#both of them did survive as they were pulled out of the tunnel when no fighters were found and then released a few days later

[ibtisams]

A report just came out from a Palestinian hostage saying he was strapped with bombs and sent into a Hamas tunnel, with Israel prepared to blow the tunnel up with his body if fighters were found inside and yet people are still making the “Hamas uses human shields” arguments that have been confirmed to be a myth with no supporting evidence

#the hostage also said the same thing happened to a 15 year old boy hostage #both of them did survive as they were pulled out of the tunnel when no fighters were found and then released a few days later #the amount of people (including the US president) who still talk about the Hamas human shields is alarming #since no one has evidence of it and we have more then one piece of evidence of Israel using human shields #palestine #🦢

[wintermoth]

So I just saw The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and i gotta say, they did a damn good job.

But I'm not altogether happy with how much they changed the Games from how they played out in the book. I get needing to condense them for runtime and I get needing to change certain things like having cameras in the tunnels. The 10th Games were literally bursts of activity followed by hours upon hours of nothing because they couldn't see underground.

But it's the progression of events, the kill order & swapping of kills, and the omission of events which bothers me. Rest under the cut cos Long Post.

First of all: the Bloodbath. In the book, there is no Bloodbath. The kids literally grabbed supplies and hauled ASS to safety. You know. Like terrified children would. I personally think it was a mistake having the Bloodbath at all but I'm guessing some studio execs pulled rank on this one. >_>

Weaponizing the drones was something which...should've only worked once but whatever.

Coral getting properly fleshed out to be the main antagonist in the arena? Cool shit. They combined various aspects of other characters like Treech (7) and Teslee (3) into her. It gives us someone to root against and, narratively, I understand why they did it. She wasn't someone who'd trained her whole life like, say, Cato. She was just a kid who was doing what she thought she had to to get home. She was a bully, yeah, but not a villain.

Dill dying to the poison instead of her illness...um okay? This one I really don't get. IMO Lucy Gray seeing little Wovey die to the poison as she did in the books would've been much harder on her and the audience considering earlier events. Deadass, I think it was their way of dealing with the Reaper Problem - more on this in a minute Wovey's death was a cheap attempt at shock value and, surprise, no one was shocked. EVERYONE knew that container was bad news--audience, capitol, tributes--except perhaps Wovey herself. We'll blame the trauma.

And as for Lucy Gray herself, of her three book kills, one was removed entirely, and two were changed. The first being Dill instead of Wovey. The second being the way in which she killed Treerch. She was supposed to use a snake mutt as a weapon which she'd protected and hidden in her dress--which served as both a callback to her Reaping with the mayor's daughter.....and a premonition of what would eventually happen in the woods outside 12. And she was supposed to outwit/outmaneuver Reaper, which was removed entirely.

So, Reaper Ash. Big guy from District 11. The Thresh of these games. It's like they didn't know what to do with him. They dedicated his little screen time before the Games to making it clear he was 100% That Bitch and there were several lines (most from Lucky) indicating he was a strong contender. One of a handful of instances of Checkov's Gun, a rule of writing which states if you're going to call attention to a detail, it better fucking be important.

Allow me to summarize book events for those of you who don't know: The night before the Games, he apologizes to the surviving tributes for having to kill them and Jessup, who has rabies, spits in his eye. At the start of the Games, he was one of the few to run to get weapons at the start and was ready to fight, but everyone else was gone. So he heads out to hunt them down. Reaper was the only one proactively looking for a fight. Later, Reaper finds Dill down in the tunnels and carries her out into the open and lays her down in the sun because she's dying already and he's not going to kill her. He leaves her to her own devices and moves on. The next time we see him, he mercifully lets Lucy Gray flee from him. Afterwards, he strikes up an agreement with Lamina, the girl from 7, who's cleverly holed up high off the ground, and shows himself to pragmatic, fair, and good to his word.

Lamina warns him of oncoming tributes and he flees. When he eventually returns, he finds her and another murdered. Incensed, he begins assembling his morgue. During this, he uses part of a Capitol flag to make himself a cape, which makes him happy. The next day, he added Wovey to his morgue. When the Snakes are released into the arena, he is out of the line of fire, up in the stands, and survives.

By now, though, the rabies is really starting to affect him. He continues to obsessively add to and protect his morgue. On the last day, when Lucy Gray tries to add the third place tribute to it, he scares her off. But it's just them now and he doesn't even try to kill her. All he cares about is maintaining the morgue and keeping their bodies covered. He is eventually run ragged by Lucy Gray, who knows he's sick, and meets his end by drinking a poisoned puddle. He crawls to his morgue and dies. Lucy Gray wins.

In the movie, there's a Bloodbath and kids start killing each other, and he's right in there with them. We see him throw down ONLY to defend Dill. Then they just kinda....disappear. And they stay disappeared throughout everything which follows. None of his moments with the other tributes occur. When they emerge, Dill is significantly ahead of him--which tbh makes little sense since, as her protector, he reasonably should've gone out first to ensure it's safe--and dies by drinking poison. He is devastated and screams dramatically. He then begins to make his morgue and offend the capitol by disrespecting the flag before making a big dramatic speech to the cameras daring them to punish him. He apparently stays by his morgue for the rest of the day and when the snake mutts get dropped into the arena, he is keenly aware of the danger. He warns Wovey away, though she doesn't listen. He is almost immediately engulfed by the snakes. He holds still, sits up straight and tall, closes his eyes, then falls forward dead, followed swiftly by the remaining tributes except Lucy Gray.

So, that being said.

Book Reaper's story is a young man who expected to win and was prepared to do it, only for his degenerating mind to focus on protecting the dignity of the murdered children around him. His death was ignoble.

Movie Reaper's story is a young man who expected to win and was prepared to do it, but was also determined to protect his weak district partner with his life, and upon losing her, presents the Capitol both middle fingers. His death was ignoble.

I get why they cut the rabies plotline for the movie. It definitely saved time.....and it REALLY wouldn't look good if the filmmakers had both black guys die of rabies. Just saying. What bothers me about his movie story is just how unfulfilling it was. Going back to Checkov's Gun, he was supposed to be a Threat. And then he just. Wasn't. All for a over-dramatic and tbh unnecessary moment of glory.

so yeah that's my two cents.

anyway go see the movie.

#Hunger Games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #spoilers for tbosas #Lucy Gray Baird #Reaper Ash #Moon as something to say

[gh0stsp1d3r]

𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝓌ℴ

Warnings-Dancer!reader, lots and lots of pining. Sweet academy coryo idgaf if he’s ooc (If you want to be tagged in next part, don’t be scared to ask!!)

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

Part 1, part 3, part 4

You were an angel. To him, at least. You had saved him. You could have left him in the dust, you could have let him rot.

But you had saved him. He had woken up just in time to see you dancing across the stage, your eyes closed as you did so.

You pouring your whole heart into it, your sweat and your tears from exhaustion made the performance all the more better.

You would put on one hell of a show if there was a chance of it being the last one. Although you were sure it wasn’t, and you would persevere through everything the games threw at you.

“Record high for the evening! Beautiful performance by y/n, the capitol is definitely watching. See what happens when you do stuff?” Flickerman said, you turned to him, catching your breath for a moment.

“Now I don’t love your odds, but they may be in your favor.” He said to you, you gave him and the crowd a small smile, wiping the tears and sweat away from your face.

“Thank you for being here.” Coriolanus said, finally turning away from the screen and to Tigris and sejanus.

“How great is it that we’re here for someone’s final performance?” Flickerman said, Coriolanus turning his attention back to the screens.

“It won’t be my final.” You said to them, still breathless yet determined. Your hands on your hips.

He smiled at that, “I like your enthusiasm. Thank you. Get a good nights rest, you all have a big day tomorrow."

“Y/n.” He whispered, repeating it three times. When you heard him, you ran over and gripped the bars.

“Coryo. Are you okay?”

It wasn’t Coriolanus this time, it was coryo. He ignored it for now.

“Those bombs, they have changed everything. They blew the walls out. That means you can escape up into the stands. There’s a hole down in the floor. Leads down to some tunnels, I’ve tried it, and you can disappear down there. When you hear that bell ring, ignore the weapons and run as fast as you can for that hole. And you find a place to hide down below. Alone.”

“Alone?”

He nodded. You swallowed, “Jessup-“

“The moment that bell rings, you can’t trust anyone. Not even Jessup. Just lay low down there until it’s safe to come out.”

“Thank you. For… everything..” you said. You knew you wouldn’t listen to him.

“I can’t let you die. You saved me.” You heart raced as he spoke for some odd reason.

“You saved me, y/n.”

You smiled slightly and he smiled back, a tear ran down your face and the smile faltered.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Hey.. hey. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

He grabbed out a handkerchief, wiping your tears away. You both stared into each others eyes, and he spoke again “I am gonna get you out of here. I promise.”

You both silently stared at each other for a while. “Oh. Uhm, here.” You mumbled, interrupting the tension and turning around and handing him the shoes he had given you for your dance. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Once you’re out of here, you can keep these.” He said, holding them with a small smile. You smiled back.

He had gathered some of what he had had been saving for his family for them.

“Here. You take this.” He pulled something out of his pocket, handing it to you.

You looked at it and back at him. “What is it?”

“Rat poison. Don’t touch it, or even breathe it in.”

You looked at him with wide eyes now, you looked fearful almost. You didn’t want to use this. It wasn’t like you.

“I’ve seen what war does to people, there will come a time where you’ll need. When you need to act.” He said, “we all do things we’re not proud of to survive.”

You looked back at him again.

“Hey, we are gonna win this, y/n. We are gonna win this together.”

“Promise?” You said, voice a bit more high pitched than you expected it to come out as.

“Promise. Goodnight.” He said, and began to get up before you whispered again.

“Coryo.”

He turned back to you now.

“Do you have to leave right now?” You asked him quietly. He had a small smile on his face as he came back over to the gates.

“Why?”

“I can’t sleep. How can I, knowing im probably gonna have to kill someone tomorrow?” You said.

He sat down, wordlessly and listened to your words.

“Do you want me to stay for a bit?” He asked, feeling foolish as he said it.

“If you can.” You said, your eyes pleading.

He sighed, and laid down, his arm under his head. You did the same, you both staring into the sky.

“Your performance was amazing, by the way.” He said.

“I’m glad you thought so. I wish I could have met you under better circumstances, coryo.”

“I wish that as well.” He said quietly. It was silent for a while before you spoke again.

“My mom used to tell me stories about all the constellation’s. That one,” you pointed to Ursa Major “was one of her favorites to talk about.” He listened to you ramble on about each one’s stories, and he swore he could listen to the sound of your voice forever.

How he wished that he had been able to fall asleep right here to the sound of it, how he wished to hold you in his arms.

“Goodnight, Coryo.” You told him once he decided it was getting late and he should get back.

“Goodnight.” He said, pulling out another rose and reaching beyond the bars, putting it behind your ear and holding your face for a moment.

“Wake up. On your feet.” They said, you shook Jessup and you both stood up.

They had roughly pushed you inside, you looked behind you at Jessup.

The cameras were on you all, you entered and the little girl next to you reached her hand out. You held your own for her to hold, which you did for a moment before being forced to separate.

You watched everyone else around you, one girl being dragged as she sobbed. The peacekeepers left soon, and you saw Marcus hung up. Your lip quivered, you looked down and then remembered with Coriolanus had said.

You looked at the hole, then for Jessup. The bell rung and everyone started shouting and attacking each other. You ran towardsJessup, who was standing there. You evaded their attacks, and managed to kick one off of you even.

You then focused back to Jessup, grabbing onto his arm and helping him up. You ran underground with him, when the others came from the other way.

You noticed an entrance from the bottom of the door, quickly going down and entering it, Jessup following. You helped him through. One girl tried following, but she was stabbed and dragged out. You and him had just made it.

You were both safe for now, you thought when you heard their footsteps leave. You looked at jessup and he was already fast asleep. You smiled to yourself, forcing your eyes to stay open.

#coriolanus x y/n #coriolanus x you #coriolanus snow x you #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus x reader #president coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow #young!coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x female!reader #president snow x reader #coryo snow #snow x reader #snow #snow x you #coriolanus imagine

[bwabys-scenarios]

Fixer Upper

Part 32

Perv!Kurapika x Fem!Reader

!!REBLOGS APPRECIATED!!

pt 31

pt 32.5

A/N: sorry this took so long. There will be a 32.5 chapter next to celebrate Kurapika’s birthday.

warning: death, misogyny

taglist: @tsukilover11 @ashdownunderscorebeloved @sweetstraberrybear @superweeniehutjrsblog @bugmomwrites @heartsforseo @lixiawinter @altaircc @itszenava @fiightforlovee @mimi-sanisanidiot @wow-im-gay @whorermoviestar @lightshowerrr @mama-m1na @nenggie @wicked-binch @jamayah @themanicwriter01

If you’d like to be ADDED to the taglist, please comment a red heart ❤️, make sure you’re able to be tagged/mentioned, and have your age in your bio(IF YOU ARE ALREADY ON THE TAGLIST, YOU DON’T NEED TO ASK TO BE ADDED AGAIN!!)

As (Name) got ready to fight, the sound of whimpering and scraping filled the small enclosed space, making her wince. Before she could say anything, something started to crawl into the little guy from the middle of the tunnel.

“Oh my god.”

A centaur-like chimera ant led two human beings on leashes, forcing them to walk on their hands and knees. “Keep it down, you two.”

The ant pulled on their leashes, causing the poor men to choke. “Who are you guys? How dare you intrude on my turf?”

“Help… please help us!” one of the unfortunate men called out, tears running down his face. (Name) began to walk forward, but her arm was caught by Kite. He gave her a stern yet sympathetic look before letting her go. She bit her lip, staying in her spot.

“Stop talking Spot! You’re just a dog!”

(Name)’s eyes went wide with shock as the ant stomped on the man’s head, killing him instantly. Could she have saved him if she acted? “Oops, didn’t mean to do that. Oh well, I’m getting bored with these guys. Guess I’ll get rid of Rover, too.”

The surviving man panicked, trying his best to act like a pathetic, begging dog. It was a desperate attempt at survival, one that was in vain. “When you beg like that, I just want to kill you more.”

“STOP IT!”

Kite caught Gon’s arm this time as the boy lunged, causing him to look back. “Don’t move carelessly. There’s more than one enemy. They want you to rush over.”

Two more ants walked out of the separate caves, cackling as the centaur ended the other man’s life. Gon and (Name) looked away, which caused them to be scolded by Kite.

“Don’t look away! If they shoot a projectile your way, you won’t be able to see it.”

The two nodded slowly, and (Name) lightly brushed her hand against Gon’s, an attempt at comfort. It was her way of saying they were in this together, and that she understood. It wasn’t much, but his heartbeat did calm down slightly, and he couldn’t help but spare her a thankful glance.

“I’ve got it. You three will be my new dogs.”

(Name) tilted her head as the centaur ant the pointed to her. “And you? You will be my mate.”

The entire room went quiet, (Name) blinking rapidly, looking back at forth at the ant, Kite, Killua, and Gon. “Did… did I hear that correctly?”

Killua and Gon stood there in shock, looking both disgusted and angry at the same time. Kite looked as calm and collected as always, but he seemed slightly tense in his shoulders, as if he were holding himself back. “Chimera ants have always been aggressive, but it seems consuming malicious humans has made them even more evil.”

“H-huh? What do you mean?” Gon asked, still recovering from the chimera ant’s words. He hated that (Name) had been signaled out and disrespected. It only fueled his anger and resentment towards the creatures.

“Phagogenesis.” Killua answered.

“If we don’t deal with them here, many more will die!” Kite exclaimed. In response to his words, their auras spiked as they got ready to battle.

“Capture them!” the centaur ant ordered the other ants with a point of his finger, causing them to launch forward.

“I’ll take the one in the back. You boys will have to deal with the two rushing us. (Name) you’ll provide support, be ready to use your ability when needed.”

(Name) sighed in relief, then paused for a second to turn and look at Kite. She wanted to fight too, but she wouldn’t disobey him. There was most likely a very good reason he was making her stay back, either for her own well being, or for the boys’.

“Right!”

“Got it!

“Do not hesitate. You must fight to kill.”

As the two ran to fight the ants, Kite and (Name) stayed behind, staring down the centaur ant in front of them. It looked at her hungrily, licking its lips and chuckling under its breath. (Name) tried not to forget Kite’s words and kept a good eye on the beast, even when it grinned and purred lowly, biting its lip as it looked her up and down.

She was just glad the boys were there to see the way it looked at her, it grossed her out and was plainly disrespectful. Kite didn’t say anything, but stayed within an inch of her, his hip nearly touching hers. It was reassuring, a way for him to say he would protect her if needed.

“A lesson for you, (Name).” Kite said softly, his eyes trained on the ant. “A cocky opponent will let down their guard in front of someone they perceive as weak. Sometimes using your own weakness to your advantage is a good way to win a fight against someone that may be stronger than you.”

The ant watched as (Name) and Kite talked quietly, the two never looking away from it as they whispered back in forth. The creature sighed, cracking its neck in boredom.

“Hey. We should get started soon.”

Kite waves his hand dismissively. “Wait a little longer.”

“Screw that! You don’t have a choice in the matter,” it licked its lip, glancing between the two. “Now entertain me.”

“Very well.”

As Kite’s aura rose, (Name) darted to the left. The ant paid her no mind, focusing on the threat in front of him. She used this opportunity to go over to Killua, who had been injured during his fight.

(Name) approached him, crouching down to his level. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, the poison can’t-“

“Poison!?”

Killua groaned as she fussed over him, lifting up the back of his shirt. “Killua, does it not hurt? I’ll heal it, don’t worry.”

She placed her hand over the wound, closing her eyes in concentration. “It’ll feel better soon.”

He softened ever so slightly. (Name) was probably the only person that ever truly worried over him, that considered him a child. Gon cared about him sure, but he knew what Killua could and couldn’t take and didn’t worry.

But she worried regardless. When he was hurt, she wanted to make it better. As the wound stitched itself back together, he reached out and held her free hand. “Thanks, (Name).”

She smiled in reply, handing him a granola bar once it was healed. “Here, when I heal a wound it uses your stamina. Your stamina specifically is pretty high, but eating a snack will make sure you stay energetic.”

He took it, unwrapping the bar before taking a big bite. “Mmph… weird, I didn’t think I was that hungry…”

After devouring the bar, Killua joined the others, (Name) following behind him. “Oh it’s him!”

“The thing that shot us!”

Kite, having already defeated his enemy, had his nen activated. “I got a slot machine in my mouth! It goes from 1 to 9. Each number summons a different weapon. This is my Crazy Shot! Don’t forget the name!”

“Just go away…” Kite said, the weapon disappearing.

(Name) healed Gon’s wounds as the others talked, giving him a granola bar as well.

———————

As they made their way out of the cave, Kite continued to speak. (Name) didn’t pay much attention, too busy sorting through her backpack and trying to calm her nerves.

“Let’s hurry, the nest is close.”

That caught her attention.

The forest was dark, all of the animals had gone silent. It felt tense, especially when Gon looked to be on high alert. Usually, when Gon was tense, that meant something was about to happen. After all, his instincts were incredibly sharp.

Killua looked on guard as well, glancing between the gaps in the canopy. He stood close to (Name) as Kite sighed. “We’re surrounded.”

(Name) froze, the only part of her body that moved was her eyes. She searches the tree line for any movement, but it was too dark for her eyes to see.

“Their numbers are great.”

The bushes next to them exploded, along with things falling from the sky. They all landed in front of the four. “Now, then… let’s decide order and methodology. As for our targets, you have three choices. One..”

(Name) reached for Killua’s hand, trying to comfort herself more than him.

“Decide the order in which you will fight. Two, attempt to escape. Three, give up and let us capture you. If you choose option one, you will fight one-on-one battles with us for a chance to survive. I don’t recommend the second option. You’ll anger us, resulting in a brutal capture and prolonged suffering for all of you. Option three is out of the question. That would anger us even more than option two. So, what will you do?”

She felt like she was being leered at again. Each creature stared at her, licking their lips and making strange sounds.

Gon frowned. He was still feeling angry from the disrespect (Name) faced earlier, and from all of the death and pain those creatures had caused. “Kite.”

“We couldn’t have asked for a better deal. One-on-one fights with their Captains. We’ll start with whoever is prepared to fight.”

Killua stepped forward, in front of (Name). “I’ll go.”

“No I will!” Gon said, and the two immediately faced each other to play rock paper scissors. Gon was the Victor.

“Okay, I’m going first!”

————————

After Killua and Gon's fight, Kite pushed name to the front. "She'll be going next."

Killa froze, his hand shooting out to grab her arm.

"Wait, I can go again. She doesn't need to-"

"She's going, that's final."

His words left no room to argue. Killua let go of (Name) hesitantly, a slight shake in his hand for a split second before he was able to hide it.

... Killua, I'll be okay. I've been training too, remember?"

She handed him her backpack, taking a deep breath.

"Watch that for me, okay?"

The other chimera ants chittered and laughed as her opponent stepped forward. The creature was tall, looking like a large, muscular moth with brown wings. It stared down are her, it’s shadow covering her completely. “This is who I get to fight? She’s the size of a baby bear. I could crush her with one hand.”

“Did… did you just compare me to a bear?”

The ant attempted to reach its massive hand out to crush her head, but she dodged to the side. “H-hey, we haven’t started fighting y-“

The ant kneed her in the stomach, sending her flying in the opposite direction. “(Name)!”

Killua began to run forward to go and help her, but was pulled back by the collar of his shirt. “Don’t. You’ll only provoke the rest of them and make (Name) lose focus.”

