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#okay it was more like a joint effort with my mom and my sister
hunsa-jars · 18 days
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Bnuuys
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tbmaybank · 3 years
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Hi, I was wondering if you could write an imagine with Jj where the reader is Topper’s little sister and she’s friendly with everyone. (Rafe could have a crush on her or something if u want to spice it up a bit) Well, she is starting to date Jj ( with a little bit of help from John B and Sarah) and Topper and Rafe find out about their relationship at a party or at midsummer because they catch them almost doing the dirty. I hope this isn’t wierd and I hope you understand cause English is not my first language.
Here you go, doll! I hope you like it :)
Warnings: drinking, smoking, smut, and violence
Requests are open!
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You sat at the dinner table, mindlessly pushing your food around on the plate, ignoring the on going conversations. You hated coming to the Cameron’s for dinner. Rafe was always making comments or trying to find excuses to be alone with you. You kind of felt bad pushing him away, you were once really close. He was your brother, Toppers, best friend, and at one point you had a huge crush on him. But now, with how much he’s changed lately, you couldn’t stand being around him. Plus, you were now secretly dating one of the boys he hated most, JJ Mayfield. All you wanted to do right now was to get through this dinner so you could sneak away to see him.
You hadn’t meant to fall for the Pogue boy, but after the infamous Sarah and Topper break up, you ended up seeing a lot of the group, as Sarah was more of a sister to you than a friend. After seeing how horribly everything went when everyone found out about John B and Sarah, you decided to do everything you could to keep your relationship a secret. As much as you hated having to hide the boy you loved, you had to admit it made everything more exciting.
A buzzing from your pocket pulled you out of your thoughts. You pull the phone out, seeing a text from JJ.
-Is Rafe behaving himself around my girl?
Smiling at his obvious jealousy, even though he would never admit that he’s jealous.
-More or less. Nothing too bad. I’d much rather be getting annoyed by you though ;)
-Oh don’t worry, I fully plan on being extra annoying tonight. Can’t wait to see you.
“Y/n, are you listening at all?” Your father asks. You quickly put your phone away, turning a little pink.
“I’m sorry, I got lost in my own head. What did I miss?” Adding a sweet smile, which always got you out of trouble with your dad.
He sighs as he says “I was saying your mother and I will be leaving with Ward and Rose tomorrow morning for a couple days. You are to listen to your brother while we’re gone, understand?” Internally you roll your eyes. I’m 17. I don’t need a babysitter you think to yourself. But nows not the time to argue, especially when this can give you an excuse to spend more time with JJ.
“Yes, dad. I understand.” Everyone was finished eating by this point, but you knew this meant you still had about another hour of after dinner drinks to sit thought. However, your parents were okay with you, Topper, and Rafe going to sit outside on the dock. Almost as soon as you guys sit down, your brother is pulling out a joint. He lights it, takes a hit, then passes it to you. You immediately start to pass it over to Rafe, on the other side of you. You didn’t like being high around your parents, so you never joined in these after dinner smoke sessions.
Rafe throws his arm around you, “come on y/n, have fun for once.” Trying to hand the joint back to you.
“I have plenty of fun all the time, I think I’ll survive being bored for an hour.” He rolls his eyes and takes a hit.
They start talking about throwing a party the next day at your house. “Are you actually gonna join us this time?” Rafe asks you, moving his hand to grab your hip.
“Sure, but only if I get to bring my friends.” You respond while moving his hand off of you.
“You mean those pogues? Hell no. Why are you even friends with them?” Topper says.
“They’re nice, plus if they come, Sarah will be there.” Knowing that the chance to talk to Sarah would make him agree.
“Fine. But you better tell them to not start shit.” Smiling, you hug your brother.
“ Thank you Topper!”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”
———-
Later that night, you were finally on your way to see JJ. Sarah had picked you up down the street from your house after you snuck out your window. Sarah was the biggest help to you being able to hide JJ. She was always willing to give you rides to see him, or covering for you and saying you were with her.
Once you guys park the car, JJ is instantly at the car opening your door for you, pulling you straight into a deep kiss.
“You guys literally saw each other this morning.” Sarah says, laughing at his eagerness to kiss you.
“Yeah, but if y/n was your girl, you’d miss her this much too.” He says as you guys start walking to join the others.
Everyone’s in their own conversations when you walk up, and you and JJ sit on a log, his arms going around you. You all start talking while drinking beer, a couple blunts being passed around. This time, you happily took hits as they came to you. You tell everyone how there’s a party the next night at your house, and how you got Topper to agree to them coming as long as they promised not to start anything, making sure to shoot your boyfriend a look as you say the last part.
“When have I ever started anything with them?” JJ asks, prompting everyone to start listing examples of when he most definitely started problems with them. “Okay, okay fine,” he throws his hands up “I promise not to start anything, but if Rafe starts touching you I will-“
“You will do absolutely nothing and let me handle it so everyone there doesn’t find out about us.” You interrupt, giving him a quick kiss at the end. He finally agrees, but not without pouting.
————————————————
The next night, the party was in full blast. You sat in your room though, until you got the text from JJ that they were here. And when you did, you rush to meet them at the door, determined to keep them away from Topper, and more importantly, Rafe.
As the night progressed, you found it easy to keep everyone separated. Other than a few nasty looks exchanged, nothing bad happened. You and the Pogues stayed in a corner drinking and having a good time. After awhile, you were definitely drunk.
“Can we sneak away?” JJ whispers in your ear. Giggling, you nod. Carefully, making sure no one sees, you lead him up the stairs to your room. As soon as he closes the door, his lips are on yours. His hands on your hips, pulling you as close to him as you can get. He backs you up, til you softly hit the dresser. Without breaking the kiss, he lifts you up and sets you on the dresser, sneaking his hands under your shirt. You pull away to your shirt off.
“God you’re beautiful.” He whispers before attacking your neck with his lips, letting his rands roam your body. You wrap your legs around his waist, pulling him closer against you. You lift his shirt and yank it off him, and pull his lips to yours again. His hand going under your skirt to rub you through your panties. “You’re so wet for me, baby.” Moaning at the feeling of his hand, and his words, and whimpering when he pulls his hand away.
“JJ,” you pant breathlessly, “I need you. Please..” he smirks at your words before lifting you just enough to pull down your thong. His thumb returns to rubbing your center while he kisses your neck again, slowly moving to your chest before his fingers enter you, causing a gasp. His fingers thrusting, as he sucks at your nipples, makes moans fall out of you beyond control. You start to feel the warm feeling build up in your stomach, before the bedroom door swings open.
“Hey y/n, where’d you- WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO HER!?”
You guys quickly pull apart, you covering yourself with your arms as soon as you hear Rafes words.
“Rafe, get out!” You shout at him.
He ignores you, and goes straight for JJ, throwing a punch. You quickly throw your shirt on and start trying to pull them apart, which you knew was a useless effort. You instead ran downstairs to find Pope and John B. Your eyes scan the people in the party. The music covering the noise from the fight upstairs. Finally your eyes spot the boys your looking for. You run up to them, not even realizing your crying and try to say what’s happening, but the words won’t come out. All you can manage to say is “Rafe. Upstairs.” Luckily, they understand and run up. You follow behind and watch as they successfully get Rafe and JJ apart. Each still trying to get at each other, though.
“Don’t ever tucking touch my girl again!” Rafe shouts at JJ, but before he can respond you cut in.
“I’m not your girl, Rafe. Just because you have a crush on me, and try to act like my boyfriend, doesn’t mean you are. JJ is my boyfriend; not you.”
He looks between you and JJ for a minute, before smirking “so you’re a pogue slut now? I should have seen that coming.” JJ tries to go for him again at this comment, but Pope keeps him back.
At this point, Topper makes his way upstairs, noticing all of you missing. He walks in and sees Rafe and JJ being held back from each other, JJ still shirtless, in your room. He looks to JJ, and asks “were you fucking my sister?”
“Topper, Rafe, get out of my room.”
“Are you seriously with him, y/n?” Topper asks.
“Yes, Topper. I am.” You sigh.
“Get out.” He says.
“Topper, you can’t kick me out. Mom and dad would kill you.”
“No, they’re gonna be thankful when I tell them why. Now pack your shit and get out.”
You felt your eyes getting filled with tears. You knew it would be bad if he found out, but you didn’t expect him to look at you with such hatred. “Topper..”you say quietly, walking towards him.
“No, y/n. It’s them or us. And you need to choose right now.” The tears falling fully now. No body in the room dares to say anything or move, all watching you two, waiting to hear your answer. Suddenly anger rises back up in you, before you turn away from him, snatching up your old book bag, and stuffing as much as you can from your dresser in it, and walking out without a word to any of them. Your plan was to go wait by John Bs van, but then realize it was pretty bold of you to assume he would be okay with you coming back to his place tonight. So, here you were, aimlessly walking down the street. You walked like you had purpose, a goal in mind, but really you had no idea where you were going. You hear footsteps running up to from behind, and suddenly your arm is grabbed and your spun the other direction. You were about to scream, before you saw JJ standing there.
“I’ve been shouting for you,” he says out of breath, “didn’t you hear me?” You honestly didn’t, your head full of so many thoughts at this time. Looking into his blue eyes, seeing the cuts and bruises from Rafe, you feel the anger melt away, and instead all the other emotions hit you, and you just start sobbing. He pulls you close to him, “baby, y/n, it’s gonna be okay, okay? You can come stay with us, if you want?” You just nod against his chest, unable to stop crying enough to actually talk. He starts leading you towards John Bs van, continuing to tell you how it’s gonna be okay, and you guys will figure everything out together.
When you reach the van, Kie and Sarah rush to hug you. “I think this officially means your a pogue.” Kie says while hugging you, getting a small, but sniffly, giggle out of you.
“I’m sorry guys, I should have known this wasn’t gonna go well.” You say, trying to wipe away tears with the back of your hand.
“Hey,” John B says while lightly grabbing your shoulders and looking into your eyes, “it’s not your fault. At all. Rafe is a psychopath.” Nodding; you thank him.
You all pile into the van, riding in silence back to John Bs house. JJs arm around you as you try to clean his wounds in the bouncing van. You guys finally arrive, and climb out. JJ dramatically holding his arms towards the house, “Welcome Home, y/n!” He says smiling.
Home. You liked the sound of that.
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sgwrscrsh · 3 years
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double double miya style: the epilogue
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☁️a/n☁️ here we are, at the end of another series. writing this hit home extra hard since i’ve gone through something similar the last couple of months. but enough about me. please enjoy the final installment of double double, miya style: the series.
cw: implicit character deaths
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“i still remember when we brought you home from this same hospital.”
“seems like it was so long ago. you were all just little babies that barely fit in our arms.”
three of the younger adults standing around the room shake their heads asynchronously. 
"don't embarrass us like that, mom," ryuki says despite the sad smile spreading across his face.
"what's wrong with being a little nostalgic? we're all family here."
“speaking of which, where is your sister?”
“she said she was gonna be a little late since practice ran long. you know how it is for d1 athletes getting ready for the olympics,” ryo pipes up, pocketing his phone. “it’s a good thing we close shop on sundays.”
“and whose genius idea was that?”
“oh, shut up about taking credit already, umi,” hana teases, shutting the door behind her. “we get it, you have a degree in business management.”
“it only took him three major changes to finally make up his mind,” her twin quips without missing a beat. 
“yea well, better late than never. ryo wouldn’t have been able to run both branches without me. he’s only good in the kitchen. not as good as my wife, of course, but good enough to keep customers coming, i suppose,” takumi places a sweet kiss on her lips and pulls away with a smile. 
“that’s not what your boys said last time they stopped by for lunch, right, little dudes?” ryo leans down to offer his three identical nephews each a fist bump in turn.
“don’t try to steal my boys. my precious niece and nephew will get jealous.”
“it’s okay, uncle takumi. we’re used to it by now.”
“yea, at least dad can feed us properly.”
“hey! i can cook some stuff,” takumi huffs. 
the two brothers who lay in their beds chuckled weakly as they listen to the familiar squabble, drawing the attention of the family around them. their gazes turned from amused to sad as their wives, children, and grandchildren took in their time-withered forms.
“anyway, i don’t know how you guys manage your busy jobs on top of your home lives. i just barely figured out how to balance work with my relationship. i mean, it does help that they’re on the team with me.”
“i mean, dad did it,” ryo points out, slinging his arms around his adopted children happily. “so did uncle tsumu.”
“exactly.” takumi’s boys swat at his hands mussing their hair, uncaring of their father’s soft smile. “but i can’t imagine how you do it as a single dad.”
“i had a lot of help before the divorce. she was just set on a different path from me, but she was still an amazing mother.”
“i’m sure you’d make a great mom, too, hana,” ryuki says. “huh, sweetie?” his wife nods in agreement, bouncing their young daughter in her arms. “though, being an exhibit curator for the museum lets me work from home most days. can’t really imagine the volleyball association could figure out a way for you to do the same.”
“yea, but i don’t think i’ll be ready for a family any time soon anyway.”
“you know,” atsumu takes you all by surprise when he croaks out his advice, waving away all of the concern when his frail body racks with coughs. “i didn’t think i was either. but when your mom told me she was pregnant, i was over the moon. nothing in the world made me happier than when you and your brother were born. look at you now. i couldn’t have asked for better kids.”
his words bring more tears to the eyes in the room than the retired setter knows, his wife taking his hand in hers and resting her forehead against it as her shoulders shake with sobs. not one to be outdone, his brother peels his eyes open to glance around the room before settling on his own sons and their kids. 
“and i couldn’t have left the shop in better hands either. i’m glad you took your time to figure out what you wanted to do with your lives. you’ve made me so proud,” osamu reaches out to run his thumb under his wife’s eye, wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. “we did good, love.”
her hands come up to clasp his against her wet cheek, “we sure did. do you still remember what their first words were?”
osamu shuts his eyes again and hums, “it was one word with a joint effort. and it just had to be onigiri of all things.”
“samu would not shut up about it for weeks,” his older twin makes chuckles rise around the room. 
“you weren’t much better when hana first said ‘dada,’ tsumu,” he scoffs.
“at least ryuki made my whole year when he made ‘mama’ his first word.” 
“remember when dad taught us how to make onigiri for mother’s day?”
“at least one of us picked up the culinary skills that run in our family.”
“and between us two, one of us got the more athletic genes, too.”
“i’m happy with my simple life and job and family, thank you very much. besides, i distinctly remember being way better than you at volleyball when we were growing up.”
“that’s not what i remember! you sucked at serving, ryu! you’d always hit the net during youth club practice.”
“nuh uh!”
“you know, i think i remember the same thing, hana.”
“why are you all ganging up on me?”
between the bickering and the reminiscing, only their wives notice the content smiles spreading across the oldest twins’ faces, each of them grasping their hands tightly as tears stream ceaselessly down their weathered cheeks. and only they hear the words whispered their husbands’ parting breaths.
“i had the better life.”
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xv. || mlist
taglist: @lovemeafterhrs @sachirou-senpai-taglist @honey-makki @kenmaki @inarizakied @aruhappy @goodpop9 @tris-does-stuff @its-the-aerieljeane @callmekda @navymacaroons @tinystarks @luckypartyranchmug @chibichab @bjbex @heauxzenji @anejuuuuoy @semi-g0th @lets-go-datehoe @tsukkisfatsimp @newfriendjen @bigdickdaichi
final notes: to my moots, thank you for being such amazing people. you never fail to inspire me to improve and write more.
to my taglist loves, thank you for every comment, reblog, and like you've left on every chapter of this baby. i hope the epilogue has lived up to your expectations.
to all my readers, thank you for all your support whenever the algorithm happens to drop my content on your dash. you all have my heart.
join my general taglists for future content ♡
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If You Just Realize
Part One: Blindsided
Summary: Sebastian’s close friend stands by his side as he and his family say a sad goodbye and face new obstacles in the days and weeks to come.  Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader Word Count: 1900 Warnings: Death, angst, sadness. Lots of creative licensing, I’m sure.  Square Filled: This entire series will fill my realized feelings square for @marvelfluffbingo.  A/N: I’ve much enjoyed writing this series, and I hope all of you enjoy reading it! The tag list is open; requests to be added can be done so here. There are bits and pieces of Romanian throughout the series, mostly from Google Translate and the few things I’ve picked up as I learn the language. Happy Reading! 
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Dismal notes sounded together in morbid harmony throughout the church as funeral attendees greeted each other in the lobby. The people filed together toward the sanctuary, offering condolences to the family as they passed. Sebastian did his best to be cordial, but between his grief and looking out for the one other person he needed to be there, he feared he wasn’t doing so well interacting with the guests. 
“Calma, Sebastian,” his mother soothed, rubbing a hand over his back before she went to accept the outstretched hand of another guest. “Y/N will be here. She said she will be here, she will be here.”
Sebastian nodded and gave the next person in line a tight, sad smile. He knew that Y/N would be there; she always was when he asked for her support. The unexpected circumstances of his life, however, made him anxious for her presence. 
In the last few days, Sebastian had thought often of a song released sometime around his senior year of high school. The real troubles in life, the spoken-word song warned, are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at four P.M. on some idle Tuesday. The hour was earlier than four in the afternoon, but it was a Tuesday when he received the call telling him that his sister Irina had been involved in a fatal car accident on her way to work that morning. The doctors had been optimistic taking her into surgery, but her injuries were more extensive than the hospital staff had been able to read on x-rays and CT scans. While on the operating table, Irina’s heart stopped. The surgeon had been unable to restart the organ. 
A pleasantly feminine, floral scent invaded his nostrils as soft fingers intertwined with his, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked to his side to see Y/N Y/L/N next to him. Her eyes met his, and she squeezed his hand. 
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Seb. LaGuardia was a disaster.”
He leaned to kiss her cheek. “Don’t apologize. Thank you for coming. I’m not sure I could have done this without you.”
“Even if you could, I wouldn’t have let you,” she returned. 
Finally, the last of the guests had filed into the sanctuary, and the family could take their places at the front. Sebastian’s mother stepped out of line to hug Y/N and thank her also for being there. Y/N replied in Romanian, something she had learned after becoming friends with Sebastian all those years ago. She wasn’t fluent, but she could comfortably hold a conversation. 
“Trebuia să fiu aici.” She had to be there, not from a sense of obligation, but because she wanted to support Sebastian and his family in whatever way she could. 
When they were all seated, Sebastian between his mother and Y/N, and his stepfather on the other side of his mother, the priest began the service. Sebastian hadn’t let go of Y/N’s hand since she had intertwined their fingers when she arrived. Occasionally, he would squeeze her hand, and she squeezed back every time. If he needed the reminder that she was there, then she would give it. 
After the eulogy and the singing and the praying had all wrapped up, Sebastian stepped out of the pew with the other pallbearers to carry his sister’s casket to the church parking lot where the hearse was waiting to take her to the cemetery. He clenched his jaw in an effort to hold back the tears glazing over his eyes. 
Y/N walked behind his mother and stepfather in the processional out of the sanctuary but hung back with the crowd when the walked to the car at the front of the line of cars. Georgeta turned and motioned for her to join. 
“We know what you mean to my Sebastian,” the older woman assured. “Irina would want you with us as much as possible today.”
Y/N gave her a tight smile and followed the family into the black limousine. Sebastian joined them a couple of minutes later, sliding onto the seat beside her. He took her hand again. 
“I’m glad you’re here,” he told her quietly as the driver pulled out of the church lot. 
She nodded once. “Your mother said Irina would want it this way. I was going to ride with someone else, or take a cab.”
“No, you should be here with us. Mom’s right, Irina would want it this way. But I mean here. For the whole thing.”
She squeezed his hand and held his gaze. “Seb. There’s no way I wasn’t going to be here. I’m around as long as you need me to be, okay?”
He swallowed down the lump in his throat and kissed her forehead. Besides his mother and his sister, no woman was close to him like Y/N. They had become friends when they both had bit parts in the same movie, extremely early on in their careers. The friendship had clicked so easy, they kept in touch and grew closer as the years went on. The media had speculated for years that they were more than friends, but romance had never been a part of their relationship. 
After the burial, the day was only partially over. Sebastian was ready to go home and rest, but there was a whole wake to get through yet. He hoped the gathering would pass quickly and maybe he wouldn’t be required to interact with too many people. 
Guests were busy eating the well-catered food, which gave him the opportunity to visit more with his mother and stepfather. Y/N had gone to the bathroom to freshen up, giving his mother the opportunity to bring up an issue that she hadn’t wanted to stress her son over until they got through the burial. 
“Irina and I talked once about what to do if something like this happened,” Georgeta began. “It was not long after the baby was born. She was supposed to get it in writing, make it all legal. But she was going to school, raising her daughter. She didn’t get it done. And now …”
Sebastian licked his lips and picked up his water glass. “Now it’s too late.”
Georgeta nodded. “She wanted you to take Milena.”
Some mechanism in the swallowing process malfunctioned when his mother made the announcement. He coughed and attempted to clear his throat without causing too much of a scene. He had all but recovered when Y/N returned to the table. 
“Everything all right?” she asked, patting him a couple of times on the back. Nobody said anything. She raised her brow, waiting for Sebastian to come clean. 
Before he could answer, the sound of little feet running in their direction put a halt to the conversation. A little girl in a black dress with curly pigtails was rushing towards them, her arms outstretched. 
“Uncle Seb!” 
“Milena!” Sebastian exclaimed, stepping out of his chair and swooping the toddler up into his arms. Her chubby little hands squeezed his face so that his lips puckered like a fish. Sebastian laughed and switched his hold to balance her on his hip. “I’m so glad you’re here, munchkin. I missed you.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered, “Miss you.”
Georgeta and Anthony greeted the little girl, but she refused to be held by anyone except Sebastian. Once her grandmother and grandfather were distracted in conversation by the woman who had brought Milena to the reception, the girl pointed to Y/N. 
“Uncle Seb, who that is?” 
Sebastian smiled and sat with Milena so that she could be closer to eye level with Y/N. “This is my very good friend, Y/N. You met her before, but you were a tiny baby, so you probably don’t remember.”
Y/N smiled kindly at the little girl. “Hello, Milena. Your Uncle Seb told me you were pretty. I like your dress — you look just like a princess.”
That was all it took to win the little girl over. She settled comfortably on Seb’s lap while they adults spoke, smiling often at Y/N and asking a couple questions here and there. Y/N was making faces in an effort to make Milena laugh, and distract her from the somewhat heated conversation that seemed to be erupting between the woman who had brought Milena, Sebastian, and his parents. When the voices really got loud, Y/N reached out to take Milena. 
“Are you hungry, princess? We can see what snacks are left at the food table.”
Milena went willingly, walking hand in hand with Y/N, who winked at Sebastian over her shoulder as they walked away. He gave her a grateful smile and turned back to his parents and Milena’s paternal grandmother, Alice. 
“I know that Connor didn’t want to part of Milena’s life,” Alice was saying, “but that doesn’t mean Tim and I don’t want to be. My son’s choices are his own. I think we should explore the option of joint custody.”
Anthony sighed. “We don’t want to keep Milena from you, certainly, but Irina’s wishes were for her to be with her uncle. My daughter was very clear on the matter. Since Connor signed his rights away when the baby was born, I think it best that we honor what her mother wanted for her.”
“I can give her a very good life,” Sebastian interjected, “and you can see her whenever you like. I live right here in the city.”
Alice pursed her lips. “And when you’re working? I know you can afford to give her a good life, but there’s more to raising a child than the financial component.”
Sebastian bit his tongue. He had a lot to say, but none of it was kind or productive. None of it was going to help his case. He leaned back in his chair, letting his parents take over from there. As he glanced around the room, he saw Y/N and Milena standing by the food table. Both of them were smiling, and Milena was pointing to all the different things she wanted to try. Y/N held the plate with two hands as she crouched down so that Milena could pick up a grape in one hand and a cube of cheese in the other. Milena took a bite of the cheese then grinned up at Y/N, wrinkling her little nose. 
The scene comforted him in a way he didn’t think was possible up to that moment. As he continued to watch his best friend and his niece interact, the seed of an idea was planted in Sebastian’s mind. He immediately told himself he was being ridiculous, but the thought tugged at his heartstrings and pulled on one end of his mouth, almost evoking a smile. 
Y/N locked eyes with him as she followed Milena back to the table, a silent warning that any arguments needed to come to a stop. As the conversation between Alice and his parents didn’t seem to be slowing down, Sebastian pushed out of his chair and approached them. 
“How about I take my two favorite girls to the park across the street? I know a little girl who loves to swing,” Sebastian smiled. 
Milena clapped her sticky hands and reached for Sebastian to pick her up. He obliged, and once she had set Milena’s plate of snacks on the table, Y/N followed them out to the park. 
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IYJR: @elsatxx​ @tanelle83​ @amanda-teaches​ @etherealwaifgoddess​ @kmuir1​ @ntlmundy​ @jayankles​ @rebekahdawkins​ @denise1605​ @rhadigen​
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Foxiyo Week: Fearless
@foxiyoweek
[This entry takes place in a happily-ever-after AU, approx. five years after Palpatine is exposed and removed from power]
--
When he was a soldier, there was very little in his day-to-day duties that scared Fox. Fear of blaster fire, explosions, blood, violence, injury, and death had been conditioned out of his psyche during his training. As a result, he had considered himself fairly unflappable. But then he fell in love, and with that love came fear of heartbreak and fear of loss. And when he and Riyo learned they were expecting a baby, another fear came to him: that he would not be a good father. Then the day came when he held his newborn daughter for the first time, and his love for her greatly outweighed his fears.
At four years old, little Mira Chuchi was almost a perfect mix of her parents. She had her mother’s blue skin and crescent-shaped markings on her cheeks, and her father’s deep brown eyes and curly black hair. At first Fox worried that she would age quickly like he did, but by both human and Pantoran metrics she was aging at the same rate as any other natural-born child from either species. That brought him relief, since it meant she could have the normal happy childhood he never got.
“Tell me a bedtime story, Papa?” Mira asked once she was settled into bed, snuggled up under the covers. Fox sat perched on the edge of the bed next to her and she looked up at him with big bright eyes. She clutched a stuffed tooka plushie in her arms.
“I would love to,” Fox responded. He wracked his brain, trying to think of a story to tell. His mind settled on one event from his life, from before Mira was born, and he quickly thought of a way to translate it into something child-friendly.
“Once there was a soldier, one of the bravest soldiers in the entire Republic. He always did the right thing and helped people and stopped every bad guy he crossed. One day a giant monster came to Coruscant and terrorized the city. Rawwrrr!” He let out a roar and raised his hands into claws before diving in to lightly tickle at Mira. She giggled in response to being tickled.
“The monster was big and scary, and it tried to eat the people in the city. It tried to eat a little girl, but the brave soldier swooped in and saved her just in time! Carried her away and gave her back to her mom. And he saved many more people from being eaten too!”
“Did the soldier beat the monster?” Mira asked innocently.
Maybe it was best to lie a little bit, he thought, for entertainment’s sake. She didn’t need to know that in reality he had been hit in the face by the Zillo Beast’s claws.
“Yes, he did. All by himself. He shot a cable and tied it around the monster’s legs, and it fell onto the ground!” He slapped his hand onto the bed for dramatic effect. “And then … then he stunned the monster and loaded it onto a starship and flew it to a far away planet where it could live with others of its kind. Then the soldier returned to Coruscant and was rewarded for being the bravest and most fearless soldier in the entire galaxy.”
