#she watched a 'man' get strucked by lightning and was more worried about being locked in w potential love interest than anything else

[p4nishers]

thinking thoughts about how from nina's pov aziraphale is a huge slut who not only has a twink goth bf who drives to his bookshop everyday and follows him around like a puppy but also has random naked men lying around and somehow she's not surprised to learn that and crowley in her pov is twink goth w maybe possibly a husband/bf but who also has the slutty bookshop owner as a side piece like she really looked at them both and went 'are you a huge slut or are you a huge slut bc it's probably both'

#i love her #she watched a 'man' get strucked by lightning and was more worried about being locked in w potential love interest than anything else #good omens #good omens s2 #azicrow #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable spouses #good omens nina

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (3)

Some for revenge and some sibling bonding.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)

-------

Adrien was next to be visited. Plagg woke him up from his sleep.

-------

“Kit, wake up. I want camembert.”

“Plagg, silence. You are not getting any cheese if you do that.”

“Sorry, Adrien but you are not my ‘master’ anymore.”

“Plagg? Why are you here? Where’s the ring?”

“The ring is as far away as possible and kept safely away. I am here because someone wants to talk to you.”

“Who?”

A cloaked, hooded figure stepped out of the shadows to his room.

“Kitty. My Chaton. Did you miss me?” A sweet, familiar but yet so terrifying voice came from the figure.

She pulled down the hood to reveal Ladybug with a wicked-looking black mask with white lenses.

“What am I talking about? You do miss me. Your Bugaboo. Too bad I don’t feel the same, Adrien.”

Lightning flashed and it started to rain. The mask was gone, revealing his dead classmate, Marinette with chilling red eyes. The pigtails grew longer and curved upwards, giving the illusion of her having horns. Twin blades flashed and she leaped towards him. (Damian gave them to her with some lessons in exchange for spending time with, babysitting, the kwamis.)

Adrien scrambled away from the bed in the nick of time. A sword impaling the spot where he just was.

“Plagg, help. Where is the ring? I need to transform.”

“Sorry, kitten. I am not telling you. Even if you did have the ring, it’s not going to be much help.”

“Kitty, stay still. Then, we can be together. Just like you wanted.”

Adrien continued to dodge.

“What do you mean?” He all but screamed at Plagg.

“Pigtails, here, is a vengeful spirit. She’s not going to stop until she is satisfied. How about asking her what she wants?”

“Ladybug, what do you want?”

“What I wanted was a partner I could rely on, someone I can trust with my life, someone who wouldn’t stab me in the back for his own selfish gain. I wanted a friend who would have my back and not tell me to keep quiet at the price of my mental health and my relationships with people I care about. WAS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!”

She managed to get a cut on his left cheek.

Soon, he was on the ground, bleeding out on the round.

“Tell Hawkmoth that he better watch out. Because-” lightning struck and Plagg and Ladybug had disappeared, “his downfall is coming.” Her voice echoed through his room.

Adrien laid bleeding until Natalie opened the door after hearing a crash from the room and came to check on him. As she called an ambulance for Adrien, she wondered if it wasn’t too late to ask for redemption and be spared from Ladybug’s wrath for her part in her murder.

Adrien had the word ‘TRAITOR’ carved into his back. Forever reminding him of his crimes.

--------

He wasn’t in school for a week after the incident. They all were told that Adrien had an accident while fencing.

Gabriel was a little panicking now.

He hired an exorcist, (John Constantine got a hefty amount and did a few flashy magic tricks to appease Gabriel but he didn’t lift the curse Maria put on the place. She is not someone to be on the bad side of and he thinks that he can’t lift it even if he wanted to.)

Emilie gets a little sus at Gabriel when he brought this strange man with a British accent into their home after their son got attacked in his own room with security tighter than Fort Knox.

She doesn’t buy that ‘accident’ bullshit that her husband, son and even Natalie tries to sell her. She thinks it is connected to what happened while she was in a coma.

-----

Adrien has a curse too.

(Credit to @raeuberprinzessin for giving me an idea)

He couldn’t act like the ‘Perfect Adrien’ in public anymore. Acting more like Chat Noir at first then, later a spoiled brat. His friends thought that he was finally rebelling against his father and encouraged it a lot.

Adrien started criticizing other people, strangers at first then to the people working on the photoshoots to his fans to his other school mates, people in his class and his friends. (The curse planted ideas into his head about what he should say and he said them all without thinking about the effect it has on other people)

People started avoiding him not liking his attitude and his comments about how they should behave and change something about them because he doesn’t like it that way and guilt-tripping them when he doesn’t get his way. Even Nino started to distance himself after he saw how Adrien talked to a fan.

The public thought it was a phase but as he got progressively worse, people started despising him. Adrien doesn’t realize this of course so far, happy that his father let him get away with ‘ruining the Agreste image.’ (Gabriel was worried about a potential vengeful ghost and making sure his wife didn't know about his stint as a supervillain. There was also the fact that the Afterlife made more sales than him again and managed to get on the cover of Vogue when he should have, dammit.) He was finally able to say what he wanted to without repercussions. Until he realized when Nino and everyone else cancelled for a hangout for the third time that week that he was slowly losing his friends.

He panics and tries to fix the situation. He didn’t want to be alone again.

He talks to Nino about it and to his horror, he couldn’t stop himself from saying many things that were a little hurtful. (Second part. The moment he realizes he is going to be alone. He is going to find out that yes, lies can hurt people. He is going to see it happen firsthand.)

Nino moved seats and told Adrien that their friendship was on hold until he apologized.

Soon, nearly every time his mouth opened, lies and insults about his friends or their embarrassing secrets came spilling out. Everyone hated him now and Mme. Bustier tried to give him a reprimand about his behaviour, which when he tried to defend himself, he found himself unable to speak.

He managed to explain to his father what caused his unpopularity by writing what happened to him. Unfortunately due to his poor behaviour before the second part of the curse was activated, his fan base was dwindling and people didn’t like him anymore so there was a hit on the Gabriel brand.

He no longer has to do modeling, clearing his schedule. But no one would spend time with him.

The best solution he could do with his predicament was to keep quiet and endure the loneliness and the glares of his classmates at school. Adrien was relegated to the back and nearly everyone avoided him. He was now a social pariah.

Even Lila avoided him because of her own curse which made Adrien turn into one of her previous victims. (She also didn’t ponder why Marinette rarely appears compared to the others.)

If Adrien felt a tiny bit remorseful or guilty for making Marinette keep quiet or betraying Ladybug, he can gain a little control over what he says.

The curse can be broken if he apologizes to Maria herself or to her grave.

------

The first few months, while Marinette adapted to living with the Waynes, Jason stayed over at Wayne Manor because having Maria living with him at his apartment wasn’t a good idea and he had no clue how to take care of a teenage girl.

On paper she is adopted by Bruce because Jason can’t. (Some CPS reasons.)

Making Jason a little more salty towards Bruce. “I found her first. I called dibs.”

Brought Maria to meet the other Outlaws and they adopted her too. “Hey, guys. She’s my sister first.”

Jason was the one to teach her how to shoot a gun because he was ‘the most capable’ of teaching her.

The first few months were a little tense with Marinette not fully trusting them and the same with the rest of the Batfam.

Jason warmed her up a bit to him by telling a little of why he took her here.

He was also the one to book them flight to Paris with Bruce’s credit card so she can tell her friends that she wasn’t dead in person.

They bonded more after stopping some nefarious plot in Paris while they were there. Let’s say Gentleman Ghost and something involving the catacombs in Paris. (I watched some Batman: Brave and the Bold for childhood nostalgia.)

Kwamis were animal-shaped and they were interesting creatures to be around. And very very curious.

There was a stressful day for Maria when all the Kwamis decided to play hide and seek. Damian somehow got roped into helping her as the only available person in the Manor and he will deny that he enjoyed it.

Damian is the little brother she always wanted and she is more tolerable compared to his brothers. There is also the fact that she trusts him with the kwamis and deep down, he feels super-honoured. (I just love older sister!Mari)

Tim and her being insomniac/coffee buddies. There has been many many interventions to stop this.

I get that Marinette is this selfless person and loves making people happy but she has siblings now and them eating the stuff she made for herself to enjoy, should get on her nerves after a while.

She makes a box with booby-traps in which she puts in her cookies and food.

There are many different layers of traps because this is the Batfam and each of them is non-lethal and more ridiculous.

Okay, I once read a fic about Marinette making a bear-trap style box to hide the Miracle Box so this box is also like that but kept for food. (Traps and Sneaks by quicksilversquared)

Someone (I vote a hungry Dick or Jason, maybe a suspicious Bruce) made a mistake of putting their hand into the box and the first trap activated.

Screams filled the house.

Everyone came down including Marinette.

Bruce asked, “Who did this?”

“It was me.”

“Why?”

“They kept eating the cookies.”

“There are other ways to stop them from doing that you know like a ‘Do Not Touch’ sign not a death trap box.”

“They are non-lethal.”

Bruce locked it away but Tim later stole it to tweak it and store his coffee. ------ (Part 4)

#graveyard siblings #maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #adrien salt #adrien bashing #platonic jasonette #platonic daminette

[bffhreprise]

Best Friend For Hire Reprise, 382

 “Slow down!” exclaimed Iris.  “Turn left just up ahead.”

 I nodded and complied.  She knew where her boss lived better than any of us, having never visited this suburb befored.  I probably would have missed the break in the endless fence had she not warned me, especially when I was trying to guess the cost of having a large amount of land next to a park in a pricey suburb.  To my surprise, the gate opened for us immediately.

 “He doesn’t care much for security, does he?” I teased, looking around to see if there was some sort of guard who would have opened the gate for us.

 “Mila watches everything, so there’s no need.  There are sensors and cameras all over the yard that let her know if anything is disturbed.” explained Iris matter-of-factly.

 I nodded, but my eyes were locked on our destination in the distance, barely visible through all of the rain.  I had considerably underestimated the size of this place.  I very much doubted that I could even afford to maintain the yard for very many years and could only guess that the property tax had to be immense.

 As my sons grew excited about the bushes, I looked over and stared for several seconds.  Every single bush along the long driveway had been carefully sculpted into characters that I recognized from video games my kids enjoyed.  I could only imagine the amount of time and number of people involved in such artwork, leading me to believe James spent even more on his yard annually than I originally had guessed.  Even the fountain—an immense, two-story affair that was very elaborately sculpted—was immaculate, showing no signs of wear or neglect.  James certainly knew how to make an impression.

 When we stepped inside, passing past two sets of double doors that opened for us, James was descending down one of the staircases which curved up to a balcony on the second floor.  “James!  Thank you for having us.  This is quite a place you’ve got here.  Sorry if we brought the storm.” I told him, gesturing to the weather outside.

 “There’s plenty to see.” he politely agreed.  “Thank you for accepting the invitation.  I thought you might be interested in seeing a little more about my company than most, since you seemed curious during the game.  Mick was supposed to stop by a while ago but apparently didn’t get the time.”

 “This place is awesome!” exclaimed Matt.

 “Sorry, James.” muttered Mick.

 “No need to apologize.  We’ll just review with your family today what I wanted to tell you before.” replied James, smiling at us.

 I suddenly found myself floating as a soft breeze blew at me from inside the mansion.  Looking to my sides, I saw that my family, save for my daughter, were also floating.

 Before I could do more than exclaim in surprise, James spoke up, telling us, “Magic is real, and your family can use it.”

 I stared at them, my mind trying to figure out how he was doing this.  Was this some elaborate prank using a new technology?  “Wh-What…” was all I managed to say before we were gently lowered to the ground.

 “You wanted to know what I was feeding my employees.  I train them physically, mentally, and in magical arts.  We didn’t use spells at the baseball game, but we have numerous advantages that are completely unfair.” explained James.  “For example, I can physically lift your family’s van, though using spells is easier to ensure I don’t compromise the frame.”

 I swore, feeling like I had been had, before my better judgement kicked in.  My family was currently at this boy’s mercy.

 James’ smile broadened as he said, “If you don’t mind coming out back, I’ll ask the wonderful gardener to demonstrate something people tend to grasp more easily.”  Not hearing any argument from us, he motioned for us to follow him and started telling us  “Mirabella and Mike can’t create the electrical discharges like the rest of you.  She has a different heritage, and Mike took after his mother.”

 “How could you possibly know that?” asked Mike in surprise.

 “My secretary ran a background check on Iris prior to her being hired, and she’s so thorough that I feel like she knows everything.  You wouldn’t believe how long she takes to brief me on things.” explained James as he glanced back at my son.  “My concern with Mick is that he and Iris tended to play games with their ability, which caught enough notice for my secretary to file it in the report.  There are some out there who prey on those with abilities such as yours, so being a little more cautious tends to be wise.”

 That sounded far too believable.  I probably should have chewed those two out more often, but I had never believed anyone would have noticed their antics.  “You claim you can lift cars, and you can obviously lift us.  What else can you do, James?” I asked, wanting a firmer handle on whom I was dealing with.

 “So many things, Dad.  James is like a wizard combined with an overly strong fighter from some fantasy novel.” insisted Iris from behind me.

 I glanced back at her, surprised at how serious she looked.

 “I’ve also learned to make a great cup of tea.  My wife can be picky.” insisted James.

 “What’s that smell..?” questioned Mike longingly.

 Now that he mentioned it, I didn’t recognize the smell either, though I was certain it was food.  My mouth was already watering.

 “We’re almost to the kitchen, and Marco’s making you quite the treat.  I’m sure he won’t mind us passing through.  Just be prepared for a few samples.” encouraged James.

 The kitchen was as large as was fitting a house this size, and even there the fanciful engravings didn’t yield.  Every cabinet was beautifully carved, as were the very large table and chairs.

 Marco, the chef, was extraordinarily eager for us to sample “a few things” before we moved onward, despite assuring us that dinner would be ready soon.  Only when James pointed out there was more for us to see before dinner did Marco give way, giving us permission to pass through his kitchen into the garden beyond.

 The rain didn’t reach us as we followed James outside, hitting some invisible barrier and sliding away.

 “I don’t suppose you worry about getting struck by lightning.” I commented as I watched the sky.

 “Worried, no, but I didn’t find that to be pleasant either.” he told me sincerely.

 I stared at him, my eyes searching for any sign that he had ever been struck, but I found nothing, save for how confident he seemed.  

 “If your magic were stronger, you’d actually be able to guide a lightning bolt around you.  Iris has practiced enough that she could knock an assailant down with just the shock.” he commented, making me glance back at my daughter.

 “You can?” questioned Mick excitedly.

 She nodded, grinned, and said, “Yep, though I could take you in a fight without one.”  

 “All trained up now, are you?” questioned Mark, my eldest son.

 Iris laughed, shaking her head.  “You wouldn’t believe the standards here.”

 “I take it that James is the strongest, being the boss.” suggested Mike.

 James shook his head and said, “Not even close.”  Then he pointed to a fortress in the distance and asked “Do you see the keep over there?”

 I nodded along with a couple of my sons.

 “The strongest best friend created that with a stray thought.” claimed James.

 “What!?  No way!” exclaimed Mike.

 Nodding, James said, “She showed up in my office to tell me that she ‘oopsed’ a second after.  She’s been training recently to avoid that type of mistake.  I imagine she’ll be capable of creating a large city in a day on a whim within a few years.  I’d probably spend at least a week on a small town, and that’s if I collected the resources ahead of time.”

 I found the idea mind-boggling.  James seemed humble as he claimed that he could create a small town in a week.

 “You’d take at least a month, man-sla-... er… boss?” announced Emma, turning the statement into a question at the end.  “You get too distracted.  I could handle a village in an hour!”  She was soaked, but grinning.

 Before my eyes, the water soaking her clothes drifted away to join the rain outside.

 “Emma, I’m sure you remember Iris’ father, Grayson.  This is her mother, Mirabella.  From oldest to youngest, her brothers are Mark, Mick, Mike, and Matt.  Everyone, this is my gardener, Emma.”

 “Shouldn’t I be your favorite gardener?” she asked teasingly.

 “Sure.” he conceded.

 “Hear that?  I’m his favorite!” she exclaimed proudly.

 “Do you create villages with a stray thought?” questioned Mike.

 “Nah.  I do this.” she replied, watching us all.  After a couple seconds, wooden buildings rose out of the ground between the garden and the keep.

 “Mine would have functional electricity, plumbing, and the other luxuries people expect these days.” argued James with a smile.

 She stuck her tongue out at him.  Then she said, “My plumbing would work if I created a water tower.  Plants can be very good at guiding water.  As for electricity, I’ve been talking with Jarod about ways to generate a current with plants.  We have plans and stuff!”

 “You mean he had a crazy idea and chatted your ear off.” suggested James.

 “I thought the idea was cool and agreed to try eventually!” she insisted.

 “The idea was actually Maxine’s.  She has some experience with bioengineering from when she considered creating a cyborg army.” corrected Mila, who had discretely joined us without me noticing.

 “You can create cyborgs!?’ questioned Matt excitedly.

 “There has been some tech created here which could be used toward that end, but we’re not experimenting on people.” explained James.

 “I didn’t know you were in the tech industry.” commented my wife.

 James smiled at her and diplomatically told her “My company dabbles in many things to help prepare our best friends for a very large variety of jobs.”

 Grinning, Emma said, “He means to say ‘Yes.  Yes, we are.’  Mua ha ha ha ha!”  She drummed her fingers together while obviously attempting to look like some comic book villain.

James sighed and said, “Emma, mind getting rid of your starter village and showing the Storms how you help the kitchen?”

 “Fiiiine,” she begrudgingly told him, “but I might use some buildings to compliment the topiary when I change things up again.”

 “Sounds fun.” he agreed.

 From there, she started demonstrating how she could make the plants grow, revert to seeds, or provide as much food as she wanted.  She could also force plants to grow beyond their normal proportions and control them as easily as she controlled her own limbs, which led her into demonstrating how she had produced the bats her team had used for our baseball game.  Before she seemed remotely ready to quit demonstrating her abilities, Mila announced that food was ready.

 Instead of eating at the long table in the kitchen, we were taken to a large dining hall with an even more elaborate table.  There were already carts of food waiting nearby, and Mila urged us to help ourselves, since no one here would hesitate when they arrived.

 As we ate, we were entertained with more demonstrations of magic from those who had joined us.  James’ wife, Alma, created elaborate displays of fire and ice.  Ai and Mai created a sort of play with tiny figures made of water acting out their parts just above the table.  Jemal fetched more food for the particularly hungry using nothing but his magic, causing whatever was requested to float through the air.  James himself demonstrated illusions, making us see whatever he wanted while assuring us the magic the others had used was real.  Whether because I had felt myself being lifted earlier or because he had no reason to lie, I believed him.  Iris’ boss was the most interesting, and perhaps the most dangerous, man I had ever met.

#Best Friend For Hire Reprise #Best #Friend #For #Hire #Reprise #Jovial Times #Jovial #Times #Fantasy #Fiction #Story

[stealingpotatoes]

The Thorns of the Crown

ao3 link

summary: After everything Corvo’s family has been through in the past six months, he’s not so sure the throne is worth it all. (Emily doesn’t take the throne back au)

--

The Loyalists had been fools to think they could kill him and take his daughter, and still get away with it.

Corvo had silently fought his way through the Lighthouse, putting guards to sleep as he forced his way to the very top, where he knew his would-be murderers were. Where he knew Emily’s now-captors were.

He entered the foyer of the highest part of the Lighthouse as quietly as a ghost, and was immediately met with the grotesque sight of a golden statue of Hiram Burrows, standing proudly in the middle of the golden-gilded room. It was ironic to lay eyes on the false sight of the traitor Corvo had defeated, while on his way to deal with the very traitors that had ordered him to do it. The Loyalists had not learnt from the mistakes of those before them, it seemed.

A grand staircase wound around the circular walls that surrounded the beastly statue, leading to a room above. That was where they had to be.

I’m coming Em.

Corvo lifted his mask off as he quietly ascended the winding stairs. There was no point of hiding behind the face of Death; the Loyalists knew who he was. Or, at least they thought they did.

Corvo finally drew up to the entrance to the war room, and put his back to the wall beside a bust of Burrows. With a deep breath in, he channeled the Void through his hand, and watched the world shift into muted reds.

He looked over his shoulder, through the wall.

There were only two yellow shapes -- two men -- in the room ahead. Not guarding, but sitting at a table. No, slumped against the table. Are they sleeping? Or something else?

Corvo checked his crossbow, making sure it was loaded with sleep darts, and rounded the corner fast.

A dead man’s silence lay over the room like a heavy shroud, interrupted only by the harsh patter of rain.

The top of the Lighthouse was a purpose-built war room. It was finely wood-panelled like the rest of the building, but the left wall was covered with a huge map, places circled and labelled with smaller papers. There was a lit fireplace at the far end, with chairs surrounding it.

At the room’s main centre was a large war table -- where Burrows had no doubt spearheaded his campaigns and his war on the common people of Dunwall.

But it was not being used to plan any wars now; at the end of the table, fine foods had been served with expensive-looking wine. The food had not been eaten -- but the drink had been poured.

Martin’s body was slumped in place, and Pendleton had fallen half-off his chair. Neither of them were moving in the slightest.

Corvo slowly began to lower his crossbow, keeping a firm grip on it, and skulked towards Pendleton.

He put two fingers to the pulse on Pendleton’s neck, and heard the crunch of boots on glass. Corvo stepped back.

Shards of glass were shattered about by Pendleton’s limp hand, with drops of blood-- no, wine spilt around them.

Corvo glanced back up across the table; Martin had a glass in his hand too, and Corvo was willing to bet he had no pulse either.

Corvo stood up straight. From the glasses and past experience, he did not have to guess what had happened to them. Poisoned -- but with no boatman to save them.

But where was the man that had done this?

Corvo activated his dark vision again, scanning for any more yellow shapes that might have been out of range before.

His dark vision melted back away, unsuccessful -- but as it did, Corvo’s eyes halted on a purple shape on the floor behind Martin.

He moved over to it, a new sense of dread filling him, and crouched to pick it up. He inspected it for barely a moment; he didn’t need any longer to recognise it. It was Mrs. Pilsen, Emily’s favourite doll, the one Corvo had given her back upon his return to the Tower.

Corvo ran a thumb over a new, small crack in the doll’s painted porcelain face -- Emily must’ve dropped her. But she had been here. She had to have been. So where is Emily now? And where is Havelock?

A little girl’s scream was Corvo’s first answer.

Corvo’s eyes widened. Emily.

The voice had come from above, and-- outside? Corvo looked around the room again, and he zeroed in on the second set of stairs, behind the wall. She had to be up there. She had to.

As he rushed up the stairs, he noticed the small splashes of blood on the wood of the stairs and floor. If so much as a speck the blood is Emily’s, Corvo thought, running, then I am going to make damn sure Havelock wishes he had never been born.

The trail of blood continued into the office at the top of the stairs, out onto the metal balcony that began out of a door in the glass-roof and wall. Corvo continued his pace, unfolding his sword as he burst into the pouring storm once again.

There was no sign of her there. Corvo raced to his left, up another set of stairs. He paused on a landing -- the trail stopped there, on a maid, dead, surrounded by her own blood. It was no relief.

“NO! Let me go!”

Corvo’s eyes darted up.

On the walkway far above, two people were moving-- struggling, silhouetted against the sky. One far larger, one far smaller.

“Quiet now! And move already, child!”

Havelock.

A hundred words of vengeance filled Corvo’s head, but he said none of them. He only darted to his left again, bounding up the rest of the staircase to the entrance of a sheltered stairwell. The voices were audible again as he entered.

“Hold still you stupid girl!” Havelock’s voice boomed through the rain.

“Let me go! I am the Empress!”

Corvo kept running up the twisting stairs.

“Didn't you learn anything in your short life?” Havelock yelled seethingly. “Empresses are pieces on the board. And Empresses can sometimes die--”

Corvo stepped out of the shelter and onto the walkway. He didn’t need to announce his presence -- Havelock looked up the second Corvo laid more than two steps on the metal.

