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andiinaraethtash · 1 year

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Chapter 21: The Mountains I Knew So Well Burned with Hellfire in the Blue Light of Midnight

Summary:

It seems every two weeks is my new update schedule. It might be more often headed into the holidays, it might be less. I guess we'll see. TW: Blood, gore, violence. This is it, people. The final chapter of the climactic battle. Chapter title from Brother by Madds Buckley

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Before Aeor appeared, Scott had been ready to collapse. He’d poured his all into trying to take down Exor, using up all his energy. He’d been sore, aching, and exhausted.

The moment Aeor explodes into being, his strength suddenly returns, and while he knows it’s just a bandage on a much larger problem, he also knows he’s now got what he needs to stand up to Exor.

Jimmy suddenly appears by his side, Lizzie and Joel not far behind him, and Scott gives him a once-over to confirm that he’s okay—he’d been knocked back over the other side of the cliffs the Forge and Manor stood on, shortly before Exor had appeared—but there's nothing obviously broken or bleeding, so he takes Jimmy’s nod of greeting and turns his attention back to the twin gods.

Aeor spreads his hands and looks almost pleadingly at his brother. “Exor. Please, stop this. You know as well as I that destroying this realm isn’t going to bring you any joy or fulfilment. All it will do is make the void inside you grow.”

Exor bares his teeth. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I know it will be infinitely more satisfying to squash your champion and his so-called friends than to retreat.”

Aeor’s expression shutters closed. “Very well. But remember, I offered you a way out.”

“That’s the difference between us, brother dearest. I don’t offer mercy. I have no such weakness.”

Scott steps forward, summoning an ice pillar so he can reach level with the stag gods. “We’ll be with you, Aeor. Whatever you need, ask.”

Aeor nods. “I need you with me. The others…”

“Oh, don’t worry about them,” Exor interrupts . “I’ll keep them occupied.” With that, he waves a hand, and the ground is suddenly covered in a dark, thick fog, from which multiple undead creatures start emerging.

Scott swears quietly and turns to look down at Jimmy, who nods and waves Joel and Lizzie forward. Together, the three of them dive into the darkness below, planting torches in the ground to light up a section to use as a starting point.

The light attracts a good deal of the undead, and Scott sees out of the corner of his eye that Pearl and Joey have joined the other three in fending off the hordes. The rest, though, the rest of the undead split into two groups. One goes toward the farmhouse, where Pix, Shrub, and the villagers should be, and the other heads toward a small outcropping of rock, where Scott can vaguely see Gem standing over a prone figure, brandishing sword and staff fiercely.

A chill of fear runs through Scott’s spine as Sausage and Katherine fly past, headed toward Gem, and he does the maths on who is missing. Oh gods. If Exor’s here, then fWhip…

Oh, poor fWhip. Aeor only knows what the possession has done to him, not to mention the fact that Gem and Pearl had seemed convinced that Exor had crushed his mind, if not his very soul, out of existence.

Rage suddenly flares in Scott’s heart, and he summons more ice as he draws his sword again. “Ready when you are,” He calls over his shoulder to his patron god, and Aeor summons a larger, more icy version of Scott’s own sword.

Without another word, they engage.

_______

Shrub’s wolves are fighting when they emerge from the tunnel, and Shrub has never been more thankful for Pix’s ability to think ahead, because the only thing keeping the villagers from being slaughtered immediately is the formation they’re in. The men on the outside of the impromptu caravan don’t all have proper weapons, but they’ve made up for it by improvising and fighting ferociously with what they could get their hands on. The women join in, too, and Shrub has a split second to smile at the spirit of these people before the Mother Wolf is nudging her, she’s mounting, and they’re charging into battle.

There are so many zombies, and skeletons, and creepers, so, so many creepers. She can’t turn without nearly being blown sky high. The only thing saving her is the Mother Wolf’s quick reflexes and her own shield, which is slowly being reduced to splinters.

Pix is a maniac next to her, summoning bolt after bolt of lightning, but it’s not doing much. In fact, it’s almost making things worse, because he’s charging the creepers, making their explosions do much more damage. Shrub has to duck behind her shield as one explodes next to the house, throwing shrapnel every which way. As soon as it’s safe, she straightens, and calls over her shoulder, “Pix, I don’t think the lightning’s a good idea!”

“Duly noted,” Pix calls back, jumping to a moustached man’s defence as he tries to get the children and the injured farther south, away from the majority of the fighting. “But do you any better ideas?”

Shrub wants to say that she does, that she has a brilliant plan that will get them all out of this unscathed—or, at least, not any more scathed than they are now—but she doesn’t. She has no clue how they’re going to get out of this mess. She wants to suggest they just book it across the plains to the Undergrove or the Lost Empire, but the plains are so fractured, so broken, that she knows they won’t be able to cross on foot.

The plan had been to hide at fWhip’s farmhouse as long as possible and make their way to safety when the battle was over, but with the horde of the undead encroaching on the supposedly safe place, that plan is out the window. They just can’t stay. It’d be suicide.

She turns abruptly when a cry rings out from the direction of the villagers taking a stand, but they don’t seem hurt. Instead, they’re pointing up at the sky, looking amazed. Shrub follows their gaze, and immediately grins in relief. This… this changes everything.

_______

Katherine would love to say she’s got a cool head on her shoulders, but in all honesty, she’s freaking out, exhausted, and about ready to cry. She’s also scared, so scared her hands are shaking and she’s having to repeatedly tell herself that it’s the adrenaline instead of the abject terror of having two gods clashing in the background as she and Sausage land next to Gem.

There are hordes of undead stumbling and crawling toward them, but Katherine’s attention is focused mainly on the bleeding form of fWhip, lying at Gem’s feet. Sausage had stammered something of an explanation of fWhip being hurt, but she hadn’t been prepared for this.

There’s just a stump where his left arm is supposed to be, but the severed arm is only a foot or two away, fWhip’s sword still grasped in its fist. fWhip himself is pale, barely breathing, and bleeding, his shoulder weeping, gushing blood.

Katherine immediately falls to her knees next to him, splashing regen potion after healing potion after regen potion to try to encourage healing and replace the lost blood, but the wound is stubborn, unsure as to whether or not to heal or try to regenerate the limb (not that that would work, nor would trying to reattach the limb through magic. Both have been tried, neither to any success). Bandages in hand, she starts trying to wrap the wound, but gets interrupted by an arrow to the back.

She screams. Gem is there almost instantly, asking if she’s okay and if she should remove the arrow. Katherine manages a nod, and clenches her teeth to contain the scream this time. She downs a potion in record time, hands Gem some bandages, and tells her to pack the wound as best she can. While she does that, Katherine goes to turn back to her patient, but is interrupted by the hiss of a creeper.

She manages to get her shield up in time, twisting to get behind the protection it offers, but it’s a close thing, and the blast disorrients her badly.

When she opens her eyes, she’s startled to find a black snout in her face. She yelps, scrambles back a bit, then realises she knows this dog. “Koda,” she whispers, feeling the strangest bit of deja vu she’s ever had.

Remembering that Koda never goes far from Nova, she whips her head around, looking for the younger dog, and finds her nosing fWhip’s still body. She’s whining pathetically, nudging fWhip like she’s telling him to stop playing dead and get up, tell her she’s a good girl, show any sign of life.

But he doesn’t. He just lays there, and Nova lays down next to him, her breathy whines coming out more and more like mournful howls.

Katherine swallows hard. No. No, fWhip’s not dead yet, and he won’t die anytime soon if she has anything to say about it. She grabs her bandages, and gets to work, while around her, the battle rages on.

_______

For the next several minutes—possibly hours, time seems meaningless—there is only chaos, and ice and flame meeting and melting each other in bright, terrible beams. There is black blood, and gold ichor, and the crimson from Scott’s own wounds, and there is pain as he takes blow after blow and keeps standing.

He’s summoning ice platforms to give him vantage points against the giant being, and hacking and slashing at Exor’s armour as he tries to find weak points, and diving out of the way on wings that melt every time he gets too close to Exor, and freeze over again painfully when he retreats. There’s no time for thought, he finds, only action and reaction, and somehow he’s not dying despite Exor’s many, many, many lethal blows. Aeor is probably keeping him alive, but he’s not doing anything for the pain.

He almost wishes he would let him die, if only so he could respawn and be healed.

Around them, the Grimlands are writhing and shattering under the force of the two gods’ blows, fire and frost ravaging the land, and Scott can only hope that this destruction is staying contained, but deep down, he knows it’s not. He can feel his land bond quivering and shaking as the destruction spreads to Rivendell. This needs to end, and soon.

Finally, Scott finds a weak point, a buckle in the armour made of leather that shatters when he freezes then stabs it. As Exor’s armour slips, Aeor lunges forward, stabbing his brother in the shoulder where his flesh is revealed.

Exor roars, and flames explode outward, roasting almost everything for miles. Eastvale is alight, flames dancing menacingly in the darkness, and Scott sees more than hears the others starting to panic. There may be no one in there, there’s no screams arising from the streets, but it still symbolises something personal to most, if not all, of them. Even Scott, who isn’t as close to fWhip as some of the others, feels the beginings of desperate terror start rising in his chest. This is—this is—

“Enough, brother!” Aeor yells, sweeping a hand and dousing the flames in the city, but leaving the plains to burn. “You have gone too far. There is a reason taking on a second champion while the first still lives is forbidden.”

“You think I care? How cute. Unfortunately, brother, my conscience died when you locked me away in that pit.”

Aeor bares his teeth. “It was necessary. You would have burned the world to the ground.”

“Correction: I’m going to burn the world to the ground.” Exor matches Aeor’s expression perfectly. “And there’s nothing you can do to—”

He’s cut off by the most glorious pair of fireballs Scott has ever seen, launched from two ivory and purple dragons that Scott has seen before, but never interacted with. They alight on Aeor’s shoulders, slipping a bit as they struggle for purchase.

From the dragon on Exor’s left shoulder, a familiar figure drops down, and Scott grins. Oh, Exor’s going to get it now.

“You hurt my brother,” Gem says, standing tall and regal next to him. “For that, I’m going to personally see to it that you die.”

Exor laughs. “Try it, wizard.”

Gem gathers a fireball on the end of her staff, yells, “Fire!” and releases it. At the same time, the dragons obey, as does a third one that Scott hadn’t seen coming in from the south. Perched on the third one’s back are Pix and Shrub, looking much less worn down than Scott would have imagined given that they’d been faced with an undead mob earlier.

The third dragon’s fireball catches Exor off guard, as do the bolts of lightning that follow. Pix and Lizzzie both fly to stand next to Scott, followed by Shrub, Joey, Pearl, Joel, and Jimmy. Scott lets Jimmy step forward, but stays right behind him as he speaks.

“You think you can beat us all, Exor? You forget who you’re fighting against.”

If Scott didn’t know any better, he’d say that Exor looked almost afraid for a moment, but that moment passes quickly, and Exor is spreading his hands to make the fog he’d summoned earlier thicken again. As more creatures crawl out of it, they all exchange nods and spilt off.

Pearl, Joey, Pix, Joel, and Shrub dive down to deal with the new army of undead, while Scott, Jimmy, Gem, and Lizzie take to the sky, circling Exor as Aeor crosses blades with him once again. The dragons also take off, taking potshots at the giant corrupted god. They all do their best to distract him, narrowly avoiding his flailing attempts to knock them out of the sky, but Exor’s getting closer and closer every time, and Scott knows sooner or later they’re going to get unlucky.

Sure enough, as Scott dives to avoid Exor’s blade, he hears Lizzie scream for Jimmy, and he whips his head around to see Jimmy plummeting to the ground, and he screams to match her only to get knocked out of the sky himself.

He lands in a dizzyingly painful heap next to Jimmy, who looks up at him, vaguely confused, before looking back at the spike protruding from his leg. Scott blanches at the sight, then from the nausea as he tries to push himself to his feet.

“Pix! Pix!” He screams over his shoulder, because Katherine isn’t anywhere nearby, and suddenly the prophet is there, and Scott has a millisecond to wonder how he’d even heard him over the rolling thunder, the groans of the undead, and the explosions of ice and fire above them, before he’s being thrust out of the way and Pix is splashing a regen potion on Jimmy’s leg even as he heaves it off the spike. It makes a sickening sound as Pix sets the bone, but it’s already mending itself, albeit slowly.

Scott takes a second to breathe, only for him to nearly be stepped on. Looking up, he sees Aeor stumble and fall to one knee, and Scott takes off, landing close enough that they can hear each other as Gem and her dragons rain fire down on Exor.

“This can’t keep going,” Aeor breathes, looking apologetically at Scott, and Scott suddenly knows what he has to do. To protect his friends, he has to make sure Exor can never come back. And the only way he can do that is to die.

Reluctantly, he pulls out the Rune Blade, and gives one last longing look to Jimmy below him, who is starting to sit up, looking much more lucid. I’m sorry, he thinks, and braces himself for pain. He sets the blade against his chest, ready to take the plunge, and he hears Gem and Pearl scream his name. He closes his eyes. I’m willing to die, if it means my friends will live.

A hand lands on his shoulder, and Scott opens his eyes, only to be shocked when he sees a familiar face in front of him, on his level.

“No,” Aeor says. He still towers over Scott, but only in as much as Lizzie does. “Losing you would do nothing but sever one of his tethers to this mortal realm. It cannot be you.”

“Then who?” He murmurs, aware of Exor shrinking to a similar height even as he hurries forward. Apparently he can tell something’s up.

Aeor smiles. On anyone else, it might look warm, but it just ends up looking cool and distant—haughty, almost—on Aeor’s face. “Me.”

Scott gapes, and his grip on the sword loosens enough that Aeor takes it from him without resistance. He tries to protest, to take it back, to stop him, because what will happen to the world if Aeor dies? Will it collapse? Will it be overrun by chaos if he’s not there to rein it in? Yes, he knows that if Aeor dies it will most likely kill Exor as well, so they won’t have to worry about him, but without those two to balance each other out, what will happen? Will nature just… die?

He hopes not.

His fears must be evident on his face, because Aeor adds, “This won’t kill us. Just drive us to the point of barely existing.”

That doesn’t seem much better, but Scott finds himself nodding and taking a step back, and just as Exor finally closes the distance, Aeor closes his eyes, braces himself… then snaps his eyes open and flips the blade to point to the god running his way, impaling Exor on the Rune Blade.

Exor gasps, and as the other rulers, Jimmy and Pix included, land next to Scott on the burning plains, Scott turns away, not wanting to watch as Exor dies. He hears Aeor whispering apologies to his dying brother, but he doesn’t want to think about it too hard.

Still, the traitorous part of his brain has to whisper doubts. If Aeor can forgive Exor, why can't you forgive Xornoth? Exor did all those things of his own accord, Xornoth was manipulated—

He tries to silence it, to cut through it with logical statements of, so Exor claims, we can’t trust that he was telling the truth, and even if he was being manipulated, he’s still evil now. Just accept that he’s gone, and you’ll never get this kind of closure.

Jimmy and Gem both steady him as he bows his head, both watching the scene that Scott has pointedly turned his back on. He may not be watching, but he knows the moment Exor passes, as the tentacles of corruption that had been riddling the landscape all disintegrate, and there’s a great sigh in the wind, like nature itself is relieved. He clenches his fists, because they may have won, but Scott still feels like he lost. Probably because it seems like no matter what, he and his patron god are just destined to lose their brothers.

“Scott,” Aeor says from behind him, and Scott immediately turns.

Exor’s body is gone, leaving only a pile of ash behind, but even that is slowly being taken away by the breeze. Off to the east, the sun is beginning to rise, and in the pale, washed-out light, Aeor looks a lot weaker. Probably because of the slowly opening wound on his chest.

Scott hurries forward, distantly aware that the others are hanging back, except Gem and Pix, who take off toward Katherine, Sausage, and fWhip’s last known location, with one of the dragons following.

Aeor is definitely weakening, Scott realises. His voice as he speaks doesn’t tremble, but it is brittle and weak like thin ice. “I am truly sorry for how our feud has torn your family and friends apart. I hope to do what I can before I go to put things to right… but I’ll need your strength.”

Scott nods. “Whatever you need.”

He helps Aeor to his feet, and lets the deer god use him as a crutch as they stumble toward a small rise in the land, where Aeor stops and sighs. “I had hoped to see Rivendell one last time before I go,” he says solemnly, “but I suppose that is not meant to be. Still,” he braces himself, planting a hand on Scott’s shoulder and digging his fingers in hard enough to make Scott wince. “I can do this last thing.”

He sweeps his hand over the plains, and Scott watches in amazement as the land knits itself back together, the ravines vanishing and the red and black fogs clearing, dispersed by a cold wind that issues up from the south, from Rivendell. He can even feel Rivendell itself being repaired, the rightness of it acting as a balm to his soul.

Aeor seems to lose the ability to keep himself upright, then, because he goes down again, this time to both knees. Still, he smiles that glacial, sharp grin that makes Scott think of a different elf, a magenta-haired youth whose face has become blurry in his memory. “Thank you, Scott. For all you have done in my name. Never forget what you were willing to do. It is what any ruler must be ready to do for their people… and any man for his friends.”

Scott nods mutely as Aeor collapses completely, body turning to flakes of ice that are carried off by the wind as well, and Scott finds himself warmed by the fact that at least in death, the brothers are together.

His vision blurs, and he tries to lift an arm to wipe his eyes, thinking he’s starting to cry, but finds his body won’t respond. He’s suddenly struck by the fact that he’s boiling, like his blood is doing its best to turn to steam and cook him from the inside out. He trembles. It hurts, it hurts so badly and he wants to—he needs to—

Before he knows it he’s on the ground, his vision still foggy, but he’s able to make out his friends’ cries through the static that has overtaken his hearing. They sound worried, scared, even, and he wonders why. They won. He can rest easy. They won.

With that thought, he closes his eyes, and lets go.

Notes:

#empires smp #empiresblr #fanfiction #chapter twenty-one #tw: violence #tw: blood

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shutteredislands · 3 years

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REYLO MODERN AU FIC RECS

Hi!! I spent my entire winter break reading reylo fics and I feel like I’ve found some gems! I’m boring and don’t like angst, so most of these are pretty fluffy, however, always read the tags before reading. Anyways, happy reading!

Already Home - College, Roommates, A/B/O, Soulmates AU - Complete - Rated E - 79k

“Oh stop being all Alpha-y.” She flexes her foot, rolling her ankle as if to prove a point, and he doesn’t miss the wince that crosses her expression. “You aren’t my Alpha, and you definitely aren't my soulmate,” she mutters.

He can’t help but let out a dry laugh. “Thank god for small mercies.”

Okay so this is a trope fest but it was so good! I’m not gonna explain the plot in depth because I think going in blind is best for this!

Baby, It's Just Biology - Professor/Student, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 113k

For Rey Jackson, trying to finish your degree in Biomedical Science at Harvard is difficult enough when you're one of the few Omegas on campus.

It's made even more difficult when your Professor is the one to trigger your heat. You can't help it, it's just your biology.

An Alpha Omega love story.

This is the perfect balance of angst, fluff and pure smut. This one Is a lot angstier than anything else on this list, but you can see every stage of this relationship and I loved it so much! Please read the tags on this one!

I’ve got you (under my skin) - Nanny/Single Parent AU - On Hiatus - Rated E - 81k

“Hi, I’m Rey. I’m here for the—”

“Nanny,” Ben blurts out dazedly, still trying to remember how to form coherent thoughts. “You’re the nanny.”

Her smile hitches up a little wider. “Well, I might be.”

Suddenly, Ben thinks he might be in for a whole new world of problems.

Because Rey Johnson is still most likely the only thing standing between him and disaster, that much hasn’t changed, not by a long shot.

And Ben can’t seem to stop staring at her mouth.

In which Ben hires Rey to watch his son... but he can’t seem to stop watching her.

Okay so I almost never read WIPs, but this one was left off in a pretty good place so don’t worry about cliffhangers or anything. I am a sucker for single dad!Ben so expect more of these. I loved this fic so much and get ready for a SMUTFEST.

Light My Fire - Rivals to Lovers, College, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 20k

When rivals Ben and Rey break into a professor's office together, it comes out that Rey might not be the Beta she thinks she is.

I’ve never been the biggest reader of enemies to lovers, until this. This was so so so good! I loved their banter so much, and this is another smutfest lol.

Peacock - Fake Dating, Enemies to Lovers, Neighbors AU - Complete - Rated E - 72k

Thanks to a series of misunderstandings, failed attempts at flirting, and loud Katy Perry music, Ben grows to hate his new neighbor.

Proposing to her wasn't the best solution to his problems.

This is, hands down, one of the funniest fics I have ever read. I cried actual tears because of how funny this is. Slowish burn, but their banter will keep you engaged the whole time. I love this so much!!

An Unexpected Vacation - Scientist, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 62k

“You don’t care that someone, that people will watch you fuck?” He looks two seconds away from puking. “Like multiple, multiple people will be able to describe your vagina. They’ll probably analyze it in a boardroom. Someone will feel proud about a shitty PowerPoint full of annotated pictures. They will use words like ‘arousal fluid’ and consult charts and these things will never not be digitally saved. That doesn’t bother you?”

“Are you suggesting my vagina is unworthy of analysis?”

In which Rey attempts to bolster her bank account by volunteering to fuck an Alpha in a scientific study. Plans go pear-shaped when she accidentally triggers scientist!Ben’s first Rut.

This was a really funny smutfest and I loved that. I loved Rey and Ben so much, and Ben was the perfect “I hate everyone but you” boyfriend! I love this!

She Doesn’t Normally Bite - Single Parent/Teacher AU - WIP - Rated E - 37k

Ben Solo is a single dad to 6-year old Ellis. Her teacher isn't the old-cat lady that he expects and naturally, sparks fly when they meet. Rey helps show Ben that he is allowed to be happy and the romance is DELICIOUS. There will be the happy ending we all deserve.

Both Ben and Rey have a lot to navigate, and of course - things are never straight forward.

Tw: Bens wife died when their daughter was born - whilst it is mentioned periodically, it does not form a significant part of the story. There'll also be warnings in the notes for the particular chapters it'll be mentioned in.

THIS THE ONLY WIP I WILLL EVER READ REY AND BEN ARE SO FREAKING CUTE AND ELLIS IS SUCH A CUTE KID AHHHHHHH! That is all.

Down an Inch, Up an Inch - A/B/O, Soulmates, Gym Rats AU - Complete - Rated E - 60k

Omega instructor Rey has always been the master of her domain at Rebel Belle Barre and wouldn't dream of dating an Alpha.

