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pedrosbrat · 3 years

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Sorrow You Are My Light {Pero Tovar x Max Phillips x F!Reader}

CHAPTER I : Insomnia

AU - Vampire Hunters

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 4.9k

Warnings: Angst, Nightmares, Language, alcohol, yearning, violence (fight) , mention of murder, sword, blood …

Summary: You and Pero were united by fate in your youth due to a tragic event. You will seek revenge from the creature that caused your common suffering all your life without success... Until you cross paths with Max Philips, forcing you to form an alliance with an enemy to destroy a common foe...

Little Comment : Hi everyone, it’s my first series, I hope you will like it (if you see any mistakes let me know and I will correct it) - 1 chapter will be published every week, every Saturday⚔️ Enjoy!

Series Masterlist

1440- Transylvania

You have been travelling on horseback for a little more than two days now, with a weather changing from very hot to very rainy, and usually it doesn't bother you, at least not really, because Pero has the decency to take breaks, it has always been like that. But for the first time in decades of travelling together, he has refused to take any breaks, because he says you are close to the goal.

You can understand it, and you feel it too, but you would still like to be able to rest, not feeling your legs or even feeling your buttocks... You don't even know if you don't feel them anymore because of the total absence of sensation from sitting on your horse for this long, or if the pain you felt yesterday has taken over and has become a friend, and the only company you feel at this moment.

Because despite his presence, Pero is far too absorbed in the mission. This is nothing new, in fact, he has always been like this, only usually he has the good sense to admit that sleep is important for a good fight, as well as a somewhat adequate physical form...

"If we are attacked by a vampire now Pero I won't be able to fight". You say as you catch up to him slightly at a gallop. "Stop complaining," he says, slightly grumpier than his natural temperament, which is bound to be an effect of lack of sleep. "I'm not complaining, I'm just right! You know very well that the lack of rest will eventually kill us, if it is not the horses that die long before us! You say, slightly annoyed by his behaviour.

He stopped short, and turned to face you, grimacing, probably aching and exhausted, unconsciously proving your point: "If he runs away, he'll kill more people! You seem to forget what this thing is capable of!" "Forget?!" you say, widening your eyes, increasingly annoyed.

Vampires: demonic beings that have occupied the lands of your country since your childhood. At first, in your youth, their presence was only a myth, which some people described as mad swore they had seen, but as time went on, the world realised that it was all real. These decaying beings, who have no chance of finding the light again, their gaze completely absorbed in the darkness, surrounded by veins resembling the shade of smoke enveloping the sky and covering all traces of the sun. They are the shadows that will hide the light of all normal life since your youth... Since that night sixteen years ago...

You know that Pero can be stubborn, but he is not so deeply stubborn that he tries to pretend to anyone who doesn't know him, although he hides it quite well, he is a gentle man and a good man... Except when he really decides otherwise, as he has done for the last forty-eight hours. So you don't try to argue or have a simple debate with him on the subject, because you know very well what he's talking about and you don't want to talk about it... You've already had enough nightmares since you were a child, so you don't need that.

You gallop alone towards the big city, from where you are not so far now, determined to make a big turn, to let your horse rest, and to rest at the same time in a real bed, and not stones under a sheet for a pillow or an old tavern of the village where you were hunting.

It doesn't matter if he follows you or not, you're far too tired and suffering to care at the moment, and being a very good tracker, you know you'll be able to find him if only a few hours separate you from each other, and at least you'll be able to fight effectively if something happens.

⊱•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ •⊰

The city is not as jovial as it usually is. You don't know why, of course, but there's a sort of silent restlessness that mingles with an almost empty square, leaving a black shadow over all those little houses, like a feeling deep inside you that you can see floating over the city.

"Anything interesting in the sky Paloma?"

You turn, coming out of the thoughts that had completely absorbed you, to find that Pero is at your side, handing you a piece of cheese, which he must have bought at the entrance of the city, and that you grab without hesitation the rumbling belly for any substitute of food... His way of apologizing and telling you that you are right, even if he will never admit it out loud...

Pero will never admit it, but he doesn't like to see you turning your back on him. He likes your presence, even if he doesn't express it, he likes to see you smiling, annoying him, lecturing him. He likes the way you've been waddling around on your horse for the last few days, and he knows it's only because of the pain he's putting you through, and that he shouldn't like to see that, he feels a little bad about it at times.... But you are so beautiful... And that ass, God only knows how many times he's dreamed of it bouncing off him...

"Nothing special, just a bad feeling" you say, taking a bite of the end of your feeble dish, "...I don't really believe in feelings you know, but for once I have to give it to you..." he says, kicking the sides of his horse to start galloping "No we should let the king know we're back, maybe he'll explain what's going on.

You nod and follow him, speeding up in your turn, not missing the crosses on the front of each house, as well as some silver objects in front of the windows, which normally would have been looted by the small thieves of the city, but even they don't seem to want to touch them... You start to understand what is going on but don't go forward, hoping that the bad luck hasn't come to your place of living once again, where you and Tovar have decided to stay for more than two years now.

⊱•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ •⊰

The throne room which is usually decorated with berries on every table, and bright silk draperies falling from the chandeliers to the ceiling, adorning the sides of the windows are not present, leaving the room in a dullness and sadness that the king and queen usually do not like. But they don't seem to mind, in fact in this room where all the lords are gorging themselves and filling up, they think it is much more agitated than the atmosphere outside. An almost incomprehensible hubbub envelops the room, leaving the king before you, not uttering a word, eyes fixed on you, nodding towards a guard at the back of the room, leading to the inner corridors of the castle, a neutral look on his face, leaving his wife and lords to shout complaints and fears into every ear.

He stands up curtly as the others in the room don't take the decency to stop talking as they usually would, leaving the king to walk out the back door, with you on his heels.

"Where were you?!" He says before you can even close the door to the large hallway, "On the trail of one of them my king" Pero says, bowing his head slightly. "And?" Said the king as he placed his index finger and thumb on his nose, as if trying to relieve a headache. "We had a trail... But we got away from it because of me" you say as you look the king in the eye, not flinching, assuming that a disaster may be looming over the city because of you.

The king doesn't answer and starts pacing in front of you before continuing silently, in a calm and gentle manner that must have always been endowed with "It's nothing... I think you might have guessed it when you returned to the city, but one of them is attacking an area near here..." "And no one was AVAILABLE to stop it?... Dios mío..." says pero a little annoyed that everyone is waiting on you two. "Oh, there were many volunteers... But none came back."

You turn your gaze to Tovar understanding without him actually saying it, what the king is asking you. He nods and you do the same before turning to the king, "Where? Where did you send them?" you say, already beginning to think you're going to regret it, "The Singing Mountain... There was... If you had seen what happened there...".

He couldn't finish his sentence and squinted hard, as if to chase away painful memories buried behind his eyelids. "We've seen it all our lives," Pero said before bowing and walking out to cross the throne room. You do the same, "It will be dark soon, we can't leave now, it would be too dangerous. But at dawn we'll get started. You don't share any contact with him, out of royal respect, and simply turn on your heels to join Pero, already far away, probably thinking of a plan for tomorrow.

⊱•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ •⊰

Your little house is on the outskirts of the village, a little out of the way, not that you don't like the presence of other people, but you are simply used to living like this: just the two of you.

You had already tried to live in separate houses in the village when you arrived two years ago, but every night was cut short by panicked screams and the search for comforting warmth next to you, visions and nightmares that you hadn't had in years, memories that were buried in the depths of your mind, every moment and every night that you spent in Pero's arms.

And you know that it was the same for him, even if he never mentioned it. He didn't have to. The simple fact that he would leave his house at one end of town in the middle of the night to join you under the sheets without saying anything and just let you snuggle up to him as you have done since you were children. So, you drifted away from the villagers, refusing to attach yourself to anyone else, only needing each other, sleeping together to hunt and seek comfort from the demons that plague you both when night falls. And sometimes even sharing each other's presence you feel that you are missing something... It's weird, and you don't know what it is. You don't talk about it... But you both feel it as well...

After setting up silver dust, under foliage all around your home and bringing back some stew that an old lady gave you in the village, thanking you for protecting them, and drinking a large pint of beer that Pero had left out in the house, you both finish your well-deserved meal in silence, savouring every mouthful of stew with a deliciousness like you've never tasted before... Or maybe you're just so hungry that everything would seem like a delicacy right now.

The same goes for the bed, having obviously finished before Pero who always takes a second bite and calls you "paloma", which according to what he told you simply means that you don't eat much for someone who is always crying out for food, like a little bird. You quickly head for your room so that you can have a nice bath without being disturbed by his lack of patience who you know would be there asking you every thirty seconds if you were almost finished, wanting to take a bath as well. So you were able to enjoy it fully until the water cooled, letting your muscles relax from the tumultuous journey and the stress dissolve for a short moment you cherished.

"I heard people talking about this mountain when we first arrived..." says Pero from the bathroom, waking you from your near sleep, now lying on the bed "Mmmh..." you reply far too tired to utter a word. Eyes still closed, you sit up slightly, knowing that he won't stop there. "The villagers always said that the devil lived in his heart... I didn't really pay attention to it, since there was never a murder... At least until now.”

You open your eyes hearing his voice much closer than it was a few seconds ago, and the reason being that he is standing by the bed, with only a sheet around his hips, placing his weapons beside him as he always does before going to bed. And for your part you try to look away as you always do before going to bed. At least when you sleep in a bed with him. At first it was quite simple and automatic not to look at him when you were younger and when he is only "dressed" like that... But lately it has become quite difficult... It has become quite difficult to avoid the vision of his broad shoulders and that torso getting thinner and thinner towards his waist, that aqualine nose that you imagine between your legs, before placing kisses on it as on his perfect lips and this goddamn perfect little line on it... And that scar on his beautiful obsidian black puppy-dog eyes, even if you're almost sure he doesn't like it, that scar on his face...That scar gives him a crazy charm... And everytime it become impossible to avoid to look at the droplets falling from his deep chocolate curls, sliding down that nape of his neck that you wish you could mark with your lips, to end up around his pure silver cross, shining on his golden and bronze skin...

It's become so hard to ignore this man who's practically become a god under your hungry eyes, as hard as it is to ignore the coming arousal that you feel between your legs as you watch him walk around in his armor or the mere sight of the veins and muscles in his neck give you unholy thoughts...

You turn around and help yourself to your sheets, crossing your legs to try and forget what you'd like him to do to you in that room and bed right now, thinking about how you probably wouldn't have the energy for it, and you fall asleep quicker than you thought you would, already with your mind bent on what you might find on that mountain tomorrow...

Pero watches your body rise and fall slightly with every breath you take and exhale, as he has been doing every night for the past few years... Since he was old enough to understand that you were no longer just a friend to him, that he was no longer indifferent to your curves, that he would watch you come out of the bathroom out of the corner of his eye and bend over the bed to admire your buttocks that he always imagined grabbing tightly in his hands... But he never did and was content to watch you fall asleep with your back to him, now that he can no longer see you come out with a simple sheet around you, your hair wet and your skin steaming from the good bath he would have liked to share with you... He is only content to fall asleep following your breaths, wanting deep down, much more of his Paloma...

⊱•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ •⊰

You have galloped and walked all day to get to this cursed place, making you arrive around mid-day, when the sun begins its descent towards the west.

The forest is not dancing as usual, and the birds, being the reason why this mountain is called the singing mountain by their chirping, have seemingly disappeared singing no more from this cursed place under a river now red with blood. A putrid, foul smell that you can't miss is present on the scene. No bodies. Lots of blood.

"I've never seen this..."

You don't respond to his remark, but you know exactly what he is talking about. A river turned red with blood, accompanied by the smell of death, yet showing no sign of a body near the water or even in the forest you've just passed through.

Vampires kill, and abandon the corpse, having no interest in keeping the body, or if they really want a use for it, they transform the person, but in this case if, the smell of decomposing corpse and the river of blood should not be present at the scene.

"I don't like this Pero...".