Mira narrowed her eyes in a skeptical scrutiny. “That’s not your best bedtime story, Papa.”
Fox stifled a laugh. She was just like her mother.
A laugh came from the doorway of the bedroom, and Fox turned to see Riyo standing there. She leaned against the doorway, dressed in her burgundy-and-gold skirt and jacket that she often wore to the Senate. She must have just gotten home from work, Fox thought.
“Momma!” Mira squeaked excitedly. She sat up and looked up at her mother with a toothy grin.
“Hello, my baby,” cooed Riyo as she walked over to the bed and knelt beside her daughter.
“Papa told me a bedtime story about the bravest soldier and a monster!”
“I heard,” said Riyo as she smoothed a hand over the top of Mira’s hair.
“Apparently it wasn’t my best work,” shrugged Fox.
Riyo chuckled. “Well since Mira’s going to sleep you’ll have plenty of time to think of a better one.” She turned her attention back to Mira. “If I’m home when you go to bed tomorrow I’ll tell you a bedtime story, how’s that?”
“Okay Momma,” said Mira. She lay back down, snuggled into her pillow, and Riyo drew the covers back over her to tuck her back in.
Riyo then leaned in to kiss Mira on the forehead. “Sleep tight, my baby. I love you.”
Fox then gave Mira little kisses on her cheek and forehead. “Love you, starlight. Good night.”
“Good night. Love you Momma, love you Papa.”
Fox then followed Riyo out of Mira’s room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him. The two went to the living room; as Riyo plopped herself down on the couch and leaned back, Fox went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. On his way back into the living room, he caught his reflection in a window by the dining table. He went back and forth on how he felt about the streaks of gray hair around his temples; it was a sign he was getting older, which shouldn’t have surprised him, yet he counted himself lucky that he was going gray rather than bald.
“You’re the bravest, most fearless soldier in the entire galaxy now?” Riyo asked with a smirk as Fox sat down next to her. She leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek.  
“Well, every kid wants to think their dad’s a hero,” answered Fox as he poured out the wine. “Besides, you should hear the stories Rex tells his kids!” He handed a glass to Riyo.
“How is Rex these days?”
“He’s doing great. He, his husband, and their kids will actually be on Coruscant next week, and I’m looking forward to Mira finally getting to meet her cousins.”
“That will be so wonderful, we haven’t seen them since their wedding.”
“I know,” said Fox wistfully, “and if we can also convince Bly and Secura to come around with their little one, it will really be a party.”
A brief beat of silence passed as they both took drinks.
“How was the Senate today? You’re home late.” Fox asked.
Riyo let out a deep, long sigh, then leaned her head on Fox’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her in closer to him.
“It’s like pulling teeth. There are still so many warmongers and Palpatine loyalists. Padme and I are doing everything we can to get them to come across and support Chancellor Organa’s efforts to rebuild worlds devastated by the war, but we’re getting nowhere.”  
“Maybe I resigned too soon,” said Fox, “if I were still with the army I could inspire them to cooperate. Or I’ll call Wolffe and ask him to pay them a visit.”
“Tempting, but don’t worry about it. Diplomacy will win.”
“I know it will, you and Amidala are the best of the best.” Fox pressed his lips to Riyo’s forehead.
“I just wish things would work out, I feel like I barely get to see Mira anymore. I know Padme’s missing her babies too.”
“This won’t last forever, things will be normal again one day,” said Fox, trying to sound reassuring. “But we can figure out ways for you and Mira to spend more time together until then. She knows the work you do is important, but she misses you too.”
Riyo craned her head upward to brush her lips against Fox’s jaw. “You’re such a wonderful father. Even better husband.” She snuggled back into him and wrapped an arm around his torso.
Fox smirked and rubbed his hand up and down Riyo’s arm. “Careful, keep talking like that and I’ll get to work on making Mira a big sister,” he said mischievously.
Riyo sat up and looked him dead in the eye. “I was actually thinking about asking you if you wanted to try for another child soon. We’d have to talk more about it in depth, I just want to know if we’re on the same page first.”
“Definitely.” He grinned from ear to ear. The thought of having another baby made his heart swell with joy.
The two leaned towards each other, meeting with a kiss in the middle. They then remained in place, their foreheads resting against one another.
“I love you so much,” Riyo murmured. “I’m so glad I have you.”
“I’m luckier to have you. I love you from now until the end of time.”
Riyo smiled and reached up to cradle his face in her hand. She kissed him again.
--
Later that night as he drifted off to sleep, Fox thought about how the past five years had been beyond anything he ever anticipated. The war ended after Palpatine was discovered to be playing both sides for his own gain, and he was ousted from power and held prisoner by the Jedi. (The Jedi kept him locked up somewhere hidden and were annoyingly secretive about their reasons for it, and they managed to stonewall the Senate at every turn, but that was a headache for another day)
The Republic and the Separatists had a peace treaty and were cordially frosty towards one another in their joint efforts to rebuild worlds hardest hit by the war. Most importantly for him, the Senate voted to grant clones full legal personhood. He resigned his commission without a second thought and asked Riyo to marry him. Miracle upon miracles, she said yes.
He thought back to his days as a cadet on Kamino, how his younger self could never imagine a future where he was husband to a brilliant Senator and father to a wonderful little girl. None of his brothers likely anticipated a future where they could choose their own paths, but the ones who survived the war could. Rex had his husband, kids, and a farm on Alderaan; Bly had Secura and their child and a quiet life on Ryloth; Cody and Wolffe were still in the army but they had fulfillment and a newfound sense of purpose; and his brothers in the Coruscant Guard either transferred to private security work or went to trade schools and universities. He was happy for all of them and prouder than he could put into words. It was better than the best that he once hoped for them. It was what they all deserved.
As for Fox … he had everything he ever wanted since the day he realized he was in love with Riyo. He couldn’t ask for anything else.
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northcarolinanative · 4 years
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𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 (𝟾)
Chapter 8: “Code 45759 JJ” 
A/N:  Okay I hope this chapter makes sense, like I said before my knowledge of the boats and ferry systems are very limited haha. Thank you all for all the wonderful support!! I actually feel like the fic is starting to pick up speed. I hope it doesn’t come across rushed, which is why I am a little worried about this chapter. Please let me know what you think! or any other requests, either for this story line or something else! :) 
Description: John B’s Sister comes home from staying with their mom, only to find out that her brother is missing and her dad was murdered. JJ may have just lost his best friend. Her and JJ have to figure out what to do and how to pick up the pieces.
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Need to catch up? Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.4 / Ch. 5 / Ch.6 / Ch.7
JJ was the first to break the silence that had built between us. “Let’s go for a swim?”
“JJ what? I’m not even in my bat–” I couldn’t even make out my sentence before I was pulled into the cold water. I slowly kicked myself back up to the surface of the water. I wiped my eyes off to see JJ beside me. He came up in front of me, both of us kicking to stay up. We held onto one another loosely for support. Once again, close enough for me to realize. “JJ what the hell?” I said. I started to feel my clothes sticking to me in that uncomfortable way. 
“You did say that you came out here to cool off right?” He laughed. I splashed him laying back on my back just floating. It was nice, being able to look up at the few white clouds in the sky. JJ followed suit, laying back and just staring up at the clouds. 
He lifted his hand up to point at a cloud, just over a tree, “That one there he started.” I looked up to where he was pointing. “Looks kinda like a bong.” He caught me off guard, causing me to laugh. When I did I submerged my head in the water, sucking up water. I came back up coughing out the salty water. “What?” JJ just looked at me. 
“Seriously? A Bong?” I raised an eyebrow at him. 
“What?” He shrugged. “Maybe I just wanna smoke.” He laughed looking down the shore. “I’ve got an idea.” 
“Oh no” 
“The last one to Old Man Jones dock cooks dinner.” I rolled my eyes as he started counting. “One. Two.” I took a deep breath. “Three.” We both took off down the shore. I dove quickly underwater trying to gain a little foot ahead. I may not have been on the island all year, but mom and dad made sure that John B and I knew how to handle ourselves in the water. I resurfaced and took a breath of air before going back into the water. JJ was right to my left, and I was too competitive to let him win. I pushed in a little more effort trying to out swim him. I looked up and dove back down, realizing we were only feet from the dock. I reach up grabbing the edge and pulling myself up. One I was holding the edge for support I saw JJ surface and grab the dock. We were both a little out of breath. Taking a moment to catch our breaths and relax. The sun was directly over us, helping to warm the water. 
“You’ve been gone for like over half a year,” JJ said, still catching his breath. “On the mainland no less. How did you beat me? It was witchcraft wasn’t it?” 
I laughed. “Oh you caught me! Burn me at the stake” I joked. “So what’s for dinner Chef J?” I smiled, beginning to swim lazily back to the house. JJ followed after me. 
“Hmmm. I was thinking of pizza maybe?” 
“I thought the deal was to cook?” 
“I don’t think you want that Y/N” I laughed at his comment, knowing full well JJ was actually a decent cook if he tried. “Plus if we're gonna be up all night looking at the maps again we’re gonna need brain food.” 
“Right, pizza, brain food” I laughed with him. I turned to float on my back, shutting my eyes from the harsh sun. “So what happens if we find a lead, like a ship that went through? What do we do then?” I had not thought that far ahead. 
“We track them down,” JJ said. 
“How do we do that?” 
“That’s all on you Nancy Drew. What if we go to the ports? Call the captains and ask questions?” 
“Yea, uhu JJ. We can do that.” I laughed. “Maybe look at new reports. If it is another country, the police might not have those on their radar yet. Check out that place however we can.”
We had finally reached the dock, making our way to the house to dry off. JJ went into the bathroom to change, while I went into John B’s. Every time I went into his room it was like a punch in the gut. The air was thick and hard to breathe. After what Kie said, it feels like JJ and I are the only ones that believe he’s still alive, which sucks. I feel like we can’t do this, just JJ and I. We’re both so irresponsible and here on our own, how are we going to pull this off? I pulled my new dry shirt on over my head. Hanging the wet clothes over the railing on the bed frame. I turned, walking out the door to find JJ on the landline phone. 
“Yes that’s two cheese pizzas, with half the sauce.” He looked over at me sending a wink my way. It made my cheeks turn red. I started grabbing the papers and maps from the bin on the counter and settling into the barstool beside JJ. 
“Half the sauce?” I questioned. 
“I know how you always try to take the sauce off of your pizza” He chuckled. “So I figured I’d save you from looking foolish around here.” He moved to grab one of the papers from the table and the third map. The map from the day after the storm. My heart was beating quickly. I could not believe that JJ remembered how I liked my pizza. 
“You remember that?” 
“Kinda hard to forget Y/N. It’s weird.” I pushed against his shoulder pretending to be hurt by his statement. 
I took the sheet that had all the boat listings. “What time did they..” I stopped. It set in JJ was there when they told him about John B. He was there, with the other pogues, he didn’t have someone to gently guide him into the idea like you did. It was just in the open for him. 
“What time did what?” JJ said breaking me from my thoughts. I looked at him. I could feel the worry in my glance, but he seemed to be oblivious, or ignore it. 
I cleared my throat. “What time did they say that they lost them?” 
“Oh umm. I have no idea honestly. I mean, when I got in the car with the Heywards it was like almost one A.M?” 
“Alright. Then we’ll start at 00:00 and move from there.” 
JJ and I were deep into marking up the map, to where the Phantom was found, could have drifted, and the radius they might have swam to. There were lines everywhere, annotations at different times. Lines that went right over where the boat was but were way too late in the day. When the pizza got there, I beat JJ to the door, quickly paying for the pizza. 
I walked in carrying the box to see JJ tracing a line down the page with his finger, and the silver Juul hanging from his mouth. He looked up. “I thought I was cooking dinner” 
“Ah I changed my mind, you did buy us groceries” I ruffled up his hair, setting the pizza box on the stove. I grabbed a piece from the box. I took the Juul from his mouth and handed him the slice of pizza. I took a hit from the Juul, feeling the familiar effect of the nicotine before sitting down on the map and grabbing myself a slice. 
-- 
I lifted my head from my hands and looked at the clock on the microwave. 2:30 am. JJ and I had been looking at the map for so long that my eyes were burning. We had since finished the pizza, smoked a joint, and a line of beer bottles was forming along the wall. 
“What stamp time are we at?” I asked JJ as he crossed another ocean liner path off of our list. 
“8:02”. I let out a frustrated groan. 
“Okay only one more hour then we can get some rest.” JJ smiled at me and rubbed my shoulder. Over the last few hours we decided that we had to start moving quickly if we were going to actually find them. We realized that things were more time-sensitive than they seemed before. 
“Okay next one,” I said, gripping the map. 
“This one is a Cargo ship, smaller, it left from Port of Wilmington Delaware, and crossed into the NC Atlantic at 5:45. The trail is a solid purple line, Code 45752” 
I squinted at the map, all the numbers starting to run together. I found a purple line leaving the side of Delaware reading 45752. “Here, I’ve got it.” I used my finger to trace the boat’s path down the coast for a bit, then out to sea, then coming toward the banks. I followed it till it hit a sharp turn toward land. It came right to the Phantom wreck, then turned a right angle back down the coast. “Code 45759 JJ” I said tapping at the point, scared that if I looked away it would disappear. “JJ what does it say?” I said urgency in my voice. 
“All it says is ‘detour’,” JJ said, looking at me with a confused look. “They probably just weren't watching the boat and got off course.” 
“Look at this J,” I said, still tapping on the spot. I began to trace. The boat’s line “Here they are going down the coast, following the same path that literally every other damn boat we have looked at did.” I reached the turning point. “But here they turn here and go towards the island.” I stopped, tapping on the gold star that we had put where the Phantom was found. Then turn back course right here, at the wreck of the Phantom. I looked up to see JJ looking at the map intently. “Then here they stop, then continue. Something caught their attention in the water, the wreck. What is the time stamp for those two marks?” 
JJ rushed to grab the paper, tracing his finger along the line of stamps. “Uhhh. It’s 7:56 and 8:32.”
“That’s too long for them to be on that tiny strip for it to just be an unmanned ship.” I felt the hot tears start to fall from my eyes. I didn’t even mind, because this time they were tears of joy, tears of hope, we had something.
“He did it, he got out.” was all JJ said. 
“It is the only one who turned this way, had any weird activity. JJ this has to be it. It has to be.” 
“John B and Sarah are alive,” JJ said. I could see tears on the brim of his eyes. 
“Holy shit J” We both stood up. JJ put hands on either side of my face and connected his lips to mine. I was frozen at first but quickly began to kiss him back. It was brief, but I felt a spark as he pulled me closer to him. 
He pulled away, still holding my face in both hands “You, Y/N Routledge, are a damn genius.” 
“We really did it J. We found something.” He started to wipe the tears off of my cheeks with his thumbs, both of us smiling like idiots. 
“Do you want to tell Pope and Kie to suck a dick or should I?” He said with a laugh.
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October 30, 2021 - good
We have opened up our windows and so our house smells like fall and the remnants of sweet and almost smoky smell that arrives simply from the weather turning- we've reached the point of crisp weather where the wasps have died and no longer invade our house or interrupt our dinners. Halloween is tomorrow and I hear people in a dazed and confused way, as if waking up from a nap in the middle of the day, talk about how they can't believe it's Halloween so soon and they better go ahead and try and buy some candy, put some decorations up. I keep forgetting it's about to be Halloween, personally. I know that children are excited about Halloween, some children who haven't remembered a Halloween before, and I know that I have grown out of that group by now, but that's okay. The frenzy of it all is confusing, but good. We all try to relearn how to interact with each other and sometimes it's awkward, but we're all trying. A girl who I five or six years ago would've categorized as a "popular girl" and avoided, came up to me and complimented me on my green purse. I smiled at her and thanked her, told her to have a great day. We are all souls that present in our own unique ways and there's beauty in that. I keep discovering the joy of kindness shared with those who I share little to no similarities with, day after day after day. I get my senior pictures taken today, by my father. I had other senior pictures taken before, required by my public school, that my family chose not to pay for - partially because they were so pricey, but mainly because they made me stand there and put my hand on my hip and act in a way that they considered "sassy" and that's just not me at all. I love sassy people, but I am not a sassy person. And that's okay! So I got informed by my father today that he's going to try and take his own senior pictures of me today. I've spent so long working through things that happened in the past between him and I, nothing particularly cut and dry where he was in the wrong and I was in the right or vise versa, but rather a lot of complexity that spun my brain around like knucklebones, where I kept trying to decide if I was supposed to hate my father or myself because of the way circumstance played out. Just yesterday while I sat with a friend and a complete stranger who seemed kind, to watch my dad preach on stage about how we're all sinful and if we're self righteous maybe we need to remind ourselves of exactly how lost we'd be without Jesus, I realized that I felt no animosity or resent against him, feelings I had been spending so long trying in vain to get rid of, which must have melted away on their own while I was preoccupied by something else. I realized that now, as an adult who still has the rest of her high school senior year to finish, I no longer resent or fear the house I live in. I grieve the happenings of the past but I no longer allow it to taint my future or force me to see my present in a blue-gray lens of apathy or apprehension. I realized that I no longer hang out with the rest of my family searching for something to give me a reason to stay away. And I know that that has ties to not just my own growth, but theirs as well. I am reminded that growth and healing is sometimes more of a joint effort than I expect, at least for me. I finally tell my mom about my ex girlfriend who I dated for a year and a half and while I expected my mother to react with anger, she reacted better than I expected. There were still bumps in the road, but she knows about this entire season of my life now, and she still loves me anyway. My father tells me he wants to do more than one photoshoot for my senior photos so he can make sure he does it all just right, so my senior photos can be perfect. I remember how my two sisters got their senior photos taken by professional photographers, who my parents paid to take photos of them for graduation parties or memories or anything else, but neither of my sisters got to have more than one photoshoot. I tell my father that I would rather have photos taken of me doing things instead of me
sitting or standing and smiling, and he says he thinks that is an excellent idea. I drink hazelnut coffee from a fox mug that I got on my thirteenth birthday, and I hold a soft, warm blanket around me in my bedroom while I hear the fall wind blowing outside my house and in through my open window. Let it be known that good exists here.
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missnmikaelson-main · 4 years
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The Forgotten: Blood Moon Rising Chapter 2
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Catch up here! Chapter 1
Late... late... late...
She could already hear Monique's biting tone. Nearly eighteen years to the day and she still took every chance to call her out for tardiness. The barbs had dulled over the years, but they still came.
She had reached the point in her life where she made a point to provoke her sister witch.
New Orleans was peaceful.
She had to amuse herself somehow.
Monique made it too easy, but this time she hadn't gone out of her way to tick the woman off.
The earthquake and subsequent accidents woke Elle from her sound sleep; it had taken the joint efforts of both her and Kaleb to return their three year old child to sleep.
She doubted Monique would understand; she didn't have kids.
Cassie might get it... or maybe Abigail.
Monique would pick a fight.
Except something wasn't right.
Monique should have been standing outside the Lycée with her hands on her hips, hundreds of flickering candles illuminating her silhouette.
She should have been waiting.
She wasn't.
The same survival instinct that delayed the Harvest by a year reared its head, biting down on her tongue. Monique would have said that her instinct was stupid and that she should ignore it which was the very reason she listened.
She pushed the door open and held her breath as she stepped over the overgrown vines.
White wax dripped off an overturned candle falling into a small puddle of shiny red wax. Except they didn't have red candles.
She knelt, reaching with a deceptively steady hand for the warm red liquid.
She pulled her arm back.
Blood trickled down her fingers.
She wasn't a vampire, but she knew blood.
Slowly she followed the puddle, crawling around the table until she bumped against something that definitely shouldn't have been on the floor.
A knot formed below her heart.
"Monique?” She whispered, feeling for a pulse.
She twisted her neck and spotted a barefoot and blond hair. "Abigail? Cassie?"
Both women stared with unseeing eyes.
"Don't dismiss the elements...” A woman crooned, “for there is no sweeter blood.'"
The whisper brushed Davina's ear. Thin fingers held her down and she found herself trapped in a woman's arms before she could even think of moving.
"Who are you?” She tried to twist free.
Sharp teeth grazed her throat.
She flinched and gasped, the action causing a pinprick.
"You’re different,” she purred, licking a drop of blood, "spicy, not sweet."
Davina's brain went blank for a moment, like someone hit delete and erased every spell she had ever learned.
She repeated the question.
"Oh my little Harvest witch,” a hand reached for Davina's throat. "I was you once upon a time. Your element was mine. I'll savour you... fire is a delicacy."
Davina struggled. The only thing she could think of was boiling her blood, but it was rather hard to concentrate with fangs in her throat.
Everyone always said their lives flashed before there eyes, but she didn't see everything.
She saw her family.
She saw Elle.
She saw Kaleb.
And she heard him whisper the first spell they learned together.
She murmured the words and fell down on hard stone; in the distance she heard a delighted laugh.
"I know you're still here."
++++
People always said to never walk through the Bronx at night. The neighbourhood was unsafe during the day, but when the sun went down it was best to avoid the area entirely if the goal was to avoid theft, assault and homicide.
Of course, that rule didn’t apply to those of an undead nature.
They had nothing to worry about. He had no conceivable reason to fear leaving his brother alone in the car for three minutes while he popped inside to pay for gas; which was why he was very confused, and more than a little upset when he returned and saw the shattered glass that had recently been the passenger window. If he wasn't hurt then he would be soon.
That car was a classic.
He followed his ears toward the sounds he had initially dismissed: thuds, grunts and clangs.
The metallic scent of fresh blood hit his senses, but he was unsure how to react to what he saw.
His brother was pinned to the ground with three pieces of rebar stuck through his body, turning his internal organs to ground beef.
Normally that would have been cause to run forward and pull the rebar free, use it on the person who had inflicted the initial pain and then get some fresh blood to help him heal... normally, but the person causing pain shouldn't have been able to cause him pain, so he stood frozen.
She had legs that went on for days and were made longer by the high heels she used to stomp down.
"Lexi?" He found his voice.
She paused, spiked heel hovering an inch above Damon's eye; the black veins under her eyes vanished, red fading to hazel.
"Hi," she grinned, holding up a single finger. "Just give me one second."
"To what,” he held out his hands, "blind my brother?"
Damon groaned, but stayed still; any move set his body aflame.
"I wanted to kill him," she tilted her head, sleek hair tumbled over her shoulder, "but since he's your brother and I love you I'm gonna settle for maiming."
"It looks like you've already maimed."
"No where near enough."
"You've had your fun,” Damon panted, blood coating his lips.
"Shut up, Damon," Lexi lowered her foot, "nobody asked you."
"Maybe," Stefan slowly approached them, "we could postpone the maiming? You could give him a good beating once a day for the next ten years."
“I doubt I'll have that kind of time, Stef."
“All the more reason to spend it with me," he smiled. “Come on, lets get a drink, and you can tell me all about how you got here."
Lexi smirked.
"Make it blood and you've got a deal."
"Deal," he grinned.
She threw her arms around him; he returned the hug and then bent to yank the rebar from Damon.
“Now, can one of you tell me what happened to my car?"
“It was fine when I dragged Damon here."
++++
Several dozen books in several dozen languages covered the bed and night stands from the last few hours reabsorbing the knowledge inside.
Kol flipped through the pages with one hand, using the other to trace vague patterns along her spine. When they started their research she would giggle and squirm every time his fingers teased the dimples in her back, but she had fallen silent a few moments ago.
"Darling,” he turned a page, “have you found something?" There was no response. "Darling?"
He finished his sentence and turned enough to see her.
His eyes followed the length of her spine up to where her shoulders had fallen.
A red grimoire acted as an impromptu pillow.
He briefly considered waking her so they could keep working, but nothing had happened since the earthquake – not as much as an aftershock.
He took the book from under her head, moved a few more and stretched out behind her for a short break.
Odds were it was the Harvest Girls anyway.
++++
She stumbled at the top of the stairs and would most definitely have fallen end over end in a poor imitation of a somersault if not for the swift hands on her hips. Instead she fell back into strong arms and a broad chest.
"I do know how to walk,” she glanced up over her shoulder, “I've been doing it successfully, on my own, since I was one year old."
"The task becomes decidedly harder after three bottles of tequila and three inch heels," he rolled his eyes.
"I have my feet under me again," she looked toward the open door. A feral growl rumbled up from the darkened depths of the cellar.
"It sounds like someone might be loose," he spun her toward the entry in a slow circle, "best let me handle this one, love."
"Are you scared some other wolf is going to bite me?” She tilted her head, smirking.
"I'd rather not take the risk, and I'm the only wolf allowed to bite you, sweetheart,” he cocked an eyebrow.
She backed toward the door. "Jealousy is a cute look on you; at least when it’s not murderous."
"I've never been murderously jealous,” he glared.
"Tyler?" She grinned when he sputtered.
She left him to the cellar and ran across the open field to the school, following her ears toward the dining hall where students and staff had congregated.
Several flashlight beams hit her face at the same moment, dazzling her. She shielded her eyes, blinking away the bright spots.
"Is everyone still accounted for?"
"Everybody but dad," Lizzie lowered her flashlight.
"He went to get the lights back on,” Josie tucked her hair behind her ear and then crossed her arms. "Mom, what happened? Are Jed and Raf okay?"
"Klaus is checking on them right now,” Caroline glanced around the room. Aside from a few broken glasses the dining hall appeared untouched. "There was an earthquake, so far that's all we know. Was it bad out here?"
"The ground shook, some stuff broke and the lights turned off," MG spoke up from the other side of the room.
"They turned off?” She took the flashlight from Lizzie and directed it toward the ceiling with its intact lightbulbs; they flickered to life as she stared. "Must have blown a breaker,” she murmured.
"At least they didn't explode,” Klaus glanced up as he walked in.
"Is that what happened in town?" Josie blew out the candles on the table.
"Amongst other things."
++++
"Is everyone alright?" Hayley called. She swayed on the spot and accepted the blood bag Elijah handed her. She downed it and moved further into the crowd, meeting Jackson halfway to the fire pit; her eyes flickered to the scorched trees nearby.
"For the most part we're fine,” he nodded. "Minor scrapes and bruises, a few broken bones and one nasty burn, but only the triggered wolves and everyone is already healing."
"Does anyone need assistance in healing, so they are prepared to shift back?" Elijah looked around.
"Maybe Oliver," Jackson jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “It was a really bad burn."
++++
"Okay,” Eve shut the bedroom door, "I can feel you tossing and turning all the way down the hall. Your restlessness is rubbing off on me."
She dropped on the bed.
"Sorry," Hope shifted, laying her head on Eve's shoulder. “It’s the fall moon. It's making me..."
"Restless?” Eve smirked.
"I feel like I'm gonna jump out of my skin. I swear it's getting worse each month."
"You only turned the once; all that energy is building up." She tilted her head, staring at the ceiling.
"I wish it would go away,” Hope groaned, tossing her arm over the side of the bed.
"Maybe it can," Eve smirked.
"How?" Hope laughed. Muscles twitched in her legs.
"You already said it,” she propped her body on her elbow. "Lafayette will be empty;” she wiggled her eyebrows. "The perfect place to jump out of your skin."
++++
Frozen bricks scraped her back, pulling at her jacket and matted hair. The cold grounded her as her head spun. Panic she once knew well rioted inside her; she thought after eighteen years she would have forgotten the feeling, but she hadn't.
She tugged at her blood soaked scarf, struggling to pull the ends tight for the limited pressure.
