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carewyncromwell · 3 years

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[Ficlet] Take a Chance on Me

...Hey, I said I might add onto the ficlet I did of how Carewyn joined the Slytherin Quidditch team for a game back in her third year! >>; This is based on Quidditch Season 1 Chapter 6, AKA the major plot turn before MC, Orion, Skye, and their house Quidditch team’s first match. (In this case, Slytherin VS Hufflepuff!)

For those of you who didn’t read the last ficlet and want to just jump into this one -- Carewyn (soon to be “Mama-Bear”) Cromwell is a third year Slytherin, with Orion, Skye, McNully, and Rath all being one year ahead of her. This will also be the only Quidditch match Carewyn plays until the tail end of her sixth year, which you can read about with this Quest of the Quidditch tag I made! Also as a note, since there is some art under the cut -- Orion, in my canon, doesn’t look the way he does in the game until his sixth year or so (namely, with his facial hair), hence why he looks a bit more boyish in how I drew him! (It is amazing how much younger Orion looks without the stubble!!) And yeah, even if Carewyn and Orion eventually become a couple post-Hogwarts, their relationship won’t really be explicitly romantic here, even if the strong platonic chemistry will definitely be there. 😊

Hope you enjoy! 💚

x~x~x~x

The Slytherin VS Hufflepuff Quidditch match was scheduled for the first weekend of November. With less than a week remaining, both houses were getting very excited -- Carewyn could tell her friend Penny Haywood was having trouble knowing whether to be more thrilled for her house team or for Carewyn.

“Well, there are a lot of people who don’t make the team on their first try!” Penny had said to Carewyn when she learned the news. “Gosh, Carewyn -- I know you’ll be flying up against my team, but...watching you play in a real Quidditch match will be even more fun than just watching one with you!”

Charlie and Andre were also thrilled.

“I knew you could do it, Carey!” said Charlie, beaming from ear to ear. “C’mere!”

He looped an arm around her neck and squeezed her against his side in a hug.

“Mm, I can’t say I knew, given Orion Amari’s reputation,” said Andre, though his face still broke into a grin, “but I’m glad that however odd he is, at least he can see raw talent when it’s placed in front of him! It’ll be so much more exciting to have you on the Pitch too, Cursebreaker.”

Though inwardly hating the nickname, Carewyn still gave them her best smile. “Thanks...”

~~~

The first couple of Slytherin team practices were largely based on teamwork exercises, so as to “strengthen the bond” between Carewyn and the rest of her teammates. She knew her fellow Chasers Orion and Skye already, of course, but Orion wanted to make sure she was likewise on good terms with their Beaters -- a pair of muscular seventh-years called King and Shacklebolt -- their very tall sixth-year Keeper Crockett, and their pretty seventh-year Seeker, Anika Lucky.

If Carewyn’s petite height and lack of muscles weren’t noticeable before, it was comically apparent when she stood alongside the rest of the Slytherin team -- even Skye, the smallest of them, still towered a good ten inches over 4′9″ Carewyn. Fortunately, although most of the Slytherin team gave Carewyn a slightly confused side-eye when she first arrived for practice, they all reacted a little differently after Orion challenged the team to break his record of balancing on their brooms (2 hours, 52 minutes and 31.2 seconds, according to McNully), and Carewyn was the only one who kept up with Skye all the way up until the end.

“And then there were two,” sighed Shacklebolt rather tiredly, when he finally had to give up and sit back down on his broom, massaging his leg.

Crockett looked at Orion with something of a weak smile. “Come on, Orion...maybe we should call this off. We can’t exactly break the record for balancing on one leg together when most of us are sitting down...”

“Ah, but if one of us breaks the record, then we all break the record,” said Orion with a smile.

Skye crossed her arms from her position balancing on her broom. “The one who breaks the record will get credit, though, right?”

“A victory for one is a victory for all,” Orion said mellowly, “and for that, we should celebrate on behalf of that one.”

Carewyn opened her eyes. She’d been keeping them closed and singing songs in her head, to try to help her ignore how much her leg was hurting and how much time was passing. When she glanced at Skye, she noticed a line of sweat appearing on her brow.

“...How close are we to our goal, Orion?” asked Carewyn.

“Only time will tell,” answered Orion.

Skye frowned sourly. “Right -- that was Carewyn’s question: tell us the time.”

“The moment is near,” said Orion with a twinkle in his eye, “but who’s counting?”

“MCNULLY!” Skye bellowed up at the stands in exasperation. “YOU’D BETTER BLOODY WELL BE COUNTING UP THERE, OR I SWEAR I’LL BEAT BOTH YOU AND ORION BLACK AND BLUE!”

The Beaters both sighed and shook their heads.

“Here he goes again,” muttered Shacklebolt.

“I think he’s gone even deeper into his own head since becoming Captain,” King agreed under her breath, sounding both rather tired and slightly amused.

Carewyn turned to Orion, her almond-shaped blue eyes becoming a bit more serious.

“Orion, a Niffler is able to chase gold so well because it can smell when it’s close,” she said in an oddly stern voice. “It’d probably be a lot easier for Skye and me to reach our goal if we also knew how close we were to it.”

The other Slytherins all blinked at the tiny third-year, taken aback by her assertiveness. Orion, however, only grinned.

“Is not the journey a kind of treasure in itself, however?” he said. “After all...you and Skye have united so well in this endeavor, despite your apparent differences.”

“Yes,” granted Carewyn, her voice staying rather firm, “but if you want both of us -- and therefore all of us -- to break the record, then it stands to reason that both Skye and I should be of the same mind. And Skye and I would both like to know how close we are to bringing our team victory.”

“Right,” said Skye, a bit more impatiently. “So will you go ask McNully how much time is left already?”

Orion’s black eyes sparkled with mischief. “It’s so fascinating, how full of fire you both are, and yet how differently colored your flames are.”

He looked up at the stands. When he caught McNully’s eye, he threw up his fist into the air in silent celebration.

“That’s it?!” said Skye eagerly, sounding immensely relieved. “A new record? Finally!”

She immediately sat down -- Carewyn, however, did not, and she was glad of it, for sure enough, Orion turned back around with a grin and said,

“McNully’s just informed me that we’re in the final countdown!”

The team all covered their faces with their hands. Skye’s mouth dropped open.

“What?!” she yelped. “Are you kidding -- I wouldn’t have sat yet!”

“Why did you?” Orion teased good-naturedly. “I thought you wanted to be the last one standing.”

Skye looked like steam was coming out of her ears. Carewyn fixed Orion with a rather reproachful look.

“Orion, that wasn’t nice!” the much smaller girl scolded him the way she sometimes did Jacob when she was little. “Skye really had her heart set on beating your record.”

Orion’s amusement actually dimmed slightly. After a moment, his expression turned a bit softer upon both Skye and Carewyn.

“Fortunately she did beat it,” he said, gesturing to Carewyn still balancing on her broom, “through her student.”

Carewyn raised her eyebrow, looking from Orion to up at McNully in the commentary box. “So the record has been broken now?”

“Indeed,” said Orion with a proud smile, exchanging a nod with McNully. “McNully-confirmed. Congratulations, team -- we did it!”

The team all breathed a sigh of relief, except for Skye, who still looked sour.

“Carewyn did it, this time,” she said begrudgingly. “Congratulations, Carewyn.”

Carewyn lowered herself back down onto her broom, averting her eyes and massaging her burning thigh. “Thanks.”

She was proud that she was able to prove herself, after it’d taken her three whole hours just to figure out how to even balance like that in the first place...even if she didn’t love the fact that Skye was clearly bitter about it.

“I must admit, though, Carewyn, I’m a bit disappointed,” said Orion. “Not once in all that time did you share any of your meditation songs with us.”

The team, including Skye, once again turned to look at Carewyn, surprised. Carewyn flushed.

“Well, you said I could do it whenever we meditate together, as in the two of us,” she said rather huffily, closing her eyes and putting up her nose. “I didn’t want to break anyone else’s concentration.”

“A kind thought,” said Orion. “But perhaps next time, we can see if it actually helps our team’s focus. We’ll need all the focus and teamwork possible, in our match against Hufflepuff.”

~~~

The Slytherin team soon found themselves very happy with Orion’s choice. Carewyn not only was a very talented Chaser with excellent speed and aim, but she also seemed to know just how to talk to Orion on his terms and keep him a bit more grounded. And when she did end up singing during their practices, it actually turned out to be kind of a fun way to pass the time too. The players who’d been born in magical families like Skye in particular found it interesting to hear Muggle songs they’d never been exposed to before.

“If you're all alone, When the pretty birds have flown, Honey, I'm still free -- Take a chance on me! Gonna do my very best, And it ain't no lie -- If you put me to the test, If you let me try...”

Carewyn did notice, however, that their practices were being watched -- and not just by Murphy McNully, either.

“It’s not abnormal for other teams to want to get a peek at new players before a match, so they can get information they can use while building their team strategies,” McNully told her. “Most opposing players try to be subtle about it, but Ulrich Dylan -- that’s Hufflepuff’s Captain -- is not. Ravenclaw’s whole team isn’t either...especially Erika Rath -- she always makes it a point to get a good look at any new opponents. And well, admittedly, there’s nothing banning them from coming to watch our practices, so I guess they don’t feel the need to hide it.”

Carewyn considered this. “...Maybe they see it as a way to intimidate us too -- you know, being so confident in letting us know that they see us, and that they’re judging us.”

Kind of like how I felt a bit intimidated by Orion, while he was watching me fall off my broom for three hours.

McNully nodded. “Not a bad theory! Ravenclaw in particular has already won the Quidditch Cup two years in a row, so they definitely have some cause to be confident. Just with their current line-up, I’d say there’s a 38% chance they’ll win the Cup again.”

Considering that was well over 1/4, Carewyn didn’t like those odds. Seeing the frown on her face, McNully smiled.

“Don’t worry, Carewyn -- we do have one ace up our sleeve, when it comes to strategy. Only Slytherin knows how to do the Thimblerig Shuffle properly, as of yet -- therefore if we use it, I’d say we stand a 87.3% chance of throwing Hufflepuff off their game.”

Carewyn smiled. “That’s great!”

“Glad you agree!” said McNully. He then rubbed the back of his neck a bit awkwardly. “There’s...just one thing: Orion would have to actually use it, in the match. And well, we both know Orion -- the odds of him using it don’t go above 43%...” His face then burst into a smile. “...buuuut I’d say if you put in a good word with him, he might be more willing to listen!”

Carewyn looked confused. “Why me? You’re Orion’s friend too, aren’t you?”

“Of course! But Orion and I are still very different people. We have trouble speaking the same language sometimes. Honestly, I’d say I only understand what he’s trying to say about 72% of the time,” McNully added under his breath. “But you and he already seem to have a good rapport -- I reckon you bringing up the Thimblerig Shuffle to Orion would improve his odds of using it by a good 10%!”

Carewyn still wasn’t entirely sure, but she gave McNully a reassuring nod. “Well, I’ll try, anyway.”

~~~

Carewyn asked Orion to meet her before practice. She wanted to make absolutely sure that none of the other team’s players would be listening in. When Orion saw her approach, he smiled broadly.

“Greetings, Breaker of Records,” he said amusedly.

Carewyn frowned. The nickname reminded her unpleasantly of Andre’s “Cursebreaker” moniker for her.

“Hi, Orion...thanks for coming early.”

Orion seemed to notice the shift in her expression -- it made his eyes soften slightly, becoming a bit more serious.

“We’re members of the same Quidditch family now, Carewyn,” he said gently. “Therefore my time is our time...and we can always find time to find balance together.”

Carewyn smiled slightly, feeling a bit reassured. “...Well, it’s less about balance and more about...well, about the match against Hufflepuff.”

“I think those two things are very much entwined,” said Orion.

“In a way, yes...but well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve had a lot of company in the stands, while we’re practicing. Like Hufflepuff’s Captain.”

Orion nodded. “I have seen him.”

“Well, McNully thinks he’s been stopping by to get a good look at me, and the rest of the team,” said Carewyn seriously. “That way he can use whatever information he can get about us in his team’s strategy. And...well, I know you don’t think strategical skills will determine our path...but it seems like we should use all of the strengths we have to our advantage, right?”

Orion crossed his legs around his broom so that he could actually take his hands off of it and cross his arms idly over his chest.

“I agree,” he said quietly, but it seemed clear he was waiting for her to reach her conclusion, rather than being completely onboard.

“Well,” Carewyn plowed on, “right now, we’re the only Quidditch team who knows how to do the Thimblerig Shuffle -- you know, the move McNully made up?”

Orion nodded slowly. “I remember. Quintessential McNully -- magical in its complexity, and complex in its magic.”

Carewyn gave a nod of her own. “It’s really a very clever move...it would definitely throw Hufflepuff off-balance, which could only help us out. And well, considering McNully’s your friend, I reckon it would mean a lot to him, if you considered using it.”

Orion raised his eyebrows rather coolly. “You clearly have been a very good friend to McNully already, speaking on his behalf. Though I don’t know if I appreciate him using the Slytherin team in a strategy to coax their Captain to his way of thinking.”

Carewyn felt her gaze slipping down to her broom, but she tried to hold her ground. “I really don’t think McNully was trying to pressure you, Orion. I think he just really wants us to win -- you to win. Planning things out is just how his mind works...and he is pretty good at it. I learned a lot about Quidditch from him.”

“You and McNully do both enjoy your plans and strategies,” said Orion.

His face then spread into a wryer smile.

“I, however, have a different strategy in mind -- the absence of strategy.”

Carewyn wanted to be surprised, but she wasn’t. It still didn’t make the lump that settled into her stomach any less heavy.

“...Then...you have no plan at all, for us to win?” she asked, a bit shakily.

Orion’s black eyes twinkled. “Indeed. Let me show you.”

Within seconds, he’d easily leapt up onto his broom, so that he was balancing on it. Rather than before, though, he used both feet and actually surfed on the back of it, as if he were on a surfboard soaring through the air. Unlike a surfer on ocean waves, however, Orion was able to go completely upside down and around, balancing perfectly as if he and his broom were one and the same.

Carewyn found herself unable to tear her eyes away. Orion did, in fact, look pretty damn cool.

Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she followed his zigzagging moves around the Pitch -- and little by little, she found her lips spreading into an awed, open-mouthed smile.

Her reaction made Orion grin.

“Inspired Broom Surfing!” he called down to her. “That is its name, and that is what all shall call it.”

“Did you...did you invent this yourself?” asked Carewyn, disbelievingly.

“It’s the product of inspiration, not invention,” said Orion. “I thought of it, and so I do it.”

He looped in several circles over Carewyn’s head with apparent ease.

“Surfing the skies distracts the competition. They, too, shall wish to surf like this...”

He weaved in a tight “S” shape that reminded Carewyn of a figure skater on ice.

“...and yet, it also showcases one’s individual talent, and magnifies it! For most Quidditch players, even the best, never take the time to become one with their brooms -- but you can be an exception.”

Carewyn’s eyes and smile were very bright. ‘So you can psyche your opponent out, just with your confidence! And because you’ve got both hands open to hold the Quaffle, it’ll be harder for the opposing team to steal it too!’

“That’s...it’s brilliant, Orion!”

The praise definitely seemed to boost Orion’s ego. He flew completely upside down in a circle before coming to a stop beside Carewyn, grinning broadly.

“Would you like to learn?” he asked.

Carewyn looked down at Orion’s Cleansweep and then down on her old rundown Shooting Star.

“I definitely won’t be as good as you,” she said as offhandedly as she could.

Orion’s black eyes sparkled. “We’ll see about that. Now come -- balance first.”

Carewyn followed his lead, balancing on her broom the way he did.

“Forget technique,” he instructed, “forget form. Just be one with the broom.”

Carewyn started off slow, trying to weave. There were one or two points she felt like she was going to fall off, but she just managed to sweep her broom around enough to catch herself. Orion meanwhile swept around her in spirals to observe her.

“Do not broom surf with intent. You should only ever do this when the feeling is right, not when logic dictates.”

Carewyn sped up a bit in her weaving, tilting her broom up so that she hovered a bit higher. She then tried to aim herself toward the hoops -- she charged ahead, and then looped back around in a “j” shape. Orion followed, shimmying around her.

“Good,” said Orion. “Good -- let go -- ”

Carewyn urged her broom a little faster and Orion took off after her. Soon they were weaving around each other, Orion coming up and over her. Carewyn brought her arms up on either side of her to help her shift balance as if she was on roller skates, and she soon found herself laughing. This was fun!

“How...how am I doing?” she asked as she tried to catch her breath.

Orion’s smile was broader than Carewyn had ever seen it, so much so that it made his black eyes squint slightly. “You look like you’ve been broom surfing like that your entire life, Carewyn Cromwell.”

They finally came to a halt in the middle of the pitch. Orion nimbly leapt back down onto his broom in a seated position again -- Carewyn took a bit more time to gradually lower herself back down.

“Hufflepuff will not be able to take their eyes off you,” Orion said confidently. “And it’s while they are distracted that we will be able to rack up points.”

Carewyn adjusted her ponytail as best she could with one hand.

“It really is brilliant, Orion,” she said kindly, “but...well, isn’t that a strategy in itself, that I’ll distract the Hufflepuffs, while you and Skye score points?”

“To some, perhaps,” said Orion. “But all of it will only be if the time and feelings are right. I don’t believe in planning things out too far ahead. None of us are Seers who can divine the future, so can we truly know whether any plans we make will fit in with how that future will take shape?”

“No,” granted Carewyn, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a plan and hope for the best anyhow. Or better yet, make a back-up plan, just in case things don’t go the way you want...”

Orion raised an eyebrow. “You and McNully believe Hufflepuff’s Captain came to watch our practices so as to make a strategy, correct? It stands to reason, then, that he’s channeling the Demiguise as best he can.”

“The Demiguise?” prompted Carewyn.

“Trying to predict our own strategy in the upcoming match, through watching our interactions and team dynamics,” said Orion simply. “If, however, we go in with no strategy, there’ll be nothing for Hufflepuff to latch onto. That mystery works in our favor.”

“But it also might make it harder for us to fly as one team,” Carewyn pointed out, trying to mirror Orion’s level tone but not quite succeeding due to her sincere concern. “I can Broom Surf now, Orion, but I can’t do it as well as you. Only you will likely ever be able to do it as well as you do...because no one could be exactly like you. And well...no one else sees the world quite like you do, either. It’s brilliant, really,” she added quickly. “It’s cool that you don’t act how people expect you to, or see the world like everyone else does. But...I don’t know, I guess it’d be a lot easier for the rest of the team to be on the same page as you, if you choose a book that you can read together. If that makes sense.”

Orion considered Carewyn for a moment, his unreadable black eyes trailing over her face.

“It does,” he said at last.

He looked up at the stands.

“It appears that our ‘guest’ has arrived,” he changed the subject dryly.

Carewyn looked up. Sure enough, she saw the very tall, broad-chested Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain, Ulrich Dylan, confidently striding across the stands and plopping himself down. He rested his arms on the edge of the stands as he stared down at them. Carewyn’s eyes narrowed up at him.

“As has the rest of our team,” added Orion a bit more pleasantly.

Sure enough, the rest of the Slytherins -- Skye in front -- flew out onto the pitch to join them.

“Hey, Orion,” greeted Crockett brightly. “Hey, Carewyn. Looks like you’ve both got a...‘broom with a view?’ Eh? Get it?”

Carewyn couldn’t help but wince, even though she tried to smile.

“Will you lay off with the puns?” said Skye, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. “You stretch farther with those than I do trying to reach the Quaffle...”

“But it’s part of what being Keeper is!” Crockett said playfully. “Everybody knows that...and you know I’m a Keeper! All the ladies say so.”

“All the ladies except us,” said Lucky, who’d covered her face with her hand.

“And we have to be subjected to your jokes,” added King with a roll of her eyes.

Skye shifted gears as she looked at Carewyn, offering her a determined look. “Ready for practice, Carewyn?”

Carewyn forced herself to look away from the Hufflepuff Captain in the stands, giving Skye a confident nod. “Mm-hmm.”

“The time has come for our time,” said Orion serenely. “Our first exercise will be helping each other through sabotaging each other. Our Beaters and Seeker will play as opposition to our Chasers and Keeper, so that we may practice saving and blocking goals.”

Carewyn looked at Orion with a teasing smirk. “Sounds like a plan.”

Orion smiled very wryly at her in return.

~~~

Orion asked the rest of the team to stay after practice for a team meeting. The team waited around so long for the meeting, though, that they soon occupied themselves with idle conversation. Hufflepuff’s Quidditch Captain had left over fifteen minutes ago, and Carewyn was glad to see him gone.

Skye stretched her arms over her head and sighed tiredly. “Ugh...I’m going to give Orion a good smack for this. Asks us to stay after for a team meeting, and then completely forgets to start it...”

“You shouldn’t hit him,” said Carewyn reproachfully, her voice coming out a bit whiny despite her best efforts.

“Ah, come on, Carewyn, I don’t mean it like that,” said Skye with a shake of her head. She smiled. “So anyway -- what did I miss before? What were you and Orion doing here so early?”

Carewyn took her hair out of its ponytail, looping the red scrunchie around her wrist so she could redo it. “Orion taught me how to do this Quidditch move he created -- it’s called Inspired Broom Surfing...”

Skye grinned. “Ah yeah, that thing! I reckon Orion sees it as a future signature move for him, as a player. Don’t know if I’d go that far, but hey, it’s a fun way to waste time.”

“I don’t think it wastes time,” said Carewyn, frowning slightly as she put down her now much tidier ponytail. “I think it’s rather brilliant, actually. If we’re going to beat Hufflepuff, I reckon us looking confident and fearless to the opposing team would be pretty helpful.”

“The only thing we need to defeat Hufflepuff is Parkin’s Pincer,” Skye said confidently. “They might expect it, but they can’t stop it.”

Carewyn frowned. “But...if they do expect it, then they could still make a strategy to counteract it, right?”

“Not when we do it perfectly,” said Skye. “And you and Orion both know how to do it perfectly -- I’ve made sure of that.”

Carewyn couldn’t help but disagree, but decided not to push the issue. Instead she sighed.

“Well, I guess in the end, it’s really up to Orion -- he is team Captain. I guess I just wish he’d consider making more of a plan...I mean, I always feel better whenever I’m doing something difficult, when I know I’m prepared and I’ve planned ahead.”

I don’t think I would’ve been able to deal with the Ice Vault at all, if I hadn’t practiced Incendio with Bill first. And it felt good knowing that he and Ben were there to help me too, since they both knew the spell really well.

Skye’s face became a bit more serious. “Yeah, that’s really not Orion’s style.”

She brought a hand onto the smaller girl’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Don’t worry your little red head about it, though,” she said with a smile. “Orion may be a weirdo, but he’s been known to make the right call, when it counts. You just focus on being a smashing Chaser, and let us more senior players worry about it. Nobody will be expecting the newest player to make any major decisions during the match anyway -- ”

“That’s it! That’s what we’ll do!”

Everyone gave a start.

Orion, without anyone noticing, had settled himself overhead on his broom, sitting on it as if it were a swing. As he leapt back down to the ground, however, sweeping his broom out from under him with a flourish, he was grinning as excitedly as a kid at Christmas, his eyes on Skye and Carewyn.

“Orion?” said Carewyn, startled. “When did you -- ?”

“Is the meeting finally starting now?” asked Lucky.

Orion brought his broom up onto his shoulders behind his head, still grinning broadly. “This is the team meeting. I simply stand back and observe my teammates interacting in an unstructured setting.”