The boy growled, planting his feet on the ground. He watched as she slowly got back up as the massive chimera ant approached her. “Done already? And after those two children showed you up. How pathetic.”

She wiped the blood from her mouth silently, her aura spiking. “Huh, it really does take just a single touch.”

The ant blinked in confusion as its comrades watched on in horror. The leg it used to kick her was withering away, the pain only now catching up to it. “W-what did you do to me!?”

It tried to rush her, but fell as the effect spread, causing him to fall as his legs became nothing but ash. She easily stepped out of its range. “I’m just speeding up what would have happened to you anyways. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust as they say.”

With that, her fight was over. As she joined the others, Gon and Killua stared on in awe and a bit of fear. “(Name), that was-“

“Scary.” Killua finished Gon’s sentence.

She smiled tiredly, sitting down. “Yeah, it’s something Kite suggested I try. Took a lot out of me and I had to get pretty close to my enemy to use it, but I think I can train myself to eventually have more control over it. Maybe I can even eventually use it from a distance someday!”

Kite walked forward, summoning his weapon as the others chatted.

“That’s enough… it’s my turn!”

The frog like ant stepped forward as Crazy Slots rolled a 2. “Two, huh? Damn, bad spin.”

A scythe appeared in his hands, the blade so long it nearly wrapped around him.

“Killua, (Name)…”

“That scythe is nasty.”

“Gon, Killua, (Name). In three seconds, jump up.”

And they did, all three of them leaping into the air and barely missing the attack that wiped out the entire group of chimera ants.

“Be cautious as we advance. As I mentioned, that won’t be enough to kill them immediately. Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“It’s only getting worse from here. If you start to sympathize with the enemy, you won’t be able to handle what’s coming.”

“Im fine. I have no sympathy for bugs that call each other trash.”

Kite, Gon, (Nams), and Killga headed towards the Chimera Ant Queen’s castle to prevent the king’s birth.

————————

They continued their journey, (Name) struggling a little to keep up after using her ability. She absentmindedly munched on a granola bar, Killua staying back a little to keep an eye on her.

They all stopped when Kite did, waiting for him to speak. “We’re being followed.”

They quickly turned around. “Not from there.”

He looked up, frowning. “There’s quite a number of them.”

Several Chimera ants flew in the air, one more humanoid than the rest. The four now raced through the trees, Killua seemingly angry at how clueless he had been.

“They’re coming from the left and the right. Keep up your guard.” Kite informed them just as a dragonfly like chimera ant flew towards them. The sound of its wings buzzing was so loud that it made (Name)’s ears hurt.

She attempted to seat one away, but they were way too fast. When she tried to get close to use her ability. They hid behind trees. “Crap!”

“The trees are getting in the way!” Gon exclaimed, getting frustrated over the same thing.

“Yeah.”

“Shouldn’t we get out of the forest?” Gon asked, his brow furrowing as another chimera ant weaves through the trees.

“This is a trap.”

———————

(Name) yawned, rubbing her eyes as Kite easily dispatched the chimera ants. They left the woods, the chimera ant that planned to attack them backing off once he sensed he was outclassed by Kite.

“He was able to understand that he was outclassed, and he calmly backed down at once. Most likely, he was a squadron leader.”

They watched as the chimera ants backed away. “We’re following them. Their nest must be nearby. If we follow them, we will find the Queen.”

The three ran through the night as the moon shown over them. Kite used his En to track the chimera ants, nodding. “They’re continuing to go straight. The Chimera Ant nest must be up ahead.”

“Amazing… he’s been picking them up the entire time, never losing them for an instant.” Killua said, hanging back with Gon and (Name).

“Kite said he could use En within a radius of forty-five meters.”

“I’ve heard that those called Nen masters can handle around fifty meters. Kite is nearly there. Actually, given that he’s kept it up for an entire night, he’s probably stronger.”

“Stronger than… a master… the Kite’s the real deal.”

“Yeah, he’s the first real pro Hunter we’ve met.”

(Name) smiled, listening in to their conversation. As they continued to speak, she couldn’t help but feel lucky to have Kite as her teacher. She held onto her backpack straps, watching as Kite continued to walk at a steady pace.

He was… quite handsome, the more she thought about it. Not only that, but he was intelligent and kind. He was kind enough to teach her on an important mission, even though she was noticeably weaker than Gon and Killua, who he already considered a liability if they couldn’t take care of themselves.

The fact he even offered them a chance to leave showed he cared. An uncaring man wouldn’t care if a few kids and a girl died due to their own weakness, but he obviously was not that type of man.

This revelation made her cheeks heat up. Did she… no, there was no way she had some sort of crush on him. She liked Kurapika!

But…

‘He obviously… doesn’t like me…’ her heart twisted in her chest. The memory of his words made her want to curl up into a ball and die.

“This is a pretty brutal place for training, though.”

(Name) began listening back into their conversation to distract herself. Kite responded to Killua’s words. “That’s why I keep asking if your resolve is firm. As you mentioned, Ging had certain expectations when he sent you to me. But I do not intend to train you during this journey. We don’t have that kind of time.”

Soft moonlight trickled through the trees as they continued on. To (Name), it felt like that night was lasting forever.

“I brought you te along because I thought you might be of use, and (Name) because I have a duty to fulfill. From here, it comes down to your resolve. If it’s strong, you’ll develop nen and grow strong via combat. If it’s weak, the ants will eat you.”

The three nodded slowly.

“But we can’t die. We are pro Hunters. Those who call themselves Hunters always get their prey. For Hunters, that is the first commandment. A hunt involves both Hunter and prey. It is a battle of resolve. Emerging victorious from a battle of resolve is what makes a successful hunt. The loser has to follow the winner’s rules and customs. Usually, this means the loser’s death.”

“Rules…”

(Name) paused by a small waterfall, for a moment she had an idea, hearing Gon repeat the word… but it was gone with the wind as soon as Kite continued to speak.

“If you don’t want that result, then win. Improving your nen is important, of course. But to be a successful Hunter, you must understand the enemy and yourself.”

(Name) went quiet again, the sounds of their voices fading away. During this time spent with Kite, Gon, and Killua, she had seen so much death and destruction. Even though it had been said so many times before, her very human mind couldn’t seem to comprehend the possibility of her own death.

Sure, she had thoughts of suicide and even made a few attempts, but she couldn’t quite get the concept of her life being in danger. How many times had she nearly died during the Hunter Exam alone? It was all a bit fuzzy… especially in the beginning when she was still so lost in the dark.

Kurapika had been that light that made the fog clear away. But now… it was as if he was the very fog itself, making the way in front of her unseeable. His words and actions had plunged her back into the abyss she had tried so hard to climb out of.

And part of her resented him for it.

She shook that thought from her head, her heart pouding in her chest. No, no she could never hate or resent him. Kurapika was the person she loved with her entire heart… she didn’t want to feel this way.

So, for the first time, she pushed down those feelings she had for him, attempting to cover them up with her feelings of love and affection. It felt suffocating, almost like her throat was swelling up, but it felt a hell of a lot better than trying to accept that she was human and felt anger for her she had been treated.

She didn’t want to hate him.

By the time she had recovered, Kite sat down on a small, flat boulder. “Ah. That’s right… I just remembered.”

He took out a Hunter’s license, holding it out to Gon. “A Hunter license?”

“This is Ging’s.”

“Huh? Ging’s?”

As they spoke, (Name) and Killua hung back a little. Killua, ever perceptive reached out to grab her sleeve. “You alright?”

She thought for a second before nodding. “Yeah, just… a bit tired, is all.”

After they finished talking, (Name) and Killua rejoined the pair. “Kite…”

He looked up as she spoke, noticing the slight heat in her cheeks. “Thank you… for bringing me. Even though…”

She paused for a moment. “Even though I’m not strong like the others. I-“

“(Name).”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “Do you truly think I would have taken you with me if I didn’t believe you could handle yourself? You’ve already proven yourself, so why do you still doubt your own strength?”

Her eyes were wide with surprise. Kite… thought she was strong? “I…”

Before she could say anything else, Kite stood up and walked towards the cliff’s edge, sweat bearing down his face. His eyes darkened as he looked over the landscape. “That’s a monster…”

He crouched down, muttering to himself. “What is this? I don’t believe it!”

“What’s wrong, Kite?” Gon asked as the three approached him.

“Gon, Killua, (Name). Run!”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up! Get out of here!”

(Name) stood there, taking a single step back and reaching to grab the boys.

“Get away from me!”

It all happened so fast. As Kite moved to block the way, (Name) yanked Gon and Killua back with all of her strength. Because she was so focused, she didn’t notice what happened to Kite until it was too late.

The sound of something falling onto the ground made her look up. Her eyes widened in terror, anger beginning to well up in her chest.

Kite’s arm was lying on the ground, blood gushing from the wound. Killua and Gon were in shock, trembling in both fear and anger as the Chimera Ant before them regarded the three with malicious so intense it made the air freeze inside their lungs.

It was a cat like creature, with a human looking face. The creature was no taller than (Name), but gave off the aura of a natural born killer.

Seeing Kite’s missing arm, both Gon and (Name) began to tremble in anger. As Gon charged up, (Name) got ready to heal him at a moments notice, the grass around her wilting.

Killua slammed his hand in Gon’s neck, knocking him out cold. But he was too late to do the same to (Name).

Unfortunately, she had caught the ant’s attention.

The second the ant laid eyes on (Name), it tensed up, it’s hair fluffy up as if it were a cat encountering a predator.

‘That woman… her power… it’s a danger to the future king!’

Killua picked up Gon, ready to grab (Name)’s hand, but was stopped when the Chimera Ant took a step towards her. (Name)’s aura instantly died down, the terror or being that beast’s main focus making her body freeze on the spot.

“Go! Now!”

Kite summoned his watching, catching the attention of the ant again. As soon as it wasn’t looking at (Name), Killua grabbed her hand and began to run.

There was no way for her to keep up with him, so she was dragged along, flying through the air. “Kite!”

She watched, tears rolling down her cheeks as Kite turned to face the monstrous being. He said nothing, but held a thumbs up, before getting into a fighting position.

——————

As the night continued on, rain began to fall over the three. After getting a good distance away, Killua slowed down enough so (Name) wasn’t being dragged behind him like a rag doll.

She breathed out a sigh of relief, jogging next to him. Soon, the ground would become to slick to run on, so they moved as quickly as they could.

Even after getting several miles away, she could still feel the effects of that… thing’s aura. It made her skin crawl, every sound making her flinch. She half expected something to jump out at them from the shadows, bearing its teeth and ready to devour them.

They had all been too overconfident. The three of them were still weaker than Kite who’d lost an arm. That thing knew… but…

(Name) turned to see Killua glancing at her. ‘Why did that thing react to (Name) that way?’

Sure, Killua knew that her power was frightening, but it wasn’t nearly as strong or developed as Gon or Killua’s. What made her the one in need of eliminating? Why did she of all people catch that thing’s attention?

As the sun rose, (Name) stumbled along behind Killua, her legs shaky with exhaustion. She had never ran that much in her life, the Hunter Exam was a piece of cake compared to the previous night.

It didn’t take long for their guides to notice them as they walked across the desert again. It was all (Name) could do to not pass out as they helped her up into the horse. She held Gon in her lap, Killua riding on the other horse.

“…”

The ride back to where they began was quiet, the two occasionally exchanging a worried glance. Was Kite okay?

Had they just left him to die?

The two carried Gon, setting him down at the base of the tree once they finally arrived at the embassy. (Name) plopped down onto the ground, rubbing her swollen legs.

She silently took a granola bar out of her bag and handed it to Killua, who ate it without a word.

She laid her shirt out in the sun, putting on her cardigan to keep warm as they recovered from the long night they had experienced.

Killua took out his phone and called Kite’s friends, (Name) keeping Gon’s head in her lap. She gently brushed his wet hair out of his face, trying to stay strong for the boys.

They confirmed they were headed their way with reinforcements, so the two just waited together.

(Name) reached out and held Killua’s hand, squeezing it lightly as the truck carrying Kite’s friends and backup rolled up. He felt like a coward for leaving Kite behind, a weakling, but (Name) understood what they were up against.

Three men stepped out of the car, approaching the two. Netero was at the front of the pack, while the other two followed behind. The man to his left was tall, with a muscular body and gray hair and tan skin. The man on Netero’s right was tall and thin, wearing a business suit and glasses.

“That’s Chairman Netero…” Killua whispered, (Name) nodding slowly.

“What’s this? It’s just a bunch of kids. If you’re here to play, you’ll get burned. Go back home,” the muscular man said, grinning. He was carrying something big and heavy over his back that made him lean forward slightly, a testimony to his strength.

(Name) and Killua frowned. They both knew that they weren’t any ordinary kids, and (Name) was an adult!

“Stop it, Morel. That isn’t nice… they’re only children,” the man in a suit spoke. (Name) squeezed Killua’s hand, her eyes trained on the two.

Netero let out a little laugh, looking down at Killua. “You look pretty defeated. Was the enemy that strong?”

He said this with no malice. Netero knew that the three in front of him were no amateurs. The enemy they had faced was strong, so strong that even Kite lost an arm to it.

“One of them could use nen. That was the worst aura I’ve ever encountered. You guys are unbelievably strong, but I still can’t see you defeating that thing…” Killua said softly, looking down.

“Whenever humans encounter the unknown, they tend to lose perspective. Currently you’re experiencing a state of panic. We’ll take it from here, so go lie in bed.” the man in a suit said, looking down at the three as if they were toddlers that needed a nap.

(Name)’s eyebrow twitched, and her grip on Killua’s hand tightened.

“Haha, you’re no better than I am, Knov,” Morel, the muscular man said. “Kid… the minute you start talking about who can win in a nen fight, you’re wrong. In most cases, you won’t know your opponents abilities. One instant of carelessness is all it takes to turn the tables and cost a life. You can’t make assumptions based on the amount of aura displayed. The battle can turn at any point. That’s what fighting with nen means. But, regardless… you must always fight certain of victory! That is a nen user’s spirit. The moment you were overwhelmed by the opponent’s aura and fled, you were disqualified. You’re lower than a loser!”

With his last words, (Name) stood up. “The hell did you just say?”

She stepped forward, her nen spiking. “I’ve had just about enough of your high and mighty talk. If you had been out there in front of that thing, I bet at least one of you would have cried like a little bitch.”

Killua watched this, his eyes going wide. “(Name), stop it, they’re-“

She held up her hand. “And another thing, does it make you feel big and tough to pick on someone smaller than you? Do you feel like a real man when calling a child a loser after making a really hard decision that saved all of our lives? Why I should-“

She raised her fist, but Netero caught it. “That’s enough, (Name).”

Morel looked down at her as if taking her presence in for the first time. He snorted, reaching out his large hand to ruffle her hair. “Looks like this one has some spunk. Kite’s message was right, this girl has potential.”

Netero nodded, examining her aura. “Kite said that you’ve figured out your nen type?”

She nodded slowly, still trying to fix her hair after it was ruffled. “… yes.”

He nodded, looking to Killua. “Is Gon asleep?”

Killua stayed silent for a minute, only relaxing when he saw (Name) wasn’t in any immediate danger. “He was going to attack the enemy, so I used force to stop him. I didn’t have time to control my strength, so I don’t know when he’ll wake up.”

Morel laughed. “That kid shows some promise then.”

“Morel!”

“It’s difficult to believe that giant chimera ants are eating humans, but since it appears to be true, we must keep casualties to a minimum. If we send fighters who aren’t strong enough, they’ll only strengthen the enemy. Do you understand?”

“Yeah…”

Netero began to walk away, but turned the last second. “We sent two assassins to the nearest village. It’s your decision whether you want to fight. But you must defeat them before you come. If you wish to live as a Hunter… we are not desperate for help. We only seek the strong. That being said…”

He paused for just a moment. “(Name)… you will be coming back, guaranteed, if that’s what you wish.”

She blinked, pointing to herself. “Me..? You want… you want me to come back? Why-“

“There is no time to explain. If you wish to come, then use the time to train and refine your ability. Once the victors between Killua and Gon and the assassins are decided, you will come back with them.”

He threw two playing pieces, Killua catching them immediately.

Killua squeezed her hand, preventing her from accepting or declining.

She thought about Netero’s words on the way to the village. All she could think about was how did her abilities even compare to anyone present, and why weren’t Killua and Gon the ones picked?

(Name) took her turn carrying Gon on her back as walked into town.

She raised an eyebrow as Killua looked over a note left on a blackboard.

To: Gon and Killua

‘Will you fight?’

——————

(Name) and Killua sat at Gon’s side as he rested in bed. It was late in the afternoon, the sun filtering in through the window harsh on the two.

The entire way there, Killua had been completely silent. She didn’t blame him for that, the professional Hunters’ words had been harsh, but had a bit of truth to him. There was only so much comfort she could give him without making it seem like it was out of pity. That was the last thing he needed right now, to be coddled as if he was just a child.

She wasn’t surprised when Gon began to stir, raising his hand to block the light from his eyes.

“Killua… thank.”

Killua looked down, his eyes darkening. “Why would you thank me?”

“Weren’t you the one who stopped me? Had I lost control back there, I would’ve gotten in Kite’s way. Then, all four of us could have died.”

“But I… let Kite die…”

“Kite is alive! He wouldn’t ever let that thing beat him! But considering his injury, he’d have a hard time moving around. So he’s probably hiding. Waiting for us to return! So we should hurry back… once we’ve become stronger! To save Kite!”

(Name) watched the two, her gaze softening. Before her eyes, she was watching Killua’s heart open up, watching him fall in love.

“Let’s go. To become stronger!”

(Name) grinned, grabbing both of their hands and leading them to the bathroom. “But first, you two both need a bath and a change of clothes, pronto!”

She walked through town with them after they both bathed and had a meal.

“What are those?”

“Tokens. You take a piece of marked wood and split it, giving each half to a different person. They work as proof that you’re an ally, or to authenticate a document.”

(Name) stopped, ordering them all some ice cream at a stall before walking back and handing it all out. The three continued their journey, now with a special treat.

“In this case, each of the two assassins holds one matching token. We defeat them and take the tokens.”

They went back to the blackboard to see it had been erased. As (Name) licked her ice cream, the feeling of being watched made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“You must be Killua, Gon, and (Name).”

She jumped, turning to see a frightening looking woman behind them. Her hair was long and unkept, her eyes big and staring.

“Nice to meet you… my name is Palm. It’s a pleasure.”

It certainly didn’t seem like a pleasure, a black aura hung around her and her voice sounded far from happy.

“Boys, stranger danger.”

(Name) stood in front of them, hiding the two behind her back.

“Oh my… no need to be so tense. I imagine the chairman probably didn’t provide many details. Allow me to explain. Why don’t we have some tea?”

She began to walk away, and (Name) looked at the two. “Holy… boys, I think we just had a first hand encounter with an otherworldly spirit.”

“That’s not very nice (Name).”

“Gon, I’m with (Name). That was terrifying.”

The three reluctantly followed the women, (Name) and Killua grimacing every time she turned back to stare at them.

———————

“I am a student of Mr. Knov. He said I would only get in his way. But I insisted on accompanying him.”

“Who’s that?” Gon asked as the woman before them stirred a spoonful of sugar into her tea.

“She probably means one of the guys with Chairman Netero.”

“Yes, the one wearing a black suit. My teacher is an incredible person. Cool, intelligent, composed… ah, composed and cool mean the same thing!”

(Name) grimaced as the sugar began to pile in Palm’s cup, peeking over the edge as she poured more and more in. “Ah dear… oh, but I only respect him, that’s all. There’s nothing romantic about my feelings… at least I may wish that were the case.”

She continued to ramble, (Name) glancing at the boys. Killua met her gaze, shaking his head.

‘She’s nuts.’

After she finished speaking, Palm drank the tea, making the three wince. “No one can say what will happen… after all love is a spontaneous thing, don’t you agree?”

“Uh, can I interrupt you? Aren’t we supposed to fight you?” Killua asked.

“Huh? Oh dear… yes, I apologize. The chairman and my teacher said I couldn’t accompany them any farther. But I insisted on going with them. It feels like I spent a lifetime just trying to convince them of my determination. And finally they relented, with one condition.”

“Uh, I’m asking about…”

“My teacher may appear to be a cold person, but he’s actually quite gentle. But you have to spend a lot of time with him to realize that. Ah, by “spending time with him,” I don’t mean-“

“Okay, we get it! What’s the condition?!”

(Name) jumped when Killua snapped, finally having enough of the woman’s ramblings. She nearly had a heart attack when the woman went silent, glaring at them.

“Knuckle and Shoot’s defeat. To think those vulgar, barbaric unmannered brats will be allowed inside NGL before me… I cannot allow that!”

Palm’s aura rose, causing her drink to overflow, spilling onto (Name) and Gon. “Miss Palm, turn off your hatsu!”

———————

(Name) huffed, using the bathroom sink to wet a napkin before dabbing at the stain on her dress. It was one she just bought that day, and she could tell it would be a tough stain to get out later.

‘Damn crazy lady… I need to get back to Gon and Killua before-‘

(Name) nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. She nearly dropped it as she pulled it out of her pocket, her hands still wet while she struggled to unlock it.

“H-hello?”

The line was silent for a moment, and (Name) glanced at the number.

It wasn’t one she recognized.

“This is (Name) (Last Name), correct?”

But she recognized the voice all too well.

“C-Chrollo!?”

Her blood ran cold, the stain on her dress suddenly irrelevant. “Good, it seems you remember me. That makes this much easier.”

The line went quiet again, except for the sound of rustling paper. “I request a favor from you, (Name).”

