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folklorechalamet · 2 years

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All Too Well (AG) pt.3

read pt. 1 here !

read pt.2 here !

thank you guys so much for all the support with this series, but i hate to say... there is only one more part of this series left :(

let me know if there are any other songs you would like a series inspired by :)

enjoy!

And there we are again when nobody had to know

You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath

Sacred prayer and we'd swear

To remember it all too well, yeah

Since Andrew returned home from shooting his new movie, everything was going great. We were as close as ever before. It felt like we were back to our old selves again.

Until that one night.

“Hey, babe. I’m back.” I huffed, setting down the takeout bag on the coffee table. “They were out of-“

I stopped mid-sentence to see Andrew sitting at the kitchen table with his elbows propped up and his hands covering his face.

I wearily walked over and rubbed his back, “Babe…what’s up?”

He barely moved for a few seconds, then rubbed his hands down his face and sighed, “I talked to management.”

Immediately, my shoulders deflated, and my breathing slowed. “Yeah, what about?”

“We can’t be seen together. Like, no more random paparazzi pictures of us shopping downtown together.” He barely made eye contact with me while speaking. “They don’t want us seen together so they can fabricate some kind of story about an on-screen romance with one of the co-stars.”

“Who?”

“They wouldn’t tell me. I don’t even think they really know who yet. The only thing they do know-“

“Is that they don’t want it to be me.”

Andrew sighed, leaning back in his chair, “Jesus, Y/N. No one said that. I don’t want to do it, but they’re telling me it’s for the best.”

Lowering my head, I started to play with the end of my jacket sleeve, “So this means that we have to just, be together in secret? You get to be cuddled up with someone and I have to sit at home waiting for you to, hopefully, come back to me.”

I could tell he wasn’t in the mood to fight, but I just couldn’t stop myself.

“Y/N, please don’t do this. Not now, I literally just got off the phone with management. I don’t want to fight with you too.”

“Do you just expect me to be your little secret? It’s gonna be easier for you to act like I don’t even exist. I have to sit here keeping an oath, basically, and you get to go have fun and fake a relationship.”

Andrew sat lifeless, averting his eyes, “I know, it’s not fair to you. But I have to, just…this is hard for me too.”

Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much

But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up

Runnin' scared, I was there

I remember it all too well

“Do you think I’m asking for too much?” I walked closer to him and knelt beside his seated frame. “Am I asking too much of you? Is wanting to be seen with you as your girlfriend asking too much of you?”

“You don’t understand, Y/N. And if you can’t understand that this is what you signed up for then-“

I leaned back slightly, attempting to make him meet my gaze, “Then what? We’re done? Just like that?”

Andrew shifted a bit, trying to take my hand in his before I removed my hand from his leg, “Y/N, I just think we are two really different people. And I don’t know if you fit into my life anymore.”

I stood up from my position and looked at him incredulously, “Are you serious? After almost a year of being together, you don’t know if I ‘fit into your life’ anymore?”

He remained in the same position, sitting tense, and staring straight ahead of him.

“Are we just misunderstanding each other? What am I missing, babe? Come on, we don’t have to do this.”

“I wanna do this.”

Tears brimmed in my eyes, yet somehow this all felt so comedic. “Andrew, stop. Can you just, can we talk about this before we make any crazy decisions? Please?”

“Andrew, please talk to me. Please?”

It was silent for a few moments, before he pushed himself out of his chair and headed towards the stairs, “I think it’s best if you leave.”

I stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching him walk away from me. I guess it was more of a run. He chose to run away because he was scared. And he left me there all alone. Alone, so I could watch the memory replay over and over in my mind.

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise

So casually cruel in the name of bein' honest

I'm a crumpled-up piece of paper lyin' here

'Cause I remember it all, all, all

It had been three weeks since I last saw Andrew.

Since then, he had been texting me every so often. Saying all the things I wished he would’ve said before.

Babe, I’m sorry. Please pick up.

I haven’t heard from you since that night. I just wanna know if you’re okay.

Come on, Y/N. Can we talk about this now?

I wasn’t in the right headspace that night, but I am now. I feel like we can resolve this. Please.

I laid on my bed, deleting the messages off my home screen as soon as they appeared.

It was unfair of him to do this. Unfair that he seemed so happy being photographed with his beautiful co-star, while I sat at home in self-pity. Now after three weeks, he wanted to talk. And I was willing to talk that night. I guess we really were two different people after all.

They say all's well that ends well, but I'm in a new hell

Every time you double-cross my mind

You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would've been fine

And that made me want to die

The more I ignored his texts, the more it annoyed him. I tried to block him, but I couldn’t bring myself to.

Every time his name flashed on my screen; I was brought back to that night.

Jesus, Y/N. Can you stop acting like a child for once? I wanna work things out, please.

Fine, don’t answer then if that’s what you want.

God, I should’ve listened to everyone when they told me you were a bad idea.

But I didn’t and look where we are now.

His words stung, but it barely even hurt anymore. I wished I could’ve disappeared for a while. So the pain wouldn’t hurt as much. But now that it has subsided, I wonder if he ever really knew me. If he loved me for me. Or if he was trying to make me into someone he wanted.

The idea you had of me, who was she?

A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you

Not weepin' in a party bathroom

Some actress askin' me what happened, you

That's what happened, you

Every time I left the house after the breakup, it just felt wrong. It felt like I was missing my other half. I had gotten to used to having him by my side during everything.

Almost all of my outings would end in me hurrying home to try to avoid breaking down in public. It was even worse when it did happen in public. Crying in bathrooms with random people asking me if I was okay.

Andrew did this to me. Broke my heart and left me to deal with the aftermath by myself.

I used to think he was the best thing to ever happen to me. But maybe it was just the opposite.

You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes

Sippin' coffee like you're on a late-night show

But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willin' you to come

And he said, "It's supposed to be fun turning twenty-one"

It had been a little over six months since the breakup and things were better. Not perfect, but better.

It was my birthday and I was at my parent’s house for the first time since the breakup. Everyone tried their hardest to make the day special, but I just couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

I thought back to my last birthday, when Andrew had accompanied me to my parent’s house and celebrated with us. Him and my dad drinking coffee and talking about their shared interests in books. Me sitting beside Andrew and thinking about how well he fits into my family. How he sang happy birthday to me once with my family, and again when it was just us in his apartment. And how the snow fell outside the window as I blew out the candles.

“Y/N, blow out your candles sweetie.”

I snapped out of my daydream and smiled at my mom, blowing out the candles.

My parents clapped and gave me a hug before my mom went into the kitchen to grab utensils.

My dad placed his hand on my shoulder, giving me a sympathetic smile, “What did you wish for, angel?”

He saw my eyes flicker over to the front door and back at him, “Oh, I don’t know. World peace?”

He laughed softly before a serious look took over his face, “It’s okay to miss him, you know? I know you wish he was here. But it’s your birthday, try to forget about that for a second.” He leaned down to kiss the top of my head, “He’ll come back to you if it’s meant to be.”

I hoped it wasn’t so obvious what I wished for. But I guess not.

#andrew garfield #andrew garfield x reader #andrew garfield x female reader #andrew garfield x you #andrew garfield imagine #andrew garfield imagines #fanfic #fanfiction #imagine #imagines

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nashibirne · 3 years

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Against all odds - 2.17

Here’s the next part of my fic! I’m sorry I haven’t updated it in a while, but I hope you like this part anyway.

Pairing: Henry Cavill x ofc

Summary: Henry finally meets Lestat

Warnings: None, only mentioning of sex

NO BETA! So maybe…bad english

Tags: @hell1129-blog @willkatfanfromasia @mis-lil-red

@lunedelorient @inlovewithhisblueeyes

Previous Parts:

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11/2.12 2.13 2.14/2.15 2.16

2.17

A few weeks later Anna and Henry were sitting in her kitchen, drinking coffee. They still were perfectly happy, loving each other dearly.

The premiere of Macbeth had been a huge success and so was meeting Henry's parents for the first time. They were really nice and uncomplicated. It felt natural to talk to them and Anna got along with them very well.

So now that they had taken this hurdle successfully the next one awaited them already.

"You're really ready for this dinner?" Anna asked with a frown, pouring Henry some coffee. "It's only three hours time and I'm damn nervous." she added.

"Sure. Can't wait to finally meet them." Henry gave her a reassuring look. "Really, babe."

"All right. Good." She still didn't seem to relax. "Remember what I told you, okay? Don't let Lestat provoke you."

"Anna..." Henry let out a deep sigh. Ever since they had got the news that Jonas, Julia, and Lestat were coming to stay at Braxton for a couple of days, she kept on telling him this. He knew she was tense about him meeting Lestat but he really thought she was exaggerating with giving him all these warnings and instructions for handling her ex. They had talked this through countless times and she was still worried that this dinner was going to be a disaster.

"Listen, Babe. I promise -again- I won't let him provoke me, okay. He can insult me as much as he wants, I'm not going to react."

He leaned over the kitchen table in her cottage, cupped her face, placing a tender kiss on her lips.

"Henry, that's not the point. He's not going to insult you. Lestat is much more subtle. He will try to get under your skin. To make you feel bad. To make you feel inferior. He wants to prove that you are no good for me and believe me, he's a great manipulator. You have no idea..."

He kissed her again, interrupting her mid-sentence, brushing his tongue against her lips.

"Don't try to distract me, Cavill. I'm serious. You don't know Lestat."

"Right, I don't know him because you refuse to talk about him."

"I know." Anna stared at her coffee mug, stirring the hot liquid, lost in thought.

"Then talk to me now. It's better for me to know at least anything before facing him. I mean, besides the facts I know already. He's french but grew up in Germany. He's a solicitor. You went to an international private school together. You've been best friends ever since. He was your boyfriend for almost 14 years. He had a new girlfriend but broke up with her a few weeks ago and he very likely still loves you."

"What more do you need to know?" Anna shrugged.

"I need to know what kind of person he is. What kind of man. How did he become your best friend and later your lover? Stuff like this."

Anna sighed. "All right. I'm going to tell you about Lestat Dalmasso. I don't think it will be helpful but if you want to know...listen carefully.

Right away from their first day in elementary school Anna, Jonas and Lestat were absolutely inseparable. People used to make fun of them, calling them the triplets because they were so close. Lestat was there for them when their parents died, mourning too, because he loved them almost as much as his own parents. He protected the twins, took care of them, helped them to carry on with their life. They stuck together like glue, knowing each other by heart.

And they stayed close throughout their entire time at school, although there was a slight shift in their relationship when they were teenagers. The boys were all about sports and girls at that time, both total jocks and players. Jo was captain of the rowing team, Lestat was a skilled fencer, but their favorite discipline was laying girls at parties. Anna on the other hand wasn't into parties or sports. She loved her books and her boyfriend Tom. Besides working damn hard for good grades, she spent her time at home with Tom, being the good girl her grandparents didn't have to worry about.

But still, despite the fact that Anna didn't share the boy's love for sex, sports and rock 'n' roll, they were the very best friends, sharing all kinds of worries, thoughts and joy. In the last year of school Tom broke up with Anna and Lestat was her greatest support, listening endless times to her mourning for her first love, drying her tears, making her laugh again.

After graduation Anna got a scholarship plus her uncle had pulled a few strings, so she was able to follow in her mother's tracks by studying in Oxford. It was limited to two years but it meant the world to her.

When Anna returned from Oxford it was a total shock to see Lestat again. He had changed so much in these two years when she had been in the UK. He almost seemed like a different person. When she left he was a cute teenage boy who covered up his many insecurities by an eccentric, arrogant behavior. The spoiled brat of rich french parents who cultivated acting like a dandy, breaking girls hearts by the dozen. Despite his unconventional way of dressing and his ostentatious pretentiousness he had always been the star of their school. Everybody wanted to be his friend but the only real true friends he ever had were the twins. They were the only ones who knew the boy behind the mask of cockiness. The sensitive, highly intelligent guy with all those self-doubts and issues. Their best friend who was the most loyal and caring person they knew, always reliable, always coming up with solutions and ideas. The great pretender who would let them -and only them- see his true self.

The Lestat she found in their kitchen the day she returned from Oxford was no longer an insecure boy. He was a man now, handsome, mature, witty and very attractive. Sexy. Hot. In her wildest dreams Anna couldn't have imagined to ever fall in love with him, but this was exactly what happened right away. It felt like she was struck by lightning, coming out of the blue, unannounced but wonderful. The feeling was mutual and there was no chance in fighting it.

Jonas was furious when he realized that his best friend slept with his sister. He tried to talk them out of it, tried to convince them that this could never work, that they were too different. That this would end with at least one broken heart and a shattered friendship. But love was stronger than reason. Passion made it impossible to be sensible. So finally Jonas gave up. But not without making them swear an oath. If they would ever break up they would do anything possible to save their friendship.

"So that's the reason why you don't shut him out of your life. This oath." Henry said, when she'd finished talking, holding Anna's hand, stroking it gently with his thumb. "Yes, we owe it to Jonas to save our friendship. That was the deal." she sighed.

Three hours later Anna and Henry were standing in the castle's entrance hall meeting 'the german bunch' and Milton Arnold, Viscount Brankhurst, and his new girlfriend Mary who attended the dinner too.

Julia and Jonas greeted Henry with tight hugs, genuinely happy to meet him in person. Lestat was a little more distant but not unfriendly. He shook Henry's hand, a warm smile on his lips, looking him in the eyes. "Nice to finally meet you, Henry. I’ve been looking forward to this." His english was almost without an accent. 13 years in an international school obviously paid off.

"Nice to meet you too." Henry had to admit he was surprised and impressed by Lestat's appearance. He was a tall man, taller than himself, at least 6 ft 2. He was not as broad as Henry but buff too. Athletic and fit, like someone who runs a lot, doing his cardio regularly. Moreover he was really handsome, his face narrow with high cheekbones and a sharp jawline, his hazel eyes speckled with golden spots, his hair dark blonde and wavy. His suit was tailor-made, elegant and classy, giving him a distinguished look. He had a special charisma, radiating self-confidence and cockiness with a hint of snobbery. It wasn't hard to imagine that he was a lady-killer.

The dinner went quite well and everybody started to relax, having some glasses of excellent wine and delicious food. Lestat didn't seem to be looking for trouble. He was very interested in the things Henry told them about the renovation of the farm and his engagement at the Royal Shakespeare Company and he entertained the party with stories from his and the twins' childhood and youth.

After dessert George and Thomas got up from the table, preparing to leave.

"We're going to retire now, my dears, leaving the young folk to it. Enjoy yourselves and good night. Henry, please join us for breakfast tomorrow, will you?"

"Sure, thanks George." Henry answered, smiling.

After saying their goodbyes they stayed in the dining room for a while, chatting and laughing about this and that. Milton and Mary shared the story of their first date that had been quite disastrous but with a happy ending obviously. There was a slight change in Lestat's behaviour, who now concentrated on stories about Anna and himself, addressing her directly, getting quite familiar. His innuendos and almost flirty tone started to unnerve Henry, making him tense. He moved closer to Anna, laying his arm around her shoulder, kissing her tenderly on her cheek, demonstrating who now was the man in Anna's life.

Jonas seemed to notice the changing atmosphere too.

"Let's move to the drawing room, it's time for some music." he said.

"Sure." Lestat answered. "It's been way too long we made music together anyway."

The drawing room was gorgeous - light and beautifully furnished- with a grand piano placed in the corner besides the windows.

Jonas started to play some cheerful pieces of music that eased up everybody's mood.

He was a very skilled player. Henry knew he played the drums in a band in his free time but he obviously knew how to play the piano too. Which wasn't really surprising, since their mother was a pianist and their father a piano builder. After a while Anna and Jonas performed a wonderful ballad four-handed. It was the first time he heard his girlfriend sing and he was surprised how beautiful and touching her voice was. Warm and full, with a hint of roughness that really turned him on.

Lestat looked at Anna continuously, not even trying to hide his ogling from Henry.

"It's my turn now." he said after Jo and Anna had finished. Lestat started playing and everyone in the room recognized the song immediately. It was "Against all odds" and he seemed to sing it only for Anna, looking her right in the eyes. She started shifting in her seat uncomfortably, avoiding Henry's gaze. Jules and Jonas exchanged glances, obviously irritated too. Milton and Mary were too polite to show what they were thinking but Milton's forced smile gave it away anyway.

Henry was so tense now, his whole body stiffened, he clenched his teeth, his hands were balled into fists. He tried to pretend that he was fine, to play it cool, but he was sure Lestat could see right through him, reading him like an open book. He knew now what Anna had meant when she had predicted that Lestat had something up his sleeve.

"How can you just walk away from me

When all I can do is watch you leave?

'Cause we've shared the laughter and the pain

And even shared the tears

You're the only one who really knew me at all."

Lestat's voice was deep and dark, with a captivating timbre. Henry got up, standing behind Anna's seat, placing his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently. Anna didn't look at him, but she laid her hands on his, stroking them, building a connection.

I wish I could just make you turn around

Turn around and see me cry

There's so much I need to say to you

So many reasons why

You're the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now

Well there's just an empty space

And there's nothing left here to remind me

Just the memory of your face

Now take a look at me now

'Cause that's just an empty space

But to wait for you is all I can do

And that's what I've gotta face.

Lestat didn't even seem to notice Henry, still looking at Anna only, finishing the song as if it was the most normal thing to do.

"Are we done with this shit show now?" Henry asked after the last few tones, his voice restrained, his eyebrows narrowed.

"Shit show? That's a rude way to comment on my....performance. You didn't like it?" Lestat got up from the piano chair a cocky grin on his face.

"What I don't like is another man singing cheesy love songs for my woman."

"Your woman? Do you own her now?"

"Lestat, stop it." Anna's voice was sharp like a knife. "Shut the fuck up, okay?"

"I'm not the one being rude." Lestat shrugged.

"Just leave it be." Jonas said, touching his friend's arm to calm him down.

Henry and Lestat were facing each other now, staring in each other's eyes. Henry was about to freak out. The smug smile on Lestat's lips, the challenging look in his eyes...everything about him made Henry want to punch his handsome face.

It was Milton who finally got between them, interrupting their staring contest.

"Guys, let's act like civilized gentlemen, all right? This isn't the time nor the place for this. So let's drop the topic." After a few seconds Henry took a step back, taking Anna's hand. "Sure. I'm sorry."

Lestat just nodded slowly, turning around, sitting down on a loveseat, his long legs stretched out.

"Maybe we should go." Anna said softly.

"What. Now that we're having so much fun?" The sarcasm in Lestat's voice scared her. "We haven't even started telling embarrassing stories from our life or discussing our relationships."

"Right. Let's leave it at that." Henry said, his words sounding like a threat but Lestat continued anyway, ignoring him completely.

"I mean...for example.... isn't it funny, Anna. Four men in this room, and you’ve fucked three of them...."

Anna's heart skipped a beat, her face turning red with anger and embarrassment. She simply couldn't believe he'd really said that.

"God. You never disappoint, Lestat."

"Oh, I didn't know it's supposed to be a secret." Lestat smiled innocently.

"Well, now it isn't a secret anymore." Henry was surprised how calm his voice was, because his heart was racing with fury. "But don't worry, Lestat. I've known it anyway. Anna told me about the encounter at the students party."

To Henry's big surprise it was Jonas who freaked out now. Anger in his eyes, his voice full of bewilderment.

"You touched my sister? How dare you Milton. I told you to look after her at Oxford, not to fuck her. I can't believe it...."

"I'm sorry, Jo. It was once only...."

"Oh great, fuck and go. Yeah, that sounds a lot like you..."

"Would you please stop it, Jo. This is none of your business." Anna interrupted them, almost yelling now. "What happened between me and Mils is none of anyone's business at all. We're fine with it and that's all that matters. What do you mean by 'I told you to look after her' at all? You thought I'd need a babysitter?" She shook her head in disbelief. "Screw it...I hope you're happy now, Lestat."

