#Ear Cleaning Adelaide | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gremlinshitposterthesecond · 6 months

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Paris, France

Author’s Note: i got the foundation of this from “What’s Mine is Yours” by DoflamingosStrings on ao3 and i couldn’t help but insert my OC as i headcannon that the Fantastic Four plus my OC would have qualifications of a poly!queer platonic (questionable) relationship. A little background, my OC, Adelaide, is an unapologetically black fem who is Johnny’s agent and social media manager. She’s more comedic relief, but also takes no shit. In my headcannon, she follows the quartet into Outworld at Johnny’s request and starts off as more of a spectator (essentially doing all the recording that you see Johnny do in story mode). However, she becomes a kombatant by subduing Mileena, saving Kenshi’s sight. A little joke is that she threatens to get Johnny cancelled for colonial behavior had he not given Sento back to Kenshi. This is more so an extension of DoflamingosStrings’s work, as if the couples’ mingling has gone on for a while now. Everything else remains relatively the same.

WARNING: MDNI. This fic contains graphic descriptions of sexual activity including threesomes - M/M/F, PIV intercourse, anal sex, oral sex (fem and male receiving), dom/sub dynamics and more. Read at your own risk!

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Kenshi hunched over the kitchen counter, reveling in the smell and taste of the freshly brewed coffee Adelaide had made him before she and Johnny left for a meeting about future roles. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him, breaking him out of his quiet solace.

“Finally, some peace and quiet, huh?” Kung Lao’s timbre sliced through the silence.

“If you’re anything like me, you’ll learn to miss Johnny and Adelaide’s boisterous voices. Keeps my head clear of dangerous thoughts.” Kenshi straightened his back and leaned into the younger’s touch. Kung Lao placed his chin on Kenshi’s shoulder and breathed in his scent. He had originally woken not to be comforted by Kenshi’s presence, but because Adelaide had also made breakfast. A spread of pancakes, fruit, eggs, and sausage laid covered on the dining table, tempting him with its decadent smell. Small divets signaled that Adelaide and Johnny had gotten their helping before rushing out the door to beat L.A. traffic.

In fact, Johnny had invited Raiden, who remained asleep upstairs, and Kung Lao to spend time at his “humble” abode to allow for proper rest after their endeavors tasked by Liu Kang. They eagerly agreed wanting to spend more time with the trio seeing as their origins in China would not allow for frequent visitations.

“Hmm..” Kenshi began as he felt Kung Lao’s morning erection against the small of his back. Kung Lao raised his head a bit to listen to what he had to say. “Raiden sure is missing out right now.”

Kung Lao chuckled, his breath tickling Kenshi’s ear sending chills down his tattooed arms. “Sure is. Not only would he love this scene right now, but I also might clean the assortment before he wakes up.” His arms made his way beneath Kenshi’s shirt to feel his ribbed abs. His fingernails lightly grazing across, not helping as Kenshi gasped at the feeling.

“I would bend you over right now, but I have to get some sustenance in me first. Can’t please you on an empty stomach.” Kung Loa said, quickly pulling away and grabbing a plate from the cabinet just above Kenshi’s head.

When all was said and done, Kung Lao did indulge in a hefty portion while Kenshi kept his very moderate. The latter shifting in his seat knowing his fate was set after Kung Lao was full.

Raiden awoke to the vulgar sounds that came from Johnny and Kenshi’s shared rooms. The sunlight peaked through the blinds and Kung Lao’s scent in the sheets began to dissipate. He arose to stretch his limbs, the tension nearly gone now as he got the opportunity to relax rather than continuously prove himself as Earthrealm’s champion. He opened the bedroom door which acted as a soundproof barrier, the sounds having increased tenfold. He walked down the hall, the sounds still increasing. But he passed the door to Johnny and Kenshi’s bedroom where they were evidently coming from in favor of taking the stairs to the kitchen.

‘For Raiden. :)’ - From Adelaide

The note made him smile as he picked up the still warm coffee cup on the table. He helped himself to the scraps Kung Lao had left and picked up the newspaper that had already been read by someone prior. Once he made it to the last page and filled out the remaining crossword boxes, he hadn’t noticed that the sounds had stopped. Only lifting his head due to Kung Lao’s heavy steps coming down the stairs. Kenshi followed, sex written all over his body that was now scattered with hickeys and bite marks. In addition, he had a bit of a limp to his gait.

“Have fun?” Raiden leaned back in his chair, amused at the scene that lay before him.

Kenshi raised a finger at him before collapsing face first into the couch in the living room.

“Careful or else I might begin to think that Johnny is rubbing off on you.” Raiden joked, biting his tongue from laughing at his expense.

“Actually I was rubbing off on him.” Kung Lao chuckled as he approached Raiden, leaning in to peck him on the cheek.

“Neither you nor Cage are funny.” Kenshi’s voiced, his usual stoic demeanor returning to him.

Kung Lao gathered the plates on the table and began to clean them, knowing that Adelaide would be pissed to come back to dirty dishes and also as a gesture of appreciation for her work.

Raiden also made work of cleaning off the tables and counters. He would’ve asked Kenshi to help mop, but decided against it knowing that he definitely would be of no use right now. After cleaning, he plopped himself on the couch and turned on the TV, opting for some animal documentary. A comfortable silence came over the trio before Kung Lao spoke.

“You know, sometimes I feel bad that Adelaide is left out of the fun.”

“What do you mean?” Raiden questioned as he used the small of Kenshi’s back as a headrest. His feet were propped in Kung Lao’s lap.

“Like…” Kung Lao scratched the back of his neck, not knowing how to voice what may be a controversial opinion. “Like how me, you, Kenshi and Johnny interact. I feel bad keeping her in the dark after everything she does for us. Do you think she even knows?”

Raiden pursed his lips. He definitely was attracted to Adelaide. In fact, he was the one who pointed it out to Lord Liu Kang about her potential as a kombatant. To say that her fighting style and flexibility in kombat didn’t turn him on would be a flat out lie. Did she know? She didn’t necessarily live with Johnny to be privy to such information. Sure, she had her own apartment, but often times would stay at Johnny’s due to his close proximity to work and city life. He didn’t doubt her intelligence either, surely she would have picked up some clues.

He was broken out of his train of thought as Kenshi’s chuckling caused his head to bounce some.

“What’s funny?” Kung Lao quirked an eyebrow at the unusual response.

“She definitely knows.” Kenshi spoke directly.

“About all of us or?” Lao edged on.

“She knows about everything. I vividly remember her mocking Johnny and I for weeks when she caught Raiden coming out of our room one night.”

Raiden’s face flushed immediately. How would that change the way she saw him? Would she still respect him?

“So she doesn’t mind?” Kung Lao spoke again for him.

“Mind it? She’s an active participant.” 

Raiden rose so fast that he got a headache. “What?” he voiced in unison with his boyfriend.

“Sure, its a breach in her contract, but Adelaide has definitely slept with Johnny and I on multiple occasions. It’s like a little treat whenever we’re having good or bad days.” Kenshi spoke so casually about everything he made this whole interaction seem normal.

“And?” Raiden finally was able to find his voice.

“And what?” He smirked.

“Dude, you can’t drop a bomb like that and then not expect us to want more info!”

Kenshi rolled his eyes before filling them in.

“For one, the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. I think I could spend hours between her legs, in fact I have. And you would think her body was crafted by the Elder Gods themselves. I think Johnny has pictures and videos stored on a second phone.” Kenshi squeezed the decorative pillow as he began to daydream about the scenarios.

“What else?” Raiden looked over to Kung Lao and rolled his eyes, he playfully reached over to close his jaw.

“I verbally cannot describe to you half of the sinful things our bedroom has seen. I think that’s something you guys have to see for yourself.” Kung Lao and Raiden were hook, line, and sinker. They gave each other a knowing look, wracking their brain for a plan to get Adelaide in bed.

“I can hear you guys thinking from here. Literally just ask her. She’s a nymphomaniac so I highly doubt she would reject the proposition.” Kenshi’s boisterous laugh made the duo blush as he spoke so casually.

“Well at least tell us what her dynamic is like.” Kung Lao had a smirk of his own. In his relationship with Raiden, he hadn’t anticipated that he would be the submissive one, but Raiden knocked him down a few pegs and put his abrasive ego in check. Adelaide was 5’ 2’’ so maybe he would be able to make his comeback.

“She would put you on your ass Lao. She’s a brat for sure and she can take a punishment, but she’s mainly a dominant leaning switch. I never said I was in control when I was between her legs.” Kenshi finally sat up from his position on the couch, he could hear the sound of Adelaide’s car pulling into the driveway. The conversation was over.

The trio pretended as if the indecent discussion never happened as they heard Adelaide and Johnny’s voice get louder as they approached the house. Raiden quickly grabbed the remote and turned up the volume to cover the obvious silence. The door opened and Adelaide entered, irritation heavy in her voice, “Johnny I will rip your dick off if you ever speak without being spoken like that again.”

Kung Lao gulped, his plan of returning to dominance already looking pretty weary. “Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad.” Johnny took his sunglasses off and placed them on top of his head. Adelaide was kicking her black heels off and placed them haphazardly next to the door before removing her blazer and hanging it up in the closet down the hall. She came back and pointed at Johnny, who stood like a toddler being scolded at the door.

“You joked about the co-director being on her 3rd divorce. In what world is that funny?”

“I was trying to relate!” Johnny testified.

Adelaide ran a hand through her sister locs in frustation before taking a deep breath to calm herself down. “I will deal with you later.” A threat which Raiden and Kung Lao know now is probably code for something else.

She turned to the trio and changed her entire demeanor. “I hope you guys enjoyed breakfast.”

“Delicious as always, Adelaide. Thank you. We also cleaned up. Seems like Johnny already has your plate full. Didn’t want to add to it.” Kung Lao looked at Johnny who had made his way to Kenshi for sympathy, the latter rubbing his back as he pouted.

Adelaide crossed the room and placed Kung Lao’s face in her hands. The scent of vanilla encompassed his senses completely. her hands were soft and her acrylic set well-manicured. Kung Lao felt himself burning as she placed a kiss on his forehead, running her nails through his hair which felt great on his scalp, and said, “Bless you, my sweet boy.”

She rose again before stretching, commenting about how she was going to shower and get comfortable. She also declared that she was staying at Johnny’s for the weekend as her place was staring to bore her. Kenshi looked over to Lao who was still dazed by the interaction. Even better, he could see the growing erection in his pants as he watched Adelaide leave the room, paying close attention to her curves as she walked away. Raiden bit his lip at how easily she hypnotized his man.

“Ok. What’s going on?” Johnny lifted his head from Kenshi’s chest. He could smell the remnants of sex on him, but that’s not what had him confused. “Why are you guys so nervous? Kung Lao, you’re gonna need a cold shower at the rate you’re headed.”

“They didn’t know.” Kenshi spoke matter-of-factly.

“They didn’t know? They didn’t know?!” Johnny whisper-yelled when he put two and two together. “Oh, you guys are in for it. You may have saved my ass tonight…literally.”

In another one of Johnny’s guest bedrooms that he set aside just for her, Adelaide was just finishing up her routine. She had slathered on shea oil, vanilla scented lotion, and finished up with vanilla perfume. In addition, she had just discarded her face mask in the trash and finished applying a moisturizer before reaching for her staple product: lip gloss. Just as she finished, there was a knock at her door.

“Come in.”

It was Kung Lao, who looked stressed out of his mind. Adelaide turned from her vanity to take a good look at him. She noticed his tense muscles and staunch posture.

“What’s up with you? Something stressing you?” She placed her lip gloss back on the vanity before opting to sit on the edge of the guest bed, patting a spot next to her. Kung Lao let out a gulp before approaching, trying not to be obvious about his goal. Though, Adelaide was not making it easy with the matching pajama set she chose. She had a tank top on that had cherries on them. The bottoms matched but hiked up around the bottom. Her cleavage, v-line, and undercarriage were essentially on full display. Even in her simple attire, he felt as if she was out of his league in his shorts and sleeveless top.

“Probably not as stressed as you having Johnny as a client. I just wanted to talk.” Kung Lao messed with his hair which was not in its usual ponytail. The ends tickling his shoulder. He was trying to focus on anything else but her to stop an awkward conversation about the tent in his pants. By the Elder Gods, where did his confidence go? “You know, like check up on you and make sure you were good since you already have a lot on your plate and still manage to do stuff for us too.”

“Aww,” she placed a hand on the lower part of his back and leaned in for a hug.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

In returning the hug, he breathed in deep, allowing for the scent of vanilla to fill his senses again, his eyes damn near rolling to the back of his skull.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness Panda,” the nickname that stuck after they met. ‘Panda” as in Kung Fu Panda. This reminded everyone of just how close Adelaide actually is with Johnny, despite her professional approach with him. “I’m doing well. Johnny may piss me off sometimes, but I understand he comes from a good heart. You can tell him I’m not mad if that’s what he sent you in here for. What about you? How are you and Raiden doing?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, no. I hope everything is ok.” She placed a hand on his arm. In this moment, Kung Lao simultaneously loved that her love language was physical touch.

“Everything’s great. It’s just that…” Kung Lao finally looked back her and his words were caught in his throat. As she was much shorter than him, she had to tilt her head to see. This caused her to peer at him through her eyelashes. He also notices just how close she was as she had leaned in to hear him better.

“Lao? Are you feeling ok? You’re running a bit hot.” She reached up to feel his forehead, but he caught her hand. That’s when he leaned in and kissed her. The first thing Kung Lao noticed was that she didn’t pull away, rather she wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. When he pulled away, the second thing he noticed was that she was smirking.

“You’re so easy to read Panda.”

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“I would ask you if Raiden was okay with this, but…” She broke away from him to head to the door. She opened it and grabbed Raiden’s arm and pulled him inside. They were caught like deer in headlights. She brought him to sit at the edge of the bed also.

So now she stood before them, her arms crossed over her chest. “Kenshi?”

They both nodded, understanding the context through a single phrase. They watched in anticipation as she grabbed the chair that she was using for the vanity and placed it so it was facing the side of the bed. She then pointed to Raiden and then the chair. “You. Here.”

Raiden gulped as he realized that she was wasting no time. They were actually doing this. He looked to Kung Lao, a silent ‘good luck’ before making his way over to where Adelaide stood and sitting in the chair. She then walked back to Kung Lao who fiddled with the bed sheets in anticipation. She graciously placed herself between his legs, his hands coming up to roam her legs and backside. While standing, she cupped his face again before placing a swift peck to his lips. She did this a couple more times before deepening the kiss. She ran her fingers through his loose hair again which caused him to moan. She loosely gripped his hair and pulled his head back, allowing a gasp to escape.

“If you found out from Kenshi, that means you know how I play, yeah?”

Kung Lao nodded. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’m sure Raiden has taught you better than that?” Adelaide tilted her head.

Ok, fuck regaining dominance. Kung Lao would let this woman use him as her red carpet runway. “Yes, ma’am.” He corrected himself.

“Good boy.” She cooed before pushing him back on the bed and climbing onto his lap. Immediately, Adelaide began peppering kisses on his neck. When she found that spot that made him vocal, she attacked it relentlessly, nipping, licking, and even fully biting. Her hands had made their way under his shirt, tracing and lightly scratching down his abs, much similar to the way he had teased Kenshi earlier. Perhaps Adelaide was his karma to knock him down a couple more pegs.

Kung Lao’s breath became more ragged as he also relished in the feeling of her body atop his. Her core was pressed right up against his erection causing him to hiss whenever she moved. “Take this off,” she commanded, lifting his muscle shirt up and over his head. Once his chest was exposed, she kissed down from his neck and rubbed her hands over his nipples.

