#lily has no stranger danger instinct

[4pfsukuna]

Todo headcannons/drabble

The lack of love yall show Todo is INSANE, but its alright… imma do our himbo hottie some justice

Warnings: lil bit of smut, mentions of Todo being a much cause he for sure is.

Being Todos girlfriend was… indescribable.

You two meet senior year of college you were a fashion major and wanted to explore one of the most fasionable places in the workd…japan.

The only love on your mind was love for clothes not romance with any men.

So when a big beefy man is standing in the door way you barely pay him any mind even though hes flexing every muscle you pay him no mind.

He thinks its love at first sight from your beauty alone and he was going to introduce himself but the sweet intoxicating aroma of your perfume makes his brain short circuit and forget about stranger danger… and boundaries… and introductions. 

IT’s not until “my beautiful tiger lily a flower as delicate as you shouldnt be carrying such a heavy load allow me” to an unaware you whos more focused on where to get lunch from.

Hes talking about you carrying all the fabrics you have thats overflowing your bag from class  and not just any bag but your denim telfar and it all happens so fast.

Hes grabbing your bag thinking hes being a gentlemen (mans is delusional okay) but youre from new york and the last time a man touched your bag he was halfway down the train platform with it and your laptop.

So off pure instinct you swing as hard as you can.

This is no cliche experience where youre the first woman who can put him on his ass, no! The man is a brickhouse you basically punched a wall. The pain shoots through your hand faster than the curses can fly out your mouth and Yuji, poor poor Yuji is witnessing it all has to come to the rescue.

“I am so sorry about my— him” he apologizes as you craddle your hand to your chest fighting back tears. That was a punch that would have caved a man's chest in.

You have to wear a cast for 3 weeks and Todo takes it upon himself to become your personal servant and he seems more than happy to? You make not to ask Yuji what was wrong with him…again and if all men were like him.

No man is like Todo Aoi.

The man may wbe delusional but hes smitten. For the next 3 weeks he’s at your door 8am sharp ready to make breakfast and aid you in whatever you need and ogling every morning when you open the door at the different ways you style your hair and clothes.

You swear He almost faints the day you open the door and you two have on the same matching nike swishy joggers. He paired his with a white tee while yours with a black graphic tee tied up and a bucket hat. 

You’re also convinced he has stars in his eyes when he realizes its his tee that he left 3 days ago on accident not wanting to get messy while making you onigiri.

Oh yes this man cooks! and will cook 3 meals a day which isnt a shock look at how big he is?! He takes advantage of your dominant hand being in a cast and your lack of knowledge on how to use chopsticks to feed you. 

Of course you put up a fight but if a fine ass 6 foot 4 pure muscle chef wants to buy your groceries cook and feed you… who were you to deny?!

He listens to your music while he cooks but loves meg thee stallion. 

Back to you wearing his shirt He notices you didnt care youve known him for only 2 weeks and when your fashion mind got ahold of something your brain knew no limits. 

He loves hearing you talk about fashion and clothes and accompanying you on your shopping hauls, using carrying the bags as an excuse. So a few weeks later when your hand is fully healed and he’s still opening every door, carrying every bag and feeding you with chopsticks at a restaurant he just had to bring you to, your forced to realize you actually enjoy spending time with him.

Not only is he a foodie as much as you he takes the best pictures… Because he stares at you so much he knows all you’re best angles… all of them… And because he’s a native he knows the best photography spots.

Its when he takes you to a lounge restaurant that has music and food when you learn alot more about Todo, this man never said how much he loves to dance!

You call it his lil dancey dance which he IMMEDIATELY corrects and tells you “its the boogie woogie”

Dancey dance, like you said.

It’s almost 3am when the two of you leave and although you two had been drinking sake all night he seemed completely sober and maybe it was because he was so big. 

He goes completely tender, heart doing flips when you use his bicep as leverage to guide you down the street. It makes him feel like a man and with you being as strong willed and stubborn as you are, allowing him to lead,  makes him feel honored. 

Pulling a cherry blossom from a tree you two were walking under and it feels like a scene from a movie as you smell it and smile up at him his strength making more shower around you two. To him though this was how his world always looked when you were around.

Delusional or lover boy?

Todo is a heavy sleeper so when you Wake up to the sound of the alarm wrapped in his arms dressed in his tshirt your scarf on your head you’re shocked. What shocks you more is his usual bun isnt bunning his hair is sprawled around his face over his shoulders, long lashes touching the tips of his cheeks and has his lips always been this full and pretty? Were you catching feelings? Oh you were fucked.

For the rest of the day you can’t help but be awkward and sometimes you appreciate his obliviousness because he assumes you’re being strange because you’re hungry and goes to try a new recipe that he couldn’t wait to cook for you and you busy yourself with fashion…things.

You actually become submerged and your eyes can’t leave the screen not even when he request you taste what he’s made. You open your mouth leaning over to take whatever he made in your mouth not questioning what it would be until you notice it’s his fingers. He always fed you with chopsticks its when you make eye contact with him that— are his eyes in the shape of hearts?

You try to avoid him after that you didnt come to japan for romance you came for fashion. But of course hes not going for that this man knows your schedule, your habits, your hiding spots and your period cravings he would find you anywhere and he’s not letting you go until you tell him why you’ve been avoiding him.

Okay maybe he’s not that oblivious. So when you admit you’re feelings and tell him about your crush he’s back to heart eyes and the first thing out of his mouth is “let’s get married”

The man is Delusional. But the more you spend time with him after officially becoming his girlfriend you realize he’s delusional not dumb. 

Certified munch™️

Will eat you like the last meal before war.

Will suck your soul out of you like a crab leg.

He speaks sign language… with his tongue… on your clit.

And when your in the brink of conciousness thats when he pulls all 9 inches out. Nothing about this man is small or skinny.

Hes so… tender though. Has a worship kink and honestly youre not suprised. He wants to worship and caress every inch of your body every curve.

Hes also a jealous man, how dare another man think hes worth of your smile.

Jealous sex with him is always 12/10… its like hes trying to prove himself to you all over again pulling out tricks hes never done before.

Its when his jealousy goes to far putting you in an embarassing situation that you almost end his life.

You want to fold his clothes with him in it but…

The only thing better than jealous sex was angry sex and you commanding him trying to over power him  is the moment his soul no longer belongs to him. 

“Youre such a jealous man” you hiss riding his length one hand pressed into his abs for leverage the other switching from his bicep to his shoulder leaving the indent of your acrylic nails.

“And you know that yet still… baby fuck” he grunts his head in your shoulder trying to hold onto his release but your just so tight and warm and the squelching sounds mixed with your heavy breathing has his two brain cells fighting to form a sentence.

“Fuck… dont ever do no dumb shit mmmm like that again” you snap grabbing the nape of his neck pulling him up by the hair there and he almost cums like that.

He loves when you take control as much as he loves you taking your anger out on him his thumb goes to play with your clit knowing hes not going to last much longer.

“Like this” he smirks applying pressure and your hands slip but hes there to catch the pace pushing his hips up to match the rhythm you set. 

Your neighbors are not happy about your all night sessions but they wont say anything to the giant.

Aftercare is nothing less than special warm rag, massage, lofi music, the curtains open just enough to have the city lights on you and whatever 5 star meal he concocts up to make sure you eat before bed.

Tojis been a tenderoni for you since day 1.

#todo aoi #aoi todo #todo x black!reader #todo x reader #todo x you #todo x y/n #Todo x black y/n #Todo x black reader #jjk x reader #jjk smut #jjk fanart #jjk x black!reader

[queeniecook]

May 1846

Mid to late May 1846 – Moonwood Mill

After almost a month of running here and there, not having any idea where she is wondering to – Lily finally feels the need to stop in a small town. She had depended on the kindness of strangers – some were very kind, some where not. She is tired of running. It has not erased the image of her beloved cousins as monsters from her head. Or the thing she saw masquerading as a noblewoman outside the Vatore mansion.

Lily takes in the view of the small town, it’s beautiful. It seems peaceful – so far. She notices there’s a lot of cut lumber, maybe it’s a mill of some sort? She wonders the dirt streets, not sure what she’s looking for.

It’s not long before a man approaches her, slowly and politely. He introduces himself as Kristopher Volkov. Lily introduces herself in return, manners are important to her.

Kristopher had recently inherited his position among his pack from his mother. He misses her dearly but is doing his best to carry on her work with their pack.

“Where am I, Mr. Volkov?” Lily asks softly.

“Moonwood Mill.” He answers. He can tell the poor woman is lost. Normally, his kind aren’t very open to human strangers but he senses something different in Miss Zhu. “It is going to rain soon, would you like a dry place to stay during the rain?” He asks her. He can smell the rain coming as well as feel it in his body. 

Lily pauses, normally a single woman going off with a man and one that she doesn’t know at that, would be extremely inappropriate as well as dangerous but her instincts are telling her that Kristopher can be trusted. She nods her head and softly says “Thank you.”

Once inside, the rain begins to beat down on the Volkov home. Kristopher for his part does his best to make Lily feel welcome, he offers her a cup of warm tea and some biscuits he made that very morning. They chat while the tea kettle warms the water for their drinks.

“What brings you to our humble town?” He asks the young woman before him. She gets a real distant look in her eyes as she stares off into space, as if relieving something. He’s patient. As a werewolf, he knows there’s things in life you don’t wish to speak about.

Lily finally snaps out of her memories. “I’m afraid you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. There’s time I hardly believe it but then I pinch myself and see it’s true.”

The tea kettle whistles, breaking the thick air that had settled in the kitchen. Kristopher pours them both a cup of tea and they settle in with their biscuits. He decides it’s best to change the subject and instead tells her things about the town, obviously leaving out certain things. He tells her about a local inn ran by a family friend. That she will allow Lily to stay there if she cleans the inn, that’s an arrangement that Mrs. Lunvik has used several times with people passing through. It works out well for the old woman.

A week passes and Lily has actually found herself enjoying her time in the town of Moonwood Mill. She cleans the inn for Mrs. Lunvik and has been spending time with Kristopher. Things were actually seeming normal and peaceful until the night of the full moon. That’s when Lily learns another shocking truth. Not only are their vampires, but there are also werewolves and that Kristopher is one of them. She thinks of running again but something deep down inside her tells her not to. She gingerly brings up what she saw to the werewolf that had helped her when she first showed up in town. He explains the history of werewolves to her and she confesses what happened to her cousins.

After learning that werewolves run Moonwood Mill as a safe haven for werewolves and those like them and are the natural enemies of vampires, Lily surprises herself in asking to becoming a werewolf. Not only does she want to protect others from suffering the same fate as her cousins but seeing Kristopher with his pack gives her the sense that they are family, something she no longer has. She wants that again.

Kristopher grants Lily her request after making sure it’s what she truly wants. The bite and first transformation are painful but being a werewolf helps Lily no longer feel powerless and helpless. She instantly feels a part of something, something she hadn’t even felt while human and surrounded by her family.

Meanwhile…

Though warned by the Count, the Vatore siblings had tracked down their cousin. Not to harm her but in hopes of talking to her. They had tracked her all the way to Moonwood Mill, which Straud had told them they are absolutely not allowed to step foot in. Instead, they hover around the border of the town.

“She is one of them now.” Caleb declares, feeling a pang in his chest he wasn’t quite used to anymore.

Lilth narrows her eyes, wrinkling her nose as the scent of werewolves hits her. She too is sad that her cousin is now a werewolf. “We can no longer reach her.” Until the transformation, they had a chance. Not anymore. It seems the Vatore siblings have truly lost what was left of her family. Their parents think them truly dead after an arranged train accident in Willow Creek by Count Straud himself. He had a buffet of the victims, much to Caleb’s disgust. Even Lilith had a few snacks, she said it was to end their suffering. Caleb simply left, he’s coming realize that he may need to go out on his own. He doesn’t agree with some of Vladislaus Straud’s ways.

“At least she has someone to care for her.” Caleb admits quietly, before speeding off followed closely by his sister.

#the grant legacy #lily zhu #kristopher volkov #ts4 #sims4 #simsstories #ts4 legacy #caleb vatore #liltih vatore #ts4 werewolves #ts4 vampires #moonwood mill #ts4 story #sims4 storytelling #sims4 story #ts4 gameplay #thesims4 #generation 2

[lilylovesundertale]

Hanging out with friends-pre lily aquado future also early Christmas one shot

Lily:*get the snowball trown at her* OH TRY ME*lift up the snow because snow has water in it*

Darko: HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR

zap: ya sis your the only one who can do that here

Nora: I can't believe I'm saying this but Darko right hun

Darko: SEE!?

*lily drop the snowball*

Lily: to be honest I didn't know I was thinking there

After a while they began having a snowball fight*

Echo: begins drinking hot cocoa*

Star: *watching the chaos*

Darko: so God help me if you hate my future husband

Zap:*begins blushing* BEBE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE

Nora: there's no way in heck you're getting married before me

Lily: wait what*staring at Nora confused *

After a while Darko accidentally hit lily in the face with a snow covered rock which made her became crying with a black eye*

Darko: ...

Zap: well it was nice knowing you babe

Darko: I am so fucking dead

*Nora begin standing up hiding her face*

Echo: sorry star I have to keep Nora from murdering drako

Lily:*still crying*

Nora: *after being held back by echo she began looking at lily's eye* you're lucky echoes here Darko*send him a death stare while putting an eye patch on Lily's black eye which luckily it's the same as a blind eye which is green for some reason*

Darko: gulp*

Zap: THANK GOD*kiss Darko crying* I didn't want you to die

Darko: you guys are just used to her being like that

Echo: demons are like that but to be honest you were a ex god I'm guessing you don't develop your demon nature

Star: wait a second echo are you a Demon

Echo: ... I was forced to be one that's different you see when a demon is born like that they have two instinct natures 1 avoid everyone 2 kill everyone if they get older

Star: WHAT

Echo: however some species like Nora's for example are much more kind natured however if there lover gets hurt by someone else like for example a fake best friend (I'm talking about oplea) of hers-

Nora: ... Why didn't you tell me

Lily: I didn't... I didn't know she was... Until she pushed me into the lake

Nora: don't worry I'm going to go look for her after this

Echo: as you can see Darko was the one who hurt lily however since I held her back she's now focused on treating the injury however since I talked about someone who hurt lily in the past the target has changed

Star: but what if it's an accidental thing

Echo: it depends on how much the other likes them if I do it which I apologize for she won't do anything since she feels neutral towards me however if it's like you or zap she wouldn't mind at all after all it was an accident... However since it was Darko she wanted to murder him I don't know why she hates him so much but either way good to know

Star: oh I get it wait is she going to be okay

Echo: other than the fact there's going to be a black eye she'll be perfectly fine however I don't know if Nora will her go to snowball fights after this

Star: oh ... So I'm guessing if someone like a stranger hurt her on accident if they apologize...

Echo: they will have the demon blessing

Star: huh?

Echo: the demon blessing was something a long time ago Nora actually has it however she doesn't trust anyone with it yet I don't know what it does but it seems important

Star: wait a second why does Nora always know where lily was she got if very hurt

Echo: you know I always wondered that-... Oh never mind the demon blessing it makes the demon know if the person that they gave it two is in danger

Star: so that's the reason why Nora told me to build a walkie-talkie to talk through other dimensions

Echo: oh right if a demon cant reach them that's because they usually trapped in another dimension I'm guessing Nora was probably-

Nora: yes I did almost have a panic attack luckily Mila helped me with that*lily seems to be fast asleep now*

Echo: oh

Thank you for reading I understand it's not Christmas we waited but it's in the middle of winter so why not

#lily aquado au #psychonauts au #lily x nora #darko x zap

[sneverussape]

thinking about an au of the day lily got her hogwarts letter and the customary professor visit to explain the wizarding world (i hc this as mcgonagall) and when minerva tries to explain herself at the doorstep, lily exclaims, “i knew you’d be coming soon! i’ve been waiting all week for you!”

and minerva, confused at this statement, says in reply, “knew, miss evans?” because how on earth could a muggleborn child living in a muggle neighborhood with no registered wizarding dwelling for miles on end actually know of the wizarding world?

lily juts out her chin proudly and says, “sev told me. he’s had his letter now for a full week and hasn’t shut up about it!”

sev. severus? snape, minerva remembers the letter she had signed, yes, just about two weeks prior. she hadn’t realized the address it had been delivered to was nearby. the boy isn’t muggleborn because he wasn’t on the list that she has to attend to, but then...if his home is nearby why is there no registered wizarding dwelling? who are his parents?

lily is still speaking. apparently she and her parents already know of the wizarding world a great deal. “thanks to sev,” she says, almost defensive. curiosity stirs within minerva.

“your knowledge of the wizarding world is impressive, although i would still have to sit down with your parents and explain,” she says. lily nods and opens the door wider.

“that’d be perfect because i don’t think they believe me and sev half the time, if i’m honest. they’d probably like it better coming from a grown-up.” she helps minerva settle into the couch and turns away to call for her parents.

“miss evans?”

the child whirls around, bright and looking eager to please. “yes?”

”would you be so kind as to direct me towards your friend’s home after we are done?”

“severus?”

“yes. do you know his parents?”

at this, lily frowns. “a little but i rarely see them. sev doesn’t speak of them much, and they don’t come around here either.”

”would you know their names?” it would be easy enough to sleuth around for information but minerva has always preferred the direct approach, especially since lily is obliging enough anyway.

”tobias,” lily says. “i remember coz that’s sev’s middle name and...ohh, i don’t remember his mother’s name.”

minerva doesn’t remember a tobias snape ever gracing the halls of hogwarts, or even filling out the book of records in the school. in fact, the name is undoubtedly very muggle. but if the child is this young and a halfblood, then the chances of her knowing the mother is very high...

”oh, i remember now!” lily claps her hands. “she had a fancy last name.”

minerva frowns. “fancy?”

”prince. his mother’s name is eileen prince.”

#ficlet #somewhat related to that au of minerva and eileen being a couoke #*COUPLE #what if #my fic #snape #mcgonagall #eileen prince #hp #lily has no stranger danger instinct #lmao

[gyllenhaalstories]

CHAMPAGNE PROBLEMS — SUGAR DADDY!ZEMO

summary: a series of unfortunate (or fortunate, depending whose side you’re on) events brought you to mandripoor seven years ago. it was fun, dangerous and exciting for the most part. a lot has changed, but you are back in high town in the hope of purchasing a rare monet painting, and reuniting with an old flame.

warnings: tfatws spoilers, alcohol, established sugar daddy x sugar baby relationship, smut (daddy kink, dom/sub/switch dynamics, choking, hair pulling, blowjob, fingering, both degradation and praise kinks, spit kink, cum play, marking, unprotected sex). 18+ MINORS DON’T INTERACT.

word count: 2685

gif credit: pedropcl

notes: this (very long) fic is brought to you by zemo’s #1 hoe. for the sake of the fic, zemo’s daughter and wife have never existed. i get it zemo is the bad guy daniel is not your typical hottie but let me live my fantasy and reclaim my crown as the original zemo fan. listen to off to the races by lana del rey and let no man steal your thyme by the pentangle if you want to fibe with me! i hope you guys will enjoy it!!! <3

“If you keep staring at me like this, I’ll mistake you for the Mona Lisa.” You took the last sip from your glass, which was immediately filled by the man standing behind you. You had felt his familiar presence a long time ago, but you were too mesmerized by the rare painting trapped in a cage of glass to bother notifying him. “Your glance has followed me around the room. In other circumstances, I’d find it creepy. Now, it’s just very flattering.”

You heard him laugh through his nose. You saw his reflecting in the glass, lit up by flashing blue and pink lights and vibrating ever so slightly to the sound of the loud music.