Anna turned around, sinking into Henry's arms, exhausted and sick of fighting, hugging him tightly. She felt like a rag doll, all tension gone from her body. Henry kissed her forehead, embracing her. "It’s all right, princess." he whispered softly in her ear. “Let’s go home”

#Henry Cavill fandom #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill x ofc #cavillry #henry cavill

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dumbkiri · 4 years

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Blood Siblings

One-Shot

Request: Hi I love your writing and can I request a damien x reader that's also kind of a Bruce x reader where y/n is Damien's twin that Thalia didn't give to Bruce and that Damien took like and oath not to talk about but the batfam are in danger and he called her for help and she has to come save and meet everyone (soz it's so long x)

Pairing: Damian x Twin!Sister!Reader, Slight Bruce x Daughter!Reader

Genre: Slight Angst

Word Count: 1.7k, 4 pages

WARNING(S): Blood, Cursing

“And why can’t I go with Damian?” [Name] asked her mother with her eyebrows furrowed in the middle. Her teeth clenched in anger and jealousy. “I am capable of bringing Father home to you just as much as Damian.”

Talia sighed and stopped walking. The brown haired woman turned around and faced her only daughter. “I know you are capable, but Damian needs to work on something for himself.”

“What?” [Name] asked in disbelief. Her hands gradually unclenched when her mother started explaining her reason for sending Damian on his own.

“Your brother has shown conflict in himself. There is an apparent struggle Damian is facing and I believe only your father can help Damian.” Talia stared down at her daughter and reached a hesitant hand to the girl. “You are older than Damian, maybe that is why you can handle death more easily than him. Damian is like his father, he won’t admit it, but Damian knows there is an alternative to killing.”

[Name] stayed silent and still. She felt the cold hand that belonged to her mother stroke her cheek robotically.

“Your brother isn’t ready for the next phase,” Talia removed her hand and resumed walking toward the training room, “but I have faith in you, [Name].”

……

“Fuck this! I’m going all out, make sure you don’t get in the way of my bullets, Demon Spawn!”

“Hey! No guns, Red! I don’t want another accident!”

“I have a scar from last time when you thought it was a good idea to go ‘balls to the walls’ thing.”

Damian tuned out his sorry excuses of brothers and dodged an incoming attack from an assassin. He had no clue as to why the League was attacking them. Did his mother plan this all along? Was she really going to betray him like that? No, Damian was the one to turn back on her and his grandfather’s teachings. He betrayed them first and honestly, this was his choice. He had an actual family that cared for him save for Jason. Their relationship was still rocky.

“Batman is pinned down and I’m going after him,” Nightwing announced and before he could help the caped crusader more assassins blocked his path.

Damian watched as his allies were pinned against the floor with their arms pulled behind them and restrained by rope. His eyes widened for a fraction when he was kneed in the back and had his face slammed into the oily floor. He grunted in surprise and felt his arms being pulled backwards. He swiftly pressed a button on his wrist where a [f.color] bracelet was always securely on. Now all he had to do was wait.

Damian was tossed alongside his family and they were all laying on their stomachs. There was a peculiar assassin that stood out to Damian and he recognized it as one of his sparring dummies. The assassin clad in gold and black walked up to the males and chuckled, “Wow, that was longer than anticipated.” The sparring dummy took his mask off and sighed in exhaustion.

“Zhao, you know better than to go against the league,” Damian spoke with a strong tone.

Batman and the rest of the guys looked at Damian in surprise. They were waiting for insults from the teen.

“But you’re too incompetent to understand how mindless of an assassin you are. My mother must have you tight on a leash, foolish mutt.” Damian spat and his family rolled their eyes. There he was with his insults.

Zhao smirked and sneered, “Foolish? You’ve been gone for too long, Damian. You’re insulting your future step-brother.” Zhao’s words got a reaction out of Damian and the teen jumped to his feet. He ran straight at the light brown haired male, but was easily knocked down by the older male.

“Ack!” Damian grunted and crumbled to the floor when Zhao delivered a sneaky move to the back of his neck. The teen muttered curse words under his breath and kneeled down beside Zhao. “I won’t allow it,” Damian said and looked up at Zhao, “I declare a--”

“Now don’t do anything reckless, brother.”

Damian looked straight and saw his twin sister walking toward him from the shadows. She looked different and you can obviously tell she got her beautiful looks from their mother. [Name] smiled down at Damian and kneeled in front of him, “I can’t believe you outgrew me. We’re 16 now which means that it's been eight years since we last saw each other?”

“[Name], you can’t marry this imbecile!” Damian shouted and ignored the look in her [e.color] eyes. He saw the conflict in them, but the smile on her face proved that she had a plan.

[Name] looked over his shoulder and saw the other vigilantes on the floor looking at them with questions. Then she looked back at her brother and stood up, “If you say so, brother.”

“Wait!” Damian yelled, noticing the sleek silver dagger slip from under the sleeve of her right arm. [Name] let the dagger fall and with her right arm she gripped Zhao’s chin and forced it upward. Then quickly with lightning reflexes, she caught the dagger mid-fall with her left hand and slit Zhao’s throat with ease. The blood seeped from the deep wound and the red substance splat on the siblings faces.

[Name] let go of Zhao and his dead body fell to the floor with a thump. The assassins surrounding them didn’t make a move knowing that [Name] had more authority over them than Zhao did. She looked at the assassins and gave them orders. “I need a group to take Zhao’s body back home, the rest follow that group. I’ll follow shortly.”

The assassins did as they were told and Zhao’s dead body was taken away. [Name] wiped her dagger on her black uniform and used the weapon to cut the rope on everyone’s hands. She finished cutting Red Hood’s bonds then she walked over to Damian. The teen stood a head taller than her.

“You have blood on your face,” Damian pointed out and [Name] wiped her face with her sleeve. She pointed at the speck of blood above Damian’s eyebrow and he wiped it with his green glove. They were silently staring at each other and [Name] sighed.

“You caught me off guard when you yelled at me,” [Name] spoke. Her eyes stayed on her brother and she watched the green domino mask he wore crinkle.

“You didn’t have to kill him.” His words made her roll her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. She then pointed at Batman and the others. “I think they all know that killing an assassin is a good idea. If I didn’t then Zhao would have killed you and them. Damian, I handled the situation.” [Name] reasoned and put her arm back at her side. “You would have done the same.”

“I’ve changed,” Damian admitted and looked at his sister with distrust. “It seems like you’re still the same.”

[Name] was taken back. She thought he would have been happy that she got rid of Zhao, she was happy. “I’m sorry? You were the one who called me for help. I didn’t have to save you guys, but I did it from the good of my heart,” She was glaring at her brother now.

“I thought you would have a better plan than killing someone. There’s always an alternative.” Damian was forming a scowl on his serious face.

[Name] scoffed and tilted her head mockingly, “Yeah, I’ll give you the alternative, Wayne.” She said his last name with hostility and a hint of jealousy. “I would have had to seduce that creep Zhao into letting you guys go and return home being the bride of an arrogant asshole. You wouldn’t know the shit he put me through because you were busy living a semi-normal life with, let me remind you, our father.”

Damian softened his glare.

“I grew up in a merciless home while you were given the chance to be nurtured and cared for. I grew up with brainwashed assassins while you were fighting alongside brothers! I grew up with a mother who rarely showed any affection toward me! So don’t tell me there’s an alternative when you were given a chance to walk another path!”

[Name] huffed and straightened her back out. She kept the glare directed at her brother, but began walking away from him. She needed to leave before they could see her cry.

“You can still change directions,” A deep voice echoed in the warehouse. His calm and soothing voice reached out to her and sent shivers down her body. “You can forge your own path, one that doesn’t end in bloodshed.”

She didn’t have the need to turn around to see who was talking to her. She knew that the man who spoke to her was Bruce Wayne, her father. The man she always wanted to meet. Yet she didn’t stop walking away, she had to return home to her mother.

“You’re always welcomed home, [Name],” Batman said her name and that was all she needed to continue forward. She walked into the shadows and never looked back.

……

“How come you never mentioned her before?” Bruce asked Damian while Alfred tended to the sword wounds on his wide back.

Damian stared at the fireplace where orange flames flicked, “I took an oath. Talia made me do so, she said that no one can know about [Name]. Her name would never be mentioned and that essentially, she would be considered a shadow. A valuable asset in the League.”

“She was pretty badass though, the way she took out the Zhao guy,” Jason winced when Dick poked him with a needle on accident.

“She’s always been exceptional at hand to hand combat. She could disarm about anybody and kill them in less than ten seconds. I believe the Lazarus Pit had an influence on her natural ability.” Damian removed his eyes from the fire and put his hand under his chin in thought.

Tim drank some of his coffee and analyzed Damian’s slumped form. None of them had to ask how [Name] died. Damian would tell them when the time is right.

“She’d be back,” Bruce spoke up addressing Damian, “it took awhile for you to come around, although she’s a quick learner. She might be back sooner than we think.”

#Damian Wayne #damian wayne x reader #damian wayne imagine #batman imagine #batfam imagine #batman #robin imagine #imagine #DC Universe #dc imagine #dc #talia al ghul #x reader #reader imagine

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kurlyfrasier · 3 years

Text

Favorite Girl

Dean x Reader

Synopsis: The boys and Bobby are back from a hunt you convinced them to go on while you stayed home, sick with a fever. They struggle to not wake you up and Bobby worries Dean has the hots for you.

Word Count: 1687

Warnings: none

Bobby and the boys stepped out of their respective vehicles, each caked in dried mud and blood from head to toe as Bobby’s driver door creaked in protest, closing it shut. The hunt was simple, but without you there with them to make sure they didn’t do anything terribly stupid… Well, they came back alive, and really, that’s what mattered. They had each decided it was best not to prove you right. So-much-so, they took a blood oath to keep silent about it. ‘It’ being nothing you needed to know about.

Bobby’s keys jangled as he took them out of the door lock, cracking the door open to see if you were awake. Sam and Dean’s tired feet dragged on the porch behind him.

“Shut up, you idjits!” Bobby whisper yelled over his shoulder as he noticed you curled up on the couch with your favorite blanket. His stomach dropped. He had no idea why you weren’t in your room and that worried him. Could you not make it up the stairs? Did you feel worse than when they left a few days ago? He silently berated himself, knowing he should’ve stayed. His gut had told him so, but you had convinced him you’d be okay. That killing monsters was more important than you. Well, it was about time you were proved wrong. Maybe the next time you were sick you’d actually let your surrogate father of the past five years take care of you.

“Why?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is she okay?” Sam and Dean- not getting the hint to stay quiet- tried to push pass Bobby to check on you.

“Heck if I know!” He whispered impatiently, the boys faces turned to him in alarm. “She’s asleep on the couch,” he answered before they could ram through the door.

“What do we do now?” Dean slumped, wanting to wash all the grime off, but didn’t want to wake you up. When they left you were puking, had no voice, and was running a fever of 101.2*F.

“Grab the hose, boys.”

“The hose!”

“It’s freakin’ cold out here, Bobby!”

“Yes,” Bobby stared them down, daring them to cause a disturbance one more time. When they didn’t, he continued. “You wanna get clean, don’t ya? Well, I’ll grab the soap and you two grab the hose and hook it up out back. Quietly.”

Both boys nodded in unison, doing as they were bid.

The door creaked long and high-pitched- like a dying cat, Bobby thought as he slowly stepped into the house. Scowling, he couldn’t help but think that he needed to buy some WD-40 next time he got supplies for the house. You didn’t stir as he closed it shut behind him. But the moment he took the first step across the room you mumbled, curling up tighter in your blanket. He instantly froze, one foot mid-air as he waited for you to greet him. When none came, he released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. As quietly and quickly as he could, Bobby grabbed the soap, decided to get towels, and headed out back.

“Okay, as much as I know you boys would like to see me naked, it ain’t happenin’. So,” Bobby grabbed the hose from Sam. “Strip and I’ll spray you off.”

“Now Bobby, I think Sam and I can handle-”

Bobby sprayed hard, fast, cold water straight in Dean’s face. “I’m sure you can, Dean. I just wanna make sure you’re both thoroughly clean before stepping foot in that house with my daughter.”

“Daughter!? She’s only been around five years!” Dean half shouted, a little shocked to hear the man say it out loud. He knew Bobby saw you as a daughter, just like he knew Bobby saw Sam and himself like sons. But it meant more trouble for Dean if Bobby ever found out he was secretly falling for you.

Okay, that was a lie, he admitted to himself. He had already fallen for you. Hard. And leaving you at Bobby’s to fend for yourself was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. Even harder than when you had gotten scratched by a werewolf, taken by a djinn, or stabbed by a demon. At least then he had something to kill and could patch you up afterwards. But you being sick? Something so...normal. He was helpless as you tossed and turned, barely able to sleep. He could only hope you weren’t any worse than when they left.

“Yeah. And she’s my favorite kid too!” Bobby sprayed Sam to stop his chuckling. “Now I’m playin’ the father card here. You two strip- Dean! No need to strip completely naked, keep them boxers on!”

“You said-”

“I know what I said, boy. But that don’t mean I wanna see your- you know.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Now thoroughly cleaned and shivering, Sam and Dean headed back up to the house.

Bobby finds the boys arguing about who was going to carry you to bed. Sam already changed, while Dean was still in a towel.

“Idjits,” he whisper-yelled, causing the boys to turn around. He motioned for them to come closer and they did, both with a questioning gaze. “Sam, you carry y/n to bed-”

“What. Why Sam? Why can’t I carry her?” Dean argued while Sam stood with his arms crossed, smiling smugly.

“Because Dean,” Bobby glared at him. “You’re still holding a towel around your waist. How do you expect to carry her upstairs?”

“W-well,” he sputtered. “I’ll change.”

“Sam has already changed. Plus, I don’t want you touching her. I’ve seen the way-” He stopped to glare at Sam’s smug face. “And what are you waiting for. The longer you take to get her to bed the more likely it is we’re gonna wake her up. Go!”

“Oh, y-yeah Bobby. Sure,” Sam almost stumbled on his way back to you. Swiftley picked you up, blanket included with one hand behind your shoulders and the other under your knees as he lolled your head on his shoulder and headed up the stairs to your room. Leaving Dean to fend for himself. Not that he would’ve helped anyway.

“Oh don’t look so despondent, Dean.”

“Wha-,” he feigned ignorance. “I am not despondent.”

“Doesn’t matter. Stay away from her. You look at her like a lost puppy and that doesn’t suit well for me. Besides, who knows what kind of disease you’d give her.”

“Disease!? Bobby. I am clean, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, yeah. Look, if I see you so much as shake her hand, I will stab you.”

“B-bu-but Bobby, we’re family,” Dean stuttered, knowing Bobby really would make good on his threat.

“That may be so, son. But she’s my favorite. If anything happens to her. If you ever hurt her-”

“I would never. She’s my favorite too, ya know,” Dean said quietly.

“I know,” Bobby answered. Walking away from a surprised Dean he threw over his shoulder, “that’s what worries me.”

“What was that all about?” Sam asked when Bobby was out of sight.

“Nothin’,” Dean breathed out.

“Okay,” Sam shrugged. “I call the couch.”

“That’s fine,” Dean paced back and forth, glancing up the stairs anytime he got close to them.

“Fine? No fight for it?” Sam chuckled.

“Yeah, you can have it,” he replied, grabbing clothes out of his duffel by the couch.

“Wait. What are you gonna do?”

“Uh, change. Yeah, I’m gonna go change,” he nodded before sprinting up the stairs.

“He’s gonna kill you…” Sam whispered before lying down.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean, now fully clothed, cracked your bedroom door open, scrunching his face when it creaked before tip-toeing in. Clicking the door shut, he waited with bated breath for Bobby’s footfalls. Hearing nothing, he released it with a victory pump. His head snapped in your direction when he heard you mumble incoherently.

“Y/n?” He whispered, a quaver in his voice as he knelt down next to you. Lifting a hand he checked for a fever, tucking a few strands behind your ear. Relief swept over him when you didn’t feel like a fire pit. Carefully, he lifted the covers and climbed in bed next to you, wrapping an arm around your waist, and placed a featherlight goodnight kiss on your cheek before tucking his own head on the pillow, facing you.

For some reason Dean felt as though you would disappear any second if he didn’t stay close. Hunting without you those past few days were torture. Plain and simple. He couldn’t think straight without you there and he made rookie mistakes. Almost got all of them killed for it too. If you had been there, you would’ve noticed the vamp hiding an arms length away before it attacked, pushing him into the mudpit. Then Sam and Bobby jumped in to pull the vamp off of him. If you had been there, that vamp would’ve never had time to sound the alarm and none of them would’ve been covered in mud.

Never again would he leave you to fend for yourself. Never again would he leave you behind, just to worry about you. Never again. Even if you were at a safe place.

“Dean,” you whispered, shaking the arm on top of you. “Dean. Hey, Dean!”

“Mmm,” he mumbled, eyes still closed.

“Dean.”

He mumbled, still not moving.

“Dean,” you pushed his chest- hard- causing him to roll backwards. His green eyes opened wide with panic before he thumped onto the floor.

“Ugh,” he groaned and sat up as you tried muffling your giggles. “Somebody must be feeling better,” he rasped.

“What were you doing in my bed?” You asked before you could stop yourself. It wasn’t that you minded him cuddling with you, but you were just starting to feel better so it was safe to say you were probably still contagious. “And how’d I even get to bed? I was waiting up for you guys when I fell asleep.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he shrugged. “And Sam carried you.”

“That was nice of him,” you smiled sweetly.

“I wanted to but Bobby wouldn’t let me,” Dean pouted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to read more by me? Masterlist

#dean x reader #fanfic #spn #supernatural #spn fanfic #sam #dean #sam winchester #dean winchester #my writing #winchester

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koala-otter · 4 years

Text

gaang modern AU part ii

here’s part 2 to this modern AU I wrote

this is coming a day later than I said it would, but in my defense it got really long, and now I simply can’t keep looking at it

I’m not sure if I want to write a part 3, but it’s been fun, so we’ll see!!

anyways, have some toph beifong and gaang pool shenanigans and a couple of kisses and some light drinking

3.5k words

Suki understands what her friends have been trying to explain as soon as they roll into the driveway.

“Oh,” she breathes, looking out the window. She turns around to look at Katara. “It’s a villa villa.”

An ancient, eight-foot high stone wall stretches in front of them, with a wide set of wood doors that open to reveal the structure they can already sort of see behind it. The Beifong summer home is a stunning example of old Earth Kingdom architecture, an elegant stone structure built around a courtyard on a raised platform. The house’s front holds a wide entryway decorated with enormous pillars, and between its bright colors and delicate construction, the house itself almost looks like a tiered cake. The central section of the building is four stories, and each of the upper floors is surrounded by a wraparound balcony with its own pillars, all pulling the viewer’s eye up to a roof of spotless, yellow, glazed ceramic tiles that shine under the blue of the cloudless sky.

Everyone in the car takes a moment to gaze up at the edifice, this testament to the longevity of the Beifongs, their symbol of power and endurance.

Except one.

“Yep, it’s old as hell,” Sokka says, putting the car into park. He turns off the engine. “Wait until you see the movie theater inside, though. Now that’s something to look at.”

“Sokka,” Katara says disapprovingly.

They all pile out of the car and begin pulling their bags from the trunk when a voice rings out across the courtyard.

“Look alive, knuckleheads!”

Toph comes barreling out of the entrance in a way that is only possible through years of familiarization, and she stops in the middle of the courtyard.

“All right, you all have to come to me now,” she says, her arms outstretched.

“Toph!” Sokka cries excitedly. He rushes over to her and scoops her off the stone tiles and into a tight hug.

Toph sounds like she’s choking. “Keep me on the ground, dumbass,” she says, “so I can know where I am.”

He releases her, and her feet hit the ground with a slight thud. She keeps a tight hold on his arm.

“Thank God you’re all here,” Toph says. “My mom didn’t want me to be alone before you guys arrived, so she made Yu stay with me.” She rolls her eyes. “Let me tell you, it has not been fun.”

As if having heard his cue, Yu pops out of the house and starts after Toph. The older man, one of the most senior servants in the Beifong household, looks thoroughly exhausted as he approaches the group.

“Miss Toph,” he calls, “you left your balled melon untouched. If you leave it for too long, it’ll get warm!”

Katara and Aang snicker behind their hands, but they stop abruptly when Toph’s face tilts threateningly toward them.

Toph ignores Yu’s statement once she hears him stand next to her. “Yu, my friends are here,” she says, shaking Sokka’s arm almost in demonstration. “You can go now.”

