MC protecting Satan
I haven't done that one in a while huh?
Lucifer Mammon Leviathan Asmodeus
You Satan other demons
---
Gender: neutral
Warnings: heavy language
Satan is the last person who'd need protection and also the last person anyone would mess with due to his anger issues. People simply don't want to poke the demon and rather avoid getting caught in one of his emotional explosions
Yet those things don't stop them from talking behind his back. You hear them whisper everywhere
Some don't see him as a proper demon since he "came from an angel". You try not to think about the hurtful words directed towards someone you care so much about and you make sure to never bring it up infront of him either
But one day even your patience meets it's end and gets replaced by an unknown blind rage. What started out as a normal run for errands has now turned into a struggle to keep your feelings at bay
There is this group of especially nasty demons gossiping about Satan in the worst possible way you've ever witnessed. It struck your heart and now it seems like a curtain is over your eyes. All you see is red
Maybe Satan, who is standing next to you and struggling to keep his composure as well, has rubbed off on you too much
At the end you're not sure if it's their words that ticked you off or the sheer audacity to talk shit about someone who is standing only an arm length away, but you make your move even before the personification of wrath himself could
With the force of an entire hockey team you ram your elbow right between the shoulder blades of the tallest one, leaving the rest in shock
"Oops. I didn't see you there."
"What the fuck is your problem?"
"My problem? A bunch of pathetic, shit eating, dirt crawling, low-life creatures with faces not even their creator would love, who reached so far up their own rotten smelling assholes just to obtain the sheer audacity to talk shit about someone who's literally standing right next to them."
Your long and creative insult fills Satan with enough pride to make him forget why you were cussing the small group out in the first place
"Do you want to fight, human?"
"Oh, close your god damn mouth, would you? It reeks of horse shit and other things that I don't even want to think about."
And even though it's the last thing you want to do, because that demon in fact does smell of horse shit and other things that you don't even want to think about, you go all up in their face
"Next time I catch you fucking around, you get to find out for real where that gets you. I'll cast a curse that will make you feel constipated for the rest of your miserable life and at the same time your asshole will burn like the depths of hell, do you understand me?"
The group of demons, only now realizing they're not dealing with an ordinary human, nod silently and stare after you as you continue your day with Satan
"Do you really know a curse like that?"
"Forget about it. I don't want you to cast that curse on Lucifer."
"How'd you know?"
"Oh, please. Your pranks on him inspired me to go look for something like that in the first place."
---
Masterlist
321 notes
·
View notes
A continuation to the ask about the ROs being asked if MC was seeing anybody: what would happen if they saw the person who asked that question pestering MC while MC's whole body language screamed 'I'm uncomfortable!' but they were trying to be nice about it?
Continuation of this ask.
Koda: He stops next to you, a small frown furrowing his brow as he glances between you and the person. "Hi, MC." A bright grin is sent your way, but it quickly falls away when he shifts his attention. "I thought you wanted me to ask him later? Don't you think now is a bad time?" Koda glances down at his watch, worry welling within his stomach. "We're going to be late for our movie marathon." Gently taking you by the arm, he tugs you closer to his side, whiskey brown eyes never straying too far from the other person. "Why don't we head back to the dorm now? It's Gina's turn to cook tonight and I can't wait to eat up." He looks down at you then, his warm countenance returning in spades immediately. "That's something that'll be fun before it, I think. Some good food and good company to match."
Scarlett: Viridescent eyes narrow into slits, features devoid of emotion twisting into the epitome of anger-- a vicious, burning entity that's scorching in intensity-- at the sight that greets her at the other end of the hall. She doesn't think, doesn't give credence to the thoughts running through her head, all she felt in that moment, all that she knew to be true, is that she needed to get to you. With long strides, Scarlett closes the distance quickly, heels clicking menacingly against the waxed floor. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" A hand grips onto their bicep, more impervious than steel, as she twists the person towards her. "When I told you to go ask her, I didn't mean make a nuisance of yourself and force your cretinous presence somewhere it doesn't belong." Scarlett leans closer, sharp fangs glinting underneath the torchlight when she growls. "You've just made a mistake. The likes of which you'll never recover from. I'll make sure of it."
Cyrus/Cyra: "This isn't what I meant by getting your answer faster." Their words, much like the expression etched across their face, is filled with anger-- a raging inferno roaring within their chest at the sight before them. They step closer, settling by your side, with their arms crossed over their chest; presenting every bit as the Heir to House Aurelia in that moment. "I'd leave if I were you, it's clear that your presence is no longer required or welcomed." Gentle gold eyes, that still have a lethal undercurrent of red, turn to glance at you, a soft smile quirking their lips. "Though, I believe, I must thank you in a way. You gave me a question that I didn't even know needed to be asked and, because of it, I have come to answer that's quite satisfactory." They turn back to the person, their earlier fire returning. "But, make no mistake, that your help, however slight, makes me any less forgetful of what you just tried to do."
Quinn: Can I eat them now? Their wolf, while unwelcome in the moment, reflected the exact feelings currently welling within their chest. A festering rage causing their eyes to flash sporadically, but they maintain control as they easily find their way to your side-- one of their favorite places to be. "Forcing your company on someone that doesn't wish for it isn't exactly charming," Quinn mutters, arms crossed over their chest. Sapphire blue filled with nothing but barely concealed hostility. "In fact, I think it's something that'd warrant a visit from my furry friend." They take a small step forward, voice lowering to a menacing growl. "So, I'd leave if I were you. If you care at all for your health."
Caden: An icy chill instantly fills the hallway, silver eyes flashing brilliantly-- wisps of chilling white intercepted within them. They're not aware when they stop by your side, but they're more than aware of the growing fire within their chest; a rage the likes they haven't felt in a long time. "You need to leave." They take a step closer, voice hauntingly devoid of any emotion. At the hesitation, another gust of icy air rushes through the area. "That wasn't a suggestion." Caden inclines their head towards the exit. "Now."
Sloane: Without thinking about the consequences, without putting any thought into the action really, their fist collides with the person's cheek-- satisfied immensely by the crack that fills the air because of it. "Why don't you fuck around with someone who actually wants it, asshole?" Teeth bared, wolf broiling at the surface, Sloane takes a step closer, fighting against the urge to tear them apart. "Next time I see you even in the same radius as MC, I'll make you sure you wished that you never stepped foot in Aurelian, understood?" At the frantic nodding of their head, Sloane jerks their own towards the exit. "Good. Now get the fuck out of my sight."
Blake: An easy smile slips from their lips at the sight, violet eyes darkening to a shade few have ever seen before. Without putting much stock into the action, Blake easily sidles up to you, throwing a loose arm around your shoulders. "MC," they crow, tugging you closer into their side. "Just the vampire I was looking for, I was wondering if you'd help me with an assignment?" At the scoff from the other person, Blake allows a cheshire grin to overtake them, not a hint of mirth in their gaze. "Oh, I wasn't aware you had company. Would you like me to leave you be?" They shift their focus towards you, deadly serious. "I'd be more than happy to handle it, of course. Handling unwanted things is an amusing pastime of mine."
Reginald/Regina: "It seems you also have to work on boundaries too," they comment, easily settling by your side. Ignoring the glare that's sent their way because of it, a gentle smile comes to their lips as they nudge you. "I'm making dinner tonight, wanna help me out?" Blue green eyes flash merrily, but anyone would be able to see the sharpness hiding just underneath the surface-- a clear signal to the one it's directed towards that they wouldn't leave regardless. "You've always been a big help to me, I could definitely use that now. What do you say?"
93 notes
·
View notes
Hello darling, happy Hanukkah! Would you maybe want to write something to do with... boots. Snowy, mud-covered, detailed with little stars, the world's your latkes. Or, if not: doorway? Windowsill. I don't know why they're all things in my immediate view. Erm... late to an appointment. Antlers!
Darling I just love you very much okay whatever you write at any time is the perfect thing. This whacky prompt or not, you're bringing us all so much light.
Robinnnnn oh my sweetest love I absolutely positively adore you. Thank you for the prompt, and also for being in my life, and for being the absolute best. Here's something sweet and cozy just for you. @rockingrobin69
Here's to Us
Two pairs of worn boots are drying on a towel next to the door. Draco insists that drying charms ruin the faux dragon hide, and Harry refuses to spend money on a boot-drying rack, so this is their compromise. It also secretly makes Draco a little oddly giddy when he sees them; even their shoes belong together.
The two of them lying in front of the fire, listening to the crackling flames and the howling wind against the windowsill. Draco is grateful for Harry's strong sticking charms; the screen door of their little cabin had flown open with the force of the wind and thumped loudly against the wall over and over. Now, it stays tight against the entrance, another shield against the raging storm.
Their legs are tangled together under thick blankets and Draco's body is heavy and warm against Harry. He's trying to be careful, though, not to knock over the wine glass next to him. He hopes Harry is similarly cautious; the rug they're lying on was pricey.
He's just about to fall asleep when he feels Harry's gruff whisper. "I wish we could stay here forever."
Draco's eyes open and his heart breaks, just a little, even as it swells a bit at 'we;' the novelty of being a 'we' still hasn't worn off, even a year into marriage.
He doesn't know how to respond, exactly, but he's learning he doesn't have to fill every silence; doesn't always have to have the answers. So instead, he makes a small sound that he hopes Harry interprets as Tell me more. I want to hear you.
Luckily, Harry continues. "I want don't want to go back. I don't want to go to work, or see him." Him, Draco knows, is Robards, the overbearing asshole of a boss who makes Harry come home nearly every day with red-rimmed eyes. "I'm tired, Draco," Harry whispers. "I'm so tired."
Draco shifts in Harry's arms, turning to look him in the eye. This time, the words come easily. "Darling, I wish I could make it all better. I wish we could stay here. I—" he breaks off, struck by a sudden epiphany. He frowns, thinking it through, as Harry looks on in confusion.
Before Harry can reply, Draco breaks into a grin. "Harry, if you want to stay, then let's stay."
Now it's Harry's turn to frown. "What?"
