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concealeddarkness13 · 2 years

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Fire and Steel (Speedrunning Therapy) Part 2

Content warning for some mild suggestive themes. Remember that collaboration with @drabbleitout I posted in May? Well, I finally wrote part 2! Here’s the link to part 1. This one is super long at about 7,500 words, but it’s a lot of fun! Tagging: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, and @pen-of-roses!

Beau moved to the front, and I stiffened a little and watched to see where they took me, but they took me where they said they would. An official looking building that was totally a police station. Fuck, I was still way too nervous. These places always meant trouble.

Once he parked, Garnet got out and opened the door for me. I shuffled out, my eyes darting everywhere. There were plenty of places to run, just in case, but Beau would catch up easily. And I wasn’t sure if they were bad, but these places always put me on edge. Garnet looked around and then back at me. “Hey, one thing before we go in here. Let’s not mention the fire stuff to anyone else just yet. Alright?”

I wouldn’t have anyway. I nodded. “I don’t want to show that off either.” I looked back at the police station and flinched. I hated places like these.

Garnet led the way in, scanning a wristband to open the door. People were chatting as we walked along the carpeted floor, and we passed offices, and Garnet pointed out one of them. “That’s Chief Thatcher, let’s just hurry on past here.” I kept my head down as he nudged me forward.

“Garnet.” I froze when the man spoke from inside the office. Shit.

“Dammit. Beau, take her on in,” he whispered and walked into the office.

Beau kept me walking as the man kept speaking. “What is about another incident report?”

We left that conversation behind, instead walking through a room with glass for walls, and then to an office room with cubicles and everything. Beau stopped and looked around before walking again. “Over here, come meet Valetta.” I just nodded and followed him, trying not to look too suspicious, but I still hunched a little, noting any exits.

He led me through the room, and someone was throwing a ball against the wall of his cubicle. He froze when we walked past but then relaxed and gave me a peace sign. Wow. This was so different.

The person Beau was showing me to had tons of computers on her desk. She was sitting cross legged in her chair, staring at tone of the computers and chewing on her lip piercings. Once we approached, she looked up and smiled. She had short, black hair and brown skin and, shit, she was my type. I blushed immediately.

“Bo-bo, how’s it goin’? You finally push Garnet into traffic? Good for you.” She snickered, sitting back as her eyes flitted towards me. “Oh, shit, sorry. I didn’t see your friend. Hey! Love your hair. That color’s gorgeous.” She leaned back in her chair and held out her hand.

My cheeks were burning. She was so cool and pretty and…wow. I hesitated but shook her hand. “Th…thank you. You’re…so pretty.”

Valetta clicked her tongue. “Stop, you’re going to give me a condition. You’re one to talk.” She looked me up and down and fiddled with one of her ear piercings.

“Chess, this is Valetta. She’s our squad’s explosives expert, and part time cybersecurity operator,” Beau said.

“That’s suit and tie speak for I blow up bombs and hack servers.” Valetta winked.

“And this is Chess. She, uh…she’s a friend of mine. I wanted to show her around, she’s new in town.”

“Well I’m glad even with Garnet around you can make friends. Maybe we can all go out of drinks later. How long are you in town?”

As long as I could. I didn’t want to go back to my own world. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m here a few weeks, maybe longer. I like travelling. But drinks sound lovely.” I ducked my head. Damn, I sounded like a dumbass.

“Oh no, Amor, I told you if you want to keep friends, you better keep them away from her.” I looked over at the other person walking up, and…well, fuck. Was everyone on this world gorgeous? I blushed more as the lady walked up. She had long, black hair; tan skin; and brown eyes. And she was so tall. Shit.

“Ms. Valedictorian,” Valetta bowed her head. “This is Beau’s new friend, Chess.”

“Ooh, what a cool name.” I blushed more at her words.

“Lora is the squad’s mom.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Reach in your pocket, I bet you’ve got like a cereal bar or something in there right now. Go on. Let’s see.” Valetta sat up straighter, and Lora checked her pockets and found some kind of food bar. “Called it. Squad mom. Her and Ives always have snacks.”

“Lora helps with crisis operations,” Beau said. “Negotiations, cases that revolve around mental health, or anyone who wants to harm themselves. She’s very good at her job. She does take care of all of us.”

My stomach growled as I glanced at the bar. “It’s nice to meet you. You’re so cool.”

“Beau, I thought we agreed low profile.” Garnet walked up, glaring at Lora. “Not bring her out on parade.”

“Don’t worry, Garnet, we’re all still aware you’re an asshole,” Lora muttered.

“Sharing is caring, G.” Valetta leaned on her desk, propping her head in her hand and grinning. I blushed more. “And, apparently, Beau has much better taste in friends than you.”

“Yeah. Great. Thanks. Glad you’re getting along so swimmingly. Look, we’re still on shift, and Chess might need to hang out for now.”

“You look like you haven’t eaten, do you feel alright? Fevered? Tired? Here, would you like a snack?” Lora checked the bar before she handed it to me. My stomach growled again.

“See, told you. Congrats, you’re adopted now,” Valetta said.

I took the bar. “Thank you. You’re all so kind.” I couldn’t believe how kind they all were. I had never thought I would meet people who were so nice. Shit, the walls felt like they were closing in around her still. And Lora had mentioned being fevered. Could she tell that I was warmer than a normal person? “I’m fine other than being hungry.” I tried to smile, but I was feeling suffocated. I hated being here, even though the people were so nice.

“Why don’t you just ask Captain to let you off for the day,” Valetta said. “We’re full staffed.” She grinned. “Might be a good idea with how heated the Chief is with you.”

“I’m sure he will, especially since Beau has a friend in town.” Lora smiled at Beau and Garnet. “She’s probably exhausted from the trip.”

“Yeah, let her go rest so maybe later we can hang out.”

They kept discussing, but Beau looked over at me and leaned closer to whisper. “Would you like to get something to drink from the breakroom, or maybe step out for air?”

I blinked and flinched. He could tell I was kind of panicking that easily? But I didn’t want to leave. They were really nice. All of them. And they were all so pretty. I was fucking hopeless. “I’m fine. I just don’t like these places.”

He smiled and nodded. “I can tell. Your blood pressure is up. But we don’t want to leave you alone, especially in a place you aren’t familiar with. Our job is to look out for people, make sure they’re safe. What usually makes you feel safe?”

Wow. They certainly weren’t like the cops back home. But…well, when was the last time I had even felt safe? I frowned and tilted my head. “Nothing I know of really.”

“Does staying with someone, going back to work with us, or going with us to Garnet’s sound better? What are you most comfortable with?”

“I don’t want to be in the way. What’s the best for you?” I hesitated. I liked hanging out with Valetta too. And I’d be in the way with them. “I won’t take you away from work. If anything, probably staying here with someone.” My cheeks burned, thinking about staying near Valetta for a while.

“You’re not at all in the way, Chess. And believe me, Lora and Valetta will take great care of you. I promise.” He turned and grabbed Garnet’s sleeve. “I think it might be best if Chess waits here for us. It won’t be long, and we won’t be far. Are you two going to be here?”

“Oh yeah,” Valetta sputtered, gesturing at her computers. “I’ve got all this code to go through.”

“I’ll be here too,” Lora said. “It’s paperwork day.”

“And I’m here!” someone else said.

“Couldn’t miss you, Mid,” Valetta said. “I’d be happy to hang out with her in the meantime. Doubt she wants to go sit out there in rush hour with you two anyway.”

My cheeks burned worse. It would certainly be nice to hang out with Valetta. She was so cool. “Thank you. I’ll be happy to hang out with you.” I nibbled at the bar, not able to meet anyone’s eyes. The walls didn’t seem to be closing in anymore. But I didn’t feel comfortable yet.

“If you need us, for any reason, pick up any of the desk phones. They’re all automated and can reach us by name.” Beau nodded.

“I’m serious, V,” Garnet whispered to Valetta, but I could still hear him. “Take care of her.”

“I’m not a teenager babysitting a toddler.” She scowled. Garnet whispered something else I couldn’t hear, and her scowl faded. “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re soft.” She grinned as he flipped her off.

“C’mon, Beau, let’s go. Chess, anything you need, okay?” He held his hand up to his ear to look like a phone before he walked off, with Beau waving as he followed him.

“Here, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.” Lora pulled up a chair, and I sat down gratefully. “Let us know if you need anything. There’s water, hot tea, and coffee in the breakroom if you like.”

“Coffee is garbage here, just to warn you,” Valetta mumbled. She looked back at her screen, but then her eyes turned back to the door, and I looked over too to see someone standing there with a…what kind of animal was that? “Eee! Niner, baby!” The animal was about waist height (but the man in the door was super fucking tall, so the animal was actually thigh height for him), it had black and brown mottled fir, pointy ears, and a long…snout? It was beautiful!!! “Can you send her into freerange mode?”

The man (which now that I looked at him, my cheeks burned all over again; he was gorgeous) looked down at…Niner? She ran towards Valetta, expertly avoiding the desks. I stared at Niner as Valetta rolled back her chair with a screech and caught Niner, petting her as she leaned against Valetta. She was so beautiful. I wanted to pet her. Could I?

Valetta was smiling. “There she is! She’s a good girl! Has Ives been cooping you up all day?” She laughed, looking up at me as I kept staring at her. “Do you like dogs? Ever seen a Synthetic dog? Amazing. They don’t shed.”

So, she was called a dog! Dogs were the best! I reached out and hesitantly petted her, and she was so soft! I froze, probably looking like a dumbass as I grinned and stared before I petted her even more. This was the best day ever. “What’s a dog? She’s beautiful, though.”

“You’ve…you’ve never seen a dog? Oh man, they’re great. They’re little four legged doofuses that are just as excited to see you as you are to see them. Niner is Synthetic, of course, like Beau and Ives, but she’s clearly still dog coded.” Valetta took Niner’s head in her hands and smooshed her snout and petted up her ears. Amazing! She was ok with that! “At least, when Ives doesn’t have her working, which is like all the time.”

Valetta stopped petting Niner, and she turned her attention to me, and it was an even better day! She moved over to sit between my feet, and I made sure to pet her even more. Her head was even softer than her back! She was so amazing and beautiful! I grinned. “Oh, she’s amazing! I love her!”

I didn’t even notice the man walk over until he spoke. “She likes you too.” I looked up as I kept petting her. She liked me? It was an even better day! He looked more serious than Beau, with a stiff posture and a neutral expression. His eyes seemed to drill right through me. But I didn’t feel uncomfortable at his stare. It lacked the lust and maliciousness other people directed toward me. And did I mention he was gorgeous? He didn’t get too close, so that made me feel even more comfortable. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. Are you a new team member?”

“Actually, this is your brother’s friend.” Valetta smiled, and his eyebrows rose. “And you were worried he’d be the odd man out.” She looked at me. “They’re unofficial brothers. This is Ives, the older brother of Station Six. Best marksman and breaching operative. He, uh, he handles the real ugly stuff.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” He nodded at me.

He had to see how red my cheeks were, but I still looked up at him. “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Chess. Your dog is so sweet.” I started rubbing her ears, and she grumbled happily, at least she sounded happy.

“Chess. We’re glad to have you here. And I’m glad you like Niner as well, she’s very important to me.” He paused, going completely still. “I was on my way to kennel her for the rest of the day. Would you like me to leave her here with you? I can come back to get her later.”

“Works for me,” Valetta said. “The more the merrier. I really don’t want to work on this.”

He looked over at me, and I just realized how blue his eyes were. Fuck. He was way too pretty. My cheeks got hotter, and I couldn’t speak for a bit. Both because of him and because I’d be able to stay with Niner. I nodded, and my voice cracked. “I would like that very much.”

“Ives?” An older man stood at the door, carrying a handheld computer, I supposed. He looked like a bastard. “We need to complete diagnostics before we run behind.” He looked up and waved to the rest of the room, but Valetta scowled at him.

What did diagnostics mean? Was he going to do something to Ives? I started to push myself up and ask what the fuck he was doing when Ives calmly turned and answered. “I’m on my way.” He turned back to me as I sank back into the chair, and he nodded. “I have an appointment with Auditors, but I’ll be back for Niner once I’ve finished. Again, it was a pleasure to meet you, Chess.” He turned and followed the man out of sight.

“Hate those fuckers,” Valetta scoffed, still glaring after them. “They treat Beau and Ives like garbage.”

Oh, so I would have to punch them. I kept petting Niner and glanced over at Valetta, and shit, she was gorgeous too. My cheeks heated up worse again. “Who are they, and why are they mean to Beau and Ives?” Beau and Ives had been nice to me, so it was ridiculous that someone would treat them badly.

“That was an Auditor, they’re like…software engineers. And to them, Beau and Ives are just big computers. Treat them like science experiments or a convenience.” Oh, so I would destroy them instead. Got it. I had been treated like an experiment for my prosthetics, and no one should be treated like that. “They’re number people.” She chewed on her lip piercing, took a deep breath, and released it in a huff. She leaned over her desk, closer to me, to whisper. “When he first got here, I thought he was the best looking guy, and guys aren’t even my drink of choice.” She winked and clicked her tongue, and my cheeks got hotter somehow. Both the comment about Ives and Valetta’s implication. “You’ve got brownie points with him though. He must like you to leave Niner with you. Way to go, chick!” She offered a hand for a high five.

I had never high fived before, at least not that I remembered, but I high fived her, and warmth bloomed in my chest. These people were so amazing and nice. I looked back to where the Auditor had been, though, and I tensed. “I hate them already.”

“We are gonna be great friends.” Wait, she wanted to be friends? That…that sounded nice. I had never thought I could be friends with someone. But before I could respond, she continued. “I noticed you’ve got a prosthetic. Is it heavy? Mine always feel heavy.” She moved back and kicked her heel up onto her desk. She rolled up her pant leg to show off a beautiful prosthetic. It was hollow with a web-like structure. “These see-through ones are the only ones light enough. You ever have that problem?”

My prosthetics had never felt too heavy, fortunately, but I wished I could get prosthetics like hers. “That one’s lovely. I think mine are pretty lightweight, but even if they weren’t, I wouldn’t be able to change them. If I could, I’d probably have something like yours.”

“Can’t change them…? Oh shit, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think how serious it might be. I was actually kinda admiring the work of your hand there.” I immediately thought of a flirt and my cheeks got hotter. “Like, I hope this isn’t weird, but everyone has all these modern, minimalistic designs. And yours is, well, badass, really.” She glanced down at her hand, but it almost looked like she was blushing too. “Sorry, that was probably weird. I meant it as a compliment. I should probably close my mouth and get back to work.”

I moved my prosthetic hand so she could see it better. “I don’t think that was weird. Your leg prosthetic is badass too. I like talking to you.” Fuck. Why was I being so awkward? I was usually smoother than this!

“Oh, thanks.” She laughed nervously. “Glad I didn’t completely fuck that up. I am one of the worst conversationalists ever. That’s why they sit me back here. I’m used to dealing with explosives, not people. But, you know, I like talking to you too. You’re sharp. And anyone who instantly hates Auditors is good in my book.”

“Thank you. And could you tell me more about what you do? Your job sounds amazing and so important.” I leaned a little closer, my cheeks still burning, as I petted Niner. She had set her head on my lap, and it was truly the best day ever. But my eyes wandered to Valetta’s lips, and I had to look away quickly. Fuck.

“Oh, sure. Mostly? It’s this, picking apart suspected servers or blockchains for the detectives upstairs. They see this and go dizzy.” She tapped something on the keyboard. And I was dizzy looking at this too. “My real paycheck comes from bomb threats. Not many of them -which is a good thing. And usually it’s little pipe bombs. Nothing crazy. Did get in a bad situation a few years ago. The little disposal rover didn’t see a trip line. Thankfully, Ives was there. Threw me down and kept the blast from turning my insides to jam.”

She paused. “But pretty much it’s memory and chemical reactions.” She rolled up a sleeve, and I smiled at the tattoos. I had always wanted a tattoo. They looked like different structures. “Knowing how to disable different kinds of explosives. What wires to cut. How to corrode a fuse. That sort of thing. Ives could probably do that part of the job for me, but, I’ve got better hands for it.” She smiled, her face scrunching, and she giggled. “And what about you? You seem like you’d have an interesting job.”

“That’s amazing. You must be very brave. And, I just pick up odd jobs wherever I go. So, not that interesting. But I’ve travelled a lot. I don’t like staying in one place for too long.” I hadn’t actually been able to ever get a job because of how people saw me.

“I’m a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, so I don’t know if you’d call it bravery. But, aw, man, I’ve always wanted to travel! I bet you’ve seen all kinds of places, done all sorts of things.” She glanced over at me. “I’ve always been too scared to pick up and go. Like, what if you can’t make it where you go next? If anyone’s the brave one, it’s you.”

I didn’t know about that. I was just running away and hiding. I didn’t really have a choice. My expression fell. I nodded. “Yes, I’ve seen a lot.” Which wasn’t always a good thing. “And I’m not brave. Not really.”

“Not really?” Valetta turned back to me, and Niner leaned more on me. “C’mon, don’t sell yourself short. It takes a lot of guts to be out on your own, especially traveling. There’s no way I could do it -I’ll tell you that much.”

I shook my head, petting Niner more. She was so soft. “I don’t have a choice. So, it’s not bravery.”

Valetta frowned, watching me before glancing around the office. She leaned closer slowly and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Are you in danger? Is someone stalking you?”

I blinked. Huh? Was that what happened when someone stalked another person here? I shook my head. “It’s nothing like that.” I could take care of a stalker on my own. I’d had to before.

She still watched me carefully. “What did you mean by you didn’t have a choice? Is someone trying to hurt you?”

Well, that was the reason I had to keep travelling. And I didn’t want to lie too much. “Something like that.”

“If you recognize someone who’s trying to hurt you, you’ll tell me right?” She glanced at the door, and she shifted to put her pistol from her hip to the desk. “You don’t worry about a thing, sweetheart. They’re not gonna get you here. Not brave, my ass.” She grinned.

My cheeks heated up again, but I wasn’t brave. “Thank you. You’re amazing.”

“Hey, I’m just doing my job, and doesn’t hurt to look after a pretty girl either, huh?” She laughed as she blushed too. She looked back at her computer. “I should seriously ask you if you’d like to file a report on whoever’s trying to make your life a nightmare. I can get Lora over, she does that.”

I bit my lip, my cheeks burning worse. “No thanks. That wouldn’t work anyway.”

“Alright, but if you change your mind let us know, that’s what we’re here for.”

“Hey,” the guy who had been bouncing the ball spoke up. He leaned around the wall to look at us. “How come she gets to play with Niner? I never get to play with Niner.”

“Because you tried to feed Niner a gas station burrito last time you were around her for five seconds.” Valetta peered over her computers. “That and you haven’t finished your quarter reports. Which is what you’re supposed to be doing. Ives told me, specifically, that you shouldn’t be left alone with Niner. Chess here has actual self control.”

I laughed, rubbing Niner’s ears as Niner leaned more on me. This was so much better than the police on my world. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t let me talk your ear off, I’m bad about that.” She turned back to me, smiling. “You might be tired. Which, I do have a yoga mat back here if you want some place to lie down. The detectives have cots upstairs, but, I wouldn’t.” She grimaced. “I don’t think they’ve ever seen the inside of a washing machine.”

I shook my head. I was tired, but I couldn’t rest. “I’m fine. Not that tired. And I’d rather pet Niner. And I like listening to you talk. I’m sorry I’m not that talkative at the moment.”

“Oh, no worries. I figured your trip might have you worn down. Or after dealing with Garnet. I know he can be a handful.”

Lora sputtered loudly from her desk, and Valetta smirked. “Yeah, it’s not every day someone uses nice as a descriptor for Garnet. He’s usually a little difficult to get along with. But since he’s looking out for you, I know you’re legit.”

But…Garnet was so kind. He hadn’t cared about my prosthetics, he hadn’t been pissed when I had kicked him to try and escape, and he had bought a jacket for me. He was one of the nicest people I had met. Lora spoke up before I could say anything. “Must be because she’s Beau’s friend. He’s having to play nice after his suspension.”

“Maybe, but it’s because he’s got a soft spot for him.”

“No way, Garnet hates his guts.”

“I’m just sayin’.” Valetta shrugged. “Garnet and I used to not get along. How many fights did we get in? Besides, maybe it’s just because Chess is such a sweetie.”

I ducked my head, flustered. “I don’t know about that…”

“You leave her alone,” Lora scolded but then laughed. “You and Garnet fought because you’re too much alike. Chess has been here half an hour and you’re already overwhelming her.”

“Hey, this is a No Mom Zone. We’re having a friendly chat. Stop trying to steal my friend.”

I smiled, but then I froze as the words sank in. Friend? Could I really have a friend? “Wait, friend?” I looked up at her and tilted my head. Did she really feel that way?

“Oh…oh! Sorry, that might be weird. I mean, I know we just met, but you’re super cool. I kinda consider you a friend. Is…is that too weird?” She grimaced.

Oh no, I had already fucked it up. I shook my head quickly. “No! It’s just…I don’t make friends easily.”

“R-really? You seem pretty good at it.” She smiled. “I mean, you might be a little quiet, but it’s not like you’re an asshole or anything.”

My cheeks burned. “Thank you. Once we’re somewhere else, I’ll probably be more talkative.” I just hated police stations.

“Secondary location,” Lora snickered.

Valetta blushed. “Does that mean you want to go with us after work? Grab something to eat, maybe some drinks?”

I nodded. “That sounds nice. I’d love to go! I don’t have any money though.”

“That’s okay, we invited you so we’ll cover it. Consider it like a welcome party! Have any favorite food or are you okay with bar food?”

Any food would be amazing! And really? Did they really want me to not pay them back? I didn’t get it. I shook my head. “As long as they have good drinks, I don’t care.”

“See, you get it.” Valetta snickered.

Niner perked up, and I looked down at her to make sure I hadn’t bothered her, but then I looked up, and Ives was back. My cheeks heated up more. He was so gorgeous. But something was wrong with his arm. He was fiddling with a panel or something, trying to get it back on his arm. Bastard Auditors.