Skye wrinkled her nose in revulsion. “Orion! Most people call that snooping!”

“I prefer the term ‘discovery,’” Orion said smoothly. “And sure enough, it put a spotlight on your idea...”

“My what?”

Orion turned to the rest of the team, his broad smile never shifting.

“My teammates, we shall do the unexpected, to win our first House match. Hufflepuff, as well as everyone else, expects me to make the big decisions -- but instead, our newest player will.”

His black eyes and white smile were both gleaming with determination as he turned to Carewyn.

“In this match, Carewyn Cromwell will call the shots.”

Everyone on the team was so taken aback that they all stared at Carewyn, and then Orion, and back. Carewyn herself had lost all of the color in her face.

W...what?

She couldn’t do anything except gawk at Orion in disbelief. She looked around at the rest of the team helplessly -- Skye looked almost more horrified than Carewyn, as well as angry.

“What?! Orion, are you mad!?”

“Not in the least,” said Orion breezily. “I’m quite content with my decision.”

“Orion -- you can’t be -- ” started Shacklebolt.

But the Quidditch Captain had already turned around, his lips upturned in a rather proud smirk as he rested his arms over the broom on his shoulder.

“Our new leadership will not be discussed outside of the Changing Room,” he said levelly, “lest our opponents catch wind of it. And when next we fly and Ulrich Dylan’s eyes are on us, we will practice as we always have.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Carewyn, his black eyes twinkling.

“You sang your commitment to us yourself, Carewyn. And now...we’ll take a chance on you.”

By the time Carewyn recollected herself enough to try to argue, Orion was already gone.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #my art #quidditch #orion amari #carewyn cromwell #skye parkin #murphy mcnully #charlie weasley #andre egwu #penny haywood #yay more bb!Carion #they truly could've been such a 'power couple' if they'd been able to fly together on the same team longer #'power couple' in the platonic sense at first but then eventually lbh totally not #if bill and carey were the 'papa bear' and 'mama bear' of their friend group in carewyn's canon #then if carey hadn't been so obsessed with the vaults and she and orion were able to play together they would've parented their teammates #oh well at least they do both become parents as adults <3

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beelsnack · 3 years

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Let's Continue This Elsewhere - Commission for mc-reborn (NSFW)

Alright, first batch of commissions is done! This one is for mc-reborn (who Tumblr isn't letting me tag for some reason) featuring their adorable MC Stiina. They wanted an NSFW continuation of the Devilgram "Buffing Up Belphie." They were amazingly patient with me because it took me 84 years to get this done, so thank you so much for commissioning me!! ^^

I'm still open for commissions, if anyone is interested! You can check out all of my info here!

-----

“...Please say it.”

Stiina could feel the roughness of the tree bark through her cardigan as Belphegor backed her against it. The demon’s hands settled next to her head, and she could faintly hear his almost-claws digging into the tree as he leaned in closer. His breath fanned out across her face, and she could smell the mint of his toothpaste combined with the chocolate she had snuck him while Beel let them take a quick break.

“...I want a kiss.” he muttered, eyes flicking down to her lips.

It wasn’t like Belphie hadn’t been obvious about what he wanted the whole time they were making their way through the forest. There had been a few times when Stiina thought he was going to pounce on her, but he waited until they were far enough into the forest that Beel wouldn’t be able to track them down. Sometimes she just needed the confirmation that she wasn’t imagining things, that Belphie wasn’t just humoring her.

He made a soft sound of surprise in the back of his throat when Stiina cupped his jaw and brought their lips together. It was chaste, and probably not what Belphie had been after. Her suspicions were confirmed when she pulled away to see the childish pout on his face.

“Hey,” he huffed. “I was going to kiss you first.”

Stiina giggled. “Sorry.”

Belphie bumped their noses together affectionately. “Fine, it’s my turn now.”

One of his hands slipped behind her head, preventing her from smacking it against the tree as he kissed her. Just like everything else about the demon, Belphie’s kisses were full of quiet intensity. It was hard to imagine the Avatar of Sloth doing anything passionately, but Stiina couldn’t think of another way to describe the way his mouth moved against hers. He kissed her like she was the air he needed to breathe.

“Mm…” he mumbled as they broke apart, licking his lips. “I’m taking the driver’s seat today...you better be ready for a wild ride.”

“You don’t usually take the initiative.” Stiina raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged before leaning down to mouth at the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met. A shiver ran up her spine, and she could feel him smirk against her skin.

“We’ll call this a thank you for sticking with me all day,” he nosed at her jaw, urging her to tilt her neck to give him more room. “I think the only one who actually wanted to be there was Beel.”

“He did seem to be enjoying himself.”

“If it was anyone other than him I would think they were trying to torture me.”

Belphie’s hands dropped from their position on either side of her head to squeeze her waist. She squirmed, making a noise that was somewhere between uncomfortable and surprised. She knew she wasn’t exactly a supermodel, and she kept waiting for a snide comment about her weight. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“If you overthink any harder, smoke will come out of your ears.”

She jumped. “Sorry…!”

“I’ve told you already,” Belphie murmured, lips hot against her neck as he pulled her closer by the hips. “Whatever hangups those silly little humans had about your body don’t bother me in the slightest.”

He broke away from her throat to kiss her properly, and she forced herself to relax as he softly ran the tips of his nails against the dip of her hips. Old habits died hard.

“Don’t worry,” Belphie smirked, backing away just enough to speak. “You won’t be thinking of anything besides me for a while.”

Stiina pouted. “You’re not allowed to be that smooth.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t be, so it gives you an unfair advantage!”

He laughed softly, gently dragging the tips of his nails along the dip of her waist. “A demon taking advantage of a poor, innocent human. Tale as old as time.”

“True as it can be~”

“I’m not singing Beauty and the Beast with you.”

“Boo,” she giggled, squirming around as his hands traveled up beneath her shirt. “Knock it off, that tickles.”

“Hm, that’s not quite the sensation I’m going for.” His voice had got husky. “The shirt’s in the way.”

It took a minute for Stiina to realize what he was implying. “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.”

“What?” Belphie wasn’t the most patient demon, so she wasn’t surprised when he got a little huffy with her. “You were all in a second ago.”

“Well, for one, we just spent the day working out with your beast of a twin, so both of us are sweaty and gross.”

“As opposed to how squeaky clean we’re going to be afterwards?”

“Belphegor!”

“Fine, fine,” he backed up to let her push herself off of the tree, but almost immediately laced their fingers together. “But we’re going to your room. I don’t want Beel bursting in.”

The hot water felt good on Stiina’s sore muscles. After the adrenaline had worn off, she felt like she had been hit by a truck. Even her hair hurt.

...And there were leaves in it. Courtesy of Belphie being an impatient bastard.

After finally detangling the last leaf from her curly brown hair, she sighed, letting her arms drop. She was going to ache for days.

She reached over to load up her wash cloth with strawberry-scented body wash and got to work. The soapy water came away brown from all of the dirt and sweat, and she grimaced. Yeah, a shower had definitely been a good idea.

Suddenly, she heard a noise. It was hard to figure out what it was over the sound of the shower. It happened again, slightly louder this time. She only realized what it was after the locked bathroom door swung open.

“Will you stop picking my locks, please?”

“I didn’t pick the lock,” Belphie’s silhouette appeared on the shower curtain. She couldn’t see, but she would bet any amount of money that he was smirking like a little shit right now. “I opened it was your student id card.”

“Still technically picking it!”

The shower curtain slid open, causing Stiina to yelp and drop her wash cloth. There stood Belphie, completely naked. And smirking, called it.

“Are we going to argue semantics right now?” he stepped into the shower behind her, closing the curtain behind him.

“Seriously, Belphie?”

“I couldn’t wait,” he hummed, sliding his arms around her waist until she was pressed against his chest. “You were taking too long.”

“I’ve only been in here for, like, five minutes.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t jump you on the way here.”

“Absolutely feral.”

She felt his grin against the back of her neck. “You love it.”

Stiina spun around in his grip. There was alway one sure-fire way to get the demon to shut up.

He moaned softly as she cupped the back of his head to bring him in for a kiss. He loosened his grip around her waist to bring his hands around to her ass. He used his grip to bring their bodies flush together, and she gasped into his mouth.

“I’m really worked up,” Belphie murmured. “Maybe it’s the adrenaline.”

“Or it could be that your totally naked girlfriend is making out with you in the shower.” Stiina shot back.

“I guess that might have something to do with it.” he laughed, dragging the knuckles of one hand down the side of her face in a surprisingly sweet gesture. “You do make me feel strange things, after all.”

“Like what?”

“Warm and fuzzy things,” his hand continued to trace itself down her body, grazing over the sensitive spot on her neck. She shivered. “Things that demons probably shouldn’t be allowed to feel.”

“Oh, now who has hang-ups - ah!”

His hand had made his way down to her breasts, long thumbnail flicking at one of her nipples. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

“Jerk.” She was smiling.

His hand continued it’s journey south, rubbing a soothing circle against the crease where her hip met thigh. Then, finally, his index finger slipped over to her entrance.

She sighed, eyes fluttering. For all of her talk, she was pretty worked up as well, and Belphie’s words made everything that much sweeter. He could be nice when he wanted to.

“Belphie…” she exhaled, looping her arms around his shoulders like they had been in the forest. Again, they met for a kiss, tongues twisting together as Belphie slid another finger inside of her. Both of them were panting, and she could feel his dick become very interested against her.

He hooked his fingers at just the right angle and she whined into his mouth. He swallowed her noises like they were a sweet drink, pressing against her clit just this shy of too hard. In a vain attempt to get him to hurry up, she rolled her hips against him.

“And you say I’m impatient?” he broke away from her mouth with a wet pop, an impish grin on his face.

“You’re insufferable, is what you are.” she panted. “Please, Belphie, come on.”

“Well, since you said please…”

He reversed their positions so she was the one pressed up against the shower wall. From this position, the ceiling light shined from behind him, giving him a halo and making him seem like the angel he used to be a few millennia ago. For a moment, she was struck by just how beautiful he was.

“You’re staring.”

“You’re pretty.”

He looked surprised, a blush dusting across the tops of his cheeks. “...hm.”

Belphie leaned down to kiss her again, softly and gently, as he lined himself up with her entrance. He was breathing heavily, and Stiina could feel his core muscles tensing and flexing as he tried to resist the urge to thrust into her with wild abandon

She internally snorted. ‘Demons can’t resist temptations,’ my ass.

Little by little, he inched his way into her until he was buried up to the hilt. Neither of them could tell what was sweat and what was water, but they were both so flushed and turned on that the steam in the bathroom very well could have been coming off of their skin.

“I’m...moving now.”

And that was all the warning she got before he pulled almost completely out and slammed in.

He set a brutal pace from the get go. Turns out that the Avatar of Sloth can be very enthusiastic during certain activities. But, there was one problem that was making itself very apparent: their height difference. Belphie was by no means the tallest of his brothers, but that still made him one of the taller people Stiina had ever met.

“...damn it…” he growled. She whimpered when he pulled out, but there was a method to his madness. He grabbed the backs of her thighs and hoisted her up, pinning her to the wall with his torso. She had no choice but to wrap her legs around his hips, and they were back in business. Looks like the workouts were paying off.

The shift in angle was exactly what they both needed, and Belphie returned to thrusting into her with vigor. “Mm...nngh…!”

“B-Belph--a-ah!” She bit her lip almost hard enough to draw blood, and he dropped his head into the crook of her neck. His hips were stuttering, and each of his breaths was ending on a little moan.

His stomach tensed, and he bit down hard into the junction between her neck and shoulder as he came. She followed not too far behind, fingernails leaving long red scratches on his shoulder blades as she sought something to anchor her. She threw her head back almost hard enough to knock herself out when it hit the wall.

For a few moments, there was nothing but the sound of their labored breaths and the shower. Eventually, the afterglow faded and Belphie pulled out, releasing Stiina’s legs. She slumped back against the wall and the two of them slid down to sit on the floor. Belphie practically melted in her lap.

“...I think you left a mark.” she finally murmured, carding her fingers through his wet hair.

“Good. Show it off.”

“Absolutely not.”

“No fun,” he smirked, before his sense of touch returned and he shivered. “The water’s gone cold.”

“Turn it off, then.”

“You do it.”

“Then get off of me.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“You are such a brat,” Stiina grumbled, just barely managing to stretch over and shut the water off. As soon as it stopped, Belphie stood from her lap.

“Really?”

“Yup.”

She sighed, letting her body rest heavily against the wall as Belphie went rooting around in her cupboards for a clean towel. “You know, I think this endurance training is paying off.”

“Yeah?”

“You never would have been able to hold me up during sex like that before.”

Belphie paused, eyes widening briefly before that familiar sly grin spread over his face.

“Guess I’ll have to keep at it then.”

#commission #obey me shall we date #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #belphegor x mc #belphie x mc #fem!mc

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angelinasway · 3 years

Text

Regaining Hope

Pairing: Clark Kent/Buffy Summers

Warnings/Triggers:Torture, Violence, Mention's of Major Character Death, Bad Language, Sexual Tension, Eventual Smut

Summary: Takes place during Man of Steel. When Buffy discovers the U.S Military trying to keep quiet about an object buried in a twenty thousand year old glacier, she immediately thinks the worst. However, when a surprise visit to the Canadian Arctic puts her in the path of a mysterious stranger her whole world is changed forever.

[TTH] [AO3] [FFN]

Authors Notes: Thank you all for your amazing reviews. You guys have been inspiring. I'm gonna add one more warning to this story because I got a review on FFN that makes me feel I need too. Even though It's a warning that I never knew I would need to put considering who we're talking about here. So here it is, there is Angelus bashing in this. I'm trying to keep my biased about Angel to a minimum, but I wasn't aware that Angelus needed a disclaimer too, so there it is. As for this chapter, there will be a lot to unpack here. I'm also going with the idea that one of Clark's weaknesses is magic, so keep that in mind as you read this. Thank you guys again so much, your kind words have really helped me keep focused on the story, I truly do appreciate each and everyone who took the time to review. Thanks for giving this a chance I hope you all enjoy reading. Also thank you to my wonderful beta Hipkarma for giving this chapter a look for me. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Two

It took Buffy less than a minute to find the recently constructed tunnel. It wasn’t snowing and she easily found a set of large footprints heading along a rocky ledge. The glacial ice was still steaming from whatever had been used to cut through it when she found the opening. The edges were smoothed as if a giant heated drill had ground and melted the ice into nothing. There were hardly any puddles to speak of, and it was quite clear that whatever did this, wasn't done by any machine that she knew of on Earth. In fact, if she had been dealing with anything else she would have immediately thought this was some sort of magic. Though to be fair, she still wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret this?" She grumbled quietly, as she stepped inside and slowly made her way through the frozen tunnel.

Her breath came out in large puffs of fog, adrenaline masking the cold she should be feeling. Luckily, there was just enough light to make out where she was going with her enhanced vision. It was a slow journey, but when she finally reached the opening, she gasped in awe. ‘Oh yeah, this thing is definitely out of this world. It’s absolutely massive, still partially covered in thousands of years of hard ice.’

She noticed a ramp leading onto the ship dripping with recently melted ice and cautiously followed it up. She stepped onto the glass-like metal flooring of the hull and noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned in time to see a strange looking floating creature moving into her periphery.

She froze. It looked way too much like a facesucker for her comfort zone. She took a step back, tossed her pack and dropped into a defensive stance before reaching behind her to unsheathe her scythe. The mouth, or body, or whatever the hell it was, started to open and she stepped back even further.

"Dammit, I hate it when I'm right." She muttered.

So focused on its head, she wasn’t paying attention when the next second its spike like tail whipped out slicing deeply into the side of her abdomen. Buffy cried out in surprised pain, feeling the unmistakable sensation of hot and sticky blood soaking through her shirt and down the leg of her jeans. She stumbled backward, but was able to keep her footing even as the thing tried to swipe at her again.

Her eyes narrowed at the thing. “All right, now you’ve really pissed me off,” she growled. The pain of her injury taking a back seat to her need to survive.

It screeched at her, attempting to swipe at her again. She dodged its attack, rolling right underneath of it and coming up with a full powered swing of her scythe, only with the wrong side. The flat end made contact, the thing slamming hard into the inner wall of the ship. It screeched again, as sparks flew from it and her eyes widened in realization.

“It’s a robot,” she murmured in surprise.

It came at her again, this time shooting some sort of blue ball of energy at her. She dodged, flipping away from it to create enough distance so she could charge the thing. Maybe take it by surprise. She never got the chance however, because by the time she had turned back around, her mystery man was already there and had the droid between his large hands. He struggled with it for a minute and Buffy stepped forward ready to help him when the metal suddenly gave under his assault. His hands crushed the droid like a soda can and he threw what was left aside, it crashing into the wall of the ship with a loud bang.

They stared at each other a long time. Man, she really hoped he wasn’t evil because right now with the injury she was sporting there was absolutely no way she could fight him. Especially, with the show of strength he just performed. The reminder of said injury brought back the pain in full and she shakily slid to her knees, scythe falling from her hand.

"Thanks," she breathed gratefully, her eyes falling shut as she used her hand to stem off the blood flow as best she could.

"You're welcome." He said, the deep baritone of his voice making her shiver. She felt him move closer, before he added, "You're hemorrhaging, the droid nicked your abdominal artery."

Buffy nodded, wincing as she used one hand to undo her belt and slide it through the loops in her jeans. "I know." She said shakily. "Not exactly my first rodeo."

She felt him move closer still, crouching down in front of her. Her trembling hands trying to clumsily wrap her belt around her torso so she could stop the bleeding.

"I could cauterize the wound for you, if you'd like." He said quietly, worry lacing his voice.

Buffy finally managed to put the end through the loop in that moment, and yanked the belt tight. She fell backwards, her back hitting the cold metal wall. She whimpered as tears of pain filled her eyes, breathing slowly through her nose until the pain began to ebb away. When she finally could speak again, she met his eyes, a small smile gracing her lips at the concern she saw in them. "Thank you,” she said sincerely, “but it’s not necessary, I heal fast." She must have lost more blood than she thought however, because her next words surprised even herself. "Just need to slowdown the bleeding so my Slayer healing kicks in. Don't want to end up a corpse on your floor for the next nine hours."

He immediately frowned in confusion, "I don't understand?"

Buffy chuckled humorlessly, "Yeah..." She coughed, grimacing at the taste of blood in her mouth. “Neither do I.” She sighed, and changed the subject, not really wanting to go there at the moment. “Gotta name, or do I just need to keep referring to you as handsome stranger in my head.” ‘Okay, yep, I definitely lost too much blood.’

He looked away at her words, partially because he seemed to be genuinely shy and partially because he seemed torn on answering her. She could relate to that. She understood what it was like to need to hide who you were from people. She was never very good at it, but she remembered very clearly the fear of what people would think of her if they knew she was a superhuman freak.

“Hey,” She said, reaching a hand out to place on his arm. Thinking better of it when she noticed the blood coating it. “It’s okay, I get it.” He looked up, meeting her eyes and she shrugged. “I was never very good at the secret identity gig, but I certainly remember what it was like to need to hide who I was.” She chuckled, “Believe it or not, the U.S Government thought the Slayer was a myth until I caught them playing in my backyard.”

“I still don’t know what that is.” He said quietly, “A Slayer, I mean. I tried finding out from Jed, but all he said was that you work for an organization that hunts and kills monsters.” He paused, taking a deep breath, before asking. “Am I the type of…Do you kill people like me?”

He was being serious. She knew. But she couldn’t help messing with him a little. The truth of the matter was, she had no intention of going head-to-head with him even if she was at her best. If he was truly evil he would have acted already, especially with her weakened state. She also doubted he would have offered to help her heal or look quite as worried for her safety as he did.

She put her most serious face on and pretended to contemplate it for a minute. “Hmm, well you’ll probably need to pass my required oral exam to be sure.” Her eyes suddenly widened at what that must have sounded like, especially after the handsome comment. ‘Okay, this is the last time I’m losing this much blood in front of a hot guy and not just letting myself bleed out. Apparently, I really don’t know how to shut up when I’m this anemic.

She noticed his cheeks reddening and the look of shock on his face, so she blurted out the first question that came to mind. “Do you eat babies?”

A horrified look of disgust quickly replaced the shocked look, “What? No!”

“Do you like to bathe in the blood of the innocent?” She could tell by the suddenly offended look on his face that he still hadn’t caught on that she was messing with him.

“No!” he said, an irritated frown marring his face.

“Do you worship any deities that require you to make a human sacrifice yearly, biyearly, monthly, bimonthly, weekly, or biweekly?” Now he just looked annoyed, and it was getting harder for Buffy to keep a straight face.

“Are these questions actually necessary?” He asked, the annoyance clear in his voice.

An amused smile broke across her face, “Are you asking if these things actually exist, or if I actually think you do any of them?”

His look of annoyance quickly melted into one of amusement, the corner of his mouth turning up and a soft look coming into his blue eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you before,” He admitted. His eyes roaming over her face. He seemed to come to a decision in that moment, because his next words were, “My name…my real one, it’s Clark.”

“Clark,” Buffy repeated, testing the name on her tongue. A small smile playing at her lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Clark before.” Her eyes studied his face. “It suits you. I would tell you my name, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you already know it." She gestured with her chin. "And judging by the way your eyes keep seemingly monitoring my injury and heart rate, I'm guessing you have some kind of enhanced vision." She grinned at his stunned look, and shrugged. "So, let's see," she held up her hand counting off what his superpowers were, "Enhanced vision," she held up a finger. "Super strength," she held up another. "Those are two of the five senses." A third finger came up, "Enhanced hearing is probably the third." She frowned in thought for a moment, before saying, "Though you don’t strike me as someone who needs to stalk his prey, I’m betting you have that annoying ability to smell everything even if you don’t need to use it. So that’s four.”

Clark slipped down to where he was fully seated, blinking in surprise. "How…?” He swallowed, shaking his head an impressed look coming over his face. “Did anyone ever tell you, you're incredibly observant?"

"Kinda have to be in my line of work.” She shrugged, adding, “Though you did set off my spidey senses like a roman candle. A girl can’t really help but take notice when you register in the beyond-godlike-powerful status.” At his confused and worried look, she elaborated. “It’s part of the whole Slayer package, basically a long time ago a bunch of shamans used the essence of a demon to create a warrior. They chained a young girl to the earth and imbued her with it so she would have the strength and skill to fight all the wonderful things that go bump in the night.” She sighed, “For a long time there was only one girl at a time. One dies, another is called. That’s how it worked.” She gave him a small smile and nodded, “Until about ten years ago that is, me and some friends changed the rules.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. “So, there you have it, Clark. I’m the longest living One girl in all the world with the gift and skill to fight the vampires, the demons, and forces of darkness. Except, I’m not the only one anymore.”

He blinked in surprise, studying her face more closely. “How old are you?”

Buffy bit her lip, not quite sure how to answer that without bringing up her resurrection. She sighed meeting his eyes, there wasn’t much she could do about it now, “Thirty-two.”

Clark sucked in a breath of surprise, “How is it that you—”

“Haven’t aged since I was twenty-one,” Buffy finished for him. When he nodded, she avoided his eyes while saying, “That’s kinda what happens when your friends resurrect you with a powerful spell and screw up the balance between good and evil.” She shrugged looking anywhere but at his face, that old familiar longing for heaven playing at her soul. She loved Willow. She really did, and after the whole Angelus incident they had grown much closer than they’d been in years. The resurrection and the price that Buffy was still paying however, was far too great to ever fully forgive. “Long story short, I can’t age anymore and if I die, I can’t stay dead.”