“Please ma’am,” Kung Lao accepted his withering state, having been reduced to begging already.

Adelaide chuckled which caused a lump to form in his throat, “But baby, I’ve barely even begun.” With zero hesitation, she took his left nipple into her mouth and reveled in the groans the man underneath her released. She did this until he began to squirm before relenting and showing treatment to the other. She hummed a little as she felt his hands roam her ass before firmly gripping it as if to ground himself. She relinquished him with a pop before kissing further down his abs, tracing them with her tongue. She turned to look at Raiden who had shuffled his own pajama shorts just below his hips and was rubbing himself through his boxers at the scene playing out before him. She’d allow it.

Using her acrylics, she teased by tracing his v-line, barely breaking the seal of his waistband. Her lip gloss rendered was useless as it was smeared across Kung Lao’s lips and waist.

“Please,” Lao whined this time, desperate for her to do something about his affliction.

“That’s not how you ask.” Raiden interrupted quickly. His eyes low in pleasure which presented as a glare.

“Sorry sir. Please touch me ma’am. Anything.”

“Ah, so it is true. Raiden did teach you humility.” Adelaide commented before reaching in Kung Lao’s shorts and pulling out his dick. He hissed at the feeling of the air before moaning as she wasted no time in moving her hand up and down on his already stiff member. Just as Kung Lao was getting ready to beg again, he watched as she placed a kiss to the base before licking and sucking the bottom of his shaft while she stroked the top. He threw his head back in pleasure. However, he felt a grip at the back of his head force him to keep eye contact with her. He didn’t even realize that Raiden had moved from his seated position to the bed. He now sat behind him, his back on Raiden’s thighs with a large hand around his throat.

Raiden then leaned down and began whispering in his ear.

“I thought I drilled manners into your head by now. What do you say?”

“Thank you ma’am.”

Adelaide hummed, a silent ‘you’re welcome”. She then proceeded to take his entire length in her mouth. Even with his impressive length, she pushed herself until her nose pressed against his happy trail. Kung Lao gasped and moaned. He desperately wanted to throw his head back and hide from her sultry gaze, but the pressure around his neck reminded him of the consequences of doing so.

Raiden and Adelaide looked at one another and nodded. Kung Lao in his already fucked out state was unaware of just how much noise he was making. So Raiden sat back a bit letting Lao’s head lay flat against the mattress before doing away with his own clothing. When he returned in Lao’s vision, Lao looked up only to be met with Raiden’s dick. Lao wasted no time opening his mouth and allowed Raiden to slide in until he hit the back of his throat. Raiden let out a hiss as he began to move his hips, effectively fucking his throat.

With his moans subdued, most of the noise came from the squeaking of the bed, though every now and then a soft moan from either Raiden or Lao would escape. However, Raiden noted how the frequency of Kung Lao’s moans increased. He spoke in between breaths and strokes, “He’s gonna cum.”

Adelaide pulled back, the loss of suction releasing a ‘pop’. She pulled his shorts and boxers the rest of the way off, leaving him completely bare. There was little time for Lao to make complaining noises as Raiden did not stop his thrusting. She then rose from her spot on the floor before lifting her tank top over her head. She then pushed her pajama shorts down until they pooled at the floor. Now, it was Raiden’s turn to drool at the fullness of her breasts and hips. She had to have been crafted by the Elder Gods with the way her form invited them to look upon her as if she were a work of art. Raiden gave a couple more thrusts before pulling out of Lao’s throat who gulped for air.

Lao didn’t dare move afraid that the wrong one would prohibit his orgasm for even longer. He then watched as Raiden and Adelaide switched spots. Raiden now stood in between his legs and Adelaide saddled his face looking toward Raiden. There was no talking, only anticipatory silence as Raiden lifted Lao’s legs over his shoulders, and before he could protest, Adelaide shut him up by sitting on his face. And boy was Kenshi right, she tasted divine. He began licking and suckling at her slit which made her gasp and that was all that he needed before attacking her clit and tongue fucking her hole. He drank her wetness down as if it were nectar that granted immortality. Meanwhile, Raiden used the spit that Adelaide left behind as lube before slowly pushing into Lao’s hole. Adelaide was rewarded with vibrations that had her grabbing at Raiden’s shoulders. Raiden set the rhythm, his thrusts medium paced, but brutal in their strength.

Lao could only whimper and gasp into Adelaide’s sopping cunt which in turn had her whimpering and gasping into Raiden’s mouth as they shared a kiss of their own.

“Is he making you feel good, darling?” Raiden whispered.

“Yes, sir,” she grabbed at his neck, pulling him in for another kiss. She shoved her face in his neck, leaving bites and hickeys in her wake. Raiden made sure to keep the interaction in mind to tease her about later.

“Fuck, he’s so good. Good boy, Lao.” She broke away, her moans increasing in volume which let both Lao and Raiden know that her orgasm was approaching. Lao wrapped his arms around her thighs and increased the force and speed in which he circled his tongue on her clit which elicit a squeak from her as she tried to pull away to stave off her rapidly approaching orgasm. Fuck a breath, he’d die here happy.

“No running, baby. Cum for us, yeah?” Raiden had served her the same treatment, threading his fingers through her locs and forcing her to look at him. Lao moans increased as well, letting Raiden know he was close again also. So while Raiden stopped, Kung Lao continue his attack.

“There you go…” Raiden encouraged as he watched her eyes roll back and her breath hiccup and gasp as her orgasm hit her. She shuddered and shook violently as Lao drunk her juices down. He did so until Raiden tapped his thigh to avoid sending her into overstimulation. When she lifted herself off his face, the evidence was pretty damning. From his nose down, there was a glistening wetness and he was licking his lips to commit the taste to memory.

“Don’t you think Kung Lao deserves his treat now?” Raiden looked down at the mess of a man below him, the hickeys and bite marks were beginning to show.

Still in a daze from her orgasm, she simply nodded before lifting herself above Lao’s dick, with her back against Raiden’s chest. She guided his dick until it caught on her slippery walls. There was no resistance as she sat herself fully on his dick. If it weren’t for the fact that he wanted to continue being a good boy for the both of them, he probably would’ve bussed right there. Adelaide gasped at how Lao’s dick sat perfectly against a spot that had her seeing stars. Lao let out a pornographic moan at how Adelaide’s pussy was squeezing him.

Kung Lao’s hands came to rest on her hips while Raiden released his partner’s legs in favor of running his hands up and down her body. He cupped her breasts and pinched at her nipples. He then brought his hand up to the back of her neck to push her down into Kung Lao’s chest, immediately picking up his thrusting again. In response, every thrust caused Kung Lao to haphazardly thrust up into Adelaide. Lao merely wrapped his arms around Adelaide’s body as she reduced to a babbling mess similar to him.

‘WHACK!”

Adelaide wailed in pleasure as Raiden delivered a hard smack to her ass. He grabbed her hair again to lift her back to his chest. One hand wrapped around her neck while the other reached down to circle her clit. He made her bounce on Lao’s dick as the latter did his best to meet her halfway. Lao felt his orgasm fast approaching and after being denied the first two times, he begged for release.

“Please. I’ve been good. Please let me cum.”

Adelaide was a broken record at this point. “Yes. yes. yes” and “good boy” were all she could manage. Raiden also felt his orgasm approaching as his hips began to stutter some.

“Shit. Gonna cum.” Was Raiden’s only warning as he bit Adelaide’s neck to stifle his moans. It was like a chain reaction, Adelaide started as she clamped and squeezed around Kung Lao as her second orgasm hit. This caused Kung Lao to cum as Adelaide essentially milked him dry. For the same reasons, Raiden stumbled into his own orgasm. They each held on to one another as they attempted to collect their breath.

Raiden pulled away from the group first and picked up the towel Adelaide had used for her shower. He began to wipe down Kung Lao before helping Adelaide off of him and cleaning her up too. Kung Lao and Adelaide made no move to get up and in fact, when Raiden returned from throwing the towel in the hamper, he found both of them already fast asleep. He just chuckled and opened a window, allowing the smell of sex to dissipate into the cool night air before climbing in the large bed himself, snuggling up behind Adelaide who laid on Kung Lao’s chest and drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, the breakfast table was silent. There was nothing to say or rather, Kung Lao physically couldn’t speak due to a sore throat.

#mk1 #mk1 2023 #kenshi takahashi #kung lao #raiden #johnny cage #original character #kung lao is a bottom #johnshi #railao #smut

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pocket-lad · 7 months

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CH 11- The Concept of Constantly Living in Fear

“GO AWAY!” something screamed.

Adelaide jerked awake, kicking and flailing. The first thing she became aware of was falling. Then, landing with a soft “oof”. Her vision was a sea of red, and she was tangled in some kind of fabric.

Something large poked and shifted the fabric out of the way, and Adelaide was scared to find out what it was. Her suspicion was confirmed though when sunlight hit her face and she looked straight up into the eyes of Dr. Alan Grant.

“Good morning to you too,” he said, mildly in shock. One moment, Adelaide was fast asleep on his shoulder. The next, she was tumbling off it.

Adelaide closed her eyes, steadying herself with a deep breath. She was in Costa Rica. She was in a handkerchief. She was in a tree. She was with Alan, Lex, and Tim. She was not in Ian’s kitchen. Ian was...

Oh.

Adelaide’s heart hurt all over again at the reminder of their situation. She suddenly became deeply aware of the fact that she was in a hand, and it was one that did not belong to Ian. She might never sit in Ian’s hand again.

They stared at each other while Adelaide got her bearings, unsure what to say. Finally, feeling itchy and restless, she got to her feet and started climbing up the fabric of Alan’s shirt, wasting no time in getting out of the hand.

On instinct, Alan cupped his hand beneath her as she climbed, not sure what to do. He felt free to move with her off of his shoulder, but before he could, she just climbed back, trapping him in place.

As she hauled herself onto his shoulder, Adelaide pushed the sad thoughts down and said, “Sorry, I just...had a bad dream, is all.”

The more she woke up, the more Adelaide remembered last night. She remembered telling Alan about her life as a borrower, which made her angry. She was angry at herself for being so open with a stranger, but she was also angry at Alan for taking advantage of her vulnerable and frazzled state.

No, that wasn’t fair. She knew it wasn’t intentional, and he was probably just trying to keep her mind off Ian. Another thing on the growing list of things she owed Alan for.

“It happens...,” Alan said. This actually didn’t happen ever, but that felt like the right thing to say, and he had a much more important thing on his mind. “Adelaide, look.”

Adelaide sat down and turned to find herself face to face with a dinosaur, not ten feet in front of her. All the anger left her body as she screamed, and if Alan had not been leaning against the tree still, she would have fallen off the back side of his shoulder. As it was, she pressed herself against the tree, wishing she could melt into it.

“It’s a Veggiesaurus, guys! Veggiesaurus!” Tim said. The reminder to Lex also helped Adelaide calm down. She peeled her back off the tree just in time for Alan to stand up.

He yanked a loose branch off the tree and offered it to the dinosaur. “Come on baby!” he said.

In response, the dinosaur roared? That wasn’t the right word, but it was loud enough to make Adelaide jump and make her sensitive ears ring. Thankfully, she could still hear, if the rustling of the branch was any indication.

Alan and the dinosaur played a brief tug of war, the dinosaur trying to eat and Alan trying to bring it closer. Adeliade wasn’t sure how she felt about that, regardless of whether it was a ‘veggisaurus’. She was small and it was hungry. If the dinosaur didn’t kill her though, Alan certainly would, what with the way he refused to let go of the branch.

“You’re going to get us both thrown clean off this tree,” she said, only a hint of nerves peeking through her voice.

“Nah, look, see. Here she comes,” Alan said distractedly. He set down the branch and asked, “Do you want to pet it?”

Adelaide took a second to realize he was talking to her. Tim was already petting it and Lex looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Feeling pressured, she agreed. “Um, sure.”

Alan rolled his shoulder forward, sending Adelaide falling into his cupped palm. Perhaps if he was less distracted, he’d have offered for her to step onto his hand, but he was just so amazed and excited that manners were the last thing on his mind. He held Adelaide out to the dinosaur’s snout.

All of this was a blur for Adelaide, from falling into his hand to coming to a very sudden stop right next to this massive being. She hesitated.

“Go ahead, it won’t hurt you,” Alan encouraged her. She nodded in acknowledgement, but didn’t dare take her eyes off the dinosaur. Tentatively, she reached out and touched its scaly, rough skin. It was not dissimilar to the Triceratops skin from yesterday, but this dinosaur was fully alert and active. It moved around, threatening to knock Adelaide into the abyss, and she could feel it’s hot breath on her body.

“Okay, I’m good,” Adelaide said quickly. She touched it. She did it. It was neat. And now she was done.

Alan chuckled and pulled her back, still moving too fast. He held his hand up to his shoulder for her to step off. She did so, and she couldn’t believe what she just did, even if only for a moment. Adelaide still didn’t completely trust Alan, but in the heat of the moment, she let him hold her next to a real-life, unbelievably enormous dinosaur. And nothing bad happened. Ian would be proud of her.

Lex, who had been watching Adelaide that whole time, asked if she could also touch it. If Adelaide, who stood three inches tall could do it, then so could she.

“Sure,” Alan said. “Just think of it as...kind of a big cow.” He couldn’t stop smiling.

“I like cows,” she said hesitantly, trying to imagine how a brachiosaurus could be anything like a cow. Still, she reached for it, but it pulled away. Lex climbed toward it to try again, but it reared its head back and... sneezed on her.

The sneeze made Adelaide jump. She chided herself for being so jumpy this morning, but there were also plenty of things to make her jump, so it was hardly her fault. She looked pitifully at Lex. That was positively disgusting, and Adelaide was thankful she pulled away when she did.

“God bless you!” Tim yelled, making Adelaide cringe.

“You still want this?” Alan asked Adelaide, holding up his bandana.

“Oh...I’m okay. Thank you though.” She was still cold, but the sun would heat the air up soon enough. Alan tied it back around his neck.

They gathered themselves and made their way down the tree. Adelaide wished they could stay up there forever and never face the world ever again. She didn’t want to deal with whatever threats lay ahead of them in Jurassic Park, she didn’t want to deal with the fawning over their injuries when they got back, and the more time she spent away, the more she was sure Ian didn’t make it. Adelaide kept replaying the scene in her head over and over and she couldn’t see how anyone would survive that, especially without immediate medical attention. Going back meant facing this reality, but if she stayed in the tree forever, she could live in a world where Ian might be alive.

Adelaide understood that this was unrealistic. Plus, they had children to deliver back to their grandpa.

The kids argued the whole way down and well into their trek across the forest; something about computers and hacking and nerds, but Alan and Adelaide knew to stay out of it.

Alan hauled himself over a tall tree root sticking out of the ground, and Adelaide felt him tense up underneath her. He crouched in the little area between tree roots, staring at a bunch of hatched eggs. The babies were nowhere to be found.

“Oh God,” he breathed. “Do you know what this is? It’s a dinosaur egg. The dinosaurs are breeding.”

“But my grandpa said all the dinosaurs were girls,” Tim said.

Adelaide chuckled at that but didn’t say anything. Now wasn’t the time. And anyway, she was a little scared herself. Every failsafe in the park had failed. The fences went down. The dinosaurs were able to reproduce, despite all the efforts to prevent it. Ian was right. Of course he was. God, she would even tell him that to his face if she could just see him.

Either way, there were who knew how many baby dinosaurs running around now, all of them hungry and probably bigger than her. Adelaide shivered.

Alan explained how the geneticists they met earlier used frog DNA in their recreation of the dinosaurs. Some frogs, apparently, have the ability to change from male to female if necessary, and the dinosaurs probably picked up that trait.