“Ives, I know you don’t usually do dinner—” Lora said.

“Ives, dude, come to dinner. We’re having a welcome party for Chess,” Valetta said over Lora. He slowly looked from Lora to Valetta and then to me. “Just to socialize.”

“If you want,” Lora added.

I looked up, knowing he could see my blush. “I’d love for you to come. If you…if you want. And thank you for letting me hang out with Niner.” She was the best.

“If you’d like, I’d be happy to join, and thank you for watching her. I believe time spent not working is good to balance her abilities. She doesn’t get as much time as she should, so I appreciate the time you’ve spent with her.” His expression lost a little bit of the intensity.

“Everyone should be on their way back soon. It’s almost time to clock out, thankfully.” Lora sighed. Valetta got working on her computer. “I’m gonna text the boys and see if they’re game.”

I watched Ives. It was hard to read him, but I felt pretty comfortable around him. He seemed to be thoughtful and kind. He certainly cared for Niner. “She’s amazing. I’ll watch her again, if you’d like.”

“Of course, if you visit again and she isn’t on call that would be excellent. Will…will you be visiting again?” He stepped around Valetta’s desk, tapping her chair. She pointed something out as I was about to say something, so I stayed quiet as Ives looked over at what she was talking about.

He explained something and looked back at me. “I’m sorry. Will this be the only time you come by the station? I’m afraid I haven’t had the opportunity to meet you.”

“I don’t think so. I’ll be here for a while and as Beau’s…friend, I’d love to meet his other friends too. Make sure you’re treating him well.” I smiled. It had been hard to call Beau a friend, but it had felt nice.

He nodded, mouth curling in a faint smile. “I’m glad to know he has others looking out for him. And we’re happy to have you.”

“Aw, jeez-o.” Garnet entered with a grumble. He glared at Ives, edging around him to get to a desk. I frowned. Why did he not like Ives? Ives had been nice.

Beau followed Garnet in. “Hey, Chess!” He slowed a little, shoulders falling. “How was your day?”

I smiled at seeing both of them, though. “It was good! I got to pet Niner!”

Beau grinned, glancing at Valetta. “I’m glad you’re going out with us too. Garnet said he’d go.”

I smiled more. “That’s good! It’ll be nice.”

“Oh, okay, I see how it is,” another voice said. An older man entered, taking off his jacket. “We get plans and everyone wants to show up on time. Is that all it takes? But no food and drink and everyone wants to be ten minutes late.” He chuckled, stopping when his eyes landed on me. I stiffened a bit. He seemed to have more power than the others, with what his jacket looked like. “And you must be the lady of the hour. Hope you haven’t been overwhelmed with the squad. I’m Captain Ryker, Beau mentioned you were in town. I see Ives is showing off.” He walked over and held out a hand.

I shook his hand, trying not to hesitate. He seemed nice enough. “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Chess.”

“Nice to meet you, Chess. I’ve been working with Beau for a few months, as his mentor, and I’m so grateful he’s out making friends. How did we want to ride?”

“Garnet, you driving?” Valetta stood, shutting down her computers. “I’ll go with you guys if you want.”

“I’ll go with Ives and Ryker.” Lora stood too. “Midland, you going?”

Beau leaned closer to me as they talked, so he could whisper. “Chess, did you want to go with us?”

I nodded. I needed to figure out how honest I could be with the others, so maybe I could talk to Beau about that.

The others figured everything out, and I followed them to the car. Garnet drove, with Valetta riding up front. So, I’d have a good chance to ask Beau what to admit to. Beau kept glancing at me, looking like he was about to start fussing over everything.

Garnet also looked back to check. “Everything okay? Comfy?”

I had breathed a sigh of relief when we left the building, so everything was great. I nodded. “I’m doing good.” Once Garnet looked back ahead, I looked over at Beau to whisper. “I have a few questions about the story. Should I just pretend like my life is normal? Like, happy?” Valetta already thought someone was trying to hurt me, so I hadn’t done a good job yet.

He looked thoughtful. “I don’t think you should pretend that you’re happy if you aren’t. And a possible inebriated slip may complicate things -not to assume that would happen, but just in case. I don’t think sharing with them would result in any danger. At least, as much as you’re willing to share.” He smiled. “I know we’re still very much strangers, and you’re entirely out of your comfort zone, but I promise you, this is my family, and they’re going to want to help you.” He patted my arm. “Although, I don’t want to pressure you. You’re not obligated to share anything you don’t want to. I’m sure they won’t pry.”

I scoffed at the inebriated comment. “I’m not a lightweight, and I don’t let myself get drunk.” I nodded and softened when I registered he had touched me. In a friendly way. I was so used to people touching me in a hateful or lustful way, but this was just a friendly touch. “And, um, okay. I’m fine sharing if they ask. I just didn’t want to tell them what was going on if that wasn’t a good idea.”

“Ryker may have the most questions, just from being ex-military he tends to…be that way. You don’t have to worry about Garnet, we discussed things earlier. Valetta probably won’t believe you, that it’s some big prank we’ve set her up for. Lora may be concerned but she’ll listen when we vouch for you. And, don’t panic, but I think Ives already knows.” I honestly was surprised the others weren’t confused about some of the questions I had already asked, so I wasn’t surprised Ives knew. Beau rushed to continue, tapping the side of his head. “He messaged me about it, right before we left. He noticed like I did the unknown origin of your prosthetics. I didn’t tell him yet. I didn’t feel like it was my place. But I did tell him everything was alright, that we could explain later. Like me, he’s going to completely believe you.”

I nodded. And I should tell him about my magic. “Okay. Sounds good. Also, I know you mentioned the fire. Well, it’s magic I got from these prosthetics, and it hurts me. The coughing up smoke comes from what I think is a magic fire in my lungs that flares up when I’m stressed. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m not lying. Also, if I feel warmer than I should, that’s normal from the magic too.”

“I…well, I was worried you may be running a fever.” He blinked multiple times. “I admit, if I hadn’t seen the smoke myself, I don’t know that I’d believe you. It…does it hurt all of the time? Right now, are you hurting?”

“My throat’s basically burned and scarred, so that’s always uncomfortable, but it only really hurts when I’m stressed and the fire flares up.”

“Then I’ll try and make sure there’s nothing for you to worry about. I don’t want anything to cause you pain.” He hesitated, eyebrows furrowed. “I may be overstepping, and if you don’t want to answer that’s okay. But…if the prosthetics give you the magic that hurts you, did you…choose it? Did you know it would affect you this way?”

I grimaced. “I don’t actually remember, but these are from some experiments, and any other victims I heard about said they were forced into it. And I’m terrified of doctors and scientists and needles, so I don’t think I chose these. Can’t get rid of them either.”

Beau took longer to respond. “I’m sorry. I know it may not be my place, but I’m sorry you were subjected to that. In a fraction of a way I understand what you mean. Sometimes appointments with Auditors feel like an experiment. But is it due to medical reasons they can’t be changed, or does it have something to do with the magic?”

Those fucking Auditors. “I’m going to have to punch them, won’t I?” My voice shook with anger, so I had to pause to compose myself. “The prosthetics are fused with my skin, and my skin has somehow been made to be invulnerable to getting cut around the prosthetics. And that goes up my skin until it would kill me to cut off the prosthetics.”

Beau laughed, fidgeting at his zipper on his jacket. “You sound like Garnet. No, no you won’t have to punch them. It’s routine maintenance. But…maybe if tonight goes as well as I’m predicting, we could run things by Mikki. She’s like our version of a medic. She can be a little blunt, but she’s nice. There’s a chance she may think of something. At least be able to help with any discomfort.” He frowned, shaking his head. “I just don’t understand why someone would do such. Against your will.”

Oh, it made perfect sense to me. But I nodded to answer his first idea about Mikki. “Thank you. I would like that.” And people were always like that. I honestly wasn’t surprised at all. I sighed. “It’s because they want power and to hurt people. There’s not much to it, honestly. Just people flaunting power over others as usual. But…you’ve been so nice, and I don’t get it, but thank you. Is there any way I can pay you back?” There was no way he wanted to do all this for free.

“I’ve heard of people being that way but that’s terrible. To that extreme. It reminds me of some of the wars the others have talked about from before. But, oh, no, you don’t need to pay me. If anyone deserves people being nice to them, it’s you. With everything you’ve been through, this is the least I can do for you.”

Huh? I frowned. “I don’t deserve anything. I’m…not a good person.”

“Why?” Beau tilted his head. “Have you done something bad? And if you mean stealing pocket change I can go ahead and assure you that doesn’t make you a bad person. You were doing it as a means of survival. Not greed or for power, like those people.” He motioned at my prosthetic arm.

I looked away from him. He didn’t understand. “I’ve stolen and killed, and yeah, it was to survive. But I’m worthless. I can’t help you at all. No one cares about me except for how attractive I am to them, and I’ve used that to my advantage to have someone to sleep next to instead of a dark alley. I have nothing really to offer, and maybe they’re all right and I am a monster and I deserve to be hurt.” I gritted my teeth. Beau was kind, but it didn’t make sense for people to be kind to me. It made much more sense for people to hate me and hurt me.

Beau hesitated, taking my hand carefully, and I didn’t pull away. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that being alive is the hardest thing someone can do, and it’s apparent you haven’t had an easy road, Chess. I believe you. You say you’ve done what you have to survive, and I know if that was a lie things would have ended very differently. If you were a bad person.”

I…I didn’t understand. He leaned down, looking small, keeping his voice to a whisper. “I wasn’t there to witness those things, and even if I was it isn’t my place to be the judge of that. All I know is what I’ve seen today. And I haven’t seen a monster. I’ve seen a rightfully terrified woman who’s been thrown into a strange world. I’ve seen a strong but very stubborn woman holding a brave face. And I’ve seen a very kind woman making friends and giving very satisfying puppy ear rubs -so I’m told.” He smiled. “Those are all very priceless things you have to offer.

“And you have helped. Everyone is excited to get together and meet you. We care. I’ll have you know Garnet worried about you all day. And Lora knew you were hungry. And Valetta wanted you to come spend time with us. And Niner isn’t allowed to be left with just anyone. Ives is very particular. So, please don’t think we don’t care. You’re new, and you have an important story, and we’re glad you’re here!”

I couldn’t look right at him, trying to process everything. There were good people in the world, and I had stumbled across the nicest people ever. Tears blurred my vision, and I tried to blink them away. “I…I don’t understand. I’m sorry.” My voice cracked, and the tears fell. Shit. I held tightly to his hand, using it to help ground my thoughts as they threatened to spiral out of control.

He held firmly to my hand. “It’s okay, please don’t apologize. It doesn’t have to make sense right now. But I promise, you’re doing wonderful. And you’re probably really hungry. You’ve barely had anything to eat…I hope you like the food. I can’t say what it’s like.” He laughed. “But I’m going to be right here, the whole time. So if you get overwhelmed, you just tell me. Okay?”

I sniffled and wiped furiously at my eyes. I couldn’t wrap my head around such kindness, so a good distraction would be to flirt. He was attractive anyway. I nodded and laughed. “Like my knight in shining armor? You’ll take me away to a private room and take care of me?”

“Of course, we can…” I saw the exact moment that he realized what I really meant. The shock on his face was priceless. “Well, we might, that is. I don’t know that there is a private room. But I’ll be sure to take care of you.” Amazing. He stuttered to continue. “T-to make sure you’re alright. Not overwhelmed, that is.”

This was nice. I leaned a little closer to him, smiling wider. “Such a gentleman. I certainly won’t get overwhelmed with you.”

He seemed unsure as he jumped, his shoulder bumping against the seat. He didn’t speak for a bit, just staring. What was he seeing? My amazing beauty? How attractive I was? “You have really pretty eyes. You remind me of an orchid.”

The honesty was cute. I smiled a little more genuinely, less sexily. “Thank you. At least I think. What’s an orchid?”

“You’re welcome. It’s a…well, it’s a beautiful flower. There’s some in one of the market windows they sell. Your eyes are almost the same color.” He tilted his head and leaned forward to kiss my cheek. It was such a soft and sweet touch that my cheeks actually heated up. “I’m sorry if that wasn’t right.” He sat back. “I admit I’m not very good at flirting and I’m very new to emotions, but I’m having a hard time describing what I mean. I want you to be my friend, but you looked really happy just now, and it made me happy…I probably shouldn’t have done that, though.”

I stuttered before I could get the words out. He wasn’t repulsed by her? He wanted to be friends? “I…I don’t mind. Fuck. Now I’m confused all over again.” I paused. That sounded bad. “Not…not in a bad way though! And I just kind of flirt regularly, so you can take it as platonic and just having fun, or as romantic, whatever you’d prefer!”

“I hope I didn’t make things worse or complicated. I…” He glanced up front. “Maybe platonic? Like I said, I’m very new to…this. And I might be trying to figure out if I feel this for someone.” He fidgeted with his jacket. Ok. We had to have some private flirting sessions to help him figure this out and flirt with whoever it was he was interested in. “But you seem very comfortable and relaxed. Like it’s freeing. I feel like you’re more yourself and it makes me happy that you’re feeling better.”

I nodded. “Got it. Do you want me to just not flirt at all, even platonically?”

“No, no, I think it’s okay. It can help me learn and know if…you know, uh, but I did mean it -that you’re pretty. And I’m glad to see you happier.”

I nodded again. I would help him figure it all out. “Got it. And…thanks. You’re handsome too.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, but I noticed that the car was slowing down, so I looked out the window to see a bar with a seating area outside on the roof. This was amazing! And I didn’t have to worry about getting food. This would be good. I’d see how it went to see if I wanted to tell the others where I came from.

#writeblr #fire and steel

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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

Text

Dream’s Conversation With Tubbo After the Exile

[December 7 2020]

Ghostbur: “And...and -- and you’re President, and you’re doing a great job, and...even Dream -- Dream himself seems happier!”

Tubbo: “He does! He’s being -- he is, he’s been on the server an awful lot. Whether that’s a good sign or a bad one, he definitely seems more positive.”

Ghostbur: “Oh! Speaking of the Devil.”

Tubbo: “Dream actually, the other day, declared L’manburg actually a recognized official state, which is…”

Dream: “Hello!”

Tubbo: “Hello!”

Ghostbur: “Hello, Dream! How are you?”

Dream: “Hello, Wilbur!”

Tubbo: “Hi! This -- he’s just showing me some cool new stuff, showed me…”

Dream: “Cool!”

Ghostbur: “Have some blue, please.” (He throws Dream some blue)

Tubbo: “Yeah, you’re gonna -- you’re gonna need some of that.” (He throws Dream some blue as well)

Dream: “Thank you.”

Dream: “Um, can I give you a real quick update on the walls?”

Tubbo: “Yeah yeah yeah, of course! I saw they were gone, I was over the moon!”

Dream: “Oh, yeah, well they’re not completely gone yet, but unless someone has finished the job, which -- ooh, they might’ve! But yeah, there’s still some back there--”

…

Tubbo: “Dream, it looks great! Thank you so much for keeping your word.”

Dream: “Yeah! No problem! Um, I thought there was one thing I didn’t technically keep my word on, so I thought I’d be upfront about it.”

Tubbo: “What?”

Dream: “The obsidian? I have another thing I could use it for, so it was all used up -- you can ask Sam, um…”

Tubbo: “Ohhh, okay. That’s okay! I don’t think we’ll need any obsidian, we don’t need to defend or hide anything or seal anything away, so I think we’ll be fine. I mean, that’s the only uses I can think of, so.”

Ghostbur: “If Tommy’s in exile, why don’t you put the obsidian around him?”

Tubbo: “Wilbur, you’re meant to try and cheer him up, here. I don’t know if that would be the best for his mood!”

Ghostbur: “You said that would bring peace! Having Tommy out has brought peace to everything.”

Tubbo: “Yeah, there is currently peace right now, except for -- I was told there was a war yesterday, but hey, I don’t…”

Dream: “Oh yeah, that -- I mean I -- we resolved it semi-peacefully. Quackity did some dumb stuff, I’m sure he’ll tell you, but--”

Tubbo: “Oh, okay, okay.”

Dream: “We resolved it pretty quickly.”

Tubbo: “I don’t have to exile him too, do I? Please for the love of god.”

Dream: “No, no we resolved it, we resolved it.”

Ghostbur: “You can still leave when there’s obsidian around you, can’t you?”

Tubbo: “Yeah, but it takes a while, and no one wants to mine that crap.”

Ghostbur: “Oh, oh! I didn’t mean to imprison him, I just meant put it around him, you know? To keep his goods, and like we did with L’manburg.”

Tubbo: “Ohhh. Oh yeah, that -- I mean I guess the walls could’ve been seen as a way to keep the goods in. Yeah. The lanterns are nice...”

Dream: “I wanna say, I really like the way...I wanna say, L’manburg’s been looking so nice recently.”

Tubbo: “Have you seen under the water!”

Dream: “Yeah, the water’s insane, yeah!”

Tubbo: “Like, oh my god, it’s got coral, and sea pickles…”

Dream: “The whole nation’s just incredible.”

Tubbo: “Thanks, Dream! You’ve never been this positive about it before.”

Dream: “Well, I said this, I mean I’ll be honest with you, I said this to Quackity the other day, but I truly think that with you as President, L’manburg can thrive! Because before that, I mean, I -- no offense to…”

(he looks at Ghostbur)

“Before that, I don’t think there was...there was Presidents that may not’ve...been so good. But...but you! I think that you are fair, and you are just, and I think you proved that.”

Tubbo: “Thanks, Dream.”

Dream: “And here, I’ll take my armor off.”

Tubbo: “Oh, yeah yeah yeah -- thank you! -- You’ve never honored the laws of L’manburg before! Oh my god!”

Dream: “Well, I never recognized it!”

Tubbo: “This is a big day! Holy crap!”

…

(Tubbo and Dream discuss where the borders of L’manburg lie. Dream leaves it up to Tubbo to dictate where the borders fall, as long as he doesn’t encroach on parts that are specifically Dream SMP territory)

Tubbo: “We should probably write up a treaty as well, declaring open borders.”

Dream: “Yeah! That’d be good.”

Tubbo: “So then, for the next President’s term, the treaty still stands. Unless I’m...overthrown.”

Dream: “Yeah! That sounds good to me. When’s the next -- is there gonna be an election?”

Tubbo: “Yeah, the 2nd of February is actually the end of my first term. I do plan on running again, but I know that other people are showing interest.”

Dream: “Mm. Very cool. Yeah, it definitely expands out past here, so...I’ve noticed -- I think, obviously, I think Tommy...eh, I dunno, I think it’s been a bit better since Tommy is out of here, since he...you know, he creates all the conflict and stuff, but...I think sometimes, it’s like time out, you know. Like maybe he can come back one day, you know?”

Tubbo: “I hope one day he can come back.”

Dream: “I always think forever, but…”

Tubbo: “Just for a real note, while we’re on such good terms, I was hoping one day in the future -- not necessarily soon, but just...you know. Visitation rights. If you know what I mean?”

Dream: “Yeah, I think that’s maybe something -- you know, at least a few weeks, probably, before we can discuss that, but I think a few weeks pass, we discuss it, maybe he can --”

Tubbo: “After things cool off a bit.”

Dream: “Yeah, yeah. I think if things cool off, maybe he could get visitation, but I couldn’t see him ever coming back, but being able to, you know...he did request visitation on Christmas day, so.”

Tubbo: “Oh! That would be quite nice. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Dream: “Yeah, that sounds...do you have any big projects planned? What is this?”

Tubbo: “Well, for today, I was gonna be going around putting up billboards -- this is a chess board.”

“Have you ever played chess, Dream?”

#dream smp #dream smp transcriptions #tubbo #long posts #this draft is from like...april #FORESHADOWING FOR DAYS

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vvienne · 3 years

Text

XICHENG FIC RECS

hold my hands by Snooze (Chiruka)

Transplanting a core into a new person isn’t without repercussions. One year after the events at Guanyin Temple, Jiang Cheng found himself once again faced with the possibility of losing everything he had. Reconciling with his brother, learning to let Jin Ling go, and dealing with his blooming emotions toward the First Jade of Gusu — will Jiang Cheng accomplish what he wants before time runs out?

it all passes someday by screamlet

A week before the anniversary of Wei Wuxian’s death, there was a commotion outside Lan Wangji’s house.

Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji over the years.

The Unlikely Expression of Love by manamune

When everything has settled, when everyone else has moved on with their lives and their friends, Jiang Cheng has a realization which shouldn’t actually be a surprise:

He’s lonely.

Indigo, lavender, and violet (I don't wanna be red) by ohwhatevrewhatevr

It, in the pale colors of the late morning, is the closest to perfect Jiang Cheng will ever reach. He strokes Lan XiChen's hair and presses a light kiss to where his ribbon and hair meet. The sky is a pale blue, and the pastels of flowers and clouds are spread out through the window, a brilliant world waiting for them, them in the gentian house, safe from stronger breezes - there is the clutter of birds fluttering and chirping outside. It is a warm, perfect, spring morning.

Jiang Cheng and Lan XiChen have been together for an year. In which, no one ever really gets over things, Jiang Cheng has the misfortune of interacting with his brother, the juniors help out with the proposal, and there's a marriage.

Altitude by starknjarvis

When Jin Ling lures Jiang Cheng to the Cloud Recesses under false pretenses, he finds himself out of place among this new family Wei Wuxian has formed.

Lan Xichen, at least, seems pleased to have his company.

Perhaps there is still a chance for Jiang Cheng to make amends and move forward.

[Modao Zushi Online] GLITCH REPORT: My Brother Got Chased Down And %$@*$&@ By Gusu Dungeon Boss??? by oh_fudgecakes

Modao Zushi Online is a virtual reality MMORPG. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are top ranking players in its new server, currently tied with their arch-nemesis from their previous server, Wen Chao. In an attempt to defeat him, they take on the Gusu Dungeon Boss, Zewu-jun, to win the reward of a legendary weapon. Ever the cheat, Wei Wuxian tries to take advantage of a glitch to defeat the seemingly undefeatable boss. It backfires. Jiang Cheng gets fucked by a boss monster.