She coughed, the pain of the act making her vision narrow a bit. She could feel that her body was well on its way to mending itself but she had lost way too much blood. The familiar fogginess of a healing sleep was prickling her eyes and she widened them shaking her head to try and clear it. Cold dread filling her at the very thought of falling into a coma like sleep and having to relive all the crap she’s been through. It was one of the most horrifying feelings ever, to be trapped in her worst nightmares with no means of escape until her body fully healed. In a desperate attempt to keep herself awake she reached out and grasped Clark’s hand.

****<S>**<S>****

Clark watched her eyes widen in fear, before she reached out with a bloody hand to grasp his. “Please,” She pleaded. “Please don’t let me fall asleep.” He could see the beginning of tears of desperation prickling her eyes, “I know I need to, but…but sometimes it’s worse than dying.” She sighed and leaned her head back against the ship hull. "It’s...it’s okay if you can't. Just...just try."

He squeezed her hand, his heart filling with so much sympathy for this brave young woman. She hadn’t shown any true fear until this moment. Not when she had fought the drone, not when she watched him destroy it, not even when she was binding her own wound and already figured out a few of his abilities. She had even made a few jokes at his expense, but she had done them in such a way that he couldn't really take offense. She was an enigma to him; out of all the humans he'd ever met—besides his own parents, she had to be the least judgmental of them all. The only thing that seemed to truly scare her was her own memories, and that truly did break his heart. No one should be that afraid of their own past.

“How do you want me to help?” He whispered, as he watched her eyes begin to droop before flying open again.

“Tell me about yourself.” She whispered, her words coming out a bit slurred. “W-where are you from? How long have you been on Earth?”

He shifted, getting more comfortable before saying. “I grew up in Kansas, in a little town called Smallville. Beyond that, I don’t actually know. My ship landed on my parent’s farm when I was just a baby. They took me in and raised me as their own.” He told her a little bit more, about the farm, about some of the life lessons his dad tried to instill in him, why he was afraid of anyone finding out what he was, why he was on this ship in the first place.

Buffy smiled dreamily and hummed, “Sometimes I forget there’s still good people in the world. Sounds to me like you got really lucky with who found you.” She yawned, her words becoming more slurred. “Once I’m healed, I can help you look for answers.”

He blinked in surprise, a grateful smile coming on his lips “Thank you.” He said sincerely, adding, “And I did, my dad could be pretty hard on me at times, but—”

“He was scared of anyone finding out what you are.” She finished, her voice growing softer and more distant. He squeezed her hand lightly and her eyes flew open as she shook her head again trying to force the sleep away. She continued, as if she hadn’t almost just lost consciousness. “Must have been pretty lonely, not having anyone to confide in.”

“It was.” He agreed quietly, his eyes scanned her brain activity and seeing she was quickly losing her battle against sleep, he added, “I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep you awake much longer.”

She smiled sadly, her eyes drooping to mere slits. “I know, worth a try though.” She sighed through her teeth. “Just do me a favor, don’t…don’t let me wake up alone. It’s worse w-when I–”

She never finished, as her body and mind finally succumbed to a much-needed rest. Her heartrate dropped to what would be considered dangerous for a normal human. The blood slowing in her veins and allowing for the natural healing process that came with her abilities.

He watched her for a long time. Too afraid to move for fear that if he left her side her heart would suddenly stop. Oh, he knew what she told him was the truth. It was just difficult for someone like him to believe. Spending most of your life being different and watching people die. Knowing you could do something but unable to for fear of the world finding out what you really are. It made him feel helpless more times than not.

Clark had spent a long time picking his battles. Deciding who to save based off of his ability to get away with it. He hated not being able to help everyone, and he hated even more that humans as a whole were so easily guided by their fears of the unknown. It was more than that though, there was so much pain and suffering. He could hear it even now if he focused. Screams, cries for help that nobody heeded, laughing cruelty and hysterical sobbing. It was all there, the sounds of the world were filled with so much hate, anger, and sadness it was deafening.

Maybe that’s why he was so taken with this beautiful girl in front of him. She didn't seem to possess the fears that so many of the people of this world did. The fact that she knew what he was and hadn't so much as blinked in surprise completely threw him. He knew it most likely was due to the life she lived and what she was, but it was such a refreshing moment. He reached out with his free hand and brushed a loose blonde strand away from her cheek. She was also incredibly sad and lonely. It was as plain as day in her eyes and on her face. She was worn down by whatever she had been through to the point that he imagined she tried not to sleep. The dark circles he could see under her eyes attested to that much.

He scanned her injury again, relieved to see the artery had healed almost completely. He sighed and let his eyes wander for the first time since he noticed she was hurt, spotting a discarded backpack near the entrance of the ship. He frowned, scanning its contents before rolling his eyes in annoyance. There was a first aid kit inside. ‘Why didn’t she tell him?’

Clark retrieved the pack and proceeded to dress her wound as best he could, disinfecting then using gauze and medical tape to secure a makeshift bandage. He undid the belt across her torso, no longer worried about her bleeding out.

He noticed her discarded weapon next. The strange looking axe he had seen in her travel bags. A child like curiosity he didn’t even know he still possessed came over him and he picked it up. It was surprisingly light and well balanced, the end of the handle itself was cleverly carved into a stake. He swung it a few times, smiling to himself at the way it easily sliced through air. He ran his finger gently along the blade and hissed in surprise, dropping the axe and taking several steps back, staring at the blade in a mixture of horrified disbelief. Blood welled up in the cut in his finger and he couldn’t help but study the red substance in fascination. He looked from the small cut to the axe several times, not quite processing what just happened.

“There is an energy source unknown to the Kryptonian Archives imbedded into the elements of the weapon.” A new voice spoke from behind Clark.

He quickly turned, coming face to face with an older man wearing robes. “Who…who are you?”

“There will be time for that later Kal El. First, we must get you and your friend away from human meddling. We’ve much to discuss.”

The man disappeared the next instant and Clark heard the engines fire on. He reached for the pack, throwing it over his shoulder. He picked Buffy up next hoisting her into his arms and grabbing her weapon at the same time. He didn’t really like the idea of it being near him considering what it was capable of, but he didn’t think she would like to wake without it nearby.

****<S>**<S>****

She was on the tower again.

"Dawnie listen, listen to me. I love you. I will always love you, but this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles... tell him I figured it out and...and that I'm okay. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong." Buffy reached out her hand cupping her sister cheek, tears welling in her eyes. "Dawn the hardest thing in this world...is to live in it. Be brave. Live...for me"

She turned running, not giving her sister another chance to object, and as she dove off the platform another voice penetrates her mind.

"I am your father Kal. Or at least a shadow of him. His consciousness."

Another voice, this one more familiar to her. "And Kal? That's my name?"

*FLASH*

She couldn’t breathe, everything smelt of decay and earth. She cried out in fear, paper thin skin breaking on hands as they assaulted her tomb. Satin tore as ragged nails snagged, wood splintered as her hands scrabbled for an escape, any escape. Dirt and soil rained down on her and she cried out again, choking and gagging as her mouth filled with the substance. She had to get out, had to push through. If she didn’t, she would never get out. She climbed, pushing through packed earth with strength. Strength, she remembered, she had strength. Always meant to be strong. Not allowed to break, because breaking means death.

The voice was back, the one from before, or was it after. She didn't know. She listened; it was easier to listen than to think of where she was. To remember the truth. She broke the surface, vomiting on the ground and squeezed her eyes shut forcing herself to listen to the voices, both of them soothing and quiet.

“You came from Krypton. A world with a much harsher environment than Earth’s. Long ago, in an era of expansion, our race spread out through the stars, seeking new worlds to settle upon. This scout ship was one of thousands launched into the void. We built outposts on other planets, using great machines to reshape environments to our needs. For one hundred thousand years our civilization flourished, accomplishing wonders”.

“What happened?

“Artificial population control was established. The outposts and space exploration were abandoned. We exhausted our natural resources, as a result our planet’s core became unstable. Eventually our military leader, General Zod, attempted a coup. But by then it was too late. Your mother and I foresaw the coming calamity, and we took certain steps to ensure your survival.”

Mommy, she had a mommy once. Her eyes opened focusing on her headstone and she screamed.

*FLASH*

She walked into the living room and froze. Her mom was on the couch unmoving, eyes opened. She remembered this. Her legs carried her over to the couch, but she didn’t panic, not like before. She fell to her knees grasping her mother’s cold hand. Tears welled in her eyes as she studied the lifeless face. “I’m so sorry mommy.” She whispered. “I should have been here. I’m so sorry.”

“Why don’t you put her in one of the resting chambers.” A voice said, causing Buffy to turn away from her mother’s body. Her eyes searching for the source.

“She asked me not to leave her alone.” A familiar voice replied. Why did she know that voice?

“Very well.”

*FLASH*

There was a leaky pipe somewhere in the factory. She could hear the drip…drip…drip as she stared in shock at what her own hands had done. The mutilated vampire on the table was barely alive. She had made sure that she had taken everything from him but his heart. She wanted to save that for last.

Her hands began to tremble in fear of herself, the blade she’d been using to carve him up slipping from her grasp. She stumbled over to the table on weak legs, reaching behind her and pulling out her stake.

“I guess you won after all.” She whispered, before driving it deep into his heart.

When the dust settled, she fell to her knees and vomited, unable to move. The voices were back and she closed her eyes trying to focus on the words.

“This is a Genesis Chamber. All Kryptonians were conceived in chambers such as this. Every child was designed to fulfill a predetermined role in our society; as a worker, a warrior, a leader and so on. Your mother and I believed Krypton lost something precious, the element of choice, of chance. What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended for him or her? What if a child aspired to something greater? You were the embodiment of that belief, Kal, Krypton’s first natural birth in centuries. That’s why we risked so much to save you.”

“Why didn’t you come with me?”

“We couldn’t, Kal. No matter how much we wanted to, no matter how much we loved you. Your mother Lara and I were a product of the failures of our world as much as Zod was. We were tied to its fate.”

“So, I’m alone.”

Alone, just like her.

*FLASH*

She couldn’t move. All she could do was stare. Her Watcher was dead, his neck bent at an odd angle. Her legs went out on her and she fell to the ground as the sounds of battle played out around her.

“Buffy!” A familiar voice called; one she hadn’t heard in a long time. “Buffy, love, we gotta go.”

“But…but Giles?” She whispered weakly.

“I know Slayer, I know.” He sighed sadly, as he reached down and hauled her to her feet. “But he’s already gone. We can’t help him anymore. We need to get out of here, Red set the whole place ablaze.”

She looked up meeting bright blue eyes, “Spike?” She asked in confusion, before an arrow pierced her back.

*FLASH*

They were trapped. The wards broken enough to smoke them out, but not enough for them to leave.

“I’m not leaving you!” She argued.

“Bloody hell, why do you have to be the most difficult chit in the bloody universe! We don’t know if you can even survive fire and I’m sure as hell not risking it!” Spike yelled.

“Well, I know you can’t survive fire so I sure as hell am not leaving you to die alone!” She snarled. “We did this already, remember!”

He roared in frustration, kicking a nearby chair into the wall and it shattered into kindling. “I won’t let you die!”

“You don’t have a choice!” She fired back.

He stared at her in disbelief, before his expression melted into passionate rage. “The hell I don’t!” And then he grabbed her by the shoulders and smashed his lips against hers.

It only took a few seconds for her to respond and she melted into him. Her mouth opening, tongues caressing. She moaned, bringing him closer to her, remembering their dance, missing it.

He pulled away with a gasp, both of them panting for breath. “Now you listen to me! I love you; do you hear. I never stopped and never will. I will not watch you die. So, if today is my day to die, I’ll be damned if he gets to choose how.” And then he was kissing her again.

Unbeknownst to her he activated her emergency portal. The one that only allowed Slayers to travel through. He walked her backwards, without breaking contact and before she realized it, they were both inside. She pulled back in shock as she realized where they were. The familiar feeling of being sucked into nothing filling her. She screamed as she felt him dust.

*FLASH*

The abandoned home smelt like old urine and vomit, but she was much too tired and weak to care. She didn’t remember the last time she ate or drink anything, not that it really mattered. She was starting to become convinced she couldn’t die this way. It didn’t matter though, nothing did. She was a monster, just like her prey. Make a monster to fight a monster, that’s what the shaman did.

She was filthy, her hair greasy and limp, her eyes dull and lost, dirt coated her face and hands. What was the point of life if all it ever caused you was pain? She just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up, or maybe just melt into the disgusting mattress she was laying on and forget that life existed. She had lost all hope, in fact she didn’t remember the last time she felt it. Had she ever? She heard the voices again, focusing in, trying to pull herself out of this pit of despair.

“No. You are as much a child of earth now as you are of Krypton. You can embody the best of both worlds. A dream your mother and I dedicated our lives to preserve. The people of earth are different than us, it’s true. But ultimately, I believe that’s a good thing. They won’t necessarily make the same mistakes we did. Not if you guide them, Kal. Not if you give them hope. That’s what this symbol means. The symbol of the house of El means hope. Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief in the potential of every person to be a force for good. That’s what you can bring them. You will give the people of earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.”

Buffy clung on to the words, trying to pull herself free from the dream. A man of hope, a symbol of goodness. She needed that, she desperately needed goodness and hope. She was close to breaking through the surface.

She heard Clark–now she remembered his voice, “Why am I so different from them?”

“Earth’s sun is younger and brighter than Krypton’s was. Your cells have drunk in its radiation, strengthening your muscles, your skin, your senses. Earth’s gravity is weaker, yet its atmosphere is more nourishing. You’ve grown stronger here than I ever could imagine. The only way to know how strong is to keep testing your limits.”

****<S>**<S>****

Buffy awoke with a gasp, her hands scrambling against the chest she was nestled against. The memories of her past still playing out in technicolor and surround sound.

"Hey, hey," A soothing voice said, gently lowering her to her feet. "It's okay, you're okay."

She stumbled away. Her eyes still not able to focus. The trembling in her limbs causing her to fall on all fours. She dry-heaved as a broken sob tore from her lips. She felt a warm hand gently rub her back, and she closed her eyes enjoying the comforting feeling.

"Will she be alright?” A new voice asked, the one from her dream.

“I don’t know.” She heard Clark answer, panic clear in his voice. “Buffy are you okay?”

"No," She answered, swallowing back another sob, breathing slowly through her nose. "But I will be, just…just give me a minute."

Just then a swirling portal opened up and an incredibly pissed off Witch in straight up Eskimo attire stepped out. She took one look at the blood covering Buffy and the distressed look on her face and came to a completely wrong conclusion. Her eyes went black and she snarled, “What the hell did you do to my friend, you son of a bitch!”

“No!” Buffy shouted as purple tendrils of magic shot from her friend’s fingers, hitting Clark square in the chest and knocking him on his back. He groaned in pain rolling onto his side in a fetal position. Buffy was up the next instant, charging Willow and breaking the spell.

“No Wills,” She panted grabbing ahold of her friend. “He’s a friendly.”

Her friend’s angry eyes faded back to green and she turned on Buffy, breaking her hold. “A friendly,” She said lowly, her eyes narrowing. “A friendly! So, what, you meet tall dark and powerful over there and think, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be a great idea to fly away with him in a spaceship to the North Pole?’ Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

Buffy frowned in confusion, “The North Pole? Fly?” She turned and looked at Clark in bewilderment. “You flew the ship?”

He shook his head, slowly getting back to his feet. “No,” He said, his voice coming out strained.

“I’m afraid, that was my idea.” A fatherly gentleman in robes said. “I didn’t want the people of Earth to commandeer the ship. I did not realize you had other methods of finding us.”

“Most humans don’t.” Buffy agreed, moving to check and see how hurt Clark was. “Willow’s special.”

She ran her hands down Clark’s chest looking for any serious damage. Thankful when she could find none. “You okay?” She asked him quietly, at his nod, she sighed. “Sorry about that. I have over protective friends.”

His lips quirked, “I noticed.” His eyes sparkled a bit. “It’s kind of funny actually. I’ve gone my whole life thinking nothing could hurt me physically and after just a few hours of meeting you, I find two things. That crazy looking axe of yours and as it turns out, your friend.”

Buffy’s eyes widened in disbelief at his words. “Wait, go back. Like nothing?”

He shrugged, “I had an oil rig fall on me once while I was rescuing some people. It managed to knock me out.”

Okay, so not just superstrength, more like godlike strength. She suspected as much with the vibes she got off of him, but it was still almost too much to believe. “Define what an oil rig falling on you means?” She said a bit light headed from the thought of just how strong that could be.

He cleared his throat, looking at the ground bashfully. “Well, it was on fire and the workers were trapped. Fire doesn’t hurt me, so I was able to get to them and get through the steel door they had locked themselves behind. I got them out and onto the helicopter, when the tower started to collapse. I was able to hold it up long enough for them to get away before the steel melted and the whole thing came down on top of me.”

Buffy looked at him in absolute wonder. “That’s…Holy shit!”

“Wait,” Willow swallowed, her face losing color. “Did this happen last year?”

“Yeah,” Clark said, eyeing Willow suspiciously.

“Oh Gods, I think I may have just attacked the Power’s new Champion.” Willow breathed, looking like she might actually faint.

Buffy frowned in confusion, “Wills, what are you talking about?”

Willow swallowed, looking suspiciously guilty. “About a year and a half ago me and Wes were digging through the old archives. We…we stumbled on a prophecy, a…a prophecy about a Champion. It said he will have the powers of a god with the soul of a man, but he will be neither.” Her eyes met Clark’s. “We came looking for you after we heard about the oil rig, we umm…Well, we were going to offer you a job, see if you were the real deal.” She shook her head, “But you had already disappeared.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Buffy asked, her eyes moving between Clark’s stunned expression and Willow’s nervous one. ‘How could they keep something like that from me?’

If anything, Willow looked even more guilty now. A sure sign that Buffy was not going to be pleased with her next words. “We umm,” Willow fidgeted with the sleeves of her coat, not meeting Buffy’s eyes. “We decided not to tell you because you…well, umm…you’re kinda in it too.”

“What the hell, Willow!” Buffy reeled as if slapped. “And you didn’t think telling me was a good idea?”

“W-we wanted to be sure. A-and there’s some other stuff in there. Stuff we thought might seriously wig you.” Willow said nervously.

Buffy raised an eyebrow, not at all impressed with the explanation. “Such as?”

At that moment a look of relief crossed Willow’s face, and she clicked on her headset. “Wesley, yeah, no she’s fine. Look–” But she never finished what she was going to say because Buffy marched over and ripped the earpiece out of her ear none to gently. “What are you…ow!”

Buffy turned and stared at Clark. The poor guy looked all sorts of confused. “Wesley,” She began sweetly. “Mind telling me what this lovely prophecy is about, and why you felt the need to keep it from me?”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, before an irritated sigh reached her ears. “I’m not sure this the appropriate time–”

“The hell it’s not!” She barked. “That guy you and Willow were secretly looking for last year is standing right in front of me.”

There was another long silence, before he sighed again. “So, it’s happened then.”

“What’s happened? What the hell is going on?” She ground out, getting really fed up with the cryptic.

“Look Buffy, I promise to explain when you get here.” He paused, “But in the meantime I have both the U.S Government and Canadian Parliament threatening to go to war with us if they don’t find out what the hell happened to you and that spaceship.”

She groaned in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Shit!”

“My sentiments exactly.” He replied sarcastically.

“Okay,” She started pacing back and forth. “Okay, this is what were gonna do. Get Willow some coords in between here and the camp, preferably closer to the camp. Make it rural enough that any search and rescue they sent out could have easily missed it. Willow will port me there and we’ll leave evidence that I was dumped there.” She looked at Willow, who nodded in agreement. “I’m covered in enough DNA to make it plausible anyway–”

“Are you alright?” Wesley cut in; the brotherly worry strong in his voice.

“I’m fine Wes,” She sighed. “There was a security droid on the ship that wasn’t too happy with me boarding armed. Besides losing a lot of blood and a bout of crappy memories, I’m peachy with a side of keen.” She immediately noticed Willow’s kicked puppy look and rolled her eyes. Oh, that ever present black mark on their friendship. Always there but never talked about.

Wesley cleared his throat changing the subject, because that’s how the modern day Scoobies dealt with her immortality. Not that she blamed him. He’d been an outsider when she had been brought back. He hadn’t understood the extent of the damage Willow had caused until much later and even then, he didn’t understand. None of them could know what she’d lost. “It’s a sound plan, Buffy.” He paused, before asking, “And this mystery man of yours, do you think you can get him to come with you?”

Buffy met Clark’s wary eyes and shook her head. “I’ll talk to him, but I’m not forcing him into anything.”

“Of course,” Wesley agreed.

Buffy handed the earpiece back to Willow and approached Clark. “So, umm…I guess this is goodbye.” She looked at her feet fidgeting nervously, before adding, “I wanted to tell you…well…that I heard what your dad said while I was asleep, about why you were sent here.” She swallowed, meeting his curious gaze. “I don’t know if you’re this Prophesized Champion or not, but even if you’re not I…I think you could make a difference. I know humans are, well we’re stupid really. We’re selfish and prejudiced. We make mistakes and screw up. We hurt each other, even the ones we love, but we’re capable of much more than that. We love, we laugh, we learn and we grow. We are capable of change and acceptance; it just takes some of us time.”

She swallowed looking down, “But I also think this world desperately needs hope.” She felt the prickling of tears as she remembered how the thought of hope had been what finally pulled her out of the nightmare.

“I know I do.” She whispered, voice cracking as a tear slipped down her cheek. She felt a finger hook under her chin, gently lifting it so she was suddenly staring into warm blue eyes.

“Okay,” He said simply.

She blinked in surprise. “Okay?”

His lips quirked into a half smile. “Okay,” He repeated, before his eyes became serious again. “But I need you to promise me something. I need you to promise me that I’ll never be used to hurt people. I don’t think I could handle that,” He shook his head.

Buffy agreed immediately, “Of course, we’re not in the habit of killing humans. Demons and vamps sure, but humans we try to keep off the table.”

Clark nodded, “I assumed as much when you refused to give Hardy the program you guys use to monitor military chatter. You said you were here to protect humanity and not get involved with petty wars.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “I feel the same, I just want to help people.”

Buffy nodded in understanding, reaching in her back pocket for her wallet and hoping not all her business cards were ruined. “It’s hard to refuse the call, when you know you can help, isn’t it?”

“Very,” He agreed as she found a card that hadn’t been soaked through with blood and handed it to him. Clark took it and put it in his pocket. “There’s one more thing,” He added. “I would like to keep my anonymity for the time being. I don’t think I’m ready for the world to know who I am yet.”

She smiled softly. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

He smiled then, a real genuine smile that seemed to light up his whole face. “Okay,” He agreed again.

“Buffy,” Willow interrupted. “Wes has a place.”

She sighed, part of her reluctant to leave. “That’s my cue. Call me when you get back to civilization okay?”

“I will.” He said with a nod as he watched her grab her axe, before she and her friend stepped through the portal and disappeared.

[Chapter One]

#man of steel fanfiction #man of steel #superman #superman fanfiction #superman crossover #clark kent #kal el #buffy x clark #buffy x superman #man of steel crossover #btvs #btvs fanfiction #btvs crossover #sarah michelle gellar #henry cavill #buffy summers #buffy summers x clark kent #this is totally self indulgent

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sonicringbond · 3 years

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Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 24

And it’s finally Saturday! That means we have a new update for the story. A little more action in this scene than some of the prior ones, and also a bit more story seeding. Somewhere buried deep in the background I do have an actual plot and this scene will hint at it yet a little bit more. But instead of me talk about it, enjoy for yourself...