"Hear me out." Draco sits up, moving out of Harry's embrace to sit up straight. "You hate your job. You do, Harry. I know it's what you thought you wanted, and maybe you're still passionate about some parts of it, but you're miserable there. You have to face that."
Harry swallows and glances away, but he doesn't argue, which Draco takes as a win.
He presses on. "Life is far too short to be doing something that causes you this much strife. And luckily, we can afford for you not to work. In fact, we could both quit our jobs tomorrow and live comfortably for the rest of our lives," Draco feels more adamant now, as if he's convincing himself as well as Harry.
Harry shakes his head, bewildered. "Wait. You're proposing I quit my job, we sell our flat, and we move here—to what was supposed to be our vacation home—full-time?"
Draco grins. "Exactly."
"But what about you? What about your work? The publishing house is based in London."
Draco waves a hand. "I can write from anywhere, now that you've shown me how to use that Muggle compu-tator."
"It's called a computer, love."
"Whatever. I can use it, can't I? And when I have meetings, I can call or go in person using the Floo. Besides, it might be nice to write with such a gorgeous view."
Harry hums, glancing outside the window. "It is beautiful here."
Draco smirks. "I wasn't talking about the view outside the window." He leers and waggles his eyebrows meaningfully, and Harry laughs, blushing a bit.
Draco settles back into Harry's arms, confident that he's got him nearly convinced. "Picture it, love. We can have a garden and grow all sorts of things. We can still have our friends over whenever we want; the city is only a Floo away." He looks up at Harry, tilting the other man's chin down slightly to look at him directly. "I think it would be good for you." He laces their fingers together, their wedding rings clinking. "For us."
Harry's silent for a moment. Draco gives him time, just taking the opportunity to look at him. To silently convey all the love he feels, always present under his skin, and letting it rise to the surface. Say yes, Harry, he thinks. It'll be good. So, so good.
Finally, Harry smiles. "Let's do it. I'll send Robards my resignation tomorrow."
Draco's hopeful smile splits into a wide grin. He flings himself upward and nearly knocks over their wine glasses with the force of his hug. "Yes! Oh, Harry, we'll be so happy. So disgustingly happy, I promise you."
Harry chuckles, kissing Draco, short and soft. "I don't doubt it."
"We need to celebrate." Draco reaches for their wine glasses, handing Harry his and holding his own up between them. "To you, and to the future."
Harry brings their glasses together with a soft clink. "To us."
48 notes
·
View notes
THE MATSUNO'S STARTER PKMN.
( THIS IS A VERY LONG POST, BTW. )
So this has been a study post that I've been wanting to make for awhile now! This is going to concern their pokemon verse, but more specifically just focusing on their starter 'mons rather than the rest of their team. I'm still working ON the rest of the teams, but I don't think they have more than two or three each .. MAYBE four tops.
Anyways!! The starters!!!!
Growing up, the Matsuno sextuplets always looked identical in every conceivable way. As you can see here, they were always dressed in identical clothing, had identical haircuts, and if you were to just look at the picture as is, then unless you watched the show and remembered this specific episode very well ( from the 80s ) then there's a HIGH CHANCE you won't be able to tell who is who. Not even in the slightest.
Well, this is largely due to Matsuyo's budget, and buying them clothes in bulk. While I have very mixed feelings on her as a mother, when the children were younger she was actually much better to the boys. She DID try to do her best, even though their budget had to have been pretty thin when having to take care of sextuplets she hadn't expected.
While the whole "identical clothes and identical presentation" in every way really REALLY fucked them up in the long run, it isn't exactly something that could be helped too much at this time. THAT'S a ramble saved on her for later, because trust me -- i've dissected everyone in this show a million times over i have SO many thoughts ( might make a sideblog for it or something so i don't constantly overwhelm the dash.. ) . But just know it wasn't done out of malice.
In a pokemon verse, when it comes time for the brothers' first starters ... I'm sure Matsuyo would have bought them in bulk, too. Probably bought a whole LITTER, in fact, so that they were all siblings, too. Thus, the brothers' very first starters ... ... ...
... were eevees.
A nearly identical litter of them, except for one which was shiny ( not that they knew at the time, though. ) Six same faces, six same starters. It's funny how it worked out and fit, isn't it? They recieved them on their 13th birthday, as a gift before starting highschool.
Each of them were allowed to decorate their ball how they wanted, but because there weren't any real pokemon that could be bought wildly, they'd went to a breeder for this purpose. Each of them was given an eevee, with Todomatsu receiving the shiny -- but they largely looked the same. Each of them came with a cheap everstone collar, too, that the boys weren't allowed to take off until they were older and could do more research into evolutions. They're a big responsibility, and there's so much that they could evolve into, after all!
The differences between the brothers -- and the eevee's -- wouldn't really show until around midway through highschool, however. All their lives, for as long as they'd had and raised the eevees, they continued to act as a unit. Then, things super fell apart by their second year -- until their final year, in which they barely talked to one another. Gone were the days of all of them acting like a silly little troupe of performers, or whatever else have you -- no more doing things as a team, or people being able to gawk at them for having identical eevee's belonging to identical faces.
The only eevee to have evolved at all during this time was Jyushimatsu's -- and it'd evolved into Sylveon. It shocked a lot of people, given how rage filled he seemed to act all the time -- how could someone so angry all the time have such a sweet, caring pokemon? Was he really that friendly? It was hard to make a connection between the two, but it was undeniable that he must've been good to his sylveon when nobody was watching.
The other's evolutions' took WAY LONGER, though. And absolutely NONE of them are what the bro's really wanted. You see, most people would probably have their colors match, or be something the brother's actually wanted -- a la,
Oso - flareon
Kara - vaporeon
Choro - leafeon
Ichi - espeon
Jyushi - jolteon
Todo - shiny sylveon
BUUT.. In my take, what they want is NOT what they get. Actually, they get eeveelutions which reflect the hidden / usually unwanted aspects of themselves that they desperately try to suppress -- Jyushi's initial eevee at the time included. Thus, their evolutions go as so;
Oso - umbreon
Kara - leafeon
Choro - Espeon
Ichi - Flareon
Jyushi - Sylveon
Todo - shiny glaceon
Each of the brothers has a name pun to their chosen named pokemon; initially, i was gonna give em all a matching suffix like the brothers do with -matsu , but i don't think that even as kids they'd agree on what suffix to match. So, instead, birth order number puns!!!
I will now explain in the order which they evolved for the brothers, and why.
1. JYUSHIMATSU & SYLVEON
Jyushimatsu's eevee was named Gofurou ( 護符郎 ; meaning lucky / five ). It's pokeball was decorated with the number 14, and was in a standard pokeball that he'd handpainted with stunning realistic accuracy to look like a baseball. He is the best artist of the brothers, after all! ( canonically! )
As I already said, Jyushi's was the first to evolve. Despite his rage at the time, and how scary he was as a person there for several years, there was a lot of love he didn't know where to put. So, all that affection and love went into Gofurou.
Where he was standoffish and angry and tense at everyone else and the world around him, all his love and affection went to his Eevee. He never once treated it badly, and was incredibly kind to it (and any other animals/pokemon, really) to the point that when it pawed off it's everstone collar, it'd almost immediately evolved into Sylveon after.
This was to everyone's SURPRISE; at the time, his kindness and his love WAS something that he repressed. However, even with how angry and terrible of a teen Jyushi could be at times, this Sylveon knew that it was loved to it's very core. Eventually, Jyushi turned to the happy go lucky smiley guy we know now, but .. not before some fuckery with the mental world of his and reassurance that it WAS okay to let loose and laugh, something he felt he long forgot how to do.
Throughout all this time, Gofurou was always silly and friendly as Jyushimatsu formerly was / will continue to be post highschool, and honestly, the two of them get along together great! It's even where Jyushimatsu learned how to do the tentacle arms from -- it's wiggly bow is what inspired him!
I think, though, that Jysuhimatsu couldn't really handle more than two or three pokemon at a time tops. For the longest time, Gofurou was his only constant pokemon, but he's never one to restrict their freedom much -- if they don't want to be owned, he'll set them free. Simple as that. He had a few others that dipped in and out of his team, but never ones that really stayed for long as he tended to release them rather fast. But Gofurou was his luckiest pokemon, his lucky charm and reminder that people can change...
Gofurou was there for him through thick and thin -- so .. instead of giving Homura his lucky baseball brace as a parting gift, he gifted her his sylveon. Something to remind her of the good in the world, and that even through the bad it is possible to be loved, and that she was loved. He gave Gofurou to her to protect her and to remind her there is ALWAYS going to be someone who cares. It was tough parting with his partner, but Homura was his first love -- and she needed Goforou's support more than he did.
So, Gofurou no longer lives in the household anymore. It's unlikely he'll really get to even see him again.... But that's okay. As long as Homura is safe, he's perfectly happy with this end result. Even if it does hurt quite a bit, it was his own choice, and one that was certainly for the best. THAT SAID .. I actually do have a hc as to what happens next after, and what pokemon he gets from here -- but I'll save that for another post. ^_^
2. ICHIMATSU & FLAREON
Ichimatsu's eevee is named Sesshi ( 切歯 ; meaning grinding teeth / four ). It's pokeball was rather plain, and the least well taken care of ball out of all the brothers. Eventually, from it's poor care, it had to be replaced with a different ball. He ended up getting a hand-me-down luxury ball from Iyami, but the hinges are kind of eeky there too..
There's a lot of rage within Ichimatsu in his teen years. Rage, and endless depression and emptiness. Not quite in the same way as Jyushimatsu, mind you -- he was actually the opposite. The thing is, as a teen and growing up he was always an incredibly huge people pleaser. Even if that wasn’t his real true personality, and he was immensely struggling with depression, he never really let anyone see it.
It was both frowned upon in japanese society to seek help with mental health issues, as well as generally being due to Ichimatsu being both INCREDIBLY stubborn and painfully anxious when it came to asking for help. Even despite this, he was still sent off to therapy -- but it didn't help him. If anything, it made him far worse, because even when he had his family's support, he only seemed to clam up and close off more rather than open up, which is kind of super vital to therapy. It was made terrible by the fact that he was expected to tell a total stranger about his issues, and well -- Ichimatsu doesn't open up that easily for ANYONE, he never really had.