“A… favor?”

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, her phone nearly falling with it, but she caught it just in time.

“Yes, a favor. What’s the saying… you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours? I need you to do something for me, and in exchange I will give you information that would be useful to you.”

She gritted her teeth, her grip on her phone increasing. “You’re a murderer, you killed the Kurta clan without any mercy, why would I ever-“

“Because I have information on the scarlet eyes.”

She paused, taking several seconds to process that information. Not a word was uttered as he continued.

“Your little boyfriend wants the eyes back, no? Then why don’t we form a little… truce?”

“Truce?”

She could hear him chuckle on the other end. “Yes, after you do this favor for me, perhaps we can form somewhat of an alliance… but with one condition. I will not use any means to get to the chain user through you, but you will not give the chain user any information on us that could lead to him finding our location or harming us.”

He worded himself carefully, keeping his voice neutral. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he probably had some loophole in mind, but the information he might have was too precious to pass up.

“… tell what the favor is. I’ll decide if I’ll do it after.”

She could almost hear the smug smirk he wore in his voice. “A member of the Phantom Troupe was injured in a job, and no one else is close enough to their location to help.”

(Name) frowned. “And you want me to help them?”

“Yes, that would be what I called you for. You have healing abilities, do you not?”

“How did y-“

He cut her off with a chuckle before she could even finish her sentence. “I have my ways. That’s not important though, what is of higher importance is whether you’ll do this favor or not.”

On one hand, if she didn’t accept this favor, a member of the phantom troupe would potentially die, lightening Kurapika’s load. On the other hand, the information Chrollo had was priceless, considering he was the one that sold all of the scarlet eyes in the first place.

“… alright, I’ll do this favor for you. But don’t get it twisted, this isn’t an alliance. It’s give and take, nothing more and nothing less.”

“And that’s fine.” Chrollo said, letting out a sigh. “I’ll send over the information via text message within the next 5 minutes.”

And with that, he ended the call. (Name) stared down at her phone, her heart heavy. ‘I wonder if I’ll… regret this one day.’

She dropped the napkin she had been using to wipe her dress into the trash, her hands shaking slightly when she opened the door.

As soon as she got back to the table, Killua noticed her strange behavior. His eyes darted from her shaky hands to the scowl on her face. “You alright?”

“Yeah… just saw a spider in the bathroom.”

Neither Killua or Gon felt comfortable with (Name) splitting off from them, but she was adult and they couldn’t really stop her.

“It’s alright, I’m just going some shopping. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

She tried to put them at ease, but Killua wasn’t easily fooled. He watched her leave, his stomach hurting. Killua didn’t quite understand why he felt so uneasy watching her go, but he knew that she wasn’t just going shopping.

“She’ll be okay, Killua.”

The white haired boy glanced back to Gon, who was smiling brightly. “She’s strong, we both saw what she could do in NGL.”

“Yeah, but…”

As her silhouette disappeared within the crowd of people, Killua couldn’t help but worry.

“She was never this nervous in NGL.”

———————

The directions Chrollo sent were concise and easy to follow, so much so that it was almost eerie. He correctly assumed there would be heavier foot traffic in some areas, and estimated the time she would get there with that in mind.

The location was a small, dingy motel on the outskirts of town. The lobby smelled like mothballs and piss, and the walls were stained a nasty yellow from years of guests smoking inside. ‘Gross…’

“Can I help you?”

The woman at the front desk spoke lazily, blowing out a puff of cigarette smoke between sentences.

“Um, yes. I’m here to visit the person in room 204.”

The woman waved her hand, pointing down the hall. Without another word, (Name) began following where she pointed.

The air felt thick, and it wasn’t just the cigarette smoke. Someone’s nen was making the air heavy with rage and frustration. ‘Must be the phantom troupe member…’

She knocked on room 204’s door, flinching when someone yelled out. “Hurry up!”

And yet again, she recognized that voice, groaning internally. When she opened the door, she saw the interrogator of the Phantom Troupe sitting on the edge of the messy bed, shirtless. He looked beyond irritated, tapping his foot and grumbling under his breath.

“Uh… Chrollo sent me to-“

“Already know. Get over with.”

She stood still for just a moment, but moved quickly went he sent her a glare. “Can I see the-“

He showed her his back, and she couldn’t help wincing at the sight. Large gashes, deep enough for her to be amazed she wasn’t seeing bone stretched out across his back.

“Stupid bitch… hit me when back turned, coward…” Feitan grumbled, shaking in anger. He didn’t wince in the slightest as she placed her palms over the wound, only growling out in warning.

“This is pretty bad… I’m not sure how much I can heal you with my current abilities.”

Feitan glanced back at her, a scowl on his face. “Just do it. Take too long.”

(Name) huffed, concentrating her aura into her hands and closing her eyes so she could focus on envisioning his flesh knitting back together, of the skin turning pink with scar tissue instead of being a deep red. Within a few minutes, sweat was pouring down her forehead as she finished, panting softly.

His back was still scarred and sensitive to the touch, but she had sped up the healing process to the point it looked like he had received the scars months ago.

Feitan stood up and looked in the mirror, nodding slowly. “Chrollo call you later. Leave.”

With that, he walked to the bathroom turning to watch her go. She took the hint, not wanting to anger a member of the Phantom Troupe.

As she walked down the street, she saw a man walking down the street, shouting into a megaphone and wearing sighs. His black pompadour caught her eyes…

“My name is Knuckle Bine! I am a beast hunter! I challenge the two punitive force candidates to a duel! Come tonight at midnight sharp, and face me! I won’t try to run or hide. I won’t bring any weapons or allies. It’ll just be me and me alone. So come and fight me!”

(Name) sighed, continuing down the street. ‘That’s Knuckle, one of the people Killua and Gon have to defeat. He hasn’t mentioned where they’re supposed to meet, though…’

“A man never turns his back on an enemy! I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth, you won’t get away!”

She stayed neutral, trying not to react to his words. If she gave any sort of reaction, it might clue him in to the fact that she was in fact allied with Gon and Killua, which could be bad for her.

As (Name) made her way back to their hotel, a few shopping bags in hand to make sure Gon and Killua weren’t suspicious of her, she felt… strangely tired. Healing Feitan had taken a lot out of her, and she didn’t know if she would be able to hide that exhaustion from the others.

Opening the door to their room, (Name) nearly jumped when she spotted Bisky training the boys in the middle of the room.

“B-Bisky?”

The woman turned quickly, her hands on her hips. “Finally, you’re back. You’ll be joining their training as well. Start with Ren.”

She blinked for a moment, yelping when the blonde whacked her on the head. “I said start with Ren!”

“Y-yes ma’am!”

After she went into ren, Bisky nodded. “Maintain that for three hours.”

The three looked shocked. “Killua…” Gon whispered, frowning. “How long can you last?”

“I’m too condition, I can manage around 55 minutes max.”

(Name)’s jaw dropped. ‘55 minutes? I don’t think I can even last 15…’

“Until you complete this, we can’t move on to the next step. Train like your lives are on the line!”

(Name) passed out after maintaining nen for a whopping 30 minutes after being forced to do it over and over.

‘She’s far behind the other two…’ Bisky thought, watching as the other two laid in a crumpled pile with her. ‘Yet Netero wants her to be the only guaranteed member that gets to go back to NGL… I’ll have to observe her further to see what that old man has planned.’

“Okay, you can rest for today! Tomorrow behind in 30 minutes. Looks like it’s time for me to use my power.”

She summoned Cookie-chan, who gave the three relief with a gentle massage as they slept.

——————

(Name) woke up to her cheek being pinched lightly. “Hey, girl. Go get us some drinks, you still need time to recover. Even with cookie-chan, there was still some severe exhaustion that even she couldn’t fix.”

Bisky gave her a look, as if inspecting her. (Name) stood quickly, avoiding the glances from Gon and Killua. “Okay, I’ll go. I should be back soon.”

The second (Name) was out the door, Bisky turned to the other two. “So, what do you two think of her?”

Killua grunted, struggling to maintain Ren. “Do we have to answer r-right now?”

Bisky raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”

Gon went first, a determined look on his face. “(Name) is our good friend. She’s kind, and her nen ability is a testament to that.”

Killua smiled, looking at the ground. “Yeah… she uses it mostly for healing, but while we were fighting the chimera ants, she completely destroyed it with her nen.”

Bisky raised an eyebrow. “How exactly? What’s her ability?”

“Time, I think. Specifically the ability to speed up the growth rate of cells.”

Bisky paused, her eyes going wide. At this stage in her nen journey, (Name) shouldn’t have been able to completely destroy a foe with her nen. If she was this strong now, there was no telling how her ability would develop given time and training.

‘Netero… what do you have planned?’

(Name) walked down the street back towards the hotel. She had a bag of drinks in one arm, and some takeout in the other. Bisky had them training the entire night, not giving her the chance to get some dinner. ‘I’m so hungry, but that training made me so nauseous…’

She sat on a park bench, sleepily munching on her food. Maybe she could get a few minutes of sleep before she had to head back…

Before she could lay down and catch a few minutes of sleep, she heard a man call out to her. (Name) groaned internally, her eyelids heavy as she sat up.

“Hey, you!”

The man stomped over, and it was way too late for (Name) to do anything by the time she recognized him. It was the man from earlier, Knuckle.

“Ya think it’s safe to be sleeping on a random bench in the middle of the night!?”

She blinked, staring up at the man as he glowered down at her. “Um…”

“There’s a pervert on the loose, don’t you read the damn newspaper!? Tsk…”

He had took one of his hands out of his pockets. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

(Name) stared at his hand for a moment, biting back a smile. “How can I be sure you’re not the pervert?”

His face erupted into a red blush, and he began stuttering. “W-would never! It’s not manly to force yourself on a woman!”

She laughed, taking his hand. “I’m just kidding. You seem harmless enough.”

Knuckles was still pretty flustered, leading her away by the hand. “W-which way?”

“Just to the next block, I can walk by myself from there.”

He didn’t answer, probably still recovering. Once they reached her stop, he stood firm, crossing his arms over his chest. “Go on, I’ll make sure no one follows ya.”

She smiled, giving him a wave before she began her walk back to the hotel.

‘Gon and Killua will like him, he’s a nice guy.’

After she was out of his view, her smile dropped as her phone buzzed. She had a feeling she knew who it was, but looked at the contact just to be sure.

Chrollo: Here’s the information, as promised.

(Name) swallowed, looking over the pictures and walls of text. Once it was all saved she forwarded it to Leorio. Kurapika had blocked her, so she knew he wouldn’t answer her.

After she sent the text, Leorio called her instantly. It was late where (Name) was, but mid afternoon for Leorio. “(Name), where the hell did you get this information..?”

“… do you really want to know..?”

Leorio sighed. “Yes, of course. It couldn’t have been easy to get.”

“Yeah,” she said, rubbing her temple. “Working with the Phantom Troupe is a real headache.”

The line went silent as she continued walking.

“The WHAT!?”

—————————

Kurapika sipped on some coffee, reading the text Leorio had just sent him. There was information in at least two pairs of scarlet eyes, containing the buyers name and last known location.

‘How he got this info, I have no idea.’ Kurapika thought, setting down his drink. ‘But it’s too good to pass up.’

He stretched, glancing at the clock. Kurapika’s shift to guard Neon started in only 15 minutes, something that made him groan tiredly. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, his nightmares making a restful night impossible.

But unlike usual, it wasn’t images of his dead clan and their missing eyes that haunted his nightmares.

No, it was the image of (Name), her face unrecognizable after being smashed in. He didn’t know how his mind knew it was her, but he did.

��Why weren’t you here, Pika? Why didn’t you protect me?”

That’s the only thing she said, repeating as the bloody gore that was her face shifted and melted away, leaving only her crushed skull in its wake. Empty sockets stared back at him, the dark holes swallowing him up…

And that’s when he shot awake. As he stared up at the clock, now only 5 minutes remaining before he had to start his shift, he tried to push away the awful memory of his dream.

She was safe because of his absence. He… he hadn’t put her in danger, and she didn’t need his protection. That’s what he kept telling himself as he smoothed out his suit jacket and combed out his messy hair.

‘I… hope she’s okay.’

With one last look at the cardigan he had woken up with weeks ago, Kurapika left his hotel room, ready to start his day.

#perv!kurapika #fixer upper kurapika x reader #requests open #x reader #anime x reader #reader insert #headcanon #hxh x reader #hxh imagines #hunter x hunter x reader #anime x chubby reader #chubby!reader #chubby reader #female reader #fem reader #fem!reader #kurapika x reader #kurapika x y/n #kurapika x you #kurapika smut

[designation-d-16]

The incessant screeching of alarms quickly engulfed his systems, overwhelming in their boisterous cacophony. The mine was under siege, the target of an unannounced attack - most likely at the servos of the enemy. Debris rained upon them, the helpless workers who diligently rode the wave to the end as the terrain above gave way. Echoes of clatter, of agonizing screams reverberated in tandem with the sirens -the picture of chaos as explosions sealed their fates. Protocol dictated that if such anomalies occurred, planned or otherwise, the mine would begin a series of self-destruction. If the cons couldn't maintain the stronghold, then no one could. It was all or nothing. Do or die.

Violet orbs quickly scanned the amber hued tunnels. Another explosion roared in close proximity - another shaft gone. Radiation sensors sprung to life - an indication that time was quickly running out. He narrowed his optics, shadows of the fallen danced across the landscape. The putrid smell of spilled energon intermingled with the gasses of the now leaking ducts. A group of young miners sprang into view, an exodus of fear heading for the light, like a moth eerily to a flame. He cursed beneath his breath - intakes whirring to life - another failsafe precautionary life support. He knew better. Those that escaped would be scrapped by the enemy that lay beyond the tunnels. There was no escape that way. They'd be captured and mutilated into piles of scrap. And if somehow their sparks were spared, it would be excommunication from the deceptions - a fate worse than death.

A disabled cart lay on a siding - overturned for repair. While useless for transport, it would provide a safe haven until the siege was completed. Cowardice? Perhaps. However, the benefit of life was far greater than the clutches that lay in the afterworld - if there even were such a thing. Pickaxe denounced any sort of divinity - particularly the allspark, well of sparks, or whatever nonsensical entity others blindly followed. Palaver. Another set of commandments for the feeble minded to commit themselves to. Memento mori - we all must die. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

The ceiling rumbled, then poured violently down around the overturned cart - hailing debris as a shaft from above crumbled. System failures scanned across his screens - blinding his limited field of vision. His intakes were clogged, slowly suffocating his system. It was beginning to fail. His quarters were cramped, but it was enough of a refuge from the maelstrom to suffice. The mine wasn't the only thing that was dying. It was time to power offline, or risk never escaping. And so he'd surrender for now, wrapping his brawny arms around his legs, and initiate the process of shutting down.

Silence.

Dormant he lay for whatever span of time elapsed. The mine had gone silent. The alarms, the cries, the explosions… eerily replaced with tranquil noiselessness. It wasn't until something cold, something sticky, began seeping through the welded seams that cradled him. He'd survived. The bot who'd fallen atop his effective safehold had not. It was their leaking energon that roused his systems into reboot. But now that lifeless bot presented another problem - the added weight to the already heavy cart. Amathyst orbs illuminated the darkness as he slowly regained awareness. How was he going to get out, and what would happen when he did?

Radiation levels pinged through his head - an utter annoyance that would quickly lead to an unrelenting ache should they continue. The only solution would be to pull that cord. He wasn't a medic, just a young grunt who'd been sold at auction to work the mines. Yet, there'd be a simple enough remedy once he'd clear the cart. He crouched, and with every ounce of strength he could muster, he lifted both the cart and his fallen comrade to freedom. His freedom. The other didn't matter.

Orbs winced as the warning continued to drone incessantly on. Heavy digits wrapped around the handle of his own axe. With a quick swing, it was wielded into the side of his head. He released a guttural cry, and plunged his digits into the open hole that now wept the life force of his own. They danced along until they grazed the offending cable. It snapped with a quick jolt. That settled that problem, but how the scrap was he getting out of here?

Persistence.

If there was anything Axe learned in his short life, it was persistence. With it, you'd get what you wanted. Without it, you ended up like the remnants of the fallen that scattered the remains of the tunnels. Dog. Eat. Dog.

It was another immeasurable amount of time that passed, filled with wandering, digging, and ultimately cannibalism. There was no fresh energon to sustain upon. Gruesome? Yes. Effective? Also yes. The husks of the other miners also served other purposes. Armor. Suspected trap? Toss a body. Dangling scaffolding? Shield. Hungry? Food. Desperate times? Desperate measures. He didn't know what awaited beyond the mine, or if he'd ever see it. Until he did.

He collapsed in the rays of daylight - gasping in the air that surrounded him. The radiation had begun poisoning his circuitry, and infection threatened that wound upon his head. He was in poor shape, but he was free. The lone survivor. He was weak, terribly so. The living Hell he'd endured and ransacked his systems. He'd need a medic. Desperately and soon.

//forgive me for the copy/paste - figured it would be a good starter. reply needn't be nearly as verbose, I was in a wordy mood. I'll be much briefer from here on out.

Megatron was the only one who went to check for survivors. He stepped cautiously towards the old mineshaft and was surprised to see a Energon covered frame of someone. He carefully approached.

“Who’s there? Do you need help?”

He’s a bit quiet but he tries to speak soothingly. He knows a cave in is quite the event to survive through

#miner megatron rp #decepti-lost

[sideeve]

NO SLEEP | with ETHAN WINTERS

— after the baker incident , he couldn’t get enough of you.

— resident evil 7 plot , zoe dies (my pookie bear😢) , mia dies (fuck you bitch !!) , since i finally finished the game after years of playing it , rotting daddy needs some luv , possessive!ethan

you lost track of time. your paranoia grew worse and worse by the day. the once nice family you knew and were fond of are now inhumane and devilish.

you hid in closet, secret tunnels, under beds. anywhere that can keep you alive for a short period of time.

then you were met with an unfamiliar face. “put your gun down, now! or i will shoot.” the nozzle of your pistol pressed against the person’s head. “don’t shoot, i’m not a threat.” his hands for up in the air, slowing turning to meet you. “see? i’m not going to hurt you.”

once he saw you, he took note of them cuts and bruises on your skin, “jesus, are you okay?” “look where we are. do we seem okay?” you seethe.

“sorry. look, my name is ethan. ethan winters. i was trying to find my wife but i just need to get out of here.” he was beginning to get tired of his wife going berserk on him at random times. but thank god he found another face. hopefully a trusting one.

“you have any ideas?” he shakes his head. “but we need to stick together. if we’re gonna make it out alive, we need to have each other’s backs. okay?”

“have you met zoe yet?” he breaks the silence between you two. “yeah, i have. we were friends before this happened.” that gives him some relief. at least you knew about the family. “where they nice before this? the bakers, i mean.” you sigh, “they were a family you wanted. the kindest. especially jack.”

“well, she promised me a cure to get us out of here.” he reassures you. “then i can meet mia.” you return the smile. but his falls.

why did he feel anger when hearing her name?

as the both of you explored the house more, killing mold creatures, he grew protective over you. he knew you could handle your own but if you got hurt, he blamed it on himself.

“ethan…it’s not your fault.” you huff out, sitting on the floor, catching your breath. “i should’ve seen it coming. i-” “enough!” you cut him off. you seethe in pain, “it’s not your fault.” you stand up. “let get out of here.”

his protectiveness turned into possessiveness. when lucas somehow took you, mia, and zoe. he only came for you.

“[name]! are you okay?” he ignores mia’s cries for him. he pulls out his knife, beginning to cut the rope from your wrists but you stop him. “ethan, your wife.” you move your bound wrists, throwing them her way, “help her.”

he shakes his head, continuing to cut you free. “what the fuck, ethan?!” mia cries.

once zoe was able to make a cure as she promised, he had used one on jack.

“i had to use one.” his hands shake. only one serum left. “i’m not even infected so i’m out of the—” you start but a sharp pain in your wrist cuts you off. both zoe and mia gasp. “ethan…what did you do?” you softly cry.

“you could’ve saved either one of them. zoe at least. she my best friend!” you seethe, pushing him backwards. “i did what i had to.” he catches your wrists, pulling you closer to him, “i told you we were going to get out of here together.”

he only wanted you two to survive.

it was too late to realize. he had already used it on you. “let’s go.” he pulls you by the wrist, pulling you to the boat.

you had survived. you were still shaken but you survived.

a light blanket was wrapped around you, giving you comfort. ethan sits next you, legs touching. “we did it.” he smiles. “yeah…we did.” you were distraught that you had left your closest friends to die.

“zoe…”

“survival of the fittest, [ name ]. it was bound to happen.”

#ethan winters x reader #ethan winters #resident evil #resident evil imagines #resident evil x reader #re x reader

[osakisz]

when you try to kiss them on their cheek as a distraction | spirit, mastermind, legion (frank).

who needs deception, red herring or diversion as a distraction, what about a smooch instead. — this one's quite shorter than my other drafts that will probably never see the light of the day ever again. just want to put something silly out for my favorite killers <3 was gonna add our golden boys trickster and ghostface but i ran out of ideas :(( i might include them the next time i make a part 2 to this.

content: lowercase intended, partially not proofread, gender neutral reader, ambiguous as to whether or not the reader is dating the killers, spirit — dwight cameo | mastermind — basically ranting how i don't know how to navigate rpd | legion — elodie cameo, frank is a stinky tunneler.