“Women inherit the Earth,” Adelaide repeated from earlier. It was a joke, but even she couldn’t bring herself to laugh.

“Malcolm was right. Life found a way,” Alan agreed.

***

Ian awoke with a foggy mind, but he was able to pull one name from the mess.

John Hammond.

He awoke in the control room, his leg throbbing. At least he felt pain. It meant his leg wasn’t completely hopeless. The shot of morphine helped, though.

“Where’s Hammond?” Ian asked the ceiling. He heard shuffling, so somebody was definitely in the room with him- he just didn’t know who.

“Not sure. Said he needed to ‘think’. I’m sure he’ll be back soon,�� came the voice of the chief engineer, Ray Arnold. He was smoking a cigarette.

As if on cue, Hammond entered on the far side of the room alongside Ellie. Ellie went to check on Ian’s leg, but Hammond stayed back by the computers. Before anyone could say anything, Ian zeroed in on him.

“John.”

“Yes, Dr. Malcolm,” Hammond said.

“You better have good news, or so help me-”

Hammond interrupted. “Unfortunately, no. Your friend is still out there with Dr. Grant and the kids. But I have complete faith in Grant to get them back safely. As for us-”

Ian interrupted this time. If his leg wasn’t so badly injured, he would have already marched over there and punched Hammond square in the jaw. “No, no, no. You- you misunderstand me. If they do not come back alive – every single one of them – if they do not come back alive, it will be your head on a stick. I do not mean this figuratively or- or, uh, jokingly. I will end you, Hammond.”

“Let’s calm down,” Hammond tried, but Ian wasn’t done.

“She’s three inches tall, John!”

“And who brought her here?” Hammond shot back.

“Me. I did,” Ian said, shoving down the guilt. “But you brought all of us here. From the beginning, I told you this- this park was doomed, and uh, you didn’t listen! You didn’t listen and now we’re going to die. And for- for what? For science? For innovation? No, no, it’s, uh, it’s more than that, it’s greed. In the end, we all perish to greed.”

“I will not hear any more of this,” Hammond said. “If not for Nedry-”

“I don’t care about Nedry, or- or whoever. This is on you, John. You better hope she comes back alive, for your sake,” Ian finished. Sitting up and arguing like that took a lot out of him. He flopped back down, staring at the ceiling again and worrying about Adelaide. It was his fault. They never should have come to this island. They didn’t need him to tell them how catastrophically this island would fail- it was happening to them in real time, and he and Adelaide could have been back in Texas, watching them tell the story of ‘Jurassic Park’ on the news. Instead, they were forced to live it.

Ian closed his eyes while everyone else continued to argue. Waiting was going to be incredibly difficult.

***

Eventually, the group found themselves in a clearing.

“Should we be out in the open?” Adelaide asked. She didn’t want Alan to think she was questioning his judgement, but open spaces in general made her nervous. “We’re just sitting ducks. Anything and everything can probably see us right now.”

“The visitor center’s just a mile over that rise there. This is the quickest way,” Alan explained. Adelaide was restless, and Alan could feel how nervous she was. “We’ll be back in no time... And sit still.” He let out a deep sigh and resisted the urge to scratch at his neck for the billionth time when Adelaide shifted.

Now that Adelaide thought about it, they’d been walking for a long time, but of course, she didn’t do any of the walking herself. She had to remember to take it easy on the Beans, who weren’t used to this much exercise and the concept of constantly living in fear. It was exhausting, so she couldn’t blame them.

Once again, Adelaide heard them before she saw them. And before she heard them, she felt them. Whatever it was, there was more than one, and they were approaching fast.

“Alan...” she trailed off.

The dinosaurs came into view. At least, Adelaide assumed they were dinosaurs. That’s all they had on this island, right? They were unlike any of the ones Adelaide had seen previously. They stood a couple feet taller than Beans, but most of that was in their neck. They were tan-ish in color and ran (very quickly, for that matter) on their hind legs. If Adelaide remembered correctly, she’d say that they looked a little like ostriches.

Alan asked Tim for their name.

“Uh....Gallimimus!” Tim said excitedly.

Alan instinctively stepped closer. “Look at the wheeling. Uniform direction changes. Just like a flock of birds evading a predator.”

The Gallimimus changed direction, and that direction just happened to be towards them.

“They’re uh...they’re flocking this way,” Tim said, backing up.

When Alan still didn’t move, Adelaide hit his neck repeatedly. “We should go! Like....right now!” she said worriedly.

At the last possible second, Alan took off running. Adelaide should have gotten in his pocket when she had the chance, but it was too late. Both of Alan’s hands were occupied, each one holding on to one of the kids, so that left Adelaide to her own defenses. All she could do was hold on and pray.

She watched as, on either side of her, the dinosaurs overcame the group. She couldn’t help but notice the piercing shriek they emitted and the razor-sharp claws that dug into the ground. Luckily, a big log lay on the ground up ahead for them to take refuge behind.

Alan leapt over top of it, and Adelaide lost her grip. She flew through the air, limbs flailing, trying to find anything to grab on to. This was it. There had been many chances for her to die over the past day, so she didn’t expect it to end like this, but here she was.

Though Adelaide felt like she fell forever, it was only a couple seconds before both of Alan’s hands closed around her. The landing forced all the air out of her lungs and sent a wave of pain up her back. Ouch.

Adelaide wasn’t sure where she was in space, but she felt cramped, so she pushed in the direction that felt like ‘up’. How she kept ending up in Alan’s hands was a mystery, but she didn’t like it. His were slightly smaller and much rougher than Ian’s, making any time she spent in them uncomfortable at best. He didn’t know what he was doing, which often left Adelaide feeling uneasy and unsure as to what he might do next.

Alan’s hands opened slightly, but they still didn’t let her out. She kept shoving until he left a gap between his fingers big enough for her to see out of. She saw the Gallimimus running by and off into the distance.

Her vision was obscured again when Alan made his way around the log. She felt like she was on a rollercoaster without seatbelts with how much she was shaken around as he moved, and she couldn’t get a grasp on anything. When the hands came to a stop, the top one lifted off her.

Adelaide squinted in the sudden bright light and she lifted a hand to block it out.

“You alright?” Alan asked, staring straight down at her.

“M’fine,” she mumbled. To prove so, she forced herself to stand up. “Just...slow down...please.”

“Sorry,” Alan said, but his attention was back up to the flocking dinosaurs.

A familiar rumble shook Adelaide’s bones, and she froze. There was no way it could be what she thought it was. The clearing was empty beside the Gallimimus, who had finished passing them. It was almost peaceful. Then, out of nowhere, her suspicions were confirmed when the Tyrannosaur exploded out of the forest, knocking over a fully grown tree and chomping down on one of the Gallimimus.

Adelaide covered her mouth in shock. She watched from Alan’s hand as it shook the smaller dinosaur like a rabid dog, then took a massive chunk out of its middle. Guts hung from the T-Rex’s mouth.

“Just look how it eats. I bet you'll never look at birds the same way again,” Alan said in amazement.

Lex begged them to leave, and though Adelaide wouldn’t say it, she agreed. She didn’t want to be anywhere near this thing.

“Okay,” Alan conceded. “Keep low and follow me.” If Adelaide didn’t know any better, she’d say he seemed almost...sad about having to leave. Maybe this man wasn’t entirely sane, but right now, he was all she had. He held his hand up to his shoulder for her to step off, and she obliged.

Not much longer, the group came upon a tall, electrified fence. Alan grabbed a decent sized stick (decent meaning more than a couple Adelaides long) and cautiously approached the fence. Testing to see if it was still electrified, he threw the stick at the fence, and nothing happened.

“I guess that means the power's off,” Alan said as he stepped closer. “Hold on,” he whispered to Adelaide. He held his hand up to his shoulder again, indicating that he wanted her to step on. She stared at the side of his face, unable to read his expression, then hesitantly did as he asked. He set her down on the concrete base of the fence and stood back up.

This was an angle Adelaide hoped never to find herself at. Alan looked impossibly tall. She had to stare directly up if she wanted to see the Bean’s face, and even then, it was so far away that it was hard to make out. Not to mention, his boots alone towered over her. They were clunky and heavy, and one misstep could leave her dead. If it was hard for her to see the Bean, then it was definitely hard for the Bean to see her.

Adelaide nervously backed up a couple feet to give him room. She didn’t like being confused. Alan reached out to the fence with both hands, and when his fingers enclosed the wires, he yelled and shook violently.

Adelaide jumped and fell backwards, trying to get away from the spasming, screaming Bean. If he fell on her, she was dead. And because he was screaming, the kids screamed too, which resulted in a sound much too loud for Adelaide’s still-damaged ears, even as she plugged them.

Just as quickly as he started shaking though, Alan stopped. He turned to smirk at the other three, and they all realized he was messing around with them. Tim thought it was hilarious, but Adelaide and Lex thought otherwise.

Moving on as if nothing happened, Alan tried to stretch the wires of the fence to see if they could fit through, but they didn’t budge. He looked down at Adelaide, making her hammering heart stop and her body freeze.

Adelaide thought she hated it when Beans looked down at her normally. On the ground like this, it was one thousand times worse. She felt like a bug. She felt like Alan looked at her the way he looked at a bug he was about to stomp on.

It didn’t skip Alan’s attention how nervous Adelaide continued to be around him- it was hard to miss the way she froze every time they made eye contact, but he felt it would be rude to point it out. She knew how she felt. There was no point rubbing it in.

“I mean you can just...” he said, gesturing to the bottom of the fence. Adelaide could easily pass through one of the squares of empty space.

“Right,” she breathed, coming back to reality and rubbing her sweaty palms on her dirty pants.

In the distance, a T-Rex roared. They all stopped to look, then rushed to climb the fence before it realized where they were. Adelaide stepped through to the other side and waited impatiently. She kept looking in the distance, waiting for the dinosaur to pop out of the forest and devour them, just like it did when it killed that Gallimimus.

That moment never came. Alan and Lex made it to the ground on the other side and Alan offered his hand to Adelaide. She honestly enjoyed getting to use her legs a little, and she never knew how much she appreciated solid ground until now, but with a Tyrannosaur on their scent and little critters lurking around, Adelaide didn’t want to take her chances.

Alan had just gathered her up when an alarm sounded. This startled Tim, causing him to lose his grip, but he caught himself just in time. Adelaide didn’t understand what the alarm was for and looked up at Alan to gauge his reaction. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He and Lex yelled for Tim to hurry.

“You’re gonna have to jump!” Alan said. He glanced down at Adelaide and hated himself for the decision he was about to make. Ian made this exact same decision, and it devastated Adelaide. Ian had shoved Adelaide into Alan’s hands and ran off to get himself killed, leaving her alone. There was no way for Adelaide to know that Alan wouldn’t also run off on her, but he needed to catch Tim, so he shoved Adelaide into Lex’s hands, refusing to look down at her.

“Hold on to Adelaide, okay?”

Adelaide recognized what was happening and began to fight, yelling at Alan to stop. She tried to grab on to anything she could, but she inevitably felt herself pushed into smaller, smoother hands. Alan wouldn’t even look at her. Tears welled in her eyes. Not again . Alan was going to leave her, just like Ian, and she did not have the strength to go through this again.

Lex wasn’t sure what to do. Her attention was split between her brother and the three-inch-tall person that was just placed in her hands.

Adelaide would not let herself sit in the hands of a child. It was too dangerous, and she was too scared. She looked up to see the underside of Lex’s chin. She had to regain control of the situation.

“Lex, look at me. Hey! Look at me!” Adelaide called. When she had Lex’s (partial) attention, she continued, powering through the immediate fear at being held under a child’s gaze. “Put me down.”

“But Dr. Grant said-”

“I don’t care what Dr. Grant said. Put me down! Now!” Adelaide demanded. If she wasn’t firm, Lex wouldn’t take her seriously.

In a lucky turn of events, Lex listened to her. She hastily released Adelaide onto the dirt, and Adelaide promptly ran the other direction to put some distance between herself and the giant, stomping feet. As she expected, with her out of Lex’s hands, the girl’s full attention was turned back toward her brother. Adelaide finally realized that if Tim didn’t let go, he was about to get fried by the fence.

“I'm coming up to get you!” Alan announced, but Tim agreed to jump. He would count to three. “One....Two....” Before the kid could get to three though, the fence turned on, sending him flying. There was a loud zap and Adelaide could smell burning flesh. Oh no...

Alan caught Tim and fell to the ground. He announced that Tim wasn’t breathing, and Lex screamed for her brother. She paced around, not watching where she was stepping. Adelaide ran as close as she dared, but a plant blocked most of her view. She couldn’t get any closer without distracting Alan or putting herself in danger, so she mirrored Lex, pacing until something else happened. She just felt so small and useless.

After a painful amount of time, Tim coughed. He sat up, getting everyone’s attention. Tim was alive. They all let out a collective sigh of relief. It wasn’t that Adelaide had an attachment to him, but it wasn’t like she wanted him to die. He was just a kid.

“Three,” Tim said, finishing his countdown.

They all laughed, just happy that he was alive. After a moment of rest, Alan insisted that they keep going. They weren’t far from the Visitor Center now. He looked up at Lex to collect Adelaide from her, but when he didn’t see Adelaide, he shot to his feet.

“Where’s Adelaide?” he asked Lex harshly.

“She asked me to set her down and-” Lex said, eyes scanning the ground for their small friend.

Adeliade stumbled when Alan stood up. She wanted to call out to him, but her voice got stuck in her throat. He stomped around looking for her, and each step shook the ground, soaring way over her head. At such a fast speed and steep angle, it made Adelaide’s heart flutter.

“Adelaide!” he called.

“Right here!” she managed, but it was too quiet. He didn’t hear her in his panic, making her feel incredibly small.

“Lex, I told you to hold on to her!” Alan said angrily, talking over Adelaide’s small voice. It wasn’t like she could have gone far. Where was she? It was a grim thought, but he examined the bottom of his boots, just in case.

“Alan!” Adelaide called again, louder this time. She ran out from the plant she was standing next to, fighting every instinct and forcing herself out into the open. “Alan! I’m right here!”

Finally, Alan looked down at his feet. Adelaide stood only a foot away from him, wearing a smug look to hide the nerves, as if she enjoyed watching him fret. He sighed, relieved, then kneeled down to get a better look at her. Once he was closer, he was able to see through the disguise.

“Don’t scare me like that,” he said.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Adelaide shot back. “Make me think you were getting barbecued then shove me in the hands of a child!” She stepped back again when he kneeled, uncomfortable with how close he hovered in such a short amount of time. Combined with his anger and her defiance, it made Adelaide question his intentions a little. At least he didn’t step on her.

“I’m not a child,” Lex grumbled quietly in the background.

“Well, don’t get too excited. One of us is gonna have to carry Tim back, and I don’t think it’ll be you or Lex. You’re gonna have to ride with her,” Alan said.

Adelaide slowly looked over her right shoulder, straight into the eyes of the child that would soon have complete control over her life. She gulped.

#jurassic park #ian malcolm #g/t #giant/tiny #jurassic park g/t #gt #size difference #alan grant

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silveraro · 13 days

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WIP Wednesday (bc I'm a slow writer)

Alastor Aristide was dying. Just after he'd become the world's youngest serial killer.

The 10-year-old boy had just finished burying the body of Clara's former stepfather, now the 4th piece of organic fertiliser Alastor had added to the bayou. Suddenly, he was bleeding, being ripped into by dogs. Then he was dead. A man, a hunter, had mistook his dog's reaction for a deer or some other game.

Instead, he had shot a child. He'd carried the child into the town, around the shacks, and to Adelaide Aristide's house. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. For how do you tell a woman you'd shot her only child?

