#loft chitters

[gemglyph]

I’d ask one of those polls on which LU boy I remind you of, but I sincerely hope that it’s Sky

#loft chitters

[batwynn]

Stiles is on his hands and knees—not praying, but maybe begging for a break. It’s been so much nonstop, and he’s no longer tired. No. He’s something else completely. It’s transformed him so much that the back of his hands look unfamiliar. The dirt under his nails is at least a week old. The blood older. Stained. He’s long since given up trying to wash his hands clean of it. And why should he? There’s always more. It’s always his fault.

That something else twists under his skin and asks, “why?”

Stiles doesn’t know anymore. It’s something Scott said when it all began. That taking responsibility was important, because no one else would or could. But he was also, like, nineteen so maybe that depth Stiles felt in statement was a little naive.

“Why?” It chitters, twisting its way from the pit that is his empty stomach.

He hasn’t eaten in… days? Maybe? He’d been raw dogging his ADHD meds with barely a sip of water between them. Same with the ibuprofen. Stiles knows he has an ulcer, but who the fuck has the time for that? Who has the time to pat them on the back anymore. Responsibly implied appreciation, at some point. Big Damn Heroes. Is that what they did it for? Christ, they were naive.

His left ring finger is a little crooked—nail bed broken. The skin looks inflamed around it like infection is kicking off and Jesus Christ, who has the time?

He hears someone breathing nearby and he knows it’s the only sign of life he’ll get for a while. Derek’s been out for an hour at least. Once again riddled with holes, all silent pain and loud anger. And Stiles is still on his knees, begging.

Begging.

The something else clicks its claws in his ears now. The question remains. Why?

Why is it their responsibility? Because no one else could? That’s not exactly true, though is it? Adults around the world live with supernatural things in their lives. A whole shit ton of them took on the responsibility of shooting the fuck out of them when they got spicy. So why, again, was it them? Why teenagers? Why didn’t Stiles tell his dad right away? Let some of that burden off of his shoulders when Scott got bitten?

Oh, right. Wait. That was his fault Scott got bit. His responsibility. Is that where it started?

And then—and then years later it was his fault all over again. The thing wearing his face, anyway. His face, though.

A sudden, ugly cough bursts out of him. It sounds so bad, but luckily it doesn’t wake up Derek. Stiles sits up properly and looks over at him. They’d both collapsed on the floor of his loft after the battle, already beyond thinking about bed or couch or anything soft. Derek’s blood is smeared across the floor and soaked into the carpet. The brand new carpet. Something about it fills Stiles with unbridled rage. It was one of those rare Derek smiles—something soft and private that he felt so lucky to see. A dusty blue pattern on white. A little fancy, a little foolish, maybe. Who gets a white carpet when their lives are… this?

Still.

Derek deserves a white carpet. He deserves to smile when he gets something for himself. He deserves to decorate, and like things, and have a life, and think about the future. Not whatever this is.

Stiles looks back down at his hands again, resting on his thighs. They’re shaking now that the weight is off of them, like the pressure removed gave them permission to show weakness. He doesn’t bother to stop them. No one’s looking, anyway. He doesn’t need to be strong, and smart, and all together. He can be a little untethered. A little something else.

Derek’s breathing shifts, and Stiles knows he has only a few minutes before the man is awake again. He knows that it will be minutes after that where Derek will shove the weakness down again, and pick himself up off the floor. He’ll check Stiles over. He’ll listen to his heart, his rattling breath. Check the air for the scent of sepsis. And then, satisfied that he’s not in immediate danger, go fetch a bucket and a mop. Stiles will try to save the carpet when Derek doesn’t allow himself to.

Stiles picks at his non-fashionably sliced up jeans.

“Why?”

Because he’s the only one who will and the only one who can.

#Sterek #sterek drabble #long post #stiles stilinski #Sterek fanfic #tiny little thing #I don’t know I just needed to write something again

[lakesbian]

Alec ran his fingers through his hair, which I took to be a sign of stress or worry. It was a rare thing, to see him as anything but bored or half distracted. As if to confirm my thoughts, he said, “I don’t want tens of thousands of spiders just lurking below me, making spider noises and climbing upstairs to crawl on me while I sleep.”

"making spider noises" i love him so much. you know he's imagining, like, animated scooby doo spiders bursting out of a closet and making little chittering noises as they swarm him. please note that for a second time in a row, alec's depression-induced silence has been broken only by taylor saying something sufficiently weird/alarming. first was 'so do we want to share origin stories :),' second was 'gee, i guess putting my Tens of Thousands of Spiders underneath the loft IS a good idea!' and then she tries to reassure him by specifying that the spiders are black widows as a reason why they won't roam. and then she's like "weird, are you arachnophobic or something?" because she cannot fathom why he might be reacting so strongly to Tens of Thousands of Black Widow Spiders living in his house and home. i love ms bug girl freak.

also she observes correctly. alec does run his fingers through his hair as a little surprised/disconcerted reaction. the first other example that comes to mind is him doing it when cherie "visits" him but i'm sure i'll find a lot of others if i pay attention. so. there's your alec fun facts for the arc. he's mildly freaked out by bugs (<- do NOT let him lie to you, 'i dont want spiders lurking below me....making Spider Noises' are the words of a boy who's sorta freaked out by too many bugs at once) and he runs his hand thru his hair as a surprised/stressed/disconcerted response

#wormtime 2 #wormtime 2 arc 4 #worm spoilers

[kit-williams]

In all honesty you’re not even sure what kind of space marines you’re currently looking at. You distantly remember how they’re supposed to have heightened senses. It must mean they heard you walking up to the barn right? Why didn’t they try to hide? Why… why let you see them after months.. no, years! Years of being hidden?

T-those videos you’ve seen of people with space marines. They always look friendly, maybe some are intimidating but you never truly felt like those were dangerous. Yet now facing a barn full of what? 8ft? Who knows, who cares? They’re massive and dangerous.

You realise your kid’s friends aren’t as imaginary as you hoped.

So none of these names are canon for the Space Marine Husbandry warband btw but I am using the same make up.

You sit down on a crate as the barn is immaculate... well unless its the hay loft but that was Reeve and Varrin's space. You watched the space wolf just lounge on the floor talking to your son... you had worried he had linguistically regressed with what he had been saying lately but hearing him babble in their tongue back to them it made sense... but that brought the grim realization that they had been here for years.

All of them had been near your son during his most vulnerable time of life and you hadn't noticed. You had snapped at him a few times playing near that barn and only after one long vacation he started to ignore you but you made him promise to not touch anything dangerous. It turns out that's when Orn had taken the time to renovate their base of operations. You're certain that this place could take a tornado head on.

You drink the chocolate drink that Garrek had handed you as you just try to relax. Logan grins at you from the floor. "Well 'Mommy'"

"Please just do not call me that." You sigh as you roll your eyes at the shit eating grin on his face. And you give them your name. And your son, now in the hayloft declares his name as the sound of rustling hay and the hissing from the two night lords as they play.

You look up nervously but return to looking at Logan. You remember the warnings about the Night Lords about them being a chaos one and same about the Iron Warrior if you remember right but you're certain that Space Wolves are loyal? You have no idea about the war hound. "P-please leave?" You try to say confidently but it comes out much more timid and mild.

"How cute." You jump as one of the Night Lords had silently landed behind you.

Logan snarls something out and you watch the Night Lord raise his hands as he walks away. "Unfortunately Miss you are stuck with us." Orn said looking down at her without his helmet.

"Hooray!" Your boy says as the other Night Lord jumps down holding him. "Oh! OH! We can go outside and play! Reeeeeeeeeeeve! Reeeeeeeeeeeeeve let's go!" He says excitedly before switching to their language babbling happily as the one called Reeve chitters and rushes out of the barn like a bat out of hell... with the other being Varrin running out after him after a few moments.

Your heart is pounding and you stand up but the other three get you to sit back down. "We're going to be laying down some ground rules." Logan starts.

"N-now you listen here!" You shout standing up on the crate, "I don't know who you lot are and why you think you can come onto my property and just settle in! I didn't invite you or your ilk so you can just-"

She jumps as the metal barrel is just crushed by Logan as his grin is utterly feral and dark as he growls down at her. "Now." He says in his brogue, "You done? You got your little tantrum all out miss? Good. Now... sit." He says growling as you sit down. "Good. We Like yer boy." You pale again as how he says it implies that if they don't like you... they're willing to be rid of you.

The Space Marine in White and Blue armor finally speaks in a Slavic accent half putting himself between you and Logan. You watch Logan huff and fold his arms over his chest as they go back and forth. Orn just watches silently occasionally chirping out. You can hear your son laughing loudly and wildly as your eyes dart to the barn door as you worry if those laughs are actually screams.

"What do you want with my son?" You finally say.

Garrek says something before Logan speaks again, "Translating for the big guy... nothing. We're just watching over him he's our charge. But I suppose we are his... companions as you humans have taken to calling us. Or perhaps pets as your little one has explained. But don't worry about us much... just get us a few supplies... armor stuff... otherwise we can feed ourselves and will keep to ourselves. Deal?" Logan glances at Garrek as Orn nods to Garrek before Garrek seems to approve of what was said.

"Deal. So how do you know our language." You ask hopping down from the box.

"Your little boy brought us plenty of his books for us to learn and Orn and I have been teaching him... Gothic." Logan says as you walk over to the door. You see your son running around after fireflies as the two night lords just watch the insects before their skull faces turn to face her.

"Fine. Fine. I don't trust you all... but I guess I will have to learn." You say softly

"Indeed lass you will have to learn to trust us just like your son has." Logan replies

#Barn Anon #space marine husbandry #warhammer 40k #tales from the barn #space marine husbandry sentience

[michameinmicha]

hello you asked for cats so i will SHOW YOU MY CATS. i live with three of them!! two are more connected to my roomie since they've lived with my roomie for longer than with me, one is super fixated on me. we have pumput, fred, and kasi

(kein plan warum ich das alles auf englisch geschrieben habe aber mir ist es literally nicht aufgefallen bis ich schon mehr als die hälfte hatte lol naja egal)

-pumput

he's the middle child. he doesn't like strangers, has a very melodic purr, sucks at sharpening his claws. he can be very talkative but he's very well behaved, he doesn't meow unless you pay attention to him. he likes to pretend he's the alpha of the household. he is kind stupid. he's always annoyed at kasi because kasi is a grumpy old man who sometimes Dares to go into Pumputs TerritoryTM (the hallway and kitchen). he is very gentle even when he's telling you to fuck off. he likes to squeeze himself into the very narrow gap between my desk and the heater when the heater is on. to absorb as Much Warmth as he can

-fred

the youngest. acts like it. he is really really stupid (affectionate). he always wants to play with kasi. kasi hates him but he doesn't respect him at all. fred wasn't socialised with other cats when he was a baby so he doesn't understand cat language. thus he is never afraid of/respects kasi even when he hisses at him. he likes to watch birds and chitter at them. greatest fly-catcher (and other insects) that has ever lived. he can usually be found on my loft bed because he treats it like a premium cat tree. gets along with everyone because he doesn't get it when they don't like him. he's always like. "that seems like a they problem (✿◠‿◠)"

-kasi

the old man. the grumpy asshole. the light of my life. he can be really annoying when he doesn't get his food at Exactly The Right Time or i dare to change my (and subsequently his) routine. he likes to cuddle but only with me. he really enjoys eating plants of every kind, especially if he's not allowed to. he has arthrosis and recently lost his eyesight on one of his eyes due to complications with high blood pressure. i've lived with him since i was 7 (he is 17). he has been a lone wolf for most of his life (he's been living with me again for about a year, he stayed at my mother's place when i moved out). because of that he hated both pumput and fred to the point where i thought he had to go back to my mother. but now they're in a state of mutually ignoring each other/tolerance/the occasional hiss and slap when someone Dares to go into his terriotry. or when there's food. recently he has taken a liking to sitting at the windowsill in my roomie's room which faces the street (he does not care about my windowsills, which point to the garden and the birds).

