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foxy-eva · 1 year

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Snow & Mistletoe

Summary: There is nothing more magical than going on a first date with Spencer Reid right before the holidays

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff

Content Warnings: none

Word count: 2.6k

Author’s Note: This is my Criminal Minds gift exchange for @violetspoetic ! I hope you like it!

Masterlist

When I was a child I never truly believed that Christmas was right around the corner until the first snow of the season left powdery evidence on every surface outside. I clearly remember those mornings when I would stare out my window in awe, admiring how this thick white layer turned my hometown into a winter wonderland. The first snow of the season always took me by surprise but I could never stop smiling on those days.

I somehow felt the same way when Spencer asked me out on a date a few days ago.

So when that day finally arrived, it was only fitting that I spotted freshly fallen snow as I opened my curtains. I had already come to terms with the fact that I would spend this Christmas on my own when Spencer suddenly appeared one morning to mutter the words I had wished to hear ever since I started working with him.

The thought of him seeing more in me than just a coworker made me feel like my heart was about to jump out of my chest. For the days that followed after him asking me out I kept catching myself staring at him when he was sitting at his desk. He always looked so perfect with his unruly curls and his crooked tie.

More than once had his eyes met mine while I looked at him like that and it always evoked the same reaction. His cheeks took on the loveliest rosy shade while he timidly smiled at me. I couldn’t wait for this day to arrive so I was a little surprised that I didn’t feel ready at all when it finally did.

It took me longer than usual to get ready for our afternoon coffee, changing outfits several times until I found something I felt cute and comfortable in. Even though I arrived at the coffee shop a couple of minutes early, Spencer was already waiting for me at the door. Snow was still falling and had covered his hair and shoulders in white powder. The sight of him smiling and awkwardly waving at me as I approached let my heart skip a beat.

As he stood there in this picturesque background he looked like he had stepped right out of a painting of an artist long gone.

When I was close enough for him to hear me, I snickered, “You could have waited inside, you know. You must be freezing.”

“I don’t mind the cold actually,” he let me know.

“Really? Didn’t you basically grow up in the desert?”

“Pretty much,” he agreed. “But I have been living here for long enough to have gotten used to the cold.”

He opened the door for me and stepped into the coffee shop behind me. When I rid myself of my coat he took it from my hands to hang it up. It almost seemed like he was trying to conceal his nervousness with chivalry which I found very endearing.

Before we took our seats at the small corner table, he mumbled, “You look very nice by the way.”

“So changing my outfit five times was really worth it, huh?” I laughed.

Spencer raised his eyebrows at my statement. “Why’d you do that?”

“I wanted to look good,” I mumbled as I lowered my eyes to the table. “For you.”

It took him a moment to respond, so I found his eyes again. He was softly smiling at me when he finally said, “Just for the record, I have thought that you looked good in every outfit I have seen so far.”

“Thank you,” I said as I took a look at the purple dress shirt he was wearing. “And just for the record, I think you look very nice too.”

There it was again, this lovely light rose shade spreading across his cheeks. He averted his eyes from me to look at the coffee menu, nervously fidgeting with the paper in his hand. I really wanted him to feel more comfortable around me.

“Spencer?”

He looked at me again and responded with a cautious, “Yes?”

Reaching out my hand over the table, I gently brushed over his fingers. “You don’t have to be nervous.”

He stared down at my hand making contact with his for a moment before clearing his voice to tell me, “Thank you for saying that. I just know how awkward I can get and I really don’t want to mess this up.”

I intertwined my fingers with his to gently squeeze his hand. “I really want to be here with you. It’s almost impossible for you to mess this up.”

“Don’t underestimate my abilities,” he chuckled, making me chime in with my own laughter.

Conversation flowed easily after that, both of us becoming more comfortable around each other with every minute passing. After finishing our drinks, I noticed that it had stopped snowing and it was getting dark outside. Staring outside the window for a few moments, my thoughts were interrupted by the man sitting in front of me.

“What are you thinking?”

“I just thought about a TV show I watched years ago. There is a scene where a woman takes her friends to the part of town with the best Christmas decorations to get in a festive mood. Ever since I saw that, I made it my own personal tradition to find the street with the prettiest Christmas lights every year around the holidays,” I explained.

“Have you already found it this year?” Spencer asked.

I nodded. “Yes, but I haven’t seen it covered in snow yet. It always makes it a lot more magical.”

He got up from his seat and got my coat from the hanger, requesting in a playful tone, “Come on, show me! I really want to see it.”

The snow cracked underneath the soles of my shoes as I led the way to the street I had mentioned. It was a bit of a walk but I didn’t mind that as long as Spencer was by my side. I was certain that no matter how long this walk would last, he would share his warmth with me.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, I worded my current thoughts. “I can’t believe that it will be Christmas in a few days. It always feels like the world is turning particularly fast towards the end of the year.”

“Yeah I know what you mean. Do you have plans for the holidays?”

Shaking my head, I found his eyes. “Not really. Except for Rossi’s Christmas party, of course. I have heard wonderful stories about your hideous Christmas sweaters.”

Spencer started laughing, “It’s my own personal Christmas tradition to find the ugliest one to wear to the party.”

“I bet you’ll still look cute.”

“You think? I thought about not wearing one this year, though,” he confessed.

I stopped for a moment to turn to him. “Why not?”

“I wasn’t sure if I’d manage to ask you out before the party and I knew you wouldn’t agree to go out with me after seeing me in one of those sweaters,” he chuckled.

“You know what!” I chirped as I got ahold of Spencer’s hand. “I will wear an even uglier Christmas sweater to Rossi’s party.”

“I can’t wait to see that.”

After walking around for a few more minutes, we finally arrived at the street where I had found the prettiest Christmas lights this year. Now that everything was covered in snow it looked like it came right out of a fairytale book. Locking eyes with Spencer, I noticed how the colorful lights reflected in his eyes and I could have sworn that he had never looked more beautiful than in that moment.

He hadn’t let go of my hand yet and I felt him gently squeezing it as I let my eyes wander over the magic of the Christmas spirit. A warmth spread through my chest at the realization that he was the first person I had ever told about this and it made me more than happy that he was the one I could share this moment with.

A few moments of me admiring all the decorations and lights passed before I whispered, “Don’t you also feel enchanted by the beauty of this.”

Looking at him, I noticed that he was staring at me instead of the decorations. He agreed anyway by cooing, “Yes.”

“You’re not even looking!” I snickered.

He grinned at me as he exclaimed, ”Right, the lights! Yes, they look magical.”

Playfully I hit his shoulder when he protested, “I’m sorry, your face is very distracting.”

Spencer being flirty was still something I had to get used to but I sure wouldn’t mind him saying more of those lovely things.

After looking at the lights some more, he must have noticed me slightly shivering because he offered to walk me home. My apartment was only a couple of blocks from there and I already knew that I wouldn’t be ready to let this date end just yet. When we arrived at my doorstep, we kept lingering outside, neither of us keen on parting ways.

“Do you maybe want to come inside?” I finally offered and was relieved when Spencer agreed.

“Yeah I would like that.”

It was the first time for him to see my place and he took his time walking around the living room to take everything in.

“You know we’re not supposed to profile each other,” I reminded him.

He locked eyes with me and confessed, “Sorry, it’s hard to turn it off sometimes.”

“I know. So, what are you thinking?”

“That you’re a kind person who deeply cares about her friends and family. You have a sweet kind of humor that sometimes comes out a bit suggestive but you’d never let anyone know if that’s on purpose or not. You love all animals but especially cats. You see beauty everywhere in the world and like to remind your loved ones why life is worth living. It doesn’t take long for you to trust others because when you love someone, you always love them with all your heart.”

His words were overwhelming and I had to try my best to not lose my composure. I knew that he didn’t get all of that by just taking a look at my living room. He must have paid a lot of attention to the kind of person I am in the last three months of us working together. When he noticed my speechlessness, his smile dropped as he displayed an expression of concern.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep,” Spencer breathed as he stepped closer to me.

“No, you didn’t. This was just very unexpected,” I muttered. “Unexpected but so, so sweet.”

He dared to close the distance between us to pull me into his arms. I nestled my face against his shirt, breathing in his scent as he held me against his chest. It wasn’t the first time that he had wrapped his arms around me but quick happy-birthday-hugs could not compare to this. Being inside his embrace then felt like a chance for our hearts to touch as they thumped steadily against our chests.

Gently he let his palms brush over my back and I couldn’t tell if it was meant to soothe me or cater to his curiosity about feeling more of my body. I relished this sensation either way, something about being held by him felt so right. We had passed the appropriate time of a hug between friends a few seconds ago but neither of us wanted to let go of the other.

When I finally dared to loosen my grip around his waist, he leaned back to look at me and ask, “You okay?”

When I nodded I noticed his eyes wandering from my face to the ceiling, so I followed his sight until I spotted the mistletoes hanging right above us.

“Did Penelope make you hang those?” Spencer wondered.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she came to all of our houses to hand out mistletoes.”

Spencer smiled as he agreed, “She’s been doing that for years. Did you know that originally the Romans hung mistletoes above doorsteps to protect the household? In the Christian era they were associated with fertility and vitality and that was the time when the kissing tradition came to life. By the 18th century mistletoes became incorporated into Christmas celeb–”

“Spencer,” I interrupted him.

“Yes?”

I didn’t mind listening to him sharing his knowledge but at that moment there was something more important I wanted him to do.

“Kiss me.”

He apparently didn’t need any more encouragement than that. With one hand cupping my cheek and the other one grabbing my waist, he pulled me closer until our lips almost met. Before he closed the remaining gap, he whispered, “I have wanted to do this for months.”

Tenderly his lips brushed over mine, letting my heart jump and sparks rush through my body. It was as if time stood still as bodies melted into one another with this kiss. My hands found their home in the nape of his neck, my fingers intertwined with his curls to keep him in place. The way my body followed his lead felt natural, my lips parting as soon as I felt his tongue timidly touch them. He deepened the kiss while pushing his body further into mine.

I felt his fingertips twitching against my waist as if he had to restrain from letting them wander over my body. His lips felt soft and delicate against mine, building a contrast to his rough stubbles tickling my face. I longed to see his warm eyes then, wanted to drown in the sticky honey they resembled so perfectly. But when I tried to pull back to look at him, he didn’t let me. He mumbled, “No,” and immediately caught my mouth with his again.

The way he couldn’t get enough of me made me smile into our kiss and I felt him doing the same. When my lungs started aching in need for more air, he let me pull back but kept his hands on me. He looked at me with wonder in his eyes and a grin prominent on his face. His gentle fingertips wandered over my cheeks before his lips met mine again for a chaste kiss, followed by a second and a third one.

I was sure that no matter how quick his kisses would be, I would remember them for a lifetime. I wanted every last corner of my brain filled with the memory of him and I still had so much room for more. The need to feel him again overtook me and I yearned to be closer although my lips were still tingling from our previous kiss.

“That still wasn’t enough,” I purred.

He lowered his face once more and mumbled against my lips, “Agreed.”

This time it was me who deepened the kiss and I realized that no matter how long our union lasted, I could never get enough of him. Many moments passed as we stood in the middle of my living room inside each other’s arms, sharing kiss after kiss until we decided to sit down on the couch.

He had his arm wrapped around my waist to keep me close but I wouldn’t have dared to leave any distance between us anyway. There was no need to share too many thoughts, just looking at each other was enough at that moment. My fingers still played with his hair and he seemed to enjoy the way I displayed affection.

When I remembered our conversation from earlier, I realized that I had forgotten to ask him something. “I never got to ask you what your plans were for Christmas. Do you know what you will be doing?”

A smug grin appeared on his face as he leaned closer to capture my lips in another kiss before whispering against them, “Hopefully more of this.”

And oh my, did I hope for that, too.

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#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction

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that-stray-bird · 6 months

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Festival of Music

Beneath the summer blossoms, playing and dancing free, Reminiscing 'bout the snowfall, lost in reverie. A dragon lurks behind rubies, blood red, As the bird ponders the danger ahead.

(Don't know how to properly add audio, so here's the link to the song I kept listening to while writing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45AMf9QIV8)

Warnings: a bit creep vibes? unsettling, mentions of mourning, suicidal things, mass suicide case, Shibusawa being a bit ooc??.

--------------------------------------------

The plaza was bustling with people. Stalls were being set up, and flower beds and pots adorned the central area, where you helped your friends and the festival planners arrange the performance area. Excitement surged within you, eager for the upcoming festival when you would perform with your friends.

You were first uncertain when Markel sent you an invitation to perform for the Summer Music Festival, but after talking about it with President Fukusawa and your friends, who seemed really excited about the festival and seeing you perform in public. They pestered you to accept the invitation, and after getting approval from Fukusava, you cleared up your work schedule to contribute to the festival planning.

Now you were here, helping Misaki set the chairs as Markel and others finalized the remaining details.

The Summer Music Festival was a small event that would allow smaller bands and less-known musicians to perform. It was perfect for you since you would have grown more anxious if it was like one of the big ones.

"I'm really glad that you could join us, (Name)," Misaki said as she helped you carry one of the benches. "It's been forever since we all performed together," you smiled at her as you two set the bench down.

"What can I say? It's been quite eventful these days in the Agency. We barely had enough time to have a peaceful lunch break," you said, "But I am glad too. I usually avoid playing in public, but I think this is a good chance to help me get over my social fear," Misaki grinned at your claim.

Markel suddenly groaned in annoyance. “Seriously?! The festival is supposed to start tomorrow, yet those flowers look more dead than my grandfather!” He pointed at the flowers attached to the lamp posts. The white flowers were either closed or drooping, most likely due to last night's rain.

“They are going to kill the mood of the festival if they don't start waking up soon. Where are those florists we paid?” Markel looked around as you all approached him.

"You know, I could possibly help with that. My ability has a special effect on flowers," you said, and Markel looked at you with hope. "If you could, then please! That would save us a lot of trouble!" he had his hands together in a prayer.

"Do you need some peace? I do need all of you to carry the rest of the equipment," Markel pointed at your friends. "Alright then, let's go," Keiji stated as they all began to leave with Markel. "Make sure to make those flowers pop with life, (Name)!" Markel called out as you were left alone in the performance area.

You shook your head with a smile before approaching your violin case you had brought along.

Opening the case, you picked up your beloved instrument and the bow before walking to the center of the area and looking out to the empty benches and chairs. Some old memories flashed through your mind before gently laying the violin on your shoulder as you thought of the flowers and bringing them to life.

After adjusting, you then allowed the music to guide you.

The song was one of your old favorites from your world. It woke a sense of magic and love within your heart, and it was one of the songs you once performed to a bigger crowd with two others.

You remember them dancing and playing music with you. You all were dressed in white, dancing beneath a soft snow rain. One sang from the bottom of their heart while the other played a melody that harmonized with yours. The memory of performing with them on stage lingers—just the three of you, creating music with your hands and voices.

It was a moment where you all forgot the world, you and your two friends.

In your daze, you danced along with the music.

The light from your song stirred the flowers, coaxing them to bloom with vibrant life in innocent shades of white. Your light also extended to the other flowers in the beds, allowing them to bloom even more beautifully.

You became so immersed in the melody that you were unaware of having caught someone's attention.

Continuing to play until you reached the end, you let the music gradually fall silent, the glow from your violin lingering within the blossoms. The plaza now appeared more lively than it did before.

Your thoughts were disturbed by the sudden sound of clapping hands.

"Bravo… That was a lovely performance," a man sat at one of the chairs, clapping his gloved hands together. You were nearly startled by his appearance. He was dressed in fancy white clothing, and long white locks flowed down from his shoulders. He had a pale complexion, perhaps the palest you have ever seen, and when he opened his eyes, they were red as blood.

Goosebumps scattered across your arms and skin as you continued looking at him. You didn’t wish to have negative thoughts, but the strange man looked like a living ghost.

"Your song awakened the flowers and the light..." he hummed as he had a strange smile on his face, "The light basked me in strange emotions I haven't felt in a long time. It's like I've been brought to life once more, "

"I apologize if you felt strange. My ability can affect bystanders even if I don't intend to. It usually shares my feelings, so it shouldn't have any negative effects unless they made you feel uncomfortable,” you said as the pale man stood up.

"No harm done, miss. Your ability sure is something I haven't seen before. It is unique and even beautiful," the pale man said, looking into your eyes. "Well..." you started, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I'll thank you for the compliment, mister..."

"Shibusawa Tatsuhiko," the man replied, "And may I know your name, miss?"

"I'm (Name) (Last Name)," you introduced yourself.

"Ah... I thought you looked a bit familiar. You were part of the little group called The Angels Of Music, am I correct?" he questioned.

"Yes, have you seen me perform before?" you inquired.

"No. I never had a great interest in music and concerts, but I had heard about the stunning performances you and the other two created together," Shibusawa answered. "Meeting you now, I almost wish I had seen you perform," he added.

"Well, I have never been someone striving for fame. It was a little group project I enjoyed doing for a while, but I always crave more of a peaceful life. However, there's a festival coming up. You can come see me play if you'd like," you pointed out.

Shibusawa chuckled. "You had caught my interest, so I might come to take a look,"

You frowned when you finally heard the tones of his soul. Shivers ran down your spine as his tones emanated an aura of danger, something feral and empty. Now, that was a strange yet frightening combination.

"What do you do, Mr. Shibusawa?" you questioned.

"Hm?" he tilted his head at you. "My ability allows me to hear the tones of people, technically the songs of their souls. It's a strange trait, but it lets me learn a lot about a person—whether they're friendly, safe, hiding something, or potentially dangerous," you explained, stepping back to a safe distance while keeping your eyes locked with him.

"I mean no offense, but your tones are... odd," you added.

"Interesting... then what does my soul tell about me?" Shibusawa looked at you with intrigue.

You carefully examined the tones from within him, trying to come up with a valid description. "It's like... a beast," you started. "A serpent... that hides itself behind a face of a beauty to fit in and hide its venomous fangs. It is bored, yet feels creed to have something for itself, so it constantly seeks, " you describe as you then hear a sudden change in his tune. "Now it feels a little excitement that only fuels its desire to have more,"

"You honestly remind me of a dragon," you stared into Shibusawa's eyes as they had not left yours.

"Bold yet an accurate description. You keep surprising me, Ms. (Last name)," he smiled.