Meanwhile, a red eye opened up to a bright red sky.

A woman was looking at him. Her skin was grey, and she had black voids instead of eyes.

"My dear, are you okay? You've had quite a fall?" she said. Grey was close enough to white and dressed like the affluent ladies from the good side of the city, even if not as modern as —the ones Mama cleaned for. Maybe she was one of her clients. He should be polite.

The wealthy lady was holding out her hand to him, and when he reached out to grasp it, instead of his usual tan skin, his hands were black, with fingers as red as when he’d killed Mr Greggs. His fingernails were sharp, and suddenly he was struggling to breathe.

"Good Lord! Where am I?" cried the little boy. He looked around and saw everything surrounding him was unfamiliar. "Mwen vle tounen lakay mwen!" He continued to panic, his stomach churning, and as he searched for a way back home, he felt his heart beating faster. Wait, he didn’t feel his heart. Why couldn’t he feel his heart?

“Don't fret, Poppet.” comforted the grey lady, her long, sharp fingers combing his hair. "My dear child, you find yourself amidst a realm of fiery trials and curious wonders. It may seem daunting, but remember, great lessons are often learned in the depths of adversity. Embrace this journey with courage, for even in the darkest of places, there are treasures to be unearthed and virtues to be forged." She continued running her fingers through his hair, comforting him until his breathing slowed.

“Do you remember your name?” she asked, removing her hand from his hair (and oh god, were his ears up on his head!) and offered him her hand. He grabbed it, clinging to her hand for all he’d got. “A-Alastor.” He stuttered. She smiled at him, a large smile that showed off her razor-sharp teeth. “What a lovely name,” she said with a smile, guiding him into a shop; the sign above said “Cecil and Rosie’s Emporium”,

Alastor sat in the apartment above the shop. The woman, he guessed was Rosie, was brewing some tea for him and had given him a mirror. His hair was longer and flowed in fiery strands, red with blackened tips. His ears, of all peculiarities, were on the side of his head and resembled deer ears. Amidst the tangle of his crimson locks, two small twig-like protrusions emerged. His eyes, matching the fiery intensity of his hair, bore the same crimson hue, while tears, dark as coal tar and flowing against his father's disapproval, threatened to betray his stoicism.

“Right, dear, do you know where you are?” Rosie asked, passing him a delicate tea cup. “Hell,” he said bluntly, trying to hide that she’d made him jump. He wrapped a sharp red pinky finger around the dainty handle and raised the cup with a slightly shaky hand. She looked between his grimace and his shaking fingers and smiled a genuine smile.“How old were you, Alastor?” She asked after a moment. “Nearly 11 Madam,” “Oh, none of that madam nonsense, you're only 10. Call me Rosie.”

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #kid alastor au #kid!alastor #hazbin rosie #frequencies of youth au

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nctquiteshakespeare · 4 months

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duchess bonfamille is a 43 year old human based on duchess from the aristocats. she is a vocal coach with no powers. she uses she/her pronouns, and most of her memories are intact !

INFO.

full name: duchess bonfamille

date of birth: september 24th, 1980

hometown: to be added

zodic: libra sun, aries moon, virgo rising

sexuality: hetero (as far as she knows)

education: college graduate

occupation: vocal coach

height: 5'1

hair: blonde

eye color: blue

tattoos/piercings: earlobes

markings: dimples when she smiles

mother: adelaide bonfamille (adopted)

father: unknown

siblings: n/a

pets: n/a

PERSONALITY.

positive traits: classy, compassionate, protective, kind, secure

negative traits: stern, stubborn, overbearing, reserved, excessive

fears: losing her mother, failing her children

likes: white wine, cheese and grapes, cleanliness, expensive perfume, art, music, dancing, singing, everything paris, jewelry

dislikes: her house being dirty, crass language, her children hurting, fighting, being doubted, being away from her mother, an empty nest

hobbies: playing piano, singing, caring for her plants, cleaning, shopping

aesthetics: pearl necklaces on a spotless dresser, lipstick stains on wine glasses, a claw tub overflowing with bubbles, golden edged mirrors, humming to succulents, pristine white sheets, a wedding ring stashed in the bottom drawer, dangling earrings, long blonde locks without a hair out of place, the first glimpse of sunlight slipping through the window, an elegant breakfast spread, photobooks of memories, that lonely dull ache in your chest that refuses to go away, silent crying behind closed doors

HEADCANONS.

duchess is someone that tries very hard to seem put together when, in reality, she only feels like she is falling apart.

though she holds her head high, duchess often feels like she failed as a mother, a wife and a daughter. despite knowing there was nothing she could do to get back to her own mother, she misses her deeply. she is the only family she's ever known outside of her kids, never caring to reach out to her birth parents as she had everything she needed in ms. bonfamille and now, after so many years of having her in her corner, rooting her on, she feels almost completely... lost without her. she knows who she is, but does find herself doubting it from time to time.

she loves the idea of falling in love, especially now that marie, berlioz and toulouse have their own lives she's not nearly as involved in, but the idea of love is a little frightening. after her only real relationship fell apart, she's not sure she could put herself through that again. though she knows she is a beautiful woman, her lack of suitors does make her question it - maybe she is just meant to stay single?

her children are her pride and joy and she would do anything for them. she would lay her life on the line. she knows that there were times she coddled them too much, and others that she was too strict, trying to mold them into the perfect versions of themselves they could be... but all she ever wanted was for them to be happy. now that they're out of the nest, now that they're getting through life without her protection, she looks at everything they seem to struggle with and wonders where she went wrong, what she could have done to build their walls a little taller... and what more she can do now, than love them.

she is fluent in french, of course, and truly believes it is the language of love. she enjoys slipping random phrases into her sentences, even if the people around her simply do not understand what she's saying.

mother to everyone that will let her mother them. she will take everyone under her wing, no matter their age.

breakfast is duchess' favorite meal of the day! but brunch is a close second.

she very much has a taste for the finer things in life, it was simply the way she was raised.

while she doesn't miss her ex-husband anymore and knows that their lives were much better off without him, sometimes she still regrets not trying harder, begging him to stay, if only so her children would have their father.

she has a green thumb and cares about her many plants as if they're her own little pets. now that her children don't seem to need her as much anymore, and she isn't able to take care of her mother, she has to have something to look after. otherwise, after so long of doing it, she would just be... lost.

she also grows her own spices - thyme, oregano, basil, and uses them in nearly every meal that she makes.

she is a nervous cleaner. when she starts feeling anxious, out come the soap and sponges. she'll sweep, dust, mop, reorganize everything from the cabinets down to the bottoms of the walls. as if her place doesn't remain practically spotless at all times anyway.

seldom do swear words pass through her lips. she doesn't believe in using crude language.

while she isn't much of a drinker, she absolutely indulges in wine from time to time. it's the perfect way to unwind after a stressful day: a nice, hot bubble bath with a romance novel and a tall glass of whichever white wine is calling out to her tastebuds at the time... though merlot will do if it must.

a small plate of grapes, dark chocolate and cheese cubes is her favorite snack.

pearls are her favorite accessory, and gold over silver jewelry.

a morning person through and through, duchess is usually wide-eyed and bushy tailed by six am but she cannot seem to sleep past eight even if she tries, no matter how late she was up the night before.

#evermorehqsintro

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kirnet · 1 year

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Don’t Wake the Ancients - Chapter 8

read on ao3 | previous chapter | next chapter

sorry this is almost 8k long of exposition whoops

Dorotea broke her arm when she was six years old.

Rosa could never keep her from the trees no matter how hard she tried. Eventually, she had resigned to watching her from the kitchen window as she cooked. Dorotea would poke around the roots, overturning stones to find the things that skittered underneath them. She’d pull on the branches and run her tiny fingers over the veins of its leaves, and when she inevitably failed at pulling herself up into the boughs she would run to the swing set. “Not too high, mija,” Rosa would say, her voice as warm as the sunlight that filtered through the leaves.

Most of the time, Dorotea would listen. But once she caught sight of a crow and decided that she wanted to be a bird when she grew up, she let go at the apex of the swing’s movement, soaring through the air for a few euphoric moments.

The pain she felt when she landed on her arm was indescribable. She had only been able to wail as Rosa scrambled out to grab her, her ambrosia voice falling on deaf ears. The world seemed to recede until all that was left was the vivid intensity of her own body.

Dorotea had injured a few more things since then, fingers and ankles and broken areas of skin. None had compared to that pain over twenty years ago.

Now she wondered how she had ever been so foolish. The memory of pain was just an illusion. All you truly remembered was your reaction to it, the distress and the discomfort and the itchy agony of having to wear a brace. The actual pain was nothing but a phantom that hovered in your periphery but never truly reappeared.

If pain had been the end result of breaking her arm, then this must be the work of the Devil himself. Every single inch of Dorotea’s body ached, throbbed, stung, or some combination of the three. Her shallow breaths were barely enough to fill her lungs, yet they were still constrained by the too-small hollow in her chest. Fire ripped from her sternum up to her throat every time she fought to suck precious oxygen in through her constricted airways. Her eyes were too swollen to open easily, so she relied on the shaved edges of her fingernails, grit and asphalt still embedded underneath, to feel her way around her arms. Tubes and needles protruded from her, pinching her every time she thought to move.

She had spent her fair share of time around corpses in this condition. Living it was another thing entirely.

So she lay there for an eternity, wishing she could just dissolve into the firm mattress as she mustered up the energy to pry her eye open.

White light stabbed her, piercing through her eye right to the back of her skull. Her body throbbed in time with her heartbeat, rattling her teeth. Still, she continued, straining to push her eyelids further open.

The blinding light receded, though it never disappeared, until Dorotea could see her surroundings. She lay in a hospital room, IVs and monitors strapped to every bit of her under her paper tunic. The room certainly wasn’t one in Adelaide Memorial Hospital, however, and Dorotea didn’t need a functioning brain to deduce that. The equipment was strange, brand new and gleaming clean, but there was far too much of it in the room with her. Many devices were painted with thin characters, as was the door frame and the ceiling above her, she realized. But what most stood out to her, and what made the monitor tracking her heart rate speed up, was that there was no window in the room.

Dorotea had no idea where she was.

Panic would have been the most appropriate response, but she simply didn’t have the energy for it. When the pain of trying to comprehend her surroundings became too great she turned inward.

How long had she been here? She couldn’t use a window to judge the time of day, not that it would do any good with the gap of memory. And why was she here, anyway? A black eye- no, too far. A bottle. Yes, a blur of green as it neared her face. Snow and booze and teeth.

Dorotea tried to straighten and immediately regretted it. Where was Douglas? Had he made it safely to the bar, or was he in one of the rooms next to her?

The door opened before she could grit her teeth and try again. A honey blonde head poked in, hesitating for just a moment before entering fully. Rebecca’s back was stiff but her hands flexed at her sides as she drank in the sight of her daughter. “Oh, baby,” she almost sobbed as she closed the distance.

“Rebecca?” is what Dorotea meant to say. The sound stopped somewhere in the middle of her parched throat, her tongue refusing to move. She tried again, managing a croak through her chapped lips.

“Here.” Rebecca hurried over to the side of the room where a small water cooler sat. She pulled a paper cup from the stack on top and filled it before carefully bringing it over to the bed, her steps hardly agitating the water. With a feather light touch, she tilted Dorotea’s chin back and brought the cup to her lips. Swallowing was painful, but she gulped the water down anyway. They repeated this a few more times until Dorotea was finally able to say, “Alright.”

Rebecca’s face brightened. The bed dipped as she sat on the edge of it, rolling Dorotea’s leg slightly towards her. “There’s morphine here,” she said, pointing to a button on the side of the bed. When Dorotea nodded, she pressed it. “How are you feeling?”

“Like someone hit me with a semi, backed over me, and hit me again.” It was a little more manageable now with the painkillers flooding her system. Dorotea took the opportunity to assess the damage, fighting the strong urge to lean over the bed and vomit as she did so. Every square inch of her body ached, yes, bruises no doubt forming from her fall or from Kenny putting his weight on her. But most of the damage was localized to her head. It smarted even with the morphine, pounding so hard she might have thought that a series of earthquakes had hit her room. She could feel a bandage tickling her throat when she moved her jaw, lighting up the imprints of fingers around her throat. Her old black eye was the least of her worries now. “Where am I?”

Just like it did whenever Dorotea asked her an important question, Rebecca’s expression pinched. So Dorotea was surprised when she answered. “About 60 miles southeast of Wayhaven and a mile underground. Welcome to the Agency’s Division 16 bunker.”

Dorotea blinked. She was expecting the words “city” or “hospital” to tumble from her mother’s mouth, not the fact that she was currently a healthy distance underground. She glanced at the windowless wall, scrambling to gather her thoughts. “I- what?”

Rebecca gave her a few seconds before continuing. “We should have this discussion later. You need rest, and the nurses-“

“Hell no.” Dorotea did her best to straighten up, batting off her mother’s attempt to help her. “No no no. You can’t run away from this discussion now, not after all this. I need damn answers.” She flinched at the impulse, but Dorotea allowed herself to reach out and put a hand on Rebecca’s leg. “I need honesty.”

After a few long moments of staring at Dorotea’s hand, Rebecca let out a shuddering breath. She was always ramrod straight, as strong and unbending as some of the ancient oaks around the forest. Now she curled in on herself, and Dorotea almost sprang back when she noticed the wrinkles at the corner of her mouth or the darkness under her eyes. “What do you want to know?”

Everything, so it was a struggle to figure out what to ask first. “How long was I out?”

“Two days.”

Two days? She certainly felt it. Before she could comprehend her thoughts, they started tumbling from her mouth. “Is Douglas okay? Did Tina make it home? Lance, was there any more evidence about him? Oh God, and Kenny and his boys, what-“

Rebecca silenced her with a hand. “Everyone is fine,” she said gently. “You were the only casualty of that altercation.”

She quieted as the door creaked open again. A man stepped in, bowing to get through the doorway, and Dorotea felt a gasp slip from her lips at how impossibly beautiful he was. Dark warm skin contrasted with the sapphire blue of his long hair and medical scrubs. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, so Dorotea had a clear look at his delicately pointed ears when she finally could tear her gaze from his face. “Agent Langford. Detective Langford,” he greeted in a voice like silk. And then he smiled, and Dorotea had no need for a window. The sun was right here in the room with them. “I’m glad to see you’re finally awake.”

“This is Elidor,” Rebecca said when Dorotea failed to answer, standing and straightening out her pantsuit. “He’s been in charge of your care since you’ve been here.”

“Thank you,” Dorotea managed to cough out, the novelty of his appearance receding enough so that she could scan him critically. “Wait, where are you going?” she almost shouted as Rebecca made for the door.

“Unit Bravo just got back from checking on your station. They can give you the most recent report of what’s happening.” Rebecca fiddled with the doorknob. “This conversation is not over. I have plenty to discuss with you, and they should be here for it. I’ll be back soon.”

Elidor started talking as she slipped away. “That gives me time to take care of you.”

He gave her a quick physical, shining lights in her eyes and genuinely apologizing when she hissed. Then he helped her undress from the drafty paper robe and gave her a sponge bath, his huge hands impossibly light against the bruised ruins of her skin. The clothes he dressed her in after were her own, taken from her dresser in her apartment, and she wondered if Rebecca or Tina had been the ones to retrieve them.