When her new neighbors at Supremacy Bootcamp start ruining her classes with their terrible music, she storms over to give them a piece of her mind. She challenges the beefy ex-Marine owner Ben Solo to a plank-off and the loser has to take the other's class. When they spark an unusual connection, can Rey stay away for long?

Has she bitten off more than she can chew with the gentle giant Alpha with the warm, sad eyes?

SMUT FREAKING FESTTTTT. Okay but I loved these two so much, even though I am opposed to working out in any shape or form! I love the non-traditional soulmate part, and I really loved Rey in this.

Tea for Two - Enemies to Lovers, University Setting AU - Complete - Rated E - 67k

'"This is a tea house, you know." The plummy, ultra-posh voice startled Rey Kenobi from her day-dreaming, almost spilling the scalding hot coffee over her chest.'

Rey, an American former hacker, turned cyber security expert, has been commissioned by Oxford University to protect their systems from hackers. Unfortunately, she has to work closely with Professor Ben Solo, Merton Professor of English Literature who also happens to be Lord Ben Solo, member of the English peerage. And an unmitigated snob.

She drinks coffee. He drinks tea. He only reads classic literature. She reads Marvel comics. He is nobility. She is a nobody.

Things should go swimmingly, shouldn't it?

SO. MUCH. UNRESOLVED. SEXUAL. TENSION. I loved the slow burn aspect because I sat in bed because I was waiting for them to bone for so long. And after they bone its a smut and fluff-fest I loved this so much!

And They Were Roommates - Roommates, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 49k

“This isn’t going to work.” He points a finger between the two of them. “This arrangement.”

Her eyes narrow. “You didn’t put any specifications on who could apply.”

“Yeah…” He rubs the back of his neck then, the action making it look longer, making her wonder what it might feel like under her fingers. “You have to know that this isn’t a good idea.”

She knows what he means, she does—but she’s so tired of being brushed aside for her designation that she challenges him anyway. “And why not?”

His eyes bore into hers, his expression blank as he says, “Because I can tell how much scent-block you put on—and I can still smell you.”

In which Rey’s new roommate turns out to be a lot more than she bargained for.

EVEN. MORE. UNRESOLVED. SEXUAL. TENSION. Like these two would be eating cereal and I would be chanting, “bone! bone! bone!” the whole time. I loved these two, and the family aspect of this one was so good.

Imprints - A/B/O, Boss/Employee AU - Complete - Rated E - 74k

“I was happy you’ll be working with someone you know. He’ll take good care of you.”

Take good care of you.

The words send a shiver down her spine, sparking memories that flood her with embarrassment. She feels a strange itch just below her ear, her gland giving a phantom pulse as if her body remembers the incident even still.

Suddenly her triumph fades into dread, the idea of working here leaving a hollow pit in her stomach. Poe is still talking, but she doesn’t hear most of it. Her mind is firmly trapped in the vivid memories of six years ago— in a moment she wishes she could forget.

By the time she hangs up the phone— she isn’t sure anymore if she can do this.

Okay so this is pretty popular so I wont say too much, but it lives up to the hype. Smutfest, fluff and angst rolled into one beautiful fic!

Bespoke - Enemies to Lovers, Boss/Employee (?) AU - Complete - Rated E - 38k

When new stylist Rey Jackson receives a request to dress the hottest (and most unfashionable) new actor in Hollywood, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.

Mentally AND physically.

Because Ben Solo is freaking massive.

THIS WAS SO HOT OMG! Smutfest but also super cute. Another “I hate everyone but you” version of Ben I fell in love with. Loved this!

Incognito - Coworkers AU - Complete - Rated E - 30k

“Somehow Rey’s coworkers find out about her Daddy kink. They all kink shame her for it, except her coworker Ben. He has something else in mind.”

This was so funny! Ben and Rey were so cute, and I love Finn and Rose in this too! This was great!

A Home For Christmas - Single Parent, Sugar Daddy AU - Complete - Rated E - 109k

Rey is a struggling single mother who needs to do right by her daughter, even if it means she needs to steal. Ben is sad and lonely, recently divorced for the second time. When Rey's daughter picks him to help her find her mom, their paths cross and their Christmas becomes a little more bright.

This was so freaking cute OMG!! I know I say that a lot, but this was so adorable! I loved Ben and Rey so much, but Nova was obviously the star of the show. I cannot recommend this enough!

Unsuppressed - Office, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 49k

Rey had only ever encountered two Alphas in her entire life that had been unsuppressed. And now this third one that stunk up the entire building. Not that it stunk, his scent. In fact, it was the most delicious thing Rey had ever smelled. ///////////////////////////////////// Ben Solo closed his eyes as he rode down the elevator from the 40th floor to the lobby, trying not to reach up to his glands to scratch them. Somehow, it felt like he always caught the elevator that was dripping in the Omega’s scent. The one that wandered around the building without any suppressants. The one that smelled better than any Omega he had ever smelled before.

STRAIGHT FLUFF AND SMUT OMFG!!! I loved this so freaking much! This was whatever the opposite of unresolved sexual tension and slow burn. Like Ben and Rey tried to make this a slow burn but they could not keep their hands off of each other. I loved this!

Sunshine and Gunpowder - Hitman, Surprise Parents AU - Complete - Rated E - 48k

She’s a teacher who would do anything to protect her student. He’s a glorified hitman with a heart of black gold.

Together, they make up odd halves of a beautiful whole.

THIS WAS SO CUTE!! Like, yes, I know Ben is a hitman, but when I tell you he was the softest hit man I have ever read, Temiri was so cute in this! I loved Ben and Rey, and their UST made me love them even more. Han and Leia are also hilarious in this!

It Takes a Village - A/B/O, Surprise Parents AU - Complete - Rated E - 40k

Who knew that all it would take for Rey Johnson to interact with her enigmatic Alpha neighbor without wanting to melt into a puddle of hormones was a baby being abandoned at her doorstep?

Not her. That was for sure.

THIS IS THE CUTEST ONE YET! I REREAD THIS QUITE OFTEN! LIKE AHHHHHHH SO FREAKING FLUFFY! NOT EVEN A WHISPER OF ANGST AND A LOT OF SMUT I LOVED THIS SO FREAKING MUCH AHHHH! AND THE EPILOGUE MADE ME CRY!

Sensual Storytime - Office AU - Complete - Rated E - 23k

When Rey Johnson starts a new job, her initially antagonistic relationship with Ben Solo from IT turns into friendship... and maybe something more.

Little does she know he also moonlights as Kylo Ren, the creator of her favorite audio erotica. One day at the office, worlds collide, and she realizes the sweater vest-wearing nerd of her dreams is also the tattooed fantasy man she listens to while getting off every night...

THIS IS MY FAVORITE REYLO FIC EVER. I RECOMMEND THIS TO PEOPLE WHO DON’T EVEN LIKE STAR WARS! THIS IS COWORKER BANTER LIKE NO OTHER. AND THE SMUT ? UNPARALLELED. READ THIS NOW!

That is all I have time for right now, but I’ll make another list later if anyone would like that! Please take care of yourself and have a great day!

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dismuch47 · 3 years

Text

ADVANCED SETTINGS (Part 4)

And finished. Free... I’m FINALLY free! To write small drabbles that don’t consume like longer ones! Lots of fun had on this, though. Haven’t dabbled in smut for a long time. I enjoy it’s challenge, but I wouldn’t say I prefer it. I can never write smut just for smut’s sake. There always have to be a challenge and/or lead-up... and that can be exhausting... or I put all the love and effort into that and feel spent before the sexy bit and I’m just... stuck. Ah well. My personal writing hang-ups...

Advanced Settings: Wanda and Vision find there is more to iron out in making their relationship “work”. Rated Explicit. No little eyes please.

There was a new humor to the hotel room, a lightness, compared to the tensity which the two occupants had previously tiptoed around. Now, however, it was rather hard for the two to keep their hands from one another. Wanda finally broke away first, taking charge, insisting on breakfast to “fuel up,” and then disappeared into the bathroom for a considerable amount of time. Vision was rolling in the squeaky food cart when she re-emerged. The noisey wheels halted as he admired the view.

She had brushed out her hair and it hung in soft, billowy auburn waves. Her face had been renewed with a brisk cleansing, and just a hint of concealer and gloss to give her skin a glow that Vision could see even without them. She had reclaimed the hotel bathrobe, but it was open and sagged around her shoulders as she posed in the doorframe…revealing a black bra and panty set that showcased her toned and ample feminine assets. It wasn’t frilly, but it was most affective in it’s function.

“Costume change.” Wanda said, feeling pretty damned delicious… and pretty satisfied that her synthezoid boyfriend couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. She stalked towards him, playfully twirling the robe belt in her hand. If only she had some black pumps to complete the seductive ensemble… Wanda picked up an apple, cleared her throat to continue the conversation that had been conducted through the closed door. “To answer your previous question, no. I didn’t know that would happen like that. That we could connect and you feel MY physical sensations. The mindstone was the conduit…I just…pushed my will alittle harder.” She winced a little, biting her lower lip. “Maybe I should have asked first.”

“It was indeed perplexing, in the beginning.” Vision retorted, closing the gap between them. “But I am considerably appreciative that you did so. I am ever in awe of your capabilities and strength…” He reached to embrace her, lowering his face to hers for another consuming kiss… but she brought the apple to her lips quicker and sauntered away from his grasp. He blinked, but gave a small grin as she circled the cart, pretending to be more interested with its contents.

“Eating.” She took a juicy bite of the fruit, making approving noises.

“Wanda…”

Was the synthezoid actually getting… a little impatient? That was new and thrilling to Wanda. “Then I don’t suppose you would mind us exploring that connection for more of your… sensory education? For science, of course.”

“Naturally.”

“Naturally.” She returned his sly grin. “Maybe explain your hypothesis again.” He opened his mouth to answer. “While you remove your clothing.” She tilted her head at him. “And slowly. No phasing.” She sank her teeth in for another crisp bite.

This was certainly a new side of Wanda. She was exponentially more excited for the possibility of Vision’s capacity to participate in pleasure from their intimacies. Though it be through atypical means. He started with the top button of his blue dress shirt, single handed. “Our connection, via the mind stone, grants me access to feel your body’s organic sensory design, emotionally… and physically. First hand.” His shirt fell away from his chest, sliding down his maroon and vibranium striated arms. This was clearly a show for Wanda’s benefit, but it did give him validation to see her touch her skin and flap her hair to cool her perspiring neck. She faltered in the action as she saw his hands migrate down his stomach to his belt. “I believe that by observing your mental perspective and carnal responses, I may be able to calibrate and script my own genuine… outputs.” He unzipped the front of his pants. “Learning physical intuition, rather than imitation. Would that please you, Wanda?”

She was nodding mindlessly, until she came to herself again. “Y-yes. Yes. It would.” She put her apple down. “How about you?”

He cocked his head at her. “I believe I have already expressed my compliance to this experiment.”

“Vis I know, I just…” Wanda sighed and went to him, taking his hands from his clothing and sitting him down on the edge of the bed. She dropped the seduction act. “I just remember my first time. And I know this technically isn’t your first time, outwardly, but there’s just so much…” In a flurry of vague hand gestures, she lost her train of thought with all she was trying to help him understand. Rather badly. She let out another sigh. “There’s vulnerability and a lack of control… which can be liberating…but also kinda scary at first. I just don’t want you to be overwhelmed and not tell me. Because you want me to be happy.”

Vision brushed some of her hair back behind her ear in a comforting motion. Touched at her concern, recalling the complete feeling of her love he had been engulfed in not 50 minutes prior. “I am… eager… to endeavor this with you, Wanda. Nothing makes me feel more human than testing the capabilities of this synthetic form.” He met her eyes. “But you will have to accept that such enthusiasm is over-shadowed by my desire to please you. It’s become a bit of cornerstone in me, actually.” His soft smile was cautious, as he tried to read her expression. “Is… is that alright?”

She smiled back and held his strong chin. “Yes.” She gave him a peck on his cheek. “I know the feeling.” She rose to her feet, shedding the plush robe completely and tossing it to a nearby winged-back chair. “But I think I’d still feel better if you at least had… I don’t know… a safe word? In case you need a moment.”

The synthezoid arched a brow at her insistence. Vision was familiar with the concept of a “safe word”… usually attributed to more aggressive erotic acts. With costumes and props to aid in stimulation. It was data he had once sifted through briefly out of curiosity, but ultimately pushed aside with disinterest. A safe word was usually a common, non-sexual noun with possible sentimental significance. He looked down at his hands in his lap for a moment.

“How about… Paprika?” he offered.

Wanda failed at suppressing a dimpled grin. “Okay. ‘Paprika’ it is. Use it if you need to.” She saw that his unfastened pants were still on. “Now take those off.”

He grimaced at the reminder, but obeyed. “I understand there is a pace to sensuality… and I am more than content to comply… but as we both know that this is leading to coitus, should we not perhaps just-“

Wanda’s index finger pressed to the mind stone, surging her essence into him, drawing him into herself. Her heart a steady but enthralling rhythm, pumping heat to her centers… just by looking at him. Vision saw through her eyes, that roved over his body and how it delighted her. The curves and dips of his thick neck and shoulders, the swell of his pectorals, down the ridges of his abdominals, the dip of his shallow navel, and though his green briefs still denied her access to his groin, Vision’s sculpted thighs more than atoned for the censorship. His body was perfectly compiled for her pleasure, not just battle.

She lustfully schemed where she would kiss, cup, bite, suck, grind and ride to elicit pleasure noises from him. She became wet just thinking about hearing him articulate his ecstasy for the first time… the anticipation of it all such delectable torture…

Vision gave a soft gasp as Wanda withdrew her touch from the gem. He had to catch himself from falling back into the bed, but then slowly lowered himself to his elbows, reeling from the contact.

Wanda drank in the sight of his body stretched out like an offering, thighs parted wider than they had been before. She scrunched her nose, noticing his breathless response to the connection. “Sorry, Vis. I… I should probably warn you before I do that.”

The synthezoid observed his own heaving body, incredulous at it’s power over Wanda’s mind. Of course he had known she could be visually aroused by him, but knowing was quite different from feeling it. His blood pulsed with his excited core, while trillions of laced circuitry signaled to recreate the stimulation that his mind had just learned. It became a state without reprieve, though it needed it. The wanting.

“Vision?”

He glanced up at Wanda speechless, his enlightened eyes tracing her pleasing, creamy curves and swells… feeling increasing wanting, or was it hunger, for them to be at the mercy of his tireless administrations. Mesmerized with the idea of her climaxing as she was with him. Vision’s gaze rested on Wanda’s thighs, knowing their throb and heat… and feeling it in his own.

She looked down at him splayed out on the bed, not responding to her call. “Paprika?” She asked.

Vision’s eyes slowly blinked and met hers, posture no longer a startled reaction… but an invitation.

“Not even close.” He murmured.

Wanda smirked at his lusty retort, whether he realized it sounded so or not, and crawled into a straddle position across his lap. She finally rewarded him with a kiss, lowering her head down to his, her hair a russet curtain around their faces. He knew and could authentically reciprocate this part. Very well. His head tilted to the side as their lips opened to each other, giving and taking. Wanda made soft noises, pleased with the new-found urgency of his lips and tongue. Vision reached up to bury his maroon digits in her silky hair, pulling her down with him as he reclined back into the mattress.

“I’m… I’m gonna…” Wanda breathed between kisses. She slid her hand back up towards the mind stone. Vision gave a nod to acknowledge her warning, but his head still fell back with the sheer force of their fusing. His, HER, lips were swollen with use…a fascinatingly tiring and addicting state. He responded with more use of that moist, delicate flesh, only to hear himself softly moan with her.

More. She wanted more. And he wanted more.

Wanda tossed her head back, exposing access to her neck as the synthezoid meticulously worked his way down from her jawline. He found the hollow dip of her clavicle, giving an experimental lick. A pleasurable shudder made its way down Wanda’s spine, and she cradled Vision’s head as she felt him inhale sharply, experiencing the response for himself.

Graceful hands skimmed up her back and around to the ample front, under the swell of breast. Vision’s thumbs gently circled the soft flesh, until he discovered the arousal he was eliciting in her. Wanda licked her lips and pursed them firm to keep from making more undignified noises… but as the circles widened with urgency and eschewed her bra away from the mounds…

“Vision….” Wanda pleaded. The heaving of his chest raised her up and down visibly. She propped herself up with her free hand, for stability, but gave a flick of her wrist before placing it on the bed. Scarlet energy aggressively unhooked the back of her bra.

“Thank you, darling…” Vision breathed, seizing the offending braw and tossing it away from them, before latching boldly to a breast. Wanda gasped, swearing she could hear him do the same against her taunt skin. A couple of times, her hand nearly lost it’s placement on the stone upon Vision’s head, but he didn’t waver in his enthusiasm.

She hummed her rapture, toes curling. Everything felt like new. For the first time. To have her lover finally able to feel the joy that he gave her every time they came together. She gasped when he sat up abruptly, fearing that it was all too overwhelming and reprieve was needed… but was instantly relieved to feel his hand roving down her tight stomach.

Vision’s investigation of Wanda’s neurological feedback led him to further questions that had no answers, at least not that words or data could supply. Very frustrating for the logical being, yet the curiosity of bodily excitement far out-weighted any perplexity that would prevent him from continuing exploration. He bent forward, lingering between the smooth valley of Wanda’s chest, as she arched her back. He felt her spine stretch and arch back, appreciating not only her flexibility… but the conundrum of being in a vulnerable and compromising position, completely at one’s mercy. The tenderness and trust an aphrodisiac.

The butterflies in Wanda’s stomach, fluttering downward felt like they were his own. Vision chased them with one hand while the other steadied, and kneaded, at a pert flank. The motion encouraged an involuntary buck and rhythm from her hips. One that the synthezoid felt in his being as well. She needed release. Immediately VIsion’s assuring touch was at her moist entrance for service. His thighs twitched to feel the complete gridlock of nerves flaring up with pleasure at the firm contact to her womanhood. He let out a gasp with her.

Wanda suddenly straightened, colliding back into him, forcing his head up to look at her. Their connection severed.

“No… not like that. Not for your first time…” Wanda insisted, flushed and light-headed. She kissed his nose, and down to his lips, wet and consuming. She pushed him back into the bedding. She ran her hands down his neck, following his reflective patterning, and over the pectoral muscles of his chest.

Vision’s breath hitched as she lingered there, stroking, circling, and pinching at the maroon surface exposed beneath the vibranium plating. True that he didn’t have the responsive peaks that his girlfriend had, but their exploring had challenged his body to interpret the sensitivity and to replicate. It wasn’t exactly the same as a human’s organic response, but it was originally and genuinely his. He sighed, a leg flexing in response to his processor’s messaging as Wanda nipped at the area. It swarmed coding within him… and then faded to a docile buzzing as her contact left him.

He realized he must have been lost in his processing, as Wanda was now smiling down at him, expression of serene wonderment upon her face. She reached down and placed a hand on his cheek, thumb caressing his parted lips. Vision gently grasped her wrist, turning out her palm so he could kiss the tender flesh. Those hands… that could make a being like him feel so alive. With soul.

Loved.

Wanda grinned assuredly, slipping her hand from his grasp. Down her hands caressed over angled abdominals, relishing the rise and fall of his stomach, down to the defined V that was still partially concealed by his green briefs. As if a mind-reader himself, Vision phased through the obstructive material. The human arched her brow and began shedding her last bit of clothing too… though much more ungracefully.

“Yeah, I can’t do that…” she grunted. She grimaced… then giggled into his chest as she freed herself from the panties, eventually holding them in the air victoriously, then tossing them to the floor.

Vision chuckled down at her silly smile as he brushed her disheveled hair from her face. But the playful curve of her smile faded, overcome with desire. She kissed him again, nearly missing his lips in her haste. He readied himself, a process that even Wanda couldn’t exactly help him fully experience… lacking the precise equipment herself… but that was no matter. Her urgency spurred on his own into a frenzy. She lined herself up with him, up on her knees, hand spread against his chest.

“Vis…”

“Yes. I understand.” He didn’t fully. On the cusp of understanding, really… but it seemed the right thing to say. “I want you too, Wanda.” Completely true.

This seemed to quell Wanda’s hesitancy, as she reached up once more to the golden infinity stone embedded in her lover’s forehead. Vision arched, unprepared for the intensity as Wanda lowered herself upon him. She moaned loudly, the feel of his fullness within her long overdue. She rolled her hips, forward, and back, and forward even further before receding back, like a sensual ocean tide. Vision’s hands grasped at her waist, at first just to hold on to something, but they eventually slid closer to her pelvis to oblige the erotic friction. He pushed up when she moved forward, giving her the stretch and fullnesss she craved, and down to collide into her swollen apex as she rocked back.

But she nearly lost it when she heard Vision emit a hesitant rumble, soft and throaty. One that usually came out when contemplating intellectual disputes and his conclusions were challenged… but then it bled into a wanton groan. It came again…

This was much more than pleasant buzzing and mysterious sensations to be explored leisurely. These were profound currents that the synthezoid was trying to wade through, and he feared being completely swept away. He clutched at Wanda’s hand upon his chest, desperate for her navigation. He saw the familiarity and comfort of her glowing shores but was alarmed by the utter digital cosmos within himself, meteors darting in brilliant, angular patterns. They seared their way down his body, not painfully. The opposite of pain, but still rather unnerving. Or rather... unknown.

Vision’s other hand shot above him to seize the top of the headboard, only vaguely aware that he had begun to levitate from the mattress. Between Wanda’s blindingly rapid pace, their energies mightily infused, and Vision’s system trying to prevent from overloading… both failed to notice.

Wanda was close, trying her best to keep her hand glued to the stone, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. She tried to slow, tried to savor for Vision’s sake, but the spasms seized her fiercely. Which Vision’s inter-workings had the impossible task to comprehend. Brilliantly burning surges quivered along their angular paths… only to deviate free, melding into each other and trickling down… hot… liquid gold.

The synthezoid convulsed with pleasure, his grunt tinged with digital glitch. Wanda’s awareness came back to her as she heard a splintering crack.

And then the world fell beneath them.

Or rather they dropped from five feet in the air, back onto the bed. Which of course broke in two under Vision’s dense weight.

Wanda squeaked with the impact, and covered her mouth in shock. She shot a glance up to her boyfriend, who looked just as startled as she did… only he was holding a bit of headboard that he had broken off before the plunge.

“Oh dear…” he breathed. “Uh…’paprika?’”

