#skids in the sand and everything

[sidetongue]

this is the face of a girl who yelled at a very nice dog today 

#why? #well its a long story #budgie zoomed off towards the very nice dog #and i recalled her #which she did SPECTACULARLY #skids in the sand and everything #and then i released her to go and say hi once the dog was closer #using the release word 'okay' #which also incidentally released miller from her 'good girl mode' #and in her evil little head she was like oh mum just released me so the only logical move #is to BORK #lucky its a dog and owner duo that we know #and both just roll their eyes #stoopid miller #miller #dogs

[wheeboo]

mine | joshua hong

SYNOPSIS. in which joshua is the best thing that's ever been... yours. PAIRING. joshua hong x gn!reader (ft. cheol, jeonghan, soonyoung, mingyu, chan - they don't rlly have dialogue tho lol) GENRE. fluff, some angst, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, established relationship WARNINGS. a very very brief shirtless joshua moment LMAO, implications of reader having a toxic ex, mentions that reader's parents have a rocky relationship and separate, kissing, terms of endearment, reader and joshua have a lil argument WORD COUNT. 3.6k

requested from @staranghae: joshua + mine by taylor swift for the 2k followers event please 🩷🎀

notes: i am fluent in this song!!!! whenever my love playlist comes on and this plays i literally scream lungs out!!! and shua fits this vibe so much <3

join the 2k celebration!

ONE. "i was a flight risk, with a fear of falling / wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts..."

Maybe you've always underestimated how the feeling of fresh air hitting your lungs makes you feel so replenished, free, like a single whiff blows away those gusts of worry in an instant.

Your fingers carry a tight, secure grip on Seungcheol's surfboard𑁋you volunteered to carry it for him so he could unload the other things from the van𑁋soft sand meeting your toes the second you step onto the beach for the first time of the summer season. Salty air tingles at your nose, the late afternoon sun baring down on your shoulders, and the expanse of the ocean opens up right before your eyes.

This place had basically watched you grow up. It carries a lot of memories that you hold dear to your heart.

You see Soonyoung already digging into the sand with an abnormally large stick, and Mingyu carrying a bunch of firewood in his arms before dropping them down onto the ground (and accidentally one on his foot, but you won't say anything about that).

However, your eyes drift and land on a figure running up from the beach shore. His dark hair is wet and sticking to his forehead, chest and arms revealed in all its glory before quickly covered up by a white, somewhat lacy button-down shirt that still doesn't do much in concealing the muscles underneath. For a moment, you nearly loose the grip on Seungcheol's surfboard.

Joshua Hong seems to spot you from even a mile away. He's running up to you before you even have the minute to breathe, a grin splitting his face that's as warm as the setting sun. Sand clings to his damp flip-flops and the hem of his black shorts as he nearly skids to a halt in front of you, chest heaving and out of breath. His shirt isn't even buttoned, dammit.

"Hey," he greets you breathlessly, letting his eyes take you in for a second. "Glad you could make it."

A soft smile of your own blooms on your face. "It's good to see you too, asshole."

A flicker of feigned hurt plays across Joshua's features. "Come on. That was so two years ago! I didn't want to push you in the water. You should know that by now."

"Wow, you care so much about me, don't you?" You nearly swing Seungcheol's surfboard playfully in his direction. "You listen to Jeonghan more than your own little brain."

"I swear, it's changed. Everything's changed since then," Joshua reasons lightly. "You have my ears for the entire night, I promise."

His words hang in the air for a moment, and there's perhaps a sliver of fondness in his eyes that you catch when your gazes meet. You feel a certain warmth spread through your chest that you try so hard to ignore each time he's around you.

You brush it off with a roll of your eyes before strolling past him, hoping that Seungcheol's surfboard was enough to cover up the slight flush creeping up your cheeks. The smile to your face still lingers as you walk towards to where Soonyoung and Mingyu are, whom dash up to you the moment they see you to engulf you in a welcoming hug.

Mingyu is almost done setting up the bonfire by the time you and Seungcheol bring all the food and supplies from the van. Jeonghan and Chan had arrived by the time the fire is lit up and crackling, casting a warm, inviting glow on the beach scene. And it isn't long when the yearly traditions of a group bonfire and beachside barbecue commence.

The smell of grilled food fills the air, mixing with the salty breeze and the crackle of the fire. And just for those moments, you forget these fuzzy feelings swirling around you as familiar laughter and camaraderie take over instead.

You've known all of your friends for different amounts of times, but being here with all of them makes it feel like time hasn't passed by at all. Inside jokes are exchanged, memories from as far as childhood resurface, and stories are told that leave you all doubled over with laughter (and Soonyoung nearly choking on a marshmallow).

It's almost natural in the way your eyes seem to search for Joshua's every single time that feeling of happiness threatens to overflow within you. The fire flickers upon his face, his eyes crinkled deeply when he smiles. Happiness looks good on him, you think. It always has.

...does his eyes search for yours too?

By the time the fire dies down, you find yourself sitting near the edge of the beach, with your legs stretched on the sand and the waves barely lapping against your feet. Seungcheol and Mingyu are already out on the ocean on their surfboards, then there's Chan and Soonyoung struggling to get their sandcastle to stay up, and Jeonghan is already knocked out on a beach towel. It's just you, and wherever the hell Joshua is.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"

The voice snaps you away from your thoughts, and you pick your head up to see Joshua walking up to you. A cool breeze flows through his strands of his hair as he approaches.

You blink at him. "What?"

He sits down beside you on the sand, close enough that the warmth of his body brushes against yours. "You were too quiet earlier."

You face back towards the water, cowering your head down as if guilty of some sorts.

"Oh," You murmur, somewhat to yourself. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Joshua asks, nudging you lightly on the shoulder. "I told you earlier that I would be all ears for you."

You smile faintly at that. Would you still be all ears if I told you that I've been such a coward with my feelings for you?

"It's... just boy problems, I guess," You respond, though you feel a twinge of regret for wording it like that. It's more than just simply boy problems.

Joshua's jaw seems to tighten at that. "Did that jerk contact you again?"

You know who exactly he's talking about, and you let out a sigh. "No, not him. I... I blocked him a few months ago when he tried spam calling me again. Sort of gave me a good scare, to be honest."

At the corner of your eye, Joshua's hand digs aimlessly into the sand, clenching and unclenching a fistful before smoothing it out again.

"I'm glad you're okay," he says softly, gaze fixed on the grains of sand slipping through his fingers. "You deserve someone way better than him."

You chuckle at that, and a bittersweet pang shoots through your chest. It's true, you deserve better. But really, the problem isn't just jerks and bad relationships. It's the thought of falling for someone again and it all comes crashing down... again.

But it's not like you could hold back from falling when you've already fallen. The truth is undeniable at this point𑁋your heart already beats a little faster for the boy right next to you.

"Guys! Look at the sunset!" Chan's voice rings out into the cool, evening air, pointing an excited finger towards the horizon.

Simultaneously, you and Joshua bring your eyes up tot the sky together. The last rays of the sun are painting the sky in a breathtaking display of fiery oranges, pinks, and purples, like a fleeting masterpiece before nightfall takes hold.

"Wow," You mutter out in awe. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Joshua cocks his head to the side, a low hum leaving his lips. "Hmm, I could think of something more beautiful than that, honestly."

You scoff, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "You ruined the sentimental moment, idiot."

Joshua lets out an amused laugh, a sound that sends those flutters blossoming in your stomach, one you haven't realised you've missed until this very moment. A small giggle of your own escapes your mouth as you bring your eyes back to the sunset together.

Then a low yawn stifles out of you. Maybe everything that has happened the past few hours are finally catching up to you. You let out another yawn, hoping Joshua doesn't notice. But of course, he does.

"Getting tired?" he asks you.

You give a small nod. "Just a little."

A few moment pass, before you feel an arm drape casually over your shoulders. The scent of Joshua and his warmth seeps within your bones. You almost want to protest, but the words get caught in your throat, and you lean your head on his shoulder, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

Perhaps you could spend a long time staying in this position and hope the silence is able to spill all the words you've been meaning to say for all this time, but you know it's easier said than done. Because what's the point of confessing anymore if you know it won't ever last? That you know it'll ruin everything you've built up to get this far?

You've seen it happen around you𑁋with you, your parents, hell even strangers online. It's taught you nothing but to run. That's what your mind tells you to do, but not your heart. And maybe you listen to your mind more often than not.

"Yo, Josh!" Mingyu's voice hollers out from the ocean, and you feel a certain pressure be lifted up from your head (when did he lay his head on yours?) as you catch the sight of Seungcheol and Mingyu motioning to their surfboards. "Wanna hop on?"

Joshua briefly glances down at you, and you meet his gaze, seeing the indecision in his features.

"I don't mind," You tell him. "I'll be fine here."

He hesitates. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." You pick your head off from his shoulders. "Go have your boy-fun."

Joshua gives you a small smile, though there's a hint of reluctance in his expression. He shouts back to Mingyu and Seungcheol before standing up and brushing the sand off his shorts. You could hardly pull your eyes away from him as he does so.

He starts trotting away as you face back toward the ocean with a sigh, relinquishing the moments you get to have to gather up your thoughts.

"Hey, Y/N?"

You pick your eyes back up to Joshua marching back towards you. He stops in front of you, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

"You look beautiful today, by the way." Then he gives shoots you a wink before turning back around. "Just wanted you to know."

The kiss you leave to his cheek later on was really worth the risk.

TWO. "you learn my secrets and you figure out why i'm guarded / you say we'll never make my parents' mistakes..."

A picture frame of a four-year-old Joshua is staring back at you. He still has that same silly grin on his face, the one that has his own eyes smiling as well and makes your heart feel lighter every time you look at it. You reach out to touch the frame, tracing the outline of his little face with your fingertip.

Sometimes, you wish you could experience what he was like at this time𑁋to grow up with him, to know what exactly led him to meeting you. But then again, he's already here with you now, and maybe that's all that matters.

"All ready for bed?" Joshua's voice popping in makes you swiftly place back the picture frame back on his desk. You turn around to see him leaning against the doorway with a soft smile playing on his lips, clad with a simple white t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants.

"Mhm," You hum out in response as you settle back under the covers of his bed.

It isn't the first night you've spent with him at his place, but you seem to seek the feeling of his comfort more often than sleeping in your own bed. Jeonghan has been kind of nagging you the two of you to move in together at this point, but that's a leap you're a bit hesitant to jump right now. But the drawer of your own clothes in his wardrobe is a bit of an argument that's hard to defend.

Joshua crawls his way into the spot right next to you, slipping under the duvet and wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you more into his embrace. You feel his breath meet the nape of your neck, warm and soothing against your skin, and your eyes flutter to the feeling.

You shift your position so that you're facing him. His eyes are already closed, lips pursed up slightly, and even then he still looks absolutely stunning. But you know he isn't asleep. Not yet, at least.

"My parents had uh... another argument today," You confess lowly, hesitantly.

Joshua's eyes open up slightly, adjusting his head so he can look at you better. A faint crease of concern appears between his brows, the arm around you tightening imperceptibly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

You bite at your bottom lip anxiously. There are times you feel as if the only thing that could get you talking is always something revolving your parents, and you wonder if Joshua ever gets tired hearing about all of it. The thought courses insecurity to crawl in your veins, tightening your throat.

But Joshua's patient gaze towards you cuts through the uncertainty bubbling in your chest.

"Just same old, same old, you know?" You attempt to explain. "It just feels like they can't see eye-to-eye anymore. There's like... I don't know... nothing left between them, I guess. And it scares me that... it'll happen to us."

The last sentence suspends thickly into the air. Even then, you know it's more than the truth𑁋you've grown up witnessing and overhearing arguments from your parents that laid down this pessimistic view on the world around you.

You could feel your heart racing from all the anticipation. There's a wave of emotions that washes over Joshua's face, then he takes a deep breath and squeezes you tighter in his hold.

"Hey," he mutters. "Look at me."

You hesitantly meet his eyes.

"We're not like them, okay?" he assures you simply, bringing his hand up to cup your face oh-so gently in his hold. "We may argue sometimes. But the difference is, we communicate. We listen to each other. And we may not have all the answers to everything, but we'll figure it out together, alright?"

You swear you can feel the way he's holding your face also on your heart, like he's protecting you in a way from any doubts that might creep in. A small sigh escapes you, the tension leaving your shoulders as his words wrap around you comfortingly. The faintest, appreciative curve appears to your lips as you feel Joshua's thumb brush against your cheek.

He dreamily smiles at you as well, despite his face being half-buried in the pillow. And the thought of being able to wake up to this sight every single day suddenly feels a lot less like a leap and a whole lot more like a promise.

Somehow, the gap between the two of you disappears as your lips meets his. He kisses you so tenderly, mouth moving against yours with a delicate urgency, and the tiny sound that leaves you brings that smirk you could feel forming on his face.

You feel almost dizzy when you pull away, nothing but a shy look gracing over your features.

"Feeling better?" Joshua asks softly, brushing a stray strand of hair away from your face.

You could only gaze at him, wondering to yourself how he's even in real, how someone like him could exist with his sleepy smile, messy hair, and perfect features carved by the angels above, yet cherish you so dearly.

"Can you..." Your eyes flicker from eyes to his lips. "Can you... keep kissing me?"

It feels really silly to ask that, however Joshua just chuckles, the sound rumbling from deep within his chest as he peers at you with nothing but adoration.

"Of course," he replies, leaning back in. "Whatever you want."

THREE. "braced myself for the goodbye, 'cause that's all I've ever known / then you took me by surprise / you said, 'I'll never leave you alone...'"

The tears streaming down your face burns through the concrete below like acid.

"Y/N, wait𑁋"

"I told you that I-I can't do this right now."

The leaves crunching at your feet echo in your ears as you walk away from Joshua, each step feeling heavier than the last. It's around two in the morning or something, and you can't remember the last time you felt this lost and broken ever since your parents' separation. It's like the ground beneath you has crumbled away, leaving you suspended in midair, grasping for something𑁋just anything𑁋to hold onto.

You've been here before, standing at the edge of this cliff of vulnerability. It's easier to leave before you get left, easier to build walls than to let someone in only to watch them walk away.

But you've come to understand that Joshua isn't one to give up easily. He catches up to you quickly, his hand gently grasping your arm to stop you in your tracks. You try to shrug him off, but his grip only tightens slightly as he turns you around to face him.

"Talk to me," he pleads insistently, and the subtle tremble to his voice has your chest clenching. "If you're just going to keep pushing me away, then𑁋"

"Then leave." The words leave you before you can stop them, fueled by the ache in your chest and the fear in your heart. "You don't have to stay with me when all I-I do is push you away. Don't you think you deserve someone better?"

Joshua's grip on your arm loosens at your words, but it doesn't fall. His eyes scan over your tear-stained face, the quiver to your lips, and all of it has you bracing yourself for the inevitable, final blow𑁋for him to turn and walk away like so many others before him.

But instead, he just steps closer to you.

"This isn't about me staying because I have to, Y/N," he explains. "It's about me wanting to stay because I love you. I knew what I was getting into the second I realised I was falling for you. So no, I'm not going to leave you. And I'll never leave you alone because I know you're worth fighting for."

Your breath catches in your throat, his words piercing through you like a bullet straight through the heart. Even Joshua appears out of breath himself, as if he's poured his own heart out to you in those few simple sentences. The silence stretches between the two of you.

With a quiet sigh and a faint smile, he lets the tension simmer down by trailing his eyes over you.

"When I look at you, I think... I think I fall in love with you all over again like the first time I saw you," Joshua admits shyly, followed by a sheepish chuckle to himself. "It's cheesy, I know. But I can't help it. It's hard not to look at you."

You feel the heat crawling up your face as you blink away your tears clumsily, peering up at him inquisitively. "Really?"

This just draws another laugh from him. Joshua steps closer to you, trailing a hand to cup your face and the other to slide to your back to shorten the gap between the two of you even more. He places a soft kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment before he pulls back slightly to meet your gaze.

"Really," he confirms, voice gentle yet firm. "I meant every word I said, darling."

This brings a genuine smile to your face as if it was the first one that night. You instinctively lean more into Joshua's touch, letting your eyes close for a moment to the simple feeling of him holding you.

"I'm sorry," You mumble, voice barely above a whisper. "for pushing you away like that. It's just... I'm scared."

Joshua takes one of your hands into his own to bring up to his lips, pressing a reassuring kiss to your knuckles.

"It's okay," he assures you. "We can be scared together."

FOUR. "do you believe it? / we're gonna make it now / and i can see it / i can see it now."

A pair of arms snake around your waist from behind, the relaxing melody of a piano floating through the air of the kitchen. You take in a deep breath, leaning back into Joshua's embrace as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

"Smells amazing, honey," Joshua murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to your temple.

You smile contentedly, feeling the peace of the moment wash over the two of you. The enticing smells of the pasta you were cooking waft around the kitchen, mingling with the scent of fresh herbs, garlic, and Joshua's presence right behind you.

"It should be ready soon," You say, clutching the wooden spoon in your hands to give the sauce a final stir.

Joshua's eyes arms tighten around you, pulling you even closer as he sways gently to the music. You hear the sounds of his hums hit your ears as you turn to the heat off to the stove. And as you attempt to pull away from him to grab for some plates, Joshua's grip on your waist hardly budges.

You groan exaggeratedly. "Shua, I need to𑁋"

"Marry me."

You freeze immediately, and you swear time halted right at that moment. Turning around in his hold, you're met with the sight of Joshua's eyes on you. You try to pinpoint any doubt in them, any sign that this is some sort of joke, but his gaze remains unwavering, dark eyes serious yet painted with a shine of hope that tugs right at the strings of your heart and the walls of your hesitation.

There's always that fear gnawing at in the back of your mind. But beneath it all, a warmth spreads through your chest, a certainty that feels as natural as breathing.

And perhaps, you see nothing but forever in him.

You can see it in the way his eyes soften, in the way his hand trembles anxiously against your waist, in the way his lips part ever so slightly as he waits for your response. You can see it all in him. You've made it.

You kiss him just seconds later. It's a question your heart has already answered long before the words left Joshua's lips. You lean more into his touch, feeling your heart overflow past the brink of joy, and the feelings all melt together into the singular realisation that he's the best thing that's ever been yours.

When the two of you finally break away, a single word escapes your lips, "Yes."

another note: sorry this ending was slightly rushed T-T

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[snippychicke]

Poppy Seeds -- Part One

As you may have guessed, I fell into a new hyper fixation. Poppy's Playtime of all things. >.<

Inspired by TooManyPsuedonyms work, which in turn was inspired by @semisolidmind fanart/cabin!Au for Playtime Poppy.

I know right now we have no idea who or what Ollie is, but I decided to go with the assumption he is just a kid and not the Prototype as some theorists are assuming. This will likely be debunked in chapter four, but I'm running with it until then.

Dogday/Player!reader (attempting keeping it gender neutral)

Warnings: will touch on the after effects of trauma, but nothing is super explicit. Maybe some unhealthy coping skills (Dogday holding Reader on a pedestal) But otherwise we're giving everyone a happy ending. (Everything is wonderful and nothing hurts)

One: Home

Your hands gripped the steering wheel tight as your old truck climbed up the steep incline. It hadn't liked the rough road on a good day, let alone with Kissy and Dogday in the back trying to drag it down. Now it whined and complained, the wheels occasionally skidding on the gravel. Ollie clutched to Poppy tightly next to you, his sunken eyes wide with fear. Poppy, to her credit, looked confident that everything would be okay.

By the time you reached the cabin nestled high above the valley, it was close to midnight. It was a sizable two story home, complete with a barn, garage, and even a chicken coop. Thick forest surrounded the homestead, assuring complete privacy. A year ago your grandparents had moved into an assisted living community in town, leaving the whole place to you. The rest of the family had not been happy but in your defense you would come out every school break growing up to help them out.

And then, after you left Playtime Co, you had moved in under the guise of getting your life sorted out. Your grandparents never asked why it was taking you a decade to figure it out. Which you were glad, because you didn't know how you would have answered them.

Ollie’s fear eased into wonder as he looked at the flock of sheep you had in the pens up front. You were just thankful they were still there, looking rather healthy despite the fact you had been unexpectedly gone for a week or so.

When you had received the letter and VHS about the old Playtime Co you had interned 10 years ago while in college, you thought you would be gone for a few days at most considering it was a few hours away. You prepped your home as best as you could for being gone that long-- giving extra water and feed to the animals, setting the sprinklers for your garden on a timer-- but had little hopes of your own survival let alone that of your animals after being dragged deep into hell.

You didn’t bother with the detached garage, but pulled up right next to the porch. You were exhausted, and you could only imagine everyone else was as well. The truck seemed all too happy to shut off with a rough sound. You looked over at Ollie, who was still looking at everything in wonder, though Poppy was carefully extracting herself from his grip. “You okay there kiddo?”

He looked back at you, “This is where you live?” he asked instead, voice full of awe. “It looks like it's from a fairytale book!”

It really wasn't, it's a typical farm for this part of the country. Hardly one of the fanciest or beautiful, just simple and sturdy.

“Let's get inside and get settled for the night,” you offer instead of remarking. “I should have the stuff for some sandwiches at least.”

“Sand…witches?” Ollie repeated, sounding confused.

“Meat and bread,” Poppy answered, unbuckling the boy. “Sometimes with ketchup, mustard, mayo, cheese.”

“So, food? I like food!”

Your heart ached. You knew the boy had been raised in the factory, hidden away and protected from the Prototype or hungry ‘toys’. The fact he had was a miracle enough--especially considering how small and thin he was. He had to be ten at the youngest, but barely looked as if he was half that age.

The passenger door opened, which considering how much trouble Kissy had with her hands, was surprising. Yet the pink creature reached in and pulled both Ollie and Poppy out of the truck.

Dogday waited for you as you exited the truck, your legs shaky from the long ride. However, his attention wasn't on you but the dark sky above. It was a new moon, meaning the Milky Way arched overhead with dozens of stars. A glance over to Kissy and the others showed they too were amazed by the stars--you could hear Poppy trying to explain all of it to Ollie quietly.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” You said as you stepped closer to Dogday.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I-I’ve never seen the night sky like this.”

“Well, now you can see it every night,” you said, shouldering his arm lightly. “Best place for meteor showers too.”

Dogday tore his gaze away and looked down at you. “Are you sure we can stay here, angel?”

“Of course. As long as you want, even if it's forever.” Granted, you didn't know where else they would go, especially Dogday and Kissy. But you didn't want to assume anything either, or make them feel trapped.

His hand found yours, so giant compared to yours but soft and warm. “Forever it is then.”

You felt your cheeks warm against the chilly night air as you laughed self-consciously. “Right, you might wanna sleep on that kind of decision, ‘Day.”

Two: Sleep

You woke slowly, feeling warm and cozy. Something soft was surrounding you, with the faintest hint of vanilla. At first you thought maybe you were wrapped up in a thick blanket, but when you opened your eyes to matted brown fur you realized it was Dogday instead, his arms wrapped around you and holding you close as if you were the toy. You could feel him breathe softly, each inhale and exhale caressing your skin softly.

(You didn't want to think about the amalgamation of organic and inorganic parts inside of him. You saw enough when you helped attach his legs to leave you with nightmares.)

For once, Dogday looked relaxed. Dark eyes closed and his smile softened. You couldn’t resist running your fingers along his face. He had been one of the few you had instantly trusted in that hell. One of the few that never even seemed to think about harming you.

Poppy had used you for her own means, not giving you a real choice ever since you released her. Kissy Missy had always been kind but you had soon realized that her partnership with Poppy may have played a part in it. And of course there was Ollie, though it took a while for you to trust the faceless voice on the phone, especially after you learned that the Prototype could mimic voices and Ollie had a very… peculiar way of phrasing things.

Yet Dogday… he had raised his head, and saw you as someone special as soon as his gaze met yours. Begged you to leave him behind and to run when the miniature Critters started to swarm. Actively fought to defend and protect you despite missing the lower half of his body at first.

And ever since, had refused to leave your side. While everyone else did their part, he determinedly stuck with you. Even last night after everyone finished eating and all anyone could think about was sleep. Kissy happily cuddled Poppy and Ollie in her arms as she climbed up the stairs to claim a bedroom. You expected Dogday to follow suit…

“Hey, uh, angel?” Dogday said softly, sounding rather shy. He had stuck around to help you clean up, though all that consisted of was a few plates, cups, and butter knives. Though the number of sandwiches consumed had emptied out all the bread, lunchmeat, cheese, as well as peanut butter and jelly in your pantry.

“Yeah?” You were getting used to the nickname, though you still felt as if it was undeserved the way he said it. As if you truly were an angel from heaven, sent to save.

“... Could I sleep with you?”

His question surprised you, and you almost dropped the cup you had been washing. Thankfully he quickly grabbed it before it could fall very far. “Sleep…with me?”

Granted those last two… days? You weren't sure, but you and him had found safe spots to watch out for each other while the other slept. It was the only time during the whole ‘adventure’ you managed to sleep. Wrapped up in his arms, feeling him breathe, listening to his heartbeat. It reminded you weren't alone anymore.

“I… don't want to be alone,” he continued, drying off the cup and placing it on the shelf. “Even if I know you and the others are nearby, I…”

Your surprise shifted into sympathy and understanding. Kissy, Poppy, and Ollie were together… and now that you thought about it, being alone right now did not fill you with any sort of ease.

“Yeah. I mean, if you don't mind cuddling close. My bed is barely big enough for two normal-sized people, let alone one me and one… well, Dogday.”

His smile widened. “With you? Never.”

Dogday shifted in his sleep, turning his head to nuzzle into your hand before his eyes slowly opened. His smile widened slightly, and you heard more than saw his tail thump against the bed which in turn made you smile wider as well. “Morning,” you greeted softly.

“Good morning, angel,” he said just as softly. “Did you sleep well?”

“Best sleep in a long time,” you admitted with a slight laugh. Trying to sleep in the factory had been a scary experience. Finding small places to hide long enough to close your eyes. Waking and jumping at every little sound. Plagued by endless nightmares.

And you had been there for just a few days, a week at most.