Another bout of thunder and lightning struck somewhere in the storm.

“No! Stay where you are Corvo, or I jump,” the Admiral yelled over the rain.

“Corvo! Save me!” Emily screamed.

Corvo stopped walking.

“That’s right,” Havelock said, a maniacally grim satisfaction rising in his voice at Corvo following his orders. “If you take one step closer, we’re both off the edge.”

I don’t need to take a step to get to you, Corvo thought.

He made a show of folding his blade back up and sheathing it, before holding his hands up slowly in a surrender. The rain was beating down on him.

Corvo let himself lock eyes with Emily -- but only for a moment. Then he fixed his blazing-ice gaze on Havelock, who wore the grin of a man that thought himself entirely in control.

Havelock opened his mouth to begin some taunting speech. Lightning struck beyond the edge of the walkway.

Corvo curled his raised left hand into a fist, feeling that sharp pins-and-needles sensation on the Mark and called the Void forth. It heeded his demand with a sharp whisper. Time ground to a complete halt around him.

The lightning behind Havelock and Emily stopped its descent half way down, looking like a harsh rift of pure light in the sky. Water droplets stood in place, small gems floating against the dark storm clouds.

Everything was still.

Corvo didn’t waste a second; he ran forward and at once pulled Emily out of Havelock’s unknowing grip, shoving the Admiral hard as he did it

Corvo took a short, undeserved moment to take in the frozen sight of Emily, half in his arms, before releasing his taxing hold on time.

The grey scream of the dragged-out present disappeared. and the world resumed its pace. Emily almost tripped onto the metal floor with the force of time’s discharge, but Corvo held her safe.

Havelock hung for a moment, as if time wasn’t yet properly flowing, his footing just lost and surprise written all over him. He had expected one last piece of control -- control over his own death. But he had fallen into the same trap as all those before. He had become too comfortable in his position, and he had forgotten that Death belonged to no man, and followed no man’s orders. No matter their station.

Havelock fell.

Corvo, still holding tight to Emily, peered ever so slightly over the edge. He watched the Admiral’s screaming descent until he hit the jaws of the rocks below.

After what felt like a moment too many, Corvo turned to his daughter, still holding onto him for dear life. He held her back, and tucked a drenched strand of messy hair from her face. The rain still beat down on them, ceaseless, soaking their already-soaked clothes and hair.

“Are you okay?” Corvo asked hurriedly.

Emily gave him a shaky nod, eyes still wide with fear. “I-- I think so.”

Corvo nodded in return. “We need to get out of the storm.” Logic was slowly returning, replacing the blood haze seeing Emily in such danger put him in.

Corvo made himself let Emily go for the moment, and she ran ahead onto the covered metal stairwell he had just come from. Corvo followed just as swiftly. They both traversed down the small stairs, the sound of Emily’s little shoes on metal filling Corvo with more and more relief.

He had only paused by the bottom doorway for a second when Emily barrelled right into him for a hug. “I knew you’d save me! You’re my hero, Corvo,” she said, voice half-muffled by his wet coat but slowly coming back to herself.

When she pulled away briefly, Corvo knelt down to just below her eye level and pulled her into a proper hug. He knew was probably hugging her too tight, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about anything but the feeling of his daughter in his arms. She was shaking and freezing-wet, but still warm enough. But still alive.

The storm raged on on the walkways outside of their small shelter.

Eventually, they both pulled back, and Corvo took Emily’s tiny hands in his. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“You-- you already asked me that,” Emily said, still shivering from the cold and the fear. When Corvo’s worried expression didn’t change, she told him, “I think I’m alright. I’m alright now you’re here.”

Corvo nodded, feeling some small part of the weight on his shoulders go.

“Is it going to be okay now? Will I-- will I be Empress?” Emily asked, almost eagerly.

Corvo glanced down.

He thought of Jessamine. Of her cold dead eyes in the Gazebo. Of her blood on his hands.

Empresses are pieces on the board. And Empresses can sometimes die.

The Heart was beating, an unrelenting pulse in the back of his mind. An incessant reminder that what Havelock had said was true; Empresses die. And who was Corvo to be able to stop it? He had failed once; he could fail again. Death followed no one’s orders; not orders from Empresses, nor those from Lord Protectors.

I know what it felt like to drive a blade into your Empress.

Empresses die. And for what? So men could take control of the damned city of Dunwall? This city didn’t care about them. It didn’t care about anyone. It ate everything alive. It would not let an Empress be safe, no matter how good or pure of heart she was.

The crown and throne were nothing but a curse and objects of desire for ambitious men who thought themselves the better of people. The curse of power nearly took the last of his family from him -- the family that, because of the crown and its rules and its curses, he had never been able to openly call his own.

Empresses die. And so did Burrows, and Havelock, and Pendleton, and Martin. And so did everyone else that tried to hold that kind of power.

Now I want nothing but to leave this wretched city, and fade from the memories of those who reside here.

Emily was just a girl. She was Corvo’s girl, his baby girl. She wasn’t meant to be a piece on a board, a piece in Dunwall’s deadly game of power. She wasn’t meant to hold an Empire in her small hands.

She wasn’t meant to die.

If they went home, if Corvo let Emily take back the throne… what fate would he be damning her too? She would be forever caught in the crossfire of power-grabs and the schemes of conniving politicians. All it took was one wrong move, and Corvo would lose her to that crossfire. That was not the life he wanted her to live. That was not the death he could ever let her die.

This was the only way he could protect Emily. He wasn’t sure if Jess would ever truly approve of it, but she had not been through what they had been through. He hoped what was left of her would understand.

Empresses die. But Emily wouldn’t. Not if Corvo could help it.

The Heart continued to beat.

Corvo pulled Emily closer and planted a kiss on her forehead, “It’s going to be okay now. I promise.”

A relief seeped into Emily’s big brown eyes, and Corvo felt something squeeze in his chest at her expression. “Are we going home then?”

Corvo swallowed. He shook his head.

Confusion knit itself between Emily’s furrowed brows. “What?”

“We can’t go home, and you won’t be Empress,” Corvo said slowly, forcing the words out. This was how it had to be. I can’t protect you from this city. Nothing can, Corvo thought. “Dunwall and Dunwall Tower-- they aren’t safe,” he said instead. “They aren’t ever going to be safe.”

Corvo had expected Emily to show more resistance, or be more upset at the idea they couldn’t return to Dunwall Tower -- but maybe he still expected Emily to be the girl she had been six-and-a-half months ago, before this all happened. But she was not that girl; Emily merely nodded, with a look she was too young to have in her eyes.

“So where are we going to go?” she asked.

Corvo tightened his grip on her hands. “We’re going to take a ship out of here--”

“Like a pirate ship?”

Corvo huffed out a half-laugh, relief at really having his daughter back hitting him hard. I love you so much, he thought. “Yes, like a pirate ship,” he said with a small smile. “We’re going to take a ship out, and-- and we’re going to make a new home, somewhere else. Just the two of us.”

“Three of us,” Emily corrected. After seeing Corvo’s confused expression, she made an obvious face. “Mrs Pilsen! I grabbed her when they took me, but I left her downstairs.”

Corvo shook his head, half-laughing again. All that had just happened, and Emily’s first concern was her favourite dolly. It filled Corvo with faith. They could do this. They could live a normal life, where Corvo could just be a father and, Emily could just be a daughter. Where she would be allowed to be a child, and not a piece to be manipulated.

He squeezed Emily’s hands. “The two of us and Mrs. Pilsen. We’ll make a new home. How does that sound?”

Emily’s eyes drifted to the floor below, and she bit her still soaking-wet lip for a moment. “I…” her gaze returned to Corvo, and she slowly gave him a small smile, “I’d like that.”

Corvo pulled her into another hug.

---

Emily woke up to the slight sway of the sea beneath her.

They had been on this boat more than a week now. It wasn’t like any boat she had been on before -- far less fancy, and far more dirty.

Emily knew a smuggler was a lot like a pirate, but this boat didn’t look like the boats from Emily’s story books. This was a big metal steam-ship, not a pirate’s sailboat with a flag of skull-and-crossbones.

And the pirates in the stories never had to check themselves for signs of the plague, or make certain no rats had come aboard, but the smugglers had had to. So had Emily and Corvo.

Emily wasn’t sure “Slackjaw” was a real name, but apparently it was the name of Corvo’s friend who set this all up. He owed Corvo one, because he had saved “Slackjaw”'s life. Which made sense -- Corvo was good at saving lives. He’d saved Emily’s life more times than she could count. He’d been saving Emily’s life since before she could even count.

But Corvo had saved Slackjaw’s life, and so Slackjaw owed him a favour. Corvo used that favour to get him and Emily on a smuggler’s ship with new clothes and made-up papers.

The papers didn’t have Corvo or Emily’s real names on them, but Corvo had said that he and Emily would need to take new names, to stay safe.

Emily hoped they could come up with something better than Slackjaw.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up in her cot-bed, before glancing to the other side of the tiny cabin.

The cabin -- if it could even be called that; oversized cupboard seemed more apt -- was flakily-painted metal, like the rest of the ship. The tiny room was almost empty, besides Corvo and Emily’s few belongings, and the two foldaway cots pressed against the walls.

The size of the room allowed very little space between the two cots -- and so Emily had a very good view of Corvo, sitting on the far end of his.

He was fully dressed already. It still was funny to see him in something other than a long coat, but Emily supposed the roughspun jacket and shirt he was wearing now suited him well enough. His folding sword was somewhere underneath the jacket, and that gave Emily no small amount of comfort.

She squinted in the near-dark. Corvo was looking down at his hands, clasped as if they were tenderly holding something. He mumbled something at his hands, entirely fixated on the empty space.

“Father,” Emily started, barely able to stop herself from grinning as she did every time she called him that. Corvo said she was allowed to now. “Father?”

“Mm?” Corvo hummed in an almost-startled reply, quickly looking up from the nothing in his hands.

“What time is it?”

“Early enough that you can go back to bed,” Corvo said fondly.

“Is it early early?”

“What does that mean?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Is the sun out yet?”

Corvo glanced back ahead, as if he could see through the walls of the cabin. “No,” he said, turning back, “but it will be soon. The crew’s beginning to wake up.”

Emily perked up. “Can we watch the sunrise? Please?”

She thought Corvo might say no for a second, but instead he smiled and nodded. “If you really want to.”

Emily nodded gingerly, then shuffled to the end of her cot and pushed herself onto the floor.

Corvo stood up too -- bent over slightly, unable to stand to his full height under the cabin’s short ceilings. He’d moved his hands apart now, as if he’d put the nothing he was holding back down somewhere. Emily paid no mind to it, only grabbing her coat from the back of the door and putting her shoes on, before giving her father a big smile to say she was ready.

Corvo returned the smile, and quietly opened the door, letting her pass into the cramped metal hallway.

He didn’t have to tell her to try to be quiet too. Emily knew that some of the crew would still be asleep, and they needed to be nice and courteous to the smugglers, as any guest would be towards their hosts.

Part of that meant Corvo had to help around the ship a bit, so he and Emily were more worth their while. The smugglers seemed to like him; they’d told him that if he ever wanted a solid job, he could join their crew. Corvo didn’t seem that interested.

After a short time of quiet footsteps in the hall, Corvo and Emily reached a heavy metal ship-door, which Corvo opened with ease.

The fresh not-yet-morning sea air hit Emily with a gentle breeze as they stepped onto the side deck of the boat. It had been getting warmer every day, as the ship got further from cold Gristol, and closer to sunny Serkonos.

The sea ahead was almost dark, but a peaking of the sun on the horizon drove a warm streak across the water.

Emily walked up to the ship’s metal side railing and peaked over it, but didn’t look off the edge. She had done that on the first day on the ship, and promptly regretted it, needing Corvo to calm her down and remind her that they weren’t at the top of the Lighthouse anymore. That she was safe.

“I can’t wait to be in Karnaca,” Emily said. “Will you show me everything you told me about?”

Corvo nodded with a small smile, a fond and loving look in his eyes. “I’ll show you whatever you want to see in Karnaca.”

“And can I go swimming in the bay, like you said you used to? Ooh, or climb the big trees? And-- and--”

Corvo chuckled, “You can do all of that, and more.”

Emily grinned giddily, and looked back to the sea ahead.

The sun was beginning to rise over the waters, painting the world around them hues of orange. Emily wondered if the sun was rising just the same in Dunwall. She supposed it didn’t really matter; what mattered was that it was rising, and that she had her father by her side to see it.

A new day was dawning for them both, and Emily found herself apprehensively excited. It would be a strange new future ahead, one that she did not know, but she had decided it would be a good future. She knew Corvo would make sure of that.

Emily leaned in closer to Corvo, who too was partly leant on the railing, and rested her small head on his arm. In response, he lifted his arm up and pulled her closer to his torso, before settling his arm on her shoulders in a warm half-hug.

Emily smiled, snuggling nearer and keeping her eyes on the rising sun ahead.

#dishonored #corvo attano #emily kaldwin #farley havelock #HAHA I FINISHED A FIC AFTER NOT BEING ABLE TO DO THAT SINCE MARCH #but i did not read this through so have fun #a normal life dh au #potes wrotes #dishonored fanfic

[cherienymphe]

Saving Grace (Alpha!Thor x Omega!Reader)

WARNINGS: NON-CON, Alpha!Thor 

summary: when an Avenger literally falls out of the sky and into your life, you take it upon yourself to nurse him back to health. It is easier said than done when you must hide your true nature from the blond god

~

It was a quiet night. Most nights were, but sometimes you could hear the faint howling of wolves or the scurrying of some smaller animal outside the cottage. The kettle on the stove was starting to let out a soft whistle, and you knew that it would be ready soon. You could hear a faint rumble from outside, but you paid the thunder no mind.

Your garden could use some rain. You started to undress, staring at the clawfoot tub in the corner with longing. You could practically feel the heated water warming your skin as you watched the steam rise from it while nearing it. You sank into it with a soft sigh, closing your eyes and leaning your head back as you relaxed.

You’d spent most of the day outside, planting some more fruits and vegetables that you’d bought from town. You didn’t get done until late, but that was your fault for waking up much later than you had expected. You were still getting used to the time change and lack of technology, despite how long it’d been since you’d moved here.

You swallowed as you thought of your family and friends and the life you’d left behind. The loneliness of your solitude made your heart clench, but you told yourself that it was for the better. It was safer than the alternative, safer than becoming nothing more than a warm body to some chauvinistic alpha who didn’t value you beyond what was in between your legs.

Both of your parents had been betas. They had often told you they’d thought you’d be no different, but they were wrong. You all were. As soon as you had turned 18, you had experienced the worst pain imaginable that came with your first heat. Your parents had been horrified, distraught even. You had always been their little girl, and the thought of you eventually submitting yourself to an alpha was too much for them.

You had been taken out of school halfway through your senior year, homeschooled through the rest. You hadn’t gone to a campus, instead taking your college courses online. You had never left the house. Instead, you had stayed locked away for years per your parents’ orders…and you didn’t mind.

Growing up, not only had you heard the stories of horrid alphas from your parents, but you’d seen some of the behaviors yourself. You saw how they acted, especially around omegas, how they carried themselves, how they took pride in the emotions they evoked from unmated omegas. You would never forget when a girl in your class had presented during junior year at 16 years old, how the few alpha boys who’d presented early had reacted. How one of the teachers had even reacted…

A shiver ran over you as you recalled that day…how scared that girl had been…how completely unrestrained those alphas had acted… It was a miracle that some other teachers and the school nurse had gotten her off the school grounds unscathed. You knew they weren’t all like that. Even if you’d like to believe so, statistically speaking, they couldn’t all be like that. But enough of them were to scare you.

So when your parents had suggested locking you inside the house for God knows how long, you did not oppose. You were all too happy to stay inside…safe and independent as you possibly could be under the circumstances. However, everything changed when your father died.

It had only been a few months after he died when you experienced one of your heats…the worst you’d ever been through. You couldn’t even recall it, blocking most of it out due to the trauma and pain. You did recall how scared your mother had been though. How worried she had been that you would not make it, that what you normally did to get you through your heats was no longer working. Reluctantly, she began to accept that you would need an alpha after all.

You had begged for otherwise, crying even, and she had cried too, but you could see the genuine fear for your life in her eyes. You had brought up the idea of suppressants, but you had known her answer before she even opened her mouth. They had always been adamantly against them due to the side effects, side effects that you had never given a flying hoot about.

She was determined to find you a nice alpha who would treat you right, who could be trusted with your life and care. You had begged her to reconsider, and she had promised to think about it, but deep down, you knew that her mind was made up. It had taken you less than a day to take her card and buy a plane ticket to Norway. Another two to transfer as much money as you could into an account your parents had opened for you forever ago but had never used. The same day you packed a single bag was the same night you had snuck out to catch the flight.

You were in Norway an entire month before finding a man who sold suppressants. You’d bought as many as possible in bulk, fortune enough to get enough to last for half a year. You’d been in Norway for a year and had only ventured out to buy from him twice. He was a beta and American, and you wondered how much business he got. How many omegas had the same idea as you to hide in the rural land of a foreign country?

The thunder outside rumbled louder now, much louder, and you pulled yourself from the tub just as the kettle began to scream inside the house. You wrapped your towel around you before going to turn it off. It was then that the outside was lit up by lightning, but it flashed in such a way that startled you. You turned to look out of the window, the outside so bright that you could’ve mistaken it for day time.

You heard something hit the ground hard, bringing lightning with it as it struck the earth, shaking the cottage. It was dark again, but you could see a rather large shape prone on the ground outside of your cottage. Your brows furrowed, and you hurried to put on a t-shirt and some pajama bottoms. Hesitantly, you went to open the door, and you gasped as you realized the figure was a man.

Confusion tore through you, but you ran outside anyway. It was lightly raining now, dampening your clothes and hair as you neared him. His golden hair haloed around his head, facial hair consistent and tasteful, and for some reason, he was familiar to you in the darkness. You knelt beside him, looking him over. The only light was the faint light from inside your house that stretched from the window and open door.

You couldn’t see much, but he eventually groaned. He started to sit up, and you recoiled a bit, but he groaned in pain as he did so. He was clearly hurt, and considering you were sure he fell from the sky, that didn’t surprise you.

“Can you stand?”

He mumbled something, and you couldn’t make it out, but he attempted to stand anyway. You helped him up, and it was then, when you were so close, that you recognized him. Your eyes widened, and you rushed to get him inside. It was pouring now.

When you both stumbled inside, you were able to see that he was hurt…badly. Blood soaked the front of his shirt, some more on his arms and neck area, but it seemed that his stomach was the worst of it. Miraculously, you were able to help him to your bed, the queen-sized furniture looking much smaller with his large frame on it. He passed out almost as soon as his back hit the mattress.

You blinked, staring at him in both awe and fear. He was as large and imposing as you always thought he’d be, hair golden and features sharp. You reminded yourself that he was injured, and you struggled to get his shirt off. You recalled seeing him on the news a few times before you’d left, fighting alongside other heroes like Captain America and Iron-Man. You also recalled that he was an alpha.

As you cleaned him up, you also reminded yourself that he was a hero. That he was one of the good guys and his presentation did not negate that. The cut on his stomach wasn’t deep, he’d lost more blood than anything, but you still thought it needed to be stitched. The problem with that was you were in a small cottage practically in the middle of nowhere.

You had a first aid kit lying around and was able to stem the bleeding with some bandages. It would have to do until he woke up. It hadn’t fully hit you yet that a superhero, a god, was lying in your bed, injured. You didn’t know if he was hurt anywhere else, but you decided you weren’t going to check. You’d wait for him to wake. You simply stared at him for a while, unsure of what to do before deciding to sit down in the rocking chair in the corner.

Your emotions were at war with themselves, and you didn’t know how to proceed. This man was a stranger, an alpha at that, and that made you nervous. You couldn’t ignore the small twinge of fear you felt at being in his presence. Sure, you had been on suppressants for a year, but your paranoia couldn’t be helped. On the other hand, he was a hero, loved by all. He was meant to protect, and part of you thought you should feel safer with him in your house.

You didn’t know how long you stared at him, tense and afraid and confused, but you eventually felt your head lolling. The rain outside was soothing, and it calmed your nerves, relaxing you. You succumbed to some much-needed sleep.

You woke up to the sound of a loud deep groan. You stirred a bit, back aching as you moved, confusion filling you. You heard the sound again, and when you blinked your eyes open, it took a moment for your memory to return.

You had an Avenger in your bed.

You sat up as he finally stirred, eyes blinking open to stare up at the ceiling. You glanced outside to see that you’d both slept the night through. You were a bit surprised with yourself that you had grown relaxed enough around him to even fall asleep, let alone sleep so soundly. You winced when you stood, and the movement drew his attention to you. You froze when his bright eyes landed on you, but he didn’t look alarmed…or even worried for that matter.

Why would he? You weren’t a threat in the slightest and he clearly knew that.

“Where am I?” he wondered, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

You reached out before pulling your hands back, unsure if you should help him.

“You’re in Norway,” you answered. “Flekkefjord to be exact.”

His gaze descended, and you followed it to his stomach. The bandages you put over his stomach were lightly stained with blood, but you were relieved to see that you were right: the wound wasn’t that bad. He ran his hand over his abdomen before lifting his gaze to you.

“You bandaged me.”

His voice was deep, like it was full of thunder, and the low timber warmed your body in the way a blanket would. It was strange.

“You were bleeding. I didn’t check to see if you were hurt anywhere else,” you gestured to his bottom half. “I would let you do that when you woke up…”

He pressed his hand to his head, groaning again as he moved to stand. You jumped into action, reaching out to see if he needed help, but he gently waved you off. You swallowed as you eyed him, his large build making your already small cottage look miniscule. He looked around with a hum.

“You fell out of the sky,” you quietly began in case he couldn’t remember. “You almost hit my house…”

He looked at you again, face genuinely apologetic.

“I am sorry,” he apologized although there was no need. “I was…”

He trailed off, seeming to be thinking hard before he slowly rested his hands on his waist, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Loki,” he whispered, disdain and disappointment coloring his tone.

That name was not unfamiliar to you. It wasn’t unfamiliar to anyone who lived in New York for a time or kept up with the news. Your eyes widened, and Thor noticed.

“He will not come here,” he hurried to assure you. “I swear it, Lady…”

You blinked before answering him.

“Y/N,” you told him.

He eyed you for a moment, quickly running his eyes over your frame, and you swallowed under the scrutiny. His nostrils flared.

“Lady Y/N,” he eventually said, resting a hand on your shoulder.

A twinge of discomfort registered in your gut before you noticed him sway slightly. You reached out, placing a hand on his arm and the other on his back as you helped him turn around.

“I don’t think you should be standing.”

“Nonsense,” he chuckled, but sat down anyway. “I am feeling a bit faint is all. Loki did more damage than I initially thought he would.”

You helped him lean back against the headboard, ignoring his inquiring gaze.

“I cleaned the wounds, but if you want a proper bath I can leave for a while. I should probably go into town and get some things for you anyway. I don’t know how long it’ll take for you to fully heal, but it shouldn’t take any longer than a week or so.”

He hummed in agreement.

“You do not seem at all bothered that I fell out of the sky and into your lawn,” he acknowledged.

The corner of your lip curved upwards ever so slightly.

“I was more concerned with your wellbeing at first, but once I recognized you it suddenly made a lot more sense,” you replied.

“Yes, I seem to have a habit of falling out of the sky,” he murmured, sounding a bit annoyed by that.

You turned away from him.

“Let me run you a bath,” you said, nearing the tub. “…and then I’ll get some things from town.”

It didn’t take long for hot water to fill the bathtub, and you suddenly wondered how this giant of a god was going to fit inside. You almost wanted to stick around, sure it would be comical to witness, but truth be told you wanted to get away from him for a bit.