"So, what do you do, Mr. Shibusawa?" you asked again.

"I like to… collect things,” he answered. “You like to collect? So, does that really make you a dragon, collecting things for its hoard?” you questioned, making him release an eerie laugh.

"And from what I can still pick up, you haven't exactly found what you desire yet?" you questioned as you sensed something missing in his soul.

"Lamentably so, but I believe I will find it soon enough," Shibusawa answered.

"I wish you good luck on that, then," you said, and he had a smile on his face like he found something funny in your sentence.

"You are amusing, Ms. ( Last name). I will definitely come to see you perform shall you survive what is to come," Shibusawa said as he began to leave. You frowned when you heard the last part of his statement.

"What do you mean by that?" you questioned, but then you heard Misaki yell out for you.

"Hey, (Name)! Love what you did to the place!" she yelled. You glanced at your friends and Markel as you saw them coming, but you when you looked back. You found Shibusawa gone like he was never there.

You felt a rush of cold spiders run across your back. You had a weird feeling about him, especially after what he said about surviving what was to come.

Markel and your friends approached you. "Wonderful. Now, this is more like it," Markel complimented as he gazed at the flowers that bloomed on the lamps and beds. Your friend Tsukiko noticed the concerned look on your face.

"(Name), are you okay? You look rather pale," she asked, which made others look at you as well.

You hesitated for a moment but then answered.

"I'm fine,"

"Are you certain? You look cold. I hope you're not getting sick now," Markel laid the back of his hand against your forehead. "Seriously, I'm fine. I just had some thoughts, that's all," you assured as you brushed his hand away.

Your phone then suddenly ran into your pocket. You picked it up to see who was calling, then answered when you saw it was Kunikida.

"Yeah?" you said to the phone.

"(Name). I'm sorry to call you now that you're supposed to be busy with the festival, but I have to ask you to come to the agency for an urgent meeting," Kunikida stated. A frown dressed your face since you knew something serious must be happening for an urgent meeting to occur. "Why? What is going on?" you questioned. "We possibly have a mass suicide case on our hands, so please come as quickly as possible," Kunikida replied.

You felt cold at the thought of mass suicide. "Okay, I will be there," you said, then ended the call.

"I hate to say this, but something serious has happened, and I'm needed at the Agency," you glanced at Markel and your friends.

"Oh, dear. Well… things are pretty much done here, so I'll let you go. I hope whatever has happened will be resolved quickly," Markel stated.

"I hope so too. I'll see you guys later," you said as you picked up your things and left the plaza.

The thought ran through your mind as you walked the streets. The sudden call to the Agency about possible mass suicides and the strange man you met at the plaza. Why do you have a feeling those two are somehow connected?

In your daze, you suddenly heard a familiar tone and saw the brown-haired bandaged man walking out of the cemetery.

"Oh, hey, Dazai!" you called out and waved at him.

He stopped when he heard you call out to him and smiled when he saw you.

"Kunikida called for an urgent meeting. Telling from the tone of his voice It’s something very serious,” you said as you stopped beside him. He released a tired yawn.

“Yeah. I know. He sent Atsushi to tell me the same thing, but honestly, I’m not feeling it today, so I’m gonna give it a pass. I feel more like trying a new suicide technique,” he said with a grin.

You were about to scold him till you noticed a familiar tone in his soul. It was filled with longing and a sense of mourning. It made you feel a sense of pity for him since it was a tone you were familiar with.

"Oh, It's that kind of day. In that case, I'm not gonna say anything," you stated. Dazai looked at you curiously. "You're gonna go somewhere to remember someone, somewhere where you have the most fond memories of them. It's a tone that often occurs in you," you explained as cars pass you both.

A soft smile adorns Dazai’s face. "You know I'm sometimes frightened of how well you can see through me. Feels like I can't hide anything from you," he said.

"Well, my ability doesn't give me a lot of options in that, but even so, I really do not need my ability to tell what you might be feeling," you explained before deciding to continue your journey.

"Be careful. I have an odd feeling that something big might happen soon," you said as you continued your walk.

"Can't promise I might not try something risky, but I try. You stay safe too," Dazai said as he went on his way. You looked back at him for a moment, having an odd feeling about his words, but then decided to leave it be and get to the Agency before you ended up being late for the meeting.

#bsd x reader #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd imagines #bsd x you #dead apple #bsd dead apple #the outworld melodia #various x reader #dazai x reader

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yanderelovlies · 1 year

Note

More skyrim AU with Dante?

Note: I miss the skyrim au ngl

Fandom(s): DMC

character(s): Dante Sparda

Au: Skyrim Au

How did this go wrong? It was a simply courier job. Getting some important artifacts to the College in Winterhold. Seeing as it was something simple, you allowed your companions to stay at your home for some over due rest. However, now that you were being held upside down without a means to defend yourself by the largest frost giant you have ever seen, you wished differently.

Your kicks to its chest and scratching at the hand did nothing but anger the beast, causing it to slam you down hard on the ground. You heard a crack as it held you back up, flailing your body wildly. You could feel something warm flow from the back of your head, to the front, and on to the muddy snow below.

Gods this really was the end for you, wasn't it? This really wasn't how you saw yourself dying. You groaned, feeling your eyes began to shut. Maybe it will be quick, and you can finally meet them in sovngarde again. Just as you began to black out, you could hear someone yell before the frost trolls grip loosened, making your body fall to the floor again, knocking you out completely.

All you could feel was pain as you came into consciousness. You let out a groan, your eyes slowly opening. When it focuses you, noticed you aren't looking at the sky or ground, but the inside of a tent. As you try to get up, you hear someone enter the tent before dropping something and running to your side.

"Hey, hey, hey angel, you need to lay back down."

You could feel warm hands on your shoulders, making you look at the source. "D-Dante....?" Your voice was a raspy whisper, but Dante didn't seem to have problems hearing you as he smiled in return.

"The one and only. Now come on lat back down." He gently laid you back before readjusting the blanket on you. He then went back to the entrance to pick up the things he dropped. "I've brought back things to help your pain. Just give me a bit to mix it all together."

You watched him work for a bit before asking him what was weighing on you. "How did we get here? I thought I-" You began to cough making Dante turn back to you.

He quickly turned back around, grabbing his tankard full of water and bringing it to you. He helped you sit up again, rubbing your back. When you coughing finally calmed, he brought the edge of the tankard to your lips, gently helping drink. "Die? Well, you would have if I didn't feel something was wrong from the start."

Once he pulled the tankard from your lips, you gave him a questioning look. He sighed, standing up and going back to the table he was working at. "Something about the whole thing felt off. So I kept an eye on you thanks to my father's heritage." Once the powder was ready, he mixed it into a bottle with some of the water from the tankard. "In your state, it was too risky to travel by magic, so here we are." He brings it to you doing the same thing he did with the tankard.

The bitter taste made you want to spit it out,but you knew better. So, instead, you cringed, trying not to focus on the taste. Once it was all down, you let out a loud sigh, glad it was over.

Dante chuckled, putting the bottle down. "It will take time for the medicine to set in. Once it does, you should be okay to heal yourself. Then we can get the oblivion out of here."

You nodded, playing back down. You closed your eyes, hoping to get some rest, but it never came. Instead, you could hear Dante shuffle around the tent while pain coursed through you. "....Dante..." You felt bad leaning on him so much, but you had no choice.

"Yeah, angel?" You heard him come to your side.

You tured to face him, opening your eyes to meet his silver ones. "I can't sleep....the pain it's too much...."

He hummed for a minute, his face showing his concern. "Well... I might have an idea, but I'm not sure you will like it."

"What is it?"

He sighed "Well Daedra has natural hot bodies almost scarily hot." He rubbed the back of his neck."Maybe the heat would help the pain. The downside is we would have to sleep in the same bedroll."

You watched for a couple of seconds. "Are you just trying to share a bedroll with me?"

"No! I mean, I would be lying if I said it wouldn't be nice, but that's not the reason. I just don't like seeing you in pain."

With the constant pulsing pain, you couldn't help but agree. You just wanted it to stand at least an acceptable amount. If that means you have to share a bedroll with Dante, you will do it.

"Okay, let me strip the rest of my armor so it's more comfortable." He leaves the tent for a few minutes before coming back with a long white tunic on. You laid on your side as he gingerly lays beside you. At first, you didn't think it was working until you felt him wrap his arms around. The heat from his body seeps into you, dulling some of the pain. "Better?"

All you could do was hum as you felt yourself drift off again

"Sleep well, Angel."

#dante x reader #dmc dante #devil may cry dante #dante devil may cry #dante sparda x reader #dante sparda #skyrim au

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psycheprincess · 4 months

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To Bring a Bit of Warmth your Way

I just finished @saint-garden 's Twisted Winter Wonderland gift! I really hope you like it!

@twisted-winter-wonderland

Word count: 900 Type: Fanfiction Characters: Kalim Al-Asim, Riddle Rosehearts, Jamil Viper (Ment.)

Summary: When a blizzard rolls around, Kalim decides to do something to make everyone feel better

First the dark mirror disappeared. Then a blizzard swept over Sage’s Island. Night Raven College’s students would have to stay on campus for the Summer Break.

No one had been happy about it, but what was there to be done?

Students tried to stay in their dorm, but found it impossible. People would have to leave to get supplies from the student store, which had turned into a general supply, but few people had the proper clothes to go. It was far colder than it would ever get on campus during the winter. As a result, people kept getting sick.

When Jamil returned with food one morning as a miserable heap, Kalim made a plan.

He scoured his storage rooms, searching for something— anything warm to wear, and eventually found the perfect clothes to wear. Dire-sheep wool was extremely rare, but his family had received a whole outfit made of it as an act of goodwill. It was a bit big on him, but for this, it’d do.

He set off at noon, sneaking out of the dorm and down to Tarry Town. It seemed the blizzard hadn’t hit them quite as hard, which made sense, but it had still been bad enough to halt travel, and he couldn’t risk the carpet freezing up. That meant a lot of walking…

… But Kalim didn’t mind. If this is what it’d take to bring everyone happiness, then he’d do it.

“I’m off,” he whispered as he slipped through the gate, making the trek down the mountain.

It was a bit surprising just how good his chosen outfit was at keeping him warm, but it wasn’t enough to completely block out the cold, and while he could use fire magic to keep himself warm, that’d just make him even more exhausted, so he had to keep walking.

He’d walked off worse than just a little chill, so he was used to it.

Eventually he started seeing something come into view— smoke. Puffs of it floating up in the distance. It had to be Tarry Town! He didn’t realize he could speed up until he did, heading towards the buildings that were coming into view.

It was quiet, but people were working even so. The streets were plowed, and despite the weather, there was plenty of food fresh in the store windows.

He first went to the snow plow’s driver, who was on his phone in his plow– something the blizzard hadn’t allowed for at NRC, and requested his help.

“All th’ way up there?” The driver asked, frowning a bit. “It’s a pretty hefty drive, and don’tcha mages have magic to melt it all or sumthin’?”

“It’s… a bit more complicated than that,” Kalim admitted, wincing. “There’s no way we could melt it all, y’know? We’d accumulate a ton of blot if we tried.”

“It’s always something, isn’t it…” The driver sighed. “I’m sorry, kid, but as much as I want to help you, there’s no way I’m driving up there. I’ve got kids to feed, and–”

“But I can pay you!” Kalim suddenly exclaimed. He got his magic pen out and waved it.

Practicing a summoning spell hadn’t been the best use of his time in some people’s eyes, but Kalim knew what he’d been doing. A portal opened up, spewing a small-ish pile of gold out. The driver was taken aback as he counted it up.

“That’s… Isn’t this much worth a thousand marks?!”

“Oh– is it not enough?” Kalim asked. “I have a lot stored at the dorm, so I can–”

“There’s no need for that!” The man exclaimed, shaking his head. “This… this is definitely enough.”

“Really?” Kalim gasped. “That’s perfect! Is it okay if you wait here for me?”

“‘Course, but…” The man frowned. “... What exactly are you doing, kid?”

“Huh? Oh!” Kalim smiled a bit. “I just want to make things a bit warmer for everyone!”

After that, Kalim went from store to store, purposefully overpaying for food and warm clothes, asking anyone willing to help for enough marks to wait by the snow plow with a car and some food. He was even able to get the local bus on board.

Once everything was ready, the supplies Kalim bought packed safely in the cars, they drove up the mountain in a parade, the plow going first to clear the path.

By evening, they’d reached NRC. Everyone was willing to help, but in the end, the magic barrier kept them from entering, so Kalim had to bring it all to the mirror hall himself.

The rest of the student body didn’t discover what had happened until dawn, when Riddle went out to get food.

Each pile of clothes and food was labeled by dorm, with Kalim bringing in the last few loads left.

“Kalim?” He asked, approaching. “What… is all this?”

“Riddle!” Kalim grinned. “Actually, can you tell all the dorms to come here?”

“I don’t…” Riddle blinked. “How did you–?”

“It was no biggie, really!” Kalim laughed a bit. “I just… had to help.”

Soon enough, everything was in the hall, and the dorms were all out, gaping at the amount of supplies they’d have.

Surely, it’d be enough to help them through the cold, right?

And even as Kalim shivered and got scolded later on, he couldn’t help but simple.

After all, everyone had sworn it felt a little bit warmer after that morning.

#twisted wonderland #twst #kalim al asim #twst kalim #twisted wonderland kalim #riddle rosehearts #twst riddle #riddle twst #riddle twisted wonderland #kalim twst #twisted wonderland riddle #kalim twisted wonderland #fanfic #writing #WinterWonderlandChristmas #Saint-Garden #twisted-winter-wonderland #secret santa

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mariaofdoranelle · 2 years

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Royal Rebels — Prologue

Masterlist

I’m so so happy to show you this! I was going to wait a little more to post, but I got a little eager today and I already have an outline and 15k words so what’s the point of waiting? Lol

I’m going to use my general tag list now for the heads up and then make a different one for this au so let me know if you want to be tagged!

The prologue will be right below the synopsis. I hope you like it!

CW: cursing, small fire

Word count: 2,2k

˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜

When Queen Maeve starts taking merciless measures to save Doranelle from an economic collapse, two old enemies, frenemies with benefits, lovers, acquaintances, Princess Aelin Galathynius and Prince Rowan Whitethorn, must reunite to reach one goal: kill Maeve without starting a war. However, as they get closer to the Fae Queen, Aelin and Rowan might need to overcome old issues and wounds in order to work together efficiently, considering how quickly they could become the prey.

˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜

One year before

As Aelin sauntered into the closet she kept exclusively for her arms and armor collection, she mused about the line between loving a weapon and becoming one. Among her pieces it was easy to spot ones that were historical, personalized, jeweled, blades made of watered steel, armors made of gold. The room was big enough to have a small party inside, but Aelin didn’t want to stall. She took a deep breath, picked a dagger and some other blades and left.

Sneaking out of the castle wasn’t news to her, but she still got a little thrill on the first moments out on the streets. No guards, no bowing down or tiptoeing around her, not one person afraid of the Fire-Bringer. As much as Aelin looked forward to her future as a queen, she loved to be able to blend into the streets and just get lost in the crowds sometimes.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to ask directions to get to her favorite blacksmith. Aelin knew she could hire a small team just to forge and take care of her weapons if that was her wish, but she preferred to be discreet and take care of them herself. Every little thing Aelin did ended up being attached to her fire magic and reinforced people’s ideas on how she would act as a ruler, whether the opinion was good or bad. Her military power had been proved enough since her childhood, adding it to the attachment she had to her weapons and training... It would be too much, specially when Aelin’s temper occasionally got the best of her. Terrasen was a peaceful kingdom, if she tried hard enough, people would realize she could be a good match for a queen.

But she was used to it now, Aelin thought as she walked down the streets of Orynth and bought whatever street vendors tried to sell her, fulfilling her father’s exhausted wish that If you insist on sneaking out, at least help boosting the economy. When the sunlight got stronger and her skin started to tingle, Aelin thoughtlessly tugged at her magic, but stopped before her hand was filled with bright flames.

Anyway, her weapon situation wasn’t a real problem. Aelin could still do her thing. It just needed to be toned-down, so people wouldn’t perceive her as The Bloodthirsty Queen. However, that didn’t stop her from showing off to the few people she trusted, her cousin Galan being one of them. He was a bit late on his trip to visit her, something about two friends surprising him in Varese. She didn’t remember the details in the letter anymore, just told her court lady to include those friends in the arrangements.

Entering the costumer’s antechamber, Aelin waved at the blacksmith’s assistant, who already knew what she was there for. He immediately blushed and then waved back, but stumbled on a few boxes on his way because he kept looking at her while walking. Aelin only stopped to analyze her surroundings when an intoxicating smell of pine and snow assaulted her senses. When she looked for the source of it, there was a set of pine green eyes staring at her, sending a thrill on her body that made the flames beneath her skin dance.

Aelin had absolutely no control over her legs when she walked to him. It wasn’t even like her to flirt with random people. If anything happened, she would just tell herself she slipped and fell on hot stranger’s lap. “Well, that’s a fancy sword you have picked.”

Hot nice-smelling stranger had a tiny smirk on his lips before he opened his mouth and closed it again and looked at her thoughtfully. “Are you familiar with them?”

Aelin leaned on the table and stroked gently the blade closest to her. “Familiar enough to be one of Brullo’s favorite costumers. You seem like potential competition.” Aelin tilted her head, making her neck visible as her hair fell to the side, and sized him up.

Pine green-eyed stranger set his sword with a pine green hilt on the table and angled his body towards her, reducing their distance. “Is Brullo the blacksmith or the assistant? Do you think I can compete if it’s the latter?”

Aelin’s breath halted. “I think you can handle it just fine.”

Aelin could clearly see hot stranger’s pupils dilating until it swallowed most of his irises. “I assume you’re from Orynth.”

“I assume you aren’t.”

“No. I’ll be here for a handful of weeks, probably. It’s not up to me.”

“And that requires this gigantic sword?”

He twirled the sword on his hand. “I left mine at home, and you never know the next dragon you’ll have to slay.”

Was Hot Stranger a fantasy book reader too? Aelin smirked at him. “Are you here on vacation or on duty?”

Rowan glanced at a blonde Fae who had just neglected the weapons he was choosing to flirt with another costumer. After a deep sigh, he answered, “A mix of both.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Is that so?”