“But, Miss Toph, I’m sure your mother—”

Toph sighs loudly to cut him off. “Did you buy the groceries?”

“Why, yes, of course,” Yu replies hurriedly.

“And the rooms are ready?”

“Yes.”

“And the pool’s open?”

Aang feels Katara perk up next to him as she waits for the answer.

“Yes,” Yu says again, and Aang can’t help smiling when he hears a hiss of excitement leave Katara.

“And the bar’s stocked?”

“Of course,” Yu says, now with a slight roll of his eyes.

“And my friends are here,” Toph says with a sweeping motion of her arm. No one tells her she’s just gestured toward a bush. “Now if I remember right, this is the part where you go.”

Yu bows to the group. “You’re right, Miss Toph,” he says. “I hope you all have a wonderful stay here.”

He turns to go back into the house, but pauses to face them once more with a grimace. “Please don’t break anything this time,” he adds before he goes, too full of worry for his words to have been an afterthought.

“He’s so dramatic,” Toph says with a wave of her hand once he’s gone. “It was just a Quartz Dynasty vase.”

“Right,” Sokka says sheepishly, exchanging a furtive look with Zuko, who’s suddenly taken great interest in the Beifongs’ landscaping.

“All right,” Toph says, tugging Sokka’s arm. “Let’s go to the pool before Katara loses her mind.”

“Really?” Katara cries excitedly, already stepping in line with them.

“It was cleaned this morning just for you, Sweetness.”

Zuko stops them. “Hold on, I think Suki’s still taking it in,” he says in an amused tone.

Suki snaps her head back down and grins self-consciously. “I was looking at the little people,” she says in a high-pitched explanation, pointing to a small, ceramic procession of a dragon, a camelephant, and a winged boar on the eaves of the roof. She grabs her bag and follows them.

They walk clear through the first floor to reveal that the house stands on the crest of a hill, the rest of which tumbles before them as a garden full of sprawling lawns and blooming peony bushes and trees thick with pink and white blossoms. Before the drop of the hill, overlooking the lush green landscape, is the swimming pool full of crystal clear water. As soon as it comes into sight, Katara drops her bag and pulls her shirt off to reveal she already has her swimsuit on underneath, a simple white bikini.

“Last one in’s a rotten egg!” she calls, kicking off her shorts, and before anyone can say anything else, she’s crossed the grass and the sandstone patio and dived into the pool in one precise, fluid motion.

“That’s not fair, she already put her suit on,” Sokka says. He notices Aang suddenly dropping to his knees, rifling through his own bag and grabbing something before running toward the poolhouse. “And where are you going?”

“I don’t wanna be a rotten egg, Sokka!” Aang yells. The door slams behind him so he can pull on his orange trunks.

Once everyone’s changed and finally joined Katara in the pool, it turns out Toph is the rotten egg, because she refuses to join them in the water.

“Come on, Toph,” Aang pleads once more.

“You know I don’t like swimming,” she says from the side.

“Won’t you just come to the shallow end? I’ll stay with you the whole time.” He holds his hand up in an oath even though he knows she can’t see it. “Promise.”

Toph considers him for a moment.

“All right,” she finally says, holding out her hand for him to take. “But if you let me drown, I will murder you.”

Aang only laughs and helps her down, keeping a hold on her hand as they stand side by side in the water.

The wind whistles through the leaves of the garden’s trees and ruffles Suki’s chin-length hair. She plunges under the water.

“We should have a hawk-rooster fight,” she says when she resurfaces. She slicks her wet hair away from her face with her hands.

“You’re right, Suki,” Sokka says brightly. He turns to Zuko and pats himself on the shoulder. “Zuko, hop on.”

Katara pauses mid-lap. “Are you kidding? That’s not a fair team.” She swims over to Zuko and pulls him by the arm. “Come on, Zuko, you’re helping me beat my brother.”

Zuko sighs as Katara clambers onto his shoulders. “Why does everything have to be a competition between you two?”

“You sound like Bato,” Sokka laughs. “Every game night he—”

“Sokka, quit talking and help me up,” Suki says from his back.

“Sorry, sorry, okay.” Sokka lifts her easily onto his shoulders and plants himself in front of Zuko.

“Ready?” Zuko asks.

Sokka leans forward and places a quick kiss on Zuko’s lips. “Don’t get upset when we beat you,” he says with a smirk.

Zuko wears a small, dreamy smile as he replies, “I won’t.”

He feels a repeated, urgent patting on the top of his head.

“He’s trying to distract you,” Katara hisses. “Focus! Do not lose this for us!”

Zuko rolls his eyes and falls into his stance, his hands clasped around Katara’s ankles.

“One, two, three, go!” Sokka yells shrilly, and Suki and Katara fall into grappling.

Toph crosses her arms. “I think I’d be good at this game,” she says idly.

“Probably,” Aang replies, smiling when he sees Sokka narrowly avoid a foot to the eye— “Jesus, Suki, be careful!” he cries—and patting Toph on the shoulder. “You always beat me up on land.”

Toph snorts. “That’s nothing. Talk to me about how I pinned Sokka last week. Now that was fun.”

They keep watching the fight playing out in front of them, Suki and Katara’s hands intertwined, each trying to push the other off. Both yell at the young men beneath them to hold steady.

“Oh, shit,” Toph suddenly says. “I forgot to ask Yu to pick up ice before he left.”

Aang glances at her before looking back in time to see Suki nearly lose her balance. She recovers and jabs Katara in the shoulder. “I can go,” he offers.

“You don’t have to,” Toph says.

“No, I will.”

With one more well-timed shove from Suki, Katara goes sailing off of Zuko’s shoulders and into the water in front of Aang and Toph with a loud splash.

Toph pulls herself closer to Aang. “A little warning for the blind girl next time!” she yells in the direction of the group.

Katara comes up laughing, trying desperately to push the hair out of her eyes. “Sorry, Toph,” she says.

“It’s really Suki’s fault,” Sokka points out before plunging under the water himself to let her off his shoulders.

“Wow, nice scapegoating,” Toph says dryly. “No wonder you guys broke up.”

Suki laughs. “Actually, I think it had more to do with the huge crush he had on his best friend,” she says, tilting her head in Zuko’s direction.

Zuko shrugs with an awkward smile.

Sokka’s head and shoulders emerge from the water. He tugs on his wolftail to stop its dripping. “Are we playing again?” he asks.

“I’m out,” Zuko says. He swims toward the shallow end and hops out to sit on the side of the pool. “I don’t think I can take Katara yelling at me anymore.”

Katara narrows her eyes at him before turning to Aang. “Looks like I need a new teammate,” she says. “Do you want to play?”

Aang smiles at her regretfully. “I would, but Toph just asked me to go pick up some ice.”

“In town?” Katara asks, wringing out her wet hair.

“Yup.”

“I’ll go with you,” she says brightly. She starts making her way toward the pool steps.

Aang’s lips spread into a goofy grin. “Okay,” he agrees.

Katara towels off while Aang gets Sokka’s keys from Zuko and guides Toph up on the side of the pool next to him. As he rises from being bent over Toph and Zuko, laughing at something Zuko’s said, Katara cannot help staring at him. He’s been taller than her for a long time, so his stature is nothing new, but he’s filled out significantly in the past couple of years, and she does not often get the opportunity to see the evidence in full display. The broad planes of his chest and shoulders practically shine in the late afternoon sun, and the clean lines and ridges of his abdomen contract with his laughter, guiding her gaze further down to the angled cut of his hips, across which his shorts are slung low.

Katara almost gasps when Aang addresses her.

“Ready?” he asks, pulling a T-shirt over his head.

It seems he hasn’t noticed her staring.

“Let’s go,” she replies in a rush, grabbing her sunglasses and following him back through the house and out to the car.

The doors slam shut behind them, and Katara concerns herself with rolling all of the windows down so they can still feel the summer breeze. Aang checks his mirrors and starts out of the driveway when he notices what Katara’s wearing.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure the ‘no shirt, no service’ rule still applies all the way out here,” he teases her as he guides the car back onto the winding, mountain road.

“It’s not like I’m not going to wear it at all,” Katara says defensively, though she’s smiling. She holds up her shirt in her hand. “I need to dry off first.”

Aang glances at her from the road and realizes she means the bikini top, which is more or less still soaked through. If she put the shirt on now, it would only seep through and leave an obvious stain on the front. He turns resolutely to look back at the road, swallowing hard.

The last time he saw her in the white top, with just the two of them together, was on a road trip to Omashu to celebrate Zuko’s college graduation. On the last day before they reached the city, Katara insisted on going to see a little-known cave nearby with an underground spring, and that night, after several cupfuls of terrible Earth Kingdom grain alcohol, raised the idea of going to swim in it again, under the full moon. Aang was the only one who could be convinced to go with her. They ventured back into the cave with a flashlight and turned it off once they got to the pool at the bottom, the night quiet but for the occasional sound of droplets falling from the stalagmites. They stayed close to each other in the dark water, but it was Katara who wrapped herself around Aang, and after a while, pressed her chest to his, separated only by the fabric of her white top. She looked up at him with her half-lidded eyes and boozy blush and only hesitated briefly before kissing him under the silver light of the moon.

Katara woke the next morning with a wicked hangover, and Aang drove the rest of the way to Omashu with Sokka sitting next to him, any hope of talking to Katara about their kiss drowned out by Sokka’s elaborate stories about another student in his department named Wing Fan. Neither mentioned what happened the night before, Aang wondering whether Katara even remembered it, and it never happened again, so they let it go.

But Aang remembered it. And if he had asked, he would have known that Katara did, too.

The winding road lets out to a stretch devoid of surrounding trees, and the glare of the early evening sun hits Aang right in the eyes. He pulls the sun visor down, but the light still shines through and makes him squint.

“I should have brought sunglasses,” he said absentmindedly, vaguely holding up his hand to see the road.

“Here, have mine,” Katara pipes up, and takes them off to carefully place them on Aang’s face. She giggles at the sight. “They look perfect on you.”

Aang sneaks a grin at her, his gray eyes obscured by the bright blue flowered frames thrifted by Sokka for Katara’s birthday. “Thanks, I try.”

He keeps them on even when they drive into town and walk into the supermarket, Katara pulling her shirt back on on the way in. He refuses even to push them onto his head, looking at the signs above the aisles through the darkened lenses, insisting, “But, Katara, I still need them for the ride back.”

Katara only shakes her head in amusement and pulls him after her toward the frozen aisle.

“Oh, mangoes!” Aang cries, and he stops in the middle of the produce to admire the piles of fruit. “These are Gyatso’s favorite.”

“Should we get some?” Katara asks. “Or any other fruit? Or snacks for the house or something?”

“If you think so,” Aang says noncommittally.

“What do you want?” she asks. She examines the assortment and wrinkles her nose when she notices the papaya.

Aang shrugs. “Ah, you know me. I don’t really care what we eat.”

“Really?” Katara asks disbelievingly. “This from the vegetarian who tried to convince Sokka to participate in meatless Mondays.”

Aang laughs. “It was worth a shot.” He picks up a mango. “Besides, it worked on you.”

“Hey, I’m meatless everyday now because of you, and you better not forget it,” Katara says, poking a finger to his chest.

Aang looks down at her hand, those goofy sunglasses still hiding his eyes, and then grins widely at her. “I won’t,” he says sincerely.

“Good.” Katara swipes the mango from his hand and grabs one more before taking off again toward the frozen food aisle.

They drive back to the house in no rush, the ice and the mangoes safely stowed in the backseat. They don’t talk but they don’t need to, the sound of the radio tangling with the air rushing by outside and through the windows. Katara smiles contentedly as she sits next to Aang, occasionally sneaking glances at him, at the veins of his forearm as he keeps his hand on the wheel, and at the angle of his jaw. Before they reach the house, she silently leans toward him and reaches for the back of his neck. His chin tilts up as her touch startles him, and he looks at her quickly out of the corner of his eye, but she feels him relax beneath her hand as soon she tucks the tag back into the collar of his shirt. Her fingertips brush lightly against the back of his neck before she brings her hand back to her lap, and she spies a small smile on his face as they pull back into the driveway of the home.

They’re both quiet, feeling content and a little contemplative, as they walk back through the house.

“You made it!” Suki cries a little too loudly, standing next to Zuko at the outdoor bar on the right side of the pool patio. Her arms rise above her head, and she reveals a tall glass in her hand that’s now only a quarter full.

“So this is what you’ve been up to while we were gone?” Katara asks in an amused tone.

“Not all of us,” Zuko says, exchanging a look with her.

“Yeah, some of us were waiting for ice,” Toph chirps, abandoning Sokka at the pool’s edge to walk up to Zuko. “You promised me a frozen marg, Sparky, let’s go.”

Aang laughs and brings the ice over to Zuko, while Katara balances the mangoes on the countertop.

Zuko pulls out a blender. “Do you want one, too?” he asks the pair.

“I will have another,” Suki declares.

“You’ve been cut off,” he replies, only half-serious. He notices Katara eyeing the water again. “As you can see, I do have experience in poolside service,” he says, pointing out Sokka floating idly in the pool, an empty glass near the stone’s edge.

Katara smiles and touches his arm, kissing him quickly on the cheek. “You’re the best,” she says before tossing her clothes off again and jumping once more into the water.

“Katara!” they hear Sokka shriek.

Aang laughs and turns back to Zuko. “Need any help?” he asks enthusiastically.

“Not now that we have the ice,” Zuko replies. He looks at Aang curiously, but before he can say anything, Sokka stops splashing Katara to greet Aang.

“Hey, Aang! Nice glasses.”

Aang’s forgotten he’s wearing them; he blushes once his hand comes up to touch them. “They’re Katara’s,” he explains.

“Cute,” Suki comments before sucking once more on her straw.

Zuko chuckles. “Makes sense.”

Sokka rolls his eyes, and Katara splashes him in the face.

“Aang, are you coming?” she calls.

“Yeah, just a second!” he calls back.

He turns back to Zuko and misses the sight of Sokka picking Katara up and throwing her into the deep end.

“Go hang out with her,” Zuko says quietly to Aang, a light smile on his face.

“Yeah,” Toph says, significantly louder, “go with Katara. And Zuko,” she says, slamming her hands on the countertop, “what is going on? I hear no blending.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aang says, taking the sunglasses off and folding them carefully next to the mangoes.

“I may be blind, Twinkletoes, but I’m not an idiot,” Toph says, crossing her arms.

“Toph sees things,” Suki says seriously from her perch on the bar counter. Her eyes widen as she faces the group. “Below-the-surface things.”

“Thanks, Suki.” Toph grins mischievously.

Aang laughs good-naturedly. “You guys are crazy.”

Zuko watches as the younger man throws off his shirt and walks toward the pool, only to stop dead at the edge. Katara emerges from below the water’s surface, smoothing her hair back into a thick curtain of waves falling behind her. The soft evening light creates shadows across her form that only soften her curves and make her skin look even smoother. She looks almost ethereal, like one of the benevolent spirits of the sea.

She notices Aang and looks up at him eagerly. “Are you coming in?”

“Uh, yeah, of course,” he replies, shaking himself out of his reverie and finally slipping into the water next to her.

She grins in delight and holds his hand under the water. “I’ll race you to the bottom,” she challenges him.

“You’re on,” Aang laughs, and the two disappear into the deep end.

Sokka turns around from retrieving his glass to find himself alone. “Where did they go?” he asks the trio at the bar.

They ignore him.

“Twinkletoes just did it again, didn’t he?” Toph snickers.

“Yep,” Zuko says, and he switches on the blender.

#atla #atla fanfic #atla fanfiction #fanfiction #modern AU #avatar the last airbender #kataang #kataangtag #zukka #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #toph #suki #this is a lottt of fluff #my writing

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takonei · 3 years

Text

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 5, deadly life (Part 1)

Note of the author: Surprise, fuckers. Investigation is earlier than expected!

Chapter 5: An oath to one’s lost humanity - Deadly life

...

"Ding dong, dong ding!"

...

No...

"A body has been discovered!"

Not...

Not again...

"Everyone, please gather in the ultimate weapons maker's research lab!"

Shuichi could only stare at the unmoving body in front of him.

Ryoma... Committed suicide...?

But why?

They were so close to ending this game, they had a strategy, they knew full well how they were going to fight Monokuma and the exisals, so why?

Why restarting the killing game?

Shuichi tried to detach his eyes from the corpse.

The others were as in shock as he was, but the moment his gaze landed on Rantaro, he could immediately feel something was wrong.

The medic was staring at Ryoma with an unreadable expression.

It wasn't fear, shock, nor sadness.

Not a single emotion could be seen on his face.

His eyes were locked on the unmoving body of his former friend.

Perhaps he hadn't yet realized the reality in front of him.

His partner, the one he trusted the most, was dead.

Kirumi and Shuichi glanced at each other.

It was like both realized what was going to happen.

Rantaro had already gone mad from the supposed betrayal of Ryoma during the last trial, he was already slowly crumbling under the pressure of leading a continuously dying group, so to think Ryoma broke their promise to fight against Monokuma and ended his own life...

What was left of Rantaro now that the plan he carefully crafted in details was shattered to pieces by his most trusted friend?

"My! My! I was almost worried you guys would actually not kill before the time limit!"

Shuichi couldn't even look at the bear.

"But it looks like we're finally getting another trial! How exciting!"

Kaito slammed his fist against the nearby box. "What trial is there to hold?! Ryoma committed suicide!"

"Uh-uh! The rules of a class trial always remain the same!"

"Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial."

"Only accidental deaths don’t deserve the luxury of getting a class trial, so if the victim and blackened are one and the same, a class trial will still be held!"

Miu was also furious. "You're not even denying it! There's no point in organizing a class trial if we already know Ryoma is the one who ended his own life!"

Monokuma was stirring the cocktail he was holding. "I didn't *say* he committed suicide, I said that *if* he ended his own life, a class trial would still take place! Now shoo! You have a crime scene to investigate!"

"What's the point?"

Shuichi felt his heart skip a beat. He turned to the source of the voice.

Rantaro was now facing the bear.

"We'll come in the courtroom and then start the vote immediately. Since none of us have done the deed, you will not execute anyone, and we'll go back to our rooms as if nothing ever happened."

The medic slowly marched towards Monokuma.

"Or maybe you are hinting on the fact that Ryoma didn't commit suicide, and in that case, you are giving an advantage to the spotless, which means you are taking sides, and this isn’t what the objective judge you claim to be would do. This trial is already unfair, if you ask me."

He narrowed his eyes at the bear.

"Unless there is something you want us to find out during the investigation?"

The bear started sweating. "N-No, not at all! This is definitely a fair trial and you definitely have to solve this case in its entirety and vote for the real blackened!"

It felt like Monokuma was lying. Or at least he was hiding things from them. But what would he want them to find in their investigation? What is there to investigate, even?

"A-Anyway! Now shoo! I have important matters to take care of! Like finding this freaking kid I swear..." The robot muttered the last part.

Shuichi frowned. "What did you say?"

"I said I have to find my missing cub!" he yelled, then put both of his paws on his mouth. "Oops! Did I say that out loud?"

... What?

Obtained truth bullet! Missing Monodam

"Here! Have the Monokuma file and get to the investigation already!" Monokuma exclaimed before leaving.

"Wait!"

It was too late.

The six who were still alive were left in the lab, a hanged corpse right next to them.

They all looked at each other.

"What... What do we do?" Kokichi asked, visibly unsettled by the situation. "The answer is right here..."

"But Monokuma was hinting that it may not be a suicide..." Shuichi muttered.

"And yet the supposed other killer wouldn't have anything to gain from this. Unless they were willing to kill because of the time limit, but then again, it doesn't make sense that they would disguise the death as a suicide." Kirumi added.

She had a point. To survive alone would be pointless.

And Shuichi just remembered something.

Ryoma's lab was always locked with no other way to enter than the main door, and he would respond to Rantaro only. That's what he learned from the past few days.

Obtained truth bullet! Locked lab

"But still, Rantaro, you said Monokuma wanted us to find out something?" Miu turned to the medic.

"I was just throwing out theories and it looked like I was right. But the question is, what does Monokuma want us to find that even he couldn't find." he replied.

That was very odd. Monokuma always seemed to know everything that was happening in the academy.