“What about you?” you asked. Him and the others had lived in that hell for a decade. You didn't startle awake from him lashing out at nightmares. Which you had seen him do a few times before at the factory. You had held him in your laps as best you could, reassuring him he was okay as he broke down.

He leaned closer, nuzzling your cheek slightly. “Next to you, how could I not?”

You laughed between his flirty words and his fur tickling your skin. “You're such a flirt!”

Three: Morning After

“It's so bright outside!” Ollie gasped as he looked out the window while you worked on breakfast. Thankfully none of the eggs had spoiled, nor had any milk, meaning you were whipping up a full course of scrambled eggs and pancakes-- as well as cooking the few boxes of frozen sausages you had found in the freezer.

Dogday was currently watching them like a hawk, occasionally licking his lips as he moved them around in the skillet.

“Actually. That's cloudy. See how the sky is gray. Not blue?” Poppy pointed out, also gazing out the window. “On sunny days, it's a bright vibrant blue, and even brighter.”

“Really?” The boy looked up to you to confirm the doll's words, and you nodded your head. To think he had never seen the sky before. To be unable to tell a sunny day from a cloudy one.

“It actually looks like it could rain,” you pointed out. “Maybe we should hold off on a bath until after you have fun in the mud.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought if you get caught in the rain, you'll get sick?”

“Psh, no. At least, not as long as you can dry off and warm up afterwards. It'll also give me time to look through stuff down in the basement. I think there should be some old hand me downs that should fit you.”

“A good bath can do wonders.” Poppy hopped down from the windowsill and into Kissy's hand before the giant monster also gently corralled Ollie to the table where the food was waiting. “It's been such a long time.”

“Er, excuse me for being intrusive…” you set down a towering plate of pancakes before sitting yourself. “But can you guys get wet?”

“We may not be flesh and bone anymore, but we can still enjoy a good shower,” Dogday answered as he set the plate of sausage links in front of you. “Or even a swim.”

“Why is the water white?” Ollie interrupted, looking oddly at the glass of milk Kissy poured in front of him. “I've never seen it that color before.”

“It’s milk,” Poppy answered. “You used to love it when you were a baby and we had access to some.”

Ollie sniffed suspiciously before taking a drink… and then nearly gulping the entire glass in one go. You took the opportunity of everyone chuckling at the boy to split the sausage between the others. Kissy noticed first and clapped excitedly, her mit-like hands muffling the sound.

“Angel,” Dogday sighed, though you weren't sure he was touched or exasperated. Or maybe both.

“Shh, I saw the way you were eyeing them. I can always buy more when I go to town.”

He was silent for a while before taking a bite of the sausage, savoring it unlike Kissy who had all but inhaled hers. Ollie was following Kissy’s example with the banquet of food, while Poppy was benign as dainty as could be, cutting everything into tiny bites, even for her smaller size.

You couldn’t help but savor your own food, feeling rather happy and optimistic about the future.

#poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #dogday poppy playtime #dogday x reader #dogday/reader #dogday x player #dogday/player #poppy #kissy missy #ollie

[dazed-and-confused23]

Dear Hearts and Gentle People 9

Summary: You think you're too late to get back to Cooper in time, but the ghoul shows you that he's stronger than either of you think.

Pairings: The Ghoul | Cooper Howard x Female Reader

Warnings: Feral behavior, Angst. Sad thoughs but a happy ending

Masterlist

You've never run so fast in your entire life to get back to the set of buildings that you'd left Cooper at. It's been four days, a two-day trip to the nearest town where you had been lucky enough to find a couple of vials, enough to at least get your ghoul back on his feet, and then the two-day trip back. It was evening by the time you made it back, and you heaved in deep, steadying lungfuls as you skidded to a halt.

"Coop!?" She said loudly, not willing to be any louder in case any nasties had moved in while you were gone. Fear grips your heart when you make it to the back room you'd left him in and find the place empty. You lick your lips and zero in on the indents left behind in the sand.

You follow them out of the house and out into the wastes. You can see a figure stumbling around in the distance, their movements jerky and the occasional terrifying snarl echoing in the night. You lope forward and slow to a stop a good ten feet away from the familiar ghoul in a cowboy hat.

"Cooper."

The ghoul whips around, and you shove down the horror that threatens to rise up and consume you when he looks at you. His eyes, usually beautiful and golden, are bloodshot, his pupils so blown tray you can't see the color of his iris. Cooper snarls at you, baring his teeth before his head jerks to the side.

"Darlin', wha-," He cuts himself off with a low growl, and you take a step forward when he slaps his hands over his cheeks and shakes his head like a wet dog.

"I told you I'd come back, Cooper," you say and reach for your bag, keeping your movements transparent, "Come back to the house. Lemme help you."

Cooper can't believe that you're back. It's been a day after you left that he'd started to lose time, his mind fuzzy as he struggled to keep his senses. Even now, everything has a film over it, and he's got to squint to see you properly. He takes a deep breath and stops himself from stumbling to your side when the scent of your flesh hits his ruined nose. You smell delicious.

"Cooper, please. Let's get out of the open," you beg and take another step forward. The wind shifts, and Cooper snarls again, his mouth filling with saliva.

"You gotta go, baby," Cooper manages to bite out and spits to the side, sneering and wiping at his mouth. He twitches and the urge to lunge, to bite, and to tear you apart.

You screw your face up, upset at his dismissal, and square up. Cooper was a lot stronger than you, but this was just a chance you'd have to take. You back away from him, deft fingers, finding his inhaler and loading a vial inside of it.

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving you again," you hiss to yourself and then take off in a run, launching yourself at Cooper and tackling him to the ground. After that, it's a bad wrestle, the ghoul fighting you with all he had. You finally get the upper hand and pin him down with your knees on his shoulders, hands fumbling with the inhaler until you can press the mouthpiece to his lips.

"Breathe it in, dammit," you order, and Cooper regains enough sense to do as you say, sucking down the chem and dropping like dead weight to the sand. You keep him pinned and loaded in another vial, not trusting one to be enough.

Clarity comes slowly, and you can't help but sag forward in relief when the hands that grip your legs loosen their grip and slide up to caress your hips. You look down, and overjoyed tears come to your eyes when you see his familiar golden ones staring back up at you.

"I ain't used to bein' the damsel in distress," Cooper quips softly, and you let out a wet chuckle, sliding down so that you are sitting on his lap, "I think my savior deserves a reward."

You nod and let out a wet chuckle, then lean down and seal your lips to his, headless of the taste of chems that lingers on his lips. You didn't give a shit. Cooper was alive, and that's all that mattered to you.

#cooper howard #fallout #fallout prime #fallout tv series #cooper howard x reader #x reader #the ghoul x reader #dear hears and gentle people

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

@mcyt-aro-week day 3: solidarity / hobbies

It's a quiet day in Pixandria, all things considered, which is nice and rare these days. That is, until Pix hears the telltale sounds of rockets and someone skidding to a halt in the sand outside his storage room.

Pix closes the chest he was rummaging through with a sigh and walks outside to figure out which of his friends has appeared on his metaphorical front lawn. As he pokes his head out the door, he catches a flash of bright green- Jimmy, then, so this will probably be a relatively normal conversation, all things considered.

"Jimmy, hey, what's up?"

Jimmy turns around, frowning, and pulls his codboy hat lower than it's supposed to go so it covers his eyes- bad day, then.

Jimmy sighs, "Pix, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, sure, come on in," Pix ushers the man into the top area of the storage room and leans against one of the walls. "What's going on?"

Jimmy buries is head in his hands even further somehow and groans for a second before he starts talking. Very bad day, then.

"Well, I just left Rivendell cause Scott invited me to some sort of alliance meeting, except it wasn't really an alliance meeting, it was a date, and it was really clearly a date cause he had this tunnel of love thing going on and a picnic and it was really nice but I don't- I wasn't prepared and I don't know if I even like him- or anyone- like that but I didn't know how to tell him that in the middle of a date, so I pretended that I didn't know it was one, except it was so obviously a date so now he either thinks I'm even more of an idiot than he already did or that I was, I don't know, playing hard to get or something? I don't know how people think about these things, I just-"

Jimmy, who had been pacing and gesturing wildly the whole time he spoke, stops short, digs his palms into his eyes, and shouts a bit before stopping and looking up at Pix desperately.

"Help?"

Pix nods slowly. "Yeah, ok, that's... that's bad. So, first things first, the thing about not being sure if you like him, or anyone like that?"

Jimmy takes a deep breath and shakes out his hands a bit. "Yeah, I don't know, I think I've had like, one crush ever? And I don't even really know if that was a crush? And I like Scott, I do, even though he's kind of a jerk sometimes, but I don't think it's like that? I'm not sure."

"Ok, well, do you want to be in a relationship with Scott?"

Jimmy pauses, visibly considering. "I... have no idea."

"Ok, so, first step is, despite what you might think, not figuring that part out, because that's going to take forever. First step is getting on the same page with Scott.”

“Does it have to be? Can’t I just figure out what my deal is and then everything is fine forever?”

Pix chuckles. “If only it were that easy.”

“It’s just-!” Jimmy walks over to where Pix is leaning and joins him for about two seconds before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. “I don’t know. I don’t know how any of this is supposed to feel, I don’t know how I’m meant to know if I like someone like that or not if I want to be in a relationship with them or what and I don’t know how everyone seems to have it so figured out!”

“I mean, I don’t think everyone else does, to be totally honest. But even if they do, well, it probably felt a lot more like… something for them.” Pix joins Jimmy on the floor, staring straight ahead as he tries to think. “Because in my experience, sometimes it feels like nothing because it is nothing, but sometimes it feels like nothing because it’s something but not with this person, but other times it feels like something even when it’s nothing-“ Pix has no idea what he’s talking about, at this point. He’s not equipped for these things, and he says as much. “Why did you come to me for this, I’m not-? Your sister’s married to your best friend, I feel like they’re much better equipped to answer the question of ‘How do you know when you want to be in a relationship with someone?’”

“I mean, probably,” Jimmy says, finally letting his codboy hat go enough that Pix can see his eyes again. “But, well… you’re you. We’re us, y’know?”

Pix does know. He knows that Lizzie is Jimmy’s sister, but Pix was the first person to see Jimmy without the Codfather head on. He knows that Joel is Jimmy’s best friend, but Pix is the one he asked to build the cod statue in his base. He knows that he’s Jimmy’s… something, and this is what they do. And that, however unfortunately, he probably is the best person to ask about this type of thing, even if he doesn’t feel like he knows what he’s talking about half the time.

Pix reaches out and puts his arm around Jimmy’s shoulders, and Jimmy instinctively moves to lay his head on Pix’s shoulder. Well, they’ll figure it out eventually.

#mcyt aro week #jimmy solidarity #pixlriffs #empires smp #i’m not tagging this as shipping but you can if you want #they’re a qpr it’s whatever you want it to be #though i will say that the crush jimmy mentions IS pix #like they’re a qpr but they don’t really call it that and jimmy did think he had a crush on pix for a bit cause he has no idea what a crush #is quote unquote supposed to be #also scott doesn’t know it but he’s also aromantic #but he’s So far from realizing that #my writing

[kekaki-cupcakes]

Hi luv! May I req for Leo falling for a mischievous (cat-like personality) demigo (maybe ares, idk) after she beats him while sparring so he continuously asks her to spar just to spend more time together (and maybe she knows it and just plays along, maybe tells him she’ll go on a date with him once he beats her?). Idk this was just an idea, thought I got. Do not feel pressured or anything obvs!

Heya this has been in my inbox for a while and I finally got a good idea lol cause I don't wanna be posting half assed WIP's. [this is also combined with a request for Leo Valdez x daughter of Athena reader I got a while ago btw]

Enjoy <3

love is stronger then everything [except Clarrise, of course] ---Leo V x Daughter of Athena reader

»»————-　★　————-««

Leo was a mastermind. 

Like, obviously you were the daughter of Athena, but he was the one behind it all. He was just… so smart.  It was unbelievable sometimes. Not to be big headed or anything, he was just the most intelligent person in the room.

Well, in this scenario, it wasn’t the room, it was the arena. And that’s about where his cunning brain cells decided to sit on the bench and do their nails with Piper. 

He’d tell them off later, if he ever survived the sharp eyed sharp edged girl in front of him who was somehow holding a war axe made of solid imperial gold over her shoulder like it was nothing. The sight of your arms distracted him of his incoming death momentarily, but then you just had to open your mouth. “

“Valdez, are you gonna spar with me, or was the six step official challenge at breakfast with a disco ball and three tonnes of strawberries for nothing?” 

“Four tonnes, actually,” he managed to squeak out, and then shifted his grip on the sword he’d borrowed from Jake, who’d only laughed in his face when Leo told him he’d challenged you.

Judging by the way you fiddled with your camp beads necklace and then swung the smooth golden axe stained with something remarkably similar to human blood, Jake was right. Leo gulped and stepped back, ready to scramble out of the way and clang his too big sword against the edges of the axe he only just realized were sharp enough to cut through bone. 

You seemed to pity him as well, which Leo didn’t appreciate, but at least you gave him a few extra seconds to scramble out of the way.

A moment later there was sand in his eyes churned up by your sneakers, the ones with little green string snakes as laces. He vaguely remembered snakes being a symbol of Athena, only that thought was scrapped when he had to step back to avoid having his skull split in half. 

Piper cheered sarcastically and passed Jason a leftover strawberry from this morning’s events. 

You spun around and the axe made a crater in the sawdust covered ground. Leo turned and half heartedly swung his hammer at your shoulder, but you dipped back and knocked it out of his hands in less then a second, leaving him defenseless. 

Leo launched himself backwards and felt his shoe skid on the ground, sawdust billowing up into his vision as gravity decided to ruin his day, and his dignity. 

He was contemplating just falling asleep right then and there, when a gray sliver appeared in front of him. He had to cross his eyes to identify the metal poking his nose as the tip of your war axe. Leo just got comfy on the ground, resting his hands beneath his head as you glared. 

Apparently you weren’t satisfied with the early defeat, gray eyes narrowed as you snapped. “What on Olympus was that, Valdez?”

“Me fighting?” He asked hopefully, squinting up as the sun angled itself behind you. He brushed away the thought that it made you look a bit like an angel, despite the frown on your face and the weapon at his throat. 

“Well you aren’t any good at it, so don’t bother,” you said, hooking the axe over your shoulder and marching off. “I have to go help Beth with the capture the flag plans.”

Leo huffed, blowing a strand of his curly brown hair out of his face and grinning up at the roof, which swirled a little. He might’ve bumped his head a little too hard, now that he thought about it. 

Then another face swam in front of him and Piper popped a bubble that smelt vaguely of grapes. She looked towards where you’d disappeared out the arena’s swinging double doors. “What in the ever loving fucknuggets was that, Valdez?”

“I liked their version better,” Leo grumbled, and sat up slowly, feeling his bones groan internally at him. “And it’s not my fault their fit. And strong. ANd have a huge weapon. And pretty eyes. And-”

“And a nice ass?” 

“Yep, especially in those camo pan- why are you looking at their ass?” Leo asked suspiciously. Taking a hand from Piper to get up properly. He stretched his arms above his head and tried to stop thinking about your butt. It didn’t really work very well, and then his thoughts skipped along to your thighs and the really cool scar along one and he missed half of what Jason was saying in between the smile he was trying to hide. 

That didn’t matter very much though, because Leo was struck with the best idea in the history of children born of the literal ideas god. Well, maybe that was Athena, not Hephestus, but your parents were a problem for later. Way later. Like when you’d decided Leo was more than just a rock stuck in your shoe.  

That was something he could work on though. 

He just had to impress you so much that you’d agree to go out with him. Building something cool would be the immediate option, but he built cool things everyday. It wasn’t easy, per-say, but it wasn’t a date-worthy achievement.  

Piper snapped her fingers in front of his face and Leo jerked his head back, “huh? Sorry I was just thinking…”

“About what? Finally giving up on-”

“Imma single handedly win capture the flag!”

»»————-　★　————-««

You handed out the last of the helmets, blue plumes dotting the crowd of demigods jostling around and yelling about lice and how their butterfly clips wouldn’t fit underneath the bronze. 

You chose to ignore those ones and turned back to the little canvas tent someone had dragged out from Bunker 9 to set up base in, even though it couldn’t be used during the actual game. You weren’t actually sure what the point of it was, but Clarrise deemed it necessary, and you decided not to argue with her, in the interest of living.

The Athena cabin had managed to swoop in and ally with the Ares cabin before Connor got there, so you managed to rein in the help of Butch and his siblings [which meant that the Red team would have quite a few problems involving pegasi droppings in the hours to come], the two twins of Nike, the Dionysus and Hebe kids, as well as the smattering of Aphrodite kids that were ready to get blood under their perfectly done nails. A few of them seemed too happy about that prospect, but Drew had heart shaped arrows and Charmspeak, so you ignored the fact Lacey was singing about chopping off heads. 

Annabeth propped her sneakers up on the table, smudging mud on the map of the forest as she did so, to tie up her laces. “So, we’ve got puddles of pegasi shit under the leaves, I asked Holly and Laurel who could make the most nets so we’ll have enough to trap most of the Hermes cabin under by the time we start, and then Clarrise and her lot can just heavily maim the rest.”

“Nice,” you noted, and pushed the coloured pins for each demigod wiping blue warpaint across their cheeks around the map to their places. “We’re against Will’s dickwits, so they’ll do that thing and keep the sun behind them to blind everyone on our team.”

Annabeth fiddled with her camp necklace and glared at the map. “ And what are we supposed to do to counter that? Ask Apollo to take the day off??

“Start handing out sunglasses.”

Someone dragged a bucking gray pegasi through the opening to the canvas tent and chaos broke out, Butch yelling orders at a group of Dionysus kids who began feeding the freaked out mare shiraz. 

You turned away before you were lumped with the task of dealing with them, and reached for your axe. A sticky note fell off, the yellow paper floating to the ground. 

Hi hi so if i win capture the flag by myself then will you go out with me also i cant ask you this in person because jasons teaching me how to use a sword and im about to run out of sticky note and now ive forgotten what i was trying to say

The note ended there, and you frowned, trying to ignore the twitch at your lips when you turned the greasy crinkled paper over. 

right yeah this is leo by the way you probably already figured that out cause no one else is smart enough to beat all of camp to go out with you the flying horse distraction was my idea too by the way im a genius you should definitely go out with me okay now im out of pa

“Who’s the person?”

You nearly decapitated Drew in that moment. You lowered your axe and shoved the note in the back of your pocket that you only just remembered wasn’t there, courtesy of the armor you’d donned. “What are you talking about?”

“The love note,” she insisted with a curious smirk, lipgloss shining. “They sounded pretty excited and now you’re making that face oh my god you actually like them back!” 

“Do not!” You snapped back, tightening your shoulder guard and hefting your bloodied axe over you shoulder. The pegasi was led out of the tent as you shooed Drew in the same direction. “Now go back to your station, we’re starting in five.”

She squinted at you for a second, then her eyes widened as he jaw dropped. “Leo!”

You blinked, wrinkling your nose. “Okay how did you even-”

“Seeya later!” Drew called over her shoulder, skipping away with Butch to find her section of the woods to patrol, her assigned heart shaped sunglasses slipping down her nose. 

You narrowed your eyes at her retreating figure, but then one of Clarisse's sisters was wondering if the no killing rule had changed in the last four minutes and you were promptly distracted. 

»»————-　★　————-««

“Why don’t you just run along there and turn Travis into a toddler for me?” You asked a son of Hebe who nodded solemnly and disappeared into the trees. Light dappled the leaves on the ground and once you’d ordered around the rest of the soldiers in training, the bellowing horn sounded. 

A tense silence filled the woods, no one daring to make the first move and startle the spies out of their trees and the runners from their starting places. You pushed the cat eyed sunglasses up your nose and adjusted your sweaty grip on the axe, which must have weighed as much as the Hebe boy you’d just sent on his way. 

Blue streaked the sky behind the clouds, but the blue you were concerned about fluttered peacefully in the wind from where the flag had been nestled in Zeus’s fist. 

From what you’d planned, the Nike twins should be hiding in the two pine trees in font of you that had grown on either side of the track you knew the red team would take, nets between them ready to trap the enemy. Drew was placed behind you with her bow and arrows, ready to take down anyone that made it past Holly and Laurel. 

And if the lucky little fucker made it any further, you had your axe ready.

The rest of your team, save the Ares kids bordering the river, who were ready to maim but not kill, were causing a distraction that included a lot of grapevines and a reenactment of the Hamilton Musical [the second half was to be acted out at the campfire later that night]. It was sure to distract the Apollo cabin while  Annabeth donned her blue Yankees hat and snuck through. 

The only way it could go wrong at this point, is if a certain fluffy haired pointy eared son of Hephestus went through with his sticky note proposition and burned down the entire woods. 

Considering the fact he’d challenged you to a duel four times this week, you wouldn’t be surprised. Not that you minded. His concentrating face was sort of cute, especially when he stuck his tongue out a little and that time you’d pinned him to the sawdust covered ground you’d realized he actually had a few little freckles along his nose. 

And he really liked strawberries. That you could admire. 

Okay, maybe you looked forward to whatever proposition he’d set up at breakfast each day, but it mainly had to do with the presents. And definitely not that grin he’d get when you agreed.

If he won this game of capture the flag, which was impossible for one demigod anyway, and you did go out with him, you’d get to see that smile times one thousand. It sort of made you want him to win.

Then you shook the thought from your helmet cladden head. Your team was going to win this, and you’d stab Leo yourself to do so. 

Lightly, though. 

He still had that crackly laugh you could place from across the dining pavilion, you couldn’t kill him. It made your brain melt for a moment, which wasn’t something a daughter of Athena needed. But, he was a certified genius. Maybe that would even it out. 

»»————-　★　————-««

“Where the fuck is Drew?” You yelled into the forest around you, but only the crickets and startled squawking birds answered. Metal clanged and the crickets were silenced when your Axe thudded against a tree, handle first. 

Austin smirked, and his bow knocked into your shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise you could already feel forming. 

You ducked another blow and stumbled back, stumbling a tight ring around the sun of Apollo to get back to your weapon, glancing around the clearing as you did so. Holly and Laurel were nowhere to be seen, and there were certainly no nets to help you out in the one on one ambush. 

You’d been waiting around for some action when suddenly there was a lot but still not enough, because apparently everyone on the blue team had decided they’d rather fall asleep in their stations than help you. Even without them you could hold up your own, grabbing your axe and swinging it around at Austin when he came back for seconds. The arrow in his hand seemed less scary once his bow was in two splintered pieces at your feet.

He stepped back, face falling, and the daisies crushed underfoot sprung back into their slightly crumpled places when he backed away properly, turning to where the blue flag was still untouched on the top of Zeus’s fist. 

You paused, lowering the axe in confusion once he called out to nothing, “Oi! Move it loverboy, I’m running out of time!” 

Then you froze, because of course somehow, against all odds, a panting Leo was clambering up the highest point with the red flag in one tightly closed hand and a second later he was holding the blue one above his head victoriously as well, a stupidly wide grin on his cute face. 

He let out a yelp as pebbles began to slide around his feet but then you couldn’t see him anymore, pushed to the back of the crowd by a stampede of yelling demigods brandishing weapons.

It took you a second to realize they were cheers and not war cries [the difference was hard to make out most of the time], so you weaved through some Hermes kids who were chatting animatedly and a Demeter girl with a stump where her arm had been. Will rushed along behind you to her side once you’d gotten past both teams of the now over capture the flag game. 

“What the fuck is this?” You yelled up at Leo, who sent you a double thumbs up and then began hopping down the pile of boulders, the flags now held with his crooked teeth.

You squinted up at him, watching his green army jacket get caught on an overhanging branch and then when he jumped down finally, you were there to cross your arms and glare at him.

“Sup?” he smirked, holding his hands behind his back and rocking on his feet. “Did you get my note?”

Apparently he guessed your answer through your facial expression and then held up the flags like an offering. You ignored a fatal sounding screech from an Aphrodite boy in the distance as Leo chewed his lip. “So…. I won!” 

“And how, exactly?” 

Leo glanced to the side, and you followed his gaze to a smirking daughter of Aphrodite, who’s hoop earrings shined with blood that definitely wasn’t hers, judging from Drew’s satisfied expression. He then pulled out another crumpled up sticky note from his jacket, which was stained with something dark. He read out in a stilted tone, “I have to make a flamethrower, a chariot with poison shooting arrows, a two real life hoverboards, about thirty pairs of water, lava, and acid proof headphones, and a few jetpacks.”

“Right,” you muttered, tilting your head at Leo.

 He blinked obliviously at you and tucked away his extensive list, probably not able to hear you speak over the yelling crowds that bustled around carrying bandages and broken weapons, already busying themselves with the aftermath of the set up blood-bath.  

“It was worth it,” he shrugged, “but I’ll be stuck in bunker nine for the rest of the my life.”

“Maybe you can take a day off.” You unfolded your arms, resigned to the fact all of Camp Halfblood was about to witness this. Then you stepped forwards a little and leant in to whisper in his pointed ear. “...Y’know, for our date.” 

Leo blinked.

“Someone get the Leo extinguisher!” A Hebe kid yelled, and there was a general uproar of chaos from everyone but you weren’t really paying attention because Leo had patted down his flaming torso quickly, only that didn’t change the color of his face back to normal.

He narrowed his eyes, but the grin had never faded and you could see his fingers tapping along his thighs a thousand miles an hour. “You serious?”  

You nodded.

“DID YA HEAR THAT?” He yelled at the crowd of teenagers, cupping his mouth with a scarred hand, “I GOT A HOT DATE YALL!” 

“Don’t make me regret it,” you muttered back, rolling your eyes, but when Leo smiled up at you you knew you’d never regret it, so instead you just smiled back, shoving your hands in your pockets while Piper started screaming from Jason’s shoulders. 

Leo clapped his hands eagerly, “great, now you gotta carry me.”

“That’s cringe.”

“I’m being serious,” he said and held his arms up so you could grab him bridal style. You paused for a moment and then resigned yourself to the fact this might be the rest of your life. It wasn’t too bad, you realized, when Leo wrapped his arms around your neck and pointed in the direction of Will triumphantly. “Forward, sexy steed!” 