(if you want to see more of them i have a tag on my blog where i post cat pics ;) it's #kitty cats)

here's some things i like about you that i noticed in the brief time our paths have been crossing:

-i love your dedication to die drei fragezeichen omg i was never into it as a child but i love seeing you be so enthusiastic about them -your art is fucking beautiful -you have a great sense of humour -your blog is very pretty and your profile pic makes me smile

i think we're kind of similar, at least in a few ways. i greatly enjoy seeing you in my notes and i'm very happy we're mutuals <3 thank you for always liking my art stuff it means a lot to me!!!

i hope you feel better soon and i am bonking my head against yours like a cat and if you want i am squishing you in a hug as well

Asdfhjll thanks for showing me your cats they sound lovely and are very cute! Interesting to read about their interactions and personalities :3 Also good names as well!

I wanna show u my cats too <3

Kasi reminds me a bit of my timmy who died last year (he turned 20 (old old man) and also had arthrosis (and diabetes but the special food worked rly well for him) and loved plants (especially schnittlauch, which isnt great for cats in big quantities (he loved that shit and we had to put it out of his reach cause he always got to it)) sometimes grumpy but mostly sweet and loved cuddles and also was very vocal about getting food on time! He used to sleep next to my head :,) Oh and he too loved laying on the windowsill watching the street as well!)

Also theres cami our other cat who is a lot younger and always annoyed timmy trying to play when he just wanted to nap like the grandpa he was... shes very stubborn and fluffy, she has a very high voice like 'meeeep' and when shes feeling cuddly its the softest! She never learned how to wake me up (which timmy used to do by literally sceeaming in my ear from 0cm away) instead she always just lies on top of me and starts purring which only makes me more comfy in bed... although she has been getting more vocal recently, which i guess is a good thing :)

Thanks for sending this very long ask

i send a head bonk and hug back!

#thanks for saying nice things 🙈 i like being mutuals too! #i was so close to just keeping this ask in my inbox but its so nice it deserves and answer #also always enjoy an excuse to post cat pics as well #mine #ask #steine-druff #my cats #timmy #camaro

[clever-fox-studios]

After Upgrades (long read)

"I think this is the record for longest repair I've ever had--assuming I count the waiting time for them to trust me enough to do it. But... it was completely worth it. Yeah, it was a bit annoying at first, but... I couldn't blame them for being afraid.

"Initially I had only done the major repairs and let them charge, whatever it took to get them functional and online so I could run a proper diagnostic... But, unsurprisingly, as soon as they were up and about, they scattered. The pink one--I've named her Twii--watched the entire time I repaired the other--who I dubbed Laa because I'm just so creative--just out of easy reach but never out of sight; once Laa was online and charged, they were both happy to see each other. They chirped and chittered right until I made a sound and Laa noticed me in the room.

"She took off and startled Twii, who also bolted into the clutter somewhere. For a while, I thought maybe they'd ran off entirely because I didn't see them while looking around--but after a little bit I started noticing little pink and purple blurs in corners or in the corner of my eye. I think it started as genuine fear and mistrust, but it slowly started to feel like a game almost. If I thought I saw them, I would go look, only for them to be gone; sometimes the patter of tiny feet in the ceiling, or a thump of bumping into something in the next room, would tell me they were around. I left the charging dock plugged in for them and stayed out of that room for a while.

"Weeks of this, and I finally got a goof look at them. They stayed visible once caught before scurrying--though Laa would give me a dirty look when she did. Unsurprisingly, it was Twii who made first contact, about a month into this bizarre trust exercise. I have my routine, and they undoubtedly knew it well by then, knowing when I was working and when I had to eat or where I relaxed. Twii came out while I was reading and tugged on my hair.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't startled, but the little giggle as I saw a pink blur zip onto my bookshelf let me know it wasn't anything to worry about. I saw her peeking out at me from the books, probably seeing if I would come after her. I didn't. Laa was there as well, behind her, and gave her a swat like she wasn't supposed to to that.

"But then Laa started staying out more. She wouldn't make contact, but I saw her sitting on my desk, watching. They really like the loft, probably because it's calm and full of hiding places--I like it too, especially when it rains and the roof makes that nice sound and there's not leaks to worry about. If I looked at her, she'd glare at me, and any motion at all that made her think I was going to touch her made her jump or run off for the day. I absolutely believe she's afraid of contact due to how she was broken.

"Thinking back on it is odd now; I never considered that I was lonely before now. For all their worth, it's not like Rukbat and Aquila are very good at conversation. They aren't made to be, but I'd be remiss to not grasp my lack of interaction as a possible deficit in my well-being. I know they understand me to the degree their system was designed to, but seeing now that they are, for all intents and purposes, animals, while the twins, despite being animal-like in their behaviors, display obvious levels of intelligence that make them very different from Ruk and Quila. Watching them interact and even slowly respond to me when I said something felt... good but also painful.

"I mean, it's been.... years now.

"The house has gotten much... warmer with the little ones running around, hiding things, chirping and reminding me someone is there. They've become a schedule keeper of sorts, peeping or running around at the same time to remind me to eat or check something.

"Even so, it didn't prepare me for the first time they let me touch them. Twii first approached me at my desk, crawling right over my notes to rub into my hand; she curled up and took a nap right there while I was reading, using my hand as a bed. Honestly, I think I almost cried--had to stop myself from making noise while losing my damn mind. Definitely didn't get any work done.

"After that, Twii stayed near me more often, and had been for a few days; Laa kept watching from a distance, sometimes chirping at her sister, other times leaving the room after confirming I wasn't doing anything wrong. It was a time Twii wasn't with me that Laa finally took that step; I was watching something or other--don't ask me what, the signal out here is trash--when I saw movement on the seat. I'd thought Twii had come over and tapped my lap for her, but the one who crawled up was Laa. She nestled onto my thigh like she'd always done that and fell right to sleep.

"I actually did cry that time; it was short-lived though. I touched her with my finger and she woke up, grabbed me and whacked my hand like she was fighting for her life and took off, giving me a dirty look from the end table. I apologized, but she didn't come back that night; I did, however, see her more and more as she seemed to be reading over my shoulder or waiting for me at my seat in the relaxing room.

"All of this leading up to nearly three months of them getting comfortable with me enough that when I offered to give them a proper fix, as they were still scratched and worn out in places, they agreed to it. I'd gathered the parts and material ages ago and had it all ready, and with how small and simple Stardusts were, it wouldn't take long at all to actually do. Four hours later, they were squeaky clean and like new, fully patched into my signal tower and renamed in their personal systems; whoever their original owner was had already been wiped from them, so it was easy to add my information to them without needing to reset them.

"Once they were online... Genuinely, I wasn't prepared. They jumped at me and rubbed my face like they trying to push through me. I haven't felt that happy in... a long time.

"If I find out whoever dumped them, I'm going to have some words for them. After I wrench them in the head."

--Jenn

#oc #robot #azil #jenn&co #stardust personal companion #twii&laa #worldbuilding #backstory #free runner au

[craftycheetah]

Kitty Cat-astrophe

You met Hitoshi one day during the night of a delayed train run. He remembers seeing you look worried, your brows furrowed in confusion, and furiously typing away at your phone. What you were texting about? He had no idea, but he bet it was related to the train. A jerk of the train sent him crashing into you, his front making a heavy impact with your back that sent a terrified squeak out of you. 

“I am so sorry. Are you alright?” you stammer, looking up at the purple-haired man.

Hitoshi looks at you, ignoring the slight blush rising to his cheeks. He nods and looks away.

This happened for almost two weeks until Hitoshi mustered up the courage to talk to you and get to know you.

That was ten months ago; they’ve been the happiest ten months of your life. Hitoshi’s so kind and caring towards you. When you first met, he was quiet, but after a while, he let you in, and over time he became the quietest yet most affectionate man you’ve ever met. And his cat is just as bad.

When you first met Nutella, she ran away from you, opting to hide under Hitoshi’s bed the entire time you were there. Still, Hitoshi assured you that she’d come around.

Nutella came around but at Hitoshi’s expense. After visiting often and getting scented by the tortie cat, Nutella suddenly decided you were her favorite person after moving into his apartment. Constantly following you around the loft, jumping you whenever you try to leave, yelling for you whenever you close the bathroom door on her. She became your shadow, and Hitoshi loved and hated it.

“Babe, have you seen my headscarf?” you call out, looking all over the bedroom.

“Did you check under the bed?” Hitoshi calls back from the living room, his eyes not leaving the Apex match on the living room TV.

“Goddammit, it’s not under here!”

You roll your eyes playfully into the bathroom as you hear a soft chitter from the side. “Hi, Nutella. Have you seen Mama’s headscarf?”

Nutella looks up at you before rubbing her body against your calves and trotting out of the room. Following the cat, you kiss Hitoshi’s temple as you pass him while following Nutella.

Nutella sits at the base of the tree and stares at you.

You look down at her before inspecting the tree. A black and floral pattern catches your eye. “Nutella! Hitoshi, the cat stole my headwrap!” you gasp, tugging the wire-filled cloth out of the hole. 

“She’s your shadow, princess,” Hitoshi huffs before winning the match with his team. “Yes!”

“Don’t be like that, ‘tosh. You’re the one who gave her a home. I’m sure she still loves you.”

Picking up the tortoiseshell cat, you carry her like a baby before adjusting her, so she faces Hitoshi. “You still love your Papa, right Nutella?” you coo.

Hitoshi looks over as you hold the cat and smiles when she leans forward and sniffs his face before licking his nose. “I love you too.”

Taglist: @pharaohanubis0 @endeavours-jockstrap @milkmademozzarella

© craftycheetah: all rights reserved. do not edit, modify, repost, or claim my works as your own.

#shinsou hitoshi x reader #hitoshi shinsou x reader #hitoshi shinsou #bnha x black!reader #x black reader #mha x reader #bonnie.writes #bnha x reader #shinsou x reader #shinso x reader #mha x black!reader

[ser-pendragon]

reach out, touch faith

(title from personal jesus, mostly because i was listening to it as i finished this lil fic up)

Steve shouldn’t be surprised that this is where they’ve ended up. Not when every sign pointed in this direction, when every carefully calculated moment that Billy fucking Hargrove had orchestrated between them was to get them all here.

Now that doesn’t mean that he was expecting to end up here exactly - he hadn’t really anticipated nursing a black eye, a split lip, an almost busted nose on the front step of the Byers’ house, with Castellan perched carefully on his knee, one wary, golden eye fixed to Billy and his panting hyena daemon.

Steve doesn’t even know her name.

He should’ve expected the inevitable truce, though. And where that truce would lead.

But for now -

Billy’s leaning against the railing of the porch, chewing on his cigarette more than smoking it, his bag of frozen peas he’d been halfheartedly given sitting untouched on the wooden railing next to him. Steve watches the water from the bag soak into the railing and grimaces a little when Billy’s hyena turns her gaze to him, her blue eyes just as piercing and sharp as Billy’s. Neither of them miss anything.