~I was right about the mountains being perfect for running. Hidden crags and land bridges where Rings gathered and waited to be collected were everywhere. Places where I could run loop-de-loops if I so desired and winding caves both small and massive. Of course, with Draw on my back I couldn’t enjoy it at all. It’s almost been that way the whole time out here.

~But I can’t complain.

~Like me, someone else out here is having it hard so I just need to get to them as fast as I can. Ooh~! It’d be so much easier if I was running on my own, or not. Having Draw hold a Ring in front of me so I can dowse their location is a big help while running at these speeds.~

“I-I-I don-don’t see, h-how th-this i-is h-helping!” Draw fought to say as Rosy’s incredible speeds left him bobbing and desperately trying not to be scratched up by Rosy’s spines. Holding the Ring he could not even hold on tightly for dear life. As he had no real perspective of how fast Rosy could get, it would have shocked him that she was not even running at half of the top speed she could manage without having to fight her clumsiness.

“Well, I got the call for help after giving my cards a Ring so it makes sense to use a Ring to find them,” Rosy tried to explain, but she was skipping across falling stalactites in one particular cave before bursting back out on the mountain side meadows and could not dedicate more time to Draw than that.

How far they ran was difficult to tell as Rosy’s path was anything but straight, and several clouds had obscured their surroundings on more than one occasion. One far larger cloudbank became as a fog, crackling with electricity and Draw could feel his hair stand on end. The phenomenon would have simply excited Rosy instead if she were not in such a hurry, but traveling well below the speed of sound her ears picked up another reason to be wary.

“Now what?” Draw asked as Rosy came to a stop and let him off her back. Unsteadily trying to find his footing he offered Rosy no resistance as she took the Ring he held in both of her hands.

“Quiet please Draw,” Rosy asked as she closed her eyes and focused on the Ring and her surroundings.

Doing as she said, Draw also imitated her twitching ears and turned his to his fog hidden surroundings. Beyond the crackling of electricity tearing through the air, he could hear machinery somewhere not far off.

“I wonder what type of machines those are?” Draw queried as he turned in the direction he believed they were coming from. “They don’t sound very large…”

“Let’s go find out,” Rosy suggested with a smile as she let the Ring vanish into her body. “Whoever needs our help should be over that way too. Maybe they just got stuck and need a hand.”

“Or worse since they’re about to meet you,” Draw joked and earned a pout from Rosy.

“Ooh~! You really are so mean sometimes Draw!”

~I know he didn’t mean any harm by it. He was just having a little fun. But still.

~Regardless we did not linger in the fog and with Draw on my back again we hurried ahead to see what awaited us. It was not what I was expecting, but it wasn’t far off either. Machines the size of what we were hearing, I had too many encounters with mean ones before.~

Bursting out of a cloud bank Rosy and Draw were afforded view of another beautiful mountain meadow on the side of a mountain. But the bleating of frightened sheep and the clanging of steam powered machinery made for a cacophonic discrepancy to the scene’s beauty.

“What are those!”

Pointing as best he could, Draw attempted to bring Rosy’s eyes to the source of the mechanical ruckus and fear of the sheep. Seeing a plethora of two-legged and four-legged brass machines that resembled clockwork imitations of the stone golems throughout the land, Rosy whined out her response.

“Robots! Why are there robots here!”

“Robots? Draw asked and looked at Rosy curiously. “You mean like automata?”

“But they look like golems too~! So maybe they’re robo-golems!”

“I think autogolem makes more sense,” Draw countered. “Either way, they’re golems so put me down so I can get to work.”

“Wha–?” Rosy looked back confused.

Draw was already attempting to break free and Rosy scrambled to an awkward stop and slid on her face through the grass. Whining as she sat up on her knees, she saw Draw was already drawing back a notched arrow.

“Draw, wait! Do you even know where to shoot?”

“It should be fine,” Draw assured Rosy and eyed the forehead of an autogolem on the far side of the grouping. “If they’re golems it shouldn’t matter.”

*Thwip*

Draw’s arrow flew nearly true, a rising wind taking it off course and past the framework of one autogolem into its inner gears and cogs. The automaton locked up for a moment and jerked about violently before the wood shaft was crushed by the gears and the stone head fell away. Looking down at the arrow for a moment, the autogolem soon lifted its head up to see where it came from.

Spotting Rosy and Draw, its glowing green eyes flared red for a long moment and soon all the autogolems stopped what they were doing to turn and look at the two travelers.

“I think you made it angry,” Rosy nervously laughed while poking at her mouth.

“It would have been fine if the wind didn’t pick up just then,” Draw dismissed the growing threat that was starting to approach them. In fact, he began to walk towards them. “I just need to get closer. Or use an explosive arrow. That old tower had the supplies to make some more.”

“Eh?” Rosy gasped in questioning panic. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Draw! If you fire one of those–”

“Don’t worry,” Draw smiled confidently at Rosy, “you can outrun my arrows, can’t you?”

“What~!” Rosy exclaimed loudly but didn’t trust Draw’s smile and bolted for the golems

Building speed, she leapt up into the air and curled into a tight ball. Compared to when Draw’s arrow struck them, Rosy was a force of wanton destruction and bits of shredded metal and clockwork flew every as she collided with the autogolems.

Uncurling and skidding to a stop, Rosy looked around desperately for signs of anyone who had been trapped by the machines. She did not see anyone, and the sudden explosion from Draw’s next arrow made it even more difficult.

“Draw~!”

Whining out in frustration was not going to help, and Rosy forced herself to quickly bash and pull apart as many autogolems as she could to slow Draw’s next shot. As she scrambled about trying to do what Sonic made look so easy, she also kept her eyes open for signs of the errant victim who had called for help. Even with the autogolems falling quickly, Rosy could not see any sign of someone in danger. ‘Yet these mean old robots looked like they were picking on someone.’

Soon, the last autogolem fell and Rosy was joined by Draw in the devastation they left. Draw wore a satisfied expression but Rosy had puffed up her cheeks to the point that her face was red and her eyes were watering.

“What’s wrong now you weirdo girl?”

“Stop calling me names!” Rosy snapped. “That was really dangerous and we both could have gotten hurt!”

“I thought Rings kept you safe?”

“They do,” Rosy confirmed, and would have offered a counterpoint but trailed off wordless as her anger subsided. There was no sign of anyone in need of rescuing and Rosy knew Draw would argue if she mentioned that the victim could have gotten hurt. “Oh phooey!”

Kicking a dismantled autogolem body away, Rosy huffed about looking for any signs of a person being present. She already knew there was no one, and her curiosity was defusing her bad mood faster than her feet carried her. Eventually she just had to ask. “I wonder what was powering them. I didn’t see any gems like the normal golems. Maybe it was Rings?”

“That would mean we just broke a bunch of stuff of the Engineers,” Draw mused teasingly. “First we ran off and now we wrecked their stuff. I guess that makes us enemies now.”

“What! No! I’m sure they’ll understand if I explain everything.”

“But will they believe you? Fortune tellers aren’t known for being reliable.”

“My cards never lie to me! Someone needed help! And I’m sure… I’m sure we helped them.”

Confident as Rosy tried to be, she slumped down to her knees. She knew someone was calling for help. She knew her dowsing was not wrong either. This was where she was supposed to be.

“Maybe I should consult–?”

Pausing as she reached for her shoulder puff, Rosy noticed an odd brass sphere on the ground amid the wreckage. Reaching down she picked it up and studied it for a moment. It was nothing particularly special, but there were odd patterns engraved into. It made Rosy think of, “…a seal?”

With a twist of her wrists Rosy popped open the sphere at its center and light like the color of Rings emerged from within.

~But it wasn’t Rings that powered the robot golems. I wasn’t really sure what it was. It had a teardrop shaped head with a ball of some kind floating above the tip. Really, all it was was a head that was small enough to look lonely in my palm with pretty gossamer wings that didn’t seem connected to it either. Yet it flew and looked at me with large eyes, glowing a color that matched its body and Rings. I hadn’t known it at the time, but that was my first ever encounter with a fairy.~

Scene 24 · CLEARED A Tiny Voice, End

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And there we go, another scene and week wrapped up. And yup, that is a Sonic and the Black Knight fairy. I had debated for a while if I was going to use them or not, but things have gone in a direction that allows for it so I’ve added one to the story. The next scene will be focusing more on how it ties into our little traveling party and being more character focused than anything.

I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next scene! Thank you everyone!

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Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – What Makes the Sky Blue – Tsutomu Narita – Granblu Fantasy Original Soundtrack: Promise

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peoplelikegames · 3 years

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Steam Games Festival: I played so many demos. My thoughts...

I spent a few days playing as many of these demos as I could and wrote down some rough impressions.

Black Book (Morteshka): Heavily atmospheric and steeped in Slavic mythology. You play as a Slavic woman named Vasilisa, attempting to bring back her husband, who has committed suicide, back from hell in an effort to save him from the eternal damnation that their religion believes befell those who commit suicide. She becomes a witch after venturing through the gates of hell and back. The gameplay takes several different forms, depending on what you’re doing. It’s got some point-and-click adventure game elements during the more exploration focused scenes. Sometimes you’ll find herbs that can be used as items later during combat. The combat plays out like Slay the Spire and other deck builder games of the ilk, with the key exception of the spell slots. Instead of the standard 3 energy system restricting card usage each turn, here you have 3 slots that can be filled with spells that correspond with the slot type. You have 2 Order slots (big spells) and 1 Key slot (little spells) you can fill each turn. It’s a small twist to the formula that opens up a lot of interesting possibilities and combinations. In between fights and the point-and-click scenes you’ll get to interact with people you meet along the path to your destination and make choices that effect the story and your character. Vasalisa’s journey looks bleak and full of death, and I’m interested to see where it goes.

AK-Xolotl (Daniel Piqueras Constantin): Fast paced, adorable and aggressive top down shooter. Very simple gameplay of shooting down waves of enemies picking up weapons and items that drop when they die. Feels great to play. Good movement, good dash, not much else to ask for. Really quick and snappy shooting and simple gameplay loop me keeps playing again and again just to get a higher score and see what new stuff it has to throw at me. It’s got really cute pixelated graphics and lots of forest critters with guns. The game also features an absolutely filthy death metal track that’s a perfect representation of how aggressive the game really is. Just a really quick and dirty time that definitely makes me want to see the finished product. Also, I love the lil axolotl guy.

Despot’s Game (Konfa Games): Rogue-like dungeon crawler where you control a mob of humans. It’s a pretty cool and complicated battle system my only problem is I can’t help but feel like I don’t have enough control on the outcome of the fights. It’s almost a little like Totally Accurate Battle Simulator in that way. Basically, your run begins with you purchasing a bunch of little humans and different weapons to give to those little humans which will give them a class. Give a little guy a medkit and now he’s a healer, give someone a gun and they’re a shooter now. Humans with classes have special abilities they can activate when there are enough classes of that type on the field. Like an Auto Chess (Auto Battler?) game, if you have, say, 2 or 3 Fencers on the board, your fencers will now have access to their special ability, a dodge roll. Position your people in what you hope is a tactical formation and start heading for the dungeon exit. Most rooms consist of a fight, which plays out automatically. When you press go on a fight, your troops and the enemies will all start fighting until only one side remains. This is where the game loses me a little bit as it’s unclear how much of a difference positioning makes or what more I should be doing to change the outcome. Did I win this time because that unit was farther up than last time, or did the AI just play it out slightly differently that skewed in my favor? I can’t tell if the changes I’m making are actually making a tactical difference, or if the AI routines are just clashing with slightly varying results each time. You’re gonna lose units a lot but they are pretty disposable, with frequent shops for buying reinforcements or new gear. And every unit contributes to your mob’s total hunger meter, which deplete with every new room you enter. You have to buy food to feed your troops to keep them from losing effectiveness. Bigger team=greater food consumption. Gotta find a balance with your money and spending it on new units, new weapons, and food. I really wanted to like this game more because I really dig the hook of building up a mob of little guys with cools powers and I like the unit synergy system as well, but the perceived lack of control over how the fights play out and the game’s edgy humor ultimately pushed me away.

Dead Estate (Milkbar Lads): Fairly generic zombie shooter rogue-like (there’s gonna be a lot of rogue-likes). Your standard twin-stick kind of shooting you’d find in the Binding of Isaac or Enter the Gungeon, except here you can jump, adding some verticality. Explore each room, kill the zombies, find the key and then find the elevator to the next floor. Sometimes you find a new gun or shop along the way. The movement feels pretty slow and the rooms feel small. Too many times would I walk into a room, fight three of the same zombie then walk int next room just to see two more of that same zombie. Too many times did I have to walk back across a whole level at a snail’s pace. Needs more enemy variety and to move a little quicker. The shooting is a little better, I like how the game makes its weapons feel distinct by how much it kick it has. More powerful weapons will push you back with each shot. Unloading the mini gun felt chaotic and rumbly that make you slide back and wiggle in a fun way. You can usually kill most enemies before they’re even able to do anything makes them unique, rendering most enemies the same “zombie that walk towards you for second before you finish them off.” Didn’t really draw me in or entice me to see what I might encounter on higher floors.

Foregone (big blue studio): This one feels a little like a watered down Dead Cells at first, AT FIRST. It’s a little slower and less snappy but it’s still very fun. Plus it’s more of a linear 2d action platformer with lots of loot. I like the loot aspect here quite a bit; watching a bunch of currency fly out of enemies is satisfying in a “headshot kill in Destiny kinda way.” Just a bunch of fun particles and a frequent gear drop that has you constantly popping open your inventory to equip your new gear and make those numbers go up. If that’s your kind of fun, you can definitely find it here. Lots of weapon variety on show here and most, if not all, of them feel unique. Just wish the combat was little tighter, which since this is a demo, I assume will come in due time. The game could also do a better job of informing the player that they’re taking damage, which made it difficult to hone the timing on the dash to avoid taking damage. And I’m hoping the environments of the full game become a little more diverse and sprawling, right now it feels like it’s mostly individual rooms/levels of engagement at a time. Excited to see how the full release pans out.

Tunche (LEAP Game Studios): Immediately drawn in here by the beautiful hand drawn art style. It’s a brawler roguelike and if you know what those two words mean in the context of video games, that’s all you really need to know. The brawler combat is what it is, very combo and juggle heavy, enemies that take dozens of hits to kill, fairly bland and just flat land environments. Walk forward until you’re stopped, fight a bunch of waves of enemies, rinse and repeat. Except this time you occasionally get upgrades after finishing rooms like “chance for attacks to cause burn” and “chance to regain health on hit,” your standard rougelike fare. With the territory comes the roguelike difficulty, and this game is plenty tough with the amount of enemies it throws at you and how limited your health pool can be. All of the art and the animations are what really shine here, and if you’re into that brawler style combat, this seems like a pretty good one of those.

Power of Ten (Pew Times Three): Next up we have a top-down space shooter roguelike. I like the minimalistic pixel art style in this one. It helps with atmosphere and you making you feel like a small ship in a large system. Your goal is to power planetary shields on inhabited planets throughout the system by gathering resources from asteroids. While you’re hunting asteroids, pirate ships will randomly attack a planet, pulling you away from resource gathering into a space dogfight against the pirates. That push and pull of gathering resources to fuel a planets shields while simultaneously protecting the planets whose shields are not yet charged is the core loop here that I really like. Conveying solid, core gameplay loop that’s engaging is exactly what you want to get across in a demo, and they definitely deliver that here.

Jelly is Sticky (Lunarch Studios): A lovely, casual sokoban puzzle game. Sliding around and rearranging cubes of jelly into oblong structures to match highlighted areas within a given space. You’ll encounter jellies of different qualities along the way, all with their own quirks around how they like to stick. I really like the non-linear structure in the over world, letting you navigate around between levels from all of the jelly-archetypes at any time. Solving sets of levels will unlock jelly in the over world you can stick to and rearrange to give you access to further levels gated behind walls and other triggers. It’s an appreciated extra layer of depth you don’t expect from a puzzle game that could have very well presented it’s levels in an ordered, level-select screen.

Potion Craft (niceplay games): In this game you play as a budding alchemist trying to make your mark on the world in your newly acquired (stolen possibly?) alchemy shop. Its an alchemist simulator. It’s presented in an “alchemy text book diagram-style” that’s immediately endearing. Every day, you collect ingredients like herbs and fungi from your garden and then it’s time to open shop. Customers come and share their plight, asking for potions of different types. They’ll offer different prices for potions of different potency which you haggle up further (or lower, if you mess up) through a simple timing mini game. The actually potion making is puzzling and unique, if not occasionally limiting. Ingredients you add to the cauldron determine a path that the potion icon in the center will follow across a fog covered map. Add more ingredients to add length and direction to the path, trying to build the path in a specific way that will lead to a “?” destination marked on the map. Name the potion, choose a bottle and label, and brew it. You’ll learn what it does, and can save the recipe for easy use again later. The only downside is how limited the ingredients are makes it very punishing when experimentation results in failure, all those ingredients are just lost. It seems like the game really wants you to just fill the orders at hand instead of blindly exploring into the fog to see what weird stuff comes up, which is my favorite thing to do so far. This is still easily one of my favorite demos of the bunch and has to be seen for oneself.

Aeon Drive Prologue (2awesome studio): This is definitely one of the ones I wanted to like more than I did. A self proclaimed “speedrun action platformer” and it demands that go fast. Very short 2d platformer levels with an ever ticking clock. If the timer reaches zero before you reach the exit, you fail the level. Consumables lined throughout the level can be used to add more time to your clock. This game is very punishing, one hit from anything, from enemy to stage hazard, will cause you to fail and restart. Very quick movement and a focus on chaining together different moves to find different paths through the level. There seemed to be benefits like special collectibles for taking more inventive, alternative paths, but the ticking clock really kept me tunnel-visioned on the most clear cut route through the level, meaning I only ever small a very tiny portion of each one. I’m not the type of person to butt my head against how to pull some crazy route as opposed to the clearly laid out one in front of me. Unfortunately, that clearly laid path just isn’t very fun to take. There’s also a dagger you can throw and teleport to, which I found difficult to aim and not as fun to use as it sounds. There is definitely something here, it’s just ultimately not for me.

Medievalien (dOOb games srl): Action RPG roguelike in a medieval world that has been invaded by aliens. You play an amnesiac protagonist trying to undo the calamity through repeated attempts from within a magical (or scientific?) time loop. Commence genre mashup. Nothing particularly stands out here. Two weapon slots and two throwables slots, lots of different items to fill them. Your weapons consist of bows, crossbows, and staves, and the throwables are bombs of varying elemental effect. It’s fun to play but fairly middling. The low poly art style doesn’t do anything for me and the soundtrack was forgettable. Still, if you’re like me and enjoy ARPGs and roguelike, it does the thing well enough to scratch the itch.

Minute of Islands (Studio Fizbin): Right out of the gate this 2d narrative platformer hits you with gorgeous hand-drawn art. A poisoned, decaying world that is beautifully drawn and animated. I’m gonna day this is not the best demo. The pace is very slow and the objectives are linear and don’t even register as puzzles. This game calls itself a puzzle platformer yet there were no puzzles to be found in this demo. I’m assuming the demo is trying to preserve story details so it starts at the beginning and only gives you a small slice from there. So maybe the game introduces more puzzle elements later in the game. But what’s left in the demo is not very compelling to play. The impressively detailed environments and atmosphere are only driving forces so far. But extremely strong forces at that.

Alekon (The Alekon Company): This feels like spiritual follow up to Pokemon Snap in all of the best ways. In its most basic form, the game plays exactly like Pokémon Snap, but builds on the nearly 30 year old classic in several key ways. Creatures in this game are called “Fictions” and whenever you take a picture of a new fiction, the creature also appears back in the game’s hub world. Once back in the hub world, you can talk to the fictions who have moved in and they’ll give you small quests to do that’ll usually reward you with key game features, like a zoom function for the camera. There’s a great feature that involves capturing photos of a fiction in all of its potential poses, which will unlock the ability to “see through the eyes of the fiction.” So when you’re looking through the album of your saved pictures, you can apply a fiction filter to see the image as a particular fiction would see if through their own eyes. Also, once you’ve unlocked all of the different routes in a specific biome, you gain the ability to “wander.” Wandering is free from the rails of the standard routes and allows to explore every inch of the biome and find other fictions that were previously hidden. It’s also a great space to snag that perfect picture of a fiction you couldn’t get while riding the rails. The creatures themselves are kind of hit or miss so far in their design. Sometimes it’s literally just a seal, sometimes it’s a ridiculous alien thing, but it seems like the personalities of the fictions are what makes them unique. Even though I didn’t care for the designs, I found myself endeared toward the creatures once I found them back in the hub and helped them with their troubles. There’s some good writing in these bits that really helps sell me on these creatures. Lots to love here if you’re into games about snapping pics of critters and throwing donuts.

Eat’n Eaten (Gaëtan Benoit): A cartoony tower defense game with bug plants. Bugs that grow from plants. It has a really fun and easy to understand “food chain management” system for building up units. It almost feels like it was designed to translate easily to touchscreens for mobile devices. Your soil has 100% nutrients, plants grow and feed off nutrients, plants grow apples which you can pick who will then become your units. When an apple dies it’s corpse returns nutrients to the soil and it’ll drop a seed that will grow into a new plant. If you don’t pick the apples off the plant long enough for them to consume extra nutrients, the apples will become a caterpillar. Pick the caterpillar off the plant and now you have a more offensive unit, who needs to eat apples to survive. The game only builds on the loop from there; the way bugs will level up into new or stronger forms after eating enough fruit, or how the game will add spiders to your team who will then need to eat caterpillars to survive. Manage this whole food chain to keep a steady supply and distribution of units against waves of enemies. I don’t know if that seems confusing when put into word like that but it’s really quick and simple to pick up they way it is presented. It can definitely get a little frantic at times but that’s when the game is at it’s most fun.

Dorfromantik (Toukana Interactive): Chill, colorful, tile placement puzzle game about building a village landscape. You start with a deck of 85 hexagonal tiles, and it doesn’t end until all the tiles have been placed. You’re placing tiles with the intent to line up as many like edges between adjacent tiles, making longer and longer networks of landscapes of matching type. The way the scoring works and how the game conforms matching sides together does a good job of making the best place to put your tile one that not only scores well but also looks good in the context of the interconnected village landscape you are ultimately trying to craft. I would kill for this game on Switch.

Unsouled (Megusta Game): An isometric pixelates dark souls-style action game. Described as an “ultra-brutal” game with “fast-paced and savagely rewarding combat,” Unsouled comes exactly as advertised. The combat in this game is very difficult and I am simply not the person to conquer it. It’s really fast paced yet proper movement and combat requires consistent timing and punished button mashing. Every thing you do has to be deliberate and calculated as it’s easy to lose control of the battlefield very quickly. Even just a few enemies can be dangerous as they all can dodge and block and roll just like you. The game is unafraid to put the pressure on and throw ten enemies at you all at once engaging from different ranges. The game demands that intimately learn the combat systems if you want to keep your stamina and health high in the heat of combat. I’d bet that if you’re a fan of Dark Souls or souls-like games, this game has all that difficulty but a different pace of combat that doesn’t feel derivative.