“One, if you ever call me that again, I will literally throw you off a cliff, and two, why do we have to get to WIll?” You asked as you carried him through the crowd in the direction of the stressed out blonde anyway.

“Cause Clarrise stabbed me in exchange for letting me win.”

»»————-　★　————-««

#pjo fandom #pjo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #leovaldez #leo valdez #leo valdez x you #Leo Valdez x child of Hermes #Leo Valdez x reader #leo valdez x y/n #but no use of y/n dont worry lol #inktober #autumn #spooky season #halloween #inktober fic #pjo fic

[cuckoo-on-a-string]

Hello, Mr. Monster (Seven. Sacred)

Summary: Eros and Psyche inspired Soulmate!AU, Morpheus x female OC/reader

Master list

Chapter warnings: emotional distress, anxiety, recall of threat of assault/brainwashing, explicit smut A/N: My treat! Happy Halloween! Only about half this beast is edited, but I gave myself permission to break the no-fic-til-first-draft-is-finished rule if I could complete it by Halloween, soooo... ENJOY! Happy to talk inspo music/plot/scream in harmony in comments and asks.

Chapter 6: Sacred

She wasn’t wearing shoes.

She didn’t entirely realize until she left the palace. The grand castle released her easily, giving her a side door to slip through as she tried escaping herself, and she hesitated when soft dirt replaced smooth stone. The fae’s work stripped a lifetime of callouses. A week ago, she could walk across gravel barefoot. Now… She could go back, admit defeat and finish dressing properly. But she couldn’t deal with any more of Gwen’s concern, and the urge to run boiled from her stomach up the back of her throat. Maybe it would burst out as a scream. Maybe she’d just vomit on her own toes.

No going back.

Something would catch her if she turned around, and she wouldn’t stop until the sensation drained away in sweat, blood, and tears. 

Maybe she’d trip and earn herself some new scars.

She didn’t actually run, but she walked quickly, like she had any idea where she was going and had a schedule to keep.

The sunshine welcomed her, wrapping warm as her shawl around her shoulders, but she kept her eyes on the path, looking for loose stones to dodge or signs of other travelers. But she found no footprints. Heard no breaking twigs ahead or behind. No voices carried on the faint breeze. The world felt a little too perfect, as if it froze when she left her room, holding its breath as it waited for her to pass by. Too still. Like it might startle her if the clouds skidded along like normal clouds usually did. The blue overhead felt careful. Intentional.

The path led her to the edge of a river – or a lake – maybe a vast moat around the palace. She couldn’t see a way across, and she hesitated on the bank, toes curling into the grass as fingernails folded into palms. She wasn’t ready to stop. She needed to keep going. This wasn’t where she sat and cried. She had to burn out the panic, and she desperately needed a way across the water so she could escape into the green hills beyond.

Chewing on her lip, tasting blood, she squinted at the flecks of sunlight glinting on the water’s surface and tried to guess how deep it was. Impossible to guess. But it looked placid enough. Her was still wet, after all. A little more water wouldn’t hurt her.

She stepped from the bank, expecting a cold plunge, but she found sand barely an inch below the surface. Looking again, she could just make out a submerged path ready to help her ford the river, and she tried very hard not to question if it was there before she stepped on it. More than a little afraid it would disappear halfway through, she sprinted across the open water, splashing her clean clothes and making a terrible racket in the pristine stillness. Although the water wasn’t perfectly still, her steps left great ripples that carried the secret of her flight to both shores and beyond. Round whispers revealing her route, rolling off like a bell’s peel to tell the invisible something where she’d fled.

Her beautiful skin crawled, and she didn’t stop until she’d hidden herself in the green shadows beyond the far bank. Pine needles cushioned her steps, and she slowed to catch her breath, still moving forward, but only barely as the wood’s sap and moss filled her senses.

Her heart beat so fast it hummed, and the old ache stirred sharp and deep behind her ribs.

She was missing something. She needed something. She’d been hurt in ways her simple human magic couldn’t mend, but if she pulled the shawl even tighter, everything would be fine. The soft knit would hold her together like a bandage. Or a net. That shouldn’t comfort her, but it did, and she had too many battles to choose this one.

Being caught was alright so long as she was the one to trap herself.

She kept going, and her heart stewed in memories she’d hoped to leave on the floor of the bath. Things grew out of her helpless fears. Weedy jolts of terror that came back no matter how much she reasoned them away. Doubt spread like mold over every good thing. Confusion soared tall as a tree, and even the Dreaming’s determined sunlight couldn’t pierce its canopy.

She didn’t understand why Morpheus lied. And because she didn’t know that, the question her safety and future hinged on, she couldn’t banish every creeping dread that fed on its shadow. Everything she thought she knew felt fragile, and she wasn’t willing to test her assumptions’ strength. She’d thought he respected her. She’d thought her dreams could be a haven with him. She’d thought her life had changed for the better. For once.

But the fae took her for him.

Whatever she thought she knew, they clearly knew something else.

She walked on. Searching her thoughts. Wandering a strange land. Not at all ready to ask for answers.

The woods thinned into scrubby trees and thickets, fading from emerald to a yellowed olive green. Low stone walls rose and fell along the sides of the path she chose at random, bordering little fields full of pumpkins and graveyards bristling with angled headstones. Signs of structure beyond wilderness, a long-inhabited corner of a rural land, far removed from the gleaming palace with its lavender bath and magical bed.

But it was still so quiet.

Where were all the people? Dreams, nightmares, stories. The Dreaming may be vast, but it had nearly countless residents. Fin and Gwen spoke of whole villages, towns, homes full of strange, beautiful, and awful creatures crafted or invited into the Dreaming by its king. The silence rang false, and her heart snagged on a terrible idea.

The air in her lungs hardened.

She’d never left the unseelies’ court. She only walked through a vision boiled from poppy juice and desperate hopes. Maybe she still wore her wedding dress. Or maybe this was the truth of Love in Idleness. She could love her monster because she imagined he was better than he was. Her mind had broken and she found herself roving freely, left to convalesce on her own terms while in reality…

She’d come to a stone bridge fording a creek, and she practically fell back against the wall, sliding down, dropping her head to her knees.

Fucking fuck.

She’d walked so far, but the fear still had a literal chokehold.

Breathing. That mattered most. Whatever else was wrong couldn’t be fixed until she could breathe. She couldn’t even keep walking without air. Old lessons battled with her diaphragm as she tried to scold herself calm. Her old breathing exercises helped take the edge off the crushing sense of suffocation, but her nervous system hummed with tension, and she sat locked in place. 

She couldn’t stop thinking about the dress, feeling phantom spider silk clinging to her skin, watching the threads stretch and tear with so little effort. Of all the things to focus on, maybe it was easiest. The only change she could easily escape. But also a reminder of the monster the fae believed her soulmate to be. Someone who would callously, willingly…

Her stomach rolled, and she lurched onto her knees. A little stomach bile came on the second, wrenching heave, but nothing followed. Not even water.

Fuck.

How long had it been since she ate? Time was so slippery in the fae realms, and gods knew how long she slept in the Dreaming. Her head pulsed as her stomach finally agreed it was overreacting, and she fell back to sit against the wall of the bridge, panting with her eyes closed against every little pain and discomfort knocking on her thoughts. They each wanted to let her know her body had been abused, and all their good intentions just made the message play on repeat, forcing her to not only face but feel everything that happened.

Sorely used.

An archaic turn of phrase, for sure, but fuck if it didn’t fit.

Her ears rang. A sure sign there was just too much happening inside. Even if she didn’t die at the hands of the fae, a rogue nightmare, or some demon Constantine hooked her into finding, her blood pressure would send her to an early grave. For sure.

Her head hurt. Her belly hurt. Her heart hurt. Now that she wasn’t walking, her feet ached, too.

It seemed like a good time to cry, but she hurt too much to do that, either.

So she sat with the pain instead.

Crossing her arms over her knees, she buried her face and tried to block out this world, her monster’s world, and create her own. Simple and dark and safe. The borders only extended to her fingers and toes. It ended where the air touched her skin. Her goal was to drown out the ringing in her ears with the cycle of her breath, and if she forgot anything else existed, maybe that would be possible.

She buried herself so well in her arms and the chorus of her panic that she didn’t notice the little creature approach until it touched her. Tiny claws pricked her ankle. It felt like a cat, a determined kitten scaling her leg to perch on her knee, and she opened her eyes sluggishly, pulling out of the sticky morass of her own head to find a ruby-eyed gargoyle peering into her face. It chirred, potato-shaped head tilting in wordless question.

Golden with little wings that looked entirely insufficient to keep its pudgy baby body airborne, it lurked happily in the grey area where things so ugly they could only be cute flourished.

“I should probably warn you,” she murmured, “that I’m really shit company right now.”

The little creature warbled, like it understood and disagreed. Its claws pinched the fabric over her knee as its wings pumped, lifting him an inch into the air.

Well.

That would show her for making snap judgements.

The little darling really could fly.

It tugged, trilling louder, and she got the idea it wanted her to come along.

“I don’t have wings.” She felt like she ought to apologize, explain her shortcomings the way she’d reason with a small child. “And I don’t feel so good right now. I’ll stay here. You don’t have to.”

Dissatisfied with her decision, her little companion dropped back to her knee, croaking a long, demanding wail.

“Goldie!”

The voice carried through the fog, rattling over the stones, and her little friend perked and turned to call back. Following the direction of his attention, she realized two whole Tudor mansions stood on the opposite side of the bridge. If she’d stumbled any further, she would’ve run into someone’s front door.

She desperately needed to get out of her own head before she walked face-first into an immoveable object and broke her nose.

“Goldie?”

The creature flexed its claws, essentially making biscuits on her knee.

“I think someone’s calling you,” she suggested. The name and color couldn’t be a coincidence. Not in the Dreaming. Everything made a slanted kind of sense here, if it made any sense at all.

The tiny monster, Goldie apparently, settled belly-down, folding its wings and all in a show of blatant refusal. It wouldn’t give up the new friend. Toy. Guest. Whatever the hell she was to it.

“Goldie.” The voice was nearer. Footsteps crunched on loose stones, and a pleasantly round man, with a pleasantly full beard and a pleasantly wide-eyed face, came along from the direction of the two houses, looking the wrong way. “You’re still awfully small to be wandering off, even if you can fly so well. Now, where did you – ” He turned, saw Goldie sitting on Aisling’s knee, and blinked his wide eyes even wider. She stared back.

He remembered his manners first, rushing to welcome her. “Oh! Hello. I didn’t know we had company.”

He approached with a smile, but he hesitated when he realized her position. She must look at least half as horrible as she felt, after all, and she hadn’t moved from her folded spot against the wall.

“Are you alright?” He grasped for solutions, for answers. “Did Goldie scare you?”

Exhausted as she was by her own terrors, she couldn’t help snorting.

“No.” Hell. Her voice practically creaked. She swallowed, trying to get her dry, aching throat in working order, but she only made the ache worse. Coughing, she spluttered, “He didn’t scare me.”

“But you’re not alright.” Those big eyes flooded with growing concern, and she wondered if it was because he genuinely gave a damn or because of some nebulous rule about guests and hospitality and all that shit.

“I’m not,” she confessed. “But I will be. Eventually. I always am.”

“Well, how about some tea while you wait?” He extended a hand, and Goldie fluttered up to his shoulder, clearing the way for her to rise. Now that the cretin had backup, it seemed confident she’d follow.

And since she had no other plan, she did.

“I’m Abel.” His warm, worker’s callouses rasped along her palm and around her fingers as he helped her to her feet. “It’s been a while since we had a proper dreamer here, I’m afraid. Are you lost?”

Very.

“I don’t know. And I’m a dreamer, but I’m not dreaming.”

He didn’t keep hold of her hand as he led her towards one of the two houses – presumably his – but he hovered. He had a good face for that, and he kept near, like he thought she might fall, which was fair considering how he found her.

“Then how are you here?”

A mirror. Knives, and spiders, and that damned dress.

“It’s a long story.”

“Maybe over tea, then.”

“Maybe.” Probably not, though. She couldn’t stomach that tale in her head yet. She couldn’t hold it in her mouth long enough to taste.

The courtyard between the two houses boasted a half-forgotten kind of charm. It grew in moss over crumbling busts and fogged over the windows with just a little too much dust. Cozy neglect. Cottagecore with fewer fairylights and more fog.

Abel held the door for her, and she found a sitting room as wonderfully cluttered as the landscape outside. Books stacked in towers supported forgotten cups, and old table cloths, rugs, and scarves littered every surface. She sat at the little table where her host gestured and admired the collection of his personal history as he busied himself with the stove.

“I should really tell my brother we have a guest,” he fussed. “He’ll be terribly angry if doesn’t have a chance to meet you, I’m sure, Miss…” His hand flew to his mouth, and he murmured his apology through the gaps between his fingers. “’M so sorry. I never asked your name.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. I’m – ”

“Let me get Cain. One introduction! Much easier. I’ll be right back.” He rushed out again, and Goldie fluttered to sit on the table, resting between her limp hands and blinking up like he wasn’t responsible for anything ever, at all, in the very least.

She ran a finger over his bumpy little head and sighed. “Aren’t you just proud of yourself?”

Goldie crooned confirmation, and she rubbed her nail along the loose threads in the tablecloth. A hundred tea stains bloomed over and across each other, but she didn’t see any crumbs from dinners past. The candle in the brass stick at the center of the table had dripped down to anchor the whole contraption in place, and she could only just see a faded red paisley pattern beneath it all.

If she were to read Abel’s cards, this would be the place. It had his rhythm: habit and footsteps and care. A place to plan the morning and end an evening. 

The door’s ominously friendly groan announced the brothers’ return, and she looked over her shoulder to meet much less open eyes in a much less open face, shielded by spectacles and a mouth prepared to sneer.

But he blinked like his brother as Abel rushed to attend the kettle again, and he marched in with open curiosity.

“Well, you are a puzzle.” He made a little bow. “I’m Cain. You’ve met the dunderhead and Goldie.”

Abel set a steaming pot and three cups around the table, practically shaking with excitement. They really must not get company often. “And now she’s going to introduce herself, and we’ll all have tea while she waits to feel alright.”

Cain’s eye’s narrowed, and Aisling jolted to defuse the poisonous tension.

“I’m Aisling Hunt.”

Abel clapped, and the tension fizzled away as she tried to catch up with whatever connection he’d made. “Fine Gent’s Aisling? The witch from the Waking?”

“You know Fin?” She accepted her cup of tea, hoping for more about her friend. How did they know each other? Did they know where her friend was lurking? Were they at all like him?

Cain nodded, ignoring the cup and saucer his brother set at his elbow. “Better sort of nightmare. Reliable. Sharp. And if you’re really that Aisling, then I suppose we know why you’re in the Dreaming.”

She shuddered, an involuntary reaction she only just saved her tea from disaster by plonking it back on the table. Gossip traveled quickly in all realms, apparently, and while Fin was a considerate asshole most days, the fae hadn’t been subtle in their… gifting. She could ask how much her hosts knew, but then she’d have to listen to it. And she didn’t want to. Cain’s eye pierced her with a knowing glance, but Abel stood there in wide-eyed befuddlement, so she left them to their own assumptions and tried again with her drink.

Under any other situation, the tea would be very nice. Well-steeped, but not bitter, with a nutty note that made her think of toasted barely milk tea. In the moment, it was better than anything she’d ever tasted. Her senses sprang back from the fog of despair and remembered how nice it was to quench her thirst, how the steam opened up her sinuses, and she could smell the dried rosemary over Abel’s kitchen window. One sip was not enough. Tipping her head back, she drained it in one go and immediately decided manners were for losers, desperately holding out her cup for a refill.

Holy hell was she thirsty.

Abel quickly poured more, and Cain’s side-eye grew razor sharp.

Aisling drank another cup. And then a third. But when she lifted a fourth to her lips, a familiar hand settled on her wrist.

“That’s a great way to make yourself sick again.”

Fin.

He hovered at her shoulder, calm and constant as anything, charming as ever. Just looking up at his smirk – always welcoming her into a joke whether she understood it or not – felt like setting foot on solid land after a long boat ride. It surprised her by how steady it was, and she remembered what confidence had always felt like when they went on their adventures, dragged along by his leads and her intuition.

She hadn’t even heard him come in.

Under his guidance, she settled the cup in its saucer, and she winced an apologetic smile for her hosts.

“Sorry.”

Cain scoffed. “For what? Drinking tea? Pah.” He eyed Fin with a considerably less charitable look, hoisting the teapot in a clear invitation for yet another refill when required. “You’re a guest, and a thirsty one.”

“I’m not surprised.” Fin pulled out a chair for himself, settling a wicker hamper on the table. “You sprinted from the castle like a bat out of hell, and you slept for ages before that.”

Abel gawked like her wandering was some great accomplishment. “You’ve wandered a long way from the Heart of the Dreaming. This is the border of Nightmare.”

Although she determinedly didn’t sip the tea, she kept her heads around the cup, letting the fading heat sink into her palms and remind her she was alive. And awake.

Nightmare. That made sense. She’d never entirely trusted dreams. They felt so sweet in her sleep, but they always stung when she woke up. She found nightmares more reliable. But distance was nothing in the Dreaming. Even she knew that. If the realm’s lord and master hadn’t chosen to let her have her head and run, she wouldn’t have reached the river.

Busying himself with the basket, Fin muttered, “This one never did like to keep to one place. Here.”

He pulled out a lump of cheese and a crusty roll, setting them on a plate he magically fished from the delicate chaos of Abel’s living space.

She looked at the food distrustfully, not sure if her belly rumbled in welcome or rebellion yet. But Fin was on a mission, and he fished out a dish of strawberries next, bright as gems and so ripe she could smell them. Plucking one from the top of the pile, he sliced it into three neat pieces, offering her one on the flat of his blade with an expectant expression. He’d done the work. She shouldn’t waste it.

“The tea will settle better with a bit of food,” he advised.

Cain and Abel kept their own counsel, either riddling out what they were seeing or collecting fresh fuel for the gossip engine, she couldn’t say.

She accepted the strawberry.

It tasted like summer. Ice cream in the shade, and the riot of growing things in their prime. Sunshine and sticky hands with her bare feet in a creek.

Food really wasn’t supposed to taste like that. It took her breath away, and she hesitated, balanced on the edge of Fin’s knife between enjoying the little gift and careening back into her overwhelmed panic. Everything was a step further than she expected, or a little too perfect, or grand in ways that made her feel so, so small…

Goldie, sitting by her elbow, trilled. She looked into his ruddy eyes and held out her hand in a silent demand for another bit of strawberry, even though she hadn’t finished chewing.

Fin tipped the next slice into her waiting palm, and she offered it to the baby… whatever. Goldie seized it with a delighted gurgle and crammed it in its mouth. The sliver of berry filled much more of his mouth than Aisling’s, and his cheeks ballooned with the treat.

“What do you say, Goldie?” Abel asked.

His – pet? Child? – offered a gulp, a belch, and a croak, which was enough to satisfy Abel.

Fin shoved the third slice of berry directly in her face.

And she nearly choked. Nearly laughed. It startled her, but she put her hand to her mouth and kept everything in – chewing and swallowing emotion and food. They saying went that laughter was the best medicine, and while she was a firm proponent of the wonders of antibiotics, her inner sky cleared just the tiniest bit. The cracks were still there. Her world was still more than a little broken. But the fog of war began to lift, and she could see some of what was left. What was alright. What might be alright with a little more time.

Moss would grow on the ruins, and rain would fill the holes into ponds for frogs and water lilies.

What couldn’t be repaired could be made new.

And if she ever cleared all the clouds from that inner sky, maybe she’d find another watercolor sunset waiting for her.

Fin, watching her very carefully, cut another strawberry, and she ate it all with more confidence than the first two mouthfuls. He sliced open a roll and spread soft cheese on the two halves, giving them to her one at a time. When she reached for her tea to wash the bread down, he didn’t protest.

His posture softened until he slouched in his seat, shoulders back against the wood and one ankle propped across his knee. The little wrinkles that forecast a frown smoothed back to the edge of a smirk. All his anxiety appeared in the hollow shapes left behind as it melted.

She was sorry to have worried him, but watching him relaxed helped her more than all the tea and food in the Dreaming could. He’d decided she was safe, and in this wonky wonderland, she trusted his judgement. Fin may not betray his maker for her, but he would never be ease if he wasn’t sure all was – or would be – well.

Rapid tapping interrupted the scene a few minutes after she refused more food from Fin. Sated, pleasantly full, and breathing easily, she didn’t jump at the sound, but her heart jumped when she saw the raven on the other side of Abel’s window. She’d bet anything it was…

“Matthew.” Fin nodded to the bird but didn’t move to let him in. Instead, he turned to Aisling and asked, “Feel up for a walk?”

“Back? That’s…” The best idea. The worst idea. She thought of the castle and the entity who ruled it. He needed to be stitched back into her story. She had too many frayed ends left in the wake of the latest tear, and she couldn’t begin any real work until she saw the pattern. All her questions and accusations coiled into a lump in her throat. “A long way.”

“Oh, I doubt it.” Since his question hadn’t really been one at all, he stood up, put the basket on his arm, and pulled out her chair.

It was time to go.

Cain and Abel stood, too, and Goldie bobbed up to Abel’s shoulder, sighing like a tired toddler.

“Thank you.” She hesitated in the doorway and wondered what the rules were in the Dreaming. Did she owe them something? Did they expect a token, or a boon, or some specific words? Should she start planning a thank you card? Was there a ritual, or – no. She was overthinking it. “It was… You helped. A lot. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Abel beamed. Goldie warbled in agreement.

“Of course, she’s welcome,” Cain snapped, finding some unknowable annoyance in his brother’s manners. He looked back to his departing guests and nodded, slowly, almost like he was bowing. “Fine Gent. Lady.”

“Oh, I’m not-”

Fin looped his free arm through hers and tugged her off balance, moving through the door. Her confusion of thought was lost in the chaos of stumbling sideways to keep up.

“Thank you, Cain,” Fin said.

The door closed. The sounds, smells, and sensations of the outdoors crashed over her fragile senses like a wave, and she was very glad for Fin’s arm. She was… better. But still not well. The ground stayed firm under her feet, but the back of her mind whispered it would melt into quicksand at any second.

Fluttering wings and a familiar croak warned her just before Matthew came flapping in her face. “You’re awake! You’re alive! Thought you were gone forever when you didn’t come back to your van, and the boss-”

“Will explain his thoughts himself,” Fin interjected. He gave the bird a look, a suggestion or a reminder. Once upon a time he threw those her way in the Waking. When she was young and overeager to test her limits. When she ought to know better.

Matthew landed in a chaos of black feathers and clattering talons, hopping alongside as Fin led the way across the bridge. Back to forests, fields, and strange moats. Back to the Heart of the Dreaming. Whatever that meant for her. There was no rush, but Fin clearly had a direction in mind, and while he was willing to go slow, ambling rather than marching, he was on a mission.

She didn’t like the heavy feeling that realization left in her gut, full of the food he’d so carefully and considerately brought. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but there was a new authority overshadowing their old dynamic, and she just didn’t like it.

Chastised, Matthew actually held his tongue for a few minutes. But every few steps, she caught him peeping up with sharp swings of the beak to glance at her, like he was waiting for a signal to talk again. He looked so awkward, fumbling along at their pace. And earnest.

And none of this was his fault. It wasn’t Fin’s. It wasn’t the raven’s. It… probably wasn’t their master’s, either.

She offered a wan, tired kind of smile that she hoped would ease the tension. He snapped it up.

The raven cleared his throat. “You look nice?”

And she always would. No matter how sick, or exhausted, or miserable, or – The phantom tingle of the fae’s thick salve gleaming with unicorn horn rolled down her arms, and she shuddered.

“Don’t.”

Matthew immediately dropped his head. “Sorry.”

Well shit.

“It’s fine. Just – yeah.”

And with that eloquent excuse of a non-apology, the three fell into a deeper silence.

The trees swallowed the two houses and the bridge that led to them. The path unspooled ahead, under darker boughs, and after a corner or two, the edge of the forest thinned. Too quickly. A slowly as she’d run. Impossible and sensical, because what else could it have ever been.

As the castle came into view, she fought against the dream-fall sensation demanding she wake up. She knew she couldn’t, because she was already, but that didn’t stop of her mind from spinning with the alien logic of this world. She was still looking for an escape, even if she didn’t feel the need to run for one.

A bridge – which she knew for sure wasn’t there before – connected the edge of the forest to the castle’s island. A low, discreet construction entirely unlike the arching causeway she could spy towards the front gates. The Dreaming hadn’t made it a challenge to leave, but it made returning even easier.

It invited her to come home.

Fin huffed, and she caught a smirk twisting his lips before he schooled it into a more dignified expression.

“You’re expected, it seems.”

Her hand spasmed on his arm, and he patted it almost condescendingly.

“Of course,” she murmured, demanding her stomach settle and her feet move.

Fin stayed with her across the bridge, through the garden, to the door that let her out. She felt like a stray dog being returned by a neighbor after a jaunt around the neighborhood, and it took conscious effort not to let her hackles rise. Inside, the castle was as quiet as it had been before, and she wondered again if people were being kept away from her on purpose, and if so, for whose benefit.

They stopped in the first crossroads between hallways. “This is where we leave you.”

“What?” Panic fluttered like butterflies through her gut. Fin settled (most of) them with another one of his looks – teasing, mocking her just enough to assure her this wasn’t anything like she feared. It made her feel stupid. It gave her courage. “I mean – fine. Okay. Why?”

“Why do you think?” Fin pointed to the left. “If you head that way, you’ll find yourself back in the room you woke in. Gwen and Jeff will take care of you.” He pointed to the right. “If you go that way, you’ll find him. If you’re ready to talk.”

He delicately peeled her fingers off his arm, stepped back, and performed a tidy bow. Duty performed, he left her with a wink and walked back the way they’d come in, a way that now offered many more doors and turns than she remembered.

“Good seeing you, Aisling. I’ll see you around?” Matthew didn’t wait for an answer. He launched into the air and flapped after Fin. A last caw caught and echoed through the branching halls, fading until she stood alone with her decision.

