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comfortwriting · 3 years

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Prompt 13 - G.W

Prompt 13: Tears streamed down your face

George Weasley x Fem Reader

Warnings: Angst, fluff, smut, cock warming and swearing.

About: The Reader and George are dating and George keeps pranking her, one of his pranks embarrasses her and gets her into trouble, making her cry. The reader decides to break up with George as a prank but he takes it so seriously he does anything to get her back - when she tells him it was just a prank George storms off and then they have cute, cuddly slow sex.

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Sitting in the cold and gloomy dungeon, you tried your best to concentrate on everything Snape was teaching but every now and then you swore you could feel something crawl from inside your shoes and up your leg.

Instead of making a scene or drawing attention to yourself, you ignored the crawling sensation, only for it to get worse. Squirming in your seat, you could hear quiet laughs from across the room.

Your boyfriend, George Weasley sitting next to his brother Fred and his best friend Lee, had his eyes locked on you, a playful grin spreading across his face.

“Don’t you dare.” you mouthed, glaring at him.

Being the girlfriend of one of the twins was all fun and games until you were the one in the line of fire. George would take it upon himself to prank you in the most cruellest ways, but he was pushing your boundaries today.

He knew how you felt about creepy crawly insects, you were terrified of them and they made you sick to your stomach - you and his younger brother Ron had that in common, especially when it came down to spiders.

“Miss Y/L/N.” Snape drawled, the whole class now staring at you.

You withdrew your focus from George and focused on your professor, his intense stare making you shrink in your seat.

“One more disruption from you and you will find yourself in my office tomorrow evening. Fifty points from Y/H.”

You bowed your head and stared at your empty cauldron and potions book, ignoring the stares and laughs from George.

The crawling sensation intensified and spread all over your neck and back, you reached back and pulled the centipede from your neck, realising what was crawling all over your body, you began to screaming and jump out of your seat - feeling the number of insects multiply the more you freaked out.

The nausea pooled in your stomach and you could feel bile piling up in your throat, your heart pounding, tears streamed down your face whilst you hyperventilated.

Snape’s furious expression burned into you, the whole class roaring with laughter and pointing at you, George instantly regretted what he had done, seeing you in such a distressed state wasn’t funny.

“I’ve had enough of you, Y/L/N.” Snape walked over to you and tapped his wand against your shoulder, permanently putting a stop to George’s little prank.

The centipedes and spiders went limp and fell to the floor.

The whole class fell silent, the only noises they could hear was you crying and Snape’s heavy breathing.

“Get out!” Snape raised his voice, surprising everyone as he wasn’t the type to shout.

Grabbing your potions book and clinging onto it for dear life, you rushed out of the cold dungeon, pushing past students in the hall.

“Whoever practiced that little experiment will find themselves in detention.” Snape stared at George, deducting points from Gryffindor House.

Still shaken up from potions yesterday, you stared at your plate of breakfast not wanting to make eye contact with anyone out of embarrassment.

George entered the Great Hall and ran over to you after you avoided him since Snape kicked you out, sitting next to you he tried to put his arm around you but you flinched.

“I’m so sorry my love.”

You shook your head “leave me alone, George. I’m bloody mortified and I’ve got detention now thanks to you!”

George frowned and tried to take hold of your hand, you pulled your hand away quickly and decided to give him a taste of his medicine.

“Can you stop trying to comfort me?” you snapped “I’m not your bloody girlfriend anymore, alright!”

George’s heart skipped a beat, his hands started sweating and a lump formed in his throat, tears pricked at his eyes.

“w-what?”

“I’m not your girlfriend.” you hissed “I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

Standing up you grabbed your books and continued with your day, trying to ignore George the best that you could.

Throughout the day George kept trying to make things up to you, if you were struggling on a paper or didn’t have the right ingredients for your cauldron, you would suddenly have the answers you needed when you returned to you seat.

George tried to catch your gaze, trying to bewitch you with his loving and longing glances but you ignored them, shaking your head and laughing at him.

Scrubbing the large grimy cauldrons piled up in the dungeons without magic, George tried to speak to you every chance he could when Snape would get interrupted by other professors and students.

“Please take me back” he pleaded, wiping another cauldron clean “I said I was sorry and I’m doing everything I can to make it up to you.”

You bit your lip, you did feel bad for toying with him, especially after he got caught bothering the house-elves for your favourite treats by Mr Filch.

You blew a strand hair out of your face, breathless and tired from all the scrubbing and elbow grease.

You sighed and stopped scrubbing, facing George. “It was a bloody joke.”

George’s soft face dropped and turned hard “you what?”

“I didn’t actually break up with you, it was a prank.” You admitted.

George stopped wiping the cauldron and stared at you, he shook his head and stood up.

“I can’t believe you, you rotten git.”

Snape walked back to the desk and tried to stop George from leaving as he pushed past him.

“Leave now and you’ll be here again tomorrow evening, with an additional one hundred points deducted from Gryffindor.”

“Shove off” George replied, storming off.

You felt a heavy weight sit on your chest, feeling guilty for hurting his feelings.

Turning around you continued to clean up, working twice as hard to fill in for George’s absence, Snape’s eyes burning into the back of your skull.

George laid in his bed, messing around with his wand.

Sneaking through the dorm rooms, you finally reached George’s room and sat on the end of his bed.

“I’m sorry.” You said softly, stroking his soft hair.

“It’s fine.” He answered sternly, turning around to face you. “This doesn’t make us even though.”

You cocked an eyebrow at your stubborn boyfriend. “Will this?”

Climbing on top of him, your lips softly grazed against him, kissing him softly. Your hands got tangled in his hair, the kiss getting heavier and sloppier.

George’s hands quickly landed on your waist, messing with the hem of your skirt. Your hands moved away from his hair and down to the buttons on his shirt, undoing his tie and little buttons.

The room became more cold as you removed more layers of your clothes, George peppered kisses all down your neck and sucked on your collarbone, causing you to moan.

The two of you now naked, pulled the covers over you. George’s long salvia coated digits rubbed between your folds, then circling over your clit before he started to finger you teasingly.

You took his hard cock into your hand and pumped gently, his pre-cum leaking out over the head.

George bit his lip and removed his fingers now coated in your juices, letting go of his cock, George pulled you on top of him and he lined up his hard cock to your entrance.

“Ready when you are” he breathed out, smirking up at you.

Biting your lip, you blushed and slowly sat down on his cock. The feeling of George filling you up caused two of you to moan out in pleasure, your sex face turning George on even more.

“You’re so bloody beautiful.” He moaned.

Riding George slowly, the room filled with your moans, one of your hands resting against his cheek - tracing circles into his skin with your thumb. You moved your thumb over his bottom lip, stroking it softly before George took it into his mouth, sucking softly.

George rocked your hips back and forth with his grip on you, moaning as you arched backwards and picking up your pace, his big cock rubbing against your G-Spot.

“You feel so good” you moaned out.

George blushed and quickly pulled you down to kiss him, he slowly pushed you off him and pulled you to lie down next to him.

“turn around” he ordered.

Turning around, your back facing him, George rubbed his cock teasingly against your folds before pushing himself inside you, his arms wrapped around you.

“feels so much closer like this.” he breathed out, kissing your neck, moaning softly.

George’s cock twitched inside of you with every thrust, causing your walls to tighten around him. His warm embrace made you feel safe and warm. Continuing to fuck you, you pushed your lower half out even more, crying out with each slam.

“I’m so close.” the heaviness forming within your lower stomach.

George grunted “me too love, cum all over my cock.”

Letting go and releasing all of the building pressure from inside of you, George also released inside of you, both of you a hot, worn out, sweaty mess.

You tried to pull away from him but he stopped you, still inside of you.

“Don’t move” he breathed out “I’m enjoying the cuddle”

You giggled and kissed his arms that were locked around you.

“Are we even now, Georgie?” you asked.

You could tell a grin had spread across his face “I reckon we are, yeah.”

#george weasley #george wealsey x reader #george wealsey imagine #george weasley fanfiction #George Weasley one shot #fred weasley #fred weasley imagine #Weasley #fred and goerge weasley #fred and george #hogwarts #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #Harry Potter fanfic #fluff #angst #light smut #smut

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hanazou · 3 years

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hi! i see an author writes for the DOA, and i absolutely go bonkers. could you please write some HCs (or whatever's most convenient) about Nikolai and/or Sigma teaching someone how to tie their shoes? please i know it sounds so odd but i STILL don't know how to tie shoes. thank you!

𝙣𝙞𝙠𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙞 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙢𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙞𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨

Book : Nikolai | Sigma

Genre : Fluff, (implied) romance

Shelf : Leather-bound

Note : You absolutely can, dearie! I thought about making scenarios instead but I think it's more fun to make them hcs hehe 💗 i hope u enjoy! feel free to request another if u don't 👌🏻

Nikolai isn’t aware of your inability to tie shoe laces but he does notice how you always wear the type of shoes without laces since he’s secretly perceptive. He notices the variety of colours of your shoes for the day (it’s a habit of his because he pays close attention to his own clothes), things like that, and doesn’t make a big deal out of it.

Because he’s a playful fellow, jumping around here and there (quite literally), you have to be physically active to be around him, meaning you have to move (run) a lot which leads to the subject of your inability to be mentioned sooner or later.

When he thinks about it, he notices that you wear various types of shoes but never running shoes with laces, which he thinks is the best type for you to wear if you’re with him. You can’t keep wearing impractical shoes like loafers, heels, or even slippers if you want to keep up with his… terrorism antics.

“You can’t keep up with me with those shoes forever, dove!” Nikolai pulls both your hands while walking backwards so he can keep seeing your face. You tell him there aren’t any other shoes around there you can easily change into, and he offers the solution.

“Absolutely no problem!” Nikolai activates his Overcoat, dips his hand into the empty space, and takes out a pair of running shoes, hanging from his grip by the laces. “Here you go!”

While you hesitantly accept the brand new running shoes you’re sure he stole from somewhere, you admit that you don’t know how to tie the laces, which also explains why you never wear this type of shoes. Nikolai sees no problem with that and instead sees this as a fun opportunity to teach you something new.

To him, it feels like teaching a kid, which makes him feel elated because it fits his youthful personality.

“You should’ve told Gogol! I can teach you how!” He takes the shoes from you and gets on his knees. “Step out of your shoes for a while!”

Maybe too elated. He’s so enthusiastic about it that when he teaches you, his rambles would be a little too fast for you to keep up. Nikolai also uses magic show analogies, such as saying that the loops are bunny ears.

Nikolai teaches you a lot of hacks and styles he knows of, sometimes rambling off topic about how he discovered each of them, and then getting back on track with an “Oops! So, back to what I was saying~”

From your perspective, looking at Nikolai from above who shrinks into a crouch who's happily yapping about how to tie shoelaces, giving his personal hacks and favourite styles here and there, makes you feel adored. The enthusiasm in his voice is unmatched.

Make sure you listen carefully because when he’s done demonstrating, he asks you to do the other one yourself. When you kneel down to redo what he did while muttering his explanation, mentioning the same analogies, Nikolai watches you with hands on his cheeks and a big smile on your face as if he’s a child admiring his favourite TV show.

If you’re hesitant in the steps or forget how to do it halfway, he takes the initiative to help you by holding your hands in his to guide you, making sure that you’re following just fine.

When you get to the last step, which is to knot the loops, he tests you. “Pop quiz! What comes after making the bunny ears?” If you get the answer right, Nikolai would be so happy that you actually listen to him.

“Ding Ding, correct!”

After you finish tying it, Nikolai attacks you in a huge hug, pushing you off your feet till you roll on your back on the ground. “Aren’t you a fast learner? It’s so fun watching my own bunny tie a bunny ear knot! If you forget next time, ask Gogol to teach you!”

Bonus: if you start to wear shoes with laces around him more often, this sneaky clown will definitely try to trip you by stepping on the lace.

It’s the little things like this that he enjoys before finally achieving true freedom.

Sigma, although very perceptive and observant, is a busy man on a daily basis. He may notice what kind of shoes you wear daily since it’s his habit from running Sky Casino to observe everything, but he doesn’t really connect the dots on why you never wear shoes with laces.

After carefully choosing his words, he politely asks if the reason you never wear shoes with laces is because of financial problems, which he explains is something he can assist with.

“Or maybe it’s because you don’t like that kind of shoes?” Sigma thumbed his chin. “They’re usually flexible and comfortable to wear though,”

When you explain to him that it’s because you don’t know how to tie the laces, he nods slowly, processing your answer. Unlike Nikolai who sees this as an opportunity to have some fun with you, Sigma bears no particular opinion. Since he’s still a man who’s still learning about this world, he sees your inability as another normal thing that just, happens, with some people. If anything, he sees this as a chance to learn more about how people have diverse colourful aspects to them.

One day, he invites you over to his office and asks you to sit down, presenting a box of brand new laced shoes to you.

“I hope you don’t find this offensive, but if you’d like, I can teach you how to tie your shoelaces.” He scratches his cheek, nervously smiling. He’s hoping for you to say yes, and boy do those shoes look expensive.

Remember when I said Sigma doesn’t have any opinion about this? Maybe he does, and he only realized it when carefully picking those shoes for you. He’s looking forward and even was excited to teach you something he knows, since assisting those precious to him is what gives him a reason for existing.

If you agree to let him demonstrate how, Sigma kneels in front of you, posing like a prince from a children’s story, and places your heel on his thigh so you can perfectly see how it’s done from your seat (he’s a gentleman I love him).

Sigma teaches you the most straightforward shoelace tying method he knows, uses his most gentle voice, and makes sure you can keep up with his explanation and demonstration by occasionally asking if you’re still following.

He offers to teach more tricks and tips he learned from the internet when he first tried to learn tying his own laces. When he does this, his speech speeds up a bit and his smile grows, mirroring his enthusiasm.

Sigma secretly wants you to ask more things. Sigma has memorized the types of shoes with laces his customer in Sky Casino wears, why they wear that type, what kind of model fits certain types of people, and he’s excited to share his knowledge with you.

He makes sure that the knots on your new shoes are tightly done but not too strong around your foot.

“I made sure the size fits your feet before buying them, I hope your feet aren't hurting.” He fidgets.

Sigma asks if you’d like to tie the other one yourself or if you want him to repeat it. If you want to do it, he watches you and kindly offers corrections if you did a step wrong. If you want him to repeat his example, he’d be more than happy to.

Bonus: If you wear the shoes Sigma gifts you around Sky Casino, he’ll subtly blush and ask if they’re comfortable to wear (they better be, since he was careful in picking that pair) and whether you’re happy with how they look.

📜 ; like what you read? visit my bookshop!

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grangers-broomstick · 3 years

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”Hold on, I tried to call Ron, who is this?” Potter doesn’t sound even a little bit out of breath. Twat. Draco sees him run past the Tom Ford store and silently prays that the awful looking grey monster with tentacles that is following Potter doesn’t destroy one of his favorite stores.

”Someone who’s watching this spectacle live. Merlin, I feel like im watching a muggle moving picture, a film is it? Anyways, Potter, watch out behind you,” Draco replies, and takes a sip of his tea. He watches as Potter hastily points his wand at that thing behind him. ”That beast was about to slice you in half, you really ought to be more careful. Didn’t they teach you anything at auror training?”

”What?” Is all Potter says and Draco silently contemplates how he managed to become an auror with such underdeveloped critical thinking skills and terrible awareness of his surroundings. Draco thinks he is absolutely daft.

”Wrong number, and before you ask, yes I am a wizard with a muggle telephone and no I have no clue how to successfully operate this thing. It’s been fun to try though,” Draco takes another slow sip of his tea. Just twenty minutes prior, Draco had sat himself down at this café somewhere in central London for a calm, extremely boring brunch. And then Potter came to ruin it by blasting a bunch of slimey, grey tentacle monsters right down the block. Typical. ”Please, Potter, get this over with. I would very much like to enjoy my brunch as soon as possible.”

”Who are you?” Draco watches as he almost dies, again, and rolls his eyes. He feels as though he should probably be startstruck that Harry Potter, of all people, accidentally called him on his muggle flip phone, but honestly? He’s been through more shocking things. He thinks.

”The name is Draco Malfoy,” Draco tells him as he watches Potter turn a corner up ahead, and he’s gone in a swoosh of monsters and red flashes of light. ”Anyways, you should probably hang up now to focus on that thing following you, it’s about to turn the same corner you just did.”

Draco hears Potter’s swear through the phone, and then a list of spells shouted in rapid fashion. Most likely at the beast. ”Uhm, okay, thanks,” he says.

”Whatever,” Draco says, and then snaps shut his flip phone. He continues to sip his tea.

***

Almost four weeks later, Draco’s phone rings again whilst he is cooking dinner. He doesn’t recognise the number, but he picks up anyway.

”Oh thank Merlin, Ron. Please tell me how to stop a densaugeo hex,” Potter’s, now familiar, voice says.

Draco sighs. ”Still not Ron,” he replies. ”But just use a shrinking charm, it should do the job.”

”Huh? Who is this?”

Draco sighs again, this time annoyingly and loud enough for Potter to hear over the phone. The water starts to boil over in the pot on the stove and he turns down the heat slightly. ”Draco Malfoy, same person you called when those awful grey things were trying to kill you, do you recall? Reducio should save whatever has been hexed, you’re welcome.”

”Thanks,” Potter says, hesitantly. ”So, I still have the wrong number in my phone?”

”Well, considering I’m not Ron or his affair de coeur, yes, it seems so Potter,” Draco snarls, and smirks as he hears Potter laugh on the other line.

”Alright, that’s fair. Thank you,” Potter replies. Draco hears him mutter the charm under his breath faintly. ”Draco, was it?”

”Yes, I’ve told you that twice now,” Draco turns of the stove with a flick of his wand and pours the pasta into a bowl. ”Well, I would like to enjoy my dinner now so, goodbye.”

He hangs up the phone and eats his dinner in the living room. He thinks about Potter.

”Merlin what an idiot,” he says out loud.

***

Draco’s phone rings while he is at work only a week later, and Draco already knows who’s calling. Not that he is keeping track. He rolls his eyes and picks up.

”Hurry up, I’m busy,” Draco says, adding two drops of flobberworm mucus to his cauldron and stirring 4 times clockwise.

”Hey Draco,” Potter says, sounding awfully entertained. Draco huffs. ”Am I disturbing you?”

”As a matter of fact, you are indeed Potter. I’m working, get to it,” he says, and tries to focus on the dreamless sleep he’s making.

”Just wondering, do you know anywhere I could get some blood-replenishing potion? The Apothecary has run out and it’s sort of urgent.”

Draco hums into the phone, and presses it in between his shoulder and head in order to cut up some lavender. ”If you’re brave enough, Mr Mulpepper’s is on Knockturn Alley. If you just walk past Borgin’s and to the left, you should see it.”

”You think I’m scared? I defeated Voldemort, I think I can manage Knockturn Alley,” Potter says, and Draco can practically feel the grin on his face.

This would probably be a good time to owl Pansy to admit that he has been properly enamoured by Britain’s golden boy. Ugh. Not fair. Totally not fair.

”You’re not half as cute as you think you are, Potter,” he lies through his teeth. He stirs the cauldron anti-clockwise and adds the lavender.

Potter chuckles, and Draco feels it in his whole body. ”No, but you’re probably twice as cute as I think you are,” he says. ”Anyway, thanks for the tip Draco,” and then he hangs up.

Draco stares at the cauldron of dreamless sleep for at least, like, five minutes. He should be shocked that this was the third time Potter rang, if he wasn’t so dumfounded by the fact that Potter was flirting with him. Harry Potter had called him, on purpose, to flirt with him.

Draco fucks up the dreamless sleep. It turns blue. He gives up on trying to save it after that.

***

Just a few days later Draco is on his way to have a few drinks with Blaise and Pansy, when the phone rings. Draco would very much like to ignore it, but the ringtone is so immensely antagonising he thinks it should be illegal.

”Again, Potter, really? Be quick about it, I’m a busy person,” Draco drawls into the phone.

”Draco Lucius Malfoy, born 5th of June 1980 in Forcalquier, France. Son and only heir to Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy, née Black. Oh, you’re Sirius’ cousin, how fun, I’m totally going to make fun of him for that. Anyway, your father was a notorious death eater, played a major role in the second wizarding war and was considered You-Know-Who’s second in command. Very interesting. Your aunt was quite infamous too, Bellatrix Lestrange. She tortured me once, you know. You grew up in France and attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, I suspect for reasons being to stay away from your father, perhaps. Graduated top of your class three years ago, and works as a potioneer, is that right?”

Draco draws in a sharp breath. He had stopped walking and was standing in the middle of the street as if he had been hit with a petrificus totalus. Mild panic claws at his chest, but he continues walking. He couldn’t quite place the voice, but it sounds awfully familiar. The person is soft spoken, and the speech didn’t sound cruel, so he tries to calm down.

”That is indeed right, may I ask who I’m talking to?” Draco asks, trying to sound nonchalant. He drags a shaky hand through his hair.

”Oh yes, of course, my apologies,” the voice says, a bit muffled, as if the person is moving around. ”The name’s Hermione Granger.”

Ah. A lightbulb in Draco’s head turns on. ”Miss Granger, what a pleasure. Thank you for calling, I was just thinking about my cousin, Sirius was it? Last I heard he escaped Azkaban, how thrilling.”

”Hm, yes that was quite some time ago. He’s doing well now, all the things he had been inprisoned for were a lie, so,” Granger gets cut off by someone and there is quiet mumbling. He tries to make out the words but to no luck. Instead, he focuses on the directions to the pub. Something rastles over the phone, and Granger is back. ”Well, I just thought I’d call. Harry’s been very smitten as of late.”

”How fun for him,” Draco says and hangs up. He speeds up the pace.

The next evening, Draco had just walked through the front door to his apartment when that dreadful ringtone starts again. He slams the door shut and walks to his bedroom.

”You know, usually, people don’t keep calling the wrong number, Potter,” he says and squeezes the phone between his shoulder and cheek. ”And, I would very much like a peaceful evening so if this is Granger, please spare me the speech about my own family tree.”

”Wait what?” Potter’s voice fills his ears and he closes his eyes and shivers. ”Hermione? She did what?”

Draco unclasps his robes and shrugs them off his shoulders. He starts at unbuttoning his pants and curses as he almost stumbles over them as they fall to his his ankles.

”Draco, are you okay?” Potter says, sounding concerned. ”What are you… are you undressing?”

”What an excellent observation, Potter. But don’t get your wand in a knot, this isn’t some awful sex line,” he replies and steps out of his pants. He pulls on some old pyjama pants. ”I don’t think you could afford me, if I’m honest.”

Potter laugh is loud through the phone and Draco basks in it for just a moment. He pulls on a t-shirt and flicks a folding charm at his clothes before making his way to the kitchen.

”You’re funny Draco, but what was that about Hermione? What did she do?”

”Oh Merlin Potter, don’t worry. She just called me to kindly remind me of my heritage and the fact that my family is insane, no harm done,” Draco mutters and heats up his two day old Chinese takeout with a wave of his wand.

”Oh fuck, fuck, I’m- I’m sorry Draco, really,” Potter sounds annoyed. Draco wonders if Granger is in trouble. ”I’m going to have to call you back.”

Draco hums, ”Please don’t. I’m going to be asleep in approximately fifteen minutes, and I need my precious beauty sleep. Why do you think I wake up looking perfect every day? Ugh, you understand nothing Potter, imbecile.”

Draco hears another one of Potter’s dark chuckles before he hangs up, and silently prays to Salazar that he’s not going to be woken up by the phone ringing tomorrow morning.

***

The phone doesn’t ring the next morning, or the next until its been almost two weeks since he last spoke to Potter. Bit it’s Thursday afternoon, and Harry Potter walks into Mr Mulpepper’s potions shop. Draco is up front at the register today, and Merlin how he wished he was in the back brewing something right about now.

Potter steps through the door and the bell makes a little jingle. He heads straight for the hangover potions and takes a couple of vials before looking at Draco. He watches as Potter looks him up and down, and he wonders if he knows that it’s him. If maybe Granger had told him about Draco and his family, and maybe that’s why he hadn’t called in a few weeks.

He swallows and throws a small smile at Potter. He smiles back. Okay, Draco thinks, maybe he doesn’t know.

”Just these, please,” Potter says, and puts the vials on the counter carefully. He shoves his hand in a pocket of his robes.

”That’ll be 2 galleons and 10 sickles, Potter,”

Potter’s head shoots up and his movements stop completely. They stare at each other for a few uncomfortably long seconds. Draco looks away first.

”What, forgotten how to count, have you? I really don’t have all day, we have lots of customers you know,” he snarks. Potter shakes his head and slowly, a grin lights up his face. Draco wants to strangle him.

”There’s no one here but me,” Potter says and pulls out a few galleons more than necessary and puts them on the counter between them. Draco huffs out a laugh. ”I’m sorry, I haven’t… I never called you back, work has been hectic.”