“You’re like a Monet painting. From afar, you are clear as cristal and easy to read like an open book. From up close...” You marked a pause and stoodby straight. Your eyes never leaving the work of art you had been scrutinizing for the past hour. Water Lilies in Bloom, it was called, an incorrect translation that always brought a grin to your lips. “You are a mystery.” You swallowed thickly the bubbly liquid, recognizing the peculiar taste of champagne.

“It is arrogant but right to think of myself as the pure definition of mysterious.”

You chuckled, throwing your head back in disbelief. Some things never changed.

“After all these years... I managed to find my way back to you. Now that’s a mystery.”

You turned on your heels as you spoke. “Is it, though? Tell me, Daddy. Is it really that hard to believe you’d recognize your property even after all these years. I heard they put you in a pretty little cage. Didn’t have much else to think about than what you missed most?”

He took you in, just how ethereal you looked under the colourful neon lights. You had your arms pressed against your chest, the shiny material of your matching bracelet and necklace twinkled. He squinted slightly, his lips curled into a smirk while he looked down your body, the one thing that kept him sane after all these years in jail (that and the thought of destroying symbols like super soldiers and make the world a better place once and for all). “Nice dress.”

“My Sugar Daddy got it for me.” You did a twirl, showing off your outfit innocently. “You like it?”

He reached up to his neck and pulled on the collar of his purple sweater, like it was a tie he could loosen up. “So you received everything I sent you.”

You clicked your tongue. “Not everything...” Your head turned to look behind you, where your most priced possession was glowing in its full glory — soon to-be yours, you should say.

“Use your words, Princess. Say it and it’s yours.”

It was your turn to analyze him, to take every ounce of cockiness and pride. “You’re playing with fire.” You walked closer to him, erasing the distance but increasing the tension between the two of you. “All the money in the world won’t get you everything you want.”

He was quick to move, his soldiers instincts never left his body, clearly. His delicate hand wrapped around your throat so effortlessly. It tightened, forcing you to manage your breathing. “Money got me everything I wanted already.”

“What is it, Daddy? What is it that you want so badly?” You clenched your jaw, holding his glance which was filled with lust, instead of rage and grudges.

“You never looked so beautiful.” He leaned closer too, whispering the words to your ear. It was liked the loud club music turned into white noise. He could not care less about the stares and the words strangers exchanged as they witnessed the scene. High Town was not his playground.

But you were his plaything.

*~*~*

History repeated itself, in one way or another. Icons rose and fell. Symbols mattered and vanished into oblivion. Originality turned into plagiarism. Winners would lose it all, losers would dig their graves deeper into the abyss.

History repeated itself. The sight before your eyes was the same one as seven years ago, when all that was on this man’s life before meeting you was this stupid Mission Report of December 16 1991. You met him at a party like this, in High Town before he was banned from the land. He caught your attention doing his ridiculous dance moves, sharing his knowledge about the art pieces showcased around the room. Then he brought you to a hotel, the ones so fancy they had multiple rooms and a vintage record player as part of the decor. Only, it worked, and he put on his favourite Édith Piaf records. Rien de Rien, Le Petit Homme, La Vie en Rose, song after song, you were diving deeper in your memories.. He was popping yet another bottle of champagne open and pouring some in flutes you would never touch for the rest of the night. The same night, seven years ago, it changed your life. At the second you regretted setting foot in Mandripoor, he changed your mind and gave you the best months of your life. You would ride around Europe in vintage cars, dine in gigantic mansions you called castles. You admired the old paintings of his royal family members while he brought you a silk bathrobe to change into after a steamy shower.

You’d get lost in your thoughts, he’d get lost in his ambitions. You two were one and the same, in one way or another. That affirmation sent shivers down your spine. You could not tell if it was a good or a bad thing, a shy voice in your head was reassuring you it was the former.

“They call me Baron again, I guess I’m not doing too bad after all.” His voice snapped you back to reality. He was still wearing that obnoxious trench coat. You hated it, it made him look like a pimp. Although that was not too far from the truth, as the mountain of luxurious jewelry and clothes in your closet proved.

“Do you like being back here?”

“I love it here.” The emphasis on the last word was audible. You nodded in agreement. This place was heaven on Earth for some people, hell for others. For both you and Zemo, it was somewhere in between.

“You’re certainly not here for me.” You laughed, setting the still full glass on the nightstand.

He shook his head, mouthing a negative response.

“What is it, this time? Mission report February 32?”

“Something like that.” He answered, after another silent laugh.

“If only you had made me your mission, your life would have been easier.”

“Yours would have been, too.”

You shrugged. You agreed, but you did not need to say it. He knew. The two of you knew that this warmth washing over your bodies was the answer to all of your problems. Yet, you were fighting the urge to surrender and give in.

History always repeated itself.

All it took was for him to set his hand on your exposed knee. You got flashbacks of the numerous times his hand rested there while you two drove deeper in the country side, in some old Chevrolet, Ford, or any other European brands he could find and buy.

“Say it, Princess. Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

You swallowed thickly and fell on your knees. He sat straight, as straight as he could on the comfortable mattress, and spread his legs wider. “I want to go back in time.”

He leaned foward and you opened your mouth, your tongue poking out. He spit in your mouth, and you swallowed. The giggle that followed your actions sent blood to his hardening cock. “Just as eager as I remembered, right? You’d do anything to please me.”

“I’d do anything for you, Daddy.” You repeated, the confession left you breathless.

“That’s my good girl.” He brushed your hair with so much tenderness for a moment, you let out a content moan. He changed the mood real quick when he pushed your head closer to his crotch and unbuckled his belt at lightning’s speed.

Your mouth was watering at the sight, a sight that was tattooed in your memory forever. Whatever relationship you two had went beyond fancy presents and sex, it was a connection that tickled your souls and left you a different woman than when it first started. You wasted no time, stroking him a few times as you spit on his blushing tip. You smeared the spit over his sensitive spot and pulled the sweetest moans out of him, which grew louder and more intense when you finally wrapped your lips around his head.

No one compared to you, to your attention to details, to the way you were taking him all in, inches by inches like you were made for his cock and his cock only. No one compared to how blissful you looked pulling back, choking on your own saliva and the lack of oxygen. “You look so beautiful, Babygirl.”

His praise made you bat your eyes, hoping to receive more compliments. You flattened your tongue, licking him from the base to the top before you deep throated his cock again. You never left him untouched, your hands were massaging his walls or exploring his thick thighs while your mouth almost brought him to the edge.

That was when he pulled on your hair and demanded you went back up on your feet. “I bet you’re soaked. All you need is to see a cock to wet your panties.” You nodded as one hand reached up to cup your face, the other to cup your core from under your dress. He could felt the ever growing wet patch. He discarded of your panties in one effortless pull and pressed his pointer and middle fingers against your sensitive clit. He circled it, studying your reaction.

“Daddy...” You breathed out. “I need you.”

“I’m proud of you for using your words,” his finger slipped inside of your entrance, you moaned out his name. “So greedy and needy and easy for me, like the good whore that you are. Is that right? You’re Daddy’s perfect little whore?”

He was two fingers in, all the way to the last knuckles. He pumped in and out of you slowly yet roughly. You smirked when he finally touched that spongy spot inside of you. “I’m Daddy’s. I’ll always belong to Daddy.”

“That’s right.”

He brushed his thumb over your clit, his fingers stopped fucking your hole to abuse the bundle of nerves until tears started to pool in your eyes.

“Be a good baby.” You looked at him with doe eyes, sucking his thumb between your plump lips. “Do what I want.”

And you reached your high. You had nothing to hold you up, except for your shaky legs that threatened to give in under your weight and the intensity of your orgasm. You sucked on his thumb harder, hoping to quiet some of your moans but your screams escaped your parted lips.

In a blink of an eye, you were pushed against the bed and bounced against the body that blocked your every movement. His pants were nowhere to be found, just like the rest of your respective clothes. Your finger tips brushed over the skin of his shaven cheeks, down to his neck and chest. The intimacy, you had craved it all these years.

“I bet that sweet cunt of yours missed my cock.” He spoke, chuckling mockingly when he pushed himself in your stretched hole. You both let out a long moan of satisfaction. He rested inside of you, adjusting to your warmth and tightness. “I was right.”

“You’re always right.” You flattered his ego, and earned a sloppy kiss in return.

His lips moved down to your neck where he sucked hickeys and left small bite marks as he picked up the pace of his hips.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, hoping to bring him that much closer, and deeper, into you.

Zemo pinned your wrists above your head and pumped his cock inside of your tight pussy like his life depended on it. “So fucking wet for me,  gonna make me cum, Baby.” He had tried so hard to hold back, not to mark you and claim you again.

“Wait for me.” You begged him, and he brought one hand down to your neck again. He squeezed it, choking you deliciously until your eyes rolled inwards. He tightened his grip ever so slightly and he felt it, he felt the way your walls fluttered around him.

He thrusted inside of you, his hips snapped against yours and the sound of your skin slapping echoed in the bedroom. “Cum for me, Princess. Cum with Daddy.”

And you did, your body exploded in fireworks when you felt his release planted inside of you. He kept moving, rocking back and forth. He leaned back, leaving your neck to rub your clit once again. He was a moaning mess, the overstimulation made it almost painful to keep going but he did not want it to stop, not until...

“Fuck, Daddy!” And a second wave of pleasure hit you hard, it left you panting and shaking even more than before.

Zemo had to pull away quickly, and already missed the feeling of being inside of you.

Your fingers reached between your bodies, dipping into your folds and moving up to your lips as they were covered in his seed. You painted your lips with his white cum, before you licked them and your fingers clean as he watched, completely amazed and mesmerized. “Taste just as good as I remembered.”

He laughed, he was always one step ahead of everything and everyone, but you always managed to take him by surprise. You were just that great, that perfect. He rolled to the side and fell heavily on the bed. His skin was glistening under the light of the chandeliers from the thin layer of sweat.

You pressed your legs together, clenching around nothing. You hoped you could keep his load inside of you, as a proof this had really happened and it was not just one of your daydreams where you two would be reunited.

“I missed this.” You boke the silence with a small voice. Your fingers brushed over the bruises on your neck, and you hissed at the sensitive skin.

He turned on his side, worried for a second that he went too hard on you. The smile and joy on your face proved him otherwise. “I missed you, Princess.”

“I missed you so much, Daddy.”

*~*~*

The sun hurt your eyes, he noticed. He slipped out of the bed to pull on the curtains only to hurry back to you so you could lay your head on his chest. You were still wearing your bracelet, he started playing with it.

His mind was racing, just like his heart. You could feel it rumble in his chest like a loud engine. Something was bothering him.

“Oh, Zemo...” You caressed his cheek, looking up to study his features. “You can fool the smartest people in the world, but you’ll never be able to lie to me.”

“I’m coming home, Baby. I’m coming home now.”

You looked down again, taking a moment to answer. “Let me guess, you’ll take me to a fancy house like Rebecca’s Manderley and Jane Eyre’s manor at the Rochester’s. You’ll show me around, make me feel like I belong. And you’ll leave, high and dry. Again. All the money and presents from your people won’t erase the pain I felt. Not this time, not ever.”

He pressed his thin lips together. Pain, suffering, he was used to it. He had his fair share of it, caused even more to other people. The thought of hurting you, however, was unbearable.

“Every kingdom needs its king...” He paused and moved you, so you were resting on your elbows and your face was closer to his. “And an even greater queen.”

#baron zemo #helmut zemo #marvel imagine #the falcon and the winter soldier #tfatws spoilers #tfatws #one shot: champagne problems

[dawn-cafe]

Modern AU meet-cute series

A/N: I didn't have to include a moodboard with this but I felt like being extra.  Also... this was meant to be just a headcanon list but here's a whole ficlet, I guess! Can’t decide if I’m gonna finish Childe’s or Diluc’s after this, so inputs are welcome. Requests are open, rules are here! -Hal

Prompt: meet-cute

Content includes: Part 1 of Modern AU meet-cute series. model!kaeya, semi-ooc kaeya i think, florist!reader

Pairing: kaeya x gn!reader

Kaeya: he's a model who's escaping the paparazzi and you're closing up your flower shop

Kaeya's a pretty big-name model in Mondstadt.

He's been featured in Fontaine Fashion Week for the past 2 years and has modeled for every season for Favonius & Co.'s works.

With such popularity, you'd think he'd have some sort of body guard to keep him away from the prying eyes of Teyvat Pop News.

But no, he's a pretty stubborn guy and Jean, his manager, never fails to give him a piece of her mind every time.

He finds himself escaping from a few paparazzi as he's walking home from the mall, so he detours and tries to find a place to rest after he think he's lost them.

Kaeya then spots the lights on inside a little flower shop and thinks, "Oh, thank god."

You're closing up your little flower shop, sweeping the floor of any fallen leaves and flower petals you've cut up for the day. Normally, you'd keep the shop running til evening, but something felt off and you couldn't place what it was. So it's only late afternoon, yet the shop sign has been flipped to 'CLOSED' and you're packing up hours before closing time. There's faint music coming from the back room and you're humming along to the tune when the serenity gets cut off by something knocking on glass. You jump in surprise, looking behind you to see someone by the porch. By the looks of it, they were out of breath from running.

Setting aside your cleaning equipment, you walk up to the door to see a blue-haired guy, dressed in similar-colored clothing, hands on his knees as he pants. He looks up at you with starry blue eyes and blows his bangs away. You think he looks familiar, and that he's breathtaking even when he looks frazzled.

The chimes ring as you open the door a crack. "Hey, sorry..." you start, "but we're closed for the day." you tell him halfheartedly.

Kaeya stands up and you see he's taller than you expected. He leans back and looks to the side past the road, and blue eyes meet yours in desperation. "Sorry, I'm trying to get away from... a few people." His head tilts to the side, puts on the best puppy-dog eyes he can muster, and clasps his hands together. "Can I come in and stay for a while?" he pleads.

It's bizarre, you think, that someone could look so innocently cute yet dangerously handsome at the same time. At first, your instinct is to open your mouth and agree to help him. Of course, if this was a bad situation and you're the only refuge he could find, who were you to deny him? Though there's also the possibility that this could be a really bad scheme, and he'll rob you as soon as you let him in. He looks too dashing to do such a thing, but you can never be too sure... but also do robbers even wear designer clothes like he does?

He senses the hesitation in the way you don't immediately respond. "I-It's nothing dangerous, I swear!" Kaeya's slim hands are held up in front of him in defense before he runs it through his deep blue locks. The cool afternoon breeze sweeps his cologne to your direction. He smells of mint, of fresh summer air and freedom. "The paparazzi won't get off my back and I could really use the help," He explains briefly.

At the mention of paparazzi, it makes so much more sense. You still don't remember where you've seen him, but he sure fits the role of some celebrity by the way he dresses and carries himself. That... and his face looks really attractive. He's still smiling at you with just the tiniest bit of desperation creeping in his voice when he talks. All caution goes out the window as you open the door wider. There's still no one behind him, but you usher him inside your little shop. "Alright, but if they start bombarding my business, that's on you." you warn him playfully.

The breath he's holding escapes as he exhales in relief. "You're an angel," He beams at you with the brightest of smiles.

The door closes and is locked once again, and you go around the shop to close the blinds just a little. Kaeya breathes in. He's not the first stranger to walk in your shop, but it sure feels a little awkward as if you're being judged. "Do all flower shops smell this good, or is it just yours?" he asks coyly, taking in the array of flowers and plants on display. The playful roll of your eyes and your retort of "Do you ask this to all florists, or is it just me?" make him laugh, with his eyes crinkling at the corners and a hand over his chest.

He follows you around, assisting you in closing up, and you don't miss the way he wipes a bead of sweat off his forehead most likely due to his escapade. "It's better this way," you say, pulling a string to close a set of blinds, "at least they won't see you." With the last of the blinds shut, you turn to your pseudo-customer and ask, "Would you like some water?"

"Please." the embarrassment shows on his face.

You disappear in the back room for a bit, grabbing a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. When you emerge to the front of the shop, you find Kaeya seated on a barstool next to the counter, idly thumbing the calla lilies on display next to the cash register. The beginning of the day's sunset peeks through the slats of the blinds, capturing him like a painting. It's peaceful, ethereal, and you almost want to pull out your phone and take a quick photo to immortalize what you see. It doesn't help that some love song starts playing on the shop's speakers. The spell is broken when he catches you looking, and he looks at you with an easygoing smile.

Clearing your throat, you step forwards and place the bottle of water in front of him. You feel the heat rise to your cheeks, and if he notices you were staring, he doesn't comment on it. "Here." You place the bottle in front of him and he takes it eagerly. "Thank you." Kaeya bows his head graciously.

Picking up where you left off, you hold the broomstick and dustpan and start cleaning the floors again. "So um... you're gonna have to forgive me," you sheepishly smile at him, "but why are you being chased by the paps?"

As fate would have it, the magazine rack next to the counter has several magazines including a copy of last month's Mondstadt Fashion. And he recognizes himself on the cover, wearing a few of Favonius & Co.'s Spring Collection pieces. Kaeya picks up the magazine and places it on the counter, which you peer at curiously. The double-take you do makes him laugh again, watching you look at the cover, then to him in front of you, and back at the cover.

"Oh," you murmur as the realization dawns on you. "you're a model."

You don't dwell much on celebrity gossip so you don't really recognize most of them at first glance. But no wonder he seemed familiar, you'd seen him in a couple of magazines both in your store and in news sites. If paparazzi were chasing him, he must be a huge hit with the general public.

For Kaeya, however, he shrugs like it's no big deal. "Specifically, Teyvat's hottest model and top bachelor of 2021." he says as he closes the water bottle cap. "According to Mond Fashion." he adds with a cheeky wink. You scrunch up your nose impishly. "Still though, having paparazzi invade your privacy and all." you shake your head to the floor mostly, still occupied with cleaning the remaining dirt. "Glad I could be of use somewhat." you tell him.

“Kaeya.” he holds out his hand in a formal handshake.

You give him your name and grasp his hand; it’s soft, like the smile that never leaves his face

Kaeya offers to help around with your closing routine, but you stop him before he could pick up the broom again. It feels wrong having someone else do your tasks even though it's offered in good faith (and after all, he wanted to repay you for taking him in past your closing time). So you settle with having him arrange your excess daisies in a basket for tomorrow's bouquet orders. It's pretty easy work that he couldn't mess up, so you leave him at it while you clean out your floral buckets. Still, you try to speed through your routine and leisurely chat with him, thinking he must be bored with his task. 

What hobbies do celebrities even have?, you wonder. Surely it can't be chatting up some florist and counting flowers.

"Do I look pretty?" he asks abruptly. And when your eyes land on him, your breath gets caught in your throat.

Kaeya looks different. In fashion magazines he's featured in, he's always prim and proper, composed. It's not to say he's stiff, because he definitely carries that confidence wherever he goes. But to be dressed and told to act, smile, and pose a certain way; it can look... artificial. But here, sitting on a barstool with a few daisies in his hair; here with his blue jacket draped across his lap, a loose white shirt and hands full of flowers. Here, where instead of studio lights, it's just the soft lights overhead on your small store. And here, where instead of cameras taking shots upon shots of his face, it's just you in your apron that he focuses on.

"Breathtakingly so." You smile.

By the end of the day, he has a whole flower crown on his head and you wonder why blue's related to sadness when it's brought you joy when you least expect it. 