He doesn't answer and just grunts before pulling out his sword and pushing you back slightly. You do the same and pull out your sword, never having doubted his ability to sense the presence of another being, other than the two of you. "It's not dark enough for it to be one," you say, watching carefully around you. "The king would never send his men out in the middle of the night," he says, passing you some silver powder. "How..."

You don't finish your sentence and freeze. Your hands tighten on the hilt of your sword, and you look into the shadows of the forest at the glowing yellow eye sockets. A man you can't make out is watching you without moving. Pero notices this too and pushes you behind him, instinctively as he does every time, even though he knows you can defend yourself, he never misses an opportunity to throw himself between you and the danger... And you will do the same for him when the opportunity arises.

"Come here!" he shouted with a smile, taunting this bloodsucking bastard, who for his part did not move a muscle. He's watching both you, and you're getting more and more worried, not understanding why he's not attacking you, as they all do. This is not a usual behaviour from them... What is going on here...

Your question evaporates as he evaporates, not approaching you, or attacking you. You tug lightly on Pero's arm, asking him to return to the horse. He didn't insist and followed you, sword in hand, running and climbing on the horses as fast as he could.

"What was that?!" you shouted at him at a gallop not far from him, who stopped dead in his tracks a few paces away from you "Pero what..." "I don't know!" he says, a growing frustration in his eyes that you know only too well, a look he gets when he is about to do something impulsive. "Pero you're not going back!" "He didn't attack us..." "That doesn't mean he won't next time! What's wrong with you?!" You say completely dumbfounded by your best friend, willing to risk his life to prove a point.

FUCK PERO!

You follow him in spite of yourself, knowing that you couldn't forgive yourself for leaving him to die alone in those woods, whether it was his choice or not.

A million thoughts go through your head as Pero is hit by something. You jump off your horse and swing your sword at a man in your path, a man who did not flinch at the shock of a galloping horse. You throw a sword at him which he quickly avoids and disappears again, but you know this kind of technique well, you have fought them all your life. You grab a dagger in your other hand and stand back-to-back with pero who has just straightened up.

"I told you we should have left," you say, more than a little frustrated by events that could have been avoided. "This is not the time." He says as he begins to fight the creature in front of you, moving far too quickly for you to anticipate any movement.

He's faster. Smarter than anything you've encountered before, and despite Pero's ability to inflict some cuts with his pure silver sword, the vampire doesn't give in. But it doesn't kill us for all that... A sentence that goes through your head thinking that it could kill you both in a few seconds if it really wanted to... No, this thing is looking for something...

You don't take any more chances and grab your powder and throw it at the thing, which is screaming in pain, looking at you with reddened eyes, sharp fangs and black veins around its eyes like you've never seen before... "PERO THE HORSES!". He thinks for half a second about killing this thing here and now, but sees the powder starting to dissipate and prefers not to risk both of you getting killed here and now... Not to risk YOUR death here and now which would ultimately be his fault...

You gallop off without looking back, not understanding what you just saw.

⊱•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ •⊰

"PERO WHAT DID YOU DO THERE?!" you say as you slam the door of the house and drop your weapons on the floor "You could have gotten us both killed! You saw what that thing did!" "It didn't kill us... Why?" he says as he sits down on one of the chairs calmly, too calm for what just happened "Is that really the only thing that bothers you about what just happened Pero?!" you say as you bang on the table.

He straightens up curtly and approaches you with a dark look in his eyes, "Aren't you even asking yourself that question? Don't you want to know why he left us alive? Why didn't he kill us or just jump down our throats and kill us like they all do? ¡Miénteme! LIE TO ME?! TRY LYING TO ME!" He says, banging on the table in turn.

You don't respond, knowing he's right, but you can't help it, impulsive behaviour like that could have killed you both. "I shouldn't have gone back there I know that Paloma... But I don't understand..." he says more calmly trying to apologize in his own way. You take him in your arms, understanding that he acted in incomprehension and panic "I also wonder Pero but don't ever do that again... He was smarter... Faster... And seems to control himself in front of living people... We never had to deal with that" you say holding him tighter, also needing a little comfort, adrenaline gradually coming down.

"She's right!"

You flinch and Pero pulls his sword straight out pushing you behind him, hearing a voice coming from your kitchen. Your eyes widen as you realise that the vampire you fought a few hours ago is the man in the room...

"Your powder has no effect on me, cuties... Should you have tried the wooden stakes?" he says, leaning slowly against one of the walls in front of you. "The wooden stakes are too big, a risk. You have to get too close and we're not stupid enough for that," Pero says dryly.

Those features... A protruding jaw, puppy dog eyes that dominate a fierce rage and that aquiline nose... You turn to Pero and move from him to this man, noticing that your friend, has similar features with this creature in front of you even if his hair is longer than pero, but he doesn't seem to really care or even notice it, it's actually the least of his concerns "Why are we still alive? "He says, putting his weapon on the table behind him, understanding that this creature does not intend to kill you, that if it really wanted to, it would not have bothered to let you go and then follow you and interrupt you... Or would have simply killed you in this forest.

He took a step closer but changed his mind when he saw that Pero was keeping a hand on one of his weapons. "Because I'm not the one you're looking for" says the vampire. Pero looked at you wide-eyed and started to laugh, a dark laugh, far from being amused by the situation. "Do you hear that? Now they're coming to our house to haggle," he said, jostling you slightly, still not making you smile.

You know that side of Pero. That unstable side that loses control of itself and doesn't know how to deal with the information and emotions it receives, which are far too numerous to process quickly enough for events that are far too unfamiliar to its eyes. And you don't blame him because you yourself don't know how to deal with it all. "I'm not happy about talking to you..." you say, trying not to play on each other's nerves. "...But you haven't killed us yet, so I'll give you a minute to explain what you want from us."

He stares at you for a few seconds, examining you from head to toe, not missing the look of disgust and hatred on your face. "You're looking for my creator... And I need you to kill him" he said, staring into your eyes, a teasing smile on his face, very sure of himself, yet very serious about the words he just said "Vampires are normally very attached to their creator, I think you're setting us up" you said, crossing your arms "She can't understand that if I wanted you dead you'd have been dead long ago!

He disappeared for a few seconds and found himself next to you, making you jump up and grab tovar's sword behind you to point it at him. He stared at the blade and ran his finger over it, causing smoke to billow from his skin, like at the end of a fire. "I'm not one of the little vampires you usually fight, which makes me... superior to what you're used to..." Tovar rolled his eyes and stepped in front of you, again, instinctively offering his body as a barrier to protect you, letting the man finish, always having a thought of skewering him at any moment "... I'm not dependent on him... At least not completely. But I don't serve him like all those vermin you hunt every day, who don't know how to control themselves or even think for themselves."

He loosens his last words with a more than visible disgust, arranging his clothes and slowly walking around the table without taking his eyes off you. "I don't depend on him. I'm not attached to him in any way... At least not emotionally... Physically it's something else: I can't kill him, not with my own hands." he says, staring deeply into the wood of the table, as if he could see his own reflection there.

"And you need us for that?!" Pero laughed a dark laugh like you've never heard, now less and less amused by the situation, knowing that he could launch himself at the thing in front of you at any moment. You grab him by the arm before he does something stupid and pull him away from the vampire "We should do it Pero." He widened his eyes and reached up to your face, grabbing your cheeks, as if to check that you hadn't been bewitched. You clapped his hands and told him you were fine before continuing, "If he leads us to his master..." "HE'S NOT MY MASTER!" he shouts from across the room letting you know that he can hear anything you say.

You look at Pero and let him know you'll explain the rest later by miming dust between your fingers, as you've done since you were little, before continuing "When he leads us to his MASTER, we can at least find out where he is and kill him! That's what we've wanted for weeks, Pero."

He's not thrilled. He realizes the danger you're going to face and knows that you've already faced a lot of such danger in your life... But he's not excited. He doesn't know if he can trust the information this thing has just given him, and if he should trust it at all. He doesn't want to have to trust it, and he can see in your eyes that you don't want to either... But he also understands that you have no choice after the king's request. So he lets his gaze shift from yours to the vampire's. "Okay. We leave tomorrow morning," he says, stepping around you and approaching the vampire, a more stern look on his face than he usually wears "... But if you were foolish enough to betray us, know this..." "... That you'll kill me?" he cuts Tovar off with a laugh and moves closer to him "And I'll let you do beautiful."

You chuckle and cross your arms and squint your eyes, amused "We already don't trust you..." "I know that sweetheart" "...BUT that's no reason to lie to us" you say, raising your voice, slightly annoyed by his condescending air.

He tries to get around Tovar, who won't let him pass, and shakes his head to let him know he's definitely not going to approach you. "Believe me..." he said as he put his gaze into yours, a serious, not amused gaze "... If I tell you I'd let you do it it's simply that I'd rather it be you than him."

He nodded to you, then to Tovar, and walked towards the front door.

"Oh, and I'd rather be Max Phillips than 'that thing'," he said as he closed the door behind him, leaving you and Tovar in a state of anxiety and nervousness the likes of which you hadn't had in a long time, leaving you both that night alive to the slightest background noise, the slightest shadow passing through the thin draperies of your windows...

•

Chapter 2

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 16

Into the Woods

We rejoin our Bad Kids (minus Riz, who we’ll get to in a bit) who are still on the Goldenrod while chaos happens around them. Fig adds to the chaos by successfully (with a 30!) pretending to be one of Goldenhoard’s minions to no real plot significant effect. I just feel the need to mention every time Fig rolls a 30+. The kids get Gilear out of his hiding place--a sarcophagus--right before it’s launched out as ammo. His safety proves short-lived however because, when Ayda pings that Riz is no longer on the same plane as them, Fabian recklessly sails the Goldenrod directly into Riz’s last known location, instantly killing both himself and Gilear. So he’s for sure back to his old self.

Kristen brings them back up and passes some heals out generally while she’s at it. Meanwhile, with a Nat 20, Adaine fully Oracles out and knows exactly where Riz was being held. There, they find a smear of blood (which they taste???? even though they know the disease is communicable by blood???) and Riz’s briefcase, but no body. Plus Tracker smells Celestial energy and Ayda senses conjuration magic. But all that subtle sleuthing is made pointless by Kristen getting a Nat 20 (of course) to just stumble into the next room and find a room full of footage of exactly what happened. Wild.

Bill can’t get them to where Riz is. The best he can do is get them to the Astral Plane. Fig remembers to check on the stuff she stole from Vraz. Baby just got a to-do list but Fig conveniently grabbed a scroll which will create a portal back to Arborly. Then, they cast Zone of Truth on Goldenhoard who gives them this information before they get to the Astral Plane:

Arianwyn was never working with him.

He repeats what we already knew about the NK giving him a coin as part of them working together in the past. He adds that his money being spent would mean it would come back to him 5 fold and also increase the spread of the NK’s power.

He thinks the NK is a creep and says he never talks and only appears in weird dreams. At Fig’s prompting, he says he does look a lot like the skeletal figure in Adaine’s Scry on the Shadowcat. He also says he never dealt directly with the Shadowcat and can’t see her in the photo. However, the Shadowcat did put him in touch with Aelwen.

The NK had more followers in Elmville but Goldenhoard doesn’t know who else was because he refused to join the Shadowcat network, which was a requirement. (I wonder if they include whoever the couple in Sandra-Lnn’s past was)

He let the NK have Sylvere when he was taking over the world because he didn’t care about it.

Meanwhile, our little Angel Riz is en route to heaven with his dad who is happy-shocked to see him. Pok calls in that he’s coming in with a “good aligned, possible CI,” and it’s immediately clear based on the reaction of the person on the other side of the call that Pok talks about Riz all the time in glowing terms. They arrive in heaven and Riz sees that he has a little chair set up at a copy of his grave so he can sit and listen when Riz and Sklonda come and talk to him. Ally is almost crying. Lou is almost crying. I’m almost crying.

Heaven--or at least this version of heaven--is set up like an office but outside. I’m picturing the classic Window’s XP background. We learn that Pok is a part of a special force called the Lower Planar Recon Task Force. Basically, it’s full of traditionally evil aligned races (like goblins and gnolls) who are perfect for infiltrating places like Hell. We also see that Pok has a plaque for getting his death avenged by his son.