He’s still grinning. His hair is in it’s usual mess, looking like he had just had a proper shag. I want to shag him, Draco thinks. Ugh. Not fair, so not fair.

”Hm, you don’t owe me anything, Potter. I was wondering why you kept calling in the first place,” Draco says. Merlin, was his voice a bit shaky? It is totally Potter’s fault for making him nervous.

”Well, what can I say? I kind of like the arsehole that picks up,” Potter says and Draco can feel a smile growing on his own face too. He blames Potter for his future wrinkles.

”Well Potter, are you insinuating that you’ve been calling me only for my arse? I already told you, you can’t afford me,” Draco says and picks nervously at his nails. He looks down and counts out the money since Potter is too preoccupied with staring, still.

The man hums, and Draco closes his eyes briefly. “I mean, it’s a beautiful arse, don’t get me wrong. But, I think the sarcastic personality does it for me too.”

Draco lets himself laugh now, and shoves Potter lightly with a hand to his chest. He swears at Salazar for making Harry Potter so fucking fit.

“So, Draco, what do you say about a date?”

Draco is going to kill him.

#uhm #idk how draco got a phone lets just ignore that part #i haven’t written anything in so long this is so crusty #this is sort of a thanks for 3k followers ig #so thank u guys #i love u #drarry #harry potter #draco malfoy #draco x harry #hermione granger #hp #drarry fic #very much inspired by side bitch out of your league by rohkeutta #defo recommend

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poesparakeet-fics · 3 years

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Here you go, you thirsty beasts.

This one got long so it’s a 2 parter! It’s SFW, so enjoy it at the link or here in the post.

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Caduceus Clay & The Mighty Nein, Caduceus Clay & Jester Lavorre, Caduceus Clay & Mollymauk Tealeaf, Caduceus Clay & Yasha Characters: Caduceus Clay, Jester Lavorre, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Yasha (Critical Role), Nott | Veth Brenatto Additional Tags: Tickling, Revenge, Shrinking, wild magic mishaps, safeword, Teasing Summary:

Caduceus has made a habit of tickling some of his companions, be it as a cheer-up, a settle-down or a playful punishment. When a mishap with some wild magic makes his smaller than his friends, a few decide to get a little revenge.

FIC

Caduceus didn’t mind arcane magic most of the time, after all, Caleb used his with great expertise. But he was getting real tired of wild magic, real fast.

When Jester had cast her guiding bolt she’d gotten butterflies, for Mother’s sake. He’d tried to heal Fjord and saw everything around him start to stretch and grow. They kept fighting, of course. It wasn’t until the last of the shrieking horrors was lying dead that he realized what had actually happened.

The world hadn’t grown, he had shrunk. Which was, to be fair, easier to deal with. Still, he was feeling pretty sorry for himself as he sat with his feet dangling from the side of their kitchen table, now only a few inches taller than Veth.

A visiting Shadowhand was peering at Caduceus with a small frown on his face before scratching his head and sighing.

“Alright. The bad news is, I don’t think we can dispel it. Jester said you tried a restoration spell?”

Caduceus nodded glumly.

“Well the good news is, it will almost certainly wear off. The spell is using energy to maintain this form in you, it will run out of that energy eventually. But… I cannot tell you how long it will last. Based on the rate of decay I would guess a few days but that is some conjecture on my part.”

Caduceus let out a sigh.

“Thank you for your help, Essek. I guess I’ll just have to live with my current… uh… change in perspective for the time being.”

“Yes, a good attitude to keep. I’m sure it’s been a long time since you were that small.”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess I would have been a baby. Maybe I’ll ask Veth for pointers.”

“I think that all of her advice will involve climbing, Herr Clay. You might need to make your own way.” Caleb chuckled from his seat nearby. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He had been watching Caduceus like he was a puzzle, but now he was smiling, having been assured that the situation wasn’t too serious.

“Yeah, you might be right.”

Caduceus hopped off the table, turning to see Caleb smothering a little half smile. Caduceus pointed a finger accusingly.

“You cut that out.”

“I’m very sorry. It’s just… it is very cute.”

…

“Caduceus, can I hug you?”

Yasha had walked through covered in rainwater not ten minutes before, but she’d returned in dry clothes. Caduceus, about halfway through drinking a now comically large mug of tea, looked up to meet her gaze. He could see the little haunt of loneliness in her eyes that sometimes creeped in, even in a house full of lovers.

“Yeah, of course.”

He put his tea down carefully before hopping off his seat. He started to pass her into the living room, but Yasha sat at the table and pulled him into her lap instead.

“Woah!”

“Sorry!” Yasha rushed out, “I didn’t mean to surprise you! You were lighter than I thought you’d be!”

“It’s OK,” Caduceus assured her, “I’m just not used to being picked up.”

Yasha wrapped him up in her arms. “Is this alright?”

He relaxed as she coiled herself around him, face buried in his soft hair.

“Yeah. That’s very nice.” Being held so literally felt old and new at the same time.

Yasha nuzzled his head. “I’ve wanted to do this since you shrunk. I love you when you’re big, but it’s so nice to get to squeeze you for once!”

Caduceus chuckled. “It’s nice to be squeezed, honestly.”

“And you’re so cute! I just want to eat you up! Omnomnom!”

Caduceus felt his whole spine twist on instinct when Yasha gnawed playfully at the back of his neck.

“No-ho!” He squeeked, so high pitched that both of them froze in shock.

“Aw, Caduceus…”

“... It would be really unfair to tickle me. Just because you’re bigger than me now--” He was cut off when he had to press his lips together to smother another peel of laughter.

Yasha grinned with her teeth still pressed against his skin.

“I dunno, you tickle the others plenty.”

“Because they need it!”

“Hehe. I think that’s probably true, but they never get you back because you’re always so scared of hurting them by accident. Isn’t that because you’re bigger than them?”

She blew a raspberry on the side of his neck that made him squeal far too loud. He heard approaching footsteps.

“No no no nonono!” He squeaked when he realized what they meant.

Jester bounded through the door first, magnetically drawn to any ticklish sounds in her vicinity. She stopped in her tracks when she walked into the kitchen to see a smiling Yasha with a giggling fun-sized firbolg in her lap, now curled in a desperate little ball within her embrace to avoid the fingers pinching at his tummy.

“Oh my goodness, is little Caduceus ticklish?”

“Nohoho!” Caduceus tried to plead or run, but his laughter was blocking the former and a meaty arm was blocking the latter.

“Mmhmm,” Yasha answered with one hand clawing his belly, not even out of breath for the effort she was expanding to thwart his escape, “I think big Caduceus is too, he’s just easier to tickle now.”

Molly and Veth stumbled in behind Jester. Molly had a grin on his face, coming to stand behind her and rest his chin on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed.

“Hey, he’s being real loud, eh?”

“Huh?” Jester answered.

“Well, it seems like he might need to settle down a little.”

“Ooh,” Jester giggled, “I think you’re right Molly!”

Caduceus felt a cold chill splash down his back. Sure, he’d seen this coming, but it didn’t stop the escalation of shivery, giggly panic through his system. And running was not working out for him.

“Well,” Molly purred, “Isn’t it lucky that we have such well established guidelines for getting someone to settle down.”

Caduceus switched gears, climbing further into Yasha’s lap instead and clinging to her shoulders.

“Please! Don’t let them get me!”

“I dunno…” Yasha teased as the tieflings stalked closer.

“No! Yasha, they’ll kill me!”

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t let them kill you. But you do deserve this just a little, don’t you?” Yasha lowered her voice, all but whispering in his velvety ear, “Don’t forget, licorice works for you too.”

Caduceus whimpered. Ok, so did he deserve it? Yes. Probably. A little. Had there been a few times where he’d tickled a tiefling to pieces less because they needed to settle down and more because it was fun? Maybe. Perhaps. A couple of times, tops.

He took a deep breath to try and steel himself, shutting his eyes tight in the hopes that not seeing them coming would somehow save him. Yasha chuckled in his ear, seeming to sense his acceptance of this fate.

“Heh. OK,” she whispered in his ear.

Fingers as strong as barrel bands gripped his ankles and Yasha stood up. The world spun. Balance upended, Caduceus eye’s shot open to see the devilish forms of his approaching friends as they cheered Yasha on, only upside- down. Yasha was hanging him by his ankles.

“Don’t be too mean or I’m eating tief toes for dinner, got it? He’s not used to it.”

Molly’s smile became razor sharp and Jester clapped her hands. Caduceus could only hug himself and try to keep his shirt from falling over his head.

“Not used to getting a taste of his own medicine, you mean? Seems to me that should be corrected.” Molly purred.

"Ah! Can we please talk about this?" Caduceus asked, the tiniest hint of a whine making its way into his usually rumbling voice.

"You can talk all you want, Caduceus!" Jester bent over to put her face next to his. She gave him a teasing wink before planting a sweet little kiss on his cheek.

"Veth?" He asked, looking pleadingly at his fellow (currently) small creature, "Solidarity? Please?"

Veth just laughed at him. "Nah."

"But you're going to help us though, right Veth?" Jester asked, voice full of mischief. "When will you get the chance to tickle Caduceus again?"

"Heh. Nah." The halfling answered, strolling out of the room. "I'm good, thanks."

"Humph." Jester pouted for a moment, but it quickly morphed into a wicked little smile as she reached out to tickle Caduceus' long velvety ears.

"Ahhahaha- hehe- ha... no... no... MOLLY GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

The other tiefling cackled with glee, pinching Caduceus' knees. The firbolg’s legs pumped on reflex, his body wiggling like a worm on a hook.

"So loud! You're not settled yet, love, just relax."

"I wahahahas born settled!"

"Oh reeeally? Jester teased him, hands jumping up to poke and pinch at his ribs, effortlessly dodging any attempt he made to block her. "Then why are you so loud and wiggly, huh?"

'B-because you- eeheeheehee! Tiheheheckles!"

"Does it?" Molly taunted, dropping down to Jester's level and fluttering his hands across his belly.

"Yehehes!"

"Excellent!" Molly cheered, before grabbing the hem of Caduceus' shirt and yanking it down over his head.

Caduceus squawked, temporarily blinded by the homespun linen that was now tangled around his elbows. He started to fight with it, trying to push it down (up?) again to cover his downy torso, for all the good it was doing. Then he felt a cool pair of lips press against his belly, and he squealed before Jester could even begin.

Ppppbbbbtt

“Aaaaiii! NahahaHAA! STAHAP!”

Caduceus’ pleas fell on deaf ears, Jester only pausing long enough to take a deep breath and giggle to herself before she hit him again.

"Yes! Wish I could grow a beard just for this, you fuzzy bastard." Molly crowed.

Caduceus whimpered frantically, his shirt somehow transformed into an impossible maze that kept him blinded and defenseless.

An ominous silence was followed by a deadly double attack made Caduceus’ voice crack with the force of his squeal. “AHAaaA! LICORICE!”

The both backed off right away, leaving Caduceus dizzy and catching his breath. Jester started to help him get untangled from his shirt. Molly grinned down at him before taking a deep, threatening breath to make Caduceus shriek in anticipatory panic.

Molly didn’t get a chance to make good. In one more dizzying instant Caduceus was set upright on his feet, watching Yasha chase Molly out of the room.

“WHAT did I say?”

“C-come on I wasn’t gonna do it! Yasha! Please! He threatens me like that all the-- Nooo!”

Jester chuckled at Caduceus’ dazed expression, pulling him into a cuddle where they stood.

“You OK Caduceus?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“That’s good. It was fun to tickle you for a change!”

“Well I’m glad it was fun, because when I’m big again there are going to be consequences.”

Jester just giggled at him, then tugged him to sit on a chair and put his tea cup back in his hands with a kiss on his cheek.

#sfw #critickle role #critical role #tk fic #tickle fic #Caduceus Clay #jester lavorre #mollymauk tealeaf

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wingsofkpop · 3 years

Text

Hiraeth - I.X: Was it Worth it in the End? Part One

pairing(s): Hybrid!Im Jaebeom x Reader, Witch!Mark Tuan x Reader, Werewolf!Jackson Wang x Reader, Vampire!Park Jinyoung x Reader, Supernatural!Got7 x Reader

genre: Supernatual!AU, Dark Magic!AU, very heavy Angst, eventual Smut

warnings: Mature language, violence, explicit descriptions of fighting, blood and gore, mentions of death and murder, mentions of trauma, some satanic themes, etc.

word count: 7,1k

synopsis: How far are you willing to go to find out the truth about Moon Dye Bay?…

chapter directory

A/N: It’s finally here! Thank you all for your patience and support! Please enjoy!

“—this plan is fucking insane!”

“You said anywhere was better than the mansion!”

“That was before I knew you were claiming sanctuary with the very people that sent Teenage Chewbacca to maul Jinyoung and I!”

“It was Minho who turned Changbin! How many goddamn times do I have to say that to get it through your thick skull!?”

The incessant bickering of the two voices gradually lifts Jinyoung from his slumber, reintroducing his mind to the workings of reality. He flutters his eyes open, surprised at the lack of light, and forces himself to sit up. At his sudden movement, his head roars with pain, sending a dizzy spell through his limbs. He manages to swallow the temporary vertigo and keep upright, quickly realizing his current position in the backseat of a car.

“Jinyoung?... Oh thank god—he’s awake.”

“It’s about fucking time.”

“(Y/N)? Jaebeom-hyung?” Jinyoung squints, attempting to map out your and his brother’s silhouettes through the blackness. He manages to pinpoint the annoyed glare of the latter in the passenger seat, thus concluding that you are probably driving. “What happened? How did I get here?”

“While you were taking a snooze, that fucking superwolf broke into our home and nearly ripped my throat out.” Jaebeom snorts, “Of course, not until after he impaled me with my own landscaping.”

“I managed to stake him before he hurt Jaebeom.” You pipe in, “But we don’t think it killed him—only slowed him down long enough to let us get away.”

Jinyoung shakes his head in both confusion and shock, immediately regretting the decision when his brain pounds like a bass drum. He allows himself a moment to pass the ache before cautiously speaking, “And… where exactly are we going?”

“Yeah, Wonder Woman. Why don’t you tell my brother where your brilliant idea for refuge is?”

Jinyoung can feel the intensity of your glare from the back seat.

“I’m taking us to the wolf pack.” You murmur softly, “If anyone has a chance of talking Changbin down, it will be his own people.”

“And as I was explaining to our dear (Y/N), the wolf pack also has a pretty large bounty over our heads.” Jinyoung hears Jaebeom release a heavy sigh before leaning back in his seat, “We’ll be attacked the moment we step foot out of this car.”

“Would you stop being so damn paranoid?” Your frustrated demand echoes throughout the car, “Not everyone is out to kill you—”

“I’ve made a lot of enemies over the centuries, little dove… Killed a lot of people—pissed off even more.”

“Maybe, but I know you didn’t kill Jackson Wang.”

The car grows dead silent minus the heavy breathing of who Jinyoung assumes to be his hybrid companion. He tries to make out Jaebeom’s expression, but it’s too dark. His imagination will have to do.

“Everyone says you did, but I know there’s more to the truth.” You say, “I may not know what exactly happened, but Jackson’s death wasn’t your fault—either of your faults.”

“And how exactly do you know this?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that the pack is our only viable option at the moment, and I need you to trust me on this.”

Jaebeom sighs, “Good God—this is not happening.”

“I trust her.” Jinyoung answers without hesitation, reaching across the council to lay a hand on the hybrid’s shoulder. “We have no reason not to, hyung.”

“And why the hell not?” To his dismay, Jaebeom shrugs away from Jinyoung’s touch. “Give me one good reason why I should trust you with my life.”

“Because I could have let Changbin kill you… but I didn’t.”

Jaebeom grows silent again. And although no words are said, Jinyoung knows—and knows that you know—that the conversation ended in your favor. Jaebeom may be a paranoid, narcissistic sociopath, but even he is capable of hope in the darkest of moments.

A sudden gasp disrupts the hushed atmosphere, resonating from beside Jinyoung a mere foot away. For the first time, he notices a third body propped in the seat next to him. The figure writhes and releases a set of whimpers before growing still once again.

“We have another issue.” Jaebeom murmurs darkly, “Changbin bit Tzuyu during our fight, and when I tried to heal her with my blood… it didn’t work.”

Jinyoung raises an eyebrow, “What do you mean it didn’t work?”

“Minho transformed Changbin into a weapon that would have the power to kill you and Jaebeom—the only two invincible beings in existence.” Your explanation causes Jinyoung’s heart to sink, “His venom can’t be cured by Jaebeom’s blood, so…”

“So Tzuyu is going to die unless we find a cure.” Jaebeom finishes with a hum, “We better get to it fast cause the hallucinations are already starting.”

“The pack will help us.” You affirm. “I know they will.”

Jinyoung truly hopes that your confidence is well placed. Afterall, it is his, Jaebeom and Tzuyu’s lives all on the line.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do this.” Mark stresses, flipping through the grimoire with enough force to tear the pages. “This spell needs a lot of power—”

“Can’t you do what Youngjae does and channel something? Like a celestial event?”

Mark shakes his head. “Even that won’t be enough. I would have to channel the power unnaturally… through black magic.”

“It’s only one spell—what harm could it do?”

“Black magic is dark magic, Jack.” Mark directly addresses his werewolf companion, shaking his head even more feverishly. “It’s unpredictable… We could offset the balance of nature and—”

“I don’t give a shit about the balance of nature, Mark!” Jackson cuts in, “This may be our one and only chance to get rid of the Primes—to protect our town and the ones we love… Don’t you think that’s a little more important than upsetting the magic gods?...”

“You don’t understand—magic always comes with a price.” Mark says darkly, “I can’t trust what will happen if I use black magic… For fucksake, Jackson—I could kill you.”

Jackson places his hands on Mark’s shoulders, staring deep into the witch’s eyes. “I trust you with my life, Mark… and I know you won’t let me down.”

Mark debates with himself, attempting to find a solution past the chaos of his thoughts. His gut tells him it's a bad idea, but Jackson, his best friend, is telling him otherwise. He’s right—it is only one spell—and like he said, Jackson trusts him…

Mark just has to trust himself too.

“Alright.” He finally nods, “I won’t let you down… I promise.”

“Mark-hyung—Mark!”

At the call of his name, Mark’s mind springs from unconsciousness. His eyes snap open, discovering multiple familiar faces staring down at him. He releases a pained groan, just now recognizing the ache running through his entire body, before murmuring softly:

“What… happened?”

“How much do you remember?”

Mark attempts to pilfer through his memories, recalling his argument with Minho that resulted in the theft of his magic and the moments thereafter where said witch transformed Changbin into a super werewolf. He closes his eyes shut and leans back with a huff.

“How long have I been out?”

Youngjae hums, “At least a couple hours. Minho locked us in the old crypt after you passed out, so we really don’t have any sense of time.”

“Sounds fucking fantastic.” With a deep moan, Mark forces himself into a sitting position. His spine wails at the movement, but he pays it no mind and instead stretches his arms over his head in an attempt to work out the knots in his bones. He also takes the time to survey his surroundings, discovering, just as Youngjae said, to be inside the dingy, crumbling underground cavern beneath the mausoleum. He can’t remember the last time he’s been down here—how ironic.

“I’m guessing Changbin made a beeline for the Project Estate?”

“Didn’t even hesitate.” Youngjae answers, “You don’t think he got them… do you?”

“I honestly could care less about the Primes right now.” With Youngjae’s help, Mark manages to push himself to his feet before finding purchase against a stone pillar. He takes a second to catch his breath, then continues, “There’s an exit down here that leads into a bunch of old tunnels underneath the graveyard. If we can find it, there’s a chance we might—”

“I wouldn’t think about it, hyung.” Mark’s suggestion dies on his tongue as his favorite witch emerges from a dark corner. Beside him, Youngjae releases a surprised gasp while seeming to shrink in on himself. Mark, on the other hand, doesn’t budge.

“Enjoying this villain complex a little too much, don’t you think?”

“You don’t seem very happy with me, Mark-hyung…” Minho smirks.

“Okay—you’ve had your damn fun.” Mark sneers, “Let us all go before I really start to get pissed.”

“Like you can do anything about it anyway, without any magic and all—” The witch wiggles his finger in which the ancient ring still rests. “—and don’t worry. Once the blood moon fully passes, you’re all free to leave.”

“You’re a real fucking psycho, you know that? You really think Changbin is gonna manage to kill both Jaebeom and Jinyoung by himself?”

“I could care less if he does.”

Mark’s eyes narrow, “Why are you keeping us down here? What else could you possibly want?”

“Well, I want to make you suffer as much as possible… but that was already kind of obvious, don’t you think?”

“I’m serious, Minho!” Mark’s hiss echoes between the stone walls of the crypt, bouncing back in his ears like a record on repeat. “Why go to all this trouble to kill the Primes? To mess with me? Are you really that desperate for revenge? That you’d hurt your own people trying to get it?”

Minho shakes his head with a growl, “You all made it very clear that I was never a part of this coven.”

“That is such bullshit!” Mark peers over his shoulder to find Lia emerging from another part of the cavern, followed closely by a quivering, wild-eyed Jisung. “You just never got over the fact that we chose Mark as coven leader—not you!”

“At least I could have kept Nayeon alive!”

“Nayeon’s death wasn’t Mark’s fault! It wasn’t any of our faults!” Lia screams, “Why are you so strung up about this anyway!?”

“Because I loved her!” The atmosphere grows strangely tense at the young witch’s confession, effectively forming the beginnings of a large lump in Mark’s throat. That mass only grows as Minho continues on, “She was the only one who understood me! She believed in me when no one else would!”

Through the corner of his eye, Mark can see the same shock and pain spreading along Youngjae’s features as his own, as well as Jisung’s.

Lia’s expression, however, does not change. “I think you forget that all of us loved Nayeon—all of us are still grieving. It’s not just you.”

“You don’t understand—”

“Then make us understand for crying out loud!” Lia exclaims while throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “You go on about all this bullshit that we never try to include you, when it’s you who never tries—it’s you who always pushes us away!

“We’re supposed to be a team—a family… We are all that’s left of this coven, and look at us now.”

Minho remains silent.

A single tear cascades down Lia’s cheek as she shakes her head. “Nayeon-unnie would be so disappointed… in all of us.”

At her words, Mark feels his heart practically sink into his stomach. He notices the blank expression etched across Minho’s face, wondering what could possibly be going through the young witch’s mind. For a moment, he has hope that Lia’s speech actually knocked some sense into him—that he’ll actually make amends and set them free.

But alas… he speaks too soon.

“Apné sà mene…” Mark immediately recognizes the incantation for a boundary spell, attempting to hurry toward the doorway in which Minho retreated towards. His chest smacks into an invisible barrier, sending his body sprawling back to the crypt floor. Both Youngjae and Lia rush to his side to help him back to his feet—a new pain lingering in his side.

He glares at the retreating witch with all his might.

“You’re gonna regret this.”

“Not as much as I regret ever looking up to you.” Minho waves his hand one final time, making sure to flash his ring, before disappearing up the staircase that leads out of the crypt. With a bitter taste in his mouth, Mark watches as he goes, continuing to do so until he hears the familiar sound of a closing door.

He turns to the trio. “Any chance one of you can break the boundary spell?”

“I might be able to siphon enough power from Lia and Jisung to take it down—” Youngjae shakes his head, “—but it will only be temporary. Maybe ten seconds or less?”

“That’s better than nothing.” Mark nods, “When Youngjae breaks it open, you guys will go through the passageways and head to the Wang Cabin to warn the wolf pack—”

“No.” Lia interrupts his explanation, “Minho will be able to sense our magical energy the minute we step foot out of the boundary. You, however, do not have any magic at the moment.”

“You need to warn the pack, hyung.” Youngjae agrees with a nod, “You’re the only one that can get out undetected.”

Mark feverishly shakes his head, “There’s no fucking way I’m leaving you three here. It’s not happening—”

“Don’t worry about us.” Lia says, “I have a plan to stop both Minho and Changbin.”

“What do you mean?”

“Minho bound Changbin’s power to his own in order to complete the transformation.” She explains, pointing up toward the ceiling. “Once the blood moon is over, Minho will no longer have the power to uphold the spell, so Changbin will no longer be able to remain in his enhanced form, which means…”

“Which means we have to stop the spell before the night ends.” Mark breathes, “Okay… How do we do that?”

“Youngjae can siphon Minho’s magic which should give us enough power to counteract the spell completely… that is, if we can get close enough.”

“Once Mark-hyung warns the pack, we’ll have more than enough backup to take him down.” Youngjae adds, “We need to do this now, before he comes back.”

Mark shakes his head again, “I don’t know about this—”

“We can do this. Trust us, Mark.”

Lia’s determined gaze strikes a chord deep within Mark’s chest. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look so serious and resolute…

He’s never seen her look so much like a leader.