You threw on a jacket and some shoes, realizing that you wouldn’t be able to change into something more presentable, not with Thor here. You worriedly eyed him as you neared the door, and he waved you off.

“I will make it in and out of the bath just fine, Lady Y/N,” he told you.

You pursed your lips before nodding and leaving, feeling his inquiring gaze on you until you shut the door behind you.  

“Your hands are divinely touched, Lady Y/N,” Thor praised.

You threw him a small smile, embarrassment heating your face at his compliment. You both were seated at the table, eating some soup you’d just made. You made sure it included plenty of meat. The blond Avenger had been recuperating at your house for a few days, and in that time, you’d learned quite a bit about him. Notably, that he loved to eat. Especially meat.

“It’s nothing special,” you quietly replied.

“You do that a lot,” he suddenly said.

You frowned at him, pausing in your movements.

“Do what?” you wondered.

“Downplay your talents. You did it the other day when I complimented you on your help with my wound,” he explained.

You didn’t know what to say to that, unaware that you were even doing it. Part of you recognized why though. His compliments and praises made you preen, the omega qualities in you that you’d suppressed for so long rearing their ugly heads. Aside from high school and the occasional passerby in town, you did not interact with alphas. Ever.

You liked his compliments, but you didn’t at the same time. They spoke to a part of you that you wished didn’t exist. Ever since he’d literally fallen into your life, you’d had to up your suppressant intake. You knew the dangers that lied with that, but you didn’t care. Besides, it wasn’t going to be a long-term thing. Just until he was fully healed…

“I hadn’t noticed,” you honestly told him.

You could feel his gaze on you, and when you looked up, you found his brows furrowed. There was that curiosity again, like he was trying to figure you out, and that put you on edge. It seemed like he was always trying to figure you out, eying you and sniffing around you when he thought you didn’t notice. You didn’t think he meant any harm by it, but it still bothered you. He was an alpha, and he couldn’t pick up a scent from you that told him your presentation. You knew that it put his nerves on edge. He’s a hero, a good guy. You had to remind yourself of that. You could trust him, and in a few days, he’d be gone anyway.

“You are all alone out here. Why? Where is your family?”

You set your spoon down.

“My father died some years ago. My mother and the rest of my relatives are back in the states. I just like the solitude,” you shrugged.

It was a lie, and you hoped that he could not tell. He continued to eye you with a hum.

“…but you are completely alone. Surely you get…lonely…”

Again, you shrugged.

“I like being alone,” you simply told him with a small smile.

He returned it, but it did not reach his eyes.

“I am almost healed. It just pains me to leave a fine lady such as yourself out here all alone,” he said.

“That’s sweet, Thor, but I’ve been here for a year now. I’m perfectly happy…and safe.”

You avoided his eyes as you continued eating. You didn’t like all of this questioning, it made you nervous, made your heart race and blood pump faster.

“How’s your stomach?” you asked him, changing the subject.

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and you pretended not to notice.

“It is healing well. I shall help you with the bandages tonight,” he answered.

You stood, grabbing your bowl.

“Are you done?”

“I am,” he said with a grin, watching as you cleared his side of the table.

You heard him stand as you set the dishes in the sink.

“I shall step outside for a stroll. Work to get my strength back,” he told you.

“Okay,” you called over your shoulder, relief coursing through you when he exited.

He always stepped outside for a while so you could bathe. You were sure that he did enjoy being outside, exercising a bit to regain his health, but you also figured it was not needed. You were grateful he awarded you the privacy. It was also when you took the time to take your suppressants. You were downing them twice a day since he’d arrived, just to be on the safe side, and where as you would normally just take them in the early hours of the morning, you now had to sneak them in during the evening too.

The steaming water soothed you, took your mind off of your present worries for a while. You reminded yourself that they wouldn’t last for much longer. You also had to keep reminding yourself that Thor was one of the heroes. He wasn’t like the alphas your parents told you about…or those boys in high school… He was one of the good ones.

You didn’t linger in the water, and you quickly dried yourself after stepping out. You hurried to get dressed, rushing to grab your pills before Thor reentered. You had just swallowed it down with a glass of water when the door opened. You were nonchalant as you closed the bottle back, shooting him a small smile as you went to put them back into your cabinet.

“I’m feeling almost as good as new. Healthy as a horse,” he chuckled. “Tony said that once…”

You laughed with him. Despite your paranoia, Thor was very easy to get along with. He had such a kind easygoing nature, and it was why you were so inclined to trust him. You suddenly thought about something, something you hadn’t considered before, and your heart skipped a beat.

“Do you think they’re looking for you?” you kept your tone light.

He talked about the other Avengers quite often, and it definitely seemed like they would be searching for him. You didn’t need anyone else discovering you.

“More than likely,” he answered as you faced him with new bandages. “…but I shall not remain here for much longer. I shall soon be out of your hair, Lady Y/N.”

You threw him a crooked smile before looking away when he removed his shirt, sitting down.

“You can just call me Y/N. I’ve told you that,” you murmured as you approached him.

His chest shook as he laughed, and you swiftly removed the old bandage. You frowned a bit, noticing that he was practically healed. However, you were no doctor. Thor clearly must still be in some sort of pain and discomfort, so you moved to get some cream to rub over his stomach. You could feel his eyes on you.

“Are you ill, Lady Y/N?”

You briefly glanced up at him and found his gaze on you, blue eyes inquiring. There was something else there, hiding within the curiosity that you could not name.

“No, why do you ask?”

“I saw you ingesting some medicine just before I came in. I want to make sure that you are well…”

Your heart skipped a beat, but you kept your face neutral and voice light as you chuckled.

“It’s just for headaches. I get terrible migraines, and a few years ago it became severe enough where I was prescribed medicine for it. Nothing to worry about,” you told him with a soft smile.

He returned it when you caught his gaze, but again, it did not reach his eyes.

“There! All done,” you said.

He stood, and you stumbled back, unsure if you would ever get used to the sheer size of him. You watched as he began grabbing the blankets and some pillows.

“You really should sleep in the bed, you know,” you sighed. “I really don’t mind sleeping on the floor…”

“Nonsense! I am almost well. You are doing much for me already, the least I can do is let you have your bed,” he replied.

It was similar to what he’d said the third night when he insisted you take the bed. You exhaled in defeat, but eventually nodded. It was almost crazy how quickly you’d grown to be comfortable around the blond Avenger. You didn’t think the paranoia would ever go away, a product of your upbringing, but a good portion of you felt safe around him.

You slid into your bed with ease as he made himself comfortable on the floor beside you. The first two nights, you couldn’t even relax enough to go to sleep until he was, but your body sagged with fatigue as soon as you made yourself comfortable. Sleep claimed you almost as soon as your head hit the pillow.

Thor was awake before you when you finally stirred. The smell of bacon and eggs in the air took you by surprise, and you sat up with a confused smile. You didn’t even know he knew how to use the stove, but you were pleasantly surprised, nonetheless.

“Good morning, Lady Y/N,” he boomed.

“Morning,” you mumbled as you got out of bed.

“This is my show of gratitude for being such a hospitable host,” he said as you neared him. “Sit.”

The command shot straight through you, and you frowned at him, only briefly, but eventually you sat. A plate was sat before you not long after, and you eyed the food, stomach growling.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” you told him as he sat down across from you.

He threw you a playful wink, golden locks brushing his shoulders.

“There are a great many things you do not know of me.”

You chuckled before digging in. You glanced out of the window, noticing the clear sky.

“I believe I shall take my leave tomorrow,” he suddenly said.

You returned your gaze to him, somehow simultaneously relieved and disappointed.

“You’re feeling much better then…”

“I am. It is thanks to you,” he sincerely replied. “I would very much like to spend the day helping you. Whether it be going into town or in the garden.”

You smiled at him.

“Okay.”

The rest of breakfast passed in a comfortable silence. You were all too happy to admit that Thor cooked better than you did. It was enjoyable, and yet, you kept feeling like you were forgetting something. When Thor stood to clear the table, he lingered by your chair. You looked up when his hand landed on your shoulder. You tensed, but his thumb brushed over a place where your shoulder met your neck, and you instinctively relaxed.

“So which shall it be first?”

You were momentarily dazed, blinded by his grin before blinking.

“Uh…the m-market. I need more seeds,” you quietly told him.

He nodded and moved away. It took a moment for you to clear your head. Another to realize he’d eventually stepped out to allow you to get dressed. You did so quickly, still feeling a nagging in your mind that was trying to remind you of something very important.

Thor’s “disguise” in town merely consisted of a dark hoodie and some shades. He didn’t stray from you the entire time, and his constant presence brought out conflicting emotions in you. His hovering unnerved you, but something in your stomach fluttered every time his arm brushed along yours or he touched your shoulder with his hand.

He didn’t relent when you made it back to your cottage. His constant touches and praises were making your heart race. Thor was attractive, anyone could see that, and it wasn’t like you hadn’t noticed, but you found yourself eyeing him more than usual. You found yourself inhaling his scent at times. You didn’t understand where this had come from…until you were soaking in the hot water that night.

You sat up with a shock, water splashing as you stared at the wall in front of you with wide eyes. Your heart felt like it was going jump out of your throat as your eyes slowly trailed to your cabinet. Hurriedly you jumped out of the tub, almost tripping in the process. Water splashed everywhere as you wrapped the towel around you and ran to the cabinet.

Everything was suddenly making sense. You normally took them first thing in the morning, before Thor even woke up, but he’d woken up first this morning and it had slipped your mind. You surmised that your double dosages were the only thing keeping your body somewhat under control. You couldn’t believe that you had forgotten to take them this morning. You couldn’t believe that…they weren’t here.

Frantic, you pushed other bottles and glasses around, but your eyes weren’t playing tricks. They were gone. You heard the door open behind you, and your stomach dropped to your stomach. You spun around to find Thor leaning against the doorjamb, your pills in his hand. He turned them over, eyeing them as he let out a low hum.

“Do you know how dangerous these are?”

You didn’t know what to say, mouth opening and closing.

“Do you have any idea what these do to you?”

Anger coated his tone, and you couldn’t hold in the whimper that climbed out of your throat at his ire. His eyes met yours, and your lower back hit the sink.

“Thor,” you quietly pleaded, all of your parents’ warnings hitting you at once.

He stepped inside, and you flinched.

“I won’t expose you,” he murmured, and you didn’t know if you should be relieved or not. “I would never do that.”

His eyes softened, and your shoulders sagged. Your relief was short lived when he marched towards you though. Frightened, you stumbled away from him, only to realize too late what he was actually doing.

“No,” you cried as he poured them down the sink, reaching for his hand.

He caught yours in an iron grip, pulling you against him. Your lip trembled as he looked down his nose at you, inhaling. You felt warm, and you tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let you.

“…but I don’t want you taking those anymore.”

You glared at him, and a low rumble sounded from within his chest, eating away at your annoyance. Your face fell, tears in your eyes before you eventually nodded. He was leaving tomorrow… After that, you could do whatever you want.

“Okay,” you whispered.

His jaw clenched, and one of his hands came up to rest in the crook of your neck, drawing patterns into the skin.

“Promise me…omega,” he softly said.

A shiver ran down your spine at the command…at what he’d called you. No one had ever referred to you as that before, and it made your stomach clench.

“I promise.”

His eyes narrowed, and for some reason he didn’t seem satisfied, but he relented. His hands landed on your bare shoulders, and you found yourself leaning towards him.

“Get dressed, omega, and get some rest.”

You watched as he left the cottage to give you privacy. Shaky, you eventually dressed yourself. No matter how hard you tried, your hands wouldn’t stop trembling. Thor knew…and he’d gotten rid of your suppressants. You were beyond terrified, but Thor said he wouldn’t out you. To be honest, you could get into a lot of trouble for what you had done, so you wanted to believe him.

It was quiet when he returned, the air tense. You nervously eyed him, and Thor noticed. He heaved a sigh, resting his hand on your head, stroking your hair. It was oddly relaxing.

“It is late, and you must rest. You are safe with me…”

His blue eyes met yours as you mulled over his words. In the days you’d known him, he had never once made you feel unsafe. So, against the odd feeling in your gut, you nodded and made your way to your bed. You could hear Thor gathering his own pillows and such as you made yourself comfortable.

It took you forever to fall asleep, heart racing at the knowledge that this alpha had found you out and gotten rid of your suppressants. That you were alone with him. He’s a hero, one of the good guys. You repeated that to yourself over and over again until you finally drifted into sleep.

It was sometime in the night when you were pulled from sleep. You didn’t know why, but you could faintly feel movement, the bed moving with it. You didn’t understand what was happening at first, not until you felt hands on you. You murmured incoherently, stirring, but your own movements were somewhat restricted. A heat surrounded you that wasn’t your own.

You felt…caged in.

You blinked, eyes fluttering open as your blurry vision finally cleared, colors and shapes separating to make up what was before you. You felt hot, much too hot to be considered normal. You moved again, leg dragging along the bed, but something prevented you from moving them completely. Your own eyes focused in on blue ones, and you gasped.

“Thor,” you mumbled, confusion and sleep still fogging your brain. “What…?”

He shushed you, and his lips brushed against your own. You couldn’t comprehend that your mouth was moving against his, tentatively…unsure. His lips were soft, pillowy even, and you absentmindedly wondered if kissing was always like this. It grew heated, his mouth pressing against yours, almost harshly, and that was when reality hit.

With a horrified yelp, you finally moved to shove against him. It was futile, and you knew this. Thor was a god, literally, and he had the physique of one. Tears kissed your eyes as he didn’t move, instead pressing himself against you more firmly. You protested against his lips.

“Thor-! Stop, stop,” you gasped.

His hands kneaded any part of you they could reach. You were crying now as he tore at your clothes, the sound of tearing fabric reaching your ears. This couldn’t be happening. He was one of the good ones…

“You’ve been poisoning yourself for a year,” he murmured, voice deep and pained.

You shivered beneath him when the cold air hit you, but he was quick to envelope you in his arms. It was then that you realized he was naked, had been since before you awoke it seemed. You felt like you were going to be sick, but that primal part of you, the one that your genetic makeup controlled, did not hold the same sentiments.

“I do not even want to imagine what you have done to your body…my little omega,” he whispered into the darkness.

You frantically shook your head at that, hitting against him now.

“Thor, p-please,” you begged, voice horse. “You said…you said I was safe with you.”

Your tone was accusatory, anger at both him and you filling you. Your parents had been right. They had always been right, and you had even seen it for yourself. Why did you allow yourself to trust him?

The moonlight shed some light into the cottage through the window, and you could see a frown on his handsome features.

“You are safe with me. I shall take care of you from now on…like you should have been cared for all this time,” he responded.

“No, no!”

You punched his chest, nails digging into his skin, and he hissed, eyes flashing dangerously. In one swift movement, he’d flipped you, pressing your chest into the mattress. One hand was pushing into your back while the other pinned one of your wrists down.

You cried harder when his legs made a home in between yours, spreading them apart. You could feel him hard and throbbing against the back of your thigh, and you shook beneath him. He gently shushed you, but it did no good.

You were growing hotter by the minute, and even though you hadn’t experienced one in over a year, you knew what was happening to you. You could feel yourself growing slick, your core hot and aching for only what an alpha could give you.

His lips grazed your cheek as he leaned over you, rubbing the tip of his cock against your wet folds. His chest vibrated against your back, soothing sounds leaving his lips, and you fought against the feeling that threatened to wash over you. You opened your mouth to plead with him, but the only thing that escaped your lips was a pained gasp as he thrust into you.

You whimpered, more tears falling over and nails digging into the pillows. You attempted to crawl away from the pain, away from him, but he followed, twitching inside of you as he did so. His blond hair kissed your cheek as he pressed his forearms into the bed beside your head, caging you in.

You couldn’t feel anything but him, smell anything but him. His presence was everywhere, and it was getting harder to resist your own instincts. You whimpered again as he started to move, fresh tears spilling over.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, my sweet omega.”

You shuddered, clenching around him, and he hissed. Your eyelashes fluttered, feeling as if you could feel him in your stomach. His thrusts were slow and purposeful, each pull of his cock pulling a whine from you. You pressed your forehead against the pillow, breath shallow and lips trembling as you fought between what you wanted and what your body wanted.

The bed began to shake as he started to speed up, and the intensity made you flinch, attempting to get away again. His other hand grabbed your other wrist, and he completely fell against you, rendering you immobile as he rutted into you. Unintelligible noises escaped you, and you realized that you could do nothing but lay there and take his cock.

The noises your slick core made in the quiet cottage embarrassed you, heat flooding your cheeks. Thor moaned above you, lost in the feel of your velvet walls clenching around him again and again. It was only when his teeth grazed along your throat did you start to struggle again.

“No, no,” you screamed, attempting to push your elbows against him.

He only shushed you in what was meant to be a soothing tone. Against your will, you could feel yourself beginning to shake, body seizing up in a way you had never experienced. It was in that moment did you feel his teeth sink into the skin of your neck, where it connected with your shoulder. You screamed again, the yell dying down into sobs as you felt a thin line of blood crawl down your skin. Even worse, you could feel him swelling inside of you.

You wanted to try and crawl away again, away from him and the pain, but you knew how stupid that would be with Thor knotted inside of you. You were practically hysterical now, chest heaving and vision blurry as he remained inside of you. He finally pulled his face away, and you couldn’t hold in the whimper. He ran his tongue over your neck, humming.

Sleep crawled along the peripheral of your mind, and you didn’t know whether to fight against it or accept it with open arms. You didn’t know whether you wanted to fight to get away or give up and come to terms with your new harsh reality. The latter was starting to win.

“I shall have to get Bruce to look over you and make sure you did not do permanent damage to yourself,” he murmured against your skin.

You groaned in response, both the physical and mental assault taking a toll on you.

“Your little cottage shall remain here. We can come to visit and vacation from time to time. I shall want to bask in these memories in the future…”

“Thor,” you pleaded, still unable to move with him inside of you.

“…I am your alpha now. No more of that vile poison and no more fending for yourself. You belong to me now.”

You felt yourself drifting, blinking at the wall, and his lips brushed against yours.

“I shall take care of you as you took care of me.”

 ~

tags: @nerdygirl8203​ @xoxabs88xox​ @mcudarklibrary​ @darkficreposter​ @villanellevi​ @readermia​ @notyourtypicalrose​ @nickyl316h​ @opheliadawnwalker3​ @ne-gans​ @

#mcudarklibrarykinkmonth #dark!thor #dark!thor x reader #dark fic #marvel fanfiction #a/b/o #A/B/O verse #alpha!thor

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

We’ll Be Free (Part 2)

Pairing: Billy Batson x Reader

Warnings: Minor/non-explicit violence

Word Count: 2.5K

Summary: Billy Batson tries to get into contact with his girlfriend who he left behind after moving with Victor and Rosa.

A/N: To the people asking me to write a part 2. This one is for you anons and @autumnfalls26 and @olyink and @nyeddleblog​

“I miss you; I love you.” You whispered, staring at the picture of the phone wallpaper that you had printed before switching off the phone permanently to prevent being tracked.

You took a picture of the two of you hugging in the mirror, with Billy’s back facing the mirror and your face hidden in his neck. His arms were wrapped tightly around your waist and yours were strewn carelessly on his shoulders.

You smiled at it, closing your eyes and sending a quiet prayer into the universe, “I hope you have a good day today.”

“(Y/N)! Come on! The first impression is the most important impression!”

“I’m coming!” You shouted, leaning of your window to see your foster mom pull out of the garage. You quickly leaped over the window sill to hear her scream, “Not that way!”

You rolled your eyes at her, “Would you loosen up? You look like ‘The Scream’.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t jump out of the window then. We’re protecting you from a gang, (Y/N), but if you end up killing yourself first—”

“Oh relax, at most I would’ve fallen a couple of feet.”

She sighed, giving up the battle and just opened the door to the jeep, “Just get in.”

“Yes mom~!!” You chirped and she rolled her eyes again once you slid into the front seat. It had been a month since you stared living with this foster family and you had to admit that they were pretty cool.

Your foster mom was a head neurosurgeon and was married to a military man. So, they were the perfect couple if anything were to happen to you, or if they managed to find you.

It had been a huge change to leave home and then get fostered. Your parents had been arrested after an attempt of murder when they tried to burn down the house with you in it but that had failed and luckily, you were so used to escaping through the window to see Billy that as soon as you smelt fire you had gotten out.

Once again you had Billy to thank for your life.

After that things had happened so fast and things were just spinning around you that you couldn’t even think straight. Before you knew it, you were sitting in a new house with new ‘parents’.

However, it didn’t come with much freedom. You were not allowed to leave the house usually, but they kept you occupied at home. And you weren’t going to ungrateful.

But spending so much time in solitude made you realize how good you had it. You were alive and well and now you had people to rely on. You didn’t have to fend for yourself anymore. You could go to sleep in a warm bed and wake up safely without any fear of who would be outside your locked door.

That’s what you told yourself when you missed Billy and wanted to go back to him.

You tried to convince yourself that this was the best for you, but deep down you knew that this wasn’t what you wanted if you couldn’t share it with Billy.

“Three more years, and we’ll be free.” The two of you used to say and now you were worried that time wouldn’t come and Billy wouldn’t know where you were when it happened.

You were getting bored being locked in the house for most of the day but you’d never let them know. You couldn’t make them feel guilty for protecting you. You would stay locked up at home for eternity if it meant that they wouldn’t get upset with you or think that you were ungrateful.

But not today. Today you could go outside, because today unfortunately or fortunately, you couldn’t decide but you got to go to school. Just to do the necessary paperwork to join a month later so it meant that you wouldn’t be a normal high school student for another month, but it was a step closer.

A step closer to leaving your old life behind.

***

“You should go.” You told your foster mom softly when she got a red alert from the hospital.

“But I have to finish up here.” She stammered and you could tell she was getting a bit panicked from having to leave you alone.

“I can do that; you go do your job.” You told her, giving her a little push towards the door. While you did want her to go from the pure selflessness of your heart, you also wanted a little peace from all her hovering. Not that you’d let her know that.

“I can’t—”

“I’ll be fine,” You urged, handing her purse, “I’ll go straight home. I promise. Scout’s honour.”

“You weren’t even a scout.”

Once she left you felt excited for some reason. You didn’t lie, you were going to go straight home after this but you were still ecstatic about getting to actually walk down the streets for the first time since you had gotten here.

You finished up any remaining work at school pretty quickly and headed home immediately, with your hands tucked inside the pockets of your, well Billy’s, jacket and hood pulled over your head. 

It was a safety measure, so no one would be able to see your face at first glance, but you still didn’t let it ruin your mood as you walked back with a skip in your step.

That was about to change very quickly....

***

It had been another normal, monotonous day for Billy as he walked back home from school. Freddy had gone ahead because he had a free period at the end of the day and hadn’t seen the need to stick around.

So, Billy was alone as he walked back.

He was actually kind of lamenting that the day had been so boring. He was a teen superhero, more interesting things were bound to happen to him but still the closest thing he got to an evil supervillain who wanted to end the world was his science teacher, which to be fair, wasn’t that far off.

His wishes for something interesting were answered when he heard a distant scream and immediately facepalmed, “Why did I even say anything?”

Running to the source of the noise, he ducked into an alleyway and immediately stuttered in his steps. He definitely wasn’t expecting this. He definitely wasn’t expecting to see the love of his life today.

And he expected to see her held at gun point even less.

You were frozen in fear as you stared down the barrel of a gun. He had whipped out the weapon when you had shouted for help and told you if you made any moves he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.

You wanted to seem brave and stare him down but you felt your throat closing up and tears began brimming your eyes. You were scared as hell and you had no idea how to get out of this.

“Once we tie up this lose end, we’ll finally get those damn cops off our tails.” He said, cocking the gun and you whimpered, screwing your eyes shut. The next thing you heard was the sound of a gun being fired.

“SHAZAM!”