Hot Stranger snorted, “Sometimes you have to stop people from making a disaster.”

They were interrupted by the assistant coming with Aelin’s new dagger, which was absolutely stunning. Its size was perfect for her to carry around, and the blade was simple, slim and silver. However, the hilt was ornamented with gold in lots of small, wavy forms that looked like flames. She had payed in advance, so she put the blade away after admiring it for a little longer. Hot Stranger was looking thoughtfully at her when she focused back on him.

“What’s your name?”

Aelin hoped he didn’t see her fidget while she replied, “Celaena. Yours?”

“Rowan,” he said before slightly biting his lips, “Where can I find you in Orynth?”

She tilted her head and grimaced. “You won’t.” She wasn’t happy with that answer, he really seemed like a good ride. However, Aelin couldn’t. Rowan was completely off-limits. If her cousin Aedion or her father even suspected she had escaped the castle to buy weapons and ended up flirting with a foreign Fae stranger twice her size, she’d never see the end of it.

His brows furrowed. “Well, that’s a shame, Celaena.”

She took a deep breath. “Indeed.”

On her walk back home, Aelin kept replaying the moments with Rowan in her head, but she was sure it was because she was bored. In fact, she was so bored she got ready early reading in her room until Aedion picked her up.

“Excited, Ae? You’re not even late,” He said with raised eyebrows before linking arms with her.”

“Shut up. You know Galan is my second favorite cousin too.” Aelin was nodding at people they passed by with her chin raised as Aedion laughed in the middle of the hall.

When they entered the Throne Room, Galan’s party was already there. She smiled broadly at him and sent a tiny wave, until she swayed a little on her steps and her mouth fell open.

By the side of her cousin, was Rowan from the blacksmith and his blonde friend. Rowan was already blinking quickly at her, as if checking his own vision. When his friend whispered something to him, he gulped and straightened his posture immediately. Adding it to the sword she saw earlier, it was easy to tell he was a military man. He could be a general from a remote area of Wendlyn, that would explain why she had never seen him when visiting Varese. That thought made her smile, and when they looked back at each other, he nodded at her with a hint of a smile. Aelin didn’t even worry about lying her name to him, she seemed to be pretty much forgiven.

She had noticed Aedion eyeing her suspiciously, but she didn’t care. The announcement of the guests was mostly brief, but the longer it kept going, the more she became curious to know what he did back in Wendlyn with her cousin. Aelin’s heart started racing as Rowan started being announced.

Prince Rowan Whitethorn of Doranelle

Wait, what?

How in hell did Maeve’s nephew get inside her castle?

Aelin sensed Aedion’s body tense besides her, too.

Maeve, the creepiest person Aelin had ever known, even though she had only read letters from her. Asking her to visit Doranelle so they could get to know each other since Aelin was born.

Queen Maeve of Doranelle, the person Aelin knew was up to no good when it came to her.

Aelin had never set foot in Doranelle for a reason, but its Queen had found a way to sneak her people into her castle.

No fucking way.

After the guests were sent to their rooms, Aelin and Aedion locked themselves in a broom closet away from prying ears and started an emergency meeting.

Aelin blurted, “Do you think he’s trying to kill me?”

Aedion clenched his jaw, making some facial muscles jump. “Over my dead body.” He seemed to mull on something while started to crack his knuckles. “We should kill him first.”

Aelin’s eyes went wide. “Are you out of your mind? He’s the most powerful Fae alive, completely war material if we kill him out of the blue.” Her body stilled. “Maybe that’s exactly what Maeve wants.” Aelin was definitely not going to be the queen who murders her guests on their first day visiting.

As if sensing her thoughts, Aedion offered, “I can kill him if you want. Take the blame and shit.”

“No. Don’t.” Aelin’s thoughts were unfocused, her heartbeat racing as she thought on other solutions, but their hands were tied. Aelin started scratching her forehead. She didn’t know much, but of one thing she was sure.

Maeve’s best lackey was here on a mission, and her idiot cousin had just led him inside.

She knew Doranelle and Wendlyn were political allies, but she didn’t know Galan and the Whitethorns were freaking buddies.

Aelin was going to dismember Galan. And then incinerate what was left of her cousin.

One moment she was with Aedion, the other going towards the Guest Wing, her cousin hot on her heels. She didn’t need to ask which room he was at, the trail of his steps was easy to follow.

“Excuse me, boys. Would you mind staying back for a little while?” She said with a sweet smile at the castle’s guards stationed beside his door, who complied without a second thought. “Wait for me here, Aedion. You’ll know if you need to come.” Aelin stared at Rowan Whitethorn’s door for a few seconds and took a deep breath. It was going to be fine.

Then she set his door on fire until it burned to a crisp and barged into his room without announcing herself. But if you really thought about it, the fire was announcement enough. Despite her big entrance, Rowan didn’t even bat an eye at her. In fact, he was sat on a couch, tending for his daggers. Shirtless. But she wouldn’t be affected by his shirtlessness. It was absolutely disgusting, the way she could trace the movement of each muscle as he wiped—

“Good evening, Celaena,” he sneered her alias, “Can I help you?”

“Absolutely.” She sat on a chair across from him, her posture perfect as she assessed him.

Rowan raised his brows at her.

“I didn’t get to compliment your choice of sword at the blacksmith earlier.” She tilted her head. “Tell me, Whitethorn, apart from fictional dragons, which other fire-wielder creatures do you plan to kill with it?”

“I believe my plans didn’t work out the moment I reached Varese and was dragged here by Galan and Fenrys.”

Aelin’s pulse got even faster. Seriously? Was that really the best he could come up with? “Why would I trust Maeve’s killing dog?”

It was easy to spot Rowan’s nostrils flaring and the way he clenched his jaw. “I like to think I’d spend my time with something more challenging than murdering an attention-seeker little brat.”

“Then what are you here for? Watch me? You know, you must be very important to Her Immortal Majesty if she put you on nurse duty.”

He snarled, “I was not. Sent. By. Maeve.”

Aelin got up from her chair, her eyes wide. “I don’t believe you.”

Rowan rose from his couch too and scoffed at her, “Are you always this paranoid, Princess?”

“So, you come to Terrasen while your aunt has an scheduled visit to Adarlan and expect me to believe you have no hidden agenda?”

Rowan took a deep breath and said in a carefully controlled tone, “I command armies. Strictly. Do you see any troops here? Because she wouldn’t send me as a spy.”

Aelin squinted her eyes at him, trying to recall every detail in their exchange earlier. “Then what is the disaster you have to prevent?”

“Have you met Fenrys?”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you kidding me? He has charmed half the Court already!”

Rowan pinched his nose. “Of course he did.”

Aelin drew herself up to full height and narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t trust you, Whitethorn. And I don’t give a fuck about your relationship with Maeve. As long as you lead her armies and benefit from her government, I’ll be monitoring you.”

She didn’t know who stepped inside the personal space of the other, but they were close. Dangerously so. Their short breaths were mingling as they studied each other’s enraged faces. Aelin took a step back and started to leave, but not without hissing, “Don’t you dare think this conversation is over.” Too bad she couldn’t slam his door.

TAG LIST

@elentiyawhitethorn

@rowanaelinn

@leiawritesstories

#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #rowaelin fanfiction #throne of glass fanfiction #throne of glass #my writing #royal rebels #prologue

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sadinasaphrite · 2 years

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Whumptober Day 4 - Sebek

Time for another Twisted Day of Whumptober! Today, Sebek does endurance training under Lilia’s instruction and his stubborn streak gets him into trouble.

No. 4 DEAD ON YOUR FEET

Hidden Injury | Waking Up Disoriented | Can’t Pass Out

I feel like this isn’t so much “Hidden Injury” as it is “Ignored Injury,” but I feel like the fic fits the “Dead on your feet” theme.

Read on AO3!

Fic under the cut

This was not how Sebek planned on spending his winter vacation. He expected to spend some quality time with his mother and siblings, even if it meant enduring his father’s embarrassing jokes and ridiculous tacky sweaters. Instead, Sebek was halfway up a mountain, scaling a cliff with only his bare hands, with no family, home cooked meals, or hot cider in sight.

Although, Sebek admitted to himself, the holiday hadn’t exactly started as well as he’d hoped. Upon arriving back in Briar Valley, he found his older brother was buried in schoolwork and his sister was planning on spending most of the break with her friends. Even his parents were scarce, working long hours at the dental clinic due to a staffing shortage.

He’d resigned to spending winter break alone when Master Lilia appeared out of thin air and whisked him away. They reappeared in the middle of the mountain range, far from civilization.

“How far do you want to go?” Lilia asked, hovering beside him.

Sebek looked around. At first, Sebek didn’t see any familiar landmarks amid the mountain range, but far in the distance was a blurry black shape that looked like it might be the great Briar Castle. To be at Master Malleus’ side had always been his goal, so the answer seemed obvious. He pointed to the castle on the horizon.

“I will travel all the way to the castle!”

Lilia tilted his head. “Do you want supplies?”

Hah. This was a test, was it? Endurance training, surely. He would proudly pass any test Master Lilia challenged him with!

“No,” Sebek proclaimed. “I will make it on my own!”

“If you insist,” Lilia said.

He disappeared, leaving Sebek alone on the mountaintop. Thus had started some of the most grueling training Sebek had ever endured. He had only the clothes on his back, his magestone pen, and the hiking boots he was fortunate enough to have been wearing when Lilia spirited him away. No human would have survived the elements in such gear, but Sebek’s fae blood offered him some resistance to the bitter cold, even as only a half-breed. He foraged what little plant life he could find amid the snow and alpine forests and hunted with variable success using either his own speed and strength or crude spears he made as he walked. He climbed and hiked until it was too dark for even his fae eyes to see, then used his magic to light a fire and slept without shelter until the dawn, when he would do it all over again.

It was miserable. The cold wasn’t enough to kill him, but that didn’t mean Sebek wasn’t freezing all hours of the day and night. The physical activity of hiking helped to keep him warm, but foraging while hiking at the same time slowed his progress. Either he moved slowly and focused on finding enough food to fill his belly, or he kept hiking to get some distance and burned energy on an empty stomach. The nights were just as bad, laying in the snow with a fire that barely produced any warmth while his stomach growled and he thought longingly of hot cider, roasted potatoes, and baked pheasant.

Every dawn and every dusk, Lilia would appear out of thin air beside him.

“How far do you want to go?” He would ask, and Sebek would assure him that he was strong enough to make the journey. Lilia would always offer food, or supplies, or water, but Sebek always refused his help. He would not fail this test due to a mere discomfort!

It took five days before Sebek reached the next mountain peak. He looked behind him as he approached the summit, and his face split into a toothy grin. The last mountain peak was so far away! He’d made incredible progress! All his hard work would be worth it when… when…

Sebek crested the top of the incline, reaching the mountain summit and looking toward his goal. Briar Castle was still just a speck on the horizon, no different than it had looked at the last summit, so very far behind him. In fact, in this lighting, he couldn’t even tell for sure if it was Briar Castle.

Crushing despair settled around his shoulders. All that work, and for what? At this pace, he wouldn’t reach Briar Castle by the end of next year, much less the end of winter break! Was… was this part of the test? Was he to spend the next year on a cruel journey to prove his devotion to Master Malleus?

For the first time, doubt entered Sebek’s heart. He’d pushed himself beyond his limits to reach the summit. His legs trembled and every inch of him was sore from the grueling days of hiking and climbing. His chest heaved, the thin icy air stabbing through his lungs like needles with every breath. His clothes were soaked through with snow and sweat, and his hair was crusted with dirt and grime. He was cold, he was hungry, he was sore, he wanted a bath, and more than anything he wanted to sleep and rest. He knew he was burning more energy than he was taking in with his meager foraging, and continuing at this pace would wither him down to nothing, assuming he didn’t just collapse from exhaustion.

He wanted to go home.

As if summoned, Lilia appeared beside him.

“Brrr! It’s chilly up here!”

Fury flared within him. Lilia was cold? Lilia was cold?? With the wind whipping around them and snow packed down inside Sebek’s boots from trudging through knee deep snow? And Lilia was cold???

Sebek let out a hard, sharp exhale that sounded suspiciously like a snort.

“How far do you want to go?” Lilia asked once again, the damnable question more infuriating than ever before.

“I’m fine!” Sebek roared in return. “I can do it!”

Lilia paused, his expression closed off and guarded.

“There’s no penalty for stopping,” he finally said, “you can stop at any time. Whenever you want. You don’t have to keep going.”

“I don’t need to stop.” Legs shaking, Sebek trudged down the incline, leaving the summit behind.

“Do you want food? Water? Help?” Lilia called after him.

Sebek didn’t answer and didn’t look back.

How dare he? The absolute nerve! What was Lilia even doing? Just… just showing up every now and then to taunt him? Remind him that he wasn’t good enough? Wasn’t strong enough?

Sebek stormed down the mountainside, rage and adrenaline overriding his exhaustion, and not watching where he stepped as he shoved his way down a winding game trail that followed the edge of a ravine.

Damn his human blood, and damn his human father! If he were a full fae, surely he’d be able to handle this! Damn it all, he would prove himself worthy to stand at Malleus’ side! He would—

His foot came down hard on a layer of slush beneath the snow and his ankle twisted hard. Sebek let out a roar of pain and reeled back, losing his balance. His arms pinwheeled wildly, then he overcorrected his balance and lurched forward. Without thinking, he caught himself by putting all his weight on his twisted ankle. Something inside his ankle popped and his leg gave out entirely.

Sebek crumpled forward to get a faceful of slush and mud as he hit the ground hard. The slush shifted beneath his weight and Sebek slid to the left, off the edge of the game trail. He scrambled at the rocks and mud, but his hands found no purchase on the slick ground and he slipped off the trail to the ravine below.

He rolled down the steep slope, unable to tell which way was up and futilely trying to grab onto anything to stop his fall. Rocks and branches scraped his face and arms, tearing at his clothes and skin. Pain sliced across his flank as he crashed against a particularly large rock and then bounced off. He had the terrifying sensation of sudden weightlessness, falling freely through the air. The bottom of the ravine came into view, ground covered in the thick, thorny brambles that Briar Valley was known for, then Sebek smashed through the thicket and hit the ravine floor with a wet crunch.

For a long while, the forest fell silent. Sebek didn’t know how long he lay there, staring uncomprehendingly at the sky above him, a background of white clouds criss-crossed by thick, twisting vines with inch-long thorns. Slowly, sense returned to him, and he let out a long, low groan.

He tried to move and instantly regretted it. The thorns had all but shredded his skin, tearing right through his clothes, and every movement brought a new thorn stabbing into his flesh. Sharp pain radiated from his lower back and down his flank, where he’d hit the big rock on the way down. After a moment, Sebek realized his rear was wet, not with the icy sensation of melted snow, but with something else, warm and sticky. He reached down gingerly, thorns seizing his sleeve and arm all along the way, and carefully felt the most painful spot.

Blood. It was definitely blood soaking his clothes. He couldn’t get a good look at the area and had no idea how bad the injury was. It sure felt painful. Hell. Everything hurt. His head was throbbing, his ass was bleeding, and everything in between was just as miserable. Maybe he should stop. Just lay here until Lilia appeared again and took him home.

Sebek closed his eyes, the idea extremely tempting. After a few minutes of serious consideration, he let out a long breath. No. No, he wouldn’t give up. Not even now.

Slowly, he sat up. Thorns clung to him like barbed wire, mercilessly tearing through him with every movement. Sebek gave a low, menacing growl, rumbling through his chest inhumanly deep, then roared and lashed out with his magic. A wave of wind and fire forced the brambles back just long enough for Sebek to heave himself out of their clutches before they slithered into place once more.

Good. That was one obstacle gone. Next was getting to his feet.

Standing proved to be easier said than done. The gash across his flank sent horrible stabbing pain through him with every wrong move, and his ankle radiated with the bone-deep ache of a sprain. Using a boulder for balance, Sebek slowly dragged himself upright, smearing a stripe of blood across the stone.

There. Step two done. Now all he needed to do was walk.

Sebek clung to the boulder supporting his weight and hesitated. Walk where? There was nowhere to go. The narrow ravine had steep walls on both sides, and was otherwise filled with thorny briars. He had a little bit of breathing space by the boulder, but he was trapped between briars and the ravine wall, with no path around any of it. He looked up the sheer cliff. There was a decent number of possible footholds. If he didn’t put weight on his twisted ankle, he might be able to scale the ravine wall.

Only one way to find out.

He lurched away from the boulder and caught himself against the wall. A handhold here, a handhold there, and… lift. Sebek’s muscular arms strained as he pulled himself clear off the ground. His good foot fished around for a foothold, and he let out a shout of victory when he found one. Excellent! Easy, this was just doing pull ups with an extra step. He glanced down, confirming that he was a comfortable two feet off the ground, then looked up at the cliff wall.

He just had to do that another twenty or so times. Sebek swallowed back his trepidation and climbed.

Two feet. Six feet. Twelve feet. Twenty feet.

“Sebek!”

Lilia appeared beside him, floating in the air as Sebek climbed. Lilia’s calm, stoic expression was gone, replaced by open alarm.

“Sebek, stop! You can stop now! You don’t have to keep going, it’s okay! We can stop!”

“NO!” Sebek growled. Sweat poured down his brow and his arms trembled violently from the strain. Blood oozed sluggishly down his bad leg, dripping to the ravine floor below. “I can do it!”

He reached for another handhold.

“Sebek, please! Just say you can’t go any farther! We can—”

Sebek didn’t hear the rest of Lilia’s words as a wave of dizziness washed over him. He clung to the wall and trembled, waiting for it to pass, but it only grew worse. Darkness crept in from the corners of his vision.

“Sebek?”

Beaten, bloodied, and exhausted, Sebek’s body finally gave out. Unconsciousness claimed him and he fell.

“SEBEK!”

Sebek was warm and a little… floaty? Like he was floating on a cloud in the sunshine, but also a little numb. He frowned and stirred, not sure if he liked the sensation. He became aware of delicate fingers stroking his hair.

“Sebek? Can you hear me? Are you awake?”

Sebek opened his eyes and blinked blearily. Lilia’s worried face took up most of his vision, but the room around him was also familiar.

“I’m… at your home?”