An involuntary cry escaped; she slapped her hand over her mouth, ineffectively stifling the sound.
"Come out, come out wherever you are."
It was difficult to tell over the pounding of her own heart, but it sounded like her tormentor was one or two rows away; definitely blocking the side entrance she had been racing for.
Her pocket vibrated.
She pulled out the phone with clumsy fingers. Through the haze of her blood loss she read the incoming message.
KALEB: Everything alright? I can call Josh to sit if you need help.
"I can smell you,” the woman giggled. "It's intoxicating. You wouldn't believe how much."
Did she need help?
"Witches make the greatest meals."
Yes, she needed help.
"Maybe I'll turn you, and you can find out yourself."
Was she going to involve her husband, and potentially leave her daughter an orphan?
Hell no.
She braced her legs, summoned what little strength she had and pushed away from the mausoleum.
There was one tomb, and if she didn't look back she had a descent chance of making it. Her predator seemed more intent on stalking for the time being.
She could make it.
She just had to weave.
Her feet took her from one tomb to another until she saw the outline of the building she wanted.
She stumbled through the open door, dropped to her knees. Her palms scraped over the floor, but she didn't realize they were bleeding until she sealed the entrance with a spell.
It was only after her heart calmed and she had fallen flat on her back that she realized what was wrong in the crypt.
The door should not have been open. The candles should not have been lit. And the urns should not have been broken.
She swore and picked up a broken piece of pottery. Her thumb traced the raised ridges of the crest as she pulled out her phone.
++++
"Clever little witch,” Ariadne tilted her head. She pulled on the door experimentally. Her free hand pressed against the crest.
Once upon a time the ornate ‘M' had made her heart pound. It had filled her body with intense feelings of love and lust; now it filled her with rage and a lust for revenge.
"What are you doing?"
Ariadne spun, coming face to face with a teenage girl. She scrutinized her features from the soft brown waves around her familiar face to her dark eyes that radiated a contradicting light. She knew the curve of the girl's mouth – the hidden smile lingering in the corner.
But that wasn't possible.
Was it?
"Midnight site seeing tour.” Ariadne stepped away from the building, sizing the girl up.
"My grandparent’s tomb isn't on any tour,” she crossed her arms.
"Your grandparents?" Her eyes flickered to the family crest on the girl's wrist; the 'M' gleamed on a bracelet.
“Yes,” she glanced to Ariadne's daylight necklace. "You should probably go. The cemetery's not safe tonight; unless you wanna die from a wolf bite."
"There are wolves in the cemetery?"
"Tonight there are,” she smirked.
Ariadne's eyes narrowed. "I suppose I should go."
She circled around and took five steps for show. Then she turned.
"You’re a Mikaelson?" She tilted her head. "I've had a few run-ins with the family, but I don't recognize you." She waved one finger. "You're not afraid of wolves so you must be one of Klaus' hybrids. Did they adopt you?"
She nodded to the crest.
"No,” she twisted the bracelet. "I'm an Original: Kol and Elena's daughter. I thought everyone knew me. I'm Eve."
"No, no,” Ariadne lied smoothly, “I know you. I just didn't realize you were you. Have a lovely night Eve Mikaelson. I'm certain our paths will cross again soon."
++++
Any other person and she might have found the sight before her adorable, but she refused to place that label on her annoying older brother. The last time he had been adorable was before he pushed her into the river before she was ready and put the grass snake in her bed; he was the worst child. Thankfully his children took after their mother... for the most part.
Elena, she would label adorable.
It was certainly cute the way she faced her husband, face upturned in expectation of his good morning kiss. It was sweet, the way she snuggled into his side.
But Kol was involved so it was not adorable.
Rebekah glanced down as she crossed the bedroom, unsurprised by the missed call on Elena's phone. It was only natural that Davina tried her first.
She snapped her finger in Kol’s ear.
He jerked, rolling onto his back. His clouded eyes landed on Rebekah.
"What?" He snapped.
Elena snuggled into his side; her lips brushed his neck.
Kol made an effort to control his tone.
"What's wrong with you Bex? It's the middle of the night."
"Wee hours of the morning, actually,” she corrected in a hushed whisper as she motioned to the door. “Shut up, and get your shoes on. We're going to the cemetery."
"Why?" He carefully sat up so as not to displace Elena.
"Davina called," she paused in the door. "There's a problem." Her eyes gleamed in the dark. “There’s a mystery to solve.”
“I see,” he sat up, rubbing his eyes. “And when exactly did I become Watson to your Holmes?”
“When I saw Elena was asleep,” Rebekah grinned. “Now get your lazy arse out of bed, and follow me. This is serious.”
“Your grin says otherwise,” he muttered, but followed all the same. He paused for a moment to brush Elena’s hair from her face and kiss her brow.
“Come on,” Rebekah hissed. “We haven’t got all night. I’m absolutely starved for some entertainment.”
++++
A rational person would have been terrified of the glowing eyes and razor sharp fangs. Even an irrational person would have felt an inkling of fear.
Who wouldn’t scream at the sight of that muzzle lunging for the throat?
It was normal; she, however, was not.
“Alright,” Eve propped herself on her elbows, “you’ve had your fun.”
The wolf growled the sound rumbling through its body.
“Is that meant to scare me?” She rolled her eyes. “We shared a crib Hope, I know you’re not gonna bite me.”
Hope pushed her back down, pressing her little cousin’s body flat to the stone. She lifted her muzzle, scenting the air before slowly slinking off of Eve and stalking towards the end of the alley between the mausoleums.
Eve rolled up, jumping to her feet; her heels made a hollow click as she shifted. She held out her hands when Hope’s head spun around and she found herself in the clutches of her yellow eyes. She took another step.
Hope huffed, muzzle dropping to Eve’s shoes.
“Okay,” she whispered, “I get the message.” She slipped off her shoes and held them in one hand, padding towards the light on bare feet. She pressed herself into the shadows when she caught what Hope had already smelled.
Spilled blood lingered in the air, faint but fresh. The copper floated on the breeze, creating a shimmering path that she could almost see that led towards the cemetery gates.
Hope peeked around the wall and then bounded off.
Eve followed at a human jog, cutting between crypts and through shadows. At one point she lost sight of Hope.
She stuttered to a halt in the middle of two rows and spun in a circle, searching with her other senses for any sign of her.
Claws on stone made a distinctive sound; at least they had at first before Hope learned to shift her weight to the pads of her paws.
She heard nothing.
She saw nothing.
And all she could smell was the blood.
It was making her quite hungry.
“You look lost.”
Eve spun, nearly dropping her bag with Hope’s clothes. Her eyes narrowed as a man she had never seen before stepped out of the shadows.
“I’m fine,” she adjusted her shoulder strap. “I know this cemetery like the back of my hand.”
“And yet,” his accent thickened, “you wear the look of the lost.”
She thought he sounded Greek.
“The look of the lost?” Her spine stiffened. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up when he looked her over. That look of unbridled hunger sent chills down her spine.
“Yes,” he tilted his head. “There is this desperate gleam in your eye. May I offer my assistance?”
“Like I said,” Eve crossed her arms, “I know this cemetery like the back of my hand.” She and Hope used to run through the lanes as children, playing a game of tag or hide and seek that nobody else fully understood.
“The back of your hand, hmm?” His eyes glittered. “Then perhaps you could help me. I seem to be lost.”
“And yet,” Eve arched an eyebrow, “you wear shining armor.”
“I’m no white knight,” he circled around her slowly.
“I worked that one out for myself,” she scoffed. What was up with the vampires tonight? New Orleans was known as a supernatural mecca for everyone; any vampire worth their fangs knew to stay indoors on full moons. Ok… maybe not New Orleans vamps, but they still avoided the cemetery. Full moons belonged to the witches.
“You’re a clever one,” he hummed.
“Well, I try,” she took a step away. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find my cousin.”
“Are you so desperate to flee?”
He snatched her elbow, whirling her into the nearest building.
“Do you have any idea who I am?” Eve’s voice rose, heightened by her disbelief.
“You are a Mikaelson,” he tightened his hold on her arm, lifting her wrist enough so he could see the bracelet. “A new Mikaelson and I find myself desperate to know you better.”
“So you do know,” she tried to wrench away. He was older than her though; beyond the two centuries she could have physically overpowered. “That makes you really stupid.”
He caught her other wrist when she tried to strike. “You have your mother’s attitude.”
“I got a lot from my mother,” she smirked. The blood on his mouth taunted her. “My dad, too. You’re messing with the wrong girl, mate,” her voice shifted on the final word in a perfect imitation of her father’s accent. “Let me go now, or I swear you’ll regret it.”
“You’ve a sharp tongue,” he chuckled. He lowered his head, hot breath fanning over her ear. “The things I could do with it…”
A feral growl came from her left. Her attacker straightened up, turning his head ever so slightly toward the wolf. She felt the shiver of fear when he saw the glowing yellow eyes.
“I got this, babe,” Eve glanced toward Hope.
He frowned when the wolf relaxed marginally. His brows furrowed when he met Eve’s eyes again. “You don’t have anything.”
“Wanna bet?” Eve smirked, ignoring the desire of her knees to knock together. Her eyes flickered over the vampire’s shoulder to where dawn threatened to break over a mausoleum. She met his gaze again, letting her pupils dilate and her tone drop to the persuasive voice she had perfected with her mother’s help.
“Let go of me, take off your ring and give it to me.”
He released her, robotically pulling the jewelry from his finger. He dropped it in her outstretched palm.
Eve pocketed the powerful talisman and tilted her head, tone shifting to one she might have used in a friendly conversation.
“If I were you I’d make a break for it now,” she motioned to the sunrise.
“What’s stopping me from taking it back?” He surged forward, pinning her to the wall between his arms.
“This,” she caught his chin, compelling him further as the back of his neck began to bubble. “You are never going to lay a hand on me again.”
“You’re an Original,” rage flashed behind his gaze.
“Hybrid, born and raised, darling,” she shoved him backwards. “You met the vampire. Now run from the sun, and pray you never meet the witch.”
Eve suspected he might have stayed longer – she hadn’t exactly compelled him to leave – but the break of day made the final decision for him. Once he was gone from sight the tremor began, swathing over the back of her legs upwards through her entire body. She used the wall to slide to the ground.
Hope padded over, laying her upper body over Eve’s legs.
She threaded her fingers in the coarse fur until she found the soft inner layer. She fisted the thick wool and tried to take deep breaths.
++++
Kol smelled the blood long before he saw a body, and he stopped up short, frowning when his sister paused further along a different path.
“It’s coming from this way,” he nodded.
“Davina’s insisted we meet her at the tomb,” she jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
“Which one would that be little sister?” Kol’s eyes flickered from left to right, bouncing off the dozen tombs in the immediate vicinity.
“Ours,” she walked backwards. Her eyes narrowed the further she went. Faint traces of blood teased her tongue.
Kol took one last look towards the blood and then followed his sister through the fog. They moved from one aisle to another and would have lost each other in the sun kissed mist on several occasions.
Heels clicked over stone to his right. He paused. From the corner of his eye he caught the edge of a long skirt and blonde curls disappearing around a corner.
“A little early for tourists,” he called.
“Could be a witch?” Rebekah shrugged. “They’re probably meeting everywhere to figure out what happened last night.”
“I thought that was the Harvest girls,” he reluctantly moved on. Through the fading fog he saw the family crest on their mausoleum. “Is it odd that a family of immortals has a tomb?”
“Would you rather keep our dearly departed parents in the house?” Rebekah tilted her head to the left. “We could clear a spot on the mantle.”
“I’d rather not have mother and father looking down on us for the rest of eternity. They can rot far away from us.”
“I don’t know how much rotting urns of ashes can do,” she rolled her eyes, “but I share your sentiment.”
“We all do,” he glanced over his shoulder. He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him, scrutinizing his every move from the shadows. “So where is Davina Claire?”
“Technically she’s Davina Westphall now,” Rebekah reminded him.
“I do recall offering my heartfelt condolences to Kaleb.”
“And I recall Davina giving you a wicked migraine for the comment,” she smiled. It was the rare witch that could take on her brother and live to tell the tale; though she suspected Elena had more to do with Davina’s living than Kol’s ‘good’ nature. “She’s inside.”
“That’s funny,” he rocked back on his heels. “Where is she really? Come on, Bex. You dragged me out of bed for the little witch…”
“Kol,” she crossed her arms. “Davina is inside.”
“She can’t be inside,” he scoffed at the very idea. “Elena and I insured this tomb was locked up tighter than Fort Knox. Nobody in or out.”
“Which is exactly the mystery we have come to solve,” she motioned to the door. “Open it up.”
“I would need Elena for that,” he cocked an eyebrow.
“Were you not listening brother? Somebody has busted through the powerful wards Elena erected. Only Davina is protecting this place now, and you’re more than capable of overpowering a single Harvest witch. All four of them would be a different story.”
“Fine,” he lifted his hands, channeling his magic towards the door and only half believing it would work. “Dissera portus.” His eyes widened when the heavy stone was all but blown off its hinges.
“Told you so.”
He ignored his sister’s crowing and raced inside where blood and a weak heartbeat greeted him.
“Oh my… Davina…” Rebekah dropped to her knees. Her teeth tore into her wrist before she pressed her skin to the witch’s mouth, not pulling away until some of the colour returned to her face.
Davina’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few times and then managed to focus on the Original looming over her.
“I said Elena,” she turned to Rebekah.
“Sorry, love,” she shrugged. “Once Elena’s asleep she’s pretty much dead to the world. Only the kids and Kol are capable of waking her.”
“So why didn’t you wake her?” She glared up at him.
“Wake my wife from a peaceful slumber for you?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Darling, I would have to genuinely like you to do that. And I’ve disliked you since you upset my pregnant wife.”
“I’d rather deal with your ‘pregnant’ wife.”
“Everyone would, Davina.” Rebekah smirked. “A hormonal Elena is preferable to Kol any day of the week.”
“Ouch,” he pressed his hand to his chest, feigning hurt. He dropped the act after a moment to glower at Davina. “How did you get in here?”
“The door was open.” She got to her feet, rolling her neck and pulling the scarf away; it resisted at first, stuck in place by her dried blood but after a second sharp yank it came free.
“You didn’t think to stay outside and call us?” His eyes flickered to her throat.
“I was a little busy running for my life,” she snapped. “There’s a psycho in the cemetery.”
“I only see you.” Kol tilted his head.
“Then you’re extremely unobservant,” she waved behind his body. “Did you even notice that your parent’s urns are smashed to bits?”
He turned around and felt his heart still in his chest. Two indestructible urns lay in pieces near the wall with no sign of ash anywhere. He caught a glimpse of Rebekah’s face when she stepped up beside him and twisted to fully take in her grim expression.
“Entertained yet?”
++++
Elena held her cell phone too her ear and pulled some clothes from the closet. The call connected when she started to shimmy out of her jeans; she switched it to speaker.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Bekah. Is Kol with you? He wasn’t here when I woke up.”
“Yes, I hope you don’t mind. I borrowed him for a while.”
“Is everything okay?” She reached behind her back, struggling with the zipper.
“It’s…”
Elena glanced at the phone when she heard a slight scuffle.
“Good morning, my darling… everything is… fine…”
“You’re a terrible liar, Kol Mikaelson,” she rolled her eyes.
“I’m an excellent liar. You, however, need some practice. Everything is perfectly fine.”
“For now…” Rebekah sang.
If Elena didn’t know any better she would have said the blonde sounded equal parts excited and tense.
“Kol, what is going on?”
“I really didn’t want to discuss this over the phone,” he sighed. “There’s been an incident in Lafayette. Let’s call it a break from recent peace for now.”
“Why don’t we call it me wanting to spend quality time with my brother?”
Kol groaned.
“You two call this quality time?”
“Was that Davina?” Elena grinned triumphantly when she managed to pull up the zipper.
“Yes it was. We’re going to investigate and then Rebekah and I will be home.”
“Okay,” she nodded slowly, as if he could actually see her. “Be careful and let me know what’s going on later. Oh… and please don’t come home screaming at each other.”
++++
Kol hung up the phone and gestured towards the corpses that had oh so recently been witches.
“Quality time?”
“Oh come on,” Rebekah grinned. “You have to admit that this is a beautiful sight. It reminds me of the good old days.”
“Beautiful?” Davina practically shrieked. “These are my friends.”
“Really?” Kol’s eyes darted from Davina to Monique. “I seem to recall that one locking you in a nuthouse, and the other two tormenting you to no end for nearly a decade.”
“Fair point,” Davina’s jaw ticked, but to her credit she didn’t lower her gaze. “They were my sisters though, so if you could be less caviller about this that would be great.”
“When did you see me taking this lightly?” He snapped. “We have three dead witches, a murderous vampire roaming the grounds, and our parents ashes are missing. I’m half-convinced you lot,” he motioned to the dead, “opened that tomb, stole the ashes and resurrected two people who should have stayed buried.”
“Why the hell would we have done that? What could we possibly gain from resurrecting your parents?”
“Power,” Rebekah cut in. “Mother wants us dead. Father wants us dead. Both nearly succeeded at one point. If they were alive odds are war would break out that would either end with them dead, or all vampires dead. Without vampires the witches could take over the French Quarter.”
“They could take over the entire world,” Kol shook his head.
“Are you both crazy?” Davina closed her eyes when they both flashed her manic grins. “I walked into that one,” she muttered. “If the vampires go, nature will be in turmoil; it has had a millennium to adjust.”
“Finally a witch that gets it,” Kol sighed. “Now the question remains: who the bloody hell did this?”
“Eve?” Rebekah murmured.
“Did you just accuse my daughter of this?” He frowned. Eve was not bloodthirsty; she had never even killed. Until her last birthday she had been on a strict blood bag only diet. Most of the time he thought she preferred it to snatch-eat-erase; with blood bags she could be picky about blood types.
“No, Kol,” Rebekah pointed to the window. “Eve.”
He turned slowly and caught a glimpse of his child through the window. All of the colour seemed to have been leeched from her cheeks.
“Can you handle cleanup?” He didn’t wait before leaving the women alone.
He moved outside until he could see her clearly, pacing on shaking legs in front of a stone crypt.
“Sweetheart?” He reached for her arm.
Eve felt fingers graze her elbow and nearly jumped out of her skin, whirling around and pressing her spine to the stone wall.
“Eve,” Kol held out his hands, “Evie?”
“D-daddy?” She relaxed, tone hardening slightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Did you forget who the adult was in this conversation?” He chuckled. “What are you doing here? You’re less of a morning person than your mother. Are you alright?”
“Mom’s always up early,” Eve smiled.
“And she’s never happy about it until she’s consumed three cups of coffee,” he rolled his eyes. “Don’t deflect, Eve. What are you doing in the cemetery?”
“Early morning jog?” She shrugged with a hopeful smile.
“In high heels?” His eyes flickered to her hand.
“I took them off,” Eve looked down. She used the task of putting on her shoes to avoid his eyes.
“Eve,” he lifted her chin. “You inherited many things from me, but you have your mother’s eyes and her abysmal ability to tell a lie.”
“I’m not lying,” her voice came out small. “I did take off my shoes to jog.”
“And you’re not telling me everything,” his brows rose. “I think I’m being very generous in bypassing how you snuck out of the compound. What’s wrong? You’re shaking like a leaf. And where’s your usual partner in crime?”
“I’m right here,” Hope stepped out of the tomb. She stood on the top of the steps and still found herself shorter than her uncle.
“Hello, bunny,” Kol’s eyes flickered over her rumpled shirt and untied shoes. “You’re looking particularly rumpled this morning. I assume you had the early morning jog.”
“It was more like a lope,” she swallowed, pressing her lips together.
“Perhaps you can tell me why my little fox is shaking in her boots.”
“How should I know?” Hope shrugged one shoulder. “I was a wolf all night long.”
“Don’t pull that with me, Hope Andrea Mikaelson,” Kol’s eyes narrowed. “Hybrids possess awareness when they turn, and you, my dear are a tribrid. Wolf, or not, you knew exactly what was happening.”
The girls lowered their eyes.
“You two can talk, or you can spend the next three weeks cleaning the school from top to bottom without magic,” he glanced between them.
“Daddy!”
“Do you want to add the compound to the list? Nik’s studio would keep you busy for days.”
Hope exchanged a pleading look with Eve who shook her head.
“Some creep attacked her,” she straightened her spine.
“Hope!”
“We’re you really going to hide that?” She rolled her eyes.
“Someone hurt you?” Red flooded Kol’s vision. “Who was it?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she pushed her hair behind her ear. “I handled it.”
“You handled it?” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “Hope? How exactly did she handle it?”
“I… I don’t know,” she pursed her lips when he turned his gaze. “I don’t know,” she insisted. “It’s not like I could hear; every voice sounds like a low rumble when I change.”
“I compelled him,” Eve reached into her pocket. “I made him give me his daylight ring; then he ran off. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is you snuck out in the dead of night,” he took the ring from her hand. “The big deal is that a man attacked you. The big deal is that this man is probably the same one that killed three witches.”
“Actually it was a woman that attacked me,” Davina poked her head out.
“So he has a cohort,” Kol waved dismissively. “The big deal, Eve, is that my baby girl is scared.”
“I’m not scared,” she crossed her arms. “I kept it together, and now he can’t touch me ever again; plus he’s stuck in the shadows.”
“While I’m proud that you remained calm, that is not the…” Kol trailed off. As he had been starting his rant he had waved his hand and caught sight of the square lapis lazuli framed on either side by glistening pearls. “This was his ring?”
“Yeah,” Eve nodded. The further away from the incident she got the better she felt; she just had to remind herself that she was a badass Original hybrid and he was a jerk. “Why?”
“Because,” Kol stared at the cold gold in his hand, “this ring belongs to a dead man.”
++++
She dragged a silver candlestick along the iron gates, giggling softly at the resounding sound that echoed under the city. Her laughter cut off when she entered the round room.
“You, my friend, are an idiot,” she pointed to him with the silver.
“You said the girl was the key to vengeance,” he stood, dusting the dirt from his trousers. “You said get her away.”
“You could have tried a subtler approach,” Ariadne huffed. “Now she knows your face, and if she tells daddy dearest what she knows it’s only a matter of time before she knows mine as well.”
“You are the one that said we have a limited amount of time!” He pointed.
“You should already know that Stavros,” she walked her fingers along the length of his arm as she circled around him, standing on tiptoe to breathe along his neck. “Can’t you feel it? That certainty in your bones… the little voice that says this is temporary.”
“Don’t play your games with me, witch,” he snapped. In one move he had her pinned to the wall by her throat.
“I’m not a witch anymore,” her fingers flattened over his sternum. “Kol Mikaelson saw to that.”
“From what I hear you begged him for it,” he looked her up and down.
“I was young,” she sneered at her own memory. “Young and in love, and I made a few foolish choices.”
“Haven’t we all?”
Ariadne and Stavros turned to watch the woman that had somehow snuck up on them. A black ribbon pulled her golden ringlets from her round face, exposing the calculating expression fully.
“You are both fools if you truly believe you can best Kol Mikaelson alone,” her skirt swirled around her ankles.
“Are we meant to know who you are?” Stavros’s eyes flickered to her Edwardian collar.
“I am your newest friend,” she clasped her hands loosely in front of her body. “I am the witch who will help you gain your vengeance against the Originals.”
“In my experience trusting a witch is never a good idea,” he frowned.
“I could take offence to that,” Ariadne scoffed.
“You’re no longer a witch, and I for one am prepared to do this without witchy interference.”
“Then you will fail,” she tilted her head, surveying the vampires.
“It’s one vampire,” he scoffed. “Personally I’m willing to let what transpired between Kol Mikaelson rest…”
“Only because you don’t want another beating,” Ariadne blinked up at him innocently.
“Shut up,” he growled. “My main grievance is with his lover.”
“What a coincidence,” she smiled, holding out her hands, “so is mine. What wrong did Elena Gilbert commit against you?”
“She killed me,” rage flashed in his eyes, “completely unprovoked.”
“I wouldn’t say completely unprovoked,” Ariadne gave a pointed look to the hand still on her collarbone. “You have a habit of rubbing women the wrong way.”
“No one has ever complained.”
“Eve Mikaelson did.” Ariadne’s smile was so sweet it would have given him cavities. She turned her attention to the witch. “Why should I trust you? Why should I let you live rather than draining the life out of you?”
“Are you foolish enough to think you are the only woman he has manipulated over the years?” She stepped towards the pair. “I want to make him… them… suffer, but neither of us can do it without each other. I lack the physical strength to take either of them on, and you two lack the magic.”
“How is magic meant to help us?”
“The answer to that is quite simple.” She swept into the room. “He is no longer like his siblings; I witnessed his power myself. Kol Mikaelson is like that little trollop… like the child that so easily bested you. None of them may be harmed by conventional methods, but luckily for you I know of some unconventional methods and more than one witch who wants to see him suffer. The blood moon has gifted us with many allies, and brought the Mikaelsons nothing by enemies. If you can lure the daughter away… trick her into retrieving what I need… then I can create a weapon that will bring misery into their household.”
Stavros exchanged a look with Ariadne. She broke the look first and focused on the witch.
“We shall need help to get the girl,” she tilted her head, "since my cohort blew it. “Luckily for you I know someone perfect for the job. He’s an absolute charmer, but I’ll need your help to locate him since he went missing centuries ago.”
“You believe this man will help?”
“I believe he’ll do anything for a daylight ring that you’ll gladly provide,” her mouth curved upwards. “Do we have a deal? You find him. He gets the girl. She gets what you need. We get our revenge.”
“Can he do this in a matter of days?”
“Depends how fast you find him.” She unhooked a bracelet from her wrist. “This belonged to him in the sixteenth century.”
“Is this one of your former lovers?” Stavros snorted.
“Of course not,” she rolled her eyes.
“Then why did he give you a bracelet?”
“Technically he didn’t,” Ariadne giggled. “I took it from him. It was necklace at the time and completed my newest ensemble. So what do we call you?” She watched the witch.
A pale hand extended. Ariadne dropped the bracelet and met the witch’s eyes.
“Mary-Alice.”
@elejah-wonderland @elejahforever @eternityunicorn @morsmornte @fandomrulesall @xanderling @cry-btch @kol-and-elena-fanfiction @geekofmanyfandoms @xxbeckybeexx-blog
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spikeymarshmallows · 4 years
Text
alright bitches, saddle up. it’s headcanon-ing time.
inspired by this post.
Specifically this section:
The standard urban fantasy female protagonist dating a werewolf who is not an alpha. Bonus points for it being a cute beta werewolfess who thinks her girlfriend’s perpetual posturing as the ‘baddest bitch on the block’™ is the most adorable thing ever. Extra bonus points for fuzzy baby werewolves and adopted babies. (Because actual wolf packs? Exist to raise children. They’re family units, focused around rearing cubs.)
#werewolves #queer wolves #werewolves as the foster parents of the supernatural world #if there’s a kid so much as sniffling in their general vicinity they’re going to get adopted #the fae discovered that they could straight-up hand off changlings to werewolf packs #no deception needed #magic using children of mundane parents who can’t handle it? #every pack has a dozen of them #fic ideas
okay this is one of the cutest reblogs I’ve gotten. imagine it werewolves just going YES FAMILY GOOD and adopting everyone and making sure they get attention and food and understand that it’s fine to be who you are and that you’re not alone, you’re pack now
Okay, I tried to do the Tumblr aesthetic thing, but it turns out, it takes more effort for me *not* to use capital letters, so fuck that.