When you opened your eyes, you saw a blur of red and white move past you so quickly that you couldn’t focus your eyes on it. It beat up the man who held a gun to your head a few minutes ago after the man had wasted all his bullets trying to shoot him.

You wanted to hide, to duck and cover while the hero handled business but you were frozen, the thought of moving your feet and actually hiding never came to your mind but soon enough your weight was too much for your buckling knees to bear and you collapsed on the ground.

The fight was over pretty quickly. The man didn’t even stand a chance against a superhero and he was knocked unconscious. The hero picked up the gun and crushed it in his fist before chucking it in the dumpster.

When he turned to you, you were watching with wide-eyes, body shaking as you tried to process whatever just happened to you.

Realizing that you weren’t in the best state, he stepped closer to you with his hands held out like a was trying to coax a small animal, “It’s okay, (Y/N). I’m not going to hurt you.”

You bit your lip, staring at the older man who saved your life and nodded.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

You nodded once again and he stepped towards you, wrapping an arm around your waist before taking off. Unfortunately, you were too shaken up to take in the joy and wonder of flying and once he landed, setting you in your backyard were you only able to think clearly.

“I, um, don’t know how to that you for saving my life.” You spoke, wringing your hands nervously.

He looked surprised for a second but then he relaxed, sending you a smile before puffing out his chest a little, “All in a day’s work, citizen.”

He meant to take off again but you stopped him, stepping forward, “How did you know my name?”

He looked shell-shocked and completely caught off guard, like he didn’t even remember calling you by your name, “What?”

“You called me (Y/N). How did you know?”

He wanted to lie to you. He wanted to lie and tell you it was because he had the wisdom of Solomon that he was able to know your name and make a hasty retreat. 

But he couldn’t. He had been waiting to see you for so long. He had missed you so much. He couldn’t just turn away and pretend that he had never seen you. He couldn’t stay away from you any longer.

“I’ve missed you so much.” He breathed and you raised a brow, taking a step away from him.

“Do I know you?”

“Just...don’t freak out, okay?”

You didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at him and waiting for something to happen. It looked like he was trying to talk himself into something and he took a deep, cleansing breath before looking at you once again.

“Shazam.”

You shrieked as lightning struck the middle of the backyard, knocking you back a few feet and when the smoke cleared, there stood the boy that you had fallen in love with.

“Billy...?”

He was grinning brightly at you as you stared him down in disbelief before quickly walking up to him. You smiled gently, raising a hand to cup his cheek and close the space between you.

His expression and pure love and happiness changed into one of horror and pure pain before he doubled over and feel to the ground. You lunged forward, catching him in your arms as his dead weight pulled you to the ground.

It was then that you saw the bullet in his back. Your mind rushed to the moment before he stepped in front of you, he must have transformed too late. The world began spinning around you as Billy’s blood spilled onto the grass.

“Mom....” You muttered remembering that she was probably back from work by now before turning your head towards the house and cradling his body in your grasp, “MOM! DAD! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!”

***

The surgery took hours and all the while you sat outside the operation theatre, staring at the closed doors. Your mom had tried to get you to go home and clean up but you refused, wanting to be with him.

From the outside, it looked pretty uneventful and you hoped that was the case. You hoped that the operation was going well and there would be no unseen complications.

You hadn’t taken your eyes off the door longer than the time it took you to blink but you were forced to turn your gaze from the door when a couple came bolting up the stairs.

His foster parents. Victor and Rosa.

The looked absolutely distraught and it made you sniffle, the weight of reality settling on your shoulders.

“What happened?” Rosa asked your mom and she could only turn to you.

“Yes, (Y/N), you need to tell us now. What happened?”

You bit your lip, your gaze averting to your hands that were still covered in his blood and your vision became blurry with tears. 

“He took a bullet for me.”

You heard Rosa gasped and the tears fell. You buried your head in your knees and sobbed quietly, praying that this would get over quickly so you could see him again.

***

“I missed you.” Was the first thing Billy told you once you walked through the door. You smiled but then blushed when you noticed the way his siblings were all looking at you.

“I can come back later.”

He sat up, taking support from Freddy and beckoned you over, “No, it’s cool, they were just leaving.”

It took a few pointed glares to get them out of the hospital room but they left eventually and you settled into the empty chair beside him. You immediately took his hands, cradling them between yours and pressing a small kiss to the back of them.

“I’ve missed you.” He said, looking over at you with a fond smile and he pulled one hand out of your grasp to brush a strand of your hair back before pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“I missed you too.”

Months of not seeing each other was finally catching up with you. The emptiness that you felt in your chest was finally beginning to fill and you had only wished that it had taken a different way. 

You wanted to apologize but you knew it wasn’t your fault. And he knew it as well. You wanted to say something, anything, that would make him and you feel better but nothing was coming to mind.

You were brought out of your thoughts by a hand on the back of your neck and he slanted his lips over yours. You responded immediately, your body taking control as your arms wrapped around his neck and you tilted your head.

He pulled away before kissing you again, once, twice and then one more for good measure, but even then, you were following his lips. He looked at you like you carried the world in your eyes and like you had strung the stars in the sky.

You kissed him again, as a hello, as a goodbye, as an apology, as a sign of forgiveness and poured all the incomprehensible emotions you were feeling into that kiss, allowing him to wrap his arms around you and pull you next to him in his hospital bed.

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

#billy batson x reader #billy batson x you #billy batson x y/n #billy batson #Shazam #shazam x reader #shazam one shot #reader insert #female reader #dc x reader #dc one shot #dc x y/n #dc universe #dc comics

[vannahfanfics]

A Deidara/Ino (DeiIno) fic with “Zinnia” please. I know it’s a weird ship, but I think their strong personalities go well with the flower.

Hey, Anon! This is a really interesting ship :D The zinnia flower represents a number of things, including endurance, remembrance, and lasting friendship. So, I thought up an AU for the two of them. I hope you enjoy it!

“Hey.” His sky-blue eyes were wide and his expression solemn as he gazed intently at Ino. The rain pelted against the windows, making the street blur into watercolor smudges. Dew still clung to the many potted flowers littered around the shop from where Ino had watered them, and his shoulder-length blond hair and serious expression refracted in each little bead.“You won’t forget me, will you?” 

Ino jolted awake with a snort. Her eyelashes flapped rapidly as she rose unceremoniously into consciousness, eyes hazy and unfocused beneath the thin platinum-blonde fibers. A sliver of drool leaked from her glossed lips to pool under her chin. Growing more lucid by the microsecond, she scowled at the gross, wet sensation of it clinging to her chin and wiped it away with her wrist, then cleaned the drool off onto her sundress. She’d fallen asleep manning the cash register at her parents’ flower shop… again. 

“I just can’t help it,” she mumbled, slouching back over the counter and scooting the metal chair closer so as not to stretch out her back too far. With the pleasant aroma of a hundred flower species wafting on the air spilled down by the ceiling fans combined with the warm sunlight streaming through the many windows, it was nearly impossible not to be lulled into a doze. Ino could already feel her eyelids growing heavy again as she sat there, just staring at the colorful blooms in plastic pots. Yet she didn’t fall asleep, for she was thinking about the blond-haired, bright-eyed boy from her dreams. 

How many years ago was that? Ten, maybe? she wondered with a small frown. A long time ago, for sure. Every summer since she was old enough to carry some semblance of responsibility, Ino had manned the flower shop for her parents when they had to run errands. Of course, back then she had only been eight, so she wasn’t left for more than a few hours at a time… Usually. That particular summer a surprise rainstorm had struck while her parents were out. A mudslide had covered the road back, leaving Ino stranded alone at the flower shop for hours. The cell towers had failed, meaning she had no idea where her parents were or if they were all right. She’d sat in the corner and cried, terrified for both her well-being and that of her parents, until she’d heard a tentative rapping on the door. 

She’d never asked why he’d been wandering the rainstorm by himself; she just let him right in, more desperate to not be alone anymore than to do the right thing. He was wearing a bright duck-yellow raincoat the same shade as his sopping wet blond hair, and his blue eyes shone bright in the flashing lightning. She’d locked the door behind him, chewing her lip and growing shy to be in the presence of a stranger. 

“Are you here by yourself?” he asked her, and she just nodded bashfully. The fear returned, causing tears to prick at the corners of her eyes. “Hey, don’t cry,” he smiled, and Ino fancied it was a nice smile indeed. He reached out with tender hands to thumb her tears away, replacing the salty brine with fresh rainwater. “I’m here now. We’ll weather the storm together.” 

Ino jumped as a loud rumble of thunder snatched her from the embrace of sleep again. She jolted into a sitting position and looked at the rectangular window beside the counter, finding the street veiled by a waterfall stream of rain. The sunlight had faded, choked out by the thick gray storm clouds dumping the deluge of water to earth. She rose from the chair to walk to the window, trying to peer through the thick stream out at the street. She caught snatches of clear images— water puddling in wide rivers over the road, people running into the closest buildings with their jackets held up over their heads, lightning shooting like white snakes through the clouds. 

Wow, what a storm, she thought with pursed lips. She rounded the counter to go to the front door, flipping the sign to “CLOSED” and locking it. No one would come out to buy flowers in this deluge; the wind would rip it to shreds, based on the way it whistled shrilly and rattled the glass. Ino grabbed her cellphone when she came back to the counter, pulling up her mother’s contact information and giving her a call. 

“Hey, Mom. I just wanted to warn you that the weather’s gotten nasty over here. You and Dad should probably stay at the hotel another night.” She scraped the paint off the wood with her manicured nails as her mother’s worried voice buzzed through the other line. “No, no, I’m all right. I’ll wait for it to clear up, and if it doesn’t, I can sleep in the break room,” she said with a smile, trying to alleviate her mother’s worries. “Sure. Yeah, I’m fine, really! There’s food in the break fridge, and I can keep myself busy working on tomorrow’s call-in orders. Yeah, I love you too. Bye.” 

She set the cellphone down on the counter with a small sigh. She tapped her nails against the wood, debating. She could get started on the call-in orders, but… there was something about the rain that lulled her into lethargy. She found her eyes drooping again already. Just a little nap…

She had just plunked down against the counter when she heard it: rapraprap. 

“Huh?” she huffed, arms scrabbling over the counter as she jerked up. Her bleary eyes searched the gloom of the flower shop, watching the light play over the various colored petals and green leaves. The rapping sounded again, and this time she was lucid enough to realize that it was coming from the front door. 

“Jeez, do they not see that we’re closed?” she huffed, pushing herself up from the chair. Her flats went whap-whap-whap against the floor as she walked around the counter towards the door. “Hey! We’re closed!” she shouted while she approached. She jabbed her finger purposefully toward the sign, and the slender man standing there lifted the bottom of his hood to flash her a charming smile. Piercing blue eyes danced beneath a swathe of bright yellow hair, and Ino sucked in a breath. 

“Aw, you won’t even open for an old friend?” 

A heartbeat, then another. Had she strayed into a dream? If it was, it was a shitty thing for her subconscious to do. She stepped closer to the glass, close enough for her breath to fog against the pane. Tentatively, she uttered, “Deidara?”

“The one and only, sweets.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest again. 

“Hey, sweets, you like candy?” he asked, holding out a piece of taffy wrapped in white plastic. She had been sitting at a stool beside some roses for some time, sniffling. She was scared that her parents were out there injured, and she was stuck here. At least she wasn’t alone anymore. She took the taffy with trembling hands and unwrapped it, then popped the pink candy into her mouth. Strawberry. She loved strawberries, and she told him that. 

“I knew it,”he grinned. “Don’t worry, sweets. I’m sure your parents are just fine. I’ll keep you company until you hear from ‘em, okay?” 

The lock clicked when she turned it. The sign rattled lightly against the glass as she slowly eased the door open to peer through the gap. She looked him up and down— it sure looked like him, but damn, he’d grown up to be a looker. Dark gray skinny jeans, spattered with rain, hugged his body in all the right ways. Under his red-and-gray jacket, he wore a muscle tank that left little to the imagination. Ino felt her cheeks flushing as she spied the ridges of his muscles dancing beneath the fabric. 

“You gonna let me in, sweets, or leave me out here in the rain?” Deidara joked, pulling her back to reality. She hurriedly opened the door the rest of the way to allow him in, and he sidled in like he owned the place— just like he had all those years ago. Water squeaked under his sneakers as it gathered against the wood, and when he tossed back his hood to shake out his water-dusted hair, Ino discovered it was nearly as long as hers, tied up into a long ponytail. “I didn’t intend to meetcha like this, but I gotta say, it’s damn ironic,” he smirked as he turned around to face her. Ino hovered in the doorway, wondering if a coincidence like this could truly exist. 

“Yeah,” was all she could think of to say. He gave her a sardonic grin, which made her blush. 

“You’re acting like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

“Well… It feels like I have,” she admitted, clasping her hands behind her back while she twisted her body slowly from side to side. “I never thought I would see you again, and yet, here you are… It’s a bit disorienting, especially considering the circumstances are the same.” 

“Yeah, life is funny like that, huh?” Deidara chuckled. He turned to start investigating the flowers perched on the shelves. He reached up to brush his fingertips over the tiny petals of an orange zinnia flower, a smile playing over his thin lips. “I knew I’d find you still working here… That was your dream, wasn’t it? To take over the flower shop?” 

“Yeah,” she blushed. He remembered… Maybe he’d spent the summers thinking about her just like she’d been thinking about him. “What about you? You wanted to be an artist, right?” 

“An artist?” she’d cooed in delight, and Deidara had puffed out his chest in pride. 

“That’s right! One day, I’m gonna be famous!” However, almost as soon as the confidence had come, it dissolved, and he slumped down into his stool. “But… I’ve been having trouble finding inspiration lately. I want to make things, but I just don’t know what to make.” 

“I get like that sometimes with my flower arrangements.” She’d hopped off the stool to totter over to a half-finished bouquet. She’d poked and prodded at the arrangement, adding accent sprigs and then taking them away. “What do you call it? A muse? You just have to find that, right? When I get stumped, I think about great big fields of flowers…” she hummed, taking a deep breath as she imagined it. “And then suddenly I have the answer!”

He’d stared at her a moment, then laughed. 

“That’s girly.” 

“Yes indeed,” he grinned, dropping his hand and turning back to her. “I’m nothing special, just won a few international awards and sold some million-dollar pieces…” he bragged nonchalantly, brushing raindrops off his jacket. He laughed heartily as Ino’s mouth dropped open in utter shock, prompting him to walk forward and press his palms to her cheeks to squish them a little. “Ah, don’t get all starry-eyed on me, sweets.” 

“I can’t help it!” she slurred through his squishing. “Million-dollar pieces? That’s insane!” He let go of her, leaving her cheeks pink and tingly from his touch. “Can I see them? Surely you have pictures, right?” 

Deidara’s lit up at that, like two blue suns sparkling in the gloom. He practically dove his hand into his pocket to grab his cell phone, which made Ino chuckle. He scooted up next to her so she could see his phone screen, and the scent of his spicy cologne mixing with the rainwater made her head swim a little bit. He cycled through the photographs of his artworks, while Ino half-listened to his explanations, because there was something… 

“Is that… me?” The centerpiece of each work was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. She didn’t want to be narcissistic, but surely that couldn’t be a coincidence too, right? She looked up at Deidara to find a soft, dreamy smile on his face as he gazed gently down at her. 

“Yeah… You remember when I said that I struggled to find inspiration? After we met… You became my muse, Ino.” With a wan sigh, he stowed his phone, and then ran both his hands through his hair. An embarrassed smile played over his mouth, and Ino had to grin, because it was so cute to see him flustered when he’d come in acting all suave. 

“And you’d called it girly,” she teased. 

“I don’t remember that,” he defended in a huff, but she knew he was lying from the blush that spread over his cheeks. “Anyway… I figured it was time I came back here and thanked you.” 

“A cut of your profits would be a very nice thank-you indeed,” she joked, walking over to play with the zinnias. Deidara snorted at that. As she fluffed the flowers, she paid a little less attention to the weather— so when a great big crack of thunder boomed overhead, she couldn’t help but jump and squeal. She felt eight years old again, trapped in this too-small shop while the world seemed to end outside. 

“Still scared of thunderstorms, eh, sweets?” Deidara said softly in her ear. God, when had he snuck up behind her? He had his hands clutching the table on either side of her hips, and his chest just barely brushed against her back. She felt his spicy cologne wafting around her again, and her eyes fluttered as she grew a little hazy. 

“N-no,” she said defensively. “It just surprised me, is all. I’m not a kid anymore.” 

“No,” he murmured, a hand moving in to skim ever-so-lightly over her hip. “No, you aren’t.” He didn’t move further, just played with the edge of her apron— he was waiting for permission. It was like a cheesy romance film; he showed up after ten years, under the same circumstances, saying that she was his muse, and now he was laying the moves on her?

Fuck, how was Ino supposed to refuse? She would be the worst protagonist ever if she did! Besides, she didn’t spend the last ten summers mooning over him for no reason. It had always been in the back of her mind— that fairy tale ending, that one-in-a-million chance, that fantastical daydream she thought would never come true. She looked over her shoulder at him, their breath mixing in the muggy greenhouse air and the rain pounding incessantly above their heads. 

“Why did you come here, Deidara?” she asked in a whisper of a breath. His mouth curled up in a smirk, while his eyes fixed on her own glossy lips. 

“To weather the storm with you,” he answered with a straight face. It didn’t take long for that mischievous lilt to appear on his smile, though. “Aaaaaaaand… Maybe kiss you breathless, if you’re into that.” 

“Why don’t you just kiss me and find out?” she sassed, and her cheek made his eyebrows shoot up his forehead. 

“Not quite so cute and helpless anymore, are you?”

“Afraid not. You’d be surprised how cutthroat the florist business is.” 

He tipped back his head in a raucous laugh, and while he did so, Ino turned around in his arms to face him and rest her palms against his chest. When he finally looked back at her, sighing in amusement, he rested his hands on her hips and twirled the ends of her platinum-blonde hair around his fingertips. Ino fluttered her eyelashes demurely at him— as good an indication as any for him to get on with it.

And get on with it he did. Ino melted into him as he leaned down to brush his lips over hers— softly, tentatively. He rapidly grew in confidence, sweeping her up into a passionate kiss. It felt like their lips slotted together perfectly, like a lock and key, like they’d always belonged together. He really did kiss her breathless, again and again and again, while the rain cascaded down around them. 

“I’m glad you didn’t forget me,” he whispered against her mouth when he finally pulled away. Ino giggled and looked up at him through her lashes. 

“I promised you that I wouldn’t,” she chuckled. “Besides, how could I forget you?”

“I am pretty memorable,” he said with a cocky nod, prompting Ino to thump him playfully on the chest. He purred and wrapped her up in a tight hug, holding her close. “But still… I couldn’t help but worry, just a little bit, that it didn’t mean as much to you as it did to me.” 

Ino didn’t answer, just smiled into his chest. Some things just didn’t need to be said. The rain picked up outside, pounding against the window with a vengeance, but Ino didn’t mind. Once again, she had someone to weather the storm with.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#deino #deiino #deidara x ino #ino x deidara #ino yamanaka #yamanaka ino #deidara #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto fanfic #naruto fanfiction

[sanktnikolais]

Weather The Storm

A/N: Second piece from the three-year gap series (my house of stone, your ivy grows) of the trilogy and King of Scars lashkljhas another argument bc they have the trope of reluctant allies to lovers pining idiots and I want to explore that more ohoho

have this mess

Word count: 1996

Zoya's boots crunched in the snow as she tore through the crowd of bustling soldiers in the camp. She ignored the curious stares she got from the First Army men, her mind focused on one thing that was driving her feet faster. 

          The King is an utter fool. 

          She grit her teeth as another wave of annoyance hit her, threatening to make her lash out at anyone around. If it weren't for the hushed chatter of a few Grisha from the other side of camp, she wouldn't have known that he was here. 

          Didn't you hear? The King came along with the First Army to lead the attack in the left flank. 

          We would have lost the bigger part of the boundary if it weren’t for their surprise attack. 

          He wouldn't have been recognized if his disguise hadn't faded. 

          It was actually a good cover, but I would have recognized the redheads among our men. 

          Her jaw twitched, the wind picking up around her. She breathed deeply and calmed her powers. But the coldness only became worse. Annoyance had already clouded her reason. The wound in her right arm stung, and she was sure it had opened again, but she didn’t bother checking on it. 

          Zoya should have known he would pull off something like this. If she had, she would have chained him up in his chambers and locked him in there. She figured she had underestimated his stubbornness. 

          Ahead, the biggest tent that she recognized as the makeshift infirmary loomed, with people coming in and out restlessly. A small part of her worried that the King could be one of the wounded inside, but her irritation told her there was no way he would be there if he just hadn't come. That idiot. 

          She was almost by the tent flap when a familiar figure emerged from the inside. 

          "Well, isn't it the Commander?" Tamar was smiling brightly as she approached Zoya, completely unaware of her inner turmoil. Behind her, Tolya came out from the tent as well. They were unharmed, at least, and Zoya felt relieved at that. But unlike his sister, Tolya’s face looked grim at the sight of Zoya. 

          She appreciated the tall man's ability to read facial expressions.

          "I still can't believe—" 

          "Where is he?" Zoya cut her off, voice low. 

          Tamar went silent for a moment. Then she sighed, her smile fading. "He insisted," she said, shaking her head. “I would have locked him up if he hadn’t become all too authoritative.”

          “Then you should’ve tried harder!” Zoya’s voice rose. Some of the soldiers stopped to listen, and she fought the urge to berate them about being nosy and to mind their own damned business. “Do you realize the danger you let him walk into?”

          “Woah, Commander.” Tamar straightened, her sharp eyes narrowing as if she had been challenged to a duel. “Just because you go against him doesn’t mean I would too.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Unlike you, I am loyal to the throne. You could—”

          Tamar stopped abruptly, and Zoya’s anger flared. The winds howled atto her will. “Go on. I dare you,” she said. Thunder cracked in the sky despite the snow, making Tamar flinch slightly though she immediately regained composure and set a hand on one of her axes. Zoya knew she would regret this later, so she tried to calm herself down. But something inside her had been ticked, and the rage just overwhelmed everything. “Go on. I could what?” 

          It was then Tolya stepped forward and got in between them, his towering form almost intimidating Zoya. Almost. “Alright, that’s enough, you two,” he said, his deep voice more gentle than she had expected. He looked at her, then turned to his sister. “Let’s not do this now, or ever, if you may. We’ve all had a rough fortnight, and besides, we have a victory to celebrate.”

          A tense silence washed over them, neither of them wanting to back down just yet. But Tolya's words seemed to get to them because their stances slacked, Tamar letting go of her axes and Zoya willed the wind to calm down around them. 

          The people around them were still watching, so she sent a glare to their way that had them scurrying back to whatever it was they were doing. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Not the time to lose control. 

          "Where is he?" she asked again. Her voice was much gentler this time, though it took all she could to make it sound like that. 

          Tolya inclined his head to the side. "There, by the edge of camp near the cliff," he replied. “He went there just now.” 

          Zoya turned to the direction he was pertaining to. True enough, she could make out a small figure through the still falling snow. 

          "Let me guess, he wanted to be alone this time?" she said, tone a bit mocking. The King was out in the open, and he didn't even care about the worst case scenario. "Out there in the open? Good saints." 

          She didn’t let them say anything else as she stomped over her king. The title sounded funny to her, with the way he was acting. He definitely had to live up to his name if he wanted the people to trust him. Or if he wanted her to trust him.

          Lantsov was in a First Army soldier’s uniform, the olive drab looking black against the weather. The golden double eagle on his shoulder indicated an officer’s—a Major—rank, and Zoya was left wondering how he had gotten such a high place in the military despite being young. 