***

Despite Vision’s unconsolable guilt of the property damage he had done, feeling that he had broken the hotel’s trust and rooming agreements, Wanda was able to remedy the furniture rather promptly. Her hands glowed red, collecting every piece and splinter, restoring the bed-frame back to it’s former, structural integrity. It took a few minutes of coaxing to convince the synthezoid that it could hold him without collapsing, but now he laid upon it, sheet wrapped around around his waist. Wanda was picking at the now cold breakfast foods, clad in the robe… which she was seriously considering stealing.

“She said…what?” Vision rolled to his side, propping his head up with his hand to regard Wanda. “Well that is…”

“I know. I was upset for you.” Wanda seethed, feeling her former upset from the previous day’s tasteless conversation. She stabbed at the muffin on her plate. “It was so… so…”

“Fascinating, actually.” Vision interjected. He regarded her reaction. “Well, at least I was contemplated amongst my team at all. Not favorably, I’ll grant you… but at least I was enough apart of the tribe, if you will, to be appraised for my humanity…or lack of. I find that oddly comforting.”

Wanda shook her head. “You’re too good for your own good, Vis.”

He cocked his head at her. “Well… they are off crammed in some shack, contemplating my sexual capacity while I’m here making love to the most exquisite woman on the planet, breaking beds.” Vision grinned slyly. “It’s hard to wallow with such margins in my favor, Wanda.”

The woman smiled deeply, dropping the wounded muffin completely. “Is it me, or are you more audacious than before?”

Vision rumbled in his throat. “Mmmm… audacious. I love it when you speak deliciously so…” He adjusted himself to a kneeling position while Wanda crawled towards him. “You know, darling, I think my system is finished with its recalibrating.”

“Oh?” Wanda slipped her arms around his broad shoulders.

“Settings adjusted. Scripts fine-tuned…”

“Hmmmm…” She brought her face teasingly close to his.

“I think a second go would prove to be… rather enjoyable. And less destructive, of course.”

“Of course.” She mimicked, before planting her lips against his.

They took their time, with hands entwined, gentle kisses and tender smiles. Glittering, scarlet waves below skies of emerald nebulas and golden comets. Only a thin veil of skin and vibranium keeping the soulmates from melding into each other completely.

#scarletvision #wandavision #wanda maximoff #vision #advanced settings #fanfiction #FOR THE FANDOM #ready to move on from this #there was going to be more #I just got burnt out #hopefully that didn't come through in the pacing #I wanted to include wanda seeing Vision the way he sees her #dinner and a picture by a bridge #more vaguely described sexy timez #and then a goodbye at the trainstation #but NO #I'M DONE #MOVING ON #I just love these soulmates SO MUCH

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longitud-de-onda · 4 years

Text

touch the impossible

pairing; ezra x female reader summary; your long journey back home after your scientific mission to the green is joined by an injured man, left behind and broken. rating; g warnings; angst, medical stuff, blood, some more angst. word count; 3.9k requested; by @rzrcrst “Here to request an Ezra fic 😭💔💕 maaaybe you’re the one who helped him get off that moon and you nurse him back to health and you have the gems and he falls in love with you” a/n; thank you for waiting this long. finally feeling ready to write some ezra! also huge thank you to zeek earl for actually responding to my question about cycles

gif by @now-this-is-living

You were on your way back to your ship when you heard the sound of thrower fire. You had dropped down into the brush where you were standing and waited.

It was all over with the blasting sound of a pod firing up and shooting into the sky.

The conical white figure rode up and out of the atmosphere and you remembered the shuttle service was ending that cycle. That pod was probably the last one to leave. Anyone left behind on this moon either had to have their own ship, like yourself, or were destined to spend the remainder of their lives breathing through a filter.

You hadn’t run into many people on your time here, trying to avoid contact as much as possible. You carried a thrower for security but weren’t sure if you had the guts to use it. Your mission here was a scientific one.

Curiosity got the better of you and you stood up to check out what had happened. You crawled out of your hiding spot and discovered that you were near a clearing in the woods, an old dig pit lay to your left, and the ring of black marks from the pod’s launch charred the grass to your left. An empty cage and a still-burning campfire were in front of you, eerie with the still-standing floodlight.

A body lay near the fire. Another in the pit. You could see the shine of fresh blood around him.

You wanted to leave.

As you turned around something caught your eye in the forest that stretched out a few meters higher in elevation than the clearing. A light. Definitely a helmet light. And it was moving, ever so slightly.

Someone still alive was out there and the sensible thing to do would be to run back to your pod and launch back into your ship. But a voice in your head said they might have been hurt in the fight. Might be injured. Might have meant to be on that ship. You couldn’t leave them behind.

You swallowed your fears and plunged into the dark of the forest towards the dim light, your hand gripping tight on the thrower that hung at your side.

As you neared, it was clear you had found someone. The light wasn’t the thing moving, but rather its reflection on the helmet of a man, blood pouring out of his stomach, eyes closed, chest barely rising and falling. Beside him lay the light source: a woman, dead and neck bloodied.

You prodded at the man, willing him to wake up. He came to life with a distant cough, the sound of which was enough for you to know he didn’t have a working air filter. Scrambling, you pulled his hose towards your own filter and plugged it in, the clean air doing little to help his breathing. However, his eyes blinked open, lids still heavy, but blinking, staring at the ground below him.

“Cee,” he said. You could hear it through the panes of glass separating yourselves. “I thought I instructed you to leave me behind. I ain’t gonna make it. Your soul is worth much more than my own.”

“Who the hell is Cee?”

He looked up at you. “I find myself mistaken. You. Are not Cee.”

“That is correct,” you smiled. You rotated the dial on his radio to the channel you were using.

“Are you with Karoclan? If that is my fate, it’s best to kill me now. Please lend me at the very least that mercy and not delay.” His voice, now clear in your ear, was shallow. His accent was difficult to place. Maybe Muir? Or Gandre? You couldn’t tell, but that was typical of drifters. Was he a drifter?

“I am not with Karoclan. I am here alone,” you said. Maybe not the best of words, placing you in potential risk, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You had just noticed the limp sleeve of his suit, tied near the elbow. He had just lost an arm. He couldn’t have been a threat if he wanted to.

“What is a woman doing here in the Green all alone? You prospecting? Because you are too late, miss. The last pod has taken leave and we will die here. If not killed by the villager, we shall be reclaimed by this moon’s floor.”

“I’m here on a scientific mission. From Belda, near Central,” you explained.

“That scientific knowledge may only go so far now that we are here for our shortened lives.”

“I have a ship.”

“And is there the possibility of your ship having space sufficient for two travelers?”

“It does,” you said. You were going to regret this, but what could you do? The man was a charmer.

“I presume since you are traveling alone, that your second spot remains unoccupied?”

“It is.”

“Well then, may I humbly request passage off of this godforsaken moon?”

“Depends. What’s your name?”

“Ezra.”

“Well Ezra, do you care to join me? We take off in an hour.”

Your ship had more than enough room for two people. It was big enough for a whole crew. The research institute had given you a large endowment to seek out the aurelac gems that were selling at high prices across the galaxy with little information on any of their properties, let alone where they had come from. Along with the money, you were provided a fully outfitted ship.

It was at least thirty stands ago that the first murmurs of aurelac had swirled around. Within a fraction of a cycle, everyone had left work, disappearing to the few planets where they could try to make a fortune. Ten stands later and things were back to normal and since then the price for aurelac only skyrocketed as the supply dwindled. It might not have been a hot commodity anymore, but it had a forceful grip on the intergalactic economy.

You peaked into the medical bay where Ezra lay asleep. Prospectors were few these days, most of them having struck big and retired to remote locations or given up the search and either returned home or continued drifting. But Ezra hadn’t. And you had no idea why.

He had passed out as soon as you made it to the pod, and you had to drag him into the medical bay when you reached your ship. You didn’t sleep for longer than was healthy, patching him up. He had several wounds that should have been fatal, and the amputated arm needed to be covered up. You might have been a doctor, however, medicine was not your specialty. It wasn’t pretty, but it did the job.

“What have you done with my arm?”

“Skin graft,” you shrugged. It had been a while since you left orbit of the green moon, and Ezra had just woken up. You sat beside his bed in a chair.

“Skin graft?”

“Yes. I had to take some skin from your abdominal region. Used it to cover your arm. Whoever cut that off did a good job. Clean. That’s good.”

“Cee.” Ezra breathed out. This was the third time you’d heard the name.

“Who is Cee? She must have been very important to you.”

“Only knew her for a couple of cycles. She and her father came seeking the Queen’s Lair. Cee and I ended up wandering the Green. She may be a young girl but she has a mind the size of a star.”

“Where’s her father?”

“I killed him,” he said.

Your stomach dropped. You opened your mouth to ask why but no sound came out.

“Ma’am, you cannot be a stranger to murder. Out this far from Central? We live solely for ourselves, you cannot get attached because people will betray you. Best to stay five steps ahead.”

“I—” you cut yourself off before claiming to have never killed anyone. While true, it would not have boded well for you. Ezra would see you as weak. That was not an outcome you wanted to entertain.

“Cee’s father was attempting to steal the fruits of my own work. You do not do that without running the risk of death out here.”

“Where is Cee now?” You prayed she wasn’t dead. You knew little, but Ezra seemed to care for her.

“If she listened to me, she has long since left that moon in the last pod to depart. She is now left to the mercy of the Drift.”

Ezra swung his legs down and pushed his torso upright with his one arm.

“I wouldn’t do that—” you spluttered out, placing a hand on his chest to stop him from standing. But he was too determined, pushing forward and up.

It took less than a second for Ezra’s knees to sway and he crumpled into a pile on the floor.

“...the drugs haven’t worn off yet.” You mumbled to the ship.

Ezra had learned his lesson when he woke up. He remained on the bed until he had fully recovered. You had work to do: testing the gems you had collected, ship maintenance, navigation. But the downtime was spent by Ezra’s side.

Given Ezra’s penchant for words, you had thought he would never exhaust in tales of his life and questions about yours, but you were both private people and the stories of your lives were not often easy to say.

Together, you had come up with a game. One of you would name a place you had been or wished to go and an unrelated item. The other would have to come up with a story about it. When that got boring, you added in another element, where you had to include three preset words.

It kept you entertained for a while, but you knew Ezra was growing bored again.

“Who are you?” Ezra asked when you walked into the medical bay one day.

You hadn’t been asked a question like that in a long time. He knew your name. Your job. Where you worked. This wasn’t a question of your information and identity. This was a question about something deeper. You stood by his bed, staring at him for a while as you thought of an answer.

“I’m... I’m a scientist.”

“No. Scientists work in labs and do field research. They work together and for companies and write papers. You do not seem the type to seek that strain of employment.”

“You yourself said that one has to do what they must to make a living. I enjoy my work.” You weren’t sure what to make of Ezra. He was truly an enigma, one that you were struggling to decode.

“You are lonely.” It was a bold claim coming from him, one that gave you pause.

“And are you not?”

Your lab on the ship was small, meaning the number of aurelac gems you had extracted, along with the biological material in which they grew, were littered across every available surface. They were fascinating. And as you walked into the lab, you could tell someone else found them just as intriguing.

Ezra had been walking for some time now. The artificial cycles had come and gone, and he still had no answer as to where he would like to go. You still had a half-stand until you reached Belda, giving him plenty of time to make a decision.

He now stood in the center of your lab, staring at the number of gems you had collected. They would fetch a high price on the market, and the shine of a needy man could be seen in Ezra’s eyes.

“Thinking about stealing it?” you said.

He startled and looked up at you guiltily. “I—”

“It’s fine,” you waved your hand. “You’re a prospector. I get it.”

“You do not understand a thing,” he drawled. “You have an occupation that will sustain you for the rest of your life. I have none of that. What you carry in this ship would buoy my existence for many stands. It is worth more than I have ever had cross my hands. And you are here acting like it is little more than a scientific endeavor.”

“Is a scientific endeavor so worthless to you?”

“It is not worthless to me except when it is deleterious to the lifestyle of others,” he said, his voice rising in volume.

“You think the gems are a lifestyle? Their value will drop. And the harvesting? You may not have noticed, but every time you harvest a gem, an entire organism dies. All of this here? Only killed two and harvested every part of them. An average case is harvested from nine different colonies. Nine deaths. And you don’t even obtain half as much as you see here. Your lifestyle harms too.”

“My lifestyle, at the very least, does not rely on a predilection for the attention of the corporations that cause the ruin of our very society. Mine relies on labor and equanimity and acumen, and I will gladly kill a few to ensure my future. One that is not so secure as yours.” When angry, Ezra’s face warps into something sinister and aggressive, a far cry from the pained and softened appearance of him while he was injured.

You close your eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath to center yourself. You had no interest in fighting Ezra more on this. It was clear you were the villain in his eyes, or at least the figure he wanted to project his frustrations on, and you were not going to continue with the fight. It was not worth it when you had many more cycles left with him.

“If you care so deeply about them, wait until you are leaving to take them. It does you no good to steal from those you are still living with.”

The days following your argument the conversation had died down, only to pick up again once you were both fed up with not speaking to the other.

“You still haven’t told me where you want to be dropped off,” you told him. Ezra had been recovering steadily, and you knew within another couple of your ship-generated light cycles he would be ready to leave.

“I have never been given the option,” he said.

You blinked. There was still so much you didn’t know about Ezra. And over the time you had spent with him you had grown so accustomed to his presence that this very conversation was one you had been putting off.

“Do you have family? Friends? Anyone that you would stay with?��

“I am alone.”

It was a raw admission that you might have seen coming, but nevertheless hit you like a stray bullet. Before you could even think of the consequences of your words, you said, “Do you want to come with me? To the lab? There’s plenty of work at the institute? And around the rest of Belda.”

“Not for a drifter like me. My lifestyle is indubitably incompatible with a planet like yours,” he said, shaking his head.

“Sure there is, Ezra,” you said. “There’s plenty to do, and you don’t have anything else.”

He stepped back and you regretted that sentence more than anything you had ever said. “I suppose I do not.”

He walked away that night. Into the cabin that he had claimed. You didn’t see him for another two artificial cycles. When he did show up again, he was no longer the same man. He didn’t smile all the way to his eyes, and his sentences were cut short.

You didn’t want to admit it, even to yourself, but you cried yourself to sleep often after that day. Partly because of the loneliness, but that wasn’t where the shame was rooted. That spot was reserved for the love you felt for Ezra which was no longer returned, if it ever was.

You stepped out onto the solid ground of Belda, happy for the fresh, clean air that filled the skies. Ezra’s first steps out of the landing pod were shaky, and you wondered how long it had been since he had set foot on a fully terraformed planet.

“You go down that road,” you told him, gesturing towards your left, “About a kilometer down you’ll find the shuttle hangar. There’s plenty of people there that need workers for off-planet stuff. Once you sign on they’ll take you to the docking station up in orbit where you’ll transfer to their ships. And you get to return to your life. Win-win.”

“That is quite the deal,” he said, staring off at the point he would be headed.

“So this is it?” you asked, facing him.

“I am afraid so,” he looked over at you. Part of you wanted to embrace him. If you weren’t able to keep him, at least you could hold him in your arms for a moment. Pretend that you could have a life where you were not so lonely. But before you could come to a conclusion, he was walking away. And he took your heart with him.

Your trip to Bakhroma Green might have been work, but it felt like a vacation. Ten cycles had passed since you returned, and life had, unfortunately, returned to normal. Wake up, eat, go to work, a meeting, labs, write papers, lunch, teach university students, another meeting, clean, more writing, return home, sleep. Ezra was right. You might have had a job that offered more social interaction than most, but you were so lonely.

You were in your office, responding to some communications with a scientist on Kamrea who had found an organism similar to that of the aurelac gems on their home planet when you received a call from reception.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but there is a man down here. He says he will not leave until he sees you.”

“Who is he?”

“He won’t say.”

You sighed. Work would have to wait. You closed up your screen and got into the elevator, riding down to the lobby. The doors slid open and you saw a familiar face, hunched over in a chair in the corner. Ezra.

He was out of place wearing regular clothing and sitting in a waiting room as if he were the sort to wait for a doctor or a lawyer rather than do it himself. He didn’t notice you until you were standing in front of him. He looked up, took a sharp inhale. His exhale was shaky as he stood, his singular arm reaching out to touch your shoulder. Maybe it was for stability, but part of you knew him well enough to know he just wanted to touch someone.

“You’re here.” He said.

You nodded.

“I did not know where to go. I am afraid I do not have anyone else,” he said. Your words from your argument flashed before your eyes. You hated that he had internalized them. Then he looked at you in the eye in a way that you felt much deeper than just your face. “I do hope that I have you?”

His absence had torn you apart so much and seeing him again was a confusion you had never felt. It seemed this man was one who would not stop surprising you. “Of course you have me, Ezra.”

“Of that, I am eternally thankful. Your companionship is unparagoned.”

You swallowed. You were not ready to see him again. To hear him say words like these.

“What do you want?” you asked.

“I do not know, only that I am desperate for assistance,” he said, voice low and strained. And you noticed the slight tremor to his body. You nodded again.

“Wait here. I need to clean up upstairs, then I can return,” you said, reaching out to his arm, squeezing gently on his forearm for assurance.

An hour later you sat on one end of the couch in your small apartment, Ezra at the other end, mugs of tea in both your hands. His was to mollify the anxiety, yours was to bring a sense of normalcy back when you had just been confronted with a face you spent nights trying to forget.

“...lost. I do not know where in this wide galaxy I can ever belong. I do not know where Cee is, if I did I may have attempted to find her. But I know little more than her first name and her favorite book. She and her father were drifters, like me. You never encounter another drifter twice.” He stopped to take a sip and you felt your heart sink. There was nothing more heartbreaking than to lose a friend.

“And now without my arm, while I am forever in your debt for the prodigious work, I do not have anything. I cannot do the work I have previously been trained to do. I cannot make a living. I do not have anyone. I do not even know if I have you,” he said, voice breaking. “I am sorry, I should not be putting you in the position to take me in. We hardly know one another, this was a bad—”

“Ezra!” You sat your mug down on the side table and crawled over to him on the couch. You placed one arm on his own, the other on the top of his shoulder, brushing lightly up and down. “It’s okay. I don’t mind you coming here. You have me.”

There were tears in his eyes as he opened his mouth again. “I missed you.”

“As did I,” you confessed. You sank back onto your heels, arms dropped as you knelt beside him. “My offer still stands. You can stay here. There’s work, plenty of it. And you can train in new skills that don’t require two upper appendages. It’s a big city.”

“I cannot request such a sacrifice of your generosity,” he protested.

“It is not a sacrifice, Ezra,” you assured. “I’d actually like it very much if you stayed. I am very alone here. The time I spent with you? You made me feel a little less alone.”

“What can I offer to you in exchange? I have nothing,” he said. “You have already rescued me once.”

“And I do not require anything.” You shook your head, “Don’t you understand? You’ve given me so much already. Your presence would be more than enough.”

“I cannot acce—”

“There is one thing,” you said. You were thinking selfishly at this moment, and had it not resulted in a success, you might have regretted such actions, but the triumph was enough for you to think back often to your words and thank yourself for saying exactly the ones you did. “You can kiss me.”

He blinked and you felt your stomach flip in place. The seconds that lasted before he spoke again felt stretched out, a whole cycle could have elapsed and not felt as long at the wait for Ezra’s response. Then he grinned.

“That is a skill I do possess,” he said. “And may be able to provide.”

And then he raised his hand to your cheek, brushing it gently before reaching around to the base of your neck, pulling you closer to capture your lips in his. You wrapped one arm around his torso and snaked the other up into his hair as you tasted the sweet remains of the tea on his tongue. He pulled off enough to smile against your lips.

“Would this arrangement be a one-time event? Or do I perhaps need to comply a few more times to fully pay off the debt I owe to you.”

“Ezra? You can kiss me whenever you wish,” you laughed.

taglists; (let me know if you want to be added, removed, or moved around)

perm taglist; @turquiosenights @el-lizzie @sparrows-books @dxxkxx @opheliaelysia @trashbin2 @rzrcrst @arcadianempress @stevieharrrr @peterparkers-tingle @blushingwueen @coredrive @lokiaddicted @mserynlarsen @badassbaker @1-800-fandomtrashqueen @flower-petal-blooming @talesfromtheguild @eupphoriaaa

pedro taglist; @pascalisthepunkest @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead

#ezra #prospect #ezra prospect #prospect movie #ezra x reader #camila writes #rated g #under 5 #reader #angst #pedro fics #prospect fics #ez x reader

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kawaiikichi · 4 years

Text

Were We? (Saiou Week Day 7)

@saiouweek

Surprise, surprise, I actually managed to write something for Saiou Week! I feel like it could also fall under the prompt “Past Life” for Day 2 but because the past life in this references to them during the killing game and their present life is something completely different, I decided to just post it under free day.

I hope you all like it! :D

Title: Were We?

Prompt: Shuichi’s Birthday or Free Day

Summary: Shuichi has spent over three hundred years as a Grim Reaper, roaming the streets of Tokyo and leading deceased souls to the afterlife. One day, he runs into a purple-haired male whom he has seen in his dreams and it makes him feel emotions he hasn’t felt in god knows how long.

One-Shot Notes: Inspired by the Kdrama Goblin with Shuichi as the Grim Reaper and Kokichi as Sunny; their past life is them in the killing game while their present life is with Shuichi as the grim reaper and Kokichi as a human

Warnings: A sprinkling of angst, NDRV3 spoilers; read at your own risk!

Read on under the cut!

Shuichi walked along the sidewalk, the crisp autumn breeze ruffling his black hair and making his long, black trench coat flutter with each step he took. He stuffed his leather glove-clad hands into his pockets, hoping to warm them as he walked to his destination.

He had no souls to collect and take back to his tea shop until the afternoon, so he decided to take a walk and get himself some coffee before heading to the first accident that was supposed to take place. He also wanted to get away from Rantaro, the immortal goblin that he’s been rooming with as of late. His singing was obnoxious, anyway.

Upon arriving at the coffee shop he frequented, he was met with the warm and comforting smell of baked sweets and freshly brewed coffee. The barista at the counter greeted him, a wide smile on his face. Shuichi greeted him in response as he grabbed for an empty medium-sized cup.

“Americano with no sugar and no cream, correct?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s correct. You know me well, Naegi-kun.” Shuichi told him.

“Well, you come here so often that I know your order by now!” Makoto slid a small plate with a cream cheese danish on it across the counter. “Here’s your danish as well, Saihara-kun.” he said.

“Thank you.” Shuichi replied.

After paying, he went to sit at the window bar. He nibbled on his danish as he watched passerbys walk the streets. He let his mind wander, and just like it usually did, it went to a male whose face he was unable to see.