The still air pulsed with her thoughts, and her bare soles stuck to the polished floor, rooting her in a whirlpool of feelings she couldn’t face long enough to name. A crossroads. Her crossroads. Another gift from the entity she’d always feared would take away her choice. Was it respect or apology?

He’d lied to her, and even if he wasn’t responsible for… everything else, how could she trust he’d finished with masks? Kindness made for a clever veil, and he’d already surprised her with the face behind one helm.

But he hadn’t destroyed her. Hadn’t let others strip her will when it could’ve suited his purposes.

Romances between gods and mortals rarely ended well, and he was beyond a god. How could she ever hope to understand that? There was no world in which she could be his equal, where he could stoop low enough to grasp her human fears. Holding hands across a chasm like that always ended in a fall. Hadn’t she been enough of a fool already?

She remembered her first dream with him. He was more honest with her then than he’d been since, and the first thing he wanted to show her was the place where he held her the way she’d always held him. For that night at least, everything made sense. Maybe not the pain, but the agonies she’d suffered almost seemed worth it.

She didn’t know what to think. If she never faced their tangled wyrd, the potential bond she’d tasted so briefly, she’d never know how to feel, either. Maybe all this would kill her, but she couldn’t live without knowing.

So, she turned right.

Maybe it was her imagination, but the coolly lit hall seemed a little brighter as she made her way from the crossroads, looking for Morpheus.

She didn’t have to go far. The hall stretched straight ahead. No side passages to distract her. No doors to tempt her curiosity. Dream of the Endless wasn’t hiding, and as he reached out to guide her steps, he shaped the world to his intent.

The hall ended, rounding a little bend and opening into a high-ceilinged room that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. A gallery. A meeting place. Something old and new and hollow. One wall bristled with shapes emerging from grey-veined marble. Windows stretched from floor to roof, bathing the sculptures of vines, trees, rolling waves, and writhing figures with soft light at odds with the relief’s high drama. There was no furniture. Only space waiting to be filled. And a lone figure. Waiting for her.

No obstacles. No games or tests.

It could all be so, so simple.

Morpheus wore his regal grace with the same ease as his long black coat. But it failed to shroud his melancholy, and his longing wafted through the room in perfumed spirals of burning incense. She breathed it in; it stung her eyes and plucked on the frayed tatters in her chest. Sympathetic pain bloomed, and she rubbed along her sternum automatically, blinking back tears so she could trade them for words.

He broke the silence first. “I welcome you to the Dreaming, Aisling Hunt.”

Without his helm, his voice sounded so different. Incredibly. Even more beautiful, like looking up into a night sky with stars that looked back, but less like a force of the cosmos, more a man who traded in the dust that made worlds. He regarded her, and her intuition thrummed, trying to answer in ways her human body physically couldn’t.

He paused, lips parted on a thought, and the formal weight evaporated, replaced with aching strain that curled his shoulders towards her, even across the room, like a plant bending towards the sun. Strange. Unsettling. She didn’t feel like something bright in his world, but at least he wasn’t hiding behind his grotesque helm again.

“I am, despite everything, glad to have you here.”

Oh.

It shocked her back into her body. Into feet just a little cold and still bare on the floor. Into flesh she was afraid to look at in case she started crying again. The hope and horror bridged, and the most urgent question grew like a weed up her throat.

Well. If he was going to bring it up, then…

“I need to know something.” She rubbed her chest, hoping to pry loose a scrap of courage. None lingered in her heart, but a few tatters could’ve gotten caught in her ribs, and even a slip would do her. “Before this – I need to ask you something. I think I already know, but I need –” She knew how quickly words and oaths could twist under desire’s pressure, and even if she’d committed to playing the fool, even clowns had their limits, and she wouldn’t dance into another lying mirror. “You said you wouldn’t steal me away to hide in shadows, but you could send others to take me, and this place is very bright.”

His shoulders drew back, and his chin lifted. He’d offered her formal welcome and she asked for formal confirmation that he hadn’t betrayed her. She wasn’t ready to burn for him as his sun. She had to know he wouldn’t snuff her out first.

“I did not ask for you to be taken. I did not ask for you to be changed against your will. I did not ask other hands to commit such sins in my name, nor will I in future.” Angling his face down again, he offered her a glimpse at the wrath hidden there. He had not forgotten her suffering. It would not go unpunished. And just as quickly as he revealed his rage, he buried it again, stowing the knives and earthquakes for the villains who’d driven her to ask for proof in the first place. He watched her absorb what he’d said, and his voice turned feather soft. “You are my most cherished guest, and though I ask that you stay until word has spread and it is safe for you to walk the Waking world, you are no prisoner.”

Blinking, she took a deep breath. It rattled all the way down to her fingers, and she shook out her hands to banish the trembling.

“Thank you.” He gave, and he gave, and he gave. Time, space, reassurance. Her gaze roved the complicated mass of imagery covering the wall, looking for a theme. A hint. Frozen sailors reached for the land, tying sails against a wind determined to keep them at sea. Trees bloomed. Flowers fell. Fruit swelled, and snakes crept through their own shed skins as seeds burst from fallen, rotting apples. Time, loss, and rebirth without aim.

“What do you want, Morpheus?”

Had she ever actually asked him? She desperately wanted the truth. The whole thing.

“You were right.” Her own truth. An olive branch. An invitation and a plea. “Others shaped my view of you. So, now’s your chance. Tell me, so I can it from your own mouth. What do you want?”

In this moment, she was judge, jury, and executioner. No one would decide who or what she loved, and she would know the entity whose name she carried before she gave him anything else.

The air turned sharp. It cut the light like a prism, glittering in her monster’s eyes, a focus so sharp it broke sunbeams into their constituent parts. For all the black he wore, he practically glowed, a king in all ways, an open heart in more. Only here. In private. For her.

His eyebrows lifted, pinched. “I want you.” His voice was a song, weaving everything that could be beautiful between them into the simplest terms. “I want to be near you. I want to comfort you.” He approached, drawing his words out with cautious steps, hands hanging stiff at his sides. He halted, just far enough for her to feel safe, even when he spoke again, letting his lust drip into his tone, scenting his song with night-blooming jasmine. “I want to love you and make love to you.”

That was… honest. Heat rushed over her face, and she dropped eye contact like it was the source of the fire.

Fuck.

It was, actually.

When she first saw him, locked away in the cage beneath Fawney Rig, she thought his beauty was a warning, a good reason to look away and avoid him. Beautiful things were almost always cruel, but now… Well, things were different, weren’t they?

“I want you to know me.” He glanced out the window, and she instinctively did the same, looking over distant mountains and glittering bridges. World beyond worlds. “The Dreaming is a part of me. Simply by walking it, I feel you’re exploring me.”

They looked at each other again, just a little closer than before, and the hope in her monster’s eyes made him almost boyish. He was older than her planet, probably. But even an Endless must be reborn sometimes, in some ways, like the snake winding through the rotting fruit.

So, she’d met him when the water splashed over her toes. She let him comfort her when she drank the tea and ate the food of the Dreaming. Even if she hadn’t held his hand or looked in his eyes, and he was reaching for her in all but body now.

Fine.

Alright then.

She wouldn’t be anxious over a project she’d already begun.

“May I touch you?”

His smile bloomed soft and sweet. “Yes.”

Having the permission she needed from his strange eyes, his lips, the face she still didn’t know, she looked at his hands. She drew the tips of her fingers along his knuckles, a whispered touch asking for an answer, and he lifted the hand for her inspection, turning it over so she could see the creases of his palms. Invitation and vulnerability. Her touch wandered the lines, trying to read the silky flesh like a book. Palmistry had never been her forte, though, and she only found her own memories in his life and love lines.

“I know these better than your face,” she admitted. They felt safer, something secure to hold when his galaxy eyes threatened to sweep her away.

She found her courage in inches, lifting her eyes to his shoulders. His neck, his skin pale and untouchable as a reflection of the moon. Would she find the same strength in the rest of him as she did in his hands? The same possessive tenderness? The same call that felt like a puzzle coming together when she stroked his fingers, demanding and comforting as a deep breath after a dive?

Gingerly, like one or both of them was made of glass, she pressed an index finger to either side of his jaw. The barest caress drew along the edge of his face, not just feeling him, but listening to the hushed drag of skin on skin, until her two hands met, fingertip to fingertip, over the point of his chin. A sigh gusted down her wrists, along her elbows, and a rebel army of goosebumps sprang to life at his summons.

Without entirely meaning to, she looked up and met his eyes, and once she found them, they snared her.

It was entirely unfair for anyone to have actual stars in their eyes, and she read her doom in them as easily as she read her cards.  

“I’d like to kiss you.”

His eyes flicked to her lips, and he shifted closer, keeping his hands to his side despite the way his want curled out to close the distance like a physical force. Well. It was his world. Perhaps it was. It found her heart and tugged.

Her own gaze dropped to his mouth, waiting to read his answer. “May I?”

“Yes.” His voice rumbled so low and strong she felt it like thunder. No hesitation.

She wondered if she’d have to rise onto her toes to reach him, but he swept down to meet her, giving rather than waiting for her to cautiously claim what she’d asked for. Her eyes fluttered shut at the first caress. A soft touch expressing and savoring everything she’d allow. There was no demand, but as she pressed into the kiss, chasing the delicate friction, he answered in kind.

Little sparks carried through her blood. Through her mind. Urging something to life. Drops of sunshine calling up flowers in springtime. He tasted like traces of smoke from a campfire on a cold night. Vellum and lignin. The last breath before a jump.

When she broke away to breathe, she peered into his face, and she felt the trembling rush of standing in a high place. In the Dreaming, were the butterflies in her stomach real, too?

His hands hovered, framing her face with restrained yearning.

“May I touch you?” Gravel thickened his voice until it nearly broke, and he searched her expression with bared desperation. “May I hold you so I may feel you are well? May I love you, my little hero?”

She settled her hands over his, kissed his palm, and guided his fingers to her cheek, closing the gap he’d left for her to decide in. “You may touch me.”

He accepted her permission with open wonder, taking a full moment to rest where she’d led him, moving just enough to stroke the line of her cheekbone with his thumb. When he freed himself of the spell she’d so innocently cast, he let his touch wander – sweeping over her brow, tracing her nose, cradling her jaw. But when he came to her mouth, he lost his focus. He replaced hand with lips, jolting back after the briefest, most chaste contact when he realized he hadn’t asked permission.

She grabbed the lapels of his long coat, shaking the fear from his expression. “You can kiss me. Please. You don’t need to ask. Not tonight.”

The worried frown he’d grown melted. A smirk washed up his face, dark with promise. But he didn’t tease her. He claimed another, proper kiss instead. Free to touch her, he angled her face with careful pressure, showing her how best to deepen the pleasure of lips, and teeth, and tongues, until she was equally breathless and reluctant to breathe.

Resting forehead-to-forehead as she recovered – as she gathered air to take the plunge again – he asked, “May I hold you?”

“Yes.” Her turn to answer quickly, for an ache to strain her voice.

Long limbs twined around her, drawing her close with a hand on her back and another on his him as her monster once again set to work trying to consume her. She did finally rise onto her toes, begging for more with eager hands slipping up his shoulders to comb into his hair. He gave her too much to feel, and she couldn’t give each piece its due. His lips gliding over hers. The secure warmth of his arms. Smooth skin and soft hair. The pressure of his chest against hers.

She knew pains like this. Sensations too overwhelming and complicated to make sense of. But she’d never felt pleasure the same way, and it swept her away faster than a riptide. She’d given the sea permission to drown her, though, so it was alright. More than alright. Wonderful.

He wasn’t as cool as he’d been when she first touched him. The rosy heat didn’t blush over his skin, but it pressed out to meet her, as if he was taking inspiration from the pulse and flush of mortality. Her blood warmed her because it must. He only warmed from a desire to be near.

“And may I love you?” A kiss to her cheek. “May I?” Another just below her ear. Withdrawing to lift her gathered hands to his lips, holding her gaze, he brushed a third kiss over her knuckles. “May I?”

Almost too disoriented to answer, she nodded, running her palms over his clothed chest. “Yes. Please, Morpheus – ”

His name on her lips tore through the last of his self-control. Finally. Finally given permission. Finally near enough to touch, and taste, and take. He crushed her closer with tender, rabid affection, kisses wandering to her cheek, down her neck, and back to her lips to share her sighs.

Maybe she wasn’t the sun, but how she burned for him.

Lovely as it was, she wanted his coat off. With their lips tangled together, she struggled to ask, but she pushed at it, and he wordlessly agreed, helping her peel it away from his shoulders to drop, abandoned, somewhere behind him. Her monster’s greatest frustration with the act was the time he spent with his hands otherwise occupied, and he grabbed her back to him like they’d been separated for years, not seconds.

His hand slipped beneath the soft shirt he so thoughtfully provided when she woke, and she whimpered into his mouth, caught off guard by how good this new wave of sensation felt. Fragments of control washed away with each graze of a knuckle or press of his palm along her back, pulled away as sand in the surf.

When she released her hold on his shoulders, he left her break the kiss, his eyes somehow even darker as he watched her reach for the hem of the garment. He helped her – carefully, reverently – guiding her arms and head out of the fabric. His lips parted as he looked her over, and he reached for the bottom of his own shirt. She mirrored his performance, helping him with the simplest chore of escaping his clothes, and when he emerged from the black shirt’s depths, he reappeared with a smile. A little amused. Deeply fond.

More kisses. Cautious hands mapping new spaces. Enjoying each other slowly so the heat could grow. Shared breaths, every shudder and shift pressed into the other’s flesh. Wrapped up in each other entirely. There wasn’t room for fear or doubt; they stood much too close.

Even when Dream pulled back again, something as fiendish as it was loving in his expression, she couldn’t remember there was a room or a world beyond him.

He spread his palm wide over the center of her chest, covering the flesh between him and his mark, and he pressed down. Gravity bent to his will, an intractable urge. She fell to his desire and found herself sprawled flat on something comfortable that wasn’t a bed. But he left her no time to wonder, following her with a rain of kisses that left her dizzy. As his hands crept down, he hovered, watching for her to revoke her permission, or even the slightest hint of discomfort. But by the time he’d reached the rest of her clothes, her hands fluttered around his, trying to slip multiple layers off in one go. She wanted her pants gone as much as she’d wanted rid of his coat, and he chuckled as she kicked them off the last inch.  

Once she’d escaped the last fabric keeping her from his touch, she drew him back for a kiss, this one so soft it spoke his thanks. His care.

Although he rested between her legs, he didn’t rush. He attended her breasts, plucking yelps and giggles from hidden ticklish spots, rising back to her lips again and again as she grew hotter and more desperate under his hands. They might’ve spent a hundred years hovering on the threshold, finding each other in grazes and kneading grips.  

At last, he roved lower, and even as he brushed his lips over hers, his thumb rolled over her bud. Slowly, tortuously almost, he fluttered over the nub, refusing to explore further until she whimpered and writhed. He traced down her folds and groaned. She could feel how wet he’d made her, and the mortification would’ve swamped her if she couldn’t feel how excited it left him. The bulge pressing against her hip left no doubt.

His fingers sank inside, curling to pull something out of her. She gave him a moan, a fluttering thing, unsure on new wings, and he hovered with his mouth hanging open in awe, like he could catch it. Keep it. Cage it in his ribs to keep. Before, when he’d pleasured her in the dream, he had plenty to say, even when his mouth was on her. That was worship. This was communion. A true meeting, a joining without words.

He worked her open diligently. And all the while, he held her gaze, feasting on it.

Every nerve sang for him, and he coaxed her to the very edge before she grabbed his wrist. He froze, looking for pain in her expression, and she kissed the worried line between his eyebrows.

“I want you.”

She didn’t need to explain. With a look so vulnerable he almost looked hurt, he said, “You have me.”

When he pulled back this time, he took her with him, and she sat astride his lap as he worked a mark into her neck, giving her time to change her mind. His pants had magically disappeared. She wasn’t at all surprised, though she’d wanted to help take them off herself. Next time, maybe.

Next time? There would be a next time. And another next time. And all the next times she wanted.

Elated by her revelation, she all but yanked his face from her neck so she could kiss him properly. He laughed, and it tasted like elderflower cordial, rich and sweet enough to make her drunk with one sip. She ground down on his length, and his hands spasmed on her waist.

“I’m ready,” she assured him with an eager peck. “I want this.”

He shifted, arranging himself to brush her entrance, but he didn’t press. Even here, he waited for her. She sank to meet him, her grip on his shoulders seizing as she stretched. His hold moved to her back, her neck, cradling her near instead of exerting any kind of control. And she was glad. She needed it as her eyes all but rolled back into her skull.

As light kisses rained over her face, she fought to relax, to take him entirely. She only opened her eyes once she had him. Once he had her. And once she saw him, she wondered how she could ever turn away again.

It was the way he looked at her. Fathomless patience meeting desperation. All of it honed by time. He’d craved her company before she was born, and he’d wrestled back his yearning until it cut into his soul to keep from scaring her away.

He wanted to be seen, and held, and cared for, too.

A thousand adoring words bubbled up her throat, but it wasn’t the right time, so she peppered them soundlessly down his neck and along his collarbones instead.

And she moved.

The drag was almost too much. The pressure brought stars to her own eyes, and although she refused to close them, sometimes she thought they’d fluttered shut, because the push and pull of their lovemaking really was blinding. He stroked up to meet each roll of her hips, crooning as she kissed and petted and squeezed him.

They were the turn of stars, the draw of ancient voids too vast for names, and all the voiceless songs strung between worlds.

She forgot the pain in her chest. She forgot she’d ever done anything but burn for her monster. Her Morpheus.

If she wasn’t the sun, she must’ve swallowed one.

The inferno melted her from the inside out, and she all but fell apart, wrapped around him, and cheek-to-cheek, he groaned in her ear. She panted, open-mouthed, fighting for air and sense as he kept his slow, deliberate pace. He hadn’t even begun to have his fill yet, and he held her all the tighter as her quaking limbs refused to play.

When feeling eventually returned to her legs, she pulled them around his waist, anchoring herself and refusing to release him as adamantly as he clung to her. The otherworldly sensations lingered, but she remembered herself a little more, found the cognizance to appreciate who held her, who she’d accepted. Who stoked the flame, sheathed inside.

Even as he worked her up to another orgasm, a painfully soft part of her heart burst open, and affection flooded her system. It bled open and free, forcing tears to her eyes.

She was safe, and he was hers, and she –

She really had to tell him somehow. She couldn’t bear to say it, though.

She’d be worthy of his face. She’d break him out of a thousand cages. If only he’d keep her so close and secure and warm.

This time when she trembled to pieces, there was no putting her back together, and her monster graciously followed her release. He kissed her as he came, holding her still so they could feel every shudder of the end. And when he’d finished, as their breathing steadied, he tumbled with her back into something soft, never once letting her slip from his arms.

#fic: hello mr. monster #morpheus x reader #sandman x reader #morpheus x oc #dream of the endless x reader

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day 13 - Prompt: Strong @wolfstarmicrofic

January Daily Series - 527 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

Sirius took his time retracing his steps back toward the cave where he’d left his brother and James. Padfoot dragged his end of the leash on the ground as he plodded along at his side. After a romp in the water with James and a long walk with Lily, the dog was dead on his feet.

“We’ll head back in a minute, alright? Just need to make sure James didn’t wander too deep into the caves again.”

For a bloke who was an actual Boy Scout, James had the worst sense of direction in the caves. He could navigate anywhere else, even deep in the woods, but stick him underground and he was far too easily distracted by the sights and sounds surrounding him. Perhaps it was the lack of light that threw off his internal compass.

When he reached the grassy head of the craggy ridge on the far side of the beach, Sirius was relieved to see his brother perched on a ledge outside the cave of the “serpent stone.” Regulus was tapping at his mobile screen idly, then leaned in and lined up his camera to take a picture of the cave mouth.

“Where’s James?” he called, waving as he approached.

“Inside still. He’s looking for symbols on the walls.”

Sirius frowned. “There aren’t any symbols in this cave. He must be thinking of another one.”

Regulus looked up and tilted his head. “Are you sure? He sounded quite confident it was in this one.”

“James is confident of everything he says.” Sirius eyed the steep slope down to the water’s edge and sighed. “Call him out, would you? I’d rather not walk back with wet boots.”

Regulus tucked his phone away and skidded down to the golden sand that blanketed the floor of the cave. “James? Sirius is back.”

His voice bounced back to him in a higher, distorted echo. Regulus cringed at it, then shook his head. “He didn’t answer.”

“Shite. Don’t tell me he’s lost again.”

“Lost? Again?” Regulus squawked, tripping on the sand as he rushed forward. “James Potter, get your arse back here now!”

A low thud echoed through the cave before James’s voice finally filtered through. “Uh…about that. I might be stuck.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Regulus shrieked, his voice a full octave higher than normal.

“I didn’t want you to worry?”

“Sirius!”

He’d already started climbing down the rock face, carefully leading Padfoot behind him. “Yeah, I’m here. Hold on.”

Sirius couldn’t hide the shit-eating grin on his face at his brother’s immediate demand for his assistance. This wasn’t the first time James had underestimated his size while crawling in the caves. The twat was plenty strong enough to haul himself through the narrow passages, but too broad.

A fleeting image of Remus flicked through his mind as he helped the dog awkwardly skid down the last few feet of loose rock.

Did Remus underestimate his size?

The thought startled him. Sirius had no idea why his brain would offer that particular query right now. He was headed into an Odysseus-themed twat rescue, Remus’s body should be the furthest thing from his mind. He shook his head clear and stepped inside the cave.

Next Part>>>

#the marauders #wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #regulus black #james potter #jegulus #wolfstar microfic

[neteyamyawne]

Inferno : Blaze ♡✦

Pairing : twin!neteyam x sister!reader x metkayina family

Summary : y/n and neteyam were inseparable twins but as they grew up things got difficult with humans coming back on Pandora, they both got distant and neglected by their own in the process, what would be their next step? (For more info click on the summary link)

Parts : pt1 pt2 pt3 pt4 pt5

• Series masterlist

Comfort ♡

❈ Warnings : mild to no angst, brother and sister Bonding, animal attack, injury, mention of blood, blacking out, fluff

❈ Word count : 4.4k , not proof read

"word" - dialogue

❈ Note : sorry for such a late upload, my laptop broke so i had to write the other half on my mobile 🥲

❈ Glossary : y/n - your name, y/i/n - your ikran name, Olo'eyktan - clan leader, ole ngati kameie - i see you, tsahik - clan spiritual leader, tsurak - warrior's mount, uthuru - request for refuge , atan - ray of light

We traveled for days, only stopping for naps and to let our mounts rest as well. The vast expanse of sea was sickening but we soared through it day and night. The dark blue of the sea Below me looked unforgiving and merciless, ready to swallow us both whole, as the fourth day passed, my legs were getting numb from continuous flying and it looked like eywa was not on our side, a storm brewed clashing against us, our bodies drenched from head to toe as we made our way through the pouring rain, the waves crashed below us, bashing into the tall rocks. Exhaustion tumbling over our mind but we refused to give in, stomach rumbling for more food but our packs have depleted and we needed to save the rest until we find a place to settle down for good.

Hours of flying later, the dark merciless shades of blue of the waters turned light and welcoming, signs of life showed itself as we saw a reef barrier with shores that glowed like molten sun in the light. We swirled around to see a good place to land, someone blew a horn, the vibration from it a recurring current. Seeing a soft patch of sand i signaled neteyam for the landing, our ikrans touched the sand, skidding to a halt, many natives surrounded us, it was irritating to have so many eyes on us but i swallowed it down, jumping down from my y/i/n, neteyam landed beside me, he walked forward a little, putting his arms up in a sign of peace. I went to draw my bow but he stopped me, shaking his head and I nodded back releasing my grip on it.

We both walked forward our hands up and frequently signing "i see you" to them, a swarm of vicious looking animals cut their way through the air towards us, they had riders upon them, the one in front having bright orange and red attire with a lot of tattoos adorning on his face and body, he jumped down from his ride, making his way towards us in long strides and in the moment it hit me, he's the Olo'eyktan, tonowari, i looked at neteyam and he quickly understood, nodding we both signed to him and said " oel ngati kameie, Olo'eyktan'' he signed back, his frame towering over us, the crowd parted as a woman walked forward, i knew instantly she was the tsahik as i saw her headpiece, her walk radiated confidence and i immediately gave my respect, neteyam followed suit, she circled us both, sizing us up, looking for threat but we gave her no reason to perceive us as such "what are you here for, children?" Neteyam answered this one "we seek uthuru, a place to call home" gasps and whispers peppered among the crowd, Ronal squinted her eyes at us " why, at such a young age, do you need uthuru? That to from a whole different tribe" i was getting tired of her questions and she hasn't even asked two of them. "Our own left us to fend for ourselves, now we seek for some semblance of a home to rest" i said, my voice low, i was tired of this, of running away, hiding everything. The tsahik saw through it, heard the exhaustion in my voice, I grabbed my right forearm with the other sighing heavily.

The leaders held a silent conversation, speaking to each other with their eyes, nodding tonowari walked forward and spoke " you will stay with us and learn our ways, starting from taking the first breath like a baby, our people will treat you as our brother and sister, be nice and you will be respected, my son, ao'nung and my daughter, tsireya will guide you through it, learn well " with that he departed, going back into the village, a girl who stood next to the couple came forward, she had a sweet smile on her face as she said "I'm tsireya, come I'll show you around the village" we both nodded, not saying anything we grabbed our stuff which was not much, walking on the bouncy path way, we met the ilu's and I'm not going to lie, those were so cute, tsireya showed us a tent, walking in she turned to face is "this your mauri, just three pods down, it's my mauri, so if you need anything just come in and I'll help you" she smiled softly, putting down the basket and walked after giving information about the learning sessions.

Throwing my bag down I say near the fireplace, my mind was in chaos, thinking of the worst possible outcomes of this decisions but I was brought out of my trance when Neteyam sat beside me, he held my hand in his and I couldn't help but ask " did we take the right decision, nete?" His eyes were conflicted, his thoughts mulled over the question, maybe we did make a mistake, running away like this but then Neteyam answered "maybe no, maybe yes, only time can tell the answer to that, atan" I sighed bringing my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. He put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close and we sat there for a good while, reminiscing over our lost childhood home.