Perhaps Rantaro was wrong, but...

It really looked like Monokuma wanted to flee their interrogation and make them investigate.

Maybe there was indeed some truth in Rantaro's theory.

It looked like he was focused on the case the second Monokuma appeared, which was... Not the reaction he expected, to say the least.

What does Rantaro even have in mind?

...

"Do we... start the investigation anyway? Maybe we'll find out about what Monokuma was talking about..." Miu suggested.

"That would be following the orders Monokuma gave us, but if we do not take any risks we'll never know what he is hiding." Kirumi continued. "I suggest we investigate but keep our deductions to ourselves, just in case."

"If we find out a truth that not even Monokuma could find, then we’ll have the high ground."

Shuichi nodded. "I agree, but... What can we even investigate?"

"It's just like Tsumugi's case..." Kokichi muttered. "We don't even know what to do."

"Shouldn't we investigate Ryoma's lab?" Kaito asked. "I mean, we've been together the entire day, if someone tampered with a certain room we would have known."

Shuichi perked up. "Hold on, when did Ryoma even die?"

"He could be dead for several days for all we know!" Miu exclaimed, shocked by her own statement.

"Except Ryoma made our weapons for the failed raid of the hangar yesterday. Your argument doesn't add up." Kirumi crossed her arms.

"Besides, the body is still fresh. I would say he died several hours ago at most." Rantaro noted.

Shuichi took out his monopad. "Perhaps the Monokuma file indicates more information?"

Turning the item on, everyone looked at their screens.

Monokuma file #5

The victim is the ultimate weapons maker, Ryoma Hoshi.

The victim's body was discovered in the ultimate weapons maker's research lab.

The time of death is unknown.

The cause of death is strangulation.

No other injuries were noted on the victim's body.

Obtained truth bullet! Monokuma file #5

"This doesn't help us at all!" Kaito exclaimed. "Everything written on this file are things we already know!"

Shuichi glanced at Rantaro to try and guess what he was thinking.

The medic was staring at the file, unreadable as always.

He turned off his monopad without a word and approached the control panel.

The others could only look at him wondering what he was up to.

After pressing a few buttons, he lowered the hook to the ground.

He placed one foot on it, wrapped his arm around the chain, and gripped it firmly.

"Can someone make the hook go to the highest point so I can reach the beam?"

Kirumi stared at him. "What exactly are you planning to do up here?"

"I want to lower Ryoma's body so I can inspect it. I can't exactly do an autopsy on a hanged body."

The mercenary walked towards the panel and stared at it for a moment. She pressed a button and Rantaro started going up.

Once he was next to the beam, he climbed it with ease and walked on the narrow path as if it was completely normal.

He sat down in front of the knot. "Can two of you hold onto Ryoma while I cut the rope?"

Kirumi raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

He thought for a moment. "... Hand me one of your knives. I know you have them."

Shuichi saw the others turning to the mercenary with looks of concern.

"Why the fuck do you have knives on yourself?" Kaito asked.

The young woman sighed. "I'm a trained fighter. What exactly did you expect."

Kirumi reached under her skirt and took out one of her sharp knives. She stepped backwards and threw the weapon up. Rantaro caught it mid-air easily.

She walked back to Ryoma and put the chair away. Miu swallowed before following her.

The two girls wrapped Ryoma's arms around their shoulders and Rantaro started cutting the rope.

After the weapons maker was freed from its deadly grasp, Kirumi and Miu laid him down on the floor.

Shuichi approached the control panel to bring Rantaro down.

The medic stepped down and faced the dead body in front of him.

The silence was deafening, and Shuichi couldn't even begin to understand how Rantaro was feeling right now.

"... I'll make the autopsy. You guys can investigate the rest."

It was clear from his voice he wanted to be alone.

"Hey, didn't we say we should investigate this lab?" Kaito asked, who visibly didn't catch on to what Rantaro was trying to say.

"I doubt we will find hints in this lab only. I don't know where, but perhaps we should leave Rantaro to his job for now." Kirumi already started walking towards the exit.

Miu shot a glance at Rantaro, who was still staring at the dead Ryoma.

"Should... Should one of us stay behind?"

Shuichi didn't know if this was a good idea, but because of how silent Rantaro was, it was hard to tell if he minded.

They looked at each other for a moment, worried about how the medic really was holding up.

He thought he had moved on pretty quickly, but that clearly wasn't the case. He simply wanted justice for Ryoma, to get to the bottom of this- and whatever Monokuma was hiding about his death.

"Maybe we should leave Rantaro alone, for now." Shuichi muttered.

Kokichi briefly looked at the medic. "You're probably right."

The group finally made their way out.

Shuichi closed the door behind him and turned to the others.

"What... What do we do now?"

...

No response. They had hope that they were finally going to end this game, and the moment they were about to do so, another death they didn't think about occurred, and it was Rantaro's best friend of all people.

The one Rantaro seemed to have talked to in secret multiple times, even going as far as to communicate in morse code to make sure no one would successfully catch on to what they were saying.

To investigate what was clearly a suicide because of what Monokuma was supposedly hiding from them...

Nothing made sense anymore. That was just torture.

"... I'll try to find Monokuma. Perhaps I can get answers out of him." Miu started walking away.

Kaito immediately followed. "I'll go with her."

Shuichi was left with both Kirumi and Kokichi.

"Do you... have any clues on what we could investigate?" Kokichi nervously asked.

Kirumi leaned against the wall. "I want to know what the blackouts were all about. Although I am not sure how we could investigate these."

There were exactly two blackouts, as far as he knew.

"I mean... The first blackout was yesterday, right?" Shuichi said. "It was at least a few hours long..."

"It happened while we, aside from Rantaro and Ryoma, were all in the warehouse. I don't think any of us could even remotely be accounted responsible." Kirumi continued.

"And it was just in the main building! The hangar wasn't touched at all..." Kokichi added.

Obtained truth bullet! First blackout

"I do think the two blackouts are related, although I fail to understand what was the purpose of this move." Kirumi pondered.

"Maybe we'll find info somewhere? There must be a way to investigate..."

"Isn't there a computer room? I don't know much about computers but maybe it can give us a hint..." Kokichi suggested.

"This entire building is the victim of the blackout. Even if the computer has info, I doubt it will be functioning in this current situation." Kirumi noted.

He didn't think about that detail.

"Then I'm out of ideas..."

"I mean, our current blackout isn't that different from the previous one, right?" Kokichi asked. "We didn't realize there was one because we were in the dorms, so it only touched the main building again."

"The thing is, we were not here when it started. It could have started right before we entered the building just like it could have started hours ago." Kirumi added. "We know the beginning of the first blackout but not the end, while for the second blackout, we do not know either in the slightest."

Both blackouts were still a mystery, then.

Obtained truth bullet! Second blackout

Would it really help with Ryoma's case? Probably not. But just as Kokichi said, it was like Tsumugi's case. They didn't know what they were searching for.

...

The group stared at each other.

"H-Hey..." Kokichi muttered. "I don't want to doubt any of you but..." he trailed off.

"What is it?"

"... What if it wasn't a suicide, somehow?"

Shuichi almost jumped.

The mercenary narrowed her eyes for a moment. "We were all together the majority of the day, so most of us didn't even have time to do anything unless it was at nighttime, which I doubt is the case since Rantaro mentioned Ryoma's death was several hours ago at most. Miu was absent this morning and Rantaro was absent for most of the day, but that's it."

However, that still left those two as suspects...

A part of him prayed that this was indeed a suicide, as harsh as it sounded.

Obtained truth bullet! Kirumi's account

And now they were left again in silence.

...

"I do not have a single clue on what we can investigate because of the blackout. This is frustrating." Kirumi crossed her arms.

Shuichi hummed. "I mean… Ryoma’s lab really is the only place where we could find hints… Should we still go there?"

Kokichi glanced away. "I… I know that after H-Himiko’s death I… I wanted to be alone, so I don’t know if t-this is a good idea…"

"Except we don’t have a choice. Miu and Kaito left to get Monokuma and we don’t know what place could even give us hints about what Monokuma is searching for." Kirumi noted.

"Perhaps we should investigate as quietly as possible…?" Shuichi suggested. "I know to disturb him would be disrespectful, but maybe he would understand?"

The three stared at each other.

"Ryoma’s lab it is."

The trio went back to the room, quietly opening and closing the door. They forgot about how dark the lab was.

Kirumi immediately started going to the back of the lab, but the moment Kokichi and he started to follow her, she gestured them to be quiet.

For a moment Shuichi forgot about the other two being incredibly stealthy- for different reasons.

Once the workbench was in view, Shuichi noticed Rantaro was reading what was written on a blueprint. It looked like the autopsy was already done.

However, he would not do the same mistake twice.

"M-Maybe we should tell him we’re there? I don’t think he would react well if he noticed our presence and didn’t tell him…"

Kirumi glanced at him for a moment, like she just remembered what he told him a few days ago.

"You’re right."

She stood up and approached the workbench, still illuminated by the flickering light that started giving Shuichi a headache.

The sound of her heels echoed loud enough for Rantaro to notice and turn around.

"You’re back."

"Sorry if we’re interrupting anything, but there isn’t much to investigate outside of this lab."

He put back the paper on the table. "I never said any of you had to leave. I just said you guys should investigate something else other than Ryoma’s body."

…

One day, maybe, he will cease worrying Shuichi.

Had he even taken the time to process his death?

"A-Are you sure?" Kokichi hesitantly asked. "We can investigate quietly if you want…"

"It’s fine."

Shuichi swallowed.

"Isn’t there a flashlight or something to help us? This place is so dark…"

The moment he finished his sentence, the room went entirely black.

He simply heard something small falling on the table, then the ground.

"U-Um…"

"This has turned into a difficult situation."

“Monokuma!!"

Rantaro's voice echoed through the lab.

"Get over here. We cannot investigate properly in those conditions."

"Hey! Hey! I am not a servant nor a maid! There is someone here to help fulfill your desires!"

The robotic voice came from behind, the sound of his light footsteps getting louder as he approached them.

He could not see it, but Kirumi was definitely rolling her eyes at the bear.

"If those are the conditions of your investigation, then so be it!"

Shuichi could hear someone turning around.

"Which means the blackouts are not accidental. Someone is responsible for them. That is one new confirmation, thank you."

Rantaro.

"Ack!"

"May I ask, is it because you don’t want to repair the blackout or because you can’t?"

…

Silence.

"I’m taking it as a ‘I can’t.’ Thank you for the answer. Which does confirm that you are not the one who provoked it to mess with us, and it is indeed one of us who has done the deed. Now-

"Enough! Just take these and investigate for real already! That’s not how an investigation works!"

The sound of something rolling on the ground was heard, and Shuichi felt a small object touching his feet.

He bent down to take the item- something that felt like a flashlight. He turned it on and finally he could see in front of him.

Other flashlights turned on as well. Monokuma had given one to each of them before leaving.

Everyone turned to Rantaro.

"… And that confirmed what I just said was true."

Someone among them… Responsible for this? But not many people could have even done so.

He would have to solve this mystery later.

… Now that he thought about it, Miu and Kaito would probably not manage to get anything out of the robotic bear anymore.

Obtained truth bullet! Monokuma’s account

"I think we can go back to the investigation now." Rantaro declared.

Kirumi and Shuichi quickly glanced at each other.

Rantaro seemed to know exactly which questions to ask Monokuma, what would make him stutter and reveal important clues.

Was it something he just knew how to do, or was it deeper than that?

He really hoped he wasn’t looking too much into that.

"A-Alright… I’ll try to investigate what I can…" Kokichi walked away.

"… Then I’ll do the same." Kirumi went the other way.

Shuichi swallowed. If the autopsy was done, perhaps it revealed something else.

"H-Hey Rantaro…"

"Yes?"

The violinist approached the body. "Did you find anything else on Ryoma…?"

Rantaro put a knee down. "Ryoma died one or two hours ago at most, and the cause of death is hanging. There’s no doubt about that. Look."

He slightly moved Ryoma’s head to expose his neck, marked by purple spots that gave Shuichi chills.

"The hematomas on his neck are here, so Monokuma wasn’t lying about the cause of death being strangulation. However, if, let’s say, someone tried to strangle him with a rope, a cable, or anything else, those hematomas would be far more pronounced than that."

"There would be also signs of struggle, on both the killer’s body and Ryoma’s." he took Ryoma’s hands to show him. There were slight stains of soot, but nothing that looked like blood.

Obtained truth bullet! Rantaro’s autopsy

… At least there wasn’t any mystery surrounding this. Which was expected from what is clearly a suicide.

"A-Alright…"

He had enough of dead bodies. Perhaps he could look around for more hints.

Earlier, when the lab went completely dark, he heard something fall near the table. What was that?

The violinist approached the table and tried to investigate near it. And to his surprise, there was a small object on the ground. He picked it up to take a look at it.

The object was a circular magnet, grey with a familiar blue symbol on it.

The one that was also on the hacking guns- Ryoma’s sigil.

Did it come from the lamp?

Obtained truth bullet! Strange magnet

Speaking of weapons, perhaps he should try to find what Ryoma already created.

Shuichi started looking around. If the weapons maker was trying to keep them secure, then perhaps they were locked in one of the boxes.

However, it seemed like both Kirumi and Kokichi were investigating them already, so he should try to look somewhere else.

He went around the lab without any objective in mind. Just finding something perhaps related to the case.

At some point, he stumbled across an object leaning against one of the boxes in the back.

After closer inspection it was… Kaito’s metal baseball bat?

There were a few scratches on it, like someone used it to smash something hard enough to resist it.

Scratches definitely not done the day they destroyed the pool area’s window.

Other than that, the bat was clean. Not shining clean, as it seems to have been dirtied a bit by whatever the person using it smashed, but there were no stains on it.

Obtained truth bullet! Used baseball bat

Shuichi glanced at Rantaro, who was still reading the papers on the workbench.

He approached him to see what these were all about.

"What are these?"

"Blueprints for weapons and tools. Take a look if you want, although I doubt you will be able to understand anything. I know I don’t."

The medic handed him the papers.

There were different plans and sketches on them. Some looked like the bombs they had not actually used a few days ago, and some looked like the hacking guns they had used in the death road of despair. But another one caught his attention.

It looked exactly like the magnet he found earlier. Which meant this was indeed one of Ryoma’s crafted objects.

However, nothing on the paper indicated what it was used for. Simply what materials should be used and how it was supposed to be assembled.

He also found a blueprint for what looked like an overcomplicated lock, for some reason.

There were some other blueprints about different bombs, from explosive ones to electrical ones, and heavy weapons that looked like they could blow up more than just the exisals.

At least Ryoma did try to craft the weapons, but…

… Why suddenly giving up, if you could call it that way?

Obtained truth bullet! Weapons’ blueprints

Shuichi gave back the blueprints to Rantaro. "Thank you… Although I didn’t understand much either."

"No problem."

Somehow, Shuichi wished Rantaro showed at least a little bit more emotion than this.

He started walking back towards the boxes to see if either Kirumi or Kokichi found anything.

The violinist suddenly jumped at a very strange noise in the distance- like a small explosion, or electricity?

He approached the source only to see Kirumi coughing.

"Are you okay?!"

She waved her hand to make the smoke go away. "I’m fine, don’t worry."

He approached the box, although he could not climb it. "What happened?"

The mercenary seemed to have tried to manipulate something. "I’m not sure. All of these boxes have huge locks, so I tried to break one. But the moment the blade of my knife touched the thing, it exploded."

Ouch.

"Oh… But is it okay now to open?"

She shook her head. "It looks like a defense mechanism. I cannot touch it. Although…"

He could not see it properly, but it looked like she was making sure no one was listening.

"I am not sure since I cannot feel pain, but it looks like the lock both creates a small explosion and sends a strong electrical charge to whoever tries to touch it."

Oh.

"Hold on, I have gloves! Maybe I can try!"

"I highly recommend you not to, Shuichi. One wrong manipulation and you could end up dead."

"I know what I’m doing! Help me get on the box!"

"Get some thicker gloves first, idiot."

Shuichi sighed, approached the workbench once more, and took the pair that was on the table. It seemed to have belonged to Ryoma. They must have been used for his manipulations and looked safe enough.

Kirumi stepped down and approached the control panel. Once Shuichi was firmly holding onto the chain, she moved it up so he could take a better look at what she was inspecting.

After moving it down, she went back and climbed up the chain by herself.

She sat down next to Shuichi. "Here. That’s the lock."

On a closer look, it had the exact same appearance as the sketch on the blueprint he found earlier.

After taking a deep breath, Shuichi placed a hand on the lock, which…

… didn’t do anything at all.

He tried to move the thing around, and his eyes suddenly widened.

There was the exact same magnet as the one he found next to the table.

"I found one of these earlier! I don’t know what they are for, though."

He tried to detach it, but he could not even move it an inch. It was like superglued on the lock.

"Weird…"

"… I am not sure how these locks work. Perhaps we should leave them be, it would be safer."

"Agreed…"

A strange lock indeed, that would definitely secure the boxes from anyone but him.

Obtained truth bullet! Trapped locks

"Hold on, what about Kokichi?! He must be manipulating these locks as well!" Shuichi exclaimed.

"Kokichi also has gloves, mind you. But perhaps we should tell him not to move these too much."

Oh.

The two climbed down the box and started searching for the smaller boy.

But before they could find him, the door of the lab opened again to reveal Miu and Kaito.

Rantaro, who was done with the back of the lab, approached them. "Anything new?"

The street artist groaned. "Nothing! We searched for Monokuma everywhere to ask him questions but nothing!"

… Perhaps he should tell them about what happened earlier.

"It’s fine. Don’t worry about it."

Kokichi stepped down from his box as well. "I mean… We did get some info out of him so it’s alright… I think."

"Then what about you guys? Did you find anything interesting?" Kaito asked.

"Nothing really relevant to this so-called case." Rantaro crossed his arms. "We've been searching Ryoma's lab through and through for a while now, and the blackened is pretty much established at this point."

And yet it felt like they hadn't found anything at all. Shuichi knew they were not searching for the culprit anymore.

They hadn't even found a 'why', nor what Monokuma was supposedly hiding.

Miu glanced away for a moment. "Say... Have any of you found some kind of will? Or even a letter?"

Shuichi froze. He glanced at those who were in the lab with him.

There wasn't any.

"N-No... I didn't find anything at all..." Shuichi muttered.

"So he just... without even telling us why?" Kaito was just as confused as everyone else.

"... Nothing. I've looked through his workbench about a hundred times already and there wasn't anything." Rantaro shook his head. "Which does surprise me. Ryoma is not the type to make huge decisions without explaining why."

Perhaps it was better to trust Rantaro on this.

"Do you think Monokuma stole the letter? Ryoma could have given us info in it... Maybe Monokuma judged it wasn't a good idea to leave it be, and we know that he can mess with us whenever he wants to..." Kokichi suggested.

"That's a possibility. We'll never know unless we harass him until he tells us the truth."

Obtained truth bullet! Absence of a will

"Should we go back to our investigation?" Kirumi asked.

"It's not like we have anything else to do." Rantaro walked away.

He was way too calm for Shuichi's liking. Was it because he got over his death quickly or because he was hiding his emotions far better than anyone else here?

Each and every single one of his actions terrified him.

But now wasn't the time.

The violinist turned to Miu. "Have you... found anything in your research?"

She sighed. "Not really. I do wonder what the 'missing kid' thing is all about, though."

Kaito frowned. "We saw Monodam like two days ago, remember? He was just walking around when we were searching for the dumbells."

The street artist nodded. "Yeah, I do! But then nothing. I don't remember seeing him even once ever since then."

Obtained truth bullet! Kaito's account

"Strange... But it's not like it's going to help us." Shuichi noted.

"I know, I know... This whole situation is giving me a migraine." The taller man complained.

"God, do I agree."

After telling Kokichi about the danger of the locks, the group went back to their investigation. Miu followed Kokichi and Kaito followed Kirumi and Shuichi since they didn't have any flashlights.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them as the mercenary tried to look through the lab.

"All the boxes are locked. There isn't anything to see here." she stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt.

The three approached the back of the lab. Now that he had a better view of the thing, Shuichi noticed the packs of food and water. Those were the supplies he had taken to survive without leaving his lab. Some of them were empty, but that was normal.

