#i have 3 long feathers that i have in a vase

[witch--tips]

🪶 WITCH TIP 🪶

If you like to keep feathers on an altar, but are annoyed at how easily they move around and fall off (bc theyre so light), or if a pet keeps knocking them off and playing with them, you can get a small vase to keep them in

#i have 3 long feathers that i have in a vase #they used to just lay flat on my shelf but i have a cat who kept brushing them off and chewing em #my vase technically isnt a vase either its an old scent stick holder that i cleaned out #and now i keep them in that :) #also its GREAT bc now i have more space on the shelf #witch tips #air #air element #feathers #altar #beginner witch #baby witch #element air #elemental witch #altars #air witch

[stilespeters]

Keep your head up (part 3)

(part 1) (part 2*) (part 3)

pairing: Kai Anderson x fem!reader

a/n: i need to sleep

word count: 3350

summary: After your death, Kai discovers the truth and loses something greater than his dignity

warnings: violence, swearing, angst, murder, hallucinations, stabbing

A blue haired man was kneeling on the ground with nothing but pain and regret crossing his mind. He was trembling violently, and his eyes stood cold yet full of emotion.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this, it wasn't supposed to happen at all. But yet here he was, in this situation where he couldn’t run away from. He expected to feel happy, happy that he found the mole, but all he felt was dread.

He was nailed to the ground, his heart aching with sorrow. It felt like he was made of feathers, his head empty as everything spun around him. He couldn't grasp the feeling that you were gone, and the rest of his cult members all watched as he cried in agony over your corpse.

He had just killed the love of his life, his only equal he’s ever known. The only light at the end of the tunnel who guided him through the good and the bad times. He was and still is an emotional wreck, and as much as he concealed it with a poker face, in moments like these his mask just falls off. You were usually there for him when he would pull down his mask.

He closed his eyes, but all he could see was your face. All he could see was your lifeless eyes who used to be full of energy and joy. All he could see were memories that would haunt him for a lifetime.

There were thirty people inside the room, but he felt alone. They all stared wide-eyed at him. If he was capable of murdering you, he was capable of anything. They all feared Kai, they knew he was capable of a lot of things, but they knew even Kai had his limits.

They initially thought that he would scare you or throw you in the box for several weeks, but they never expected Kai to burst out like this. They never expected him to actually kill you.

He bent forward till his head rested on your stomach, and the shirt you were wearing was getting wet by his tears. He screamed into the fabric and it got muted by your belly.

“Kai what have you done?!” Winter kept screaming in the background and when Speedwagon and Pussbucket let her go, she rushed towards Kai and tried to push him to the ground. Those attempts failed and when she tried to punch him, Kai grabbed her wrist, and he pulled her in. Winter just sobbed into his chest. She lost her sister, the person who truly understood her. She lost the person who were there for her when she was going through the most crappy shit of her life. You were her other half. You had saved her.

And now she wasn't able to save you. She had to watch this horrible scene unfold without having any influence on the outcome. She felt like she failed.

As the Anderson siblings wailed on the ground together as they broke like a fragile vase, Meadow was standing with her arms crossed and a satisfied smile on her face. She had deleted the footage of the cameras in the house, and she felt proud of herself for figuring out how to do it. It took her a long time of watching youtube tutorials on how to do it, but that wasn't the point. There wasn't any evidence that she was the one who planted the recording device and the New York ticket in your safe.

Now that you are gone, she can finally have Kai for herself. Meadow was the type of girl to fall in love with any guy who shows her any type of affection. And the first moment she joined Kai’s group, she wanted to be special to him. But you were always at his side, you were his number one, and she believed that the only thing that kept her from being with Kai, was you. If you were gone, Kai would learn how to love her. She could fix him.

She knew Kai would be grieving for your death for a while, and she would happily be there for him in those times. By supporting him and showing love in times like those, she was going to win his heart.

What Meadow didn't realize though, was that his heart already belonged to one person and one person only.

The only time where he ever felt whole, was with you. No woman could ever replace you, no woman would come even close. His heart belonged to you, and when he choked you, he felt like he was slowly dying himself. When Kai pulled the trigger and killed you, he killed a part of himself with you.

You were his first love and you were going to be his last.

Meadow was naive, but she wasn't entirely dumb. If everything were to go south and Kai would figure out she framed you, she’d flee before Kai could unleash his wrath on her. However she didn't see how it could go wrong because she had planned everything a few weeks ago. There was no way Kai would figure it out.

Meadow had finally won the battle she always used to lose.

One thing she didn't realize was that a brunette woman watched Meadow intensely as she smiled at the sight of your corpse. She was oblivious, too drunk in the feeling of victory that she didn't feel the woman’s eyes on her.

Ally Mayfair Richards stood on the other side of the room and watched everything unfold. She was glaring at Meadow, and Ally was suspicious. She knew the feud you two had and she found the whole ordeal fishy. Ally and you were pretty good friends, and so Ally wanted to know the real truth. Kai was too blinded by paranoia that he couldn't see that something wasn't right. Ally was the only one along with you, who saw right through Meadow's bullshit.

--

After everyone left the room and Kai was alone with your body. His sobs had quieten down, and Meadow had left along with the rest.

He was now sitting against the wall with a vodka bottle in his hands and he had dried tears on his cheeks. His knuckles were painted with several bruises from him lashing out against the wall out of frustration and his eyes stood blank. His head still felt like it weighed nothing, and he felt the alcohol do its magic as he sniffed.

He downed more liquid down his throat.

Once every last drop was gone from the bottle, he threw it with all his might against the wall and it broke into pieces, just like his life shattered into pieces. It’s kinda ironic.

His head pounded and he tried to keep himself together for the sake of his dignity and role as a leader.

He stayed with you for the rest of the day without seeing anyone, and as he eventually had to go to the toilet, he walked upstairs.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and they looked in fear as Kai marched his way through the halls. Meadow waited for him and when she saw him, she immediately rushed towards him. Kai however pushed her to the side aggressively.

“Get out of my way, Meadow.” Kai sneered. He didntwant to speak or see anyone.

Meadow was taken aback and had her mouth agape. She expected him to show a bit more gratitude for exposing ‘the mole’ he was so paranoid about for several weeks. She blinked and she watched as Ally rounded the corner and walked after him.

She was on his tail as he made his way to the kitchen counter. When he stood with his back towards her, Ally tapped his shoulder.

He was fuming, and his muscles were tense. Anyone who talked to him was gonna be his scapegoat for the next couple of hours. In times like these, it was better not to bother Kai in any shape, way or form, otherwise you could literally lose a limb. However, Ally had to tell something important.

Kai’s nostrils flared and his eyes burned with rage. Ally rested her hand on his shoulder and rubbed soothing patterns.

“Not now, Ally.” he warned through gritted teeth.

She didn't listen. Instead, she turned him around to face him. Kai lashed out at her and tried to slap her, but Ally dodged it just in time. This happened regularly so she knew what to expect from Kai. It was like a routine. “You need to see this,” she urged. “It’s about Y/n.”

Kai became intrigued as she mentioned your name. It felt weird hearing someone say it when you were in the basement decaying. Kai furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

Ally grabbed her laptop and a disk, and she searched for something. When she got what she was looking for, she turned the screen towards Kai. “You might want to take a look at this.”

On the screen was camera footage from the kitchen they were standing in. However, the time on the bottom of the screen indicated that the time this was recorded took place in the morning. Kai didn't exactly know what he was looking at until Ally zoomed in on the painting. It was where the safe was behind, and when Ally sped up the footage, he saw a blonde woman enter the room of the kitchen.

The woman had something in her hands. She looked around once or twice before fiddling with the buttons on the safe. When she opened it, it became clear what she placed in the safe It was a recording device and a ticket to New York in it, and when she turned around, Kai got to see a clear look on her face. It was Meadow.

He turned pale and his eyes went wide. His fists balled up till his knuckles turned white and he watched in horror as the camera footage replayed. “It was Meadow all along, she framed Y/n. Y/n spoke the truth. Meadow placed the ticket and recording device in the safe, and stole the footage of the kitchen this morning, but she didn't wipe out the hard drive.”

After that, everything Ally said faded into the background and Kai heard yet again a high pitched beep. It took him a while before he realized what this actualy meant.

His world was spinning, his head became light, he heard a high tone pitch and he felt nauseous. It couldn't be true, right? Kai yanked the device from Ally’s hands, and when he rewinded everything, he got a nasty taste in his mouth. He hoped that it would show him a different video. However, it stayed the same.

Everything was all for nothing. He fucking killed you for nothing.

Ally took a step back when she saw he was trembling with confusion and rage. This man was broken beyond repair. He was drowning and beyond saving. He was falling without having anyone to pull him up.

He suddenly stomped away, punching some of the paintings on the wall to the ground. Everything shattered, just like his life.

He had gone haywire.

“MEADOW!” He screamed, and Ally knew this wasn't gonna end well. He would most likely kill Meadow in the most horrible way possible. Bot that she was opposed to that. She thought Meadow was shallow, but no one deserved Kai's wrath. He’d make her suffer greatly before he’d kill her, and he searched every nook and cranny of his house. Ally could almost see steam from how much rage he had and she tried to keep up with him as he stormed through the house.

Eventually he stopped as he realized Meadow had fled, and it made him realize she probably eavesdropped on Ally and his conversation in the kitchen.

“FUCK!” He punched the wall and his fist broke it. Now there was a hole in the wall and he most likely had an injured hand. However he didn't feel any pain physically. It felt like he just went through the five stages of grief. "FUCKING BITCH!"

As he made another walk in his house, he punched everything he saw from the walls and tables. All that was heard echoing from the walls were the sounds of shattering objects and glass, and when his fists were bloody to the bone, he came to a stop in his bedroom. He stood panting with his body leaned forward with his hands supporting his body.

He was at your desk.

After five minutes, he slammed his fist into the wood, and he turned around and sat down with his back against the dresser. He had calmed down a bit and stopped punching random things. He was just searching for stability. The only thing that gave him that was you, and now that you were gone, so was his stability.

Suddenly a presence was near him, and as he wanted to throw hands at the person who disturbed him, he suddenly saw something that made him question his sanity. That’s when he realized that without stability, he felt like he was losing his mind. It was as if his brain was playing tricks on him. Everything felt like a deception.

He saw your shoes, and his head got pulled up as a finger was placed under his chin. He then came face to face with you and you laid your hands on his cheeks. “Keep your head up, dear.”

Kai stared at you wide-eyed. His nostrils were still flared and a vein in his forehead was protruding.

He scanned your face. It was as if you were actually there. It was as if you were actually kneeled in front of him, even though he knew you weren't really there. He didn't feel any body warmth from your touch on his cheek. He couldn't feel you, but he could sense you.

He reached his fingers out to your lips slowly, and as his index finger and middle finger brushed against your lips, tears escaped his eyes. You gently grabbed his wrist and rubbed soothing motions.

It felt weird, and part of him knew it was only the hallucination from alcohol intoxication, but somehow this felt real. Your skin felt cold but somehow you left a trail of warmth in his heart.

“I’m so sorry.” he breathed and you pressed your lips into a line. “I know, baby. I know you are.”

“I should have believed you, I should've known that you would never betray me.”

He saw the same look in your eyes as when you breathed your last breath. You looked peaceful, you looked like the overly happy girl whom he met in the summer of 2010. You looked like you accepted everything, which made him feel even more bad.

You grabbed his hands in yours, and placed kisses on top of the bruises he got.

“It’s okay, Kai. Just promise me something. Take care of Winnie, okay? Don’t push her away, she has already lost so much. She probably won't forgive you for a long time, but please don't push her away.” you asked him and he nodded. You smiled at that and it was a smile Kai hadn't seen in a long time. You always used to smile everywhere you went, but after three years of dating, something just changed. It wasn't only a change in your behavior, but there was a huge change in your relationship. Dedication wasn't something your relationship lacked. It was passion that was missing. The flame that once burned brighter than the sun was now merely smoke.

Kai looked at his feet again and you gently laid your hands on his face to make eye contact with you again.

“Remember to keep your head up. Keep your head up and nothing can ever stop you. You’ll be invincible” you pressed your forehead against his. “You got this, my sweet angel.”

Kai gave you a weak smile and his stomach was hurting from the crying. It was hurting from all the pain, regret and grief.

“Remember, I’m here with you, I’ll always be here with you. I stuck to your side for 6 years and I planned to stick by your side till death do us part. And I kept my promise, I’ll always look out for you.”

He smiled at that through his tears and it was quiet for a while before he spoke up again.

“I really did love you.” he breathed and you chuckled. “I know, angel. I really did love you too.” You stood up from your kneeling position and Kai looked up at you. You bit your lip.

“Meadow fled by the way, she took the ticket to New York.”

Just at the mention of Meadow’s name, Kai’s blood began to boil and his muscles tensed again. That stupid bitch was the cause of everything and the worst part is, she almost succeeded. You affirming that she fled was enough for Kai to be even more furious if that were even possible.

You saw this and you had a concerned look on your face.

“Look at me.” Kai hadn't noticed that he dozed off, as he imagined stabbing Meadow, and as he snapped his eyes back to you, you brushed his cheek again.

“You’ll survive. You’re a fighter.”

He closed his eyes as he rested his head against your arm.

You two stayed like that for several minutes before you pulled back. “I’ll wait for you. In the meantime, keep your head up and trust your own gut instead of unreliable sources.” Kai nodded. “I love you, keep your head up and be invincible.”

He nodded and wanted to ask you something, but as he opened his eyes again, you were gone.

Now he sat alone in his bedroom on the rug, and the alcohol intoxication amplified his anger.

He didn't know if you were really there or if it was all in his head. He wasn't sure.

He was sure of one thing though.

He was going to kill Meadow, and he’s going to make her suffer greatly. Kai would project all of his anger and rage on Meadow.

3 days later (friday)

at the airport

Kai wore sunglasses and a hat, and as he saw the back of Meadow’s head, he slowly approached her. She looked oblivious and had her luggage in her hand. She was only hours away from getting the fuck out of Michigan and going to the big Apple.

She entered the women's toilet, and she went to the back stall.

She never thought that she would get away, let alone step a foot outside of Kai’s house, but she was relieved. Meadow really thought that she could create a future with Kai, but after Ally showed Kai that she was the one framing you, Kai was probably furious. Luckily she eavesdropped their conversation so she was ready to get the fuck away from there. Victory was short lived, but in the end, you were dead so she saw that as a win for herself and the world.

Meadow left Kai’s home right on time before Kai started his rampage.

Two male shoes were suddenly standing on the other side of the stall, it peeked up into Meadow’s stalls. She sighed. “Why are you in the women’s bathroom?” she asked and when she got no answer back, she huffed. “Well okay Mr Mysterious. Just so you know, I’m not giving you a blowjob.”

Kai rolled his eyes and clenched his jaws. Before he could say anything further, Meadow was first.

"Alright you know what? Just come in here and I'll do it quick for you. My mouth is really dry though, and my gag reflex is really sensitive."

She opened the door and she looked at the ground, not paying any attention.

“A life for a life,” Kai then said and the sounds of his low voice echoed against the walls. Meadow froze as she recognized the voice, and her head snapped up to his. She tried to reclose the door, but Kai pried himself inside before she could place the lock. When Kai was inside of the small stall, he closed the door behind him and locked it.

Meadow then felt something cold press against her neck. “Heads up.” Kai whispered in her ear, and Meadow shrieked. However, she obliged and looked him in the eyes looking up at him as Kai continued talking. “I want to look at you as life leaves your eyes. I wanna look at you as I take your last breath.” As Meadow widened her eyes Kai was satisfied. Kai then stabbed the blade into her back, and her sounds got silenced by Kai’s hand who was muffling the sounds.

She wasn’t dead, yet. Although she is gonna wish she were.

Thre hours later, Kai locked the door and slid underneath back to the other side. He kept Meadow alive at first. He just tortured her, all in the name of you. He did everything for you. He made sure to give her as much pain as possible, and he walked to the sink to wash off the blood.

Killing Meadow felt satisfying but it didn't feel liberating. He had avenged your death, sure. But nothing in this world was gonna bring you back.

He only found one more solution.

If Meadow were to watch Kai from above the clouds or below the darkest pit of hell, he hoped she’d see that he was going to kill everyone she loved. And he hoped that she would have to watch him while she couldn't do a single thing to stop him.

He kept his head up, and he was invincible. He was going to kill Meadow’s entire family tree who were still alive.

#evan peters #evan peters smut #evan peters x reader #evan peters x you #kai anderson x reader #kai anderson x female reader #kai anderson #kai anderson x y/n #kai anderson x you #kai anderson smut #ahs cult #evan peters x y/n #evan peters x female reader #evan

[courfee]

if this be done (part 2)

@jegulus-microfic | august 28 - injury | wc 992 | part 1, 2, 3

witchboy james and crow regulus

The first thing James tries in his attempt to lift the curse off Regulus, turn him from a crow back into the man he used to be, is of course the same thing he tried with Sirius. It was a curse back then, too. A similar curse, turning him into an animal, so it seems only reasonable that the process to unravel Regulus’ curse would be similar too.

It isn’t, as it turns out.

“Are you sure you have said the words correctly?” Regulus huffs, when all that happens after James has completed his magic is that Regulus’ feathers look a lot more ruffled.

“I am sure,” James says. It has been over a week of James collecting flowers from his garden and drying and milling and boiling them, and another week of writing and rewriting his spell and knotting the strings of his magic together, and in the meantime Regulus has not gotten any kinder. He has made himself a home in the little library James has in his cottage. It’s a cosy room James rarely visits because he is a firm believer in finding his knowledge through trial of error instead of reading. “I’ve had success with the exact same spell on a different curse.”

Regulus scoffs, “You reused the spell? Why ever would you think that’s the solution?”

“Why ever would I not?”

Regulus angrily walks to the other side of the table (he barely ever flies, preferring to stick to the way of transportation he was used to as a human. James doesn’t get it, if he got turned into a bird he would use every single second to use his new skills and soar through the air), spreading out his wings as if he was gesticulating. “Unravelling curses has nothing to do with the subject of the curse but rather the person getting cursed. You can’t treat a curse like an injury with one universal remedy to heal it. What worked for your past clients will not work for me, because I am not them and therefore the nature of my curse is a different one.”

James looks perplexed. “And how would you know that?”

“It’s common knowledge,” Regulus says condescendingly.

It really isn’t. Even here, where magic flows through the world like the gentle yet persistent stream of a clear forest brook, curses are not common, and what’s not common cannot pass into common knowledge.

“Besides,” Regulus continues and points with his beak at a book lying next to the vase with yellow carnations James picked for Regulus this morning when he refused the first cup of tea that James brewed for him on the pretext that James let it brew for exactly fort-eight seconds too long. It’s a book Regulus read and James hasn’t. James had to get it off the shelf for Regulus the previous day. James has to do a lot of things for Regulus, and Regulus has yet to ask for any of those things with a please. “If you looked at your own books you would find that same explanation there as well.”

“So it’s not common knowledge at all,” James challenges. “You simply read a book last night and now think you’re so much smarter than I am.”

“I don’t think so, I know,” Regulus argues. “That’s what having more knowledge than you means.”

James crosses his arms. “If you know so much more than I do, why don’t you tell me how to unravel your curse? Better yet, why don’t you do it yourself? I didn’t ask you to be here. You are free to leave whenever you want.”

Regulus doesn’t leave. He doesn’t move to lift his curse. He doesn’t even tell James how to do it. He just stands on his two little crow feet and glares at James defiantly, black, beady eyes glinting with despite. James wonders if they were black, too, when he was a human. If they would bore into him the same way as they do now, or if there would be a hint of kindness in them instead.

“That’s what I thought,” James huffs. “You don’t know either.”

“You were still wrong and have wasted two weeks of my life,” Regulus complains, not one to back down.

“With the way you act and talk I’m not surprised someone wanted to curse you.” The words slip past James’ lips before he can spin them around in his head, weave them into something more beautiful. They are rough, ugly words. Rough, ugly things can be made into soft and beautiful things as well, or into useful ones at least. A blanket to keep you warm, even if scratchy, a base for a fire to light a room. James didn’t take the time to transform his words, to weave his magic through them, and so they fall rough and ugly out of his mouth, and land rough and ugly in front of Regulus.

Regulus folds his wings, presses them tightly against his body and stands up straighter, more stiffly. “If you lay out more books for me I will read up more on curses and tell you what I find,” he says curtly. “The sooner we solve this, the sooner I can leave here.” James knows he feels sorry, somewhere on the inside he feels sorry for presenting the words as they formed and not as what they should have been. Is sorry for hurting Regulus with them, because Regulus looks hurt in that way he has turned hard, his whole body a shield to keep his heart safe. James knows he feels sorry somewhere, but he does not feel sorry in the space right behind his ribs, that space that connects his heart and his tongue, and so he does not say the words. What he says instead is, “I will get you the books. The sooner we solve this, the sooner you can leave here,” and turns from the room to resume his work.

#writing these is fun af i didnt expect that at all #its such a no pressure thing #both the writing and the expecting people to interact with it #jegulus #james x regulus #regulus x james #starchaser #sunseeker #marauders #marauders fanfiction #microfic #my writing #jegulus fanfiction #jegulus microfic #james potter #regulus black #mine #Hp #if this be done

[grinningreaperwrites]

Magical Girl Power! Episode 2: Faking a Ferret

The day after becoming a Magical Girl, Grian has several new problems: 1) he's supposed to report on Magical Girls, 2) most of his team's equipment might have been damaged or lost in the Rogue attack, and 3) there's an entire Spirit in his house now. Items 1 and 2 are more long-term problems, but 3 requires immediate attention. Luckily, said Spirit can shapeshift! Now they just have to agree on what the disguise should be, and defeat the Rogues attacking the shopping center. Should be easy, right?

On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52012432

It turns out that hiding a Spirit in his bedroom is much easier than Grian expected. The hard part of last night was convincing his sister that he was completely normal and not suffering from magic sickness (or having recently become a Magical Girl). She still insisted on feeding him a lot of soup, but he did sneak some up for Xelqua without being suspicious enough to call out.

Grian also put Scar’s chrysanthemum in a vase he wasn’t aware he owned, and the flower glows brightly to his new sight. Xelqua must have spent a lot of time wrapped around it in the bag for his power to have worn off so strongly.

However, there are other things in his house that glow for reasons he cannot understand: the jacket his brother forgot, a cat mug, and a weird little rock he’d found about a week ago that had looked like an eye. Grian tucks it into his pocket, just in case. They have to make a plan first, before he can get to questions.

Well, actually, they need to eat, but Grian can multitask. Xelqua is having a great time flying around the house and poking things now that Pearl isn’t here, but the scent of cooking food makes for an excellent lure.

“Oooh, what is that called? It smells so nice,” Xelqua asks, landing lightly on Grian’s shoulders.

“Hey! It’s just, ah, it’s eggs and ham? I don’t actually know if you can eat this, I was worried you couldn’t eat the soup last night,” Grian explains, trying not to squirm as Xelqua’s feathers tickle his neck.

“Aw, I was wondering if it had a name like French Toast. One of the scientists liked French Toast. Oh! I can eat almost anything; if I remember correctly, I can eat more things than you!”

Hm. Okay, maybe it is time for some questions.

“From when? Do you remember things from me that were shared?” Grian allows himself to ask, shoving the slices of ham around so they all cook evenly.

Xelqua shakes his head in Grian’s periphery. “The Rift is connected, and it’s also not the only one – you knew that, right? – so we know things about humans! Some Spirits live here full-time, even. I don’t know if any humans live beyond. The scientists in the facility were studying the Rift, but they didn’t know a lot. What do you know?”

This definitely should’ve been a conversation they had last night, but Xelqua looked so peaceful sleeping. Grian bites his lip.

“To put it simply: I don’t think anyone who isn’t a Magical Girl knows that Magical Girls aren’t just some kind of Spirit,” Grian says. He moves to shrug, but remembers something. “Wait, Miss Hawkeye said some people know, but are dangerous. I don’t know who they’d be, since she also said to go back to the Observatory with Cores…”

“Oooooh boooooy…” Xelqua says slowly. He jumps down onto the dishtowel to Grian’s right and pushes his paws up by his face anxiously. “Okay, yeah, that makes sense, you asked what the bond meant and I thought you’d just misheard me…”

Grian and Xelqua look at each other, and have a mutual moment of panic as they both realize how deep of a gulf of understanding spreads between them.

Xelqua is the first to break the silence, jumping into an anxious whirl of white and pink.

“Okay, okay! I didn’t- I guess this is why we were always told to not talk to random humans. Okay. I am Xelqua, I escaped through the Rift because there was a …I don’t know if it’s ever come through the Rift. There was thing I would call a demon, and it wanted to eat me, so I flew until I was in the... The Observatory? I thought it closed from this side, it doesn’t-“

Grian pushes the slices of ham onto a plate with the eggs without interrupting.

“-but the scientists made a weird little house and fed me, so that was good, and I thought they knew more because one of them called me Watcher? Which is what I am, we’re Watchers,” Xelqua says, swirling to a stop and tapping himself in the chest.

“I guess whoever named you is the person we’re supposed to meet,” Grian adds while Xelqua inhales.

He didn’t mean to distract Xelqua, but the Watcher ruffles all his feathers and immediately switches topics.

“Musician! That’s an interesting name for a Spirit, I wonder if they took an English name when they crossed over? Usually we don’t use names that are that… obvious? About what our powers are. The Song of Fate isn’t referenced in my name at all.”

That doesn’t mean that the mysterious Musician has any sound-based powers, then, but Xelqua doesn’t seem to realize this and just jumps up onto Grian’s shoulders again as he turns to cut the eggs and ham into smaller slices. They negotiate portions before Grian walks over to the table, even though Xelqua simply sits on the tabletop instead.

It occurs to Grian, watching Xelqua daintily eat a chunk of egg with his paws, that the Spirit knows just as much about him as he knows about Xelqua.

“So, uh, you had that whole introduction, so. Mine. I’m Grian, you kind of met my sister Pearl but I also have a younger brother named Jimmy, I work for the Hermit Gazette with Mumbo and Scar. Our current assignment – the reason why we were in the Observatory – is to make a documentary on Magical Girls.”

Xelqua’s head peeks over the egg with a wide-eyed delight, and he giggles when Grian pauses.

“Yeah, I dunno how we’ll manage that. Ah, I used to live in another area about seven hours from here named Evo County. I have a college degree – do you know what that is?”

Xelqua nods, swallows, and chirps “You did a lot of school to be very good at something!”

“Yeah, and I swapped around a bit. Oh! Also, I can see glowy auras, but that started happening after Aria, so it’s probably your fault.”

Ruffling his feathers in excitement, Xelqua chirps again and rocks up onto his back paws. He takes a comically deep breath and then explodes into chatter.

“That’s not exactly true! Humans have their own magic capabilities, but they don’t naturally generate magic - usually – so when we linked up, you get to use my magic, but it’s through your powers, that’s so cool!” Xelqua says in a rush, dodging around plates to jump up on Grian’s shoulders again and aimlessly pat him in excitement. “What do the auras look like? Are they all the same color? What has them?”

“Woah, okay,” Grian says, leaning back and raising his hands to catch Xelqua as if the Watcher would fall. “Well, first, uh, I have about twelve more questions, but- okay, so far all living things have auras and some weird objects I think you were interacting with last night, like my bag. They’re all different colors and the humans have different patterns. Oh, your eyespots are visible all the time even though Doctor Plays -  Zedaph? The blonde man we were with? – said that was only under the Rift’s light.”

He also pulls the eye-shaped stone out of his pocket and sets it on the table as Xelqua cheers excitedly.

“This also has an aura, which is kind of funny since I picked it up in Spawntown Square about a week ago.”

Xelqua jumps down onto the table again and scoops up the rock. Then he shuffles over to his plate and plucks another slice of egg to chew on as he turns over the pebble. Grian pops a similarly-sized piece of egg right into his mouth, then nearly tips over his juice glass as his phone vibrates loudly. Xelqua puffs up, startled, and flaps his wings to keep himself from falling off the tabletop.

SCAR: they delivered all the stuff we left at the observatory at my house!

SCAR: we should probably go through it before Jellie knocks something over

MUMBO: oh yeah that’s great

MUMBO: in an hour maybe?

GRIA: how did you wake up early enough to receive that deliviery?

SCAR: I didn’t!!

MUMBO: oh if Grian’s awake we might as well do it now

Grian bites his lip and looks up at Xelqua.

“So, that’s Scar, the stuff we had to leave at the Observatory has been returned and we’re going to meet up.”

He doesn’t know how to ask if Xelqua wants to come along. He also doesn’t know if Xelqua wants to come along, but he feels like Xelqua probably should. Granted, this might be the strange bond they now share, but Grian doesn’t want to leave the childish Watcher alone.

Luckily…

“Ooh, Scar’s house. He’s the one with the cat, right?”

Grian laughs.

“Yes, Jellie. You overheard that entire conversation, huh?” Grian asks, referring to Scar’s enthusiastic monologue yesterday wherein he insisted on showing pictures of his cat to the entire emergency response team and the retrieved scientists. “I don’t know if you’d be able to see her, though. Unless you snuck out of my bag to go wander the house; it’s pretty big.”

Xelqua hums, disappointed, and attempts to scarf down the egg without dropping the pebble. Grian texts the group chat one-handed while returning to his own food.

GRIA: sure? I need to finish eating though

SCAR: you were up late? You???

GRIA: no, I went to bed after getting Pearl to relax

SCAR: I meant that you woke up late!

“Maybe I should be a creature instead. What kind of creature should I turn into?” Xelqua muses, startling Grian.

“A creature? Like how you were a scarf?”

“Yeah! Since I’m a core I can change what I look like, so maybe I should be…” Xelqua zones back out and places the pebble on the table.

Shapeshifting. Shapeshifting could fix a lot of the interaction problems looping through Grian’s head. Xelqua still wouldn’t be able to talk, but maybe he could-

“What, like if you pretended to be a pet? Like a ferret?” he blurts out.

Xelqua whips around to stare at him while biting into a slice of ham. Without speaking, he shimmers, then his feathers flicker out of existence. The pink marks that remain on his body turn brown, and the eyespots only Grian can see blink shut into stripes. Not as immediately necessary, but an interesting side effect nonetheless.

Taking the slice of ham out of his mouth, Xelqua asks, “Did it work?”

“Yes!” Grian cheers. “I don’t know how we’re going to explain me spontaneously acquiring a ferret, but we can work on that later. Maybe you can be a therapy ferret for all of the fights I’ve gotten into.”

He means that as a joke. Xelqua immediately looks at him with huge newly-brown eyes and Grian feels guilty. The he talks, and Grian feels guiltier.

“All of the fights? People fight you often?”

Grian spears another slice of egg so he only has to say something short.

“I used to. Pearl mentioned that at some point, did you overhear her? Jimmy and I would get in fights and she’d end them.”

He chews, but Xelqua continues to look sorrowful.

     Ignoring the continued messages, Grian pops up the internet on his phone and searches ‘therapy ferret’. He clicks the first link that doesn’t look like an ad and places the screen in front of Xelqua.

          “Here. This might have information about therapy ferrets. Does that work?”

     Just like accidentally changing topics earlier, Xelqua pounces on the new information with an excitement rivalled only by hyper toddlers. His little pink pads can even activate the screen, so Grian lets him read out pieces as they get ready to go to Scar’s.

- - - -

By the time they’ve gotten to Scar’s, Grian and Xelqua agree that, at some point today, Grian is going to have to drop by a pet supply store to help sell the idea that he’s acquired a ferret… and also pretend to buy a ferret, but that’s easier. He kind of has a ferret already. That part, at least, will be the easiest lie he’s ever told.

It will be much harder if Xelqua moves around in Grian’s bag in the meanwhile. Grian doesn’t blame him, though – scarf form is far less relaxing now that Xelqua isn’t exhausted from fighting. He pets Xelqua’s head as he presses Scar’s doorbell again. And again. And again.

