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#like I legit saw a guy flying and running past me into walls...
hyunsuks-beanie · 3 years
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I Love You Too, Love
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Bang Chan x reader; just some good ol' tooth-rotting fluff
A/N: My first attempt at writing a real scenario lmao. Do lmk how it was❤Also, it's funny how I'm an anti-romantic to the core, but it all goes out the window when it's Chan
Coming back home at night after a long day at uni/work, you wanted nothing more than to cuddle and watch a nice movie with Chan. Your best friend had been on tour with his group, Stray Kids, for the past three months, and the daily messages and FaceTime calls were not nearly enough to stop you from missing him like crazy. The teeny tiny (or so you insisted) crush that you had on him, didn't help either. You missed his voice, his tight hugs, the way he would always listen to rant about your day, the way he would always know what to say, the way his smile would light up your day, everything. While he did try to fill the gap by still listening to your rants on a daily basis on FaceTime, it just wasn't the same without him being there in person.
Sighing, you unlock your door, expecting to be met with pitch darkness. Instead, what you saw made you drop your bag to the floor, as tears welled up in your eyes. There, standing in the middle of your living room, was Chan, your best friend, who was supposed to be away for yet another month. Not able to believe your eyes, you pinch yourself, only to realize that he is indeed there, in the flesh, smiling at you as if you mean the world to him (unbeknownst to you, you most certainly do).
"Missed me?," he asks, and you suddenly find yourself running towards him at full speed, crashing into his chest and wrapping your arms around him in the tightest hug ever. This causes Chan to slightly lose his balance, and makes him laugh heartily before placing a gentle kiss atop your head. "I missed you too, love. So so so much."
After staying like that for a solid two minutes, you finally break free, glaring up at him playfully. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?," You ask, trying your best to suppress your smile and appear angry. This causes him to chuckle before cheekily saying, "If I had told you, I wouldn't have been able to seen your true happiness at seeing me. If you already knew, you would probably have acted as if you're disgusted that I'm back, and we didn't want that now, did we?"
You shove his chest slightly, before finally turning your head towards the dining table, only to be met with the sight and aroma of all your favourite dishes, that Chan had apparently spent all evening trying to make. "You must be hungry. Freshen up and let's dig in, I'm starving," He says, pushing you lightly towards the bathroom. While getting changed, you finally register the fact that your heart is hammering in your chest, reminding you that the man standing in your living room means so much more to you than just your best friend.
Being away from Chan for months has made you realize that what you feel for him is much more than just a crush. You may very well be in love with him, but you're too scared to admit it because neither do you want to face rejection, nor can you bring yourself to put his career at risk. With these thoughts in mind, you finally exit the bathroom, sighing deeply to yourself.
You don't, however, notice that Chan too, is in a dilemma of his own. Before going on tour, he too, knew that he liked you. But being away from you made him realize that you are his home, and that he would much rather be with you than with anyone else. He has been planning to confess today, and has been trying to gauge your feelings ever since you came back home. Your sigh doesn't escape him, and, full of concern, he asks, "What's wrong, love? Got something on your mind? You know you can always tell me." Truth be told, he's worried and scared that you already know about his feelings, and don't reciprocate them. He fails to see your knees going week and a blush creeping up your cheeks at the nickname, and instead, all he notices is you giving him a small smile and saying, "Not at all Channie, I'm completely fine. Now let's eat up before the food goes cold."
Once you guys get a couple bites in, the awkward atmosphere starts easing once again. Chan tells you all about the tour and all the places he saw. "London was the best, but I wish you were there. You would have enjoyed the London Eye." "Well then, you'll have to take me there one day." You tell him about how life has been back in Seoul, ranting about your annoying professor/boss, and he tells you about all the small trinkets that he saw at souvenir shops that reminded him of you. "That charm bracelet was so you, I just had to buy it." "You didn't have to Chan. I don't need any gifts, having you back home is enough."
After dessert, you ask him if he'd stay the night, and he says that since he has the week off, the boys don't expect him to back at dorms until the following morning. "So.....you're staying?," You ask with a small smile tugging at your lips. He smiles back at you lovingly, and ruffles your hair before saying, "Yes love, I'm staying. Now let's watch a movie."
After picking the movie, you come back to sit on the couch next to Chan, throwing your legs across his lap. Now it's his turn to blush, but unlike him, you're not oblivious to his reddening cheeks. "Awww, is Channie blushing? Why? This isn't the first time I've thrown my legs over your lap," You chuckle, causing him to hide his face in his hands. "Yeah but, I've really missed this being away from you all this while," He smiles warmly.
The first half of the movie goes by with the both of you making random comments about it. At one particular scene where the characters are having nachos, Chan suddenly exclaims, "Salsa reminds me, the boys and I learnt a little Salsa during our time in Italy, and I really wanted to teach you some of the moves." "Me?," You ask, bewildered, causing Chan to become shy and start stuttering. "I-I m-mean if you w-want to. It's o-okay if y-you don't."
You're having a hard time trying not to melt into a puddle at his cuteness, as you force your mouth to open, and say, "No Chan, I'd love to." "Really?," He returns to his giggly self, as he gets up off the couch and extends his hand out for your to take. You smile and take his hand, and he brings you to the center of the room. "Just one sec," He says, pausing to pick the music on his phone. Once he's done, he places his phone on the table, and starts guiding you through the dance, one step at a time, with the movie being nothing more than a long-forgotten background noise. "Left foot forward, right foot backward. That's right, now dip, and come back. Now place your leg on my waist....," You both freeze at this, realizing what he just said. It's only then that you notice just how close you are to him, and the familiar feeling of your heart racing comes back. You both stare at each other, hypnotized, before your eyes flick to his lips and back up to his eyes. When he does the same, you timidly ask, "Can I kiss you?"
That's all it takes to break Chan out of his trance, as he crashes his lips onto yours, kissing you as if his life depends on it. You don't even notice that he is backing you up, until you feel your back hit the wall. His lips taste sweet and a little spicy, which you attribute to the food you had earlier. The kiss is soft but full of emotions, and even though it does seem a bit cliche, you can feel fireworks fly. The butterflies in your stomach every time you see Chan seem to have been replaced by a whole zoo, and you can't help but smile into the kiss. This causes Chan to break into a smile as well, before he gently lets go.
"I really want to keep kissing you because God have I been waiting to do that for years, but I feel like I need to get this off my chest first," He says, shy once again. "I like you, a hell lot. Actually no, screw that, I think I'm already in love with you. I've known this for a long time, but I was just scared to admit it. Being away from you during the tour made me realize that I want to be more than just 'best friends' with you. I want to call you 'mine,' and I want to be yours." "Oh Channie, you don't know how much I have wanted to hear you say that you love me too, this distance has been a wake-up call for me too, but I was just so scared of jeopardizing either our friendship, or your career. And I can't have either of those two." "Don't worry about my career, we'll find a way out love. Just say the word, say that you love me." To this, you gawk at him, before saying, "I gave you a speech on that just now, didn't I? Of course I love you." "Yeah but you didn't explicitly say that you love me, idiot. But now that you've said the right words, I legit feel like the happiest man on earth." You shove him slightly before wrapping your arms around his torso. "So, now that we've got our feelings sorted, what does that mean for us?" "Well, for starters, I think it means that my nickname for you just took on a literal meaning," Chan smirks. You pout at this, but then say, "I love you Channie." He places his chin in your head, and says, "I love you too, love."
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korra-the-red-lion · 3 years
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Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 5: Killer Moves, Dude.
(Lyn)
I sighed deeply through my nose as I handed in my test. I legit have no idea how I did on it. Religion in Pop Culture was a fun class, but some of the material was challenging. I mumbled my thanks to the prof and hefted my bag over my shoulder as I headed out.
It’s been nearly 3 weeks since the shower incident. No other freaky shit had happened, so I guess it was just a hideously stupid prank. Our guess was it was one of the other teams just playing a prank on us, or the women’s soccer team. We were the only ones who would have been in the locker room at that time.
Still, the whispers and the strange looks were starting to get on my nerves. I normally would argue that I was an easy-going kind of person, but this kind of attention had made my mood sour as of late.
“Why the scowl, Lyn-Lyn?”
I glanced over when Loryn bumped hips, finding a little smile on her face.
“Just finished writing a test and heard yet another ‘bet they’re gonna lose the banner again’ whispers,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I swear, these people are making me want to commit bloody murder.”
“Aw, don’t let them get to you,” said Loryn, wrapping her arms around mine, “they ain’t worth it.”
“I know, I know. It’s just hard, you know?”
Loryn nodded. “Yup, totes. But seriously, Lyn, I have a good feeling about this year. I feel like barring any extreme accidents, we’re gonna kick Turner’s ass this year and win that banner.”
I finally cracked a real smile. “Loryn, you know you’re awesome, right?”
“I mean, obviously. That’s why everyone loves me,” she said with a cheeky grin.
I snorted, the tension finally leaving my body. I said goodbye to Loryn, who was heading to her next class as I headed to the pool to teach swim lessons.
Loryn was one of those people who just knew how to get under my skin, in a good way. We were frosh together, and ended up in the same res. When we both showed up for the rookie week, we had a good laugh about the coincidence and because fast friends. Loryn came from a family of four girls, which according to her meant she was ‘a-mazing at dealing with conflict’ and it was hard to bring her mood down. She was planning on going to school after this to become a middle school teacher, which I thought was awesome. I was lucky to have a good friend in her, because my first year here was… well, let’s just say I was going through some stuff.
I pulled off my shirt as I walked into the AC, waving to Hassan, who was working at the desk today. He was a really sweet guy on the Badminton team, and admittedly I used to have a huge crush on, so every now and then I liked to tease him when I went by.
He grinned as he waved back, and I snickered as I bounded down the stairs to head into the locker room. I could hear all the kids chatting and messing around in there as I punched in the password to the swim team’s locker room. Those sounds always brightened my mood, and by the time I was done changing, my mood was pretty much back to the usual Lyn Hart standard.
I stepped onto the pool, laughing as a couple of the kids immediately ran to my side. Hunter, Joy, Kevin and Morgan loved me and always raced over to tell me about their days or whatever else crossed their minds. I sat down on the pool edge as they all spoke over each other to be heard, and eventually I had to settle them down so I could start the lesson.
I hopped into the pool and demonstrated the skills they needed to learn for this week’s lesson. I always loved getting in with them and showing them how to do it right. Too often do I see the other instructors standing on the pool deck, not really engaging in teaching. I get it, it’s not for everyone, but sometimes it’s not about you, it’s about the kids. Some of these kids…swim practice is their escape, they need this. If you aren’t there to be supportive, then why are you here in the first place?
The lesson went by so fast, and it was time for our practice. I said goodbye to the little guys and quickly threw on my cap and goggles. Time to get this underway.
XXX
“Lyn?”
I looked up from my laptop bleary eyed. Kerry pulled out a chair and sat down next to me. “Yeah? Wassup?”
She sighed as she leaned back, pulling her leg up on the seat. “I know this is going to sound so utterly stupid, but I’m nervous about the meet this weekend. I just haven’t been in a great head space recently, and with all the drama surrounding us and Gunner, I guess I’m just feeling overwhelmed.”
“Hey,” I said, reaching over and taking her hand in mine, “that is not stupid at all. Don’t ever think how you feel is stupid, got it?”
Kerry gave a lopsided smile. “Thanks, Lyn.”
I smiled in return. “Always. Now, did you tell Emma about how you felt? Or Andrew?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I will, yeah. Just…I wanted to talk to someone else about it first. It’s one of those things where you know that once you talk to someone is like ‘oh, why’d you take so long to say something?’ but still take your time.”
“I totally get that. I tend to keep things all bottled up until it just explodes out, you know? Loryn is the only one who knows how to get it out of me. Remember at the Halloween Bash last year when I finally lost my shit and decked Frankie across the chin?” I shook my head in shame.
Kerry chuckled. “I have to admit though, Frankie deserved it. He was being such a dick.”
I smirked, thinking back to that night. Frankie probably did deserve it but resorting to physical violence was something I should avoid in the future.
All of a sudden, Matt popped out of nowhere. It was like he was using his twin sense to find Kerry. Honestly, it was cute. Kerry seemed to be the more sensitive of the two on the surface, but in reality, it was Matt. He was constantly checking in on Kerry and would seriously drop anything to make sure she was okay. Kerry and Gunner were in an on again off again relationship for the past 6 months, and clearly his drug incident was bothering her a lot more than she was letting on. Matt walked over and plopped down on the table.
“Did I miss anything important?”
“I was admitting to my undying love to your sister, and we’re running away together after the swim meet tomorrow to move to Calgary,” I said seriously. Kerry nodded solemnly beside me.
Matt rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out. “How are y’all feeling about it, anyhow?”
I shrugged. “I mean, the first meet of the season. Feeling a little nervous, but otherwise same as always.”
“Ah, the Stonewall Lyn is coming back out to play, huh?”
“I hate it when you call me that,” I said with a whine, slumping onto the table. “It’s not like I’m impenetrable.”
“No, that much is obvious,” said Kerry with a smirk. Matt burst into laughter as my ears got hot. I reached over and squeezed Kerry’s arm, causing her to jokingly squeal in pain.
Someone yelled at us to shut up, and we all quieted down guiltily. Sometimes I forget that you still had to be quiet in the library. Matt slipped off the table and pulled out his own laptop, and the three of us decided to do our homework together.
XXX
My head burst through the water as I took a breath. I could barely hear them all shouting at me to go faster, that I was only close behind Sophie LeBlanc from Turner University. We both hit the wall and I pushed off, kicking hard. I could see in the corner of my eye that we were neck and neck for the final 25 meters. Sophie was faster than me, but I had more endurance. The 200 Fly was where I shined. My hands smacked against the wall and I immediately looked up to check the clock. A huge grin broke out on my face when I saw the number 1 next to my name. Sophie smiled at me and I reached over the lane rope to give her a hug.
“Good swim,” I huffed out.
“You too,” she breathed heavily.
I pulled myself out and shakily walked over to where the team was waiting, clapping me on the back. Maddie handed me my towel and I listened to Coach Jacob point out some things I did well and things I could work on, nodded when I needed to. He clapped me on the shoulder and sent me to the warm down pool.
I hopped in and swam a couple of laps lazily, to get that lactic acid moving out of my system. I stopped at the wall and watched Kerry swim her 50 Breast, cheering as she hit the wall for a turn. Despite her initial nerves, she was on fire this meet.
I swam back to the other end of the warm down pool and jumped out. I quickly threw on my swim parka and sweatpants, not wanting to get cold. The relay was the last event, and I needed to be ready to swim the Fly sprint. I walked over to where Emma, Maddie, and Tammy were, getting each other pumped up.
Emma huddled us together and closed her eyes. “Alright, you psycho bitches, we’re going to kill this relay. We’re not going to let Turner or Francois step all over us this year. You girls are seriously some of the best people I’ve ever had the joy of swimming with. Wolves on 3. 1, 2, 3!”
We all shouted “WOLVES” and hurried over to the starting block. Maddie chucked all her stuff into the box behind the timer’s chairs and waited for the whistle blow before hopping into the water. A jolt of nervous energy shot through my system as the buzzer went off, and so did the swimmers. I tossed all my stuff off too and slapped my arms and legs as part of my good luck ritual. I spared a glance over at Sophie, who gave me a cheeky smile before getting settled herself.
Maddie was fast approaching the wall, and Tammy was raring to go. She dove in the second Maddie’s fingertip brushed the wall, her form as beautiful as always. I shouted with the others as loudly as I could, before getting onto the block myself. Tammy was slicing through the water, looking as awesome as she did. I know she was exhausted from her 50 Breast swim from earlier, but it didn’t show at all as she kept pace with the others. Tammy’s hands slammed into the wall and I dove in, kicking as hard as I possibly could and fell into a mad rhythm, trying to keep pace with Sophie and Megan from Francois University. My lungs were screaming for air by the time I hit the wall for my turn, and I took a quick breath. My body was already in agony from my earlier swims, but I had to push through that for them. I hit the wall hard and Emma dove in. Maddie helped me out as I struggled to catch my breath. Emma was already halfway down the pool when I got out, trying my best to cheer for her despite my lack of oxygen. Kim Hawks from Turner was one of the best freestyle sprinters in the province, and while Emma was good, she wasn’t as good as Kim. I just hoped that we did enough to stay in the race.
Emma slammed her hand against the wall, and we all looked at the timer on the wall, holding our breaths. Turner popped up in the number 1 spot, unfortunately. But Mount Seamus showed up in the number 2 spot right after and we cheered. Maybe it wasn’t first, but yeah, beating Francois felt pretty damn good. We helped Emma out of the pool and held each other for a minute. I could feel the pride oozing off of us, and that was amazing. The points all mattered in the end, but right now, we did good.
XXX
Mondays after a swim meet were always the hardest. You were exhausted and spent the whole Sunday evening catching up on any work you were behind on. The only thing nice about them was morning practice was cancelled.
I yawned my whole way through my Asia World History course, even though it was one of my favourite classes. It was just hard when you were as tired as I was. I was just lucky since I did the readings ahead of time, because I know my notes were total garbage today.
Professor Gorgens told me I did an awesome job this weekend as I left class, and I gave him a warm smile. The guy was a bit of an egotistical jerk sometimes, but he did care about his students and made an effort to keep up with how the athletes were doing.
The food hall was a little quieter today, as students were frantically studied for their first batch of tests or they were just getting sick of the food already, which does happen. I yawned as I grabbed a couple of the premade sandwiches and some of the less questionable fruits. I didn’t really feel like eating inside right now, so I lumbered outside.
I sat down under the big tree, taking small bites out of my sandwich as I read through my textbook for my next class. It was just about October, and while it was starting to cool down, it was still nice enough out to enjoy the weather.
It felt like I was starting to doze off when I heard someone say my name. I looked up groggily and saw Ally waving to me.
“Oh, hey, Ally,” I said. “How have you been?”
Her eyes flickered to the tree uneasily before looking back at me. “Oh, good! I just finished writing my first midterm and have another one tomorrow. So, just been a little busy. How about you?”
I shrugged. “Good. Busy with swimming and school, so the usual.”
I’m not sure what was going on with Ally, but she kept looking up at the branches with some obvious discomfort. I looked up as well, wondering if there was an animal or something, but I didn’t see anything out of the norm. I looked back to her, and when we made eye contact, she gave me a tight smile.
“Is there…is there something wrong?” I asked hesitantly.
Her smile tightened even more, and she shook her head. “Nope, nothing is wrong. Why would you think there’s something wrong?”
Uh, okay. That was weird. I frowned and said, “Well, because you’re all wound up about something.”
“Am I?”
“You seem to be.”
She made a popping sound with her mouth. “I see. Well…this is going to sound so strange, so don’t judge me please, but I don’t like the vibes from the tree.”
I stared at her blankly before nodding. “Yeah, okay. That makes sense.”
“It does?” She sounded genuinely surprised.
“Yeah, totally.” I stood up, brushing my butt off and walking away from the tree. “According to the history of the school, this tree was planted on an old mass grave. It freaks a lot of people out because of that, but I always found it a nice spot to sit.”
Ally’s face paled as she took in the tree entirely. I don’t think I totally understood what was bothering her, but I gently pushed her away until the colour returned to her face. Whatever it was about the tree bothered her, and I was going to respect that.
“Does that bother you?” I asked as I continued to lead her away.
Ally gave a slow nod. “I…it just makes me uncomfortable, that’s all. I didn’t realize that there were so many buried skeletons at this school.” She tried to look over at it one last time, but I placed my hand on her face and directed her attention to me instead.
When our eyes connected, Ally made a strange face as her cheeks turned red. I know sometimes my stare can be pretty intense, according to the several people on the team who told me, so I dropped my hand and looked away slightly.
“Sorry, I just didn’t think you should be looking at the tree if it was freaking you out that much, you know?” I said with a grin.
“Oh, uh, yes!” Ally composed herself and nodded firmly. “Thank you for that. Sometimes I just get into my own head and it’s hard to get out of there.”
“Anxiety can be a bitch,” I said with sympathy.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” she said with a small chuckle.
I walked with Ally to her next class, just wanting to make sure everything was all good before I headed to mine. Some nice-looking guy with a small scar on his eyebrow was waiting for her when we got there, and I waved goodbye to her as I walked down the steps. Ally seemed more adjusted to the student life than last time I spoke to her, which was good. I was glad that she was making friends and finding herself a nice routine to fall into.
I was just about to dash to my class when I realized I left all my things under the tree when I made Ally leave. I ran over and gathered all my things quickly, sparing one last glace at the branches before leaving.
Maybe it was the trick of my eye, but it did kind of look like there was a shadow. I blinked and looked again, only to see the clear sky through the branches. Huh.
XXX
Practice was an easy affair today. Coach Jacob liked to give us one easy day after a meet, something we all appreciated. Plus, he started the day off with great news.
“Gunner is allowed to compete again!” he announced before any of us got into the water.