#i swear i only meant to make this a headcanon list #somehow i ended up with over 1.6k words on kaeya alone so that's that #i know nothing about flower shops im sorry #and i haven't written in ages #just hal things #genshin impact #genshin impact moodboard #genshin moodboard #genshin impact fanfic #genshin fanfic #genshin kaeya #kaeya alberich #kaeya #kaeya fanfic #kaeya x reader #kaeya moodboard #moodboard #fic

[outofangband]

Masterlist/Explanation of the Dark Arafinwë verse

Other masterlists

Next

Maedhros is attending a formal event near Alqualondë and is accosted by another elf. Unable to wrangle the truth from the ages of pre-existing biases and feuds, Teleri wardens arrest both the accoster and Maedhros who finds himself fighting against his own memories. When, to his very great surprise, Arafinwë himself intervenes on his behalf, Maedhros is brought back to the palace to be kept under supervision until the matter is investigated. (More details at the end notes)

CW: forced stripping (non sexual), abuse of power, callous disregard of past trauma/exploiting trauma responses, dissociation, gaslighting 

Edit: I’ve had some people tell me that the gaslighting in this story is very difficult to read so I wanted to give an extra warning for that element

Tag list: @iwenttomordor @elarinya-nailo @mozart-the-meerkitten @tears-and-lilies @much-ado-about-whumping 

“Strip.”

There was no malice in the command, simply an almost weary calm. Nelyafinwë was aware of his own eyes widening just as a sense of unreality came over him. The soft warmth of the evening felt suddenly oppressive and the clean and comfortable room he had been lead into twisted and distorted. He took a step backwards and his half uncle raised an eyebrow.

“I know you carry weapons upon thy person, Russandol. For rather obvious reasons I cannot allow you to keep them.”

The room did not come back into focus but Maitimo gave a small sigh, apprehension as much as relief. He raised one booted foot and undid the laces, pulling out a small blade and handing it over to Arafinwë who pocketed it with a small nod of acknowledgment. Maitimo then undid the other boot to show there was nothing in it.

Arafinwë looked impassively at the other elf, fingers pressed together at his chest.

“It would not be very prudent to simply take thy word, Russandol. Remove the rest, I will give you something to wear.” Maedhros’s gaze traveled to his face, his own expression of startled disbelief. He waited for a few moments for Arafinwë to leave or turn away. Arafinwë does not. 

Maitimo swallowed, aware of the tingling, almost trembling in his arms or legs. He started on the buttons on his tunic so it fell into two sides, revealing the scars on his chest. Including the numerous iterations of kinslayer carved or tattooed into his flesh. He winced as he thought about this, not wishing to force Arafinwë to view another reminder of what had happened here so many years ago.

But he handed the tunic over over. Arafinwë set it and his boots on the bed, more of an examination table than for rest. He gestures for Maitimo to continue when the Noldor prince pauses again. Next come the trousers, slightly scuffed from the altercation that had landed him here in the first place. The heat rises to his ears and he can no longer maintain any sort of eye contact, directing his gaze to the floor instead.

Maitimo procrastinates pulling off his leggings until Arafinwë makes a soft sound of impatience, jarring him back to the present. The present where he is standing almost completely naked in front of the king of the Noldor in Valinor.

“I was there when Angamando fell and I have worked as a healer. I know you are scarred. Please remove the rest.”  

Maitimo hands over the last of his clothes and finally Arafinwë looks away from him, gathering up his leggings, tunic, trousers and boots along with his jewelry. 

“Stay here, Russandol. I will bring these to my guard to examine.” He starts towards the door.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Maitimo sees that the beaded bracelet Rôg had crafted for him is visible in the pocket of his trousers. He longs to hold it, to rub the smooth stone between his fingers as he does when the memories of the past intrude so vividly into the present.

“Lord Arafinwë?” He starts to say but the look on his half uncle’s face, that same impassive, cool interest, prevents any more words from leaving him and he merely shakes his head and waits as the other leaves.

...

Arafinwë returns nearly half of an hour later and Maitimo has not dared to move, even to try and cover himself. Loathe as he is to admit it to himself, any scolding or reprimand he might receive is likely worse than the shame of being so exposed. The door is closed, perhaps it was locked. 

The king moves past him to take up his previous position. His expression has not changed. 

“I am afraid you will have to be restrained for the night, Russandol. I do not have guards to spare.” Maedhros looks up at him, his heartrate spiking again. 

“I do not need to be restrained, My Lord” he says slowly, carefully, “I am hardly going to attack you nor anyone else, naked and with no weapon.” 

Arafinwë studies him. “I have absolutely no idea whether or not you will attack another should you become frightened or angry. I cannot afford the possibility that you enter such a state and harm someone. Lay down,” he gestures to the narrow bed before continuing, “This is a process that would typically be done by our wardens. Are you not grateful you are not suffering this under the hands of strangers?” 

Maitimo was more acutely aware than ever of his nakedness as he took the few steps forward and lay down on his stomach. He hears rather than sees Arafinwë come to his right side, using a strap made of a soft leather to fasten his hands down. He urges himself silently to breathe through his nose, to remain calm. By the time his ankles were also strapped down, he had to actively count his breaths to keep them steady.

“Open your mouth.” This next command is spoken as calmly, coolly as the others, it is only Maitimo who is experiencing the dizzying panic. He doesn’t obey this time. Arafinwë approaches him again, kneeling beside his head and holding out what seem to be more of the leather straps. 

 “Your teeth are a weapon, Russandol,” now there is something like sarcasm, mocking in the king’s voice, Maitimo is sure of it.

 (Is he sure?)

“You can hardly be surprised that you are not trusted here. Do you not understand I have made this process significantly better for you? Open your mouth. This will not hurt you and it is only until the morrow.” 

Maedhros tastes cleaned leather as something is forced into his mouth, preventing him from moving his tongue. More straps are fixed around his head. Arafinwë is careful to keep his hair out of the way of them so it does not become caught or tangled. But the parts that press against his face irritate the old scars made when less considerate hands strapped similar devices over him. 

Finally, Arafinwë takes a step back. Maedhros’s shallow breathing is softened slightly by the piece in his mouth. 

“Good. Get some rest, Russandol. I will check on you in the morning.”

To be continued

Author’s note: This type of gaslighting used both implicitly and explicitly throughout here, the “no, of course there’s nothing sinister about me doing these things, that’s just how you’re interpreting them because of Angband and it’s really offensive of you to compare me to the Dark Lord” is incredibly insidious and makes me really angry! Unfortunately it will only get worse from here. 

Author’s note: Maedhros was caught off guard here and his shock as well as his guilt is used to manipulate him into thinking this is legitimate procedure however he soon starts to understand more how dangerous Arafinwë and please know that he becomes an absolute nightmare to hold hostage. Or well he’s not currently a hostage but he’s soon to be

There is more about why Ara is doing this linked in the AU masterlist and more will become known as the story progresses! 

More backstory here:

Maedhros is attending a formal event near Alqualondë and is accosted by another elf. Unable to wrangle the truth from the ages of pre-existing biases and feuds, Teleri soldiers arrest both the accoster and Maedhros who finds himself fighting against unpleasant memories of being confined and restrained.  He’s alone in his cell, trying not to flinch whenever a guard comes by and alternating rapidly between the instinct to fight and scream and lash out and the instinct to hide and be subdued. He sees the guards stop and bow and he stands and walks to the door and sees Arafinwë. To his astonishment, he’s told that Arafinwë has agreed to have him released into his custody. He can’t leave the city for a few days, at least not until the matter gets sorted out. Maedhros starts to refuse just on instinct, saying it’s not necessary, etc. Arafinwë looks loftily at him.

“Do not speak foolishness, Russandol. Come with me.” And the guards unlock the door and nod to him and he can’t exactly insist on staying in prison especially because he is actually innocent in this encounter so he agrees reluctantly and follows Arafinwë to his carriage.

#the silmarillion #maedhros #finarfin #Arafinwë #splinters like jewel shards #short writings #saved

[desert-dyke]

Pollen

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M Fandom: Fallout New Vegas Relationships:

Craig Boone/Arcade Gannon

Craig Boone & Female Courier

Characters:

Arcade Gannon

Craig Boone

Female Courier

Additional Tags:

Sex Pollen

Anal Sex

Frotting

Blow Jobs

an assortment of fun sexual favors

Strangers to Lovers

bottom boone

Smut

lil fluff at the end

Arcade and Boone are sent to survey Vault 22 only to discover some plant life there has some interesting side effects...

Arcade’s eyes wandered across various equipment in the lab. Not as nice as what he had to work with while with the Followers, but a lot better than other factions could brag. Sloan was talking to one of the scientists. He sort of zoned out by now. She was far from the brightest crayon in the pack and sometimes it was better not to hear her “brilliant” takes. He could tell a deal was being made. An exchange of caps promised. Yeah that always caught Sloan’s attention. “How do you feel about going to Vault 22?” Sloan asked, giving him that smile that suggested she wasn’t really asking. Arcade blinked. He promised to follow her and give her support, but he did not like where this was going. He could have sworn he heard something about someone disappearing, and research needing to be reacquired. It was the former part that unsettled him. “It’s got plants! You like that sort of thing,” Sloan appealed. 

“Why can’t you go?” Arcade asked. Sloan’s sunburnt shoulders rose and fell again. 

“I’ve got other business here.” 

Arcade rolled his eyes. He had noticed the way her eyes seemingly glazed over when Corporal Betsy was talking to her. It was so characteristic of Sloan to ditch him to flirt with whatever pretty lady they encountered. He remembered losing her for nearly two days in Westside, only to find her holed up in the Thorn. Apparently her and Red Lucy got pretty close during that time. 

“I’m not going alone,” he asserted. He could protect himself just fine, but if already someone had disappeared, Arcade did not want to add himself to the body count.

“Take Boone with you,” Sloan suggested. He couldn’t believe his initial reaction then but he actually preferred Sloan to Boone. It wasn’t that he was unfriendly towards the rest of Sloan’s friends. She definitely had interesting tastes when it came to making friends. Cass was a bit rough and rowdy. Raul was a sarcastic pushover. Lily was sweet and doting on Sloan, but he was certain she could and would snap him in half. But Boone? He was just quiet. In all honesty, Arcade didn’t know what to think of Boone. Not knowing his deal made Arcade cautious of him. 

“Why Boone?” He questioned. Sloan shrugged again, but she was a terrible bluff. He could tell by the twitching corners of her mouth. She had her reasons, but she wasn’t going to tell him them.

“I’m tired of him moping around the 38,” she made the excuse. “Take him out. Show him a good time.” Her arm wrapped around Arcade’s shoulder. She was much shorter and had to pull him down to her height in order to do so. Arcade didn’t fight against it. “There’s a nuka cola quantum in it for you…”

“I could buy myself my own,” Arcade said. He rolled his eyes and shrugged his way out of Sloan’s hold. It hurt to bend like that. “Fine.”

Getting Boone to talk was like pulling teeth. On one hand, there was some peace to that. Boone was just about the only one at the Lucky 38 who didn’t try to probe Arcade for some history. He had the inkling that Boone genuinely did not care, whereas every one else only further inspired them to pry. 

The silence began to wear on him after an hour of walking in it. Boone’s sun-shaded eyes darted along the desert expanding before them, on the lookout for any sign of trouble. He accepted that silence in this case meant stealth and cover from any wasteland creature who might do them harm. Yet the sound of wind whistling across an empty desert kept making Arcade look over his shoulder, thinking he heard the sound of voices. 

Boone raised a clenched fist, his arm forming a right angle. Arcade crawled to a stop, unholstering his pistol. Boone had his rifle trained on an enemy hidden from Arcade’s view. He tried to squint his eyes, shading them from the scorching sun, but all he saw were dancing waves of heat. 

Arcade jumped as Boone’s rifle fired. A hand accidentally touched the sniper’s back and was quickly brushed off with a grunt. 

“What was it?” Arcade asked. Silence. Was he annoyed at his touch? Arcade sucked a breath in, but before he could speak, his ears rung with the sound of the rifle discharging. Boone fired twice more before standing. Arcade remained crouched for a moment longer, trying to process what happened. Boone began walking, indifferent to whether Arcade was following or not. He hustled to catch up with Boone. Finally, he saw something in the distance, coming from between the mountains. It looked overwhelmingly green. 

Something crunched beneath Arcade’s tread. He looked down with disgust at the oversized insect he stepped on, it’s insides now covering his shoes. This must have been what Boone had seen and taken out long before it would even know they were there. His finger searched for the trigger of his plasma pistol, resting just in case there were any more nearby. 

“Area’s clear,” Boone said. Whether that was meant to be reassuring was lost on Arcade. He checked the crudely drawn map he had been given, aligned it with surrounding landmarks. A red x marked the spot, in a small alcove of the mountain range, confirming what Arcade already knew. The green was where they needed to go. 

It was even more overwhelming the closer they got. Vegetation was sparse in the mojave and what did was hardy and prickly. Not soft with fanlike waxy leaves, something he’d expect to see in the jungle, not here in the desert.  

“I’m no botanist, but that doesn’t seem entirely natural,” Arcade remarked. He looked towards Boone, still silent. He lead the way, rifle in his hands. The vegetation grew denser the further they wandered into the alcove. It’s source was covered in it, so that Arcade almost didn’t recognize the entrance to vault 22. He was afraid to brush against the plants, unsure of what effects they might have. He had an antivenom on him, which could possibly work if something was poisonous, but wasn’t definite. However, if it triggered an allergic reaction, they would be plum out of luck. 

Boone sauntered ahead without the same caution. Arcade hissed in a breath watching the skin of his arm touch a plant, expecting blistering welts to rise moments later. When nothing happened and Boone continued on ahead without him, Arcade relaxed only slightly and followed him into the vault. 

Despite the lack of soil, the plants had no problem growing on the metal of the vault floors, walls, ceiling, literally anywhere he looked there was growth. Arcade jumped at the sudden metallic boom. Boone was no longer in the entrance with him. He heard another gunshot and deciphered Boone must’ve headed further inside. Arcade hustled, following the sound. Gunshots meant trouble. His feet flew down the stairwell, chasing noise, any sign of life. He halted, almost rushing into a figure rising from a cluster of flora. It was human shaped, but definitely not human. Arcade discharged his pistol into the back of the creature. It shrieked and burned as it crumpled to the ground. Boone turned around, realizing the creature had gotten dangerously close to him before Arcade shot it down. Arcade expected some hint of gratitude but Boone showed none. 

“We’re not alone,” He said, instead. As if that much were not already obvious. The stairwell split into two opposing sides. “I’ll take that way,” Boone said, before heading down the stairs before Arcade could oppose them splitting up. 

He held tight to his pistol as he ventured the other route. Boone’s gunshots echoed the metal walls. He was relieved to see they rejoined on the same floor. Boone took the liberty of surveying one of the rooms. Arcade took to the opposite, which looked to be a lab. Promising, Arcade thought.

He took out another plant-person as it rose from another cluster of flora. He wondered, with some morbidity, if these creatures were indeed once human. Maybe even the scientists working in this vault. 

A light shone on a large blossom, catching Arcade’s attention. He approached with caution, pistol pointed forward in case another creature spawned from it. The blossom opened, releasing a visible cloud of spores. Instinctively, Arcade gasped. It smelled, he was embarrassed to admit, like sex. He pressed the sleeve of his lab coat to his face, trying to avoid breathing any more of it in and promptly left the room in search of Boone. 

“We need to leave,” He told the sniper, when he encountered him loitering in one of the labs. “There’s spores in the air, and who knows what harm they could be if we breath them.” He thought of the corpse they found that looked like a human body entirely encased in flora. No doubt they would soon share a similar fate. Boone did not seem particularly riveted by Arcade’s words. Arcade felt his blood warm. Frustration. He knew he wasn’t exactly the type to give orders, but he wished Boone would at least listen to him. “We need gas masks and then we can try again. I’m sure Sloan would understand,” Arcade added, considering maybe Boone was afraid of disappointing Sloan. 

“There’s spores in here too,” Boone stated, pointing towards a similar looking blossom.

“Yeah, exactly why we need to get out of here,” Arcade reiterated. He never realized how dull Boone was. Abandoning all caution, he reached for Boone’s hand, giving it a tug. Surprisingly, the contact earned no response from the other man.

“Are you feeling feverish?” Boone asked. Arcade paused. He had been feeling a little warmer and

his heart was pounding in his chest. He assumed it was out of ire towards the sniper. He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. It was warm. “You look flushed,” Boone commented.  

“Yeah, well something really fucked up is going on in this vault, so excuse me for being a little worked up,” Arcade replied. His heart was really pounding, as if he had just ran a lap around Freeside. Sure he was upset at Boone, but even he acknowledged that it was a bit of an exaggerated response to the situation. Unless it was the pollen he inhaled causing him to have an accelerated heart rate.

“Worked up is right,” Boone commented. He scratched his buzzed head under his beret. Arcade noticed how low Boone was looking. He followed his line of vision, noticed a small tent had formed in his pants. He could add this to the list of awkward moments he had gotten a boner. 

“I’m not going to let you die down here just because you want to be difficult,” Arcade redirected the conversation back to what was most urgent. He grabbed the collar of Boone’s shirt and pulled. Boone swatted his hand away, but it got him to start moving. 

Arcade kept his plasma pistol close in case they encountered any more of those spore creatures on the way back out. Every cluster of flora that broke through the metal floor of the vault put Arcade a little bit more at unease. He jumped upon seeing a corpse of one Boone had sniped earlier, laying among all of the plants. 

The further up they went, the warmer Arcade felt. He was coated in a fierce sweat, as if he were fighting a fever, his glasses fogged a bit from the heat radiating from his body. Arcade paused to catch his breath. Boone took note.

“Hey,” The concern in his voice was forreign to Arcade. “What’s up?” That was probably the closest Boone was going to come to saying ‘are you okay?’

“I’m not going to lie, I’m not feeling great,” Arcade confessed. He was having a difficult time placing what was wrong. He did not feel ill. Despite the high body temperature, he knew he didn’t have a fever. He just felt exceptionally wound up, like he had just did a warm up lap and was ready to do more. 

“Something’s not right,” Boone said, in agreement. Arcade looked towards him. Boone was looking flushed as well. He didn’t mean to look, but it was hard to ignore the swell tugging against cargo pants. 

Boone stepped closer, causing Arcade to take a step back. He couldn’t see behind Boone’s sniper shades, but he thought he was pissed, that he was going to hurt him. Instead, Boone clutched Arcade’s sleeve, pinching it tight inside his fist. “I need help, Doc.” 

Arcade’s heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He felt as rough as Boone looked, as if their bodies were going to give out from stress if relief didn’t come soon. “I don’t…” Arcade stuttered. “I-I don’t know what to do.” 

“Bullshit,” Boone growled through clenched teeth. 

Sweat loosened the pomade in Arcade’s hair, so that strands dangled in his face. He brushed them back, all the while leaning on a computer mainframe for support. He did have an idea of how to treat this condition. While it wasn’t an unpleasant idea, it also wasn’t something Arcade impulsively rushed into, like Sloan might. He had secrets to keep, secrets that didn’t belong with such intimate acts. 

But he was also certain not doing so would kill them. Already the stress was taking a toll on Arcade’s body. He knew they wouldn’t make it far from the vault before one or both of them would suffer a stroke or cardiac arrest. 

“Yes. Fine,” Arcade conceded. “Are you sure this is what you want?” Neither of them had any other choice, but Arcade needed consent before performing this sort of procedure. 

Next thing Arcade knew, Boone’s hand was on the collar of his button down, pulling him down to his shorter height and mashing his lips against Arcade’s. His glasses clacked with Boone’s, knocking them askew on his face. Arcade removed his and rested it on the mainframe before returning his lips to Boone’s.

Boone’s breath was hot on his face. He kissed ravenously, like Boone had been wandering the Mojave for days and Arcade was the first drink of water. His hands grasped at Arcade with the same urgency, while constantly shifting place, as if Boone was still trying to figure out what felt right. 

Arcade stifled the question in his mind of whether Boone had ever been with a man before. He was confident Boone hadn’t engaged in sexual activities since the loss of his wife. Being close to someone now must have been weird to him, regardless of anatomy. 

