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mirkwoodshewolf · 9 months

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IATCOD Chap. 24; The siege of Gondor

*Author's note*

So after a couple of days this chapter was finally able to come together. I apologize in advance if the battle sequence towards the end as well as the ending feels rushed but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless. Now idk when I'll update the next chapter since my vacation time is over and I'll be going back to work, then my work will transition into new work hours so idk how my updating schedule will be like but I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as I can cause we're gonna include my all time FAV scene, 'The battle of Pelennor fields' in Cain's POV. But that's in the next chapter, for now not really much warnings except for Denethor's madness truly shining now and some graphic battle sequences.

NEXT CHAPTER

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

@thats-s0-ravenn

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*Cain’s POV*

We rode through Dunharrow and I could already hear so many heartbeats of both men and horses. The sound of iron clanking on metal forges and tents being pitched up for the night. As we rode along, the men of Rohan acknowledged and announced their King’s arrival while Theoden raised his hand in greeting.

“Grimbold, how many?” Theoden asked.

“I bring 500 men from the Westfold my lord.” Grimbold answered to my right.

“We have 300 more from Fenmarch, Theoden King.” Proclaimed another man.

“Where are the riders from Snowbourn?” asked Theoden but another man told him.

“None have come, my lord.” Replied another man.

“We’re going to make camp just ahead on top of the mountain cliff’s. If you feel the altitude will be too much for your heightened senses, Theoden King will understand if you wish to stand at the ground level here.” Aragorn said as he rode up next to me.

“I appreciate the visual aid Aragorn, but I will be fine. It took some time for me to adjust but I’m able to rest on top the highest mountains Harad has to offer. The journey up the cliff’s will not deter me.” He hummed in acknowledgement as we rode up the steep cliff’s side all the way to what I assume is the King’s cliff’s where only the King of Rohan and his council members would rest while the rest of the army makes camp here down below.

When we got to the top and the men started to make camp, I stood with Theoden alongside the edge and fully counted the number of heartbeats that stood before us.

“6000 spears.” Theoden voiced my answer as Aragorn came and stood beside us. “Less than half of what I’d hoped for.”

“6000 will not be enough to break the lines of Mordor.” I wouldn’t give up hope Aragorn.

“More will come.” Theoden assured him. As he walked away, he stopped as Aragorn said.

“Every hour lost hastens Gondor’s defeat. We have till dawn, then we must ride.”

“I’m afraid he’s right Theoden King. With the four days we’ve lost since their departure, who knows what damage Gondor has already taken. Plus the three days ride from here to there. We cannot wait anymore.” I told him. Theoden turned to me and nodded and that’s when a cold shiver ran up my spine and I could sense a presence nearby.

A dark, unrestful presence. And I could sense from Aragorn that he was feeling the same thing I was. I could also hear how the horses were starting to panic.

“Theoden, where exactly does this camp stand?”

“Just a few yards straight ahead of you Master Cain is the road to the Dimholt. The—”

“Door under the mountain.” I finished.

“You know of it?”

“Yes. And I know it’s story. Hela was involved with its making and it’s curse upon the souls who dwell there. Perhaps it’s best she hadn’t come with us.”

“All the years she and my ancestors had made camp here in previous wars, I never did understood why she never settled up here.” Theoden muttered.

“And now you know. The spirits here would not have welcomed Hela with open arms after what she did. I dare not speak ill of the dead but it’s not like they didn’t deserve what they got.” I walked away from Theoden and headed towards the horse stable where I heard Wisteria in a full panic. Huffing and stomping her hooves with high levels of anxiety.

Slowly I came around to her and calmed her down in Elvish. Cautiously approaching her from the side instead of head on like most of these men have been doing.

“Fæste, stille nú. Fæste, stille nú. Shhh. Shhh. Nú. Nú. Stille nú.” I took her reigns and she whinnied anxiously and frightenedly. “Steady girl, steady big girl. All is calm, all is calm.” I gently stroked up her muzzle with the back of my fingers as she let out a huff. “I know, I know big girl. But you have nothing to fear, not while I’m here. You trust me right?” she let out a soft neigh as I softly smiled, “Then nothing shall harm you whilst I’m here.”

She lowered her head down to my chest and I hugged her, stroking up and down her powerful neck.

“That’s my brave girl.” I gave her neck a couple of pats before rubbing it in soothing circles once more. “We’re a team, you and me as one. I will keep you safe, if you keep me safe.” She nickered as she gave me a soft headbutt to which I placed my forehead up to hers.

“It’s almost as if you know exactly what she is thinking.” Éowyn’s voice spoke from behind me. I turned to her and said.

“Celestials have always had the gift of knowing animals emotions. It’s not like I can precisely know what she’s saying but I can sense how she feels based on her emotions.”

“Merry is currently being suited for his Esquire attire, he wishes have you be there for him when I bestow his armor upon him.” I smiled.

“And I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Lead the way my lady.” I held my arm out and she took it as she guided me to where Merry was.

“Master Cain you came!”

“As I told lady Eowyn, I wouldn’t miss my young pupil getting fitted for his position as Esquire of Rohan.” He ran up and embraced me and I embraced him back.

“When will it be ready?” he asked Eowyn.

“Armor and helms take time to mold and size out, be thankful they were able to take your measurements the second we arrived.” Eowyn told him. The way Merry’s heart raced, it reminded me of when Yvaine and I would take the children on a surprise picnic and they couldn’t wait any longer.

“Could you maybe check and see how it’s coming along?” asked Merry.

“Be patient Merry, these things can’t be rushed. It’s better to have an armor that is steadily prepared and fits properly rather than sloppy and unusable. You wouldn’t want your chest plate to come off and allow a sword to pierce right through you, do you?”

“No. That wouldn’t be good.” He said.

“I can still check to see how it’s coming along. With an armor your size, maybe it wouldn’t take as long to forge.” She stood up and I grabbed her wrist and whispered to her.

“You don’t need to if you don’t want to.”

“It’s really no trouble lord Cain.” I released her wrist and she left the tent.

“Now I’ve read what Esquires do in books back in the Shire, but does that also mean I’m also a knight of Rohan?” Merry asked me.

“Esquires can be knighted into knighthood by the King but that’s only if the King commands it. For now you will do as the King commands and be at his side until the battle is near.” Merry nodded.

“So is it like what you’re doing in Hela’s stand?” I smiled.

“Hela was the chief founder alongside the first king of Rohan in founding their kingdom. As such she was given the title Celestial Knight. A position in which only she can obtain. She not only helps serve in times of great war, but also acts as head of council to the king and his descendants till the end of time.”

“Hela always shared with us stories of her times serving alongside great Kings of Men. But she always held such praise whenever she talked about the two kingdoms of men, This one and Gondor, where she, Pip and Gandalf are.”

“She had a good connection with the mortal beings. Even when Ikaris and Thranduil tried to advise her on the warnings of associating with mortals, she didn’t care. Like me, she knew it was better to form as many friendships as you can in one’s life, than to never have taken the chance at all.”

“The armor is ready.” Eowyn said as she came in and I could smell the leather and metal of the buckles enter the tent. Merry’s heart exhilarated with excitement and she continued, “Let’s test it out to make sure it fits you properly.” Merry stood up and together he and Eowyn started assembling his armor.

It took the span of the rest of the day but bit by bit Merry received his armor until finally his helm was ready. Eowyn was just finishing adjusting it onto his head before finally saying.

“There, a true esquire of Rohan.” She stood up and I could hear and smell the excitement that was radiating from Merry. His hand went to his belt and he exclaimed as he quickly withdrew his sword.

“I’m ready!” almost nearly slicing Eowyn across her chest. She jumped back with a gasp before laughing softly and I told him.

“Easy up there young warrior. Don’t want to hurt the Lady of the house you serve.”

“Sorry, it isn’t not all that dangerous. It’s not even sharp.” He muttered the last part sadly.

“Well that’s not good, you won’t kill many orcs with a blunt blade, right Lord Cain?” she said to me.

“Indeed not.” I replied. “Come along, my own weapons could do with a proper sharpening too.” I stood up and exited the tent first followed by Merry who was practicing swinging his sword from the techniques I taught him.

“To the smithy with Lord Cain. Go!” Eowyn urged him and Merry raced on to catch up with me as we headed towards the smithy to get our weapons sharpened before war.

“Do you think after we get our weapons sharpened, we can train some more tonight?”

“Perhaps. But it cannot be a long training session I’m afraid. We have until dawn then we’re leaving for battle.” He nodded as he presented the blacksmith with his sword whilst I gathered my own weapons. I then soon picked up another heartbeat that was currently making the climb up the cliff’s but it was not a Man’s heart, but Elven. A heartbeat I had not heard in a long time, not since it had been nearly an Age since my own exile and he was still under the service of Gil-Galad.

I could also taste in the air the taste of freshly forged silver. So the legend is finally being fulfilled, The blade that was broken, shall return to Minas Tirith in the hands of the Returning king.

“Cain? Master Cain?” I snapped out of my thoughts as Merry’s hand was on my arm. “It’s your turn for your weapons to be sharpened.”

“Right, sorry Merry.” I presented the blacksmith with my daggers and knives.

“You were pretty deep in thought, is everything okay? Are we in danger?” Merry whispered the last part.

“Not here no. Just….hearing of a legend finally being put into motion.” Merry looked at me confused. “Nothing you need to worry yourself over.”

“Here you are Lord Celestial.” The blacksmith said. Merry took my weapons and handed them to me one by one whilst I places them around my belt and the two of us walked off to find an area to train when I heard Éowyn’s heart starting to break.

From the moment I first came here, I knew she had harbored some feelings towards Aragorn but he had to tell her that what she felt wasn’t real and that he cannot love her the way she wants him to. Rejection is a harsh, cold reality that hurts worse than a steel blade cutting through you or even getting a punch from Gilgamesh.

I hope that she can one day find someone who will truly love her.

“Merry, why don’t you find us a space to train? There’s something I need to do.”

“You sure you don’t need me to come along?”

“No, no. You go on, practice those combos I taught you back at the Golden Hall with your newly sharpened sword. I won’t be long.” He nodded then he left my side whilst I honed in on Aragorn’s heartbeat along with Gimli’s and Legolas’ who were standing at his side. I came around a few tents to hear Gimli say.

“You might as well accept it, we’re going with you laddie.” I smiled. Those three truly have formed such a bond of friendship and brotherhood throughout this entire quest.

“You should be grateful to have friends such as these Aragorn.” I said making myself known to them. “Such loyalty in friendship has only ever been strong amongst my own kin that we tried to teach all those who came to Middle Earth.”

“Am I to assume you also are hoping to partake in our journey to the Dimholt?” Aragorn asked me. I chuckled softly.

“Fortunately for you, I won’t. Someone has to stay behind and look after things on this end. I only came to see you three off, and to give you warning.” I walked up to Aragorn and he placed his hand to my shoulder whilst I did the same for him. “The place you are about to enter is a place far worse than even the dark spell of Mordor can muster. A dark veil between our world and the unseen world, cursed by the Celestial of Death herself. The dead do not bargain with the living for they have nothing to lose. But hold true to your purpose, do not back down from your offer. And they will fight for you.”

“I’ve seen how Hela works her ways with the great beyond and she too has taught me how to speak with them. I’ll heed both yours and her teachings.” I smiled as our foreheads touched and I whispered to him in Elvish.

“May the grace of Celestial of Death Hela protect you three.” After Aragorn and I separated, he got on top of Brego whilst Legolas and Gimli got onto Arod and I walked beside Aragorn, guiding them towards the road to the Dimholt.

As we walked, I could hear the men muttering about why we were leaving on the eve of battle. When we got closer to the entrance of the mountain, I stopped and released Brego’s reigns and felt the three of them disappeared within the darkness. The men tried to call out to Aragorn to ask what he was doing but he didn’t give an answer as he disappeared.

“Lord Cain, what is the meaning of this?” asked one of the men. “Why does he leave on the eve of battle?” I didn’t give a response until Gamling spoke up, hopelessness clearly ringing in his voice as he spoke.

“He leaves because there is no hope.”

“He leaves because he must.” I told him as I turned to face him.

“Lord Cain speaks the truth.” Theoden soon came forth aiding my statement.

“Too few have come. We cannot defeat the armies of Mordor.” Gamling said again. There was deaf silence in the air as Theoden admitted to them.

“No….we cannot.” I could hear several of the men’s hearts drop in fear and hopelessness, that was until Theoden said to them, “But we will meet them in battle nonetheless.” A soft smirk came across my lips as I nodded in agreement with the King. That alone began to light a spark of hope amongst the men once more.

As promised, I soon found Merry and together the two of us worked on his combinations as well as some basic horse training since he’ll be needing to know just how to handle his horse in battle. After only two hours of training, I told him to get some rest for we had a long journey ahead of us in just a few hours from now.

Dawn approached into the sky and the sparrows began to stir, the morning dew seeped onto the flowers and grass, and the horses began to awaken. Both on the upper cliffs and down below the riders were quickly packing up camp, dousing out all the fires and saddling up their horses for departure.

I was with Wisteria and saddled her up with my pack underneath her saddle and she let out a soft whinny.

“Yes big girl. It is time. I know this is a lot to ask, but I’ll need you to be my eyes whilst we travel and when we arrive at Gondor. I am unfamiliar with these lands and I’ll need every bit of help when Theoden gives the command, can you do that for me?” she let out a proud huff and stamped her hooves twice. “Thank you Wisteria, you’re a brave girl.” I kissed her muzzle and mounted on top of her.

“Lord Cain!” Théoden’s voice cried out to me. I heard his horse ride up towards me and he said, “You ride with me at my side opposite of Éomer.”

“Yes Theoden King.” I told him as I urged Wisteria on and she followed right behind Théoden’s horse. But all too soon he stopped as we came up to Merry and I was surprised to hear Theoden say to him.

“Little hobbits do not belong in war Master Meriadoc.” There was no condescending tone nor insulting demeanor to his tone, it was as if he was doing this for Merry’s own good.

“All my friends have gone to battle. I would be ashamed to be left behind.”

“It is a three day gallop to Minas Tirith and none of my riders can bear you as a burden.” Merry’s heart broke as he tried to persuade King Theoden.

“I want to fight!” Theoden was silent for a moment before he told him.

“I will say no more.” Then he rode off. I turned to Merry and I knew he was looking up at me desperately.

“Master Cain, please.” I looked between him and where Theoden had ridden off to as Théoden’s voice called out to me.

“Lord Cain!” I sighed heavily and told him.

“It is beyond my control Merry. Even Hela would say the same thing. But take heart Merry, there might be a rider yet to bear you hence. I am too close to Theoden King to do so myself.” I urged Wisteria onward and she ran to catch up beside Théoden’s horse as everyone began to move out.

“Form up! Move out! Form up! Move out!” Éomer proclaimed to one and all as we rode through the fields of Dunharrow.

“Ride! Ride now to Gondor!” Theoden proclaimed. Soon the armies of Rohan rode away from Dunharrow and on the path to Gondor.

*My POV*

I sat there in the tombs of the Kings and Stewards kneeling before the grave of Ecthelion, Denethor’s father.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore old friend. Your son has completely lost his mind. Nothing will get through to him now. This great city is at its dire hour. And I’m afraid that not even my powers will be enough to defend its shining glory.” I solemnly spoke. I felt the soft graze of wind at my face.

‘You will have the strength to defend our home Hela.’ I heard Ecthelion’s voice say to me.

“Not according to your son.”

‘My son will need you now more than ever Hela. I know you and he never saw eye to eye. And that blame falls upon me. But soon he will see the truth. For now you must help another of my heirs.’

“What do you mean?” I asked.

‘You know of whom I speak. Reach out and hear his heart ring true.’ I then felt his presence leave me and I was once again alone in the tombs. I closed my eyes and reached out with my own powers and could hear a single heartbeat coming closer to the walls of the city. It was faint and weak but it still beat with life. I let out a gasp and whispered.

“Faramir.” He’s alive!

“Hela! Hela!” I turned to see Pippin racing towards me.

“Pippin? Have you come to tell me about Faramir?” he stopped before me and had a look of shock and confusion on his face.

“He’s alive?”

“Yes. Hurry I’ll explain it on the way hurry!” I picked him up then using Makkari’s speed we raced towards the courtyard where the White tree stood and being brought in on a gurney by several guards was Faramir gravely wounded but his heart rang true.

I set Pippin down and raced up to Faramir and helped the guards set him down. I touched his forehead and could see that like his brother, he had two arrows lodged in his body one near his shoulder, and the other near his lower gut. Thankfully the guards were smart enough to not try and pull the arrows out completely otherwise he would’ve bled out.

“Faramir, Faramir can you hear me?”

“My lady he is dead.” Said one of the guards.

“No, he’s not. I can still hear his heartbeat. It’s faint but he’s still alive. We need to get him to a healer immediately!”

“Faramir?” we turned to see Denethor running out of the palace and across the courtyard. He pushed me out of the way and knelt before his son weeping, “Say not that he has fallen.”

“They were outnumbered. None survived.”

“That’s not true! We can still save him!” I tried to speak up.

“My sons are spent…..my line has ended. The house of the Stewards has failed……” Denethor tearfully whimpered as he staggered away from Faramir. I then saw Pippin go up to Faramir and he too saw what I had seen.

“He’s alive!” Pippin vouched for me.

“Please we must do something there is still hope. Denethor listen to us! Your son still lives!” I proclaimed.

“She’s right my lord he needs medicine.” Pippin agreed.

“My line has ended!” Denethor cried out tearfully. I clenched my hands into fists and stormed towards him but my anger soon turned to horror at what I saw before me.

A full battalion of orcs spreading out far and wide across the entire Pelennor fields. Not even the force that Saruman had sent to Isengard was as great as this. It was as if the entire fields had been covered in a blanket of shadow.

“Rohan…..has deserted us.” I heard Denethor mutter under his breath. I watched as the trolls readied the catapults with heavy boulders and they were soon fired by the orc launchers. The stones flew high towards the towers and I could hear the panicked screams of the people, not only guards but women and children. “Theoden’s betrayed me!” Denethor sneered under his breath.

No. No that’s not true! If anyone it’s your fault Denethor! You could’ve called out earlier but you had to resort Gandalf, Pippin and I to do your work for you like you’ve always had. I’m sorry Ecthelion, I truly am.

“Abandon your posts! FLEE! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!!” Alright that’s it! I suddenly appeared before Denethor and knife chopped him in the neck. He let out a gasped groan as he grabbed his neck. I snarled and then using Makkari’s special move, I used my index and tall finger to disable Denethor by hitting all of his pressure points to paralyze him.

It may have looked like an overkill but by the time I was done with him, he looked like a writhing mess on the floor and all that could be heard from him was a choked gurgle.

“PREPARE FOR BATTLE!! RETURN TO YOUR POSTS!!” I used my Celestial voice to boom across the entire city to make sure that the guards knew where they stood now. I turned to Gandalf who was also looking down at Denethor with disgust but when he looked at me, he nodded firmly.

I shifted to Ikaris’ uniform and flew off to help prepare the soldiers for battle. I landed along the walls at the Gate and told the soldiers.

“You will either take orders from me or the White Wizard. Your Steward has chosen to abandon your city. You are all soldiers of Gondor! Will you flee and allow your home to burn and your families be slaughtered or will you stand and fight!?” the soldiers all withdrew their bows and arrows readying for the attack I would give them.

My hands slowly glew with star bolts and I flew just a few feet from them and I told them to ready themselves. As the orcs drew closer I told them to hold, hold, hold until I shouted.

“RAIN FIRE!!!” The archers then unleashed a rain of arrows down upon any and all orcs that came near the gates while I fired my star bolts at them. This time (and from what I’ve seen of my Starlight kin in the past), when I fired my star bolts it was like an explosion had been set off from underneath their feet. “Don’t you dare let a single one of these foul creatures get one scratch on those doors!” I proclaimed as I kept firing a rain of star bolts upon each and every orc that came near the gates.

Suddenly I felt a burning sensation from behind my eyes. I grunted and tried to rub the feeling away but it kept getting burning brighter and brighter until finally……ZAP!! Star bolts came out of my eyes right at one of the towers which exploded underneath my power.

The burning sensation soon went away and I had recalled. Only Ikaris and Cain were able to do this special move and together they were an unstoppable pair whenever they were able to do this move. They had called it ‘Starlight’s Gazer-beam’. A beam of powerful light that comes out of both eyes but it was as powerful and deadly as dragon-fire.

I smirked deviously and turned my attention back to the orcs. I could hear most that had witnessed what I had done, their hearts racing in fear. My entire body glew brighter but that’s when the sounds of the Nazgul came from above.

This time all nine of them had come to battle, including the Witch King himself. I turned to the guards and proclaimed to them.

“Show them no mercy!” I flew towards the sky and felt my eyes burning once more and I shot a starlight gazer-beam right towards Angmar himself. He swerved his fellbeast aside completely dodging my attack by a hair and turned his attention towards me.

The dark aura of his very spirit had my entire body shaking but I had to do this. I knew he was the greatest threat to this kingdom, so if I take out the head of the snake, we’ll have a slight advantage without his dark magic affecting this city. Plus this fight was personal, he already took Anor I wasn’t going to let him take Gondor too.

The Witch King and I stared each other down as my body continued to glow and shimmer like a star as both fear and rage boiled inside of me like an unknown mixture of stew. I then flew towards him at great speed as I let out a Celestial battle cry which echoed through the entire sky. While at the same time, Angmar urged his fellbeast towards me, screeching out his agonizing shriek wielding his Morgul blade.

I crossed my arms sending out a beam of light towards him, stirring him off course and fired a star bolt right at his back. He turned and urged his fellbeast to follow me. I took them high above the city but down towards the orc armies. As low as I could go whilst exploding through the orc armies to hopefully give Gondor a fighting chance. Angmar used his fellbeast to try and grab me but I fired multiple star bolts right into it’s mouth and face which forced it to rear itself inward and I took off flying back up into the sky.

A few seconds later, Angmar reappeared through the clouds with his flaming sword in hand now and I readied my own attack. My eyes once again feeling that burning sensation until I fully let it out and it hit straight at Angmar’s flaming sword. If I could somehow destroy that, it should lessen some of his powers. If you had to ask me for most powerful weapons, in order I’d tell you it was his famed Morgul blade, followed by his Flaming sword and then his mace.

He blocked himself with his flaming sword, just like I had hoped he would. I increased the power of my Starlight gazer-beam, crying out in rage, regret, and sorrow at all the lives he had taken back at Anor. However I could feel, the power of his sword starting to push my power back towards me.

My body shook and trembled but I tried to push on until finally with a flash of light I was sent falling back towards the city where I had crashed through the White tower of Ecthelion. I slammed through one side of the tower and actually came out the other side until I was skipping and going across the upper courtyard near the palace.

“HELA!!” I let out a groan as I felt small hands grip onto my shoulders. “Miss Hela? Hela?!” I opened my eyes to see Pippin hovering over me and he said in relief, “You’re okay!” he immediately embraced me and that’s when I saw Gandalf running up towards me. Fear suddenly took over me as I told him.

“He’s too powerful. Not even with Ikaris’ power can I stop the Witch King.” Gandalf and Pippin looked at me in despair and horror respectively.

“You will help us with the orcs and trolls. The Nazgul—will have to wait. These men need a commanding officer. They need you Hela.” Gandalf told me. I nodded and grunted in pain as I stood up and returned to my own Celestial armor and summoned Aeglos to my hand.

“Pippin, you wait here and guard the palace. If there is a breach, the city will need you to defend it from harm.” I told him. Pippin nodded and withdrew his sword showing me that he was ready to do his duty as Guard of the Citadel.

“Be careful Hela.” I nodded then both Gandalf and I raced off to command the soldiers of Gondor throughout the battle.

By the time the sun was setting in the West and the first signs of nightfall were upon us, the battle was still raging onward. According to Gandalf the lower levels had been breached, now my main objective was to get the women and children up to the second level. Using Makkari’s speed, I grabbed as many women and children as possible to race them out of harms way before the orc armies could flood into this part of the city.

Once everyone was through, we barred the gates of the second level and I said to some of the guards.

“Gather every bowmen you’ve got left and get them into these buildings, the orcs won’t suspect a surprise attack from the tops of civilian homes. And make sure they barricade the homes once there inside.”

“Yes my lady Celestial.”

“HELA!! HELA!!!” I heard Pippin’s voice calling out to me. Through the panicked crowd I couldn’t see my young hobbit friend but as I pushed through them I finally caught sight of him.

“PIP!!” I called out to him. He raced over to me and cried through the panicked screams.

“Denethor has lost his mind! He’s burning Faramir alive!” my eyes widened.

“Tell me where and hold on!” I picked him up and using Makkari’s speed, we quickly raced to where Denethor had taken Faramir to be burned. But we were stopped by a few guards who sported armor with anti-Celestial runes. I narrowed my eyes and reverted back to my normal armor, my hearing coming back instantly as the leading guard said to me.

“You cannot take another step Celestial Hela, by order of the Steward of Gondor.”

“Clearly you can see that your Steward has gone completely mad! His son is alive and you’re willing to let Faramir be burned alive?! If not then you lot are about as mad as Denethor has become.”

“Hela,” Pippin said to me but I shushed him.

“If you choose to fight us we’ll have no choice but to use extreme measures.” Said the leading guard.

“Hela.” Pippin now began tugging on my trousers like a child demanding attention.

“I’ve fought with worse beings than you lot.”

“Hela!”

“What Peregrin Took!?” I snapped at him.

“There’s something you need to know about these guys.”

“If it’s about the Celestial runes on their armor I can see that Pippin.”

“No, it’s about Haldir.” I froze. I looked down at Pippin and whispered.

“You can’t say his real name here Pippin.”

“Hela, they already know. Haven’t you noticed how he didn’t come to help aid in the fight?” I thought back. Now that he mentioned it, I hadn’t even been able to detect Haldir’s heartbeat within the city at all. “I’m sorry Hela, but—they somehow found out and took him.”

“And you’re sure it was these men here?” I asked lowly.

“I saw it with my own eyes. I even heard someone else’s voice. It was—it frightened me. It was both warm yet unsettling and I swore I saw Haldir’s eyes glow red at one point.” Red eyes? Deimos! I turned to the men and demanded.

“What have you men to say against these allegations? Are they true? Did you apprehend an Elf earlier today?”

“We have no idea what you’re talking about.” Said the leader. Oh they want to play this game, okay I’ll play along.

I lifted my hand as it glowed black with my own magic and all the men lurched forward in agony as they gripped their chests in pain.

“Don’t make me ask twice!” I threatened in a low, menacing tone.

*3rd Person POV*

Over at Minas Morgul, now that the Witch king and the armies of Mordor had finally cleared the fortress, there was no one left but four people. Nergal who was sitting with a Morgul blade in his hand, Perses who stood along the balcony with his arms crossed looking outward towards Gondor, and Deimos stood with a blood stained dagger in his hand and standing right before him in wires was Haldir.

His upperbody stained with blood, bruises, and scars. The wires Haldir had been bounded by were unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of before. With each struggle or even movement he made, the wires would dig into his skin like a knife causing not only pain but discomfort. And they also seemed to get tighter with each movement he made.

“I’ll admit, I’ve had my fill but now I’m growing bored, why can’t we just kill this Elfling and be done with him already?” Deimos said.

“What good is he to us if he’s dead? We want him alive for Hela’s arrival.” Nergal said. That’s when Perses’ brow rose up and he moved toward the balcony and he said in a low menacing growl.

“It’s happening.” Deimos and Nergal turned to him. “Can’t you feel it? She’s finally giving in.” Deimos smelled the air and exhaled pleasurable and said with a menacing grin.

“He’s right, I can smell her rage from here. And she’s close, so very close to spilling that blood in raw rage.”

“Seems you were right Perses, all she needed was that extra little push.”

“Soon the Celestial of Death will arrive and she’ll be at our mercy. Then all of Middle Earth shall bow before us.” Perses then let out a menacing cackle which echoed through the mountains surrounding Minas Morgul.

Back at Gondor, Pippin stood there terrified at seeing Hela, the woman he came to admire as a sister figure suddenly become this raging, terrifying deity who didn’t seem to show any mercy. The men had now been submitted to unspeakable torture thanks to Hela’s own magic.

They were all now writing in agony on the floor as it had felt like they were burning from the inside out.

“You tell me where he is now!?” with a flick upward of her wrist the men were now levitating upside down, the blood quickly rushing to their heads but they also felt their own hearts slowly stopping as Hela’s hand slowly closed into a fist.

“ALRIGHT WE’LL TELL YOU!!” proclaimed one of the other guards.

“YES WE’LL TELL YOU ANYTHING! PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON US!!” exclaimed another guard. Hela put those two men down and as they let out a long gasp of air before coughing, they were suddenly dragged forward towards Hela and she gripped their throats and demanded.

“Talk.”

“Lord Perses suspected of an Elf being in this city. He had ordered all of us to be on the lookout and if we were to find it, we had to surrender it to them.”

“Haldir is not an IT!” Hela’s voice got low before growling menacingly as she squeezed the guard’s throat tightly.

“My apologizes my lady!” he choked out.

“Where did you take him?!” she growled.