He can't get enough.

Meanwhile, Lan Xichen, the unwitting staff member in charge of controlling Zewu-jun, absolutely did not sign up to be pulled into a secret virtual reality fling with a player. Mod Ji, who has to deal with Wei Wuxian's incessant glitch reporting of his brother's sex life, is long-suffering.

Mulberry by xxdz

Jiang Cheng grits his teeth and pushes harder. He feels like torn silk, the embroidery needle sinking in again and again and again; patiently, desperately, endlessly trying to make something beautiful out of something broken.

Jiang Cheng builds his sect, learns embroidery, and raises his nephew.

we can raise a little family by lanyon

“Well, brother,” says Wei Wuxian, leaning against the outside of Jiang Cheng’s chambers. “I had heard that you and Xichen went on a night hunt and came back with a baby, which is not the order I’d choose to do things in…”

In which Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen acquire a baby of unknown origin, and are the very last to know what it means.

Beyond the Impossible by Silverine

Summoned by Lan Qiren, Jiang Wanyin goes to the Cloud Recesses to drop his nephew Jin Ling, expecting to discuss relevant matters with his old master. Instead, he's asked to take with him no other than Sect Leader Lan himself, all the way back to Lotus Pier. If the reason why he accepted such an outrageous task is indeed a mystery, he's about to be surprised by how this entire trip, their encounters, and his warm company, suddenly feel fated.

Incrementally by xxdz

Jiang Cheng is trapped in a day on repeat where he begins by waking in Zewu Jun’s bed at dawn and ends by dying painfully at dusk.

It’s getting very irritating, and he has the sneaking suspicion that his chances to solve his own murder are rapidly running out. Soon, his death will be much more permanent.

All in all, worst birthday ever.

Audience of One by WinterDreams

“Then let an established star go first,” Lan Xichen interrupts again before Lan Wangji can give a stubborn reply. Both men twist toward Lan Xichen, and he smiles at Wei Wuxian’s tilted head. “If I publicly date a man for awhile first, your engagement shouldn’t receive as much backlash.”

Or, that AU where everyone is famous in some way or another, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have been dating in private for years, and Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng pretend to date publicly for their brothers' sake.

A Bit of Ruthlessness by jirluvien

When Jiang Cheng hears that Lan Xichen went into seclusion following Jin Guangyao’s death, it’s almost as if he can see the grabby hands of a restless ghost, reaching out for something to keep him company. For something warm and living and devastated. And as history has proved time and time again, the Lans are perfect victims when it comes to giving in to ghosts.Yeah, no. Not on Jiang Cheng’s fucking watch.A story about grief, determination, unexpected friendships, abandoned watchtowers, and letters. So many letters.

All Tied Up In You by Clearpearls

Yet again, the night had come to this:

Jiang Cheng on the floor, kneeling, Zidian wrapped around his wrists.

Alone.

Thank You, and I'm Sorry by Hamliet

Jin GuangYao might be dead, but his story is not. Taking advantage of the chaos he instigated, someone makes an attempt on the life of the young new leader of the Jin Sect. When Jiang Cheng takes Jin Ling to the Cloud Recesses to have him study while he attempts to work with Wei WuXian and his husband Lan WangJi to eliminate the threat, he encounters a mourning Lan XiChen, lovestruck teenagers, and a persistent corpse--and both pairs of brothers find themselves struggling to move on.

saturn's rings (don't be a heartbreaker) by iskendaris

Set after the seige of burial mounds, Yunmeng rebuilds as they hold the first Discussion Conference at Lotus Pier. Sometimes the night is a gift, a refuge for loneliness. "So stern, Sect Leader Jiang," Lan Xichen murmured, "So glacial... What will it take to melt that icy exterior? What can I say?"

"Nothing. There's nothing you can say or offer."

reciprocity by jukeboxhound

There’s a pause before Lan Xichen says, in a tone that’s a little more neutral, “I would like to paint on you.”

“…What?”

“Of course, if you say ‘yes’ but then change your mind at any point, for any reason, you need only say so and I will stop immediately,” he adds.

Well, silver lining: Jiang Cheng is feeling much more awake than he was a moment ago.

Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes

Jiang Cheng, resident Angry Guy and heir to a conglomerate empire, has never been the apple of his father’s eye. Quashed under the shadow of his brilliant brother, the music prodigy Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng sees his chance to turn things around when he is recruited by the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt. One problem: he can’t sing to save his goddamn life.

As he struggles to develop his nascent singing abilities, Jiang Cheng finds himself sucked into the whirlwind drama of reality TV, helped along by his adoring siblings, his irritable vocal coach Wen Qing, and strangely enough, the unfairly attractive host of the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt, Lan Xichen. Somewhere in the glare of the stage lights and an unexpected first love, Jiang Cheng stumbles upon the thing he was searching for all along: the courage to dream — and to attempt the impossible.

Marginal Costs by ohwhatevrewhatevr

“You think you know what you want, Er-Ge,” A-Yao says. “But you should consider what you’re willing to give first,” he says wryly, taking Lan XiChen’s chess piece with slim, skilled fingers.

Lan XiChen looks up at A-Yao’s concentrated expression and the hint of contentment on his face that he is special enough to be allowed to see.

“It’s not just one decision, but the lead up to many more. One decision decides what else you’re going to have to pay, and each time you have to ask yourself, ignoring the sunk costs, if this time it’s worth it as well.”

When his sworn brother looks up at him with those clear, amber eyes, waiting, Lan XiChen feels the pull and gives in: he asks.

“Are you happy being in love?”

(First half is two sad sworn brothers talking, internally mourning how unfortunate their other sworn brother’s death was :/ and second half is when a mopey boy in blue meets an angsty boy in purple whilst chasing a demonic cultivator, and a lil bit of sexy dual cultivation happens.)

Somewhat Tender by theherocomplex

There is no defense against kindness; it has always undone him.

I didn't expect you to be lonely (too) by bettydice (BettyKnight)

Jiang Cheng's life is a mess, he's a mess, and he doesn't miss his brother at all. So when his sister gifts him ten sessions with a massage therapist, who turns out to be someone he was crushing on for a hot minute as a teenager and is still as hot as ever... yeah, that might as well happen. It won't have to mean anything.

This feels intimate to Jiang Cheng in a way that's probably very inappropriate and maybe even pathetic. Nobody touches him like this, right where he’s hurt the most. There's no one who handles him so gently, so carefully.

It's the gentleness that's his undoing, he thinks. He would be able to deal better with it if it was painful.

Life for Rent by yodasyoyo

“Yeah well. You’re not taking me seriously. This guy is my soulmate!”

“Soulmate.” Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”

“Just because you don’t believe in them—”

“I believe in them!” Jiang Cheng says. “I’ve never denied they exist.”

“Just last week you said that it was an evolutionary quirk that had been used by greetings card companies, movie makers, and corporations to exploit lonely and vulnerable people.”

“And I stand by it! That doesn’t mean that soulmates aren’t real. Just incredibly unlikely and probably pointless.

Or:

Xicheng vs Soulmates. Fight!

Halfway Around the World by theherocomplex

Normally, Jiang Cheng would be seething, jaw clenched tight, if someone sounded like that while they were talking, but — Lan Xichen has the trick of always making you feel like you're in on the joke, whatever the joke is. That you're laughing together.

Whelmed by yodasyoyo

For months now Jiang Cheng’s been idly fantasizing about how it would be if something were to come between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. Mostly those daydreams have been simple enough — they break up (probably because Lan Zhan is boring or Wei Ying is annoying), Wei Ying is sad for a couple of days (Jiang Cheng’s willing to allow some space for feelings, he isn't a total monster), but then Wei Ying realizes he’s better off, he gets over it, and Jiang Cheng gets his brother back.

Unfortunately the fantasy version of events has only proven partially true, so far. They've broken up. Wei Ying has been sad.

Now weeks have passed, though — and Wei Ying is still sad, every. Single. Day.

It’s like Jiang Cheng's stuck in a looping GIF, and it’s driving him insane.

Or:

Jiang Cheng plots, Lan Huan pines, and, unfortunately for Lan Qiren, Wangxian are inevitable.

#xicheng #fic recs #mdzs #mdzs recs #jiang cheng #lan xichen #obvs these reflect my personal preferences etc etc

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headcans-oneshots-and-stuff · 3 years

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Club ‘Illusion’

Fandom: DC x Marvel Pairing: Avenger x Batfam | Reader x Loki Word count: 3k (yes I can still write things over 1.5k words) Summay: With your hero work taking up most of your time you decide to find an outlet - that outlet turns out to be your own soon to be opened club. On the V.I.P. list for that evening? Two of the most important groups of people in your life. The only problem: they have yet to meet each other, not to mention the little fact that you’ve been keeping not just the club a secret... Requested by a universal fantastic Anon: If requests are still open, can I request a BatBoys x reader x Avengers where both teams meet through reader and fight because they were talking about which team reader likes more? Pairing would be your choice.

“Where does this go, boss?” a man in a dungaree holding a box full of musical equipment, chords and the like asked you and interrupted the conversation you were having with the DJ. “Bring it up these stairs there and then set it onto the black clothed table, Marianne will be there in a minute, could you help her set it up? “Sure thing boss,” the man nodded and trudged over to the direction you had waved him to. You turned back to Marianne - the mentioned DJ - who had been your friend for years and she was the first person you had hired when you had decided to take the advice of your Avengers issued therapist and find an outlet for your creativity and passion outside of your time-consuming hero work all over the planet and the universe. So you decided to use your funds from years of getting paid by Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne (even though you continued telling them you didn’t want their money) to do something fun and - in the spirit of a certain green-themed archer - open a nightclub. You had kept everything under wraps, the only people knowing about it were the contractors, decorators and Marianne and they all pledged secrecy, but tonight you would lift the metaphorical curtain. With the Avengers and Waynes (including non-Wayne-named) invited and the news about this new club opening all over social media doing the rest you were positively sure that tonight would be a great night. “Y/N?” Marianne’s voice ripped you out of your daydreams and you had to shake your head free of other thoughts and focus back onto the matter at hand, with last touches still having to be made. “Uhm- yeah, sorry, I was lost in thoughts.” “Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will go just fine. Look around you, this place is amazing, everyone did such an amazing job,” she complimented and you couldn’t help but follow her advice and actually take a look around.The room was very spacious and even though it was almost empty except the worker getting ready for tonight and a few others who helped set some stuff up. In the middle was a lower dance area with small sets of steps leading up, the floor in a chess pattern, but neon techni-coloured instead of black and white, all around that area were booths to sit in and on the far end of the room, a bit off of the dance-ground were two circular bars that were fully stocked with every drink you could ever need or want. On the other end was a stage for life-performances and ten feet above that was a sort of balcony that served as the DJ-booth with a view over the entire club. And yet again on the other side, above the bars, was a V.I.P. room which was a bit more soundproof and where a conversation could be actually held, with a one-way-mirror facing the club. The way the lights reflected off the surfaces and the sound carried through the space really confirmed what Marianne had said, the place was pretty amazing. “You’re right, you’re right, I’m sorry,” you took a deep calming breath and smiled. “Yes I am, but now we gotta get going, I’ll be up in the booth if you need me. You better give the final briefing to the staff,” she instructed before turning around and walking away. Deciding that taking her advice was the best course of action you went to go to the staff room, when Marianne called out to you yet again, shouting after you: “Don’t forget that you gotta be getting ready in an hour, your special guest should be arriving around then.”

The evening was starting to greet the people and the sun had started to disappear a few minutes ago when a group of five and a group of six gathered before a clearly newly constructed building - a club - with the name ‘Illusion’ in enlightened letters on the front. A long line of interested people, mostly young adults around 25, stretched before what seemed to be the entrance, but it seemed to still be closed. Both of the groups looked around a little bit confused, but they didn’t notice each other, or at least found nothing suspicious about the other. Now, if you were to take a very close look at both of these groups beside each other you’d find a lot of similarities, like - for example - the redeemed ‘bad-guy’ who now acted as professional sarcastic commentator, the goofball with a history in circus, the genius, philanthropist, playboy billionaire and the bad-ass tech-savvy red-head. Not to mention all of their past-time ‘hobbies’. And yet, with all these great intellect and talent collected in front of the club, they did not seem to be able to figure out what they were doing there or that there was another group in just about the same situation. The doors to the club opened and a bouncer and two servers walked out, the bouncer stationating himself before the entrance and starting to check people in, and the two servers looking around for a second before catching sight of the groups. They exchanged a few words before each of them walked over to the collection of people. The group from New York was brought over to the front entrance, allowed to skip the line and enter the club, while the Gotham-group was brought in through the back-entrance, but even though the place where they entered the club was different, they were yet both stil led to the same room, up above the bars behind a one-way-mirror.

You had changed into your sparkle-y, y/f/c outfit with make-up that would glow in the ultraviolet light that would shine all over the club later and your hair in a fashionable hairdo, perfectly prepared for your great night, with Marianne’s outfit mirroring yours just in different colours. With a clipboard you made your last round through the different areas, checking in with your staff and manager to make sure that everything would go flawless and that they could come to you with questions or if they needed help - if necessary you yourself would change into the gender-neutral uniform and start serving people. In the end the last area you had to check before meeting your special guests in the V.I.P. area was the DJ booth. “Everything good?” you asked, enjoying the last moments of relative silence before the booming music would start as you leant over the balcony railing and eyed your own little business. “Yes, I tried it out during soundcheck earlier while you were getting dressed, it’s some sweet equittement you got here, a Dream,” Marianne sighed in bliss and you could see how happy she was to be able to work with this equipment that had certainly cost enough to deserve that demeanor from her. “You know, if you like it this much, I could use a full-time DJ,” you tried to mention as nonchalant as possible, but you could feel her piercing, unbelieving gaze in your neck. “Are you serious? I thought you had employed one over a month ago. I thought tonight was a one-time-thing.” “Oh well, I did talk to one but then I listened to some of his stuff and compared to you it’s like a ten years old project on garage band. But don’t worry, I get it, you’re right. I’m sure you have way better gigs lined up left and right, I’ll find someone,” you shrugged, a little bit disappointed that Marianne didn’t seem even remotely interested in working full-time, only to be stopped when she grabbed your shoulders and began to almost shake you. “Are you kidding, I would love to work here full-time!!! This job would be a dream: the equipment, the atmosphere, my employer! DJ’s would kill for an opportunity like this. That’s why I was so confused, I thought you’d have plenty of better DJs lining up for this job,” she gushed before hugging you close and almost sobbing with happiness and thanking you for this opportunity. You agreed that you’d talk the details over later before telling her to start the music since people started to walk in and you could see a certain group of Heroes being led by one of your bar-women walking towards the left stairs to the V.I.P. room and another group of vigilantes led by one of the security-members being brought to the elevator on the right side to exactly the same room. “Okay, I gotta go, Got me some guests waiting,” you winked at Marianne who just waved you off, too immersed in her element. With quick steps and a happy smile you walked along the side of the room and followed where you saw the Avengers walk up, a little skip in your step. Honoring your word, both groups had been brought into the V.I.P. area which was big enough for them to both sit inside it without having to sit together, with the security guard taking position at the wall and the bar-women at the small, private bar. Another calming sigh later you opened the door and walked into the room immediately catching the eyes of all occupants of the room and as you nodded at your two employees in thanks, both groups of superheroes had stood up to greet you, seemingly only now realizing the presence (or rather the reason of the presence) of each other. “Hello guys, it’s so nice to have you here,” you greeted all 11 with a big gesture before mentioning to the window, “So, what do you think?” Confused eyes found you and they looked between each other and you, only one pair standing out, but seemingly not ready to reveal themselves properly yet. “It looks amazing,” Stephanie, who somehow managed to look perfectly club-fitting even in her casual clothes with her blond hair laying over her shoulder in a braid, and jumped towards you and engulfed you in a sisterly hug like she always did, “How did you get us in? I saw the adverts for this place all over social media and the line was enormous. Do you know the owner?” You held back a chuckle and laid your head to the side. “You could say so,” you gave her a cheeky smile that she couldn’t quite decipher, before turning to face the complete group, “But first things first, introduction.” Since both of the groups were still standing separately enough to be distinguished between you motioned to the Waynes. “May I introduce my somewhat-adopted-not-legally-but-emotionally-family. This is Bruce Wayne - I bet you all have heard of him - these are his sons, Richard Grayson - you can call him Dick - and Jason Todd, and his daughter Stephanie - or Steph - Brown and close family friend Barbara Gordon,” you motioned to each of them in turn with their names and they nodded in greeting at the others, still unknown to them. Then you turned to the others and said: “And may I introduce to you my first ever superhero team slash found family group also known as the Avengers - or rather a view of them anyways. Here we have Tony Stark - I’m sure you heard of him too, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, our two super soldiers Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes and the trickster god himself - Loki.” “Wait, Loki-Loki? The ‘battle-of-New-York’ Loki?” Jason asked in a surprised, but also amused manner and you could almost hear Loki roll his eyes. “Oh please, get over it Mortal,” he answered sarcastically, but before you could intervene Stephanie took her turn. “Oh you’re one to talk Jay, let’s not forget that.” You couldn’t help but giggle a bit at that and even though the Avengers seemed confused at how easily that shut Jason up, they accepted it as the end of that part of the conversation. For a few minutes the gathered people - a few of your favorite people in the world - started making their own introductions and you were happy that you saw them get along well. Waiting for a good opportunity to get into the conversation and get back to what you wanted to tell them, you were stopped from taking it when Dick motioned at Loki’s outfit. A deep-green suit, black dress-shirt under it, a golden tie, black hair slicked back and black asgardian armor boots - putting that certain touch to it - adorned him and you couldn’t blame Dick when he stated: “How comes none of us got a warning that we’d need to wear something fancy, but he did?” It was only now that the people who had come there with Loki had noticed his outfit and it was Tony who raised an eyebrow. “What happened to the grey jumper you said was ‘nice enough’ to be seen out with when you have to be out with us annoying mortals?” “Well, I can’t let Lady Y/N be the only one who shows that she has a sense of elegance and fashion in this despicable planet, can I now?” Loki answered sarcastically and now you wanted to roll your eyes at him calling you ‘Lady Y/N’, something you had told him to stop ages ago. “Loki isn’t actually wearing this,” you tried to clear things up, ignoring Loki’s remark, only to receive even more confusing looks, causing you to sigh. “Loki is a trickster god, he uses Illusions, he’s probably still in his Pajamas, he just makes it seem like he is wearing this.” Before anyone would start bombarding the god and you with questions, you took hold of the conversation and used your stern hero voice to gain the attention. “Now I’m sure you’re all wondering why I invited my favorite people to a newly opened nightclub and like Stephanie has already mentioned, one that is hard to get into nonetheless. The reason is-” you made a pause to emphasize, “-that it is my club.” A wave of confused ‘what?’s hit you and you quickly explained: “Well, I needed to find another outlet than hanging around with other heroes and busting bad guys and after a talk with Oliver - he’s a friend from Starling city,” you explained for the Avengers, “I decided that opening a club was just what I needed. That’s the reason I was so absent the past few weeks, I was busy planning and employing and stuff, but from now on everything should run itself. I will be able to perfectly split my time into three for the club, hero work and friends and family.” “That’s so cool!” Stephanie squealed and gave you a high five and the others joined in congratulating you, telling you how amazing everything looked and that they were proud of you. “Boss?” a voice interrupted from behind you and you turned to see one of your staff members, “Could I talk to you for a second?” “Excuse me for a bit, I gotta go and run my business,” you cheekily smiled and left your two favorite teams to make conversation as you and the women left through the door that lead to the stairs. “So what’s the matter? What can I he-” you were rudely interrupted when the women’s form morphed into a taller, sleeker one of a certain trickster and promptly continued to press you against the door you had just left through. “Well, well, look who’s getting impatient,” you giggled as he pressed a kiss to your jawline. That was another secret that you had kept from your teams and even from Marianne. Loki and you. If you were being quite honest you were not sure how the two of you became a thing, but somehow you did and now the two of you were waiting for the right moment to tell the rest of the team that you were a lot more than just colleagues. “Can you blame me? You should’ve told me about this, beloved, then I’d known that you were not growing sick of me. I was all worried when you kept on disappearing,” he muttered as he relished in the closeness with you. Slightly shocked at this you grabbed his broad shoulders and pushed him back slightly. “How could you ever think that, Loki? I love you, I could never grow sick of you,” you assured him and pressed a loving kiss to his lips. “That is very good to know, beloved, and I’ll make sure to remind you of that whenever you need,” he winked and you couldn’t help but giggle. “Okay, okay, but I think I have to go back now, we can pick this up again later.” You turned around and opened the door again only to catch what was being said. “We’re obviously her favorites, I mean this club is in New York, not Gotham, why do you think that is?” “Oh shut your mouth, that means nothing. You heard what she said, we’re her family, we’re her brothers and sisters. The Demon is the best proof of that.” “Which Demon?” “Oh please, she called us her family too. After all we got all the appeal of you, but we also have gods.” “She has dinner every second weekend with Superman, an amazonian goddess, the king of atlantis and a world-class magician.” “Well with us she has the world's strongest AI, a world class witch AND the sorcerer supreme, two timeless soldiers, the world's fastest man and the god of thunder.” “Oh please, our fastest man could beat your fastest man in his sleep, not to mention that we have multiple of them.” “Well then bring it on” After having heard enough you looked at Loki, back at the group - and the illusion Loki that was standing bored beside them - and back at Loki, before closing the door again. “You know what, I think I’ll just let them talk that over for a bit.” “Yeah, I think that would be best,” Loki agreed, but he was clearly amused. “What do you think they’ll do when they find out that I am actually your favorite?” he asked teasingly and snug his arms around your waist. “Honestly I’m not sure you’d survive that…”

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acnelli · 3 years

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Fic Writer Interview

Thank you to @accio-broom for the tag!