Recently, Shuichi has been having dreams involving him. They always took place in what the grim reaper assumed to be a school, but it gave off prison vibes and it rubbed Shuichi the wrong way. But what happened between him and the male in that prison-esque school building could only be summarized as eventful and fun.

The male seemed to be a pain in the ass at times, lying all the time and pulling pranks on other people that were at the school, but the times they spent together were nice. They played games in the dining hall, hid away together in the casino, and read books in the basement library until they fell asleep on each other, blankets wrapped around each other with the male’s head on his shoulder and his head resting against the male’s.

These dreams were filled with happiness and love confessions whispered against each other’s lips as they pressed against each on the couch in the AV room, the film they were watching long forgotten. The Shuichi in those dreams was overjoyed and he looked at the male in his arms with love, which confused the grim reaper when he woke up from that particular dream.

Never in his three hundred years of life had he felt such an emotion so raw and passionate.

Fueled by his curiosity, he looked forward to these dreams. He wondered about how the Shuichi in his dreams interacted with this male he was dating and if these two were able to get out of the school that held them captive and away from the black and white robotic bear that played them like a fiddle in this killing game they were thrown into, living happily ever after.

But what the grim reaper dreamed of last night was anything but nice. In fact, it resembled a nightmare. Everything was smeared in darkness and steeped in the pungent, coppery scent of blood. There was mourning over the execution of a guy named Gonta, whose heart was made of gold and who wouldn’t dare hurt a fly (literally). There was screaming, shouting, tears, and words that pierced through the heart like sharpened blades and spilled blood everywhere without mercy, the dream eventually ending with images of a bloodied hydraulic press.

The way the dream ended last night unsettled Shuichi. Those images were still fresh in his mind as he took a sip from his Americano. Bitterness coated his taste buds, but it wasn’t the pleasant kind that he was accustomed to. Instead, it made his nose crinkle and his body tense from the intensity of it.

He didn’t bother finishing this coffee this time and wolfed down his danish before heading out, hoping that the subtle sweetness would overpower the bitterness that lingered in his mouth.

He eventually found himself strolling along a bridge, which seemed unusually quiet for a Monday morning. Well, save for a nearby jewelry booth that he spotted out of the corner. His eyebrow twitched.

Is that even allowed? he asked himself.

He shook his head, clicking his teeth before sighing.

“Whatever. It doesn’t concern me.” he said.

He started to walk past the booth when the owner of the booth called out to him.

“Hey, Mister Handsome in Black!” a chirpy voice called out.

Shuichi came to a stop, wanting nothing more than to tap on his watch and disappear from her sight.

Can’t anybody let me be in peace today? he wondered to himself.

He shot a glance at the owner, who turned out to be a girl in her twenties with wavy black hair and sparkling amber eyes. Her red lips pulled upward into a smile.

“Are you in need of some new accessories?” she asked.

Shuichi turned his body more, lowering his gaze to the sparkling jewelry and then up to the girl, who continued to beam at him.

“These kinds of accessories aren’t my style.” he told her.

Besides, you can tell at first glance that they’re cheap ripoffs of the real thing, his mind supplied for him.

This only made her giggle.

“Oh, no worries! Then, you could get one for your girlfriend. I’m sure it’ll please her very much.” she said.

“I don’t swing that way.” Shuichi told her.

She blinked her eyes, shooting him a dumbfounded look as he continued.

“I have a preference for guys, so buying something for a so-called girlfriend would be pointless.” he told her.

“I see...well, maybe your boyfriend would like something from here!” she said.

Shuichi got ready to tell her that he didn’t have a boyfriend, but she was already reaching for a purple rope bracelet with a simple puzzle piece charm on it.

“Here, you could buy this. It’s simple, but quite cute.” she told him.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.” he said.

She puffed her cheeks out.

“Come on! It doesn’t even cost that much. I’m sure you could give me a couple yen.” she said, growing more persistent with each word she spoke.

“Really, I’m fine! I don’t want to buy anything—“ he stopped, gold eyes landing on a checkered scarf.

It was just a simple checkered scarf and yet, Shuichi felt a tug in his heart. It was like the scarf was calling his name, begging for him to pick it up and buy it.

His hand started moving on its own before he could stop it. It inches further and further towards the checkered fabric, the tug at his heart growing stronger. His finger brushed along it as another hand appeared in his vision, snatching the scarf up and abruptly snapping him out of whatever trance he had fallen under.

“Oooh, this looks cute! This is totally my style. How much is it?”

Shuichi blinked, looking to his right and locking on a male wispy purple hair that stuck out in all directions. He was shorter than him, making him about five foot one, if he had to guess. The male wore a black and white sawtooth pattern coat with dark denim skinny jeans and black ankle boots.

Almost as if the male knew he was being watched, he turned away from the girl running the booth and locked eyes with Shuichi. The grim reaper felt the wind being knocked out of him the minute it happened. The male’s eyes were a deep shade of purple that sparkled like precious gems in the morning light.

Then, it happened.

Snippets from the dreams he’d been having came slamming into him like a truck, accompanied by a chirpy voice.

“Saihara-chan, let’s play a game!”

“Nishishi! It was just a lie. Or was I lying about that being a lie? The world may never know!”

“I...like you too, Saihara-chan.”

“Ew, I don’t think I can understand why you like black coffee so much.”

“Come oooooooon, Saihara-chan! You promised we’d go swimming!”

“Saihara-chan!”

“Saihara-chan...I’m sorry.”

“...I’ll always love you, Saihara-chan.”

Before Shuichi could process what was happening, a single tear trailed down his cheek. He could only stare at the male with a dumbfounded look on his face.

The male peered at Shuichi curiously, brows furrowed and lips pursed.

“Why are you watching me like that? I saw this first.” he waved the scarf around. “You hear me? I saw it first. First!” he shouted.

However, Shuichi didn’t respond. The male arched a brow as he continued to look Shuichi up and down.

“Wait a minute...are you crying?” he leaned in closer. “Oh shit, you are.” he said.

Minty breath tickled his lips and the minute Shuichi realized how close his face was, he immediately jerked back like he burned himself.

“H-Huh?” he stammered out.

“You were crying just now.” the male pointed out.

“What? I wasn’t—“ Shuichi reached up to touch his cheek and immediately felt the wet tear trail on it.

He dabbed at it in surprise. He couldn’t remember the last time he shed a tear, let alone if he actually did during the amount of time he’s been alive. Just what the heck was going on?

The male continued to eye him.

“Do you want it? The scarf, that is. I wanted to buy it because it looked neat, but if you want it…” he murmured.

“Uh...I…” Shuichi trailed off.

“Hm? Are you speechless? Is it because I’m so drop dead gorgeous that you can’t say anything?” the male teased.

“Wha…?!” Shuichi gawked at him in shock, cheeks flushing red.

“Nishishi! Aw, you’re adorable when you’re flustered! It makes me want to kiss you.” the male said.

The blush on Shuichi’s cheeks deepened, which only made him giggle more.

“But seriously, do you want it? Because if you do, I’m not gonna give it to you for free.” the male held his hand out to him. “Give me your number.” he said.

“My...number?” Shuichi questioned.

“Yeah? I’m going to need to contact you in regards to this scarf, you know.”

“I don’t have one.”

The male blinked twice.

“Wait. You’re telling me you don’t have a phone?” he asked.

“I don’t have one.” Shuichi replied.

“Why not?”

“I don’t need one, that’s why.”

“How could you not need one? We live in the twenty-first century! Of course you need a cell phone!”

“I just don’t see why I need to have one.”

“Because…!” the male heaved a deep sigh. “Okay, I can’t be doing this right now. I guess that means this scarf will be mine.” he said.

He moved to tie the scarf around his neck, but Shuichi spoke, effectively stopping him.

“W-Wait! Set the scarf down. Write your number down and place it there with the scarf. I’ll call you.” he proposed.

“Weeeeeeell…” he proceeded to twirl some hair around his finger. “We should at least exchange names if that’s how you wanna do it.” he said.

“Okay...well, my name’s Saihara. Saihara Shuichi.” Shuichi told him.

“Saihara-chan? I’ll make sure to remember that, then. I’m Ouma. Ouma Kokichi.” Kokichi introduced.

He reached his hand out for Shuichi to shake. The grim reaper could only stare down at the hand quizzically before redirecting his gaze to Kokichi’s. The purple-haired male watched him expectantly, waiting for Shuichi to shake it.

“If you don’t want to shake it, then that’s fine.” Kokichi turned back to the booth owner. “You said it was thirteen hundred yen, right? I’ll take it.” he said.

He began to fish through his pocket, mumbling to himself about where he put his wallet. Shuichi sighed, reaching into his trench coat and pulling out his wallet. Flipping it open, he pulled out a few bills and handed it to the booth owner.

“Here, I’ll pay for it.” he said.

Kokichi gaped at him in surprise.

“Wait! Saihara-chan, I can pay for it—“

“I already gave her the money. Just let it be.”

The purple-haired male pouted as the girl giggled.

“Aw, how sweet! By the way…” she leaned in closer to Shuichi, which startled him a little. “This scarf costs way more than thirteen hundred yen. The cost for it is...quite hefty, if I do say so myself.” she whispered lowly.

“How much does it cost, then?” Shuichi asked.

“Hm...maybe someone’s memories?” she hummed out in response.

Shuichi eyed her warily, but she only smiled at him brightly as she accepted the money from him. He sighed, withdrawing from her as Kokichi spoke.

“Well, since you bought it, I guess I should let you have it for now.” he handed the scarf to Shuichi along with a slip of paper. “And here’s my number.” he said.

Shuichi took the scarf and paper from Kokichi, examining them. As he did, Kokichi continued to eye him. Upon feeling the set of eyes on him, he glanced back at Kokichi.

“Yes?” he said.

“You know...the more I look at you, the more I feel like I’ve seen you before.” Kokichi commented.

Shuichi’s eyes widened in surprise as Kokichi leaned in towards him, purple eyes scanning him.

“I wonder...were we lovers in a past life or something?” he mused aloud.

“Were we...what?” he questioned, wondering if he heard him correctly.

“Lovers. Maybe we were lovers in a past life.”

“Were we?”

Kokichi shrugged.

“The world may never know.” the sound of a phone ringing reached their ears. “Ah, that’s mine. I’m going to need to go now.” Kokichi said.

He pulled away from Shuichi and began to walk past him.

“I’ll be waiting for your call, my beloved Saihara-chan!” he called out over his shoulder.

“My beloved…?!” Shuichi squeaked as he turned, watching Kokichi wave his hand as he headed down the steps and disappeared from his sight.

Shuichi sighed deeply.

“That was...interesting.” he murmured.

He looked down at the scarf, running a thumb along the fabric before focusing on the piece of paper that had Kokichi’s number on it along with his name and a quick doodle of himself. As he continued to stare at the two items, Kokichi’s question rang in his mind.

“I wonder...were we lovers in a past life or something?”

The bits and pieces from his dreams resurfaced as he thought back on them. This time, the mystery male had wispy purple hair, purple eyes, and a mischievous smile. He gripped the scarf tighter.

He couldn’t help but wonder if these dreams he was having were merely dreams or if they were something. Maybe they were pieces of his memory from his past life that he was told that he shouldn’t remember at all costs.

But if it were indeed those memories that stayed buried within him, locked in Pandora’s box...then Kokichi might be onto something.

#saiouweek #danganronpa v3 #saiouma #shuichi saihara #kokichi ouma #day 7 #shuichi’s birthday or free day #free day it is!#had this idea circling about in my head forever so here it is #goblin au anyone???#shuichi is the grim reaper #and kokichi is sunny #reincarnation (somewhat)#tw: ndrv3 spoilers #tw: angst #it’s...actually not that shippy i’m sorry ;^;#kawaiikichi

54 notes · View notes

huihuiheart · 4 years

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Knight Without His Armor- D&D Series

So going to be the first part of my Dungeons and Dragons series with Stray Kids.

Not so say this is for someone in particular, but.........maybe it is....you know who you is.....

Series Pairing: reader x Knight! Chan, reader x Dark Prince! Hyunjin, reader x Thief! Felix, reader x Fairy! Jisung

This chapter will be focused on Knight! Chan, ignore the stupid title please.....

Genre: fluff??, angst ??, smut

Word Count: 2,278

Warnings: kinky-ish?? Not really, it's really just love making honestly..... I don’t know that there are too many warnings in this chapter cause it shouldn’t be too much. Things will certainly get much filthier and more scandalous and more bloody most likely as this series goes on. I don’t have it all perfectly mapped out yet, but anyways I have this chapter in my brain, so let’s get to it!

Next Part

Your night started as wonderful as you could have hoped for, finally having convinced the boys to play dungeons and dragons with you. Everything was already set up by the time they got over. You sat the boys Christopher, Felix, Hyunjin, and Jisung around the table, having bribed them with snacks before pulling out the latest dungeons and dragons stuff you had gotten. While being out recently, a set of dice and a D&D map had caught your eye, and with tonight coming up, you decided to get it to have something special.

The boy’s imagination went crazy with a mix of cliche and their own unique twist. Though unfortunately for you, they slotted you into the cliche part. Deeming you the prized princess as they all laugh and giggle as you rolled your eyes, but if it got them to play, then you’d put up with it for one game.

After everyone rolls once, things are going great until you roll a second time, starting to feel a little queasy. After you roll a third time, it’s noticeably worse. You tell the boys you’re going to be right back, watching Hyunjin with the dice as you move to stand as the dice hit the table, the whole world goes black as you drop to the ground, passing out.

When you come to, your eyes slowly start to blink open until you notice your surroundings and sit up with a start notice that the room you’re in is unfamiliar to you. Twice the size of your modest apartment and adorned in gold, silver, and precious gems you’d never yet seen in person.

“Oh! I didn’t mean to startle you, princess!” A familiar voice and chuckle sound through the room, and it has your head whipping towards it immediately.

“Chris? Where are we? What’s going on?” You ask, moving to get out of bed, slightly panicking still as your eyes dart nervously around.

Chan is easing you to sit back on the bed, “Easy princess, easy~ You’re safe here. We’re in your room. For now, anyways ….we were discussing our plan when you fainted, so I brought you back here.”

“W-What?…..C-Christopher enough….y-you guys are taking this too far….”You try to take deep breaths feeling like you might black out again, which proves to be too much for your brain to process so quickly.

“What are you talking about Y/N? Please calm down ….we’re going to get you out of here soon enough, and then you won’t have to worry about a thing.” Chan gently places his hand on your shoulder with a small smile, one that quickly dropped as he saw your tears, tears that came without your realizing as you registered the fact that Chan truthfully had no idea what was going on. You had always been able to tell when he was lying after all …..not that he hid it well from anyone.

“O-Okay…..j-just assume I don’t know what’s going on….I-I think I hit my head rather hard.” You tried to cover so that Chan hopefully wouldn’t get suspicious, but you needed to figure out what was going on and how to get home hopefully. At the very least, you wanted the boys back with you, all of them! You didn’t know what you would do without them in your life.

Chan sighs softly, shaking his head, “Sounds about right for you…” He mumbles softly, but his tone is worried more than anything else, the other part of it only mildly teasing, “The dark prince….Hwang Hyunjin plans to force you to be his bride in two days so that he can take all your kingdom easily next, but he’s only going to bring bad things to your kingdom, so we have to get out and get home so that we can warn everyone of what’s to come ……I found a map to help us get home.”

You gasp, unable to help it as the map he pulls out is the exact one from your D&D game, causing Chan to look at you in shock, surprised by your reaction, “I-It’s nothing really…..anything else I need to know?”

“There’s someone who can help us…..his name is Felix…..he’s a thief and escaped the prison in this castle three times to date. They brought him in today and plan to execute him at dawn, so we’re going to unlock him, and he’ll help us out of the castle, but we have to go tonight ...are you feeling up to it?” Chan questions softly, to which you nod.

You squeak when you feel Chan pressing his lips against yours, but you gladly kiss him back. Sure he was your friend, but with how tempting a man he was, your imagination couldn’t help but wander …..quite a bit at that …

“My princess….”Chan’s voice becomes gravelly as he lays you back, “…you’re so strong. Even if it’s just for your people…” He trails off, taking your breath away as he kisses down your jaw to your neck, “Let me thank you again, my love~……and let me feel you once more before we’re on the run. Grant me that wish your highness so that if anything happens to me, I have the peace of memories with you.”

Your heart both fluttered and ached at his meaningful words, but the softness in his eyes as he asked made it impossible for you to refuse him this as you nodded through your widened eyes as you registered his change in demeanor. Chan’s eyes darkened and showed that while he was the loving man he’d been a second ago, this wasn’t going to be soft and vanilla-like you had been expecting.

Chan reaches to untie your corset back on your dress before gripping and ripping it off, “I’ve wanted to do that to this dress since he gave it to you..”He growls darkly.

“W-Who?….H-Hyunjin?” You ask softly, gulping as soon as you see the look he gives you. Realizing your mistake as his dark eyes bore into your soul, and despite thinking that you probably shouldn’t have said it, part of you was enjoying it as your wetness seeped through your panties, registering the dominance rolling off Chan.

“F-Fucking say his name while I’m taking you to bed again and see what happens, princess~” Chan nips at the shell of your ear with his threat, causing your heart to hammer in your chest as he said princess in such a tone as if to challenge you.

“Hyunjin~” You moan softly to challenge right back before what’s left of your dress is ripped to shreds by the man before you. Though you’re surprised as he gently spreads your bare thighs, the softness is the exact opposite of anything you would have expected, and you didn’t know what to make of it as he kisses up your thigh towards your panties. His eyes screamed that he was up to something, and the anticipation was driving you mad. Soon enough, you feel his teeth biting at your hips as he looks at you coyly before they move to take the fabric of your panties between them, “ Oops~ Guess I should’ve been paying more attention~” He teases smugly through your panties as he’s dragging them down with his teeth.

“F-Fucking tease~ I thought you were going to punish me~” You quip, quirking an eyebrow, and swiftly rewarded with a slap to your inner thigh.

“All with good time, love~ Though we both know that you hate when I tease the fuck out of you….so that’s a pretty decent punishment in itself too.” Chan doesn’t miss a beat, and it has you moaning. Suddenly wishing with how well this Chan knew you that you’d given your Chan permission to do this long ago. Considering how good it seemed when you had barely even been touched, mind swirling with all the possibilities of where he was going to take things tonight.

“Do you have the patience for that, Christopher?” You inquire softly, and he picks up on how your question isn’t to tease this time.

Chan hums in thought, nipping at your collarbone as two of his fingers rub through your folds to gather some of your wetness before meeting your clit in soft circles, “Not tonight, princess….not tonight...” He sighs softly though his voice sounded strained when he spoke as if it was already impossibly hard to hold back.

“C-Chris….”You moan softly, eyes fluttering shut to which he growls softly into your ear in disapproval.

“Don’t you close those eyes, princess…” Chan demands fingers leaving your clit to slap your thigh again before they return to your core, slowly dipping into your sopping entrance, “…want you to keep your pretty little eyes on me….want to remember who was the one to make you feel like this.” He continues, fingers carding through your hair before gripping the back of your head and lifting it so that you could watch his fingers disappearing inside of you. “Watch what I’m doing to you~”

Chan’s eyes also trail down to the sight of his fingers thrusting oh so slowly into your core, your soft moans and whimpers music to his ears as he ingrained each one into his memory.

“C-Christopher please~” You plead softly on the brink of insanity at his teasing, the sight before you proving to be too much when coupled with it, “I-I need you to fuck me now, please~”

Chan slaps your hand away as it starts to rub his bulge through his pants, “Hands off, love~ This is about you feeling good. Until you cum you aren’t getting my cock….and don’t think I’m going any faster.~” The full scope of your punishment is revealed though he does show a sliver of mercy knowing you wouldn’t likely cum just from his teasing thrusts, and while he doesn’t speed up, his fingers thrust into you harder, curling deliciously with each thrust, thumb pressing against your clit. His other hand still holds your head to watch each action against your pussy. Taking satisfaction in each cry that left your lips leading up to your orgasm, moaning himself feeling the way your core clamps down around his fingers so tightly when you cum. Pulling them away to suck clean, he gently lays your head back down again and moves, to quickly get his suddenly extremely constricting clothes off as well.

Your whines draw his gaze back to you, smirking when he realized that your impatience is due to seeing his bare skin, “Don’t worry princess, you’re going to get what you want, and as long as your eyes are on me like a good girl then it’s not going to go anywhere.” He assures softly, before taking his place over you again, teasing his tip through your folds before suddenly pushing entirely inside of you with a moan.

“C-Christopher!” Your squeal, coupled with your nails raking down his back only encourages his actions, not giving you time to adjust as he relentlessly thrusts into you. He presses his forehead to yours softly in contrast to the way his hips meet your thighs in bruising contact, while his hands keep them spread as wide as you can take. Chan’s hips were moving so sinfully, yet his eyes held a softness….the teasing side still there as well as he kept his lips just out of reach from you.

“I-I don’t think so, love….you’re going to give me every little sound and every facial expression that I’m fucking out of you. Y-You can get all the pleasure you want if you just give that to me.” He promises, his hands leaving your thighs to pinch and pull on your nipples. Gentleness barely there is his full focus is on flooding your senses with as much ecstasy as he could, eyes focused on every tiny detail of his face, to see how it’s changing with each stroke of his cock against your walls or touch to your nipples. Until he’s decided he’s had enough patience even for this situation, and he’s moving his hips, angling them to hit the spot that would have you seeing stars. The knot in your stomach impossibly close as he knew would be the case when he started to thrust the way he was now, yet, he also knew that there was one more thing he could add to give you that sweet release in the best way possible. His thumb finding your clit and sending wave after wave of your high wracking through your trembling body, barely keeping enough sanity to keep your eyes open for him as had asked of you. You’re glad you did, though thinking, that if you ever get the chance to fuck Bang Chan again, you’ll have to will yourself to keep your eyes open for the godly sight of Chan cumming for you. His thrusts get sloppy as he rides you both through your highs, body glistening in the sunset light flooding through the window against his form as sweat beads on his skin from your activities. Best of all …. his head thrown back in a grunty moan being ripped through his throat, the sound raspy and growly, and you could see it coming before you heard it. Chan panting softly afterward, leaning down to give you a heated yet exhausted, breathless kiss before pulling away to get a damp cloth to clean you.

“Rest up, princess, I’ll get everything prepared and wake you a bit into the night when it should be safe to go.” Chan kisses your forehead now, tucking you in as you start to doze off already, “We’ll meet up with Felix and get to safety then…don’t you worry, my princess.”