Several people cheered and Kerry gave him a small peck on the cheek. Gunner looked embarrassed but determined. He apologized to all of us for his behaviour this summer and that he was going to make it up to us.
Jackie reached over and patted his shoulder. “Hey, it happens to the best of us, Gunner. My sister fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up needing rehab. The important thing is that you got clean.”
Gunner brushed away tears and gave her a hug, which caused a huge group hug. I was happy for him, really. Sure, he made a mistake. But you’re supposed to be allowed to learn from those mistakes and grow from them. He was lucky to have such a good support system, because not everyone did. Coach Jacob rubbed his head and told everyone to get into the water and to stop being so sappy. A few of us laughed as we broke up the hug and did as we were told.
It was about halfway through practice when Jackie hopped out of the pool to run to the bathroom. Normally Coach Jacob hated when we did that, but I think he was in a good mood today, so he let it slide. He read through the next set and we got to work.
It wasn’t until we were finished with the set that I noticed Jackie hadn’t returned. That was really strange. I think other people noticed too, because I saw some heads swiveling as they looked for her. Jackie’s lane partner Tammy said under her breath, “What’s taking her so long? Did her tampon get stuck or something?”
I said I’d go see what was going on and pushed myself out of the pool. I padded lightly into the locker room and called out her name, only to get no response. I felt my heart speed up a little, as I felt a pit of concern growing in my stomach.
I walked into where the bathrooms were and knocked on all the doors. Still nothing. Maybe she just had to race home for something? I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling, however. That wasn’t like Jackie at all. She always made sure to let people know where she was going, even if it was a sudden situation change.
My heart was pounding loudly in my ears now as I called out again and still got nothing in return. I shuddered as I walked towards the locker room, feeling a sudden chill. I shakily punched in the combination and opened the door to where our lockers were located.
I couldn’t help but shriek when I saw Jackie lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. She groaned as I grabbed a towel and shoved it against her stomach, where it looked like someone had cut her with something. She opened her eyes and tried to say something, but I shushed her.
“Jackie, sweetie, don’t say anything right now,” I said, trying to keep the panic from my voice. “You need to lie very still, okay?”
She gave the teeniest of nods as her eyes lost focus again. I heard someone running into the change room, most likely responding to the sound of my scream.
I move the door with my foot so the worst of the scene is hidden from view. “Don’t come in!” I shouted.
“Lyn, what’s going on?” That was Loryn.
“Jackie’s been hurt, she needs medical attention ASAP.”
I heard Loryn swear loudly. “Lyn, my phone is in there!”
“Use the phone on the deck or upstairs!” My voice cracked with fear as the blood seeped through the towel. I grabbed another one and applied pressure on the wound, praying that it would slow down or stop. Jackie was looking very pale, and her breathing was shallow.
I forced myself to look away for a second, knowing I was getting tunnel vision. The lockers were all open and the light overhead was out. There were huge gouges in the wall that looked like they were trying to spell something, but I was not in the right head space to even try and read it right now.
The door opened and Coach Jacob stood in the doorway, taking the scene in. He went very pale and had to lean against the wall to keep himself upright.
“I-is she…?”
I shook my head. “Breathing, alive for now. She needs to get to the hospital, now.”
He nodded shakily. “They’re on the way. Loryn…she called.”
Thank God for Loryn. She was good a keeping calm under pressure. I looked down at Jackie and breathed a little easier when I saw that this towel hadn’t soaked through. I have no idea who did this to her, but they couldn’t have gotten too far. I felt like crying so bad right now, but the tears just wouldn’t come out. It was like my body knew what it needed to do right now, and crying was not it.
I refused to leave Jackie’s side until the paramedic gently removed me from the scene to ask some questions. I answered them the best I could, but I honestly had no idea what happened. I thought it was a stab mark at first, but as I thought about it a little bit more, I couldn’t get the visual of claw marks out of my head.
XXX
I sat on the hospital bed, my guts tied up into a nervous knot. I had to be brought in because I went into shock after I- well, after it. I checked my phone and paused when I saw that I missed a call from home. That was something unusual. Honestly? I didn’t feel like dealing with that right now, so I just swiped the notification off. If they couldn’t be bothered to leave a voice mail, then I can’t be bothered to call them back.
There was a knock at the door. I looked over as Loryn, Kerry, and Matt poked their heads in. I smiled weakly as they shuffled into the room. I took Loryn’s hand into my own as she sat down on my bed. Matt pulled over another chair and him and Kerry sat down next to the bed.
“Is…Jackie…?” I croaked, unable to get the words out.
Loryn nodded slightly. “Jackie is okay. She needed some serious stiches and won’t be able to compete for the rest of the season. Jacob and Robin are with her while they wait for her parents to arrive.”
I sighed in minor relief. “At least she’s okay. Um…did they find anyone?”
“They claim that they found a guy wielding a knife,” said Matt. “But Lyn, I’m not too sure about that. Why would some random guy attack a student in the locker room?”
That was my thought too. Also, I swear it was claw marks. They were straight across, not stabbed in. The thought of Jackie lying on the floor flashed in my mind and I had to squeeze my eyes shut as I waited out the wave of nausea. Loryn squeezed my hand as I struggled to control myself.
“Did they give you anything?” she asked quietly.
I shook my head slowly. “No, I refused.”
“Why’d you refuse?”
“I didn’t want to be drugged up if something happened to Jackie…”
There was a tense silence in the room. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else, so I directed my attention to the window. The ticking of the clock sounded incredibly loud as time passed by. The IV pump I was connected to chugged along as it pumped some fluids into my body. I could hear Kerry sniffling in her chair, unable to say the words she needed to hear. It was like my brain was shutting down, unable to process what had happened.
Poor Jackie didn’t deserve this. Not that anyone did, but Jackie was such a sweet person. She would give you the shirt off her back if you asked and would then give you even more. This was a random attack, but why? The why was bouncing around, giving me a headache.
I felt Loryn reach over and brush her thumb against my cheek. I looked at her confused as to why she did that, then I realized I was actually crying. I don’t cry often; it just wasn’t something I did. I began to tremble and completely lost it when the three of them gave me a tight hug.
I cried and cried until I couldn’t anymore.
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uaxreaders · 4 years
Note
I’m new to tumblr but i really like your writing. I was wondering if you could do “I- I can’t hear! I can’t hear anything!” i hope i’m asking on the right spot 😅
Thank you for your request!
Character: Katsuki Bakugou
Quirk: pulling the moisture from the air and being able to control it.
The morning had started off with a call alerting th agency to a possible villain hideout discovered in an apartment complex that was being renovated. Ground Zero and I were the two sent to check it out in case it turned out to be a legit threat. Sure enough er spotted a semi large group of villains hanging around the complex. Being as the villains seemed like lower level thugs we thought we could handle it on our own so we didn’t bother calling for backup. Little did we know just how wrong we would be.
With a loud boom and a burst of light the villain in front of us was tossed into the crumbling apartment wall. “Nice one babe!” I cheered as another villain made his way over to me. I focused on pulling a majority of the moisture from the air pulling it to me before pushing it full force at the villain. The force from the water sent him flying backwards. Bakugou looked to me with a look of pride plastered on his features.
The two of us continued our way farther into the building encountering ten or so more mid level villains. One after one they were taken down with very little effort. This seems like it was any other mission and Bakugou and I would be out in time for lunch. I went ahead up the next floor leaving Bakugou to take care of the last guy on the floor below. I let out a gasp when I came face to face with someone I thought was long gone.
There in front of me stood Hero Killer: Stain but with upgraded weapons. Although Bakugou and I weren’t around for his original attacks we had heard about the commotion from our classmates. We had heard just how hard the fight was and what he put Iida through. Shigaraki stepped outside from the shadows joining his colleague. This whole thing had been merely a set up.
The next thing I knew I was struggling in the arms of the villain named Dabi as he dragged me towards the others. Bakugou came running upstairs his cocky grin falling when he saw me struggling against Dabi. I pulled the moisture from the air but struggled to get my arms to move enough for it to hit anyone. “Let her go.” Bakugou growled aiming his gauntlet towards the LOV. “Not so fast you hit us, you hit her.” Shigaraki pointed out.
“What do you want?” I spat thrashing against my captor. Dabi made no sign of moving, in fact it seemed like he was purposely keeping me in one spot. “What we’ve always wanted. For Ground Zero to come join us. Where he belongs.” Dabi said grinning his terrifying grin.
Bakugou scoffed rolling his eyes. “Not a chance!” He yelled back. Dabi began to cause a small flame on his hand releasing one of my arms from his grasp. He pressed the hand to my shoulder burning my skin. With a loud painful scream I focused my energy into barading him with the moisture from the air. Dabi was sent backwards to where the others were standing.
Bakugou lifted his gauntlets ready to attack. It was then I noticed the sound proof plugs that were in the villains ears as well as the smiles that adorned their faces when Bakugo was ready to fire. “Ground Zero wait!” I tried to warn but it was too late. Bakugou fired causing a large explosion. The noise that followed his attack was unlike any I’ve heard from Bakugou’s attacks.
All I saw was a bright white light followed by a loud ringing filling my ears. I blinked a few times and the blinding light was replaced by black dust. The villains no longer stood where they had been having made their escape. I moved my hands to feel around my surroundings I was laying on the floor some fallen rubble surrounding me. My injuries seemed to just consist of small cuts and bruises.
A frantic Bakugou appeared crouching in front of me. He discarded his gauntlet to the ground waving his hand in front of my face. I could see his mouth moving but still couldn’t hear a word he was saying. I blinked a few times my hands coming up to my ears. When my hands returned to my face they both had blood coviering the fingertips.
Bakugou’s eyes were filled with worry as he kept trying to talk to me. The combination of shock and pain was making my head spin. The sudden dizziness made my eyes drop before finally closing. I could feel my body being lifted off the ground into my fiancé’s familiar arms. The last thing I felt was him holding me close before I slipped into darkness.
*Bakugou’s pov*
I paced around the hospital waiting room my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I was still dressed in my dust covered hero costume that had a small blood stain just on the shoulder where (Y/n)’s head had been resting. I was practically seething towards my own stupidity. How could I have fallen for such an obvious trap? Because of me my girl was now in a hospital operating room.
“Bakugou? Bakugou! Bro what happened?” Kirishima asked as he came running into the room. “We went to check out a villain hideout and it turned out to be a trap. I went to fire an explosion at them and the next thing I know there was this huge explosion.” I explained not bringing my eyes up to meet my best friends worried gaze.
“Isn’t that what usually happens? You’ve never accidentally hurt someone with your quirk before?” He asked still confused. “It wasn’t just my explanation. It surrounded us, like they placed bombs in the walls or something.” I growled back angrily. “That’s exactly what happened.
The police have found at least 15 stun bombs and two real bombs hidden inside the walls of the floor you were on.” Deku explained appearing with Uraraka behind him. “How is she?” Pink cheeks asked setting some flowers down on the table. “I don’t know these assholes won’t tell me shit!” I barked towards the reception desk. The man sitting there rolled his eyes going back to his magazine. “I’m sure she’ll be ok!” Kirishima smiled his toothy grin except I could see the nervousness behind it.
I returned my glance back to the small blood stain that was barely visible on the black of my costume. Her confused pain riddled face returned to my memory. The way the blood spilled down from her ears and onto her neck. Her lack of responses to my questions, it was all too much I needed air. “Out of my way extras.” I grumbled pushing past them.
I made my way through a hallway till I found a door that read roof entry. Since no one was looking I made my way up to the roof. Once I was out of sight I felt my breathing getting more and more rapid. My heartbeat sped up and I clutched at my chest. Warm tears began to fill my eyes threatening to fall.
“Bro I’m sure she’ll be ok. You got her here really fast.” Kirishima spoke from behind me making me jump and harshly rub the tears away. “What do you want shitty hair?” I barked not facing him. “It’s ok to be sad man. I mean you love her, it’s ok if you wanna cry.” He continued.
I listened to his words thinking carefully about that word. I do love her, I loved her more than anything but here she was in the hospital because of me. She might be deaf because of my recklessness. She was going to be heartbroken when she woke up. She’d never get to hear her favorite songs again, listen to her favorite movies, I’d no longer be able to whisper I love you’s in her ear making her giggle.
The thoughts that circled my mind broke my heart even further. This was all my fault. I collapsed to my knees on the ground letting the panic attack wash over me. As I struggled to breathe through sobs I felt Kirishima place a comforting hand on my shoulder. “This is all my fucking fault!” I screamed out in a voice riddled with pain.
“I did this! Not Dabi or Stain or Shigaraki! Me! It’s my fucking fault she’s in a hospital bed! If I had thought things through like that damn nerd she’d be ok!” I choked out angrily.
“Don’t talk like that! (Y/n) would smack you for even thinking it! Keep talkin like that I’ll do it for her.” Kirishima said a bit of humor behind the last part. I let out a small snort shaking my head. “I’d kill you.” I laughed rubbing the tears away from my face.
After a few minutes to catch my breath I stood up nodding a silent thank you to my friend. “Not a word of this to anyone shitty hair.” I spoke leaning on the railing. “My lips are sealed Bakubro!” He said grinning. I felt a little better after letting it all out but there was something lingering on my mind. I knew deep down it was just an insecurity but I had to ask.
“What if she hates me after this?” I asked in a barely audible voice. Kirishima looked taken back by my words. He was struggling to find a way to tell me I’m stupid without getting his ass kicked. It might be stupid but I had to get this out. I took a deep breath before continuing.
“It won’t happen all at once. At first she’ll tell me it’s not my fault, that her and I will learn to cope. But then slowly she’ll start to resent me. Eventually she won’t be able to see the man she loves anymore. I’ll just be the guy that took away her hearing.”
“Bakugou she could never hate or resent you. For whatever reason that girl in there looks at you like your her everything. I doubt she’ll ever see this as your fault. Besides you heard Deku it was the villains who planted those bombs.” He said trying to reassure me. It was no use I couldn’t get her face out of my head.
The door clicking open made us spin around quickly seeing Uraraka. “The doctor’s looking for you Bakugou.” She said a worried smile on her face. I nodded looking towards Kirishima one last time before following her out. The three of us made our way back to the waiting room where several more classmates had joined Deku. The doctor stood speaking briefly with Deku before seeing me.
“Ah Mr. Bakugou, Miss (Y/L/n) just got out of surgery and is being transferred to a room as we speak.” She informed me. “How is she?” I asked crossing my arms over my chest. The doctor frowned gesturing towards a seat. “Why don’t you have a seat?” She asked. I narrowed my eyes at the woman to say I wasn’t fucking moving.
“I’m afraid (Y/n) is suffering from Noise-Induced Hearing Loss. NIHL usually happens over time by exposure to loud noises but can also be caused by extremely loud bursts of sound. Such as gunshots or explosions, which can rupture the eardrum or damage the bones in the middle ear. In her case it was a bit of both as the explosion sped the process up damaging both her ears. The bones in her middle ears were severely damaged beyond repair and from the looks of it she will suffer from permanent hearing loss.
The exposure to the explosion may also cause her to experience some tinnitus, which is a ringing, or a buzzing in the ears or head. In her case the Tinnitus should subside over time, but she might experience it occasionally throughout her life” she explained. It was true, I had caused my fiancé to go deaf. She would never hear again because of me. My breathing was quickening again and the sounds of the outside world began to drown out.
“What about hearing aids those won’t work?” Asked a tear covered Uraraka. The doctor shook her head. “The damage was too extensive.” He explained. “I’ll go check to see if she’s able to have visitors yet.” The doctor continued excusing herself. All of my friends turned to eye me.
“I’ll be back.” I mumbled walking off from the group. They tried calling after me and I’d assume Kirishima tried to follow but was stopped by Mina. I made my way up the staircase and down a hallway. Any nurses and doctors I passed eyed my visitor badge shocked. I could hear them whispering reasons why I could be there since I didn’t look hurt, little did they know I was dying inside.
I passed by a big window the belonged to the nursery. A man was standing there with tears eyes looking at one of the girls. I couldn’t help but feel my heart break a little bit knowing (Y/n) would never get to hear our future baby laugh or cry. “Which one is yours?” The man asked looking away from the window briefly. I looked towards the man confused.
“Oh uh none of them my fiancé is in the emergency room. I got lost wandering around.” I mumbled. He nodded returning his gaze to the baby. “Will she be alright?” He asked. “She’ll live she’ll just be deaf for the rest of her life.” I said angry towards myself.
He turned back to me looking me up and down. “At least she’s alive. I know it hurts knowing she’ll never be the same. That this is all so scary. I’m sure you’ve convinced yourself she’s leaving you the minute she’s conscious but if you truly love each other that’s not that case. Now is not the time for you to break down and hate yourself.
You need to keep your chin up and go back in there and be her rock. If you can’t swallow your anger for yourself do it for her. She needs you now more than ever. The next few months will make her life hell. Surely a hero like yourself can make that easier on her.”
I was shocked by his words blinking a few times. But he was completely right. “You’re right. Thank you.” I mumbled checking to make sure none of my friends had followed me. “Congratulations sir.” I said stepping closer to the glass.
“Thank you. My wife was diagnosed with cancer very early in our relationship. We sat down and had a talk about whether or not we would stay together. She gave me a week to think about it and I almost agreed with her on ending things. Instead I stayed with her and here we are 12 years later.
This is baby number 3 and I couldn’t be happier. Sure the cancer is still there and we don’t know if she’ll ever get into remission or not. But we know to enjoy the time we have because she’s alive now. That’s what matters.” He smiled. His speech brought a smile to my face imagining (Y/n) and I 12 years from now.
I reached out shaking the man’s hand gratefully. “Thank you! I’ve gotta go!” I exclaimed quickly making my way to the gift shop. I purchased the biggest bouquet they had, several balloons, a stuffed Pomeranian, and a cute little notebook. Once I was done with my shopping I made my way back to the lobby where the doctor was talking with the receptionist.
“She should just waking up from the anesthesia so she might be a little foggy still but you’re welcome to go see her.” The doctor informed me. I nodded towards her snatching a couple pens off the reception desk. Before the receptionist could protest the doctor waved him off so I made my way into her room. I couldn’t help the small sink of my heart upon seeing her like this. Despite being injured and groggy she still looked so beautiful.
A man in scrubs was checking her machines and writing things on his clipboard. (Y/n) has her head down looking over a piece of paper. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she struggled to blink them away. Noticing my presence the nurse smiled sympathetically before stepping out of the room. When (Y/n)’s eyes met mine they almost seemed to brighten. “Katsuki! You’re here!” She said a weak smile on her face.
I wanted so badly to go on and on about how much I love her and happy I was that she was ok but it would be to no use. So instead I settled for a nod setting her presents on a side table keeping ahold of the notebook and pens. More tears began to fall down her perfect cheeks. “I-I can’t hear! I can’t hear anything!” She choked out in broken sobs.
I frowned coming to stand by her side. The first thing I did was wrap my arms around her shaking form. She clung to my shirt crying mumbling incoherent sentences about all the things she couldn’t do. Her angry fists bunched up parts of my costume as I let her hurt as much as she needed. When she had settled down some I pulled away nudging for her to move over sitting next to her on the bed.
First I used a tissue to clean off her face before softly kissing her lips a couple times. I set the notebook between the two of us. I tried to come up with the words to say how sorry I am but nothing came. She placed a hand over my hand that held a pen. “Suki say something please.” She whispered so I began to scribble down how I felt.
(Y/n), I’m so sorry. I should have thought things through. I should have listened to you and waited. If I hadn’t been so arrogant none of this shit would be happening.
“Katsuki Bakugou don’t you talk like that none of this is your fault!”
I know the villains planted bombs but still I wish more than anything I could take it back or switch places with you. I’d give anything to be in your place instead.
“I know baby. You’re still my hero don’t forget that.”
I may not be able to take your place but I’m going to do anything and everything in my power to make your life easier and as close to how it was before. We can take a sign language class together, and I’ll look into deaf heroes. I’m sure that nerd knows of a few. Maybe they have tips on how to train.
“I love you so much Suki.”
I love you too. So fucking much. This whole thing has me thinking.
“Oh no that can be dangerous.”
Haha dumb ass. But I’m serious.
“Ok what are you thinking about?”
How much time I wasted not telling you how I felt or not telling you how beautiful you are. I should have been telling you that shit every day but I didn’t. Instead I called you dumb ass or shitty woman. You deserve to remember being called beautiful. That’s gonna change now. I’ll write it and sign it every single day.
“Oh Katsuki!”
After reading that message she threw her arms around my neck holding me close. I pulled her body towards mine not wanting to let go. The two of us stayed like that till we both drifted off to sleep. I was gonna make sure she never regretted staying with me. If she still saw me as a hero that’s who I was gonna be.
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beeblackburn · 4 years
Text
Pretender Reads A Little Hatred, Part I, Chapter Two
Forwards and charging onward! Goes without saying spoilers ahead for the entirety of The First Law works beyond the keep reading. Read at your own risk.
Chapter Title: Where the Fight’s Hottest Point-of-View: Leo dan Brock
In battle, Leo’s father used to say, a man discovers who he truly is.