Name: acnelli, but you can just call me Nelli

Fandoms I write for: I only write for Harry Potter. I started a Twilight fic ten years ago (don't judge me), but quickly dismissed it, because it was terrible. Plus, I shipped Edward/Leah and Bella/Leah, so I was surprised I got reviews at all.

As for my HP ships, Romione and Rarry (surprise!). I loved Romione since reading the books and knew they would get together since book 1. I craved more of their story, and if I have the time (which I don't really, atm), I read these two in every possible universe and trope. Through Tumblr I also joined the HPRomione Discord which is one of my favourite "places" to be. Lots of great creators promoting their stories/art there, offering help, and plotting stories together. Not just a great place for creators, btw. It's great for Romione-shippers in general (and multi-shippers are welcome as well. The mods work hard to make the server welcoming to everyone. It's focused on Romione, of course, but you won't get ridiculed if you ship Ron and/or Hermione with other people as well).

Okay, I did not plan to promote this sever so much, but here I am. You'll also find that I don't have much to say to the following points, so it's okay that this is a little longer.

Tumblr also introduced me to the Rarry ship (mainly @booigi-boi and @headcanonsandmore are responsible for that;)). I discovered some of my all time favourite stories through that ship, and while I always loved their bromance, it's just so easy to add romance to their wonderful dynamic. It's a rare pair, but we're responsible for our own fandom experience, so I decided to host the @2021harryronfest.

As for my other HP ships: pretty much all canon ships, especially Hinny and Remadora. But I also like Perciver, Linny, Wolfstar, Deamus and Golden Triad.

Two-shot: Well,...looking at my 16 one-shots.

Most popular multichapter: I planned some. And I really intend to write them, but the reasons why I rather sign up for 100 Fests, instead of writing my multi-chaps, I'll explain down below.

Worst part of writing: That I've got no time for it. I'm much more of a reader than a writer anyway, but finding the time and the motivation to write, is hard for me these days. Plus, I have to be in a specific mood for writing. I can't just sit down and tell myself to write something.

How you choose your titles: Is it weird, that I can't answer that? I usually come up with it while I write the story.

Do you outline: I almost never do. I wrote only one-shots so far, so there isn't much outlining required. With a multi-chap I should definitely do it, but I know myself. I just start writing and add things as I go. I'm lazy when it comes to writing, and just wing it (call me Ron Weasley).

Ideas I probably won’t get to but it would be nice: I'm kind of obsessed with a HP x The Queen's Gambit crossover idea of mine. I want to make Ron an orphan (yeah, that's the first hurdle I have to overcome for this...killing all the Weasleys. I don't think I can) and for his own protection they put him into a Muggle orphanage where he grows up with Beth. Together they master chess, and I kind of want to tell their stories about them growing up together and becoming each other's only family, about their time when they're apart (Ron goes to Hogwarts, Beth gets adopted), when they reunite again, them forming this sibling bond. A very different AU, so I've got two problems: world building and chess. I'm terrible at both things, so this probably will get very inaccurate and messy.

Callouts @ me: Don't put yourself down so much. You are better than you think. Your writing might not be top notch, but you're not half bad either.

Best writing habits: I think that I come up with really good ideas sometimes, and there are just some lines I'm super proud of. They come to me at random moments, and I always find a way to work them in.

Spicy tangential opinion: I have yet to be brave enough to write smut. But I love the read the realistic kind (nothing against pwp kind of stories. I would be a liar if I said I only read realistic sex scenes). And I think communication is key. No one is a natural at this, and logically the sex should get better over the years, because of communication! Sex is messy, sticky and awkward. And it's on both (or more) parties to figure everything out together. That's the kind of " imperfection" I love to read.

Idk who got tagged already, so I'll tag @constitutionalweasleymonarchy, because I read some great stories of her just yesterday.

#writer interview #hp #harry potter #ron weasley #hermione granger #romione #rarry #mine

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venhedish · 3 years

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Tagged by: @fallcolorspringrapid! Thank yew! I feel like I’m back on MySpace (affectionate).

Last song listened to: Glasser - Apply (which also happens to be my current favorite song and I can’t stop listening to it help.)

Last movie watched: Wow, uh. I don’t watch many movies anymore, I guess? I think it was Knives Out with @kalutyka a couple weeks ago.

Last tv show watched: Surprisingly NOT Supernatural. I watched a couple episodes of The Owl House before bed last night. Highly recommend, btw!

Last limited-series watched (bc it deserves its own category): Queen’s Gambit, I’m pretty sure. Sexy, sexy, chess! Also recommended.

Currently reading: My fic answer - Who Watches Over Me by Nyxocity (J2 movie star/bodyguard enemies to lovers AU. I’m like halfway through it). Non fic answer - Mouthful of Birds by Samantha Schweblin (horror/fantasy short story collection - “Schweblin's stories have the feel of a sleepless night, where every shadow and bump in the dark take on huge implications, leaving your pulse racing, and the line between the real and the strange blurs.” Very Good so far!)

Looking forward to: My beloved @kalutyka is gonna be here in my house this time next week, and then we’re road-tripping to the beach!! And on the way back we’re getting lunch with @ravingliberal!!! ❤❤❤

Last podcast: The Plaidcast Supernatural Rewatch. I’m only a few episodes in, but boy do I love it already. Very good and cool literary analysis of the show by two friends who know what they’re talking about. I’ve already learned a bunch of cool shit I had no idea about (and also I agree with their takes, so I’m biased).

Current project: A thousand WIPs or plans for fic-to-come, but the most complete is The dreaded Mystery Spot darkfic. Also my SPN proship discord server has decided on a whim to star a minecraft server and build the bunker, among other things, so that too, I guess.

Curent mood: Lazy, randomly chilly rainy mid-spring day. I’ve accomplished nothing of value, but I’m content.

Current wish: To get back on my bullshit and manage a more consistent sleep and work schedule. I’ve been all over the place in terms of sleep and productivity, and I really, really need to get myself back to a more steady, predictable daily schedule.

Currently learning: How to play arpeggios on the ukulele.

Last fic read: A Room with You in it, by yourperiphery. AFAIK this fic isn’t on the internet anymore, but I have a pdf copy if anyone is interested! Non-AU J2 fic that chronicles a year after the end of s3 (written before s4 aired based on some of the wild predictions this fic made on the direction the show would go, lol). VERY sweet idiots-to-lovers slow burn fic. Y’all really caught me in the middle of an RPF binge, lmao.

Currently craving: a back massage tbh. wouldnt say no to ice cream, but i’d literally never say no to ice cream, so.

Tagging: @kalutyka, @ohnoitsthebat, @cassandraleeds, @loverofdemoncorns, and @ghost-go-roasty-mctoasty because why not? Also in general just consider yourself tagged by me if you wanna play. I will not stop you, I promise.

#tag game #about me

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rosartemis · 3 years

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Your Phenomenal Dramaturgy DSMP Animatic

Was gonna post a YouTube comment, but then I realized I didn’t want to get eviscerated by the dsmp fandom for having a different opinion, so submitting my interpretation of the lyrics/animatic in regards to c!Dream here instead :P

“But I don’t know a thing, love or losing, see?” I believe references how before Wilbur and L'manburg these kinds of conflicts/wars were never a thing on the server and Dream had no idea how he should deal with it. “So I threw to the side any human in me.” Implies Dream believed he had to make harsh choices to end the conflict, he couldn’t be soft, “No mercy” right? “If I live a lie of shallow words and empty replies, then what am I?” implying Dream keeps his word, but the people of L'Manburg don’t. It’s framed as a response from Dream to Wilbur during the declaration of independence, and makes sense if you consider the fact that Wilbur was scamming everyone out of their own potions supplies and made L'Manburg in part as an excuse to get away with it when the other members of the server got mad (Dream was uninvolved at this point, but he likely heard about it from Sapnap, who was one of the people that had confronted Wilbur and Tommy about their theft). “Then it stuck in my head, gotta run away” Dream and Sapnap getting carried away with burning down the forest surrounding L'manburg. “Playing out like a scene, posing every lead Near the end of the show, waiting in the wing, see?” Not sure about the first line, aside from referencing how everything’s a play and Dream’s the lead actor, but the second line refers to Eret’s role as the hidden traitor “Waiting in the wings”. “Run to front stage, you’re all actors anyway, no one to watch, You’re all part of the play” Dream having to make tough decisions as the de facto leader of the Greater Dream SMP faction during war. He’s planning out strategies with George and Sapnap, but the map turns into a chess game and he hates how he has to consider using them like pawns in the game to win this war. “There’s no one inside me There’s no one that’s hiding Always been me, empty, a body but nobody here to see” Montage of Dream prepping for the battle, there’s a scene in which he’s stepping into an argument between George and Sapnap. He’s steeling himself for the battle ahead. From a meta standpoint, these are all the scenes we as viewers never got to see, but they still happened, and it was still Dream who had done all this for his faction. “And knowing that those eyes are watching…” From the animatic implies that Dream seems to think things aren’t quite over yet, so he’s keeping an eye on things. “Til before we could see, we were monsters in skin ” Dream and his relationship with being called a monster/tyrant/villain continuously by the other members of the server, in particular those that are a part of L'Manburg. Could also be how he hadn’t noticed himself slipping into that role until far too late. “But even if I had tried to move on, why can’t I leave my past?” Same as above, but this time with the bonus of Pogtopia Wilbur manipulating him and convincing him he’ll be nothing more than a tyrant, a villain despite his clear attempts to amend that opinion of him and change by siding with Tommy (and Wilbur), who he thought were the “good guys”. ““Considering it’s you, better give up soon” “Cuz no matter what you do, you will always lose”” Dream talking in reference to Tommy and Wilbur (?). “And then I was alone way before I knew Blocking every little thought that I couldn’t sit through” George leaving the conflict (and Dream) alone to build his own thing. Dream realizing he’s alone/his friends don’t seem to care about him as much as he does them, and trying not to think about it. “All they want now is safety from what’s around Waiting for help but never learning how” Dream constantly covering for George and Sapnap during conflicts they got themselves into without asking for anything in return, and George and Sapnap never learning how to stop causing conflicts/resolve them by themselves. (taking advantage of Dream’s help) “I don’t wanna think now” Doesn’t want to remember the good times he’s had with everyone/his friends. Him swiping away the pieces like he wants to stop this stupid game of chess. “I’ll play dumb anyhow” Reference to Dream losing his godly powers because of the exorcism and being split into 2 (as explained by creator of the animatic) and pretending everything was fine afterwards. “Always been me, empty, a body but nobody here to see” Realization he’s lost his powers and can’t rely on XD to help resolve the Manberg/Pogtopia conflict. Here his mask goes from covering the top of half of his face to covering his entire face, a “loss of humanity”/“empty” (from a circle to being fully molded onto his face covering), and is also when the strings motif starts. Trading chessboards for puppet strings. Very obviously, you can see him slipping and his mental state deteriorating. “So standing at the front line and maybe this time I’ll be there with a flag high” Reference to the Manburg shield hinting at his allegiance and how he’s leading the Manburg “army” during the battle. “Outmatched but easygoing "Never gonna need a script with me”“ Dream surrendering and playing along with their expectations (Pogtopia winning against Manberg). "Oh you too yes yes so take a deep breath "Swear that you’ll see me again” One chance is all I have now And so I better make it count Climatic ending, come see The final act, I’m shaken to my knees" Speaking to Tommy about meeting him for the final confrontation, Tommy realizing this is his chance to take down Dream for good, “climatic ending” the finale Dream’s planned out for them. Dream is determined to see things through to the bitter end. “Yet crying and lonely” But what has he lost to get to this point? (also the juxtaposition of Doomsday Dream with his armor and cloak staring at the sunset atop his obsidian grid, framed by destruction being swapped out for an image of the old Dream, still with strings tied to his hands, but staring up at the softer night sky being framed by trees, is just, so good) “The world that I locked out is nowhere to find The people who mocked me are gone from my sight Emotions and feelings are useless to keep The tears that had fallen were not mine to weep” Hardening his heart against George/the rest of his friends (who later in turn abandoned him/left him), beating down those who had wronged him in the past, letting go of Spirit and the attachment associated with them so they’ll never be used against him again (representing him cutting off the rest of his attachments to do the same thing) despite it being very obviously painful and hurting to do so. (choosing to let go, but finding that doing so hurts anyways. Crying for something you think you shouldn’t cry for.) “The kindness and warmth, I can’t feel them at all The hands that are offered, I’m scared that I’ll fall The hole dug inside me can’t hold any love Instead, you can see me break down from above” Unable or unwilling to form healthy emotional attachments/connections with other people. He’s scared that if he does he’ll just be hurt again, and so he pushes them away, even those who’d offer him their help. He’s lost so much that he’s grown emotionally repressed (his past as Cornelius and how he lost his entire family in a week) and has trouble feeling things like “love”, and starts collapsing under the lose. (his mental health spiraling hard) “Hey, remember when you saw that they were nearing their end? And you looked like you were laughing at the pain they were in But what did you see? Oh really what could it be Well, take a breath ‘cuz you’ll need it, so c’mon saying” Something more happening with Dream behind the front of “big bad villain” that he puts on for the rest of the server, what was he really feeling? What was he really planning? We don’t know. “We’re pulling at the boundary, unseen A curtain dyed in black soon came to be And knowing that those eyes are watching…” The end of a season/the “show”, Dream’s put in prison and the curtains appear to be closing, but there’s still some loose ends that haven’t been tied with the other characters, and Dream’s presence can still be felt all around the server despite him being locked up in a literal torture box with no real power (power that could get him out of said torture box). (also, just loved how you incorporated the chorus! I’ve known about Dramaturgy for a long time but hadn’t realized how well the lyrics just fit with the DSMP plotline XD)

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Wow, thanks for such a detailed response to my animatic :D I’m really glad you enjoyed it enough to type so much out!

I really like your interpretation, you basically got most of the things I was going for. While I yearn to type out something longer, I don’t really want to tell people how to interpret something lol

Thanks again <3

#submissions #submission

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keanan1501 · 3 years

Text

I wanted to make a short drabble for a AU i've been playing around with, that 'short drabble' somehow ended up being 2815 words long.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: (just to be safe)

- mentions of death

- swearing

- mentions of abuse

- mild panic attack

- loss of senses (they return don't worry)

- overstimulation (is that the correct word?)

Also quickly wanna say sorry if something is worded weird or if something is misspelled, english isn't my native language

Tubbo shivers slightly as the cool air whips against the huddled group of five. He hadn't dressed for the cold, he'd dressed for bed, sadly his plans for going to sleep were thwarted by Fundy breaking into his house, screaming about how Dream was building obsidian walls around L'manburg. That's how they got where they are now, Tommy, Ranboo, Quackity, Fundy and of course Tubbo himself standing next to a large obsidian wall, Dream sitting above them with his legs carelessly dangling over the edge.

"Dream you prick, what is this about?!" Tommy is the first to speak, his loud voice being heard over the howling wind. A small smile creeps up on Tubbo's face, no wonder Wilbur chose Tommy as the third president, Tommy had a way of catching people's attention and holding it. Even the masked tyrant couldn't help but pay attention to the blond president, or maybe he is, Tubbo isn't sure, Dream's mask is angled towards them, but who knows where his eyes are looking? Or maybe his eyes are closed?

"He's not going to come down, is he?" Fundy groaned, eyeing the stairs that would let them climb on top of the obsidian like it had just insulted his entire bloodline, maybe it had, Tubbo wouldn't be suprised if Fundy could talk to stairs. Nothing could suprise Tubbo anymore, not after his older brother died and came back as a ghost.

Tommy lets out a sigh that is best discribed as a mix between resignation and anger before climbing up the steps, Tubbo quickly following after him, and from the noise behind him he can tell Quackity and Fundy are following as well. He turns to look back at Ranboo, Tommy had asked the enderman hybrid to wait near the meeting, and not involve himself, which was reasonable, Ranboo was new, he shouldn't have to dive head-first into petty political arguments. The half black-half white tall male gives him a reassuring smile, and Tubbo can't help but smile back, sure, Ranboo was new, but he'd already made a impression on Tommy and Tubbo, and both were looking for a way to invite Ranboo into this group, a way to make their duo a trio.

Once on the walls Tubbo freezes for a second. Dream isn't alone, Sapnap, George and Punz are with him. "You!" Sapnap spits, and speedwalks forewards, Tubbo would have laughted at how silly the bandana wearing male looked if Sapnap wasn't speedwalking towards him. Sapnap is fuming, he doesn't need to look at the other male's face to realize that, the guy's balled up hands shaking with what could only be discribed as rage tells him the whole story. If that wasn't enough Sapnap grabs the front of his pajama shirt and pulls him close, forcing him to make eye contact, the blaze hybrid's eyes almost look like they're on fire.

"Hey!" Fundy's bark snaps Sapnap out of the one-sided staring contest he was having with Tubbo "Can you at least let Quackity and me on before you go around trying to fight us?!" Sapnap glares at him, and Tubbo mentally scolds the small part of his brain that's still stuck in the past, the small voice in his head telling him to apologize, to courtesy for Schlatt, and to leave as fast as possible, Schlatt was already angry, he'll just piss him off more if he stays, and when Schlatt gets pissed off he-

A soft tail brushing against his hand brings him back to the present, Fundy's looking at him with concerned but understanding eyes. Tubbo takes a moment to remind himself that Schlatt is dead, and to notice Sapnap backed off, and that Tommy is president now. He gives a short and polite nod to Fundy, mouthing a "thanks" he would've said it out loud if Dream and Tommy weren't arguing. Wait... he should probably pay attention.

"-George's house!" Dream yells, throwing his hands up as Tommy splutters nonsense in return, clearly showing of his disagreement with whatever statement Dream made. Tubbo shuffles up besides Quackity, carefully tapping the duck hybrid's middle finger twice, it was their own made up code for "i wasn't paying attention, what's going on?".

"Dream is claiming you burned down George's house" Quackity whispers "Sapnap, Punz and George are backing him up, George and Punz are saying they watched you burn it" Tubbo frowns, he wants to protest against their claims, but Tommy is already doing a great job for him. He walks over to Tommy and places his hand on the taller male's shoulder, a silent show of support.

"Listen Tommy" Dream yells, reaching out to the blonde as if to cover his mouth with a hand, but thinking better of it "Tubbo burned down George's house, we have multiple eye witnesses! Or are you saying Tubbo has a alibi that can prove otherwise?" Tommy nods, full of confidence as always, he smiles brightly as he turns to his vice "Tubbo, where were you yesterday evening, and who were you with?"

Tubbo mulls over his answer, he was working on his bee dome during that time, he was building it with Ranboo. He opens his mouth to answer, but a bad feeling grips his heart and squeezes it, and a lie slips past his lips just as naturally as the truth should have "I was working on my bee dome, alone" why did he lie? The truth would have been so much better! He could faintly hear Dream and Tommy yell some more, but that became background noise. He knew why he lied, he lied because he wanted to protect Ranboo, Ranboo was new, innocent, the perfect prey for opportunistic tyrants such as Dream. Tommy and Tubbo were similar in that aspect, both teens wanted to keep Ranboo from playing metaphorical chess with Dream for as long as possible, Schlatt and Wilbur showed them what happens when you lose against Dream, and neither was ready to let bright-eyed Ranboo have even the tiniest chance of losing.

"I want you to exile Tubbo" Dream's words hit him like Technoblade's rocket, burning him from the inside out and drying his throat, rendering him speechless. From the sudden strangled noises next to him he can tell Tommy, Quackity and Fundy are having the same reaction. Once again, it's Tommy who finds his voice first "You want me to WHAT?! No! No no no no no! Fuck you! Fuck you i am not exiling Tubbo!"

"Well, that's going to be a problem then" Dream whistles, Tubbo could hear the smile in his voice, and with practiced ease he whips out a flint & steel with one hand, and Cat with the other "Tubbo burned down the king's house, and i want punishment for his actions, so either exile him, or i'll burn this disc like he burned George's house"

Quiet settled over the people gathered up on the wall. Tubbo could see Tommy's mouth open and close, trying to force out words that weren't there, could see Fundy flinch and shrink in on himself, ears pinned back and eyes ping-ponging between Tubbo and Tommy, could feel his heart drop, his stomach filling with dread. Everyone who was around for L'manburg's war of independence knows how much Tommy values his discs, everyone who's been on the server for more then a day knew how much Tommy values his friendship with Tubbo, but noone knows which of the two he values more, and Tubbo is petrified of finding out.

Quackity laughs, loud and boisterous, like Dream had just told the best joke he's ever heard "Are you crazy?! No way Tommy is going to chose some disc over Tubbo!" the duck hybrid cackles, wiping away fake laughter tears "Tell him how delusional he is Tommy!"

Tubbo looks back over at Tommy, taking in a sharp gasp of air at the lost expression on his best friend's face. His hands itch, and he knows, he knows he wants to grab Tommy by the arm, drag him away from Dream, away from responsibility, back to their bench, play mellohi... mellohi! He has mellohi!

He reaches out, grabbing Tommy's hand, and letting out a concerned noise as Tommy whips his head around fast enough to make him dizzy "Tubbo, i- i don't-" the blond croaks, pulling the shorter close and stuffing his face into the brunette's shoulder, a bit challenging with their height difference but they make it work "I can't lose you too" Tommy mumbles, and Tubbo is reminded of the fact that Wilbur had practically adopted the blond boy as his brother, something Tommy eagerly returned, all that was missing was the paperwork.

"Tommy, it's just a disc" Quackity huffs, fustration lacing his tone "Tubbo is worth ten times more than some random disc!" Quackity opens his mouth again, no doubt to rant some more, but Tubbo shushes him before turning his attention on the distraught blond, the last thing he needs right now is someone yelling at him

"It's okay Tommy, sometimes sacrifices are needed" Tubbo sighs, carefully scratching the back of Tommy's head in the way he knows Tommy loves, and like he expects the blond melts into it, letting out a quiet hum "Plus, i still have Mellohi, and i'm sure we can get a new disc" Tubbo cheerfully smiles, but that smile drops as Tommy freezes "I don't want a new disc" Tommy pulls away, and dispite not being a very touch-oriented person, Tubbo still mourns the loss of the grounding weight on his shoulder.