Nothing much to see here.

"Hey, what the heck is that?"

Kaito pointed at something that was hidden behind one of the food packs. However, with the darkness, it was hard to tell what it even was.

Kirumi approached it and took out what looked like... a bomb?

"W-What is this?!" Kaito exclaimed.

"Obviously a bomb that was not used. But it's different from the ones we had to raid the hangar." Kirumi noted.

Something about this bomb felt familiar. Was it on the blueprints?

Shuichi went back and started going through the papers until he found the one. "There!"

He tried to read it to perhaps learn a bit about it.

But upon a closer look, he remembered that none of them explained anything about the use of the tools.

"And of course we don't know what this is..."

Kirumi tried to inspect the weapon. "What I'm wondering is why this was out in the open. All the boxes are locked, no exception, and I thought they contained all the weapons Ryoma made. But not this unknown one."

Why the change of pattern?

Obtained truth bullet! Unknown unused bomb

The investigation was confusing- not more than the previous one, but still, in a different way.

This entire time they didn't know whether they were searching for the blackened, something Monokuma didn't find out, a missing monokub, or something else entirely.

Maybe if they continue investigating-

Ding dong bing bong!

Goddamnit.

The announcement was a bit different. Monokuma asked them all to put back their uniforms correctly as it was a 'requirement for the trial'. They had all changed their outfits to feel more comfortable -and piss off Monokuma-, but now they had to change back, unfortunately.

The three stared at each other for a moment.

"... I guess we have no choice." Kirumi sighed.

"Well we got our answer, so let's just change back, go to the courtroom, vote since this bear forces us to, and then think about what we should do next since there aren't any fucking weapons available now." Kaito started walking away, leaving the two alone.

...

"I have a bad feeling about this." the mercenary muttered.

Shuichi looked at her. "You mean for the trial?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I feel like we both missed something important and that Rantaro is not going to take this trial well, even though it should be extremely short."

If this was their first trial, Shuichi would have disagreed, but... Now he wasn't so sure.

"Yeah, but... We still gotta go and see, right?"

Kirumi sighed. "I know."

Some of them had to go back to their dorms to change, including Shuichi. He put back the vest and tie and looked at himself in the mirror.

He really wasn't the same person as before the game, was he?

Shuichi could barely recognize himself. Eyebags, messy hair, and of course, the constant expression of fear he could never drop even if he tried.

If only he could go back to the happy version of himself.

To go back to his uncle's house.

To stop fearing for his life.

To stop worrying about making someone react the wrong way.

To stop worrying at all.

This situation was completely hopeless.

He shut his eyes down and left the room. Now wasn't the time to do an existential crisis.

He found the others and the group made their way to the shrine of judgment in silence.

Only six of them were alive now. Every time Shuichi tried to think about it, he could feel himself wince.

Ten of the last survivors of humanity had died in three weeks.

They stepped into the shrine but already had the answer on who the blackened of this case was.

Ryoma killed himself. There was no doubt about that anymore.

Rantaro's autopsy proved it, and no matter what happened outside of it, the outcome was still the same.

The elevator ride was as silent as always.

But something didn't feel quite right. It was like they were going deeper than usual.

The door opened and Shuichi's eyes widened.

It wasn't their usual courtroom. This one didn't have any stained glass, nor a giant clock nor anything. It actually felt like a real courtroom, with wooden decorations, scarlet and gold curtains enveloping the walls, and red carpets on the black and white checkered floor. At least this room didn't give him a feeling of dizziness.

"I remade the courtroom specifically for you guys! After all, this fifth trial promises to be grandiose! I couldn't resist redecorating a little!" the bear exclaimed, laughing.

Everyone took their spots, ignoring him as always.

They would vote and leave.

That was it.

Monokuma explained the rules everyone knew by heart by now.

However, it wasn't like they could protest.

Shuichi could only hear white noise at this point. By looking around, there were almost only black and white portraits with a bright pink cross on each of them. More spots were taken by the horrendous reminder that they were all dying one by one than actual survivors.

How many trials would they have to go through before being free?

How many deaths would have to occur for the bear to be satisfied?

...

The courtroom was left as silent as a graveyard, although that was expected from a trial where there wasn't anything to say.

But before he could even think about how to break the silence, Rantaro raised his hand.

"I'm the one responsible for Ryoma's death."

#ndrv3 #danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 au #beta au #main story

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booknerdproblems · 4 years

Text

Immortals Chapter 9

Guess who's back! It's me, surprise!!!! Anyways, thank you guys so much because we are almost at 2000 hits!! Thanks to all of you who kudos, comment, or just read! All of you are amazing! Here is chapter 9, which starts off right where we left it, with Aelin and Rowan having just found Goldryn. The plot is starting to weave in here, but I'm a little rusty at this so forgive me if I make some inconsistencies or errors! From here on out we shall also start building on some major Rowaelin, so here we go!

This chapter is pretty short, and I’m not that happy with it, but I’ve got more on the way shortly!

Here is the link to my masterlist, where you can also find the previous chapters!

“

“Still think the story isn’t real, buzzard?”

Rowan just grumbled and cast a furtive look toward the lake, the water flat and undisturbed, then back at the gleaming golden sword in Aelin’s hands.

“Come on, Princess, lets go. Wouldn’t want to anger the supposed rabid lake monster. Though perhaps you’d enjoy carving out its other eye.”

Aelin threw him a wicked grin, before looking at Goldryn thoughtfully and buckling it onto her belt.

-x-

They arrived back at Mistward under the cover of darkness, slipping quietly through the kitchen door. The fortress’s residents were all gathered by the roaring fire in the hearth, and Emrys was telling a tale to the demi-face about a past ruler of Wendlyn.

Rowan headed over to the worktop, where huge vats of potatoes and meat and vegetables were being kept warm.

He filled up his plate, Aelin doing the same beside him. He retreated to the back steps to eat, listening as Emrys finished up his story.

Aelin had balanced her piled plate on her knees, but was examining Goldryn’s scabbard. As Rowan watched, she seemed to find something hidden deep in the scabbard. A look of shock overcame her features, before smoothing over hastily.

Looking his way, she met his eyes and her eyes narrowed for a heartbeat, before returning to her food, shovelling it down quickly. Rowan studied her for a couple of heartbeats, then returning to his own food.

-x-

The next morning, Rowan flew up to the battlements to check on the guards. He shifted, landing mid-step, and the watch stood a little straighter, the slight tang of fear coating his senses. It bothered him more than it had in the past.

Malakai had done a good job of organising the fortress defences, so Rowan only asked a couple of questions before looking out into the forest.

The forest seemed endless, stretching over the distant mountains that dominated the horizon. Rowan had spent long hours gazing at those mountains. He sometimes wondered what he’d been thinking, taking the blood oath to Maeve. He’d been so lost in grief and guilt. But still, he’d never stopped wondering, even after taking the oath, just what was over that mountain, what was beyond that horizon. He couldn’t forgive the male whose story was tattooed over his side, but he could forgive the male who’d been so lost in loss that a blood oath had been the best option. Rowan was a warrior, at heart. He could adapt, adjust. He would. For Lyria. Even if he’d been damn trying to adapt for centuries.

A flicker of light caught his eye, and he turned, blinking himself out of his reverie. There, just beyond the boundary of the ward-stones, was Aelin. Training, by the looks of it. She sent walls of flame at the barrier that deflected back to her before she shielded, holding her ground. Arrows and daggers and swords of pure blue flame flew everywhere, and she managed to dodge. Every . Single. One. She fought like she had something burning inside of her, something that was just begging to be unleashed. Maybe she did.

Rowan didn’t know what to make of it. She was a Queen. But yet she still made an effort to train and fight with all she could. Aelin had so much fight in her he often wondered how she didn’t raze Orynth to the ground anytime she was royally pissed off. She could, he knew. If she wanted to. She could burn the world to ashes, if she wished it. She could start the world over. The thought didn’t scare him as much as it should have.

Aelin had been trained from a young age, if she could move with such surety, likely by the Fae that resided in Terrasen.

Even from her birth, whispers and rumours had reached across the sea. A weapon of war, they’d whispered. Aelin Fireheart. The young girl with the heart of wildfire. Unpredictable, raging, fierce. Beautiful, but dangerous.

Aelin was young, yes, but she felt old. Her power felt vast and ancient, yes, but in her soul. Her eyes seemed to peer into his very soul, and they often seemed endlessly sad. She played the game well. Too well, for someone who hadn’t had centuries to hone the craft. She was a major player in the game of realms.

Rowan shifted, soaring into flight. As he approached Aelin, she made no indication she’d noticed him. He shifted, landing behind her and drawing his sword in one motion.

He brought his sword down, and she whirled.

Their blades met with a clash that echoed into his bones. She grinned a wicked smirk, and her eyes were alight with the challenge. She relinquished the hold, ducking as his sword sailed over her head. She swiped at his feet, and he stepped back. They ducked and twirled around each other, flipping and swiping as they went. He almost had her pinned when she gave a surge of energy, beating him back. He met her blow for blow, going on the defensive. Aelin’s power surged, and she sent plumes of flame at him, and he sent gust of ice-kissed wind right back. With a powerful kick, she sent him stumbling back, and he used his own power to fill his lungs. She tackled him, pinning Rowan’s rib cage to the ground with her thighs, and his feet and hands were restrained with bands of golden flame. Aelin’s braid fell over one shoulder as she leaned over him, elongated canines exposed in a snarl. They were both panting heavily, and Rowan was almost ready to give her the win when he moved. Bringing his hands down, he flipped them so she was under him, his gamble paying off. The flame had no real heat, it was just light. They were training, it wasn’t a real fight to the death. Her wrists were restrained with bands of ice, and she struggled for a minute before giving up and staring into his face. She was panting heavily, and so was he, his chest heaving as he calmed.

Aelin’s eyes narrowed.

In a fair fight, I’d’ve won that. She seemed to say.

That’s not much incentive for me to fight fair. He grinned.

She just reached up and flicked his nose.

“How’d you just get out of that handcuff?” He said, clambering off her.

“Little trick called dislocating your thumbs.”

“You could have just melted it.”

“And risk melting my own hand off?”

Rowan rolled his eyes, hauling himself to his feet. Aelin came up beside him as he strode toward the fortress.

“I won that.”

“Sure you did, Princess. Sure.”

Her complaints continued all the way back to the kitchens.

Tags: @brandyovereager @bookworm232020 @kendallambrosio @alyx801 @faerie-queen-fireheart

Let me know if you want to be added/removed from the tag list!

#rowan whitethorn #rowaelin #aelin galathynius #immortals #fanfiction #fanfic #throne of glass #sjm #sarah j maas #chapter 9 #aelin and rowan #rowan x aelin #multichapter

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kaiser-dracon · 4 years

Text

Alternative Berseria The X: Chapter 42 - The Valley of Kings Sneak Peek

Flash forward one thousand years later, Emperor Dorian’s Mansion, Pendrago the Blessed Capital

The air was tense with suspense around Sorey and Mikleo, no one batting an eye in anticipation. What felt like an exciting notion a few minutes ago, it was now a lump in their throat, preventing them to breath until they know the answer. The moment passed like an eternity.

The emperor's expression was unchanging in spite of the weight of his words. “That person’s name was Avernus Diphda.”

Sorey’s mind raced as it tried to comprehend the emperor’s response. He and Mikleo both had the same reaction. “Avernus… Diphda?!” Sorey released a pent up breath, narrowing his eyes as he focused further. “As in the Hyland’s royal lineage?”

The emperor let out a faint hum, closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and seemingly avoiding Sorey’s question. “Shepherd, in truth, all I wanted was to put an end to the conflict. It doesn’t matter how many wars you win, there is always one that follows. But they are also two sides of the same coin; for every action, there is an opposite reaction. Every lasting peace will inevitably be challenged by a new conflict.”

Sorey’s eyes widened in confusion as he glanced quickly at Mikleo before turning back to the emperor. “But what this has to do with the legend?”

The emperor picked up where he left, again dodging what Sorey wanted to hear. “Both war and peace situations must be dealt with when they come around, but the actions we take are going to be different each time. That’s what we’ve learned from history.” Emperor Dorian slowly rose up, sighing as he shot a thoughtful glance over the window into the rainy weather.

Sorey and Mikleo’s gazes followed the emperor, expecting a more relevant answer, but at the same time, they felt it would be rude to push the matter.

“I think you know the sensitivity of the subject. I’m afraid this is all I have to offer.”

Sorey stood up, bowing at the Emperor. “Thank you for your hospitality, your majesty.”

The emperor raised his brow slightly, turning to Sorey. “Leaving so soon?”

“Yes. We have to gain access to the church and meet with the Cardinal. The situation in Pendrago must be resolved as quickly as possible.” Sorey insisted.

Emperor Dorian beckoned at the door. “Then let me offer you transportation. It is only fair that we’d provide means for cleansing malevolence for the Shepherd, especially in this weather.”

Sorey and Mikleo nodded, following the emperor through the exit. Lailah, Edna, Rose, and Dezel joined them mid-way in the hallway. Sorey and Lailah exchanged a heavy and meaningful glance, before resuming their walk. Lailah merged with Sorey and he followed the emperor to the carriage.

As they got on the wagon, Rose spent a few moments probing Sorey’s face. For her, staying in her ex-fiance’s mansion was one thing, watching her friends’ silence was another uncomfortable feeling.

“Alright, what did the Emperor tell you?” Rose asked Sorey, breaking the stillness.

Sorey shifted his attention to her for a slight moment before returning his gaze to the window. “The emperor knew of malevolence and an old legend from a Mayvin.”

“A storyteller spilled some beans?” Rose leaned back against the seat. “You know how I hated to be blind to everything. That’s why I decided to be your squire. So tell me the whole story.”

Sorey put up his determined face and explained what the emperor told him in full detail. After that, Rose trailed off, staring into the rainy weather. “A Diphda, huh? I don’t know if I wanted to lose my emotions, but it’s understandable why he chose the girl instead of the savior.” Rose grinned.

Sorey darted his brows in surprise and confusion. “What do you mean?”

“It is simple; Justice for the boy and the girl,” Rose waved her hand. “Witnessing such an act would want me to put the savior down too. He was a Shepherd after all, wasn’t he? And most importantly, just look at Alisha; that’s expected from a Diphda.”

Mikleo shot as a blue orb from Sorey’s body and materialized beside him. He looked annoyed and frowning. “How can you easily say that? Didn’t you hear what Sorey said? He took the side of a Lord of Calamity. Who knows if he did the right thing or not?” Mikleo argued, uncertainty clear in his tone.

Suddenly, Lailah’s fiery orb exited Sorey and appeared next to Mikleo. “Rose is right, he was moved by the sense of justice at first,” Lailah said, prompting the rest to turn to her in shock. ��Why and what he decided to do to, was not easily relatable. At that time, that was the right thing to do.”

“You’re saying that you knew him?!” Sorey inquired, now every piece of the puzzle was falling into their place in his mind. “But I thought you swore an oath.”

Lailah unexpectedly smiled. “For me, it was just a promise.” The fire seraph cocked her head proudly which was totally unexpected of her. “He wasn’t going to put his sister through an oath.”

Rose, Sorey, and Mikleo all jolted in their places, eyes widening in surprise.

“Sister…?!” Sorey mumbled, seeing Lailah associating herself this close to a human was odd but seemed amazing.

Lailah nodded, wearing a kind smile and eyes beaming with joy as a flood of heartening memories washed over her mind. “Yes. Avernus was the first human I encountered and he was the one who gave me my true name. Like you, he was also raised by a seraph.”

The moody atmosphere changed drastically. Now, Sorey, Mikleo, and Rose leaned in towards the fire seraph. Sorey scratched the back of his head. “I feel like I’m kind of left out a lot of things when you put it that way, Lailah.”

Lailah raised a few of her guardian cards and hid her smile behind them, cheeks turning pink. “It’s nothing to worry about. Avernus and his struggle is something that belonged to a different time and place.”

For a brief moment, the moon shone through a batch of clouds, flaring up old memories in Lailah and encouraging her to glance at it through the window. Her face radiated with hope as the ageless moon watched over her. “Know this, Sorey; war and conflict have existed since the world came to be.” Lailah’s face toned down to seriousness but still had that calm expression. “...For land, for resources, for social status, for love, and even for happiness. Doing your best to live is a fight, however, how you and others conduct conflict is all another matter and what’s left in the wake of that conflict will end up defining your legacy.”

Mikleo leaned back, absorbing Lailah’s sentences. “The shepherd’s legacy…”

Lailah titled her head to the side slightly and faintly giggled. “No, it wasn’t purely his legacy all alone. In fact, without her, none of it was possible.”

Sorey’s sharp wit caught her intention. “The lord of calamity,” he said confidently. “There is definitely more to it, isn’t it?”

Lailah nodded, turning to Sorey. “Yes. But before I tell you about them, you need to know a lot more, Sorey; just because you want to be a perfect Shepherd, doesn’t mean that’s all you have to be.”

Sorey remained intrigued, focusing on the Lailah as she continued. “Humans hold beliefs. There is no room for progress when you fanatically believe in something. The nature of it is black and white, rigid, sound and unchangeable. Yet because humans learn through experience, the beliefs they hold will inevitably change as well. What was once the right thing to do doesn’t always stay that way or applies to every single situation.”

Sorey heaved a breath. “Laws don’t always suit every scenario…”

Rose crossed her arms, closing her eyes as she dwelled on Lailah’s remarks. “And what you hold to be true can mean nothing to another person who doesn’t adhere or conform to your perspective. Ignoring that will make you…” Rose opened her eyes, glancing at Lailah. “... a fanatic.”

“Correct.” Lailah acknowledged. “You cannot solve a lot of issues if you’re not willing to go far. That’s the burden I told you at first about being a shepherd. Even though, you thought that you can’t be two opposing things at once, a pacifist and a warrior.” Lailah turned to Sorey once more. “Because shepherds labeled themselves as one or the other and these labels, had been confirmed by others, the burden of upholding them became heavy for them to bear. However, many people had to make sacrifices, and the hardest part for the shepherds was realizing when their turn had arrived. Ultimately, how they conduct themselves afterward, would inevitably define them.”

“But there is an element of choice in all things,” Sorey added, which in turn, Lailah nodded.

“It’s the most important assurance in times of struggle. It is inevitable; no matter how dark things become, something good will eventually be around the corner.”

Rose chuckled, seemingly eager to hear more. “Alright, I hope you have a good story after sprinkling all these philosophies around.”

“Not now,” Lailah said, turning into her fiery orb and melting back into Sorey. “Alisha needs to hear this too. Besides, it is a little bit soon for you, guys.”

Rose scowled and rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on!”

Mikleo grunted in irritation. “Then why did you go through all that just to keep us waiting?”

They heard the disembodied voice of Lailah giggling as it echoed in their minds. “Patience. Good things are worth waiting for.”

Sorey intuitively smiled. If Lailah was happy, then it was indeed a good thing.

Sorey could not wait to hear more.

#toz #tales of zestiria #tales of berseria #lailah (toz)#fanfiction #fanfic #story

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ariadnelives · 5 years

Text

Chapter 29 -- The Hypocritical Oath

[Missed earlier chapters? Go catch up here! Otherwise, welcome back! Oh, and make sure to join our discord server! Chapter can also be found @ ao3”]

Several minutes earlier, Pilar and Sasha had just severed every wire they could see coming out of the transmitter, causing some truly abrasive alarms to ring through the facility.

Elsewhere in the facility, there were several dozen fanatically devoted men with guns that had, up to this point, been occupied by the Whiptails. When the alarms sounded, they retreated immediately to seek out the cause of the alarm. Due to their fanatical devotion to Dr. Simon’s cause, to them, protecting Dr. Simon’s escape route was more important to them than their own lives, so they believed that many of them would likely be killed in the attempt to retreat. They were fine with this, so long as at least some of them made it to the transmitter to stop whatever sabotage had been inflicted upon it.

What they did not expect was that Spacebreather, by herself, was far more dangerous than the rest of the Whiptails put together. The majority of the Whiptails had been carefully trained to use only non-lethal force, while Spacebreather was more than willing to kill when necessary, and absolutely overqualified to do so for a person her age. They failed to understand that the men attempting to retreat would be the most likely to live another day, while the men attempting to stop Pilar had likely signed their own death warrant.