Mumbo opens Scar’s door this time, while Scar himself holds Jellie down the hall. Mumbo is as neatly put-together as ever, compared to Scar’s indomitable bedhead.

“Hey Grian, nice to see you’ve found the doorbell again,” Mumbo says.

Grian smiles innocently.

Scar lifts Jellie to wave at him as a greeting and coos over how cute she is. He’s right, but Grian is distracted by the glowing markings all over her. Like Scar’s striped blotches, there are soft blue lines tracing every patch of tigerlike patterning on her body. They match. Which Rogue attack was close enough to this house that both of them could’ve been marked by it?

As he follows Mumbo and Scar further in, Grian’s heart sinks further. The house is practically painted with aura-marks, or maybe stained: trails along the ground, against doorframes, windowsills, objects. Something – maybe many somethings – was here recently. Pawing through Scar and Cub’s stuff, holding things long enough that they glow brightly even still.

Scar opens a door, fingers drifting over a bright patch of magical residue, and Grian has a thought: what if the things leaving the marks keep coming back? Is Scar haunted? He hasn’t mentioned anything moving around his house, but with Jellie here and how big it is, Grian usually relies on Scar’s memory to have any idea how it’s supposed to be put together.

This time, Scar leads them in an entirely different direction – as far as Grian can remember – that ends in a living room with several cardboard boxes of recording equipment and lots of green furniture. Grian puts his bag down next to a couch that is hopefully out-of-the-way enough that if Xelqua wiggles out, no one will notice.

To distract from Xelqua possibly escaping on an adventure, Grian dramatically flops across one of the chartreuse couches. It’s not a fainting couch, but he doesn’t care. Pillows fly everywhere and Jellie runs out of the room, to which Scar makes a sad little noise.

Mumbo wanders over and pokes his knee.

“Scoot, I’m sitting here too,” he says.

Grian huffs and refuses move.

Mumbo sighs and catches Grian’s ankle. Grian squawks, but instead of shoving him off the couch, Mumbo only picks his legs up and sits down, letting Grian swing his legs back down into his lap. He looks unbelievably smug under his moustache, dark eyes glittering with mischief. Scar ignores their byplay and pops open one of the boxes.

“I think this one is some of the cameras and uhh…” he begins, audibly rustling.

Mumbo asks something, but Grian is immediately distracted by Xelqua scrabbling under a table near the door. He’s got a perfect sense of timing; Scar holds up a camera and thoroughly distracts Mumbo. Xelqua looks up, waves at Grian, then slides behind another couch with his noodle-y body. Grian nods at him, as subtly as he can, and attempts to refocus on Scar as he takes the card out of the camera and shuffles over to load it into Mumbo’s laptop. Xelqua doesn’t leave any markings where he walked. Is that because he’s hiding his powers right now, or because whatever is haunting Scar is very, very powerful?

“Hey, so do you think these’ll’ve caught anything? Did you leave them on?” Scar asks, as the folder pops up. He settles on the arm of the couch next to Mumbo, instead of any of the other seating options in the very green room.

Grian begrudgingly sits up so he can see the screen. Then he realizes that there might have been cameras – not necessarily their cameras, but cameras – in the hall where he transformed, and the immediate panic gives him a headache. He presses into Mumbo’s shoulder and tries to regulate his breathing, which has the additional effect of drawing Mumbo’s befuddled attention.

“Woah, wait, Grian? Are you-“ Mumbo trails off, wriggling his arm over Grian’s shoulders.

A hand rests on Grian’s head – probably Scar’s, and Grian’s breath hitches audibly. He forces himself to take a deep breath, tears prickling at his face, and scrubs at his cheeks.

“I don’t – I don’t want to see the – if the Wa- the Rogue, I don’t want to see it,” Grian manages to lie, embarrassed at his own emotions. Well, it’s not entirely a lie; he absolutely does not ever want to meet another Warden, but also the sudden sweep of panic at possibly already failing Miss Hawkeye’s advice is far more soul-crushing than it has any right to be.

Did bonding with Xelqua destroy his emotional control? He’s usually so much better at dealing the emotional fallout of fighting, secrets, and secrets about fighting. Sure, it’s been… several years, but he didn’t even have to let himself freak out in the shower! He wishes this logic could keep his body from reacting, but unfortunately it continues to breathe unsteadily.

Scar’s hand on his head ruffles his hair a little, making his fringe fall into his eyes, and then leans over pat Grian’s shoulders, too.

“I didn’t manage to set up a camera before it broke through, I left most of them in the experimental wing,” Mumbo says anxiously. He doesn’t expect that to be as reassuring as it is, and startles in the hug as Grian slumps in relief.

Grian’s still panting, but the crest of the emotional wave has passed. This doesn’t stop his friends from patting him gently, or the soft peeps from Jellie, who is sitting on the floor and staring up at them.

Grian puts his hand over his eyes and tries to regulate his breath.

“Okay, we might – if you check first, I think that’d be okay,” Grian allows, just before the embarrassment rushes back in to the gap left by his panic. He squishes his face in his hands and then catches Jellie as she jumps up, then Mumbo and Scar wriggle into a more comfortable position to look at all the pictures.

Aside from… whatever that was, the meeting goes smoothly. Scar keeps attempting to copy the faces of the Spirits Mumbo took pictures of, and the cameras seem alright. Mumbo is slightly distressed because not all of the lens caps and smaller levers were packed. Grian makes several notes, even, on some of the Spirits that came right up to the glass for Mumbo to take their pictures.

Then Grian remembers that one of the Spirits in the photos is currently hiding somewhere in Scar’s house. He has a moment of dissonance as he simultaneously wants to go collect Xelqua anxiously and also sadness that he can no longer easily slot Xelqua into the documentary. Grian hasn’t seen Xelqua since he squeezed under the other couch, but he hopes the Spirit isn’t in any of the rooms Scar will lead them through as they go to eat.

Or maybe he should, so he can jump back in Grian’s bag without Grian having to make a scene. As it stands, Grian just keeps putting his bag down in hopes Xelqua hears them getting ready. They are probably all going to go in Mumbo’s van, so they’ll also likely come back here, but he still doesn’t want to make Xelqua nervous. They’ve only been friends for a day!

But, at some point between ‘putting the cameras in a different room’ and ‘putting his shoes back on,’ a lot of white fluff has tucked itself neatly into his bag. He pets Xelqua as he stands, and is internally thankful that Mumbo’s van is a refurbished one with weird seats so he again has a decent excuse to hug bagged-Xelqua.

He leans his head against the window for a little while, until he realizes –

“Hey, at some point I kind of want to drop by a pet store or something. I’ve been thinking of getting a ferret,” Grian lies. Hopefully that’s casual enough.

“WHAT!?” Mumbo yells, and the entire van jerks as he hits the breaks. Several things roll across the van’s floor.

At least his first reaction to be startled is to stop driving…?

Scar flails, but manages to remain in his seat.

“No, seriously, what?”

Grian squirms under Scar’s baffled green gaze, then swaps to staring at Xelqua’s markings as Mumbo also attempts to make eye contact in the rear-view mirror.

“I want to get a ferret, maybe…” Grian lies, again. He sounds so unsure. This is so embarrassing.

“Okay, a pet, but why a ferret?” Scar asks. He doesn’t sound judgmental, just intrigued.

“No, no, hold on, how long have you wanted a ferret?” Mumbo insists, slowly speeding up. He is the one who sounds concerned, and Grian is unsettled.

Xelqua rolls over in the bag to hold Grian’s fingertips. Several small objects also roll across the van floor as Mumbo turns left.

“Well, I didn’t think of a ferret at first,” Grian hedges, trying seem more certain than he is. They’ve should’ve planned out this conversation this morning, like Miss Hawkeye had with Aria. “I just wanted something to hang out with, really. But I was looking at things and-“ He struggles for his phone. “Ferrets can be trained and stuff, and they can go in pockets.”

“Awww!�� Scar coos.

“Oh, okay,” Mumbo says. “Just making sure you’re not… randomly compelled to collect animals now because of Spirits.”

He means it as a joke. He’s been watching over Scar, of course he’s going to notice anything potentially out of character that could indicate magic sickness.

Grian makes a wheezy noise that sure doesn’t feel like a laugh as Scar chortles, because Mumbo isn’t quite on the money but he’s uncomfortably close. Then Grian imagines a ‘crazy cat lady’ but for flying ferrets and starts laughing for real. A tiny little woman swamped by her shawl, lifting her hand out as Watchers are draped across her arm and shoulders like scarves. He pats Xelqua and returns to reciting all the cool ferret facts Xelqua read out that morning.

- - - -

Lunch is nice and involves the least amount of anxiety Grian’s had all day, which is surprising given that he’s, y’know, Grian. They get a booth because all three of them are shy. Mumbo starts folding napkins into origami as they wait. No one really questions why Grian occasionally slides napkin-wrapped pieces of food into his bag. Scar manages to avoid knocking over his lemonade. It’s nice, peaceful.

In retrospect, Grian could make a joke like ‘the calm before the storm’ or ‘he was having too much fun so the universe got mad’.

Mostly, Grian wants to take a nap. But that’s three hours later, after his second day of being (half of a) Magical Girl.

Instead of immediately returning to the van, the team decides to walk around a little. This isn’t just for Grian, either – Scar wanted to poke around in the specialty shops for his model houses.

Luckily, they didn’t buy anything very delicate, so when everyone’s phones go off and the street rumbles, nothing breaks when Mumbo startles and drops some bags.

“Swarm?” Scar says, high-pitched and panicked.

“What?” Grian asks, crouched over Mumbo’s bag.

Scar whips around, eyes wide, and offers his phone screen.

Grian had already guessed that it was a Rogue Alert; the lockscreen shows the special alert markers. What Grian has never seen before, though, is the words beneath.

ALERT

ROGUE ATTACK IN PROGRESS IN YOUR AREA

SWARM REPORTED, TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY

“A swarm?” Grian repeats, still confused but now fearful.

In the few seconds it took to scoop up Mumbo’s dropped bag and read the alert, it was already too late. ‘A swarm,’ terrifyingly enough, means that a huge number of Rogues have been spotted.

As the pavement shakes again, a writhing wall of darkness crawls over the other end of the road.

It’s not a flat shadow. Unfortunately, it’s a sea of huge spiders.

As they descend to street level, it becomes clear that it’s a single wave, not an endlessly-generating horde. They’re about half the size of the cars – smaller than the Warden - but that’s still too big, and Grian takes a few steps backward as the spiders spot some humans fleeing and start chasing.

Something catches Grian’s shoulder, and he yelps.

“Here, narrow alley!” Scar hisses, tugging.

Despite Scar’s usual clumsiness, he manages to drag Grian down a little access road between a café and a bookshop. Mumbo is pressed up against the wall near the end, panting. Grian stumbles as Scar lets go and tries to open the café’s door.

“Locked,” Mumbo says breathily.

“The spiders can walk on walls, they can come in sideways,” Grian reminds everyone, spinning around to stare back the way they came.

Mumbo makes another attempted noise and Scar bangs on the door. A car careens past the mouth of the alley, but Grian doesn’t hear it crash. The ground shakes again.

“How are spiders making an earthquake?” He grumbles.

He slides his hand into his bag, and Xelqua clings immediately. They can’t transform here, though. There’s a camera on the outside of the bookshop, nestled into some ivy.

Mumbo makes another noise, almost choking, and Grian turns again, afraid a spider somehow teleported in behind them.

No, Mumbo’s hyperventilating. Less deadly, still not great.

“Hey, hey, okay,” Grian begins, desperately attempting to think of something comforting. His own fear is being swallowed by protectiveness, just like when trying to hide his little brother from-

No, thinking about that right now won’t be helpful.

Mumbo keeps covering his mouth and nose in intervals in attempts to forcibly regulate his breathing, so he doesn’t verbally respond to being petted. Scar slams into the door again, which is probably not very helpful. If anyone is in that store, they probably think there’s a spider trying to break in.

Before Grian can say anything, there are a pair of quakes, right on top of each other, and Grian falls into Mumbo’s arm. Something moves at the mouth of the alley-

Amethyst Witch is sliding off the top of a stunned spider. It’s so much larger, this close, and it looks like she’s broken its legs. It’s smoking at the joints, and pops into a core as she turns to look at them. The purple ruffles of her dress and her long, fiery braid defy gravity, drifting down to indicate she’d jumped from the roof. The oversize brim of her hat, however, stays perfectly in place to hide her face.

“Hello there! I apologize for the startle, but it seemed more pertinent to save you first!” She chirps, and Grian nods shakily.

She offers them a little curtsey, then scoops up the core and vanishes it somewhere in her dress. Mumbo slides down to the pavement and takes a heaving breath as most of the tension slides out of Grian’s body. The Wizard spins her wand, and crystals grow up from the ground to block the alley.

“Hi, hello, that’s, yeah!” Scar says in a rush.

Turning back to them, the Wizard flicks her wand towards the ground, and little shards of purple start bouncing together into the beginnings of shapes.

“Here, I’ll call something up for you to ride, let’s get you out of here,” she says, smiling reassuringly. “I think we’ll have to go two-by-two, though.”

Her crystalline constructs fold into draconic forms as she walks between them and extends her hand. She has gem-tipped fingers that Grian is now fascinated by; they’re almost hooflike. Now that he knows Magical Girls are only half-Spirit, he wonders what kind of Spirit is partnered to make her. Scar leans forward to take her hand, and Grian tries to tug Mumbo’s arm over his shoulders after petting Xelqua.

“Where would we go? Just hover in the air?” Grian asks. “Or are the spiders only in a specific area?”

Mumbo takes a full breath as he wavers to his feet, and Grian pats him reassuringly. Scar also pats one of the dragons, but he is more reverent than reassuring.

“They’re moving in a single wave, so they’re easy to spot from the air! We just have to move south or north from here – or east I suppose, back where they came from,” she answers, then swaps to explaining ‘How to Ride a Dragon-Construct’.

It is simultaneously easier and more difficult than Grian thought. He’s ridden horses before, so it’s not unfamiliar, but it is also strange in that – with the wingbeats - the rhythm of the movement is different, and obviously the dragon is made of translucent amethyst. Being able to see through his mount is pretty disconcerting. The Wizard is also sharing with him, which he absolutely cannot giggle aloud about. Two Magical Girls on one magical dragon construct!

The little bubble of happiness carries him into the air, and the Wizard guides the second dragon with her wand while tapping at their dragon’s horns.

Because this day has been nothing but an emotional rollercoaster, it is only now that they discover that the spiders. Can. Jump.

Small spiders can jump! There’s an entire group of spider species notable for being able to jump! And, of course, one of those species is unbelievably large in the Spirit Realm, was somehow transported through the Rift for as-yet-unknown reasons, and then set upon Boatem!

Of course!

And one of them has launched itself at him!

Of course!

Grian processes this while screaming.

The dragon cannot bleed, apparently will attempt to heal when shattered, and has captured the spider’s mandibles and one of its claws in its attempts to stick the lost amethysts back into place. The dragon, sized such that it could take off in an alley, is too small to hold the spider, Grian (and Xelqua), and Amethyst Wizard, and descends far too quickly for Grian’s liking. He kicks the spider in the face while the Wizard whips her wand around and thunks it into an eye.

Her attack is far more effective, magic-powered and all, and more crystals form across its face. It tries to wriggle free as a roof comes up way too fast, and the Wizard wraps her arms around Grian’s middle and topples sideways.

She floats.

The dragon and the spider shatter against the pockmarked concrete of an apartment building with a sound like hail. Grian can’t tell if the shrieking was the spider, himself, or his friends still in the air. The dragon immediately begins reforming as they touch down, and Grian is immediately spun out to arm’s-length so The Wizard can examine him.

“Are you alright? Did it nick your leg?” she asks, and Grian has to take several huge breaths before he’s got enough room in his lungs to speak.

He pats Xelqua in the bag for comfort.

“I’m, I’m fine? Physically? Yeah.”

He can’t even see her face and yet feels the depths of her concern. Can she project her emotions, or did he pick that up as a side effect of his magical senses?

She can’t worry about him for too long, however, because there are Even More Spiders, all honing in on their rooftop. He can see them hopping between rooves. The Wizard tilts her head like she’s looking through her hat at the dragon, then scans over the spidery horizon.

This roof has a little shed to hide the access hatch, too small for a spider to enter. Grian has an idea.

“I think I can hide in there, if you need to-“

He cuts himself off as another spider launches itself at the dragon still in the air, just barely skimming its wing.

“Oh, that would be helpful, I’m sorry,” Amethyst Wizard says, her other dragon launching into the air.

The roof shakes, and Grian skitters across the concrete as the Wizard shoots a bullet of amethyst from her wand before levitating after her dragon. The door opens when Grian falls into it, and he pulls the bag up close.

“Hey Xelqua? If she doesn’t pull them down, I think we should help.”

“Oh absolutely!” Xelqua crawls out of the bag and up his arm, wrapping over his shoulders to watch. “Oh, she’s pretty. Do you know her?”

Grian sits down on the grimy floor and laughs. What kind of question is that? His life is so chaotic. The fear is being wiped out by the sheer craziness of this entire interaction.

“Not before today! Her name is Amethyst Wizard, though. She makes constructs, you might have overheard…” he dissolves into breathy giggles.

A spider is launched by the unencumbered dragon. None have managed to get up to Grian’s friends yet, but every time one jumps, Xelqua’s paws clench in Grian’s sweater. Grian rests a hand on Xelqua and turns to scan the top of the stairwell, just to check for cameras. There is one, but it’s already tilted to look at the far wall. Yeah, that makes sense, with the smell.

Xelqua squeaks, and Grian whips around to see the dragon carrying his friends sink low toward a roof maybe a block away.

“Okay, yeah, let’s do this,” Grian says, wavering to his feet.

Xelqua launches himself into the air, and Grian offers his hands.

Again, Xelqua presses his paws into Grian’s hands, until warmth and light fill Grian’s vision. Before, in the single previous transformation, he’d been too startled to really process. He’d been him, and then vague fuzzy feelings until he was conscious again. This time, he tries to focus on the magic washing over him. He can see it, now, pink bubbles and darker magenta whorls sinking into his skin. Currents of magic around his body spin themselves into the beginnings of a pink dress and white feathers, until the magic washes over his eyes and everything goes bright.

The Song rises again, the feathers fill in solid, and Aria smiles to herself in the stairwell. Gravel and debris kicked up from the dragon and spider crashlanding crunch under her pink boots, then dust the air as she takes off.

Despite the circumstances, the sky is blue and warm. The city spreads out beneath her, patches of roofing and parks, and it is beautiful. She shoots into the sky with ease, the wind twirling around her with a cheerful whistle layering over the Song of Fate. This is wonderful! She allows herself to loop joyfully, just once, before turning to the spiders.

The dragon with Mumbo and Scar has landed atop an apartment building without a convenient shelter. Amethyst Wizard is standing between them and two spiders. Aria hums sharply, eyes blinking into existence in the lee of her wings, and swirls them into a cloud.

They trail after her as she swoops down like a falcon, and slam into the spiders as Aria catches herself just before she crashes. She folds into a curtsey before looking up at the other Magical Girl, who waves.

“Hello, miss! Thank you for the assistance!”

“Anytime,” Aria chirps. Then, before she is given another silly nickname, she adds, “My name is Aria! Anything else I can do to help?” She glances up, at the dragon hiding Scar and Mumbo under its wings.

The Wizard whips her wand around and a handful of butterfly-like shards sail across the sky like bullets. A spider jitters in place, then starts leaking something clear.

“You fly, right? Can you guard the dragon? I was attempting to deliver the civilians outside of the spider’s range, but I-“ she interrupts herself to throw a tridentlike crystal arrangement at another spider.

Aria hums another set of eyes into existence and whirls them into a wall. She closes the gap between herself and Amethyst Wizard so that the tornado of eyes can protect the dragon, too.

“If you can get it to stick with me, I can sing the whole time,” Aria agrees breathlessly. “I can do ranged very well.”

It’s about all she knows how to do at this moment, but the very large pink talons attached to her hands indicate she should be able to perform some kind of close-combat at some point. Amethyst Wizard nods, and gestures with her free hand.

“C’mon, I’ll see if I can get the dragon to go in front of me. I can’t fly by myself very quickly.”

Aria nods, skipping over to the head of the dragon and singing up some new eyes. They keep impacting on spiders as they try to interact, and Aria tries to watch them instead of worrying about being in front of Mumbo and Scar. She doesn’t have a mask or a hat to hide her face, and she doesn’t know how much of her face is affected by Xelqua. It could still be very Grian-shaped. At least she has longer hair? It’s pink at the ends, but the rest remains golden brown.

What do her eyes look like? Are they purple like the eyes she summons?

She twists away to look at a spider impacting with the shield and decides that’s a problem for future her. Possibly as Grian and Xelqua. What matters right now is matching the Song in her head, replenishing the spinning eyes and waiting for Amethyst Wizard to reform another dragon for herself.

They both have to take breaks to smack away spiders, and Scar even grabs a crystal at one point and throws it. The crystal leaves a weird purple mark on his palm as The Wizard attempts to tug it, but the mark fades quickly. Grian didn’t have any marks on him, did he? She’ll have to remember to check Scar for magic sickness.

Right now, though, the dragons are taking off. Again. This time, the spinning shield of eyes will help keep the spiders from weighing them down, and Scar cheers as one bounces off the lower edge. Aria is barely pausing to take breaths, between calling up eyes and attempting to stay just behind both dragons, but she agrees. Flying in the open air hasn’t lost its shine yet, and the desperate escape doesn’t dampen it at all. In the direct sunlight, the eyes reflect like oil. The whole swarm of them is - of course - coordinated, and the spiders still jumping at the ball are kind of like dolphins attacking a school of fish in a documentary.

Aria pushes up, over the shield, and the similarity to fish starts to dissolve with the city as a backdrop instead. That’s alright, though. Aria has an idea. The eyes seem to leap from her feathers and skin when the patterns glow with the Song, so in theory, if she could find or shape them to trail over her hands, she might be able to direct the eyes more, well, directly.

She just has to line it up perfectly as the Song swells again. The shield also has to be replenished, though, so she keeps up her own vocals as she trails the storm. The smaller wings lower down her back shed more eyes than her main flight wings, until she rolls midair like a cat and the violet lines start moving.

Sweeping down to the left of the dragon train, the eye patterns rippling over her body slide up to her palms. A single note, and they blossom into the third dimension. They catch on her talons, and she spins in the air, winding back to throw at the next spider crouched and ready to spring.

These eyes, so recently formed, are more powerful than the eyes maintaining the barrier. The spider she hits shatters like the one Amethyst Wizard landed on in the alley. Aria has to swoop down to snatch the core from the air, where it pulses slightly. The texture is …bad. Like something is attempting to escape a bag made of hair. It is presumably silk, but she hates it anyway.

She is also unsure how to contain the core without holding it. The Wizard simply disappeared the one from the alley, didn’t she? Or did her many layers of skirts hide pockets? Sailing under the eye storm with a whoop from the dragon riders, Aria pats her own skirt carefully. Bingo! She still doesn’t really want the cocoonlike core anywhere near her person, but pocketing it will have to do for now. It weighs down her skirt, but doesn’t fall out when she spirals out of the path of another spider. She hopes it’s not stuck, or eating her clothes somehow.

Several more cores join the first as more spiders are attracted to the movement of the storm, even though they are breaking away from the initial line Aria had noticed. Apparently, whatever drove them to cross the city is less important than inconveniencing her, personally.

On the other hand, Scar is having a great time. He’s yelling unhelpful sentence fragments while Mumbo attempts to get him to shut up and stop attracting attention. Given that they’re riding a purple dragon, followed by a purple dragon, and surrounded by purple orbs, it’s a completely lost cause on Mumbo’s part. Amethyst Wizard is ignoring them both and shooting tridents of crystal out of the shield.

There are so many spiders. Even though they have to actually jump from uneven roof to uneven roof, they are almost as fast as the dragons. It is definitely unfair. Amethyst Wizard is casting heavier and heavier weapons at the spiders to try and weigh them down long enough to let Aria explode them into cores, but they just keep coming. At least the spiders are leaving the rest of the city alone? Wherever the Wizard was planning to land will clearly just be immediately overrun.

Aria slips into the shield to talk to Amethyst Wizard briefly.

“I think that unless we do something complicated with the flight paths, we’re not going to be able to land until they lose interest,” she says in a quiet part of the Song.

The Wizard bares her teeth. The inside of her mouth is also amethyst-colored. “Someone else has to show up soon. I think I can hold them together for another twenty minutes.”

Oh, Aria hadn’t even considered that the constructs might have a time limit like the eyes. That pushes up the timeline considerably.

“The top of the Hermit Gazette has a viewing area that might be unlocked, the eyes and the dragon can cover them until they get through.”

“And then we lead the spiders away again, yes, let’s try that,” the Wizard says, and flicks her staff sharply.

Aria drops back through the cloud of eyes, calling up some replacements for the ones that had gone out while she’d been speaking. She wonders if Xelqua and Grian’s throats will hurt when she separates. That’d be difficult to explain, probably.

With a second target again, the spiders jump more often. Aria tries to lead them away from the wide turn Amethysts Wizard carefully charts and hopes that splitting their attention takes some of the stress off of her. She’s yelling the plan to Mumbo and Scar, who are immediately on board. As employees, they have passes for the roof doors even when they’re closed to the public, but Aria was absolutely not going to share that information. It should be open today, anyway.

They aren’t turning completely around, so they aren’t flying back over the apartment Aria has to remember to return to. Instead, they take a left, where the spider wave used to be before it became a spider pack. The Hermit Gazette isn’t the tallest building in the city, or even the tallest building in its immediate area, but it is perfectly positioned to look out over the old Mycelium District they are currently flying over.

It is also perfectly positioned to frame another coalition of spiders, and the new, statue-like Magical Girl smashing them into pebbles. Resurrection is easily recognizable despite being ringed by as many spiders that are still trailing after the dragons, mostly because she is twice as tall as they are. Also green. The green definitely helps.

Aria feels a little bad for bringing another entire swarm down on her head, but she has an apology forming across her wings as she swoops down just like she had with The Wizard. The eyes slam into the spiders with a terrible crunching noise like many bags of chips being hit with baseball bats, but Resurrection doesn’t flinch.

Instead, she digs her fingers into the chain wrapped around a few spiders and whaps them against the concrete. They crumble into cores, and the chains retract so Resurrection can tuck them away before lassoing another set of spiders. She is the first Magical Girl Aria has encountered who has visible pockets. Her tattered dress highlights each intentional opening with orange, and every single one has at least one core peeking out. It’s very gross and Aria hates it.

“Hello! Sorry to crash the party!” Aria yells.

Tossing one of the spiders off of the roof, Resurrection turns to blink up at her.

“Hello! You’re new,” she says, and starts reeling in the chains attached to her shoulders. “You’re very welcome to do so, though, there’s far too many of these pests for just me.”

Aria can’t immediately respond until she pops a few more eyes into existence to keep the spiders from tackling her, which just proves Resurrection right. Unfortunately, that problem will only be getting worse.

“My name’s Aria, Amethyst Wizard and I are trying to keep some civilians –“ she has to pause to flick a few eyes at another spider, which gives her a moment to reflect on how odd it is to refer to people she knows in such a vague manner. “- we were trying to fly some civilians away from the spiders, but they jump, so we’re trying to hide them now.”

Resurrection looks at her, then up over her head – presumably where the very purple cloud is approaching.

“Well. I’m Resurrection of the Statues. Have the two of you decided how to hide all… that?” Resurrection says conversationally. When she turns to lasso another set of spiders, Aria can see that her chains actually originate from a loop on her back, like a doll on a necklace.

The pace of conversation is slightly awkward since Aria can’t respond until she can take another breath.

“Amethyst Wizard is going to drive the dragons into the Hermit Gazette Tower so they can hide in the viewing area. They work there, apparently,” she explains eventually.

The purple cloud is nearly upon them, and some of the spiders are beginning to notice. Instead of attempting to snatch the dragons from the air, they turn to attacking the grounded prey. Aria has to take off just to have more maneuverability, trying to sing enough eyes to protect herself and rejuvenate the shield as well. Resurrection is unphased as the dragons get into earshot, and Aria can hear Mumbo and Scar screaming at the top of their lungs.

Some of the eyes Aria just summoned to replenish the shield are immediately taken out by the new horde of spiders, stunning them so Resurrection can easily swipe them with her chains. The boys scream again, and Amethyst Wizard tosses a handful of crystals that rapidly grow as they slam into the spider Rogues.

With Resurrection, Aria might actually be able to slow down the horde long enough that their silly plan might work. Her chains might also be able to launch Aria’s eyes, if she could manage to find a spare breath to ask. Looping low over the other Magical Girl’s head, Aria narrowly misses a few spiders with a hand-launched explosion. Luckily, the noise and light stuns and startles many spiders such that Resurrection can lasso them and launch them into each other.

The dragons sharply ascend along the tower, shedding spiders, and Aria hums the note that makes all the remaining shield eyes explode. It’s risky, sure, but it also scares all of the spiders still trailing them, enough that they disappear over the edge. Hopefully that will give them enough time for Mumbo and Scar to hide.

Aria turns to the spiders still bothering Resurrection and times her dive with the next time the markings line up with her hands. With the shield down, she has more power to focus into the explosions, which is wonderful. Unexpected, but wonderful. A few spiders crawl up the tower wall, but only enough to launch themselves over Aria’s head. She has to listen very carefully, both to the Song and to the scratches of the spiders’ feet.

Resurrection’s hits are often bass notes, contrasting with the chains clattering against their own links. Though Aria doubts she can her the Song, the other Magical Girl is rhythmic in her attacks. Snare, tug, reel, and launch, steadily such that Aria can dance in the air as the high notes. Amethyst Wizard descends from the Hermit Gazette, which hopefully means the boys got away safely, and slams down crystals in a perfect crescendo.

The spiders transform into clouds of smoking and pulsing cores.

The three Magical Girls look at each other, panting. Aria sinks back to the ground and settles all of her wings. Resurrection somehow vanishes her chains entirely. Amethyst Wizard brushes down her skirts.

Aria manages to break the silence first.

“Did those men get into the building?”

Amethyst Wizard nods rapidly, slightly startled. The brim of her hat flutters with her movement.

“Yes, it worked perfectly, actually! I was a little concerned that the spiders would break the door open, but… did you do something about it? Or did your orb thingies just run out of time?”

“Oh, I exploded them!” Aria chirps. She doesn’t know if she should elaborate. Do other Magical Girls have something like the Song of Fate? “They react to my voice, actually,” she says, when she decides that her previous declaration sounds unhinged.

The others both nod, humming in understanding. Aria refuses to squirm out of anxiety, but is unsure how she’s supposed to act now that the fighting is over. Typical Grian moment, really – Xelqua is far friendlier than the human.

Before she blurts out something else, Resurrection stretches with a terrible grinding noise, and startles Amethyst Wizard into speech.

“Oh, Aria, right? Have you had to turn in cores before?”

Aria shakes her head, embarrassed. This time, she can’t stop herself from shuffling in place, which only serves to bump the cores in her pockets against her legs. She can’t feel them move, but the knowledge that they are is still enough to creep her out. The Warden’s core had, too, hadn’t it? This better not be a trend.

Resurrection makes a soft hum, and is smiling when Aria peeks though her bangs.

“Well, we’d best show you, then. Musician won’t bite. She’s far more scared of you than you are of her, and she hasn’t even met you yet.”

That sounds kind of ominous, actually. Usually, people say things like that about bears. Aria nods anyway.

The Wizard turns to Resurrection.

“Rezz? Do you want me to carry you?”

“Where are we going?” Aria asks, as if Miss Hawkeye hadn’t told her.