"You both are being morons! Dream is threatning to burn my disc!" Tommy snaps, eyes darting between Quackity and Tubbo, almost like he expects both of them to attack him "I thought they were our discs?" Tubbo asks softly, and he could hear Fundy growl out a quiet "Tommy, don't" but both are drowned out by Quackity's yelling "We're being morons?! We?! Tommy open your fucking eyes man! You're concidering wether you should banish a living, breathing, human being capable of emotions, your best friend, over a peice of plastic that plays some tunes when you put it in a jukebox!"

"We aren't sending Tubbo away, are we?" Tubbo wanted to scream, Fundy's question had been asked so softly, but the amount of defeat and hopelessness dripping off of it punched him in the gut, Fundy already knows the answer, and Tubbo wants to scream, because he knows as well. But once again the two quieter members of the cabinet go unheard, as the two louder turn their anger at one another.

" Who cares about some discs?!" Quackity screams, shoving Tommy back a bit, and the blond lets out a animalistic snarl that makes a shiver crawl up Tubbo's spine "I do!" Tommy yells back, pushing Quackity. Both Fundy and Tubbo dart forewards, Fundy grabs Quackity's wrist to stop him from falling off the obsidian wall, while Tubbo pushes Tommy back, placing himself between the two arguing allies, Ranboo's shout of distress could be heard faintly, the enderman hybrid probably noticing how close Quackity had gotten to tumbling down the large structure.

Tommy takes no notice of Quackity's near death experience, and tries to get around Tubbo, no doubt to continue their argument. Tubbo grabs Tommy's wrists, keeping the taller in place "Tommy, i promise you that after this is all over, i'll get you a new Cat disc" Tubbo smiles, rubbing circles onto Tommy's arms with his thumbs "It will take a bit, but i'll get a new one! We can let this one be burned and-" Tubbo's throat tightens as Tommy looks at him with undisguised rage burning in his eyes, the anger that was previously thrown at Quackity had increased ten fold, and Tubbo had just made himself the new target.

Tommy rips his arms out of Tubbo's hold, still staring at him. Tubbo makes himself tinier, knowing he messed up big time, why else would Tommy look at him like he wanted nothing more than to beat him up and leave him bleeding out? Instead of going physical the angry teen takes a deep breath before exploding "You- Tubbo, you don't- THE DISK TUBBO- THE DISKS ARE WORTH MORE THAN YOU EVER WILL BE!".

Quiet. Quiet takes over the whole group. Even the wind stops howling, everyone is shaking, why? Even Dream and his group are shaking. They didn't get yelled at, they didn't get invalidated, Tubbo did, yet they're shaking. He feels two arms tug him away from Tommy, and he weakly struggles against the hold, Tommy didn't mean what he said, he couldn't have meant it!

Quackity pulls him into a one-armed hug, and points his other finger at Tommy, his mouth is moving, and Tubbo's eyes widen. The only person shaking is Tubbo, the world hasn't gone quiet, Tubbo's ears are just ringing and he can't hear anything. As if realizing his situation was the key to everything suddenly noises surround him once more, Quackity and Tommy are yelling, the wind is howling, Fundy is pacing, he's pretty sure he can even hear Ranboo breathing! Everything is too loud! He grabs his own fuzzy ears and tugs, a horrible attempt at blocking out all the noise.

Dream claps his hands in a almost giddy way, and Tubbo flinches "Well, that's settled" he sounds so happy, Tubbo wants to puke "I'm glad we could come to a agreement President Innit" Tubbo watches as Dream pockets the flint & steel and Cat, his movements, his voice, his entire aura screamed dangerously pleased.

Dream reaches for him, and Tubbo lets out a bleet of fright, he wants to scream again, Dream shouldn't be trying to grab him and drag him to Prime knows where! Quick as a fox he escapes from Quackity's hold and dashes to Tommy, knowing his best friend would protect him, no matter what. Dream reaches for him again, and Tubbo tries to dart around Tommy to safety, but a hand grabs his arm and keeps him in place long enough for Dream to grab his wrist and put handcuffs on them.

Tubbo watches the hand that sealed his fate drop from his arm, he follows it as it drops limply to Tommy's side. The blond is looking straight ahead, not looking at him, why isn't he looking at him? "Tommy" Tubbo calls out softly, headbutting the male in the side, aside from a winded "oof" Tommy makes no move to regonize the gesture of affection.

"Tommy, look at me" the male stares straight ahead, no reaction to Tubbo's words "Tommy, look at me please!" Tubbo stumbles back as Dream tugs at the chain connected to his wrists "Tommy look at me goddammit!" Tubbo screams, why won't Tommy look at him? He wants to apologize, to reassure Tommy that none of this was his fault, to ask if they're still friends, but he can't do that, not when Tommy won't meet his eyes.

Tommy finally turns to face him, and Tubbo smiles, taking a breath in preparation for everything he was about to say, but Tommy beats him to it "Tubbo Underscore, i, President Innit, hereby exile you from L'manburg. You will have one hour to leave this country, if you are found in L'manburg after your hour is up, it will be considered treason" Tubbo's words die in his throat, instead a single sob is all that comes out. He takes a look around, both Quackity and Fundy are looking horrified at Tommy, Punz and George look like they'd rather be anywhere else, and to Sapnap's credit, the raven-haired man looks guilty "Well, you heard the president Tubbo, time is ticking, lets go!" Tubbo wouldn't be suprised if Dream explodes from happiness at this point.

Dream tugs on the chains again, and this time Tubbo follows without fighting back. He feels a odd sense of calm, but he knows it won't last, he'll break, he can feel a typhoon of emotions inside of him, but it's going to fast to pick out a single emotion, so he just feels numb. He can feel Tommy's stare on the back of his head, but this time it's him that refuses to acknowledge his best fri- his ex best friend.

As Dream leads him down the stairs he can hear a worried warble from Ranboo, so he puts on a brave face and smiles, not wanting the enderman to remember him as the weeping exiled, because honestly, he doesn't know if he'll make it back alive, or if he'll make it back at all. Tommy, Fundy and Quackity are screaming at eachother again, he can't hear what they're saying, but by their tones it's probably something bad.

"Take care of them for me, okay?" he asks Ranboo, pointing with his head at the L'manburg cabinet "I know they're idiots, but they're lovable idiots, i promise"

#tubbo #tommyinnit #exile au #dream smp #quackity #fundy

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shhhlikeme · 4 years

Note

can I get hcs of kenma and tendou with a quiet and reserved S/O but she’s secretly really pervy? Nsfw maybe 👉👈 I love your writing!! (*^▽^*)

Thank youuu😘

You may! I‘m writing Kenma’s separately because my posts are too long so look out for pt. 2 later! Ps. Idk if it’s spelled ‘tendo’ or ‘Tendou’ so I might swap from time to time lol.

I literally love this one shot!

———————————

Tendou Satori x “Timid Girl by Day: Naughty Girl by Night” S/O

(Slight NSFW)

————————————————-

“I was in the chess club, too Y/N. State champ, 1984!” Exclaimed Tendou’s father loudly. His mother, who was sitting across from him at the restaurant dinner table beamed at him.

“She’s a keeper, Tendou. You better not do anything to lose her!” Satori’s mom reached over to hold onto your hand and you gave her a sweet smile, happy that you had won your boyfriends family over.

“I was state champ last year,” you mumbled to his family quietly and they practically gushed to death.

“How did our strange Tendou get you?” Questioned his mother rather rudely.

she shoulda kept that in the drafts

You shrugged, feeling the need to defend your love. “Tendou is the kindest, most gentle, honest boy I’ve ever met. I’m lucky to have him. Right, Ten?”

Your boyfriend Tendou had been staying out of yours and his parents conversation for the majority of the night, a little because his parents didn’t need any help in counting his faults but moreso because his girlfriend......had her foot pleasurably kneeding his crotch under the table. Very pleasurably, considering the man had a mild foot fetish. You were softly running the underside of your foot along his length that has hardened fully due to your ministrations. You used your foot to nudge his thighs apart and fondled his balls.

“Right, Ten?” You repeated.

Tendou looked at you across the table when you evilly invited him into the conversation, knowing that he wasn’t listening a damn.

“S-sorry w-what?” He pretended to cough quickly in order to cover his moan when you fondled his balls. You were literally going to make him cum and you haven’t even stuttered once when talking with his parents.

“Aren’t you listening?” His mother snapped.

“He never listens.” His dad muttered.

“Your parents were just saying how lucky you are to have me because of how quiet and reserved I am.” You gave him a sexy smirk and slowly grazed the length of his his member from top to bottom. Tendou had to increase the force of his coughing and look away because his eyes wanted to roll to the back of his head.

“Sweetheart, drink some water will you?” His mother waves the server over and points to the water pitcher.

“And Ten, I was telling your parents how you are the best boyfriend in the world because you......”

Tendou couldn’t listen to you when his thoughts were so consumed by lust. It wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t any more blood in his brain because it had all migrated south. He was so turned on by not only your movements, but the fact that everyone who knew you, including him, thought you’d be the last girl to be doing what you’re doing right now.

He fell in love with the shy girl in school—because you were so pretty and quiet and you spent all your lunches in the library like he used to do before Ushijima invited him to start joining him for lunch. You were very reserved, never choosing to roll your school skirt to make it shorter like all the other girls in school and Tendou saw that as endearing.

And you were nice to him. When he built up the courage to sit next to you and start a conversation, you were quiet but the nicest person he’s ever met..... Even though his personality should have scared you like it did everybody else.

you two started dating and you never changed from being mousy and reserved

That is.....until it came to anything sexual

Something intimate had only happened between you two once before and you had been interrupted by Tendou’s parents, but he caught a glimpse of your very strong naughty side

But even that brief moment was nothing compared to this

Touching him under the table while his parents were right there....this was one for the books

But what can you say? Your perversion came out like a bat of a hell when you saw Tendou so nervous introducing you to his family, looking so cute in his green tux. You’d never seen him so reserved but you knew it was because his parents weren’t his favourite people in the world. You don’t know why but seeing him like this made you want to make him orgasm, and he was rendered powerless to stop you

“Ten, are you not feeling okay honey? You haven’t been answering us.” You asked your redhead sweetly as you agonizingly-slowly removed your foot off of him and slipped it back in your flats. You gave him an innocent bat of your eyelashes.

Tendou held back his whine from your removal.

His parents asked Tendou if he needed to go see a doctor again due to his strange behaviour that he used to exhibit when he was young.

Satori only needed to see the doctor if they could give his gf a prescription of what to do with a bf’s serious case of blue balls.

Nevertheless, Ten tried to explain himself to his parents because the threat of seeing his childhood doctors was an absolute no.

“N-no I mean s-sorry! Y/N, parents, I-I’m fine, trust me—“

You interrupted him. “No, I don’t think you’re fine, Ten.”

“Yes I am—“

Irritated with him, you turned to grin at the older couple. “Mr. & Mrs. Tendō, your doctors are very unnecessary. I know just how to help your son,”

Tendou watched how you brought a glass to your lips after you spoke. You had asked the server for a straw earlier, which was pretty odd in a five star restaurant, but now Tendo knew why. With your eyes innocent and with his parents eyes on their son in worry, you took a sip of the water. Then, you slipped the straw further into your mouth suggestively. You circled your tongue around it for your boyfriend’s hungry eyes only. Tendou’s dick twitched under the table.

You rendered the sexy clown speechless momentarily. lets all applaud

“Son, I thought you got over that awful odd phase you’d been in because you got to Shiratorizawa....”

Your bf rushed to defend himself even though he barely heard his father. “Dad! I promise I have and that I’m fine! I don’t need any more help—“

“It’s nothing like that, Mr Tendo. But you do look like you’re a little under the weather, Ten. Maybe you need to leave early?” When your boyfriend’s eyes flicked back to you, you flicked the tip of your straw with your tongue— the same way you wanted to do to certain other tip.

How can your eyes remain so innocent as you do this?! Satori thought. Horny, annoyed with his parents, and confused, Tendou shook his head at his dad. “No! I’m okay, reall—“

You kicked him under the table. The idiot was not getting it! “No YOU’RE not, Ten. I think you’re feeling sick. With JUST a cold. And I think you need me to take you back to my house so I can nurse you back to health, correct?” You spoke slowly hoping your boy would finally get the gist.

Finally, that lightbulb turned on. 💡

Our cherryhead baby was like:

Bruh.

His eyes lighting up because the sexy redhead FINALLY understood your sexual innuendo, he nodded. His mind ran with thoughts of you and him in your bed: hopefully naked. Keeping up your impeccable sweeter than though charade that his parents ate right up, you turned to his parents. “I recently got my acceptance letter into the nursing program at Kyoto University.”

“What?!” Mrs. Tendō’s jaw dropped. She grabbed her husbands hand and squeezed it excitedly. “But that’s one of the top 2 Universities in Japan!”

You smiled, blushing shyly. Your boyfriend was shocked at how you are truthfully so insanely bashful and that it wasn’t an act with his parents. He couldn’t think about that for long though, because in that moment your foot unexpectedly grazed his erection again and it felt sooooooooooo good that he had to let out a strangled cough to cover his moan again.

You were happy with his reaction. “See, the poor thing is still coughing. Would you two mind if I took him home to help him? I promise he’ll be back to normal after.”

“Go ahead, chess champion, Kyoto U student!!!! Please keep our son and be a good influence on him!”

Satori couldn’t help but think, ‘Good influence?!’ As he bit back a moan of sexual frustration when you removed your foot again. He was embarrassed by how close he was.

“Great!” You smiled. “Let’s go, Ten sweetheart. The sooner we get home the sooner I can make you feel better.” You got up, straightening your humble dress and rounded the table so you were standing behind your sitting boyfriend. His parents began busying themselves with collecting their things.

From behind, you leaned over and whispered in your man’s ear,

“When we get to my house, I’m going to make you cum so hard that you’ll make a riddle about me, too.”

Your boyfriends eyes rolled back and his leg started tapping on its own like a dog wagging its tail.

Tendou’s parents were busy with the cheque.

“Our valet just pulled up so we are going to go now, but Thank you so much for joining us for dinner, Y/N.” finished his parents approvingly. “You are without a doubt the kindest, sweetest, most modest scholar we’ve ever met. And by some miracle you are dating our son! I hope you get out of that timid shell one day, Y/N, because you deserve all the praise.”

You blushed, giggling like a school girl as you hugged your boyfriend, just enough so that he could feel your boobs pressed to his back. He wagged his tail more.

“Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Tendou. I promise that I shall work on my timidity and modesty.” On your son’s dick, that is, You thought to yourself, smirking because you were only a 10-minute drive to your house.

—————————-

Baby Kenma in part 2 later lol

#tendou satori #sexy haikyuu #haikyu requests #haikyuu boys #haikyuu!!#haikyuu scenarios #tendou x you #tendou x y/n #tendou x reader

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why-i-ask · 4 years

Text

I've been wanting to do things with these prompts for ages but I don't have art skills. So, >-< writing. Big long.

-Star Guardian AU -

It’s the sound of the old school clock striking three that draws Ezreal’s attention away from blankly staring at the pages of an old chemistry book. It’s hard to think of school when you have an alter ego living in a galaxy above saving the world every night. He Exhales and closes the book finding it pointless to pretend any longer.

“Something wrong?” Chipped the soft voice of the pink haired mage besides him.

He flinched he’d almost forgotten he invited Lux to study with him.

“No just, can’t focus.”

“I get that, why don’t we get coffee?”

“This place has a coffee shop?” Ezreal mused, he’d never really looked around outside of their shared accommodation. He wanted to explore the stars not the streets.

“Yea, It’s really cute. Also is hiring-” Lux smiled, tapping his shoulder as she strutted past him.

“I think I’ve got enough work to do.” He rolled his eyes, standing up and tucking the books back into his bag.

Ezreal would be lying if he said Lux was wrong. The place was adorable. A small shop on the corner, with little ivory tables and chairs set about it’s front protected by a brown fence decked in vines, the open sign was a soft lavender, shimmering in the window. As they opened the door, the old chimes range overhead. The inside was an array of pastels, the walls in a soft lemon, with the tables and chairs were in a checked mint. The counter was a baby blue, he stared at the array of cakes in their display trays at one side, as they approached the cashier straighten. He was a young male, perhaps the same age as them working some part time for extra cash. He looked tired though, the dark shades under his eyes even visible with his dark chocolate skin.

“Hey, Can I take your order?”

“Yea- Do you guys still do that amazing strawberry cheesecake?” Lux chimed.

“That was last weeks special, this time is raspberry it rotates every week.”

“Hm, shame. Then just two super choco brownies and a strawberry smoothie for me- What do you want Ez?” She turned to look at him, drawing the cashier’s attention to him as well.

Ezreal bit his lip he hadn’t payed enough attention to the menu; he scrunched his face up in thought, the Cashier rolled his eyes messing with a lose strand of his white hair that had escape the taming of a messy bun.

“Take your time, there’s not a queue yet.” He hummed, “before turning round to the kitchen outlet, “Tal, can you start fix up the order on screen..”

Ezreal sighed, glancing back across the small menu on the desk, his eyes glancing across the sweets. “uhm, Can I have a latte and a caramel slice?”

The cashier smiled slightly, “Sure, got a name for that?”

“uh, Ezreal-”

“Great. You tow paying separately or together?”

“I’m paying,” Lux smiled, “It’s my treat afterall, long day.”

Ezreal was about to protest but lux elbowed him and he decided against it. There wasn’t much point in arguing she could be stubborn she got that from Jinx.

“Your total is 28.50. You can sit down if you like. we’ll bring it to your table. ”

Lux grinned fishing around her purse for a few notes handing them over, before turning and grabbing Ezreal arm, pulling him to one of the corner tables.

“What do you think?” She hummed, nudging the table décor to the side.

“It’s nice..”

“No, I know that- I mean him.”

Ezreal blinked, she was really trying to set him up like that? She really wanted him to move on. “No.”

“C’mon, why not? Star guardian too busy for love? You weren’t to busy to run after me-”

“That was different. I don’t have to keep anything secret from you.”

Lux sighed and shook her head, the spacebuns she had decided to sport seemed to lag in their movements. “Not everything has to be about saving the universe.”

Ezreal huffed, She was right and he didn’t like that. He wanted to pretend it could entirely be about fighting monsters; saving the world being a hero. mysterious, adored. Yet she was right he had a real life too. They were sat in silence for only a few minutes, watching other guests enter, sit down to chat or walk away with a small coffee. Then the server approached, she must’ve also been a part time hire; though she was much more lively than the cashier. Her short brown hair tied in spacebuns almost twinning lux’s current hairstyle, which caused a grin to spread across her face. Her bright chestnut eyes glittered with excitement as she set the tray down on the table.

“Hey, sorry for the wait. Brownies and a strawberry smoothie.” she hummed, setting down the plate and glass before lux.

“Thank you! it’s not a problem!”

“and a caramel slice and coffee for....Asreal?” Her face scrunched slightly as she glanced at the cup to read before placing it down with the plate before Ezreal.

“Thanks-” He hummed, though his attention was drawn to the bad spelling of his name on the cup. He didn’t think it was that hard to spell.

She picked up the empty tray, “Enjoy! If you want anything else feel free to ask!”

“We will, Thank you...Taliyah? I love the hair by the way.” Lux grinned, leaning over slightly to look at the name tag on the waitress’ pastel red uniform.

Taliyah practically glowed at the compliment,

“Next-” It was the fairly loud shout from the Cashier that drew her attention and caused her to hurry back to behind the counter.

Lux giggled picking up a brownie and biting into it. “What about her?”

“Lux! I’m not that pathetic to have a crush on just anyone who’s nice to me!”

She laughed, “of course not~ I’m teasing.”

Ezreal huffed, sipping from the latte. It was bittersweet and hot- perhaps he should’ve specified the sugar addition and waited- He place it back down trying not to wince at the slight burn.

“but I do mean it, you need to get out more. In the real world.”

He sighed, taking a bit from the caramel square. “I know.”

Lux was quick to pick up on the irritation in his tone and turned the conversation swiftly to the subjects of school; English to be precise. some of play by a dead guy Ezreal had since forgotten the name of. She was quite happy to chatter on allowing him brief moments to interrupt with his own thoughts. They remained in the shop for perhaps thirty minutes, the snacks gone and drinks drunk before lux’s finally finished her rant.

“oh my, is that the time? We should head back and meet up with the other’s.”

