine #loki x reader imagine #mcu loki #loki x reader hc #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson x reader #loki oneshot #loki #loki headcanon #the avengers

[scapegrace74-blog]

New Ways of Turning Into Stone, Chapter 7

A/N  For anyone waiting patiently for this chapter, I apologize.  Somewhere in the midst of writing this story, I fell out of love with it, making it very hard to find the inspiration to finish. I’m too stubborn to abandon it, though, so here is the final chapter.  The good news is the angst fest is over, for the most part.  Slight reference to child trafficking in the past.  Thanks to everyone who read and interacted with this story!  This final chapter is entitled A Dragonfly in Amber.

The whole story can be found on my A03 page.

Eighteen Months Later

The breeze off the firth was picking up, and Claire wished she’d grabbed a  jumper before leaving her flat.  She spent a lot of time these days looking back at the million decisions that made up a life, aware of their path as though they were footprints visible to the eye.  Where once missteps would have inspired judgement or shame, she could now chart their passage with a certain measure of peace.

A rare free Thursday brought her to a seasonal market in what was otherwise a car park overlooking Edinburgh Castle.  With no specific objective in mind, she wandered the stalls of fresh produce and locally made crafts, meandering but purposeful.  A jar of raw honey and a half-dozen blueberry scones made their way into her tote bag before she stopped at a store selling beautifully woven woolen goods, thinking that she could perhaps invest in a shawl.

Lifting the various offerings from where they were displayed, something caught her eye.  Beneath the many-patterned pile of wool stood a beautiful wooden chest, its heft and patina speaking of its craftsmanship.   It had been painted in a rusted umber, the shape of a dragonfly elegantly carved into its solid lid.

“Tis lovely, is it no’?” a soft lilt startled her from her trance.

“Yes, very.  Is it for sale?”  She had no idea why she’d asked.  Her flat was crowded enough as it was and frivolous purchases no longer within her budget.

“Alas, no.  Twas an anniversary gift from my man.”  Perhaps seeing the disappointment register on her face, the woman added, “I can give ye the card o’ the man who made it, at least.  Ye’re no’ the first tae have admired his work.”

Claire’s hands shook slightly as the shopkeeper sought out the card, an eerie sense of premonition settling over her.  Sure enough, the familiar names leapt into relief as she accepted the woman’s offering:

Lallybroch Furniture Design

James Fraser, Proprietor

***

The afternoon and evening passed in a blur of obligations and routine.  It was only as she settled into the peace of her own bedroom that Claire allowed her thoughts to return to the business card tucked safely into her wallet.  

She’d known Jamie was still in the city.  While she’d resisted the urge to seek him out a thousand times, she couldn’t stop herself from searching his name on the Internet.  A harmless indulgence, she rationalized, and one that assured her that he was well, his business going from strength to strength. Despite the capitol’s tight-knit community, however, their paths had never crossed.  Until now.

Was it a sign?  Long Ago Claire paid no heed to such foolishness, but that was before a chance encounter spun her life one hundred and eighty degrees, sending her down a brand new path.  Now she accepted these memos from the universe with humility.  Tomorrow, she would go looking for Jamie Fraser.

***

Jamie heard the jingle of the bells above the door, even over the mechanical whirr of his sander.  Unbending and blowing a sweaty curl off his forehead, he admired the intricate scrollwork of the custom hutch that was his latest commission.  It still amazed him to watch his visions take shape before his eyes.  If life hadn’t slapped him hard across the face, knocking him far off course, he might have spent the rest of his days unaware of the gift that resided between his hands.

“Took ye long enough, Geordie,” he called out to the footsteps approaching from the door.  “Where’d ye go fer the varnish, Glasgow?”

There was a pause, and an eerie sense of premonition settled over him.  Today was going to be the day.

“It’s not Geordie, it’s me.  Claire.”  He’d thought of her voice each day for the past eighteen months, and yet he hadn’t been able to summon its exact timbre: sonorous, precise, with a smoky finish like well-aged whisky.

“Claire,” he replied to the universe, summoning her by name before he even turned around.

Sawdust motes danced in a sunbeam descending from a clerestory window, illuminating the mahogany in her curls.  She was everything he remembered, and so much more.  The nacre of her skin, now dusted with cinnamon freckles.  The topaz of her eyes less fierce, more open, and overwhelmingly anxious.  The tight line of her jaw was less defined, her once whippet-thin figure filled out into plush curves.  Overall the impression was one of softness, of willing vulnerability.