The Northmen were already turning to run as his horse crashed into them with a thrilling jolt.
He smashed one across the back of the helmet with the full force of the charge and ripped his head half off.
He snarled as he swung to the other side. A glimpse of a gawping face before his axe split it open, blood spraying in black streaks.
.. And what Leo is is a Northman in Union clothes. If we’re less generous with him, he’s Leeroy Jenkins. He’s, with respect to FlynnLevy on TheFirstLaw’s reddit, Leoroy Jenkins!!
A lance shattered, a shard flying into Leo’s helmet with an echoing clang as he wrenched away. The world was a flickering slit of twisted faces, glinting steel, heaving bodies, half seen through the slot in his visor. Screams of men and mounts and metal mashed into one thought-crushing din.
With a title like Where the Fight’s Hottest, we were going to get a fight. This chapter’s first half’s all fight and blood, and, man, there’s that crispness and visceral impact of Abercrombie’s battle prose. I make no bones in saying that he’s hands-down one of the genre’s bests, as far as I’ve read. Abercrombie just knows how to make a blow crunch and chop off a limb and make you feel it, be part of the moment. 
And this is a great example of it. Just read how claustrophobic this feels, how much only Leo can register hearing because his helmet’s visor won’t let him register any sight beyond the minute glints and flickers of battle. It’s mostly hearing, because Leo himself can’t see past his slit and Abercrombie appreciates a good tightness of voice. All sound and fury in a storm of violence.
A horse swerved in front of him. Riderless, stirrups flapping. Ritter’s horse. He could tell by the yellow saddlecloth. A spear stabbed at him, jolting the shield on his arm, rocking him in his saddle. The point screeched down his armoured thigh.
Riderless, huh. My god, is Ritter another battle-idiot? At least Leo stays on his horse to slaughter the Northmen! Aside from that, let me draw more attention to the way Abercrombie breaks down his sentence structure: short sentences and multiple commas, each carrying their immediate action, because the battlefield’s not a place where long stretches of thought can occur without a man trying to bash your brains in.
He gripped the reins in his shield-hand as his mount bucked and snorted, face locked in an aching smile, flailing wildly with his axe on one side, then the other. He beat mindlessly at a shield with a black wolf painted on it, kicked at a man and sent him staggering back, then Barniva’s sword flashed as it took his arm off.
Stour Nightfall’s standard. So, does this mean Rikke and Leo are going to meet, considering Uffrith won’t predispose her to Stour and Stour won’t be sweetened by Leo’s loving ax to his men’s heads?
He saw Whitewater Jin swinging his mace, red hair tangled across gritted teeth.
1. Whitewater? So Jin’s born near the Whiteflow? Hm, I wonder if it’s a Name like the other Named Men or just a geographical name. I’m hedging on the latter, but it’s an interesting thought. 2. Red hair, huh. I’m not crazy enough to assume that’s Vitari’s Cas (why would he be up North, anyway?) but, given this is a story where the next generation will be focused on, I’m definitely looking carefully for redheads.
He pointed at Stour Nightfall’s standard with his axe, black wolf streaming in the wind. He howled, roared, throat hoarse. No one could hear him with his visor down. No one could’ve heard him if it had been up. He hardly knew what he was saying. He flailed furiously at the milling bodies instead.
Someone clutched at his leg. Curly hair. Freckles. Looked bloody terrified. Everyone did. Didn’t seem to have a weapon. Maybe surrendering. Leo smashed Freckles on the top of the head with the rim of his shield, gave his horse the spurs and trampled him into the mud.
This was no place for good intentions. No place for tedious subtleties or boring counter-arguments. None of his mother’s carping on patience and caution. Everything was beautifully simple.
In battle, a man discovers who he truly is, and Leo was the hero he’d always dreamed of being.
Well! Leo’s certainly no Jezal. He’s a far more wild and battle-hungry shit, and, in some ways, that comparison both elevates and damns Leo. He’s certainly got the glory-hounding that Jezal had, except backed with some legit battlefield competence right away, but at the same time, there’s something terribly more... hidebound about Leo in a way that Jezal wasn’t at the start. Jezal was a noble ignorant pissant because he just wholesale bought into his station and the assumptions that came with it until reality beat him down later.
Leo’s actively killing people and just loving it. Loving being a hero, loving being a leveller of men, loving the simplicity of battlefield politics, one ax swing at a time.
It makes him a more specific character, writing-wise, compared to the more vacuous nature of Jezal at the start, but my god. Leo is no thinking man here. If anything, the remark of heroes and all this battle fury in him makes me think there’s quite a bit of Gorst in Leo before my first thought that he was the next generation’s Jezal (something that I think holds sort of true, Jezal was also an unthinking dumbfuck who thought he was the best ever).
Time will tell if Leo grows past that...
He swung again but his axe felt strange. The blade had flown off, left him holding a bloody stick. He dropped it, dragged out his battle steel, buzzing fingers clumsy in his gauntlet, hilt greasy from the thickening rain. He realised the man he’d been hitting was dead. He’d fallen against the fence, so it looked as if he was standing but there was black pulp hanging out of his broken skull, so that was that.
Hah! I’ve always wondered how axes blades can stay on, despite so much abrasion and blows. I’m glad to see this, for a change. And, man, those beautiful short sections in-between commas, so many quick beats of actions that don’t linger in the moment.
Also, sheesh, Leo. Was there a thought you ever had before you swung.
The standard-bearer was a huge man with desperate eyes and blood in his beard, still holding high the flag of the black wolf. Leo spurred right at him, blocked axe with shield, caught him with a sword-cut that screeched over his cheek guard and opened a great gash across his face, carved half his nose off. He tottered back and Whitewater Jin crushed the man’s helmet with his mace, blood squirting from under the rim. Leo kicked him over, tearing the standard from his limp hand as he fell. He thrust it up, laughing, gurgling, half-choking on his own spit then laughing again, his axe’s loop still stuck around his wrist so the broken haft clattered against his helmet.
A fight’s some messy shit, guys. It ain’t pretty, and Abercrombie gets across that ugliness while writing some really entertaining, quick-paced, in-the-moment battles, another reason why his fight scenes whip.
Leo ached all over: thighs from gripping his horse, shoulders from swinging his axe, hands from gripping the reins. The very soles of his feet throbbed from the effort. His chest heaved, breath booming in his helmet, damp, and hot, and tasting of salt. Might’ve bit his tongue somewhere. He fumbled with the buckle under his chin, finally tore the damn thing free. His skull burst with the noise, turned from fury to delight. The noise of victory.
No one gets out unscathed or without being downright exhausted. When you’re down with where the fight’s hottest, you end up paying prices for being in the middle of war’s forges, hot and spent and full of fire in your throat and body all over. Though, Leo shoves the costs for the victory in the moment...
He almost fell from his horse, clambered up onto the wall. Something was soft under his gauntleted hand. A Northman’s corpse, a broken spear sticking from his back. All he felt was giddy joy.
No corpses, no glory, after all. Might as well regret the peelings from a carrot. Someone was helping him up, giving him a steadying hand. Jurand. Always there when he needed him. Leo stood tall, the joyful faces of his men all turned towards him.
Ugh. He’s worse than Jezal in some ways! Just sees all the glory, the honor, and the victory and doesn’t mind all the dead he made to get it. Admittedly, they were enemies, and their goal’s likely to kill him (Northmen, am I right), but man, Leo’s really got a toxic attitude to violence and the comparison to Gorst only grows stronger from here, given Gorst’s attitude towards loving violence, no matter the butchered meat.
And it certainly makes him a succinct counterpoint to Rikke, who, at least, felt bad for killing someone. That’s practically a unicorn in the Circle of the World. Leo? He’s all for the violence, unthinking violence. He fits comfortably into the typical fabric of the Circle of the World far more. And I don’t think Leo’s coming out of this better than Rikke, personal liking-wise, despite Rikke having tropes I was never predisposed to.
“The Young Lion!” roared Glaward, climbing up beside him and clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder, making him wobble. Jurand stretched out his arms to catch him, but he didn’t fall. “Leo dan Brock!” Soon they were all shouting his name, singing it like a prayer, chanting it like a magic word, stabbing their glittering weapons at the spitting sky.
“Leo! Leo! Leo!”
In battle, a man discovers who he truly is.
He felt drunk. He felt on fire. He felt like a king. He felt like a god. This was what he was made for!
1. Welp. There’s that old familiar Jezal arrogance. Leo and Jezal definitely share some character DNA by both being vainglorious nobles wanting to prove themselves for want of glory and honor. 2. Leo dan Brock, huh? That just means we might get Finree and Hal down the road!! Hell yeah, Finree was one of the best parts of The Heroes! I’ll definitely take more of her!
In the lady governor’s tent, they were fighting a different kind of war. A war of patient study and careful calculation, of weighed odds and furrowed brows, of lines of supply and an awful lot of maps. A kind of war Leo frankly hadn’t the patience for.
A problem with every battle: you got to attend to the stuff in-between the battles, the sheer contrast between the simplicity of a battlefield, the quick beats of action sentences, and the longer sentence structures Abercrombie uses here, full of adjectives and attention to the minutiae, and making it clear Leo’s no longer part of a battle and has enough space of mind to deride all the complications of life past a fight.
The glow of victory had been dampened by the stiffening rain on the long trudge up from the valley, doused further by the niggling pain from a dozen cuts and bruises, and was almost entirely smothered by the cool stare his mother gave him as Leo pushed through the flap with Jurand and Whitewater Jin at his back.
She was in the midst of talking to a knight herald. Ridiculously tall, he had to stoop respectfully to attend to her.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, FINREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
I really love the implication that Finree commands enough respect that others have to meet her eye-level instead of her having to crane up at others. She’s done well for herself in the years to come, I’m so proud!
“We don’t need the king’s bloody help!” snapped Leo as soon as the flap dropped. “We can beat Black Calder’s dogs!” His voice sounded oddly weak in the tent, deadened by wet cloth. It didn’t carry anywhere near so nicely as it had on the battlefield.
“Huh.” His mother planted her fists on the table and frowned down at her maps. By the dead, sometimes he thought she loved those maps more than him. “If we are to fight the king’s battles, we should expect the king’s help.”
“You should’ve seen them run!” Damn it, but Leo had been so sure of himself a few moments ago. He could charge a line of Carls and never falter, but a woman with a long neck and greying hair leached all the courage out of him. “They broke before we even got to them! We took a few dozen prisoners …” He glanced towards Jurand, but he was giving Leo that doubtful look now, the one he used when he didn’t approve, the one he’d given him before the charge. “And the farm’s back in our hands … and …”
His mother let him stammer into silence before she glanced at his friends. “My thanks, Jurand. I’m sure you did your best to talk him out of it. And you, Whitewater. My son couldn’t ask for better friends or I for braver warriors.”
Snrrrk. With good reason, Leo. On a serious note, there’s definitely an efficiency of characterization here and you can tell the dynamic between Finree and Leo here, just from this: the sensible mother and the charging-bull heir. A part of me wants to pity Leo because if Black Dow couldn’t budge Finree after she was kidnapped, what chance do his brash and immature words have?
But, at the same time, wait, that fight was just for a farm? I’m getting ASoIaF flashbacks here, and none that suggest anything good of Leo’s sense of priorities. Not that I expected better of his decision-making, but yeesh.
Jin slapped a heavy hand down on Leo’s shoulder. “It was Leo who led the—”
“You can go.”
Jin scratched sheepishly at his beard, showing a lot less warrior’s mettle than he had down in the valley. Jurand gave Leo the slightest apologetic wince. “Of course, Lady Finree.” And they slunk from the tent, leaving Leo to fiddle weakly with the fringe of his captured standard.
Look on the bright side, Leo, at least you’re not the only one who can be cowed by your mother.
His mother let the withering silence stretch a moment longer before she passed judgement. "You bloody fool."
(Winces) I saw that coming too, and Abercrombie’s got a gift for the sharp dialogue. The succinct one-liner.
“Great leaders go where the fight’s hottest!” But he knew he sounded like the heroes in the badly written storybooks he used to love.
Ah, that good ol’ shading of lesser fantasies. And, yes, Leo, you are kind of a dumb, brash hero from a lesser fantasy conceptually, but that’s the thing: Abercrombie’s not gonna let you be comfortable being just that. Finree’s there to make sure of that, narrative-wise, if nothing else. That’s part of why I read Abercrombie: watching him deconstruct, contort, and twist these character archetypes and poking them with sharp steel from all angles.
“You know who else you find where the fight’s hottest?” asked his mother. “Dead men. We both know you’re not a fool, Leo. For whose benefit are you pretending to be one?” She shook her head wearily. “I should never have let your father send you to live with the Dogman. All you learned in Uffrith was rashness, bad songs and a childish admiration for murderers. I should have sent you to Adua instead. I doubt your singing would be any better but at least you might have learned some subtlety.”
Damn, Finree, no pulling punches, I see! All that frankly needs to be said, but I get why Leo feels his courage turn to jelly before the dominant personality Finree is to him.
Also, this does explain why Leo’s the way he is because there is no way Finree wouldn’t have cut down Leo’s growing ego to manageable size, had he still been with her. Though, whoa. Leo was sent to the Dogman?
That. That means Leo and Rikke probably already know each other. Um. Damn, I can’t see them getting along, not with the way Leo is now, but, at the same time, Finree’s already pressed against the walls, military-wise, and Uffrith’s scorched to ash. They might not have a choice, but to work together...
“Won what? A worthless farm in a worthless valley? That was little more than a scouting party, and now the enemy will guess our strength.” She gave a bitter snort as she turned back to her maps. “Or the lack of it.”
“I captured a standard.” It seemed a pitiful thing now he really looked at it, though, clumsily stitched, the pole closer to a branch than a flagstaff. How could he have thought Stour Nightfall himself might ride beneath it? 
Yup, ASoIaF flashbacks. Except, where GRRM doesn’t really sell out the better parts of the actors there, Abercrombie here is just pitiless with how much Leo gets dragged for rashness and being drunk on songs and war.
“Listen to what you’re told. Learn from those who know better. Be brave, by all means, but don’t be rash. Above all, don’t get yourself bloody killed! You’ve always known exactly how to please me, Leo, but you choose to please yourself.”
Careful, Finree, you might drag your son away from him climbing Mt. Ego. We don’t want him exercising sensible judgment, god forbid. Admittedly, Finree sounds pretty “my way or the highway,” but, at the same time, she’s hardly wrong and knows her son well enough to cut him down to size.
"You can’t understand! You’re not …” He waved an impatient hand, failing, as always, to quite find the right words. “A man,” he finished lamely.
She raised one brow. “Had I been confused on that point, it was put beyond doubt when I pushed you out of my womb. Have you any notion how much you weighed as a baby? Spend two days shitting an anvil and we’ll talk again.”
SNAP. My god, Finree’s just a treasure trove of cutting quips here. Though, good to know, at least, Leo knew that dismissive remark was lame as shit. Wish he stopped short of saying it though. Masculine egos getting chopped down makes my day, especially since Leo’s basically mini-Gorst now.
“Like your friend Ritter looked up to you?”
Leo was caught out by the memory of that riderless horse clattering past. He realised he hadn’t seen Ritter’s face among his friends when they celebrated. Realised he hadn’t even thought about that until now.
“He knew the risks,” he croaked, suddenly choked with worry. “He chose to fight. He was proud to fight!”
“He was. Because you have that fire in you that inspires men to follow. Your father had it, too. But with that gift comes responsibility. Men put their lives in your hands.”
Had? Is Hal retired or something? He shouldn’t be that old. Maybe he got a war disability and can’t perform his military duties anymore? Where is he?
And, the thing is, Leo, you’re in charge of them. You can’t keep Leoroy Jenkins-ing all over the place and pretend it’s going to work out because...
His mother’s face had softened. That made him more worried than ever. “He’s with the dead, Leo.” There was a long, strange silence, and outside the wind blew up and made the canvas of the tent flap and whisper. “I’m sorry.” 
... There’s a price to charging into a fight. Always.
No corpses, no glory. He sank onto a folding field chair, captured standard clattering to the ground.
Another facet of what I love about Abercrombie’s writing? These re-contextualized echoes, always there to pound the POV in the head about how their earlier selves were so naive and foolish until reality snapped its jaws against them. It’s a cleverness of structure I love.
“He has a wife …” Leo remembered the wedding. What the hell was her name? Bit of a weak chin. The groom had looked prettier. The happy couple had danced, badly, and Whitewater Jin had bellowed in Northern that he hoped for her sake Ritter fucked better than he danced. Leo had laughed so hard he was nearly sick. He didn’t feel like laughing now. Being sick, yes. “By the dead … he has a child.”
"I will write to them.”
“What good will a letter do?’ He felt the stinging of tears at the back of his nose. ‘I’ll give them my house! In Ostenhorm!”
“Are you sure?”
“Why do I need a house? I spend all my time in the saddle.”
Okay, I’ll stop ragging on Leo and give him this: he’s got a far bigger heart than Jezal did at the beginning. He’s a bit of a shit to his friends unintentionally, but once he sees he’s fucked-up horrendously with his friend, he’ll give generously for it. Too little, too late, but at the same time, that’s far more than Jezal ever did back at his start. It makes for a nice dichotomy of Leo being a savage, battle-hungry warrior and too much heart. Leo’s that very thoughtless friend who overcompensates when he fucks up and can’t argue out of it.
"You have it in you to be a great man, but you cannot let yourself be swept off by whatever emotion blows your way. Battles may sometimes be won by the brave, but wars are always won by the clever. Do you understand?”
Intense Bayaz vibes here.
“Good. Give orders to leave the farm and pull back towards the west before Stour Nightfall arrives in force.”
“But if we fall back … Ritter died for nothing. If we fall back, how will that look?”
She stood. “Like womanly weakness and indecision, I hope. Then perhaps the rash heads on the Northmen’s side will prevail and pursue us with manly smiles on their manly faces, and when the king’s soldiers finally arrive, we’ll cut them to pieces on ground of our choosing.”
Ha ha, clever, clever, playing onto their prejudices in order to cut them down. However, I don’t think Black Calder, if I’m right on my theory with him as Stour’s father, will play that easily to that game, given he knows a thing or two about playing weak and docile for advantage...
Also, this reminds me of this saying from Stolicus:
“The ground must be a general’s best friend, or it becomes his worst enemy.”
So, just good military sense, or has Finree read Stolicus? I don’t remember her having read any military geniuses by name in The Heroes, but since she’s taking charge, I imagine she had to brush up, if being Kroy’s daughter didn’t already get her used to a military chain of command and tactics.
She had her soft voice, now. “It was rash, it was reckless, but it was brave, and … for better or worse, men do look up to a certain kind of man. I won’t deny we all need something to cheer for. You gave Stour Nightfall a bloody nose, and great warriors are quick to anger, and angry men make mistakes.” She pressed something into his limp hand. The standard with Nightfall’s wolf on it. “Your father would have been proud of your courage, Leo. Now make me proud of your judgement.” 
... Wow, I am slow. Hal’s dead, isn’t he. Why else would she say this if Hal could just tell Leo himself somewhere else? Damn. That’s kind of a blow, considering Hal was a pretty decent guy, and this world sorely needs more decent people. How did he die? I suppose illness or was he called out for the Union-Styria War? 
Though, this does explain a lot, like why people defer to Finreee on face value, considering Leo’s probably... wait a second. (consults the timeline) He... should be, at the very least, over eighteen, if not twenty. Why isn’t he already Lord Governor? 
It’s interesting that Finree uses a similar hot/cold method of parenting as she did with being a wife to Hal. Withhold a certain amount of affection so, when she actually does let it out overtly, it has more power over the beloved one. Also, Finree, that might be true, but the men who worship Leo probably aren’t worth that much beyond a sword hand. I guess, when you’re short of men, you want anyone who can lift a sword though. (sighs)
He trudged to the tent flap, shoulders drooping under armour that felt three times heavier than when he arrived. Ritter was gone, and never coming back, and had left his weak-chinned wife weeping at the fireside. Killed by his own loyalty, and Leo’s vanity, and Leo’s carelessness, and Leo’s arrogance.
“By the dead.” He tried to rub the tears away with the back of his hand but couldn’t do it with his gauntlets on. He used the hem of the captured standard instead.
In battle, a man discovers who he truly is.
And you’ve discovered you’re a softer heart than you realize, Leo. That’s not really a bad thing. Just means the world hasn’t beaten you down enough yet. At least you know that now...
“Nothing I didn’t deserve.” But Leo managed to smile a little, too. Just for the sake of morale. No one could deny they all needed something to cheer for.
It grew louder as he raised that rag of a standard, and Antaup swaggered forwards, throwing up his arms for more noise. One of the men, no doubt drunk already, dragged down his trousers and showed his bare arse to the North, to widespread approval. Then he fell over, to widespread laughter. Glaward and Barniva caught Leo and bundled him high into the air on their shoulders while Jurand planted his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes.
The rain had slackened off and the sun shone on polished armour, and sharpened blades, and smiling faces.