Anyway, we see where Riz gets his attitude from when Pok kicks puts his gameface on (“Clues first, friends later.”) and has an extended puzzle solving scene with Riz (sprinkled with some father/son stuff). Highlights:

Heaven actually didn’t know about the Kalina=Disease thing. Riz and the gang cracked that for them. Kalina doesn’t ping a Detect Good/Evil but Pok thinks she would ping a Detect Poison/Disease.

He started seeing Kalina about 22 years ago after a mission with the Third Ring (see below). No, he didn’t cheat on Sklonda. If it happened via sexual contact, it would have been pre-meeting her.

Kalina can’t pick things up but she can create the sensation of weight and substance by hijacking your nervous system. So, to his knowledge at the time, Pok had touched her.

He was introduced to Kalina by someone he already knew and trusted from the Third Ring (Falinel government agency).

Kalina doesn’t have godly intelligence or omniscience. The way she blew her cover was accidentally mentioning seeing something firsthand she would have had no way of seeing (a river being in a certain place). He didn’t call her out then but he clocked it and started looking into her extra-governmentally.

Kalina got Sklonda her job in Elmville--which directly put Pok in the path of Goldenhoard, who ate him. He also strongly suspects that he got Pok’s citizenship revoked--an action that allowed Goldenhoard to harm him.

Pok thinks that, despite the Bad Kids’ focus on the sex aspect of the Shadowcat plague, it’s a lot more general than that (see eg: the life transference spell moving it from Sandra-Lynn to Tracker).

Father/Son Interlude #1: Riz mentions that all of his friends are super horny all the time and he’s not about that. Pok says that he was a super late bloomer so it’s fine if he’s not into that now or if he’s not into it period--though he selfishly does want grandkids.

Father/Son Interlude #2: Pok also shares a story about his own relationship with his superficially distant but actually loving 1st gen immigrant dad the twin theses of which are “People show love in different ways,” and “Work is an act of love,” a sentiment that workaholic Riz appreciates.

Most demons can see Kalina.

Pok was in hell undercover to try and figure out how devils had been successful in keeping Kalina at bay. He showed up in the Bottomless Pit but he was trapped there for a while--presumably because Gorthalax was in a gem at that time (also Riz mentions for the first time that Sklonda is dating him which he takes OK).

Pok has a new body so Kalina can’t tap into it. Kalina must have learned where Pok was because Sklonda infected Gorthalax once they started dating and she got the info from him. And since Kalina spurred him to come rescue Pok than she probably wanted him to blow his cover.

Kalina avoided having her picture taken. Once it was taken, she wasn’t able to do certain things she was able to before.

Pok says that Riz probably won’t be able to visit him again without pretty powerful magic, but Riz isn’t too concerned because he has some pretty powerful friends. And, with that, Pok offers to hire Riz as a consultant for heaven which, you can imagine, he is very here for. He takes his son to get suited up.

Back with the other Bad Kids, they look at the assorted things Bill has looted and find some Holy Water, which they pocket, and a birthday present for Fig, which she is pretty easily convinced to open early. It’s a sick new bass which doubles as a literal axe (OK, not an axe, it has serrated edges, I just like the idea of an axe-axe) and can shatter rubies. They then say bye to Bill and get back to Arborly (with the Hangman who is still knocked out, but not destroyed like before).

The group collectively decides to leave Gilear in Arborly for both his safety and the safety of Kristen’s high level spell slots. Adaine takes some of his blood so she can Scry on him if necessary. Sandra-Lynn and Gilear exercise their parental rights to make their daughter feel awkward about her love interest. Speaking of said love interest, we learn what Ayda was working on in secret: a spell for Adaine! It’s called Adaine’s Furious Fists and it essentially lets her magic punch people. Adaine can punch people now! I mean, she’s been doing it since S1 but now she can do it effectually! Love that for her!

Back to Riz. He’s in with an angel called Isosceles (think quasi-eldritch horror Biblical angel, not Halloween costume angel) who is like the Q of the squad. Riz gets hooked up with some new gear:

Trick bullets (like how Green Arrow has trick arrows)

A grappling gun attachment for his gun

Arcadian Watch: Equipped w/ a saw, laser (1d4 radiant dmg) and lockpick

Seraphim Vest: Basically a wingsuit (temp fly speed of 40 but only laterally and down, not up)

Gregorian Tie: Equipped with a spy camera

Once he’s suited up, Pok calls up a door that will get Riz back to the moment in time it was called. But, since they’re in no rush now, he asks Riz to take a walk with him and fill him in on some of the boring, mundane, unimportant stuff he missed from RIz’s childhood. It’s very sweet.

Afterwards, Riz pops back up in Arborly and everyone is super happy to see him. Riz almost blurts out what he learned about his dad but wisely moves the conversation to the Van where he tells them everything except the personal family stuff. Based on the info from Riz, Adaine thinks that Kalina was probably introduced into eleven society a couple hundred years ago by Landrynn Lear (fake cleric spreading the Kalina virus they learned about a few eps ago) so it’s not super weird Aelwen and Arianwyn would have been working with her. It’s less weird than Pok working than them.

Kristen latches onto the part about the picture being taken of her taking away some of her power and they all do checks to puzzle that out. Adaine (with Arcana) realizes that Kalina has to maintain herself in all these people all the time and, if a picture is taken of her--has to make it so that she can be seen by all of those people at all times which is a permanent spell effect which is-as we learned earlier this season--very hard to pull off. Her not being able to do certain things once the pic was taken was probably just her losing power from the strain of this extra magical effect (my takeaway: don’t let her destroy that photo--or, use it as a bargaining chip). Kristen (with Religion) thinks the 4 transubstantiations (familiar to plague and spellbook to curse and so on) are curses which overlap and create synergy (my takeaway: take them out one by one and watch them exponentially drop off in effectiveness). Gorgug (with a Tinkerer’s check) surmises that the way to take the most pics of Kalina and weaken her would be to take a video of her and broadcast it to as many people as possible.

Gorgug also has another thought: He wants to know if them having and spending their cursed money is actively endangering him. At the prospect, he decides to give all of his money away to the Tinkerer’s Hall (without telling them it’s dragon money, which means the curse won’t get passed on). Kristen, Fig, and Riz follow suit, much to Fabian’s shock and horror. Adaine opts to keep her money since she has no caring family to fall back on.

They also--I’m just gonna bluntly say this insane thing that Ally conceived of--have another shrimp party which they livestream in hopes that it will go viral, gain a following, and then when they have video of Kalina, they can get lots of people to watch it. And you know what the craziest part is? It’s not a bad plan. It’s c r a z y, but not illogical. To quote Mr. Lee Mulligan, “The charity shrimp party goes super viral.” Amazing.

The next day, Adaine brings back Boggy (who poofed in the last fight) as an owl so he’ll be a little safer while in Sylvere. Don’t worry, he’s still spherical as ever. The Hangman (now healed) stays behind, as does the Van--but they do take it actual gem out and take it with them. Baby is there and does come with them. Ayda and GaF also come at Fig’s request.

Fig is able to open a passage into Sylvere and they can instantly feel the ambient badness. They decide to start looking for the three things they need to make the Kalina Vaccine: Starmoth chrysalis, Herrowgray nectar, and Lundgreen pollen. The jocks and Boggy go for the chrysalis, Sandra-Lynn, Fig, Adaine, and Ayda go for the nectar, while Kristen, Riz, and Tracker look for the pollen.

The boys don’t find anything but, suddenly, there’s an image of a super creepy witch’s cottage in the gem, and Zathriel (the Celestial inside) bugs out before the gem goes dark. And Ragh is suddenly gone.

In her group, Sandra-Lynn flies off on Baxter in search of the nectar but the flapping noises that should be happening suddenly stop. Ayda offers to fly after her but then also becomes distressed, asking why they’re in a house (the others can’t see it) before also vanishing.

Kristen, Riz, and Tracker are looking around stagnant water for the pollen and they see Kalina’s reflection in the water. Kristen starts to film her on her crystal. Kalina (who they can all see at the same time for once) says that in Sylvere, nightmares are real, something demonstrated when Tracker fully wolfs out without the presence of an actual full moon. Kristen tries to Dimension Door out but they're too far in. They try to subdue her but Trcker vanishes into moths (?). Kalina says that Tracker is chasing down what she thinks is Kristen to kill her (which would make sense as being her nightmare). She says that she said she’d kill them if they got into the forest and here they are. She does a little damage to Riz to underline the statement and Riz starts recording her secretly. Kalina is doing small bits of damage (like 1-4 I think) but it’s enough that it will kill them before they have the chance to make tinctures.

The jocks find the chrysalis and then look for the others. Fig tries to use Ada’s feather to find her but, like the sapphire, it’s dead. Through Boggy, Adaine can see the jocks are flipping out and find the nectar and go find them.

Kristen casts Greater Restoration of Riz and tells him to find Tracker. The attacks stop on Riz and double on Kristen. She’ll be dead before she can employ any kind of healing mojo than can help significantly and the other healer is MIA. Everyone is running to find each other and then they suddenly hear, emanating from every corner of the forest creepy laughter and they all see a crowned skull. Concerning!

Detention

Fabian for Crashing the Goldenrod

This was almost like the ribbon dancing sequence except Kristen had something to potentially gain from that and this was an absolutely insane course of action for no particular reason.

Honor Roll

Kristen for Using Her One Greater Restoration on Riz

What a quintessential healer move. Having one heal and giving it away to your party member. Listen, she may have rejected Helio, but he picked her for a reason. Girl is a BAMF.

Random Thoughts

“You can't make these things up. You can. We did.”

Actual Crazy Person Bill Seacaseter: I had to kill Gilear as a matter of course but I love Gilear!

Bill tells Gilear to kill any man who looks askance at Hilariel. Fig (mirroring a comment to Bill from last season) questions what he should do if any woman looks at her. An enthusiastic, “Dealer’s choice!” is the answer.

"If you die in hell do you die in real life?"

Is the message of this season just “Vaccinate your kids”?

Fabian offers to threaten someone who’s bullying Gilear. You know what that is? Growth.

Bill brought the Bad Kids to the Astral Plane but they wanted to get back to Arborly ASAP. I wonder if there was something Brennan expected them to do there and they didn’t.

Fig ripping the scroll was wild but, honestly, I might have thought that was how it worked too. It’s for sure a thing sometimes. But, in a similar vein, very concerned Fig is going to accidentally shatter Gorthalax’s gem prematurely with that bass. Feel like she’s not 100% clear on how that works.

“I don’t have a crush one anyone. I just want to be rich.”

Riz took over from Adaine this episode in unpacking my high school experiences, lemme tell you.

Wondering where Baron fits into all this. It seems like the kind of effect that Sylvere would be able to produce but he wasn’t in Sylvere when that happened and I feel like that wouldn’t be Riz’s nightmare (unless it represented anxiety about his not dating or s/t like that). What was that about? Who exactly caused it and with what ability? Is that just a standard demon power?

Not important but last week when Brennan said a halo formed around Pok he distinctly motioned around his head and not over his head so I felt happy to have interpreted that correctly when he said this ep that the halo was one of those you see in old pics of like the Madonna and Child and not a modern-traditional angel halo.

The idea of a lower plane task force is extremely dope from a world building perspective. Like, that makes total sense.

“Don’t even talk to me until my death’s avenged.” I knew that was going to be a real mug as soon as it was said.

The stuff with Pok and Riz was so unbelievably sweet. Him having a chair set up to listen to his family talk at his grave? Him clearly being the proudest dad and talking about Riz all the time? Him wanting to just talk about unimportant stuff with Riz because it’s his important stuff. Ugh, my entire heart. And Riz immediately reverting to full, “My dad could beat up your dad,” mode. I love them so much.

I feel like Siobhan took coming up with a spell for Ayda as an actual out of game homework assignment which she should because Brennan *will* let her do it and then Ayda will save the party with it. That’s how D&D works baby I don’t make the rules. Hit me up with your best ideas.