Elidor stayed in the room when he was done, grabbing a chair to sit and chat. They talked a lot about nothing, about the snow and how he could feel the chill all the way down here. Inside a mountain, he revealed to her, connected to a string of collapsed mining tunnels. Eventually, Dorotea mustered up the courage to ask him about his pointed ears. “No disrespect intended, of course. But is the Agency really, well-“

“Full of people you consider unnatural?” Dorotea jolted, wincing right after. She hadn’t heard Adam enter, nor the rest of Unit Bravo, who all fanned out around her bed as Rebecca came in behind them and closed the door. Adam had forgone his coat, so his muscled arms were on full display when he crossed them. He opened his mouth to say something that no doubt Dorotea did not want to hear, but Farah and Nate bounded forward before he could.

“How are you feeling?” Nate asked, his hands hovering a few inches from Dorotea’s shoulder.

Farah plopped onto the bed, and Elidor and Dorotea both hissed as it bounced. “You look like you’ve just been spat out of a jet engine.”

“I feel like it.” Dorotea watched Elidor mutter under his breath and rub his face in a way that seemed painful, and she decided that no matter what the Agency was or what happened here, she trusted him. That was the only appropriate reaction to have around Unit Bravo. She turned to Farah. “Are you alright? I remember that you were part of the fight.”

“Please.” Miraculously, Morgan did not have a lit cigarette between her lips. Instead she popped loudly on some gum, obviously unsatisfied with the substitution. “We’re not nearly as fragile as you.” Her lips thinned when Rebecca shot her a heated look.

“Which leads us to our current situation.” Any trace of vulnerability that Rebecca previously had was gone now, replaced entirely by strict professionalism. “Adam told me what happened.”

Dorotea flushed when she realized what Rebecca meant. She glanced at Adam’s frowning mouth, wondering how those fangs fit into his mouth, or how she had never noticed them before. They couldn’t be real. “I believe I was slightly concussed-” She stopped and then stared hard at his unmarked hand. “Dear God.”

Farah shouldered her with surprising tenderness. “See? Told y’all she was cool.”

Nate grimaced. “I wouldn’t describe any part of this situation as ‘cool.’”

“But that didn’t happen, right?” Dorotea rolled her cracked lips. “Y’all can’t really be-”

“Vampires?” Adam all but growled.

The only sound was the timely beeps of the monitor. Dorotea wasn’t sure what or who to look at, Farah’s grin or Elidor’s ears or the graceful characters that decorated the room. Her eyes fell on Rebecca. “I’ve known something was wrong with y’all from the beginning, but it sounds ridiculous to say out loud.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed. “Wrong?”

Nate sighed. “Adam.”

Dorotea did her best to run a hand through her disheveled hair, but settled for raising it halfway to her chest. Without a word, Elidor leaned forward and brushed it back from where it had caught on a bandage. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, what’s wrong with you is that you’re assholes, but I’m not sure if that has anything to do with the vampirism.”

Oh, yeah. The painkillers were starting to work.

An odd noise erupted from Morgan, but she quickly stifled it. “This is very, very real,” Rebecca said. “How did you even figure it out?”

Dorotea shrugged. “The blood, mostly. If it hadn’t kept popping up I would have never dug deeper. I thought that Dad’s notes were insane when I first read them, but I guess only something insane would make sense of all this crazy.”

Rebecca’s hard gaze snapped to her. “You went through your father’s things?”

Suddenly Dorotea was a teenager getting caught sneaking out again. “I would have asked you if you were home.”

“The office is locked.”

“Was locked.” Dorotea coughed. Farah’s grin grew wider, and even Morgan cracked a smile as the men groaned. “I had already asked for an honest answer and you refused to give me one. I had to take matters into my own hands if this investigation was going to go anywhere.”

“You conducted a second investigation on us while investigating the murders?” Nate asked, his voice carrying an odd note.

Morgan huffed. “Explains why you always look so awful.”

“Look, there’s a reason you all came to Wayhaven. There’s a reason this Agency of yours is involved, and I’m damn sure it’s because of the blood.” Dorotea’s voice grew stronger with every word. “So tell me what’s happening. From the beginning.”

Rebecca flexed her hands. “We all work for the Agency, a worldwide collective of humans and supernaturals whose main goal is to secure, aid, and mediate for supernatural populations who find themselves in the human world.” It sounded right out of a pamphlet.

Dorotea cocked her head to the side. “Supernaturals? Plural? Like werewolves and witches?”

“And a million other things.” Farah had found a way to fully sprawl out on the bed without upsetting Dorotea’s wounds. She ignored Elidor’s pointed frown as she continued. “Lots of supernaturals, like me, come from the Echo World. It’s like another dimension, and sometimes where the skin between the two is thin you just-“ she made a popping sound with her mouth, “-and then you’re in the human world, wondering where you took a wrong turn.”

“It’s our job to make sure that these supernaturals get settled and don’t come into conflict with any human or other supernatural populations. Almost like a United Nations,” Rebecca added after a second of thought.

“With three times the work,” Morgan grumbled.

If Dorotea really focused on the words and digested their meaning, she would have screamed then gagged then probably threw up from the pain. Other worlds, vampires and werewolves and witches, oh my. Even if she had started to suspect that something was amiss with Unit Bravo, the whole idea of a supernatural influence had been laughable, even when the memories took hold and she found herself back in the witch’s cabin when she slept. She could feel the heat creeping up her neck, her hairs rising with it. Any more new information would bring a mental break.

So she shoved it where she had shoved her school lectures on relative motion and public speaking. There was math and formulas involved, sure, keys to success and correct answers, but she had never fathomed what they had actually meant. So she turned to fiction, to the thick fantasy books she never had time to read anymore. This was just magic, probably in the very real sense. Everything that she could not make sense of yet could not deny the existence of was just a part of the world building, something that she had to accept with no further thought. Later she would rip these concepts apart with curious fervor, but all she needed right now was to retain her own sanity. “Okay.”

Everyone stared at her, scrutinizing her reaction. When she realized that no one would continue the conversation on their own, she added, “Why are you in Wayhaven?”

Adam squared his shoulders. “We are in pursuit of a hunter, a supernatural that we believe killed both of your murder victims.”

Farah nodded. “And a lot of other people around the world.”

“You’re right, everything comes back to the blood,” Nate interjected before Dorotea could speak. He sounded almost relieved to be saying it. “The victims all had a mutation in their blood, that much is true. But the mutation is magical in nature, or anti-magical, so it was impossible to explain to you.” He drew in a breath. “All of these people were resistant to supernatural powers.”

“Powers such as?” Dorotea asked.

“Persuasion, pheromones, visions and hallucinations, mind reading, take your pick.” Morgan answered.

Elidor spoke up for the first time. “Or medicine and magical healing. The blood grants a resistance to all magical effects, either good or ill.”

“We’ll, not fire,” Farah chipped in. “If someone lobs a fireball at you, you’re still gonna get burned.”

Dorotea had a million more questions about the nature of this mutation, about how much the Agency knew about all of these individuals’ upbringings. Was there a constant throughout all of their lives that might trigger such a mutation, like radiation? Or was it so random and varied they didn’t know? Did all humans have this potential and only a handful expressed it? She buried all of them for now. They would come later. “So that mutation leaves the blood practically inhuman? Like a vampire’s?” She glared at Adam. A memory flashed of four figures chasing a fifth, of a voice and a poor attempt at persuasion. “That’s your blood sample in my lab, ain’t it?”

Some of the tension evaporated from the room when Farah giggled and Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. Rebecca’s stoic expression softened just enough to throw him an obvious “I told you so” look before snapping back to professionalism. “Must you always accuse me like that?”

Nate let out a soft chuckle, but then his shoulders hunched. “No, and yes. Our blood is changed, what you call dead. But not the humans’.” He glanced at Rebecca, who nodded. “Our suspect… there’s no easy way to say this. We think he’s experimenting with humans who have the gene. Trying to enhance the properties of the blood, we assume.”

Dorotea opened her mouth to ask something, and then snapped it shut. The contrition of her face was excruciating, but she couldn’t help the way her brows furrowed. “You said you’ve been following this suspect around the world?”

“Yes,” Adam answered.

“So you know who it is?”

Everyone seemed suddenly very interested in the pristine white walls. “Dorotea-“ Rebecca tried to say, taking a step forward.

“You knew this whole time who’s been terrorizing my town and you said nothing?” Heat flared where the IVs entered her flesh. Anger bubbled up in her veins, racing through her body until it blazed in her chest. Her arm jerked, trying desperately to grab for a hat that was nowhere to be seen. “Janet and Garret are dead! A child is dead! You let me arrest Lance! How long were you going to sit there with your thumbs up your asses before you did anything?” The lies about the blood, about what they might have found at the witch’s cabin, the stonewalling of her own investigation. “Before you stopped meddling in my investigation?”

Rebecca sighed. “It’s not that simple, honey. I- we- were only trying to protect-“

“Don’t you dare,” Dorotea snapped. “Don’t you dare make this about us.”

“It’s not,” Adam said, and if Dorotea wasn’t so furious she might have honed in on the twinge of regret in his voice. “And it’s not that simple.” He stepped forward, his eyes the color of the first sprigs of green poking up through winter’s frost. “Our primary objective was to protect you because you are one of the last remaining people with the mutation that we are aware of.”

The beep of the monitor increased in intensity. Dorotea shut her mouth, unsure when she had opened it. “That can’t be-“

“If we knew exactly what identity our killer was assuming, he would already be in custody,” Adam continued, growing ever closer. He ignored a worried glance from Nate. “We have followed him across the world. We have combed through every inch of your town and have not found him. He was going to come for you and we had to be there to stop him.”

Janet Greenland’s arms had been torn open, her blood altered within her own flesh. Nothing but an organic vial for some monster to toy with. “You didn’t stop him from getting to Janet.”

Nate sighed. “We didn’t know about Janet until it was too late.”

“And Garret?” A little boy with red hair and even redder blood. “You weren’t keeping tabs on him?”

“He didn’t have the mutation,” Morgan said, blowing bubbles with her gum. “He was just a random snack.”

A hole opened up in the bed beneath Dorotea. She was falling, her stomach rising to her throat. “Get out.”

Rebecca threw out her hands. “Dorotea-“

“Out!”

Elidor stood and straightened his scrubs. “It would be best if you left.” He busied himself with adjusting Dorotea’s pillows as everyone filed out, throwing her a range of pitying glances.

Rebecca paused by the door when everyone had exited, her jaw working. But she clenched it shut and left, just like she always did.

Elidor had given her something to sleep.

Dorotea wanted to sulk and scream and throw herself from her bed, to do anything with that information, but her tense muscles wouldn’t let her. “I’ve had enough of sleep,” she muttered when he handed her the pills.

“I know,” he said gently. “But your body and mind need it. Recovery is your first priority.”

He was there when she awoke, a mug of steaming coffee in his hand, and a surprising amount of her headache dissipated after the first few sips. “Agent Langford wants to give you a tour of the facility once you are able,” he warned as he set up a tray table in her lap, the smell of eggs and toast clouding the air. “Though I told her that wouldn’t be for a few days.”

“Thanks.” The pain subsided further as more caffeine entered her system. She was probably able to walk with some assistance now, most of the damage localized to her upper body, but she knew Elidor was offering her a kindness. She nodded up to the ceiling, glancing up at the characters with foggy eyes. “What are those?”

“Sigils.” Elidor grabbed a few medicine bottles from a cabinet. “Magic to help promote healing. Most of our supernatural agents can heal on their own, but the humans benefit from some help.”

Dorotea hummed. “But not me?”

“Unfortunately for the both of us, no.” He handed her a paper cup of pills and sat on the edge of the bed. “But there are some things that we can do to speed up the process.”

Rebecca came to visit her a day later. Elidor had an excuse ready on his tongue, but Dorotea waved him off. “No use in delaying the inevitable.”

Anything that Rebecca said related strictly to the tour. She led her through the cafeteria, some lobbies, and endless miles of the same concrete hallways. “This is one of our training areas,” she announced as they entered yet another unmarked room. A glass partition separated them from a large arena filled with moving targets and obstacles. Dorotea watched in wonder as an agent jogged to the starting marker, their blue skin on full display under their gym clothes. An alarm buzzed and the agent shot forward, dancing around everything in their path like a wisp of smoke. When they reached the first target they reared their arm back. A blinding purple light grew around their wrist and up their forearm, and when it reached their elbow they snapped their hand forward. A whip of energy extended meters past their limb, snapping through the air with a deafening crack and cleaving the target in two clean halves. The agent never even slowed, their momentum carrying them straight to their next objective.

“Holy shit,” Dorotea heard herself gasp.

“A demon,” Rebecca explained from beside her. “Not anything like the Biblical understanding of them, but still incredibly powerful.” She placed a hand on Dorotea’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Dorotea worked her jaw for a few seconds. “Miss Benedict was right.”

Rebecca raised a brow. “Oh?”

“About seeing demons. Bless her heart, I thought she was going senile.” Dorotea leaned forward and rested her arms against the windowsill, shrugging Rebecca’s hand off as she did so. “So there’s always been supernaturals in Wayhaven?”

She ignored the hurt in her mother’s voice. “Yes. The skin between the worlds is incredibly thin around here. Echo World portals open up frequently. Some people are simply more in tune to the magical ley lines than others.”

“You aren’t worried that Miss Benedict is aware of their presence?”

“Adam already alerted me. I don’t believe she’ll cause any real trouble.”

Dorotea’s lips thinned. Until seconds ago she might have thought the old lady crazy, but that was her kin, and damn it, Miss Benedict had been right this whole time. She didn’t appreciate Rebecca’s dismissive tone. The agent finished the course, their yellow eyes literally glowing with satisfaction. “How long have you known?”

“About the supernatural?”

“About me?” Dorotea flashed her a glare. “If you sent your Unit to protect me then you already knew what I was.”

Rebecca blew air through her nose. “You never slept when you were young. I thought bringing Rosa in as your nanny would help with that.”

Dorotea’s head snapped up. “She’s an agent?”

“A siren. Her song was supposed to knock you out.” Rebecca shook her head, a faint smile on her lips. “Do you know how many complaints I got from her when it didn’t work?”

“A long time, then?” Dorotea balled her hands into fists, struggling to push Rosa to the back of her mind. Was every part of her life a lie? “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I couldn’t,” Rebecca sighed. “Protocol-“

“I refuse to accept that as a valid reason.” Fingers itching for her hat, Dorotea straightened.

Rebecca knocked her fist against the windowsill. “Like you would have believed me? You question everything I say!”

“And who’s fault is that?” Dorotea exploded, no longer able to hold it in. “Apparently you’ve just never been honest about me, not about your job or Rosa or me. Was dad even really killed in a shootout?”

“Dorotea,” Rebecca warned, voice dangerously low.

She ignored it. It didn’t hold a candle to Rosa’s drop-the-subject-now tone. “I’m supposed to be your daughter! Obviously this mutation, condition, whatever the fuck it is puts me in danger if some fucking monster is killing people for it! Would it kill you to be honest for once in your life?”

“I’m being honest now!”

“Because you didn’t have a fucking choice!” Dorotea panted, her cheeks burning. She glanced through the window. All the agents had stilled, eyes glued to where she stood, but they all scrambled back to their tasks when Rebecca turned to them. “Do you even care about me? About Wayhaven?”

At this close Dorotea could see the red webs in the whites of her mother’s eyes and the deepening creases along the corners of her mouth. Her skin was pale paper, and if Dorotea had reached out to touch her she might have crumpled in a heap. Rebecca blinked rapidly, the muscles in her neck staining. “Come on. There’s more to see.” The click of Rebecca’s heels echoed through the hall as she continued on.

The cold concrete bit into Dorotea’s palm when she slapped the wall. Cursing, she followed.

“What’s this?” Dorotea asked when they reached a large and menacing door. Two guards stood outside, both technicolored and obviously supernatural. Sigils covered every square inch of the walls behind them.