He decided to offer Boone some assistance, and pulled his lab coat off before beginning to unbutton his shirt. It clung to his body, damp with sweat. Boone eyed him for a moment before doing the same with his t-shirt. 

His stocky torso shined with sweat. His skin was battered with scars all at different stages of healing, but his shape was soft and inviting. Round pectoral muscles and a slight pudge of stomach cushioning ropes of muscles beneath. Arcade would be lying if he said he never found Boone attractive previously, he just didn’t think Boone would be interested. Even now, Boone hesitated. He realized Boone was waiting for his direction. 

Arcade took his hands in his own and guided them towards his chest. Boone traced along his torso before eagerly coming in for another kiss. Their chests pressed together, he could feel the heat radiating off of Boone. Arcade was painfully erect and the slightest brush of cloth against his groin made him ache. 

He reached between their bodies to free himself from his pants. Boone mirrored him before turning around and leaning against the mainframe. Arcade was taken aback, watching as Boone waited for him. Two pale mounds that were his now exposed ass facing in his direction. Now it was Arcade’s turn to be cautious. 

Boone looked over his shoulder towards Arcade. “Please.” His voice was low, so that he almost missed it. 

Arcade held his hips between his hands. He lined himself up and then pressed in. He couldn’t help the moan that escaped from him. Boone bit down on his own hand. At first he was worried it was bad for him, then he realized Boone was trying to stifle his own noise. 

“Harder.” 

Arcade obliged. Each thrust came easier than the one before and scratched at his itch. Finally the tension building inside of him felt right instead of something that wanted to kill him. Shamefully, Arcade did not last long, nor did Boone, as the latter climaxed shortly after him. Much to Arcade’s surprise, he was still hard as he pulled out. 

“That’s...new,” He remarked. Boone turned around, his erection mirroring his own. 

Before Arcade could question if these effects were going to be permanent, Boone was on him again. His bare cock brushed against Arcade’s. Even the slightest touch made small fires light inside of him. He watched as Boone lined them up. Boone’s hands were rough with callouses, but warm as he surrounded them both. Arcade placed his slender fingers over Boone’s, squeezing their hold tighter as together they pumped. Boone leaned his head on Arcade’s shoulder. He could hear every raspy breath that shook through Boone, mixed in with a small, whispered ‘fuck.’ Arcade gasped as Boone bit his neck. It must have done something for him, because next thing he knew, he was releasing again, this time onto Boone’s stomach. Boone’s hot fluid dripped onto his fingers. 

Arcade was out of breath. Carefully, he lowered himself onto a patch of the vault’s floor that didn’t look as dirty as the rest. His chest heaves, deprived of air. His heart still thunders, but not with the same urgency as before. His member, though still firm, was beginning to wilt ever so slightly. 

Boone knelt beside him. Arcade now noticed that his beret had fallen off at some point, leaving his buzzed haircut exposed. It sparkled with flecks of sweat that dripped onto his temples. 

“I think...it’s working,” Arcade commented. He leaned his head against the mainframe, feeling like he was going to collapse from exhaustion. 

“We’re not done yet,” Boone said. He crawled closer before he laid on his belly before Arcade, his head in the researcher’s lap. Arcade gasped as he felt Boone’s hot breath against his cock, moments before he took Arcade inside of his mouth. 

At first, Arcade watched as Boone’s head bobbed, afraid to touch him, which was probably silly considering everything that had happened between them recently. He gave in and gently raked his fingers through the bristles of Boone’s cropped hair. Boone’s moan vibrated against his cock, causing Arcade’s breath to catch. This part lasted longer. Or maybe Arcade’s head was clear enough that he could finally concentrate on what was happening, rather than all his previous actions passing by in blurred emotions. Before was so desperate, like relieving pain. This...this was kind of...nice, he had to admit. 

When Arcade inevitably released, he half expected Boone to pull away in disgust. Instead, he accepted the load without complaint. Arcade reached for his canteen and downed half of it, attempting to replenish all the water his body had sweated out. He wiped excess moisture from his lips as he offered the canteen to Boone. Boone accepted. 

“What about you?” Arcade asked. His eyes drifted to the semi-erection that bounced between Boone’s legs as he shifted. Boone finished off the canteen before answering. 

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” 

He sealed the empty canteen and handed it back to Arcade, before shirking his cargo pants back up his thighs. “Yeah.” 

Arcade watched him straighten out his clothes, pushing his shades back up his nose and readjusting his beret atop his head. He didn’t seem to be changing his mind anytime soon. 

“We should leave,” he said. Arcade had to agree, before they encountered more spores. He wasn’t sure how many times his body could go through something like that before it finally quit. 

His vision cleared once his glasses returned to rest before his eyes. Arcade covered himself again while Boone stood watch, holding his rifle. If they had been attacked while lost in their frenzy of desire, they would have been goners. Arcade could count himself lucky that hadn’t been a problem. 

“Hey,” Arcade sought his attention, touching his arm lightly. He half expected Boone to flinch away from his touch, but he didn’t. His shaded eyes turned towards Arcade. Arcade brushed his lips against Boone’s. They tasted salty of sweat and his own cum. Boone’s lips moved gently in response, feeling for the briefest of moments the wetness of a tongue before it ended as abruptly as it began. 

“We can’t tell Sloan,” Boone said, after an elongated moment of silence.

“Absolutely not,” Arcade said, in agreement, before the two headed back towards the surface.

#my fics #fallout #fallout new vegas #arcade gannon #craig boone #arcade/boone #boonecade

[elleharperbcu]

Task 1: Concept Mind Maps

In pairs we produced a mind map of each others concept, for our final project, planning and considering how we can explore the following factors:

Research

Experimentation

Sampling

Development 

Production

Personal Reflection/ Evaluation 

Project/ Time Management 

We was asked to write down our narrative on a piece of paper and swap with our partner so we had each others narrative. We then wrote down our ideas that came to mind related to their narrative, in order to help them with new ideas they may not have thought of or knew about. I really enjoyed this task as it helped me learn new facts about the petite world and I was able to complete lots of research. I always loved hearing about my peers narratives and their stories as to why they are focusing on a certain topic. 

My completed research from this task:

Petite models - 

After researching about types of work available for petite models I found out that other than Moss, most petite models do commercial and catalogue work. Models who work in fashion generally work with high street brands specialising in petite clothing. It is very rare for a petite model to find high-fashion work on the catwalk or for designer labels. This is something that I find unfair as your height should not matter. However, petite models are not restricted when finding work. This is due to an increase in brands catering for men and women with smaller frames and shorter legs, petite models are now employed to keep up with this fashion industry demand. 

Successful petite models - 

Models who have refused to obey the stereotypical image associated with top designers, catwalks and campaigns are creating a path for petite models. These inspiring successful models have completely ignored the height restriction demonstrating that a smaller stature is required in the fashion industry. “Successful petite models are making an impact in a tall girls stomping ground, ignoring the confinements set upon them.” 

Twiggy -

A british icon in the sixties and only 5″4. She revolutionised the stereotypical look of the era, starting a new breed of supermodels. Her height is rarely mentioned due to her confident persona that demands attention. She is still the shortest model with such a supermodel status. 

Beautiful dreams - Twiggy records her first single 

Anja Konstantinova - 

Russian-Australian model, her impressive range of work includes, Vogue, Marie Claire, Urban Outfitters and French Connection. At 5″4 her height is not an issue with each shot demanding attention with her striking features, blonde hairs and natural posing instincts. The successful model discovered in a melbourne hair salon has received lots of rejection in her career, but she continues to break boundaries in a predominantly tall industry. 

She explains: “People in Australia don’t accept shorter girls because they are a bit harder to work with, you have to photograph them in a certain way.”

How to make the most of your petite frame - 

Don’t draw attention to your shorter height when interacting with clients and via body language. You will have to work extra hard to get noticed, which means standing tall and learning to highlight your height in photos. Never be caught slouching and be sure to work on poses that lengthen your lines. Good posture and strong stature goes a long way when presenting yourself to an agency meeting and photoshoot. 

Petite models who changed the fashion industry -

Lily-Rose Depp

Lily-Rose made her runway debut with chanel in 2016. She is just 5″3, but that did not stop her from becoming the muse of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld. 

Amina Blu 

This German/ Pakistani beauty is 5″1 and no stranger to New York Fashion Week. Amina has walked for Kanye West more than 5 times. With her unforgettable looks and signature looks, Amina will keep making headlines. 

The ‘Size 0′ movement

Sizes range from 0-2 which is extra small to 14-16 which is larger. Smaller sizes are usually petites, and larger sizes usually found in womens or plus size departments. 

The size-zero ban is proof fashion industry on finally listening to customers. The use of size zero models has been a fashion industry scandal for many years. France’s top fashion house have committed to stop underage and size zero models from featuring in catwalk shows and advertising campaigns. Owners of brands such as Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton say they want to persuade others in the industry to follow suit. The industry has long been accused of promoting unhealthy body images of women and ignoring well-documented health problems experienced by models. In 2017, the French government voted through a law requiring models must have a medical certificate confirming they were not dangerously underweight. 

“No model under 16 years will be recruited to take part in fashion shows or photographic sessions representing adults.” Models between 16-18 years will no longer be allowed to work between 11pm and 6am and must be accompanied by a parent or chaperone if required to stay away from home. 

“The wellbeing of our models is a fundamental subject” the statement from LVMH read. 

Mallory Schlossberg - “I’m part of a huge demographic that retailers largely ignore - here’s why it’s so frustrating” 

When reading this article I very much related myself to it, she mentions being reminded of her height near enough everyday, she is 4″11 like me. “There are only a few times when I'm reminded how short I am: when I'm riding the subway and someone pushes right into me because I'm not in his peripheral vision, when I can't reach my kitchen cabinets and hop onto the counter, and when I'm shopping.” 

When she was in high school and college she frequently shopped in the kids section. She mentioned it being impressive to see the selection that’s available for wealthy, stylish kids these days. She is able to wear a lot of designer apparel that are much cheaper than adult prices as kids clothes takes less fabric to make. However, it comes to a point in an adult woman's life where you do not want to shop in kids section anymore, she wanted to wear apparel for women because she is a woman. Adult size small dresses zip up just fine, but they hug in all the wrong places and drag on the ground or are longer fit on her than they’re supposed to be. 

“It's frustrating. How do you shop for clothes and not look like a child in children's clothing — or a child playing dress up in her mother's closet?”

There are retailers that do cater to petite women although the ranges are very limited. 

“Walk into Ann Taylor, Loft (where I buy my jeans), J. Crew, Banana Republic, or a department store, and you'll see selections of petite clothing, often relegated to a small corner with an odd amalgam of apparel, as though the merchandise team is wondering, "who is this petite woman? Is she a mother? Is she frumpy? Is she a decaying 90-year-old? Is she youthful and feisty? Is she too young to show off her curves? Is she a virgin?" The answer  — from a petite woman — is that she is none of the above, and she is all of the above. The petite woman is just like the regular-sized customer...only shorter.”

Retailers seem very confused with how to deal with short women. Topshop and Anthropologie are starting to recognise that short women like to look fashionable too, but the lack of options and concern for petite shoppers is noticeable. The reason as to why there are fewer petite options and not all stores offer apparel for smaller-framed women is because it requires a different design pattern. 

As blogger TanyaTheAnonymousModel wrote on Jezebel:

"For a dress to look the same on a petite woman, a standard size woman and a plus woman — for the hem to hit at the same place on each woman's leg, for the waist to sit at the appropriate height, for the neckline to flatter but not overexpose, for the pockets to be useful, easily reached, and neither too small nor too big — requires, in effect, three totally different paper patterns, each with a separate, and expensive, development process."

The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City offers a continuing education course in image consulting, combining petite and plus size bodies together as "special size" customers — noting that they make up about a tremendous amount of the population. The course description reads as follows:

"Over 70 million U.S. women fall into the special size category, that 50 % of the population is actually under 5'4", and 65 million women are considered plus size. Designers, patternmakers, retailers, stylists, and image consultants, and wardrobe technicians can all benefit from this in-depth workshop that demystifies the special size business potential. Learn the facts behind the figures with practical information for fulfilling the expectations of the special size customer with proper fit, fashion, and service. Highly recommended for anyone looking to increase sales and services. Interact with our two industry experts as they each tackle the dilemmas facing both the petite and plus-size customer and give concrete directions for satisfying their shopping needs and fashion passions."

An undergraduate course "sketching for fashion designers" mentions that "Large, half-size, petite, and junior-size figures are featured to study proportions used in the industry". Showing petites aren't entirely ignored in design school, they just aren't given equal attention. They're generally not on runways; runways are about aspiration, and who aspires to be 5'2''?

“Petite women have not been celebrated loudly as equals. They have not been given body-positive model icons to speak on their behalf, although we do have Kelly Ripa, Snooki, and Kim Kardashian in our corner. There has not been a call to action. There hasn't been any real vocal repugnance, but instead, there's been a silence and a void, which is too telling. Petite women have been pushed aside, not permitted to speak — much like the children for which many try not to be mistaken.”

[thatnerdwolfnell]

ok but what if... headcanon request for arcana main 6, lunar chronicles, and marauders all meeting up? Who'd be friends and who's immediately starting a fight?

HEH HEH HEH ohhhh yesssssss. This is the kind of bullshit I live for.

This is long and not well broken up but here goes

Arcana main 6 + Marauders + Rampion crew

Okay so Sirius sees cinder and he's just like "damn muggle technology got WILD"

Julian is losing his shit. He's asking a shit ton of questions that Cinder frankly doesn't have the patience for. But luckily our resident Nerd Genius ™ Cress is happy to oblige.

Sirius and Thorne INSTANTLY hit it off. Something about that raw chaos just sticks them together. That and the wealthy childhood and being estranged from their family.

Now Remus and Wolf can smell the like "wolfishness" on each other but they're both completely socially inept so they just kinda like....stare at each other. Like what are you even supposed to do? Do you say something?

They both also think Muriel is a werewolf or something because he smells like Inanna

So Remus is thinking "what are the chances that there are 3 werewolves in a room together? What the fuck?"

And Wolf is thinking "that is the skinniest special op I've ever seen. Do they not feed this kid?"

And Muriel, (not being a werewolf or a genetically modified super soldier, and therefore having a normal sense of smell), is kinda off to the side confused out of his damn mind because WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING. People don't usually pay him this much attention. Or if they do, they usually SAY something.

Probably Scarlet notices how weirdly still Wolf has gotten and asks what's wrong. And he just kinda quietly explains as discreetly as possible.

So of course she immediately marches up and introduces them, not caring that they could be dangerous because she likes to see what's what before she judges people.

Remus is internally screaming because frankly Scarlet is pretty intimidating despite being like 5'3 or whatever.

Eventually they get it sorted that Remus isn't a special op, and Wolf isn't really a werewolf but upon hearing what a werewolf IS and what that entails, he's about ready to adopt this kid.

He's got the dad instinct ON POINT

And Scarlet turns to Muriel like "okay but of course YOU were a special op, right?" And he's just like "uhhh no...I just have a pet wolf...but she's not really a pet she's like...my best friend." And they're all like "I'm sorry, you what?"

James makes friends with Cinder and Kai very fast. He's a pretty wholesome guy and he just makes friends very easily.

Asra ends up joining up with Sirius and Thorne because he's got enough of a chaos streak that it works, but then him and Sirius start talking about magic and honestly the differences are amazing to them.

Nadia pegs Kai as a fellow diplomat almost immediately and they try to sort out exactly WHY they're here, and negotiating how to get out when they realize neither of them have any idea.

Portia and Lily bond over being amazing redheads

Remus and Nadia bond over tea.

The four of them and Cress talk about starting a book club.

Julian would annoy the SHIT out of Jacin. Jacin doesn't trust him and he frankly doesn't like people enough to deal with him.

Winter starts spouting her crazy shit and Asra is completely unfazed. He's just like "yeah that's a mood." It's not even clear if he realizes she's hallucinating.

Remus immediately HATES Lucio. He's dealt with stuck up pricks before and Lucio's demeaned just instantly rubs him the wrong way.

Cinder reacts basically the same way. He reminds her of a lot of the Lunar Court and half of what he says triggers her lie detector.

Sirius probably wouldn't have minded Lucio too much, he just struck him as hyperactive and dramatic and he could relate to that. But seeing Remus seethe is enough to make him ready for a fight. Remus is usually a pretty good judge of character.

Luckily James is there to de-escalate the situation before it gets out of hand. He's pretty much a pacifist unless someone comes for someone he cares about or he sees injustice.

You know who WOULD start a fight: SCARLET I mean she's usually about 3 seconds away from ripping assholes to shreds on a good day.

She has no patience for Lucio but she can ignore him or talk to someone else.

The person she CAN'T ignore is Julian who heard about a sci-fi werewolf soldier and got curious as hell.

He doesn't mean any harm he just thinks it's the coolest thing ever and his curiosity can make him come across a little insensitive.

Scarlet is immediately defensive. Her boyfriend is NOT a sideshow act.

Wolf calms her down and says it's fine. He knows Julian wasn't trying to be rude but he'd rather not talk about that stuff if he doesn't have to and definitely not to a stranger.

Nadia and Winter actually end up being very good friends. Nadia knows what it's like to not be taken seriously. And also what it's like to be the hottest person in your country/moon.

Iko is AMAZED by Nadia, the purple hair, the eyes. She's sure she's an android and she's surprised when she's not.

Our power bisexual Scarlet is honestly a little attracted to our distinguished bisexual Nadia. (Who isn't attracted to Nadia honestly?) she doesn't actually like her like that she just noticed that Nadia is very beautiful, and then felt kinda bad about it.

Cinder and Muriel actually get along really well. They're both hands on introvert types and they don't mind not talking.

Nadia and Cinder actually both do mechanics and get into a really in depth conversation about machines that NOBODY else can understand.

Nadia doesn't usually relax like this but they're joking and laughing and cinder is someone she can be real with.

Cress fangirls a little over lily and James' relationship, because they're just so cute.

There's no fights here despite the few near misses. They all kind of realize that they're fighting for the same thing, they all just want a free and happy life for the world whether that's from fighting wizard Nazis, or space dictators, or the LITERAL DEVIL their motives are pretty similar and they can kind of relate to each other. They're on the same side despite their differences and that's what matters.

#the arcana main 6 #the arcana #the arcana game #marauders #tlc #tlc headcanons #marauders headcanon #asra the arcana #asra alnazar #julian the arcana #julian devorak #nadia satrivana #nadia the arcana #muriel the arcana #muriel of the kokhuri #portia devorak #portia the arcana #the arcana lucio #cinder #scarlet benoit #linh cinder #scarlet #cress #tlc cress #winter hayle blackburn #winter #james & peter & remus & sirius #remus lupin #james potter #sirius black

[bytheangell]

Hey! Can I request something where Raphael is human again, attends the Shadowhunter Academy and then heads to the NY Institute and Izzy just adores seeing him around all the time and they grow even closer. And maybe Raphael asks Maryse for her blessing because that was just how he was raised. Love your works, they're always amazing!

The Life We Choose (Read on AO3)

It only takes a year after turning human for Raphael to admit how much he misses the Shadow World. He knows that the option to become a vampire again is there - both Simon and Lily offered to turn him previously, but he turned them both down with the promise that they’d be the first he comes to if he changes his mind. Even though he misses the Shadow World, he doesn’t want to be immortal again. That isn’t a fate he’ll be spared twice if he goes back to it, and he doesn’t want that for himself.

He has another idea, one that he thinks about long and hard before deciding he’s serious about it, which is when he finds himself in Isabelle’s office at the New York Institute.

“I’d like to apply for ascension,” Raphael says.

“What?” Isabelle asks, blinking rapidly in surprise.

“I’d like to apply for ascension,” Raphael repeats, clear and calm. He’s thought this through and is entirely confident in the request, even if Izzy doesn’t seem to share that certainty.