Rogue Invader (Squishy Games): Immediately I love the look of this game. It’s got this old school 1-bit black and white look to it. It also opens up with a fully animated and voice acted cutscene. The game is actually pretty difficult. It’s a side scrolling shooter where you’re part of an army in invading an alien planet one soldier at a time. You’re also managing weapon heat and breakage, and carry weight effecting run speed. Each soldier gets body armor and a pistol but you can equip them with a rifle and helmet from your armory. Which you’ll definitely want to do considering you die in one shot if hit in the head. When you’re soldier dies, they lose the gear you equipped them with and the new soldier needs to be equipped with whatever you can craft in the forge. This is where I ran into issues with hardy ever having enough materials to craft a helmet, go into a mission and die early to a single stray bullet to the head, and subsequently not earn enough materials to make a helmet. The evasive controls like jumping, running, rolling and taking cover all felt clunky in my hands, add that to fact that bullets often just miss even if you’re aiming right on an enemy, and it made for a pretty unsatisfying game to play.

Devastator (Radiangames): How is this not just Geometry Wars? Because this shit is just geometry wars. Fortunately, Geometry Wars slaps so this game is still pretty fun. But just go play Geometry Wars. There, I mentioned a different game like five times more than the game this was supposed to be about.

ANVIL (Action Square): Co-op top down shooter roguelike with space marines. It’s like a run-based Starship Troopers game. It’s pretty great. The three characters unlocked in the demo all have different weapons and abilities resulting in very distinct play styles between classes. There’s a fairly simple loop to each floor: search the floor for the boss, along the way areas will be filled with enemies, who’ll drop money, which can be used to buy passive upgrades from chests found throughout the floor. The upgrade system allows you stack multiple of the same upgrade for increased effect. Lots of variety in the enemy type really keeps you on your toes. Unsurprisingly, it just feels good to mow down mobs of space bugs.

Orbital Bullet (SmokeStab): A 360 degree shooter platformer. It’s a really cool gimmick actually, you move in 2d but in ring around a 3D space. It’s makes for some cool looking environments and depth from having inner and outer rings you can switch between. Really fast and arcade-y feeling. Snappy movement and gunplay. There’s seems to be a lot offered here among different weapons, in-run upgrades and meta upgrades that persist between runs. Which makes this a roguelite, as opposed to roguelike, which I tend to prefer. I like having something upgrade outside of my runs to make me feel stronger or different going into the next run. The games has a sort of ancient alien aesthetic, it feels industrial and monolithic. The bursts of neon in the walls, enemies, and weapons really pop among the ruins of the stone temple. Watching your weapons’ shot glide along the curve of the world is an effective visual as well. Just because I clearly like to compare to games so much, this game feels a lot like Resogun meets Downwell, and that’s just fantastic.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale (Greg Lobanov): A colorful and cartoony adventure game about painting that takes a small but welcomed bullet hell turn. You play as a cute little pup that claims the power of The Brush after it’s wielder (and your master) disappears along with all of the color in the world. Searching for cause and hopefully the solution, you embark on a journey to repaint the world and make your mark as the new wielder. Once you pick up that brush you can start coloring in literally everything in the world. It’s fun and charming the whole way through. You can help the townsfolk bring color back into the lives and color in their houses to their satisfaction. Use the paint to navigate the world by growing and shrinking plants by erasing/coloring them. The demo is a little thin but definitely makes me interested to see what fun stuff the game has in store for these paint mechanics.

Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den): Okay this game was a trip. I barely have any idea what I just played but I know I really liked what was happening. It’s a heavily stylized point and click adventure game where it feels like you exist within an improvisational Jazz album. Train tracks becoming notes on a cello. Getting into a cosmic jazz-off that plays like a game of Simon and ends with your opponent on the wrong end of a mob hit. I think? Honestly this game is so trippy it was difficult to keep track of what was going on. And occasionally it was a little ambiguous as to how you’re supposed to proceed, which lead some random click and dragging around the screen until something clicks. It actually seems like it could turn out to be a really good example of a story and experience that can really only be through video games. Not quite an animated film, not quite a comic book or visual novel, but instead a fantastical, interactive amalgamation of many things. Whatever this thing may be defined as, it’s something unique and special.

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siverwrites · 4 years

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Another Trial

@fyeahghosttrick Ghost Swap treat for @arbuthnotblob!

I never expected to see anyone other than ourselves prompt for our ever expanding FFVI AU and it’s so cool to see more interest in it. To the point of prompting! Wow! Obviously I couldn’t resist throwing my hat into the ring.

It’s still in the middle of things which I hope is okay. World got wrecked on an apocalyptic scale. Cabs and Cidgeon fell on an island and Cabs was in coma for a year looked after by Cidgeon (Solitude). Now they’ve set off hoping to find more land and the rest of the group.

An attempt to touch more on Cabanela’s whole deal which is a Lot. Hope you enjoy and thank you again for the interest! (And I hope one day you can play FFVI! It’s still one of my favourite SNES games alongside Chrono Trigger)

On AO3

The waves washed around their raft. The sky overhead remained the same sunset tones each passing day only changing at night to cast the ocean into a deeper and more threatening darkness that remained dull all the same. The island had been bursting with interest compared to this journey, Cidgeon thought to himself.

Still there was one good thing. Cabanela had finally fallen asleep at last. They were supposed to alternate, yet too many times Cidgeon took his watch in company. The stubborn fool. Then again maybe it wasn’t just stubbornness. Cabanela turned his head with a low groan and a shiver, furrows lining his brow. Was it stubbornness to keep going or avoidance of the things sleep brought? Possibly both.

Cidgeon sighed and shuffled closer. He didn’t want to wake him; Cabanela needed this sleep, disturbed or not. And what then anyway? He pulled the blanket more securely around Cabanela, fighting off the old sense of helplessness that had become far too common over the past year. He’d never been very good at this from the earliest days when the young boy’s nights were broken with nightmares and he relived the attack on Tzen. All he could do was sit by and listen if the boy woke and if he could bring himself to talk haltingly between tears or long lulls of silence. Listen and wonder how it all came to this.

Years later and he still couldn’t say what possessed him to take the boy in like that. What did he know of children, let alone one newly orphaned and home annexed? He’d berated himself multiple times in those early days. A child would only hinder his works and his efforts to maintain his secrets. And yet… And yet something had drawn him to the boy. Simple pity or something more—three decades later and he still couldn’t say, but it wasn’t a decision he regretted for one moment.

No, it was those lines etched in deep he regretted, watching him run the ragged line of exhaustion. It was failing to convince him not to go for the magic infusions in the first place. It was not being be able to help him when he needed him most, not even recognizing who it was who truly needed that aid. It was a year-long coma. It was sitting on a raft in the middle of the ocean in a world torn apart, not knowing what land was left to find and who was still out there.

The telltale prickle of magic shook Cidgeon from his thoughts. Cabanela’s eyes flashed open. Words of a spell came out monotonous and rapid.

“Stop!”

He clapped a hand over Cabanela’s mouth, grimacing at the anger and panic rising in his eyes. Well, better some extra temporary distress than the alternative. Cabanela struggled to pull away, fingers flexing and sparks dancing off the tips.

“Cabanela, stop. You’ll drown us.”

Blank eyes met his, blinked and narrowed as recognition dawned. Cabanela relaxed. Cidgeon removed his hand.

“Professor…?”

“Try not frying our only mode of transportation.”

Cabanela sat up. “Sorry, I… was elsewhere.”

“I noticed,” Cidgeon said dryly. “Nightmares?”

“Suppooose.” A long pause and he spoke again, his voice low with a harsh edge. “I was with him.”

Ah. He couldn’t say lightning bolts weren’t an entirely unreasonable response were they not in the middle of the ocean. Cabanela fell silent. Lovey-Dove fluttered onto his shoulder with a soft coo and he stroked her feathers absently while staring into the distance. He finally spoke again.

“Is it possible to remember anything from bein’ crowned?”

Cidgeon frowned worriedly at him. He’d hoped not. He knew only stories and rumours of some things, but others... “Briiiing in the boys from Tzen!” The Jester’s crowing still rang sharp and terrible in his memories with the nightmarish sight of mindless obedience and a rain of lightning. No, don’t let Cabanela remember that senseless slaughter.

“Do you remember something?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Cabanela’s fingers stilled before resuming their stroking. Lovey-Dove nuzzled his jaw. “Maybe it’s everything throwin’ me for a loop. In Vector there were things that were so familiar, but I couldn’t say how. I’ve been havin’ dreams that feel real… feels like Tzen.”

“Have you been dreaming of Tzen again? It’s been a long time.”

“They’ve been comin’ baaack. And Maranda I think. I’ve heard the rumours and stories. I know I was used to torch the place.” His hand dropped from Lovey-Dove and he bowed his head with a pained grimace, fingers digging into his hair. “But I can’t quite…”

“You don’t need to,” Cidgeon said sharply. “The Slave Crown is ancient. I can’t say how much you should or shouldn’t be able to remember. I doubt those fools even fully understood what they had. Memories may remain in your subconscious, but those acts are on the Jester’s, Asbolus’s and Sith’s heads.” A figure masked and robed in white, ever present at the Jester’s side. He’d been right in front of him all along and he’d missed it. “That wasn’t you.” A silent slave with no will of his own: that wasn’t him.

“Maybe not,” Cabanela said after a pause. He turned dark eyes on Cidgeon. “I wasn’t lookin’ to see another city burn.”

“No,” Cidgeon agreed. What else could be said?

Lovey-Dove gave another coo of concern and traded Cabanela’s shoulder for her perch back among Cidgeon’s hair.

“It’s all right, old girl,” he muttered.

He reached for their supplies, pulled out two cups and cast a small-scale aqua rake into each, letting them fill with water.

“It’s not much,” he said passing one to Cabanela. “But heat that up. Something warm will do you some good.”

Cabanela cupped it close and a puff of steam arose shortly after. Cidgeon’s cup received the same treatment and he thought Cabanela would finish there. Instead he gripped Cidgeon’s shoulder for a moment and a wash of welcome warmth coursed through his clothing.

They sat in silence for a spell. It was only when Cabanela started to nod off only to jerk awake that Cidgeon spoke again.

“Get some sleep.”

“I’m fine. Few hours, riiight as rain, baby.”

“Yeah, sure, if it was a few hours,” Cidgeon countered. And not so consistently only a few and so scattered. “Look,” he continued, “I know you don’t like the idea, but a sleep spell tends toward a dreamless sleep. I can—.”

“I can’t say I neeeed more voids,” Cabanela said blithely.

“It’s not the same and you know it.”

“It’s close enough,” Cabanela snapped.

Cidgeon stared at him unperturbed. Fine, let him rant and rail; it was better than trying to bury it all under the thin and cracking veneer he’d been trying to uphold since he finally woke on the island.

“Three years.” Cabanela abruptly cut off with a deep breath, and instead fell silent once more while fixing a hard stare toward the horizon as if willing land to appear right then and there.

“You were helpless for three years,” Cidgeon said. Cabanela’s hands clenched. Two years enslaved, one a coma, all three empty. While he could see Cabanela’s hesitance, it wasn’t doing him a lick of good. Cidgeon plowed on. “And if you keep up like this you’ll be so again and then what do you think you’ll do when we do find land?”

“This is nothin’ I can’t handle.”

“I didn’t spend a year watching over you not knowing when or if you’d wake to let it happen again.”

“It won’t.”

“Exactly.”

“I…” Cabanela, grit his teeth, shuddered and drew inward. Tense. A wound up spring with nowhere to unwind.

Cidgeon found himself almost wishing they were back on the island. At least there Cabanela could leave and go vent some steam. Trapped on this small raft there was nowhere to go, leaving him with a Cabanela who was both overtired and restless—not a combination he relished or wished upon anyone.

“I won’t force it,” Cidgeon said.

“Nooo? And why should you when you can force my hand instead?”

Now Cidgeon felt first the seed of anger bloom. “Remember who you’re speaking to, boy, then you can tell me you’re ‘just fine’.”

Cabanela’s mouth twisted and the ocean received another angry glare. Cidgeon let the sullen silence stretch. He said his piece. It was up to Cabanela to make the next move. As expected it didn’t take long before he spoke again, tone low.

“Dad…”

Cidgeon sighed. It had been so rare to hear it. Now it had been, what, three times at least since he woke and it still gave him an odd sort of pang. Not… bad, but he wondered if he’d ever get used to hearing it.

“I’m sorry,” Cabanela said. “You’re right, I’m not at my best.”

Cidgeon snorted.

“You’re nothin’ like the doc or him.” Cabanela gave a wan smile. “Why manipulaaate when you can call someone three kinds of fool?”

“I wouldn’t have to if they didn’t prove themselves to be one.”

“Point taken, prof, point taken.” He leaned back on his hands, face drawn and eyes tired, but with a set in his shoulders that told Cidgeon he’d made up his mind. “This one time. Dooo it.”

Cidgeon shook his head. Fool, fool and more fool indeed. If he’d listened in the first place they wouldn’t have had to go through all this. Goddesses forbid simplicity.

“Lie back then.” Judging by his heavier lids and slower movements as Cabanela complied it wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge anyway.

When Cabanela was settled Lovey-Dove fluttered down to settle on his chest. She received another stroking and a small smile.

“Cooomfy there, ladybird?”

“Maybe you can keep him down,” Cidgeon said.

“Coo!”

“Wake me if something happens,” Cabanela directed at Cidgeon.

”You don’t have to tell me. Now get some sleep,” he said firmly and cast the spell.

Cabanela went slack as the spell took hold. Cidgeon eyed him. His stillness was uncomfortably reminiscent of the past year. Cidgeon never wanted a repeat of anything like that again, yet there was a certain appeal in the thought of him staying asleep until they found land. Trapped in a contained space with a man who needed things to do and didn’t have them was turning into its own special kind of trial as today’s fit of temper showed. Cidgeon let out a long sigh and looked away. Let him rest for however long this lasted. He was the most peaceful he had seen him in too long. Ridiculous man.

Just Lovey-Dove and the ocean for company now in a more welcome quiet. There was enough wind to take care of them for the time being, so he sat and let his thoughts drift with the waves, finding a different sort of rest there.

Three to four hours later by Cidgeon’s count Lovey-Dove took off from her perch on Cabanela to fly high circles above their raft. An excited chirp caught Cidgeon’s attention as she swooped back down.

“What is it, Lovey?”

She flapped in place, shot forward a small distance then flew back.

Cidgeon squinted. His eyes were most definitely not what they used to be, but there was something in the distance. It was nothing more than a vast dark smudge on the horizon and there was a ways to go yet to reach it if reachable it was. Still, it was more than they’d seen thus far.

“Could be anything. Could be storm clouds for all we know. Let’s hope it’s something better, eh?”

“Coo!”

Lovey-Dove took her place back in Cidgeon’s hair with another cheery chirrup.

“We won’t wake him,” Cidgeon said, giving Lovey-Dove a small pat. “It’s not enough of anything to be ‘something’ yet.”

Not yet, but as the wind pushed them onward Cidgeon’s hope grew that this time Cabanela would wake to good news at last. They were going to make it.

#ghost swap #arbuthnotblob #fyeahghosttrick #ghost trick #gtau #GTxFFVI fic #gtxffvi #cabanela #pigeon man #lovey-dove #ghosttrick10th

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samsexualdeancurious · 5 years

Text

Thanks For Listening | Chapter Five (Finale)

Square: Free Space

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Words: 1,480

Warnings: hurt!Reader, pining, eventual smut, dirty talk, voice!kink, unprotected sex.

Summary: Sam hosts two podcasts - a secret one for hunters called the War Room and a public one with fellow hunter Y/N called Criminal History. Y/N and Sam have never seen each other, let alone met, but that doesn’t stop Sam from worrying when Y/N suddenly goes missing.

Betaed by @manawhaat

Written for @spnkinkbingo

Header by me and Mana

Masterlist - AO3

You're woken by Sam's mouth leaving a trail of kisses across your shoulder. His body is spooned up behind your own, strong arms looped around your waist.

"Mmm, good morning, Chief," you sigh, turning to catch his lips in a soft kiss. You brush his hair back. "Didja sleep okay?"

"Always do when you're here," he says.

His mouth starts a journey along your jaw and down your throat, sending jolts of arousal through your core as it goes. You catch a glimpse of the clock on the nightstand, though, and reluctantly push Sam away. He pouts.

"We slept late," you explain. "If we want to get all the recording that we need to done, we gotta get going."

Sam groans but acquiesces. You both dress quickly before heading down to the bunker kitchen. You're glad Sam didn't go on his usual morning run and is here to guide you through the maze that is his home. Even after a month of staying in the bunker, you still get lost sometimes. Part of you feels like the bunker is a giant, ancient creature who just likes to mess with you, moving hallways around like the staircases in Hogwarts. Part of you thinks that's crazy. Then again, how crazy would it really be?

Sam's hand linking up with yours breaks your train of thought. He finds the kitchen with ease. Dean is already sitting at the table, armed with a mug of steaming coffee. He gives you both a little salute as you enter, clearly not quite awake yet.

Sam pours two mugs coffee while you start getting together the ingredients you both like in scrambled eggs.

"Sam, can you get the medium skillet down?" you ask, digging through a drawer in search of a few forks and a spatula.

"Anything for you," he replies, easily retrieving the pan in question from its hook above the center island. "Do you need butter to grease it?"

"Knew I was forgetting something. I think it's behind the leftover pizza."

Sam makes a face as he pulls the pizza in question from the fridge. "Dean, this is disgusting."

"Hey!" Dean protests as Sam tosses the pizza in the trash. "That was a perfectly good pizza!"

"Dean, that wasn't pizza. That was Darwinism."

You roll your eyes at their bickering, letting the obvious love between them warm your own heart. They may not have the healthiest relationship on the planet but it's clear to even you, a newcomer to their little bunker family, that there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other.

"Here ya go," Sam says, pulling you from your thoughts.

You take the stick of butter he's holding out, cutting off a chunk to grease the pan with. Dean got new pans recently - the old ones were, well, old - and he's extremely picky about what goes into them. Cooking spray specifically has been banned from the kitchen.

Sam returns the butter to the fridge and gets a small bowl from the top shelf of the cupboard without being asked.

"Mind reader," you tease, taking the bowl.

"Maybe I just know you really well." Sam presses a kiss to the top of your head.

"Ugh. Someone shoot me," Dean grumbles, though you know he doesn't mean any harm by it.

"Why?"

You glance over to see Jack standing on the top step, rubbing at his eyes in a way that makes him look just like the two-year-old he is. His golden locks are a tousled mess.

"Good morning, Jack," you say, beckoning him over. He comes willingly and you straighten his hair out with a few brushes of your fingers.

"Morning, Y/N." Jack eyes the eggs and such you have laid out. "Scrambled eggs?"

"Yep. Do you want some?"

He nods. "Yes, please. You make them the best."

"Excuse you." Dean clutches his chest dramatically.

"You make the best burgers," Jack says with the brutal honesty of a child. "But you always overcook eggs."

Dean sputters indignantly but doesn't form an actual reply.

"Get a few more eggs out," you tell Jack as you crack the first egg into the bowl.

While Jack gets his eggs, Sam sidles up behind you to curl his arms around your waist. He tucks his face down against the side of your neck with a happy sound.

"Hello," you laugh, reaching up with one hand to pat the side of his head. "You gonna be helpful and start cutting things up? Or are you just gonna hang all over me?"

Sam hums softly and presses a kiss over one of the many hickeys he left the night before. "I like it right here."

"I like it too," you reply, turning your head to catch his lips in a kiss. "But the sooner we eat, the sooner we start recording, the sooner we can get to… other things."

Sam's eyes darken with lust and his grip on you tightens a little. Pink tongue darts out to wet his lips.

"What other things?" Jack asks innocently, setting three more eggs next to the ones already on the counter.

Sam blushes, cute little splotches of red on the apples of his cheeks. "Um, we uh - we wanted to watch some TV."

"Oh!" Jack, of course, is totally oblivious. Thank God. "What're you gonna watch? Can I join you?"

You exchange a glance with Sam before answering, cracking more eggs into the bowl as you do. "Not tonight, Jack. We kinda want to just have a little night to ourselves. How about we watch a movie tomorrow night, though? We can even get some snacks and stuff."

Jack dimmed a little at your refusal but he brightens again once more when you suggest a movie night. "Okay! That sounds like fun."

You add milk and start mixing up the eggs, adding the other ingredients as you go. "Maybe Dean and you can go to town today for some movie treats."

"Can we?" Jack practically begs, whirling to face Dean where he still sits at the table.

"I suppose," Dean grumbles into his mug. "We're running low on toilet paper too so I was already planning on making a run. Should just do a full grocery run."

Jack does a little happy dance.

The eggs cook up quick and soon you're dividing them up onto three plates. Jack snatches his plate up, mumbling a "thank you" around a mouthful of food as he heads to the table.

"He's been spending too much time around Dean," Sam says for your ears only, his soft smile telling you that he really doesn't mind.

After breakfast, you and Sam fill your water bottles and head down to the office. This is quite possibly your favorite room in the whole bunker after Sam's room. You love the cozy lighting, Sam's dark wood desk, the "Quiet Please. Recording in Progress" sign above the door.

Sam has added a second desk so you have somewhere to do your own work from the podcast but you've decided to just share a microphone when you're together like this and you happily wheel your super comfy desk chair over to sit beside Sam.

"Got your notes ready?" Sam asks out of pure habit - he knows you always have them.

"Do you?" is your teasing response as you flip open your laptop and find the tab with your notes file.

Sam just chuckles, reaching over the arms of both chairs to weave your fingers together at the same time he flips on the sign outside the door. "Ready when you are."

"Start the recording, big guy."

He does just that and you see the waveform on the recording software begin. Both of you stay silent a moment and then Sam gives you a nod.

You lean in a little closer to the microphone, Sam mirroring you on the other side as you say, "I'm Y/N-"

"And I'm Chief-"

Your eyes meet his over the mic and he gives your hand a squeeze before you continue with, "And this is Criminal History."

Sam glances over at his notes. "Today we will be discussing the case of the Servant Woman Annihilator, a serial killer from early Austin, Texas that history has, for the most part, forgotten. Y/N, you travel a lot. Have you ever been to Austin?"

"I haven't," you answer honestly. "But I've heard great things and I really want to visit."

Sam's smile softens a little and he brings your hand to his lips. "Maybe we could visit together?"

Warmth fills you, starting in your chest and making its way out to the end of every finger and toe until it feels like your whole body is glowing. You have a feeling the two of you are going to be doing a lot of things together for a very long time and you can't wait.

"I would like that, Chief."