Resurrection nods at Amethyst Wizard, who starts to form another dragon.

“The cores go to Musician, near the Rift,” she says, so Amethyst Wizard can focus. “She takes them in, I think. Better than just bandying them about out here.”

“We have to sneak into a building?” Specifically, the one building she’s already been in. Wait, does that apartment building count? It might. Ah well. Aria isn’t going to mention it.

The Wizard giggles lightly. Resurrection makes a huffy noise instead of a laugh, for plausible deniability and to convey disagreement.

“No. Musician is usually somewhere around the Observatory campus, though. There’s a field, you’ll see when we get there.”

Amethyst Wizard interrupts to ask if Aria has enough energy to fly across half the city, which abruptly reminds Aria that she gets to fly. Really, truly, fly. She nods rapidly, and impatiently rustles all six of her wings as The Wizard and Resurrection mount the dragon. It’s a bigger dragon than the ones she made in the alley – has to be, to carry the giant animate statue – so Amethyst Wizard has to be lifted up.

Then she can tap the dragon’s horns, and Aria and the dragon spread their wings. The roof shakes when they push off, just from the sheer force of displaced air, and Aria is free.

Without the pressure of having to fight a swarm of spiders, Aria can simply fly. There is nothing else to focus on. Just the feeling of wind through feathers, angling into the heat rising from the rooftops, twirling in the air. The Song of Fate is loud and joyous, and Aria cannot help but sing along. She makes no eyes with these notes, no magic is channeled, but her markings swirl and glow anyway.

It might just be her mind trying match patterns, but even the movement of the rest of the world seems to line up with the Song. The distant pulsing sirens of emergency vehicles, the swirling startled birds, even the flaps of Amethyst Wizard’s dragon all match the beat of the Song in her mind. Maybe even her heartbeat.

Returning to the Observatory means turning left, which the dragon takes at a wide angle. Aria takes the time to launch herself into several twirls, just for the hell of it, before diving down to skim along the rooftops as the dragon evens out. Then she sweeps under the dragon and rolls up to coast beside the other Magical Girls.

“So. We’re going near the Rift Observatory? Not… landing on the roof or something?”

Resurrection smiles, revealing teeth the same pale green as her skin. What stone is she supposed to be made of?

“Musician is shy. She’s the only one who seems to keep a territory,” she begins, which is strange.

If Musician is so localized, then why was she not there when Aria first formed? …Were her, hm, components not working that day? The other Magical Girls expect her to be constantly present, though. Very mysterious.

“We land in the field between the back lot and the forest, and she comes to meet us. Usually from one of the small outbuildings. There aren’t cameras that face that way, but I imagine it would not be unreasonable to assume that Magical Girls would be interested in the Rift,” Resurrection continues, almost to herself.

“From the buildings?” Aria asks. “Is she working with them?”

The other Magical Girls hesitate, then look at each other, then at different points in the sky.

“I think her… anchor… might,” Amethyst Wizard answers, after a second.

“But I still say that they don’t know anything, so whoever it is, they’re still hiding it,” Resurrection argues.

Amethyst Wizard has nothing to add to that. They fly quietly for a few minutes, until the Observatory building comes into view and a different instrument joins the Song. It almost sounds like whispering, the odd crackling Aria had thought was the Rift itself. Is its influence strong enough to echo all the way out here? Maybe it is calling out to her since she is thinking about it.

She is also thinking about the field slipping down to the tree line behind the Observatory, one blocked completely from the public view. It is big enough that they simply glide down like a tiny plane, though Aria takes a lap before actually touching down.

In the shadow of an outbuilding, a figure is sliding out from behind a wall. They – she? – is comprised of armor pieces floating around an indistinct body, like layers of glass around ink. Opaque green segments form the visor, chest plate, tasset, and boots, with bright lights flickering at the corners. If this is Musician, she doesn’t look like most other Magical Girls.

She’s probably Musician. The Wizard and Resurrection move toward her and the dragon curls into a catlike loaf, unconcerned. Resurrection even leans in to hug the newcomer, which reassures Aria considerably.

She lands on the dragon’s other side, so her wings don’t kick up dust near them, and then waves when introduced.

“This is Aria, we just picked her up. She’s new,” Amethyst Wizard explains.

It’s such a casual statement that Aria immediately giggles.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m just, you introduced me like a new puppy,” she says, wondering if her feathers cover what feels like bright blush. “Yes, I’m new. This is my second time out, actually.”

And her second time on these grounds, but if Musician’s – what did Resurrection say? Anchor? – if Musician’s anchor does work here, then she might know already. Aria swallows, remembering Grian’s panic earlier. Musician might know quite a lot about her.

Musician’s faceplate is emotionless, but she tilts her head like a bird and emits a very synthetic hum.

“Then it’s very nice to meet you, Aria,” she says, and her voice is metallic despite the warmth. “Usually, someone has to go track down the new people. Usually after something silly happens…”

When she shakes herself out of her thoughts, she chimes lightly. Ah, that would be where the Song is getting the noise. Aria wonders if other Magical Girls have specific instruments or sounds she just hasn’t put together yet.

Amethyst Wizard makes an embarrassed noise and Resurrection huffs, tossing her hair. Aria wonders what “silly things” they did that Musician remembers. Musician ignores them and straightens up as she continues.

“My full name is Soulside Musician! My role here is to help dispose of cores, which are the concentrated essence of a Spirit. As a core, a Spirit is very vulnerable, but can regenerate to full form if given enough time. Thus, this is the easiest-“

“Muse,” Resurrection cuts in gently. “We fought a lot of spiders today. Can we give you some while you talk?”

Musician startles, chiming again, and her next sentence is almost panicked.

“Spiders? As in multiple?”

The Wizard starts pulling cores from her skirt and Resurrection simply flips her outer layer over.

Musician gasps, crouching, and doesn’t continue with whatever lecture she had planned.

“This is far more than is usually capable of coming through! How did… how long have they been gathering?”

Aria shrugs and empties her pockets too. How is Musician going to carry them all? She only has armor.

“The alert was different too. They made a ‘swarm’ one,” Resurrection says grimly.

Musician scoops up a core and cradles it with both hands. It sparkles, and Aria’s question is answered: more translucent glass crawls over the core and hovers off of Musician’s palms to orbit her head. She grabs another, and another, and an inverse of Aria’s eye shield forms around the four of them. There are so many spiders that they drop three cores for every one Musician crystalizes.

And, with breaks for Musician to focus on her magic, they explain the fight today. It is a different dynamic than talking with Pearl or medics, closer to Xelqua’s memory of preparing food as a group. Not that he ever ate another Spirit’s core! The spiders’ cores are about the size of cacao pods, though.

And the conversation is much grimmer than family gossip. The Magical Girls occasionally reference a fight or a kind of Spirit Aria is unfamiliar with, but most of the events they compare the spider wave to made its way to human news. This is the first time more than about fifteen Spirits have been out at once, according to Resurrection, and Musician agrees that the specific order in which the spiders were deployed speaks to a plan of some sort. The only real question is… who?

“Has anyone seen any human-shaped Rogues recently?” Amethyst Wizard asks, and Musician jumps.

“No, but that’s weird too,” Resurrection muses. “Maybe this one is capable of long-term planning instead of simply causing chaos.”

“I hate that,” says The Wizard.

“Are ‘human-shaped’ Rogues like Helsknight?” Aria asks. Grian’s team was on the follow-up for that incident, and Xelqua’s knowledge cannot fill in what, exactly, the fiery Rogue was. Resurrection was present, so hopefully she will know.

The other Magical Girls are surprised Aria even thought to ask. …Or they’re debating how to answer. They tip their heads toward each other and Aria can’t read any of their expressions save for Resurrection’s contemplative one.

“I believe so. Helsknight certainly fell into the category, but other kinds sometimes appear. He was a Rogue possessing a human to strengthen his power.”

That’s an upsetting concept! Aria and Xelqua were not aware that Rogues could bodysnatch people! Xelqua has met plenty of Spirits with humanlike appearances, but never any that would admit to having just… done that.

  “Was the human okay after? Did they get some kind of… superpowered magic sickness?” Aria asks, pausing in her attempts to flood Musician with cores.

Again, there are Meaningful Expressions Aria can’t read between The Wizard’s hat and Musician’s face mask. Okay. Maybe Aria is asking some things that tread on someone’s privacy. Resurrection hums, thoughtful once more, but only shrugs.

“Ah, I think that, if I’m remembering right, victims of possession are often unconscious for a while afterward…” Amethyst Wizard explains quietly.

Immediately, Aria attempts to remember everyone Grian had interviewed that had been unconscious after the Helfire Incident, then feels guilty. That person deserves rest, not for her to poke into their life! And Grian may never have met them! They could’ve still been healing at the time, or part of Scar’s interviewees, or-

The sound of her own name diverts her from her theorizing.

“Aria is right, though. The person who set the spiders out so carefully might be hidden, and therefore out of our normal investigative parameters,” Resurrection says. “Unless some sort of… I don’t know, mass scanning ability is hidden away somewhere-” she looks at Musician, who shakes her head. “-then clues it is. I’ll try to catch people and spread the theory around, see if anyone else has seen something acting strangely.”

The more she speaks, the more a specific pattern appears in her speech. It’s as if she is deliberately swapping between accents to confuse someone who might try to identify her voice. Sometimes it is more echoey, too, like The Song has plucked her words to weave into its beat. Aria is focusing on this instead of asking further questions because she has to catch up on dumping cores. It’s not like she can do much to help, unless she stumbles across Miss Hawkeye again.

Musician’s glowing dome of cores is so packed it is practically still, instead of the swirling patterns Aria’s eyes formed. Somehow, she manages to balance it as she stands, the last few cores crystallizing in her arms.

“Is that the last of them?”

Aria smoothes down her skirt, then looks at the other Magical Girls.

“I think so?”

Musician attempts to bow without knocking anything free.

“Then I’ll try to get them all squared away. Ah. Be safe!” She says, toddling with bell-like chimes across the concrete back to the building she first appeared from.

The Wizard, Resurrection, and Aria all share looks. Or kind of tilt their heads at each other. The hat still trips Aria up.

Resurrection sets her hand on Aria’s shoulder.

“You need to go back where you were before, okay? Unless someone else is there. Try not to be seen.”

Aria nods rapidly. “I know!” Then, because that might sound a little rude, she tacks on, “On my first… outing, I met Miss Hawkeye and she told me, too. I think she took the core, but I suppose I can’t ask now.”

The others nod, swallowing the lie easily. Should she have? Telling them that she was here for her first fight really feels like too much information.

“That’s alright then. I’ll take you back to the roof we found you on, right, Rezz?” The Wizard asks.

Aria bids them farewell as Amethyst Wizard wakes her dragon to carry them. Hopefully, she can simply find a hidden area to transform in. She has a feeling that Mumbo and Scar have been texting Grian, and Pearl will be so upset. It has only been a day since Aria’s pact was made!

#REAPER WRITES #HERMITCRAFT #MAGICAL GIRL POWER! #MAGICAL GIRL AU #GRIAN #XELQUA #GOODTIMESWITHSCAR #MUMBOJUMBO #MUMBO JUMBO #GEMINITAY #XISUMAVOID

[soup-14]

A Date at The End of The World | Five Hargreeves x gn!sparrow!reader | Prologue

Summary: After waking up from being cryogenically frozen for 13 years the last thing you would expect is for your world to be turned upside down. With the news of the world ending and a cocky space jumping bastard right in front of you, how were you not supposed to fall in love.

Warnings: Swearing, tua typical violence, Reginald Hargreeves (yes he deserves a warning), both reader and Five are physically 17 in this.

This is the prologue and I will be posting the rest of it in vague loose ended chapters because 1. I'm lazy 2. it leaves a little bit of mystery in between and 3. these are kind of just the turning points in their relationship.

Here is a playlist I made for this fic: POV: Falling in love with Five for one night

Enjoy :)

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When waking that morning the last thing you expected was for someone to tell you the world would be coming to an end.

Things had been stranger ever since the Umbrella Academy showed up, not like they were any normal otherwise.

Half of your family had been murdered, and one of them was getting married.

You were Sir Reginald Hargreeves’ number 8, the outcast, the sore thumb. Reginald always believed in the power of the number 7, how it appeared in every mythology, how it worked better than 8. He trained you with the others, teaching you to fight and use your ability to turn any inanimate object into a living one. A vase into a bird, a spoon into a rose.

There were many occasions in the Sparrow household when unwanted pets would suddenly be roaming around. Alphonso and Jayme would beg for you to make a feather duster into a cat. Much to Fei’s disappointment, she always said her birds would get upset. 

You attended missions with everyone, fighting crime with your siblings, and always having each other’s backs.

Although there was one such mission that went terribly wrong. You were gravely injured and the Sparrows rushed you back to the academy as quickly as they could. Reginald and Grace decided that the only way to save your life was for you to be cryogenically frozen while your body slowly healed. The cryo-pod was something Reginald had been working on and only saw your near death experience as the perfect opportunity to test out his new project. Some of your siblings protested, not wanting their dying sibling to turn into a science experiment. Others agreed, seeing it was the only way to save your life.

You were 17 when you were frozen.

13 years later and you finally awoke.

The world has changed around you. Your siblings have changed around you. Now fully grown adults, while you’re still preserved in your teenage body, raging hormones and all.

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The cryo-pod runs its daily diagnostic of your condition, and deciding your health is up to standard it beeps and unlocks the chamber door. A loud hiss and a cloud of cold vapor exit the pod, then your freezing, limp body tumbling to the floor. 

Talk about a rude awakening.

The shock of the temperature change is enough to jostle you awake from your long sleep. You’re confused, but recognize that you’re in the sparrow academy. You look around and see no one, so with your cold jelly legs you stumble out of the room in search of the others.

As you’re searching the house for your siblings you hear shouts and the sound of things breaking coming from the living room. You spot your sister Jayme at the top of the stairs and make your way over to her. She’s with someone, a boy who's wearing a school uniform, it looks similar to the sparrow’s. He has dark hair and looks like he could be your age. He appears to be in one of Jayme’s hallucinations. You’re about to call out to Jayme from where you stand at the bottom of the stairs, but she launches towards the boy and kicks him hard in the stomach, sending him tumbling down the stairs and right into you. You fall to the ground with a grunt, and the boy falls with you. He gets up quickly, shaking off the haze of Jayme’s venom. He looks at you with furrowed brows. Wondering who this teenager is, and why they’re wearing Sparrow Academy pajamas. Maybe someone's ‘intruder alert alarm’ didn't go off. “Who are you?” He asks, but before you can respond or question him Jayme is rushing down the stairs and shoving the boy out of the way. There's a flash of blue and then the boy is gone. “Y/n, holy shit you’re awake.” She says. “Terrible time though really.” Jayme reaches out a hand to help you up. Once stood you hold onto her arm for support, still getting over your jelly legs. “Jayme? You’re so old.”

She laughs and starts leading you to the kitchen. “Jayme what's happening? How long have I been asleep? Who was that guy?” you ask. You enter the kitchen and she sits you down. “Stay here, I’ll come get you when the fighting is over. There's a lot to fill you in on. It’s good to have you back.” She says, leaving you in the kitchen alone.

#tua #tua five #the umbrella academy #five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves one shot #five hargreeves imagine #number five #fanfic #x reader #five x y/n #the sparrow academy #jayme hargreeves

[pianokantzart]

Small Shadows Part 3 (Final)

Daisy takes Luigi on an outing with the intention of teaching him to fight, but as it turns out their approach to training, their approach to friendships, and their outlook on the world couldn’t be more different. In the process, Daisy accidentally brings to the surface some of Luigi’s deep-seated insecurities. Part 1 here: X Part 2 here: X AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47310646/chapters/119510722 _____________________________​​ On the way back to their room, Mario stopped to let his brother vomit into a potted plant. He just barely managed to hoist Luigi off his shoulder and guide him to the nearest possible container– an ornate vase full of blooming jasmine flowers– before Luigi emptied the contents of his stomach. Mario held his brother’s cap, patted his back, and kept a lookout for the castle guards, trying to figure out how to explain things if they were caught. But the coast remained clear, and as soon as Luigi was ready Mario helped him back to his feet, and continued ushering him toward their room.

Peach, Toad, Mario and Luigi were all given their own chambers in the castle. Peach, being fellow royalty, obviously got the fanciest suite, but Mario found that even the lesser guest rooms were far more extravagant than he liked. They were too large, with far too many trappings, and while everything was beautiful it felt wrong, like an ill-fitting glove. He liked Peach’s castle far more– it was ornate, but everything felt like it had a reason and a place while being just fancy enough to do the title of “Princess” justice. Daisy’s castle was an over-the-top display of wealth, overbearing and immoderate as the princess herself.

He and Luigi had agreed to share a room. The bed was more than big enough for the two of them to sleep on, (it was almost big enough for two elephants to sleep on), and they agreed they would rest better if they shared a space. So needless to say, the last thing Mario expected was for his little brother to disappear without warning. Happy as he was to have him back, he had questions, and given Luigi’s present state it seemed like answers would have to wait until morning.

Mario opened the door to their bedroom, guided Luigi through the lounge area and up a small flight of stairs, then set him down upon the large feather bed on an elevated platform, surrounded by little hanging lanterns. Once Luigi was seated, Mario raced away to the minibar, where he rummaged about to find water and ice. Luigi attempted to get comfortable. He tried to toss his hat onto the night stand (missing it completely), clumsily removed his gloves, and struggled to take off his shoes, whispering at them to “stop moving” as he undid the laces. At some point he gave up on loosening the laces entirely and simply yanked them off his feet, nearly falling off his bed as he tugged on the soles of his shoes until they popped off. He had begun unbuckling his overall straps by the time Mario returned from the minibar, supplies in hand.

“Here, drink this,” Mario insisted, pressing a tall crystalline glass of water into his brother’s hands. “You’re gonna have the mother of all hangovers in the morning.” “Like I don’t have the mother of all hangovers right now,” Luigi said, the slur in his voice growing worse as the bedtime routine threatened to lull him directly into unconsciousness. Mario hopped up on the bed, and began running his hand along his brother’s scalp in search of the injury. It didn’t take long to find the point of impact as Lu winced, and pulled away so violently that he spilled most of his water on himself. “Ow! Hey!? What was that!?” “Trying to figure out whether we need to use one of our healing items. Peach said they’re for emergencies only,” Mario explained. He returned to his examinations, this time being extra delicate around the sore spot. There was definitely a lump, but it was small, and though there was a dark bruise forming under the hair there was no trace of blood or indentation. Mario sighed. He placed the ice-bag against Luigi’s head, and guided his brother’s shaky hand to hold it in place. “We’ll stick with the ice for now and check your condition in the morning.” “Alright, Doctor Mario!” Luigi joked, closing his eyes as he relished in the damp cold against his throbbing skull. Mario didn’t respond to the quip. Again, he left his brother’s side, this time to rummage through his backpack for the med kit. Luigi put down his emptied water glass and struggled to onehandedly undo his shirt buttons while pressing the ice to his head. Whenever he wasn't distracted by the impossible task of removing his shirt he looked over at Mario, and steadily realized in his drunken fog that he was not exactly in the best of moods. “… Uh… how long’ve you been awake?” “You should've told me where you were going.” Mario responded sharply, ignoring the question. “I did! I mean, I told Toad to tell you that I was out training with–” “That’s not where. How was I supposed to help you if something went wrong?” “But I didn’t know– I mean how? How should I have known where? I mean, I just got here.” “But you could’ve… Oh, forget it.” Mario waved off the argument. He didn’t consider himself a particularly “grumpy” person, but the past few hours of sleepless uncertainty had stretched him thin. But it wasn’t right to take it out on Luigi, not right now when he was too drunk and injured to know which way was up and which way was down. Finally locating the med kit, Mario hurried back to his brother. He helped undo the final few buttons and guided Luigi’s arms out of the sleeves, tossing the green shirt to the side so he could get a better look at the damage. There were scrapes, but nothing that would scar. There were bruises, but nothing that suggested internal injury. Nonetheless, Mario took out an antiseptic wipe, and carefully dabbed at some of the deepest scrapes on Luigi’s arms, just to ensure things healed up well. Luigi hissed at the burning sensation, but smiled little as he piped up. “Heh, just like when we were kids, huh?” “Yeah, only you were always the one fixing me up.” Mario grumbled, “Seriously Lu, I thought you were supposed to be the careful one.” “I dunno. Everything’s been all mixed up tonight.” “Well…” Mario pulled out a little green bandaid, and placed it over his brother’s particularly scraped up elbow. “Pull a stunt like this again, and I’m leaving you at the house next time.” Mario had said this jokingly– or at least, he thought he had– which was why, when he heard Luigi’s breath hitch and shudder, he was worried it was a pain response. Mario looked up to ask what was wrong, and was surprised to see tears welling up in Luigi's eyes, spilling down his cheeks. “Please don’t.” Luigi whimpered. “H-hey. C’mon!” Mario panicked for a moment, blindsided by his brother’s sudden shift in mood, “I was just kidding.” “I’m sorry!” Luigi began crying even harder, dropping his ice pack to the ground and burying his face in his hands, “I’m sorry! I swear I’m trying! I really am!” “I know you are Luigi! It’s okay!” “No it’s not! All I do is slow you down!” “Says who?” “She’s right!” Luigi sobbed, burying himself deeper into his hands until he was covering his head with his arms, “She’s right, but I don’t know what else to do! I don't want you to leave me behind, but I don’t want to keep messing things up!” “She?” Mario scowled and shot an angry look at the door behind them. Luigi hadn’t answered his question, but he had enough clues to piece together the answer, and it certainly wasn’t Peach. Mario rummaged through the med kit again, taking out a package of tissues that had been buried under a roll of gauze and pressing it into his brother’s hands. “Lu, listen. Forget everything Daisy told you, alright? She’s an idiot.” “No she’s not.” Luigi mumbled, steadily coming down from the outburst as he wiped his eyes, and blew his nose. “She’s just a lil’ weird is all.” “Whatever,” Mario relented with a roll of his eyes. “Point is, you’re doing fine. You’ve had some bumps along the way, but you’re not slowing me down. You’re not slowing anyone down, you got that?” Luigi nodded, but he didn’t seem to quite take in the message. He sat dejectedly on the edge of the bed, staring down at the crumpled tissue in his hands. Mario picked up the dropped ice pack and jumped up on the bed next to his brother. Gingerly, he placed it against his Luigi’s head, taking a moment to think his words over before he spoke up again. “Y’know…” He said at last, “seeing you like this kinda reminds me of how badly I got beat up in the Ring of Kong.” “But you won that fight,” Luigi retorted meekly, eyes still downcast. “Only after I got the Cat Suit.” Mario gave Luigi a gentle nudge, taking care not to apply too much force to his battered body, “When I told you the story, I may have undersold how much DK tossed me around like a lump of raw pizza dough before I got ahold of the right powerup. He absolutely destroyed me, actually knocked out two of my molars slamming me against a metal beam, see?” Mario tugged his cheek back with his free hand for a second, revealing a small gap in the bottom-left side of his mouth where two teeth should have been. Luigi looked at his brother, expression going from one to sadness to one of worry, and Mario figured it better to push forward with his point before his little brother could ruminate too long on the old injury. “But I was still learning, like you are! I just have a head start, and I would way rather travel with a Luigi who is still learning than with no Luigi at all.” Finally, a little glimmer of a smile crossed Luigi’s face. Mario, determined to get his message across, slid down from the mattress and placed himself in front of his little brother. “Hey… c’mere…” He took Luigi by the shoulders, leaning in close so that he was looking firmly in his eyes. “Listen, who knows how much of this conversation you’re gonna remember in the morning, but if you remember anything remember this: you’re awesome, and there will never be a day I don’t want you as my partner.” Luigi’s smile grew. Tears of a different sort welled up in his eyes, and he didn’t bother to wipe them away as he reached out and wrapped his brother in a tight hug. “Thanks.” He sniffled, “I’m... I'm gonna make you proud. You’ll see.” “Heh, you already make me proud,” Mario chuckled, gently patting his brother’s back, “If you want to make me happy, you’ll lay down and get some sleep.” It wasn’t difficult to guide Luigi from the hug to the covers. He was out like a light the moment his head hit the pillow. Mario took care to tie up loose ends; slide an extra pillow under his head, balance the ice-pace against his skull, pull the blanket over his shoulders, and place a refilled cup of water on the bedside table. “Night-night Lu.” He whispered, taking one final moment to pick up his brother’s hat, brush off the debris, and hang it on the coat rack on his way out the door. Mario knew he needed to go to bed too. He needed sleep, but more than that he wanted to be there if his brother woke up at some point needing more help. He promised himself he’d return to his room soon enough… … but first, he wanted to have a little conversation with Princess Daisy.

#My writing #Mario Fic #Mario #Luigi #Super Mario Brothers #Mario Movie #FINALLY THE CHAPTER I'VE BEEN WAITING TO WRITE #Yes I headcanon they say 'night night' like they do in Luigi's Mansion 3 I stand by this #I also stand by the fact that Mario got teeth knocked out in his fight with DK #hence the ice pack in the scene right after #'cartoon violence' be darned that nonsense looked like it hurt

[tk-duveraun]

Lian and the Capitalist Fuckboy AU 3/?

1. 2. 3 (here). 4.

Ten days in, over a bowl of fortifying broth, Lian breaks, silently crying before saying, “I don’t want to die.” 

Because here’s the thing with Blue Tongue Flu. For most people, the most obvious and annoying symptom is that their tongue turns blue (who would have thought?!). But that’s because they don’t really notice the weird exfoliating-adjacent symptom. Unfortunately for au’ra, this symptom causes all of their scales to fall off. Shock is usually what actually kills them, but infection from the open wounds covering their bodies is a close second.

The wound on Lian’s left cheek, from her scales over the scar from where a rama shark bit her on the chin, is infected. The skin around it burns even hotter than her fever-warmed forehead.

The healer that diagnosed Lian is surprised she lasted so long before falling into the inevitable coma. But at least, the doctor says, trying to be reassuring, it’s almost over.

The doctor leaves instructions for how to handle her- how to- what steps to take before.... she goes home. To ensure no one left is infected. Her community is completely au’ra, after all. With a lump in his throat, Hancock uses Lian’s linkpearl to contact her parents and relay the information.

They had talked to Lian, early in the illness, they knew this was coming, but it wasn’t really real. They couldn’t see her, after all. Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding? A mistake? A misdiagnosis and then she’d be fine.

But the Elders had found their own records of the Blue Tongue Flu after Lian sent over her diagnosis and they set aside all of their hopes and plans for Lian and laid them to rest. No au’ra had ever survived and now that she was comatose, she wouldn’t wake again.

Can you grieve someone still alive?

Hancock sits at her bedside, holding the small patch of Lian’s arm not covered in bandages. He listens to her labored breathing, the way it hitches on the inhale.

He hadn’t really minded that they would never be married. After all, it was a valid tax evasion strategy in Ul’dah. In a sideways, Uldan, way it was actually more romantic to not be married as a symbol of increased wealth for the couple. He’d told Lian that a few months after her nainai’s decision.

He’d repeated it with a trembling smile the morning before she fell into a coma.

The corners of her mouth had pulled up, even though it irritated the wounds on her cheeks.

When her nainai offers a ghost marriage after the funeral, Hancock breaks very decorative vase in his office and half the ones in his home. The remaining ones, of course, were gifts from Lian. She refused to sell him anything from her people, but gifts were another matter entirely.

She was always giving her fancy teas and rare fruits. Meals of fish made from the deepest depths of the sea. Jewelry enchanted for luck and protection. And the beautifully painted vases.

While the many wounds from lost scales require a lot of care, even that isn’t enough to fill every hour of the day. So Hancock works at a lap desk, writing with one hand and his left stretched out to touch the too-warm skin on the inside of Lian’s elbow.

He only leaves her side to wash up and use the toilet. He sleeps on a Hingan futon next to her bed. But somehow he still misses the moment it happens. He sits in his chair, sets the desk on his lap and reaches out for her.

She’s cold.

Her skin is cold.

The desk falls to the floor with a clatter he can’t hear.

“No.” Tears spring to his eyes because it’s it so selfish, so stereotypically Uldan that he wants to keep her even if it would mean extended her suffering. “Oh, my Feng Lian...”

He closes his eyes and presses his forehead to the tiny patch of cool skin poking out from between the bandages. He cries there long enough he starts to imagine feather-light touches on his cheeks.

But then-

A pathetic, weak, shadow of a cough rattles through Lian, pressing her forehead hard against his.

Hancock freezes and feels a ghost of a breath from her lips.

He spent time on the streets, in the dirty, broken alleys of Ul’dah. He knows that dead bodies can wheeze out rattles after death. The priest of Nald’thal had explained that gases built up in bodies as they decomposed. Well, explained to grieving mourners. Hancock had never warranted their attention.

But the breath comes again, weak and in uneven puffs. And again the feather-like sensation.

Hancock, himself unable to breathe, pulls back and sees that the feeling he’d thought he’d imagined was Lian’s eyelashes fluttering as she suffered on the threshold of waking, fever, impossibly, broken.

Hancock yells for both of their assistants, screams for the doctor, for an army of white mages, no matter the cost, because somehow, Lian has outlasted the virus.

They believe him overwrought with grief, but they, too, have felt the loss like a hot knife and do as he says. It’s only when the doctor yells for hot water, bandages and his bag of medicine that hope digs itself out of the graves in their hearts.

Lian wakes enough to make giving her medicine easy, but her eyes are unfocused and hazy. Piteously, she cries out for both Hancock and her mother before succumbing to sleep again.

Two different white mages, each promised a small fortune, spend hours channeling healing aether into Lian until color returns to her skin and fresh scales return to all but the most badly infected areas.

She will have terrible scars for the rest of her life, but she will have a life to live.

#feng lian #hancock fitzgerald #xiv #wol adjacent #capitalist fuckboy au

[aggieharkness]

Hay que encontrar su propio futuro

Summary:  She never meant to hurt her family once more, she had only expected to wake up with a hangover not with someone beside her that was about to turn her entire life upside down. She never thought she would get a chance at a new life with someone so different and at the same time so alike. Can they really find a future together?

a/n: Welcome back to this little story of ours!! The turn of events has arrived but before you all freak out let me remind you that there are still chapters to be written so keep calm and enjoy the angst. As you already know if there's anything you'd like me to add or change just tell me and I'll be happy to comply and if there are any requests don't hesitate to tell me. Enjoy :)) I'm Spanish so I used expressions from my own language. I'm afraid I don't know Colombian ones so I had to work with the ones that I know. If there are any Colombians out there that would prefer for me to change what I have written I would very gladly do it, but even so, I hope you like the ones I have used.  

warning: age difference, implied sexual content, blood, swear words. Most importantly no Alma Madrigal bashing, i love this woman.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Hay que encontrar su propio futuro

Where did everything go wrong? What did she do to deserve this? There were people outside her door pounding, calling out her name, but she couldn’t move from where she was kneeling in a corner of her bedroom, eyes staring at her hands. In a continuous rhythm droplets of blood stained the carpet underneath her but she didn’t try to stop it, the gash on the palm of her hand bleeding as it rested on her lap. Why did the world think she ought to be punished? It wouldn’t budge, the wooden door flickered, the light shining dimly as if it was losing its power, the urgency of everyone's voices crossing the walls but they didn’t reach her ears strongly enough for her to understand them not that she would have listened. The pool of blood under her knees mixed with her tears as they fell quietly, in utter silence. She should have thought about this all for longer, should have realised it was nothing more than a game, a passing fancy that like the fool she was, she had believed. She had jumped into the bloody abyss and had found an abrupt end with sharp rocks that had killed her on impact, slicing through her chest. The flame of the candle flickered ever so slightly, rumbling sounds filling the halls of Casita shaking its foundations just like last time, the cracks on the walls deep and long breaking through every part of the building the same way they broke through her heart. Her brain replayed the scene over and over, his words loud and clear as if he had just been standing in front of her mere seconds ago, her body shuddering in anger and despair. Where? Where had it all gone wrong?! The question flowed through her veins like poison killing her slowly, gently almost, mocking her and her feelings. If only she had stood her ground from the very beginning, if she had realised it was all a mistake none of this would have happened, she wouldn’t be here bleeding on her clothes and floor with an invisible knife slicing through her heart over and over again.