“Yes,” Lilia said, “you needed medical attention. The training exercise is over. You might feel a little odd, you’re on some pretty heavy pain meds.”

Sebek slumped back into the bed, his face falling in misery.

“I failed.”

“Yes,” Lilia said, giving his head a gentle pat, “but not for the reason you think you did.”

Sebek’s heart sank. “I wasn’t strong enough.”

“That is not why you failed.”

“But… I never reached the goal,” Sebek said, his face twisted in confusion.

“I never gave you a goal,” Lilia explained. “I never told you how far to go or where. You made those goals yourself. The lesson was not how far you could trek in the mountains. The lesson was to teach you to stop. To teach you to respect your limits. …And to know when to ask for help.”

Sebek stared at him.

“...What?”

“I asked how far you wanted to go,” Lilia continued patiently. “You’re the one who answered. Every time I appeared, I asked if you wanted to continue. I offered you help. I even specified there was no penalty for stopping. Strength is not endurance alone. There is strength in accepting help from those willing to give it.”

Sebek opened his mouth to protest, temper flaring, but the words died in his throat and he fell silent. Lilia’s words rolled around in his head as he considered his response.

“I think,” he said slowly, “you were deceptively vague about that.”

“And sometimes it may not be clear when someone is asking to help. Or asking for help.”

Sebek let out a hard breath through his nose. There was no arguing with Lilia when he was like this, acting all wise and cryptic, like he’d just gifted knowledge of the Elder Fae to lesser mortals and expected to be thanked for it. Still, Sebek was nothing if not a dutiful student, and he would do his best to take the lesson to heart.

A sudden unpleasant thought struck him.

“Silver didn’t see me like this, did he?” Sebek asked.

“Oh, he absolutely did,” Lilia said with a smile, rising to his feet. “I believe he called you a stone-headed fool when I told him the situation.”

Sebek groaned and Lilia laughed.

“Now, you just rest there. I’ve got hot soup ready for you.”

Panic flashed across Sebek’s features. “Soup that you made? Can’t I go home?”

“Not until you’re a little more healed up.”

“Why?”

“Because if I take you home looking like this, your mother will kill me,” Lilia grinned and slipped from the room.

Sebek groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. Perhaps this was his punishment for failing to understand the lesson. No matter. He’d be home with his family soon enough.

So long as Lilia’s cooking didn’t kill him, first.

#whumptober2022 #no.4 #hidden injury #twisted wonderland #fic #Sebek Zigvolt #Lilia Vanrouge #I low-key love writing Dad!Lilia and I want to do more of it

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bmwiid · 2 years

Text

It's dark, and she's trying not to be heard out here. She'd been traveling alone for a long time, picking up odd jobs here and there. Small towns sometimes need a wizard but can't afford the gold.

She'd gotten through with some basic spells, the ones that didn't leave her weak and shaking - basic mending on a barn door, molding earth for a farmer to drain a field, shaping water to help during a bad flood. She'd worked slowly, warned the people who hired her.

"I'm not a real wizard. I can't do a lot. I'll do my best, though, for some food, or a place to sleep."

(break because it's long enough to annoy your dash)

It was good work, and fairly steady in the little rural towns and villages. Sometimes she'd get a couple copper along with supplies to take with her. Once she'd even been given a warm coat, with extra pockets on the inside. It had belonged to someones father, a little old, a little patched up, but a damn good coat nonetheless.

It was stained now, with blood. She'd thought most of it was his, but the longer she ran, the wider the stain was getting. She'd been walking on the main road between Ivar and Lorian, two little places that probably weren't shown on any map. It was cold, but not snowing yet, so she let her mind wander as she made her way. Eva, the woman who needed help with a nest of rats in her basement who had been eating her stores for the winter, said her friend in Lorian would put her up for a few days if she said Eva sent her.

"There's always work for someone like you, round those parts." She said, patting her on the arm with frail fingers. "Take this, no one round here can make head nor tails of it."

It had been a book. A little leatherbound thing, in a deep blue. It didn't look fancy - and when she opened it, the symbols swam in front of her eyes. "Thank you." She'd said, pocketing it.

But that has been a few days ago, and too far away now to try and go back. The roads were supposed to be safe. The war was over and the danger (supposedly) passed.

It had been starting to get dark and she'd spotted a couple of trees that could make a nice shelter for the night, if she could curl up small enough.

He must have thought he'd gotten lucky, when she wandered up to his little spot. Thinking back, he'd probably been waiting for a rider, or a carriage. Something worth his while.

She wouldn't have told anyone, she wouldn't have raised a fuss. But he didn't want to let her go without handing over her coin and he didn't listen when she'd told him she'd nothing to give.

The fight had been short - She'd warned him not to mess with her. It had taken almost all of her energy to cast the spell and she knew she hadn't done it right when he lurched back with blood on his teeth rather than passing out. He'd rushed her with a knife and she'd panicked, she only knew a few simple tricks and her magic missile hadn't done as much as she'd hoped.

He hadn't been as lucky the next time she cast it though.

But it had taken everything out of her. She'd started to run, because he was still breathing, even as he lay on the ground, and she could feel her head starting to pound from reaching too deep.

It was dark now, though, and her feet kept catching on rocks and rabbit holes and her eyes couldn't adjust properly to the night. She saw something - a small, round hillock, sticking out of the ground and she figured, if she kept low to the ground and tucked in close, she might not be seen. She might be able to rest till the sun came up. She might be able to stop the bleeding.

She collapsed against the hill, which was harder than she had expected, and smooth. Probably a rock, she thought, leaning against it heavily.

Peeling her coat back, she could hear the thick, wet sound of fabric heavy with blood.

"Oh fuck me." she sighed. It was too dark to see much and she didn't want to risk sewing her wound without light.

As she sat, looking up at the night sky, and the stars twinkling, she heard a sound. Her head snapped around but it was too dark for her to see anything except shadows.

"Are... you well?" A male voice asked, somewhere further to her left. The voice sounded worried, and heavily accented - not a local, which was odd.

She held up her hands, hoped they didn't see the blood. "Please," she managed, and her voice sounded off to her own ears. "I don't want any trouble." she said. Doubtless she looked dangerous, covered in blood. He might not know it was her own.

"Yes." He said, and she could see a shadow move, closer than she expected. She flinched, and pulled back.

"I wish you no harm." He said. His tone was odd, like he didn't quite know what the right thing to say. "You are... safe." He said. "We do not wish you harm."

We? Her head was swimming, and she could feel her adrenaline waning. "Sure," she managed, before she faded into blackness.

"Healing is not my specially." Someone was saying. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt heavy and weighted. The voice was the same man she could remember, the heavy accent sounded more pronounced now though.

Another person sighed. "Ja, I know. Should I reach out to Jester?"

Another man, then. Local.

"I have a potion somewhere." The local man said, and she could hear the rustling of a pack, and she tried to move. Potions were expensive, and she couldn't pay it back - not in this lifetime at least.

Someone lightly touched her head, soft fingers - softer than anyone she'd known in her life. "You should not be worried." The accented one said, voice low. "Caleb will be able to assist you."

"I can't-" she started to say, before another hand carefully cupped her jaw.

"Vorsichtig," he said, and a cool glass touched her lips.

She tried to shake her head, but didn't have the strength. The liquid was thicker than she'd expected, and cold. It was bitter - like the alcohol her pappa sometimes drank, that her grandfather let her sip once.

Her eyes fluttered open, feeling crusty, like she'd been sleeping for days.

The first thing she saw was a drow. A drow. His skin was a deep purple, with a shock of white curls - he looked delicate, fragile - and worried. She couldn't help but frown. Weren't they all... monsters?

"And now you are awake." He said, smiling slightly. His teeth were white, whiter than anyone she'd ever met - and pointed slightly. His fingers left her forehead gracefully.

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, and found herself in what seemed to be a dome. The other man was... local. Red hair, a little wild. His clothes looked empire made, but in better cloth than she'd seen. When he smiled, one of his teeth was slightly crooked. His skin was pale, with heavy freckles. She saw men like this every day.

Her brother. Her father. Hells, he could show up at a family dinner and no one would notice. He was smiling at her.

"Feeling better already, ja?" He said, and pushed the almost empty bottle into her hands. When she looked at their hands, the pale skin, freckles... He really could be one of her brothers.

As if any brother round these parts could afford 75 gold on a healing potion.

"Ja." she managed. "Thank you. I can't pay for this." She croaked.

He started to shrug, but stopped himself. "I've been many places," he said, sitting back to give her more space. "Collected many things. My name is Caleb." He rubbed his face, tried to smooth out his beard.

"Marta." She supplied.

"Marta." He nodded. "Please, don't worry about the cost." When she started to protest, he held up a hand. "My parents, they never earned more than 50 gold in their life." He said. He didn't look ashamed, telling her. Her own parents would skin her alive for talking about such things with a stranger. "I grew up not to far from here." He added, as an afterthought.

"Ja." she nodded. "Somewhere nearer Rexxentrum?" She guessed. When he looked shocked she'd know, she gave a shrug. "You've got the look. Something about the blood, we've all got the hair and freckles - I've never seen you before so you aren't from my side, so maybe one of the men who went off to fight in the wars?"

"My father was a member of the Righteous Brand." He supplied. He looked a little spooked.

"Yeah, a few of them thought there would be more money in the army than the farms, met girls and never came back. What was he called, your father?"

"Leofric."

She thought hard. "I don't remember hearing that name, but... honestly, it doesn't mean much. Oma might remember, if you head home."

He looked shocked, like she'd punched him hard for no reason. Maybe she'd over-stepped. A glance at the Drow didn't help. He looked torn between wanting to stay perfectly still and reaching out to comfort the red-head. Ah, it was like that, was it?

"Maybe not with your man here, though." She suggested. "Uh, no offence but your kind are... still rare and... uh..." She waved a hand in the air. "Long memories and short tempers run around these parts."

He nodded gracefully. Honestly, she'd never seen anyone look so... expensive... in her life. He was so clean. And his hair was so white.

"I have this?" She said, remembering the book. "It's not much but... potions are a lot of gold." When Caleb didn't reply, she handed it out to the Drow. He carefully took it from her grip, his nails clean and well kept. Her stained, thick fingers looked alien beside his.

He opened the cover shook his head. "You should keep this," He advised, in his accent so strange to her ears. "No wizard wants to be without their spells."

"It's not mine." She said, before biting her tongue. "I mean, I was given it, but it's not... it's not mine." She paused. "I didn't steal it." She felt the urge to clarify, under his passive look. "Why would I steal a book?"

"To read it?" Caleb said, popping out of his odd trance to sound oddly defensive.

She rolled her eyes. "Better to go with you then," She pointed out. "I can't read it."

"It's in common." The Drow said, looking again at the little book, still in his hands.

"You only read Zemnian?" Caleb asked, and it made her smile at their confused expressions.

"I grew up on a serf farm." She told them. "One of twelve. You think my mutter had time to teach me to read?" She paused. "She tried, but me and my older brother, words don't... stay where they should?" She shrugged again. "I've got a good memory and learned some tricks from a traveling cleric when I was a little girl. He said I had a talent, gave me this."

She held out out the quartz. She'd heard that real wizards used diamonds, but real wizards could read and write and didn't grow up tired and hungry and already beat down. Her pappa told her it wasn't worth selling when he took it from her. Let her keep it, let her practice after her working day was done.

The Drow let her push it into his hand. "It's called a focus." She told him. She felt a little proud to know the correct word.

His nod was... distant. "You cast with this?" He asked, looking at it closely. "Without... written spells?"

"Mhm," she nodded. "I earn enough from town to town to keep me fed and watered." She glanced at Caleb. "And I don't need to work myself sick on the farm to do it. Just... don't quite earn enough for a potion."

"A cleric gave you this?" The Drow asked, handing it over to Caleb, who looked... a little oddly at her. Like he was guilty, in a weird way.

She nodded. "He showed up when I was... five or six? We thought he was local cause he was all pale and with the red hair, but he was some kinda elf. The adults said he couldn't stay in town because he caused some trouble, but I found him sleeping in the barn that night, and he taught me some real magic." She looked at them both, trying not to sound too proud or boastful. "He said it didn't matter I couldn't read spells, and he told me about the focus."

The Drow looked at Caleb and gave a little half shrug. "I've never heard of anyone using... rocks... as a focus before."

"Maybe you don't know a lot of wizards then." She found herself saying, before her mind could think better of it. Backtalking is how to get into trouble, not out of it, she knew.

His smile was... very quick, and very lovely. She wasn't quite sure about what Drow ladies liked, but some things were universal. She looked at her feet, and blushed.

"I've met a few." He said, before waving a hand and causing three balls of light to form from his fingertips.

Scheisse.

"Stop showing off, Essek," Caleb said, looking at the quartz. He shifted a little and pulled out a pearl from one of his pockets. She'd seen one before, although not quite as big. Her mutter had one, on a silver chain. A gift from her father, when she married. She'd heard it was worth at least half the farm. Marta watched as Caleb held the pearl to his forehead and started to mumble under his breath.

Two wizards then. She realized, and felt a strange mix of emotions. Around these parts she was the only one, and that kept her in steady work. These two were obviously more powerful and talented than she could ever be. She saw her way of life drift away like a trail of smoke from a candle.

After a few moments, he stopped muttering. "Well, it's not a rock." He said, handing the focus back to her. "This cleric... did he travel alone?"

"Yes." She said looking at the quartz in her hand. "What is it?"

"How many years ago was this?"

"I... um..." She started counting backwards. "About 10 years?"

"Your fifteen?" The drow man, Essek, said, sounding shocked. "Why are you out alone? At this age?"

She found herself looking at him oddly. "I'm old enough to be married, have my own kinder." She pointed out, feeling a little insulted.

"And he was... wasn't human?" Caleb asked, ignoring his friends exclamation.

"Yes? Why?"

"I know a... redheaded elf man with an... ability to see talent in young kinder like you." Caleb said, looking at the stone in her hand. "It's not quartz. Have you ever seen a natural, uncut diamond?"

Marta felt her heart slow down, as though time had stopped in her body. The rock in her hand was jagged and awkward and cumbersome and... about the size of her fist.

"Did he mention what God he followed?"

"No." She whispered. If it was a diamond... she could sell it. She should sell it. It would lift her whole family out of poverty. It would change their lives. Her pitiful magic was nothing to compare to that. "He said he was a traveler. Just... traveling."

She'd lose her magic, what little she had, if she sold it though.

Was she so selfish as to put simple tricks ahead of her family?

"A diamond like this could bring a person back from death." Caleb was saying. "If they were a powerful enough cleric. At least 1000 gold."

The sound that came from her throat wasn't one she was aware she could make. Somewhere between a gasp and a choke.

"If you don't write down your spells, how do you learn new ones?" Essek asked, sounding curious.

"I just... I say them out loud." She found her mouth moving without any active thought from her brain. "At the end of the day. Sometimes I just... dream new spells. I learned how to move water... after a... are you SURE it's a diamond?"

"Are you sure you are a wizard?" Essek asked, and... what?

"What?" She found herself snapping, because she did magic, real magic, and this... expensive looking drow... man... who looked like he never worked a day in his life, is questioning her?

"I think what Essek is trying to say is... have you ever thought you might not be a wizard? Are you... religious at all?"

"No." She admitted. "I don't... I guess they are real, but I don't think they care about normal people. Not people like me, or mine."

"I know a young... well, she's not as young as she was, but a younger girl. She was very lonely. And her God, he... a tall man, red hair. Green cloak. He called himself The Traveler."

Marta blinked. It was too much information all at once. She'd nearly died. Her silly tricks saved her life, and then she nearly bled to death in a field. She'd run into not one, but two wizards - who had saved her life, and then told her she'd been running around the country with a thousand gold in her pocket without knowing and now... she wasn't even a wizard like she thought?

Her breath started to come in quick, sharp gasps, and too late, the men realised perhaps she wasn't quite as stable as they'd assumed. As her vision started to go fuzzy around the edges, she was sure she heard a voice, so familiar in her dreams, say:

"Well, hello. Looks like you just can't resist meddling with my chosen few."

She woke up in a bed. At least, she assumed it was a bed, because clouds didn't normally have covers. The room was softly lit with the morning sunlight gently hitting the cloth that surrounded the bed.

There was a blue, horned girl, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her with a delighted expression.

"Oh my god!" the blue girl squeeked, when she realised Marta's eyes were open. "We are going to be the best friends, I can tell!"

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sissytobitch10seconds · 1 year

Text

They're Here

Fandom: Once Upon a Time Summary: The curse is coming and so is the baby. Warnings: ABO dynamics, graphic descriptions of birth, major (canon) character death, and mpreg Word Count: 4,606 Ship(s): Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard

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The rising of the morning sun brought with it a pleasant breeze. It blew the curtains hanging in front of the entryway of their balcony further into their room elegantly. There were sounds from the bustling of servants down in the courtyard as the rest of the palace began to wake. Birdsong was carried on the wind blowing through their room. It seemed like the entire world was at peace for just a little while.

David had already been awake for a few hours. He was laying sideways with his back towards his wife's sleeping frame. His heavy stomach pulled dramatically on his hip while the pup inside of him began to kick as he demanded his mother wake up and give them both food. When he hit halfway through his pregnancy he felt like he had suddenly gotten huge, but then after the unborn pup started moving it was like he doubled in size again. He was astounded by the changes that his body made to accommodate their little one.

Now that the sun was beginning to peek through the windows, David carefully maneuvered himself so that he was sitting up. He placed his hand on the top of his gravid belly as he felt another one of the pains that had been plaguing him since the middle of the night began. "You've just got to wait a little while longer, okay?" he murmured as he brushed a hand over the hardened muscles that made up his stomach. He had been having false contractions since he reached eight months into his pregnancy so it wasn't like he was unused to the pains. The familiarity didn't make him stop worrying about going into labor before they could go to the world without magic, however. His entire pregnancy had been plagued with panic and worry about having his pup ripped from him or having to leave his true love forever. "It'll be okay, won't it, love?" he murmured to the baby nestled in the safety of his womb.

He placed both of his hands on the edge of the bed when the pain had finally passed. He breathed for a moment before he was able to push himself into a standing position. He steadied for a second before he began to walk towards the nursery connected to their room. It wouldn't be the room that Emma stayed in forever, but until he got old enough to sleep through the night he would have been close to his parents. The beta had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't going to get to raise his son here. They had worked so hard to make both of the rooms perfect for the soon-to-be born prince. He wouldn't even get to sleep in them for a single night.