Inside the transmitter room, Sasha and Pilar were preparing to fight their way out. Both of them had the same job in this fight: keep the other alive. Sasha kept Pilar alive by immediately patching up any wounds she might receive, and Pilar kept Sasha alive by seriously injuring anyone who attempted to hurt Sasha before they managed to do so.

This was how they had functioned whenever they fought side by side in their pirate careers. This was the first time they’d ever been forced to break this mold.

Approximately 8 seconds after they’d cut the wire, as they prepared to descend from the platform, three dozen armed men stormed into the room. Pilar, having prepared for this possibility, flipped backwards over the ledge and, on the way to the ground, drew two short knives from the strap on her thigh.

She landed on top of one of the men, breaking his neck and killing him instantly. She ensured that the two knives landed directly in the top of two other goons’ skulls. Both of these men were carrying automatic weapons, both of which were in Pilar’s hands by the time her feet touched the ground. She was skilled at avoiding gunfire, having had a lot of practice. Her movements almost looked like a ballet, and none of the projectiles managed to touch her, yet.

She fired six shots from each of her weapons. Twelve headshots in less than a second, a new personal best for her. For a moment, she pondered that she would have to add a tally mark for each of these men to the tattoo on her arm, and hoped she never had so many tally marks that she ran out of space for them.

One of the goons took this moment as an opportunity to throw a plasma grenade in Pilar’s direction. It, unfortunately, would not prove to be the opportunity he expected it to be, as Pilar was fast enough to hit the grenade back at him with the barrel of her rifle. This was unfortunate for this particular henchman for obvious reasons, but since he was wearing a bandolier of other explosives across his chest, it was also unfortunate for the eight henchmen standing closest to him, as all the explosives detonated at once, bringing a quick end to nine more functionally identical henchmen.

“Pilar, catch!” Sasha called down from the ledge. Both sisters were hoping she wouldn’t have to leave her relatively safe cover in order to treat an injury. Both sisters would consequently shortly be disappointed.

Pilar instinctively reached a hand out to catch whatever Sasha had thrown without looking, a skill they’d developed over years of unexpectedly throwing things at each other for kicks. She caught something heavy and apparently made of metal, wrapped in leather.

“Is this…” Pilar asked, ducking behind a pillar to unsheath it, “Where did you find a machete?”

“It was on one of the guards we knocked out on the way in!”

They were only unconscious, but they had no intention of moving them out of the chamber before the failsafe went off, which by Pilar’s best guess was about three minutes and thirty seconds away, so she made a mental note to add two more tally marks to her tattoo.

“Why did he have a machete?” Pilar called back.

“I’m not his mom!” Sasha replied from the balcony, “I don’t really have any more information on that than you do!”

This was a satisfactory answer to Pilar. “Thanks, sis!” Pilar said, unsheathing the large blade and rustling in her pocket until she found a small, round object which she threw to the ground where it exploded with a snap, creating a dense cloud of thick, gray, pungent smoke. Before it cleared, she lunged towards the crowd of remaining henchmen and managed to cut eight throats in only two strokes.

Eight more tally marks.

She then managed to run three of them through with the machete before the smoke fully cleared.

Pilar quickly tried to count her kills, to see how many hostiles were remaining with her visibility impaired. She got through the following thought process in less than a second:

We took out two on the way in then there were thirty-six oh my god have I killed thirty-six people today no there were more I killed some of the guards on the surface this shouldn’t be this easy for me stay focused, thirty-eight hostiles total, two killed on the way in, three more on landing, twelve headshots, that’s seventeen total, then nine more with the grenades, that’s twenty-six, eight slit throats, thirty-four, skewered three more, so that’s thirty-sev—-

It was at this point that one of the rounds fired blindly by the lone remaining henchman managed to find its place, by pure random chance, in Spacebreather’s right shoulder.

“PILAR!” Sasha screamed, and bounded out from behind cover. Sasha had never been a particularly violent person, but when she saw Pilar go down from behind cover, her entire field of vision flashed red and when she came to a second later, she was holding a knife in her left hand, which was wet and warm. She opened her eyes and saw the knife in her hand was also embedded deep in the last henchman’s throat. Her hand was soaked with blood. She had no idea where she’d gotten the knife; she certainly didn’t have it on the balcony. There was an open wound on her right arm where a bullet had grazed her on the way down. This was the first person Sasha ever killed.

She didn’t have time to be traumatized yet, so she resolved to do that later and rushed to her sister’s side.

“You…” Pilar whimpered, “did you just… kill a guy?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t there,” Sasha said calmly, “let’s focus on getting you out of here alive, okay?”

“S-serum,” Pilar sputtered.

“It’s not gonna work on this,” Sasha replied as calmly as her impending panic attack would allow, “not until we get that bullet out of you.”

‘Wh—” Pilar started.

“What kind of asshole uses a physical bullet in this day and age? Good question, I have no idea. Thankfully he has a knife in his throat now,” Sasha tried to keep pressure on the wound and get Pilar over her shoulder. “Come on, we just gotta get you out of here and I can dig that bullet out and then pump you full of serum.”

“Leave me,” Pilar gasped.

“Out of the question,” Sasha replied. “You’ve survived worse than this.”

“Two minutes,” Pilar coughed up blood. “No use in us both dying.”

Sasha looked her sister directly in the eyes as severely as she could. “Don’t be a drama queen,” she said, looking to Pilar as much like their father as she’d seen since the day they lost him, “I just got you back, and I’m not leaving you here.”

“No,” Pilar cried, “no, I won’t have you die because of me, just live your life, keep going strong, keep whatever it is that’s—”

Sasha didn’t need to glance at the clock to know there were only about 45 seconds left. “We don’t have time to argue. As your next of kin, I’m authorizing your doctor to make this decision on your behalf. You’re not allowed to die, so, I’m sorry. This is going to hurt.”

“It already—” Pilar was cut off mid-sentence by Sasha throwing her over her shoulder fireman-style with a roughness that was not by any stretch of the imagination medically advisable, but at this point Sasha felt having a living sister with treatable injuries was better than having a dead sister with only one injury.

They escaped the room approximately fifteen seconds before the failsafe went off, destroying the transmitter completely and wiping away any evidence of the thirty-eight henchmen who’d died attempting to kill them. Sasha and Pilar watched the blue glow eradicate everything in the room, just to be sure their task had been successful, and then they hobbled their way down to the room where they knew Ariadne and Sweettalk to be. Sasha held Pilar’s sidearm in her right hand. She was naturally left-handed, but her left arm was currently supporting someone who was surprisingly heavy for her thin frame.

Pilar noticed the gash on Sasha’s upper arm. “You’re hurt.”

“Just think of it as my first, and hopefully only, tally-mark.”

Pilar’s heart dropped. “You killed a guy,” she said sadly.

“You’re welcome, Sasha, for saving my life,” Sasha smirked sarcastically.

“Isn’t that, like, against the Hypocritical oath?”

“Heh,” Sasha replied.

“What?”

“It’s the Hippocratic oath.”

“Whatever oath,” Pilar groaned.

“‘First, do no harm,’” Sasha pondered, “I don’t remember taking any oath.”

Pilar laughed, which was painful. “What kind of crappy medical school did you go to?”

“Homeschooled,” Sasha laughed, “I said I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up and my sister’s nerdy girlfriend stole me a bunch of medical supplies and textbooks the next day.”

“She sounds hot,” Spacebreather chuckled as lightly as she could without disturbing the bullet lodged in her shoulder, “think you could introduce me?”

“She’s just down the hall,” Sasha could see the door from here, “just get down the hall… of course, you can’t just learn from textbook. My idiot big sister kept getting herself hurt so I had a lot of hands-on practice.”

They both laughed, and it had been a long time since they had really genuinely laughed together like this. It would have been a perfect moment had it not quickly devolved into a coughing fit from Pilar.

“You always took good care of me,” Pilar’s speech was sounding somewhat slurred.

“Hey, stay with me! Just a little bit longer,” Sasha said, “I’ve still gotta take care of you for a long time, okay? I gotta introduce you to that nerd I was telling you about.”

“I love her,” Pilar muttered, “I don’t tell her that enough.”

“Shut up,” Sasha said, “you tell her all the time You have a shirt that says ‘I love my girlfriend’ on it.”

Pilar groaned. “Half the people on the crew have that shirt.”

“Well, there’s a lot of love on our crew,” Sasha explained, “and if you can get like… 50 more feet, the girls we love are right through that door and you can tell her you love her all you want.”

“I’m gonna kiss her,” Pilar muttered.

“You’d better,” Sasha said, “she’ll kill me if she doesn’t get to kiss you again.”

“She’s an amazing kisser,” Pilar slurred.

“That’s really none of my business,” Sasha started.

“I’m proud of you,” Pilar was barely intelligible. “You… she’s really good for you… she really is…”

“Sweettalk?”

“Mgrmph,” Pilar agreed.

“I always thought you didn’t really like her.”

“I didn’t,” Pilar sounded drowsy. It was clear that even with the serum, she was going to need a blood transfusion, “because she was… cocky… smooth-talking… arrogant… I never would’ve gotten to know her if you two didn’t…”

“Stay with me, sis, we’re so close.”

“Now I could… we could be friends… I was wrong about her… She wasn’t… she…”

“She’ll be glad to hear you say that,” Sasha tried to pick up the pace a little, “but she’ll never believe me, so you’d better stay with me long enough to tell her yourself. Remember, you are not allowed to die.”

“Tell me…”

“What do you want to know?” Sasha asked, focusing only on the door.

“Tell me what… you love… why do you love her…”

“She’s smart,” Sasha said, “way too smart, and so fun.”

“Keep going…”

“And yes, she’s an amazing kisser,” Sasha said.

Pilar coughed again. “No… not that… something real…”

Sasha considered this “She’s thoughtful, she’s always getting me little gifts. This robe… well, you’re gonna see it in a few minutes… She’s deep, but she doesn’t like people to know that. And when we’re alone… she’s so sweet that I know she’ll never leave me, even when everyone else is convinced that she betrayed us to the cops to save her own skin, I know she’ll come back for me because…”

Pilar was fading fast. “Because…?”

“Because we can’t live without each other. With all both of us have been through, for me to meet the love of my life so young? I know God put us together for a reason.”

“Don’t let Ariadne hear you say that…”

“Ariadne is the only atheist I know who’s met two different gods,” Sasha rolled her eyes, “you landed the most stubborn girl in the universe.”

“God, I love her so much…”

They were perhaps ten feet from the door now, and Sasha seemed determined to keep talking so that Pilar could focus on her voice and stay conscious. “And I guess I’m not a very good Catholic, I’m pretty sure I just broke the first commandment saying that. And, uh, number five, back there in the, uh… wow, I am gonna need to do a lot of rosaries.”

Pilar chuckled without adding anything to this.

“What’s so funny?” Sasha asked.

“We’re pirates…”

“Yes, we’re pirates. Good memory.”

“No, we… I mean, number seven.”

“Thou shalt not steal? Yeah, I guess we do kinda break that one pretty often,” Sasha said with a great deal of guilt, something all too common amongst those raised Catholic, “I think we’re still good people, though.”

“You are,” Pilar mumbled. “Ariadne too. Sweettalk. Not me… I’m going to hell for sure.”

“I’m pretty sure God will let a few broken commandments go if we were doing it to save hungry and abused children, that’s… kinda his whole deal,” Sasha dropped the sidearm to the ground and struggled to open the door single-handed, “plus, you do a great job with number four.”

They entered the room as Ariadne, Sweettalk, and the Triplets were coming out of the virtual interface. With as much urgency as she could muster, Sasha called to them: “I need your help, she’s been shot!”

“You always have to prove me wrong!” Ariadne rushed over and immediately took Pilar onto her own shoulder so Sasha could get to work on digging the bullet out, “you are not allowed to die.”

“You two have been spending too much time together” Pilar sputtered.

Sasha took out a strip of black fabric and lay it over Pilar’s wound. The fabric swirled and shimmered silver and gold for a moment before the silver parts settled into the shape of the ribcage beneath the skin, and the gold settled into the shape of a bullet, lodged between two ribs, near the heart.

“Is that … the robe I got you?” Sweettalk asked. “You dork, I thought you were kidding about the medical applications of it!”

“Gimme your knife,” Sasha demanded, and Sweettalk complied immediately.

Two minutes later, with the help of their loved ones, the bullet was out. Another minute later, Pilar had taken a dose of the serum and the bullet wound had healed completely.

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rambleonwithrosie · 6 years

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150 Followers. Feel free to take this and use it yourself.

Okay so if you've been following me you know that at every milestone of 50 I go and answer 50 questions. So this time they're all gonna be Queen/Classic Rock specific and y'all are all welcome to take these and make asks out of them or reblog/copy with your own answers.

Favorite Queen member's solo album? Strange Frontier by Roger Taylor

Who of the band would you call to help you fix a flat tire? John, he's a dad and a diy guy, as much as I wanna say Rog I just don't want to deal with a drama queen when I'm having my own drama but I've seen him under the hood of a car so I've no doubt he probably knows how

What do you think Brian May smells like on am average day? Very woodsy, like pine needles and some light but expensive cologne

How would you kiss Freddie? On the cheek like a good friend I just can't get into his looks enough to think about kissing him any other way

How would you kiss John? Well if we're talking long haired fluffy John I'd probably psst at him to come around the corner and then give him a kiss and see what he does

How would you kiss Brian? Very carefully otherwise @squeezemylemon is gonna kill me so probably the sweet quick chaste type kiss

How would you kiss Roger? (My moment has come) I would walk up to him and grab ahold of one of the necklaces he wears and just pull his lips down to mine and crash mine onto his wrapping my arms around his neck kissing him for all I'm worth or less dramatically if we were just sitting on a couch or something I'd just lean my head up off his shoulder and press a gentler sort of kiss to his lips and see where he takes it after that

If you were going to date one of their kids who would it be? Felix, I'm partial to brunettes usually (Roger and Luke Skywalker are my exceptions) and he seems pretty cool and has done a lot of different things which would be interesting to talk about

Favorite gif of your least favorite band member?

10. Most recent Queen photo on your phone

11. Favorite piece of fanart?

I can't pick just one. I also don't remember where I found these and if you know the artist I'll happily tag them in the most. The artbis most definitely NOT mine

This is mine

12. Queen song that makes you want to cry? Love of My Life

13. Which band member would you pick to keep an eye on you at a party so you don't get too crazy and make it home safe? Brian probably, I would say John but I feel if he's drinking he'd be less than no help

14. Who's flat would you ask to crash at? I have reasons to want to say Roger's but banging aside I'd probably pick Freddie he was generous and funny and would probably do his beat to cheer me up from whatever circumstance had made me not have a place of my own to stay

15. Who would you want to teach you to play an instrument they play? Well I genuinely feel I'm best suited for drums so I'm not just saying Roger because he's my dude. Plus he could teach me the most instruments anyways considering as he knows drums, bass, electric, and keyboard.

16. If you could spend a day with Freddie what would you do? I'd just want to sit and have tea and talk and maybe go shopping later hear his advice and crack some jokes

17. Favorite solo song by a Queen band member? As far as written by goes, it's probably Let's Get Crazy or Happiness by Rog bit overall it's gotta be Rog's version of Racing in the Street *chills*

18. Favorite live performance?

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19. Whose singing voice do you like best? Roger Taylor (nothing against Fresh he's amazing)

20. Whose speaking voice do you like best? Again Roger Meddows Taylor for the win

21. Write a snippet where you're holding hands with your least favorite band member.

Freddie had never been to an amusement park before, hadn't wanted to go really, but John had begged him to come along and then left him with Aston to babysit while he dealt with his actual children. It wasn't that she had anything against Fred it's just him tagging along on her elbow was keeping her away from the drummer whose attention she wanted. They got onto one of the rides and she saw how pale Freddie was looking and felt sorry for him. It wasn't his fault that he was being a third wheel or that the drummer was off on one of the more dangerous rides that Freddie was not about to get on.

"You can hold my hand if you want" Aston joked looking over at Fred.

"Really?" He asked a little relieved. The two of them chuckled and to Aston's surprise Freddie's black nail polished fingertips interlaced through hers and he looked a little more at ease for the comfort of human contact.

"It'll be fine" she grinned and then the ride took off and the black fingernails damn near dug into her hand in panic.

22. Write a snippet where you're fighting with your favorite band member.

They had been living together for just over two months and despite not knowing how to boil an egg Roger somehow found a way to get into the kitchen and put things in the wrong spot. He came home from the stall.

"Where is the paprika?" She leveled at him before he had scarcely shut the door.

"The what?"

"Paprika, Rog, the spice that I was going to use for the supper I was cooking us, but I can't ever find anything in this kitchen" Aston said muttering as an afterthought "thanks to you."

"What was that?" Rog said coming over to her and looking darkly with his blue eyes.

"Just tell me where you put the paprika and we'll be fine" she sighed.

"I didn't fucking touch anything in your stupid kitchen" he glowered going to the liquor cabinet.

"Well I still can't find it" she huffed.

"Not my problem" he said swigging straight from the bottle.

"Well if you want dinner it kind of is" she retorted.

"I'll get something out" Rog said dispassionately.

"Fuck you" she muttered and went back to banging through the cabinets in search of the missing spice. She was on her knees with half her body in a lower shelf looking in the back and growing hotter for Roger showing no signs of caring or helping. She smelt the dish starting to burn on the stove and tried to crawl out, raising her head up and whacking it on the shelf above. She let out a round of oaths.

She went over to the stove and moved it off the heat halfway between tears and screaming.

"I'll order something" Roger said standing up.

"I can fucking cook!" She shouted "if only I could find the things I need when I need them."

"Well don't yell at me about it" Roger said and brushed past and out the door.

Aston collapsed onto the floor sitting with her back to the cabinets and started crying. She sobbed into the kitchen towel. So much for her cosy dinner at home with Rog. She was so distraught that she didn't hear the door open and close. She felt her fingers clutching the towel pried open and looked to see a bottle of paprika put into them. She turned her teary red eyes up to Roger's face. He pulled her to her feet and held her in his arms. Softly stroking her hair and planting a gentle kiss to her cheeks.

"Come on, I got us reservations, you can cook your thing tomorrow if you still want to" he looked down at her smiling and put a kiss to her nose and grinned at her in his arms.

23. Favorite picture of Brian

24. Favorite picture Roger

(Well it's one of many favs)

25. Favorite picture of Freddie

26. Favorite picture of John

27. Best song to slow dance to? One Year of Love

28. Best song to make out to? I'm In Love with My Car

29. Best song to drive to? Breakthru or Don't Stop Me Now

30. Best song to strip to? Tear It Up

31. What era of the band would you like to hang out with most? I wanna say mid to late 70s. I'd rather not have to hang out with them during Hot Space 😂

32. Favorite song on your favorite album? Rock It (Prime Jive)

33. Least liked song on your favorite album? Probably Play the Game

34. Who would you want to take care of you if you were sick? I feel Brian would be the most knowledgeable but I'd probably prefer Fred just cutting up and maybe grabbing the aspirins and whatever else was needed. I just don't feel Brian would be funny enough to cheer me up. And Rog I just don't know how good he'd be at taking care of someone

35. Who would you want to go driving with? Roger. Duh! So many reasons!

36. Who would you pick to spend a lazy (non-sexual) afternoon with? Well not that I'm just into Rog for the sex, he'd still be my first pick because laughs. But second would be Brian.

37. Rate how thirsty you are for each band member? Freddie 0/10. John variable between 0/10-6/10. Brian 2/10-4/10(red special is factored into Brian). Roger 1000/10 (cars aren't factored into Rog otherwise I'd break my phone adding zeros to that 1000)

38. Least favorite Roger song? Sheer Heart Attack

39. Favorite Brian song? Sail Away Sweet Sister or Dragon Attack

40. Least favorite Freddie song? Body Language and Get Down Make Love

41. Favorite John song? One Year of Love or If You Can't Beat Them

42. Are you excited for the Bohemian Rhapsody movie? Yes. Not insanely. But moderately excited yes

43. Is Queen your favorite band of all time? No. They're in my top 3 but The Moody Blues were my childhood and are so unique and very special to me

44. If you married your crush from the band where would you go on your honeymoon? The beach. Hopefully the Pacific Ocean. Probably some nice private beach just to have space with each other and I love water and he loves boating and stuff.