Like this fic? Support me longterm on Patreon HERE or make a one-time donation of Ko-Fi HERE

Team Forever: @mrswhozeewhatsis @books-and-icecream @laughing-at-the-darkness @tumbler-tidbits @imsuperawkward

Team Sam: @saxxxology

Team TFL: @wonderfulworldofwinchester @kickingitwithkirk @muchamusedaboutnothing @ellen-reincarnated1967 @linki-locks11 @sydneytea

#spnkinkbingo #sam x reader #my writing #thanks for listening #supernatural

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 6 years

Text

SCSI

Sighing to himself, Eren was nervous. Levi had finally decided he was healthy enough to return to the castle, so the dream they'd spent the last two months in was now coming to an end. He'd packed all things the night before, and now he was waiting for Levi finish bringing in the washing. Since his heat had finished, they'd barely touched, in fact, the teen was wondering if the week had even happened. Levi had returned to sleeping on the couch downstairs, while Eren was left alone in the bed that now felt too big for just him. He missed the feeling of holding him, of waking up in his arms and feeling safe. Stupid nightmares had come back, now of Levi tearing his throat out and leaving him bleeding to death with the man laughed. He didn't want to be too clingy, but he desperately wanted Levi to wrap his arms around him again. Sitting on his bed, Eren had his face in his hands. His hormones still hadn't calmed back down from his heat, so maybe it was best they were apart? If Levi saw him crying like this, he'd think he was pathetic. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't even realise the man was now in the room, a frown of worry across his thin lips. Padding lightly over to him, his partner squatted down, taking him by his hands as he pulled them from his face "Hey brat" "S-sir..." He couldn't stop himself. As Levi pulled his arms around him, Eren hands left his and grabbed the back of the man's jacket "Want to tell me what's up?" "I'm sorry. After a heat, I feel so upset and clingy. I know you don't like that kind of thing, so I tried to hide it" "You mentioned it before... I thought you wanted space because you didn't ask me to stay" "I thought you didn't want me anymore... I'm so stupid" "You're not stupid. And I still want you. It's been hard sleeping down there while you're up here" "Then why didn't you come up?" "Because I didn't want to make you feel pressured or forced" "It sucked! I can't even fucking sleep! I kept thinking you regretted everything!" Wailing against Levi's neck, the man pulled him from the bed so he had now straddling his lap "I don't regret it. I don't regret this. I know things are all over the place, but I made up my mind. I asked you stay with me... I never meant to hurt you" "I know. It's my stupid hormones. I feel like I can't calm down" "And me giving you space didn't help that" "N-no" "I'm here now. Things might be a little hard when we get back to the castle, but no matter what anyone says, I'll protect you" "I don't want to be protected. I want to be able to stand on my own two feet" "Oh, so you're looking forward to telling Erwin" Eren shot up, his eyes wide "We can't tell him!" "Why not?" "Because he hates me. He hates me so much" "He doesn't hate you" Oh. Right. Levi didn't know what Erwin had said to him, and to Levi, Erwin was an important friend "He... he doesn't like me and I don't want to make things hard. Not what you're finally going back to work" "Just let me handle Shitty Eyebrows. I'll make him listen" "I don't want him to know..." "Eren, there's every chance he and Hanji said us here with the intention of us getting together. You know that, don't you?" "I'm not so sure... Erwin, he loves you. He loves you so much. He's going to be so mad" "You don't need to worry about that. You're the one I want to be with. You. Even if your stubborn and hot headed, I want to see where this goes" "Even if I'm a monster?" "We're both monsters then. But it's going to be ok. You're not alone, Eren" "I just don't want anyone else to be upset or angry. I'm so tired of fighting and being angry" "I know you are. Now, what did you mean about not being able to sleep?" Eren's face reddened "Brat?" "I... I have nightmares" "I know. I've seen them up close" "I've been having them the last few nights" "What they about?" "You... it's stupid, but I don't feel safe" "Don't you trust me to protect you?" "How? How can you protect me from myself?" "I don't know, but it'll all be ok. I promise you that" Sniffling, Eren lowered his forehead to rest on Levi's shoulder. His mate rubbing back in soft circles "If you're not up for leaving today, we can go tomorrow" "No... I'll be ok" "Are you sure? We'll be wearing our full uniforms" "I'll be ok. I feel better now" "Better?" "I was... you make me feel better" "In that case, let get that filthy face of yours cleaned up" Snorting, the teen nodded again "Yeah. Just... don't be surprised if I start crying for now reason. I can't seem to stop myself" "I'll try my hardest not to yell at you" "Yelling is ok. Just ignore it. I'll be ok" "Oh, so you like it when I yell at you?" "Not all the time" "Shitty brat" Tentatively moving to kiss Levi, he was stupidly ecstatic when the man kissed him back. He knew Levi said they'd work it out, and that he'd protect him, but Levi was just one man and he was the man Erwin was in love with. He didn't see their commander openly accepting a relationship like this, neither would the Government... being with Levi was dangerous for both of them, but fuck. He wanted to believe something would finally go right and that he'd finally be happy. He just wanted to believe Levi and let his mate protect him, just like he'd promised. An hour later they set out. Their horses were back at the castle with Hanji, the same with the supply cart, so they making the journey by way of foot and manoeuvre gear. He'd offered to shift to a Lycan and carry Levi for as far as he could, but his partner had told him to save his strength in case they needed it. So now he was suffering miniature heart attacks each time Levi fired his anchors. He knew how much stress it had to be placing on his boyfriend's fragile spine, and couldn't wait until the reached the hour mark. Levi would have probably used his gear all the way back to the castle, but Eren had begged him to rest after the first hour. Now he was kind of wishing he'd fought for Levi to rest after the first five minutes because his heart honestly couldn't take it. Each time Levi's anchors fired, he kept seeing Levi falling to the forest floor with his body broken. He'd nearly lost Levi once and he couldn't go through that again, doubly so now that they were finally together. Landing softly, Eren walked over to where Levi was standing. The man massaging his lower back while the grimace on his face told him his mate was hurting badly. Tugging at the backpack Levi wore, the man allowed him to slip it from his back, discarding it with his own "How bad is it?" "It's not great" "Do you want to feed?" "You can't always offer me your blood" "Levi, there is no one around. I can't hear anything or anyone coming. You don't need to be paranoid" Moving to wrap his arms around Levi, his alpha sighed "You don't need to be so worried" "Maybe. Maybe not. Here, please drink at least a little. It'll help with the damage from using our manoeuvre gear" Offering his wrist, Levi took his hand, turning carefully so their gear didn't tangle "I'm onto you. Yeager. Your horny" Rolling his eyes, Eren poked his tongue out "I'm not always horny" "You get pretty horny when I feed" "Fine, I'll cut my hand and you can feed from that. I really am just trying to make sure you're alright" "Relax brat. It was a joke. We're going to rest here anyway, so we might as well sit down" It was inevitable. He really did get stupidly horny when Levi fed from him. Fucking up against a solid oak, Eren's legs were wrapped around his boyfriends waist while his back was steaming from the roughness of the tree. His shirt and jacket were... somewhere, along with gear, making it easier for Levi to feed from the crook of his neck. Melting into Levi's hold, he chanted his mates name over and over, clinging to him for dear life. Grunting, Levi's knot unexpectedly flared. Usually his mate made him come before his knot popped, but this time Eren's orgasm hit hard, his cum splattering between their stomach, where his erection was trapped. Gasping for breath, his fingers tore at Levi's back. He couldn't help himself. He really was a slut for his mates dick. Kissing the side of Levi's head, his boyfriends fangs slid from his shoulder, before Levi lapped at the area like he always did "You ok?" "I'm wrecked. Your dick wrecked my arse" "But are you ok?" "I'm all kinds of ok" "We need to clean up" "Nah. I was thinking we could just stay like this" "Brat, I can't take you back to the castle while you're covered in your own cum" "Shouldn't you be more concerned by the fact I'm so full of yours? I'm going to be walking around, while full of you" Growling, Levi's lips smashed into his, the kiss possessive and aggressive, and over all too soon "Unless you want me to wreck your shitty arse even further, you better stop talking like that" "Maybe I want you to" "Can you at least wait until we get home? Then I'll make you scream for the whole castle to hear" "As much as I like the sound of that, I don't think it'll go over well" "Fuck'em" "I'd rather fuck you" Levi snorted, his hands moving to support him by the arse as Eren looped his arms around Levi's neck. Carrying him over to their gear, his alpha awkwardly lowered them so Eren ended up with his back against the ground "How the fuck did I end up with you?" "I ask myself that every day" "Shitty brat" "My grumpy Captain. No. My grumpy alpha" "Why do you call me alpha? Omega's don't usually have packs, do they?" "If you were a wolf, you'd be leader of the pack. You'd be the alpha. You're definitely fierce and powerful enough. Do you not like me calling you "alpha"?" "Only if I can call you omega" "Mmm. I like it. I'm your omega and you're my alpha" Rocking his hips up against him, Eren mewed as Levi's barbs jostled "You like that? You like me being inside of you like this?" "It feels amazing" "I guess you deserve some reward for this blood of yours" Eren could barely walk straight for the rest of the trip home. His arse throbbed like crazy, but it was such a good feeling. And holding Levi's hand only made everything better "Brat, get that smile off your face" "I can't help it" "You look creepy" "You mean I look fucked. Seriously. You've wrecked my arse, and all I can think about is you fucking me all over again" "That's because you're a teenager. Seriously, all you need to do is sneeze and your hard" "I'm only hard because it's you" "You're hard?" Eren realised when he said, clamping a hand over his mouth. Levi laughing openly "Just try and control it until we're alone again. I don't think Arlert's going to appreciate your boner" The thought of his friends instantly doused the heat in his crotch. Shooting Levi a glare, he lowered his hand "Thanks for that" "You're welcome. The castle shouldn't be that much further. We should just use our gear" "Is your back up for that?" "My back is fine. How's yours?" "F-fine" "You stuttered" "Your dick wrecked my arse! I don't think I can use my gear right now" "I could carry you" "Or we could walk" "Or I could carry you" "You're not carrying me. I'm taller than you" Levi raised an eyebrow, yes, he knew his argument was pathetic "I'm older than you?" "You're recovering" "Thanks to your blood, I feel good. But if you want to walk..." "Which I do" "... then we'll walk" "Good" "Fine" "Race you back?" "You're on, brat!" Both of them regretted it. Both of them landing near the front gates to the castle before stumbling. Eren hips were burning, while his pants were soaked with cum and slick. It wasn't nearly as sexy as it'd sounded "Who's dumb idea was that?" "Yours" "Oh... don't let me have ideas again" "I'll hold you to that. Are you ready?" "Mmm. Hey, can I have a bath in your room tonight?" "Our room" Eren was honestly confused "Our room?" "You're my partner" "But you don't like people in your room" "I don't mind, when it's you. Unless you don't want to" "No. I want to. I just don't know what they others will say" "You're really worried about that, aren't you?" "I... I'm not ashamed of being with you. But being with me is dangerous. And this is all so new" "If you don't want to share a room, that's all you have to say" "I do! But for now... I think maybe I want to have my own space too. Is that ok?" "I kind of expected you to say that" "Then why did you call your room, "ours"?" "So you knew you had the option. My door is always open to you" "I would say the same, but I have Armin in mind. Though, it has been two months..." "I'm not going to sneak in and fuck your while that coconut is sleeping across from you" "I never said you would..." "So yes. You can help yourself to my bathroom, just don't make a mess" "Gonna punish me?" "Given how much you seem to like me punishing you, I might need to come up with a new one" "Like what?" "Like making you Hanji's personal errand boy" Eren groaned, wrinkling his nose as they walked into the castle grounds. News of their return was already spreading "That's not sexy at all" "I know. I have to report in with Erwin" "That means I have to come with you. There's soooo many steps. Do you think if we just collapse here, he'll come and meet us?" "Probably not. He's an arsehole like that" "Carry me?" "I have to carry myself, what makes you think I can carry you?" Eren pouted with a huff, he honestly didn't really want to walk up all those stairs, only for it to end with Erwin. Instead, he'd rather be taking the stairs that led him back to his room, or to Levi's room, or the stairs down to Hanji's office... even the dungeon would be preferable to seeing Erwin. His stomach felt like it was twisting into knots, and that was just thinking about the man. If it was this bad already, he hated to think of what it'd be like when he actually saw him face to face. Walking through the castle, everyone stopped and stared. Whispers erupted, some people even daring to point in their direction as they passed. Levi was just as cool and collected as always, while Eren's anxiety levels were through the roof. His throat felt tight. His lungs felt like stone, each breath barely inflating them, and with each step, it seemed to be harder to stand upright. By the time they reached the hallway to Erwin's office, his body was shaking uncontrollably, so Levi had to sit him down until he managed to calm his breathing "Eren, can you tell me what's going on? You smell terrified. Actually terrified. Did someone say something? Or is it Erwin?" "I'm scared to see him" "You said that before. Did something happen?" "N-no. I'm just scared and my throat hurts" "Did I take too much blood?" Tilting his head to look at his throat, Levi sighed softly "The wound's healed. I can't see anything wrong with your scent gland" His boyfriend next placed his palm against his forehead "You do feel warm, but that might just be from the fact we travelled all day to get home" "I'm sorry... I know I'm blowing this out of proportion, but I'm scared. I'm scared he's going to split us up. Or he's going to tell people your secret or I'm going to be sent away to the government" "None of that is going to happen" "You don't know that. It's been two months and over 4 weeks since we last saw Hanji..." "Eren. Once this is all over, we'll take back to my room. You can take a bath while I get us something to eat. Then we can cuddle or whatever you want to do. We just need to get through this first" "Can we please not tell him? Not today... I don't think I can deal with it. My head's all over the place" "That's obvious. I think we should probably talk to Hanji too, about how low you're feeling" "I'll be ok. It's exhaustion and hormones. Once I get some actual sleep, I'll be able to deal with everything better" "If you're not better by tomorrow, you're going to see Hanji. That's not negotiable" "Ok. Can we go now? Before I pass out or throw up?" "If you're going to hurl, can you at least aim for Erwin" Giving a forced huff of a laugh, Eren indulged himself by hugging Levi tightly once the man had pulled him back to his feet. Breathing in his lover's scent, his lungs finally expanded enough for him to take a real breath "Thank you, sir" "My name's Levi" "Yes, but were back now, and in public" "Then I suppose we should do our duties and debrief with Erwin" Leaving their bags against the corridor wall, Levi knocked on Erwin's door. Their commander immediately yelling out to enter. Walking into the room, Eren found his feet were much more fascinating than he remembered "Levi! You're back!" "Yes, I am. Healed and ready to return to duty" Rising from his chair, Erwin gestured to the two empty ones. Tripping over his own feet, Eren barely saved himself. His face burnt with embarrassment as he took his seat "Everything alright there?" "The kids exhausted. It's a fair walk without horses" "Yes, I expect it is. Even with gear" "We limited the use of our gear in case of wolves, but we were lucky enough to encounter any" "Good. Good. Excellent even. So your back is healed?" "It is. My hunger is also back under control" "You gave us all quite the scare. Especially attacking Eren like you did" "It was his blood. It strengthens all my physical attributes and powers, so it only served to increase my hunger. We've talked about it with Hanji" "Yes. She informed me. She was honestly unsure as to if you would recover completely. But it truly is to see that she was wrong. You're a valued member of the Survey Corps and it would have been a bitter blow to lose you" "What's our cover story?" "Scouting. You and Eren have been on an extended mission checking the damage to the walls" "That sounds sufficiently dull" "It was either that, or send the government to personally check on you" "They would have ended up dead" "I was under the impression you were kept in chains" "I was. But that didn't mean I wouldn't have tried to kill them" Eren was enjoying pretending he didn't exist. He already wanted to punch Erwin in the face for bringing up the fact Levi had attacked him. It wasn't his partner's fault he couldn't control himself. Everyone knew it wasn't. "Now, Eren. How are you doing? Have you had any problems looking after Levi? Or any heat related issues since your last round of treatment?" Treatment. He'd hardly call it treatment "The brat hasn't. He was too busy taking care of me and cleaning to do much of anything else" "I'm fine, sir. There are no scars or signs that would indicate what happened with Captain Levi" "What happened with Levi?" "I mean... when he attacked me sir. There are no signs of it" "Excellent. Eren, why don't you head down and have Hanji give you a full examination" "Let the kid rest, we've only just returned" "Yes, but we are now three months behind in his experiments and the government are going to want those results as soon as possible" "At least let him shower and change. He fucking stinks" "It's fine, sir. Would you like me to drop your back off to your room while on my way?" "That's an excellent idea Eren" Erwin could take his overgrown eyebrows and stick them up his arse. He didn't even give two shits about him, and if Eren had to bet money on it, he'd bet that Erwin's eyes hadn't left Levi the whole time they'd been in the man's room. Forcing a half hearted salute, he fled Erwin's office. Disregarding Erwin's order to head straight down to Hanji, Eren stole a quick shower in Levi's bathroom. If he had to have a full examination, he didn't want Hanji to see the evidence of him and Levi being together. Scrubbing himself red raw, he also cleaned himself out the best he could. Hopefully any cum that remained he could claim was slick. Regretfully, he changed in Levi's room, hating how he no longer smelt of Levi, and hating how empty he felt now that he was clean. His stupid eyes even watered with tears of loss. Levi hadn't left him. The man was perfectly fine. He was just talking to Erwin and he'd see him once they were done. That was all these was to it. Walking down to Hanji's office, the woman screamed when opened the door, practically scrambling over her desk to sweep him into her arms "You've gotten taller!" "It's nice to see you too, Hanji" "My cute little wolf! When did you get back? Why didn't you come and see me?!" "Hanji, we've been back for like half an hour. Levi's up with Erwin, while I got kicked out" "Levi's back? He's ok?" "He's up and walking" "Oh my gosh! That's great news! He was making so little progress, I feared he wouldn't be able to ever bounce back" "His back's still a bit sore, and he over did it on his manoeuvre gear, but we tried my blood and it seemed to accelerate his healing" "He drank your blood?!" "I think he felt bad for not being able to help out more. I ended up collapsing, so I may have guilted him into it" "You collapsed? My poor baby. How do feel now?" "I'm alright. My throat's sore, but Levi said my glands look ok. Erwin ordered a full physical, and he wants you start on the government experiments right away" "Well that's not going to happen. You're exhausted and it would ruin all my results. No. I'll give you a physical, but then you're going straight to bed. I want you to get at least 8 hours sleep because I know how hard you worked to look after Levi" "It got better once he started moving around again" "Eren, I know how much of an arsehole Levi can when he's sick. It's only ever happened once before, but it's not something I want to think about, or remember... now, come sit down for me. I'm so happy you're back!" Poking and prodding, Hanji forced him down to his boxer briefs, so it was relief that'd taken the time to clean up. He wanted to tell her about him and Levi, but lied and said he hadn't gone through his heat. He'd begged Levi not to tell Erwin, so it would have been wrong to tell Hanji. Taking samples from his scent glands, and samples of his blood. He finally let him get dressed again, sending him off to his quarters with a kiss to the forehead. After Erwin, he had to admit that Hanji's craziness made him feel better. To actually have someone who missed him, and worried about him... he was kind of stupidly happy. Pausing to check Levi's room on the way to his, he found it empty. His happiness deflating slightly, but the promise of cuddles and clinging helped perk him back up. Finally reaching his own room, he found Armin's bed neatly made. It didn't look like it'd been slept in for days, and his friends scene was weak. Kind of disappointed, but mostly relieved, Eren collapsed onto his own bed. His face smooshed against his pillow as he fought his way out of his boots and pants. Now that he's finally back in his own bed, he can barely keep his eyes open, and despite how hard he struggles to stay awake, he falls asleep while still waiting for Levi. Instead of being woken by his alpha, Eren's woken by Mikasa screaming his name in almost the exact same manner Hanji had. Groaning as he's forced to roll over, he finds Mikasa and Armin both sitting on his bed. Maria have mercy on his soul, he doesn't have the energy for this "Eren, where have you been? You've been gone for months! Don't you know how worried we were?!" "I'm fine Mikasa. Just tired..." "Don't you give me that. You look awful. Have you been eating? And why didn't you come and find us?!" "Yes, I've been eating. I've been on a mission with Captain Levi. Erwin sent us to check the walls. Probably so Levi didn't murder Jean for crashing into him. And did I mention I'm exhausted?" "You disappeared... we thought we'd lost you" "Mikasa, I was on a mission. You can tone it down" "Tone it down! I thought you were dead!" Groaning again, Eren grabbed his pillow and shoved it over his head "Either quieten down or leave" "Not until you tell us everything" "Can't this wait? I missed you guys, but I'm tired" Pulling the pillow away, Mikasa stared down at him "Eren, did something happen?" "No, why?" "You're acting differently" "Probably because I just spent the whole day travelling home and I'm tired. Then I had a meeting with Erwin, before a check up from Hanji. She ordered me to sleep and that's kind of all I want to do" "Fine! I see how it is!" Jumping off his bed, Mikasa stormed from the room. Eren letting out his third groan "Fuck" "She'll calm down. She's just been super worried about you" "It's not my fault I was away for so long. It's not like I wanted to be, and you guys were sleeping when I left" "I know. I also know you weren't checking the wall. You were looking after Captain Levi, weren't you?" "Who told you that?" "It's kind of obvious. First he's hurt during training, then you both disappeared" "You can't tell anyone. The Corps needs Levi here" "I won't, but are you ok? He can be kind of scary" "I'm fine Armin. He was scary for the first month, but Hanji was checking in with us. He hurt his back, but he's ok now" "I don't think I could have done it" "Probably not. I don't think I've cleaned as much in my whole life as I did in the last two months. I feel like I could sleep for a year" "As long as you're ok" "I am. And I did missed you guys, I'm just so tired, and Mikasa's voice is so loud" "You've for that right. At least I can move back in now that you're back" "Aw. Did you miss my snoring" "More like Jean and Connie still won't let me read at night" "That's nice. Feeling the love, bro" "I missed you. I'll let you get some sleep and I'll talk to Mikasa" "Thanks, Armin. I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast, right?" "Sounds good" Armin patted his leg before leaving him. Retrieving his pillow from his side, Eren's head had only just touched it when there was a knock on his door "What?!" Opening the door, Levi was standing there with a smirk "Hello to you too, brat. What's wrong?" "No one wants to let me sleep" Closing the door behind him, there was a click as the lock was engaged. Walking over to his bed, Levi sat on the edge "Does that mean you don't want me to stay?" "Will you let me sleep? Because I'm fucked" "I'll let you sleep" "Then you can stay" Snorting, his boyfriend went about pulling his boots off. His wet hair was still dripping, giving him the impression Levi had gotten out the shower and come straight to see him. Lifting the side of the blankets so Levi could join him, Eren curled into him immediately, leaving his pillow for Levi to use "Are you ok?" "Mmmm, just sleepy" "Get some sleep then" "I'm trying to" "Shitty brat" Mumbling something that even he couldn't make out, Eren was more than happy to fall back to sleep with Levi in his hold, his boyfriend pressing kisses to the top of his head as he did. * The following morning, Eren woke to find Levi already awake. The alpha having left the room to retrieve his work, and had taken over Armin's bed in an effort to get it done. Letting out a weak whine, Levi looked to him "Hey brat, enjoy your nap?" Whining again, he reached towards his boyfriend, his throat tender as fuck. Abandoning his paperwork, Levi slipped from the bed, padding across the small distance, before sitting down next to him. Placing his calloused palm against his forehead, Levi frowned "You feel warm, and your neck's oozing" "Hanji took samples yesterday" The frown on his boyfriends face turn to a disgusted scowl as he sighed "She should know better by now. Every time she touches your glands, you always have a negative reaction" "Mmm, it's ok. My throat will be ok. I feel like I slept for ages" "Through the afternoon, and into the morning. Armin's already been to check on you" "He did? But... what did you say about being here? I mean, you didn't tell him..." Coughing, he nuzzled into Levi's hand "No, I didn't tell him. I said I was keeping an eye on you because Hanji needs you for experiments and there was no way I was letting you sleep in my bed" "Mmm. That's ok then. Did you get much work done?" "Most of it. Erwin's sending me on a trip up to the Capital in a couple of days. Apparently he needs documents delivered urgently, but he can't trust any of the other shitty members to deliver them" "You're going?" "It'll only be for a week or so" A week seemed like a lifetime. His urge to pull Levi down and have him soothe his pain away with the endless pleasure only his mate could bring was strong, but with all Hanji's tests, he couldn't risk it. He also knew that this time with Levi was precious. They couldn't be this open again once they left this room. He'd go back to his classes and training, while Levi went back to his duties as a Squad Leader. So he wanted to cling. He wanted to cling to Levi and never let him go. Instead, all he could do was nuzzle against his hand as he let out another whine "You'll be fine. Hanji will be taking over your care, and with everything she has planned, you probably won't even have time to miss me" "I'll still miss you" "We have a little time before we need to get you to Hanji, are you up for breakfast?" "Yeah... not too much though" "You need to eat" "My glands are really tender" "That's even more reason to eat. I know you heal fast, but you still need to take care of yourself" Eren snorted, finally pushing himself up so he could rest his head on Levi's shoulder "Who would have thought you had such a soft side?" "It's only for you. And if you tell anyone, I'll kick your arse" "That's my big bad alpha" "You're still a brat" "Mmm. I know things are going to change, but I'm still happy to be with you" "Alright, that's enough sappy shit for now. Get dressed while I organise these papers" Breakfast was cold oatmeal that Eren barely managed to choke down. It wasn't exactly fair that Levi got away with only his usual cup of tea. Nor was it fair that the rest of the squad crowded around Levi to ask how he was recovering, while all Eren got was stuck with the rest of his friends. Both sitting at different tables, which may as well have been in different cities. Annoyed by their persistent questioning, Eren abandoned the dining hall, taking himself down to see Hanji. As usual, Hanji was excited to see him. Leading him through to her private lab, she settled him down on the examination table "Your glands look swollen" "Yeah. Levi said you should know to leave them alone by now" "He did?" "Mmm" Cackling, Hanji shook her head "It's on the list of things I have to do this time around. I was hoping they'd heal over night. Still, you and Levi, hey?" "What about me and Levi?" "You're just calling him by his first name. Could it be you and he...?" Hanji's smile couldn't get any wider "What?! No. It's not like that!" "Mhmm. And where is Leeeevi this morning?" Eren ignored the accusing way Hanji extended the "e" in his boyfriend's name "Working. Erwin's sending him to the Capital" "Yep. Which means you're stuck here with me" "I don't mind. I've literally been stuck with Levi for two months. He doesn't always appreciate my humour" "Did he make you clean?" "I don't think I ever want to see another scrubbing brush again" "We both know you don't mean that. You would have been back a whole lot sooner if it was that bad" "I'm pretty sure we couldn't come back until Levi healed. Besides, Erwin was practically drooling over him last night. I don't think he cared I was back" "Awww. Are you jealous?" "Hanji, I will bite you if you keep this up" Laughing again, Hanji grabbed her notebook "You sound just like him. Ok, so today, we don't need to do your bloods, and I won't need to biopsy your glands again" "Good, because they really fucking hurt" "You know, every time I hear you swear, it makes me want to laugh. You're too sweet to be swearing" "I'm not that sweet" "Of course you are. Now, I'm going start with nail and hair samples... and I'm going to need a tooth" "Yay. Have I told you how happy I am to be back?" "Yep. If it helps, I can sedate you and wake you after it's all over" "No. We both know they get cranky when there's drugs in my samples" "I've already taken the blood samples, we're all set to drug you up" "And we're not going to repeat the tests?" "Nope" "In that case, drug me up and do what you will" Hanji winked "Oh baby, you have no idea the things I could do to you" "I think I'll just take a dose of sedatives, with a follow up shot of sleep" "Ooooh. I think I can do that. Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?" "As long as you leave the lights on" Hanji giggled as she nodded "I can do that, but I don't think I need to subject you to my singing" "Aw. Maybe you'll sound better when I'm unconscious?" "This is true. I'll be right back, then we can get started" "Take your time" "You're such a cutie" "And you're deluded" * With Petra and Erwin both gushing over him, Levi felt like smacking his head repeatedly on the nearest wall. He was fine. He was still a little stiff, but he was fine. With Eren's blood, he'd be healed in no time, but that would mean actually finding 5 minutes for himself. He hadn't even gotten to walk Eren down to Hanji, as the kid was dragged away from him by his friends, while the rest of his squad wanted to know how he was, if he was actually healed, when he was leaving for Capital and about a hundred other shitty questions. All he could think about was Eren's swollen scent glands. He'd fed from them just fine during the brat's heat, none of them swelling or oozing like they had for Hanji's needles, and the idea of his... his boyfriend being pain and left him on edge. He was still struggling to accept the fact that Eren was truly his... boyfriend. He had no idea what normal people do when dating, only that he wanted the teen by his side and he desperately wanted to protect him... hell, he was still dealing with the fact he was sleeping with a 16 and a half year old brat, who made him feel like he was half his age, and the fact all it took was a single look or touch to ignite a fire in his gut. He was pathetic. In love with kid who would be spending the next three weeks in the hands of Hanji. Something he desperately wished he could save Eren from, but Shitty Eyebrows was sending him away. A bit so subtle move to seperate the pair of them, and move that was definitely not appreciated. It was nearing on lunch time before Levi finally managed to escape to Hanji's lab. Eren was out cold on the bed, while Hanji was noting something or other down "How is he?" Jumping, Hanji squealed as she span to face him "Levi! You look great!" "Touch me and I'll break your hand" "Awww. You're so sweet. Your little boyfriend is just fine" "My boyfriend?" "Don't tell me you two didn't finally get together! You were alone for long enough" "You're not funny. Why's under?" "I needed a tooth, and he agreed he'd rather be under when I took it" "A tooth? That's fucking revolting. Do you know how many germs are in the human mouth?" "It's not my fault. How do you think I feel? I don't want to hurt him, I even took gland samples last night in a hope they'd heal before today" "You should know to leave them alone" Hanji's grin grew "Eren said the exact same thing" "It's true. I don't know what you're doing, but you're doing it wrong" "Oh! You're going to tell me how to do my job?" "I will when you put the kid in pain. He's had to put up with me while I was out of my mind. He's suffered enough" "Well, he's all done. He's just sleeping the sedatives off. Now, tell me more about you. How's your back? And when did you start drinking Eren's blood? And did he have his heat while you were together? I need to know all about it" "I've been feeding off Eren daily for the last 3 weeks. It only took a couple of feeds for it start working. And why do you need to know about Eren's heat? It's his business" "Oooooh. Daily. And I need to know because the Government's given me medication for him" "Not that shit that makes him bleed" "I don't know. I've never seen a composition like it, so I can't fabricate the results. We both know I would rather not put him through that" Levi paused. He didn't want to admit to Hanji that he was dating Eren, but he didn't know how much the brat had told her. He also didn't want Hanji potentially endangering Eren's life because he hadn't sacked up enough to admit it "If you mention anything to Erwin, I will fucking gut you" "Mention anything to me, about what?" Oh for fuck sake. Couldn't he just have five fucking minutes without Erwin. Taking a deep breath, he tried to settle his features into something that wasn't quite a hateful glare "Eren's sick from Hanji's shitty poking. He's going to be fine, but he won't want to be put on standby while his glands heal" "If he's sick, he's a danger" "He's not a danger. It's just his glands and his scent" "Yep. I took samples last night and they haven't healed. I've just been taking the samples the Government requested" He's actually have thank Hanji for backing up his misdirection, the thought annoying him immensely "I can't believe this. What use is he if he's sick. The Government is already hounding me for those results" "Hey! We are not doing this all over again. His glands were agitated by their experiments. Most of what they want done won't be affected by the fact his glands are swollen. One or two days and he'll be healed" "Make sure he is. He's had enough time off" Crossing his arms, Levi straightened his back "He wasn't on holiday" "He might as well have been" "Because having your superior officer attack you regularly in a haze of blood lust, screams holiday" "We only sent him as he was the only one able to stand being attacked by you. You tore his arm open and it healed. That was evidence enough" "What the fuck are you talking about?" "Eren didn't come running to you about it?" "Erwin, either explain what the fuck you're talking about, or get out" "Levi, you were out of it when you first came too. I told you about this. I tried to feed Eren your blood and you mauled his arm..." Oh... he vaguely remembered something like that "That's old news. Why are you bringing that up?" "Because he's using you. Can't you see it? You spent the night in his room. What for?" "Because he's sick..." "If I asked him, would he say the same thing?" "Probably not, as he was asleep all night. It's not like it impacted on getting my paperwork done" Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose, the man closing his eyes as he took a deep breath "Hanji, keep Eren here. Levi, you'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I expect all your work to be completed, before you do. Hanji, organise blood for Levi, blood that isn't Eren's" "Erwin..." "That's all. Keep me apprised on Eren's condition" Leaving just as abruptly as he'd arrived, Levi growled is annoyance "What the fuck was that?" "Erwin was really concerned when you were hurt" "I know that" "He blamed it all on Eren. It scared the hell out of him, seeing he was so distressed over you" "It was an accident" "But finding out you and he were never going to be a couple, followed by Eren being the one to carry you back to the castle... all his anger was directed at him" "Why didn't you tell me?" "I did. You were in and out of lucidity, so I'm not surprised you don't remember. Eren really was a wreck. I've never seen him so distraught" "That's because he's a brat" "Levi, we both know there's more to it than that" "Hanji, what is it you want me to say" "I want you to tell me what Erwin means to you, and what Eren means to you" "Erwin was supposed to be my friend, but with the way he's been treating Eren... it's not my fault I don't have feelings for him" "And Eren?" "Do you even have to ask?" Hanji screamed as she threw her arms up "I knew it!" "Shut up. Eren doesn't want anyone to know" "Ok. Ok. I'm so happy for you!" "Don't be happy for me, just look after him" "I will. Buuuut I need to know, have you two done it yet" "What are we, 12?" "Fine. Have you and Eren had sexual intercourse" "Out of everything, that's the first thing you want to ask?" "Well, I want to know if he went into heat?" "If you mean he worked his arse off to put up with my shit until he collapsed, and stressed himself into a heat. Then yes" "What was it like? Was he ok? Did his scent change before or after his heat? Did the taste of his blood change? What was the sex like?" "Is this even relevant to his health?" "Completely" "His heat was rough, but he was sane for most of it" "Really? Usually he can't remember what he says or does. Maybe it was actually having a partner" "It was fucked. I had no idea much pain he'd goes through when he had one" "On the plus side, at least you couldn't get him pregnant" "Don't even joke about that" "His womb was removed, and I haven't seen any mention of it in the Government notes or research materials. When you fed from him, was it..." "From neck, arm and glands" "And his glands didn't react" "They healed perfectly fine. Even during his heat" "I wonder why my needles seem to cause such an extreme effect" "Don't you dare go stabbing them again" "I don't need to" "Good. Now, how long before he wakes up?" "He shouldn't be under for much longer. But you have paperwork to do, and I have tests to run" "Fucking Eyebrows" "I'll try and finish everything I can today, that way you can spend some time with him before you have to leave" "Don't say it like that. Just because we're... whatever we are, doesn't change anything. And no talking to Eren about it, either" "Awww. He'd give details" "I know he would. That's the problem" "My babies finally got together! I'm so happy" "I will end you" "You keep saying that, but I never see any evidence" Snarling, Levi bared his teeth, Hanji's smile faltering slightly "You're precious boy is safe in my hands. Now let me finish up" Fucking Shitty Glasses kicked him out now that she had what she wanted. Maybe he should have just lied through his aching teeth? He was never going to hear the end of it, especially if things didn't go well and she sure as shit didn't deserve to be thanked after all that crap. Stalking back to Eren's room, he found Armin moving back in "Captain Levi, sir?!" "Relax Arlert. I need the paperwork I left here" "It's stacked on Eren's bed, sir... um, speaking of Eren, where is he?" "He'll be with Hanji until the required experiments are completed" "So there's no point me moving back in?" "No one's going to stop you. Though you'll most likely be alone" "That's fine. Um... is Eren actually ok?" "His scent glands are a little swollen from Hanji's poking, but she assures me he's fine" "That's good... I'll let you get back to it, sir" He probably shouldn't find Armin's fear of him as funny as he did, the kid couldn't even look him in the eyes. Shitty brat. At least Eren had a friend that actually wanted him around. Hopefully Hanji would let the boy see his friend... because with Erwin on his rampage, Eren could use all the friends he could get. * True to her word, Hanji came fetched him once she was done with Eren. The woman not so subtly slipping the key to her private lab into his pocket, before shoving him into the room and slamming the door closed behind him. Eren was laying on the table, blood around his paws as he huffed unhappily. Walking over to the bed, Levi leant to down to stroke Eren's ears affectionately "Hey. How do you feel?" Eren let out a whimper as he shifted back, trying to push himself up before failing miserably "I thought Hanji wasn't supposed to be pushing you too far" "It's fine. I tripped over my own feet and face planted" "You. Never" "It was kind of spectacular, if I do say so myself" "Give me a second to lock the door, then I'm yours for the next few hours" "What? How?" "Blame Hanji" "She knows, doesn't she?" "What makes you say that?" "She kept looking at me and smiling" "Of course she did. I'm leaving in the morning, so she gave me the key for the night" "Mmm, I feel like the only time I've got to see today was waking up and sleeping" "It's fine" Crawling into the thin bed with Eren, Eren's lips found his. The teen no longer sleepy by the feel of the erection he was grind into Levi's hip. Hefting his omega into his lap, he shot his boyfriend a smirk as he slapped his arse. Letting out a squeak, Eren pouted "What was that for?" "For abandoning me at breakfast" "I didn't abandon you. I was letting you catch up with everyone" "That's why you kept looking at me" "I wanted to have breakfast with you" "Nothing stopped you" "I didn't want to be in the way" "Right now, these pants are in the way" "I should do something about that" "You should..." With clumsy hands, Eren finally got Levi's pants undone. The reaction the teen gave every time he eyed his erection was adorable. His eyes going wide, before he'd lick his lips and give a little wiggle "Clam down, brat" "I don't want to, sir" "We have hours" "But I've felt empty all day..." Sina Maria. Those words were a sin "Then I guess we'll just have to change that" Pouting his plump pink lips, Eren shimmied his underwear off, completely gracelessly, before straddling his lap. His lover pressing his lips to his as Levi's hands moved to Eren's arse. He wasn't going to risk hurting his omega, not when he wasn't going to be there to take care of him. Whining into his mouth, Eren bit his bottom as Levi slowly began to open him with his finger "Feeling good?" "Sooo good" "Mmm, my good little omega. Nice and wet, making it so easy for me to fuck you with my fingers" Honestly, he had no idea where any of these words were coming from, but they reduced Eren to a blushing and begging mess "I'm going to fill you up so good, while I drink down that blood of yours" "L-Levi... need you" "I don't want to tear you" "You won't. Need you so bad" "Go on then" Kissing him quickly, Eren pulled back, pulling Levi's hand from him so he could guide himself down onto Levi's weeping erection. He really did feel like a horny teenagers with Eren. He couldn't get enough of his beautiful body, and lusty little pants and moans. Gripping the edge of the bed, Eren arched his back, his legs spread enough for Levi to watch him fucking himself on his erection "Fuck, you're so beautiful" Blushing, Eren let his head roll back, his moans growing louder by the second. When the trend rhythm grew sloppy, Levi held him down by the hips, rocking hard up against his lover until Eren came across his stomach, screaming his name. As his knot flared, he pulled his boyfriend down, nuzzling and kissing his hair "So good to me..." Eren was making that rumbling purr of his as he fought to catch his breath. Massaging his lower back, they basked in their after glow "You're so perfect" "Shhh... sleeping" "Shitty brat" "I don't want to let you go" "You don't have to. Not right now" "Tomorrow" "I'm sorry I have to go, but if you're good for Hanji, I'll bring you back something" "I only want you to bring yourself back" "I'll be back. I promise you" "And I'll be waiting" "I would bring you with me if I could" "It's ok. Hanji said I'll stay down here while you're gone" "Yeah. And don't listen to anything Erwin has to say. He's just in a chronic shit mood" "Mmm. I'll behave" "Not for the rest of the night, you won't" "Then shut up feed" Fuck, his cocky little brat was perfect.