“Fine.” He reluctantly agrees, “Let’s do it.”

“Lia? Jisung?” At Youngjae’s call, both of the younger witches offer their hands for the siphoner to take. His own hands glow as he begins the counter incantation, gesturing for Mark to make his move with a nod of his head. Mark does as requested, carefully sliding past a crack in a nearby pillar to enter the secret passageway.

He spares one final glance at his coven mates, admiring the fierce passion along each of their features, before turning into the tunnel and becoming one with the shadows of the night.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

Sometimes you forget life even existed before your time in Moon Dye Bay. Maybe it’s a result of your newfound interest in supernatural existence, or possibly due to the close relationships you’ve made throughout your stay. In the entirety of your time of living, you’ve never once called anywhere home, and while you still refuse to commit yourself to such a description, you can’t deny that this strange, little town has come pretty damn close.

Before you moved to Moon Dye, you lived in Chicago for about a year while finishing up your graduate work. Not quite in the city, but in a borderline rundown suburbia on the outskirts. There, you rented a decent condo for dirt cheap and found a well-paying, easy office job right down the street. It was every college student's greatest dream—until it wasn’t.

To this day, your mind still doesn’t recall the event as vividly as it should. Probably in an effort to ease the underlying trauma and fear. Even so, you don’t like to think back on it too much… Who would—when you’re the only survivor in a massacre of dozens of innocent people?

But even so, if it weren’t for that day, you would never have ended up in Moon Dye Bay… nor learned that fairy tale creatures aren’t quite fictional afterall.

You push the thought away to focus on pulling into the nonexistent driveway. The passenger beside you releases a rather loud groan as the car rocks back and forth, but you choose not to comment on his obvious distaste of your driving. You’re too exhausted… and frankly, you just don’t care at this point.

“You guys stay in the car.” You say while killing the engine and shrugging off your seatbelt, “I should talk to them first just in case, so try not to get yourselves in any more trouble while I’m gone.”

Jaebeom clicks his tongue, “Says the one who can’t seem to go one day without being attacked.”

“Hyung—” Jinyoung goes to scold his brother, but your voice beats him to it.

“Last I checked, it was your girlfriend, your proxy vampire minion, and, surprise, surprise, you who have all tried to turn me into a human blood bag.” You exit the car before throwing one final glare at the hybrid, “Keep treating me like some sort of liability, and the next time someone tries to kill your pompous ass, I won’t be so kind as to save your fucking life.”

With that, you shove the vehicle door shut with a little more force than necessary and storm toward the cabin, attempting to push the annoyance from mind. You wouldn’t usually waste your breath on something like Jaebeom’s pettiness, but with the combination of the stress of the current situation and fear for everyone’s lives at stakes, you really don’t want to deal with the hybrid’s need to make you feel like the dumbest person on the planet.

You eventually reach the front door, lifting a hand to knock at the wooden surface. The ominous silence of the nighttime tugs at your nerves as you wait—hopefully one of the wolves is actually up at this hour… maybe you should have called beforehand?

As each minute passes, your patience grows thinner and thinner. Even after another series of rather obnoxious knocks, no one opens the door. You debate returning to the car and discussing a Plan B with your undead squad, but decide to check the backyard first. Maybe the pack is having some sort of late night bonfire…?

You carefully navigate your way around the cabin, using the light of your cellphone as a guide through the darkness. Minus catching your toe on a loose board in the decking, you manage to make it to the back of the cabin unscathed. However, the sight that you find is definitely far from that of the bonfire:

From what little you can see, the yard is completely trashed. Picnic tables lay in splintered halves while other pieces of furniture are either smashed to smithereens or tossed to the side. Even Dahyun’s clothesline is no longer standing, and is instead strewn carelessly across the grass along with its collection of unfolded laundry. A particular sweatshirt catches your attention, appearing somewhat dirty in the minimal light. Once you’re close enough, you take the garment in your own two hands to better identify the mysterious stains… and you almost wish you hadn’t seen it in the first place when the realization settles in your head:

A large splotch of fresh blood is decorated across the fabric like an unfinished painting.

“Shit…” You curse, searching the area for any other possible clues of the pack’s whereabouts. Near the edge of the pond, you discover what seems to be an array of footprints in the mud, leading into the black of the quiet forest. There are multiple sets, you find, and you hope they all belong to the werewolves in question…

You know you should return to the car and report your findings to Jaebeom and Jinyoung, but something in your gut tells you that someone is in trouble.

Before you can dwell on the cons, you push forward into the woods, following the muddy footprints as best as you possibly can. Between pushing away mischievous branches and stepping over lazy logs, you’re almost reminded of the path you traversed before you met with Mina… You can only hope the events that follow this time aren’t as horrific.

“Yugyeom!...” You call softly, trying not to mistake each tree trunk as the silhouette of a person. “Bang Chan!... Anyone out here!?...”

The screech of the nightly breeze is your response. You eventually lose the footprint trail, unable to base your path off of anything but intuition. Your desire to turn back is strong, but you’ve come this far… and you doubt you’ll even be able to find your way back to the cabin at this point.

Your body tenses as a high-pitched wail enters your ears—a wail that sounds oddly similar to that of a human. Against the siren in your head screaming red flags, you head in the direction in which the noise came from. The silence pesters you as you go, practically electrifying your nerves from the inside out.

Out of nowhere, your foot catches some kind of large branch or rock, sending your body sprawling toward the earth with a loud gasp. You manage to break your fall with your arms, ignoring the gentle ache in your wrists, and scramble to grab the phone you dropped on the way down. Your anxiety is practically through the roof by the time the device is back in your grasp, but you muster up the courage and move to continue your search. However, the reveal of something that looks oddly like a human limb freezes your muscles.

It wasn’t a branch you tripped over… it was a leg.

“(Y/N)...”

It takes you a moment to identify the voice between the shock and fear, but all at once, your uneasiness shifts to concern.

“D… Dahyun!?”

After moving your light for a better view, you discover the female wolf slumped against a tree and covered head to toe in what seems to be a combination of blood and sticky mud. Her clothes are practically stained crimson, which you quickly realize is the result of the large jagged rock protruding from her abdomen.

“Holy shit… What happened to you?” You drop to her level to better assess her condition. There are more wounds embedded across her arms and chest—wounds that resemble claw marks…

“It was Changbin…” Your heart practically plummets to your stomach at her revelation. Dahyun pauses to cough—a couple projectiles of blood spewing from her lips—before continuing, “He attacked the pack… but he—he was different… Super strong and super fast and—and… It’s almost like he was—”

“Upgraded.” You finish, “Minho transformed Changbin into a weapon to kill Jaebeom and Jinyoung—the same spell Mark tried to use on Jackson.”

“It was more than that, (Y/N)...” She shakes her head, “Changbin wasn’t… wasn’t like himself…”

“What do you mean?”

“He was a monster…” You allow the wolf to grab your hand, ignoring the sticky feel of her blood against your skin. “I don’t—I don’t even know if anyone else is still alive… I don’t—I mean, I can’t—”

“Shhh.” You hum gently, reaching up to push away the hair melded to her sweaty forehead. Dahyun somewhat calms at your touch, but just from the wild expression along her features, you can tell the poor girl is scared out of her fucking mind.

“We’ll deal with that later, but right now, I need to get you out of here—”

You don’t have the chance to finish your sentence before she’s practically lurching away from you.

“No! You’re the one who needs to leave!”

“Dahyun—”

“He will kill you, (Y/N)!” She hiccups, “You need to run before he finds you!”

“I’m not just going to leave you here to bleed out—”

“She’s right.” You whirl around at the new voice, and to your surprise, discover a disheveled Yugyeom emerging from the darkness. Similar to the female wolf, gaping claw-marks decorate his face, chest and lower abdomen. His arm also seems to be broken and his knee badly dislocated—you can almost see the bone peeking out of his skin.

You hurry to catch the wolf before he collapses, carefully lowering him to lean against the same tree Dahyun is propped against. A pained wheeze passes his lips, but his expression remains as stoic and as determined as ever.

“If you care about your life, then you’ll run.”

“And if I care about yours and Dahyun’s lives?”

“We’re already as good as dead.”

“No—” You shake your head feverishly, “—I refuse to let you throw yourself to the big bad wolf like some fucking martyr, so you either start moving or I’ll drag you by the skin of your teeth.”

Yugyeom’s expression softens. “You sound like Jackson-hyung…”

If it were any other situation, you would have allowed yourself the time to respond to the newcomer’s comparison… but you’d rather not stay and risk the chance of encountering any more surprises.

“C’mon.” You carefully throw Dahyun’s arm over your shoulder, mindful not to push the rock deeper into her abdomen. Once you’re sure she won’t buckle back to the forest floor, you offer your free hand to the third party. “None of us are dying tonight.”

A familiar, malicious chuckle has your limbs growing numb.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Like a creature of the night, a smirking Changbin saunters into view. His clothes are torn and tarnished with blood, yet there’s no trace of injury along his skin. With the little light you have, you can just barely make out the black veins decorating underneath his eyes—the magic is already starting to consume him.

“Listen to me…” You murmur cautiously, maneuvering your body so Dahyun is safe behind and out of reach. “You’re under the effects of dark magic, okay? You’re not yourself—”

“I’ve never felt more like myself than I have now.” Your eyes dart around the area as Changbin leers closer and closer, attempting to find something sharp or heavy enough to knock him out. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any tea mugs or large branches in sight—

“I don’t want to hurt you, Changbin…”

“Really? Cause I sure want to hurt you…” He smiles devishly, “In fact, I’m just dying to rip out your fucking throat after that bullshit stunt you pulled back at the manor—”

“Leave her out of this, Bin.” Yugyeom hisses, clutching his chest while keeping himself supported against the tree. “If you have a problem, then take it out on me… Not her.”

“Oh, don’t worry… I’ll get to you next, hyung.” Changbin suddenly approaches, providing you no preparation as he snatches your wrist and pulls. With the little strength she has left, Dahyun attempts to defend you, landing a couple heavy hits against the attacker’s head. However, it only takes a good shove to send her flying to the ground—leaving you helpless in the arms of the beast.

You try to throw your own punches, but Changbin is both stronger and faster by miles. In the blink of an eye, he has your figure pinned to the ground with a calloused hand around your throat. Your lungs immediately go into a frenzy as the superwolf cuts off your oxygen supply. You claw at his fingers, breaking skin and fighting for breath, but his grip remains as firm as steel.

“…Think of…” You choke—your eyes beginning to roll to the back of your head. “…J-Jack…son…”

“What the fuck did you say—!?”

A loud bang erupts through the area, drowning out Changbin’s demand. Through the dark spots of your vision, you notice a gaping hole in the center of his throat. Another bang sounds, and this time, his head is blown to shreds of brain matter and skull. His grip immediately loosens, permitting your intake of oxygen once more. You quickly scramble away from the now unmoving corpse, gasping for air and clutching your swollen neck.

You’re almost glad it’s dark, so you can’t see the extent to which Changbin’s head had been mutilated.

Your ears are still vibrating when someone takes your shoulders.

“Jinyoung…?”

“Are you hurt?”

“No—no… I’m fine.” You allow the vampire to help you back to your feet. “Is… he?”

“For now.” Jinyoung hums, leading you into a nearby circle of light. To your surprise, you discover Mark carrying Dahyun with one arm and supporting Yugyeom with the other—a large shotgun splayed along his back. “Mark is a remarkable shot… I don’t think you wish to see, but Changbin won’t be bothering us for at least a couple hours.”

You release a sigh of relief. “Great… But now what?”

“Yugyeom says the rest of the pack is holed up in a secret bunker deeper into the forest.” Mark speaks for the first time, “We should head there… We all need to talk.”

“There’s no time like the present.” Jaebeom pipes up, emerging from the shadows with an unconscious Tzuyu in his arms. “I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t want to be here when this guy wakes up…”

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

Jackson is floating, aimlessly traveling through a white fog in which reality doesn’t quite reach. The Other Side is funny like that—Jackson doesn’t exist in the eyes of nature, therefore, when he’s not visiting the land of the living, he’s merely suspended in a state of nonexistence with nothing but the company of his own thoughts. He’ll spot the spirit of a fellow supernatural every so often, but even then… he’s completely alone.

Until he found you.

A wave of fondness spreads through Jackson’s veins—as if he had drunk a comforting cup of hot tea. In all the time he’s spent in the neverending nothingness, he never once thought he’d be able to feel again… but like a firework in the black of night, you sparked every bit of hope and passion and liveliness lingering within his mortal spirit. Maybe it was your determination that reminded him of his past self, or maybe it was your eyes—so bright with the stars of mortality—that made Jackson want to live again, to experience the warmth of your smile and the chill of your gaze in the depths of a true beating heart.

Something about you just makes him feel so… human.

Jackson snickers to himself before peering over his shoulder, having previously noticed some kind of blurred silhouette in the distance. It’s too far to tell, but he can just barely make out the approaching shape of another spirit—likely a newly deceased supernatural. He prepares to retire back to his thoughts, but is, however, interrupted when an ice-cold feeling overtakes the entirety of his being. Jackson freezes, both from the cold and his realization:

The witches know about his plan… and they’re not happy about it.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

“—so once Youngjae siphons Minho’s power, he’ll be able to reverse the spell and turn Changbin back to normal.” Jaebeom keeps his focus on the witch as he relays his explanation to the many other audience members scattered around the bunker. He never thought the day would come where he would actually be working in tandem with Mark Tuan, the motherfucking magician himself, but here he is—

“What if Youngjae can’t perform the spell in time?” The pack’s beta, Yugyeom speaks up from his seat at a small, cardboard table stationed in the tiny kitchenette. He stretches his newly healed knee out in front of him before sparing Mark an inquisitive glance, “What happens then?”

“Minho’s power is the only anchor keeping Changbin alive, most of which he's drawing from the eclipse. Once that power runs out, then Changbin’s form will give out, which means—”

“He’ll die.” Dahyun finishes, pacing from one end of the underground shelter to the other. If it weren’t for the blood stains on her clothing and the large bandage encompassing her exposed abdomen, it would be impossible to tell she had been stabbed only minutes ago.

Being a werewolf certainly does pay off.

Mark nods, “Yes.”

“How long do we have then? Roughly?”

“‘Til the moon goes down, so about an hour and a half. Two hours at the most.”

“Shit.” She curses, “We’re so fucking screwed.”

“Let’s not jump to the worst of all evils so quickly.” Jaebeom fights the urge to roll his eyes as his brother, always the hero, appears from the next room before assuming his perch beside your sitting figure. He hands you an ice pack while still speaking to Mark, “You’re certain Youngjae will have enough strength to disarm the witch?”

“Not really, but it’s the only option at this point.”

“While this pathetic excuse of a plan is super great and all, there’s still a pretty big fucking elephant in the room.” Ignoring the harsh glare the witch sends his way, Jaebeom continues, “There’s a cure for werewolf wonder’s bite, right? Some sort of witchy antidote or spell—?”

“As sorry as I am for your vampire girlfriend, I never thought of a cure when I designed the spell.” Mark’s eyes flash with something akin to resentment, spilling amusement through Jaebeom’s veins like a toxin. “When I want something—someone dead, I want them to stay dead.”

Jaebeom snorts. “Still the same punk ass kid you’ve always been, Tuan… It’s nice to see that nothing’s changed.”

“You’re a fucking prick—”

“Mark-hyung. Don’t.” Yugyeom places a calming hand on Mark’s shoulder, stopping him from storming over to where Jaebeom is currently smirking like a fool. The wolf glances at the latter before shaking his head, “We have bigger things than petty rivalries to worry about.”

To Jaebeom’s disappointment, Mark agrees with a sigh.

“Right… It’s just been a real shitty night.”

“For all of us, it’s safe to say.” Jaebeom doesn’t miss the warning look his brother sends his way, shaking his head scoldingly before turning to the witch-werewolf pair. “Could Changbin’s blood possibly reverse the venom’s effects? Similar to Jaebeom?”

Mark shakes his head, “Changbin isn’t a hybrid like your asshole of a brother. His blood has no healing properties whatsoever—”

“But there has to be something.” Your voice immediately cuts the former off, allowing Jaebeom some time to suppress the urge to fly across the room and tear the witch’s tongue from his mouth. “Youngjae once told me that magic always has a loophole, so a cure has to exist—we just have to figure out what it is.”

“I admire your positivity, little dove, but we don’t exactly have the time for trial and error.” Jaebeom peers over his shoulder at a sleeping Tzuyu—who is still showing no signs of possible consciousness or life in general. Her skin is flushed and sweaty with fever, but he can sense how her limbs tremble beneath the poison coursing through her veins. His chest tightens for a moment, only until he returns his focus back onto the conversation at hand:

“Minho might have an idea, but it’s a long shot.” Mark exhales, “Once we take him down, there’s no guarantee he’d tell us—if there is a cure, that is—and with the combined effects of your and Changbin’s venom, I have no clue how long your girlfriend has until—”

A sudden clatter has everyone leaping from their seats. Yugyeom flies to the bunker door in mere seconds while Mark snatches his shotgun from the kitchen counter behind him. Through the corner of his eye, Jaebeom notices Jinyoung usher you behind his form before pressing a small pocket knife between your fingers. The blossoming of the black bruises along your throat sparks rancor through the hybrid’s veins, and he readies himself into his own fighting stance.

“Yugyeom!?... Are you in there!?”

Yugyeom’s hostile expression transitions into one of relief—the tension melting from his body like snow. Although the voice is apparently familiar to the rest, Jaebeom remains tense as the beta goes about unlocking the bunker door. He almost expects a cackling Changbin to come bursting through the trapdoor, but is pleasantly surprised when a new figure comes into view—another limp body thrown precariously over his shoulder.

“Oh my god! Chan—Felix!” Dahyun immediately rushes toward the pair. Her gaze practically alive with fear. “Holy shit—is he alive!?”

The newcomer, who Jaebeom assumes to be Chan, sets down the teenager, presumably Felix, on one of the bunk beds with the help of Yugyeom and Mark. He catches Jinyoung helping a third figure, a teenage girl who can’t be over eighteen, into the bunker as well. Judging by her glassy irises and quivering lips, she seems as if she is going to burst into tears at the drop of a thimble. The group’s collective ragged appearance, Jaebeom knows, signifies the aftermath of one hell of a fight.

“What the hell happened out there, Chan!?” Yugyeom’s demand awakens the hybrid from his trance, forcing him to return his focus to the newcomer.

“H-He found us…” Chan murmurs darkly, “I… I tried to protect them… but he was too strong…”

“How is that possible?” Jaebeom frowns. “Sabrina the Witch over here blew his fucking head off—”

“They had to have been attacked before then.” Jinyoung places a calming hand on his shoulder, which he is quick to shake off.

The strange werewolf nods in agreement, “We took our time to get here—didn’t want to risk running into him again…”

“Wait…” The room grows hushed at Dahyun’s exclamation. When Jaebeom turns toward the female wolf, his annoyance falters at the panicked expression etched along her pretty features. “Where the hell is Chaeyoung…?”

Chan remains silent and still, like a boy fresh out of war, but Jaebeom has witnessed enough in his many lifetimes to see the answer written all along his face.

Yugyeom stands. His expression grim, almost sorrowful, as if he already knows too.

“Bang Chan… Where is Chaeyoung?”

“…she’s dead…” His whisper is barely audible, yet the hybrid can see how deeply those two words wound the crowd around him. “…bled out… there was nothing I could do…”

“Fuck…” Dahyun shivers before burying her face into her palms and letting out an even louder curse, “Fuck!...”

“I’m so sorry…”

Your soft voice carries over the female wolf’s sobs. Fascinated, Jaebeom watches as you maneuver your way across the bunker to kneel in front of a now sitting Bang Chan. You take his trembling hands between your own and peer up at the wolf with the most sympathetic gaze he has ever seen—his own heart can’t help but lurch at the sight.

“I hate to add to the list, but we have another issue—” Mark groans, pulling his hand away from the incapacitated teenager’s neck to press it against his own perspirating forehead. “—Felix was bitten…”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?”

“Dahyun—please.” Yugyeom sighs, “I just—shit.”

“We need to find that cure. Now.” Jinyoung steps forward, turning to speak directly to Mark. “I will go to the graveyard to assist your coven. With my help, it should be fairly simple to disarm the rogue.”

“Don’t underestimate him. You’re still gonna have to put up a damn good fight.”

“I can well manage on my own.”

Jaebeom shakes his head with a sneer, “I seriously doubt that, considering you got yourself poisoned the last time you played goddamn Superman.”

As much as Jinyoung puts up the invincible front, Jaebeom has known his brother for a long, long time—and also knows that the previous encounter with the superwolf left him much weaker than before. He can see it in the trembling of his hands and the pained lines etched along his forehead. He’ll get himself killed long before he reaches the graveyard.

“Jaebeom should go too.” You rise from your kneeling position to join the group. “Two pairs of hands are better than one. You can protect each other.”

“Absolutely not.” Jinyoung disagrees, “Jaebeom needs to remain here in case Changbin resurrects again.”

“We don’t have the time to worry about that. The witches will need all the help they can get.”

Jaebeom scoffs, “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but (Y/N) is right. We don’t know what we’re up against—better for us both to be there than just the one.”

Jinyoung stares at Jaebeom for a brief moment, as if searching his face for some hidden secret, before inhaling a deep, yet silent breath and finally nodding, “Fine. But if Changbin attacks—”

“We’ll handle it.” Yugyeom nods, “Thank you… for doing this.”

“We all have something to lose.” Jaebeom doesn’t miss the glance Jinyoung sends in your direction before making his way over to the bunker exit. “I just wish to make sure that no one else dies.” The last bout of final farewells are shared along with the reminder for everyone to remain on their best guard. In an attempt to follow his brother, Jaebeom moves to climb the ladder, but is stopped by the call of his name:

“Jaebeom, wait!...” He pauses—his interest piquing as you rush toward his temporary perch. Your gaze is shy, he notices, but still contains the fire of a thousand burning suns. “Just… be careful out there, okay?”

His response is indifferent. “Not to worry, little dove. I’ll make sure Jinyoung returns to you in one piece.”

“Promise me you both will return in one piece, please…”

Jaebeom’s annoyance immediately dissipates at the stressed enunciation of your words. His cold expression melts into a mixture of surprise and astonishment, mirroring the conflict brewing throughout his chest. He clears his throat, attempting to expel the emotions creeping up his back, before nodding:

“Y-Yeah, sure.” He gulps, “Can you… take care of Tzuyu? While I’m gone?”

Your gaze softens. “Of course. Just please stay alive.”

Jaebeom doesn’t respond, untrusting that his words will make sense if said aloud. After providing you a silent farewell, he climbs the rest of the way out of the bunker where Jinyoung is waiting. His brother offers a pointed glance when he completely exits the safety of the bunker.

“I trust you’re ready for this, hyung?”

“Let’s get this shit over with.” Jaebeom rolls his eyes, “I’m getting real tired of running from Teenage Chewbacca.”

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hellishhin · 3 years

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A Clean Elf is an Unhappy One

Against all better judgement, Sadie could not stop telling the story of how she died. Within a week, everyone who frequented the Stag knew the story. Who believed it, was a significantly different number. Most chalked it up to exaggeration and assumed she was only severely hurt. Magical healing could remove scars, they believed, hence her looking unscathed. It was an enjoyable tale though, for those who were not superstitious of such talk. Each time she told it, it became just a little more embellished and very quickly the leeches were left out. Now she had perished trying to rescue Donar from the blaze and unfortunately he did not make it either. He had left town so quickly after getting his pay that it was believable enough.

As the next week dragged on, Kireen could be found muttering under her breath more often, refusing to repeat what she was saying and waving off any attempt to placate her. Sadie and K’lai’a’la would discuss her unusual behavior when Sadie made her daily walk out to the park where K’lai’a’la had made her bed in one of the trees. No amount of convincing could make the young elf stay indoors. She was safe enough in the park that Sadie quickly gave up and just made efforts to share meals with her. Kireen came at first but the later in the week it got, she stopped showing up.

They could see Ser Calentavar’s manor from their spot in the grass, its fence backed right up to the park. Both she and K’lai’a’la agreed that the debt to Ser Calentavar was probably the reason for her nervousness. Almost on cue, Kireen came stomping through the park waving a roughly opened letter.

“He invited us to a ball!” she cried, probably loud enough for Taerand himself to hear just across the way.

“A ball?!” both Sadie and K’lai’a’la said at the exact same time; Sadie with excitement and K’lai’a’la with confusion.

“A fucking ball. Like we want to dance and socialize with him!” Kireen spat and aggressively tossed the letter in Sadie’s direction. She raised the letter and K’lai’a’la leaned in to look as though she was able to read it. It was nothing special, just a formal invitation for Kireen to attend a ball the following night at Ser Calentavar’s manor.