“So, you gonna explain the corpse in the Byers’ fridge, Harrington? Or am I just gonna have to make guesses?”

Steve’s just sorta glad he didn’t have to make the first move. Be the one to break the silence.

Castellan chitters from her perch on Steve’s knee, stretches up to nudge his chin with her beak. She shakes out her feathers.

Tell them. They deserve to know, especially now that Max is involved.

And Steve had really been hoping that he wouldn’t have to bring anyone else into this, but if anyone was gonna find out about it, it was gonna be Billy. So he grits his teeth and steels himself and tells Billy about last year.

“Look, I don’t have time to go into it all right now,” he says, because he doesn’t - the twerps are inside coming up with some sort of battle plan, and they’ll be out any minute clamoring for Steve to help them and drive them. “But a lot of whack shit happened here last year. Will Byers went missing, got taken into some - some other fuckin’ dimension.”

He grimaces again, and the cut in his lip pulls. He sounds fucking insane. Billy’s looking at him like he is, and honestly, Steve isn’t all that surprised.

“Another dimension,” Billy repeats, slowly, as if testing how the words feel when spoken out loud.

“Look man, I know it sounds insane. It is insane, trust me, I know. But you saw the corpse in the Byers’ freezer, and the kids all talk about Dust and travel between realms and like -” he throws out his arms, the sudden movement startling Castellan. She flutters her wings to keep her balance and digs her talons into Steve’s thighs and finally gets shooed away and onto the wooden step beside him. She’s always been bossy, though, ever since they were little, so she gets bold and lofts up to the railing just beside Billy, who moves his arm away to avoid touching her.

Settling her wings again, she fixes her beautiful golden eyes on Billy in a sharp glare. “Whether or not you believe us is up to you. But you’ve seen evidence of the Upside Down, now, and Max is involved whether you like it or not. That was her choice. You have a choice here too - either leave, say nothing, and we’ll make sure Max is back home and safe when this is all over, or you can come along and help us fight this, and keep an eye on Max yourself.”

Billy’s eyes widen, and so do his daemon’s, who’s currently gazing up at Castellan, both ears perked up and facing forward. Castellan eyes Billy a moment longer, clearly waiting for a response, before turning her attention to the hyena. She bends forward, still perched on the porch railing, and extends her neck toward the hyena, offering her beak in a gesture of truce. Billy and Steve watch with similar expressions of shock as Billy’s hyena sits up after a moment and reaches forward to touch her nose to Castellan’s beak.

Billy looks at Steve then, his expression serious, before a feral grin splits his face. Steve’s stomach swoops.

He doesn’t have time to unpack all this right now.

 “Looks like Vega’s made the decision for us. I’m not letting you cart my shithead sister around to fight monsters from another dimension without me, no way in Hell,” Billy says, taking one last drag from his cigarette flicking it to the ground so he can stamp it out with his boot.

Vega.

Vega and Billy.

Steve’s mouth goes dry for a second. When he doesn’t respond right away, Billy laughs.

He’s saved from having to say anything by the rugrats bursting through the front door, armored up and armed to the teeth, all clamoring and speaking at the same time.

“We have a plan -”

“Wait, I was gonna tell him -”

“Why is Billy still -”

“Shut up!!!!”

The shout comes from Steve, who stands and turns toward the group, hands on his hips, eyes narrowed. The kids’ jaws all snap shut and Henderson looks like he’s going to argue back, but with a glare from both Steve and Castellan, he closes his mouth again.

“We don’t have time for you to fight over who gets to spill the beans right now. Tell us where we’re going, and give us the details on the road. Are we clear?”

Four heads nod somberly. Without much fuss - not counting the racket Mike and Max make when they find out they get to ride with Billy, which Billy finds hilarious - they hit the road, and make their way down into the Upside Down.

Nothing Steve could have said or done would have prepared Billy for the Upside Down and the things it creates. And nothing could have prepared Steve for the ferocity of one Billy Hargrove as they ventured into Hell.

Armed with an axe and a bitter rage, and Billy was formidable. If Steve hadn’t been so focused on making sure the kids were okay, he wouldn’t have been able to take his eyes off Billy.

Focus, Steve, Castellan had chastised more than once, from her perch on Steve’s shoulder.

Once, as they finally made their escape, a creeping vine had gotten too close to them, had almost wrapped itself around Castellan’s body. Steve had shouted for her, slipping over vines in his haste to reach her, but Vega had been quicker, snarling and darting through more encroaching vines, ignoring Billy’s shout of her name as she leapt, closing wicked teeth around the vine and snapping it in two. Castellan had tumbled to the ground and Steve had scooped her up, tucking her into his jacket the way he always used to when they were little, even if now she was a little too big for it to really be comfortable.

He’d sent her up the rope they came down in after Billy had boosted Vega up and through. Convincing Billy to go up first had felt like a monumental task, and he’d almost regretted it a little when he heard the shout of “Harrington!” when the pack of Demodogs had rushed past him and Dustin, paired with Castellan’s shriek and the echo of his name in his mind.

Once his feet were on solid ground, and his lungs were taking in fresh air, Steve turned on the kids, all of whom were wearing matching expressions of sheer disbelief.

“I am never doing that again, you hear me? I refuse to go down there again.”

“Hey man, never say never,” Dustin panted, turning over onto his back where he’d collapsed on the ground, clutching his little ring-tailed lemur close to his chest.

“Yeah, Stevie,” comes Billy’s voice, his grin just this side of feral. “Never say never.”

He looks ready to go four more rounds with the monsters of the Upside Down.

Steve isn’t surprised that this is where they’ve ended up. And he’s never been more relieved to have Billy fuckin’ Hargrove on their side.

#just the beginnings of a little something i'm cookin' up #hope you enjoyed! #harringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove #stranger things #his dark materials #hdm au #hdm/stranger things #my writing #steve's daemon is a golden eagle #billy's is a spotted hyena #i'll go into the rest of the group's later

[the-great-lightwood-bane]

Silence is Golden

Malec | Rated general | tw meltdown, going nonverbal

Day 25: Silence is Golden | Lost Voice

Summary: The Institute is all long corridors and stone walls, and sound always echoes harshly there. Alec hates it.

A/N: Thanks to @bear-sub and Em for reading this over for sensitivity! I'm not autistic so if there are any inaccuracies or insensitivities, please tell me so I can fix them.

Read it on AO3 or below the cut.

The noises of the Institute grated on Alec’s ears, and he felt his mood souring in response. 

It wasn’t new, the irritation that the constant noise bred in his mind, but it was new how much he noticed it. Before, the overwhelming weight of sound was just another weight bearing him down, keeping his mood in a low-level irritation most of the time. Now, he’d experienced what it was to not be constantly overwhelmed, and the noise was all the more annoying for it. 

To anyone else, the noises wouldn’t’ve been annoying at all — and in fact, nobody else in the Institute even seemed to notice it, let alone be bothered by it. But Alec always heard the constantly running footsteps that echoed dissonantly against the stone corridors, the voices that were amplified and distorted and permeated every space. It wasn’t astonishingly loud, although it could be if there were enough new recruits; it was simply constant, and it scraped against Alec’s ears whenever he was in the Institute. 

At the loft, it was different. At the loft, everything was quiet, carpets on the floor and art on the walls absorbing the sound that bounced confusingly around the Institute. Magnus had lived well before electricity; he’d once told Alec, with a laugh, that he couldn’t stand the constant hum that accompanied life in this century, and so the loft was free of a buzzing fridge or the rush of traffic below. Sometimes Magnus played music, but never too loud, and Alec could turn it off whenever he wanted to. Otherwise, the loft was quiet and peaceful and safe, one of the few places in which Alec could truly relax. 

The Institute… wasn’t. 

Before meeting Magnus, Alec’s mood wouldn’t’ve soured at the irritation of the constant noise, because his mood had been constantly sour — he’d been teetering on the edge of being overwhelmed for as long as he could remember, holding on to control with all he had. He’d learned to box up the discomfort and push it away, and it had been such a constant presence in his life that he’d barely noticed it anymore by the time Magnus came along. 

Magnus brought silence — silence like spun gold that wrapped around Alec like comfort, like a hug. Silence that soothed the places where he felt overwhelmed, coaxed away the distress. 

And now, in the Institute, the sounds were all the harsher for the gentleness he had to compare it to. 

Normally, he could draw on his experience of shoving it all away to function despite the constant dissonance of noise, but today was worse than usual. He’d been dragged from sleep by a blaring alarm that had made his head ache already; the Shax demons they’d encountered on patrol had chittered constantly and screamed as they died, the noise rebounding off of the sides of the alley. Alec’s headache had increased to a dull, constant pounding by the time they got back to the Institute — and in the Institute, the new batch of newbies that had arrived the day before had been laughing and yelling. It was a day off to get used to the new place before they started on the regular routine of training, patrol, and sleep that would make up their lives for the next several years, and Alec couldn’t begrudge them a bit of fun, but he couldn’t stand the noise. 

Laughter echoed, disjointedly, off of walls and ceilings and bare floors. The acoustics in the Institute were atrocious, thanks to all the metal and glass and stone, and Alec had a suspicion that the Angelic Core was messing with the sound waves somehow, bending them out of proportion. Today’s noise wasn’t a constant, low-level hum, but yells and shouts of laughter and running feet that grew closer and then faded away, in and out, no pattern to the sounds that he could hold onto. Every harsh noise made his headache spike. 

He’d usually train when it got like this, hit the punching bag until the physical ache drowned out the buzzing discomfort in his head, but the newbies were training in there today, and he wasn’t sure if he could brave the still louder corridors that led from his office to the training room. And anyway, Magnus hated it when he came home with bleeding hands. 

Alec wanted to go home, home to the blissful quiet of the loft and of Magnus’ arms, but there was a mounting pile of paperwork on his desk for the new recruits which he was struggling to make progress on, thanks to the noises bouncing around his brain. He wanted to put his hands over his ears and run away from here, but he needed to be here. 

A knock on the door. Alec managed to say “come in”, although his voice felt weak and quiet. The volume increased as the door opened; Jace bounced in, his feet banging on the ground. “Alec!” 

The buzzing in Alec’s head had risen to a fever pitch punctuated by bursts of noise, horrible terrible noise that he couldn’t stop. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but he couldn’t make his mouth form words; he opened and closed it, soundlessly, barely aware of the tears on his cheeks. 

This was horrible. He was sitting at his desk, crying like a child, when he should be working — should be figuring out whatever problem Jace had come to him about — but he couldn’t think of anything but the loud loud loud noise that worked inside his brain and set about tearing it all to pieces. 

“Alec,” Jace was saying, worried, “Alec, what’s wrong?”

Alec flinched away from the sound, desperate to explain, to deny, but his voice felt stuck in his throat. Another loud laugh made Alec flinch again, and sudden understanding surged through the bond. 

Jace knew how stupid Alec felt, how ridiculous, to be sitting crying at his desk, wordless because of loud noises. But he didn’t tell Alec to buck up or say he was being ridiculous; instead, he put an arm around Alec’s shoulders and pulled him to his feet. “Go home, Alec,” he said, quietly, soothingly, the sound only barely increasing Alec’s distress. 