»»————-　⚜ 　————-««

I ran behind Tsireya towards the water, the pathway bouncing under my feet, I was still getting accustomed to the feeling, we both canon balled in the sea, laughing as we resurfaced, Neteyam and Ao'nung were already in the water, waiting for us both of them grumbling in annoyance at our tricks but we waved them off, it's been a week since we got here and it's been nothing but happiness filling our days, we still remembered our old life's, but it was in the past now, Tonowari welcomed us with open arms but Ronal was still distant to us, always giving us short answers with curt replies. Ao'nung wasn't any different always picked on our difference, like our thin tail, slimmer limbs, thin built but I just ignore him mostly and so did Neteyam, Tsireya backed us up though, hitting her brother on the head if she saw him teasing us.

The water was warm around our bodies, sunlight glinting on it, the shimmering light scattering across the place, Ao'nung walked forward, making a noise which I think is calling sound, a herd of ilu swam towards us, making the small clicking and whirring noises in their wake, my heart soared at their sight, they were such beautiful creatures, one of them made its way to me, I couldn't stop the giddy smile on my face as I pet it on its heads, it trilled at the head rubs I gave, Tsireya had to pull me away from the it as she began to give us some information about them "these are the ilu's, here we use them to travel, you can bond with several ilu's as they do not require a single rider" I nodded but my eyes were still on that cute beast "you might be good at the swinging but….owww" Ao'nung started but Tsireya quickly shut him up by a slap on his arms, rotxo laughing behind him.

Neteyam chose to try and ride them first, getting onto one of them, adjusting for better comfort, Ao'nung guided him to connect their queue, making the tsaheylu, the beast surprised at the sensation jumped a little but Ao'nung steadied it "mawey, yetu, mawey, Tam Tam" fixing the harness on the saddle, Neteyam sqiurmed getting in a better position, he leaned down patting the creature "good boy, yeah" but Ao'nung tsked , rolling his eye "it's a girl, skxwang" I laughed, while Neteyam looked at us sheepishly "ohh sorry-" but before he can talk some more Ao'nung started with the instructions "feel her breath, her heart, the strong beats" Neteyam closed his eyes, concentrating on the bond, soon he opened his eyes, nodding at Ao'nung when he was ready "move slow, think 'forward', ride slowly" , adjusting once again he commanded "forward" and the ilu darted ahead at full speed, taking Neteyam directly underwater, we dipped our heads inn, watching underwater as he was thrown of its back by the water current and force, I stood up laughing with Ao'nung and rotxo, Tsireya giggled at his demise.

He swam back, gasping for air as I beat my first against his arm, squealing in delight at his failure "good one bro, keep it up" doubling over myself as another fit of laughter bubbled up my throat, he just rolled his eye " come on, y/n , grow up" I tried to stop myself, pressing my lips together but then I made eye contact with Ao'nung, let's just say me and Ao'nung both ganged up on Neteyam for this one.

»»————-　⚜ 　————-««

Weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, Ronal was accepting of us now, Ao'nung tuned down his teasing a bit, we still had our own mauri, it was turning out normal, our new normal.

I sat with Tsireya, weaving and completing my song chord, a bead for each event that turned my life around, starting from a pearl I collected with Tsireya few days ago, weaving it into the leather in the memory of the day we left our clan, the day we finally spoke for ourselves, adding a small conch shell in the memory of finding our home here, one bead for each of the Olo'eyktan's family member, for their love and patience towards our learning skills, especially for tsireya for understanding me when nobody did, time went by with a wink of an eye, the sunset casting beautiful shades of oranges and pinks, clouds dusting the sky with glorious harmony, the bright light filtering through the mauri where me and Reya sat, she was weaving a top with intricate designs, i made a mental note to myself to ask for the pattern, as the eclipse got near we stopped our work, putting away the things, i rebraided my songcord back in my hair, and we made our way towards her pod for dinner.

We do not make our own food after the horrific incident of neteyam trying to roast a fish went wrong in every way possible, so Ronal very calmly scolded our ears off for approximately 6 hours before she ushered us to eat something. Though tonowari was amused at the ways neteyam tried to roast the fish, after that we were strictly forbidden from cooking so we ate at their place everyday.

Sitting down besides teyam, i nudged him to give me space even when there was plenty of room for me to sit down, this was just more fun, he shifted back giving me a pat on my head and smiled at smile, i looked at him one eyebrow raised at what this was about but he just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as if it was nothing, now that raised my suspensions, what the hell was going on? And why was I not a part of it?

As we all ate our dinner, ao'nung piped up "y/n, we found a good spot for hunting. Would you like to come with our group tomorrow? We're going there so i thought you'd love it" he smiled at me after that sentence, and my mind screamed at me that he was up to something, don't get me wrong, he was known to prank on us more than the other metkayina kids, so i was bound to be a bit doubtful but right now i had no choice but to say yes as both tonowari and Ronal looked at me intently and i nodded, giving him a smile in return "yeah sure, I'd love too" huh? Let's see how 'loved' this trip will be.

»»————-　⚜ 　————-««

We glided towards the "spot" ao'nung and his friends found, it's almost afternoon now, the sun blazing on our backs while the water did nothing to cool it down, this place was surrounded by high rocks, we have never been here before, nor have been this far from the shore either, i looked at ao'nung confused, he simply signed for me to go forward, and we all did, as we got to a round spot, rocks forming notches for the fishes to hide, perfect spot for hunting indeed, grabbing my crossbow, i dipped into the water, not wanting to cause disturbance, i moved slowly, looking back i saw ao'nung signing for a particular notch that hid a school of fishes, taking my opportunity i saw forward as cautiously as i can, as i got within the reach, i shot my arrow, making a Bullseye , i pulled back the rope attached to the arrow bringing the kill up with me, i whooped celebrating my kill when i turned around to see no one there, my surroundings total empty as they left me, i sighed, i knew it, they pranked me again!! Huffing at myself at how stupid i was to believe him, now i have to find my way back home, calling my ilu, i waited for her to come back, i mentally cusred ao'nung and his friends, Turning around when i felt soft current ripple in the water, thinking it was my ilu but before i could get a good look, something bashed into me, slamming me against the boulder, my head knocking against the rock, i was taken aback, gasping for breath, my back and head aching from the impact, vision blurring.

A scream shattered through me, as i felt a searing bite on my arm, by the tsurak that was attacking me, it twisted it's head tearing my arm open even more and with great difficulty, i turned myself enough to slam my hand into its eye, within seconds it's jaws left my arms as i was thrown back, the salt water burning the wound, the water tinted a deep red, when i actually looked around, my eyes widen in fear as many tsuraks surrounded me, then it hit me, the notches in the rocks, such lively schools of fishes and still no one came here to hunt, this was their nest, i was in the middle of tsuraks' nest, my blood ran cold as i saw the same tsurak that attacked me, made its way towards me, as a lightning strike i came aware that it chose me, it chose me as a rider and wants me to fight it, oh god why did i agree with ao'nung? I'm not ready for the right of passage by any means and i have fight this now? All questions evaporated when it charged towards me, and i dodged it when it rammed into the rock. I had to get this over with, it's either I do this or I die, and I won't go down without a fight.

Ignoring the burn in my arms, I dived deep, leaving a trail of blood behind me, making the tsurak follow me down. As I reached a good distance from the water surface, I turned around seeing the trail of blood I left, the way the tsurak followed it as well, the beast easily swam towards me, and I knew what I had to do.

I waited till it got near enough to pounce on it, grabbing it's queues and quickly pulling myself behind it, i wrapped my legs around its neck, gripping hard as i tried not to slip, but it had other plans just when we got above the water, it twisted, slamming me hard back into the water, the salty water flooding my nose and mouth, in reaction to that i yanked at its queue making it stop for a moment, and i coughed out the excess water, seeing my chance i knew i had to make the tsaheylu if i had to get out of this, quickly as possible i brought my queue in front of me, connecting them, the rush of emotions flowed through me, he was elicited to throw me off him, my grip on him didn't waver as he took of into the air, wings spreading wide, i tried to command him to fly forward but yet again he disobeyed me, dived down without giving me a chance to register, the water current almost shoved me off him but i was adamant to not leave him, in his free ride across the whole nest, i saw we were nearing a boulder, an idea clicked in my mind this was my chance to revenge, he needed to be put in his place, as we got nearer and nearer, i didn't do anything until the last moment, pivoting myself so sharply that he banged onto the rock with full force head on, after that collision he slowed down to a staggering pace, i sighed, finally, i send calming waves down the bond even when my arms felt like it was going to fall off, he calmed down, in the end accepting the bond, now his worry filled my mind, his guilt for the bite overpowering, even my own consciousness was slipping away minute by minute, i fend off to much time, i had to get back home.

Mentally telling him to take me back, but we were stopped by ao'nung and his goons, their leader immediately came up to my side but my mount growled at him, i was angry at him but i need medical attention, so being angry at him can be done later, my exhaustion trickled over me like a soft blanket, i knew i was going to black out, in a hurried voice i spoke "fish lips, i think I'm gonna pass ou-" but before i could even complete my sentence, my eyes rolled to the back of my head and i was pulled into unconsciousness.

»»————-　⚜ 　————-««

~ 3rd person pov ~

Ao'nung panicked, he never wanted this to happen, it was supposed to be a small harmless prank, he didn't knew it was a tsurak nest, now you were severely hurt and a tsurak makto , which was not supposed till the rite of passage, he cringed at the ear full he was bound to get when they return home.

Everyone gathered around you, taking you back, trying to patch up the blood but to no avail, by the time they got back, the ilu you were on was covered in your blood, your tsurak was trailing them, worried for his rider, Ronal was taken aback at the sight of your blood smearing everywhere, tonowari kept his face straight but he was just as distraught as everyone, puting you down on the mat, Ronal immediately got into work, her hands were shaking, she had patched up worst wounds than this on other warriors but in there few months you and your twin warmed up to her heart, it was never a pleasant experience when someone you hold dear, gets injured to a near fatal level.

As the tsahik worked, ao'nung explained what happened to tonowari and your twin, neteyam was scared to death, he blamed ao'nung but more than that he blamed himself, he knew ao'nung was making that plan to prank you, he didn't say anything because he wanted to get back at you for teaming up with him every time, but now he couldn't help but think how childish and stupid it was, he was angry at ao'nung for getting you in this situation, how could he be so reckless, how could he leave you to fend for yourself? He was your twin for eywa's sake! You two came into this world together and if something were to go wrong in the tent- he couldn't even complete he thought, he'd never forgive Himself for it. With every word ao'nung spoke his anger rose. Ao'nung tried his best to explain what happened but no amount of explanation could make this situation any better "father, it was an accident, we didn't know it was a nest, i-" tonowari had enough, to him you and neteyam were becoming a family, and he would not tolerate this kind of behavior, especially not from him own son "enough ao'nung, i expected better from you, you disappoint me" the boy was left speechless, but he accepted it, knowing the fault was his and only his to bare.

The whole clan was worried about you, tsireya almost fainted herself seeing your blood everywhere, Ronal did her best to sew the bite shut, a large scar would permanently form on your arm, neteyam sat outside the tent, not wanting to disturb the tsahik and tsarekam in there work but also didn't want to leave you side, it was way past eclipse when Ronal and tsireya finally got out, neteyam was quick to stand up, worry written over his face, Ronal sighed placing a hand on his shoulder "she is alright but she lost a lot of blood, it will take some time for her to recover'' Her voice was heavy with melancholy. Neteyam didn't hear the next as he stumbled into the tent, falling to his knees by your side, his heart constricted on the sight of your body wrapped in bandages, spots of blood peaking through them, lying so still on the mat. Tears lined his eyes, you were the reason he was living his best life, if it wasn't for you standing up for him, he'd still be stuck listening to his father's orders day and night, heart breaking into a million pieces he prayed to eywa for your recovery, laying by your side for the whole night, not leaving once.

»»————-　⚜ 　————-««

~ 1st person pov ~

I woke up from what felt like 500 years worth of sleep, the sunlight burning my eyes and i moved my hand to block it but it turned out to be a grave mistake as a blinding pain shot through it and i cried out, making me wince in pain, someone was beside me immediately, helping me sit up , the pain in my arm subsiding as it was lowerd back to its place gently, i looked to see neteyam, his smile radiant, the thoughts in my mind calming down at his smile and soon everything what happened in the last hours flashed back to me, while i remembered yesterday's events neteyam notified Ronal and tonowari, as Ronal got into checking my wounds, tonowari sat down in front of me and spoke in a low but firm voice "you fought with a tsurak, all by yourself, you have completed the rite of passage, even if you didn't know, you have proved yourself, you are one of us, you both are a metkayina now." I glanced at neteyam, who looked like he was about to burst from happiness, a smile plastered on his face from ear to ear, even i was shocked at tonowari's statement, we are what now? Even I couldn't help but to smile at that, he called neteyam to sit with me, blessing us both, Ronal was just as happy, it was turning the worst moment of my life into the best one.

Soon a celebration was held for my accomplishment, i knew it was an accident but i did the fighting myself so i deserve it too, tsireya danced with the others, her body gliding like waves with the music ,her top sparkling in the fire light, Ronal and tonowari sat together enjoying the celebration, i sat beside neteyam near the leaders, though i couldn't drink or dance with my arm wrapped tightly, i still bobbed my head to the beat of the songs, my tail swaying on its own, neteyam was in a similar state but his eyes were somewhere else, following his line of sight i saw ao'nung looking back at him, it was like they were holding a silent conversation, i knew ao'nung didn't meant that to happen, also that he didn't knew it was a tsurak nest but i was still angry at him, i nudged neteyam bringing him out of his "conversation", he sighed before he started " you know he didn't do it on purpose" i rolled my eyes at him "why are you defending him? He almost drowned me, i almost died bro, are you his brother or mine?" at that his ears went flat on his forehead, tail being tucked near his leg, eyes strained on the ground "i know, I'm sorry, i shouldn't have said it" now it was my turn to sigh, i put my head down, maybe i should talk to ao'nung, i knew he was sorry, so i placed my good arm around neteyam's shoulder, and said "you know what bro? You're right, I'll give him a chance, just because you want us to make peace" he laughed and nodded, helping me stand up.

I made my way over to ao'nung, he looked nervous at my presence, i mean anyone would be when you accidentally tried to kill someone and that someone is walking straight towards you, i gave him a gentle smile sitting down besides him, i spoke "i know ao'nung, you didn't mean it, maybe next time just check the area where you're gonna prank me in then this won't happen" we both laughed at that but after our laughter died down he looked at me seriously and said with guilt tracing his voice "I'm really sorry for this, i swear on eywa i was going to leave you alone for just few minutes before coming back, so when we left we didn't think this could happen, then finding you almost unconscious, i freaked out, I'm sorry please forgive me " i smiled at the apology, glad he had the decency to do that "it's okay skxwang, i accept your apology and i forgive you, but… you do have make my dinner for a week!" He groaned at that and I laughed at his misery but he agreed nonetheless.

Making my way back towards Ronal and tonowari, i sat down next to them while neteyam went to talk with ao'nung, i smiled at the thought of living here, a place to call home, a place where i knew i would be protected, Ronal placed a hand on my shoulder and i looked at her, her smile was soft as she said "you are family now, we will protect you" i slumped in my seat, staring at the fire, my heart was full to brim with content, a small smile graced my face and hope blazed in my eyes, we are not alone in this, not only do we have a home, we have a family, after months of trying to win their hearts we can finally rest and leave our past back and move on into this new life eywa has so generously blessed is with.

A/n : I'm super sorry I took so much time posting this, life was being bratty 😂 anyways let me know if y'all like it.

Yawne : @fanboyluvr, @callmeoncette, @lu-the-ghost-reader, @brisbriskett, @saltedcoffeescotch, @ducks118, @itscheybaby, @jackiehollanderr, @zoetrope1997, @yeosxxx, @persefolli, @im-in-a-pansexual-panik, @theycallmesia, @elijangwifey, @erosthefae, @reinap06, @neteyamforlife, @thatgirljas13, @killua2dot0, @ilovechickenwings, @kylobensgirl, @darling-imobsessed, @majathepapaya, @sweetirilly.

© Neteyamyawne 2023 | All Rights Reserved. Do not repost on other platforms, copy, steal, or translate any of my works!

#╰┈➤ ❝ yawne asks : ◛ °answered #. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [reader] ࿐ྂ #ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ❛ Neteyam ༉‧₊˚𑁍 #↳ *Tonowari* ༉‧₊˚✧ #↳ *Ronal* ༉‧₊˚✧ #↳ *Ao'nung* ༉‧₊˚✧ #↳ *Tsireya* ༉‧₊˚✧ #✧*̥˚ Neteyamyawne *̥˚✧ #『✎ : Series 』 #˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Anon / Anon asks / Asks #avatar #avatar the way of water #jake sully #jake sully x reader #jake sully x you #avatar 2009 #avatar 2 #avatar fandom #tsu’tey x reader #i luv u guys so much #neteyam sully x sister reader #tonowari x ronal #ronal x tonowari #ao'nung #ao'nung x neteyam #tsireya #tsireya x reader #tsireya x y/n #tsireya x you #loml honestly

[tenebraevesper]

Shatter Me, Entry 2: The Reason I'm Here

''Shiny the recog! The story we continued to draw, shine light now! Wandering through time, a place where absurdity swirls. I had a blue and sad dream, the figure that was temporarily hidden. The meaning of this world is intertwined. I run through, hoping to meet up sometime, a view of the far, far future. Shiny the recog! When I wake up, the story that continues tomorrow! Grab it with these hands, the strength to believe will become a miracle! If it's the despair that resides in you, I'll cut through everything in my sight. The reason I'm here is because I want you to smile.''

– Recognize by MegaMan X DiVE

xXxXxXx

''Hey, Tails! Have you seen where the picnic blanket it?''

Tails looked up from the device he was working on, a bit surprised to see Sonic holding a picnic basket. ''Uh, sure… It's on the shelf, over there.''

''Thanks, little bro,'' Sonic replied, going over to the shelf and grabbing the blanket.

''You're going out for a picnic?'' Tails asked curiously.

''Yeah, with Shadow. I finally managed to find him and convince him to have a victory lunch since he had helped us save the Paradox Prism,'' Sonic replied, placing the blanket into the basket.

''I'm surprised that he agreed to it,'' Tails said.

''Well, what can I say? I'm quite persuasive when I want to be,'' Sonic replied, walking out of the workshop. ''Once again, thanks for the help Tails! You're the best!''

''Uh, huh, thanks, but…'' Tails sighed when he saw Sonic already speeding off. He hummed in thought, wondering what had happened to Sonic. Ever since they had saved the Paradox Prism, Sonic started to act weird… Well, perhaps ''weird'' wasn't the right word. Instead, he actually became more attentive, paying close attention to what others said before giving his own input. Not only that, but when it came to Tails, Sonic had started to praise him even for the most mundane stuff, reminding him how he would always be there for his little brother and to ask him if he ever felt bothered by something. While Sonic being a supportive big brother was welcome, Tails didn't understand what had triggered this change.

To add to it, Sonic would also keep running off to find Shadow, noting how he needs to thank him properly for his help and talking about how he was glad to have Shadow around. While Tails agreed that it was good that Shadow helped them to save the Paradox Prism, he wasn't really sure why Sonic made such a big deal out of it. He tried to ask Sonic about it, but the azure hedgehog had already ran off to his next adventure.

''I guess I'll ask him next time he stops by,'' Tails muttered, only to turn to his computer, surprised to see a change in the weather pattern. ''This is not good. I hope Sonic won't get caught in the approaching rainstorm.''

xXx

As per their agreement, Shadow was already waiting at the beach, observing the waves crashing against the sand and staring ahead at the sky. He took note of the thick dark grey clouds approaching Green Hill, feeling concerned about a possible storm. His ears flicked when he heard the familiar sound of Sonic running up to him, skidding to a halt as he held the picnic basket tightly in his arms.

''Sorry for being late, but it took me a bit to get all the spices right… Uh, is something wrong?'' Sonic followed Shadow's gaze, now seeing the drearily dull sight before him. ''Aw, com'n! I thought we'd have nice weather today!''

''It seems like we would have to postpone the beach picnic,'' Shadow said, glancing at Sonic. The azure hedgehog's ears drooped as he stared at the oncoming clouds in disappointment, with the wind picking up. He was looking forward to this so much, only for all of his effort being for nothing. Shadow then turned back to the horizon in thought, already feeling the rain droplets on his fur. He did feel bad for Sonic and him wasting his time and energy to arrange this only for the weather to ruin it.

''I guess we should go home then…''

''Wait.''

A dispirited Sonic, who had already turned on his heel to leave, was caught off guard when Shadow grabbed him by the hand and revealing the green Chaos Emerald in the other. ''I know a place where we can take shelter from the storm. Do you want to come along?''

''Of course!'' Sonic perked up, feeling Shadow tightening his grip on his hand as he held up the Chaos Emerald. There was a flash of light and both disappeared from the beach, just as the rain had started.

This was followed by a flash of light in what appeared to me some kind of alcove close to Hedgehog's Pass. It wasn't too shallow, but not too deep either to even be considered a cave, providing the two hedgehogs with enough space to shelter them from the wind and rain, but also keeping them close to each other. Shadow turned to Sonic, still holding his hand. ''I suppose we could have the picnic here instead on the beach, if you're fine with it.''

However, before Shadow could even finish his sentence, Sonic had already let go of him and grabbed the blanket out of the basket, setting it down on the ground and took out the sea dogs, offering Shadow one, having a wide smile on his expression.

''You never miss a beat, do you?'' Shadow couldn't help but smile at Sonic's optimism, taking the sea dog and sitting down next to Sonic.

''Heh, I'm just glad that we could have a picnic, no matter the place,'' Sonic replied, before taking a huge bite out of his sea dog. ''Nothing beats a good meal, especially when you're sharing it with your friend.''

''Friend?''

Sonic almost chocked on his sea dog when he heard Shadow's tone. It was strangely serene and inquisitive, as if Shadow was questioning the very nature of their relationship without even asking anything. Sonic wasn't sure why, but something about it struck a nerve and he was suddenly worried that maybe he said something that might've offended Shadow, so he decided to quickly elaborate on it.

''Well, yeah… I mean, at this point, being rivals and friends is practically the same,'' Sonic said, remembering all those times people beat him up before becoming his friends. Somehow, this way of making friends was becoming more and more common, much to his amusement and exasperation.

''If it's the same thing, why did you get so nervous?''

Sonic gave him a blank look, only to take note of the slightest of smirks Shadow gave him as he ate the sea dog. It took a moment for his brain to process that Shadow was just teasing him. Shadow couldn't help but snort in amusement when Sonic pouted in annoyance, reaching for the basket for another sea dog, a faint tint of pink spreading on his fawn muzzle. He ate it in silence, trying to figure out how to quip back to Shadow's comment, but all that came to his mind was a rush of adrenaline and fear when a memory flashed in his mind. He tried to shake it off, sighing instead as he continued to eat.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Sonic's sudden silence. Usually, he appreciated it when Sonic actually shut up for once, but for some reason, he felt a little concerned about the lack of response. He felt an urge to reach out for him, even lifting his hand on instinct, but stopped himself, resuming to eat in silence and watching the downpour outside.

xXx

''I hope that Sonic is fine…'' Tails muttered as he observed the downpour outside from his workshop. The weather really took a turn for the worse and it was fortunate that it didn't turn into a full-blown thunderstorm. While Tails had figured that Sonic would be able to find shelter, it didn't make him feel less worried about his older brother. Suddenly, he heard a knock on his window, surprised to see Rouge flying outside, gesturing at the closed entrance to his workshop. He quickly walked over and opened it, letting the bat inside. Rouge flapped her wings, shaking off the rain droplets. Tails then walked over with a towel in his hands, tossing it towards Rouge. She used the towel to dry herself off, placing it over her shoulders.

''Ugh, the weather outside is horrible! Good thing I was close to your workshop,'' she said, looking around. ''Isn't Sonic with you?''

''No, he went out for a picnic with Shadow,'' Tails replied. Rouge's eyes widened in surprise.

''Really? I'd never expected for Shadow to actually agree to socialize with anyone, let alone Sonic,'' Rouge said. Tails shrugged.

''That's what Sonic had told me,'' he replied. ''As a matter of fact, he had been talking a lot about Shadow lately.''

Rouge tilted her head, humming in interest. ''Yeah, I had also noticed a change in Blue's attitude… Well, I hope their date didn't get ruined by the rainstorm.''

''D-Date?'' Tails stared at Rouge in surprise. She just gave him a nonchalant look.

''I mean, what else would you call these two going alone on a picnic,'' she said, a sly grin spreading on her lips. Tails was still baffled by Rouge's take on the situation, wondering if she was being genuine or just messing with him. Rouge didn't seem to be interested in giving him an answer, instead just starting to walk around the workshop and looking at the tools and devices on the shelves and desks. ''In any case, thanks for letting me stay here until the storm stops.''

''You're welcome, but please, don't touch anything,'' Tails replied in a deadpan tone, well aware of Rouge's treasure hunting reputation.

''Do you have any gems here?'' Rouge asked, with Tails shaking his head. She then gave him an assuring smile. ''Then you have nothing to worry about.''

Tails just sighed, walking back to the device he was working on, but it was hard for him to focus, as his mind was still replaying the conversation he had with Rouge in regards to Sonic and him supposedly being on a date with Shadow. He tried to shake it off as Rouge just making a wild assumption, but for some reason, the thought just wouldn't leave his mind.

Sonic, you really have some explaining to do.

xXx

''Man, I haven't seen a rainstorm this bad in a while now,'' Sonic commented, leaning against the wall of the alcove. He and Shadow have just finished their meal and were watching the constant downpour of rain that somehow had gotten stronger. ''It feels like someone is just dumping buckets of water all over the place. I just hope there won't be any flooding.''

''Once the rain stops, we can go and make sure that there isn't any,'' Shadow said, sitting next to Sonic, with one elbow propped on his knee. Sonic just nodded.