Sadie looked up at Kireen to say something and she interjected. “Yours are back at the Stag,” which answered Sadie’s unspoken question.

“We need dresses! Kireen do you have a dress? K’lai’a’la do- never mind of course you don’t,” Sadie leapt to her feet, “we are going shopping.”

Sadie planned to wear one of her own dresses and Kireen had a noble’s taste so she wasn’t worried about her. The tricky one would be K’lai’a’la. The girl basically wore more dirt than clothing and now it was Sadie’s job to make her presentable for a ball. The first thing they did was attend the seamstress’ shop. Already K’lai’a’la was nervous being inside but Sadie reassured her, “this will be fun I promise. You can wear a dress that looks like plants.” “I can wear plants?”

Sadie just patted the back of her hand as the seamstress approached.

“Good afternoon, I need a dress for my friend here and we need it before tomorrow night. I know you won’t be able to make anything from scratch so whatever you have that you can modify will work.”

The seamstress nodded, smiling kindly “would you like a specific color, dear?” she asked K’lai’a’la, whose eyes widened at being addressed directly. Sadie gave her hand another squeeze.

“Like the trees,” K’lai’a’la whispered and the seamstress nodded once more. She shuffled through her rows of fabrics and partially sewn dresses then came back with an armful of different shades. K’lai’a’la picked a green dark like shaded grass. When the seamstress went to hold the unfinished dress up to K’lai’a’la to gauge its size, K’lai’a’la stepped back defensively.

“K’lai’a’la please just let her measure you. She won’t hurt you I promise,” Sadie reached up and placed the small of her hand on K’lai’a’la’s back and urged her forward. The seamstress looked at Sadie with the hint of a grimace “how will she do with the pins…”

The whole experience was something K’lai’a’la wishes will never happen to her again. Not only that but once the dress was on and fitted she hated it. It was tight in all the wrong places, and it smelled of dye. Any prey she hunted would be able to smell her from miles away. Her distaste was written plain as day across her delicate features and Sadie just gently encouraged her along the way.

K’lai’a’la was allowed to return to her sleeping tree that night but the following day, Sadie plied K’lai’a’la with a mince pie to return to the Stag. Once K’lai’a’la was in Sadie’s room, Kireen entered and stood in front of the door.

“Ok K’lai’a’la, we have to wash your hair and brush it out. It looks like a bird made a nest there,” Sadie gestured to the warm bath she had Gwen set up in her room. K’lai’a’la glanced between Kireen and Sadie, then at the window contemplatively.

“No. You are getting into the bath,” the edge to Sadie’s tone made K’lai’a’la shrink and comply when Sadie approached and began removing her dirty clothes. She stood naked before the tub and stared down into the water like its depths held monsters untold.

“Come on, get in before it gets cold. Please? For me?” Sadie batted her eyelashes and took K’lai’a’la’s hand who looked down at her with resentment for a moment before she stepped into the tub and promptly stood there as though satisfied she did what was asked of her.

“Ok now sit down,” gently Sadie pulled down on her hand and K’lai’a’la slowly kneeled in the tub. “Good! Let’s get this hair cleaned.” Thinking she had succeeded was Sadie’s first mistake. As soon as the first water from the pitcher hit K’lai’a’la’s head, she burst from the tub, making for the door. Kireen was fast though and had a hold of the elf’s slim shoulders before she could even get a foot out of the tub.

“Get back in there and let her wash your hair,” the dragonborn growled which just made K’lai’a’la panic even more. It took all of Kireen’s knowledge of grappling to keep the wet elf inside the tub and all of Sadie’s experience with tangles of hair to get her washed to anything resembling the societal standard of normalcy.

By the time they were finished, K’lai’a’la’s hair was straight and brushed for the first time in perhaps her entire life. There was not a leaf or twig to be found and she smelled of roses and lavender. The thought was enough to make K’lai’a’la sick but she was tired of fighting. Water covered the floor of Sadie’s room soaking her rug but they did it. K’lai’a’la was cleaned. Luckily for them, she was also exhausted and dressing her was less of a pain than they expected. When they finished, a surprisingly beautiful, delicate wood elf stood before them. Her ash-brown hair framed her light features and high cheekbones. Her kohl-lined, silvery-green eyes looked at them pathetically and her sleek painted lips had a delicate pout to them. Sadie had to admit to herself that her sun-kissed skin and the lines of her collarbones and slight cleavage turned her into quite the attractive specimen.

“You look really pretty K’lai’a’la. Not that you didn’t look pretty before, you just look different now in a good way,” Sadie beamed. Even Kireen nodded her agreement.

“I feel like cow, can’t fight. Can’t run. No knife even.”

They had to take her weapons as she could not attend the ball with them. That was a fight all its own.

“You won’t need a knife. This is a place with dancing and food and music. Music I don’t have to play! So when we get there just be calm and eat some food. We’ll be right there with you,” Sadie looked up at Kireen to get her to chime in but she just nodded. Both of her friends were in a mood which would make it difficult to enjoy herself. She sighed heavily “fine, let’s just go and get this over with.”

Taglist: (always open for adds and no hard feelings for removes, we all have our times we need to take steps back! No explanation needed.) @betwixtofficial @taerandcalentavar @talesfromaurea @faelanvance @definitelyquestionit

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duelistkingdom · 3 years

Text

fall from grace (1)

Two households, both alike in dignity

An uneasy truce between Heaven and Hell was struck eons ago. Tensions still simmer underneath the surface between the two warring factions. Dartz has agreed to keep his angels in line and Pegasus has agreed to keep his demons in line. Their grudges run deep, a danger to those that they command.

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean

When Atem from one of the high houses of Hell is discovered dying in the streets of 1920s Paris by a mysteriously kind angel, tensions of this old war spark when she elects to save his life. The devastating fall out of one simple act of kindness is more than enough to shatter the truce. Soon, it maybe be impossible to avoid the resulting war for all species on Earth.

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend

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cw: mentions of blood, self harm (kind of? there’s no scarring involved, it’s more like Allowing Oneself To Starve To Death), suicide idealization (nothing worse than you’d read in canon ygo), some artistic license re: european history espeically re: the french, violence

you can read it on ao3 here!

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Atem should be dead. That much he knew. He should have been dead and buried thousands of years ago. Instead, here he stood anyway because the universe did not care about “should haves”. Mortals did not know how lucky they were that they did not know what lurked in the shadows of the world around them. The last vampire he talked with could not understand the concerns Atem had about feeding on the ignorant mortals. He would prefer to leave mortals to their own devices. Yet, Bakura had claimed part of the fun of being a vampire was that they could kill corrupt politicians with no fear of repercussions. While Atem could see his point, Atem still thought it was wrong to kill someone. It was still better than most other vampires, who considered the homeless and young children to be their prey.

Atem stumbled over, his hand pressed against the wall in an attempt to hold himself up. Bakura was right - he was letting himself waste away to dust by refusing to feed. If he did not find a way to sustain himself soon, then he would surely die. That was when she came into the picture.

Her light filled the small alleyway and he felt the urge to shrink away from her. He could tell right away this was not a being he was supposed to interact with. It felt almost like when he attempted to enter a church or a mosque or a synagogue - like he was being pushed away. Atem groaned, sinking to the ground as he stared up into her face. He couldn’t describe what he was looking at. All he knew is that she was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You seem like you need help.”

“I’m fine,” he said automatically, the desire to hide his weakness from someone obviously more powerful than him. Her celestial aura radiated. He noted that she wasn’t dressed in the contemporary fashion. There could be several reasons for this, except her clothing was easily decades out of date. He wanted to comment on this, but held back. Perhaps he wasn’t as in touch with the latest trends as he thought he was. “Go find someone else to bother.”

She raised a brow. “You don’t seem fine to me,” she said, twisting her skirts as she leaned down to be eye-level with him. He noted the fabric - silks. Perhaps it was an old hand-me-down from a sister, he reasoned, trying to argue against the very facts in front of him. Then again, most women in Paris seemed to prefer to keep up with the trends. Something was not right about her. “Please… Let me help.”

Her hand hesitated, hovering just slightly over his cheek. Oh, how he wished that she might. “Thank you for the offer, you’re very kind to do so,” he said, well aware there was nothing she could do to help. That’s not true, Bakura’s voice in his head reminded him. You could ask to drink from her. He brushed the thought aside. “However, I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do to help.”

Had she seen his teeth? Surely she must have seen the sharp points of his canines and incisors - so much sharper than any normal human’s teeth. Would she know? If she knew, surely she would not still be this close to him. She’d know the danger and let him die here.

“There’s very few things I cannot do to help,” she said gently, her hand finally touching his cheek and he cried out in agony. He’d never felt pain like this before. He had no way to even describe it. The closest he could imagine would be like a fire surging through him, its source the point where her hand met his flesh. “Oh,” she said, pulling her hand away as he sank further down, attempting to move away from her touch. “You’re not… You’re… What are you?”

His eyes connected with her and he finally understood. She was divinity. The desire to escape from her and her holy touch ebbed in him, even as he slowly succumbed to inescapable thirst. “You’re an agent of God,” he said, sounding far more accusatory than he intended. “You’re here to finish me off.”

The sentence came out as a snarl and she recoiled away. In a weird way, he was grateful. “No, you misunderstand,” she said, sounding near desperate as her hands went up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that I couldn’t heal you that way. Please, let me help.”

“You can’t help me,” Atem stated plainly. “To help me would go against your mission of wiping out me and those like me. You and I both know that I’m an unholy being, a blight upon this Earth. Go on, then. I’m weak. Haven’t fed in almost a month. It’ll be easy.”

She pulled the wrap off her shoulders and Atem expected death. He was curious what it might feel like. Instead, she wrapped the cloth around her hand. What a strange action to take, he thought. Did she hope it would keep the blood off her saintly hands? “I… can’t condone the act of taking a human life,” she said, her face unreadable. “You were once human, were you not?”

“I… no,” he said. Of all the things to ask about. Surely she would know better than anyone else what turned a vampire. That some of them had never been human. “You know the families better than anyone.” His lips twisted up into a sneer, daring her to stain her hands with his blood. “Come on. Don’t you get your laurels if you kill a demon?”

This caused her to freeze. She stared at him, as if trying to make a choice. “I’m not going to kill you,” she said gently, the clothed hand touching at his cheek. Why did she not make the killing blow? He’d never heard of an angel torturing their enemy before. “You…need to feed, however.” She seemed conflicted. “It’s a strange crossroad you’ve placed me in. I would suggest that you drink from me, however I’m not sure it would help. I think the best thing for me to do would be to find someone who will allow you to drink from them.”

His eyes went wide before he scoffed. “Heaven’s not going to like that,” he said, unable to help the smirk forming on his face. This angel had his curiosity now. “Do you often help vampires drink the blood of helpless humans?”

“Do you want help or not?”

She was now glaring at him. Atem could comprehend an agent of divinity glaring at him. He let his lips twist up, revealing more of his sharp teeth. “I just feel that you might want to think twice about letting me live,” Atem said, almost daring her to kill him. He could be released from life and any expectations placed upon him. He could find out what happens upon death for creatures like him. He could hear Bakura in his head again, telling him what an idiot he was for idealizing the concept of death. “Aren’t you going to get in trouble for this?”

“What do the affairs of Heaven matter to a demon?” she replied, and her tone was outright dismissive. He examined her again, noting the full lips and freckles splayed across her dark skin - so dark, he thought she might blend into the night if it weren’t for the light she radiated. “Stay there. I’ll bring someone to you.”

Atem figured that it was a neat way of keeping her hands clean - to pretend to offer to help then leave him to die. He groaned as he leaned back, examining his hands. His age was beginning to show. The skin on his hands appeared to be flaking off and he sighed. Bakura always said that he was going to wither away and die if he kept putting off feeding the way he had. It was a slow death, but what did a creature like him truly deserve? He’d figured that the angel had disappeared and had no intention of showing back up.

He was wrong. The angel had returned with a brunette woman who couldn’t have been older than twenty-four. He could smell the woman’s scent - fully human. No trace of magic on her. The woman fit more to what he’d come to expect of a human at the turn of the millennium.

“He’s dying,” the woman said, sounding concerned as she kneeled next to him. “You said I could help,” the woman said to the angel. “How can I help? I’m just an actress, not a doctor. You should take him to a hospital.”

“A hospital won’t help him,” the angel said, looking on edge. “I’m afraid I may have left out a key detail. Anzu, he’s a vampire. He’s dying from starvation.”

Anzu looked startled but she did not move away. So this was the angel’s plan: lure an unsuspecting girl in to be his dinner. Atem couldn’t help himself: he laughed. “I could’ve done that and better,” Atem remarked with a smirk, unable to help but wink at Anzu. “You would’ve liked how I would’ve flirted with you,” he said, the charm a natural part of the feeding process. “I’m not feeding on her.”

“And why not?” Anzu asked, looking genuinely mad. Atem was startled - he’d never seen a human actually look angry about a vampire refusing to feed on them. “If you’re dying of starvation, you’re in no position to turn down a meal! So how does this work? Do I just…let you bite my neck or...”

“I… I can drink from your wrist,” Atem said, too startled by Anzu’s willingness to turn her down. She responded by pulling up her sleeve ever so slightly to reveal her pale, thin wrist to him, and sticking it right in front of his mouth. Anzu gave him a look that said ‘well, go on then’ and he was in no position to argue. He was too weak to argue. He felt almost embarrassed to allow his fangs to puncture the young woman’s skin in front of an angel, but the return to strength felt amazing. He could feel the energy surging through him again, and it took everything in him to cease drinking from her, lest he drain her.

He pulled away from her wrist, noting the glazed-over look in Anzu’s oversized eyes. He decided it was a good look for her. Atem could now handle looking directly at the angel, and realized he had no name for her. The angel pressed her hand to Anzu’s cheek, and Atem watched the puncture marks he’d left on her heal before his eyes, leaving nothing but two sets of faint pink scars. The pink in Anzu’s cheeks returned and she blinked, looking startled.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Anzu remarked, a grin on her face. “Hey, don’t starve yourself again, okay?” She fished around in her purse before handing him a card. “Find me next time you need to feed. I’ll let you drink from me again.”

“I’ll walk you home,” the angel said, taking Anzu’s hand in hers. “I’d be a very poor guardian angel if I let you get hurt.”

Atem couldn’t help himself: he winked at the angel. After all, that was clearly a joke for his benefit. Guardian angels weren’t real. And if they were, they certainly weren’t going to lead a mortal into being bitten by a vampire. She ignored him, however. He could actually stand up now. “Hey, wait,” he called after them. “I never got your name.”

The angel froze up. For a minute, Atem thought she might tell him her name. Instead she continued forward as if she didn’t hear him. He flipped over the card Anzu had handed him and was surprised to note that it had a telephone number on it and her full name. Anzu Mazaki, actress. If he wanted to, he could look into local plays that she might have done. He stuck the card in his pocket, deciding that he should go drop in on his dear cousins. If he trusted anyone to have answers about what just happened, it was them.

It had been stupid of her to save a vampire. Keket was very aware of the potential consequences of her actions the minute she elected to save his life. A vampire that should have been dead was now alive and prowling for fresh new blood because she chose to save him. Not only that, she handed up the girl on a silver platter to the starving vampire, despite knowing the risks of a feeding vampire. Keket warded Anzu’s door, fulfilling an already-broken promise to protect her. She failed to mention that she’d known that the starving vampire could have easily killed her. Keket reasoned with herself that he was able to stop himself when feeding. This was a small comfort.

Vampires, as far as Keket was aware, were dangerous. It was why she wasn’t surprised to find Jonouchi standing on the doorsteps of the apartment building that Anzu lived in. He had the same easygoing grin as always. “Boss saw you saving a vampire,” Jonouchi said, looking almost apologetic about having to deliver the news. “He’s pissed.”

“Does he have anything better to do than spy on us?” Keket responded. It was a stupid question. Of course their boss would keep tabs on his two best soldiers. Her wings ruffled in agitation underneath the layers of clothing. “He was starving, and I helped him feed. No one died.”

“Someone could have died,” Jonouchi said as he pointed up to the building that Anzu was in. “She could have died. And what if she was important in the grand scheme of things?” He sighed, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. “Ket, you can’t just keep doing things like this. You said it yourself: the vampire was starving. You should’ve left him to die.”

“I know,” Keket replied, the agitation growing. Of course she knew that it had been a mistake to willingly take a mortal to a vampire. She was very aware of the fact that she’d betrayed their mission. “I just… I couldn’t let this vampire die. It didn’t seem right.”

“You can’t tame a vampire.” Jonouchi sounded almost incredulous, and Keket glared at him. Of course that hadn’t been what she was thinking. Even she didn’t know what she’d been thinking when she’d held her hand out to that demon. “Look, that’s what people are going to think. Why did you save him?”

“I don’t know,” Keket admitted as her wings expanded out from behind her. She turned towards Jonouchi, glaring at him. There was little left to say. “Look, just tell the boss that I won’t do it again, okay?”

“Keket…”

Jonouchi certainly had more to say, but Keket was done. She launched herself upwards to the sky. Flight had always been the best way to clear her mind. Seeing the Earth below her felt familiar. While the appearance changed, it changed so slowly that sometimes it felt like this was how it always had been. It was impossible to imagine the Earth looking any other way.

And yet she remembered when the entire mass of land was congealed as one, before it broke up into what it was now. She remembered when the land was roamed by giants. It was enough to put into perspective a single mistake. She’d saved one of Hell’s creatures. She’d gone against every single doctrine in doing so. Keket reasoned with herself again: his existence was a mere speck compared to the endless time that stretched out in front of her. Even if he managed another thousand years, it was nothing compared to the billions she’d seen.

Getting worked up over this was nothing. This was a single moment in billions of lifetimes. If she was lucky, she’d never even cross paths with this vampire again. Still, she couldn’t help but fixate on the fact that he’d refused to drink despite his obvious thirst. If Anzu hadn’t insisted… Would he have allowed himself to starve to death? It went against everything she’d been told about vampires.

He was different, and she was obsessed with that. The memory of his fangs came into sharp view. He told her outright that he’d never been human. Then why had he acted so human? He acted as if there had been something inside him to save. She pushed the thought away. If she began to think that maybe everything she knew was wrong, then she’d spiral too much. It was dangerous to question what she knew.

She’d always been told that faith meant never questioning what she’d been told by those closer to the highest power in Heaven. When she drew her sword, it was because it was willed to be. Keket had gone along with what was willed to be for so long that she’d never stopped to think about what she was doing. Destruction at the end of a blade because the divine powers that be said it must be so. If she questioned it now, then she had to question everything that was spread out in front of her. It broke her heart too much to even think of another possibility.

Kazuko needed help and she needed help fast. The wound she had would take her life if she didn’t act quickly. If there was one thing she was grateful for, it was that witch’s shops weren’t all that hard to find if one knew where to look. And Kazuko knew exactly where to look. The sigils in the door frame made it clear what she would find here. She’d shoved the door open, her hand still firm over her stomach and forcing herself to stay upright.

“If you think this looks bad,” she said through gritted teeth to the stunned shopkeeper, “you should see the other guy.”

“Holy shit,” the dark-haired man breathed, turning his back and grabbing a handful of bottles off the shelf before heading behind a curtain. Kazuko examined the shop, noting the choice of green shelves and strange plants hanging from the ceiling. It wasn’t a bad place to die. She assumed that he’d left her to die, anyway. Instead, he exited out of the backroom with another man who was much shorter than him. “And she just came into the shop like that!”

The hair on the man that accompanied the dark haired man was impossible to believe. Blond bangs with wild dark red hair that had light ends, best described as being in the shape of a star. How long did it take him to do that hair? “Hey,” he said and his voice was so soft. Or maybe that was simply the blood loss that made his voice seem far away. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”

She hissed as he moved her hand away from her wound, his brow furrowing. The next thing she knew, she was collapsing into his arms. “Sorry,” she said, surprised at how far away her own voice sounded. “I think I’m dead.”

The world went black around her.

#oc x canon fanfic #atem x oc fanfic #atem x oc fanfiction #atem x oc #pharaoh atem x oc #myfanfic #oc: great royal wife keket #oc: kazuko kubota #fic: fall from grace #it's HEEEEERE

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lov3nerdstuff · 4 years

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Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 5.9}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 6k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

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"Do I have to?!"

"Yes."

"But WHY?"

"Because being better than everyone else comes at the price of studying more than everyone else. It's as simple as that, and if you want to be better, you'll have to practice." Robin replied with a small smirk which she tried to hide though as she placed the apple in her hand back on the book in front of her where she had taken it from moments ago. "Another ten times."

"Sometimes I hate you, Robin. This is boring as hell!" Jorien sighed, but did as she was told anyway. She was sitting across from Robin on one of the otherwise deserted wooden benches in the spectators' stands of the Quidditch pitch, with her legs crossed underneath her just like Robin herself was sitting. Her closed textbooks in a stack in between them made for a makeshift table, a pedestal for the apple which was soon to be charmed.

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon close to the end of May, and Robin and Jorien had decided to move their weekly tutoring session outside for once, onto the ranks of the Quidditch stadium, while the Slytherin house team was having a practice before the last game of the term next week. Cas had made it into the team in the beginning of the year, and while neither Robin nor Jorien understood what she liked about the sport, they had for once come out here today as moral support.

The ranks were almost completely empty, the high towers closed off as always between games, and thus it was merely Robin and Jorien sitting in the spectators' ring surrounding the pitch. Nobody else was stupid enough to be out here to watch a mere bloody practice... Robin was no fan of the game, admittedly, and neither of the stadium as a place to work, but Jorien had wanted some fresh air as a change to the dungeons for once, and thus Robin had let herself be dragged out against her preference. And she had regretted it immediately. The warmth and bright light made her dizzy, the bench she was sitting on had seen better days, and she was only too glad that she only had to give instructions and see to it that Jorien followed them correctly.

Today they were revising the second year charms for the upcoming exams, and Robin actually found herself fairly amused to let Jorien enlarge an apple to the size of a pumpkin and then shrink it down to a pea. Slowly, that is, which was way more difficult than having it just switch size with a start. It required great focus on one's own magic and the object of choice, and she thought it important for the young girl to learn this now instead of in the middle of next year when everyone else would. Focus was absolutely vital, and the sooner she learned that the better.

While Jorien practiced her spells and obviously tried very hard not to throw the apple as far away as she could instead of changing its size, Robin observed the Quidditch practice. More specifically, she tried to observe Cas, because she didn't care about anyone else on the team enough to risk getting her eyes scorched out by the sun for them.

"Robin?"

"Yes?" She answered Jorien, but kept her eyes in the sky to seek out which one of the small black spots could be Cas.

"Why are you so good at this?" Jorien asked in as close to a whine as Robin had ever heard from her.

"Because I'm three years ahead of you. I've simply had more time to study magic. Obviously I'm better at it."

"No, I mean… why are you so good at making us learn things? I hate you for being so strict about it, but it does work."

"I don't know." Robin shrugged and squeezed her eyes together as the sun hit them full force once again. She knew why she preferred rainy weather; perhaps she should consider buying some sunglasses. "I don't try to make you learn, I just like to talk about the subjects."

"Is that why we're basically two years ahead in everything related to potions and herbology, but not in history of magic, for example?"

"Yeah." Now Robin couldn't keep the smirk to herself. "I love potions and everything related to it. Could talk about it all day, every day. I probably do, actually."

"You certainly do. God knows why… I find the class barely bearable, and only because Professor Snape isn’t as mean to us as to the others. Because he likes you."

"I find that hard to imagine." Robin said and found herself glad for the first time that her face was red from the heat anyway.

"That he's nice to us or that he likes you?"

"I know that he likes me, and I expect him to be nice to you if you're nice to him, but I doubt that there is a connection between those two."

"You expect him to be nice?! I don't know in which world you're living, honestly. He is really scary and mean most of the time, and he usually snaps at people for literally no reason."

"Believe me, he usually has a reason." Robin snorted and shook her head as she finally looked at Jorien once again. "But that reason doesn't always make sense to anyone but him. He isn't an easy person to understand, and he sees to it that no one does."

"You do understand him though, don't you? I mean… you spend an awful lot of time with him, so you guys have to get along somehow."

"We do get along. It isn't always the easiest thing, but we're making progress." And somehow, Robin thought, they had simply refused to give up on each other for so long that by now they were at a point where they had adapted to each other's flaws enough for their rough edges to fit together. Very well even, at least in Robin's eyes. Maybe that was just her feelings getting in the way of her judgement, but would they be working together this successfully if they didn't function well together anyway? Robin shook her head to push the thought back into the depth where it had come from.

"But… how?! Can you tell me that secret?" Jorien asked with more curiosity than Robin would've liked.

"You are trying to distract me, and I can tell you that it's not working. The apple, ten times." She said, and gave Jorien a pointed look.

