#He despises those witches | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dreamcubed · 1 month

Text

you need to calm down | theodore nott x reader

song; you need to calm down [taylor swift] pairing; theodore nott x fem!muggle-born!reader genre; e2l, smut, angst word count; 5,9k timeline; subsidiary 8th year warnings; swearing, alcohol consumption, implied drug consumption, hook-up, drunk sex, piv, oral sex (male and female receiving), discrimination (muggle-borns), smoking, violence, blood, mentions of the war, arguments, yelling summary; after returning to hogwarts for a subsidiary 8th year to make up for the loss of 7th year due to the war, you are a completely different person, and muggle-born-hating theo finds himself obsessed with you

masterlist

"stressing and obsessing about somebody else is no fun."

MINORS DNI!!! 18+ content.

————————————————

In the time that the Second Wizarding War had been going on, you had been absent from Hogwarts, attending a muggle school under a fake name. Also in that time, you had changed significantly, partially to help your cover, but also because you had made muggle friends with similar styles and decided that you loved it. There were no uniforms at muggle college, so you were able to explore. These days you loved having black hair, having both your septum and nose pierced, and dressing almost entirely in black.

Your witch friends hadn't recognised you when you showed up at the Summer party you had received an invite to, after Voldemort was defeated and you were able to come out of hiding. The party you were attending was for seventh and eighth years— eighth year being introduced as a subsidiary for the education lost last year. Even most of those who had attended seventh year elected to return, as the final exams had never taken place, and what they had learned had been heavily rooted in the dark arts.

The party was booming, the walls of the massive house shaking with the sound of the music. You had consumed your fair share of alcohol, amongst other things, and had enjoyed catching up with everyone you had missed so dearly.

And that was when you saw him watching you.

Theodore Nott, a Slytherin boy in your year, who was from a wealthy pure-blooded family. A cigarette hung from his lips, and the smoke billowing around him sent a shiver up your spine. He was a sexy man, personality aside, and intoxicated you conveniently forgot about his attitude towards muggle-borns. Fuck, maybe he had changed?

He started approaching you, eyes raking up and down your accentuated figure, and he lingered a while on your fishnets. When he was close enough to talk, he said a simple statement, "I've never seen you before."

Theodore Nott hadn't changed. Not one bit. While he had never wished death upon muggle-borns like Voldemort, he had despised them— viewed them as lesser than he. He had seen you, laughing with your friends and seductively moving your hips, and assumed you were from the year below. You knew in that moment that he didn't recognise muggle-born goody-two-shoes Y/N L/N.

But, you were too drunk to ignore the red flags.

"No?" you murmured, "What are your first thoughts?"

He smirked, "I think I'm in for a very interesting night."

You chuckled, "I'll say."

His hands found your hips, and he began swaying with you to the music, which made you move your body closer to his. Even in the warmth of the room, the heat of his body hit you like an electric spark, coursing through you— straight to your core.

He moved even closer, his hot breath fanning against your neck as his hands moved round to your back. Then he lifted his head, his lips close to yours, and you let your eyes flutter shut as the kiss began. It was passionate: a hazy, powerful passion that had every hair on your body standing on end. His hands lowered to your ass, and squeezed, bringing a gasp from your lips, which he took as an opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth.

All of a sudden, he pulled away, only to whisper in your ear, "Wanna find somewhere more private?"

"Lead the way," you said breathlessly, and he took your hand in his.

Neither of you knew whose bedroom you had ended up in, but it was empty and had a lock on the door, so it was ideal. Sure, a little unlocking charm could get someone in, but hopefully they would realise what was going on inside if the door was locked.

Theo wasted no time in pressing his lips to yours again, pushing you back until you fell on to the bed, pulling him with you. He moved down to your neck, kissing and sucking in a manner that would definitely leave hickeys, before he returned to your lips. You tugged at his shirt, and he let you pull it over his head, revealing a toned chest and arms that had you drooling.

He smirked at your loss of composure and beckoned towards your shirt, "Your turn, miss."

This time, you smirked, and held up your arms to allow him to remove your upper body clothing. First your tight black mesh top, and then your bra, freeing your boobs for him to gaze at. "Look who's drooling now."

Your statement made him snap out of his shock: clearly the sight of your nipple piercings had been a new experience for him. He attacked your lips with a new fervour, then moved down to suck on your nipple and its barbell. Gasps escaped you at the sensation, and you arched your back up instinctively.

"You're so sexy," he stopped for breath, complimenting you, "How have I never seen you before?"

Your breath hitched, and for a moment the reality of the situation came back to you. Just as quickly, though, it left again, as he began work on your other nipple. It was a wonderful feeling, but you needed more, so you pushed him over until you were on top and began unbuckling his trousers.

His dick was big and thick, and you could tell by the glint in his eyes as he looked down at you that he knew and was proud. You shook your head, bringing your lips to the tip and pressing a gentle kiss. Your teasing didn't last for long, however, as you soon gave into the urge to take it into your mouth. He groaned deliciously in response, and you took that as your cue to lick a strip up the side as you began fondling his balls.

"Just like that, baby," he moaned, making you realise he hadn't even asked for your name.

You took him in your mouth again, this time going as far down as your throat would allow, feeling the urge to gag building up in you. His louder groans made the effort worth it, though, as you deepthroated him. Pulling away for breath, you looked up at him with doe eyes and said, "If I'm sucking your dick, you might as well eat me out." And with that, you pulled your tights and panties down, leaving only your skirt on, before sitting on his face assertively.

The action made him groan more, and you leaned down to continue work on his dick as you felt him find your clit almost immediately. His tongue ministrations had you moaning around his dick, making you begin grinding on his face out of reflex. If you weren't drunk, you wouldn't be nearly this shameless and forward.

To his credit, he ate you out like a man starved, and it wasn't long before the pleasure became so much you had to give up on his dick and give in to the sensation.

"Fuck, Theo, I'm gonna come," you moaned, and his movements only got quicker, until you felt your core tighten and then release. Your body convulsed as he rode you through the high.

Eventually, you got off his face.

"D'you have condoms?" you asked, knowing he hadn't yet finished and also that you weren't yet satisfied.

"Always." He reached for his trousers over the side of the bed and pulled a condom out of his wallet.

You took it from him, tearing the packet with your teeth whilst making eye contact, and carefully sheathing his dick. His breath hitched once you were done: the only warning you got before he got up and pushed you down on to all fours, lining himself up behind you. The push in wasn't difficult, since you were quite well prepared, but it was still sensationally tight for him.

"Fuck, baby," he grunted, pushing in the last couple inches, "You feel so fuckin' good. So wet for me."

In reply, you moaned, and he took that as his cue to begin moving.

He pushed up your skirt to slap your ass, leaving a red imprint on your cheek, before gripping your hips and picking up the pace. You became a mess beneath him, even more so when one of his hands snuck around to begin rubbing circles on your clit. The bedsheets were crumpled in your hands with how tight you were gripping them, but Theo didn't stop.

"Oh, fuck, I'm gonna-" he cut himself off with a grunt.

"Me too," you squeaked out.

"Come with me." The assertive way in which he said it had you falling apart yet again, and by the way his movements were becoming sloppy, you could guess that he was too. When he then collapsed next to you, you knew that your guess had been correct.

Turning to lay on your back, you let out a content sigh.

"You know my name," he said.

You chuckled breathlessly.

"Who are you?"

You shrugged, deciding that you had given yourself enough time to regain your composure and getting up off the bed to clothe yourself. "You'll see," you said as you pulled your final clothing item back on.

And, with that concluding comment, you left Theo speechless on a random bed of the host's house.

***

You told no one of that night, deciding that you didn't need to hear your friends say what a stupid idea it was for you as a muggle-born to fuck a pure-blood supremacist. You already knew that yourself, but that didn't stop you from dreaming about how his tongue felt against your pussy, or how his hands felt on your body. Merlin, it was the best sex that you had ever had, and it just had to be with someone who would never want you again after finding out the truth.

It was on the train to Hogwarts that you saw him next. Despite how excited you were to return to the castle after over a year, the anxiety of your next meeting with Theo had been consuming you. And, in a lit up train in your classic school uniform, you were a lot more recognisable than in the dark in your own clothes. Especially considering you were with your friend group.

You stared at him as he stood in the doorway of you and your friends' compartment, with Mattheo Riddle and Lorenzo Berkshire stood behind him. They were likely on the hunt for some younger years to belittle.

"Well, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes has certainly changed a lot, hasn't she?" Riddle chuckled from behind Theo, who was simply staring at you with widened eyes and a clenched jaw.

"Theo? Mate? You alright?" Berkshire asked, snapping his friend out of his daze.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," he said dismissively, "Let's go."

His friends appeared confused, but didn't question it.

Your friends, however, did.

"What the fuck was up with that?" your best friend, Elena, asked, "Is the man scared of a couple piercings or something?"

She didn't even know what she was saying when she said that, you thought to yourself, thinking back to his reaction to your nipple piercings. You simply shrugged at her, "He just hates to see a muggle-born succeed."

Everyone agreed with hums, and the conversation shifted to other subjects.

***

Theodore Nott had spent the last two weeks of Summer wondering what the fuck the mysterious girl he fucked at a party meant by, "You'll see," and then following that up with a wank using memories of you. But, in that moment, stood in front of you on the Hogwarts Express, where you were in better lighting and more recognisable attire, he felt the world crash down around him.

How had he fucked a mudblood? The one thing that was ingrained into his brain since childhood to never do? Ever? The worst part is, he hadn't just liked the sex, he had loved it. He had already had numerous wet dreams about your lips and your boobs and your ass. And now? Now he had to push all of that aside because he couldn't ever fuck you again.

He just couldn't.

"Theo- Earth to Theo," the voice of Lorenzo next to him brought him from his thoughts.

"What?" he snapped back.

"What's got you so worked up?"

Mattheo chuckled, "Can't you see him staring at mudblood L/N? I can't tell if you wanna kill her or fuck her."

That statement earned Mattheo a glare from Theo.

"Maybe both?" Lorenzo suggested, making them both laugh.

"Who was it again that you hooked up with at the party?" Mattheo asked before shovelling food into his mouth.

"He didn't say, remember? Said she never told him her name."

"It doesn't matter," Theo spat.

Lorenzo and Mattheo exchanged looks as realisation dawned on them, and they both slowly turned to Theo who was still glaring daggers in your direction.

"No, you didn't..." Mattheo said first.

Theo said nothing.

"You fucked a mudblood," Lorenzo stated, finishing Mattheo's thought.

"You didn't realise it was L/N," Mattheo continued.

"She'd changed a lot, okay?" Theo said angrily, "I thought she was from the year below or something."

His two friends began howling with laughter, meanwhile Theo sat brooding in silence at the Slytherin table.

***

Saturday rolled around, and you were relieved to be able to shed the school uniform and tug on your clothes that had become an important part of you. Thankfully, Hogwarts hadn't been too strict about your piercings, in fact you had even received compliments from some professors. But, honestly, the rules weren't all that strict since it was still a sensitive time with many grieving from the war.

The Summer weather was still lingering, and you basked in the sunlight as you walked down one of the open hallways, watching first years giggling amongst themselves as they played with their new magic skills. It brought a smile to your face, to see things returning to normal; you had missed Hogwarts dearly while you had been away, not knowing how long you would have to remain in hiding. You had even begun applications for muggle university— because, really, how could you have known whether it would be one year or ten before you could freely be a witch again?

You turned a corner, and in your drifted thoughts, didn't notice the person walking around the other way until it was too late and your shoulders had shoved against each other.

"Shit, sorry," you muttered, realising all too late that it was Theo. He was glaring at you, just like he had at every meal and every class you shared all week.

"Watch where you're going, mudblood," he snapped.

Rolling your eyes, you mumbled, "Wasn't a problem three weeks ago."

"Never speak of that," he said lowly, his voice threatening.

"Why? Annoyed sex with a mudblood was good?" you retorted, and then you found yourself pinned up against the wall.

"Watch your mouth, miss."

"Don't you mean 'baby'?" you smirked, relishing in the way his eyes darkened.

You almost missed the way his gaze flicked to your lips, but then he pulled away, refusing to look at you.

"Fuck you, L/N," he spat, storming off, and you watched in amusement with your back still against the wall.

***

Theodore Nott was livid. Absolutely livid. You wound him up in the worst way possible, only for him to try and scare you- fail- and then find himself wanting nothing more than to smash his lips on to yours. When you reminded him of the pet name he used while you were fucking, the blood in his body rushed straight to his dick: the feeling of his arms gripping yours and the close proximity had felt electric. Your very presence set him on fire in every single way possible.

He hated every second.

With previous hook-ups, he had hooked up a few more times with them until he had gotten bored and moved on to the next. Before he found out who you were, he had been planning on doing the same, and now the fact he couldn't was driving him crazy. He thought about you every minute of the day, every minute of the night, and- unfortunately- whenever his hand was wrapped around his dick. And, after his interaction with you in the hallway, he knew that he needed a good fuck from at least a half-blood, if not a pure-blood.

Yes, that was all it was, his body was desperate for sex and as you were the last person he fucked, his thoughts simply went to you first. That was all it was.

Definitely.

***

Potions lesson on Monday rolled around quicker than you would have liked, but it wasn't all bad, as Slughorn was a nice enough professor. You sequestered yourself next to your best friend, ready to begin the lesson. He had promised you all your first practical lesson today, and you were excited to use a cauldron again after so long.

The only real downside of the class was that Theo was in it, and he seemed even angrier (if that was possible) than he was last week. His eyes were pinned on to you like you had murdered his family. You shrugged it off, setting up the work station while Elena went to fetch the various ingredients that you required.

Meanwhile, Theo sat across the class from you, feeling incredibly frustrated. Saturday night, he had tried to fuck another girl, but he couldn't get himself hard until he imagined that she was you. And, even then, he couldn't finish. His imagination couldn't go as far as making her feel and act like you, after all. Now, all he knew, was that you were his enemy, and his remedy. And you had the audacity to act so calm and unbothered all the fucking time.

"Your obsession isn't healthy," Mattheo spoke from next to him, dumping the potion ingredients on the table.

"It's not an obsession."

"What is it, then?" his friend scoffed, "Love?"

Theo furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Mattheo watched as Theo rose to his feet and began haphazardly chopping ingredients, the tiny knife taking the brunt of his anger.

"If it's affecting you so bad, just fuck her again."

"She's mudblood."

"It's not like you're impregnating her," Mattheo reasoned.

Theo sighed deeply, "It's not that simple. I've had it trained into me since birth that we don't associate with mudbloods."

"Well," Mattheo shifted on his feet, "Parents aren't always right."

"Since when did you sympathise with them?"

"I don't- I just," Mattheo muttered something inaudible to himself, and then said, "I don't want people to think I'm my father."

Theo said nothing.

"I'm just saying, mate, your mother's dead and your father's in prison for life— who gives a fuck what they think?"

"It's the principle."

"What even is the principle?"

"What would Draco think? Lorenzo? All of our friends?"

"Draco's not the man he was before the war," Mattheo said quietly. He knew better than anyone, being Draco's cousin, he had grown up with him due to his parents' absence. "I'm just saying. Maybe we should leave some beliefs in the past."

"You've gotten soft," Theo grumbled, "Just last week you were shitting on me for fucking her."

Mattheo shrugged, "Force of habit, I guess. I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately."

"That's rare."

"Shut up."

***

Truth was, despite all of Theo's dick behaviour and discrimination of your kind, you still found yourself waking up in a sweat thinking about his hands roaming your body. That goddamned Slytherin was the bane of your existence and the reason for your catharsis. He had diseased you, plagued you. He was a parasite that you couldn't get rid of, that was eating away at your sanity. What happened to your self respect? To your pride? You got fucked into heaven, that's what. And now your sexual urges were spreading like fire all throughout your bloodstream.

Wanking didn't feel the same anymore— your fingers didn't hold the electricity and passion that Theo's did. You craved him like a drug: and that's exactly what he was. He was something you shouldn't do, something that was bad for your health, but something that could have you seeing stars. Why did he have to be a blood supremacist?

But would it feel this intense if he wasn't? Maybe you two being forbidden, being star-crossed, was the reason that it made you feel so alive. You loved the fact he stared at you, even if it was with fury so powerful it made his whole body shake. It made you feel as if you had gotten to him the way he had gotten to you.

Just one taste of heaven had left you wanting to experience it a thousand times over.

"Get your shit together, Y/N," you cursed to yourself, forcing yourself out of bed.

"What was that?" one of your dorm mates asked.

"Nothing," you replied, "Just going crazy."

"Aren't we all?" she agreed.

***

"Party in the Slytherin dungeons tonight," Pansy stated to you one hellish week later.

You blinked at her, "And I'm invited?"

The girl nodded, evidently feeling awkward, "A lot of us are trying to- uh- make amends with mud- muggle-borns."

You raised an eyebrow at her near slip-up.

"Look- I'm- I'm sorry for how I treated you in the past," she said, actually appearing genuine, "It wasn't right."

"Um, thank you," you replied hesitantly.

"I know I don't speak for all the Slytherins, but a lot of us have done some thinking over the Summer," she continued, "We've lived in an echo chamber for too long."

That you agreed with.

"And, honestly, I think you're really cool- and I hope we can be friends."

You were taken aback by her words, never imagining that a pure-blood like Pansy Parkinson would be saying such words to you. But, maybe, forgiving her wouldn't be such a bad thing. "I... forgive you, I think," you said slowly, "I hope we can be friends too."

She gave you a small but warm smile, "Thank you. Will I see you there?"

You nodded cautiously, "Yeah, I think so."

"Great, uh, come say hi when you get there."

And with that, she disappeared, leaving you in a state of shock and confusion.

***

"Why are there so many mudbloods here?" Lorenzo asked irritatedly, sitting down on the sofa next to his friend group.

"Be civil, Enzo," Pansy gently scolded, "They're witches and wizards just like us."

"But they're not, though. Right, Matt?"

Mattheo shrugged slightly, "I'm with Pansy on this one, I think."

"See, Enzo? Even the Dark Lord's son agrees with me."

Mattheo grimaced at being reminded of who his father was.

"What about you, Theo?" Lorenzo asked.

But Theo wasn't listening, too busy glaring at you with his jaw clenched as you entered the common room, dressed up in an annoyingly similar way that you were back at the Summer party. Lorenzo followed his gaze, but he already knew where it would be leading to.

"Theo is not the person to ask," Blaise chuckled, appearing out of nowhere and sitting next to Theo, "I reckon he's about two interactions with L/N away from saying 'fuck it' and accepting his fate."

"What fate?" Theo snapped.

"The fate of falling in love with a muggle-born," Pansy said with a giggle.

"I'm not falling for her."

"Yeah, you just think and talk about her all the time," Draco, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke.

"Do you not have a problem with it?" Lorenzo asked Draco.

The blond boy shrugged, "I have a lot of regrets regarding muggle-borns. I don't want anymore."

Lorenzo groaned.

"Times are changing, Enzo," Pansy said gently, "I think you should change with them."

The man scowled and stormed off.

Meanwhile, you had finally spotted Pansy across the room, surrounded by the Slytherin boys— including Theo. You took a deep breath, deciding for the sake of a potential friendship you would have to bear it and fulfil her request of saying hi. You arrived at their group moments after you had seen Berkshire leave angrily.

"Uh, hi," you said to Pansy.

"Hi," her face lit up, "Have you got a drink? I'll get you one."

"Oh, thank you."

"It's no worries— make yourself comfortable," she then turned to the boys, "Play nice."

Mattheo raised his hands in mock surrender, but all Theo did was keep his eyes glued on to you.

Zabini shifted along the sofa, gesturing for you to sit in between him and Theo, which you cautiously accepted. The second you felt the warmth of Theo's thigh brush against yours, sparks jolted through your body, and you nearly jumped. You could have sworn you heard his breath hitch, too. This was the first time in two weeks that he wasn't looking at you, instead his eyes were trained ahead like he was retaining every ounce of self control within him.

"The sexual tension is suffocating," Mattheo remarked, standing up to go after Pansy.

His statement seemed to fuel the flame that you had desperately been trying to keep dim inside of you, and suddenly staying sat next to Theo seemed like an entirely impossible task. You were not nearly drunk enough for this. Thankfully, Pansy returned quickly with Mattheo lingering behind her, and she handed you a glass.

"Firewhiskey and coke," she said simply.

"Thanks," you accepted the glass, and downed the entire thing, "I'll get another one."

You left them all, hearing Pansy scold Theo for scaring you off, but you could still feel his eyes burning holes into your back. Just a couple more drinks and then you would join the dance floor, you decided.

And there you soon were, grinding up against a Hufflepuff boy with liquid courage flooding through your veins. You had just about managed to push Theodore Nott to the back of your mind, but you knew that it was only a temporary fix. This Hufflepuff boy was attractive, but he didn't set you alight.

"Someone's jealous," Blaise chuckled, watching as Theo glared daggers at the boy you were dancing with. Ever since you had joined the dance floor, he had been necking back drinks like his soul depended on it, and it just might. With every gulp, he was feeling more reckless and dangerous. "Accept it, mate, you're in deep."

Theo let out a sound that bordered on a growl.

"The only thing stopping you is yourself."

And as Blaise's words sank in, and the Hufflepuff boy appeared to be going in to kiss you, something snapped within Theo. In a flash, he was on his feet and taking large purposeful strides in your direction. Then, the Hufflepuff boy was torn from your side and being punched directly on the nose with such a force he toppled over. He didn't even get a chance to fight back as Theo continued to hit him, merciless in his moves.

You stood in shock watching the scene unfold before you. After what felt like forever, Mattheo and Lorenzo showed up, pulling Theo off the poor boy who had done nothing wrong.

"What the fuck was that for?" the boy yelled, blood pouring down his face.