#stray kids imagine #stray kids smut #bang chan imagine #bang chan smut #christopher bang imagine #christopher bang smut #chan imagine #chan smut #dungeons and dragons series skz

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youngdreamer3214 · 4 years

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Alright I know I already asked but could you also do prompt 20 with Jason Todd and Raven or Speedy and Raven

Thank you for requesting. I hope you enjoy reading this. Please read and review.

Assume Standard Disclaimer #20. “Who hurt you?" Jason todd + Raven Pairing

Prompt list

The dark clouds struggled to withstand the weight of the water, almost wanting to let go but not being able to just yet. The air was thick with the sweet scent of the coming storm and nothing had a shadow. Winds were blowing rapidly almost as if they were in a race with each other, seemingly careless and play full not caring if anything comes in their way.

The former thief had just returned to the city after completing a mission on the other side of the world. It was tiring to say the least but he was glad that he was finally back. He was on his way to titan tower, silently observing the weather deep in his thoughts, which were mostly about her.

He had missed her; it had been four months since he had seen her, since he had held her in his arms and he couldn’t wait to have her in his arms which was why he was making his way to her immediately entering the city, instead of going to his condo.

God, he sounded like such a sap right now and he was glad that nobody could hear his thoughts; if his brother’s heard his thoughts then he would never hear the end of it.

But for some reason he didn’t mind, he wanted to shout from every rooftop in this city that he had feelings for her, that she was his. He shook his head at how caveman-ish was his last train of thought but couldn’t stop a smile from coming on his face with it also.

So, he was territorial over her, but can you blame him? For a kid who grew up in the slums of Gotham city, who had to fight for every shred of happiness and peace while experiencing the worst humanity had to offer, he couldn’t be blamed for keeping someone who made him feel peace and joy like nothing he had ever experienced, all to himself.

He is selfish like that.

Jason rubbed his covered neck, still in his Red X suit all lost in fantasies of her, he couldn’t wait to have her in his arms, where he wouldn’t let her go, her teammates can deal with it.

Everything went downhill since the day his elder brother and the leader of the titans discovered that it was him under the skulled mask; to say it was chaotic would be putting it mildly.

It took a couple of years for the shock of him coming back to life, anger at him and his little bird for keeping it hidden and the anger and resentment he held against the bat family to die down; it took time and many confrontation to come to the point where he attended family dinners and was willing to work alongside them when required.

He still wouldn’t call himself a hero but he also wasn’t a villain, an anti- hero of sorts.

He also knew that none of this would possible without his little bird, he probably would be drowning in his sorrows while covering it with anger if she had not found him or pushed him towards his family.

She was his light.

He chuckled at the irony of his last thought; a creature of darkness, a demon was his light. But damn him to hell and back, if that wasn’t true.

She was there for him when he thought that he was sad, hurt and angry because of the world and at the world. She showed patience with him, something that many people failed to do. But most importantly she loved him, even if they hadn’t said it out loud yet but he could see it in her eyes and feel it in his own heart.

He arrived at the island which housed the tower and grinned mischievously; instead of using the door he started climbing the wall knowing full well how it irritated his older brother, making a point to give a two- finger salute to the surveillance camera in front of him and climbing up.

He finally reached his destination, feeling like he had reverted to his old ways as he opened the window, grinning knowing that she always left it open for him and made his way inside to his prize.

His heart started beating erratically as he saw her petite form swallowed by her comforter on her side but in the dark he couldn’t see her properly but he didn’t pay much mind to it, he was just happy to be surrounded by her calming presence, it had been too long and without thinking twice, he started shredding his suit, leaving him only in his black boxers.

He kept his suit on the corner and made his way to her bed, as silent as possible and got inside the covers, laying behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist awaiting the first night of peaceful sleep he would get in months when he heard her groan in pain.

He pushed himself away as if he had been burned, seeing her stir awake. He switched on the night light and his heart slowed down, his usual aquamarine eyes turned lazarus pit green as rage and worry flowed through him seeing her condition.

She was lying on her back and lightly rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she saw her boyfriend assess her. She looked at gorgeous as he remembered with her violent- black long hair, pale skin and that red gem on her forehead hidden by her flick and in her sports bra and sleeping shorts but the only problem Jason had with the sight presented in front of him were the white bandages covering her waist, some of her right thigh, her ankles and the most worrisome was the bandage on her forehead.

She looked at his angry face staring at her wounds but before she could say anything he asked in a gruff voice barely controlling his anger and voice “What the hell happened to you?”

She started to get up and in an sitting position when he gently pushed her back to lie down and tucked the comforter around her while she stared at her handsome boyfriend, still not being able to digest the fact that he was here and in front of her.

“Don’t move.” He ordered her with a strict voice, and she complied knowing that now wasn’t the time to mess with him. His rage was surfacing right now and her heart warmed looking at him, she could feel his worry and concern for her.

She took her arm out from the comforter and placed it on his, silently sending waves of calmness through her empathy. He stopped and stared at her pale hand on his before losing himself in her deep pools of amethyst.

“Jason…” she began in that smoky yet sexy voice of hers that always makes his heart beat erratically. “I just got a little distracted during the fight today, and besides I am not that hurt…I will be better tomorrow.”

She tried to give him a reassuring smile but he just looked her straight in the eye and asked in a deadly tone “Who hurt you?”

Raven sighed, silently rubbing his hand with her thumb, trying to calm him down but her efforts were in vain.

He wouldn’t calm down, he couldn’t knowing that someone had hurt his little bird; someone had harmed the one who he loved with every fibre of his being, the one who made his tortured life worth living.

He was angry.

He was angry at her for not taking proper care of herself, he was angry at her teammates for not protecting her but most importantly he was angry at himself for not being there to protect her, take care of her.

She knew that he wouldn’t calm down till he got to know what happened so she recounted “Today Adonis and Doctor Light were causing some trouble together in the city…I was occupied fighting Doctor Light that I missed Adonis who charged at me and crushed me against a wall.”

Jason ran his hand through his black curly hair angrily, his stubborn white lock still insistent on falling on his forehead. He kissed her hand which was still in his and got up from her bed heading towards his suit.

He needed to pay some villains a visit.

He had just put on one leg of the pants when he heard “Jason, where are you going?”

“I think I need to remind the villains of this city who Red- X and what happens when you mess with him or the people he loves.”

Her heart skipped a beat when he indirectly said that he loves her, they had yet to confess their feeling to each other. “Jason, they are already in prison.”

She hoped that he would come back to her but he just grinned sinisterly and said “Makes my work a lot simpler.”

She sighed and summoned all her strength, getting up from the bed and walking towards him. He had almost suited up but when he felt her hand on his shoulder he immediately turned and saw her standing behind him looking a bit pained. She took his arms and placed them around her waist while hers went around his broad shoulders.

His anger slowly bubbling down, he hated and loved that she could calm him with her patient actions and soothing touch.

He was about reprimand her for getting up from the bed in her wounded state. But before he could say anything she started “Jason, I’m fine…I’ll heal up by tomorrow. Don’t worry about me.”

He placed his forehead on her uninjured part of forehead carefully, his body still flowing with concern and said “I will never stop worrying about you Raven, it hurts me to see you in pain and it hurts me even more to know that I wasn’t here to protect you from it.”

She smiled and reached up to place a kiss on his forehead, swallowing up the pain in her ankle and said softly “You are here now.”

His heart soothed with her words, yes he was here now and he vowed to himself to always be there and with that he leaned down and placed her lips on hers, engulfing both of them in a passionate and loving embrace which they were deprived of for four months.

After a while he parted from her, both of them panting but he still continued his ministrations on her, kissing from her cheek to her neck making her moan. Not able to get enough of her, good god have mercy on him, he missed her addictive taste so much.

After a while he pulled away from her, staring into her eyes lovingly. Wordlessly he bent down and carried her bridal style to her bed and placed her gently saying with a gentle kiss on her forehead “I will always be there for you.”

He stripped once again out of his suit and smirked seeing Raven blush at the sight of him clad only in his boxers, almost three years and he still made her blush.

He approached her, flexing his muscles and almost groaned seeing the lust in her eyes. Well that would come tomorrow, once she was all well no power on earth would be able to pull him away from her.

The vigilante laid next to her and she slowly sprawled herself over him, her head resting over his heart and with cautious reluctance he wrapped his arms around her after pulling the comforter over them and asked “Are you okay?”

“With you, how can I not be?”

She said in a sleepy voice and his heart skipped a beat. There was no place where he would rather be than here- with the girl he loves with everything he has- in his arms.

Yup, he loves her. Now he just had to tell her.

#jayrae #redrae #raex #raven #jason todd #teen titans #dc #fluff #prompts

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tornrose24 · 3 years

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What’s the use of feeling? (Red Diamond AAU drabble)

(Contains mentions of abuse.)

(Also, we still have yet to meet this mystery sister in the series, so I don’t know what her actual personality is supposed to be like. Also thank god for YD’s helmet since that’ll help everyone imagine their version of the sister for this).

Original Gem AU (as well as zircon!George, sapphire!Harold, and peridot!Melvin) belongs to angerydj.

Alexandra belongs to me.

All of Homeworld knew that the Diamond siblings were like night and day. Yellow Diamond was cold, focused, and rarely showed a soft side, while Blue Diamond was more easy going, yet could be alarmingly harsh if he needed to be. Yellow Diamond only surrounded herself with trusted allies, while Blue Diamond took on a female jasper as a wife and they each had a hand in creating their own child. It was universally agreed that they were both better rulers than the long deceased Red Diamond, yet like any siblings, they too had their issues with each other behind closed doors.

“I thought I told you to stop coming here, Blue!” Yellow Diamond snapped at her brother upon finding him in a red hued chamber where numerous gems were bubbled.

“I understand, but...” Blue Diamond sighed. In a moment of weakness, he found his older brother’s destroyed palanquin on Earth, reflected on times long lost to him, and ended up speaking with a human who somehow found her way to it. Surprisingly, she showed no fear towards him and seemed to empathize with his loss of a loved one. He was so moved by her compassion that he couldn’t help but take her to the human zoo out of a need to protect at least something good that came from Red Diamond’s planet.

Little did he know that the same human and her daughter were hiding in that very same room, trying to look for a way out while staying out of the diamonds’ sight.

“You not only insist on keeping the zoo around, but you still haven’t bothered to shatter any of these gems!” Yellow Diamond scowled at the bubbled gems. “All of them were subjects who rebelled against him or did nothing to aid him!”

“I know but they’re still among the last we have of Red.” Blue Diamond took a random bubble and examined it–it was hard to tell what gem was inside it at his current size. “I don’t think he’d want us to get rid of them.”

Both Edith and Alexandra stared in shock at all the bubbled gems. There were perhaps hundreds of them–how long had they been like this?

“What are you talking about?!” Yellow Diamond snapped. “Our brother never cared about anyone but himself! Sure he might of wanted to spare the humans at one point, but we both knew he’d just want some as pets! That’s why we made the zoo, which we only kept around for experiments that failed! A lot of gems on Earth made it clear that he was a terrible ruler, and many of them were his enemies! So why would he go out of his way to want to save those who failed him?! He deserved to be called a monster and you know it!”

“You and I know that’s only because Mother–!” Blue Diamond began to snap, but stopped himself. Red Diamond may have been created first, but White Diamond saw him as someone to torture and humiliate for reasons not clear to him or Yellow. There was no way Red’s behavior was completely his own fault... or so Blue wanted to believe.

Alexandra felt her mom’s grip on her shoulder tighten up. She looked up to see her mother looking unusually angry and there was a flash of pain in her eyes as she overheard the diamonds. She touched Edith’s hand, causing the woman to flinch and realize where she was before they could continue their escape.

Yellow sighed and pinched her nose. “What’s the use of feeling, Blue?” She asked. “You want to employ those subjects who destroyed him? Yes we miss him, but you have other things to worry about. You have a purpose to focus on–the sapphire has clarity, an agate keeps others in line, a lapis terraforms, and even your own son was given a purpose.”

Ah yes, Blue Diamond’s son. Yellow Diamond never liked the entitled brat–he was given to Red Diamond as a way to try to help him out on Earth. But Blue Diamond spoiled the jasper and Red Diamond let the young gem do as he pleased, only for the gem to get humiliated by members of the rebellion and end up in Yellow Diamond’s court. Jasper came to her with bubbles containing gems who were supposedly the families of at least two members of the rebellion and expected a promotion (he didn’t get it and of course threw an embarrassing tantrum that would have made a toddler gem’s look tame in comparison). She sent him to aid an insufferable little peridot, but had no clue why he hadn’t come back yet.

If Blue had more better behaved children, or if Red had showed interest in having any, she would have loved the idea of being an aunt. Instead she shook off those thoughts and tried to face the present. “You need to be a leader and focus on a plan of attack.” She continued. “Look forward, don’t look back!” She ripped the bubbled gem from Blue Diamond’s grasp and tossed it away.

Neither diamond saw the bubble head right towards Alexandra and Edith. It bounced where it landed and almost on instinct Alexandra couldn’t help but grab it.

Blue grimaced and turned away, which only angered his sister. “You think you’re the only one whose still mourning?” Yellow snapped. “Not a day goes by that I regret that we caved in and let him have Earth. But do you see me moping about it all the time? So tell me why? What’s the use in feeling–?” Yellow Diamond couldn’t help but remember in that moment–giving him the planet as if trying to shut up an annoying toddler. Once upon a time she had loved him dearly, but after White Diamond pushed him too far–

“What’s the use in feeling?”

She clutched the edge of the railings of the chamber as memories she tried to bury threatened to overcome her.

Those memories of times she and Blue watched Red getting pelted with various objects at the command of White for doing things that displeased her. The taunting that he’d always be a failure every time he tried to please their mother. Him screaming as he was dragged to that tower with no windows for being out of line while she and Blue did nothing out of fear for angering their mother. Him gradually lashing out and tyrannical over others because it was all he had when there was nothing to rule over for him. Him throwing fits that she’d respond back with indifference or with harshness because she had no clue how to else to respond.

“What’s the use in feeling?”

Those memories of times when she should have turned her focus on helping Red Diamond properly heal or help him get back to the once happy gem that he had been in her earliest memories. Instead she and Blue focused on their own tasks and personal happiness until a red quartz–

“What’s the use in feeling–?!” Yellow stopped herself with by humming a melody as a way to calm herself in stressful moments.

Blue walked over and placed a hand over her shoulder. She grabbed his hand back. There were no words needed to be said.

Neither of them saw Edith and Alexandra running out of the room. Though Edith couldn’t help but shoot one last sympathetic look at the diamonds while Alexandra hugged the bubbled gem to her chest.

****

The rest of the escape wasn’t easy but it ended with an agate that was humiliated and left at the mercy of many amethysts who were eager for some much needed payback.

When everyone was back on Earth, the young gems and Alexandra gathered around the gem that she had taken with her. The number of gems had slowly been growing and Edith was thankful that they all had a place to go close by since she couldn’t fit them all under her roof.

Yet it was a moment of anticipation–who would come out of the gem this time?

In a flash of white, a small gem with wild curly hair in a long dress revealed herself. The star on her head band indicated that she was once part of the rebellion.

“Moonstone!” Almost instantly the gem was swept into a huge hug by Bo the bismuth. “We got Moonstone back!”

“Where am I?” Moonstone’s voice came out in whisper like tones. “Did we win?”

“We did! You won’t believe it but we did!”

Edith took in the excitement of all the gems (though Melvin was very indifferent since he never was friends with Moonstone), but there was one who was faking it. Harold wore a smile, but there was a hint of frustration in his eye that confused Edith until she remembered.

He was hoping that Alexandra had brought back Pink Sapphire. Much like the diamonds, the yellow sapphire deeply missed his own sibling.

It appeared that Alexandra noticed the sapphire’s expression as well, but she didn’t say anything. If mother and daughter had their way, they would have taken more than one or at least checked to see if Pink Sapphire was among the bubbled gems in that room.

Edith thought back to the diamonds. She remembered everything that Benjamin told her about his family, but she couldn’t believe she’d ever see them in person. Though honestly it had been of a scare for her to be kidnapped and placed in a ‘zoo’ of humans who all seemed very eager to be partnered up with her (Benjamin would have been rendered speechless at her outfit, but she was positive he’d have thrown the hugest fit imaginable if he knew where she had been taken).

It appeared that despite Benjamin’s beliefs, both Edith’s brother and sister in-law had missed him all this time and her heart went out to them. Yet she couldn’t dare come out and tell them the truth–she couldn’t risk those gems taking her daughter away from her forever. Especially if White Diamond was truly as horrible as Benjamin made her out to be.

If a station full of trapped humans and bubbled gems was all that was left of Red Diamond to Blue and Yellow Diamond, Alexandra was all that was left of Benjamin to her.

Trust me I wanted Heidi to be the gem instead of Dressy, but it didn’t feel like the timing would be right.

#captain underpants #cu gem au #red diamond aau

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andrewmoocow · 4 years

Text

Steven Universe: The Fantastic Mutants chapter 3: Enter the Brotherhood (originally posted on July 11, 2020)

AN: Sorry this took so long to come out readers. Coronavirus, online school and all that jazz just had me occupied for a good while. Hopefully you've been keeping yourselves entertained in the midst of this quarantine; I've gotten into Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic among others. Anyways, let's get back, at long last, to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning of Gifted Youngsters (or just Xavier Institute or XIHLGY since that name might be a bit too long for some) and see how the Crystal Gems and their new allies can get out of this one!

A few hours prior to their invasion of Professor Xavier's school, the Brotherhood of Mutants sat around a table examining the exploits of the Crystal Gems to get a good idea of what they'll be getting into. "Don't ya think we're in over our heads?" Juggernaut asked his fellow mutants while watching video footage of Lapis stealing the ocean. "I mean, one of them can literally use 75% of the planet to kill us all!"

"The blue one may have the strongest power, but she is also rather emotionally fragile." Black Tom remarked. "In fact, all of them are pretty unstable once you think about it. Insecure, dependent, obsessed, haughty, cowardly, hotheaded..."

"Quit with the psychology stuff Tommy!" Pyro exclaimed out of boredom. "What I wanna know is how could they brainwash three world-destroying monarchs so easily? Could the same happen to us too?!"

"Well, the boss maybe." Sabretooth answered. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

However when Creed wasn't looking, the master of magnetism was standing behind him with Mystique at his side. "Lemme guess, he's standing right behind me."

"How could you guess? Do you have psychic abilities like Xavier?" Mystique snarked as she sat down next to the clawed mutant. "I've been discussing plans with Erik for the past few minutes, plans on how to infiltrate these Gems. He chose the water-controller as the one I should masquerade as since it would require that I retain my usual skin color."

"He's got a good point, but why are we hunting these down in particular?" Avalanche wondered. "Is it because of how celebrated they became for allying with the Avengers?"

"Not quite everyone." Magneto revealed. "Our current ally Doctor Doom wants the child's gemstone for the purpose of creating his own army of half-Gem warriors. And taking care of them will be so fulfilling for me after Rose had left me all those years ago."

In the present day, the Brotherhood had begun their assault on the Crystal Gems, with their archenemies the X-Men caught in the crossfire and the Fantastic Four as well. The mansion was left damaged in their arrival and the Brotherhood now has the heroes surrounded.

"Now my friends, are we going to make peace by handing the child to me or must we resort to drastic measures?" Magneto purred threateningly, holding out his hand and expecting someone to shake it.

"Like we'll ever let you have Steven!" Garnet stated. "Just a few weeks ago, he was nearly captured in a situation similar to this one, and we refuse to let it happen again."

"So when I want to do what's right, you try to fight back." Erik pointed out. "Yet when those three Diamonds plotted to destroy Earth, you let them off scot-free simply because they were mourning a bratty child that was no better than them? The hypocrisy is quite strong here!"

"Can we just cut the blabbing about our morality and fight already?!" Amethyst complained while wriggling free from Black Tom's vines and pouncing on Toad, tying his tongue around his eyes to blind him. "Why are you always targeting me?!"

With that, the battle properly began. The Crystal Gems charged at the Brotherhood of Mutants with the X-Men and Fantastic Four by their side, tearing up the mansion even more.

During the chaos, Morph snuck around the battlefield in the guise of Garnet and tackled Sabretooth from behind, sitting on top of both his arms. "You little shit, get offa me!" Victor exclaimed in agony while Morph then took the form of Groucho Marx. "I'd have you cry uncle, but you don't really have one as far as I know." He quipped while pretending to hold a big cigar.

Meanwhile Steven & Connie had formed into Stevonnie to gain a better advantage over Magneto, but he used psionic shields against their sword. "Gem fusion! I remember that quite well!" the master of magnetism recalled. "Garnet and Amethyst fused much like you to tear Auschwitz apart."

"Auschwitz?! You mean the Nazi concentration camp?" Stevonnie asked. "You must've been one of the Jews locked up there, right?"

"Indeed, me and my parents as well." Erik answered. "But alas, I wasn't one of the lucky ones."

It was October 7, 1944, towards the end of World War II when Erik's mutant powers awakened. When his mother was heartlessly shot dead by the scientist Klaus Schmidt, Erik promptly went berserk with a loud cry of "NEIN!" followed by manipulating every metallic object in the room, even crushing a pair of army helmets and the heads of the Nazis wearing them.

Klaus was excited at Erik's potential, but his joy turned to fear when a loud crash was heard before a massive purple flail burst through the roof of his office. "Mein gott." The mutant ally of the Third Reich muttered in awe of Sugilite. "Hey small fry!" the brutish fusion grinned while grabbing Schmidt by the collar with two large fingers. "Why don't you try picking on someone your own warped fascist government?!"

"Please let me go!" Klaus begged for mercy. With a toothy smirk, Sugilite gave her word and dropped the man back through the hole made in his roof, landing Klaus on his desk and making him too injured to get up. "Puny Nazi." Sugilite sneered before separating into Garnet and Amethyst.

"Bitte, hilf mir." The boy who would become Magneto croaked while crawling out from underneath the rubble, mildly injured but thankfully not comatose. "Bunte damen, hilf!"

Unfortunately, his voice was too hoarse for anyone around to hear. Not even the Nazis carrying away the bodies of his mother and Klaus were able to pay attention to the young mutant. "Is anyone else in here?" the voice of Rose Quartz called out as she stepped into the ruined office. However, she was able to find a certain young man pinned under pieces of ceiling. "Are you okay young man?"

Still hoarse, Erik was unable to give his name to the Gem. "Hallo, mein namen ist Rosenquartz." Rose introduced herself in some sloppy German. "Kannst du mich verstehen?"