All her vases and photographs laid on the floor shattered, the frames broken in several places from the strength used to throw them against the wall, pillows ripped apart with feathers all over the bed and carpet, some had even flown out the window, not that she cared much about it all. She hadn’t even noticed that her wedding picture laid now against the door with its glass cracked right on Pedro’s face. She couldn’t figure out what hurt most, her heart for what had happened or her soul for having believed in silly tales that at her age should have been for her grandchildren. Pure fantasies of a knight in shining armour that would sweep her off her feet and take her beyond the horizon on his pristine white horse, but it all had turned out to be but a joke from a cruel witch that laughed mercilessly in her head, that voice that had chased her in her nightmares returning. Why had he led her on when he knew he wasn’t interested, why use her like this, let her fall in love at last only to be thrown away at the first chance he got? The voices outside her room got louder and louder until they became screams that she still didn’t hear, how could she when the ringing in her ears was deafening and the voices in her head were drowning everything else taunting her; in a way she felt like they were telling her the truth. Images of her worst nightmares flashed before her eyes and as much as she wanted them to go away they just wouldn’t leave, blinking as fast as she could nor closing them completely helped in the slightest. Her family murdered pareaded over her carpet dripping viscous coagulated blood on it leaving pools of the hot sticky liquid everywhere as they walked, the gurgling sounds of slit throats mixing with those cruel evil words that she knew so well.

Hands pressed against her eyes moved to her ears in hopes it would all stop, that they would leave her alone but it only got worse and the banging noises on her door deafening until it all reached a breaking point. Before she knew what was going on a bleeding scream tore itself out of her chest leaving her throat raw and the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth but she couldn’t stop. This pain, this hurt was astronomical, worse than the night she had lost Pedro and the night she had cried in front of his painting after it all had started, that fateful moment that had doomed her into this dark hole of pain, despair and profound guilt and shame. Her heart was being pulled out right out of her chest and ripped into pieces in front of her by those hands that had held her when she had been down, by those fingers that had dried her tears; she had been backstabbed by who she was most in love with and it had broken her once more. At the same time her scream had reached those outside her room the cracks on Casita were starting to spread around the Encanto, and this time Mirabel feared they wouldn’t be able to fix it, her eyes watching how some roof tiles plummeted to the floor smashing into pieces as soon as they made contact with the ground, paintings and photographs falling of their spots on the walls as the house shook under the force of her voice. Luisa hit the door with her fists a dozen times but it didn't budge, it was as if their home wasn’t letting anyone in and it was driving them crazy.

Bruno had rushed to his room right after everything had happened in the courtyard not even bothering to explain himself to his sisters, not that they would have asked, they were too furious and shocked to even think about it, they hadn’t even noticed his absence until after their mother had practically run to her room slamming the door shut. It had taken four people including Luisa to keep a hold of Pepa but not even Felix had been able to calm her cloud down, it thundered with such fierce power that her lightning could have killed someone, not that they would have stopped her if they had wanted to, the tears that had streamed down Alma’s face had burned her children’s souls as much as hers and it had initiated a fire that if not controlled would incinerate him as well as Pepa. It had been the wisest idea from all of them to have Isabela throw him out with one of her vines landing hard on the dirty floor outside Casita, the figure of Rosa barely appearing in the distance when the front doors had closed, unwilling to open at her request. They still hadn’t calmed Pepa’s fury, her cloud raining and thundering threatening to cause a hurricane of biblical proportions, but no one dared speak to her in case they made it worse, only Felix could do that. Dolores’ face had been expressionless for a while until she had picked up Antonio and vanished inside his room without a word and was yet to come out. As soon as the loud voices had reached her ears from where she had been in the garden she had simply stood in the background refusing to interact with anyone and hadn’t moved from her spot until Alma raised her voice leaving a soft ringing in the poor girl's ears. Mirabel had tried to talk with her after their abuela had vanished inside her bedroom but to no luck, Antonio’s door wouldn’t open for her either.

The only one that hadn’t said a word and who had remained fairly calm to get all the information crystal clear had been Julieta, that was until he had said that horrible thing to her mother and all hell had broken loose. She hadn't even noticed that her hand had collided with his cheek until she found Agustín wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her away, her voice loud and venomous towards him. As angry as Isabela had been the situation had called for someone to keep their heads cool enough since her ever so calm mother was actually threatening to cut him open and cook his insides and then feed them to him, quite a gruesome sight and by the sound of it all things were only going to get mesier from there; she had grabbed his ankle with one of her vines and had thrown him out the door. It hadn’t made anything go away, the anger and fury were the new oxygen for her family and much to her dismay it would take too long for them to let go, if they ever did. The magenta skirt of her abuela had practically levitated up the stairs after that. After what seemed like hours they were still trying to get inside and talk with her hearing her heartbreaking sobs and the sound of glass breaking, of fabric tearing, her words filled with agony. And it had all started because instead of Julieta it had been Alma the one that had decided to head down to the village to do the shopping.

Julieta had mentioned at breakfast that she was running low on a few ingredients that she needed for dinner and casually dropped a hint that she might be heading into town later today and would appreciate some help. The idea of seeing Mariano after two weeks of barely being able to glance at him, filled up with work, preparations for parties… before she could admonish herself the words that she would be going dropped out of her mouth raising eyebrows around the table. The lie she made up was hardly believable, but no one brought it up; after all, what harm could it do for her to see her boyfriend? Dios, qué equivocados estaban todos. She had left the house with a smile as bright as the sun and lovestruck eyes only to return with absolute sadness pouring out of every single pore in her body, a painful veil covering her chocolate eyes. Maybe everything had been just a dream, a wonderful lie she had created in her mind to feel like she deserved to be loved once more and she hadn’t seen the signs that were practically screaming at her that none of this was real, maybe she should have listened to those life consuming voices that floated in her head.

Alma hadn’t even finished tying her alpargatas before rushing out the door catching the basket that Casita had thrown at her as she left the house. The sky was blue, not a cloud in sight, filled with the beautiful sight of young birds flying high above her head, butterflies and little dragonflies jumping from flower to flower on the riverbend, the scent of fruits and blooms encircling her form just as she was crossing the bridge. She wondered where Mariano might be, he had closed his stand months ago to fully focus on constructing their little house in the mountains, much to her dismay since she loved talking to him while they shared a bowl of fruit, she loved seeing him cutting them and making the juices people requested, he looked so happy as if he had been doing that since he was born. The excitement had only grown as she approached the plaza, there were a few places she could have checked before heading to their spot but she hadn’t expected to find what she found. The plaza was absolutely packed and it was hard to even breathe let alone find someone on the sea of heads and hats that filled the village, for a minute she wondered if she had forgotten about any festivities but when she got to the butchers she didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, just the normal conversations and greetings that one gets out of politeness. Thirty minutes later with the eggs and chicken safely tucked in her basket she made her way out of the store paying no mind to the disgusting compliments she was getting from that horrid butcher, if only they had another one so she could throw this guy out of the town, one could only dream.

Fate had other plans for her though, and the mission to find Mariano soon came to an end as she saw him coming out of the florist with a beautiful bouquet of roses and daisies that she suspected was for her, cheeks the shade of beets as she started to walk towards him, but he wasn’t alone. A young girl with long black hair flowing in the breeze and sparkling green eyes was accompanying him, a beautiful young thing with perfect teeth as she smiled up at Mariano, cheeks the shade of pink tulips and perfectly full cherry lips. This girl was perfect, and Alma couldn’t remember who she was but didn’t like the fact that she was standing so close to him, a wave of jealousy rising in her chest, but she quickly had calmed down, after all he had made it very clear he wanted her to trust him and he would never do anything to hurt her, that was his motto. But he did, he broke her heart right there over the cobblestones as if her soul meant nothing to him. The bouquet wasn’t for Alma, he handed it to the girl asking her if she liked them, to which she had responded that they were beautiful and that she was extremely grateful he had found time to be with her instead of the Madrigals but his reaction wasn't what Alma had expected to hear, he didn't tell this girl that he loved spending time with his girlfriend as old as she might be, no, the idiot had laughed while nodding as if he was confirming her that he had been trapped somehow by her and her family. The jealousy became anger at his words, they had spent wonderful days together, he had made that very clear, wasn’t he happy with her? Did he need more space to do what he pleased? They had been apart for two fucking weeks, wasn’t that enough?!

It all crumbled before her when he suggested lunch holding out his arm for the girl which she took without hesitation, but that wasn’t the worst of it all, Alma must have been a masochist because she watched in slow motion how the lips of this girl landed over Mariano’s in a quick loving peck before they started walking away both smiling as if they hadn’t done anything wrong. The strength in her legs and arms weakened to the point where her basket slid out of her grasp landing on the ground with a loud breaking sound along with that of the eggs cracking open, the yolk mixing with the whites staining the hem of her skirt. The commotion it created brought people to check on her, loud voices spreading all over the plaza but her brain was completely blocked her eyes glued to the back of Mariano’s head, utter disbelief filling her like boiling water, that was until he turned his head to check what was going on and his eyes locked with Alma’s. The fear that had crossed his face didn’t go unnoticed by the girl next to him who turned as well, pushing him away as soon as she saw her standing in complete shock right outside the butchers with her fingers twitching softly. Alma was far too stunned to notice the hot salty tears that were streaming down her face, unable to stop all the questions and voices, dull noises in the background as the ringing in her ears got louder and louder. Mariano quickly made his way towards her but when he was barely six feet away Alma stumbled backwards her back hitting a lampost, the metal cool to the touch through the thin material of her blouse. He held his hand out as if asking for permission to touch her but he didn’t get an answer, with a dramatic turn, her skirt wrapping around her legs, Alma ran back to Casita, the sobs that had been choking her up until that moment finally escaping her throat.

It all replayed in her head over and over, the girl's lips kissing who she had thought until that moment was hers and only hers to kiss, to hold, but of course fate had proven to her once more that her life was nothing more than a succession of unfortunate events. Her rosy lips had touched his and he hadn’t pushed her away, he hadn’t even thought of telling her that he had a partner, the son of a bitch had smiled and walked with her to have lunch. Had he grown tired of Alma already and was seeking affection in others? She had given every bit of herself to him, she had changed her ways for him, the way she dressed, the way she handled the town, everything had been for him and this is what she got in return? The agony she felt was far too great, she hadn’t felt such an amount of raw visceral pain in a long time but somehow it was worse than when she had lost Pedro, that time she had watched him die right in front of her, he was no one else's but Gods, but Mariano had given himself to someone else right before her eyes, the man she loved was slipping away and she would have to see him build a life with someone that wasn’t her. She understood now what Dolores had felt, what she had done to the girl and the pain and defeat turned into guilt, a feeling that she had learned to live with long away slamming its way towards her heart in a wave too great for her to handle. His footsteps chased hers, but she couldn't hear the world around her, the beauty that had graced her eyes when she had left the house was nothing but a black void of absolute despair that she didn’t know how to cope with.

Slamming open, the wooden front doors hit the stone with such force it shocked the foundations of the house almost as a reflection of how shook Alma felt, the basket forgotten down at the plaza with the eggs and meat lying over the stones. Heads poked out of the kitchen and living room, some door on the second floor opening at the feeling of the house trembling beneath their feet to find a distraught Alma standing in the middle of the courtyard shaking like a leaf with both hands covering her face to quiet her sobs down a bit, but it only made things worse. Darkness met her blurry eyes and her mind horrible and evil as it was started playing tricks on her forming figures with the bits of light that came through from in between her fingers, figures that she couldn’t blink away of those memories that hadn’t come to her since her last nightmare months ago. Those ghosts that she had thought were gone returned to her stronger than ever. An invisible knife had been planted right on her chest piercing through her heart mercilessly, the devil's hand twisting it ripping it apart, making it bleed inside her chest. Mariano got to the house just a couple minutes later panting and leaning on Casita’s doorframe; something must have given him away because a second later Isabela and Mirabel were heading towards him with anger blazing around them as Pepa, Julieta and Bruno rushed to their mother but they couldn’t pray a single word out of her, its was as if she was physically unable of speaking, just the thought of voicing what was in her mind brought such pain to her already suffering form that only made her sobs grown louder and more agonising.

-Alma, please, let me explain. - he had been screaming that at her since she had fled from the plaza and although she wanted to understand, the facts were there and they were impossible to hide when she had seen it all with both her eyes. - Please, it’s not what you think.

-What did you do?! Everything was fine!

-I didn’t do anything, I swear Isa. Please, let me explain myself.

-WHAT IS THERE TO EXPLAIN?! - she could have sworn her tears would turn to blood in no time, the pain and the stinging sensation that she had in her eyes was far too horrid to keep the open, but as much as she blinked to escape it it wouldn’t go away and she suddenly found herself face to face with his blurry figure the words pouring out filled with such torment and fury that he stepped back a bit. - YOU KISSED HER! I SAW IT ALL OR ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME I’M LYING?!

-Alma, please calm down. It’s not what you think.

-Really?! Her lips were on yours and you didn’t even think of telling her that you are with me!

-Mariano, you didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t. - Pepa’s words were soft, it took him by surprise that she wasn’t already thundering, over the entirety of the Encanto a thin layer of grey clouds covered the previous bright blue sky. She was trying to remain calm after all they had made case out of this whole situation and had won, they had made them believe this could work, for fuck’s sake he had asked Alma out, courted her and told the family that he loved her, he couldn’t have done such a despicable thing to her mother. - Mariano, por tu padre, dime que es mentira.

-Pero no lo es, ¿verdad?¡ Vamos, ten huevos de decirles que no es verdad! Have the balls to lie to them when I saw it all with my own eyes!

-I kissed her, but it wasn’t what you think. She’s my friend.

-You son of a fucking bitch! - there was the normal feral Pepa they knew and loved, the sky flashing with the biggest lightning the town had seen in years, the sound of her thunder rumbling all over the village making the ground shake under them as if the Earth was going to swallow them out of the blue. Felix’s hand quickly grasped his wife’s wrist pulling her back towards himself, but the static energy was growing bigger by the second which only meant one thing: she was getting ready to fry him into dust. - You disgusting cheater! We welcomed you into our home, fed you from our table and this is what you do?!

-I didn’t do anything wrong! Sofia and I have known each other since we were in school, we are nothing more than friends!

-Friends with fucking benefits, right? You don’t kiss people just because you have known each other for an entire bloody lifetime Mariano! Do you think I’m dumb?!

-Don’t get smart with me Alma, you know I would never hurt you. Do you think me so incredibly heartless as to cheat on you?

-You almost raped me in the kitchen! - the words came out harsher that she had meant but she didn’t find it in her to care, he was standing there telling her that they were just friends? The audacity! Anger flowed inside her veins so hot and furious that her heart rate was probably spiking, her body burning to the touch two seconds away from being set on fire. She had even cursed and hadn’t noticed at all but her family had indeed heard it and weren’t sure how to intervene to stop this before things went too far. - You are quite capable of hurting me and you know it.

-You said you had forgiven me about that!

-I said we could move forward, not that I had forgiven you! I said I didn’t want to be scared of you, that I wanted to trust you and you just fucked up all the progress we had done!

-I kissed a girl, so what? It’s not as if I’ve fucked her, don’t make this a bigger deal than it has to be.

-No, you don’t need to fuck her when you have me to use and throw away like a tissue! And don’t you tell me this isn’t a big deal, it’s fucking huge and you know it. You are cheating on me!

-I’m not! It was a harmless kiss between friends.

-And the flowers? And the lunch? I wasn’t born yesterday Mariano. You think you are so smart, sweet talking an old lady into believing she can have your love when you clearly don’t give a shit about me! You came here claiming to love me Romeo and Juliet style when in reality you are nothing but a Don Juan, a womanizer who thinks he can be with other women because I’m so stupid to have welcomed you into my life after all the mistakes you’ve made!

-That’s not true! I love you, I truly do, Sofia means nothing to me, I kissed her as a thank you for having helped me. I’ve done everything for you and only you!

-STOP LYING TO ME! YOU TRICKED ME INTO SLEEPING WITH YOU, ALMOST RAPED ME IN MY OWN KITCHEN BECAUSE ACORDING TO YOU YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE DOING. ¡UNA MIERDA!

-I didn’t trick you! You asked me to be with you, I simply complied!

-WHILE YOU WERE GOING OUT WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTER!

-YOU ORDERED ME TO BE WITH YOU! DON’T BLAME IT ALL ON ME! AND MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE HAD YOU IN THE KITCHEN TO SHOW YOU THAT I’M THE ONLY ONE WHO WILL EVER LOVE YOU! I’M STILL HERE PUTTING UP WITH ALL YOUr SHIT WHEN I COULD HAVE HAD ANYONE!

-Don’t you dare head that way Mariano. Don’t you fucking dare.

-Why?! You want the truth, isn’t that what you are always telling me? Or do you want your truth?! I could have had anyone I wanted, I could have your daughters if I pleased, your granddaughters, anyone but I chose you and here you are telling me that I’m cheating on you!

-You kissed her!

-But I didn’t fuck her!

-What does it matter?! You still cheated for God’s sake! Why are you being like this?

-Why are you being like this?! It’s not important, what I did can’t be changed, simply move on Alma. We have something beautiful, don’t do this.

-Me?! I’m the one being unreasonable?! You are destroying this by pushing it all aside, grow up Mariano, the world is a horrid place and it won’t always play in your favour. You fucked up, admit it, don’t try to tell me that you didn’t do anything wrong when you were kissing a girl in public in the middle of the plaza for everyone to see!

-I won’t say it because I didn't do anything wrong. She was helping me and I simply thanked her! Don’t you think I know the world is shit? My parents left and never returned, you are not the only one who’s lost family, stop acting as if your losses are the only ones that matter. You lost your sister, so what?! No one knows who the fuck Eva is and will never know because you are too much a bitch to tell your own family that you had a sister all because of the stupid excuse that the world was bad to her and they don’t deserve her. She’s been buried for fifty fucking years, get over it! You lost Pedro, what good has it done to you the goddamn miracle? that stupid sacrifice maybe doen’t matter at all. Why do I have to kiss a dead man's ass when he’s done nothing but die! Your deaths don’t matter to the world, get that through your thick head and move on! I grew up without parents, stop being a bitch about your husband having been killed and all that shit because we- DON’T-CARE!

Time stood still with only the sound of Mariano’s heavy breathing filling the space of the courtyard, words echoing against the walls. They just stood there for several minutes before a strange sound shook them out of their stupor, eyes searching for what had caused the noise but it didn’t take them long to find the source; a deep long crack had appeared right underneath Alma’s feet making the house tremble as it spread through the tiles breaking them mercilessly. He had been so angry that his tongue had got the best of him and before he could register what he was saying he had told her all those terrible things watching in horror as her face switched from surprise to anger then to pain before settling in a neutral expressionless mask that made all his alarms go off. He had made mistakes, but in all this time he had never even thought of saying something like this to her, whether they were true or not, but today he had done something he was quite sure he would never be able to fix. He had told her as plain as day that the death of her beloved sister and husband who she had been honouring her entire life didn’t matter and she should forget about it all and carry on with her life because the rest of the world didn’t give a crap about it all even if they had a home thanks to her. For a minute he wished he could read her mind, see how deep the damage he had done run, but the instant the floor beneath him started trembling and her expressions practically flashes in the blink of an eye showing the crack beginning right on the spot where she was standing he understood he hadn’t simply hurt her; he had broken her.

Without warning his cheek suddenly started burning and stinging, Julieta’s arm raised high in the air with her palm a furious shade of red from having slapped him, the outline of her hand bright and angry on his pale flesh. The calm collected Julieta had inflicted pain on a person, the realisation that he hadn’t only been talking with Alma about her family but also about her children and grandchildren dawning on him as the energy around them started sparkling, Pepa’s eyes flashing yellow with the raw strength of her powers taking all her control away from her, a full electrical storm ruthlessly broke outside the house as much as inside, winds picking up at a speed that some of the animals Antonio hadn’t taken with him to his room when Dolores had took him away from the argument hardly being able to hang onto Isabela’s flowers. Julieta’s figure was pulled away from him, her eyes a bright shade of blue making the stinging sensation worse. The only one who simply stood behind his mother was Bruno, but his anger was visible in the way his eyes glowed green and his face was bathed in pure anger. That quiet show of power from his part scared him more than what his sisters were doing, Felix, Camilo, Luisa and Mirabel holding Pepa in place. Alma stared at him and if it weren’t for the new stream of tears that were cascading down her cheeks and the cracks that were spreading all over the house he would have believed her to be calm in his presence. She took a step towards him, just one before stopping on her tracks, hands in fists, knuckles white as snow.

-Get out.

-Alma, I’m-

-Get out. I don’t want to see you ever again. If you place a foot inside this house I’ll kill you with both my bare hands. This, what you've said, is the last straw. Go away and never return, leave me and my family alone because I swear that if I ever lay my eyes on you I’ll wire your neck like a chicken. Vete ahora mismo y no vuelvas, jamás.

Saying those words was the hardest thing she had done in her life and seeing the way he stepped backwards at her emotionless tone that at the same time spewed venom only added another knife to her already bleeding heart. She didn’t wait to see if he would actually leave, she stormed out of the courtyard towards her room with tears running down her cheeks in quiet cries hearing him wrestling to get to her calling out her name until the door slammed closed and everything became suffocating silence. Isabela’s vines had iron grips on his arms and legs but as much as he fought to set himself free they remained in place and as the girl walked towards the entrance the vines followed, the wind and rain bursting inside the house soaking everyone wet. He had expected her to bite at him, to pour slicing words at him but Isa didn't utter a single sentence, all she did was with a nod from her head watch as the plants threw him outside in the air until his back collided with the damp soil underneath him, in the distance the shape of Rosa coming up the path with Alma’s basket and what she had managed to safe from her shopping, but the house didn’t wait until the older lady had reached it, it closed it doors with a loud thump leaving everyone standing in confusion over broken tiles and deep cracks that shook them to their cores. They couldn’t lose Casita again, this time it would take Alma with it and they had worked too damn hard to be a happy family to let something like this destroy her, though as the house trembled once more they wondered if they were too late.

The door felt warm to the touch since Alma had both her palms resting on it, her knees buckling under her weight; she didn’t trust them to take her up to her room but as warm as the magic of her glowing door might feel she was freezing. Every bone in her body, every muscle even her veins felt like sharp ice that had exchanged her once human body to this weak crumbling thing that she couldn’t even control. Like gelatin she turned around pressing her back against the entryway looking with red puffy eyes at the stairs before her, an endless dark hallway that she feared she might never cross taking all her vision, but her feet were working on their own, she was no longer the owner of the body, just the broken soul that resided inside it and she didn’t have the strength to stop it or command it to not carry on. It had been childish to think that at her age a man like that would ever love her, he had an entire life ahead of him and she was reaching her twilight years, soon they would be celebrating her funeral instead of her birthday, she should have seen it, maybe the signs had indeed been there and she had just been too blind to acknowledge them, she couldn’t be sure but the only thing she had clear in her head was that she had fallen in love with a lie and it had backstabbed her to the point where she was alone once more. What could she give him? There was no way they would have ever had a family and all those promises that he had made to her now felt flimsy and empty, just another set of lies to add to their relationship. If he could go around kissing other women, how could she know whether his words were truly just for her?

The small flame from the candle flickered once or twice as she reached her bedroom, thin fractures extending all over her walls and ceiling but she paid them no mind, her hands had grabbed the first thing they had seen and had thrown it against a wall and the only thing Alma did was watch in slow motion as the vase shattered into a million tiny pieces. Somehow it only made her pain get worse and what had been a tiny black void of endless sorrow was now a black hole the size of the universe and it only expanded into the infinite confinements of the boundless continuous space swallowing her whole. Fingers twitching as if they had been electrocuted picked up another vase and with the strength of a god she threw it against another wall feeling the exhilarating way the anger and the pain mixed into a deep agony that she couldn’t control and wouldn’t control letting her hands do the work for her exhausted mind throwing things in the air that she didn’t register in the slightest. Over and over her fiery eyes chose another lifeless object to kill, watching like a masochist as it broke into a thousand little shards, a mirror image of how her heart was exploding each time a picture or a random object collided with the walls. Without thinking she bent to pick a pick a fallen photograph but upon grabbing it the broken glass sliced through the palm of her hand staining the edge of it with her crimson blood; at last her eyes focused on what she was holding to see that it was her wedding picture, Pedro’s face invisible under the broken glass, the frame chipped and ruined because of her hot sticky blood.

Something in her brain clicked then and all the euphoria that she had been feeling along with the blinding rage vanished, a tsunami of pain, remorse and agony washing over her body as she let go of the picture, knees finally giving out underneath her weight crashing over her soft carpet. If she had been crying before she hadn’t noticed until now feeling how her face was on fire, the salty droplet pooling on the neck of her blouse sobs rocking her body with such force that she couldn’t stay still. Down in the courtyard Agustín was trying to calm Julieta down while Felix and Camilo were more worried about not letting go of Pepa in case she went outside and killed Mariano remorselessly, Bruno nowhere to be seen since he had vanished into his tower as soon as his mother had left. Everyone was confused and angry, they had welcomed Mariano into the family forgetting about the doubts and all the signs that had warned them that it wasn’t a good idea and in the end this is what he had done to her, cheat like the scum he was. It wasn’t until the sound of the first object shattering that they rushed upstairs watching in absolute terror as the previous steady glow on Alma’s door flickered losing that light several times as the screams and sobs got louder and louder and then everything stopped, no sounds whatsoever. They pulled, pushed, kicked the door but it remained unmovable with only the thunderstorm and hurricane outside to fill the silence that had encircled them until that banshee-like scream filled the air all over the Encanto and the previous still cracks started spreading like wildfire.

The house was falling bit by bit but no one moved, only pulled harder on the door to get to Alma before it was too late. The fractures outside the house had stopped close to the bridge but now they run underneath the church and were getting closer to the plaza, Mariano watching in shock as his home shook and trembled at the pain Alma was experiencing, but he suspected it wasn’t just his doing, something in the back of his mind was telling him that a small part of this whole thing was her soul steaming all the grief she had kept locked up about her family and that had been his own selfish fault. Rosa stood behind him watching in fear as it all happened again feeling like a failure of having let him do this whole thing to her best friend; she had been right all along and it had been a bad idea from the minute she had seen them in the kitchen with his hand on Alma while she cried. Time hadn’t made it all go away or better by all means, it had only made him grow accustomed to having someone around that he knew would be there for him as he went around with other girls, she should have stopped her nieto from hurting her, they could have avoided all this from the start. Finally after several tries with a crowbar and Luisa’s fists pounding on the wood the door gave away, flying over the railing until it landed on the wet tiles of the courtyard, Julieta and Pepa practically levitating up the stairs to find the room completely destroyed and Alma in a corner with blood on her face that mixed with her tears staining her blouse that was beyond repair, the same face of despair she had had after watching Pedro being slaughtered resting on her worn features.

Hands were on her in under a minute but at the touch she recoiled hiding further into the shadows. An invisible wall surrounded Alma separating her from the outside world and the living nightmare of her own, forms and faceless figures dancing around her with shrilling laughs of mockery at her stupidity, spilling salt over her raw open wounds making her scream in her mind for any release of this agony that was suffocating her but they only joked and taunted her even more. Whatever her daughters were saying fell on deaf ears, the voices in her head were far too loud for her to hear anything but them and every time she blinked the image of a dead Mariano rising from the land of the dead to smirk at her and tell her repeatedly that he never loved her, that she was undeserving of such a thing only made the headache worse as if she was going to explode any minute, that was of course until a hand collided with her cheek and suddenly the world of shadows and loud painful laughs was gone. It was silent at last and what her eyes were seeing were no longer mockeries of her nightmares but real people that kneeled before her crying in worried tones as they asked her if she was alright. What a question, if she was alright. Had she ever been? Maybe she had tricked herself into believing her life was perfect because she knew everything was but a curtain of smoke that covered her true self: small, cowering in a corner just like she was doing at the moment. A weak laugh escaped her lips, low and sinister at what Julieta was asking her, after all she was bleeding from the cut on her palm as much as she was bleeding from within her chest, how can anyone be fine when they’ve been lied to and cheated on? What had made her believe she could ever have something similar to what she had shared with Pedro so late in life with someone as childish and heartless as Mariano? He would have married Dolores without even thinking whether he would have made her happy or not only to get to Alma; he was a manipulative son of a bitch that didn’t deserve her in the slightest, but that didn’t mean she did deserve to be punished this way.

The tears wouldn’t stop flowing and slowly her brain seemed to be registering what they were talking about, word by word her mind formed the simple sentences. They were long done with the questions, she was in no state whatsoever to answer anything harder than whether she’d like a cup of coffee or not and even then she feared she would have lost the ability to speak after such a display of screams, they simply talked to her reminding her that she was Alma Madrigal, that she couldn’t let a stupid boy like him do this to her, she had been through too much to let heartbreak defeat her, and as pretty as the words were it didn’t feel as easy to walk pass it all in her heart, it was torture to have all those memories of their wonderful dates and presents, their private jokes and the taste of his lips still on hers; they were building a house por Dios! A home they had created between the two of them that would never be finished and all those dreams they had once thought of and shared with each other would only be added to the graveyard of unfulfilled goals and fantasies like every little moment in her life. They pitied her, they didn’t need to say it for her to know, after all the way Agustín’s eyes gleamed in the light of the candle with a soft veil of sadness that he didn’t even try to hide, the fool, well maybe he wasn’t the fool here, he was happily married to the love of his life while Alma was sitting on the cold floor crying over a boy after fifty years of being a widow. Que imbecil. She could have had the world, she thought she would have a different life, that she would be a different woman but who was she kidding, she was but an old lady whose ship had sailed fifty years ago; she had forced herself to see new boats over the waters only to find herself sinking into the cold ocean, drowning after having jumped into a fantasy that she had been the only one to see.

Two strong arms lifted her off the floor, curtains being drawn to let in what little light they could still see coming through Pepa’s thick dark clouds. Alma hadn’t seen all the destruction up until now, her room was a complete mess with glass and porcelain all over the floor and bed, feathers sticking to their shoes from where she had ripped the pillows, her wardrobe half open with some of her dressed thrown on the floor; thankfully Agustín had examiend them and determined they were intact, maybe a button or two were missing or there were small tears on the hems, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The scent of lilies filled her nostrils as her head rested on the shoulder of her nineteen year old granddaughter; she didn't want to see where they might be taking her, she was too tired, head pounding at the sight of the light in the hallway once they had emptied her room. Alma hadn’t fought them, she was dead weight in her nieta’s arms and as much as she wanted to be put down so she could return to her corner she couldn’t find anything inside her to voice her choices, her wants. She actually couldn’t find her voice. Julieta’s footsteps differed from where Alma was going, flying towards the kitchen after having talked with her sister in hushed tones not that their mother would have tried to communicate with them let alone listen to what they were talking. Pepa’s room was close by and the woman had refused to let her mother stay with anyone but herself, so Felix had agreed to stay with Antonio so she could stay with her mother or the carcass of who used to be Alma Madrigal, right now she was but a ghost of her former self with pale sunken skin and red puffy eyes holding onto the fabric of Luisa’s blouse with weak fingers that were barely touching it. Wherever Alma was both her daughters knew she was in too much pain to come out of her shell just yet, they only hoped to get her back soon enough.