Okay, but just imagine. The kids are all 13. Five has not yet fucked off into ye olde apocalypse. Reginald has caught Klaus wearing eyeliner and dancing around in one of Vanya’s skirts, because Allison rumoured him into doing 300 pushups last time he was caught in hers, and Vanya has no spine. So Reggie’s just shoved Klaus in the mausoleum, and as soon as he’s been let go, a sobbing Klaus sneaks out of the house.
He’s hiding in the alley outside the house, one of many probably, and is crouched on the ground, sniffing wetly and wiping furiously at his eyes. The eyeliner is long since smudged, but it’s stuck around because, hey, it’s not waterproof but it’s that shitty 90′s eyeliner that takes an insane amount of effort to get off. And he’s rolling a joint, but his hands are shaking.
And this queer werewolf couple happen to be walking by, and super-hearing etc etc, hear a kid crying.
And one of them is all “CHILD. CRYING. MUST PROTECT”.
“Maggie, ffs, you can’t just walk up to strange children and adopt them” “WATCH ME”.
And so this lovely werewolf couple, who are young, and haven’t been able to have kids of their own yet (but have a lovely pack back home) go and talk to a crying Klaus.
And Reginald has taught the kids loads of useless shit, but teaching them stranger danger? Nahhhh son. Sure, Klaus could put up a good fight, but why would he want to fight this nice couple?
And so, through tears, Klaus talks to them, and Maggie is like, looking up at her partner, Sofia, with these big earnest eyes. Because Sofia was like this, trapped with a shitty family who wouldn’t accept her for who she was. And Maggie is like “CAN WE ADOPT HIM” and Sofia is “...you can’t just take a kid off the street and adopt him” except Maggie basically did it to Sofia when they were both seventeen, so it’s not an effective argument.
And Klaus is crouched there, still in his damn skirt, his knees all bruised and filthy from being in the mausoleum, and his hands are grimy and a little bloody, and he can’t fucking roll this joint, and Sofia is just “he’s thirteen and smoking weed? THIS CAN NOT GO ON. MUST. PROTECT.”
And god, it does not at all take much convincing to come home with them except--
“I can’t leave without my favourite brothers 🥺“
Cue Klaus racing inside, trying to grab Ben and Diego to drag them off to his new family. And honestly, they’re not that hard to convince to leave either although they wonder if Klaus has lost the fucking plot, because he’s rambling and raving and not entirely making sense and he’s filthy and--well, he’s Klaus.
But Luther is very “No, we cannot split the team up >:(” and Klaus is just “Okay. Come with us, dipshit.”
And where Luther goes, Allison follows. That said, Allison had been listening from her room and is intrigued at the idea of an adventure.
And Five, who thinks they’re all a bunch of idiots, is just... “Ugh, I’m coming with because it’s me who will need to get you out of trouble when you inevitably land in it”.
And Five (and Ben) don’t like to leave Vanya out, so as soon as she’s back from her violin practice, they sneak her out too.
And that’s the story of how this lovely queer werewolf couple went on an afternoon stroll and adopted seven kids.
Because, hear me out if you’ve made it this far....
It’s initially a bit weird. The kids are used to competing for love and attention, for any skeric of a compliment. There are tiffs, really fucking fast. And Mom’s are like “Kids, this isn’t good pack behaviour”.
Luther’s ears pricking up because... “...does... does this mean we get to do Pack Bonding????”
Yes it does.
There’s no competitions here! Not any more than friendly ones, anyway. No competing for attention or love. It’s just lavished upon them because there’s a pack! Lots of parents!
Imagine one of pack members taking Luther outside to study the night sky, and teaching him all about moon cycles, and different stars and constellations. Some of these werewolves are as strong as him too, and he can spar without having to hold back!
Imagine some pack members saying “hey, Diego, let’s see who’s the fastest!” and Diego just *heavy breathing*. And of course, they let him win, but not in an obvious way. Just slowly building this kids confidence up, piece by piece. They don’t care about his stutter, and they show him love in loads of cuddles, and he learns to howl at the moon.
Allison is just... sisters. She’s always liked being the centre of attention, and so it’s an adjustment to be here with so many others. But she still gets attention. She’s shown that she doesn’t need to hold the limelight to be loved and valued and cared about. She doesn’t need to Rumour anyone because her opinions are actually allowed to be listened to. Why Rumour someone when she can just state why she wants to do something, and it’ll probably be allowed.
And they got to Klaus before his addiction spiralled out of control. They take him through graveyards during the day, not to make him control his powers, but to show him that he's never alone when facing his demons. Maybe they take him to a family crypt or something and introduce him to great grandmas and shit like that. It's hard to be scared of the dark and of demons when your parents run through the forests and howl at the moon and you have friendly ghosts on your team to talk to you when things get hard.
Some pack members are super smart, and for the first time, Five isn’t the smartest in the room. He weirdly relishes it. His thoughts and opinions and desires are listened to as well, and whenever he’s told no, he actually listens to why that is. Instead of treating him like a little asshole, they encourage his love of learning.
And then there’s Ben... Werewolf Parents: Now, Ben, we all have difficult things inside of us to control. Let's work on that and, also, on loving that beast inside us. 😌 Ben learns to control the Horror and it becomes like a giant swing and like, all the pack kids wanna be swung around by the Horror.... Cue pictures of the Horror with little ribbons wrapped around its tips or some bizarre and soft shit like that.
And finally, Vanya. Vanya, who is still Ordinary, at least at first. The Pack doesn’t mind her being on her meds, and don’t mind that she’s quiet and ordinary. There are other humans in the pack too! And they all love listening to Vanya play... Even when she’s just practicing, she usually ends up with a few people sitting there, delightedly listening in. And as time goes on, she thinks “hmm, maybe I don’t need these things for my nerves anymore... Maybe... Maybe I will be okay without them?” and Mom’s are like “well, there’s no problem if you need to go back on them, but if you want to try, we support you : )” And RUH ROH, there are powers??? HOLY SHIT. She’s mad as fuck, but instead of it being disastrous, she has loads of love and support. Like Ben, like al of the siblings, she has people there to help her learn how to manage her powers, and her emotions.
The kids are just totally loved upon and cherished and have someone there for them all the time.
And let’s not even get started on pack cuddles. actually, no, let’s.
Reggie used to be a real cunt about the kids and their need for contact. I mean, sure, they still tried to sneak into each others rooms for platonic cuddles all the time, but they sure as hell paid for it. And now?? Now, they can cuddle as much as they fucking want. Oh, Ben, Diego and Klaus wanna snuggle together every night? No worries, kids! We’re just gonna get you all a bigger bed and we can turn one of the bedrooms into a study or something. And slowly, there are just... entire pack cuddles. Allison has a bad day, and Klaus tugs her into the pile. And Luther sees and... Snuggles up behind her. Vanya, who is getting better at not being left out, who is more confident in herself, doesn’t fight when Allison brings her in. And Five? Five pretends he’s only there for Vanya, but they all know it’s a lie.
But they don’t call him on it.
Anyway. I’m just very here for a nice pack of werewolves adopting my babies, and them growing up happy and well-adjusted, and loved, and-----*record screeches to a halt*
DIEGO LOVES HIS NEW MOMS. BUT HE MISSES GRACE SO MUCH T.T
....So the Umbrella Academy band together for one final mission: to Mom-nap Grace.
It’s all very dramatic. I haven’t seen Spy Kids since I was, what, 13, but I’m gonna pretend it’s like that. They Mom-nap Mom, and she goes happily because she’s missed her babies and she gets to join the snuggle pile too. She loves helping out her new family too! And she learns new recipes and shares some of her own! Mom is happy too because LET GRACE BE HAPPY.
Anyway, they grow up happy, and well-adjusted.
And still as incestuous as fuck.
Like, that still happens in every universe.
And the wolf pack are like *chinhands* because like. Whatever.
/END
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whateverisbeautiful · 5 years
Text
Reveling in Richonne
#156: The Reward (9x16)
Every protagonist needs a reward. Even if they don’t get a happily ever after or a perfect ending, they have to get a reward for all their efforts. And Rick’s reward was/is/and will always be Michonne and the family they created. 
So even though he’s not able to still witness it all yet, the fact that his family can have a joyous moment like they had in this s9 finale shows the reward of all Rick and Michonne’s hardwork and sacrifice.
And getting to watch Richonne and their family all these years has been such a treasured experience and a reward for me. So, y’all, I’m walking into this final season 9 post like...
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So the finale jumps ahead a bit, to the first snowy winter we’ve really seen on the show. And it’s actually really pretty. 
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And y’all, you already know the main scene that I need to bring up from this finale in regards to my love for Richonne and the Grimes family. 😊🙌🏽 ❄️
But a few observations before that moment:
1.     I admit I found Negan’s commentary on this messy love quadrangle hilarious. He was Jerry Springer up in that joint. 😂He was straight up giddy to be out of that cell and crack his “Father Not The Father” jokes.
2.     I absolutely love seeing little Judith and RJ in their beanies and winter clothes and Judith being a good big sister by wrapping a blanket around her and RJ. ☺️ 
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Carl took care of her and now she has a little sibling to look after. Full circle. 👌 And I cannot wait until Rick gets to reunite with his little ones. They’re too precious! 🏽
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3.     Judith somehow lost Dog and I was legit fearful for her cuz Daryl would lose his mind if they didn’t find his best friend before he got back lol. But seeing little RJ in this moment was adorable. How I would love if Rick and Carl would have got to be in his life and watch him grow up.  
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4.     Michonne and co stay at the Sanctuary (which makes me sad cuz the last time she was in the Sanctuary she was all cuddled up with the famous Rick Grimes. I need that Richonne reunion asap.)  The group at Sanctuary tries to figure out how they should best travel home and when they go over the map Aaron says Rick’s bridge would’ve saved them which is sad too. 😔 Rick had the right idea about that bridge all this time and it would’ve helped people just like he believed it would. 
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5.     Michonne and Ezekiel have a talk, leader to leader, and Michonne expresses how being apart didn’t actually make them stronger and they can’t let that happen again. She reminds Ezekiel that “that charter we signed, it means something.” But that dialogue had me looking at the writers like...
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Again, I wish it was “we” tho and that they had let Michonne sign her charter so that she could sign it with “Michonne Grimes”. But I digress lol. 😪
Michonne passionately says the kingdom people aren’t just King Ezekiel’s anymore. “They’re ours. And we’re gonna get them home” I was like Kingdom, it’s your lucky day cuz now that you have Michonne claiming you, you gon’ be alright. When Sis is leading, people live. 👸🏽💯
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6.     Judith thinks she hears Dog so she runs after him (which I was like baby girl please stop running off. She’s about to beat Carl’s record) and then Negan chases after her and again I’m not with this. I just don’t want him near her no matter how much he’s “changed” and I especially don’t want him holding her or acting as a pseudo dad. The father/daughter vibes the show might be going for...
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Negan asks if Judith’s okay and gives her his coat and then he jokes that she’s doing all this running to get extra Negan time...and y’all, I really think Rick would dislike this moment. ☹️ I don’t care how harmonious Rick wanted the world to be, he def didn’t intend for Negan to be buddy buddy with his daughter. 
And while yes someone needed to go after Judith so I’m glad someone helped, cuz those Alexandrians stay slacking whenever it’s time to look for some kids. But still, Negan needs to stay in his lane. 
I know this show will be adamant to redeem Negan going forward tho so it’s pretty much inevitable. And the show really was working double time to redeem this guy with having him save a little girl and a dog at the same time. 🤷🏽‍♀️
7.     The only thing colder than this winter weather was Carol breaking it off with Ezekiel 👀🥶 I felt really bad for the king cuz that’s a lot of loss to go through with losing your kid and then your wife leaving you. It also just makes me really grateful for Richonne cuz, y’all, there’s a lot of couples both in this show and in other shows who fall apart or get really mishandled but Richonne is so solid and so everlasting. #StayWinning 
8.     Michonne and Negan have an interesting exchange in the very room where Rick and Michonne were once laying down the law to Negan in the prior season finale.  
Michonne thanks Negan for saving Judith and Negan brings up how last time the two were in here together Rick had just slit his throat open. Good times. 😝 Negan says Judith is a special girl and again my gut reaction was just to be like; Negan step back cuz you aren’t a pseudo dad, uncle, or anything else. 👏🏽
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9.     Interestingly one of the most compassionate things said to Michonne since this time jump comes from Negan in this scene. Cuz he looks at her and says “And you…you’ve been through enough.” It’s true. It’s so true. 💯 
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Her friends needed to express this sentiment too. You can tell it feels strange for Michonne to be having a fairly friendly moment like this with Negan so she just says “Get better.” and leaves. But then Negan asks if everyone’s okay and she questions if he cares and then they end up having a whole little conversation about how no one sees themselves as the bad guy. It’s true that from most people’s perspectives they’re the hero.  
I feel like this scene was low key meant to plant the seed of Michonne and Negan having a more friendly open dialogue with each other moving forward and all I can say to that is...tread very lightly TWD lol. 🙃😑
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Alright so now onto the perfect winter wonderland scene. 🤗
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The group gets back to Alexandria and there’s this great aerial shot of Alexandria’s queen, Michonne being the first one to walk through the gates and then we see Judith run and hug her. 
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I adore that Judith runs to her with open arms just like she did in 9x14. Mom and daughter love, y’all. 🙌🏽
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Mama Michonne of course checks on Judith and asks how she is and she notices Judith’s cheeks are super red so she immediately asks, “What happened?” and Judith doesn’t want to admit that the Carl in her had her running out the house and off into the frigid storm, so she instead adorably says, “It’s cold.” And Michonne smiles and hugs her again. I love their love. 😭😋
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And then y’all, I’m sent straight to another galaxy when Michonne looks over and sees RJ adorably laying in the snow. 
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PRECIOUS. She cutely walks up to him and scoops him up into a hug and this is some of the best Mama Michonne content. 😭 
Can you believe we’re here? We’re at a point in this series where Michonne can hug her son who belongs to her and Rick. Richonne is the best journey. 🙌🏽💯
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Rick and Michonne’s love always felt like a character in itself. It was that evident and present and powerful. And now it’s precious to know that their love gets to take form in this adorable little boy.
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I just adore seeing Michonne hug her children. And Judith’s little face of joy as she watches her mom and brother is the adorable cherry on top. More of this in season ten, please!
Michonne has hugged all the Grimes in the most beautiful way. 😭Especially, in times they’ve been in danger Michonne’s always right there to hug them and be there for them. 
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The Grimes are lucky to have Michonne as the matriarch. ☺️ #Royalty!
And then it gets even cuter as Judith and RJ play in the snow and Daryl gets in on the action and throws a snowball at RJ which is the sweetest thing. 😊
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And RJ throws a snowball back at Uncle Daryl and I don’t know about y’all but on my TV I heard RJ throw that snowball and say “This is for not taking my dad back to Alexandria like you said you would.” 😂Was it just my TV? 😋
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Lol but for real it is cute and I love seeing Daryl interact with Rick and Michonne’s son. 
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So then they all engage in this adorable little snow ball fight and it’s really heartwarming. This is the world Rick wanted. This is the life he wanted to give Michonne and their kids and I’m glad that in this moment his wife and kids got to enjoy the bliss he so deeply wanted to provide for them. 
This is the reward. 😌
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The only thing that would make this scene better is if Rick and Carl were here to join in this family fun. But Rick will get his chance. I know he will. 💯
Every season finale had pretty much always gave us a notably special Richonne moment. Season 3 Finale: “Must’ve been something else then.” Season 4 Finale: “Cuz I’m okay too.” Season 5 Finale: “I’m still with you.” Season 6 Finale: Rick being sent into a whole daze after finding her locs on that walker. Season 7 Finale: Rick finding her and hugging her after that battle and letting her know they will be the ones who live. Season 8 Finale: R&M holding hands as they head off to war.
So going into the season 9 finale I was sad that this would be the first finale without a sweet Richonne moment. But what’s great is that Richonne lives on through their family. So the finale still gave us something so precious.
If they’re going to take Rick away from us then ending on Michonne hugging both her kids in the snow is a nice touch to give us some Grimes family love. After everything Michonne went through this season I’m glad we get to see her smile and embody the sentiment she expressed to Negan in 9x04; As long as you’re still breathing then there’s life worth living. 
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The final moment is Ezekiel and Judith talking on the radio and before Judith leaves to do homework she tells Ezekiel, “I’ll tell my mom you said hello.” And again, I just love how often Judith says “mom”. I was hoping we’d hear Judith call Michonne mom at least once this season and we got that ten times over so I’m happy. 
And y’all, I heard about the rumors leading up to the finale that Rick’s voice might potentially be heard on the radio and I was pretty certain that those rumors were just that; rumors. But you know there’s always that little tiny piece of you that hopes. And then it was some indiscernible woman’s voice so idk, we’ll see where that goes I guess. 
But even though Rick being alive didn’t get foreshadowed in this finale, I have hope that at some point Michonne will learn the good news that her man is alive because once again, they’re the ones who live. They’re also #MagnetsForLife 🙌🏽😊🎉🥰
And that is everything from Season 9!
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Season 9 was quite the roller coaster. Even though the show isn’t what it was, this season was a refreshing upgrade from the last two seasons. And as always, in my humble opinion, Richonne and their family was the brightest beacon of light this season. They never fail to deliver and shine. 
On the eve of this s10 trailer, (Michonne’s last trailer 😭 ), I know I’m going to watch for Michonne and Danai’s final season. (And imma need this show to give both Danai and Michonne their things. Said things include but are not limited to: Their respect, their honor, their peace, their accolades, their time to shine, and their route to the movies with Rick) 
But after that, it’ll be the movies I wait for. I want Michonne, Rick, Judith, and RJ content. All of it. Every second of it.  😍👌
(Side note: And I don’t want Michonne to leave Judith and RJ for any reason at all, so I seriously hope wherever she goes she takes them with her. Even though I have a feeling Judith will be around for the rest of the show, but a girl can dream that Michonne gets to leave with her kids)
Whatever happens with the show or movies all I know is I’m in it for the Grimes Family. I’m glad Andy and Danai get to move on and go thrive beyond this show. I’m grateful for the time they’ve put into these characters and I’m especially glad that their characters are alive, Richonne’s love lives, their son and daughter live, cuz this family be giving me life. 
And y’all, just know that so long as Richonne is alive my love for them and my need to revel over them lives on too. So your girl is not done gushing over the GOAT couple lol. 
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I’ll of course have to analyze every moment in those movies but even before then I’ve already got some ideas. I’ve mentioned before how I have a non-existent top ten Richonne moments list that I don’t have written down it’s just in my head. And that’s true. Or at least it was. 
Now that we’ve officially gotten every Rick and Michonne moment we’re gonna get from the series, I’ve compiled a whole Top 30 list of my all-time favorite Richonne moments ranked in order, leading all the way to my number one favorite Richonne moment. (Y’all know my extra self couldn’t stop at a Top 10 lol).
So at some point down the line, I’ll try and share that list with some updated thoughts on those scenes. And I’d love to hear your lists too! 
Until then, I can’t wait for these “alleged” movies lol. They’re coming. They have to cuz I need this all to conclude with Rick and Michonne back where they’re always meant to be; together. I need Judith and RJ back with their mom and dad. I need Richonne/Grimes Family gold. A whole pot of it. And I believe we’ll get it. 
I’m excited too cuz If Rick and Michonne are in a movie it’s going to be good, no matter what else goes on, cuz those two don’t know how to do anything other than be excellent. 💯And imma be there cuz that’s our family so you know we gotta be there to reunite lol. 😋🙌 🏽 🏆
I already know that reunion is about to be just like Richonne and their family...
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So before I conclude this post, I really want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who read all these s9 posts and all the little dissertations I’ve done thus far. As I always say, and I always mean it, y’all are the best and have great taste in TV couples lol. I know writing these when I have some free time puts a smile on my face and if this last 30 days of posts put at least one smile on your face then it makes all this time spent worth it. 
Thanks so much for letting me revel on your TL and thanks for sharing the comments, kindness, and conversations. I so enjoy hearing from you and your opinions are on point for real. Your insights make me love Richonne even more. So thank you! I genuinely appreciate the support and that even seasons later, even with all the stuff and thangs this wild show puts us through we’re still here rocking with Richonne. #Always&Forever
All that’s left to say is Richonne is amazing and the GOAT. When you have two iconic multidimensional characters played by two iconic multidimensional actors you’re gonna get magic. And that’s why a “zombie” show ended up having the greatest healthiest most beautiful love story I’ve ever seen. #GospelTruth #StayBlessedY’all #LongLiveRichonne!
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gifs source: the amazing & gifted @michonnegrimes
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quillsareswords · 5 years
Text
Robin, Meet Robin.
Damian Wayne
Requested (anonymous [4]; @annielimajackson ; @crissy1603)
Prompt List // Masterlist (both in bio)
"My name's Robin," you answered politely.
The first time he had heard your name, he hadn't thought too much of it, beside the automatic twitch at hearing his moniker.
It was admittedly a bit difficult for the first few months when you had first started attending Gotham Academy. You were in quite a few of his classes, and for the first few weeks, it took an exhausting amount of awareness and control not to react every time someone addressed you.
When you ended up becoming friends? That was far more difficult. Especially given your similarities in personality. You were often just as bitter and biting as he was, which, coincidentally, is how you bonded: you hated all the same people.
Calling you by your first name always bother him. Not only was it strange addressing someone with the name he thought of ad his own, but to add the fact that it was an entirely secret name made it all the more uncomfortable. This is why he often refers to you by your last name.
[L/N] didn't make it sound as if he was talking about himself in third person.
When he realized he had somehow, accidentally, uncontrollably fallen for you? Oh, it was ironic and painful.
He didn't plan on telling you. He never planned on telling you anything about the mask or his feelings. Maybe it wasn't fair to you. You'd subtly expressed interest before, when you were younger, but now you both stood evenly at seventeen, and you'd gone on dates with other men.
In any case, he refused to tell you anything. He had a plan. A plan that meant you stayed friends until you were utterly sick of him, and you'd never know a thing.
And yet, it all came crashing down in a blazing ball of fire one stormy night in May.
You had been in the sitting room of Wayne Manor with him. Papers and projects scattered around the floor you sat on and the couch beside you, carnage of the joint effort of trying to finish as many papers and projects as you could before the school year was up. You'd been here since noon, and now it was nearing eleven. You had decided hours ago to take up the guest room adjacent to his balcony tonight.
Presently, you were sitting beside him on the couch, papers shoved to the side for the time being, eyes glued to the plasma flat screen mounted to the wall.
The wreckage of the Joker's latest attack was displayed on the news channel, the reported speaking rapidly as words of warning scrolled across the screen, all screaming to stay out of the mile surrounding the harbor.
You were still on the phone with your mother, making sure she made it out of the bowling alley safely.
"Okay. Tell Dad I said goodnight," he hears you say. "Love you too. Bye."
You withdraw the device from your ear, a low breath parting your lips. You click the big red button on your screen, leaning your head on Damian's shoulder.
It's an action that sets his skin on fire, makes his heart beat just a little harder. Oh, how badly he wishes to comfort you properly, with an arm around you and a kiss on your forehead.
"Mom made it home," you report quietly, eyes jumping back up to the television, phone dropping in to your lap. "She said the streets are as empty as she's ever seen them." Your tone is grave.
"Good. People should be staying inside."
You don't reply. For a few long moments, you sat in silence together.
Then, the double doors to the kitchen burst open, and Tim races into the room. "Robin!" You both whip around to face him.
"What?"
"What?"
He realizes his mistake a beat too late. He can feel the confusion in your stare, but Tim continues with an apologetic expression and a hard tone. "Bruce wants us downstairs A.S.A.P."
"Tell him I'm on my way."
You look between the two of them as they move, Tim bolting back through the kitchen, and Damian standing from the couch.
He's aiming to get out of the room before you can put it together, but he should have known better than to think it would take you that long.
You reach out, catching him but the hem of his tee shirt. "Damian?"
He turns to face you, green-blue eyes locking with yours. He finds confusion and a hint of fear. It's understandable: you are sitting in a seemingly easy target during a ruthless Joke attack, and he's leaving you here alone.
He moves closer, dropping to his knee in front of you. He trades your grip on his shirt for a grip on his hand. "I will be back. I'll explain then, alright?"
"But Damian-"
"Please," he beg, "trust me."
You hesitate. Eyes dart toward the television. The wreckage is ready beyond measure, and the body count is only going to get higher. Your eyes move back to meet his. You nod twice. "Okay."
You could say that plan of his was a phoenix. Sure, it burnt up in flames, but, a sunrise later, it was revised incredibly.
For starters, no longer were you clueless. Now you knew damn near everything.
For another, you were no longer just friends. The moment a confession of love rolled off his tongue, you'd had half a mind to slap him silly. You the went on to explain that, yes, you'd gone on dates, and you had called one or two of them a boyfriend for a short amount of time, but you'd only been trying to move on from him.
It was a moment he had wanted to simultaneously sing with joy and scream with frustration.
Months passed comfortably now, without the strife of secrets and names tripping off tongues.
He had taken to calling you any bird name he could think of, besides Robin. You'd heard too many to remember; bluejay, parrot, mockingbird, cardinal, finch, sparrow -- if you'd seen it, you'd heard it. Though finally, he did settle on one he seemed to like the best.
"Hummingbird," he groans, "please turn that dreadful nonsense off."
You crossed your arms, leaning back against his headboard. "Nonsense?" You freign offence. "The Marvolus Misadventures of Flapjack is art, you uncultured acorn."
He turns to look at you over his shoulder, combined the glow of two computer monitors alluminating his features unevenly. "What did you call me?"
To any sane person, his tone was an obvious threat. A warning, if you will. To you, it was a challenge of power. A question of weather or not you had the balls to call him anything other than royalty.
"An uncultured acorn," you repeat.
He sighs heavily, turning back to face the left screen, skimming the panel of images, stills from security cameras. "I've been to more countries than you could name," he reminds. "Most women in this city would kill to sit in your place."
You uncross your arms, repositioning yourself so you lay on your stomach, your head propped up on your hands at the foot of his kind size bed. "Sure, but you can't wash my sink out of your sheets, so you haven't got a choice, do you, Feathers?"
You can hear him chuckle adoringly, followed by the low, loving mutter of, "No, but I can burn them."
With the nicknames practically set in stone, the two of you were set apart easily. However, it wasn't quite as simple for most of his family.
Alfred, ever formal and polite, addresses you as he always has: Miss [L/N].
Bruce calls you by your first name, though there isn't any confusion as to who he's talking to, as he uses a much firmer tone when addressing Damian with is moniker.
Dick doesn't find any difficulty in keeping g your original nickname. Birdy, he calls you. He says it reminds him of a younger you (likely because that's when he first gave you the title, much to a 10 year old Damian's dismay).
Jason, however, struggles greatly. You weren't introduced before you and Damian we're dating (he was officially dead, and because you didn't know about the masks, you couldn't know about him), so he didn't feel he had any place to give you a nickname. He also calls Damian by his hero name fairly often, using the same tone as he does for you. It was months before he finally gave up, forever referring to you as "the demon's sidekick" or "she-bird". Including when he speaks directly to you.
Tim nearly never calls Damian by his mantle, so he doesn't particularly see any reason to call you anything other than your name, despite Damian twitching every single time. It was only recently he's started calling you by your middle name instead, after figuring out that Damian was slowly becoming desensitized to anyone calling for him on patrol.