"Rose!" the commanding tone of Captain America distracted her for a bit. "You have to come with me, they're bringing reinforcements from HYDRA!" he urged the Crystal Gem leader. With a small gasp, Rose turned back to Erik with some comforting words. "Don't worry little one." She assured him in English. "I'll be back for you soon."

But unfortunately for Erik, she never did.

"So you're hunting us down partially because Rose forgot about you?" Stevonnie asked. "Honestly, I'm not really surprised."

"I remember what happened that day!" Pearl exclaimed. "Rose couldn't come back for you because she was poofed during the battle and we had to retreat. I am truly sorry we were unable to make do on her promise."

"Sorry just won't cut it!" Magneto boomed, pinning Pearl to a wall with a steel beam using his powers."And no matter how much she tried to make amends when we met again, I still never forgot."

Nearly twenty years later in 1963, the Crystal Gems were touring the city on a sunny day when they found a large group of people gathered before a stage, where a man made a speech. "What are those guys doing?" Amethyst asked her fellow Crystal Gems. "I'm not sure, but I believe we should get a better look." Garnet answered.

As the Crystal Gems blended into the rather blasé crowd, the man continued speaking. "Despite the fact that you lauded such beings as the late Captain America, you also hypocritically look down upon mutants for possessing similar abilities."

"Uh actually sir," a young news reporter with a fake toothbrush mustache spoke up. "There is a clear difference. Captain America was given his powers by science to help win the war. Mutants on the other hand were born with their powers that could go out of control if pushed too far."

"Did anyone ask for your opinion boy?" the man boomed as he glared at the reporter. "Please don't take it out on me sir, I'm just a young reporter!" the newsboy nervously squeaked and then high-tailed it out of there. "But thanks for the story menace!"

"Hmph, children." The speaker rolled his eyes before returning to his speech, or he would've had he not found a familiar face joining his audience. "Wait, I remember you!" he shouted. Using his magnetic abilities, he pushed the spectators away by forming a path straight to Rose using the steel fence that once separated them. "Rose Quartz. How have you been coping with the captain's demise?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Rose asked the mutant. "Of course you'd forget about me." He replied. "I am known as Magneto, the master of magnetism! But I'm sure you'd at least remember me calling myself Erik."

"Oh my goodness, Erik?!" Rose exclaimed. "I am so sorry I didn't come back to you like I promised! There was HYDRA coming for us at Auschwitz, I just didn't have time and-"

"I believe that's enough!" Magneto roared before he proceeded to use the fences against Rose. "You have forgotten me at the camp, and now I shall make sure everyone forgets you!" He tossed the fences at the Gem, but Garnet & Pearl quickly deflected them. "Stay away from her!" Pearl called. "Amethyst, get everyone out of here while we take this one on!"

Amethyst gave a comical salute before she rounded up all the human spectators with her whip and dragged them to safety. "I see how it is." Magneto boomed. "You are just like all of them."

"No, you don't understand Magneto!" Garnet stated. "We've actually met and fought alongside a few mutants before! There was this Canadian one during the war, and we even met En Sabah Nur as well! The Crystal Gems value all life on Earth, whether they be ordinary humans or otherwise!"

"You can try to rope yourself into my good graces all you want Gems!" Erik growled. "Because nothing can ever change the past!"

"That fateful battle was how we first met Xavier. He had an older team of X-Men that saved us from him." Amethyst recalled. "Speaking of which, where could they be now?"

"Wrong time, wrong place!" Sunspot exclaimed while he fired a blast of solar energy at Juggernaut, who was unfazed. "Could this get any worse today?!"

"As a matter of fact, it can." Mystique replied sharply, snapping her fingers to summon a pair of massive blue and purple robots that towered over pretty much everyone. "Pink gem detected, pink gem detected!" the machines noted in unison. "Bring boy to Doom immediately!"

"Sentinels?!" Jean exclaimed. "And it seems this time, they've been modified to hunt him down!" Emma replied as the Sentinels held out their hands to trap Steven in a forcefield. "Guys, a little help?" he called out from inside his prison. "I can't seem to get out!"

"STEVEN!" the Crystal Gems screamed while the Sentinels slowly took off into the sky with the boy in tow. "Don't worry Steven, I'll save you!" Kitty exclaimed. "Storm, give me a boost!"

"You got it!" Storm replied, grabbing the younger mutant by the waist and lifting her up high with her flight abilities. When she was let go, Kitty leaped at the Sentinels and used her phasing powers to pass through the forcefield to rescue Steven. "Don't worry little guy, I got you!"

"Thanks Kitty, but I think we might be too late." Steven thanked sorrowfully, making his new friend look up to discover that the Sentinels were headed for a large airship above them. "Aw crud." Kitty smacked her face in irritation. "Guess I walked into that one."

"Now they got Kitty too!" Scott shouted. "Yeah, I think we got the picture!" Lapis said. "Can't any of you fly up and save them?!" Morph suggested. "You seem to love ignoring obvious solutions!"

Lapis rocketed into the air as she was joined by Angel, Storm, Firestar and Human Torch with intents to rescue Steven & Kitty, but unfortunately they were quickly shot down by the Sentinels, still slowly making their way inside the Brotherhood's vessel and leaving the other heroes behind.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you Crystal Gems." Magneto declared. "You may think just saying sorry will instantly make everything better, but time will never make people forget." He surrounded his Brotherhood in his forcefield and lifted them all up to his ship. When the villains got inside, the ship sped away from the destroyed mansion.

"I can't believe we lost him, just like that." Pearl muttered while on the verge of tears. However, Reed was there to put a comforting rubber hand on her shoulder. "Don't fret, I think I might know where they're heading." Mister Fantastic declared. "They're working with one of our greatest enemies known as Doctor Doom, which means their next destination will be his kingdom of Latveria."

"Latveria? I've read about that place." Connie replied. "Very good that you know about this place Fraulein Connie." Colossus complimented her. "But still, the combined forces of Doom and Magneto might need more than just our three teams here."

"I think our first step would be calling the Avengers." Peridot suggested. "But they agreed to let us solve our own problems unless it was absolutely necessary we needed their help." Garnet responded. "Maybe at least a few of their reserve members would be useful, but not the whole team."

"I do know someone who can help us, but I don't think a few of us are going to like it." Colossus announced, much to Wolverine's irritation. "You don't mean?" Logan growled. "Da, exactly." Piotr replied with a nod and then he turned to Connie. "Connie, the X-Men now have a very special job for you."

"Whatever it is Mr. Colossus, the Crystal Temps will do what we can!" Connie said exuberantly as Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth and Nephrite assembled behind her with goofy grins on their faces.

"I admire your optimism malen'kiy. And please, call me Piotr." Colossus continued. "I cannot believe I am saying this, but we need you to find for us," he ordered her. "Deadpool!"

Wolverine giving a loud aggravated moan followed this up.

Well, this sure took a while, hasn't it?

Bitch, a while doesn't even cut it!

Wait, Deadpool?! How did you get here?

I came here to yell at you for prolonging my long-awaited proper debut for months now! Well I've had it up to here with your lazy-as-shit behavior! Next chapter, you better let me help you out or I'm taking that "ANDY ONLY" folder on your laptop for myself!

You monster, I worked hard to build up that collection! Okay fine, you can help in parts. Deal?

Deal! And what are you still doing here? Get the hell outta here until next chapter, The Deadpool and Peridot Show! Damn, that chapter title really rolls off the tongue.

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theodinsonsonmidgard · 4 years

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Hold me Tight 2 - part 2-

Perhaps, as Thor said, it was true that those transparent waters had the power to cleanse your soul and make you think more clearly. Perhaps this is the power the Gods have given to the salt waters of Midgard. Thor and I enjoyed ourselves as I never remembered before. Perhaps only in our earliest childhood days, I remember a joy so pure in being together.

I swam with him, competing in speed with the white-crusted waves: we are young, we are strong, Sons of Odin, and we looked like the creators of Midgard came down to enjoy the beauties of that paradise. Sometimes I watched him swim, while I stopped to wash out the water dripping on my face from my hair. Thor, my wonderful brother. Thor, whom I feared having lost forever. Thor, please don't leave me behind ...

I wonder if I'm still your brother, at your eyes. Somewhere, in our past, a crack has opened up and is chasing us to swallow both of us once and for all. Even now.

It was my fault, Thor, I opened that crack, ... and I'll close it for both, i promise you. But don't let me go this time.

Then I couldn't think more because a dripping blond giant swept me away with a bear hug, and dragged me off with him, with a laugh, over the waves.

Dinner was roast meat of which my brother was very proud. As the air turned purple and the sun went down, I had already made my decision. No regrets. I felt strong, strangely euphoric. I wanted to hug him but I restrained myself. There would be time, i was sure of it.

The fire crackled placidly. The night air, which became almost pungent, didn't disturb me, on the contrary, it cooled my skin a little, and caressed my thoughts. Even the wind had changed its voice, its smell, ...no longer the scent of freedom, but something deeper, earthy, almost visceral. Perhaps due to the volcanic rocks and ungainly bushes of the hills above us. And he was there, beyond that bonfire ... with flaming reflections to sculpt his face, blonder than ever, an open smile.

Thor Odinson.

My brother. Who spoke loudly, who told me stories, who laughed, ...and I listened to him, teased him, laughed with him, while another part of me, secretly, was looking for the guts to put into effect what I had decided earlier.

It had been a wonderful day. The first since Thor brought me back. Perhaps one of the rarest of my whole life. And I didn't want to ruin it with what I was going to do, but I decided to be ready. Or anyway I could try. I wanted to start trusting.

Ours had been a wretched and unhappy family, yet, whether I wanted it or not, I loved Thor. Desperately.

I had given my life for him.

Twice. The word 'brother' in my mind has the bright face of Thor. And I had decided to let him enter in a part of my life so private and hurtful that I've been hiding since years. That I know only myself.

I wanted to start trusting him. Showing him that I had changed, that I could stop protecting myself and flee. Although it would have required a lot of courage, since I should have ...

Thor was laughing at me and the fact that I was staring at the fire dance like an idiot. I roused myself, smiling.

'C'mon, you bastard ...'

"Thor, listen ..." I bit my lip, he noticed it this time, and softened his voice.

"Loki, what is it? Do you have migraine? Do you want us to go home?"

I chuckled to hide the tension: would you face the most terrible of storms, knowing you were naked as a worm? Totally defenseless? Because this was what I was going to do from now on ...

"No, I'm great,... no, listen ..."

'Look at him, Loki ...'

"Do you remember when we fought each other, during all those painful and absurd years? You've always accused me of being too quiet. You told me to keeping you at a distance, to rejecting you. Of never making you enter my thoughts, explain my feels... that I was the worse brother, ... no, wait, please. " I smiled "Please wait ..."

A deep breath. Burning air, cold and salted, rising up the nose, until it invades my chest.

"So I decided that I can do it, a step towards you, brother, and try to break down this wall that keeps us in our pride. And that Surtur may devour me if I'm not trembling to the bone, damn you!"

Silence. Wind and the liquid chant of the sea, black into black.

"Do you remember when ...when I ...I let it go? When I fell down, long time ago, ... when everything was shattered, me for first but nobody cared. Remember when I came back and everything was different, everything changed. Your gang of new pompous friends, Midgard, ... all the rest. I have very confused memories of those days, but I remember well when we met again, between heaven and earth. And we talked, or rather we spit on each one our hatred. I could have told you then, but you had other things on your mind and no intention of listening. Or maybe not, I wouldn't have told you a shit either." I giggled nervously.

I was wearing an half-buttoned old shirt, worn and light, of which I didn't care at all,...dark blue, shiny fabric. I undid the third button.

"I fell into the void, then, ... into nothingness. I wanted... to die, to finally find peace, to appease my pain. Instead I found a worse hell. Perhaps the worstest of all. And I implored death as the sweetest of salvations."

Gods, it's terrible to remember aloud. I can't believe you're next to me, listening all of this. For real.

"He took me. I don't know how he did it, but I found myself crawling at his feet in an alien and terrible world. He was thirsty for power. He had a plan. He wanted everything. He wanted the Gems and crush down the Worlds, and I could be useful to him. But first he had to crush down me."

I undid another shirt's buttonhole.

"I know you never understood much of what's on my mind, Thor, ...but it wasn't your fault. Not always, at least. And this thing ... maybe it was beyond both of us."

I undid the penultimate button.

"There was no more day, no more night. There was only cold, pain and fear. There were many of them. They surrounded me. They laughed at me. Call me names. But his shadow on the moldy marbles was enough to make them disappear, leaving me at his mercy... Did you ever wonder why I hate sudden gestures, or why unexpected noises make me uncomfortable when they don't terrify me? "

Here, the shirt was open.

"Have you ever wondered why I stiffen every time you touch me? ... I was afraid of the whip, but the worst was the fire. The fire was the craziest pain, and ... I lost consciousness. Almost always. That maniac knew how to use the whip well. Where to hit. How to hit. He whispered in my mind, ... no one will ever care about you, little monster, ... nobody wants you, they despise you, spit on your shadow of demon, you're been a burden for everyone, you will always be, but I can give you the power that... if only you... "

I swallowed again. The air started to become cold, too much cold, ...carried with it a vague hint of resin ...

'NO!!'

It has always been like this. Frost magic woke up every time I was upset, or if something infuriated me, and blew ice on everything around me. But it couldn't happen there, ... there, in the sea waves glossy of moonlight, and the holey rocks of the volcanoes.

'Loki, dominate yourself!! Not now, Loki, not here!!'

The blue shirt slid over my shoulders, then I pulled my arms off from sleeves. Here, Thor, ... take a step into my world, ... look at my miserable pain.

"It was ... it was pure hell, Thor. A hell made of blood, pain and fear in which I crawled for I don't know how long. I saw my blood, I felt it on me, it made me sick. Did you ever notice how sickening it is the smell of blood? ... With fire I went crazy. With the blades I saw death in the eyes, and had the purple skin of my killer, that son of a bitch. He wanted me crushed, and he crushed me. He wanted me submitted and I bent. Because I healed. In a hurry. I am a God and he knew it. So the ... horror started again, always. The young Loki, the one who sought death to forget the pain, is gone. He was destroyed by that hell. I ... I don't know what he made me become but I survived by pure animal instinct, I survived the fire, the whip, the blades, the cold and beatings. But I healed more slowly, so he decided I was ready."

I didn't have the guts to look at Thor. I was there, bare-chested, arm in arm with him, and I felt his burning blue eyes on me. It burned like those blades.

Are you pale? Are you speechless? Furious? In tears? I don't want to know now, brother.

"I know what you are seeing. I know them one by one. They heal slowly. Some will never heal. Some intertwine on the shoulders, stretch to the chest. There is also a fire wound, next to it ... the blades instead were biting arms ...here, and here, ..." I barely touched my pale skin "The whip tore the skin from the back. The back is the worst. There are a couple that still hurt,...others no longer exist. Like here, on the eyebrow, or just above the ear..."

Scars. From the shoulders as far as a whip could reach. Or tongues of fire. Or those damn blades.

There was no better way to tell you. Nor a different way. Forgive me, brother...

He had to see them and I had to do it. I realized that if I wanted to recover from all my shit, I had to let go and expose myself.

Running away had only made things worse, it was festering everything.

I need my you to see, Thor. I need to hear your support. I wanted to know that you can be with me, so my recovery will be less painful and I could move on more easily. Will you stand by my side, brother?

So I looked up at him, and saw it.

The raging storm.

Flaming fury in Thor's dark eyes. Ready to lash out at me. I could feel them, those eyes, like a punch in the face. I knew I had hurt him and it devastating me. Now I realized I had broken him and I would have given everything to be able to go back and cancel that insane decision of mine. I wanted to die, and I probably would have died by his hand, because the one in front of me was no longer the chatty, smiling Thor who hugged me and called me "little brother".

He was the God of Thunder in his wildest and most primordial form. Rage and fury. It was pure berserk fury as I had never seen it before.

A terrifying roar shook the night sky and shook the earth beneath the volcanoes with a frightening groan. The air vibrated in my ears with such intensity that forced me to a stifled moan of pain. Then the air was shattered by the furious cry of the God of Thunder, which I had just completely broke with my senseless act. So I was ready to die.

#hold me tight 2 #part 2 #me and my brother #me and thor #odinsons brothers #odinsons on midgard #the odinson on midgard #forgive me brother

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ten-thousand-paper-wasps · 4 years

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Meeting that elf in Entrogten may possibly have been the worst decision of Zakurr's life. Sure, all elves were flighty and a mite too springy. Plenty of them were sexual, too. But Nells? Nells had something that set him apart from every other elf on the continent.

Nells was ashing stupid. The most senseless, inept, bafflingly foolish nincompoop Zakurr had ever had the misfortune to meet.

He deeply regretted telling him where he was headed, because of course Nells just happened to be going the same way, of course it was perfectly sensible to travel together. Zakurr was a fool. A fool.

He could see what the idiot was thinking, so he had to intervene. "We ought to avoid that mountain if we want to live."

"Absolutely not!" Zakurr was going to kill him. "Big guy like you, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Nells," he says, trying to remember how to be patient with idiots, "that mountain is filled with goblins. If we go there, by ourselves, they will eat us. And then we'll never get where we're going."

Nells pouted and huffed and whined. But Zakurr was resolutely not budging. Not that mountain. Zakurr wanted to live long enough to see his family again. He was not dying on some half-rotted mountain in winter because some fool of an elf wanted to pretend at bravery.

Bravery was more than fighting. Zakurr hoped he could live long enough to at least teach him that.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

A few weeks into their travels, and something is skittering around their camp. Great. It's not enough to travel with the most annoyingly clingy elf in existence, but now there's a weasel or a fox or an owlbear looking for an easy meal. Wonderful.

It turns out to be a spider. Probably young, if he had to guess? But it was already the size of his entire head, so he wasn't tolerating it in their camp. No sir. Not chancing it.

"How darling!" exclaimed the increasingly stupid elf, "Honeybear, can we keep it? Please?"

"No."

"Come now, it could be a little pet! We could teach it tricks! I've always wanted to have a pet on the road, it'll be such fun!"

He was not dealing with this. He was not dealing with this. Sure! Keep the blasted thing! It'll only kill them in their sleep or bring a whole ashing horde of spiders on them. Great idea, Nells!

"Darling?" Nells called. "Darling, I was the beastmaster in my hometown. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you? Really?" Zakurr snapped back. "You really want to raise an ashing spider, which will only get bigger, and hungrier, and probably try to kill us."

"Zakurr, it won't be all that hard, you just teach it to respect you and then to trust you, and then to obey."

Then, the bastard little beast bit him. He swatted it with one hand and broke three of its legs. It didn't try again.

He was going to regret this, he just knew it. "Keep it, then. But if it bites, I'll not refrain from killing it. Do you understand that, you daft plume of smoke?"

"I love you," the elf said. "His name will be Owlsby."

The confession left a pit in all three of his stomachs. Zakurr had a family. He was going home to them. He couldn't let himself be distracted by the favor of someone like Nells.

Merciful fires of birthing, if his village's elders even suspected that those feelings might be reciprocated, he could be cast out.

He might never see his wife and children again.

"Save your love for your little beast," he spits, and tries to ignore the shame rising up.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Falk laughed in their mad dash across the town. The amulet they'd stolen glowed softly, the soft, tinkling chime just on the edge of their hearing.

This was the little trinket old Doffelmaest was so worked up about? This old thing?

Cursed amulet of power, Falk's entire backside! It probably didn't even do anything. Oh well. At least it was pretty, and stealing it from Doffelmaest's study meant the old sorcerer would focus on it instead of nagging Falk about their studies. Again.

Falk was so distracted by the possibilities of a few weeks without Doffelmaest breathing down their neck, that they ran directly into Morrin, wearing her armor and a soft scowl.

"He's worried sick about you, you know," she sighed.

"How did you even find me?" Falk sputters. "I can't be magically located, this place is warded to the flames and back, I shifted forms four times on the way here, I made seven detours, I did everything right!"

"You really want to know?" she asks, a laugh in her warm, brown eyes. "I've only known you our entire lives, I know where you go when you're hiding. But also," she added, a touch devious, "that amulet has a tracking spell written on the back, and taking it set off, like, six alarms. Doffelmaest is cross with you, my dear."

"Old Doffelmaest can sit on a candle."

"He may yet, for all that you vex him," Morrin laughs. "Are you ready to go home, or do you want to stay here a little longer? I think I've got another half day before I'm expected to have found you."

"Can you stay with me? I just wanted some time out of his ashing tower, I don't care about the his stupid amulet."

So Falk spent the hours curled up with their oldest friend, the scent of her hair lulling them to sleep.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Falk did not appreciate waking up in a cell. Morrin was going to pay for this, they'd make sure of it. They could already imagine the lecture when Doffelmaest got there to collect them.

"You're grounded," the old fart grumbled. "No magic for a month, and no shapeshifting, either."

"That's totally unfair!" Falk whined. "It's just a stupid amulet, you've got thirty more in a drawer!"

"Falk, you know I take no pleasure in punishing you--"

Falk cuts him off with a snarl. "Eat my ashing cinders, you old bat! You just want to keep me in this tower like a wee pretty trophy to show off to all your weird friends! Oh," they mimic, "look at my little shapeshifter, I taught it to read and everything! Go sit on an ashing candle, you dried up--"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Doffelmaest roared. "You've disrespected me, you've disrespected the Guild of Sorcery, I'll not have you be so ill-mannered. If it weren't for me, you'd be on the streets again, do you understand?"

"Oh, sure, you only tell me every other week how ungrateful I am, how every novice in the city would jump at the chance to learn from you. Oh, Falk, you don't know how good you have it! Well you're not my ashing father!"

Falk ran up the stairs to their room, not interested in hearing Doffelmaest lay into them for the next three hours about manners and the importance of respecting one's elders.

The next two weeks pass in near silence, and Falk finds it more maddening every day.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"I've decided what I'm going to do with you," Doffelmaest tells them over breakfast. "An elf stopped by last night."

An elf? In Troggsydier? Didn't they tend to keep to their cities in the north? To find one so far south was nearly unheard of.

"What did the elf want?" Falk asks carefully.

"A spellcaster. His homeland has been cursed, you're going to go with him and fix it."

"I am?"

"You are. You're going to do it, because if you don't, you're out, do you understand?" Doffelmaest levels them with a glare. "You are replaceable, and I think it's time you understood that your flippant disregard for my orders will no longer be tolerated. Now," he orders, "this elf will come this afternoon to collect you. You are to be on your best behavior. You may pack your things."