''I hope there won't be, because the last thing I need is to fall into water… again. I don't even have the kicks I had in No Place to keep me afloat,'' Sonic replied, wiggling his feet as he stared at the sneakers. ''Those really came in handy. I wish I had them when we fought Chaos.'' Sonic shuddered at the memory of Station Square being flooded. ''Man, I know everything went well… but that guy was made out of water! I was lucky I didn't drown.''

''Chaos?''

Sonic turned his gaze towards Shadow, who gave him a genuinely confused look. Sonic stared at him, wondering why the dark hedgehog looked so puzzled, until he realized it. ''Oh, right! You weren't there when we fought Chaos and Eggman. Sorry, my bad!''

''What did the Doctor do this time?'' Shadow asked, furrowing a brow when Sonic namedropped Eggman.

''Well, he unleashed this water deity named Chaos after shattering the Master Emerald, and Chaos went on to just destroy everything in his way because he was really angry and hurt because of what Knuckles' ancestors did to him in the past. You'd have to ask Knuckles for more details about this though, he knows this stuff better than I do,'' Sonic explained. ''Fortunately, we managed to calm him down and he left with Tikal.''

''Should I even ask you who Tikal is?'' Shadow asked in a dry tone, having gotten used to Sonic just namedropping people in a context that only made sense to him. ''Or should I ask Knuckles for an explanation?''

''Eh, heh…'' Sonic smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He then leaned over, holding up his finger and thumb as he got an idea. ''You know, if you want me to, I could tell you all about my past adventures so you can get up to speed. What do you say?'' His ears then drooped as his eyes flickered to the side, adding, ''I mean, I know you're not exactly into small talk, but we're kind of stuck here… But you also have the Chaos Emerald, so you can just leave…''

''I'll listen to you talk,'' Shadow said, his eyes closed as he let out a soft sigh, his arms folded across his chest. He understood Sonic's desire to spend time with him, especially when there really wasn't any emergency to attend to. While he typically avoided small talk in favor of keeping things concise and to the point, he figured that he could humor Sonic for the time being.

''Really?! That's great!'' Shadow's attention snapped back to Sonic, being caught slightly off guard by just how happy Sonic looked, his emerald green eyes almost sparkling. Shadow couldn't help but stare into his eyes, feeling once again that weird sense of warmth spreading through his body. This strange sensation was both scary due to its unfamiliarity, and captivating, and Shadow felt a desire to lean into it.

Sonic then started to talk, telling him tales about his adventures, which were mostly exploits against Dr. Eggman, usually in the company of his friends. Shadow listened intently, taking note of just how animated and excited Sonic got as he talked about what had happened, going into details about the events and battles he had been through, showing pride in his heroism and assurance that, no matter how bad things got, he always found a way out. It was quite a fascinating experience, as the stories were detailed enough for Shadow to be able to imagine them in his head, and the only times he interrupted Sonic to ask him questions about something particular. He took notice of Sonic's mannerism whenever he asked a question, with the azure hedgehog being always eager to explain things and basking in the attention he got from Shadow. It was as if the world around them had slowly faded away and it was just the two of them remaining.

''…never told you about it, but I'm really glad that I met you,'' Sonic said, only to suddenly pause, his expression changing to a more somber one. Shadow could see the lack of focus in his green eyes, now dull as he seemed to have been reminded of an experience he wanted to forget.

''Sonic?'' Shadow grew concerned, well aware that if Sonic ever went silent, it was obvious that things were bad. He lifted his hand instinctively, although he didn't make any further moves due to his own hesitance. Even though he had found himself feeling genuine worry for Sonic, going so far to comfort him, he could never make that crucial final step, no matter how much he tried.

''You know, when I saw you falling into The Void, it reminded me of…'' Sonic trailed off, guilt being reflected in his eyes. Shadow's ears drooped and his eyes widened when he realized what Sonic was referring to. Sonic took a deep breath, trying to continue the conversation, despite feeling as if someone placed a boulder on his chest, pressing him down, ''I thought I would lose you again. I couldn't save you when you fell to Earth, no matter how hard I tried, and I refused to let it happen again. I couldn't let it happen again, especially not when I had already lost so much because of my own mistakes.''

Sonic lowered his gaze, clearly still haunted by the memories of the past. He actually felt guilty for being unable to save Shadow after he had lost his Super Form and fell down to Earth, seemingly dying, and it was a burden he carried with himself for a while, even though he tried to push it out of his mind. He was glad that Shadow turned out to be alive, but this was something that still lingered on his mind, to the point that he had a full-blown panic-inducing flashback when he saw an unconscious Shadow falling into the darkest depths of The Void. Sonic placed his hand on his chest, his breath fast and shallow at the memory played out once again, and he could feel his heart beating rapidly. He could still hear his own desperate screams echoing in his head.

''No! No no no no! Shadow! SHADOW!''

''Sonic!''

Sonic gasped as he snapped back to reality, feeling as if he had been running for miles, his heartbeat as fast as back then. He registered a sense of weight on his shoulder and turned to Shadow, realizing that the dark hedgehog had placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention and break him out of his memory.

''I… I'm sorry…'' Sonic said, holding his breath as he tried to calm down, and forced a smile. ''I-I'm just glad that I had managed to save you this time. Heh.''

''Sonic, you're not fine,'' Shadow stated, his eyes narrowed in concern. He too remembered the moment he had tried to enter the gateway in the mistaken belief that the tech he stole from Sonic would grant him entrance to the Shatterspaces, and while he couldn't remember what happened after he fell unconscious, he did recall being in Sonic's arms, at least before the inevitable collision with one of the crystals. Even back then, Sonic tried to just blow it off as nothing, but it was clear now that this was something that weighted heavily on him.

''No, really, it's nothing…'' Sonic tried to assure him, but Shadow shook his head, giving him a firm look.

''I know what you're trying to do, and it's not working,'' he stated. Sonic's forced smile disappeared and he lowered his gaze.

''I guess that messed me up more than I thought,'' Sonic muttered.

''Even though my fall after the battle with Finalhazard was none of your fault,'' Shadow added. Sonic looked up back at Shadow, his eyes wide.

''No, I was trying to reach out for you. I was trying to save you! If I had only-'' Sonic protested, only to get cut off by Shadow.

''Sonic, I still remember that moment when you reached out to save me before I fell to Earth from the ARK, but it seems that what you have forgotten is that I had waved you away,'' Shadow told him. Sonic stared at him, speechless, trying to recall the moment as well. ''If I hadn't done that, you would have fallen with me. I appreciate your determination, even if you frustrate me to no end, but this was not your fault. I had chosen to let go, especially after all of the trouble I had caused because of my own mistaken beliefs.''

''Shadow…''

''I promised to myself that I would never forget that. Until I did,'' Shadow added, placing his hand against his temple, gritting his teeth and letting out a frustrated groan at his own issues with his memory. There was so much that was wrong with him, no matter how hard he tried. There was so much he tried to understand, but he felt like he'd always find himself at a dead end, always taking the wrong path. It felt so incredibly infuriating, despite all of his attempts to do the right thing. He then lowered his hand, sighing. ''So, as I said, don't ever think that any-''

Before Shadow could even finish the sentence, Sonic threw himself against him, burying his muzzle into Shadow's shoulder and wrapping his hands around torso, hugging him tightly. Shadow remained stunned and speechless at this move, unable to process what had just happened. His eyes darted towards Sonic as he tried to formulate a coherent thought, but nothing except a warm sensation of comfort filled his mind.

''Then, how about we avoid such scenarios in the future,'' Sonic said, still feeling the weight pressing against his chest. In that one moment, he couldn't think of anything else but to reach for Shadow and keep him close to himself, fearing that, if he let go, he would lose him again. What he didn't expect was that Shadow would wrap his hands around his back, pulling him closer.

''Yeah… The same goes for you,'' Shadow muttered, with Sonic lifting his head, still in Shadow's arms and meeting his stern gaze, crimson eyes observing emerald eyes intently. ''Your stunt with the Prism Energy, while necessary, was still idiotic beyond belief. You were lucky I was there to get you home before you vanished into nothingness.''

''Heh, so you were worried about me,'' Sonic said, cracking a soft smile. He tried to tease Shadow, but it was clear that the emotions between them were so raw that even acting as if what had happened wasn't a big deal was impossible. They had simply reached a point where any barrier they had built up between them was completely shattered. Any emotional vulnerability they wanted to hide from each other was now laid out for the other to see and it seemed to have sparked something inside them, something they still needed to process fully.

''Yeah, I was…'' Shadow said, his gaze fixed on Sonic. He still didn't understand why he allowed himself to show this side of him, the side that craved for someone he could trust, someone who could comfort him, but he knew that it was too late to back down. All the walls he had put between himself and Sonic were torn down, and he couldn't care less. Sonic was the reason he was still here, and he would be forever grateful for that.

Shadow's ears then flicked when Sonic snorted, giving Shadow a mischievous look. ''I always knew that you were a hugger.''

Shadow narrowed his eyes, feeling the familiar rush of frustration coursing through his body. He closed his eyes, speaking through his gritted teeth (with Sonic imagining an anime-like cross-popping vein appearing on his forehead), ''If you tell this to anyone, I swear I will kick your ass and throw you off the ARK with my own hands.''

''Yeah, you would,'' Sonic said casually, causing Shadow to look at him, only to notice a sly smirk on Sonic's lips. ''But, you would also catch me afterwards.''

Shadow just sighed, not wanting to answer that, as he and Sonic knew that this was the truth. It amazed and frustrated him to no end just how easily he lost his composure in Sonic's presence, becoming more and more open with his emotions. His rival really had knack for driving him up the wall with his constant antics and, to make it worse, Sonic was fully aware of it. Nevertheless, that was part of the charm of their rivalry and Shadow knew that things would not be the same without that aspect of their relationship.

He then snapped out of his thoughts when Sonic just pressed his head against the white fur on his chest, nuzzling it. ''Dude, you never told me that you had a cloud for chest fur. It's so soft!''

''You're really bold for someone who is about to get punched in the face,'' Shadow said in an irked tone. Sonic lifted his head, a sly smile appearing on his fawn lips.

''Oh, really? Then, why are you still holding me like you're afraid that I'm about to fade away?'' Sonic asked in a teasing tone, drawing attention to the fact that they still held each other in a tight embrace, with Shadow's hands being placed just under Sonic's back quills.

''Shut up,'' Shadow growled, clearly irritated by Sonic's smugness, but nevertheless, he pulled him even closer, digging his muzzle into Sonic's collarbone and enjoying the warmth that kept him comfort. Sonic was still smiling, although his expression became more soft as he understood that, despite everything that just transpired, Shadow still had trouble being honest about his emotions, putting up that intimidating look that kept most people away. Fortunately, Sonic wasn't like most people and he knew what kind of buttons to push to get a reaction from Shadow. He simply leaned into it, taking in the faint scent of lavender he came to associate with Shadow and listening to the faint sound of rain outside.

It seemed that the storm had finally lessened.

xXx

Shadow squinted, slowly blinking before opening his eyes. He was still in a daze, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. The first thing he took note of was the scent of freshness in the air, the kind that appears after rain. He gazed outside, realizing that the rainstorm had stopped and that the sky was dotted with stars. It was probably late in the night.

Shadow then turned his attention to the weight on his shoulder, realizing that it was Sonic. The azure hedgehog was still fast asleep, his head leaning against Shadow's collarbone, with Shadow having placed his arm around his waist to keep him in place. The dark hedgehog sighed, realizing that they had somehow fallen asleep like this, leaned against the wall. Shadow didn't feel too uncomfortable about this position, but he did wish he had been leaning against a pillow or something similar. Sonic, obviously, was quite comfortable using Shadow as a pillow.

How did we end up like this?

Only a few days ago, Shadow was furious at Sonic for his lack of awareness and reckless behavior in the face of danger, reprimanding him for not listening to anyone in a critical moment, which led to their reality fracturing. He never expected that their forced teamwork would lead up to them starting to understand each other better, to the point of being comfortable enough in each other's presence to open up to each other. He understood that their relationship was way more than just a simple rivalry and that there was a level of deep understanding between them, a rare relationship that can enter one's heart.

Shadow knew that this was a relationship that he couldn't let go of.

He took a look down at his lap, having just realized that Sonic had placed his own hand on top of his, his gloved fingers curled slightly over Shadow's knuckles. Shadow couldn't help but smile softly, shifting his hand so he could intertwine with fingers with Sonic's and leaned his head against Sonic's forehead. He then closed his eyes, drifting off to a peaceful sleep while holding Sonic's hand in his own.

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#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

#Shatter Me #Sonic Cyber Revolution Analyzer #sonic prime #sonadow prime #shadow the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonadow #sonic adventure 2 #miles tails prower #rouge the bat #Happy Valentine's Day

[paperhalfshell]

dancing waves.

Pairing: Rise!Leonardo x Reader Word Count: 1,155 words Warnings: None

“You told me,” you screech, “that nothing at a mystic beach would try to kill me!”

“No, I told you that nothing on this beach will kill you,” Leo says, arm windmilling to cut another portal open through the sand. “Not when NEON LEON is here!”

He laughs. You do not.

“LEO –”

The ground quakes.

“And in we go!”

With a grin way too gleeful for someone about to be slurped up by a giant worm with teeth, Leo tackles the two of you into the portal.

Everything is a blinding whirl of blue and tangled limbs and the next thing you know, you have a mouth full of cold sand and the plastron of one about-to-be-hunted-for-sport turtle digging into your back. The sand tingles strangely – magically – on your tongue, so you spit it out quickly and wriggle out from under Leo to scrape off the leftover bits with your fingernails. With any luck, you won’t turn into a sandcastle or something.

Another mystic beach. You pin a dangerous glare onto Leo.

His eyes nervously dart around before meeting yours, bright and confident. “Would you look at that!” he chirps. “A reverse beach. I gotta say, this one’s waaaay better than the others.”

With a stubborn huff, you cut your gaze away from him to appraise the beach. It’s tiny, secluded, two-thirds of it surrounded by cliffs. The sand is smooth and blue against your skin, tangles of seagrass sprouting up in clusters around you. Strange-looking fish drift about in the air. And a few yards away, rolling gently into the shore, are waves the color of tangerines.

The most striking detail, however, is the complete lack of man-slash-yokai-eating monsters.

Your fists slowly relax, though you keep your frown out of pride. “It’s fine … I guess.”

Leo snorts. He gets to his feet, then sticks out a hand to help you up. “Aw, c’mon,” he exclaims when you merely squint at him. “Am I seriously still on the chopping block?”

“Is this place really safe?” you grumble in lieu of an answer, causing his mouth to pinch into a pout. Still, you reluctantly accept his hand and heft yourself up.

“I dunno. Let’s walk around and find out.” He lifts his sword into the air and starts marching down the beach. “Don’t worry, we won’t stop until we find the best beach in the Hidden City that doesn’t result in serious injury and/or death!”

Keeping a firm grip on your hand (just in case something happens, you reason, so you don’t protest), he leads you along, scanning the sand and the water for potentially dangerous creatures. None of the ones you see pose any real threat, usually swimming or scuttling away once you draw near. After some thought, you and Leo also dip your toes into the orange water and find that the only thing strange about it is the color. It’s also warm, and you do your best to hide your delight.

“Is that a smile I see?”

Crap.

“No.”

“Oh-ho-ho, that was definitely a smile,” Leo preens, letting go of your hand to toss your bags and his sword to a spot further away from the water. “I, Leonardo, officially deem this beach turtle- and human-friendly. Which means …!”

With that, he sweeps you up onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and dashes towards the shore.

“Leo!” you shriek, but this time, delight underscores the name leaving your mouth. He skids to a stop once the water reaches above his waist, and your stomach swoops in that familiar way as he hoists you over his head. (Gosh, he’s strong.) “Don’t you d –”

He sucks in a deep breath and launches you into the air.

“YEET!”

For a split second, you’re flying, limbs flailing. Then the waves rush up to swallow you whole.

You resurface quickly enough, sputtering and laughing; Leo breaks into a grin as you leap up and try to dunk him underwater.

“You jerk!”

“What was that? ‘I forgive you’?” he yells, kicking and splashing back at you. “You accept my heartfelt apology and we’re best friends again? That’s great!”

“Your apology almost got me killed three times!”

“I’m sorrrry! But you’re still alive, right?” Leo chuckles, but there’s a note of guilt in his tone, and his smile fades. You blink. The horseplay ceases as he rubs the back of his head. “I swear the pamphlets didn’t say anything about shell traps or giant worms with teeth. I probably should’ve checked the socials before portaling us.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.” He looks down into the water, then glances up at you hopefully. “But this one is fun enough, right?”

“Fun enough to make up for everything, you mean?” you ask. He winces. “Fun enough to make up for the very important fundraiser that I worked on for three weeks and reminded you about for a whole week leading up to it, only for you to miss the whole thing because you ticked off a giant yokai in the Hidden City on purpose? Fun enough for me to forgive you?”

Leo swallows dryly, looking every bit as remorseful as he did last week. “Yeah …?” he says, voice small.

You stare at him. He shrinks beneath your gaze, and it’s impossible to tell whether the moisture on his forehead is sea or sweat.

Eventually, you break into a small smile and pat his shoulder. “It is.”

He slumps. “Oh, thank god.”

“But I’d also like pizza at Run of the Mill and a shot at your portal sword.” You glance enviously at the giant blade lying in the sand, gleaming underneath the sun.

Leo gives you a wary look. “Okay, you got a date for the pizza, but I dunno about letting you use my sword. Not to be a wet blanket, but you don’t exactly have the best track record with mystic weapons.”

“Just let me hold it while you make a portal, then.”

“That I can do. You got yourself a deal.” He winks.

Your face floods with heat. Panicked, you splash him in the face.

“Pfft – hey!”

“Race you to that weird-looking rock!” you shout, diving beneath the surface.

“I don’t think that’s a rock, but you’re so on!” you hear Leo shout back before he quickly follows suit. Phew.

For the rest of the afternoon, the two of you goof around on that little beach, racing and cliff jumping and sunbathing. And when the sun begins to dip beneath the horizon, Leo lets you portal to Run of the Mill, sort of, his hands covering yours the whole time, and he treats you to your favorite pizza with money he probably cajoled from Donnie. The anger and the guilt are put to the wayside, forgotten. It’s just how it is with you and Leo. You can never stay apart for too long.

(Truth be told, you probably forgave him the first time around, anyway.)

#leonardo x reader #rise!leonardo x reader #tmnt leo x reader #rottmnt leo #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #reader insert #fanfiction #what a funny guy i love putting him in Situations #annoying people is his love language

[bbcphile]

WIP Wednesday (part 5)

Have some angst, humor, and comfort (and FDB's POV) in this week's excerpt from my Mysterious Lotus Casebook AU (Li Lianhua/Di Feisheng/Fang Duobing) where LLH's shiniang tried and failed to sacrifice herself to cure him.

(and thanks to @momosandlemonsoda for helping me choose the excerpt!)

(To catch up--although it's not necessary to follow this-- read part 1 (LLH) and part 2 (FDB), part 3 (DFS), and part 4 (DFS)--where the lotus tower door gets it--here)

***

The path in front of him blurred and he blinked the fresh tears away. Once he got back to the Lotus Tower, he was never letting Li Lianhua out of his sight again. Lao Di better not suggest taking shifts watching over Li Lianhua, because he refused to close his eyes for even a moment until Li Lianhua was out of danger. And even once Li Lianhua woke up, if they had to protect Li Lianhua from himself. If he looked for one second like he was thinking of running away, Fang Duobing would  just have to take drastic measures, like . . . like sitting on him. Or tying him to the bed. Or something. Just until he could figure out why Li Lianhua had tried to – to walk into the waves like that. Just until then. Then he could fix the problem. 

Finally, Lotus Tower came into view. Everything looked normal, except–

–Why had Lao Di left the doors open? Li Lianhua would get cold! See, this was why someone like him shouldn’t be trusted with the subtle art of caretaking–

–Wait, what was that on the floor of their home?

He hopped off his horse and rushed to investigate, Huli Jing at his heels.

He blinked down at the door panels, spread-eagled on the floor and painted side down, with only two large bootprints as decoration, then up where they used to be, then at the opposite doors and cabinets that had new dents in them from where the defeated doors had collided with them.

Huli Jing nosed at one of the doors.

His thousand lock mechanism, trapped under the weight of the door, made a whirring, rattling death knell, and then lapsed into silence.

His mind filled with images of Li Lianhua, still and unmoving, and Di Feisheng taking out his anger on their home. He was leaping over the door and into the back part of their home before he even realized he’d moved. 

“Where is he? What did you do?” he roared, rage and fear for Li Lianhua breaking over him like waves against the rocks. 

He skidded to a stop, his hip slamming against the table in the main room, braced for his world to come crashing down around him along with the rest of Lotus Tower, then froze as the scene in front of him overwrote the one haunting his mind.

Li Lianhua was lying on his back, his chest gently rising and falling with each breath, with the sheets, blanket, and his formerly sand-crusted coat–now white and sleek again–draped over him up to his chest. Di Feisheng was sitting cross-legged on the wall side of the bed, his scabbard in his lap, his knee cradling Li Lianhua’s too bony wrist, his fingers gently resting on his pulse point. Li Lianhua’s head had lolled towards Lao Di in his sleep, his nose and mouth only at most a few cun away from Lao Di’s thigh.

“Hush,” Lao Di admonished, as quietly as he’d ever heard him. “You’ll wake him up.”

#mysterious lotus casebook #mlc fic #my fic #WIP Wednesday #Fang Duobing #Di Feisheng #Li Lianhua #difanghua #lotus trio #lhl

[divinegrey]

val ladies of your choice reacting to fem reader who gets an ace?

ooo fun prompt!! sure can do!!!

ACED / FADE, JETT, KILLJOY, NEON, REYNA, SAGE, SKYE, VIPER X F!READER

words: warnings: mentions of blood and death, general game-related violence

FADE

The last bullet fires from the chamber of your gun, slamming into the head of the poor mirror Omen who didn’t even have time to turn and realize he’d been flanked and outnumbered. 

There’s blood on your face and sand in uncomfortable places, but you did it— the mission was complete and the threat currently neutralized. 

Coming around the corner with her Vandal in hand is your girlfriend, Fade, a look of shock and awe on her face. 

“Oye, holy shit! You aced!” 

Fade collides into you, wrapping her arms tightly around your neck. Though her words are excited, you feel the fear radiating off of her when you wince, holding your hand to your side (the enemy Raze had gotten lucky, but not lucky enough during your skirmish with her). 

“Couldn’t have done it without you and your haunt,” you say, tucking your head into the crook of her neck. The smell of her clothes is comforting. “God, sand is so itchy.” 

“Tell me about it,” Fade says, pulling away but keeping her arm around you for support as you move to regroup with the others. Under her breath, just enough for you to hear, Fade whispers, “I’m relieved that you’re okay, sevgilim.” 

“I will be once Skye patches this hole in my torso,” you joke, prompting Fade to roll her eyes. Fade kisses you, and if it placates her worries, you’re all too happy to let her. 

JETT

“Aye, good fucking job! Couldn’t leave any for me, could you?” Jett dashes into your line of sight, with windswept hair and a beyond proud look in her eyes. You let out a sigh of relief, lowering your gun. 

You aced. You couldn’t believe it, but with the right amount of luck and placement, you had killed all five of the mirror agents attempting to steal your radianite, but not without some damage. 

“I can’t let you have all the fun around here,” you reply, watching Jett twirl one of her knives in the air before catching it in her hand. “Besides, I think I get to do whatever I want with you now, right?” 

At the reminder of the bet you had made with her, Jett’s face turns a rosy pink. Easy to spot with the color of her hair being as bright as it is, and you simply grin at the flustered appearance of your girlfriend. 

The duelist comes over and punches your shoulder with a grumpy expression that you know is one hundred percent fake. You sling your gun over your shoulder before scooping up your girlfriend in a fireman’s carry, prompting her to attempt to wiggle free. 

It’s fruitless— you carry Jett back to the Vulture, laughing as she shouts at you the entire time to put her down. When you do put her into a seat, she kicks you in the shin. You go down onto the ground, and the amount of laughing is worth the motherly side-eye that Sage gives you as she gets on the Vulture after you. 

KILLJOY

“How the fuck did I just do that?” The question to yourself hangs in the air as you step over the mass of bodies left in the wake. Maybe an Odin was a good idea after all. 

Skidding into view is Killjoy, sprinting to your side. She grabs onto your shoulders, then shakes you rapidly until your brain is feeling thoroughly jiggled. 

“An ace! You got an ace, mein gott!” Killjoy’s excitement is through the roof. “I got footage from my turret! The way you just went in guns blazing and it worked! You did it!” 

Her smile is infectious, and you find yourself grinning at your girlfriend as she, through the eyes of her turret, executes everything you did play-by-play, complete with mimed gestures and sound effects that has you smiling from ear to ear as you walk back to the Vulture. 

Killjoy has always been nothing but supportive of you, especially when it comes to fighting. You always stress about being a good fragger for the team, but moments like these remind you that you have a place in the Protocol for a reason. You’re a good agent, and a great one at that, with the way Killjoy is regaling your epic moment on the battlefield. 

You glance at her on the Vulture, perhaps for a few seconds too long, because Killjoy stops talking and gives you a curious look. 

You shrug. “Just lookin’ at my beautiful girlfriend.” 

Killjoy’s cheeks turn red, and she promptly elbows you in the stomach. 

Leave it to her to turn the focus back to you. You love her anyway. 

NEON

“Hoy!” Neon races into your field of view, just in time to catch you before you fall backward. Defending an entire site by yourself was not easy whatsoever, but the gunfire has stopped, so you won, right?

“Jesus, that hurts,” you say, leaning against your girlfriend’s shoulder. “Are they all dead?” 

“Are they all—” Neon laughs. “You killed all of them, mahal! You aced! I couldn’t even get here in time!” 

At Neon’s words, you glance over and register that there are five bodies on the ground in the tunnel where you had used your abilities to catch them off guard. You shot your entire clip’s worth of bullets into them, but you hadn’t realized it was all of them there. 

“Oh, shit,” you say, a woozy step to the side paired with a laugh. “I did that?” 