Although, there was a lot of negativity swirling around in his mind. A WHOLE LOT of rage, of bitterness, of anxiety, of jealousy -- so many bad feelings that didn't have anywhere to go. His eevee had taken notice of this, and it's personality began to reflect his true feelings more and more -- where it used to be the most sociable of the group, at the highest of the hierarchy of eevee's alongside his brothers, it began to grow a little bitter and more aggro to the others. Not enough so that it ever caused egregious harm or anything, but pokemon Do tend to reflect their masters a little... And just as Ichimatsu had become isolated, so too did his eevee start withdrawing as well.
Now, you'd think that he'd get that espeon, right? After all, it totally matched his desire to understand cats more, and it's the most catlike out of all the evolutions. AND it's PURPLE!!! But, the thing about it is -- Ichimatsu isn't a guy that spends a lot of time outside in the daylight; he thrives in the nighttime. Additionally, the ESP kitty incident was only TEMPORARY in the show -- so why would he have an esper eeveelution long term, then?
He'd been preparing for a potential umbreon or espeon evolution for Sesshi anyways, when one day, his 'friends' dragged him out for shopping. While out, they bought a few stones for their pokemon -- but, they got an additional, unneeded one for free. This was a fire stone, and so it was shunted off on Ichimatsu who pretended to happily accept it because of how pushy they were being, even if he didn't want it. But they didn't care if he didn't want it, and quickly moved on, chatting away about some random things that happened that day and leaving Ichimatsu out of the conversation, as usual.
The moment he got home, though, he was pissed off and so fucking tired of masking, that he threw it in the trash bin as hard as he could. There, his eevee had curiously peeked to what got him so angry, and to inspect the strange new scent -- and in the process, touched the fire stone.
So now, Sesshi is a flareon as a result of his anger blindsiding him, ruining his planned evolutions. Just Great... ( i Like to think this is why he has such a resilience to fire now in pokemon verse specifically, though., LOL )
3. KARAMATSU & LEAFEON
Karamatsu's eevee is named Jigo ( 耳語 ; meaning whisper / two ). It's pokeball was rather plain, being in a standard pokeball until it was broken in the rooftop squabble and replaced with a premier ball, and as he got older, he'd added blue glitter and sequins to it.
Karamatsu, ever the painfully shy introvert at heart. In highschool, he was always the most worried and anxious about everything -- and could do very little to hide it. As he got older, he tried to act more and more outgoing and flashy, but at the time of his starter evolving, this was not the case.
Some time after Jyushimatsu's eevee evolved into a sylveon, Karamatsu's had evolved into leafeon. It wasn't really intentional, honestly -- then again, NONE of the brother's evolutions were ... except Todomatsu's, but we'll get to that in a bit. Essentially, what happened was that because he had a lot of anxiety as a teenager, and a lot of worries that he tried to suppress, he'd often go hang out near the fishing ponds to relax. When not there, he'd go to a mossy part of the nearby woods to his house long before it'd been cleared away for sake of expanding the city, and generally quiet places where he couldn't be overwhelmed. The most common place you'd find him at was the park, either getting lost in his own thoughts, or watching the scenery.
Thanks to all the time spent around the greenery, when he was ready to evolve his eevee, he'd honestly wanted an umbreon. He wasn't quite a huge nutty fan of summer or water yet, so no vaporeon was wanted – and he tended to lean towards preferring spring a bit more. However, what ended up happening was Jigo evolved into a LEAFEON instead.
Jigo's existence as a leafeon, more than anything, really reflects this more reserved side of his. It'd evolved right after the fight on the rooftop, when the fight had been so bad and Karamatsu felt so dejected he didn't even know what to do with himself after losing that letter. And though it wasn't the evolution he'd wanted to aim for, such a turnout actually inspired him to change, too. Even if it wasn't what he wanted, the fact of the matter was that you could still change.
And, really, after a strange domino effect, that's how we ended up with the glitziest, glammest of the bunch of brothers we know now.But that doesn't change the fact that his Leafeon is now pretty rooted in it's quieter, more solitary nature -- no matter how much Karamatsu tries to overdo it and prove he's changed. Leafeon shows the true nature of Karamatsu that he tries so desperately to hide -- which makes the dichotomy between his loud and glammy persona so striking when compared to his timid starter. Kind of like the little kid and his shy pikachu from that pokemon concierge show ...
4. TODOMATSU & GLACEON
Todomatsu's eevee is named Mukurou ( 向く ; meaning turn to face / six ). It's pokeball has been colored in layer after layer of stickers over the years, peeled and redecorated as Totty saw fit, despite it's plain nature. However, as an adult, he replaced it's pokeball with a specialized engraved and elegantly decorated love ball after winning big at pachinko one night. It cost a fortune, but it was worth it to stand out above the others!!! ... probably.
Since they first got their pokemon, Todomatsu had to be stuck with the last eevee. He wasn't very happy that he got the 'weird' eevee out of the bunch, a silver furred one which seemed to sparkle in the sunlight -- cause no matter how much he thought it was pretty, it was also something that kind of made him feel left out from his brothers.
Still, he bonded with this eevee rather quickly; always preening it's fur, it following him everywhere and treated more gently and loved more than he could ever love his brother's pokemon. Even on nights he was incredibly sickly and bedbound, this eevee was there -- and in turn, the two got pretty clingy to one another. As he got older, and less sickly, he started to see a shift in personality which his eevee did not follow.
We all know that post highschool, Totty closed himself off and tried to desperately change, and prove he was nothing like his brothers. By the time he learned that his eevee was a rare shiny, and he wanted to stick out even more, Todomatsu couldn't have been the first to get his evolved. Three of his brothers already evolved theirs before him, and one of them even took Sylveon!!
Not wanting Mukurou to be the same kind of pokemon as any of his bros, and desperate to look even more impressive, Totty settled on his second backup evolution option -- Glaceon! Surely, if he had a shiny glaceon, he'd stand out above all the others!! ( plus, i think ice type reflects his icy personality too ^_^ )
So, when climbing ( the pokemon equivalent of ) Mt. Fuji, he'd made sure to bring Mukurou along ... and there, he successfully trained it enough to evolve into Glaceon. But imagine his disappointment when he realized that shiny glaceon... hardly looks any different from regular glaceon.
It's a reflection of the fact that despite how much he tries to stand out, and insist he's different than his brothers, he really isn't all that different. It really hits that point home -- that no matter what he tries to do HE IS STILL LIKE HIS BROTHERS. he's not as different from them as he tries to make himself out to be, and he's still quite shallow about it, too. This surprisingly didn't really hurt his bond with Mukurou, but it did make him hard turn onto catching and maintaining a different style of cute pokemon, ones that REALLLY stood out from his brothers......
5. CHOROMATSU & ESPEON
Choromatsu's eevee is named Sabiko ( 寂子 ; meaning lonely / three ). It's pokeball used to be very plain, just like Osomatsu's -- but he'd changed it to a limited edition Nyaa-chan ball that he bought for a frankly absurd amount of money. Of COURSE he would be the one to do that.... but hey. At least .... it has cat ears? .. ... ..
For the longest time, Choromatsu actually didn't have plans to evolve his eevee. He was happy with how Sabiko was as is -- a cute little companion, even if it WAS basic by a lot of people's standards. The two of them were total mischief makers when they were younger, but still ended up being the voice of reason quite a bit of the time -- and as the years went by, he was less and less mischievous, and picking up on more and more people pleasing and formal tendencies.
And as he shifted his personality to be that of a more serious straightman to his brothers antics, so too did Sabiko grow in a similar manner. Sabiko was ( and is ) a very odd eevee who tended to really try to mimic Choromatsu's personality always -- seeming incredibly in tune with him and the way he presented himself and reflecting that. The thing is, though, his was one of the last eevee's to evolve.
Choromatsu has always sincerely struggled with his identity as a person, and what sets him apart from his brothers. Even his brothers criticize him for this; a goody two shoes who cares more about what others think rather than ever really thinking of himself. Even when the bullying got bad, he would blame himself or take some odd responsibility -- never really advancing his own personal growth much.
Even as an adult, he still had that same, plain, too-serious eevee -- and even when he wanted it to evolve, he didn't know into what. Anything would have been pretty awesome, but nothing ever really changed -- until the day that he got his first job. Having a job was usually no big deal in the family -- they all picked one up here and there, even if they never lasted long. But this job required that he MOVE OUT. And far away from his family, at that -- in a not so great neighborhood.
It was only as he wrote the final letter to his brothers and packed up his things that he started to realize what he wanted to be. He wanted to be an idol manager, he wanted to have a good job and a good life, and he wanted to be someone that others could look to for guidance. His brothers already kind of did, but he wanted to step up more where he knew Osomatsu never would.
It was only upon moving out and realizing how seriously under prepared he was for all his goals, and being unable to achieve them all at once, that Sabiko evolved into Espeon. It'd happened towards the end of the day, just as the sun was setting, during one of his quiet moments alone at his new shoddy home. Now, he's far more in tune with his own feelings and mind, and when he came back home, everyone had been surprised to see how his eevee had evolved.
That left only one person --- Osomatsu.
Osomatsu, however, wasn't interested in trying to change his eevee, but when he eventually would after about two years or so, it would become an umbreon. Choromatsu having an Espeon vs Osomatsu having an Umbreon also reflects their dynamic; always known for being an inseparable duo ( esp in childhood ), but espeon being the more responsible of the two while umbreon did whatever it wants. At least, that's how i think the popular fanon interpretation goes for them, anyways? But lets roll with it regardless because i think it sounds fascinating. :)
6. OSOMATSU & UMBREON
Osomatsu's eevee is named Koishi ( 小石 ; meaning pebble / one ) It's pokeball is the exact same as the day he got it. Not a single thing has been added to it or changed to make it look any different. The only difference is that it's incredibly scuffed up and dingy from years of use.
Osomatsu's is the final one to evolve of the brothers, and the absolute least likely expected to. Not even Osomatsu HIMSELF expected Koishi to evolve in any capacity!