“To Minas Morgul.” Said the other guard she had in her grasp. “He said if we found the Elf, to take him there. We don’t know what they had planned for him there! We swear!” Hela released their throats and stood still. As the men coughed and quickly ran as fast as they could away screaming in fear, Pippin looked up to Hela.

“Hela? A-are you—okay?” suddenly the ground began to shake. The men Hela still had hanging upside down, had finally been released from their spell and called out a retreat. The whole city soon began to shake as if an earthquake was about to bring the city to the ground. Pippin turned to Hela to see her hands had clenched up so hard, that her knuckles not only grew white but blood was dripping from her palm.

Her hair began to raise up and wave like a banner and her eyes suddenly glew a pure white and she let out a scream. Like when she had her ‘Celestial roar’ back during the Battle of the Five armies when Thorin betrayed her trust.

However unlike before when her power was nulled, this time the full wrath of the Celestial’s roar could be heard. And with Hela’s powers increased tenfold since then, it shook the entire kingdom of Gondor.

And when both men and orcs heard her scream, they thought at first it was a Nazgul scream however unlike theirs, it was more raw, more painful, and more angrier than theirs. Everyone had no choice but to cover their ears less they wish to have their very ears explode off their face.

Her black magic began to surround her like a hurricane as she was lifted up into the sky. Pippin held on for dear life as he watched in heartbreak and horror at Hela’s powers become erratic and unstable. He let out a grunt as he tried to walk towards her through the powerful winds that her magic was bringing about.

When he found her, he reached up and grabbed her ankle as her head immediately faced towards him, a contorted face of pure rage stared down at him, almost like she didn’t even recognize him. But Pippin held firm as he pulled on her leg till she came down, when she came to her knees he immediately embraced her as tight as he could hoping that it would bring her out of this rageful state.

Then as quick as it had occurred, her magic vanished and all went still and quiet once again. Hela’s glowing eyes reverted back to her normal eye color and said wept.

“It’s all my fault.”

“Go after him.” Hela turned to the young hobbit. “I understand now. Back in Lothlorien, why you were away from us that whole time we were there. And what you had told Merry and I when we rested near those falls about your failed relationship. It was him wasn’t it? Haldir is the elf you love and still love.”

“I can’t go to Minas Morgul. That place it—they know that’s the one place I can never go to.”

“But you love him, and he loves you. Otherwise he wouldn’t have come back to you, right?” Pippin wiped away her fallen tears. “A Celestial goes to where they are needed, and that right now is with Haldir. Go after him.” Hela embraced Pippin and he gave her a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll find Gandalf, thanks to what you did you might’ve spared us some time. Not even Denethor could’ve ignored that.” Hela softly chuckled but then stood up and turned to Minas Morgul. She shifted into Makkari’s armor and she quickly raced out of the city and ran towards Minas Morgul.

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eleanorfenyxwrites · 1 year

Text

Soldier, Poet, King

Part 13

[Beginning] [Previous]

[AO3] [Masterpost]

Time for Jin Guangyao's POV, and it's even longer than Nie Mingjue's so I'm very glad that y'all voted to split this current portion into three separate chapters lol.

Warning for Jin Guangyao having a Not Great Time (flashbacks, PTSD, etc.) related to his trauma from Jin Guangshan using him for Kaiju bait as well as a brief mention of the way he was abused by the Wen family when he worked for them in Tokyo.

--//--

Jin Guangyao wakes with a start, sitting upright and climbing out from between his partners in a tightly controlled rush without thinking about it, only realizing why a few seconds into stumbling into his trousers.

Nie Mingjue is even faster than him — he’d come back to their quarters late last night after a visit to research and so he’d just fallen asleep in his trousers and undershirt like he used to do more regularly, which means that he’s up and out the door into the pulsing red lights in the hallway while Jin Guangyao (and Lan Xichen behind him) are still hurrying to dress.

“JIN ONE, LET’S GO!” he barks in the direction of the room Jin Guangyao’s brother and cousin share. Jin Guangyao shares a glance with Lan Xichen before they hurry to join their partner out in the hallway, the doors along the corridor clanging open under the wailing sirens in an uneven cacophony as the pilots and the technicians further down the hall finish their own preparations nearly in tandem.

The technicians all run past them, a flurry of hurried jostling and the pounding of boots up the corridor, but the pilots cluster there in the hall, all bright-eyed, if a little confused. Jin Guangyao doesn’t blame them — the countdown clocks scattered throughout the ‘dome report they still have weeks to go before their next attack. But just because Mo Xuanyu’s predictions are frighteningly accurate doesn’t mean they’re incontrovertible fact, and they all know the unpredictability of their opponents too well to be truly shocked.

Jin Zixuan is the first into the hallway, already suited up in his stupid gold and mother-of-pearl getup, but it’s Jiang Yanli at his side, not Jin Zixun. Jin Guangyao feels a faint tickle of something a bit too nebulous to name ‘dread’, though it’s close.

The sirens, their purpose served, shut off abruptly between one wail and the next.

“Where is he?” Nie Mingjue snaps at his normal (still loud) volume.

“I haven’t seen him in over 24 hours, Chifeng-zun, I don’t know,” Jin Zixuan reports steadily enough despite how pale he looks in the lights that are still dropped down to flashing red. Jin Guangyao makes some quick calculations and grips Nie Mingjue’s forearm so tightly his knuckles ache.

“No one else can go,” he says and he’s relieved his voice stays steady as well. “Lotus Spider and Jade Dragon are both stripped down for weapons upgrades, Golden Thunder and Immortal Mountain are docked for maintenance repairs. It has to be Sparks.”

There’s only one way that Sparks Amidst Snow can make the drop, and before his partner has even opened his mouth to give the order Jiang Yanli is turning to dart down the hallway quick as a minnow to the room she shares with Wen Qing.

“Wait! You can’t send jie out like this! Hey–!”

Jin Guangyao ignores Jiang Wanyin — as does Nie Mingjue, who simply turns to begin striding down the hallway. Jin Guangyao falls in at his partner’s left, Lan Xichen at Nie Mingjue’s right, and the remaining pilots, save Jin Zixuan, hurry to fall in behind them, their little group eerily silent as they hurry through the boiling shatterdome up to the comms tower.

“A-Su, go find Xuanyu,” Nie Mingjue orders when they reach the branching hub that leads down to the basements. “Bring him up to comms, I want him in the tower for all drops from now on. Wuxian, Wangji – go give the orders to evacuate the harbor neighborhoods and supervise it. I want everyone who can to take shelter in the nearest bunkers they can access.”

Qin Su, Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji peel off to their assigned tasks without missing a beat. Jin Guangyao has to jog to keep up with Nie Mingjue’s loping stride.

They’re nearly there when the lights drop blue, the siren resumes its wailing, and then they’re all breaking into a dead run, instinct guiding them to react to the emergency warning despite the fact that there’s nothing they can do except wait for Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli to drop.

“Chifeng-zun!” Jiang Wanyin shouts over the whooping alarm. “Jiejie isn’t a combat pilot!! You can’t send her out without backup!”

Jin Guangyao skids to a stop just in time to slam his hand down on the button for the lift up to communications as his partner rounds on Jiang Wanyin with an ugly snarl twisting his face.

“Then you make yourself useful and attempt to find Jin Zixun and another goddamn Jaeger within the next five minutes, but I have an invasion to get under control!”

“Nie Mingjue!!” Jiang Wanyin practically screams, spittle flying, and Jin Guangyao has to admire his balls of steel at least — just because Nie Mingjue is functional that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily well, especially not when there’s no doubt that he knows what they all do; the crux of the matter on both sides is that this will be a suicide mission, and they have to run it anyway. Jin Guangyao knows that it’s not a decision Nie Mingjue is making lightly, but it’s the reality they have to live with. It’s one of the nightmares that keeps his partner up at night, tormenting himself with what-ifs and should-haves, but he’s a good commander. He’ll do whatever it takes.

Even a suicide run.

Before it can become a murder as well, though, Lan Xichen steps between Nie Mingjue and Jiang Wanyin to bodily force Jiang Wanyin to stand down while Jin Guangyao ushers Nie Mingjue into the lift.

“She’ll be alright,” Luo Qingyang attempts to comfort as they all clamber into the lift after them. “She’s stronger than she looks-“

“I know that!” Jiang Wanyin snaps. Jin Guangyao stays silent and steady at Nie Mingjue’s side, fingertips gently pressed to the inside of his wrist at his side to monitor his partner’s pulse and make sure he isn’t about to pass out from the unexpected stress. “I’m her co-pilot! Me! No one knows what she’s capable of better than I do, and this will kill her!!”

“Jiang Yanli is a world-class pilot,” Jin Guangyao says, his well-trained voice devoid of every emotion roiling through him. “She is aware, as we all are, that every day could bring death, and she chooses to remain a pilot. It’s a sacrifice we are all willing to make.”

“What do you know?” Jiang Wanyin turns to sneer at him, his eyes so wide the whites are visible all the way around. Jin Guangyao can’t really fault him, no matter how irritating this outburst is. “You’ve never even stepped foot out of a ‘dome during a battle, you have no idea what it’s like to face these things head-on —“

Jin Guangyao is too slow to stop Nie Mingjue punching Jiang Wanyin square in the nose so quickly his hand is a blur. Jiang Wanyin crumples to the floor like a sack of rice with a heavy thunk. It speaks volumes about their emotional states that neither Lan Xichen nor Luo Qingyang pass comment, instead merely lifting Jiang Wanyin’s unconscious form between them to carry him into the comms tower when the doors to the lift open again.

“Sparks?” Nie Mingjue barks at Nie Zonghui, mercifully already in his seat and frantically getting the Drift systems up and running. Jin Guangyao flings himself into his own seat to begin his half of the work monitoring the incoming Kaiju, reading miles of data as it pings in from their sensors out in the ocean to give him any information at all that will help them win.

“They just arrived, strapping in now,” Nie Zonghui reports, terse and businesslike.

“Kaiju?”

“It’s stealthy,” Jin Guangyao bites out, still scanning every piece of data that’s coming in with ever-increasing urgency. “I can’t get a read on it, but it’s fast. Not as fast as the last one maybe, but very close to it.”

Nie Mingjue just grunts his acknowledgement and turns to lean over Nie Zonghui so he can press the switch to talk to the pilots, announcing their Drift initiation and giving them their orders once the connection establishes and stabilizes. The orders are quite simple, nothing more than, “Keep it from landing, kill it as quickly as you can,” but Jin Guangyao knows that that’s much easier said than done.

Sparks Amidst Snow drops and they make a beeline straight for the open bay doors, disappearing into the night with the thundering boom of tens of thousands of gallons of displaced water, audible even all the way up in the tower. Inside the communications room, there’s grim silence once again as they watch the glowing dot that marks the Jaeger cross the radar at a quick clip that Jin Guangyao isn’t entirely sure will be quick enough. Not through any fault of Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli’s — they’re in a top of the line Jaeger that’s been further enhanced to be one of the absolute best in the world — but simply because it would seem the Kaiju have learned, yet again, how to best them.

“Cat 5,” Jin Guangyao yelps the moment his scanning attention catches on all the right data points. “Ge—“

“Nothing changes,” Nie Mingjue tells him through a deadly sort of calm, so different from his urgency on the way here. “They’ll get there, or they won’t. They’ll kill it, or they won’t. Our hands are tied.”

That’s remarkably bleak for Nie Mingjue but Jin Guangyao doesn’t have the time to glance at the others in the room to see how they’re taking it. The Kaiju is closing in fast, skimming along the shoreline like it knows it needs to come to the port to do the most damage — which he doesn’t doubt that it does. Thanks to Xue Yang’s experiments, Jin Guangyao has no doubt that the Kaijus they face from now on will be remarkably clever about their attacks in addition to being brutally strong. It’s nigh impossible to tuck that thought away where it can’t hurt anything rather than letting it convince him that they’re fighting a war they’ve already lost, but with a mental wrench he manages it.

Even if it’s a losing battle, a losing war, they still have no choice but to fight it.

“20 miles out, northward, speeding quickly along the shoreline,” Jin Guangyao reports directly to Sparks, clipped and businesslike. The camera feed ‘copters catch up with them just as they swing more directly north, adjusting to the collision coordinates Jin Guangyao is typing as quickly as he can into their navigation system to ping it up on their Jaeger’s map display. “My guess is the goal is to make landfall and cause as much destruction as possible here in Shanghai or else it would have already landed along the way.”

“They’re strategizing,” Jiang Yanli notes, her voice as calm and soft as ever. “Strategies can always be countered.”

“We still don’t know how they think after all this time,” Nie Mingjue leans in to say. “They won’t strategize the way we would.”

“They will likely employ the information that Xue Yang has given them,” she replies, blithe as ever. “And there are only so many ways to reach their goal anyway. Don’t worry, Chifeng-zun, it’ll be alright.”

“Jiang Yanli is a masterful strategist,” Lan Xichen murmurs. “We’ve sent out the best team capable of stopping it, Mingjue.”

Jin Guangyao keeps his certainty that it will still not be enough very firmly behind his teeth.

“Closing in,” he informs Sparks instead. “It’s evading the sensors so I can’t get a good read on its physiology, but you are facing the first ever Category 5 Kaiju. Be careful.”

“I’m here! Why is Jiang-xiong passed out on the floor?”

“Come here, A-Yu,” Jin Guangyao calls his brother away from investigating Jiang Wanyin’s prone form, bloody nose, and blackening eyes. “Category 5.” Those two words are enough to snap Mo Xuanyu out of his lighthearted curiosity and beckon him straight over to the bank of monitors, his expression tight. He sneaks a hand over the back of Jin Guangyao’s chair to clutch at the shoulder of his jumpsuit in a vice grip.

“Is that Zixuan-ge?” he whispers when he spots the flashes of gold in the spotlight beam from the helicopter.

“And Jiang Yanli. Yes.”

The lights in the ‘dome flicker up to their usual sallow yellow abruptly, the emergency alarm switching off now that it’s done its duty. A hush of bated breath and the fear of fish trapped in a barrel suffuses the room as they all turn to watch the video feed when the glowing radar dot that is Sparks Amidst Snow is fully overlapped with the collision coordinates Jin Guangyao had given them.

The battle begins where they can’t see it. A heave of black water and the sun-bright flash of a nuclear charge are their first indication that contact has been made. Mo Xuanyu’s hand tightens further in the thick canvas of JIn Guangyao’s uniform.

When the Kaiju stands up out of the water, Jin Guangyao wonders if souls are real, as he’s pretty sure his has just left his body. The Kaiju towers over Sparks Amidst Snow, the bottom of its long-pincered face easily clearing the peak of the Jaeger’s helmet with an entire torso-length to spare. It’s broad as a building, a wall of black and blue and phosphorescent green in the dancing, jittering beam of the helicopter spotlight. Jin Guangyao counts at least four appendages that could be very loosely qualified as arms before the lamp stops its wandering to focus on one of the Kaiju’s iridescent violet eyes the size of a house, irritating it into screeching so loudly the camera shakes. Jin Guangyao is relieved they can’t actually hear it.

“Qingyang,” Nie Mingjue rasps.

“Sir?”

“Evacuate the ‘dome. I want everyone who doesn’t have to help with this battle down in the basement bunkers. Now.”

Jin Guangyao knows that Luo Qingyang most likely wants to be there in the tower with them where she can at least see what’s happening to her childhood best friend, but she leaves without a word of complaint. She takes Qin Su with her, it sounds like, and the remaining handful of them in the tower drop into a loaded silence again as the fight continues.

It takes roughly three rounds of earth-shaking blows traded back and forth before Jiang Yanli’s voice returns. “It’s pulling its attacks, Chifeng-zun. A Kaiju this size should not be this weak with its offense, I think it’s trying to keep us busy.”

“Tokyo’s reporting the attack,” Nie Zonghui suddenly pipes up at his right. Jin Guangyao tears his eyes away from the battle on the monitor to look at Nie Zonghui’s screen instead, where he’s got news coverage from Tokyo pulled up and muted, subtitles flying as the reporter speaks. “It hit there like Xuanyu predicted the next one would, but it broke off to head for us with no warning.” The playback switches from a reporter down in the evacuated streets to the footage of the fight itself, and sure enough there’s the Kaiju they’re currently dealing with towering even further over Wen Xu and Wen Chao’s mach 4 Eternal Sun than it is over Sparks Amidst Snow.

For the first time since his realization downstairs, Jin Guangyao starts to hope that this won’t be a suicide mission after all. If the Kaiju was already locked into a fight with Eternal Sun and gave them the slip, there’s no way two pilots as egotistical and proud as the Wen brothers will allow it to actually escape them. Their seabed sensors only go out so far, but now that they obviously know exactly where the Kaiju is he returns to monitoring the output from the fringes of their territory practically obsessively, hunting for the signs that will mean there’s something the size of another Jaeger entering their waters.

Backup from the Wen is in every way an absolute last resort, but they don’t exactly have the luxury of being picky at the moment, and there’s no way the Manila ‘dome will be able to get one of their pilots up here in time to help. It’s Tokyo, or it’s nobody.

From the corner, weak and fuzzy, Jiang Wanyin mumbles, “Jiejie?”

Jin Guangyao has no attention to spare for the continuation of Jiang Wanyin’s breakdown, but considering his own brother is out there too he can’t exactly fault the man for being so distraught. He’s trying very hard not to think about it.

“Jiang Wanyin, if you can keep control of yourself you may stay,” Nie Mingjue tells him with no room for argument. “If you’re going to continue questioning my leadership and disrespecting my partner then I will have you forcibly removed and shoved into a bunker with the rest of the ‘dome.”

Sparks Amidst Snow collapses like the world’s largest sack of potatoes into the water and the Kaiju pounces on it, battering it down beneath the waves for a heartstopping moment where all they can see is churning black water capped with foam, erratically lit by the helicopter spot.

“I’ll stay,” Jiang Wanyin whispers, agonized. “I…I have to know.”

The Kaiju erupts from beneath the waves again in a spray of water and bright blood as high as a skyscraper, a gaping hole punched straight through its hide the source of the acid-blue gore. Sparks Amidst Snow emerges a moment later, nuclear core in its chest still glowing from its latest discharge as Jin Zixuan engages the blasters attached to both forearms and sends another round of charges straight at the Kaiju’s face. It’s brutal and inelegant, but effective nonetheless as the Kaiju rears back and collapses down into the water with another shriek that they can’t hear but that must rattle the world for miles.

“A-Li is right, it’s pulling blows,” Jin Zixuan pants into the comms, sounding exhausted already. Mo Xuanyu’s free hand finds Jin Guangyao’s other shoulder as they both lean in, and Zonghui, thoughtful as ever, gets rid of the news from Tokyo to instead pull up the camera feed from inside the Jaeger for the two of them to see. Jiang Wanyin crowds in close as well, even though all that there is to see of their siblings is the light reflecting off the faceguards of their helmets and the obscuring bulk of their Jaeger armor, softly gleaming gold and violet nearly identical in the low light of the cockpit.

“Is A-Yu there?” Jin Zixuan asks next as he begins to go through the motions of charging up his next blaster round in the guns mounted on Sparks’ greaves, Jiang Yanli mirroring him automatically through their Drift. Jin Guangyao doesn’t quite understand how having a non-combat pilot works in a twosome with a combat pilot, but if it works for them then he doesn’t really need to know, at least not mid-battle.

“I’m here, Zixuan-ge!”

“Any idea what it might be waiting for? Reinforcements? Anything??”

“Reinforcements aren’t a thing, ge — the Breach closes behind each Kaiju that comes through, and it’s never opened back up quickly enough to allow a second one out so soon after the first.”

“Well it’s doing something! It feels like it’s..toying with us—“

“A-Xuan!!”

“FUCK!!!”

Jin Guangyao jumps at the sudden tension snapping through both of their voices and scrambles to figure out what it is that startled them so badly, but there’s nothing strange on the sensors, no sign of the Wens yet —

“Zonghui!” Nie Mingjue snaps, “Alert all areas of the city to evacuate into the bunkers immediately. It’s coming.”

Jin Guangyao’s entire body goes cold, understanding dawning. It was waiting for them to drop their guard. To pause. To get tired, as all humans do.

And then, against the aggressive patterns of all Kaiju before it, it left.

Sparks Amidst Snow races at top speed in the wake of the Kaiju. Jin Guangyao keeps anxiously watching the signals for any sign of the Wens giving chase even as his fingers fly over his keyboard, tapping out a furious request for help to be broadcast to every single shatterdome this side of the Pacific. It doesn’t matter anymore if they get here in time or not — if the Kaiju levels Shanghai it won’t stop there, and the others should at least be on alert if nothing else. Someone will have to stop it, even if they can’t.

He barely registers the sound of Zonghui giving the order into the military emergency channel to get the entire city to hunker down.

This deep in the ‘dome the warning sirens out in the city are a quiet, high-pitched whine, soft as a fly buzzing in the corner. He can imagine the panic on the streets, the mad rush to get to safety. The bunkers will hold everyone in Shanghai and then some, they were designed well, but that only works if everyone is where they’re expected to be.

And people so rarely are.

It’s the middle of the night. The pleasure districts will be stuffed full. The business districts, bare. The residential districts will be slow to respond as the inhabitants are roused from sleep and frightened into action.

There will be neighborhoods with half-empty shelters. There will be bunkers so full they physically cannot cram another body into them. There will be children separated from their parents, and partners terrified that they’ll never see each other again as they’re swept away from each other on the street, the panicking crowd dragging them in their current like leaves caught in a diverging stream.

Jin Guangyao cannot panic, he has no time or space to panic, but it grabs him by the throat anyway. It stills his fingers on the keys. His vision dims.

He could be on the street.

He could be laying in the rubble of a battlefield, unable to get up on his own, left to die while the fight rages on around him.

He could die.

The people he loves could die.

Nie Mingjue’s voice echoes from the bottom of a well when he calls a terse, “Xichen.”

Jin Guangyao’s final, faint tether to his surroundings disappears with his brother’s hands leaving his shoulders. His next exhale scrapes his throat raw.

There’s a flash of gold in front of his eyes and he’s staring up at Golden Thunder, her pilots unaware that he’s there, vulnerable, hurt, crying out for sympathy, for rescue, as he’s left behind to die.

“Shhhh A-Yao, it’s me. We’re here.”

“What’s going on with him?!”

Lan Xichen’s voice, soft but urgent, immediately followed by Jiang Wanyin’s sharp bark (that’s absolutely worse than his bite) is enough to drag him clawing back towards reality. The chalky scent of crumbled concrete and the acrid tang of ocean brine and Kaiju blood is replaced with the stale nothingness of the ‘dome’s filtered air on his next rattling inhale. His hands aren’t scrabbling on shredded metal and broken glass, they’re clutched tightly in Lan Xichen’s strong grip and his partner is rubbing slow, firm circles into the undersides of his wrists right over his hammering pulse.

“Father used Yao-ge as Kaiju bait once,” Mo Xuanyu mumbles. Jin Guangyao can’t even find it in himself to care that his most hated secret is out. Lan Xichen is scared, he can see it in his eyes, and it drags Jin Guangyao another precious inch closer to him, away from the edge of crumbling back into the past he can never fully escape. “He snapped his ankle and left Yao-ge right in the path of a Cat 3, as an experiment.”

Jin Guangyao hears Jiang Wanyin say…well, something, anyway. His ears are ringing too much to catch whatever it is he breathes, and quite frankly he doesn’t really care what Jiang Wanyin thinks of him in the end. He can see Lan Xichen’s lips moving as well but he can’t hear him either, much though he wishes he could. His chest is too tight. It feels like every muscle in his body is clenched, attempting to curl in on himself but unable to do so.

The ringing in his ears grows louder and Lan Xichen must see something in his face because a blink of an eye later he’s shifted a bit to the side and Jin Guangyao is getting sick into the wastebin his partner is holding for him.

“Yu-didi, I don’t believe your recounting it is helping A-Yao stop reliving it.”

“Fuck, right, sorry. Sorry Yao-ge!”

“Pull it together, A-Yao,” Nie Mingjue says, quiet and rough and right in his ear, his familiar, heavy grip tight around the straining back of his neck. “I need you.”

Jin Guangyao squeezes his eyes shut and forces his breathing to even out — easier to do once Lan Xichen takes the bin away again and replaces it with himself, letting Jin Guangyao rest his head on his shoulder and breathe as he tries to do what Nie Mingjue needs. If he can’t do it for himself, or even for Lan Xichen, he can do it for Nie Mingjue.

“We have landfall,” Zonghui says. Jin Guangyao doesn’t even have time to shiver before Nie Mingjue is hauling him up from his chair, shoving the chair aside, and yanking Jin Guangyao to his chest to wrap his arms around him so tightly he can hardly breathe.

It tucks all the raw, bleeding parts of him back into the shape of his skin and he gasps as much as he can, hands clawing at his partner’s arms to ground himself as he’s finally wrenched fully back to the present. Sirens are blaring again, the distinctive, irregular, bass whooping that means the Kaiju has reached the shore. He opens his eyes to force them onto the helicopter’s feed again in time to see Sparks Amidst Snow come barrelling out of the water to collide with their foe at top speed, destroying a skyscraper and the cluster of lower buildings around it in one fell swoop.

“The harbor is empty,” Lan Xichen says like a mantra, calm even as he has to raise his voice over the sirens. “Wangji and Wuxian evacuated there first, right when Sparks deployed. They had time. Buildings can be replaced, and we’ll recover from this.”

Jin Guangyao’s heart pounds in his throat and he can’t let go of Nie Mingjue’s arms for fear of losing his way again in this moment when it’s vital, crucial, that he doesn’t. But he can watch his monitor from here; he can stare at lines of data, his familiar, bloodless job that can help him make sense of such a messy universe, and he can do everything in his power to ignore what’s happening in the city to keep watch for what will (hopefully) be the turning point of this battle.

For long minutes, there’s nothing but silence from every person in the room as the whooping siren makes itself background noise, as the lights drop to deep blue to make the ‘dome less of a visible target from the outside, as Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli stop talking even to each other in order to focus entirely on the fight at hand. Jin Guangyao watches his monitor and breathes in time with the pings from each seabed sensor, their dispersing signals guides for each inhale.

Exhale.

He breathes.

The fight rages on.

Until —

:Incoming long-range message:

The cool, feminine AI cuts through the tension and the sirens that shut off in the comms tower alone to allow the message to be heard.

:Tokyo Wen Jaeger Eternal Sun requests flight clearance: the AI recites, the message punctuated by the signal from the sensors that Jin Guangyao has been looking for. There, from the northwesternmost point of their territory — a Jaeger entering Shanghai’s waters at top speed.

Nie Zonghui turns to their own long-range radio and leans in to say, crisp and clear as a mountain river, “Granted.”

The door to the comms tower clangs open and Jin Guangyao jerks in Nie Mingjue’s arms that tighten around him with his own tension.

“ ‘Dome’s empty, all in the bunkers,” Luo Qingyang reports as she and Qin Su step forward to crowd with the rest of them around the monitors. Nie Zonghui switches the camera feed to the interior of Sparks again and only then do the pair let out twin shaky sighs of relief.

“The Wen brothers are incoming, they’ll be here in minutes,” Lan Xichen informs them, calm despite it all. “And Sparks has so far managed to keep the Kaiju within the business district near the harbor — it’s most likely to be empty.”

“It’s the best we can hope for,” Qin Su replies. “They’re doing well.”

“Xuan-ge’s getting tired,” Luo Qingyang whispers. Jin Guangyao doesn’t allow himself to look at the monitor showing Sparks’ internal cam.

“Don’t worry about Zixuan.”

A beat of silence follows Jiang Wanyin’s terse statement.

Naturally, it’s Nie Mingjue who breaks it. “Explain.”

“It’s because of jie. She can’t be putting much of her energy into this fight yet, just enough to support him so that he doesn’t tear himself to shreds. They’re unevenly matched, that’s why he’s tiring out. That’ll change soon.”

“Your Drift!” Mo Xuanyu suddenly pipes up. Jin Guangyao had nearly forgotten he was here, but no, he’s there holding hands with Qin Su (their knuckles are white they’re clutching each other so hard; Jin Guangyao is privately, guiltily relieved that he doesn’t need to soothe his siblings and can instead continue to be comforted himself.)

“Sorry — your drift with your siblings I mean. I was studying it. The reason there has to be all three of you –”

“It has to balance,” Jiang Wanyin cuts in, sharp as a knife. “We’re all too strong for each other in different ways, but if all three of us are there it’s like…it’s like a game of rock paper scissors. We hold each other in check. Jie’s not fit for combat because she can’t commit the standard amount of energy from the start, she has to build up to it. It’s too much for most individual pilots to frontload and they burn out before she can support them, but if there are two pilots to share the load first before she’s needed, or if a single pilot is abnormally good at carrying all the weight of his Drifts because he’s been doing it this whole time without even realizing it…”

Jin Guangyao blinks at that and wonders abruptly if he’s been missing something..horribly wrong with the way his brother and his cousin Drift. He hadn’t ever thought to look into it too deeply (and it’s not like Jin Zixun would welcome his prying into their stats anyway), but if that’s the case, if Jin Zixuan is used to bearing the brunt of all of their fights and he hasn’t even breathed a word of complaint..