All the cracks in the village were dissipating now that her tears had become silent rivers streaming down her face, not a sob or whimper in sight, her throat sore and raw from screaming. It eased Mariano’s worry but Rosa knew better than to trust this, she had been too close to the woman to know that Alma was hiding it all inside her, locking it away. Inside Casita the fractures were another story; they weren’t as deep as before but they were still there visible through every inch of the building and as much as Isa, Mira, Luisa and Camillo tried to make it better they got no reaction from her, she had dissociated and was far away from the land of the living at the moment sitting on the covers of Pepa’s bed. They had been barely five minutes inside the room when Julieta came in with a cup of strong lavender tea steam floating lazily over the hot liquid. It had worked after that breakdown she had had months ago, she only hoped to cure the cut as well since it was still bleeding dripping on the floor rhythmically. Drop. Drop. Drop. With the help of Pepa they got her to take a couple of sips, Alma’s eyes growing heavy after a couple of minutes, a pink scar forming on her hand before it was substituted by flawless skin as if nothing had happened although her blood stained clothes spoke of a different story. Her body grew heavy and her already darkened mind became a blank void of no thoughts as she slumped into Pepa’s arms before she was carefully laid on her back chest rising and falling with each breath she took. This was their fault as much as Mariano, they felt that they should have watched him more, that they should have been around him more often to avoid things like this but the happiness their mother had felt had clouded their minds and so the fairytale had turned into a horror story where the killer had infatuated his victim and was now murdering her slowly without even touching her just like the professional heartbreaker he was. Just because he hadn’t been holding a weapon in one hand and her sliced heart in the other didn’t mean he hadn’t killed her.

Everything had happened so fast that the cloud of confusion was still hovering over the house, they had been fine up until that moment in the village that only Alma had seen, but apparently he had kissed someone, after all the things they had done to build their relationship he had cheated on her. Her frame looked weak and old, worn by all the crying and screaming, and even in her sleep Pepa could see that the pained expression wouldn’t leave her features, the wrinkles defined by her ruined makeup because for some reason she had woken up today feeling like she wanted to impress him. What an idea it had all been, but if she hadn’t seen it Julieta would have and then her daughter would have had to go around wondering what was best for Alma, whether to tell her the truth or keep it all hidden. Another what if to add to the endless list of possibilities. A knock on the doorframe startled the redhead who with a few stray tears still falling down her cheeks and the clouds above her head raining heavily turned to see Julieta and Bruno signalling her to follow them. It wasn’t much of a choice but a silent order and hesitantly she stood up from the chair Felix had brought her glancing at the sleeping form of their mother before closing the door. Down in the courtyard Alma’s door laid in sharp shards of wood, her figure lifeless as it rested over the tiles as a sign of what had transpired there just a few minutes earlier, the entryway to Alma’s room free of any sort of gate showing a deep dark hallway. They moved aside from Pepa’s door towards the stairs until Bruno held both his sisters' wrists, stopping them on their tracks.

-Do you understand what just happened?

-Sort of. I was busy trying not to electrocute him but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Where are the children?

-In their rooms. Luisa and Isa were very anxious so Agustín took the pot up to their rooms after I made mamás cup. Dolores as far as I know is with Antonio and Mira and Camilo I have no idea. They were there one minute and the next they had disappeared.

-Mira helped me figure something out and Camilo accompanied her. I just sent them to their rooms so I could talk with you both in private. Mamá won’t wake for several hours right?

-Minimum six. Why? Is everything alright Bruno?

-Did you see something? - even if he hadn’t answered with words the way his eyes sparkled was all they needed.

-I did. I had the same vision I told Dolores about when she was little.

-You had a vision about my daughter?

-No, I had the same vision but it has nothing to do with her, I don’t think it ever did. She wanted to know if she would end up with the love of her life and I said no, but what I didn’t know was who he was going to end up with. Back then the figure was faceless.

-What’s changed then?

-I can see who he’s going to marry now, Juli. There are two options, if I tilt the vision to one side I see a stranger but if I tilt it in the opposite direction I see mamá in the church marrying Mariano.

-There’s a possibility they might get over this? You’ve seen her Juli, she’s in no state to even see him without having a mental breakdown.

-That’s all I can tell you. I tried to see more but everything’s blurry and confusing and I think it’s because of what mamá is feeling right now. This vision is linked to her and it's only her who can make the choice and make it go one way or another.

-Well, it won’t be today. Even if she were awake I wouldn’t allow it, she needs rest and time just like we all do, you understand right Pepa?

-So what do we do then, just wait? Seems like a waste of a good vision to me.

-Bruno, we have to let her tackle this whoever she wants or whoever she can. We should wait until she’s fully awake tomorrow to see where we stand and make a plan.

-Pepa, our plans never work.

-No, our plans don’t but Juli’s do. You are in charge of telling us what we have to do to fix this. Have in mind that the best might not be for them to have a happy ending.

-We’ll see. I ought to go down to Rosa’s place to get the basket and do the shopping.

-I’d go with you but I don't think mamá should be left alone. Your tea might not be strong enough to keep the nightmares at bay. I’ll have Dolores look out for you just in case though and tell Bruno to go to the rescue if necessary.

-Perfecto, until then we must keep the children away from mamá and just simply wait.

What no one had seen was that Dolore’shead had been poking out of Antonio’s room listening intensely to what they were saying, some voices in the distance mixing with those inside the house and so like a mouse she slipped out and entered her own bedroom in complete silence running towards her balcony to listen to that third set of sounds that came from the village. It took her a minute to find Mariano’s voice and that of his abuela but soon enough she was hearing every word they were sharing, putting the missing pieces of the puzzle in their rightful place. He repeated several times to his abuela that he wasn’t cheating, that he would never do that and that the kiss had been just a symbol of gratitude but she wanted more, she needed to know exactly why he had allowed it. Rosa followed the same train of thought and after he answered the question with a simple it's a secret he finally gave up and told her that he had asked her to help him practise with him what he was going to do and say to Alma because… Dolores blinked several times trying to process his words slowly, almost forgetting to continue listening, not that she would have heard anything, Rosa was as much in shock as she was. He had asked for Sofia’s help because he was planning on proposing to Alma and no one in the family had been free today so he had asked a friend to give him a hand. If what Bruno had said was true and it probably was, Alma had been destined to be with him since Mariano had been a child, fate had been planning this since he had been born and they were one second away from losing it all. Regardless of the kiss that shouldn’t have happened Dolores didn’t want her abuela to live the rest of her life sitting in a corner crying for the love that could have been and never was. The little wheels in her head were already turning formulating a master plan to fix this all in a much quicker and better way than anything her mother, tio and tia might come up with but she needed the help of the master matchmaker herself, and something told her Rosa would be down for it if her silence was anything to trust at the moment.

#alma madrigal #abuela madrigal #encanto #dolores madrigal #bruno magridal #pepa madrigal #julieta madrigal #mariano guzman #señora guzmán #disney

[skyalent]

Batfam x Cat! Reader

This is from my X Oneshots Book on Quotev and Wattpad!

Batfam (slight Justice League) x Cat! Reader

Requested: No

You are a cat, more specifically a kitten. Not an ordinary one of course. Don't mind if things aren't exactly accurate okay? I tried.

Fem cat reader.

I got really into writing this one so it's really long. Sorry not sorry!

The cat pics are you! (From A Whisker Away)

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Bruce first found you while he was running around as Batman, chasing after a weird crazy scientist that was doing experiments he shouldn't be doing in Gotham. You know, like kidnapping civilians for experiments, using them as bait for other experiments, or worse, as food.

You were sitting there in a testing chamber, lying down as you heard ruckus going on through the glass door. You couldn't be bothered to stand up and check, you knew there wouldn't be any point since you would still be in the same room.

But then a man in black came walking by, looking around wearily. He spotted you and looked at your small form and easily caught your interest. This was not the same lab coat wearing man you were familiar with.

Glancing at the label to the right, which said Project 39, he grabbed the files there and briefly read it (the most recent notes).

- Did not have any reaction to any supplements given - Shows no aggression to the bait given - Maybe powers or mutation in a dormant stage?

But at the end it stated - Project Failed. Might use for bait with other objects (potential food?)

With that information, Bruce quickly opened the door, scooped you up with one hand and brought you with him.

When he entered the building to rescue the civilians, he found he was too late. He had already caught and tied up the scientist, waiting for the police to arrive. Bruce had decided to explore the building more for things he missed, perhaps find other civilians or find the projects and lock them up for safety.

But alas, the scientist did not want anyone else looking at his uncompleted projects and hit a button, brutally killing each one. Each one died to a weird gas that was then sucked away by the vents, leaving no evidence. Well, each one was affected except for one. You.

Bruce didn't know about the gas, therefore he didn't know how each project died, if they were alive before he was there, etc. However, knowing that he could at least save one life, even if it wasn't human, made him feel better. Just by a little bit.

You snuggled into the chair of the bat mobile as he drove you to your new home, the Wayne Manor. He let you go off for a few days exploring the manor, knowing that you needed to get used to your surroundings. Plus, this way he could observe you and your behavior, just in case that scientist missed something.

You constantly scratched at the hard metal collar given to you by the scientist, clearly uncomfortable. Bruce managed to take it off of you and replace it with a much more comfortable one that came with a tag in the shape of a bat that had contact info.

Watching you over the span of a few days, Bruce realized you were just an ordinary kitten. An ordinary kitten that had became a part of Bruce's family. When he needed a break from paperwork, you always found him and that ended up with him playing with you and a feather attached to a stick by a string.

Alfred also enjoyed your company. You were a playful and well behaved cat, never making a mess like he expected you to do (pushing vases off of tables, or cups, plates, anything fragile that could break really). If Alfred had some time to relax (which was rarely) he would be found with you on his lap, purring softly to his delightful strokes along your back.

Sometimes you would go off for a few days being missing, before coming back and walking around the manor as if you hadn't been gone at all. Bruce put a tracker on you and had learnt you just go out and about Gotham, but you always returned home after a few days (limit being 3 days).

Meeting Bruce's boys were... Hectic...............................................

Continue reading on Quotev or Wattpad!

#bruce wayne #x reader #batfam #reader insert #alfred pennyworth #batfamily #batboys #cat reader #reader

[hotwings0203]

Gilded Cage

A/N: It’s embarrassing how long this took but oh well, happy new year to everyone and I hope you enjoy scummy yandere hawks!

Warnings: dubcon, kidnapping, abuse, toxic relationships, degradation, yandere themes

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

At first she welcomed the bright flashing lights like a breath of fresh air, but in due time it made her throat close up like the rest of the situation.

He had agreed to let her out if she behaved, and that meant no biting, scratching, screaming, flinching, temper tantrums, and worst of all, no silent treatment.

And she would take it like a champ if it meant seeing any other person in 6 months.

He had kept her here like a flightless bird in this cage of theirs, and oh how ironic it was that she was succumbed to be the prey of this ruthless hawk, with him able to soar amongst the people and buildings while Y/n stayed perched in the house, her ever-growing wings mentally becoming too much for her to control and stay silent about.

She needed space, she wanted to leave, but she didn’t dare voicing any of her wants, especially when Keigo made it so clear how her meager wants were of no match for his needs.

And his needs, as he’s made so clear thus far, include her being a pliant, quiet, yet loving little birdie who cooks, cleans, and lays with him day and night without complaint.

God forbid she speaks up about her...living conditions, as he liked to so generously supply to her the first and last time she ever had this conversation with him. She tried telling him how she originally had loved their relationship of a couple of months, and sure it might have been weird for him to push her into moving in with him only after 3 months, but it was because of how much he loved her or so he said at least, when he bashed her head repeatedly on the ground when she told him it “wasn’t normal to rush into things so fast”.

Sure, he had a big spacious penthouse lent to him by the Hero Commission so being physically cramped was never a problem, and yes okay he showered her with gifts and little trinkets, just like birds did with their mates even more so after a big fight that usually left her black and blue, with swollen lips, ripped up knees and big red welts on her wrists while the hero himself was left with not even a feather out of place.

But there were days where their movie nights and cuddling sessions didn’t cut it for her anymore. There were nights when she couldn’t take his suffocating arms around her a second longer, only to be replaced by an even heavier and darker presence when she tried turning on her side away from him.

Sometimes it would be a chain reaction caused by the smallest of catalysts, however. It would be on a day where he left the restraints on a little too tightly, and Y/n was forced to use toothpaste on her wrists instead of the salve Keigo always kept in the medicine closet. Other times it would happen when he would keep feeling up her sides and pressing into her after a long day of her cooking in hopes that the plentiful food would be enough to keep him occupied away from her, even if it was for an hour or two.

It never was, though. He always wanted her, whether it was her scent, her presence, or her clothes that he kept in his pockets on his missions.

On those days, the days where she felt too much Keigo, too many feathers and too much Hawks was when she snapped.

Down would go the plates, the expensive wine glasses, the vases filled with flowers sent by hundreds of fangirls who knew nothing about the monster that he actually was. She’d tear out her mussed hair, red-faced with tears that ruined her makeup the makeup that she liked to wear on these types of days just to piss him off, knowing that he thought “excess makeup is for whores and catfishes. I already know you’re a whore, well, my whore, but you’re not even good enough at applying makeup to be deemed a catfish so don’t even try it hummingbird” while screaming in his face to let go, for the love of god Hawks PLEASE let me go I want to go home I don’t want this anymore I don’t want YOU anymore this isn’t working out I don’t love you-

And crack would be the sound of his palm across her face, knocking her to the floor. On these types of days he wouldn’t even think she deserved a change in facial expression, staring down at her pathetic trembling body while his lips were set in a subtle casual smile, his hands stuffed in his pockets as if he never raised an arm a second ago, and his eyes remained golden and neutral, the only indication of him processing her tantrum was the black glint in his pupils that dilated every time she gasped and sobbed on the floor.

To ensure that his precious, oh-so fragile lovebird wouldn’t hurt herself any further with her stupidity, he’d crouch down inches away from her face and cock his head slightly as a real bird would do. He’d reach out and lift her chin to face him while his other hand would snake up her thigh to try and console her which only succeeded in making her shake and breath unevenly.

Leaning forward to ghost his lips over the shell of her ear, he’d relish in the way her mouth would part in terror as he would lovingly whisper every threat of what he’d do to her the next time she wanted to be like a brat, because god help her if she thought he couldn’t tame a brat after dealing with a lifetime of villains.

It was almost laughable, how easy she was to silence. He didn’t even need to use feathers to pull her to her feet when he would tell her to go to the bed and get on all fours like the bitch she was.

She had to earn her way back into being his good, obedient little dove, on days like these.

But after these days would pass and she would indeed realign with his expectations, he would reward her greatly.

Never like this, though.

Y/n is brought to the present again as another flash of light from the paparazzi snaps her out of her daze. As the spots begin to fade from her vision, she sees Keigo in front of her adorning his trademark “for the fans-only” grin, although Y/n would call it a sleazy smile, the same smile he would give her before he signaled his feathers to cut deep into her feet so she’d stop kicking at him as he dragged her on the floor and feels him squeeze her hand a little too tightly to be dubbed as endearing.

“Stop zoning out on me, you look like a ditz”, he hisses through his teeth, his grin now resembling more of a bared-teeth look.

She tries to try to fix her face and pull the corners of her mouth up, attempting to also brighten her eyes and looking interested at the blond interviewer who was now conversing with Hawks about his recent team-up with Endeavor. It takes every ounce of self-restraint to not shove past the phony smiles and flashy attire enveloping her and waltz down the red carpet to the doors of the gala. She thinks if she hears him utter another word about how he’s so incredibly blessed to have the love and support of my fans, family, and most importantly, my girlfriend who has stuck by my side through thick and thin, she’ll puke on the bedazzled yellow dress the interviewer has on.

As if. He’d probably whisk her off to the nearest bathroom and pummel her on the floor right then and there just for being distracted, but not before fucking her as well.

She feels Hawks nudge her side, and on cue she darts her head up and really plasters on a blinding smile as she focuses on the question that was just asked to her.

“Sorry, what was that? I think I got distracted by your outfit, you look lovely tonight, an absolute catch.” She winks for good measure, just to salvage the damage of ignoring the conversation and Keigo’s tight-lipped smile, which was beginning to soften.

Bingo.

“Oh you’re so sweet! I can see why Mr. Number Two here swooped in to take such a cutie like yourself.” The interviewer giggled, twirling a golden lock around her finger. “But no worries, I was just saying you should come make a public appearance more often! I mean, the media barely gets to see you with Hawks intimately, it would be a great excuse to get all glammed-up as well...I mean, if Hawks here hasn’t got his talons sunk too deep into you.” She laughs shrilly and doesn’t notice how both Y/n and Keigo tense up at her insinuation.

Yeah lady, you’re not too far from the truth. The last time I tried to look nice and go outside, I was bedridden for a week and a half while nursing frozen peas over 7 different parts of my body, inside and out.

But if Keigo can bullshit more than he can tell the truth, then so could she.

She laughs warmly and places her hand on his shoulder lightly, just to sell the “supportive girlfriend” look.

“Well, I really would love to come out and show my support for him more often, but we’ve both agreed that with all the publicity anyways, it’s just too much pressure for me to deal with. I’d rather just stick with what I know and keep it hush between him and I.” She turns her gaze to Keigo now, superficially giving him a puppy-in-love look but discreetly seeking his approval if what she said was the correct thing or not.

He merely gave her an amused smile, as if to say damn, wasn’t expecting that answer but I guess it’s fine. Yeah. Two can play at that game.

Pleased with her answer, the blond bimbo turns on her heel and sashays away, leaving the couple by themselves.

Keigo gives Y/n a side eye and cautiously holds out his elbow for her to take. A peace offering for the meantime, just to reward her for the quick save.

Don’t fuck this up for me, or you’ll regret it tenfold when we get back home.

“Shall we?” He waits for her to oblige, and of course she does.

Arm-in arm, they gracefully walk down the red carpet towards the gold plated doors. Upon entering, Y/n’s breath is taken away at the grand hall, with red banners hanging from the balconies that had navy blue and gold words of praise for the heroes engraved in the silk. Hundreds of pro heroes filled the room, much more than what she was used to from only interacting with her captor for months.

Guiding her over to the long granite bar, Keigo squeezes her arm before lightly dropping it. Before she can move, he stands directly in front of her and his vermillion wings unfurl and slightly surround the two of them, creating their own little space. To others, it might’ve just looked like two lovers embracing each other and having their own little moment. Y/N knew better, however, and suspected he had ulterior motives.

She was right.

“I’m gonna leave you here for a few minutes, ‘kay? I don’t want you moving from here,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, and she had to suppress a shudder at his unwanted proximity. “The feather stays on, and I better not see or hear anything funny while I’m away.”

She nodded and touched her necklace that was indeed laced with one of his feathers, remembering the deal he made when he agreed to let you out for the day.

Ah yes, the dreaded feather.

When she had approached him on shaking legs two days prior, Hawks was brushing his hair in the bathroom, keen on meticulously keeping it styled and ruffed up in the morning. It was one of the things that Y/N would begrudgingly say was one of his finest features, along with his natural eyeliner-shaped markings and rugged yet handsome facial features.

On good days, she liked to lightly trace her fingers and across his sharp jawline and feel the stubble growing on his blushed face. She’d try to stop immediately however, when he’d open his eyes and catch her hand, moving it across his body much to her chagrin and down to his-

She had stood outside the door, fumbling with the hem of her thin nightie and desperately trying to pull the short material past her bare thighs as she mustered up the courage to bring up her proposition.

Keigo slowly ceased his brushing when he saw the meek little thing quivering outside his door, and he quirked up an amused eyebrow. He braced both arms on either side of the sink, and let out a light exhale, before addressing her.

“Something wrong hummingbird?”

She dragged her eyes from the floor up to his dilated golden irises, and blurted out what she had been rehearsing in her head for the past couple of days:

“DoyouthinkIcouldcomewithyoutothegala?”

“Huh?” he snickered, thoroughly bewildered by what incomprehensible nonsense she had stuttered out.

Y/N bit her lip and took in a shaky breath, strike one, she fumbled her first try.

“Haw- uh, Keigo,” she corrected quickly. He preferred her using his first name, his real name. He claimed it made things more intimate between them as if carving his name on her back hadn't been enough to seal their “intimacy’-she didn’t need to be told twice what to call him by after that day “I was wondering...if I’m good and I don’t give you a hard time, can I come with you to the hero's gala?”

Keigo’s brow furrowed slightly, and he cocked his head to the side like a real bird. He seemed to be contemplating it.

“Alright,” he conceded after a couple seconds. “If, and I mean if you listen to me and don’t try any funny business while we’re there I’ll let you tag along.”

Y/N darted her eyes up to him, hope swimming in her heart.

“But you have to wear the feather.”

She immediately blanched.

A major inconvenience that she had come to terms with in the duration of her stay with him had been his stupid fucking feathers that layed oh-so-casually around the floor where she walked and coincidentally clinging to her clothes wherever she went out of Keigo’s eyesight, even though she was trapped on the same floor with him.

They had special properties; they could detect any movement, sense any vibration whenever he called for it. This made for a perfect tracker for Y/N in terms of whenever he wanted an update on her heartbeat, her mood, her whereabouts, and anything in between.

Yes, it was suffocating. But she would much rather it only be a suffocating feeling rather than him actually directing hundreds of feathers to surround her and hold her down on the bed or floor to do whatever he wanted with her in any position he pleased.

She didn’t dare complain to his face, however. She’d grit her teeth, grin and bear it, listen to every whim he demanded of her if it meant one night of superficial normalcy.

And so she put on her best behavior on the days leading up to the main event. She made dozens of dishes that circulated around chicken (his favorite binge food), she let them have “cuddle time”, with no complaints whatsoever when he insisted on bathing her and dressing her up in stupid pink frilly skirts, and she even gave him little subtle looks with a batting of her eyelashes when he looked down fondly at her good mannerisms and praised her for being such a sweet little birdie.

Eventually, her acting paid off and on the morning of the gala she was merited with a silk red dress that stopped at her upper thigh, ornamented with gold earrings and a 12K necklace to really sell off the look-which was of course wrapped around one of his feathers. Hawks had even hired a makeup artist who was instructed to not ask or say anything to Y/N save for questions about the products, much to her pleasant surprise.

She was still reminded of how much she had to grovel for him every time he rewarded her that afternoon.

“You look stunning, chickadee,” Keigo leaned against the dresser with his arms crossed, and smiled warmly at Y/N. “You’re making her look like a real model, maybe she should take over my job instead. Or, actually, maybe you could stop by my agency and make me all pretty for my next photoshoot.” He directed this last tease at the makeup artist and winked, causing the oblivious employee to giggle and blush.

Ugh, barf. He’s even a sleaze when I’m right here.

Y/N feigned a roll of her eyes, which didn’t go unnoticed by the hero. She could feel his dilated eyes boring into her the rest of the 15 minutes of touch-ups. Eventually everything was done, and Hawks left praise after shameless praise fall from his lips and onto the poor fangirl’s heart as he guided her out the door, a hand on her lower back as he did so.

She took the opportunity to get up and walk to the full-length mirror, admiring how she looked for the first time in ages. Gone were the multi-colored marks that decorated her body as if she were nothing more than a mere canvas for her painter to use. Her eyes seemed a little brighter too, and it wasn��t just the makeup that caused it. She stood a little straighter and squared her shoulders, her chin tilted up more than before while she stared at her reflection. She didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror, and she liked it for once.

It was ridiculous, she knew it was to feel so vain but she couldn’t help but bask in her potential freedom for just one night. She looked gorgeous, she felt confident, and she had earned it all on her own.

Cocking her head to the side, she tried to practice a couple smiles to be camera-ready for when the time came. She turned the corners of her lips up, then showed her teeth, and even tried fluffing her hair up sensually. Biting her lip slightly, she threw her head back, causing her curled locks to bounce and lowered her eyelids to look sexy. She giggled at her own stupidity and poses, completely unaware that a certain winged-man had entered the room and leaned against the door for the past couple of minutes, simply watching the little show she put on.

“That's quite a look you’ve got there hun, why don’t you make those faces more often with me?”

She immediately froze, her breath hitching. She didn’t dare look at him in the eye from the mirror.

“I mean, I’m the only one who should be seeing such a slutty expression anyways, right?” He said ever-so casually, hands in his pockets as he slowly strolled up behind her, and she couldn’t help but think as her eyes darted up to meet him in the mirror that the sadistic shit-eating grin on his face didn’t suit so well with his god-like features.

She visibly wilted, her shoulders hunched and head down in contrast to the tall, powerful woman she had felt like mere seconds ago. Her breath quickened as he leaned over her shoulder, grazing his teeth over the sensitive part under her ear, and she bit her lip harshly to stop the squeak that threatened to escape her trembling lips.

“If I had known that a pretty dress and some makeup would make you act like a wanton little whore, I would’ve done this wayyy sooner. I guess you really are just another dumb bimbo bitch who does anything she’s told if she gets to feel important for a night.” He whispered in her ear, resting his head on her shoulder and looking up at her with innocent eyes, ones that imitated the mocking tone of voice he used.

It seemed like he wanted her to feel disgusting, to wilt under his cruel words that he used like knives-knives that were sharpened with his tone and body language, knives that were so intimately and carefully chosen. They worded so that they were used to their full extent to cut and carve through her heart.

“Is that what you are my little songbird, hmm? You wanna be a pretty baby and have everyone’s attention on you? I’m hurt, here I was thinking I was enough for you.” He pouted, and with every word he spoke the grip his hands had around her waist tightened.

She tried to protest but he plowed through her pitiful attempts.

“Hell, if you want some attention so bad and whore yourself out, I should call over some friends! Yeah, we can skip tonight’s gala, would you like that songbird? For me to share you with my friends so they can satiate your whorish needs?” And at his he shook her lightly, his grip around her middle choking her and cutting off her circulation. “N-no, Hawks,” she wheezed out. “I just... liked my makeup, that’s it. I only want you, I promise. I won’t cause any trouble tonight, please don’t call any friends over.”

She looked up at him in the mirror with eyes the size of saucers, blinking away tears and trying her best to show how apologetic she was at her audacity to feel good about herself.

He loosened his arms and straightened up, peering down at her disgustedly. He had absolutely no regrets about the way she sucked in air immediately when he relented, or about the way she frantically brushed the tears from her eyes, trying to preserve her mascara from running. (not that he would’ve minded). She needed to learn her lesson; he controlled her highs and lows. Only he had the permission of holding her fragile emotions in the palm of his hand, and if she didn't want that palm turning into a fist and breaking her, she would do well not to piss him off and treading carefully about flaunting what was meant for his eyes only.

She wanted to lock herself in the bathroom and cry out to her heart's content from being embarrassed and degraded like this. She kept absolutely still however, when she felt his hands lightly tracing the feather on her collarbones. It was an unspoken threat, and when their eyes met once again in the mirror, the way he sized her up confirmed it.

The feather stayed on.

Which brought her back to the present.

Y/N had already downed 3 glasses of champagne while reminiscing about earlier today, something Hawks would’ve surely tutted at. Finding herself bored, she meandered around the bar, keeping close to where he left her.

She scanned the room for her ‘lover’ and found him laughing with a group of his friends, his head thrown back and the charming sound of his deep yet lilted voice carrying through the hall, entrapping anyone who was around.

He certainly had presence, no sense in denying it.

Any girl would’ve been crazy to deny him, and Y/N wished that Hawks had fallen for a girl that didn’t want to deny him out of his hundreds of fangirls a point that was set in stone in Y/N’s mind when she saw a tall brunette clinging to his arm while she shrieked with laughter at whatever stupid story Hawks was telling.

Said fangirl seemed to also have been put under his contagious spell, from the way she so obviously threw herself on his arm and pushed her chest against his side under the pretense of shaking with laughter. Various other parts of her body seemed to be shaking against him too, but he didn’t seem to mind based on the smirk he quickly looked down at her with.

For the second time that night, Y/N wanted to throw up.

Was it jealousy? Negative. Rather, it was frustration that he literally had girls throwing themselves at him, tits hanging out and all but yet he wanted what he knew he couldn’t have. She assumed that it was this mentality of his that landed him at being Number 2, chasing after the seemingly impossible until it was tangible.

It was easier on some days to try to understand his point of view. It was much better than getting lost in the hours pondering what kind of bad karma she inherited from a past life to go through this hell. But on some mornings when she felt stone-cold sober, she remembered that she was a person, not some objective or conquest that he had rightfully won. Deciding to try and take her mind off from the trainwreck that was unfolding in front of her, Y/N aimlessly wandered to the side of the bar and down a grand hallway that was less crowded and had less Hawks.

On either side of the hall, giant bronze frames held the portraits of past heroes and had little scriptures of their accomplishments. Hawks had always talked about how he wanted his name up there, and how one day he was going to do something incredible to have his own face up on the hall of fame. His idol, Endeavor, already has taken place on the wall right next to All Might’s frame, and Y/N looks up and ponders at both of their pictures.

And how befitting is it, that Hawk’s idol is also accused of a sinister and tumultuous family past.

Maybe he doesn’t need to work too hard to follow in the footsteps of the number one hero.

“Quite the hero, Endeavor is. Even though there is controversy about the nature of his past and his redemption efforts, he set many precedents as to how a true hero should act.” Y/N’s head snaps to the right where Edgeshot had just joined her. He wore a navy blue tux with red seams, his trademark mask covering the lower half of his face.

“Yeah, you’d think his admirers would try to follow in the footsteps of changing themselves too,” she muttered bitterly. “I’ve noticed his biggest fans seem to take after his more...old brutish traits rather than the better person he’s trying to be now.”

The masked hero laughed softly, and Y/N looked at him suspiciously.

“What, you don’t think heroes have their own fair share of flaws?” She challenged.

“No no, don’t get me wrong of course. I would be on an inappropriate level of naivety to assume that, considering I’m a part of the whole corrupt system itself. I think, however, that change within a person comes after an extended time of self-reflection. You have to look within yourself and accept that you were wrong in the first place, if you want to change.”

Y/N was quiet for a moment.

“Do you think the villains are ever right? About society brushing the flipside of heroism under the carpet, I mean. It doesn’t matter if the heroes are trying to save people because it's expected of them, if they aren’t actually compassionate about their cause then is there really a point?” She asked desperately, hoping he could understand her.

Edgeshot hesitated for a moment before answering.

“In my years of experience,” he said quietly, still looking up at Endeavor’s painting, “the ones who have at heart a solid reason for acting the way they do are most always justified. It may not always be a good reason, but a foundation always gives way to a justification that can be argued for.”

All of a sudden, Y/N gasped as white hot pain sliced through her sternum. She looked down and saw the red feather on her necklace quivering as a fine line of red sprouted from the cut it made.

“Are you alright?” Edgeshot asked, looking fairly alarmed, his hand reaching for her shoulder.

“Yes, of course! My necklace is just a little sharp, a little edge just nicked me that's all.” She said shrilly, already backing away from the concerned hero. Turning on her heel, she picked up the hem of her dress and tottered out of the hall, not paying any mind to the vermillion plumage that drifted down her chest, past her waist and eventually clinging onto her leg, making little nips and stabs here and there.

Blood was pounding through her head as she navigated the way back to where Hawks had left her to be. Her palms were sweaty and she was sure her hair was becoming messy as she whipped her head around, attempting to look past tall heads and bodies that blocked her way to the bar.

Shitshitshitshit god please don’t let him be there already please please please-

But it seemed as though god wasn’t in a merciful mood, because lo and behold, the raptor was leaning against the long granite island with a glass in his hand.

He seemed to be casually grinning, swirling a maroon substance in his cup and choking it down leisurely, but as Y/N drew closer she knew-as expected- he seemed off.

The smell of alcohol was nauseating around him, he must have been drinking something strong. His wings, although lightly flapping behind him, were pointed at the edges and shaking lightly. His eyes were completely dilated, and were shifting around the room until they settled on her meek figure rushing up to him.