Ever since Osomatsu was little, he'd always been the ringleader of the group. Mischevious, troublemaking, and ever unchanging, very little changed about him when he became an adult. Even through highschool, he'd been pretty stagnant -- even when his brothers started to drift, and no longer respect him in the way they once did. Osomatsu is a guy who HATES change -- he's incredibly averse to it no matter the context, INCLUDING himself.
So, is it any surprise, then, that he had always wanted to keep his eevee as an eevee?
He never saw an issue with staying stagnant in his personal development -- after all, why should he OR his eevee have to change? They were already super awesome as is!! And besides, if he ever DID evolve his eevee, he'd prefer it be something big and awesome -- like a flareon, or a jolteon!! Though, he never really accounted for the potential of any character growth for himself being the thing to change that.
Not even his brothers ever expected that he or Koishi would change, but there did come a time when his pokemon partner evolved. When the hospital scare happened, and Osomatsu had a ton of reflecting to do, unsure of who he was as a person and if this means he needed to change himself ( which yes, he absolutely did need to better himself as a person ), and after his talk with Totoko, acknowledging such emotions in the moment led to the unexpected growth of himself as a person. Even when he was deadset on never changing due to already hard-rooted expectations of himself from others, and his general hatred of change ...
His eevee, too, reflected that.
Koishi's evolution into that of an umbreon reveals the darker, less touched upon aspects of Osomatsu's personality. The capability to be more responsible and serious, as well as being tied to the dark type of pokemon due to all the bad things ABOUT him really shocked him to his core. He was initially pretty disappointed -- he'd never wanted eevee to evolve in the first place. But all people change eventually, for better or for worse, because such is the way of life. Koishi's surprise change, and his own surprise development, are absolute proof that even the people most rooted in their ways can reflect and change when it's necessary.
From here, forward, he was a little distant to his pokemon -- which baffled and hurt it's feelings, not that Osomatsu knew what to do about it.. It didn't understand why, but as crummy as it is, he just needed a long time to reflect and accept the new change. He bettered himself as a person, just a bit, and re evaluated the way he treated those around him.
Eventually, he adjusted to it though; but it still says more about the things he tries to avoid reflecting on than he'd personally be comfortable with entertaining, usually..
... And there you have it! My take/analysis on all of the brothers' eeveelutions and why they subvert what most people assigned to them! ^_^ Hope you enjoyed, and i have more pokemon hc's coming in the future!!
10 notes
·
View notes
Blease tell me more about like Jonah and Melaines relationship how'd they get together? Who started? What's their relationship been like over time?
Whenever I see those two together I'm like yeas... That's them two (puts them next to each other like two rocks)
GAAAAAHHH YOUUU !!! GIVES YOU 1000 BOOBOO BEARS. OUGH... These are good questions let me get my LORE HAT. 👒
Okay so !!!!!
They first meet in a really...non ideal way, with Jonah almost dying after being careless and falling off a cliff, but luckily Melaine was nearby travelling with a couple other doctors. It was a less than optimal situation, but they help him back on his feet. I'd call it love at first sight but the most he saw was just a blur of a lady asking him questions so he didn't pass out, so I'll say it was destiny instead. They were both 18ish and real stupid <333 They started bumping into each other way more after that, and at some point began a little friendship in the wastes. Jonah flirted with Melaine first but never really made a move on her, or even tried to get her to flirt back. It was mostly him joking around and using the worlds cheesiest pickup lines for fun. She thought it was charming however and started actually flirting with him. So now he's just like "🕴🏿augh." [Not actually as smooth as he seems and cannot for the fucking life of him take what he dishes out]. It was just a fling for that moment though, since Jonah was too busy thieving and running around from bandits and Melaine had her patients to care for, so their relationship ends up on the backburner.
When they're in their early twenties though, they finally make some time for each other and start getting more serious about everything. Jonah gets injured in minor ways to go see her in the new hospital she works at, and although she knows he's being reckless and stupid for that, it's reckless and stupid in a charming way <3. She's so obsessed with this weird little freak who keeps coming in with the weirdest injuries just to see her again, and she starts doing the same by meeting him out of the hospital in his outposts and other work spots. . . Until she sees him badly injured in said work spots and goes fucking apeshit. Legally as a healer She's not SUPPOSED to hurt anybody with scalpels, but hey, just try to fucking stop her while in stabbing range. Her insane combat skills make Jonah swoon and sigh dreamily. She's so passionate about everything, and the fact she can take on so many people at once without breaking a sweat, leaving them all alive on the ground but unable to get to her, all while having that murderous rage in her eyes... it just leaves him like [Heart eyes] uehehe. Oh doc you're so cool ♡ [bleeding out].
She scolds him for being reckless and almost dying while patching up his wounds [again] and he's just. So lovestruck. Now that he's seen this other side of her and it drives him kind of crazy. From there on they both see each other more often, do more things for each other, get them presents, up until it culminates in Jonah being like "oh doctor you ever hear the joke about hospital food haha.a..... its not great.... so.... hey.... why don't you let me cook for you, right ?" [Love confession]. And they're finally official from there ♡♡♡♡ The obssession is so mutual and they're both so normal about it [lie]
The adventure from Jonah's life combined with his bright eyed hopeful ideas even in the face of so much hardship everywhere just charmed her beyond words, and it helped her keep pushing in the darkest of hours. He was a man who struggled in a planet filled with danger in every corner, and yet he remained so kind, no matter the situation he found himself in. It inspired her to do the same. As for Jonah.. well, Melaine's ever gracious self was just impossible for Jonah not to love. There was something so incredible about her that he never could explain. Something about how she was always so blunt, so endlessly patient but never to a point where she would allow someone to ignore her authority, how she always held herself as someone with a very noble goal, but still remained kind and helpful for the people who needed her help... She was an angel on earth to him. Someone so admirable, so good hearted, yet with the skill and speed of a trained soldier, never letting her guard down, willing to do anything to protect what she believed in... what a woman ♡
Their relationship has always been based on both mutual admiration and in slight obsession with each other in like, a soul mate kind of way, but they worked it out and it became much more healthy don't worry. They're both endlessly attracted to each other, everything about the other is perfection incarnate and they'll accept no less than that. Even after they reunite, they're still helplessly in love, like they never left at all... they're soooo everything coded ♡ [<- so normal right now]
They're in bisexuals with each other your honour
13 notes
·
View notes
Restoration
a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition
A witch sits in a corner of her studio, leaning over her desk in a definitely inadvisable position, as if trying to become one with the notes she's furiously scribbling in between cup after cup of black tea. Deep in the night, the only sounds that could be heard were the rustling of the leaves of the forest around the manor, the frantic pacing of the witch herself all over the room as she pondered over her current project, and distant giggles of some of the more rebellious dolls under her care which never paid much attention to standard sleeping hours. Her abode wasn't the most luxurious or spacious, but it was comfortable, secluded and filled with the warmth of life, and she liked it that way.
A passing glance at the clock in the wall reminds the mistress of the house that she is in fact supposed to take care of herself too. Two in the morning. Probably time to call it a night and get some sleep before all the dolls sprang into action with the sunrise and made any real rest impossible. With a stretch, a crack of her shoulders and a long yawn she prepares to slide under the covers, until —
"Mistress, mistress!" she hears a panicked voice at the other side of the door accompanied with hurried rapping on it. Unusual. The dolls almost never bother her at this hour (out of respect, she presumes) so whatever the matter is must be important. Opening the door reveals the visage of Verdandi, one of her first three dolls who these days acted as senior maids for her. "This one requests your presence in the hall post-haste, please!"
A sharp nod and short sprint later they both arrive at the hall, where they're met with the entire household surrounding someone... something... laying on the ground. As the dolls made way for their mistress while keeping their eyes glued to their new guest, she could get a clearer look at what the white shivering lump in the ground was.
An angel. A very badly wounded one, at that. Leaning down besides it, the lady of the house began quickly making inventory of the damage. Scratches and cuts still open and bleeding. Bite marks. A broken wing. And most concerning of all — a slightly cracked halo.
Well, shit. Though an angel under her roof is nothing new, up until now they've been nothing more than stray visitors, spending a few weeks, months at most as they tried to close the wounds in their heart with the help of the usual residents. This is new, she's definitely out of her depth here, a cocktail of emotions making its way through her veins, from rage towards whatever could do this to this creature to a chilling fear for the idea that she might not be able to do anything —
But, no matter. A witch is a witch, which is what she is. Her privileges come with duty, and when it comes to putting together broken things she's like a fish in water. Extending her hand towards the poor angel, a sound resembling a mixture of a hiss and a growl comes out of its throat as it tries to curl upon itself even more. With a sigh, the witch tries to assuage its fears with a soft caress in the cheek. "Don't worry. We will not hurt you," she says in the softest tone she can muster. And with a tear falling from its eye, the angel collapses asleep.
Standing up, she feels two dozen eyes looking at her waiting for instructions. This part is easy enough. A snap of her fingers, and every doll instantly knows what to do. "One of you, bring me a fresh pot of tea. And you, Verdandi. With me." As she walks back to her studio leaving the angel and its wounds in the expert care of her squad of dolls, she ponders. Dolls are surprisingly easy to put back together when you know what you're doing, and a happy doll makes its brethren happier merely with its presence, completing a self-fulfilling cycle. Angels are more complicated things, more often than not. As her and Verdandi quickly shuffled through her past writings on the subject, she finds herself more grounded and relaxed. She hasn't given up on anyone or anything thus far, and she's not planning on starting now.
—————
Seven weeks have passed since, and after extensive care the angel's external wounds seem to be all but perfectly healed. The wing, however, has proven to be a more resilient issue. Not quite broken but not quite functioning either, the witch suspects it's a reflection of the angel's heart. At least as much as the halo which has remained unchanged with its singular crack, and the eye bags which seemed to be deeper and deeper every day. Despite that, the angel hasn't shed a single tear since that fateful night, but it doesn't need to, for the trails of falling feathers it tends to leave behind say more than a river of tears could.
One more thing of note for the witch was that this angel seemed completely unwilling to speak, despite being surrounded by some extraordinarily chatty dolls. The most you could hope for with this one was a simple, slow, almost pained movement of the head to signal *yes* or *no* in answer to a single question. Complicated.