45. Who has the nicest butt? While I prefer Rog's ass I must admit John possesses the superior booty

46. Who has the best smile? Roger. Hands down and not just because he's my main man all around it's literally made of sunshine

47. Who would you go to if you were scared? Roger. I don't get scared so if I did I'd want someone around to make me laugh my fears away

48. If you were going to be in a crime fighting/super hero duo with one of the band, who would it be? John. He's sound and sensible and so long as he can handle my forceful personality and not write any DISpatches raking my bad behavior and rash decisions we'll get along

49. Do you listen to Queen daily, or at least multiple times a week? Yes especially if you include their solo works

50. Have you written any Queen fanfiction or made any fanart? Yes. Fanfiction galore. Some has yet to be posted but when I do it will be on @drummerinthecupboard

#followers #150 followers #woohoo #love y'all

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anythingstephenking · 3 years

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Time Traveling Swing Dancers/Teachers/Assassins

Welp, I did it y’all. I made it full circle to the book that started it all, 11/22/63. I read this brick of a book back in 2016, which lead me to The Stand, which led me to a journey towards 73 novels. Bless your heart, 11/22/63.

I just love this book. My first read through back in the day took me only a couple days; my second trip back in time took me almost a week, still a feat for the 800+ pages of book. Let’s go.

Another tale, like Under The Dome, that ruminated in King’s mind since the 70’s but came to fruition in the 21st century. Although the idea kicked around in King’s head for decades, he was daunted by the research that would be required to tell the story properly, so I think he waited until he was swimming in that sweet sweet money to hire a research team. Per usual, I am speculating.

But King did have a research assistant on this book, that much is true. He also consulted with the likes of Doris Kearns Goodwin, a treasure of American history, who gave King some real fun ideas about what might have happened if JFK had lived. The research was obviously thorough, and like it or not, you sure learn a lot about real-life Lee Harvey Oswald in this work of fiction. You’ll also squiggle in your seat through reminders of racism and hate that lived out loud in the 60s, different but also the same as we see today. History doesn’t change everything.

King has said that the extensive research and reading he did to prepare to write this story confirmed in his mind that Oswald acted alone. While it’s fun to imagine conspiracy theories of magic bullets and a second shooter, if King believes, I’m inclined to believe. If QAnon has taught us anything, it’s that Americans love a conspiracy theory. If Jack Ruby hadn’t shot Oswald in that parking garage, we may have learned what actually happened on November 22, 1963. If Oswald had gone to trial and had been placed under oath. If his last words weren’t about how he was a patsy. If, if if. Maybe Jake should have stopped worrying about stopping Oswald and stopped Ruby instead.

So, yeah, Jake Epping. Our hero of this tale. He’s a writer that teaches and lives in Maine. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time I started a book summary with that sentence, I’d have like $10 bucks and I probably go buy myself a fancy coffee of something.

Jake’s a teacher and loves hamburgers! Who doesn’t. He get’s them cheap at his favorite diner, from the proprietor named Al Templeton, who harbors a pretty rad secret that he’s gunna toss onto Jake. Now, why Jake? I mean, I don’t really know. Al doesn’t have any family and Jake is young and unattached? I suppose at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, because Jake, like Frodo Baggins before him, is off on an adventure.

Because Al’s diner is actually a portal back in time. We all suspend some disbelief - it’s some version of a thinny (maybe?) that plops you from present day back to 1958. The rules are this: however long you spend in the past, you can return to the future just 2 minutes after you left. Al says there’s no impact on quick trips - Al’s been going back and forth for years buy ground beef for his cheap burgers - but when you do something that might change the future, the past will push back. We learn that Al is very, very wrong, but more on that later.

Al’s set out to save John Fitzgerald Kennedy from his head exploding, but the past gave him lung cancer and he didn’t make it to ’63. He’s back in the present and ready to tag Jake into the ring to get back to the fight for him. Jake hesitates but not NEARLY enough. Seriously, if some stranger told you had to go back in time, follow around a total assmunch for 5 years and live WITHOUT CELL PHONES OR NETFLIX?? I don’t care how delicious the root beer in 1958 is. Fuck that.

Jake goes. A couple times actually. He’s first interested in saving Harry, the high school janitor’s family from being murdered, which is a real noble cause. The past gives him diarrhea, and he wears a diaper to take out the bad man. He fails the first time (diarrhea), heads back home to “reset”, and back to 1958, succeeding the second time around. Sayonara douche.

We cross paths with Beverly and Beep Beep Ritchie in Derry, where Jake spends a fair amount of time in 1960. The town is dark, creepy and troubled, and Jake hates being there. Little interconnected web of the King-o-Verse is always there, and I love every second of it.

Jake heads to Dallas to wait on Oswald, realizes he hates it (lol, fuck Dallas-Fort Worth), and moves out to the country instead. He gets a nice little job and meets a librarian, and our heroine, Sadie. Sadie’s got some real baggage in the form of a psychotic ex-husband (men are mostly the worst in this book) but her and Jakie fall in love anyways. She’s a well written, strong female lead and I haven’t loved a female King character this much since Lisey.

General consensus is that the mid-section of this book is that it drags a little bit, but I couldn’t disagree more. Sure, does Jake putting on a big theater production have literally anything to do with Lee Harvey Oswald? Nope. But I loved all Jake’s time in Jodie, Texas. He falls in love with Sadie, they are lovely and happy, and albeit doomed because of time travel, it’s a wonderful distraction from all the heaviness.

That said, PLEASE Stephen King, DON’T WRITE SEX SCENES LIKE THIS. ::Monkey with hands over eyes emoji:: The sex stuff is awful. There’s a lot of broad references to Jake and Sadie’s love life, like “She looked. Then she touched.” Gross.

Exhibit B:

She said, "Don't make me wait, I've had enough of that," and so I kissed the sweaty hollow of her temple and moved my hips forward ... She gasped, retreated a little, then raised her hips to meet me. "Sadie? All right?"

"Ohmygodyes," she said and I laughed. She opened her eyes and looked up at me with curiosity and hopefulness. "Is it over, or is there more?"

"A little more," I said. "I don't know how much. I haven't been with a woman in a long time."

It turned out there was quite a bit more … At the end she began to gasp. "Oh dear, oh my dear, oh my dear dear God, oh sugar!"

Guys, this passage was from Sadie’s FIRST TIME. She comes? And Jake notices there is blood on the sheets afterwards. But she orgasmed. Yeah ok, sure.

Other than poorly written Harlequin romance passages, the rest of the story clips along with lots of fun (and not so fun) bits, leading the the culmination of Jake (spoilers) killing Oswald. Sadie dies in the process and it is heart wrenching. But at least the world got saved?

WRONG. Another gripe is this; Jake goes back to 2007 and it’s a fucking post apocalyptic wasteland. Nuclear war has ruined the globe - Jake somehow crosses paths with Harry the janitor, who gives him a 5 minute synopsis of how everything went to hell. It is TOO SHORT. Why do we spend so little time here? I want more dystopian future.

We also get a brief bit about how each trip back isn’t a real “reset” - each one triggers a new “string” or parallel universe. Al’s diner isn’t the only passage, and anyone that has read the Dark Tower books gets it. Al was dumb and Jake was dumb, and at the end of the day Jake resets the past and saves this new string from nuclear fallout but you know those poor souls that were on that timeline are still fucked?

Anywho, the end is lovely and King changed what he originally planned (which was lame) at his son’s suggestion. Good job Joe Hill. Maybe I’ll read some of his books someday.

So that’s 11/22/63. This is the latest in King’s bibliography that I have already read, so I’m headed into the last 20 or so novels without any spoilers at all. I still haven’t even let myself watch The Outsider on HBO yet.

Speaking of adaptations, Lisey’s Story on Apple+ starts airing on Friday. Will be watching and hope that it is better than The Stand.

9/10

First Line: I had never been what you would call a crying man.

Last Line: Then the music takes us, the music rolls away the years, and we dance.

Adaptations:

A Hulu miniseries! They did 2 seasons of Castle Rock, so they’re a-ok in my book. Anything not produced by ABC is a-ok with me. I watched it when it aired and it was pretty decent IIRC. I’ve started rewatching, but only made it through the first episode so far. It’s a hard rewatch knowing what a creep James Franco is. And his fake goatee in the first 30 minutes is the actual worst.

The show takes its own liberties with the plot which is fine; Jake gets a partner in crime named Bill; without Bill we’d have a lot of internal Franco monologue I’d guess. The show is well cast and well acted, and has an 8.2 on IMDB, so it’s doing a lot better than most King projects.

James Franco channeling his inner Annie Wilkes.

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themyskira · 6 years

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Wonder Woman #34

Previously on what’s looking increasingly like a bad practical joke: James Robinson spent three issues telling us about stuff that happened in another comic.

Also: Darkseid is a baby, and his sexy evil half-Amazon daughter is helping him age up by feeding him the demigod children of Zeus. (And, incongruously, the nymph-turned-bear Callisto, because James Robinson’s Wikipedia game is not up to scratch.)

So far Diana’s been kind of a bit player in the story, appearing in less than 50% of the first three issues. She only made five pages of the first issue; last issue she didn’t feature at all. But this week she’s back, and guys, I just have this feeling that things are looking up for--

ohwaitnevermind.

At last! JASON! The hero for all those comic fans who’ve ever been reading a Wonder Woman comic and suddenly found themselves wondering, but what about the mens? Who will be the champion for them??

Flashback. Philippus, who is far too cool for this comic, smuggles baby Jason out of Themyscira. She explains to her accomplice that she’s not hiding him from the other Amazons, but from the wrath of the gods.

On the surface of things this is an improvement, because at least we’ve gotten away from the old New-52-Amazons-sell-their-sons-for-weapons bullshit. Except— if Jason is in such danger from conniving gods and/or a jealous Hera that he has to be sent far away from his family to be raised in deepest secrecy, how come none of that applies to Diana?

And okay, maaaaybe Robinson is working on the assumption that Azzarello’s origin still stands — i.e. that Hippolyta had an affair with Zeus, then somehow hid her pregnancy from everybody and, to protect Diana from Hera’s wrath, pretended that her daughter had been made from clay and given life by the gods. Problem is, that origin story never held up to begin with (preeeeetty sure the gods are going to remember whether or not they made an entire human being for you, Hippolyta), and it certainly doesn’t hold up now.

And if it did, then why couldn’t Hippolyta use that excuse for both of them? If evil-Amazon-misandry isn’t a factor, why not just say you made two babies from clay, and raise them both on the island?

Who wants to bet it’s because Jason is some kind of super-special-dangerous-powerful-prophecy-child who needs to be double-protected?

A sailor with an irritating habit of swallowing his vowels meets Philippus at Themyscira’s border. His name is Glaucus, the once-mortal fisherman-god, who’s also too cool for this comic. He promises to raise Jason in secret.

In the present day, Diana and Jason exclaim melodramatically at each other.

“Jason! Brother! I can’t believe I’ve found you!”

“Wonder Woman. My sister!”

A fisherman in the background makes this face, which is a fair reaction, tbh.

The exclamations... escalate.

“Diana! My name’s Diana. Say it, please. I want to hear you say my name.”

“Diana. I had hoped this day would come. Every time I saw you on the news— the amazing feats you performed, and all the good you did. I prayed one day we’d be together.”

Is… is it me or do they sound more like love interests than long-lost siblings?

Jason explains that Glaucus made him swear never to contact Diana. He suggests they leave the boat for some alone time, and Diana is like, “buuuuuhhh I mean I guess I could carry you??” Forcing Jason to point out that he is her twin, for fuck’s sake, and therefore shares most of her powers, including flight.

One problem with this? According to Diana’s new Rebirth origin, she wasn’t born with powers. She was strong, sure, and a trained warrior, but it was only after she ventured into Man’s World that the gods gifted her with flight, supernatural strength, speed, the ability to talk to animals, and all the rest. Which means that, unless Jason’s undertaken any heroic quests or earned any divine favours, he ought to be just a fit, stronger-than-average dude.

Have I mentioned how much I hate this reboot-but-not-really-lol job DC’s done on Wondy?

I need to pause for a second because there is something fucked up going on with Jason’s musculature right here. He looks like he’s wearing a shirt made out of human skin.

Jason explains to Diana that it wasn’t just his oath to Glaucus that prevented him from making contact. He was scared of who he was and of what Hera might do to him. Again: if Hera’s such a threat, why did nobody make any effort to hide Diana from her?

Back at ARGUS HQ, James Robinson is persisting with this idea that Steve Trevor is both a former Air Force Colonel and a current top-ranked Naval NCO, which, by the way, means that Steve should be at least in his mid-forties.

Doctor Peril, the confusingly-named not-a-villain, tells Steve that the relics Diana recovered from Giganta during her blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in the first issue contained metal from Apokalips, which makes Steve glower wonkily out of the page.

Diana and Jason’s reunion continues to read like a budding romance and it’s creeping me the hell out.

They exposition some more for good measure. Blah blah Themyscira is unreachable, blah blah Grail is killing Zeus-spawn, and

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Diana asks what Jason’s other powers are. He says he has super-strength, but “maybe not as strong” as Diana, which reads like a token to appease critics of this story. ‘How can you possibly say this super-secret, super-special, super-powered, chosen-one brother plot is sexist?? We specifically said he’s not as powerful as her!!’

He adds that he has other powers unlike Diana’s, but he’s not going to tell her about them now because it would ruin whatever ham-handed dramatic reveal James Robinson has planned down the line.

Then they start talking about their love lives.

Jason is super keen to know about Steve. Who is he? Is he her boyfriend? Does Diana loooove him???

I CANNOT BE THE ONLY ONE SEEING THIS THEY ARE FLIRTING OUTRAGEOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON

(Also, Diana says of Steve, “He has a lot of [military] ranks, wears a lot of hats”, which makes me snort. Steve has all the military ranks, guys. He collects them! He’s an Air Force Colonel, a Naval Master Chief Petty Officer — he’s even a Rear Admiral in the Coast Guard! This is absolutely how the military works! I watched NCIS this one time!)

More stilted exposition. Jason says he fights monsters occasionally, but only in secret. They ruminate on why Hippolyta chose to give Jason to Glaucus, before circling back to the demigod-murdering elephant in the room.

Then the sun starts to set and Jason intones that “the appointed time has arrived” and—

oh for shit’s sake.

Grail arrives and punches Diana through a wall. Jason goes full supervillain, attacking Diana while monologuing about how much he wants to kill her. “I’ve hated you — the very thought of your existence — I can’t bear to look at you.”

She punches him off a cliff and he reveal his secret superpower, which is even dumber than you might have guessed.

“YOU WANTED TO KNOW MY OTHER POWERS, SISTER? OUR FATHER WAS GOD OF THE SKY — THE AIR — AIR PRESSURE — WHICH CAN CREATE A TSUNAMI!”

While this is technically true — rapid changes in air pressure can displace water, which in turn causes a meteotsunami — it doesn’t explain why Jason has the power to sculpt the waves into a giant version of his head and torso.

Diana is beaten and impaled on Grail’s sword. Jason and Grail gloat about how easy this all was. “We’re not going to kill you yet, Diana,” Jason tells her. “You’re needed. But don’t worry, when the time comes… it’ll be me that does it!”

Oh, and as a parting blow?

Looks like we’re in for yet another Wondy-less issue next time. That’s fine, it’s not like her name’s on the front of the book or anythi--

oh. right.

#comics talk #fuuuuuuck #five more MONTHS of this shit #the james robinson shitshow

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5hfanfiction · 6 years

Text

A Light in the Dark (Chapter 83)

A/N: Hi guys! I’m so sorry it took me this ridiculously long to post this chapter. After this awful 5H divorce, I lost my inspiration to write Camren fics, it was brutal. When things slowly started to settle, I tried to write again, because this story became too important to me to not finish it. I had, like, over six versions of this chapter, but nothing seemed right until I finally decided on this one. I doubt anyone of you even remember what this story is even about after this long hiatus, but yeah. Sorry, guys!

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The annual Christmas Eve party of her parents had not changed a bit since the last time she had been forced to attend. It was as dreadful as ever. Camila let her eyes wander over the crowd of men in black tuxedos and women in various elegant dresses. It were always the same kind of people. They came from church, law enforcement or the hospital. It was the most boring evening of the year – by far.

Camila took a sip from the flute glass in her hand and fought the urge to scream out her frustrations. Not only were her shoes slowly but surely killing her, but constantly having to fake a smile was starting to strain her facial muscles. It was a Christmas miracle that her smile did not look like a grimace. She really should have pretended to have fallen ill instead of coming.

But as her gaze settled on her little sister next to some other unfortunate children a few feet away, that thought disappeared as fast as it had come. No, nothing would have made her leave Sofi again. Especially not with those people. It was bad enough that Sofi had had to endure one of those parties on her own last year.

These annual parties were not a normal Christmas get-together with colleagues and friends. Tonight was all about making connections and passing judgment upon others. The conversation topics usually varied between crime rates, upcoming cases, complicated surgeries, politics, sports, the judicial system, and – of course – gossip.

And as luck would have it, tonight the majority of guests thought that she was the most interesting topic of the evening. Where had she been last year? What was she doing? Were those awful rumors true? And weren’t her parents wonderful with their unwavering support despite her controversial lifestyle? How loved she must be feeling! They were truly remarkable human beings! Saints even!

Accustomed to play the perfect daughter, Camila had answered every question as politely and patiently as possible. Even the most ridiculous and offensive ones. Would it wonder anyone that her alcohol-free champagne was in fact not free of alcohol at all? Or that she was already on her fourth glass? Probably not. Was it stupid to drink alcohol in a room full of law enforcement people? Not to mention to mix it with her medication? Camila glanced towards the chief of police on the other side of the room and took another sip. Probably yes. Did she care? Not really.

Not that her girlfriend knew this little detail, of course. Lauren was already nervous enough as it was.

“You were right,” Lauren muttered beside her and sighed. “I can’t believe the amount of weird comments and looks we have been receiving about our relationship. What is wrong with these people?”

“They’re bored. The last time they saw a lesbian couple was probably Ellen and Portia on TV or something.”

“That’s no excuse. Do you see that guy over there? Near the buffet? White hair, neatly trimmed beard, a blonde woman on his arm that I hope is only his granddaughter? He’s been glaring at us since we got here!” Lauren frowned. “How rude can someone be?! Mind your own damn business, you bigoted moron. I’m not judging you either.”

Following Lauren’s directions, Camila immediately spotted the man. It was not difficult to do so. He was one of the few people who openly showed their utmost contempt towards them. Most other homophobic guests had either kept their opinions to themselves or only talked about them behind their backs. Or gave them some backhanded compliments. As if they would not understand the true meaning behind them or notice the whispers and quickly averted eyes whenever they caught them staring. And these people were supposed to be intelligent? Camila honestly doubted that.

“You mean Judge Anderson?” she asked.

Lauren drew in a sharp breath. “Judge?! He’s a judge?”

“He’s one of the most conservative judges here in Miami, so it’s not a wonder he’s been glaring at us. He’s a homophobic asshole,” Camila replied rather loudly, not seeing the need to lower her voice for the other guests. It was not like it was a secret anyway. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a few people stiffening slightly and smirked. Maybe this party had the potential to become better after all. Even though her girlfriend kept giving her those suspicious looks as if she tried to figure out why she was more blunt than usual. But she would deal with that later. “Or a devoted Christian, as he likes to call it. And that woman next to him is his third… no, I think his fourth wife. They get younger each time.”

The scandalized looks the closest guests were throwing her way only contributed in lifting Camila’s mood. This was fun! Although it was maybe not that great for the perfect daughter image she had been trying to portray for the last three hours. Oh well, people couldn’t have everything.

“A devoted –? Him? Yeah, right,” Lauren muttered darkly. “What a fucking joke. Please tell me he’s got nothing to do with the trial. If he’s the judge –”

“He’s not. My father wouldn’t have invited them, if that was the case. It wouldn’t look good, if you know what I mean.”