He brushed his fingers over the edge of the bassinet. He was trying to keep himself from crying but the pregnancy made that rather difficult. "Oh baby, I wish that you could grow up here," he murmured. He sat down in the rocking chair next to the crib. He kept his hand pressed to the thick blanket along the base of the bassinet. It was the blanket that his mother had made back when she was trying to find him a mate with a good dowry so that they could save their farm. Later, she gave it to him so that he could give it any future children that he and Snow would have after the poison arrow had proven to be fatal. Granny had also made them the blanket that Emma would be swaddled in while they held him. It was smaller and easier to work with when actually containing a newborn.

During the pregnancy, he realized just how much he missed his mother. He hadn't had a chance to really feel his grief up to that point because they had to take back their kingdom, rid themselves of their abusive parents, and then plan a wedding. Now he was becoming a mother himself and so many of the dreams and hopes he had about this weren't going to be able to come true. She wasn't ever going to hold her grandbaby or even know his name. She wasn't going to be there to help them when things got difficult, to reassure them when Emma got sick for the first time, or to give David advice on how to feed him if he had difficulty latching. "Mom, I wish you could be here to meet him," he whispered. He was mourning both the loss of his mother from his life and from his son's. That combined with him mourning the loss of what his pregnancy could have been had they not been fighting against evil through the entire thing.

He didn't notice that he had started crying until the tears reached his chin. He reached the hand that had been in the crib up to his face so that he could wipe them away. The movement from his son was reassuring, but it also reminded him that he should be excited instead of terrified. He placed a hand over his mouth as he tilted his head back to try and stop the tears from coming while he muffled the sound of his sobs. He had cried a lot during his pregnancy but he had been able to hide most of it from his wife. She felt guilty enough that it was her stepmother that was causing her pregnant mate all this distress, she didn't also need to see him crying three times a day.

"David?" Snow called from their bedroom.

He cleared his throat and then furiously wiped at his face. "Give me a second, I'll be there," he shouted back in return. The beta on hand on the arm of the rocking chair and the other on the base of his bump so that he could safely rise to his feet. The longer that their baby grew inside of him the harder it was to get himself upright. He wasn't able to complete his self assigned mission as he began to get another contraction. "Gods, you've got the best timing, don't you?" he directed towards his stomach.

He had apparently taken too long and his wife had gotten worried. "Is everything okay?" she asked. She was leaning against the doorway to the nursery with her sheer dressing gown wrapped around her.

"Just having a couple of contractions," he answered, waving her off.

She quickly crossed the distance between them so that she was kneeling next to him. "Is the baby coming?"

"I've had a couple of contractions," he shook his head while repeating himself. "That doesn't mean I'm in labor. It's probably just another false alarm."

"Good. The midwife is off with some of the servants. Apparently the stress of the curse is causing a lot of people to go into labor," Snow sighed. She took his hand into her own and then glanced over his face. Her brows knitted together, "Charming. You've been crying, haven't you?"

He turned his head away from her so that he was looking back out over the nursery. He realized how bad of an idea that was as tears began to form in his eyes again. "I just… I wanted my kids to have a better life than I did. Now I feel like he's going to have a worse childhood than either of us did," he worried his lip in between his teeth. "How can I keep him safe in a world like this? How could I decide to have a baby when things are like this?"

"Charming," Snow whispered. She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it delicately. "You told me that we had to keep living despite Regina always trying to hurt us. That goes for you too. We're having this baby and it's amazing. In a couple of weeks you're going to be in the other world and you're going to meet him and be so happy."

"But I want you to be there when he's born. You're his father. You deserve to be the second person to hold him," the beta argued.

She got up so that she was pressing their lips together to quiet him. "Charming, you know that I want to be there when you give birth. More than anything. The only reason that I'm okay with this plan is because having you and Emma go through the wardrobe will allow you to be with him as he grows up. Then he'll be able to come and save us, and the three of us can be together as a family," she gave him a sad smile. "Take a deep breath and come back to bed for a while. If the baby isn't coming yet then we should enjoy the little bit of free time that we have today."

"Alright," he finally conceded. He took both of his wife's hands in his own while she helped him up. The alpha gently led him back to their bed where they spent the remainder of their morning.

---

They had another busy day, just as they had for months since they had gotten married. There were a lot of plans to try and figure out how they were going to keep people safe during the curse. There were also a lot of laws that they had to repeal and change from the previous reign. They had barely had any time to rest between meeting with their war cabinet and some of the citizens of their kingdom.

David had been feeling increasingly more uncomfortable as time went on, but he hadn't told anyone. There had already been a couple of false alarms for his labor so now that they had so much on their schedule he just kept quiet about his contractions. They had just gotten back to their room to have dinner when he got the most intense pain he had his entire pregnancy. "Snow," he called, blindly reaching for her with one hand.

"Charming? Are you okay?" she quickly turned around. As soon as she saw him partially bent over with a hand on his back she rushed over to him. She placed her hand on his back and let him take the other one. "Breathe through it, sweetheart," she murmured.

"This one's bad," he growled out. It felt like someone had placed all of his organs in a vice and then hardened his muscles. "Worse than the rest of them."

"The rest of them?" she asked, her voice taking on a bit of a dangerous tint. He had heard her use that tone with him before when they were fighting.

He was getting a little panicked as well. His hormones had been rather intense since around lunch. They were causing him to constantly want to get praise from his mate and be around her at all times. Having her be a little bit hostile, even if she was only doing it because she was stressed as well, was setting him off and making him want to cry again. "I was having contractions off and on today. I wasn't able to keep track of them, we didn't really have time for that," he snapped back at her defensively.

"Sorry, sorry," she immediately saw what she had done wrong. While the pregnancy had not at all been what they were expecting when they thought about their future, she had learned how to read a lot of his little cues despite how different they were from when he wasn't pregnant. "Let's get you sat down, okay? I'll tell the kitchens to bring us something a bit lighter for dinner."

"Mm, no, I don't wanna eat," he shook his head. "I haven't had an appetite all afternoon."

Her brows furrowed together with worry upon hearing that. He had wanted to eat everything in sight since the morning sickness passed during his second trimester. That hadn't happened during any of his other false alarms. "Do you think that you're actually in labor?"

"I hope not. Geppetto isn't going to have finished the wardrobe yet," David shook his head.

"If you're in labor then we can have someone help him or tell him to speed up. It doesn't need to look nice, it just needs to be functional," Snow said. Both of them were silent for a moment as if saying that had really cemented it in their heads that nothing in their son's nursery needed to look nice since he was never going to stay there. Snow took that moment to help her beta walk over to the nest made on their bed. He clambered up into it after the contraction had finally passed. Snow pet his hair as she finally started talking once more, "I'm going to go see if the midwife can come back. If not then we're going to be stuck with Doc."

"Great," David whispered as he threw an arm over his eyes.

"Being a doctor is what he's good at. It's what he was named after and what he's been doing since he's been born," she reassured him.

"Yeah but dwarves have absolutely no experience with birth. They come out of giant eggs," he grumbled. Snow kissed the arm that was over his mouth and then darted quickly out of their room.

David shifted so that he was on his side with one of their pillows between his legs so that his belly wasn't as painful. His hips were turned in such a way that they were slightly tilted down towards the mattress instead of pointed upwards so the pull from his son inside of him wasn't as much. He had another couple of contractions while waiting for his wife to return to him, and now he was able to time them.

She knocked before she came in, and approached the nest with caution. "Hey love," she cooed.

"Were you able to find the midwife?" he asked, peeking out at her.

"She went out further than we thought because we thought that Emma was going to be coming later than he apparently is. We're stuck with Doc. He said that he would be up here to check how things are going as soon as he can," she explained. "Can I get up into the nest?"

"Mm," he motioned for her to come closer. "What if I don't want him in here?"

"He has to be in here. We can't deliver the baby by ourselves," Snow shook her head. She carefully moved over the side of the nest so that she was settled down by his side.

"Maybe we should try it," he joked. He desperately just wanted it to be him and his alpha. As much as he loved the rest of his pack, this felt so intimate and personal that he didn't want them here until after their son had already entered the world.

She just chuckled and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "We're going to get through this. Nothing about this pregnancy has gone the way we wanted it to and apparently the birth won't either. But we made it all the way through the pregnancy, and we can make it all the way through the birth."

"What did Geppetto say about the wardrobe?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"He said that it would be done in about two hours. Do you think you can wait that long?" Snow asked, brushing her fingers over the side of his face.

"Did your tutors teach you nothing about how birth works? I can't control when my body goes into labor or how long it takes. That is completely up to your son," David shot back, looking at her through one eye. He was beginning to be in pain more often than not, which was making him rather surly.

Snow leaned down to give him a gentle kiss. "I know. I don't know why I asked you that, I'm sorry."

The beta held the grudge for a moment longer before he forgave her as he always did. "Can we do the hold? He's kicking my spine and that's so painful with the contractions."

"Of course we can," she nodded. Snow removed herself from the nest and then helped her mate out. She moved David so that he was standing with his front facing towards the bed. The alpha carefully wrapped her arms around his widened hips. She threaded her fingers together underneath his belly as he leaned against her so that his back was pressed against her front. As soon as he had and his arms were overtop of hers, she carefully lifted the weight of their unborn son so that he could have a small break. She held the weight in her hands and then helped him rock back and forth through several contractions.

Doc knocked on their chamber door just as she began to carefully release the weight back onto his hips. Snow had to break away from her mate to let the dwarf in. When they returned, David had shifted so that both of his hands were planted on their bed right next to the nest. He shifted back and forth to try and relieve himself of the pain and pressure that the cramps were giving him. "How are you doing, my dear?" Snow asked, carefully coming back up behind him. Doc was moving around their chamber while getting things ready for the birth. She was keeping a careful eye on him the entire time.

"I want him to be here already. And I don't want to leave you," he whined.

"I know, love, I don't want to leave you either. But we've got a bag packed for you and our son when you have to leave us," she forced herself to smile despite her heart mourning the loss she hadn't even suffered yet.

"Maybe the curse will come later and we'll be able to be together for a while. We can send him away from us after raising him a little bit," David said hopefully. He knew that there was no stopping the arrival of the baby now, and he didn't want to have to send their child away without one of them to raise him.

"Sure, love, we can only hope," she rubbed his back with one hand.

Before the beta had a chance to say anything else, he let out a string of cuss words. He was gripping his belly with both of his hands and letting his alpha keep them both upright. "Alpha," he reached out and grasped her hand as he felt a popping deep inside of him. Clear fluid began to drip down his legs and pool on the floor below them.

"I've got you, I've got you," Snow soothed. She helped him sit down on the couch that was in the sitting area closer to the fireplace in their room. "Just stay here for a second, okay? I'm going to get the birth gown and we'll change you."

Doc was quickly ushered out of the room so that the two of them could have some privacy. Snow found the dress deep down inside one of the drawers on the other side of the room. Her graceful, skilled hands carefully removed David’s pants, underthings, and shirt so that he was standing naked in their room. He then took the gown from her and placed it over his shoulders with some help from his mate. He then drew both sides around his heavy stomach and tied it slightly on his left side. The gown had been given to them by their midwife in the hopes that it would aid the process of laboring depending on how he wanted to do it. They were limited in the places and ways that they could labor now that they were stuck with a dwarf doctor and Granny.

"So this is really happening then?" Snow asked, placing her hands on his stomach. Their son had stilled since David’s water broke, which probably meant that his labor was progressing faster than they thought it was originally.

"Yeah, this is happening now," David nodded. He shifted so that both of his hands were grasping the edge of a chair and using it to keep him steady while he rocked back and forth.

When Doc returned after having been told that David was no longer exposed, he was wringing his hands as he walked over to the beginning of the sitting area part of their bedroom. "Apparently the curse is coming. We're going to have to try and move him up to the nursery so that he can go through the wardrobe before the baby is born."

Snow opened her mouth to say something but she was cut off by her husband, "Is the wardrobe finished?"

"Well, no, but it's our best-" the dwarf began.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere unless there is a sure guarantee that I'm going to get to that other world with my mind and my baby. I want to labor with my alpha until I- I have to push," he changed the direction of his sentence halfway through.

"There's no moving him anyway," Snow said. She helped her husband limp back over to the bed in between contractions. He had fallen down into the headspace that all omegas and betas found when they were in labor, so it was hard to talk with him and reason that he couldn't push just yet. Both of the fully cognitive people got into the nest.

David braced his hands on the edge of the headboard so that he was squatting. Snow perched behind him, rubbing his back and hips. She murmured soft praises into his ear to try and keep him in that happy place while trying to ignore the fact that they could be screwed over if the curse came before their son did. "I love you so much, you're doing so good, bringing our pup into the world."

Doc fussed around them as he continued to get things ready for the baby. He had two bowls full of water, one to wash the pup once he arrived and another that he dipped washcloths in before handing them to Snow. Once she was handed one of the cool clothes she would place it on her husband's head or on his arms and neck to try and keep him comfortable while also washing off the sticky sweat accumulating on his skin from the effort it took to bear down.

Every time David got a contraction he would push so hard that his chin reached his chest over and over again. The baby was working his way down into the birth canal steadily with every single push. It only took about ten contractions before the head began to emerge from David’s opening, exposing a head of dark hair.

"You're doing such a good job. I'm so proud of you," Snow praised. It was like the rest of the world had fallen away from them so that it was just them alone in the room. As much as they had worried about it, Doc had stayed quiet the entire time with just a couple reminders to Charming so that the beta would stop and breathe between contractions.

"He's coming, catch him," David said, he pushed again and the baby's head slipped from him entirely. Snow took the head into her hand and then checked around the neck like the dwarf was instructing her to. Once she was sure that the cord wasn't there, she moved the infant inside of the birth canal like she had been told to. It only took a single push before the baby was emerging fully out into the world. The beta collapsed against the headboard once his son was born into the hands of his wife.

"He's beautiful, Charming!" Snow gasped.

He carefully turned around, getting his wife to watch the cord while he did so. As soon as he was leaning back against the pillows on the headboard, he undid the front of his robe. Snow turned the baby and placed him down on his chest and stomach. "Hi, baby, hey there," he cooed. "I love you so much. You're so beautiful. I can't believe you're really here."

The queen began to take the cloths offered to her by the member of the pack so that she could wipe the gunk off of their newborn child. Once the baby was clean, the cord was tied off and then cut. Charming delivered the afterbirth, which was quickly whisked away so that the new parents could enjoy their time with their newborn. David had also been changed into the clean gown that they had so that he could keep Emma on his chest without being covered in fluids and blood from the birth. The aforementioned newborn had been dressed in a little nightgown and then swaddled in the knitted blanket Granny had given him.

Snow moved to sit next to her little family. She was watching Emma suckle down his first meal. "He's so beautiful. I can't believe that we really had a baby."

"We did. And the curse is coming," David's eyes went a little bit dark. He then turned and looked up at his wife. "You have to take the baby to the wardrobe. We have to," he said.

"We're not sending our son to be raised in a world without us. That was something we both agreed when he told us that Emma was going to be the savior," Snow immediately shook her head. She turned towards the door as one of the guards rushed in. "What are you doing here?"

"The Evil Queen heard news of Prince Emma's arrival and is here to hurt him," he said.

"I have to stop her. Don't put Emma into the wardrobe. He's going to stay with us now that he's here," she said. Snow darted across the room and grabbed her bow and arrows. She stopped just long enough to kiss her husband and son before she was gone.

As soon as his wife was gone, the beta clambered out of his nest. He left Emma cuddled up in the blankets and pillows while he searched for his sword. It was painful to walk after going through everything that he had but he pushed himself forward. He took the weapon in one hand and his son in the other.

He made his way through the palace halls until he reached the nursery at the other end of the hall. He opened the doors to the wardrobe and then placed Emma inside. "Mama loves you more than anything, little one. Come and find us, alright?" he said. He brushed his fingers over his son's face before he had to shut the door. He could hear the pounding of the black knight's feet as they tried to get to him.

The beta kept a hand on the door until he felt the magic stir under his fingers. As soon as he was sure that his son had been transported to where he needed to be, he whirled around and was met by the soldiers of his evil mother-in-law. He fought them for as long as he could, but eventually they got to him. He was slow from exhaustion after giving birth and laboring all day. They stabbed him in the side, and the last thing that he saw before he fell away into darkness was his wife crying over his body and purple smoke consuming the nursery they had worked so hard on for their son.

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amrago · 1 year

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What if - Writing exercises pt. 3. 2

I'm continuing the exercise I left pending because I was too busy to do.

So here are the prompts for a recap. I have to do from 2 to 6.

See, I have three given:Death and Birth Falling in love and filing for divorce Spring and summer.

Death and Birth

Falling in love and filing for divorce

Spring and summer.

My own:

Autumn and winter (that's a given lol)

Creating and object and destruction

Moving in and moving out

Let's get started then! Spring and summer. In the summer it snows so much everyone cannot leave their homes for days sometimes. Even if the sun is hot, that pink-ish thing still comes out from the sky and covers everything. But the flowers of Beltzah likes the snow. It fills them of colour and magic. Especially magic - and this is also why every summer foreigners would come and steal as much flowers as they can. Only for the flowers to turn themselves into coal only a day later. As far as the people fo Beltzah knew, no one ever successfully transplanted or used one of their flowers after that time period.

(I'm not high, i just turned it fantasy)

Autumn and winter Sarah hated autumn. She kept slipping on the wet leaves after the rain. She couldn't rake them all alone, with that bad back of hers. And no one was willing to help her, no one would ever come to her hut and clear the pathways for her. Winter was another matter. Sure there was ice that was more slippery than the wet leaves, but she didn't need to walk the tiny but long pathways. By the end of october she had everything she needed in her own house.

Creating an object. It was the chair of a king - and he took his time to complete it. It was painted with a special platinum and gold mixture (okay he was sure there was something more in it, but he wouldn't or couldn't prove this theory) that made the throne look like it was made of glass - or diamond even. He was proud of his work like an honest man should. But that paint didn't convince him enough. So he asked more time from the king to make another chair. But the new chair next to the old, glossy, diamond-like one was... horrible to say at least. The fucking paint it is then, he told himself while watching his two best creations next to one another. It was the more he looked at the magnificient chair the more bad feelings he had about it. Even if it was just a chair.