RIN YAMAOKA | THE SPIRIT

desperate times call for desperate measures. poor dwight is on his death hook and he cannot waste any more time for his team to do their objectives. the vicinity is naked of resources for him to utilize, and you don't have a flashlight in your hands to prevent him from getting picked up.

you didn't really leave much time into brainstorming your next move, as soon after, you've heard a loud scream just near you.

and of course it had to be dwight, if only you weren't so finicky with using pallets in the area, he would've last longer.

dwight and rin are out in the open, which could've been such a free blind, but you've got something else in your mind.

swooping just as rin's had dwight on her shoulder, you jumped and cupped her face, kissing her cheek, all in a rapid second.

rin's confused and stands with dwight on her shoulders. why... would you do that? doesn't know if she should be shocked or just go through with her spree while her cheeks are heating up.

dwight's just as confused as rin, he can't see anything but the dirty ground, what's going on? why is the spirit making confused noises?

you backed up afterwards and tugged your arms together behind your back, reminiscent of a child feigning to be innocent when they are being scolded.

your plan didn't work out as you planned it to be, as rin was recovering from the stunt you pulled. but she was bamboozled enough for dwight to wiggle out, in his merry way to a tile with no resources, again.

mission failed succesfully.

ALBERT WESKER | THE MASTERMIND

you're fighting for your life not to get on death hook. but lady luck didn't seem to be on your side the very moment all of you were sent to rpd.

not only do some of the corridors & rooms are barely lit, it was extremely difficult to navigate the area. where do these stairs lead to? where do these hallways lead to? why did i just came back from where i've been last time?

attempting to find refuge, you look for the rest of your teammates, but that's the problem, you can't find any of them. although it was an ideal situation for everyone to be split up and doing their own generators, that wasn't really the time for that, you need to survive as much as possible.

when you turn around a corner, you didn't expect wesker to be standing by the edge of the room, as if he knew you'd come by.

wesker chuckles, prepping the tentacle in his hand, "i've got you where i wanted..."

you have no time to take in what just happened and what is about to happen, but you refuse to not get out of your situation.

in pure panic, you shoved your open hands in front of his face, "wait! wait! wait!"

surprisingly enough, wesker is intrigued of your stalling technique, so lowers his tentacles and hears you out.

there's a suffocating tension and silence between the both of you when you just stare at each other. when you've gotten uncomfortable of the current situation you're in, you swiftly press your lips against his cheek and ran as far away as you can. it's not the best last resort manuever one can think of, but it's the only one you can think of during the moment.

wesker touches the cheek that you kissed with his gloved hand, smirking to himself. he intentionally lets you get away with it, giving you a feign hope of surviving. he'll give you time to indulge in your wishful thinking of surviving the trial before he spooks you again.

FRANK MORRISON | THE LEGION

the only killer you'd genuinely get away with something so silly.

you're trying your best to protect elodie, who has been constantly tunneled the entire game. seeing as there's one generator left, and frank is struggling to pressure the team, he might as well target a survivor and get them out of the trial before the last generator pops.

everyone, including you, is injured, thanks to frank's insane capability of injuring almost everyone swiftly.

you've been sticking with elodie after she got off from her second hook, since you nor the rest of your team has not been hooked yet, you figured you can perform a little risky and even trade hooks with elodie in any case she might be in danger.

but of course, there's little chance that your plan will work. you hear frank approaching while you're patching up elodie in the shack, so you halted the healing and gestured elodie to carefully run away from the shack. "i'll be right behind you", you encouragingly whispered to her.

when you follow right after elodie, the first thing you've noticed was that frank had already seen the both of you, yet still goes for elodie.

you rapidly stood in front of elodie with your arms raised up in attempt to guard her. she can't risk leaving the area lest she gets hit. "w—w—wait! may i interest in something, frank?", you ask the man in front of you.

he brushes off your question for a while, shoving you out of the way. "hm... sure, why not. but i'll deal with her first".

time is ticking. your go to should be to stand face to face with frank yet again, but he can easily shove you aside like previously. suddenly, as if a lightbulb has lit up above you, you attempt to execute a plan that took barely a second to figure put.

elodie runs for her life, seeing as you're too far away to help her. frank was quick to follow, confident enough to get her out of the trial and can finally manage to pressure your team. but frank's brain stops when he feels a hand grab his arm, immediately forcing him to stand still and look at you. unintentionally so, you look like you're pleading him not to kill your team, with your brows furrowed and tears welling up in your eyes, both are the results from the injury he has inflicted on you minutes ago.

frank thinks it's cute but it's not enough for him to take pity on neither you or your friends, if that was the message you were trying to convey.

he was almost out of your grip until you harshly lower his head down by tugging aggressively at his arm, placing a peck in his mask where his cheeks would lay beneath.

shortly after, the both of you look at each other in silence. your brows are still furrowed but your lips are pursed as a straight line. from the inside, frank is exploding with how adorable you look right now. he audibly stutters from embarrassed he is, but luckily it was muffled so you can't decipher what noises he's making.

elodie is long gone in the vicinity, luckily for all of you. but now you have to deal with the problem at hand, how are you going to escape the killer's grasp now? but you suppose you can endure one hook stage, considering elodie was the only one hooked throughout the trial.

you come back to your senses and entirely lose your grip in frank's arm and ran as far away as you possibly can without disturbing your team. you don't know if you're lucky or unlucky that frank hurriedly runs after you, but one thing's for sure, you hope he's after for more kisses.

luvenary on tumblr — please do not repost.

#✷ ... original works #dead by daylight x reader #dead by daylight x gender neutral reader #the spirit x reader #rin yamaoka x reader #the mastermind x reader #albert wesker x reader #the legion x reader #frank morrison x reader #this is so silly i know #but i kinda like it :))

[onestepbackwards]

What’s All The Buzz About? Pt. 7

Hello! 👋 welcome to my next part of my Beemas fic!

Unfortunately I haven’t been feeling well lately, so I apologize if this chapter feels a little off. Regardless, I still hope you all enjoy 💚

Summary: You decide to confront the Kings over what you learned, and things go a lot better than you had expected.

CW: Mentions of egg stuff, very small mention of the king’s ‘equipment’, slight sexual tension, mentions of toxic family and workplace, mostly fluff

Word count: 3914 Words!

Wanna help support me and help me get pieces for a new computer? Consider checking me out here!

First: Here

Next: ?

-

-

-

Staying with Jackie turned out to be a fun affair, after both of you calmed down. He was eager to feed you, play with you, and talk with you about anything and everything.

Even to answer any questions you may have still had.

What you really enjoyed, however, was snuggling him close. You already enjoyed the few bits of physical contact you had here at the hive, sexually charged or otherwise. This though? It felt a bit different. Intimate in a way you could not describe.

Sure you had been close to some of the bees, and had been carried by many of them. But holding Jackie close to your side, and letting him cuddle with you in bed? It was so sweet.

Especially with how he happily laid his head on your chest, and his wings buzzed every so often. Or how he had one set if arms just happily wrapped around you in a way a partner would.

It made you realize just how touch starved you had been, both before and after arriving here in the hive.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before you had to confront the Kings. You weren’t even sure if you would call it that. They weren’t planning on forcing you to do anything, and from what you understood, planned on telling you everything anyway.

Still, you had to tell them you knew. Had to sort everything out.

You were at least thankful that you got some time to think about it as well. Having a few hours to dwell on the pros and cons, and mentally prepare yourself had been a blessing. Had the Kings sprung this on you, even with the intent to let you think about it, you would have been even more overwhelmed than you had been earlier today.

If you were being honest with yourself…

You couldn’t help but find the offer appealing.

What did your life in Nimbasa really have anyway that made you want to stay? Not a whole lot, if you were being honest with yourself. Sure, you had your possessions, but that was an easily solved problem. No doubt the twins would help you move everything to the hive as needed.

There was your family to consider as well, but if you were being honest? You would rather stay with the bees. Your family always cared more about your younger sibling, and you were considered the black sheep. When was the last time they had called to check up on you, and ask about your day?

Months. That’s how long it’s been.

The last time your mother had called, it had been two weeks ago, just to moan and whine about how they needed you to babysit your siblings. Siblings who were more or less grown adults mooching off your parents.

Yeah, safe to say, you could care less about what they thought. If you wanted to become a Queen of a hybrid hive, that was your business, and they could deal with it.

Plus… the idea of just up and moving without saying anything brought you some sick satisfaction. It made you wonder just how long it would take for them to even notice or care.

There was another thing to consider, and that was your job. No doubt the moment you made a return to Nimbasa, regardless if you accept the Kings’ proposal or not, will cause some sort of uproar.

With the stunt your boss and coworkers pulled, they will be lucky if they survive after you are through with them. No way were you letting them get away with leaving you for dead.

Especially after Ingo and Emmet confirmed no one had come near that entrance to the tunnels since your first night here. They had a few drones in place to make sure no one else got hurt if anyone came looking.

No one came.

It made your blood boil, but you weren’t entirely surprised, given how shitty your coworkers were to begin with. Sure, the job paid the bills, but leaving you for dead was insane. You were going to tear them apart the moment you went back home, so your job wouldn’t be an issue if you took the role of Queen.

Little did you know, it would have been very easy for your Kings to take matters into their own hands had anyone returned. They were just as furious the more they got to know you.

Not that you were aware of that fact.

All in all, things that would majorly effect your decision all seemed to point towards agreeing to join the hive.

Though you would admit, the idea of carrying their eggs both made you nervous, and excited you in ways you could only dream of.

Jackie had been kind in helping explain it. How the Kings had two(two!!!) cocks, one like the drones, and one for depositing eggs.

Oh, how that little tidbit of info made you really warm, the more you thought about it. Something that no doubt would make the average person squeamish was something that was turning you on as you gave it more thought.

You were very happy Jackie had fallen asleep. He had also admitted it was incredibly easy to smell your arousal. Something that you were still horribly embarrassed about.

The last thing you needed right now was making poor Jackie hot and bothered as well.

Still, you could not deny how… appealing this was all turning out.

Even the idea of carrying eggs wasn’t so bad, especially when Jackie had explained that there would be nurses ready at your beck and call in case anything happened. You would be receiving top care your entire stay.

And…

…You just really started to like the idea of Ingo and Emmet filling you to the brim with their eggs.

Stars, you were a bit of a pervert.

But you had a feeling you weren’t the only one, if what Jackie had confessed to you was anything to go by.

The whole hive seemed taken with you, not just the Kings, if what Jackie said was anything to go by. Now that you knew this, you were inclined to believe him, all based on how you remember both the drones and twins acting around you. Especially when the room had felt so sexually tense the past week or so.

It made you wonder of the idea of being with the whole hive, or taking the Kings eggs was as much of a turn on for them as it was becoming for you.

You couldn’t help but lick your lips. This offer of theirs was definitely becoming appealing.

There was also the idea of becoming the whole hive’s mate. Everyone had been so sweet to you, it made you wonder how sweet and caring they’d all be if the relationship was official. You’d potentially never have to have a moment without hugs or hand holding ever again.

Even if that was on the sweeter side, you liked the idea of never having to deal with becoming touch starved. Sure, this could easily turn into something more… lewd… but the idea of always being able to hug and cuddle someone who would want it? It had your heart thudding in your chest.

You didn’t even really care about being ‘royalty’ or not. You’ll take the role seriously, of course, but even if you weren’t going to possibly become a Queen, the whole deal was beginning to seem too good to pass up.

That’s why when the King’s eventually went down to see you, you had made up your mind.

If their offer was still on the table, you’d take it.

But first, you had to protect Jackie. You refused to let the bee take the heat for just telling you what you wanted to know. You didn’t think he would be punished harshly, but you weren’t going to take any chances.

So when there was a familiar knock at your door, you tensed, ready for whatever may happen next.

“Come in.” You called out. At your words, Jackie startled awake, though quickly relaxed when you gently rubbed his shoulder.

Not a moment later, Emmet pushed the door open with a smile. This time though, you noticed a slight pause in his step when he saw Jackie. It was brief, and if you hadn’t been looking at him closely, you probably would not have noticed it.

As Emmet entered the room, he clapped his hands together, and Ingo stepped into the room as he did so.

“Good evening, darling! Are doing alright?” He asked. You noticed his smile seemed a little strained when his eyes flickered to Jackie.

Even Ingo behind him seemed to be tense. You were surprised he hadn’t spoken up yet, being the more talkative of the two. He was probably just as surprised seeing Jackie in bed with you as Emmet was, if how tense his posture seemed was any indication.

Patting Jackie’s head, you gave them both a nod and a smile.

“I am doing okay, thank you. I hope you both are doing well yourselves.” You said, genuinely meaning it, and hoping for it.

You didn’t exactly want to have this conversation if they were in a tense mood, after all.

Emmet gave you a big smile, and Ingo let out a cough, looking away for a moment. You swore, he looked a little flustered just from you asking.

Cute.

“We are doing well, my dear.” Ingo said after a moment, trying to straighten out his posture a little more. His voice sounded firm, and was still a little quiet, but he seemed genuinely happy to see you.

He cleared his throat, and walked over next to Emmet.

“Jackie, have you been here this whole time? You’ve been missing-“

You cut Ingo off.

“I requested Jackie stay with me. I hope that is not an issue?” You asked. Ingo’s jaw snapped shut, and Emmet’s antennae twitched.

“That is fine! He was one of the drones assigned to help you, should you need it!” Ingo eventually spoke up, as if sensing Emmet’s irritation.

Jackie shrank a bit under their gaze, clutching onto you a little tighter.

You rubbed his back soothingly. Even if they didn’t plan on doing anything to him, you could only imagine the fear from the last Queen must still stick with a lot of the bees.

There was an odd tension in the air. You could almost taste it. You wondered if they could sense your nervousness and were worried or confused.

Emmet opened his mouth to speak after a few moments, but you beat him to it.

“So you two were planning on making an offer to me about becoming a possible Queen?” You suddenly spoke, just throwing it out there. You were unsure how to breach the subject. As blunt as it was to do this, you figured getting the conversation over with would be optimal compared to stressing about it until they decided to ask you themselves.

Almost immediately at your question, both twins froze. It was almost comical, how their bodies stiffened, and wings and antennae ceased all movement. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say they both had gone pale.

Emmet’s wings twitched once. Then twice. His smile tightened, and you could see the underlaying panic on his face.

“Ah… Did Jackie tell you about that?” Ingo piped up, his voice sounding strained. Jackie flinched, more or less confirming that he indeed had told you.

“Yes, he did. He told me quite a bit.” You spoke, pulling Jackie closer. The poor drone was beginning to shake, and you could hear his breathing picking up.

If it was possible, the tense air got thicker, becoming a bit hard to breathe. It was quiet, and you could probably hear a pin drop.

It was obvious the twins were not expecting this when they came into your room like they did every evening.

They also weren’t prepared for what you said next.

“If the offer is real and on the table, I would be inclined to accept.” You spoke, nearly causing both twins, and even Jackie to jump.

You weren’t expecting Emmet to rush up to you, and grab your hand in his own, his smile bright and dazzling.

“Oh, you mean it? You’d give it a try?” He asked, his wings buzzing behind him in a frenzy of excitement. Ingo was at his side in a flash, his face flushed. His own wings twitched in excitement at your words.

“Are you sure? You would be attempting to take the mantle of a Queen. We will handle business for the most part, but it could be difficult. Especially with, well…” Ingo spoke, his face growing with color as he avoided looking into your eyes.

“You’d be attempting to carry our eggs. A verrry important task, yup!” Emmet finished for him, seeming to have no shame about the how excited he was about you trying to do so.

Ingo sheepishly tubbed the back of his neck.

“Yes, what Emmet said.” He spoke, his voice a little more quiet, though the blush on his face seemed to grow a shade darker.

“Jackie informed me as such. I’ve gone over it all in my head, and, well…” you spoke, looking away. You really were agreeing to this, weren’t you?

You found you did not mind.

“I like it here. I’ve had more fun here the past two weeks or so, compared to the past few years in Nimbasa city,” you began, and fiddled with the sheets with your free hand before continuing, “You all are very kind, and I will admit, I find you all very… attractive.” You said, fighting back the blush crawling up your neck.

Emmet let out an excited giggle at your words, and seemed to shake in excitement. You swore you heard Ingo’s breathe catch. Jackie hugged you closer with one of his sets of arms, nuzzling into your chest.

“I’d like to at least try, and see if I can help. This will be a test of trial and error, I imagine. But… I’d still like to try.” You spoke, and squeezed one of Emmet’s hands that still held onto one of your own.

You ended up making a noise of surprise when you felt a weight press against you. Emmet had forgone holding your hand, and jumped forward, hugging you tightly. Jackie let out a small squawk as he was bumped a bit to your side, but still held onto you.

Ingo took Emmet’s place as you were nearly smothered from the hugs. His cool hands met your own, and gently held them while entwining a set of fingers with your own.

The older King gave you a soft look, and you swear your heart skipped a beat.

“Alright then. If this is the track you wish to depart on, we will gladly accompany you forward on it.” He spoke, and just from that sentence alone, you could tell he was excited. Even he seemed to be vibrating in place.

It was really sweet, and you couldn’t fight the blush growing on your face.

When was the last time you had felt so wanted? It was a bit sad that you couldn’t even remember…

After a few moments, you cleared your throat.

“Sorry but… would it be alright to move my stuff from my old home down here to the hive? I have some stuff that is sentimental-“ you began, and Emmet broke the hug, his face still beaming.

“Of course! We will help you move as soon as possible.” He assured you. You relaxed a bit, and gave him a soft smile. That was your main concern, getting your stuff.

“Also, I’ll need to tie up loose ends with everything in Nimbasa before I move here. Such as my job, and settling some things. I should be able to do that living here, but I’ll need to go up to the surface a few times until then.” You then explained. You didn’t want people thinking you were missing, and you had to cut ties with your job. Maybe settle some lawyer work, because you weren’t letting what they did go.

Especially since you wouldn’t need as much money now, living in the hive. Given how self sustaining it was, you doubted you would have to venture out to the city unless you were craving something specific.

Thankfully, both twins didn’t seem to mind.

“Of course! We will help make accommodations immediately! Whatever you need, we shall do our best to assist you!” Ingo spoke, his voice growing with that familiar loudness you had griwn fond of.

Emmet finally flew a ways away to give you some space, and Jackie quickly was back at your side, holding onto you tightly.

“One more thing…” you spoke, your voice having a twinge of uncertainty in it. Emmet perked up.

“Name it! Anything!”

You looked down at Jackie, and back at the twins.

“Are you sure this is fine with the hive? I… I don’t wish to upset any of the drones by becoming a Queen…”

Sure, most the drones you has met have been sweet, and have been excited to talk to you. However, you had no idea if they all felt that way. You didn’t want to start a riot or create unease by taking this position.

Ingo and Emmet shared a look, though it was one that didn’t set off alarm bells. They both gave you a pleased look.

“We can promise you, most of the hive adores you. Anyone that doesn’t will not say a word unless they feel it is absolutely necessary for the hive’s health.” Ingo told you.

You weren’t sure that made you feel entirely better, but if most the hive liked you, that put you at ease. You could at least agree to a drone putting in a complaint if they felt it was necessary. Last thing you wanted was for the bees to feel like they couldn’t talk about any problems they were having.

With a sigh, you nodded.

“That works for me.”

Emmet raised his hands with a cheer, cutely flying in a circle. Even Ingo seemed pleased, his wings buzzing ever so slightly.

Patiently, you waited for Emmet to calm down a bit, before speaking.

“So, what do I have to do?” You asked. Emmet’s grin grew widen, and you swore Ingo’s eyes sparkled.

Ingo walked up, and took your hand in his own. Bringing your knuckles to his lips, he gave them a brief kiss.

“Let us take care of you, My Queen.”

Emmet flew to your side, right next to Ingo. He lifted your chin up with a finger, having you look in his eyes.

“We will handle all the main work. While you…”

He leaned in close, and you felt like your heart was going to explode. His eyes were lidded, and his face morphed into a smirk.

“Relax and sit tight. We’ll feed you royal jelly. Make you our Queen. A perrrfect Queen to be our mate.”

His voice lowered as he spoke, and you swore it sounded like a purr. You couldn’t help but swallow thickly, and Emmet’s smirk only grew as his antennae twitched.

That’s also right. You’d become the hive’s mate, along with being their Queen. If what Jackie said was true, that would include all the things flowing through your mind.

It made you a little warm under the collar, and Emmet was clearly enjoying it. Especially now that he didn’t have to hide any interest if you were willing to be a Queen.

“Okay…” you spoke, your voice a bit small with how flustered you were becoming. If it was possible, Emmet’s grin only seemed to grow. His face leaned close to your own, but before his lips could meet yours, he was yanked away by Ingo.

“Behave.” Ingo told him, holding his twin by his collar.

“But-!”

Ingo tsk’d.

“They just agreed to be our Queen. Give them space and time to adjust!” He scolded, and Emmet pouted at the treatment. All it took was Ingo’s glare deepening, for Emmet to let out a sigh, smiling begrudgingly.

“Fine.”

He crossed his arms, and looked away. The moment Ingo let him go though, he quickly flew up to you before Ingo could catch him.

Faster than the blink of an eye, Emmet leaned in, kissing your cheek with a laugh. He didn’t stay, quickly jumping out of the way of a fumbling Ingo, who was desperately trying to catch him.

“Emmet-!”

The younger twin flew out of your room with a playful laugh, and left Ingo in his dust. The King sighed, rubbing his temples. Glancing at you, he gave you a warm look.

“Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll take care of everything.” He says softly, and moves over to you.

“May I…” he begins, seeming unsure. His face grows flushed as you look at him curiously.

“May you…?” You ask, wondering what he wants. He looks rather cute like this, you note.

Ingo straightens up, a more determined look on his face.