“The door was open,” she explained needlessly, her eyes drinking him in hungrily.  He wondered what changes she read on his surface.

“It’s... uhhh...” his voice wobbled painfully, “it’s good tae see ye, Sassenach.  How have ye been?”

He hadn’t trusted himself to seek her out since Maggie’s death, understanding that they both needed time to heal.  It didn’t stop him from zeroing in on every glimpse of brown curls, nor from reading wedding announcements with an invisible fist gripping his throat.  If it was meant to be, he counselled himself, they would find one another when the time was right.  And now she was here, standing in his workshop and more lovely than his zealous imaginings.

“Good,” she replied, eyes meeting and then sheering away from his gaze.  “Really good.  Busy.”  She was gripping the strap of her handbag like a parachute cord, and he couldn’t help glancing at her left hand, selfishly relieved to note it was still bare.

“I, ummm, I saw one of your pieces.  At the market yesterday.  Not for sale, of course.  The woman offered me your card, so I thought, you know, that I might...  You’re really very talented, Jamie,” she prattled nervously.

He blushed, delighted by her praise.  “I thank ye, Claire.”  To taste her name in his mouth, so long forbidden, was intoxicating.  He would never tire of saying it.

“And yer work?  Tis Friday.  Are ye taking a well-deserved day off?”

“Oh, no.  I’m not practicing anymore, Jamie.”

He froze, horrified.  Of all the scenarios he’d played out in his mind, he’d never imagined her anything but a doctor. It was too much a part of who she was.  A familiar sense of oppressive responsibility crept over him.  If he’d somehow caused this to happen...

“Sassenach, no...” he whispered.

To his utter confusion, she laughed, merry and bright as the bells that had announced her return to his life.

“It’s alright, truly.  I, well, a lot has changed since last year,” she explained, a glimmer of something coy transforming her face.  His wame sunk into his feet.

“Ye’ve met someone.”   A statement of fact.  Punishment for wishing for something that wasn’t meant to be.

Her spritely laugh rang out again, increasing his pain.  He felt the old, habitual hardening around his heart, and fought to keep his breath steady.  No matter how much it hurt, he owed it to Claire to listen to her joy.

“In a manner of speaking.  His name is Fergus, and he’s eight years old.”

Startled, he stared into her upturned face, trying to read the truth in her features.  A hand, delicate but strong, took his own.  He held onto it like a lifeline as she told her unlikely tale.

Shortly after their last meeting, Claire had been walking through Grassmarket when she’d been jostled by a running figure.  It was only upon righting herself that she realized she was without her phone.   Giving chase, she eventually cornered the thief down a blind alley, only to realize that it was a young boy, unkempt and malnourished.

Rather than turn the pickpocket in, Claire had negotiated an exchange: her phone for a four-course meal and the story of how a boy of his age, with a heavy French accent no less, had come to live on the streets of Edinburgh.

“He was trafficked, Jamie.  A group in Paris were keeping him and other orphans in a brothel.  When they came to transport them, Fergus escaped.  He hid in a lorry, and this is where it brought him.  He had no coat, no money, hardly any English, but he’d been surviving on his wits for six weeks before I found him.  I can’t bear to think what might have happened to him had we not crossed paths that winter’s day.”

“Christ,” he swore, thinking of his own nephew, and what he wouldn’t give to protect the lad’s innocence.

Claire went on to describe the painstaking process of reporting Fergus, whose real name was Claudel, to the authorities without allowing him to be deported back to France and into the waiting hands of the very people he had escaped.

“There was no formal steps to follow, no real resources I could rely on.  I ended up filing for adoption, because it was the only way to keep him safe.  In the beginning, he needed all my attention.  He had no formal schooling and had to learn English in a hurry.  He suffered from terrible nightmares.  I transferred all my patients, shut down the office, but I assumed it was only temporary, until he felt more secure and could go to school with other kids his age.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Fergus isn’t the only trafficked child in Scotland.  I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do whatever I could to protect every one of them.  So I quit.  I’d made some contacts at ECPAT in London, trying to sort out the mess with Fergus’ immigration paperwork.   I called them up and offered my services on a part-time basis.  A former pediatrician with experience in grief counselling.  They couldn’t accept fast enough.  So now, when I’m not busy being Fergus’ mom, I’m the executive director of ECPAT here in Scotland.”

“Christ,” he repeated.  “Sassenach, I’m...  God, ye’re an amazing woman.”