“You want to be a Shadowhunter?” Izzy questions.

“Yes,” Raphael says. “I’ve thought about this a lot, Isabelle. I want to be part of the Shadow World again, and this is the only way while keeping my mortality intact. I want this.”

Izzy bites down on her lower lip in thought. “It isn’t just like I can sign off on it. You need to study, and get approved, and drink from the-”

“The Mortal Cup, yes. And then take my first runes. I know the risks, I know it’s more dangerous the older you are, and I know I’m well beyond the usual age for this sort of thing. I also know,” he adds confidently. “That adults ascending isn’t unheard of, and that the Clave can, and has, approved them.”

“They’ll look at your history with Camille,” Isabelle points out. “But I’ll vouch for you. And I’m sure Alec and Magnus will, too. We should have enough pull to get it approved… are you sure this is what you want, though?”

Raphael nods. “Positive. And if you’d rather not get involved, I can take it to another Head in another city and work from there,” he adds. This is the first sign of hesitation he’s shown because he doesn’t want to go through strangers in other cities. He’d much rather do this with Isabelle by his side, though he understands if she doesn’t feel the same.

Izzy shakes her head. “Absolutely not! I wouldn’t trust this with anyone else. I’ll help however I can.”

---

Izzy is true to her word. She shows up to the Academy about once a week, claiming she’s only there to offer her assistance since they’re short on staff, but always managing to spend most of her time with Raphael. She checks in on what they’re studying, helps him with whatever he doesn’t already know about Shadowhunter-specific laws, and practices runes with him every chance she gets. When she’s too busy with her own responsibilities Jace manages to suddenly appear in her place, though Raphael can tell it’s mostly because his sister asks him to and less because he actually wants to be doing it.

Raphael’s always been a quick study and knows that as far as the book work is concerned he’s good to go. It helps that he’s older than everyone there, and more familiar with the Shadow World than many of those from Shadowhunter families, though they do have the upper hand on more Shadowhunter-specific knowledge. Fighting while re-adjusting his instincts to more refined tactics than he was used to as a vampire is, honestly, his biggest struggle.

It helps (as far as he’s concerned) that his abrasive personality and history as a vampire leaves him with plenty of time to study and train, as he isn’t exactly winning many of the young Shadowhunters over as friends.

Izzy seems concerned to find him alone all of the time, but Raphael only shrugs.

“I’m not here to make friends,” he points out. “I’m here to learn.”

“And when you all have to work together?” Izzy prompts.

“They don’t have to like me, they just have to trust me,” Raphael points out.

Izzy smiles at that answer. “You’re going to fit right in with the Nephilim,” she says.

He hopes she’s right.

---

The next time he sees Isabelle is the day before his Ascension ceremony. He almost doesn’t agree to meet with her, not sure he can deal with a teary ‘in case you don’t make it’ speech, and only relenting when she swears that isn’t why she’s there.

“I’m glad you came here,” Izzy says “You’re going to be a great Shadowhunter, I can already tell. You’ll be an asset to whatever Institute you end up at. And… and I wanted to make you an offer. You don’t have to take it, and I’ll totally understand if you’d rather take your new life in another direction, but…”

“What is it?” Raphael prompts.

“Look, I really like spending time with you, Raphael. Not just teaching you, but having you around again has been really, really nice. And once you’re ascended-” he notes with a small smile that, true to her word, she isn’t turning this into an ‘if you survive’ moment. “-if you wanted to be stationed in New York, we’d love to have you.”

He isn’t expecting that. “We?” he questions, following a hunch.

“Yeah. Jace and the others... and me,” she says, then folds under his steady gaze. “Alright, mostly me. I’d love to have you there, but only if you want to.”

Raphael smiles. “I do,” he agrees, and it’s nice to know that Izzy wasn’t just helping him because she felt any sense of obligation, but because she genuinely enjoys spending time with him. He’s thrilled that extends to his time as an actual Shadowhunter.

...now he just has to get through the Ascension.

---

He does. At his insistence, Izzy and the others don’t come to the ceremony, because he doesn’t want them there to witness if something does go wrong. Thankfully it does not, and he emerges a full, proper Shadowhunter.

Of course, in true Magnus Bane fashion, there’s a party at the Loft afterward, complete with banners that Magnus made out to say “It’s a Vampire Mundane Shadowhunter!”.

“You’re not funny,” Raphael says, deadpan, only to have Simon walk up immediately after, burst into a fit of laughter, and tell Magnus how hilarious the banners are. Raphael can only glare more pointedly in response.

Wasting no time, his first patrol is the very next day. Isabelle goes out with him herself, and it’s an easy one with no actual reported activity. This gives them a chance to talk a little more about how he’s doing and little things they can do so he adapts into this new role in the Shadow World as easily as possible, starting with a room at the Institute.

“Would you rather I threaten everyone into being nice to you or threaten everyone into avoiding you entirely?” Izzy jokes. At least, he’s relatively certain she’s joking.

“I’m hoping they warm up to me eventually,” Raphael admits. “This isn’t exactly a… what did Simon call it… a single-player game,” Raphael recalls. Shadowhunters have to work together on patrols and missions, they have to be a team. They have to trust each other. He can’t do that if he isolates himself the way he’s used to. “I can take care of myself, but I guess that’s the one thing the Academy managed to drill into me - it’ll rarely be just me out here.”

Izzy’s smile softens. “They will,” she reassures him. “Once they get to know you they’ll love you as much as I do.”

Raphael’s heart skips a beat at her words, and Isabelle suddenly looks very preoccupied with the ground in front of her as she quickens her pace to walk a few steps ahead.

---

It’s better than he ever hoped it would be. Raphael could admit to himself, at the very least, that the idea of becoming a Shadowhunter was more than a little idealistic. He’d accepted it as his only way back into the world he missed, accepted it as a compromise that allowed him back into the Shadow World at all, but the longer he’s here the more suited he finds himself to the lifestyle of the Nephilim.

He’s a good fighter, and he gets better once the others trust him enough to train and spar with him. He’s also a good teammate - he always was, even before he went to the Academy. The number of times he put the good of the Clan before his own wellbeing, the risks he took for them, leave him with the same instincts to use on missions, just for the sake of a different group of people.

Mostly it just feels good to help people. It’s what he always wanted to do, what he tried to do even as a vampire, but now he can make the sort of difference protecting people that he set out to do even as a child, as that teenage boy going after los vampiros to protect his family and friends. His family may be long gone but he has a new family now, new friends, and he can still protect them.

Once he settles and begins to drop his guard, he starts to notice, to really notice, Isabelle. At first, he thought she was just spending time with him to keep an eye on him during his transition, but she seems to genuinely enjoy his company. They find themselves spending their free time together, whether it’s going out and exploring new places to eat or staying in and losing hours to talking, or simply existing in each other’s space.

“Missed you at breakfast this morning,” Izzy says one day after Raphael oversleeps and misses the normally shared mealtime. It’s such a casual statement, but it catches him off-guard. He never imagines himself as a presence that would be missed, but Izzy misses him when he isn’t around.

He can’t help but remember another time, not so long ago when he thought there might be something between them. The timing had been off then, but now…

“What’s that look for?” Izzy asks, breaking his silent, drifting thoughts.

“I don’t have a ‘look’,” he deflects, quickly looking away.

Maybe there’s something there, but he isn’t going to risk ruining the friendship they have, not until he’s certain.

---

The thing about ‘routine’ missions is that there’s nothing routine about their job - anything can happen. It isn’t anyone’s fault when the demon he’s sent to find ends up finding him first, and his small group is descended on by more elapid demons than they expect.

Raphael gets caught not once, but twice, by the venom-laced fangs of the demons, but manages to keep fighting until they’re almost taken care of before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

He awakens in the Infirmary of the Institute, to the red eyes and tense features of a very worried Isabelle Lightwood.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she says, then promptly collapses against his chest in relief, her hand clutched over his own where it rests beside him on the bed.

“I thought… I was so worried…” Isabelle starts, then stops, then starts again, the words mumbled against the sheet draped over him. “Ugh, this is awful, how do Alec and Magnus make these dramatic declarations so flawlessly all the time?”

“I love you too, Isabelle,” Raphael says, and Izzy looks up at him with a smile he never wants to see leave her face again.

---

It takes a little while for word to spread that the two of them are a couple, mostly because of Raphael’s dislike of public displays of affection. Isabelle never pushes him, she never asks for more than he’s willing to give, never expects anything other than his returned feelings for her.

“I know you’re not interested in sex,” she says to him early on. “And I’m not sure what else you are, or aren’t into, but whatever it is, I’m fine with it.”

Raphael raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

Izzy nods. “Really. I have you, right here, just as you are. That’s all I need.” It takes him a little while to believe her, but that trust comes the way everything else did with Isabelle - after she proves time and time again to be a woman of her word. She never moves to hold his hand, or wrap him in too-tight hugs, or kiss him on the cheek, or the corner of his mouth, or his lips, until he either does it first or tells her it’s fine.

They figure it out slowly, but they figure it out together. He finds a simple, easy happiness with her that he never expected to find in his life, not even when he had an eternity stretched out before him to seek it.

He knows how lucky he is to have found it here, now, with Isabelle.

Raphael plans to keep this love and joy, to make it as strong and permanent as possible, which is how he arrives on Maryse’s doorstep one night. It isn’t the first time he’s been here - Isabelle’s brought him over for the occasional family dinner or drinks - but it’s the first time he’s been here by himself.

“Come in,” Maryse says, with a small grin tugging at the corners of her lips at the sight of him. He imagines it must be obvious why he’s here, that he could probably skip the theatrics of the small speech he has planned, but if he’s going to do this then he’s going to do it right.

“Coffee? Tea? Something stronger?” Maryse offers, already making her way into the kitchen as Raphael closes the door behind him and toes off his shoes next to it.

“Coffee would be lovely, thank you Mrs. Lightwood,” Raphael calls after her.

“Please, Raphael, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Maryse,” she laughs, returning a minute later with two steaming cups of coffee, handing one over to him as they make their way to the table. They sit in companionable silence while they take their first sips until Raphael works up the nerve to speak.

“I’m head-over-heels in love with your daughter,” he begins.

“I know,” Maryse says. “I can tell every time I see the two of you together - and I can tell that she feels the same, too.”

“I certainly hope so,” Raphael admits with a small smile. “She’s been there for me through so much of my transition into a Shadowhunter, and as much as she’s supported me I want to be there to support her as well, through anything the future may have in store for her. She deserves nothing but happiness in life and I’d like the chance to be the one to bring that happiness to her, as much as I can.”

Raphael is aware that the practice of asking for permission to propose is a bit antiquated, that his speech is too formal, that if Isabelle wanted to marry him he’d do it no matter what her mother said. But that doesn’t change the fact that he wants to do this the right way - he wants to make sure she knows he’s serious about her, that he isn’t taking this lightly just because he already lived one lifetime over.

“I’d like to spend the rest of my life with Isabelle by my side. And it would mean a lot to me to have your blessing first.”

Maryse eyes him critically, and for the first time he feels a moment of fear that she might actually say no - it passes the moment a wide smile spreads across Maryse’s lips. “Of course, Raphael. The two of you are so good together. You’re so good for each other. You have my blessing a million times over.”

Raphael smiles back.

“Of course, we both know that it doesn’t matter what either of us says here tonight. No one makes up Isabelle’s mind besides Isabelle. When are you going to ask her?” Maryse asks. They spend the rest of Raphael’s visit discussing his plans for the following day and end it with a promise from Raphael to call Maryse first after it’s done.

Raphael can only hope it’ll be with good news.

---

The proposal is simple. Raphael asks her in the privacy of her room - a room they share more often than not these days - just after they wake up the next morning.

Raphael turns over and watches Isabelle’s eyes flutter open slowly, her expression still soft and hazy from sleep.

“If I could wake up to this sight for the rest of my life, I’d be a very happy man,” Raphael says quietly, the words barely above a whisper.

Isabelle smiles. “I’m not going anywhere,” she promises.

“That’s what I’m hoping,” Raphael says, reaching an arm behind him to open the drawer on the table next to his side of the bed, pulling out a small box. He shifts to sit up slightly, holding it out to her. “Marry me?”

Isabelle shifts up to half-sit beside him, propped up on her elbow and looking from the ring up to Raphael’s face in surprise. Raphael isn’t a fool - he knows there’s a chance she’ll say no. That dating and even love are one thing, but marriage, to a former Downworlder with nothing to his family name, is another entirely.

“Yes,” Isabelle says, dispelling any worries he has with a single word. He slides the ruby engagement ring onto her finger before bringing his lips down to meet hers.

Raphael doesn’t think he’s ever felt more at peace with his place in life than he does at this moment. Not as a child looking out for his friends and siblings on the rough streets of the city, or as a vampire looking out for his clan, or as a human reconciling the decades he spent in a world of magic and angels and demons. Every one of those things was accidental, a decision made for him, a world he was thrust into unwillingly, even if he did his best to accept his place in it as part of a higher purpose.

He still believes in a higher power and that he’s exactly where he needs to be - whether it be God’s will, or Raziel’s - and he likely always will. But he believes in something else now, too, in a way he hadn’t before all of this, before his ascension, before Isabelle: he believes in himself. He’s here because of himself, because of his own will and motivation and desire. He’s exactly where he needs to be, and for the first time, that’s also exactly where he wants and chooses to be.

“Not regretting asking me already, are you?” Izzy asks, her tone light to show she isn’t serious-serious, but curious at the way she notices him lost in his thoughts just then.

“Not at all,” Raphael replies, moving to lay down again and pulling Izzy beside him, wrapping an arm around her. “Quite the opposite - I don’t regret a single choice I’ve made since the day I first walked into your office.”

Izzy smiles at that, warm and comforting, a smile that feels like home.

“That makes two of us.”

#raphael santiago #isabelle lightwood #rizzy #shadowhunters #i am SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG #but also it uh got away from me a little #also I'm glad you enjoy my fics! <3 <3 thanks for the kind words and I hope you enjoy this one as well!! #i had a lot of fun writing this one! thanks for the prompt! #elle writes a few deadbeat lines #long post #anon glamour activated #ask rune #elle talks too much

[pocket-luv101]

Ransom || Part 1

Fandom: Servamp Ship: KuroMahi Characters: Kuro, Mahiru

Summary: Mahiru is kidnapped by the mafia. He learns that Kuro is being forced to work with the mafia. He hoped he could convince him to help him escape. {KuroMahi, Mafia AU}

(Part 1) || Part 2

“Sleep tight, Spot.” Mahiru patted the dog’s head before he closed the cage. He went through the motion of closing the animal hospital for the night. He was alone in the building and he hummed to himself to fill the silence around him. His co-worker had ended his shift earlier so Mahiru had to lock up the doors by himself. The hospital he worked for was small but he was proud to be able to help animals.

He scanned the parking lot to see if there was anyone else in the area before he walked to his car. There had been a few robberies in the area so he wanted to be cautious. Mahiru took out his phone and texted Misono so his friend would know that he was on his way home. As he took out his keys from his pocket, he heard someone crying across the street.

He turned towards the crying and he saw a boy sitting alone on a bus bunch. He couldn’t be more than seven years old and Mahiru wondered where his parents were. Most of the stores were already closed so he doubted they were in one of the shops. It was dangerous for a child to be alone in the middle of the night and he couldn’t leave without feeling guilty.

Mahiru crossed the street and stopped in front of the child. He didn’t want to scare him and spoke in a soft voice. “Hello, are you waiting for your parents? It’s dangerous to be out so late at night. If you know your parent’s number, you can borrow my phone to call them. Or we can wait for them to come together.”

The boy didn’t answer him but hopped off the bench and dashed away from him. At first, Mahiru thought the reason the child ran was because he was a stranger. He was still worried that something could happen to him so he followed him. The child ran into an alley and, for a moment, Mahiru hesitated to enter as well. He peered inside and saw that a man was already inside.

“Nii-san!” The boy called to him and the man knelt down in front of him. He guessed that the two were related and he stepped into the alleyway. While he was glad that the child was with his family again, he wanted to speak with the man about the dangers of allowing his brother to be alone during the night. Mahiru walked closer to the brothers and he overheard their conversation. “Will they leave us alone now, Kuro?”

“I’m sorry I had to ask you to do this, Lily.” The man’s words confused Mahiru.

Mahiru felt a presence behind him and he turned around sharply. A few men had blocked the entrance of the alley without him noticing. He stiffened when he saw that one of the men had a gun. Instinctively, he turned around to run and his eyes met with the older brother. His red eyes held pity and guilt and Mahiru didn’t know why.

Before he could understand the reason behind his expression, a hand covered his mouth. Mahiru struggled against the person’s grip but he was stronger than him. He reached out his hand to the man for help yet his body went lax quickly after. He lost consciousness and the world disappeared around him.

The world was hazy when Mahiru woke on the cold, hard ground. He didn’t recognize the room he was in and he tried to piece together where he was or how he came to the place. His head throbbed but he was certain that he didn’t drink the previous night. Fear struck him after memories of the past night came back to him. A group of men had kidnapped him.

Mahiru frantically searched through his pockets but he couldn’t find his phone to call for help. His mind was racing and he couldn’t fully absorb the situation he was in. Why would anyone want to kidnap him? He was a simple veterinarian and he came from a middleclass family. They couldn’t possibly want him for a ransom or something similar.

Hesitantly, he stood and walked around the small prison cell. The room was grey and empty aside from the futon he sat in. His first instinct was to find a way to escape but he knew hit would be reckless without a plan or fully understanding the situation. Mahiru looked through the bars on the window and saw grass near the ledge so he was likely underground.

“Hello! Is anyone out there? Please, help me! Someone kidnapped me and they’re keeping me trapped here.” Mahiru didn’t know if there was anyone outside who could help him. He needed to try though. A part of him was concerned that anyone who came would be connected to the people who kidnapped him. Questions and possibilities raced through his mind.

The door opened behind him and Mahiru cautiously turned around to see who entered. Three men entered and he recognized one as the older brother he saw in the alley the previous night. More questions came to him and he didn’t know where to begin. “Who are you? Where am I? Why did you take me? My family doesn’t have money to pay a large ransom if that’s your goal. Please, just let me go.”

“Mahiru Shirota?” A man with spiky hair said his name and made him gasp shortly. If he knew his name, the kidnapping wasn’t random and they had kidnapped him for a reason. His fears only grew when the man said, “I am the leader of the Taishi crime family. Your family has caused a lot of problems for us but you can be useful.”

“What does the mafia want with my family? We’re all normal civilians!” Mahiru had read about the crime family in the newspaper but he didn’t know much about them. He couldn’t think of a connection his family would have with them. “My mother was a great woman so she wouldn’t be involved with a mafia group. My father left before I was born so I haven’t spoken with him in my life. Any connection my father has to the mafia has nothing to do with me.”

“Don’t talk back to me!” He raised his voice and Mahiru bit his tongue. He didn’t know what would happen if he angered the mafia. “Your uncle is Toru Shirota. He works with C3. Last week, he convinced one of my men to betray us and give him information. I want to know who that rat is. If your uncle doesn’t give me the rat’s name, I will kill you.”

“You’ve made a mistake because my uncle is a pilot. My family isn’t a part of C3 so we can’t give you any information.” Mahiru tried to reason with the man. His uncle had adopted him after his mother died and he saw him as a father figure. He didn’t want to think that his uncle lied to him about his job and he was part of a mafia group, C3. “Please, just let me go. I promise I won’t tell the police about this.”

“I told you not to talk back to me.” He swung a fist towards him and Mahiru stumbled back to dodge to attack. The room was small and he was already cornered against the wall. He could only close his eyes and lift his arms in front of him to lessen the impact.