Alec glanced at the papers on his desk, blurred through the idiotic tears on his face, and shook his head over and over and over again. The repetitive motion was almost soothing. 

“I’ll deal with the paperwork,” Jace said, and then amended, “or I’ll get Underhill or Izzy to do it. You’re not going to be productive like this. Go home.” 

Go home. The words were tempting, so tempting; Alec thought of the quiet back passage leading from his office to outside, to fresh air where sounds might be loud but they wouldn’t rattle around cold stone corridors, and then to Magnus’ loft with its blissful silence. Magnus wouldn’t be there, but it would at least be quiet, and Alec felt his determination falter. 

He nodded, staring at the ground, still wordless. Jace chivvied him out of the Institute in a silence for which Alec was grateful. 

New York’s noise pushed on his eardrums, but it was a steadier throbbing than the Institute’s raucous screams, and he managed to stop himself from collapsing to the ground and holding his ears and sobbing until the tears were gone. 

The loft’s door swung open at his approach, Magnus’ wards welcoming him in. Alec stepped through the doorway and felt tension bleed from his shoulders, all the effort of keeping himself functional vanishing into misty silence. 

Without the pressure on him to keep going, the stress caught up, and Alec stumbled over to the couch and curled up there. The noises still echoed faintly in his head, and the overwhelmed headache was only beginning to fade. Alec curled up with his hands over his ears as he’d wanted to before and let himself cry, silent sobs that rocked through him. 

He didn’t know how long his breakdown lasted, only that eventually he fell asleep, still on the couch, muscles aching but finally relaxing into the blissful, golden silence. 

~

Alec woke up to gentle fingers combing through his hair, and he knew who it was even before he opened his eyes. To his relief, words rose easily to his lips when he tried to speak. “Magnus.” 

Magnus smiled down at him. “Bad day, hm?”

“The Institute is always too loud,” Alec mumbled. “And with the new recruits tramping around everywhere and screaming at the top of their lungs…” 

There was empathy in Magnus’ eyes. “It got to be too much.” 

“I shouldn’t’ve let it get to me,” Alec huffed. “I should’ve—”

“You did the right thing, coming home,” Magnus said firmly, his fingers still running through Alec’s hair. 

Alec let out a breath at the reassurance and leaned deeper into Magnus’ touch, letting the gentleness of it lull him back down to sleep. 

~

When Alec got back from the Institute the next day — he’d managed to keep the overwhelmed feeling to a minimum; it helped that the recruits were following a schedule rather than wandering around having fun — he found Magnus in his apothecary, holding something in his hands. 

He turned at Alec’s approach, smiling. “I’ve got something for you.” 

Alec took the object he held out, which turned out to be a pair of noise-cancelling headphones — sleek-looking, black, gentle chrome highlights. “What’s this?”

Magnus hesitated slightly, fingers rubbing together. “It’s fine if you don’t like it, obviously, don’t feel obliged to use it if it’s not helpful—”

“Magnus,” Alec said, interrupting him with a smile. “Tell me what it is. I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“Alright.” Magnus took a breath. “I’ve been working on enchanting the headphones to help you a bit at the Institute. I realise that completely noise-cancelling headphones wouldn’t be a good idea since you’ll need to hear what’s going on, but I figured something out that’ll hopefully cut down on the ambient noise; it’s not tested so I’m not sure how effective it’ll be, but—”

Alec kissed him, a gentle press of the lips. “Thank you, Magnus. This is amazing.” 

Magnus grinned, relieved. “It’ll turn invisible if you press this button on the side—” he pointed it out “—so you can wear them in a meeting or whatever, too. And you can play music on it if you like.” 

“I love you,” Alec said, and kissed Magnus a little helplessly, because it was so very Magnus to invent a completely new kind of magic to help Alec be more comfortable. 

~

The next day, Alec walked into the Institute with the headphones on, and the space was suddenly calmer, quieter, happier. It felt like he’d taken a bit of the loft with him to work, like that golden peace was sitting curled in the headphones, cradling him. He could hear Underhill’s report with perfect clarity, but with none of the harsh, grating echoes that usually resounded through the Institute. 

Alec smiled, feeling like the weight of the world had just lifted off of his shoulders, and let himself relax into the blissful quiet.

#whumptober2022 #no.25 #silence is golden #lost voice #fic #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #meltdown #going nonverbal #magnus x alec #malec #alec lightwood bane #alec lightwood #magnus lightwood bane #alec x magnus #magnus bane #my fic

[caranelguild]

October 16, DY 26

After a successful first mission, adventurers Brother and Kai are keen to take up another from Kuene’s board (still only sparsely populated) after a good night’s rest.

This new notice asks them to investigate an unearthed crypt found in a hop field, which the craft farmers suspect has somehow been the root of a bad crop this autumn. Brother and Kai head for the field in the Woodon borough near the fringes of the city, passing through the bougie districts of Booktown and Redstreet on their way (where Brother collects a fair amount of alms).

They arrive at “DJs”, the craft brewery and walled farm plot, and Brother knocks on the door and rings its bell simultaneously, summoning a tall tiefling man in a bathrobe.

This man, Daniel Jecudra brings them in to the open concept loft above their brewery and mill where they catch his husband James Daniels naked and asleep in the bed. James wakes up and throws on a robe, but not before giving everyone a good look at his toned body. 

Daniel and James give our adventurers the summary of their problems, explaining that their hops never budded and only grew a few feet up their ropes. When investigating a few plants’ roots, they uncovered a stone, which turned out to be the capstone of a mausoleum’s arched doorway. They unearthed the entrance to the mausoleum but didn’t go any further when they felt a cold gust of wind from deeper in the earth - this is when they found Kuene and employed the services of his guild.

Despite Brother’s best efforts to uncover sordid stories of affairs and sabotage, our duo is eventually led to the hole and the unearthed mausoleum, which they descend into to investigate. 

Inside the mausoleum are two large urns marked with Elvish script. Brother considers opening one but is dissuaded by its seal of age and wax. In the bottom corner of the tiny building’s back wall Kai finds a hole, whence comes the subterranean draft. She shifts into the form of a mouse and investigates beyond it, where she is joined by an octopus summoned by Brother. Kai finds a tunnel, where she shifts back into her humanish shape.

On the other side of the wall, Brother begins an alchemical ritual which eventually turns half of the wall into wood, which Brother detaches and sets aside, granting Brother access.

The trio (Brother, Kai, octopus) descend through the curving tunnel until Brother notices a faint phosphorescence ahead. Brother sends the octopus to investigate, watching through its eyes.

The octopus enters a large chamber and finds the source of the phosphorescence: large egg sacs clustered around tubes or trunks of some sort that lead up to a high ceiling. Hungry, the octopus tries to bite an egg, but the sac’s membrane is thick and elastic. It resorts to using the little hooked claws at the end of its arms, which eventually tear open an egg sac, releasing its mucous-like fluids and a spill of eggs. This triggers a pulse of phosphorescent light that travels up the connected tube, which begins to undulate.

Brother snaps back to dwarf perception and follows Kai down to the chamber in time to notice the silhouette of a humanoid shape begin to descend from the tube - which is now noticed to connect to the underside of a coffin wedged in the ceiling. The other tubes, too, lead up to coffins in the earth of the chamber’s ceiling.

Kai hears a chittering from somewhere further in the darkness.

Brother blasts another egg sac with a firebolt, triggering its tube to begin to shiver. Meanwhile, the silhouetted figure has descended through the first tube and its mummified foot is emerging from the broken egg sac (Brother has dispelled the octopus which had been adjacent).  Brother destroys the body’s leg and the rest of it slips wetly into view - a desiccated elven corpse. Kai rimes it in frost just in case.

The chittering noise grows nearer, until a hideous shape bursts into the torchlight. Like a spider, its jointed legs have elbows above its sagging thorax, but it is a quadruped and its legs are thick columns. Its head horribly mimics a human face, almost like a puppet - its eyes lifeless, its mouth a slit. Beneath its thorax wobbles a translucent sac of organs in a faintly glowing fluid.

Brother and Kai roll up their sleeves and fight for their lives as more of these grotesque creatures come out of the darkness. They find their attacks almost ineffective against the monsters’ bristly hides, but when they target the dangling bellies they begin to make progress.

Low on mana and bleeding and bludgeoned, our adventurers are on their last legs but facing the last of the creatures when it turns and performs some awful gyrating, thrusting ritual over an egg sac. Its tube begins glowing from the ground up, and as the spider-monster turns to reengage the wounded warriors a silhouette appears at the top of the tube.

This silhouette, unlike the others, which spilled from their tubes still and lifeless, is thrashing and almost changing shape in its tube as it begins to descend.

Kai shifts into the form of a wolf and battles the spider-monster, eventually dispatched by a few blasts of fire from the retreating Brother.

A corpse crawls out of the glowing tube, its lower limbs glowing with lines of phosphorescence and its chest, arms, and head writhing in a hideous facsimile of human flesh. It lumbers towards Kai and lashes her with glowing whips that spread from its clublike arms. These tendrils look for purchase in her wolf fur even as she bites its arms and body - when finally they worm their way into her flesh, they overwhelm her consciousness to take control of her body. The tendril detach from the lumbering corpse and form a writhing collar around the wolf, which turns with glowing eyes to regard Brother, who has already retreated up the tunnel.

The wolf catches Brother in a leap and a bound, sinking its teeth into a shoulder and bringing Brother unconscious to the ground. The corpse follows the wolf - and arrives just as Kai regains control. Kai-as-wolf turns on the lumbering monster and takes it to the ground, ripping it apart, before turning back into a wounded water genasi in order to administer needed first aid to her fallen companion.

Bleeding dearly and on the edge of death, the duo leave the situation as it lies and return to the DJs. James reluctantly bandages them up and they are served restoratives. Brother, muttering over and over “That was bad. So bad” manages to increase the return for their services from monthly shipments of a cask of ale to that plus an immediate payment of cash.

Once no longer bleeding to death, the duo returns through the mausoleum and slashes up the remaining egg sacs. Once detached from their tubes and sacs, the embryos cease to glow. Brother leads Kai to the far end of the chamber, where they investigate a tunnel. This leads to a fork, which leads to a descent towards a pit into darkness (left), a dead end (center), and an exit to the surface among some farmland just outside the city.

Brother selects a cask of winter cherry beer seltzer as the guild’s first monthly stipend and the duo heads back to 1215 Tanglewood Bank, a job well done.

#augleth #chapter 3 #dnd #d&d

[carolmaximoffs]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAIT OMFG i can’t believe so many of the coolest ppl in my life that i know are aquas. ily you’re NINETEEN that’s wild!! you know i love a good roommates or friends w benefits fic gimme gimme gimme 😗💜

a/n: THIS IS SO LATE AGH...here is your long overdue wanda x reader roommates fic, my love! so sorry for the wait, but thank you for your sweet words and your patience <3 @subtlebucky

pairing: wanda maximoff x reader

warnings: none really? maybe a curse. references to drinking, partying. jealous! reader. apologies to anyone named jillian, beck, or yasmine. sharing a bed, but not in THAT way. 

WHEN YOU WAKE UP, you smell coffee already brewing. You stretch leisurely as you pad into the main part of your shared apartment, faux-flirtatious smile already gracing your lips.

“Smells good, baby!” You call. The laughter dissipates from your body as you pause in the kitchen doorway. Wanda is indeed sipping coffee in the kitchen, but is also standing between the legs of a tall, rather buff girl you’ve never seen before who’s perched comfortably on your island. “Oh.”