“May I… kiss you?” He asked, and you felt your face warm up. After a moment, you smiled.

“You may.”

Ingo gently grabbed your chin, tilting your face up so he had better access. Leaning down, his lips gently met your own, and you both easily melted into the kiss. Despite how rough his ‘skin’ was, his lips were incredibly soft against your own.

He didn’t stay like that for long, but even as he pulled away, you were left breathless all the same. Ingo looked incredibly pleased with himself, and gave you a smug, yet loving look.

“Just wait until Emmet learns I kissed you first.”

His words made you giggle, imagining the offended look Emmet no doubt will have when he learns of this.

Ingo then adjusted his uniform, and gave you a brisk nod.

“I need to go find him and discuss how much royal jelly to make. Worry not, we will be back in a while after coming up with a plan for you.” He explained, and began heading towards your door, a noticeable spring in his step. Before he closed the door behind him, he turned and looked back at you.

“I mean it when I say we will take care of you, my dear. Anything you need, we will take care of it for you.” He spoke, his voice soft. With another nod, he closed the door behind him.

Letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, you brought a hand to your chest. Your heart was still beating wildly, even though everything had turned out fine.

Perhaps it was from excitement?

You were brought out of your thoughts when Jackie sat up, wings twitching as he looked over at you. He gave you a large smile, reminiscent of Emmet’s.

“Can I kiss you too?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, before leaning into to kiss him as well.

As your lips met Jackie’s, you were quite certain of a few things.

One, Jackie is a really good kisser.

And two, you were incredibly lucky.

Who knew that getting caved in the underground subway would be the best thing to happen to you?

It made you excited for the future going forward, and what you had to look forward to.

…You just hoped it would be a smooth transition, going forward.

#submas #subway boss emmet #subway boss ingo #submas x reader #ingo x reader #emmet x reader #beemas #beegearstation #beegearstation au #bee!ingo #bee!emmet #bee!submas #bee hybrid #hybrid au #hybrid!submas #king bee ingo #king bee emmet #x reader #reader insert #spicy stuff🔥 #nsft #long post #zed.writes #whats all the buzz about #whats all the buzz about? #i am so sleepy #i hope u enjoy this though ❤️

[messrmoonyy]

hey y’all, anon bestie back at it again😍

but rlly, like imagine.. tess getting a lil submissive but still being the one in control and getting on her knees in front of you to do sum unholy things LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL

Submission

Tess Servopoulos x fem!reader

A/N- hi bestie!!! I thank you for your service , you’re my favourite 🫡 I was just gonna write a little Drabble for this but as always. I got carried away! It’s actually surprisingly soft 🤧 I think sub Tess is RARE like I think that side of her only makes an appearance once in a blue moon when she’s just unbelievably drained and needs to not be the one in control and scary all the fine. And needs a lil comforting herself. And here is one of those times.

Warnings: 18+ || Tess. She’s a warning on her own lmao. Smut: oral ( reader and Tess receiving ), slight sub/Dom roles.

Word count: 4.2k of pure self indulgent filth.

Masterlist - Tess one shot requests are open!

Reblogs and comments are always appreciated <3

Tess was silent as you wound your way through the back alleys of the QZ, sticking close to the shadows and the walls. You knew your way around all the secret pass throughs like the back of your hand by now, which in that case was good. You were in a hurry.

You were supposed to have received a drop off from Bill and Frank on Monday. It was now Friday. Both previous attempts to collect your goods had gone south, FEDRA almost catching you both times.

And now you’d failed attempt number 3.

There had been a spike in people trying to escape the walls, take their luck surviving outside of zone in some hopes of a better future. So FEDRA had increased their presence by the walls. If it hadn’t had been for the other two making a break for it and distracting the officers from where you and Tess were positioned, you’d be in the back of an armoured truck having them see what size noose you wore.

Tess was pissed. Obviously. And stressed beyond belief. You both had people waiting on pills. On bullets. Food. On stupid shit like socks and books. And it was all sat outside the wall somewhere waiting to be collected. You just couldn’t reach it.

Tess ducked into one of the buildings that hid a tunnel heading right back near your apartment, still not speaking a word. Not even when she braced herself to boost you up onto the ledge leading out. No muttered annoyance at whoever had gone through there last not leaving the ladder in plain sight.

Not even a thank you when you held out your hand and pulled her up too. Just a nod of her head and a light hand to your back, ridding you of your backpack and tucking it away for next time.

It wasn’t until back in the relative safety of your shared apartment did she finally break her silence.

You watched her intently as she pulled off her jacket, tossing it onto the back of the couch before slumping down, elbows on her knees.

“ fuckin FEDRA assholes “ it didn’t really hold the level of anger you’d expected. Her voice wasn’t bitter, no venom laced her words. In fact she just sounded… tired. Like the entire weight of the world was currently sat upon her shoulders.

“ we can try again tomorrow “ she shook her head and sighed again sitting back, looking up at the ceiling.

“ if our shits even still there. There was food in that package too. Fuckin fox or dog or some shit has probably had a field day with it “ she pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closed now. you wandered over to her and carefully placed your self in her lap, cupping her face gently in your hands.

“ then we get the other stuff. People will soon realise that FEDRA have upped security by the wall, they’ll stop tryna run for a while, officers will be deployed else where. Then we get our shit “ her eyes danced across your face for a moment, sadness swimming across her pupils “ what’s going on with you today? “ you brushed her hair away from her face, running your fingers lightly through the greys peppering her temple before tucking it behind her ears

“ I don’t know “ she’d never really been one to talk about her feelings. She was honestly pretty fucking shit at expressing them in any way that truly made sense most of the time. In fact in the 10 plus years you had been together you didn’t think you could even actually recall a time she’d said ‘I love you’.

Of course she told you in other ways. In the ‘ be fucking careful ‘ , the ‘ touch her and I blow your fucking brains out’. In the tender kisses that were reserved solely for you, in those moments where you hid away from the world and pretended you were safe. The hand to your shoulder. The strong arms around you as you slept. She was better at showing than speaking.

“ you can talk to me “

“ yeah. I know “ she held your gaze for a moment, some wordless discussion happening between you. It was like she didn’t quite know what to say. She didn’t know how to ask for help, didn’t know how to truly make herself vulnerable to you. Even after so much time. And it was funny actually. Because she could do it to you so easily. Could have you tearing your heart out and serving it up to her on a silver platter with very little effort. But she was so unbelievably opposite.

So reserved and closed off. So strong and demanding and powerful.

She looked on the verge of speaking. Or kissing you. Or both. Eyes darting between your own and your lips. But she did neither. Simply sighed again, her face taking on that look that said she very much did not want to talk about it now. And she patted your leg lightly, urging you to stand.

You watched her walk over to the kitchenette, suddenly unbelievably interested in cleaning dishes. Keeping busy. Keeping her hands occupied.

You knew Tess well enough to know that what would usually have calmed and eased most, wouldn’t work with her. You couldn’t use all the techniques she used on you. The way she would pet your hair and let you cry into her chest after a particularly traumatic nightmare, the way her hands that were covered in so much blood could be so gentle and tender with you, her usual demanding bark that she used with people on the black market that crossed her, that turned soft for you.

It wouldn’t work on her. She’d never let you do it either. You’d tried before and she’d shut herself off from you.

She wasn’t one for pity and sympathy. So no, you couldn’t use all of her tricks for her. On her. But you could use one.

The most common, the one that was her go to. The one that had you floating and mind crumbling to mush inside your skull, had your blood morphing into a river of molasses in your veins. Slowing you down. Forcing you to relax.

She’d never let you go to that extreme on her, that was a fact. But with how truly drained she looked in that moment? You were convinced you could push her a little. Force her to relax and try and give her the treatment that so often saved you from losing your own damned mind.

A break.

A solitary moment where she didn’t have to be strong. Or powerful or whatever the fuck else she forced herself to be everyday.

“ Tess “ she looked over at you as you stood by the counter, the usual fiery look in her eye not burning as brightly as it usually did. She was running on empty “ c’mere “ she hesitated for a moment before drying her hands on a towel and walking over. Your heart was racing a little, not used to the possible switch in dynamic you were about to propose. You cupped her cheek gently, thumb brushing along her cheekbone for a moment. To your mild surprise, She was the one to lean in, capturing your lips with hers in a kiss far gentler than normal.

She usually had a force behind her, a solid and sure hold on your face. Or your waist. Where ever she’d chosen to anchor herself to you. Usually gave the direction, the press of her thumb to make you tilt your head a certain way or the one to brush her tongue over yours and silently command you to submit. But in that moment she didn’t. It was still there… sort of. The hand that had planted itself on your waist lightly fiddling with the hem of your shirt, cold fingers slipping under so desperate for the skin to skin contact she always craved. Fingers pressing into your flesh, but lighter.

And it gave you the motivation you needed. The motivation to attempt to peel her apart until she was as open as she could be to you.

“ I want you on your knees “ you said against her lips, your voice low. Not entirely commanding in the way that she usually was, but far more than you’d ever let yourself be before. For a brief moment you regretted it, wishing you’d just left her be. But, to your complete surprise, she did it.

Her hands trailed down your body as she went, along your arms and over the dip of your waist, pausing briefly on your hips before falling loosely into her lap as she sat on her heels.

You hoped you didn’t look as lost as you felt. Even when traversing the sticky handlings of drop offs you weren’t as stern as Tess could be. The people that feared you only really doing so because they knew you had Tess right at your side, and Joel on the other. But you could still hold your ground. And she had done this for you so many times before, pushed you to submit and let your mind leave you for a while. It was about time you repaid her. So you tried.

“ take them off, my jeans “ you were still on edge waiting for her to laugh at you for even attempting to switch roles. Maybe yank you down onto the kitchen floor with her and fuck you into the floor tiles until you couldn’t walk anymore. Show you how it was really done But she didn’t. In fact she almost looked relieved. Eyes almost glassy with some kind of relaxed fogginess, the weight of her week slowly lifting from her shoulders. A realisation that in that tiny little apartment she wasn’t expected to be cruel, to be loud and in charge. That she could be vulnerable. No one expected anything of her there, least of all you.

She still had her usual Tess tendencies. Dragging everything out. Slow as she unbuttoned the tight denim that was hugging your body. Dragging them down your legs in a way akin to some kind of odd assisted strip tease.

“ can I- “ she cut herself off with a huff. Seemingly some mixture of annoyed and embarrassed at being put in the position you always held. The one asking permission. You reached out for her again, hands cupping her face and making her look up. Her eyes had closed, some debate clearly happening behind her eyelids.

“ Tess “ she kept her eyes closed, her face still not as relaxed as you wanted it “ Tess, love. Open your eyes “ you coaxed, rubbing soft circles into her cheeks with your thumbs until they opened “ relax. I’m trying to help you. To you know, Relieve some stress “

“ yeah. I know “ she sighed, her hands gently running up and down your legs. Hands that were rough from fighting her way through the hell of the last 20

Years, that sent your skin raising in goosebumps. Like a trail of braille that only she could decipher, the reactions and workings of your body made solely for her to understand “ I’m not very good at asking permission “

“ then don’t. Just act “ and she did, leaning forward, brushing her nose against your cloth covered mound. Slow and wet open mouthed kisses through the fabric of your underwear and you feared she was simply slipping back into her usual ways. Teasing mercilessly and dragging things out for hours. But that wasn’t how you wanted to play. This was only the start “ take them off “ her fingers hooked into the waist band and dragged them down your legs without further prompting.

She lifted your left leg, pulling your foot from the loop. And then the right. But instead of putting the right carefully back down again, she hooked it over her shoulder. She kept her eyes on you as she pressed kisses along your inner thigh and you snaked a hand down into her hair.

“ stop teasing “ it came out a little breathier than you’d wanted, not as stern as you’d been hoping for. You really weren’t cut out for the dominant role. But you sure as hell were going to keep trying.

“ then tell me what you want “ even then with her voice more gentle that it usually was, she still had that control. She would never lose it you were certain. But either way, it was distracting her from her stress and that was all that mattered.

“ you know what I fucking want “ you said and slipped your hand further into her hair, curling your fingers into it and tugging her back a little to look at you more “ so fucking do it “

“ yes ma’am “ she said with a small laugh, even mocking a salute with her fingers before burying her face in you. Your fingers tugged at her locks wrapped around your fingers, in a way that was no doubt painful, as you gasped. But she didn’t react, too preoccupied with you, her lips sucking harshly at your clit.

“ and none- none of your teasing shit “ you could feel her smile against you and you didn’t even care that you were well and truly shit at telling her what to do, because at least she’d cracked a fucking smile. If she was making fun of you not, you didn’t care.

“ nice and quick. I can do that “ the truth to the matter was, you did want it over fast. Knowing that getting her to let you touch her was a rare occurrence. And she definitely wouldn’t let you if you hadn’t already came first at least once.

And you needed to touch her. Wanted to. Desperately. Needed to show her the same attention she showed you, to have her floating and forgetting why she was even stressed out in the first place.

Not that Tess needed to know that just yet.

You let her work her magic, head thrown back in pleasure as she alternated between wrapping her lips around your clit and thrusting her tongue into you. It was barely a couple minutes before she already had you on the edge, eyes locked firmly on your face as you clenched around her tongue. Some attempt to keep her there and not let her leave

“ fuck. Fuck just like that “ her fingers pressed harder into the flesh of your thigh, so hard you knew you’d have bruises blossoming across your skin in the morning. A colourful reminder of exactly who you belonged to “ just like that oh shit “ you looked down at her, truly admiring the image of her there on her knees. Committing it to memory, certain you wouldn’t see it again anytime soon. Noting the almost submissive look that was clouding her eyes as she kept up her pace, relentless in her efforts to have you coming on her tongue.

It was something you’d never known you needed, to see her like that. To see the woman that had people moving out of her way as she walked past, too scared of upsetting her or getting in her way, right there on her knees. For you. Only for you. She was ravishing.

“ fuck- I’m gonna- Tess “ you whined, teeth sinking into your bottom lip in some attempt to stave off the noises slipping from your throat. You kept her intense eye contact as your orgasm slammed into you, blooming from the pit of your belly and making your entire body shake. You gasped out her name as she worked you through it, only stopping when you tugged at her hair to detach her from you “ too much “ you mumbled, leaning your head back and attempting to catch your breath.

She peppered light kisses across your thigh before gently easing your leg back onto the floor. You simply wanted to melt into a puddle and bathe in the bliss she’d gifted you for the rest of the day. But you had more important things to do rather than sit and soak in your post orgasm glow. You looked down at her again, quite certain you could actually come again just from the sight of her.

She truly was a sight to behold on her knees. Paired with the mess you’d made of her hair and the evidence of what she’d just done to you coating her lips and chin in a glossy sheen, it was almost too much to bare. You needed her desperately. Needed to ravish her until she forgot her own name, some deep primal instinct to be the one to make her feel as good as she did you.

“ c’mere. Up here. Come here “ you said almost in a rush. She pressed a kiss to your thigh again before rising to her feet, kissing you without you having to ask. You could taste yourself on her lips, something that only made that fire burn stronger in your chest, setting your entire body ablaze with a desperate want to simply give. To please “ come with me “ you said in between hurried kisses, tugging at her hands in the direction of your bed.

“ what are you- “

“ shh. Just do as I say “ you kept kissing her as you went, not able to bring yourself to stop even for a second.

Sometimes when you sold your pills they would ask you if you sampled your own goods. Which you did. Occasionally. But never enough to let it become an addiction like them. Cause Why on earth would you need pills to feed an addiction when you had her? What high could possibly even come close to the one that was kissing her? Tasting her, touching her, completely and utterly consuming her. Nothing could beat it. No drug no drop of alcohol.

“ lie down “ you gave her shoulders a push to urge her on, crawling on top of her as you did. Her hands were all over you, roaming under your shirt and trailing along your spine. You detached your lips from hers and began pressing a trail of kisses across her jaw, along her cheekbones, on every scar and line her face held. You could feel her melting beneath you, her tense muscles gradually turning to Jelly. It was working.

“ Tess “ you said softly, close to her ear, finger tracing along the waistband of her jeans “ will you let me help you relax? please let me “ you whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips again “ I want to help you “ she pushed your hair back behind your ear, trailing her fingers across your jaw to rest on your chin. Her thumb ran over your bottom lip, pulling it down and watching it snap back into place “ Tess “ her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, letting out a slightly shaky breath as you said her name.

“ say it again “ it was so quiet you weren’t entirely sure you’d heard her correctly.

“ Tess “ her body visibly relaxed beneath you, her shoulders go slack as she melted down further into the mattress.

“ I love the way you say it “

“ Tess “ you whispered it softly, as if it were the most beautiful word to ever leave your mouth, brushing your lips over hers. Her eyes were still closed, lips parted as her chest rose and fell in a deep and steady pace. You kept repeating it, over and over like a mantra as you stripped her of her shirt, kissing every inch of new skin you revealed. Like some holy prayer that deserved nothing but the upmost care in reciting “ do you want me to help you? “ you caught her nod out of the corner of your eye but it wasn’t enough “ say it for me”

“ yes “ it was a whisper but you knew she didn’t have the strength to be more confident with it. So you didn’t push. Simply continued your path down her body, helping her out of her jeans and planting yourself between her legs.

You could actually count the number of times you’d gone down on her in the last 10 years on your fingers. She liked to give and was quite often reluctant when it came to receiving. So when she did let you, you weren’t going to squander it. She was watching you closely now, eyes heavy and half lidded as you moved forward. Letting her completely overwhelm your senses, letting her consume you.

Your fingers carefully parted her and you heard her breathe hitch, stuttering as your tongue licked a long stripe along the seam of her. You glanced up, checking on her. A moan left your own lips just at the sight of her, which was funny and maybe a little pathetic. But fuck it. Her lidded eyes and disheveled hair, the way her chest heaved and lips were slightly parted.

You waited. Waited for what felt like an eternity and a half before she gave you a small nod. The go ahead to continue. And you didn’t need telling twice. You buried your face in her cunt, eating her out like a woman starved.

She’d never really be one for making much noise, you were always the one that needed her hand clamped firmly over your mouth to stop you from waking the neighbours. And the entire QZ. But the small breathy moans she did allow herself were like music to your ears.

You wrapped your arms around her thighs, tugging her closer and unable to stop the smile the pulled at your lips as her back arched up from the mattress. You felt like the cat that had gotten the cream- metaphorically and figuratively you supposed- a mix of being smug and proud swirling in your mind.

Her taste was addictive. And maybe now you did understand how people can let themselves become so dependent on something, because who in their right mind would ever want to give up this? And with the opportunity for a hit of her so rare, you dare not let a single drop of her go anywhere but your tongue.

Her hands were twisted into the sheets, knuckles blanching with the force of it, short quick breaths escaping from between her lips.

You slowly added your fingers, working her open and coaxing something akin to more of a moan than quickened breath and you force yourself not to smile again.

“ is it good? “ you asked, curling your fingers in an attempt to locate the same spot she always abused in you.

“ shut the fuck up and keeping going “ bingo.

That had done it. She was just as desperate as you.

It simply made you more desperate, now that you were drawing more and more heavenly sounds from her mouth. You ate her like your life depended on it. It was messy. Indecent. Practically pornographic but you were too far gone, not a single care for anything other than making her come.

And god you needed to feel her come, needed to feel her clench around your fingers and trap your head between her thighs. Needed to hear the sounds she’d make and commit them to memory.

When her breaths quickened and her hips lifted from the bed you knew she was close and you reluctantly detached your lips from where you’d been suckling at her clit.

“ wanna come for me? “

“ I won’t fucking beg you for it “ she said, breathless, propping herself on her elbows to look down at you “ do you know how fucking smug you look right now? “ you could take a good fucking guess.

“ smug? Me? Never “ you curled your fingers again and watched her face soften, her eyes flutter

“ fuck you “

“ you already did “ she flashed you her practical trademark irritated face and you shrugged “ I’m not asking you to beg anyway. Just say please “ she scoffed and you shrugged again, reluctantly removing your fingers.

“ the fuck are you doing? “

“ say please “ she held your gaze for a few agonising moments, and you raised your eyebrow in a silent challenge “ say it. One word “ you started peppering kisses along her inner thighs, across her now puffy and sticky lips making sure to avoid where she actually wanted you “ I know you’re close. Know you want to come. Just say please “ it was mildly cruel. But also a little funny. After years of her making you beg she was finally getting a taste of her own medicine. She dropped her head back into the pillow and groaned.

“ please “

“ wasn’t so hard was it? “ you were back on her in an instant, luring her back to the edge with your lips, tongue, fingers.

The sound she made as she came was otherworldly, choking out a sob of your name and arching her back off of the mattress. Her thighs clamped around your head, forcing you to stay in place and drag out her orgasm for as long as humanly possible. Not that you had intended to do anything different anyway.

You lapped at her entrance determined not to waste a single drop of what she gave you, even if she was starting to affect your ability to breathe. But you figured it’d be a good way to go. At least you’d die happy.

When her body went slack you carefully crawled back up to her, pushing her hair away from her damp forehead and leaning down to kiss her.

“ better now? “ you asked quietly, already knowing the answer. She’d never looked more relaxed than she did in that moment. She hummed an answer pulling you down to lay with her, tucking you into her side. You pressed a kiss below her jaw and you felt her smile softly.