“So what’s going to happen when he wears out? Why don’t we have to worry about it?” Nie Mingjue bites, getting to the heart of the matter as they watch another skyscraper crash into uncountable billions of shards of glass, twisted steel raining down to the street as Sparks yanks a massive I-beam support free from the scaffolding to swing at the Kaiju like a baseball bat to the head.

“Jie can’t start out a drop like a standard pilot, but once she’s ready she’s like…she’s like a supernova. She’ll burn straight through him, but before they burn out they’ll be the strongest pilots in the world.”

She’s a furnace, Jin Guangyao thinks a little giddily, stress somehow managing to dredge up some ridiculous notion he once picked up from the trashy Wuxia romance novels he used to steal from Meng Shi when she was busy working. He wisely keeps the thought to himself as they all collectively process what they’re likely about to witness — it still changes nothing. This was a suicide mission from the moment it began, why should it matter that it still is, only instead of dying in the clumsy, mundane way of exhaustion and overwhelm they’ll instead go out in a blaze of glory? The result is miserable either way.

Jin Guangyao startles again at a sudden crackle of static, loud enough that he’d be tempted to clap his hands over his ears were he not still locked up in Nie Mingjue’s arms.

:Shanghai?:

“Nie Zonghui, Shanghai Shatterdome. Eternal Sun?”

:Yeah it’s us. Where is it? What’s happening?:

Jin Guangyao breathes slowly, silently in through his nose and out through his mouth. It’s Wen Xu on the comms, which means they can at least hope for a relatively civil conversation, but that voice still haunts his dreams. He’s heard that voice deliver impossible cruelty with barely a shift in inflection, bland and blithe as if talking about the weather. He’s done horrible things that Wen Xu ordered him to do, speaking on behalf of his father. He’s writhed in agony when Wen Xu ordered him to be tortured for failing to deliver on an impossible promise on at least six separate occasions before Jin Guangyao grew too high in Wen Ruohan’s favor to be so debased.

They need the Wen brothers for this, he knows that, and it’s a miracle that they’ve come in time to be of use. But he’d very much like to curl into a ball and never emerge again so long as they’re within speaking distance of Shanghai.

“Landfall in the harbor, Sparks Amidst Snow is currently keeping it contained to the business district but I don’t know how much longer it’ll stay put,” Nie Zonghui reports, blind to everything but his need to carry them all through this hellish night. At least someone here isn’t moments away from shattering into a thousand pieces. “Just fly straight in, you can’t really miss it.”

:It’s fucking huge, yeah: Wen Xu snorts. :Don’t worry, we’ll mop it up for you:

“Generous of them,” Nie Mingjue mutters mutinously in his ear, shocking Jin Guangyao into finally letting out that hysterical little giggle trapped in his chest. He buries his face in his hands and shakes apart, half-laughing half-sobbing in a way that he wishes could be cathartic.

“A-Yao,” Lan Xichen murmurs with a hand stroking through his hair. “It’s alright, shh.”

Jin Guangyao waves him off and squirms out of Nie Mingjue’s arms to return to his seat, manic giggles still escaping him in bursts as he finally clicks away from the long-range sensor software to instead see if there’s anything they can get from the short-range on the Kaiju’s biometrics now that they’re not also trying to track its position.

“Uh oh,” Mo Xuanyu whispers. “Yao-ge’s losing it.”

Jin Guangyao giggles again when Qin Su reaches up to smack the back of Mo Xuanyu’s head.

A tentative hope is creeping like sunlight through their pocket of artificial gloom. Sparks will be getting a second wind any minute now, if Jiang Wanyin is to be believed. The Wens will be arriving even quicker at the rate they’re running. The Kaiju, having made landfall, seems content to follow all previous patterns now and go for a pummeling offensive, barely a defensive maneuver or escape tactic to be seen.

They can do this. They can fight like this.

Jin Guangyao doesn’t buy it for a fucking second, but the palpable relief in the room is nice while it lasts.

“Yao-didi?” Jin Zixuan pants into their comms, sounding absolutely ragged. It sobers Jin Guangyao up quickly, his horribly giggling dying down in the sudden swoop of realizing that this may still be the last chance he ever gets to talk to the brother he’s had a…complicated relationship with for so long, but that he still loves for what he is. What they can be.

“I’m here, Xuan-ge.”

“Did they get the pleasure district evacuated? Can you see?”

Jin Guangyao hurries to check the sensors — a delicate task when the kaiju’s signature is everywhere, overwhelming the delicate machinery and filling it with floods of data that muddle the signatures of anything smaller than a five story building.

Thankfully, the bunkers are big enough to register as their own independent signature when they’re full, and as Jin Guangyao seeks them out he finds each one full to capacity, burning bright with the lives of so many of Shanghai’s citizens.

“The bunkers in the pleasure district are full,” he says, because that’s the truth. He doesn’t know if the streets are fully evacuated, but he knows that the bunkers are full. He breathes through another brief flash of stragglers barred entry from safety scrambling for any cover they can find — he doesn’t know if that’s true, and if he torments himself with imagining it then he can’t perform his role here, which does more harm than good.

“Good,” Jin Zixuan groans — and Sparks drops to its knees like a puppet with its strings cut. “I just…I need a minute, I’m sorry-”

Jin Guangyao’s heart is in his throat and Lan Xichen has to bodily pull the others away from the monitors as they try to crowd closer with ragged cries of dismay and fear, boxing Nie Zonghui in too tightly.

“It’s alright,” Lan Xichen soothes them all equally, hands patting shoulders in between restraining them. “He’s alive, he’s okay, it’s just what Wanyin said would happen. They’re still in the Drift, he’s only tired.”

Jin Guangyao watches helplessly as the Kaiju bellows a fresh cry and rushes past the sudden drop in defenses to head deeper into the city.

There’s no way he can realistically feel the impact of its passage here within the ‘dome and 20-odd stories up in the air as they are, but the mind is a funny thing. The floor seems to shudder under his boots in time with the Kaiju’s loping stride through the city, and the vertigo he always gets when he’s down in the streets creeps in, making his head spin as he tries to keep getting a read on the Kaiju. Is it nearly dead? Is it only getting started? He doesn’t know, but if he can find out maybe he can help. Maybe he won’t feel so horrifically useless.

“Oh god.” It’s Luo Qingyang this time, her voice so flat the exclamation barely counts as one. “It’s them.”

It’s who?! Jin Guangyao wants to demand, but considering the Wen brothers still haven’t arrived (any second now, he repeats like a mantra) there are only a handful of people who could elicit that reaction.

“I haven’t seen him in over 24 hours, Chifeng-zun,” Jin Zixuan had said.

“Make it hurt,” he had told Xue Yang. “Make sure he knows who’s behind you telling you to pull the trigger.”

Jin Guangyao tears his gaze away from his data to look at the camera feed only to find it’s been hijacked — it takes a long moment for the offset, grainy CCTV feed to make sense to his scattered mind, but when it does he feels his blood run cold.

There, in the wind and the rain ripping through Shanghai, stands Xiao Xingchen in glowing white. Song Lan in deep black, little more than a pale moon face in the gloom. Between them, sagging with exhaustion and with blood clearly running from both nostrils, is Xue Yang grinning wickedly straight up at the camera, wild-eyed and sharp around the edges despite the fact that he’s only standing thanks to the support of his companions gripping his arms.

Behind them, in the rubble of the street, two barely-identifiable figures attempt to crawl for cover.

Jin Guangyao can tell even through the horrible camera quality that their legs are not at all at the right angles to allow them to get very far.

Xue Yang blows a kiss at the camera before he allows the others to haul him away, but rather than escaping for cover between the buildings they hurry straight down the wide, empty street, the wind whipping their hair and traditional-looking robes in a flurry of movement that has Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan turning to look over their shoulders in tandem, cybernetic eyes glowing pinpoints of light in their faces as they crane their necks up - up - up.

“It’s following Xue Yang,” Jin Guangyao whispers with horrified understanding. “It’s his..his Kaiju Drift. He’s connected to them permanently. They’re tracking him.”

“He’s guiding it inland,” Jiang Wanyin says.

“No,” Mo Xuanyu corrects, softly horrified. “He’s using it as a weapon.”

Jin Guangyao rises to his feet without conscious thought, and Lan Xichen doesn’t attempt to stop him as he approaches the monitor until he’s close enough to see each individual grainy pixel in the footage. Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and Xue Yang have disappeared out of the frame, but all that means is that there, perfectly captured in the center of it, lie Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixun, twin crumpled heaps in the street outside the brightly-lit facade of the brothel they frequent the most.

Directly in the path of the Kaiju currently barreling through Shanghai unchecked.

His nose is nearly touching the screen when the Kaiju swings into frame and crushes both of them underfoot as casually as he might step on a crumb.

Qin Su screams, hastily muffled in her hand. Mo Xuanyu chokes on a gasp. Jiang Wanyin shouts an inarticulate swear, Luo Qingyang adds her own mess to his in the bin, Lan Xichen grabs him by both shoulders and squeezes hard enough to bruise.

Nie Mingjue plants both his fists on the desk to close his eyes and breathe.

Jin Guangyao processes all of this through the numbing cushion of shock protecting him from losing his mind entirely.

The screen cuts black for a second before their helicopter feed is allowed through the transmission again, as if it wasn’t already clear enough that they’d been meant to see every second of that. Jin Guangyao steps back from the monitor to sit at his desk again and mechanically return to his task.

The fight is still on. The Kaiju is still out there, running rampant and following Xue Yang wherever the others have taken him. If they’ve escaped then it’s likely the Kaiju will as well, and no matter what else has happened there are still civilians to protect.

Jin Guangyao’s hands shake as he types fresh coordinates into the mapping system for Sparks and conveys the same to the short-range radio to deliver to Eternal Sun.

“What happened?!” Jin Zixuan begs through the comms. “Is everyone alright?”

No one seems to have the strength to answer him.

The rest of the battle and its aftermath goes like this:

Eternal Sun sweeps in and drags the Kaiju back towards the harbor kicking and shrieking to pay for its crimes.

Jin Zixuan pushes through his exhaustion to return to the fight when it’s dropped right at his feet.

Jiang Yanli, acting as a reserve of near-boundless energy needed for the final push, screams herself hoarse as she and Jin Zixuan push themselves beyond the limits of what any pilot should ever experience in their Jaeger to deliver the killing blow.

They will never be able to drop again, but will forever be the first pilots to successfully kill a Category 5 Kaiju.

The moment Jin Guangyao confirms the death of the Kaiju, Nie Zonghui yanks them out of their Drift and sends their Jaeger into emergency shutdown to be retrieved later.

Eternal Sun will claim the spoils of the kill, but agree to allow Sparks the glory.

Jin Guangshan and his nephew are dead in the street, and their bodies aren’t able to be cleared away before the news broadcasters catch wind of it and begin plastering the news on every screen in Shanghai.

Jin Guangyao, the moment his duties are done and everyone else’s survival is assured, faints and doesn’t wake for two full days.

#the untamed fanfic #3zun #Pacific Rim AU #background/implied xuanli #background/implied songxuexiao #Jin Guangyao #Nie Mingjue #Lan Xichen #Jin Zixuan #Jiang Yanli #I really don't want to tag everyone who's there since it's most of the ensemble lol #also read a bunch of the fic for funsies last night and this morning and I have two main thoughts:#This fic is a lot better than I give it credit for whenever I'm in the middle of writing it #and I make people 'bark' a lot in this lol #But like. They're in a military setting! It's tense! Orders are barked! what else am I supposed to use?? 😂😅

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sugarakis-p2 · 2 years

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All Knights and Days must die! ch24

Mothman Shigaraki is the new king, so much on his shoulders and wings. Nothing better than to use Ur (Aka Ur Name x reader) to relieve his stress as he plots to destroy the Order of the Azure rose.

Warning: Possessive Mothman Shigaraki, fluffy smuts, preggy kink, death threats, cussing

Today Shigaraki leaves you again. But this time for the Azure Rose. He has ideas and plans for you. After last time you've learned it's time for you to take care of yourself and have your own back up plans.

Dabi has found Lyra and he is excited at the possibilities. Especially in the city with his brother there.

@lovingbadguys @balanceisrelative @nut-in-me-jojo

Ch23

Chapter 24:

The sun warmed your skin.

It created a burning sensation in your eye, but it still felt amazing, feeling the grass under your feet brushing against your legs. The fields of your hometown never looked prettier. Here is still the faint scent of pig feces in the air when it blows just right.

You don't mind. It is home, after all. The smell of blooming straw and dandelions makes you want to hurry back to Shigaraki. He is leaving tonight and wanted to give you a treat.

"Humans need sun. Wake up a few hours early, and I will have the MLA guards take you outside," Shigaraki rasped.

"I don't want to be around those monsters. You might have forgiven them. But I haven't," you hissed at him, rolling on your side away from Shiggy. Contempt roiling from you. He sighs and rolls his eyes, nipping at your neck in affection. You will not like what he has to say next.

"The Doctor said it is good for the grubs. You need sun, and they are the only humans I can trust at this hive," he says, skirting around the issue. He cannot fool you. You immediately latch onto the thing he did not want you to deduce. He knows that side look of derision meant a fresh fight.

"What doctor and when?" You seethed. Shigaraki grunted and nuzzled.

"A few days ago. Another reason you need sun. Your time is all off," he growls, looking at the barren walls and plain nest. He will not have his grubs born here. It's a reasonable keep. However, his grubs deserve better.

"Why is he not dead?" You question. Your body tensed in anger. He rubs your belly with his gloved hand. The little grubs kick, and he purrs in response.

"I had Toga be you and withdraw it. You have multiple grubs. Lyra is gone. Ujiko is the best Doctor we have. He will continue his work, and you will not argue with his orders. Sunlight, then fucking, then breakfast. Are we clear?" He growled in a tone that left no doubt he would drag you out if he had to.

You screamed at the MLA to keep their damn distance. They did, watching you warily. You've been mad at everything. You hate all of it, and the grubs seem to enjoy it. You were half thinking about asking Ujiko about it, but you quickly remembered he's an immoral monster.

These thoughts are grinding the gears of the clockwork in your mind. You should talk to Shiggy about getting a clock. These musings are interrupted by three figures walking towards you. The mohawk Mothman, with two Doctors, were wearing masks, one holding an umbrella for the other two.

You take off your eye patch, very aware the MLA is too far to help you. But you are interested in the doctors. The Mothman stops at an unrespectable distance. Mohawk bows and the sizzle of his skin hits your ears from the brief contact of the sun. You back a few steps away from them. Not liking the cold look of the Doctor next to him. It was a calculating yellow gaze of a cat examining a rodent it caught in its claws.

You glance at the MLA again when the Mothman smiles kindly at you. Raising his palms in submission.

"Greetings, Queen of Shigaraki's hive. I am Darvish. Shigaraki has failed to follow tradition and given me a proper introduction. As a potential suitor, it would have been polite. You are even more lovely the second time," Darvish grins his shark smile. You narrow your eyes at him with disdain.

"That is because Shigaraki will succeed and come back for me," you state firmly.

"Indeed, little moonbeam. Indeed. However, should he not? I have made a claim. I wanted to reassure you that I am friends with humans and will treat you well. Your grubs will be like my own. Is it true you got those scars around your eye fighting to keep your mate?" He asked.

"The weak have no rights. I'm not weak. Should Shigaraki not return? I will be fine on my own," you hissed at him. A deep growl rumbled in him.

"What a mouth. Such a sassy little moonbeam. I am kind, so I shall inform you of a harsh reality. Should Shigaraki fail. You will be mine. You will pray for it because the others would see you dead or your grubs bashed against the rocks," he snarled with gritted teeth. Sharp teeth clicked in anger. You can tell he is not used to being talked back to. Fine by you.

"Let me inform you of a harsh reality. You try to silence me or claim which is Shigaraki's. I will feast on your flesh and make jelly of your brains for my grubs," you huffed back.

The Grubs are kicking and vibrating with delight. The Doctor with the strange yellow eyes quirked a brow. Darvish was vibrating and dancing a tantrum with twitches you don't recognize. You are about to paralyze them and walk away when the creepy Doctor places a hand on Darvish, who calms at the touch.

"Your highness, we did not come to antagonize. Merely to introduce and reassure. Let's not engage in 'what ifs.' instead, let us reaffirm that no matter what happens, we will be your allies," the Doctor said eloquently. There was something about him you did not like. At times like this, you miss Lyra all the more.

"Yes," Darvish panted angrily, "The aberrant hives will be untied in fellowship. I vow to take care of the moonbeam."

"Why are you calling me that? We don't know each other enough for cute nicknames," You tell them. They both gave each other a strange look and bowed to you before leaving.

"She is more impressive up close," Kai said, stroking his mask as when they were out of hearing distance from you.

"She is too above herself and doesn't even know she's the moonbeam. Her threats aroused and infuriated me. Made me want to put her in place with my cock," Darvish snorted.

"That is interesting. I would advise against it. She has the mystical eye. Combined with Shigaraki's blood, I'm sure it has awakened. I had heard rumors from the MLA that she had cursed them with the evil eye. It turns out Shigaraki is getting better with her at his side. We need to revisit his death," Kai stated.

"I have already told you I will not break the law," Darvish growled.

"What of this law that the weak have to rights?"

"That is a law of old. Obviously, it no longer holds true in this kingdom."

"Darvish. Having a goal without a plan just makes you a daydreamer, and daydreams don't make for a good sales pitch. What happens once you've expanded? How're you gonna use these people? What's your management strategy for this hive? Starting with the queen. No point in amassing power you can't control. You need a solid plan to make your goals a reality. And I'm the man with the plan. Get Shigaraki out of the way," Kai stated.

"This discussion is pointless. I will kill him in honorable battle," Darvish said flatly.

You watched them argue in the distance. Looking at the sky, you wonder what Lyra is up to.

Lyra is struggling against Dabi. Not too hard because Dabi is the only thing between her and a homicidal Adam.

"I want to know where my family is. Fuck your mate bond bullshit! Where are the kids, Lyra?" Adam snarls.

Dabi ignores him and nuzzles Lyra with purrs. He immediately recognized her by her scent, even though her appearance had changed. Strange robes he didn't identify as any of the Orders. She looked drab, and he despised it.

All while Yoon watched the door. Seemed like a family thing to him, and he would not get involved. Adam saw no help there. He was wondering how he could kill Dabi without being burnt alive.

"You smell different, Lyra. Sweeter somehow," Dabi sniffed. Inhaling deeply, he froze. His icy eyes locked on hers. Coldly a smile stretched across his face, "You dumb slut. You're pregnant."

There was a long pause where Lyra felt like a pinned animal under Dabi's calculating gaze.

"That is just fine by me. You will behave, or I will have them both killed. You'll be the perfect mate and earn me status with the queen, or I will burn you alive, Lyra. You will start by telling Adam where the royal family is. Then you will tell Yoon where Kurogiri is."

"What will you be doing," Lyra managed to choke out.

"I will be busy. Don't you worry your foolish head about it," Dabi said, dropping his smile. Lyra whimpered when he grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her stumbling towards Adam. Adam caught her in confusion.

"She will tell. You go. I stay,” Dabi hissed.

"That two-toned kid is coming this way. Are we grabbing him too?" Yoon asked, playing with his short sword.

"No. He was just the one I was looking for," Dabi grins again. Lyra takes a sharp intake of breath. Eyes wide and glassy with tears.

"Dabi, no! Don't do it!" She shouted. Loud enough for Shoto to hear.

"Take her, go. Adam dragged her away by the hair. She screeched and clawed at Adam's hand. He yanked her close to his face and with a seething whisper.

"If you raise your hands again, I will snap off every finger. If you shout out, I will puncture your voice box and have you point with your stumps. If you try to run, I will slice the back of your knees and drag you through the streets. Dabi will thank me for my efforts, I think," Adam murmurs.

Lyra stares at the masculine face of her friend and nods. His eyes and jaw have the same grim determination as when you thought of something and decided to barrel through like a charging rhino. She imagines this guy and Dabi getting along just fine.

"Answer, bitch," Adam snarled.

"I understand. Threatening me is needless. We need to get the Kuro immediately. I made an error in judgment. Even with the word of a Todoroki, they laughed at me, separated the children, and imprisoned Kurogiri. He's being held in the Keep, which is this way," She indicates, down an isolated alleyway.

"No, the kids first," Adam hissed.

"Either way, let's move from here," Yoon hissed in his language.

"Why?" Lyra asked him. Surprising him. Yoon did not like surprises.

"Never mind. I see the order has tossed you aside. Now you are just the order's apostate bitch. Tell Adam the way to the kids while actually taking us to Kurogiri," Yoon orders her. Looking cautiously around. Lyra purses her lips together. Yoon sighs, "It will be easier to gather the children after we get our quick escape route back. I thought you were smart. At least enough to know that much. If you have a caring bone in your body?"

Lyra's face twisted into a grotesque mask of female rage.

"Of course, I care. They are human. I already overheard talk of using Kurogiri. We must hurry to him first," she growled.

"But nothing for your mate?"

"Dabi always forgets it was I that chose him. Keep me safe from this man and go that way to Kurogiri," Lyra lectures.

Bossier than the queen, he thinks. However, he will do what he is told to complete his mission. He will be in the queen's harem one way or another. He snatches the woman from Adam. Before the crazed human can threaten him, an explosion overhead convinces him to follow.

"How heavily guarded is this keep?" Yoon asked the small female he was carrying in a set of his arms. Racing away from the chaos behind them.

"Dabi started too early," Adam huffed to keep up with Yoon's long strides.

"Dabi can take care of himself," Yoon shouted back to Adam, which was stupid because the human had no idea what he was saying. Not that it would matter. His mission was too important, and if he needed to, he would cut Adam.

"It is heavily guarded. It's next to the knight's school," Lyra stated, in wide-eyed fear, gripping Yoon. Perfect , he thought. A single operative will have the best chance of creating a distraction. Near the keep, he shoves Dabi's mate towards Adam.

"We had a deal!" Lyra shrieked at him, only to have Adam's tight grip clamp over her mouth.

Yoon gave him the hand signal that he is good. To find siblings. Human speech is annoying. He found the hand language so easy. Yoon can't wait to show his queen. Raising his fingers to the sky to check how much time he had. Plenty of time to plant traps and bombs.

"Point to where the youngest is," he heard Adam hiss.

"It will be fine," Shigaraki insisted when you questioned his plans.

"You are not telling me anything and setting up other mates for me. I should be the one to choose, only after you are killed. This makes me feel hopeless and out of control in my life," you sobbed at him.

He tried to soothe you with keening. The harder you wept, the more upset the grubs became. It would be too early and dangerous to give birth now. He cradled your face in his large palms forcing you to look at him.

"I will be back. I will not leave anything to chance. The hive is heavily guarded. My plan is perfect. I will return with the Azure rose and plunge them into chaos and darkness. They will feel the misery they have thrown us into. We will watch them eat each other alive," he reassured.

"I rather have you. Forget making the Order wallow. Let us be a family. Turn the tides so we can all live. I am of the sun, remember. I cannot shine without you. I cannot live without the sun," you wailed.

"You do not know what you are saying. This is the grubs fogging your brain," Shigaraki shook his head.

"Promise me you will come home. Come back home to us alive. Rule, and I will be by your side for as long as the sun and moon dance in the sky," you begged. The grubs screamed, he could feel it in his being, and again he wondered if this was normal. If this is a part of the fated mate's destiny, he will please his mate.

"I will do that. I will right the natural order so my mate can shine. I break the ley lines, and they will revert to their original mana path. I will come home to my fated one and our grubs. I swear. Can you feel it? I speak the truth?" Shigaraki asked, sweetly kissing your tears away.

Yes, you can. Shigaraki is giving you a rare moment of truth. The love radiating from him calms the grubs. His cracked lips run down to your lips. His tongue darts in. Soon you are kissing him passionately. It feels like you have done this before. This was like last time. He promised to be back and did not show up for some time.

You want to believe him, but time and time again, he has lied to you. His backup plan is to hand you over to Yoon or this Darvish guy. Will Yoon be capable of holding the hive together? This plan will not do for you when you genuinely think of it.

Shigaraki likes to keep his secrets from you. It's only fair you keep a few from him. You don't have long to dwell on it as Shigaraki lifts your robes, bending you over suddenly. Pressing your hands against the smooth earthen walls. The cold immediately seeps into your fingers to the bone.

"Mate," he rumbled like that first night, next to your ear. Panting like a depraved, desperate fiend. His hot breath fanned your neck and shoulders as his cracked lips pressed quick kisses. One hand carefully cupped a breast.

Gently squeezing while his other fist pushed its way between your legs. His long fingers are wriggling to find your little bundle of nerves. He doesn't want to use gloves. He is so heated.

"Your breasts are bigger. You smell so delicious. If I had the time, I would eat your pussy like candy. Until your honey lingers for a lifetime on my tongue," he rasped.

Circling your clit, making you slick and ready for his large hard cock pressed against your ass. You can feel it hot and heavy, pulsing with his heartbeat. The cold air makes the contrast of his body heat more welcoming against your exposed backside.

"You have a dirty mouth," say gasp. Your own breath is coming out in ragged pants.

He has learned to play your body like a fine-tuned instrument. Plucking at all the right strings to make you moan and sing for him. Strings to tug at your heart and make you forget the worst about him. He angled his cock to slip down between your thighs and lips.

"You love this dirty mouth," he hissed, nipping at your ear.

"I do. I'm still mad. But I love you. How are you not afraid?" You ask him.

"I do feel it at times. Only when I am not with you. In times like this before the battle, I feel nothing but a burning lust for my butterfly. My beautiful fated one," he growls. Using his hand to press his dick up to rub over your clit. His slick mixing with yours.

"Ur perfection," he panted, lining himself up to your wet inviting entrance.

You moan and brace yourself as he slowly enters you.

"You are always so damn tight. I'm sorry. I should have been here dealing with your angry looks. All of you get resistive. Even this tight little cunt. I should have been fucking you docile again," he snarled with a final thrust. You squealed as his length filled you. Your face is a hairs breath from the wall. He is so massive you must push back to prevent him from getting crushed.

You shoot him a dirty look over your shoulder up at him. He groaned and fluttered his wings. You did constrict on his cock in a flair of anger. Wanting to push him out and deny him his goodbye.

"Yessss, like that," he hissed, bucking his hips lightly.

You can feel his length glide over your wet walls. He feels too good to reject now. Hitting all the spots that make you writhe and bounce back into him. His thrusts drive you to the wall even though he is gripping your hip and helping you fuck him. You strain and push back with all your might.

Shigaraki's cock is sending a shudder of pleasure straight through your middle. You lay your face against the earthen wall, which felt good against your heated skin. You look up at him to see an arm bracing a head.

Eyes shut as a waterfall of long platinum halos you. He looks like an angel like this. His pace was steady and gentle. His eyes, heavy with deep lust, crack and look down while a sharp grin spreads across his face.

"That look of beyond. You are my little fated one. My butterfly. My moon," He rasped.

"You are the only one in my heart. I need you to shine," you moan back. Shiggy stills, his crimson eyes almost pure pools of black, blown with desire. He quickly wraps his other arm around your chest. Hunching his giant form to engulf you in his embrace. Cooing and trilling as his hips buck again. This time much harder.

You squeeze on his pounding cock, which he snaps back at the last moment to only kiss your cervix. He has been careful of you and the grubs. But he has trained you to like it a little harder. This feels like such a slow build-up of fanning the embers of desire in you. Bliss twisting in you.

You grip onto him instead of the wall as you brace yourself. Tightly shutting your eyes, you feel the moment of you joining. Feeling him fill you and tighten that know in your middle, he vibrated lightly as his wings quivered. His feelers lightly tickled over your face.

The smell of dandelions growing stronger makes you lightheaded. It could be because you are panting and gasping with every harsh thrust of his hips. His growling mixed with your noises. Your skin tingles as heat rushes to your cheeks. Hips snapping harder as shivers of bliss through you.

You forget about the world while he screws you stupid. He does this too often to keep you from thinking and being mad at him. This isn't new, either. You hate how he is right about you.

"I will come back for more of this and that look. I cannot live without my moon. You just got tighter and wetter, my everything. Are you going to milk me dry soon?"

"Yes. More. I want more, please. I want you," you moan. Reaching up and running your fingers through his soft hair, over his antennae. The blue receding to his roots. He growls, his pace intensifying, hips stuttering at a frantic pace.

Sometimes he plunges too deep and makes you yelp. The bundle of pleasure in your center grows tighter. If you don't get relief soon, you will implode with need. Loud, sharp chirps are pulled from him when the knot of bliss unravels. Your warm wet walls grip him tighter. A fiery passion burns through you, tingling every nerve as a wave of euphoria washes over your flesh. You feel completely undone.

"S-s-s-shiggyyyy," you moan. Shigaraki throws back his head with a roar. Hot jets of his seed fill you. Too full, his cum leaks from your pussy to puddle the floor. You can feel his cum dribble down your legs as his cock twitches. His knot is pressing at your entrance that spasmed around him. Milking him as he wanted.

He pants, snarls, and clicks his teeth until he can regain himself. Before you understand what is happening, Shigaraki lifts you in his arms. Cradling you, his eyes stare into yours deeply before he kisses you long and hard. He pulls away with a light smile.