It was hard not to feel much better. 
... Oh, you little shit. Ritter just disappeared from your mind, didn’t he, didn’t he. Were the aesthetics of idealized military really enough to prevent Ritter from entering deeper into your thick skull? Well, I suppose Leo really does share character DNA with Jezal. Two steps forward, one step back! 
Like, Leo is definitely an incisive riff on the Original Trilogy because he’s both a lot better and worse than Jezal back then: way more open heart and earnest, less cowardice, classist contempt, and petty humiliating of others than Jezal... also more toxic masculinity and unthinking recklessness that’d make a bull say “whoa, my fellow bull, slow down.”
My god, I’d bang Leo’s head against a wall, if I knew it’d do more than break the wall.
As a conclusion, the first half of this chapter is a treat for the battle-lovers, I’ve went over how Abercrombie’s prose really sinks into you and lets you feel the weight and blow of every swing and crunch, but it’s the second half that shines all the more for me: the dampening cold after the fight’s heat, the messiness after the battle and it makes for a symmetrical structure, compared to Rikke’s first, which was good, but if we’re talking purely chapter craft, I might be more included to say this one’s better.
Though, I will say, I’m not warming to Leo the same way I did with Rikke, even despite how many tropes in her I was ready to be opposed to. Leo’s not a vain cock in the way of Jezal, character-wise. He’s close, but he’s a specific kind of meathead that I just shake my head at. He’s definitely a stronger-written character and he’s not that shitty a guy by comparison, but ugh.
Leoroy Jenkins.
PART I
Chapter One: Blessings and Curses Chapter Two: Where the Fight’s Hottest Chapter Three: Guilt Is a Luxury Chapter Four: Keeping Score Chapter Five:  A Little Public Hanging Chapter Six: The Breakers Chapter Seven: The Answer to Your Tears Chapter Eight: Young Heroes Chapter Nine: The Moment
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Being Calum’s sister and Dating Luke Would Include
(Literally another fanfiction in bullet points, sorry)
Word Count: IDK
Warnings: Cutenes?
- You haven’t seen Cal in a while since he’s a busy bee and so are you.
- So you decide “let’s fly to LA and surprise him at one of his shows”
- So you call Ashton (cause he’s like a brother) and tell him that you want to surprise Cal Pal at their show and he’s like “hell yeah, do it”
- He said he’d let you stay at his house the night before
- So you show up at Luke and Ash’s house 
- Luke answers the door
- “Oh my gosh! Baby HOOD!!!!”
- “...who the hell are you?”’
- “Luke, has it really been that long Baby Hood?”
- Last time you saw Luke he had a lip ring, a quiff, and didn’t look a day over 15
- You don’t keep up with the 5sos fam too much, so you had NO IDEA how much he had changed
- And BOY did he change (for the better)
-cUrLs, SCRUFF, muscles (he’s not the same little breadstick he was the last time you saw him when you were an awkward teenager)
- But his eyes were still the same deep blue hue that they were the last time you saw him
- “Wow, Luke.. um hey?”
- “yeah, hi. Now what the hell are you doing at my house?”
- “Did Ashton not tell you yesterday? I came to surprise Cal at your show tomorrow and he said I could stay here for the night.”
- Luke blinks
- “ASSSSHHHTTTONNNN!!!!! WTF is this??”
- Ashton walks in and sees you
- “oh yeah. she called”
- Luke just gestures to you again “and??”
- “forgot to tell you”
- “FoRgOt?”
- Ash shrugs
- “Hey Luke entertain her, I was on the phone with Roy. Sorry Baby Hood. I’ll give you a proper welcome later”
- He winks causing you to giggle 
- “Where can i put my stuff? This shit is heavy”
- He just takes your bags with ease
- his bicep fLeXeS
- “How the hell...”
- Luke just smirks
- Jet lag sets in almost immediately
- “can I sleep?”
- “But I wanna taaaaaaalk”
- “talk to me when I’m sleeping”
- So he legit wants to talk to you as you’re falling asleep
- So he picks you and throws you over his shoulder
- You squeal a little and grab onto him as best you can so you don’t FALL TO YOU DEATH (bc let’s be honest this boy is a TREE)
- “What the fuck?? How do you carry my bags AND me?”
- “Honestly, your bags aren’t that heavy, I think you’re just a dramatic little bitch”
- You huff, but don’t object bc you will LOSE that argument
- He carries you into his room and just throws you onto the bed
- He drops your bags on the floor and jumps on the bed next to you
- While you get comfortable under the covers, he sits criss-cross next to you and starts talking about his life for the past couple years (but softly so he won’t disturb you trying to sleep)
- After a while, he thinks you’re asleep and gets up to leave
- And you, being a cliche little bitch:
- Grab his hand “stay with me”
- So he lays down close you, but not touching you
- He’s just THERE
- He keeps talking
- And eventually your breathing evens out and he knows you’re asleep now
- You move a little in your sleep, which grabs his attention
- Luke looks over and sees a bit of hair in your face
- He reaches over and softly brushes it away
- His hand rests on your face for a second before he realizes he should probably move it
- Ashton the Asshole decides that NOW is a GREAT FUCKING TIME to come out of his room, slamming the door and screaming “LUUUUUUUUKE. BABY HOOOOOOOODDD”
- You jolt awake
- Luke’s like “goddammit Ashton”
- “Luke why is your hand on my face?”
- “Oh, sorry”
- “it was sweaty”
- He laughs at this and rolls his eyes
- Before getting up and seeing what Ash needed
- You just kinda lay there
- And touch your face cause you’ve always had a crush on Luke but you never let it turn into anything more than that
- You suddenly hear a “where’s Baby Hood?”
- Ashton comes into Luke’s room and immediately sees you in Luke’s bed
- “Luke tell me you DID NOT sleep with Calum’s little sister” 
- “I mean sort of?”
- You lift your hand and slap him
- “LUCAS”
- “oh my gawd. Cal is gonna kill you
- “We DIDN’T sleep together”
- “YOU HAVE DEFLOWERED BABY HOOD”
- “Ashton please say that louder, I don’t think Cal heard you”
- “OH THE HUMANITY”
- “Ashton. You were the one who took my virginity, remember?”
- Ashton goes completely red
- Luke is ShOoOk
- “Y/N WE SAID WE’D NEVER SPEAK OF THAT!!!!”
- “Hold up. YOU slept with ASHTON”
- You slowly nod "It was couple years ago after this party we were both at"
- Luke’s like wtf
- Ashton is totally chill about it “To be fair, we were drunk off our ASSES that night”
- “Does Calum know?”
- “Ashton is still alive right? So no. And we’d both rather keep it that way”
- “I can’t believe you slept with Ashton of all people”
-  Honestly Luke is so shook
- “Why, jealous?” you tease
- “Hell yeah I am”
- Ashton shrugs “honestly I can’t even remember it - fucking tequila”
- You all just sit there in awkward silence for a moment
- “Wait, did you just say you were jealous?”
- You laugh at this since you thought Luke was joking
- “What did you even come in here for Ash?”
- “Oh. I wanted Baby hood here to see my lemon tree”
- You laugh but let Ashton lead you to the back porch where his most beloved possession is sitting
- “and this is Lemon #15″
- Ashton is like ACTUALLY really enthusiastic 
- You giggle at his excitement then you see Petunia
- You’ve never met piggy
- “IS THIS PETUNIA???”
- “hey my lemon treeeee...”
- “I love it Ash”
- “You hurt its feelings”
- “I’m so sorry”
- You walk to Ashton and wrap your arms around his neck
- “mmm okay, but only because it’s excited you’re here”
- “it or you” you joke
- “Forgive me?” you say in a childish voice
- He smirks and wraps his arms around  your waist and hugs you
- Luke was low key jealous
- So he makes it a group hug
- You start dying of laughter
- Eventually they let you go so you can meet Petunia
- You sit on the ground and she immediately comes to you and starts licking your face
- Luke’s heart MELTS
- You’re acting all cute with his dog and he just can’t help himself so he takes a picture
- But he doesn’t post bc Cal will see
- “Hey guys can I shower I smell like Luke and Petunia which isn’t a good mix”
- Luke is just :’(
- “how dare you”
- “Petunia smells GREAT”
- “I GAVE HER A BATH YESTERDAY”
- “SHE SMELLS LIKE LAVENDER”
- “TAKE IT BACK”
- You laugh and shake your head no
- Luke runs around and chases you around
- You squeal and run away
- Ash joins in bc he likes to be a part of things
- They trap you in a corner
- And they both have a wide stance
- You crawl through Luke’s legs
- They’re both just 0.0
- You run back into the house
- You walk into Luke’s room assuming that it’s all over
- You go to your suitcase and unzip it and start looking for clothes for after you shower
- Ashton thinks the same as you and is in the living room on his phone
- So far all you’ve found in your suitcase is your panties and some shorts
- Suddenly you’re pressed up against the wall 
- You gasp when you see Luke standing in front of you
- “Did you really think you could win that easily Baby Hood?”
- And he pulled his stupid smirk
- You don’t really know how to respond since there’s this hot guy in front of you
- He notices that you’re holding some clothes
- Specifically, Luke notices your lace underwear
- You look down at your hand and it’s holding the underwear so tightly your hand is shaking just a bit
- You look back up in his eyes and they’re a shade darker than they usually are
- Without breaking eye contact, he reaches down to your hand and plucks the red lace from your hand
- He dangles it on one of his ring-clad fingers in front of your face
- He leans down close to you so his mouth is next to your ear
- Luke is so close you can feel his warm breath on the shell of your ear
- He whispers quietly “what the FUCK are these Baby Hood”
Personal tumblrs: @mwild17 and @bitterbethany
Yes, we’re ending Part 1 here. Yes we’re evil. No, we’re not sorry. this part was already really long and we have requests so part 2 will be up soon i promise :)
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thelastspeecher · 5 years
Text
Bakery AU - Decorating the Cupcakes
On the discord last night, we talked about the Bakery AU a bit, and that got me inspired to write some cute fluffy shit.  Because you can always use some cute, fluffy, cupcake-involving writes in your life.  Enjoy.
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              Stan walked into the kitchen.  The person Lute had sent him in to talk to, Angie, was decorating a three-tier wedding cake.  The tip of her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth.  Stan had noticed before how that always seemed to happen when she focused intently.  He inhaled.
              “Smells good in here,” he said.  Angie looked up from the wedding cake.
              “I sure hope so!” she chirped.  “Since I baked some cupcakes earlier, if it don’t smell good, then somethin’ went wrong.”  Angie nodded at the wall hooks by the door, where Stan’s apron was hanging.  “Get suited up, boyo.”
              “Boyo?” Stan mumbled, putting his apron on and tying it around his waist.
              “I’m older than you by a couple months, I can call ya that,” Angie replied. She frowned at the wedding cake, then sighed.  “Well, that’s as good as it’ll get fer now.  C’mon, join me.”  Angie strolled over to the counter by one of the ovens, where a large number of cupcakes had been laid out.  Stan followed, dread building.
              “Uh, when Lute said you were gonna teach me, I thought it was more baking lessons.”
              “Nope!  Decoratin’.” Angie grinned at Stan.  “It’s high time we got ya started on that.”
              “Shouldn’t Lute be teaching me?  He’s got the nicest handwriting.”
              “Sure, but I have steadier hands.  That’s why I’m the one who does the more important decorations and finer details.” Angie walked over to the fridge and opened it.  “Havin’ steady hands was really useful back in labs in school,” she added, seemingly as an afterthought.
              “Labs?” Stan asked, hoping to delay the decorating lesson.  Angie nodded.
              “Science labs.”
              “Was it a gen ed requirement or something?”
              “Pardon?”  Angie frowned at him, bemused.
              “I mean, if you went to culinary school or majored in uh…I dunno…food or whatever, why would you take science labs, if they weren’t gen eds?”
              “Well, yer mistake there was assumin’ I went to culinary school.  I didn’t.”  Angie began to dig around in the fridge.  “Went to a fancy science technical school.  Got myself a bachelor’s in science.  Major in biology, minor in chemistry.”  She removed a few containers of frosting.  “‘Course, the whole environment or atmosphere or whatever ya want to call it, it was rough.  Very competitive.  Dog eat dog.” She closed the fridge door with more force than necessary.  “Rich snobby folks who didn’t like the charity case farmgirl from Arkansas,” she spat.  Stan grimaced.
              Fuck.  The last time I saw her this pissed off, it was when I let slip that I got kicked outta the house.  She and Lute seemed ready to drive to Glass Shard Beach and beat up Pops themselves. Angie let out a long sigh.
              “I’m not that heartbroken over bein’ done with that school,” she continued. “Didn’t like just about anyone there.”
              “…What school was it?” Stan asked.
              “West Coast Tech,” Angie answered.  She carried the frosting over to the counter.  Stan’s jaw dropped.
              The fancy-ass school Ford couldn’t get into?
              “I know, I know, I don’t seem like the type to get into a place like that,” Angie said, setting the frosting down.  She began to dig through drawers, pulling out various utensils.
              “No, it’s not that, it’s just-”  Stan chewed on his lip.  “Remember how you tricked me into blabbing about my twin brother, Ford?”
              “Vaguely.”  Angie’s tone was light, but her shoulders tightened.  Stan recognized this behavior.  She was getting ready to jump to his defense.
              “Don’t worry, this isn’t about him being shitty or my dad being shitty or anything like that,” Stan said quickly.  Some of the stress left her shoulders, but Angie was still visibly on edge. “It’s- Ford’s a genius.  Like, legit genius.  And he didn’t get into West Coast Tech.  So to hear that you got into it, it’s-”  Stan winced.  “There’s no way for me to finish that sentence without insulting you, is there?”
              “Nope.  But it’s fine.”  Angie smiled at him.  Stan felt his heart flutter.  “I get it. And thank you fer sharin’ more ‘bout yer past.”
              “Well, you were telling me about yours, so fair’s fair,” Stan said with a shrug. Angie chuckled.  “But if you went to West Coast Tech for science, how’d you end up owning a bakery with Lute?”
              “I took a gap year after I got my bachelor’s.”  Angie leaned against the counter, her gaze distant.  “Needed it, after the awful climate at WCT.  They accepted me into their grad program, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay there fer it or not.  Anyways, while I was tryin’ to decide, Lute visited.  And signed the two of us up fer a bakin’ competition.” Angie shook her head.  “Still don’t know what possessed him to do it.  Maybe he saw a flyer while he was out at a club or somethin’.”
              “And you guys won the competition?”
              “Oh, heavens no!” Angie laughed.  “A professional baker beat us.  But we got second place, and managed to impress one of the judges enough that he told us if we wanted to start a bakery, he’d give us the money we need to get it off the ground.”  She shrugged. “And we took ‘im up on the offer.”
              “Really?  Just like that?”
              “Yep.”
              “What about your science degree?”
              “What about it?”
              “You didn’t do anything with it.”
              “Eh.”  Angie pointed at him.  “Don’t think I can’t tell exactly what yer doin’, by the way.  Lute ‘n I used to pull the same thing to get out of doin’ work. Yer tryin’ to get me to jabber ‘n jabber ‘n jabber until we run out of time fer ya to learn how to frost some cupcakes. No sirree bob.”  Angie handed him a pastry bag.  “First, we need to put the frosting in the bag.  Then we can get to work on frostin’.”
----- 
              For about fifteen minutes, they worked quietly, Angie preferring to show him how to decorate, rather than tell.
              “Oop, yer a lil off,” Angie said in a soft tone.  She reached for Stan’s hand.  The second her skin touched his, Stan froze.  “Uh, Stan?”
              “I, uh, um-” Stan stammered.
              “Somethin’ wrong?”
              “Uh, no.  No.”
              “Okay, well, here, let me help.”  Angie carefully put her hand over Stan’s, guiding and steadying him.  Her fingers were much smaller than Stan’s, slim, warm, and gentle.  Stan could feel his face beginning to flush.  “Like that. Got it?”  Stan’s face burned.  “Stan?”
              “Yep.  Yep. Got it,” Stan mumbled.
              “Good.”  Angie let go of his hand.  “Oh dear, yer shakin’ like a leaf!  Are ya sure yer okay?”
              “Y-y-yeah.  I am.” Stan set down the pastry bag.  “So, uh, it seems like a bit of a waste to have me decorate these, since they won’t be good enough to sell.”
              “Oh, that won’t be a problem,” Angie said cheerfully.  “We can always sell ‘em at a discount.  Or donate ‘em to the food bank.  We’ll prob’ly do the second one.  Folks always want cupcakes fer parties, and people with money issues should have access to ‘em, too.”
              “…You and Lute are good people,” Stan said quietly.  Angie began to set aside the decorated cupcakes.
              “We try,” she replied.
              “You succeed.  I’ve seen how much stuff you donate.  Most people wouldn’t do that.”
              “We were raised right, is all.  And I can tell yer tryin’ to get out of yer lesson, again.”  Angie wagged her finger at him playfully.
              “Heh.  You caught me.”
              Not really.  Stan watched Angie continue to pick up a few small things here and there.  You guys really are good.  A lot better than I am, that’s for sure.  Better than Ford, too.  Angie gave up science to bake cupcakes and brownies with her twin brother. Ford gave up on me to go do science.  A thought occurred to him.
              “Do you miss science?” Stan asked.  Angie eyed him.
              “Stan, we really should get back on track.”
              “Yeah, yeah, I know.  But before we do, will you answer that question?”
              “…Fine.”  Angie looked down at the counter.  She brushed a few stray sprinkles away.  “Yes. I do miss it sometimes.  I really liked bein’ in biology and chemistry.  I mean, I’m happy now, and I don’t think I’d give up what Lute and I have goin’ fer us.  But I definitely miss bein’ a scientist.”  Angie smiled faintly.  “It really…spoke to me.  Y’know?”
              “Yeah.  I do.” Stan rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey, uh, if you miss science, maybe you should sorta, um, mix it with the bakery.”
              “What?”
              “Ugh, I can’t fuckin’ talk sometimes,” Stan said with an awkward laugh. He coughed.  “You could combine science and cupcakes.”  Angie was now watching him intently.  “Like, um, make science-themed cupcakes or whatever.” Angie’s eyes widened.  “Make stuff look like beakers or test tubes, or do those uh, those stick drawings.”
              “Yer referrin’ to molecular diagrams.”
              “Sure.”
              “Ooh.”  Angie’s eyes sparkled with excitement.  “Oh, goodness, Stan.  That’s brilliant!  Yer a genius!”
              “I don’t think-”
              “No, seriously, that’s an amazing idea.  We could partner with a science camp or somethin’, make it a whole event and have science-themed pastries all day.  I love it!” Angie gushed.  Stan blinked.
              “R-really?”
              “Yes!”  Angie jumped excitedly.  She walked over to Stan and took a hold of his hands.  A slow smile began to spread across Stan’s face.  “Oh, I have to talk to Lute, and we’ll set up a whole thing. This’ll be great.  Perfect way to indulge my scientific side and it’ll be a good promo thing.  Goodness, goodness, goodness.”
              “Glad you like it,” Stan said, now grinning broadly.  “I guess we should get back to-”  Angie kissed him on the cheek.  Stan’s face immediately turned deep red.  He stumbled back, knocking over the tray with the wedding cake on it.  The wedding cake went flying, collapsing into crumbs and bits of frosting.  Once the air cleared, Stan met Angie’s eyes.  Her mouth was open in a silent “O”.  “Angie’, I’m-” Stan started.  Angie burst out laughing.
              “What a day!” she chortled.  “I find out more ‘bout yer mysterious twin brother, you tell me I should have a science-themed day fer the bakery, we destroy the weddin’ cake I spent the last couple days on.”  She wiped a tear away from her eye.  “Dear me.”
              “You’re- you’re not mad at me?” Stan asked quietly.  Angie laughed again.
              “What?  No!  I was the one who startled ya.  Sorry ‘bout that.  It was a bit forward of me.”
              “I- um, it’s- it’s fine,” Stan mumbled.
              If you wanna really apologize, you could always kiss me again.  The suggestion died on Stan’s tongue.  I shouldn’t say that.  She kisses Lute on the cheek all the time.  It doesn’t mean she likes me romantically.  Honestly, it almost definitely doesn’t mean she wants to be more than friends.  And if I tell her to kiss me again, she’ll get pissed and Lute will get pissed and they’ll kick me out, and-
              “Stan?”  Angie’s voice broke off Stan’s panicked thoughts.  “Uh, not to end our lesson early, but I think I need to get to work on replacin’ the weddin’ cake.  So maybe you should go help out Lute up front.”
              “Oh!  Yeah. Yeah, I can do that,” Stan said quickly. Angie nodded, still smiling.  Emboldened by the fact that she wasn’t upset with him, Stan took a step forward.  “But before I go up front…”  Angie looked up at him, curiosity in her bright blue eyes.  Stan plucked a large cake crumb out of Angie’s hair.  He grinned at her.  “You had something in your hair.”  Angie turned pink.  “All right, now I’ll go help Lute.  I’m sure he’s completely failing without me around.”  Angie chuckled softly, her cheeks still flushed.  Stan winked at Angie and walked out of the kitchen.  Lute, organizing a few pastries in the display case, looked over.