“ don’t get used to that “

“ wasnt planning on it “

#we deserve this after that new ep #tess servopoulos x reader #tess servopoulos #the last of us #tlou tess #tlou hbo #smut #x reader #Anna torv #other characters for exposure: #joel miller #ellie williams #tlou #lesbian #lgbt #x you

[wisdomssdaughterr]

PROJECT SUNSHINE CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX → THE SNOWBALL

summary: steve harrington x oc

when another product of Hawkins National Laboratory escaped a long-survived nightmare alongside her sister, she crashed into one unsuspecting teenage boy and dragged him deeper into the dark mysteries that made up their hometown.

word count. 3.7k || masterlist

warnings: cannon typical violence, child abuse, horror, gore, and depictions of mental illness. parts of this story were written pre-season 4 release. cannon divergence.

previous chapter ← → next chapter

a/n: a little double update for you all on this fine saturday. steve and sunshine are confirmed to be the cutest (I may be a little biased). and we only have one chapter left until season 3! thank you all for reading <3

Inside a little cabin, tucked away in the woods, three children hid from the prying eyes of anyone who lingered from their past. But, for one night, they were allowed to venture beyond the tree line. The cabin was live with the smell of cotton candy perfume, streaks of pink and blue eyeshadow, a quick tutorial on how to tie a tie, and soft music from old records. 

Sunshine sat on the edge of El’s bed and rubbed blush across the younger girl’s cheeks. She didn’t know what she was doing exactly, but she had watched her mother do her makeup a few times. 

“Okay,” she said. “You’re all done.”

Standing up, Sunshine took extra care to check her dress for any rouge makeup smudges. She ran her hands along the velvet fabric, smiling to herself. The dark blue dress had once belonged to her mom but had been packed away in the attic for years. It was beautiful, and her mom was excited for Sunshine to wear it to her first school dance. The skirt fell just below her knees, it had flowy long sleeves, and the entire thing was covered in little golden stars that glittered in the light. Her mom had pulled back her hair with golden pins, and Sunshine did her makeup as practice before doing El and Leia’s. 

The girls spun around their room in the dresses Hopper and Joyce had picked out, excitedly chattering about the dance in preparation. 

A knock came from the doorframe, and Luke peeked his head inside. “Sunshine, can I talk to you for a second?” 

Sunshine let the girls finish getting ready as she stepped out into the living room with Luke. The place was a comfortable mess of things that kept the kids occupied while they spent the majority of their time in the cabin, with frequent visits from the party. Coloring books, paints, comic books, rented movies, and newer records were all scattered around in a sweet chaos. 

Luke was dressed for the dance as well, in a pair of slacks and a polka-dot button-up shirt. Hopper even dug out one of his old ties for him. Sunshine couldn’t believe how grown up the twins looked. It still shocked her, even after the couple of weeks she had been spending with them getting reacquainted. Their buzzcuts had long grown out. Luke kept his curls on the shorter side and Leia reached just below her shoulder blades. They both were tall, almost as tall as Sunshine; she feared by the end of next summer, all of the kids would be taller than her. But above everything, they looked happy and healthy, and that was all she could ever ask for.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Luke asked with a curious scrunch of his nose. 

“You look grown up, that’s all.” 

Luke smiled for a moment before a sigh slipped from his lips and he slumped down onto the couch. “Do you remember when we were trying to get out of tunnels?” Sunshine had tried to avoid thinking about that night, but she knew that was impossible. She didn’t expect that to be Luke’s mind, though, not at that moment, anyway. She nodded and let him continue. “And do you remember how, when we were climbing out, I grabbed Max’s hand?” 

She had forgotten about that part. In the whirlwind of things, her memories bled together a little too well. “You saw something, didn’t you?” When he had any skin-to-skin contact with someone, he was forced to see their future. Sometimes there was nothing major, but other times Luke saw something that would haunt him. 

“I saw a lot of things,” Luke said with a frown that brought an air of unease around them. “It was just a lot of colors. First, there was this bright light, blinding almost. Then, it was dark, so dark it felt suffocating. The feeling of the darkness, it stayed but the vision turned red. It was like it was dripping into the darkness, slowly at first, then everything became red and filled with screams from…from someone, but I couldn’t see anyone there, not even Max. I didn’t like how it felt, Sunshine. I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was awful and heavy, really heavy. Whatever it is it’s not good.” 

Sunshine chewed down on her lower lip, thinking for a moment. It was Max they were talking about. She had some trouble in her life, but she was surrounded by people who cared for her. It couldn’t be something they couldn’t handle. The Gate was closed and their Upside-Down troubles behind them. 

“Did you tell Max anything?”

“No. Ivy used to say it’s better if people don’t know their future.” 

Ivy’s name caught Sunshine off guard. She braced herself, curling her fingernails into her palms. She didn’t know when hearing Ivy’s name aloud would stop causing her pain and grief. 

“She did?” It didn’t line up with the last conversation Sunshine recalled Luke and Ivy having, where she demanded to know what Luke saw in his vision after he touched Sunshine’s arm. 

Luke met her eyes. “Yeah, after I told her what I saw in yours.” 

A dull pain came from her palms as she dug her nails into them a little harder. “Oh,” she muttered. She probably didn’t want to know what awaited her. Maybe it was different now that she was out of the Lab. She had a new life in Hawkins, maybe Luke’s original vision didn’t account for that. 

Luke helped ease her fears. “It’s not for sure going to happen, any of it,” he said. “There’s always a chance something you did changed the outcome. But with Max…I don’t know. I can’t get it out of my head. But I know there’s nothing we can really do. It just sucks.” 

That was another thing about Luke’s abilities, he could see the future, but he was never guaranteed to change it. You couldn’t do anything until the moment was upon them. 

“All we can do right now is keep an eye on things, right?” She rolled her shoulders back and flexed her fingers. She didn’t like to show the kids her worry when she was supposed to be the older sister they came to and relied on. “We’ll look out for Max, make sure she’s okay.” Maybe that would be enough. 

“Okay. I think we can do that.” Luke held up his hands in front of his face and sighed. “I think I can be a normal, non-future-seer for one night. But it’s gonna be hard if I have to make sure I don’t touch anyone while I’m there.” 

“We have that covered!” Leia's voice shot through the living room as she and El slipped out of their bedroom. There was a glossy smile on their lips and sweet ballet flats on their feet. “Gloves!” She presented a pair of gloves dramatically to her brother. They were simple, black gloves that matched Luke’s slacks and shiny dress shoes. 

He took them carefully from her hands and looked them over. “Isn’t that weird? Aren’t people going to think I’m weird if I’m wearing gloves indoors?” 

“Who cares what anyone thinks of you,” Sunshine said. “You all deserve a fun night. So, put on the gloves and dance with your friends, okay?” 

“Yeah! And if anyone says anything nasty, I’ll shock ‘em,” Leia offered, wiggling her fingers and making the living room lights flicker. 

Their plan was swiftly shut down by Hopper, who entered the room with a shake of his head. “No. None of that in public; you know the rules.” He sounded tired, but a good tired. He wasn’t exhausted from keeping the town afloat and hiding his pocket full of secrets. Instead, he was a tired dad to three superpowered children who kept him on his toes. 

Sunshine had a moment, a couple of days after the Gate was closed, where her anger at Hopper exploded when she came to visit the kids at the cabin. Her emotions got the better of her, and being lied to for nearly a year didn’t sit well with her. It felt like Hopper believed he had all the authority over El, but after some more time, she realized he was just trying to keep them all safe. He did what thought was best; Sunshine thought he should have told her. But neither one of them could go back in time. Sunshine refused to be apart from her siblings; therefore, she and Hopper had slowly begun to understand each other again. He was trying, really trying, and she was thankful for that. 

“Are you guys almost ready?” he asked. The kids all nodded eagerly. “Good. I want to get a picture before we leave.” He waved around a Polaroid camera, which caused the kids to figure out how they wanted to pose, giving Sunshine the chance to speak to Hopper. 

“Hey, Hop?” 

“Yeah, kid?” 

“I don’t think I ever thanked you for taking all of them in. You know, between the yelling and crying.” She hadn't gone about talking to Hopper about everything in the most mature way, but she was freshly seventeen and believed she deserved some grace. After everything, her brother and sisters were safe, in a warm home with someone who took care of them. When Hopper originally took El in, he told her he knew he couldn’t make everyone happy and keep them safe; she understood that.

He chuckled softly. “I get it. I would have done the same thing if I was you. But I am sorry I lied; it was the only way I knew how to keep both of you girls safe. I just…” he sighed deeply. “I should have gone about it better.” 

“Maybe.” Sunshine shrugged. “But, if you had, the twins probably wouldn’t have found their way here. So, I guess it all kind of worked out.” 

“Come on, we’re gonna be late!” Leia shouted, grabbing their attention. Hopper nudged Sunshine’s shoulder and pushed her toward the trio of kids to join their photo. All four of them, dressed up and radiating a newfound happiness, smiled for the camera. For one night, they were nothing more than normal kids attending a school dance with their friends, and they couldn’t wait. 

→←

Steve parked his car outside Hawkins Middle just as it started to snow. In the passenger’s seat, Dustin combed his hair for the hundredth time and checked his appearance in the rearview mirror. Steve had to bite back a laugh at the kid’s nervousness. 

“All right, buddy. Here we are.” They had spent the whole afternoon going over how Dustin was going to absolutely kill it at his first school dance. None of the kids went to the Snowball the year before because they spent the time with a recovering Will. That only added to the kid’s nerves. Steve and Dustin’s mother, who insisted on feeding Steve dinner, tried to reassure Dustin that everything would be fine, especially with the group of friends he had. “Remember, once you get in there-” 

“Pretend like I don’t care,” Dustin repeated the advice Steve had given him. His hands reached back up to his styled hair, but Steve swatted his hand away. 

“Hey, you look great. You’re going to go in, looking like a million bucks, and you’re going to slay ‘em dead.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Dustin let out a deep breath before opening the car door. 

“Good luck!” Steve was ready to spend his night alone, waiting to pick Dustin up and listen to how Steve had been right. Hell, maybe Dustin would even dance with a girl or play some epic prank on one of his teachers. Steve just wanted the kid to enjoy himself. 

However, Dustin paused halfway out of the car. “Actually, you know what? You should come inside.” 

“What?” Steve scrunched up his face. He didn’t have many fond memories of middle school or more like they were a blur of boring days followed by basketball practices. He didn’t want to step foot back inside Hawkins Middle, and Dustin was a big kid, he didn’t need Steve to walk him inside. “It’s a middle school dance, dude. I’m not going in there.” 

Dustin tapped his fingers against the roof of the car, looking between Steve and something outside. Steve went to peer out his window at what the kid was looking at, but Dustin spoke again. “No! I know that, but still, you should. Trust me.” 

“I’ll pass.” Steve had grown somewhat accustomed to his quiet nights alone at home. It wasn’t like he had a girlfriend anymore and Sunshine spent most of her time with her long-lost siblings, which he couldn’t complain about because she was undeniably much happier than she had been the past year with everyone safe and sound and in arms reach. Steve started to enjoy his own company, sprinkled in with visits from Dustin and catching Sunshine at her mother’s store on the weekends. 

“I’ll pick you up when this thing is over and you can tell me all about it, okay?” 

Dustin was relentless. “Come on. You’re not scared to walk past your ex-girlfriend, are you?” 

That was another thing; Nancy was working the dance along with Jonathan. It didn’t feel unreasonable that Steve didn’t want to hang out at the same event with his ex and the guy she liked. Steve wasn’t on bad terms with Nancy or Jonathan, but he already saw enough of them at school, he didn’t need to see them on weekends too. 

“No,” Steve lied. “I’m not scared, dipshit. I’m just…I don’t need to be here. I’m not chaperoning.” 

“Steve,” Dustin’s face grew serious, and he leaned further into the car. “I am doing this for you. Come inside. Five minutes; five minutes, that’s all I’m asking.” 

“You’re not taking no for an answer, are you?” Dustin shook his head. With a groan, Steve removed his keys and left his car. “Fine. Five minutes, Henderson, then I’m leaving.” 

There was a glint of something Steve couldn’t place in Dustin’s eyes, but he didn’t have time to question it before the kid dragged him inside the decorated gym. Steve was sure they reused the same decoration from his Snowball. It looked nearly the same, but the kids looked younger than he remembered and the teachers older. 

Dustin led them through the masses of kids until they reached a familiar group surrounding one of the tables lining the back wall.

“What the hell happened to you?” Was the first thing said to Dustin. Everyone stared at Dustin’s styled hair and gaped. Max reached up to touch it, but Dustin lightly smacked her hand away. 

“Your hair!” Will smiled, looking more alive than he had in a while. His cheeks were flushed and there was no trace of what he’d been through on his face. Will had always been a smaller kid, bony and skinny like Jonathan, but at least he looked to a little taller and held his head up a little higher. 

“Pretty sweet, huh?” 

One of the newest members of the group, Leia, nodded in approval. “Totally sweet.” 

The click of heels sounded from behind them, and Dustin whipped his head around. A mischievous smile twisted up on Dustin’s lips as he said, “Oh, hi Sunshine.” 

Steve spun around quickly, maybe a little too quickly. Sunshine approached them with a little wave. She was dressed up like everyone else at the dance, in a dress that sparkled in the warm light of the string lights overhead. Even without the use of her powers, she still managed to glow brightly. 

“Dustin! You look amazing!” The kid blushed at Sunshine’s compliment. 

“Thanks. We’re all gonna go raid the snack table. Have fun!” Dustin rushed out in one breath before he ushered the entire party off toward the table full of homemade sweets from the PTA, and left Steve confused and alone with Sunshine. 

That little shit, Steve thought. 

Sunshine didn’t seem phased that the kids left, probably because she wasn’t dragged inside and then abandoned. He didn’t know why he felt unprepared to be there or to talk to Sunshine. Steve talked to Sunshine all of the time; they were friends after all. But there was something that felt odd. Maybe it was the childhood nostalgia that hit him being back in the middle school gym. Maybe it was the way Sunshine smiled at him with makeup that prettily glittered on the face. 

He cleared his throat, disrupting his thoughts. “You look nice,” he said. The words were clunky coming out and he was suddenly hyper-aware of every movement he had and word he said. His hands smoothed down the fabric of his red sweater that he’d found on his floor that afternoon. He silently cursed at himself for not spending a little longer fixing his hair or making sure his jeans didn’t have holes in them. 

Though, his worries were quelled as Sunshine said, “Thank you. You look nice, too.” Steve let out a small breath. “What’re you doing here?” 

“Honestly? I don’t really know.” Steve gazed over at Dustin, who was tossing pieces of candy into Leia and Luke’s mouths before one of the teachers scolded them. “Dustin made me come in here and then ditched me. What about you?” From the dress and heels she wore, Steve wondered if she was helping chaperon with Nancy. 

“Hopper let the kids have a night out of the cabin and since I’ve never been to a Snowball before, he said I should come too. I wanted to keep an eye on them.” 

It continued to shock Steve at how many things Sunshine had yet to experience. Little things he never thought twice about, like school dances, meant more than he could understand to Sunshine and her siblings. They had unfairly missed out on so much. 

“This is your first school dance.” Steve whistled lowly. “Man, I remember my first Snowball. A week before the dance, my dad made me get a buzz cut.” Sunshine gasped. “I know, it’s hard to picture me without my best feature.” 

Sunshine laughed, and Steve felt almost triumphant. When she laughed, her teeth showed, and little creases formed by the corners of her eyes. 

“But it’s true,” he continued. “My mom picked out this awful blue suit for me to wear and I spent most of the night on those very bleachers. It was pretty miserable until Tommy H. offered me a cigarette. We spent the rest of the dance smoking out back and making fun of everyone in our grade until our parents showed up. It wasn’t the best night of my life, but I guess not the worst either.” Tommy H. had never been the best of friends, but he had once been a comfortable constant in Steve’s life. Steve didn’t necessarily miss Tommy’s asshole-ery, but he did miss having a friend who knew him as well as Tommy had.

“I watched school dances in movies, but this isn’t exactly what I thought it’d be like,” she admitted, toying with the sleeves of her dress. 

“What did you expect?” 

“Less middle schoolers.” 

Steve looked around at the sea of short, awkward, middle schoolers swaying at arm's length from one another when an idea sprouted in his head. His heart beat a little quicker in his chest, stupidly, like he was suddenly a middle schooler himself standing in front of a pretty girl. Steve Harrington didn’t get nervous, he reminded himself. 

“Since it’s your first school dance, you should probably dance with someone who’s taller than you and has a legal driver's license.” 

Sunshine furrowed her brows. “What?” 

“Do you want to dance?” He held out his hand, and for one horrible moment, he feared he completely embarrassed himself. His fear was quickly washed away when her eyes lit up and she took his hand in hers. He found a spot in the gym near the back of the dance floor where it was less crowded. 

She looked around, concentrating on the kids around them like she was looking for something. Steve quickly realized she was trying to figure out how to dance. 

“It’s easy,” Steve said, earning her attention. “Dancing. It’s easy. Give me your other hand.” She placed her other hand in his. “Your hands go here.” He lifted her hands to his shoulders, and she stepped a little closer. Her deep golden eyes peered into him, making him a little more nervous than he expected. 

“And mine go here.” Steve hesitated, holding his hands just above the fabric of her dress that covered his hips. “Um, is this okay?” he asked, voice quiet as they stood close enough that he could make out the little white scar on the corner of her mouth from a couple of weeks ago. 

Sunshine nodded and he rested his hands on her hips. To the slow beat of the music, they swayed together. The light twinkled above them like stars, and there was a sweet kind of innocence that settled over them. Steve felt less heavy, and he could almost pretend that he was back in middle school in a world where Sunshine never disappeared, and they were never apart. Maybe he would have asked her to the Snowball when they were fourteen, all awkward limbs and shy smiles. He wondered how different things would have been if the world hadn’t been so unfair. 

Steve liked to think that moment was the universe’s way of apologizing to all of them. From that point on, hearts would be mended, kids would return to the playground, and everyone would be free from the darkness that was shut out of Hawkins. 

But, as they danced in the warm gymnasium, darkness still lingered in their world, stirring in the brisk winter air.  Up in the mayor of Hawkins’s office, stale coffee remained untouched on top of newly purchased land deeds and left rings on top of fine print that the man didn’t read closely enough. What was he to worry about? The small town needed a change; he’d go down as a hero, he was sure of it. 

A couple state away, a man pulled his hood up and kept his head down. All he had was the coat on his back and a crinkled picture of his wife and son in his pocket. 

Blood was washed from the floor of Hawkins National Laboratory and the door was locked for good. 

And across the world, a plan was set into motion. Destination: Hawkins, Indiana. 

uʍouʞu∩ :uoᴉʇɐuᴉʇsǝp

Tag List. @sattlersquarry , @leptitlu , @echoing-oursong

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x reader #stranger things 2 #stranger things fanfiction #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #el hopper #jim hopper #mike wheeler #will byers #max mayfield #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers

[ivory--raven]

angelfish femslash feb thing, day 16, hourglass! Armageddon didn't happen. The world is a strange place.

The world ran out of time and kept existing. The hourglass has flipped back over. Dagon isn’t sure what it’s counting down to, now. The world was defined for six thousand years by its ending.

No one else, knows, either. Beelzebub was right at Crowley’s awful failure of a trial. There are riots. Beelzebub had stalked off after the trial and somehow been discorporated. When they regained a body, it was different. They’re ever so slightly taller now. Dagon’s known them a long time, and they’ve never changed their body until now. It’s disconcerting. The world is off kilter. Hell lags along, making it work because they have to. They’ve rebuilt before, of course, and there was the first time they pulled Hell together, organized it from the fractured rebel forces when they Fell. They’d needed to survive, then, and they need to survive now. They will.

Demons wielding weapons and getting into fights clog the halls. They block the door to Dagon’s office - she’s not convinced they won’t try to rip her to shreds so she doesn’t let them. She’s unstoppable. She’s part of the system. She never lets them see her leave or arrive, but they know she must be doing something because she’s still sending messages, still managing the slow trickle of war equipment being handed back in when demons realize they have no chance and they don’t want to bother with it.

She has a trapdoor in her office for just this purpose. Michael, hearing the way Dagon crawls through a tunnel to get to work, is horrified. “It’s so undignified,” she says.

“It keeps me alive,” Dagon points out.

“You can’t orchestrate a show of power…?”

Dagon huffs. “I wish. We wouldn’t be demons if we were easily intimidated into giving up by shows of power. Best just to wait for it to fizzle out.”

“I want to protect you,” says Michael.

“You know you can’t.” Dagon presses close to Michael, like she’s trying to meld their bodies together. “I can’t be seen with an angel - not now. Now would be the worst time for - for that.”

Dagon can’t be suspected of not supporting Armageddon. The riots start dying down, fading to disappointment. Beelzebub stalks around without fearing they’ll be attacked, but they’re braver and more confident and more powerful than Dagon. They’ve also got places to be. They’d never spent much time on Earth before, but now they go about once a week. Maybe they’ve finally embraced the concept of taking breaks or maybe they’re working out what Crowley did. Either way, whatever they’re doing up there is doing them good. Dagon starts using the normal door and everything is fine. Life returns to normal.

“We're not doing it,” says Beelzebub while Dagon is sitting with them in their office. “Armageddon. We can’t restart it.”

Dagon isn’t surprised. “Demons’ll be disappointed, then. They’ve already accepted that really, though. Once it didn’t happen the first time.”

“This is just confirmation,” says Beelzebub. “Won’t be too bad.”

“There’s no one to replace us,” says Dagon. No matter how angry they make everyday demons, a coup would be a stupid idea. Unfortunately, demons can be pretty stupid.

At the house, Jeanne’s house really, still standing (maybe they should add electricity? Dagon wonders, now that it doesn’t have an expiration date) Michael has heard the same thing. “It’s official. Gabriel says so.”

“Both sides in sync, then,” says Dagon.

“Aren’t we always?”

“Well. We are.”