There was a dull thud next to his head and Mahiru assumed that the man had missed. Warily, he opened his eyes and dreaded to see the man close to him. He didn’t know what he would do to him. Mahiru found another man standing between them and he had stopped the punch. He was glad that he protected him but he was worried that the boss’s anger would shift to him.

“Ares, his uncle is a member of C3 but he’s an innocent civilian. We can’t hurt him. Your father approved this plan of yours on the condition that we don’t hurt him. It’ll be troublesome to deal with the Boss’s anger if you break that vow.” Kuro reminded Makabe. He was glad that Makabe didn’t become violent again and he only gave him an angry glare.

“Once my father dies, I’ll inherit everything. You should try to be on my good side when that happens or else you’ll have to choose which of your family you’re loyal to, Hades.” Makabe said and slapped a pair of handcuffs against Kuro’s chest. He didn’t take it and it fell to the ground between them. “Put them on Shirota. He might be lying about who he is and he’s actually a part of C3 like his uncle.”

Their attention turned back to Mahiru and he felt their eyes on him like daggers. He had been paralyzed with fear earlier but he finally pulled himself out of his shock. Mahiru ducked beneath the man’s arm and attempted to escape. He was outnumbered in the small room yet he had to try to run. He wasn’t able to take more than three steps before Kuro wrapped his arm around his waist to stop him.

“Troublesome.” Kuro sighed. He forced him to sit on the futon and held his wrists down on the blankets with one hand. He took out the handcuffs and Mahiru shook his head. His brown eyes pleaded with him to stop and Kuro felt another stab of guilt. He lowered his voice so only Mahiru heard him. “Don’t move until we’re out of the room.”

His words were followed by the distinctive click of the handcuffs locking into place. Mahiru couldn’t take his eyes off the handcuffs and tears started to fill his eyes.  Makabe ordered the group to leave the room but his voice sounded muffled through Mahiru’s shock. The door slamming brought him back to the small room. Slowly, he lifted his hands and the handcuffs fell off the bed.

Kuro had only pretended to handcuff him.

Even though he wasn’t restrained, the weight of the situation crashed over Mahiru and broke the dam holding back his tears. He placed his face into his hands and cried. Mahiru didn’t know what would happen to him and he felt alone.

Mahiru wasn’t confident about escaping on his own but he couldn’t simply sit in a cell. The silence made his thoughts louder and he didn’t want to think of the implication of everything they told him. His uncle worked with C3? They were also a crime organization that rivaled the Taishi family. He couldn’t picture his uncle being a part of the mafia after seeing him as a kind father.

He decided he would ask his uncle for the truth if he could escape the cell. Mahiru looked down at the handcuffs and thought of the man with red, remorseful eyes. He went against a mafia boss but he didn’t know if he could trust him. He doubted he would have the opportunity to speak with him again. Aside from someone sliding food beneath the door, he hadn’t spoken with another person since the first day.

He ran his finger over the cold metal and wondered if he could use it as a weapon. He wasn’t strong but he could sprint quickly. Mahiru only needed an opportunity. Even as he imagined plans, he was scared and he didn’t know if he would be able to escape. He didn’t know the layout of the building and so many things could go wrong.

Footsteps approached the cell and Mahiru’s grip tightened around the handcuffs. He could hear screaming beyond the door and he moved off the futon to see what could be causing the disturbance. The opening beneath the door was only large enough for him to push food through and he used it to peer to the other side. He wasn’t able to see much but a dog caught his eye.

From the dog’s aggressive barks, Mahiru reasoned that the animal was the reason for the panic. A person fell in front of his door and a ring of keys fell out of his pocket. Mahiru saw his opportunity to escape. He couldn’t know if one of the keys would unlock his door but he needed to try. Once he was freed, he would be able to run using the current panic as a distraction.

Mahiru reached through the opening and grabbed the key ring. His hands shook slightly as he tested each key on his door. After several tries, the key turned and Mahiru held back an excited cheer. He couldn’t draw attention to himself as he ran away. Slowly, he opened the door and slipped into the hallway without anyone noticing him.

He saw the door at the end of the hall and pushed his way through the men to escape. Mahiru reached the end and gripped the doorknob. An angry scream behind him stopped him and his body froze. Then, he realized that the man wasn’t yelling at him. “Why can’t you people stop one dog? Just put it down.”

“It’s the boss’s Doberman! We can’t hurt it. You know he’ll kill us if anything happens to his dog.” Kuro argued. The dog was violent and it refused to listen to anyone aside from the mafia boss. “I already called the boss and he’ll be here to deal with the dog in a few minutes. He said we should keep it from escaping and contain it to the hall.”

“I’m sick of following that old man.”  Makabe took out his gun and pointed it towards the dog. Kuro drew his own weapon to stop him but another person was quicker. Mahiru shoved the man’s arm aside and forced his aim to point at the ceiling.

Of the three, Mahiru was the most shocked by his action. He came back to save the dog without thinking. He couldn’t allow the man to hurt the dog when it was clear that the animal was only in pain and scared.  Mahiru stomped on the man’s foot as hard as he could before he walked to the barking dog. Everyone in the room stared at him as he stopped in front of the dog.

Mahiru reached out to Doberman and he didn’t flinch when the dog tried to bite his hand. He wrapped his hands around the dog’s muzzle and held its mouth firmly close so it couldn’t try to bite him again. He used his weight to hold down the dog and spoke firmly. “Down, boy. I’m not going to hurt you so you don’t need to be scared. I just want to help. Trust me.”

His voice became soft with the last sentence. He felt the dog relax beneath his hands and he carefully let go of it. Mahiru stroked its dark fur to further calm it and he searched for any injuries that could’ve caused the Doberman to become aggressive. It whined softly when he touched its front paw. “How did you sprain your leg, boy? Don’t worry, I’ll patch you up.”

A shadow fell over him and Mahiru held his breath as he looked up at Makabe’s glare. The dog growled at the man and Mahiru held the Doberman back. He didn’t want the dog to be aggressive again and cause another scene. Mahiru braced himself for the man’s anger and hugged the dog close to his chest. “How did you get out?”

A gunshot answered Makabe’s question. Everyone turned to the end of the hall where a tall man had shot at the ceiling to get their attention. Mahiru saw how the mafia men stood straighter and he knew the tall man was a high ranking member. He didn’t know what he should do. The man stopped in front of Mahiru and looked down at him.

“Hades called me and said the mutt was causing trouble. It looks like I’ve wasted my time walking down here. Who are you?” The man didn’t show his emotion openly on his face but Mahiru thought he sounded confused and a little shocked. He hesitated to answer his question and asked one of his own instead.

“This is your dog?” Mahiru recalled how Kuro said the dog belonged to their mafia boss. The realization that followed turned his blood cold. He expected the man to throw him back into the cell and punish him for trying to escape. He looked around the crowd for help even though he knew that it was unlikely. Looking down at the dog he said, “Your dog has hurt his paw. He needs help.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” He said and lit a cigarette.

“He’s Mahiru Shirota. You wanted to know who gave information to C3 so I kidnapped Toru Shirota’s nephew to force him to give us the rat.” Makabe told him proudly. “I already sent the message to C3 and they should reply to me soon if he wants his nephew back alive. What do you think of my plan, Zeus?”

Without a word, Touma walked away from Mahiru and turned his attention to Makabe. He kicked the younger man and knocked him the wind out of him. Touma barely gave him another glance as he took a drag of his cigarette. “You said you were going to take Shirota, not his nephew. Toru’s going to tear the building apart because of your little stunt. Now, I have to clean up the mess you’ve made.”

Touma started to list orders to several men who left the hall. He looked back at Mahiru and sighed. “We’ll return you but we can’t have you causing trouble after you leave. It’ll take us a while to agree on the best course of action. Until then, you’ll be moved to a guest room. Hades, take Mahiru to guest room number 123. You and Apollo will watch over him to make sure he doesn’t try to run away again.”

“Yes, Sir.” Kuro nodded to him.

“Wait,” Mahiru interrupted them. He was confused by the sudden turn of events and a part of him was still wary. He met Touma’s eyes and said, “I want this Dobermann for protection. Please, let me keep him while I’m forced to stay here. I’ll treat his paw for you and return him once my uncle comes for me.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to demand anything from us.” Touma raised a brow at him. “What will you do if I say no?”

“I’ll run away and find every dog in this building to turn them against you.” Mahiru loosened his grip on the Doberman and the dog growled at the men around them. The only thing that kept the dog from attacking was Mahiru’s hand on its back. The warning behind Mahiru’s action was clear enough but Touma started to chuckle softly.

“You’re as crazy as your mother. The dog is yours.” Touma turned around and walked away. “The dog doesn’t belong to me so I never gave it a name. You can name it whatever you want. Kuro, show Mahiru to his new room.”

Kuro lightly knocked on the door before he entered the guest room. He found Mahiru sitting against the wall with the large dog laying across his lap. He had wrapped its paw and placed an ice pack on the injury. Mahiru didn’t answer him and Kuro realized that it was because he was asleep. He appeared tired and he couldn’t blame him since the past few days had been stressful for him.

He placed a tray of food on the desk and thought Mahiru could eat it later. The small click of metal against wood woke the dog and it warned Kuro to leave with a low growl. Mahiru woke and he looked around the room until his eyes fell onto Kuro. He quieted the dog by stroking its fur. “Down, Cerberus. This one’s a friend so you don’t need to growl at him.”

“Cerberus? That’s a fitting name for a dog like yours. I’m still surprised that you were able to tame that dog so quickly.”

“My friends would joke that I’m like Snow White. I only need to speak with animals to befriend them.” Mahiru told him and he smiled for the first time since he woke up in the mafia’s hideout. Kuro worked with many people in the mafia but he never met someone as strong as Mahiru.

Kuro took the tray of food and set it next to Mahiru. “I bought you dinner. You should eat.”

“Thank you for the food.” He said. Mahiru patted the ground next to him and silently told him to sit down as well. Kuro thought Mahiru would prefer to be alone so his request confused him. He sat next to him with the tray of food between them. “I want to also thank you for what you did the first day. You didn’t handcuff me.”

“You shouldn’t thank me for anything.” Kuro shook his head. He didn’t think it was right to involve a person like Mahiru in the war between mafia groups but he didn’t have the power to stop Makabe’s plan.

“Your mafia boss said that you’re assigned to watch over me. I have Cerberus to protect me but I would also like to get to know you, Kuro.” He said and looked up at him. The way he said his name made Kuro’s eyes widen slightly. Within the mafia, they would refer to each other by codenames to hide their identity. He didn’t know where he learned his name.

Mahiru thought of the interaction Kuro had with his little brother and wondered if he could trust him. The boy’s words made him think that Kuro was in the mafia against his will like Mahiru was. If he could convince Kuro to trust him, maybe they could help each other to escape the mafia. “Can we try to be friends?”

“You want a mafia member as a friend? You’re the strangest man I’ve ever met.” Kuro said and leaned back against the wall. “You can talk to me about anything you want.”

#servamp #kuromahi #sloth pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #fanfiction

[lowritesthings]

Resonance

Part 4 of ?? (Part 1)  << Previous // Next >>

It’s been dark for a while when you ask Marle to keep an eye on Marlene so Wedge can help you get Jessie back to her place. You tell her roommates that she fell while practicing a dance routine, glad that Wedge is quick to back you up.

“You want me to walk you back to the bar?” Wedge asks once Jessie is deposited in her bed. You shake your head. It’s not far and you can see Wedge is tired. It’s been a busy couple of days for him and you have a feeling the pace isn’t going to slow down for a while.

“That’s okay. You’re tired and I’m sure your ass still hurts.” You grin when he pouts a little and nods, rubbing the offending body part. “It’s not far. Give your cats some cuddles for me, alright?”

“Biggs would be mad if he knew I let you go walking around alone at night. People are getting jumpy and you don’t live here. They might think you have something to do with Avalanche.”

“I do have something to do with Avalanche,” you remind him. That Biggs worries for you like he worries for the team warms your heart a bit. It’s silly to miss him after only one day, isn’t it? “I’ll head straight back, I promise.”

“Okayyy,” he says slowly. “Just...don’t tell Biggs.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” you promise. You go up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and then walk back to the bar. The streets are quiet but you keep an eye out. People have definitely been more wary of strangers since the reactor went up in smoke and while a lot of people in Seven know you, you’re still a new face to most.

You make it back without incident and push open the door to Seventh Heaven—and your heart leaps at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Yeah, I’m proud of the kids. Wymer’s got them running patrols and they’re taking it really seriously,” you hear Biggs say to Marle

“You and Wedge are so good with them. No wonder those orphans from Sector Five miss you,” she replies.

He rubs the back of his head, embarrassed by the praise. “Ah, they’re good kids. I didn't have to do much. Wedge is the one that really gets them.”

“He’s being modest,” you say as you walk further into the room. “But Wedge is great with kids too.”

Marle and Biggs both twist in their seats at the sound of your voice. The older woman smiles at you.

“I could tell. You see, Biggs? I’m not the only one that knows to give credit where it’s due,” she says, giving his arm a gentle whack with the back of her hand. He lifts his arms in defeat.

“You win, but it’s on you if my ego swells.” Biggs is speaking to the landlady, but his eyes are on you. You’re studying each other, both making sure the other is whole and unharmed. You try not to flush as his gaze roams over you slowly and tell yourself that you’re just being thorough when your eyes linger on his face.

“With Jessie around? No danger of that, she’ll make sure you stay humble,” Marle says as she gets to her feet. Biggs stands too, offering his arm to help steady the older lady. She slaps it away and he grins. Then she focuses on you. “Well, I better get back. Marlene is still fast asleep.”

“Thanks, Marle. Let me know if I can return the favor,” you say, forcing your eyes to her. “You okay getting back?”

“Ha! I’ve been making my way around this town since before you were born. I’ll be fine. Goodnight, you two.”

“Night,” you and Biggs say. You both watch as she makes her way out of the door. When it clicks closed behind her, you become intensely aware that you’re alone with Biggs. It’s different from the walk home of the other night: now there’s an element of privacy thanks to the walls, and the air feels charged with things unspoken.

“Tifa said you’d be here with Jessie and Wedge. I figured I’d check on everyone,” he says.

“I thought they should spend the night in their own beds rather than camped out here,” you tell him. “But they should both be fine in a day or two.”

“Good.”

You’re staring at each other, neither knowing what to say next. He’s restless, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and you have no idea what to do with your hands. It feels like you have a thousand questions, but your tongue feels glued to the roof of your mouth.

“Maybe you should move here to Seven and join the rest of us degenerates,” he comments at last..

“It would save on train fare,” you agree, “but I’d probably have to leave the Leaf House.”

“Guess it wouldn’t be fair to steal you away from the kids.”

“They already complain that you don’t visit enough.”

He covers his heart with his hand and pretends to stagger. “Way to hit a guy where it hurts.”

You grin, unrepentant. “If guilting you a bit means we see you more often, I don’t regret it.”

“Ah, now I get it. That’s quite a nefarious plan.”

“All of my plans are nefarious,” you reply, straightening your shoulders and lifting your chin. He chuckles.

“Yeah, you’re a real criminal mastermind.”

You sober a little and glance over him once more. “Are you okay? I know you were mostly recon today, but Wedge let it slip that you had an exciting night the other day.”

He frowns a bit at that, but all he says is, “Fit as a fiddle.”

Before you can ask any follow up questions, there’s a deep rumble from somewhere far away. Though you’re inside, Biggs’ eyes instinctively flick up and in the direction of Sector Five plate. You hug your arms to your chest.

“Another bomb?” you ask. He hesitates, then nods.

“We should get you home,” he says. “I bet we could still find a chocobo carriage.”

“One of us has to stay here with Marlene, at least until morning. If you don’t mind crashing here, I’ll see if I can catch a carriage.”

“I’m not letting you wander around tonight alone,” he tells you in a tone that brooks no argument.

“Then I’ll just take the morning train. It won’t be the first time I’ve crashed here.”

He shakes his head, frowning a little as he tries to think of alternatives. “I don’t think it will be business as usual in the morning. Damn! I wish I’d made it back sooner.”

“I’ll figure it out tomorrow.” You yawn and stretch your arms over your head. He watches you and there’s a sudden heat in his eyes that makes you shiver, but just as quickly as you notice, you convince yourself you’re seeing things.

“I should—head out,” he says. There’s a reluctance in his voice that mirrors what you’re feeling but it’s late and with two reactors down, the undercity will likely be in chaos for the foreseeable future. It’s better if you both get some sleep.

“Okay.” You place a hand on his arm. “I was worried about you today. I’m glad you’re okay.”

He drops his gaze, suddenly shy with you, and you can see a faint red flush tint his cheeks and color his ears.

“No need to worry about me, I’ve always got a plan. Though...maybe one of these days I should get hurt. It’d give me a good excuse to spend some extra time with you.”

Now it’s your turn to blush. “Don’t you dare.” You pause and add, “I guess it’s my turn to come up with a plan. One that doesn’t involve you hurting yourself just so we can hang out.”

He laughs softly, then leans in and brushes a kiss over your cheek.

“Sleep well,” he murmurs.

“You too,” you reply in a voice that is mostly steady. He steps away, looks at you for one last moment, and then turns and heads out of the bar. You turn the locks with fingers that are only trembling a little. Then you collapse into a stool, prop your elbows on the bartop and cover your face with your hands.

“I’m a goner,” you groan.

Sleep doesn’t come easy that night.

——

Tifa and Barret must make it back at some point in the night, because they’re both at Seventh Heaven first thing in the morning. You walk out into the bar from the back room to find Barret serving Marlene breakfast. He’s trying to smile for her, but he isn’t quite managing. And Tifa’s eyes are red and puffy. Alarm bells go off in your mind, but you don’t want to upset Marlene’s meal.

You make your way to Tifa’s side and see that she’s staring at a yellow lily in a vase. Her lips are trembling a little.

“Tifa…?”

She turns to face you and bites her lip as tears well up in her eyes. “I think—I think Cloud might be dead,” she whispers, and you feel a wave of shock hit you like an incoming tide.

“Come on.” You take her hand and pull her into the back room so you can talk in private. Barret watches you both go with solemn brown eyes. The merc must have really grown on him.

“What happened?” you ask as soon as the door shuts behind you.

“We were fighting this new Shinra machine, the Airbuster. Cloud said it was for fighting giant monsters but the president turned it on us. Our execution, he called it. We disabled it but...there was an explosion. Cloud was dangling off the catwalk on the other side of this huge hole. Drones were shooting at us and he was yelling at Barret to get me out of there and then...and then he was just gone, I’m sure he fell and...we couldn’t…” She breaks down into sobs and you wrap your arms around her.

“You’ll see him again,” you say firmly. “He was a SOLDIER, right? He can survive stuff us normal people can’t. And I’m sure he’ll find his way back to you as soon as he can.”

Tifa cries for a few moments against your shoulder, but it isn’t long before she leans back and swipes at her eyes.

“He’d hate this. He’d be so embarrassed,” she says with a watery chuckle. The grief in her eyes is still so present and powerful that you feel the ache in your own chest, but she’s fighting hard to regain control of her emotions.

“Good. I’m going to guilt trip him for years after this,” you tell her. She lets out a laugh and drags the back of her hand across her eyes, dispelling the last of her tears.

“Well, until he makes it back, there’s plenty of work to do,” she says. “Are you sticking around today?”

“I was going to try to make it back to Five but I think I’m out of luck unless I want to try it on foot.”

“You can clean up at my place. And you’re welcome to my clothes. I’m sure you want to change,” Tifa offers.

“Thanks, I think I’ll take you up on that.” You start heading back toward the front of the bar, but you pause and look back at her. “I really do think he’s alive.”

She holds your gaze and you can see that she’s desperate to hope, but afraid to hope too. You offer a confident smile and then you head over to Stargazer Heights to freshen up a bit.