              “Uh, did ya have a food fight with the cupcakes?” he asked.  Stan ran his hands through his hair, combing out the crumbs.
              “Nah.  I knocked over the wedding cake.  So she’s gotta make a new one instead of continue teaching me how to decorate.”
              “Wait, what?  Oh man, I bet Angie gave ya quite the dressin’ down.”
              “No, she didn’t.”  Stan joined Lute by the display case.  “She laughed, actually.”
              “…She did?”  Lute’s voice was quiet.  Stan looked at Lute.  He seemed to be thinking hard about something.
              “What’s on your mind?”
              “Nothin’,” Lute said after a moment.  He cleared his throat.  “All right, let’s get this place shipshape.”
              “You got it.”  As Lute bustled around, getting the bakery ready to be opened, Stan glanced back at the door leading to the kitchen.  Stuck in his mind was the sound of Angie’s laugh, the sparkle in her eyes, her blushing face.
              “Hey, daydreamin’ Steven,” Lute’s voice said, startling Stan out of his reverie. Stan looked up.  “You ready fer the customers?”
              “You know it,” Stan said confidently.  Lute flipped the sign over to read “OPEN”.
              It’s showtime.
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justauthoring · 6 years
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Running, Freedom, Salvation (11/19)
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Prompt: “Run, run, run. That’s all we ever do. All we’ve ever done.” You paused, feeling the wind brush through your hair. Taking a deep breath, steadied yourself and met his eyes. “Do you think it’ll finally stop?”
Maze Runner: one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight
Scorch Trials: one - two - three - four - five - six
Death Cure: one - two - three - four - five
I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Send me a little comment in the ask section or leave it below on what you thought of this chapter. It doesn’t have to be long, I appreciate every single comment I receive and telling me just helps inspire me to write it more frequently.
AGAIN, remember if you’d like me to continue this series, just leave a little comment or an ask letting me know. I will NOT continue the series if no one wants me to.
Author’s Notes: Just for anyone who doesn’t know, or hadn’t read the books. Stephen is Thomas’s actual name, the name he was given by his parents.
Please don’t plagiarize my work - I spend a lot of my time writing, copying and pasting destroys that. If you want to repost my work. please ask first - but even then I might say no.
Pairing: Newt x Reader
Based off of: 10-15 minutes of Scorch Trials after the second part.
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-
“We gotta find a way out of here!”
“Go!”
You barely had the time to make sure everyone was around you. As you ran, moving your feet faster than you ever remember moving them before, your exhaustion was overridden by your fear. The shear terror of being caught by one of those things, you couldn’t even begin to think of what they’d do to any of you ever they get their hands on you.
You didn’t want to think about it.
“Faster, faster!”
For some reason, this felt a whole lot scarier, more threatening, than the Grievers or any challenge WICKED had thrown at you in the maze. You figured it was because this was unknown territory. While in the maze you’d been given time to adapt to the challenges that surrounded you, you were know left in the unknown.
The sound of glass breaking echoed, and a shrilled scream left your lips when Newt suddenly disappeared from your side. You didn’t waste a second halting to a stop, rearing back the way you’d came. “Newt,” you bellowed, “Newt!”
The thing crawled on top of him, Newt using his hands to desperately push the thing away. Without thought, you slammed the side of your hammer against the thing’s head, which you’d never put away since the last time you’d used it, knocking the creature off of Newt. In the next second, you kicked out your foot, sending the thing through the glass fence and ultimately to it’s death as it plummeted. When you turned back around Thomas was helping Newt back to his feet.
“Newt,” he breathed, “you good?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Tommy.” He nodded, before turning to you. Grabbing his hand, you pulled him to your side.
“Don’t ever do that again,” you breathed, chest rising and falling rapidly. The mere thought of losing Newt...
A screech interrupted your thoughts, and turning you saw a whole herd of them before you, a few feet away. “Come on,” you yelled, grabbing the sleeve of Newt’s jacket and pulling him along. Thomas fell beside you, running along with you as you all sprinted madly away from the creatures.
“Keep going!”
“Through here, through here!” Minho called, gesturing over to an opening he’d found.
“Let’s go! They’re coming!”
Minho was the last one to run in, shutting the door, what little that’d do, behind him as Thomas came up to the front again. You found yourselves running down a dark, long hallway, patting along the walls for any possible room you could run into.
“Guys, where we going?”
“Okay, run! Go! Go!”
Thomas stopped by a door, jingling the door knob just as another screech echoed along the hallway. You glanced over to your left, swallowing thickly as you all huddled together. Thomas reeled back, rising his foot and attempting to open the door. It didn’t work, and everyone turned their heads when the herd of them came stumbling through the halls, some climbing over one another in a desperate attempt to reach you.
“They’re coming!”
“Keep going!” 
Pushing Winston forward, who stood before you, you once again broke out in a run, reaching the end of the hall in no time.
“It’s a dead end!”
“Get us out of here, Thomas!” Teresa pleaded.
Said boy was running along the doors lined up on your left, pushing at each one to see which one would open. “This one!” He yelled the moment he’d found one, pulling everyones attention on him. Once again, he attempted to kick down the door, it only shoving open a little bit.
“I’ll hold them back!” Winston called, pulling out the gun he’d grabbed from before, turning towards the hallway you’d just run down. He pointed the gun before him, firing with the best aim he had.
You helped Thomas, along with Minho and Newt, kicking wildly at the doors, in a desperate attempt to break the lock. You continued to hear Winston’s gun go off, a huff of exhaustion puffing out of your lips with every kick. 
“Get that door open!”
“Move!” Frypan called, and without hesitation you backed up, giving him space to run by.
“Come Frypan! Let’s get that door open!” Minho encouraged, and with one hard shove against the door, Fry managed to break it open. “Come on! It’s open!” Minho yelled, gesturing everyone to run inside.
Newt pushed you forward, before following in after. You moved back, giving everyone else room to run in, impatiently waiting for Minho and Thomas, the last ones, to head in. But before they could, one of the creatures lunged onto Winston’s back, sending him flying to the ground before clawing at him, grabbing fistfuls of his pants in attempts to pull him towards itself.
“Winston!”
He was pulled all the way to the door, before he grabbed onto the edge. Minho and Thomas rushed forward, grabbing onto the boys hands. “Help me!” He cried.
Minho and Thomas fell to the door, holding it back from shutting on Winston, as you and a few others rushed forward, helping pull Winston back from the grasps of the creatures. “Help! Please!”
Your eyes widened when you saw those things dig their nails into Winston’s stomach, scratching and cutting at the skin as he let out yelps of pain. Tightening your grip on him, you pulled as hard as you could, determined not to let him go. Eventually, you all managed to pull him away, Winston still crying out in pain as Minho and Thomas struggled to shut the door.
“Go, go, go!” Thomas yelled.
“You go!” You called to Newt, helping them pull Winston up. Once he was on his feet, you set your hand on Newt’s shoulder, nodding at him. Without another word, you ran over to the door, running past Teresa just as she called out; “hurry!”
“Minho, go!” Thomas called, and you turned your attention on Minho. He looked apprehensive, as if unsure. “We’re right behind you!” Nodding at him, you gave him a little push for a head-start, and in the next second, Minho was off the door, letting out a battle-cry of sorts as he bolted forwards. “Y/N,” Thomas called, puling your attention back on him. “Go!”
“Not without you!” You shook your head, “we go together!”
After a split second he nodded, and glancing at his eyes, you whispered; “one, two, three.” In the next second, you both were pushing yourselves off the door and breaking out into a sprint. You tripped over your feet, nearly falling forward before Thomas grabbed ahold of you, helping back you up. 
Side by side, you both ran the way the others went, never glancing back.
-
“Hey! Hey! Get out of here!”
You blinked, trying to pull yourself awake as Thomas’s voice echoed. Turning your head to the right, you glanced up at Newt as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. You didn’t bother moving, allowing yourself a few moments of rest as you remained by Newt’s side. 
“Are they gone?” Newt questioned, voice groggy from sleep.
“Yeah,” Thomas nodded, now standing. “I think we’re safe for now.” Looking around the area one more time, Thomas spoke up again; “okay, we should get moving.”
You let out a quiet groan, but didn’t argue aloud. Sitting up, you brushed back strands of your hair, tucking them behind your ears you looked over at Newt. He was just staring at you, seemingly content for the moment. You didn’t say anything in return, didn’t smile, but your eyes didn’t crinkle in delight just a tad bit.
“Aris, come on.” Thomas called, passing everyone their bags. “Fry, Winston. Let’s go.” You accepted your bag the moment Newt handed it to you, sliding it over your arms as you pushed yourself up to your feet. You wobbled slightly, still asleep somewhat as you rubbed the tiredness out of your eyes.
A sudden loud groan pulled your attention elsewhere, and turning, you frowned when you saw Winston.
“Hey, man,” Fry called out in concern. Reaching forward, he extended his hand; “you okay?”
With heavy breaths, Winston nodded, accepting Fry’s hand before landing on his feet. Once everyone was settled, you all begun making your way up the hill you’d used for shelter. It didn’t take you long to make it to the top, and the moment you did, you found yourself stunned with the sight before you.
The city, or what had been a city, left in ruins. The buildings, still standing, but destroyed and cracked. Sand surrounded every inch of the ground, debris from buildings, cars, anything was left scattered on the ground. It was unlike anything you’d ever seen before. While you’d seen the photos Ava Paige had shown in the video, nothing was compared to the real thing, right before you.
The walk was long. Many bumps and obstacles in your path. Sometimes you’d all have to side track, find a way around something that was too large or tall to climb over. You didn’t so much mind, at first at least. Even with your memories returned, you couldn’t ever remember seeing what you were now.
Finally, you all found yourselves on a solid path, in between the buildings. You imagined this would’ve been a road once, busy with cars and people amongst it. Now, it was just barren, hot, destroyed and filled with sand.
“What the hell happened to this place?” Fry asked, gazing around himself.
“I don’t know,” Newt mumbled, you turned your head to the side to glance at him. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in a long time.”
“I hope the whole world’s not like this.” Aris commented, and you couldn’t help but agree. As amazing as the sight was, it was sad. If the world was like this, destroyed, then there really was no hope.
You continued shuffling forward until Thomas called out from the back; “woah, woah, hey, stop.” Everyone listened, turning their head around to glance at him. “Do you hear that?” He asked, and everyone fell silent.
At first, you didn’t hear anything and you found yourself confused. But then, you heard the slightest of noises. It almost sound familiar, like wind whipping rapidly. It grew louder and louder, your eyes widening, then; “get down!” Thomas bellowed, “everybody, hide! Hide! Hide!”
For a moment, everyone just shuffled around. Confused. Then you found a plank of something, maybe an old piece of a building and Thomas pointed there. Newt grabbed your hand, pulling you under the section to the right, Aris, Thomas and Winston hiding under the section to the left.
Crouched on your knees next to Newt, you peered up the best you could, watching as two helicopters and a larger machine, one you couldn’t even begin to describe, flew above you. It was, without a doubt, WICKED.
“Oh, shit,” Newt mumbled.
Once it was over, Minho sighed; “they’re never gonna stop looking for us, are they?”
You continued walking. On and on, until you made it past the city and it was just sand. The trec was harder, reminding you of before, when you’d first been escaping WICKED’s grasps, where whenever you’d taken a step, your foot had just sunk into the sand without ever gaining ground.
When you made it to a hill, Thomas was a little bit ahead. You found it hard to walk as fast as he was, gasping for breaths every so often as the scorching sun hit down on your back. Part of you regretting grabbing a long sleeved shirt instead of another tank stop.
“Just a little further, guys,” Thomas encouraged.
When you reached the top, you all lined up across the tip of the hill. You found yourself in between both Newt and Thomas, as the latter pointed out before him. “Those mountains. That’s gotta be it.” He breathed. “that’s where we’re going.”
You followed his finger, looking in the direction he was pointing. You felt yourself discouraged when you saw just how far those mountains truly were.
“That’s a long way off,” Newt commented, glancing past you at Thomas.
“Then we better get moving.”
Just as you moved to step forward, something caught your eye. You turned to your left, watching as Winston’s body went flying forward, smacking into the sand. Everyone rushed forward, Thomas running to the other side of him in panic. “Winston! Hey, Winston!”
Collapsing to your knees before the boy, you helped roll him over to his back, his weak and raspy gasps worrying you. His skin was pale, and if you were being frank, he did not look healthy at all.
“He’s hurt pretty bad.”
“What do we do?” You asked, glancing around at the rest.
“Shit,” Thomas cursed quietly, pushing himself up to his feet. You glanced up at him, before your attention was pulled back on Winston when you heard his ragged gasps, his chest convulsing in response.
“Winston, can you hear me?” Aris asked, as Teresa tilted his head up so he was looking at you all. “It’s okay.”
Thomas came up with the idea of carrying him, they created a hammock of sorts, everyone taking turns carrying him. You offered to help, but Minho and Fry had brushed you aside, offering to be the first ones. As you all continued walking, the lot of the boys ended up all carrying him, you and Teresa walking up in the front.
You wanted to help, but they brushed you off every time.
Eventually, after hours of walking, another sandstorm blew by. This one felt worst then the last and you had to take the scarf Newt had packed in your bag and wrap it around your head. You held it at your chin, keeping it closed as you continued to walk on, every so often having to shut your eyes tightly when bits of sand came flying by.
“We gotta find shelter!” Thomas called.
When you finally did, you waited out until the storm was over. It didn’t last too long, and soon you found yourself sat by Minho, taking sips of water from his canteen before passing it back over to him. Newt came and sat on the other side of Minho, said boy handing him the canteen, same as he’d done with you, when he finished taking a sip from it himself.
You don’t know how long you sat there, waiting. Eventually, Thomas wandered off, Teresa following behind him.
Newt pushed himself up to his feet, calling out to Thomas. “How’s it looking?”
“Not very far!” Thomas called back.
Newt turned to the rest of you, frowning. “That’s not very convincing.”
You chuckled half-heartedly, rolling your eyes when Newt took a seat next to you, Minho shuffling over to give you space. You smiled over at him the moment he was next to you, meeting his eyes. 
“So,” he begun, nodding, “you and Thomas, huh?”
Snorting, you raised a brow. “What’s that suppose to me?”
He shrugged; “i’m just surprised is all. Never would’ve pegged you as siblings.”
Biting your lip, you glanced forward, eyes falling on Winston who continued to convulse slightly, letting out ragged breaths. You didn’t say anything, and Newt leaned forward, setting his hand on your shoulder, pulling your gaze back on him. “Hey,” he called, his voice soft, “what is it?”
Pressing your tongue against your cheek, you debated over whether or not to tell him. As you sat there, gazing into his eyes, you begun to realize there was no reason not to. And truthfully, you should’ve told him long ago.
Taking a deep breath, you nodded. “Back in maze, I use to get these terrible nightmares.” You begun, gauging Newt for a reaction.
“I remember,” he nodded, “what about them?”
“I never told you this... but when that incident happened, when I first became a runner.” Your gaze fell to your lap, fiddling with your hands. “I had wandered off from Minho, despite him telling me not to. I was eager to do the best i could, to prove to you guys that I didn’t need you to protect me anymore... Somehow, I made it on top of this cliff.” You explained with your hands, swallowing the lump in your throat as you tried to explain.
You’d never told anyone this. Not Alby, Minho or even Newt. When that incident happened, and Minho had found you with a broken arm, and a deep gash across your stomach. The incident had left you with a scar and you hadn’t said anything for weeks. They’d believed you’d hit your head so hard you’d forgotten, or maybe you just didn’t want to remember. Eventually, they just stopped pestering you.
You didn’t dare glanced at Newt as you spoke, not sure how he’d react.
“I didn’t fall off, or tripped like I told you guys.” You explained, licking your lips. “I saw a Griever. It was standing right in front of me. I found myself paralyzed at the sight of it. I couldn’t move, couldn’t run or hide. I just stood there, staring at it. And for some reason, it didn’t attack me. It was as if it couldn’t see me.” You paused for a moment, your hand unconsciously drifting across the cut you still had from escaping the maze. “Then, I moved, and before I knew it, it had attacked me.”
“But didn’t kill you?” Newt asked.
Glancing up at him, you shook your head. “I don’t know why. A lot of the things about WICKED I don’t understand. When it attacked me, it cut me, hence the large gash across my stomach. The fall broke my arm.”
Newt nodded, slowly, as if processing the information. Part of you knew that Minho and Frypan, who’d been sitting around the both of you, were listening. But they didn’t say anything.
“The nightmares started after that,” you concluded, nodding to yourself. “I’d have flashes of myself, when I was younger. I thought they were just dreams my mind conjured up to torture me, but now I know they were actually memories.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Newt asked, brows furrowing. “Me?”
“I wanted to,” you reassured, grasping his hand. “I really did. But I... I didn’t know how you’d react. I wanted you guys to trust me.. so...”
Newt squeezed your hand, pulling your eyes back on his. “I trust you, Y/N. I have for a long time now,” he leaned in close, closer than he’d ever been before. You felt your breath still, your cheeks grow warm at the intimate action. “Nothing could ever change that.”
“I-”
You jumped the moment you heard a gunshot echo, it ringing in your ears as you pulled back from Newt. Almost immediately your eyes fell on Winston, your eyes widening in panic.
“Hey!” Aris yelled, “guys! Get down here!”
Pushing yourself up to your feet, you let go of Newt’s hand, the both of you rushing over to Winston. 
“Winston,” Fry sighed, “what are you doing, man? Give me that!”
“What’s going on?” Newt asked, his voice raspy as he shook his head.
“Winston,” you mumbled, hands falling to your lips.
“What happened?” Thomas asked, finally arriving. He turned to Fry who shrugged, holding his hands by his the side of his head. “He just woke up and grabbed the gun and then he tried to...”
On his hands and knees, Winston weakly reached out for the gun now in Frypan’s grasp. “Give it back, man...”
Falling by his sides, Thomas set his hands gently on Winston’s back. “Winston, you okay, man? What’s going on?” Your lips curved into a frown, Thomas jumping back the moment Winston started coughing out blood. He gagged on it, his body curling into itself as you reeled back in disgust and pity.
Slowly, Winston rolled back, those same, raspy gasps leaving his lips. Everyone took a hesitant step forward, silent as you stared down at Winston. “It’s growing,” he mumbled, pulling back his shirt. A gasp left your lips when you noticed that his injuries from those things had grown along his stomach, turning his skin purply and veiny. “Inside me,” he whimpered.
“Oh my God...” You breathed, shaking your head.
“I’m not gonna make it,” Winston said after a moment, shaking his head. Reaching out his hand, he continued to take deep, laboured breaths. “Please, please. Don’t let me turn into one of those things.” You felt your eyes water at the sight of Winston, a long time friend, beg to die. Your lips begun to twitch, it taking everything within you not to cry out in distress. Why did this keep happening?
Newt stepped forward, grabbing the gun from Fry’s grasp. You weren’t sure what you meant to do, but instinctively your hand reached out, falling on Newt’s back before falling back by your side pitifully. Part of you wanted to tell him not to do it, not to give Winston the gun. But, Winston was pleading for mercy, and it wasn’t right for you to take that away from him.
“Wait, Newt...” Thomas called, stepping forward.
Newt crouched down by Winston, taking the boy’s wrist and slipping the gun in his hand, before setting it on top of his chest. “Thank you,” Winston rasped, blinking tiredly up at newt. “Now, go. Get outta here.”
“Goodbye, Winston,” Newt mumbled, setting his hand on Winston’s shoulder before pushing himself to stand. With a shuddering breath, you stepped forward, crouching before Winston. He blinked up at you, and with a weak smile, you leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss on his forehead. His breath piqued slightly, and as you pulled back, you nodded at him.
Turning, you found Newt before you, extending his hand out for you. You grabbed your bag, pulling it over your shoulder before accepting Newt’s hand. You fell by his side, blinking back your tears as the both of you walked on. Eventually Minho and Teresa were behind you, followed by Fry.
You wanted to turn back, make sure Thomas was okay, but you couldn’t bare to see Winston like that again. So instead, you walked forward, head dipped down, close to Newt’s side as you imagined what Thomas was feeling. He probably blamed himself, knowing Thomas, and you realized, that even if it wasn’t true, there was nothing you could say that would change his mind.
When Thomas finally caught up, it was a whiles later before the gun shot rang out.
-
You watched the fire spark before you, never taking your eyes off the flames, even when Aris took a seat next to you. Curled into Newt’s side, you left your head laying on his shoulder, feeling defeated.
“I thought we were supposed to be immune.” Minho huffed bitterly, playing with the knife in his hands.
“Not all of us,” Teresa mumbled, “I guess.”
“If Winston can get infected... we shoulder assume so can the rest of us.” Your eyes fell shut at Newt’s words. Just imagining that any of your friends sitting around you could not be immune, could die, crushed you.. You don’t know what you’d do if it was any one of them. But you felt your heart break at the thought that it could be Newt.