          He was near now, and if he noticed her, he didn’t acknowledge her presence. Zoya was already ready to call him out had he not moved and buried his rifle in the snow in front of him, its stock pointed upwards. She stopped in her tracks. Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched him take off his helmet and put in on the gun, along with a bunch of tags he was holding. There was a long silence, nothing but the sound of the wind could be heard. His head bowed, letting his hand linger on his helmet, and then he was standing straight again, the poise and stance of a well-respected leader.

          She eyed him for another moment, noticing the slump on his shoulders as he clutched at the tags on the helmet, and she was left wondering who owned them. Were they his friends? Mere soldiers he wanted to grieve for? The questions lingered in her mind, but she didn’t voice them out. 

          Another beat passed, and then he trained his eyes forward. “Come to give me an earful, haven’t you, Nazyalensky?” he said, a rueful smile on his lips. If it were some other time, Zoya would have sympathized with him. But now she was just angry. “Worry not, I think I deserve it, anyway.”

          Zoya almost laughed. “I am indeed glad you know your mistake, Your Highness,” she said. She considered her next words, but she couldn’t find a way to make it lighter. “You should not have been here.”

          Lantsov huffed incredulously, as if he were insulted. “And what, my dear Squaller? Sit back pretty on my throne and watch as my men give their life to the country I have sworn to protect?” 

          “As much as I hate to break it to you and your ego,” she said, “it is the only way for you to be able to protect Ravka.” She stepped closer to him to emphasize her point. “You have to live.”

          “I don’t think watching your people do things for you could be called living.”

          “You fool,” Zoya said through gritted teeth. “You’re missing the entire point. You’re the king. If you died in battle, who would have replaced you? Some distant relative who had no care to the throne? A pretender? The Triumvirate?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve chosen us to steer this forsaken country alongside you, so don’t try to make any more reckless decisions that would lead to the nation’s and your own demise.”

          Lantsov became silent, a flash of hurt passing over to his face. It was gone in a blink, and Zoya questioned herself if she had just imagined it. His expression became stoic, the usual one he gave when he was wearing the mask of the monarch again, instead of a boy that had too much on his shoulders.

          “Sometimes I wonder if you knew how it felt like losing people close to you to this country,” he said. His eyes were hard, grief-stricken, and she realized that he had been through wars too, just like her and countless others. “Maybe then you would realize why I am willing to put my life on the line.”

          “We all lost people. And don’t you dare tell me that I do not know how it felt like,” she said. Her aunt’s kind smile flashed before her eyes. She blinked the image away. It wasn’t the right time to grieve, but the pain of losing her rekindled in her chest. “Because I do.” She paused, mustering up her strength to speak. “The only difference is that I don’t let grief consume the logical part of my mind.”

          She expected Lantsov to get angry, or leave, or even remove her from her post. But he just smiled ruefully. “No,” he said. “The only difference is that I am a royal and I am not permitted to die. Even if I wanted to save them, I couldn’t. But you could.”

          Zoya stilled. The words hit like knives to her heart, and suddenly she was fifteen again, crossing the Fold on her own in hopes to see her aunt again. But she never got to her in time. 

          She tried to shove the memories away, but it kept flooding. Her aunt and her niece weren’t just the ones who perished in the war barely a year ago. Sergei, mutilated by the Darkling’s nichevo’ya. Harshaw, struck by a bullet to the chest. Fedyor, thrown from the roof of the Little Palace and down to the waiting monsters. Marie. Paja. And countless others. Friends and companions, lying dead in the pool of blood in the hall they had been staying before the attack happened. 

          She had seen the Second Army on the brink of annihilation. He was aware she had been through the same war, and yet he still asked her if she knew how it felt losing people? 

          Her eyes stung, fists clenched. Her hands twitched at her sides, ready to summon the winds and even lightning to her will if it meant making her point to the king. But she chose not to. It would only make things worse.

          Zoya breathed deeply, letting her anger pass  before she spoke again. She hated this. She hated herself. But above all, she hated him because he was right. 

          She knew to herself she wouldn't have sat back too, waiting until her people made a difference. No, she would be with them and fight alongside them, and try to see the change with her own eyes. 

          But she wasn't the leader of Ravka,  and she never would be. So she would do everything she could to protect its king, even from him himself and his own foolishness. 

          She straightened then, slipping her own stoical mask on her face. “That may have been the difference, Your Highness, but I am not the one who chose your fate. It was you alone, and you would stand up to it.” She started to turn, wanting nothing more than to get away from him. “And your fate is to live. For Ravka.”

          With that, Zoya left the king standing on his own in the cold, the weight of her own words heavy on her shoulders. But she locked them away and continued on. She only did what she knew was right.

          For Ravka.

#zoyalai #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #tamar kir bataar #tolya yul bataar #king of scars #my writing #hMMM #zoya being quite temperamental in the start aslfj;la #MORE TENSION #bc i love reluctant allies to lovers ohohoho #zoya canonically said she didn't trust him at first #let's take advantage of that #no softs until the seventh piece i think #HJALSFH #it's just them being insufferable and rough with each other #stay tuned #will write the next one asap ;-;

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Attempt To Stop

One single card. That would be all that it took. He regarded it carefully; it wasn't an invulnerable card, but it would lock Haou down to the point that other cards could be used to defeat him. It would all depend on what he drew - and if he drew it in time. Like any duel against Haou, it would risk the life of whoever tried it.

If I don't, then there's not going to be anything that can stop him. Haou needed to be stopped. He'd arrived in that world a scant handful of cycles of the comet earlier, and in that span of time, he'd established himself as a powerful warlord. He'd crushed the will of Brron's army and bent it to his own. Inhabitants of towns fled away from his approach and some of the more powerful warlords were considering pledging their loyalty to him - or so the rumors said.

"He's coming," a quiet voice spoke, and he looked up. "Are you going to fight or flee?"

"Fight." The one known as Marauding Captain to humans declared. "What about you?"

Slowly she shook her head. "I need to protect those who I can. If the others don't have someone to watch their back, then they're going to die."

He knew she was right. The warrior who defended others was no less of a warrior than the one who strode out onto the battlefield. He crossed over to embrace her gently. "Then I'll see you again - either afterwards or in the afterlife."

"If there is such a place for those who fall against him," she replied quietly, leaning her head against him, wings enfolding around him. "Be careful. Strike wisely, Tenoch."

He nodded slightly, enjoying the scent of her hair before she stepped aside. "Travel well, my old friend."

She turned, spread her wings, and leaped into the air, soaring quickly out of sight. He might have time enough to distract Haou's army, but he couldn't be certain. All he could do was try his very best.

Thud. Thud. Thud. The walls shattered under the assault of Haou's army, and the first few of his soldiers strode inside. Tenoch stood in the center of town, arms crossed over his chest, his duel disk on his wrist, eyes flicking from one warrior to another. He knew that Haou didn't always duel, so he would have to find a way to challenge him before one of the others struck at him.

He needn't have worried. Five strong monsters - these must have been the Death Duelists that he'd heard tell of - strode forward, each of them regarding him as if he weren't much more than a bug to be stepped on. He didn't know them personally but he'd seen their cards before over the years. Guardian Baou gave him a dismissive glance, turning back to look at something behind him. Chaos Sorcerer also turned back, and both of them bowed low and humbly.

"Haou-sama," Chaos Sorcerer declared, his voice clear and loud. "There is only one person left here. He does appear to be a warrior. But I can send a scout to find the others."

"Do so."

Tenoch shivered at the sound of that voice. Chills ratcheted through him and he rallied himself as he stepped forward one careful step at a time. "I might be the only person here, but you will not destroy what's been left behind. I will defeat you, Haou, and there's no one who can prevent this."

There was a single moment of absolute silence, then Guardian Baou snickered. "I could kill you in a moment," he declared. "What makes you think that you're worthy of standing against Haou-sama?"

"Because I have a card that's capable of halting Haou in his tracks," Tenoch assured them. "And I'm going to do it. I am Tenoch, defender of this town, and the one who is going to defeat Haou!"

Chaos Sorcerer and Skull Bishop both started to move forward, but stopped at a single gesture from Haou as he moved past them. "Let him make the attempt," Haou told them. "If he is capable then he will survive. If he is not -"

He didn't need to finish it. Tenoch knew what hadn't been said - that if he wasn't capable, then he would fall. He would be as dead as so many others.

Haou lifted his visor and cold golden eyes stared at him. His face was that of a young man, perhaps not yet twenty, but his demeanor that of someone who had killed often and ruthlessly. Tenoch knew about that from all the tales that floated around in regard to him.. That had done nothing to prepare him for seeing this in person.

Regardless, he started to shuffle his deck. He could only hope that his deck would answer his call and bring this reign of evil to an end.

Haou had to admit he was more than a little curious as to what this person thought he could do to stop him. He'd not at all be the first person that thought they could accomplish the task. He'd faced so many others, and every time they failed. He wasn't arrogant enough to think that he could never be defeated but he didn't think that this person was the one who could do it. But he would allow them the chance to try.

They shuffled and he allowed his opponent to take the first turn. This warrior - Marauding Captain - would need all the help that he could get. Haou watched as the other set a single card face-down and then summoned Spirit Reaper to defend himself. It wasn’t a very powerful monster and Haou had any number of servants capable of dispatching it swiftly.

He regarded his own cards for a moment. The first breath of his strategy suggested itself. He wasn’t going to use Adjused Gold right now, though the effect could be useful. But he already had Dark Fusion in his hand and he refused to rush matters.

“I activate Dark Fusion from my hand, fusing Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental hero Clayman to Fusion Summon Evil Hero Lightning Golem!” The plan was simple; he would use Lightning Golem’s effect to destroy Spirit Reaper and then inflict twenty-four hundred points of damage. Not enough for a one-turn kill but it would certainly set the other back quite a bit.

If he summoned Adjused Gold, then he’d be able to finish the duel right then and there but he hadn’t forgotten that his opponent had that face down card. Best not to risk too much, even against such a weak opponent.

He began to raise one hand to point to Spirit Reaper, but his opponent shook his head right away.

“Not going to let you do that. I activate Anti-Fusion Device! It destroys one Fusion monster on the field – and you’re the only one who has any Fusion monsters!”

A sphere appeared on the field, glowing faintly. Energy swept out from it and wrapped around Lightning Golem, causing it to shimmer briefly before exploding into a spray of sparks and light.

His opponent smirked. “Not even your Fusion monsters can stand up to Anti-Fusion Device. Is there anything else that you can do?”

Haou wasn’t fond of being taunted. He would finish this duel as quickly as possible for that alone. For a moment he was tempted to use Adjused Gold’s effect, but he held back regardless. He wanted to see what else his opponent could manage.

“That’s not the only card I have that can destroy your Fusions,” the opponent warned him. “You’re going to be defeated – and you’re going to die.”

Guardian Baou snorted. “If that’s all you think you can do, then you’re wrong. Haou-sama will win this duel.”

Haou silenced his servant with a flick of one hand. He had two other monsters that he could summon, but he refused to do so right now. He held no fear that this opponent could defeat him before he had the chance to turn it all around.

“I end my turn.” He declared, and watched to see what happened next. Tenoch drew his card for the turn, then nodded to himself.

“I won’t let you Fusion Summon, but I can. I Fusion Summon Nightmare-Riding Ghost!”

From the whirl of Fusion there stepped a horse of cold blue flames, wrapped in bandages, and with a creature garbed in a violet robe on its back, wielding a scythe.

“Nightmare-Riding Ghost receives the effects of both Spirit Reaper and Nightmare Horse,” Tenoch announced. “Not only can it attack directly, but when it does, you will discard a card randomly.

"But it only has eight hundred attack,"  Skull Bishop pointed out.  "That's less than the effect of a pebble against our Haou-sama."

Tenoch sneered.  "I'm not done yet.  First I equip Amethyst to Nightmare-Riding Ghost - that increases the attack by three hundred points." 

A warm violet glow enhanced the monster.  Tenoch hadn't finished, though.  He had two more cards in his hand.  "I also equip Daemon's Axe to Nightmare-Riding Ghost, increasing the attack by a thousand!"  Fierce, proud eyes gleamed sharply. "And lastly, I summon Immortal Ruler!"

Demon King of the Underworld, Ha Death himself knelt before Haou on a regular basis.  This Immortal Ruler seemed to be kin to him.  Haou made a mental note to speak to his servant about this once he returned to the castle.  It was a powerful creature, that was for certain, but there seemed to be no awareness in its eyes.  Whatever else this was, it didn't have the spirit of the monster in it.

"Now!  Nightmare-Riding Ghost!  Attack Haou directly!  Immortal Ruler, you as well!"

Nightmare-Riding Ghost surged forward, slicing both ax and scythe.  Perhaps if he hadn't worn his armor, it might have hurt a great deal more than it did.  Immortal Ruler raised gray hands and blasted a twisted pool of energy from them, coursing all over Haou.  When the attacks ended, Tenoch smirked.

"You only have a hundred life points, and my Nightmare-Riding Ghost can attack you directly no matter what you do.  You're going to die on your next turn."  He nodded smugly, arms crossed, pleased with himself.  "Now, discard a card!"

Haou did so casually, a single flick of a particular card into his graveyard.  Tenoch could not possibly have looked prouder of himself.  I end my turn."

"Don't make promises that you can't keep,"  Skilled White Magician warned him.  Haou focused on his duel; his servants knew better than to interfere beyond baseless words. 

As he'd suspected, he had virtually everything in his hand ready to bring about his victory.  It was time to end this – on his own terms and no others.

"Because of you, I now have Evil Hero Sinister Necrom in my graveyard,"  Haou said as he drew his card for the turn.  "By Sinister Necrom's effect, I summon Evil Hero Malicious Edge to the field."  Before him the monster appeared, laughing softly, long nails gleaming in the sapphire light of the comet.  "Now, I discard Evil Hero Adjused Gold, and by doing so I add Dark Fusion from my deck to my hand."

With every word that he spoke, he could see fear mounting in his opponent's features.  As well it should be.  Then the other shook his head.

"But you don't have anything to Fuse with it.  It's useless!" 

"Nothing is useless in my deck,"  Haou countered calmly.  "But you're also very wrong.  First, I activate Dark Fusion, fusing Evil Hero Malicious Edge and Evil Hero Hell Brat - summoning Evil Hero Malicious Bane!" 

Malicious Edge and Hell Brat wrapped around one another, and what emerged from the deep pool of shadows greatly resembled a much stronger Malicious Edge. This one, however, had sharp-edged wings, equally long and sharp claws mounted on the back of his hands, and a long scaled tail. As he appeared, Malicious Bane let out a fierce, earth-shaking roar, before bowing low to Haou.

He'd never summoned Malicious Bane before.  It wasn't one that he found a use for often.  But now was different.  He’d never seen so much awareness in a monster’s eyes – not since Neos.

But he didn’t dwell on this. A duel needed to be finished. "By Malicious Bane's effect, all monsters on your side of the field whose attack is outstripped by Malicious Bane are now destroyed, and Malicious Bane gains two hundred more attack points for each one destroyed in this fashion!"

Malicious Bane roared even louder, long scaled tail lashing, and reached out with sharp clawed hands that closed around both opposing monsters, shattering them into nothingness.  Another roar marked the increase in attack strength, and the opponent stepped back, fear rising even higher and deeper.  Haou smiled a tiny pleased smile.

"That isn't all.  I summon Evil Hero Hell Gainer."  This was why he'd not used Hell Gainer for fodder for Malicious Bane.  He wanted that strength of that monster at his side.  "Now, Malicious Bane, Hell Gainer, finish this fool."

His opponent - Haou didn't even remember their name - didn't even have time to properly scream before it was all over.  Haou almost regretted that.  Those who strove so hard should at least be given the chance to regret their decisions when they fell. He’d fought very well and he’d done enough damage that under other circumstances, Haou might have worried over his chances of victory. But it hadn’t been enough. Something like that would never be enough.

As the opponent faded away, Haou turned towards his waiting Death Duelists. "Find the ones that lived here.  You know what to do."

All five of them bowed respectfully before him and dispersed to hunt down those who'd fled.  Haou tucked his deck back into the holder, letting his armored fingers rest on it briefly before beginning to search the area himself for any sign of the Gem Beast deck.  He didn't think that he would find anything here, but he searched, as he always did.

If you wanted something done right, you needed to do it yourself.  Along with those servants that he would always trust the most – those who lived in his deck.

The End

Notes: Okay, I am so behind on my GX month fics but I am striving to get finished by the end of September. I do wish we had seen Malicious Bane in GX, but I don’t think it existed then.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #gxmonth2021 #yuuki juudai #haou #death duelists #maurading captain

[vpyre]

No Matter How Tremulous the Flame, the Ice Will Always Melt

William hadn’t seen Grelle today, which wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary had she been like any other employee; but with Grelle being Grelle, usually not a day went by without some sort of dramatic entrance or other loud indication of her presence. The last time it had been this quiet was when she’d landed herself in the infirmary in critical condition for reasons he would rather not dwell on at the moment. He tended to avoid thinking about things that involved demons, after all (or was it that there was something else about the memory that he didn’t want to acknowledge…?).

Giving himself a mental slap to refocus, he skirted around that train of thought and back to the here and now. In the here and now, he had paperwork to collect. With a beleaguered sigh, he got up out of his comfortable desk chair, strode towards the dark wooden door of his office, and stepped out into the corridor. He checked that his door was locked before making his way down the hall. While the management division employees were granted private offices in deference to their primary role of checking paperwork and doing other administrative-type things; retrieval division workers had a much more temporary, rudimentary setup, as they were rarely in one place for long.

He walked past rows and rows of cramped and messy cubicles, heading for the filing area in the back where finished work was left to be collected. He was so focused on his task he nearly missed the waving hand from the cubicle he was passing, but he caught it out of the corner of his eye at the last moment. The reaper he was facing was not one he knew well, though he was sure he'd seen him around before. When William was within a conversational distance of him, the reaper (Will thought his name might be Miles) spoke up.

"Any idea what's wrong with Sutcliff? He's been very quiet today, and-"

"She," William cut in automatically, almost distractedly, like he hadn't quite realized he'd spoken; but he didn’t waver or elaborate.

”Fine. She has been very quiet today, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it, seeing as you’re his- er, her favorite reaper and therefore the most likely to hear something. Now, normally I wouldn’t be asking, but the silence’s just throwing me off a bit, to tell you the truth.”

Will frowned. Maybe something really was wrong. He told Miles he’d check up on her, then bade him farewell; he did still have a job to do. He’d pick up his papers, then stop by her cubicle on the way out.

He strode down the wide, cluttered aisle towards the back, pondering what he had heard. Someone walked by, but it took him a good few seconds to drag himself from his thoughts enough to process who it was. To his utter surprise, he found he had actually passed Grelle without noticing her right away. That was unheard of! Her very presence demanded the undivided attention of everyone in the room, without exception. However, it seemed that somehow an exception had been made. He watched her as she continued trudging on in the opposite direction without a word of greeting or even acknowledgement. This was also abnormal. She never ignored him; in fact, it was a constant struggle getting her to leave him be. And he had never seen her hunched into herself like that before, like she hoped she would disappear.

He felt his concern for her well up from where he tried to keep it stuffed away; that deep, dark place on the very fringes of his consciousness. That treacherous pit filled with things and thoughts and feelings he didn't want to face, not that he even knew how to face them to begin with. He hated demons, and that included his own. But that day had changed something in him, and he had let himself feel for the first time in more than a century. Now, he tentatively embraced his worry, though he absolutely refused to show it outwardly in front of all these other reapers. That was where he drew the line.

Despite his reservations, he had to make certain she was alright. Abandoning his bid for the paperwork in the back of the room, he turned and made a beeline for Grelle’s cubicle instead, anxiety pricking at him all the way. What if he said something to make it worse somehow? What if he had spent so long as a cold, emotionless statue of ice that he no longer knew how to comfort someone else? He took a steadying breath. He would try. She’d understand that he was doing his best; she was a thoughtful woman, after all. At the rate he had been going, he likely never would have opened up to emotion at all had it not been for her, and that thought soothed his worry slightly. He just wished he'd been kinder to her before, wished it hadn't taken her nearly dying to defend him to make him realize how much she genuinely cared. He was still in awe of her bravery and selflessness in that moment, in the face of such a terrible foe; an enemy that he despised.

He stopped in what qualified as the doorway of her makeshift office, and when she didn't seem to notice him standing there, he spoke up.

"Sutcliff."

She tensed almost imperceptibly, then looked up at him from her seat at her well-kept desk. "Oh. Hi, Will," she said, a little hoarsely and much quieter than he had ever heard her speak. She cleared her throat, then gave him a smile that might have been convincing had her eyes not given her away. Aside from the redness and ever-so-slight puffiness that her makeup couldn't quite hide, the nature of the thoughts and feelings behind them was impossible to disguise. He could see the pain and exhaustion in them. He could feel it stagnating in the confines of her tiny, constricting cubicle; hanging in the air and darkening her countenance like fog blocking out the sun. No amount of makeup could ever hope to obscure anything when Grelle's emotions, whether positive or negative, were always so powerful. She was like the sun: her warmth radiated out from her, touching everyone in sight; but when that warmth was covered by clouds, leaving only cold and rain, everyone in sight felt the loss.

William was shaken from his musings by her voice. "Is there something you need?"

He sighed. "To be perfectly honest, Grelle, I'm concerned for you. You've been unordinarily quiet today, and I can tell from just being near you that you are not feeling well. If you need a sick day, that can be arranged."

For a moment, she looked surprised- she wasn't used to him caring- then slumped down and let out a sigh of her own. "I'm not sick."

When she didn't elaborate, he asked, "Then what's wrong?"

She looked away and fell silent, but he could feel the tension crackling in the air as her emotions swelled to the surface, despite her efforts to keep them down. Finally, she breathed out, "I'm tired," and it felt like empty space itself had frozen.

Her wavering voice shot lines of striking grey exhaustion through the silence and the stillness, slicing through it like razor wire; like fragile threads of lightning before a sky-cracking boom of thunder. Will felt that if it had been raining, the drops would have hung suspended in space, a manifestation of stopped time. She turned to face him again, and he felt a jolt go through his body when he saw wetness in her eyes. It wasn't from surprise. No, the jolt came from the sheer pervasive power of her pain. It pierced through him in a way he had only ever experienced once before, and he was struck dumb.

This is just like that day, this depth of feeling. I never suspected that her pain was so overwhelming, just as I never thought her affection for me ran so deeply that she would be willing to sacrifice her life to defend me from that demon. What a nightmare that was. I thought she was dead; there was so much blood. She was in the infirmary on the verge of a second death for two days, and in recovery for a week. I never have and never will forget how quiet and empty dispatch felt without her. The whole ordeal shook some humanity back into me, and for that, I will forever be grateful; I just don't ever want to see her suffer again.

But here she was, suffering. She was in pain, and he didn't know what to do; just like that day. The tears in her eyes silently welled up and spilled over, leaving thin tracks as they rolled down her cheeks. He stood uselessly in the doorway, mind frantically racing to think of some way to help her, to make her hurt go away. His thoughts were blurring together, clashing and roiling, whiting out his senses. They were building and building; soon he would burst. When it all got to be too much, he threw logic out the window and gave in to instinct instead. He strode forward, wrapped his arms around her, and just held her. Her body stiffened and her eyes widened, but then she relaxed and sank into his embrace. She broke down and the tension broke with her; the taut cords of repressed emotion snapped, the suspended drops began to fall, the thunder cracked the charged stillness in twain. She buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him closer, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching his suit coat in her fists with the force only granted to someone in the throes of sorrow. He sat still and let her cry; God knows she needed to let it all out somehow. Through her tears, she told him how she was tired of her drawn-out existence, how every time someone mistook her for a man she felt like it chipped a piece off of her soul, how her past haunted her and dogged her every step. She let it all spill out, and William couldn't help but admire the ease with which she expressed her feelings. He admired it, and he hoped that one day he would be able to do the same. If she were anyone else, he doubted he would have even begun to get back in touch with himself, and for that, he would be forever grateful to her.