Michael’s smiling. “We are,” she agrees.

#angelfish #ineffable administrators #femslash omens #femslashfeb2024

[dessarious]

How the Sirens Adopted a Ladybug Pt12

Beginning   Previous  

"Here it is. I’m not even sure my parents knew it was there. I found it when I was trying to stay out of the way." Marinette had pushed aside a small worktable, revealing a hatch in the floor. If Selina hadn’t known what it was supposed to be, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. The slight gap around the edges was really the only sign it was any different from the rest of the floor.

"How did you find out what it was?" The girl winced and Selina regretted asking the question. She was terrible at making Mari more comfortable.

"I spilled a bag of flour and saw it disappear into the cracks." She mumbled the words, and Selina could see some color in her cheeks.

"Most people wouldn’t have been paying enough attention to notice that." The girl just shrugged. Reading her reactions was just confusing since Selina had no idea what was causing them. "How does it open?"

"There’s enough of a gap to get your fingers in here." Mari reached down, and when she lifted the hatch, Selina could see a hand hold as well as a rope that could be used to close it from the inside. "I’d suggest bringing a light and a Kwami with you until you get some specific routes down."

"Sounds like a plan. Have you been down here often?" Mari’s eyes were darting everywhere except Selina. Not what she expected.

"More when I was younger, before Maman and Papa converted the attic to my bedroom. I didn’t really explore. I’d just sit down in the tunnel and do my homework or sketch. It was the easiest way to be by myself." She sounded guilty again.

"Everyone needs time by themselves." Selina just got a hum in return. She lifted the girl’s chin and saw raw pain there. "We all look back and see all the things we could have done differently. It’s easy to blame ourselves and forget about all the things we did right, or that the things we regret are just moments. It doesn’t make you a bad person, or a bad daughter. No one spends all their time with their loved ones. I’m sure there are plenty of memories of the things you did together. You just have to focus on them."

"It wasn't enough. I wasn't enough." The words were whispered, and Selina didn't think she meant to say that out loud.

"I don't believe that. Not for a second. Didn't Chloe tell you that your parents left letters for you?" Mari frowned at her in confusion. "In their will, there was the combination to a safe. It said that there were letters in there that they wrote for you. Both in case they died, and they were saving up a bunch of memories and life advice to give you on your eighteenth birthday. That doesn't sound like something parents would do if they thought their child wasn't enough. You should read them before you do anything else, I think."

After the way Chloe and the Kwami talked, Selina felt certain those letters would be the words of doting parents. Mari needed to know how much they'd loved her. She needed to know that they didn't resent the things she seemed to think were unforgivable. Most of all, she needed that connection. She'd lost everything in such a short time and had been running on survival mode ever since. She needed to slow down and take the time to heal properly.

"They... they wrote me letters?" It didn't seem like a question as much as wonder.

"They did. Do you want to go find them before you rest?"

"Okay."

"Let's go up then. I'm pretty sure Chloe left all the paperwork in the livingroom." Mari seemed to just go deeper into her own head as they walked up the stairs. Selina looked at Plagg but the Kwami just shrugged. She really hoped this went the way she thought it would. She went for the packet of papers Chloe left on the table and pulled out the will to hand to Mari. Mari fiddled with it but didn't read it.

"I shouldn't have run away before arrangements could be made for them. I don't even know what happened to them."

"They were cremated and put in the same mausoleum as your grandparents." Apparently, they had died about six months before her parents, which was probably the main reason she panicked and disappeared. She didn't have any relatives left in Paris. "They had put all their arrangements into the will and set aside money for it so you wouldn't have to worry about it."

"They knew I'd mess it up." She said it as a fact, and Selina couldn't help the eye roll.

"They knew you'd be devastated if it happened and didn't want you to have one more thing to deal with. Kitten, you have got to stop assuming the worst despite all the evidence. It's not good for you." The frown she got for that comment made her wonder if the girl ever gave herself the benefit of the doubt. Instead of answering, she started looking through the will, then frowned at the bookcase.

"I forgot about that." She went over to examine the shelves before pressing something. One section swung out to reveal the safe. Selina couldn't help but admire the design. She was a professional thief and hadn't noticed the seam. Mari looked back at the will before unlocking the safe. Selina would have thought it was a sign the girl was starting to trust her, but it seemed more likely she forgot she was there.

When Mari turned back around, she had a stack of letters. The look on her face was somewhere between resigned and afraid. She didn't what to know what was going through the girl's head.

"Do you want someone with you while you read them? Or someone to read them to you?" Mari just shrugged. "Think about it. We should probably go check on the others." She was fairly certain Chloe would keep the other two in line, but only fairly. Mari led the way, and they could hear arguing before they even got to the stairs. When they made it through the hatch, Harley and Chloe were arguing over a pile of pictures. "Do I want to know what's going on?"

"Chloe's trying to purge my room." Chloe wouldn't look at them, but her cheeks went pink. "Thank you. Just don't throw anything away. I might want it later." Harley looked annoyed.

"I told you." Chloe's words didn't have any bite to them.

"You're fine with her just going through your things?" Harley didn't seem to know how to take that. Mari just looked confused.

"Chloe knows best what will bring up bad memories, and what I'll need to work to keep myself busy. Plus, the Kwami wouldn't let her get rid of anything necessary."

"But this is your room, your life. You're just okay with us going through it?"

"Why wouldn't I be? The only secret I had was being Ladybug, and nothing in here is anywhere near as damning or embarrassing as the rumors my classmates have spread about me." Okay that was it.

"Marinette." The girl looked at her and Selina saw nothing in her eyes besides a bone deep weariness. "It's okay to be angry at the people who hurt you."

"I can't get upset. It's too dangerous."

"Not right now, it isn't. Plagg said Hawkmoth won't be able to transform for at least a week. Not to mention the Kwami are protecting the house. This is a safe place for you to get pissed. This is a safe place for you to grieve."

"But-"

"No buts. If you are worried about not being able to control your emotions afterward, then you can stay in the building until you can. We'll help you. You deserve to feel things just like everyone else." Mari shifted uncomfortably and wouldn't meet her eyes.

"I don't know how to anymore." The rage Selina felt at those words was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Given the looks Harley and Ivy were sharing, it was a good thing Marinette wouldn't look at her face. Chloe just frowned at the floor. Selina took a deep breath.

"When you broke down with Chloe earlier, how did that happen?"

"I don't know. Everything was just too much. It just snapped." That wasn't good. They couldn't just force her to her breaking point constantly.

"Okay, I want you to try something for me. When something bad happens, do you consciously force away bad feelings, or does it just happen?"

"I... I think it just happens."

"When you go through your parents' letters, or see something that reminds you of the way you've been treated, I want you to try and concentrate on the negative emotions it brings up. Not even to really feel them at first, just to identify them. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll try." Selina knew that's the best she'd get.

"And if you start to feel overwhelmed, just let it happen. We'll have someone with you all the time, so you don't have to go through any of it alone. Alright?"

"Okay."

"Okay." Selina reached out to tuck some of the girl's hair behind her ear. Mari finally glanced up at her.

"Can I... can I hug you?" The way she said it made Selina think she expected to get yelled at.

"Of course you can, kitten. You don't have to ask." It's not like she'd asked when she'd hugged Mari. Of course, that could be the difference. Given what she'd seen and heard, the girl was probably afraid of overstepping. When she did hug her, it was tentative. Selina wrapped her arms around her much tighter. "Any time you need a hug, you can come to any of us. Any time you need to talk, you can come to any of us, though Harley will probably be the most useful."

"Any time you want to get revenge on those little assholes from you class-"

"Harley!"

"Well, we were all thinking it." Selina could only roll her eyes at the woman. Mari actually giggled, though.

"Probably better to leave them on their own to self destruct. Without Mari there to pull them out of the fire, it's going to happen sooner rather than later." Chloe sounded resigned more than anything else, though there was a bit of satisfaction in it. "Not to mention they're Hawkmoth's favorite targets, and that keeps him from finding people better suited to succeed."

"Them and M. Ramier. Poor man." Chloe let out of huff at Mari's observation.

"He has got to be limited on range to keep choosing the same people. There have to be better options in a city this big."

"I thought the same. I've got a map hidden on the balcony with all the confirmed Akumas. I just don't know how to narrow down an area from that." Selina shared a look with the others. That could be extremely useful.

"I can get someone to look at it and find a pattern. No specifics, just ask her to find a point of origin." Babs would trust Selina if she said it wasn't for anything illegal, the others would ask Bruce. The last thing she need was him trying to adopt Mari and throw her into the house of disfunction. She'd never have a chance to heal properly. "We don't even have to say where it's for if you aren't comfortable." She could easily put the locations on a grid and send it.

"I don't know." Mari's reaction seemed automatic.

"You don't have to decide right now, but it's an option. It'll help give Ivy a better idea of where to search. Worst case, I could always ask Oracle to help me figure how to do it myself."

"Oracle?"

"One of Batman's people. She'll help me out as long as I promise I'm not doing anything illegal. I am going to talk to Batman about this after everything's dealt with, though, just so he can knock some sense into whoever ignored you."

"I don't want to be a bother." Of course she didn't.

"It's not just about you, Mari. If they felt comfortable treating you the way they did, they'll treat other people the same way. That's terrible for the Justice League's image, not to mention potentially world ending." If Mari hadn't been able to hold out this long, who knows what could have happened. It was beyond irresponsible.

"Oh." That was it.

"You know, that's another thing you can be pissed off about."

"It won't help anything."

"It might make you feel better. You've been treated horribly and you deserve to feel angry, or sad, or whatever about it. You have to work through feelings to get better, not just repress them." That just got a hum, but Selina knew they had time. Regardless of the Hawkmoth problem, she wasn't leaving until Mari was able to actually feel and process her emotions.

Beginning   Previous  

@asrainterstellar @scorchdragon88 @arty-shadow-morningstar @toodaloo-kangaroo @solangelo252 @smolplantmum @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @weirdo-with-no-beardo @laurcad123 @read-fantasy-to-escape-reality @mudpuddlenl

#maribat #Gotham Sirens #cat mom #Selina Kyle #Harley Quinn #Poision Ivy #chloe bourgeois #mari will be smothered whether she wants it or not

[illmoraineakoi]

So I had a funny idea the other day, and I thought you'd all enjoy it

(Read More bc this this is long)

The Abyss is canonically not as air-tight as PK thought it was, and I personally headcanon the Vessels as having a craving/obsession/hunger for light (specifically the Radiance's; they recognize pale light as “their own”.)

What if PK was minding his business one day, and just stumbles across a Vessel that's infiltrated his Palace? And he's like “Where the HELL did you come from?!” Like he legit double-checks that the door is still sealed. It is. And he’s just so Confused.

And now he's just got this second Vessel that's randomly shown up. That he has no idea what to do with. He only needed one, they're meant to be tools, but at the same time, he can't quite forget the fact that these were supposed to be his children. He can't quite bring himself to just get rid of it, even if it doesn't have a purpose.

He ends up just sitting on the issue, trying to think of a 'solution'. It's fine, it's not even really that big of a deal. It's just one extra Vessel. He’ll figure out a use for it eventually.

A few days later, he walks past both Vessels in the hall – only to stumble a step because "Wait a moment – those aren't the right horns!" And sure enough, he double-takes, and they're not. They're completely unfamiliar. These are two new Vessels.

He's so flabbergasted he actually tries to ask where they came from. And of course they just stare at him. He's so confused.

He's even more at a loss for what to do with them. It's getting hard to even remember to double check if the Vessel he's interacting with is the Pure one. He's stressing out about already accidentally fucking up their ‘hollowness’.

It just keeps happening. The White Lady corners him with a very disapproving look on her face, going "Did you forget to tell me something, my beloved?" while pulling out a Vessel from her robes. Herrah arrives unannounced and plops one on his desk, “I think you’ve lost something, Wyrm. Keep your cursed spawn out of my tunnels.” Ogrim and Isma attempt to stealthily deposit two of them in the ‘Vessel Room’ without him noticing, but the seal work on the door was designed to alert him every time a Vessel left or entered. He doesn’t even ask where they found them, he just looks at them with resigned acceptance and shuffles them into the room.

When Lurrien arrives for his bimonthly meeting to discuss the growing infection rates with a cracked mask and heavily bandaged hands, a tall tri-horned Vessel absolutely seething in a tight bundle of rope, the King honestly just wants to lay down in a ditch at this point. He can't figure out where they're coming from. He doesn't know WHY they're coming to the Palace.

He didn't even think this many had survived.

And he still doesn't know what to do with them all, aside from shoving them into the “Vessel Room”. It takes so much of his concentration just to try to keep them occupied or distracted with something, because if they aren't, they turn to the rest of the Palace, and they are somehow even more of a chaotic nuisance than Hornet was. Nothing was safe; if it existed, a Vessel was going to find it and get into it. And potentially steal it, he discovers after an eventful game of "What are you putting in your mouth--nO COME BACK HERE-"

And then Ghost shows up.

And if he thought the other Vessels were menaces, the King had no idea what he was in for. Ghost is easily the worst of them all, combined. Nothing is sacred to Ghost. Ghost is basically a honey badger: they do not give a fuck.

Ghost is the first Vessel the King accidentally gives a nickname to when he calls them a 'Little Nightmare', a title that Ghost only seems to take on with pride. The King regrets.

The King is beyond exhausted. Trying to juggle the Vessels, training the Pure Vessel, dealing with the increasing number and severity of Infected, rising tensions with Deepnest, the Hive and the Mantis Tribe, and the futile search for some other way to deal withe Radiance that he knows he won't find, because he's already out of options. He's sleep deprived, barely eating, constantly stressed, and more times than not forgets to bathe. He's in a downward spiral, he knows it, and knows he can't continue as he is. But he has no choice. He just has to keep going, while hoping, praying, that he doesn't mess up and doom his kingdom, his people.

And just when the King thought he couldn't handle any further stress...

The Vessels go missing. All of them. They just vanish.

It takes a while for anyone to even notice, but it’s the White Lady who does first.

And at first, the King doesn't pick up on his wife's worry when she tells him she can't find them. It's only when she repeats herself, insisting that they're nowhere within the Palace walls, the guards and Great Knights have looked everywhere, twice, and she hasn't personally seen them since last night, that the implication finally sets in.

The Vessels are missing.

The Vessels are missing.

He's never put together such a massive amount of city guards so quickly before in his entire Kinghood. The order is simple: find the Vessels, bring them back to the Palace. He doesn't understand why his body was shaking so much as he watched nearly every guard in the city leave to search. It must be the stress. Or he just forgot to eat again.

He expected the Vessels to be found quickly. As small and indistinct as they are, they tended to stick together as a flock or in groups. They were also not very sneaky or subtle about their presence, most of them being little terrors on stubby legs, so some bugs must've seen them. They also couldn't have gotten very far. At most, a couple of hours, he tells himself as he paces the entrance hall of the Palace, waiting for news or a team to return.

He wonders how they got out of the Palace, and resolves to find the weak spot and patch it. Without another exit, the Vessels wouldn't make it past the Guards if they tried to leave again. Perhaps he should place detection seals around the perimeter of the Palace...Just in case.

News does not come. Nor do any of the guards return for over half a day.

And when they do start trickling back, they're all empty-handed.

They give reports, of bugs seeing the Vessels, of their possible movements throughout the Kingdom, but the Vessels themselves were elusive. None of them had even caught sight of a single one.

The King is angry, enraged actually. He's also terrified. He feels like he's in pain, even though he's not wounded. He wants to burn things. Break things. Claw his workshop to pieces. He wants to scream, to seethe. To sob. He's so overwhelmed with so many conflicting emotions, he doesn't know what to do. The shaking has returned. He feels like he can barely breathe past the rock in his throat. His body feels oddly numb. He’s only ever felt so helpless when confronted with the Infection itself.

The order still stands: Find them. Just find them.

He's restless. he feels anxious for reasons he doesn't understand. He searches himself, even though he knows it’s a risk to his own life; the Radiance would take any shot she had at him. He scours the Kingdom, looking for even the slightest traces of Void. He finds signs of it all over the place, small amounts, but not a single whiff of the Vessels themselves. He cannot even tell what they were doing, if anything, because they seemed to have gone quite literally everywhere.

Days pass.

With each hour that goes by without any word of them being found or them returning (by the Stars and Fates, does he hope they just walk back through the front door. He wouldn’t even be upset, he just wants them to come back.) the King becomes more and more distressed. More despondent. More hopeless.

The Kingdom, outside of the City and the villages, is not safe. So many viscous, infected creatures that would willingly try to feast upon a tiny Vessel. Food was becoming scarcer; the icy black of their bodies wouldn't be a deterrent, even if their toxic Void would most assuredly kill whatever consumed them eventually. The acids were so caustic they'd easily eat through the thin, small maskshells, leaving not a single trace. So many perilous places to fall from. So many unstable caverns to be crushed or trapped in.

The King wondered if he should alter his order to include looking for any signs of their corpses as well. He cannot bring himself to do so; to voice such terrors aloud would make them unbearably real.

Every day is the same: There is no news. There is no news. There is no news. We have not seen them. We have not found them.

Until suddenly, there is news, but it’s not the news he expected or even needed.

The Infection was dying. Rapidly. Just...shriveling up, into gnarled vines and sunken pustules. The bright glaring neon orange was dimming to a lifeless murky brown. Those ensnared in the waking dreamsleep woke up, came back to themselves.

Everyone was dumbfounded. What did this mean? What could have possibly happened? Did the Radiance...give up? Or did something happen to her? What could possibly affect the Radiance enough to disrupt her power so quickly, so thoroughly?

The entire Kingdom looked to their King for answers, and he had none to give. He didn’t know.

He could only work to prevent panic and hysteria, and hope that someone comes back with answers soon.

Through the efforts to assuage the public’s concerns, the King continues to wait, desperately, for word on his Vessels. In the evening, he waits by the front gate. Watching the bridge, for hours. Hoping, even as he’s growing hopeless. There, yet not.

The King is just about to give up for the night, to return inside, to curl up in his chambers and fall into a restless sleep that fails to rejuvenate or ease his stresses, where the images of dead and mutilated Vessels terrorize his nightmares, when voices call out, alarmed, catching his attention. He turns.

He freezes. Stares.

The Vessels were right there, huddled in a group as they slowly walked across the bridge. All of them. Together. They were there.

They were safe.

They were all scuffed up, splattered in the orangeish brown muk and smelling of ash, nicks and dents on their tiny dirty shells. Some of them looked worse for the wear, being supported or carried by others, leaking void from various injuries. The taller tri-horned one with an overgrown cloak had a nasty crack on it's head, their shortest horn just outright gone. It was messily bandaged, and they seemed to be in pain, but they were alive. Another, with two short pairs of horns on the side of their head, was clutching their chest, limping along with another who was missing half their curled horn.

Ghost supported the Pure Vessel, who looked utterly ravaged. cloak torn and stained orange, a deep crack through their right eye socket, empty space where their tiny left arm used to be. Ghost, Little Nightmare, supported a nasty crack down the middle of their mask, deep grooves in their horns like blade wounds and scorch marks searing their tattered cloak, nail shattered completely in half.

The Vessels stop when they see him, staring back. The King doesn't even realize he'd approached them until he was almost on top of them, staring down.

And then he realizes they were carrying something between them, but they're moving, shifting, spreading apart--

And presenting him with a large blade still wet with neon orange ichor.

A familiar blade, he knew was once attached to the Radiance.

He can only stare, as the Pure Vessel steps forward, dipping a tiny claw into the slowly congealing orange and writing slowly, "We ate the Light. No more sick dreams."

And it hits the King right in the gut that the Vessels had been listening to him talk about the Infection, heard him complain and worry over it. Had listened, and taken it upon themselves to try to get rid of it.

And they'd somehow succeeded. Somehow managed to find, to trap, to fight, to defeat her. Not unscathed, not without a cost, but without loosing any of their own. They’d all challenged a God, and killed her.

Had ripped out her gleaming blade, the symbol and embodiment of her power to cleave through dreams and minds, to take it with them.

To give it to him.

The Vessels push the bloodstained blade into his hands, and he stares at it for only a single second, before dumping it to the ground beside him without a care.

A twitch of surprise goes through the Vessels, and air of confusion and outrage, but he doesn't care; he lunges forwards and wraps his arms around as many of them as he can reach, pulling them tight to him and grabbing for yet more until he’s somehow got them all in his arms. Clinging to them. Burying his face among their stained shells and nicked horns, and sobbing.

Of course he cares about the death of the Radiance. The severity of that will hit him later, after he's had time to absorb it properly.

For now, the only thing he gives a damn about is the fact that his children are all safe, back home. Dirty, busted up, and in a world of trouble once he's done weeping with relief, but alive.

Nothing else mattered.

#Hollow Knight #Pale King #Vessels #Story blurb #This started out as a funny idea #and turned slightly angsty and serious whoops #I'm also a sucker for fated/parallel injuries #Vessel Group includes the Deepnest Vessels #BECAUSE NO ONE EVER GIVES THEM ANY FUCKING LOVE #C'MON HK FANDOM #Also Broken Vessel being just a feral little bitch is my favorite fan take ever #Broken Vessel is NOT hollow #They are filled with spite and AGGRESSION #Pale King be out here not knowing that he's accidentally become a Dad #“Why am I so worried about my missing Vessels that I feel like I'm about to throw up?” #GEE I DUNNO BUDDY COULD IT BE BC THEY'RE YOUR LITERAL CHILDREN???

[13atoms]

Tight Spaces (Anthony Lockwood x Lucy Carlyle

A mission leaves Lucy panicking long after the visitors have left. It’s up to Lockwood to figure out why.