And here i am noticing that i made a mistake - I did two prompts with one beginning. Who cares - these beginning are awesome and I love them regardless.

Destruction. He then stopped looking. He took an axe and hit the chair as hard as he could with it, smashing it into pieces. It was evil, he told himself, That merchant did played a trick on me, huh? Selling me the paint... He didn't trust that chair enought to not do evil deed when burned into his own fireplace. So he took the pieces of wood, loaded a cart with it and went on the borders of the village. The then cursed. He forgot to take something to dig an hole with. He looked around. No one was around. He emptied the cart behind a bush, hoping and praying no one would find that tainted wood.

Welp! I went out of time this turn again. I don't have a lot of time to write in general due to my job and household duties. I'm going to do the last prompts when I can - probably Sunday or Monday.

#what if writing exercises

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cup-and-chaucer · 1 year

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My Month in Books: October 2022

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc: This started out strong but really and truly fizzled the more it went on. I loved the concept of interweaving personal narrative and literary criticism but the further she moved away from the traditional fairytales (like those collected by Grimm or Anderson) and into less easily defined medias like Game of Thrones or the Marvel Universe, her arguments became a vaguer series of reactions, rather than a structured thesis. While meandering at the best of times, the end was a bit of a mess. The early sections of the book are definitely worth reading—I just wish this project had a better editor.

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown: This was a very charming book about an out and proud lesbian in 1960s New York City. I can totally see why this would have meant a lot to a lot of people at critical points in the development of their sexual identity. I think, honestly, at the ripe old age of 25, I’m too old for this? I feel like I’ve been out for awhile; have worked to develop a pretty nuanced understanding of my own bisexuality and gender expression at this point. The book takes a hysterical and campy left turn at the end. It’s worth reading as an artifact of its time and to appreciate a really distinct (if Mary Sue—did you know she could be a model) protagonist voice.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing: I so enjoyed this!! Lansing is a really good writer and kept the story engaging and well-paced.

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: This was a recommendation from a close friend as a descriptor of our relationship. I was very moved by this novella, to be quite honest. I recognized in it—as I did in Notes from the Underground—the intensity of loneliness, the way that loneliness manifests, and how being a “dreamer” can feed and perpetuate loneliness while also being its own magic. I did see a lot of this particular relationship, in eerie ways, in the intensity and immediacy of the connection, the relief in discovering each other, and some events of the actual plot. I saw her in the narration of the dreamer and also in the actions of Nastenka. I read this, at a necessary point in my life, I think, and it made me reflect seriously on the type of alloyed love that can develop between two people. The love in this story is as intermediate as the nature of a dreamer. I don’t know if I will grow with this book (only time will tell), the way she has, but I think I will be able to use this book to describe the foundation of this relationship. It feels like an artifact of this year. Reading it made me tired, it made me hopeful, it made me sad, it made me grateful.

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman: I found this story had good bones but felt disappointingly unfinished in the way his graphic short Snow, Glass, Apple felt sort incomplete. The brief insight into the world he created was marvelous but there wasn’t much a twist on…anything? Like the motivations of the villain remained the same, even if her position was different. Increasingly, I feel like for me to enjoy retelling of popular fairytales, they need a more pointed perspective and I didn’t get that here.

#month in books #sleeper and the spindle #neil gaiman #ruby mae brown #amanda leduc #alfred lansing #fyodor dostoevsky #white nights #disfigured #rubyfruit jungle #rita Mae brown #endurance

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anonnie-in-wonderland · 2 years

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Home Calls the Heart

Summary: Twenty-year old L/N Y/N realizes she might be, okay, is a little bit of a social pariah. But there’s not much she can really do about it. Until a dreary winter day, when a determined, persistent dog hybrid named Taehyung shows up and declares that he’s interested in adopting her for himself and the rest of his lonely pack.

chapter: two

Word Count: 4.3k+

rating: T (Taehyung is a little clingy in this chapter haha, but no real warnings)

genre: romance | hurt/comfort| magic AU

tags: bts x reader | ot7 x reader | hybrid | poly| FM!reader

Emperor Penguin!Seokjin, Golden Retriever!Taehyung, Coyote!Hoseok, Mountain Lion!Yoongi, Wolfdog!Namjoon, Kingfisher!Jimin, Holland Lop!Jungkook

Ch.1

Tag list: @colourlyhobbit @ghostkat23 @bunzom @juju-227592 @mochimommy2002

Author’s Note: Omg thank you!! 😭 As I mentioned last update, this is my first attempt at a (Y/N) fic and it was largely because I thought this would be a one-shot (sike, joke’s on me there). 🥲 But it’ll now have several parts. Not sure how many, but enough for everyone’s hearts to start mending. I hope the tag list includes everyone who asked. I was hesitant about doing one mostly because I was 1) not sure if this would even be long enough for one 2) was nervous I would miss someone or forget. It’s just my personal recommendation, so feel free to ignore it, but I think that ‘Rainbow’ by Kacey Musgraves pairs really well with this story!

The temperature had definitely dropped, (Y/N) decided, trying to bring feeling back into her fingertips. The dog (hybrid?) she was following dutifully trotted through the falling snow, his paws crunching lightly.

The weather didn’t seem to bother him at all, lucky pup. Meanwhile, (Y/N) was growing increasingly envious of his warm looking coat, clutching her thin sweater tighter to her body, and wondering why she hadn’t thought to put on a few extra layers.

Sure, the morning weather report said snow and a temperature drop was unlikely for the day, but never ruled it out. And really, her father always did tell her it was better to be over-prepared than left without in a pinch. She was finding this out the hard way right now.

Although the trail was lit, she was still having some trouble navigating as the snow kept falling, never having walked this far down the winding path. The dog had been good about staying right at her side in the beginning. Then his pace got a bit more brisk, and (Y/N) watched him take the lead, only his unmistakable tail guiding her along.

Pulling out her phone, she turned on the light and kept it trained on the canine, silently hoping there wasn’t too much further to go. She was in pretty decent physical shape due to the nature of her job—chasing down a flock of moody peacocks through a large botanical garden or even hiking uphill through the woods to find out why normally reserved wildlife was journeying into the suburbs and acting aggressively toward humans tended to do that for you—but it was getting pretty late. After finding out if and how she could help this dog, it would be time to head home.

A rather gloomy thought crossed her mind, the empty apartment waiting for her, the leftover pasta in the fridge. She had no roommate, no partner, no pet. (Y/N) came back, cooked herself dinner, indulged in a k-drama or game show, and had her nightly call with her dad.

Sometimes, a friend from high school would take pity and invite her out for drinks. Grateful as she was that she had people who tried to include her, (Y/N) knew she was killing the mood. She wasn’t as chatty in discussions as she used to be, always fidgeting, sipping at her beer and excusing herself a little early with the excuse of work the next morning.

In short, she was boring.

It hadn’t always been that way. At one time, she had a life. But if she wanted to be honest with herself, it had always felt a bit like playing a role. (Y/N) loved being around animals, and she humbly thought that they tended to feel the same about her.

But people… while she wanted to belong among them too, often it was trickier. As a child, not many of her classmates had only one parent. There had only been two peers she’d known of with divorced parents, and even that wasn’t the same.

Her mother was a bank teller, and passed tragically in a robbery gone wrong. The only casualty. The incident was splashed across newspaper front pages, and even made a local news station. Poor thing, a young girl would be lost without a mother, adults tutted with sympathy. (Y/N) had only been starting grade school when it happened.

She didn’t understand their strange behavior, as if they were trying just a little too hard to prove they weren’t pitying her while clearly doing just that. Her classmates noticed the special treatment she got, and some distanced themselves from her for it. She couldn’t blame them. They were children, and children were prone to jealousy.

But as she developed, even before her gift emerged, the whispers changed. (Y/N) was a healthy, active child, but a little ‘offbeat’ from others. She could get so immersed in her imagination, her teacher often told her father that she ‘forgot to come up for air’. The illustrations she made in art class were so vivid, and so clear.

She was proud of them, but no one ever seemed to hold the same enthusiasm—except her dad of course, who happily displayed them at home and in his office. At school, her art teacher scrunched her nose and encouraged her to try for something different, like a bunny or a field of flowers. (Y/N) didn’t understand what was so wrong with drawing the fantasy worlds she saw so well in her mind’s eye. She had even given them names.

At show-and-tell one year, she dressed as one of the characters she made up, who just so happened to be part fruit bat. Her classmates giggled as she flapped her arms and told them all about the story, while her teacher said nothing, hurrying her back to her seat as soon as possible.

The older she got, the less people understood her eccentricities. Eventually she got the dreaded “4D” label, an inevitability in hindsight. Being seen as “4D” wasn’t exactly a bad thing, but her classmates and their parents made her feel otherwise.

It was all because of the unprocessed trauma of losing a parent at such a crucial age, the parents’ of some classmates had said a little too loudly at a class party. (Y/N) pretended not to hear as she took her brownie and some pretzels and made a deer. What did they know, she thought? One parent was more than enough. Her mother was looking down at them, and proud of her. Her dad had always said as much.

When one of the mothers blamed him for not putting her in counseling sooner, saying the ‘damage’ to her development was probably irreversible, (Y/N) told her teacher she was feeling queasy. Getting a pass to the school nurse, she repeated the same story, asked to call her father, and left early for the day. Not even three short days later, she had saved a stray puppy from drowning and found out she had magic.

(Y/N) got so engrossed in the pieces of her life that had led her to this moment, she stumbled in the snow, going down after a short second of flailing for balance. Her teeth clicked together harshly and her chin throbbed, but she was otherwise okay.

Sitting up on her knees, she grabbed her phone, brushing a dusting of snow from the screen and inspecting it for damage. Luckily it was just fine, the case and screen protector having done their job. Her escort, however, had darted off into the tree line, off the beaten path. Suddenly it struck her how still and cold it was. How alone she was. A shiver raced up her arms, and she tried to angle the light to find the dog. “…Buddy?”

(Y/N) listened for the crunch of paws or an answering bark, but heard nothing. Climbing to her feet, she bravely held back any rising anxiety, her cheeks stinging from the chill as she pointed her phone this way and that. “Hello? Where’d you go, bud?”

She ventured a half step forward, before the quiet snap of a twig froze her in her tracks. Glancing down, (Y/N) gulped, noticing the distinct lack of twigs underfoot. Something flashed in her peripheral, movement in the shadows of the trees.

Heart starting to jackhammer, her cold fingers gripped the phone tighter, knowing that at best, she might be able to temporarily blind whoever was lurking with the flashlight and run for it.

Unless this was a hybrid she was dealing with like she suspected. In which case, he would probably be quicker. Shit. Her bleeding heart was really going to cost her big one day. If today wasn’t that day.

“Please,” she whispered, not sure exactly what she was pleading for. “I just wanted to help…”

“I know. I knew the minute you touched me.” To say that the deep voice was a surprise was an understatement, (Y/N)’s eyes bulging as a young man stepped into view. The snow fell a little faster around them; her lips were dry and chapping, and still, she didn’t have it in her to do anything about it. Her arm stayed extended, light trained directly into his face, but he hardly seemed to mind. It was impressive that he was able to maintain eye contact, that penetrating gaze sinking into her bones.

‘Wow��’ As inadequate as that was, it was all she had. (Y/N) had believed his canine form to be gorgeous, easily one of the most beautiful animals she had ever laid eyes on.

But here stood a man with fluffy wheaten curls that fell into his twinkling sapphire eyes. He didn’t visibly react to the temperature, although the cold had turned his lips the prettiest shade of pink. Or maybe that was their usual color, (Y/N) considered absently.

He moved closer, face unreadable, and (Y/N) was sure that with his excellent hearing, he must have heard her heart trying to escape her rib cage. Her next breath curled between them, her mouth agape at his sudden proximity. If there was any doubt whatsoever about him being her new friend from the park, the silky ears she could see on either side of his head put it to rest. The long, feathered tail of a golden retriever hung to the side behind him.

His full lashes brushed over his cheeks as he glanced down, now so near that she could see the tiny mole on the tip of his nose. Was it hybrid magic that made him so unfairly attractive even in a simple brown hoodie and blue jeans?

(Y/N) bit her lip in fear of uttering something embarrassing.

Without hesitation he pulled the cream scarf from his own neck and draped it around hers, tucking it in snugly. (Y/N) would be lying if she said she didn’t relish the warmth it gave. There was also the matter of the scent she couldn’t place clinging to the fabric and pulling a little sigh from her lips.

“Better?” he asked.

“Y-Yes. Thank you.” (Y/N) couldn’t help but reach up and lightly touch the scarf. It was so cozy! Was it wool?

Eyes bright, a large, rectangular smile split his lips and nearly gave her a coronary. She didn’t even realize she’d clutched at her chest until she heard a little chuckle.

Admittedly, when he’d emerged from the woods, voice a rumbling baritone and eyes as bottomless as the ocean, (Y/N) felt a little…intimidated. He stood a good bit taller, and was as fit as he had been in dog form.

But his smile effortlessly wiped all reservations about him from her mind. It was too genuine not to trust, the sun peeking from behind gray clouds after a week of rain. “I’m Taehyung.” He introduced, the name instantly searing itself into her memory. “Thanks for following me.”

‘Taehyung…’ (Y/N) liked it. It already felt like a name she would know for years, or maybe even the rest of her life.

“I-I’m (Y/N).” she replied, watching his ears perk and a slow wag overtake his tail. “And you’re uh, welcome. It just felt like the right thing to do…somehow.”

Taehyung’s eyes softened. “You were there, so you saw me approach all those people.” Staring at the ground, he mumbled, “You were the only one who was interested in finding out what I needed.”

(Y/N) grew a little bashful, shrugging. “I got the feeling that what you needed was a friend.”

“I do.” he agreed immediately. He reached out and took her hands in his, dipping his head down and staring directly into her widening eyes. (Y/N) could feel the heat spreading from her cheeks and down her covered neck. “I decided I want to adopt you. Would you be willing to come meet my pack? We need a new human.”

It was hard to pinpoint exactly which part of what he said caused her to short-circuit. Every sentence was as capable of doing the job as the one that followed it.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured. “Do you not want to?”

It wasn’t really about whether or not she wanted to. (Y/N) was just floored this hybrid, who had appeared out of nowhere at the park and gotten her to follow him into the woods, was now asking if he could adopt her. And from what it sounded like, take her home to meet more hybrids. Talk about moving fast.

“Taehyung,” she began, trying to word her response with the utmost care. This was, after all, the lonely, sad pup who had been so eager to make friends and play. (Y/N) thought she might have a better understanding of where the source of all that pain was coming from. “I want to help you if I can. But I don’t know if I can be your new human. We just met.”

Though his eyes briefly reflected disappointment, she could see the canine’s thoughts race through his mind. “Then we’ll get to know each other. I can tell you needed a friend too.” Picking up one of her hands again, he gently tugged, starting to walk through the snow. “I pulled you all the way out here. At least come get warm at my house. My hyung’ll make you some tea and feed you.”

(Y/N) let the offer worm its way into her head, knowing she probably wasn’t about to turn it up. Her car was back in a parking lot near the park, and in all likelihood was just fine where she’d left it. She, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind getting warm with a steaming cup of tea. “Sure. Thanks, that sounds good.”

Taehyung rewarded her with yet another of his unusually boxy but very charming smiles.

~~~

The hybrid district. (Y/N) had never had any reason to travel through the barrier, but now here she was. It didn’t feel much different than passing through a gossamer veil, just the lightest shimmer of magic brushing over her as they walked through.

Apparently the park and woods they had come through stood very close to his home on the other side. As she looked around in wonder, taking in the property, Taehyung tipped his head back and squinted up at the sky.

(Y/N) didn’t think much of it at first, admiring the picturesque farmland she found herself on. Ice-frosted fencing stretched for a mile, pastures blanketed in snow on the other side. Further in the distance, she could see an attractive wooden house, the lights on and smoke rising from the chimney.

“Hey!” An airy voice called down from above. (Y/N) blinked the snowflakes from her eyelashes, watching a young man descend from the sky on a pair of deep blue wings. He could have just as easily been an angel, his midnight blue hair matching his wings, his voice clear and sweet as he greeted the dog hybrid. “Where were you all day? The hyungs were getting restless.”

Taehyung shifted in front of her, and (Y/N) wondered if he had bothered to inform his family about the whole ‘adopting a human’ plan. “I just went for a walk. You know the park on the other side of the barrier? That’s where I was.”

The young man shifted, folding his wings in. (Y/N) admired how snug he looked in his puffy white jacket and the earmuffs keeping his ears toasty.

“You should’ve taken your phone.” The bird hybrid sighed. “Anyway, come get warm inside. It’s nearly time for dinner.” He held a hand out for Taehyung to take, but froze when he finally seemed to notice the stranger standing over the golden retriever’s shoulder.

“Tae…you’re sure you just went out for a walk?”

“Yep.” (Y/N) was positive now that he hadn’t told these other hybrids he wanted her to meet he was going to bring someone home.

“Hi,” she waved, hoping she didn’t sound as awkward as she felt. “I’m (Y/N). I met Taehyung at the park and—”

“I brought her back for all of us.”

“And I hope I’m not imposing.” (Y/N) finished, blushing at Taehyung’s cryptic explanation.

The winged man stared between them both, pretty gray eyes looking thoroughly lost. “Hi (Y/N), I’m Jimin.” Rounding on his fellow hybrid, he asked, “What do you mean you brought her back for all of us?”

“I want to adopt her, as our new human.”

“I’m still not sure that’s—”

“Tae!” Jimin shouted, taken aback. His wide eyed stare would have been cute under normal circumstances. But (Y/N) could sympathize with his astonishment. She was barely processing herself.

Taehyung took her hand, firm in his resolve. If it hadn’t been clear he was absolutely serious before… “I told her she could at least come have dinner with us, and meet the pack. I mean if everyone gets along, then what’s wrong with adding a new person to the family? I’m tired of seeing everyone hurting so much. This could be what we need.”

Jimin’s incredulous expression shifted, eyes softening as a sad grin lifted his full lips. It made her heart ache for a reason she couldn’t explain. Being an empath, (Y/N) was naturally sensitive to the suffering of others. It came with the territory. Taehyung’s pain had touched her heart in the park, and now she saw that Jimin was hurting too.

“Not everybody’s going to take this well,” he said softly.

“(Y/N)’s special.” Taehyung declared, looking down at her with admiration welling in his gaze. “Once everyone talks to her, they’ll see it too.”

Her heart fluttered, his words making her face warm. He already believed in her so much. She just hoped that she didn’t let him down.