“Hey there birdy, long time no see. Did you have a good chat with Edgeshot? I’m sure you both enjoyed talking shit about me behind my back.” Y/N winced at how charismatic and booming his laugh was after his ominous remark. It was too carefree, a complete cover-up of how she knew he was actually feeling, and that scared her the most.

“Hawks I-”

“Keigo, sweetheart, did you forget my name already after talking with just one person? Damn, I’m hurt, guess keeping you locked up at home was the right decision after all if you’re acting like such a stone-cold bitch now.”

She stared up at him, openmouthed and thoroughly panicked now. He was talking too much, he was going to expose himself and her-

Wait. Why is she covering for him? Wouldn’t it be better if he blabbed everything else so people could realize what he’s doing? Maybe someone would intervene and save her!

But it seemed like he was three steps ahead of her and had already figured that out, because his face flushed slightly and his eyes darkened and narrowed, with lips set in a flat line. When Y/N saw this change, she tried to back away but he quickly grabbed her hand and yanked her out the room and through the exit doors. It was all happening so fast, she could hear various people call out to Hawks but he plowed through them so fast that she didn’t have time to even process that they were out of the building and in the air.

She screamed as he soared to an even higher altitude, clinging onto his neck for dear life. The wind whipped past her face, stinging her cheeks with the frigid cold and water particles that embedded on her lashes. Hawks was laughing hysterically the entire time he gained height, his talons ripping through her dress and piercing her skin, even overlapping the previous cuts his feather had made earlier.

“S-stop, what’re you doing, are you fucking crazy?” She shrieked, her words losing volume as the air was ripped out of her lungs.

“KEIGO, its KEIGO you stupid fucking cunt!” he screamed in her face. His arms loosened around her waist, and suddenly Y/N was falling, falling, falling straight for the asphalt.

She couldn’t even turn her head as her limp body plummeted down for imminent death. Her lungs begged for oxygen, fear settling like lead in her stomach, but the second she closed her eyes for what she thought was the last time, (Hawks) Keigo swooped down and yanked her back into his sinister embrace by her hair.

Ignoring the ripping strands she felt in her skull, she flailed around in midair trying to grab onto something-she reached up to grab his foot but he noticed and kicked her square in the face. Y/N had never before felt such terror and pain, mentally or physically.

Damn her pride, she wants to live for god's sake.

“Keigo,” she sobbed, remembering just in time to use his real name lest he smash her teeth in again, “please put me down, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I talked to Edgeshot but I swear it wasn’t anything bad or about you.” The warm blood streaming down her nose began to harden on her upper lip from the chilly altitude they had reached.

Abruptly, he shifted his grip and pulled her up by her hair (she winced at that painful adjustment) so that he could hold her around her waist now.

They had to have been at least 200 or so feet in the air. The pair had cleared their way through some clouds and could clearly see the full moon right in front of them. It was deathly quiet except for Y/N’s labored breathing through her fractured nose, and her fear racked even further as she looked up at Hawks and realized that he was simply staring down at her with completely dilated eyes that narrowed and gleamed at her expression. He truly looked like a bird of prey right now, a predator that was forcing her to play the part of his prey, a point that solidified when he suddenly wrapped one hand around her throat to feel her heartbeat that thumped like a rabbits’.

The light from the moon reflected off his back, causing his front to be completely shadowed so that the contours of his sharp face seemed ever more looming and dangerous. Both of them stayed suspended in the air for a minute or two like that, Y/N not daring to speak unless he granted her a sign to repent.

After a long, painstakingly suspenseful minute of studying her face, he finally growled “We’re going home.”

It seemed to take only a mere couple of minutes for the Number Two hero to travel halfway across the city. Y/N barely had time to try and drink in the beautiful colors that accented the winding streets and buildings below her, knowing that it would most probably be a long time before she saw anything else that resembled freedom again.

He finally began to descend rapidly, forcing her to cling onto his jacket and shove her face into the crook of his neck to avoid getting whiplash. Peeking through her lashes, she recognized the balcony floor of his penthouse rushing underneath their feet. Dread and anxiety surged through her veins as he finally landed and postiviley threw her off of him and onto the wooden floor. She slid a good couple of feet and skinned her legs in the process, unable to stop her momentum as she slammed back into a lamp.

Dazed, she saw stars as she rubbed her aching head. Unfortunately she didn’t see him, rushing over to her the second she landed.

He grabbed her jaw tight and wrenched her bleary eyes to look up at him.

What he saw was beautiful.

A trembling mess beneath him, makeup runny and complemented with blood that flowed from her nose like an eternal stream. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the way she kept flinching any time he shifted; it made his pants tighten and caused his teeth to grit in what he measured to be the absolute last bits of self restraint he had for the night. He had truly ruined her, and he internally patted himself on the back at his work.

Was he mad? Yes, wholly and completely at her betrayal of his orders.

Did he regret losing his temper? Absolutely not. In fact, if you ask him, he should get mad at her more often like this. If it merited her pliant and vulnerable being, then who was he to deny such pleasure? Fuck he should’ve done this from the start- blowing up at mild disobediance instead of acting like a doting, patient boyfriend.

“You alive?” he roughly shook her head and her teeth chattered inside her skull while he did so.

“Yes,” she whispered, mouth popped open by his gloved fingers as he shoved a digit inside her warm and wet cavern. It was embarrassing how drool seeped through her lips and dribbled down her chin, but humility was the least concerning factor in her environment at the moment.

“Good. After acting like such a tramp you better fucking be. I told you one thing,” and he slapped her for added emphasis to his frustration, “can you repeat what I told you? Or are you so braindead that you can’t remember the one order I gave you when I trusted you to sit still and look pretty like a good little bitch?”

“Nnngh, no I rem-I remember.” Y/N panted out, attempting to talk through puckered lips and drool. “You told me to stay at the bar and not to move.”

“Exactly. So what part of that was so hard to understand, huh?” He hissed through his teeth, looking deranged.

“I just got bored, that’s all. I wanted to talk to another person…” Even though she didn’t finish her sentence, Hawks understood her perfectly.

I wanted to talk to another person apart from you.

He let out a mocking laugh, stretching his arms over his head to hide his shaking fists. Rage swept through his body like wildfire, licking up his throat and cheeks. His face was flushed and unreadable to Y/N as he sauntered around the couch and plopped down on it, spreading his legs to seem as uncouth as possible.

She sat shivering on the floor, unsure of if he wanted her to follow him or wither away on the floor like a mutt.

As he sighed loudly however, her body immediately tensed as though bracing for another painful impact. She daringly peeked over her shoulder and saw the back of his head protruding from the black and red leather couch. Lazily flicking his wrist up to a height where she could see, he vaguely beckoned her over without saying a word.

Immediately she scampered over to him and situated herself at his feet (where she belonged). Her eyes were downcast, and he begrudgingly accepted it as a form of submission on her part. No sense in beating the disobedience out of her now if she already knows what she did wrong.

Hawks heaved out another heavy sigh and let his head fall backwards. On one hand, he was slightly drunk and his head was killing him-he just wanted to go to sleep and forget today ever happened. However, there was a problem that was contributing to his growing migraine, and that problem was sitting right in front of him, practically kneeling at his feet for mercy. More than sleep, he wanted to take care of said issue and call it a night, so he decided to skip the sweet talk and warm up.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen, kid. I’m gonna close my eyes and by the time I open them you better have already thought of a way to make tonight up to me, and you better have already put that plan in action. Then, we’re going to bed and when you wake up you’ll regret the day you even thought of talking to anyone apart from me, since you seem to have forgotten who’s been coddling your ass all this time.” He sneered, relishing at the way Y/N’s face went pale.

True to his word, he closed his eyes, glad to see his last view as the pathetic bitch who was about to service him. The feel of slight fumbling on his zipper made him feel even more drunk and giddy as it was pulled down. Maybe the entire evening wasn’t a complete wash after all.

Yeah, he should take her out a lot more.

#yandere hawks #yandere x y/n #bnha yandere #mha x reader #bnha #hawks x reader #hawks smut #hawks x y/n #bnha hawks #mha hawks #kidnapping #tw dubcon #mha #yandere #yandere hawks x reader

[blackswan18]

Too Good To Be True - Ch. 48 | kth(m)

Summary: Kim Taehyung is a world famous idol in the hit K-pop group, BTS, and you are his personal stylist. Per your contract with Big Hit, he is absolutely, 100% off-limits, and yet, you are completely and hopelessly in love with him. You’ve spent years trying to shove your feelings down, but it’s getting harder and harder to ignore and hide them, especially considering the way Tae always treats you. He’s affectionate and protective and sometimes outright flirtatious, but that’s how he is with everyone, right? Confused, frustrated, and lovesick, you find yourself wondering if it might finally be worth risking your career and your heart to find out.

pairing: Taehyung x reader

genre: Idol! au, fluff, angst, eventual smut, friends to lovers, slow burn

rating: 18+

word count: 7.0k

warnings: none

A/N: I am so sorry 💔

Chapter 48: Lying To Yourself - Part 3

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You woke the following morning to an empty bed.

It was unusual for Tae to wake up before you because he was such a late and heavy sleeper and even more unusual for him to then leave the bed entirely. Usually when he woke up first he would gently rouse you with a series of feather-light kisses placed all over your face: your forehead, the tip of your nose, the apple of your cheek, your lips themselves. It was by far the best way to be woken up and oftentimes you would pretend to still be asleep just so he would keep spoiling you with kisses. Eventually, though, you would be unable to contain your smile any longer at which point he’d realize you were awake and say ‘Good morning, beautiful’.

Sadly, this morning you received no such sweet and tender awakening. Instead, you woke to the jarring blast of sound that was your alarm. You honestly couldn’t remember the last time you’d needed your alarm to wake up on time. Given that you were a true morning person, you typically woke up naturally hours before it even went off. Last night you’d gotten to bed rather late, though, and had then struggled to fall asleep. It wasn’t surprising that you slept so long and were still feeling exhausted.

As memories from last night began trickling back in, you felt that heavy blanket of unease once again envelope you. It had been a strange night, one that was perhaps as stressful as you imagined it would be, but for reasons you never would have predicted when you woke up yesterday. Although Tae had apologized for his behavior, and had assured you it had nothing to do with you, the night had still ended on a disquieting note. Him not being here when you woke up had you picking up right where you left off: in a state of confusion and worry.

Trying your best to remain calm, you turned over to grab your phone off the nightstand only to be met with a surprising sight: Tanju, propped up by a small vase filled with purple flowers, accompanied by a folded paper heart laid at his feet. You recognized the beautiful blossoms immediately; they were azaleas, the exact same shade as the ones that grew in the small indoor garden located in the apartment complex’s main lobby. A tiny smile crept onto your face as you picked up the paper heart and unfolded it to reveal a note written in a small, neat, familiar script.

Jagi,

I had to head out early today so I could talk to Jimin before the shoot starts. I wanted to let you sleep a little longer since I kept you up so late last night. You also just looked so pretty and peaceful while sleeping that I couldn’t bring myself to wake you.

I am so sorry for the way I acted when I got home last night. It was wrong of me to take my frustration out on you like that. I am ashamed to have hurt you and made you sad. I’m supposed to keep you safe and happy, but I did the complete opposite.

I promise I will work to become a better man for you, sweetheart. You deserve the world and I want to give it to you. I love you so much.

~ Tae

P.S. Tanju picked these flowers for you because they are beautiful just like you. I told him that the maintenance staff wasn’t going to be too happy with him, but he claims no one saw him do it.

By the time you were done reading, your tiny smile had morphed into a big, dopey grin. Tae must have picked the flowers after taking Tannie out for a walk earlier that morning. You could just picture him furtively glancing around the lobby before reaching into the garden to pluck out a couple and then casually walking away with them hidden under his jacket. It was such a silly, Tae-like thing to do, but it was an incredibly sweet gesture nonetheless.

The fact that he took the time to write out a sincere apology meant a lot to you. As you read through it once more, you felt the residual hurt and anxiety from last night fading away. Couples fight. People get upset and say and do things they don’t mean. It happens. There had certainly been more than a few times over the last two months where you’d snapped at Tae, whether because you were tired or hungry or just randomly in a bad mood.

You realized that the unique circumstances of the evening were making it seem worse than it really was. The truth was you were already on edge when he got home because you were planning to tell him your big news. The fact that he was off working on something that you didn’t fully understand yet also didn’t help. If it had been any other night and he came home in a bit of a surly mood, it wouldn’t have bothered you nearly as much. It was just bad timing.

Your fight aside, there was still the question of why Tae wore a shirt to bed. You had contemplated numerous possible reasons for this before sleep finally took you. They ranged from the completely innocent - he forgot to take it off - to the somewhat outlandish - he got a secret tattoo or piercing - all the way to the highly disconcerting - he was concealing injuries on his body from some kind of accident or physical altercation.

You had fallen asleep before you could settle on which seemed most plausible, but now that you were awake the most likely reason seemed fairly obvious: because it was unusually cold in the apartment at the moment. While you didn’t specifically remember it being cold last night, you didn’t remember it being warm either. You had also been drinking and had spent all night wrapped up in a blanket on the couch. Maybe the apartment was this cold last night and Tae decided to keep his shirt on to stay warm?

Whatever the reason for his unusual choice of sleepwear, you would find out about it when you and him finally talked which, you just realized, wasn’t going to be this morning. In all honesty, even if he was here right now you’re not sure you would even try to have the talk. There was just too much to say, too many bad feelings that needed to be worked through, and not enough time. There’s also no way either of you could have that conversation and then spend all day surrounded by tons of people trying to act totally normal.

It will just have to wait until tonight.

As you got up and began getting ready for the day, you realized that it was probably for the best that Tae was going to talk to Jimin right now. They might not have actually hung out last night, but Jimin did know what Tae was working on and would hopefully be able to help calm him down. You hated seeing him so upset, but until you two talked about everything there unfortunately wasn’t really anything you could do to help.

A half hour and several cups of coffee later, you were in the elevator heading down to the parking garage when you remembered you hadn’t texted Tae yet that morning. Not wanting him to think you missed his gifts or worse, saw them but didn’t care, you quickly pulled out your phone and sent him a message.

[8:34 AM] Thank you for the note and the flowers.

[8:34 AM] They were both beautiful.

[Taehyung 8:35 AM] You are beautiful.

[Taehyung 8:35 AM] And I love you.

[Taehyung 8:35 AM] And I’m sorry again.

[8:36 AM] I love you too.

[8:36 AM] And I forgive you.

[8:37 AM] Were you able to work things out with Jimin?

[Taehyung 8:38 AM] Yea we had a good talk this morning.

[8:38 AM] Good I’m glad 😊

[8:39 AM] But hey I just got into the car.

[Taehyung 8:39 AM] OK I’ll let you go.

[Taehyung 8:39 AM] No texting while driving!

[Taehyung 8:39 AM] And be sure to wear your seatbelt.

[Taehyung 8:40 AM] I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.

[8:40 AM] 💜

Smiling to yourself at his unnecessary, but adorable protectiveness, you put down your phone and put on your seatbelt like you were told and headed off towards Big Hit.

Twenty minutes later you were walking into the studio, feeling infinitely better than you had when you first woke up. You had spent the drive listening to a playlist Tae made for you which mostly consisted of sappy love songs. Several of them were ones he actually shared with ARMY during his TaeTae FM Vlives earlier in the year. At the time it broke your heart to hear him play those songs and realize he was obviously in love with someone, but little did you know that someone was you.

“Good morning, Y/N,” Mrs. Choi said with a warm smile as you set your bag down.

“Hi, Mrs. Choi,” you replied, returning the gesture. “How are you today?”

“Stressed,” she said with a laugh. “There’s just so many moving pieces when we do this shoot.”

“Yea, coordinating all the different groups and individuals is no small feat,” you agreed as you looked around the busy room.

“Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” you then added.

“There actually is something I wanted to ask you about,” she quickly replied.

You looked over at her with a curious expression as you waited for her to continue.

“One of the TXT stylists unfortunately isn't going to be able to make it here today,” she revealed. “They’ve suddenly fallen quite ill.”

“Another one of their stylists is also currently out on maternity leave,” she continued. “Their manager has been filling in for the last few weeks, but with a second stylist now out they are in a bit of a bind.”

“Would you be willing to transfer over there for today to help them out?” she asked tentatively.

“I would fill in for you here and work with Taehyung,” she then added.

If Mrs. Choi had asked you this a few months ago, you would have been absolutely convinced she was simply trying to get you out of her studio and out of her hair. However, as she stood there before you sporting a hesitant smile, you were certain that was not at all the case. Her asking you to join their team for the day was actually sort of flattering. It meant she was confident in your abilities and trusted you to represent the BTS team well. As much as you wanted to spend the day with Tae, you wanted to prove to her that you were worthy of her trust and confidence.

“I would be happy to help them out,” you replied honestly. “I’ll pack up my things now and head over there in a few minutes.”

“Thank you so much, Y/N,” she said brightly. “I know you will make me proud.”

The strange truth was that over the past month you and Mrs. Choi had grown significantly closer. Since that Friday when you almost had a panic attack during your conversation with Eunji and Donghae, she had been going out of her way to talk to you and check in with you to make sure you were doing alright. Her kindness and support had actually come to mean a great deal to you given how lonely and anxious you often felt at work these days.

She hadn’t specifically said anything, but you knew that she noticed the shift in your relationship with Tae. After years of scolding the two of you for being too loud and rowdy, the fact that you no longer talked much or joked around was surely obvious to her. You were also pretty sure she had correctly surmised that this was because Tae and Jisoo were now ‘together’.

She clearly did not like Jisoo; her vitriol for the young woman was stronger than it had been for you even at the worst of times. On more than one occasion she had come over and told Jisoo to stop disrupting everyone in her studio. One time she even straight up asked Jisoo to leave. Tae had also evidently fallen out of her good graces, no doubt because of who he now associated himself with. You felt guilty knowing her disappointment in Tae was misplaced, but you hoped she would come around once he ended his ‘relationship’ with Jisoo.

While you were loading up your carrying case with brushes and makeup pallets and anything else you thought you might need for the day, Tae suddenly walked into the room. For half a second he looked a little surprised to see you, but then his face broke out into a big, boxy smile. It instantly faltered, though, once he saw what you were doing.

“Why are you packing up?” he asked, giving you a curious and slightly concerned look.

“TXT is a little short-staffed today so I’m actually going to be working on their team for the shoot,” you said apologetically, hating the way his face fell as you spoke.

“You’re leaving me?” he said, giving you the most adorable pout you’d ever seen.

“Just for today,” you assured him. “I’ll be back on Monday.”

“But, why do you have to go?” he whined as he continued jutting out his lower lip. “Why can’t someone else go?”

“Because Mrs. Choi asked nicely and I wanted to help,” you replied in a hushed tone. “She likes me now, you know, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“So enough with the pouting,” you then scolded gently. “It’s just one photoshoot.”

“Still, I don’t like it,” he huffed out under his breath.

“They’re going to think you’re cute and fun and fall in love with you instantly and want to keep you,” he then said worriedly, keeping his voice down so no one else could hear.

“You make me sound like a lost puppy that was found on the street,” you said with a laugh.

Realizing that was exactly how he just described the situation, a silly grin replaced his pout and he started to laugh too.

“Ok, fine. You can abandon me for the day,” he then said with an exaggerated sigh. “I swear I won’t hold it against you for the rest of your life.”

“Just promise me you’ll come back, Jagi,” he then said softly, ironically giving you his puppy dog eyes.

“I promise,” you said back with a shy smile.

~~~

The TXT studio was on the same floor, but at the opposite end of the hallway. It was a little smaller than BTS’s, which made sense given that their group was smaller, but otherwise looked remarkably similar. You had been there a handful of times over the years, mostly to drop off something Mrs. Choi asked you to bring to their stylist’s manager, Baekhyun. Having mingled at enough company-wide functions, you were fairly well acquainted with him and the group’s stylists. They were all very friendly, but you were still a tad nervous to be joining their team on such short notice and for an event as big as this.

However, as soon as you stepped foot in the room your worries melted away. You were met with an incredibly warm welcome from both the staff as well as the members who all thanked you for coming to help out. After briefly meeting with Baekhyun, he brought you over to Beomgyu, the member who you would be working with for the day. You had met the young man on numerous occasions, but he was still adorably shy when you said hello. Tae was Beomgyu’s BTS bias, and the idol he looked up to most, so you wondered if that had anything to do with his nervousness around you.

Once you started getting him ready and he began to open up, you soon found that he actually reminded you a lot of Tae. He was extremely talkative and energetic, but also incredibly sweet. He had a very bright personality and seemed to simply radiate positive energy. He also just so happened to have an incredibly deep voice and be from Daegu. You had heard people make comparisons between him and Tae before and now that you were actually talking with him at length you understood why. Obviously, no one would ever replace Tae, but it was kind of nice to be spending the day with someone whose personality you knew yours meshed well with.

In all honesty, though, it would be hard not to get along with any of the guys. They were all so great, so kind and funny and outgoing. They were also all so young, most of them not even 20 and technically still teenagers, that at 26 you felt positively ancient. Their youthfulness made the environment in the room much more relaxed and playful than it was in your own studio which you loved. Given that you were used to being rowdy and silly with Tae, you felt like you fit right in.

Despite the fact that you were genuinely enjoying yourself, you did still miss him which is why you started smiling down at your phone like an idiot when he texted you.

[Taehyung 11:01 AM] How is my puppy doing?

[Taehyung 11:02 AM] Are you having fun in your new home?

[11:03 AM] They are such adorable little babies.

[11:03 AM] I am literally so soft right now 🥺

[Taehyung 11:04 AM] Haha I’m glad it’s going well.

[Taehyung 11:04 AM] Don’t get too comfortable, though.

[Taehyung 11:05 AM] I miss you and I want you back here with me.

[11:05 AM] You miss me, huh?

[Taehyung 11:05 AM] I do.

[Taehyung 11:06 AM] I miss the way you run your hands through my hair when you’re using the flat iron.

[Taehyung 11:06 AM] And the way you part your lips just a little bit when you’re putting on my makeup.

[Taehyung 11:07 AM] And the way you tilt your head to the side ever-so-slightly when you’re shamelessly checking me out 😉

[11:07 AM] You’re a little too cocky for your own good, you know that?

[11:08 AM] I think I’m going to ditch you and start secretly dating Beomgyu just to spite you.

[Taehyung 11:08 AM] Noooo don’t leave me, sweetheart.

[Taehyung 11:08 AM] 😭😭😭

[Taehyung 11:08 AM] I’ll be a good boy.

[11:09 AM] You promise?

[Taehyung 11:09 AM] I promise.

[Taehyung 11:09 AM] I won’t make any more jokes about how thirsty you are.

[11:10 AM] 😑

[11:10 AM] You’re dead to me, Kim Taehyung.

[Taehyung 11:10 AM] I’M SORRY.

[Taehyung 11:11 AM] I’m serious now. No more jokes.

[Taehyung 11:11 AM] How about I tell you how thirsty I am to make it up to you?

[Taehyung 11:11 AM] I’ll tell you all the filthy, unprofessional thoughts I had about you in the shower this morning...

[11:12 AM] …

[11:12 AM] You may proceed.

After Tae divulged his naughty shower fantasy in deliciously explicit detail, the two of you spent the rest of the day sending scandalous messages back and forth. It wasn’t full-on sexting, but it was still pretty risqué, especially considering you were not just working, but in the Big Hit building itself. The fact that you hadn’t been together in almost a week made it all the more exciting and had you absolutely itching to finally get your hands on him later that night.

You did feel slightly guilty reading and writing such filthy things while in the presence of your precious TXT babies, but you loved the idea of Tae doing so while he was with Jisoo. As you had predicted, she was all over him while everyone was together in the big room where the photos were being taken. After watching him basically ignore her all week, it was a little hard to watch him slip back into the role of her doting boyfriend while they were talking to Bang PD, but you knew he was just trying to put on a show and make it look convincing. Of course, it was actually no longer necessary for him to do that given that they would be ending their ‘relationship’ shortly and you would be leaving Big Hit not long after, but he unfortunately didn’t know that yet so you had no right to be frustrated.

Things were pretty hectic while the photos were being taken so you unfortunately didn’t get a chance to sneak back over to the BTS team and talk to Tae. However, you did shamelessly check him out from afar and decided, in your completely unbiased opinion, that he was hands down the most attractive Big Hit idol. He looked fantastic in the outfit you had picked out for him, but you chuckled to yourself when you saw that Mrs. Choi, who was quite conservative when it came to showing skin, had made him button his shirt up all the way. Usually you left at least one or two buttons undone, although lately he had been sneakily undoing a couple more. He claimed it was because he thought ARMY would like it, but you knew he just wanted to tease you with a full view of his chest when you leaned in to do his makeup.

By the end of the day you found yourself feeling quite exhausted, but overall really happy with how everything had gone. Spending the day with TXT had been a really great experience for you, both professionally and personally. As much as you hated not being with Tae, you realized partway through the day that it was probably a good thing that you had both gotten a taste of what it was going to be like once you left Big Hit in a little over a month.

In some ways, you felt like today’s change of plans was going to make this evening’s conversation go more smoothly. You had proven that you could both function totally fine at work without the one another and that you could successfully stay connected throughout the day. You hoped that this would be of reassurance to Tae when he undoubtedly got upset about the fact that you wouldn’t be together all the time anymore and started worrying that you wouldn’t be as close.

You were definitely still a little nervous about tonight, but that was to be expected before having an incredibly emotional, life-changing conversation. After what had happened last night, though, you were actually feeling more sure than ever that it was going to go well. Although unpleasant at the time, what the two of you went through had ended up giving you a great deal of confidence in your ability to tackle the upcoming challenges together. It showed you that as long as there was communication, honesty, and accountability in your relationship, everything would be OK.

~~~

Once the shoot was officially over, you found yourself back in the TXT studio helping to clean up and put away the guys’ outfits. You were hanging Beomgyu’s clothes on the rack in the corner when Baekhyun approached you.

“Thank you again for helping us out today,” he said sincerely. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“It was my pleasure,” you replied back happily. “I really enjoyed working with Beomgyu.”

“The feeling is mutual,” he said back smoothly, laughing a bit before he spoke again. “He was quite taken with you. I overheard him telling Soobin that he wished you could stay.”

You let out a little laugh in return, blushing slightly as you then diverted your attention back to the clothes in front of you. You were definitely going to enjoy telling Tae that little bit of information.

“I’m really glad Taehyung was able to help set this up,” Baekhyun then added.

You were smiling to yourself as he said that, imagining Tae getting all riled up and jealous at the thought of Beomgyu wanting to have you as his stylist, but his comment caught your attention and pulled you from your thoughts.

“What do you mean ‘help set this up’?” you asked curiously as you began buttoning up the shirt in your hands.

“Oh, I assumed he told you. I ran into him in the café this morning and we got talking about our situation,” Baekhyun said casually. “He’s the one who came up with the idea of you transferring over to help us out.”

Upon hearing his words, your hands immediately ceased their work, your fingers tightening around the topmost button like a vice.

It was Tae’s idea for you to transfer?

“He thought it would be fun for you to shake things up and spend a day with our boys,” he went on, blissfully unaware of the true impact of what he was saying.

“After he and I talked I reached out to Mrs. Choi and we made it happen,” he then continued as he made room on the rack and hung up Soobin’s outfit.

Momentarily stunned by this revelation, it took a few moments for you to remember that you needed to respond back to Baekhyun.

“Oh, right. Tae did mention that before I left this morning,” you lied, giving him a smile you hoped he couldn’t tell was completely fake.

“I must admit, I’m a little surprised he let you slip away,” he said with a chuckle before adding more seriously. “But, selfishly I’m glad he did because we truly needed the help.”

It looked like he was about to say something else, but just as he opened his mouth one of the other stylists suddenly called out to him from the other side of the room. He thanked you again for your help, shot you another smile, and then excused himself, leaving you alone with your now very tumultuous thoughts.

Staring down at the floor dejectedly, you felt a wave of embarrassment wash over you as you thought about everything Tae had said and done today. How surprised he seemed when you told him you’d be working with TXT for the day. How he said he wished you didn’t have to be the one to go. How he was worried about them liking you and wanting to keep you. How he spent all day saying that he missed you and couldn’t wait for you to come back. He did and said all of those things when all along he was the reason you were sent away in the first place.

You were hurt that he did that and didn’t tell you and even more hurt that he then put on that big performance when you left. At the time, him pouting and worrying about you leaving him even for a day made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but now it just made you feel humiliated. If he was the one to suggest that you be transferred, he obviously had no problem with you being away from him.

The fact that he then spent the rest of the day sending you flirty and suggestive text messages only made you feel worse. Just like last week when you realized he lied about where he was and then came home and slept with you, you felt betrayed and also used. Even if you hadn’t done anything physical today, you had still engaged in a form of intimacy. Knowing that you had said all those things to each other while he was being dishonest with you made you feel dirty and not in a good way.

What hurt the most, though, was the fact that he did all this after everything that happened last night. Just this morning he had written you what you thought was a sincere note apologizing for hurting you and promising to try and be a better man for you. For him to then turn around just a few hours later and lie to your face made all the beautiful words in that note seem hollow.

You just didn’t understand why he kept this from you or why he even did it in the first place. Your initial worry was that he was upset with you about something and wanted space, but that didn’t really make sense given he spent all day talking to you. With that in mind, you tried to think of some other reasons for why he might have acted this way. Maybe he threw out the suggestion not thinking they would actually follow through with it and then felt guilty once he realized they did and decided not to say anything? Maybe he was worried you were still secretly upset about last night and thought it would be best if you two didn’t work together today so things wouldn’t be awkward?

Whatever the reason, it was wrong for him to have lied, especially about something that involved your job. The two of you had always been careful not to let your relationship interfere with work, but today he had definitely crossed the line and that was not OK. With a heavy heart, you added this to the ever growing list of things you and him needed to talk about tonight. Less than an hour ago you were feeling more confident than ever that your relationship was solid and everything was going to be alright, but you couldn’t deny that this most recent discovery had shaken you. It just wasn’t like Tae to keep secrets from you.

At least, not until recently

As you collected your things, said goodbye to the remaining members of the TXT team, and started wandering down the hall towards the elevator, you texted Tae and tried to push that unnerving thought from your mind.

[4:55 PM] Are you heading home soon?

You hoped he was. Your anxiety regarding tonight’s conversation had skyrocketed during the last 10 minutes and you now felt an overwhelming urge to finally get everything out in the open. You had spent all week calming yourself down and trying to think rationally, and had even handled last night’s fight with a surprising amount of poise, but right now you felt yourself slowly slipping back into a state of panic. Something about the whole TXT transfer situation just felt so off.

As you stood there leaning against the wall by the elevator waiting for him to respond, you felt that now all-too familiar sense of unease creeping back in. You could see that he had read your message and the longer it took for those three dots to appear the worse you started to feel. It was a relatively simple question, one that shouldn’t take this long to answer. After waiting and waiting and waiting, you were just about to write something else when he finally responded.

[Taehyung 5:01 PM] Sweetheart, I’m so sorry but I just found out that me and the guys have to stay at the dorms for the rest of the weekend.

[Taehyung 5:02 PM] Things have been kind of tense between everyone lately and Jimin and I fighting last night sent Joon-hyung into a tailspin.

[Taehyung 5:02 PM] He wants us all to spend some time together so we can work things out before award show season starts.

[Taehyung 5:03 PM] I’ve got plenty of clothes and stuff there so I’m going to head straight there.

[Taehyung 5:03 PM] I’m sorry I won’t be there to snuggle with you tonight ☹️

[Taehyung 5:04 PM] Call me when you get home, OK? I miss you and I want to hear your voice.