AO3 Link | 2.2k | Fluff, hurt / comfort

  Food mention, alcohol mention, mild injury talk

Lucy hasn’t spoken to him. Not since the case. They’d ended up on their hands and knees, then army crawling on their stomachs, dragging chains as they clambered to escape the collapsed mansion.

Lockwood hadn’t been pleased about it, but the old drainage tunnels were more tempting than waiting for morning beneath the creaking structure.

She hadn’t blinked. Not when they emerged panting into the night. Not when Lockwood laughed in victory, recovering their bags from their stash outside the building. Lucy hadn’t done anything but shiver in the taxi, holding her arms close to herself, scraped and muddied in a way which made the cabbie glare at them for messing up his upholstery.

Lockwood had overtipped, probably too much in hindsight, pulling the cash from his wallet without a second thought as Lucy grabbed both of their kit bags and bolted to the front door of 35 Portland Row. He’d been helpless and empty handed, taking long strides, still barely catching a glimpse of her as she fled upstairs.

He’d sighed, and resigned himself to helping a sleepy George unpack the dumped bags, unsure of what to say.

“You cleared it then?”

He blinked for a moment, frozen with the leftover chains in his hands. Then

“Yep,” Lockwood popped the p, trying to exude an energy he didn’t have. “Nasty. A pair of type twos.”

“Grim,” George frowned. “You look terrible. No offense.”

“The building was half-collapsed. Didn’t survive the flares particularly well. It doesn’t matter though. They were clearing it to put a housing estate in.”

George looked thoughtful for a moment, glancing at the ceiling where two floors above Lucy’s bedroom lay.

“What’s up with her?”

Lockwood cleared his throat, awkwardly enough that it was obvious it was intentional. Not cool. He winced.

“No idea.”

“Something to do with the visitors?”

George was never one for taking a hint. Especially when he was worried about his friends.

“We caught the first one and she just… went blank. I’d only seen one death glow, but there was another one. We got ambushed…”

“Nothing she hasn’t handled before,” George mused, shaking out the empty kit bags.

Lockwood realised he was standing completely still, salt bombs in both hands. Shaking himself out of it, he placed them into the right box. Probably. That was probably the right box.

He closed the lid.

“Yeah,” he reassured George, “you’re right.”

“So what is it?”

“I don’t know! Girl stuff?”

George didn’t wince like Lockwood had expected. He was glaring at him.

“We can both pretend you didn’t say that.”

“Right. Sorry.”

George was still looking at him.

“I don’t know. I’ll go and talk to her, okay?”

Satisfied, George offered a curt nod and told him there was dinner on the stove, before vanishing to his room. It left Lockwood in the lurch. He was used to George’s quirks, had grown quite fond of them. Perhaps it was too much time with Lucy which made him suddenly so uncomfortable being abruptly left alone in the kit room.

He listened for a moment, hearing nothing but silence.

How often did Lucy get to hear silence, he wondered.

The sound of his footsteps seemed impossibly loud, measured and steady as he paced to the kitchen. True to his word, George had left stew on the stove, and an apple pie half eaten on the counter.

Lockwood plated it up, two mains and two dessert plates, musing at the tray in front of him for a moment before grabbing a pair of beers too. Maybe Lucy wouldn’t want one. Maybe he’d want two. The night was still young.

After a brief struggle up the stairs, Lockwood juggled the tray to one arm, rapping against Lucy’s door and listening intently to the silence which greeted him.

“Luce,” he called, “can I come in?”

Another beat. Then, a mumbled ‘sure’ returned to him, and Lockwood fumbled to open the door without sending beef stew flooding across the floorboards.

He offered her a grimace, then schooled his features as he saw her. The room was cast in shadow, a single lamp. Lucy was curled up on her bed, pyjamas already on, swallowed by an oversized jumper. She watched him, tracking his movements like a cat as he took a few steps closer, closing the door behind him.

“Hey, Lockwood,” she offered quietly.

The words came out stilted, and he fought with himself not to react at the realisation Lucy had been crying.  

 “Hey yourself,” he returned, before quickly shifting to a gentler tone, “I, uh, George made dinner. And I’m starving, so I figured you’d be hungry. There’s apple pie too, though he’s had half of that…”

She smiled tightly, pushing herself up onto an elbow as he set the tray down on her bedside table. Her soft hair was tangled from the escape, and it fell across her face as she turned to face him. Lucy brushed it away roughly, frowning as she did.

“I can, um, leave yours here, if you like? There was only one big tray left in the kitchen, I think the rest are in George’s room–”

He was rambling. Lockwood hated it when he rambled. No one aloof and serious rambled.

One wide-eyed blink from Lucy had him going off again, offering her beer then saying of course she didn’t have to have beer, and did she want something else for dinner, and wasn’t it cold up here, and –

“Are you okay, Luce?”

Those wide brown eyes had been watching him, his Listener unhearing even as the best in the world (he reckoned). It took one tremble of her rounded bottom lip to have him in shambles.

Lockwood crouched down to her, meeting her at eye level, hands reaching across the bedcovers but stopping short of reaching her. They lay helpless on the bedspread, that strangely familiar quilt beneath his outstretched fingers.

"You can talk to me."

That was all it took. One deep breath, and Lucy closed her eyes, chin dimpling and her reddened cheeked turning away from him. He could see her sobbing, the shaking of her diaphragm, the curling of her fingers as they covered her face.

The food sat forgotten. Lockwood had never felt less concerned for his grumbling stomach.

“I’m sorry,” she heaved, “god, this is embarrassing.”

The words were broken up by sobs, distorted as Lucy fought for breath. Lockwood had no idea what to say, but there was a sting, sharp as a rapier tip, settling firmly between his own lungs.

“It’s okay, Luce.”

“You should go,” she whined.

It wasn’t an order, so he stayed.

“It’s alright.”

One hand found her elbow. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. If it was comforting or awkward or too far. Instinct told him to rub a thumb across her forearm, gently, just reminding her he was there.

She inhaled heavily, glancing down at the gesture, then up at Lockwood’s face.

It hurt, to see how reddened her eyes were. Bloodshot, surrounded by tear tracks. Her eyelashes were wet.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, on a heavy exhale this time.

“No, it’s fine. It’s good. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise… I didn’t realise how upset you were.”

Lucy looked sheepish, eyes trailing to the tray he’d brought up.

“Dinner in bed?” he offered, “If you don’t mind.”

Lucy shrugged, in that frustrating self-deprecating way which only seemed to bother him more by the day.

“It’s your bed.”

“Lucy,” he sighed, “it’s your bed. And if you want to risk eating stew in it, who am I to stop you?”

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue. Lockwood could tell she was feeling better by the defiant tug she gave his arm.

“C’mon,” she ordered, shuffling to sit against the headboard, feet crossed on the bed.

Lucy moved the pillows, shoving one beneath her back, making it clear that space beside her was for him. She tapped the spot for good measure, and it was enough to make Lockwood jump into action, rounding the mattress to her far side.

“Stew in bed,” he repeated, trying it on his tongue like it might become a tradition, before stretching out beside her and letting Lucy pass him a bowl and spoon.

It had cooled substantially, but Lockwood’s heart was pounding so fast in his chest it was difficult to care. Lucy still hummed her appreciation for George’s cooking.

“He is good,” she offered, between mouthfuls of stew, “sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” Lockwood conceded. “Got to keep him around for something.”

When Lucy uncrossed her ankles to nudge him in the leg, all Lockwood could think about was the smile erupting onto her face.

She must have been starving. He watched as she ate, remembering the occasional spoonful of his own dinner, transfixed.

She’d washed up her arms, the mud was mainly gone, with some cuts and smudged blood remaining where her sleeves were rolled up.

There was the occasional bad cut, where blood clotted into a seam and he feared it could be nudged at any moment. He wanted to run his fingers over every single one, clean them and apologise and let her rest for a week until they were distant memories, pink scars which would fade with the memory of the case.

There were bruises blossoming on her wrists, from stones and junk and the ground itself. He remembered her grunt of complaint as he nagged her to move faster, snapping at her heels as the chains dragged behind his.

He remembered the abject horror on her face when he explained what they had to do.

She was looking at him.

She was speaking.

“I’m not waiting for you,” she insisted, nodding to his half-full bowl as she grabbed dessert.

“No!” Lockwood returned to his body with a jolt, suddenly finding himself replying. “No, don’t wait. I’m being slow. It’ll only go cold.”

Lucy watched him curiously, before being absorbed by the apple pie. George was getting better at desserts these days. She pulled her legs up close, slowing down as Lockwood took another few mouthfuls of stew.

She was figuring out what to say. Usually, she was so quick, he never got the chance to see it. Now he could tell she was thinking.

“I’m not great with small spaces,” she blurted out.

“It’s fine, Luce. Honestly. It was miserable in there.”

She was staring at the curtains, ignoring him.

“No, like… I can do ghosts. And the bloody Thames – though I didn’t like that much – but there’s something about small spaces… it makes me panic.”

With a pang of guilt, Lockwood remembered that conversation. It had been less than a week ago, around the kitchen table. Their fears. George was scared of spiders. And heights. And a litany of Visitor types. Lockwood had named an endless list: notably including clowns and his mortgage. Lucy just had one: being trapped. He remembered her spitting the words out, mug of tea clutched to her chest, like it had scared her to say them.

“Luce, I’m sorry. I should have known…”

“It’s fine.”

Her tone was bordering on snapping at him, one hand tensing and untensing against the fabric of her plaid pyjama bottoms. Embarrassment rose on her cheeks, making her refuse to face him.

“No, I… I’m sorry. I should have thought of another way.”

“There wasn’t one. I tried thinking of one, anything else… but you were right.”

“I’m still sorry.”

She looked at him. The puffiness in her eyes had lessened a little, though the redness remained, bloodshot whites surrounding soulful brown.

“It’s not your fault, Lockwood.”

“I’ll take Karim next time,” he promised, teasing, making Lucy gasp in horror.

“You damn well won’t! I’m not being demoted!”

He hid a smile. 

“Well… I’ve heard you’re a dab hand at research. And making pies.”

“Anthony Lockwood I swear…”

He wasn’t sure if it was her laughter, or the sound of his first name in her accent for the first time, or the second swat she was winding up for. Something made him do it.

He grabbed her hand.

Brought her knuckles to his lips.

Murmured: “I’m sorry,” against her skin.

His eyes never left hers, dinner forgotten and a sincerity he’d never shown anyone else before plain on his features.  

Lucy blinked at him, silenced in an instant by the gesture.

In some ways, he’d never felt younger, waiting for her reaction. Her approval. Her rejection. Anything. Was he even doing it right?

Lucy wouldn’t have been the right person to ask. She was staring at him, heart racing and the instinctual fear reaction in her hind brain was silenced for the first time in hours. She’d stopped shaking, at some point between the knock at the door and Lockwood’s grip on her elbow. Her heart had stopped hurting at some point during the stew. Her headache had gone at the point of apple pie.

Now every nerve in her body was screaming at her, the ghost of Lockwood’s lips fresh on her knuckles.

She wanted to bottle the feeling, keep it forever.

She had no idea what to say.

“You’ll always get out,” Lockwood promised.

Her hand was still in his. She could feel his breath on her skin as he spoke.

“We’ll always get you out. I promise.”

Lucy couldn’t bear to look at the open, desperate sincerity in his eyes. She focussed on the sharp rise and fall of her knuckles, like a tiny, fleshy mountain range, stilled in his hold. Wondered if they were nice hands. If Lockwood thought they were nice. Snapped her focus back up to Lockwood’s face.

He’d forgotten his biggest fear, when they’d sat around the kitchen table.

She knew what it was. She'd known since the day she started working at Lockwood & Co.

Lockwood was terrified that she’d leave. It was that same hyperventilating, can’t-get-out-of-bed fear. She saw it in him, sometimes. That rising, paralysing, panic.

Searching his wide eyes now, she saw a glimpse of it yet again. It was in the warmth of his hand against hers. In the worried set of his jaw. In the dinner he'd brought her and in the way he talked her down.

Lockwood was terrified all the time.

“I know you will,” she promised, squeezing his hand.

#if anyone thinks of a better title i will change it and love you forever #lockwood and co #locklyle #lockwood x lucy #lockwood and co fic #usual programming will resume soon im 1k into a geralt fic #fic #13atoms #i have such lockwood brainworms i might buy all 5 books

[i-am-still-bb]

#5

No. 5: “You better pray I don't get up this time around.” | Debris | Pinned Down | “It's broken.”

Fili & Kili Rating: T Modern AU Ravenhill

910 words

--

Warnings for: guns, GSW, ambiguous / unwritten ending, capture, fighting, inflicted knee injuries.

This one's more traditionally whumpy.

--

A/N: Everything I write for Whumptober will get added to Ao3 eventually. Just the effort of doing all the tagging... right now that's too much.

--

Fili held his Glock low; his other hand stretched out for balance and to stop him before he could slam face first into the rough cut stone walls. He could barely see and it was only getting darker. He strained to hear anything aside from his own breathing and Kili’s shuffling footsteps, soft rubber on stone. 

Fili stopped when he felt a solid wall less than three feet from his face. Kili bumped into him. 

“Watch where you’re going,” Fili hissed, his frustration and anxiety spilling over.

“Sorry,” Kili mumbled, a steadying hand on Fili’s low back, “Can’t fucking see.”

“Neither can I!”

Kili started to retort, but they both fell silent when they heard the sound moving in the passageway around the bend. Kili’s hand tightened. “Did you hear that?” 

Fili shushed him. “Stay here,” he ordered. 

But Kili was already on moving to peer around the corner where Fili could see the flickering of firelight.

“Kili!” he hissed, throwing up his  free hand to stop Kili.

Kili’s glance was sharp. “You think I’m letting you go alone?”

“Because I am.”

Kili shook his head. “I know what I’m doing. You’re not leaving me behind.”

Fili hesitated, his hand on Kili’s chest, took a deep breath, quickly weighing the odds. “Okay.” Kili started to move again but Fili stopped him. “But stay behind me.”

Kili rolled his eyes. But he did as Fili said. 

They could see where they were going now. The lights got brighter. And there were now voices, rough laughter, ahead of them. But they moved slower than ever. Fili alternated his focus from the floor, uneven and covered with bits of detritus that could easily make enough noise to get them noticed, and the light and voices ahead.

Floor.

Voices.

Floor.

Voices.

Flo—

—

“—t me go,” was the first thing that Fili remembered hearing. A sudden tunnel intersection, lights, voices, and then nothing until those words. He slowly gathered his hands under his shoulders and started to push himself up onto his hands and knees.

A foot slams down between his shoulder blades, shoving him back to the floor with an audible noise that reverberated through Fili’s body when his head hit the stone floor. “Don’t. Even. Think. About. It,” a voice commanded. 

Fili started to relax. Quickly, or as quickly as he could manage, trying to think of ways to change the situation or at least survive it. 

“Fili!” Any thought for his own self preservation went out the window when Fili heard Kili’s voice. Remembered that Kili had been with him. 

Fili twisted onto his side. Grabbed the ankle of the man standing over him. Pulled the boot close to his chest and twisted back the other direction, Fili’s leg coming up and hooking around the leg that he was holding on to, knocking the man down the ground in a flash. A shout, surprised. Hooking the foot of his occupied leg under his free leg Fili was able to leverage his hips higher until he felt something give and he heard the man now shout in pain. 

There were shouted orders, people moving, but Fili didn’t expand his focus from his immediate vicinity. He fumbled for the soldier’s belt, searching for a gun, anything. 

“Fili, look out!” 

Fili spun instinctually catching the blow on his shoulder, buckling his knee, rather than the intended head. Fili lunged forward, blocking another blow, and landing some punches of his own before driving his boot into the side of the other man’s knee. Before Fili’s boot even hit the ground he was dragged backwards, an arm around his throat and a hand on the back of his head. Before the unseen person could clamp down though Fili got his hand in between his neck and the arm seeking to cut off his air supply. Fili shifted one way, then the other, looking for openings, but his opponent knew what Fili was doing. He kept his head ducked and close to Fili’s own, his hair was short, he kept his hips back, and his feet wide. 

A shot rang out, cracking and echoing in the stone chamber, and Fili dropped. His opponent now supported the bulk of Fili’s weight before adjusting to a kneeling position. 

“FILI!”

“I’m alright,” Fili panted. The grip around his neck loosened now that he was not fighting. His right leg was numb below the hip, blood seeping from the wound in his thigh. A wound that was mostly hidden by his fatigues and the blood. He tried to push himself to stand using his one good leg. But he was easily pulled off balance. His butt hit the ground hard and he grunted at the sudden pain of it.

Kili swallowed visibly. His captors and the chains on Kili’s hands had done a far better job containing him than Fili’s guards had been. 

“Now, can we all just be civilized?” Azog drawled. Fili recognized him immediately from Thorin’s description and from the mugshots they had all been shown.

“You better pray I don't get up this time around,” Fili growled.

—

The End?

Select your own ending -

Our “orcs” are dumb and missed the flashbang that Fili and/or Kili had in their pocket.

Bilbo shows up (sneaking up behind the leader) with a k-bar and a silenced pistol

Thorin does something ill-advised, but it does get the “orcs’” attention

[insert movie-ish ending here]

Elves??

Other (share in the notes or a reblog!)

--

Taglist: @silvermoon-scrolls

#whumptober2023 #no. 5 #lyrics #pinned down #the hobbit #fic #guns #gsw #capture #bb writes #fili & kili #modern au

[chartreuseian]

Titanic WIP?????????? 👀👀👀

Ah, well @truedairship beat you to that one. But I'll give you another snippet because there's a fair bit of it already written.

Basically, Helen survives and Nikola meets her in New York, but she's v broken by the whole experience because she felt entirely powerless (new and strange for our plucky young woman). Nikola finds her, equally out of his mind with worry, and takes her home for the week. The bit below is the start of the story when he finds her at the docks.

---

It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold herself up, yet as the moments ticked by and the crowd around her moved frantically, Helen couldn’t quite remember why she should.

She remembered a kind young man had helped her off of the Carpathia, a sailor of some sort she supposed, depositing her on the low stone barrier at the end of the pier with a brief question that she’d waved away wordlessly. Much of the last three days aboard the Carpathia was lost to her memory as well, washed away by the sleeplessness that had consumed her from the moment she’d been hauled aboard.

But now, on dry land and free of the infernal swaying of the ship, exhaustion crept across her. It did not matter that she was seated in the midst of a swirling, screaming crowd, or that if she fell from her perch she’d likely be trampled by the heaving masses that had assembled along the shoreline. All she wanted to do was sag forwards and close her eyes against what little she did remember.

The crying.

The screaming.

The ice.

She blinked wearily as her head dipped forwards, letting one arm fall from where it had been cradled in her lap. Up ahead she could just about make out a line of police officers who were trying valiantly to hold back the crowds as 705 tired, trembling bodies were passed up towards the waiting arms of volunteers who stood beneath shelters to protect them from the rain.

Right.

It was raining.

Helen looked up, blinking against the water that fell on her skin. It was, she supposed, cold but that word had ceased to have much meaning now. Using all her strength she pulled her arm back up, wrapping both around herself waist as she bowed her head until it rested against her knees. Her shoulders were shaking almost violently now, and it was taking all she had left to stay where she was, to not fall to the side, to not let the 705 bodies press her into the earth until she no longer had to remember.

705

705 of over 1500.

“Helen!”

The voice was familiar, and prickled when it met her ears, yet she didn’t move. A great heaving sob had just wrenched itself out of her chest and it tasted so much of salt water that her stomach roiled.

“Helen!”

Closer now, yet she couldn’t do more than roll her head to the side, peering out at the world from the tight ball she had wound herself into.

“Helen!”

This time the sound was close enough that her eyes tried to make sense of the world around her. Through the cloaks and police and now discarded blankets that had been pressed into their hands aboard the boat, she could see some sort of commotion that went against the tide around her.

“Helen!”

He was bellowing now, his voice somehow rising above the rain and the crowd, and Helen shivered as her vision swam.

Something (someone) was moving towards her, a heavy grey silhouette that shoved restraining arms out of the way and pushed sweet reunions to the side without a second thought. She blinked slowly, knowing she needed to see, but her mind disagreed, and she found her vision starting to tunnel.

“Helen!”

Arms reached for her and then she was being hauled up and then she was against his chest and then he was sobbing and then Nikola’s arms crushed her to him.

“Helen,” he breathed, his entire body heaving as he cried into her hair. The warmth of him alone would have been enough to have her curling into his body, but when the smell of him finally penetrated her sleep addled mind, it was as if her heart had started beating again for the first time in days.

This was Nikola.

And if Nikola was here…

If she was with Nikola…

She was alive.

“Nikola,” she croaked, bringing her arms up to cling to him weakly. Despite the rain that only seemed to be getting heavier Helen could feel blood once more begin to circulate through her body, dragging the heat of Nikola through heavy limbs until, finally, she took a deep, shuddering breath.

“Helen,” he said once more, the feeling of his breath brushing her ear so achingly familiar that she felt her knees give way. Not that it mattered. His arms around her were steadfast.

He pulled back slightly, his mouth landing on her cheek, then on her nose, then on her jaw, then on the edge of her lips. The chaotic, rhythmless press of his kisses kept going, only occasionally brushing against her mouth and mixed amongst the rain that streaked down both their faces, she could taste warm, salty tears.

“Nikola,” she gasped and then his mouth was on hers and everything was hot and wonderous and beautiful and Helen sighed against him, letting her mouth open as his tongue pressed against hers.

#thank you :) #fanfic #writing #sanctuary #helen magnus #nikola tesla