“Why did he even invite him in the first place?”

Camila shrugged disinterested. She had given up on understanding the world her father lived in. It had brought her too many headaches. “Politics. And he used to be his mentor – before he became a judge, of course.”

Lauren reeled back. “Wait.That…that person used to be the state’s attorney?! He’s openly homophobic! How can he even be a judge? He’s probably biased as hell!”

She couldn’t stop herself from chuckling at her girlfriend and shook her head in amusement. No matter how intelligent Lauren was, times like these truly showed the idealism and naivety she still possessed. It was kind of cute, if she was being honest. Lauren wanted to become a lawyer to fight injustice, but somehow she overlooked quite a few things. “You act as if the system is free of racism, sexism, homophobia and the like.”

“He swore an oath!”

Camila sighed. It would be amazing if everything was as simple as Lauren tried to make it out to be. “It’s been years since he was the state’s attorney – almost two decades, if I remember correctly. For the most part of Judge Anderson’s life homophobia was okay. He was doing his job when he prosecuted people like us, Lauren. The Supreme Court only ruled in 2003 that sodomy laws for same-sex couples were unconstitutional and yet Florida still has them on the books. Granted, officially they’re against unnatural and lascivious acts, but it’s up for interpretation whether it concerns same-sex couples and they definitely used it legally against us. It was legal to discriminate others. Hell, it still is, if we’re honest about it. It’s still legal to send minors to those awful conversion therapies. My own father would have sent me to that if I had come out sooner and even as an adult he still asked me to do it.”

“But…” Lauren frowned and looked from her to the judge. “It’s not fair.”

“Unfortunately life is rarely fair. I thought you wanted to become a lawyer to fight things like that?” Seeing Lauren’s frustration plain on her face, Camila looked at her glass. Maybe she should have offered Lauren some too. It made everything seem less bad. When she had arrived, her stomach had churned, she had tensed up at the thought of even setting foot in this place where it had happened. After a few glasses, however – well, who cared what any of those idiots thought anyway? “Not many things are okay in this country or in the world, you know that. Him having a position like that is only a minor one.”

“I would be careful with your words, Ms Cabello, considering your surroundings,” a deep voice behind them suddenly spoke up, causing Camila to whirl around to face the man that had sneaked up on them. “Publicly insulting judges – no matter how true your words might be – is not the smartest thing to do.”

Behind them stood a dark-skinned man in his mid-forties, dark brown almost black eyes were shining with a warmth that Camila had neither anticipated nor seen in any of the other guests tonight. As he regarded them, the genuine smile on his lips never wavered – not even when his eyes landed on their intertwined hands.

“My name is Michael Sanchez. I had the overall pleasure to work with your father on some cases,” he introduced himself after a short awkward pause. “I’m sorry for interrupting your conversation with the lovely lady to your left. Your girlfriend, I assume?”

“I…” Camila trailed off, unsure how to proceed. He obviously seemed to know her, but she was convinced she had never seen him in her entire life. “Nice to meet you, sir. And, uh, yes. This is Lauren Jauregui.”

“My pleasure,” he said charmingly and bowed his head. “Your mother wanted to introduce us, but it seems I have lost her somewhere between the cocktail bar and the buffet. So when I saw you standing over here, I couldn’t help but take the opportunity to do it myself.”

He knew her mother as well? And her mother wanted to introduce him to her? This was getting more mysterious by the second. If he was only a colleague of her father, he would have been the one to handle the introductions. Not her mother. “How exactly –”

Another man’s voice interrupted her before she was able to kill her curiosity. “Mike, there you are! Why do you always disappear just like that?! You’re worse than Waldo!”

Camila furrowed her brow as a very familiar man walked up to Mr Sanchez, her mother not far behind him. It was certainly not that surprising that hewas here. She almost expected to run into him this evening. But – Camila threw a puzzled look from him to Mr Sanchez – what a weird coincidence.

Or maybe it was no coincidence at all.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as Mr Sanchez suddenly leaned in and gave the newcomer a peck on the lips.

Maybe four glasses of champagne had been too much. That was the only reasonable explanation for all of this. She was clearly drunk and hallucinating. Was it her medication that did not mix well with alcohol? There was just no other way that her doctor was kissing a man who worked with her father, right in front of her mother.

Camila numbly shook her head and pinched herself, desperately trying to become sober, but it was no use. There they were, holding hands, smiling at each other like only couples in love could, and her mother was still standing next to them, acting as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

Her mind raced as her eyes darted between the three people in front of her that were now chatting like old friends. There was no way that her mother had been friends with an openly gay person, a gay man, while acting the way she did after her own daughter’s coming out. No, that was just impossible. She was losing her sanity. Maybe she was having a mental breakdown. Or she was asleep and everything was a dream. But wasn’t it impossible to feel pain in dreams? And had she not just pinched herself? The stinging ache in her arm had definitely been real. No, they probably only had grown closer when her mother started to change her view on homosexuality. That had to be it. Maybe she hadn’t even known about his sexual orientation for a long time. She doubted that many people were telling others at their workplace about delicate things like that.

“Dr Sanchez, it’s so nice to see you again,” Lauren said, successfully snapping Camila out of her thoughts. She was stunned to see that her girlfriend was not as shocked as her over the latest crazy development. “Thank you so much for everything you did –”

He stopped her with a wave of his hand. “You don’t have to thank me. Seeing Ms Cabello happy and healthy is more than enough. I see my husband introduced himself already?”

Husband?! Camila knew she shouldn’t be that surprised considering they carried the same last name, but… this was her mother’s friend. Someone she had worked with for years. With whom she apparently got along very well. And he was married to another man. How crazy was that?

She took a deep breath. “You’re…?”

“Married?” Michael joked. “Yes, I know, hard to believe. But I took pity on him.”

“You’re lucky to have me!”

“Of course, honey. Luckiest man alive, four years in a row.”

Camila swallowed and tore her eyes away from the couple to stare at her mother who watched them with a smile. Four. Years. Those two words alone felt like a slap in the face. She somehow doubted that her mother could not have known about that. “How… how long have you been friends?”

“How long has it been, Sinuhe, three years?” Dr Sanchez gave her mother a warm smile as she nodded. “It was a tough start, but in the end she couldn’t resist my charm. Sadly our busy schedules never allowed us to come to this lovely party before this evening.”

So it was true. There was no way of her not knowing about his marriage. He wouldn’t have treated it like a dirty little secret, if he proudly brought his husband to a party like this. Her mother had no problem to be friends with an openly gay man for three years? But when it came to her own flesh and blood…

She blinked rapidly, trying to ignore the lump that formed in her throat. Throughout all this heartache, all this talk about her sexuality being a phase, about how it was something abnormal, some kind of mental disease that had to be treated – during all this nonsense her mother had been friends with a gay man. An openly gay man. A married gay man. For three years. And it had not bothered her mother one bit. She had never seen anything wrong with it.

Camila was only vaguely aware that Lauren had started a conversation with the Sanchez couple. Her mother had no problems being friends with a man living in a homosexual marriage, but when her own daughter had come out, she could only sit there and urge her to go to conversion therapy? How fucked up was that?

Taking another deep breath, she tried to calm down and blinked the tears away that were slowly welling up. This was definitely not the time to create a scene. It was not the time to think about her mother’s hypocrisy. She could not change the past. Her mother accepted her and the relationship with Lauren now. Couldn’t this be enough? Was it important with whom she was friends?

“Shut up,” Lauren’s gasp brought her out of the unpleasant thoughts. “You’re an attorney for the ACLU? The ACLU?”

“I wasn’t aware that there was a different one.” Michael grinned. “I work for the one in Florida, yes.”

The look on Lauren’s face could only be described as completely awestruck. It was as if a child had just been introduced to the real Santa Claus, but Camila could barely find joy in seeing her girlfriend like this. Not only was her mother good friends with a gay man, his husband was also involved with the ACLU. Of course. It just had to get better.

“You guys are my heroes!”

Raising an eyebrow, Camila took another sip of champagne, trying to ignore the anger that was slowly bubbling up in her. Of course Lauren would be the one to fangirl over a civil rights organization. Although Michael didn’t seem to mind. He chuckled and threw his husband and her mother an amused look.

“Word is, you might be interested in becoming an attorney yourself?” Michael asked knowingly. Was her father telling everyone at the party about her girlfriend’s plans? This topic could not have come up in a normal conversation between her mother and… her friends. Camila frowned. Her friends, indeed. “You know, the ACLU in New York City offers a few internships for grad students each year, Ms Jauregui. You can always apply for one in the future, if this is something you’re interested in.”

Did they know how her mother had reacted to her coming out? Probably not. Her parents had probably kept it as quiet as possible. After all, wasn’t it shameful to have a disgrace like her in the family?

“Interested?!” Lauren’s eyes widened. “I-I’m – yes, I think I’ll look into it. Thank you, sir. I never thought about that option!”

Why had her mother reacted like that anyway? Yes, she had stopped her father from immediately disowning her – but she had given her the pamphlets of those horrifying facilities, asking her to go to those because they would help her to become normal. She had said they could cure her.

Camila’s grip on her glass tightened as she glanced between her mother and the Sanchez couple. Her own mother had turned her head away when her father had thrown her out of the house. She had not lifted a finger to protect her. Not uttered a single word. All the while being friends with a gay man.

But it was in the past, wasn’t it? Her mother had apologized. Since then she had been supportive. She had worked to understand it, to accept it. Although it had taken the disappearance of her daughter for her to change in the first place. Just like she almost had to die for her father to see her as a human being and not as an inconvinience.

“Ms Cabello?” She blinked a few times and focused back on Dr Sanchez who gave her a tiny smile. She really needed to get a grip. This was neither the time nor the place to lose control. “I asked whether you’re excited about getting cleared next week?”

“Um, yes. Yes, I am, I can’t wait. The last weeks were a nightmare.”

“I can imagine.” Dr Sanchez chuckled. “But I’m sure Ms Jauregui took great care of you, if my first impression was right.”

“Oh, your first impression was spot on,” her mother answered before she could say anything. “Lauren is a true angel. Karla could not have found a better partner.”

“I think I need some fresh air,” Camila blurted out, unable to take it any longer. The champagne was not going to help her in keeping her emotions in check, it was the opposite. She needed to get out of here before she said anything bad. Before she ruined her parents’ precious Christmas Eve party and gave them another reason to hate her. “It’s a bit hot in here. Excuse me.”

Without waiting for a reply, she let go of Lauren’s hand and hurried towards the open glass doors that led to the backyard. She didn’t care that she would receive a lecture later about how rude she had been acting in front of the guests or that she had probably confused Lauren quite a bit with her sudden exit.

It was too much. Everything was too much. The party, the guests, her parents, the part she was forced to portray for the sake of her father’s reputation – even that stupid playlist of the string quartet playing Christmas songs in the background.

Without looking back, she reached the terrace and followed the small path that led through the garden. It looked beautiful, illuminated by various lanterns and torches, but she didn’t have the mind to admire it.

It was likely that her reaction was overly dramatic. But it hurt. All she had ever wanted in life was to be accepted and loved by her parents. And while her mother seemed to have reached that stage of acceptance – was it wrong of her to feel hurt that her mother had accepted complete strangers for the same thing she had resented about her own daughter?

She took in a shaky breath and tried to ignore the tightness in her chest. She was not going to cry. Not tonight. It was in the past. Wasn’t it normal that parents felt more strongly about what their children were doing with their lives than what non-relatives did?

“Karla? What are you doing here?”

Startled, her head snapped up and her wide eyes met her father’s. Trees and bushes had obstructed her view of him until she had walked around a corner. It was just her luck that she was not going to get a break tonight.

She hesitantly glanced into the direction of the house and back to him. She was so not in the mood for his criticism. “I… I needed some air. Shouldn’t you be with your guests?”

“Is everything okay?” Ignoring her question, he gave her a quick once-over. “Are you feeling ill? Do we need to call Dr Sanchez out here?”

“No,” Camila drawled. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

He nodded and let his gaze wander over the bushes and trees around them. “Thank you for coming to the party this year. I know you don’t particularly enjoy these functions and I appreciate your attendance.”

Surprised, she raised her eyebrows. “Wasn’t it mandatory?”

“Karla, you’re an adult – you can do as you please. It’s not like you ever had a problem with that.”

“Seriously?” Camila glared at him, unable to hold herself back. She heard the hidden meaning loud and clear and she was done. “How many jabs at my sexual orientation do you want to throw at me before it gets boring?”

He sighed and shook his head. “This is neither the time nor the place –”

“No, I’m done with this bullshit!”

“Karla –”

There was a warning in his voice, but she didn’t care anymore. Perhaps it was the mixture of her medication and alcohol that loosened her tongue, maybe it were the last three hours full of bigotry or the latest revelation about her mother’s friend.

“I like women – big fucking deal, Papá! So do more than fifty percent of the world population! You like women too. Women are awesome, why can’t we just agree on that and call it a freaking day?!”

“Language.” Her father’s eyes turned cold as they bored into her own. “Don’t play dumb, Karla. Despite your less than intelligent decisions in the past, I know that you are not actually an idiot.”

“Why do you care so much with whom I hold hands with or who I kiss anyway? Why is gender so damn important to you? It’s my life, not yours.” Camila noticed that he clenched his jaw. It was probably unwise to provoke him any further, but she was past the point of caring. The alcohol in her system didn’t help either. “I love Lauren. I don’t tell you to stay away from Mamá either, do I?”

“Do not – I repeat, do not compare our marriage to your sinful lifestyle, Karla.”

“Sinful?” Camila couldn’t help it, she snorted. He wanted to use the religion card? “If God had anything against me being a lesbian or our relationship, he would not have made me gay or brought us together. God is about love, not hate. Jesus preached about love. But if I really should go to hell for loving Lauren, then I gladly will. None of this, however, is in any shape or form your problem, Papá. Don’t use religion as an excuse to hate me or as a reason why seeing two women or two men holding hands makes you uncomfortable or disgusted. You know that there are many things the bible tells us to not do and yet no one cares about them. If you can’t handle it even though it is none of your business, you should look for the answer in your own behavior – not in mine.”

Her father took a deep breath, trying to stay as collected as possible. “I am not going to have this – this discussion on Christmas Eve mere feet away from a house full of guests. However, I will tolerate your choices in public. We will present a united front, especially with the upcoming trial.”

Camila stared at him in pure disbelief. “Is your reputation all you ever care about?”

“It’s my career, Karla!” he suddenly snapped. “Of course I care! Do you think I want to stay the state’s attorney for all eternity? The last election was already a close call because people kept wondering where the heck you were!”

Unbelievable. Camila opened her mouth only to close it again. She had no words. What could she even say after that? Her father had just told her that he would only pretend to tolerate her sexual orientation for the sake of his future career. He basically said that he only cared about her disappearance because it made him look like a fool.

“As I already said in the hospital,” he continued much calmer than before, “maybe it was my fault that you turned out like this. That you somehow felt so repelled by men due to my actions that you sought love in women. Or maybe it was Mr Forster who turned you –”

“No one turned me into a lesbian,” Camila muttered, turning her head away from him. The crushing disappointment she was feeling surprised her. Had a small part of her actually dared to hope that he was coming around?

“I did research, Karla. There are scientific studies that show that this… this thing is not genetic. You were not born like this, no matter how much the mainstream media is trying to convince you. If you just gave men a chance, I’m sure you would find a suitable husband one day! Don’t you want a normal family? A relationship that is not frowned upon? You could have it! What about Mr Vanderbilt? You seem to be fond of him. Yesterday evening I noticed the relief on your face when Ms Jauregui told you he would not spend Christmas alone. You care about him.”

“Because he is my friend! And what part of me saying that I’m in love with Lauren did you not understand?” she asked, frustrated beyond belief.

“I am sure Ms Jauregui is a lovely girl, but this is your life we’re talking about! Karla, wake up. You almost died because of this silly thing! If you had not been so stubborn and lived a normal life, nothing like that would have happened in the first place!”

Camila took a step back, staring at him in complete shock. This evening was becoming a real nightmare. “You’re – you’re saying it was my own fault?”

He paused and raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“You… you just said…” Shaking her head, she took another step back. “You’re blaming me for everything Gabriel wanted to do to me?”

“That’s ludicrous. I was merely stating that this – this lifestyle of yours is dangerous. Why do you insist on living this way when you could so easily find a boy and live a carefree life?” He sighed in frustration. “Your mother said I should give you a chance. She says that this is more than just some sort of rebellion or choice. I love you, Karla, and I want what is best for you. But I don’t want someone to hurt you because of something as ridiculous and as easily fixed as this.”

Camila watched him, taking in the worried frown, his clenched fists and the desperate look in his eyes. With a start, she realized that he actually meant those words. He was not lying. He was not trying to deliberately hurt her. He was trying to protect her in the best way he knew how. A wave of sadness overcame her when the truth set in. Would he ever understand that her loving other women was not a choice she made?

“Maybe Lauren and I should leave now,” she mumbled and turned back to the house. Staying overnight for Christmas suddenly didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. She could very well just visit Sofi during the day and take her out for a few hours. “Thanks for the invitation.”

“Karla, please –”

Pausing, she looked over her shoulder. “If you really loved me, you would try to understand that being gay is not something I can change. You wouldn’t look for excuses and studies that tell you how you’re right and that I’m wrong instead of looking at all the facts. You wouldn’t tell me that I should try to date a boy I have no romantic feelings for just because it would be more convenient. You wouldn’t have tried to send me to conversion therapy multiple times. You wouldn’t say that it’s me who has to change in order to be safe in this country instead of those lunatics who want to hurt me or even kill me just because I’m attracted to women. And you certainly wouldn’t have said that you wished I was never born when you stopped by my apartment after a year of no contact. Not even in anger, Papá.”

Her father visibly winced, but not a second later his posture changed. Camila watched with fascination as every emotion left his face and he became the cold man she had always known growing up. He didn’t make the impression as if he wanted to say anything else. His eyes were rooted to a spot just above her head, but when she turned back around, nothing was there.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said quietly. “Maybe you and Ms Jauregui should leave. Thank you for attending the party.”

Swallowing thickly, she cast a last glance over her shoulder and nodded. She hadn’t meant for the evening to turn out like this, but she felt a little better after getting it off her chest. She knew it was likely that she had erased any kind of progress she had achieved with her father in the last few weeks. But what kind of relationship would they have had, if she had held her tongue and let him think she could still be saved?

“She is not going anywhere.”

Camila’s head snapped back to the path in front of her. Wide-eyed, she stared at her mother who had suddenly stepped away from the bushes that had hidden them from the house. The icy glare that had been directed at her father, immediately softened when she made brief eye-contact with her. How long had she been standing there? Had she followed her outside after she fled the room? It was likely that she had wanted to check on her, seeing how concerned her mom was about her injury.

Unsure, she glanced between her parents as an awkward and tense silence filled the air. She really didn’t need to be the reason why Christmas would suck again for her sister. Not when Sofi had told her how different the last Christmas had been from their usual ones. “Mamá, I don’t mind –”

“No. You will not go anywhere, if you don’t really want to. Christmas is about family and I’m not going to let you spend it by yourself instead of celebrating it with Sofia. You should not feel as if you’re not welcome in your own home and by your family.” She narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Your father needs to act like the adult he is. Now go inside, mija. You don’t want to get sick.”

Gnawing on her lip, Camila hesitated for a few more seconds before she listened to her mom’s order and walked past her, back towards the house. She really did not want to be in the middle of her parents’ argument – especially not if her mom had heard everything she had said. Including the bit about her father telling her he wished she was never born. Wincing, she quickened her steps. She really didn’t want to be here for that.

But her mother coming to her defense – she didn’t quite know what to make of that. It was obvious that her mom was not the same woman she used to be. She was in her corner, Camila was almost sure of that now. Maybe she even had a valid reason why she was okay with befriending gay people and not liking the idea of having a lesbian as a daughter. Perhaps it had only been an overreaction of her to assume things. She only needed to ask.

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A/N: Okay, I hope this wasn’t too bad. I can promise that the next update will not take another year, haha. If you liked the chapter and are not too mad at me for the hiatus…

♦ tumblr wattpad ♦

#UPDATE #series #AU #slash #camren #angst drama #submission #A Light in the Dark

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