An overwhelming and unbearable sadness came over you as you read and reread his messages. Thirty minutes ago you overheard Jin talking on the phone with who you could only assume was his fiancé. ‘That sounds great, darling. I’ll be home in an hour or so.’, you heard him say happily into the receiver. Namjoon had clearly not requested that everyone in the group stay at the dorms tonight.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you came to the heartbreaking realization that every single word Tae just wrote to you was a lie. He wasn’t going to the dorms because he had to, but because he wanted to, that is, if he was even going to the dorms at all. He wasn’t actually sorry that he wasn’t going to be able to snuggle with you tonight nor did he miss you or want to hear your voice. He just wanted you to think all of those things were true.

He was avoiding you, plain and simple. He didn’t want to see you last night. He didn’t want to see you this morning. He didn’t want to see you during the shoot. He didn’t want to see you now. He didn’t want to see you tomorrow. He just didn’t want to see you, period. This fear had crossed your mind the moment Baekhyun told you what Tae had done, but at the time you didn’t want to believe it. Now, though, this fact was just too glaringly and painfully obvious to ignore.

Your head was spinning as you stepped into the empty elevator. Slumping against the far wall, you felt truly overwhelmed by how rapidly everything was falling apart. From the very beginning this fake dating nightmare, and your relationship itself, you now realized, had been a house of cards waiting to collapse. One after another after another, the secrets had piled up on top of it and their staggering weight had finally become too much to bear.

Sadly, there was not a doubt in your mind which secret had been the breaking point.

Just yesterday afternoon you had believed with all your heart that whatever Tae was secretly doing, it wasn’t something that you had to worry about. You trusted that he had a totally valid reason for why he hadn’t told you about it and were convinced that he would explain everything when the time was right. But right now, after realizing he had spent all day telling you lies and pushing you away, the truth could no longer be ignored.

Whatever happened last night, Tae felt guilty about it. He felt guilty and was hiding from you because of it, physically hiding from you. The best case scenario was that he was only doing that because he didn’t think he could keep up the façade if he was with you in person, but the terrible, sinking feeling in your stomach told you that wasn’t true.

Just as the elevator doors closed, the first few tears started rolling down your cheeks as you recalled the way he had recoiled from you last night when you went to hug him and how he had been reticent to cuddle you and the fact that he wore a shirt to bed.

He didn’t want you near him.

He didn’t want you to touch him.

He didn’t want you to see him.

You knew at that moment that he wasn’t just hiding from you, but hiding something from you, something tangible and visible, something that would tell you exactly what he had been doing last night.

“It can't be...he wouldn't...,” you whispered to yourself as your head fell into your hands and you finally allowed your mind to wander to the darkest of places in search of an explanation.

A second later, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Slowly raising your head, you looked up and saw none other than Jisoo standing before you. She was still in her photoshoot outfit which was a beautiful floor length halter dress in a deep shade of red. It was probably the most conservative dress you’d ever seen her wear, but she looked stunning nonetheless, elegant even.

After eyeing you up and down disdainfully, and obviously noticing your tear-stained cheeks, she stepped in beside you. The moment the doors closed and you were alone, she caught your gaze in the mirrored doors in front of you.

“You know, I was supposed to wear something else today, but I accidentally had a little too much fun last night,” she said smugly as she tugged the neckline of her dress to the side.

There, all over her chest, trailing from her collarbone down to the swell of her breasts and no doubt beyond, were a plethora of hickeys. The sight made your already queasy stomach churn, but it was her next words that truly sickened you.

“If you think these are bad, you should see the ones I left on him,” she cooed, feigning remorse as she threw the words you had spoken to her on Monday back in your face.

For a few heart stopping moments, your mind went completely blank as you struggled to comprehend what you were seeing and hearing, but as you gazed in horror at those red and purple bruises, the last piece of puzzle, the one that explained Tae’s evasive, mysterious behavior, finally fell into place.

Why he was upset that you were still awake last night.

Why he was so distant and cagey.

Why he wore a shirt to bed.

Why he left this morning before you could see him.

Why he didn’t want you to be his stylist today.

Why his shirt was buttoned all the way up during the shoot.

Why he said he needed to stay at the dorms.

Why he literally did everything and anything within his power today to make sure you did not see him.

It was all so heartbreakingly clear now: his chest was covered with hickeys.

He cheated on you last night with Jisoo, accidentally let her leave marks, and was now hiding from you until they went away. From the moment you realized Tae was wearing a shirt to bed last night, this terrifying explanation had begun lurking in the shadows of your mind, but you had simply refused to acknowledge it. When you woke up this morning and found his heartfelt apology, you accepted it without question because you were too scared to face the truth.

“I tried to tell you, but you didn’t listen,” she sneered, letting go of her dress and allowing it to conceal the evidence once more.

Every single word that left her lips was a dagger in your heart and the pain became all the more excruciating when you realized every single one was true. She did try to tell you, multiple times, and you didn’t listen. Instead, you kept blindly believing the man that you knew for a fact was lying to you.

“Do yourself a favor and take that last shred of dignity you have left and leave him,” she then added, now sounding deadly serious. “Leave him before you can embarrass yourself any further by continuing to desperately cling to someone who does. not. love. you. ”

With every terrible word she emphasized, your heart sank lower and lower until it was lying in a heap on the cold, lonely floor. You tried to think of something, anything to say in reply, but your mind was a dark, empty void. On Monday she had claimed he didn’t want you, but you proved her wrong by getting him to sleep with you. There was a world of difference, though, between wanting someone and truly loving them. What did you have to prove this new, far more devastating claim wrong?

His empty promises? His manipulative behavior? His blatant lies?

Nothing. You had nothing.

Because the way Tae treated you today is not the way you treat someone you love.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get home,” she said casually once the elevator stopped and the doors opened. “I’m expecting company this evening.”

And with that, she strolled out into the parking garage.

It was her final insinuation, that the place where he was going to hide the marks from you was the very place where he had received them, that caused the dam inside you to finally break. All at once great, heaving sobs began tearing through your chest, shattering your heart and grinding the broken shards into nothing but dust.

People talked all the time about the ‘Duality of Kim Taehyung’. They marveled at how quickly and easily he can go from being playful to serious, shy to outgoing, cute to sexy. What no one ever talked about, though, is how he can use this remarkable talent of his to manipulate those around him. One second he’s showering you with love and attention, making you swoon with his sweet words and affectionate gestures, but a second later he’s exploiting the trust you’ve given him so you’ll let your guard down long enough for him to use you and take from you until there is nothing left.

All day long he had manipulated you. He used flattery and gifts and grand declarations of love to distract you from his hurtful and suspicious behavior. He made you feel wanted and needed and desired so you wouldn’t realize he was secretly avoiding you and pushing you away. He was so affectionate and protective that you believed your safety and happiness were his priority when in reality he had a hidden, selfish agenda. He told you exactly what you wanted to hear to distract you from the awful, gut-wrenching truth.

That all that time you spent convincing yourself that he loved you and respected you and would never hurt you, you were only lying to yourself.

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Tag List (always open!):

@mooseknucklesbussy @hordanhearsawhooo @iridescenthobi @silvyaaa @yoonglespringles10 @serendipitysev @t0rus-milk-bread @cuteipat @aomi-nabi @yessii-i @just-jeon @allizarae @somewhereofftheglobe @mykie-min-bangtan  @jesus-in-the-womb  @infernal-alpaca  @fushigurosluvr @topthis808 @emberfulclass @flashcal @barbsburger @jakiki94  @taeyohonic @afiaaaa19 @nooojaaam @ lucci-girl @2oct @foodwaterbangtansonyeondan  @vantedmp

#kth #kth smut #kth x reader #kth fluff #kth angst #kim taehyung #bts taehyung #taehyung x reader #bts #btsv #kth tgtbt

[et-dah]

Silly Things You Fight Over

here, have some petty fights with lucifer, mammon, levi, and belphie 😤😤

finally got back to writing after two whole weeks of midterms. got a bit of writing block so this is some writing warm ups to get the creative juices flowing💫

Lucifer

You keep forgetting to turn off the lights at night, he keeps forgetting to close cabinet doors, and someone keeps keeps stealing the hangers from your respective sides of the wardrobe. (It’s actually both of you.)

Somehow, he always takes the trash out 3 seconds before you need to throw something away and it frustrates you to the Celestial Realm and back.

Can you believe that you actually have had fights about who’s more tired between the both of you…

Also, you know the kind of fights where the two of you are agreeing to somethig but neither of you realizes it until one goes, “Wait, why are we arguing about this? We’re both saying the same thing! Neither of us wants to go to Diavolo’s party!” and then you both kiss and go on with your lives. That’s it. That’s your kind of fights.

Mammon

If you so much as look at the TV remote when he’s watching his show…

Once when you were playing monopoly, you bought the property he wanted and he sulked for the rest of the day. This happens every single time you two play monopoly.

“You squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom of the tube, not the middle!” “It’s just toothpaste!”

Both of you once had a full blown fight about how to spend hypothetical lottery winnings. It was apparently hilarious to the rest of the House of Lamentation and they never live it down.

Leviathan

I kid you not, the two of you once had an argument about the last slice of pizza and it escalated into a sword fight (because of course Levi keeps TSL swords in his bedroom). It was a fun and exciting duel until Levi broke the cursed vase in the hallway and Lucifer found out about it. Now you have a rotation schedule on who gets the last slice of pizza.

“How much percentage do you have?” “12% but—” “Give me the charger!”

Every week, on game night, you always fight over who gets which controller, even though they’re both the same, identical controller.

One time, you watched one (1) episode of anime without him and Levi wouldn’t talk to you for three whole weeks because “you cheated on me, MC! I trusted you!”

Belphegor

Belphie: *wakes up after an eight-hour sleep* “And another thing—”

Catch the two of you having a blanket tug of war and grumbling to each other in half-asleep states until one of you decides to roll over and flop on top of the other to get some body warmth.

You watched Inception with Belphie one night and the two of you had a long, heated debate that dragged on for weeks over whether the guy was still dreaming or awake at the end of the movie.

Belphie and you once got into an un-good-natured pillow fight, complete with feathers flying, sheets thrown across the room, and a lot of yelling. At one point Belphie even tried to throw his mattress at you. Lucifer was livid at the mess you both made, especially when he heard that it was all because “you” were being mean to Belphie in a dream.

#obey me #obey me headcanons #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me belphegor #rol writes #das right #im back babyyyy #oh damn i miss writing

[hazbinheadcanons]

hazbin hotel head canon pt. 15

Charlie wasn't born with wings and it took many years before she developed them, due to her being only half angelic, her body had to adjust to her developing powers and abilities however it was clear that she would gain her abilities from her father, often leading to random power bursts.

her wings didn't manifest until her early teens, the process began during a normal(ish) evening in hell, Charlie's back began to feel itchy and it feels like something is shifting in her back, maybe she just needed a bath? sometimes hell can effect demons randomly she thought silently remembering the time her father became ill from smelling a flower growing in the gardens. after having her bath the itching eased for a short while before it flared up again. hmm odd maybe its the new cream she's been using? her mother recommend it, strange...maybe her skin type was more like her fathers too. It was getting late and she needed to get up early for a social event with her parents. Razzle and dazzle had already snuggled up together at the end of the bed. Slipping under her covers she eventually drifted off to sleep.

However it didn't last long, she woke up suddenly from the pain tumbling out of bed she stumbled into her bathroom. Her back it burned, it felt like a hot knife stabbing into her flesh constantly. Turning around infront of the mirror charlie could see her something poking underneath her skin reaching out she gently touched the source of her discomfort, bones she concluded the burning intensified from her brief touch. She should go get help but charlie didn't want to bother her parents it was rare for them to get quiet time together with how busy ruling hell is and her mother being on tour.

"Charlotte"

"dad? What are you doing here?" she noticed razzle and dazzle stood silent behind him, oh... She must have woke them up in her hurry to the bathroom and they rushed to get her father.

"what's wrong Charlotte?" she could the concern in his voice as he came towards her

"my back, there's something wrong, it's burns"

"let me see Charlotte, I think I might be able to ease the pain"

Turning around, she showed her father her back, he hummed quietly looking at the bones poking out underneath her skin and gently touching the surrounding area, "does this feel sore too?" she nodded silently the pain was becoming unbearable, it was beginning to feel like her skin was being ripped apart. Her father picked up a towel and placed it against her back slightly turning she could see the towel beging to turn red... Oh that's not good, what's going on?

What's happening to me?

"it seems like your wings are about emerge, it's going to be very painful don't worry darling I'll put you to sleep and when you wake up there will be no more pain"

She could feel the magic working her eyes became heavy and she slipped into a dreamless sleep. While charlie slept lucifer began to cut her back and gently eased each of her wings out and healed her wounds. In total she had 6 wings, It would be a long time before she would be able to fly however looking closely at the wings it was evident that charlie had baby feathers.

It wasn't till early morning charlie woke up from her fathers sleeping spell, she was glad she didn't need to be awake and suffer through the pain. Her back felt itchy and irritated. Sitting up slightly she felt heavier turning to look at her back a pair of fluffy wings were slightly lifted, she stared in awe at the wings. Shifting off her bed charlie wobbled as she tried to keep herself balanced with the extra limbs making her feel unsteady. Turning again to see her new wings she noticed her second and third pair of wings, 3 sets of wings just like her father. Walking towards her door she carefully tried not to knock anything other unsuccessfully a broken vase layed on the floor smashed when she turned and hit the table with her wing. She frowned at the vase before heading out her room and towards the dining room. Perhaps her father could teach her how to keep her wings tucked in. However she hungry at the moment, it seems growing extra limbs causes a bigger appetite.

#vivziepop #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel vivziepop #hazbin hotel charlie #charlie magne #lucifer magne #hazbin hotel headcanon

[murfeelee]

Maximalism INSP Set

Included in this set are 31 items; my super secular take on doing a December Advent holiday collection:

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Download set (packages only): Mediafire | SimFileShare

Download 2 Pianos as Decor (basegame): Mediafire

Descriptions & preview pics under the cut:

Birdcage as Perch (Pets EP) V2

FLAWS: The birds fly in and out of the cage through the bars, they tend to float in the air when pecking at the invisible bell toy, filling the bird feed looks ridiculous, etc etc. Look, I just wanted a generic effing birdcage, okay? It’s janky AF, but I like it.

Bird Cage as Decor with Slots

As I said: I just wanted more birdcages. I just took the skull out of this cage, and added a decor slot inside. Found under Misc Decor, IIRC.

TS4 to TS3 EsmeraldaF Renaissance Piano as Late Night EP Keyboard (with slots)

I converted the TS4 piano here, but changed the art from Medieval to Renaissance, cuz I just love Botticelli & Michelangelo, sue me. (And I threw in Baroque Domenichino cuz unicorns.)

TS2 to TS3 Simnuts French Harpsicord as Late Night EP Piano

I converted the TS2 piano here, but changed the art to images I personally wanted. Recolorable.

TSB Round Screen as Television

I took TSB’s decorative screen and made it a TV, cuz I want one IRL. XD

The backs have the same variations as TSB, with a recolorable variation too.

TS2 to TS3 Tassel Table Lamp & TS4 to TS4 Divider Tassel Throw as Decor

The decorative Tassel Throw needs OMSPs to use with different dividers you have.

TS4 to TS3 Fur Stool as Dining Chair

That’s the Fur Stool in the above preview pic, I’m too lazy & tired to do more. Converted from here. Recolorable.

WM Tungsten Dining Chair RETEXTURED and CLEAR

This TS3 dining chair is one of my absolute favorites, but I desperately wanted a recolorable fur throw on it. So I added one, but I also decided to add different fur types, AND made the chair clear with recolorable glass, because why not.

TS4 to TS3 Geode Coffee Table

This is from one of Daer0n’s long gone sets that I converted from TS4, and made fully recolorable (then, of course, decided to also make as a dining table.)

2 TS4 to TS3 Geodes as Dining Tables

Geode 1 is fully recolorable.

Geode 2 has several color variations that aren’t recolorable.

TS4 to TS3 SKCR Dining Chair

Converted from here, and made fully recolorable.

TS2 to TS3 Geode RECOLORABLE & Tall Geode as Table Light

Still on my geode kick, I also revisited a TS2 oldie but goldie that has been converted a bunch of times, but never made recolorable. O_o So I made it recolorable, you’re welcome.

TS2 to TS3 Steffor Pampas Grass Vase

That’s the Vase in the above preview pic, I’m too lazy & tired to do more. Non-recolorable. My bad. Found under Plants.

2 PXL Ostrich Feather Stands as Decor + SV Angel Lighting LOWERED

I heavily modified the TS4 version, which was waaaay too high poly, and I didn’t like the stand, so I replaced it with one of EA’s generic lamp stand meshes. Then I decided I didn’t like the shape of the plumage on the original Ostrich Stand, and made a Part 2 Version rearranging the feathers more to my liking. And THEN, I took this original Ceiling Light and lowered it to be used with the MoveObjects On cheat, to create a very snazzy art deco look.

2 TS4 to TS3 EA Bar Globes as End Table (Open & Closed)

More art deco type stuff, I desperately wanted bar globes, but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to make them functional. So instead I just settled for making End Tables. U_U (The drinks are these here.) Recolorable, etc.

Tiger Rug for Surfaces with Misc Slots

This mesh was modified from the Bioshock rug converted here -- I made it in different color variations, and of course changed the mesh, so that the Tiger Rug could sit “naturally” on top of most dining tables. I also added 3 extra decor slots.

2 Tiger Rugs for Couches (with slots)

“I live for furs! I worship furs!” So I decided to add even more fur stuff, and made these 2 Couch Throws based off the same tiger rug. They can be used on loveseats & sofas, but you’ll quickly notice that they’re only suited for particular couch shapes of particular back & arm heights. Sorryboutit.

TS4 to TS3 S4L Fur Rugs

That’s the Fur Rug in the above preview pic, I’m too lazy & tired to do more.

Fringe Rugs 2x3

The fringe is recolorable. I also added a fully recolorable version.

EA Mosaic Rug

I modified this from EA’s mosaic rug here, cuz I just wanted the stencils. EA’s Store version isn’t needed, no worries.

Zebra Head Mounted (with & without Alicorn) as Wall Art

The zebra mesh I took this from was converted in TS2 & TS4 from some other game, IDER. Non-recolorable,

2 Bohemian Wallpapers (non-recolorableish, found under Paints) (+ a more RECOLORABLE Wallpaper I threw in as an extra, you’re welcome)

Peacock Wallpaper (semi-recolorableish, found under Paints)

Because I’m weak.

Y’all know I love peacocks.

_________________________________________________

And that’s everything! *exhausted panting*

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Download set (packages only): Mediafire | SimFileShare

Download 2 Pianos as Decor (basegame): Mediafire

#sims 3 cc #ts2 to ts3 #ts4 to ts3 #sims 3 late night #Sims 3 pets #sims 3 buy mode #sims 3 decor #Sims 3 build mode #sims 3 wallpapers #sims 3 comfort #sims 3 surfaces #sims 3 lighting #sims 3 electronics #sims 3 rugs #sims 3 wall art #sims 3 bohemian #Sims 3 conversion

[bluesylveon2]

My My, I Could Never Let You Go

Summary: Sasha Zoe just wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. There is only one problem: she doesn’t know who her dad is! Sasha invites 3 men in hopes of finding out which one is her father. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairings: Levi x Hange, Sasha x Niccolo, and other background relationships

Disclaimer: This is a Levihan Mamma Mia au. This fanfic is inspired by Mamma Mia which is directed by Phyllida Loyd, written by Catherine Johnson, and uses music from the pop group ABBA. Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

A/N: First, let me start this by saying happy belated bday to Sasha. I am updating both this and the epilogue today. Enjoy!

Special thanks to @snudootchaikovsky for beta reading!

Need to catch up? Catch up here!

Ch 15: Take a Chance on Me

Hange cannot believe how life changes in a blink of an eye. First, she gets pregnant with Sasha and raises her all by herself. Second, she gets married today instead of Sasha. She can't help but laugh at the irony of it all.

It's funny how life works in mysterious ways.

"What's so funny, Hange?" Levi asks, breaking Hange out of her trance. She lovingly looks at her new husband as he gently rubs the back of her hand with his thumb and smiles.

"I'm just thinking about everything that's happened so far." she gestures to everyone at the reception. Sasha is with her girlfriends and eating a mountain of food. Niccolo is nearby with his bachelor party. Erwin discusses something with Mike, and Rico and Nanaba are drinking their respective drinks until Marie joins them. Hange also gestures to the matching wedding bands she grabbed earlier on her's and Levi's fingers. The rings were heart-shaped and had feather-shaped decorations and an alexandrite embedded in one side of them. The only difference is the color: Hange's is yellow gold with a purple alexandrite, while Levi's is white gold with a green alexandrite.

(The couple could care less if the rings matched or not.)

The rings themselves were another parting gift to Hange (the other one being the vase Eren and Connie accidentally broke) from Mrs. Alexandra. She got it from her husband before he passed away many years ago. Hange inherited the rings because Mrs. Alexandra wanted her to keep them for 'whenever she gets married.' Hange thinks Mrs. Alexandra referred to it if she ever married Mike, and she did not expect to use it anytime soon. She initially planned to give it to Sasha because she had no need for it, so she decided to leave it in its case to collect dust in her room until now.

Then again, life works in mysterious ways.

"It's kinda crazy to think about how much everything has changed with just one snap, you know?" Hange chuckles and a small smile graces Levi's face.

"It does." He admits as he inspects his own ring. "But I wouldn't have it any other way." He brings Hange’s left hand up to admire the rings on her fingers. He then raises it to his lips and kisses it. Levi smirks behind her hand at the sight of Hange's red face.

"Geez, Levi. You became a sap. Not that I mind, really." She says with a flustered face and tries to think of a comeback. It only takes her a few seconds to come up with something, and she stands up abruptly. She turns to Levi and lays a hand on his shoulder while ignoring Levi's confused expression.

"Say, Levi. We should go cut the cake now so we can dance later."

She slowly leans down enough to where her lips lightly graze the top of his ear.

"We can dance all night long, Levi." She whispers seductively and quickly leans back to wink at Levi. She quickly walks off towards Pieck's direction while ignoring what just happened between her and Levi. Not like anyone was watching anyway and Levi cannot be thankful enough for that.

Hange smirks as she walks off to talk to Pieck. Now he is the one with the red face.

Point. Hange: 1.

Levi: 0.

---

"So what do we now? The whole ceremony did not go as I expected." Hanami says out of the blue, and everyone's eyes stop to look at her. The girls were sitting at their own little table, close to Sasha's parents but far enough to talk about anything. Additionally, both Sasha and Niccolo wanted to spend some time with their friends before leaving the island.

Sasha swallows the cake in her mouth and frowns. "Hey! Don't think about returning any of your gifts, you hear? I heard one of you guys got me a really nice fondue set, and I intend on using it!" She glares at her friends and points her fork at each of them threateningly. Everyone nods their heads to show their agreement. Sasha smiles, and the girls go back to eating. They were unaware of Sasha setting her fork down before placing her arms on the table in a business-like manner.

"So who do you think would get married next?" she asks so randomly that Annie and Hanami almost choked on their food.

Mina takes some time to think about it. "Hmm, maybe Mikasa?"

Mikasa turns to Mina, horrified. "Me?! But I'm single, and you're not, Mina. You have a better chance than me."

Mina giggles. "Yes, but you're so pretty and talented, Mikasa. I'm sure there are people on this island who adore you! Remember what Eren said yesterday?"

Mikasa blushes and ignores her other friends giggling at her. She wishes she had brought her scarf to hide behind it but chose not to instead. Who brings a scarf to a wedding anyway?

"He was just being nice."

"Mhm. Go tell yourself that, Mikasa. I heard the two of you spent some alone time together too."

"Jean would be a good choice too," Hanami adds, and everyone turns to her with mixed emotions. Some were shocked, while others smiled like the Cheshire cat.

Hanami looks at them and chuckles. "What? I was honest. Jean is a good guy."

"Do my ears deceive me, or did I hear Hanami compliment Jean?" Hitch gasps, and laughs.

Hanami rolls her eyes. "Yeah yeah." She turns to Mikasa. "I think Jean or Eren would be delighted to have you, Mikasa. Imagine if you did end up getting married next?" she teases.

Mikasa groans and wishes the ground could swallow her up right there. Here she thought she could get away from her love life. Let alone make it sound as if she was in a love triangle. Historia, who is sitting next to Mikasa, rubs her back for comfort.

Hitch focuses her cat-like grin on Annie. "Speaking of, I think out of all of us girls, Annie will be the next to get married."

Annie scoffs in response. "What makes you think I would get married next? What about you and Marlowe?"

Hitch innocently draws circles with her finger in the air. "Oh, I don't know. Just a hunch. You and Armin have been together the longest, after all. Plus, Marlowe wants to wait a few years before he puts a ring on my finger, sooooo-." she trails off. Her eyes scan the party and she ignores Annie staring at her.

"Speaking of, is that Armin getting wasted with Porco and a few of the guys over there?" She points to the far corner of the reception. Annie follows where Hitch is pointing at to find Armin drinking ouzo shots with the guys.

Annie's face becomes horrified at the sight. Armin has a horrible alcohol tolerance in comparison to hers, at least.

"Oh no. I'll be right back." Annie stands up and runs over to her boyfriend.

"Take your time!" Hitch calls and starts laughing when Annie is far enough to not hear her.

Historia, now finished comforting Mikasa, narrows her eyes, and looks at Hitch suspiciously. "Ok, Hitch, spill. You know something here that no one else does."

Everyone looks at Hitch with interest, and she grins.

"Let's just say that Armin has been holding on to a ring, and I'll leave it at that."

Mina gasps. She cannot believe what she is hearing. "How long has Armin planned on proposing to Annie." she looks at Hitch with excitement.

"About a few months now." Hitch giggles. "He just carries the ring around with him because he loves her too much. He might actually be carrying it right now."

"Let's just hope Armin is not too drunk to propose to her right here." Sasha laughs, and everyone nods along in agreement.

"I hope not. Hange might beat him up for ruining her night." Hanami admits, and everyone laughs at the thought of an angry Hange beating up a poor and drunk Armin.

---

"So, are you going to talk to him?" Rico eyes Nanaba. Currently, her poor friend kept stealing glances at the tall blond who is busy talking to Erwin. Rico has seen the way Nanaba and Mike were talking to each other yesterday. She even gave her approval! So why is Nanaba not doing anything?

"Not yet," Nanaba says and takes yet another glance at Mike laughing at something Erwin had said. She smiles at his expression, and Rico rolls her eyes because that's all Nanaba is doing!

"C'mon, Nanaba. You were talking to Mike just fine yesterday. Is it because of the whole dad thing?"

Nanaba scoffs but maintains eye contact with Mike (not that it is creepy or anything). "Of course not! It's just...I had a drink at that time."

Rico raises an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she points at Nanaba. "Then what are you holding?" she asks, referring to the bottle of beer in Nanaba's hand.

"Shit!"

"Mhm. Now go talk to Mike!"

"No!" Nanaba exclaims. She turns, sits back down at her seat, and focuses on beer, her back facing both Rico and Mike from afar.

Rico tilts her head back to look at the night sky and groans. Goodness gracious, Nanaba is hopeless.

"Well, it has been a while, Rico." Rico recognizes that voice from anywhere and smiles. She turns to greet Marie, who walks to their seats with a glass of wine in hand.

"Yes, it has Marie, and I need your help." Marie raises an eyebrow while Rico sticks her thumb out and points at Nanaba, who is busy drinking again.

"Listen, I'm going to need your help like old times sake. Nanaba here has been staring at Mike ever since we got our food, and she has done absolutely nothing! She refuses to even talk to the guy" She practically yells at Nanaba's ear, but the woman swats her hand around like a fly.

"Wasn't she dancing with him yesterday, though?"

"Yes!"

Marie's mouth opens in understanding, and an idea pops into her head. She places a hand on Nanaba's shoulder, causing the woman to turn her attention to her.

"Hey, Nanaba! It's been a while. How about you and I catch up after I go talk to that handsome guy over there." She says and points towards Erwin and Mike's direction

"Oh yeah, sure," Nanaba replies nonchalantly, and Marie smiles mischievously. Nanaba must think she is referring to Erwin.

'Thanks, Nanaba! Excuse me while I go talk to Mike for a bit-"

"No, no, I'll do it instead!" Nanaba says with determination and stands up abruptly, ignoring her drink. She rushes past a smiling Marie and a stunned Rico. Rico cannot believe how easy Marie made it while she was struggling earlier.

"Can you also ask Erwin to come over here too?" Marie calls out, and Nanaba gives her a thumbs up to signal that she heard her loud and clear. She turns to find Rico with her jaw dropped and staring at Nanaba's disappearing figure.

Marie laughs at the sight. "It just comes to that easy, Rico."

---

"Hey, Pieck! Where's Porco?" Hange greets the woman sitting alone, wearing Porco's suit jacket over her body, and eating 3 slices of cake. She sits down on an empty seat next to Pieck.

Pieck turns to Hange and swallows the cake before speaking. "He's over there drinking with Sasha's friend, Armin," she says and uses her thumb to point to her husband. Hange follows her direction to find both men, plus a few others from the island like Colt and Connie, drinking. Meanwhile, Marlowe and Marco watch from their group with Jean and Eren on the sidelines just in case anything goes wrong. She watches as Annie approaches the group to take care of a drunk Armin.

'You're not going to join them? You usually drink along with Porco." Hange comments and tilts her head in confusion. She remembers when the three of them (plus Nanaba and Rico) would all have drinking challenges to see who would be the last to blackout. Of course, Nanaba won, but Pieck never turns down an opportunity to drink.

"Nah.” Pieck nonchalantly waves a hand in the air. “Doctor recommended to not drink for the next few months."

Hange just stares at Pieck while Pieck goes back to devouring her cake.

One.

Two.

Three.

It takes three seconds for Pieck's words to finally click in Hange's head.

"Pieck?! Are you- mmph!" Pieck jumps over and covers Hange's mouth with her hand.

"Shhhhhh! Do you want everyone here to hear you?" Pieck hisses and glances around for anyone overheard them. Hange shakes her head 'no' with wide eyes. Pieck waits until it is all clear before removing her hand.

"Why didn't you mention it before?" Hange whispers.

"Well, Porco and I did not expect today to end up the way it did, but here we are. Also, what kind of asshole announces their pregnancy at a wedding?!"

"True. Does Sasha know?"

Pieck shakes her head. "No, but I plan on telling her before she and Niccolo leave later."

Hange smiles. Who knew today would be such a big day for everyone in her family? First, Sasha decides what she wants to do herself. Second, Hange gets married and Pieck's pregnancy. Hange sends a small thank you to whatever deity hears her.

"That explains the no alcohol and the sudden cake craving then."

Pieck finishes yet another slice of cake and turns to Hange. "Honestly, I don't know how you did this, Hange. This baby won't come out for another 6 months, and pregnancy is such a hassle! I applaud you for being able to do it alone."

Hange chuckles and looks away with a blush on her face. "Yeah, it was a lot for me, but it was definitely worth it in the end." she turns to look at her daughter now with Niccolo by her side.

"I had Sasha."

Pieck turns to look at Sasha and smiles.

"Who knows? Maybe you and your 'friend,' Levi, will do some things, and she will have a sibling soon?" she teases, and Hange lightly punches her shoulder.

"Shut up, Pieck!"

---

Nanaba's confidence plummets the moment she is 10 feet away from Mike's table. Why is she doing this? Why did she fall for Marie's scheme? She starts regretting her decision as each second passes. What is she even supposed to talk to Mike about anyway? The weather?

Nanaba's internal rambling goes away the moment she locks eyes with Mike. The same green eyes she is familiar with now brighten up, and Mike beckons her to come over.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Hey, Mike. Hey, Erwin." Nanaba casually says. It's not like they need to hear her internal debate. No!

"Hey!" Mike replies with his charming smile. Damn it. He is not making this easier for her.

"Hello, Nanaba." Erwin smiles.

"Oh, Marie asked for you, Erwin. You know, to talk."