"Mistress, this one senses your worry. Is there anything it can do for you?" asks Verdandi as it sat next to her in the studio while she continued reading, snapping the lady of the manor out of her trance.
"What makes you say that?" said the witch as she rubbed her eyes.
"Forgive my forwardness, but you've been chewing on your lip again."
The witch sighs. "So I have been." Clicking her tongue she decides she has been sitting on her hands long enough, so she quickly scribbles something in a piece of paper and hands it over to the doll. "Read it, show it to the others, and get everything ready for tonight at ten."
Standing up tight, the doll bows to her owner and goes to follow her instructions.
—————
What is *it*, exactly? Well, nothing too complicated actually. If there's one trait angels seem to share is their yearning for love and care. Wholeness. Validation. Belonging. So she's gonna give the angel just that. Would it even want it? She's not sure, even now, as the time draws near. But she has to try.
The clock's hand hits 10, and with perfect precision the dolls pour out of the corridor where their living spaces reside in perfect rows, with the angel in tow behind them. Meeting their mistress, the dolls snuff the overhead lighting out, leaving the hall completely dark except for the big circle of candles in the middle, illuminating the large conjurating circle in the floor and casting long shadows upon everything else. As the mistress sits in one half of the circle, she gestures for the angel to sit on the other half. It complies, lifelessly, as always. Directing its gaze at the witch, right now she wishes nothing more than to see a spark of life in those deep ponds.
"Angel," she begins with practiced cadence, "this is a place of healing. As I've told you in the past, I do not know what ill fate befell you for you to arrive at my doorstep in such a state, but despite what your heart might say, be assured that things can get better."
The angel looks at her, impassive. So she continues. "I asked my dolls to respect your boundaries and only place their hands upon you for whatever was strictly necessary, but we're gathered here tonight for a different kind of exercise. It is now that I must ask before anything else: do you trust us?"
A second that feels like eternity later, the witch feels her heart lighten as the angel slowly nods. The witch spots in her peripheral vision one of the dolls having to contain herself from jumping in joy at the reveal. She has half a mind to do just that, but not now. So she just nods at the angel. "Thank you. Now, the reason why we're gathered here," she says, "I've spent the past few weeks trying to come up with a way to heal that broken wing of yours, which I can tell has been causing you immense pain." And at that, she swears she can see the faintest glint in the angel's eyes. Leaning closer, she places her hands in its (slightly shaking) shoulders and looking deeply into her, asks once more: "Do you trust us?"
The angel nods once more, with a bit more vigor this time. And with that, the witch stands up and gives the dolls space to step in. The first one approaches it, and gives it something it had never expected: a tight hug and one of its own discarded feathers, the tip dyed blue, with the same color of ink used to write *we care about you* on it. As it read the message, the feather dissolved in its hand — and it could feel a fresh new feather in the damaged wing.
Eyes open wide with shock, it wasn't given much time to mull over what had just happened as one by one each doll stepped forward to do just the same, each feather sporting a different color and message, ranging from compliments to words of affirmation. One of the dolls was even so bold to write *I love you* in its feather. Twenty-four instances of the same event later and the angel was left a visibly shaking mess, its hand covering its face as its left wing now sported an assortment of multicolored feathers.
The witch stepped forward, and gave it one final feather. *Would you like to be part of our family?* it read.
And that was it. With a flap of its now restored wings, the angel broke down into frenzied sobs, launching itself onto the witch, holding onto her for dear life. "Yes," it said with an incredibly raspy voice. "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."
The dolls cheered. And Verdandi, forever a sharp-eyed one, swears it can, for a brief moment, see the remnants of a halo light up over its lady's head.
—————
Some time has passed now, and the angel had managed to fall in line quite easily with the dolls. Though still not exactly a chatterbox, the dolls tell her mistress of how it was surprisingly easy to coax conversation out of it these days when bringing up topics it was interested in, such as cooking and reading.
So she now has twenty-five beings under her care. Not quite what she expected her life to be like while barely in her thirties, but she's happy, her dolls are happy, her angel seems to be happy these days, and that's all she cares about in the end.
18 notes
·
View notes
The Dangerous Ones review
4.5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, vampires, dual POVs, historical fantasy
Big thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
TW slavery, whipping, mentions of SA
This book definitely has an interesting premise. The Civil War, but if vampires and Saints (i.e., supernaturally strong and fast vampire hunters) were a thing. I thought it was an interesting take and I liked seeing how the different fantasy elements got woven into the existing history. This world ended up being more expansive than just vampires, Saints, and humans, and it would've been interesting to explore the other groups as well but there's not really room for it (but note, I would be interested in exploring them...maybe with Gus and Jules).
As it is, we get a good amount of info about the vampires and Saints. Vamps seem to be a pretty Eastern European thing, though I think they do come from other European locations as well. They're sensitive to sunlight, holy water will burn them, and a wound from a silver weapon will never heal. Saints are pretty much the perfect enemies of vampires. They're stronger and faster than the average human and tire out less easily. When a Saint knows what they are and has proper training, they're a formidable foe against vampiric enemies. Even without training they can pose a threat, as Jerusalem shows in the opening chapter. Saints seem to pretty specifically hunt vampires and we actually see them working alongside other supernatural creatures in the book as allies.
Jerusalem has escaped slavery and is now fighting with other Saints in the Union army, with her sights set both on liberation and revenge. She's filled with rage about what happened to her and her family, and she uses that to focus her skills as she trains and fights. Understandably she doesn't trust a lot of people, but the people she does trust are people she is thoroughly loyal to. It's clear that she cares deeply and has a strong protective streak, and part of the way that shows up is through fighting the Confederacy and vampires.
Alexei is a vampire who signed on to help the Union army and in particular helps the Saints take down other vampires. He has his own demons to face from earlier in his life in Eastern Europe, demons tied directly to his vampirism. While he eagerly fights against slavery and clearly states his disgust for the practice on more than one occasion, he has more mixed emotions about newly turned vampires, as he's aware that not all of them have chosen that life, which at times puts him at odds with the Saints. We get to see his softer side on multiple occasions and it's clear he's warm-hearted at his core, even if he is, quite literally, ice cold.
While Jerusalem and Alexei are set up to seem to already be in love (though unknowingly on Jerusalem's part) when the book opens, I do feel like we get a bit of instalove going on. Alexei is clearly in love with Jerusalem but holds off because he doesn't want to lose her as a friend (also the fact that he's a vampire and she's not, lol), but it takes Jerusalem much longer. She even tries to kill the guy 24hrs before she admits she loves him! I have a hard time believing that someone like Jerusalem would so quickly have an about-face. While her attempts to kill him were in the heat of a very emotionally intense moment, it doesn't change the fact that up until nearly the end of the novel, Jerusalem worries Alexei will try to feed on her. That doesn't really scream love to me. I don't mind the romance, they do work well together, but I would've liked to see some of that resolved prior to their confessions (or at least prior to them fully getting together).
I have to say, I was cackling at the descriptions for white people. They were absolutely hilarious and I think it's a funny way to call out (and contrast with) the ways Black and brown characters' skin tones are often described in books. I also think it's interesting linguistically since it creates a Black-normative perspective in the novel.
This book is pretty fast paced and fairly action-packed. While there are moments when Jerusalem and/or Alexei have to stop for resting or planning, a lot of the book is filled with either strategy or fighting in some form. I definitely flew through this book and its fast pace makes it a nice, quick read. The ending is very satisfying as well.
Overall I enjoyed this book and found it to be a good, fast-paced vampiric read. I did find it a bit predictable at times, but I don't think it's trying to be a book with a ton of plot twists, so it doesn't impact the story.
2 notes
·
View notes
I 1000% wanna know what's going on in your head about your writing! Shoot!
Yay!!
Okay so this is probably gonna be a long one cuz i will let myself ramble on
First, the letters.
Those letters, I try my best to get into their head space at the time, since they're like, 12 years old, still pretty much the age where they still sort of believe in humans are bad but also starting to form their own ideas based on the things they see and hear, whether it be on the TV or what they overhear from the sewer grates.
Raph's letter, I feel like, suits him very well.
He acts all casual like he never wanted to make on in the first place but his letter is the only letter that's actually not rushed and very well thought out. He complains first and then immediately think of what his brothers would be up to first before asking all about himself. I feel like Raph is like that. He also hides his letter from his brother, worried they might tease him for it. He's an angry boy, but the moment i started writing his letter i knew it would fit him very much as a brother that worries. He may not show it, but Raph is as much of a worrier as Leo is.
For Mikey, I really wanted his letter to be short and playful, mostly short because it was more filled with doodles than actual words. His expectations are simple and so far fetched that when it does end up happening in the future, he gets what he wanted, answered the questions he asks, in an unpredictable manner, just like himself. He asked if they'd get a pet, they got an alien turtle and a mutant ice cream cat. He didn't get a thousand friends but he gained a few very loyal ones. His letter is so carefree in contrast to his much reserved and wiser self in the future.
For Donnie, I really intended to make him ramble but i decided, like Mikey, he didn't even get to finish his letter. He starts of unsure, since talking to your future self seemed like a funny idea to him and he was the one that complained when Splinter made them do this activity. He asks about his inventions, which is tyical, but also contradicts himself, not thinking that he could improve in the future, that little seed of self doubt was already there with him, one of the reasons why it took him too long to let his emotions out and just cry.
Their individual chapters also shows how much they've changed from when they were fifteen.
Raph still has anger issues but he is much more closed off, he never smiles anymore like what's mentioned. His anger is more like a live wire that when someone touches, it goes all out. It's not really a raging fire anymore, but electricity that spreads the more people touch it. At that moment, when he read his letter, he was surprised. The tears just came out and a smile wormed its way to his face because would you look at that? His questions were answered. He was laughing at himself, he couldn't believe that Splinter's little activity actually had some sort of lesson. Still, when he reached to Leo's part in the letter he breaks down. The last time he broke down was at Leo's funeral in Interlude 2, when he told his brothers: "DON'T TELL ME HOW I'M SUPPOSED TO FEEL." In this moment, he was smiling because instead of hearing condolences and we'd get through this, Raph saw some sort of light from reading his letter. There's still a chance to answer all these questions, a chance to be better. He felt feelings that are supposed to be his, emotions that isn't dictated by other people and he's laughing, it was ironic. He should be sad, be mad, but he's smiling.