Theo said nothing, glaring at him as he finally stopped fighting his friends' grip.

"You need to calm down, mate," Mattheo said sternly, digging his fingers into his friend's bicep.

"Theo." You said, unaware what your intentions were when the name slipped out of your mouth. Regardless, his eyes snapped to yours, appearing to soften slightly as he observed your fearful stance.

What was stopping him, really? Did the purity of his bloodline really matter to him that much?

"I think you two need to talk," Mattheo said firmly, "And I think one of you in particular- not naming any names- needs to get over his own bullshit excuses and give into what he wants."

Theo's bloodied hand wrapped around your wrist, tugging you in the direction of the Slytherin dormitories. You didn't fight him, strangely feeling your fear slip away despite what you had just witnessed Theo be capable of. When you were stood in his empty dormitory, face to face, you knew that you would have to be the first to say something.

"You were jealous," you said it as delicately as you could.

He said nothing, not even looking at you. This made you angry— enraged, even.

"Fucking look at me, Theo!" you screamed, "You haven't had any difficulty with it all week— staring at me like I'm the shit on your fucking shoe!"

His eyes locked on to yours.

"If you regret fucking me, just say it!"

"I don't regret it," he said, his volume low but tone dangerous, "Everything I've been raised to believe wants me to regret it but I can't."

You stood, stunned at his confession.

"I need you like I need water, you're an itch I can't scratch," he was stepping closer to you, making you step back, "You make me feel fucking ecstasy and misery all at once."

Your back hit the wall, and he grabbed your wrist again, bringing it to press against his crotch.

"Do you feel what you do to me?" he said darkly, "I've never been so hard in my life."

You gulped, "I'm not just gonna be another of your bitches, Theo, so forget it." Even though you wanted it so bad, and you were dripping from your core.

"That's the thing, L/N," he chuckled sinisterly, "I don't think I could ever get enough. I don't think anyone else will be able to satiate me ever again."

You jaw dropped.

"I think..." he continued, "...that you're a drug I got addicted to after only one hit."

You closed your mouth, looking up at him expectantly.

"And I don't think I ever want to be sober from you."

"But, I'm a muggle-born-"

He cut you off by slamming his lips on to yours with such furious passion your mind became hazy as you eagerly returned the kiss, lifting up your arms to wrap them around your neck. For a moment, he pulled away, just to whisper, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't think I care. I think I just want you in every humanly possible way."

"Then have me," you murmured.

It became a blur as his lips crashed on to yours yet again, and he picked you up by your thighs with his blood stained hands, leaving imprints on your bare skin through your fishnets. He moved you over to his bed, kissing down your neck while he blindly reached for the hem of your top. He wasted no time in pulling it off, along with your bra, so he could continue kissing down your body.

You relished the sensation— savouring it— feeling like you were the only girl in the world. Theo was treating you with such roughness and yet such care, like he had tunnel vision for you and only you.

He pulled off his shirt, before moving down to pull down your skirt, fishnets, and panties all at once. You watched breathlessly as he dived into your leaking pussy and ate you out like a man starved. He groaned, murmuring, "I've missed this taste so fucking much," before continuing his ministrations, eliciting the filthiest moans from you that had ever been produced. This felt even better than the last time.

"You are my goddess," he licked up your pussy, "And my devil."

He began sucking on your clit, and your body felt as if it was lifting from the bed as your orgasm hit you like a shockwave, coursing through your body and sending you to places you had only brushed against before.

"Fuck, Theo," you moaned, "Please fuck me."

The man didn't need telling twice, unbuckling his belt and kicking off his trousers. He didn't waste any time going to his bedside table to grab a condom out of the drawer, tearing it open and pulling it on in record speed. You would have helped him, but your orgasm had you borderline paralysed.

And, then, he was lining up in front of you— for the first time in his life, all he wanted was to fuck missionary. He wanted to see your face (and your nipple piercings that had him drooling) and he wanted to see your expressions as you came undone below him. To him, this was the most intimate that you could get in sex, and he only wanted that with you.

He groaned louder than he had ever groaned when he let himself push inside you, knowing that no other pussy would ever feel as magical as yours. Knowing that he should never have even considered depriving himself of this for some stupid blood purity reasons.

"Fuck, baby, you feel fucking amazing," he breathed out. You reached your arms up, gesturing for him to come down closer to you.

Theo obeyed, kissing you as he began thrusting, while his bloodied hands explored every inch of you, leaving a trail as they went.

"I'd rub your clit, but I don't want to get blood there," he said through heavy pants. You couldn't help but let out a small giggle, moving your own hand down to aid yourself along.

Your moans increased tenfold, as did his pace, and it wasn't long before he was biting down on to your neck in order to contain the groans that were fighting their way out of him. Who would have thought that such plain love making could make him feel so on top of the world?

"Theo- I'm gonna come," you choked out, and the way his teeth sank deeper told you that he was going to as well. As you both reached heaven in unity, he gave up suppressing his moans, and gave you the most melodious earful that you had ever heard as his movements became sloppy and tingles spread through your veins.

Eventually, he collapsed on top of you, and you wrapped your arms around his neck, stroking his hair gently as you lay in a post-sex haze.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, making your brain short circuit.

"You what?"

"I'm sorry for being a pretentious asshole."

A smile creeped on to your face, "So, is this just a sex thing, or...?"

"Fuck no," he snapped, "I need you all the time. You're mine."

"So, it's a girlfriend boyfriend thing?"

He froze, but then relaxed, and said into your neck, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"You guess?"

He sighed, "Well, you've ruined me for anyone else."

————————————————

masterlist

written; 07/04/2024 —> 08/04/2024 published; 10/04/2024 edited; —/—/——

819 notes · View notes

theemporium · 1 year

Text

[REQUESTS OPEN]

[2.2k] summer nights, muggle gadgets and lovesick boy who just wants to see his girl again.

based off: “i want you...here...right now” + this request

“How’s summer with the Addams family?”

You rolled your eyes, even if the action was done out of fondness. “You watched one muggle show and now you’re obsessed.”

“Your family are a bunch of loonies, sweetheart, sorry to break it to you.”

Once upon a time, summer was a time to longed for. When the winter days were short, cold and miserable and when spring didn’t seem to hit the spark of sunshine and warm days you needed, it was summer where you found happiness and contentment. It was summer where those long days were spent basking in whatever sun the English weather gave you, fingers sticky with the juice of the ice lollies you’d fight your brothers for and hiding in secret nooks of the house when Walburga would stand by the staircase, red faced and angry at the trails of mud staining the expensive carpets.

But when you enrolled in Hogwarts, you realised that summer held much more than warm weather and grass-stained knees.

Because Hogwarts was a taste of freedom, a taste of the world beyond the walls of the Black household where everything was simple, quiet and nice. It was so fucking nice and it was easy to get drunk off the independence, to get lost in it before you realised it was quickly being ripped away from you.

Because that’s what summer had become. It had gone from being your salvation to your prison in mere years, and now summer was a time you despised.

Summer dragged you away from your friends. Summer threw you under the roof of your overbearing parents. Summer jammed a wedge between you and your brothers as you played the games and politics that came with living in the Black household.

Summer kept you away from James—the dirty little secret you had been keeping for the world because you were young and selfish and you loved having him to yourself, even when you weren’t really supposed to have him.

“I can’t disagree with that,” you muttered out, a huff of amusement leaving your lips as you remembered the dinner from the night before. In all honesty, you were surprised the house was still in one piece after the fights and arguments that broke out last night. Then again, it wouldn’t surprise you to find out that wards had been put in place to keep the place standing for as long as Black blood lived under the roof.

“No one’s giving you too much grief, are they?”

That was the thing about James Potter, you just weren’t sure he was actually real. Growing up with the Black surname, you had been surrounded by pureblooded wizards and witches from the moment you were born. You had dined with them, you had conversed with them and danced with them over the years. You knew what pureblooded children were brought up to be, what they were brought up to think like.

And yet, James was the living anomaly of the next generation of purebloods.

Though he was loud and arrogant and a little too up himself for his own good, he was kind and smart and managed to make you feel like the most important person in the world, regardless of who you were. James Potter cared like he was carrying the world on his shoulders and had to act on their behalf. He cared like nobody else you had ever met, and you didn’t know if that made your heart swoon or your head spin because it was just never something you had ever seen in your life.

Men like James Potter were one in a million and you had somehow managed to catch the eye of the formidable wizard.

It had been his idea to use the muggle telephones. Just weeks before you had to break for the summer holidays, he had dragged you into a broom closet with a bright smile on his face, almost rolling back on the heels of his feet. He explained everything, from the device to how it worked to how he had convinced Lily to retrieve the items so it wouldn’t be traced back to either of you.

He scribbled down his number and shoved it into your pocket, kissing you quickly goodbye before he raced off to quidditch practice, leaving you flustered and bamboozled of the man James Potter just kept proving himself to be.

Because he knew what your family was like. And he knew that you hated going home for the summer. And he knew that with your family watching your every move and magic being a hopeless endeavour because of the Ministry rules for underaged witches and wizards using magic that using muggle telephones might just be the only option you have left to talk to each other.

And he had taken that step, because he wanted you just as much as you wanted him and it made your heart swell.

“Nothing new,” you told him, fingers wrapped around the cord of the phone as you laid back on your bed, window open as the summer heat engulfed your room.

“I don’t like leaving you alone there.”

“I have Sirius and Reg,” you told him, but a part of you wanted to say you didn’t like him leaving you too.

“Sirius fucks off to the muggle world and Regulus doesn’t have a backbone yet.”

“James,” you scolded softly, though you knew he was right. You loved your brothers, loved them in the unconditional way siblings loved each other. But it was an ‘every man for themself’ situation whenever you three returned home for holidays.

Sirius would run off, not ashamed to dish out the same horrid words back to your parents when they yelled and belittled him. He would sneak off into muggle London, spends days there and would come back with treats as a form of apology for leaving you alone.

Regulus was a little different. He still held your parents in high regard, he still wanted to make them proud. He tried to be the son they wanted, tried to live up to the expectations they held for a pureblood son from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. He would never intervene when either you or Sirius were getting scolded.

It meant a lot of the time you were left on your own during the holidays. It meant that you spent days craving to have the warmth and familiarity of the family and friends you made in Hogwarts. You were left craving the life of freedom and independence you had there.

“I’m just being honest, sweetheart. You know I mean good. I just wish I could have you here, ya know? With me.”

You smiled softly at the idea, a warm feeling settling contentedly in the bottom of your stomach. “Yeah, me too, Jaime.”

“It would be fun, don’t ya think? I could take you riding out back near the lake Mum always yells at me to stay away from. We could take a picnic, maybe steal a bottle of fire whiskey…could even watch the sunset from there.”

“Sunset, huh?” you mused, entertaining the conversation even if it stung a little, the jealousy of a reality you wish was your own. “And what about when it gets dark, Mr Potter? You gonna protect me from the monsters?”

“Maybe I have other plans when the sun goes down.”

And despite yourself, you feel your cheeks flushing at the insinuation. “Like?”

“You’re really making it difficult to be a gentleman over the phone, sweetheart.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna talk to a gentleman,” you retorted, biting back the grin that was threatening to break out on your face.

“Fucking hell, baby, you’re killing me.”

“I miss you, Jaime,” you sighed, hand resting on your stomach whilst the other clutched the phone.

“Not been taking care of yourself?”

“It’s not the same.”

You listened to the boy let out soft curses on the other side of the phone, followed by the sound of shuffling sheets and a soft thud that you could have sworn was followed by an ‘ow’.

“It doesn’t feel as good, James,” you continued as you let out a long sigh. “I miss your hands…the way you touch me…the way your mouth feels on me…the way your dick—”

“Fuck, baby, please. I want you…here…right now.”

“‘s not possible,” you murmured in response, shuffling a little to sit up against your headboard, your thighs clenched together. It was fun teasing him, getting him all worked up and bothered. But it sucked when you were left sitting there, memories of just how good he could make you feel left playing on repeat in your head.

“Maybe it is,” James countered, something quite like desire and hope lacing his words. “What if you floo’d here?”

You paused. “James, my parents—”

“—will never know,” he finished for you. “Your mum will be doing her own head in with that dinner she’s planning, and I know Sirius is away somewhere in London for the next few days. Regulus won’t even know you’ve left. You could stay here for a few days, get a break from everyone…stay with me for a bit.”

You pondered his words. “And your parents?”

“Mum loves you,” he snorted. “And Dad would probably adopt you in the drop of a hat.”

“I knew Monty had a soft spot for me,” you retorted, a small smile growing on your face as something quite like anticipation sent a thrill down your spine. Before you could convince yourself otherwise, you were grabbing a backpack and half-hazardly shoving what you needed for the sudden trip into the bag.

“You’re a weakness for all Potter men, baby. It’s all a part of your charm.”

The buzz in your veins felt like the nights you’d sneak out of your room, James’ invisibility cloak covering you as you snuck through the corridors of the school after curfew to go meet him by the Whomping Willow. The nights where you would sneak around just to spend a few hours with him, and even the nights where you would join your brother and his friends in their marauders shenanigans.

You peeked your head out the door, glancing down the hallways and straining your ears to hear if anybody was wandering the house this late at night. Less than thirty seconds later, you were bustling down the staircase and making your way towards the fireplace before any of the house-elves saw you.

“Potter Manor!”

The world swirled around you in blues and greens and reds and pinks, pulling and tugging at your limbs in every direction and making your head spin before you felt solid ground beneath your feet. You blinked, a little disoriented and the grip on your bag ironclad as you took a moment to breathe.

But before you could even step out of the fireplace, a pair of arms were wrapped around you and tugging you into a large, warm chest and something inside your heart finally settled for the first time in weeks since the holidays had started.

“I fucking missed you so much,” James’ muffled voice muttered against the top of your head, one of his hands coming up to cup the back of your head and pressing it against his chest where you could hear his heart thundering away. His other hand was already reaching for your bag, taking it out of your grasp so you could wrap both arms around him.

“You’re warm,” you murmured, enjoying the sound of your boy’s soft chuckles as he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head.

“That’s all you gotta say?”

“Gotta keep you humble where I can, Potter.”

The boy pulled back, enough for you to look up at him and see the grin split across his face before he leaned down, kissing you senseless like you weren’t standing in the middle of his living room where either of his parents could find you. When he pulled away, he looked down at the dazed look on your face and his smile only widened.

“C’mon,” he murmured and nodded his head towards the staircase. “Need to hide you away before Mum hogs you to herself.”

“Maybe I came here for her,” you retorted, enjoying the feeling of James taking his hand in yours, intertwining your fingers and squeezing softly as though to reassure himself you were really there.

“Don’t go breaking my heart now, baby, I’ve just planned the perfect weekend for us,” James mused playfully, glancing over his shoulder to flash you a wink before he pulled you into his room, locking his door behind him and dropping your bag on the floor.

“Hey—”

“Yell at me later,” he murmured as his arm wrapped around your waist, practically tugging your body onto the bed until you fell on his chest with a soft oomph.

“I forgot how needy you were,” you joked lightly, shuffling until you were comfortably tucked against his side.

“Just want my girl,” he grumbled, tilting your head up so he could lean down to peck your lips. “Is that such a crime?”

“Maybe to my brothers,” you countered and watched him roll his eyes.

“Please don’t bring up your brothers when I’m trying to seduce you, sweetheart,” James groaned, his arm around your body tightening.

You snickered. “I think you are wearing too many clothes to be seducing me, Potter.”

He raised his brows. “Is that a preference?”

“I would say more of a demand.”

“Well, who am I to deny my pretty girl?”

955 notes · View notes

ghouljams · 6 months

Note

And of course, Witch does notice him. She probably kind of hates him at first for always disrupting her prayers with his languid, confident footsteps as he enters her house under the guise of asking for a very specific remedy. She hates the way her stomach twists every time she sees his rugged face. She hates the way her mind goes blank for a second when his soft, yet commanding voice echoes in her ears.

And she despises how she can’t help but silently gush at every single one of his gifts. How she always puts them in places she just knows she will always see them, and how comforting their sight is. How she feels her gaze soften even just a little bit when he breathes a sigh of relief as she bandages his wounds an massages his sore muscles. How her shoulders suddenly feel heavy with worry every time he tells her he is about to leave for another expedition, barely managing to steel her voice when she tells him to come back in one piece (after all, it’s always a nightmare to rummage through the heavy northern snow to find the ingredients needed to take care of big injuries). How she immediately goes to ask the Gods to watch over him, her hands clutching the necklace he once gifted her.

And, most of all, she loathes the way she loves him, her mind distracting her with many thoughts of him when she has to tend to her duties. She is down bad, and he is too. It’s only a matter of time before they both crumble in each other’s arms under the delectable tension these feelings weave in between them.

Just a little headcanon. Mii is inspired. We love characters who can fit in multiple AUs.

Mii do you wanna just take over for me because holy shit. I literally sat up and rolled my shoulders let's fucking go, I gotta write some fic, I'm inspired but I don't think I can match that because GOD. The mutual pining.

There are small things you do to prepare for men to come home. There are big things too, of course, you bind winds with your staff, you ask the gods for protection, you bless the wives with their husband's safe return. But the small things... You change out the furs you wear, return the silky pelts to their usual hanging place so you don't seem too fond of the man that gifted them. The same with your buckles, your brooches, your necklace. You twist a thin silver band around your finger, like a branch from a willow tree it always strikes you as too delicate to come from a viking. There's no filigree to it, not stones, no patterns, it's simple and well loved.

You do these small things because you loathe the man they represent. He's a distraction from your duties, he clouds your judgement, pulls the spirits from you. He watches you with such bare affection in his eyes that you wonder how it would be to be his wife. How it would feel to wake up every morning to those hands cradling you. Only to have him leave you, the same way he always does.

The gods whisper to you as you sit in front of their alter. Dissonant, clouded by the spirits that guard their realm. Chills wrack your body, your mind far away, drifting through the different planes searching for some new prophecy or vision that might keep your man somewhere closer. (They come to you in dreams, and tell you of new lands, new people, force you on to the elders and tell them to send out a party. You'll never be free of this awful wanting.)

The spirits pull your head back, arch your back painfully to look at the intruder in your temple. "You're always in such a rush to get back here," They tell him, voices overlapping, "is she really so special to you?"

"Of course," Price breathes, his shoulders heaving to compensate for his run to the temple from the shore. His feet carrying his heavy body to stand behind you, what are a few steps when you're at the end of them? He watches as you jerk forward and spit henbane seeds from your mouth, coughing and sucking in breaths to shake the trance. He crouches, his hands reaching for your shaking form. Völva don't live long if there's no one to care for them. It's the spirits, the elders say, no living creature can hold the dead without joining them a little each time.

Your fingers scrape the floor, nails digging into the wood and furs that surround the alter. Hands touch your back, familiar enough to make you shiver and tip your head to look at the man you always send so far away from you.

"Welcome back," He tells you, his voice so soft it feels like a blow. You look away from him, fix your eyes on the carved wood of Freyja's statue.

"I should be telling you that."

Price hums, his hands leave you. It's freezing without their warmth. You're frozen without his warmth, doomed to this until it takes you the way it takes every völva. Stuck, until Hel calls you home. You hate this man, you shouldn't love him the way you do. He shouldn't entertain your affections the way he does. He shouldn't encourage them.

"I brought you something." His furs rustle behind you as you collect yourself. You hear the leather cord of a pouch open and you sit up with a sigh. When he doesn't follow up or press anything into your hands you turn to ask him what he's brought. He presses a berry against your lips and like a fool you take it. It's a slightly bitter burst on your tongue, crushed gently by your teeth into something almost sweet. You eye the pouch in his hands, the bright red and orange berries inside. You feel yourself soften a little, smiling when you meet his affectionate stare.

"Rowan berries," You half ask, your voice feels lighter, gentler, "Thank you." It sticks like a knife in his chest. Something so simple makes you look at him like that, like coming home. Gods what he wouldn't do for you.

He's never seen you use any of his other gifts, doesn't even know if you've kept them. Price had thought something edible would go over well, easier to make sure you were satisfied with it. You reach for another berry out of the bag, the thin strip of silver around your finger glinting in the firelight. His ring. The first thing he'd gifted you, when he'd been overcome by the need to have any foothold in your life. You look up at him through your lashes, pop another red berry in your mouth with a questioning hum.

"Are you alright?" You ask, deft fingers reaching to inspect him, "You're not injured are you?" The concern in your voice might kill a weaker man, surely no one can hold up under your care. Not when you look at them like that.

"No," Price chokes out, gritting his teeth as your fingers brush his skin, "No injuries to report, we've got a healer now so-"

"You don't need me?" You smile when you say it, like a joke, but there's sorrow in your eyes. Price can't stop himself from cupping your face, your soft skin under his rough hand is intoxicating. It makes his heart clench painfully. Can't you see he's trying to ease your burden? Are you truly so wrapped up in völva that you've lost sight of any other value you might have?

"What would I do without you sweetheart?" He whispers. There's a pain in your eyes he can't name. It hurts to see you turn away from his hand. To see you smooth your hands over your dress as you stand, offer him your hand to help him up. You smile, some mask closing off your eyes from him.

"Well, we might as well go and greet the men," You pull on your duties like a well worn cloak, more völva than person when you pluck your staff from the ground, "do our jobs for the elders."

It's a reminder to both of you. The spirits aren't the only ones that keep their eyes on you. Price nods, and follows you out of the temple, pressing the pouch into your hands as he goes.

283 notes · View notes

hadesrise · 10 months

Text

𝐈 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔.

𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞. you and miguel were in love... until you weren’t anymore.

𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘. miguel o’hara x scarlet witch!male reader

𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘. angst, hurt/no comfort, lovers to enemies, violence, foul language, mentions of trauma, minor character death (harry osborn), stupid canon event, hero turned villain trope, joker!scarlet witch!reader, REALLY STUPID CANON EVENT, tiniest fluff

𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊. we need this after all that sinful miguel fics i wrote 😭 i had that one scene of wanda when pietro died in mind, and couldn’t help but write this.

“I despise you,” You laughed while shaking your head at your husband as he smoothly danced along to the music with no struggle, his gentle hands guiding you. “Such a show off. Aren’t you, mi sol?”

Miguel smirks, “I like impressing you, mi luna.” His heart flutter at the sound of your giggle and he pulls you closer, swaying your bodies, face inches away from yours. He stared into your eyes that twinkled under the dim light, calm and warm, bringing him comfort. You never failed to brighten up no matter what happened, keeping your head up and forcing yourself to move forward when things get tough. Eyes holding kindness, arms always giving love. You’re a bright soul despite how many times the universe wronged you, Miguel never thought of you any less.

You twirl him around, getting the hang of it, and hug him from behind as you rest your chin on his shoulder. It makes Miguel smile, something that he struggled to do ever since you both lost Gabriella.

“I love you, Miguel. Very much.” You pressed a kiss on his shoulder.

Miguel swoons, resting his head against you and putting his hands over yours. “I thought you despise me?” He teasingly asked, looking at you over his shoulder.

A chuckle erupts before you kissed his cheek and Miguel tilts his head, leaning in to capture your lips. “I do, I despise you.” You breathlessly mutter with a loving tone contradicting your words, a smile stretched across your lips. Miguel turns around in your arms and wraps his around your neck as the two of you continued to sway to the music.

Simple days like this made Miguel’s stress melt away. All the burden and responsibilities disappearing into the void by your gentle touches that are more than willing to serve him and make him feel better. You were always good to him. Even after he was distant, harsh, and cold after Gabriella’s death, you never stopped loving him. Never got tired of being there, guiding him, helping him heal while you healed as well. You were grieving greatly too, but put him first before yourself and never gave up on him. He used to think how could you act so fine after losing your daughter? until he caught you break down when Peter told you to hold Mayday to make you feel better. It nearly made him beat the shit out of Peter, but when you whispered, “she’s so warm, peter” he couldn’t do anything. He started making it up to you after that, realizing he wasn’t alone going through the pain.

Despite how much he hurt you and how much of an asshole he was, you still forgave him. Still loved him, muttering “i despise you” with a tone filled in overwhelming love for him like you always did.

“Mi amor, can you show me your magic?” He gently asked, watching your bright eyes travel around before looking down, hesitant.

You were always fearful of your powers. Thinking of them as your flaw and what makes you less than human, but Miguel only thought of them as something that contributed to your perfection. He always tried his best to help you heal from the trauma of those awful experiments. “It’s okay, you won’t hurt me.” Miguel reassured, holding your face.

Doubt lingering in your bright eyes, you nodded and lifted your hand, waving your fingers. Light scarlet mist surrounds them and you softly waved them around to create a small ball of energy. Miguel’s lips parted in awe, staring at your magic with a mesmerized look. It made you feel bubbly with pride, confidence and happiness, the silent encouragement slowly eating away your fear of your own powers.

“Es hermoso, mi luna. Eres hermoso.” He mumbled, intertwining his hand with yours and kissing the back of your hand. You sighed in content, letting your magic disappear as you leaned your forehead against his, relishing his presence.

That was just few days ago, but Miguel feels as if it was already few years as cold sweat dripped down his temples and all blood drained from his face. Eyes wide with horror at the knowledge of what must come sooner or later, what you must go through.

The universe isn’t fair. It never was, even before Gabriella was taken. But why, why did it have to be so fucking cruel?

You already have your powers, why did it have to burden you with radioactive spider?

Getting bit by the radioactive spider from your universe surprisingly worked well despite the complications you went through within the first few days caused by your powers and the spider venom fighting each other in your veins. That was the problem; it shouldn’t have worked well. Your powers should’ve killed the venom in an instant, but it didn’t, and instead it molded together.

Fuckfuckfuck, why did it have to work?

Why didn’t your magic reject it? You’ve already got so many plate on you, and destiny decides to just throw this at you?

Peter worriedly stared at him as Miguel paced back and fourth in HQ, muttering inaudible words under his breath. “Aren’t you going to tell him about the canon event?” The male quietly asked, holding Mayday.

Miguel sighs. If he did, you would try to save that person. The canon event cannot be disrupted or your universe will collapse; he doesn’t want you to go through the same thing he did, but it was necessary so all Spider-person could become the hero they are. He had no other choice, and it made him uneasy.

When Miguel doesn’t answer, Peter steps closer to him with a worried look. “Do you... at least have an idea who it’s gonna be?”

Miguel glances at his friend for a second before nodding dejectedly. “In his universe, there’s no Peter Parker, but there’s Harry Osborn. He’s bestfriends with him.” He informs quietly and rests his hands on his hips, heart heavy.

Horror flashes in Peter’s eyes as it widened, “Oh no.” He gasped, realizing Miguel’s assumption would be correct.

Harry Osborn has died in nearly every universe due to being Peter Parker’s dearest friend, he is the canon event in usual case, which makes the probability that he will be your canon event more high. Eyebrows furrowed in sadness, Peter didn’t know what to say. Neither did Miguel, who stood in the platform with sad eyes watching the footage of you fooling around with Harry that Miguel took.

He knew how much Harry mattered to you. You two were childhood friends who did everything together and helped each other tirelessly. You told Miguel of what Harry did to himself when Hydra kidnapped you — he injected himself with a green serum that caused him to become Green Goblin just so he could find you. The bond shared between you and Harry could never be expressed with words, it was like a platonic soulmate that found each other. You told Miguel how you needed Harry just as much as you needed your husband, because Harry was there for both you and Miguel when Gabriella died, and he also helped you bring your husband back when Miguel lost it.

It’s awful, how Harry’s positively your canon event. Miguel could feel guilt exploding in his chest with tears welling up his eyes; he didn’t want Harry gone, that guy is his bestfriend as much as he is to you. But the risk of a universe collapsing made it difficult to choose him.

The heavy responsibility weigh on Miguel’s shoulders as a tear escaped his eye.

You cannot know.

The loud siren and explosions cause your ears to ring as you gritted your teeth to keep your magic steady and out, hands pushing against the large concrete that almost fell on top of a pregnant woman. It flies across the road when you frustratedly thrusted your hands forward and your magic strengthen due to your frustration. Guiding the pregnant woman to safety while letting her chants of gratitude fall on deaf ears, you quickly escorted her to where the survivors are and ran back to fight.

A giant lizard looking creature causing chaos in your city, you huffed in frustration and leapt up using your magic before shooting your web at the post that fell down to grab it. You concentrated energy on one hand, making a large energy ball before blasting it at the lizard, sending it flying back. You quickly shot your web at the creature and pulled it back as you swing the post, hitting it straight across the face.

“Holy shit, ouch!” You hear Harry hiss jokingly as he floats down using his glider.

Rolling your eyes, you threw the post away and patted the dirt off your hands. “Took you long enough. It was hard rescuing the people all on my own, you know.” You grumbled, and Harry noticed the irritation in your tone.

His brows furrowed while looking around, not seeing the obnoxious blue and red figure who was usually by your side to fight enemies. “No husband today?”

“That’s exactly why I’m irritated,” You grunted out. “I got no time for chitchat, Green Goblin. Would you be a man and help me out here, brother?” You asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer as the lizard regained consciousness and roared. Harry grinned, lowering his goggles and facing the creature. No words needed, you two will fight with each other until the end of the day.

The fight ensues with the lizard being definitely angry at what you did earlier, becoming more aggressive and powerful each time you shared fists. Your spider sense going haywire when the lizard nearly decapitated you with its tail, Harry fortunately being there to pull you back. It was getting difficult to defend yourself with each passing time, the exhaustion weakening your magic as you dodged the lizard’s attack here and there. Harry was struggling as well, flying around in his gliders and throwing razor bats, which only sliced the creature with no further damage.

What felt like hours of battle, a sudden fear consumed you when the lizard managed to take an upperhand by slashing your chest with its claws and slamming you hard on the ground. A pained groan leaves your lips, feeling the fractures of your ribs, but adrenaline gushes through your veins when the lizard’s wide creepy eyes stared at you like a predator. You cursed silently and pushed yourself to leap backwards with your magic. Only a feet became your distance from the creature, the strength in your body dying down as you nearly fell over due to the sudden disappearance of your magic’s support.

A familiar body prevented your fall, catching you with strong arms and helping you straighten up. You looked through heavy eyelids at Miguel, who had a look of concern and... sadness, regret, in his eyes.

“Where have you been...?” You weakly croaked, groaning at the pain in your whole body. Many emotions swirled within you. Happiness, relief, anger, irritation.

Miguel doesn’t answer right away as he stared at you with an odd, apologetic, guilty look. “I’m sorry...” He quietly muttered.

You frowned in confusion, but quickly turned to the sound of grunts and saw Harry back on his feet fighting the lizard with all his might again. Pushing yourself away from Miguel, you moved only to be tugged behind by your husband. You looked at him with weariness and panic, “What are you doing!? We have to help him, Miguel, let me go—”

“We can’t,” He shakes his head, gripping your arm.

“What?” Disbelief coated your tone, “We fucking have to!” You tried fighting it off, but his grip seems to tighten more until you had to completely struggle against him. “What the fuck— MIGUEL! LET ME FUCKING GO! HARRY, STOP!” You yelled, heart jackhammering. Your strength seem to suddenly come out again as Miguel struggles to hold you back, wrapping his arms around your torso.

You desperately fight him off when you saw Harry getting knocked to the ground with the lizard towering over him, screams and yells spilling past your lips.

Your breath hitched when the lizard’s claws pierce right into Harry’s chest. Tears spill from your wide eyes, chest exploding in fear and devastation as you can’t do anything but watch the cruel creature lift Harry up, snarling at him. Your world crumbles down beneath your feet. Blood splatters from Harry’s lips as he weakly looks at you with tears in his eyes.

I love you. He mouthed, a faintest smile on his lips, before going limp.

You only saw red.

A sudden surge of power explodes from your body as a heart-wrenching scream escapes your throat, sending Miguel away and destroying everything around you. You fell to your knees, cry of anguish leaving your throat. A mix of anger, grief, sadness filled your chest, rollercoaster of emotions, before an overwhelming rage takes over your body. Eyes glowing deep red, you clenched your jaw and focused your rage on your hands, scrambling up as you harshly shot it at the creature, who flied back at the sheer power of your magic.

You quickly wrapped Harry’s body in deep scarlet mist to set him down on the ground gently. The creature emerged again with a piercing roar, eyes set on you as it ran towards you on all fours. With enraged growl erupting from your throat, you swiftly grabbed Harry’s glider just as the lizard jumped on you, jamming the glider’s blades on its chest. Its shriek leaves your ears hurting, but you slammed it down on the ground, digging the blades into its body. You pull the blades out, not wanting it to die yet as you wrapped a tight rope of magic around its neck with one hand, strangling it.

You made sure to look into the lizard’s eyes, a deep scarlet mist surrounds your other hand. The blood red of your own eyes striking fear within him, before you twisted your hand and snapped its neck in one swift motion. Miguel watched from the distance with wide eyes, the murderous look on your face causing goosebumps to appear on his skin and uneasiness surround his chest.

Breathing heavily, the blood red from your eyes disappear as you remember Harry, rushing over to him and lifting his upper body. Your lips quiver, holding him in your arms. You feel like your heart had been ripped out from your chest, the void of emptiness sucking off your emotions and the pain too much that you feel numb. A part of you seems to die as Harry laid there lifeless and unmoving, somehow peacefully despite the circumstances of how death welcomed him.

Red and blue feet enters your vision, the quiet voice of your husband calling your name reaching your ears. You used to love that sound. It used to make your heart skip a beat and get wrapped in loving warmth. But a mere voice could no longer bring it back alive, especially when it belongs to someone who cruelly held you down while Harry stared death in the eye.

“......Did you know?” Miguel flinched at the flat tone of your voice, dread filling him as you refused to look up. When he didn’t answer, you finally looked up, sending chills up Miguel’s spine at the lack of brightness in your eyes. Void of any emotion, lifelessness replaced the light that used to inhabit them. “Did, you, know? O’Hara? That it was going to happen?” You asked again with a low, almost threatening voice.

He felt unsettled by your wide emotionless eyes, lump forming in his throat. Hands trembling by his sides as he licked his lips, Miguel was unable to meet your quiet rageful eyes. “.....Yes,” Miguel defeatedly answered.

As soon as you heard his answer, your face dropped. The atmosphere immediately changes, Miguel suddenly feeling cold and blood draining from his face as fear bubbled within him. Something in you had snapped, he could feel it. It made him panic as he steps forward, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m— I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, mi luna. It was supposed to happen. I can’t— I didn’t want it to happen, but it had to. If— If you had stopped it, your—”

“What the fuck do you mean it was supposed to happen?”You snarled, cutting off his pathetically frantic apologies. He was taken aback by the look of pure hatred in your face. “Harry’s our fucking best friend, Miguel. He was my brother, my soul. He dies and a part of me will die, you knew that, you piece of fucking shit.”

The way you spat those words out dig a hole into Miguel’s heart as tears blurred his vision, frantically shaking his head with series of no’s spilling from his lips. “N-no, nonono, you don’t understand,” His voice shakes. “It—It had to happen, please. Please, hear me out. Let me—let me explain, please, mi amor.” Miguel attempted to reach out to you, but his heart shatters when you jerk away from him in disgust.

“Explain?” You scoffed, “You forced me to watch my best friend die and you want to fucking explain? Get the fuck away from me!” You were already seething in rage yet the strange calmness in your demeanor scared Miguel even more as you scrambled up while carrying Harry’s body, away from him.

“No! No, no, please, I’m sorry—” He chokes between sobs, tears running down his face. “P-por favor, mi luna, lo siento— I—I had to, I had to do it, please. Perdóname, lo siento, lo siento....” His legs grow weak beneath him and he falls to his knees, begging you desperately and shaking his head.

You swallowed hard, tears brimming in your eyes, but not from sadness or grief. It was from anger, rage, your eyes seeing red again as your blood boiled. Just who the fuck is this man standing — kneeling before you? Rageful thunderstorms rumbled, rainfall washing away the love and peace in your heart, vengeance filling your veins bits by bits. The man you fell in love with was not as cruel and monstrous as this man before you. The man you fell in love with understood how Harry’s life literally kept you together, the only thing that kept you away from insanity. The man you fell in love with would never hurt you like this.

And then, the rageful thunderstorms suddenly quiet down as your mind came up with one single thought; this was not your Miguel O’Hara.

This is no longer the man you married — this is the man who killed your best friend, who made you watch as the lizard pierced its claws through Harry’s chest, who took everything from you.

Miguel sees you look down, your shoulders shaking. Just when another apology was about to leave him, a low chuckle erupts from your chest, coming off as a rumble due to your closed mouth, but it slowly got louder and turned into a full blown laughter until your mouth was wide open in a grin. Sweat drips down Miguel’s temple, his heart beating incredibly fast. Your laugh was gleeful, which shot eeriness within Miguel due to how out of place it was, but it was also sinister — like the screws in your head twisted loose.

Insanity filled every bit of your laughter before it slowly died down, but the big unsettling grin stays on your face. “Ohhh, what a funny joke you repeat! I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” You mocked before bursting into laughter again, all throat.

Miguel didn’t realize he was holding his breath. Unable to move or shed another tear from shock, his face pale at the pure display of insanity on his husband. His whole body was trembling now.

You adjusted Harry’s body in your arms with a big grin, few chuckles leaving your lips. “It’s okay, I could still dance around with Harry.” Miguel’s blood ran cold at your words. Then, your grin suddenly drops as you make eye contact with him. “But it still doesn’t change the fact you took everything from me and ripped my heart out.”

Miguel shakes his head, weakly trying to bring you back to him. “No, no, please. Mi amor, mi luna... I love you, please, don’t do this...”

“Oh, you poor thing,” You mockingly clicked your tongue a few times. Carrying Harry’s body over your shoulder, you stepped closer to Miguel and caressed his cheek with the back of your hand. You were cold. Impossibly cold. He can’t feel your warmth anymore as you looked at him in pity, the brightness that he adored no longer existing in your eyes that now flickers with insanity.

“You may love me, but I despise you, Miguel.” His heart drops at the cruel sincerity in your words, your lips curled up into a twisted grin. “And just like you made me watch my best friend die, I’ll make you watch as I burn the multiverse to the ground.” Your eyes flashes a dark red, the words you lowly spat strangling Miguel like a curse as well as promise.

Without uttering another word, you flicked your wrist and created a portal before disappearing with your curse spreading through Miguel, leaving your insane sinister laugh echoing in the air.

Tears spilled from Miguel’s eyes as devastation settled within his guts.

You totally lost it, and it’s all because of him.

733 notes · View notes

litnerdwrites · 2 months

Text

Azriel in Silver Flames

I've basically hated the IC since... Acowar, honestly. But the more I think about it, the more conflicted I am about Azriel. I liked him in every book, but in retrospect, I'm not so sure anymore. This is mostly regarding his treatment of Nesta, since he honestly didn't do much before hand the start of Silver Flames, and he didn't do too much during it either.

I understand why Azriel would stay away from Nesta from the end of ACOWAR to the start of Silver Flames. He's observant, and I imagine he's figured out that Nesta doesn't want to spend time with the IC. Moreover, he may also see it as being in Feyre's jurisdiction, and wanting to stay out of it out of respect for her privacy and what not. It's his behaviour through out silver flames that has me conflicted.

Azriel was raised in confinement with limited interactions with other people. He saw his mother once a week, for limited time and suffered physical and verbal abuse, and torture during that time. He had no control over his schedule, food, social interactions, nothing. Yet, despite that, he allowed Nesta to be isolated and kept on a strict schedule and diet that she has no say in, and we never see any signs of him arguing against it. Especially since he knows being locked up somewhere against your will, where you can't leave, often made to do things you don't want, is what most of the IC's trauma roots from (Amren in the Prison, Rhys UTM, Feyre UTM, Mor in the CON, Azriel in his father's dungeon, etc). Why the, seemingly, most sensible person allowed this is beyond me.

Azriel, through out the book, never protests against this treatment either. He treats Nesta decently, though that is the absolute minimum. She should've been treated like that, regardless, of where she was or what she was doing.

He despises Illyria, knows the dangers out there, from both males and whatever's in those forests, yet he doesn't protest against Nesta going. We've seen that there are days where she wanders around on her own (like when she went to Emerie's), without protection. What would happen if she jumped off a cliff or a steep bluff? Or if she went into the forests? What about if some of the males attacked her? It's not like she was constantly supervised. trusting her witch status will keep them away is too risky, since some might not care. Azriel knows the dangers of Illyria, and he let her be taken there. He saw how Illyria hurt his mother, and how she was treated, first hand.

He doesn't do anything even after suspecting that Cassian pushed her down the stairs, or witnessing her being verbally abused by Cassian, and Rhys when he cares to show up. He doesn't defend her, or shut his brothers down, he just lets it happen, seemingly unbothered. Idk about you, but if I was at dinner, and my brother said to his girlfriend, the things that Cassian says to Nesta, I'd drag him out the front door by the hair myself.

Azriel also had a bag packed for Nesta and Cassian's hike from hell, waiting for Cassian to come get it. He let Cassian take Nesta somewhere else against her will. He, presumably, knew about the plan to take her on that hike, helped prepare for it, and just let it happen without a care. He knew where they were taking her, and what they were going to make her do, and he let it happen.

Then there's the issue regarding the Trove. Azriel pushes for Nesta's right to know about what her powers can do, yet he doesn't have any issue pushing her into life threatening situation to keep Elain from it? He says that Elain shouldn't be exposed to whatever darkness the trove and cauldron possess, but that alone implies that Nesta should be exposed to it, and that's despite her mental condition at the time.

While I don't think Azriel's status as a spymaster means he should know things like Nesta's fear of fire, and her suicidal ideation, but it does mean that there's a very good chance that he does (and yet he still sends her on that hike). Knowing this, Azriel implies that Nesta should go on these life threatening missions, where she could be killed, or commit suicide, or be taken.

Azriel is shown to stand up to/argue with Rhysand in the bonus chapters. He does so for himself and arguably Elain. Why doesn't he do it for Nesta too?

It's all of these little things that leave a bitter taste in my mouth regarding Azriel.

Would he have tried to beg/force Nesta to go instead of Elain had she refused, or if he would've stood up for Nesta if Cassian had become physically violent with her. If she refused to go on that hike, would he have fought for her right to chose like he did before? If Rhys tried to kill her, would he stand up to him for her? If Elain is mistreated in her book, would he stand up for her? If so, why not Nesta too? How can he call himself her friend if he doesn't at least try to talk about how wrong it is, assuming he even realises it's wrong to start with.

We haven't gotten much of his pov yet, and he doesn't really say much, but from what I have seen, I'm concerned. Azriel may not be actively trying to hurt Nesta, but it feels like he enables his brothers and his court too much.

Didn't Tamlin dod the same, along with his court, who watched Feyre whither away, and did nothing. Even if they didn't see what was happening in her head, they saw her wasting away from lack of sleep or food. Isn't Azriel doing the same to Nesta by letting her be treated that way? Reaming neutral still makes him part of the problem, doesn't it?

Am I the only one who gets this bad taste in my mouth when I think about this?