You’re nearly back to the bar when Wedge and Biggs intercept you. Both men hook an arm around yours, one on either side, and lead you away from Seventh Heaven without so much as a good morning.

“You should get back to Five,” Biggs says in a low, grim voice.

“What now?” you ask.

“Some guys are sniffing around the bar, looking for Barret. They’re not Shinra guys either,” Wedge tells you. There’s a bag slung over one of his shoulders and a rifle slung over the other.

“Not Shinra?” You look back and forth between them, confused. “But who else would be after him?”

Biggs’ expression darkens further. “Don Corneo.”

“The slum lord from Wall Market? How is he connected to any of this?”

“We can’t figure that part out either,” Wedge says, shrugging.

“Tifa wants to go to the source,” Biggs adds. Alarm jolts through you.

“What? No, that’s crazy!” you cry.

“I know, but I don’t think we’ll be able to talk her out of it.”

“She can’t go in there alone—”

”Uh-uh, no way. You can get that thought right out of your head because you are not going with her,” Biggs says, digging his heels into the dirt and dragging you all to a halt so he can glare at you. You pull your arms free of his and Wedge’s and face off against him.

“Don Corneo’s girls get chewed up and spit out, and that’s if anyone ever sees them again. You can’t send her without backup,” you snap.

“Tifa is going to grind that sleazy prick under her heel, but you have exactly zero combat experience,” he shoots back, glaring at you.

“She’s halfway sure Cloud is dead and you think now is the best time to send her undercover?”

“We wouldn’t send her in if we couldn’t get her out, you know that.”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem for me to tag along!”

You and Biggs are in each other’s faces now. Wedge is forgotten, the fact that you’re arguing in the street is forgotten. You’re both too caught up in this battle of wills.

“No,” Biggs says, nearly growling. “You’re not stepping one foot into Don Corneo’s mansion and that’s final.”

“You just said you could get us out.”

“I can get Tifa out. What happens if you’re separated? Even if you’re not, there are sure to be monsters on the way out. And what if Don Corneo picks you?” He grabs your arm. His eyes are burning into yours, but there’s fear in them too. “The things he’s into—What if he forced—the answer is no.”

You’re starting to see his point. You wouldn’t be able to fight your way out like Tifa can, and if you ended up separated and at the mercy of the don’s men...it’s a chilling thought. But so is the thought that Tifa will be facing all of that alone.

“I can’t believe you’re all just going to let her go.”

He shakes you gently. “You need to stay out of it and stay safe. I can’t worry that you’re going to run right into that mansion as soon as I drop you off in Section Five.”

“I’m definitely not the one you should be worried about.”

“You’re always the one I’m worried about!” he snaps back. “You’re so damn stubborn.”

“Uh...guys?” Wedge sounds extremely uncomfortable. “We should probably go. Barret wants us back here by nightfall.”

“Right.” Biggs drops your arm and steps back. “Let’s go.” He shoots one last glare your way and takes the lead. You stick your tongue out at his back and fall in step next to Wedge.

“Don’t mind him. He isn’t a fan of Tifa’s plan either. I think the idea of those guys getting their hands on you too kinda pushed him over the edge,” Wedge tells you quietly. “You mean a lot to him, and we all know Don Corneo’s the worst.”

You reach over and give Wedge’s arm a grateful squeeze. “I know I can’t help with this...but it’s hard to sit back and wait to hear everything is okay. I just wish she had someone going in with her.”

“Jessie offered too, but Barret shut her down. Her leg’s still giving her trouble.”

You don’t say anything for a while as the three of you make your way out of the Sector Seven slums on foot. But once you make it to the abandoned playground at the edge of Sector Six, Biggs calls a halt and draws a gun—not his usual sidearm, you notice, but a smaller one. He makes sure the safety is on, the magazine unloaded and the chamber empty before holding it out to you.

“You’d better take this opportunity to practice. Who knows what we’ll meet out there.”

You take the gun. It might be smaller than Biggs’ signature weapon, but it’s heavy in your grip and you can tell it will put down monsters when in capable hands.

“Alright, basics first. Let’s teach you how to make sure it’s not loaded...and then load it.”

The tutorial is hard to concentrate on. Biggs hands brush against yours while he shows you the different components of the gun. You force yourself to focus because you don’t want to hurt anyone, yourself included, by making a mistake.

“Now the hard part. Shooting looks a hell of a lot easier than it is, especially with handguns. Normally I’d set up a target and have you aim for center mass, but we don’t have anything like that on hand, so we’ll improvise.”

He and Wedge make sure the area is clear before pointing you at some of the debris behind the swings.

“Legs shoulder width apart,” he tells you. His hand falls on your waist to steady you as he nudges your feet further apart and you suppress a shiver.

“Grip with both hands, using your non-dominant hand for support.” Still behind you, he reaches around your body to show you how to cup one hand under the butt of the grip with your fingers supporting your dominant hand.

“Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot,” Wedge calls helpfully. He gives you a thumbs up when you glance his way and you grin at him.

“Alright. Elbows slightly bent, just like that. The sights are tricky. You want the top of the front sight aligned with the top of the rear sight. Getting this part right is essential to accuracy, and it isn’t easy, especially after the first shot. That initial recoil is going to be the hardest one, but the gun will move with each round you fire so you have to realign your sights every time. Got it so far?”

You nod.

“Think of your arms as shock absorbers. You want to control the recoil but you don’t want to fight it too hard. Remember, the first kick is the worst one.”

His fingers slide down your arms from shoulder to elbow, making sure your stance is firm but your joints aren’t locked. Your skin burns where he touches you.

“When you're ready, curl your finger around the trigger. Breathe out slowly, but don’t breathe in again right away. Pause and squeeze. That first shot will surprise you but keep calm. The trigger action will be easier for your next rounds.”

“Okay,” you reply. Something flutters in your stomach; nerves or excitement, you can’t tell which.

He pulls some earplugs out of his pocket and stuffs them in your ears, then steps back with Wedge and covers his own with his hands.

“Fire away!” he calls.

You’re...decent at it. You haven’t made a tidy little cluster of bullet holes, but none of your rounds have gone too wide. With practice, you could probably be a pretty good shot, but Biggs is right: aiming can be finicky if you’re not used to it.

“Not bad,” he tells you after you’ve checked your safety and magazine and lowered the weapon. He examines your target area and nods. “It’ll be harder with moving targets, but we don’t have time for that today.”

“Besides, Biggs and I can probably pick off anything that comes our way.” Wedge pats his rifle.

“Still, it never hurts to know how to defend yourself,” Biggs comments. You start to hand the gun back to him but he shakes his head. “Keep it,” he tells you as he pulls a shoulder holster out of Wedge’s bag.

“Thigh holsters are a pain in the ass,”’ he explains. “These have their own issues but you won’t be stopping to adjust it every five steps and it’s easier to hide if you need to.”

He shows you how the straps go and hands you an extra magazine. Then, quietly, he says, “I want you to hold on to that gun. We can practice with it more later, but I’d feel better knowing you’ve got it. Things with Shinra are getting bad and who knows how it will affect the undercity.”

You nod and he gives you a small, lopsided smile. “Take good care of it for me, huh? It’s one of my favorites. We’ll go over how to clean it when we get you back to Five.”

“I will,” you promise as you holster it. He gives your shoulder a squeeze and then jerks his thumb toward the path through the rubble. “Let’s get moving.”

He takes the lead and Wedge gives you a playful nudge as he comes over to take point position.

“Told ya he likes you,” he stage-whispers, and you roll your eyes at him even though you’re blushing.

Next >>

#biggs x reader #ff7 biggs #ffvii biggs #ff7r #ff7 remake #fic: resonance #lo writes things

[eb-byestelle]

:3 2 5 6 9 13 14 17 22 23 24 28 29 30 34 35 37 38 40 41 43 44 47 48 50 54 55 56 57 59 60 61 63 64 67 68 70 72 73 74 76 79 80 81 82 84 87 88 90 97 98 100

Hi there !! ❤️

Oh lord……….. 😵😅 There is a lot of it! But in some way it flatters me 😂💖

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

I do. It seems to be sth unpleasant but I like that tbh. It’s a very refreshing feeling.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

Ofc I’m 😂

6: do you keep plants?

Generally no. I prefer to have an ornamentation which are long-term like a paintings or various types of souvenirs. But every now and then I love to buy some roses or lilies.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

Sometimes.

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

A few things for sure ^^ For example some new epizode on the channel of one of my favrite youtubers. I usually don’t care about youtubers, but there is few guys who I really like. He is one of them. Besides of reviewing and mocking of a bad movies, he started to make a program when he laughs of his inept cooking skills and in a funny way he tries to do the various dishes. It was the epizode when he tried to do some dish created by Gordon Ramsey. With his brilliant joke and a chill style of being, as usual it was great. Another thing which comes to my mind is a very tasty breakfast 😋

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

I guess it would be like in case of a lot of roommates. A separate rooms for each of us. Each one would be the own part of the fridge. The bills would be divided in half for each.

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

Right now I have a color I like (dark chocolate).

22: are you a morning person?

Not exactly xD I love mornings! It’s my favorite part of the day. But at the same time I love to spend all night without sleeping xD At night we have the best ideas and the biggest inspiration ❤️ sometimes I call myself „a night animal”. But I still love mornings, this fresh air, very pleasant atmosphere. But because of my love to being „a night animals” my morning is only sometimes in the correct part of the day (like 7.00 – 8.00 am).

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

Like today xD Eg. replying to messages (like right now xD), cleaning, some activities like a cycling, trips or swimming, watching a movies, finding an interesting things or creating sth like a new poem or taking a new photos to my albums.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

Yes, she is ❤️ She knows more than anybody.

28: sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise ❤️

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

Eg. when there is my birthday time and some my friend always gives me the gifts which perfectly suits to my interests and my personality ❤️ It’s the sign for me that someone knows my well and I’m important for him/her.

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

I think I have… But I’m not sure when exactly. It was a long time ago…

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

You mean a mascot, right? I still have my dear bunny ❤️ Its name is Niunia (a girl name). I got it for my fourth birthday. It was one of my biggest inspiration for the next 10 years xD Thanks to this bunny I created my first tales, comics, novels, and arts. It was like an one big inspiration bomb xD

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

Yeah, I like it. I use it very often.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

Rather clean.

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

It would be probably when someone is too sarcastic. Many people love sarcasms. Some are funny, when don’t laugh of somebodies in some mean way, but generally when it’s sth too personal, directed directly to me, then it’s sth very painful.

I also really don’t like when someone is a religious fanatic. I’m not an atheist and I totally respect all religiouses but some part of them are just insane… Some of them even try to say, that the homosexuality is a disease and that the contraception is a killing. Maybe we should claim that the religious fanatics is a disease xD 💀😂

Oh! And I hate this obsession with diet and exercise. It’s great to feel attractive and healthy but it started to be the one large international persecution mania 😅💀💀

40: think of a piece of jewelery you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

Ahh, ofc! I have a lot of jewelery, many of them remind me of some memories. My the most precious thing is my ring which I bought from my first scholarship (the scholarship I got in 2015, while I bought it in 2016). I wear it everyday. Later I went to the some steep hill and at the top of this hill I’ve done a kind of oath to myself that I will never make some mistakes once again, i.e. that I will always respect and love myself and I will always be faithful to myself (Sth a bit like a self-wedding xD There was even the cross xD).

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

Generally I read book quite rarely, I choose much more the watching the movies/anime, but when I think about a books like this, eg. now I’m reading some really great book. It’s called „Sophie’s World”. It’s about a teenage girl which one day came back from school and inside of her letter-box found a letter addressed to her, where it was one question „Who you are?”. Later, after she started think about who could give it to her and wonder about that question, another anonymous letters with philosophical questions began to be put into her letter-box. After a short time, after stimulating her curiosity towards philosophy, still without knowing the identity of the mysterious philosopher, the girl started a philosophy course, this time receiving a lot of long sheets full of new knowledge. More and more she began to delve into the world of philosophy, while at the same time trying to find out who is that mysterious teacher. At the same time, every now and then for some reason in various places, she found some things for the another girl she had never met. So far, I’m halfway through, history is getting more and more interesting. This is not a romance, as might be suggested by that “mysterious man” xD is a novel which is a kind of textbook of philosophy inserted into the story of the main character, written in a style that is one of the best literary styles I have ever read ❤️

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

With my music xD 🎵🎇

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

It was some time ago, on my last ride by bicycle.

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

The meat from the dogs 😱😭😭👎

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

In case of this, I’ve really changed. As a kid I was scared by a storm, altitude, public appearances, spiders, darkness, although at the same time since childhood I’ve liked to challenge myself. Then there was a time when there were many strong negative experiences in my life, after which I came up with some simple thought: “Once I was afraid of a storm, but then I found out that there are more terrible things than a storm.” Now I’m afraid of only few things. I was able to go in the middle of the night through a dark forest, perform in front of a hundred people or run away from a stranger who chased me with a log in hand and even then I didn’t feel a fear. But there is still something I’m scared. It’s a bad people. I divide bad people into “culprits” and “intruders”. These first ones are people aware of their faults who have made mistakes, but they have a goodness within them that helps them to be better. Those second ones are totally evil. They are persuasive. People love them and follow them. They’re often completely unaware of the quantity of evil that is within them. Their boundless ruthlessness, combined with their eternal state of repression and alleged innocence, make them worse than the most dangerous lion.

I’m also afraid of losing humanity. I have the view that human is a creation between an animal and a device. I don’t want to get lost totally in lusts and instincts, like an animal, I don’t want to lose myself in logical cold action, like a device. It’s important to not forget about the instincts and the logical thinking, both skills are very valuable. But the extreme transition to one of these parties is bad. And very simple in a present times. While there is still humanity in the middle, specifically this what is metaphorically called “the soul” (feelings, weaknesses, sensibility). I don’t want the present world to deprive me of this.

50: what’s an odd thing you collect?

I guess I don’t collect any things like this.

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

Some my friend from studies. She has a very hard time right now…

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

It’s hard to say… But I guess it was some „skill” I had to learn, ie. more „sharp” kind of speaking and behaving, more agressive. Ofc not as a kind of speaking everyday, but it were a situation which forced me to be cruel to someone who hurt me. It was my final attempt to prove that this person very hurts me and deserves my contempt. It worked. Now this person is completely different to me. But I don’t hide that it was difficult. In a way, I had to move my scruple and find within me something what I call “wildness”.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

When someone still has inside sth from a child. Specifically, I mean a children’s sensitivity, curiosity about the world, the ability to dreaming, child’s innocence and a kind of enjoying something like a child. Imo it’s very important to cultivate everything this within us, at the same time having sth of an adult, like eg. an emotional maturity (there are ofc also children who can do it ;3). I like when someone is not afraid of being themselves. I also value a tenderness. I also like when someone gets involved in something with a passion, in some of their interest, or even in the anime episode xD

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

I can to listen to this AGAIN AND AGAIN 💖🎵🎵

59: what’s your favorite myth?

I don’t have any.

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

I like ^^ My fave poets are Adam Mickiewicz and Jan Lechoń. From my poetry my fave poem is called „The Shine” about how to recognize the true great love and not to confuse it with sth worse, some fake. It resembles a dialogue by a man with a personified „Mrs Love/Goddess of love Venus” (there is even sth mentioned about Venus). The man falls in love with someone, but he hesitates, doesn’t know if she’s this only one. Love tells him that yes, this is the only one. Love also tells him what he should to do to not lose her and how to realize the enormity of his feelings and distinguish the “first place / podium” from the others ones.

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

I gave one day for one my friend a cup with picture of Rei from Free! in a butterfly costume. Have I received some stupid gift? Maybe that bright green headphones for music in the shape of little monkeys that looked terribly and worked even more terribly XD

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

I think that to some level I’m fussy, but not very much. I love the most to listen sth what it evokes some feelings me and emotions inside me or inspires me to sth. When it doesn’t do it, it’s not a big deal but on the first place I put a kind of music like above.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

Black (We have a 2:15 am so .. xD).

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

It’s not sth what makes me feel worse. I just try to accept any weather and to be above it. But sometimes there are a moments when I feel sleepy.

68: what’s winter like where you live?

It depends. Sometimes it’s light and warm, about 0oC, sometimes we get even -20oC  O.O … The snow is every year but not during all winter.

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

So far I have not.

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

Some things yes. I love to create a lists concerning various things. Thanks to this some stuffs and things to do are orderly in my head. But not everything. There must be a place for being spontaneous lol xD without this we don’t live xD

73: what are some of your worst habits?

No comments XD

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

Friendly, kind, tender, open-minded, full of passion and amazing ideas, funny, inteligent, positive, shy, sensitive, as much pervert as me (or more xD), with a golden heart 💖💖💖

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

Yhm, Sleeping? (2:40 am while tomorrow morning I go to work xD sometimes I have to turn off my inner „night animal” xD)

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

Eg. when one my friend gave me on my birthday ALL collection of „X/1999”, all 19 volumes which cost a lot of money and which are also very hard to find. I’m truly grateful for that, it’s one of my favorites manga serieses ever! In case of guys, eg. one kissed my hand only in a winter glove, claiming that he’s not worthy to do it without this. From myself (I do for myself A LOT of sweet things xD) I’ve gotten a gold statuette for happy birthday with an engraved wishes 😄🏆🥇

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

The walls of my bedroom are in a creamy color. I didn’t chose it but creemy it’s for me very neutral color so it’s alright. In my future dreamy bedroom the walls would be white or in a powder pink color.

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

Yeah, this is perfect xD

82: are/were you good in school?

In those subjects I liked. That was my rule xD About the rest I didn’t care.

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

I guess not.

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

The scientific movie “Journey to the Edge of the Universe” (2008) It’s one of the most beautiful and profound movie from this kind, I’ve ever seen ❤️❤️ „100 girls” when the main guy has absolutely brillant reflections about a women and men, everyone should to listen to him! :D And „Lucy”, about the potential of our brain. And perhaps also „The Devil’s Advocate”, it’s a food for thought.

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

Music for sure and a bit the painting world.

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

Let my own photos and those from the Internet will tell instead of me.

Yeah… That’s Wroclaw 💖

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

INFJ/ENFJ, pisces/aries , none of hogwarts houses.

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

Last week, It was very nice. I really like this kind of spending time.

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

I think that none of them. I don’t want t change a past, I like the state of things which is now and love some special memories which could to not happen If I would go back 5 years. I also don’t want to jump up the 5 years which can bring something special.

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

It reminds me some trend which we were in the primary school, called “The golden thoughts” where some person created a 100 question, wrote in a notebook and later others answered her question in that notebook. It looks exactly the same ❤️

Thank you for your message! 😘

#tag game #ask #answer #E.B. - by Estelle

[mai-stories]

The Florist and the Mercenary - Chapter Two: The Switch

Not long after leaving the Lamia's Tail, Lily's anxiety arose once again. She was not familiar with Woodmoore, so she had to rely on Ernest's help. The two made their way back to the market square, unaware of the figure following after them. A figure clad in black weaved like the wind between the passersby, on a direct path straight for one innocent girl out of her depth in this place. Hand aglow, feet silent, he made for what cash his magic would snatch for him... Only for a hand on the small of Lily's back to take her out of the way. The piercing gold eyes of Ernest were set on the would-be thief and his other hand opened. From his palm, from a metallic glow at the center, chains erupted and the figure in black wailed as he was not only tangled up, but lifted into the air by his ankles. Everything seemed to go so quickly for Lily, her hair whipping around when the thief had made an attempt to rob her. She clutched her apron tightly, reaching underneath it to the pockets of her dress in order to feel for her money. She relaxed some, giving a nod to Ernest before she glanced over at the would be thief.