And Doffelmaest gets up and leaves the table without another word.

Falk packs everything that isn't bolted down. Their bag is treated to the strongest extension charm Falk knows how to cast, and then they fill it with every book on their shelves, their favorite curios, a padded box of bones, several gems, and a deceptively small, yet heavy, purse of gold. They throw in their clothing, a bedroll, four different amulets of protection, and twelve heavy duty mana batteries, to maintain the extension charm and the feather-light spell they plan to cast when they finish packing.

Sneaking into Doffelmaest's private library is a little harder, but Falk manages to slip past his alarms. They take all the books that look interesting. Thick, heavy volumes on more advanced magic, old, yellowed tomes filled with diagrams in red ink, seven translation guides to other common languages. Twelve more for uncommon ones. A bag of candy. A blank book with loose pages and an assortment of pens. Doffelmaest's purse, even heavier than Falk's.

They were really robbing the old man blind, but it's not as if Falk planned to come back. They hoped the elf was kind. They hoped he wasn't like the sorcerer.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Falk laid and reinforced the final spells on their traveling pack and all its contents. Expansion, to hold everything they'd stuffed in it, protection, to keep everything safe and stop it from breaking, cushioning, to make it more comfortable to carry, and feather-light, so Falk didn't kill themselves trying to heft it. They thumbed the cursed amulet still in their pocket. Doffelmaest can eat cinders. They filed off the tracking spell.

They walked down the mossy steps of the tower for the last time. The elf would be in the lobby.

The "elf" was a nine-foot tall mass of muscle and meat, with biceps for days and three swords on his belt. The furs around his waist where decorated with the skulls of what were probably kobolds. He had short, pointed horns at his temples and his hair was a mass of braids and tiny chains and feathers.

"Greetings, youngling," boomed the walking wall of beef, "I am called Zakurr, my companion has sent me to pick up the young sorcerer we are to travel with. Might you know where they can be found?"

Doffelmaest appeared at their side, a hand on Falk's shoulder. The hand squeezed painfully, a warning.

"I greet you gladly, sir Zakurr," Falk says in their Proper Voice. "The Grand Sorcerer, Lord Doffelmaest, is my master, and has bid me travel with you. How may I be at your service?"

"My apprentice is very talented," Doffelmaest assures him. "It can perform many acts of magic. I'm certain you and your companion would find it most helpful."

"We are glad to hear such!" Zakurr rumbles, only slightly less loud than thunder itself. He presses a small purse into Doffelmaest's hand. "What are you called, youngling?"

Doffelmaest leaves and Falk can breathe again. "I am called Falk, sir Zakurr. I can shapeshift. I look forward to meeting your needs."

"You need not be so formal with us, dear Falk. I would have you know us in comfort."

"Your pardon, good sir. My master has taught me it is rudeness to be informal with elves, even one so mighty as yourself." Falk can breathe, they're out of the tower at last, they're free, they're free!

Zakurr laughs, a boundless, thunderous sound. "I am an orc, my dear friend! My companion is the elf, and arguably about as formal as a passel of chickens. Be at ease, I beg you!"

Falk gives a small smile and tries to calm their racing heart. "When shall we leave the city, Zakurr?"

"On the morrow," the orc replies. "We must head to the market first, then back to the inn, and we'll leave in the morning."

"May I visit the guard before we go? I'd like to say my goodbyes."

Zakurr sent them off with a mighty chuckle, saying he'd be at the market whenever Falk was ready. Falk was not expecting him to trust them out of his sight so quickly.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"You're leaving?" Morrin gasped. "Falk, you can't, I know Doffelmaest is grating, but it's a home, and--"

"Morrin, he sold me to an orc not two hours ago." Falk told her, deadpan.

"He did what? Where the orc? Is he planning to eat you? You can't be thinking of going with him alone, are you? Ash on the hearth, Falk, I'm not anxious for you enough, you've got to go and--"

"He seemed pretty nice. If nothing else, going with him gets me out of the city and out of the old fart's reach. I'm going to be okay. I just wanted you to know." Falk presses a soft kiss to the side of her head. "I'm going back to the inn with him tonight, we'll leave tomorrow. Be good, I love you."

And Falk vanished, leaving Morrin alone with a grief she couldn't name.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Zakurr opened the door and stepped out of the inn, intent on doing his business, only to find himself boxed in by the most furious dwarf he'd ever seen. "Can I help you?" he asked sheepishly.

"You the orc what's taking my Falk?"

Was she the youngling's wife? Sister? Mother? Admittedly, he was not good at guessing the ages of anything that wasn’t an orc.

"And who are you?" he asked, in the softest voice he knew, still several times the normal speaking volume.

"Morrin. Town guard. You know how many times my Falk's been arrested? How troublesome they are? Taking them'll only bring you problems, I swear it."

The insistant fullness of his bladder was beginning to rear its ugly head just as that damnable elf popped out behind him.

"Who's this?" Nells asked, sleep clinging to his voice.

"Town guard," he replied irritably. "You deal with her, I'm off to piss." And he pushed past her to the shrubs behind the inn.

"The hell kind of candlestick elf travels alone with an orc?" she challenged.

"The sort what's about to punt you across the garden, what's it to you?"

"You've got my Falk, is what, I'd have your guarantee of their safety."

"Oh, please, Zakurr wouldn't hurt a fly. He's big, but underneath that beautiful mountain of meat is a soft, sensitive--"

"I'm coming with you."

"Look, darling, you're lovely, but--"

"This isn't up for debate," she huffs. "Where Falk goes, I go, or they'll never stay out of trouble. Do you know how to grapple someone what can shapeshift at will? Can you talk a guard down from executing them on sight? Can you? You ashing well need me."

Zakurr returns from defiling the bushes. "Did you settle things?"

"You're taking me with you," Morrin demands, before Nells can say a word.

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firebunnylover · 5 years

Text

LoSH SU AU/Shards AU - Part 1

I’m thinking of calling this SU AU “Shards AU”, just because it sounds cool and that shattered gems come into play a lot. Not fully decided on that yet tho.

This is meant to be a collection of the current ideas for the AU based on conversations i’ve had with others and things I came up with at random. This isn’t all the ideas and can - and in honestly probably will - change.

Rebecca Sugar and crew, please don’t make me revise these ideas on a massive scale anymore. I’m on my hands and knees here.

... Just kidding.

To clarify on the names, I imagined that some gems have a hard time remembering each facet and cut, especially if there’s more than one of a single type of gem, and thus give each other/themselves names to help. As for the superhero names, the humans called the gems different things and those names were the ones that stuck. As for when they are used, i imagine interchangeably.

As for the ideas on gem siblings, the terms would be used by gems that were made with the same compound injected into the earth by the same injector. Think the Famehtysts, only being more alike in their gem make-up.

If there is anything you have questions on or are confused by, feel free to ask ^^

Second Part is here.

Pink Diamond’s involvement and Zhay, aka Cham’s mom:

In this AU, Pink Diamond is essentially still the same, except instead of Pearl, Zhay - a Jasper and Cham’s mom, appointed to her court as soon as she popped out of the Earth’s crust, is the one who encouraged her to go down to see Earth for herself. And like Pearl, Zhay developed romantic feelings and Rose returned them, not on the same level though.

As for where in-show Crystal Gem Pearl was during Era 1, she hadn’t been given to Pink after the first Pink Pearl was… removed. So she never joined the rebels. She’s still at homeworld.

However, as the war dragged on, Zhay and Rose began having different views on how to handle enemies, and Zhay was seeing Pink/Rose’s flaws. Causing a lot of fighting between the two. Towards the end, Rose was hit by a Homeworld chemical weapon that basically breaks down gems gradually, with no way to stop it.

Rose/Pink decided if she was to die soon, she wanted it to be one last stand for the Crystal Gems, and asked Zhay to shatter her, shapeshifted as Rose.

Upon being actually shattered, there was a huge explosion as a result, causing her shards to be implanted into several gems - Zhay, Kell and Superman, the latter two entering the area and was unaware of Rose’s real identity, and both being poofed from the actual explosion.

Kell and Superman found out when their gems were being examined to make sure they were alright. The powers of the diamond shards automatically healed the crack that resulted of them being implanted. But it also affected their powers. Zhay kept quiet on her shard out of guilt.

The shards are the only reason why the remaining gems weren’t all corrupted from the diamond’s final attack on earth, as Kell and Superman protected them fused as Garnet. Zhay however was partially corrupted as she didn’t get her shield out on time, and she anywhere near the other gems.

Due to the combined trauma and guilt of mercy-killing her lover and the end result of the war being the corruption of the majority of those she fought along with, she left the remaining Crystal Gems, who renamed themselves the Crystal Legion. She tried keeping interactions to a minimum, but the Legion kept finding her when they needed help with something they couldn’t take care themselves.

About 5000 years after the war’s end, she was hiding in a remote mountain range when she found a human named RJ Brande who had injured his leg while climbing. Not wanting to leave him to die, she took him in and helped him return back down the mountain. During which, they found themselves becoming fond of each other, and she began traveling with him elsewhere, before they finally decided to be together, followed by Zhay having children.

The corruption would be passed onto her children, Reep/Cham and Liggt, and having twins resulted with splitting her gem in half. But Cham got the half of Zhay’s gem that had Pink’s shard, providing some immunity to the full effects of corruption. So Pink/Rose is kind of like an organ donor to Cham, without him realizing it.

As for the Diamonds… Yellow and Blue took the death of Pink way harder than in Steven Universe, so they end up shattering out of grief, so they have been replaced by new Diamonds, because that’s a thing in this AU i’ve mentioned before. As for White… i’m honestly not sure. Especially with the newer episodes. The diamonds’ pearls are OK tho.

And as for how the Diamond Authority Works (I don’t care if cannon busts this idea this is staying in the AU) - there used to be more, but after periodic squabbles and coups led by some of them, White Diamond determined that there were to many at the time, so she culled the numbers - Pink had just joined a few centuries before White finalized this decision.

But the thing is, Diamonds aren’t as strong as everyone things. Sure, they have a hardness on the Moh scale of ten, but they do have cleavage, so if hit in the right place they will break, plus given they’re made from carbon they can be set on fire. So to safeguard against going too low, the Diamond Authority has several successors for the diamonds, called Rough Diamonds, that are made with cultivated gems of different types and the shards of the fallen Diamonds, as I have discussed before.

Did they need to replace Diamonds before Pink got her Colony? A few times. But Diamonds having to be shattered happen faster than they could be replaced, eventually dragging the number down to 4 for the longest period of time.

#losh #shards au #su au #legion of superheroes

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ohgoddard · 3 years

Text

Storyteller.6.

The crisp winter wind nipped at the noses of Armak and Holly as they trudged through snow and ice. The world enwraps them in visages of white and light blues, obscuring all they see. Each step taken is done so with great effort, making holes in the layers of snow that are filled later by an ever coming storm atop the mountain. It was a trip Armak had been talking about for weeks now, a twinkle in his eye when he talked of the location. His words made it seem as if the place had an eternal sunbeam bestowed upon it, and the rocky slopes nothing more than soft hills. Holly was expressively mad when she arrived at the base of a mountain that stretched up for thousands of feet, rather sharply, and covered in snow. She remembers asking him , “Hey? What gives? Where’s the soft slopes and warm skies?” and Armak gave her the slyest smiled and simply said “Oh, it must have changed. Its been a while for me.” And thus began their assent.

Holly, looking back on the fonder days of warm fields, was currently occupied in trying not to freeze to death. Clammy hands wrap around her coat, and her small cap was pulled down as far as it could go. Her elven ears are covered in earmuffs, however they were decorative earmuffs from a small town in the south. Temperatures down there never broke the “yeah its a bit chilly” threshold. However, through sheer determination and a burning hatred for the immortal that forgot something as simple as a mountain appearing , she kept walking. Maybe, she thought to herself, when we get to wherever we are going I can properly yell at him for being the forgetful old coot he is.

Armak was singing a jolly tune, his long gangly legs easily scaling the trodden mountain path. The wraps over his body tail behind him in the harsh, bitter wind. Though, he doesn’t notice it. His mind is as clouded as the mountain peaks he is climbing, but these thoughts are happy ones. Better times and good friends. The songs that say sang around the fire pits, the meals they shared, the wrestling tournaments. Even the princesses. He wishes he could see them again.

“Armak, where are we going?! We’ve been walking for three days! And I’m running out of components to create warmth!” Her voice is muffled slightly by the roaring winds and the chattering of her teeth. Armak turns around, a puzzled look crossing his face. “Components? You have spells that can create flame?”

“I’M TALKING ABOUT WOOD, YOU PIGEON!” Armak stood there, crossing his arms raising a feathery eyebrow.

“Resorting to names because you aren’t happy? Holly, shame on you!”

Holly merely looked upon him, shaking, and parts of her skin turning shades of blue only rivaled by tieflings. Armak felt a burning feeling in his heart, and understood that if Holly knew how to kill with looks along, she would in this very instance.

“We are not far from where we are going. Keep your spirits up! Keep your mind off of the cold.”

“And What, pray tell oh wise and traveled one, would that be?”

“Think warm thoughts!”

A defect of being unable to feel the cold is that you do not feel when the cold has lessen your reactions. In truth, Armak was not as prepared for this journey as he thought he was. He was not dressed for it, and is nowhere near the spry… something-year-old he used to be. He forgot exactly what age he was when he last visited here. He sure as hell doesn’t remember there being a mountain here. It was a combination of all of these, his slowed reaction and ill-preparedness that resulting him not dodging the snowball shattering into his face.

“Ow.” In all his years and knowledge gained, he never learned exactly how to talk to women.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn’t hear you fully. Care to say again?”

The sleet still sliding down his beak, Armak got an idea.

“I said, how about I tell you a heart-warming story?” The elf looked pleased with herself as the four snowballs she held in her hands fell to the floor. It was a hollow victory, as she was still cold and still not any closer to being warmer. If anything she was colder, having held multiple snowballs up to her chest to pelt the immortal with if he gave her lip. Still, it was a victory.

“So,” she said as her hands shakily pulled a nearly frozen notebook from her side bag, “what’re you telling me about?”

I am a deeply powerful creature, knowledgeable of kingdoms and species that have risen and fallen underneath my eyes and my eyes alone. I have seen the bravest heroes and have fought the vilest villains. Yet here I am, at the mercy of a small woman who can be no older than 12, 19 at the most. She says she's over 70, but I doubt it. His mind is full of these thoughts. “It's a story of finding family.”

He turned his back to her and began marching up the rock, her little legs barely keeping pace.

“It all began when I found out there was a rock that could grant any wish…”

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

Armak snooped around the soft, grassy rolling hills of the plains. Under the guise of night , and draped in the soft purple and blue hues, his steps and presence went undetected to the guards stationed outside the war tent he was approaching.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------”War t-t-t-t-tent?” Holly stuttered under the cold, still trudging in the snowy rocks behind him.

“Oh yeah, I was at a war camp. Some odd years ago. The significance of it will be important later but for now, yes, I was at a war camp.”

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

The war camp was crowded and ative, nearly hundreds in this spot alone. The camp itself stretched for a few miles, as this was an army on the move. The main tent itself sat atop the tallest of these small hills, a rather swarthy yurt. The banners of a Hoof and Roses flapped gently in the cool breeze. The guards had built a small wooden fence around the war-tent Armak wanted into, and it being a tent it was not all that hard to keep a watch for people trying to sneak in. The guards themselves were beefy beings, minotaurs of impressive height and stature, whose eyes and ears darted every which way to catch incoming spies or saboteurs. However, Armak was a sneaky man.

Reaching into his pocket, he took out a long narrow flute. Pristine condition and a gift from an elven king for saving his wife. Armak shoved a dart into its larger opening, covered all the holes with his hands, and blew. The dart made a funny chirp as it flew from the flute and into the guard’s neck. This normally would have drawn attention, if not for the guard’s immediate collapse onto the floor.

“OH NO, JEOVITE! YOUR HEART GAVE OUT AGAIN!” The other guard screamed as he rushed over to his fallen comrade’s body, who was only asleep. Atleast , that was Armak’s intent. He did not know the effects of sleep drugs on those with heart issues, but he was probably alright. To Armak, the Minotaur called Jeovite looked to be still breathing. Nighttime and dark fur causing vision issues aside.

Seeing the opportunity, Armak quickly hopped the wooden stakes used for fence posts and ducked underneath the tarp of the yurt, successfully sneaking inside. And what a lavish yurt it was.

On Top of the standard yurt tarp rested a huge pillow, covered in blankets and smaller pillows. A large chest was in a corner, as well as a large table and chair for its occupant. Armak assured it was a large, burly commander. Someone he was not entirely urgent to meet. Armak may not be able to die, but he sure feels pain. He snuck around the yurt, careful not to disturb any of the many clothes and armor pieces thrown about. He nearly tripped on this huge sword that rested against the main pole of the yurt, something that looked as if a goliath couldn’t swing easily. He tiptoed over a small chest of letters, some maps with dotted lines and circles, and this book with rather impeccable handwriting in it. No, the target of his theft was the small chest he spied earlier when he entered. Making his way over, he knelt to better see its lock. A simple model, he thought to himself, I can pick this easily. He drew a talon from his claw and inserted into the lock, listening for the clicks of the tumblers, when -

“Ahem.”

A deep inhale and exhale came from Armak as he pulled his talon slowly from the lock.

He did not move his body beyond that, which was good. He felt a cold steel pressing up against the back of his neck.

“Now, I know this may look like I’m a spy, but I swear I’m not.”

“How exactly is that any better?”

Armak slowly turned his head to look at his now captor, and was genuinely surprised to see a woman. Less so, to see that she was a Minotaur.

“A woman? Really wasn’t expecting that.” Armak’s voice was full of confusion.

A kick in the face (or beak in his case) swiftly followed his comment, pushing the would-be thief to the floor.

“Ow…” Armak’s voice was full of pain.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------”S-So you w-were always this m-much of an asshole!”

“Holly, I am a changed bird now. I do not stand for the values of my former self.”

“S-s-s-sure..”

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

His eyes clearing up from the attack, he focused in better on exactly who he was dealing with. She was a tall lady minotaur, wearing brilliant gold and red armor with several inscriptions of roses pressed into it. She also wielded that hueg sword he saw earlier, which was impressive. Her hair was pulled behind her head into a ponytail, a hairstyle choice Armak found comical much later when he thought on this moment. She had full black eyes, a rather nice nose ring, and around her neck, was an iron chain with a huge gem in the middle.

“Oh gods-damnit. You had it the whole time!?” Armak let out a groan as he fell back onto the ground in defeat.

“Why are you here?” she said in a tone that made it clear this was not a question he could disregard.

“For the gem around your neck.”

For a fraction of a second her eyes darted down the necklace, then back to the strange wrapped man. “What of it? It carries no value to anyone but me. And no theif is stupid enough to attack me, so tell me what you’re really in here for.”

“Ma’am, I am completely serious. I didn’t even know there was a war going on.”

“That is a straight up lie, and I will stand her and be fibbed to in my own tent. Answer now or this sword goes in your throat. I am feeling merciful tonight.”

The blade tip pressed into the throat of Armak, who gulped.

“I heard your gem could grant any wish to its wielder. That it was a gift from Djinn you bested in a game of strength. I wanted the gem so I could make a few wishes, that's all.”

The sword lowered from Armak, though he still stayed on the floor. He could hear the heavy breathing coming from the snout of the Minotaur. I wonder if honesty may truly get me out of here. Such thoughts were vanquished when the sword came right back to his neck.

“How do you know about this gem? It is an ancient artifact, handed down by chief to chief in the clan and has been for centuries. No one but heirs to the throne would know of it!”

She leaned over Armak, pushing portions of her weight into him.

Armak paused, gasping for air. “It was the dying wish of a soldier I held in the battlefield to go find this stone so that he may see his sister again.”

All at once the force and steel lifted from his body, and Armak heard the stumbling of feet.

He painfully forced his body to sit up, where he saw the minotaur look shocked at him.

“You..you...what did this soldier look like?” Armak wheezed as he stood up.

“He was a minotaur, just as you are. And I assume you are his sister, if logic follows.” He twisted his back, making a disgusting pop. “He was young,” Armak continued, “and could have lived much longer if not for the axe in his back. I did my best to heal him to strength but he did not let me. Said he wished to die the warrior’s death.” Armak knew he’d feel the soreness in his ribs for a while.

The minotaur sat down on her large chair,s word falling by the side of her. Her eyes looked far off into the distance. “That’s why his group never came back..not because of the terrain but...because…” her eyes turned to him. “What did you want to do with the stone?”

Armak stood there awkwardly. “I… I wished to die. I have no reason to lie to you, and have not done so yet. I have no reason for it. I wanted to die. I have been cursed with eternal life, destined to see those I love wither before me. I would find this stone and restore my death, maybe a few others I had met along my travels. I would have done it for that soldier.”

The minotaur’s eyes looked armak once over before she stood from her chair and walked towards him. There she stood a towering figure, glowering unto the poor immortal. “Even if you are right, and your intentions are noble, you are still a thief. I cannot possibly trust your word.”

That's when Armak smiled. “Then let me prove it to you. I will join your army then. I am a rather good spy, this situation not withstanding. I have knowledge in every field, and have commanded the odd army of two.” This caused the minotaur to raise her eyebrow.

“Really? You lead an army? And why would I trust you to join my army and not ditch at the first chance you get? Or sell my secrets to Gukrag?”

“Literally none. But some have told me I am quite humorous, so I could be a nice friend.”

“A friend? You come into my home, try to steal from me, bring me news of my brother’s death, and expect us to be friends?”

Armak blinked. “I don’t see why not. I have loads of experience with having friends. I think we could do it.”

The minotaur let out a single laugh of shock, the absolute gall of this man getting to her.

“You know what? I like you. You’re not afraid of being wrong. Because you have absolutely no experience with having friends. I can tell. So let's go on a friendship journey right now, aye buddy?”

Armak did not like where this was going. “Where would this journey be?”

“The front lines. I lead by example, thief. Friends put up with each other right? Put up with me.” With that, she grabbed him and started walking out of the tent.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------”So what happened next?”

Holly and Armak sit inside a small cave, luckily stumbling upon it. Armak created a small fire which Holly is sitting dangerously close to, absorbing all the warmth and having the icicles hanging off her ears melt onto her journal pages. Armak was cooking a series of mountain rodents on a stick over the fire.