Adaine actually asked Gilear for some of his hair in order to Scry on him and he’s the one who offered blood instead because he couldn’t spare any more hair. Feel like there’s gotta be a spell for that

Siobhan just casually says the phrase, “Mycelium web,” once again just being Adaine.

Couldn’t Kalina just say, “Screw it,” and stop showing up in pictures if the strain gets too much? Like, if your cover is blown, it’s blown. Or is it set up in such a way that it’s gonna screw her before she has the chance to turn it off?

It’s funny that Zac is playing such a low Int character because he’s actually figured out a lot of stuff this season and he’s the one who remembered that dragon madness won’t get passed on if the person who gets the money has no knowledge that it’s dragon money. I wonder if we’ll get to see him play a non-Himbo next season.

Adaine, predictably, has no social media presence. Speaking of social media, I love the naming convention of just sticking the word “fantasy” in front of things like Twitter and Google--as in, “You guys are all over Fantasy Twitter.” Like, why even complicate things? You know what this is.

Goodbye card for Gilear: Outside--Gilear I need you/Inside--to get me a cortado.

I had a stray thought that Riz could possibly use the door to come back after having done angel training for like a month but (1) that’s a little meta-gamey and (2) they were making an exception for him to be there that short time as it was. Anything else probably would have been pushing it.

Is Pok’s heaven affiliated with any deity or is it just where all the good workaholic secret agents go? To me, it seems like it liaises with all the other heavens more than being it’s own main heaven, you know?

Oh man. Ayda disappearing and Fig clutching her powerful feather, begging her to come back after indirectly putting her the situation she’s currently in? Heartbreaking dude.

I wonder why the people who disappeared disappeared beyond just getting rid of the NPCs.

Edit: Forgot to mention the part where Kristen rolled a -1 with her trash Dex so Ayda had to give her a portent roll to not instantly blow everything.

The Bad Kids are in a very precarious position right now. If I trusted Kalina to be someone of her word, I might try to bargain with her--destroy the picture in return for letting us leave. From a DM standpoint, I think it’s probably a good time for an Abernant Ex-Machina. They’re in the forest too as far as we know and they gotta come back into the story somehow. This could be the time.

Everyone going off about how Riz is a little angel and he could have told them if he was a Celestial and how much he loves Gilear while he’s not in the scene and can’t say anything is peak D&D.

Bill Seacaster saying a bunch of insane nonsense and then Adaine being like, “Nice seeing you Mr. Seacaster,” is also peak D&D.

This episode, Adaine, Fig*, Kristen and Brennan (as Sandra-Lynn) each rolled a Nat 20. Adaine and FIg each rolled one Nat 1 that was canceled by disadvantage and Riz rolled one Nat 1 that stuck.

*I actually am not 100% Fig rolled at Nat 20. Kristen did for sure but I don’t have a Tally for her so I might have flipped those by accident. If you happen to know for some weird reason, lemme know.

#fantasy high #fantasy high live #fantasy high spoilers #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers

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evien-stark · 4 years

Text

✧I Need You✧ Chapter 77

The next course of action was neither clear nor simple. The only thing your brain was latching on to was that Tony was alive, and honestly thank god for that. Had he not been, your weeping and endless guilt would have only been curtailed by this mysterious Maya Hansen knowing where the Mandarin was. That would have led you on a trip of vengeance- one you currently were still planning to take. Because even if Tony was alive- again, thanking the powers that be that he was- the Mandarin still needed to be stopped.

Not just for good reasons. For selfish ones. He’d hurt practically everyone you’d cared about at this point, save the Avengers themselves. Speaking of which…

After murmuring to each other enough about a plan of action, or the groundwork for one anyway (which consisted of getting the hell away from SHIELD because you were sure they were listening in, and then grilling her for information while paying very close attention to how she was feeling about all that), you found your way back to Steve. Still impressed with his timing. And were you in a different way, maybe you’d have appreciated it. ...well, he did stop you from jumping into the ocean after a man who’d clearly already left it. Probably saved your life by doing so. What a pointless death that would have been.

But now you needed him for something else. “Can you keep Fury off my back?” Double tapping the Heart Reactor to finally remove your suit.

He just crossed his arms and made a face. “What’s that now? What’d she say to you?” Damn it all that Steve was no fool. And after what he’d just witnessed, probably none too keen on just letting you leave with a stranger.

Taking hold of his hand, you pulled him in close, lowering your voice further. “Tony is alive.”

His eyes searched yours. “You know that for a fact?” Clearly of the mind that Maya might have been trying to sell you some snake oil.

“He sent me a message. He’s alive. And I’m going to him.” Because he said he was somewhere chasing a lead, right? That was where he’d ended up? You hadn’t really had a lot of time to parse through that message. But now this way, you didn’t have to wait for JARVIS to repower and send you coordinates. You’d just both meet up at the same place. Easy. Cut the middle right out.

And let the ass kicking of a century commence. You liked this plan. This was a good plan. And nothing would stop you from enacting it.

“Look I’m really glad- relieved. But. I don’t think you should run off right now. A lot of things are happening.” He gestured weakly to the SHIELD agents patrolling the lot, the now completely decimated lawn and what used to be your house- burned foundation and rubble, only (and barely) the basement portion left. Damage Control was here, cleaning up already. Pushing the media circus back.

“I have to go, Steve. Every second I’m here puts more time for this Mandarin guy to keep moving. Keep bombing people. Please.” Trying to make him see. Make him understand. “I have to do this.”

He crossed his arms a little tighter, shook his head softly. “I don’t know… let me come with you, at least.”

For one reason or another you didn’t like this. Maybe it was that it was pinging a deep part of you that was now predisposed to everyone you loved getting hurt as soon as they got even mildly involved with this. That was probably it. You didn’t want him around for this. You could do it yourself. You thought about trying to appeal to his soldier sensibilities- asking him if he’d ever lost a friend behind enemy lines due to fault of his own- and if he’d ever had to go and make it right-

But a different answer presented itself in the form of Maya yelling and the two of you turning to see Dvahli leaping from her arms onto the ground and then coming over to you in a mad dash.

“She bit me!”

Perfect timing. You scooped her up, giving her a tight little snuggle, absolutely terribly sorry that she had to live through something this terrible. She was probably traumatized. Weren’t you all? But after you were done squeezing her, you held her out. “Watch her, please.” And when he opened his mouth, probably to tell you no, you gave him the most pleading pair of eyes you could. “Please, Steve. For me… please.”

He drew in a deep, deep breath and then let it out in a losing sigh. Even though he was unsteady in his movements, holding his arms out for you to deposit Dvahli into them, he stood firm. Because you’d asked him to. “You go in. You get Tony. You put this guy down. That’s it.”

“That’s it.” You told him back, sure as you could. Then leaned in to give him a half hug. “Thank you… I won’t mess this up this time. Just… distract Fury for me. And then take her back to the Tower. We’ll meet you there.” When this was over. Seeing as how the two of you didn’t have a house anymore.

“We’re gonna have a long talk when you get back.” Warning you of what was to come. And it didn’t sound particularly fun.

“Yeah. I understand.” What more could you say to this? He was doing you a huge favor. Not even by covering for you, or for watching your cat. For being here at all.

“Things don’t go to plan, you call me. Got it?”

“Got it.” Nodding. It was at least a little relieving, knowing you could trust him. Knowing he would be there, as soon as you needed him. That thought alone spurred on another hug, another murmur of thanks, a small kiss on the cheek, and then you spent your last remaining minute there nuzzling Dvahli, telling her that you were sorry- you were- and that you were going to come home soon, and bring Tony back with you. When you could pull yourself away, finally you went slowly back to Maya.

Steve already threw a plan of action on the field, calling for one of the nearby agents’ attention. You took Maya by the arm, making sure not to make it seem like the two of you were sneaking off. Even though the two of you definitely were.

“Keep your head down. Get in the car as soon as we approach.” You’d have to take one of Tony’s. That was fine. He could drive it back for all you cared. Because you were going to get him back. You were finishing this. Tonight.

Of course as soon as the two of you shut your doors and you pushed the button to start, Fury started barking out a million different things. Most of which had to do with the fact that you were not allowed to leave. So you really stepped on the gas and drove like wildfire, down across the lawn- what did it matter that you were ruining it? That whole property was gone- and through their little barrier.

“LUNA kill any trackers. I don’t want them following us. Do whatever you have to, I want a dead trail.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Five minutes out on the road in complete silence seemed to be killing Maya. She was nervous. A touch anxious. And she did the most stereotypical thing to fill the void- reach over and turn on the radio. You really wished she hadn’t though, because a stern news anchor’s voice entered the car.

“-and after the mass hysteria that seemed to spread over the entire state of California, many are asking themselves, what happened? There were riots and looting, fights- No one has any answers. It seemed to coincide with the bombing on the Stark Manor. Did the world panic after Tony Stark was declared de-”

Quickly you reached over to turn the radio off. That was the reason Nick Fury and SHIELD had shown up. You had totally lost control and probably ruined a great many lives in the process. Whether or not it was true, that Steve had been on his way here anyway, he had come practically arm in arm with Fury. And he’d seemed to be somewhat in charge when you’d had all those guns pointed at you…

“You gotta tell me where we’re going.” While you could drive off into the night forever, it was a pretty pointless exercise. “And what you were doing at my house. What’s your involvement in all of this?” It was foolish to just blindly trust her, even if Tony said he’d known her previously. You were on Steve’s side with that one.

“We just need to go someplace safe.”

“Great. No. I need more than that.” It probably wasn’t a good idea to sass her, if she was the only person aside Tony, who was currently out of reach, who had the information you so desperately needed. But… on the other hand… your nerves were beyond frayed. Emotions running pretty wild at this point. You had nowhere to put them. “-I’ll take us to a hotel. No cards, just cash. No media. We’ll stay down-low.” Making that promise for her at least. Not leaving a trail was not just for her, it was also for you.

SHIELD would mess this up for you. Tell you to form a better plan than cold revenge. That wasn’t really gonna work for you. So. The less they could follow where you were, the better.

It took every ounce of your control to stay quiet, be patient, and wait for her to start talking again. Thankfully, you were eventually rewarded. “I think my boss works for the Mandarin.”

“Your boss? Aren’t you a botanist?” It was probably useless to try and make much sense out of this. Since when did your life ever make sense? But some of it had to track or else you were probably just being fooled.

She breathed out a huff of a sardonic laugh. “Botanist, yeah. That’s what Tony remembers, I’m sure. We met at a science convention in Germany, and after the night was over he probably didn’t remember too much else.” You spared her the eye roll, not really interested in Tony’s lurid bedroom stories of yore. “What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure, you and Tony can call me a botanist.”

Think tank. Think tank.

You lived and breathed in the tech world, the startup world, the … all that, world. You had for a long time. It wasn’t unusual for you to hear those words, was it? Yet every part of you immediately knew. You just knew. Maybe nothing in your life made sense. But at least there were footprints leading on a trail. Every time. Every time, when something felt off… it was for a reason.

“Your boss’ name is Aldrich Killian, isn’t it.”

Just say it. Just fucking say it. Angrier now, somehow, if that were even possible. Furious because that guy had bugged you and irked you and made you feel uncomfortable. And just like every other fucking time in your life that you didn’t follow up, chose not to investigate, it blew up in your face. It got Tony hurt. Because you’d been tired or busy or a million other excuses. But it was always the same fucking thing in the end.

Your fault.

Maya seemed shocked, turning to stare at you. “How do you know that?”

“Just a feeling.” It was getting hard to see, there was just so much red.

Maybe you scared her, or maybe she was weighing her next options very carefully. It was hard to say. It gave you time to stew, hands gripping the wheel on and off as your rage kept building. Eventually it would explode. The silence was getting unbearable. As you turned off one road and down another you felt relieved when she started speaking again. “I bought in, you know? I sold my research. Myself. I thought we were doing something good. But I want out now. He’s dangerous. I should have seen it earlier. We’re taking people off the streets- soldiers- people who need help and turning them into weapons. I honestly just can’t sleep any more.”