“I want you to understand why we do what we do. What’s at stake.” One of the guards, gills visible on her neck, unlocked the door with a key card when Rebecca nodded. She led Dorotea inside, the guards’ stares burning holes into her back.

“Most supernaturals are completely amiable with the human population, thanks to our treaties,” Rebecca began, her shoulders stiff. The corridor widened into a large room. Guards were stationed at set intervals next to what appeared to be barriers of shimmering purple light. “Most of the time, conflict only arises because a supernatural feels threatened by a human. The Agency is well equipped to deal with such things. But some individuals refuse to respect our laws.”

They came to a stop in front of one of the barriers. Inside the room was a man in a chair, his wrists and ankles bound to it. His eyes were closed, but the movement of his eyeballs underneath made the lids writhe like they were going to burrow out of his face. Occasionally he would strain against the restraints, his veins popping out of his skin, but then he would just as quickly fall limp again.

Dorotea couldn’t swallow her horror. “What’s happening to him?” She glanced at the guard next to her, his gaze set straight ahead. “Why is no one doing anything?”

Rebecca shook her head. “Part of our agreement with the supernaturals is that we must abide by their customs. Those with the most heinous of crimes are put into an eternal sleep and made to live out their worst fears.”

She knew her mouth was agape, but Dorotea was unable to close it. “That’s evil.”

“It’s justice.” Rebecca’s shoulders slumped, her patience for Dorotea’s outbursts obviously wearing thin. “Do you know what this vampire did? The dozens of children he slaughtered on nothing more than a passing whim?”

Garret’s face flashed in her mind. “That doesn’t give you the right to play God and inflict that kind of pain on another person,” Dorotea gritted out. “Is this supposed to make me trust your Agency?”

“It's supposed to make you understand why I could never bring you into this world.” Rebecca spread her hands, her voice growing desperate. “Can’t you see why I never wanted you here? The danger that lurks here-“

“Was there the entire time!” It felt wrong to raise her voice in front of the gut-wrenching spectacle. Dorotea dropped her voice to a grating whisper. “And instead of giving me the knowledge to defend myself you left me and my whole town defenseless.”

Rebecca wouldn’t look at her. “Unit Bravo is waiting for us for another briefing. You should go on ahead.”

Dorotea scoffed in disbelief. “Yeah, great. Fucking great. You know, sometime in my life you’re going to have to talk to me without cowering away every time I bring up your hypocrisy.” With great effort, she turned away from the tortured vampire, the sight burned into the back of her eyelids. “Because I’m starting to get sick of this.”

The break room that Unit Bravo reserved for their briefing was twice the size of Dorotea’s office. She had to admit, vampires were much less threatening when they were perched on obviously unused furniture, the faux-leather seats squeaking loudly with every movement. Adam forgoed sitting entirely, instead preferring to pace. “Agent Langford is unable to join us,” Adam announced when she entered, shoving his phone into one of his many cargo pants pockets.

Dorotea didn’t deign to answer as she took a seat next to Morgan. “Is this about my case?”

Adam nodded. “You know almost everything now, and what you don’t will be explained shortly. We might as well make use of you.” He said the words as if they were shards of glass filling his mouth. He stilled in front of her, his hands clasped behind his back. “We’ve been following this vampire for almost a year. Unfortunately, our target is a veritable chameleon. In the few physical altercations that we’ve had with him he’s had a different appearance every time.” He nodded to a folder on the coffee table. Dorotea picked it up and leafed through it. A number of different faces filled the pages, all either pictures obviously taken from a distance or the work of a sketch artist. A spark of recognition flared in her stomach, but Dorotea could not place where it might possibly be from.

“Supernaturals have a veil,” Nate explained. “A kind of illusion magic that hides their true form from humans. It’s most important for any that have a drastically different appearance: fae like Elidor, merefolk, dwarves, and the like. But we all have use of it.”

“It can help with these in tricky situations.” Farah stuck her finger in her mouth halfway through the sentence, the rest of the words getting lost in a spray of spittle. She hooked it around the inside of her cheek and pulled, giving Dorotea a clear view of the fang, almost the size of her pinky, that sprang down in front of her canine.

Morgan laughed as Dorotea jolted. Nate sighed disappointedly. “We know for certain that he’s a vampire from the Echo World. That gives him an array of powers that the rest of us don’t have access to. It’s possible that he’s able to tailor his appearance to throw us off.”

Dorotea looked up from where she had been looking forward, leaning far forward in her seat to look at Farah’s pearly teeth. On further inspection, the canine itself actually extended down. Farah retracted it with a fwip. “Aren’t you all from the Echo World?”

Farah kicked her legs up onto the table. “Just me. The rest of these guys were turned the good ol’ fashioned Dracula way.”

Adam and Nate both tensed for just a moment, but Morgan just pulled a red carton of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. “We’ve got the super strength, the senses, and a few surprises of our own,” she mumbled around the cigarette as she lit up. “But we can’t turn into smoke or make thralls or anything like that.”

“Thralls?” Dorotea didn’t like the sound of that.

Nate leaned his elbows on his knees. “Lance was involved with Greenland’s murder,” he said gently. “But he has no idea, and he had no choice, just as the miners had no choice in attacking you. Echo World vampires are able to inject victims with a type of magical venom that makes them completely susceptible to what their master commands for a temporary period.”

“So Lance honestly had no idea?” Guilt twisted at her insides. She’d dragged him from his home and doubted his character when he was nothing more than another victim. “God.”

“You had no way of possibly knowing,” Nate assured, a surprising amount of bitterness in his voice. Adam clenched his jaw. “Our operatives are monitoring them in case they pose any more danger to themselves or others. And we’re working on a way to get Lance cleared of everything without raising more suspicion.”

Dorotea nodded, her voice failing her for a moment. “Thank you.” She turned to Morgan. “And thank you for going to protect Douglas. I should have done it earlier.”

She blew a puff of smoke. “It’s just work, sweetheart.”

Hunching forward, Dorotea clapped her hands together and then winced at the amount of sweat on her palms. “You really have no idea where this guy is?”

“No,” Adam grumbled. “He’s close enough to command his thralls and stalk you, but these cursed woods are too large and too saturated with magic to sniff him out.”

Normally Adam’s frustration with her beloved mountains would tickle Dorotea to no end, but now it just left her feeling hollow. There were miles and miles of ever changing trees and trails to get lost in. Even someone as experienced with the backwoods as Dorotea needed to tread with extreme caution; who knew what you could discover with heightened senses and literal fucking magic. Then Dorotea blinked. She lunged for the folder and pulled out the photographs. “If I were some sort of vampire serial killer, I would for sure hide out in the woods. But does that match any pattern of behavior you might have been able to glean from your brief interactions with him?” She pulled out a specific photo when Nate cocked his head to the side. The photo was grainy, obviously taken at a great distance. Most of the vampire’s face was in shadow, blocked by his sweep of dark hair and the harsh light of a midday sun. Dorotea ignored his face. “Where was this one taken? Specifically, what setting?”

Farah’s breath tickled the back of her neck. Dorotea almost shot up straight to the surface. When had she even moved? “Barcelona. I think this was outside a shopping center. I was able to tail him for a while but he got lost in a sweep of tourists.”

“He killed two people there,” Nate sighed.

Dorotea tapped the photo. “Maybe he’s also tailing one of his victims here, or maybe he has some other reason to go out, but it seems odd to me that he would be comfortable going out in the middle of the day into a crowd.”

Adam raised a brow. “Your point?”

“Maybe he’s not some recluse. Maybe he’s comfortable being around people. Who in their right mind would suspect someone of being a vampire?” Morgan snorted. Dorotea turned to Nate. “You think he’s conducting experiments?”

“All of the victims we have found thus far have had a certain amount of vampire blood mixed with their own.” Nate cringed at the thought. “It’s possible he’s attempting some sort of blood transfusion, mixing his own blood with theirs.”

That made no logical sense to Dorotea, but she had only confirmed the existence of magic about a day ago. “Then he would need lab equipment. And basic medical and sanitation supplies, dear God, I hope. And-“

“Electricity.” The cigarette still hung loosely from Morgan’s lips, but her gunmetal gray eyes seemed to harden with scrutiny. “Computers. A place to test his findings.”

An image was starting to form in Dorotea’s mind. Yes, that’s what was familiar. It was those pale blue eyes, the color of the ice that hid Wayhaven’s lake in the more brutal winters. “Did you ever investigate Adelaide Memorial Hospital?”

Dorotea explained to them what she had been thinking before the ill-fated decision to go out for drinks with Tina. Whatever results this so-called Dr. Murphy had given her had obviously been falsified. She had been ready to pounce on him out of sheer exhaustion and spite alone, but now she felt confident that her instinct had been steering her clear the whole time.

Adam rubbed his chin. “It’s possible.” He flashed his teeth, clamped his mouth shut, and then spoke again. “Though going off on your own in that weather was nothing short of idiotic.”

“Adam,” Nate almost snapped.

“Good work.” Adam coughed into his fist like his body was rejecting the compliment. “We’ll look into it.”

“Yes, we’ll look into it. I’m a part of this now.” Dorotea stood and stuck her thumbs into the waist of her sweatpants. “Is there a way that he can tell that people are mutated? A scent, or something?” She swallowed, feeling awkward even asking.

Morgan looked her up and down. “Humans tend to smell like old socks. But you’re much more-“

“Enticing.” The word was so quiet that Dorotea almost didn’t hear it, but the vampires sure did. They stared with mouths agape as Adam realized what he had muttered. He tried to silence Farah’s giggle with a glare, but was unsuccessful. “What I mean to say is there is certainly a difference.”

“A pleasant difference,” Morgan added, her eyes lidded. Nate dropped his head into his hands.

The room was slightly warmer. Dorotea cleared her throat. “Alright. Then we can use that to our advantage, right? If I can draw him out somewhere planned, we can-“

Adam exploded. “Absolutely not! Our job is to keep you safe, not throw you at every chance of danger. You’re quite adept at doing that on your own.”

“I’ll be safe once this guy is taken care of.” Dorotea stepped over to him. Her face hurt, her back hurt, her soul hurt. Gravity was already trying to drag her down, and all she wanted to do was shuffle back to her bed. “Garret’s dead. Who knows what’s going to happen with Lance and Kenny. I can’t lose another person. I just can’t.”

His brows pinched together, and for a wonderful moment she thought Adam might relent. But whatever sliver of vulnerability that slipped through his defenses was pulled back completely. “You are just a human. The Agency will take care of it.” He turned his back to her.

“It’s against protocol,” Nate added helpfully, rising to put his hands on Dorotea’s arms.

Dorotea scoffed. “You mean my mother would never allow it.”

“No. She wouldn’t.” Nate’s tone was grim. “And for good reason.”

As Dorotea sat in the mostly empty cafeteria, she daydreamed about home.

What had the Agency told everybody to explain her leave of absence? An injury, most likely, something to explain her impressionist smattering of bruises.That would mean that there would be a line out her door when she returned, everyone clambering over each other to bring her food, soup beans and cornbread and their grandmama’s shortbread recipe.

She pushed her bowl of watery soup away.

How did anyone down here tell the time? The minutes dragged on, feeling like hours. She was used to her insomnia speeding everything up into a delirious frenzy until sunlight was suddenly burning her bloodshot eyes. But without the sun or a fresh breeze or her confiscated phone she had no clue.

All she knew was that she was going home tomorrow. Whenever that happened to come.

Dorotea forced herself to finish her meal, knowing Elidor would give her a disappointed tut if she didn’t. After cleaning up her tray she started the walk back to her room, the journey growing shorter and shorter every time she made it.

The route brought her by some of the temporary rooms used by agents. She read the names on the outside as she passed. Jenkins, Estrada, du Mortain, Montjane…

She paused. Everything had already been said. Supernaturals were real and they weren’t going to let Dorotea do anything about it.

Yeah. Because that had been so successful before.

Dorotea took a step forward, sighed, and turned back around. Adam’s door opened the instant her knuckles touched the surface. His hair was slightly disheveled and his shirt was a bit wrinkled, as if he had just been laying down. It was completely foreign. Dorotea wasn’t even sure that she could think of the last time she had seen him sit. “Detective Langford,” he rasped.

“Agent du Mortain.” Dorotea chewed on her lip. “I just have one question and then I’ll let you go.”

Adam cocked his head to the side. “Ask.”

“Are you going to let him hurt anyone else?”

He leaned his forearm against the door frame. “I told you that we would catch the one who did all of this. I intend to keep my word.”

“That’s not a no.” Dorotea sucked in a breath when Adam narrowed his eyes.She thought of Lance in a cell, tears pouring down his face, his mind in tatters. “I know that your work is dangerous and that anything can happen. I just don’t want the damage to my people to be looked over simply because they don’t have special blood.”

Adam’s mouth quirked, but he schooled his expression to complete neutrality. “I have my orders,” is all that he said in response.

Wondering why she felt so disappointed, Dorotea nodded and stepped back. “Thanks for your time.”

He said nothing as she disappeared down the hall.

Pulling herself into her room, Dorotea headed straight to the bed. Somebody had left a clean change of day clothes there, all neatly folded. Jeans, boots, flannel, all pulled on with effort but no complaint. She reached for the most important item last.

Her fingers closed around aged leather, finding all the divots and scars that two pairs of hands had left in it. Dorotea pushed her cattleman hat onto her head.

Just a human, indeed.

#twc #dont wake the ancients #dorotea langford #my writing #egads. now to get back to violence

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garbinge · 1 year

Text

Festival

(40s) Bucky Barnes x OFC Adelaide Redi (40s) Steve Rogers & Platonic OFC Adelaide Redi

Day 07 from these April Prompts: Festival

Word Count: 2.1k words

Summary: Adelaide enjoys her last night with her boyfriend before he deploys. In the aftermath of him leaving, Ade gets an offer from a new Steve Rogers that might be able to get her to see Bucky again.

A/N: Okay so this is something from a HUGE fic I have partially written from a couple years ago, I never got around to posting or finishing it so I figured I might as well get some of it out there! Idk if I’ll ever post the rest but just know my girl Ade has a LIFE, let me tell yaaaa. Anyways enjoy this super loose interpretation of ‘festival’ lol.

Warnings: Light Angst

Marvel Taglist: @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics

Adelaide Redi stood in the run down Brooklyn pub behind the bar cleaning the glassware. Her glance went up to the analog clock that ticked away almost mocking her with how slow time was passing. She could only hope that the way time was passing now, was how it would slow later but she knew that wouldn’t be the case.

It was their last night together.

They were meeting at the Stark Expo Festival but she had 10 minutes left in her shift before she could leave. The sort of friend she was practically guilt tripped into inviting had probably already arrived at the Queens location for the festival and the thought of not being there yet was weighing heavy on Adelaide’s shoulders.

The clock hit 10 and Adelaide was on the move, practically running through the street to enter the subway station. Adelaide jumped on the A train and promptly put her earplugs in as the ride almost 99% of the time would give her headaches if she didn’t.

After a 15 minute ride on the express she jumped off and made her way through the large crowds that were there for the expo. She managed to make it over to the spot the group agreed on meeting at and that’s where her (sort-of) friend Lorraine stood. As Adelaide lightly jogged towards Lorraine, the woman’s body shifted in the opposite direction and her hand raised in a wave. Her gaze moved to see where Lorraine was looking and that’s when she saw him.

Bucky Barnes stood about 50 feet away, tall and absolutely stunning in his sergeant uniform. His smile was infectious as he walked over to the women with his friend in tow. Adelaide matched his smile with one of her own and he laughed as he pulled the orange plugs out of her ears.

“I didn’t think my presence was that annoying to you.” He laughed, tucking the ear plugs in his pocket.

“I took the subway here, didn’t want to ruin the night with a headache.” Adelaide adjusted his tie as she got a good look at him.