"Jill, this is my roommate, Y/N," Wanda says, perfectly at ease. You wonder if your eye really does twitch at the sight of Wanda's hand on Jill's thigh, but you pray it's just your imagination.

“Hi, uh, I didn’t - we’re not - hi.” Your face burns as you duck past them, reaching up into the cabinet for your mug before realizing it’s missing. You whirl around, about to ask Wanda, when you see it. And Wanda must realize it the same time you do, because she gives you this tight smile and wide eyes. Jill sips idly from your favorite cup, the one with the funny handle and your initial in rainbow gradient. Pietro, Wanda’s brother, had gifted it to you a few Christmas’s back - you know he’d have stopped Jillian from using it. Instead, you fill the most boring mug you and Wanda own - black, with a white outline of Sokovia in a red heart - and send your roommate a sour look. “I’ll just...”

You jerk your head towards the bedrooms, and stalk off. Maybe out of embarrassment, but mostly out of stubbornness, you pretend not to hear Wanda apologizing and making excuses on your behalf as you leave.

.......

Two weeks later, just when things are returning to normal, it happens again.

Well, more or less. It’s significantly darker out now, and this time you’re putting leftover Chinese food in the fridge when the door bursts open. Wanda all but falls into your apartment, a sharp-nosed girl with a deep violet buzzcut hot on her heels. Space Army Cadet and your best friend are hand in hand, the latter barely tossing you a glance as she drags her guest down the hall. And yeah, you’ve seen Wanda bring people home before - even brought a handful of people home yourself. Hell, one of you two’s closest friends was an ex of hers; oddball physics major, Vis, had been Wanda’s lover for the notable first three years of college.

 Lately, though, you’d noticed this...pit in your stomach, carved a little deeper with each new bedmate. Every time you shook it off - it wasn’t any of your business what Wanda did in her free time. Was it because they were women? You catch yourself wondering, but no - you’d never had an issue with that, why would you start now? Shutting the fridge, you shuffle back to your room, turning your TV up to drown out anything from Wanda’s room next door.

The next morning, the eccentric friend is nowhere to be found, but you did find there was a severe lack of alcohol in your coffee as Wanda cheerily filled you in. Buzzcut’s name was Yasmine, she was in Wanda’s European lit. course, and they’d gone out for drinks to celebrate Yasmine nearing the acquirement of her masters. You stare into your cup and hum at all the appropriate points, choosing not to point out that it was only November and nowhere near graduating season. Maybe Yasmine was on the fast track - Wanda always did like the smart ones. 

You become so absorbed in thought you don’t notice at first that your housemate has stopped chittering away. When you look up, it’s to a pouty frown. You shift in your seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “What?”

“Are you...okay?” Wanda’s frown deepens, brows furrowed as she brushes a stray lock of auburn from her face and folds her arms over her chest. “We...You’ve been a little distant lately, I guess.” 

“I’m fine,” You say breezily, rising to your feet to dump the dregs of your coffee in the sink. Some irritating heartstring twangs at your tone - you hate brushing Wanda off, but what are you supposed to say? Hey, can you stop bringing girls home? I think I’ve caught homophobia. You repress a shudder at the mere thought as you move to sweep past her and get ready for your first class, but a small hand curls around your bicep.

“Just...don’t be a stranger, okay, kedvesem?” Darling. Swallowing the lump in your throat, feeling curiously parched, you can only nod. Wanda lets go, but you can feel her fingerprints burning like a brand even when you’re lying in bed that night.

.....

The holidays go off more or less without a hitch; there’s a very scary hiccup shortly before Christmas when you come home to find Wanda curled into Vision’s side on the couch, the pair of them sharing a blanket. But Wanda looks...as if she’s been crying? Love Actually is playing, Wanda’s go to Christmas comfort movie, and Vision is texting someone called ‘Peter M.’ with an alarming number of heart emojis, so you continue onward. 

Your subconscious must be looking out for you otherwise, because it’s not until New Year’s that you see Wanda with a mystery lover. Actually, you don’t see much of Wanda at all outside of Christmas, and even when you do, it’s always just the two of you at home. Of course, because of this, she insists on dragging you out for a New Year’s party. When her twin, Pietro, gangs up on you via Facetime, you give up arguing and steal a shimmery black slip from Wanda’s closet before flipping them the bird. 

Pietro arrives around 10 to pick the pair of you up, obnoxiously laying on the horn outside of your apartment building. Wanda trips several times as she tries to shove on her other heel and put lipstick on at the same time. Making it out the door is a whole other ordeal - after a short spat about Wanda needing a jacket, an awkward moment when the elevator doors open on some neighbors practicing for midnight, and finding Pietro just about to buzz in to get you, you and Wanda are sliding into the backseat of Pietro’s obnoxiously cramped sports car.

“Ladies, your prince, or princess, awaits!” Pietro announces grandly as you pull up to a shabby loft just a few blocks away. You can hear the music from the street, sighing inwardly as you force yourself to get out of the car. Wanda smooths out her flowy black pants - you keep your eyes trained politely above her shoulders to ignore the fitted, maroon sequined top with the plunging V-neck she’s paired with them. 

“I’m actually meeting someone here,” She says casually to her brother as the three of you make your way in. Pietro waves her off with well-wishes, but throws you a questioning glance. All he gets however is a shrug in reply, this is certainly news to you. He accompanies you to the makeshift bar where you fill a cup with copious amounts of liquor. It usually wasn’t your vice, but the strobe lights alone could be cause to drink. You made a mental note to ask whose idea this party even was in the first place. when you turn around, though, Pietro, too, has slipped off into the crowd.

So you do what one is supposed to do at sweaty, too-loud functions such as this one - push yourself from your comfort zone, get comfortably tipsy while you wedge yourself into the mass of bodies and move with strangers. As mentioned, liquor and strangers have never been favorite pastimes of yours, so once you finish off your second drink (maybe third - you deserved it), you set out searching for Wanda. Her glittery form is tucked into a corner with a small group you don’t recognize, but you definitely note that she’s in the lap of a tall, dark, and handsome type. She spots you before you can get to her, making excited grabby hands as you get closer. 

“Y/N!” The bubbly young woman squeals over the music. She leans forward to be heard better, and you gulp. “This is Beck! And Jade, and Marcie, and you remember Yasmine!” 

You offer only a wave and tight smiles as you, too, lean in further. “I’m gonna get an Uber!”

“What?” Wanda pouts dramatically, Beck snaking an arm around her waist to steady her as she jolts back in disappointment. “It’s not even midnight yet!”

“No, I know, I’m just not really feeling it, I guess!” Yasmine leads over to whisper something to Jade; it’s the furthest thing from your mind as Wanda reaches out to squeeze your hands understandingly. 

“I’ll see you later! Kisses!” You repeat the word weakly before shoving once more through the mass. The sidewalk and cool bite of the outdoors is a welcome respite - your driver doesn’t speak all the way to your apartment, and you give them 5 stars for it. After a cold, quick shower, you curl up in your fuzziest bathrobe with a cup of coffee and flick through Netflix. You know when midnight rolls around when the neighbors upstairs, hosting a party of their own, cheer and shout to each other. It can’t be 20 minutes later that your door is met with a tentative knock.

On the other side is Vision in the most disarray you’ve seen him in - he’s in pajamas, for Pete’s sake, hair and glasses askew over a chunky knit sweater. He’s supporting an equally-bleary but much more drunk Wanda, and passes her to you with a wrinkled nose.

“Y/N!” She crows, dissolving into giggles as you shushed her. “I wondered where you went.” 

“I told you I was coming home, bubs,” You mutter, hugging her back briefly before you notice Vision is still standing in your entryway. “Hey, how about you go get changed, and then I’ll make you some eggs?”

Wanda agrees, talking animatedly even as she walks away. You look back at Vision, smiling wearily. “Thanks for bringing her home safe, Vis. Did you want a cup of coffee, or...?”

“No, thank you,” Vision quips, polite as ever as he tugs his sweater down over his hands. He jerks his dimpled chin the direction Wanda had disappeared in. “Take care of her, please.”

“Of course,” You reply, instantly, brows furrowing. He nods briskly before turning to leave. “Thank you again.”

“Of course. Goodnight.” He’s almost to the elevators when you call a ‘Happy New Year’ after him, and that earns you a smile. “Happy New Year to you as well, Y/N.”

Back inside, you find Wanda spread eagle on her bed in mismatched socks, an old college hoodie, and the same underwear you’re pretty sure she wore to go out tonight. You poke her heel and she makes a frankly unhuman gurgle into the duvet. “How much did you have?”

“Nah a lah,” Is her muffled reply. “We’on dwink anymo’.” 

You realize she’s right, though you figured she was at least taking some of those dates to bars. Maybe not, though - Wanda was always a romantic. You push the mere though away and tug at the arm closest to you. “Yeah, I know. You’ll feel better if you eat something, though.” 

Her protesting grunts are less effective than when she kicks out blindly, narrowly avoiding your hip, and you huff. “Fine, I’ll bring the food to you.”  You make to leave, but she’s captured your wrist now. Wanda turns her head to make powerful puppy eyes at you. “Stay. Sleepy.” 

“I...yeah. Okay.” You were still a little tipsy in your own right - neither of you were college kids anymore, after all. Wanda’s smile was blinding as the pair of you made your way under her numerous layers of blankets. When she turned the lamp off, you wondered if she could hear your heart thundering in the dark.

“Y/N?” She whispers, just when you think she’s fallen asleep. 

“Yes, Wanda?” 

“I love you.”

You hum in acknowledgment, brushing it off as dreaming.

--------

Midday, you’re roused by someone laying across your stomach and shaking you awake. It’s Wanda, long lashes fluttering prettily as she rests her chin on folded elbows. You scrub sleep from your eyes as you croak, “Morning, sunshine.”

“Morning, Y/N.” She says your name with purpose - sort of always has, you realize. You’re running over last night in your head, and like a mind reader, Wanda answers your every question. “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Still love you.” Wanda murmurs. You meet her gaze - completely clear, if not a little glazed over with absolute adoration. She pushes up a little, lips hovering over yours. They brush just barely when you speak, sparking like live wires. 

“I love you, too,” You breathe, and finally, finally, she kisses you. 

Things make so, so much more sense then.

#multiverse level: wanda maximoff goes on a date w/ beck from victorious #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff fluff #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff angst #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff one shot #carolmaximoffs #wanda x vision #vision

[gemglyph]

Okay… but like some kind of dungeon or something where it puts everyone into like blinding levels of pain as a trial or something. The only three left standing are Wild, Legend, and Sky because they deal with full body (head to toe) chronic pain constantly…

Or like. Sky’s the only one left standing because everyone crumples at first and Sky is CONFUSED because literally nothing changed for him because he was already in pain

I dunno…. just a thought…

#loft chitters

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine being Bolin’s best friend for years and harbouring feelings for him but managing to keep them hidden. Until Korra and Mako break Bolin’s heart and you accidentally confess your feelings to him...