Gradually, she quieted, sobs turning to quiet tears, tears turning to the occasional sniff. She pulled away and gave him a small smile through red eyes. "I'm surprised that you stayed through all that. I honestly didn't think you would." She looked away, then quietly added, "But I'm glad you cared enough to. Thank you."

He hesitantly laid a hand on her shoulder, and she looked back up at him. He held her gaze and said, "I should be thanking you. You brought me out of my stagnation because you cared enough to; and for that, you have my gratitude- and my friendship if you should so desire. I cannot excuse my prior callous treatment of you, but I can try to make up for it by being here for you now. You are the flame of the dispatch, Grelle. You keep us moving, even if no one else realises that. We wouldn't be functional without you, and neither would I. So thank you."

She sat still for a moment, making nary a sound, and he worried that it was all too much. Then, slowly, her face lit up with a grin and she threw her arms around him again. He felt her returning warmth in her embrace, and he genuinely smiled for the first time in more than a century.

#for those without ao3 #grelle sutcliff #grell sutcliff #william t spears #kuroshitsuji #black butler #fanfic #fanfiction #my writing #fic request

[thatguywiththecoydog]

The Bad Seed (1956)

Spoilers below.

Warning: There are some themes in this post that might make some people feel uncomfortable. I will be discussing themes of suicide, murder, and antisocial personality disorder. Not to mention, there are a lot of violent descriptions that I go into detail about. If these are subjects that bother you on an emotional level, please have some discretion upon reading this.

I recently watched The Bad Seed from Warner Bros. released in 1956. This movie is based on the book and play of the same name.

The plot (major spoilers start at paragraph 2):

The movie starts off normally enough with the Penmark family living their everyday life. Kenneth, the man of the house, is stationed off on military duty, leaving his wife, Christine, and his eight-year-old daughter, Rhoda, at home. Rhoda's reputation at the apartment she lives at is a good one, as both her mother and the landlady, Monica, adore her and everything she does.

One day, Rhoda leaves for a school picnic at the lake and everything is as it should. Meanwhile, Christine is having lunch with the other people in the building when she gets a rather disturbing message from the radio. A child in Rhoda's class has just drowned in the lake. This ends up being a boy named Claude. Claude had previously won a penmanship medal that Rhoda was also competing for.

Rhoda says this on various occasions, "That medal was really mine."

Rhoda comes home unfazed by what happened, which is a bit off-putting to Christine. Even stranger, Rhoda seems to be in high spirits after the whole situation.

The next day, Rhoda's teacher, Miss Fern, comes by to explain to Christine that Rhoda was the last person to see Claude alive, suspecting that she may have had a hand in his death. She also explains that the penmanship medal disappeared from Claude's person, who had the medal with him that day. Miss Fern links these two events to Rhoda because she was seen trying to snatch the medal for herself the morning of the murder, reportedly, until Claude cried.

As things are getting tenser between Christine and Miss Fern, even to the point of expelling Rhoda, Claude's parents burst into the front door. His mother, drunk and distraught, and his father, trying to stop her. Claude's mother, again, accuses Rhoda of having a hand in her son's death.

Christine does not believe that her daughter could have done such a thing as murdering a classmate over a medal until she discovers the penmanship medal in Rhoda's room. She then questions her about why she had the medal and if she knew anything about Claude's death. After a lot of back-and-forth between the two, Rhoda says that she bought the medal off him for 50 cents. Christine does not believe that story and is overall, pretty dubious of Rhoda at this point.

That night, Christine's father visits. Along with him, is a doctor who explains to both of them that there is a new (for the time) study that homicidal tendencies can be passed on through genes. These actions can apparently start at a young age. As he leaves, Christine looks a bit panicked.

Being troubled by some sort of nightmare or memory that has plagued her since childhood, Christine explains this to her father who is shocked to hear that from her. The memory involves her running away from home as a toddler because she suspects that her mother had murdered her brother. This prods her father to tell Christine that he "adopted" her. She was found as a toddler at a house nearby to one of a notorious serial killer.

After her father leaves, Christine worries even more that Rhoda has killed Claude, if the study the doctor was anything to go by. She begins to suspect that Rhoda has genes that give her homicidal tendencies. At that moment, Christine catches Rhoda attempting to dispose of her shoes. After more severe questioning, this finally gets Rhoda to confess that she had killed Claude with the shoes. Christine, now distraught, tells her to put her shoes in the incinerator where they will be burned.

The next morning, the apartment caretaker, Leroy, teases Rhoda that she killed Claude, somehow ironically guessing he was whacked into the water. After how defensive Rhoda got about it, especially with how he guessed that he whacked him with a pair of shoes, Leroy goes down to check the incinerator, only to find the remains of a pair of shoes. Rattled that Leroy knows too much, Rhoda gets a match and lights his bed of excelsior on fire before he goes down there and locks himself in.

Meanwhile Christine, once again, is attempting to calm down Claude's mother from her drunken rage. After she leaves, Monica comes to see Christine. After some conversation, they hear some commotion from outside. They look out the window to hear Leroy is screaming trying to escape his cellar room, which is now on fire. Two other men get him out, but not on time. He runs around the lawn screaming and on fire (this happens all off-screen). He finally silences, collapses, and dies.

This sends Christine into a large, hysterical depression. That night, Christine throws the medal back into the lake and tells this to Rhoda. After this, Christine grinds a lethal amount of sleeping pills into a glass of water for Rhoda, which she drinks. As she is carrying her to bed, Christine mutters, "Nobody can save you from that [being taken away and "shut up"] unless I save you, so sleep well and dream well, my only child and the one I love. I shall sleep too." She then walks out of Rhoda's room and into her own. As the screen fades to black, we hear a gunshot and a thud. Christine had shot herself in the head.

They are taken to the hospital promptly after neighbors hear their neighbors hear the gun. They both survive. While Rhoda was completely better after a few hours, Christine was in a coma, with little to no chance of surviving.

After getting home with Kenneth, Rhoda is put straight to bed. Kenneth then gets a call from the doctor, saying that Christine has miraculously survived the shot, with a shot of her being conscious, but bandaged up.

After hearing that her father is asleep, she puts on her raincoat and leaves the house into the pouring rain. She goes to the lake to try to fish out the medal that Christine had thrown into the lake. As fate would have it, Rhoda is struck by lightning. This is where the movie ends.

My thoughts:

I think many people would overlook this movie, seeing as it is a black and white film from the 1950s. However, I would say that this movie does deserve a watch if you can find it. Even with the spoilers I gave, there was a lot I left out, so you could still enjoy it, even if you read through the entire plot. I was able to watch it using TV on-demand services, as Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has it available as of now ad-free.

Here's a list of what I think the movie does right:

It really thinks ahead with its depiction of mental insanity and how it can be passed down through genetics. Most people in the 1950s would usually say that murderers with some sort of mental disorder come from a bad environment alone and that they would not be influenced by their heritage. Modern 2021 science tells us that mental disorders are just as likely to come from genetics as well as environment. I think that is really forward-thinking of the authors of the original book and play, as well as the directors of this movie opting to keep that detail in-tact.

The acting is phenomenal. You can get almost sucked in completely by how great the actors portray their roles. You can feel your heart sink when you hear Leroy screaming in pain and you can also feel a lot of emotions coming on during Christine's depression.

The use of background music is great. All of the music heard in the background really matches the tone of the scene it is playing on.

The movie will sometimes break up the tension with a bit of comedy, so it isn't all doom and gloom.

There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the movie, which I will not share again if you skipped over the plot section. The movie really does make you think about the characters and their situation and what they are going to do next.

Now. Here's a list of what the movie did not as good and how they could have fixed it:

The movie starts off very slow. This could put some people off from watching it when the ending of the movie I could consider to be a classic film masterpiece. I think if there was less filler at the beginning (there's a good 20 minutes before the actual plot begins), the pacing would feel a bit faster.

Overall, I would probably give this movie a solid 9 out of 10. I definitely recommend you give it a watch, especially if you are into old psychological horror movies, or even if you are interested in psychology or sociology.

#the bad seed #horror

[marshmallow-phd]

Midnight Hours

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Summary: For you, being a good witch was easier said than done. Something dark was lurking inside of you and the others knew it. When you’re forced to tag along with Soomi and help a local wolfpack face a coming evil, you’re sent on a path that breaks into a crossroads. While you struggle with your inner demons, could the wolf Sehun be the key to your ultimate fate?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I Final

**

Molia clapped enthusiastically, cheering for you loudly as you came back down to the ground.

“That was….” You shook your head, still in a state of shock but also out of breath from the amount of concentration you had just used. “That felt like flying.”

Air wasn’t supposed to be that strong - strong enough to hold you in the air - but the things Molia had taught you over the past few days… it seemed like nothing was impossible. This was a territory you never thought to explore before. Your own imagination had been limited to mere shape manipulation. Molia was showing you so much more. She showed you how to pull water out of the plants around you. She taught you how to concentrate fire in your hands, like gloves. She helped you find the life source of the plants, using it to heal your own minor scrapes and bruises that you earned in your practices without having to go the vigorous steps taught by Soomi. 

Soomi. 

Guilt churned in your heart. You hadn’t thought about her since your first day with Molia. You disappeared without a word to her. She must have been worrying herself to death. You wondered if she was sleeping or eating properly. Her sensitive nature hadn’t been factored in when you took off through that window. You hadn’t thought about several things in that moment. 

“Was is it?” Molia asked, concerned. Your thoughts must have down casted your face, a one-eighty from the excitement only moments before. 

“I was just thinking about Soomi,” you confessed. “I left without telling her so she must be losing her mind right now.”

Instead of sympathy, Molia scoffed. “You shouldn’t focus on how she feels. I doubt you’ve ever been given the same courtesy.”

“Soomi has always looked after me!” you argued. Throughout your time here, Molia had thrown comments like that about the mothers and the coven. Mostly, you’d ignored them, knowing you’d thought the same things over your years with them. But with Soomi… you still felt protective over her. She was different from the others, different towards you. “She’s like my big sister.”

“Oh, yes,” Molia nodded, acid flicking off her tongue with each word, “I’m sure she’s always been the one next you when everyone else was against you. It’s just a ploy to make you compliant. Trust me. They did the same to me.”

“That’s all you’ve been saying this whole time!” You could feel your hands heating up, as they usually did whenever your emotions started teetering over the edge. For the most part you could control it, but the concerns of the mothers still echoed in your head, founded or not. 

How dare she judge Soomi without knowing her? All this witch ever did was give cryptic hints about her past, but when you asked for more details, she’d change the subject or act like the words had never left your mouth in the first place. You were thankful for what she’d taught you, but you needed to know more if you were going to stay. The constant riddles and guessing games were driving you insane.

But Molia didn’t fight back. She lowered her gaze, her voice no louder than the wind. “I’m trying to spare you the details of my story. It may not be the way you heard it, but it still is not a happy one.”

“But I want to understand you, Molia,” you pleaded. Inside, you were still fighting between the person in front of you and the thing that had haunted your visions. They didn’t go together. They didn’t feel like two sides of the same coin; they didn’t even feel like the same country’s currency. 

Yes, it was true that there was always fear in the unknown, but you couldn’t think of Molia – who was showing you parts of yourself that had been locked away for far too long – in a negative light. And yes, she was a vampire, but saying that all vampires were evil would make you no better than the ones who called you bad for your powers. Every group had both sides, so why should her kind be any different?

Visibly swallowing, Molia turned from you, looking out into the clearing with no real subject to focus on. Her eyes glossed over as her mind rewound to a time that most of the world had forgotten. 

“You think she’s your friend,” Molia whispered. It was almost quiet enough to hide the breaking in her voice. Almost. “But all she is doing is keeping you in line.”

You couldn’t believe that. You refused to. “No. Soomi’s not like that.”

Molia whipped her head, her eyes shining a murderous red. “How do you know? Can you read her thoughts? She’s been reporting your every move to the mothers since she was first assigned to watch over you. They did the same with me.” She closed her eyes and grimaced with a ghostly pain. “I thought I could trust Tatia. She’d been my best friend for as long as I could remember. But as we grew older… I don’t know what happened, really. One day, we were out in the fields, practicing our magic. She also had a strong connection with water so we tended to play near the river.”

As if she were projecting the images into your own mind, you saw her past happening before your eyes. The two innocent witches who knew each other so well. 

Their laughter chanted in your ears as they ran through the fields of tall grass, brushing against their arms and tickling their elbows. The water in the river was clear and flowed along at a gentle current. It was a scene that was so familiar, like a moment from a period movie. 

Splashing each other with the water, they giggled and ran around, careful not to trip over their long dresses as they played.

“That’s not fair!” the girl you didn’t recognize – who could only be Tatia – complained. Molia had sent an orb of water straight for her friend that was bigger than the former could manage. Her dark hair was soaked, clinging to her pretty face. 

“Little did I know that Tatia had harvested a jealousy,” Molia narrated. Just as her words broke through your mind, the scene shifted.

The sky darkened up above and the girls went from laughing in the sun to lying down in the dying grass, smiles absent from their faces. 

“Tatia never told me, but the other witches were fearful of my growing powers. And they’d asked her to start letting them know about what I was doing at all times. A wish she granted all too willingly.”

The field dissolved to a house made entirely of wood. Lighting was low, only the soft glow of candles gave you enough to see by. Molia was standing in front of a door that was partially cracked open. Through the open space, Tatia was leaning down to someone who could only be an elder, given their age and dress. She was whispering unintelligibly in the elder’s ear. A stern and decided expression was on the older woman’s face. When Tatia exited the room, she barely made eye contact with Molia before she hurried down the hall. 

“My closest friend in the world was no longer by my side. I was all alone. But not for long.”

Complete darkness took over the scene. The air grew cold. As the moon drifted out from behind the clouds, the mouth of a cave came into view. Two people stood close together, their body language giving off the feeling of a dance between predator and prey. 

“You shouldn’t be here.”

The man chuckled at Molia’s hiss. His eyes shined red in the night, giving away his true nature immediately. “But aren’t you the one who came to me?”

Molia turned her head downwards. “I had nowhere else to go. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I can feel them turning against me.”

The malicious nature of the vampire smoothed into one of sympathy. His shoulders dropped and he lifted Molia’s chin gently with his index finger so he could meet her eyes. “You do not owe them anything, sweet child. Come with me where they cannot touch you.”

Shaking her head, Molia pulled away. “I can’t. They’re my coven. Perhaps if I talked to them-”

“What good would that do? Do you truly think their jealousy will let them hear you?”

“I have to try.”

Screams erupted behind you and suddenly it was daylight again, in the town square. Two men held Molia captive with ropes tightly bound around her. 

“Mother, please!” Molia begged as she fell to her knees. The area was crowded with onlookers who kept their distance, children hiding behind their parents’ legs, but too curious to run away.

The elder from before stood a few feet in front of Molia, chanting as she read aloud from a book. A binding spell. The pleas that rang through the air fell on deaf ears.

Looking around desperately, Molia found the one person who had been her friend. “Tatia, help me! Please! Make them see reason! Make them stop! It was an accident! I swear!”

But she did no such thing. She didn’t even have the decency to walk away with a drop of remorse. She kept standing there, staring at Molia with a blank, unashamed expression. 

Then, the wind picked up. Lightning flashed from the sky that had been clear and blue just moments before. Several struck the thatched roofs of the houses surrounding the square, creating fires that quickly went out of control. The ropes that were wrapped around Molia burst into flames. Just before they could be burned, the men let go and jumped back. But they didn’t run away. 

Shivers ran over their bodies. Deep growls rumbled in their chests. Then the beasts burst forth. 

Strips of cloth that used to be shirts and pants flew through the air as the wolves landed on their paws. Over and over, they tried to get at Molia, who kept them at bay with her fists of fire. The witches, too, tried to close in around her, but lightning strikes stopped them each time they took a step. 

“This is exactly why the binding spell must take place!” the elder yelled over the wind. “It cannot be controlled!”

“I can control it!” Molia screamed back. 

The elder scanned the area as if pointing out the fires and mayhem that had been unleashed upon the village. People were screaming, running around to not get burned or to try and save what was left of their homes. 

Molia fell to her knees, her fire – both literally and figuratively – dying out. But still, a defiance shined in her eyes as she stared at the elder. “You will not have me,” she declared. Holding up her hand, she drew water out from the well nearby and willed it to freeze in the shape of a dagger. “But some day, I will have you.” 

Before she could be stopped, she plunged the dagger into her stomach. Water and blood mixed into the dirt as she fell down to her side. 

“NO!” 

You leapt forward as the vision dissolved away. Only Molia’s grip on your hand kept you from falling face first into the grass. 

“Its okay,” Molia comforted you, rubbing her cold hand up and down your back. “They buried me, but I’d ingested the vampire’s blood beforehand. I awoke the next night and started my immortal life.”

“How?” you asked breathlessly. “How could they do that to you?”

“Power does that to people.” Helping you down to your knees that were shaking violently, Molia adjusted so she was crouching in front of you. “Witches are the worst for it. They want to be the most powerful in the coven, the most powerful of supernatural creatures, whether they voice it or not. If anyone comes along that threatens that power, then they’ll do whatever they can to eliminate them.”

Your entire body was shaking now over what you had seen. “Th-the binding spell-”

“They’ve threatened you with it, too, haven’t they?”

You nodded, unable to confirm it out loud. 

“It’s their favorite threat,” Molia spat. “But I will never let that happen to you. As long as you stay with me, they’ll never touch you.”

“But Soomi-”

“(y/n).” With a wave of her hand, Molia took water from the grass around you and pooled in her hands. Under her breath, she whispered an incantation that you’d heard before but never had tried yourself. Divination was never a strong suit of yours, despite the visions in your head. 

In the surface of the water, you watched as Soomi observed you from around corners, a cell phone up to her ear and her lips moving quickly. The downside to this type of spell: no sound to know what was being said. She didn’t look wicked or scheming, like Tatia had, but you could still understand what was happening. The scene shifted to a meeting of the mothers and Soomi. The topic was a heated one – and you knew that it was centered around you. And your seemingly one defender sat there quietly, not speaking up once on your behalf. 

The image rippled away and Molia let the water slip through her fingers, back to the dying grass below. 

“They don’t care about us,” Molia said softly. “Those who plot against their own sisters don’t deserve to call themselves witches. They don’t deserve the gifts that have been given to them.”

You felt numb. You felt abandoned all over again. It seemed that was the theme of your life: abandonment and betrayal. 

As a child, your parents had given you up to be raised by the mothers; an old tradition that had died out long ago. But your family clung to the old ways, even sending your male cousin off to live with human relatives despite the fact that he showed signs of being gifted. They didn’t care that a child needed their parents. They tossed you away to be someone else’s problem. And you hadn’t heard from them in years. 

Now there was this. Why did everyone you leaned on step away? You could feel your fists tightening, nails biting into your skin at the tension. What you didn’t see was the triumphant smirk on Molia’s lips.

“What are you planning on doing?” you asked, looking up. 

“There’s something that we can do,” she replied cryptically. “It’s only on the blood moon that we have this ability, from what I’ve been able to discover. But I need you to keep an open mind.”

Closing your eyes, you said through gritted teeth, “Just tell me, Molia.”

“What are humans made of?” Molia laughed. “Mostly, anyway?”

You frowned, thinking back to the one human anatomy class you had long ago. “Water?” Your answer hung in the air until the obvious came to you. Snatching your hands away, you backed away. “You want to control people?”

“Not forever!” She reached for you again, but you dodged her hands. “Only long enough to show them that they can’t keep us down. I want you to take back your life. You could be head of the coven. We could be the ones who make the rules for once. Think about it, (y/n). Think about the things we could do if we were the ones in charge. For example: all the covens are divided. No one is willing to unite them. But maybe we could. We could start with yours and then another. Soon, the witches could be one again. And no one would have to fear their own powers. No one would be suppressed or scared.”

“But what you’re suggesting is exactly that.” Enforcing peace with violence was nothing but hypocritical. And you didn’t want to live your life that way. 

“It’s only temporary,” she insisted. “How many countries had to insight war to bring peace to their lands? To unite different tribes under one banner?”

That… ugh. You hated how she could make the most insane ideas sound logical. But she was right, wasn’t she? If you could really stop the infighting and bring the witches together, why would anyone need to worry? And you could make sure that no one was abandoned like you were. The more you thought about it, the more sense it made. Only one thing stopped you from fully saying yes. “Would some people get hurt?”

Molia stood up and looked down at you with soft eyes. A surprise given their permanent state. But you’d grown used to seeing kindness from such an extreme color. “(y/n), I will not turn you into a murder.”

You let out a breath of relief. 

“Good. It’s settled then. Tonight, at the height of the blood moon, we’ll face your coven and start our mission with one of success.” Her glee suddenly gave way to a more serious expression. “However, there is still something that could stand in our way.”

Pushing yourself up to your feet, you brushed the grass and dirt from your pants. “What do you mean?”

“Several years ago, your coven helped save one of the wolves’ mates. I’m sure you’re aware?” Molia waited for you to nod before continuing. “Since then, the pack has vowed to protect the coven in dire situations, should they need it. I’m afraid the pack might position themselves between us and the others.”

“I can’t do it then,” you said. “I can’t fight Sehun.”

“You still haven’t let him go?”

You scoffed, throwing your hands up in the air. “I couldn't if I wanted to. The mate connection doesn’t just go away. It’s always there, even if I didn’t want it.”

Molia scowled. “Even if? Think about it. Do you really want to be tied to a person like that? To someone that wouldn’t listen to you? Who said that they would have preferred for you to be human like the rest?”

You wanted to argue. You wanted to say, again, that he was right about it not being Mina and that he probably saved Dana a lot of pain and heartache. But your own hurt was growing. You couldn’t explain why, only that the more you thought about it, the more your heart cried out in despair. Why did you have to live with this? Why weren’t you given a choice?

“He betrayed your trust, dismissed you. What kind of a mate is that?”

“What’s the point?” You kicked at the ground. “There’s only one spell that can severe the bond and both parties have to be willing.” If you were actually able to get to that point, you knew you would crumble. Perhaps you were holding on to that small piece of hope. That maybe if he didn't want to let go of the bond, then maybe he’d still want you, witchiness and all.  

For the past couple of days, he’d haunted your thoughts. At night when you tried to sleep, he was there, lying next you and running his fingers down your face. He asked you to come back to him, to try again. But then you’d blink and he’d disappear in an uncatchable smoke. 

Was it just wishful thinking? Or maybe a seed of doubt about what you were doing here with Molia?

But then the sun rose and using your powers occupied your mind. Molia kept you focused, distracted almost. But you also felt the happiest, most relaxed, and confident that you’d ever felt in your whole life. And you didn’t want to give it up. 

That all too familiar look flashed in Molia’s eyes. It happened every time she was about to divulge a secret she found particularly alluring. 

“What if I told you there was another way to break the bond?

You shook your head. “That’s impossible.”

“Not for a vampire.”

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #sehun x reader #oh sehun #exo werewolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo supernatural au #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #exo series #Midnight Hours #untamed wolf universe

[megalony]

My bad side

This is a murderer! Ben imagine that is a little different from my other imagines and involves Ben with a family. I hope you all like it.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @rogahs-drowse @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me

Series masterlist

Summary: Ben and (Y/n) have four boys together who love and dote on him, despite his antics and ruthless ways. But no one wants to get on Ben’s bad side, especially not the neighbours.

Enjoy.

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"Fine, when your dad gets back you can tell him what you did." (Y/n) snapped the words at her eldest son, knowing the kind of look she was going to receive and the answer she would get in response. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Theo look over his shoulder at (Y/n) in such a way that reminded her of Ben when he was angry or giving her some kind of silent message. The eight-year-old's eyes were an image of Ben's matching emerald orbs and his hair was roughly the same colour as Ben's if a little bit lighter and he had the same nose too.