"I love you," he rasps. He means it. You can feel it radiating off him like heat. You cup his face and kiss him back. You never had a traditional wedding. If you did, the kiss you shared would be your sealing vows.

"I love you too," you replied with tears streaming down your cheeks. His grin widened.

"All these tears for me. Do not worry. It will upset the grubs. Let's clean you and feed you. My poor little butterfly needs aftercare," he cooed.

Shigaraki watched you as you insisted you could scrub yourself. Your round belly is sticking out of the water. He pampered you like his helpless princess. This time you are grateful. Being this big was hard on you. You stare at his hair in new concern. Didn't he say the more you used magic, the more it used you?

You could lecture him. But it will do no good. You both wanted revenge. You think Maude wouldn't have said anything. She would probably encourage his behavior and celebrate when he died. He hand feeds you. Delighting when your tongue or teeth brushed his fingers.

"I love you," you repeated between a bite. He reddened, nuzzling your hair, purring, and rubbing his face on you like a cat. Sharp chirps escaped him, "You are using too much magic. Look at you. You are turning albino. Your skin is cracking more."

He gave you one last nuzzle before he quickly licked the corner of your mouth. Ew, you move to wipe it away, and he chuckles, brushing your hand away from wiping away his lick.

"We didn't know about kissing until humans came to the hive. We bite and lick. Don't wipe away my love. I will return and give you a proper human kiss for the Mothman queen," he teased. You left it to grow cold on your flesh.

Later with Darvish and the Doctor you decided not to like, Shigaraki says goodbye. He has been saying goodbye all day. But the closer he gets to walking away, the more upset you get. He wants you calm. Shigaraki ordered you some special tea, and you are mildly numb.

"I have left your sisters and half of the powerful MLA humans here. As well as many Nomu. My moon will be safe in her cell. After this, we will move back to our old hive. Our grubs will be the envy of the world. You are already of the hives," Shigaraki rasped before cooing to the grubs and closing your cell. Trapping you with Imogene and your moth sisters.

You sit down across the table from your biological sister. Looking like a carbon copy of yourself. Black eye and all, except for the milky, bright moon in the center of a starry sky. Her belly is swollen with a pillow instead of grubs.

"Well, you look pretty today, Imogene. Interesting choice in attire," You say first. She shakes her head.

"Maude has led you so far astray in this. I don't know what you are playing at, but I won't let mom's favorite die. Now is the time to escape. That insect man is going to be slaughtered," she whispered.

"We can understand you bitch," One of the sisters hissed.

"Out!" you ordered the sisters before they tried to kill Imogene. When they left, you poured your big sister some tea, "That insect man, as you called him. Is more than a bug pestering the Orders. They will learn that the hard way as for you and Maude's doubt in my abilities. There are only two people that never doubted me. Shigaraki and mom. I love all my family, but I will not turn my back on what has been started. I need you, Imogene."

Imogene sips her tea. Clearing her throat. Mimicking your movements. Like a professional copycat.

"Would be a waste of an eye if you didn't use me, baby sister," she said in your icy tone. That did make you smile.

"If the Order arrives before the other hives, I want you to stand down. They will take us. If the worst should happen, Deliver the grubs and take my place. If it's the other hive, we kill as many as possible," you say to her.

She nods in agreement. Hours pass, and the sisters are asleep on the other side of the cage door. It's still daylight for them. Soon a familiar black vortex opens in your room. Imogene leaps to hide you in the secret room. Shigaraki has his backup plans. You have yours.

"No, this is the order. They are the only ones that have Kurogiri," you tell Imogene.

"I was looking forward to slaughtering Mothmen with an innocent act to get close," Imogene murmurs.

Two young boys step through. The green one and the explosive brat.

"Oh, it's the lovers," you whisper to your sister.

"Hey, why are there two of them?" The green one called Kacchan asked the green one.

"Because she is my sister," you tell him, putting on your crown and pocketing your eye patch, "I will only come along peacefully."

"We don't have to do anything you say," Kacchan replied.

"Bakugou, wait. We promised her to be gentle," Deku said as a roar of commotion started. The sisters growled awake. Desperately trying to get through the bars.

"Call them all off. You promised Lyra, yes? Then no need to hurt my people. We will come if my sister remains by my side," You tell them.

"She has tricked us before, Deku," Bakugo states.

"I believe her. If we can do this without bloodshed, we should. Let's go. This way. No need to be afraid. We'll protect you," Deku ushers.

"It is you who will need protecting fools," you mumbled as you stepped through the gate.

On the battlefield, his instincts roared. He looked from where you used to be to the direction you are now.

"What is it?" A blood-covered Darvish asked.

"They took my mate. They took what did not belong to them. I was going to be true to my word. But they took my light. Now they will only know the same darkness," Shigaraki growled. Touching the floor of the Order of the Azure rose.

#mothura #boku no hero academia tomura #shigaraki tomura #my hero academia shigaraki #moth shigaraki #motharaki #mothman shigaraki #yandere #shiggy #shigaraki fluff #shigaraki x you #yandere shigaraki x reader #shigaraki x reader

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saratogaroadwrites · 9 months

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For King and Country (24/122)

For King and Country | saratogaroad rating: T total wordcount: 280,466 characters: Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane, Aranella, Batu, Tani, Lofty, Leander Aristidies, Bracken Meadows relationships: Roland Crane & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Aranella & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane & Aranella, Batu & Tani, Batu & Evan, Tani & Evan, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum & Lofty, Rolander other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Mother-Son Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Place Slowly Becomes Home People Slowly Become Family, Found Family, For Want of A Nail warnings: none

Pulled from his world by mysterious powers, former president Roland Crane finds himself caught in the middle of a coup meant to take the life of the young King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. Joining forces with Aranella, the pair of them set out to aid Evan in making his dream of a kingdom where everyone can live happily ever after a reality.

But the road to peace is a long and treacherous one and there is no promise of success in a world where darkness spreads ever thicker with each passing day. If they are to stand a chance, they must stand together, for king and for country.

(A retelling.)

“Is that it?” Batu narrowed his eyes at the cliff. “That’s what all the struggles been for? Some scraggly excuse for a weed?”

“It would seem so,” Evan said quietly, one hand twisting in the material of his cape. At his heel, Lofty made a pensive noise. Tani kicked a loose stick away.

“Gah,” Tani groaned, “No wonder Da Xing said this was hopeless!”

It sure did seem that way to her, at least. Goldpaw had turned out to be completely out of their Sheermint supply no matter which food stall or herbal seller they'd talked to. It was just that late in the year, everyone said, and there was no way to get more of it. Evan had refused to give up hope, and that was when Da Xing had appeared almost out of nowhere. The arrogant apothecary had been the one to finally break down and tell the little group that they could find Sheermint in the highest reaches of Eert Grove, provided they could actually get up to it.

Reaching Eert Grove? Not a problem. A few hours from Goldpaw, then another hour to find the flippin' path that they'd climbed to reach this high up spot, and here they were. Of course, none of them had exactly been counting on it being so far out of reach! Tani rocked back on her heels, thinking fast. She was good at making jumps--it came with living in the Canyon for as long as she had--but this jump was just too far. The only way she could see to reach the other cliff from where they stood would be to climb onto a scrawny, twisted looking tree and make a jump for it.

Or go back to the bottom and climb up the sheer rock face, but she couldn't see them doing that, either! She turned to the four Higgledies that had taken to following Evan around.

“Don’t suppose you lot feel like helping?” She asked them. They squeaked in unison and backed away out of reach; even the shadowy one that she had seen tailing Roland more than a few times was quick to dodge her glance. Tani rolled her eyes. “Thought as much. I guess you guys aren’t as brave as the stories say.”

“Bah.” Batu scoffed. “’Bout as useful as a puddle in a rainstorm, that lot.” He crossed his arms with a grumble. “S’pose we could come at it from up high, but…” he eyed the sheer stone between them and the next cliff over. “We ain’t got the ropes to be makin’ that sorta climb.”

“Then we’ll have to do this by hand,” Evan said, startling them both. He unclasped his cape and slipped it into his bandspace as he walked forward. He couldn't be--he was! Tani lunged after him, grabbing his shoulder.

“Hang on a second,” She said, “You can’t seriously be thinking of going out there yourself!”

Evan met her gaze with firm eyes. Just hours before she had seen those eyes go wide and watery in an effort to get an arrogant apothecary to help them, and to see them so strong now nearly took her breath away. After a second, he smiled at her.

“I’m lighter than you are,” he said plainly, “The tree’s less likely to fall if I go and take it slow.”

Tani raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. You remember what happened the last time you climbed out onto something?” She nodded as Evan flushed pink. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.” She glanced out to the tree and made a face. “Is that thing even going to hold you?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, swallowing hard. “But…I have to try.” This time he didn’t smile at her. He patted her hand, then gently pulled away. “Cross your fingers?”

And her toes. Tani held her breath as she watched him carefully pick his way across the muddy cliffside to the tree. It was a bent and gnarled looking thing, and it creaked ominously as he slowly climbed on top of it. Batu came up to stand beside her and they watched as he scooted his way across. At first everything went smoothly; in spite of the creaking, the tree barely wobbled as he made his way from one side to the other. But as he reached what would have been the top had the tree decided to be normal and grow upright instead of sideways, the branches and trunk thinned out. One cracked and fell away beneath his hand, bouncing off the stone below. Evan pulled back and looked to the other cliff.

Tani could already see the problem. She hissed curses between her teeth as he sat up and mewled in frustration.

“I can’t reach!” he cried, looking over his shoulder. “Lofty! I need your help!”

Lofty leapt back, his arms pinwheeling. “Oi! Do I look like a flippin’ rock climber? What if I fall, eh? I don’t bounce that well!”

“You will if I throw you,” Tani growled quietly. He turned a betrayed look on her and opened his mouth.

“Lofty, please!” Evan said before his Kingmaker could retort. His voice shook with desperation as he said, “I—I’ll ask Floyd to bake you a dozen pies! A-and cookies! And—”

“Alright, alright!” Lofty held up his hands to forestall any other pleas, “You don’t have to bribe me, sunshine. ‘Course I’ll do it.” He didn’t move, gulping as he contemplated the tree. “Just. Hold still and lemme come to you, eh?”

He still didn’t move. Tani nudged him with her foot and glared right back at him this time. He gulped again, then slowly made his way forward. Tani crouched, digging her fingers into the soggy ground as she watched him pick his way to the tree and then slowly climb onto the rough bark. Her fingers carved furrows into the dirt and she looked down, surprised. It was that muddy here?

“Boss?” She whispered to Batu. He glanced down at her, then dropped into a crouch. “Don’t plants give up the root when the dirt’s this wet?”

He dug his fingers into the mud alongside her. She watched as his eyes darkened, his mustache twitching as he frowned.

“Aye,” he said softly, then looked back to where Lofty had made his way to Evan. The tree wobbled ominously beneath the pair of them and Batu stood back up. “That they do.”

Tani’s heart clenched. She stood up, watching as Evan tugged Lofty into his arms and then set him down in the thinner branches. Lofty moaned.

“I don’t like heights, I really don’t like heights…” the little Kingmaker groaned, clutching Evan’s knife in one hand as he picked his way through the branches. They creaked and crackled but held, and he scrambled onto the other cliff with a huge sigh. Tani didn’t dare let her guard down; they still had to make it back!

The Higgledies made worried noises behind her as they all watched Lofty slice his way through the plants. A sharp scent filled the air, and a tiny bubble of relief settled alongside the concern in Tani’s chest. At least they’d found the stupid thing! She watched as Evan sighed, reaching out with both hands towards Lofty.

“Hand on the tree, Evan!” Batu roared, startling everyone. The tree wobbled as Evan quickly grabbed back on with one hand, using the other to help Lofty back to the solid trunk. He held his Kingmaker close for a moment, then Lofty climbed onto his shoulder and hung on for dear life.

Tani didn’t dare say aloud that this was going well. She bit her lip, shifting her weight from foot to foot, and waited. Would this work out? Would they get away clean?

Of course not. That would have been too easy.

With a bloodcurdling crack, the tree shifted down an inch. A root waved in the humid air as it pulled away from the soil, Evan’s yowl of surprise echoing through the grove.

“Evan!” Tani shouted, bolting forward to the edge of the cliff. “Move!”

Another crack, another root pulled free. Tani grabbed on and tried to hold onto the tree, but she could feel it slipping away. Batu was suddenly at her side, using his considerable strength to much better effect, but even he couldn’t hold it. A third root gave way and Tani jerked her head up. The tree was going to fall! Thinking fast she grabbed her father’s hand and stretched out towards Evan, stretching her arm as far as it would go.

“Evan!” She shouted, “Give me your hand!”

He scooted forward but there was no time. She slipped her hand from Batu’s until they were holding on by fingertips alone and she had another inch. It still wasn’t enough!

“Jump for it!” She shouted. The tree fell another inch as Evan gathered himself, and it finally gave way as he leapt for her hand. He and Lofty both shouted at the tops of their lungs. Evan’s eyes were wide with terror as it seemed that he wouldn’t reach Tani’s hand but just when it seemed he was going to fall she snatched his wrist clean out of the air!

“Now!” She screamed. Batu yanked her back into his arms, and with her came Evan and the still shouting Lofty. Batu fell onto his hind end with Tani held against his chest, and with the skill of long practice he snatched Evan clean out of the air to hold onto him, too. Holding them tight he scooted away from the edge, holding them close as all four of them heaved for breath. The higgledies rushed over and made concerned squeaky sounds. Tani ignored them, too shaken up to speak. That had been too close! Lofty heaved a gigantic sigh.

“Cor, that was close!” He said hoarsely. He gave one of Evan’s ears a tug. “We’re never doin’ that again, you hear!”

Evan grimaced. He swallowed hard and nodded, sniffling a little as the reality of how close he had come to falling set in. Tani took his hand into hers, and she could feel his pulse racing as clearly as she could hear Batu’s heart thundering beneath her ear. The big man took a huge breath of his own.

“Next time,” he rumbled quietly, “We’re gettin’ rope ‘fore anyone climbs like that.” He looked up to the cliff, then squeezed the children close once more. Tani didn’t make so much as a token protest this time. “Ye get the plant, lad?”

Evan nodded, holding up his Arms band in wordless answer. Tani’s shoulders slumped. She squeezed Evan’s hand.

“Let’s never tell Miss Nella that happened,” She said. “Deal?”

“Deal.” Batu and Evan said in unison. The higgledies squeaked their agreement, and Lofty shuddered.

“Oh, aye, deal. She’d never let us outta her sight if she knew this happened!” He shook his head. “And I rather like me some fresh air!” He stopped for a second, then asked tentatively, “And, uh, Evan lad? Not to ruin the moment, but do you think you could talk to Floyd about one pie?”

Peals of hysterical laughter rang through the grove, echoing in the afternoon sunlight. Lofty, Tani decided right then and there, had the best sense of timing this side of the Canyon.

“I wasn’t kidding!”

#nnk2 #ni no kuni 2 #nnk2 fic #!fic #fic: for king and country

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honeyhenry · 3 years

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Homeward Bound

A/N: This was NOT meant to be this long...but I was inspired and now we have this... dad!Syverson....you can thank me later :)

Warnings: army-related talk, labour, fluff (because i rue the day I actually write anything other than that)

After an honourable stint, Captain Syverson had finally finished up his active duty in the army, having chosen now to spend his life devoted and committed to you. While every second week he had to make a daily 45 minute commute up the road to train newbies needing a boot up their asses to prepare for the realities of war, Sy was able to come home to you just in time for dinner every evening. He got the best of both worlds, earning a solid pay with training up new recruits, and having the ability to make good on those promises he made you way back before he told you that the next tour would be his last.

He had kept his first promise within a month of him returning for good - giving you a shiny ring that he’d had the deposit down on for as long as he can remember. That was his most nerve-wracking promise to keep, even though you’d assured him no matter what, the answer would always be a “yes”. His second promise was also signed, sealed, and delivered within weeks of his return, most likely conceived in celebration of your engagement.

That promise had stuck with you a little more than the first; “Gonna put a baby in ya, peach. Can promise ya that I’m ready for wantin that with ya.”

Sy had arrived home in October, and there you were, round and ready to pop at the end of the following August.

During your labour on that warm summer’s day, he’d been gritting it out right beside you, clutching your hand and holding your half full cup of ice chips, using his best Captain voice in offering encouragement. Between contractions you had cried, screeched, and panicked. It had seemed Sy had given you the big baby he had been so certain of.

“Your baby’s too big Syv, it hurts so much...”

“Peach believe me, if I could I’d take all this pain for ya I would” he had comforted you, knowing by making eye contact that he meant every word. You had relaxed momentarily at the love you held for him, before the pain hit again leaving you crying and screaming once more.

And then Captain Syverson heard the words that he detests, typically uttered from his soldiers in the base camps or training rounds.

“I can’t...”

It’s a cowards way of thinking, a poor outlook on life, and it makes the entire side weak because of one weak link. It angers him to no end, and he usually ends up heading off alone to clear his head. But not when it’s you

“I can’t do it, Sy...”

You’re the strongest person he knows, pushing out a brand new Syverson into the world with minimal medication and a steely determination for the past 14 hours. You’re no coward, and you’re by no means weak. He’s had men on his side who haven’t blinked in the face of adversity and terrorism, and yet here you were, stronger than the lot of them in every way.

“Yeah you can, peach. Ya think I’d put my baby in any ol’ fool? No it’s you, ‘cause you’re the strongest woman I know. C’mon now, let’s have us a baby.”

And then you did it, almost an hour later and she’s earth-side. As the sun had set on the last day of a sweltering August, it is as though the room cools to a warm breeze, the world stopping in its tracks as you birth your sweet baby Syverson, born in the first minutes of a new September. She’s all yours, and when the doctor announced above the primal, wild screams that “it’s a girl!” you’d looked to Sy, watching him as he cried. It was just a couple of tears, and he won’t admit that they happened, but it sure as hell doesn’t make him any less proud.

You’ve only been cooped up in the room for 24 hours, and while you and baby Syverson have been cared for and helped with the basics (along with you receiving a substantial amount of pain relief), Sy wanted you and his baby girl home so that he could be the one to take care of you both; plump your pillows, fetch you cups of tea, burp the baby, dote on her endlessly. All within the quiet, cosy home you’d made together over the past years and months. Pictures lined the walls, featuring happy memories including your courthouse wedding that had been planned and occurred within a week of knowing about baby Sy. Your big gruff man just couldn’t take not having you as his wife, especially when you were carrying his child.

There’d also been a picture of the sonogram taped to the fridge in your quaint little kitchen, courtesy of Sy wanting to see the baby each morning before heading to work, or while he cooked you a warm breakfast. It’s as though he didn't keep updated pictures in his wallet and in his truck, right next to a beautiful picture of you. From your first sonogram with “SYVERSON” printed at the top, Sy loved to see his growing family, and always taped the newest scan picture right on top, using the same piece of tape he’d just found laying around one afternoon. Now, after plenty of pictures taken on his phone, he was going to update the fridge once more to feature a picture of the little pink squish with big bug eyes and a smattering of dusty brown hair. Maybe he’ll add some new tape, too.

Now three Syversons would live in this home, where old caps, worn from war and still grimy after a couple of washes, lay around the house, and where a still somewhat-tinged green Aika would roam freely - except on the bed. Sy was adamant that Aika never jumped or slept on the marital bed. That was his place, with his woman. The wooden interior and cosy fireplace that Sy himself had built, made it an even more homely and special place for you both to live. The perfect place out in the country to raise your girl. 45 minutes from Sy’s work, 15 to the local school. It was a dream, and now it had come true, as you watch him lift your princess into the baby carrier, fastening her in and watching her little pouty face as he removes his large, warm hands that you know she must adore being held by already.

He’s so glad that he can now take you both home. He insists on carrying both the baby carrier and the hospital bag from the past few days as you both leave the room where your girl entered the world, now entering the real world and all the opportunities she would have out there to explore. Since you don’t have to lift a thing, you just get to watch the sweet view of the “scary” Captain Sy check things off mentally to make sure you've brought everything.

“As long as we bring the baby home, I think we’ll be okay” you grin, and he blinks out of his organised, battle-ready mindset for a moment, remembering that this wasn’t some covert operation. This was a big deal, but one that is exciting and new and as Sy turns to look at his daughter again, it seems he’s already forgotten how tiny she is. She’s wrapped up, but Sy insists that he wraps the carrier with his flannel top, protecting the baby from both the sun, and any chill that pierces the air. He can’t resist a final little peek into the baby carrier as you sign the final documents to discharge you both from the hospital. You even hear him talk to your sweet girl, having one of their first little talks together.

“i’ll show ya a real home, just wait. Nun’a this bright light and doctors nonsense. Got a crib with your name on it ya can be all cosy in. Built it myself while Momma watched. You are gonna be so loved up with her, she is everything sweet in the world. Just like you princess.”

“I thought i was your princess?” you interrupt him and...is that a blush you see mark his cheeks? If only his men knew the state you could get the great Captain Syverson into, and most likely that your baby girl will be able to as well.

“You’ve been promoted peach, after all that giving birth to her, you’re a queen among peasants. I got two number 1 gals now. Gotta be ya knight in shinin’ armour.”

All the war torn memories, the killing, and the violence from his past, doesn’t mean a thing. It baffles him to this day - he still doesn't know how he’s ended up with two slices of heaven in you and your baby girl, but he’s selfish and he’s keeping you all for himself.

“You can be a Captain to your men but you’re our King, Sy. I know you’ll always protect us, and she’ll grow up knowing that too. Now come on. Let’s get her out of here. Lead the way Daddy?” you grin, watching as he proudly marches through the doors of the ward with a tight grip on the baby carrier, while the bag is slung over his shoulder.

The rest of his life with you and baby Syverson, just waiting on the other side.

taglist: @seriouslygoodlookinggents @ohmygoodie

#henry cavill x reader #captain syverson x reader #captain sy x reader #syverson x reader #dad!syverson #dad!sy #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill characters

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wonlouvre · 3 years

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pairing: doctor!wonwoo x lawyer!female oc genre: modern royalty, arranged marriage, fluff and future angst word count: 2.1k WARNINGS: mentions of food, eating, hospitals, and brief mention of armed men

author’s note: finallyyy! been working on this for the past week and i’m relieved to be posting part 3 already! i’m not so confident about this and i am already warning you all that this could be dialogue heavy :((( please let me know your thoughts! i’d be really thankful to hear from you all!

three: subtle snuggles and light snores | masterlist

Wonwoo chose to work at the Royal Hospital of the neighboring kingdom at his own will. He and the rest of the people in his kingdom won’t deny how the other kingdom pioneered in the line of medicine.That’s why in spite of the many offers and opportunities at his homeland, he wanted to gain experience somewhere else first before going back home.

The marriage wasn’t served on the table before and when his parents broke the news to him, he was already hired and working for a few months. And now that a marriage is in talks, it seems unlikely that he’ll be going back anytime soon.

Wonwoo didn’t hesitate to agree. But someplace in his heart couldn’t help but wonder how it got to this. He’s not saying you’re terrible. You’re the exact opposite of being terrible. To him, you are amazing and awesome. A badass even.

There’s nothing really holding him back. Even his past relationship that you brought up previously.

It’s just that he wanted a purpose out of this union aside from the fact that this will bear the best outcome for his and your kingdom.

Wonwoo was once in love.

He knows, used to know rather, how his heart skipped a beat and how butterflies filled his stomach. But then came you and he is back to zero. He wants to like you. He wants to love you.

He doesn’t want to be a husband recognized by the public. Instead, he wants to be the lifetime companion that you can lean on and trust. He hopes that you see that he’s trying to be one.

It’s a challenge though, because he doesn’t know how or where to begin.

These thoughts have been running on his mind for the longest of days and even now as he gazes at your face, deep in slumber. What happened earlier was a shock. All he wanted was to invite you for a quick lunch before he goes to work and here you are now literally at his workplace, getting the right amount of rest you’ve been missing.

“Your Highness,” the Royal Family’s doctor calls to him politely while the two nurses accompanying him check on you. Wonwoo only gives a brief nod of acknowledgement. “I advise the Princess to stay overnight to recover from her dehydration and stress. A day away from work would be immensely helpful.”

Wonwoo’s eyes don't leave you as he continues to nod and agree with the doctor’s orders. It doesn’t look like it, but he is paying attention to every word the older one is saying. He bites his lip, beating himself up for not knowing what could be causing you stress.

“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to page us,” the doctor assures and Wonwoo finally turns his attention to him.

“Thank you so much.” He extends his arm for a handshake before letting them leave.

Wonwoo sighs before taking the seat beside your bed again. As much as he wants to go closer and maybe opt to hold your hand, he doesn’t. He just keeps his eyes on you. Your face looks so peaceful while sleeping, a small smile can’t help but form on the Prince’s face. It’s a relief that it’s nothing bad. But still, he can’t feel at ease until he sees your eyes once again. He decided to take a leave from work and stay beside you until you wake up and get discharged.

He has already informed the King and Queen of what happened and they will be here shortly.

“Wonwoo, my dear,” the Queen greets while opening her arms to the young doctor for a quick embrace. “How are you?”

The King walked past the warm exchange, not wasting any time to be close to your bed. “How is she?”

“Your Majesty,” Wonwoo doesn’t fail to say his greetings first before going on full doctor mode. “The Princess is stable. She just needs to replenish her energy by having lots of rest and she’ll be discharged as early as tomorrow morning. Would you like me to call the doctor in charge?”

“No, no,” the Queen answers, now sitting with her husband who’s been gently cradling your cheek. “We’ll go to him ourselves. I’m just glad you are here for her Wonwoo.”

“Ever the hard worker, she is,” your father mutters a harmless complaint. “I will give her a scolding once she wakes up. Scratch that, I am going to have the Prince do that in my place. He’s the doctor after all.” Finally, the King looks at him, a glint of humor in his eyes.

Wonwoo blushes and keeps his head low. He scratches the back of his neck before firmly promising, “I will take care of her better next time, Your Majesty.”

“Nonsense,” the Queen dismisses his apologetic tone with a wave of her hand. “Everyone gets sick every day and it just so happened that it’s our Princess this time around.”

An hour after the King and Queen left, Wonwoo’s eyes grew heavy. Unbeknownst to him, his head gravitated to your bed and close to your arm. He tried to keep his eyes open, still determined on waiting until you wake up, but his determination was futile because it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep beside you.

His face was the first thing you saw the moment you regained consciousness. The top of his head was snuggled to your arm, surprising you. At first, you couldn’t figure out what was going on. But the remembrance of the three cups of coffee you had was enough to answer the questions running in your mind. Then, the embarrassment came too soon because you also remember the look on Wonwoo’s face when he saw your agony.

You’re still not feeling well. You should probably get more sleep instead of resenting your embarrassment. You release a low groan, momentarily forgetting the sleeping Prince beside you.

Wonwoo stirs a little before opening slowly his eyes and meeting yours. He sits up in a heartbeat and blinks his sleep away to make sure you are really awake.

After confirming, he releases the breath he had been holding. “Hey there.”

“Hi,” you whisper, completely bashful. “How long was I asleep?”

“It’s eight o’clock now,” he answers while looking at his watch. “You were asleep for the whole afternoon so approximately eight to nine hours.”

“Wow,” you mutter in sincere disbelief. “I haven’t slept that long since I started working.”

“That’s why you’re going to sleep more.” Wonwoo stands up and fixes the blanket that’s keeping your body warm.

You frown and weakly stop his actions. “What do you mean? Am I not allowed to go home tonight?”

“Nope,” he answers and pushes your hand back down. “You’re staying overnight and that’s your doctor’s advice.”

“I don’t want to lay on this bed for 24 hours,” you whine, lips in a pout. “Can’t you give me clearance instead?”

“I’m not the doctor in charge and I am more than sure that you know that,” the Prince reminds and gently pat your head. “Go back to sleep and once morning comes, you’ll be good to go.”

Seeing that he has made a point, you give up and let your body relax on the bed in spite of your reluctance. You are smart enough to know that you can’t outsmart a doctor like him.

Wonwoo grins in victory and makes himself comfortable on the chair. He then pulls his phone out to make a quick check on some emails and updates at the emergency room.

That got you confused. Why is he still here? You blink suddenly realizing how he had stayed with you ever since you got admitted. You were embarrassed earlier but now you are sorry.

“Are you not… leaving?” You ask. “I can manage alone. All I need to do is sleep this away, right?”

“Sleep Y/N,” Wonwoo commands while his eyes and hands remain focused on his phone, dodging your question.

At the sound of your name, you roll your eyes and turn to the other side of the bed with a huff. As the days go by, you have noticed that Wonwoo can be mischievous and whenever he becomes one, it makes your cheeks blush red and heat up like wildfire.

Wonwoo just snorts at your annoyance. He puts his phone back in his pocket and puts his attention at the back of your head as your breathing slowly even out, much needed sleep once again taking over your body.

Wonwoo didn’t want to leave you when morning came and Jeongyeon arrived with your new set of clothes and warm meal. But he knew he had to go back to work and fulfill his sworn duty in spite of the validity of his excuse that his fiancee is sick. Other than that, but most importantly, he just wanted to see your eyes again first thing in the morning and he’d be content.