His sisters, though you don't see them quite as often, have cycled through too many nicknames and random words that you gave up keeping track.
Outside of his family, Jon is one of the only one you see on a regular basis. He's always thought the whole thing is hilarious. He's taken to calling you "moroon", an inside joke the three of you share that relates to an ever present memory involving an eggplant, a purple shirt, and an entire pack of Crayola colored markers.
Had he known what he knows now, this would have been a much different story. Had he known just how much the name of a common bird would ever hope to impact his life, maybe -- just maybe -- he would have paid a little more mind when he first heard you say it so long ago.
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Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 5
Hey kiddos, I’m back! Your main bitch here has NOT been in the best mental health as of late :) My boss at my current job is driving me up a wall and I may need to find a new one since he might not be able to pay me for the hours I do, my depression is kicking my ass, and my dog was going to have puppies but then had a miscarriage and it turns out she can never have puppies again or risk dying next time. Soooo yeah, I’m probably not okay, but that’s okay because we are back with another chapter of your fav spiderbois! Again, huge thanks to @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for their wonderful au! Also shout out to @khadij-al-kubra for helping me appropriately write Logan and his family! They gave me some awesome advice and insight into Muslim culture and you should totally check out their blog and read their Thomas In Wonderland fan fic, it’s super cute! Anyways, now with that out of the way please ENJOY!!!!
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The boys collapsed on to the couch in Thomas’s living room in one heaping pile of uncoordinated limbs and groans. They were absolutely exhausted, aching joints and sore muscles which they were careful to move slowly. Thomas, meanwhile, leaned over the back of the couch, suit still intact but mask off, smiling amusingly at the tired teens.
“So, third day of training went well,” Thomas snickered, the boys groaned in response causing the older man to laugh again “yeah, you’ll get use to it eventually. Just because your muscles are stronger doesn’t mean they aren’t prone to getting tired when worked out.”
“I take back every nice thing I said about you,” Virgil murmured, face down across the couch “you are the absolute worst and I’d rather take Ms. Green’s Saturday day classes.”
“I ache all over.” Patton whined.
“The body takes about a week or so to get used to routine work out,” Logan groaned out “but as you do you adjust it so that you don’t get used to it and extend your bodies limit. But even so this training fucking sucks!”
“Agreed,” Roman grunted “I have so many regrets.”
“Toughen up boys, you all wanted to be super heroes,” Thomas tutted “besides, we haven’t even gotten to the hard parts yet.”
“The worst!” Virgil hissed “Terrible mentor! Zero out of ten!”
Thomas chuckled, “If it helps, you all are doing great. I’m really proud off all the effort and hard work you’ve been putting into this. Now, weather that’ll stay throughout the entirety of your training is to be determined but I have faith in you all.”
The boys stayed quiet for a long while, faces flushed red though it wasn’t from the intense work out they just had, mostly. They’ve all been doing their damnedest to show how serious they were about becoming heroes, wanting to prove to Thomas and everyone else that they weren’t messing around. And even if it’s only been a short while it was nice to know that Thomas had faith in them and wanted to see them succeed. It was pretty fucking sweet to know that your hero and now mentor had your back.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t get too sappy, you still suck.” Virgil grumbled, but the blush on his cheeks plus the smile he kept trying to hide told a different tale.
“Oh well, if I’m the worse them I guess you guys wouldn’t be interested in any of the ‘after work out’ sandwiches I made,” Thomas said innocently, turning to walk towards the kitchen “plus, a banana and strawberry milkshake but it’s probably not that great cause, you know, I’m the worst and all.”
The boys were silent once more before suddenly jumping off the couch and racing after Thomas towards the kitchen.
“Best teacher! Twelve out of ten gold stars!” Virgil called out.
“I’m not all that achey!” Patton said, a slight wince in his step.
“Well really the body shouldn’t ever get used to a work out too much,” Logan informed “and the routines you’ve set up for us will really balance out our bodies.”
“Best decision of my life! Absolutely, no regrets!” Roman cheered.
---
The boys lazed around in the kitchen, chatting as they ate their mountain of sandwiches and delicious milkshakes and Thomas couldn’t help but feel kind of domestic. He didn’t usually have much company besides Joan and Talyn and even then, he was sometimes too busy to properly hang out with them. But they understood, even before they found out about him being Rainbow Weaver Joan and Talyn were always supporting him and Thomas will forever be grateful for that. But there was just something about having a room full of people, chatting and laughing, with a mutual understanding of each other’s situation that made Thomas feel��less alone.
‘Welcome to parenthood fucker!’ A voice in Thomas’s head, that suspiciously sounded a lot like Joan, cackled.
“Shush.” Thomas mumbled quietly as he shook his head to silence the voice before returning to the conversation at hand.
“The whole movie is basically a promotion on Stockholm syndrome!” Virgil exclaimed.
“She stayed on her own accord so she could save her father!” Roman shot back “Plus he did let her go after she went into the forbidden room only SAVE her when she was in danger! She could have left after he passed out but no, she went back again WILLINGLY to nurse him back to health!”
Roman and Virgil had been arguing about the story line of various Disney movies for the better part of an hour now. Thomas, Logan, and Patton sat as the audience, occasionally throwing in their own opinions but staying out of it for the most part. Even if the debate seemed intense it kind of looked like the two were having fun in their own strange way. Currently they were discussing the elements of Beauty and the Beast.
“Yeah, because it’s either get mauled to death and freeze in the woods or be trapped in solitude!” Virgil quipped “She just chose the better half of a bad situation that would provide her with food and shelter!”
“But they fell in love!” Roman cried.
“Yes, because a prisoner falling in love with their capture is totally healthy and cool if you add bunch of dancing silverware!” Virgil snarked.
“Ugh! You are impossible!” Roman groaned “How is it you claim to like Disney but have all this bad to say about it?”
“Because it’s literally the whole reason I like it in the first place,” Virgil snorted “there are so many dark elements to it that people over look. Especially if you read the original fairy tales that inspired them.”
“You just want to make everything dark and edgy,” Roman grumbled “not everything has to have a dark side.”
“Everything does have a dark side, Sir Sing-A-Lot.” Virgil smirked.
“Ha, I like that nickname and I’m gunna use it!” Roman huffed.
“Not that it isn’t great that you two are getting along,” Logan said sarcastically, finishing his milkshake and grabbing another sandwich “but me and Virgil got to get going or we’ll be late for dinner and I would rather not endure my mother’s wrath.”
“Oh shit, that’s today?” Virgil asked as he began to pack his stuff.
“What’s today?” Patton asked curiously.
“My brother is coming over for dinner,” Logan replied dryly “we haven’t seen him in a while.”
“You don’t seem too excited.” Thomas said.
“It’s not that I’m not excited to see him after so long it’s just…” Logan paused, fidgeting over uncomfortable feel of emotion running through his brain, wondering if he should even bother discussing this any further. Eventually, he chose not to, “Nothing, it’s just, you know, tired from all the training and…stuff.”
Thomas knew there was something more to the whole situation, as did Patton and Roman, but out of politeness nobody said anything. They instead looked to Virgil to see if he could clue them in on something, they were missing but the purple clad teen only shrugged and shook his head. So, they were quick to change the subject.
“What are the rest of you doing this evening?” Thomas asked.
“My brother Alex said he was gunna take me and Georgie, my other brother, out somewhere,” Patton sighed, rolling his eyes “that’s usually code for he wants to impress a girl by showing what a ‘cool and caring’ brother he is and will fail miserably. But hey, I’m not gunna look a gift horse in the mouth, usually he takes us to cool places.”
“My mom and sister are working late again so I have to pick up and babysit the twins,” Roman replied before suddenly remembering something and turned to Virgil “Virgil what are you doing?”
Virgil paused, giving Roman an odd look, “Uh, besides dinner at the Quinn’s, nothing much afterwards. Why?”
“Good, because you need to come over so we can finish up that stupid essay due on Monday and I can’t have you over on Sunday because we have church and a baby shower to go to.” Roman said as he casually munched on another sandwich.
“Shit, that’s still a thing,” Virgil groaned, looking to Logan for help “have you even started on that?”
“Oh yes, me and Patton finished it recently.” Logan replied coolly.
“We video chatted since me and Lo had other stuff to attend to and couldn’t come over to each other’s houses.” Patton added.
“That’s why you flaked out on movie night yesterday,” Roman said in a moment of realization before pouting “you chose a study date with your boyfriend over me?”
Logan choked on the sandwich he was still munching on whole Patton squeaked and flushed a dark red. Virgil snickered as he went over to pat Logan’s back until he stopped coughing while Patton blubbered and waved his hands around, shrieking how “it’s not like that Roman, you know that! We just- we study a-and – we aren’t, uh…” Logan was soon to join in once he got the proper amount of air in his lungs, face just and red and sputtering just as embarrassed.
Thomas bit back a laugh while Roman and Virgil, the little shits, out right smirked in that smug way all best friends do when they see each other suffering. It was painfully obvious that Logan and Patton a “thing” for each other but were just too shy and awkward to acknowledge it. It was easy to push their buttons and was also extremely entertaining to watch. Still, Thomas was merciful and kindly decided to redirect the subject again.
“Well, while you kids enjoy your evening plans, I’ll be out on patrol,” Thomas said, stretching out a bit “so if you need to contact me and I’m a little slow to respond you’ll know why.”
“Might pass by that ally way again while patrolling?” Virgil asked innocently, though the devious smirk on his face was a dead giveaway “You know, just to make sure there’s no one in danger?”
“Yeah, like a certain cute barista?” Roman snickered.
Thomas’s cheeks colored pink and he regretted his previous act of mercy because those little vipers turn head so fast it’s as if they planed it. “You know we could just spend a whole day doing laps next training day?”
“We could, but that still wouldn’t erase the fact that you’re too gay to function around attractive males.” Logan smirked.
“Aw, but wouldn’t it be cute if they went out on a date?” Patton gushed, his comment was genuine but that didn’t make Thomas any less flustered. “You should try and talk to him, like for reals. Maybe ask him out on a cute little coffee date?”
“I am like flashing back to so many Coffee Shop Au fics it’s not even funny,” Virgil laughed breathlessly “anyway, Roman, text me your address and I’ll swing by after dinner. See ya gays later.”
“Don’t you mean guys?” Patton asked.
“I know what I said.” Virgil replied as he and Logan made their way out of the kitchen.
Roman shrugged, “He isn’t wrong though.”
---
They arrived at their apartment building in record time, Vigil having informed his parents before hand that he’d be at Logan’s for dinner before heading out to Roman’s to finish up the essay. Though at the moment neither of them were in any hurry to get to where they were going, taking a dramatically long time climbing up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along with you and Morgan after dinner?” Virgil asked for the tenth time that day “I really, really don’t mind flaking out on Roman.”
“As much as I would like that you really do need to finish your essay,” Logan sighed “it counts as a major grade for your science class.”
It wasn’t that Logan’s brother was a bad guy, on the contrary he was actually really cool and easy to talk too, but the constant comparisons made between them by their parents made Logan kind of resent him, just a little. Don’t get him wrong, Logan loved his older brother and wouldn’t mind spending more time with him but as of late the closer Logan got to graduation the more his parents…“pushed” him to follow in his brother’s footsteps. He couldn’t even mention about applying for colleges around them because then they’d go into a spiral about all the colleges Morgan got excepted to at his age and how he should apply for those and go for this program that Morgan did and maybe he could study abroad like Morgan did. It’s not like they did it on purpose, Logan knew his parents loved him and were proud of him, they only wanted what’s best for him so that he could succeed and gain opportunities that they couldn’t when they were young. But sometimes it just…got a bit much.
“Come on, let me procrastinate,” Virgil whined, though it was more to make Logan laugh then being serious “I don’t want to spend my whole afternoon with Roman.”
“It’s not my fault the teachers chose him as a partner for you,” Logan chuckled “at least he’s willing to do work and not slack off like others. Plus, better him then Dolion.”
“Mmh, true,” Virgil grumbled “but stiiiill! The only reason you’re not complaining is because you got to be all buddy-buddy with Patton and make heart eyes at him all day.”
As expected, Logan was a blushing, sputtering mess, “I-it’s not like that!”
Vigil continued to tease his best friend all the way up until their destination, then everything got tense again. Logan took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he went over the most likely scenarios that would happen during dinner, none of them were good. But Logan just had to get through dinner then an awkward night out with his brother and after he could just sulk in his room the rest of the night. His train of thought was broken by a gentle hand squeezing his own and he turned to find Virgil smiling at him sympathetically.
“I got your back if that means anything?” Virgil shrugged.
Logan gave him a tiny, appreciative smile, “It means everything.”
“Great,” Virgil turned towards the awaiting door in front of them “let’s face Hades together.”
“You know, Hades wasn’t an evil god,” Logan began to explain “he was just god of the Underworld and-”
“You know what I mean.” Virgil scoffed as he opened the door to Logan’s apartment.
Inside, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn were in the living room enthusiastically entertaining their special guest of the evening, Morgan Quinn. Looks wise, Morgan and Logan looked pretty similar, tall lanky build, neat trimmed hair, and thick square glasses. Personality wise, they couldn’t be more different, Logan was always the more serious of the two while Morgan tended to be the more goofy, social butterfly. Despite being polar opposites, they got along pretty great, Morgan was the one that introduced Logan to his love of space and it was that mutual love that formed an incredible bond between them. They’d always go up to the roof and look at the stars through their telescope, read up on NASA’s latest discoveries and plans, or just binge watch a bunch of space documentaries. But lately, Logan’s been looking at the stars less, it’s been moths since he’s looked into what NASA’s been up too, and he’s kind of been avoiding space documentaries all together if he’s honest.
“Lolo!” Morgan exclaimed excitedly as he rushed to hug his brother “Salaam alekum!”
“Waalekum salaam,” Logan replied, a small smile appearing on his face despite his internal conflict “welcome home.”
“Geez, you sprouted up like a bean stalk,” Morgan laughed as he pulled back to look over his little brother “what are Ummi and Babá feeding you?”
“All required nutrition regiments,” Logan quipped “though I can only assume your stunted growth is due to the college dietary restrictions of coffee and instant noodles.”
“Quit exposing me,” Morgan chided playfully before turning to Virgil with his arms open wide for a hug “Virge, salaam alekum!”
“Waalekum salaam,” Virgil replied, tentatively accepting the hug though Morgan knew he wasn’t one for physical affection so he didn’t linger long “how you’ve been?”
“I’ve been great, tired but great,” Morgan chuckled “and you still haven’t grown? I though Ummi was stuffing you down with the same thing she’s been feeding Logan?”
“Gunna take a lot more then forced self-care to make me into a functioning human being.” Virgil smirked.
“Speaking of eating,” Mrs. Quinn cut through the chatter as she made her way to the kitchen “I made your favorite Morgan, kufta and rice. Shall we eat now?”
“Please,” Morgan half begged “I’m a starving college student.”
They family plus Virgil gathered around the table, filling their plates with the lamb meat balls, rice and side salad put in place. It was all pleasantries at first, catching up on each other’s lives and reminiscing on the past and how it compared to the present. It was nice, laughter and chatter filled the room as other’s ate to think of more conversation topics.
Then Mrs. Quinn asked, “How has your internship been at Oscorps?”
And so it began.
“Oh, it’s been amazing,” Morgan gushed “I’ve been learning so much about bioengineering and genetic research. There’s been so many advances made in the medical field and it’s just fascinating to see the behind the scenes of everything.”
“You know, Logan and Virgil went on a field trip to Oscorps this week,” Mr. Quinn said, unknown to him that Logan’s eye began to twitch waiting for the inevitable “I would have hoped they’d see you there in action.”
“Oh no, I’m usually in the back with the researchers,” Morgan explained before looking to his brother “but if you would have texted me earlier, I could have given you and Virge a secret tour of the latest project we’ve been working on. It’s awesome, you would have loved it Lo.”
“I, um…” Logan began, fiddling with the food on his plate.
“Logan, I thought we told you to call your brother and ask about the internship requirements?” Mrs. Quinn asked.
“I forgot.” Logan said lamely.
“Babá you can’t afford to be forgetting these things,” Mr. Quinn scolded gently “you have to build up a good college resume and a company like Oscorps will get you accepted into any school you want.”
“Yeah, I know.” Logan mumbled, having stopped eating all together and was now just staring at his plate.
“Well, he’s still just a junior in high school,” Morgan cut in before more could be said by either of his parents “an internship like this is not easy to come by. Some people are on a waiting list for years and even then, they might not get accepted.”
“But didn’t they offer you a position when you were in high school?” Mrs. Quinn asked “Surely if Logan took an extra class or two, he could have one too.”
“What they offered me was an errand boy that made print outs and got coffee,” Morgan explained, secretly watching as the tension in his brother’s shoulders relaxed just a bit “they’re not gunna let a high schooler into a research lab no matter how smart he is. Maybe once he hits college but even then, he could get a much better offer from somewhere else. I hear the robotic engineering program in Carnegie and Brown are real buddy-buddy with Stark Industries.”
Logan smiled, just a little, tentative and quiet, “Really?”
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Quinn butted in, and just like that the tension in Logan’s shoulders returned “Stark Industries is sketchy at best, especially with all that Avengers mumbo-jumbo going on. Besides, wouldn’t a job in the medical field be more secure financial wise? All I ever see that Tony Stark do on the news is make new toys for him to play with and destroy the city.”
“Saving the world from an alien invasion and government corruption,” Morgan explained “pretty sure that’s kind of important Ummi.”
Mrs. Quinn shrugged, “I guess so.”
“But what about that whole mess with the Avengers?” Mr. Quinn asked “Or whatever’s going on there? There’s always some kind of conflict with them.”
“It’s been cleared up now,” Morgan informed them “plus I hear Stark Industries are partnering up with a famed research facility in Wakanda. They’re supposed to have technological advances years beyond us. I’m sure Logan will be snatched up in an instant.”
Mr. and Mrs. Quinn seemed sort of swayed but they surely still had more questions and probing statements to say. Thankfully, Morgan was quick to jump in and change the conversation. “So Logan, Ummi and Babá were telling me how you, Virge and some friends made a club together, how’s that been going?”
Not a topic Logan wished to discuss in great detail but he’d chose that over the previous one. “Uh, great, we’ve been making excellent progress.”
“And what of the other guys in your group?” Morgan asked, genuinely curious “How are they like?”
“They’re…great,” Logan chuckled awkwardly “just two classmates from our school, Patton and Roman, we all head a group project together and we got discussing on some issues and of course one thing led to another.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty cool,” Virgil added “and we’re getting…stuff and things done. It’s small but nice.”
“That’s good,” Morgan smiled “I hope to meet these new friends someday, I’m getting kind of tired of just Virgil at our house all the time.”
“You know we all thought the same thing with you,” Virgil rolled his eyes but gave an easy smirked “thank god you left for college.”
Morgan laughed, “Geez, Virge, tell me how you really feel. Also, I heard you guys were being sponsored by Thomas Sanders, unless Ummi and Babá got the name mixed up?”
“Yeah, we didn’t believe it either at first,” Logan chuckled nervously, him and Virgil sharing a knowing look “but the school district recommended him and he accepted so it was only logical of us to accept as well.”
“How hard did you and Virgil fan girl? Be honest.” Morgan teased.
Logan pouted (though he’d deny it till his dying day) and promptly returned to his dinner, “Suddenly, I don’t remember the details.”
“It’s like it never even happened,” Virgil added dramatically “Thomas Sanders who? What club?”
“Aw, come on guys!” Morgan chuckled, playfully shoving his brother’s shoulder “I’m only kidding…mildly, though seriously how hard did you fan girl? Cause I’m pretty sure Virge has a fan about him that’s just as big as Rainbow Weaver.”
“You know what, go back to your internship and shove your head in a toxic waste tank,” Virgil quipped with flushed cheeks “nobody wanted you here anyway.”
“Hey, you never know, I might gain powers like Rainbow Weaver,” Morgan smirked triumphantly “then I’ll be the one meeting him.”
Logan smirked mysteriously, “Doubtful.”
---
Roman had just finished cleaning the last of the dishes when a buzz was heard throughout the apartment. He was quick to wipe his hands as he moved pasted the kitchen table where the twins were doing homework, ruffling Marco’s hair in the process. The younger gave off an annoyed whine as he swatted his older brother’s hand away who chuckled to himself as he reached the buzzer box and pressed the call button.
“Who is it?” Roman asked.
“It’s Virgil, buzz me in.” The voice responded.
“Sure, give me a minute,” Roman replied, pressing another button before heading off towards his room to retrieve his backpack and set up in the living room. He did not for the life of him trust the twins by themselves, little demons could get into loads of trouble the second you look away from them.
“Who’s that?” Jenni asked, inspecting over her macaroni art project.
“A…friend?” Roman said tentatively “We’re gunna do homework, that’s all you need to know so keep the noise down to a minimum when you guys are done, okay?”
“Is it Patton?” Marco asked excitingly, he always liked when Patton came over, Patton usually spoiled the two with homemade treats.
“No, it’s not Patton.” Roman said, rummaging through his back for the notes Logan gave him.
“Then who is he?” Jenni asked, curiosity finally pulling her away from her glittery macaroni art disaster. Roman groaned at the thought of having to clean that up later.
“Just, uh, guy from a club I’m in,” Roman explained begrudgingly “we have to do a project together, that’s all.”
“Why didn’t you pick Patton as your partner?” Marco asked, half disappointed he would be getting sweets but also curious as to who this new person was.
“Because the teacher chose them for us.” Roman responded bluntly.
“Why?” Jenni asked.
“Because the school system is a dumb-dumb.” Roman said tiredly.
“Why?” Marco asked.
“Why are you guys so invested in this?” Roman snapped, he didn’t mean to but he was already on edge as it was. Virgil and him had a rocky relationship as it was, they were co-workers at best after the whole spider power thing, but even so he had no idea where he stood with him. He knew exactly where he stood with everybody else; Patton was his best friend, Thomas was his mentor and Logan was a nuisance though still fun to poke at. Virgil was just a wild card, sometimes they got along and sometimes they didn’t, it was a weird line they walked and Roman had no idea what step was the wrong step and which one was the right.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Jenni sang, Marco giggling beside her as Roman’s face lit up in red hot flames. “Absolutely not!”
---
Vigil found himself once more taking his time climbing up the stairs when there was a perfectly functioning elevator. The realization of what he was doing and where he was going finally hit him after seeing Morgan and Logan out after dinner. He was going to Roman Marigold’s apartment, Roman Marigold, quite possibly the most annoying human being in the entire school next to Dolion.
It’s not that Roman seemed like a bad guy, he was actually pretty decent when his giant ego was in check and wasn’t jumping off buildings unexpectedly. But for some reason he just got under Virgil’s skin and knew what buttons to press to get a reaction out of him. Though he had no ide if he was doing it to be mean or it was just this weird thing between them. When Roman fought with Logan you always kind of got this vibe that they…not liked each other though it seems like they had mutual respect. But when he and Roman fought it varied on what the situation was, sometimes it could be Disney banters, playful bickering, full on heated debates, or just poking insults. It was weird and Virgil had no idea what to do with it.
He finally reached the door and just as he was about to knock, he heard giggling and a high pitch screech. “Absolutely not!”
Maybe this was bad time, he should probably go back, Virgil didn’t want to be caught in the middle of any family disputes if this was what it was. But he didn’t move to leave, nor did he move to knock again, he just stood there frozen in perpetual confusion and panic, listening to the conversation beyond the door.
Tiny voices sang in a jumpy school yard tune, “Roman’s got a boyfriend! Roman’s got a boyfriend!”
“I do not!” Came the embarrassed reply that Virgil could only guess was Roman.
Virgil clasped a hand over his mouth so as to repress the giggle threatening to slip. It was absolutely hilarious to hear the pristine ego maniac that is Roman Marigold get flustered and loss his cool due to, what sounded like, a bunch of little kids taunting him. Even so it wasn’t very appropriate of him to be eavesdropping on people’s conversations, no matter how hilarious or ridiculous they may seem, so he made quick work of knocking on the door.
It opened almost immediately, a red cheeked Roman staring intently at him, “Oh, you’re here.”
“Yeah, I buzzed you like five minutes ago, remember?” Virgil smirked “We’re you talking to someone?”
“No! No, just…you know,” The flamboyant teen made a vague gesture with his hands “things?”
“Things?” Virgil echoed with an odd look.
Roman nodded and it was suddenly quiet for a long time. Virgil awkwardly standing in the hallway while Roman fidgeted against the door frame, both staring intently at each other without blinking. Finally, a cough from behind Roman snapped them both out of their stupor. They turned to find two smirking children peeking out from behind the living room couch, no doubt Roman’s siblings, they were practically mini carbon copies.
Roman glared at them while Virgil gave a shy wave before asking, “Can I come in now?”
“Oh, uh, yeah.” Roman stuttered, quickly stepping aside to let Virgil in.
---
Morgan had gotten them tickets to the planetarium viewing of Dark Universe at the American Museum of National History as well as general passes for the rest of the museum. Logan was admittingly excited to go, it’s been a long time since he’s been to a planetarium especially one as grand as the Hayden Planetarium. But on the other hand, the awkward silence between Logan and his brother during the entire taxi ride here was very heavy and uncomfortable. Not that Morgan wasn’t trying to make conversation it’s just that Logan was snubbing them out as quickly as he was thinking them.
Dinner with other people was one thing, an outing by themselves was another. There weren’t other people to buffer out the awkward when things got slow or stale. They use to go on outings together all the time, talking endlessly for hours and hour far into the night, discussing the universe, life, and anything else they could think of. But that was then, this was now, and as of now they haven’t hung out properly in a long time plus Logan’s parents weren’t really helping him warm up to the whole situation. Regardless if Morgan was able to diverge the conversation near the end or not there was still that…tension.
“So…have you ever seen Dark Universe before?” Morgan asked as the lazily walked inside the building, the display of planets across the outside of the planetarium quiet distracting. There were two entrance into the museum, at the front where the famed t-rex statue was displayed and the back where the Earth and Science exhibits were.
“They were going to take us last year for a school field trip but the bus broke down and we missed the showing.” Logan shrugged, looking around at all the displays of planets, stars and solar systems.
“Ah, well that means it’ll be a first viewing for both of us,” Morgan said cheerily, dramatically raising a fist in the air “a bonding experience we shall never forget!”
Logan raised an eyebrow at his brother’s weird display who in turn shyly put his hand down, “Uh, anyway, how’s life? How’s school? How’s that club you got going?”
“It’s fine,” Logan said simply “everything is functioning as it should, it’s only the beginning of the first semester so nothing much has happened. Well, except for…a complication.”
“Yeah, mom and dad told me what happened,” Morgan sighed, a bitter sneer on his face “I still can’t believe there’s jerks like that out there.”
“Indeed,” Logan nodded “but it’s nothing to get worked up over, it’s not like it was the root of the whole ordeal. I was merely…defending a friend from certain public humiliation.”
“Who were they anyway?” Morgan asked before clarifying “The friend you helped out, are they in that club you made?”
“Uh, yes,” Logan said bashfully, a light pink dusking his cheeks “his name is – Patton?”