Ezreal nodded standing up, he piled the plats and cups up before they took their leave.

~~~

It was Saturday evening, sitting board in the longue watching Soraka and lulu playing chess on the old coffee table. When Lux, swung round again, “Hey guys.. before we have our movie night why do we go out?”

“where? Y’know those restaurants are just so pricey and not worth it-”

“What about the cafe?”

“that lil shop on the corner near school?” Lulu tilted her head. “It always smells so nice.”

“Yeah. It’s got pretty good prices.”

So they made the walk off to the corner shop, the dwindling light of the day fading into the sunset as the approached the familiar ivory décor though it was now glowing in a soft umber from the fading light.

They entered the shop to the familiar jingle of the chimes, This time the cashier was their server; Taliyah. Her hair still tied in it’s space buns, She smiled upon seeing them enter.

“Hello! What can i get you today?”

Lulu giggled, standing on her tippy toes to peer over the counter, “a menu if you wouldn’t mind-”

“Ah-” Taliyah quickly picked up the sheet on the counter and handed it to her.

“I’ll have lemon meringue pie, and a J20?” Lux hummed, “never tried the pie before..”

“That sounds great- oh they have apple pies too- I’d like one of those.” Soraka said, glancing back to Ezreal and lulu.

“Uhm, A latte I suppose with just two sugars- and...a chocolate sundae.”

“ooh! Oh! chocolate sundae with waffles!” Lulu piped up placing the menu down.

“Do you have a name for your latte?” Taliyah smiled, stifling a laugh at lulu’s reaction as she tapped it into the register again.

“Uhm, Ezreal- But it’s spell with an E.”

Taliyah shrugged. “Alright...And you’re paying with?”

“Oh i’’ll paying, You guys can just pay me back later makes everything easier.” Soraka said interupting lux’s offer to just pay the whole thing again.

“Thanks roka!”

“Great, your total is 42.69.” Taliyah hummed, “Feel free to sit down and we’ll bring it out...”

Soraka paid and they returned to one of the booths in the side.

“She’s very nice.”

“Yeah, I wonder if she’s the only one on today, He’s not here today- oh what was his name tag?”

Ezreal shrugged, he hadn’t payed too much mind to the cashier beyond how tired he seemed and the jokes lux had made.

“Well their not too busy now so they probably don’t need that many people on.” Lulu grinned, before turning to Soraka and pulling out some playing cards. “go fish?”

“You know you always lose...”

“This time i’ll win! I’ve been practicing!”

Soraka laughed softly and took the cards to deal out, Ezreal declined the offer to play. It was more fun to watch than participate in with the way the two could get aggressive.

A few minutes passed before the counter door swung open and the male from yesterday stepped over carrying a tray brimmed with their order.

“Evening...” He hummed, a slight grin twisting on his face as he set down each of the treats before each of them.

He looked at least somewhat happier than last time, though he still seemed tired, Ezreal wondered why, it couldn’t be that hard. Just sitting in the quiet shop all day serving food. Not even everyday of the week? Maybe with school work a little tough. But it shouldn’t be difficult. He hardly notice the other say his name as he handed him the latte.

“Careful it’s hot.”

“Thanks..” He hummed, forcing a smile as he flicked his gaze down to see the name tag. “...Ekko.”

“Enjoy guys.” The server; Ekko hummed as he turned away, this time his hair wasn’t perfectly in it’s high bun but instead it was tied in a mix between a bun and a ponytail as if done up in a hurry.

“So? Still no?”

He turned back to face lux and scowled. “Come off it..”

“you’re staring though..”

“He looks tired, don’t know what he has to be tired about he’s not the one saving the world-.” He huffed, brushing off the hint she was giving him. He glanced down to his latte and blinked. Ah.

‘Ezreel’ He guess he did say with an E. Another misspelling. He shrugged it off, and moved on to pick up the spoon and take a scoop of ice cream.

Another pleasant night of laughs as lux and Soraka gushed over their favourite movies. Lulu chiming in with her own takes on each film.

Ezreal didn’t though he listened intently his thoughts were more about how he could get them to spell his name right. That and considering if perhaps Ekko had some secret double life of action that could give him a reason to be so tired; though that was more down to his own bias. Once again they left after forty minutes, placing the empty dishes neatly piled together for ease of collecting.

Returning back home in time to find Ahri and jinx had picked the movie for them.

~~~

He returned to the coffee shop a few times over the course of the next few weeks. Sometimes accompanied by Lux or lulu other times alone, Yet every time. Regardless of who was one till, he ordered a latte; he’d catch Ekko stifle a laugh at his order, or drop a smirk as he handed him his drink and with out fail there would be a misspelling; Ezrel, Izreel, Aseraphel, Esral, Ezrela.

He huffed, stubborn and determined as he strolled through the door listening to the chimes ringing once more. He approached the counter, to see the white haired male restocking the display. He glanced up and smiled,

“What can i get you?”

“Usual a Latte...”

“Got a name for it?”

“Ezreal. That’s E-Z-”

“I know.” He laughed waving his hand to dismiss him. “Anything else?”

“uhm- no-”

“Wait a second then-”

He watched the other twirl away to the coffee machine, standing awkwardly as he waited; perhaps trying to distract himself with the décor yet his interest was piqued he never really watched them make it. It seemed to make the other happy, humming- he still looked tired that never seemed to change. Though he was used to it now, maybe it was endearing he’d like to know why but it’d be rude to ask. He must’ve zoned out as the next thing he knew the other was back in front of him.

“That’s 4.99, thanks.”

He nodded, handing over a fiver as he took the coffee

“Careful it’s-..” Hummed the other, passing the change and receipt.

“hot I know, like same.” Ezreal mused, a grin spreading across his lips at the other’s slightly surprised expression.

He recovered quickly and nodded, looking over to the next customer.

Ezreal stepped aside turning to leave he glanced at his drink.

‘Easy.’ Oh haha.

He rolled his eyes fumbling with the receipt when something else caught his eye. on the back of the receipt. He flattened it out, a sequence of digit- and a smiley face-

Weird almost looks like a- Oh. OH.

He paused and glanced back towards the counter, Briefly catching the other’s gaze watching the smirk tug at his lips as he wrote down the next order.

He folded it, placing the number into his pocket. Maybe he’d use it. Maybe he’d get an answer to his question after all. Maybe lux was right all along- Maybe. Just maybe.

#Coffeeshopau #Writingprompts #Starguardian #Ekko #Ezreal #Lux #ezreal x ekko

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bluespruce25 · 3 years

Text

A Life for a Life to Balance the Scales

CW: Suicide/Self-sacrifice

Follow #L4LBS for updates | Up on AO3 | Previous Chapter

Chapter 2 of 5: We Go Together

Lena was working alone in her lab to destroy the last vestiges of Non Nocere and considering where to next apply her mind and energy. She needed a new project but had lost faith in her own ability to create and innovate for good. She stood in front of her lab table, tablet in hand, flicking through files and noting ideas. It was taking longer than anticipated because, despite her best efforts, she found her thoughts frequently turning to Kara, to Supergirl, to Kara Zor-El; to that infuriating blonde who almost ruined her life. The time for berating herself for not seeing it sooner had passed. Now, she was working to reconcile the three of them in her mind, hoping to find an answer there that would provide clarity and direction on how to proceed. She wasn’t sure if she had forgiven Kara, but she was finally ready to admit that she still loved her; admit to herself that is; this was not something she would ever admit to Kara. If the revelation of Kara’s secret had proven anything, it was that Kara could not possibly return her feelings. Kara could not be in love with her and yet lie to her every moment they spent together. The way Kara treated her, that was not love. Then again, Lena asked herself with a sigh, “What do I know of love?”

Lost in her daydreams, Lena almost missed the notifications that popped up on the screen of her monitor, then on her tablet, as they filled her displays with increasing urgency. Startled out of her reverie by a particularly aggressive alert in bold red text, Lena swiveled to her computer and started frantically typing.

“No. No no no no no, this can’t be right. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Unless.”

“Oh god, Kara !”

Lena grabbed her tablet and her bag and ran out the door of the lab.

---

Alex was standing at the war table in the middle of the control room looking wistfully at the second floor balcony. She could just make out the tops of heads where the Superfriends were gathered around Brainy when Lena Luthor came crashing into her line of vision.

Alex was momentarily stunned because there was no universe in which Lena Luther crashed into a room. As Lena flailed herself into a full stop in front of Alex, the agent managed to close her mouth and regain her composure, if just barely.

“It’s Kara, the Sun. Have you seen these readings?”

“Woah, woah there killer. Slow down.” Alex put her hands out as if to steady Lena.

“Alex! Have you seen these readings?!”

“Lena, what are you talking about?” Alex asked as Lena pulled her tablet out of her bag and thrust it in front of Alex’s face.

From what Alex could tell, LuthorCorp’s satellites in deep space had picked up on a massive solar flare. These readings showed one of the most prolific solar flares ever witnessed on Earth.

“Lena, I know. We all saw this two days ago. It’s been all over the news ever since. We are still seeing the geomagnetic storms today. Power has gone out all over the city and half of the country’s servers are down. So much for cloud computing.”

“Alex.”

Alex, looked up. She had never seen Lena Luthor look this disheveled, even with about a dozen assasination attempts in her frame of reference. Lena’s expression was almost wild. Her hair was somewhat disheveled and she was still breathing heavily from running into the room. The flush was resting high in her cheeks and her eyes were wide, frantic. Alex cocked her eyebrow and grasped Lena’s elbow, waiting for her to collect herself enough to elaborate.

“Look at the energy readings. Look at the radiation signature.” Lena was jabbing her finger into the tablet hard enough to make an audible noise.

Alex went pale and looked down at the tablet with new understanding. She felt as the blood drained out of her internal organs. She suddenly didn’t feel quite steady on her own two feet.

“Lena…” Alex said, though barely a whisper. “Lena, these indicators... I don’t know anything that would show up like this...not unless.”

Alex looked up at Lena expectantly, waiting for Lena to tell her that she’s wrong; waiting for the prodigal genius to explain the real reason why the solar flare is giving off readings that would only be possible if a Kryptonian had flung themselves bodily into the sun.

“Alex. Where’s Kara?” Alex opened her mouth, “I...she-,” but she couldn’t finish her answer. Lena repeated, “ Where. Is. Kara? ”

Alex continued to stare unseeing at a nondescript point in space somewhere in the vicinity of Lena’s face.

“ALEX, WHERE IS SHE?! ”

Lena was screaming at Alex and tears were raining down from her cheeks onto the cool polished marble of the DEO floor, but Alex couldn’t move. Alex couldn’t think or breathe or move.

---

Eventually, the sound of Lena crying out wordlessly in pain snapped the agent out of it. She turned on her heel and addressed Vasquez at the control panel.

“Pull up everything we have on the solar flare two days ago. I want radiation signatures, energy readings, thermal imaging, EVERYTHING WE HAVE. And I need it NOW.”

“Yes, ma’am. Right away, Director Danvers.”

Alex was lost in her own thoughts while her agents worked, this cannot be happening. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t do that to us. She doesn’t even have powers in space. It’s not even possible. How would she even get there?

Alex’s body went cold as realization washed over her. Reaching for her phone, she dialed Clark. She turned to face Lena, as she spoke into the phone, “Clark, it’s about Kara. No time to explain. I need you to go to the fortress. Now. As fast as you can. Call me when you get there.”

“Thank you, Clark.”

Lena was standing with her arms down, holding her bag with both hands in front of her. She had regained her composure and the mask Alex was so used to seeing had slipped back into place. The only hint of thoughts hiding behind it was the flash of panic in the way she moved her eyes; the set of her mouth, her lips pressed so thin they may as well be nonexistent, as if she could press her mouth closed hard enough to keep her pain contained inside.

She opened it carefully to ask, “Alex, when did you last see her?”

“She was here two days ago checking on Brainy. She said something about making Lex pay for his crimes and…” Alex reached out and grasped Lena’s left bicep. “Lena, I think she was saying goodbye.” Alex turned to face the empty foyer, the balcony Supergirl used as a personal entrance. “Oh my god. Kara, what have you done?”

“Alex... Director Danvers! ,” Lena grabbed Alex’s arm and shook her as Alex tried to bury her head in her hands, “What did she say about Lex? What was she going to do to him? Does she know where he is?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say. She just said that he had to pay. That she had to do it for all of us. Lena, I’ve never seen her like that. I think...I think Kara was going to kill Lex.”

“Lex hasn’t been to LuthorCorp in two days. It came up at a board meeting this morning. I assumed that he was skipping town because Brainy had been found and Leviathan defeated.”

Lena turned to Alex again, interrupting her pacing, “Alex, what if she did it? What if Supergirl killed Lex Luthor?”

“Supergirl does not kill.”

“Then where is she?”

***

One thing no one counted on, certainly not Lex, was that Kara had spent a lot of time thinking while she was at the Vanishing Point with all the other Paragons. She still had all her powers, including her superhearing. There was no time at the Vanishing Point, no sun to rise or set, no rhythm to life but the rhythm they gave it. Their bodies were frozen in a moment outside of time and space. The only cycle was the unending dance of sleep and awareness. It had been her little secret that when she couldn’t rest, couldn’t turn off her mind, she would listen to the heartbeats of the other Paragons. Just like she did with Alex’s in Midvale and Lena’s in National City. It was the soundtrack to her misery, her anchor in the void. It was a coping mechanism; meditative almost. It wasn’t too long until she had memorized the heartbeats of every Paragon; including Lex Luthor.

You see, he might have known every power she possessed through his copious research on Kal El, but there’s one secret she’d never given away to anyone. One trick that only she knew, and for once, she could be one step ahead of him in his sick game of chess. She would only have one shot to play this card.

So there she was, hovering high over LuthorCorp, sending out her hearing all across the city, looking for the signature heartbeat she had decided to stop forever.

It took longer than she expected; hours in fact. She knew it would be difficult. Lex traveled in lead-lined and soundproofed cars, and lived and worked in lead-lined and soundproofed rooms. He had built his whole life around thwarting Kal El. But even Lex Luthor had to leave his bubble of safety occasionally.

As soon as he stepped out of the car, she heard it. On the corner of 8th and Main. Using her x-ray vision she narrowed in on a barber shop. Of course his vanity would be his downfall. The beginnings of a smile lifted the corner of her mouth, but it didn’t last long as she steeled herself for what came next.

Lex was lounging in his favorite barber’s chair at the very back of the shop, a warm towel over his face in preparation for his first close shave since Crisis, and boy was he looking forward to it. Lex was a regular at Al’s Corner Shop. He had been relieved to see it still standing in the same place after his return from saving the universe, it was the one thing he hadn’t considered in his adventure with the Book of Destiny, but he was glad that his rare oversight hadn’t cost him the best shave he’d ever found.

As he sat there with a smug grin plastered on his face under a hot towel, he heard the bells on the door jangle against each other when another customer came in. He lost track of the footsteps as he ruminated on the pros and cons of bribing Al to work for him exclusively in the comfort of his own home. His smile faltered as he realized that the footsteps accompanying the new customer were still moving closer, too close. They should have stopped and deposited the offending stranger in a chair further down the row, closer to the door. Instead, the footsteps came to a stop right behind him. He barely had time to rip the towel off his face. He started to stand, ready to unleash a torrent of vitriol on the person arrogant enough to interrupt his only time of relaxation, when he saw the blue and red of the suit standing over him.

He froze.

“Supergirl, ” he hissed. He sat back down hard into the chair. His mind immediately started spinning his go-to villain speech, as he straightened his shoulders and smoothed his features into calm neutrality. He decided to start with, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Before he finished the lilt on the end of the question, he was airborne. It seemed that Supergirl was no longer tolerant of the melodramatics of villains’ speeches and heroes’ pleas. He would have found this an amusing discovery, were it not that he was currently being flown across the city at mach speed; his body thrown helplessly over Supergirl’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He lost consciousness as they broke the sound barrier somewhere over Saskatchewan.

***

They were gathered around the war table. Alex was bent over a tablet studying the latest readings, Nia was standing behind Brainy who, against everyone’s advice, was out of bed and sitting in a wheelchair looking up at the control room screens trying to piece together any other possible explanation for what Lena had already deduced.

Kelly was pacing behind them, on the phone with James who was at his gate waiting to board the first flight back to National City.

Lena was standing off to the side, her bag still held in both hands in front of her. She looked like a statue, so still that no one had noticed her in almost an hour. Lena remembered a time when she had been at the center of this camaraderie, when her advice had been sought and she had been intimately involved in reviewing the data and making the plans. Now she was just a witness to other people’s pain. “I will not let them be a witness to mine,” she thought as she checked her dispassionate mask vigilantly. Her hands went to the watch stowed in her purse, to the button she had been pressing over, and over again for hours. She knew that if Kara were still on Earth, she would have found a way to be there by now.

---

Everything stopped as soon as Alex’s phone rang on the war table. They all rushed to the table. Even Lena was stirred from the shadows to move towards the lifeline on the other end of the call. Alex put it on speaker for the Superfriends to hear:

AD: “Clark...”

CK: “Alex, she’s not here. Hold on, is that the crest off her suit? It’s just sitting here, like it’s on display or something. What is going on?”

AD: “What do you mean the crest? Does it look intentional? Did she put it there?”

CK:“Alex, I don’t know. Kelex said that she was here two days ago with a man and then. Hold on.”

[In the background, they heard Clark ask Kelex, “What pod? Show me.”]

AD: “Clark, what’s going on? Was that Kelex? Does he know where she went?”

CK: “Alex. [Clark’s voice was muffled. They heard him sniffing through his nose.] Alex, she’s gone. She took my pod. Kelex said she programmed it to fly into the sun. He tried to stop her but she commanded him.”

AD: “The sun? Clark-”

CK: “Alex, that’s not all. Kelex said that she brought someone here with her. He showed me the surveillance. It was Lex. She brought Lex here and she injected him with something. Alex, I think Lex...is... is dead. She put him in the pod and she flew off into the sun with his body.”

CK: “...Alex? Alex, are you there? Alex ?!”

Alex couldn’t hear him anymore. Alex couldn’t hear anyone or anything. Alex couldn’t move or speak or think. She barely registered as the phone dropped out of her hand and smashed to pieces against the polished concrete of the DEO floor. She saw everyone’s eyes on her, watched as they moved toward her in slow motion. She saw their mouths move, their faces twist in shouts, but she heard nothing.

“ Kara-”

The tilting world blinked in front of her eyes once, twice, and then everything went black.

***

Lex came-to a while later in what could only be the fortress. “You know, Supergirl, this isn’t quite how I imagined my next visit to the Fortress of Solitude, but I have to thank you for helping me get here,” he said with narrowed eyes and a smug lopsided grin on his lips.

Kara wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face with a backhand to the mouth, but she kept her composure. His time to taunt was nearing its end, and he hadn’t yet come to realize it.

Bound to his chair with the crystalline ice of the Fortress, Lex surveyed his surroundings. He noticed that his transmat portal watch had been removed at some point and he looked up just as Supergirl seemed to finish x-raying his body for any other devices.

“What do you want?” Lex asked, uncharacteristically lacking in snark this time.

Supergirl said nothing as she fiddled with a syringe full of clear liquid.

His eyes grew three sizes as she walked over to where he was sitting.

Without fanfare, without speeches, or explanation, Supergirl inserted the syringe into his carotid artery and depressed the plunger fully; only then did she speak.

“Lex Luthor, you have murdered countless citizens of Earth. You have been sentenced to 31 consecutive lifetime sentences. You broke out of prison while serving that term and promptly murdered again. You were largely responsible for the mass extinction event known as Crisis and are, therefore, responsible for the deaths of untold trillions. For these crimes, and those you will inevitably commit in the future, I cannot allow you to live.”

Kara turned her back to Lex and sighed, “You should have stayed dead when Lena killed you the first time.”

Lex raged against his bonds, “What have you done to me?!”

He felt his limbs getting heavier. It was getting harder to keep his eyes open. Kara leveled her gaze at him, her eyes full of pity and sorrow.

“It was the most humane way. It will be over soon. You won’t feel it; I made sure of that. If you calmed down, it might even be peaceful.”

Lex broke out into a toothy smile. “You’ll never come back from this. Killing me will haunt you until the day you die. And as a Kryptonian, you’ll have eternity to agonize over this choice. It will eat you alive. You may kill me, but you will never survive it, Supergirl ,” he spit the last word back at her; his eyes barely open, his head starting to sag off his shoulders, his posture slipping.

Supergirl closed the gap between them, slowly, deliberately. She reached one hand gently under his chin and raised it so his eyes could meet her own.

“You’re right Lex. This time, we go together.”

His eyes showed just the barest flicker of confusion before he went slack. Supergirl dropped to one knee, hanging her head as she listened while his heartbeat slowed, and eventually came to a stop. She x-rayed his chest, just to be certain and found it still, eerily still.

---

The one thing Lex Luthor never counted on, could never understand, was that not only would Supergirl sacrifice her life to protect her friends, but after Crisis, she would sacrifice her soul. It just so happened that she was destined to sacrifice both to kill him.

Kara let out a shaky breath as she knelt next to Lex’s body. She didn’t know how to feel. She’d never once killed on purpose. It went against everything that she was; everything that she believed in. Kara knew that as Lex’s heart stopped beating, Supergirl ceased to exist.

Kara stood and, without using her powers, she peeled the crest of the great House of El off of her suit. She couldn’t bear to wear her house crest any longer. Where she was going, she had to go alone. El Mayyarah had gotten her far, but it couldn’t go with her to meet her end.

Kara cleansed Lex’s body in the Kryptonian way and gave him full funeral rights in the only manner she knew. She gently placed his body into the back of Kal-El’s repaired pod and climbed into the pilot’s seat.

It was a tight squeeze for both of them, the pod gave Kara flashbacks to her time in the Phantom Zone, triggering what would probably be her last claustrophobia-induced panic attack. The dead body of her arch nemesis laying just behind her didn’t bring her any added comfort.

Once she recovered, she took a deep breath and sealed the pod. She raised her hand to the pad in front of her and began to key in the coordinates for their destination. Halfway through, she had trouble making out the Kryptonian glyphs through her blurred vision. She reached a hand to her cheeks and noted with detachment that it came away covered in warm wetness. She raised her eyebrows but couldn't reach deep enough to be surprised.

She wiped her eyes and carried on entering the coordinates. Once she was done, she turned to Kelex standing outside the pod at the command module. “Kelex, initiate the launch sequence.”

“I feel it is my duty to warn you that the coordinates you have entered - “

Kara mustered the last piece of courage she possessed. She raised her chin and steeled her eyes, and in a decisive tone Kara declared, “I am Kara Zor-El, Last Daughter of Krypton, and I command you to initiate the launch sequence.”

Taken aback, but bowing to her authority, Kelex replied, “As you wish, Kara Zor-El. May your journey bring you peace”

With that, Kara felt the pod rumble as the engine kicked on for the first time in over thirty years.

With one last look at Kelex, she was flung out into the atmosphere on a parabolic trajectory into space.