#anti ic #nesta deserves better #pro nesta #anti acosf #anti rhysand #anti inner circle #nesta acotar

109 notes · View notes

bloodydesires-if · 1 year

Text

Bloody Desires: The Cure - Intro Post

Demo TBA (Twine) | Itch.io Page

Bloody Desires: The Cure is a supernatural interactive fiction set in the 21st century. When the Vampiric Round Table (VRT) summons you to New York, you have no choice but to go. The VRT has learned of a credible rumor that a cure for vampirism is somewhere out there. But your kind aren’t the only ones searching for it. The dangerous supernatural exterminators, Heaven’s Hunters, seek the cure to wipe vampires from existence.

18+ for violence, blood, death, sexual themes, explicit language, and morally gray storylines.

Embark on a bloody adventure featuring:

6 unique MC backstories;

3 clans to choose from (Viscardi, Crescendo, Saleyrn);

characters, both supernatural and mortal, who you can form alliances and relationships with (or piss off?);

the ability to play as non-binary, male, female, cis, or trans;

opportunities to level up your skills for the fight ahead;

multiple endings.

Learn more about the backstories and companion characters below.

The following companions have platonic and romantic routes.

Kieran Collins - The Shifter

137 years old (looks early 30s) | Irish | male | he/they

Kieran is a shifter who takes on the form of a wolf. They have full control of when they shift, although it can be painful if they shift too often between resting. In his human form, he relies on knives and has spent his life studying supernatural rituals and artifacts.

Charlotte St. Claire - The Deadly English Rose

28 years old | English | female | she/her

Charlotte is a Londoner with a dark past, having spent a large portion of her life entangled with the dangerous underworld of London. This path led to her imprisonment by a group of vampires who treated her as their personal blood bag. After escaping on the precipice of her death, she was found by Kieran who took her under his wing.

River Silvius - The Witch

32 years old | American | non-binary | they/them

River is the youngest witch in their family and was raised in the state of Washington. They are currently a professor at the New York Institute of Witchcraft, the premier witchcraft college in North America. They sometimes work on cases with Bennett.

Katerina Kallergis - The (Other) Vampire

282 years old (looks late 20s to early 30s) | Greek | female | she/her

Katerina is a vampire who was born in Greece almost three-hundred years ago. She despises vampirism - including herself and other vampires. Not much is known about members of her clan, the Infinitum, as they are a tight-knit group of vampires who value privacy and usually avoid other supernaturals as much as possible.

Bennett Williams - The Cowboy

31 years old | American | male | he/him

Bennett grew up on a ranch in Texas, where he was the only survivor of a Heaven’s Hunters (HH) attack that wiped out his family, including his sister who was a Witch and the intended target. He is currently a private investigator for supernaturals and their families. He is fond of his cowboy hat and shotgun and wears an eyepatch on his left eye.

There will be additional characters who play their own role in the story, including members of the Vampiric Round Table, clan leaders, Heaven’s Hunters, and more. However, this post would be too long to list all of those people.

Here’s a brief look at the six possible backstories for MC. Subject to change if needed by the author.

Shadow of War World I

Born: 1896 - London, England | Turned: 1915 - Loos-en-Gohelle, France

Born in the heart of London, your life brimmed with dreams. But those were overshadowed by the devastating turmoil of World War I. You were driven by a sense of duty at 19 years old and enlisted alongside your best friend from secondary school. After watching your best friend fall in combat, you were overwhelmed by survivor’s guilt and were left trying to navigate the war-torn world without them. Eventually, you were dying on a different battlefield, reminded of them. But as the darkness closed in, so did a vampire…

Shadow of the Roaring 20s

Born: 1898 - New York, NY | Turned: 1922 - New York, NY

Born to a working-class family in the heart of New York City, you spent the entirety of your mortal life there. Your Sire was drawn to you as soon as you entered the speakeasy that fateful night… as your connection with your Sire grew, so did both of your desires to never lose each other. A year after being turned, a relentless group of vampire hunters took them from you as they sacrificed themself for your sake...

Shadow of the Spanish Renaissance

Born: 1608 - Barcelona, Spain | Turned: 1635 - Madrid, Spain

Born to a merchant family in bustling Barcelona, your early years were spent comfortably and your family hoped you would follow in their footsteps. But your passions lay elsewhere. You found yourself inspired by artists such as Coello and Velázquez, and frequented libraries and salons. As you grew older, the weight of familial obligations bore down upon you. One night while you were in Madrid visiting friends, a vampire approached you with a proposal…

Shadow of the French Revolution

Born: 1770 - Vizille, France | Turned: 1799 - Paris, France

Born to a family of budding rebels in Vizille, you experienced the backdrop of social unrest and discontent. As the revolution began to spread across France, you found yourself at the midst of it in Paris. It is there that your Sire became fascinated by your sense of justice and chose you to be their eternal descendent. Against your deepest desires, you were thrust into immortality, a fate you never sought, as your original intention was simply to fight for the betterment of humanity…

Shadow of the Zhou Dynasty

Born: 890 B.C. - Western Zhou | Turned: 867 B.C - Western Zhou

Born into a prestigious family, you spent much of your time at court, learning from tutors and schemers alike. As a young adult, you were caught in the crossfires of a power struggle within the court. Betrayed by those you once trusted, you were the victim of an assassination attempt. You only remember your eyes closing….and then waking up as a vampire, your sire nowhere in sight…

Shadow of the Nile

Born: 1050 B.C. - Tanis, Egypt | Turned: 1023 B.C - Thebes, Egypt

Born to a family of esteemed lineage, you were raised in the sacred walls of the Temple of Amun-Ra in preparation for your future as a religious figurehead. You did eventually become an important leader in Thebes during a time of political imbalance. But then you died. When you awoke, a vampire was watching over you with an amused look. They swore to have found you already dying in an alley…

-----

Asks are welcome if you so desire, however, I won't be doing NSFW reactions or long reactions at this time. I will still do some regular reactions and answer general NSFW. Thanks!

P.S. please let me know if there's an error in the post, thanks <3

#bloodydesires if #no demo #Intro post #bloody desires: the cure #wip #interactive fiction #twine game #twine #supernatrual #romance #mystery #wip intro #itchio

653 notes · View notes

raven-at-the-writing-desk · 7 months

Note

I just want to say I'm very impressed on the theming of the SSRs between the masquerade and puppet halloween events like we've had Azul, Idia, and Malleus stand as Rollo's greatest enemies since they're reps of the three mythical great seven members. Now we have Ace, Kalim, and Ortho, the most childish characters in the main cast, going to a shady amusement park like in Pinocchio.

[You can view the new Halloween animation here!]

I very much enjoy how much more “deliberate” the SSR choices have been for last year’s Halloween event and this upcoming one. The first two Halloweens didn’t showcase their SSRs to a very prominent degree (other than some lines about how they’re in the leading committee) compared to the rest of the cast, whom they had to share screen time with. Maybe the exception is Cater, who exposited information about the Magicam Monsters to everyone. I think it definitely helps to help the SSR trio stand out when the cast is divided in half like this.

In Glorious Masquerade, Azul, Idia, and Malleus were very good picks to square off against and to challenge Rollo’s beliefs. As you’ve pointed out, those 3 represent the “magical beings” of the Great 7. (the Queen of Hearts, the Beautiful Queen, and the Sorcerer of the Sands were normal humans, whereas Scar is an animal; the Sea Witch, the Thorn Fairy, and the Lord of the Underworld are beyond your typical human or animal.) They’re great foils for Rollo, someone who stands in opposition to magic and anything that deviates from what he considers the norm.

Additionally, Azul, Idia, and Malleus’s personalities, backgrounds, and skillsets contrast well with Rollo’s. Azul and Rollo are both schemers, Idia has suffered the loss of a younger brother like Rollo has but coped in the aftermath very differently… and then there’s Malleus, a being of mighty magic and the embodiment of everything Rollo despises. It’s so fitting that it’s these 3 that take Rollo down.

I imagine that there is, similarly, a deeper and more intentional meaning behind the “most childish” of the main cast being picked for Stage in Playful Land. Maybe that trait will actually be to their advantage in the theme park… The way the event synopsis is worded + the story of Pinocchio itself makes me suspicious that there will be some kind of loss of conscience and/or brainwashing (via the ribbons/puppet strings) involved 🤔 and maybe those 3 are the ones to be targeted and/or to break out of it?? Either way, I do think Ace, Kalim, and Ortho are ultimately going to relate to Ferro Honest and Gidel in some meaningful ways—and they’re probably also going to save everyone from the duo!

#twisted wonderland #twst #Azul Ashengrotto #Idia Shroud #Malleus Draconia #spoilers #Rollo Flamme #Ace Trappola #Kalim Al-Asim #Ortho Shroud #disney twisted wonderland #Gideru #notes from the writing raven #Cater Diamond #Ferro Honest #Gidel #Fellow Honest

370 notes · View notes

chaoticsoulsword · 20 days

Text

*sigh*

Let's do this again.

The most harmful and irreparable damage the MCU has ever done is definitely Wanda's characterization and how the "fandom" perceives her even when non-cb readers migrate to the 616 side.

(This is screenshot depicting a fan reacting to Russell Dauterman's redesign of Lore, an evil Wanda variant who first debuted in 1993 in Scarlet Witch #1. She will return in the new Scarlet Witch series this year)

In addition to all the "she's always been white" constant, toxic and racist comments, which only reinforces their lack of ability to recognize issues such as colorism, Rromani representation (when they actually know the difference between Rromani and Romanian, that is) and straight-up whitewashing, they also fail to identify a most essential trait of her entire characterization: her desire to do good and become a symbol of heroism.

Wanda despises doing harm to others. Her first iteration is legitimately a depiction in which she and Pietro are being forced by Magneto to work for him and his brotherhood of evil mutants, all thanks to emotional manipulation. She never means to hurt the original X-Men except when Pietro is hurt and/or in danger. It's her protective side, not her "evil" side.

(Uncanny X-Men v1 #4; #11)

It's also fundamental to be aware that Wanda and Pietro come from a place where there's trauma for being abused by Magneto when it comes to their powers. This is why they are hesitant to join the Avengers, and yet their sense of responsibility is stronger.

(Avengers v1 #16)

Now, when it comes to Chthon, it's another rabbit hole of struggling with independence, power and agency. Being controlled by an evil force is as an old trope as any other in comic books. Still, I can't help but notice that her relationship with Chthon is never truly solved as other magic characters' issues, so why does it stick to Wanda the hardest?

Allow me illustrate with other examples:

1. Magik and the Darkchylde.

For those who don't know, the Darkchylde is "an evil side" of Illyana Rasputin, result of her captor and abuser's tampering with her soul.

The Darkchylde has several interpretations, from abuse to struggling with self-worth, and it has been established for decades as a side of Illyana that she despises, fears and suppresses.

(New Mutants v1 #71)

Illyana took years to make peace with her inner self and even had an arc to leave her reigning place of power in Limbo to Madelyne, another character who was villanized by the narrative for the very same reasons. Which begs the question.... why would a fan root for the Darkchylde to be her standard self when this is precisely what she hates the most? When it's precisely what causes her pain and leads her to a process of isolation and unhealthy behavior?

2. Doctor Strange and dark magic

Throughout sixty years of stories, there are a few moments in which the Sorcerer Supreme is faced with the old dilemma if he should use dark magic or not. And yet, from everything he went through, even in his darkest moments, he still chooses to do good. This is an intrinsic part of him. Yes, we've seen alternate evil iterations, but the main version is still a recognized, praised character for all the good deeds he performs on a daily basis.

(New Avengers v3 Annual #1)

3. Loki against fate

(Immortal Thor #2)

Loki's most recent and important journey throughout the years is precisely changing their fate, from the god of mischief and lies to the god of stories. They know they also have antagonistic roles to play as such, and yet they look forward to building a better relationship with Thor and the Asgardians. They're as complex as they come, but never back to their first and oldest iteration.

There are others, of course, like Nico Minoru and the Staff of One, Daimon Hellstrom and his will to deny his father's desires etc etc. I can even point a famous non-magical one: THE HULK. Yep, the guy who has spent his entire existence struggling with said dichotomy.

So you see, this is not a situation where "women can't be villains, god forbid women do anything" like some of them love to claim. You have Amora, Morgan Le Fey, Umar, even Lore now. The fact is, the MCU pushed the main version of its Wanda to be an irremediable character. Fans may or not defend her actions, but the truth is, they went too far for a role of opposition/antagonism justified by mental issues, which is yet another problematic, hellish rabbit role that we discussed so many times, over and over and over.

House of M is by itself such a harmful event in Wanda's entire characterization that, even now in the 616 universe, she still struggles to be (re)accepted by the hero community. She's still demonized by mutants, she's still depicted as mentally unstable.

(X-Men #7 - 2019)

Meanwhile, few writers are doing their hardest to give her some independence and agency (praised be Orlando and McKay). She has finally showcased her resolve to deal with Chthon by absorbing the Darkhold. She finally built a place to help people in a small community. She's an avenger yet again.

(Darkhold: Omega #1)

However, despite all that, she's still being patronized and lectured on (for instance, Agatha trying to take the Darkhold from her).

(Scarlet Witch v3 Annual #1)

The fact that she hasn't given up on the role of super hero only showcases how fundamental, intrinsic, unshakeable is her desire to do good. The fact that she's a nexus being and that the Scarlet Witch is a role passed down through generations are enough reasons to reiterate how important she is as a defender of the universe, same importance we often see in the role of the Sorcerer Supreme.

No fan has ever advocated for readers to be feared by a Sorcerer Supreme. Those are roles of heroes.

So yeah, "evil mother" and "serving cunt" will not do it for me. Because being evil means embracing everything Wanda hates the most and fights the hardest. So you come here and tell me that Wanda was supposed to be evil incarnate, to the point of comparing her to Voldemort, is plainly offensive and shows how little you understand her. You have other mothers to kneel to if you so desperately need one. Wanda is not one of them. Leave her alone.

TL;DR: Saying Wanda should be evil is stupid and harmful.

#scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff #quicksilver #anti-mcu #the most illiterate fandom is the cbm and cb fandom i swear

84 notes · View notes

alice-angel12x · 1 year

Text

Death is always around the corner

Azul + Death!Reader

Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, Vil, Idia, Malleus

Let's set the Scene: Masterlist

🐙Azul Ashengrotto🐙

Y/n is a being of darkness, so they are aware of things that go on in the dark. Both Literally and metaphorically. So they were aware of Azul's involvement with Leona and the potion Azul made.

And they know of the plan Azul was going to do with the upcoming exams.

Y/n warned the boys of Azul and told them to do honest studying. Or even come to them for answers and to study.

Yet the boys did not heed Y/n's warning and went to Azul. Y/n only sighed and let destiny take its course. Y/n sat down and contemplated their next target.

For they understood Azul's pain, but now he has let his pain blind him to the amazing person he could become. And now he tries to fill that void with greed and power. And now he is as cruel as those who had bullied him.

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

"What–!? I just suddenly said what’s on my mind–!! Ah…!?" the poor student gasped.

"Ah, what an upsetting result. I am so shocked. And right after I granted your wish in order to uphold the Sea Witch’s benevolence. And yet you still call me wicked and scheming?" Azu sighed phoning hurt emotions.

"I-I’m sorry…! You’ve got it wrong, that was–!!" "Hm, it is already too late to take your words back! Floyd, come. It is your turn," Azul interrupted.

"You guys are finally done talking~? Can I start squeezing tightly?" Floyd laughed.

"Don't you think he's had enough," said a voice.

The group turned to see Y/n sitting at the bar counter, drinking something from behind the counter.

"What are you doing here?! The Lounge is not open to the public right now," Azul glared.

"I just let myself in," Y/n said simply. "Quiet the shakedown you doing here."

"Am Afraid you have to leave. Jade Floyd show them out," Azul commanded.

Y/n chuckled as they watched Jade and Floyd approach. Y/n slowly stood up and smiled up at the twins with no fear, and with one swift motion. All the air was knocked out of the twins, as they collapsed to the ground. Azul and the boy watched in horror as Y/n approached.

Y/n slammed their hand on the table and glared at the poor student.

"Remember this well, when you make a deal with anyone. Even the people you may despise, you should always be the bigger person and fulfill your promises and payments. Understood?" Y/n growled.

"Yes I learned my lesson. I'll never fall behind on my promises," The random student cried.

"Then scram," Y/n said as the poor student ran in terror.

Azul simply stared nervesly as Y/n sat in the chair across from him, and stared him down.

"So, how has your life been?" Y/n asked suddenly.

"You barge in here just to ask that. Well, I'm doing fine cause business has been doing great. If that is all, please leave," Azul asked as kindly as possible.

"Are content with life, with yourself?" Y/n asked.

"W-what are you talking about. Of course, I am. I'm well on my way to a very successful life," Azul smiled confidently.

"So what's with the side hustle then if your lounge is so successful. Why do you covet things that don't belong to you?" Y/n asked.

"What are you getting at, it's the suckers Um I mean, the customer's choice to agree to my terms," Azul corrected as he held a smug tone.

"What purpose do you have with these powers? Are you compensating for something?" Y/n asked with a smirk. Putting Azul on slightly and edge, as he slowly glared. "Tring to fill the void of self-worth?"

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Azul said as he stood. "Where done here."

When suddenly Y/n stood up and quickly shoved Azul back into the seat.

"Cause I can tell you this," Y/n said as their eyes glowed a deep red. "This will never be enough."

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

Sadly Azul did not take Y/n's words to heart and continued with his plans.

Of course, Y/n did not feel sorry for the students who were scammed or gambled on the contract to hope for the best outcome.

So Y/n let the boys suffer for a bit to learn their lesson, much to Jack's approval. But Adeuc and grim not so much. Though after seeing and hearing about the treatment of the tricked students. Y/n thought that this was enough.

So Y/n and Jack went to speak with Azul. The Poor octopus boy was still a bit shaken up from the last visit. But he put on a brave face and wanted to get his own revenge on Y/n.

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

"Oh? Do you want to make a deal with me? What an interesting idea," Azul smirked.

"Aha~ Viper fish's got some guts," Floyd laughed.

" Very well. I understand that you want to make a deal with me, however… We have a little problem, see? If I remember correctly, you do not possess any magic. You do not possess a beautiful voice nor are you a royal country’s only heir. You are but a simple beastman. If you wish to ask for something big, the collateral must be of equal value," Azul listed off.

"A collateral?" Jack growled.

"For example… giving me the right to use the Ramshackle Dorm that you are currently in charge of," Azul smiled, as he watch Jack grow frustrated.

"! You were after that from the start, weren’t you!?" Jack snarled. when suddenly the door to the VIP door slammed open, and a soap cover grim came running in.

"I’m on board with that decision! I-I’m tired of living like this, yanno! My fur is not made for dishwashing!" Grim shouted

"Listen to what your one dorm-mate is saying, Y/n-san. What do you say? Will you give the Ramshackle Dorm as collateral to make a deal with me?" Azul smirked, but that soon falter by Y/n's unbothered expression.

" Stop it, Y/n! It’s definitely going to be a contract disadvantageous to you!" Jack warned.

"I want to hear the conditions you have," Y/n yawned.

"It’s refreshing to hear that kind of confidence," Azul said forcing a smile through his irritation. "In three days’ time, I want you to steal a certain picture from the Atlantica Memorial Museum in the Coral Seas. It is the commemoration picture of Prince Rielle’s visit taken 10 years ago. It is positioned right near the entrance, so historically, it is of little importance. It is just that, a simple picture."

"And if I somehow fail?" Y/n asked.

"If you manage to bring me the commemorative picture from the museum before the sun sets on the third day… I will release all 225 of the servants that I have working under me right now. However, if you are not able to do so… Ramshackle Dorm will be mine. And you both shall be working under me afterward," Azul smiled darkly.

" It’s a deal," Y/n smiled softly, like a mother simply indulging in her child's game of pretend.

"Very well! Now then, please sign here," Azul smirked, thinking he was won. He couldn't wait to crush their confidence and hope.

__________________________________________

Yet Y/n was not afraid. For they went ahead of time and snatched the picture before they even told the twins that they wanted to talk to Azul.

But they simply played along and let Jack help them and grim. Yet Y/n being Death, they had no need to sleep. So they simply patrolled the dorm. Coming across the twins.

With an eerie smile, they gave the twin a reason to run with their tails between their legs. Earning the respect of many of the Savanaclaw students. Some even suggested that they just transfer to their dorm.

When the twins returned they were sadly out of commission for that day. But Y/n was not down dishing out the tournament. When one night,

Late at night, Azul sat in his office counting his sales, contracts, and another important document. When suddenly there was a crash, and the sound of glass Shattering. Azul sighed, thinking that now of the slave anemone workers failed to properly put the glass away. Sadly with nobody else around he had to clean up this mess.

Yet as he swept up the glass, the light suddenly went out. And the light from the tank turned dark. Azul tried to light up his surroundings with a light spell, but the darkness seemed to just eat up the light.

Before Azul could even compose himself, he heard footsteps around him. Followed by the sound of scraping of steel, and a familiar haunting whistle. There was suddenly another shatter, and in a panic, Azul ran toward his office. In the darkness flashes of red Eyes followed him as hands randomly grabbed at him.

The VIP door was just in sight, and he quickly grabbed the nob and ran inside. Just when he thought it was safe, the whistle returned. He looked up to see Y/n sitting at his desk, in his chair. Dressed in a black robe with the hood covering her eyes. They were fiddling with the golden coins on Azul's desk, as they continued to whistle. Y/n finally looked up to Azul as they placed a golden coin over their eyes, and pointed their scythe at him.

Azul began started to become hysterical as hey fumbled with the door handle. Y/n’s shadow began to stretch out across the ground, and just stop before Azul’s feet. The poor octopus boy finally got the door open and barricaded himself in his room for the whole night.

—————————————————

(Final Day)

When the final day and Y/n had one more plan up their sleeves. While The first years distracted the twins Y/n rounded up some savanaclaw student to cause chaos in the lounge.