Mikey's chapter is also interesting considering the fact that he never once mentions Leo anywhere except for the letter. He never once thinks of him, or if he was about to say his name he stops. Mikey, out of all his brothers, feels this deep seated guilt over Leo's death. More guilt than Raph or Donnie combined. His personality went from this cool carefree go with the flow guy to this reserved guy. He talks a lot about feelings as well since he's the first out of his brothers to reach the acceptance stage, but he skipped one. He was angry. Angry at himself. Also Ryan is in there, which helps to show how mature Mikey has gotten in the two years that they lost Leo. That's a concerning amount of change for him. He still smiles and jokes around but it's not as often as he used to. Through Ryan, we can see how the changes affected him and how he accepted the changes, calling it an adventure, which i feel like fits Mikey the best.
Then lastly, there's Donnie. He likes to avoid his problems. In the chapter it was said that he has busied himself to try and get away from the inevitable confrontation to read his letter. He doesn't want to read his letter for the fear that his expectations weren't met or that the things he say there might make him break down. He never openly breaks down in front of his brothers, he always does it behind closed doors just like Leo, since Donnie and his whole dynamic is the little sibling that follows the big sibling's moves. He's not as confident as Mikey to show his feelings or as comfortable as Raph to show he's angry. He doesn't even understand how he feels. He doesn't want to know what he feels because it's going to break him. So he tries his best, as much as possible and for as long as he can, to avoid it. But then he sees Leo in Raph for a brief moment and he pulls a 180. He was an idiot and realizing Raph is doing what Leo would've done made him snap out of the cycle of escaping his problems. (Raph and Leo are twins fr) He rips the band aid off and breaks down. He falls apart and becomes a kid again for just a short while and his brothers let him cry. He wasn't able to process his emotions and trauma so it all just came crashing down on him. He calls for Splinter, he says sorry to Leo and his brothers just held him close. They know they can't take that pain away but they do know Donnie needs to let it out and he did. And that was enough.
Anyways that's what i was thinking when i wrote the chapters lol
Leo one hopfully soon?
17 notes
·
View notes
my thoughts on mando chapter 19
I'm not trying to be contrarian, and I'm definitely not defending Disney and Jon and Dave on their dumb decisions. but I think a lot of people really missed the point of this episode.
so the episode starts with Din and Bo leaving mandalore when they're attacked and Bo's castle is destroyed. the blind rage that Bo gets into against the tie fighters is her seeking revenge for what the empire did to her and her people. it's not Bo being stupid and reckless. she has suffered and loss so much at the hands of the empire, now even her home is gone. she wants revenge.
then we focus on pershin and him being introduced to the new republic. let me remind you all that pershin is a bad person. he's a eugenicist who worked for one of the worst moffs in the empire. this episode was not about his redemption. if you thought that he was trying to redeem himself, you're just as fooled as the new republic was.
pershin was a cloner. we see in the bad batch that the empire is trying to perfect cloning in the way the kaminoans did. (I haven't watched the new episode this week, so I don't know if that gives us any more info) so it's implied that his research was stolen from the kaminoans. and as we see in that one episode from season 2, it's also implied that his cloning tech is gonna be used to create snoke and the Palpatine clone.
I know we all hate "somehow Palpatine returned". this show is trying to expand on that, give an explanation. sure that won't fix the rise of skywalker, but it will sort of improve the overall lore of the universe. if you're looking at the overall story, it helps it feel connected. I understand that a lot of people don't care about that. and that's fine. you don't have to like the fact that most of this episode focuses on pershin. but I'm trying to explain why it focuses on him, not why you should like it.
anyway, we can see that Elia is pretending to be nice to pershin, all so that she can get him arrested. because, like Bo Katan, she wants revenge against the empire.
again, we aren't supposed to like pershin. just because he has anxiety and says "whoopsie, sorry for doing eugenics and genocide and illegal cloning. I was just following orders. pwease forgive me uwu" doesn't mean he's automatically a good person. a redemption like that doesn't just happen off screen. he's literally a space nazi. and the program his in is literally space operation paperclip.
the new republic is flawed. they're not outright evil. but they are trying to recreate the republic that was filled with corruption and shady practices, even without Palpatines influence. they're decommissioning both empire and rebel ships while there are still tie fighters causing chaos and shit. they're censoring any information and technology that would help them because it was used by the empire. the new republic is far far better than the empire. but they aren't perfect. and neither was the old republic. when it comes to government systems like this, there are no completely "good" sides. this episode was ment to show you how the new republic has issues. but if you actually think it's just as bad as the empire, you need to watch andor again.
anyway, we get back to Din and Bo arriving at the covert. they meet a bit of resistance from Paz, and I'm sure that will lead to something later. and then the armorer immediately forgives them both. reminder that she has stated multiple times that Bo Katan is a traitor and her rule directly led to the fall of mandalore. the armorer was probably part of mauls army of mandalorians, judging by her helmet shape. realistically, she has no reason at all to forgive Bo. but she does. and Bo is immediately accepted into the watch. not forced, but welcomed to stay and leave whenever she wants. yes, Bo is currently homeless, but she has other allies. fennec, Boba, Ursa wren. if she wants to leave the watch, she has other places to stay. so stop calling the children of the watch the "salvation army".
personally, I agree that this episode was less than stellar. the way that Din immediately completes his quest to be redeemed without even questioning why he's staying with the watch or what the point of redemption is. the fact that he finishes his quest in 3 episodes. and I'm not super enthralled by the majority of this episode focusing on pershin. I wish it would have cut back and forth like andor does all the time. and I am not one to judge people's opinions. you can think whatever the hell you want. I'm just a dumbass with a phone and a blog.
12 notes
·
View notes
Me
there are things that i'm feeling, an opinion that has been building up and i'm not sure if i can think that way. to be scared id be considered as stupid or extreme or else
we discard feelings entirely when things like this happen. it's all about expressing something that is primal, whether it's rage or disgust or anger or deny, etc.
Him
My French landlady at the pub is annoyed that the British don't know how to rise up.
But yes what is happening is awful
18:53
what do you consider awful? please tell me.
Him
We were just discussing it in the pub. How the French government aren't giving an inch and referring to rioters as mutinous vermin. Crazy. Our government would still flounce around the issue but not openly say things like that.
19:03
It's not telling what your opinion actually is.
Him
I'm not sure what my opinion is! It's just sad. There isn't very much about it in the news here. Perhaps they don't want us to be inspired.
The French have always been better at protesting for their rights than us. We just made protesting illegal.
19:08
That's a very fair answer. Few words but i thank you. The thing is that i don't accept these riots.
Not because i don't think they're legitimate but because, well, i think two things are already being accepted: that the rioters fell into complete disgrace from the population, or at least a large part. Destruction in all its forms are not acceptable, even within the most legitimate combat. Especially today and i do think social media played a part in the spreading of the violence. Because it's not Paris only, it's Marseille, it's Lyon, it's everywhere.
The second thing is that the government let a situation that was brewing, immigrants that witnessed how they were let down generation after generation after they've been welcomed so well after the war.. The rioters are for the most part children of these generations. Their fight is legitimate.
Factually and i'll try to stay on facts only, how it blew up in our face, after a teenager got killed by a policeman - and factually, even the initial tragedy is filled with ambiguous components which puts me in the situation of saying "yes BUT", how it's raging right now reaches such a level of wrong that i cannot fathom my anger. And that anger stands against both sides.
I don't accept that the rioters destroyed dozens of infrastructures, the very same structures that welcome them - and there are people that welcome and help them if they feel let down. They have been ravaging the entire system that makes a city function as a city, a society. Stores are material, it's not much upon reflection.
But i cannot but reflect that stores mean business, it means giving people employement and the security of leading a normal life, not asking more. Most people don't ask the world, they just want to survive too. The rioters pose as victims, creating more victims of the system. And obviously, my dear government is not willing to do anything towards helping anyone.
It's like a candle burning from both sides and i, because this is how my life is right now, is standing right in the middle. Just like most people.
And it's bloody scary. It's fucking unbelievingly frightening. That my government, which saw it coming years ago, didn't act anything into helping the people. By people i mean everyone, every single one of us. This is my true feeling, that the government put so much effort into disaggregating the system little by little, every social aspect of our lives.
The government is so much accountable from every decision it took over the years.
But on the same side, the rioters, young, benevolent if they're guided well, display such cruelty in their actions, because nothing is left behind, they destroyed town halls, stores, public transports, police cars, firetrucks… schools, libraries, pharmacies etc.
They freed animals, lions have been spotted.
It's not anarchy. I'd go on a limb and say this is not how anarchy looks like. They're not doing for the good of the people, well that is hard to believe but at the same time, i am not able to hear anything from them, what do they think.
Destruction brings chaos. They didn't march side by side to protest about the killing of a teenager, and i know it's a very concerning subject, but sacking stores and burning schools are not helping them, it won't help anyone, it will bring more chaos until darkness falls. My then question is: what is the purpose of all this? What will happen after?
Him
It will all blow over…. eventually.
19:37
And to be honest, some things suggest that they will come after people, and they already started. Mayor's spouse got attacked during the night, taking her young children outisde, breaking her own leg, after rioters pushed a burning car into their house.
And this is the breaking point to me. You don't get to hurt innocent people when you're angry at the system.
And i mean children. A baby got hurt with shard of glasses.
Him
That's fucking terrible.
19:40
It breaks my spirit so hard. I see people on the net, friends and so on who go on with their lives. My sister says to that "i cannot stop living because of what they do". And she's right but i cannot stop thinking that we should. We should be worried. About the way they achieved it. About the way the government showed nothing but disdain, claiming - you're going to love this - that video games are part of the problem.
Well, you know what? Even if what Macron said that, which is the stupidest thing he has ever said, visions of riots are the same as in video games. But it's a consequence, not a cause. He's a horrible man.