"But I've already done two! You just weren't looking."

"Have you now? In that case, start over. Twelve times. Starting by one again. Now." Perhaps, Robin thought, she was being too strict about this. But if Jorien couldn't focus for the mere twelve minutes it would take to make the stupid apple grow and shrink twelve times, then she would run into serious problems sooner or later. Charms weren't Jorien's problem, they never had been, it rather was her lack of focus when she didn't deem something important enough. So doing a boring task over and over again might seem like a punishment, but Robin was only trying to get her to concentrate. Even if the task was easy.

This time Jorien didn't complain, only sighed, and actually did fifteen times the task just to prove to both of them that she could. Robin didn't say it, but she knew that she would probably have done the same thing if the roles had been reversed, and she felt very much pleased with Jorien for that ambition. But she also believed that they had done enough practicing for today, especially out in the sun like this, and thus they packed up before finally observing the practice game of Quidditch going on in front of them.

While Jorien seemed almost genuinely curious about the fast pace at which their housemates scored points, Robin found her only entertainment in watching someone getting hit by the bludgers. It just made her snicker to see some of the people she couldn't stand get hit by very heavy flying balls. They should make a sport out of that alone, because then Robin would definitely enjoy watching the games a whole lot more. The visual she had of it in her head alone was more entertaining than the current Quidditch game in the real world, and Robin snorted to herself as she watched imaginary people get knocked off their imaginary brooms by imaginary bludgers. That was fun. Snape would love it, even if he'd never admit it, and Robin made a mental note to tell him about it later. She just loved to make him smirk or even smile sometimes, for it always seemed to brighten up her whole world for a while. And he probably did smile more often these days indeed, when he thought that Robin wasn't looking, but she'd caught him often enough to know. A smile was on her lips before she knew.

"Asshole!!!" Jorien's yell snapped Robin out of her mind with a start, but before she had the time to fully register what or who the girl was yelling at, her eyes were drawn to the bludger that came speeding right into their direction.

Robin grabbed her wand from the waistband of her jeans, but Jorien was faster to direct hers at the iron ball with a shaking hand. "Engorgio!"

Robin's blood froze over with a start when she realized what Jorien had said, but the shock sat so deep in her bones that it robbed her of any ability to react. All she could do was watch how the bludger grew to the size of a wrecking ball in an instant, before it crashed straight through the wooden construction below them with a thunder of demolition. Robin's eyes met Jorien's for a broken second of shared panic, then the stand below them gave way as the entire construction collapsed in itself. One last spark of an instinctive need to act grabbed Robin, as adrenaline accompanied her fall, and she threw a blind spell at Jorien without any fathomable thought in her mind about what she did. When everything went black, she couldn't remember anything but fear.

… … …

Pain ripples through her body, piercing her from left to right with heated blades that covered her skin in a layer of cold sweat. Robin felt nauseous to the core when her eyes snapped open.

"I don't know what is wrong with her!" An exasperated yell cut through Robin's eardrums and she groaned. What's going on…?

"But we need to do something before her heart rate drops too low, so think of something!" Someone else yelled back, but the voices were moving away rather than closer to her. They weren't talking about Robin… oh god. Jorien!

Robin sat up with a start, yelping in pain as she did, as she scanned the room with frantic eyes in search for her roommate. The collapse, the fall… it came back to Robin with a start, and she went on to ignore her pain as she struggled to her feet. Jorien had been put into the infirmary bed next to hers, and even though it was surrounded by various people trying to help, Robin saw enough. Oh no… this was all her fault.

"You shouldn't be up!" Someone addressed Robin as soon as she stepped to stand next to Jorien's bed. "You must lay back down in this instant until we have inspected your injuries!"

"Don't bother, I'm fine." She replied with a frown, and had to realize that speaking made her feel even more sick. Gods, her entire body hurt. But she was alive, wasn't she? That was good enough for now. Jorien in the bed in front of her perhaps wouldn't be so lucky. She seemed to be petrified, but also not really… Robin's vision went out of focus for a moment, and she aggressively blinked to get her eyes to function again. She needed to function, damnit! Jorien's eyes were wide open, her lips parted in a silent scream, and her hair floated around her head in slow motion. "What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know, she was floating in the air while we found you lying in the shatters. She was almost motionless, just like this. Frozen in time..." The nurse with the oddly blurry face replied, and tried to push Robin back down onto her own bed. Robin however had no intention to let her do so, and simply stepped around her with a shiver. Her head was spinning… but she knew that she had to help Jorien. She knew that this was her fault, all of this. She had pushed the girl to far in her practice of the stupid charm. She'd failed to protect her from her own mistake.

"I… I did this." She managed to say in a decently steady voice, and the more she focused, the more she could suppress her nausea and even the burning pain. They could deal with that later. "Before we fell."

"And what exactly did you do?!" Madam Pomfrey asked from the other side of the bed, and let her hands drop from Jorien's neck. "Her heart is very close to not beating anymore, so you better tell me right in this instant!"

Robin blinked a few times, and finally felt her mind clicking into work mode. She moved from her position in the middle of the beds to stand directly above Jorien and across from Madam Pomfrey. "You have tried the anti-paralysis potion, yes?"

"Of course, but it has shown no effect! What did you do to her?"

"It should have worked…" Robin frowned and dug through her memory for a moment, but she couldn't remember what she had done, what had happened. There was nothing, her mind was blank from the moment on when she had looked into Jorien's terrified eyes. "But she is definitely paralyzed rather than petrified. It should be working."

"It doesn't, so lay back down and let us try to save her in another way!" The matron snapped at Robin, who however couldn't care less about what the woman said. The stabbing in her side made it hard to breathe and even harder to think, but Robin only had to look at the girl in front of her and her own guilt and fear pushed any haze out of her mind. Focus… she took a deep breath. What was the problem? The potion wasn't working. Why wasn't the potion working? Not because it was faulty. Which means… Jorien must have something in her system that neutralized one of the ingredients of the potion! But what could it be? Geez… there were endless possibilities.

"Perhaps we should-... Ah, Professor!" Madam Pomfrey said in a relieved voice. "Good that you show up at all at last!"

"What is this entire ordeal about that my presence was demanded so insistently?" Snape's deep voice finally had Robin look up from Jorien's floating hair, and the room was spinning again at her movement. But her eyes found his nonetheless, and she could tell that his expression went from annoyance to a brief second of shock, then back to the thickest neutral facade. "What happened?"

"Later. Right now we have to keep Miss Blakeley alive." Madam Pomfrey shut his demand for answers right down and turned back to Jorien. "The anti-paralysis potion had no effect, and if we don't find another solution quickly, then-..."

"No, we don't need another solution." Robin interrupted her with a tone as determined as she could manage. Her entire left side felt like someone had poured liquid fire over it at this point, her throat raw as if cut open and then stabbed her with a million daggers more. "We need Kalinistra."

"Not now, Miss Mitchell, just move aside and let us do our work!" Pomfrey scolded her, and the nurse next to Robin once again tried to subtly get her to sit down at least, but Robin pushed her hands away and suppressed another whine at the harsh movement.

"I am doing your bloody work for you and if you had any sense in you, you would just do as I say!" She groaned, and blinked the tears away that had sprung to her eyes. "Jorien has a substance in her system that neutralises the potion, and we have to get rid of that."

"Good point, go on." Snape replied immediately, before any of the others could even try to put an end to Robin's explanation once again.

"If you look at the… ingredients in the anti-paralysis potion, you see that… that it's mainly based on herbs somewhat related to Pellatium. What neutralizes Pellatium would be something like Mandrake root, and-..."

"And Kalinistra would erase any trace of Mandrake." Snape concluded before Robin could, and she started to nod before she had to stop when it made her ears ring and her head feel like exploding. Another wave of cold sweat broke over her skin, and her breathing grew more shallow by the second.

"Miss Blakeley came here yesterday for some Pepperup Potion, actually…" The nurse said quietly, and all eyes flew to her in an instant.

"That's about seventy percent Mandrake, just so you know." Robin huffed, then rolled her eyes, and regretted it immediately.

"And you couldn't have mentioned that twenty minutes ago when she was brought here?!" Madam Pomfrey scolded her young colleague, but then turned to Snape. "So your suggestion would be to give the girl Kalinistra and then another dose of the anti-paralysis potion?"

"It is Miss Mitchell's suggestion, but I absolutely agree." He replied with a glare down at the matron next to him. "Didn't you say time was scarce? I would suggest you get started then."

As Madam Pomfrey and the nurse jumped into action, Snape moved out of their way and instead came to stand next to Robin. She noticed his presence close by her side, but kept her eyes fixed on Jorien while waves of cold heat rolled over her continuously and brought back equal waves of dizziness. If she had looked him in the eye, for just a second even, he immediately would've known that something was up with her. She didn't even dare to brush her hair out of her face, nor away from where the sweat made it stick to her neck.

"Kalinistra was a brilliant idea." He mused after a while, as they both watched how Madam Pomfrey gave Jorien another vial of anti-paralysis potion at last.

"Hope so." Robin pressed out in as neutral a tone as possible, but there was no way he could miss just how fake her entire demeanor was. Every breath hurt like a knife stabbed into her ribcage, and it was hard enough to breathe at all. Talking was worse.

"What happened to her?" He asked another time, clearly addressing Robin, for his voice was too quiet for the other two to hear. She loved that he actually talked to her, but right now she just couldn't keep up with that on top of everything else.

"I happened." Robin whispered, in a new wave of guilt, and wrapped her arms around her middle only to jerk them back when an overwhelming pain rippled through her torso upon a mere touch. She bit her lip to keep quiet; this was not good. But the current moment wasn't about her. This was about undoing what she had done.

A gasp cut through the silence then, and it was followed by a violent quake going through Jorien's body. Then her eyes closed and snapped open again as she started blinking rapidly, breathing hard as if someone had made her jump only moments before. But she was moving again, at a normal speed, and Robin could have cried in relief. The quiet sighs of the others told her they shared that sentiment.

But Jorien for her part looked around with frantic eyes, her features dominated by sheer panic until at last her gaze fell onto Robin. Then, within a second, she sat up in her bed and wrapped her arms around Robin as tightly as she could.

Robin's lips parted in a silent scream that fortunately no one paid attention to, then she bit her lip tightly enough to taste the bitter sting of copper. And yet, the faintest sound must have escaped her, for Jorien let go of her immediately and instead stared up at her with teary eyes.

"I'm sorry…" The girl choked out. "I… I didn't…"

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry." Robin replied immediately, with a small smile and a mild tone she had no idea how she was capable of right now. Ignoring everything else, she sat down at the edge of the bed and allowed Jorien to cling onto her again, while she tried to comfort the girl in return. Robin knew that she wasn't good at this, wasn't someone others came to for comfort. But as it seemed, she was what Jorien wanted right now, and she could never deny her that. Not after what she had done to her. Not even as the taste of copper in her mouth grew stronger, and her pain was fueled by the squeezing arms around her ribs.

"Miss Blakeley, how do you feel?" Madam Pomfrey finally asked, but the voice sounded dull and distant in Robin's ears even as Jorien finally let go of her.

"I'm good." The girl replied with a small sigh, and looked from Robin to Snape, then to the matron at last. "Confused, and my eyes hurt a little, but otherwise I'm good."

"That's amah-..." Robin said as she forced herself back onto her feet with as little swaying as possible. "Amazing."

"I expect an explanation. What exactly led to this chaos?" Snape asked at last, and while Robin wanted to give him an answer to that, she found herself too busy trying to keep the room from spinning. So she simply stared down at the ground with wide eyes while Jorien and Madam Pomfrey explained how the bludger had destroyed the wooden construction and how Robin had somehow frozen Jorien in time and space to keep her from falling, which had resulted in the paralysis. That Robin herself had fallen into the ashes however remained unsaid, and honestly, she barely took notice of it anyway. The voices were a white noise to her own alternating waves of cold heat and pain, a drowning echo in a sea of sound.

"But… I shouldn't be feeling perfectly fine, should I?" Jorien frowned suddenly, and tugged at Robin's hand. "We were falling, and I was paralyzed and…"

"You might feel good, but you still need to rest! You have been through a lot, and perhaps it is best if we continue this discussion at a later point. Try to sleep now." Madam Pomfrey cut in before anyone else could reply, and Jorien reluctantly laid back down as she was told.

"I'm okay though, right?" She inquired before everyone else could move away. "Robin?"

"Don't worry. We gave you a little sip of a potion I made, against the paralyzing charm and now you're all good again." Robin replied with a badly feigned smile that however seemed to suffice.

"Thank you for saving my life..." Jorien offered her a small smile in return, and finally closed her eyes with a surprisingly peaceful expression that squeezed Robin's heart in a death grip.

"You shouldn't thank me." She breathed to herself, far too quietly for Jorien to hear. "Not when I'm the one who almost got you killed in the first place." Then, at last, she let herself be shooed away into the wide aisle in the middle of the infirmary, where she wouldn't stand in the way any longer. Perhaps they had forgotten that she had been part of the accident too, not just its cause… but Robin wouldn't draw attention to it. In her eyes she wasn't the victim, but the one to blame. In her eyes, she deserved every bit of the pain she felt.

So she merely kept standing in the aisle like she was the one frozen in time now, hollow eyes staring at nothing while her own arms wrapped around herself in a vain attempt to make it easier to bear the nauseating waved of cold sweat. But every shallow, rasped breath still hurt like a new knife between the ribs, and made brilliant spots of shadow and light dance across her vision in a swirling haze. She blinked them away, and her focus returned barely when Snape's eyes found hers as he came to stand a mere step in front of her.

"Are you alright? You look-..."

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Robin snapped before he even had the chance to finish the sentence. She didn't deserve concern, or sympathy; she deserved to be yelled at as if she wasn't hurt. In defiance of her own state, she dropped her arms to her sides and turned to look towards the distant windows instead. His eyes were too much to bear, they could shatter her with all the things he would never say out loud.

And yet when cold fingers brushed against the heated skin of her neck, a force beyond her drew her gaze back to his. His touch both pleasure and pain brought the sweetest agony of doubling heatwaves to her body, and her lips parted in both a silent sigh and weeping. His fingers traced over the curve of her neck, barely touching upon her collar bone as he pushed away the strands of her hair that clung to it. Then finally the touch disappeared altogether, all too soon. His gaze dropped from her neck to his hand between them, then he met her startled eyes at last.

"Is this nothing to you?" He asked, in a low tone that was both accusation and inquiry, and finally Robin could pry her eyes away from his to let them drop to the hand he held out to her. The sight of deepest crimson on his fingertips let her shudder while a new wave of cold heat ran over her. The sticky feeling on her skin… her neck and ribs and shoulder blades… it had never been sweat. Her hands rose on their own account to cradle his between them, trembling fingers clawing at his skin in an attempt to steady what she saw. But it was her own vision quivering, not his hand.

"Tell me the truth, Robin." He demanded after a moment, but never removed his hand from hers.

Robin looked up at him then, but her hold on him only tightened as gravity seemed to change by the second. Her stomach was at war with her lungs, was at war with her entire left side. "Jorien-..."

"I understood what happened to Miss Blakeley. I need to know what happened to you."

"I was terrified and I don't know what I did to her... There is pain everywhere, and I feel sick, and... and… your face is getting really… blurry... Maybe I should just-..." Robin gasped, and Snape's features above her turned into a swirling explosion of color before it faded to all black. With a start, all the tension in her body was gone.

… … …

"Why do you have to be so stupid… so stupid and so ridiculously brilliant." The deep voice of her favorite person was the first thing that wrapped Robin in an immediate cloud of comfort as her senses slowly returned to her, rising up from the depths of sleep.

"Why do you do this to me?!" He asked quietly, but it still cut through the silence like a clean silver line. "Couldn't you have cared about yourself at least half as much as you care about the ones you choose as yours?"

"No." Robin replied in the same quiet, and finally opened her eyes to look up at the ceiling of the infirmary once again. A single candle was lit on her nightstand, and it made the shadows dance on the cold stone high above.

For a moment there was nothing but silence, no reply to Robin's answer, and she turned her head on the pillow to look at Snape to her left. He was sitting on the backrest of a chair, and looking at her with an almost startled expression.

"How much did you hear?" He asked at last, but made no move to leave nor to sit down properly.

"More than you would like and less than I would." Robin offered him a small smile, and tried to sit up a moment later with surprisingly little pain. Her ribs ached a little, her neck felt itchy, and her wrist did a weird clicking sound when she moved it, but otherwise she could sit up and even cross her legs without any problems.

"I see you're feeling better." Snape commented in regard to her movement, and when Robin motioned for him to have a seat across from her, he reluctantly obliged to sit down at the far end of the bed.

"Physically, yeah… But it still is my fault that Jorien almost died." Robin sighed in defeat, and quickly scanned her surroundings in the dim light of the one candle. The room seemed to be entirely empty but for the two of them, and she found herself relaxing as her eyes returned to Snape. "I screwed up."

"That you did."

"At least you admit it. But I'm drowning in guilt as it is already, there’s no need for scolding me."

"You screwed up because you were stupid enough to pretend that you were fine. Not because you saved the girl's life."

"No! I screwed up when I was too slow to stop that bloody bludger, and then Jorien mixed up her spells because she was panicked and I hadn't taught her any better, and… I cursed her, in our fall. I remember it now. I studied relative time spells and curses just last night, it was the first thing that came to my mind. Throwing experimental magic at her was fucking stupid."

"Seeing as she is perfectly fine and back in her own room right at this moment, while you are here with two previously broken ribs and a scar to remind you of the events of today, I wouldn't necessarily consider the last part as screwing up." He said, and turned entirely towards Robin in his seat on the bed at last. "It might not have been an ideal reaction to blindly throw a spell at her, but you did prevent the worst. If you hadn't acted, she might still have died from the fall. You might have died either way."

"But I didn't. I'm fine, for real this time. I promise. I only feel like it would have been my job to protect her, and I let her down when I didn't stop the bludger before she did. I'm guilty of that no matter what, and I'm guilty of not teaching her better. I know that it is my fault, no matter what you say."

"I wouldn't dare to disagree. I know exactly how you feel."

"Do you really?"

"Yes." He stated, and at last dropped his gaze from hers down to the wrinkled sheets before he continued. "You feel an oppressing guilt for letting something happen to her while you could have prevented it if you had acted differently. You feel remorse for the pain you caused by not preventing her from being hurt in the first place. And when she still looks at you like you were the one thing saving her, you know that all you deserve is the very worst, but not her thankfulness."

"That's… yes." Robin breathed, and her throat felt too tight, her lips too dry, and she wet them before she spoke on. "So you do feel like that as well? When your students get hurt?"

"Only when it's you." He replied, obviously before he thought better of it, and his honesty surprised both himself and Robin as their eyes met once more. After long seconds of silence, he spoke on. "I do feel responsible for what happens to all of my students, in a general manner, especially for the ones in my house. But of course it just has to be entirely different with you. It always is."

"Obviously." She gave him a small smile in return. How could one single person make her feel so incredibly safe and set so exhilarated at once?! He didn't even do anything but look at her… and say that she was different to him than anyone else. "Perhaps it's not a matter of responsibility. Maybe it's trying to protect someone you care about. And when you fail, it hurts so much more because you didn't just fail a responsibility put upon you, but because you failed the one you care about. The thought of losing someone you care about is always scary… if not straight out terrifying."

"You scared me today. I want you to never do that to me again."

"I'll do my best." Robin said, as both his words and the sincerity in his face melted away the last bit of sadness left within her. Her lips curled into a wider smile at last. "Don't worry, your reputation as the emotionless, scary professor who doesn't care about anyone won't be damaged."

"I am not concerned about my reputation. And it seems that people are already well aware that you are my favorite."

"Your favorite nuisance, perhaps." She laughed, and yet the uproar of her heart couldn't be fooled by humor. "But any kind of favorite will do, really."

"If nuisance is the word you would like to go with, I will not stop you." He replied with a small smirk, which only made her smile even more. "But anyone else who dares to say so would make an enemy."

Robin bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from grinning like an idiot. Perhaps it wasn't such a good change that he was getting better at saying nice things to her… it only made her love him more.

A spark of electricity started in her heart, and then crawled through her body in an expanding wave that gained momentum with every fiber it consumed. She really did love him, quite desperately so even, but her mind had never dared put that term to it before now. Before it was finally absolutely impossible to deny. Bloody hell… one stupid term for what she felt changed everything, and yet it changed nothing at all. She still wouldn't do anything but keep it as a dark secret in the shadows of her mind. Perhaps it gave her the permission to dwell in those shadowy places more often… and it definitely would make it harder to leave them again. But she'd never quite minded such a sweetest kind of torture.

"You should rest now. It is three o'clock in the morning and I know you better than to assume that you won't want to study and work as soon as the sun is up." He finally said with a sigh and stood up from the end of the bed.

"Don't go." Robin said before she could convince herself not to. "I'll lay down if you insist, but I can't sleep. Not right now. Can we just… talk? Like always?"

"Do you seriously believe I have nothing better to do at three in the morning than that?"

"Well, seeing as you have been here even since before I was awake, I would dare to say no." Robin raised an eyebrow at him with a smile, and when he rolled his eyes exaggeratedly but sat back down anyway, she knew that his entire protest was merely for show.

"In fact, I do not." He sighed, and quirked an eyebrow at her in return. "What would you like to talk about then?"

"How about some defense against the dark arts revision? OWLs are in two weeks, and I could use some help."

"How fortunate for you that I am well versed in the subject."

"How very fortunate indeed."

____________________________

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katsukikitten · 4 years

Text

Part 5

Please enjoy and let me know what you thought! I will add the links for the other parts in the morning.

Part 1

An impatient blonde paces in your room waiting for you to get back with popping hands. The door slides open and then closed as you step in.

"Uncle Sozen and Haru both have old yukatas they left here. One is bound to fit…." You notice his rigid stance and the slight wear in the tatami flooring, "Is everything….okay?"

"Yes? No?" He runs his deadly hand through ashen hair.

"Hey, sit down and face the mountain."

"What?!" All accusing bite staring you down before he does as he's asked. You sit behind him pushing into him and he pushes back with a scoff.

"What is this?"

"Kirishima taught me to sit like this while we were at UA. I didn't know how to ask for help or express my feelings that well back then. So this is supposed to show you that I'm supporting you and not judging you." You say softly, "I need to go first. I want to apologize. I...I lied to you to get you to come, and what was supposed to be light hearted summer fun just turned into an absolute shit show and then I go and hurt you on top of the drama. I'm...I'm sorry."

A dog barks in the distance and you feel as if your heart could explode. Finally his fingers brush over yours in acceptance. You grip onto them, those warm calloused digits bringing you more cormfort than you thought possible. You let them go, not wanting to get too attached to something that may very well be fleeting.

"So uh, what did you need to get off your chest?" Your voice is gentle, understanding as you both lean on one another. Your hands supporting some of your own weight.

"So that night with Shoji, after you ran off I stayed to help clean and after that I honestly didn't want to be fucking around you. So I got lost but ended up in front of Sobo's study. She forced me to come in and kicked my ass in a game of Go. She had already figured out we were lying. And this dream I had….well I kept coming back here, year after year with you. Sobo was in the dream too. But before that, after our game she gave me….." He swallows thickly, concentrating on how your back feels against his. On your steady and deep breaths as you listen. He starts again.

"She gave me this." He slides the ring onto your right ring finger. His cheeks burning as you gasp out.

"Look I'm not….I'm not really sure what I'm fucking asking you. But that damn dream felt so real, so..." His heart reminds him of how he felt, melting into his stomach in an attempt to drown the butterflies, "I want to maybe try to get there but I know...I know I should be coming back here with you. I know it won't be like you and I are magically in love or some shit. That it will be really fucking hard work. Besides the ring belongs with you, great Oba wouldn't take it back. So if you say no to whatever the hell I'm trying to ask that's okay. But shit if it is a no try to bring me back as your fucking friend next year."

You blink away tears, turning your right hand this way and that. Nervousness and relief wash over one another over the fact that he put it on your wrong hand purposely, recognizing that the two of you barely know one another.

But that something was still there, pulling and pushing the two of you together. No one could deny that.

You remember Sobo calling you into the study when you were 17 before you moved to the big city for your final year of highschool.

"When you bring the man you marry to me, you will know I accept him when I give you the kimono." She points to the old photo of her in the crane garment, "But if he has my true blessing and approval I will give you this."

She flashes the ring that now sits snugly on your finger, the memory fades threatened to be washed away by endless tears.

"We all have a red string of fate dear. I pray yours is tethered to someone reliable and worthy of you, mago."

You would say you found yours in such an odd way.

"I want to try to Bakugou. Whatever your whole dream was, whatever Sobo saw in you. I want to see all of it too." You say softly, leaning away from his muscular back to hug him from behind. Squeezing him so tightly it hurts to breath.