It was her turn to blush, glancing down to notice that their hands were still clasped, fingers woven together like thirsty roots.  They were standing toe to toe, breathing in harmony.  Jamie smelled of pine, a sharp sweetness that seemed to cling to his body.  She dared a look upwards and found his gaze locked on her mouth.  Oceans stormed in the depths of his eyes.

“You’ve got a little...” she reached for his jaw, “...a little something, right here...”  Before she could dislodge the fleck of sawdust trapped in his auburn stubble, Jamie’s whole body surged forward, their noses practically bumping.

“Sassenach...” he beseeched.

“Yes?”  Wispy, fluttering wings of hope surrounded her.

“I’ve bided as long as I can.  May I please, for the love of all tha’s holy, finally kiss ye?”

A tiny nod, a murmured assent, then their lips took up the conversation that had begun so many months before.  There, in a dusty workshop at eleven o’clock on a Friday morning, the last obstacle that stood between them came crashing to the ground.  In its place came warmth and certainty, a candleflame of cherished possibility. 

#my writing #outlander

[mxtantrights]

past lives | 3

a/n: Ok this is like the pre-climax? is that a thing? no well I'm gonna make it a thing right now! time to meet more of the family!!  enjoyyy <3

Fallon nudged your shoulder to get your attention. Previously your focus was on the champagne flute, and before that the odd waiter who served it to you with an old scar straight through his mouth.

“I brought you here to snatch and grab stuff, where’s the team spirit?” they ask.

You make a face, “You brought me here because you didn't wanna go alone. And I can’t blame you if I had to come here alone I would-”

“Definitely throw myself off the balcony. Running start.” a voice adds.

It was neither yours or Fallons. So the two of you turn around and find the culprit. And just like destiny or fate or something, you see the guy you handed off a letter from your dead parent a few days prior.

“I mean isn’t it kind of your party?” you ask.

Tim shrugs a bit and sips the drink in his hand. It’s a non verbal answer that gives something away. Maybe it’s in the 

“If you think that, then think about me. I’m the plus one.” you say.

He chuckles, “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Same”

“Again?” Fallon asks.

You nod your head, “I had to drop something off at the Wayne building not too long ago. To Mr.Drake actually.”

“Oh it’s just Tim.” he says and holds out his hand.

You quickly take it and shake as instructed. Then Fallon follows the action, along with an introduction. Tim smiles and it looks like a genuine one.

“Well when I said we were gonna smooze I didn’t know you pre-planned.” they say.

You nudge them as they snicker. 

“I’d probably be the wrong Wayne to smooze. My hectic schedule allows for no free time.” he answers.

Fallon laughs at this. “Oh, well you’re kinda on the younger side too.”

You can see Tim’s check taint red. His eyes dart away from the both of you. You still couldn’t believe that a young man like him was in charge of Wayne enterprises- or enterprise, however that worked out. 

It probably felt like the world was on his shoulders.

The phone in your cocktail bag buzzed. Even though you didn’t know who it was, you had a very high suspicion that it was the league. What they wanted you to do at tonight’s event was still under wraps. But you knew that whatever task it was, wasn’t going to lead to a happy ending. 

It never does.

You open your bag and take out your phone, “I’ve gotta handle this. My Aunt.”

Both Fallon and Tim nod as you walk away from your table and out into the balcony. It was a bit chippy outside so it wasn’t really of use to anyone. The rich don’t like the cold you guessed. Makes sense, heated floors and sidewalks. 

The cold air reaches your skin. You don’t shiver. Growing up in Gotham until you were eighteen you hadn't gotten used to it. It was no Antartica but then again that Icicle man did like to rein terror sometimes. It was like practice.

You open the text and sure enough,

tonight you act as transport. 

when you get handed a package deliver it here: 

45 Gotham Harbor 

Great. You were acting as a convoy tonight. It shouldn’t bother you that much, but it does. If whatever they were planning was something real and dangerous and they were keeping you low on the food chain, that mean you were expendable to them.

It hurt. 

It wasn’t like you ran away from them. They gave you an opportunity to leave after a couple of years being one of their fastest rising recruits.. At first it felt like a sick test. Like one final trust fall before they could actually believe your unwavering loyalty. 

You sat with the decision for days. It was a whole week before you decided to get out of the league. You thought that as soon as you stepped food out of the place they would kill you. But you walked out the front door and kept walking.

Oddly enough they had even given you a ride to Gotham. 

But you being a convoy tonight? This felt like a test. One you needed to pass. If not for your life, then to find out what they were really planning. The league never takes care of things so out in the open like this. 