While Azul, shaken up, still believed that he was ahead of the game. And was still certain about his victory. But was horrified by the sudden burst of rowdy customers, and there was no Jade or Floyd to handle them.

So he went to get supplies from the safe, only to gasp to see Leona with the keys. Leona taunted the boy a bit before returning the keys and leaving. But when Azul opened the safe.

The All contracts were Gone. When Azul confronted Leona, he learned that Y/n was the true mastermind in all of this. And they had long won before the battle even began.

Azul watched helplessly as the lion prince turned all the contracts into sand. The poor boy snapped, as the blot consumed him.

————————————————

As life flashed before Azul’s eyes, he noticed in the infinite darkness a familiar door. The door to his VIP room. He swam through the darkness, but he finally reached the door and stepped in. It was his office, but sitting down at his desk was Y/n.

They were reading a book, with his name printed on the front cover.

“Ah, Mr. Azul you’ve arrived. Please have a seat,” Y/n smiled softly.

Azul slowly and nervously sat down in the chair as Y/n flipped through a couple pages. Then they finally spoke.

“Thank you for coming in today. We have some very important things to discuss,” Y/n said as they turned the book over to the final page. “ You were supposed to die today.”

“W-What?!” Azul gasped.

“But, because of your friends and enemies kindness. You are now at an impasse. You stand on the edge of life and death. And you have a choice to make,” Y/n explained, as they showed him the wanted poster of himself. “Just sign here or there.”

Azul held the bone fish pen. He hovered over the dead for some time, when he noticed something on the poster. It read, Azul Ashengrotto, greedy sleazy scam artist.

“That’s not who I am,” Azul mumble.

“What was that sir?” Y/n asked.

“This title. That’s not who I am,” Azul glared. “I want this changed.”

“Alright,” Y/n said simply, as they reached down into a drawer and pulled a paper with questions on it. “You don’t need to answer all, but fill out the best you can.”

Azul got to work on the paper, at first the questions were pretty standard. Name, date of birth, and parents, but then the questions started getting strange. For example, what are your skill you treasure? How should one live their life? How you you wish to be remembered, and why? And finally, what is your self worth?

Azul filled out the best he could, but he was unable to fill out the last question. He handed Y/n back the paper, and Y/n began to write something at the bottom of the paper. They soon returned the paper, and Azul saw where Y/n wrote. Under, What does Death think of applicant?

Slowly Azul read what was written

Azul Ashengrotto, a greatly insecure boy, who hides behind a business man act. This is how he might see himself, but he is so much more than that.

He is a bright young octopus with great potential in both the business world or culinary if he so desired. He is a smart, clever, and talented individual. I have high hopes for him.

-Signed

Y/n Death

“Death, that can’t possibly be your last name,” Azul said, trying to distract himself from the overwhelming emotions he was feeling.

“Your right Y/n is just a name I add in front of my actual name," Y/n smiled.

“So you're saying your name is Death. That's unfortunate,'' Azul commented.

Y/n raised a brow as they just stared at Azul, as he slowly processed all the clues.

“W-wait Your... Death. As in Death itself?" Azul asked nervesly, as Y/n simply nod. "Then if you're the reaper then why are you asking me all these things. Aren't you supposed to kill me, are you toying with me?"

“Do you think of me as just a heartless monster? I may reap the life of the living, but I don't do this out of enjoyment. And what I write is simply what I see in the person in front of me," Death said as they sat up straight. " So what do you plan to do?"

Azul stared down at the wanted Poster, and the title under the name. And signed Alive.

“I still have many people I need to get back at, and there's still much I want to do," Azul said as he laced the pen down.

Death smiled softly and closed Azul's book. And before they stood they decided to give one more word of Advice.

“And Be careful of what you tie your self-worth to. Make sure it is the things you've earned, and not the gifts of others you collect," Y/n said as they offered a hand to Azul. "And knowing you. You already have many qualities to you."

As he took Death's hand, the VIP door opened revealing a blinding light. Y/n walked Azul to the door, but then stopped him.

"Oh, before I go I have to give you something," Y/n said as they pulled the photo out from their coat.

"The Photo! But, when?!" Azul gasped as he grabbed the photo.

"Since the beginning. I couldn't pass up the chance just to mess with you," Y/n laughed as they pushed him into the light.

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

Azul would finally come too, much to the twin's relief. As Azul recovered Floyd revealed the secret behind the photo. Much to Azul's horror.

As Azul hide his face in embarrassment, he noticed Y/n standing off by themselves. Looked over the Papers Azul signed and put them back into the book.

With a small nod, Y/n turned and left.

After all was said and done, Azul somewhat changed...Not really. But at least he wasn't enslaving people or scamming people out of their talents.

The young boy would notice Y/n visit the lounge every once in and while. Usually off at the far corner way from most. Yet Azul would usually be the one to serve them.

This was one of the few ways they would relax before winter came.

#twistedwonderland #twst wonderland #Death!reader #twisted wonderland x reader #azul ashengrotto #Twisted wonderland Azul #azul x reader #leech twins #floyd leech #Jade Leech

895 notes · View notes

drabbles-of-writing · 1 year

Text

You know what I said it in the tags earlier but I’m gonna say it out loud now because I love being doomed by the narrative.

Obviously, Belos doesn’t care about the grimwalkers too much anymore. Doesn’t seem to do much except use them as child soldiers and, I dunno, feel some sort of twisted joy out of making “Caleb” work against witches.

But that’s just it. Some part of him cares, just a little bit, because he keeps making grimwalkers from his brother. And, clearly, he didn’t just make them on a whim. Belos wanted Caleb back. He still wants Caleb back. He wants to kill everything that made Caleb leave him, from a palisman to an entire society. He was already going to kill Hunter for betraying him, but he wanted to make it violent after realizing how close the similarities came to Caleb’s ‘betrayal.’

Belos wants Caleb back. The solution? Make a grimwalker. That doesn’t work. They don’t look the same. They don’t act the same. Even when he tries to mold them to be, he kills them. Why?

Because Belos killed Caleb simply for the act of being Caleb. No matter what he does, the fact will always be that Caleb is someone who learned to love a witch and live with magic, and those are things he had to kill him for. If he made a grimwalker exactly like Caleb, they’d always wind up six feet under.

He can’t make a “better” Caleb, either. To make a “better” Caleb is to make someone who isn’t Caleb. There is no “better version.” There’s only Caleb, and not-Caleb. Even if the grimwalker was perfect, if they were everything Belos wanted the two of them to be, they wouldn’t be Caleb. Because the real Caleb doesn’t think like Belos. So, it’s not Caleb, and he kills them.

Every single Golden Guard was destined to die because of something they couldn’t control. It wasn’t because they all betrayed, or because Belos despised them, or he because got bored. It was because he was trying to get his brother back. A brother who would stay forever, who would agree with his actions, who would love him unconditionally, all at the same time.

And that brother doesn’t exist.

#the owl house #toh #caleb wittebane #emperor belos #philip wittebane #hunter toh #hunter noceda #grimwalkers #golden guards #previous golden guards #theory #headcanon #talk #belos #rambling #wittebane brothers #toh theory #text post #drabble post #is this a theory?#analysis #?#something something you cant make a new caleb and keep him too #to make a 'new caleb' is to make someone horrified at his actions. to 'betray' him by loving a witch. to lose him to magic #to keep him is to make someone who isnt caleb. a caleb who would stay ISNT caleb #a caleb who would stay would need to be held down but he would never want to stay. he would get bitter #caleb stayed once. and then he didnt. caleb agreed once. and then he didnt.#we dont know if caleb still loved philip in the end. from the paintings i like to think he did. he knew this was wrong. but he still loved #belos could always have a caleb who loved him. but he could never have a caleb who loved him 'enough'#if caleb 'really loved' him then he wouldve stayed. wouldve agreed. wouldve run evelyn through as soon as he saw her

970 notes · View notes

ystrike1 · 8 months

Text

Your Majesty, Please Stop Now - By (7/10)

This is edgy. Emperor x Shaman Slave. He's cursed. He can't sleep and he deals with bouts of insanity, because his father foolishly betrayed the powerful Witch Knight who won him his kingdom.

Sharan isn't technically a witch. She's from the south, and she's a slave. She can dispel curses and such, but the Valdek Empire hates all forms of magic.

She starts to dream about a man who is suffering horribly under many curses. He is angry and frightened, and she cannot reach him.

Her brother Banchan is a slave as well. They just want to go home, back to the south. The citizens of the Valdek Empire are deeply superstitious, because a legendary female knight betrayed them. She cursed the Emperors unborn, innocent son in revenge. Now the nation is stuck with a mad Emperor, so all forms of magic are despised.

Ironically the Emperor needs a trustworthy shaman to heal him.

Sharan finds Emperor Julian covered in blood, killing horses in the imperial stable. Sharan has never met him, ever. He looks like a vile madman, who is destroying imperial treasure.

She cries out.

Julian assumes she is a spy.

Sharan throws sand at him.

She hides, but that doesn’t last long.

The creepy horse murder guy is in fact the Emperor. He was putting the beasts out of their misery. The Prime Minister had poisoned them. The Emperor doesn’t have alot of allies, because everyone is afraid of him. He is mentally unsteady due to the curse and endless nightmares.

The Prime Minister constantly lays traps for him, to make him look crazier.

The Emperor almost kills Sharan, and her brother. In desperation she offers her power. She says she isn't like the Witch Knight his father betrayed. Her powers are mostly for healing, and she's not trained in combat.

She says she knows he cannot sleep, and he's running out of energy.

Eventually his sanity will fail.

Julian knows she isn't lying. At this point he has lost most of his friends. He has killed some of those same friends. He has tried to marry twice, and both times the Prime Minister used those engagements to make him look more unfit and mad.

He must take a chance and accept her magic.

Sharan demands her freedom. Julian voids her slave contract and he holds Banchan hostage. Their relationship begins, and the Emperor...shocker is kind of abnormal. The curse from the Witch made him crazy strong and prone to both delusion and exhaustion. He starts to rely on Sharan quickly.

He'll never let her go, even if his feelings aren't love.

He just likes the way she makes him feel.

It's...awkward. The maids start dressing her in sexy "exotic" outfits. The Prime Minister keeps cursing Julian, and Sharan has to deal with violent episodes. Being favored by the Emperor kinda sucks, but it's implied that he becomes possessive....which is also bad...

Also yes Sharan is probably special and connected to the Witch Knight.

#Your Majesty #Please Stop Now #yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #webtoon

236 notes · View notes

jadeylovesmarvelxo · 1 year

Text

The Truth Comes Out 👀💕

Summary; You and Eddie despise each other. That's all there is to your feelings... Or so you both tell yourselves.

Warnings; Mean Eddie, enemies to lovers, angst, fighting, jealousy, fluff. Murray works his magic 😋 18+, this is a longish fic so get comfy and enjoy ❤️

I do not give anyone permission to copy my work.

If you enjoyed this then please consider leaving a reblog, etc 😘❤️

❤️

Eddie Munson's stupidly cute face is all you can see as you head into Hawkins High.

Some days his big brown eyes and dimples were cute and gave you butterflies much to your horror.

Other times you wanted to wipe the smirk from his face and couldn't stand the sight of him.

It was a toss what one you felt on the day.

Today it was the latter as you were sure that he was put on this earth to annoy the hell out of you.

"Hey, princess, miss me?" he grins and falls into step beside you. His fingers graze over your back and shiver in delight.

He knew how to push your buttons as you did for him- in every single way.

He could be an asshole though, sometimes his disdain was so apparent, his barbs clipped and to the point that it did hurt.

Sometimes he made you cry, sometimes he made you so mad that you couldn't speak.

"Hey, princess. Been a viper witch to anyone else today?" you ignore him. His barbs were not going to rile you up today.

"Get lost, Munson. I'm not listening to your bullshit today" he looks delighted at your venom and smiles, all dimples. Those fucking dimples.

Why did the asshat have to be so attractive??

"Meow, the princess has claws, who's on your shitlist today? What for? Someone step into your precious light while you were preening yourself?"

You whip around and his goofy smirk annoys you even more.

"I like to look good, don't see any problem with that Munson. Have any dates recently that weren't with your own hand?"

This makes him laugh which disarms you. Shit, you hated when he did that, except one thing then he does another.

"Aww, sweetheart. You like to think about me all hot and bothered and a moaning mess huh?" his eyes dance with mischief and you open your mouth then close it again fuming he has you tongue tied.

"Cat got your tongue?" he asks innocently and you meet his gaze. His big brown eyes darken for a second.

"Wouldn't you like to know who I think about huh?" he whispers in your ear huskily and you stubbornly look away.

"As if" jealousy burns in your gut and you will it away furious at yourself.

"Hmm lucky it isn't you then" he shrugs and you ignore the way your heart sinks at that comment.

"Likewise Munson" you snap and push your way past him.

❤️❤️

"I hate him Chrissy! I hate him" you say for the third time at lunch and Chrissy who is ever patient actually grins.

"There's a thin line between love and hate" she jokes and you groan at her hints.

"Babe, for the last time there is no sexual tension between Eddie and me. He can't stand me and I can't stand him"

"Mmm so when he was crushing on Jessica Martin for like a week and you were like a wounded puppy until he grew bored of her and started teasing you again"

You don't dignify that with a response as it was over a year ago.

"Or when you dated Brandon for two weeks and Eddie "accidentally" threw the basketball in Brandon's face when he broke up with you for Mia and was gloating about it"

You try to come up with a retort but Jason is suddenly in your line of view looking as arrogant and pompous as ever.

He had been following you around the last week and trying to get you to agree to go out with him and you weren't interested.

"Hey, so have you thought anymore on my date proposition?" he looks so smug and that annoys you because he always thinks he can get what he want by flashing money and status and it is so off putting.

"Like I told you already. No thank you" his eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Babe, I really need you to rethink that" honestly who does this douchebag think he is?

"I've told you like a hundred times this week Jason, I am not interested in going out with you so will you please stop bugging me about this" his happy smile fades and he lays a hand on your shoulder.

The other basketball players are snickering and Jason flushes.

"You'll regret turning me down bitch" he storms off and you breathe a sigh of relief but have slight trepidation on what he will do.

Was this really over? You catch Eddie's eye who seemed to be watching, gaze full of anger and you wonder what's up with him?

More worryingly what will Jason do?

❤️

Jason was still fuming when he caught up with you later that day.

Cheer practice had just finished and you were the last one in the locker room. When Jason walked in your heart began to race.

"How dare you knock me back like that? In front of everyone. You think you're really something huh?" his hand tightens on your arm and you try to wrestle out of his grip.

"Leave me alone!" you snap attempting to stamp down hard on his foot but it doesn't quite connect. He pushes you away and you collide with the lockers.

"Asshole" you call after him and wince as you get up. There's a bruise on your arm where Jason's fingers dug in and out and you wince clutching your side.

You make your way out of the locker room, eyes burning with tears that you try to hold back.

Then you see Eddie outside by his van and you groan. Great, the perfect end to a perfect fucking day.

His eyes light up when they see you, no doubt he wants to annoy you to death.

"Not in the mood Munson" he smirks as he catches up to you.

"Aww did you break a nail during cheer practice sweetheart? Could have Carver kiss you all better, saw him hanging over you like a prick"

You whirl around and warn him.

"Don't mention him to me" he gives you a mocking grin.

"Thought you'd be all over that asshole. Preppy douche, little princess has such ring to it huh. You can live in happy vapid harmony?" the tears come again and you lash out.

"Just leave me alone Munson. Fuck off back to your hell hole and leave me alone" he glares at you and you reach your car but open the door too quickly in your haste to get some peace and it hits your arm and sore hip.

"Ahh! Shit!" pain shoots up your body and you wipe away the tears that fall down your cheeks.

"Shit. Hey, you okay?" Eddie asks gently and you shake your head.

"No, I'm not" his eyes trail over your body and he zeroes in on the bruise, that looks even worse out in the light.

"Did Carver do that to you?" he grits his teeth, his jaw tense and eyes narrowed.

"You make it a mission to make me cry on a daily basis or piss me off. Don't act so high and mighty" he looks at you swallowing hard.

"I make you cry?" you swear under your breath.

"Like once" you turn away and he takes hold of your bruise-free arm.

"I don't mean to make you cry, he sucks in a breath, did he do this?" he asks once more and you know he isn't fucking around because this is the angriest you have ever seen him and you nod.

"I can handle myself, Carver just doesn't like being told no" Eddie looks like he wants to say more but he stops as Gareth calls him for band practice and he chances one last look at you before leaving.

❤️

The next day all hell breaks loose, you don't realise it at first as you are busy with cheer practice but as you head with Chrissy to lunch you hear the commotion before you can see it.

Or rather you hear Dustin.

"Yeah! Kick his ass, Eddie!" you chance a look with Chrissy and head inside.

Eddie and Jason are in the middle of a fight and Eddie is holding his own, Jason already has a black eye and Eddie's knuckles are bleeding.

Why the heck was he fighting Jason. You glance at Chrissy who has a knowing look in her eyes.

"Like, she would ever go for you, Munson! You're trailer park trash freak! You'll be just like daddy!" Jason screams at Eddie who lunges at him.

"Now do you believe me when I tell you Eddie is crazy about you?" Chrissy asks you but you want to stop him from getting hurt and don't answer.

"Let go of him Jason" you push Jason back who snorts.

"Well, what do you know Munson? Maybe you can keep her as a little slut after all" you slap Jason hard across the face and Hellfire howl with laughter at Jason clutching his cheek.

At that point, someone must have called Chief Hopper because he comes in gathering up Eddie and Jason.

You head in with Eddie before he can argue because you know Jason will try and pin all the blame on him and no way was that happening.

❤️

At the station, Eddie and Jason argue about what happened.

"The freak just attacked me" Jason pouts and you roll your eyes at his obvious lying, he must think Hopper is an idiot.

Anyone who knows Hopper knows he's a smart guy and can see straight through bullshit.

"Is that true Eddie?" Eddie shakes his head and jerks his thumb in Jason's directions.

"Look at that bruise on her arm, he gestures to you. This douchebag was bragging about doing it. Shutting her up by...by making her mouth useful for something, also he was ragging on Hellfire that was the main reason"

You get the implications of what Jason meant and glower at Jason.

"You don't want to come near me with your dick," you tell him sweetly but with malice. ''I bite"

Hopper hides his smirk but the other two cops don't.

"Carver. Make a threat like that again and your ass is in jail. Don't care who your daddy is are we clear?" Jason gulps and nods, then storms off.

"Eddie, for god's sake son try and stay out of trouble. I know Carver is a dick with you but I would hate to have to throw you in jail for assault". Hopper tells Eddie seriously.

Eddie nods.

"I didn't ask you to do anything Eddie, I don't need you fighting my battles for me. You're hurt, I didn't want that" you gesture to his bruised eye and bust lip after his fight with Jason.

He scoffs. "Get over yourself miss high and mighty, he was ragging on Hellfire and I snapped. Was sick of his bullshit. Kay?"

You know he is lying, Jason constantly rags on Hellfire and Eddie riles the shit out of the dude but it's never turned violent, Eddie doesn't resort to violence so it's not the only reason.

"Why can't you just admit the truth?" you hiss at him while holding up the ice pack to his head. You're both unaware of the audience you have, even Hopper looks entertained.

Murray however is the one who is listening with his head in his hands and trying to bite back whatever he wants to say.

Like that will last long.

"Will you shut the hell up for five minutes my head is pounding" he whines and you are about to retort back when Murray steps up.

"Enough!" you jump as he stands up and Eddie winces.

"Jesus h Christ dude. Volume control" he snaps and Murray rolls his eyes.

"How about both of you spare me the bullshit and all of us the headache and you both admit that you're in love with each other and find an empty room"

Both you and Eddie get up at the same time shouting at Murray that he's wrong, clearly delusional or his Vodka has messed with his brain.

"You're crazy dude. She drives me fucking nuts, acting like some prissy, primped up princess" you glare at him.

"Yeah and like I would want you, Munson! How long have you been in high school again?" he sneers at your comment and steps closer.

"Well at least I'm not a vapid, self-centred raging bitch" Murray holds his hands up and gestures to you both.

"Spare me, spare me, spare me! The whole hating each other schtick is bullshit! Honey, we all see the lovesick way you look at him and he looks at you" you're about to protest when Murray butts in.

"Nuh uh! Zip it lovebirds. You think a guy who hates you is gonna stand up for you like that?" Eddie shakes his head weakly.

"I told you he was ragging me about Hellfire"

Murray takes both of you by the arm and gives you a big cheesy grin.

"Like I told you both, cut the bullshit. Spare us long-suffering residents of Hawkins the headache, go off and find an empty room and get it over with" he yells the last part as he pushes you both out the police station.

"Rude much!" you yell at his back as he gives you and Eddie a little wave then slams the door shut in your faces.

You gape at the door and as if even the weather is against you today the heavens open and it begins to rain. Droplets bounce on the windows of the station and Eddie grabs your arm as he pulls you into his van.

"Shit" he shakes his head and you shiver beside him.

"Can we go somewhere warm? I'm freezing" he nods and begins to drive. The rest of the ride is silent as you both mull over what Murray said.

Eddie doesn't want you. Not like that. You had kept your feelings for him locked deep down because if he found out he would tesse the shit out of you and his rejection would hurt.

He drives you to his trailer where he and his uncle live and mutters sarcastically as he opens the door for you.

"Welcome to my castle" you thank him and are extremely grateful to be in the warmth, Eddie's heating in the van helped a little but you were still cold.

For a second you take in the trailer, the mugs and caps lined on the wall, which make you smile. Even more so when you find a Garfield mug.

"Yeah, that's mine" Eddie tells you and that makes you smile harder.

"I love Garfield" he raises his eyebrows in surprise but the little moment between you two breaks as you sneeze.