He almost doesn't hear you whisper.

"Thank you. Thank you for coming."

×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&

"Wow you look great in that old thing!" Uncle Sozen comments, adjusting the young man's sleeves once more. Admitting the stitch work of the small lotus that line the collar. Bakugou tries not to become flustered over the comments, especially and Aunt Mai begins to adjust his belt.

"So handsome!" She smiles, not a hint of animosity over the lie he upheld with you from anyone in the family but Haru.

Shoji stands near the back while the moon slowly rises as the sun dies on the horizon.

Finally you and great Oba step onto the engawa, you're breathtaking in the kimono. The crane's coming to life with every step you take until you find his side. The tips of his ears burn as scarlet eyes narrow in on the ring, you're still wearing it on your right finger. Your hair pulled up and back held by a stunning jeweled comb.

The ceremony goes smoothly, at least as smoothly as something can for your family. Impossible amounts of tears are shed by all sides as everyone takes a turn to speak. Once it is over, everyone makes a point to visit Shoji, to scold him and make sure he gives the antidote to the government ASAP.

For the time being he starts with Sozen who then offers to take care of the hot head who stubbornly refuses.

"Katsuki, Katsuki, the fireworks! Will you...will you do a few?" He looks at you and wonders how he will ever be able to tell you no again. He realizes how he took that word for granted before. He sighs, sending some stunning explosions into the air. All glittering in flashes of red and orange.

You grab onto him as the rest of the fireworks are set off by Haru. Hand squeezing his bicep tightly as you lean your head onto his shoulder, sighing and smiling for the first time in the past 24 hours. You look up at him, catching his burning ember eyes staring at you. This time he leans down to kiss you as fireworks set off simultaneously beneath your eyes and under the watch of the deep night sky.

×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&×&

Bakugou sits at the long table in the dining room in his usual spot, Mei and Haru nod his way as others begin to file in.

The children look a tad older than usual as they sit a bit straighter this year, Uncle Sozen seems to have aged over night as he sits to Bakugou's left. He offers a wide smile to which Bakugou returns.

"DADDY!! DADDY!" A shrill voice rings out, little feet slapping harshly against the hard wood as a little girl slams down into his lap. Ash blonde hair dutifully braided but coming loose from all of the horse play skillfully climbs onto his legs.

She looks up at him with wide eyes that mirror your eye color. His heart melts as he smooths down some of her hair.

"Where's your brother?" He asks softly before a young boy comes rushing in. Feet falling hard enough to shake the dishes at the table. Your hair and his burning ember eyes greet him with a shit eating grin.

Neither could be older than six or seven.

"Told you I'd find you!" He brings up a bright palm to slap his older sister only for his wrist to be grabbed by you. Leveling him with a glare the child shrinks away. Trying to hide behind both his sister and father. Bakugou looks up at you, your fierce gaze, your glowing features and swollen belly. His heart melts, pooling in his stomach and threatening to dip lower still.

Suddenly Bakugou has a strong sense of Dejavu. He looks to the head of the table as you settle the kids down.

There is an empty cushion that Shoji sets a bowl of rice with the chopsticks sticking straight up at the place setting.

"To family!" You cheer once everyone is settled. They raise their array of glasses as they chant in response "To family!"

"Let us eat!" You say and everyone responds, "Itadakimasu!"

Bakugou's solemn scarlet eyes glance at the head of the table once more, this time he sees a transparent and young woman sitting there. Eyes roving over the old and new faces smiling brightly. As her smile gets wider her dark hair greys before his eyes to moonlit silver. She looks as she did during his first dinner here.

Happy, content, whole.

He looks over the table, over the aging and young faces, his own lips pulling upward.

He can finally understand why you and Sobo can smile so wide.

-End-

#bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #bnha au #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugo #katsuki bakugou #bnha imagine #bnha bakugou #katsuki bakugo x reader

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monaownsmyass · 4 years

Text

Pineapple Jacket

Requested fic by @playallthechoices. (If you have any fic ideas or requests you'd like me to write, you can leave me an ask!)

Book: Queen B

Pairing: Zoey x MC (Bea Hughes)

Genre : Angst/Fluff/Humour

Rating: PG13

Word Count: 1,925

A/N: What’s this? A @monaownsmyass fic that’s less than 2k words? Impossible! Anyway, Zoey and MC get into an argument but it doesn’t last long cuz Zoey can’t take MC seriously. This was so fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Tag list: @ineedskyecrandall @kamilahsayeet2063 @avalawrencefl @lovekamilahsayeed @thequeenkamilahsayeed @heygmicheelle @djtjsmith14 @jjlover01 @soft-for-drake @dopeyouth @alexroyard @satrinadia @toalltheboysididntlove (lmk if anyone would like to be included or removed in my next fics and if you only want to be tagged for certain pairings.)

"Hey, babe?" I heard Zoey call out from the living room. "Have you seen my jacket?"

Oh shit.

"Which jacket? I asked nervously even though it was obvious which one she was talking about.

"What other jackets have you seen me wearing?" she laughs. "The pineapple one, duh!"

I took a few deep breaths and stepped out of my room, preparing myself to tell her the truth.

"Uh, hey, Zo."

"What's up, babe? Did you find it?"

"Well, not really, I mean yeah I know where it is but," I scratched the back of my neck. "It kinda... shrank..."

She just looked at me and blinked. Once... twice...

"What do you mean it shrank?"

"Um, it got smaller..."

Zoey sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I'm aware of the concept of shrinking, I mean how?"

“Uh, well, you see," I stuttered, trying to word it in a way that was the least embarrassing for me while simultaneously in a way so that I wouldn't get yelled at. I was failing miserably at both. "I may have threw it in the dryer..."

She stared at me again but this time with her arms crossed. She looked at me for so long unblinkingly, I swear I could see her eye twitch which did nothing except made me even more nervous.

"And why did you throw it in the dryer?"

"I accidentally spilt something on it," I said hesitantly while raising my hands in front of my as if it would magically stop Zoey's wrath that was currently being directed towards me. "In my defense, I was just trying to help you get it clean!"

"It wouldn't have gotten dirty in the first place if you didn't spill anything on it! And how many times have I told you that that blazer must be hand-washed and hung dry?!"

"I panicked and I completely forgot! Baby, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't 'baby' me!" Zoey fumed.

She stepped closer to me and I had to forced myself to not move back.

"Where. Is. It?" She whispered each word in a low menacing voice and if I wasn't shitting myself from how terrifying she was right now, I would've been very excited.

I gulped and tried to reply but the words didn't come out.

"Bea Hughes."

Uh-oh, full name in that tone isn't a good sign.

Wordlessly, I pointed to my room. I honestly have no idea why I kept it in my room 'cuz I knew she was gonna be looking for it eventually and leaving in my room wasn't be the best move. I guess I was panicking too much to think properly.

She stormed off into the direction I pointed at and not long after, I heard her scream.

"OH MY GOD!"

She came out holding the shrunken jacket.

"What the fuck is this?!"

"Your jacket," I pointed out lamely.

"It shrank this much?!"

"Hey, on the bright side, it can fit Cutiepie now," I joked, trying to lighten the mood but as soon as I said it, I realised I shouldn't have.

"Bea! This was my favourite jacket!"

"I know! And I can't tell you how sorry I am!"

I pouted and approached her cautiously. She brought her lifted arm with the jacket down to her side and let out a huge sigh.

"There's no point staying mad at you."

She gathered me in her arms and I felt myself immediately relax into her, unbelievably relieved. I rested my head on her shoulder as she spoke, "Not like I could stay mad at you anyway."

"I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise. I feel so bad."

I felt Zoey shake her head. "No, it's okay babe."

Then, she said something that took me aback.

"I have a spare in my closet anyway."

I broke out of her grasp and took a couple steps back.

"You have what?"

"Yeah, I have another."

I could feel the rage boil within me, making me red in the face.

"If you had a spare why did you make such a big deal out of this?!"

Zoey looked at me and scoffed. "Don't turn this around and blame it on me! In case you forgot, you're the one that ruined my favourite jacket!

"Right, your favourite jacket that you have another of! So I don't get why you had to yell at me about it!"

"'Cuz you still ruined my favourite jacket!"

Our banter continued on, back and forth and back and forth for who knows how long, the other not wanting to give in.

"But you didn't have to throw it in the dryer!"

I groaned and slid my hand down my face in irritation. "God! Not this again! I told you it was an accident! Why don't you believe me?"

"I didn't say I didn't believe you, I just think you should be more careful!"

That's it, I couldn't take it anymore.

"AND I'VE APOLOGISED AT LEAST 50 TIMES!" I shouted so loud I was sure the entire dorm building could hear me. "What do I hafta do to get ya to forgive me?! Ya want me to get on my fuckin' knees and beg? Goddamn! Want me to grovel at ya feet, maybe a lil' smooch while I'm at it real quick? 'Cuz this is bloody ridiculous, Zo! Jeez!"

I threw my hand up in frustration and glared at her.

She looked at me, long and hard. We stared at each other for a good minute before I saw the corner of Zoey's lips quirk up.

"What?" I asked.

And that's when she lost it.

She let out a full-fledged grin and burst into laughter, clutching her stomach and doubling over.

My scrunched up face instantly relaxed at the sound. It was impossible to hold a grudge and stay angry when I heard Zoey laugh. It was like sunshine on a dark, cloudy day and I couldn't help but give her a smile of my own when I heard the most beautiful sound known to mankind.

"What?" I questioned again but I was grinning this time.

"Your accent!" she managed to choke out between giggles. "It's so cute!"

As soon as she said that, I realised what she was talking about and I laughed along with her, feeling heat go to my cheeks as I covered my face with my hands.

"Oh my god," I said, embarrassed but still smiling.

"Aww, no need to be shy, baby," Zoey cooed and moved in to wrap her arms around me. "I think it's adorable."

"How am I supposed to scold you and be mad at you now?" I buried my face in her shoulder.

"You don't!" she replied, laughing.

"At least I know our arguments won't last too long," I muttered.

She chuckled and lead me to the couch. She held up her shrunken pineapple jacket and sighed.

"Might as well take your suggestion and put it to good use."

She called Cutiepie to her and scooped him up in her arms. She put the jacket on him and set him back down. He stumbled and waddled around a little, trying to get used to the foreign object on him.

"At least Cutiepie can match with his other mama now," I joked.

We giggled at the sight and then Zoey turned to me. She cleared her throat and spoke to me in an accent that made me groan.

"Now tell me, darlin', what in tarnation were ya doin' with ma jacket?" she mocked, trying to hold back her laughter.

"First of all, I do not sound like that," I clarified, raising a brow at her even though I was trying to hold back my smile. "Second of all, I'm not gonna tell you."

"Aw, why not?" she pouted.

"'Cuz you're making fun of me," I sulked. "And also 'cuz it's embarrassing."

"Okay, okay, I'll drop the accent and I promise I won't tease you."

"Promise?"

She held out her pinky. "Pinky promise, babe."

I hooked mine around hers instinctively and took a deep breath.

"Alright, so, maybe, sometimes when you're out, I wear your jacket around the dorm when you're not using it 'cuz I miss you," I admitted shyly, looking away from her. "Then when you texted me saying you were coming back early the other day, I panicked and accidentally knocked some wine over onto your jacket. I tossed it into the dryer, completely forgetting I wasn't supposed to, I’m sorry."

She took too long to respond so I turned back to her to see her wearing a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit," she said with a country drawl and I scrunched my nose, groaning again.

"Zoey! And I'm Midwestern, not Southern, jeez!"

"Okay! I'll stop for good this time," she laughed and placed a peck on my blushing cheek. "I think it's really cute that you wear my jacket. And for the record, I knew you did that."

I gave her a look, mouth slightly agape. "You knew?"

"Mhm," she responded and now it was her turn to look shy. "I knew 'cuz when I wore it, it always smelt like you, which is partly the reason why I wore it so mucht too. Which also explains why I was upset when you told me you ruin it."

I was about to correct her, saying I didn't actually ruin it but I didn't want to get into another argument. So I ignored it and only focused on the beginning part.

"You wear it 'cuz it smells like me?" I said in a small voice. She only nodded. I jumped on her and attacked her with kisses.

"Bea!" she giggled but didn't try to push me away. Instead, she brought her arms to encircle my waist, pulling me closer. I kissed her lips, cheeks, forehead, nose, neck, any part I could reach.

Eventually, I pulled back. She sighed and frowned. "Now I have to wear the spare that smells all new and stuffy."

She got up and went to her room to retrieve her other pineapple blazer.

"Can you wear it?" she asked me with doe eyes. "Please?"

How could I say no to that? Scratch that, why would I say no to that?

Without wasting another second, I took the jacket from her and draped it over my shoulders, inserting my arms into the arm holes. I loved the way her jacket was a little too big for me. The sleeves went past my hands and the seams at the shoulder drooped down. It was perfect.

I pulled her down into me to give her a long, sweet kiss on the lips. I wrapped my arms around her neck and felt her slide onto my lap, kissing her as if my life depended on it. Kissing Zoey was always an event and this time was no exception. I could feel the butterflies in my tummy stir and my heart beating as loud and hard as a drum in my chest.

When we pulled back, I took in her gorgeous face, both of us breathing hard. She grinned at me and I smiled in response. She was a spectacle.

But then she opened her mouth and ruined it.

"Well, I'll be darn," she whispered breathlessly in a midwestern twang.

I shook my head. "That's it, no more kisses for you!"

She threw her head back laughing, arms pulling herself closer into me as her laughter filled the room and me up with joy.

(More fics!)

#zoey x mc #zoey wade #zoey qb #qb #queen b #qb choices #choices #choices: stories you play #pb #pixelberry #playchoices #qb fanfiction #choices fanfiction #thanks for reading!

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steve0discusses · 3 years

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S4 Ep37: Return of O R B S

Heyyyyy boy, look who’s back, it’s orbs!

So we’ve seen a lot of orbs on this show and I fully admit that I kinda started...I started feeling a kinship for the orbs. Something about these mysterious death balls of Yugioh that we see over and over just became really relatable during a pandemic. Being trapped in a bubble and unable to get close to anyone you know is such a 2020 vibe, youknow?

These orbs that are apparently so normalized in this universe that everyone is just max chilling in an orb and just doing their best at not thinking about whether or not they’ll still have to poop in this completely transparent orb in front of all of their friends.

Also, welcome back, Yugi. Apparently he was just taking a nap this entire time. That’s canon and you know what? Good for him.

And then everyone else just kinda showed up, tired, in an orb, feeling kind of frustrated because there’s literally nothing else they can do to get out of this situation. It’s basically a zoom call in 2020.

(read more under the cut)

TBH if Pegasus was in a zoom call, you know he’d just be talking about wine. You know he’d just be in a zoom call with a bunch of straight-laced teenagers just going off about the weird wine he got from a subscription box that he bought when he was day drunk a week ago. You know he’d just be like “I mean is it good? Should I keep it? Should I drink it anyway?” While popping the cork on stream and just pouring it directly into a cereal bowl.

I can feel the orb life going on here. I can especially feel Seto Kaiba, who fell asleep during the zoom call without turning off the camera.

On the other side of the room is people dying as they get sucked directly into their impending doom.

Long ago, about...last year I think...I recapped an episode from the beginning of the season where Pegasus introduced this blank card--that I assumed was blank.

But that card from that episode--it wasn’t actually blank. It was a symbolic blank card and the show runners were like “our child audience will surely get that we just don’t want to spoil the ending” as I, a full grown adult, completely thought this card was blank.

But like...this is Pegasus. You can’t just be tossing out blank cards like that!

...anyway...it’s fine, because we get a little bit more about the time that Pegasus donned that quantum hat that is sometimes square and sometimes round and then just harassed a bunch of people in Egypt until one guy tore out his eyeball and replaced it with a Christmas ornament.

I freakin have the hardest time believing this guy was married once.

PS, now I know that when you uh put people’s hair into strips like this, it’s a lot of effort to animate and it doesn’t look anything like hair. Glad Yugioh taught me that none of us ever need to do that. Ever again. Erase that idea from your to-do list, it doesn’t work.

Anyway, Pegasus lets us know that while he was trying to revive his dead wife and putting a cold compress on his new golden eye-socket, he was also like...obsessed with finding these three dragons.

And he was like “but they didn’t exist anywhere else!” He looked in outer space?? In atoms??? all over the place (this was in the show, PS, he looked on a molecular level for these duel monster dragons) until he was like “ah! That’s because they DID never exist!”

PS...are there...molecular duel monsters?

Just asking for a friend.

...so they did exist, they just had exactly the same names they do now, but were humans so I guess Pegasus just...didn’t realize that they were the same. Kinda like how when I used to read manga as a kid or watch anime and they’d go into chibi forms I thought those were different people. It’s just like that.

Anyway if dragons are turning into humans please don’t tell that to Kaiba. Blue eyes white dragon wife is much funnier as a dragon.

But like...I get that mechanically, in the game, you have to change them to human to make the cards work but...why do we care if they’re human or dragons anyway? Dartz comes from a world where most people turned into monsters. And like if no one’s trying to date them, not even Kaiba...who cares? Dartz’ wife is a freakin monster and I don’t remember seeing him divorce her at any point.

Anyway, it was an odd thing for the show to throw in there about cards we have no relationship with. It’s a complicated season, and we spent way more time on our minibosses than we ever spent with the three tragic dragon characters that are going to actually save our asses.

Now back in the soul hut, Dartz has decided to do the strategy where he convinces Pharaoh to give up. Which youknow...

The show acts like Pharaoh has any idea of who he used to be and it’s like do you even know how long Marik spent trying to teach Pharaoh anything about his past? Like Marik stood there with his back exposed and was like “I wrote it down! See? That’s about you!! Read my back scriptures!!!” and Yami kind of squinted at it and was like “Nah...” and then the island exploded.

So anyway, the only way that Dartz can convince Pharaoh to kill himself is to show Pharaoh the invite code to the orb zoom call. And so Dartz like “your friends are having so much fun in death zoom right now, don’t you want to hang one last time? Don’t you want to see what they’re up to? Don’t you want to hear them complain about working from home and how small their orb is and how their back is cramped all the time because the park is closed so they never go on walks anymore? Don’t you want to hear and secretly enjoy how much weight Joey gained from eating Doritos for 8 straight months? Don’t you want that in your life, Pharaoh?”

And then he just...decided to possess his bean because obviously that wouldn't work.

Freakin Usagi Tsukino over here.

Speaking of:

I’m also imagining that this scene in the big ol bathtub was probably...longer...in the original version? Just saying that because...what’s the point of putting a shirt on the boy? Unless it was implied that at some point you saw the whole boy? Maybe I blinked and missed a shot of the whole boy?

Anyway this scene felt heavily edited, that’s my hypothesis, if it wasn’t and someone was like “yo put a shirt on the boy” then I...don’t know what to say about that. It’s a pair of shoulders. I’m pretty sure half of their cards are racier than that.

Do you like the evidence that we have here that Tea and Tristan totally biffed it last episode? I do.

Anyway, as the Orichalcos shrinks and threatens to take Pharaoh’s soul, the puzzle taps into his dark powers, and the power of friendship and also all the minibosses who died kinda formed a ring around him and bumped the orichalcos back into place.

Nice that Mai got added to the friend pile, but only in death. Also, I’m pretty sure Alister is here and Pharaoh never met him? But there’s more of a reason as to why the mini bosses are here, since they have their own agenda outside of Pharaoh and being his best buddy so I won’t question that too much.

This is friendship from Yami’s perspective, and like...Yami kinda wants to be friends with most people. Hell, if Bakura were introduced this season, he’d be here, too. That’s just how Pharaoh rolls.

Yami decided that, although he’s a huge mess of a human being and screw it at every possible opportunity, his core isn’t made up of a dark magic curse with a crusty soul left over from some kingdom that botched it 5000 years ago. He’s decided that he’s moving on from that sort of anxiety--becoming his own sort of person--separate from Yugi, separate from his past, and separate from the powers that he’s often defined by. And it’s about time. It’s about time he recognizes that he needs to stop clinging to the ancient past (although I’m pretty sure his ancient past will be the entirety of next season)

He should give himself a real name while he’s at it, but youknow, he's not going to. Yami hasn’t quite figured out names yet.

Nightmare foreshortening, that’s what this is. Like you have to just roll a dice when you do foreshortening, and sometimes you get snake eyes, the rest of the time, you get this.

So not only are these guys voiced by Seto, Yugi, and Joey, they have faces that are like a blend of Valon, Raphael, Mai and Alister (yes that was four people for three dragon people, just go with it)--but the show doesn’t really focus on that, or at least not in this episode.

But, it does give the three mini bosses a reason to be chosen by the Orichalcos, if it’s inferred that they were some reincarnated version of the original dragons. Especially since Valon had the ability to just punch out the Orichalcos when he was still alive, and apparently that is the same thing this card does.

I can’t believe that him punching stuff was foreshadowing. I should have known. The answer in this show is always punching.

And so the episode ends with some...something that happened, but don’t ask me about it.

One of the reasons I don’t go over card games here. I mean...c’mon.

Come the freakin on.

Anyway we have some more episodes before this is over but at least this guy is at 0 hp so like...how long can you draw out one single play of cards? (I say, knowing they can stretch this game out...infinitely)

anyway, here’s where you can read these from the top. Hope y’all are staying safe!

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#ygo #yugioh #Yu-Gi-Oh #recap #photo recap #episode recap #yugi muto #joey wheeler #maxamillion pegasus #is dead #dartz #yami muto #just a mess of orbs #S4 #s3 ep37

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themonotonysyndrome · 4 years

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The Holy Quintet in Twisted Wonderland! (all 7 dorms - Part 4)

We now have reach Mami’s reaction to the other dorms! I’m still trying to juggle with work and all of my TW’s writings so apologies that updates for this crossover series are a bit slow. But after we’re done with Madoka’s part, future instalments are going to be a bit easier to manage (I hope. The Witches & Kyuubey scenes as well as the girls’ personal stories definitely require properly outline. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!) Also, I have a Discord for all my TW’s stuff! Come and brainstorm with me for more ideas for this series or just chill and talk shit about stuff. https://discord.gg/JeYwU2

That’s it frome me, let’s get to it!

Tomoe Mami & the other dorms (except Pomefiore)

HEARTSLABYUL!

True to her word, when Riddle told Sayaka that she could invite one of the girls to their Unbirthday Party, she immediately rush to find Mami. Telling about the party that Heartslabyul often throw.

Sayaka promises that there would be plenty of sweets, teas, cute animals and fun games. So would she like to attend?

Never one to turn down the opportunity to hang out with her friends and enjoy some teas at the same time, Mami didn’t hesitate to accept the offer. Sincerely thanking of Sayaka for thinking of her.

The day before the party, Mami made sure she would look nothing but her absolute best. She had a couple of dresses sketched out that she could easily use her ribbons to transform into for the party and now she’s sitting in front of the vanity table with her hair down. Carefully planning how she would do her hair and make up for tomorrow.

As you can probably tell, she’s both nervous and excited to attend a formal tea party since this is her first time ever. She even falls asleep, smiling to herself, dreaming of all the fun things she and Sayaka would have.

The day of the Unbirthday Party arrives. Coincidentally, Vil was there at the dorm lounge, tutoring a group of second-year students, when Mami descend the stairs. When the Dorm Leader turn to the stairs, his frown transform into a brilliant smirk. He wasted no time to appraise Mami of her dress, hair-do and simple yet elegant makeup. His eyes never stop to critically scan her from the hair pin artfully on her twin tails to her cute little high-heels. Even the second-year students who were wilting under Vil’s strict tutelage brighten when they see their Golden Princess. They smile and offer their compliments as well.

Mami’s cheeks redden slightly but she made sure to curtsey and thanked Vil and her second-year seniors for their kind and thorough compliments. When the Beauty Queen asked where Mami is heading looking so dolled up, she replies that Sayaka had invited her to Riddle’s Unbirthday Party. Vil took a moment to silently pondered before warning her of the many rules that reigned over Heartslabyul. But after Riddle’s Overblot episode, Vil assured Mami that all she needs to do is behave herself, mind her manners and the rules shouldn’t be a problem. Mami thanked her Dorm Leader once more and head off.

The moment she steps out of Pomefiore, all eyes are on her and every heads turn to Mami’s direction. This powerful Magical Girl feel a little self-conscious at the attention she’s receiving since she’s still a very much young girl at heart but kept her head high. Vil’s words instantly echoed in her mind; as a Pomefiore student, she must always hold herself proud. Their beauties are hard-earned and rightfully deserved.

The few Heartslabyul students that were tasked to greet guests gape when Mami arrives. It took a moment for the boys to pick their jaws up from the ground to usher Mami to the garden, as gentlemanly as possible. They blunder as they escort her, but their sincere efforts is very much appreciated by Mami. So she sweetly thanked them when they brought her to Riddle.