You felt her remorse and it only put a tiny ding in the mountain of anger you were still working through. It was your turn to let a silence linger, as you kept weaving through roads, still trying to make sure it was impossible to follow you. And a hotel was too much to hope for. This had to be a motel kind of thing. And to even get through a front door, you’d have to get cash somewhere- which would leave a trail- god damn it.

Why couldn’t you take a lesson from Tony? Just walk around with thousands of dollars in your pocket? Everything about this was angering. Angry. It was all you were holding on to at this point. Anything else and you’d come apart.

It was when you interrupted her that you even realized she was speaking again- and that you weren’t listening- as you asked, “Do you have cash on you?”

“Um- yeah- a little. Why? I didn’t come to your house stacked or anything, but-”

“I didn’t have time to plan for this little adventure, so I’m going to have to pay you back. We’re going to a motel.” And then you realized that if you were any sort of decent human you should probably stop stewing in your own problems and offer her some comfort. Ten minutes, tops. You could at least afford that. “And- people are shitty. We turn a blind eye to a lot, if we think we can get to a justifiable place, in the end.” In that way you were no different. Hadn’t that been what you were doing with Tony, before all this?

She hung her head. “Yeah. I guess.”

Thick, unbearable silence was inevitable after that. You just had to embrace it. Thankfully the motel was not that much further away. You hung back and kept your head down as she paid for a room on the second floor. And, just your luck, she had three whole dollars and fifty cents left afterwards.

There was no sleep to be had that night- not for you, anyway. She’d cozied up on a bed- probably not a smart move. But now was not the time to be pulling out blacklights and checking for bugs. The excitement of it all seemed to put her right out. It left you to pacing. Thinking. Growing angrier and angrier. And more worried, too. Tony hadn’t reached back out. You could only hope things were okay. As the sun came up you accidentally knocked her bed pacing by one time and she got the hint, getting up, mumbling something about something.

Once you’d paced enough in the room, probably wearing a trail in the floor by now, and once she was more conscious, you grabbed her remaining cash off the dresser where she’d tossed it.

When she threw a questioning glance your way, you stopped by the door. “I saw some vending machines on the way up here. What would you like to share for breakfast?”

At this she sighed, crossing her arms. “Who cares. Potato chips, I guess. And coke, if you have money left over and we can afford to be fancy.” She was trying to be funny, and to her credit it did earn a twitch of a smile, but that was all you had for her.

Luckily, you returned with much more- as per request, a small bag of most likely stale potato chips, and a bottle of coke that had been churned out far too hard by the machine it was in. You must have lingered a little too long outside, because when you came back in she seemed jumpy. Then again, considering the circumstances, maybe you should have been, too.

Leaving the provisions with her, “I’m actually not that hungry. By all means. I think I’m gonna just try my luck with the shower.”

“Yeah… alright. Thanks.” With no further hesitation, she ripped the small bag open.

After that, you decided it couldn’t wait any longer. “Do you know where Killian is right now? How am I supposed to get to him?”

“No need.” A strong hand gripped the back of your hair, yanking you hard. “I’ve scheduled the meeting myself this time.”

The voice sliced through your consciousness, too little too late, as he threw you up against the nearest wall. Already permanently scarred, your brain went into immediate panic mode, reaching up to shove- to scratch- to anything- no! To try and tap your Reactor-

A single smart deed that immediately went punished. He pulled and then rammed you back, capturing the hand that was going for the reactor in one of his, pulling it above your head. Then with his other he reached towards your chest. “This has to go.” You were sure you must have been knocked into hallucination. His eyes were lighting up- and so was his hand- glowing orange- and when he set it to your skin it burned.

Burned so hot you felt it melting the metal of your Reactor. So you reached again in the next breath with your other free hand, getting a good clean swing in, your fist to his jaw. Finally some other training kicked in, and you raised a knee to his gut.

“I need you to calm yourself-”

A sentence that would have sparked enough anger to move you, had he not taken a hold of your hair again and slammed your head against the wall and then quickly turned you to face it, pinning you with his own body. So. Reactor down. Body unable to move. What more could you do?

It was then that you dropped into the darkness and wasted no time once you were there. Once you saw him. You rushed forward, sinking your hands into him, vision blurring to give you that shaky view of a body that did not belong to you. And just as you tried to wrestle control, to get him one step away, you heard him gulp for air, twist your hair in his hand, and knock your face against the wall again. Jarring you back into your own body.

“You’re a tricky one, aren’t you? Don’t worry. I love the hunt.” His voice was an afterthought next to the small pinprick you felt at your neck. “Came prepared.”

Beyond you, you heard Maya’s unimpressed voice. “Should’ve opened with that.”

Malaise entered you so deep it was impossible to fight off. Your automatic scrabbles for survival started slowing, and then halting as you went slack. “Are you going tell me why you were at Stark’s mansion at all?”

“I’m trying to fix this thing! I didn’t know you and the master were gonna blow it up!”

They were squabbling. Like old friends. The master. So wrapped up in yourself. You should’ve listened to Steve. Everything that went wrong- it was always your fault wasn’t it? You managed to say something that made him laugh. And then the lights went out.

------

The only thing you were aware of as you started coming to, was that you’d come to more than a few times now. And been put back down every single time. Oh- wait- more things you knew for sure- you were in a lot of pain- your brain was very foggy- and… oh right. You were going to kill everyone responsible for this. That much you were absolutely sure of.

And the last and worst piece of information… you were tied to a table- …? Standing? Strapped- strapped to a… standing chair… yes, your brain was not working so well. Your legs were not moving, neither were your arms, really, but maybe that was because, as you remembered yes, you were tied down. Things were not ideal- your Reactor?- gone… you were sure. Destroyed? No idea…

“Tony…” Voice murky and low. Why call for him? Was he here? Was he going to help you? No of course not. Because you’d fucked everything up. Even if he’d made it out of that bombing alive, there was no telling what would happen now. Because of you. And all your mistakes.

“Unavailable, can I take a message? God, do you know how much I hated hearing that? Over and over and over…” Someone was talking- Killian it took you too long to realize- and pacing back and forth, as you finally managed to open your eyes. Finally, when he stopped, he came over, touching your face so gently it made you sick. Extra sick. You realized then you were already nauseous. “You’re quite the specimen. I understand what he sees in you.”

This made sense, right? You were going to be bait. Because you’d let yourself be bait. “He won’t- he’s not going to help you- what are you even doing? You need him? Or- you want him to…” Your head fell forward, but he caught you.

Making sure you were angled enough to keep looking at him. “We thought we needed his help. Turns out, I’ve got all the help I need. Sorry- let me explain, I think you’re a little groggy- sorry, again. Apologies, really, but if we don’t keep you incapacitated I think you might do something stupid. You see- that little stunt back at the motel- I knew there was a reason Stark kept you around. Maybe he got in too deep, but I’m just above the surface. I don’t mind blood farming.”

He really was talking too much. Not making a lot of sense. It was getting harder to see, so eventually you just let your eyes close. Thankful you were too out of it to cry. Because you really just might have otherwise. “What are you- ...what the hell are you talking about?” Out of breath, it seemed. It was only then you realized there was another goon in the room- realized it as he moved to your side and turned a drip on an IV- that you also realized was in your arm. All these realizations, all too late, as a steady burn started to fill your veins. “Don’t do this!” Awake and aware so suddenly. Fear creeping up on you, turning that anger to mush. “Killian don’t do this! I’m not-” Normal, you wanted to say. He was using this Extremis stuff on normal people.

What would it do to you?

“Don’t panic. Panicking makes it worse. Phase One is quick. It’s Phase Two you have to worry about. Were you a lab experiment? SHIELD? Or someone else? Because really, it’s remarkable. I thought I’d have to force Stark’s hand, but you. Here you are. Sorry. I think I’m two steps ahead of you-” Tilting your head up harder to earn your frenzied attention back. “Your genes, I’m saying. Mutated. Something in your blood. Extremis is volatile. Did Maya not explain? The bombings, it’s extremis turning in on itself. Lab rats, all of them- but now we can make it viable. Through you. Some mad scientist did a number on you. I’ll have to send him a Christmas card.”

“What the hell are you fucking talking about?!” Fed up. Completely fed up, even through the strange mix of grogginess and fear, of hearing him talk. You were sure he was just doing it to hear himself at this point. God damn it. What an annoying asshole.

“There she is.” Thumbs brushing your cheeks as he still held you. “I tested your blood against Extremis, and the results were remarkable.” Leaning in, he rested his forehead against yours. “So. I’m going to have to pump you full of it. Indefinitely. I’m sure you understand.” Giving you a little pat before letting your head fall forward without his support and stepping away. “It’s better this way, anyway. Assuming you don’t die. If you do-” A small shrug. “-I’ve got enough to work through on my own. But really, don’t waste my resources, if you could do me that favor, alright?”

He was leaving. Walking further and further away.

This was the man. The man responsible for all of it? The Mandarin? You couldn’t remember- what was Maya saying- but even so- god, you hurt. Your heart started beating triple time, and it felt like an ocean was filling your lungs. Like you’d run a marathon- “Killian-”

But Killian was at the core of all of this. He was the one that had attacked Rhodey- “-Killian-” He was the one that had put Happy in the hospital- “...Killian-” He blew up your house- almost deactivated JARVIS- almost killed Tony-

“ALDRICH.” Forcing his name out in a guttural growl.

Finally he stopped walking, and turned to you with a smile. The world seemed like it was getting brighter. The edges of your vision were going white as your nerves went alight with fire. He took his time, stepping in closer. “Yes?”

You made sure to look him square in the eyes. “I’m going to kill you. When I get out of here, I’m going to shove my hand into your chest just to see if you have a heart. And god help you if I find one because I’m going to squeeze it until it explodes.”

For a moment that smug, sure facade broke and you felt a little fear enter in, nice and icy. But he regained his composure, a twitch of a smile before he dropped his head, shaking it. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.” A small laugh left him. “By the time I’m through with you…” He lifted his gaze, watching you. “You’ll be in so much pain you’ll be begging me to put an end to you. And if you’re lucky, I just might.” Then he leaned in, hard, whispering in your ear. “But judging by where you are, I’d say your luck died a few days ago.”

There was no more fear left in you. Not like him. He couldn’t scare you anymore. “I’m going to kill you.” You promised, quieter this time. And as the pain overtook and overloaded every last circuit in your brain you etched that promise into reality. “I’m going to kill you- I’m going to kill you-”

“Keep it up.” Laughing on his way out.

He remained a liar. Phase One of whatever this was felt like it dragged on for several agonizing hours. Hours you wasted screaming yourself hoarse. Hoping for a miracle, as lava snaked and danced over your skin, twining deep inside your muscles. Eventually the screams wrung out, and you were left murmuring to yourself a whisper of revenge you were sure you were going to enact as sweat dripped heavy from your brow and the room started to spin. You had to. You’d get out of here and put an end to that man. That man that had now tried to destroy your whole family. You would. You had to.

At least that’s what you thought. But as another IV was loaded on your other arm, your path became not as clear. What had been a steady drip before had now become a rush. Like they really were pumping you full of whatever this stuff was- just like he’d promised. And it was unbearable. It made your muscles lock. Like being shocked, over and over and over again. As you strained against your restraints, it felt like your nerves were close to snapping.

There was one last moment of clarity, as you slipped far beneath those waves. If you could just get to one of those goons and make them stop this- wouldn’t that be enough? Would you finally be able to do something on your own?

But the pain was so overwhelming, you felt ready to burst- ready to give in- ready to anything just to make it stop... You were sure somewhere on the surface you were crying. Calling out for someone- anyone- Tony-

Then the worst thing of all happened. Not even the darkness could soothe you. Because as you opened your eyes, the fire consumed you. A scream unlike anything you’d ever heard in your life escaped you, as your hands moved as if they were being pulled by puppeteer strings, allowing that bright orange flame to escape through you- through every pore-

It raced across the waves and the ripples- across all of it, lashing across every inch of that dark space- until it was dark no more. Until you gave in, letting it eat you up entirely, lighting up the very sky in a blinding blood red and orange. Trapping you there. Growing brighter and brighter until you could see no longer. The darkness had fled. The sky above you in that place was now alight with the same fire consuming you, as if your entire being was collapsing in flames, and you felt like you could see everyone around for miles. For a few seconds at least until you collapsed in on yourself like a supernova. Burning too hot. Burning too bright until your inevitable demise.