"Shit! do you have spare clothes with you?" you nod and grab your bag as Eddie gestures for you to change in his room, he grabs some clothes for himself then leaves you in privacy to change.

This is your first time in Eddie's room and you look around in awe as you change as quick as possible.

The guitar that is in pride of place in the room is a thing of beauty, you knew he was in a band called Corroded Coffin.

There's a moment to his band where sine people have signed, it looks like a battle of the bands type of thing. Your stomach clenches when you see Tammy Thompson's name scrawled on there and scowl.

"Didn't realise Tammy was a fan of you" you call out to Eddie who sniggers.

"Yeah, uh she asked me out on a date that was more like a music related meet up. Sung for me" he comes in throwing you a towel to dry your hair.

"What happened?" now you're curious. He makes a face.

"She was nice and all but her voice... he shudders, we didn't click at all" you hate how much you like that news.

"Your guitar is cool" he beams at your compliment and joins you looking at the guitar.

"Isn't she? Hello sweetheart. You're beautiful aren't you" he presses his fingers to his lips, kisses them and then places his fingers on the guitar.

"You warmer now?" he inquires then upon looking at your still shivering form he pulls you to him and explains as you question him.

"Body heat. It will warm you up faster" yeah you had heard of that.

"I thought you had to be naked?" it flusters you when his eyes darken deliciously and heady tension fills the air.

"Uh, yeah apparently" he runs his hand through his hair and you giggle.

"Easy Munson, I'm not going to seduce you or some shit. I'm not your type, I know that" there's a moment of silence and then he speaks so very quietly.

"Yeah, you are" you stop and look at him hardly daring to believe what you've heard.

"I know you wouldn't want to date me kay? I made peace with that a long time ago and it's easier to annoy and piss you off, bury what I feel"

You feel butterflies as you move closer to him and reach up to caress his cheek.

"You're a dumbass Eddie Munson" before he can speak in outrage you kiss him, the argument does in his throat as he kisses you back hungrily.

"Yesterday you told me you didn't think of me like that" you repeat back his words and he cringes.

"I was talking through my ass sweetheart. You annoy the shit outta me but you're all I think about" your eyes close as you feel his lips press to yours and he pulls you tightly against him.

"I feel the same way about you Eddie" he strokes your hair and grins all cocky.

"Bout time you admitted it princess?" you shove his shoulder giggling as he kisses you again.

"Cocky ass... hey Eddie? I'm still a little wet" he moans softly as you trail kisses from the tattoo peeking out on his chest all the way up to his neck, then jaw then his lips.

"Oh yeah?" you nod loving his reaction as he grows more and more aroused, the thought of it makes your body tingle.

"What was it we discussed earlier about warming up" in seconds he has you pressed up on the bed and you shriek with laughter as your limbs tangle together.

❤️

From the moment you woke up in Eddie's arms that morning everything felt blissful. His lips caressing your neck as his hand moved between your thighs.

"Morning princess" he greets you his voice husky but elated, you turn to him and exchanging kisses before groaning as you look at the time on his alarm clock.

"Ugh, we have to go Eds, we slept too long" he smirks.

"I don't recall much sleeping princess" giddiness washes over you again and you sigh.

"Mmm neither do I" you surprise him by straddling him and he lets out a moan of contentment as his hands caress over your breasts.

He sits up, cupping one hand on your backside as his head dips and he greedily pleasures your breasts with his mouth and free hand.

"Last night was fucking bliss" he whispers and you agree. Fuck, it was mindblowing.

"Yeah it was" he peers up at you and has a teasing smile on his face.

"Rocked your world didn't I baby?" you roll your eyes, a rush of affection filling you for him.

"Doofus" you murmur and run your hands across his chest.

"Think we can be a little later today yeah?" he responds by kissing you eagerly.

❤️

An hour later you make it to school and at lunch time you hear Dustin, Lucas and Mike asking what made Eddie so late.

"Ask her yourself" he nods to you and you make your presence known, sitting on his knee.

The whole cafeteria goes silent at Mikes exclaim and seeing you sat on Eddie's knee.

"Dude finally" Gareth exclaims and Chrissy gives you a thumbs up. Jason looks dumbfounded.

"You and him!" he splutters and you cuddle into Eddie's chest as Eddie gives him the finger.

You didn't give a shit what Jason or anyone thought, as much as Eddie could irk you at times you adored him so much more.

He was your love and that was that.

❤️

#mean!eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson imagine

607 notes · View notes

kayesfanfics · 7 months

Text

The Forgemaster’s Assistant

Pairing: Hector x GN! Reader

A/N: Takes place in season 2 before our boy gets put THROUGH it-

You were a human magician, you learned magic at a young age and continued to build up your powers as you grew up. You were persecuted for practicing magic, called a witch that lain with the devil, and given to the church by your own parents. They attempted to execute you, but you used your powers to escape and run far away where nobody would know you. Humans always feared and killed that which they did not understand, causing you to grow up despising people. If you were caught practicing magic, you’d have to flee yet another home and find a new one by yourself. One day, Dracula visited you in need of your powers of telepathy and telekinesis, and after learning more about you, considered you a great ally to his cause. You happily accepted his offer to help him, and you were loyal to Master Dracula. Alongside two human forgemasters, you were the only humans in a castle full of vampires that sneered down at you like you were a rat scurrying past their feet. So naturally, you stuck by the two forgemasters sides, or in your study where Dracula gave you a space to practice your magic and research old spells to aid him.

You didn’t really speak much with the forgemasters, Isaac being rather antisocial while Hector seemed a bit shy and wrapped up in his work. You couldn’t blame them, due to your shared trauma from humans, you too lacked the want or need to socialize with others much, perfectly content spending your day alone with your spell books. Sometimes Hectors undead puppy, Cezar, would wander into your quarters and run up to you, barking at you to pet him. Today was one of those days.

You were reading a book by candlelight, so engrossed in it you didn’t notice your door creak open. You jumped when you felt two little paws on your leg, and you looked down from your book to see Cezar panting and wagging what was left of his tail. You smiled softly, reaching down to pick him up and pet him. He jumped on your chest and licked at your face, causing you to let out a laugh as you pushed him down.

“What are you doing here, Cezar? Hector not paying enough attention to you, Hm?” You asked the dog, holding him away from your face as he attempted to lick you once more. “Slobbery little bastard. Go on, go back to Hector.”

You set the dog down and tried to shoo him away, but he only sat down and looked up at you with wide eyes. You sighed, getting up and guiding him out of your room before you shut it properly behind him. This cause the half dead pup to whine and scratch at your door, barking for you to let him back in.

“Oh for gods sake.” You muttered, opening the door again and picking the dog up. “Fine, I guess I’ll have to escort you back to Hector.”

You carried the dog down the halls, going up a flight of stairs to reach where Hector had set up shop. You heard the familiar clanging of his hammer on the metal table, at work resurrecting humans to turn into night creatures. You cleared your throat, to which he turned around mid swing of his hammer.

“Um…can I help you?” He asked after a moment of staring at one another.

“Oh, uh…your dog. He keeps bothering me while I try to work.” You said, setting Cezar down and watching as he ran to Hector.

“Ah, yes. He was bothering me as well, which I why I locked him out.” Hector set the hammer down and kneeled down to pet the energetic dog.

“Well, he’s been whining at my door, I can’t focus.” You crossed your arms.

“He likes you.” He shrugged, smiling softly up at you. “He’s just a being who wants love and attention, like you or I.”

“Yes but he is annoying as well.” You said, walking around the room, examining all the tools and foragers equipment. A searing hot fire crackled in the corner of the room, hot coals in another metal tin. Various books were stacked near a pile of tools, tools you would see in a morgue or hospital.

“Would you like to help me?”

“Pardon me?” You looked away from the equipment.

“Would you like to help? I can teach you a thing or two about forgemastery as well. I understand you are working to expand your knowledge on magic.” Hector said as he stood up and walked over to you.

“Well, yes, but Dracula doesn’t need me learning forgemastery. He’s having me study things like protection spells and weaponry spells, I’m not needed for necromancy.”

“Oh, this is much more than necromancy, Y/N.” He smiled, going to pick up his hammer again. “Would you like me to show you?”

“Well…” you gazed into his beautiful blue eyes, feeling drawn in by them and his kind demeanor. “I suppose I could help you out for a little while…but only if you promise to keep your dog away from my study.”

“Deal.” He smiled, holding out a hand for you to shake. You took it, his warm hand held yours softly as your eyes were drawn back to his kind eyes.

You hovered over him for a few hours that night, listening as he explained what forgemastery was exactly and how it worked. You loved learning about different forms of magic, so you were happy to let him ramble to you as you watched him work. He’d slam the hammer swiftly to the table, watching the corpse carefully for sighs of twitching and reanimation. You had to admit, seeing it up close for the first time exceeded your expectations, and watching him calm the creature and show it kindness made your chest flutter.

The next day Hector followed his dog to your study, where you asked him to help you with a spell. He held the book open for you and watched curiously as you chanted and objects around the room began to levitate, his beautiful blue eyes focused on you with awe. You explained to him the spell you were attempting to cast and it’s origins, to which he gladly listened, asking questions and genuinely being interested.

The two of you would study and read together after that, sitting in silence but with each others company. If either of you found something interesting or something the other could use, you’d alert the other and explore the subject together. Your hands would linger when handing each other books, you’d sit closely as you read over his shoulder, so close to him you could feel him breathing. Isaac would side eye the both of you, raising an eyebrow but nothing more before continuing on his way about the castle. He didn’t care much for either of you, seeing you as just coworkers, but even with the little attention he paid to the both of you, he could tell you were both falling for the other. He’d roll his eyes when your hands brushed up against each other or you’d giggle at some dumb remark Hector made while helping him in his workshop.

You’d slowly fallen for the silver haired man, his mind was as beautiful as his face. He wanted to learn more about you and what you were passionate about, and he’d actually listen to you. Nobody ever sat down to try and understand you before, so the attention you received from him was flattering and refreshing. His eyes always looked at you with kindness and curiosity, almost with a childlike wonder as you talked about the old magicians and their knowledge passed down in these books. He would talk about his own studies to you as well, he spoke with such confidence and intellect, he was proper and polite no matter what.

“Y/N!”

“Yes?” You looked up at him, snapped back into reality from your thoughts.

“Could you hand me the pliers, please?” Hector asked, his hand busy with holding a wound open on a corpse.

“Oh! Yes, sorry!” You grabbed the pliers from the opposite end of the table, handing them to him.

“Are you alright? I’ve not known you to daydream.” He asked as he used the pliers to dig a bullet out of the corpses chest.

“I’m fine, just…thinking, is all.” You shrugged.

“About?” He asked, not looking up from his work.

“Nothing, just…the war.” You made up, crossing your arms and looking away to hide the blush in your face.

“Ah.” He said simply, focusing on his task. His brows furrowed and his lips pursed slightly as he worked the bullet out of the man, finally getting it out and setting it on the table.

“Hector?”

“Y/N?”

“We’re friends, right?” You asked, and he looked down at you, tilting his head slightly.

“I would say yes. Why do you ask?”

“I just wanted to know. I’ve never really had a friend before, you know?”

“Nor have I.” He smiled, his eyes softening as you fidgeted under his gaze. “But don’t tell Isaac, he wants everything to remain strictly professional, the hardass.”

“Of course.” You giggled, smiling back up at him.

You subconsciously placed your hand on top of his before you could stop yourself. His breath hitched in his throat, looking down at your hand. You were about to pull away when he took your hand, placing it on his chest to pull you closer to him. Your eyes widened as you gazed up at him with innocent eyes, face surely the same color of the blood on the work table by now.

“May I…kiss you?” He asked sheepishly, his own face coated with a light blush across his cheeks. You nodded slowly, before your lips connected with his. You’d never even held hands with someone before, let alone kissed anyone. But you knew his kiss was amazing, his lips were soft and his hold on you gentle as you relaxed in his arms as the kiss deepened. Your hands found his chest as his held the small of your back, pulling you up to reach his lips. Both of you were so focused on the others touch, you didn’t notice someone enter the room.

“Ahem.”

Hector broke the kiss quickly, and you shoved him away as your face turned impossibly redder. You turned to see Isaac standing in the doorway, and unamused look on his face as he judged the two of you mentally.

“Isaac! What brings you here?” Hector asked, fixing his shirt awkwardly.

“Apparently, making sure you two don’t fuck right next to the corpse.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at the poor dead man on the table.

“What?! We wouldn’t-“

“That’s not what was-“

“Oh, save it.” He raised a hand to silence you both. “Y/N, Master Dracula required your presence. Hector, I suggest you get back to work.”

“Cockblock.” Hector muttered, only loud enough for you to hear. You laughed, Isaac’s head turning to glare at the both of you.

“Let’s continue this later, perhaps in my quarters?” You asked Hector bashfully as you backed towards the door.

“Deal.” He smiled deviously, ignoring Isaac’s noise of disapproval.

#IM RUSTY IDK IF I LIKE THIS #castlevania x reader #castlevania hector #castlevania

151 notes · View notes

myhairpintrigger · 5 months

Text

Grieving for the Living (Aleksander Morozova x fem!reader) Part 4

The entirety of a capricious and treacherous marriage between the Darkling and the Lantsov princess.

read previous parts here!! part 1 part 2 part 3

word count: 11.7k

warnings: nothing really, everything is canon typical. examples of an unhealthy relationship

taglist: @il0vebeingdelulu @mellowarcadefun @budugu @eir964 @arwensloanebarnes @marytvirgin @chaoticcoffeequeen @claire-loves-music

“Look at her, with her chin held high. She sympathizes with the witches, you know.”

“I heard her husband tried to kill her and she only escaped because of the Sun Summoner.”

“No, you’ve got it all wrong- she’s only here to spy on her family. She’s the Darkling’s whore, now.”

“Someone told me that she was the one that orchestrated the Darkling’s death. But what can you expect? Poor girl. She’s a princess and she was forced to marry a monster.”

“Rumor has it she’s carrying his demon child.”

People love rumors. Even “good” and “noble” people love them. Powerful men love them, proper ladies love them, everyone will indulge a rumor or an especially interesting piece of gossip.

The only thing people love more than a good rumor is a very public fall from grace.

You’d once been Ravka’s darling. The crown jewel of the Lantsov family. People loved you, they adored you. You hadn’t really kept up on public appearances after your wedding, but after that, there had been a steady decline in your popularity.

No one wanted to see the promising young Lantsov daughter married off to the Darkling.

Then of course after the mishap on the Fold that left Novokribirsk consumed by darkness, you had become hated. Feared. Despised.

Most people thought that you had helped the Darkling organize the entire ordeal, and those who didn’t believed you to be spineless and foolish.

Eyes were on you now. Narrowed eyes. Accusatory eyes. So many eyes.

You grasped Vasily’s arm tightly as he led you through a crowd of Ravka’s nobles and their families. You weren’t entirely sure what everyone was doing here at the Grand Palace, but you knew that it was a political meeting of sorts.

Your father had taken ill and Vasily was ruling in his place. An interim ruler of sorts.

You weren’t supposed to be here, you were supposed to be in your bedroom, but you had tried to sneak out. You wanted to go riding, you wanted to clear your head. Unfortunately, your brother had found you before you even had a chance to make it to the stables.

You and Vasily had never gotten along well, but since you had returned home after running for weeks and weeks, from town to town, he’d stunned you with kindness and concern. He believed every word you told him about the Darkling and about how you had to escape him, unlike your mother who strongly believed you would bear his “devil child”.

The two of you made your way through the crowded room in silence, and you held his arm as if it were your lifeline. You had heard the same gossip since you returned home. You heard it from town to town when you were trying to get home from Kribirsk, and you heard it now, all around you.

You had both nearly made a successful escape from the crowd when you heard someone call out your name.

“Princess y/n!”

You and Vasily both spun around to see a woman standing behind you. She held a glass of wine in one hand and the hand of a small child in the other.

“Y-yes?” You asked softly. Vasily gave your arm a gentle tug, but you turned to him and gave him a pleading look. He relented and allowed you to talk to them, but he didn’t let you let go of his arm.

“My husband. He was in Novokribirsk when the Fold swallowed it whole. When your husband murdered an entire city.” The woman deadpanned, swirling the red wine in her glass.

You let out a dejected sigh and gathered the skirt of your lilac colored dress in your free hand and you gave her a sympathetic look, “I am sorry for your loss. I, too, am grieving the loss of the city of Novokribirsk.”

“You don’t look it.” She shot back.

“I assure you-“

You were cut off by the woman flicking her wrist and splashing the entire glass of red wine all over the bodice of your dress. You gasped and took a step back before Vasily dropped your arm and brought his fingers to his mouth. He let out a loud whistle and a few guards came running towards them.

“This woman has just… assaulted my sister.” Vasily announced and pointed at her.

The guards moved towards her, likely to detain her, and Vasily grabbed your arm and tugged you away.

“It’s your fault! My child will never see her father again! You cannot silence me! There’s a thousand just like me!” She screamed and you could hear her grunt and struggle against the guards, but Vasily would not let you look back.

Once you both had made it out of the grand hall and into the corridor leading to the staircase, Vasily let go of your arm and he pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket. He handed it to you and motioned to your exposed chest and neck.

“You might want to wipe that off before it gets sticky.”

You took the cloth from his hand and you dabbed off the droplets of wine that had made it to your chest. You let out a small sigh and looked up at your brother, offering his handkerchief back to him. He took it and stuffed it back in his pocket before he reached out and placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Things will get worse before they get better. But they will get better. You’re here to stay, y/n. Let their tongues wag, sister. You are royalty. It doesn’t matter if they love you or hate you now, their opinions can be swayed. And they will be. Just not today.” Your brother said softly and you shrugged.

“They have their minds made up. I’m only as good as my husband in their eyes.” You stated, motioning to your stained dress.

“Y/n, their minds will change.”

“And then what? Tell me what then? I’ll be in their good graces until a man close to me screws up and then I’ll be cursed all over again. I am a woman, Vasily. I will always be blamed for a man’s poor choices,” You pointed out, wrapping your arms around yourself, “Our own mother thinks I am corrupted.”

“She’s just scared and confused, y/n. Father lays dying because of the Darkling. She’s just… naïve. No one ever accused her of being the brightest. But she never had to be.” He explained, trying to set your mind at ease.

You placed your left hand on your forehead and you sighed, “I just wish this past year had never happened, Vasily.” You breathed, shaking your head slowly.

Your brother eyed the hand you had on your forehead suspiciously and then he reached out and grabbed your wrist, “You know, Mother might have an easier time believing you if you didn’t still wear your wedding ring.”

You glanced down at your hand as your brother held your wrist and you frowned, “I don’t see it as a wedding ring. My friend made it. I think of it as a gift now. He’s the one that helped me escape, Vasily.”

Your brother rubbed a hand over his face and then he lowered his hand and placed it on your shoulder, “Sister, what happened to you was awful, and I’m sure it’s going to stay with you for a long time, but I think the best way to begin to move past it is to let any and all Grisha go. They are a poison to our society.”

“Don’t marginalize an entire group just for the actions of a few bad people, Vasily.” You whispered, frowning.

“Y/n. We aren’t going to talk about this right now. I must join the meeting. Go to your room and stay there. Get some rest, just… go.” He sighed. He patted your shoulder once and turned on his heel, making his way back into the hall.

You watched him disappear into the crowded room and you rubbed your face exhaustedly. Grasping your skirt in your hand, you trudged up the stairs with a sigh. You made your way to your bedroom and you closed the door behind you. You stared at the door handle for a moment and then locked it. Ever since you’d run away from Aleksander, you couldn’t help but feel like he was only one step behind you everywhere you went, like he’d always find you one way or another.

Everyone said he was dead, torn to pieces in the Fold, but deep down, you had your doubts. You couldn’t explain how or why, but you just felt like he was still out there.

When you had begun your journey back to Os Alta from Kribirsk, you didn’t stop for more than an hour at a time, bouncing around from village to village, town to town, moving constantly. Then the news began to spread. The first time you heard that Aleksander was presumed dead was when you sat in a small inn, warming your hands by a fire. From then on out, you slowed down a bit. Then the rumors about you came, and you began to move much quicker again.

You slowly pulled your dress off of your body and let it fall to the floor, kicking it aside. You’d pick it up later- you just wanted to lay down now. You grabbed the nightgown you’d worn last night off of the end of your bed and pulled it on before you laid down on your mattress and yanked the blankets up over your shoulders.

It wasn’t overly late, but there was nothing else to do except sleep at this point. You didn’t want to see anyone.

You lifted your hand up and held it over your face and you peered up at the delicate ring that you wore still. You’d had enough sense to take it off of your ring finger, and now wore it on your middle finger. As pathetic as it may seem, you didn’t feel right taking it off.

Your husband’s words echoed in your brain for what seemed like the hundredth time this week as you lowered your hand and bit your bottom lip.

“Your country will hate you. You will be cursed with the title of my wife for as long as you shall live. You’ll be treated no better than Grisha.”

You lowered your hand down onto your stomach and you looked up at the ceiling with a small sigh. Until today, it had only been rumors. Gossip. Today you’d had red wine thrown at you. What about tomorrow? Things couldn’t just keep getting worse.

But you’d find that they could.

And they would.

“Mother and I have been talking.” Vasily stated, setting his cup of tea on the table next to you.

You looked over at your brother for a moment and then you shrugged, stirring a bit of honey into your tea.

“What of?” You asked, looking back down at your tea.

“Well, we think that perhaps, for the time being, we ought to send you to Ketterdam. To study at the university, or apprentice under a politician-“

“The Fold was hardly safe to cross a month ago. What makes you think that it is crossable now?” You asked and pulled your spoon out of your tea. You pointed the spoon at your brother and clicked your tongue a few times, “I’m not going to Ketterdam, Vasily. That’s silly.”