Riddle, who already took his seat at the head of the table, is pleased when Mami introduces herself to him, with all the grace of a noble lady. Internally, he believes that Vil and his dorm deserved to claim this Magical Girl as their Golden Princess. Because behind her beauty and gentle smile, her words are steady and calm. That shows the strength behind it.

Mami’s smile turn fond and a lot more open when Sayaka happily jogged towards them, eagerly chatted their ears off of all the fun things they can do and oh, oh, won’t Mami sit next to her? There’s just so many things that she wants to talk to her about! Like that time when Sebek and Kyouko caused an accident during Alchemy lesson and switched their classmates’ voices. Needless to say that Mami basked in Sayaka’s company, even giggle when Riddle’s interject with a sigh and a shake of his head at the whole fiasco.

So caught up in the conversation, Mami didn’t notice the Vice Dorm Leader of Heartslabyul smoothly saddled up beside Riddle to announce that the party is ready to begin. Riddle clap his hands once and the Heartslabyul students kicked into gear. Mami however, stood frozen. Her heart began to race. She stares hard at Trey Clover.

Decked in his dorm uniform, Trey actually didn’t realise how unbelievably handsome he presented himself to our Magical Girl. As Riddle instruct everyone to take their seat and somewhere in the background Sayaka is waving her arm madly, trying to catch Mami’s attention, Trey introduces himself as the Vice Dorm Leader of Heartslabyul. His friendly smile and deep voice captivated Mami. And when Trey pull out the vacant chair beside Sayaka for her, her heart skips a beat.

“Mami-san? Are you alright? Heellloo??”

“Ah! Y-Yes, I’m alright!” Cue Mami hurrying to raise her teacup to hide her blush.

The Unbirthday Party was truly amazing. Mami immensely enjoyed the tea, sweets and company of not just Sayaka but the Heartslabyul students as well.

However, despite how lively her surrounding is, Mami’s eyes couldn’t help but subtly trailed after Trey who’s making rounds, ensuring that everyone has plenty to eat, Riddle’s teacup is always full and Ace and Deuce aren’t getting too rowdy. When Trey noticed that Mami is staring at him, he smiles and give her a wink before focusing on the party.

Mami blushes harder and tried not to squirm in her seat. She has never felt anything like this before! There was no boy back at home that she ever gave a second thought. Her life as a Magical Girl is busy as it is dangerous. Back then, romance and her love life was the farthest thing in her mind.

But here’s Mami experiencing her first crush ever and on none other than Trey Clover.

And for first time ever, her tongue is tied when Trey finally sat down across from her. When Trey asks questions, wanting to know her better (after all, Sayaka sing nothing but praises about the girl who teaches her how to be strong, how could Trey not be interested?), Mami low-key struggle not to stammer her words and not shyly gaze away. Fortunately, Sayaka didn’t notice anything off about her nor how hard Mami’s hands fisted on her dress underneath the table.

Cater appear, being her unintentional saviour. He’s been meaning to take a pic of Pomefiore’s Princess and Mami jumps on the opportunity to just breathe without having to look at Trey. However, when Cater ushered them for a group picture, Mami thought she would faint when she felt her back was pressed against Trey’s chest.

(Someone save this poor girl.)

Riddle approved of Mami. She’s a good student, a good teacher to Sayaka and despite not knowing all the rules of his dorm, she’s very mindful of them. Though her reluctance to actually look at his Vice Dorm Leader when they talk is a little rude. Did... did Trey do something to offend Vil’s prized student?

Cater adores Mami! She looks so photogenic in all the pics he took! He adores her little laugh, sweet smiles and thoughtfulness. He internally laments on why couldn’t his sisters be like her!?

Even before meeting her, Mami already earned Trey’s respect. With the way how Sayaka and even Kyouko talk about Mami, it seems that she’s the girls’ leader and would often try her best to look after them. So he wants to know more about her! How is she adjusting to their world? Are the foods and drinks to her liking? Please don’t hold back, eat as much as she wants.

Though he’s confused as to why Mami is acting differently with him. She shrinks in on herself when they talk and refuse to meet his eyes. Whereas with Cater, Ace, Deuce and even Riddle, she’s comfortable interacting with them. Perhaps he’s coming off too strongly? Oh well. Trey is certain that she just needed time to warmed up to him.

Ace and Deuce at first don’t really know how to talk or interact with Mami. Bless their hearts, they tried to be a gentleman for her only to hilariously failed at pouring tea for her. Mami rushed to help them clean up the spilled drink and patted their arms, thanking them for trying their best to accommodate her. Please don’t treat her differently. She’s more than happy if Ace and Deuce treats her like how they treat Sayaka and Kyouko. She can take a little roughing, don’t worry.

As for Mami, she hopes that Ace and Deuce won’t hold themselves back with her. She wants to join them and have fun too! It’d be nice to let loose once in a while.

Cater is a whirlwind of camera’s flashing, teasing and good humour. Mami is very charmed by him (thought his smiles are not as captivating as Trey’s) throughout the party. She likes his easy-going attitude, how well he eases the tension between Ace, Deuce and Sayaka during the game of croquet. She definitely looks up to him as her senior from another dorm.

Riddle is also another senior that Mami looks up to. She takes in how compose and how well he manages the other students, his magic quick to prevent any accidents to happened and his hard-working nature is admirable. There’s a lot she can learn from Riddle and Mami hopes the two of them would be able to study together in the near future.

Trey... well, even when the party’s over and Mami well on her way back to her dorm, Trey is still running in her mind. Among the boys, Trey is the most prince-like to her. You can bet this girl already falls hard for him when Sayaka informed her that Trey’s the one who baked all the sweets for the Unbirthday Party.

By the time she reaches Pomefiore, Rook who was nearby noted the slight dazed expression on Mami’s face when he asked if she had fun at the party. His interest is definitely piqued when Mami then blushed and run to her room.

Rook is familiar with the expression of infatuation. Though he never expect that Mami would be among the girls to wear such an expression! Perhaps one of the students here finally tug on their Princess’ heartstrings. Now, which boys from the Heartslabyil dorm is Mami enamoured with?

Vil needs to know about this.

SAVANACLAW!

Lately, Mami notice that she hasn’t seen Kyouko in classes. And when she asked Madoka and Sayaka whether Kyouko is busy, the two girls sheepishly explain that she’s just skipping.

Seeing Mami’s disappointed frown, Sayaka gave in and explain that Kyouko likes nap at the green house. And so Mami left for the green house after requesting Sayaka not to warned Kyouko that she’s coming. They had 30 minutes before their next class and Mami is confident that she can drag the redhead girl with her to their History class.

Arriving at the green house, it wasn’t hard for her Soul Gem to pick up Kyouko’s brash and flame-like magic hidden somewhere behind thick shubberies and greeneries. However, Mami was not expecting Leona to be there with Kyouko; napping on the soft grass beside his junior dorm mate. His tail lightly entertwine around Kyouko’s arm.

Mami almost didn’t want to disturb the two but as students, they have responsibilities to attend classes so she crouch down beside Kyouko to light shake her awake.

Kyouko groan and stir. She cracks one eye open and groan louder when Mami is smilling down at her. Kyouko try to shoo the veteran Magical Girl away but Mami is having none of it.

At first, Mami tries to gently persuade and even bribe Kyouko to follow her to their class but when Kyouko rolls away, Mami decide to use her ribbons.

Before Kyouko could summon her spear, Mami already create a tall armoured knight and scoop the redhead girl up in its arms and hug her before Kyouko could escape.

“What the - seriously, Mami? Lemme go!”

“We have History class soon, Kyouko. Shall we go now?”

“Are you even listening to me!?”

Mami’s giggle and Kyouko’s whining rouse Leona up.

Leona would think he’s dreaming at first. There’s his junior in the arms of a really tall knight that just came out of nowhere, squirming and trying to break free. That itself is a cause for alarm because if something can pinned Kyouko down, then that means it can’t be good and they must be crazy strong. But when he saw Mami smiling gently, his brain would froze. Ah shit, it’s that prissy Pomefiore’s Dorm Leader’s junior. And the girl that Kyouko once told him is the strongest out of all of them.

So Kyouko is on her own. No matter how much Kyouko shriek for him to help her. He grumble and told the girls to quiet down because someone is trying to nap here, hello!

However, just as Leona close his eyes, Mami sweetly said, “Senpai, don’t you have class too?”

Leona’s eyes flew open again and he immediately found himself in the arm of another armoured knight. Like a surprised, indignant cat, Leona narrowed his eyes at the blonde hair girl who is totally unfazed at his ire.

“Shall we go to class together?” Without waiting for a reply, Mami begin walking out of the green house with Kyouko and Leona behind her; both trying to escape.

“Herbivore! If you don’t let me go right now - ”

“I think Bucchi-senpai should be around. Don’t worry, Kingscholar-senpai. I’ll get you to your class.”

Leona groan when Kyouko told him to just give up. He would need to actually make an effort to fight Mami if he wants to get away. It’s a sight to behold for the passing students to see the Dorm Leader of Savanaclaw and the Savanaclaw Brawler being carried off by huge knights.

That was Mami’s first proper interaction with Leona. After that day, the lion is a bit wary whenever Mami drop by Savanaclaw to visit Kyouko. He had tried to use his spells and even break apart Mami’s knight that was carrying him with his claws but it seems that her magic was a lot stronger than he anticipated. It was a slight bruise to his ego. But as long as Mami doesn’t develop a habit of stalking him and the rest of his dorm mates like Rook, Leona doesn’t have a problem with her as long as Mami doesn’t step out of line with him.

When Mami came to Ruggie and Jack to drop off Leona as if he was a package, Ruggie couldn’t help but cackle seeing the distraught expression on Leona’s face. And the fact that no matter how much Leona struggle, he couldn’t break free from Mami’s magic (she explains how she uses her ribbons to carried him and Kyouko) and that impress the hyena. The women back home are known for their strength and power and Ruggie was right that Mami has them in spades beneath her Pomefiore’s grace.

Jack is silently appraising Mami’s magic when she releases Leona to their care. After explaining that she possess magical ribbons, he tries to understand how she could make those huge knights from them. He wonders if Mami has mastered her magic. After that day, if Mami drops by to visit Kyouko at their dorm, Jack would shyly ask Mami for tips on how to improve on his magic. A fresh, new perspective would make a good progress for him. After all, Vil always give excellent criticism to his work out regiment from time to time.

For Mami, despite the difference between their dorms, she’s actually quite accepting of Leona’s irritableness, Ruggie’s mischeviousness and Jack’s gruff yet thoughtful demeanour. She’s a little hurt whenever Leona would glance at her suspiciously but whenever she tries to approach him, Leona would hightail his way out of there.

(Keep that up Leona and Rook would hunt you down, tied you up and bring you to Pomefiore so you and Mami could properly talk things out).

Mami admire Ruggie immensely. He’s hard-working, already planning ahead for his future and despite coming from a poor background, he kept his spirits up and strive to improve his and his grandmother’s life. You best believe that Ruggie would blush and shyly scratch his ears when Mami told him this. Especially if Mami informed him that she wants to be as strong him too. These two would then talk about their perception of strength and power.

Since Mami already gotten along quite well with Epel, she soon will get to know Jack when Epel brought her along to their workout session. Whenever Mami is with them, their workout sessions focused on magic instead of physical trainings. The 3 of them would sit down and talk about the nuances of their magic and toss ideas around on how improve them and Mami would coach them to think outside of the box when it comes to their Unique Magic. After all, her magic come in the form ribbons and she could construct nearly anything using them.

From that day onwards, Mami and Jack can usually be found either in the library or training field, studying and training together. Both of them are good friends because of their view on justice and being the sole voice of reason for their respective group of friends. As for Jack, he regards Mami highly as he do for Vil. Whenever she fights with her ribbons and guns out, it never fail to steal his breath away.

OCTAVINELLE!

Mami’s first encounter with the Octavinelle dorm is through Jade Leech. During Summonning class, the teacher gave the students an assignment and he paired Mami up with the Vice Dorm Leader of Octavinelle.

On the surface level and to the other students, these two are nothing but polite, professional and kind to one another. Upon being partners for the assignment, Jade offer Monstro Lounge as their study location and even promises that drinks would be on him while Mami suggest to leave the reference books and information gathering to her. They appear to be a perfect academic team, right?

However, Mami is well aware of Floyd and Kyouko’s scuffle and the gossips floating around Pomefiore regarding those that rule over Octavinelle. A pair of twins and their boss. Since Kyouko could handle herself against the twin named Floyd Leech, Mami actually did a little investigation regarding him, his twin brother and their Dorm Leader prior before properly introducing herself to Jade Leech.

So the moment the teacher had paired her up with him, she made sure to firmly keep her mask up, her smile never falters in front of this devious and charming student. While Mami might not be as confrontational as Kyouko, that doesn’t mean she’s meek against threats that disguise themselves underneath a sweet facade. After all, that’s how Witches lures innocent bystanders into their Labyrinth.

So yes, Mami is very much aware about the Leech Twins, Azul and their shady dealings. That’s why she remain on her very best behaviour around Jade and held herself back from showing any weaknesses.

But Mami being Mami, she believes that Jade deserve the benefit of a doubt. So despite how guarded she is, her offer is sincere and as long as Jade doesn’t do anything nefarious blatantly in front of her, Mami would not confront him.

Throughout the time of their partnership, Jade is nothing but a perfect gentleman to her. It’s know by everyone by now in NRC that among all the girls, Mami is the strongest of them all so he’s very, very mindful on how he interacts with her. Azul still wanted to learn more about the girls’ magic so if he slips up, it’s game over for them.

When Mami finally came to Mostro Lounge, Azul made sure to give her the best table available and personally attend to her and Jade while they studied. Floyd is well and occupied with kitchen duties. When Jade informed him that Mami is his partner, Azul strictly forbid him from using his Unique Magic on her. They still don’t know enough about her and the risks are still not within his comfortable range.

Mami accept Azul’s hospitality and treatment with grace. Since Azul is working hard to be the perfect host, Mami recipocrate by humouring a few innocent questions; just enough to satiate his curiosity. But not enough to hand him leverage over her or her friends. Yes, her magic is simply ribbons but she kept her mastery over them to herself. Oh, Madoka? She’s a sweetheart isn’t she? But I’d stay away from her shooting range if I were you.

It comes as a surprise to both Mami and Azul at how well they could read one another; almost transparent really. The longer she stayed at Mostro Lounge and talk to Azul, the more she sees herself in him. A lost, insecure girl that she worked hard to hide from everyone. Including herself.

As for Azul, Mami’s polite veneer and gentle smile are eerily similar to his. Unlike with the rest of the girls, Mami understands him more than he’d like and a small part of him wonders if the two of them are more alike than anyone think. Both indivisual has a strong wall/front to protect themselves against the world.

Jade, being the observer that he is, notice the walls that Mami has around her from their daily interactions. How could he not when Azul has the same walls around him as well? He wonders just what could shatter these two until their vulnerable selves are bare for the world to judge. He had been waiting for some time with Azul, but now he’s keeping an eye on Mami as well. It would be quite a show for sure.

Even after submitting their assignment, Mami still couldn’t get a read on what Jade really think most of the time. He sounds amused at every little thing and his endless patience when it comes to his erratic twin brother is admirable. Mami has an inkling that Jade enjoys toying with people but without evidence, she can’t call him out on it.

Floyd finds Mami pretty but so boring. No matter how much he tried to tease or antagonised her, she didn’t react like Kyouko at all. She wants to squeeze her like how he’s trying to do to Kyouko but her ribbons are always fast to seperate them or bind him so she could make a quick get away. Floyd wants to fight her too! Floyd wants to see just how strong Mami really is.

As for Mami, Floyd is a headache to deal with. He’s like a sadistic child who enjoys tearing the wings of insects. The moment he burst out of the kitchen, trying to squeeze the breath out of Mami just as she was about to leave Mostro Lounge, Mami already plan to stay away from him. Kyouko might humoured him, but she’s not.

SCARABIA!

Despite how strict Vil is on his dorm mates, he’s known to reward their hard work from time to time. And recently? For scoring well in her Alchemy test, Vil gifted Mami a flower hairpin in a reminiscent of the one that she wears with her Soul Gem in her Magicl Girl outfit. It’s pretty, light and Rook praise how it enhance her beauty even more.

So Mami has been wearing the flower hairpin every day. She loves it because it also symbolises as a token of her achievement. Even Kyouko think that it looks good on her.

One day while she’s walking through the hallways of the college’s main building, Mami didn’t realised that the hairpin fell off. She only realised when she return to Pomefiore to retire for the day. Needless to say that Mami was upset when she found her hairpin missing. She texted her friends if they had seen it but they all reply back that they haven’t but they promised to keep an eye out for it. So Mami went to bed distraught that day.

The next day arrive and Mami is a little distracted. She’s looking for her hairpin in between her classes and she would absentmindedly play with her hair where the hairpin should be.

It’s during the afternoon when lunchtime is nearly over that someone suddenly ambush her with a loud and happy shout.

“Tomeo-san! Tomeo-san! Over here!”

Swooshing through the air on his magic carpet, Mami watch with wide eyes as Kalim jump off, rolled onto the ground and presented her flower hairpin to her with a wide grin. “I think this is yours, Tomoe-san!”

Mami broke into a delightful laugh and then shyly smile. This senior made quite an entrance and an unforgettable first impression on her! She thanked him for finding her hairpin after she clips it back on her hair. That’s when Mami and Kalim introduces themselves to one another.

Unlike with Jade, Mami immediately hit it off with Kalim. She doesn’t have to watch her words and genuinely enjoy his company whenever she visit Scarabia for hers and Homura’s research time. Although he tends to go over the top (trying to ply the girls with sweets, snacks, drinks, comfy pillows and etc), Mami is aware that he genuinely wants her to feel welcome at his dorm.

In the rare occasion that Homura has to leave Mami and Kalim for a brief moment, Mami would curiously ask the Dorm Leader how Homura is faring in Scarabia. To which Kalim would not hesitant divulging about Homura’s well-being.

Kalim’s answers astound Mami. Mami honestly didn’t expect anyone could become close enough with Homura to melt her icy exterior! Kalim must be special to her, Mami guessed. Throughout her brief stay at Scarabia, she studied how the two of them interact. It amaze her that Kalim could eeked out a small smile from the aloof girl. So when Kalim saw her off and Homura went to help her Vice Dorm Leader in the storeroom, Mami quietly apologise for asking Kalim to take on her request, but won’t he please keep an eye on Homura and continue to be her friend? She explains that the girls struggle to connect with Homura; no matter how hard they tried. Kalim happily accept Mami’s request and tells her not to worry. Homura is a dear friend to everyone here in Scarabia.

As for Kalim, the only thing he initally know about Mami is that she’s super strong (courtsey from Homura), super pretty and that the Pomefiore dorm claimed her as their princess in all but blood. So already he thinks her as an awesome girl. After getting to know her a little more, Kalim feels that Mami has the same vibe as Jamil. She’s very hard working, resposible and look out for her friends - so he couldn’t help but make the comparison.

Jamil and Mami merely regard each other as acquaintances. Among the girls that visited Homura, Mami is the easiest to attend to. She’s happy enough with a simple cup of tea and a slice of cake as she studied with Homura. Her manners are also impaccable so Jamil usually leave the girls to themselves without any worries while he runs the dorm. As an individual, Jamil can respect Mami as the leader of the girls. She seem as someone who has her life together despite being transported to TW.

Mami sees so many similarities Jamil has with Homura that it’s uncanny. Both have trouble smiling, both are dedicated to someone who is the exact opposite of them and both are... secretive. They kept their emotions hidden from the world that it’s hard to understand what they’re thinking. Mami wonder between him and Jade, which of them is the most dangerous and decide that she hopes she would never have to find out.

IGNIHYDE!

Mami has heard that Kyouko would babysit her Dorm Leader’s nephew from time to time and she just so happend to caught her following a small lion cub and an also a small... robot boy?

“Oh, Mami. What’s up?”

“Waaaa~ What a pretty lady. Here! a pretty flower for a pretty lady!”

Mami beams, deeply touched, when the small lion cub thrust a crudely picked flower to Mami. Dirt clung on his hand and flower, but Mami happily accept it.

“Thank you, little one. I’ll keep it safe with me.” She thanked the boy and pressed the flower inside one of the textbook Mami is carrying.

That was when the lion cub introduces himself as Cheka and that Leona is his beloved uncle!

The robot boy then introdues himself as Ortho Shroud. He asked if Mami would like to play with them to which she unhesitatingly accept. She was supposed to join a study session, but the two boys are just so adorable that she couldn’t possible reject! So Mami brought them to the gardens of Pomefiore when Cheka mentioned that he wants to pick a bunch of flowers for his uncle, papa and mama. The boys immediately dash off for the many flowers Pomefiore offers while Mami and Kyouko sat near the well. As they talked, Mami notice that Kyouko is actually attentive to the kids whereabous; her eyes would glance over at the patch of flowers and Mami could sense her magic wraps protectively around Cheka and Ortho. Mami didn’t need to ask to know that they remind Kyouko of her lost little sister. She will spare her from the pain.

Ortho then ran up to them, asking for some blue flowers that he wanted to give to his older brothers. He flash a couple of holograms of the types of flowers he’s looking for. Since the flowers that he wanted are at the gardens on the otherside of the dorm, Mami offer to bring him there while Kyouko entertained Cheka with making some flower crowns for Jack and Ruggie.

Mami help Ortho gather a bunch of cornflowers, irises, periwinkles, gentians until the two have a huge bouquet. She uses her yellow ribbon to tied the flowers beautifully. The two of them cheer at their hard work.

Mami adores Ortho and Cheka. She loves listening to Ortho talk and praise endllessly about his cool, awesome older brother and how friendly the Ignihyde students to him.

(Now that Ortho mentioned it, Mami couldn’t recall when the last time she spot a student wearing a blue coloured school uniform.)

Ortho’s magic also react strangly with hers. Nothing malicious; it just feel like a film of oil above a clear pool of water.

Later that day, when Ortho burst into Idia’s bedroom to present the bouquet of flowers to him, he would regale his day to the Dorm Leader. The flowers look a bit out place amongst his gadgets, mini workshop, gaming consoles and many monitors, but the brothers managed to quickly create a mechanical vase and Idia put the flowers beside his bed. When he was untangling Mami’s ribbon, Ortho suddenly recalled her words. He told Idia that it’s a magic ribbon - one that can shrink and lengthen its size according to Idia’s wishes - and that he can use it to bind things and that almost nothing can cut it.

You can bet that Idia would have a lot of fun testing it out, trying to unravel the principals behind Mami’s magic.

Among all the girls, he and Idia would only meet face to face when the situation calls for it. While the other girls would stumble upon him or Ortho push them to visit Ignihyde, these two would need an event (Ghost Marriage and etc) to meet up. It’s nothing insidous, just one of those things that happen.

Although she had never met Ignihyde’s Dorm Leader face to face, judging how much Ortho talks to her about him, Mami readily believes that he’s kind to his little brother and a brilliant introvert. It’s alright; Mami trust that one day she would meet him.

As for Idia, he knows he’s going to faint once he meets Mami. It was bad enough having to deal with the fact that Homura and Kyouko would sometimes drop by his dorm for a visit, to have the most beautiful girl in NRC physically in front of him? Idia’s certain that Vil would try to murder him if he so as much breath incorrectly around Mami. No, he doesn’t need the stress, thanks!

DIASOMNIA!

How Mami was introduced to the Diasomnia gang is actually through Malleus, of all people.

Mami was requested by Vil to find Rook when the Vice Dorm Leader refused to answered his phone or reply his texts. This displeased him (and Mami saw the worry behind his cold eyes) since Rook is not known to ignore Vil’s calls. Since Mami had no plans for the day, she accepts and went out to search for the hunter.

She had gifted the hunter her ribbon during their recent shooting practise and Rook made a grand show of tying it around his bow. So she only need to follow the trail from her magic ribbon. Sensing that Rook is somewhere deep in the forest, she waste no time fetching him. The longer they keep Vil waiting, the angrier he gets.

The forest is quiet, safe for the chirpings birds and rustling leaves when the breeze pass through.

However, when she sense that Rook is close by, she also sense a really powerful magic. The sheer power of it reminds Mami of Madoka’s. Yet unlike Madoka’s, it’s dark and a beneath it’s calm surface there’s a maelstrom ready to be unleash should the user so wishes. This had Mami immediately summoning her muskets out of caution when she finally come across the owner of such magic.

Her eyes widen and her muskets are lowered slightly. She knows this senior. She often seen him around Madoka after all.

“Oh? What interesting weapons. It’s been so long since someone dare to point their weapons at me.”

It’s Madoka’s Dorm Leader! Mami hastily puts away her muskets and apologise. She didn’t mean to attack him; she sensed something unfamiliar and dangerous and her Magical Girl training kicks in.