You seemed to be exhausted still because he could hear your light snores even when the sunlight through your room was enough to indicate how late it is already in the morning. But time is ticking and he is needed at the emergency ward. So, disregarding his qualms, he took the paper bag of clothing from his friend and colleague, Soonyoung, and changed.

Afterwards, Wonwoo picks up a thermometer and checks your temperature one last time to make sure that you don’t have any fever. All the while, oblivious to the knowing grin of your assistant.

“Please call me when she wakes up. I’d like to see her before she gets discharged,” he requests, hands busy fixing your blanket for the ninth time.

Jeongyeon smiles, aware that there’s nothing left to fix on your bed anymore, before answering. “Will do, Your Highness.”

Finally, the Prince takes his leave but not after giving one last glance to the sleeping Princess.

Jeongyeon immediately fed you the moment you woke up. She didn’t take no for an answer, reminding you that it’s her responsibility to take care of you and that her failure to do so is equivalent to having her head beheaded (it’s not enacted anymore).

At this point she’s now nagging you and it just falls deaf to your ears because you are indeed starving after all the sleeping. You ate every food she brought from the warm soup to the last grain of rice so fast, you looked like you were inhaling them instead of chewing properly. That made Jeongyeon scold you again reminding you that you’re about to be discharged from the hospital and she can’t have you admitted again because of indigestion this time around.

“I am glad that you’re eating well, Your Highness,” the Royal Doctor gladly says. He’s now here to run one last check up before giving you the clearance you’ve been begging Wonwoo for last night.

Wonwoo, you suddenly remembered. Where is he?

“Your Highness?”

“Oh yes,” you reply, waking up from your daze. “Sorry, I think I ate way too much. Please go on.”

The Royal Doctor checked your chart, frequently updated by the nurses on duty all throughout your stay. He then sits on the chair once used by the Prince to ask a few questions to make sure he’s not missing on anything. Your head still feels heavy but it’s nothing you can’t handle. He assures you that you are fine and gives you the reminders that he usually does with cases like yours.

“That’s it.” He clasps his hands together and stands up. “You are more than free to go. Please come back next month for a check up.”

“Yes, I will,” you say and reach for his hand to shake it. “Thank you very mu-”

You couldn’t even thank your doctor properly when someone suddenly barges in through your door with a bang. You recognized him right away as head of your security detail.

“I apologize, Your Highness,” he says, eyes on the floor. Soon, more men follow behind him. “But we have to leave the hospital and move you somewhere safer right this instant.”

Jeongyeon already knows what to do, moving quickly to help you sit up. Meanwhile, the doctor grabs the wheelchair from the small storage room and helps keep your IV stay in place as you move from the bed.

Once you’re all secured, everyone dashed out of the room.

“What the hell is going on?” You demand answers from the men surrounding you and Jeongyeon, who’s pushing the chair to the private elevator.

“There has been a commotion caused by armed men at the Emergency Room,” the head reports and upon hearing where he is talking about, your heart drops to your stomach. “The hospital’s security has it under control but we won’t be taking any chances on letting you stay here any longer, Your Highness.”

“Stop.”

Wonwoo.

#seventeen scenarios #wonwoo scenarios #seventeen scenario #wonwoo scenario #seventeen #wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #seventeen fluff #wonwoo fluff #fic: ifliys

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klbwriting · 3 years

Text

Unexpected Allies - Chapter 1

Fandom: Six of Crows/Shadow and Bone

Pairing: eventually will be Kaz/female!Reader but for now nothing

Warnings: I mean, Kaz Brekker is involved, someone is getting maimed

Summary: The Darkling won the Ravka civil war, defeating the Sun Summoner and taking command of Ravka. Then he went looking for ways to make his Grisha more powerful. Kaz Brekker knew this but took the job at the Ice Court anyway, getting himself and Jesper Fahey thrown into a Ravkan prison for his efforts. After getting broken out by the Darkling's second in command the trio has to find their way to the Permafrost and the resistance gathering there. And then Kaz has to figure out a way to get his crew out of this whole mess. But how can he get himself out of the mess of feelings he has for the Grisha with all the powers?

Note: Hello! I am alive! I have found motivation for something else! As much as I loved the Shadow and Bone show I have found more love in the Six of Crows books so this fic is an AU based on both. In this the Darkling won out over Alina and then Six of Crows happened like it does, except the Darkling showed up to ruin things as he does. Also going to address the Inej sized elephant in the room, in this Kaz’s feelings were less strong towards her because I ship the fuck out of Kaz and Inej but I also ship the shit out of Kaz and myself too and I needed some self-insert. I hope you like it, I missed writing and I’m glad to find some inspiration again.

Kaz Brekker was known even in prison as the guy who didn't need a reason. He wanted his infamy to spread even behind bars, the better to keep those looking for a pigeon to harass away. On his first day in this hellscape he had stolen a fork from the dining hall and used it when his cellmate attempted to take the makeshift cane that he had been provided from his hand. Now he no longer had a cellmate and his old cellmate no longer had his eyes, and word spread quick of the young man willing to kill to be left alone. That had given him the time and space to start to plan his escape.

First, get Jesper as his cellmate. That was accomplished with ease. Anyone else they put in with him would be blind or deaf or crippled within 24 hours so it came down the guards asking him straight out who he wouldn't maim. He said Jesper Fahey and they allowed it if only to have a night's peace. Jesper didn't look like he was faring well. In a cell at Hellgate Jesper would have been alright but here in a West Ravkan prison near Os Alta where his Zemeni features made him stand out he had become a target. When he entered Kaz's cell rage filled the young crime lord. Jesper was thinner than ever, dark circles under his eyes and hands fidgeting constantly, almost like he needed a drug but Kaz knew it was just because he couldn't focus his energy.

"Jesper," Kaz whispered after the guard had left and his sharpshooter sat on the cot. "What do you need?" Jesper looked at him slowly and gave half a smile.

"Just my friend, s'all ok now," he said. Kaz felt the side of his mouth twitch up just a little. "But I could also use a way out of this damned place." Kaz nodded, gripping the wooden walking stick a little tighter. He wanted to put a comforting hand on Jesper's shoulder but he could not, Jordie's body, cold and wet and dead flooded his mind, and he couldn't bring himself to reach out. He hated that this place seemed to be tearing his friend apart slowly. It was even taking a toll on him. Everyday was the same, waked up with the sun, eat a breakfast of stodgy porridge and soggy bread, washed down with possibly the grimiest coffee ever made. The prisoners were then sent outside to work on either the large farm for the prison and surrounding towns or they were forced to be target practice for the Grisha guards. Normally only the worst of the worst were reserved for practice, or those that pissed off the guards. Kaz had avoided this so far but he knew Jesper had run his mouth one day, getting snarky with the yard guard and he had almost been drowned by a Tidemaker the next morning. Lunches were non-existant most days. They were shuffled from work to 'free time' which meant sitting in the hot afternoon sun either playing cards, or, if they were lucky, sitting under one of the shady trees that scattered the yard. Evening was the only decent time at this hellhole, it was dinner, and then back to the cells. Kaz enjoyed this time, he was normally alone to plan, and now that Jesper was here they could plan together. He had the beginning, how to get out of the cell, but the rest he was still working on.

"I have been planning this since we got in here, you were the first part of my plan," Kaz said, watching as another set of guards walked by. He checked the small window above their heads. "She's coming any minute now." Jesper looked at him confused for a moment before the cell door opened and a guard told Kaz to get up. Kaz nodded and stood, Jesper rising as well.

"This one should come too, he was at the Ice Court with me on that night," Kaz said to the guard. The guard looked between them and shrugged, motioning for another guard, a Grisha Corpolaki judging from the kefta he wore. They led Kaz and Jesper out of the cells and into one of the small interrogation rooms. Kaz was familiar with the room at this point, having been there several times in the past few months speaking with the Grisha Infernei who was seated at one of the two chairs in the room. She looked up as they entered and he noticed that she seemed relieved, something she hadn't shown before.

"Are there anymore of your comrades from the Ice Court in this prison?" she asked, motioning for another chair to be brought in. Jesper sat down hard while Kaz stood still, leaning on the walking stick and once again studying the Infernei. She wore a red kefta with black stitching, something different from the others and he was still not sure why. He supposed it was because she was high in the ranks. After the Darkling defeated Alina Starkov and her followers he had gone back to using his true name, Aleksander Morosova, and became king of Ravka. He used the power that he had sucked from the Sun Summoner to control the Fold now, moving and reshaping it to whatever he needed and on the night of Kaz's jurda parem heist he apparently needed the jurda parem also. Kaz and Jesper had been taken but the others had escaped.

"No, no more of us, just we two were involved," he said. The Grisha looked between them, assessing them. Kaz took another moment to look over her while she studied Jesper. He always liked to measure who he was up against, and he didn't mind studying her. She was curvy, seeming to like waffles more than Nina did, with hair a deep auburn and eyes the color of dark chocolate. The first time he saw them they reminded him of Inej's eyes except her's were more hopeful than he had ever seen Inej. This Grisha fully believed that something good could still happen in the world. Kaz was almost jealous of this, but of course, this Grisha had seen her side win the Ravka civil war. His eyes now met hers and he saw that while he was studying her she had been doing the same to him. He could tell she knew he was lying but he didn't care. He had spent the last 4 months keeping his answers vague, giving just enough information so that she would feed him information back about the current situation at the Little Palace, now the true royal home since the Grand Palace lay in ruin. King Aleksander left it as a reminder to those who would attempt to assassinate him, bodies still left scattered around the rubble, Alina Starkov's kefta in tatters on the front steps. Kaz hadn't seen it but from the way this Grisha described it, he believed it was terrifying.

"Mr. Brekker, we both know the heist you were attempting could never be accomplished with just two people," she said, a knowing smile on her face. This seeming infatuation the Grisha had with him was a plus for Kaz. He often wondered if he could possibly seduce his way out of the situation but his mind couldn't fathom the interactions involved, so he would wait. Perhaps this woman had a inclination towards criminals, she might be seduced by anyone, Jesper could do it easily, Kaz just had to get the ball rolling so to speak.

"I don't know, I think Jesper and I can accomplish anything we put out mind to," he answered, bringing himself to nudge his partner in crime with his elbow. The Grisha nodded and opened her notebook as she did at every meeting and began to write.

Y/N had noticed the look on Kaz Brekker's face when he elbowed Jesper Fahey. She could see his hesitation, she noticed the look in his storm gray eyes. He was bracing himself for impact as if the touch would somehow hurt him. Jesper's face was surprised at the touch, and he physically turned towards Kaz with shock. She opened her notebook and pretended to jot down something important as she did every day, but she mentally notated this interaction. She had been listening to others in the prison and despite his limp Kaz never let anyone see him as weak, however, this aversion to touch was never mentioned. He hid it well out in the general population but she could see something about touch bothered him immensely, that information could be useful later. Kaz Brekker was a tough nut to crack she had to admit, but eventually she would get to where she needed to be with him, hopefully sooner rather than later. Aleksander was having a tough time buying her excuses and she had to become even more convincing for him, continuing to keep his trust after the betrayal of the Sun Summoner was an arduous task. She hoped soon she could drop her facade and begin her true purpose, breaking Kaz Brekker and his cohorts out of this prison and find the gathering resistance in the Permafrost.

"Alright Mr. Brekker, we left off yesterday with you explaining to me how you came to know about jurda parem and what the Fjerdans were doing with Bo Yul-Bayor and his son Kuwei?" she said. It had taken months for Kaz to even start explaining anything to her. She had hoped that agreeing to allow his friend to be his cellmate would open him up. Luckily the gamble had worked at their last interrogation. His answers had still been too vague to really make an impact but it was a start. She hated to make him desperate but she needed the information, something to feed to Aleksander and send him on a chase for more jurda parem. Kuwei Yol-Bo had escaped from the Ice Court and that knowledge was keeping Bo from cooperating with the Second Army. He had recreated exactly one vial of jurda parem and refused to create another until his son was returned safely to him. Kaz Brekker and Jesper Fahey had been the last people to see Kuwei alive and she needed something to tell Aleksander before he decided to come here and do the interrogations himself.

"Yes, I believe I told you that a rumor had gone around Ketterdam and that I just happened to hear it," he said, making sure he was as convincing as he could be. Once again Y/N pretended to write something down, pretending to believe his lie. He was a very good liar, she could see that in the way his eyes held truth, his body language said honest, even his pulse was calm, however, the blood in his veins moved just a milisecond faster during his falsehoods. It had taken nearly a month to figure out the tell in his body but she had done it and now she used this against him.

"Must have been quite a rumor to make you put your friends in the line of fire of Fjerdans and of King Aleksander," she said, keeping her voice light, leaning a little closer to him. She couldn't lie, she was enraptured by the young man from the Barrel of Ketterdam, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe that he would ever see her as anything other than another Ravkan Grisha blindly serving her king, but she could pretend that she hoped to lure him in, get him feeling confident about her.

"Jesper will tell you, he was eager to join me to find this new drug, imagine the kruge we could make from such a thing," Kaz said, standing suddenly and poking Jesper towards Y/N with his cane. He moved towards the wall, leaning against it. Y/N watched him for a few moments before turning her attention to Jesper. He wanted to push someone else at her? Why? She could tell he liked the attention she gave him, maybe not in a way most men did, but he liked it all the same. Jesper barked a laugh.

"Eager? You came back and acted like we were going to be rolling in kruge, become kings of Kerch," Jesper said. He was also a practiced liar, following the lead of his boss as it were. Y/N smiled at Jesper then, making sure her brown eyes looked intrigued and enraptured. She noticed the Zemeni man leaned back in his chair then, clearly not interested in the attentions of a Grisha like herself. "But ya, I mean, I wanted the kruge and I was having a good run that night at the tables, felt lady luck was on my side." She saw him fidgeting near his waist, where his guns should be. She had those stored in her private quarters, along with a certain crow headed cane, waiting for the right moment. She had been watching Kaz and Jesper since they arrived, having her spies give her information on them. They were the only link she had to Kuwei and Inej Ghafa and she needed to know all she could before she continued her plan.

She tried to pry more out of the two for several minutes before one of her people, a young Squallor entered.

"The hour is late Korovsa, the king is finished waiting," she whispered. Y/N’s jaw tightened. Her eyes flashed to Kaz and she saw him take notice of the slight change in her features. Her fears were starting to come to pass. She needed to end this charade now.

"Guard, please escort Mr. Fahey back to his new cell. Mr. Brekker and I have more to discuss," she ordered. The guard grabbed Jesper's arm, hauling him from the seat. Y/N wanted to say something, tell them to lay off the guy, but knew she couldn't appear as if she cared. Once he was gone she made a motion for Kaz to sit. He still stood. "Sit, now," she insisted, hoping he heard the urgency in her voice. He eyed for another moment before he moved to sit. She leaned closer, all of her coy attitude gone.

"What's happened?" Kaz asked casually, working the top of the walking stick with his hands, the only sign of his concern. Y/N let out a breath.

"My time is up, tomorrow night expect there to be a riot, stay in your cell with Jesper, don't leave until you hear 2 bells, then leave the cell and go to your left, the door will be ajar due to the last guard through it mistakenly knocking over mop. Once you are in the corridor go right and follow it to the deserted morgue. I will join you and lead you and Jesper out, do not leave without me," she said.

"Why should I believe any of this? That you're just going to help up walk out of there?" Kaz asked, trying to read her, seeing if she was lying. She groaned annoyed. Why was it that her only hope was as distrustful as her current king?

"Because I want to see the king's body burn before he destroys all of us," she whispered, voice dripping with venom. Kaz looked a little surprised at her viciousness and he nodded. She sat back, knowing that by now the guard had returned.

"Well Mr. Brekker, you've once again been no help, tomorrow the king will be coming to personally interrogate you, I hope you are looking forward to it," she said. "Guard take him back to his cell." The guard nodded and yanked him out of the chair. "Careful, the king won't like it if he can't inflict the pain himself," she warned, more to Kaz than the guard. She hoped Kaz believed her enough, that she had shown her hand to him enough that he would do as she asked. If he didn't they were all screwed.

#six of crows #kaz #kaz brekker #kazbrekker #kaz x reader #kaz brekker x reader #shadow and bone #crooked kingdom #jesper fahey #unexpected allies series

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pascalpanic · 3 years

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Caffeine Rush: Chapter Four / Irish Coffee

Pairing: Javier Peña x f!Reader

W/C: 3k

Warnings: alcohol, language, sexual harassment, physical fighting, Javi is a legend for this chapter/next lmao, reader wears makeup and heels but clothing is otherwise not described

A/N: HI I’m gonna forgo summaries for this series from now on, if anyone has an issue with that pls lmk and we can go back to it, I’m just sick of using like the same summary lmao! Hope you guys like it, idk when chapter 5 will come but somewhat soon!

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Irish coffee: a cocktail consisting of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar, stirred, and topped with cream. The coffee is drunk through the cream.

Four nights after you first kissed Javier, and now many kisses later, Javier insists he take you to the one place he knows in D.C.: a nice bar in the downtown area. You’d spent the days visiting museums and monuments, giving him a tour of the Georgetown campus too. He’d hum along to the radio in your shitty car while you drove place to place. He surprised you with how much modern music he knew.

If the past four days have been getting to know Javier, privately becoming acquainted with each other’s minds and lips, tonight is some kind of grand exposition. Your brief whirlwind of a romance has been contained to your coffee shop and small restaurants off the beaten path. Javier is a well-connected man; he’s sure to know people downtown. From what he’s explained to you, he’s somewhat of a powerhouse in the DEA. Everyone downtown knows a version of the man, who goes by Agent Peña, but all you know is your Javi, your Javi who kisses you goodnight after buying you cupcakes, who drinks your peppermint mochas like it’s the nectar of the gods.

So, it’s safe to say you’re nervous. If he’s bringing you somewhere where he will know people, which he offhandedly told you, you’re going to be the living legend’s date for the night. As you stare into the mirror, your brow furrows in concentration, drawing a line across your eyelid with a pencil of kohl, your phone rings on the vanity in front of you. It makes you jump and the eye pencil drag upwards across your eyelid- most definitely not where you intended it to go. “Fuck!” you shout in annoyance and toss the pencil down. When you pick up, your voice shows your frustration. “Hello?” You ask sharply.

“Hey, abejita,” a smooth voice answers: who else but Javier.

“Hi, Javi,” you sigh as you press the button, moving the call to the speakerphone. “You made me fuck up my eyeliner.”

“Sorry. Just calling to talk.”

His words make you smile and your ears feel warm as they rush with blood. You aren’t picking him up for another hour. “What, you couldn’t wait that long to talk?” You ask him, biting down on your painted lips with a smile.

“No. I’m bored and I miss you.” It’s true, he thinks to himself. He hasn’t seen you all day. After spending the last three days in nearly 24-hour contact, he misses the sound of your laughter and the way your soft lips feel pressed against his stubbled cheek.

“Well, I suppose it’s been…” you trail off as you calculate, “about 20 hours since I’ve seen you. I”m practically going through withdrawals,” you laugh, and it makes Javier’s chest warm to hear that beautiful sound, even through the tinny receiver of the hotel’s phone. “You know, if you have a cute nickname for me, I need to have something equally cute for you.”

“There’s a difference, abejita,” Javier teases, opening the hotel window to smoke out of. “You’re cute. I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“I am many things, little bee, but I am not cute,” Javier chuckles as he sticks the cigarette between his lips and lights it up.

“Well, I think you are,” you refute in a stubborn tone. “You bought me cupcakes on our first date. That’s cute. You come to my work and bring me treats and kiss me in front of my coworkers. That’s cute too.”

Javier shakes his head. Sure, the things could be classified as cute, he supposes, but they’re not the normal Javier. Sexy, rude, intelligent, any of those words could describe him. He’s a playboy, a heartbreaker, and all in all is, by principle, a lone wolf. Well, he was. He’s been chasing Escobar for years and years… and now he’s dead. Maybe he can allow himself to start anew, and this new beginning has to have you in it.

He takes a slow drag from the cigarette, getting lost in his own thoughts and forgetting to answer. The silence makes you suspicious. “Javi? Did I lose you?”

The words snap him back to reality. “No, I’m here. I’m sorry, I… zoned out there.”

“Good,” you smile as you wipe off the messy eyeliner and apply a new, perfectly winged layer of the dark makeup. “I suppose I’ll just have to see what comes. Nicknames have to be earned, not given. Did you ever have any nicknames when you were little?” You ask as you brush a sparkling powder over your eyes.

Javier thinks for a second, almost to the point where you have to ask again if he’s there. That seems to be Javier’s biggest flaw so far. “No, not really. Sometimes the other kids would call me Peñita. Didn’t like that one,” he chuckles, and you can hear air rush past the microphone as he exhales the smoke into the ever-darkening D.C. sky. “My mom had all kinds of names for me, but they were the things you’d call a little kid.”

You nod, then realize he can’t see you and you need to speak. “That’s cute. Tell me about your parents,” you ask him as you continue to brush various makeup products across your face.

Javier shakes his head. “That’s more of an over-drinks topic, I think.”

“When have you ever held back information from me?” You scoff lightly, as if you’ve known him a thousand years. It hits you as you say it, the whirlwind this entire thing has been. You’ve known Javier for five days, and he’s already everything to you. And he’s going back to Colombia in 3 weeks. It makes your heart sink in your chest, and anxiety creeps in, the realization that he might not be falling as quickly as you are. Maybe it’s time to pull back a little, you tell yourself. He won’t be here long.

“Ha,” he says dryly and takes another drag from his cigarette. “Well, I’m ready when you are, if you want to come get me a little earlier.”

His emotionless tone makes you panic. You wonder if you just went somewhere you shouldn’t have by asking about his parents, if you’ve just crossed some line you didn’t know existed. You desperately want to ask him, to reassure yourself and get rid of the worry slowly collecting in your gut, but you don’t. You can’t. You shouldn’t. “I’m still getting ready,” you tell him, and it’s truthful. “I’ll be there at 7, like we said. Is that alright?” you ask.

Javier blows a breath of smoke into the night, the cloud of smoke mingling with the heat puff of his breath. “Sounds good to me. I’ll leave you alone to get ready,” he tells you with a small smile.

“Alright. I’ll see you then. You’re wearing something nice, right?” You clarify one last time.

“Whatever you wear will be beautiful on you. Don’t worry about it.” Javier, ever the king of flattery, looks down and appraises his own outfit. “But yes, I’m wearing something nice.”

You smile at the reassurance, looking down at the swirling colors of your makeup palette. “Well, thank you. I’ll see you in a bit.” -

You have to say you’re surprised at the level of refinement of the hotel. You’d expected the DEA would’ve put Javier at some shitty little hotel, but it’s surprisingly nice. You remember a few days ago, the sheer terror masked behind a stoic face, but you chuckle as you consider that this famed agent had very few context clue skills. This hotel is nice, a couple of stars at least. Why would they put him here if they were firing him?

Javier stubs out his cigarette in an ashtray when he sees your car approaching, straightening his sport coat. You hold back a grin as he walks over, but the fighting ends when you see him smile as he opens the door and slides in.

“Hi,” you beam at him, and he leans across the center console, stealing a kiss.

“Hey.” He sneaks one more kiss, one that lasts a little longer and dares to use a bit of tongue. He only breaks away when you do with a laugh.

“My foot is on the brake right now; be careful but kiss me one more time,” you ask of him with a grin, and he happily complies, cupping your face and kissing you. When he breaks away, your eyes open slowly and you can’t hold in your happiness. “Alright, now we’re going. You’ll have to guide me,” you tell him, and he nods.

“Sure. You’re just going to go out of here and onto that street to the right,” he says and points the way for you.

Your car follows the path, nodding along to Javier’s instructions. “Jesus, that’s a fancy place. How much does that hotel cost a night?” You marvel as you stare at the gorgeous building in your rearview mirror.

Javier shrugs. “I’m about to find out. They’re only paying for a few nights for me, then I’m on my own. I’m guessing it isn’t cheap,” he chuckles as he looks over his shoulder. “Or I might switch hotels. Don’t know yet.”

Frowning, you take a turn he’d earlier instructed you to follow. The hotel fades from sight, the dark blue of the December night filling your rearview instead. “Well, I know of a place you could stay for way cheaper.”

“Oh yeah?” He asks, adjusting in his seat to face toward you more. “What is that, pretty thing?” He asks, a hand resting on your thigh.

“Stop,” you giggle and rest one hand atop of his. His fingers are much larger than yours, a fact that makes you shudder as his fingertips find bare skin there. “Pretty thing? That’s weak,” you tease, and Javier just rolls his eyes. “I was going to say you could stay with me, but now I’m not sure,” you say teasingly, eyes locked on the road and most certainly off of Javier.

His brow furrows. “Well, I can pay you then.”

You shake your head. “Javi. We’re dating… aren’t we?” You ask, the hesitancy creeping into your voice. Now that you say it aloud, you’re not entirely sure that you are. “I mean, I don’t know, I just kind of thought,” you stumble over your speech, word-vomiting out whatever you can to backtrack.

The man next to you tilts his head, but he nods. “I… I haven’t dated anyone in a long time,” he admits, his fingers starting to slowly grip your thigh rather than rest atop it. “Is this what dating is like to you?”

You nod too, knowing he’s watching you, staring down at the steering wheel. “I… yeah?”

A small smile cracks on his face, making the mustache there twitch softly. “Then I guess I’d say we’re dating. But that doesn’t matter, I don’t want to live in your place rent-free for three weeks.”

“It’s an extended vacation,” you chuckle and bring your hand back to the steering wheel to have two hands for a turn. “Don’t worry about it. I’d like having you around. We’ve already been together nonstop for a couple of days. What’s a little more?” You ask as you look over at him, seeing his eyes soften and his forehead relax from its tightened state. “And besides, any hotel is going to be painfully expensive right now. D.C. during the holidays makes the hotel rates skyrocket.”

He nods as you speak, processing the idea. “Well, do you have a guest room? I don’t want to invade your space, I can sleep on the couch if you don’t, or I can stay in a hotel.”

“Javier,” you chuckle, putting your own hand on his thigh to reassure him. “We’re not moving in together permanently. You’ll stay with me until you need to go back to Colombia, and that’s that.” Your mind has been made up. He can’t argue it, and he knows it from the firmness in your grip on his leg, in the way your body goes rigid as if the words are some formal deal that requires a handshake.

“How do you know I’m not some serial killer who does exactly this to lure you to your death?” Javier asks dryly as he looks over at you, lifting a hand to trace the side of your face slowly.

“Because you’re Javier Peña. Your name was in the newspaper next to Steve’s. You work for the DEA.”

“Some of the guys I work with could definitely be serial killers, that doesn’t discount anything,” Javier grumbles, which makes you laugh and makes him even grumpier.

“The fact that you said that to me in the first place is my proof, Javi,” you chuckle and pat his thigh softly. “I’m an excellent judge of character. I just graduated from 7 straight years of studying psychology. Remember that?” Javier’s quiet and you know you’ve won. “Then tonight we’ll get your stuff after dinner and get you settled in my place. How does that sound?”

He’s quiet again, studying your face and the way your cheeks move with your lips, the way your brows rise and fall when he’s being ridiculous. He’s just as trained as you are, with 10+ years on you to prove his competence. You like him. You might even love him already, he thinks to himself. Your pretty lips purse at his silence and he finally cracks. “That sounds great, abejita.” Javier leans across the console to kiss your cheek, which makes you shiver softly, like any touch from the man does. “Thank you.”

“Thank me by buying me some drinks, huh?” You tease, turning back to focus on the road.

The bar was nice. Really nice, you learned as you walked in. It projected the essence of Javier to you; naturally, you loved it from the moment you looked around. The room had a low ceiling and wood paneling around the walls, a floor that your short heels clacked upon as you walked to the only open stools- well, only one stool, you realized as you walked. Javier walked behind you, a hand on the small of your back, admiring your legs in the outfit you wore.

When you finally found the available spot, where you’re now sipping a drink, you’d found that there was only one stool.

“Do you want to go sit in the restaurant?” You asked Javier as you nodded with your head to the side of the establishment with tables and booths.

He shook his head and pulled out the stool. “You sit. I’ll stand.”

“Javi-”

“Just sit, abejita. I’ve been sitting all day. I can handle a little standing,” he chuckles and kisses your head, gesturing to the stool. When you sit, he smiles down at you and wraps his arms around you loosely from behind. You lean back against his strong chest.

Over the past few days, you and Javier have made infrequent contact, a hug in greeting or in goodbye and plenty of shared kisses. This, however, speaks directly to your touch-starved soul, the way his body practically encompasses you. He orders himself a whiskey and the drink you’d ordered on the first night you met him for you, then continues to stand there.

You crane your head around to look at him, smiling. “I love this place already,” you say, admiring the way you can hear over the hum of the other patrons and the quiet music playing. You’re much more accustomed to places your friends would drag you, where it was more for the cheap drinks than the atmosphere.

The crow’s feet by his eyes are more pronounced as he smiles at you, but he looks even younger as his lips curve up softly. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Shit, is that Peña?” A loud voice calls from somewhere else in the building, and Javier turns, his face falling flat then smiling as he sees the voice behind it.