“The way all battles go. I had a sword, they had swords. Metal, flesh, blood, you know the deal. I stayed by her side the entire way to prove to her I was worth being trusted. Because honestly she was right. I had no friends. I was wandering for centuries, looking to die. That doesn’t attract friends. Atleast, any worth keeping. I wanted to be her friend, simply because she was there and didn’t try to kill me without good reason.”

Holly looked at Armark with the same sad look she gave him when they escaped the clutches of those goblins. When he expressed his desires to be dead, only recently finding the light of life.

“Oh, I got over my reclusiveness Holly. You’re living proof of that.” A small smile ran across her face.

“Anyways,she deemed that impressive, and even thanked me. It was the start of a long lasting, good friendship.”

“And what of the gem? And what's her name?”

Armak took a small rodent off of the spit. “You know, looking back on it this story wasn’t really heartwarming.” The elf huffed. “It had you getting deservedly punched in the face, plenty warming for me. Now answer my questions!”

Armak scratched his feathery chin. “Hm, I think I'll tell the necklace story later. It's a real adventure when I find that out. As for her name? Well i’m surprised you haven’t put two and two together already, you’re quite the smart elf.” Holly searched her mind, coming up blank for every conceivable thing she knew. “Armak, you know my knowledge of the outside world is limited. Can’t you just tell me?”

The aaracockra smiled. “Her name was Seoven.” The pencil in Holly’s hand fell tot he stone floor of the cave.

“....Seoven? The same Seoven that led the Kroven Clan in the great divide?! Who founded the southern kingdoms?!”

“One in the same.”

Holly looked at Armak with a horrified look.

“AND YOU TRIED TO STEAL FROM HER?!”

#St:A&H

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theinvulnerabletide · 6 years

Note

Headcanon meme: (answer for whoever you can think of things for I guess) 1, 8, 11, 12, 23, 26, 29, 30, 34 :3

Okay okay okay. This got long because some of them turned into vignettes, so it’s gonna be under thecut.

1.) Love

Forsomeone who professed to be a loner, Lyra has loved so many people in her life.Her mother, first and brightest and most dearly, murdered on her way back fromher shift at the pub, the Stone Crows, her gang growing up, including her bestfriend Kora, who got scooped off the streets when some passing mage saw her set something on fire with her mind (which now strikes Lyra as ironic, consideringher current travelling companions, and her own predicament).

And then her newfound family,her Magpies. The ones that were murdered so cruelly in front of her.

Love and loss are intertwinedfor Lyra, the brilliance of lightning followed by world-shaking thunder. Whichis why she has, wholeheartedly, decided to stop caring about people. They won’tleave if she doesn’t get attached, and even if they do, well, she won’t feelanything right? Win win.

8.) DreamsIt’s not uncommon for Whisperto dream of water. Even if it wasn’t literally her element,she spent so much of her life surrounded by it; snow and rain pattering on thestone, the underground inlet, the blighted mermaid tank, that it of course itwould enter her dreams at some point.

Tonight though, tonight isdifferent. Tonight she dreams of depths, of an ocean so deep there is nogranulated sunlight to illuminate it, and even her comfort with the dark isn’tenough to make it feel less… crushing. She sees in staticky black and whitehere, feels the way the currents tug insistently at her. She has to remindherself that she can breathe.

There’s movement there, in thedepths. It takes up the whole of her vision. It’s just the suggestion of agreat thing slowly winding and unwinding, pulsing slightly as if with laboredbreath. It does not move against the current. It directs it, and it makes herown breath catch in her throat. Not with fear, but with excitement.

When she wakes, she swears shecan still feel it, the current tugging at her, the great thing directing herforwards. The letter appears the next day, and the day after that, she isgone.

12.) Worst Enemy

According to Az’ar, her worst enemies are the Godsthemselves.

The Gods are arbitrary and cruel things, starting and endinglife as it pleases them, for mere entertainment. They set up laws,contradictory and unforgiving, a universe full of pain and misery, and createdsentient creatures to wade through the mud and experience every bit of it.Growing up in the Shadowfell, Az’ar has witnessed it all, and grew to despisethe traditions of the Shadar’kai, the same traditions that honor Hala by tryingto protect the living things she holds so dear, especially from the unnaturalundead things she abhors, the traditions that pretend to honor Her brother bysending them back to His domain, and by dying well.

She left her people, somethingelse that was forbidden, and fought and killed far too many of them in order tocross over to the Prime Material Plane, the tear she made between worldsallowing a few of those undead monstrosities to cross with her. It was aregrettable loss, ones that she lays again at the feet of the Gods; if herpeople had not been obsessed with their supposed sacred duties, they would nothave needed to die.

Az’ar intends to wrest their claws from her chest, by making itso she can never die, and then, she will end their grip on the rest of thePlanes, even if it means killing them. She hope it does. That would be a sweetirony indeed.

23.) Romance

Orianais a romantic. Probably in the classical movement sense as well as in thehopeless romantic sense. She has this ideal of herself: knight in shiningarmor, a blazing paragon of Wahreight’s mercy and light, beating back thedarkness and protecting the innocent.

She also is kind of obsessedwith romance novels, and novels that we might consider romance novels due tothe way books are sold, but, unlike Whisper, prefers the ones that hold a highideal of love than the vulgar. Which isn’t to say she won’t read books with sexin them, only that she prefers more comedies of manners. Jehanne Augere’s Dignityand Discrimination remains her favorite novel (and she finally got a copyof her own the last time we visited Fantasy Half Price Books), and she’s morelikely to blush at the scene where the elven hero confesses his love for thevery human Elisabet. 26.) Beauty

Thecostume is… well. It’s tight. And barely there. Whisper runs her hands thelength of her torso, fingers skimming cut-outs in the shimmering golden fabricat her sides where her midnight skin provides contrast, and she lets out ashuddering breath. She doesn’t know whether its nerves or awe that’s making herstomach clench uncomfortably but… either way.

She sneaks a peak in themirror and looks away almost immediately. Salt and storm, she is glad hermother will never see her in this, or she’d be dead. Brutally and messily andall over the place.

She sneaks another look, outof the corner of her eye at first, then straight on. The leotard is almostblinding in the way the golden cloth catches the light (Ignatius’ choice, nodoubt), small black stitching and sequins giving the illusion of scales downher stomach. At her hips is this strange, diaphanous half-skirt, more like thefrills of a tiger fish than an actual garment. The neckline—if it can be calledthat— plunges far deeper than anything she’s ever worn, and she mutters a quickprayer that she won’t spill out of this thing at an inopportune moment. Or anopportune one. She is not being paid enough for that.

But the effect… She takes astep back, so she can see the whole effect, the golden ribbons wrapped aroundher horns and pinned in her hair, the ridiculous amount of eyeshadow, thestreaks of gold shimmer on her cheeks, she looks… ethereal. Magical. Shestretches one indigo hand out, and her reflection does the same, lightlymeeting her in the mirror. She watches herself smile.

“It looks beautiful on you,”comes a voice from behind her, wobbling like the owner is about to burst intotears. “You look beautiful, Whisper. Just brilliant…”

She whirls around, a scowlslotting into place. “I can’t believe he wants me to wear this, Terrance!”

The huge man doesn’t seem tohear her, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. “Oh, I outdid myself. Just wait until the audience see you. You’re going to dazzle them.”

Whisper laughs under herbreath, and sneaks another look at herself. Okay. Maybe it’s not so bad afterall.

29.) Bedroom (and 11.) Best Friend).

She wasclose, she was so freaking close! If she could just figure out thethaumodynamic stabilizers and the aetheric channels and how to connect them tothe theurgic couplings, then the armor would definitely be finished beforeschool started. Her tongue peaked out of the corner of her mouth as sheconcentrated, wand on one hand, tweezers in the other, a soldering ironfloating above her, held by her mage hand.

The workbench in front of heris littered with such tools, awl and a few other small sharp blades and hergrindstone, linen thread and an assortment of needles, little colored glass ballsshe’d spent weeks making and enchanting so they wouldn’t break when she used them,and small gems that had cost quite a chunk of the money she made from selling herclockwork toys, not to mention all the other tools she didn’t currently needfor this project. The bed next to her, on the other side, had the rest of thearmor, chest plate and second gauntlet, both nearly finished save for the collectorsthat would collect the untethered thaumic energy from the aether.

She’s so close. She can feelit.

“Celandine!” her mother calledfrom downstairs, “Celandine, your friend is here!”

“What?” she freezes, and thewand released the spell it was holding… at the wrong part of the gauntlet. Andsomething started smoking. “Shit!”“Celandine?”

A quick prestidigitation puts the fire out but it definitely smelt like magic gone wrong and scorched leather.“Oh, hell. Coming Mom!”

”I’m sending her up!”

“Shit!” Celandine cast a lookabout her room. Her chairs were full of clothes and her bed was covered in armorand there was spare leather and clothes and books all over the floor and why hadn’tshe learned the invisible servant spell.

“Hey, Celandine? Your Momsaid—” Caela pauses in the doorway, the top of her head nearly brushing thetop of the doorframe. Her eyes widen as she takes in the state of the room.

“I know! It’s messy I’m sorry.I got uh…” she looks down at the gauntlet and then back up at her best friend,smiling weakly. “I forgot you were coming over. I’m sorry.” She puts the gauntleton the workbench and reaches over the small space to her bed, which at leastonly had the breastplate and the other gauntlet on it. “Sit down and give me asecond, I’ll have this place tidied up in a…”

But Caela is already bendingover, gathering up the nearest books that had fallen over. “It’s okay. I’llhelp. Why don’t you tell me what you were working on?”And Celandine beams.

30.) Sex

Oriana pressesthe pillow harder over her head, trying to block out the sound from the onlyother bed in the room. Since she’d been knighted in the service of Wahreight,she’d been moved out of the general barracks and into a shared room;unfortunately, her roommate decided that that was enough privacy in order tocarry on her… assignations with one of the paladins still in training. And theidea of actually talking to Ritika about it was blighted mortifying, so hereshe lies, pillows piled on her head, face burning as she tried to pretend shewas not hearing what she was hearing.

34.) AffectionIt’s not that Whisper’s family was not affectionate. Sheremembers her father’s hand on her head, her mother’s approving smile. Hugsfrom her brothers, kisses on her forehead from the governess. But compared tothe carnival, her family was as touched-starved as any dwarf.

Affection wasphysical and platonic and above all, free among them, holding hands and huggingfor no reason, kisses on cheeks and foreheads and lips, giant cuddle piles inone of the main tents the afternoon after a big show, all of them just waitingfor the inevitable cry to start packing up.

And the sex. Oh, seaand storms, the sex. There was just so much of it. After the first year she’dgone from having sex once in her entire life to having had more partners thanshe could count, of so many genders, in several different… permutations. Things would just…escalate. Someone would be feeling bad and a cuddle pile or a platonic kisswould turn into make-you-feel-better sex, someone would decide that they wereboard and seek someone out, or two people would be fighting and suddenly they’dbe up against the wall (that happened with Ignatius and a few of the othersmore than she would care to admit), or they’d be coming down off a high of asuccessful heist or a show, adrenaline still singing high gospel within them,and next thing you knew you’d be tearing off someone’s clothes. Maybeseveral someone’s.

But the real world doesn’twork that way. And after a bad experience or two on her way to Hazelscar, she isthoroughly aware of that. Most people don’t like being touched.

She meets Adoraor and Keithiafirst, and she makes sure to keep her hands to herself. Even when Adoraor isbleeding out and she has the stupid idea to stick a knife in his chest to seeif it’ll heal him, because, hey, it worked on that orc, or when Keithia (notThia, not yet) places a hand on her shoulder to press healing magic, warm andtingling, into her skin. Not even when they’re barring the door of a cold stonechamber and waiting out the night, and she knows she could stop them both fromshivering.

She’s almost starving from it,achingly aware of where people are in relation to her at all times. She finallygives in and hugs Keithia about two weeks in. She feels Keithia freeze up for ahalf a second and she closes her eyes, waiting for the rejection, before Keithiasqueezes back, just for a second, before she eases back. Whisper has to forceherself not to cling, to let her new friend go.

Oriana, she learns, hatesbeing touched at all and the boys are weird about it, so she has to make ithigh fives and playful slaps and punches to the arm. She can hug Frank, atleast, he’s not strange about it. Sing-songtoo, until he vanishes.

She nearly cries when it getscold enough that they have to huddle in the Magnificent Bubble (also screw Leomund,she’s the one casting the spell, she’ll call it what she wants), and the Bubbleis just big enough for them. If they huddle. It’s almost like the piles she’sused to, and she plays it off with a few sighs and rolled eyes, but when sheends up cuddled next to Twiggy and Isao of all people, she has to bury her headin her arms, so no one will see her face. It’s almost good enough.

#lyra the half-elven rogue #whisper the tiefling sorceress #oriana the aasimar paladin #az'ar the shadar kai wizard #celandine the gnomish wizard!#sprin'torel campaign #eberron high #whatever the hell this is #ask me anything!#character asks #sometimes kori writes things #islanderscaper

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oneinathousandwords-blog · 6 years

Text

The Sacred Blood-Lines ~ A Yu-Gi-Oh! Reader’s Request Fanfiction ~ Chapter 6

It appears! A new chapter, even after weeks of nothingness (and it’s extra long too mostly because I’m bad at figuring out when things are suposed to end)! Please enjoy, and don’t forget to re-blog it so all your followers can read it too!

Yugi leaned his head back into the seat behind him, his eyelids falling heavily over his violet irises. He hadn’t felt this tired in a long time. He flexed his hand on the seat beside him experimentally, noticing how slow everything around him seemed to be moving. All his energy felt as though is were being drained away.

Black Magician was in the seat next to him, but his body didn’t seem to give off any warmth. He seemed tense, but he had collapsed his staff into a black cloud of magic, which had vanished. His appearance also seemed slightly different. Yugi wasn’t sure if his tired eyes were playing tricks on him, but the spirit’s clothes seemed to waver between black armor and a deep purple sweater over black jeans. He shook his head, but the ghostly image still remained.

“What are you doing?“ He asked his servant weakly.

“It’s an illusion.“ His blue eyes looked over Yugi’s pale form kindly, the warmth within them not changing even as his form flickered. “How do you feel?“

“Sick.“ Yugi muttered, feeling his eyes slide shut. “I feel . . . dizzy . . . “

“It might be best if I left.“ He said, glancing at Kaiba, who sat sternly in a row by himself, morosely staring out the window. His dictate to protect the line of the Pharaoh extended to both of these young men, and he had to evaluate them both in his strategy. “However, I’m concerned that you may not be able to easily summon me again. Even if it drains you, it may be best to let me stay at your side. But this is entirely up to you, Yugi-sama. I will let you decide what course of action seems best.“

Yugi turned into him, resting his head against the hard, curved surface of his armor . . . no, the gentle plushness of a knit sweater. His mind stopped holding out, letting him believe Mahad’s illusion. “You should stay . . . “ Everything faded away as his tired soul slipped into the oblivion of sleep.

He awoke to the taste of something being slipped into his mouth. It was a cup of water. Marik’s steady hand was pouring it into his mouth.

“He’s waking up.“ The Egyptian boy declared as Yugi stirred. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Thankfully, it was somewhere he knew well; Kaiba’s office.

He was curled up in the CEO’s desk chair, his head laying on the hard rest, his body stiff. He still felt tired, but it was better than before. He could feel that he had adjusted, and was giving away less of his energy than before.

“What happened?“ He groaned, realizing how dry his mouth was.

Marik helped him sit up straight, giving the cup into his gently shaking hands. “You’ve been asleep for about half an hour. Kaiba, Dark Magician, and Ne-san have been discussing your plans.“

“Anything important happen yet?“ Yugi asked, a little smile spreading over his face.

“Not exactly.“ Mokuba was sitting in the chair across the desk from Yugi, and his voice startled the young man. “Come on. Seto and the others went into the conference room so they wouldn’t wake you up.“

Sliding out of Kaiba’s cushy chair, Yugi followed Mokuba and Marik into the conference room, where Ishizu, Kaiba, and Mahad were leaned over a world map, tense expressions on their faces.

“What’s going on?“ Yugi asked, going over to them.

A wry smile twisted its way across Kaiba’s face as he looked over at Yugi. “You remember that I’m a few months younger than you, right?“

Yugi nodded slowly, a little perplexed. “Yeah. But what does that have to do with - “

“Everything.“ Mahad said, tersely cutting off Yugi’s words but kindly sliding him a chair. “Sit. You should conserve energy. You too, Kaiba. I know I just explained things to you, but you need to hear the whole story as well.“

Ishizu smiled slightly, pushing up chairs for both herself and the tall young man. “Yugi, Seto, you should both pay attention. This isn’t just a story, or something from a far away time and place. This is your heritage, and your inheritance. Your sacred duty is to hold and protect these ancient traditions.“

Kaiba merely let out a quiet huff, his breath stirring his long bangs. Yugi sat quietly, wondering what he was about to learn.

“When the prince of the blood came of age in Pharaonic times,“ Mahad said quietly, his deep blue eyes seeming to look into a different time and place. “He was taken to the tomb of his ancestors, and left to the mercy of the spirits that dwelt there. The spirits left behind cannot harm one physically, but the weight of their left-behind memories and your own remembrance of the souls can make the place insanity - or somewhere pleasant.“

“One night spent alone in darkness, in the pyramid pointing to the light-filled heavens. The knife’s edge of shadow and light that the sacred blood-line walks was brought to life in the ceremony.“ A shadow shimmered around his right hand for a moment, but he dissipated it as he opened his hand to reveal a blade with a golden handle, inlaid with gems in the shapes of a vulture and a snake.

“This was the blade I used on Atem to mark him before his ceremony. It is part of the ritual preparations beforehand. The prince’s soul was to symbolically descend to the afterlife as in death, and a knife cut’s pain was the symbol of the pain of dying.“

“It’s beautiful.“ Yugi gasped, seeing his own wide-eyed reflection in the mirror of the blade.

“When the blade is red, it’s true beauty is revealed. Such is the trick of the making of it. You shall see that for yourselves when you undergo the ceremony.“ Mahad closed his hand around it again, and it faded away. “But the ritual cannot be undertaken until you are of age. Yugi, you are old enough to be considered a man. But Seto Kaiba, you are not physically old enough for the ritual.“

“You never explained what was so important about this ritual anyway.“ Kaiba said, his arms and legs crossed skeptically. “Besides ‘preserving our heritage’, what’s the point?“

“I will be honest. Your powers are weak.“ The mage’s sharp words were directed straight at Kaiba. He knew what it would take to motivate the caustic billionaire. “If you continue in this state, Aswad Kanaan will defeat you. You must survive until you turn 18 years old, and gain the ancient knowledge of the past. If you can’t, you will never be free of his threat.“

Kaiba looked away, his teeth clenched together, his brow furrowed in frustration. “Whatever.“ He said, but the word ‘weak‘ was rubbing under his skin.

“So, umm, what’s the plan?“ Yugi asked, trying to dissolve the tension. “Do we hide here or something until Kaiba turns 18?“ He started searching his memories, trying to remember exactly when Kaiba’s birthday was. “That’s, umm, how many months away . . . ?“

“It’s August first. My birthday’s October twenty-fifth.“ Kaiba said shortly.

“Two months. We can’t stay in one place that long.“ Mahad shook his head. “The Order of the Hierarchy already know we’re here. We won’t survive a second encounter with them.“

“And just who are they anyway?“ Kaiba asked. “It seems there’s still a lot that we still don’t know anything about.“

Ishizu shook her head. “That was my fault. I should have been preparing you for this earlier. But you were busy living out your destinies, and so much time had passed, I assumed that Aswad had given up on his foolish dreams. It seems that time has only increased his power. Only a year ago, the Hierarchy were still loyal to the Pharaoh.“

“The Hierarchy have always been something of a mixed bag. They are very rarely completely on the side of the king.“ Mahad shook his head. “There is so much to do, and so little time. We need to leave Japan as soon as possible.“

“Where will we go?“ Yugi asked.

“Anywhere that’s far from here, and far enough from Egypt that Aswad wouldn’t have had a chance to start gathering power there.“ Mahad gestured to the map. “That’s what we were deciding.“

“I say that you should start in middle Europe.” Ishizu interjected. “From there, you can move steadily towards Egypt for when you must perform the ceremony.“

“The world is a much smaller place now.“ Kaiba shook his head. “We could go anywhere and still be not far from Egypt. I say a remote mountain location in Greenland or Canada.“

“But he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. If we stay in a more urban location, we can protect ourselves from the Hierarchy by staying in a crowd.“ Mahad replied.

“We can always travel around.“ Yugi ventured, feeling slightly out of his depth. “You know, stay in various places for just a week or so at a time . . .“

Kaiba nodded. “Yes, but it leaves us permanently unbalanced as well. We’ll never have time to settle, or rest. And that’s obviously something we’ll need if we’re going to use our protectors. You’re already almost completely out of energy, and you’ve only had Dark Magician for an hour.“

“But it’s a risk we’ll have to take. Staying in one place is too dangerous.“ Mahad looked between the two, his eyes sizing them up carefully. Things were only going to get harder and harder from here, and he wanted to know if they could take on the challenge.

Steely blue, warm violet.

Two different sets of eyes met his, both strong in their own ways, both able to survive. They would be perfectly fine.

Mahad nodded. “Kaiba, pick a country. That’s where we’ll be leaving for tomorrow.“

Kaiba looked over the map, then pointed a slender finger at a country marked in blue. “Denmark.“

Mahad nodded. “Denmark it is. Go get some rest, and have everything you need packed by 8:30 tonight. If you’re missing something you need, we’ll get it while we’re there. No one leaves this building - and of course, don’t forget your decks.“

Chapter 1 can be found here

Chapter 4 can be found here

Chapter 5 can be found here

(Don’t forget your decks . . . I feel like that could become a meme or something. Heh heh.) I needed my man Mahad to say something final-ish and all ending-y, but I couldn’t think of anything but ‘don’t forget your decks.’ I DON”T EVEN KNOW WHY HE SAID THAT, BUT I’M SURE THEIR DECKS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. I, the author, will come up with some reason why - maybe.

Also, why was Mahad wearing a sweater? Because he can. And I like him. And I especially like him in sweaters. And, actually, there is a logical reason. I was thinking that since Mahad is from Egypt, he is a lot less tolerant to cold. So even though everyone else is fine, he may feel a little cold . . . oh, wait, it’s August . . . hmmm . . . . hmmmmhmmmhhhhmmm . . .

So he just wears a sweater. End of story.

#yugioh #ygo #ygoSB #fanfictions #tumblr #funny #yugioh fanfictions #seto kaiba #yugi muto #mahad #ishizu #dark magician #sacred blood-lines #update #chapter 6

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