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amymel86 · 7 years

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Not How It Was Meant To Happen - part 4/5 - Jon x Sansa

Jon's not quite sure what he's done wrong - apart from ruin her life by knocking her up, you idiot - but Sansa has definitely been avoiding him lately.

Sure, they still go grocery shopping together and Jon attends all the baby related appointments and antenatal classes, but he finds himself alone in their lounge most evenings whilst Sansa secludes herself to her room. They don't even eat their evening meal together and Jon can't remember the last time she laid a sleepy head on his shoulder or lap to watch tv together. He misses that.

The only reason that Jon can think would cause this distance between them is the very thing he hoped Sansa had not noticed - his utter depravity.

He can't help it - the staring. His eyes are constantly being pulled to the roundness of her belly and the swell of her breasts. He's not forgotten all the other aspects of Sansa that used to fuel his dreams either - her long shapely legs, glittering blue eyes, perfectly shaped rosy lips and all that glossy copper hair - but these new admirations - they are there because of him, and it makes him feel oddly possessive and equally aroused.

He'll never admit to liking the way they look together, - on the odd occasion that they do venture out of the apartment as a twosome. Sansa's pregnant state is like a non verbal warning to all other men - back off, she's mine...even though she isn't.

Jon tries not to think too closely about what type of man that train of thought makes him.

Like she is a piece of land that Jon has raised his flag upon and staked his claim.

But Sansa is not that piece of land to be owned and claimed - she is an intelligent, witty, driven and caring woman. Jon knows this. He knows it to his core, and yet the caveman part of his brain often overrules him of late.

He wonders if other men look at her growing curves and feel the same tight feeling of carnal want that he does? Maybe they don't, maybe it's sparked something primal with in him because Sansa is carrying HIS child? Maybe they do? And in that case, Jon is completely willing to break a few noses.

Either way, he's a little ashamed at just how often he cums in his hand by imagining a pregnant Sansa riding his cock....He feels especially guilty when the crying starts.

It's normal, she tries to tell him with red puffy eyes. Just hormones wreaking havoc, she says with a sniff and a forced watery smile. But Jon can't help but think that there's more to it.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Jon" Sansa sniffles and snorts one time when he finds her balled up on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, her face wet with tears and snot.

"Sorry for what, Sansa"? Jon says in the softest voice he could muster, feeling like he wanted to cry himself, looking at her lashes, wet with tears.

"For what I've done....the mistake" she whispered in a shaky, gasp of a voice.

"....I don't...what do you mean, love"?

"Getting pregnant...all of it" she says so quietly it's as if she mouths it, her eyes fixed on the carpet.

"Getting pregnant"? Jon repeats "...why are you-....that was both of us Sans...I'm...I'm sorry too...it's not ideal, but it was both of us, we both made that baby...please don't be sorry, don't shoulder any blame" Jon curls one hand over her knee in what he hopes is a comforting gesture.

Sansa moves her eyes to try to meet his - except that they don't. She's not looking at him, she's looking through him, as one side of her mouth is forced to quirk upwards slightly to mimic something close to a smile. She blinks rapidly as if the movement would seal off her tear ducts and takes a quick, large suck of a breath. "I think I'll have a bath".

And just like that, she moves away from Jon, leaving him concerned on the couch as he listens to the thunder of water rushing from the taps in the bathroom.

Jon worries himself about Sansa's episodes of sadness so much that after one of her antenatal appointments, he makes an excuse to leave her side for a brief moment in order to corner a midwife to ask what he could do. Depression during pregnancy can be quite common, he's told, as the plump, motherly woman jots down a dedicated helpline number to pass on to Sansa.

"Here" he says, once they'd both buckled up in his car, ready for the journey home, handing her the yellow post-it note with the number on it. "A midwife gave it to me...its for if you want to talk to someone about how you're feeling....you know...ah...emotions and things".

Sansa doesn't say anything. Just nods and sticks the yellow square to his glove compartment door. She turns to her window which is littered with raindrops and has steamed up on the inside. Sansa idly draws little hearts on the foggy glass. She does that a lot, and Jon normally finds himself smiling when past hearts reappear each time it's cold out. Sansa spends the whole car journey gazing out of the window and stroking her now very round belly. Jon wishes he could just casually reach out and touch it too, maybe cover her hand with his and never let go.

*******

Sansa's busying herself with something new one day when he comes home from work. She's there on the sofa with needles and soft mint green wool, the tip of her tongue touching her top lip in concentration.

"I've taught myself to knit"! She exclaims breezily, not looking up from the click clack of needles. "Well - YouTube taught me how to knit really" her eyes flicker up to Jon with a smile that he'd not seen on her face for such a long time.

Jon grins back at her, just plain happy that she's happy.

He catches sight of what she's already made, laid out on the sofa next to her. Two little booties and a hat. "Sans! Did you make those today"?!

"Yea - those were easy. I'm doing a cardigan next"! She beams up at him before holding up the knitting pattern for him to see.

"You learnt how to do this today"?

"I've got a lot of time on my hands Jon... and I can't stand doing nothing all day, so I took at trip to the craft store first thing this morning".

Jon sits down and picks up one of the little booties, it was white and had a little blue ribbon thread through it at the ankle, tied into a bow.

"I've got pink ribbon too...to swap out if it's a girl".

"They're so small" he croaks, fingering the soft wool.

"So will our baby be" Sansa smiles.

He likes it when she says stuff like that - our baby - reminding him that whatever they are to each other, there will always be this something, this one thing, this little person that will link them together permanently. Our baby.

"I wish I could do more" Jon says, causing Sansa to still her needles and look up at him in question. "For the baby...I can't make stuff like this Sansa, you're great at stuff like this" he says, his fingers brushing over the turned up rim of the little hat.

"You do plenty Jon"! Sansa says forcefully "you found this apartment for us, you've bought the crib and things....and you'll be shouldering the rent alone after my maternity pay stops....until I get a new job".

"You don't have to if you don't want to...get another job that is".

"I don't want my career to ground to a halt Jon" she starts up the knocking of needles and looping of yarn again, her hands moving in an irritated fashion as she scowls at her slowly forming creation.

Jon brings his attention back to the little woollen boot in his hand. He clears his throat for words unknown. Sansa had always been focussed on what she had wanted to do, always been career minded. She'd had a couple of temp contracts with different magazines, shadowing writers and editors and generally being the office assistant, but she longed to be the one doing the writing herself, to put her Journalism degree to good use. Jon had never had that amount of focus in his life.

Until now.

Jon felt Sansa's eyes on him again, the noise of her knitting slowing down to a silent stop. He looked up to meet her gaze.

"Would you like to do some"?

He stares back at her, perplexed. Sansa smiles in return.

"The next few rows are a simple knit....you could do a couple for me if you like"?

"You think I could knit"?

"I know you can" Sansa replies, scooting close to be side-by-side, her thigh touching with Jons. She raises her needles out in front of her, all her previous work hanging from one of them. Glancing at him with an encouraging smile, Sansa proceeds to show Jon the proper loop, hook and pull of a stitch. She repeats the action three times and then hands him her work. She guides his hands and yarn for the first stitch but soon backs away, returning to the cozy corner of the sofa he found her in. Jon can feel her eyes on him even through his concentration.

Sansa giggles as Jon is nearing the end of the row of knitting. "Well I never thought knitting could be hot, but you've somehow managed to pull it off"!

Jon glances up at her, only a single beat of a second slips by before he beams back at her mischievous look.

"Even with that little tongue poke you do" Sansa chuckles.

"Tongue poke"?

"Yea... when you're really concentrating, you poke your lil' tongue out to the side like this".

Sansa mimics him and Jon thinks that there's no way that he looks as adorable as she does right now.

"I don't do that" he shakes his head happily. He doesn't mention that Sansa does something similar, he likes that she's unaware of it.

"You so do".

After their shared laughter drifts out of their grasp, there's an inkling of awkwardness to the silence that replaces it. Sansa picks at imaginary fluff on her leggings.

"How's Ygritte"?

"You know Ygritte"? He asks, genuinely confused and taken aback by the sudden question.