“Be right back,” he murmurs and presses a kiss into the top of your head.

It’s someone he recognizes, that’s for sure, as the man and Javier wrap their arms around each other and firmly pat the other’s back. “No shit! When did you get back to D.C., man?” The other guy asks. “Escobar just died and they’re already sending you back?”

The bartender delivers your drink, and you turn your back to Javier, thanking them and sipping at your liquor. Over your shoulder, you can hear the man and Javier talk shop, about Colombia and their days as DEA trainees, about Escobar’s recent death and Javi’s recent promotion. You glance over your shoulder at him, smiling as he easily talks with the group. You’ve not had the privilege of seeing Javier with his friends- or what seem to be his friends- yet, and he seems fairly social but humble. You appreciate that.

The talking goes on for a while, and you sip at your drink and look around the bar, appreciating the wood that makes a nice noise as your fingernails tap against it rhythmically.

When your drink is about half-drained, the bartender sets another in front of you. It’s different from what you were drinking, a fluorescent neon color surely made by a mix of ridiculously fruity liqueurs. You look at the bartender with confusion and they nod to a man at the end of the bar. He’s not looking at you, which makes it all the easier to stare at the drink in confusion and disgust rather than drink it. His tie is absolutely egregious, boldly patterned in bright colors. There’s not an ounce of taste about this man.

The drink goes untouched, sitting in front of you as you study it. There seems to be layers, maybe, or maybe the mixed alcohols just congealed awkwardly. You sip your drink and then Javier’s whiskey, refusing to drink whatever fucking concotion sits in front of you.

Five or ten more minutes pass of Javier talking with his friends. You don’t mind- you know the feeling of catching up with people you haven’t seen in a long time. In that time, the drink remains untouched, and you ask the bartender for a refill of your go-to drink.

Not long after the second one arrives, you feel a hand on the curve of your back. You turn, hoping it’s Javier, and instead find it to be the man at the end of the bar who ordered you the drink: Tie Guy. Panic sets in immediately and you arch your back to dodge the hand, which only follows your spine. “Hey. Thought you’d like this drink. You tried it yet?” The man asks, voice clearly showing that he knows you haven’t.

“No,” you say with a swallow, turning away from him. “Not exactly my style.”

“I thought it was such a pretty drink for such a pretty thing.”

Pretty thing. When Javier called you that earlier, even though the name wasn’t one you liked, it was at least endearing. To hear it again, dripping with sleaze and ill intentions, you shiver and push it further away. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s not my type of drink. My boyfriend will be right back, and-” you try, hating the defense you try to pull.

“He drinks whiskey,” Tie Guy says and gestures to Javier’s ¾ full glass. “No fun. Boring. Too manly, pretentious. Real men can drink something fun like these and not need to worry about someone thinking they don’t have a set of balls,” he says and his fingers trace the rim of the martini glass the concoction sits in. Now you’re definitely not drinking it, now that he’s touched it.

“Please, I’m not interested,” you try, turning around to face the man that towers over your seated body. “I’d appreciate it if-”

“Hey,” a familiar voice- thank fuck, it’s Javier- calls from behind you. “Excuse me,” he says and pushes Tie Guy out of the way, his arm wrapping around you. It’s a relief, a grip meant entirely for comfort and not for the coercion the man across from you had tried. You melt into it instantly. “She said to back the fuck off, or could you not fucking tell?” He hisses at the man. Javier pulls away from you, stepping towards the man who instinctively steps back.

“Whiskey drinker,” the man snorts and rolls his eyes. “So manly, so over the top. Gotta let everyone know that you’re the alpha, the dominant male, huh?” He asks, getting in Javier’s face. He’s taller than your Javier, but lankier. The fact that Javier could take him crosses your mind, though you hope desperately that it doesn’t come to that.

“What I drink doesn’t fucking matter,” Javier says and shoves his chest. “What matters is that you’re fucking harassing my girlfriend. Back the fuck off,” he says and turns from the man, back to you, his hand on your upper arm. “You okay?” he asks quietly, and you respond with a nod and a forced, close-lipped smile.

“Yep, go ahead, go back to your little prude,” the man laughs drunkenly, his voice full of vitriol. “Oh, no, I bet she loves to act all shy, but then she’s a kinky little thing in bed, isn’t she?” He asks, taunting Javier. “Ties your ass up and whips you, with that sass. I wonder if she-”

The sentence isn’t finished. Javier’s fist flies through the air and connects with the man’s face, followed by a loud, ringing thud as the taller body hits the floor.

caffeine rush taglist:

@remmysbounty @mishasminion360 @blo0dangel @binarydanvvers @sleep-tight1 @apascalrascal @randomness501 @spideysimpossiblegirl @notabotiswear @pedro-pastel @sanchosammy @lv7867 @greeneyedblondie44 @hunnambabe @astoryisaloveaffair @emesispo @pedritobalmando @magikfanatic @yooforia @oceanablue @sara-alonso @pedrosmustache @feelingmadclever @hnt-escape @radiowallet @obsessivelysearching @sugarontherims @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan @linnie0119 @1800-fight-me @autumnleaves1991-blog @toilet-keeper @evelynseventyr @metalarmsandmanbuns @shannababyy @sambucky21 @princess76179 @starless-eyes-remain @theorganasolo @jagi-yaaa @mrsparknuts @tacticalsparkles

#javier peña #javier peña x reader #javier peña x you #javi peña x reader #javi peña #pedro pascal #jose pedro balmaceda pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal x reader #narcos fanfic #narcos fanfiction #narcos #caffeine rush

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allegra-writes · 3 years

Text

"Bad together"

Prologue: Benjamin Reilly

Peter Parker x Reader

General audiences

Warnings: none.

"And if I'm dead to you

Why are you at the wake?

Cursing my name, wishing I stayed"

My tears ricochet - Taylor Swift

"... It's a disaster! Look at her! It's like someone took a look at Black Cat, selected everything that made her sexy and then took it out!"

Black Cat. The name froze the young photographer on his tracks right outside his boss' office. He hadn't heard that name in a long time, the last sighting had been well over a year ago. He would know. After all, it had been him, the very last person to have seen Felicia Hardy, alive or dead.

"What are you talking about? That looks hot af, not to mention badass!" Jade's persuasive voice reached his ears, making him smirk: It was no secret the chief editor had a soft spot for the young intern. And, on her part, the petite brunette was a firecracker. Poor old Jameson didn't stand a chance. "Come on, dad. Single handedly taking down three of the Kingpin's goons? That's impressive. It deserves to be one of the slides!"

"Not if we don't get a higher quality picture. That blurry video is good enough for a thumbnail, but not for a slide" Slides were a big deal, they were the Dailybugle.net's equivalent of a front page, and if J. Jonah Jameson took something seriously, it was his web site. He prided himself in the quality of the "receipts" of his "tea", as if that validated the trashiness of the bullshit articles he posted, more fiction from hyper imaginative wannabe writers than serious work from real reporters.

"Well, then let's get the pictures. Where is that star photographer of yours?"

The photographer rolled his eyes, typical Jade. As if the queen of cool didn't know his name. As if she hadn't graced his bed a handful of times already.

"That's a good question. Dolores, get me Reilly!"

"I'm here, Jonah" Ben finally stepped inside the office, throwing an envelope on Jameson's desk before throwing himself on a chair across it. He could feel Jade's eyes on him, almost like a physical caress, trailing from the long, slick back curls on the top of his head, to the muscles of his arms, threatening to rip open the seams at the sleeves of his white t-shirt, to his jean clad thighs. Still, he didn't turn to look at her, refusing to give her the satisfaction.

"What do you have for me today, boy?"

Ben gesticulated vaguely with his head in the direction of Jade, and Jameson caught the hint.

"Jade, out!"

"But, dad, my story!" The petulant reply left her mouth before she could stop it, undoubtedly the product of years of habit. But she had the grace to look embarrassed and leave the office without another word, trying to save whatever professionalism she had left.

Once she was gone, Jameson opened the envelope, flipping through the various pictures of a masked figure swinging around New York in a black and red suit.

"Hmmm… these are good" the older man praised, staring at the images of a frustrated robbery at 5th avenue

Ben snifled nocomitically,

"There was a fire at 16th avenue happening at the same time" He offered, "we could use that. Spider-Man forgets his roots and leaves his old neighborhood to fend for itself, running off to save some pretty socialite…"

"Oh, that is excellent! See, this is why I like you, kid. You have initiative. Unlike these snowflakes out there. Oh, but Spider-Man is a hero. Hero, my ass"

"Well, when you watch your so called hero sit back and do nothing as your life gets destroyed" Ben shrugged, "the rose colored glasses tend to fall off…"

Jameson made a face at that,

"Yeah, about that… I'm sorry. For the role the Daily Bugle played on that…"

Ben shook his head,

"You thought you were getting the truth out there. It's not your fault to have been played, along with half the world. Plus," he added, sounding genuinely enthusiastic, "you gave me this job. And now we can really tell the truth"

"Even when our idea of the truth is somehow different" The older man scoffed, flipping around a picture of Spider-Man sat on what appeared to be a hammock of his own webs, eating a hamburger and reading something that looked suspiciously like a comic book, "Still hung up on that high schooler theory of yours?"

"Well, if it talks like a brat and acts like a brat…" Ben took out another envelope, this time containing a few burger king wrappers and, effectively, a spider-man comic book.

"Where did you even get these?"

"Harlem" was Ben's curt reply, and Jameson knew that was as exact a location as he was going to get.

"So you still believe this is a copycat? Some kid playing dress up"

Ben simply shrugged again.

"Well, there seems to be an epidemic of those lately" Jameson admitted, indicating Ben to come closer, passing a tablet to him, "Jade just handled me this, take a look"

Ben took a deep breath, steeling himself, already knowing what he was going to see in it. Yet, a part of him couldn't help but hope to be wrong. To hope the silver haired figure facing three much bigger, stronger looking ones as he pressed play, wasn't the same one he had spent weeks memorizing last summer. Wasn't the body he had found solace in, when everything fell apart, once again, for the hundredth time in his life.

To hope it wasn't you.

But when in his twenty-two or so years of existence, had things ever gone his way?

Ben felt the screen crack under his fingertips.

"I've heard of her" he lied through his teeth, "didn't even think she was real, to be honest. Extremely elusive, and cunning." That much was true, "I don't understand how something as mundane as a security camera managed to catch her…"

Unless you wanted to be caught, that was.

"Well, I don't care if she's the fucking Loch Ness monster, I want an HD picture of her on my desk tomorrow to go with Jade's article. I already have a headline: New Catastrophe Jen wreaks havoc on Hell's Kitchen" Jameson's eyes lit up with glee as he weaved his hands up in the air, like writing on an invisible marquee.

Ben snorted

"Don't you mean Calamity Jane?"

Jameson's face fell, the color rising to his cheeks, characteristic vein popping on his forehead.

"I meant what I meant, boy! Now, what are you still doing here? You have 24 hours to get me that picture"

"I'm going to need 72," came Ben's unphased reply, "and I want twice what you pay me for the spidey pics"

Jameson's vein looked about ready to explode,

"48 hours. And deal."

Ben jumped from his seat and bolted out of the office before his boss could change his mind, not realizing until it was too late that he was on a collision course with a sweet looking short haired blonde girl.

"Watch where you're going! Jeez!"

"Me? You're the one who crashed against me!"

Ben rolled his eyes, but crouched next to the girl anyway, helping her gather the papers that had been sent flying on impact back together.

"Peter? Oh my god, is that you?"

Of course. What an idiot, he should had recognized that annoying, shrilly voice the second he heard it. It had caught him off guard, something he knew he couldn't afford. But how could he had ever imagine he could run into Betty fucking Brant, Yale cum laude, in the freaking dailybugle.net headquarters of all places?

"Sorry, sweetheart. You must confuse me with someone else…" He mumbled, lowering his head even more in a vain attempt to hide his face.

"Of course not!" She insisted, "You're Peter, Peter Parker, we went to Midtown together!"

"Miss, I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"Don't be silly, Peter!" She chuckled, completely deft to his tone or the way his whole demeanor had changed the second she had called him by the old name. "How have you been? Oh, just wait until I tell Ned, he's going to be so-"

CRACK.

At last, the tablet that had been in peril ever since Jameson had put it in Ben's hands, the one that contained his assignment, met its demise, both broken halves falling to the ground, along with all the papers he had picked up for Betty. It was several moments before he could get the shaking of his hands under control, before the tar black rage inside him subsided enough for him to be able to move without shifting. But it had.

"Peter Parker is dead." He deadpanned, dark brown eyes finally meeting Betty's stunned blue ones, "Tell Ned that, he'll probably be glad to hear it"

With that, he stood up and walked away, leaving a confused and agitated Betty behind.

To be continued...

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #tom holland #peter parker imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #peter parker x reader smut #tom holland x reader smut #dark!peter parker #dark peter parker #venom #venom!peter parker #marvel #black cat #felicia hardy #bad together #arvin russell

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obeymeluv · 4 years

Text

Random Headcanons for the Bros (SFW + NSFW)

I’m bored and was thinking about the more ‘demon’ noises they’d make. It turned into a bunch of random headcanons (SFW + NSFW).

Enjoy!

These got really long so I skipped Belphie for now. I was getting sleepy and I need more time to think up some headcanons for him.

I think I caught all the spelling errors but I’m not sure. Super sleepy...

Lucifer

His ‘angry’ demon noise sounds a lot like the ones koalas make. It’s not an especially deep or rugged noise, like a lion, but this simmering mess of hisses and clicks with a bit of air in it.

Tends to keep his mouth closed and tongue fluffed when making the noise so it sounds more subdued/reptilian

Lucifer’s horns are very sensitive. Mammon found that out at an early age. His beloved could use this to their advantage, but it does bring the teeth.

Would deny to his last breath that he likes head massages or temple rubs. If you can manage, give the guy a shoulder rub and he’s putty in your hands. Won’t even speak. Might make a clicky purr sound though.

When he doesn’t want you to leave or could really use another minute with head scratches, his tail will wrap around your wrist and hold it in place.

When you share a bed, he’s not a snuggler. Lucifer’s the type to be content knowing you’re in the same space. He moves in his sleep, though, so you always end up a little spoon

Asmo says he has a size kink, but he’s not sure. Lucifer will begrudgingly admit he likes power dynamics. There’s something thrilling about grabbing you by the throat, as delicate as you are, but being so gentle with you.

He’s not the most aggressive biter in bed, but he will use his teeth and claws for the sensation. Lucifer’s big on anticipation and overstimulation

Weak for neck kisses, especially at his pulse. Attack! He WILL get even though, so beware.

Doesn’t openly think he has any clothing-related kinks, but he’ll stare a bit longer if you dress up in red or black.

Would never do it in front of his brothers because of the teasing, but very much the ‘come sit in my lap’ type.

His pride won’t let him allow any public fun times, not even the fear of getting caught, but he does get off on flustering you and watching you pull yourself back together before anyone catches on

The ‘lots of strong, long kisses’ kind of guy. Not big on French kissing unless he has time to indulge and knows he won’t be interrupted

Runs very hot when he sleeps. He prefers to be shirtless so cold sheets take the edge off.

You’ll come before he does. It’s a matter of pride, after all.

His love language is helping you get organized (if you’re not), and tracking down resources to things you’re interested in because that’s within his skill set. Also good at creating absolute silence for you if you have a migraine.

If Lucifer makes a pact with you, it’ll be around your heart because it takes a lot of self-sacrifice to do. He’s TRUSTING you.

Mammon

Mammon sounds like an angry tortoise when he’s woken up too early, when he’s embarrassed (or in denial), or telling one of his little brothers to shut up without saying it

I head cannon that he actually needs the glasses he wears. Or that he has contacts and just wanted yellow frames because yellow is the color of Grimm

It crossed my mind that he might wear them just so he can see everything as golden and beautiful because he remembers the Celestial Realms and misses it

He says he stays with you because Lucifer assigned him, but once you connect with him on ANY level (say something nice, defend him, just give him attention instead of suspicion), he’s 100% whipped. Wants to be with you all the time and chase that feeling you give him. He needs more of it. Has to have it!

Mammon’s a sucker for getting his hair played with. Run your fingers through it, play with the ends, and you could probably rob him blind

Will also pester you for back massages because he jacks up his back running from Lucifer all the time (and trying to run off with heavy shit to pawn)

Is really good with math, has bad impulse control, and gets very distractable. Would probably surprise a few of his brothers with his math mark is and the fact that he could tutor if he stays in the right mindset.

He’s the sloppy/needy kisser that has to be as close as he can. He’ll end up between your thighs and somehow surround you.

Big on little butterfly kisses.

He’s not a full-on biter, but he’s a nibbler. He’s a hickey expert and he wants them to be seen.

Actually super easy to turn on. If you take his glasses off and get close enough to see him, he’s hard because you rubbed up on him coming into view. Also: praise him. IT WORKS!

The Avatar of Greed probably has a breeding kink. Just saying.

Might complain about it, but he’ll give you piggyback rides and carry you if you ask. Literally, all you have to do is ask.

You can’t do the whole ‘laying in nothing but my earrings’ because he’ll either take your earrings out before sex to look at them (very much an ‘oh, shiny!’ person), teeth them during sex and break them, or he’ll think you look so good he’ll want to pile on ALL the jewelry.

Steal his clothes to wear them? He’ll lowkey cry. YOU LOOK SO CUTE, ALMOST AS GREAT AS THE GREAT MAMMON!

Prefers to be the little spoon, but honestly if you fall asleep with him you guys end up tangled up together. Usually face-to-chest, but some kind of tangled up together

Can’t always keep up the dirty talk in bed because he gets so sappy, but he’s big on soft touches, hickies, and needing praise if you want him to go harder/faster when he’s in his gentle moods

Will fight Belphie for King of Lap Naps. Mammon would monetize your nappin’ thighs but then he’d have to share them and that just seems like a bad business idea.

Main fantasy? You begging. Beg for him to do anything and you’re occupied for the next few hours.

Has a bit of a smart mouth so he’ll also get into banter with you and if you get the last word, he’s super embarrassed, proud, and give him a consolation kiss or something, huh?

Helpless when you initiate it because SHIT that was bold and he can’t believed it worked! All you have to do is say his name, look him in the eyes, then his lips, and kiss him. If you think you’re walking away, you don’t make it far.

The type to con you into a quickie in the closet our just out of view/hearing of the others.

The type to write checks his mouth can’t cash 85% of the time. Call his bluff. If he invites you into the bath, do it. Walk in naked. You might have to save him from drowning.

Leviathan

Levi’s angry noises sound like bearded dragon hisses. Those hisses are used for warning, frustration, and when he does the uncomfortable prickle of awkwardness. When he disagrees or is bashful, they get a warble/chatter to them.

I headcanon that they can also take on their demon form when they feel threatened, as it puts out an aura and makes them more defensive. Levi can transform the easiest due to him feel uncomfortable and not being the most sociable.

When he’s in demon form, his tail will either wrap around him for comfort or will go over to the person he most trusts to comfort him. He tends not to consciously want to touch Lucifer with his tail, but there’s something instinctual about going to the oldest brother. He usually goes to Satan or you (if you’ve reached that type of intimacy)

You would think a guy that shamelessly plays a lot of otome games and uses them as social guides (even though they’re far from perfect) wouldn’t be so susceptible to a peek of skin or nudity, but LEVI IS WEAK!

That whole ‘shirt rides up getting a library book’ thing? He’s dead.

The biggest virgin, basically. Boy’s got a strong imagination and he’s sensitive from the whole ‘gross otaku’ complex.

His biggest fantasy? Water play. He wants to be the big, scary monster who grabs a tasty, tiny human and has his wicked (totally consensual) way.

One of the more adventurous bros because he’s seen a lot of stuff in anime and wants to know if it would really work.

Will definitely ask for a blow job. It’s the shortest blow job ever but he loved it.

Is weak for any kind of kiss so have at it! Especially likes kisses on the mouth, shoulder kisses (because that means cuddling!), and kisses on his chest or belly.

The type to get addicted to sex once he has it, but not helplessly so. He won’t say no if you ask.

Is too embarrassed to ask you to wear some of his clothes so he just kind of leaves them in your room and waits to see if you wear it. If you don’t, he buys you matching clothes so you HAVE to.

Once you’re dating, you’re his good luck charm. No ifs, ands, or buts! He NEEDS you for game night, even if you fall asleep in his arms, okay?

After getting used to the idea of giving you affection and understanding your boundaries, he’s dropping a forehead kiss 24/7.

He hisses more than his brothers, and his tongue can do some tricks the other bros can’t. He’s WAY better than those other dumb humans, too.

You’re one of the only people who can pull him out of his room. He becomes aware that you get him out for exercise (or because Lucifer asks) but if he leaves the House of Lamentation and has you to himself, he won’t complain.

Satan

Cougar noises--the chuffs, the growls, the yeowls, all of it. He is big angry kitty boy

He’s afraid of losing his temper but he’s got a ridiculously tight grip on the reins. You wouldn’t think he’s the Avatar of Wrath until one of his brothers set him off.

His love language is gentle pets, a good book, and a cup of tea. He’s your guard when you don’t want to deal with the outside world. Because Satan’s super logical and admires detectives, his love language is also helping you solve your problems. He just conveniently shows up with something that helps (because he’s been listening and is a background type).

Is emotionally keen, perhaps because his cardinal sin is wrath and he can be sensitive. He has a radar for you and it calls him like a moth to a flame.

Want to seduce him? Read to him. It’s that easy. Share your favorite quotes.

Or just take a cheap shot and do something with cats. He may enlist you to smuggle Hellcats into the House of Lamentation since Lucifer can’t do anything to the precious exchange student. Being its ‘parents’ will bring you close.

Doesn’t like mornings but forces himself to be a morning person. HIGHLY enjoys it if you’re not because it’s so nice to see you go through all the stages of discontent before resigning yourself to getting up and starting the day

He’s not easy to fluster, but he’s the ‘tried and true’ when it comes to getting bothered. If you find something that works, file it away because it will ALWAYS work.

If you fluster him, he has to make it even. It’s the only way he’ll feel good about his weakness. Much prefers if you’re worse off than he is, actually, because there’s something delicious about it

A bit of a sadist. Prefers drawn-out pleasure and taking you for all that you can give

Loves to catch you with that studded tail and keep you in place. Very much likes to drag you back to him. That looks pretty, too.

HIS TAIL IS SENSITIVE. TOUCH IT. PET IT. HIS IQ DROPS TO THE SINGLE DIGITS.

Doesn’t know what to call his kinks, but the idea of restraining you is a nice one. Likes the positions where he has to hold you against him or in place, or can move parts of you to better fit with him. Big on taking you from behind.

Doesn’t care if he’s the big spoon or the little spoon. Just wants to make sure you’re there with him.

Has a fantasy about you serving him tea naked in his room.

Big on biting, and is usually embarrassed about the marks the next day

The type to let you throw your legs over his lap and read in contented silence with you, occasionally massaging your leg

Boy likes legs. Show ‘em off.

Interrupt intense studying sessions (because he over-studies and studies WAY TOO EARLY FOR TESTS) with snuggly pop quizzes (”Who’s cute? A) You, B) The Avatar of Wrath, C) Satan, or D) All of the Above”) because he lives for it.

Cheeky and unexpectedly playful. Will wake you up with tickling or tracing. If you are romantically involved, he’s definitely woken you up with a squeeze or kiss at least once

If you’re in a pact with him, it shows up on your thigh or hip.

Very proficient with magic. Has probably found a way to bring it into the bedroom.

Asmodeus

The cuddliest boy

His angrier noises tend to sound like a giant salamander but his cute flirty/chirpy noises sound like a toy gecko.

I headcanon that Asmodeus became part incubus when he fell to Devildom, or that he ended up with some of those traits once he became the Avatar of Lust

He can feed off the various types of love emotions (genuine love, sweet crush love, jealous love, sex, etc.) but it doesn’t fill him up as much as hunting humans or other demons. It’s just something he can feed off of more frequently so it keeps hunger at bay.

Will pamper his crush or someone he holds dear because that’s bonding. He wants SOMEONE to understand the lengths he goes through to be beautiful! It’s a process! Respect him!

The biggest hype boyfriend ever. Will take your confidence to new levels and show you that you can rock anything

Epitome of ‘looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you’ trope

Are you having a play date with makeup? Turn those lipstick swatches into lipstick kisses and he’s got to stop and recollect himself. His little heart’s going so fast!

Glows when you praise him. It could be something he’s heard for centuries but somehow you say it better than anyone ever has.

When he’s feeling extra affectionate and just really loves you, his eyes will be a pinky-red.

Wants to be babied. Please kiss him.

100% down for soft cuddles and luxurious touches. Long days spent in bed and slow, dream-like sex.

Doesn’t really like his hair messed with because he works on it a lot.

Touch his arms, his back, and his chest and he’s all yours.

Will kiss you anywhere, but his favorite place to kiss you when you’re cuddling is on the inside of your wrist

Prefers to be the little spoon.

The skin on his shoulders can dry out when he takes on his demon form. Something about the texture of demon wings dries them out really bad. Put lotion on him and he’s singing your praises.

Gets you into the most exclusive places and plans the best shopping days. Your off days will be the envy of everyone in the Devildom!

Asmodeus is very perceptive when it comes to his love, and very receptive in terms of sex. It feels like the world’s longest questionnaire before you have sex, but he needs to be ABSOLUTELY clear about your experience, comfort, what you like, and what you don’t.

Probably gets off first because the act of having sex is very heady and strong. It’s a massive energy boost at once. It’s the second-best type of feed he can get and makes him feel drunk/light-headed.

Definitely makes up for it. You probably won’t be able to walk afterwards.

Big on PDA around others. Holding hands and matching nails!

When Asmodeus makes a pact with you, it shows up in aesthetic places like your shoulder, your wrist, your ankle, or above your chest.

Is big on receiving praise but not as big as Mammon

Sex with him can be rough and hard, sweet and gentle, and everything in between. Is very likely to mess up your clothes because he has a hard time controlling his claws when he’s in the moment but you can wear his clothes. It’s fine.

Will give you hickies. Loves the colors they take on your skin.

If he’s helping you get ready for an event, all that pretty makeup might get messed up when he takes you against the vanity. He can’t help it!

10/10 the best, most supportive boyfriend. A sweetheart with claws.

Beelzebub

Sweetest boy. The one that has good intentions even if things don’t go to plan

Very loyal. He’s neutral to everyone when they first meet him, but he’ll quickly pick favorites or befriend someone if his intuition says he should.

Beel’s a pretty good people-reader. Maybe it comes from being an older twin, but he knows a bad heart when he sees it

Is very empathetic and can get really upset for his hungry fury. It’s hard to shake but if you’re gentle/persistent, you’ll get a smile.

If you get some tears, just hold him and tell him it’s okay. You know it’s hard to control.

Also on team ‘play with my hair’

He’s a sucker for kisses around his ear, the base of his throat, AND HIS STOMACH. KISS THAT TUMMY!

Forgets that he’s built very differently than you and is honestly amused by how awe-struck you get with his muscles.

Squeeze his bicep. It makes him blush.

Quiet fawning over his muscles really warms his heart. Just praise him, kiss him, and run your fingers over his chest and you’ll get the good, deep rumbly polar bear purr.

Beel has deep, rolling demon noises. It’s something about how tall and wide he is that makes the reverb shake deep in your bones no matter how gentle it is

Will think the stars of you if he catches you looking after his family.

His heart skips a beat and his face goes super red if you pack him snacks with little notes on them

Is 100% down for food dates.

Loves carrying you. He’s nice and helpful and when you start dating, he just loves having his tiny human close.

Has to learn to temper his strength when you start dating because he tried to be cute and scoop you up but almost threw you into the ceiling

Very gentle bear hugs from very gentle Beel

Prefers you to climb on him when you want to cuddle that way he doesn’t accidentally hurt you. Loves to feel you struggling to climb on his back.

Likes to snuggle your arms when they’re wrapped around his neck (especially when you’re getting a piggyback). Absently rubs your thighs/knees because they’re in his hands.

Lots of absentminded but heartfelt kisses because you smell good and he loves you. He just wants to kiss you, not taste you! (”One more, please?”)

Has a size kink. He’s a big boy so you’re probably smaller by default and you’re just easy to pick up and hold and--boy’s going to bust a nut just getting you into position

Big into oral because you smell good and taste good and he could eat you for HOURS. He has the strength and stamina, trust me.

Has the best jawline of the bros because he’s always working his mouth muscles.

Tends to take you from behind just to minimize the height difference but he’s also had sex in the kitchen, in his bed, and is coming around the idea of you being on top of him.

Won’t leave hickies but he’s the suckling type. Most likely to leave fingerprints/handprints

Heavy post-cuddler.

If you feed him (even jokingly) after sex, he’s going to immediately roll over and want to go again.

You love him enough to feed him and he just loves you and--?!!

If you cook him anything, he’ll definitely give his compliments to the chef

Always buys you cute aprons and things to wear in the kitchen. Has a matching set even if it doesn’t fit him very well.

If you make a trip to the human world, please come back with a bunch of cheeseburgers for your baby. He’ll love you forever (even though he already does).