“I never thought i’d say it...” Frypan spoke, pulling your gaze on him. “I miss the Glade.”
-
“Y/N!” 
You groaned, body snapping upwards when you felt a slap against your shoulder. Looking around, you saw Thomas rallying the others. “Newt, get up. Come on, let’s go. Frypan, Aris.”
Pushing yourself to your feet, you blinked, trying to clear your blurry vision. 
“I see something,” Thomas announced.
“What is it? What...” Newt mumbled, before his words trailed off. Turning the way he was facing, your eyes widened when you caught sight of what Thomas was talking about.
“See that?” Thomas asked, “it’s lights.”
True to his words, a whiles away in front of you, blurred lights reflected back at you. Signalling, civilization and what you hoped to be, The Right Arm.
“We made it.”
A crack of thunder pulled your attention behind you, and you felt your eyes widen when you saw lightning crackle in the clouds heading straight for you. And at a rapid pace as well. The thunder continued to boom loudly, echoing in your ears. But when a strike of lightning touched the ground, not that far from where you stood, you jumped, flinching back.
“Let’s go...” Thomas mumbled, grabbing ahold of Newt. “We gotta go. Come on!” Crouching down, you grabbed your backpack, peering back at the storm one more time as Thomas continued to rally everyone forwards. “Come on, let’s go. Let’s go!”
Breaking out into a run, you all continued to sprint towards the lights. Eventually, the storm caught up to you all, and bolts of lightning shot down all around you while it poured heavily over your heads. Through the rumbling of thunder, the cracks of lightning and the heavy pour of rain, no one ever stopped running, the lights growing closer and closer.
Eventually, the lights turned into a building. It stretched on wide, but you didn’t have time to be amazed by the sight of it, trying to avoid being hit by lightning and making it there as fast as possible.
“Run!”
Your hands flew above your head when a strike of lightning landed what felt like right beside you.
“All right! Keep moving!”
“Let’s go!”
Turning around, you made sure Newt was right beside you, Thomas and Minho on the other side of you. Frypan was directly behind you, along with Aris. But your eyes widened when you saw Teresa dragging behind a little bit, obviously struggling to keep up with the speed.
“Come on, Teresa!” You called, watching as Thomas reached out for her.
“We’re getting closer!”
“Keep up!”
You stumbled slightly to the left, a bolt of lightning scaring you half to death. Minho caught you, stabilizing you as you both continued to run forward.
You grew closer and closer to the building, your heart literally leaping out of it’s chest when you realized just how close you truly were. Just a few more minutes of running, and you’d have a stable shelter from the storm. You just needed to make it there first.
You glanced behind you when you saw a bolt of lightning land in between Thomas and Newt, a yelp immediately leaving your lips.
“Get inside! Go!”
Suddenly, your body lurched forward, the force of a bolt knocking you on your stomach. Ringing echoed in your ears as your vision blurred. Slowly, you pushed yourself up to your feet, noticing Newt, Fry and the rest so close to the doors. When you glanced behind yourself, you saw Thomas, who at that point was also crawling to his feet and Minho, who’d yet to move from the spot.
Smoke wavered through the air above him.
“Minho!” You screamed, your voice cracking in panic. Shuffling forward, you ignored the ache in your chest and the ringing in your ears, reaching Minho the same time Thomas did.
“Come help him!” 
“Help!” You screeched, shaking Minho by his shirt.
Aris and Newt came running up, pushing Thomas back gently as they leaned forward, grabbing Minho by the arms. “Come on, get him up.” Newt called, and soon, Minho was in the middle of them, the two of them supporting his weight. Thomas rushed forward, helping pull him up as the two begun running forward.
Turning to Thomas, you wrapped his arm around your shoulder, ignoring his pleas that he was fine, pulling him along as you both sprinted into a run. While you’d been hit yourself, Thomas and Minho, more so Minho, had gotten the brunt end of it. And you could tell by the way Thomas was messily stumbling forward, that he wasn’t doing all that well, despite how he was acting.
“Come on!” Teresa yelled, beside Fry as the ran to the doors.
“Go!” Thomas called, nodding at them.
Pulling on Thomas’s arm, you continued running forward with him, slightly behind Newt and the others as you all ran forward as fast as you could.
“Move!” Fry bellowed, now by the door. “Come on! Hurry up!”
You let Aris and Newt carry in Minho first, taking Thomas’s arm off from around your shoulder and shoving him in. Fry set his hand on your back, helping you inside before stepping in himself, and shutting the door behind him.
You were succumb to darkness, Thomas voice calling out; “put him down.”
“Watch his head.”
“Who’s got a light?”
Reaching into your backpack, you pulled out your flashlight, not wasting another second before you clicked it on, immediately aiming it over Minho’s head. Thomas grabbed ahold of Minho’s jacket, shaking him desperately. “Minho!”
“Come on, come on,” Newt mumbled, breathless.
“Wake up, Minho.” You called, your voice quiet with panic.
“Minho?”
“Come on, Minho!”
“Come on, man,” Newt called, desperate.
Thomas shook him desperately one last time, before his hands let go of his jacket, hovering over the boy, shakily. You felt your heart plummet, fearing the worst. But then, Minho groaned, quiet at first, before it grew louder and he tilted his head slightly, eyes blinking open. A collective sigh of relief left everyone.
“There he is.”
“There you go,” you mumbled, smiling down at him.
“Here you are,” Thomas called, “Are you okay?”
Breathing heavily, Minho blinked up at you; “what happened?”
You cracked a smile, rolling your eyes at Minho as Thomas huffed. “I think you got struck by lightning.”
Minho looked stupefied for a moment, before his lips curved upwards and he let out a mumble of disbelief, almost as if he was proud of himself. You snorted, shaking your head before helping the rest pull him up.
“Come on, let’s get him up.”
“Nice and slow.”
Grabbing his arm, you helped heft him up, “think you can get up?” You questioned, glancing at him worriedly. He nodded, and soon, he was up on his feet, stable.
Setting his hands on Newt and Aris for support, Minho smiled; “thanks, guys.”
“Hey,” Teresa called, “what’s that smell?”
A familiar screeched echoed, and you snapped your flashlight in the direction Teresa had gone, helping catch her when one of those creatures, same ones that had been in that warehouse, lunged out at her. She yelped in surprise, the rest of you mimicking her as you watch the thing fall forward on it’s hands and knees. Your eyes narrowed in confusion when you noticed the chain attached to it.
“Behind you!”
You whipped around, just in time to see another lung at you. Similar to the other one, it had a chain attached to it.
Every which way you turned, more of them lung out and clawed at you all. Yelps of surprise and panic left everyones lips, flashlights whipping everywhere in panic. Raising your flashlight, you huddled close to Newt, eyes widening in terror when you realized the entire place was flooded with them, all chained up.
“Oh, shit. Oh, my God.”
Unearthly screeches left their lips, it echoing around the entire warehouse and hurting your ears. Then,
“I see you’ve met out guard dogs.”
Blinking, you turned, along with the rest, noticing as a light turned on and a figure appeared.
“Who’s that?”
The dark figure took a step forward, slowly approaching you all as they walked through the middle of all them, without a care in the world. As they grew closer, the figure revealed themselves to be a girl with short, buzz-cut hair. 
“Stay back, stay back!”
She stopped before you, eyes drifting up and down before settling on Thomas’s own. Letting out a breath, she smirked; “you guys look like shit.”
-
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grayisholi · 5 years
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@ the DND ask game: ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS, I CAN'T CHOOSE!! XD (or if not that, the ones you rlly wanna do!!
BOY OH BOY OH BOYIve been answering these throughout the day and I’m too lazy to reread the full document so sorry if I’ve left gaps or whatever but here it is! All 35 questions about dnd! Matt you unstoppable Madman.
1. A favorite character you have played.
You can’t just make me pick between my children!!! I think I might have to say Atticus Sallow, my faeborn bloodhunter, partially because he’s like 100% homebrew content which I LIVE for, but also because he’s probably the most kinda self-insert character I’ve ever played? Almost became the kinda angsty, brooding asshole character before he was like “get your shit together” and learned that loving people isn’t so bad.
2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.
I almost, ALMOST had the pleasure of DMing for @no-more-good-omens and their character was gonna be SO RAD and I’m a little heartbroken he never came to be. A half-drow paladin of Vecna, pretending to be your typical good and wholesome paladin? Dude, I love that kinda two faced backstabbing in a player. It’s such a shame it never came to anything (although if yall still wanna play hmu ;))
3. Your favorite side quest.
Ooh, there’s been so many good ones. Probably when i was playing as Adrian Smirks and went off on a tangent to rescue his brother ? That was the first time I ever got to see Adrian’s more raw and emotional side beneath the suave mask he wears and it was fun to explore his character in that way ^.^
4. Your current campaign.
That I’m DMing? It started inspired by Guy Fawkes and was gonna be “your party blows up parliament” but I got bored of following historical accuracy so it ended up being “blow up the palace in a magical city that just happens to be called London”. I accidentally wrote myself into a hole with this campaign tho, so once they’ve finished this arc I’m handing over the DM hat to my sister @philosophical-wanton because she seems to love it and I kinda miss being a player lmao. I can’t wait for it.
5. Favorite NPC.That I’ve written? Probably Hai Shen, the youngest son of a group of circus performers who were killed and the party got blamed for their murder. He had such a great attitude and his dynamics with the party kicked ass. And the twist that he was actually dead the whole time and it was his soul that had stayed behind to help solve his family’s murder? ICONIC.
6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).
NPC death would probably be Hai Shen, actually. After the party had brought the real killers (A cult to the demon Prince Orcus) to justice, Hai’s time on earth had come to an end. He had really beautiful moment with the party before being reunited with his family. Alternatively, the time I broke my entire party’s hearts? “Artagan’s staff comes cracking into Ellios’ chest, forcing him onto the ground. Artagan raises his sceptre in hand, pointing it menacingly at the young prince. And for the first time, you see him. Like, REALLY see him. He’s not the strong and powerful leader you’ve all come to know him as, he’s not Prince Ellios of the Four Realms. He’s just a boy. A boy who is much too young to be involved in such a grand scheme. And the fear in his eyes. You see the fear he’s managed to keep buried for so long, finally coming to the surface. And then? You don’t see anything, aside from his cold body hitting the ground.” I got punched three times for that moment, but GOD was it worth it.
7. Your favorite downtime activity.
Like in game? A healthy lil bit of vandalising the local law enforcement buildings is always a good time.
8. Your favorite fight/encounter.
Aw man, how can I pick ? I gotta say, that one time we, a level 6 party, managed to take down two earth elementals was pretty rad. The DM kind of expected it to be one of those encounters that we saw and immediately tried to run from, but what she didn’t take into account was that ALL of us had chaotic alignments so we just went crazy. The DM was rolling really badly (thank God) and we were getting really creative (“I use the produce flame centripetal to light my bottle of ale on fire and create a molotov cocktail” “you do WHAT”) and after like an HOUR we won and it was amazing. The rush I got from that victory was better than any drug my dood.
9. Your favorite thing about D&D.
I know I say it a lot, but I legit can’t choose. There’s so many great things about ttrpgs that a lot of people don’t really think of. The creative fulfilment I get from a session is incomparable, the friendships you can build that you couldn’t form in any other way. And like, not to get too real for a sec here, but I grew up with undiagnosed autism and didn’t understand how a lot of social situations worked, and DnD was such a good mechanic for me to try communicating with people without many real world consequences, and I appreciate that experience so much. It’s just such a great thing my dood.
10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.
Can they be the same thing lmao? I mean, I’m obviously partial to Count Cassius, the vampire lord that Adrian slept with lmao. I also always appreciate a good beholder, until I get hit with three disintegration rays IN A ROW.
11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?
We’ve got kind of a monthly schedule with my main campaign, and I manage to get a couple online games in-between them, but honestly I’d kill to be the kind of group that got together every weekend.
12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.
Oh MAN. “I say we do this.” “Yeah, but that’s coming from the guy who decided to tie 3 50ft ropes together to escape the palace.” “iT wOrKeD dIdN’t iT ???” i.e that time I forgot I gave the gnome rogue flying boots so when I planned for them to get arrested at the palace, they managed to escape by tying their ropes together, sending the gnome with it to the top and climbing the wall. I had to improvise the rest of the session. Also “FLINTON BELINDA SKINTON” bc as a role-play exercise I got my party to come up with rumours about their characters and the gnome rogue called Flint AKA Flinton B Skinton decided that one of their rumours was that the B stood for Belinda, and it was GLORIOUS.
13. Introduce your current party.
My current group consists of Flinton B Skinton, gnome rogue. He’s a quick-fingered, silver-tongued gay disaster who can sell anything to anyone. He’s a charming flirt, and a veritable genius in his own right. Kava Daardendrian, dragonborn ranger who loves nothing in life more than her animal companion - her pig Snortin Norton. She’s fun and sassy and shameless, she’s great. There’s Sparks, the fire Genasi Monk, and full embodiment of a disaster lesbian. She drinks, fights, and gets laid, and doesn’t deal with her problems in healthy ways. An icon. And finally Milo, the halfling Bard who falls in love at the drop of a hat and just wants everyone to get along. I call them “The Shenanigang” and I love them.
14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.
A party I joined late? We had Sylvia Moondrop, the half elf sorcerer who was just trying to get along with everyone despite what the world seemed to want. Orland the half orc bard who was just trying to shake off the Barbarian stereotype his family left him with. Rose Morleen, air Genasi fighter who was literally born to kick ass and take names. I joined as Mason Terrai, the Earth Genasi Alchemist with a perchance for explosives. The very definition of chaotic neutral.
15. Do you have snacks during game times?
Of COURSE. What manic wouldn’t ?
16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?
I used to play online a LOT back before I had friends who were into dnd, but I VASTLY prefer playing in person. The chemistry that’s built not only amongst the players, but also the actual characters themselves is unparalleled. It’s just such a great experience.
17. What are some house rules that your group has?
Anyone can attempt anything, the only restriction is the dice. Don’t question the DM unless it’s out of session, then bully the dm on the groupchat until he’s so pissed off he gives you inspiration just to get you to shut up. And also canon lore and canon rules are bullshit when it’s convenient. That’s about it
18. Does your party keep any pets?
Our ranger, God bless her, has her pack pig Snortin Norton, sold to her by one Flinton B Skinton. And Flint really wants a monkey, he’s been trying to find one for ages.
19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?
Not really ? I’m the kind guy that if my dice rolls a 1 I will bench it for a bit, but tbh all my dice are cursed af and I’ve kinda just learned to roll with it by making my characters canonically terrible at everything lmao.
20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?
Aw man I can’t remember when or how, it’s been so long. I had a couple friends who were kinda into it, but all the games they tried to run were complete disasters. I only really started playing I’m the past year or so? Maybe a little more ? Adrian was my first character, and he was a very RP heavy character in a party of tanks and they all hated him but MAN was it fun.
21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?
Oh all the time. One time my character was careless and didn’t check for traps on a legendary artefact and it lead to the death of a party member. One time my character got angry at his party and walked out. My characters don’t make good decisions, but that’s part of the fun.
22. What color was your first dragon?
White! I thought it was silver at first and went to go say hi, and it clawed me within half my HP straight away lmao.
23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?
Oh dude, original all the way. I live for that shit.
24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?
Depends on the session, but usually a good few hours, couple of days if I’m DMing.
25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?
“You wake up in a mysterious forest. The strained autumn sun shines through the trees. The only thing you can see it each other, the trees, and an old sign post leading to a path that says "Myrrill” on it. What do you do?“ "We walk in the opposite direction of the sign deeper into the forest.” “…of course you do.”
26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.
I wrote a full carnival show one time for them to watch, and then it got derailed when a horrific monster attacked. But writing all the characters and their acts, and watching my players get entranced as I described it ? Magical, my dood.
27. Do you allow homebrew content?
I live and breathe homebrew content. I don’t know what my games would be without it. I LOVE homebrew.
28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?
I make some pretty sick characters if I do say so myself, so I throw them in a LOT.
29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?
Oh dude, role play all the way. Fighting and killing stuff is great, but role-play is just so good. We can go from laughing with a bartender to crying over a backstory reveal and it’s just beautiful.
30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?
Depends on the party, but i find the best players are a little bit of both XD
31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?
Official ? I’m a fan of the hexblade warlock? Bards are always a good call, and to be real playing monks make me feel like an absolute badass. Race wise, there are just so many. If we’re only talking players handbook stuff, half elf is always rad. Outside of that? I’ve been researching the Shadar-Kai lately and I’m LIVING. They’re so rad.
32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)
What would you call the disaster gay? I don’t really gear my characters towards usefulness in combat, so it’s just whatever the class happens to lend itself to.
33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?
I usually write my character, personality, backstory, alignment etc, before I even pick a class or even a race. I basically just make OCs and apply them to dnd rules, and it’s SO much fun. 10/10, would recommend.34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?
FLAVOUR. My party usually hates me, but what I lack in combat utility I more than make up for in creative out of combat skill checks XD.
35. How much roleplay do you like to do?
Boi, I even RP my combat, and the great thing is it rubs off on my party too. I’ll have a really low initiative and everyone else will be like “I attack and do 10 points of damage” but then on my round I’m like “I use my staff to leap across the battlefield towards the opponent and launch out with a spinning kick to their jaw” and everyone else is like “oh, okay, that’s what we’re doing.” and the battle becomes so much more dynamic and cinematic, it’s amazing !
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How They Met Part Four
A/n: Heyo! So I’m about to go to bed. Thought I’d give you lovely people something. Just A head’s up. I am starting to post this on my AO3 as well so if some don’t like tumblr, hit it on there. I’ve only got part one currently but I’ll fix that tonight. :) So as always.. Enjoy and let me know if you want a tag. 
@valkyrieofardyn @mooshinspace @shigekihizashi
Next Chapter     Masterpost
I didn’t expect it to happen as quickly as it did. I was on the road towards the city when I got a call on my phone. I had it plugged into my radio so I had to pull over and answer it. I didn’t have this number in my phone after all.
“Hello?”
“Skylar? I’m one of dave’s friends. He told me to call this number.” I relaxed a bit then.
“Oh. Cool. What up?”
“Have you been to the region border recently?”
“No… Why?”
“We heard a rumor that the barricade fell. Something about an immortal and some kid hunters.” I stopped then and soon smiled.
“That insane man…. Hang on!” I quickly got my bluetooth earpiece on and connected it. I turned around then gunning it.
“I know who they might be talking about! If it’s true then we seriously owe those city boys.”
“They were city boys!?”
“Yep.” I kept going and soon drove straight through it laughing.
“It’s legit!!”
“No way!”
“Yes way! I just drove through the damn thing!” I pulled over then before pulling a u turn and hitting the road again. The suspension on my jeep made it a lot less bumpy for sure. I drove right back through smiling.
“Tell dave and the others the way is clear.”
“Got it hon. Where you going to be?”
“I’m hitting the city. I’ve got some city boys to catch.”
“Got it hon. See you around.”
“You know it.” I hung up then and soon just took off for lestallum. I couldn’t wait to talk to them again about this.
Sadly they weren’t in lestallum. I found some friends of theirs who knew where the boys went. I took off after thanking them and just smiled. I had a feeling those boys would have found out about Wiz’s chocobo post at some point. I set off for there happily. I loved the place growing up. Chocobos were awesome creatures and fun to ride honestly. I knew exactly where it was and soon pulled in. I could see regalia but the boys weren’t inside. I hopped out then despite the rain and ran up to Wiz. He smiled when he saw me.
“You’re a few minutes too late hon. Some new hunters just took the deadeye hunt.”
“Let me guess, some cute boys and one wanted to ride them?”
“How did you know?”
“They’re friends. I’m going to back them up.”
“Let them keep the bounty?”
“You know it.” He chuckled then.
“Go on then. Damien’s missed you hon. Been a month since you’ve come by.” I smiled then.
“I got trapped inside the wall for a bit…. How big is he now?”
“Go see before helping your friends hon.” I nodded and ran over. He was inside the stables with the others. Damien was originally almost ivory but after feeding him some interesting berries, he was now a dark blue. He had grown a good foot since I last saw him. I could easily ride him now. He even had the saddle on. He came to the door when he saw me and I petted him.
“Hey… Been a while. I missed you.” He made a noise then and nuzzled my hand. I just smiled and moved closer and gave him a kiss on the head.
“I’ll be back. Mama’s gonna help some boys kill deadeye so you can play outside ok? Then we’ll go for a ride. I’m sure he’s got some hunts.” He chirped then and nudged me to get going. I laughed then and gave him a slight ruffle before running. I had to catch up to those boys.