Incomprehension is running wild.
It's how you define chaos you know?
Chaos is the ultimate form of when you lost control over a situation. In that case, it has been brewing for years.
Him
That's a way of looking at it. The gilet jaune thing went on for a long time, and that was a few years back
19:44
The government is responsible. You blame the government, not the people living in the place where the government acts (or doesn't act), you don't get to hurt the firemen who are exhausted to break fires.
Him
The French police force has become incredibly militarised over the last few years. That much has been clear. Perhaps losing compassion in the process.
19:46
Very true.
But compassion goes in both ways. For a certain amount of police brutality, there is an equally amount of hurt from people.
People hurt people, whether they wear a helmet or not.
And leftists cannot tell right wingers compassion is getting low and vice versa. Because signs of violence are everywhere, things that noone can quantify.
Him
Civil war in France?
19:50
I dare to have a say now, with you, because it's aching my stomach, and i know you may have some distance to it or perhaps another perspective, indirect but it's still a perspective.
A part of the population may be angry now but they don't have the monopole of expressing themselves that way because the way it went so far are apparently opportunistic disruptions such as once again sacking businesses, destroying the forms of education and else; it also leads to more and yes i can say it here - thank you! much less compassion therefore less understanding.
i'm done for now, thank you reading me. it's been a trying statement. tomorrow i will think things differently or with an updated mind, as always.
2 notes
·
View notes
Earlier this year my dad was diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer.
Some days the helplessness feels so palpable, like I am buried beneath the earth desperately trying to dig my way out. The surface is impossible to reach and I just bring the earth down upon my head. But I am still clawing, still clawing. Because I want him to live. I want him to live. To live.
To live long enough to apologize, to become an empty nester, to meet grandchildren, to be there for the people he loves, to hold all that life has to offer. He probably won't make it through the next year. I wish I could still believe in an afterlife.
The grief, the rage, they come and go in waves. "My father will never figure out how to have a gay son." Furious clawing at the earth, hot tears streaming down my face. "My mother still needs him. I can't be there for her." Dirt in my lungs and under my fingernails. "He feels awful almost every day. Always sick, never getting better." Dragging huge handfuls of soil behind to try and reach the surface.
My family is still deeply religious, they adorn themselves with the brand of Christianity that almost killed me so it's hard to be around them in general but even harder now. Impossible to listen to their celebrating God's goodness in small mercies while he denies their prayers for healing. Agony to hear their desperate supplications to their cruel god. Oh the insufferable sermons on suffering and thankfulness and forgiveness. I want to take all doctrine that holds suffering as holy and set it ablaze.
I am also treated it seems like nothing has happened, like i haven't been deeply hurt, like I still believe as they do. The person I am seems invisible to them. I am trapped in the past and I do not get an apology, only more justifications for their behavior.
Many days, because I am so far from my family now geographically, it feels like it's not happening. I can forget. You go on because there's nothing else to do. I cannot cure the cancer and neither can the doctors. I check in and see how they're doing. My dad hasn't responded much to my calls and texts -- he has limited energy but sometimes I do feel bad about the fact that I'm seemingly never a priority for that energy. I've taken to just talking with my mom when I want to know how he's doing, how she's doing. I make sure to give her the opportunity to vent, because I worry people aren't asking how she's doing or when they do they don't push past her "husband health update" response.
Sometimes I feel guilty because, despite this, 2022 has still been a markedly good year for me. My mental health has improved significantly. I am happier and more stable than I've been over the past four years. I realized and accepted that I was an atheist a couple months before my dad's diagnosis and once that happened I started waiting for the thing Christians say would happen: "you may walk away from God now to pursue pleasure but once things get hard you'll be crawling back for help."
Like many Christian sayings, this is an in-group defense narrative that does not accurately testify to reality. I have not prayed nor have I felt any compulsion to pray. My mental image of the Christian god as a self-absorbed, vindictive, rageful, punitive entity has not changed. I can't really see how any of these things would change.
I am flying to be with my family soon, something that will be really hard for me but feels necessary. It'll be my third trip back since my dad got sick. When it comes to my family I think often now about Ezran's speech in the new season of Dragon Prince:
So what do we do? ... I think about a faith we can all share, a positive vision with a future filled with hope, a future where we can be safe with each other. But... it's not that easy or simple. Because people are still hurting and we can't ignore that or pretend it will go away. Somehow we have to hold it all in our hearts at the same time. We have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss but open up our eyes to allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again.... We have to hold pain and love in our hearts at the same time.
The pain and the love coexist. I have to hold both.
3 notes
·
View notes
see I don’t know exactly where this came from in my head but Haseul and trans masc vivi who have some long stupid rivalry and both are too stubborn to admit they wanna fuck
Oh I can see it.
TW// Transphobic comments
Vivi being that kind of pretty boy who thinks others aren't good enough to entertain him, and Haseul who just wants to get things done.
They get partnered for a project, it's due in a months time and they spend the first week arguing over the numbers.
They actually got into each other's faces, claiming the other doesn't know what the fuck they're doing and this project was a mistake.
Haseul storms out pissed as hell, and Vivi just keeps pacing, claiming he can do this all on his own. He's known for not being much of a team player but he always brought his A game.
Even with how mad Haseul gets, she's never actually been so mean to anyone ever. Sure she gets the occasional road rage when commutting to work, but who didn't?
She overhears some gossip, focusing a little harder when she hears Vivi's name. They're badmouthing him, claiming that if it wasn't for the fact that he's a diversity hire, he would have been fired already.
The gossip is deep rooted in jealousy. Vivi holds his work to a standard, one that gets praise every time. Haseul clenched and unclenched her fist. Sure he was a handful, a bit of an ego. But he was still better than the idiots laughing at the water hole.
-
Haseul returns like nothing happens and is willing to sit through Vivi correcting her math for the second time today. Instead of getting mad she simply thanks him while typing away.
Progress is made and Vivi is skeptical. But otherwise gets back to work. They end each other notes on the shared document, not really wanting to break the silence between them. Awkward or not.
-
"You're being weird." Vivi bluntly says, he hasn't looked up from his screen but he knew Haseul was looking at him.
Haseul shrugged. Was she being weird or just trying to get her work done? "Just doing my job."
Vivi's eyes narrowed, as it he knows that Haseul is hiding something. He just didn't know what and it was irking him.
-
It happens again, Haseul stumbling into gossip. But this time she's witnessed and even called over. She tries to mask her emotions and fake a smile, but she can feel her lips twitch.
"How's it in there? As much as a handful I bet." The small group laugh like it was the funniest joke ever told.
"Nope, we're doing very well. Will probably finish before next Tuesday."
"Ah, poor thing has you working so hard in there."
The way that her coworkers were describing Vivi wasn't sitting well with her. "I know he doesn't have the nicest personality, but he works hard. I don't understand why you refuse to acknowledge him" She out extra emphasis on Vivi's preferred pronouns, and watched at two of the group shuffled from foot to foot, and the third simply narrowed his eyes.
"Don't tell me you buy into this pronouns. Your generation is ruining what we've been thriving on." Haseul wasn't in the mood to listen to this nonsense.
"One more word and I'm taking this to HR. I already plan to but I will name you the main problem.* Haseul meant well on her threats too. This is supposed to be a zero tolerance work facility, and I'd HR catches wind of bigotry mixed with transphobia. They're not even going to recommend training, and will simply let you go.
Blockberry doesn't play with when it comes to discrimination.
-
Word seem to spread fast that a certain trio was caught being messy and their leader was let go. The others are given a slap on the wrist and written up. But besides that they were hardly acknowledge on the team. No one wanted to work with them anymore.
Vivi caught wind and was confused as to how all this drama around him happened, but didn't care to look into it. All the while Haseul couldn't help but feel like she helped in some way or another.
She was greeted with the sight of a banana nut muffin in her desk, right next to a thermos filled with coffee. There was a note, one from Vivi.
Thanks for sticking up for me even though I'm an asshole. I'm only like this because I've had to work harder than usual cis men.
Haseul understood that, she definitely has had her fair share of being spoken over or someone repeating what she said and getting pats on the back for her ideas.
Male dominated spaces sucked, and yet, Haseul didn't dislike Vivi the more time she spent around him. Yes he was a workaholic, but so was she. He dressed nice, and smelled good.
Even had a habit of licking his lips when focusing on something. Not that Haseul has taken notice to that. No that would be odd.
Right?
-
"We finished."
Vivi didn't know why saying those words felt strange. It was expected of them to finish this project and forward it to management to be reviewing. Once it was approved they would simply have to present their ideas a week from now.
Usually it wasn't in either of them to get projects rejected but who knows.
But with the hard part out of the way there really was no reason for them to interact nearly as much.
"We should celebrate. Maybe we can get the company card for lunch." Haseul suggested, a wide grin on her face knowing full and well that Blockberry did motivate them to work hard with assigning company cards for each department.
And there was a killer kbbq place around the corner too. Assuming Vivi wanted to be seen in public with her. She wouldn't be surprised if he said no, but-
"Okay, yeah we can do that. Maybe a beer too." He stood up, stretching before offering his hand out to help Haseul up. She never realized how dainty his fingers were. But there was hidden strength in the tug.
Haseul nearly fell over. "Holy shit are you hiding muscle under those jacket?"
Vivi's lip quirked but he didn't answer right away. "Wouldn't you like to know."
Haseul opened her mouth to reply, but she didn't have one. Did she want to know? Was Vivi flirting with her? Instead she simply walked past him to open the door. "Guess I'll find out over that beer, hmm? Let's go."
8 notes
·
View notes
Arguments
Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader
Summary: Jensen's ex wife Danneel made some harsh remarks towards the reader and instead of calling her out for it he did nothing.
THIS IS PURE FICTION ALRIGHT SO DON'T COME FOR ME! I LOVE DANNEEL & JENSEN'S RELATIONSHIP 😅
MASTERLIST
----
The wrap party for the long-running show Supernatural was in full swing, music playing in the background of the room filled with production crew and the main stars of the show.