“Did you just get dumped or something?” another random voice.

You turn off your phone and turn your head to the left. In the dark corner of the balcony is a guy. You can only make him out because of his lit cigarette. If it weren’t for that, you probably wouldn’t have made him. 

Have your senses and training begun to fade? Ra’s is probably somewhere vibrating off the walls.

Sure enough he comes out of the dark and you can see him fully. He’s not in the night standard uniform. Instead he's in a dress shirt underneath a brown jacket. He did try with the black slacks you see. 

Was he security? No he looked a bit familiar. 

You think you should probably say something before he thinks rudely of you. 

“No, just an interesting text.”

He hums some sort of sound. And then he walks a bit closer. You notice its not close enough to reach out and touch him. He’s really careful. He must be some type of security.

“You were talking to Tim, you one of those Gala Groupies?” he asks.

The shock that falls upon your face can't be helped. It instantly turns into sourness at the implication that you were a groupie. First off, Galas are boring. Second you’d more likely be a groupie for a rockstar than a rich old man- let alone a younger guy like Tim.

You hiss and cross your arms against your chest, “That was bit presumptive wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t mean it as an insult. Presumptive to think that I did.” he bites back.

You nod you head along with a grin. 

“Didn’t know the security detail came with snobbery. How do I know you’re not a groupie for Tim?” you ask.

He looks like he wants to hurl. Then he beings to laugh. His laughter fills the balcony a bit and you just watch in interest. He calms himself and then places his hand over the railing to rest.

“I would not, it’d be weird.”

“Not your type?” 

“My brother will never be my type.” 

Ah.

You look at him for a second more and then it clicks. This was Jason Todd, the black sheep of the Wayne family, you are talking to. You thought he looked familiar you just couldn’t place him earlier. Even though the white streak through his hair should’ve gave it away. 

“My apologies.” you say.

He fakes wiping a tear from his eye. “no worries, you gave me a laugh tonight. I should be thanking you.”

“I am not gonna be your groupie either.” 

“Presumptive, but okay.” 

“Have a good night.”

-

Bruce finds Tim in-between mingling and cuts in. 

“Oh thank God, I thought for another second my head would burst.” Tim says.

Bruce smiles, “Saved you then.” 

“Have you seen Dick anywhere? I wanted to get his eyes on a case of mine.”

“No night work at the Gala. Take a break.” 

Bruce begins to look for Dick within the crowd of people. His eye bounce from person to person. Effectively he’s glanced over you without a second thought. Or so he thinks.

When he does finally find Dick, he calls for him. This makes his son stop in his tracks. He comes to a stop and you were right behind him as he did. You aren’t quick enough to stop yourself and so you go colliding into his back.

-

“So sorry about that.” he says.

You shake your head, “It’s fine. No drinks spilled or whatever they say.” 

He throws out a laugh so easily. You smile quickly and make a B-line for Fallon. As you make your way to where they have taken new residence, you see their face change. More specifically their eyebrows go up in the way that says ‘oh?’

“Cut it out, he bumped into me.” 

“Maybe you guys can do some more bumping. Later on, if you-”

“I know exactly what you mean and I’m not entertaining you.”

-

Dick makes it over to his father and his brother. When he does Tim claps his back with his hand. It makes Dick wonder where the time went. 

“Nice to see you brother.” Tim says.

“You too. Bruce.”

Bruce just nods. A man of not many words for those closest to him. He sure did know how to entertain guests though. It was all a mask anyways. If anything he was doing them a service not using it with them.

“I almost ran into someone. Thankfully there was no drinks involved, I would’ve ruined a whole outfit.” Dick says, pointing back to you.

Tim follows his finger over to where you and Fallon are standing. 

“Oh, that’s who delivered me that letter the other day. Speaking of which, there was another one addressed to you Bruce.” he says.

Bruce nods his head once, “I know I saw it the other night when you passed out on your desk. At some point we’re gonna have a conversation about your sleeping habits.”

Jason walks up to the three men. 

“You’ll never correct it. He’s more of a bat than you.” he says.

Bruce is doing double the work. He’s listening to the conversation happening in front of him about Tim’s horrible sleeping schedule or lack thereof. While he looks over at you. The person Tim said delivered the letter.

His child.

#dc #batman #Dick Grayson x reader #Tim Drake x reader #Jason Todd x reader #batman x reader #Bruce Wayne x reader #dc x reader #PAST LIVES #redhood x reader