Neon grabs your face, pinching your cheeks. Static dances up her fingers and tingles erupt on your skin. “You did that! I was all prepared to defend B site all with Viper, scary lady, but you were over here and did it all by yourself!”

Neon lays a kiss onto your cheek, prompting you to laugh at the affection showered by your girlfriend. Always your number one supporter, especially in times like these. You’re not at all used to being a top fragger. That’s Neon’s job. 

But, it does feel rewarding to have Neon all over you on the way back to base, holding you tightly the entire time and repeating phrases of happiness and pride. 

REYNA

Upon scoring an ace on a mission, Reyna does nothing but congratulate you with a click of her tongue and a “Good work.” 

Fairly typical for her, really. 

But, back at base, you find yourself being cornered when the Empress slides into your quarters, her skin translucent and her eyes bright with what you’d call desire mixed with a little bit of danger. Reyna comes back into full form, the light of her tattoo shining on the walls of your space. 

“How rude of you, cariño, to take all of my food away from me,” Reyna says, and for a moment you think she’s referencing the dinner you just ate, but it clicks. The ace. 

“I can’t let you get all the glory all the time, Reyna,” you say with a nervous laugh, backing up until you hit your dresser. Reyna stalks, locking you in with her hands at your sides. 

“The least you could do is share a taste, mi corazón.” Reyna grips your jaw, grinning, the points of her fangs exposed to the light. You’re reminded of how terrifying your girlfriend can be, but the thrill that rushes up your spine causes a tingle low in your stomach. 

“Is this my reward?” You ask, feeling her lips ghost over yours. 

“No. It’s mine.” Reyna replies, before yanking your head to the side and sinking her teeth into your jugular. 

You grip onto her shoulders, gasping before melting into her grip. 

Maybe you deserved it a little bit, but honestly? You’re enjoying yourself!

SAGE

You pull your head up just in time to watch your compatriots rush to your side. Your gun sits in your lap and you smile. 

“I got them,” you say, your voice hardly above a whisper as you gesture to the dead agents at the other side of the field. “Ow.” 

“Look at me.” The reassuring voice of Sage, your girlfriend, prompts you to meet her gaze. Turning your head, you smile at her, resting your head on the hand she places upon your cheek. 

“I got them,” you repeat, and Sage nods, pride twinkling in her eyes. 

“You got an ace, my love. I’m so very proud of you,” Sage says, her other hand summoning a healing orb. She presses it into your skin— at the cold sensation, you wince, gritting your teeth together, until the iciness fades and gives way to the pleasant tingle of your body stitching itself back together. 

Sage focuses, eyes shut, until you feel the worst of your injuries have faded away into nothingness. With that, you’re able to stand up with her help. Sage holds you tightly with her hug, and you sink into her grasp. 

“You scared me,” Sage whispers. “I didn’t hear from you after the gunfire was done.” 

“Sorry,” you mutter in reply. “My ears were ringing.” 

Sage pulls away, cupping your face. “No need. I am simply glad you are okay.”

With a soft kiss, you feel rejuvenated. You’re grinning from ear to ear as Sage walks with you back to the Vulture. 

SKYE

You’re hounded by a dog and a bird when you finally shake off the battle adrenaline. 

“Hey! Ow! Your talons hurt!” You say, swatting the bird away while simultaneously dancing around a very excited dog. He wags his tail at you, barking while dropping into a playful pose. “Skye, your dog is attacking me!” 

“Oh, calm down, lass! He’s just happy!” Skye says as she walks over, brushing her hair out of her way. Then, she stretches her fingers. “Aced that one, did ya?” 

“I did?” You look at your kill counter— 5 kills. “Huh, I did. I did!” 

At your realization, the dog barks again, running around you in circles, then between your legs. You lean down, scratching behind the ears until the dog lets out a full body shake. Skye does a shake too, as if you were scratching an itch on her back. 

“Holy shit, I can’t believe it. Thanks for flashing them, babe,” you say, resting your elbow on her shoulder. 

“Please, you had that in the bag,” Skye says, ruffling your hair before pecking you on the cheek. “Now, are ya hurt? I’ve spent enough time hearing Chamber groan about a papercut today to shove some cotton in his mouth.” 

“I’m okay,” you reply, and Skye’s vibrant eyes shine with pride. She wraps you up in a tight hug, scattering kisses on your face until you’re giddy and laughing. Then, without complaint, she carries you back to the Vulture, claiming you’ve done all the work, time to rest!

The rest of the day is spent snuggling with Skye and her dog, feeling the joy of a well-earned victory. 

VIPER

The scientist holds her cool when you walk over, some blood smudged on your face with a lazy grin. 

“Did you hear?” You ask. “I aced.” 

Tilting her head to the side, Viper replies, “I did. Phoenix hasn’t shut up about it.” 

Shrugging, you walk around Viper, hands on your hips. “I believe I recall you saying something about my performance earlier. Care to remind me?” 

Viper exhales through your nostrils. “I said your performance was… adequate.” 

“You said it was dogshit, babe, come on,” you retort, dropping your voice to a low whisper so no one else overhears. 

Viper did say that— a method of encouragement, one that worked fairly well if your shining track record has anything to say about it. Round after round, you pushed through the pain and sweat to prove yourself and your worth to your girlfriend. Of course, Viper never means to make you feel less worthy, but she knows how you like to be incentivized. 

Viper steps closer, pulling her mask down and leaning to your ear. “And as I said earlier, you’ll be aptly rewarded for your work today.” 

You brighten instantly at her words, unable to hold back the ridiculous smile on your face. Nothing else goes said, as the others arrive, but Viper sends you another look, one full of promises. Your mind flashes to distinct sounds of pleasure, and a shiver rolls down your spine. 

You can’t wait to see what Viper has in store for you. After all, you did ace. You’re a little deserving of Viper’s attention and a reward, right? 