Logan froze in his tracks, his brother taking a second to notice, because there near a display of Halley’s comet was Patton Foster. He was wearing a stunning high waist space print skirt, black leggings, a soft looking baby blue crop top sweater, and black boots. He also wore sparkly silver star droop earrings and a matching moon neckless, as well as glittery silver clips in his hair. Patton had yet to notice Logan staring, too enraptured in reading over the little facts beside the display, and the genus will forever be grateful for that.
“Who’s that?” Morgan asked, snapping Logan out of his daze.
“Uh, no one,” Logan said much too quickly “l-let’s take a short cut another direction, I think I saw a map that showed the way.”
Morgan smirked deviously, “They don’t look like no one, you obviously know their name.”
Logan was screwed.
“H-he’s just a friend from school, I don’t want to bother him,” Logan sputtered nervously “let’s just go somewhere else so we won’t disturb his evening.”
“Hey, there’s no harm in saying hi,” Morgan chuckled, grabbing onto his brother’s arm so he wouldn’t scurry way “plus, he’s looking this way already.”
“What?” Logan squeaked.
True to his word, Patton had seen them and was now waving at them with that big, bright, beautiful smile of his. Morgan, the devil, waved back just as enthusiastically as he dragged Logan along with him because he’s was half certain Logan was frozen stiff. As they got closer Patton seemingly decided to meet them half way, bright eyed and springy as ever.
“Hey Lo, I didn’t think I’d see you here,” Patton smiled, he looked to Morgan curiously “is this your brother?”
“So, he does talk about me,” Morgan joked and Logan died “all good things I hope.”
Patton giggled, a pleasant bell to Logan’s ears, “Only in passing conversation but being that your brothers I can only assume you’re just as smart and amazing as he is.”
Morgan smiled big and wide, leaning down near Logan in an exaggerated whisper, “I like him, keep him around.”
Logan wasn’t a violent man by nature but annoying sibling could just so easily get under your skin and drive you to murder. “What brings you to the museum Patton? It was my assumption you were on an outing with your brothers.”
Patton pouted, blowing out a huff of air, “Yeah, Alex went to flirt with receptionist lady and Georgie left to drag him back. Alex won a raffle at work and won tickets to this show at the planetarium called Dark Universe. I’m honestly kind of nervous, I don’t really know what it’s about and the title doesn’t seem too pleasant.”
“No need to worry Patton,” Logan assured “it’s simply a documentary displaying the wonders of our universe while providing commentary. Nothing scary or abnormal, I promise.”
“Oh good,” Patton sighed in relief “I was worried that-”
“Ahk, Georgie! Put me down!”
“Stop behaving like a child and I’ll think about it. Where’s Patton?”
“I think he’s over there? Hey! Hey, Pat! Yhoohoo! We’re over here!”
Patton’s face morphed into something between embarrassment and annoyance as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be actively avoiding making eye contact with the two squabbling giants heading towards them. They looked to be the perfect size for professional football players or basketball players or both, point is they were huge compared to petite Patton who landed just under Logan’s nose. Then again, Logan was pretty tall though not as tall as those two…where were they?
---
Out of all the places and times to run into Logan outside of school and/or hero training this would have been the perfect place but it was simply just the WORST time. Patton didn’t mind evenings out with his brothers, he liked spending time with them and the outings were usually fun. Their antics, specifically Alex being troubling making dork while Georgie forcefully drags him out of trouble and Patton watches helplessly by the sidelines, were amusing at best but annoying most of the time.
Don’t get Patton wrong, he loved his brothers with all his heart but sometimes they (*cough*Alex*cough*) had no shame what-so-ever. Great for Georgie who wasn’t afraid of a few staring eyes when pulling his brothers out of trouble, not great for Alex who is such a drama queen he makes Roman look tame. Outing with his brothers were not meant to be witnessed by anyone but the strangers of Manhattan who they’ll never see again, NOT cute boys that Patton kind of sort of had a crush on.
Patton gave Logan and his brother his best smile, though it was very obviously forced, “Excuse me.”
He quickly whizzed around to face his brothers, forced smile still displayed on his face, “I heard you the first time Alex, everyone could.”
Alex, who was hazardously draped over Georgie’s shoulder like a sack of flour, simply pouted as he wiggled out of his elder brother’s grip, “Just making sure, you seemed distracted. Who’re the nerds?”
Georgie smacked Alex across the head, “Be polite.”
“Ow, geez,” Alex whined, rubbing his sore skull “you can kill someone with those hands Georgie. Like in that movie Green House!”
“Green Mile.” Georgie corrected cooly.
Alex snapped his fingers, “That’s the one, anyway, back to the nerds.” Another smack “Ow, hey! I didn’t mean it, it was a joke! See they ain’t bothered!”
Patton took a deep and steady breath as he turned back to the Quinn brothers with an embarrassed smile, “Logan, Morgan, these are my older brothers: Georgie and Alex. Georgie and Alex, this is my friend Logan and his older brother, Morgan. They came to watch the space show too.”
Georgie nodded while Alex gave a false salute, “Sup.”
“How do you do?” Logan said politely as he and his brother stuck out their hands to shake.
Georgie was quick to shake both their hands as was Alex but he paused when he got to Logan, leaning down to intensely stare at him. Patton wanted to scream, truly he did, but that would just let Alex figure everything out that much quicker as well as cause a scene.
“Logan, huh,” Alex hummed as he leaned forward and Logan visibly gulped as he leaned back “where have I heard that name before? I know you ain’t related to that Paul guy from YouTube because you actually look respectable.”
Patton slapped a hand over his face, “Oh my god…”
“He’s one of the boys in the club Pat’s help make.” Georgie said helpfully, not at all fazed by his brother’s borderline interrogation on poor Logan.
“Oh yeah,” Alex nodded, finally letting go of Logan’s hand and giving him proper personal space “you guys made that, uh…what’s the politically correct term for this? I don’t wanna offend anyone.”
“To late.” Patton mumbled grimly.
“LGBTQ+ Youth Group.” Georgie provided.
“Jesus that’s a mouth full,” Alex sighed before pondering once more “nah, but other then that I swear I heard Patton mention that name before just…can’t remember.”
Patton sighed in relief, Thank god!
“Wait I know!” Alex exclaimed.
Shit!
Alex became giddy with excitement, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that just spelled doom for Patton. “He’s that bo – mmhf!”
Georgie was swift yet casual as he slapped a large hand over Alex’s mouth and began to drag him away, “The show is starting soon, we should grab seats together.”
Internally Patton was crying, Georgie was a saint and he definitely deserved a special cake baked in his honor. Externally Patton sighed tiredly once more, giving Logan and Morgan an apologetic smile. “Sorry about them, well, mainly Alex. He’s…a lot sometimes.”
Morgan shrugged, “Brothers, what can you do about them? This guy was a terror when he was younger, he would use his diapers as – oof!” Morgan groaned in pain as Logan elbowed him in the stomach, eyes shut in annoyance and left brow twitching.
Patton giggled, glad not to be the only one being teased by his older brothers, “Older brothers huh?”
“Quite unfortunate are we, huh?” Logan chuckled breathlessly.
“Seriously, what are mom and dad feeding you? I almost puked my guts out!” Morgan wheezed.
---
This was a terrible idea! This was a terrible, awful idea! Why did Thomas think this was a good idea? Why was he even listening to Patton’s advice, he was pretty sure the kid was mostly joking? But here her was at that same damn alley way, in civilian clothes, looking across the street into a familiar little coffee shop with a familiar red headed barista taking down orders behind the register. Thomas groaned, scrubbing his heads over his face, he looked like a fucking stalker, seriously!
He had convinced himself to take a quick brake before heading out on patrol again, maybe grab a cup of coffee to wake him up a bit. It wasn’t his fault the shop just so happened to be near by and hey if that cute guy just so happened to be working there at this time it wasn’t like a big deal. It wasn’t like he knew who Thomas was so he could just be casual, order a coffee, strike up a conversation, nothing big. But now he was here across the street and he saw the guy smile and laugh at something his co-worker said and Thomas just got weak in the knees.
“Why am I here?” Thomas groaned, leaning back against the grimy alley wall “I don’t even know his name! All I know is that he can’t seem to stay out of trouble!”
He looked back into the coffee shop, it seemed to be a slow day, only three or so customs lounging around in the sitting area as cute red head wiped down the counter. Okay, so the good news was there wasn’t much people so Thomas didn’t have to rush when he inevitably stuttered out his order. Bad news was he still had to muster up the courage to go in and talk to him and that was never gunna happen.
It was then he noticed a shady looking guy walk past him and across the street, his hood flipped up and shoulders scrunched in. He looked like the typical grumpy New Yorker that only seemed threatening but Thomas is spidy sense told him otherwise. Plus, he was definitely not hiding that gun, which was tucked in the back of his jeans like some stupid idiot wanna-be gang member, very well.
Thomas was quick to sprint across the street without the hoodlum seeing him, just beating him to the door by a moment. Thomas swung the door open at about half strength smacking the criminal right in the face. An audible crack was heard sending the criminal falling backwards with a bloody nose and maybe a minor concussion. Thomas made sure to ham up his clumsy civilian act.
“Oh gosh man! I’m so, so sorry!” Thomas gasped, helping the man up right with the intention of sneaking a hand around to disarm the gun “Are you alright?”
“Do I fucking look alright you stupid idiot!” The man snapped, much to distracted with the pain of his face to notice the faint clicking noises behind him. Talyn had shown Thomas how to dismantle a gun with one hand their freshman year of college, he doesn’t know why they know that but he’s thankful for it because it makes his job so much easier.
“Sorry dude, can I do anything to help?” Thomas asked in an artificially sweet voice.
“No, fuck off!” The man growled, quick to turn head with his tail between his legs, embarrassed by job never done.
Thomas watched him leave down the alley way, depositing the bullet clip he swiped into a nearby trash bin before heading inside. He noticed the speckles of blood on the glass door as he entered and grimaced with guilt. Once fully through Thomas finally noticed that the red head was staring at him and it dawned on him that he probably witnessed the whole ordeal and though he was a clumsy oaf.
“Uh, sorry about the door,” Thomas said, rubbing a hand behind his neck “If you got some paper towels, I’ll, uh, clean it up for you guys if you want?”
The red head’s eyes were wide with shock, steel blue eyes piercing into Thomas is soul, “That guy was gunna mug us.”
Thomas sputtered in response, “Uh, he – um…”
“I saw him across the street openly stalking the café all day today,” The red head scoffed “he wasn’t really subtle about it. He was probably waiting for us to wind down for the night.”
“Wait,” Thomas squinted suspiciously “if you knew he was gunna rob the place why didn’t you call the police?”
The red head rolled his eyes, “We did, but to them he wasn’t doing anything wrong until now. Stupid cops…” He smiled charmingly “but you came down here pretty quick and practically bashed his skull in. What are you, some sort of vigilante?”
“N-no!” Thomas gulped “I-it’s just I…I saw his gun and I couldn’t just stand there!”
“Well, you could have gotten yourself hurt too.” The red head countered.
Thomas gave a breathless chuckle, “Trust me, I’m not as defenseless as most people think I am.”
The red head giggled, placing his chin to the palm of his hand, “Oh yeah?”
“If it helps, I disarmed his gun before anything?” Thomas said bashfully, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket.
The red head’s eyes went wide again, “What, did you do it with one hand?”
“Yeah?” Thomas said hesitantly, this guy was way more observant then Thomas previously thought “If you wanna check, the gun clip is still in the trash bin.”
The red head laughed joyously, a beautiful melody to Thomas is ears, “You really are something! So, what can I get my hero tonight? On the house of course.”
“Oh no, I don’t want to bother-” Thomas began only to get cut off by another joyful laugh “Bother all you want, you just saved my ass from being mugged.”
“It was no trouble,” Thomas shrugged, a goofy smile surely on his face “it-it really wasn’t a big deal.”
“Well it was a big deal to me, practically saved my life,” The red head smiled, grabbing a large cup and a sharpie “so what’s your name Tiger?”
Thomas’s stomach filled with a million butterflies at the mention of the familiar nickname before clearing his extremely dry throat, “Uh…Thomas…Sanders.”
The red head paused a moment, sharpie delicately poised over the edge of the coffee cup as he chewed over his bottom lip in thought. A ghost of a smile formed across his face, that seemed very familiar now that Thomas thought about it, giving out a breathless laugh. “Thomas Sanders, huh?”
“Uh, yeah?” Thomas knew that he got recognized often but by fans but it was usually by his face not by his name. Not to sound vain or anything but a lot of times he didn’t need to tell people who he was for them to recognize him. But this guy didn’t seem like he was a fan…still, he looked vaguely familiar.
“Well, I’m MJ, in case you didn’t notice.” He pointed to the name tag on his chest that Thomas was now just recognizing because he was too gay to look at anything else but this guys cute face.
“What does that stand for?” Thomas asked curiously.
He paused again before that same smile returned to his face, “Matthew Jones…Watson.”
“Matthew Jones Watson,” Thomas said aloud, rolling the words of his tongue as if testing out how they sound in his voice “MJ…I like it.”
And obviously that was a stupid thing to say aloud because it made him sound like some sort of weirdo who goes around judging names. But MJ giggled, light and airy, with a smile that could light up all of Manhattan. “Thanks…I’m glad.”
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ooops-i-arted · 5 years
Text
15 Day SWTOR OC Challenge
11. Canon divergence. Are there parts of their story that don’t line up with in-game information? Why? Where?
Definitely.  My opinion of KotFE/KotET and their bland, boring, pissy villains and their meandering plot and their gotsdamned railroading is barely above my opinion of Kyle Ron and the 3D Clone Wars, and y’all know how much I don’t like those lmao.
*cracks knuckles* I’m just gonna do Avei and Illi and everyone else together since it’s easier.  Let’s do this.  Under a cut because I know no one but me cares this much lol.  Another unnecessarily long post ahoy!
Skye Lir and her master, Derran Kanis, are asked to go on a joint Imp-Pub mission into Wild Space to hunt this ~mysterious threat ooooh~.  Skye asks her pal Avei along since she’s handy in a fight and has plenty of experience navigating galactic-level threats.  Avei is reluctant to leave her family, especially her three-year-old daughter, but agrees to just one more big-stakes mission.  The Jedi Knight crew goes along; the smuggler crew is off elsewhere in space.
Chapter 1 happens like in canon.  Derran, Skye, and Avei try to prevent the ship’s destruction but fail.  Skye instructs her crew to escape and warn the others and they do so.  Avei decides to buy time for the crew to escape, and they are all captured.
Right as the ship explodes, across the galaxy in Avei’s ship the whole smuggler crew is woken by Kiva screaming bloody murder.  They all come running; Kiva cries repeatedly for her mommy.  Corso finally gets out of her “Mommy’s ship blew up.”  He tells her it was just a bad dream and gets her back to sleep.
Chapter 1 continues.  Derran is the canon Outlander; Skye and Avei are treated as her accomplices.  Derran refuses Valkorion’s power but he still possesses her when she “kills” him.  Arcann has Derran, Skye, and Avei all carbonited.
Kiva is still upset and not herself the next day when the smuggler crew gets a call from Kira, who tells them what happened.  They book it to the site of the wreckage to help the Republic forces Kira also called comb the desert wreckage for survivors.  Kiva is distraught and keeps repeating that Mommy is gone.
At some point Kira and Corso talk and Kira mentions she can’t feel Skye or Derran in the Force anymore (I believe she mentions this in her letter to a romanced JK) and Corso mentions how weird Kiva was acting the night before they got the news.  They put their heads together and Kira tells him more about Force abilities and a whole puzzle Corso didn’t realize he was putting together falls into place - all the times Kiva nabbed a toy or treat supposed to be out of reach, her strange knack for getting through doors he could’ve sworn were locked, her uncanny ability to know which room he and Avei were in, and now her strange dream - and Kira confirms Kiva is very likely Force-sensitive.  She offers to bring Kiva to the Jedi Temple but Corso refuses; he’s lost enough family and he won’t send his daughter away.
The Republic and Empire go to war with the Eternal Empire, blah blah.  I refuse to believe they were instantly crushed by sooper speshul Zakuul so this goes on for a while, at least a year.
Risha leads smuggling jobs but Corso isn’t really involved with that, as his hands are full with a preschool child dealing with the loss of her mother with separation anxiety from hell, and also the fact that her now-frequent tantrums make things move around the room.
Kiva is three so her mindset is “Mommy left and didn’t come back, so if Daddy leaves he won’t come back either.”  Also one of her best skills with the Force is sensing emotions, so not only is she dealing with her own grief, she’s being bombarded by everyone else’s through the Force, and hasn’t learned to regulate any of her Force abilities yet.  (I majored in Early Childhood Education so the idea of how a Force-sensitive child would operate, so to speak, is endlessly fascinating to me.)
Corso reads everything he can on the Holonet about using the Force, and between him and Guss’s memories of his training, they are able to slowly teach Kiva how to at least not lose control during tantrums.
Over in the Empire Illivrin is having the time of her life.  Illi hates the Empire and her two goals as a Dark Council member were 1. self-preservation and 2. running the Empire into the ground.  She’s doing great at the second but not so much at the first, because her top subordinate Sali’ra is busy gathering every scrap of info she can to overthrow Illivrin before she gets them all killed.  Sali’ra is coordinating her efforts with her uncle, Av’en, and her cousin, Furi’sa, both who want Illivrin gone for the good of the Empire.  (My headcanon is that literally everyone else in the Empire looks at Illivrin as one of those crazy power-mad Sith who always die in a week from their own schemes, except she keeps not dying somehow.)
Vae’ra and Torian get married!  Yay!  It’s a Mandalorian ceremony.  Vae’ra bridesmaids or equivalent were Sali’ra, Mako, and Blizz.  Gault got ordained on the Holonet for the make-it-Empire-official part of the ceremony.
After the better part of a year Sali’ra has turned enough of Illivrin’s forces onto her side (and attending Dark Council meetings while Illi is off pointing the Silencer at everything she can, and showing the Council what a better option she would be) and is ready to make her move.  Furi’sa comes to the latest Dark Council meeting and accuses Illivrin of being an enemy of the Empire and not having the Empire’s interests in mind, etc.  When the Council backs Furi’sa, Illivrin - cornered, desperate, and dangerous - attacks Furi’sa.  Khem and Xalek back her while Sali’ra and Furi’sa’s father, Av’en, are on her team.  Team Illi vs Team Furi is brutal and vicious and very cinematic in my head.  Illivrin finally strikes Av’en a mortal blow with her lightning.  Enraged, Furi’sa beheads Xalek and tosses his head at Illivrin’s feet.  The two fight fiercely but they’re burned out after the fight already.  Illivrin tries to kill Furi’sa with lightning but is too tired to make it a death blow; Khem barely saves her from Furi’sa’s killing strike.  Khem tells his master to run; Illivrin doesn’t want to leave him but ultimately decides on self-preservation and runs while Khem mows down the Sith guards that swarm him.  Khem is finally subdued and while Furi’sa almost kills him, she instead has him imprisoned back in the tomb of Naga Sadow.  Sali‘ra takes Illivrin’s Council seat as Darth Colubra.  Furi’sa mourns her father and swears she will have revenge on Illivrin.
Illivrin successfully escapes Korriban and flees into exile in the Outer Rim.  For the next decade-ish she’s gonna wear rags and eat whatever she kills with her bare hands in some desolate Outer Rim jungle.  She snatched Xalek’s mask before she ran and keeps it close, swearing she will avenge her murder son and her murder bro.
Vae’ra alerts Corso that Furi’sa and Illivrin are loose and on the warpath.  Wanting to hide his Force-sensitive daughter from the Sith and also give her a stable, normal childhood, he takes the ship and moves out to Dantooine, where they will be anonymous and fairly hidden, and takes a job on a farm.  Kiva gets to go to school like a normal kid.  Corso forbids her from doing any Force stuff in public (she has better control nowadays) but she’s always curious and there’s a convenient abandoned Jedi Temple not too far away, so he occasionally goes and raids the databanks for anything that will help her learn, and lets her practice her Force abilities in the privacy of Avei’s ship.
The rest of the crew sticks with Risha, who works on reclaiming Dubrillion.  By the time the five years are up, she is Queen like she should’ve been.  Guss also gets some Jedi training.
Vae’ra and Torian adopt an orphaned Chiss girl, Iseli, and a Zabrak boy, Jerro.
Seren has been in contact with Theron.  Together they try to piece together what happened and track down Skye’s sister.  With Lana and Koth they start setting down the foundations of the Alliance.
Eternal Empire conquers a lot of stuff.  Illivrin stays hidden.  Furi’sa hunts her and any other threat to the Empire.  Corso and Kiva stay on Dantooine.
Picking up with our unfortunate carbonite blocks, Derran is the one forced to chat with the Lamest Villain.  Affected by his presence, Skye has dark visions of the Republic’s fall, while Avei has terrible dreams of her crew and family dead.
KotFE picks up from there.  Lana and Koth rescue the trio.  They are suffering from carbonite poison but Avei most of all, because she couldn’t use the Force to enter a meditative, preserving state and also because she was bashed over the head to get her in the carbonite mold and she had an open, bleeding wound when frozen.
Blah blah KotFE continues.  (I was much more interested in the implications of the five year skip, can you tell?)  They flee, they meet Senya, find the Gravestone, etc.  Avei hits it off with Koth and suffers increasing symptoms from her carbonite poisoning and does not give a shit about anything but locating her family.  Nobody likes or trusts Lana.  Skye and Derran don’t like Senya much but Avei understands her Mom Vibes and gets along with her okay.  They make it to Asylum.  Skye recognizes that psycho murderbot her sister picked up.  Arcann and his Kyle Ron Knockoff Sister show up.  Derran gets stabbity stabbed and Avei finally succumbs to her carbonite poisoning.  I can’t be assed to remember all that stuff, it was mostly boring.  HK-55 doesn’t die because I love him, and remains Derran’s loyal bodyguard and friend, although he has a rivalry with her other HK droid, HK-51.  (Derran loves HK droids.  The Jedi politely look away as long as she keeps them under control.)
They make it to Odessen, where Seren and Theron have been overseeing the start of a base.  Seren is overjoyed to see her baby sister; Skye cannot handle this level of emotion and is awkward but glad Seren cares this much somewhere deep inside.  Avei is dragged to the medcenter, still very sick, and refuses to get in a kolto tank until Skye swears she will call Avei’s family now that they have secured communications and it is safe to do so.  Derran is named Alliance Commander.  She probably develops a drinking problem.
Skye calls Avei’s ship and finds Corso and a (now eight-year-old) Kiva and tells them Avei’s not dead.  Corso immediately flies the ship straight to Odessen.  (I refuse to believe that Corso, whose chief character trait is loyalty, waited a whole nother year to be reunited with his wife.  I REFUSE.)  Avei is out of the kolto tank and doing much better by the time he arrives and SHE FINALLY GETS TO SEE HER FAMILY AGAIN AND THEY ALL HUG AND IT’S ADORABLE.
Then Kiva says “HEY MOM WATCH THIS” and throws a rock with her mind and that’s how Avei finds out her daughter is Force-sensitive.
Skye gives Kiva some formal training but is mostly busy with helping her former Master run the Alliance.
Avei sticks around the Alliance for a month but decides screw you all, my family is more important, and leaves.  She continues to suffer lasting sickness from the carbonite poison, and it takes at least a year for her to truly recover.
I haven’t decided for sure how to manage it but basically KotFE and KoTET are condensed into one without all the nonsense like Iokath or whatever.  (Also, obviously they can’t recruit say, Torian because he’s off with his wife.  Or Vette, because she’s off with Furi’sa.  etc.)  Skye sticks with Derran; Seren is also a major player in the Alliance.  Arcann and Vaylin are both killed and no one misses them.
Derran finally kills Valkorion in her head (without any part of being Valkorion, because screw you for making me play your pretentious crappy villain sue oc) but the mental toll of having a pretentious college philosophy major in her head makes her decide to use her Jedi Exile Retirement plan, and she peaces out to a nice beach planet with her HK droid pals.  She hangs out there until years later, Kiva comes to pester her for training.
Seren takes over as Alliance commander.  The Iokath stuff probably doesn’t even happen because I didn’t like it.  The Theron’s-a-traitor arc does, but I haven’t played it all yet so I haven’t decided how much I want to tweak.  All I know is Seren is pregnant but doesn’t know it til after Umbara, because I enjoy maximizing angst with basic tropes.  She and Theron do stay together and name their daughter Caeles, after Theron’s ancestor Revan/Caele.
Idk about the rest but the Alliance does disband and its resources go to strengthen the Republic, but while Seren stays a free agent because of all the issues the Agent storyline gave her, she’s basically Republic at this point.  Skye is very proud.
Years later Illivrin shows back up and Furi’sa discovers Kiva is Force-sensitive and lures her into her van shuttle with candy the promise of Force training; Kiva escapes Furi’sa and goes to train with the Jedi.
Over the course of a lot of years the Valaris Legacy gradually teams up to finally kick Illivrin’s ass.  Kiva is the only one strong enough in the Force to challenge her and seals Illivrin inside a tomb on Yavin 4, where she remains trapped for all time, eternally separated from Khem Val, the only being she ever cared about.  (This is how you treat a villain, Rian Johnson, just saying.)  (Also Furi’sa kills Khem Val and avenges her father, though she dies doing it.)
All the post-Theron-traitor stuff is all more loosely sketched out and also it’s midnight rn and I need to go to bed, so let’s leave it at that.
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amethysttribble · 5 years
Text
Harry Potter!Silmarillion AU, GO!
- Finwë Noldoran the Seventh is from an old distinguished pureblood family, with a fine Gryffindor history. Miriel Weaver was a Slytherin half-blood, and people were shocked when they married very young and very much in love.
- Years later though, Finwë, an up and coming politician in the MoM, caused quite the scandal when his sickly wife died a few years after the birth of their son and he remarried within the year.
- Finwë’s eldest son, Feanor, Miriel’s boy, makes sure this scandal doesn’t die, and Rita Skeeter is inspired in her youth by the angry interviews he gave as a teenager.
- The second wife, Indis Vanyar, is from another pure-blood, very distinguished family. Her elder brother served two terms as Minister of Magic, but lost favor when he refused to interfere in the growing Death Eater problem on the council of ‘higher powers’
- Finwë became the Minster of Magic right as the war against Voldemort started. Albus Dumbledore backed him.
- Finwë was a very distinguished Gryffindor, and he, as well as everyone else, expected the same of his sons (though he’d never say it allowed)
- So it caused quite the stir when neither the eldest nor the youngest were Gryffindors (Feanor went to Slytherin, though it took the hat half an hour to decide; Fingolfin is a Gryffindor, the selfless bastard; Finarfin went Ravenclaw)
- The girls, Findis and Lalwen, went to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor respectively
- While at Hogwarts, the young prodigy Feanor aces all his courses, wins Slytherin the house cup six times, (one year he blew up half the castle and couldn’t win back all the points that lost him; winning and losing points in astounding quantities was his M.O.) dazzles a lot of people, and pisses even more people off.
- He’s in the same class as Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewitt, among others, and studies alchemy independently. He has very little free time, associates with very small groups of people, and spends more time in the Restricted Section than the actual library.
- He makes Head Boy, but not Prefect.
- Feanor once challenged his little half-brother to a duel in the Great Hall during his seventh year and received a months worth detention. 
- The Gryffindors hate him for attacking a second year, among other many and varied reasons. All the Gryffindors hate him, except one.
- His company is mostly kept by the Gryffindor Seeker, Nerdanel Smith, and they elope hours after graduating. 