~~~

Yoongi watched Jin check the window for the fifth time in twenty minutes. “What was that pup thinking, not taking his phone?” His hyung mumbled.

As he finished doing the chopping that Jin was too distracted to complete, he had to wonder the same thing. Sure, Taehyung was an eccentric mind, living in his own world sometimes, or saying things not many outside their little family understood.

An endearing, unique person and a good boy. Assuring him he was a good boy from time to time was very important for him to hear. But it was times like this where the mountain lion wondered just what went through that head of his. He’d told them shortly after lunch he was going for a little walk around the edge of their property.

Nothing wrong with that. No one was ever denied private time to clear their head. Even before the loss of Gramps, living in such a noisy and active household could take its toll, as much as they loved each other. So they all learned to give each other space when needed.

There were exceptions for everyone’s safety, of course, and this situation was becoming one of them. Hobi had been out and around the whole farm, planning to check up on Tae from a distance without disturbing him. But the dog hybrid was nowhere to be found. That led them to assume he had to have gone beyond the barrier, over to the human district.

But what the hell was he doing there was the question. They were recently without their guardian, and knowing Taehyung, he’d forgotten not only his phone, but any form of identification. Gramps had only passed recently. If he had at least a collar in his pocket (one Gramps never made them wear unless they were going beyond the barrier together), he could tell someone who stopped him he was ‘owned’ and avoid unwanted attention that way.

Unfortunately, Namjoon discovered Taehyung’s collar hanging from the hook with all the others, meaning he was out there without any ID if anyone did suspect he was more than the typical dog.

They discussed going out to search for him, but thought to give him just a little more time until they did. Just until dinner time. Then they would crank up the old truck and head out. Jimin took to the skies around the farm in the meantime, hopeful Taehyung would come back on his own. Yoongi wanted to believe so too, because they already had enough going on here. The last thing they needed was to be separated from another member of their family due to the pup’s recklessness.

Jin gave an excited cry, back at the window, but this time with an expression of relief on his face. “He’s back,” he breathed, placing a hand to his chest. “Jimin’s with him and so is…” His broad shoulders bunched under the cable-knit sweater he had on. “Who’s that?”

Yoongi set down the knife with all the caution necessary and moved away from the chopping board. Calmly joining his hyung at the window, he pressed into his back, sharp feline eyes instantly picking out the trio headed down the road. In between Taehyung and Jimin was a smaller figure, one who definitely did not belong here, on this farm.