(You spend the rest of the night under her fingers once you get back to base. Worth it!)

~~~~~ A/N: thank you for reading!!

#fade x reader #reyna x reader #viper x reader #sage x reader #neon x reader #jett x reader #killjoy x reader #skye x reader #fade #viper #reyna #sage #skye #killjoy #neon #jett #fade valorant #viper valorant #reyna valorant #sage valorant #skye valorant #killjoy valorant #neon valorant #jett valorant #fade headcanons #reyna headcanons #viper headcanons #sage headcanons #neon headcanons #jett headcanons

[clumsiestgiantess]

Chapter eleven of the Other-world Universe; Alexis fucks around and finds out.

all chapters linked here

[Deer don’t carry phones]

After both me and Erica had finished our meals on the shore of the lake, I began packing everything away.  Maybe I still managed to save this little outing after all.  Erica seems to be enjoying herself now.  I turned from my bag to watch her pace the shoreline.  Suddenly, she stopped, picked up a smooth rock, and chucked it out across the water.  The small stone skidded across the still surface of the lake, skipping four times before disappearing under its rippling face.  I'd never really been able to skip rocks like that.  On my best try I'd got a total of two whole skips. 

A smile drifted onto my face as I inhaled a breath of warm air, high hopes restored.  Though it was the height of the summer day, the breeze off the lake was cool enough that you could barely feel the heat.  "Hey," I called over to Erica, "Do you think you could teach me how to do that?  I've never really managed to get them to skip very far."  Erica grinned, glancing back at me over her shoulder. "Sure, but first we have to find a rock big enough for you.  If we do, I bet you could make it all the way across the lake!"  I nodded and headed out to the woods, looking for a suitable stone.  "Make sure it's smooth and flat or it won't skip!" Erica called after me.  "I know," I replied absentmindedly.

Stepping lightly through the woods, I scoured the ground for a good rock.  I felled a few trees in my wake, but not so many that it simply looked like they'd fallen on their own.  After a few minutes of searching, I found a flat enough stone by a river that fed into the lake.  It had been worn smooth by the rushing water flowing past.  Once I dug it from the ground, I began my trip back to the beach where Erica was waiting.  I retraced my path back, trying to destroy as few trees as possible and sparing myself the tedious chore of carefully watching every step. 

As I came within sight of the beach, I waved to Erica and called: "Found one!"  She called back to me, but her voice was too small to carry very far. Picking up my pace so I could hear her, I didn’t bother to look at the ground. I nearly tripped on a tree and felt something crunch beneath my foot, but I took no notice of it now that the beach was only a few steps ahead of me.  "What took you so long?" Erica asked as I approached the shore, "There have to be hundreds of rocks in the woods."  I stepped back onto the sandy lakeshore and shrugged, "I couldn't find a flat one like you asked."  I was about to crack a joke when I noticed Erica's face was rapidly losing color.

I was on the ground in an instant.  "Erica, what's-"  "What is that?"  She had pointed behind me, so I stood and turned back the way I'd come.  Looking down on my footprints in the sand, it was clear that one of my feet was tracking crimson red across the clearing.  I lifted one foot, then the other.  The sole of my right shoe was stained a deep red color.  I dared to take a whiff; it smelled like fresh coins.. or blood. 

Charging back through the woods, I remembered the strange crunch I'd heard while I was heading back.  Upon returning to the spot, it became clear that I'd definitely stepped on a living thing.  Judging by the carnage, I'd likely crushed more than one little creature.  I knelt down to have a closer look, but it was hard to get low enough without laying down, which would lay waste to one third of the lakefront.  Poor forest creatures.  I'd probably stepped on a small herd of deer.  

Eventually, Erica burst through the woods, panting with exhaustion after running all the way there.  "What was it?" I asked, gesturing to the bloody mess on the forest floor, "I think I crushed a few deer but I'm not sure.  It's hard to see from up here."  Erica slowly approached the awful scene below.  Scanning the mess, she picked something up off the ground and sank to her knees.  I waited for her to speak, but after a few minutes, she still hadn't gotten up.  "Erica?" I voiced my concern.  Slowly, she stood and turned to me with a horrified expression.  "You killed them," she whispered, "These..  bodies.  They were people."

I could feel the groan building in my throat, but I held it back because Erica looked so crestfallen.  “Oh, I doubt they were.  I haven't seen anyone out here before, and you can't really tell what these things were based on that mess, can you?"  I tried to convince her that it wasn’t as big a deal as she made it out to be, but she placed something small into my outstretched hand, silently letting me examine it.  It was the item she'd picked up off the ground earlier.  I brought it up to my face to have a look.  The little thing was a phone — broken and crushed, but a phone nonetheless.  I blinked in shock.  "Deer don't carry phones," Erica said simply.

Shuttering, I dropped the tiny thing to the forest floor below.  Hesitantly bending down, I tried to get a better look at Erica’s reaction.  It was still rather difficult to get close enough to the ground with all the large trees surrounding me, but I could already tell she was upset.  “It’s alright,” I assured her, “Really.  It’s fine, see?”  I gestured around at the empty forest surrounding us.  “No one saw, and no one will find them until we’re long gone.”  Erica blinked, her expression slowly shifting from concern to confusion.  I waved a hand dismissively, “This happened all the time before.  It’ll be fine.”  

“What?” Erica whispered hoarsely. I flinched, catching my mistake. “You.. These were people. You just killed two people.”  “I know,” I replied, trying to shrug it off, “and once I clean up the bloody footprints, no one will know the difference.  People will probably think they got mauled by a bear or something and move on.” 

Erica began to back away from me, “But you just killed two people!  Don’t you care?!”  "Sure, of course I do."  Sighing, I watched as Erica retreated further back to the edge of the clearing.  I was hoping to take her attention away from the scene before she had the chance to fully comprehend it.  Accidents like these still happened on occasion; it’s nearly impossible to avoid without controlling someone — without intangibility.  "Look, it's best to just forget about it, ok?” I told her, dropping the nonchalance act.  “You get used to it after a while.  When you're my size, people just kinda.. get in the way and-"  "How many times has this happened?" Erica asked, cutting me off.  I shuddered, her voice was suddenly violent and harsh.  "It.. It doesn't matter, I-"  "HOW MANY TIMES HAS THIS HAPPENED!?"

If looks could kill, I would've dropped dead right then and there.  Now it was my turn to back away as Erica inched threateningly closer.  "I.. Um," I gulped.  I can't tell her the truth, I mean, I've lost count of the amount of times people have spontaneously died in my presence.  "How many times?  Um, this scenario specifically, or.."  "HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU KILLED!?"  "Oh, uhh.. A lot?  I don't know, maybe like 20 or so?"  And that was an understatement.  I have ultimately just sealed my fate with that sentence.  

Instinctively, I braced myself, but Erica had gone quiet.  Then she laughed.  She started laughing loudly to herself, and it was making me extremely nervous for my own sake.  “Well, no wonder you don't care about them!" she chuckled, "You don't care about anyone!  You don't give two shits whether we live or die!  But who cares about us, anyway?  It's not like we have fucking lives or anything!  Sure, just go ahead and maul anyone who gets in your way."  I grimaced, "I.. That's not what I meant!"  Erica only shook her head and kept laughing.  It had built into a kind of maniac laughter that made my hair stand on end.  Terrified, I fled back to the beach and frantically began packing up.  

This is bad, this is bad, this is VERY BAD, THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WAS TRYING TO ACHIEVE HERE!  I was almost finished stuffing my things away when the bag tipped over and sent everything tumbling out again.  I was too slow.  Erica had returned.  Her sudden laughter had long disappeared and she was out of breath and enraged, storming down the sand towards me.  "No!  I-  Please!  It's not what you think!" I begged, scrambling away from her.

"Did you ever actually care about me?"  I froze with her question hanging in the air, looking down at Erica slightly heartbroken.  "Of course I did!  I still do!"  "Yet you just step on people like we're nothing."  Sliding my bag to the side, I carefully inched closer, lowering myself down to look at her.  “But you're different."  Erica shook her head angrily, "No I'm not!  I am literally the same thing they are!  The only 'difference' is that you know me!"  

Seething, she took a threatening step forwards, hand less than an other-world inch from my face.  I hastily retreated back upwards, subconsciously dragging my backpack in front of me to protect myself.  “But it’s-  It’s not-”  “Shut up.”  I obeyed. 

"If you dropped me…  Back when we first met at my house and you still didn't really know me and you dangled me over the cliffside and threatened my life…  If you dropped me, is this how you would've reacted?  If I'd died-"  "It was an accident!  They all were!" I cried desperately.  "I DON’T FUCKING CARE IF IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Erica screamed.  "If you killed me, accident or not, would you have just walked off?  Waited for someone to find my dead mangled body at the bottom of the cliff like you are with these people!?  Think about it.  Honestly.  When you didn't know me, would you have cared?"  Tears welled in the corners of my eyes and my vision grew blurry.  I tried to think up another excuse, but even if I had, I was too choked up to say another word.  My silence was all the answer she needed.  I wouldn't have cared.

I fled before she could see my utter meltdown. Abandoning Erica and my bag on the shore, I raced through the mountain range and hid in a shallow ravine between two jagged peaks.  Then, having harbored hundreds of horrible feelings for too long, I finally snapped.  I never cared about any of them other than her! I realized, choking on a sob that manifested in my throat.  And even then, I would have just moved on if she'd died.  Not anymore, of course, but I probably wouldn’t have cared before the rainy day when we spent practically the whole day getting to know eachother.  I shouldn’t even care this much. They're just plastic figures, aren't they?  They’re all fake.  They’re all fake.  Right!?  

Nothing could console me after that.  For hours I hid and cried, realizing what a horrible person I was.  Here I thought I’d actually changed.  Yet the longer I thought through things, the more horrible decisions and wrong choices emerged.  The longer I thought about the other-world, the more certain I became that it wasn’t just a lifelike recreation of the kids table in my world.  Sure, the table and this world were similar — both generic large cities — but they weren’t the same thing.  If they were, the small-world would have an abrupt end where the table cut off, the buildings would be identical rather than vaguely similar, and there would certainly be a lot more destruction from my brother.

Even the twin buildings, which I thought were a sure sign of the worlds being connected, were likely different too.  After all, don't most cities have the same structures, such as town halls and bus stops, or even an aquarium?  And the skyline — it was different.  I knew it was different.  Instead of realizing that something might be wrong with my logic once I noticed, I found another dumb thing to base my ideas off of instead.  All because I refused to believe I was wrong.  Things wouldn’t make sense anymore if I was wrong.  But I was wrong.

Similar, but different — the other-world is real.  

The cascades of tears on my cheeks paused for a brief moment as the reality of everything dawned on me.  Of course these people aren't plastic.  In this world they’re very real people of flesh and bone.  They have families and lives.  All things considered, they’re the same as anyone else from my own world, only smaller — helpless to stop me from making mistake after mistake.  I’ve been casually ignoring their deaths like they're nothing. But Erica.. she means everything to me. She’s so real I forgot she’s one of them.

After my face had finally dried and I had seemingly run out of tears to cry, I lay in the ravine, watching the sky.  The sun had long set; I'd been hiding there for hours, neither wanting to travel back to my world, nor return to the one I was in.  I simply sat there, staring at the stars, doubting every single choice I’d ever made.  The night dragged on, yet I refused to move.  It's actually pretty comfortable down here.  Four or five depressing hours passed as I lay in the ravine, thinking about nothing and everything at the same time.  Then I remembered Erica, who had no way home besides me.  Shit.

I sat up suddenly, gazing past the cliffs to the lake beyond.  Its glassy surface was practically glowing in the otherwise dark forest, lit by the almost-full moon.  Awful as I felt, I had to go back, lest I leave Erica stranded out there in the middle of the night.  

Hauling myself up by the side of a mountain, I stood and trudged slowly back to the lake.  Being so tall, I could see the beach long before I arrived.  A small figure raced into the woods, their silhouette dissolving within inky black shadows.  Sighing, I stepped over the last of the trees in front of me and sat on the sand.  I pulled my forgotten bag over my lap and listened to the peaceful humm of creatures at night.  Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.  Goosebumps raced down my arms.

Regrettably, I had not come prepared with an apology for Erica.  I could barely process what I’d pieced together over the last few hours, nevermind trying to go through the now impossible task of explaining it all to her.  I was only there because Erica had no way to get back home, unless she wanted to hike the half day's journey through the mountains to civilization on her own.

I'd secretly been hoping that Erica would be the first to say something, so I wouldn't have to.  However, as the cold night continued, it became apparent that she refused to speak to me.  I turned towards the woods and watched as Erica quickly scrambled back into the dark. You idiot, she’s waiting for you. Say something.

"You need a way home," I observed.  Many of the hidden creatures around us silenced when I spoke, and the shore became eerily quiet.  "What would you c-care if I died out h- here?" Erica retorted.  Her voice sounded noticeably off, and as she stepped out into the pale moonlight, I realized she was shivering.  It had gotten rather cold by then — as mountains generally get at night — and she was still wearing the sleeveless shirt and shorts to combat the summer heat from earlier that day.  

"I know you're mad, that's completely understandable, but you're going to freeze out here.  Come back to the mansion with me."  I offered her a hand, but she scoffed and brushed past it.  "H-how come every time I g-get the chance to live my own life, I just end up listening t-to you, huh?"  Erica shivered, rubbing her hands over her bare shoulders in a feeble attempt to warm herself.  "You aren't even c-controlling me anymore, but I'm still not f-free from you.  I'm st-still forced to listen to you, because if I d-don't I'll be st-stuck here."  She shuddered as a cold wind swept through the beach from the woods.  “I guess that’s my f-fault for t-trusting you.”

Bending down, I ever so carefully placed a few fingers over Erica's arm to comfort her.  She was ice cold; I could feel her shivering beneath the pads of my fingers.  Erica pulled away from my hand for the briefest moment before changing her mind and leaning very slightly against me.  She needed the warmth. "I really wish I could've saved this, but I can't,” I whispered, my voice breaking at the last word.  “I hoped you would forgive me, but I can't even forgive myself."  Erica turned to face me.  I could feel tears welling in my eyes again, but I forced them down.  "I said I would leave — you told me to leave — but I came back because I thought…  Well, it doesn't matter what I thought.  I failed.  I failed you.  You and everyone else I've hurt."  I pulled away from her, my arm falling to my side, "I'll leave.  For real this time.  Then you won't be tempted to.. to listen to me."  

Everything became silent for so long that the chirping of invisible insects started back up.  Again, I offered Erica my hand, and this time she took it.  "Don't come back here," Erica said grimly, "I don't want to see you again."  I was already so numb from self-loathing that her words barely affected me.  What's a knife to the heart when it's already been torn from your chest?

Once Erica was settled down, I lightly clasped my hands around her to give her some warmth, which she reluctantly accepted.  I returned to invisibility so Erica could see what was happening through my fingers.  I remembered that was what she'd complained about last time.  Then, at a rather somber wandering pace, I headed for home.

By the light of the moon, I was able to find my way back to the mansion on the cliffside.  I stood hesitantly for a moment, realizing this would be our final goodbye.  Silently, I returned to my visible state, slowly opening my hands to reveal Erica tucked away in my cupped fingers, fast asleep.  She must’ve been exhausted, I realized; she was at that lake almost all day and halfway through the night.  Normally, she never would have dared to close her eyes while I held her.  

I wasn’t so selfish as to wake Erica up for a last goodbye.  Instead, I pushed open the balcony doors on the second floor and peered inside.  If I remembered correctly, this would be the bedroom.  Spying her bed on the opposite wall, I slowly slid my hand through the doorway and placed Erica inside, gently nudging her limp body onto the mattress.  My eyes teared up as I watched her subconsciously shift on her bed, tucking in on herself over the sheets, knees hugged tightly to her chest.  Her breathing sped up, and I was fairly sure she’d woken but didn’t want me to know.  Gently, I slid a blanket off her beanbag chair and draped it over her, silently trying to make peace one last time.  My breath came out in a wheezing shudder as tears finally leaked from my eyes.

After placing Erica in her bed, I waited quietly at the cliff’s edge for a moment, mulling over the events of the day.  Twenty-four hours ago, we were both close friends.  At least, I thought we were.  That could never be, though.  It couldn’t happen with me — an invisible monster that hurts everyone in the end, one way or another.  After quietly closing the balcony doors, I backed away, taking in my last moments in the other-world.  I’ve said it before, but I really think this is it.  I’m never coming back here again.

#who believes that last line? #this is only arc one everyone #don’t panic #she’ll be back (eventually) #other-world universe #g/t #giant tiny

[atopfourthwall]

A bit of a weird question, but I might be moving out of my home state to minnesota, specifically minneapolis, because being trans down here is rather rough. Do you have any advice for living in the state? Cool hidden spots? What to do for a person who's never experienced a snowy winter?

Alrighty, a few things I can mention - some of it is secondhand so don't take my word for it, but it'll be helpful. -Trans healthcare (and quality of healthcare) is pretty good in the state in my experience. You SHOULD be able to find the resources you need, though bear in mind while quality is good, price is no different - shit's still expensive everywhere because health care is itself expensive, but any other Minnesotans here feel free to reblog or chime in the replies with anything particularly useful or helpful. -Alrighty, your winter experiences will be slightly different depending on if you're living in the suburbs or the city itself. In an apartment in the city? You're probably fine - I'm assuming relying on public transportation, of which there are several options like the buses or light rail, though I know people from other cities who come to Minnesota say our public transport is lacking compared to other major cities. What I can say is that with the winter, unless it's a REALLY bad storm or the temperature drops to dangerous levels (we're talking degrees below zero), everything should still be open and running. -If you have your own car, during the winter keep weighted things in it - a cement block, bags of sand/salt, etc. Increased weight helps keep you from slipping. It's not perfect but it helps. Consequently, if you lose control on the ice, turn INTO the skid and pump the brakes - don't just press it flat, repeatedly pump the brakes to regain control. -If you have a house and a front walk/driveway, SHOVEL AND SALT. Overhangs on houses drip water when the temperature is right for melting, but the temperature will usually drop and freeze. Salt that area to either prevent it from freezing or make it easier to chop through with an ice chipper. Shoveling is just necessary depending on the severity of the snow (usually anything more than an inch or two should be shoveled) both for safety and because mail carriers will not deliver if you don't. -This year we had a reeeaally bad winter. Multiple heavy snowstorms that required going out to shovel multiple times during the day. Get warm clothes, wear layers - especially until you're used to it. However, most years it's fine. Light snowfall during winter, covers everything, maybe one bad storm but most of the time tolerable. -As for stuff to do - TONS! Minnesota has a thriving community of nerds, artists, performers, and just talented people in general. We have two major zoos - one of them paid, one free (Como Zoo), multiple parks and indeed Land of 10,000 Lakes so lots of lake beaches to enjoy swimming or fishing if that's your thing. The Science Museum remains one of the coolest places to learn stuff on various science topics even into adulthood. Conventions are relatively plentiful, though as a warning some cons are for-profit and have some... questionable leadership, look into them before deciding to go - particularly on the anime con front, but we have sci-fi/fantasy cons aplenty, too. The Mall of America is a big, big place with tons of fun stores and whatnot, including the former Camp Snoopy (currently Nickelodeon Universe). The Walker Art Center has an amazing statue garden, including the iconic Cherry and Spoon fountain. There's also the amusement park Valley Fair, which during Halloween becomes Valley Scare with spooky attractions in the neighboring area that's used for the annual Renaissance Festival. -Minnesota is a fairly large state. Not Texas big, but since it's mostly plains and hills, a lot of it is spread out and getting from one city to another usually requires going on freeways (we're also weird because we have left exits on some parts of freeways). If you don't have your own vehicle, you may want to consider getting one just to get to farther places. That's all I've got off the top of my head! Good luck with your move and remember: we only have two seasons here - Winter and Road Construction.

[the-wild-wolves-around-you]

even as a shadow, even as a dream pt.2

Pairing: Vamp!Eddie Munson/Fem Reader; Vamp!Eddie Munson/You

Summary: You haven't been coping with Eddie's death very well, but you're trying. Then one night, you hear a noise outside your house... (Reader POV)

Rating: M(ature)

Warnings: adult language, feelings of self-loathing and grief, smoking, unhealthy coping mechanisms, brief talk of past violence and injuries, angst

A/N: here's pt. 2 as promised! pt. 3 will hopefully be up tomorrow. <3

Ao3 Link: Here | Pt. 1 Links: Tumblr / Ao3 |  Pt. 3 Links: Tumblr / Ao3

Reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!

The sound of the front door smacking into the porch railing rang through your ears, followed by the scuffling of shoes as someone skidded to a stop behind you.

“O-Oh, there you are,” Steve Harrington panted.

You took a moment to reply, exhaling a plume of smoke.

“Here I am,” you finally said. But it didn’t sound like you speaking, didn’t feel like you speaking.

It felt like you were watching yourself from outside your body. You could see your own hunched form on the porch steps, Steve standing in the threshold of your house, his knuckles blanched white as he gripped the edge of the door. They weren’t visible, but you also knew Dustin and Robin were right behind him, could just picture their worried faces.

You didn’t look up to acknowledge Steve, just lifted your cigarette again and took a long, deep drag. You couldn’t even feel the burn at the back of your throat anymore, nor the nausea from so much nicotine. But your head felt light, swimmy, and not your own.

You exhaled again and blindly watched the smoke curl up past your face.

“We were, uh, calling for you,” Steve replied, shifting to close the door behind him and then leaning against the railing of the stairs in your peripherals. He was obviously trying to look casual, cool, but you could hear the lingering note of panic in his tone. “We called your name like ten times.”

“I heard,” you said, flat and emotionless.

You were staring unblinkingly at the sidewalk below the porch, but after a moment, you wedged the remaining butt of your cigarette between your teeth and reached down between your thighs. From the step below, you picked up a crumpled pack of cigarettes.

Camels, his brand, whispered a voice deep inside you, but you violently shoved it down, away, into the darkest voids of your mind.

No, not thinking about… that. Not thinking at all.

You awkwardly fished out a fresh smoke, struggling with your casted wrist. You distantly noted that it ached, but you couldn’t feel it, couldn’t feel the fractured bones in your arm, in your cheek, your ribcage. Everything below the neck felt like wet sand, and your head was a helium-filled balloon. Those things didn’t feel pain, so why would you?

Once you had the new cigarette, you switched it out for the one between your lips, but you held the last dying embers of the old butt to the new one and inhaled deeply.

Smoke filled your mouth, filtered into your lungs, and the world fuzzed out around the edges. You exhaled and tossed the almost empty pack of smokes beside your bare feet on the next step down. There were several already discarded butts scattered across the bottom of the porch, and you threw the newest one down to join them.

“Right, um…” Steve said from over your shoulder, reminding you he was there, and then he took a deep breath. “Well, next time, could you just, uh, grunt or something? You know the kid gets… nervous.”

A distant pang of guilt twisted in your stomach, but you just stared into the middle distance until the sensation went away entirely.

“I already promised I wasn’t going to run again, Harrington.” You took another drag off your cigarette, still not looking at Steve, still not blinking. “What more do you want from me?”

That was already asking a lot. Too much. And you hadn’t agreed to it originally. But every time you tried to sneak away, Steve or one of the others inevitably stopped you, and you realized you were getting nowhere with your prison break attempts. Then, as the days passed, your urgency had faded, smothered by the ice that was slowly encasing your heart. Now you were a glacier, slow moving and isolated, and nothing really mattered anymore.

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glancing off down the darkening street. You could just see him in your peripherals. He looked tired, dark bruises under his eyes and his mouth in a thin white line, and yet you found you had little empathy for him.

“Look, Obi--” he said after a long moment, but suddenly, for the first time, you reacted.

The sound of those three letters felt like ice picks being driven into your ears, into the cold block of stone currently sitting in your chest. The world trembled along the edges, and you felt yourself starting to slip back into your body, the pain in every cell becoming more acute.

No.

You snapped your head up, half turning to look at Steve with a glare that could melt paint.

“Don’t.” Your voice was a smoke-rough growl, the edge of your upper lip twitching in a snarl. “Don’t fucking call me that.”

“Wha—” Steve blinked down at you and looked surprised at your sudden anger. “D-Dustin calls you that.”

“Dustin can call me whatever the fuck he wants, he can call me a stupid fucking cunt, I deserve it. But you… you can’t call me… that.”

Your tone had been venomous at the start, but the end of your sentence wobbled, your throat constricting around the last word. Still, you continued to glare up at Steve, waiting for his response, and he seemed to realize this because he bobbed his head in a jerky nod.

“A-Alright,” he said as he raised his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t, um, mean anything by it.”

You ground your teeth as you turned away from him, and you didn’t respond as you brought the cigarette to your lips again. Your throat still felt tight, the muscles in your face pinching around your brow and mouth, and your vision was blurry with unshed tears.

Taking another drag, you blinked until your eyes cleared, and then you started counting the miniscule cracks in the sidewalk at your feet. You got to thirty and were just about to let the nicotine buzz carry you back out of your body when Steve spoke up again.

“What did you mean by ‘you deserve it?’” he asked hesitantly, frowning down at you when you didn’t respond. “Because, personally, I don’t think there’s anything you could do to deserve being called a c— uh, that word. Even when you made me chase you barefoot down the road the other morning.”

Steve cracked a smile in your peripherals, obviously going for a joke, but you didn’t even look at him.

That had been the last time you tried to sneak off. It had been early morning, just after dawn, and Steve had fallen asleep on your couch. You snuck out the back door, but he must have sensed your absence somehow, heard the door click behind you, because you only made it to the end of the block before Steve Harrington was running down the road in his bare feet, shouting your name. He caught up to you easily, and he must have called Dustin on the walkie before he left, because the curly-haired kid was sitting on your porch by the time Steve dragged you home. Dustin had tears in his eyes when he begged you to stop trying to go back, and at that point, you still had the capacity to feel guilt, so you agreed. Now, you didn’t even have it in you to regret that choice, even though you knew you should.

“Come on, Harrington,” you muttered around the butt of your cigarette. “Don’t be fucking stupid.”

“If you ask Robin, that’s kind of impossible,” Steve chuckled weakly.

Again, you didn’t laugh, and Steve sighed, shifted to squat down beside you, and laid his hand on your shoulder.

“Harrington, what do you want?” Your voice was still flat but sharp edged, like a razor, and you shrugged Steve’s hand off.

“I want… well, I want a lot of things,” he said as he rocked back on his heels, still crouching beside you. “I want this whole situation to be… less fucked up. I want Hawkins whole again. I want these stupid kids to have their childhoods back. I want Mun-- Max awake. But… I also want you to know that what happened to her was not your fault.”

“Then whose fucking fault is it?” There was some emotion back in your voice, but it was bitter. You could feel the ice in your chest thawing around the edges, melted by the anger Steve was stirring in you.

“Jason’s,” Steve said immediately.

“Jason was an idiot,” you sneered around your cigarette, the tip flaring orange as you took a sharp drag. You exhaled smoke and wished it was fire. “He was an idiot who couldn’t see past his own ego, couldn’t see the truth when it was staring him right in the goddamn face. I knew what was happening. I knew what was at stake. I should have stopped him—”

“You tried!” Steve cut you off as he gestured to your battered face, your broken wrist. “He beat the shit out of you!”

“I didn’t try hard enough!” you snarled and finally looked fully back at Steve. “If I had stopped Jason, he wouldn’t have hurt Lucas, wouldn’t have stepped on Max’s Walkman. And if Max still had her Walkman, she wouldn’t have been snapped to fucking pieces, Vecna wouldn’t have been able to open the gate, and Edd—”

You choked on the last word, physically choked on it. You couldn’t get your vocal cords to form it, couldn’t get your tongue to work. It sat in your mouth like a lump of dead meat, and your breath caught in your lungs, seized, arrested. Your heart stuttered over the lack of oxygen, and your vision suddenly blurred again, hot tears coursing down your cheeks without your permission.

You hadn’t been able to say… his name ever since that night. Even when you were begging the others to let you go back to the Upside Down for him, you couldn’t speak his name. Because you knew once you said it, the glacier of grief inside your chest would melt entirely, drowning you.

And you couldn’t… you just couldn’t deal with that.

Steve sighed and then muttered your name— your real name this time— as he scrubbed a tired hand down his face.

“You can’t really believe that,” he said, and you could feel his eyes on you.

You swallowed past the lump in your throat and recomposed yourself, taking another drag and realizing you were more than halfway through this cigarette already.

“Why can’t I?” you asked as you exhaled. You words were measured again, removed. “It’s the truth.”

“No, it’s not,” Steve argued. “Jason took you by surprise, and Lucas said you gave as good as you got until the bastard got a lucky shot in and knocked you out. It was because you injured Jason that Lucas even survived. So it’s not your fault. Max is not your fault. And Munson… Munson was not your fault, either.”

His name hit you like a physical blow, like a battery of them— like Jason kicking you in the ribs over and over and over— and you inhaled so sharply that the cherry of the cigarette burned your fingertips. You dropped the butt mindlessly and curled your singed fingers into a tight fist, pressing it to the top of your knee.

“Harrington,” you said, your voice a warning, but Steve had never heeded a warning before, and he apparently wasn’t going to start now.

“If you want to blame someone, blame me. I let him and Dustin go off on their own. I-I should have come up with a different plan, a better one. I know I make jokes about it and complain a lot, but I am the babysitter. I’m supposed to look out for those kids, for everyone, and I… failed. I failed them, I failed you, I failed Munson. And I’m so fucking sorry. But if you want to blame someone, hate someone, then hate me. I deserve it. Just stop disappearing.”

“Jesus Christ, I just stepped outside to fucking smoke—”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” Steve said as he leveled you with a look. “Your body’s here, but you are not. And you only seem to be getting further and further away. But Henderson needs you here. I-I know it hurts, but that kid in there is also heartbroken, and I can try to talk to him about it, but it wouldn’t mean anything coming from me. I didn’t know Munson. Not like… the two of you did.”

Again, his name hit you like a punch you didn’t expect, taking the wind of you. Closing your eyes did nothing to stop twin tears from leaking out of the corners, and you dug the nails of your right hand into your knee. As much as you tried, you couldn’t seem to distance yourself like before, couldn’t seem to slip out of your body like a worn dress, and you hated Steve a little for it.

“I… can’t,” you gritted out, still with your eyes closed. “I can’t talk about— I just can’t, Harrington.”

“Maybe not right now,” Steve murmured from somewhere in the darkness. “But at some point, you’ll need to. And Dustin will need to. So just… stick around for him. Please.”

You took a deep breath. Let it out slow. You counted to ten, then to thirty. And all the while, you began to feel the aches and pains in your body, turning on one by one like light switches. The worst pain was in your chest— yawning and hungry where it was once cold and numb— and you knew it wasn’t your broken ribs.

“Fine.” The word was dragged up from the depths of you and spat out. You still didn’t look at Steve. “But I need something from you.”

“Anything,” Steve replied instantly, sounding eager, relieved.

“I need you to leave. I need you to take Robin and Dustin and go home tonight.”

“What?” Steve’s tone was strangled, incredulous, and you could just picture his dumbstruck expression. Before he could drum up a response, you opened your eyes and turned to look at him squarely.

“I need to be alone, Harrington,” you said, a note of pleading in your voice. “I need just one goddamn night without you and Robin hovering over me, without Dustin calling me on the walkie every five minutes. Just one night. And I promise, I’ll be here in the morning. I promise I won’t run. Like you said, w-what’s there to go back for now?”

Steve flinched when you threw his own words back at him. He’d shouted them at you a few days ago, red faced and barefoot and running on two hours of sleep. The question had knocked you so far back on your heels that you didn’t even fight it when Steve started dragging you home.

Because you knew the answer. You’d known it the second Dustin had walked up to you in the hospital the morning after Hawkins was torn asunder, with tears on his cheeks, a hollow look in his eyes, and a guitar pick clenched in a shaking fist. You knew.

You just didn’t want to accept it.

But you could feel it creeping up on you now. The realization. The knowledge that… he was never coming back. It had been four days now. Tomorrow would be five. Five whole days in a world without him. And nothing had stopped. Everything just kept turning, faster and faster. Soon it would be a week, then two, then six months, and a year. Unless Vecna got what he wanted and ended the world after he was done licking his wounds. A dark part of you would almost prefer that. Because years— a lifetime— without the man you loved seemed so unbearable.

And the worst part was you never even had the courage to tell him how you felt.

You turned away from Steve as more tears fell from your eyes, hastily swiping them away. The smell of smoke on your fingers reminded you of the cigarettes, and you blindly picked up the pack again, fishing out a fresh one and trading the pack for the lighter beside your heel. Strangely, once the smoke was in your lungs, you felt like you could breathe a little better, and when you spoke, your voice didn’t even shake.

“Please, Steve,” you said, tilting your head back to stare at the purple tinged sky. “If you don’t leave now, you’re gonna get caught outside of curfew.”

Most of Hawkins had fled in the wake of the “earthquake,” but not everyone had the privilege to pick up and move, so the government— who knew what went bump in the night— had instated a heavily enforced curfew that began at full dark. The sky was bruised with twilight already, but everyone lived within a ten minute radius, so they should be able to make it home no problem if they left now.

You prayed they did.

A moment of silence passed, and you could feel Steve staring at the side of your face, but you didn’t look at him. You were trying to count the seconds between your inhales and exhales, attempting to hold back the rising tide inside you. Already your throat felt tight with every scream and all the tears you’d been holding in for the past four days. You just needed to hold them in a little while longer.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Steve sighed and rose to his feet.

“Alright,” he relented, sounding so tired, so much older than he was. “I’ll… talk to the others.”

You nodded in gratitude, unable to get the words out, and Steve sighed again as he turned and went back into the house.

Over the next few minutes, you heard the hushed argument he was having with Dustin and Robin. You couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but you could pick out the worry in Dustin’s tone. The guilt hit you a little harder now, but you just took another sharp drag, hoping to drown the emotion in smoke.

Eventually, the door opened at your back, and Dustin cleared his throat.

“H-Hey, Obi?”

You winced at the nickname, but you plastered on a smile as you stubbed out your cigarette and stood up.

“Hey, kiddo,” you said as you turned to face him, cheeks already aching from the strain of your smile. “Steve tell you the plan for the night?”

“Yeah…” He nodded slowly and frowned at you, concern clear in his eyes. “But are you sure? I-If you’re sick of Steve, I can ask my mom if I can—”

“You and I both know your mom won’t let you stay out past dark after everything,” you cut him off gently. “In fact, you’re pushing your luck right now. Steve was supposed to drive you home an hour ago.”

“I know, but—”

“Dustin. I promise I’ll be fine. And I swear on… Metallica that I won’t go anywhere. You can even come wake me up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I’ll make you breakfast.” You tried to make your smile softer, more genuine, as you placed your good hand on the top of his head. His curls were soft beneath your palm. He’d been wearing his hair down and loose, without a cap, for four days now. The sight hurt as much as it warmed the spot where your heart used to me.

The kid seemed to consider your proposition for a long moment before he cracked a tentative smile in return.

“Okay.” Dustin nodded under your hand, but he stared into your eyes when he continued. “I’m holding you to that promise, Obi.”

God, you wished he would stop calling you that.

“It’s a deal then.” Your cheeks were aching now, so you ruffled his hair before you nudged him gently down the stairs. “Better get going. You know those government patrol Jeeps mean business.”

“I’ll call you on the walkie when I get home, to let you know I made it.” Dustin stared back at you longingly as he walked down the porch, and Robin slipped past Steve to go join him.

“H-Have a good night,” she seemed to say on reflex, then flinched when she realized what she’d said.

But you just waved at her with your plastic smile and turned back to Steve.

“Harrington, they need a driver,” you reminded him.

Steve stared at you with a conflicted expression, but you could see how tired he was. He’d been guarding you for the majority of four days and nights. He needed a break.

“Just… remember your promises,” he said after a length of silence. Then his gaze trailed to where Dustin and Robin were waiting by his car. “Henderson… he’s a wreck. He’s trying not to show it, but he is. He can’t lose anyone else. So I’m begging you here. Please.”

“I’m not going to intentionally inflict more trauma on him.” Your smile finally fell, curving into a sharp frown. “You’re not the only one who cares about him, you know. And… you don’t have to be the one to carry everything, Harrington.”

“If I don’t, who will?” He flashed a weak, tired smile before he slid past you and clomped down the stairs. “Try to get some sleep tonight. If you can.”

“Back at you,” you said to his retreating form, and he lifted a hand in goodbye as he reached the car.

You watched him, Dustin, and Robin get in, and within moments, they were driving away into the gathering dark, Dustin’s face staring back at you through the rear window until Steve turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.

When they were gone, you sighed and rubbed a hand down your face, your fingers sliding through the drying tears on your cheeks. You knew you should get inside, but suddenly the thought of sitting alone in your empty house made your breath catch. To stave off the panic, you sank back down onto your porch steps, pulling your third to last cigarette from the pack with shaking hands. You singed your fingertips when you flicked the lighter to life, but the minor pain helped to center you.

Your first inhale was wobbly, the second stronger, and you exhaled cloud after cloud of gray smoke, blaming it for the barely-there sting in your eyes.

Suddenly, you thought you heard a noise, and you snapped your head up, cigarette dangling from your lips and heart crawling up your throat. The block of houses you lived on was dark and silent around you. Most of your neighbors had fled after the earthquake— like your mother and her boyfriend. The only one left was Mr. Jacobs at the end of the block, but he was a quiet old man and had probably been in bed for an hour. You squinted into the darkness, but the single still-working streetlight was at the top of the street, and your porchlight only illuminated your front yard and part of the curb.

Your eyes flicked to the looming shadows of the woods across the road. The black tips of the trees scraped the indigo sky, streaked with clouds and stars in intervals. You could see nothing at the base of the trees, everything swallowed in shadow, and your heart started to pound in your ears.

“Obi!”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” you gasped, nearly dropping your cigarette and coming out of your skin. You cast a glare behind you at the front door that had been left ajar, and a moment later, Dustin’s voice called out again, far away and staticky.

“Obi, come in, over,” he said over the walkie that was somewhere in your living room. “Just wanted to let you know I made it home, over.”

You sighed and shook your head, taking another drag to calm your stuttering heart. You turned back to face the street, and your gaze went to the trees again. But there was nothing in the darkness. You’d probably just heard the crackle of static from the walkie before Dustin spoke up.

Feeling stupid, you settled against your porch railing again to finish your cigarette, but after a few seconds, Dustin’s distant voice filtered out to you again.

“Obi, please come in. I’m s-starting to worry. Over.”

The crack in his voice tugged at you, pulled you up on your feet. You cast one last glance at the woods before you picked up the almost empty pack of smokes and your lighter, and then you went inside and locked the door behind you.

You didn’t bother to put the cigarette out since no one was here to bitch at you, and the still smoldering stick hung from your lips as you glanced around for the walkie. You finally saw the antenna sticking up between the cushions of your couch, and you crossed the distance in three strides to pick it up.

“Hey, kid, I’m here,” you mumbled around your cigarette as you clicked the button.

Static crackled back at you, then—

“Jesus Christ,” Dustin panted on the other end of the walkie. “What took you so long? I told you I was going to call when I got home. Over.”

“Sorry. I was finishing my cigarette out on the porch.” You exhaled a stream of smoke, staring at nothing as you listened to the static on the other end.

“Oh,” Dustin said, and you could hear the worry and judgement in his tone. But instead of calling you out for your chain smoking— which was a four day old habit— he cleared his throat. “Do… do you want me to pick you up a new pack on my way over in the morning? Over.”

Guilt squirmed through you again, uncomfortable and writhing. He shouldn’t be trying to take care of you. It should be the other way around. But once again, you’d failed.

The knowledge was more choking than the smoke you were inhaling.

“Henderson, your mom will kill me if she finds out I have you buying smokes,” you said as you clicked on the walkie, hoping it would make him smile. Hoping he couldn’t hear the tightness in your voice. “I’m fine. Just get some sleep and bring your appetite in the morning. Do you want pancakes or waffles?”

Dustin considered this for a moment.

“Both?” he finally said timidly, but he sounded a little bit like the cheeky kid he used to be.

It brought a faint smile to your face.

“Should have known,” you scoffed. “But alright. As long as you bring me some eggs.”

“Deal,” Dustin said, and you could hear the grin in his voice. “I’ll… see you in the morning. Eight o’clock sharp. Try to eat some dinner before you go to bed, though, alright?”

“Will do.”

“Okay… goodnight, then, Obi. Over and out.”

“Night, Henderson.” You listened to the lingering static for a moment before you clicked off the walkie entirely and threw it back onto your couch.

The cigarette wedged in your mouth was a drag away from disintegrating into ash, so you walked over to the kitchen sink to put it out. You held the last breath of smoke for as long as you could before you exhaled, vision going spotting at the corners. You left the cigarette butt on the counter, but when you turned around, your empty house stared back at you. The silence echoing down the hallways was deafening, and your fingers twitched at your sides, needing something to do.

Your eyes fell to one of the kitchen cabinets, and before you knew it, you were bending down to wrench open the door. Shoving aside pots and pans, you groped along the back of the cupboard before your hand closed around cool, smooth glass. You pulled the object out, and the bottle of whiskey sloshed as you dragged it into the light. It was half empty— or half full, depending how you looked at it— and the ghost of a dry, bitter smile flickered across your lips.

“Thanks for dinner, David,” you muttered under your breath as you stood up.

You placed the whiskey on the counter as you opened one of the higher cabinets. Your mother’s array of crystal glasses glinted back at you, and your gaze fell to the fancy tumblers David liked to have his drinks out of while he sat in his recliner and watched TV. He’d never let you touch them before, but you picked one up now, rolling the cool glass in your palm.

As it caught the overhead kitchen light, a memory cropped up unbidden. It was from last fall. You’d come home late from— you’d come home late, trying to sneak into the house under the cover of darkness. But the moment you closed the door behind you, the living room lamp had flickered on, and there was David, sitting in his recliner with this tumbler in his hand. He’d demanded to know where you were, but you didn’t even have time to think of an excuse before he took a deep whiff and sneered at you.

Been smokin’ that goddamn reefer with the Munson freak again, huh?

It had quickly devolved into a screaming match loud enough to wake your mother, who always took David’s side. Just the memory of that night ignited your blood, even now, months later.

Because your mother and her boyfriend had always hated the man you’d spent most of your free time with in the last year. But once you’d turned eighteen, there wasn’t anything they could really do, and you always told your mother that if she kicked you out, you would never speak to her again. You hadn’t really meant it at the time, but now you did.

Another memory rose to the surface of your mind, this one more recent.

It had been the morning after the earthquake. You’d discharged yourself from the hospital AMA and had just staggered out of the building, in shock and in pain, Steve and Dustin trailing worriedly behind you. Your mother pulled up just as you hit the parking lot. She and David had already packed the necessities, and they were getting the hell out of Hawkins. She had tried to drag you to the car, but you resisted, dug your heels in. She finally snapped and whirled on you, her face twisted in a sneer.

Why are you being so difficult?! I heard your little Munson freak is dead, so what the fuck are you staying for?

You had slapped your mother full across the face before she could even blink. You remembered her gaping expression, her red tinged cheek, but you couldn’t recall what you’d spat at her before you started running in the opposite direction. It was more of a stagger, really, which was why Steve caught up to you before you hit the edge of the parking lot, but that had been the last you’d seen of your mother and David. She hadn’t even called you in the days since.

Abruptly, rage sprang to life deep in your gut, burning like a brand. You could hear your mother and David’s voices whispering through your head, overlapping one another.

Been smokin’ that goddamn reefer with the Munson freak again, huh?

I heard your little Munson freak is dead, so what the fuck are you staying for?

Munson freak, Munson freak, Munson freak is dead…

Howling in wordless fury, you smashed the tumbler in your hand against the edge of the sink. The glass exploded into shards, and white-hot pain immediately lanced up your good arm. You hissed as the red fog of rage faded from your vision, and you looked down to see the mess you had made. Most of the glass pieces had ended up in the sink, though a few were now lodged in your hand.

Crimson blood pumped slowly out of the gash in your palm, dripping down to stain the metal sink. You stared at it for a long moment, and you weren’t proud that you wished the cut would have been a little higher up your arm—

Dustin’s face flashed through your mind, followed by a wave of guilt.

No. You were going to keep your promise. You wouldn’t give the boy anymore trauma.

Gritting your teeth against the pain, you used the fingers of your casted hand to wiggle the glass shards out of your right palm. They fell into the sink with soft plinks, echoed by the rhythmic percussion of your still dripping blood.

When you thought most of the glass was out, you blindly reached over for the whiskey bottle and struggled to get it open with your left hand. Then you just tipped it over on the edge of the sink, letting the alcohol glug out across your bleeding palm.

“Fuck!” The burn stung more acutely than anything had in days, and tears leapt to your eyes as you tipped the whiskey upright again.

Grabbing the kitchen towel off the handle of the oven, you quickly bound your palm, grunting at the throbbing pain. Then you reached out with the same hand and picked up the whiskey bottle. Your palm ached at being used, but you ignored it as you wrapped your lips around the neck of the bottle and took three deep pulls.

The alcohol scalded your throat as it slid down into your belly, but it made the pain in your palm more distant, and you coughed as you roughly placed the bottle back on the counter. You heard something over your coughing and thought it was just your knee bumping into the cabinet below the sink as you caught your breath.

But then you lifted your head, and your teary gaze latched onto the window above the sink.

And onto the pitch-black eyes that were staring back at you.

“AHH!” you shrieked as you stumbled backwards, the opposite counter digging into your spine and flecks of glass on the floor cutting into your heels.

The thing beyond the window was gone in a blur of movement, but your heart stopped in your chest when your brain caught up to what you’d seen.

You knew the pale face that had been in the window.

“Eddie?” you breathed, disbelieving. His name tasted like glass coming up, and there was a sound in your head like a roaring hurricane. “Eddie?!”

You were suddenly in motion, scrambling for the front door. It crashed against the porch railing as you burst outside, but then you were flying down the steps, your ribs aching as they strained around your heaving lungs. You could just make out a darker shadow across the street, slipping into the woods, and you sprinted across the road, not even feeling the asphalt and sharp sticks digging into your bare feet.

A distant part of your mind was quietly screaming trap! but you could barely hear it over the one word chanting through your thoughts, blotting out all else.

Eddie, Eddie, EddieEddieEddie.

You clung to his name as you dove into the woods and were swallowed by darkness.

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