The good news is that even if I wasn’t a hunter, I could have followed. Deadeye left one hell of a mess to mark his path. I quickly set down it and listened. I could hear someone further ahead plus Deadeye getting pissy. The Behemoth was such a jerk. He almost got me killed one night by chasing me through the forest. Good news is I know hiding spots. I stopped by one and smiled. I could see the boys ahead of me. Deadeye was by the old metal tunnel leading to the next part of the forest and they were going to use it to sneak by. They let Prompto go last and I got an evil Idea. I adjusted my gear and once I knew it was clear, I slid into the tunnel. Prompto was making just enough noise to cover me as well.
They had no clue until I grabbed his ankles making him fall. The others looked back ready to fight but quickly froze.
“Skylar!?” Ignis was sure as hell shocked I was here. I waved and Prompto looked back. He was panicked.
“Did you really have to do that!?”
“Um… No. But it was fun! Now let’s go! I’m your backup in case this goes south!” We crawled out and I quickly gave him a one armed hug.
“You’re not hurt are you?’
“Nah. Just scared me.” Noctis smiled then.
“What brings you here?”
“Dude… This is home territory. I don’t need a reason. Plus wanted to talk to you.”
“About?”
“The checkpoint into the region.” They all shared a grin then and I grinned back.
“You did a lot of hunters a huge favor by taking it down. Got a call about it and the word’s being spread about the city slickers kicking niff ass.” We started walking then, me staying close to the back smiling.
“Nice…. So why help us?”
“Um… Cus I want to? It’s not like I need the hunt. Plus… Last time I took it, I ended up getting chased till past dawn out here. Not really wanting to do that again.” Prompto cringed then.
“Yikes…”
“Yeah. He’s a nasty bugger for sure.”
“Nothing we can handle.” Noctis sounded so confident. It was kind of cute honestly.
“Well listen to that. The king’s confident in taking down an asshole Behemoth.” Gladio chuckled then and I knew Ignis smiled. Noct looked back but he was smiling.
“And it seems once you’re in home Territory, you really don’t hold your tongue.” I shrugged then and pushed ahead to get even with him.
“Home is home. I don’t fake around here. I grew up in these parts so most everyone knows me.” he nodded then.
“Wanna tell more?” I smiled then.
“Left around here for middle school. Went to a public school inside the wall…. Um… been solo since like… 14. Lived in liede until about a year ago…. Rank seven hunter.” I could see the shock in his eyes then. I just smiled.
“What? This weapon isn’t for show after all.”
“I figured but… you’re that good?” I shrugged then.
“It’s been rough. Had my share of close calls. One most recently with this jerk.” Gladio looked back then.
“You came after him? Alone?”
“Wasn’t supposed to be alone. I was trying to find his lair with another hunter. We got separated and Deadeye snuck up on me. Ran till dawn when I found the road and got back to Wiz’s. Other hunter couldn’t help. He got lost. Come daylight he showed back up.” I jumped up onto a rock then and smiled. They were shocked for sure but I didn’t care. I could hear him. It was faint for sure but he was around. The fog coming down didn’t make using eyes a good idea after all.
“He’s away from us, I assume?” Ignis said. He was keeping his voice low. I slid down and nodded.
“He's going to the old ruins. We’ll have to play hide and seek for a bit but we can get there and catch him. Once in there it's not easy to leave.” They nodded then but let me take the lead. Before the gate, I ran. I knew these woods. It was usually so calm around here and decent hunts. Finally we reached it and I quickly dropped down. The boys followed easily but then I had to pin noctis to the rock close by. Deadeye was in front of us.
“Shit….” I nodded feeling my smile come back. This was going to be fun.
“Leapfrog. Rock to rock. He's blind on the left. Use it. No noise.” Gladio gave me a look but I quickly took off. He was moving. It would cover for me.
She was fast. Even if she was a bit odd, skylar knew her job. The others weren't sure so I followed her. She was quick but always stayed in sight. The fog was only getting worse for sure the further we went in. It got sketchy at few times. She tripped over a small rock and quickly scrambled to hide while we did the same. The behemoth knew he was being followed. After that, it got more tense. We couldn't always keep an eye on him so skylar had to be our lead. Finally though, we broke through into ruins. She had her sword ready and let Gladio take the lead. I went to follow but she got my arm and stopped me. I looked over and she smiled.
“I know you punks have elemental abilities. Who’s got the fire?”
“Why?”
“What do you think blinded him? There's old oil drums around here. If he gets over one, explode it. It'll be our best chance to get him weak enough to land some serious blows.”
“How do you know this?”
“Cus I saw others trying it. Just trust me….. Gods you four are paranoid…”I shrugged then. Better to be paranoid than be dead in my mind. She just sighed and followed Ignis quickly. I got the flask ready and followed.
He knew. He was up on a ledge above us and jumped down. We all backed away and quickly Gladio went into action. Prompto was giving cover fire while skylar backed up gladio. She wasn't as strong but she was doing some damage. She made openings that Ignis took advantage of and slowly got him over a barrel. I figured I would try her advice.
“Move!!!” The guys jumped back but she couldn’t. I had to throw it. It landed on the barrel and the explosion was big. It knocked over the guys but then we rushed him. At least I tried until Prompto came flying into me. We both were off our feet but I felt someone catch us and the relief of a potion.
“Stand up you idiots!” I looked and Skylar was still on fire. She dropped me and jumped going right for Deadeyes face! Prompto got up and helped me up stunned. It didn’t last though. He was on his last leg and soon it gave. Deadeye fell dead. We all stopped then before we celebrated. That was insane!
“Um…. Help!?” I froze then. That was skylar. Gladio moved with Ignis then by his head and prompto and I followed. She has gotten a leg stuck under his head and couldnt get free.
“Big bully!!!!” Gladio chuckled then and quickly pulled her free. She yelped but soon got on her feet huffing before giving him a solid kick. I laughed then.
“Was that needed?”
“Yes! He landed on me! I was trying to shoot his other eye! Blind the jerk….” I stopped then. She didn’t have a gun. She walked away then and came back with a crossbow. She was checking it out before folding it backup and putting it on her back. Ignis smiled then.
“A lady of many weapons…. We do owe you some thanks. Your fire tip did help.” She shrugged then getting into her bag. She crushed something and we all got healed. He gave her a look and she smiled.
“Can’t help it…. Mega elixir.” She flashed a new one making Gladio chuckle.
“Sure you wanna be solo? We might need the backup later.”
“Get real muscles…. I’m happier alone…. Now…” She smiled then sheathing her sword.
“Let's go ride chocobos!!!” Prompto cheered with her and I laughed. Soon we found the way out and headed back to the post. She had someone she wanted Prompto to meet.
We got back to wiz’s about sunset. He was shocked for sure but quickly paid the boys while I washed off my arms in a barrel. The healed burns were still tender but it was barely anything. Soon Wiz came over and held out a key.
“Wanna let him out?” I nodded then taking it.
“I’ve missed riding him. Mind if…?”
“You know the rules. Havens near by. Feel free to leave bella here. She’ll be safe.” I nodded and ran to the stable. Damien was so happy to see me but nothing beat it when I got the door open. He ran into me and quickly let me on. I led him out and Prompto almost dropped his camera. Noctis was shocked.
“They come in dark blue!?” I laughed then petting his neck.
“Nah. Won these berries in a race. Changed my baby to this color….. Boys. Meet damien!” He crowed then making them laugh. Prompto came over and petted him gently.
“How….?”
“Rescued him as a baby. Mom had been killed so I brought him here. Wiz helped me raise him and well… Now he’s my baby!” I hugged him then happy. I’ve missed him. I heard a click then and I looked. Prompto got a photo of us. He turned so I could see it.
“Oh nice angle…. Mind…?”
“I’ll have a print the next time I see you.” I cheered then. He laughed and Noctis came close. Damien sniffed him and he just smiled.
“You leaving?”
“Yeah. There's other hunts close by. I’ll be hanging out between here and lestallum for a while.” I saw gladio nod then as he came up behind the prince.
“Call if you need backup. We won’t mind. You helped us out against that behemoth.” I shrugged then.
“I prefer solo…. But if I get kicked, I’ll call…. Or if I find some cool ingredients.” Ignis perked up then and I smiled.
“I know of a ginger. It's hard to get to… but if I head that way, I’ll get you some.”  He nodded then smiling.
“It would be appreciated. Our spices currently are rather lacking.” Wiz laughed then smiling.
“I’ll point some spots out to you boys.” They all smiled then and while they went to talk to wiz, I loaded my pack up and made a saddle pack for damien out of bella. Right as the sun died, I took off while they camped in the caravan. I was ready to be home again.
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roninhunt0987 · 2 years
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I posted 1,591 times in 2021
164 posts created (10%)
1427 posts reblogged (90%)
For every post I created, I reblogged 8.7 posts.
I added 48 tags in 2021
#youtube - 45 posts
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Longest Tag: 16 characters
#tumblr milestone
My Top Posts in 2021
#5
How Jared Met Suzuki
How Jared Met Suzuki
By: Roninhunt0987
X3 okay thanks to to neko in call from tonight I have now got the idea of how Jared and Suzuki met and such... not giving any spoilers just that this is gonna be in the past there.... well in between the fic where Whisper's mom reunited at the time so yea
enjoy
Characters(C)belongs to their rightful owners
Jared's POV: let me tell ya a story.... this is something that happened with me which took place after Whisper's biological mother resurfaced and after marrying her and such..... you probably wondering how I met Suzuki... this took place at a local landromat... .w. damn washing machine got busted no thanks to one of the idiots living at the residence... thought It was a good idea to use a freaking plasma grenade and such.... so ya... heres my story... how I Met Suzuki Yamato and her family....
-6 PM, Laundromat-
Jared: -waiting for the washing machine to be finished as he was reading a magazine and ears starts to twitch to hear nearby fighting- eh??? -hears the noise stopped briefly- huhn...probably unwise for me to go to a laundromat at 6 PM... -hears the noise get louder as hey gets up as he has his Desert eagle at the ready and sees his truck is not in its parking space- wheres my truck
Truck: -goes through the wall missing Jared with someone flying into him- Jared: OH SH-
???: -slams into jared-
Jared: -hits his head hard on the remains of his truck and dazed watching Suzuki get up as his vision starts to blur as the big thug go down-
???: -muffle talks of panicking and etc seeing she hit into somewhere earlier and such-
Jared: -blacks out as he feels ??? pick him up-
???: ahhh geeze oh man oohhhh... man I don't have a- wait... alright I am hoping he doesn't freak out like april did -uses device and goes through portal with Jared in tow-
-5 hours later-
Jared: -starts to awaken as his he has a bandage on his head and vision clears up slightly and sees he is in unfamilar area and then scans and then sees a turtle with an orange mask close to his face soon as his vision clears- O_O Mikey: ^^ Hi
Jared: -screams in panic as he is in full panic mode letting off some electricity- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Lightning Powers: -fries several of donnie's devices and such- Mikey: -screams like a girl- AHHHHHHH!!!!! Jared: -freaking out and panicking after letting off some electricity and slinking back into the couch panicking and pinching himself thinking this is all a dream-
Suzuki: -runs in with Donnie, Leo, Raph and Gen'ichi to see that Mikey pulled an April moment and facepalms- MIKEY!!! Raph: -facepalms- Darn it Mikey
Donnie: -saw that some of his devices got fried- O_o whoa what was that
Leo: -sighs as he goes to calm Jared down-
Jared: -shaking breathing erratically and etc-
Suzuki: .w. geeze... for the first time I was able to encounter someone who is a mobian like me... aside of raph causing an eye injury, me getting stabbed and etc
Jared: -still in full panic as he did not register what Suzuki was saying and etc as he is having trouble processing all this and then his hearing is going back in control of hearing Leo calming him down-
Leo: hey... ya still with us there big guy....
Jared: ugggh -faints-
-5 minutes later-
Jared: -sighs as he has green tea as he sips on it slowly-
Suzuki: -sits next to Jared- sorry about that... heh this isn't the first time Mikey got into someone's face... my names Suzuki btw... whats your name Jared: Jared... Jared Amadeus Prower....
See the full post
3 notes • Posted 2021-08-09 05:16:59 GMT
#4
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https://twitter.com/news_merch/status/1432518207412260869
-falls over fainting in cuteness seeing a legit whisper plush-
@otakuneko-lotus
3 notes • Posted 2021-08-31 04:20:53 GMT
#3
Attention
attention
a friend on skype has reveal what trap i fell for
this is the trap i fell for,,, do not make the same mistake as i did
that is all... RH0987 over and out
~RH0987~
5 notes • Posted 2021-08-25 04:32:11 GMT
#2
XD Fallout Meme
XD Fallout meme
fallout 1: find the water chip
Fallout 2: find the G.e.c.k
Fallout 3: find ya dad
Fallout 4: find ya son
Fallout New Vegas: WHO THE FUCK SHOT ME!!!!!!
XD so yea its a meme my older brother found on facebook once.. hehe
~RH0987~
5 notes • Posted 2021-04-14 17:15:30 GMT
#1
M.E.G.A Chronicles 3 Special: Suzuki unwell
M.E.G.A Chronicles 3 Special: Suzuki unwell
By: Roninhunt0987
this is another special not just for ya'll to read but this is also a get well soon fic for Nekorockstarninja as she has told me earlier today that she was not feeling so I taken the liberty to make a get well soon gift for Nekorockstarninja so yea
X3 enjoy the Hilarity folks
-Kato/Prower residence-
Suzuki: -training extra hard and barely got any rest as she is unaware she is not feeling well-
Jared: -walks in with Leo-
Leo: Sis you been training all day come back inside
Suzuki: o-okay just- -wobbles a lil as she walks and starts to fall over- Jared: -reacts quickly and catches her and feels a bit of heat come from her and feels her head- Suzuki how long were ya in this state
Suzuki: I dunno.... I dunno really....
Raph: -realizes that his cold got onto Suzuki when he was getting better last week- oh shell... oh man... did i-
Leo: -looks to Raph- Raph Raph: I... I
Jared: Raph... its okay... alright ya didn't know
Raph: -breathes in and counts to 5 and the breathes out counts to 5 again- okay just get her inside
-later inside- Suzuki: -wet rag on her forehead as she wakes up from passing out- uggh did I pass out
Raph: uhhh....you did but- eh heh I may of given ya my cold.... ^^; my bad
Suzuki: .w.;;;; Raph.... I am so gonna hurt you when I get better
Jared: Suzuki he didn't know okay so go easy on him
Suzuki: okay... sorry raph
Raph: its fine okay just uhh.... Jared: .w. and guess who is gonna nurse her back to health while were helping
Raph: O_o ya kidding me
Jared: ^^; ya message from ya dad Master Splinter.... heh... .w.
Raph: darn it... ugh okay okay sigh... -in his mind: well raph just bite the bullet and deal with it....-
-moments later-
Raph: -trying to make chicken soup but starts get a lil frustrated- Kimiko: Raph... is everything okay Raph: -smiles widely- yes everything is fine
Kimiko: ^^; raph then why is ya hands shaking
Raph: sigh.... you're good at making chicken soup right?? can you... teach me
Kimiko: =3 I can help yes
Merrick: -walks in- hey Heard Suzuki got sick is everything alright?? Raph: I passed my cold into her while she and I had an argument and I feel like a moron doing that
See the full post
6 notes • Posted 2021-03-30 04:32:13 GMT
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vizhi0n · 6 years
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Sawney - Part 37
Chapter Masterlist
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HELLLO. 
Okay I’m so so sorry for being so annoying with this bc I legit update every day, sometimes twice a day and I don’t want to annoy anyone. So if I am let me know srsly I can take it. But anywho, I hope ya’ll enjoy this chapter. It’s probably one of my favs and I’m super proud of how it turned out. Thank you guys so much for reading - we’re essentially in the final stretch of this fic now. 
Warnings: Gore, language. Fun stuff.
“We start moving when the sun sets,” Alpha said. She glanced back down at Carl, then Desa. “We take these two with us.”
“We’re taking the bus, correct?”
“The herd is too far out. No amount of noise will be able to redirect them from our position,” Alpha explained. “The girl is with us, now. We’ll execute the boy if he causes too much trouble. Until then, he is an investment with potential.”
Carl was groaning, holding his ribcage. Dried blood caked his lips and nose. Desa was hovering over the boy, shielding him with her own body as Beta and Alpha surveyed them as if they were prey.
“Load them up.”
Desa and Carl were dragged. The bus was parked by the tree line, its colors old and worn down. The yellow had been sprayed with graffiti, the windows smashed in. One of the Whisperer’s remained up front, while the other two ushered Carl and Desa to their seats.
A shout.
Desa and Carl’s head whipped to the side. They craned their necks, trying to see where the sound had come from.
“That’s my dad!” Carl hissed. One of the Whisperer’s stepped closer, but that didn’t deter Carl from rising to his feet so he could get a better look.
He wasn’t wrong. Rick was standing before Alpha and Beta, an almost casual tilt to his hips. Desa’s eyes narrowed — there was no way he’d come alone. Then again, the man was bold, and stubborn as a mule. He was clearly outnumbered, and the Whisperer’s behind Beta and Alpha had perked up, hands on their weapons.
It had to be a trap.
“Sit down,” one of the Whisperer’s planted a firm hand on Carl’s shoulder, pushing the boy back into the seat.
When Desa turned back to look out the window, something had gone wrong. Whether it was intentional or not, Rick was diving to the ground as bullets began to fly, all coming from the direction of the trees. Desa ducked, before lifting her head to peer out once more.
Alpha and Beta were running. And then, appearing behind Rick, was the one person she’d been longing to see.
“Negan!” Desa screamed as loud as she could. His head whipped to the side and he shouted something. Again, Desa yelled, “Ne—”
She was cut off mid word. One of the Whisperer’s backhanded her, but she snapped forward and clamped down, hard, upon his exposed wrist. Her teeth pierced the skin and he screamed, just as Alpha and Beta burst onto the bus.
“Drive!” Alpha snarled.
Desa released the Whisperer. The bus was assaulted with bullets, and she promptly fell to the floor. Carl did the same. It was too late, and the vehicle was bouncing across the field and towards the main road.
“Shit,” Desa murmured, scrambling to look back out the window. Rick and his people were in pursuit, tearing onto the asphalt in their own vehicles. Not taking her eyes off the road, she shouted to Alpha and Beta, “Nice job choosing a bus! These things are slow as shit!”
The Whisperer she’d bitted yanked her by the hair, into the aisle, and she screamed. Carl lunged but was held back. Beta, the top of his head fully touching the ceiling, began walking over with a scowl on his face.
He drew his knife.
“Easy, Beta,” Alpha said from the front.
Before he could do, well, whatever it was he was going to do, the bus rattled, the impact knocking almost everyone to the floor. An engine revving sounded from outside, and Desa dared a peek outside — a jeep was pushing against the side of the bus, driven by Michonne and a dark-haired girl Desa didn’t recognize.
“Desa!” Carl warned. When she looked up, Beta had regained his footing and was bringing his curved knife down towards her face.
Desa brought her arms up to meet him halfway. The blade pierced her wrists, just a bit, while the rest sliced clean through the rope holding her hands together. She retaliated immediately, aiming for the first part of Beta that she saw — his crotch.
Beta howled. A second of celebration, and then Desa was tackled, cheek connecting brutally hard with the window of the bus. The entire vehicle shifted to the side, driving Michonne and the dark-haired woman off the road and into a ditch.
Gunfire shattered the glass of the back emergency exit. In her peripheral, Desa saw Alpha’s shoulder spewing blood. The Whisperer holding her dropped, a clean hole blown through the side of his head. She immediately began digging through the corpse of the Whisperer, yanking his knife from his belt.
Before Beta could intervene, she began cutting Carl’s bonds. Alpha, holding her wounded shoulder, snarled, “They’re up on top!”
 Footsteps pounded from the roof of the bus, and Beta have a roar of frustration. The moment the emergency hatch began to shake, he charged, giving Carl and Desa no time to brace themselves. He batted Carl to the side as if he weighed nothing, seizing Desa by her shirt.
She screamed.
The emergency hatch opened. Negan and Regina dropped to the floor. A Whisperer lunged and Regina blew a hole through his skull, before turning her gun on Alpha.
Beta saw, and he reacted by tossing Desa through the air. She slammed, hard, into Regina, both women crashing to the ground like a pair of bowling pins. Air left Desa’s lung like a vacuum, and she gasped. Her ears rang and she scrunched up her face, inhaling through her nose. Her entire body hurt. So, so terribly bad.
Alpha, the driver, and Beta were the only ones left. She shakily looked over her shoulder and saw Beta advancing on Carl and Negan, dwarfing both with ease. An intimidated look flashed across Negan’s face, and he gripped Lucille tightly.
Regina, dazed from the fall, scrambled to her feet, and to Desa’s horror, Alpha sprung into the isle.
It was over in a second.
Alpha’s knife pierced the side of Regina’s neck, coming out the other end. Blood gushed from the wound and she gurgled, reaching out to grip Alpha’s shoulder. It did nothing, and her knees buckled. Desa turned away in horror, sparing a glance behind her. Beta was backing Negan and Carl towards the emergency exit, footsteps unwavering. He would trap them, and kill them. 