- Feanor wasn’t speaking to his father at the time, so no family attended the ceremony. Not even the Charms professor, Mahtan Smith (he retired within the next few years. Filius Flitwick, rather scandalously as he was part goblin, replaced him).
- Feanor spends two years working in the Department of Mysteries, before quitting in a rather spectacular display. After that, he and his family seemed to go off the grid.
- It was generally accepted that Feanor (snobbish, talented, Slytherin) was a perfect candidate for Voldemort’s movement, and that's where he went after leaving the ministry. These rumors were mostly perpetuated by gossips, embittered school mates, and his brother, but only when Fingolfin was in a foul mood and severely drunk. (He never believed it in the light of day.)
- These rumors are wrong. Feanor’s in France with Nicholas Flamel, living a bohemian lifestyle with his artist wife and newborn, Maedhros.
- Meanwhile, Fingolfin, five years Feanor’s junior, is in a silent war with his year mate, Lucius Malfoy, and trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. He’s a keeper. He’s dates a Ravenclaw prefect girl. He is a prefect and a member of the Slug Club, and in the top ten of his class. He’s Head Boy. And it’s never enough to get his Father to notice him sitting in the dust of Feanor’s disastrous, amazing genius.
- Fingolfin watches the rise of the Death Eaters in Britain, while his brother is off to the continent. He watches Slytherins come back from summer with tattoos. He sees friends get letters about dead relatives. His Muggle-born girlfriend, Anaire, is assaulted once. 
- Fingolfin keeps in touch with Dumbledore after he graduates, and abandons his political plans. He becomes an Auror. 
- His parents are only slightly appalled, though Mother still cries. Through Ingwë they see the decay. Finwë hears nasty rumors about Voldemort’s shadowy benefactor.
- Lalwen follows her brother to the Order of the Phoenix. Findis marries an American and moves.
- Finarfin, meanwhile, quietly studies legilimenecy and occlumency. 
- He does moderately well at Hogwarts, joins the gobstones club, and makes a fool of himself trying to ask out his childhood friend, Earwen Teleri. His is a prefect, but not Head Boy. He’s okay with this.
- He and Earwen open a teashop after graduating.
- The war happens. 
- Finwë is named Minster of Magic amid an unparalleled disaster.
- Due to old family connections, Fingolfin is Dumbledore’s go-to on matters concerning someone named ‘Melkor’.
- It is emotionally exhausting work. He and Anaire collect rumors, he creates an auror task force focusing on this ‘Balrog Gang’. The Order makes contact with someone known as ‘The Lieutenant’ and Caradoc Dearborn pays the price. People are dying. They are so tired.
- They have a son named Fingon, born two years after the First Wizarding War starts. The year was 1972. James Potter and Lily Evans had just started their second year.
- Across the channel, Nerdanel and Feanor have a pair of toddlers, increasingly distressing letters from their families, and the designs to some shiny rocks. They talk about having another child.
- They are visited by a man with a tattoo that doesn’t quite look like the dark mark. He introduces himself at Melkor Bauglir and is very interested in Feanor’s work. 
- Feanor say, “Get out of my foyer, you dementor’s pet of Azkaban.”
- How Feanor knew he was once imprisoned in Azkaban by his brother, Melkor doesn’t know. He just knows he’s angry. And that he must bide his time.
- Feanor loves his father very dearly and wishes to help him in this awful war that Ingwe caused and then ran away from. Feanor sends his father the alchemic weapons he’s been creating. He calls them the ‘Silmarils’.
- Minister Finwë Noldoran the Seventh was murdered in Diagon Alley on July 27th, 1973 by Melkor Bauglir and an acromantula. Three gems were stolen from his corpse.
- Feanor and Nerdanel hold off on that third child and come home. Nicholas Flamel hides the Philosopher’s Stone down a deep well. Feanor swears bloody vengeance against all even loosely associated with the Death Eaters. He wants his rocks back.
- Fingolfin thinks it’s about damn time Feanor cared about this war.
- Finarfin and Earwen add a bookshop onto their tea shop. They talk about having a child.
- The war wages on. 
- Fingolfin is busy, Feanor is angry, Finarfin is painting, and everyone is so very frightened.
- Feanor does not join the Order of the Phoenix. Fingolfin doesn’t let anyone entertain the idea of asking him to. He knows his brother doesn’t take orders well. Despite that, they make sure Feanor’s efforts are supported and don’t clash with their own unintentionally.
- Feanor is very charismatic. He almost starts his own order. He personally kills Evan Rosier at Finarfin’s tea shop. Earwen isn’t happy.
- Lalwen dies a hero, saving the lives of Edgar Bones’ family. She and Edgar both lost their lives in the triumphant last stand.
- Finarfin takes her favorite drink and cake off his menu. Fingolfin is never the same. Feanor regrets, and contemplates.
- Findis moves her mother to America, and vows to never return to Britain. Her tears are plentiful and furious.
- War goes on.
- The year is 1975, and Finrod Noldoran is born. So is Turgon Noldoran. 
- Nerdanel remembers that they wanted another child before everything went to hell. Everyone has vowed, after all, to still be happy and unafraid, despite being absolutely terrified.
- Celegorm Noldoran is born in 1976.
- Aredhel Noldoran is born in 1976, a few months later.
- Feanor’s fourth child, Caranthir, is a year after them, and was conceived rather suddenly and surprisingly.
- Fingolfin thinks Feanor just wants to claim he has the most children, and makes sure everyone knows it at their meetings in Finarfin’s teashop.
- Somehow, ‘The Swan’s Cup’ has become the center of Feanor and Fingolfin’s joint efforts. They host anti-Voldemort-and-‘Morgoth’ meetings there.  
- When Feanor wants to be annoying he conducts business in French, or one of the other twelve languages he seems to know and Fingolfin hates it. Anaire speaks French and thinks it’s hilarious. 
- It is the Order of the Phoenix’s favorite place for sandwiches. Moody and Dumbledore have a debate about whether Earwen’s scones or petifores are better. It is more violent than some battles.
- Swan’s Cup also does babysitting services. Molly Weasley takes advantage, especially after her brothers are murdered.
- Between the fear and the death and the pain, they laugh.
- They don’t have a choice but to work together in this war, and Fingolfin saves Feanor’s life from a brute known as Gothmog. 
- Between the bickering and rapid fire spells and years of bitterness, they get along.
- The deaths of their father and sister have made them more family than family dinner ever did. Fingolfin and Feanor won’t admit it, but they mourn this. Their father will never see them being civil. There sister will never know that they war could end.
- They’re not sure the war can end.
- The war drags on.
- There’s an incident involving a pureblood girl from a neutral family wanting to marry a muggle boy. Her father is angry. 
- Luthien and Beren complete some task to gain her father’s blessing.
- They marry. Melkor is furious. Luthien just wants a peaceful life, but she has seen horrors. She tracks down Feanor, a leader of the resistance against Morgoth, and returns one of his great weapons to him.
- As Feanor is not known as a murderer of innocents, this is not a problem.
- The year is 1978. Angrod is born. His brother Aegnor is born a year later, within hours of cousin Argon’s birth. All three boys are close.
- Also, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon, and Peter Pettigrew join the Order of the Phoenix.
-They’re punk kids, and Fingolfin knows them, but Feanor doesn’t. Not at first. Not well.
- Sirius flirts with Anaire at ever Order meeting, and Remus swears he will marry Earwen every time they goes to the Swan’s Cup, which is often. None of them know how to cook.
- The war drags on. Marlene McKinnon, and many others, are dead.
- It’s taken it’s toll. They are so scared. And so tired.
- Maedhros goes to Hogwarts. He’s a Hufflepuff, and his Slytherin/Gryffindor parents are so proud they can’t breath. Maedhros still worries he’s not good enough.
- He does well in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Herbology. He takes after his mother, and loves flying. Maedhros wants to join the Quidditch team next year.
- He knows a lot about the war. He’s worried about his parents and his brothers and his cousins. But the war seems so far away at Hogwarts.
- Feanor cries for the whole first week Maedhros is gone, but he can’t be too sad. He and Nerdanel are relieved. He’s somewhere safe.
- The amount of times they’ve considered sending the children to Nicholas and Perenelle in France is too many. But they can never bare to part with the children.
- In 1980, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, and Curufin Noldoran are all born in the same month. 
- Finarfin had thrown quite the party nine months before. Someone spiked the punch, but no-one knows who. (It was Moody). It becomes a running joke among their group of disjointed fighters, united only by a common goal and a tea shop. 
- And the grief.
- Amid the pain, they smile and laugh.
- These babes get to know each other in the Swan’s Cup’s play group. 
- Galadriel is born just seconds after the New Year.
- Then there’s a prophecy.
- The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies... 
- It never occurs to Voldemort or Dumbledore that this prophecy might apply to Curufin Noldoran. 
- But that’s only because it’s not common knowledge that there are two dark lords running around.
- Nor is it common knowledge that Feanor defied him thrice. 
- Once was as a youth at Hogwarts. Melkor came personally to recruit the brilliant young Slytherin. Feanor politely said ‘no’, and walked away. He was young and angry and obsessed with his own brilliance, and he’d never admit how close he came to saying yes.
- The second time, he slammed the door in Morgoth’s face.
- Third, Feanor nearly died spitting vitriol at Morgoth and his sneak attack, so angry he could almost feel himself go up in flames, and Gothmog loomed at his unsuspecting back. 
- The only reason he survived his defiance was because Fingolfin didn’t need the fireplace Feanor dismantled to find his brother. He apparated just in time.
- While this does not occur to Voldemort, who has rarely dealt with Feanor, or Dumbledore, who Feanor does not report to, it does occur to Feanor and Melkor.
- Maglor, Celegorm, and Caranthir are sent to France. 
- Feanor and Nerdanel take Curufin and hide. And fortify. And prepare. 
- Feanor’s a genius. He mastered non-verbal at thirteen. He makes new spells like others make biscuits. He is an alchemist on par with Nicholas Flamel. He is a more than accomplished duelist, leader of men, and the only man Morgoth fears (or so he likes to think). He’s been practicing wand-less magic.
- Like everything else, Feanor is good at this.
- He sets his lone Silmaril in a sword. The sword was Nerdanel’s idea. 
- The Potter’s are betrayed by a friend, and attacked in what should have been a safe haven. Feanor plans to virtually invite Morgoth to a battleground, but he needs time.
- Morgoth doesn’t give it to him. The Lieutenant found them, and informed his master.
- Sauron launches a diversion attack on the Swan’s Cup, and it works brilliantly. Except no one realized that after Finwë’s brilliant son and brave son, the bashful one is the most skilled legimens of two generations.
- Finarfin divined the scheme, and screamed at his brother. 
- Fingolfin apparates away from the battle as soon as he can. The house is in ruins, but all is not lost.
- Nerdanel and Curufin are long gone. Their escape was obviously the first thing Feanor ensured. 
-But Fingolfin’s brother is lying on the ground, bleeding, and there’s a discarded sword across what used to be the dining room but is now mostly lawn.
- “Accio sword!”
- Fingolfin is not good at wandless magic, or non-verbal magic. But he is a Gryffindor.
- He wounds Morgoth seven times.
- He’s beginning to suspect that the shadow-y powers behind the ministry are not wizards. Morgoth wouldn’t be alive is he was just a man. 
- The light from Feanor’s silmarils burns him, though, even if the slashes don’t do much. It helps.
- Fingolfin has done well enough, but he has a boot on his neck, and he’s pretty sure he’s going to die.
- They’d both forgotten about Feanor.
- Just because he can do wand-less magic, doesn’t mean Feanor’s fool enough not to have carried his wand with him.
- Ten inches, Ebony, Phoenix feather.
- “Avada Kadavra!”
- It doesn’t kill, but Morgoth stumbles and turns.
- What Fingolfin meant to be a final strike to the leg becomes a stab through the chest.
- The Silmaril burns hotter than anything any of them have ever seen.
- When the temporary blindness fades, Feanor and Fingolfin see that Melkor’s body has crumbled to dust.
- Feanor cries, Fingolfin laughs, and they hug one another. 
- Feanor contacts Nerdanel. She and baby are okay. They apparate to the Swan’s Cup.
- They’ve survived mostly intact, though the shop is destroyed. Finarfin hugs his brothers tighter than any would have thought him capable of. His scrawny arms are strong!
- On October 31st, 1981, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is defeated by a baby.
- James and Lily Potter are dead. Peter Pettigrew is dead, and Sirius Black is in prison.
- The price feels much too high.
- But the war ends.
- No one cares too much about the prophecy concerning Curufin. Feanor doesn’t believe in such stuff, everyone else is convinced it applied to Harry.
- There are more than two Dark Lords.
- Life goes on. 
- The interim minister, Harold Minchum, leaves office. Many think Fingolfin should replace him. But he is very tired.
- Millicent Bagnold is elected minister, but only after extracting a promise from Fingolfin that he will succeed her. 
- Fingolfin quits being an auror and takes a small but prestigious desk job in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He has an under secretary named Cornelius Fudge.
- Feanor collects his children, and he and Nerdanel decide to move back to France for a few years.
- His other two Silmarils are still missing, but it doesn’t seem to matter as much now as it once did. He’s still worried about it. Fingolfin keeps an investigation open.
- He allows Dumbledore to study the one he still has. Feanor doesn’t really want to look at it anymore, not when its covered in his, his brother’s, and Morgoth’s blood.
- Maglor goes to Hogwarts the next year. He’s a Ravenclaw, and annoys his roommates with his harp and guitar. He’s in the same class as Charlie Weasley. 
- Maedhros is now Hufflepuff Keeper.
- Finarfin and Earwen reopen the Swan’s Cup. Their children help decorate. They make Remus Lupin manager.
- Life goes on
- Voldemort’s spirit has been split seven ways. He waits in a Romanian forest.
- The Lieutenant escapes capture and notice. He mourns the death of his master. Sauron plots.
- Harry Potter sleeps in the cupboard under the stairs.
- The story continues.
186 notes · View notes
glennjaminhow · 6 years
Text
Winter 1993
“What’re you doing over winter break?” Dennis questions, shouldering his expensive as shit backpack because that’s just how Dennis Reynolds rolls. This bag is awesome; that’s why he makes sure it’s visible at all times. It dangles off a form sculpted to perfection by God himself. He only feels slightly self-conscious as douchebags and whores shove past them both. A massive fucking dick accidentally nudges Dennis’ elbow, and Dennis hisses loudly.
“Watch wear you’re goin’, asshole!” Mac shouts. Ever since Dennis broke his arm in three places last week, Mac’s been even more protective of him than usual. “I dunno,” Mac answers, lighting a blunt for the walk home. He stops, cuffing his hands around it so the fierce winter air doesn’t blow it out. Mac takes a puff, head hanging low and staring at the icy ground below.
Mac’s parents don’t really give a shit about him. Dennis knows this. But he’s bored, and he sure as shit doesn’t want to go home right now. Mom and Dad are both there. They got back from Jamaica super fucking early this morning. It was nice not having them home. It was just him, Dee, and whatever maids worked that day. They don’t even know about Dennis crashing his dad’s car into a tree or Dennis’ ridiculous hospital bill or the blue cast encasing his whole arm from fingers and shoulder; he’ll set off security alarms at airports for the rest of his life.
“Well, what’re you doing right now?”
Mac frowns and bites his lower lip. “Um... nothing?”
“Great,” Dennis says. “I’m coming over.
Mac stops him right there. “Why? We’ve never hung out at my place before.”
Dennis shrugs. Mac’s slicked back hair pokes out from under his black beanie. His leather jacket has a new tear right below his left pocket. “Exactly. We always go to my house. You eat my shit and play my games and drink my beer and sleep in my bed, so now I’m gonna do the same thing to you.”
“Whatever, dude. But don’t complain when you see it. Not everyone’s rich as shit like you.”
Dennis rolls his eyes, but he follows Mac regardless. Mac’s house is further from the school than Dennis’, which always leads to super fucking fun walks in the snow, heat, wind, and rain. Usually, Dennis drives him in his own car (which he’s grounded from) or his dad’s car (which he wrecked). Now that Dennis isn’t supposed to drive, and Dee’s threatening to tell Mom and Dad, they walk everywhere they need to go. It isn’t great. In fact, it’s fucking infuriating. But his secret has to stay a secret. Sure, Mom and Dad’ll see his arm, but they don’t need to know about the panic attack or running of the road into a ditch at 60 miles per hour.
They... just don’t need to know.
Mac shrugs off his leather jacket the moment he unlocks the door, hanging it on a hook and toing out of his snowy boots.
“It smells fucking great in here, Mac,” Dennis says while struggling to remove his coat; Mac does it for him. It smells like cinnamon and cloves and fucking Christmas even though there isn’t a tree or any decorations in sight. Huh. Weird.
“Yeah, I guess,” Mac mumbles. “Take off your shoes, bro.”
“I don’t make you do that at my house.”
Mac shrugs. “Tough shit. My house. My rules.”
Dennis does it eventually. He scowls as he kicks them off, not bothering with untying them because he may’ve sort of hurt his ribs in the accident. There’s bruising around his hips and ribcage. It aches, but not as much as watching Mac flea the car with a bloody nose and two black eyes. Not as much as watching Mac almost break down in tears. Mac never cries.
Okay. Stop. Quit thinking about it.
“Jesus, it’s like spotless in here, dude,” Dennis points out, clearing his throat and roaming around the living room like he owns the place. The TV screen has a slight crack in the upper right corner. The walls are coated with thick, messy layers of paint to combat against peeling. “Your mom must be some sorta neat freak.”
“Nope,” Mac replies simply, plopping down on the sofa. Dennis sits until he’s shoulder to shoulder with him. Dennis scratches his neck; this stupid fucking sling itches and hurts his back, and he’s suddenly feeling the three sleepless nights slamming into him all at once. “Den, stop, man. That’s gotta hurt.” Dennis tugs and grumbles and fusses until Mac coaxes his arm free of the horrible contraption. He places a couch pillow between his arm and his stomach for padding.
He doesn’t tell Mac he can do things on his own because it’s nice having Mac take care of him.
“Your dad?” he asks, even though, Jesus Christ, does he already know the answer to that one.
“Can we not talk about my parents? Let’s just, like, play video games or some shit.”
Dennis ignores him. “How can your couch be this fucking clean?” he asks, almost in disbelief, as if his poor friend Mac doesn’t know how to get off his ass and clean a Goddamn couch.
“I like the house to be clean,” Mac says.
“Yeah, me too.”
“But not everyone has maids, Dennis. Some people do all this themselves.”
“Sure, but parents usually play a part in the whole cleanliness routine. What? Your mom still tells you to brush your teeth every morning and night? Daddy reminds you to wash your balls?”
Mac’s cheeks flame red. Dennis almost bites his bottom lip. He’s egging it on on purpose. He doesn’t know why he’s like this, what possesses him to be such a dick, but he can’t take it back once the words escape his lips.
“Shut the fuck up, Dennis, you rich, punkass, piece of shit. My dad’s in jail, okay? He isn’t around anymore. And my mom? My mom works overnight at a gas station just to keep the fucking electricity on. She doesn’t have time to clean and make sure the house isn’t falling apart.”
“Dude, I –”
Mac gets to his feet. He pops his knuckles. “No. I’m tired of this. What kinda fucking friend are you anyway?”
Dennis holds up his one working hand, signaling for Mac to be quiet. Mac frowns and clams up immediately, and Dennis relishes in the power. “I know your dad’s in jail, dipshit. You only mention it a thousand times a day. I know all about your chain-smoking, alcoholic mother too. I was just busting your balls.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Mac whispers.
Dennis stands up too. “Oh yeah? I don’t know anything about you?”
“You’re always too concerned with yourself.”
“Your full and real name, Mac, is Ronald Herbert McDonald, which, by the way, is still only slightly worse than Mac. Your mom called you Ronnie til you were three; you think that’s when she stopped loving you. You’re allergic to strawberries and swell up like a fucking balloon if you even touch one. You like starfish. You hate The Muppets; they freak you out. Your dad went to jail for the first time when you were five for selling cocaine. You met Charlie in first grade. You met my sister before you met me. You listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers way too often. You –”
Mac sinks to the clean carpet, resting his back against the couch. Dennis sees the tears swell in his eyes and sees when Mac tries to blink them away.
“I pay attention,” Dennis says. “But I didn’t know you were so... into things being clean. It makes sense, though.”
Mac blinks. “What do you mean?”
Dennis shrugs, settling down on the floor beside Mac. “Your life is shit, dude. You gotta control it somehow. You clean. I smoke. It’s all the same.”
“Can... Can we just not talk about this anymore? You’ve fucked with my head enough for one day?”
Dennis gulps, sucking in a deep breath while nodding. “Sure, dude,” he whispers, and, holy shit, it doesn’t even sound like him. He doesn’t sound like Dennis Reynolds.
“Awesome. Great. Thanks.”
Too far. He went too far. Why does he always have to push buttons like this? It’s fucking revolting. He’s 17, for Christ’s sake. He doesn’t like talking about his parents, about his past, about what happened to him, so why would it be any different for Mac?
They spend the rest of the afternoon at Mac’s house in near silence, watching MTV and lighting up joint after joint while guzzling a case of cheap beer. Dennis sprawls out on the couch, lightheaded and sore, while Mac relaxes in his mom’s threadbare recliner. It’s almost peaceful, but Dennis can feel that tension in the air. He keeps his mouth shut.
“I’m gonna go crash, man,” Mac murmurs at 2:30 AM.
Dennis yawns and nods. He makes no effort to move.
“Sooo can you, like, leave?”
Dennis whines. “It’s really dark out, Mac. I’m tired.”
He hears Mac exhale loudly. “Fine. But you can’t sleep out here. Mom’ll be back around seven.”
Mac guides Dennis to his bedroom. It’s small, but he has a full-sized bed, karate posters on the walls, and an extensive CD collection. There’s a couple of crosses on the walls; Dennis rolls his eyes and sinks into the mattress. There aren’t any sheets, just a comforter. His arm is on fucking fire, pain burrowing deep inside the bone. He closes his eyes and breathes through it.
“Sit up for a sec, Den,” he hears.
It falls on deaf ears until Mac flicks his cheek.
Mac helps him put that stupid fucking sling back on, settling a pillow beneath his elbow. It relieves some of the pressure. Dennis’ eyes are quick to fill with tears.
“I’m sorry, Mac,” he whispers. “About earlier. I’m a fucking dick.”
Mac collapses into bed, clicking the lamp off. Dennis can smell the cinnamon on his breath. Can feel Mac’s bare feet on his shins. Can almost taste the blunt he just smoked. “You are a fucking dick, Den. But you’re my dick.”
Dennis chuckles softly. “I bet I’m an 12 out of 10 down there then.”
“Gross. You’re nasty, man.”
It’s quiet for a few moments. Dennis rolls over until he’s on his left side, not exactly being careful of his barely mended together arm and not exactly caring either. He scoots until their foreheads touch.
“Is this okay?” Dennis asks, voice punctuating this cold December night.
He’s flush against Mac; Mac nods in the darkness.
Maybe Dennis presses his lips against Mac’s.
Maybe Mac doesn’t pull away.
Maybe, just maybe, they hardcore make out until the sun rises.
There’s a spark of electricity, of pure, raw, unaltered energy that Dennis feels for the first time in his life. Fuck, Mac is a great kisser. Like the dude has some killer moves. Dennis cards his fingers through Mac’s gelled hair. Mac bites Dennis’ bottom lip. He doesn’t... He isn’t... Dennis isn’t sure how this is fucking possible. He’s happy? He thinks. He’s still weird with emotions and can’t really feel them, but he thinks he’s feeling them right now?
Dennis tries not to blush when Mac plants several kisses in his hair.
It’s new. It’s amazing. It’s nearly indescribable.
Mac. It’s Mac.
52 notes · View notes
robininthelabyrinth · 6 years
Text
Fic: Nocturne (12/30) - Ao3 Link
Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Pairings: Mostly Gen (variety later to come)
Summary: In which Cor Leonis loses his temper, accidentally acquires a kid, and tries to single-handedly dismantle the Lucian immigration system – and that’s before he and his lawyers find out about this Prophecy business. If the Astrals think Cor’s going to let his kid’s best friend die without a fight, they’ve gotten the wrong cheetah ‘taur.
(a young adult novel set in @kickingshoes’ ‘taur AU)
—————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————
“I don’t like this,” Iggy whispers to Gladio, who squeezes his hand.
“It’ll be okay,” Gladio assures him. He’s not entirely sure that’s correct, but he’s going to say it anyway. Iggy’s mom is helping direct the efforts to evacuate civilians and set up a resistance force – the Niflheim ships have started arriving in full force now, dropping bombs and MT soldiers and everything, and the Captain of the Coast Guard, a red fox ‘taur named Desidero, recruited her immediately when he saw her ordering people around with her usual bossy calm.
Six, Gladio loves the Scientias. He can’t think of a better family to be going through a crisis with, except of course his own.
But his dad told him he needs to be strong and good and save lives because he needs to be a proper Amicitia Shield, and he’s gonna be.
Well, as soon as he gets a chance, anyway.
He glances at Iggy’s mom, who is now entirely preoccupied arguing over a map with Desidero and his lieutenants – they seem to be discussing where to move the few anti-aircraft guns they have, or at least the cannons they had for sea warfare that they’re repurposing for anti-aircraft uses. That’s keeping her pretty busy, which is why she’d asked Desidero’s wife and husband to watch over them because she was busy and the Crownsguard was busy and they weren't particularly martial themselves.
Ielena and Tomaz are very nice, but they’re also trying to watch a whole bunch of other kids at the same time, so they're not really paying attention.
Yes, now would be a good time.
Gladio tugs on Iggy’s hand and Iggy turns to look at him.
“I’m gonna go out and see who I can help,” Gladio whispers to him.
“That’s a terrible idea and you shouldn’t do it,” Iggy hisses back.
“I’m a Shield,” Gladio reminds him. “My dad told me to save some lives, remember? I’ve gotta!”
Iggy hesitates.
“C’mon,” Gladio begs. “We can just go and check out how it’s going outside – we’re nowhere near any of the main fighting – if there’s nothing to do, we’ll come right back in –”
“Oh, okay,” Iggy gives in, and Gladio does a little leap of joy, then starts tugging Iggy towards the door before he changes his mind.
The street outside is filled with smoke and shouting.
Gladio leads the way towards where the most noise is coming from, sticking close to the wall with Iggy right behind him; he’s sure he’ll find people to help there. He clutches at his little sword – more of a large knife, which Cor called a ‘machete’ when he gave it to Gladio for his eighth birthday and which Gladio’s Dad called ‘more trouble than it’s worth’, but which is the best he’s got right now. He can wield bigger swords – he has in the training grounds – but he doesn’t have any of those with him now.
There’s a lot of people running around – some Crownsguard that Gladio recognizes, moving from one place to another, leading additional militia to shore up more defensive locations – some civilians that are still evacuating –
Gladio notices some movement down one of the alleys. At the very far end, there’s this one guy, a big bear ‘taur, who’s gotten stuck under a half-collapsed building, and a wolf ‘taur wearing a Crownsguard trainee shirt is frantically trying to help tug him out.
And behind the wolf ‘taur, right in his blind spot, there’s an MT sneaking up on him.
No!
Gladio charges, leaving Iggy behind, and he leaps for the wall, using it to push himself off of and bringing the machete down on the MT’s neck, just like he would’ve if it was a practice doll back in the training grounds at home.