"She introduced herself that time I missed you for lunch" Sansa shrugged.

"She's fine, she's fine..." Jon nods "settling in well at work...she already knows a lot about the tools we sell, so she's pretty good at advising people on those".

"That's good" Sansa responds, forcing herself to look at Jon and give him a smile. Her eyes betraying the sunny farce.

"Is everything alright Sans"?

"Oh yes" she says quickly, nodding far too enthusiastically, before alighting the sofa. "I'm going to start dinner, do you think you could do three more rows of knitting, just like that"? Sansa calls over her shoulder, not waiting to hear his response before she disappears in the direction of the kitchen.

****************

Two Weeks Later

Being a manager has many perks, Jon realises, as he yet again avoids Ygritte at work by locking himself away in his office while she's on the shop floor with Grenn.

He could have chalked up her flirtatious behaviour to either it just plainly being part of her character or his own over-active imagination....if it weren't for the conversation he had with Grenn last week....

"She's after you I reckon".

"Who"?

"The other redhead in your life - the one you haven't knocked up"

Jon rolls his eyes. "Ygritte? She's not 'in my life'....I just work with her".

"Ah-huh" Grenn nods, rubbing his jaw whilst keeping his eyes trained on Jon. "You'd better tell her that".

"You're being ridiculous" Jon muttered to himself before raising the level of his voice. "Why on earth would she be interested? She knows I live with Sansa".

"Just 'live with'"? Grenn raises an eyebrow. "Nothing more going on between you and your baby-mama"?

Jon ignored his friends question with a grunt before turning his back on him to busy himself by changing a till roll. He hears Grenn's quiet chuckle behind him.

"Ok...so maybe I have noticed that she's....overly friendly with me sometimes...how do I let her know I'm not interested"?

"Fire her"? Grenn shrugs.

"Yes, that sounds fair" Jon snorts sarcastically.

"I dunno bossman....but the way that little firecracker stares at you sometimes?...." Grenn shudders "it's fucking intense man...in a lock-your-pet-bunny-away-safely kinda way, you know"?

After bumbling about in his office, managing to stretch out all of the paperwork he could possibly do, Jon heads to the stock room with a print out of a spreadsheet to do a stocktake.

He's in there, in the small, dark room, in amongst storage shelves, counting boxes of nails when he hears the door open and click closed again.

"So this where you're hiding" Ygritte says in a cheery tone.

Jon glances at her nervously, gives her a perfunctory smile and turns back to his stocktake. He somehow manages to finish his counting of one particular size of nail and takes the pencil out from behind his ear to jot down the number - all while he can feel her eyes blazing hot on his back.

"How's Sansa"?

Jon starts at her question, turning around to Ygritte, unable to stop the glare from leaving his eyes.

"She's fine" he says curtly.

"It's very good of you, you know" she purrs, stalking closer "letting her live with you".

"She's having my baby Ygritte, it's the least I could do" Jon replies, starting to turn back to face the shelves before Ygritte places a hand in his arm to stop him.

"But you didn't need to...you're a good man".

Jon looks down at her hand, feeling it scorch through his skin, branding his bones and marrow. "No....anyone would do that...anyone should do that, if they're in my situation....it's about being decent, not good....besides-" he raises his eyes to glare directly back at Ygritte "I would do anything for Sansa...for Sansa and the baby".

Ygritte's smile falters ever so slightly before she regains control of herself. "Your situation?...what situation is that, Jon"?

Jon shrugs his arm away from her touch and moves to face her square on. "What are you getting at Ygritte"?

"All I'm saying is..." she leans in closer, talking deliberately slowly "perhaps you'd like...a different kind of situation"? On her last words she quickly closes the gap and presses her demanding lips to his.

"What the hell you doing"?! He demands as he rears backwards, knocking into a shelving unit.

"Come on Jon" she steps forward, stroking his chest.

"No. Ygritte"

"Don't let this one little thing ruin your life" she says, hooking her hands around his neck and pushing herself into him making Jon feel penned in. "Kiss me Jon".

"No! I don't want this...I don't want you like that Ygritte"!

"Fine! Go back home to your precious mistake"!

"Mistake"?! Jon pushes her back by the tops of her arms, shaking her a little whilst lowering his head to level their eye-lines "have you said something to Sansa"?

Ygritte keeps quiet, the only sound in the small room being Jon's ragged breaths as he feels his anger rapidly rising "HAVE YOU"?! He yells, his grip on her arms must be painful by now. Ygritte just smirks in response.

"Do you know what Ygritte"? Jon says, deciding he'll get no answers from her by shaking her to death, "you're still within your probationary period - consider your employment with Castle Black Hardware terminated". Jon pushes past her and stalks out of the room, not seeing the confused look of panic on Ygritte's face as he slams the door shut behind him.

Jon strides out to the shop floor, past Grenn at the till without comment and straight out to the pavement outside. Taking in a large slow drag of fresh air, he closes his eyes and then scrubs a hand down his face.

His levels of irritation reach new peaks as his phone buzzes in his pocket.

"What"?! He answers angrily, not looking at who was calling.

"Jon...its the baby...I think something's wrong" Sansa sobs on the other end of the line.

#jonsa #jon x sansa #jon x sansa fanfiction #jonxsansaff #jonsa fan fiction #jonsa fic #jonsa fanfic #jonsaff #jonsansaff #jonsan fic #not How It Was Meant To Happen #pregnant sansa

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years

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Horse Trekking in Kyrgyzstan and Tackling the 3-Day Panorama Trek

When it comes to horse trekking in Kyrgyzstan most travellers tend to make a beeline for Song Kol. This is one of the best-known routes in the country and it’s the same route I took on my first trip to Kyrgyzstan.

Song Kol is as beautiful as can be and reaching the lakeside camp around sunset is about as postcard-perfect as it gets, but coming back to Kyrgyzstan for our second trip, Sam and I were looking to veer off the trodden trail and maybe try something new.

Luckily for us, in the past year, the tourism board has been developing a whole bunch of new trekking routes along Issyk-Kul’s south shore so we got to be one of the first travellers testing out one of the trails!

We ended up doing a 3-day horse trek along the Panorama Trail, which starts and ends in Bokonbayevo doing a big loop through the valley. Physically, it was a challenging 3 days that involved a mix of horse trekking and hiking, but it was also a rewarding 3 days where we shared meals with our host families, picnicked by alpine lakes, befriended the sweetest Kyrgyz hunting dog, came face to face with ancient petroglyphs, and saw the hard work that goes into being a shepherd in the summer pastures.

Here’s a recap of that adventure:

Day 1:

Riding to the jailoo, a crazy hail storm, and a light hike.

Our tour started at 9 in the morning when we were met by our guide who came to pick us up from our guesthouse in Bokonbayevo. He already had the horses saddled up and ready to go, so after saying goodbye to our host for a few days, we hopped on the horses and started the journey out of town.

This was a very easy day of riding with most of the terrain being relatively flat. We briefly rode through a residential area as we maneuvered our way out of town, but it wasn’t long before the landscape gave way to pink fields in bloom and mountains off in the horizon.

We rode a total of 4 hours that morning reaching camp right around lunch time, and let me tell you, we were ready for food!

Our host family had a large plot of land in the valley consisting of one modern two-story home and an older traditional stone house where they had the kitchen and ate their meals.

Feeling famished from a day of riding, we sat down at the table where we had a typical Kyrgyz food spread consisting of fried bread known as borsok, fresh-churned cream, raspberry jam, biscuits, fresh apricots, and non-stop cups of tea; the Kyrgyz are renowned for their hospitality and they’ll ensure your cup of tea is never empty!

Shortly after lunch, a hail storm unleashed above us, so we retreated to the yurt for cover. From the intensity of the thundering and lightning, I was expecting rain for the rest of the day, but the storm passed as quickly as it arrived. Within a half hour, the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, and we just had a bit of hail left on the ground as evidence.

With the storm past us, our guide suggested an afternoon hike, so we walked up one of the hills for views of snow-capped mountains off in the distance. It was on this hike, that we also befriended the cutest Kyrgyz hunting dog who would become our companion for the rest of the trip! He was happy to tag along with us, take a detour or two when he spotted some prey, and then rejoin our trio for pets and ear scratches.

That evening we had dinner with the family. The wood-burning stove had warmed up the entire kitchen, so it was very toasty despite the low temperatures outside. We all sat down around the table, where we enjoyed heaping bowls of plov; a mixed-rice dish with carrots and beef.

Since it was already dark out but still too early to go to bed, we sat around in the kitchen watching a kok-boru match on their television. This is a popular game across Central Asia, often compared to polo, except instead of using a ball, players are trying to score with a sheep or goat’s carcass! This brought back some memories from the World Nomad Games where I first watched the game.

Day 2:

Steep inclines, an idyllic picnic, and the best views!

After a hearty breakfast of fried eggs, bread with cream and jam, and many cups of piping hot chai, it was time to say goodbye to our host family. We took lots of photos together on their smartphones (because rural living doesn’t mean you have to be disconnected!), and then it was back on the horses to continue the journey with our new dog friend in tow.

This was the hardest day of riding since it involved some steep inclines, but it was also the most beautiful day of riding bringing us ever closer to the snowy mountain peaks. The highest pass was 3,080 meters, but don’t let that scare you off; just be prepared to take it slow with lots of zig-zagging up the face of the mountain.

Also, lunch that day was about as scenic as it gets. We rode to a small alpine lake at the very top of one of the mountain passes where our guide laid out a picnic for us to share. Our meal consisted of loaves of bread, smoked cheese, sausage, juice, peanuts, dried apricots, bananas, chocolate bars, and more snacks than I can remember.

The whole experience was rather mystical because we had this thick fog rolling over us, so there were moments we were shrouded by a veil of grey, but then it would part and we’d get a glimpse of the scenery in front of us. It was one of the coolest picnic locations ever!

The afternoon trek was a bit challenging; now that we had gained all that altitude, we needed to come down the back face of the mountain. There were parts that I did on horseback, and other parts where I hopped off and hiked instead – if you’re not an experienced rider or your knees can’t handle going downhill, this is always an option.

It was a slow descent and I had to slide down on my rear on a couple of tricky sections, but in the end, we managed. I think we were all pretty thrilled to reach our camp – our guide included!

That night we stayed with a shepherding family in their summer home. It was a simple 2-room structure made of stone, mud and straw. The first room as soon as you entered the house was a dining area and kitchen; here they had a wood-burning stove, a low table, and a few mats for people to sit on. The other room was the family bedroom, which looked empty by day, but this is where they rolled the mats and blankets out at night.

I will admit that this was unlike any homestay I’ve ever done in the past and at first I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. In total, we slept 11 people to one room all lined up next to each other on the floor, but at the same time, everyone welcomed us so warmly and they were willing to share everything they had with us, that we couldn’t help but feel humbled by their generosity.

Without distractions like Wi-Fi, television, or books to pass time, we spent the afternoon watching the family herd their 700+ sheep and get them back into their corral for the night. We then had a dinner of oromo; a steamed layered dough filled with carrots, cabbage and potato, and then it was time for bed.

That night I fell asleep to the sounds of the family’s cooing baby, soft snoring, and the smell of fermented mare’s milk in the air.

Day 3:

Ancient petroglyphs, easy riding, and a farewell.

The following morning I woke up feeling refreshed by some of the best sleep of my life, but I guess fresh mountain air and some heavy blankets will do that to you.

For breakfast, we had white semolina porridge, bread with jam, and many cups of chai, and then again, it was time to say goodbye to our host family and hop on our horses.

This turned out to be a really easy day of riding, starting out with a slight downhill incline, before levelling out into flat terrain.

Halfway through the morning, we stopped off at a field that had giant boulders with petroglyphs. We were able to spot a camel, a mountain goat, and a man on horseback, who our guide claimed was Marco Polo himself. How cool is that? The petroglyphs were hiding in plain sight making history feel so palpable.

After visiting the petroglyphs, we had another picnic lunch. It was another generous spread consisting of flat bread, sausage, canned fish, biscuits, juice, nuts, raisins and more. Of course, we also fed our dear Kyrgyz hunting dog who was still with us on day 3. Our guide actually had to approach some locals to find out who owned the dog, and then leave him in someone’s yard to be picked up by his owner because otherwise, the dog would have walked with us all the way back into Bokonbayevo. It was bittersweet parting with the pup, who had earned the name Dog Friend, but he had a home and we were moving on.

After 3 days up in the mountains, it felt a bit strange arriving back in town. Even though Bokonbayevo has a population just over 10,ooo people, it still felt very busy!

Back in town, we returned to our guesthouse, picked up our luggage, and hopped in a taxi to Bel Tam, where we would spend the next 3 days doing a lakeside yurt stay, but that’s another story for another blog post.

Planning your trek from Bokonbayevo

CBT Kyrgyzstan (Community Based Tourism Kyrgyzstan) has offices across the country, including the town of Bokonbayevo. They can help arrange everything from drivers and homestays, to horse treks and day hikes. The best thing you can do is pop into their offices once you’re in town, or send them an email if you prefer to organize things in advance.We did our 3-day trek through them and had a great experience. They speak English in their offices and they can offer suggestions on routes that often aren’t even listed in your guidebook.

A few tips for trekking in Kyrgyzstan

Pack for all kinds of weather. Over the course of our 3-day trek, we had sunshine and overcast skies, hail storms and light rains. You could experience all of the above in one single day, so go for light and breathable layers that you can easily add and take off. Also, always have a rain-jacket on hand.

Protect yourself from the sun. Needless to say, the sun is a scorcher at high altitudes, so you’ll want to bring sunscreen and apply it more frequently than you normally would.

Drink lots of water. On that note, it’s also important you stay hydrated. We brought two bottles each and always finished them by mid-afternoon. Your guide will usually also be carrying extra water, but re-confirm that before you set out on your trek.

Wear the right shoes. Go for something sturdy that provides arch and ankle support. I did not pack the right shoes on this trip and regretted it. Hiking boots are ideal but at the very least a good pair of running shoes with tread.

Bring your bathroom essentials. That means toilet paper, baby wipes (no chance of a shower), and hand sanitizer.

Keep a flashlight handy. You’ll need it at night to find your way to the outhouse.

Choose what’s right for you. There are all kinds of treks in Kyrgyzstan in varying lengths and levels of difficulty. Some treks involve homestays, some yurt stays, and others camping in tents. Some treks are 2 weeks in length and others are only a half-day. Ask for information at the CBT offices so you know what you’re getting yourself into and then make an informed decision. You can find a few more tips for travel in Kyrgyzstan here.

Also, here’s a video from our 3-day horse trek so you can get a better idea of that trip:

Have you been trekking in Kyrgyzstan? What were some of your favourite spots?

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glennmalcolm · 7 years

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Everything STEM. Do All Methods of Learning to Code Require a Device and an App?

Coding in schools is big business. Everywhere you turn there's a STEM organisation vying for your attention alongside Barack Obama himself. With STEM, or it’s brethren, STEAM, covering all bases from ex-MIT students and employees through to a multitude of KickStarter campaigns it seems that if you have an idea for children to learn to code you'd better get busy and sort your Chinese manufacturers out, STAT.

STEM + Device. What's the real goal?

With this influx of coding opportunities for educators, parents and children alike, there's almost always a 'thing' attached [a ‘thing’ in this case is defined as an attachment by which the application that controls it makes the money]. If your product doesn't have (and I need to try to differentiate this from Nursery ages and up) an iPad 'thing' to connect, a wooden 'thing' to control, a blue plastic 'thing' to program, a stand alone robot 'thing' to learn from an app (though not strictly coding), Raspberry Pi 'thing', another Pi 'thing' or the many, many, many Arduino 'things' that range from the brilliantly simple to the absurd then children will simply not be able to learn to code in the way POTUS once directed. Then there's the premier league trio: WeDO, LEGO and Tetrix. All Hail!

Something’s not quite right. If your students are learning about instructions then all is good as too, if your students are below seven years old. But what about further along the track? If you are learning to program, do you need an attached 'thing'? LittleBits for example, lets you work only on the 'thing' because it is the thing.

What I really do like about these ‘things’ is the engagement they offer. What I don't like about them is that there is usually little to no support for the average layman teacher, the expectation that you 'just gotta tinker and you'll understand’ and, in some of the cases, where to give a class worth of kids the experience of 'hive' learning, they are exorbitantly expensive for what they really are. And, if you want to be trained or a club for your students, then you'd better be prepared to fork out a lot of cash for, in my experience, very little in return.

This is an age old situation though: have idea, prototype, build, take to market and sell to an education department of unsuspecting heads of school for an unnecessarily high uptick (TTS Bee Bots for $70+ we're looking at you). The other side to this is that the coding aspect to them is now 'appified'. Appified is a disgusting term however needs must.

Apps for this, Apps for that

There's an app for everything. I understand that control is necessary for these types of devices. However, the snag is there is another fork to this dilemma of learning alongside these devices. The fact that many now come with a game. It's almost as if, collectively, we assume any child can't learn nowadays without instant gratification within a linear trajectory. There are a number that fall into this kind of trap. It's also happening where learning programming structures natively is becoming a game too unless it's a Scratch-like platform and even these are being morphed.

The apps usually work a little like this: offer an example of a few steps, child copy steps (no or few deviations) and then, if it's correct then a bell goes off or an animation lets you know you're a winner or loser. This is also happening on Hour of Code. It's nice to dip your toe but the learning beyond this is thin. It enthuses our students however, wouldn’t it be great to have a Khan’s Academy type approach minus the app and let my students work in the browser.

The Walled Garden

Nothing is more prevalent than this is Apple's Swift Playgrounds. While I really like how enthralled our kids are with it and, if you have an iPad, then it's readily available. The problem is that it's Apple's ecosystem and that tight grip on what you can, can't and how you're allowed to do things is there for all to see. I find the learning path to learn programming is basics is patchy.

Questions I always ask every time I look into Swift Playgrounds are: Can you do this in the browser? No. Can you freely make errors? Yes and no. Can you fix errors? Sometimes. Can you make your own fixes? Sometimes. Does the learning progress depth and breadth in equal measure? No. Do I build anything ? Not really. Can I learn loops? Yes and no. Can I freely apply these loops? No. Well yes, if I complete the game and open XCode. When do I learn how lists are applied? Right after the exhaustive learning of nested loops. Is this the right spot without allowing me to apply in my own way? And, can I make an App directly in this?

If you look here at Touch Develop you can use all languages in one place all in the browser. You have tutorials and, you showcases of other designs and builds to edit much like in Scratch. Wouldn't it be nice if Swift Playgrounds was like this?

It is this aspect that is rather frustrating as a teacher of computing and IT. The unifying problem with coding like this in schools and education as a whole is that it has no real goal or end product beyond something akin to a high score. At this sort of level of understanding, you would want your students to apply their own thinking to a goal, say, a simple game with scores and an array of non-playing characters.

As we know with successful apps such as this is that they are copied and replicated with little change to the outcomes. Children still plough through them thinking they're coding when in reality they can't apply this area of learning to another level of logic on another platform - seldom have I seen a child move from this to XCode smoothly.

Appification Versus Open Standards

I think the level of learning to program and build simple algorithms is lost because of this as children have some level of expectation that the app, whatever it is, will guide them from A to Z and kind of do it for them. And, sometimes with an arbitrary score along the way: Well done, you've won a badge for making Mr. Blob move forward and turn through an orchard seven times.

The gold standard here for primary aged students is of course, Scratch. We all know and love Scratch. It's based on SmallTalk an open source platform and it remains open because its very foundation is to 'remix' whatever you create - whatever you make is open by default. There's a version 2.0 that is web based making it immediately linked and cross platform. There are open plugins for devices. There's even Scratch Jnr. on iOS which has one tiny foot in my gripe above (however this is not as guilty as that Daisy programming app for the under 5’s). It's just a shame that the original Scratch 2.0 is built on Adobe Flash/ Air. Nevertheless, its level of accessibility is very low and its level of complexity can be very high (Universities edit the source for robotic control).

It's accessible for one reason and this will fire a few people up: You explore based on an introduction by someone who has previously used and successfully built with it. As a seven to ten year old it’s extremely rare for a child to just discover it by chance. If you did then you were already looking for this kind of thing and all hats off to you - we need more of your kind! If you are at this age and you 'just found it' then I'm intrigued as to how. And, that person who introduces it shows you, nay, inspires you to try out a series of loops and controls to make a sprite around a screen.

Beyond this, Scratch has a fantastic help section (and community) that guides you with a vast array examples. Want to build your own Pac-Man? no problem. Want to build your own version of Minecraft? Then start that journey. This is how it works for the large part and without an app to offer you a badge, score and yeehar along the way.

Sonic Pi

Programming Music

There is, I believe, a third way though and that is Sonic Pi produced by Sam Aaron. Sonic Pi is a fantastic platform for coding music, and not just plinky plink piano synth stuff, real live and in time beat and melody mixing. It too is open source, available on most platforms (no mobile just yet) and is based on assisting children to try things out for themselves with text rather than blocks. The syntax is basically Ruby and the console you type into recognises grammatical errors should there be any. The saving grace here is that you have four areas in front of you and one of them is an examples and working glossary section all written in jargon-less support. An ‘Runtime error’ tells you what and where the error is. And, should you be mid mix, then it continues to play the musical loops and doesn’t just stop. And the premise? If a ten year old child can’t understand the individual processes (just like Scratch it can get very, very complex but each part is very accessible) then it doesn’t go into the next update.

The way Sonic Pi works, is that you code music in real time. You can be as basic as you wish. There is not real formatting rules as such. You could, as in Scratch, make very lengthy strings of instructions to make a musical algorithm. It may look completely bonkers, but, as the opening splash screen points out ‘there are no mistakes, only opportunities’.

The real selling point of Sonic Pi is that it codes music IN TIME. This is huge. The mechanics behind this is kind of lost on the layman, however the timing aspect of this is the reason it actually works. Just think about a MIDI keyboard and its scale. Each key is numbered and the numbers either get higher or lower. Musical notes do the same. When you play each note is up to you - this is time. How you do this is up to you, your mood and, as you sell your final album to go platinum, your hopes, dreams and fears. I jest. However, even as your first production piece ends (it may sound like Ross at Central Perk) you will have something approaching an accompaniment.

Where Sonic Pi differs though is how you code. You code beats and samples in time making live shows of coding. This is completely different to nearly any other type of programming. Think of a programming sequence that is not HTML or Javascript (HTML is not strictly programming) as you can see this in modules such as web emulators or something like Mozilla Thimble. With these languages you have to build then hit run and see if it works. The end result is one of three things: it doesn’t run, it runs but has errors strewn across it or it runs. You don’t run the code and see it actually working or in this case, hear it working. You physically play the code. This is a magnificent method to help kids see, hear and learn to code through text because they are free to type without being disappointed that their code is broken… for the third time this hour. This is the App-less safety net of discovering. No high scores. No badge-like fads and no bling, bling doo dads.

As and teacher and leader of technology I firmly believe that the STEM wagon is bloated with money grabbing devices. They are synced to game-like apps that in the long term apply little to no success for children to understand programming practices. And these practices require a blend of self discovery, support and rote learning. I understand the benefits of inquiry based learning and the merits it returns however, in this realm, you, as ‘guide on the side’, had better know what to do when that app can’t provide that solid goal the children are seeking and teach how to program the behaviours the device requires. Because, if you can’t support in this way then you are either resigned to allowing the children to use it like a remote controlled toy or quickly move on to something more in-depth. Tamagotchi, if you remember, was a passing fad but then Barack didn’t globally address it.

Be inspired and watch Sam live coding.

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 6 years

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SCSI... what I did last night.

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