So Desa, tearing her eyes away from Regina’s corpse, stood and ran. She threw her full weight against Beta, clinging to his back and doing the only thing she could think of doing — she bit into an exposed sliver of flesh just past his shoulder.
He bellowed, and she saw Negan and Carl scramble towards the emergency hatch. Using the seats as support, Carl went first, lifting himself onto the bus’ roof. The entire time, Desa clung to Beta’s back. She only released him when she felt sinewy flesh come free, her hold on his loosening as blood flooded the back of her throat, making her gag. Her rear hit the floor and she spat out the chunk of meat.
Alpha, wounded, slumped against the wall with a glare on her face. Beta was still bellowing, holding his own wound. Negan took advantage of the opportunity, helping Desa to her feet.
They clambered through the emergency exit, Carl and Desa hauling Negan up with them. Lying flat on their stomachs, Desa glanced over the side and saw herself staring at the flatbed of a truck, Drake’s arm hanging from the driver’s seat.
“That’s our ride,” Negan rumbled. “Jump!”
Two things crossed Desa’s mind: she was afraid of heights, and slamming into the flatbed of a moving truck hurt much, much more than she’d anticipated. She crumpled, knees first, before landing on her back. The truck bounced on its axels as Carl joined, and then Negan.
The bus swerved, suddenly, prompting Drake to serve. Before Desa could say anything, the truck flew from the road, dipping head first into the narrow drainage ditch by the side of the road. Desa, Carl and Negan tumbled from the back before landing in a heap of tangled limbs. Once again, the wind was knocked from Desa’s body, and she felt drain water soak through her clothes.
“Nice job Drake!” Negan bellowed, wincing in pain and holding his shoulder. “Pretty sure I just broke every bone in my fucking body!”
Smoke seeped from the hood, and Drake fell from the drivers seat. The car was cloudy on the inside, the airbags having deployed, full force.
“Sorry,” Drake groaned, falling to his knees and holding his head. His eyes fell across Carl, and he said, “Shit, uh…the kid isn’t moving.”
Desa immediately flipped Carl onto his back. She checked his pulse — he was unconscious.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Negan groaned, staggering to his feet. His head whipped back and forth. “Where the fuck are they?”
“Got caught up by biters. A bunch flooded the road. We were so far ahead…,” Drake trailed off. “We need to move. Like, now. They’re coming.”
Groans filled the air. Gurgling, gasping groans that made Desa’s blood run cold. She felt Carl’s cheeks, checking his pulse once more out of instinct. She grabbed his hat from where it had fallen, placing it atop her head before hooking her arms beneath him.
“I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, but we could, you know, leave the kid,” Drake wiped blood from his forehead. “Uh, shit.”
A few biters toppled into the drainage ditch, landing with a splash. Negan squeezed Desa’s shoulder and said, “I’ve got him.”
Drake drew his gun and fired, downing a biter. Negan, holding Carl in a vice grip, began limping towards the woods. Another biter fell, then another, flooding the ditch.
“Drake, cmon!” Desa shouted.
Another gunshot. Then Drake turned and began limping, his movements slower than Negan. Getting out of the ditch was going to be difficult. They were all wounded, to some degree. Drake fired, and fired, occasionally glancing over his shoulder, before a biter yanked at his shirt. 
“Drake!”
“Go!” Drake waved an arm as Negan, Carl in his arms, crawled up the steep, muddy slope. When he lost his footing and nearly fell, Desa began pushing him from behind. Drake was still fighting, attempting to keep them at bay — it wasn’t working, and with a final shove, he turned and limped with vigor from the ditch, Desa in tow.
They were still overrun. The biters looped in from the right, hobbling towards what they assumed to be their next meal. Desa wiped mud and sweat from her brow, cursing. Beside her, Negan repositioned Carl in her arms.
All of a sudden, his face paled.
“Drake?”
“What?”
“Your neck.”
Desa’s first instinct was to do nothing. She just stared. The bite mark was bleeding, but it was a bite mark, right above his collarbone.
And Drake, like her, did nothing. He just glanced down at the wound, and then glanced at Negan, acknowledging the horrified look on his face, and then at Desa.
“Tis’ but a scratch.”
“This…is not the time to be quoting Monty Python,” Desa said hollowly. “Drake…”
He just shrugged. He turned back towards the tide of biters, extending a hand and gesturing for Desa and Negan to get back.
“Go. Seriously. I’ll handle this.”
“Drake, we’re not leaving—”
“I’m giving you guys time. Being the hero or whatever,” Drake drew his knife and advanced. Over his shoulder, he called, “Take the kid and get out of here. And don’t die.”
Then, he began yelling. Waving his arms and his knife. The biters point of interest changed in that very moment, and they began shifting towards Drake as he hooted and howled and swung his knife, slowly inching towards the woods.
“C’mon,” Negan murmured. “Desa, let’s go.”
“I can’t—”
“You have to leave him. Let him go.”
Desa’s feet carried her, mind blank. Every once and a while she’d turn, watching Drake advancing farther and farther into the woods. The fifth time Desa looked back, she could see the color of his clothes and the glint of his knife. His hoots and howls had transformed into shrieks of agony. Teeth tore chunks away from his flesh, the dead descending upon him like a swarm of bees. His cries eventually became gurgles.
And then, there was nothing left.
21 notes · View notes
cerastes · 7 years
Text
Sir Percival Is Very Nice And Disconcertingly Gullible Part 1
HELLO citizens. Today, I want to share with you the story of a certain Knight of the Round Table who knows how to maneuver his foot around people’s asses, looks like a prim and proper lady in a skirt, and also doesn’t know what a penis is. I am talking about the one and only Sir Percival. But before Sir Percival was a Sir or Percival, he was a lady, a cute girl, an adorable toddler. No, there’s no magic involved, no magic transformation, it’s just that he was raised as a girl (culturally speaking, in relation to the time) by his mother, and he never really questioned it, because to question things, you need life experience, and you get more life experience from cleaning dirty fingernails than you do cooped up in a caslte. Oh yeah, by the way, his mother kept him cooped in a castle and he was ffffffforbidden from ever leaving it. Also, I’ll have to split this in parts because it is TOO LONG.
LET’S ELABORATE: Percival was the prince of certain lands, and his father was either King Pellinore or Alain le Gros, and in either case, the father is a celebrated warrior. Point is, Percival is of noble lineage and the son of a warrior king, which of course means he has superpowers, because this is Arthurian mythos. Regardless of who his father was, he also had at least four siblings, all four of them Knights of the Round Table. Now this is the part where you expect his family to be proud of how many fine warriors it has produced. Except you are WRONG, because my man’s mother was actually Not Too Happy With The Family Business, so when Percival was born, Mom, who is unnamed because being a woman in Arthurian mythos sucks because you either die or are a huge asshole, said “mmMMMM NO” and raised Percival away from everything that could be considered “manly” back in the day (read: knights) and without letting him ever learn of dangerous stuff like “swords” or “holy grails”. Accounts vary whether Mom took Percival and his sister away from their castle and to live in the forest or if she simply raised Percival in the castle proper, but for all intents and purposes, what matters here is that Percival looks better than you and I in a dress, can knit a fierce sweater, weaves the meanest baskets, and can sew a whole dress from the ground up using only dirty curtains and positive thoughts.
So Mom, Sister, and Percival are having fun, living a soft and cute life, when SUDDENLY, knights appear. Mom was busy watching Star Trek reruns and this distracted her long enough for Percival to notice them and ask “MOM HOLY FUCK WHAT ARE THOSE METAL DUDES”. Mom realized too late that He Had Been Exposed, so she acted fast on her feet and said “Ah, Percy, those are... Angels. They are servants of God, so don’t look at them too much, because you see them when you die or when you are close to something that could result in your death!”, so the first thing Percival does is ask his sister if she can tie a sturdy noose, nice and cozy, so he can hang himself immediately to become an angel, they look SO COOL, and his sister, with all the delicacy of a car accident, shuts him the fuck up and asks him to stop being a weirdo for one second.
Since his UNCOOPERATIVE family was made of unreasonable asses out of nowhere, P-Diddy sneaks out of the castle (which is also the first time he ever gets out of that castle WOW LOCKING YOUR KIDS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA) and approaches the angels, trying to not be seen by them because he doesn’t want to die, but during his Sneaking Operation, he steps on the loudest,most scandalous tree branch in history and mythos because it lets out a CRRRRRCCCKKK SO FUCKING LOUD the knights’ horses go apeshit, one of them kicks a knight in the face, and another straight up runs into a river and drowns, which makes you think what in the fuck are these horses on the field of duty for if a kid in a dress can scare them into Escort Mission AI-levels of idiocy. Well, that aside, the knights obviously freak the fuck out and are like “WOAH HEY WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT STOP!” which quickly turns into “WHY ARE YOU WEARING A DRESS!” and honestly, Parsee was kinda weirded out because angels are supposed to be more solemn than this, and definitely not as loud. P-kun voices these concerns, and the knights have themselves a gigglesnort, quickly and politely explaining that they are knights, not angels, and that yelling, questioning, and killing was part of their job. Then they explained it was a lie, because they never ask questions, only yell and kill, which you guys and gals at home probably think is just me making a joke, except Knights of the Round Table killed each other a SHITLOAD of times simply because they didn’t know who the other guy was, because there was this understanding, this covenant back in the day where, if you were a knight and the other guy was a knight and yelling was involved, as it usually is in the field of battle, you most likely were enemies and had to murder each other, and apparently no one fucking recognized each others’ armor or anything.
What I am trying to say is that people in Arthurian mythos are MORONIC BRUTES and that Britain is a PvP-enabled zone, which is why shit like Camlann happens.
Anyways.
Percival was apparently pretty ok with these metal dudes being professional loud murderers because he immediately asks if he can become a professional loud murderer, but he gets turned away because he is still a kid at this point, and kids can’t be knights, BUT, as soon as his hormones start going nuts and awkward, solitary strands of hair start growing on his moles and around his nipples, he’s old enough to become a knight. He’s content enough with this answer, and so he heads home and gets turbo-grounded the moment his mom catches him. In the process of being turbo-grounded, Percy let out to his mom that he wanted to become a knight, which turned this into an ultra mega turbo grounding instead because he said The Forbidden Word and now Mom’s angry.
Even being his mom and everything, however, Mom knew she couldn’t really oppose the wishes of his son like this, so what did she do instead? What every normal person in a front of a situation that requires cooperation from both ends and that demands maturity and sensibility would do: Lie.
She outright kept telling Percival that he was still 12 years old, even as the years passed. More concerning is the fact that P-kun didn’t question this at all. Well, whatever floats your boat, weirdo Arthurian family.
Percival turns 17 or 18 years of age, depending on the source, which is the age where kids are considered men and can thusly start screaming and killing [for honor], but he is still convinced he is 12 years old because Mom Sucks. All is well as usual in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber Castle WHEN SUDDENLY, a knight appears, except this one is a BAD KNIGHT, his first thought upon seeing the castle was “my, what a NICE and GORGEOUS door, I bet ramming it down and raping whatever girl I find inside would make this an even better day! : )“ so he gets to work and, sure enough, just solo-decimates the entire castle door and is getting ready to Bad Touch Mom and Sister when Percival, now no longer a kid, but rather, a powerfully built, ripped, 24 pack abs superwarrior (remember what I told you about lineage and mythos?) appears before him all like “hey can you maybe not do that shit to my family? It is rude”.
The Bad Knight takes one look at this body building champion, and lets out a “WHY ARE YOU WEARING A DRESS”. Ah, yeah, Percy was still wearing the dress. So the Bad Knight is kinda laughing because this kid, he can be SSJ Broly all he wants, he’s still in a dress. The laughing, however, ceases immediately when Percival grabs the dude, who is encased in armor and that knocked down the castle door all by himself, and just sorta casually throws him past the castle walls and breaks his entire body. Again, Percival, who never has trained his muscles in any way or learned anything more violent than embroidery, just gave this dude the So Long Gay Bowser throw from Mario 64, from the courtyard, launching him ABOVE the castle walls, and right into the ground outside. That huge “CRASH BOOM!” you heard just now was not the knight falling down, it was his self-esteem crashing after having a kid in a dress ragdoll him. No, wait, no, never mind, it was his body, because DEAD PEOPLE can’t feel shit.
“so, uh, mom” “no” “I just threw a fully armored man” “nope” “I think uh” “nu uh” “I might be an adult” “Grounded”
So P-kun is grounded, fine, and more time passes, when SUDDENLY, a cockatrice attacked the castle. Now, what is a cockatrice? It’s a two-legged serpent with a rooster’s head, and it kills you by looking at you and petrifying you. Basically, a gorgon with a funny hat. Sometimes, because the “petrifying” bit is something of a conjecture by latter authors or analyzers of mythology. The cockatrice actually just kinda sorta outright killed you when it looked at you. So this thing is wreaking havoc in the Censorship Castle, shooting rude glares and crying loudly in the morning, and this Deeply Annoys Percival. The young man simply walks out, uproots a whole a tree, as you normally do, and swats the cockatrice with a flick, sending it DBZ-style flying against the nearest wall. When he saw THAT didn’t kill the very confused monster, Percival, with his bare fucking hands, rips the tree he uprooted into a thinner form by legit ripping the bark layer by layer with his unreasonable strength, fashioning a spear with the tree by doing this (what the wtf?) and using that to stab the shit out of the cockatrice, who probably was already dead as fuck the moment it saw this dude just outright manhandling the tree and turning it into a spear with his bare hands.
“mom” “no” “mom I just uprooted a tree and killed an instakill monster with it’’ “NO’’ “I’m no scientist because those still don’t exist but I am pretty sure I am an adult now” “no sweetie that was just a stray dog” “mom I know dogs and that wasn’t a dog. No dog of ours ever shot laser beams out of its eyes or looked like a dragon wearing a chicken hat” “it’s a breed that comes from Scotland” “MOM”
So Percival more or less has enough of Mom’s shit, and finally gets her blessing to leave the castle. Immediately afterward, Mom dies. Because being female in Arthurian mythos means you ei-- Oh, I already made that one. Well, yeah, there you go. Also the sister also died. But Percival is on his way to become a knight!
What exciting adventures are in store for Percival? Stay tuned for PART 2, in which Percival enters a dysfunctional relationship, makes bad business decisions, and headbutts Sir Lancelot du Lac right in the face, and yes, this is all shit that happens on the exciting Road To Knighthood.
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Vita Vea becoming well-rounded defensive tackle for Washington Huskies – Pac-12 Blog
SEATTLE — Highlights of Washington’s Vita Vea usually don’t fit the traditional narrative of what a defensive lineman should look like. It isn’t his size that catches you off guard — although he stands a hulking 6-foot-5, 340 pounds — it’s what he does with that size that can leave you both confused and somewhat terrified.
His shoulder pads squeeze around massive shoulders sitting above arms with anaconda thickness. His belly doesn’t necessarily spill over his pants, but his jersey has that Baby Gap aesthetic to it. His legs are tree trunks, and when they start churning, he transforms into a massive blur of pandemonium ready to crash into something.
He runs as fast as linebackers and cuts as quick as running backs. He races skill players. He has a 4.8 40-yard dash time. Strapped with a Catapult GPS monitoring device, Vea was supposedly clocked running between 19 and 21 mph while chasing down a screen play against USC last season. A former oversized high school running back and Wildcat quarterback, Vea has cannonball speed and power that has turned him into one of college football’s most intriguing 2018 NFL draft prospects.
“A man of his size running 21 mph is pretty scary — for opponents,” said co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake, a former safety who refuses to race Vea out of fear of losing.
“I’ve coached in the National Football League, and I’ve never seen a guy of his size play with that explosiveness. He’s pretty special.”
Vita Vea’s presence in the middle of Washington’s D-line makes opposing offenses uneasy. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
“You’ll see him do it at least twice a game,” defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe added. “He will turn and run, and he’s flying at least 30 yards down the field trying to catch somebody. It’s kind of a scary thought. If he actually catches them, that might not be good — with the momentum and the speed that he picks up.”
Vea arrived at Washington as more of an athlete than a true defensive tackle prospect. Now, he’s the engine of a Huskies line that no longer has All-Pac-12 stalwart Elijah Qualls and a key cog on a defense that lost four starters from last year’s Pac-12 champion.
After starting five games last season and putting enough on film to have the pleasure of saying he spurned NFL millions — and a second-round draft grade — Vea leads a new-look Washington defense into a crucial early-season Pac-12 game with a Colorado (3-0) team that might still be rediscovering its offensive legs but returns nine starters.
It’ll be a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 championship game when No. 7 Washington (3-0) meets Colorado in Boulder, but both teams are still in search of their 2017 identity. For Vea, he has found that his new identity is organized chaos with a side of reckless abandon that comes from a guy who has the otherworldly measurables and intangibles suited for the X-Files.
“Anyone can go out there and play balls to the wall and do well, but it comes to a point in time where that only takes you so far,” Vea said. “That was me last year, and this offseason I really grabbed a hold of actually learning the game … instead of going out there and just bull-rushing every single play.”
It was hard for Vea to shed that kamikaze approach. When you’re asked to put your head down and plow — on offense and defense — you don’t exactly make time for technique. So he didn’t, and his introduction to the college game suffered.
Already a year behind as a freshman in 2014 after not qualifying academically following his 2013 high school graduation, Vea’s arrival was stressful. Players at his skill level or better lined up next to and across from him every day, and fall camp exhausted him. As his strength dipped, his lack of technique weighed him down in practice.
After redshirting, Vea played in 13 games in 2015, managing 17 tackles, including three for loss, and a sack. The potential was showing, but he needed a much bigger push. Enter Malloe, a former Washington letterman who was back to coach the defensive line in December 2015.
When Malloe arrived, he wasn’t sure how Washington found Vea or how to use him. Vea was already a freakish work in progress, but his fundamentals lagged, and he struggled mastering his playbook, assignments, and towering pad level.
Malloe was tasked with trying to tap Vea’s full potential by improving his knowledge and technique without compromising his skill set. He also had to make sure Vea was working to get bigger and stronger without losing that unique speed.
Malloe admits it was overwhelming to balance all that athleticism, speed, size and talent. Vea could get through people, but Malloe needed to teach him how to get past people, too. He had to combat his height, which would sometimes be an advantage for quicker, smaller offensive linemen, with better pad level and distance from linemen. Vea had to improve his striking ability and get better footwork and proper hand placement so he could come off flatter toward his opponents.
“Because of his athleticism, he gets away with a lot of it sometimes on the field,” Malloe said. “You’re almost trying to work more of the fundamental parts to keep him balanced that way.”
Dedication to his craft from Malloe transferred to Vea, who transformed into a legit NFL early-round prospect with his breakout 2016 season that saw him amass 39 tackles, 6.5 TFLs and 5 sacks.
The numbers were nice, but his physique still made him so intriguing, and last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal meeting with Alabama in Atlanta showed him as much. Owning the biggest combination of height and weight on the team, Vea blended in more with the Crimson Tide. He looked more SEC than West Coast and registered four tackles and a sack in Washington’s humbling 24-7 loss.
“When we got on the field, Vita was actually the one person that actually looked like he fit in,” Malloe said.
“Everyone in our office is trying to find the next Vita Vea,” he said.
And so is Vea.
The NFL was very enticing to Vea, and he knew his athleticism would carry him, but the second round felt like settling. Malloe told him he was a first-round talent, and with more time, he could be one of the first defenders taken a year later.
“I knew I wasn’t ready for it,” Vea said of the NFL. “I had way more to learn.”
So Vea started watching film with Malloe at least twice a week, spending those 10 or 15 minutes doing most of the talking. Malloe stays quiet, forcing Vea to figure himself out, dissecting more faults than highlights. He’s more bullish in practice, bringing game intensity and speed to each drill.
“His goal is to try and win every single rep,” Malloe said. “The last time I heard anybody try to do that was when Steve Emtman was here.”
That’s mighty praise, considering Emtman was the No. 1 pick in the 1992 NFL draft after a near-unblockable career at Washington. But even he didn’t have the speed of Vea, and no matter how much weight Vea puts on, Vea never loses his legs.
He tests the laws of physics with the way he zips around.
“It’s incredible. It’s not possible,” roommate and lineman Greg Gaines said.
It is when you consider how Vea’s football mind works. He studies and emulates linebackers and more slender pass-rushers. He wants to be more Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald than Vince Wilfork or Alan Branch. To keep his speed, he has made flexibility a priority, adding yoga to his regime.
Vea wants his tank of a body to move like a Ferrari and operate with the brain of a total tactician. He has come a long way in three years, but as he gears up for the teeth of what’s essentially a contract year, Vea is proving to be more than just a phenom.
“As impressive as he is to watch,” Malloe said, “it’s more impressive to watch him work.”
The post Vita Vea becoming well-rounded defensive tackle for Washington Huskies – Pac-12 Blog appeared first on Daily Star Sports.
from https://dailystarsports.com/2017/09/22/vita-vea-becoming-well-rounded-defensive-tackle-for-washington-huskies-pac-12-blog/ from https://dailystarsports.tumblr.com/post/165616523111
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