Malleus hums and ponders to himself. Usually people flinch away when they sense him, but it’s truly rare that someone would be brave enough to challenge him. And so he introduces himself because this human girl deserve it and it delight him that her heartbeat is calm and her words sincere when Mami introduces herself and said that it’s a pleasure to meet Madoka’s senior.

Strength comes in many form, Lilia once told him. And after observing Vil and those that under him, Malleus understood the strength behind all that are beautiful and glittered. And while Mami does share the same strength, she also possess something else. Something dark and terrible should she falters. Malleus wonders if her friends realised this. But apart from her magic, Mami is a good conversationalist and company during every tea time. Both of them prefer quiet and simple activities and Malleus appreciate that despite his dark magic, Mami continue to be a good friend. They don’t actively seek each other’s company, but whenever they crossed path, they would take the opportunity to catch up.

Mami look up to Malleus the same way she looks up to her seniors; polite, respectful and friendly. Mami had never really met someone who fits the ‘tall, dark and handsome’ trope but really, it fits Malleus so well. Although he’s not Trey, Mami finds his little musing and odd jokes to be charming. It’s clear that this senior is not that good at socialising so whenever they talk, Mami would do her best to make him feel comfortable.

Because of their friendship and Madoka as their connection, Malleus announce that he would like to invite Mami to their next midnight picnic. This intrigue Lilia, Silver and Sebek since Malleus had never invite someone before to their gathering! (That and Malleus smugly keep his friendship with Mami a secret up until now because a tiny part of him wanted to show off to his family that he can make friends all on his own).

(Someone please give Malleus a cookie for doing a good job at socialising).

Madoka is very excited to have Mami join them for their picnic. Everyone is very welcoming to Mami. Well, in their odd ways. Mami quickly pull the plate of scones away before Silver could face-planted on his food and promptly conked out and she readily cover her ears with her palms and smile widely when Sebek gets loud whenever he’s excited. Mami is always ready to roll with it and she’s enjoy every seconds she spend with her new friends.

Silver likes Mami well enough. He’d seen Kyouko and Sayaka fight before (spar with them even) and all the girls had mentioned more than once before how strong she is. It’s not every day that there’s a Pomefiore student with strong magical ability. And since she’s docile and Malleus treasure their talks, Silver doesn’t mind her quiet company.

For a human, Mami reminds Sebek of one of the noble’s ladies back at the Valley of Thorns, beautiful but you know she’s just as magically strong. He’s slightly envious at how compose and pragmatic at everything Mami does; be it in classes or fighting. He’s looking forward to see just why the other girls readily admits that Mami is the strongest out of them all.

Like Malleus, Mami finds Silver and Sebek to be delightful companies. Honestly, nowadays she’s very happy to have lots of wonderful friends. Really, what more could a lonely girl ask for?

To know that these two are knights and that Malleus is their prince and future king, it feels like Mami had stepped into a fairytale. When she admits it, Lilia suddenly thought of an idea. To help Malleus, Silver and Sebeke ease into their future roles, they should role play as his court during tea time! Always down to play dressed up, Mami let herself be swept away by him.

Now, Mami sees Lilia as a wise senior (he always have some word of advice or just know what to say to cheer Madoka up) but strangely, his mischeviousness and playful smiles makes it so easy for Mami to talk about anything with him. From the most mundane things like the new hairstyle that Rook taught her to her quietly admitting that sometimes it’s difficult for her to make decisions that could potentially harm her friends. She finds immense comfort at Lilia’s assurance and patience. So she treasures every advices that Lilia give her; yes, even if it ended up pranking her in the end.

As for Lilia, he couldn’t help but take Mami under his wings. This reserved girl who is force to carry the burden of leadership for someone so young. Her mastery over her own magic and impressive fighting prowess both impressed and saddened this ancient Fae. So Mami better get ready to not only being look after by him, but watch out for his pranks because Lilia whole heartedly believe that kids should be kids. Mami should not have to worry about being a good leader to her friends or worry over their well being all the time; she should just be a student and have fun!

I was rushing to edit this part, tbh. Wanted to post it on Monday originally, but I had plans with the family on Sunday for the whole day and since today (Wednesday) is a public holiday. I thought to try and make it this week.

#twisted wonderland #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi holy quintet #Holy Quintet in TW series #crossover

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suallenparker · 4 years

Text

The Suitable for a Queen Masterplan

a.k.a. What I have so far for the missing chapters.

Thing is, I have no idea when or even if I will ever manage to complete this story. I have some free time and I’m writing, but I don’t feel like writing for Philinda. I don’t want to force it either because one, forced writing usually reads AWFUL, secondly fanfic should be fun, right?

But I have this plan, my writing guide if you will. And if you should chose to click the read more, you can read what I have for the story so far. Sometimes it’s just rough notes, sometimes there’s dialogue, but it shows everything until the happy end. It’s not much, but I hope it will give you some answers and closure.

o0o

Chapter 10: Engagement party In which they celebrate a good match

DAY 19

Phil and Daisy fly over to the country. They arrive in the castle – the engagement party is there too. the queen insisted – she's very pleased hand found love. - Melinda thinks it's a nudge against her. His doubt about his qualifications for this job.

They have dinner together. They arrived the evening before the party. Lin presses for infos about the suitors. Both Phil and Melinda are uncomfortable. Daisy speaks up for Forever Love

They eat a specific Genovian noodle dish with something Chicken?

They have rooms in the castle, Daisy is flashed by everything.

When they are at the Castle, Phil and Daisy wait for the Queen:

Phil: “You look fancy.”

Daisy: “I'm meeting a Queen, so I dressed the part.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Why would I be? I met her before.”

“Because we already had two failed introductions?”

…

“Too much truth?”

“I appreciate your honesty.”

“No, you don't.”

”Well, there's a time and a place for everything.”

“Also, the queen sounds terrifying.”

“She is.” “And there they are. Smile and bow, Daisy.”

Queen: “Mr. Coulson. So nice to see you again.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Phil greets Melinda too: “Hello, your highness.”

“Hello, Mr. Coulson.” Melinda looks at Daisy. “And this must be Daisy Johnson.”

“I am. It's an honor to meet you, your majesty. Your highness.”

“It's lovely to meet you too, Miss Johnson. Mrs Coulson spoke very highly of you.”

Daisy looks down,

Melinda: “Now please sit. Lunch will be served soon.”

The Queen: “So tell me, Mr. Coulson, have you found the perfect suitor for my daughter yet?”

“I have a strong candidate.”

“But the two men she already met weren't a match?”

“They weren't, your majesty.” Phil cleared his his throat. “I don't have to tell you that your daughter is a very special person. The two people I introduced her too matched some parts of her personality, but they just didn't compare to what she truly deserves.”

“And what is it that she deserves?”

Melinda: “Mother!”

Phil: “She deserves someone equal. Someone who respects and appreciates her and who's capable to carry the responsibility of being a leader with her. Your daughter is very passionate about her people, as I'm sure you already know. She needs someone who has a similar passion to serve them. And she needs someone to remind her to take care of herself too.”

“And you found such a man?”

“I believe so.”

“What's his name?”

“I'm very sorry, your majesty, but I need to discuss these details with my clients first before disclosing them to third parties.”

The Queen glares, Phil holds her gaze. Then the queen says: “Your mother had this integrity too.”

Phil smiles. “Thank you.”

another glare from the Queen. “It's annoying.”

Phil keeps smiling.

o0o

The engagement party, some party stuff – phil and Melinda dance. Daisy dances with a lot of people and has a blast – Phil talks about Daisy and family.

Melinda hates to dance. She has to dance again tomorrow at a royal banquet. She invites him and Daisy. - there'll be food.

Thomas Wen is there, awkwardness. Melinda dances with him. Phil waits for her after.

Phil “Any sparks now?”

…

“Yeah. It looked pretty uncomfortable.”

“Did you really find a new suitor or did you just say that to pacify my mother?”

“I doubt I could pacify her, but I do try. She's very intimidating.”

“But I'm not?”

“Oh, you are. But you're more fun.”

Smiles.

“Would you like to hear about the suitor?”

nods.

“I think Andrew might be the one my mother had in mind for you. Sophisticated, but not boring. Smart and very handsome, too. He's perfect!”

“You say that every time.”

“But this is the third time and like in the fairy tales the third time is the magical time.”

“Tell me about him.”

“Well, he's smart and attractive and polite. And he's a shrink. That can be useful.”

Melinda raises a brow

“I didn't mean that you need therapy, I just meant he is used to being diplomatic when dealing with troubled people.”

raises brow higher, but grins

“You really love making me put my foot into my mouth, don't you?”

“It's so easy, it's hard to resist.”

“You're a cruel woman.”

“Maybe you should talk to a therapist about that.”

they grin. Someone approaches.

Melinda: “Dance with me.”

he offers her his arm and leads her to the dance-floor, they start dancing.

Phil: “Saving you from Michael Berger again.”

“Excuse me?”

“That was Michael Berger, wasn't he?”

“Yes.”

grins.

“Stop smirking.” “God, I hate dancing.”

“Want to stop?”

“It's still better than diplomacy.”

they smile at each other

moment

Phil: “So, are you willing to meet with Andrew?”

“Would love to. Can you arrange something next week Friday?”

“Next Friday, uhm …”

“Too soon?”

“Not at all. I will and arrange something for next Friday.”

o0o

Chapter 11: A diplomatic approach In which everyone is very polite.

Lin and Melinda get ready, talk about what it means to be a queen about sacrifice and talk Phil. Lin thinks Melinda might be feeling something, Melinda thinks that her mother thinks that Melinda is unprofessional.

“You wished to see me, mother?”

“Are you gonna wear this to the ball?”

lifts chin.

“You should wear these with it.”

o0o

Her POV Phil and Melinda mingle. They dance, talk to people. She admires him.

Lord Huang approaches her, is obnoxious about wanting to lower taxes for royalty.

Phil: “Enjoying yourself?”

“Too worried to do something wrong.”

“I know that feeling.”

“From where I stand you seem perfectly in charge of everything.”

Melinda snorts “Daisy seems like she's having fun.”

“I'm really sorry.”

“Why?”

“Apparently she already got two diplomats and a businesswoman to consider our service.”

laughs “Good for you.”

o0o

HER POV

She goes outside for a bit or to a floor. He follows her.

“Your cheeks must hurt from smiling so much.”

there's an expression in her eyes … she's very upset.

Phil: “Hey. Hey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -”

Melinda: “How do you do that?”

“I'm …”

“You just talk to them and they relax. They love you! Admiral Wong made a pun! I've never even made him smile.”

…

“I'm horrible at this! Do you have any idea how close I was to punching Lord Huang's throat?”

“But you didn't.”

“But I want to. You know what politics are? Talk. Just lots of talk. Most of the talk is lies. My mother calls them subtle conversations. I'm not subtle! I can't do this! I can't!”

…

“I'm just princess now and I don't even have to deal with half the diplomatic bullcrap my mother has to handle every day and it's too much! Nobody says what they really want, which is usually power or money or both but they tell you it's all for the good of the nation but most times it's the opposite. I can't do this!”

…

“What if I become queen and drive my nation into crisis? Into war?”

…

“I can't go around hitting people when I'm queen. That's how you get wars!”

…

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because I believe you'll be a great queen. You're fierce and honest and though you're aware of the burden that the power you have brings, you're not indecisive.”

“I know I need to be more cautious and not -”

“You're not hearing me. Yes, you can make quick calls, but that's because you get all the facts before you go into a conversation. You have good instincts and a strong sense of justice. All of that makes you amazing.”

…

“You're amazing.”

…

“They relax around me because I don't really matter to whatever they came to bother you about.”

“Don't sell yourself short.”

they stare at each other.

She kisses him.

She apologizes and goes back to the banquet

Phil looks at Daisy before he leaves too.

o0o

Chapter 12: Apologies In which they have a conversation

DAY 21

His POV

He asks Melinda about the kiss. She says it was a mistake and apologizes. He tells her that's not necessary. It really isn't. He's usually more professional and it won't happen again. He asks if she still wants to meet the next date. She says yes, they're both hurting. He tells her about the suitor.

Phil: “Your highness, may I speak to you for a moment.”

nods.

Door closes, they're alone.

Melinda: “Thank you for approaching me. I wanted to apologize for acting so inappropriate yesterday.”

“We kissed.”

“I can't offer any excuse, just my deepest apology. Please forgive me.”

He swallows hard. “Of course.”

“Thank you.”

“If this is too much pressure, we can slow down, your highness. Or we can stop, if you prefer.”

“I understand if you can't work with me any longer.”

“No. No, I'm … dedicated to this.” “I'm usually more professional and … you did nothing wrong. It was just a kiss, your highness. There are worse things than being kissed by a princess.”

…

“A lot worse, really.”

… smiles softly.

“Uhm, I could arrange everything with Andrew. He will fly out to meet you here on Friday. He's really excited about meeting you.”

smiles but is very tense. “Thank you.”

“Would you still like me to make the introductions?”

“If it's not too much trouble.”

“No, of course not.”

o0o

PHIL.

Phil leaves her office and walks to his room. He's very sad and feels so so stupid. Daisy waits for him at his door.

Daisy “Can we talk about it now?”

Phil: “No.”

“Are we fired? Are you two dating now? What is going on?”

“We're not fired. Everything's fine. ”

“But -”

“Don't you have to pack?”

“Already did.”

“Oh. Good.”

“What about you?”

“I'm staying.”

“To kiss her some more?”

“To introduce her to Andrew Garner on Friday. I think they will make a fantastic match. There is no reason to discuss yesterday's events ever again.”

she just looks at him. “Anything I can do?”

“Fly back home and help Jemma and Leo realize what they have?”

“Will do.”

o0o

Chapter 13: Three's the charm In which Phil introduces candidate number three

DAY 25

Melinda's POV Date with Andrew – Phil just introduces them and then leaves

The date between them – arcade

they have a flight simulator game, Andrew challenges her. They have fun. He's great and sexy. She doesn't want to think about Phil. She thinks about their kiss and how stupid it was to kiss him.

Andrew would like to kiss her goodbye, but doesn't dare to, because she's a princess.

Melinda: “Afraid, you'll turn into a frog?”

they kiss. It's nice. This could work.

Phil isn't there when Andrew leaves.

o0o

Talk between Melinda and Maria (Tori is on Honeymoon)

then the Queen shows up, she talks about duty and country and love. And not sacrificing everything, grounding oneself. Having hope. Being brave. If Melinda really wants to see that man again.

the queen trusts her. Maybe the queen asks about Phil? Or talks around him?

o0o

Chapter 14: Perfect match In which the princess makes a choice.

DAY 25

Daisy has a meeting with Fitzsimmons, he catches the last few moments of that. Fitzsimmons date. Talk about the business. And about the future. Phil praises Daisy.

Daisy and Phil chat on the phone, Fitzsimmons are in love and happy. Melinda and Andrew had a fantastic first date, Andrew called to ask for a second one and Phil is sad for himself but glad to do the work.

o0o

Melinda and Phil meet, he tells her Andrew would love to see her again.

He says he has to leave soon and how lovely this time was. They shake hands. Sparks. She kisses him again.

He kisses her back.

Phil: “Is this you sabotaging yourself?” he caresses her back, they can't stop touching.

She kisses him again. More kissing.

She lists everything bad about dating royalty – dating her – she doesn't want to date Andrew. She asks why he kissed her back. Asks him on a date – she could teach him how to fly. - really? - just give me like two years.

Epilogue

them dancing at tori's wedding

#philinda #melinda may #phil coulson #agents of shield #philinda fanfiction

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vesuvian-american · 4 years

Text

Part 2 of Abandoned in the End

Chapter 2: Spider Lily

Here’s part two, I didn’t like it at first but after a bit of tweaking i’m fairly pleased with myself! I hope you all enjoy! Enjoy it on AO3 too!<3333

Words: 2,010

You weren’t sure how much time had passed since you last saw them in person. You could still feel them though, alive, far away in the other world. Moving on with their lives. You used your magic to check in on them, to watch them. However, each time you did you noticed they changed. They sensed you there, lurking, unwilling to leave them be. Their smiling faces would fall, shivers creeped up their spines, eyes darting around the room to catch a glimpse of you. Not because they missed you, not because they wanted to see you, but because they wished to avoid you at all costs. Turn the other way and run.

Asra’s deck would scream at him to keep his guard up, immediately pulling his attention from whatever he was doing, whether it be spending time with Julian or tending to a customer. A part of you liked seeing him so spooked, another part, a repressed part, ached. It yearned to reach out and comfort Asra, your lifelong friend. He doubled and tripled his protection spells, trying in vain to keep you at bay. You’d bring him back to you eventually, whether it be this life or the next.

Nadia’s headaches returned with your presence, her sixth sense sniffing you out immediately. She was uneasy but she always asked you to leave. She was annoyed, she hated you now and that hurt. If she wasn’t too preoccupied, she’d leave you to walk off somewhere else and distract herself with a task, you’d follow. You never gave her a moments rest, always keeping the beloved Countess on her toes. She was strong though, the new Vesuvia she made was beautiful, you hated not being a part of it.

As much as Julian lacked sleep before, you made it even harder for him now, every time he slept, he remembered you, he cried for you, even yearned for you but he knew better than to get too caught up. You weren’t the same, and he wasn’t going to try and love the new you. He deserved better than that, so he fought. He drowned himself in coffee to avoid thinking about you, running himself into the ground to escape you. Hyperactive, because if even for a second he relaxed, he’d fall asleep and be tormented by your memory.

Muriel, well, he was tricky to get to. He didn’t give you any attention, you knew he could sense you there, watching, but he was good at hiding from his feelings. That is until you started to manifest physically in his presence for a reaction. Using your magic to create doppelgangers of yourself. Hard to ignore seeing the person that saved you from you demons sitting at the foot of your bed at night, looking like how you did in life. He broke down at that, but you didn’t let up. You chased him, always showing up just out of the corner of his sight. You got your reaction, and now the Devil inside craved more.

It was hard for Portia to get back to normal. She missed you, and you missed her too. She was like a warm ray of sunshine after the coldest winter, refreshing. She thought about you constantly, brought you up in conversations, but when she started to notice those around her hated your name being spoken, she stopped. A part of you broke, you thought at least you’d have someone in your corner, even if she was the most afraid of you. Portia bringing up your memory was only a way for her to avoid and ignore the crippling fear she felt thinking about the new you... the better you. She left Vesuvia for a spell another way to hide from the current you, but you still found her. She visited the other princesses of Prakra and you followed. Like a storm on the horizon, ever present doom followed poor Portia. “You can’t forget me” you’d whisper to her.

Now Lucio, he was back to his old ways. Throwing parties and drinking to ignore his pain. He wasn’t Count anymore but he still held a bit of status. You envied him. You wanted to ruin him. You pursued him constantly, scaring him, keeping him in a constant state of fear. Every time he was too drunk to stand properly, you’d lure him to his old ashen wing of the palace, and their you’d lurk. An ever-constant reminder of his failures and treachery. You reveled in the power. You felt strong.

No. You felt weak. They still weren’t here! They were free! Living their lives, not stuck, trapped bound to the Devil. Watching enviously from the sidelines. You hated this new form.

Actually, no. You loved this new form, truly. You’ll bring them back eventually. They won’t ever leave again. It was time to stop fighting. To let the Devil have his way. You may be stuck in this realm but that doesn’t mean they can’t be here stuck with you, you thought. A devilish grin cracked across your face; your crimson eyes glowed.

For this to work you’ll have to back off for a few years. Allow them to live in peace, and think all of this is of the past. What a rude awakening they’ll have coming for them. For the next years you’ll be growing stronger, preserving your strength for the night you’ll drag the back home to hell.

20 years passed, though it felt like no more than a few months for you, you looked the same of course. You took a little peak at them, they couldn’t feel you, this time. You watched them fall in love, grow, heal. Even with all of these changes they were still the same as always. Asra, so outgoing, holding everybody together. Nadia, strong and elegant. Julian, smart as ever, and still so funny. Muriel, quiet but ever kind and gentle. Portia, happy and mischievous, and fun-loving. Lucio, charming and transparent, and still a heavy drinker. You loved it. You loved seeing them like this, thinking they were safe and free, all the better for when you destroy them.

It happened one night. They all slept soundly, safe and cozy in their beds. Except they woke up in the Devil’s realm. Right at your feet, the throne room was unrecognizable. You had destroyed it after they left the last time you saw them decades ago. Burning it to the ground with your thoughts alone.

“Rise and shine my pretties.” You hissed, such glee dancing in your crimson eyes. Muriel was the first to wake, just a split second before the rest. You laughed hysterically as they realized their new circumstances. They were trapped. All of you together forever in the throne room of the Devil’s realm. You couldn’t control yourself, your laughs coming out in bursts and wheezes, they could hear the true Devil’s voice laced behind your own.

“Y/N... What have you done?” Asra asks, sounding so pathetic. Your old friends all cowered close together, trembling with fear, utterly confused.

“Oh Asra, you don’t look so good. I thought you’d age better than this.” You sneered, it was a lie though, of course he was still beautiful and full of life. “If you haven’t all figured it out yet, you’re going to be spending the rest of your days here with me.” You grinned, the smile was unnaturally wide on your face, a wicked grin. Silence ensued but you could hear their hearts races, the sound alone made you tremble, aroused by their fear.

“Don’t all cheer at once, I know how happy you all must be, right?” You joked, snorting out another short laugh before continuing. “So, get as comfortable as you can get here, it’ll be a while.”

“Whatever do you think to accomplish with all of this, Devil?” Nadia spoke, her voice projecting throughout the room. You rolled your eyes dramatically.

“First of all, you know my name Nadia, dear. Secondly, I’ve missed you all, haunting you for those first few months was getting so boring.” You whined, “I need the real you here, with me, to make up for lost time!” You were still suspended a few feet off of the ground by the rope they bound you with, you tried to wiggle free. “So as you can see, I’m still bound to this hell and couldn’t come visit.”

“...That never stopped you from showing yourself.” Muriel spoke in a hush tone, making a point to avoid your fiery gaze.

“Well, love, if you weren’t being so proactive in ignoring me, I wouldn’t have to have worked myself up, stretching my magic all the way to you like that. Don’t blame me.” You stared at him intensely, watching him shrink in on himself as much as he could. Even as Asra spoke you still were persistent in staring at the gentle giant, seeing the fear settle deep into his bones brought you happiness, you waited so long to see him in person again.

“This isn’t you Y/N! Let us go!” Asra shouted, rushing over to Muriel’s side to hold him.

“I know this isn’t me Asra, isn’t that what I was trying to convince you all of 20 years ago? Hm? Was it not!?” You shouted, fine cracks stretching up the walls. “I begged you all to let me go, I begged for you to see past this hideous form and to the real me! So, if I’m stuck here forever, you all will be too! This is your fault.” You struggled against your ropes, but they only tightened.

“Ugh honestly! What did you do to me? These ropes are really starting to work my nerves.” You carried on as if this were just normal conversation, before Julian finally spoke.

“We’ll be here f-forever?” He asked, stuttering his words.

“Yes, beloved, forever. I won’t harm you all, I love you too much. Though, you all should really consider setting me free so that it can truly feel like old times.” You cooed.

“IT CAN’T BE LIKE OLD TIMES!” Lucio shrieked, shoving a golden clawed finger in your direction. He had the nerve to talk to you like that, after all he's done.

“How dare you speak! How dare you speak like that to me!” You voice made the entire temple vibrate, threatening a collapse. The rest of the group shrunk back; Portia started to cry.

You sighed, the magic you expelled was taking a toll on your patience. “Don’t cry Portia, I’m sorry for Lucio’s foul behavior, you know how he gets.” You tried to sound as sincere as you could, but something in you wanted to laugh in their faces again.

The face she makes in response tells you all you need to know. Talk won’t help. “Okay, okay! I’m only kidding. But I assure you, I’m still me, I’m just a little bitter for the last two decades in solitude. You all moved on and fell in love. While I’m here alone watching from the sidelines.” Your head hung low, the anger your felt years ago was back at a boiling point. Honestly, you had to spell it out for them again?

“Lucio caused this whole mess but even he’s free, I saved the world and I’m here. That hardly seems fair. But, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones if you set me free from these ropes and allow me to move on with you all!” You give them a winning grin, and wiggle your fingertips and feet. That’s all the movement you can manage given your circumstances.

You give your word that won’t harm them and you remind them that you can’t lie as an Arcana. Over time, you promise them more freedoms, things do start to become a new normal. Not long after that, do they forget their days of freedom, they forget why you’re even tied up to begin with. You’re free. Free with your friends, whom you’ve granted immortality to, so long as they’re in the Arcana realms.

You’re all together again, forever. Forever together.

#the arcana #the arcana game #fic #main 6 #angst #devil!apprentice #abandoned in the end #part 2

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