The wolf ‘taur spins around with a shout of surprise – the MT staggers back –
Gladio lands on the ground and swings for the MT’s knee.
The MT’s joint crackles when Gladio hits it, so he hits it again, and the MT falls over backwards; Gladio rushes forward and tries to stab it in the chest, but the MT swings its sword at him, though luckily it does it pretty slowly since it’s lying at such a bad angle, but it does mean that Gladio has to duck down around the sword to avoid it.
While the MT’s distracted, though, the wolf ‘taur leaps forward and buries a dagger into the MT’s chest control unit.
There’s a lot of sparks and crackling for a minute, but then the MT goes quiet and dark.
“Hey, he was mine,” Gladio protests.
“Don't worry, you definitely saved my life, kid; I just lent a hand in finishing it,” the wolf ‘taur says, then squints at him now that he’s got a good visual. “Wait a sec, what the hell, how old are you? Twelve?”
The guy thinks Gladio is twelve. Gladio proudly puffs up his fur a bit.
“He’s eight,” Iggy snaps from the shadows of the nearby building. “Gladio, get back here already!”
“Didja see what I did?” Gladio asks him.
“I did,” Iggy says. “And we need to get out of the way before more MTs come – they usually travel in groups, remember?”
“That’s right,” the wolf ‘taur says, running his hand through his braided hair, mouthing ‘eight’ to himself with a weird expression. “But Libertus is still trapped –”
Iggy, who was right in the middle of hissing to Gladio that he was going to march off back to the headquarters with or without Gladio and it’d better be with Gladio or he was telling his mom, suddenly freezes.
“Your friend’s name is Libertus?” he asks.
“Yeah,” the guy says, blinking at him. “And I’m Nyx.”
“Your friend’s name is Libertus,” Iggy says again, his voice sounding kind of weird. “And he’s a bear.”
“Uh. Yeah?”
“Has he ever considered introducing himself as Li-bear-tus?” Iggy asks.
Ugh, Gladio should’ve known it’d be something like that. Iggy loves puns.
Nyx snorts. “Um. No. But clearly he should.” His smile fades. “But I can’t get him out from under the rubble.”
“Oh, that’s easy enough,” Iggy says. “You’re pushing on the wrong side – here, watch me –”
“Wait, no, hold up, I’m not letting an eight-year-old –” Nyx starts, but Iggy’s already gone hopping up the rubble.
“He’s actually only seven,” Gladio offers helpfully. “I’m a year older.”
Nyx covers his eyes. “Oh, Ramuh’s many beaks, I’m a terrible person. Accepting help from kitlings.”
“Hey! Don’t forget I’m the one who saved your life!”
“Watch out below!” Iggy calls, and does – something, Gladio’s not quite sure what, but somehow the entire building just falls apart, the spare wall sliding right off like it’s got wet clay under it, and suddenly Libertus is free and very surprised-looking about it.
“Libertus!” Nyx shouts, and leaps forward, helping his friend up. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay,” Libertus says, clapping Nyx’s shoulder. “It wasn’t weighing on me, it just squeezed too tight for me to get free, that’s all. How’re you?”
“Embarrassed,” Nyx says wryly, though Gladio’s not sure why. “But I’m okay. We need to get back to my house – my selena’s there –”
“Selena?” Iggy asks.
“My sister,” Nyx says. “Her name’s Hemera –” He bites his lip, looking just short of frantic. “I don’t know if she got out during the evacuation –”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Gladio asks. “The alarms –”
Nyx makes a face. “I don’t know if Selena even saw the evacuation alarms; she might not be looking. She’s deaf, you see, so she can't hear them – she usually sees the red flags when she looks out the window, or gets a visual text on her phone, but she stayed up all night doing her Crownsguard entrance exams, so she might still be asleep – we’ve been trying to get back to her since this whole thing started but –”
“We’ll help you,” Gladio says, aiming for a tone firm enough that no one will argue the way Iggy’s mom always manages.
Judging from the look on Iggy’s face, he knows exactly where Gladio got that tone from, and he’s not impressed.
“You’re just kids –” Nyx starts.
“Let ‘em come,” Libertus interrupts, shaking himself all over. “We don’t have time to argue - there are MTs on the way. We can drop ‘em off somewhere safe later. Let’s go.”
Iggy takes one look at him and leaps onto Libertus’ back, probably because he knows his little ibex legs aren't designed to keep up with a full run even if he was in good enough fitness for it, which he's not; Libertus doesn’t even notice and takes off at a galloping sort of run, Nyx and Gladio right behind them.
“The sky’s still clear,” Nyx says as they run.
“So what?” Gladio asks. He’s panting a little bit, but he’s still doing okay keeping up – his dad was totally right to insist on all of those endurance lessons.
“That means - the alarms - I don’t understand why the sea’s doing this! It’s going crazy like there’s a hurricane coming now – at first the tsunami alarms went off and I figured it was a freak event, and then I realized it was to warn us about the Niflheim attack rather than the weather – but now the sea is also going nuts –”
“Oh, that,” Gladio says. “That’s probably because of Leviathan.”
“Leviathan?”
“Yeah,” Gladio says. “She’s being summoned.”
“Wait, what?! Why would anyone do that? She’s not all that fond of humanity regularly!”
“Well,” Gladio says practically. “Would you want to be flying over those seas right now?”
“…point.”
They get back to a nice little house and Nyx barrels through the door, shouting Hemera’s name, which doesn’t seem to make sense since he told Gladio that she was deaf, but maybe it makes him feel better.
“She’s not here!” Libertus shouts. “Nyx!”
“You think she evacuated?”
“Does she look like you?” Iggy demands.
“What?”
“Your sister! Does she look like you?”
“Yes! Like me, a wolf 'taur, just with pale-colored fur on her lower half – do you see her?”
Iggy points across the street at what used to be a small corner store. The front of the building collapsed, and there’s a female wolf ‘taur beating frantically at the glass. Iggy's right: she does look like Nyx.
“Hemera!”
Nyx rushes over to try to pull away the rubble, but there’s too much. She starts moving her hands frantically – at first Gladio thinks she’s just panicking, but then he recognizes a few of the signs from when Prompto was young and didn’t talk much. It’s LSL, Lucian Sign Language. Well, it makes sense, since she’s deaf.
“What’s she saying?” he asks.
“She’s saying that there’s no way out,” Ignis translates, because of course he’s learned LSL. Gladio's going to have to do double-time just to catch up, isn't he? “The door is blocked and the windows are boarded up, and – oh dear – she says there’s a bomb in there!”
“A bomb?”
“I don’t know the word she uses before it –”
“Unexploded,” Nyx says shortly, working together with Libertus to try to move it. “So far, anyway. She says it’s about to go off.”
Hemera signs some more.
“An MT squadron came through here earlier,” Nyx translates, clearly functioning on automatic instinct. “They came to the house – she ran away to the store through the window – they blew up the door, but then the Crownsguard came and chased them out.” He pauses, suddenly struck by horror. “If they hadn’t been here…”
He goes quiet.
Gladio tries to tug at some of the rubble. If only Dad were here! Or Noct’s dad, he could’ve used the warping to jump, or maybe used his lightning power to blast straight through –
Gladio gets an idea.
It’s a terrible idea, but it’s starting to occur to him that he really doesn’t want to be out here, especially with poor Hemera all trapped and all the MTs coming and bombs dropping, but he knows they can’t leave without rescuing Hemera.
So maybe it’s worth a shot.
He tugs at Nyx’s pants. “Hey, hey,” he says. “Your shirt – you’re a Crownsguard trainee?”
“Well, technically I’m aiming for Galadh Coast Guard once I pass boot camp, but yeah,” Nyx says. “Why?”
“Have you done the whole oath-to-the-king thing?” Gladio demands.
“Uh, yeah – we did that when we joined –”
“What’re you thinking?” Iggy demands.
“I can do the channeling thing a little bit,” Gladio says. “The lightning and fire and stuff. Like Dad – he taught me how.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Iggy says, wringing his hands together. “You remember what he said –”
“Channeling?” Nyx interrupts, looking between them. “Channeling what?”
“Magic!”
“You can use magic?”
“It’s the King’s magic,” Gladio explains. “But I’m an Amicitia –”
“Glacian’s tits, he’s an Amicitia,” Libertus moans. That’s very rude.
Also, isn’t the swear for the Glacian ‘Glacian’s jewels’…? That's how Gladio's always heard it.
“– and I know how to channel it,” Gladio finishes, deciding to think about it later. “Well. With help.”
“Will it get us in there?” Nyx asks, getting straight to the point.
“I think so.”
Nyx crouches down next to Gladio. “Then how can I help?”
Gladio puts his hand on Nyx’s chest, right over his human heart the way he does with his Dad, and he focuses on the place inside of him where the magic comes. Dad told him that everyone who swears an oath to the King of Lucis has a direct line to the King’s magic; it’s just that most people can’t use it. But Amicitias can, and Gladio’s pretty sure Iggy will be able to, too, one day. He’s always been able to feel the magic.
“Hey, my chest is feeling warm,” Nyx says. “Is that normal?”
“You can feel that?” Iggy demands.
“Uh – yes, I think so – ”
“You can access the magic!” Gladio exclaims, surprised.
“Good,” Iggy says. “Then he can throw the fireball instead of you!”
“Fireball?” Libertus asks, sounding interested.
“Gladio, you know your dad said you shouldn't channel things like that until you were older,” Iggy says, ignoring him to focus on Gladio. “And not just because what you can do is dangerous, but because your body is too young to process the power properly –”
“I’ll do it,” Nyx says immediately. “Just tell me how.”
Gladio tells him.
Nyx nods, and stands. He signs something to Hemera, who nods and backs away, then he holds his hand behind him, like he’s going to throw something, closes his eyes and concentrates.
And then he throws his hand forward.
A giant fireball zips away from his hand and blasts into the door.
“Holy crap, Nyx!” Libertus exclaims.
Nyx is gaping. “I just did that. I just – I just did that –”
A second later, Hemera jumps out through the smoking pit of the door and rushes forward to embrace her brother. She’s a wolf, like Nyx, but where his wolf fur is dark greys and blacks, hers is a pale grey dappled with spots of white and tan.
Then the entire building explodes right behind her, sending them all staggering back.
“Hemera,” Nyx yelps, clutching at her tighter. “Oh, selena, my moon – it just – it –
She kisses him on the cheek, then pulls back and signs something.
“Yeah,” Nyx says, staring at the building. “You definitely told me so. That explosion is a bit more imminent than I thought you meant, that’s all.” He shudders. “If we didn’t get you out…if we hadn’t been able to open that door in time…”
She hugs him again, and even Gladio can interpret the next few signs as “but you did, so it’s okay.”
Nyx shakes his head. “I thought I’d lost you…”
Hemera smiles at him – and then suddenly the smile goes wicked, and she signs something else.
Nyx suddenly flushes bright red. “I didn’t steal children! They came to me! I don't even know where they came from!”
She signs some more, still grinning. Gladio mentally vows to learn LSL.
“Yes,” Nyx squawks. “Of course I’m planning to put them back!”
King Hasdrubal the Third of the lost and sunken Atlantioi, which apparently isn’t nearly as lost as it’s supposed to be – though Prompto does have to concede that it is, indeed, sunk – is an octopus ‘taur.
Which is pretty cool, Prompto hadn’t even known that ‘taurs came in pure aquatic forms before now. Sure, Cor told him about old Weskham the Walrus ‘taur, since he’d been an old friend of Noct’s dad and Gladio’s dad and he travelled around with them when Cor was just a kid, and he’d said something about there being plenty of aquatic-like mammal ‘taurs over in Accordo – bears and water shrews and otters and stuff, which is probably why the group that got sent to rescue them was composed of ‘taurs that were comfortable on both sea and land – but this is totally different.
Prompto never even imagined that there could be ‘taurs who were octopuses-es. Octopuses? Octopi?
“Is it octopuses or octopi?” he whispers to Noct, who shrugs.
“It’s actually ‘octopodes’,” King Hasdrubal says, which means Prompto’s whispering wasn’t as quiet as it might’ve been.
Oops.
“However, we generally prefer cephalopodaetaurs,” the king adds with a smile and a shrug, which itself is a complicated business involving all eight of his tentacles. “The cephalopodaetaurs have reigned in Atlantioi for generations – very nearly since the original sinking.”
Honestly, Prompto thinks this whole thing is really cool. They travelled by bubble. They arrived at a gigantic underwater city, made of stone and non-rusting steel and other things, and most of that was under a bubble, too, which meant that they could walk inside and breathe, even though there are all sorts of super-aquatic mammal ‘taurs like manatees and seals and even dolphins and whales everywhere.
So cool.
Noct thinks it’s pretty cool too, to judge by his grin.
“On that note,” Noct’s mom says in her best regal tone, “I believe I have some questions…”
King Hasdrubal holds up his hands (just the hands, not the tentacles), though, looking grave. “I understand,” he says. “We will have time to discuss many of them, including why we have lived in secret all these many years, whether we can open up diplomatic relations between our two nations, and what benefits we both might obtain from this meeting. But now is not the time: Leviathan has risen. Come – behold.”
He beckons them forward, so they all go forward – Prompto glances at Cor, who’s focused on the whole room, and then at the very nice hippopotamus ‘taur named Dido who nods encouragingly at him. She’s dark-skinned, like Maero and some of the Crownsguard and a good portion of the Galahdians and also King Hasdrubal, but the rest of the audience room – all filled with aquatic ‘taurs, like seals and walruses and hippos and otters and even manatees – is as diverse as Lucis, which is good.
Cor always says that he doesn’t trust people who discriminate by nationality, color or fur, and he especially hates people that try to pretend that all three are the same when they obviously aren’t. According to the pre-Solheim records they’ve found, people used to assume that where you were from said something about your color (presumably skin color, since they didn't have fur? weird - there's a lot more fur colors than there are skin colors), but anyway that was way back before Solheim, which had something called a Right of Travel or something, and everyone got all mixed up everywhere, and that’s how they stayed even after the radio-action of the Astral’s war made them all into ‘taurs and split them into separate countries again for the first time in generations.
So if these people don’t discriminate, that’s got to be a good sign, right?
Noct’s favorite is clearly Bomilcar, the capybara ‘taur, instead of Dido the hippopotamus ‘taur that Prompto thinks is amazing, but Bomilcar – who’s standing next to the throne – is nodding approvingly as well, so they go trotting up forward with the adults.
King Hasdrubal is gesturing at some sort of giant mirror, but Prompto’s attention gets a little distracted.
“I really like your parrot shrimp,” he tells him, pointing at the tank next to the throne.
“Giant mantis shrimp, actually,” Bomilcar says, smiling a little.
“That’s not giant, it’s barely the size of a parrot, I've seen bigger for eating –”
“Shhh,” Noct says, elbowing Prompto, and so Prompto turns to look at the mirror, which it turns out isn’t actually a mirror at all but some sort of television screen.
It shows the beach of Galahd, with all the Niflheim airships fleet above it, and the waters gone all raging and everything even though the sky is still barely catching up, cloud-wise. And then, from the churning waters of the deep, something massive breaks through the water’s surface.
Leviathan rises.
Leviathan has always been the least humanoid of the Astrals: the great and fearsome Tidemother, with the head of a serpent-dragon instead of a human torso, a long scaled neck and fins instead of a torso and arms, and her gigantic body underneath, with its long snake-like tail, the claw-like fins…
Huh. Maybe Prompto shouldn’t have been so surprised about aquatic ‘taurs after all, in the land famously sunk by Leviathan in a rage.
In the mirror, Leviathan’s snake-like head rears up dramatically, except of course the Niflheim airships are in the way and she promptly bonks her skull on the underside of one of the ships.
Prompto bursts into giggles, which in turn makes Noct – who was barely resisting before – do the same.
“It’s not funny, children,” Aulea says. “She’s a very dangerous goddess – Cor, are you laughing?”
“No,” Cor says, but he’s definitely smirking. “I am not laughing at the massive snake-goddess bonking her head like a tall person hitting the ceiling of a too-small room.”
“Technically, she hit an airship,” King Hasdrubal says, but he’s got an expression like he thinks it’s pretty funny, too.
And then one of the Niflheim ships – out of automatic reaction, or maybe out of stupidity – decides to fire on Leviathan.
“Oooh, bad idea,” Cor says.
“Very,” Aulea says.
“Oh dear,” King Hasdrubal says.
“This is gonna be awesome,” Noct says.
Leviathan turns and opens her mighty jaws. The airship is bigger than she can swallow, but she can grip it with her teeth and, with a strong toss of her head, fling it at one of the other airships – and, indeed, she does just that.
There’s a giant booming explosion when the two airships hit each other.
“Yaaaaay!” Prompto exclaims, leaping into the air and barking, his tail wagging furiously.
The last big airship turns to face her, leaving the smaller ships to the business of attacking Galahd.
Leviathan looks at them for a long moment, then suddenly the air is filled with streaming water spouts, all shaped like Leviathan –
“The other heads of the hydra!” Noct exclaims, clapping.
“He has to defeat – that?” Noct’s mom says faintly, watching the ship get ripped apart by the heads. "My baby?"
“Fun,” Cor says, but that’s because Prompto’s Cor is the best. “Can’t wait. How do we get her to come here, instead of where the Oracle is summoning her?”
“That will not be a problem,” King Hasdrubal say, and waves a hand. A handful of the retainers head off. After another minute of watching Leviathan screaming with rage at the Niflheim fleet ship she’s kicking the ass of, very effectively, there’s a big boom that shakes the room.
“What was that?” Noct’s mom yelps.
“An underwater concussion bomb,” King Hasdrubal says. “It will attract Leviathan’s attention – she has always paid special attention to Atlantioi.”
Sure enough, Leviathan turns away from savaging the Niflheim ship and slowly sinks beneath the waves again, although her watery secondary heads continue to wreak some serious havoc.
“Hey, why’re her other heads hitting the buildings on shore?” Prompto asks, frowning at the mirror. “She’s not just hitting the Niflheim ships.”
“Leviathan does not like ‘taurkind,” King Hasdrubal says solemnly. “She hasn’t since before the fall of Solheim – it was only her notion of duty that kept her in line with Bahamut and the others against the insurrection of Ifrit. That is why wise ‘taurs fear to raise her, for, like the coeurls of the Galahd interior, she attacks them indiscriminately. That is why it is unwise to summon her.”
“We were aware of that,” Cor says dryly. “We thought it worth the risk, especially since we needed to raise her anyway for the Covenant.”
“Which, it occurs to me, you still haven’t explained how you know about,” Noct’s mom says pointedly. “Or about Noctis.”
“Our connection with the sleeping and now-risen Leviathan is closer than other lands,” King Hasdrubal says. “She speaks to us, sometimes: she spoke of the end – the coming of the Chosen King – and six years ago, she said, in a tone that shook the sea, ‘He is Come At Last.’”
“The sea shook on your birthday?” Prompto asks Noct, duly impressed. “I thought you just had a star in the sky.”
“Cool,” Noct says. “Must’ve been uncomfortable to be in, though. Like being in a bottle of water that someone's holding while they're running or something.”
“It was fine, though I appreciate your concern,” King Hasdrubal says, sounding a bit strangled – kinda like the way adults sound when they’re trying not to laugh. “Perhaps you should bend your mind towards your upcoming meeting, young Chosen King.”
“Prince,” Noct says crossly. “My Dad’s still around, you know.”
“She is coming,” Bomilcar says, looking at the mirror. “We should go to the Goddess’ Balcony.”
The Goddess’ Balcony turns out to be just a regular old balcony, looking out from the palace over a giant stadium, except with no roof and one giant wall missing, which makes a lot more sense once Leviathan slithers down to fill the space.
Then the place becomes positively cosy. Leviathan is very large.
“You seek the Covenant, Chosen King,” she says, her hissing voice deep and booming and coming from all directions.
“Prince!” Noct exclaims.
Leviathan blinks her big eyes at him, clearly not having expected that response.
“My Dad’s still alive,” Noct says, crossing his arms. “That makes me a prince, not a king. Duh.”
In Prompto's view, Noct has a point there.
“You are…” Leviathan hesitates. “Younger than I was expecting you to be.”
“We decided not to wait,” Cor puts in. He seems relaxed, but his hand is on his sword. “Didn’t seem like it’d do any good, waiting for a tragedy to come.”
Leviathan considers this for a moment, then shakes her mighty head. “It matters not. You dare to summon me –”
“Technically Luna summoned you,” Noct points out. “And she’s the Oracle; it’s kinda her job, isn’t it?”
“That is beside the point! You dare demand the power of a goddess!”
“It’s in the Prophecy,” Noct protests. “It’s not my fault that I have to come talk with all of you! Take it up with Bahamut if you’re angry! He's the one who predicted it!”
Leviathan hisses at him, which Prompto thinks is very rude.
“You are weak,” she says disdainfully. “Weak and unworthy – no more than an insignificant speck!”
Noct takes a step back. He looks like his feelings have been hurt.
“That’s not nice,” Prompto says. He doesn't like it when people hurt Noct's feelings.
“There is nothing in you that is worthy of my power,” Leviathan spits. “Small and stupid, like all of your kind – forgetting your place, for my power is as far beyond you as I am – even if you had waited as you ought, until the fullness of time, you would never have defeated me!”
“That’s really not nice.”
“Pathetic,” Leviathan sneers. “Just like all of humanity –” That’s an archaic word, as old as pre-Solheim when people used to actually be humans rather than 'taurs; the preferred word now is ‘taurkind. “– you, little Chosen one, are nothing more than a waste of space, a waste of time, one which should never have been born –”
She stops abruptly.
After a moment, she says, in a very different tone of voice, that very same sort of adult-strangled-maybe-kinda-trying-not-to-laugh voice that King Hasdrubal had earlier, “What does the puppy think he is doing?”
“He appears to be biting your fin,” Cor says. He’s taken his hand off his sword because he’s put his face in his hands – Prompto can just see it over where his mouth is filled with fin from where he’s leaped over the balcony, his both sets of paws scrabbling for balance on her slick scales. Luckily, she’s big enough that he’s able to find some hold with his fingers and all four paws. “Ma’am.”
“I…see. And why is he doing this?”
“I think he’s trying to get you to stop speaking in that manner to Prince Noctis,” Noct’s mom says. She also has her face in her hands. Maybe it’s a grown-up thing? “Prompto, please come back.”
Prompto releases the fin. “No!” he barks. “She was being mean. You’re not supposed to be mean to people! They said so in kindergarden!”
“That doesn’t mean you can bite them, Prompto,” Cor says, sounding long-suffering. “We’ve had this conversation before. Remember pre-school? I thought we were over this. No biting people.”
Prompto turns to look at him, putting his hands on his hips – his paws slip a bit when he does, but Leviathan catches and steadies him with another one of her fins, and that makes it much easier to stand. “You said that people need to be kind to each other,” he says fiercely. “Kindness among ‘taurs – that’s the only way we’ll ever be good people. You have to try to be nice, even when you’re upset, because you don’t know what other people’s lives are like. The only time it’s okay to be mean is when you see someone attacking people who are weaker than they are, because that makes them bullies, and bullies have to be stopped. And she was being mean to Noct for no reason even though she's much stronger!”
“You have a very loyal companion, young Prince,” Leviathan says to Noct.
“Prompto’s the best,” Noct says, frowning at her. “But he’s right, you know. You’re a goddess, aren’t you? Then why are you being so mean? You’re so much more powerful than we are, and powerful people attacking weak people – well, Prompto's right. that just makes you a bully.”
“The Tidemother is not a bully,” King Hasdrubal says, sounding vaguely horrified.
Noct crosses his arms. “Well?” he says to Leviathan. “Are you a bully or not? Because you’re being awfully nasty, and all the ‘taurs up in Galahd and in the Port and even back at home, they all celebrate you once every year, and I don’t know why they do that if you don’t even like any of them.”
“Humanity is weak,” Leviathan says, but she sounds almost puzzled.
“So?” Prompto says. “Lots of people are weak. I’m weak.”
“You are anything but weak, Prompto,” Cor says, clearly functioning on automatic, because Cor doesn't let Prompto say nasty things about himself, not ever. “Your inability to lift more than thirty pounds at a given time is just because your muscle tone is underdeveloped – it doesn’t say anything about you.”
“That’s not the point, though,” Noct says. Noct understands what Prompto means, he always does, even when Cor sometimes gets confused; that’s why Prompto loves Noct the absolute best and that’s why they’re gonna get married when they grow up. “What he means is – so what if ‘taurs are weak? That doesn’t change how you should act. Both a bully and a hero have power: the difference between them is that a bully uses his power to be mean to people who are weaker, while a hero uses his power to protect them.”
He glares up at Leviathan.
“This is nothing to do with us,” he says. “This is all to do with you. My dad always says that who you are isn’t something that’s the same all the time, from birth. Who you are is shown by the choices you make, every day, and it’s always up to you in the end whether you’re going to stand tall and be good, or if you’re not. Which one are you, Leviathan?”
Huh, now even King Hasdrubal has his face in his hands. Definitely a grown-up thing.
But then the fin under Prompto’s paws starts to shake and he has to leap back to the scales to try to get a handhold so he doesn’t fall. That means it takes a few seconds for him to figure how what’s happening.
Leviathan is laughing.
“You speak the truth, young Prince,” she says. “If you had appealed to me on behalf of humanity at large, I would have repelled you – I would have attacked, for I care nothing of the humanity which built for itself the greatest monuments and then in their recklessness and weakness destroyed them, humanity which hurts and injures and destroys each other and also the world in which they live in without care for the consequences. But you ask me to judge myself, lest I myself repeat in myself the behaviors which have led me to despise humanity.”
She shakes her giant snake-liked head.
“I will not be like those I despise,” she says. “I will be better than they, even to those who I do not think deserve it. You may have my blessing, young Prince.”
Noct blinks. “Oh,” he says. “Huh. Cool. Really? That's cool.”
“Out of the mouth of babes,” Leviathan says, sounding long-suffering.
“Hey!” Noct yelps. “I’m not a baby!”
“You’re my baby,” Noct’s mom says firmly. “Now take the win and say thank you to the – uh – to the nice goddess.”
“Thank you,” Noct says obediently.
“Yeah, thanks,” Prompto says, and pats her scales. “Maybe you’re not a bully after all. And it was really cool what you did with the airships – especially that part where you threw one into the other and they went BOOM!”
“I concur, young companion. That was indeed very, ah, cool,” Leviathan says. She still sounds amused, and then she gently rears up and turns her fin diagonally so that Prompto tumbles back down onto the balcony. “Go well, little one – and believe in your guardian. You are not weak.”
“Awww, thanks,” Prompto says.
“However, your jaw strength is indeed very weak. Do not bite people in the future.”
“Oh, fine,” Prompto grumbles. No one seems to appreciate it when he bites people.
“Maybe it’ll actually stick this time,” Cor says with a sigh, gathering Prompto into his arms. He doesn’t sound like he believes it, though.
Leviathan chuckles again and withdraws from the watery stadium, and she settles her great form down into a gigantic ditch until her head is fully hidden and all that can be seen is a positive mountain of scales.
The water goes quiet.
"Leviathan has return to her slumber," King Hasdrubal said. He sounded impressed.
Prompto wags his tail hopefully. “Does that mean we can go home now?” he asks.
“Yes,” Noct’s mom says. “And we are never doing that again.”
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