“Don’t know how many times I gotta tell you Ade, you should go to a doctor and get that checked out. Ain’t normal that a Brooklynite like yourself can’t take a 10 minute subway ride without getti-“

Adelaide cut him off with a passionate kiss. Bucky had no arguments as his hands wrapped around the woman he had fallen in love with years ago squeezing her close to his body.

There was a groan in the background and Adelaide pulled away to see the culprit. Steve innocently waved at the two with Lorraine to his left. The two couldn’t have been any further apart, clearly the sparks weren’t flying between them but Adelaide wasn’t shocked. Steve never paid attention to the friends Bucky would always ask Ade to bring for their best friend.

“Hi Steve.” She smiled and the group began walking.

“Hi Ade.” Steve greeted her. “No need for introductions, while you were searching for Earth’s greatest treasure in Buck’s mouth Lorraine and I met.” He smiled knowing the comment would earn him some bark back.

“You know any other night I’d retort back but considering it’s our last night all together I’ll let you have it.” She smiled and locked arms with Bucky.

The group of friends laughed, ate, and joked around. Lorraine had decided to leave early once she realized she was more of a fourth wheel than on a double date. Besides that, the night went on without a hitch, that was until Steve noticed the enlistment tent.

“You’re gonna do this again?” Bucky said, catching up with Steve. The two went back and forth before they inevitably said bye to each other. Steve offered up a wave to Adelaide which made her call out to him.

“You better still come by the bar every Tuesday!!” She grinned as he turned around.

“Wouldn’t miss it, Ade!” He smiled and was soon gone in the tent.

The night came to an end pretty quickly much to Ade’s dismay. She stayed at Bucky’s apartment that night and bid him a farewell in the morning. Her heart broke. He was the only family she really had, him and Steve.

Adelaide had jumped from home to home, being placed by the foster system since her biological parents put her up for adoption. Each family she was placed with never truly loving her or caring for her so she’d end up back on the streets.

Life on the run was Adelaide’s life. She ended up in Astoria when she was 16, which is where she met Steve in a corner store accompanied by Bucky. In the midst of her stealing food, Steve had noticed the girl and offered to buy her what she had stuffed in her pockets. She was hesitant until Bucky not only took the stuff from her hands but grabbed a few more things and split the cost with Steve and well, the rest was history.

Nearly 9 years had passed since that day and the 3 of them were inseparable. Adelaide had worked in the restaurant business as a server until she reached 18 and moved to bartending since the money was better. Steve and Bucky would regularly frequent the establishment simply because it gave them time to spend all together as well as a free meal or two.

Bucky and Ade had figured out their feelings for eachother around the time he was 21 and she had just reached 20. Steve had known all along. The connection between the two was palpable to everyone but them until the night it finally was. But that was a story for another time.

As the weeks passed since Bucky left, Adelaide kept to her routine of work and home and occasionally stopping by Bucky’s place to check on things, on the off chance she would run into her only other friend but she never did until the one Tuesday night that he walked into the bar.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Steve said with a grin as he entered the bar.

Adelaide spit her drink out as she looked at him. He was taller, buffer, older, and just way more put together.

“Steven Rogers?” She questioned making sure she wasn’t just seeing things.

“In the super soldier flesh” he laughed.

“Jesus, what the hell happened to you?” She threw the rag she had over her shoulder on the bar and walked over to him. “Ron, I’m taking my 30!” She yelled as she escaped from behind the bar.

“Long story.” Steve grinned, engulfing her into a hug.

“Well I got 30 minutes, come on.” She shook her head and led him out of the bar and they started to walk down the street.

_____________

“You don’t read the papers?” Steve looked at her after he explained everything. “I mean I don’t blame you, it's all over exaggerated. I just want to serve.” He shook his head.

“In their defense, you are kind of over exaggerated, Steve.” They reached the end of the block.

“You might be the only person who isn’t completely freaking out over this.” He looked over at her with a chuckle.

“I’ve known you for how long now?” She smiled up at him now, something she’d have to get used to. “You’re practically a brother to me, I know you just as well as Buck does, maybe even more because I pay attention to more.” She laughed as they strolled back to the pub.

“You’re still the same Steve. I can tell.” She said looking forward and then came to a stop to glance at him “So what is there to freak out about?” She shrugged, keeping his eyesight for a moment before she continued walking.

“The whole science experiment ability that the world can do this type of thing doesn’t freak you out?” He questioned catching up.

“There have been stranger things to happen, you just might not know it yet.” She smiled back at him as she reached the door of the pub and re-entered the building.

They changed topics quickly as he sat at the bar and ordered a drink.

“Bourbon?” She asked, holding up the bottle as he nodded.

“You hear from him? Letters or anything?” He asked her knowing it was probably a touchy subject.

“One letter.” She said walking away to other customers at the bar. She clearly didn’t want to discuss it. Steve knew that she had no family, no real friends. She had acquaintances from work but other than that she was alone. Bucky and him were the only close friends she had.

“Lady! I need you to refill the soaps in the bathrooms before you leave tonight!” Ron, the bar owner, called out. Her eyes rolled, as she walked backed over to Steve’s side of the bar.

“It’s weird hearing people call you that.” He smiled at the use of what the bar owner called her, Lady. Everyone in her life called her Lady, a nickname common from her full name. The only people who had called her Ade were Steve and Bucky. Buck had been the one to shorten her name and Adelaide never stopped him. It just felt right coming from both of them.

“You got special privileges, Captain.” She smiled and refilled his drink with water.

“So you do read the papers!” He laughed realizing she called him by his own new nickname and she pointed to one of the patrons at the tables who had a newspaper wide open with the headline of Captain America on display.

Steve hung out for the rest of the night and finally decided he’d ask the girl what he came here for in the first place. “Ade, I got a question for you.” Steve said as the woman wiped down the bar and started to lock up the registers.

“Go for it, Rogers.” A smile filled her face and she grabbed her coat off the rack and locked the front door of the pub and brought the metal gates down. “You can ask me as you walk me home.”

The two of them exited the pub. “I’m going on this kind of tour, I guess you could say, ‘Captain America meets America and beyond’ type of thing. We’re going to like 30 different cities and then we’re gonna head over to Germany. Wanted to know if you’d come with.” He asked as the two of them walked on the nearly empty New York streets.

Steve knew Adelaide was alone, with Bucky gone he was honestly worried for the girl and he figured why not invite her along.

“And what am I supposed to do? I don’t exactly have many skills, Rogers.”

“Come on, Ade.” He bargained with her. “First of all, don’t sell yourself short.” He scoffed at the girl's lack of confidence. She was exceptionally smart along with having a wild intuition. Between her street smarts and the things she picked up in school, Adelaide was smarter than Steve and Bucky combined and the both of them never let her forget it.

“You can help backstage, I’m sure once we’re in Germany for a couple months there’ll be a bar you can end up running on your own. It’s traveling! No roots, just seeing the world!” Steve tried to persuade her.

“I got that here. I don’t need to uproot myself.” Her eyes rolled as she picked up her pace.

“Ade, you’re all alone. I’m leaving in two days. Buck doesn’t get back for another year and if he decides to reenlist then you’re looking at more time. Just come, who knows maybe we’ll even run into the guy.” He offered up a smile.

“Why are you doing this, Steve?” She asked as they made their way to the subway station and Adelaide took her earplugs out of her bag.

“Because like you said, you’re like my sister. I hate seeing you alone, I know we’re the only family you really have and I just could use the company too.” He began to walk her down the stairs.

Adelaide contemplated the offer. Truthfully, she knew Steve was right, she wasn’t the best at getting close with people. With the only two people she confided in, gone, it would be tough for her.

“Don’t send a car when it’s time to go, I want you to pick me up and you better tell everyone my name is Lady.” She pointed at him and turned around putting her earplugs in her ears and disappeared onto the platform leaving Steve there with a smile on his face.

#Bucky Barnes #40s Bucky Barnes #40s Bucky #Bucky #Marvel Fanfic #MCU Fanfic #Bucky Barnes Fanfic #Steve Rogers #Steve Rogers x OC #Bucky Barnes x OC #Steve Rogers Fanfic

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abbatoirablaze · 1 year

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Just Ben, Chapter 7

Word Count: 1.5k

“It’s only going to be a short trip, sweetheart.”

“That’s what you said last time Ben,” you sighed as your hands pressed against his superhero suit. Your sigh was one of discontent, and he knew that as he lifted your face, cradling your jaw in his hands, “I was so scared that you wouldn’t come back to me last time, Ben.”

“You know I’ll always come back to you doll,” he sighed. You bit back the tears that were threatening to fall down your cheeks and tried to look away, but he held your face firmly in his grasp, “hey…don’t go looking away from me, Adelaide.”

“I’m just scared…” you admitted sadly, a loose tear spilling down your face. His frown deepened as he used a thumb to swipe it away, “I don’t want to lose you, Ben.”

“You’ll never lose me, sweetheart,” he promised, “I’ll always come back for you, you hear me? Once I get back from that jungle I’m going to put a rock on your finger, just like I promised. And we’re moving ourselves to the suburbs before that baby comes along.”

“Promise…”

“I promise sweetheart!”

“You’re lying!” you accused, glaring at Crimson Countess, the tears threatening to fall even more as one of the TNT twins held you back, “you’re lying to me. I KNOW IT! YOU’RE LYING!”

“She’s not lying!” Tommy said firmly as you began breaking down, “You have to lis-“

“Back away from her!”

The twins were quick to move, and you were left standing face to face with none other than Mr. Edgar. You ran towards him, and he caught your arms, holding them close to your own chest, “Stan…please…tell me. Where’s Ben? Why isn’t he here?”

“There was an accident over there, Adelaide! We were ambushed in the dead of night…and things didn’t go as planned,” he said solemnly. It killed him and Swatto…nearly eviscerated Black Noir! We tried to bring him back….but…I’m so sorry.”

“No…no, Ben….he-he promised!” you whimpered, before finally breaking down into a sobbing heap on the floor. Mr. Edgar caught you, and allowed himself to fall to the ground with you while you cried, clutching his shirt. Your sobs racked your body as you clung to the man that you despised for comfort.

And he let you.

It was like he was absorbing all of your pain, allowing you to shove it all onto him.

Because he knew it was his fault. He knew that the reason why Ben was gone was because he pushed him into one last mission. He told him to do the Nicaragua mission…and he did. And he paid for it with his life.

You don’t know how long you stayed like that, fighting your emotions, letting every ounce of anguish flood from your body to his. But by the time the tears had dried up, and exhaustion had taken over your body, he was calling for a medical team to load you onto a gurney to make sure that you and your unborn child was okay.

“Wh-where are you taking me?”

“Don’t use up your energy, Adelaide,” he said calmly, his hand holding yours while he remained your only source of comfort, “it’ll only work up the baby and yourself…you need fluids…and something to eat. And rest!”

“Ben…”

“Ben is gone, Adelaide…you need to do what is best so that his legacy can live on through you and your child,” he said gently, “the medical team is going to give you something to help you rest…”

“My baby…”

“It’s safe for the baby, Adelaide…you just need to rest.”

When you woke up it felt like you were being blinded. The pure white walls and ceiling made you feel both nauseous and dizzy. You were quick to roll to your side and fall off the bed. Landing on your hands and knees, it was mere seconds before your stomach turned, and the violent lurch created within made acid rise through your esophagus and spew all over the otherwise clean white tiled floor.

The door opened and you were surrounded by white lab coats, all of which were attempting to help you up, but the overlapping voices made you feel like you were going insane. You fell back onto your ass and your hands went over your ears.

It felt like your senses and nerve endings were on fire.

“Stop….stop….STOP!”

A powerful blast threw everyone and everything in your vicinity into the walls.

You felt like you were going to be sick again when you heard a singular voice over the intercom, “Adelaide…you need to calm down!”

Your heart ached as the last time you were awake burned into your brain.

Ben was gone.

Mr. Edgar was getting you some help sleeping.

They injected something into you.

“My baby…”

“Your baby is fine, Adelaide…but I need you to calm down before your baby thinks it’s being put into a distressing situation,” Edgar warned over the intercom, “you see the doctors and nurses on the floor? The baby was overwhelmed, and used a forcefield to push them away from you…you need to take a few deep breaths so that we can calm you two down…”

“Ben’s gone,” you whimpered sadly, looking around the room. Your hands went to your stomach and you could feel the low pulsing of your unborn child, “he promised…I-my baby’s all I have left of him…”

“I need you to calm down, Adelaide.”

This time the voice wasn’t coming from the intercom. It was coming from the door of the room. You blinked a few times, and he seemed to immediately understand. He reached out to the outside of the room, and the light receded back into the corners, the lighting becoming softer and more bearable.

“Th-thank you…”

“I need to show you something…” he said calmly, “But I need you to calm down before I can take you there…”

You stared through the window in horror.

There was a little boy, no more than five years old, actively being engaged by a scientist. Your heart ached at how much he looked like he man that you’d loved. The only difference was that his hair was lighter than either yours or Bens.

“Wh-why didn’t Ben and I know?”

Mr. Edgar gave you a soft frown, “we didn’t want the child to kill you…”

You looked at him, shock evident on your face, “Wh-what?”

“When you met Soldier Boy…at that…event that he and the twins held…and you started getting sick once you two…became an item…do you remember that?”

You shook your head, “n-not really…I remember you telling him that you would take me down here to medical…but that it was too early and that we couldn’t be seen together…especially not with my…profession.”

“We’d been trying to create a superhero baby for years…Soldier boy had undergone so many experiments to have his own children,” he began, “we’d used female donors…test tube trials…nothing seemed to work…until you came along…but when we started our research on you and the embryo…we found out that he was killing you.”

“What?”

“He was sucking the very life right out of you…so we told soldier boy that we were going to keep you alive long enough that the baby would survive…but he refused. He told us to terminate the pregnancy instead.”

“He knew?”

“That was why he became adamant that you be allowed to move in with him and that we fast-forward the process of you officially being his significant other,” Edgar nodded, “he said that he wouldn’t lose you, even at the cost of his unborn child.”

“But that child…he-he’s alive…”

“We surgically removed him from you and implanted him in a donor,” he admitted, adjusting his glasses, “admittedly, it was more than one. He killed two women in the first trimester alone…until finally someone came up with the idea to insert him into a bovine.”

“You put…my son…in a cow?”

“Women weren’t volunteering once they read the waivers…cows were…disposable…”

“And that’s how…he’s here?”

“We told him that his father is dead…but that you survived…we want you to meet him,” he said slowly, “we want you to stay with Vought, and raise him…he’s doing alright with our scientists…but we feel like his actual mother would be more…correct…”

“Wh-what’s his name?”

“Homelander…” he replied curtly, “he’s only got a superhero name, and it’s Homelander.”

“Ah…you must be the mother…”

You jumped, nearly out of your skin as a scientist came up out of nowhere.

“Doctor Vogelbaum…good to see you,” Mr. Edgar said firmly, exchanging handshakes with the man, “this is Adelaide…she was Soldier Boy’s significant other…and the mother of Homelander…”

“So nice to finally meet you while you’re not under anesthetics.”

“We’ve met before?”

“Briefly,” he smiled, “I was the one that has taken care of young Homelander every step of the way…was actually the surgeon that removed him from you initially.”

“So he…he’s really…”

“Your son…yes…”

“And he’s…part of Ben too?”

“I can assure you that the child you are carrying now is the second child you have conceived with Soldier Boy,” he smiled, “Homelander was born, officially, July 4, 1981…”

“But he…he looks like he’s a kindergartner…”

“Homelander is only three, Adelaide.”

“Three?”