Loves to cuddle. If you rest your head on him, he puts his arm around you and pull you in close. He’ll initiate the ‘in lap cuddling’.

Is surprisingly good at potions because he’s familiar with the ingredients and can tell if you’re on the right track based on how it smells.

Loves to feed you. Won’t say no to being fed. Didn’t know he had a finger kissing/sucking kink until he was being careful with a bite of food and somehow still got your finger (no damage though).

When you make a pact with Beelzebub, it shows up on your stomach.

#Obey Me!#Obey Me! x Reader #Lucifer x Reader #Mammon x Reader #Leviathan x Reader #Levi x Reader #Satan x Reader #Asmo x reader #Asmodeus x reader #beelzebub x reader #beel x reader

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purpletaecup · 4 years

Photo

7 ☾ i loved you. i’m sorry.

warnings: depictions of panic attacks

notes: writing the end of this chapter made me cry t^t luv u guys, thank you for the support. i love writing this story so much! feel free to send an ask to the IFU universe characters or vent to me about them! also, there is a picture in here that i drew!!!! it’s not that great but I hope you guys like it :-)

word count: 4,471

“Who are you?”

Those words echo in Yoongi’s ear as if it was his final judgment from the king of hell. He staggered but held onto the edge of your hospital bed to keep from falling. He could only look at you in shock and silence while the doctor came up from behind him and examined you.

“Miss Kim, how are you feeling? Is there any pain?” The doctor asked.

You rubbed and blinked a couple of times. Everything was still a little blurry.

“M’head hurts and my body is so sore,” you reply. “Why am I here?”

“What’s the last thing you remember, Miss Kim?”

Rubbing your temples, you groaned in frustration, not remembering how you ended up in this hospital bed.

“I can’t remember. Everything’s really fuzzy right now.”

The doctor turns to Yoongi, who sat himself down on the chair further away from you.

“Do you recognize him?”

You looked at the man in the chair and examined him for a while. There’s a chill that runs through Yoongi’s body as he sees your eyes roam him from head to toe. He almost expects to see some kind of anger or resentment on your face, but receives nothing but confusion.

You turn back to the doctor shaking your head. He opens his mouth to say something but Yoongi beats him to it.

“It’s okay, doc, we can talk about that later, but is she okay? You said your head was hurting, right, Yn?” He says, looking back at you.

Cautiously, you nod at him before looking at the doctor again.

“It’s throbbing and it feels like there’s drums banging in my head.”

“This is all completely normal. You were in a pretty severe car accident and received a pretty worrisome head injury. You were unconscious for about five days, so your body has already started its healing process. In the coming weeks, you might experience some delayed symptoms related to the concussion you received.”

“What kind of symptoms? Is she going to be okay?” Though shocked as he was with your current predicament, Yoongi couldn’t help but worry even more.

“Mr. Min, if you would just let me continue, I can give you and Miss Yn all the answers you need. Because of the nature of the accident, she received a pretty bad head injury resulting in a concussion I believe to be grade II or III.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” You asked.

“It’s just a way to classify the severity of the concussion you received. Since you were in a car accident, you sustained a lot of other injuries but nothing too severe like broken bones. Miraculously enough, you managed to be wheeled away with only lacerations, bruising and a head injury. You were unconscious for about five days and you’re exhibiting signs of amnesia along with blurriness and headaches. These are all signs of a grade II or III concussion, though we won’t know which one until after a few more days of monitoring. Either way, there is the possibility of delayed symptoms like headaches, nausea and imbalance. After we’ve monitored your brain activity and symptoms for a few days, we can determine the grade of concussion clearly and proceed with treatment if needed. I’m leaning a bit more towards a grade II because you’re still able to speak and understand in a normal manner, but the memory loss is worrisome so we’ll have to monitor that and see if it lasts for over 24 hours or not.”

You groaned and tried to sit up straighter, but your muscles, so sore and unused for days, were making it difficult. Yoongi, who had inched closer and closer to you while the doctor spoke, held your hand in one of his while the other helped push you to sit up more comfortably. You murmur a soft thanks in his direction.

“I still don’t understand. You’re saying that I have amnesia, but I feel like I remember everything I should. I know my name, my parent’s names, my friends and my family’s names.” You begin to explain, not really understanding the whole ‘amnesia’ thing.

“How old are you? And what year is it?” The doctor asked while scribbling on your chart.

“19, and it’s 2016.” As soon as those words came out of your mouth, Yoongi fell into a quiet shock once again. Not only had you not recognized him, he was completely erased from your memory. You two met when you were 19, and in your head, you were 19 and you had no idea who he was, so your memory must have conveniently stopped sometime before you met him. He almost scoffs at the irony of it all.

“Miss Kim, you’re 23. You just turned 23 two months ago and it’s currently 2020. Today is the eleventh of November.”

The gasp leaves your mouth before you realize it. Your shaky hands lift up to cover your mouth and you feel tears well up in your eyes from the impact of the doctor’s statement.

“What do you mean? How can I just lose four years in my memory?” Your voice cracks when you ask and through the tears and the shaky breaths, you feel the ghost of a hand on your back.

“That, we don’t know. We haven’t seen an amnesia case this severe in decades, but that’s why we’re going to be monitoring you. Amnesia in head injury patients is pretty unpredictable, but most people who experience amnesia usually only lose memories within the day or at most a week, but it usually never lasts for more than a couple of days. You losing four years of memories doesn’t essentially correlate to how long it will take to regain those memories. For all we know, you could get them back tonight, but like I said, it’s pretty unpredictable.”

It takes a moment for all of it to sink in and absorb. Okay, so you lost four years of memories, but you might regain them soon. Although it’s not a guarantee, it’s still a possibility. You wipe the tears and you steady your breath before turning to the doctor once again.

“What’s he got to do with all of this? I still don’t know who he is or why he’s here.” You ask while pointing to the man beside you.

The doctor looks at you, then looks at him as if expecting him to take the floor and explain things himself.

“I’m Min Yoongi.” He holds out his hand intending you shake yours. You lift your wired up hand to his and he encloses it gently. It’s warm.

“Okay, Min Yoongi, that doesn’t explain how I’m supposed to know you?” You question again, a little bit of attitude in your voice.

It’s silent for a moment. Sensing the tension, the doctor excuses himself, telling them that he’ll send some nurses to help with your headaches and soreness.

Yoongi’s grip tightens on your hand. He contemplates for a little while about how to explain who he was in your life and who you were in his. Can he say that you’re his wife? Will that make it easier for the both of you since you were pregnant? But that was a lie, because you were divorced.

And he had lied to you enough times during your marriage. He thinks it might be the time to be more truthful.

“We were together for four years.” He starts. You wriggle your hand out of his, feeling a little too warm.

“Ah, if we were together for four years, how come I don’t remember you?”

Yoongi thinks about how to answer this one. He hums for a couple of seconds before he asks, “well, in your head, when did you turn 19?”

It was your turn to let a “hmm” pass your lips this time.

“Last week!”

“Okay, so in your timeline, we would have met next week. Two weeks after your birthday, on September 24.”

You nod your head in understanding, but you wince pretty obviously right after. The bruises are aching and you think it’s because you sat up for too long. Yoongi puts his hand on your arm and guides you to lay down.

“Here, just lay down and I’ll sit right here and answer your questions, okay?” He reassures.

After laying down, you try to move your body to the side so you could face where he was sitting.

“So how come you’re here and not my family members?” You asked after a minute’s silence, trying to think of a question to ask. If baffled you that this man you don’t even remember is the only one visiting you in broad daylight after a severe car accident.

“Jin was here with me the day of your accident. He said he was going to take care of you, but he got called in for work and had to travel out of the country a couple of days ago.”

“What about my mom?”

“Actually, I’m not really sure. Jin told me that she was abroad.”

“So you’re the only one left. Must be important if you were in my emergency contacts.”

“I was the only emergency contact you had according to the nurses.”

At this moment, Yoongi looked at you with sad eyes, but you didn’t know why. It felt like it was penetrating you and a nagging voice in the back of your head told you to stop looking at him.

Eager to ease the tension, you ask how the two of you met. Yoongi rests his elbow on the arm rest of the chair, plopping his chin down on his palm.

“Well, I had a music video shoot on the same day as yours. You were doing a photoshoot, I think, and you were using the same set room as me. I went there early to talk to the directors, but you were in the middle of your shoot and I just stayed. I asked my manager to ask for your number and we started talking and then I asked you to be my girlfriend on Halloween at a costume party.” There was a smile on Yoongi’s face when he recalled that particular memory.

He had no recollection of whose party it was, but you two showed up in the best costumes you could muster. Lydia Deetz in her wedding dress and Beetlejuice. The party was fun and the two of you had spent the night in the garden of the venue, just laying down and admiring the stars on Halloween night. It was nearing midnight when the both of you heard a countdown coming from inside. Why there was a countdown for midnight on Halloween, neither of you had a clue, but he took it as a sign and as the grandfather clock chimed, he gave you a gentle kiss and asked (whispered) you to be his girlfriend.

He remembered your laughter from that night and it brought an even larger smile to his face.

You looked at him in awe, thinking his smile was simply breathtaking.

“So you fell in love with me at first sight, huh?” You asked teasingly.

Yoongi glared at you, but as soon as he spotted your little smirk, the glare melted away and a hesitant smile made its way on his face again.

“For your information, it was at first laugh.” He simply stated. At that, you gave a gentle smile and a quiet giggle into your hand.

In that moment, Yoongi was taken back to the early days of your relationship. The appearance of that gentle smile had catapulted him back to the happier days of your story. It was so different from you in the recent months. You, who had been so sad and exhausted and frustrated. Though pale and bruised and in a hospital bed, you looked much more youthful than before, as if you had reverted back to the person that was happiness personified.

“Right, okay. At first laugh. Never heard that before.”

“I’m serious. It was like hearing bells.”

“That doesn’t sound very appealing.”

“Good bells.”

You laughed again, a little scratchy this time. Yoongi handed you the glass of water on your bedside table.

“Okay, so you fell in love with me at first laugh, then what happened?” You asked, eager to find out about this story. At the moment, you really had no inkling of who this man was, but it intrigued you to hear your apparent love story. You loved a good love story and this one, yours, seemed to have a good start. Because you couldn’t recall it, hearing it from his mouth is like looking into your own love story from an outsider’s point of view.

Yoongi took the glass of water and placed it back on the table.

“Well, we got together obviously, and we were together for four years.”

“Past tense, so you’re an ex-boyfriend?” This was getting more interesting. You have always associated exes with heartbreak (at least the ones you remembered), so this was interesting. You must have been good friends after the breakup for him to be your emergency contact.

“Ex-husband, actually.”

Oh.

That stopped you in your tracks. Now, divorce was something you had never, ever thought about. Mentally, you were 19, and at 19, you were worried about your career. You had suffered your fair share of heartbreaks and cheating bastards in high school and swore off marriage until you got yourself together, so this revelation confused you a little bit. You two met when you were 19, but here you are at, apparently, 23 years old and you’re divorced. That’s actually… unbelievable.

“We started dating on Halloween technically, but I proposed in July and that’s when we agreed to celebrate our anniversaries even though that sounds kind of silly. You thought it would be cute to just have one single date to celebrate our anniversary. Something about Halloween being sacred to you.” Yoongi laughed a little nervously, eager to soften the mood just a little bit. He knows you don’t really remember, but it still feels strange to talk about your divorce.

“Wait, so break this down for me a little bit more. How long were we married for?”

“2 years. So I proposed the July after we started dating and then we got married a year later on the same date.”

“And when did we get divorced?”

Yoongi fiddled with his fingers a bit before answering, “ The end of September. We were drifting for some months already, so I think divorce was the best option for us.”

You nodded absentmindedly. It was a little strange to be here, in a hospital bed, listening to this man (who is apparently your ex-husband) talk about your divorce. You felt like you should be feeling something more than this, but all you can feel is some kind of nonchalance, like you were listening to a lecture on a subject you didn’t like. Still, this was your love life, something you treasured with all of your heart, and the news of this divorce with a man you can’t even remember is shocking but in a detached way, if that made sense.

“That makes sense. No one should stay in a marriage where the feelings aren’t there anymore.” You say slowly, silently, absorbing this whole situation.

From your peripheral, you see Yoongi just nod, not saying anything. The silence that befell the two of you was somewhat comfortable but solemn at the same time.

The silence was interrupted by murmurs coming from Yoongi.

“Don’t worry. Even though we’re not together, I’ll still take care of you. You don’t have any immediate family and I’m the only one you really know in this city. The least I can do is take care of you.”

You look at him and shake your head. The independent part of you wanted to deny that. Even though you were mentally 19, in actuality you were 23 and you knew how to take care of yourself.

“It’s fine, Yoongi. I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

That silences Yoongi for a bit. He remembers you saying that all the time, moreso during the time you decided to quit modelling. He was worried about you, but you always reassured him that there was nothing to worry about. You were a big girl. A woman. When these words came out of your mouth, it reminded him that although you didn’t remember much, you were still the woman he knew deep down.

Before he gets lost in his thoughts again, he lets out a small laugh.

“Yeah, I know you can, but you don’t even know where you live. Do you even remember how to drive? I remember you learned how to drive when you were 21.”

You furrow your brows, angry at his statements, but decide that you can’t refute since what he’s saying is completely true.

“Okay, valid. You can go home if you want, though. They said they were gonna keep me here for a couple of days, so you don’t have to come to the hospital until then, I guess. You look kind of rich… and famous, so you must be busy all the time.”

“I’m my own boss, so I can take my own time off, but I do need to go to the company to settle some things before you get discharged.”

As he talked, your eyes become droopy and were slow to blink.

“Yn, are you okay?” Yoongi asks as he moves closer to your face to examine you. Instinctively, you move back a little, but you’re still close enough to see his eyes up close. You decide to close your eyes.

You mumble a little. “Mhm, just sleepy. Head still hurts.”

Yoongi pulls the blanket up to cover up to your neck and fixes your hair so that it’s not in your face. The intimacy is strange, but not unwelcome, you think.

“Kay, just go back to sleep. I’ll go talk to your doctor then I’m going to the company, okay? I’ll be back tomorrow to give you some of your necessities.” He whispers.

You could barely hear him, but you nod anyways. The disappearance of his warm hand left a cold, empty feeling. Soon enough, you drifted off into sleep.

☽

Yoongi takes one last look at your sleepy form before he quietly leaves the room. He sees your doctor from the corner of his eye and walks up to him. Before he could ask anything, the doctor tells him that they have the results from a scan taken the day prior.

“There seems to be no traumatic damage to the brain, so we have high hopes about a smooth journey to recovery. Of course, she is pregnant, so that might make things a bit more delicate, but nothing that is too difficult to adjust to. She’s right in the middle of her first trimester, so you both really need to be careful. It’s already a miracle that the fetus survived. The rest is up to you guys.”

“And what about the amnesia?”

“We’re still confused about the memory loss. As I mentioned before, the last case of amnesia that was that severe was such a long time ago, and there was no explanation or pattern that was found in the brain to justify the timeline of the memory loss. 4 years is a really long time. We believe she might be more sensitive due to having such a huge gap in her memory. We don’t know what could trigger memories or how she would react to them, but you and the rest of her family should come up with things or events to stimulate her brain activity and remind her of some of the memories that she lost.”

“That sounds reasonable. I don’t want to overwhelm her too much, so I held back a lot when I was talking to her today. If it’s possible, can we hold off on telling her about her pregnancy? At least until I come back and I can tell her myself. I tried to take the day off today, but I have to deal with the company first so I can be here when she’s discharged.” Yoongi explained.

The doctor looked nervous at first, but thought about it for a while.

“Yes, I think that might be for the best. Waking up in an unfamiliar place with no memories of the past four years can be very overwhelming so it might be easier to ease her into the news. Thank you Mr. Min, we’ll call you when there’s news.” The doctor says before holding his hand out for a handshake.

Yoongi let out a small smile as he shook the doctor’s hand.

“Yes, please let me know if anything happens and if her situation changes. I’ll be back tomorrow to drop off a new cellphone for her so it’s easier to contact people. I’ll see you then, doc. Thank you so much for your hard work.” Yoongi couldn’t help but praise him for being such a helpful person during a difficult time for both him and you.

“It’s no problem at all, Mr. Min. It makes me happy to see how devoted you are in taking care of your wife and future child.” The doctor smiles at him and pats his shoulder roughly before he walks away whistling.

Yoongi only stared at his back as he walked away from him. Devotion. That wasn’t something he was used to.

☽

He’d gone home that night and contemplated the strange encounter that you both had today. The initial shock he received when realizing that you couldn’t recognize him, worse yet remember him, was swept away quickly by your questions about your relationship with him. As the night ended and he tucked himself into his bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about your conversation today.

It was the most civil conversation you’ve had since before the divorce. It was basically the only conversation you’ve had since the divorce. The more he thought about it, the more he zoned out of the reality in front of it. He thought about your teasing smile when you asked if he fell in love with you at first sight. He thought about your laugh, like bells, when he corrected you and said it was love at first laugh. It was like the fates turned back time to when you two first met. It was like he was seeing you for the first time again.

The you from today was such a stark contrast from the you that Yoongi had lived with in the months leading up to your divorce. Being reminded of what you were like back then and comparing it to the person you turned into after 4 years together made his heart beat faster. He didn’t know what it was but thinking about how you changed, how you grew, made him nervous. These weren’t fluffy feelings of romance or admiration. It seemed to be more like fear. He looked down at his hands and realized that they were shaking. As the shaking continued, he noticed his breathing getting shorter and shorter. He didn’t know what was happening but having these thoughts made him feel so scared.

The tears escaped his eyes before he even realized he was crying. He had never experienced this before. His heart was beating so fast and he couldn’t stop shaking or crying but all he could focus on was your soft smile today and every time he saw it in his head, it crumbled into the 23 year old you who sobbed into her hands in front of him. He just kept thinking and thinking and thinking and it made him cry into his palms more and more. Behind his closed eyes were images of the two of you through the years and the way you had changed from a beautiful, happy person who could probably make the sun and all the planets stop into a sad, quiet, reserved woman who preferred to stay at home and be alone with your paper and your words.

Did he do that? Did he do that to you? Did he make you that sad? Was it his fault that you pulled away from him? Was it his fault that you two fell apart as catastrophically as you fell in love? Was he the reason for your accident?

No, no, no, no. He cried and cried and couldn’t breathe. I didn’t do that, I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t mean to do that. I loved you. I loved you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

At the same time, you woke up in your hospital bed, shocked by a nightmare that eventually dulled and became forgotten as soon as you woke. You felt like there was something important that the dream told you, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. Instead of trying to remember, you looked up at the ceiling of your hospital room and contemplated on your strange encounter with your so-called ex-husband today. Mentions of the divorce were vague, so you didn’t focus on it much. He told you a love story that you wouldn’t have believed if you hadn’t lost your memories. You smiled as you remembered that way he told you he fell in love at first laugh. There was a twinkle in his eye when he said that, but you still noticed a twinge of sadness and regret behind it all.

“For your information, it was at first laugh.”

You closed your eyes and tried so hard to remember anything, just the smallest thing, to confirm whatever Yoongi had told you, but nothing came to you except for a barrage of tears that was so sudden it shocked you. You tried to stop crying, but you couldn’t. You tried to laugh but it only ended in broken sobs. There was a hurt in your chest that you couldn’t precisely describe. It was sharp, and it hurt your heart, like it was breaking little by little. It wasn’t happiness. Not at all. It felt like a sadness that you hadn’t ever felt before (or at least your 19 year old self), but you couldn’t possibly remember why you felt like this. The tears kept coming and coming and it frustrated you so much that you didn’t know why you were crying like this. You just wanted to remember something about your marriage, your relationship, and Min Yoongi. You couldn’t understand why you were feeling like this.

Of course, though the memory is lost, the hurt and sorrow that your heart had gone through couldn’t be forgotten. At least not by your body. It was a sadness so deep in your bones that not even the loss of the memories associated with this hurt could erase it.

☽

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taglist 1: @victoriedulce @yoongistruth @rebeccawoodrow @moon-asia @koochiekoo @sonderkook @fangirling-gallifreyan @teresaisla @veronawrites @haeilove @rjsmochii @mama-m0chi @agustd-2020 @imluckybitches @dreamer95 @coldfreakeggsexpert @rjsmochii @loveyoongles @selfproducingfanfictionauthor @mr-robot-x

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oikawaplssteponme · 3 years

Text

PART 12 | previously: part 11 | masterlist

pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x fem! reader

ratings/warnings: swearing

synopsis: When UA’s hot heads, Katsuki Bakugou and you, are forced to put your hatred for each other aside and plan the third year Prom, things end up getting a little heated...

a/n: hi hi!! ahh im so sorry for getting this out later than expected! i had finals this past week so i was pretty busy, but all good now :)) 💕 enjoy xx

•

twelve: wear this please

After you had fully calmed down, Iida helped you carry the remaining boxes from the basement over to the venue. The rest of your friends were already there to lend a hand.

“Sorry I'm late guys. Um okay, I need about four people to help set up the chairs and tables and about four people again helping with decorations. Everyone else can help with cleaning. I can take care of the other stuff,” you explained. Your friends nodded and dispersed among themselves. You went up to the balcony in hopes of setting up the lighting system as best as you could.

The balcony was dark. You looked down at your friends. You watched as Iida and Deku speedily set up the tables and chairs. You saw Mina and Aoyama argue over the order of the streamers. Soon, another scene caught your eye. Kirishima was arranging the tables as well, placing the tablecloths and centerpieces in their desired places.

Then, the one person you didn’t want to see most of all entered the gym. Bakugou stomped over to Kirishima, grabbed him by the collar and led him outside the gym. You watched as Bakugou left with Kirishima.

Uh okay then...

You sighed. Silly of you to hope that he would come talk to you after what happened. Still, your focus needed to be on the dance, not Bakugou.

You finished organizing the lights before heading back down to the main floor. You waved your friends over.

“Thanks again for your help everyone. No way I would’ve been able to get this all done in time by myself,” You said.

“We were happy to help Y/N!” smiled IIda.

“Well, everything looks pretty good. I’m just gonna do some final touches. You’re free to go and get ready,” you explained. Your friends nodded.

“Are you sure you’ve got this Y/N? I don’t mind staying back to help,” insisted Deku. You shook your head.

“No that's okay. Anyway, I want some stuff to be a surprise for everyone,” you insisted. Deku nodded, leaving with the rest of the group.

You looked around the theatre, rubbing your eyes. You took a deep breath and began to set up the photo booth.

[One week earlier]

“You know what we should use the leftover money for?” Bakugou looked at you, raising a brow.

“What dumbass?”

“A photo booth!”

“That’s stupid,” groaned Bakugou. You huffed. You went over to Bakugou and stood behind him. You held a magazine and placed it in front of Bakugou’s face, your arms resting on his shoulders.

“We wouldn’t get a shitty one. We could do an open photo booth where you have one backdrop and an actual photographer. Look how cute.”

You had the magazine opened up to a life-size prop heart. The heart lit up with those old-school Hollywood light bulbs and it was a vibrant shade of red.

“I think it would be a good finishing touch. People could take pictures in front of it with their dates or friends and make stupid memories. We could even get some lowerclassman to take the pictures,” you explained.

Bakugou took the magazine from your hand to take a closer look. You left your arms on his shoulders.

“I can’t really say no to you can I?”

“Nope!”

“Fine, if it makes you that happy, we can get it princess,” he said. You gave Bakugou a squeeze.

“Thank you Katsuki!”

You stared at the silly prop piece. At the time, you were beyond excited for it. You thought it would really tie the decorations together. Now, it just reminded you of Bakugou. This whole Prom reminded you of him. Crazy how one second you were on top of the world with him and the next you’ve hit rock bottom. Maybe three hours had passed since you overheard Bakugou in the common area. Maybe five? Regardless, you were ready for today to be over. Maybe things going back to normal was for the better. After all, that's what you expected what would happen. You just didn’t think it would hurt this bad.

You dragged the large prop over to it’s designated area. You pinned up the gold ‘firework’ backdrop behind it and set up the camera stand. The banner reading “My Emotions Feel Like Explosions When You’re Around” hung up on the backdrop. You read that sentence about ten times. What annoyed you most about it was how it taunted you. Those words. Those words perfectly described how you felt about a certain someone, and you hated it.

We really just had to pick the longest title possible.

You finished organizing the small details, making sure everything was nicely in place. You checked the time. It was a little past 4pm. The dance starts at 9pm. You were supposed to meet the girls in your class to get ready together. You locked up the theatre and headed back to the dorms.

“There you are! We were gonna start getting ready,” said Mina as you entered the dorms.

“Mina, we have like five hours. Why are you getting ready now?” You asked.

“Pictures and dinner are at 7, so really we have about 3 hours,” explained Mina. You sighed.

“Okay okay I’ll grab my stuff and head down.” You went over to your room but stopped in front of the door.

What the…

In front of your door there was a small clear box with a note on it. When you realized what was inside the box, your heart dropped a little. You sighed, and picked up the box. Inside there was a corsage made with black and white roses.

The note read: ‘wear this please’.

Your eyes began to water a little and you couldn’t understand why. You entered your room, still looking at the corsage and note. ‘Wear this please’. The ‘please’ ending the sentence is what threw you off. The note was typed, so there was no way to tell from handwriting. Why would they say please? If it were Bakugou who wrote it, it would make more sense for him to write ‘wear this dumbass’. But who else would think to give you a corsage, and one that matched your dress. You wiped your eyes, setting the box down on your nightstand.

God damn it Katsuki.

You regrouped yourself and started to grab everything you’d need to get ready. You picked up your dress, makeup bag, shoes, and the little clear box. You weren’t sure if you would actually wear it, but you thought there is no harm in bringing it.

You stepped outside your room with all your things, seeing that your friends were waiting for you. You all had decided to get ready together in the dressing rooms that the school uses for plays.

“Alright, let’s go ladies!”

You set down your things on the dressing room counter and hung up your dress.

“Y/N, I love your corsage!” smiled Mina, pointing to the small box.

“Oh uh thanks. Decided to get myself one,” you lied.

“Okay, I need someone to help me curl my hair!” said Momo. You laughed.

“I can help.” Your friends all began to get ready. Makeup, hair spray, and perfume filled the air. You were never one to care too much about dressing up but something about doing it with your friends put a smile on your face. You continued to curl Momo’s hair and looked around as your friends pampered themselves.

All this for a 3 hour dance?

“I hope they play a few slow songs,” gushed Uraraka.

“Not like you’d have the guts to ask anyone to dance though,” teased Jirou. Uraraka crossed her arms.

“Maybe I will!”

“Slow dancing is so awkward,” you laughed.

“I think it’s cute,” said Uraraka.

“Jirou you do know Kaminari is gonna ask you to dance,” joked Momo. Jirou laughed.

“If his hands stray for even a second you can bet he will be short-circuited for the rest of the night.”

After you had made yourself ‘Prom ready’ it was time to slip on your dress. You loved your dress, it was your favorite thing about this whole Prom situation.

“Zip me up?” You asked Momo. The zipper glided up your back, securing you in your dress.

“This dress was made for you Y/N, you look stunning,” smiled Momo. Your face got warm.

“Says you, you look gorgeous.”

“We all do!” Cheered Mina. Everyone looked picture perfect.

“So? Ready to go?” asked Jirou. You looked over at your clear box. You took it, opened it, and slipped the corsage over your wrist.

“Yup. Let’s do this.”

•

[taglist CLOSED: @vangoghpoets @vangoghmusings @bokutory @complimentaryhugsgirl @cloudswriting @kriswu46 @neodnyl @evivn1 @jazzylove @mileven-reddie @whalerus @misssugarless @random-fandom-girl-24 @fanfiction-and-stress @ushiwakatrash @minhoswife @addictofsupernatural @the-shota-king-masayuki @freyafolkvangr @fourteenow @tamaguchi @lalayy @athenarosaline @blxck-coffee @katsukibabe @thatonegeekchick @that-chick212 @bibly @nxynxy @theunknownrandom @flustered-blue-eyed-sex-muffin @94potterhead @moonlightaangel @katusukisbitch2000 @secondchoicealwaysandforever @salsaedx @ukaisgratefulwhore @lucyheartfilias-wife @lanaxians-2 if your name is bold I couldn’t tag you]

#willow.🌸#my hero academy fanfiction #my hero academia #mha bakugou #katsuki bakugō #bakugou x you #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou x y/n #bnha bakugou #katsuki #katsuki x you #bnha katsuki x reader #katsukibakugou #hot heads.🌸

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kinda-just-chillin-here · 4 years

Text

Greek Mythology and Julie & the Phantoms

My first watch through of Julie and the Phantoms (JATP), I noticed a few similarities and parallels to certain myths within Greek mythology. On my million rewatches, I paid more attention to see if there were others. This post is all my observations of the parallels, as well as a few possible theories for season 2 the writers could follow for certain storylines. This is a ridiculously long read, I apologize.

**Disclaimers:

There are spoilers, so if you haven’t finished watching for the first time yet, don’t read this.

The content in Greek myths can vary depending on the source. This is largely due to the fact they are just super old. So some of the myths might be slightly different. I did my best just to compare to the gist of the myth.