"Bet this fella had his eyes on you from the get go. I doubt he expected a mage of my caliber though!" Ernest bragged and he gently moved his free hand to Lily's shoulder. "I think I got him before he could snag anything. You okay, Missy?"

"I'm fine." She murmured, still breathing a little heavily before looking up at the elven man. 

"Is that common?" She asked him, relaxing more before breaking his hold. She wasn't comfortable with a near stranger touching her like that. "What's going to happen to him anyway?" There were so many questions she had, having never lived in a large city. Were people really robbed out in the open like this? Surely someone else must have seen him. They definitely saw him now, suspended in the air by golden chains that sprung from Ernest's hand. She still didn't trust him any farther than the demure girl could throw him. It was expected, that much was obvious.  

"Only if you don't know who to look out for..." He eyed the thief and smirked, "As for now...!" With a flick of his chains, he swung the thief high over their heads and unraveled them, letting him fly off over a couple buildings. "He can think about what he did and think twice as hard about robbing anyone else today." The Chain Mage dusted his hands off and grinned, "As long as you're with me, Lily, you're in real good hands."

Lily's eyes widened when she watched the thief fly, making her hands cover her mouth. That man could have been seriously injured, thief or not! Still, as much as she wanted to tell him how dangerous that was, a part of her deep down shook it off. He wouldn't do that to her, would he? Chains, though.. She didn't like the thought of those. It appeared useful, but it only made her a bit more reluctant. Slavers and traders used chains to capture particular races for their valuable bodies, so seeing him demonstrate what he was capable of made her all the more wary of him. There was no way he could tell what she was, could he?

"Well then.. Let's be on our way." She said softly, taking a deep breath. A chill ran up her spine as paranoia set in. She had to trust him, she had already paid him and he agreed to keep her safe. The girl looked to him to lead the way, as she didn't know the city well enough to find her way to the southern roads. Ernest saluted, making sure to keep a close eye on his new traveling companion as they made their way through Woodmoore. Finding the southern gates was easy enough, and from there it was a straight shot outside of the city. Actual military presence was non existent in this place. Between the multitude of Magics and the presence of both Grand Magia and the Arcanium Assembly, the need for armed forces was unnecessary in the capital city. Outside of the city was lightly wooded road, pleasant with a cool breeze blowing in from the east. Ernest stopped their pace, looking to Lily as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Ah... Lily, uh, I kind of hate to bring it up. It sounds so awkward, but... You still don't trust me yet do ya?" He asked, unusually glum as he peered at her curiously. Long, indigo locks billowed carelessly in the breeze, her eyes turning to him before she gave him a slightly sheepish shrug, hands upturned as she gave her answer.

"Can you really blame me? I've.. never really been to Woodmoore, so I'm a bit nervous." She said softly, a short sigh escaping her. "I apologize. I'm just nervous." Lily explained before she loosened her shoulders, closing her eyes for a moment before looking over at him. "You understand, though.. Why I'd be cautious about strangers, right?" She tried making conversation as she looked over at him, tilting her head slightly. It was still rather early, the sun having passed its highest and was beginning to descend towards the horizon. It was the middle of spring, so it didn't look like it would get too warm later on.

"Because you're a mermaid?" He said it so casually. 

A much more chilling wind whipped by. "I approached so happily.. Just trying to make conversation. I always come off as overly friendly I'm told." Ernest sighed. Rubbing the back of his neck again, he continued to speak. "And my Chain Magic too... Why, I bet you started to think I was some slaver...! Ha ha ha ha!" He laughed, though it was not at all jovial. And like that, the laughter stopped. 

"Stupid little fish girl oughta listened to that instinct." His smile, once so warm, morphed and curled into something wicked. 

Chains erupted from his fingertips in fast moving tendrils of clanking, seemingly endless strands. Each tipped by a wickedly sharp dagger that either hovered threateningly or made to ensnare the girl quickly. With a strong enough hold, Ernest planned to lift the girl up and walk her over to the trees a bit more out of sight. Those dark and uneasy thoughts were proven totally true. Her gaze froze on him, like a newborn deer she tried to run away, though she tripped over her skirts in her frantic panic, unable to get away.

"Hah.. Help!" She cried out, her hands coming up to deflect the chains away with water. She had a canteen hidden under her apron, water popping the lid open and flowing out to her hands in order to keep them from being shackled. She tried getting to her feet, only stumbling even more, struggling to her feet before one chain shackled her foot. "Someone! Please!" She cried again. In the face of danger, she was terrified, her timid voice not quite loud enough to reach the ears of those that were still lingering around the outside of the city. 

Lily tried to pull her leg from the chains, trying to get to her feet once more and run away. She was trapped, though, her water unable to break the magic that kept her tethered down. Using what was left of her water, she formed a bubble around her, keeping herself safe as long as she could hold it. The black-clad thief from before appeared, hands aglow and pressed against the dome to sap away the mana keeping it up. All the while Ernest whipped the bubble in hopes of popping it, wearing down her measly defense and so they could take her away! 

"Caught a mermaid once! She was a lot more trusting, a lot less trouble! Pretty, too. She made us a pretty penny at black market auction! I bet you will, too." Both men started to cackle madly, keeping up the attack as Lily's mana was slowly being sapped, her bubble close to breaking.

Tears streaming from her eyes, Lily was close to giving up. She was so close to letting go, until she felt static in the water around her. A crackle hit their ears, like lightning preparing to snap down on this clear, sunny evening and the air grew charged, their bodies feeling the danger before it struck. Literally. Blue bolts of lightning crashed down on both men, electrocuting them. It was over in an instant and they were left dazed and blackened, standing still until a gentle passing breeze saw to it that they collapsed in groaning heaps, preventing them from breaking Lily's defense. A small gasp of surprise escaped her as she watched her would be kidnappers fall to the ground.

"Assholes.." A hooded stranger grumbled as he walked up to the curled up girl and crouched down in front of her bubble shield. He stared blankly at her from under his hood, past its clear walls and tapped a couple times, the surface rippling somewhat. "Oi. It's over now, girl." He called. The water had protected her from the leftover crackling, the bubble popping when the mysterious man tapped it.

"Please don't hurt me.." She said, backing up in the damp grass with tears still in her eyes.

After the scare those two had put in her, she would find it increasingly harder to trust anyone that came near her now. sure, he saved her, but at what cost? Would he extort her rescue for money? Was he a rival slaver? She was so scared now, shaking on the ground with her arms covering her face in cowardice. The man rolled his eye and huffed.

"If I wanted to hurt you, there would have been three lightning bolts, don't you think?" The stranger snarked to her.

He stood up to his full height and pulled his hood off, towering over her cowering form with no regard for her terror or her anxiety now. The girl looked up at him, his silhouette casting a dark shadow over her as he spoke to her.

"Get on your feet. Let's go..." He reached down to take Lily by her arm, intent on pulling her onto her feet if need be. She flinched at first, but otherwise allowed him to help her up. "You and I are about to have a talk. You must be three kinds of insanely stupid! Walking in to that place without any kind of illusion or glamour to hide the biggest effin' tell for your kind! You waltz right in and practically shout, 'Hi, I'm ditzy mermaid! Kidnap me for slaver auctions! Maybe worse if you feel up to it!' By the All-Magic... Idiot." No malice, no pain... He just rebuked her! 

Not unlike a brother would a sister, but without the tact or familial kindness. No, this was straight chiding and no verbal punches were pulled. It wasn't so much a talk as it was a scolding. How was she supposed to know what about her was a dead give away? She had never even been to a big city like this before! Instead of simply speaking her thoughts and defending herself, Lily just bowed her head, taking his words headlong before uttering a small apology.

"I-I'm sorry.. I didn't.. I didn't know.." She explained, avoiding his gaze as he intimidated her to pieces. She started to calm down, tears ceasing as she tried to take a few deep breaths. "Thank you for saving me." She told him, forcing herself to stand up straight and raise her head to meet his gaze, surprised to find he had one eye, the other covered by a white eyepatch.

She only hoped he wouldn't ask for the rest of her money for this. She needed to find someone else to take her to Port Hollifern. Just then, the thought struck her, like lightning struck those two! But no! No.. Why would he agree to protect her if she was a beacon for trouble? It was a bad idea, so she kept it to herself.

"Don't mention it." He turned and walked over to Ernest's unconscious form. He rifled through the man's pockets and brought out a coin pouch that jangled some as he bounced it in his palm. The white haired stranger walked back to the downtrodden mermaid and took her hand to put two gold in it. "I'm keeping three," Irvine told her bluntly, "One for my trouble," He proceeded to bite one like Ernest had, "One for my words of wisdom," His words of scolding? He bit down on another. "And one for taking you back home. Wise up before you decide to skip on in to situations you aren't ready for like an idiot." The one-eyed man bit the last piece before he pocketed his procured coin and folded his arms over his chest, gazing sternly at the timid mermaid. "Merfolk have the longest hair of all the magical races. It also shimmers when wet, giving away your race. Visit a witch or druid and they can brew up a legal potion to hide that. Pretty cheaply, too. That, or learn how to deal with assholes like that and you won't need to hide. Simple. I won't charge you that advice." He told her, peering down at her with that lone, blue stare.

"My hair..?" She reached up and brought a thick handful of it over her shoulder, looking over the glossy strands. It got wet when her bubble had been popped, so it did take on a shimmering sheen. She grimaced as she realized her mistake. "I see.. I probably should have dressed better, too." She said quietly, taking the thick locks of hair into her hands and weaving the length into a braid, letting it fall against her back before she tightened her cloth bandanna over the top of her head. His words lingered in her thoughts.. He was offering to take her home, but that was not her destination. He suggested it, so she could make a counter offer, right? "Could you take me to Hollifern Bay instead?" She asked him outright, taking out more money from her purse under her apron, looking up at him. "I'll pay you whatever you like if you can keep this from happening again." Lily urged, heart beating so strongly in her chest.

There was a bit of determination in her eyes, as she didn't want to be taken right back to where she started. Taking carriages to each city would only be more expensive, and would cost her a good chunk of change as the roads were often winding and cities far apart. The man's eyebrows rose, mildly surprised that she found her voice so quickly. He had fully expected her to trudge back to her home with her head down and lock herself away after that embarrassing display, but no, instead she was gungho to take this trip.

"...What's your name?" He asked, almost begrudgingly, apparently taking on her request. He watched as relief took over her face, the girl glad that he accepted her offer.

"My name is Lily." She said as she began to dust her clothes off, using her magic to remove any water from her clothing as well as prevent any stains. It was remarkably easy, just threading the liquid through to remove impurities before she willed it all back into her canteen at her hip. She snapped the lid closed, looking back up at him. That icy gaze of his still made her nervous, but he seemed to soften up towards her, in her opinion. She looked back at the two that had tried to kidnap her, hoping they wouldn't wake up any time soon and come after them. All of that metal on Ernest surely must have added some pain, so she pitied him despite his intentions. "I know it's pretty far, so that's why I need help getting there.." She told him, starting to explain her plan. "What's your name?" She asked in return, a small smile on her delicate face. "Irvine Bastio, and I gathered as much." The taller man looked over his new mermaid charge and down at her canteen. "Your magic isn't even strong enough to conjure water from the air." He sighed, running one hand through his white mohawk. Already, the lightning mage could feel in the pit of his stomach that this girl might just be more trouble than she was worth... But damn, was he such the pushover. "Alright. If I'm going to do this, then I have two rules. One, you're going to learn how to use offensive magic and like it. I'll teach you. A single whine or complaint and I'll hand you your gold and walk away. Two, you have to take jobs on the way just like I will. What they are is your choice, but the trip from here all the way down to Hollifern Bay won't be cheap. My payment is a gold a day. Understood?" He explained, holding his fingers up in regards to the rules.

Lily looked up as he made his conditions clear, her face filling with worry. "I.. Well, I suppose I don't have a choice, then." She said with a sigh, nodding as she confirmed that she understood. "How will you teach me, though? Water and Lightning aren't even similar." She said, lifting her hands up, looking down at the pale palms before her gaze returned to him.

"Magic is magic. The mana all mages use, their magic, are extensions of thought and will," Irvine explained almost sagely, walking over to both unconscious men and rifling through their things more thoroughly. He took an earring, each possessing a small topaz stone dangling on a single chain link, from one ear off of Ernest and another off of his thief friend. Pockets pilfered, he started ushering Lily back toward the path.

"Jobs on the way... What kind of jobs would there even be?" She asked aloud, not directed at him as she covered her cheek in thought.  

"Whatever the job boards or businesses offer. Maybe you and I will have to kill a creature or two or do a bit of hard labor. Something." He answered as he brought out his own coin and took a moment to count out his own personal bank. Thirty-one gold, two silver and six copper. A decent amount, good for meals and some cheap inn rooms.

It seemed all Lily had on her was her money, her canteen, and whatever else lied in those deep pockets of hers beneath her apron. Lily  didn't have a map of any kind, nor did she have any extra provisions. It was clear that she had never traveled far from home before! Lily's face grew more worried when he explained the types of jobs they'd be offered. The only thing in her life she had actually killed were fish in the lake she lived beside. Maybe traveling so far was harder than she imagined, but she couldn't back down now.

#original #story #adventure #fantasy

[outofangband]

Dark Arafinwë AU: Snippets of the Introduction and the Ending

Dark Arafinwë snippets, basic information on the AU

AU masterlist

masterlist 

CW: extremely callous disregard of past trauma, abuse of power 

First part is combination narrative and summary and will be rewritten as a full story if there is interest. 

Edit: full version is here

This AU has been in my head since about April and I’ve been very fixated on it! Most of it is in my DMs to people so there aren’t as many full on pieces but I’m working there! Please feel free to ask questions or send requests!

Tag list: @elarinya-nailo @iwenttomordor @much-ado-about-whumping @tears-and-lilies 

Maedhros is attending a formal event near Alqualondë and is accosted by another elf. Unable to wrangle the truth from the ages of pre-existing biases and feuds, Teleri soldiers arrest both the accoster and Maedhros who finds himself fighting against unpleasant memories of being confined and restrained.  He’s alone in his cell, trying not to flinch whenever a guard comes by and alternating rapidly between the instinct to fight and scream and lash out and the instinct to hide and be subdued. He sees the guards stop and bow and he stands and walks to the door and sees Arafinwë. To his astonishment, he’s told that Arafinwë has agreed to have him released into his custody. He can’t leave the city for a few days, at least not until the matter gets sorted out. Maedhros starts to refuse just on instinct, saying it’s not necessary, etc. Arafinwë looks loftily at him.“Do not speak foolishness, Russandol. Come with me.” And the guards unlock the door and nod to him and he can’t exactly insist on staying in prison especially because he is actually innocent in this encounter so he agrees reluctantly and follows Arafinwë to his carriage.

Arafinwë brings him back to the palace and into one of the more deserted wings. He doesn’t speak and Maedhros is incredibly uncomfortable.

Then, they enter a healer’s room, a small bed that is more for examinations than rest, drawers, and a table. Arafinwë tells him to strip. Maedhros is startled and steps back, eyes widening. 

“I know you carry weapons on your person,” Arafinwë tells him calmly, “For rather obvious reasons, I cannot allow you to keep them with you. Strip. I will give you something to wear.”

Maedhros does indeed have a knife in his stockings so he takes off his boots and hands it over. But Arafinwë isn’t satisfied.

“It would not be very prudent if I simply took your word, Russandol. I have worked as a healer, I was there when Angamando fell. I know you are scarred. Do not make this harder than it is. I do not enjoy this.”

Maedhros’s breath catches in his throat but he slowly takes off his stockings, trousers and tunic, ears burning with embarrassment, not meeting his uncle’s eyes. Arafinwë takes his clothes and gives them to a guard to search. Then he orders him to lie down. Once again Maedhros refuses.

“I hope you are not going to argue with me for every part of this. This is a standard procedure that would normally be done by our gaolers. Are you not grateful you are not suffering this under the hands of strangers?”

Maedhros lies down, breath shallow. Before he can react one arm is strapped down and then the next. The material isn’t coarse, a soft leather of some kind. But he recoils all the same. Arafinwë holds his head down when he begins to struggle. 

“I can call in guards to restrain you or you can hold still and we may be over with this soon.”

“I do not need to be restrained! I am hardly going to attack you, naked with no weapon.”

“Russandol, I have absolutely no idea what you are or are not capable of doing in your anger and desperation. It is as I said. A precaution. Hold still.” He straps down his legs. Maedhros’s heart is racing. He feels hot and cold at the same time. 

“Open your mouth.” He doesn’t. Fingers grip his jaw.

“Open your mouth. You can hardly be surprised that you are not trusted here. Do you not understand I have made this process significantly better for you?”

Maedhros tastes leather as something is forced into his mouth, preventing him from moving his tongue. Leather straps are fixed around his head.

Arafinwë finally takes a step back. Maedhros’s shallow breathing is softened slightly by the straps.

“Good. Get some rest, Russandol. I will check on you in the morning.”

Author’s note: Maedhros was surprised here and his shock is used to manipulate him into thinking this is the standard legal procedure however he soon starts to understand more how dangerous Arafinwë and please know that he becomes an absolute nightmare to hold hostage and will scream insults and fight and bite more than once. Ara isn’t stupid enough to try and hold him in the palace for long. I’m still working on a few ideas but I think once the three days of house arrest or similar are up, Ara will move him to one of his greenhouses while maintaining that Maedhros left himself, something no one would doubt given the animosity between the two families; why wouldn’t Ara have been glad to get him out of the house as much as possible! Twas a gracious and noble deed to protect his estranged nephew from the wardens but he has no obligation to note where he goes after! 

More information about why he’s doing this in the premise explanation linked at the top!

(months later)

Maitimo is naked, curled into a ball with his wrists bound in front of him. He does not move or turn towards at the footsteps and it takes Fingolfin several moments to find his voice. “Nelya, it is me,” he murmurs, crouching beside his nephew and raising his lantern. He expects the younger elf to flinch away from the light and his apology dies on his lips when he sees why Nelyafinwë does not flinch. A stretch of thick cloth is tied around his eyes, another around his mouth.

“It is only me, Nelya. I will not harm you. I will take the cloth from your mouth now, yes?” A pause and then a nod and Fingolfin’s heart simultaneously lifts and shatters. He reaches out and unties the second cloth, taking care not to pull at his hair. When it’s gone, he sees from the light of his lantern that the thin scars on his nephew’s face, usually barely visible, are now red and irritated. The cloth alone could not have caused this but Nolo puts this aside for now.

He swallows. “Nelya, I am going to remove your bindings and help you up before I take the other cloth away, I do not want the light to hurt you. Do you understand?” Maedhros nods without speaking and Nolofinwë takes his knife from his belt, cutting through the leather straps around Maedhros’s wrists. Nolofinwë then places his hands carefully on the younger elf’s shoulders and helps him into a sitting position. He has no clothing at all and his skin is cold to the touch but more worrying is his stillness. He makes no attempt to cover himself, merely sits there where he has been positioned. Nelyo hasn’t done this since the days and weeks after his rescue and it worries Fingolfin badly.   But he takes off his cloak and wraps it around Nelya’s body, hoping to lessen his trembling before finally reaching up to remove the blindfold.

His nephew’s eyes are glassy and unfocused. Nolofinwë recognizes at once that he’s been given something to sedate him and he knows that Maitimo hates taking anything that makes him disoriented or drowsy. Despite his anger at this, he tries to feel relief. Perhaps Maitimo’s mental state is not quite as fragile as he had feared, perhaps it is merely what he has been forced to take.

Fury courses through him but he swallows it. “Let us get you out of here,” he says softly, “If you have not been outside for some time, you may wish to cover your face against my robes until we get to the carriage. He brings them both to their feet and holding Nelyo close to him to prevent him from falling.

#the silmarillion #maedhros #Arafinwë #Finarfin #splinters like jewel shards #short writings