You heard a faint crying noise getting louder and louder but didn’t realise it was Bolin until he threw the loft door open and you saw him crying his eyes out. Tears were streaming down his face and petals flowed around him as the flowers he held crumpled in his hands. He dropped them in a clump on the floor and rushed to his room slamming the door. You could still hearing him crying as he dramatically flung himself on the bed and buried his head in his pillow. "Bolin?" You called rushing to his door "Bolin? What’s wrong?". Bolin gave you a muffled reply full of tears and you had no idea what he said. "Erm can you repeat that?" you asked. Bolin did but it was even more hysterical then before and more of a screetch than anything. "Bolin please open the door so i can hear you better" you sighed trying the locked door handle anxiously. "Bolin!" you called when you didn’t get any reply. Suddenly the lock clicked and the door swung open. Pabu poked his head around and you realised the fire ferret had unlocked it for you. "Thanks buddy" you smiled and Pabu ran up your arm burying his head in your neck, apparently just as upset as Bolin. Bolin was laid limbs sticking out faced down on his bed, his head stuffed into a pillow which only slightly muffled his sobbing. You stroked Pabu and approached Bolin. "Bolin?" you called placing a hand on his back to let him know you were here. He jumped and turned his head to see you. "Hi Y/n" he sniffed still crying. "Hey" you said sitting down on the space beside him "wanna tell me what’s wrong?". Bolin sniffled for a while composing himself before he flopped onto his back dramatically, starfishing on the bed. He explained how he’d asked Korra out and their date went amazingly...but then not hours later he caught her and Mako kissing. Right after he’d just bought her flowers too. Bolin started crying again after he finished his story and you felt just as emotional, however your emotion was more anger. How dare Korra and Mako do this to him! Bolin was the sweetest, nicest, most gentlemanly man you’d ever met! Korra and Mako should've treated him better, they clearly didn’t realise what an amazing guy Bolin was. Right on time the door slammed open and Mako appeared. "Bolin" he said out of breath "Bolin don’t cry i’m sorry!". "Go away" Bolin yelled and you agreed. You rushed to stop Mako coming in the room knowing it’d make Bolin worse and pushed him hard in the chest. "Nope, i think you should leave him alone after what you’ve done". "After what i’ve done?" Mako asked and you nodded "was it someone else who kissed Korra?". "No but it wasn’t just me! Korra was there too!". "Yes but she has the decency to hide away while Bolin is...." you were thinking of a word to make Bolin’s current state less dramatic when Bolin started sobbing loudly again and you frowned "...processing". "Y/n come on!" Mako frowned and you glared "he is my best friend! It’s my job to protect him from people and look after him and right now that means getting you to leave him alone!". Mako rolled his eyes but you carried on glaring at him. "Fine just look after him please" Mako sighed and you raised an eyebrow "of course i will, i’d never hurt him". Mako sighed walking away defeated and you shut the door sharply. Bolin halted as Pabu jumped on him and looked at you "is he gone?". You nodded and sunk down beside Bolin. You laid beside him and frowned. You were never too good with words, Bolin was the talker in the friendship, you just listened so you didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. You thought about what Bolin would do if the roles were reversed and an idea came to you. You hugged Bolin tightly, knowing how much he loved to hug everyone and anyone and figured he needed one. Bolin was unresponsive at first but then turned into you and you wrapped your arms around him letting him bury his head against you. His shoulders shook as he carried on crying and you held him tighter, struggling not to get upset seeing your best friend so sad. Eventually the crying got quieter and quieter until it stopped. You still kept a hold of Bolin though and he still held onto you too. "I’m sorry" Bolin said suddenly "for being such a mess". "Don’t you dare apologise" you told him and he sniffed. "Is this not uncomfortable for you?" Bolin asked only now realising he was partially laying on you "i feel like im crushing you". Knowing Bolin secretly liked to be held and loved to be the little spoon you smiled and shook your head "nope you're pretty light". Bolin smiled and relaxed more against you. You patted his arm and sighed "you know Mako and Korra didn’t mean to hurt you right?". Bolin nodded "yeah...but it still sucks it’s just, i thought she....i thought she actually kinda liked me". Your heart broke to hear Bolin’s voice so small and unsure and you gripped him tighter. "She seemed to enjoy the date but i guess it was just as friends" Bolin sighed. "Well it’s her loss" you couldn't help but comment "Korra would be lucky to have you, any girl would!". "Yeah right...until Mako comes alone" Bolin smiled sadly "no girl would choose me over Mako". "That’s insane!" you said a little louder than you meant to "Bolin you have so many amazing qualities! You shouldn’t compare yourself to Mako, you’re Bolin and that would be amazing to a lot of girls..." you trailed off blushing. "Ow yeah like who" Bolin smirked and you paused. "Well me for instance". Bolin and even Pabu froze and looked at you. You panicked and back tracked "i just mean i’ve always thought you were the better brother...i never got why Mako got more attention, my attention was always captured by you and as we became friends that just grew and grew and erm...you said nobody would pick you over Mako but i would". "You would?" Bolin asked and you nodded "everytime". You could see Bolin trying to process everything in his head and were scared what he would think when he reached the correct conclusion you liked him which you’d made very obvious. "Well i’d best go now you’re feeling better" you said awkwardly and Pabu chittered to Bolin rapidly as you headed for the door. "Y/n wait!" Bolin called. He stumbled onto his feet knocking his small room apart as he lurched after you and nearly took you out as he crashed into the door forcing you to close it and kind of accidentally trapping you against it. "Y/n when you said all that..." he breathed haggerdly "did you mean...do you choose me? Do you like me? Not just compared to Mako but really like me?". Your heart was hammering so loudly you were suprised Bolin couldn’t hear it and you felt like the room had been heated rapidly. "I erm...i.." you babbled your throat now dry "i...i’ve always liked you" you gulped. "Always?" Bolin asked "all these years?". You nodded not sure if the shock on Bolin’s face was good or bad. "Always" you breathed. Bolin moved away from you and started pacing and you panicked. "Bolin i’m sorry" you cried "i shouldn’t have told you...it’s okay that you don’t like me, i gave up hoping anything would ever happen ages ago so it’s not like i’m expecting things i just thought you should know not every girl will overlook you and that you’re just as good as Mako...well i guess it’s better in my opinion but the principles the same" you stuttered but Bolin still had his back to you. "Bolin?" you asked scared. Bolin whipped around and you jumped back bumping into the door but Bolin followed you. His eyes were brighter than usual but his expression was unreadable "you like me?". You nodded "but as i was saying i don’t expect anything" when Bolin cut you off kissing you. It was only a quick kiss, Bolin broke it as abruptly as he started it, his eyes snapping open to look at you. Bolin checked your reaction as if not believing you at your word "you really like me?" he asked again and you nodded "yes".  Bolin grinned and kissed you again, this time for longer. You were pressed against the door as Bolin got overly excited and he apologised realising he’d almost pushed you up the door in his haste. "I can’t believe it" he breathed coming up for air "i always just thought we’d be good friends forever". "So you like me too?" you asked and Bolin blushed "i’ve had a crush on you for years, i actually made Mako swear never to date you". "You did?" you asked and Bolin nodded "i was too scared to ask you out but that didn’t mean i could handle Mako beating me to it...gosh if it’d been you and Mako i saw today..." Bolin trailed off going pale and you smiled pulling his face gently to make him look at you. "I wouldn’t do that because Mako is not the brother i like, it’s you Bolin". Bolin grinned picking you up effortlessly and moving you so you were no longer trapped against the door. Used to Bolin lifting you, you wrapped yourself around him and Bolin smiled tracing your cheek with his free hand (yes Bolin could lift you with one hand). "I’m never gonna tire of hearing you say that" he grinned and kissed you again.

Mako’s POV

Korra burst into Mako and Bolin’s apartment ready to force Bolin to accept her apology when she saw Mako relaxing on the sofa with Pabu, not a care in the world. He had a towel wrapped around his head covering his ears and Pabu had a little one around his head too. "Mako...why are you so calm? Where’s Bolin and what’s that on your head?". Mako moved her into the hallway and only then pulled the towel away. "Ow Bolin’s fine" he nodded. "How can he be? He was crying!". "Y/n" Mako said simply. Korra frowned "what does y/n have to do with it?". "I don’t know how but whatever we did made her confess her feelings and i think Bolin’s forgotten all about us". "He has? He’s okay?". "From the sounds of it" Mako winced and Korra stared confused before blushing "ow...oww wow". "Yeah can we go out please the towel only blurred so much and i can’t take much more". Korra nodded "come on i think we owe Bolin a night with y/n undisturbed".

The next morning

You awoke to sunlight streaming in through a window and it took you a second to realise that it wasn’t the usual view from your window. The previous evening’s events came flooding back and you looked behind you to see a very adorable bed head Bolin. Bolin was awake and smiled meeting your eye “good you’re awake!” he said shooting up”I was going to make breakfast but didn’t know what you wanted” he grinned at you. You blushed but we’re still in disbelief this was real, that things could be this perfect. “Do you want pancakes?” Bolin asked turning on his side to face you better “I can make pancakes and Mako bought blueberries yesterday!”. You nodded and Bolin jumped up to go make them. You we’re still worried though and called out to him. Bolin paused immediately at your tone and frowned sitting beside you “y/n what’s wrong?”. “Nothing” you sighed "just...Bolin what happened between us...you were upset and emotional so was that, did last night mean the same for you as it did for me?". Bolin frowned "what do you mean?". "Well was that...was I a distraction from Korra or do you really like me?". "Of course i like you" Bolin cried "i wouldn't have done that with you if i didn’t..." Bolin trailed off blushing "but i’m sorry it wasn’t the most romantic thing i guess". "No it’s fine" you smiled "i was just worried it was a convenient way for you to forget about Korra". "I haven’t thought about her since you told me you liked me" Bolin smiled "y/n i like you a lot and i know we did this backwards but i’d love to take you on a date". You smiled "how does tonight sound?". "Perfect" Bolin smiled “but first pancakes!”. Bolin kissed your cheek and then rushed out of the room. You laid back down and smiled, Korra's loss was definitely your gain.

#Bolin #lok bolin #bolin x reader #avatar bolin #bolin imagine #legend of korra #legend of korra bolin #lok mako #lok korra #lok imagine #legend of korra imagine #avatar korra #avatar mako #avatar imagine

[asterekmess]

Okay but... Can you imagine Stiles is coming home from a college party and he's a little tipsy so he decides to walk home only to get hit by a car Erica's driving? Like not seriously hurt ofc but he gets knocked out and Erica doesn't know what to do so she just brings him to Derek who's just... Done. But he also takes care of Stiles because he's kinda hot. Grudgingly ofc because he doesn't want Erica to get a big head saying she hooked them up.

So I went to answer this ask with chitter chatter, but I’d just woken up and I liked the idea so much! Stiles waking up surrounded by beautiful people and Derek fixing him up even before Stiles knows what needs fixed.

I am easily swayed right after waking...so I kind of...wrote this? Just a lil bit, and without a Beta. Hope you don’t mind!

~

“Derek!”

In an instant, Derek was off his bed and across the loft. He threw the door open just as Isaac’s footsteps sounded on the stairs to find Erica standing in the hall and carrying…a man?

She shoved her way into the loft, mouth moving a mile a minute. “I didn’t know what else to do, and he’s just knocked out I think, and you gotta help me. I didn’t mean to!”

Holding his hands up until she hushed, Derek looked at the body in her arms and listened. The man’s heart was beating steadily, and his breathing sounded just fine. He was out cold, long arms and legs hanging limply from Erica’s grip, and even more wet than she was.