Just as the unbearable pain circled down, a second ear splitting, inhuman shriek leaving- it centered, you felt the dam break.

And you were you no more.

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter Seventy Seven

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thesevenseraphs · 6 years

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Bungie Weekly Update - 1/25/18

This week at Bungie, we’ve got details on the next update to Destiny 2.

On Tuesday, Faction Rallies came to a close, and New Monarchy defended their title. They are now two-time champions and they aren’t shy about rubbing it in the other factions’ faces. You can pick up their prize in the Tower. Servants loyal to the New Monarchy will get a discount. Everyone else can still get it, but it’s going to cost more Glimmer.

Perhaps Future War Cult will finally get a “W” the next time Factions Rallies returns. Until then, we have a new event to look forward to.

Salad Bar

It’s time. A battle of Guardian versus Guardian returns.

Begins: Tuesday, January 30

Ends: Tuesday, February 6

The game is Control!

This will be the first time Lord Saladin returns to the Tower in Season 2. There have been some changes to how you’ll go about decorating your Guardian with relics of the Iron Lords. First, we are adding new items to the engrams you will find waiting for you when you visit Lord Saladin. There will definitely be Season 2 weapons in the Iron Banner Engram and we will be adding more in the next event. Here is a look at what rewards you can expect to earn next week.

Hand Cannon

Scout Rifle

Shotgun

The only thing not pictured is the Iron Banner ship. We’ll save that for when you discover it yourself.

If you are missing items from last season, they will still drop as possible rewards from the engram. There is also a new emblem that tracks how many lifetime rank ups for Iron Banner you have earned in Destiny 2. You can earn it by completing the Iron Banner Milestone.

We've received a lot of feedback from previous Iron Banner events that players preferred a way to directly acquire items. We have added the ability to obtain armor and three different weapons from Lord Saladin during each event. Here is what he has to offer next week.

The final way to earn rewards is by completing challenges. Ornaments are available for all your Iron Banner gear and you can unlock them by completing various objectives for Lord Saladin.

Season 2 Ornaments

There are no limits to how many engrams you can acquire or how many tokens you can earn. Get as much playtime as you can during the week. It will always move you a little closer to opening another engram, earning an ornament, or purchasing a piece of gear from Lord Saladin. Go nuts!

Masters of the Armor

Many of you have already been discovering Masterwork weapons and adding them to your collection. Next week, we are adding Armor Masterworks to the mix. All Legendary armor now has a chance to drop as a Masterwork. The same rules apply as with the weapons, you will have a higher chance of getting Armor Masterwork from Trials of the Nine and Raid activities. But you might get lucky with an engram from Lord Shaxx or any other vendor who offers engrams.

The Benefits

Each armor piece grants 3% damage resistance while using a Super

This stacks for a 15% damage reduction if you have a full set of Masterwork Armor

Masterworks armor can be reworked to a different stat package (Heavy, Light, or Restorative) for one Masterwork core and 10 Legendary Shards

You can now rework stats on your armor. The results will still be stat packages that are found on other pieces. There is a UI bug right now where if you try to quickly rework Armor sets it will appear to rework to the same stats. It doesn’t actually perform the rework function or use your materials, but can be quite scary, so we wanted to give you a heads up.

This is just the first version of Armor Masterworks. We are planning to continue updating this system and adding additional benefits. As always, if you have any feedback, please let us know.

Happy hunting.

Raid Reward Renewal

Raiding is one of Destiny 2’s ultimate endgame experiences. So far, you have explored the mysteries of the Leviathan and dove even deeper into its first Lair, the Eater of Worlds. We’ve received feedback that, while the experiences were epic, the rewards could use some more love. We invited Senior Designer Daniel Auchenpaugh to tell you more about what we’re changing with rewards starting with next week’s Raids.

Daniel Auchenpaugh: With the upcoming January patch, we're making a number of changes to the way Raid rewards work. We've been hearing that the current system doesn't feel exciting when you kill bosses, that tokens aren't interesting enough, and that you want more deep-chase items to hunt down. This is our first swing at tackling some of those, and we hope you'll jump in and play with these changes a bit and then let us know how you feel. For now, let's dive in to the changes and talk a bit about our goals and thinking with them.

Raid Armor: Now With Raid Perks!

Raid armor now drops with perks that function on the Leviathan; these appear on mods that are selectable on both new drops and existing Raid armor pieces you may already have in your inventory. Additionally, these mods are reusable: if you swap to another one these will always be in the list to swap back to on your Raid armor for the low, low price of 1 Calus Token. Since no one wants to take a -5 Power penalty if they remove their Legendary mods while in the Raid, all the Raid mods are Legendary by default. This should also be extra icing on the cake for players who can’t seem to get that last mod they need to max their gear out. The goal for these perks was to elevate the power of Guardians in the Raid, and we aimed to build things that were useful in every encounter. As a result, we avoided things that relied on specific mechanics to be useful and moved to broadly useful perks like "Recharge your grenade when you activate your Super" and "Deal 20% extra damage after getting a melee kill" as opposed to things tied to specific mechanics.

Double Drops

Clearing Prestige now gives you Prestige and normal drops. If you have the prowess to clear Prestige, then you've proven yourself enough that we don't need to force you to go back and do Normal as well.

Raid Encounters Always Drop a Raid Piece

We didn't want players to have that "dead encounter" feeling anymore, where they had already received all the rewards for that encounter and were just waiting on a later encounter. Or, even worse, the disappointed feeling where no one in your raid group gets something, which could happen under rare circumstances in the old system. So we've unified the drop tables for the encounters so that raid gear isn't tied to a specific encounter anymore (with an exception I'll get in to down below...) so no matter what encounter you clear, you can get raid loot. Oh, and every encounter has a chance to drop an exotic. Not an engram that you have to take back to Rahool for decryption, but an item you could equip and start using immediately if you want. This list of possible exotic drops is comprised of all non-quest exotics, with armor and weapons weighted equally, and is restricted to things your class can equip.

Raid Vendor Sells a Rotating Selection of Raid Gear

If you just can't get that last piece to drop for you, we want to give you some agency with your tokens. For a cost of Legendary Shards and some Calus Tokens, you can purchase these pieces if you have completed that raid for the week. For instance, if you want to buy the Prestige Chest armor, you need to complete Prestige mode that week before you can do so. This is so people can't save up tokens by sticking to normal mode and still wear the Prestige gear; we wanted to give people agency to fill in those few slots they're missing, not negate the need to progress further in the raid. Ole Benedict will change up what pieces they have available for purchase each week.

New Item: Exotic Raid Ghost "Contender's Shell"

While not quite at the grind level of the legendary Nanophoenix, we felt like we needed to add a chase item to the Raid pool to make coming back still have reward potential each week. Enter the Contender’s Shell. This Ghost can drop from the final encounter in either Leviathan or Eater of Worlds. We also included some bad luck protection to avoid the previously mentioned "Nanophoenix Problem" so that dedicated raiders can rest assured they'll get their hands on it eventually, even if it takes several weeks. The Contender's Shell comes with some brand new perks that we're hoping helps reward players that keep clearing the Raid even after they've gotten their Ghost. Both active only on the Leviathan, and it’s lair, they aim to make Leviathan encounter rewards stay awesome. First, Seeker of Brilliance enables the chance for encounters to drop Bright Engrams from their loot pools. Every time one doesn't drop a Bright Engram, we increase the chance for the next. Remember those Exotics that can drop from encounters I was talking about earlier? Well, Seeker of Opulence means those exotics have a 50% chance to pull from a list of Exotics you haven't collected yet instead of the standard list. Lastly, to top off this already pretty rad Ghost, we threw on Seeker of Glory, which provides a tracker for the number of encounters you have defeated on the Leviathan.

I realize this is a bit of an avalanche of text more than a wall, but I wanted to talk about both what we were working on and why we did it. I know we still aren't going to address every concern here, but hopefully this is a start in good faith. If we missed the mark on something, please let us know. Additionally, if you think we really nailed it with one of these changes, please give us that feedback as well so we can keep doing more of that. We're hard at work on the next month's update now, but I hope next week you jump back in to the Leviathan (both Raid and the Lair) and let us know how it feels.

Patch Note Preview

Armor Masterworks and changes to Raid rewards aren’t the only changes coming in the upcoming 1.1.2 update on January 30. Here is a look at a few of the other fixes you can expect to see in the full notes next week.

Prometheus Lens

Flame Refraction perk now generates ammo instead of pulling from reserves

Increased base damage

Fixed an issue where new characters created after the release of Curse of Osiris were not receiving the Flashpoint milestone

Players in social spaces, like the Tower, receive a notification when their Lost and Found at the Postmaster is full

Heroic strike completions now have a greater chance of granting Exotic rewards

Mercury challenges are now available during adventures

Fixed an issue where Curse of Osiris strikes were not properly granting Clan Engrams when featured as a Nightfall activity

Fixed an issue where Challenges were not appearing within Quickplay

Increased the dismantle timer for Masterwork Cores

Shader Sit-down

Since the launch of Destiny 2, we’ve gathered a lot of feedback on the new shader system. As time went on, and the shaders began to pile up, players lamented the cumbersome process of trying to delete each shader one by one.

You’ve been asking us why we can’t just allow you to dismantle entire stacks of shaders. I mean, there are other consumables that can be dismantled in mass. It’s a totally reasonable question and we wanted to let you know the facts. We’re not making excuses or claiming this problem is too hard to solve. We just want to be transparent about what the problem is, and how we are going to go about solving it. Here is Senior Design Lead Tyson Green to shed some light on shaders.

Tyson Green: Shaders are individual items, and individual items trigger individual reward bundles when dismantled, even when those rewards are simple. That creates a challenge for us that we haven’t yet addressed, which is triggering dozens (or hundreds) of reward bundles simultaneously when an entire stack of shaders is dismantled. This is challenging not simply because an arbitrary number of rewards need to be run and delivered simultaneously, but because we also have to safeguard against scenarios where this produced items that couldn’t fit in your inventory, which could be instantly lost (ex: shaders that produce Glimmer could easily evaporate into nothing if you were at or near the cap.

It would be relatively easy to find another button on the controller (L2 + X?) and let players actually delete a full stack, but that isn’t the spirit of what players are asking for, so we’re looking at a stronger solve. In addition, we’re also looking at how to address other shader feedback:

It should be easier to get rid of a stack of shaders. We are looking at mass exchange solutions.

We know you miss D1 Armor Shader mechanics. Looking at ways to re-integrate that capability without losing the ability to shade weapons, Ghosts, ships, Sparrows, or customize specific pieces of armor.

We also understand you want shaders to be more freely usable and not limited by availability. We’re looking at re-introducing shader collections or a way to get copies of a shader in your possession.

This work is ongoing, and we’ll go on record as to when the solution will land as we get closer to a fix that we test and certify. For now, it was important to us that you know it’s on our workbench.

Turning the Page Recently, we unveiled our very first webcomic. To call it the first implies that it would not be the last. Coming soon, we’ll be delivering the next episode.

Keep your eyes trained on Bungie.net next week for the continuation of the story.

Update Schedule

If you ever need help with Destiny 2, the Player Support team is standing by on our #Help forum to assist you.

This is their report.

Upcoming Maintenance

Next week, Destiny Services will undergo a series of maintenance windows. Some are related to Destiny 2 Update 1.1.2, while others are for general housekeeping. If you experience any issues connecting to Destiny services upon maintenance completion, please post a report to the #Help forum. Monday, January 29, 2018

Destiny services will undergo backend maintenance. No downtime is expected. Maintenance will begin at 10 AM PST (1800 UTC) and is expected to conclude at 12 PM PST (2000 UTC).