“It’s not,” he reached out to push your spoon away and he sighed, “Sister, there have been threats made on your life. Last week you were attacked more or less. If we are going to take risks, I’d rather it be this one rather than just sitting here and wait for you to be attacked.”

You blinked a few times and looked over at your brother, “Come on, Vasily. This feels like a punishment.”

“It’s not a punishment, sister. Being in Ravka just… is not a great fit for you right now.”

You laid your hands flat on the table and you ran your tongue along the backs of your teeth angrily.

“And what does Father say of this?” You asked, drumming your fingers against the tabletop.

“He agrees, y/n. You’re a sitting duck. For many reasons. One, there are people in this country who think you should be held responsible for the Darkling’s actions, we aren’t going to wait for someone to try to hurt you. Two…” Vasily trailed off and he let out a small sigh, “Mother and Father told me not to tell you. But I’m going to because you are bound to find out on your own regardless. Sister, the Darkling lives.”

It was as if your blood turned to stone and your heart had stopped beating. Your mouth felt dry and it became very difficult to swallow. Your vision came in and out of focus and you let out an unconvincing, incredulous laugh.

“He disappeared in the Fold. He didn’t emerge. He lives not.” You weren’t sure who you were trying to convince; yourself or Vasily.

Your brother shrugged and he took a sip of his tea, “I’m only relaying what I’ve been told.” He remarked, setting his teacup back down onto its saucer.

The clink of ceramic made you jump slightly and you looked over at your brother, “He cannot be alive, Vasily. He will come for me. I ran from him. In his eyes, I betrayed him. He will come for me. He can’t be alive.” You pleaded, feeling sick as you glanced down at your own tea.

“That’s precisely why we’d like to send you to Ketterdam, sister. With a full team of guards. There are smugglers that are very good at what they do that can safely get you across the Fold. Once you’re across, you can go straight to Ketterdam. You’ll be safe there.” Your brother explained, reaching out to touch the back of your hand, “We can’t afford to lose you. Not when we are faced with losing our father, Nikolai hasn’t been home in over seven years… please. Go willingly.”

You felt shaky and lightheaded, as if you hadn’t eaten for days, panic filling your chest and your lungs as if it were a mere inhale. You looked away from Vasily and you stared at the wall for a long time before you gave your brother a very slight nod.

“Do you promise that these smugglers can get me across the Fold safely?” You asked slowly, your voice sounding distant in your own ears.

“We have had major success with them before, and they aren’t Grisha.” He insisted, placing his hand on your shoulder.

“Okay.” You whispered and gave Vasily a small nod.

“It’s for the best.” Vasily said softly and gave your shoulder a little squeeze before he stood up from the small table you two sat at, “Perhaps you should start thinking about packing.” He remarked and then walked away, likely going off to speak to your mother or whatever else he deemed important.

You stayed seated at the table for a long time and you looked down at the ring that fit snugly on your middle finger. You bit your bottom lip and you shook your head once. Surely he was going to look for you at some point, you just didn’t know what point that would be.

Maybe, just maybe, if you left as soon as possible, you could get ahead. Leave Ravka, get halfway to Ketterdam before he caught wind of it- if he caught wind of it at all, of course. You slowly rose from the table a few moments later and you shuffled out to the hallway.

You glanced at the set of double doors at the end of the hall that led outside towards the Little Palace and you bit your lip. You checked over your shoulder briefly and then you quickly made your way outside. Once you were positive you hadn’t been seen or followed, you walked briskly towards the Little Palace. You swung the doors open and moved inside quickly before closing them again.

You weren’t entirely sure why you were back here, you hadn’t been since you’d returned back to Os Alta. Vasily and your mother had forbidden it. As nice as Vasily had been, you had come to realize he was just as wary of you as your mother.

Whatever.

Nothing you could say would change their minds, and nothing short of being the one to remove and deliver Aleksander’s head to them would make them ever think that you weren’t somehow in on what he did.

Of course that hurt, though. You had never felt loneliness like this before.

You wandered through the halls silently until you reached your old shared bedroom and you pushed the doors open.

The place had been ransacked. Likely by guards and probably your brother as well, looking for anything that might help them with the Fold.

Your wardrobe hung ajar and some of your dresses had been tossed to the ground, but for the most part, your things had been untouched. You wandered around the room silently, feeling a small pang of guilt in the pit of your stomach. Feeling guilt for what happened was insane to you, yet there the feeling was.

You glanced at the bed and almost felt tears rise to your eyes. You swallowed them back.

Despite your husband’s perversion of Alina’s power and his endless chase for his own, sometimes when it was just you and the silence, you missed him.

Not the power-hungry him. The version of him that remembered that you liked sunsets and took time out of his nights to show you them. The version of him that surprised you so excitedly with a dress that matched his own ensemble. The version of Aleksander that fussed over you being cold, that wrapped you in his cloaks and offered to carry you.

Your relationship with Aleksander was complicated. It was up and down and there were a lot of things on his end that he never told you of. Loving him was so short, yet trying to forget him would last you a lifetime.

Some days you were convinced that your relationship was founded on lies and deception and that it wasn’t even healthy for either of you. Then, other days you were certain he was the love of your life, and it pained you that his drive for power made you collateral damage.

You would have stayed forever if he had seen sense, chosen you over his want for power. But he didn’t, and that was a painful reality.

You turned on your heel and took a step towards the door before your foot hit something on the ground. You looked down to see one of your husband’s large, thick cloaks and you sunk to your knees. You gathered some of the fabric up in your hands and you held it against your chest for a moment. You ran your fingers over the soft cloak and then you let out a long, sad sigh.

You wondered if he ever thought of you the way you thought of him. Sweetly at times, scornfully at others. It was hard to imagine that he’d think of you fondly, though. Especially after you ran away.

You did what you needed to do.

That’s what everyone told you. Your mother, your father, Vasily. All of them. It was the right thing to do. You would have just been a little trophy that he got to show off as if to say “look at me. I’m so powerful that even the Ravkan princess would take my side.”

That was his plan all along. You knew that. He’d all but admitted it. The luxury of love and care he offered was a reward for submitting. It was wrong. Everything was so wrong about his proposal to you the night he had planted the amplifiers in himself and Alina. He’d gotten one thing right, though. You had turned out to be hated and blamed by the masses, just as he had predicted. But it was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?

Some days, for just brief seconds, you weren’t so sure.

You shook the thought off as quickly as it had come and you stood up, dropping the cloak back to the ground.

No, you did do what you had to do. To keep your freedom.

You quickly left the room and you took up an unforgiving walking pace back to the Grand Palace. Once you’d gotten back inside of the Grand Palace, you slammed the doors behind you and you walked back to your room as if you’d been there the whole time.

You approached the stairs and took one step up before you saw Vasily come barreling down the stairs. When he saw you, he shook his head and grabbed both of your arms.

“Where were you?” He asked in a loud tone.

“I just went back to the Little Palace to find my dress from Mother!” You lied, trying to pull away from Vasily.

“Sister, something has happened.” He said sharply and then let go of you.

You felt your stomach sink and you looked up at Vasily, urging him to continue with your stare.

“I don’t have the time nor the patience to explain. We are leaving Os Alta. Tonight.”

“Tonight?” You asked and looked up at him, shaking your head, “But what about Ketterdam? We just-“

“I know! But we must leave tonight. We will figure out other ways of getting you out of here but just go get yourself ready for travel.” He commanded and you found yourself reeling.

He pushed past you and bolted down the hall, not saying another word to you.

You stared after him for a moment before you walked up the stairs. You’d nearly made it to the top when your mother came around the corner and stood at the landing at the top of the stairs. When she saw you, her face paled.

You stopped in your tracks and looked up at her. You gave her a small, watery smile and you took one step towards her.

“Mother-“

“You reek of the darkness.” She spat and she walked down the stairs past you hurriedly, leaving you standing alone at the top of the stairs.

You felt as if she had slapped you. You wished that was all she had done.

Sounds of bustling and loud voices echoed from downstairs and you pressed your fingernails into your palms. Tears stung your eyes and you slowly dragged yourself down the hall to your bedroom.

Coming home had likely been a mistake. You wished that you’d gone across the Fold with your husband, and then ran from there. Somewhere far away from here, perhaps to Ketterdam or even beyond, because as you stood there in your bedroom feeling an endless loneliness swirl in your chest, you couldn’t help but think that perhaps you’d traded one prison for another.

Days upon days on the road had been torture. Only Vasily had spoken to you, and you stayed near the back of the group, perched on your horse.

That was, until now. Vasily had summoned you up to the front of the group with him and he offered no explanation until about an hour of awkward silence had passed. Your brother turned to you and he gave you a small sigh, slowing his horse a bit so that he was right next to you while you rode yours.

“Doing alright?” He asked, looking you up and down.

You shrugged and kept your eyes ahead, watching the trees in the distance grow closer and closer, then finding new trees to watch; repeating this.

“You’ve been a bit sour lately.” Vasily commented and you snorted once.

“Our parents are disgusted by me and I was uprooted from my home within a matter of hours. Besides, you won’t even tell me where we’re going, Vasily.” You explained and shot him a look.

“We are going somewhere very safe. A sanctuary.” He replied, giving you a shrug. He led his horse up a small hill and you were quick to follow.

He stopped at the top of the hill and pointed at an old building nestled against a cliffside.

“That is where we are going…” He trailed off mid sentence and you watched him carefully. His eyes were fixed on a small group of people standing outside of the building, and you slowly turned your head to look, too.

People in brightly colored coats stood in front of the building and a few other people were there too, in the drab colors of the First Army. There was Grisha down there, and First Army, evidently. You stared at them all for a moment and realized that these must be Grisha that didn’t side with Aleksander, or else they’d likely be locked in cages or dead, especially with members of the First Army with them.

“Come on, then,” Vasily said in a hard tone, “let’s go see who they are and what they want.” He said slowly. You nodded once and followed him down the hill, holding the reins of your horse so tight that the leather of the reins left indents in your skin.

The ride down the hill was easy and as you slowly approached the building, everyone’s heads turned to you and your brother. You recognized a few of the Grisha from your time at the Little Palace and you searched your brain for names but couldn’t come up with any. Next, you looked at the group of First Army men to the side and you widened your eyes with recognition. A blonde boy in a decorated army uniform stood speaking to a much older man in a similar uniform.

You gasped loudly and you clambered off of your horse as it still moved, ignoring Vasily’s protests. You ran the rest of the way to the group, pushing past a few of the Grisha.

“Nikolai!” You cried, and the blonde boy turned his head to see you sprinting towards him.

A warm, elated smile formed on Nikolai’s face and he stepped forward with his arms open. You ran straight into your brother’s arms and wrapped your own around his shoulders. His arms closed tightly around your torso and he gave you a tight squeeze, letting out a mirthful laugh. An excited smile of your own covered your face and you felt a sense of comfort that you hadn’t had for many months.

“Oh, y/n!” Your brother exclaimed, pulling back. He placed his hands on your arms and he looked you up and down a few times before he let out another laugh, “Saints! Look at you! You’re so grown!”

You felt giddy with delight as you stared up into the face of your brother and you reached up to mess up his blonde hair.

“It’s been seven years, Nikolai!” You exclaimed, the smile on your face not fading even a bit, “Why on earth are you here? Where on earth have you even been? I-“

“That’s quite enough, sister.” You slowly turned your head around to see that Vasily stood behind you now, also off of his horse, “I’m sure the last thing Nikolai wants is for you to be yapping his ear off.”

“I don’t mind.” Nikolai interjected firmly, dropping his hands away from your arms, “I was actually really looking forward to seeing her. When I heard you were all heading this way, I started telling everyone about you.” He remarked and looked down at you with a smile.

“Yes well, we didn’t expect you to be here. With company.” Vasily said stiffly, and you wondered what his problem was.

“The more the merrier. That’s what they say, at least, and if it’s true, I’ve got a merry little sanctuary going on here.” Nikolai quipped back at Vasily.

“I can see that.” Vasily murmured and then cleared his throat, “Why don’t you help us get everything inside, Nikolai? Have your… help aid us.”

You looked around for a moment before realizing that Vasily was less than thrilled to see Grisha here. You pressed your lips together and looked over at him with a frown.

“The help? Oh no, brother. You’re mistaken. They’re here because they want to be. No one here is above or beneath anyone. We all help each other.” Nikolai’s voice was calm and friendly, but you could always tell when he was masking his sternness behind kindness. This was one of those times.

Nikolai looked down at you and smiled, a real, genuine smile. You felt a little less lonely in that moment and he placed his hand on your shoulder.

“We have much to catch up on, and we will, believe me. But I’m gonna help get everyone situated. Maybe you should go inside and meet everyone.” He suggested and you gave him a nod.

You leaned forward and gave him another brief hug before you pulled back. You turned your head and gave Vasily a pointed look before you turned on your heel and walked inside of the large building.

Once you stepped inside, you looked around. The room was bustling with Grisha in their brightly colored clothes. You took a few more steps into the building before you heard your name called.

“Y/n?”

You turned to where the voice had come from, and you almost had to do a double take.

Alina Starkov walked towards you with a tall, lanky boy behind her, who you vaguely recognized as Malyen. Both of them approached you swiftly and you looked up at Alina, a bit shocked.

“You’re alive.” You breathed, looking her up and down a few times.

“I am, and I’m so glad to say the same for you.” She said softly and reached out.

She grabbed your hands gently in her own and she gave you a sympathetic smile. You smiled back at her and took a step closer to the girl, giving her hands a friendly squeeze.

“What happened, Alina? How did it come to this?” You asked quietly.

Her smile fell and she turned to look at the boy next to her and she gave him a little nod.

“Let’s take her to a room. So we can speak privately.” She suggested and he nodded once.

She let go of one of your hands, but kept ahold of one of them so that she could lead you through the halls of what was your supposed sanctuary.

She led you to a room with double doors and the tracker boy with her pushed them open for the two of you and you followed her inside. Once the doors were closed, Alina brought you to the foot of the bed in the room and she sat down on it, tugging you down with her.

She gave you a sad smile and then she sighed, letting go of your hand.

“You were smart to disappear.” Alina remarked and you nodded once.

“I gathered. What even happened? I know things have gotten bad-“

“Bad is an understatement.” The tracker boy, Mal, said from where he stood a few feet away.

Alina nodded once in apparent agreement and she let out another sigh.

“The day we went out into the Fold, Aleksander was… furious. He came and got me from my tent and he told me you’d be coming with us. Which, I was fearful about. He brought me to his tent, but when we arrived there, you were gone. I’ve never seen him lose composure like that,” she said, a distant look in her eye, “he was angry and he was shouting and he was commanding anyone that could hear him to go and find you. But you had just… vanished. It was like he’d lost his mind for a moment there. Some soldiers theorized that you’d been taken, and he nearly had accepted it, but Ivan wasn’t convinced. He told Aleksander that you likely ran deliberately. At that point, he didn’t want to waste any more time, so he continued with the voyage, and he said he’d ‘deal’ with you later. I don’t think he expected to lose.” She explained and then folded her hands in her lap.

You blinked a few times and you looked down into your own lap. The ring on your middle finger seemed to burn into your skin and you bit the side of your cheek sharply. You stayed silent for a while and then looked back up at Alina, puffing out your cheeks slightly.

“What happened to him? To you?” You asked, placing your hands down against the fabric of your riding pants.

“Mal fought him off mostly. He was swarmed by volcra. Mal and I… we got across the Fold and ran. Went into hiding for a while.” She answered.

“By volcra?” You said and perked your head up. If he was swarmed by volcra, there was no way that he would have survived. The rumors of his survival must have been just that: rumors.

“Yes.”

You shuddered at the thought and then you looked up at Alina, giving her a small smile. You didn’t know if you should mention what Vasily told you about your husband being alive. You probably should have, but you didn’t.

“I think… that’s for the best.” You remarked slowly and then laid your palms flat against your lap.

There was a small silence in the room and you didn’t know how to fill it. You tapped your fingers against your lap quietly and puffed your cheeks out slightly. You’d never taken the time to speak to Alina, really. The two of you had exchanged words in the Little Palace a few times but nothing groundbreaking was ever said. To be honest, you never really wanted to converse with her. Not until now, at least.

Alina’s hand grasped your shoulder and you looked over at the girl next to you. She was giving you a small, sympathetic smile.

“I’m really glad you’re okay. At least one of us made it out.” She remarked and you raised your eyebrow.

“But did I really make it out?” You asked, thinking of what your husband had said to you, about how your country would hate you. You felt a bit resentful towards your parents and your brother, Vasily. You couldn’t help but believe you had only traded one bad scenario for another.

“Yes, I can’t even imagine what would have happened if you’d gone into the Fold with us that day.” She said and you blinked a few times.

You’d wondered that, too, a couple of times. You wondered if things would have turned out differently, you wondered if you’d be with Aleksander now, you wondered if your country would still despise you so. You thought you’d done the right thing but it seemed there was no right thing to do. Only the preferable one. The one to save face. You sighed and then gave Alina a small smile.

“I think I’d like to be alone.” You whispered and Alina nodded.

“Of course. I’m right next door- if you need anything.” She said, rising from your bed.

She gave you a small wave as she and Mal left the room and you flopped back onto your bed.

Your mind raced upon being left alone and you tried to clear it by shaking your head a few times. You felt confused, angry, exasperated, and tired all at once.

You closed your eyes and took deep breaths, trying to fight back the consuming thoughts of Aleksander.

You sat between your two brothers at dinner that night, bouncing your knee anxiously. To your left, Nikolai sat sipping his wine next to Alina, and to your right, Vasily sat and picked at his food while your mother fussed over his hair as she sat next to him.

You had finished your first glass of wine and reached across the table for the bottle, only to have the back of your hand smacked by Vasily.

“Sister, we will not have a repeat of the last time you had control over your wine intake.” He spoke, giving you a condescending smile.

Nikolai reached across the table and grabbed the bottle of wine and poured some in your glass before he set the bottle back down and turned to Vasily with a grin.

“No harm done, brother. This is fine wine, after all, she’s got good taste.” Nikolai remarked and then winked at you.

You gave your blonde brother a small, appreciative smile and you grabbed the glass, taking a sip.

Vasily snorted and your mother looked over at you and Nikolai before she shook her head with a small scoff.

“Don’t defend her, Nikolai. The last time she was given wine she made a fool of herself.” Your mother snapped, but Nikolai only laughed and nudged your side.

“If you cause a scene tonight, you’ll have my appreciation. Maybe even some new pearls.” He teased and you turned to look at Nikolai. You giggled softly at his offer and then you shook your head.

“Mother and Father already covertly wish for my swift beheading. What makes you think they’ll not beat me with sticks?” You asked and took another sip of your wine.

“I gathered that Mother wasn’t too pleased with you at the moment. Why?” He asked and took a bite of his food.

You sighed and then shook your head once, glancing down at your own plate.

“She thought I was expecting the Darkling’s child. But clearly I’m not pregnant, so now she just hates me for being his wife. But that’s odd, because,” you held up your finger and jabbed it towards your mother and father, “the marriage between the Darkling and I was their idea.”

Nikolai rolled his eyes and he reached out for the bottle of wine for himself, grabbing hold of the neck of the bottle.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Thought it was a bit of an odd pairing but what do I know? Alina told me that you escaped him. Is that not enough for our parents?” He asked and poured himself more wine.

“Evidently not. I thought Vasily was on my side, but it seems not. But I mean, no one else is. The entire country hates me.” You remarked and then looked up at Nikolai, “you know people and their rumors.” You said and then gave your brother a weak smile.

“I don’t hate you. And I am on your side,” Nikolai began, giving you a sympathetic smile, “you did the right thing, you shouldn’t be punished for it. Sometimes running is the brave thing. Sometimes you have to walk out, have to give up. It doesn’t always feel right, but it’s braver in the grand scheme of it all to have cut your losses and started over fresh.” He said and then placed his hand on your shoulder, “I think you’re brave. Braver than me, even. I’m proud of you.” He said softly and then squeezed your shoulder.

You looked at your brother, surprised. You shook your head once and then you let out a sad laugh.

“Oh, Nikolai. I’ve missed you more than you will ever know.” You murmured and then rubbed your eyes.

You pulled your hands away from your eyes and it looked as if Nikolai was about to say something more, but Vasily’s loud voice stopped him.

“Why must you always play the diplomat, Nikolai?” Vasily asked, holding his wine glass close to his lips. He shot a look at you and then one at Alina, “Grisha dining beside true Ravkan soldiers is a bit too much for all of our stomachs.”

You made a disgusted face at Vasily and opened your mouth to protest, but you were stopped by Alina’s voice.

“We’re all Ravkan here.” She snapped

“Doesn’t have to be us versus them.” Nikolai added.

“Your bigotry is rather outdated, Vasily.” You chimed in, earning a look of disdain from your mother.

“General Kirigan should’ve thought of that before he tried to murder our father and stage a coup.” Vasily shot back and then gave you a nasty little smirk, “That said, absent their Darkling, the Grisha are rather easy to manage. Though, it seems our sister has become more difficult to manage in the lack of his presence. Why do you think that is?” He asked and kept his eyes on yours, accusingly.

“By “manage” do you mean “execute”, moi tsarevich?” Alina asked, sharply, and this seemed to be enough to draw your brother’s accusatory eyes away from yours.

“That fate is reserved for traitors to the Crown, Miss Starkov.” He answered and then looked back at you, lips curling upwards.

“If the Second Army requires a leader loyal to the Crown to assure their fealty, then I will lead them.” Alina said calmly, leaning over the table to look at Vasily.

Your oldest brother tore his gaze away from you and smiled at Alina. He laughed and took a long sip of his wine, glancing at your mother who was also giggling.

“Why should I believe you have any loyalty to my family? I hardly have any within it.” He remarked and eyed you and Nikolai amusedly.