***

Small sounds started to grate against her consciousness. She could hear incessant beeping and murmuring. As she opened her eyes, Alex’s field of vision was flooded with the harsh, white lighting of the med bay. After a few moments of blinking her eyes into focus, she could make out the medical equipment and the dark blobs around the edge of her vision solidified into her friends’ faces. Nia & Brainy, James & Kelly, even Clark was there standing vigil over her.

As she blinked again and looked up to the tall figure looming over her, she let out a sob, not expecting to see J’onn’s worried eyes looking back at her.

“J’onn...Kara…she-”

“I know, Alex. I know.” J’onn whispered in a soothing tone, trying to keep the tears from spilling over, “just get some rest for now. We will talk more when you’re ready.” He carefully brushed her hair off her forehead and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. With that, he moved towards the door.

“Alex?”

The agent turned back to look at him as he paused on his way out, an earnest look on his face.

“I love you; so very much.”

Alex just nodded, pressing her lips together to stop the sobs from escaping.

The rest of her friends followed shortly after, leaving with soft pats on her knees and feet, squeezes of her hand, mumbling words she just couldn’t care enough to try to decipher.

As they funneled out one by one, only Kelly remained. Even Brainy wheeled himself away from the bed next to hers to give them their privacy. The idea that he shouldn’t be out of bed lest he compromise his recovery briefly flitted across Alex’s mind as she pursed her lips, but it just wouldn’t stick. She couldn’t bring herself to care about anything, or anyone. She closed her eyes against the torrent of feelings and memories that threatened to overwhelm her.

“Hey,” Kelly started softly, “talk to me. What are you feeling?”

Alex just shook her head, eyes closed and mouth shut firmly against whatever she might have said.

“Okay. Okay, it’s okay. Can I just sit here with you? Hold your hand?” Kelly asked.

Alex dipped her head just enough to be taken as acquiescence. The agent would’ve given anything to go back to the void of unconsciousness. She ran her fingers through her short hair, remembering the days before the DEO where she drowned her own feelings of failure in the bottom of a bottle. Somehow she knew that Kelly wouldn’t let that kind of self-destructive behavior slide this time. Alex sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. She might as well start talking because Kelly was nothing if not patient. They both knew who would win the waiting game.

Alex’s voice cracked as she attempted to untangle her thoughts, “I have always, always, had faith that the universe would bring her back to me. Through everything, when her brain was altered on Red K, when Cadmus and Lillian kidnapped her and Mon-El, when Mon-El left and Kara...” Alex choked back a sob. Now that she’d started, she couldn’t stop, “...when Supergirl tried to destroy Kara Danvers. Every single time she set off into the multiverse with Barry. Even during Crisis. I always knew that she would come back to me; that she would find a way back. She’s the god damn Paragon of Hope for christ’s sake.” Alex threw her hands up and out towards the end of her bed in an exasperated half-shrug.

“This time is different, Kel. This feels... real.” Alex looked up into Kelly’s eyes, trying to convey wordlessly the feeling settling over her, the finality of it. “I don’t think she’s coming back from this one and I don’t -” Alex sobbed uncontrollably so that Kelly just barely made out her next words, “- I don’t know who I am without her.”

Kelly took the hand closest to her on the bed in both of hers. She thought of a million things to say, a million ways to reassure Alex that there was far more to her than her relationship to sister, that she was her own person before Kara came into her life and that she would be her own person now. She considered trying to reassure her that everything would be okay, but immediately the therapist in her shot that idea down, hard . This would never be okay, even if someday Alex would be. Kelly sighed softly and eventually settled on silence. She crawled into Alex’s bed and held the red headed woman until she drifted back to sleep, spent from the grief spilling out of her in endless tears.

As she slept, Alex muttered the same thing over and over, one name, Kara.

It was Kelly’s turn to cry, softly so as to avoid waking Alex. She let the tears flow freely and tried to keep her body from being wracked by the sobs threatening to crush her resolve. She reached out to gently cradle Alex’s cheek, pulling her even closer. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I’m so sorry.”

---

“Alex, it is time. Enough of this. You cannot stay in bed like this any longer. We need you, Alex. The rest of us still need you.” J’onn implored Alex, but there wasn’t even a flicker of recognition across her face. Alex wasn’t there. She was awake, but the lights were off and no one was home. “Alex, it’s been a week. You have to get up and you have to get out of bed.” Still nothing, Alex just stared straight ahead out of the glass panels of the wall in front of her. She hadn’t said anything since her brief discussion with Kelly. She wasn’t eating, and for the time being they had been giving her IV nutrition, but if she didn’t eat that day they were facing a feeding tube. J’onn said as much, but Zombie Alex gave no indication that she’d heard him.

J’onn sighed. Hands on his hips, he turned away from her to face out over the DEO. He watched as Eliza held Kelly outside Alex’s room. He shook his head, mind made up. He had planned to wait until she recovered, but there was no sense in that now. If he didn’t tell her now, then she may never recover, and then, what was the point. He walked over to sit on the edge of her bed and Alex’s eyes flickered to his for just a moment before darting away again.

“She left you a message, Alex.” J’onn said softly. “She recorded her goodbyes on Sunstone Crystals in the pod. She sent the pod to Earth, but the solar flare knocked it off course. It landed on Mars. That’s how I knew to come back. That’s why I’m here.”

This seemed to rouse something in her. Alex looked at J’onn, the emptiness in her eyes breaking his heart, but he couldn’t force himself to break contact.

“Alex, you have to listen to her. You have to give her the chance to say goodbye. You owe her that much.”

Alex’s eyes snapped back straight-ahead. She opened her mouth for the first time in almost a week, “I don’t owe her anything.”

J’onn sighed and patted her leg, getting up to leave. He paused and said, “When you’re ready; I’ll keep it safe for you.”

He hazarded one last look back at her before leaving, her cheeks were glossy with tears as she cried silently. Alone.

***

Kara had hours to kill until they reached their destination. She had to do something to drown out the voice in her head, the voice of the dead man on the floor behind her seat; to drown out her own doubts and regrets.

She decided to use those regrets as inspiration; to use her last few hours to continue her work as the Paragon of Hope, even if Supergirl was no more. Taking out a handful of Sunstone Crystals - small, pale, and long, about the size and shape of a tube of lipstick, albeit more angular - she set to work saying goodbye. She knew that her friends would never understand, but at least it could bring her some peace on her journey.

Alex.

Alex would never understand. Kara was so grateful that Alex had Kelly. She knew that Kelly would help her sister navigate her grief. The therapist in Kelly would never allow Alex to fall into the dark, but that didn’t mean that Kara can’t try to do her part to help give Alex some closure.

What do you say to everyone who has loved you, supported you, and guided you when it’s time to say goodbye?

---

Kara placed the last Sunstone Crystal in the console as her destination loomed before her. She wiped her eyes, closing them before the last tear could fall. She powered down the engines of the pod to give herself a moment more time, to decide how to do this. She programmed the pod to hover in place while she made her preparations. She pulled out a small metal box and placed it between the empty, broken stitches where the crest of the House of El used to sit. Slowly, the enhanced suit that Lena designed for her unfurled, covering her usual suit and then encapsulating her face in a helmet-like design. If she was going to have enough time to finish her plan, she had to have some protection from the raw violence of open space. Kara placed a hand over the crest she knew she no longer deserved to bear. She had forgotten that Lena’s suit would also bear the crest. Apparently, it was her fate to be unable to escape the shadow of her family; of her lost world and her responsibility to Earth.

Taking a shaky breath, Kara opened the pod hatch, exposing them to the full elements of the sun. Kara couldn’t fly in space, but with the pod hovering in place, she could maneuver around it, as long as she stayed tethered.

She got to work extricating Lex’s body from the pod. A process that was much more difficult than getting him in originally. It wasn’t helped by how intensely she felt her powers, the energy of the yellow sun coursing through her. “ At least I can’t hurt him, ” she thought sarcastically.

Finally, she got him out of the pod. Then she grabbed a Kryptonian shroud, her old cape, originally a piece of Kal El’s baby blanket. She wrapped it around his supine body and whispered a Kryptonian prayer as she secured it to the best of her ability.

She turned toward her target and closed her eyes for a moment, soaking in the rays of the sun. As she opened them again she gazed upon it. The source of her power, of her identity on earth, was now closer than any human could survive. She turned Lex so the head of his body was facing the sun and she gave him a gentle send off. She watched as his body drifted closer and closer to the surface of the sun, gaining speed as the gravity increased, until suddenly in a flash of light he was enveloped in the surge of a solar flare. Kara continued to hover next to the pod for a few minutes, allowing this new reality to sink in, a reality where Lex was dead; where Supergirl killed him; where she, Kara Zor-El, personally escorted him to the sun where he was engulfed in this bright, glowing source of energy and life. It was poetic, she thought, that his body should return to the very thing that gave her and her cousin their powers. That he should return to the very thing that made the people he hated most in the world.

Kara sighed. She couldn’t delay the inevitable any further. It was her turn to return to the sun, to the source of her power. It was her turn to be cleansed of her crimes, to be cleansed of murdering Lex.

“I do not kill.”

She said it to herself, but also to Rao. She had violated her most sacred moral oath and she must now pay the price. Her purpose was once to protect Kal El, but since landing on earth so many years after him, it had transformed into protecting the citizens of Earth. Now that she had murdered a human, she could no longer be a force for good.

Kara tugged once on the tether to bring her back to the pod. Without getting in, she reached her hand up to program the coordinates of Earth. She programmed the pod with a delay so that it could record her final moments. She rested her hand for a moment on the console, taking a deep breath as she drew from the calming force of her home planet’s presence in the pod. Opening her eyes, she detached the tether and placed it back on the seat. She hit the autopilot button and pushed off as the hatch slid itself closed. Turning her back to the pod, she pushed off of it with one arm to float gently towards the sun.

As the sun got closer and closer, Kara spread her arms wide, bending her left leg slightly at the knee, like she used to do so often when hovering on Earth just before she landed somewhere. She closed her eyes as she felt the gravity pull her in, accelerating her towards her end. At the last second, she lifted her chin and met the sun as an old friend. She felt no pain, as in a flash, she was welcomed home.

***

Next Chapter

#L4LBS #Content Warning: Suicide/Self-sacrifice #Supercorp #Grief and mourning #Stop making Supergirl sacrifice herself for no reason #Exploring the toll her sacrifice takes on loved ones #Written before S6 plot announced #Was already mad about it #Stayed mad about it

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shhhut-the-fuck-up · 3 years

Note

Hey hey hey feel free to use this ask as an opportunity to info dump about homestuck (or anything you want really)!

:00 thanke!! :DD

Okay okay so!!!

It started in April 13, 2009, that’s the main character, John’s, birthday!

There’s four humans introduced in this order, John Egbert, Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider, Jade Harley!!

They play a game called Sburb, it’s a sandbox-style game that takes place superimposed over the real world, rather than in a virtual space, John gets his copy from Jade.

Each session has been hardwired to support its final player count from the start, because Sburb just doesn’t care for the concept of chronality..!

There was 8 copies in total for the B1 session, four client copies and four server disks, one for each kid.

But it took John five, yes *five* acts to get his copy of the server disk.

John and Dave both had difficulties with their disks, Johns being late and Dave spilling apple juice on his. Rose had other difficulties, such as not having a good internet connection.

After all these shenanigans go on, they each get thrust into their own worlds.

Each session has specific things in it, like Skaia, a "dormant crucible of unlimited creative potential". Under its thick atmosphere lies The Battlefield, where a war between the two planets, Derse and Prospit, is ongoing, and Prospit must always lose..!

It is a planet that changes every time a player enters the medium with a prototyped sprite.

This war is always headed by the Black King and the White King (like chess)

In a void session, The Battlefield never evolves past the 3x3 grid stage, and the Kings are locked in an eternal stalemate.

In a dead session, Skaia grows dark and cloudy before the player enters The Medium. Afterwards, Skaia can transform depending on which path the player selects during The Choice.

Before the player can gain an audience with their denizen at the planet's core, they must first find the key to its lair. The denizen will offer the player a particularly potent and dangerous variation of the The Choice, which serves to describe the two different paths the session can take from this point onward.

Each player will have a Land, a God tier, and a dream planet.

There’s many variations, for example! I am a Derse Dreaming Prince of Doom!

Prospit is a planet that orbits Skaia like a moon. Home to the forces of light, and ruled by the White Queen. Prospit's moon passes through the atmosphere of Skaia, allowing Prospitian dream selves to see the future in the clouds. In the kids' session the dream selves of John and Jade reside here, while Derse is a planet that orbits beyond The Veil. Home to the forces of darkness, and ruled by the Black Queen, The Noble Circle Of Horrorterrors who reside in the Furthest Ring, whisper advice to Dersite dream selves. The dream selves of Rose and Dave reside here.

The Veil is a large ring of asteroids in the Incipisphere that forms the outer boundary of The Medium, dividing it from the Furthest Ring. The trolls were hiding on one of the few remaining meteors in their own sessions version of the veil.

Trolls are a race of grey aliens with different horns and a blood caste known as the hemospectrum, there are mutants(like Karkat) with candy red blood.

The trolls can jump around in the kids session to annoy them.

The hemospectrum has royal bloods (Magenta and Violet) who are sea dwellers, the high bloods are Purple, Indigo, Cerulean and Teal, low bloods being Jade, Olive, Lime(said to be extinct), Gold, Rust/Orange, and Red.

Cerulean, Teal, Jade and Olive are technically known as mid bloods.

They have a completely different relationship system as well as family systems;

Quadrants are as follows

- Matesprits (lovers)

- Moirails (a type of ‘best friend’, borderline qpr type relationship actually, I’d say)

- Kismesis (Hate-Love, not to the point of almost muttering eachother, of course, it’s like, enemies to lovers but still mortal enemies, trying to one up eachother constantly)

- Austpisticis (usually ones moirail, stopping kismesis’ from slaughtering eachother, as trolls are naturally violent beings)

Trolls have lusi(lusus’)

They’re born from the mothergrub and matriorb. The reason trolls must have lusi is because adult trolls see young ones as nuisances and will kill them at any chance they get. Lusi won’t.

Trolls also have ancestors(who are introduced later along with the alpha kids)

They also have,,, weird ways of reproducing...

I barely scratched the surface but thank you for letting me infodump to you anon!!! :D it made me super happy..!

#this isn’t even talking about the cherubs or the denizens and land quests #anon ilyp #thank you #this made me feel so happy #Homestuck #ask to tag because idk #long post #tw long post #anonymous #mj answers #mj rambles

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kazo0-boy · 3 years

Text

Took me forever but I finally finished the second chapter to this. And a huuuge thank you to @yesterday-lmanburg-today-crater for helping me and suggesting things. Idk if I could’ve completed this without them.

If you haven’t read the other parts to this i’d recommend reading those beforehand as this is kinda an AU. Here’s a link to the first part. i can’t find the post to the second but here’s the ao3 link to it

TW: Manipulation, mentions of torture, somewhat of a panic attack, dsmp!Wilbur in a not very positive light (I love him but i had a lot of trouble not making him a complete antagonist). and some more swearing. not as much swearing as last chapter but still some.

AO3 Link

Dream is falling

Falling, flying, floating, Dream doesn’t know which, but he doesn’t need to know. Not when there’s nothing to gauge which way is up down left right or east west anyways.

There’s nothing around him. No ground, no sky, not a single tell of where he is or how he got there. Only the inky dark to surround and consume him whole.

How did he get here, he wonders.

Is he dead?

He doesn’t have time to process. One moment he’s- floating or something, and the next he’s landed on something soft. Well not soft, but cushiony and solid enough.

He pulls himself upright.

“Hello, Dream.” An unmistakable voice floated and echoed around in the darkness and fizzled into nothing just as quickly, a greeting of expectancy- like the owner of the voice knew he’d be arriving. “Behind you.”

Dream snaps around.

None other than Wilbur Soot himself sits a few feet away, a deck of cards sat neatly in front of him and a smug smile tugging at his features. “About time you showed up. I swear, if i had to wait a second longer I would’ve-”

“Wilbur.”

“What?” Annoyance at the interruption flickers in his eyes for just a moment.

“Where are we?”

Wilbur pauses mid reach to the deck of cards, contemplating the question. “Oh. I forgot you haven’t been here before.” He slides a few cards between his fingers and sets them into small piles. “Long story short, since both of us have lost all our canon lives at one point we can both access this place I like to call, The Void.” He waves his hands in dramatics and sets the remaining cards in one large pile next to the smaller ones. “I needed to talk to you so I called you here.” He explains, not once looking up to meet Dream’s baffled expression.

“Would you like to play competitive solitaire?”

“What-” Dream grows more confused with every word that flies out of the other’s mouth. So many questions materialize in his mind. “-Isn’t solitaire a one player game?”

“Not in here it isn’t.” Smugness filters into Wilbur’s voice. “Made the rules myself. It’s like normal solitaire but competitive.”

“I’ll just uh- watch you play, while we talk.”

Wilbur presses his lips into a thin line. “Alright, fine. Sit down then.”

Reluctantly, Dream seats himself across from Wilbur. It feels to him like sitting on air.

Pressing a hand to the ground and watching it pass through raises yet more questions. Puzzlement shows through his every movement and he looks to Wilbur for answers. Wilbur doesn’t give him as much as a glance up from the game he’d already started.

“So” Dream swallows the lump in his throat and begins hesitantly, “It’s uh, been a while since we last talked.”

“You could say that.” Wilbur swipes a card from one pile and swiftly moves it to another. The red and black pigments lining each symbol and number stare at Dream. “But i’m not here for small talk. I’d like to get this over with as soon as possible.” Another pile materializes out of another shifted card, quickly following it is yet another. “I’d rather not be doing this at all, to be honest. I still despise you. But it’s not like anyone else would understand.”

“Oh-” The words are like a slap to his face. “Well uh, you always kinda did. I wouldn’t really expect anything-”

Wilbur aggressively adds more cards to the existing pile, and forms a new one beside it.

The glint of smoky determination in his eyes was one Dream swore he’d seen only once before.

“Dream, I want to be your vassal.” The words still rang faintly in his head. The smell of gunpowder. The fear that licked Tommy’s voice as he stepped in to separate them. All of them he’d never forgotten like lingering ash. It seemed Wilbur didn’t forget either.

“-To uh, change…” The end of his sentence trailed off. “..You said that we both died?”

Wilbur finally meets his gaze with something adjacent to confusion. “You don’t- oh yeah. Of course you forgot.” A card in hand points toward Dream. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Dream hesitates. A third pile is made in his silence.

“I think, when you blew up L’Manberg, is the last thing I remember. At least that was it when the server first reset and I haven’t remembered anything that happened after that.” The words spill out of his mouth, overlapping and frightful.

Wilbur hums. The first pile is complete.

“Funny you remember that. That’s when I died.” Wilbur sets down another card and chuckles darkly. “You died long after that.”

“How?” Dream quickly regrets the spark that leaves his mouth.

The glint of smoke ignites. A flame flickers in Wilbur’s eyes. “I killed you. You brought me back from the dead and then I killed you!”

And Dream remembers- no, not exactly, but if he tries hard enough he thinks he can still feel a sword piercing his stomach and a metal tinge in his mouth and laughter. Hysterical laughter and someone belting out the words-

“I won, Dream!” A card is slammed down onto a pile, once orderly and neat but no more. “I won! “And you- you of all people would know why I won!”

And Dream can’t speak. He can’t tell Wilbur that no- he hadn’t won anything. He wasn’t a hero for killing somebody. (And bitterly, he reminds himself that he isn’t either. Tommy is proof enough).

“This whole reset situation made me realize something. This is all just a game! A game with winners and losers! But in the end nothing- nothing we do matters. Because it’ll always go back to this. We’ll always-” Wilbur stops abruptly, drawing in a shaky breath and drawing a card. “-We’ll always reset. So we can do anything!”

Dream swears that, for just a moment, The Void fills his lungs with ash and burns his eyes with smoke. Wilbur begins to swipe up numerous black and red cards and sort them neatly. The Void dissipates back into nothingness.

It’s just him and Wilbur and a myriad of missing memories.

“So, Dream.” A flurry of calculated and controlled serenity washes over Wilbur’s tired features. “I’m sure you can see what I'm getting at here. Or do I need to remind you about everything they’ve done, and why you should join me in burning this server to the ground over and over?”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at here.”

Wilbur places one last card. “Oh would you look at that. I won.”

“You know Sam? Quackity?”

Dream’s throat feels dry. “What- what about them?”

Wilbur drums his fingers on a card donned with red ink. A nine in the spades set. “Sam built the prison they threw you in. Quackity tortured you daily. And Sapnap? He said he’d kill you if you ever got out of there! And George- George didn’t care. He didn’t even visit you once! And you know how I know this Dream? Because I asked them. They told me what they did to you.” He picks up another card. Three of clubs. “They don’t care! Just- just face it. They don’t care about you. They never did. You were just another pawn in their little game of chess. But I know you. You don’t want to be a pawn so-” He pauses mid-sentence, drawing a deep breath of composure. “So join me and blow this place to kingdom come.”

And Dream- He can’t move, he can’t breathe, all he can do is watch Wilbur shout on and on about things he hadn’t heard so much of a whisper of beforehand. It’s too loud- too much. The emptiness surrounding them both is too much. He needs to leave. Leave and never come back.

“How about this-” Wilbur hums. “You’re obviously not handling this well, so i’ll give you a couple days to think about it, yeah?”

Dream nods stiffly. He’s not going to think about it. “Can I leave now?” The words feel forced and wobbly as they’re muttered. If Wilbur picks up on it, he doesn’t comment.

“Yeah i’ll send you on your way now. Just uh- keep what I said in mind? It’ll be fun. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Bye Dream.” Wilbur rushes, one last smirk adorning his face in the dark.

And then Dream is falling again.

And then he’s not.

And then he’s in his makeshift shack again. It’s mostly how he remembers it but the hole in the wall from a recent creeper explosion is hastily patched up and he doesn’t remember fixing it and the furnace is humming and crackling.

And his heart is pounding in his ears- someone is in his house- somehow they tracked him down 30 thousand blocks from spawn and they’re going to kill him or lock him away and he’s in danger.