Yoongi squinted through the scowl forming on his face. “He didn’t.” Oh, but he had. That was unmistakably a girl he had never seen before, and going off how close Tae was standing and the fact that he was swinging their hands back and forth, their pup had quite a bit of explaining to do.

~~~

Jimin could see Taehyung was ready to drag (Y/N) inside, literally into the lion’s den, without a second thought. Stepping up to the door before his flockmate could reach for the handle, he pressed a palm to Tae’s warm chest.

“Hold on. I think I should go in first and uh, warn the hyungs.” He offered (Y/N) an apologetic smile. Poor girl. It wasn’t her fault Taehyung had latched onto her and brought her home in some misguided attempt to cheer them all up. He was just grateful she was being a good sport about all of it. “They’re not expecting company.”

“They always make more for dinner than we need anyway.” Taehyung said.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” He ground out, rolling his eyes. Jimin hated when he pretended to be thick. That might work with humans who thought hybrids were glorified animals, but that wasn’t working on him. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Take your time,” (Y/N) told him, seeming to understand.

He nodded, slipping through the forest green door, doing his best not to rattle the freshly made holiday wreath they had hanging there. The foyer was the perfect comfortable temperature for a chilly winter day, and he began stripping out of his extra layers and unlacing his boots. A chill ran over him as he went to stand, almost knocking heads with the very pissed off flockmate standing over him.

“Yoongi-hyung,” he giggled nervously, “You’re that happy to see me?” He leaned into the unnaturally still mountain lion’s chest and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. That would normally melt right through his tough guy act, but not today.

“Who’s that?” Yoongi grunted, his eyes staring out the window near the front door, where Taehyung was brushing snowflakes from (Y/N)’s hair on the front porch.

“She’s a guest. Taehyungie’s guest.” He tried not to lie, knowing that would make it all worse. Damnit, Tae really dragged him into the worst messes. …Well, to be fair, they tended to drag each other into messes, being the dynamic duo attached at the hip that they were.

“I’ve never seen her before.” he replied flatly.

“Hyung, he meant well, okay? Just hear him out before you get mad.”

“What’s going on, Jimin?” Emerald eyes flared impatiently as Yoongi swept the tawny bangs out of his face.

“I’m not entirely sure.” he winced. “Tae met her in the park today, and he seems really attached already. He invited her to dinner.”

“A head’s up would’ve been nice.” His hyung complained quietly. Annoyed as he may have come across, Jimin could feel some of the agitation fading out of the apex predator. “And he’s still going to get told off for not taking his phone or his collar, but whatever. Is she human? She’s probably freezing.”

Taking that as the all clear, he turned around and jerked the door open, ushering the two of them in with a wave. Taehyung was still glued to (Y/N), Yoongi raising a brow but saying nothing as she stood there nervously.

“(Y/N), this is our hyung, Yoongi. Yoongi-hyung, this is Tae’s new friend (Y/N).”

“Hey.” Yoongi greeted, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets.

“Nice to meet you, Yoongi-ssi.” she said politely.

“You hungry?” He eyed her frame up and down, no doubt seeing the tremors. Even borrowing Taehyung’s scarf, the fact of the matter was that the poor thing just wasn’t wearing enough layers to fight off the cold. “Dinner’s almost ready. You can come sit in the kitchen and warm up. I’ll put some tea on.”

“That’d actually be really nice.” She rubbed her hands together, starting to squat and remove her shoes.

Jimin eyed Taehyung, shooting him a pointed look. He was hardly giving (Y/N) space to breathe. It was kind of weird. Yeah, Tae was affectionate. Being a golden retriever, a notoriously friendly, gentle breed, it was kind of built into his DNA.

But due to bad experiences with humans, Taehyung wasn’t exactly known to attach himself to just anyone. With Gramps and with them, he got clingy, generally preferring to sleep spooning someone through the night or brushing up against them throughout the day.

Jimin knew Taehyung was serious about bringing (Y/N) into the fold as their new human, but why her? Not that he had anything against (Y/N). Honestly he liked her already. She had good vibes. It was just…so sudden. He wasn’t sure if she fully understood what Taehyung wanted from her, or if she’d be willing to leave whatever life she had behind and come move in with seven male hybrids who could be a bit of a handful. Most sane humans wouldn’t be interested. Hopefully, if nothing else, they could at least all get through dinner without things getting…awkward.

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devildomdisaster · 3 years

Note

Idk if you read Lore Olympus but chapter 129 gave me an angsty request idea.

So Persephone, who’s the goddess of spring, goes into a hibernation-like state and when her emotions go out of control, she ends up growing her hair really long and her body sprouts a lot of plants from her; to the point of covering her and whatever area she’s in with her plants.

So I would like to request head cannons of the Brothers reacting to an MC who gets really sad whenever the brothers insult or threaten them and after several weeks of being berated by demons it causes MC to shut down and go to their room but mistakes a comfort spell with a plant curse that causes their hair and plants to grow continuously long. The plants fill up MC’s room and while they would normally be surprised at the mistake, they don’t care any more. They allow the plants to to grow, even wrap around their neck and body, and hopes the curse kills them off before the brothers notice as they go in the “hibernation” stage of the curse (The curse causes the victim to grow a lot of plants and vines from their body until they die, which can take a few days).

I’m sorry for being so long and descriptive, I just wanna see the Bros panic and feel guilty that MC felt pushed to do this to themselves but I understand if you don’t want to do it

I don't read Lore Olympus but you described the situation really well so I hope this is something close to what you wanted.

Comfort spell gone wrong

Lately, nothing seemed to be good enough for the demons. No matter what you did one of them would find something to berate you for.

“Mc, your grades are subpar even for an exchange student. You’ll have to try harder in order to not be a disappointment to Diavolo and myself.” Lucifer warned over breakfast.

“Mc, you burned dinner. You should learn to be a better cook.” Beel grumbled. As if you had ever seen any of these ingredients before ending up in the Devildom.

Even Mammon seemed to be in a particularly unpleasant mood. A never-ending string of complaints about how hard it is to protect an ordinary human. “Geez, you’re such a hassle human.”

Taking refuge in the library to study and to give Mammon a break from you proved disastrous and nearly deadly. Somehow you’d managed to spill your cup of tea all over an old somewhat rare text after Asmo had barged in and startled you. Your string of bad luck continued when Satan rounded the corner and saw the soggy tea-stained pages you’d been trying to decipher. In his fit of rage, he’d called you several unpleasant names and asked if you were “capable of doing anything right or if all humans are as stupid as you?” You’d left as quickly as you were able to avoid any more of his wrath.

No matter where you went you kept walking in on Belphie napping and without fail he’d say something nasty to you, that would make tears burn the backs of your eyes.

Levi had angrily called you a “useless normie,” who he wished would “never come back.” and had pushed you from his room with a slam of his door.

Even Asmo who usually just ignored you when he was upset found every reason imaginable to critique your every aspect. Physical and personality. Not a single one of which made you feel any more than worthless.

So was it any wonder when at the end of a long week you’d locked yourself in your room and decided to try that comfort spell you’d heard Solomon talking about? It seemed simple enough. But then your tears had blurred your vision as you’d recited the words and your Latin was still shaky at best. But it was just a few lines! And there was no way you were going to go to one of the brothers for comfort when they had seemed perfectly happy to make you miserable for the last few weeks.

You’d read the spell aloud and curled up hoping that the spell would kick in and you’d feel even just the slightest bit better. The blinding green light and sudden drop in energy was the first and only warning the spell had gone wrong. But being new to magic meant it still sapped your energy, so you didn’t stop to think something might be wrong. By the time you realized what was happening, everything was out of control. Plants had begun to sprout from your skin and the floor around you, growing and growing. With each inch they grew you felt your exhaustion creep up and consume you. You were just so tired. Your eyes fluttered closed. This was wrong! You forced your eyes open again. You need to fix this. The spell! But a short nap wouldn’t hurt, would it? You’d have more energy after you woke up. Then you could go get one of the brothers. Satan would know how to fix this. Or Lucifer! He’d clean the spell up easily. Yes, after you woke up…

Lucifer hadn’t seen you all weekend. He figures you’re most likely studying. But you don’t show up for meals and none of his brothers have seen you either… and oh Diavolo! He can feel the spell from the dining room. How did he not notice sooner? The cold pulling sensation of the spell, like it was sucking the warmth and life from its surroundings.

When Lucifer reaches your door Mammon is already there. Knocking and shouting for you, but there's no answer. He all but breaks your door down, his brothers behind him, and finds you at the center of the spell. Unresponsive and covered in the plants using your energy to grow. The plants had begun climbing up the walls and twisting through your hair, sending out snow-white flowers.

“Beel! Don’t!” Lucifer warns as Beel reaches out to pull a handful of plants from you. “We don’t know what did this and what will happen to Mc if we just rip the spell off like that.”

“Lucifer, Mc did this to themself,” Satan points to the open spellbook. “It looks like they got a comfort spell mixed up.”

Fortunately, your last tired thoughts were correct and Lucifer is able to break the spell quickly. You wake surrounded by the brothers.

Lucifer:

All this happened for a comfort spell? Because you didn’t feel like you could come to him, to any of them?

He’s so sorry Mc. Enough that as he leans down to pick you up out of the mess of withering plants you can feel tears fall onto your face.

“Nothing I did was good enough for you Lucifer. Any of you. I just wanted to feel… I just wanted-”

His heart breaks when he realizes this is his brother’s fault, his fault. “You are always good enough, Mc. Much more than I could ever ask you to be, and if I ever made you feel like you weren't. No, the fact that I made you feel like you weren’t, means I have been truly terrible.”

You’re choking back your own tears now and you curl further into his arms as he carries you down the hall. “You said I was a disappointment.”

“My dear Mc, you have never been, nor could you ever be a disappointment to me. Forgive me for ever making you feel as if you were.”

Lucifer takes you to his bathroom and draws you a bath to wash away the last of the plant matter from your body.

Afterward, he’ll bring you anything you ask for. He wants to wrap you in his arms but doesn’t want to push you, so he asks softly if he can hold you.

He’ll spend weeks trying to make this up to you, even after you forgive him, he’ll be sure to tell you how much he loves you more often than he did before.

Mammon:

Shit human! Why didn’t you come to him? He loves you so much and oh. He made you feel like a burden.

How could he be so stupid when he knows how his brothers make him feel?

Mammon begs for your forgiveness in front of all his brothers.

“Please can ya forgive me? I never meant to make ya feel like a burden. You're the only human I- I want to protect you Mc. I’m so sorry.”

Mammon helps you up and since your room is covered in plants he offers to let you sleep in his room for the night.

He wraps you in blankets and brushes the hair from your face with trembling fingertips.

There are still a few stubborn leaves sticking to your face and in your hair so Mammon takes a warm washcloth and wipes them from your face before gently untangling the plants from your hair.

You’ll be getting little gifts and tokens of mammon’s affections for the foreseeable future.

Levi:

He threw you out of his room when you came to him for comfort and the guilt at seeing you almost die because of it is eating him alive.

He feels frozen

Maybe you would be better off without an otaku shut-in like him. He starts avoiding you like the plague.

You start to think that Levi is so disgusted with the fact that you did that spell that he doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore.

Despite this Levi still checks up on you. He wants to know that you are ok, he just does it without you knowing.

He’ll ask his brothers about you and discreetly glance at you during meals to make sure you’re eating enough and look healthy.

A few days later when your favorite and manga anime start showing up outside your door you confront Levi. “Are you mad at me? Do you just not want to be around me after what happened? Levi, I miss you!”

He is shook, and he can’t believe he messed up so badly.

He’s happy that he can invite you to hang out again, and he makes sure to spend long nights gaming or watching movies with you until you fall asleep against him. He’ll even stutter out how much he treasures his time with you, blushing fiercely all the while.

Satan:

Satan feels anger swell up inside him. How could he have let this happen? How could no one have seen how upset you were?

Once the spell has been dissolved he is at your side instantly. Brushing vines from your skin. His fingers are shaking in anger but his touch is so gentle.

When both you and your room are cleaned up Satan sits at your bedside, book in hand, reading to you.

He just wants to be close to you now. He wants you to know how much he cares about you but is still too worked up to get his thoughts out properly.

Eventually, his thoughts calm and he stops reading in the middle of a sentence. “Mc, I am so sorry. I never meant to make you feel unwanted. Every day I spend with you is infinitely better than a day without you. I know the spell was a mistake but… we almost lost you. I almost lost you.”

He wants to talk about what pushed you to do this. He won’t push but he really does think that he will be better able to help you if he understands.

Satan makes sure to spend more time with you from now on. He makes a conscious effort to check his temper at the door and be with you when you need him.

Sometimes he’ll just read to you until one of you confides in the other in quiet voices.

Asmo:

As you blink your eyes open Asmo gently brushes some plants from your cheek.

You are so pale and his heart breaks as you flinch away from him. You feel like a mess and you know you must look like one too so curl your body away from him trying to hide. Trying to avoid his critical gaze.

This is the moment Asmo knows he screwed up.

He draws his hand back, for a moment, before reaching out to you again. Cupping your cheek and wiping your tears away with perfectly manicured hands.

Lucifer has him take you to his bathroom to clean up while the rest of the brothers work to clear the plants from your room.

Asmo is quiet for a long while as he untangles plants from your hair.

“You’re so loved, Mc,” he says softly. “You are.” he insists when you shake your head no.

“More than you could ever know, and it’s our fault for not telling you. My fault for not making you feel worthy.”

After this incident, Asmo wants to make sure you know how beautiful you are. He starts self-care days once a week that soon turn into whole family affairs. Each week different combinations of his brother attend and you all work to pamper each other.

Asmo makes sure nothing like this happens again, he never wants to be part of the reason you feel unloved ever again.

Beel:

At first, Beel thinks you did this on purpose. Once the brothers realize you messed up the spell he is less angry but no less distraught.

Once you wake up, he wants to take you to get desserts. He’s heard humans eat Chocolate/ other sweets to feel better. And this makes sense to him, food does make everything better.

But you don’t want to go to Madam Screams or the kitchen to make your own. You’re still so tired. Not to mention embarrassed that you screwed the spell up this bad.

And now they are all staring at you like they care so much when none of them had any time to notice how they were making you feel before.

When you become unresponsive to the brother’s questions and apologies Beel scoops you up in his arms and walks away with you.

Something about the way he holds you close to his chest and his warmth causes you to finally let go.

You bury your face in his shirt to muffle your crying.

“I just… I felt so alone! And… I...but no one” you gasp out shakily between sobs.

Beel soothes you with soft murmuring as he gently cards his fingers through your hair and strokes down your back.

Once your crying quiets he starts to speak “Don’t do that again. You can always come to me Mc. I’m so sorry you felt like you couldn’t”

Belphie:

Belphie thinks it’s a joke at first. “Man, how could they mess up this bad?”

Then he sees Lucifer’s panicked expression and it hits him how serious this is.

Belphie is immediately by your side. Hands frantically feeling your wrist for a pulse.

After Lucifer breaks the spell and your eyes flutter open Belphie is filled with relief until a wave of guilt washes through him.

He can’t believe he fucked up so badly again. Sure this time he didn’t directly cause you physical harm, but he did play a role in causing you to almost die again.

“I am so very sorry Mc, I never meant to hurt you.”

He does everything he can think of to make it up to you. Anything you ask him for, as long as it’s within his power, is yours. No questions asked.

He asks permission just to hold your hand for weeks afterward as if he thinks you’ll come to your senses and decide you don’t want anything to do with him.

He wants to comfort you so bad.

To make sure you don’t feel like this again Belphie pulls you away to nap with him as often as he can get away with it. Most likely only a few times a week (much less often than he would like). Sometimes he uses this time just to talk with you. Others you really do nap, and Belphie curls himself around you. Occasionally he enters your dreams while you nap together to make sure no nightmares can touch you.

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tiens-letters · 3 years

Text

Oohh another request haha. I love this thank you and i hope you like it :>

were the bruises to your heart worth it?

Childe angst

You mulled over your sister's words for the nth time today. Her voice playing on loop inside your head, drifting in and out of a mundane daydream.

"why are you still with him?" you wondered as well as to why you still stuck with Ajax, all these days in 3 years of being wit him. Perhaps it was devotion, it was love to persevere even in the wrath of crumbling times and yet why does your heart ache a little more these days he's been far from you.

The days when he would come home, wounded and tired you were there to nurse him back. Back then it was something you'd do out of care and worry, which was until these recent days where it felt as if it were a job you didnt want to do as he would shrug you off instead and locking himself in another room. You barely remember the time where you both shared a quiet night basking in each other's presence, with limbs in a tangle and your forehead upon his beating chest, it was almost none existent as the home you both had felt so utterly desolate, void of the homey ambience.

Youve endured a month of his uncalled behaviour, breaking you even further as things slipped from your grasp leaving you empty and in agony. There were times you'd silently let tears fall as he slept so soundly beside you, unbothered by your pain. He's become more and more as the harbinger you forgot him to be and not your darling lover Ajax.

He never noticed your puffy eyes, sunken cheeks and dwindling weight yet he noticed all the small mistakes youve made. Where one day, left you with a bruise on the arm due his snake like grip after blowing up on you right after he came home from a long journey to sumeru.

You left.

Childe came home earlier than expected, once again tired and nursing a few minor wounds on his body. All he wanted was your touch on his skin as you lulled him to sleep only that to his utter surprise that the house was empty. Perhaps you went out for an errand or for another pot of your favourite flower that you kept in the small garden at the back.

Not giving it too much thought, he lounged on the couch awaiting your return, eyelids soon drooping as the soft pillow coaxed him to sleep.

As the grandfather clock swings its pendulum, the sound echoing through the whole room signifying the arrival of midnight, an eerie sound waking Childe back to consciousness. Groggy from rising he scanned the room only to find it darker than before, if it werent for the nearby lamp he switched open, he swore he couldve been swallowed by the darkness.

Were you not home yet?

A dreadful feeling washed over him as your presence was nowhere around the house. He called out for you as he rushed through the halls, a sliver of hope vanishing every corner turned and every door opened led to nothing but misery.

You always leave a note as to where you are going and yet it was another one out of the many abnormalities in his home.

"Darling? Please i hope youre not playing with me!" he calls out to no one in particular, denying the fact of your existence gone with the wind. Your clothes were all intact and so does your other belongings. He thought of every possibility of what couldve befallen his lover, mostly gravitating towards the worst of the worst case scenarious and may the archons forbid, he would never recover from the blow.

"Where are you?!"

Then it dawned on him after much pondering and pulling his falling parts together. The things he did, the words he said it all came flooding through him like a rushing cold river, hitting him fair and square in the chest and came forth an otherworldly pain and regret. He gasps, almost suffocating by the weight of his sins and he wished he had died right then and there in atonement for his crimes.

Soon his vision became bleary as eyes misted over with tears that fell freely from his ocean eyes. He ruined it. Ruined you.

And yet he could not let you go.

Days seemed to pass by so fast that it had already been 5 months of liberation from Ajax's presence. You were slowly building yourself up once again, the temple that was torn down by a single crack, slowly being rebuilt brick by brick.

Your love for Ajax, even if it left quite the bruise to your heart, it was still there, lingering in the air and a part of you missed him so. You wondered how he would be doing, you wondered if he looked for you just as you did when he didnt come home on the date set, you wonder if he wept when he couldnt feel you next to him, just as you did 150 days ago. You wondered if he ever called your name all the while giving a lingering kiss to the painting that hung on the foyer. You wondered if what you both had, had any significance to him at all.

"Stop doing that." you jolted from where you sat, the book falling off your lap as you met your sister's stern glare from across the room.

"Stop doing what?"

"You are thinking about Tartaglia again. Its been over 5 months and that blundering fool never made an effort to find you much less apologize for what he did when you were still there." there was anger in her voice as she recounted the day you came to her door, teary eyed and just utterly torn. Never once did she felt like murdering someone so bad, especially when it had you, her only family involved.

"Im sorry, I-i just--"

"Hush now." she came over in her elegant strides to take you in her arms, the familiar scent of your mother's favorite perfume stayed on her like second skin and you were so grateful that you had her. You let yourself cry in her embrace in quiet comfort.

Childe never stopped.

Secretly searching for atleast a tiny clue of your whereabouts wore him down to the bone and yet he never gave up. How could he? Even if he thought he was so undeserving of you he still pushed on to right what wrong he's made. The details gathered had been insufficient to serve as a lead making Childe more desperate in his attempt to search for you. Nights were spent on scouring places and information seeking and his work, only done in the daytime. He never wasted a wink on sleep as it was an obstacle to getting closer to you and even when his body collapsed due to exhaustion of overworking all he could think was you.

The search has led a certain fatui informant who works for one of the harbingers. With a note slipped in secrecy on a specific time containing an address on the small parchment. It was all Childe needed to fuel his buried hope as he took off towards snezhenaya.

He never imagined he'd arrive right in front of the iron gates that encased the whole estate atop a mountain. The wind bellowed stronger than before as the snow rained harder upon the place. Luckily, he was born in this region and had survived throughout.

He wondered why you came here, to such a dreadful place but then again, anywhere was better than right by him.

Trying to push open the gates only to be repelled by cryo magic, burning through his gloves and into his skin, leaving fresh burns on his palms as he gasped in pain. Whoever lives here clearly didnt want anyone trespassing much less had a fancy for guests.

He was starting to grow cold as his energy was slowly being siphoned by days of travel, it would only take a matter of time before he passes out.

He calls out, hoping someone inside would hear him.

And you did, only that it seemed like the wind but the time you looked outside the library window, you saw a person outside the gates. The familiar ginger hair tousled with the wind and as you strained your ears to hear and that was when it filled your ears, Ajax's voice. Something you havent heard in quite a long time.

As quick as lightning you stood, half running half gliding through the halways and down the stairs, there was no coherent thought, only him. He was freezing outside the barrier and you pushed yourself more to reach him.

Your figure stepping out through the door was almost like a dream to him. Your name oh so longingly leaving his bluing lips.

"Ajax!" you were in time as you caught his figure which seemed lighter than before. He clung to you, legs desperately tryinf to hold him up. You were here, right in his arms, alive and warm.

"Im sorry. Im so sorry. Please I love you." he rambles on, like a mantra he apologizes over and over again, sobbing and stumbling on his words as he held you so achingly close "Forgive me. Forgive me..."

"Step away from him this instant." your sister, Signora hisses from behind you, just as you were about to coax Ajax she already had a cryo dagger aimed at his head

"Sister please!" you plead, your panic growing as you saw Ajax huffing in labored breaths "Let him come inside or he will freeze to death."

Signora sees the urgency in your eyes and the undying devotion you still hold for the man in your arms. She dematerializes the dagger with a wave of her hand.

"Fine but if I see tears in your eyes then dont you ever dare stop me from what Im going to do to him."

"Thank you sister." you smile at her as she steps backs inside the house and you follow in after her with Ajax leaning on you for support. Once inside, you had him lay on the couch by the fire after helping him out of his winter garments and replacing it for a knitted quilt.

"Im sorry." bloodshot ocean eyes looked at you with so much guilt and a love that you almost forgot "I-i im so so sorry."

"Lets talk about this after youve rested." this time you couldnt look at him, the ache in your heart throbs from the bruises it still nursed. You stood before falling further only for him to catch your shaking hand with his equally shaking one.

"Dont leave." he whimpers, the fear of abandonment increasing as he pleaded for you to stay. instead, you let go of his hand and placed yours instead over his eyes making him uncharacteristically shriek surprising you even more, making you think what other worldly pain he was experiencing as of the moment. "No! No No. Please Its dark."

Ajax cries as he thrashed around because he feared that if he sleeps he would go back to the nightmare of you not by his side and that would leave him all cold and alone just like in the past. he didnt want to go back there, not now when he's seen you. As much as he'd hate to admit, he was truly and utterly terrified but you had to let him rest and with the help of your vision he finally succumbed to a dreamless, peaceful sleep. Only that he calmed down did you notice how much he's lost, where your once sunken cheeks, puffy eyes and weight loss now transferred to him and it made you sick to your stomach. your lips found his forehead as you wished him a good rest, you left the room after bandaging his burned hands to gather yourself for when he finally came to his sensible self.

when you thought it was going to take a full day for him to wake up only to find him stumbling about in the living room calling your name on his lips like a broken record. you immediately rushed down and burst into the room to find him clutching his head and gasping breathlessly. he looked crazed until he caught sight of you standing by the door, a worried look on your face was when he finally came to. he ran to you, clung to you like it was the last day of the world to live and sighed into your welcoming smell.

"are you alright now?" you ask him as you part in arms width

"Hit me." he tells you in all seriousness in his worn out state

"W-what?" you were certain he was still out of it until he grabbed your hand in an attempt to hit himself to which you stopped immediately

"Hit me! Scream at me all you want. Call me words Ive called you. Ive broken you! Do you not see that?!" funny how he couldnt see himself, he who's become worse over the course of the months . his tone rose and fell until it was only a whisper above his panting

"Just dont abandon me." he shuts his eyes, steeling himself for your judgment until he felt your hands on his face again, making soothing circles on his cheek

"look at me Ajax." you coax him and he did and he could see assurance and the love for him still remained and he wanted to cry again but tears have long gone abandoned him and left him in such a regretful state, he truly didnt deserve you and you never deserved to be treated that way. "Youve hurt me yes and nothing can change that but I wasnt planning on you leaving you. I couldnt as I love you too much that I wouldnt imagine life without you but Ajax, the things you did to me, to us, was painful."

"I know and Im so sorry." he held himself from rambling as the pain in chest grew even more burdensome, something he would willingly carry as he vows to himself to never hurt you and if he did then he would tear himself down "I love you"

"and I to you Ajax. Just promise me that when you are having a hard time, let us talk it out and not result to screaming and painful banters."

"I promise darling. on my life and everything in this world. I vow to never cause you pain like I did and to only give you love and care that someone like you deserve."

there he was, your Ajax. He was home.

#genshin impact #genshin impact angst #genshin impact x reader #ajax #tartaglia #childe #childe angst #childe x reader #childe x reader angst #childe request #angst #haha yes pain #Spotify

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refiwrites · 3 years

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can you do a diaval imagine? The reader is familiar with magic but is human. It could be sfw or nsfw. Whatever you’re comfortable with, have a lovely day! :)

Hello love! Sorry I've been late to your request but here, have some protective Diaval :D have a lovely day ahead too!

Protective

Diaval x Female!Reader

Warning/s: One of the guards being a creep, makes it up for fluff at the end!!

Word count: 1,556

You woke up, rays of sun shining through the window of your room in the castle. After Aurora and Prince Philip were married, you being Aurora’s sister, she wanted you to be with her at all times. Prince Philip was kind enough to let you move in to one of the rooms in the castle.

Your first thought was to go to the balcony, opening up the door to spot a lot of people running through their business on this sunny day. You were thankful enough for the view the balcony gave you, where it out looked the kingdom and it had a very beautiful view when it got dark, something that tends to calm you on sleepless nights.

You closed your eyes shut for a moment, enjoying the peace and the birds that were singing.

Caaw, caaw, caaw

Your brows furrowed, eyes slowly open to spot a rather familiar black raven that now perched upon the railings.

You decided to playfully ignore the Raven for the time being, turning and closing your eyes again and letting the sun hit your face.

Then you felt something nipping on the sleeve of your night gown. Deciding that it was time to greet your friend, you chuckle and looked down at the raven before you.

“Hi there, Diaval, what brings you here?“ You ask, lifting your hand up and petting his head with your finger.

You see his wings shudder after a moment and you continued.

“Is mother around? I’d rather talk to you when you can speak, it’s rather hard to understand you like this.” You laugh.

Truth is, you admired Diaval for quite a while now, both of you grew close when Maleficent first introduced him to you and Aurora. You knew how his shapeshifting works and how he was able to turn into anything that Maleficent wished. You knew originally that he was a raven that was captured, but you were lying if you said you didn’t find his human form alluring.

You were cut off in your daydreaming when your room door opens, revealing Maleficent. You smiled widely, running over to greet her, Diaval following close by.

“Oh, I was wondering where you were.” Maleficent said, and you knew she was referring to Diaval.

“Is he bothering you (Y/N)? You know I could just turn him to a lizard then and there and just send him off flying into the Moors.” Maleficent said to which Diaval whined in an angry way which meant he did not want that.

“Mother, no, don’t worry he’s not causing me trouble.. Though I would appreciate it if you can turn him back to human..” You suggested.

She clicked her tongue and spoke. “I’d turn him back once you’re dressed and downstairs, your sister is looking for you.” Turning on her heel, she walks out of the door, motioning for Diaval to come with her.

Pink rose to your cheeks as you nodded, Diaval turning his head to you.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be long.” You reassured and he reluctantly followed Maleficent.

After bathing and dressing properly, you headed down to meet the others.

“(Y/N), about time you woke up!” Aurora, your sister piped up at you.

“Oh shush Aurora!” You laughed.

You sat with them at the dining hall, though your eyes were searching for black ones. Although Aurora seemed to have taken notice of your attraction towards Diaval that she leaned towards you.

“He’s there, look!” She whispered with a giggle as your eyes snapped in the direction she discreetly pointed at.

And there Diaval was, walking towards the dining hall, skin smooth and white as snow, slicked back hair, the noticeable marks on both sides of his temples, his clothes that lightly exposed his chest, markings that threatened to peek out of his shirt accompanied by his black coat.

You felt that you were taking your sweet long time staring at him as your sister had to pinch your hand to bring you back.

“Oh- uh.. I’m sorry, what was that?” You asked shaking your head to get yourself out of the trance.

On the corner of your eye you saw your sister tried to hide her laugh by covering her mouth with the towel.

“You appear to be distracted lately (Y/N) dear, is everything alright?” Maleficent questioned. You quickly shook your head and decided to make up something.

“No mother, I just woke up funny is all.” You lied and hoped she would take it.

She stared at you for a while before nodding. “Alright.”

You definitely missed how Diaval’s eyes looked at you whilst you were busy coming up with a lie.

After everyone ate and done their duties, it was almost noon and you decided to get some fresh air and strolled through the gardens.

The flowers were exquisite, everywhere you laid your eyes on was a feast of colours. You felt proud that some of the flowers that bloomed were your own since you took most of your time tending to the gardens, seeing them bloom made your heart overwhelmingly happy.

But as you walked, you couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes staring at you, but you shake your head, it was probably just you.

Simply put, you lost track of time and before you know it, it was already sundown. You ought that going back to the castle was a great idea but that idea was taken from your head when a guard stepped up in front of you.

“Oh.. I was just on my way back.. excuse me please.” You excused politely, trying to move out of the guards’ way but he didn’t budge.

A lump in your throat started to form, you still tried to slip through his side but he suddenly gripped your hand, tugging you towards him.

“Let me go,” You spat at the guard “I’m sparing your life, unless you want to be met with the terrible consequences of your actions.”

“Oh? Might as well make this worthwhile.” He said, yanking you close. Before he spoke again, a voice spoke behind him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The guard turned and you had a good look at the owner of the voice. It was Diaval. You thanked the gods for his arrival.

The guard seemed to tense up, but he kept his hand on your wrist firm that it was starting to hurt.

“Or what?”

“Or I could turn into a creature you deeply fear and rip you limb from limb.. slowly..” Diaval said with venom underlying his tone as he inched closer.

The man seemed to come to his senses as he finally let go and stumbled upon his feet to escape.

You stood there frozen and Diaval was quickly on your side, inspecting your hand and your face.

“Did he do anything to you, (Y/N)?” He asked. Diaval was clearly fuming with anger at the man yet he managed to soften his tone when he asked you.

You nodded, holding onto his arm.

“I’ll walk you through your room now, alright?” He asks, searching your eyes for any disagreement, but there was none.

After making it inside your room, you changed into your sleepwear while Diaval waited outside. Once you gave him a signal to come in, you were sat on your bed.

“That bastard’s gonna pay.” You heard Diaval mumble under his breath.

You motioned for him to come over and sit beside you.

“I swear (Y/N), if he decides to lay a finger on you again-“ You cut him off by pressing your lips to his cheek.

“Thank you for saving me back there.”

You didn’t miss how his skin turned lightly red at your action but you continued.

“Although I feel this isn’t an appropriate time to say this but I no longer care.” With a deep breath, you looked at him straight in the eyes and spoke.

“I have been inlove with you for the longest time now, Diaval. I’m surely you’ve taken note someway somehow but here is me saying nothing but the truth. I take it upon me to understand if you don’t happen to feel the same way.”

His eyes widened at your confession as the room stayed silent, all that can be heard was the whispering of the cool night wind, and the occasional birds flying outside.

You fear that you ruined your bond with him as you decided to speak up when he didn’t.

When you opened your mouth, he finally spoke.

“(Y/N), I’ve also laid my eyes on you from the first time we ever met, when we grew close, my attraction only grew into love. It makes me so happy to learn that you feel the same.” He breathed out.

It felt like all your hopes was built back up, you didn’t destroy what you had with him. And most importantly, he loves you back.

You were quick to smile and cup his face, turning him to face you.

You saw how his eyes crinkled when he mirrored your smile and it only made your heart jump.

“I love you, (Y/N).”

“I love you too, Diaval.”

This was one of the happiest nights of your life, you both knew you had to tell Aurora and Maleficent sooner or later but that’s a story for another time.

#diaval #diaval x reader #diaval imagine #diaval imagines #maleficent imagine #maleficent x reader #maleficent mistress of evil #sam riley #sam riley imagine #sam riley x reader #request #fanfiction #imagines #x reader #refiwrites

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