Theo didn't give her an answer, much to (Y/n)'s surprise but the expression on his face was enough to tell her that he didn't want to be the one to tell Ben what had happened when he was at school.

Kids were a funny subject when it came to Ben because when (Y/n) first met him, she was so sure she didn't want kids with him and that he wouldn't want any in the first place. With the kind of job Ben had, running a boxing club with dodgy dealings happening on the side, it didn't seem like a good combination. Ben wasn't the kindest of people and he had a liking and tendency to hurt others, him having kids wasn't what would be associated with him.

But Ben had surprised (Y/n) because he wanted kids and they made him a totally different person that (Y/n) had never seen before. She was used to seeing Ben's different attitudes and sides, she saw how loving he could be, how cruel and careless he could be towards her and she saw how much he liked to hurt people. But when they had Theo, Ben seemed almost like any other person in the world, he didn't seem like the ruthless, careless person she had married.

None of the boys knew what Ben actually did for a living, they knew he was a boxer and he owned a club and that was the extent of their knowledge. They had no clue what really went on behind the doors of the club and (Y/n) wanted to keep it that way, but that didn't mean the boys were clueless. They knew that Ben could be mean, they had witnessed him shouting and they were brought up in a loving but strict environment because that was how Ben was. He loved all his boys more than he could comprehend, but he had rules at home just like at work.

If the boys really messed around at home or at school, they never wanted Ben to know about it because they knew he would tell them off and not feel bad about it. Theo had had to be picked up early today from school and he didn't want Ben to know, but he knew (Y/n) would tell him.

(Y/n) watched Rowan and Finn hang up their coats before they wandered into the living room presumably to go and watch tv.

"Shall we go get you changed?" (Y/n) questioned to the toddler sitting on her hip who was almost fast asleep.

Beckett's tired eyes managed to flutter open halfway, his pupils looking up at (Y/n) as he nodded before he settled his cheek on her shoulder and closed his eyes. (Y/n) rubbed her hand up and down his back as she walked down the rather narrow hallway to reach the stairs so she could go and get Beckett settled down for a nap.

With Ben working at the club today, (Y/n) was doing the school run this afternoon since he dropped the kids off this morning. Theo and the twins needed picking up from school and Beckett needed picking up from nursery which seemed to have tired Beckett out today to the point he wasn't even asking where Ben was. The two-year-old was attached to Ben at the hip, he always wanted Ben around and wanted to know where he was if he wasn't home.

"Mum..."

(Y/n) got halfway up the stairs before she heard Theo's rather worried voice calling out for her causing her to sigh and turn around to head back down the stairs that were very narrow and steep. (Y/n) hated these stairs, they were the kind of stairs that curved up to the right around the corner near to the top and they were big enough to make them hard to walk up when carrying anything. They were also a hazard with the boys when they were running around the house and messing about because they had all fallen down them at one time or another.

"What's up?" (Y/n) walked down the hall and headed into the kitchen, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Theo who was stood in front of the sink on his tiptoes so he could look out of the window into the back garden.

"There's someone in the garden."

A bolt of fear rushed through (Y/n) like she had been struck by lightning as she forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. Whenever there was a stranger at the door or someone hanging around the street, all (Y/n) could think of was that the police had caught wind of even half of the dodgy shit that Ben got up to at the club and they were coming for him. Ben promised when they had Theo that none of his business would be brought home, (Y/n) didn't want anything from the club even being talked about in front of the boys. But (Y/n) could never shake the fear that something would happen.

Resting her free hand to the back of Beckett's head, (Y/n) hurried over to where Theo was stood, leaning over him to look out of the window onto the garden. Her mind started to race as she wondered what on Earth she was going to do. She couldn't very well hurry out into the garden with Beckett asleep in her arms if this was a burglar or some idiot from the club who was now on Ben's bad side. But she couldn't just stay locked up in the house and hope whoever it was would leave.

She would have to call Ben at the club and get him to come home.

A mixture of emotions rattled through (Y/n) when she narrowed her eyes and realised who it was in the back garden. It was their neighbour, Nigel.

Turning to her right, (Y/n) quickly settled Beckett down into his highchair at the kitchen table before she unlocked the backdoor and headed out into the garden. He had to of used the back gate to get into the garden meaning he would have needed to reach over the top of the gate and undo the bolt on the other side.

Both (Y/n) and Ben didn't get along with Nigel at all. He was a bit older than they were but he was just someone that irritated both of them. He thought he had the right to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and he had no problem with being rude and arguing with (Y/n), as long as he knew or thought that Ben wasn't around. Ben had the ability to frighten anyone with just one scowl which came in handy where Nigel was concerned.

"What are you doing?" (Y/n) folded her arms over her chest as she rose her brows at the older man who was stood on the right next to the fence that separated his garden from hers.

"Adding something to the fence." The way he spoke made him sound so ignorant and the way that he cast his eyes over to (Y/n) made her feel like she was trespassing on his garden instead of the other way around. He looked and sounded like he thought he had the right to walk into her garden whenever he pleased.

(Y/n) took a moment to look over him, taking a deep breath as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that he had just waltzed into her garden to do whatever he wanted without even having the decency to ask.

"Right, so you've unlocked my gate and walked into my garden without asking me and just started to do whatever you want to my side of the fence?" (Y/n)'s tone was condescending and the look she gave him was one he clearly didn't like from the way he scowled at her and seemed to almost snarl like a dog. He didn't have the right to just walk right onto her property and do what he pleased.

"It's my fence." He looked at her as if it was an obvious reason why he was in her garden before he continued with trying to hammer a nail into the fence. "I can add what I want, and I don't like your kids breaking it with their football either."

With a deep breath, (Y/n) reached over and snatched the hammer from his hand to prevent him from continuing with whatever he was trying to do to the fence that wasn't broken and didn't need any fixtures on (Y/n) and Ben's side. "I don't care if you own the fence, me and my husband own this house and I don't want you just walking in whenever you want. In case you're blind, the goalposts for football are over there and this fence is nowhere near broken, now please leave."

(Y/n) used the hammer to point in the direction of the gate to tell him to leave. She knew he owned the fence but that didn't give him the right to come round to her property and start doing whatever he wanted like this. He had trespassed and didn't even think to ask or think he should ask. And (Y/n) didn't like the way he was referring to the boys as if they were some kind of nuisance. The boys played a lot of football and games outside but they had proper goalposts, they didn't kick the ball against the fence like he thought and it was in perfect condition, it wasn't breaking.

When Nigel went to grab the hammer back, (Y/n) took a step away from him and continued to point with it. If he kept this up she would tell Ben and then he really would have an argument on his hands.

"Leave." She repeated in a stern tone, locking eyes with him for what felt like the longest time until he finally relented and roughly snatched the hammer from her. He snarled as he passed her, roughly pushing his shoulder into hers as he passed.

(Y/n)'s eyes widened when she heard him muttering 'fucking bitch' under his breath along with a few other words she could just about hear as he walked over to the gate. Her body jumped in fear when he whacked the hammer against the fence before he slammed it shut so hard the hinges could be heard squeaking from the force.

"Inside boys, I'm coming." (Y/n)'s voice shook as she headed over to the house, noticing the twins and Theo were stood in the doorway, unsure whether to be afraid or not. Reaching her hands out, (Y/n) ruffled the twin's hair to silently let them know it was okay before she went to get Beckett so she could settle him for a nap.

"When's daddy coming home?" Finn tugged on (Y/n)'s hand when she came down the stairs after settling Beckett in his room. The six-year-old watched as she looked at her watch before looking back at him as he pulled her into the living room.

"About an hour, sweetheart. You two carry on playing your game, I'm gonna go and make dinner."

She watched Finn head over and sit down in front of the tv with Rowan, the twins both settling to play a video game as Theo was laid out on the sofa reading a book. (Y/n) smiled at the way that it looked like one boy was sitting next to a mirror with how they were mimicking one another's actions. Their curly blond hair was also cut the same way and shaved short at the sides, making it almost impossible to tell them apart, except for a few freckles and characteristics here and there.

Making her way into the kitchen, (Y/n) busied herself getting out a few pans and some veg from the fridge before something caught her eye in the back garden. Nigel had left some metal brackets on the floor that he must have been trying to hammer into the fence post. Shaking her head, (Y/n) wandered over to the back door and headed out into the garden.

Grabbing the few metal brackets and the few nails already placed into them, (Y/n) didn't think twice before she threw them over the fence into Nigel's garden. If he wanted to walk right into her garden without asking when he clearly thought she was out, then she was going to throw his stuff back into his garden without asking or caring where they landed.

(Y/n) couldn't wait for Ben to get back home so she could tell him what Nigel had done. Ben had been wanting an excuse to go round and put the frighteners on Nigel for a while now, he seemed to get on the wrong side of Ben without even doing anything, now he would have a reason.

Heading back into the kitchen, (Y/n) thought nothing more about it as she put the radio on and started to make dinner.

It felt like a shockwave rattled through (Y/n)'s body about twenty minutes later when a sudden and very persistent banging startled her and caused the knife in her hand to scratch against the chopping board. (Y/n) could feel her heart trying to break out of her chest as she quickly set the knife down before walking past the stairs and down the hall to reach the front door. She wasn't very surprised when she opened the door to find Nigel on the other side, his face red and his eyes blazing with anger.

"What do you want?" (Y/n) kept the door open only a small crack so she could look out but he couldn't look in, she didn't trust him at all.

"You stupid bloody woman, you've broken them."

His words washed over (Y/n) and confused her until he held up the brackets that were bent and covered in soil, but they were nowhere near broken. She rose her brows at him and scoffed, ready to close the door on her rude neighbour.

"Then you shouldn't have wandered into my garden and left them there, now go away." (Y/n) attempted to close the door in his face but he stuck his foot in the way which she knew must have hurt when she tried to slam the door closed. She could feel her heartbeat rocketing in her chest as her stomach sucked inwards. If Ben was home this wouldn't be a problem, their other neighbours on the left didn't even speak to them because they had seen how rude Ben could be if he was provoked.

Turning her head, (Y/n) looked over at Rowan who was hovering beside her wondering what was happening. He clung to her leg causing (Y/n) to let go of the door with one hand so she could hold onto him and reassure him, her eyes casting over to the living room to see both Finn and Theo stood in the doorway watching.

"I own the fence I can do what I fucking well like. Bloody bitch-"

"Move that foot before I break it. If my husband sees you harassing me and my boys, you'll have a bigger problem to deal with than me." (Y/n) kicked his foot to get it out of the way before she slammed the door shut, quickly turning the key to lock it so he couldn't try and force his way inside if he would even go that far.

(Y/n) tried to stop herself from shaking when he rammed his fist against the door, his word and profanities echoing through into the house causing Rowan to cling to her leg tighter.

"Alright baby, it's alright." (Y/n) hushed, leaning down to kiss Rowan's forehead before she took her phone from her pocket and handed it to Theo. "Call your dad and see if he's on his way back yet." (Y/n) knew that if Ben wasn't on his way home yet he would soon hurry home once Theo told him what was happening. She didn't care if Nigel went back to his own house in a second or in five minutes, she wanted Ben to come home now because he was scaring the boys and that wasn't fair.

Unhooking Rowan from her leg, (Y/n) speed-walked back down the hall and hurried out the back door so she could go to the gate connecting the front-drive with the back garden. Reaching the gate, (Y/n) pushed the top bolt across even though it was clear Nigel had reached over it earlier and unlocked it. She then moved the dustbins over so they were propped in front of the gate, (Y/n) didn't want to take any chances of him trying to get into the garden.

Nigel had been warned by Ben before to stay away from all of them because he had shouted abuse at (Y/n) a while back and Ben wouldn't stand for it. But they had only just moved into the house so Ben hadn't been as ruthless or as menacing as he would be this time around.

The moment (Y/n) stepped back inside she winced at hearing Beckett crying, the shouting must have woken him up. When she walked through into the hall, the twins and Theo were still stood relatively close to the door, watching through the frosted glass as Nigel continued to shout profanities but he wasn't hitting the door anymore.

"All of you in the front room now please." (Y/n) pointed to the room before she hurried up the stairs to go and see to Beckett. "I'm here baby, it's okay, daddy's on his way home now."

Reaching over, (Y/n) picked up the sobbing toddler who was rubbing at his tired eyes, unsure what was happening or why people were shouting. Settling Beckett against her chest, (Y/n) pressed her lips to the top of his head as she gently bounced him up and down in her arms, swaying him to try and settle him down again but she knew he wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon.

As she bounced Beckett in her arms, (Y/n) slowly walked over to the window and looked out, a relieved expression pulling at her lips as she felt her chest filling with butterflies when she spotted Ben's car pulling up in the drive.

The moment Ben stepped out of his car and shut the door with a bang, he noticed that Nigel's voice disappeared when Ben had heard him shouting from down the street. He could feel his hands twitching, desperate to curl up into fists and punch the lights out of the slightly older man who was now stood like a statue, watching Ben intently.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Ben's voice bellowed and his eyes narrowed as he stormed over to Nigel who turned like he was about to walk away and go back to his own house which is what (Y/n) had asked him to do many times over. Ben paid no mind to the fact that he could see Theo and the twins peeking out the living room window, there was a storm raging inside of him and he wasn't relenting yet.

Ben had been on his way home when Theo called him and it both pained and angered Ben to have his son call him up, frightened and saying that their neighbour was banging on the door harassing their mum. He shouldn't have to try and calm down his kids on the phone and tell them he was coming back to sort out a neighbour with a screw loose.

"Where are you going? I haven't even started with you yet." Ben reached his hand out and grabbed Nigel by the shoulder, pulling him towards him with so much force Nigel stumbled. He was shorter than Ben and he didn't have nearly the same kind of build Ben did since he was a boxer by nature, this gave him a very big advantage.

"Get off me-"

"I've just had a phone call from my son saying that there's a man outside my house shouting swear words at my wife and trying to barge his way into my home. Now it's very clear that you're the fucker scaring my family so don't even try and walk away from me." Ben pushed Nigel up against the side of the house, scuffing his back and arms against the bricks as he pinned him there with his arm across Nigel's shoulders and neck to keep him in place.

Normally Ben loved to inflict fear onto anyone crossing his path but he felt it shouldn't be necessary to scare his own neighbour away from trying to terrorise his family. This almost felt like a waste of time, a lesson that he shouldn't have to be teaching but it was a lesson that he was going to make sure that Nigel understood.

"I don't know why you thought you had the right to start shouting abuse at my wife or calling her a bitch but let me tell you now that if you do that shit again, I will kill you and that is not a joke. You go anywhere near my wife, I will know about it. You dare frighten any of my kids like that again, you won't live the next day. Now stay the fuck away from my house because you haven't seen my bad side yet and trust me, you don't want to."

Ben felt the urge to grab his gun from where it was tucked into the back of his trousers but he refrained, he didn't want nor need the police crawling around the house if anyone saw or told them that Ben had the gun. He knew his words were more than enough to ward Nigel away because he had gone as white as a sheet and he was beginning to sweat. He was frightened beyond belief and when Ben forced his fist into Nigel's stomach, he almost fainted on the spot.

Pulling back, Ben let him fall to his knees and watched with a look of pleasure and a glint of evil in his eyes as Nigel didn't waste any time trying to recover. He started to crawl away before managing to straighten up and stumble over to his house.

The moment Ben walked inside he was bombarded by the boys wrapping themselves around him like vines. He crouched down so he could hold the three of them in his arms, closing his eyes to relish in the hug but he could still feel the anger bubbling away inside of him when he noticed they were all lightly shaking. He kissed their heads longingly before he pulled back and slowly rose to his feet, his eyes instantly locking on (Y/n) who was stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"You boys go into the front room, I'll be there in a sec." Ben ruffled Finn's hair when he was reluctant to move away from him, managing a smile at the younger twin before he followed his brothers into the living room.

Advancing over to (Y/n), Ben gently took her face in his hands and she knew he was inspecting for any cuts or bruises or any small signs that Nigel had done anything other than simply shout at her. If he had hurt her and Ben found out he would be straight round there and (Y/n) knew Nigel would be lucky to be alive.

"Are you okay? What the hell was he doing?"

"I'm fine I promise, we're all fine... I'll tell you later." (Y/n) brushed her thumb over the back of Ben's hand before she pushed herself forward so she was burrowed into his arms. Smiling when she felt his arms tightly enveloping around her and his hand tangling into her hair at the back of her head. She felt his lips pressing to the top of her head but she could feel how heavy his breathing was and how fast his heart was beating, they were small telltale signs that Ben wanted a fight. He loved fighting, he craved to fight because he craved winning and seeing his opponent defeated.

"Alright, anything else I need to know?" Those words were said in a much different sense than (Y/n) had heard them before. Those words were ones she had heard when she had done something and tried not to let Ben find out, they were words that had once frightened her but were now only meant in a kind and informing way. He was only pondering if there was anything else that had happened.

"Theo got sent home early today... he's been fighting." (Y/n) wrapped her arms tighter around Ben's waist when she felt his muscles tense.

Ben was a boxer, fighting was what he did for a living, alongside his other dealings that the boys didn't know about. But he didn't want the boys trying to fight or copy him because they were young, Ben especially didn't want Theo trying to pick fights at school. Theo looked like Ben and he wanted to be like him but Ben didn't want him doing that, he didn't want any of his boys finding out what he did or wanting to box like him because it wasn't something that would suit any of the boys in the way it suited Ben.

"Theo!"

#ben hardy #ben x reader #ben hardy imagine #murderer! ben #dad! ben #BoRhap

[joy1579]

Zen cheated on MC. She finds out and instead of crying her eyes out is getting drunk and calling Seven (which is madly in love with her but never told her because of her relationship with Zen).

so first I’m so sorry this took sooooooooo long but i hope you get it and i hope you like it. i had a ton of fun writing drunk MC. also i didn't want MC to use seven as a rebound so they don’t get together right away but seven does take care of her and they probably get together after a couple of months. she has time to move on and their romantic relationship has a real foundation to grow on.

so without further ado

zen cheats and seven gets the girl

You normally didn’t pay any attention to the gossip that circled around Zen constantly. after all every week they claimed there was some new lover or budding cast romance and every week without fail, Zen would come home to you, loyal as a knight. lately though the rumors had become more focused more realistic somehow. Zen’s rehearsals had run later, started earlier, things simply seemed off no matter how much you tried to deny it. so when the news story broke and plastered TV, magazines, and websites with numerous pictures of Zen wrapped around some pretty little blonde with big blue eyes, you hated to admit how much you had braced yourself for the blow.

the RFA chatroom was going haywire and your phone was ringing off the hook as you packed a single small bag. you supposed you should have been crying, grieving the loss of nearly two and a half years of “love” washed away by little more than some passing fancy. yet you couldn’t quite find it in yourself. Instead you felt an icy ball of hard anger settle in the pit of your stomach.

so it was that you now stood in some no name nightclub sipping a drink you couldn’t pronounce bought for you by some guy that had since given up on your affections. You had shut off your phone to stop all the notifications that had been flooding in since the pictures of Zen and THAT woman were released. You didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of that bomb dropping right now, didn’t want to explain things to the RFA or have to see Zen trying to defend himself. Right now all you wanted was to find some sort of catharsis in the loud music, alcohol and dancing. Downing the last of the far too sweet drink, you made your way toward were the band took requests. you shoved a ten towards the man and half shouted over the music.

“something fast, angry, and loud” he nodded and you decided to grab another drink while you waited for your request. you opted for strength over taste and grimaced as you chugged the drink. the icy anger you felt slowly dulled with your 3rd drink of the night and in the back of your mind you knew it was more the effects of alcohol than any real emotional progress. Four more drinks and several songs later had you ready to turn your phone back on if only to find a place to stay. confusion struck you however when your lock screen showed only black with green text moving at lightning speed.

“grrrrl that’s crazy you gotta show me how you got it to do that!” said one of the girls you had found yourself dancing with earlier.

“I didn’t do this girl.” you said slurring your speech only the slightest bit “oh no! what if this isn’t my phone!” you gasped “no nah it’s my case false alarm it’s mine. see the purple that’s, that’s my color so it’s got to be my pho-.” you were cut off by the ringing and answered it quickly fumbling the phone just a bit your drunken haste “phone?”

“mc?!?” cried the voice on the other end

“seven!! lucy, lucy- yell, lu- luceal? how do you, how do you say your name seven? not seven the other name you know the L one the bible name.”

“what? MC? are you drunk? never mind. listen I’m on my way to get you I got your location from your phone already so I’ll be there soon”

“I made friends, seven listen, listen” you pointed your phone towards the group of girls you’d been dancing with “grrl! grrl! you gotta come here my friends on the phone! you know the guy I told you

“fuck that guy!” one of them yelled prompting another to cheer an agreement.

you tried to stifle the laugh that fell from you lips before you replied. “nooooo the other, the other guy the good one remember? oh she’s dancing now.” you held the phone back to your ear to explain “she’s dancing now seven but, she’s so nice and she said, listen she said hyun is” what had she said? the memory was fuzzy now but you did know one thing “hyun is so stupid you know that?”

“MC I’m so sorry about what happened”

“where does he get off pulling that crap?” you broke into a fit of giggles suddenly “wait no I know where he gets off don’t I. Do you think she knows? seven do you think she knew?”

“mc please I’m almost there okay just 3 minutes’ tops can you come outside for me I’ll meet you outside”

“seven I think, I think I need a place to stay cuz, I think I need a place to stay because I lost my key or I gave it away? I don’t know”

“mc come outside please I’m pulling in”

“seven thank you so much oh, oh just a sec” you held the phone to your chest “grrl I gotta go!” you yelled waving at the dancing girls.

one waved back at you quickly before another shouted “you do you girl! YOU do YOU!”

you laugh at that and yell back “Imma do ME” before stumbling towards the door. just as you reached for the handles though the world lurched to one side and you stumbled directly into someone’s chest.

“mc? are you okay? you don’t look good! come on let’s get you out of here.” it took you several long moments before you recognized the car and voice of the man you had run into.

“sev! your here!” seven flinched at your loud voice before raising an eyebrow at you

“MC how drunk are you? like on a scale of 1 to 10”

you looked at your fingers for a moment as if you were trying to count but when your eyes focused back on sevens face your only answer was simply “which one is drunk?”

“okay. That answers that”

“I hate him you know?”

“huh? oh yeah”

“and I, I think he, sev? seven how long do you think?” you asked pulling your knees up to your chest and leaving your heels on the car’s floorboard.

“I don’t know” he admitted solemnly eyes locked on the road and hands in a white knuckle grip on the wheel. the momentary silence in the car was broken by the ringer on your phone playing the telltale love song you had set as Zen’s ringtone. you grimaced and rolled down the window before dropping your phone out of the speeding car.

“what the?!? MC! did you just - “

 “shhhhhh I don’t want to talk about it.” You slurred moving your hand in his vague direction trying to put your fingers to his lips in the classic shushing style but failing miserably.

“I um I’m pretty sure the phones destroyed anyway so I guess that’s that” he mumbled drifting off as you sunk lower in your seat curling in on yourself even more.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this sleepy seven” you mumble before yawning and hugging yourself tight “Hyun may suck but he was always warm ya know? like, like a god damn space heater”

“if your cold I can turn on the heater” seven suggested gently one hand moving to adjust the air conditioner for you

“nooo” you whine grabbing his hand. you gasped the second your skin met his and exclaimed “your hands so cold”. bringing his hand to your face and pressing his icy finger gently against your eyes you mumble “they’re perfect”. after a moment you sigh enjoying the soothing chill against your skin. you didn’t notice sevens blush as he focused resolutely on the road.

 waking the next morning was hell. the blinking red lights of all the electronics in the room were way to bright and none of them went off at the right times. you buried your head into a dark red pillow before slowly things clicked into place. had your head not ached with every movement you would have sat bolt upright in the bed, but considering the angry throbbing in your skull and slight nausea in your stomach you opted to simply bury yourself farther into the bedding around you. the sheets smelled familiar, a semi sweet honey kissed scent that brought to mind cheeky smiles and mischievous winks. between the signature scent and the deep maroon color you knew exactly who’s bed you’d ended up in. sevens. at some point you would have to address all the implications of that fact but first you figured you should start with hangover management. first things first after all. head still buried in the bedding you used one hand to feel around you and get your bearings. when your finger met with a bedside table you searched it for anything to sooth your headache only to hear a quiet chuckle. you groaned shamefully before deciding to simply flip off the man watching you struggle before pulling you hand back into your make shift blanket sanctuary. After a moment you heard the door open and shut before the sound of a glass being set down on the bedside table told you it was okay to reach out again.