He bolts upright from his previously slanted position against the wall. A blanket- or cloak- or something (he can’t tell what) draped over his shoulders falls to his wrists and his mind finally catches up with his body and oh- his entire being still aches and on top of it he has a headache to deal with. He feels like shit. Complete and utter shit.

And there’s someone standing with their back turned to him fiddling with a crafting table and he knows he’s seen them before but why- why can’t he remember who they are? Why can’t he put a name to their face?

And when they turn around and notice him frozen in place Dream doesn’t expect them to say “woah, hey, i’m not gonna hurt you. You’re alright.” And he doesn’t expect them to hand him a bottle of water (which he gulps down immediately) and he doesn’t expect them to remain on the opposite end of his shack until he doesn’t hear his heartbeat anymore and can properly breathe.

And he’s still on edge, of course. He doesn’t entirely trust someone who would track him down for days on end, but if they wanted to kill him they’d already had plenty of opportunities to do just that.

“Here.” They say to him not too long after. “Got you some bread. ‘Dunno how long it’s been since you’ve eaten.” Dream thanks them by eating an entire loaf.

“I can’t remember who you are.” He tells them afterwards. “I don’t know why.”

“Oh.” They respond, and Dream can’t tell if the slight waver in their voice is a sign of dejection. “That’s okay. I didn’t really expect you to.” The slightest hint of a forced smile ghosts their face. “‘Heard you lost your memory and all.”

Dream nods, pressing his knees close to his chest and drumming on the hard floor.

“You should sleep, you know. You don’t look to be in the best shape right now and it’s late.” Silent and wary acknowledgement falls between them, and taking the hint they pick back up. “I meant it when I said I wasn’t gonna hurt you. If it makes you feel better I could leave but-”

“Stay.” Dream cuts them off. Why did he do that? “You can stay.”

They don’t pick back up right away, rather they let the silence linger in the air for a moment. “Alright, if you say so. But just say the word and i’ll go.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” And Dream isn’t afraid of them anymore. Because the smile they give to him is genuine- not a hint of malice or hidden intentions or fear veiled underneath. Dream’s seen enough of those kinds of smiles since the reset. But this one is new- and never been one to be afraid of the unknown.

In fact, he’s been one to embrace the unknown with open arms- to run towards it when others wouldn’t dare to take a leap.

So he lets himself be lulled into sleep. And this time, he doesn’t fall. He soars.

And when he wakes up it won’t be Wilbur who greets him with a deck of cards. It will be the kindness of a stranger.

He does wonder though, are they really a stranger?

That’s something for him to find out in the morning. Because for once, he’s content in not knowing.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss, he thinks. And then he’s asleep.

#if the ending seems rushed thats because it was oops #dream smp #dream smp au #dreamwastaken #wilbur soot #my writing #fanfiction

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paradise-of-guilty-pleasures · 4 years

Text

Shattered Reflections

[Helsa RP- Fanfic]

Fandom: Frozen

Genre: Post-Frozen/ Canon Divergence - Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Romance

Pairing(s): Hans/Elsa, Kristoff/Anna

Prince Hans is a mirror at heart, but wishes to shatter his reflections and correct his past mistakes. He returns to Arendelle, willingly surrendering himself to Queen Elsa's judgement. Uncovering truths, unforeseen circumstances and a bit of je ne sais quoi, bring the Ice Queen and the Mirror Prince together in a way neither of them would have imagined.

A/N:

(( This is a collaborative RP Fic written by lovely fellow Helsa shipper FOW and myself. We RP for fun and just wanted wanted to share this story with fellow shippers, especially all my lovely shipper buddies over in the Helsa Discord Server. Long live the Province of Helsa! Thank you, Beta Reader Friends, your help is much appreciated. Hope you enjoy~ ))

Chapter 1. Double Jeopardy

He refused to mention what had brought him back. In fact, for the most part, he outright refused to speak.

Hans stepped into the throne room with shackles on his wrists, standing tall regardless, and walking without a fight with the Arendelle guards. His ship had been flying the Southern Isles flag, but the other crew members on his boat claimed no affiliation, and gladly handed over both Hans and his horse. Hans was stripped of his sword and a journal he kept on him, with half the pages torn out and the other half blank, but otherwise nothing suspicious was found on him. He entered the room in his warmer blue coat with the motif after the waves reminding all that he was a man of the Isles, and he was an Admiral as well -or at least had been, once-. He had said nothing the entire way, only doing as the guards asked, and coming in without a fight to meet the Queen for sentencing. His expression remained neutral, as if he were elsewhere entirely. It couldn't be further from the truth, but very little of him spoke truths.

"Your Highness, we've brought in that Prince from the Isles. The ship was quick to give him and his horse up, and claimed no affiliation with him. We've told them to stay where they are until released but didn't see fit to bring them in." The Captain of the Guard explained. "He had half a journal, a pen, and a sword with him, and put up no argument to us taking him in. No argument or word about anything so far, actually." The Guard couldn't help but glance back with an irritable look toward Hans, clearly he would rather have had him hanged than keep him in Arendelle, at least then he wouldn't be more concerned about the safety of the Queen. As much as the guards valued human life, they valued their Queen staying alive more than the life of a man who attempted to kill them. One could hardly blame them. Hans just watched impassively, waiting to be addressed.

Even with the warning of the unauthorized ship (flying the Southern Isles Flag) approaching her fjord, it had not prepared her enough for his entrance. She thought the chances of the ship actually carrying him would be quite slim, since she thought the Isles wouldn't be foolish enough to strain their relationship further than the state it was left in, after the fiasco with their 13th Prince. Even with the slim chance, the unannounced vessel was still strange and made her extra cautious, she ordered the Guard to go investigate and to be ready for anything.

She really thought she would never have to lay her eyes on the auburn haired Prince ever again, so when he actually entered the throne room accompanied by the Guard her heart sank into my stomach, and almost forgot how to breathe. She was overrun with emotions, but anger was at the forefront of all of them. As the men approached her right hand clenched into a fist over her lap, her long fingernails burying themselves into her palm. She had regained the ability to breath as the men stopped in front of her, she was trying her hardest to keep her breath steady. She looked at the Prince straight in the eyes as the Captain explained, anger was boiling inside her but determined not to show it, she was Queen and she had to keep her composure no matter what (especially knowing what negative feelings did to her powers). Even if she wished to lash out at him, she believed if she gave him any kind emotional response, even if that emotion was anger, it would show him weakness and that was something she was NOT willing to show him and especially not in front of her Guard.

As the Captain finished explaining, Elsa closed her eyes for a long second, accompanied by deep breath for composure, she was determined to remain regal.

"Thank You, Captain,"she said with a nod, as she turned to look at him.

Elsa's piercing blue eyes turned back to the emerald ones of the cuffed man in front of her. She fought to keep her eyes from narrowing more into a glare.

She raised her chin up high.

She carefully contemplated the words she'd use before even parting her lips to speak.

"Prince Hans Westergaard of the Southern Isles," the name felt vile as it rolled off her tongue for time for the first time, but had managed to say it in a neutral tone, instead of the venomous one she wished she could spew. "What game do you think your playing returning to Arendelle like this?"

Hans seemed to think just as much about his response, as if this were a game of chess and it was his move.

"No games, per se." His finally speaking almost startled the guards, especially since he hadn't spoken yet. "Perhaps a very distinct lack of games, in fact. A lot of truth was missed, I am here to provide if asked. Elsewise, I am simply here. Dungeon filler or, perhaps, for the noose. Whatever pleases her Majesty. I would only ask that my horse be treated well. I only brought him for the companionship on aboard the ship. The men aboard the ship were only hired to carry me and put the flag up, wouldn't want to appear without warning." He made a clear effort to keep his voice and posture entirely neutral. No coronation charm or wit, no smooth manipulations via expressions. He was working at neutrality in its totality.

"My apologies for having carried a sword, It is only a cheap copy, it would break swiftly and isn't sharp. In the Isles it's traditional for a man to carry one, but not common to break one. it's purely decoration. For traditional gestures and the like. Such as the traditional gesture of surrender." He held up his hands to remind all in sundry that he had immediately surrendered himself.

'Provide if asked?' what would she or Arendelle ever need from him she thought as he spoke. Dungeon? Noose? Horse? Surrender? There were so many times that she wished to interrupt him as he spoke, to ask more questions, but she did her Queenly duty and listened to the end.

She knew why he was here (at least what he wanted her to believe), but she still didn't quite understand the how yet. She had given him back to the Isles so that they would deal with him as they saw fit, she doubted that they allow the man that had tarnished their reputation with her kingdom to return just like that. He must have surely escaped.

So out of all questions brewing in her head after what he had told her, the biggest question, the one that'd been floating in her head since before he'd spoken had yet to be answered, so she asked:

"Does the Isles know you're here Prince Hans?"

Hans considered the question. "They are aware that I am not on the Isles. I didn't inform them where I was going. I am a man of the sea, being on a boat is not unusual for me. I was advised against it, but I will accept whatever Arendelle throws my way, and the Isles remains unrelated. This is purely me acting on my own behalf. Had I not been who I am, I'd have been hanged in the isles, but I was stripped of my admiralty and am a prince in name only." He assured. He seemed aware he was speaking too much, and stopped, waiting for her response.

"Prince Hans, I thought it was very clear that I already made my decision regarding your treason," Her tone more callous then she would have liked. "The Isles would do to you as they saw fit and it seems they have done that stripping you of your title, so I don't see why you insisted on returning to Arendelle in such a spectacle."

She had no desire of dealing then and she strongly wished not to be dealing with him now. His mere presence shook her to her core, and she didn't even want to think of her beloved younger sister Anna crossing paths with this man again.

Her patience was wearing thin, and her powers continued raging inside her from the moment she laid eyes on him. Even now with Elsa having more control over her powers (her fingertips no longer accidentally freezing everything), her discomfort with the green-eyed man standing before her had turned the Throne room air frigid, almost cold enough to see her breath as she exhaled.

Hans was silent for a long moment. He seemed to be searching for his words, and for once was at a loss.

"I will ask a question..." He said quietly.

"If I had kissed Anna and it had failed, if I had been the perfect fiancee, if I hadn't gotten involved beyond delivering blankets. What would have happened?" He seemed genuinely uncertain.

"Anna always spoke as if it was her fault things happened. But then when she came back, it was 'Elsa struck me with her powers', suddenly, you were the villain of this story. 'True love's kiss' was what she believed in, but no matter what my intentions were, and they were good intentions initially, I knew it wouldn't work. Kiss or no, she'd have been dead just the same, so I made sure she couldn't blame herself again." Hans seemed genuinely pained to admit it.

He put his hands up and cringed back a little. "It sounds bad, and it is. My lack of love is not excused. But I am not a fool, your Majesty. The line of the crown doesn't work the way I pretended. I was never under that delusion. But it was easier to hate a treasoner, than to let you be the villain. Had I stayed out of it- Where would you have been? Out on the fjord, your sister dead and you wishing you were? My intentions in marriage were never bad. What they were, however, is... no longer important." He almost seemed to break his neutrality, but he quickly forced it back onto his face.

"I will not insult you with lies. I am, at heart, a mirror. I reflect others, either as they are or as they need to see. I change with my company. I have to be careful when I want to avoid that. I have no desire to lie to you further." Yet, that still didn't explain why he was there, did it? Or was it that simple desire to explain the truth?

He was afraid to continue speaking. He spoke too much already. He felt useless. A burden again. He would wait until spoken to, he supposed. He had no desire to incur her wrath.

His question had caught her off guard. Elsa's hands began to tremble as he spoke. A knot began forming on her throat.

Even if his 'good' intentions were a lie, there was truth in his words that stung her. It was true that he had not given his sister a true love's kiss and left her locked in a room to die, but he was right the person to blame for Anna's predicament was none other than herself. She was the one to have struck her beloved sister with a frozen heart, even if it was by accident.

Elsa could feel a stinging in her eyes. Hans was right, had Anna Frozen that day she truly would have been the villain, killing the sole person she swore to protect. He was also right that had that happened she would no longer have the will to live.

Hans truly was a mirror because the question he had risen were all fears she kept locked deep within her heart. And now that those fears had been exposed out loud by him, it made her heart sink, threatening tears to her eyes. She hated that his words had such an effect on her, she had been fuming with anger moments ago and now overwhelming heartache was thrown into the mix.

Her breath was unsteady, the large lump in her throat making it harder to breathe.

She moved her hands to the arms of the chair to support herself and keep them steady from the shaking.

She opened her mouth to speak, but felt her words lost and lodged in her throat. There was a long moment of silence. Elsa took a deep sigh trying to find her voice again. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even know what question she was supposed to answer, so she asked her own question instead.

Her mouth was dry, but she managed to regain her voice even if was meeker than before.

" Are you trying to make believe that you made yourself some sort a sacrificial pawn?"

Hans shrugged a bit, and nodded. "Nobody died. It was the best of all possible outcomes, though unexpected. I was simply hoping that anger would overshadow sorrow. The fact that nobody died was an unexpectedly wonderful outcome." Yet his face and tone remained entirely neutral, because he was still doing his best to put a sheet over the mirror, to hide the reflections and stop his imitating.

"I fully expected to hang for my crimes, and I was not afraid of that. Sailors, you know, are very good with knots and ropes." He looked at his hands and fidgeted, pretending to be very interested in the gesture. The truth of it was implied, but he wouldn't say it out loud.

"My initial intentions were simply... to not be in the Isles. I don't like my home country. If I married, I thought I would have a good reason to avoid it. And there was Anna, desperate to give and receive love, feeling like she had never been listened to. So I listened, and gave attention. I'm good at giving people what they want to see. I hoped that in time I would learn to love, I didn't expect it to be so necessary so quickly. But, mirrored emotions feel like real ones. My enthusiastic proposal wasn't pre-planned. If it was, I'd have brought a ring, or at least given her my signet ring from the Isles. There was a brief period that I considered that, but then the fjord froze and we had other, more pressing matters. If I truly wanted to take over Arendelle, I'd have brought a host of land soldiers. A crown can only be taken by military might, but that was never my plan. Not really. It was so easy to believe, though, wasn't it? I'm a very good actor. Sometimes I almost fool myself." He seemed lost in his own thoughts even as he spoke.

"I do apologize for upsetting you so. I won't ask for forgiveness, though. I don't believe I deserve that." A bit of personality leaked into his apology, and he stopped, raising a hand to his mouth and quell the mimicry. Still, the apology read in his eyes.

She wasn't expecting an apology especially one NOT followed by pleas for forgiveness.

Elsa was uncertain whether to take his words as fact or fiction created in order to doubt his villainy, the only thing she was certain of was that he was indeed a good actor.

Yet those eyes, his green gleaming eyes, always made her want to believe in his sincerity, since they seemed to be the only part of him that truly reflected himself.

She brought her right hand across her face holding her temples for a brief moment, before also accidentally letting out a deep sigh.

She finally spoke again this time more firmly than the last. "Frankly, Prince Hans...I'm uncertain if I can take any of your words as truth against your actions during my coronation," she paused. "I can not determine whether or not you are trying to deceive me and Arendelle once again." she pursed her lips. "I do believe the best course of action is to have you returned to the Southern Isles."

Hans faltered, and shifted on the spot. He seemed visibly uncomfortable, but he also seemed hesitant to speak. He wasn't neutral, but he didn't seem to notice that. If anything, it read as anxiety and uncertainty.

"I suppose I don't know what I expected." He admitted quietly, and offered a polite bow.

"As her Majesty decrees." He assured, unwilling to argue. But after a moment, he smiled a little, a dry and humorless joke at his own expense.

"Everyone worried about your icy heart, or the affliction of Anna's. But it was mine that caused everything, if unwillingly. Is that poetic irony?" He pushed his sense of humor back down, though it was perhaps a struggle.

"Perhaps someday I'll find a way to atone, and write to you. Would you read the letters?" But he offered his hands back to the guards. He didn't expect her to answer that question. He was ready to be taken away. He wished it had gone another way, but he had been wishing that from the start, and wishes were no currency of use in his world.

"Wait," Elsa let slip out. His mention of letters, had brought her mind to the journal the Captain of the Guard had mentioned Hans possessed upon his arrival. She had put it out of mind, too preoccupied with the man's mere presence to question it, when he arrived, but now it piqued her curiosity. "Captain, you mentioned the Prince had a journal on him when you detained him, correct? I would like to examine it myself," She didn't know why she asked for his belongings now, but maybe there was something to them the guards had missed.

"His sword also." She wanted to make sure it was truly a prop like he stated.

The Guard and Hans both seemed perplexed, but both shrugged, and the Guard send up one of his men with the items.

As had been claimed, the journal was a leather bound book, half the pages torn out, and the other half blank. Some semblance of old letters could be seen on close examination, suggesting that it was written in before, but it was difficult to make out what any of them would have been. It appeared to be a perfectly ordinary journal, whatever the case, with little but a few stray ink drips of note.

The sword was also more or less as described. It could be removed from its scabbard, and it could look very much like a sword, but it rattled with shaken even slightly, the hilt wobbled, and one could see the shoddy patches of steel. While there was heft, the thing barely seemed ready to support its own weight, and the edge was near too dull to cut a mild cheese. Only the hilt looked good, and even that had tarnish from the sea spray.

"In the Isles tradition, that sword belongs to you. I've surrendered it in apology for its unjust use. I will not have another sword unless gifted back by Arendelle, which I don't expect to happen. The Isles is known for its grim humor, and its love of swords in ceremony." Hans provided, like an encyclopedia, though he didn't sound like his forced neutrality. It was hard to say what tone he did have. Wistfulness? Faraway thoughtfulness? Perhaps fondness, but not for the sword. And certainly not for the Isles, by the way he spoke of them.

Elsa had tried to remain serious though out the interrogation of 13th Prince, but there was something about this silly surrender sword that almost made her laugh. Especially when he said that wobbly thing belonged to her now. She covered mouth with her hand to hide her amusement, but quickly coughed and regained her composure.

Nothing much was gained from the examination of his belongings other than a slight slip of humor and a question.

"You said you no longer desired to lie to me, may I ask what was in the torn pages?"

He noticed the humor and smiled grimly. "It's a shade better I suppose than presenting the shards from the bottom of the fjord, if they could be found." For the cheap copy was only meant as a ceremonial stand-in for the real thing, which Hans had broken in the events of Arendelle.

He thought about his answer a moment. "It's a journal, it depends on how far back. I might have written about Arendelle in the earlier pages, the interest in visiting. Daily notes about my travels, thoughts and feelings. I kept up on it while... returned to the Isles," There was an odd way he phrased that, and a slight flick of his eyes suggesting he didn't want to go into what his return was like. "The latest pages were mostly worry about my ill-fated adventure here. It is my custom to write my thoughts and feelings in my journal, then immediately burn the pages as I finish writing them, so no-one can read them. There is very little privacy in the Isles, between nosy maids, a mother who wants to be involved in everyone else's business, and twelve brothers who just love to pick on younger siblings. I quickly learned that anything worth thinking is worth keeping to oneself. I've learned to guard my tongue and silence my footsteps no matter where I go."

He paused to think a moment. "Have you ever placed a mirror in front of a mirror, and stood between the two? The result is an endless hallway, moving forever onward until the path becomes too curved or too dark to see. Mirrors in front of mirrors are a strange thing, and echoes of mirrors just as cursed. I try to avoid mirrors and echoes where I can. The irony is that I love the sea, where the water is an infinite mirror where sound always echoes. ...I'm sorry, you didn't ask, I can't imagine my waxing poetic to be interesting."

It was quite the contrary actually, though Elsa wouldn't admit to the Prince. In his moment of waxing poetry she was certain she could see his true self trying to seep out, and she was curious to see more of it.

With a deep sigh Elsa took a long moment to stop and just process everything that had happened in the throne room thus far.

Against her better judgement of returning him back to the Southern Isles, as she initially decreed, another idea crossed her mind.

"I know I've said the best course of action was to return you to the Southern Isles," she paused for a moment, questioning if she should continue with this outlandish idea. "...I have a proposition for you, if you wish to accept, you will be allowed asylum in Arendelle, in the Dungeon, of course, but it's the best I can offer."

Elsa got off her throne with his journal in hand. She stood an arms length away from him and looked him straight eyes.

"If you continue to write your thoughts and feelings like in this journal," she raised the journal high in her hand. "and allow me to read it, then I grant you permission to stay."

Elsa wasn't sure what'd come over her to grant Hans another chance. Maybe it was the anxious look that crossed his face when she suggested returning him to the Isles. Could it have been because he truly did keep her from becoming the villain of her story? Maybe he was no sacrificial pawn, but he had stopped her up at the North Mountain. Or maybe she just wished to be a merciful Queen and allow even the 13th Prince an opportunity to atone for what he did. Whatever the reason, a second chance was offered nonetheless and whether or not he chose to take it was all up to him.

Hans seemed hopeful at the initial change, if surprised. He didn't bother to hide that. But when she held the journal and suggested she read his thoughts, he hesitated, and his hands curled in his shackles. Perhaps he hesitated a bit too long. He almost seemed to reconsider the Isles, in spite of claiming he hated it there. But slowly, his hand uncurled again, and he opened it, offering to take the journal back again.

"I owe you that much. I accept your gracious offer, your Majesty." He gave a slight bow, but seemed perplexed, perhaps uncertain. No doubt his journals would be as guarded as his tongue- but he occasionally did have those moments of waxing poetic. Maybe some of his personality would slip through.

His expression slowly turned to a poorly-hidden wry smile.

"Just remember, your Majesty. I'm a sailor. Not everything I write may be suitable for a lady's eyes." He did have a sense of humor, even if he tried to hide it sometimes. He certainly knew his colorful language, and who said he didn't use it from time to time?

Elsa rolled her eyes at his comment, maybe she was starting to regret her decision already, but what was done was done.

#helsa #hans x elsa #iceburns #frozen #frozen fanfiction #Shattered Reflections

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