Nikolai glanced at you for a second and then he looked at Alina. The two stared at each other for a moment and then Nikolai grabbed his wine glass and stood up.

For a split second, you thought he might leave the table. He began speaking instead.

“Today marks the start of a new era of cooperation between Lantsovs and the Grisha” he began and held his glass up in a toast, “I’m delighted to announce my engagement to Alina Starkov, the Sun Summoner and the new leader of the Second Army. Together we will build a better future for Ravka.” He finished. He shouted praise to Ravka in the native tongue and raised his glass higher before taking a sip and sitting back down.

You gaped up at your brother and blinked a few times. Vasily muttered something in your mother’s ear and you whipped around to look at them.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.” You snapped, staring at the two of them, “you’re no better than the rest of the gossipers in this country. You just sit on pretty chairs.” You hissed and then stood up.

You looked down at Nikolai and Alina and gave them a smile, “I’m happy for you both.” You said softly and then patted Nikolai’s shoulder before you pushed your chair in and left the dining hall.

You walked out into the hallway without looking back, but you heard heavy footsteps behind you. You didn’t turn around, and you wouldn’t have either, if your brother’s clammy hand didn’t clamp itself around your wrist. He yanked you backwards and you found yourself face to face with a seething Vasily.

“You wretched brat!” Vasily screamed. He lifted your wrist up and snatched the ring off of your middle finger and threw it down the hallway.

You gasped loudly and tried to yank your arm away from his grip, but to no avail.

“After all I have sacrificed for you-“

“Sacrificed for me? What have you sacrificed for me? You’ve sacrificed nothing of your own. You’ve sacrificed my reputation. My name. You’d sooner see me dragged through the mud before anyone blackens your name, Vasily.” You snapped back, reaching out to shove his chest as you yanked your wrist free of his grip.

“You selfish-“

“I’m allowed to be fucking selfish!” You exclaimed and balled your fists up, “After everything that’s happened to me, I’m allowed to look out for myself! I was married off with no say to someone wicked and I am now blamed for that! Once again, another example of how a man’s poor choice becomes my fault! Father chose the Darkling for me, and now he’s angry at me for it? Please. He’s pathetic. You’re pathetic.”

Vasily seemed shocked by your words and he struggled to form any of his own, it seemed. His brows furrowed together and he looked as if he might reach out and strangle you at any second before you heard Nikolai behind him.

“Vasily, I think it’s time to leave her alone and go back to the table.” Nikolai suggested, striding towards the two of you.

Vasily only seemed to grow angrier and before you knew it, he was lunging for you. You shrieked and jumped backwards and Nikolai jolted forward and grabbed Vasily by the arms, yanking him backwards.

“Enough! All three of you, enough!”

You all turned to see your father standing in the hallway with his hands on his hips and his brows furrowed angrily. Vasily shook himself free of Nikolai’s grip and he smoothed his hair back before going to join your father by his side.

“There are wars being waged out there! There are battles to be fought! That is to be expected, but I will not have my own children causing turmoil!” He bellowed, “All of you, get back in there and sit down. Pretend to like each other if you must, but behave! I’ll not have you bring more shame into this family.” He spat and then eyed you and Nikolai.

He turned around with Vasily and marched back into the dining hall. You inhaled deeply and turned around, scanning the hallway for your ring.

“Y/n…” Nikolai began as you dropped to your knees and began to search the floor for your wedding ring.

“Just go back to dinner, Nik. I’m going to my room.” You said with a small sigh as you continued to look for the little piece of jewelry.

“What are you looking for?” He asked, lowering himself down to the ground with you.

You let out a huff and turned your head around to face him.

“A ring.”

“Your wedding ring.” He corrected and you blinked a few times.

“I don’t think of it as a wedding ring.” You protested and continued crawling around the floor to find it.

“It’s okay to miss him, you know.” Nikolai said softly and you froze. You didn’t turn around.

“I don’t miss him.” You said flatly, but you knew it was a lie and so did Nikolai.

Nikolai moved towards you and placed his hand on your back gently, sighing.

“Y/n, it’s okay to miss him,” he repeated, hand still against your back, “he was your first real… suitor. I’m sure despite the arranged marriage aspect, you did come to love him, and that’s okay. You aren’t a monster for loving someone,”

He said softly and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you against his side, “our parents failed you, sister. Your husband failed you. This country failed you. You are young and you were taken advantage of in so many ways. Our parents took advantage of you, I’m sure the Darkling did as well. You can condemn what he’s done and not agree with what he believes and still miss him.” Your brother said softly.

You felt tears spring to your eyes and you leaned against his side, sniffling once.

“I feel so stupid, Nikolai,” you breathed and turned to look up at him, “I do miss him. I miss him dearly. I sometimes question whether or not I did the right thing when I ran. It’s so hard to accept that this is just how it is now. He said he loved me, Nikolai. He told me that he’d always protect me, and I believed him. I let him persuade me so many times with soft words and affectionate touches, I was weak. I was weak and now I’m paying for it.”

“You weren’t weak. You didn’t know better, little sister.” Nikolai whispered and then he pulled away from you. He stood up and walked down the hallway and crouched down.

He picked something up and came back to you, kneeling in front of you. He held your wedding ring out towards you and gave you a small smile.

“You did the right thing. You did the brave thing. Now let yourself grieve.” He said and you gently took the ring from his fingers.

You slipped it back on and Nikolai offered you his hand. You took it gratefully and he pulled you to your feet.

“Everything will turn out for the best, sister. I promise.” He said, giving you a kind smile.

You returned his smile briefly but then let the smile fade from your face.

Best for who?

The following weeks were hardly eventful and you found yourself bored in your so-called sanctuary. No one ever let you go far outside and when you did go outside- which was a rare occurrence- Nikolai or Alina and Mal accompanied you.

With little to do, you’d taken to following Nikolai around. Most days, he’d entertain you by telling you stories of his time at sea as the two of you wandered the halls of the old building you occupied.

Today, you hoped, wouldn’t be any different. You had risen from bed rather late in the morning and by the time you went to seek Nikolai out, he’d been gone for a while. You spent the morning in your room while you waited for Nikolai to return and you read through one of the three books you’d been able to pack up and bring. But you’d been at this now for hours, and you started to grow deathly bored of your own company.

With a long groan, you slowly rose from the bed and you shuffled out into the hallway. You heard people talking from further out in the hall and you made your way towards the voices curiously.

You rounded a corner and saw Alina, Mal, two other Grisha, a man in shackles, and Nikolai all standing together. You padded towards them all, catching the last words out of Nikolai’s mouth.

“He claims to have escaped from a very alive General Kirigan.” Nikolai said to Alina in a quiet voice.

Not quiet enough, you thought. Because the words still reached your ears.

“He gave himself up without a struggle. We found this on him.” Nikolai added and handed something to Alina, “He says it’s one of Morozova’s journals. I for one, am dying to know more, but he’s insisted he speak with you.”

You came closer and Nikolai caught sight of you and he let out a small sigh, slowly taking a step towards you.

“What’s happening?” You asked quietly, looking up at your brother.

Nikolai swept his arm out towards the group in front of you, and you glanced over at the man in shackles. You were instantly hit with recognition.

The man in shackles had ragged hair and he was dirty, but you knew him from anywhere. It was David Kostyk. The Durast that helped you escape from Aleksander.

You took a step forward but Nikolai grabbed your arm and shook his head, “No.” he said quietly.

David seemingly hadn’t noticed you yet and he stepped towards Alina, only to be stopped by one of the large Grisha you recognized as a boy named Tolya.

“Alina…” David began, “I know I wronged you. Please believe that I regret my role in that deeply. I know you have reason to distrust me, but I have no loyalty to General Kirigan.”

“He survived the Volcra?” Alina asked, almost shakily.

“I’m afraid so,” David began and then he shook his head, “He also knows that you survived and you’re in East Ravka.”

“Tell us where he is.” Mal demanded.

You moved to step forward again, but Nikolai stopped you once more and sent you a warning look.

“No, no, no. That would be a very bad idea.” David said, clearly afraid.

“You can’t expect us to trust you unless you’re willing to share information.” Alina piped up.

“Confronting him would be suicide. Kirigan used merzost to create something in the Fold. Creatures that do his bidding. The size of two men! Formed of pure shadow! They have no breath to take, no heart to stop, no blood to drain, yet they live. They live and they kill. They are nichevo'ya.” He said quietly.

Nothings. Your Ravkan was weak, but you understood what he said.

“Bullets, blades, fire, all simply pass through.” David breathed, “and they all walk freely in sunlight. I fear that merzost may be the only way to kill them.” David finished and then his eyes flickered over to you. You gave him a small smile.

A look of surprise and then terror washed over his face and he blinked a few times.

“So how did you manage to get away, then?” Mal asked.

David struggled to answer Mal and he let out a tired sigh, “Genya. We tried to escape together, but the nichevo'ya… She sacrificed herself to get me out. I don’t know if she survived.” David said, on the verge of tears.

You felt sadness for him and you gently grabbed Nikolai’s arm and looked up at him with a frown. He gave you a look of sympathy and then he let out a sigh, puffing his cheeks out.

“A smart spy will always play the victim.” Tolya pointed out.

“No, no.” David whispered desperately.

“You make a valid point, Tolya.” Nikolai said and you pulled on his arm, “As leader of the Second Army, Alina, this is your call.” He said slowly.

“I trust him. With my life.” You said quickly and suddenly all eyes were on you.

You felt a bit nervous and your brother gave you a sharp look but you let out a sigh and shook your head.

“I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for David. He helped me escape the Darkling.” You explained vaguely, looking over at the terrified Durast.

“Take him to a holding cell.” Alina finally said and you felt your face fall.

“Alina-“ you began, but Nikolai gently grabbed your arm and he shook his head.

“We can discuss this, but not here.” He said firmly, but the kindness in his voice never left.

You met his eyes and stared at him for a while before you finally nodded. You knew you’d be able to talk some kind of sense into Nikolai, and in turn, he’d likely be able to talk some into Alina. David wasn’t a bad person, you knew this wholeheartedly, and you also knew indefinitely that if he claimed to not be here on the Darkling’s orders, then he certainly wasn’t.

“We need a moment alone.” Mal piped up and you and your brother both turned to him.

Nikolai’s eyes flickered between Mal and Alina for a moment and then he nodded.

“Of course,” he said and offered his arm to you, “come, sister. You and I can also speak privately.” He remarked.

You gently took your brother’s arm and he led you down the hall towards his makeshift office. Once the two of you were securely inside, he closed the door and he looked down at you.

“Alright. Tell me everything you know about David Kostyk.” Nikolai said patiently and walked towards his desk. He sat down in the chair that was placed in front of the wooden desk and he folded his arms, looking up at you expectantly.

“David is a friend. He is the one that created the collar for Alina and he did put the amplifiers in both my husband and her, but you must understand, he had no choice. He regretted that choice. He’s the one that aided me in my escape. He came to the Darkling’s tent and he gave me a disguise and he let me run.” You explained and wrung your hands together.

Your brother seemed to consider this and then he gave you a little nod before he raised one eyebrow.

“You’ve never mentioned this before.” He stated and leaned forward a bit in his chair.

“I didn’t want it to get back to the Darkling. He would’ve hurt David.” You said and then walked to Nikolai’s desk. You laid your hands down against the desk’s cold, wooden surface, and you let out a sigh, “Look, if he’s alive like David says, then we need everyone we can get. He’ll come for Alina.”

Nikolai nodded once and then seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before speaking again.

“He’ll likely come for you, too, you know.” Your brother remarked and slowly rose from his chair.

“I disagree. I think he values Alina much more. I’m dead to him. He gave me an opportunity to join him and a promise that my life would be misery if I didn’t. He’s making good on the promise, reuniting with me would be nonsensical.” You reasoned.

Nikolai shrugged and dragged a hand through his blonde hair, “You aren’t in the clear just because you ran, y/n.” He mused and then stood up, “I’m going to have a word with Alina about Mr. Kostyk. Why don’t you wait here for me?”

He suggested.

You gave him a little nod and then you sat down in one of the armchairs near the desk.

“Can I see him? I consider him a friend, Nik.” You murmured softly, feeling sadness grow in the pit of your stomach at the thought of David in a cell.

“I… don’t see that being much of an issue eventually.” He answered and walked towards the door, patting your shoulder reassuringly as he passed you. He left the office and closed the door behind you, leaving you in the silence of the empty office.

Nearly an hour and half had gone by according to the clock that sat on Nikolai’s desk, and no one had come back to the office. At first you spent your time rifling through papers in Nikolai’s desk, but you found nothing of interest, so you’d sat back down in the uncomfortable armchair you had initially been in.

Now you sat, spinning your sparkling wedding ring around your middle finger. It was a band of thin rectangular diamonds framed in gold. It was missing one stone, and you assumed it had gotten lost when Vasily threw your ring across the hallway weeks ago. It wasn’t noticeable, though. You just wore the part with the missing stone on the back of your finger, hiding it from sight.

You pulled the piece of glimmering jewelry off of your middle finger and slipped it on your ring finger, holding your hand up in front of your face to see. It fit much better around your ring finger, as it was intended to spend the rest of its days upon that specific finger. While it fit on your middle finger, it was slightly too tight and oftentimes you had to slip it off in the mornings when your hands were swollen.

You admired the way the ring sparkled in the sunlight that filtered through the window and you smiled just a bit, wiggling your finger.

Just then, the door swung open and you lowered your hand quickly before turning around to see Nikolai standing in the doorway.

“I didn’t mean for that to take so long, my apologies, little sister.” He hummed and then let out a little laugh, “you could’ve left, you know.” He remarked.

You rose from the uncomfortable armchair and walked over to your older brother, shaking your head.

“Punctuality was never your strong suit.” You replied and smiled up at him.

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t give you a time frame.” He quipped and then he smiled down at you, “Alina spoke to David. She’s deemed him trustworthy enough, which is good. If you still wish to speak with him still, I can take you to him.” Nikolai offered.

You nodded vigorously at his offer and you gave him a small smile, “I’d really like that.”

Nikolai swept his arm towards the door and motioned for you to exit his office and you did so with a certain excitement. He led the way downstairs and through a few winding halls before he pushed open a door and stepped inside with you.

You hadn’t been in this area before, and it was apparent why. The walls were shabby and there was dust everywhere, settling over everything. Nikolai walked towards a row of doors down a hallway that was in the same condition and he unlocked one and opened it up.

As the door swung open, you shuffled into the doorway to be met with the disheveled face of David Kostyk inside. His eyes lit up when he saw you and you slowly turned around to look at Nikolai who stood behind you protectively.

“Nik, can we have a moment?” You asked softly and turned around to look up at your brother.

He looked into the makeshift cell for a moment and then studied David and gave you a short nod.

“Okay. I’m not leaving this wing though.”

You nodded and watched as he made his way back down the hall before you walked inside of the cell and gave David a little smile.

The Durast gave you a small, awkward wave due to the shackles on his wrists that held his hands apart and he seemed to relax tenfold.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he began, taking a step towards you, “I kind of hoped you would’ve ran somewhere besides Ravka.” He confessed and let out a very small laugh.

“I didn’t really know where else to go.” You admitted and then shook your head, “But it’s really, really great to see you, David. I was worried that perhaps something happened to you. Or that you’d given your loyalty to the Darkling. Neither were necessarily preferable.” You said with a slight shake of your head.

You turned around and slowly pushed the door closed so that it was only open about an inch and you turned back to David, letting out a quiet sigh.

“He lives?” You asked, voice barely above a whisper.

David eyed you with trepidation and finally nodded just once.

“He does.” He confirmed, his lips tugging themselves downwards into a frown.

“I don’t understand how that’s possible, Alina told me he was swarmed by volcra.” You folded your arms over your chest and looked up at David.

David was never an overly confident presenting man to begin with, always holding himself with gracelessness and awkwardness, but he seemed smaller than usual now. He seemed almost fragile. He seemed much less awkward and instead afraid. He seemed to shrink back a bit at the topic and he pursed his lips and looked down into your eyes.

“He used very dark forces to keep himself alive.” He said slowly, eyes shifting away from yours, “I really wish you would’ve run away. Out of Ravka, y/n. There isn’t a safe place in this country. Not anymore.”

You kept your eyes on his face and you shook your head a couple of times, “I couldn’t abandon my family, David-“

“He’s not going to stop until he finds you.” He interjected sharply and then looked up at you with furrowed brows, “You were practically all he spoke about. If he wasn’t rambling on about his nichevo'ya or Alina, he was talking about you. He’s completely obsessed.”

You blinked a few times and then shook your head, as if that would make what he said less true.

“Let him obsess over finding me and delivering punishment for my ‘transgressions’ against him. It doesn’t mean he will.” You said in a small voice. You were unsure if you believed it, though.

“No, it was nothing like that. He’s reached a state of limerence, Princess. It’s a madness that I never thought I’d see in him. He has himself convinced fully that he’s going to rescue you from your family and put you on a throne next to himself. He still wears his wedding ring.” David explained, leaning his back up against the wall behind him.

Your ring seemed to burn through your skin when you heard this, and you realized you’d not moved it back onto your middle finger. Slowly, you clasped your hands behind your back, wanting to keep your hand out of sight now.

“I don’t understand,” you whispered, “he said that if I didn’t take his side that I’d be a traitor.”

David seemed to hesitate as he looked up at you and he pressed his lips together until there was no trace of them on his face. He finally swore under his breath and fidgeted with his fingers.

“I think that at one point, he loved you. But I think that love became… an obsession. Something he clung to in a way that simply cannot be healthy.” He said slowly, tapping on the wood that held his hands apart.

You could tell this conversation was making him uncomfortable and you felt a bit guilty for bringing it up.

“What does that mean, David?” You asked, despite a little voice in the back of your head telling you to drop it.

“I think it means that you need to get out of Ravka before he comes searching,” he paused for a moment and then shook his head, “because I worry that if he does find you again, you won’t be able to say no to him.” He said reluctantly.

You narrowed your eyes at David and you shook your head, “I’m very capable of resisting him. I ran from him once, I could do it again.”

David very slowly shook his head and he nodded towards you, swallowing one time, nervously.

“You still wear your ring, too.”

“Not because-“

“You don’t have to rationalize it to me, Princess. No one could blame you for missing the man you married. You relied upon him for comfort and protection for a while. You two had a very strange and unique bond. I’m sure that hasn’t been forgotten by you. While I don’t doubt your capabilities, Princess, I can’t in good conscience undermine his ability to crawl underneath your skin.” David stated in a shaky voice, as if he were afraid of your reaction.

He had a point, and you couldn’t deny that. Many times he’d found a way to make you give in to him, always knowing what would make you soften. He always used kind words and gentle touches to persuade you to see things from his perspective, always saying just what you wanted to hear from him. He would promise you he loved you, assure you that you were safe with him, he’d give you the affection and adoration you had sought after, and time after time, it proved effective.

He was a master of manipulation, you knew it. Everyone did.

Your eyes flickered to David and he gave you a sympathetic look, chewing on the inside of his cheek anxiously.

“I will not let him.” You finally answered, eyeing David with the same trepidation he had looked at you with earlier.

David shrugged slightly and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

“I’m not sure you’ll have a choice if he finds you.” He mumbled and then he looked around the room, avoiding your eyes, and just like that, you realized you’d lost another friend.

Your nose twitched and you realized that you’d really lost everyone. Your mother, your father, Vasily- even if he was truly insufferable. You’d lost your country’s favor, you were sure to lose Nikolai at this rate, and you seemingly already had lost David.

You lost Aleksander, too.

The thought hit you out of nowhere and you almost jumped by the way it had startled you.

Everything he had said would happen if you didn’t take his side, was happening, and you weren’t too sure how to handle it.

On one hand, you wanted to let it all roll right off your shoulder, to come off as unbothered and in control. On the other hand, though, you wanted to lash out and condemn everyone who had turned their back on you just because of him.

But the truth was, you weren’t in control, and you weren’t unbothered. Everyday became more difficult and everyday brought more accusatory stares. Some from Grisha, some from Mal Oretsev, most from your parents and Vasily, and some from a few of the First Army soldiers that came in and out. Now, you felt the same stare from David as he watched you from where he stood against the wall.

It was almost as if he was hearing you work all of this out in your head. You didn’t think he’d ever say it but you wondered if he was thinking “I told you so”.

What was the point of trying to prove everyone wrong when even the truth of the matter wouldn’t sway their convictions? Your case fell on a faulty jury, your judgment was passed by a thousand unjust judges.

Your truth wasn’t the truth they had decided on for you, and to them, it was just a story. A way to save face.

It didn’t matter what you said now, didn’t matter who you swore allegiance to. You were whatever they made you, and they made you more and more a villain everyday. No amount of reassurances and support from Nikolai could erase that.

The realization that your reputation was now as tainted as your husband’s made your eyebrows knit together in frustration. You slowly lifted your eyes up to David and you gave him a disparaging frown.

“I best be going.” You mumbled, not waiting for a farewell from the boy.

You turned on your heel and marched out of the cell, closing the door behind you with a force you didn’t fully intend on. You squared your shoulders and made your way back to the hallway where Nikolai stood and he gave you a small smile when he saw you.

“That was a little bit more brief than I expected.” Nikolai noted, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets.

“I heard all I needed to hear.” You replied, shortly.

“I take it by your tone that it wasn’t exactly what you wanted to hear.” He prodded, taking a step towards you.

You shrugged complacently.

“It never is.”

#grishaverse #shadow and bone imagine #shadow and bone #aleksander morozova imagine #aleksander morozova #aleksander morozova x reader #the darkling imagine #the darkling x you #the darkling imagine #the darkling #the darkling x reader #general kirigan imagine #general kirigan x reader #general kirigan #ben barnes x reader #ben barnes imagine

134 notes · View notes