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Destiny services will be brought offline for maintenance. Destiny Update 1.1.2 will also become available upon maintenance completion. Please see below for the timeline of the maintenance window.

8 AM Pacific - 1600 UTC

Destiny server maintenance is schedules to begin

Players may no longer sign in to Destiny services

9 AM Pacific - 1700 UTC

Players still in Destiny 2 activities will be returned to the title screen

12 PM Pacific - 2000 UTC

Destiny server maintenance is scheduled to conclude

Destiny 2 Update 1.1.2 will be available to download and install

Iron Banner will begin as soon as maintenance concludes

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Destiny services will undergo backend maintenance. No downtime is expected. Maintenance will begin at 12 PM PST (2000 UTC) and is expected to conclude at 2 PM PST (2200 UTC).

Armor Masterworks: Reworking Perks

Late in development, an issue was discovered impacting the ability to rework Masterwork Armor pieces quickly in succession.

If a player attempts to rework a Masterwork Armor piece immediately after reworking the item, a progress bar will fill, but no action is completed in game. The armor piece will retain the previously held perk, and no Masterwork Cores are lost due to this issue. Players will be required to attempt this action again when experiencing this issue.

The issue is currently being investigated by appropriate teams, and we will provide updates via @BungieHelp when more information is available.

#Curse of Osiris #Destiny #Destiny the game #Destiny 2 #bungie weekly update #long post

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kierarutherford · 7 years

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Blood and Lust

Idea was what if Cullen went with the Inquisitor (When romanced) into the field. Originally, he’d be concerned about them until he saw how impressive their abilities were. -From @dapromptexchange I wanted a twist on this. What if Cullen saw her fighting and it turned him on. Hmm… so we have for your enjoyment: Cullen and my OC Diana Trevelyan. NSFW and I like it that way. Word count - 2929 (it kinda just ran from me, and that’s cool) Some mention of blood and gore, death, and smut. Under the cut for length. Thank you! AND tagging @princessvicky01 because she wanted to read this piece, so for you hun! Enjoy!

The entire journey to the Shrine of Dumat had been quiet. More so than she was used to and in stark contrast to the clatter of metal and scent of blood that awaited them at their destination. Cullen had been too focused on fighting, too honed-in on finding Samson that he didn’t even think about Diana while he hewed down red templar after red templar.

Searching the burning ruins, it became reality that once again, Samson had evaded him. Once again just outside of his reach. Collecting everything they could use they settled camp a few kilometers from the smoking building.

Everyone was on high alert and exhausted from their fight having also endured the thrum of red lyrium. Cullen in particular, found his mood much improved once he put distance between himself and the angry crystal. Taking shifts, they all kept vigil less any of the red templars were lurking in the near by woods. To his surprise it was an uneventful evening. With everyone rested they began the trek back to Skyhold. It would take several days and while there was no immediate rush, Cullen couldn’t shake the feeling they were being followed.

“We are being followed,” Diana lowered her voice as she steered her horse close to his, “they intend to ambush us at the pass, ahead.” She maintained her calm demeanor as she smiled, “don’t fuss too much, they’ll know we’re on to them. I haven’t got a proper count of their numbers but I believe we are out numbered.” Looking back over her shoulder she smiled to Bull, “the Commander wishes to stop up head, he needs a moment.” Turning back, she hissed, “play along.”

“Yes, if you don’t mind of course,” Cullen nodded over his shoulder. The hairs on his neck were standing as he followed Diana’s lead. Hoping down from his horse he handed the reigns to Diana. “I don’t understand your plan.”

Stifling a giggle, she tied the horses together and passed the reigns around a tree along their path, “take the advantage away. If we linger, they will grow impatient. Striking us in anger and hurry, losing their edge. It may not be a perfect win, but it assures us less aches come the morning.” The others clattered up to them jumping from their horses. “Be ready, it won’t be long. The fat one over there just sneezed,” she lilted her head towards a massive oak. “There’s at least a dozen of them, if not more. I can’t be sure. Lost count last night.”

“Last night?” Cullen half squeaked out as his thumb traced the pommel of his hilt. He had thought they had been lucky to walk away from the Shrine with no one giving chase. Now here was Diana pointing out too much for his brain to focus on.

Clicking her tongue Diana patted his arm, “don’t take it personally, Commander, you are an ex-templar not a seasoned tracker. I’m sure only the Dalish rival my skills. Now if I were you,” she pulled her sword and unhooked her buckler from her shoulder, “I would prepare. This is going to be a close one. Thankful they didn’t bring any archers.”

No sooner had she leveled her shield did the red templars spring from the woods. Cullen braced himself best he could but panic rose in his chest. In the rush before he hadn’t seen her skill, and while her tracking and estimates of the red templars were accurate, could she back that with sword skill. His questions were being answer before him as she charged the first soldiers, her blade glinting in the late morning sun.

Shields clashed as she slammed head long into the templar. Not risking a power struggle, she slammed into his shield and using the momentum, sprang off her feet and rolled around him. With no time to react she quickly found the weak spot in his armor and drove her blade in deep. Crimson splattered down the grooves of the blade, splashing along her gloved hand and the dirt path.

Cullen couldn’t help the swell filling his chest and travelling even lower. There was a fluidic and gracefulness to her movements. Acrobatic strength and raw beauty as she dealt death. Giving his head a shake he refocused on the men pouring from the woods.

Magic and metal singed and sang as they battled on. Smoke and blood filling the air as their group dealt measured death. Diana felt herself tiring, “we need to finish this, Dorian!”

“I’m too pretty to die,” he howled as he cast out. Reaching in his robes he pulled another lyrium potion. Sucking it back quickly he shivered under the rush of power, “get behind me!” Everyone rushed towards Dorian seeing his hands pulse and swirl in a sparkling purple flare. Focusing the energy his lip quivered in a grand smirk. Casting out towards the largest guy he thrust the magic forward. “You may want to take cover,” he grunted forcing out a barrier before them, “and for those with tender stomachs, I wouldn’t look.” As he spoke the vibrant ball of magic entered the body before them. The red templar twitched, doubled over and let out a feral yelp before his eyes started to glow. “One more second,” Dorian grinned holding his open hand out. “and, now.” Dorian clenched his open hand into a tight fist. Magic flickered from his palm. The red templar’s back bent backwards sharply as he howled again. His howling burst as his body bubbled and his armor squealed as the metal twisted. In a bright flare of light, the man exploded, sending a shockwave of bone shards into the unsuspecting group of red templars surrounding him.

“Dorian…” Cullen groaned as blood sputtered out of the wretched corpses laying on the ground. Some of them still alive as they groaned and twitched along the ground. Gripping their wounds, sections of the man’s ribs imbedded in their faces, chests, limbs.

“Let’s finish them quickly, they’ve suffered enough,” Diana smirked as she kicked at the one before her, “perhaps not quite enough.” Going about the wet work they finished off the men quickly. Looting through to salvage anything useful. Once that was done, Diana slashed a section of fabric from a fallen templar and calmly strolled over to the small stream running by the road. Dipping her blade in she hummed to herself as she cleaned off the blood and matter. Wiping herself down she sheathed her sword and hooked her shield to her horse, “we should get to our campsite before the stars are forced to light our way.”

Cullen was dumbstruck. Her calm demeanor, a cool sense of strength and sureness that lit a sense of wonder and adoration deep in the pit of his gut. Clumsily following her lead, he climbed atop of his horse and followed closely behind her. He was mesmerized by the sway of her fiery hair as he hung down her back. How her shoulder rose and fell with the cantor of the stallion beneath her.

“See something interesting, dear Commander,” Dorian bristled next to him. “Perhaps you should take the night off watch, you’re of little use to the group if you can’t focus.”

“I… I… uh…” he rubbed at the base of his neck, cheeks blooming a brilliant red.

“Hush, you are adorable, indeed,” Dorian chuckled as he kicked his horse up to meet with Diana.

Cullen fumbled with the reigns as he tried not to look up. Keeping his head down he stumbled over what he would say to her once they made camp. Surely by now Dorian had told her of his boyish fawning. Trotting along he maintained his position with the group, only lifting his head once he caught the sound of feet hitting the ground before him. Stumbling along he jumped from his horse too. They must have arrived at their site.

Everyone did their chores from collecting firewood, to setting up tents and setting out cooking gear. Things moved rapidly as night began to creep over the horizon. It flowed smoothly and without much hassle dinner was bubbling away in the pot upon the crackling fire. Crowded around that fire they all laughed and tittered about the day, Diana’s unique catch of the fat templar, and the extra half day it would take to reach Skyhold.

“Dearest cousin, please, get some rest. Bull has offered to take the first watch. Varric is going to assume the second and,” letting out a groan Dorian rolled his eyes back at Bull, “I shall take the final watch.”

Letting a coiled grin kiss her lips Diana peered towards Cullen as she spoke, “well dearest cousin that is quite generous of all of you. I appreciate the efforts put forth.” Rising she tipped her head to everyone, “I should bid you all good night then, since I’m sure the Commander will want to make up for lost time.” Hiding the grin cracking across her face she licked her lips, “I’m certain he will want to ride hard tomorrow to reach Skyhold.”

Cullen furrowed his brow, not picking up on the subtle innuendo of her speech. Feeling a stubby finger poke his side he glanced over to Varric. “Follow her Curly, Maker’s breath you’re slow tonight.” Eyes flashing wide Cullen staggered back as he watched Diana slip into her tent, “what?” he barely mumbled.

“Bull would you kindly speak to the man,” Dorian waved his arm as he disappeared into his tent.

Bull slapped Cullen across the back as Varric threw up his hands and sauntered off to his tent, “Cullen, go get her. A little after battle sex, hot and heavy. Best way to cool off.”

Cullen flushed red as he stood sharply, “I… uh… well…” turning about he realize he was alone with Bull, “good night, Bull.” Keeping his head low he rushed off towards the tents. Peeking over his shoulder he saw Bull’s face down adding another thick log to the fire. Clenching his jaw tightly he went for it, ducking into her tent.

“I was wondering if you were going to figure it out,” Diana lay upon the top of her bedroll, in nothing but her smalls and bra band.

Lips pressed tightly together Cullen stifled a long groaning grunt as he began tugging at his armor. Practiced hands slipping buckles and clasps as he watched her toy with the lip of her bra band. Her finger dipping under the fabric and ringing around the edge plunging between her bountiful bosom.

Kicking at his boots he nearly tumbled to the floor. Righting himself he pulled the last pieces of his armor off and discarded them to the side. Pulling his shirt over his head he let out a throaty half growl, “I don’t wish the entire camp to know what we’re doing tonight.”

Reaching behind her she unclipped her bra band, catching the material against her breast she sighed, “of course. Believe me when I say you don’t want to give Iron Bull ideas when Dorian is around.”

Finishing with the ties to his pants he hurriedly hauled them down. Standing before her, naked and ready he licked his lips, “good. Take it off, now.” His voice was low and smacked of his stern Commander tone.

Purring she tossed the bra band at his face. Looping her finger tips in her smalls she stood up, “yes Commander,” turning sideways she shimmied her hips, dragging the clothe inch by painstaking inch down her toned, bronze thighs. It was too much as he sucked in his bottom lip, sinking his teeth into the stubble patch of skin beneath. Tossing her bra band towards his armor he stalked towards her, half primal predator half remaining in control. He knew she loved to unleash this side. Pure carnal sin and animal ferocity nestled just underneath his cool veneer.

Sinking to her knees she licked her lips, waiting for him to come closer. Taking as much joy in teasing her as she did in tease him he got down to his fours. His eyes never leaving hers as he crawled towards her, the beast in steady pursuit. His eyes drove her back, upon her elbows and down to the bedroll, where he loomed over her. Kneeing her legs open his breath heavy, he pressed her down into the woven blankets, “I’ve wanted you all day.”

Dragging her nails along his shoulders and up into his hair she sighed, “seeing me fight turns you on?” It was less a question, and more a sinful statement as she nipped his bottom lip, drawing a harsh moan from him.