Even unconscious, he was gorgeous. Black, or possibly brown, hair was plastered down to his forehead, except for small tufts that stuck up where his temple was rubbing against Erica’s shoulder. His pale skin was dotted with moles where Derek could see, and where he couldn’t, the shape of the man’s broad shoulders was outlined by the t-shirt clinging to him.

Erica’s hair was damp, but the man was absolutely soaked. There were puddles growing on the floor from where his clothes dripped.

“What did you do?” Derek asked.

“It was an accident! Are you gonna help me or not?”

Turning his head to Isaac, Derek ordered, “We should still have that first-aid kit, go get it.” Then, he pointed at the coffee table. “Set him there for a second. He needs dry clothes.”

Derek very specifically didn’t think about the fact that he was going to have to strip a stranger down while they were unconscious, then dress them in his own clothing. In his own scent. He didn’t.

Instead, he just pulled a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from his dresser, flipped on the light, and got started.

“Explain,” he said as he peeled the wet cloth up. The instant the man’s happy trail came into view, Derek redirected his vision to Erica’s face over the man’s shoulder where she was holding him steady.

Erica bit her lip and helped Derek tug the shirt over the ball of the man’s shoulders. “I swear, it was an accident.”

“I know that, but what happened?” Derek asked. The neckline of his spare shirt went dark with water as they pushed it over the man’s head, but at least it fit his broad, broad shoulders.

“He just walked into the road,” Erica said. At Derek’s look, she began to pout. “I’m serious! It was pouring out and I looked away from the road for a second, and then he was just standing there! I hit the brakes, though, and I barely bumped him.”

“You hit him with your car?” Isaac cried, appearing at the bottom of the stairs again. He crossed the room and dropped their tiny first-aid kit on the table within Derek’s reach.

“Accidentally,” Erica hissed.

Next came the pants, so Derek just had Erica help him shift the man to the couch, then yanked the soggy denim down to his ankles, like ripping off a band-aid, he assumed. It hit the ground with a disgusting plop and was swiftly joined by damp shoes and squidgy socks. Derek didn’t stop to look at the surprisingly hairy legs he’d uncovered. His own sweats stuck a little on the man’s wet skin as he pulled them up, but then the stranger was as dry as he was gonna get.

Grabbing the kit, Derek kneeled at the man’s feet, following his nose to the spot that smelled like an injury. His ankle was twisted, by the scent of it.

“Why didn’t you take him to a hospital?” he muttered, pulling a bandage slowly and steadily over and around the man’s pale ankle. After a second, he twitched away from Derek’s hands, and Derek had to grab at his calf to hold him still as he tucked the last edge of the wrap into place.

Now that the excitement was wearing off, Erica shrugged. “He wasn’t bleeding, why would I need to?”

Isaac had sat down on the coffee table, keeping a good margin between himself and the puddle, and he snickered into his elbow.

“Erica,” Derek groaned, “you used to be human. You know there are plenty of—” He froze as the heartbeat he’d been monitoring sped up just slightly. “He’s awake.”

Just having the guy conscious made Derek feel a little less guilty about thinking the tilt of his jaw as he looked up at Erica was slightly mouthwatering.

After a second of silence, the man spoke in a deep, rich voice. “Y-you have beautiful eyes.”

Erica giggled and leaned over him even more. “I have beautiful everything.”

“Y-yeah,” the man agreed.

“You already hit him with your car,” Isaac said from his perch, “now you’re gonna torture him too?”

The man turned his head toward Isaac, the angle still keeping Derek from seeing his eyes. He could smell the attraction and interest coming off the man though, which didn’t fade even a little when he got Isaac in his sights. 

“Huh?”

“She’s married,” Isaac explained.

“Oh,” the man said. He looked back up at Erica. “Good for you.”

For some reason, that was the thing that broke Derek. This was all so ridiculous. Erica had hit a guy with her car, and now he was laying on Derek’s couch lusting after two of his Betas. Derek snorted a laugh and lifted the hand he had on the man’s calf to rub at his eyebrow.

When he looked up, the man was staring back at him. He’d propped himself on his elbows, and Derek could see his entire face properly now. Having the light on made it easier to tell that his hair was a dark brown, but his eyes were nearly gold, catching the low light and nearly glowing.

With all the benefits of Alpha sight and smell, Derek got to watch the dilation of the man’s pupils as they made eye contact. He caught the twitch of the man’s mouth as it fell open, and the sudden burst of actual arousal that bloomed from his skin.

In all fairness, Derek was pretty sure he himself was no better.

“You’re not married, are you?” the man asked desperately.

Forgetting to breathe, Derek just said faintly, “No…”

Finally managing to drag his eyes away from the man, Derek found Erica grinning wickedly at him. He pointed a finger at her with his free hand, while the other squeezed gently at the man’s foot. “Don’t start!”

#personal #my tumblr fanfic #apparently I need to make a tag for that now #I did this instead of working on any of my wips #go for it #Anonymous #tumblr fucked up the formatting on this #and i had to go fix it. #personal writing promotion

[jellysharkbat]

Imagine that moment if Cullen thought you were dead. Maybe there was a battle, maybe it was a natural disaster (like a landslide or an avalanche- the Frostbacks ARE dangerous after all) and you were supposedly just in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

Imagine if Cullen heard. This misinformation causes him a lot of grief. For as little as he shows the world, he's a man who feels intensely. Losing you would break his heart and in the privacy of his loft, he'd be bent over, clutching his heart and crying.

Imagine that moment when he hears that you're alive. His face is grey and haggard, thanks to even less sleep now, and he almost looks...fragile in a way. But the disbelief that blooms over his face- Maker, it's enough to make anyone stop in their tracks.

And then there hope- and fury because of all the stupid things that could have happened- and love. Heartbreaking, timestopping love. He stops breathing for a split second before he's racing towards your location.

Maybe you look tired and weary, maybe you're even a little injured which you know you'll recieve several lectures about. Joy. But honestly, you're looking forward to food and a bath. And a bed that doesn't involve the ground. The past few days have been a little chaotic (thank goodness you weren't actually near any real disasters, right? How awful that would have been!) and sucked, and you're more than a little annoyed that you were able to send any letters or notes to anyone.

Well, this has happened before and it's not like you can't tough it out until you reach civilization, right? And you did. You're relieved and happy to be walking into Skyhold once more.

You barely have time to greet the guards before you hear your name, and suddenly you're swept up in a strong embrace. An arm wraps around your waist, maybe even lifts you off your feet for a moment while the other cusps your neck. Those arms are pulling you to a brick wall of a body, standing straight and solid and utterly unyielding- as if that body will shield you from the rest of the world.

You barely get to gasp in surprise before lips steal yours in a startingly passionate kiss. You can hear whispering and chittering around you, but what little you can see is gold- gold hair, gold eyes...

When you break away to breathe (it feels like all the air has been sucked from your lungs), those lips follow. Barely allowing you to move away before claiming yours again....and again....

It's dizzying, and surprising, and you feel an almost desperation in those kisses.

When you do pull away (successfully), Cullen sighs and rests his forehead against yours, eyes closed. As if he didn't dare open them for some reason. His arms relax a little bit, allowing you to stand on your own feet, but still they circle you protectively.

Again, you're aware of the voices murmuring around you but Cullen doesn't seem to care. After a few deep breaths, he opens his eyes and looks at you. Both hands sweep upwards to cradle your face, thumbs carassing you oh so gently.

"I missed you, my love." He whispers. And for some reason, he sounds so...vulnerable. Maybe it's the softness of his voice and the sheen on his eyes that he's blinking against. And he's never greeted you like this before.

You stare at him in something that looks a little like befuddlement before murmuring back:

"I'm home."

#mw #cullen rutherford #dragon age #cullen's s.o. is safe and sound #reports of their demise was greatly exaggerated xD #this could apply to any s.o #and I want to see them all #cullistair/cullrian/inky/a throuple... #gimmie it all! xD #btw #is this pre relationship or after they have are established? hmmmm 😏

[fangirl530]

Acts of True Love Don't Have to be Romantic

AO3 link

Rapunzel touches something she shouldn't while at the spire, sending her into a deep sleep. As the trope goes, only an act of true love can wake her up. No problem, this will be easy!

... Right?

-

“-and I’m telling you, the best way to read is to lie on the floor with the book above you,” Calliope said from her place on the floor. “You’re all doing it wrong.”

“Okay,” Rapunzel interjected, closing her book. “Maybe we should take a break.” She, Eugene, Varian, Lance, Angry, and Catalina were at the Spire, helping Calliope to find out what the various artifacts it held did- as they weren’t labeled.

Rapunzel had warned the younger members of their party that Calliope could be a bit… egocentric, but words hadn’t prepared them for meeting her. She could tell they were about to snap.

Immediately after she voiced her suggestion, Angry jumped to her feet. “Race you outside!” she said to Catalina, before sprinting to the door. Catalina jumped up too, chasing after her with a determined smile. Lance stood, stretching.

“I’m going with them,” he said. He grinned. “Keep them out of trouble, you know?”

Calliope nodded. “There are a lot of dangers out there,” she said. “Watch out for the wolves.”

Lance chuckled. “Yeah, sure,” he said, smirking. “We’ll be careful.” he left, and Calliope frowned, looking at Rapunzel.

“You're not more concerned about them?” she asked. Rapunzel shook her head.

“No, they’ll be okay- they know what they’re doing,” she reassured. Calliope rolled her eyes.

“You Coronans,” she said. “It must be awful to be so dumb.”

“Hey, why don’t we look at the artifacts?” Rapunzel suggested quickly as Varian gaped at the keeper. “Maybe they have a clue on them about what they are?”

“Of course!” Calliope grinned. “The artifacts may have inscriptions on them about how they’re used. That’s brilliant, I’m so glad I thought of it!”

Eugene put an arm around Varian. “Goggles and I will check these ones, over here,” he said, leading the grumbling boy away from her. Rapunzel and Calliope went their own way, examining various artifacts. After setting down a box with a heart on the lid, Rapunzel moved to a spinning wheel and knelt in front of it. She tilted her head to one side, curious.

It didn’t look magic- the spindle wasn’t even sharp! She reached out, tapping her finger against it- and hissed as it pricked her finger.

“You’re sharper…” her eyes grew heavy, and she yawned. “...then...you look…” her eyes closed, and she fell over with a soft thud.

Varian looked up from where he was examining a sword, in the direction he’d seen Rapunzel go.

“Did you say something Rapu-” he gasped, eyes widening with horror. “Rapunzel!” he cried, running toward her. He was vaguely aware of Eugene close on his heels, but he only had eyes for the unconscious princess.

He fell to his knees at her side, fear filling him. Was she…?

Eugene must have had the same thing in mind, because he reached out and placed his fingers on the side of her neck. After a moment, he sighed in relief.

“She’s just asleep,” he reassured Varian. “Still not good- but better than the alternative.” he looked at the wheel in front of them, frowning. “It must have been this thing that caused it.”

Varian looked around, scanning the piles of books. “I think I saw a book on artifacts related to sleep earlier,” he said. He started to rise to his feet, prepared to search the piles, but Calliope’s yell stopped him.

“I’ve got it!” she called, waving the book in question around with a triumphant grin. The book slipped from her hand, and Varian’s eyes widened. He ducked, and the book flew over his head and hit Eugene in the face. The man grunted, and when Varian turned to look at him, he had an extremely unamused expression on his face. Varian snickered, reaching for the book.

“Nice catch, Eugene,” he teased, opening it and flipping through the pages.