“I shouldn’t drink. I never drink? why did I drink? who let me make such a terrible decision.” you grumble to yourself sipping on the water seven had brought you praying to ease your headache.

“we couldn’t reach you to stop you. you turned your phone off.”

“sorry” you said shamefully “I know you don’t like alcohol picking me up probably wasn’t fun was it”

“don’t worry i was too worried about you to be angry” you buried yourself back in the blankets to shield yourself from light again. he was sat facing the bed with his laptop angled to shine away from you, a gesture you were extremely thankful for even if the light still felt blinding.

“thank you for letting me stay here seven. I guess I’ll have to look for someplace new to stay huh? I don’t really want to continue living with, him” you mused

“I uh, I have a guest room. just till you get back on your feet if you want.”

“you sure you and Saeran wouldn’t mind? I don’t want to impose”

“I’ll ask him but I doubt he’ll mind he practically thinks of you as a sister”

“thanks.” you said letting yourself peek out of the blankets just a little “um where’s my phone?” you didn’t like the mischievous smirk that lit sevens face at that question. Your drunk self-had a lot of explaining to do.

 the following weeks where long. putting your life back together seemed to highlight just how much of it you had built around Zen but seven helped the whole way. you had seven send him the info to take over the fan page that you had managed for him. he even helped you replace your phone and block Zen’s number. you and Saeran spent several evenings listening to angry music before eventually you had raged enough to be sad about everything that had happened and then seven was there to cheer you up. he joked around and sent you cute cat pics, one time he even took you to see Ellie while Jumin was at work. after a while you returned to the RFA chat determined to face whatever drama was awaiting you but seven had already handled it. He had banned Zen that first day and let the other members know what was going on so you didn’t have to relive every detail; and for the first time you thought maybe when one door closes, another one opens.

[minvaleria93]

DAECHWITA •chapter 2

Words counted: 2242

Genre: romance 

Pairing: Yoongi x reader 

They moved as one, a sea of black and gold, as if they were just one brain instead of many. The right legs moved in unison and then the left legs. With each step the sound of the boots on the ground was like the warning thunder of a coming storm. Some rode on horses that had the royal crest around their neck. Others rode on empty carriages and others marched on foot. And tied to everyones waist they had their swords and those on foot held a spear in their left hand. Each face was grim against the cool breeze. 

They were a short distance from the village, and a man who rode on a black horse held his sword above his head and began chanting. His voice, like an echo in a cave called out to the heavens announcing their arrival.

Another man, short with a moustache behind him with a group of eleven men. He held a large gong that was used in traditional Korean music to keep beat. It was made from high-quality brass and was struck by a stick that had a layer of cloth at one end to soften the tone of the sound. He swung the stick and the song began.

The market was crowded with moving people as if unseeing hands drag them this way and that, pulling their eyes to one thing and then another. They respond in predictable ways, each of them with a goal to achieve for the day. Isabel walked along side Rose down the street when the sound of music reached their ears. And soon, everyone stopped what they were doing.

It came like an earthquake. At first no one moved, their brains became unable to make sense of the input from their ears. The ground felt like it was moving and the noise was like extended thunder. The table rattles like a freight train just passed, "did the king leave the palace?" Rose looked over the crowd on her tip toes, as the music grew more clearer and closer. 

Isabel looked around for the king's royal carriage, but instead she was met with an army of black and gold. Immediately thoughts began to flood her head; Were they announcing a wedding, or ball? Was the kingdom under attack? Did the king die? Did Suga carry out his plot? 

Her thoughts were cut short when the royal advisor held a scroll in his hand and cleared his throat. "By order of the king," he began. "All woman eligible are to be taken to the royal palace," there was a short pause as he lowered the scroll before speaking again. "By force, if necessary."

A soldier, tall and well built approached a father and his daughter. His jet black hair was like a sweeping tide of obsidian and fell just over his eyes, but you could still see his handsomely carved facial features. He reached his arm out towards the girl, and her father was quick to react. He too caught a soldier's arm. The soldier, with a hardened expression turned to the man and locked eyes with him before he raised his other hand and nudged him with such force that he sent him back a few feet. 

"No!" Cried the daughter.

The man chased after his child, who was calling his name, begging for her father to save her. The door of the carriage was held open by another soldier and the girl was thrown in.

The young girl's father placed his hand on the soldier's shoulder and forced him to turn around. "Let her go—" 

The soldier grabbed the man by the shirt. "Stay out of it," he hissed. 

The royal advisor held back from smirking as he gestured with his head for the soldiers to charge forward. Woman and children were all told to run to safely and out of sight, while the men stood their ground, fighting off the soldiers. But these were trained soldiers with a king that did not know what loosing was in battle, and his army was no different.

Isabel stood still. She had never noticed how time was so much like water; that it could pass slowly, a drop at a time, even freeze, or rush by in a blink. Her brain stuttered for a moment and her eyes took in more light than she expected, every part of her went on pause while her thoughts caught up. After a low breeze washed over her, she realised what was going on around her. 

Tables were tossed over, there were women and children crying, a dozen stalls had their items laying on the floor— chaos danced in the air as it laughed wickedly. 

And then, like being struck by lightning, Rose felt someone warp their arms around her waist and her feet lifted off the ground. Her heart dropped to her stomach and her blood ran cold. "NO!" She yelled, kicking her feet and pulling at the soldier's hands to release her.

Isabel had forgotten how to breath. Her brain shut down at the sight of her sister being dragged away like all the another young woman. "ROSE!" She bellowed, but before she could as so much move someone caught her arm threw her over their shoulder. "LET ME GO, YOU BRUTE!" She banged her fists on the soldier's back, but that didn't seem to do any harm. 

"ISABEL!!"

"ROSE!!!" 

The soldier carrying Isabel approached the only carriage with the door wide open and threw her inside. She landed on her back with a thud and just as she sat up the door slammed shut in her face. "LET ME OUT!" She yelled, as she banged her hands on the door. "YOU BASTARDS!!!" 

She slammed her hands on the door one more time before turning around to find an escape. And that's when she saw that she wasn't alone. Five other women were in the carriage with her. 

••••

The sun sank lower in the sky, light of day draining away, giving way to the velvety dark of night, crickets chirping, dusky, colours subdued in the fading light, first star in the night sky and the air became cooler. Fading light, only the faintest of light shone through the leaves.

The road was bumpy, making the carriage sway side to side, as if it danced to a song only it could hear. Isabel sat against the carriage with her knees up to her chest and her hands resting on her lap. The woman in the carriage seemed to be around the same as her. She watched as they all sat tightly together, their eyes red from crying for so long and dried tears on their cheeks. These women were daughters and sisters ripped away from their families, and immediately she thought of her sister. She would kill anyone who would hurt Rose. Even if it was the king himself.

Isabel exhaled a sigh and looked up at the celling thinking. Where was Suga? Why wasn't he there this morning? Did something happen?

••••

The car came to a harsh stop. His eyes widened in shock as he stepped out. The sight before him looked as though war had broken out. The tables on the floor were being put back up by a few men, as well as the stalls. There were some people crying and other just sat still gazing into the distance with dried tears on their faces. 

"What happened?" Namjoon whispered to Suga, who was at loss for words. He didn't know what to do or say in the moment. He was speechless.

"Thank God, you're back." A small and elderly woman approached them and grabbed Suga's hand in a tight grip. 

"What happened?" He asked.

He could see fear in her eyes. She lowered her head, the whole scene played before her eyes all over again, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She pause for a moment before speaking. "They attack this morning," she said.

Suga frowned. "They?" 

"The king's army," said one man, and making the crowd nod their heads as chatter broke into the air. Suga looked at the people and then at his friends. 

"They've taken my granddaughter," the elderly woman said, making Suga look down at her. "Se-ri."

"They took my granddaughter too."

"My sister."

"And my daughter."

Suga rubbed the elderly woman's hand. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll do my best to bring back your granddaughter," there was a short pause as he narrowed his eyes to the crowd. "I'll find a way to get them back."

••••

He slammed his fist on the door for the fourth time while calling her name, but no answer.

They had never seen him like this. Namjoon, J-Hope and Hana exchanged sideway glances at each other. They turned to Suga and almost stepped back. To say that he looked angry and furious would have been an understatement.

"They're not here," said Hana.

Suga rolled the sleeves of his jacket up his elbows, and his right hand caught in his dark locks and then down his face. The anger inside him burned with rage and hissed through his body, like a deadly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of violence. It was like a volcano erupting; fury sweeping off him like ferocious waves. The wrath consumed like, engulfing his moralities and destroying the boundaries of loyalty. 

Namjoon caught him arm just as he walked past him. Suga tugged his arm back and attempted to walked around his friend, but was held back once again. 

"You need to calm down—"

"Calm down?!" Suga roared, his eyes blazing with fire. "Move out of my way, Namjoon."

J-Hope and Hana stood still holding their breaths. They watched as Namjoon's expression hardened and they could feel the rage coming from Suga. 

Namjoon released Suga with a slight push. "You're not thinking," he said. "Yes, Isabel and Rose have been taken as well, but we cannot just march up to the palace. We need a plan and we need to think it thought. If we don't then we won't only be risking our lives, but the lives of others as well— including Isabel's and Rose's. You don't even have the Jade Key yet." 

There was a long pause that lingered in the air. Suga stood in silence, thinking about what Namjoon had just said.

••••

She closed her eyes for a moment when the sound of a small and light sob caught her attention. Her eyes opened and she found herself staring into the corner to her left. She couldn't see well due to the small amount of light in the carriage, but the longer she stared into that corner she could just about make out the outline of a blanket or cloak covering something...someone. 

She reached her arm out towards the darkness and her fingers came in contact with a blanket-like material. Just as she was about to see who or what was underneath, a girl with fair skin, blood red lips and raven hair reviled herself. 

Isabel quickly pulled her arm back and leaned against the carriage. "Nice hiding spot," she said. The girl's eyes didn't leave Isabel for a single second. She sat up straight and pulled her knees to her chest. 

Isabel sat in silence for a moment before speaking again. "What's your name?"

"Se-ri."

"Nice to meet you, Se-ri," Isabel smiled. "I'm Isabel."

"Where are they taking us?" Se-ri asked. 

Isabel frowned, maybe she was in shock and forgot the royal advisor's speech. "To the palace," she replied. "I'm not sure why, but it's been ordered by the king."

Se-ri took a deep and heavy breath. "Oh, God," she muttered under her breath. "We're going die. The king will have our heads-"

Isabel grabbed the girl's hand and held it tightly. "That's not going to happen," she whispered. "Alright? We're not going to die." 

Just then, the carriage came to a halt and all they could hear were the soldiers chatting amongst themselves. The chatter was muffled and not matter how much Isabel focused on trying to eavesdrop she couldn't make out what they were saying. 

The sound of keys rattling made the woman in the carriages move to the back just as the door swung open. "Come on," said the same soldier that threw Isabel over his shoulder. "Get out." 

But no one moved. They all sat still and close to each other. The soldier clenched his jaw just as he reached his hand out and grabbed one of the women by the ankle and tugged her forward. "Let's go," he hissed, before he moved to the side and watched as each one of them climbed out of the carriage.

The stone walls surrounding them were waist-high, and there were torches with dancing flames a few steps away from the each other. And next to each torch there was a guard with a spear in his right hand. 

Her vision turned to darkness when the soldiers threw black cloaks at them. "Put these on and lower the hoods."  They were  instructed. "Walk," ordered the soldier, as he nudged Isabel but before she could protest, Se-ri squeezed her hand, telling her not to do anything that could get them in trouble. Isabel bit the inside of her cheek and kept her mouth seals for the sake of the girl holding her hand for dear life.

#yoongi #bts yoongi #min yoongi #mad king #king yoongi #daechwita #yoongi imagine #suga #agust d #agust d x reader #historical #fanfiction #Wattpad #bts imagines #bts x reader #park jimim #kim taehyung

[sasuhinasno1fan]

The cursed statue- Luktober Day 2

I know the stories are supposed Luka centered and I hope this is centered around him but I’m a little worried it’s not. Let me know. This prompt came from @write-it-motherfuckers, whoes prompts I’ve been using for a few ML stories I’ve written. I can’t help it, they’re good. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.” Curse

It wasn’t often that Adrien got drunk, but it had been quite some time since he and his friends managed to get some time together like this. The group of them had gotten rather pleasantly tipsy when they came down to see him and were now enjoying dancing around and giggling hysterically in the rain, most of the dreary little town, already shut for the day. He would probably wouldn’t be hearing the end of it when it came to him and his friends loud obnoxious singing, not for some time at least. There weren’t many people under fifty in this town and complaining was practically an Olympic sport around here.

As Adrien passed through the old park, one of them noticed the large old statue, partially hidden, just a little way off the beaten track. No one in town quite knew its origin, but it had been there as long as the town had been, and it was doing no harm where it was. Most chose to ignore the bizarre nameless statue.

One of his friends whistled appreciatively at the figure and they all laughed, dancing and stumbling their way into the tiny clearing. Adrien’s friends started joking around, eventually convincing him to climb up onto the statues base and give it a kiss. Drunk and enjoying being silly and carefree for once, he gave a dramatic bow and clumsily climbed up the slippery base, his friends hooting and whistling at him the whole way. 

Reaching the statue, his friends cheered and teased him over their height differences, laughing as he only flipped them off. Wrapping his arms around the statue’s neck, he paused briefly, finally noticing how sad the statue looked up close, its face partially concealed from any other position. Something about it made his heart twinge painfully. Shaking the surprisingly sober thought off, he used his grip around its neck to stand on the tips of his toes, kissing the slightly bent over figure directly on their cold unyielding lips.

Instantaneously, lighting struck somewhere else in the park, disturbingly close by, the following boom of thunder loud enough to make his ears hurt. His friends shouted and screeched in alarm, before running back onto the path, laughing loudly, headed the short distance back to his place. Unfortunately, they were all too drunk and giggly to notice that he hadn’t followed.

Having been startled by the thunder as well, he lost his footing on the slippery base of the statue. He barely managed to fall an inch before a powerful arm was locking around him, lifting him just enough to keep his feet off of the slick ground. 

Wide eyed, he snapped his gaze back up, shocked to find himself meeting the wonder filled aqua blue gaze of what had previously been a statue. Now they were flesh and bone, their skin and hair soft against his hold, his arms still locked around their neck. They seemed in awe of him, and in full honesty, the feeling went both ways. There was no question that their beauty was beyond human, their now living form radiating with power and grace and their eyes tugging at something deep inside him.

“Thank you.” a calming voice said, escaping the person in front of him. The rain was starting to weigh down his dark hair, the blue tones in it shining in the moonlight. He gently pulled one hand away from his neck, his warm lips pressing a kiss onto Adrien’s hand. Adrien’s eyes just caught a snake tattoo wrapped around his wrist, the head just resting on the bottom of his hand.

Adrien was sure he had a million questions, but the alcohol in his brain and the sudden appearance of the man, cause that what he was, had made his brain mush. He then heard voices, familiar ones. It sounded like his friends finally noticed he wasn’t with them and he had the only key to his apartment.

He felt his other hand being taken off of the guy in front of him and was gently pushed back. Not to knock him off, but to encourage him to step down safely. He did so, his eyes not really leaving the aqua blue eyes that had his locked. He watched the guy come down as well, his white shirt flat against his body mildly distracting him.

“Goodbye.” He said before he turned and walked away.

Adrien stood there staring at the figure as it disappeared in the rain when he felt a firm hand on his back.

“Woah, dude. Did the lightening fry the statue?” Nino asked, dazedly looking at where the statue had once stood.

“No. I’m cold, let’s go.”

                                              _______________

Adrien was right about the town’s residents not letting the singing at early hours ago. He’d taken his friends to eat at his favourite café, one that wasn’t hounded by those living there and he happened the bump into one of the more influential members. If it wasn’t for his life with his father before he moved here, he wouldn’t have found a way to end the conversation quickly and move on.

“My head is pounding.” Marinette groaned, as she tried to become one with the table top. Kagami didn’t look any better, a change in her usual quiet and calm demeanour. Nino was surprisingly ok, but Adrien played that off to his usual late nights as a DJ.

“Tell me they have coffee.” Alya begged, flipping through the menu.

“It’s before 12 pm, so it’s bottomless.” Adrien said, watching them perk up. He’d be happy too, but his mind was still on what happened last night. He kissed that statue and then it came to life. Had he just imagined it? It would be his luck that a guy who looked as perfect as that guy did, enchanting blue eyes, dark hair and a practically perfect face, would be a figment of his imagination.

“M. Agreste?” Adrien looked to see another influential member of the community standing next to his chair, practically glaring at the whole table. “When you came to this town, we welcomed you after hearing about your life with your father. You told us you wouldn’t cause any trouble. The minute your friends arrived, we have loud, raucous laughter and singing at early hours of the morning and now a beloved statue is missing. M. Agreste, I truly hope you have nothing to do with that.”

Missing statue? “The one off the hidden path?”

“Yes.”

Had he not been dreaming? “I don’t think even drunk me has the power to pull an old statue. Neither could my friends.”

The woman narrowed her eyes before letting out a huff. “I had better not hear anything about you getting into trouble.”

“Rude.” Alya said, watching the woman walk away. “What statue is she talking about?”

“The one you guys drunkenly dared me to kiss last night? I didn’t say anything cause I was pretty sure I was so far gone it couldn’t be real, but I think it had to be now.” His friends all leaned in to listen to what he had to say. “Remember when I kissed it and that lightning and thunder suddenly flashed?”

“We kinda turned tail and headed back to your place.” Nino said.

“I know.  When you guys did, I almost fell but I didn’t cause something grabbed me. That statue, I think it came to life. Like actual flesh and bone. He thanked me, helped me down and then left.”

They all looked disbelieving – understandable – but Nino remembered what he said.

“I asked if the lighting had messed it up.”

“It was kinda like in a movie, when something magical happens and thunder and lightning crash?”

“So, what do you know about the statue?” Kagami asked.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know anything about it. I was just told it’s been there as long as the town’s been standing and this is one of the older towns in France.”

“Could we look it up? Is there anyone who might know anything?” Alya asked, getting ready to pull her trusty phone out.

“Actually…there might be someone.”

He felt a bit bad making them all take their coffees to go, but he wanted to get to the massage shop before it got to full. He easily found Master Fu, as everyone called him, behind the front desk, his eyes trained on a paper map. Adrien noticed where the statue once stood was marked, lines leading to a few different places within the town.

“Master Fu?”

“Very busy, we’ll be open soon.” He said, not looking up.

“It’s about the statue.”

That got his attention. “Ah, Adrien. The statue? I hear you and your friends were very loud last night.”

“Ok, I get it. I was really loud and drunk. Which is why I thought that when I kissed that statue and it actually stopped me from falling, I was losing it. But that isn’t what happened, was it?”

“My dear,” Master Fu asked Marinette, “Would you flip the open sign for me?” once it was marked as close, Fu pulled a book out from under the desk and opened it, pushing it forward. “Our town was known for magic once. We used it for good and were a safe haven for those running from the witch trails. One of our well-known ones was him.”

In the book was a drawing of a man playing a lyre. It was the tattoo on his wrist that made him realise who it was.

“His name was Luka. Could understand the truest feelings of a person. He found the truest feelings of the wrong person. A girl who lied her way out of the trails and away from any danger. She warned him to keep out of her attempts to gain power. He wouldn’t listen, not wanting anyone to suffer under her. She saw his truest feelings, letting the things he loved slip away just to keep a person happy, including a person he loved. Right when he got her to reveal her true colours, she cursed him into stone, becoming a statue that was overlooked, to stay that way until someone with a similar heart could break his curse.”

“Letting things go to make someone else happy. That sounds familiar.” Nino said, looking at Adrien.

“Nino. Where would he go? He just left after, well, when it broke.”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. All the places he’d know would be gone; he has no relations in this time. His sister had married a woman and they never had children.”

Adrien looked at the picture. It seemed so detailed, like the person who made it truly took the time to really look at him.

“Where was this picture drawn in?” his favourite picture of himself was him at the grand that was at his childhood home. He might not like the home, but people knew they could find him at the piano if he was ever stuck at home.

“Well, it used to be the land behind his home. Now though,” Fu consulted his map before pointing to a place. “Here. It’s now the library.”

“Which has a garden. Thanks.” Adrien said, ready to head out the door.

“Adrien? The fact that you managed to break his curse means you two understand each other. I’d keep an eye on him. That girl, she wasn’t known for not tying up loose ends.”

                                                 ______________

Everything he knew was gone. It was clear much time had passed. What was once open areas was now paved roads and tight corners. It still felt the same, felt like home, but it sounded different, down to its main core. He couldn’t hear the ever-present sounds of his family. They were also gone. How long had he been stuck in stone, the cruel words of that, for lack of better words, witch had been shouting reverberating in his head.

‘You’ll never be free, until someone with the same heart as yours breaks you out!’

But who would have his heart, would give up all they wanted to make another happy? He knew it would never be possible, that he couldn’t protect the people he cared about, felt it in his heart as he became stiff and unable to move. Then he felt lips press against his and it was like everything shifted back into place. He felt him stumble and grabbed onto his waist as quickly as possible. He stared down at slightly glazed green eyes, framed with wet blonde hair and the sweetest song he’d ever heard. He wished he could have stayed but he had to go. Now, he sat in a place that held the faint song of his home, wishing he’d stayed.

Feeling someone staring at him, he looked over. Standing, with this scarily familiar smirk, was a girl. Her auburn hair flowed down her back, waving in the non-existent wind. She lifted a hand to cover her mouth and he saw the faint marking of a tattoo, a fox with its fangs showing. The tattoos marked a person who used magic, their familiars. He’d only ever seen 2 people with a fox familiar. The last one was the one who scared him the most.

“Luka!” a voice he didn’t know called. He looked to see the person, the one who broke his curse running towards him. How could someone with such a kind song have a heart like his, be willing to make himself unhappy to help others? He looked at the girl to see him glaring and for a moment, he felt the urge to use his magic to protect the blonde one, the one who set him free of the horrible words and feeling of stone. But she turned away and left, disappearing into the building. His attention was drawn back to the one who called his name.

“I don’t believe I introduced myself.”

“No. you didn’t, but you disappearing cause a bit of a stir. I heard from someone what happened to you.”

“And you broke my curse. How?”

The blonde man sat down next to him, fiddling with the ring on his finger. “My life before I came here wasn’t the happiest. I had my friends but life at home was…hard. It was just easier to make everyone else happy. It’s only been recently that I’ve started to do things for myself. Last night, I decided I wanted to get drunk and I did. We were on the way back to my house when we found you and they dared me to kiss you. I remember thinking you looked so sad and it hurt me. Then you saved me from hurting myself and you were so, I don’t know, normal, I thought I just imagined it all. When I found out, you were kinda like me, how you risked everything to make sure people knew who that person was, I wanted to help.”

He meant every word. Luka didn’t have to hear the sound of his heart to know that was true.

“What is your name?”

“Adrien. Adrien Agreste. It’s nice to meet you.”

“My name is Luka. I’m in your care.” Over Adrien’s shoulder, he saw a fox with the same fur as was that girl’s hair. It seemed Adrien was more in his, if that omen meant anything.

#lcamluktober #luktobercurse #luktober