“You are grace and death,” he sealed his lips to her, eager and forceful, just how she always craved him. Leaning further into her he craved the sounds she could make. Low and wicked murmurs that made him weak. Taking her lip in his teeth he graced them over the sensitive flesh, “you are sin and base, a demon wrapped in sweet promises.”

Licking his upper lip, she grinned against his mouth, “I love when you talk dirty to me.” Pulling him back into herself she snaked her hands down his neck, over the taut muscles of his back, passing countless scars as she reached over the small of his back to grasp his rear tightly in her palms. Forcing him forward she felt his tip twitch at the sudden dip into her warmth. Shuddering she threw her head back, “fuck, yes,” she gritted out between her teeth. “Fuck me hard, Cullen. Lay claim to me.”

A thunderous bellow held tightly in his chest as he thrust into her, driving himself as deep as he could. Gasping above he, he seized her wrists. Pinning them over her head in one hand he grinned, “how do you ask for such things?” His face loomed over hers just beyond her reach. Struggling would be ineffective against his size and strength but he knew she would. Knew she loved the chase, the callous and naked approach to their love making. She bucked under him, twisting her hip against his, forcing him in and out of her. Leaning back, he grinned, “that’s not being a very good girl, is it?” He tugged on her nipple, earning another low hiss and curse. “How do we ask for such things?” He enjoyed being in control, enjoyed commanding her in such a way. A way he never thought of until she came along, equal parts fire and tempered water, and only for him.

“Fuck me hard, Commander, please,” her doe eyes batted their long lashes as her lips pouted.

He twitched hard inside of her, so much so she gasped at the sudden shift. How he loved this game, how it drove him higher. He couldn’t last, wouldn’t last much longer and by the tightening around his length, she couldn’t either. Giving her breast, a firm swat he grinned, “did you want your hands back, temptress?”

“Mhmm, please Commander. I wish to touch you,” licking her lips she eyed him like a hungry wolf prepared to devour him whole.

Slapping her other breast, he released her hands, “good girl.” His voice was low as he rocked his hips, “come here,” he opened his arms to her as he leaned back upon his knees. Helping her into his lap he thrust up into her, her own hips matching his rhythm made the tent spin. Light was fading, the tent whirled and the delicious sounds of her sighs and moans were in his ear as he clutched her to him, “damnit Di…” he panted. His walls were closing in, sound and atmosphere washing away in the cloudy haze swirling about him. Her voice broke the sensation, “fill me, fuck me.” Burying his face in her breasts he sucked one of the stiff peaks into his mouth hard. Her half cry was muffled as she sank her teeth into her palm to muffle herself. Squeezing her rear in the other hand he could hear her heart hammering in her chest. Another thrust and both were squelching their wails. Riding their climax together, their breaths frantic and gasping. He released her breast and rested his forehead against hers.

Wrapping her arms around his neck she let out a soft giggle, “you are a delectable prince.”

Chuckling along with her, he struggled to catch his breath, “I love you, Diana. I hope you know that.”

Giving his rear, a firm swat she let out a chorus of giggles, “of course I do, silly. I would never allow anyone else to ride me like you.” Seeing his face twist up in an odd assortment of confusion and amusement she laughed again, “oh Cullen, you are such an innocent little creature. Never change.” Carefully slipping off his lap she swiped a rag from her bag and tidied them off, “come, sleep. I’m sure you’ll be marching us at a wicked pace come morning.”

Giving his head a shake he sighed, “I shall never get used to your humor and sense of carefree flippancy.”

“Flippancy?” she laughed again, “Maker Cullen, I’m only getting started,” winking she patted the bedroll, “come on. There’s room for two.”

Sinking into the bedroll, he cradled her in his arms, “thank you.”

Wiping the sweat from his brow she nestled into his chest, “no thank you my dearest. I love you, Cullen Stanton Rutherford. Even if I don’t say it nearly enough, know I do. Now hush before you make me get all mushy.”

Snuggling her tightly he sighed, “perish the thought.”

#dragon age fanfic #cullen x trevelyan #random prompt thing #little lengthy but worth it #enjoy #thank you

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alada-mrs-world · 6 years

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Play the crew 2

It's surprising to see just how much The Crew 2 differs from the original game. There's been a noticeable shift in Ubisoft’s last few open-world titles, one that's moving toward a focus on player-driven progression--large selections of optional activities, non-linear structures, rewards for doing just about anything--and The Crew 2 benefits significantly from this direction. The gritty crime angle from the original game is gone, and instead, The Crew 2 takes reams of pages from the book . The game centers on a nationwide festival of motorsports where you, a rookie, are poised to become the next big star. While the setup is conventional, and the focus on social media fame is obnoxious, what it brings to the game is a colorful and upbeat vibe, an impressive variety of different disciplines, and positively ridiculous arcade driving on land, water, and through the air.

Play now; jelly doods Despite the game's focus on real-world branding and mimicry of televised motorsports, The Crew 2's greatest asset is its willingness to be ridiculous. Races in The Crew 2 might involve jumping your street-racing car off skyscrapers, or your powerboat off the Hoover Dam. They might include making high-speed touring cars go head to head through the tight, windy Hollywood Hills, and motocross bikes take jumps across shipping freighters and freeways right before you transform into a prop plane like some kind of extreme-sports mecha. This is a game that will cover Los Angeles in three feet of snow for no logical reason other than icy roads make for more thrilling street races. Abundant nitro boosts, uncomplicated drifting, and generous rubber-banding also help keep the act of driving exciting when things are relatively tame. As a game with an open world, races and challenges can naturally be found and initiated when you stumble across them at particular points on the map. However, playing The Crew 2 with open-world exploration as your primary means of moving from activity to activity reveals the game's major downfall: it's too big, and all the activities and interesting locations are too spread out. The game hides a number of boxes with vehicle components across the map, which you can hunt for using a proximity tracker, but even these feel too few and far between.

But with that in mind, The Crew 2 thankfully makes it easy to cut your commute down via player-friendly shortcuts. The game has an option to view all 120+ primary activities and countless more skill challenges (featuring things like escapes, slaloms, and a rewarding photo mode) in a categorized, list-style view, with the option to not just set a waypoint to them, but instantly start them no matter where you are in the world, at no cost. The loading times in The Crew 2 are impressively brief all around, so if you want to, you can churn through races and challenges back-to-back to very quickly and efficiently rack up progression points, earn cash, and set leaderboard positions from the moment you start. It's an option that's both convenient and gives the impression that the game is conscious of your time. Likewise, any activity can be restarted or aborted in seconds if you're having a bad run, and there's a quick back-on-track feature that can be used any time. When you're not in an event you can switch to any vehicle you own immediately, without penalty, and without having to go anywhere. That's on top of being able to assign a favorite ground vehicle, boat, and plane to your right analog stick to allow for instantaneous switching during free-roam exploration, which provides its own kind of fun, for example, flying into the stratosphere with your plane before switching to a boat and careening back to Earth. Any vehicle that's available for sale is also graciously available for you to test drive on a moment's notice. The variety of different vehicular disciplines in The Crew 2 is downright impressive--each of the 14 styles is tangibly unique from one another. Every time I started to get fatigued with one method of competition, I could quickly jump to another that had a completely different feel. Each is housed within one of four "Families" which you're free to move between to perpetuate your overall progress: Street (street racing, drifting, drag racing, long-distance hypercar racing), Offroad (cross-country rally raid, motocross, loose-surface rallycross), Freestyle (plane aerobatics, jet sprint boating, monster trucking), and Pro (power boating, air racing, touring cars, and grand prix). HOT GAME ; skeleton launcher 2 While the execution of The Crew 2's disciplines might not wholly satisfy purists of any one given style, it does a great job of making each feel accessible, fun, and unique. I'm usually too intimidated by grand prix racing to give it a shot in other games, and I would never have even considered the idea of playing a power boating game. But, the Crew 2 encourages you to try a little bit of everything, and it's easy thanks to the game's approachable arcade-style mechanics, as well as the prospects of seeing more beautiful and ludicrous tracks. Those tracks are certainly another highlight of the game, because there's an inherent novelty to the virtual tourism of The Crew 2. You'll likely recognize iconic structures, but there are also enough abstracted details that contribute to the city's atmosphere and character. And, like the original game, The Crew 2 does a great job at building a seamless and recognizable version of America to drive through, whether it's a designated top-to-bottom endurance race or a self-assigned recreation of a road trip you did a few years back. The journey across the country feels grounded, as you drive through cities that morph into industrial areas and farmland, into plains, deserts, forests and rural areas, occasionally flying by a small town now and then. And whether you're driving, boating, or flying across The Crew 2's America, it's a mostly beautiful journey. The game's natural environments, particularly bodies of water and the sky, look fantastic, as do weather effects like snow and rain. All are enhanced to breathtaking heights by the superb lighting, though the continuous day/night and weather cycle can be an occasional inconvenience during some events--whether it be afternoon sun in your eyes, snow obscuring track obstacles, or having to fly through a tight canyon in complete darkness. Where the visuals visibly falter are in dense urban areas. You likely won't notice buildings when you're zooming past them at 200km/h, but any slower and you can't help but notice how plain they are, especially in broad daylight with clear skies. Character models, on the other hand, always look incredibly basic, no matter the situation . The game's RPG-style vehicle upgrade system returns from the original game, though it still doesn't feel particularly meaningful. You'll receive loot after every race in various stages of rarity (common, uncommon, rare, epic), and each corresponds to a particular vehicle part and has its own power number, which contributes to your vehicle's overall power number. There is some small benefit to this system--all vehicles of a particular class, despite having different power levels in their stock configuration, will max out at the same number, meaning you can stick with your favorite car all the way up to and through the endgame. But while some parts come with unique gameplay perks, and more professional tuning options eventually become available, I found the upgrade system pretty easy to ignore--simply equipping the one with the biggest number was all I had to do to stay competitive. However, if you own multiple vehicles in a certain class and decide to switch between them at some point, stripping one vehicle of all its powerful parts and re-installing them on another is a tedious annoyance. The gear system as a whole feels like it's there to act as an additional roadblock to make sure your progress to higher tiers of races stays gradual; there were a few times where I found it necessary to replay a number of previously-won races in order to earn higher-grade parts to give myself a reasonable chance in later events. Another obstacle is the cost of the vehicles you're required to purchase to be able to participate in certain disciplines: Buying a vehicle in order to gain access to an advanced discipline like air racing or grand prix is expensive, and will typically empty out your in-game wallet completely. I didn't need to dip into the game's real-world currency equivalent to progress during my playthrough, but those who like to keep a garage filled with lots of different cars will likely have a tougher time with in-game credits

. The Crew 2 allows you to form a party with three other players to explore and participate in events together, but, at the time of writing the game doesn't offer any meaningful ways to interact with players outside your party, despite their visible presence in the always-online world. Aside from manually inviting them into your party via the roster menu, there is no way to formally challenge them to race in any capacity. Ubisoft has stated that player-versus-player lobbies are planned as a free content update in December, on top of new vehicle disciplines and other updates, but they do not exist in The Crew 2 as of July 2018. The Crew 2's large open-world feels too sparse to be engaging enough for anything more than some light virtual tourism, and it's easy to disparage it because of that. But it also provides the landscape for the game's most memorable experiences, and these can come hard and fast, if you want them to. There's always a ridiculously indulgent twist or spectacular moment, whether it be drifting off cliffs in a snow-covered Grand Canyon before transforming into a boat to jet down the Colorado River, or hurtling down a mountain during a spectacular sunset in a rally raid. I'm annoyed by the game's lack of public interaction and meaningless gear system, but I'll fondly recall both the tension of flinging sprint boats back and forth through the narrow, artificial canals of The Venetian in Las Vegas, and the easygoing satisfaction of an hour-long hypercar race from New York to San Francisco, where I listened to a podcast and enjoyed the rolling scenery. Despite its shortcomings, The Crew 2 still displays admirable strengths, which lie in its player-friendly features, freedom of movement, and its willingness to bend the rules in order to make things exciting and varied for an accessible, American-themed thrillride.

#play games #ts4 gameplay #game online #games

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