“Yes,” Doctor Vogelbaum agreed, gesturing towards the door, “Would you like to meet your son, Adelaide?”

Chapter 8

Tag List: @lohnes16, @vmenfangirl

#just ben #soldier boy #the boys #vought #stan edgar #payback #crimson countess #homelander #vogelbaum

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adelaidehearingclinic · 1 year

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If You are Looking for a Reliable Hearing Service Program. Personalized Hearing Service Program for Your Demands. The Hearing Service Program is the development of millions of research hours and years of work. With our software, users are shown a list of all their hearing aid options, The process is easy and helpful, with the goal being to make it so that people can find what they need in the least amount of time possible.

#Hearing Aids And Tinnitus Treatment #Hearing Service Program #Moulded Ear Plugs Adelaide #Ear Wax Removal Adelaide #Ear Cleaning Adelaide

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draconicocelot · 1 year

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Mirage

Been a LONG time since I’ve been able to finish a fic but luckily I managed to finish an Evil Within fic (featuring my oc: Blair Kalloway and @aroserinosman’s oc: Darius Archer)

Enjoy ✨

How long had it been exactly? It was getting difficult to distinguish an actual amount from the hundreds of tiny dashes carved into the wall of Blair’s safehouse. She had to admit, she mostly did it these days just to swing her axe at something for therapeutic means, the sets of four dashes with a clean line through them devolving into long slash marks carved into the wood as more and more hope was lost. Though with a lack of other time-consumers, Blair decided to recount, staring at the same wall for more than forty minutes to make sure she didn’t miss any marks. Turned out to be seven hundred and fifty seven separate marks. A lot longer than she thought...

It was endless days and infinite nights that truly drove Blair mad. Without a mission, a goal, a task to finish, she felt like she was fading away, no longer useful and no longer needed. Without a purpose, did she even need to be around? At least at Mobius she was doing something. Was it ethical? Was it what she should have been doing? Perhaps not, but it was all she knew, all she was raised to understand. It wouldn’t matter in time, Union was slowly crumbling, its stability fading with its core now missing, not much would matter soon enough.

“Keep your head down… not sure how many inhabitants are still around this part of town.” An unknown voice from outside of Blair’s safehouse immediately drew her attention. This voice wasn’t that of a mutated citizen of Union, it was a regular, roughened voice. Perhaps this was Mobius’ second attempt at sending in a “rescue team”? Blair scoffed at the thought. That is, until another voice chimed in.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. According to Kidman this is the Business District, and according to my fucking instincts, this place is going to be crawling with every type of hostile creature on the fucking list.” That voice. She knew that voice.

Blair’s mouth hung open in utter shock, launching out of her chair so forcefully it fell to the ground, but by the time she looked out over the street the two sources of the voices had disappeared. She immediately looked down, her hand reaching in her jean pocket and pulling out a small silver lighter. Flipping the lid open, she ignited the flame and stared at the faint golden glow, lost in thought as her head began to spin.

She was just hearing things… there was no way it was… him. The events of the day she found out about his death were still fresh in her mind, haunting every attempt to sleep with cruel nightmares.

“Darius?! Darius, answer me!” Blair’s heavy boots stomped through the halls as she ran at full speed, heart pounding so hard she thought it was going to burst from her chest. He couldn’t be gone, he couldn’t be dead, he couldn’t.

“Hey! Easy Kalloway, you’re gonna hurt someone!” Adelaide barked as she sprinted by, but Blair didn’t hear her. Her ears were ringing too loudly, cheeks red and hot to the touch. Ignoring everything else around her, she reached the laboratory door in a matter of seconds. The door was slightly cracked open, its keycard station on the wall now deactivated. Disregarding the formality of knocking, she slammed her shoulder against the door, standing in a wide stance in the middle of the empty room.

“Darius…? R-Ruben…? Anyone?” Her pitiful voice muttered. There were scattered papers everywhere, broken boxes and shattered glass decorated the floor in piles that indicated a harsh struggle had broken out. Every table and chair had been overturned, the only light streaming in the room coming from the hall. Dried blood stained the floor, not enough to come from a fatal wound, but the presence of bloodshed at any capacity was enough to make Blair’s stomach churn. Falling to her knees, Blair gripped her hair so tightly it pulled at her scalp, hissing through her teeth as she felt her blood boil within, but no amount of physical pain hurt as badly as her aching heart. Turning her head towards the ceiling, she screamed at the top of her lungs, a mournful cry that seemed to last for hours, only ceasing when her throat was so raw she couldn’t speak.

She truly had nothing left to lose.

Flicking the lid of the lighter shut, Blair stared off into the distance, her empty gaze fixed on the windowsill as she considered her next move. Her chest fluttered with a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time, but it felt even worse considering the circumstances. Was it hope? Foolish longing? Chasing after ghosts now are we, Blair?

Wrapping her hand firmly around the handle of her axe until her knuckles turned white, Blair pulled herself to her feet, heading to the door marked with the infamous red Mobius symbol. Perhaps going into this situation with full force wasn’t the best idea. After all, she suspected it was a trap. However, the alternative was sneaking to get a better idea of who, or what, she was following.

Stealth was never her strong suit. Sure, she had the form for it; she was light on her feet, rather quiet if she needed to be, but in terms of patience, she was the worst candidate for such tactics. Therefore, she only stayed as low as she needed to to not be noticed right away.

Making sure she stayed a decent distance away, she hid behind a pile of crates and leaned forward slightly to get a better look. She was ashamed of the fact, but the instability of STEM caused her to receive some of the mutations shown in the creatures roaming around Union. Most of her left cheek had rotted away, revealing parts of her top and bottom teeth like an undead corpse. Her eyes were bloodshot with prominent red veins, her irises becoming less of a piercing blue and more of a faded white. This in turn made it harder for her to see, viewing everything in a shade of red. I understand how all these mutated creatures feel, seeing red at all times really DOES piss me off. Squinting her eyes, she could see the outline of two individuals ahead. They were crouched slightly, in a stance that indicated they could run at any given moment, their weapons drawn and kept close by. Though their position was soon discovered as she noticed a herd of spawn, amalgamations of four torsos with two makeshift mouths that were forged from torn flesh and gnashing teeth, approaching them at an alarming speed.

Well this isn’t ideal, and the two men in front of her seemed to agree, cursing as the creatures immediately leaped at them. There were five of them, circling them like distorted vultures, their motions mimicking those of large arachnids. From her viewpoint, Blair could see that they managed to kill two of them right off the bat, but the other three seemed to prove a challenge, clawing and biting too quickly for them to be able to react. She heard the tearing of fabric, one of the creatures slicing into their clothing and even down to the skin. Shit…

Leaving her spot behind the crates, Blair stood up tall, gripping her axe and positioning it behind her head, running forward and using the weight of the axe’s head to her advantage.

“Get down!” She shouted, both individuals ducking down obediently as she swung the axe with full force, splitting one of the creatures in half. Without waiting for another reaction, she swirled the axe in the air, blood sprawling across the road like a fountain before she swung in an uppercut motion at another one of the spawns. Tossing the handle in the air for a brief moment, like a motion made with a tennis racket, she repositioned her hands to kill the last spawn, landing the toe point of the blade directly in the center of its back, leaving it to squeal and screech until she crushed two of its head beneath the heel of her boot. By this point, her back was turned to whoever the two agents were behind her, at least, she assumed they had to be agents. Although with that voice… who knew if they were even real, or just a figment of her imagination.

“...Blair? What the…?” That voice again. That fucking voice. Blair grabbed the handle of her axe, keeping one foot on the creature to steady it before pulling the blade out, the metal head making a clink sound as it rested against the road. She turned slowly, eyes closed for a moment before she allowed them to open.

It was him. It was Darius. Well, it was him but he was, different. His hair was a bit longer now, more gray grown in on the sides. His face was more wrinkled, more tired than she remembered before, though she wasn’t really surprised by that fact. There was also someone else with him that she didn’t recognize. The other man was shorter, had fluffier brown hair and a more scruffy and slightly thicker set of facial hair, not like any other agent she recognized.

“Wow, Mobius is getting good,” Blair’s voice spoke, its monstrous undertone as noticeable as ever, she supposed it came with the STEM-mutation-package. However, even the normal portion of her voice even sounded quite bitter. “They even aged you up so you look just like what he probably would right about now, fascinating what technology can do these days.” Darius tilted his head slightly, glancing over at the other man with him before taking a step forward. Blair’s suspicious glare held firm, stepping back in response.

“What are you talking about, it’s me,” Darius gestured to himself, his tone still rather neutral. Blair threw her head back with laughter, a harsh cackle that came from deep within her chest and blurted out through her gruesome jaws. White sludge flew from her hair as she returned to her normal slouched posture, a cold smirk across her face.

“Look, whatever you are, some glitch in the system or an extra code sprinkled in just to fuck with me… I’m not who I used to be, I’m not the same gullible, trusting idiot.” Blair swung her tomahawk axe so that it’s handle was horizontal and rested against the back of her neck, her arms looped around it. “You see, just in case you were unaware, Darius Archer has been dead for, oh let’s see, when was that?” she tapped her foot, pretending to think, “Ah yes, over three fucking years ago.” It seemed as though the other man wanted to speak, stepping forward slightly, but Darius raised his hand out to the side in a motion for him to stop. Blair was in no headspace to be negotiating peace with a stranger, though Darius himself lowered his weapon.

“Of course they fucking told you I was dead…” Darius groaned to himself, sighing before looking back up at Blair. “Alright, look I-... hey, is that my fucking lighter?” Blair’s eyes widened at the question, looking at her own hand that housed the lighter from Darius’ office. Dammit, her nervous tics couldn’t appear at a more inconvenient time. Or… could they? How did he know that was the specific lighter from his office? She didn’t share this knowledge with anyone… Blair’s hold on the lighter in one hand tightened, her smirk suddenly fading into a more conflicted look.

“Yeah, well… finders keepers,” her tone was less angered this time, more tired than upset. Fuck, even if this wasn’t the real Darius it felt damn good to hear his voice again. A beat of tense silence fell between them for a few seconds, only broken once a harsh huff of a laugh was released by Darius.

“Fuck, kid…” Darius muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Kid. The word made Blair’s throat close slightly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other anxiously. It had been a long time since she was called that.

Her office now in ruins, Blair’s bloodied knuckles pulsed with a singeing burn, several splinters of varying sizes now buried in her skin. Her chair was busted into pieces, wood and glass fragments scattered all about. The administrator stepped right over them, crunching beneath his dress shoes.

“Have you finished?” He asked, his tone of voice void of any kindness or consideration, his arms folded behind his back as he glared down at her. Blair, her arms quivering, nodded slightly, the only response she could muster. “Good. Now go fix yourself up, I will have someone else repair this mess you’ve made, you have a job to do.”

Blair, without a word, left the room, her walking pattern matching that of a zombie. Her face was blank, empty, any semblance of her passion or life was gone. Dragging her feet behind her, her arms lazily swayed at her side, dripping small splotches of blood wherever she went.

From the other side of the hall, she could hear someone else approaching, footprints too loud to be someone her size. Which was good, considering she probably would have snapped if Adelaide decided to grace her with her presence.

“I’m, I’m sorry about what happened, kid.” Heston’s voice spoke softly and quietly. Blair’s chest tightened for a moment, like she had just been punched with full force. Kid…

“Never fucking call me that again,” she seethed, not even turning to look at him before she blew right past him to reach the medical unit, head lowered slightly and her dead-eyed stare focused on the path directly in front of her.

“I leave for three years and this is how you ‘stay fucking safe’?” Darius added, his voice more emotional, than before. Not quite louder, not once had Darius ever yelled at her, but there was more intensity in each word. It wasn’t even disappointment or anger, perhaps a diluted form of desperation. Darius and Ruben were the only two present for that conversation… it wasn’t unlikely that Mobius spied on them, but not in the lab, not that day. Blair’s axe slid from her hand slightly as she unconsciously loosened her grip, the metal head hitting the ground and startling her. She jumped slightly, avoiding eye contact with Darius as the possibility that it really was him started to sink in.

“So… So you…” Blair looked back up, her eyes finally meeting Darius’, “So you really are…?” Remaining directly in her line of sight, hands raised slightly where she could see them, Darius took another step forward.

“Look, kid… I don’t know what the fuck they told you, but, it’s me. I’m still here, I’m still fucking kickin’...” another step forward. Blair’s hand began to shake, the handle of the axe fully slipping from her fingers and falling on the ground. This time, she took a step forward, her boots now planted in the pile of blood she just brought about by defeating the spawn moments beforehand.

“I thought you were… I thought…” Darius was about a foot away from her, his arms now open, leaning forward slightly and reaching out towards her. Blair couldn’t believe it, it couldn’t be real…

The first tear trailed down her cheek, sniffling as she felt the oncoming outburst. Her head felt stuffy, her throat tight and eyes burning intensely. She tried to get another look at him, but with her tinted vision, muddled mind, and tears now blurring everything around her, she couldn’t quite distinguish all of his features. Though one quality reminded, the cigarette smoke scent. Just like the aroma that seemed to circle around him where he went.

Blair practically fell into his open arms, getting a slight running start before crashing against him. Darius stumbled backwards, a startled grumble releasing from him before he regained his footing, taking the opportunity when she was still off her feet to lightly sway to the side. One arm was tight around her small torso, the other taking its usual position and holding her head close to his chest. While her arms started out wrapped around him when they spun, she moved them out in front of her, using one arm to block her tears from staining his shirt while the other clutched his shirt in a tight fist. Since he held her head so closely against him, she could hear his breathing, his heart beating at a lively speed, it made a steadier stream of tears fall as she wept.

“Shh, hey, hey it’s alright kid… it’s alright, Blair… I’m here, I’m right fucking here…” Darius spoke softly, probably more gentle than she had ever heard before. To many, they would think his tone was still rather stern, but she knew the truth. She remained quite the mess for a minute or so, but Darius stayed, he let her remain in his arms as long as she needed to be. Slowly regaining composure, Blair wiped away at her eyes and stepped back, Darius lifting his hand away from her hair before looking at it, rather perplexed by the white slime that was left behind. “Still can’t believe you stole my fucking lighter,” he teased. Blair squeezed out a laugh while sputtering like a baby, recovering from her prior bawling session.

“It’s for your own good old man, you shouldn’t be smoking that much at your age,” Blair responded, a new feeling of lightness in her chest, a newfound hope that didn’t feel so temporary.

“Oh fuck off, it’s all I’ve got left, alright?” tilting his head in the direction of his slime covered hand he added, “where the fuck are you getting all this hair gel anyway, huh?” Wiping his hand against his pant leg, Blair curled in on herself, her cheek that was still intact blushing with embarrassment.

“Sorry… I uh, may have picked up a few mutations since I came here,” Darius’ eye’s were trained on her rotting cheek as he replied.

“Really? I thought that was all makeup.” Blair rolled her eyes.

“Yes, and I found this voice changer that makes me sound like a smoker on steroids.” Darius shook his head with a small smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth, seeming to drop the observation rather quickly. He must have been thinking something more, but he didn’t say it aloud.

“Darius…” he turned back to her once her voice became serious once more, “If it’s true that you had escaped Mobius, why the fuck did you come back?” Darius nodded slowly, figuring it was a fair question since he sometimes asked himself the same thing. He then turned, revealing the other man behind them standing in a rather awkward position.

“You’d better ask him,” Darius stated, both of them now staring at the other man. He then cleared his throat, waving slightly while greeting:

“Hey… I’m uh, Sebastian Castellanos…”

#draconic fics #the evil within 2 #the evil within #oc and canon #not my oc #but also #oc: blair kalloway #aidan tag #they're just out here having a lovely reunion :''')

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