On the outside, Nanaba looks calm. However, on the inside, the woman is freaking out. She should've stalled a bit longer, but her mouth decided to speak for itself instead.

Erwin's eyes widen as if he realized something, and he turns to Mike. "Right. I will go so I can leave the two of you-" he gestures to Nanaba, who had a red tint on her face. "To talk privately. If you will excuse me."

Erwin stands up to head towards Marie, leaving Nanaba and Mike alone. Nanaba just stands there awkwardly. Her mind is frazzled.

"You should sit down, Miss Author," Mike smiles and pats Erwin's empty seat. Nanaba blushes before sitting down. She and Mike sat close but not too close. She could accidentally touch Mike's leg with her right one if she moves it a bit. That's how close they sat.

Nanaba is too busy trying to figure out what to say to notice Mike staring at her. He stares at how she plays around with her fingers as if she is unsure what to do. Mike notices her blue eyes that would roam around to look at the other guests. He also studies Nanaba's outfit, a no sleeve light green jumpsuit that is definitely Nanaba's style. Sadly, the lack of sleeves leaves Nanaba vulnerable to the breeze, and Mike can see some goosebumps on her arms.

"Here." Mike shrugs his jacket off wraps it around Nanaba's shoulders.

"You look chilly," he says softly, and Nanaba turns her head to thank him. What she did not expect was how close Mike is to her. So close in fact that she can make out the different colors of green in his eyes.

"Thank you," she whispers without breaking eye contact.

"No problem," Mike replies and pulls away from Nanaba to stare at the crowd. Nanaba follows along. They watch as Erwin laughs at something Marie says. Rico is busy talking to a random guest (aka potential husband), Levi talking to Niccolo about something (probably threatening him), Hange laughing with Pieck and Porco, and Sasha spending time with all of her friends. Nanaba smiles at the sight.

"I'm happy for Hange," Mike says out of the blue.

"Me too." Nanaba turns to Mike. "I mean, she did get married, and she got to witness Sasha choose what she wants to do. Plus, you got a daughter out of all of it."

"What can I say when I am ⅓ of her father after all." Mike chuckles, and Nanaba joins too.

Nanaba leans back on her chair. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Hmm." Mike leans back and turns to Nanaba. "Continue to explore the world. Just go wherever the world takes me. What about you, Miss Best-Selling Author?"

Nanaba chuckles at the title. "Well, I do need to write another book to keep up the title. Maybe a romance one this time?"

"Really? What would it be about."

Nanaba shrugged. "Maybe about a girl who decides to travel the world? She finds someone on the trip, and it just goes from there."

Mike looks at her inquisitively. "That plot sounds kinds of familiar. Is it based on someone you know?" he asks with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Nanaba giggles, slowly feeling at ease with being with Mike. "Maybe? That's an author's secret, though."

Mike chuckles and leans a bit closer to Nanaba. "Well, how about a proposition?" he extends a hand, so it rests in the open space between them. "What about we work on our new books together? Your multitude of books and my travel books."

Nanaba looks down at Mike's hand and thinks about it. Maybe this book could have a spin-off? About the protagonist's friend who eventually finds love herself? Of course, she would need a sequel for that series too. She places her hand on top of Mike's and interlocking their fingers together. She squeezes it once and does not say a word. Mike did not need her to verbalize her response.

He already knew her answer.

---

Marie smiles as Erwin approaches her table. Meanwhile, Rico places a hand on Marie's shoulder.

"Good luck. Don't forget to remember me if the two of you ever get married," she whispers and stands up. She nods to Erwin as he sits down in her spot before walking off to talk to any available bachelor.

"Did Rico not want to join us?" Erwin asks as he watches Rico walk up to Gelgar. Marie shakes her head.

"No. Rico said she wanted to give me some alone time."

Erwin nods his head in understanding and Marie shifts in her seat.

"Soooo. You didn't tell me you were a father as well?"

"Well, I did not become one officially until a few hours ago." Erwin chuckles, and Marie joins too.

'It's funny to think about how spontaneous life is. One minute you're a single guy, the next minute you're a dad."

"I agree. Life works in mysterious ways, especially during this trip." Erwin looks down at Marie's blue eyes. "It has also led me to meet you."

Marie blushes. ''You're such a charmer. It goes well with your handsome face."

Erwin's eyes widen in shock. "You knew?"

Marie nods her head. "I did, but I don't care about that sort of stuff. In the past, yes, but not now."

Erwin smiles in relief. "I'm glad. Oh, and that was a great idea having me come here so Mike can talk to Nanaba. He has been telling me about her nonstop."

Marie chuckles and waves her hand dismissively. "I have my ways to make it work, Erwin," she smirks.

Suddenly, their conversation gets interrupted when Moblit taps on the mic to get everyone's attention.

"Hello! I'm sure everyone ate a lot of food just now. We can now start the first dance with Levi and Hange. After, immediate family and close friends are allowed to join, followed by the guests. Thank you!"

Erwin and Marie watch as Levi guides Hange onto the dance floor for their dance. They both smile as they watch Levi lead the dance, and Hange laughing at something Levi said.

"I'm really happy for Hange. It's good to see her happy like this," Erwin says as Levi dips Hange, and she giggles before returning back to their waltz.

"I agree. You should have seen her in her college days. A lot of guys would kill to be in Levi's position right now."

Erwin laughs as he imagines the Hange he knew 21 years ago on a college campus just being herself, the fun and loving self he knew and can see now dancing with her husband.

"So, what are you going to do once this is all over?" Marie asks but does not take her eyes off the couple.

"Well, I have a few things in mind. More than keeping myself in my penthouse all day. What about you?"

"I have something in mind."

Erwin raises an eyebrow and looks at Marie. "What is it?"

"Well, I have a lot I want to do a lot...with you. Just us alone."

Erwin blushes and opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by Moblit again.

"Ok, everyone. Will the family and close friends now join the couple on the dancefloor."

Couples such as Sasha and Niccolo, Pieck and Porco, Mike and Nanaba, Rico and Gunther (as friends, of course), and Sasha's friends all go on the dancefloor. The only couple left were Marie and Erwin.

Erwin offers his hand out for Marie to take. "What if we start right now? It would be an honor to dance with you again."

Marie smiles and gracefully places her hand on Erwin's hand. "Of course," she says, and he leads her to join the others.

---

Sasha's friends, now with the guys minus Niccolo (Levi wanted to speak to him), talked amongst themselves. Eren and Mikasa, in particular, were flirting with one another the moment Eren showed up and sat next to her.

"Well, if it isn't Aphrodite herself," Eren comments on Mikasa's cream-colored dress (the same as Sasha's bridesmaids) and makeup. Mikasa blushes.

"Says the one who looks like Adonis." She compliments his all-black suit (the same as Niccolo's groomsmen) and how he wore his hair in a bun. Eren just laughs instead.

"So you think I'm handsome?" He smirks, but Mikasa takes it as a challenge.

"Says the one who called me the goddess of love." she raises an eyebrow and smirks back, causing Eren to blush. He laughs nervously before changing the subject.

"So what do you plan on doing after the wedding? You just got here yesterday."

"Well, Historia wants to go revisit some places on the island, and then the girls will spend the rest of the trip at my house, so we will do some stuff together. You know? Girls trip. What about you?"

Eren leans back in his seat and extends his legs out to relax. "The guys want to do some stuff as well, but we could always do stuff together if you want? You, me, and Armin. Just like old times, or even just us two together."

Mikasa smiles at Eren. "I would love that."

"Speaking about us.. I've been thinking about something lately."

"You have?"

Eren only hums and looks straight into Mikasa's obsidian eyes. "I like you. For a long time now, really."

Mikasa's eyes widen. She did not expect Eren to be so forward about it. "You do?"

"Mhm. I had a massive crush on you ever since we first met. I fell for your looks at first, but then I fell for your personality and the little things like how selfless you are. That's why I gave you that red scarf. It suited you more than me."

"To be honest, Eren, I also like you too."

Eren's eyes widen. "You do?" he asks, and Mikasa nods.

"It was actually pretty obvious, and even Armin caught on to it. Of course, it was not obvious to some people."

Eren chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm sorry for not noticing earlier," he admits, but Mikasa waves him off.

"It's alright, but I think we both know what happens now."

"We do. So, Mikasa, do you want to go out together sometimes as a date?"

Mikasa smiles. "Yes. Of course, I do."

Eren girns boyishly. "If only Armin were here to see this, but we can tell him about it later."

"Yeah, we can. Maybe we can even go on a double date with him and Annie," Mikasa replies quietly. Both of them were unaware of the magnetic pull bringing their faces closer together. Luckily everyone is too busy watching Levi and Hange dance to notice Mikasa and Eren.

Sadly, their moment is ruined after hearing someone tap on a mic.

"Ok, everyone. Will the family and close friends now join the couple on the dancefloor." Moblit smiles before returning to his seat. Eren and Mikasa look at each other and look away with a blush. Both were too nervous about making the first move.

"Hey Mikasa, can we talk for a second?" Jean's voice interrupts Mikasa's thoughts, and she looks up at him.

"Right now?" she asks, and Jean nods his head. He also has a red tint on his face.

"Only if you want to." He says shyly, "Just know that I am not forcing you. Also-" he turns to Eren. "I will only dance with her once and then bring her back to you if that is ok?"

Surprisingly to Mikasa, Eren smiles. "It's up to you, Mika. I don't have a say in your decisions."

Mikasa turns to Eren before turning back to Jean and nods her head. "Ok. I will go with you."

Jean nods and extends a hand out to Mikasa. "It will take one song at most, and then you can go."

Mikasa smiles and takes Jean's hand so he can lead her to the dance floor. Meanwhile, Eren stands up to find someone to partner up with when Hanami appears in front of him.

"Do you want to dance, Eren?" Eren smiles and extends an arm out for Hanami to take.

"Fair warning, though. I'm not the best at dancing." Hanami warns but, to her surprise, Eren chuckles instead.

"It's alright. I heard you had a good teacher lately."

---

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Mikasa asks during her waltz with Jean.

"Well, I'll just get it out of the way right now, I used to have feelings for you, and I'm pretty sure you knew."

Mikasa smiles proudly at Jean and nods her head. "I already knew, but why bring it up now?"

Jean looks away with a blush. Was he really that obvious?

"Yes, you were pretty obvious." Mikasa laughs, and Jean blushes after realizing he said that out loud.

"Well damn, but to answer your question. I like Hanami."

Mikasa chuckles. "I had a feeling. Let's just say some people had their own suspicions."

"Let me guess, everyone except Hanami?" Jean asks, and Mikasa nods.

"Of course she did."

"But hey, I know she cares deeply for you, and I'm proud of you for being upfront with me about your past feelings."

Jean smiles. "Thank you, Mikasa."

"I wish you luck, Jean. I know the two of you will be very happy with each other."

The two stop dancing once the song ends, but they just stare at one another. "Thank you again, Mikasa. For the encouragement."

Mikasa smiles. "Of course. This is what friends are for," she says and opens her arms out for a hug, to which Jean returns.

Everyone in the reception now joins in to dance along with the couple while Mikasa and Jean hug.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dancefloor, Hanami and Eren watch Jean and Mikasa hug. Eren smiles at the sight, but Hanami can feel a mix of emotions in her stomach. She is happy for Jean, yes, but she also felt sad at the same time. She got to spend more time with Jean planning out stuff with him, giving out relationship advice, and everything in between.

She smiles sadly at the thought. Well, all good things have to come to an end, but at least she can still be his friend. Her smile turns into a frown when she sees the two let go and come in her direction.

"Thank you, Jean." Eren nods to Jean and turns to Mikasa. "Do you want to dance, Mikasa?"

Mikasa nods. "Lead the way." the two head off to their own little world to dance some more. Mikasa makes sure to subtly mouth Jean a 'good luck' before she dances the night away with her love.

Hanami watches in shock as Mikasa and Eren walk towards the dance floor while Jean just stares at her. She turns to Jean and grabs him to drag him (to the best of her ability with her heels and dress) somewhere private.

"What was that, Kirchstein?!"

"Let me explain-"

"You're supposed to be with Mikasa right now! Did you not confess?"

"I did-"

"Jean!"

"Let me explain!" Hanami looks taken aback, but she stops talking so Jean can speak. He looks into her fiery brown eyes, and he knew he needs to confess soon.

"Thank you. Look, I know the plan was originally over Mikasa, but some things had changed."

Hanami raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms across her chest. "How so?"

Jean sighs and looks away from Hanami. He fidgets in his spot. "I….I started getting feeling for another girl."

He studies Hanami's face for any changes. Her frown slowly goes away and changes into a bright smile. "That's perfect!"

Jean looks at her in shock. "It is?"

"Yes! Of course, it is! Practically the whole island is here, and all we have to do is find your dream girl, switch the plan a bit, and boom! It will be a success! I want you to answer this question first, do I know the girl?"

Jean nods his head. He seems calm on the outside, but he was feeling very anxious on the inside. "You do."

"Great! Who is she?"

"It's you," he says as calmly as he can.

Hanami's smile remains, but she blinks. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"Come again?"

"I like you, Hanami."

Hanami's jaw drops. "But? How? What? How long did you realize this for?"

"For a few months now, actually."

Hanami frowns. "Then why didn't you mention it earlier. Was sticking to this whole plan a way to lead me on?"

"Of course not. Do you remember that morning we went to the Swell Cafe Bar?"

Hanami nods her head.

"Well, I was going to tell you my feelings then, but I backed out because I panicked and came up with the other plan with Rico instead."

(He also took a picture of her as a reference for an art project, but she does not need to know that yet.)

"So you're telling me that you made this plan because you had feelings for Mikasa, and now you have feelings for me. Why?"

"Because I started seeing you in a different light than before. We spent more time together, so I started looking forward to our dates, kissing you, and just staring at your eyes. I fell in love with your laugh and every little thing about you, such as how you turn red when you drink alcohol."

Hanami blushes out of embarrassment. "I see. Are you sure you lost feelings for Mikasa? You know I can't replace her."

Jean nods. "I only like her as a friend, and you are you. Not Mikasa, and I like you. Besides, Mikasa likes Eren and I think the two are finally dating after so many years of pining."

Hanami puts her lips in a tight line and thinks about Jean's words. She knew why she felt sad earlier now. Some of her happiest memories are the ones she spent with Jean too. "So now what?"

"Well, what do you think about me?"

Hanami’s stern face melts away and she chuckles. "Well, I do care about you, and I am willing to go out with you on real dates, not the fake ones."

Jean smiles at her response. "And I won't push you for kissing or sex. I will only do that with your consent."

Hanami grins and suddenly grabs Jean's arm. "Well then, what are we standing here for? We need to go dance before we miss out on the fun," she says and begins dragging him back to the party.

"You should also style your hair like that more. It suits you." Hanami comments on Jean's slicked-back hairstyle. Jean only laughs at his new girlfriend's antics.

She is definitely going to be the death of him.

---

Hanami and Jean rush past Niccolo and Sasha, slow dancing. Niccolo, seeing this, laughs.

"It seems everyone is getting into relationships tonight," he comments and nods towards the couples around them. He and Sasha can tell which ones were romantic since the pining was very obvious to the couple.

"I'm happy for them." Sasha chuckles just as Niccolo leans close to her ear.

"I'm going to dip you now," he whispers, and Sasha grins. Niccolo trails his left hand to the lower part of Sasha's back and steps forward as he dips her close to the ground.

"Thank you for giving me the heads up, or else I would have been surprised," Sasha admits. Niccolo laughs as he goes back into position and pulls Sasha close.

"Just wait until we get off the island. You will get to experience multiple surprises." Niccolo winks at her, and Sasha lightly slaps his arm.

"Niccolo! My parents might hear you!" She gasps, but Niccolo laughs at her instead.

"I mean different foods, Sasha. You need to get your head out of the gutter." he teases, and Sasha blushes out of embarrassment. He studies her eyes and notices something is bothering her.

"I'm just messing with you, amore mio. You know that."

"I know. It's just I'm going to miss this island. I rarely left it, you know?"

"Oh, I know, but you will be with me, and I'm sure your friends and family will call you often. You will be ok."

Sasha looks at Niccolo with hopeful eyes. "You promise?"

Niccolo smiles at her reassuringly, and he stops dancing, leaving Sasha confused. He brings a hand to the back of her head, pulls her close, and presses a kiss on her forehead.

"I promise," he whispers so quietly that Sasha considers herself lucky to be able to hear it over the music. She smiles and leans back to look at Niccolo's handsome face.

This is the next step in her life, and she will not be alone. She has support from her friends and family, and, of course, she will have a love of her life by her side.

---

It does not take the party long for everyone to make it to the courtyard. It takes only an hour after the first dance is when the party is in full swing. Even Moblit begins to play more upbeat songs. Everyone is busy celebrating the new couple that they dance around the hotel.

The same courtyard with a small crack in it, and the silicone has not dried yet. Did it matter to Hange? Not really. Especially when you just got married. All worries, just fly out the window.

The party begins jumping to one of the ABBA songs (as a request by Sasha before she leaves).

One

The ground does not move. It stays still.

Two

The ground begins to go down a bit but not enough to entirely give in. The crack on the floor grows a bit.

Three

The crack begins to spread out even more.

Four

The ground begins to crumble significantly. Not that anyone notices.

Five

The ground gives way, and the crack spreads, releasing the hidden fountain just waiting to go out and into the world.

Everyone stops their dancing as the water from the ground soaks them all. Hange opens her mouth in shock, and she turns to Sasha in realization.

"It's Aphrodite's Fountain!" she exclaims, and Sasha laughs with glee.

They did it! Even if it was an accident. They managed to find the solution to attract more tourists to the island and help support the hotel.

Sasha quickly turns to Niccolo, grabs his cheeks, and kisses him fully on the lips. (not that Niccolo minds anyway. He accepted it)

Meanwhile, Levi watches Hange laugh and dance as the water rains down on her. He ignores the other couples kissing around him and focuses solely on Hange, his soulmate, and true love.

Levi slowly walks up to Hange and takes her hands in his. Hange stops laughing to look at Levi's soaked figure.

"Thank you." is all Levi says. Hange chuckles at him and leans down to rest her forehead against his.

"For what?"

"For letting me see you happy again. It makes me happy just seeing you laugh like this. I know how much you love the hotel and the amount of effort you put into it. Looks like you might need an extra pair of hands now that Sasha will be out exploring." Levi gestures to the water pouring over them, and Hange laughs.

"Indeed I do, but do you know what, Levi?" Levi raises an eyebrow.

"I would not have it any other way." Levi smiles softly and Hange smiles with him.

"I love you." Levi whispers and Hange’s heart flutters a bit.

"I love you too."

The two lean in to close the distance and seal their love with a kiss under Aphrodite's Fountain.

---

BONUS: the bouquet throw

“Alright, this is to all the single ladies and those who are not married yet. It is time for the bouquet toss!” Moblit says excitedly into the microphone. Sasha’s girlfriends had mixed emotions about it. Some were excited, while others were not.

“Let’s go!” Sasha cheers from her seat. Hange and Sasha decided to let Hange throw the bouquet and let Sasha sit out on it since she will get married later on.

“Maybe you will catch it, Annie.” Hitch teases and lightly elbows Annie’s side as the two join the other single ladies. Mina, standing next to them, smiles.

Annie rolls her eyes. “Please. You and Mina have a better chance than me.”

“We’ll see about that~” Hitch says in a sing-song voice that Annie ignores.

Meanwhile, in another part of the crowd, Hanami turns to Historia and Mikasa. “What about you two? Do you want to catch the bouquet?”

Mikasa shakes her head. “Not me. I hope Rico or Nanaba catch it though.” She turns to Historia as well. “What about you Historia?”

“It would be nice but Ymir and I have not discussed marriage yet. I will be happy for whoever catches it.” She smiles and Hanami nods her head in understanding before turning her attention towards Hange.

Hange stands on one end of the courtyard holding her bouquet with her back facing the crowd. She turns to the crowd, smiles, and turns back around to prepare her to throw. Hange swings her arms up a few times as practice before actually letting it go for real.

The women watch in anticipation as the bouquet flies towards them. Some of them even squeal in excitement or try to reach out for it as it gets closer and closer. The bouquet flew on top of the crowd that the best option to catch it is for the women to raise their hands up and pray someone catches it.

Finally, a pair of hands grasp the item out of the air and all of the women turn to the bridesmaid in shock.

“Who caught it?” Hange asks Sasha and said girl points to the crowd in shock.

Hange turns around to find everyone surrounding Historia with the bouquet in her hands. She just stares at it in silence for a few seconds until she illuminates a big smile.

Hange smiles at the sight. “Congra-”

“HA, I caught it! I actually caught it! In your faces!” Historia whoops and turns to Sasha.

“Sasha! I need my phone! I have to call Ymir and tell her we’re getting married soon!”

“But what about the whole ‘not discussing marriage yet’ thing?” Hanami asks.

“FORGET THAT!” Historia exclaims while Sasha, who is laughing at the whole thing, hands her phone. Historia opens it, clicks on a few buttons, and lifts the device up towards her ear.

“YMIR! I got some good news for the both of us!” Historia practically yells into her phone before marching off to boast about her latest catch.

Meanwhile, her friends just watch the short girl walk away with a shocked look on their faces. Hange only laughs at the sight and puts her hands on her hips.

“Well, that turned out better than expected.”

©: This is where I insert all rights reserved stuff. This story belongs to me. Do not modify or republish. Hanami is my OC and she belongs to me.

Like, comment, or reblog if you enjoyed this chapter!

Ouzo is an anise-flavored alcoholic drink widely consumed in Greece and Cyprus.

So I accidentally stumbled on an alexandrite (hardness scale 8.5) and I thought it was the perfect gemstone since it is the same as Alexandra. Also it can be green and purple like levihan’s colors. Enjoy the levihan rings reference btw 😁

#levihan #levi x hange #levihan fanfiction #nicosasha #erwin x hange #erwin x marie #mike x hange #mikenana #hitch x marlow #marco x mina #eremika #pokkopikku #jean x oc #aruani #snk #aot

[srose-foxfire]

Damirae Week 2021 - Day 3

A/N: Happy Damirae Canon Anniversary Day!!! 

Whoo, day 3 is upon us! I hope you don't mind this prompt being particularly longer than my last two, I couldn't get myself to ‘cut-off’ some parts since I want to keep this AU storyline with the Week’s prompts. Some of the next prompts will be long as well to fit everything that needs to stay in the AU to make it run smoothly. Enjoy and see you all tomorrow for Day 4! ~~ Simona

“Joyfulness before Despair” Day 3:  Holidays

It been years since the castle had ever felt alive. The end of the year celebrations had arrived at the castle. Raven busied herself to get the parlor ready to spend the New Year’s Eve with Damian and his family. After her little incident two months ago, Damian seemed to have changed and Raven had done the same. Since he has revealed himself to be a beast, Damian allowed her to venture outside the castle, and the spirits, which turned out to be Damian’s family were allowed to talk with her and not keep distance.

Dick Grayson, the eldest of all of them had explained to her what happened. Centuries ago, when Bruce had just appointed his youngest son; Damian would be the one to take his throne as the next king. A witch came to their door. Damian who had been studying and groomed by Bruce allowed the witch to rest in their castle as an honored guest. The witch thanked him and gave Damian her blessing, it wasn’t uncommon to allow visitors to take refuge in the Wayne Castle. Though the witch had another agenda, when everyone had retired to their chambers, the witch entered Prince Damian’s room, she was to slay him in his sleep. The witch didn’t count that the young prince was a skilled swordsman and so Damian easily bested her. Furious that she failed, she shrieked and announced she had been hired to bring the prince and his kingdom to ruin. Words of an ancient language spouted from her old weary lips. She cast a curse on Damian and his family. His half-siblings became spirits, binding their souls to reside forever inside the castle. As for Damian, she cursed him into a beastly form so that whoever laid eyes on him would be repulsed.

After Dick finished telling of their tale – he left out what had happened to Bruce - Raven now understood why Damian had been cold towards her. He had allowed himself to be open to a stranger, which then cost him his family’s life and his kingdom. Though she could never recall of ever hearing of the Kingdom of Gotham. Dick explained that it was a mystery as well, King Bruce Wayne was loved by many and an ally to the neighboring kingdoms. They could not understand why their people never came to their castle looking for the royal family after they been cursed.

Just then Jason, Stephanie, Cassie, Kori, and Tim came into the parlor with boxes filled with assorted candles and some golden decorations.

“I can’t believe we are doing this.” Jason grumbled as he set the old box down. It fascinated Raven to see them able to handle physical objects even if they had all a ghost-like form. Tim, who considered himself quite a scholar, believed the witch may had not said her curse properly. If they put their minds to it, they could lift and carry anything if they so wished. They could even open and close doors, though floating through it was easiest.  

Stephanie scoffed and placed her hands on her hips, “Seriously Jason? Have some holiday spirit, we haven’t done this in such a long time. I could almost recall when the whole castle smelled of cinnamon and spice, gosh how I miss Alfred’s cooking.”

Having heard the name for the first time, Raven couldn’t help but ask, “whose Alfred?”

Everyone became stilled and remained silent. Raven could sense that the mention of Alfred’s name had sadden everyone. Though these siblings jested and were always carrying a smile, Raven could always sense they were hiding their sadness. She could only imagine what the witch’s curse had truly taken from them. They all been so kind to her, Raven wished she could do something in return.

“A dear friend.”

Everyone turned their heads towards the doors, Dick was standing there with a silver platter, filled with assorted biscuits and brewing hot tea. He too seemed to be saddened at the mention of their friend’s name.

Raven didn’t know what to do to lively their moods, just then Jason who had busied himself to finish setting the last candles over the fireplace, cleared his throat, “I thought you were supposed to help Damian with the food?”

Shaking his head, Dick tilted hid head to the side and gave his brother a lopsided grin, “I thought I bring Raven some snacks she’s our guest-”

“Demon Spawn kicked you out, didn’t he?” Tim added while he fixed a small round table and prepared two seating arrangements. Raven couldn’t stifle a small giggle at the mention of Damian’s pet name.

“He did.” Dick grumbled.

Raven raised a brow at him. “Are you not allowed in the kitchen.”

Jason walked over and grabbed the silver tray from Dick, he then turns his gaze towards Raven. “After we were cursed, we tried helping out around the castle as much as we could, then someone had to set the kitchen on fire one morning.”

Dick was beyond annoyed and gave out a heavy sigh, signaling he was tired of being reminded of his faults. “What? I was trying to be a good older brother and prepare Damian a tasty breakfast.”

After placing the silver tray on the round-coffee table, Jason scoffed at Dick’s remark. “Tasty? You were practically cooking lumps of coal! If the curse wasn’t enough, Damian would also have to endure your horrible cooking!”

The two brothers continue to bicker, while their sisters went to complain to Tim, asking him to stop the feud. No one had noticed that Raven had left the room. She wanted to feel useful and believed she could lend Damian a hand in the kitchen. Walking down one hallway, Raven noticed the amount of work the Wayne family had put to get the castle ready for their little festivity. A week before the end of the New Year, everyone had pinched in and clean the castle from top to bottom. There were no more spiderwebs on every crevice, the walls that only appeared to held darkness were now illuminated by candlelight. Everything had been dusted off, revealing beautiful golden tapestries, vases, and marble statues of legends. The castle was truly brimming with light and happiness.

When she finally arrived at the kitchen, Raven cautiously entered. She peeked from behind the large wooden door and saw Damian moving some pans over a small fire. He looked almost as he was in his own small word. A world where only he existed. There were still things Raven wanted to speak to him about but didn’t know if she was allowed to ask.

“May I come in?”

Damian quickly turn around and his eye widen for just a moment. “Hello.” He nodded and turned around and tossed some ingredients in the air. “I apologize for the delay; I’m getting our dinner ready.”

“Let me help, just tell me what to do.”

“Very well.” Damian gave her a small yet gentle smile, he then pointed at some dough that need to be rolled out and portion to make garlic bread. They worked in silence, but every once in a while, Raven would catch herself side glancing and just admire Damian. For being a great and large beast, he was very meticulous with his work.  He grabbed a kitchen knife and perfectly thinly sliced some basil leaves. Which he then tossed into a pan that seemed to have crushed tomatoes and ground beef.

“That smells delicious.”

“I hope you enjoy it, it’s a dish an old friend would prepare every year. Beef Ragu.” Damian said proudly as he grabbed a small tasting spoon and handed it to Raven to taste.

“This friend wouldn’t happen to be Alfred?” Why… why did she allowed her mouth to run off on itself? Raven hated herself for letting the name slip from her lips.

“Yes, he is.” Damian added rather nonchalantly. He continues to stir the beef ragu, “Alfred Pennyworth was my father’s royal advisor. He been a friend to the Wayne family since before my father was born. He acted like a grandfather to me, once I came to live with my father.”

“Can I ask, what happen to him… and to your father?”

“The curse affected them differently… they were turned into stone. We don’t know if their alive or gone.” Raven could notice that this hurt Damian greatly, she saw that he was trying so hard to fight off his tears. All she could do in that moment for him was wrapping her arms from behind him.

Once dinner was prepared, Damian and Raven were seated in the small round table in the parlor, they ate in silence. Raven grimaced having his siblings just lounging in the parlor and not have a bite to eat. Kori explained that they never got hungry. They could however smell the food and that was enough for them. After dinner, Dick started rambling off some nonsense and twirled around the room. Tim whispered into Raven’s ears that Dick enjoyed acting like the court jester. Kori left the room and came with assorted instruments in her hands, she gave one to each of her future siblings-in-laws and everyone started to play off-key. Damian couldn’t help but grumble and sighed heavily in his seat as he tried very hard to hide in his black cape. Raven clapped and giggled as everyone gracefully floated around the room.

~~~~~

As the festivities continued to roar inside the castle, outside was slender-hungry harpy; her feathers a dark shade of bloody red, and her body a pale ghostly white. She silently watched the cursed Wayne family frilly and dance around the fireplace with an unexpected guest. She huffed an annoyed grunt and flew off into the dark night. She flew over treetops, meadows, and valleys; until she reached the side of a long lonely mountain. There near the top of it peak was a dark cave, she screeched and flew into it. Darkness enveloped her for a few moments, then green boiling water, erupted from an old black rusty cauldron. The harpy landed next to it, tucking her winged arms to her sides.

“Show us what you found, my pet.”

From the shadows two figures emerge. The old witch that cursed the royal Wayne family and a second fellow who shielded his face with a black and orange mask. The harpy screeched and plucked one of it feathers out, placing it the cauldron. The green waters disintegrated the feather, like it fallen in a pot of acid, and then it started to swirl revealing an image in it waters. It was of the royal family prancing and laughing with one another. Then at the corner of the room stands a raven-haired maiden who reaches for the paws of the cursed prince and bring him to stand next to her. She smiles at him and urges him to dance with her. They move to the off-key music and laugh all together. The witch curses under her breath.

The masked man, the one who employed for her services centuries ago, scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t tell me if the boy falls in love then the curse will be lifted.”

Just like her harpy, the witch screeches angrily, and points her boney-old finger towards the man beside her. “You peg me for a fool? Love is a strange power, but I made sure none of my curses to ever be lifted by ‘true love’s kiss’ or ‘sacrificing oneself for love’. No this is worse, that girl, she holds magic of her own. She is the daughter of a demon and of a sorceress from Azarath. Their magic is far greater than any witch’s enchantment, she could break the curse.”

“Well then, this changes things.” The man said as he hovers over the boiling cauldron and inspected the maiden more closely. She was very beautiful, he thought to himself.

“I can have my harpy go kill-”

“No. Don’t harm the girl. I find her to be quite interesting. Daughter of a demon, you say? Well now, wouldn’t that make for a most pleasant queen to be by my side?”

#damirae week 2021 #day 3 #prompt holidays #damirae #beauty and the beast au #be our guest #Damian Wayne #dc damian #raven roth #dc raven #raven and damian #batfamily