I’m going to refer to Luke, Reggie, and Alex together as either Sunset Curve or the boys to save space.

I apologize for any typos and mistakes; midterm season has left me with an empty head.

1. Orpheus

Obviously a major motif in the first season is the Orpheum. Orpheum literally means House of Orpheus.

Background information of Orpheus:

His mother is Calliope (muse of epic poetry), and depending on the version of the story, his father is either Apollo (god of the sun, healing, music, medicine, archery, and poetry) or King Oeagrus of Thrace.

Orpheus was considered to be one of the greatest musicians. He had a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” no god or mortal could resist his music.

Let’s look at some of his myths.

Orpheus and Eurydice:

The basic summary of this myth is that Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife, died after being bitten by snakes while running away from a man, Aristaeus, or a satyr (depends on source) who wanted her for himself. Devastated, Orpheus began singing sad songs until he was advised by nymphs to go to the Underworld and bring her back. After singing to Hades and Persephone, they agreed to let Eurydice return to the main world. However, they warned him not to look back before they both entered the light of the surface. He happily began his trek back to the surface. When Orpheus reached the exit, Eurydice in toe, he turned around to see her, anxious to make sure it wasn’t a trick, that she was really there. Only, Eurydice was still in the Underworld, she hadn’t crossed over yet. Orpheus turning around when he did, caused Eurydice to remain in the underworld.

So who’s who?

Julie = Orpheus (talented musician and desperate to save their love from the Underworld)

Sunset Curve = Eurydice (dead and trapped)

Caleb = Aristaeus and Hades (wants Eurydice/Sunset Curve for himself; controls the place the dead are)

Hollywood Ghost Club (HGC) = The Underworld

How do they relate? Stand Tall (s1e09) is where it all goes down.

Like Aristaeus, Caleb is pursing Sunset Curve because he wants them for himself (and Caleb is also threaten by the power they have).

Caleb has the boys trapped in the HGC, just like Eurydice in the Underworld.

Julie had to deal with the idea the boys died (again) when they didn’t show up before the performance. At first she couldn’t, she ran out until she had a sign from her mom, telling her to go on stage. You could argue this sort of parallels the nymphs telling Orpheus to plea to Hades, or that it parallels Orpheus on his journey back to the surface after Hades agreed.

This is where Julie and Orpheus differ. Julie goes onstage, fully believing in the sign from her mother; that even if the boys don’t come, she can do it. The lyrics of Stand Tall are pure genius. “Keep moving on, never look back.” That’s exactly what Julie does. Unlike Orpheus, Julie doesn’t look back. And the boys appear, no longer trapped by Caleb at the HGC. Julie breaks away from the Orpheus formula and wins.

@multifandomterrors wrote an essay on how it relates too! She has three theories of how it fits and I definitely recommend you check it out!

Bonus reasons Julie is Orpheus:

Orpheus joined Jason and the Argonauts. When the ship was approaching the Sirens, Orpheus saves the crew from death by playing his own music, drowning out the Sirens’ Song. Likewise, Julie is able to save the boys from Caleb. You can argue that her singing Stand Tall acted as a beacon, beckoning the boys away from Caleb and back to her, saving them in the process.

This one is more of a long shot but oh well. Orpheus is said to have a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” that no god or mortal could resist his music. The boys say that Julie has “the voice of an angel.” Throughout the season, as soon as Julie starts to sing, people are generally drawn in, even Carrie by the end.

Onto the next parallel...

2. Lotus Eaters

As soon as the slightest idea of the boys missing the dance was hinted at I knew it was going to happen because ~formulas~, but once they got to the HGC, I had a strong feeling it was going to be a Lotus Eaters situation.

Summary of the Lotus Eaters:

In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew encounter the Lotus Eaters. They do as their name suggests, they eat the peculiar Lotus flower. When the lotus flower is eaten, those who eat it are “overcome with a blissful forgetfulness,” and want to do nothing more than stay where they are. The crew mates had to be dragged back to the ship, otherwise they never would have returned to their duties. The most well known adaptation of this is probably the Lotus Casino in Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, where the characters spend days/years there, only thinking it was a few hours/days. It’s a time warp per se.

So what’s what?

Hollywood Ghost Club = Lair/island of the lotus eaters (everyone there appears to have no other worries in life)

The music & dancing = Lotus flower (sucks everyone in)

How do they relate?

Once Caleb starts performing, Sunset Curve are sucked in. Eventually, they are overcome with a “blissful forgetfulness” and forget about Julie and the dance. They only get sucked back out once Caleb mentions it’s the witching hour.

Alex literally says “This place is some sort of time warp.”

When the boys try to leave, the dancers and then Caleb try to reel them back in.

The next is not directly Greek mythology, but distantly related:

3. Disney’s Hercules

The story in Disney’s Hercules isn’t exactly what the myths of Heracles are. It’s Disney, so of course the stories are romanticized and changed significantly. First of all, in the original myths, Hercules is really named Heracles, and Megara is nothing more than Heracles’ wife that ends with a tragic story.

In the movie, Hades wants Hercules dead since he is the only one that can ruin his plan to take over the world. He enlists Megara (or Meg, whose soul he owns) to get to know him and find his weakness. As Meg gets to know Hercules, they fall in love. Hades uses this as Hercules’ weakness, and once he outs Meg for working for him, Hercules is emotionally defeated. However, he still gives up his power for 24 hours, as long as Meg remains untouched by harm. Of course that doesn’t happen, and Meg dies while saving Hercules. Her soul is returned to the Underworld, and Hercules journeys down there to save her, even though he might die doing so. Except he doesn’t; he saves Meg, and it’s happily ever after.

So who’s who?

Alex = Hercules

Willie = Meg

Caleb = Hades

How does it relate?

Like Hades wants Hercules dead, Caleb wants Alex (and the boys) under his control because they are too powerful. He’s threatened by them.

Even though Willie didn’t mean to bring the boys into the mess with Caleb, he still did (no hate, I love my son). Willie acts as Meg in this situation because Caleb still uses him to get to the boys. Caleb gets to put his stamp on them.

Willie, just like Meg, decides to not help Caleb anymore, though he’s still stuck. He cares about Alex, he doesn’t want him to be stuck at the HGC like him forever; he doesn’t want Caleb to own Alex’s soul. So, Willie helps Alex and the boys with their plan to crossover.

In Stand Tall, right before You’ve Got Nothing to Lose, Caleb appeals to each of the boys’ weakness. Caleb says “Everything you want, including Willie, is right here.” Just like Hades uses Meg against Hercules, Caleb uses Willie against Alex.

Potential Season 2 Willex Storyline

The parallel to Hercules and Meg isn’t finished. Alex hasn’t saved Willie from Caleb yet, and Caleb hasn’t been defeated yet. We don’t see Willie after the Willex hug in Stand Tall. I think it’s safe to assume that Willie is not safe from Caleb, especially since he helped Sunset Curve escape Caleb’s curse. There’s a lot of things that could happen. One of my assumptions is that Caleb is going to use Willie as bait to lure Alex back in. Another is that, like how Hercules goes to the Underworld to save Meg’s soul, Alex is going to actively choose to return to the HGC to try to save Willie from Caleb.

And the last parallel to Greek mythology in season 1...

4. Cheyenne Jackson

He plays Hades in Descendants 3, a Disney movie, meaning he’s the same Hades as in Hercules.

Caleb Covington, you could argue is the “king of the dead” in JATP

That’s it, that’s the parallel.

Possible Season 2 Storylines

Cephalus and Procris (I’m not as familiar with this myth, but it basically goes like this)

Cephalus and Procris are happily married and very in love with each other. One day, the goddess of dawn, Eos, kidnaps Cephalus because she wants him to herself. Depending on the version you read, Cephalus either sleeps with Eos, or he doesn’t, but regardless, his only concern is how much he loves his wife, Procris. Eos finds that annoying, and plants the idea in his head that Procris is cheating on him when she releases him eight years later. Cephalus returns to Procris, disguised as another man, to see if she would remain faithful. A disguised Cephalus continuously brings Procris presents, and slowly, Procris is swayed by the mysterious man. When Cephalus reveals himself, Procris runs away, ashamed, and joins Artemis’ hunt. Eos wins essentially. She get’s Cephalus... until Procris returns, trying to make amends with her husband. He takes her back, but not long after Procris hears rumors that Cephalus has been unfaithful. She follows him on a hunt, hiding behind a bush. Cephalus hears a bush move, and thinking it’s an animal, he shoots, killing Procris. In the end, Eos still wins as Procris is no longer in the picture, and she could theoretically be with him. Expect Cephalus exiles himself and Eos is never seen again.

How could this apply to JATP season 2?

Julie = Procris

Luke = Cephalus

Caleb = Eos

Caleb-Possessed-Nick = Disguised man

Since Caleb possessed Nick at the end, I assume his plan is to get Julie to pick Nick, thus pushing Luke away from her. Caleb wants Luke and the boys to himself, and as long as Julie is in the picture, that won’t happen. As Caleb-Possessed-Nick tries to flirt and get closer to Julie, Luke will see this and get jealous. His jealousness could lead to tensions between Julie and Luke, making the band a bit awkward, maybe even a big fight that pushes Luke to think about joining Caleb, or at least isolating himself where Caleb would have easy access. I think it would be a very loosely applied parallel, but the idea of Caleb working to cause a rift between Luke and Julie to get Luke by himself is a major possibility. Regardless, Caleb-Possessed-Nick is going to get in the way of Luke and Julie’s slow burn pining for each other.

A General Thought Not Related to Greek Mythology

Regardless of what the writers end up doing, I think Caleb’s best plan would be to target the boys individually; like the continuance of the Hercules parallel with Willex and potential Cephalus & Procris parallel with Juke. I don’t know how he would isolate Reggie, maybe something with his family, but targeting the boys one-on-one would be the most strategic move for Caleb. He could even get super manipulative with it. He could say something like “Alex already agreed” or something along those lines to try to persuade the boy he is talking to.

Additionally, I don’t have any theories on where Carrie and Julie’s relationship may go, but i’m looking forward to a Carrie redemption arc. As far as where Bobby fits in, I read someone’s theory that Caleb may approach him, offering to help keep his reputation as Trevor Wilson, if he helps deal with the boys somehow. I’m sure there’s a potential greek myth that fits a potential Bobby and the boys storyline, but out of the ones I can think of right now, there aren’t. Betrayal is a huge theme in greek mythology though.

Anyway...

While the original target audience was kids and the show probably wasn’t meant to be this deep, as a screenwriter myself, I find it super useful (and fun) to parallel classic stories and myths when I write. It can add a sense of nuance to the story, especially when done right. I hope the writers (assuming at least the Orpheus and Lotus Eaters parallels were intentional) continue to parallel the season with some form of myth or classic story, only to then completely flip the ending.

If you actually took the time to read ALL of this, my god, I applaud you, you amazing human. Thank you so much for reading it. I’d love to hear what y’all think or what theories y’all have as well!

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #jatp #julie molina #madison reyes #luke patterson #charlie gillespie #alex jatp #owen patrick joyner #owen joyner #reggie jatp #jeremy shada #caleb covington #hollywood ghost club #carrie wilson #trevor wilson #dirty candy #flynn jatp

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samwritesforyou · 3 years

Text

Booked

Diego x reader (the whole family is present at the beginning but as time goes on becomes more Diego-centric)

Summary: You have a summer house that is far away from any big cities, you’ve inherited it from your great-great-parents and you want to prove to your friends that you cannot possibly make an income out of it. So you submit the house at booking dot com for the lowest price possible. Your plan was working for years and you’ve been happy and content just by growing your own food and participating in the village’s community, completely forgetting about the offer you presented on booking. Until one day, seven siblings arrive at your place, saying they reserved themselves the whole house for the eternity of summer.

Warnings: gender-neutral reader, swear words (? but just a couple, mainly from Five)

Wordcount: 3.7k

A/N: settling is post s2, so everyone looks accordingly. umbrella academy gets back into the timeline where no umbrella nor the sparrow academy exists, yet the world is still ending. mostly written out of nostalgia for my own summer house that my family sold years ago and i will never come back there, so i want it to live on at least somewhere

Summers were always hot in this little village that you lived in, especially with the climate change looming over humanity’s ignorant heads.

So you were actually relieved that you finally persuaded a local technician to help you fix the fridge that stopped freezing its insides for good two weeks already.

You just handed her the cash and waved her goodbye, also giving the lady a basket with apples and peaches that grew in your garden. You don’t have enough people eating your fruits and most of it goes into jams anyways.

You waited a little until her car disappeared into the horizon of the bumpy road near your house, seeing as it even got blurry in the end, as the air was literally melting the reality in front of your eyes.

With a swift movement you adjusted a cap on your head, went out of the creaky gate - which green color was peeling off into the original black metal that it was made with - and closed it behind yourself with a happy hum.

It was a twenty minutes walk to the nearest convenience store and it gave you just enough time to ponder about the recent weird thing that happened to you.

About three days ago you just got a random payment come to your bank account.

15 Euros. That was it.

No note, no name.

You decided to let it be, even though it did stir your mind in various ways.

Normally, when something like this happens, the bank realises the mistake in the recipient and takes the money back within 24 hours.

Either the person who sent it didn’t care that it went to the wrong place or bank decided to be generous with you.

Whatever the reason was, those 15 Euros could be used now to buy yourself a little more sweets than you usually do.

You never had to complain about how little money you actually have from living here and being more or less self-sufficient, but some random extra cash will make anyone smile in this capitalistic hell that you tried so hard to escape from.

After you came home you started sorting out groceries that you’ve bought, putting them into the right places.

Upon finishing you just plopped yourself on the bench near the big abandoned table in the room, looking around.

This house used to be alive. With a lot of your family members running around, making noise, sometimes fighting, but always generally just enjoying the good time at this place.

At the end of the extended room was a window, showing you the rest of the garden that you lovingly cared for every single day.

Under the window was a spacious kitchen counter, with a fridge and shelves for ingredients next to it. Then there was the entrance to one of the unused bedrooms with one bed pushed against the wall, which in turn was covered by a red hanging carpet. On a wall, yes.

You stopped tracing the room around with your eyes as you heard some rummaging coming from the outside.

After easily springing to your feet you saw black dots in front of you and your head was spinning. Damn you, iron deficiency!

A few seconds passed and you were collected again, rushing out towards the gates to the property.

You stopped in your tracks as you saw five people literally barging through your piece of land with suitcases and bags, bickering with each other.

Oh, nope. They were six, actually. A very tiny figure closed the gate after all of them made it in and started clumsily going forward on a tiny tartan road that lead all the way to the summer house.

“Klaus, stop fucking pushing around and help me with the bags, maybe?” said a man with longer curly hair and a goatee, clearly agitated at another person, who wasn’t holding anything except some bottle in their hand.

“Oh cut it, you two! We’re almost in the house, come on,” said a woman with straight black hair in the flowery dress and then she noticed that someone blocks their way.

Her eyes landed on you.

“Um... hello?” she said with an awkward smile, attempting a wave in your direction and continued, “are you the owner? We booked your house until the rest of the summer like.. a few days ago.”

Your eyes widened and your mouth hung open in the “o” shape, trying to grasp the reality.

So.... someone really booked your summer house after several years of no traction from booking and you had no clue.

That’s what the payment was for!

But..

“Oh,” you said, not knowing how to proceed about the situation, “well, you see.. um... I have nowhere to stay? This is my only home,” you started timidly, rubbing your hands together.

“Oh,” the woman seemed surprised and confused but quickly collected herself, “well, if you have enough beds to keep us all in then it’s no problem, I guess?”

“Yeah? Alright, great!” You smiled at the whole “squad” and looked at them all.

“Uhm.. my name is y/n! Welcome to my summer house, I guess,” you put your hands into the back pockets and shook your head a little into the direction of the house.

“Allison, nice to meet you,” the woman you talked to said, smiling invitingly.

“Diego,” almost spat the guy with the goatee.

“Klaus, darling,” said the person with the bottle in their hand, widening his arms in an invisible hug.

“Luther,” mumbled a big man in the back of them all.. he looked like he’s been through something.

Actually, they all do.

“Vanya,” chirped a girl behind the big- Luther, the corners of her lips lifting ever so lightly.

“Five,” said a child in the front, looking unusually angry, suddenly shortening the distance between the two of you, “as long as you’re out of our business you’re good to stay,” he literally sneered at you, pushing past you and going inside.

That left you kinda shook, but then Allison just apologised for “their brother”, so you decided to ask another question:

“So you’re all a family?”

“Yes, we’re all siblings. Adopted,” she said, actually following you inside, not as the little guy before who let himself in without even knowing the place.

“I think my place is not the best for so many people to sleep at though..” you said quietly, biting your lip.

“That’s why it was so cheap..” Luther wondered, looking around.

You had to calm yourself so you didn’t snap at your guest. You didn’t even know anyone would ever book your house, damn! What were you supposed to do?

In the end you spent some time showing them the rooms, starting with the first one that contained an old-fashioned sink and the water tank near it, which you needed to manually fill up with water, and the drain led to the bucket under it.

Very simple.

In the back of the room there was a dining table, on one side surrounded by the bench and the other with some mismatching chairs.

From this space you proceeded into the extended “hallway” that you stared at before your peace and quiet was ruined.

There was also an ancient literal furnace, on top of which you could actually lay on, you know, as in all the fairytales.

After that, there was another room entrance that contained two beds on each side (one of them pushed under the window), similar to the other room and a coffee table in the middle of the area.

When you all went back to the first place, there was a wooden staircase that led to the second floor.

There were two rooms. One had a king sized bed in the middle of the space, with a closet and various tables around the whole area.

The other one had a working table and a bed in the corner.

“And that is the end of the tour!” you proclaimed, as everyone got seated by the big table in the extended room, while you were making everyone tea and preparing some snacks.

“Great, I sleep on the furnace!” Klaus exclaimed, putting his hands in the air animatedly.

“I guess we can fit all of us in here, actually,” Allison was clearly thinking aloud, counting the members of the family and available sleeping places.

“You’re gonna take one of the beds, right?” she said, pointing at you.

“Uh.. yes! Upstairs, I think. The one with the small bed and a table,” you smiled at her and she nodded.

“Then I’ll be sleeping with Vanya in the king-sized bed and you guys can fight for who’s going to end up sharing the room,” Allison concluded, clearly enjoying herself.

“Funny of you to think I’ll have enough time to sleep, in our situation,” said Five, suddenly coming out from the doorframe into the room.

You didn’t even mention that he wasn’t there when you were explaining the plan of the house.

“What situation? There should always be time to sleep,” you chipped in, carefully smiling at the boy.

“Stay the fuck out of our business, I said,” he gritted through his teeth at you, which left you blinking in surprise as he went away again, out of sight.

“How... old is he again?” you asked with the confusion that a kid would be so rude to a stranger like this.

All of them kind of nervously laughed or mumbled something that you couldn’t understand.

“It’s complicated,” said Vanya, smiling at you reassuringly.

How the fuck an age of your own brother is complicated?..

You heard the fancy-looking woman - Allison - sigh heavily and turn to you, shrugging.

“It’s just.. when our parents adopted him, he freshly got into the orphanage so he didn’t even have any documents about his birthday, blood type or anything. Apparently, he was really abused by his biological parents. Or whoever else, we don’t even know.”

“Oh.. I’m sorry,” you apologised quickly, biting your lip. Didn’t expect to poke into any painful subjects.

“It’s okay, really, we’ve learned how to take proper care of him,” Allison said, putting her hand on your back with a smile.

When you excused yourself to continue with gardening and went outside, Allison just shook her head.

“Who says ‘it’s complicated’ when someone asks you about their sibling’s age, Vanya?” said Allison in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, I thought it would settle the matter..” she muttered, playing with her fingers anxiously.

“It’s okay..” she smiled at her sister and then looked around the whole table, “look we’re here for the whole summer, so I think it would be better if we somehow told the owner at least partially about our powers so we’re not hiding all the time. We came here to have a safe space where we could train after all, am I right?” she looked expectantly at Luther who immediately started nodding along, agreeing.

“Or maybe,” started saying Klaus, already getting up from his seat and trying to crawl onto the furnace, skinny legs already dangling in the air, “we can just tell them we’re the umbrella academy, don’t you think?” he concluded, facing a wall with his face.

“But we checked that the umbrella academy doesn’t exist in this universe.. nor any other replacement of us,” reminded her siblings Vanya, fingers still intertwined on the table, firmly put together.

“I’m sure we’ll tell them one way or another,” said Diego, getting up just like his brother, making his way a bit further though, his objective clearly being the fridge.

He opened it and smirked at the beer present there, taking one can with him. His eyes then wondered to the window at the end of the room and he stepped closer, inspecting what is outside.

Apparently it was still their new home’s property, as he saw y/n working in the garden, repotting some plants under the tree.

His gaze stayed on them as he thought about various topics in his head, but then he decided to go out of the house, jumping down the wooden stairs leading to the tartan road, framing the whole garden.

You heard steps behind you, turning your head away from the the plants, only to meet a tall man in front of you, with a can in his hand.

“Hey, uhm..” he nervously put his hand on his neck, scratching it, “I just wanted to ask if it’s cool if I take some beer from the fridge?” he lifted the other hand with the mentioned item, giving it a little shake.

“It’s cool,” you replied, smiling softly at him, and then getting back to work, grabbing the plant by the root, moving it to another hole in the ground.

“Okay..” he retorted, biting his lower lip and scanned the area with his dark eyes.

There was an abandoned greenhouse with broken walls, greenery growing all around it, just next to the fence of the property. To its left was a wooden toilet booth with a typical round-shaped hole in the higher part of the door.

“I’m really sorry, by the way,” you started talking again, now finally done with your objective of the day, now plopping yourself next to Diego on the bench that he was chilling at, the surface creaking from the added weight, “I really thought nobody would *ever* rent this place,” you shrugged with a smile, now looking in front of yourself, closing your eyes and letting sunshine illuminate your face.

“Well.. uh.. then why did you put up on that website anyways?” he asked, clear confusion in his voice.

You sighed, shifting your body a little, getting into more comfortable sitting position, “It was a bet I made with my friends back in the day. A few years ago they told me I could actually rent this place and get income from it, not having to work a day in my life! Yet i told them that it’s not possible, and I wanted to prove that I was right by putting the advertisement,” you finished, finally opening your eyes, tilting your head at your new acquaintance.

You caught him staring at you, so he quickly turned away, now getting quite a violent sip out of the beer can.

“You should’ve put some timing on that bet then.. Let’s say, if it doesn’t get traction after two years you’ll finally delete the posting,” he said, after gulping some liquid.

That made you laugh and you couldn’t look away from him. His features were so.. delicate.

“Yeah, you’re actually right!” you admitted, slapping your thighs in excitement.

“Diego, my precious brother!” you two suddenly heard from the entrance to the house.

You lifted your eyes and saw a slender confide getting closer to you both, the man walking barefoot.

“Five said we’re all needed for a ‘family meeting’,” the guy literally put an air quotes with his free hand that wasn’t holding a glass, saying it in the mockingly serious tone, “so you better come with me and stop bothering this lovely person, alright?” he then proceeded sweetly, extending a hand towards Diego with a wide smile.

“God.. alright,” he answered and to your surprise took his hand, now brothers going away into the house, Diego briefly looking back at you, “Let’s talk later.”

You just nodded, finding yourself still smiling long before they were gone.

What is this funny feeling in the pit of your stomach?..

And why is one of their family members called by a number instead of a name?!

It was only the second day of your coexistence with the Hargreeves but it was already a wild ride.

Normally your morning looked like this;

You would wake up at a reasonable hour, maybe like.. 9am. You would go down the stairs from your room and make yourself some breakfast. While eating you’d either read a book or just listen to some music from your phone.

Then you’d do daily tasks, so taking care of the garden or some house maintenance, or both.

Then you’d do everything special that needs to be done only once in a while: a meeting with a friend, grocery shopping, attending a meeting with your neighbours where you decide on further upgrades of the village.

Then you’d draw some commissions, if there were any and after all of this you’d have late lunch that normally turned into dinner, concluding your day with doing your hobbies or rarely taking out your laptop and browsing the internet.

“Rise and shiiine!” you heard somewhere from downstairs, for some reason that person was also ringing a bell, making you immediately sit up in your bed.

You turned your head towards the mirror that hung across your sleeping space on the wall and you could see your hair standing up in different directions, cowlick upon cowlick.

You also felt tired, kind of not used to that feeling and shifted your half-closed eyes to the alarm clock near you.

It was... a bit past 7am. Who are those people to wake up that early?!

You lazily got up from the bed, yawning and stretching your arms up, feeling a few cracks here and there.

“Good morning!” first half of the sentence was muffled by the closed door to your room, but that quickly changed as it burst open, Klaus marching right in, his voice now uncomfortably loud for your sleepy ears, “I thought it would be nice to have breakfast all together and make you feel a part of the family, wouldn’t it?” he said with a genuine smile, looking at you.

You were sitting on your bed in pyjamas, hair all over the place, most unamused expression on the face, eyes half opened.

“Not a morning person?” he mused, tilting his head at you, “well, feel free to join or sleep more, I wouldn’t judge,” he continued and you saw in literal slow motion as he lifted his hand with a bell in hand, shaking it hard as he marched out of your room just in the same manner as he came in just seconds ago.

“BREAKFAST!!” he yelled with at least two octaves lower at his siblings, still ringing the bell that now was resonating in your brain in a highest pitch possible, making your head hurt.

Great morning.

But despite the general morning grumpiness you did find it endearing that Klaus decided to include you in their activities, making you feel less alone and - quite funnily - welcomed in your own house.

You slowly went down the stairs, hearing the lower floor full of different voices and it made your heart clench. You immediately thought of your family that made it feel alive like this in the past and a warm smile appeared on your face, as the Hargreeves huddled up around the smaller table in the room you descended from the stairs into, all making your appearance feel natural.

“Good morning,” you passed Luther that nodded in your direction alongside the phrase, as you went into the bigger room, seeing Allison cooking by the stove, window open.

“Oh hey, you’re up,” she said with a smile, “can you pass me some milk?” she asked, extending her hand into the air, already expecting said item.

“Sure!!” you hurriedly opened the fridge, giving her the thing she requested and she continued cooking.

You slowly looked around, seeing a blanket and some different things like cigarette boxes and teddy bears on top of the furnace, which made you realise that someone from the family has clearly claimed it to be their place for sleeping and you found it adorable.

“You can go sit with the others, I’ll bring it all in when it’s ready, Allison said, adjusting her black hair so it didn’t get in the way of preparing food.

“Oh.. okay!” you chirped, with a smile going back to the first room, and finding an empty seat between Diego and Klaus.

You almost sat already when Klaus sprang to his feet and took you by the shoulders, making you freeze on the spot, eyes wide.

“Klaus?” you asked, confused, “is that seat taken?”

“By Allison,” Diego quickly responded before his brother had any chance to and then the skinny man sat back on his chair, nodding with an awkward smile on his face.

“Yes, exactly. Sorry y/n,” he sighed and shrugged, clearly playing along Diego’s words, but you just let it go.

Instead you sat next to Luther, whom already opened his mouth but Vanya looked at him with a forced smile, raising a brow. At that, the big guy closed his mouth again, without making a sound.

Something.. is weird here. You shifted a bit in your seat, biting your lower lip.

The kid wasn’t here at all, you just noticed.

Then finally Allison came with the food and your anxiety lessened, as everyone started cheering for wonderful pancakes that she made.

She already wanted to sit on the seat that the guys told you was reserved for her, when suddenly Klaus did the same to her as he did to you.

“Klaus,” Diego hissed in a low voice.

Allison just looked at her brother, expression just as confused as yours was.

“What?” Allison deadpanned, putting a hand to her hip.

There was a brief second of silence until Klaus just burst into an emotional speech.

“Look, I know we’re all pretending that we’re normal in front of y/n but you all know that Ben always sits next to me and he’s sitting here right now, yet you all wanna make it seem like he doesn’t exist? I’m sorry that he’s a ghost, I’m sure he didn’t want to die either!” then after a moment he added, “Right, brother dear?” looking at an empty space near him.

Your brain clearly wasn’t catching up to what was just being said.

Pretending to be normal?..

“Great. Just fucking great, Klaus. I bet Ben would move, understanding the situation!” Allison waved her hands at him and the chair next to him with an annoyed voice.

“We just blew our cover, guys,” said Diego with pursed lips, looking absentmindedly at the table filled with food.

Soon enough they all started arguing and only when there was a sudden blue light in the room, and the kid appeared literally out of the thin air in front of your eyes, everyone fell silent, looking at him.

“Guys, I just did a search around the neighbourhood and—“ his blue eyes met with yours, full of shock and denial of what you just saw, “shit.”

He clicked his tongue and frowned and that was positively the last thing you remember before losing consciousness, everything around you turning black.

Too much of supernatural for one morning, that’s for sure.

Precious taglist: @radcloudenthusiast, @spacenerdpascal

NEXT PART→

#diego x reader #diego hargreeves x reader #tua diego #diego reader insert #the umbrella academy #tua fanfic #umbrella academy x reader #diego hargreeves #number two #number two x reader

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