“Yeah yeah,” Eugene said, smirking as he shuffled over next to him, placing his hands on his shoulders and leaning over to look past his head at the book.

“So,” Calliope said loudly, plopping down next to Varian and leaning up against his side, scanning the book. “Find anything useful?” Varian frowned at her as he flipped the page.

“No, not yet- wait!” he pointed at the page, excitement in his voice. “Here! ‘The spindle of sleep’. Designed to fool its targets by seemingly being blunt, and when they touch it, it puts them in a deep sleep.” he dragged his finger down the page. “It says here, an act of true love can wake her up.” his eyes narrowed. “But there’s a part at the bottom that’s blotched out with ink- I can’t make it out.”

“It’s probably not important.” Calliope shrugged it off. “Anyway, an act of true love- that should be easy.”

-

Eugene sat at Rapunzel’s bedside with Pascal, watching for any changes. Of course, he’d tried kissing her- which had been slightly awkward, at first. Varian had been courteous enough to look away, but Calliope had stared at him until Varian put a hand on her shoulder and suggested they go tell Lance and the girls what had happened.

After they were gone, Eugene had pulled Rapunzel up gently, supporting her head, and kissed her gently. He’d sat back, waiting- and nothing had happened. Unsure what to do, they’d all said goodbye to Calliope and rushed back to Corona.

“Hey buddy,” Lance’s voice said, drawing he and Pascal’s attention. The man stepped into the room with Angry and Catalina close behind him. “How are you holding up?”

Eugene sighed. “I’m worried about her, but I know we’ll find a way to wake her up- Varian is in the library right now, searching for a solution.” he stood. “I’m going to go help him- could you stay with Pascal and keep an eye on Rapunzel for me?”

“Sure,” Lance agreed. “But, that’s not what I meant.” Eugene looked at him, confused, and he continued. “With your kiss not waking her up,” he explained. Eugene snorted, much to the Schnitz family’s confusion.

“Oh, that,” he said. “No, I’m not concerned about it at all.”

“Oh no, he’s gone mad with worry,” Lance stage-whispered down to his daughters. Angry raised her hand, grinning maniacally.

“Can I be the one to smack him?” she asked. Eugene rolled his eyes.

“I’m fine, guys- really. I know a lot about acts of true love- mostly because most of the books I read got it wrong.” he crossed his arms smugly. “As long as the person doing the act of true love truly loves the person, it will work- the person doesn’t have to love them back.”

“Huh, guess all those romance books we read came in handy after all,” Lance mused. Eugene grinned.

“I know, right?”

“But then why didn’t Rapunzel wake up?” Catalina asked, confused.

“Remember how the book had a part at the end that was blotched out?” Eugene asked. “It must have been a stipulation- a rule, or something. So it’s not easy.”

“It never is,” Lance agreed. He clapped Eugene on the shoulder. “Go help Varian- we’ve got things covered here.” Pascal jumped from the bed to his shoulder and nodded.

“Thanks Lance,” Eugene said. He gave them a cheerful smile. “I’ll be back soon- it shouldn’t take too long! How many books can there be?” he left, missing the sympathetic look Lance sent him.

“Poor guy’s never searched the magic section in that library,” he said, shaking his head. “Better make yourselves comfortable- we’re gonna be here a while.”

Eugene walked through the castle, heading for where he thought the library was. He had been in there before- not often, but enough to have a pretty good idea how to find it. Sure enough, he soon came to a large set of doors that he definitely remembered belonging to the library.

He opened them and stepped inside, turning to close them behind him.“Hey Varian,” he called over his shoulder. “Did you manage to find any books on-” he stopped, jaw dropping at the sight before him.

“Hey,” Varian said, waving. “Yeah, I managed to find a few.”

A few was an understatement. Varian and Ruddiger were surrounded entirely by stacks of books, at least six books tall.

“Well,” Eugene said, laughing slightly. “We’d better get started, huh?”

-

“I can’t believe this,” Varian said, slamming closed the book he’d just flipped through with a thud. “Every one of these books has ‘an act of true love’ as the only way to wake someone from an enchanted sleep!” Ruddiger patted the boy’s knee reassuringly, and Varian scratched behind his ears with a slight smile.

Eugene closed his own book, sighing. “Same here,” he said, standing. “I’m going to go grab us something to eat, and let Lance know he can take Angry and Catalina to the kitchen to eat too.” he gestured to the pile of unread books. “You okay with taking the rest of these up to Rapunzel’s room?”

“Sure,” Varian said, grabbing for another book and flipping it open to the index.

“I’ll come to get you when the food’s done,” Eugene said. Varian looked up at him with a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Eugene,” he said. Eugene smiled back.

“No problem, goggles.” After he left, Varian went back to reading. The one in his hands quickly turned out to be useless, so he pushed it aside with the others and picked up a new one.

“Come on,” he muttered as he flipped it open to the section on enchanted sleeping spells. His heart sunk as he saw yet another page explaining acts of true love- but it lofted again when he spotted a little three next to one of the words. “A footnote!” he said, excited. He scanned the text at the bottom of the page until he found the three.

“‘For a potion to reverse the effects of a sleeping spell, turn to the potions section- located on page fifty three.’ yes!” he grinned, practically vibrating as he flipped through the book. Quickly skimming the page gave him all the information he needed to make the potion. He grinned. “I found it, Ruddiger!” he said to the raccoon, who chittered and crawled onto his shoulders as he stood. He put a paper in the book to mark the page, and ran from the room.

He wanted to get the potion done as soon as possible… but first, he had to see Rapunzel. Once he arrived, he poked his head inside and found it empty, except for the princess, and Pascal, who was sitting by her side on the bed.

Eugene must have come to relieve Lance and the girls already, he thought, stepping in. he crossed the room to Rapunzel’s bed and kneeling in front of it, placing his arms on the surface.

“I think I found a way to wake her up,” he said to Pascal. The chameleon immediately brightened (literally- he could have sworn he turned a shade or two brighter green) and Varian smiled. “I have to get the ingredients first, but it’s not hard to make.” stood, puffing his chest out. Varian looked at him, confused for a moment before realizing what Pascal was trying to tell him. “You want to come with?” he asked. Pascal nodded, and Varian grinned. “Well, welcome aboard!” he held out a hand, and the chameleon crawled onto it and crawled up to his shoulder with Ruddiger.

Before he left, he looked down at Rapunzel and hesitated for only a moment before lifting her up gently and giving her a tight hug.

“Hold on just a little longer Rapunzel,” he whispered into her shoulder. “Just a little longer, and we’ll have what we need to reverse the spell.” he laid her back down and left the room, determination filling him. This had to work- it just had to.

-(just a few moments after Varian left)

Eugene backed into the door, pushing it open, a tray of food in his hands. “Hey Goggles,” he called out. “You here? I got the food- even got some fruit for the frog and an apple for Ruddiger.”

“Eugene?” a voice that was definitely not Varian’s said. Eugene slowly turned around, and was met with his wife sitting up in bed and watching him, a soft smile on her face.

“Rapunzel!” he said, his face breaking into a smile. He barely remembered to put the food down before running across the room, throwing his arms around her. “You’re awake!”

She giggled, hugging him back. “I’m awake,” she agreed.

Eugene pulled back, though keeping his hands on her shoulders. “Not that I’m not grateful, but… how?” he asked. “The act of true love was the only way we knew- and it didn’t work.”

“I actually have an explanation for that!” Rapunzel grinned. “There was a really nice person in that dreamscape I was in- they said that the act of true love had to be one that was platonic. Like, friendship.”

“Ah, that makes sense!” Eugene grinned, though he still looked puzzled. “So… who was it?” he asked. Rapunzel’s smile grew softer.

“It was Varian,” she said. “I could hear him, in the dreamscape- and I felt his hug.” she brought a hand to her chest. “I felt a warmth, right here, and I could feel his arms around me. OH!” she grabbed Eugene’s shoulders, her expression becoming urgent. “We have to go stop him! He’s about to go get ingredients for a potion that was supposed to reverse the effects!”

“Come on then!” Eugene whisked her off the bed, dropping a kiss onto her forehead as he did so. Together, they rushed down to Varian’s lab.

-

Varian ran back and forth across his lab, picking up various flasks and containers to store the ingredients in and putting them in his backpack. He also dropped in some of his alchemy solutions and creations, in case he needed them.

“Okay,” he said, shuffling through it. “I think that’s everything we'll need! I just need to get my cloak. Now where is it…” as he looked around his lab, he heard the creak of the door opening and footsteps coming down the stairs. “Hey Eugene,” he said, spotting the cloak and crossing the room to grab it. “I think I found a way to wake Rapunzel- Ruddiger, Pascal and I are about to get the ingredients I’ll need.”

“Varian,” an achingly familiar voice said, laughter in their voice. Gasping, Varian spun around and saw Eugene and Rapunzel standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Rapunzel?” he whispered. Rapunzel nodded, and Varian rushed forward and into her arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said, after pulling back. He looked at her quizzically. “But… how did you wake up? Except for the potion, you can’t wake up unless you’re given an act of true love.”

“I was!” Rapunzel said, beaming. “You gave me an act of true love!” Varian took a step back, eyes widening.

“But- I mean, I love you, but I don’t-” he looked at Eugene, alarm filling him. “Eugene, I swear I don’t-”

“It’s okay, Goggles,” Eugene said, chuckling. He put a hand on Rapunzel’s shoulder. “Blondie, you can’t stop there- you need to explain a little further.”

“Right,” Rapunzel said, blushing. “Sorry, I got excited. The act of true love has to be platonic,” she explained to Varian. “Not romantic. It has to come from someone I’m not romantically involved with.” she smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It was your hug that woke me up.”

“Wow,” Varian said faintly, as Pascal came across the floor on Ruddiger’s back. Ruddiger crawled onto Varian’s shoulder as Rapunzel picked him up and held him close to her face, giggling as he hugged her cheek.

“I missed you too buddy,” she said, kissing his head. After transferring him to her shoulder, she put an arm around Varian, and stuck her other through Eugene’s arm. “Let’s go find Lance, Angry, and Catalina,” she said, pulling them both to the door. “I want to see them.” They found the family easily- they were still in the kitchen, eating. When Rapunzel walked in, both girls gasped and rushed to her, latching onto her waist.

“You’re awake!” Catalina said, grinning. Rapunzel laughed, squeezing them both.

“I am,” she agreed. After they released her, she was swept into a hug by Lance. She hugged him back, the smile never leaving her face.

“Glad you’re back, Rapunzel,” he said, with a grin equal to hers.

“I’m glad to be back,” Rapunzel said, as they separated. She looked from him, to Eugene, to Varian, and to the girls, her eyes bright with emotion. “I love you guys, so much,” she said. “I’m so lucky to have a family like you.” she spread her arms out, grinning widely. “Group hug!”

Angry and Catalina dove in immediately, relatching themselves to her waist. Varian put his arm around her and placed the other on Angry’s shoulder, a little smile on his face. Eugene and Lance stood on the outside, hugging everyone in their little group- including each other. Ruddiger chittered, grinning at Pascal (who had crawled onto Rapunzel’s head). The chameleon smiled back.

For a girl who had grown up alone in a tower, with only a cold woman who only cared for her power as a mother… she sure had a big, loving family.

#tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #Rapunzel #Varian #Eugene Fitzherbert #Lance Strongbow #Catalina #Catalina tts #Angry #Angry tts #tts Angry #tts Catalina