Y/N took the beer bottle from Jensen's grasp and thanked him for the beverage. If it was completely up to her she would've stayed at home but she knew how much tonight meant to her boyfriend and she didn't want to let him down tonight by not attending the wrap party for the show.
"You're pretty quiet tonight, everything alright?" Jensen's breath fanned against her ear and he spoke for only her to hear him. Usually Y/N would be the life of the party, joining him and Jared for a round of shots but tonight she opted to keep her distance from the crowd, especially his ex-wife Danneel.
"Everything's fine J don't worry about me." Y/N tried her best to reassure him that nothing was wrong but they both knew that something was definitely off.
"Y/N! How nice to finally see you crawled out of your hole to join us." Jared wrapped her up in one of his bear hugs with Genevieve and the redhead beside him. Genevieve pried him off of her to give her a hug as well while Danneel merely gave her a once over over the rim of her glass.
"It's nice to see you as well, how are the kiddos?"
"They're great, Odette is growing up so fast."
"And Danneel, how are you?" Y/N always tried to be civil whenever they were in the same room but the red head never cared much about Jensen's new and younger lover.
"Clearly better than you, when was the last time you looked in a mirror?" Genevieve and Jared both shared the same look, the taller one in the group nudged his friend to speak up but he chose to stay out of it hoping that she would stop.
"Right before I left home actually."
"And you still left the house looking like that, damn Jensen, you could've upgraded at least." Jensen remained tight-lipped which angered Y/N even further. Pleased with herself, the red head left the four of them behind, making her way through the mass of bodies in the room.
"Don't take her on Y/N, she's just had too much to drink tonight, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." Genevieve gave her arm a gentle squeeze, Jared on the other hand dragged his friend away to talk some sense into him.
"No Gen, that's how she’s always been towards me since Jensen introduced me into the kid's lives. I try to be civil at least enough for their kids but she makes it so damn hard and Jensen- you know what, I think I'm calling it a night." Genevieve knew there was no use in trying to stop her friend from leaving, she was pissed off and the fact that Jensen didn't tell his ex-wife to back off only added fuel to the raging fire.
"How are you gonna get home?"
"I'll get an Uber, if he asks for me kindly tell him to fuck off. Goodnight Gen, you guys have fun, I'm not staying to ruin anyone's night." Y/N downed her beer and left the empty bottle on the nearest table on her way out.
Danneel couldn't help but smile, watching on as Y/N stormed out and got into an Uber. There was nothing wrong about the girl that her kids called "Mommy number two" other than the fact that she now had Jensen and she hated that.
The red head sauntered over to the trio who were deep in a conversation; one that Jensen wasn't pleased with having out in the open. His green eyes found the conniving woman and his scowl deepened further. Jared and Genevieve threw glares at her as they left them to talk.
"You are unbelievable Danneel, all she’s been trying to do was be cordial but for whatever reason yet again, you’ve been nothing but a bitch with your constant jabs at her.” Jensen has had more than enough of the red head to last him a lifetime, the only reason he still considers her someone important in his life is the kids that they created together.
“Oh please J, you know you could do much better. Maybe even coming back to me, we could pick things up right where we left off. Admit it J, you still love me.” Jensen tensed up beneath her hold on his bicep, pulling herself closer to him.
“You’ve officially lost all sense, there’s nothing there Danneel.”
“Oh it’s there J that’s a lot of years, memories to just walk away from.”
“Yeah, well I wasn’t the one that walked first.” With that said, Jensen left her standing there, making his way through the crowd. His green eyes scanned the mass of bodies for his girlfriend but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Gen have you seen Y/N?”
“She left and don’t you even think about going after her so soon. She’s upset and you rushing home to get to her would be a stupid decision, give her time to cool off properly otherwise you’d be sleeping on the patio.” As much as he hated to admit it, she was right.
While Jensen grabbed himself a bottle of water, Y/N’s Uber was pulling up to the curb of their home. She paid the young man and got out.
"Thanks, have a goodnight."
She shut the car door and made her way up to the front door of her shared house with Jensen. She was still pissed off about the way Danneel made it her business to be rude to her; hopefully Jensen doesn't come home anytime soon because he would get an earful from her.
She decided to take a shower that was needed now more than ever to wash away her anger. Hopefully Genevieve and Jared kept Jensen busy until they decided that it was all clear for him to leave the party to get to her. Once she was finished, she got out and dried her skin before pulling up her underwear and slipping on one of her big t-shirts.
Her phone kept buzzing on the nightstand with Jensen’s face and caller ID lighting up the screen. She watched it ring until I went to voice-mail.
"Damnit Y/N." Jensen's frown deepened as he tapped on her contact to send her a message instead; all he wanted to know was that she's fine.
Hey angel, did you get home okay? I'm losing my mind here. Could you please let me know.
Her phone pinged signalling his text and her only response was the emoji thumbs up. She didn't want to talk to him right now but she also didn't want him to worry about her safety. Jensen, however, wanted more than a thumbs up reaction to his message. He made his final rounds around the room and left the wrap party. Y/N has had more than enough time to relax.
Speaking of which, Y/N was now sprawled out on the couch flicking through the cable channels, CW had reruns of Supernatural and the last thing she wanted to see was Danneel sharing the screen with J2. She kept changing the channel until she finally settled on a home renovation show. Her phone screen lit up yet again but this time it was JJ trying to FaceTime.
“Hiya sweetpea.”
“Hi!” The little girl smiled brightly at her, Arrow and Zepplin were standing behind her on their mother’s couch with their hands in their older sister’s hair.
“What are you three doing up, it’s late.”
“Couldn’t sleep and our sitter doesn’t mind that we’re up. Aren’t you supposed to be with dad?” In the background Zepplin reached over to Arrow and grabbed a handful of her hair to pull her head towards him.
“I was but then I had to leave early. Zep don’t yank Arrow’s hair, baby boy.” The five year old listened to her and untangled his tiny hands from Arrow’s locks.
“What do you say?”
“Sorry sissy.” The little boy kissed his sister’s cheek and she pushed away, still upset that he pulled her hair.
“Is dad home? I tried calling him but it went straight to voicemail.” The Ackles offspring had impeccable timing because as soon as the words left her mouth, the front door opened and the man in question walked in.
“He is now.”
“Can I talk to him?” Y/N pushed up to her feet and passed him the phone on her way to the kitchen; she didn’t stick around to listen to his conversation with the kids. Jensen shifted his focus from his pissed off lady to his kids that were excited to see him. They told him how their day was and what movie they’re watching, the regular stuff kids that age always got excited to tell their parents about. JJ could tell that there was more going on between her dad and Y/N as he didn’t greet her the way he usually did with a kiss to her cheek or forehead; they were fighting.
“Dad are you and Y/N fighting?” Jensen merely scoffed at his daughter’s excellent observation skills. With her arms crossed and eyebrows lifted, the eight year old waited for him to say something but he didn’t.
“If you are, you need to make it better before we get there tomorrow afternoon.”
“Alright, alright missy. You and your siblings should get some sleep, I love you J bird. Goodnight rascals.” The call ended and he placed the device on the coffee table; time to attempt to talk to Y/N who busied herself with washing the dishes in the sink.
“Darlin’.”
No answer. Jensen closed the distance between them by moving to wrap his arms around her stomach, knowing how much she loved when he did that.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve said something.”
“Why, it’s not the first time you’ve let that shit slide Ackles so why apologise now?” Y/N tried to get out of his hold but that only made him hold onto her tighter.
“Let me go Jensen.”
“No, you’re going to stay right here and listen to me.” His beard burned against the shell of her ear.
“You’re right, I did let her get away with a lot but tonight was the final straw. I called her out for it afterwards and I know that me saying this might not even mean shit to you but I did.”
“Only took you sixteen months but hey, you said something. I’m serious Jensen, let me go.” Defeated, he did as told and she gladly took several steps away from him.
“Did she at least tell you why she’s been bitching at me every single chance she had?” Y/N wasn’t a stupid woman, she knew the redhead still had feelings for him but she wanted to hear the words leave his mouth.
“She still has feelings for me apparently.”
“What about you, do you still have feelings for her?”
“No, hell no. I closed that door the minute I signed those divorce papers. The only woman that I love is standing in this room.” Rolling her eyes, Y/N spun on her heels to leave the kitchen.
“You would’ve put a stop to it sooner if that was true. I’m sleeping in the guest room tonight.” Jensen followed after her all the way up the stairs to the guest room at the end of the hallway but he was a second too slow to stop the door from closing in. The lock clicked and he sighed, knocking against the wood.
“Baby please, open the door.” Y/N leaned against the door instead of letting him in.
“You’re right, the first time it happened I should’ve nipped it in the bud but instead I let it drag on for far too long and that must’ve given you the impression that I still have feelings for her but I promise you that I don’t. If it wasn’t for JJ, Arrow and Zepplin I wouldn’t have any sort of connection to her but we do have the kids Y/N and they adore you just as much as I do.” Y/N felt her anger slowly slipping away and she hated the fact that he couldn’t leave her to be angry.
“You can be mad at me all you want tomorrow baby but let’s not go to bed like this.” She caved and unlocked the door. Jensen let himself in and immediately pulled her flush against him, wrapping his arms around her and she caressed the back of his head.
“I love you darlin’.”
“You couldn’t let me be mad at you for once.”
“Nope.” Jensen hoisted her up into his arms and she instinctively secured her legs around him.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re not sleeping in here and I have some making up to do.” Jensen carried her over to their room with a cheeky smile on his face. Y/N squealed as he dropped her on the bed and he wasted no time in caging her beneath him.
“What are you waiting for?”
1K notes
·
View notes
Seeing u getting many requests there, that's really cool you deserve it (though I hope it doesn't overwhelm u or smth). May I request smth? A WandaXReader where they're always arguing and being sarcastic to eachother but it's just sexual tension. Maybe smth with the lines "why are u laghing did I tell a joke?" "why don't u look inside my head and find out". I think it would be pretty cool. It doesn't have to be smutt though, only If u fell like it (also a dom!reader would be nice). Thank you!
Hello Anon! Hope you’re doing fine!
Sorry this took long. It was really hard to write actually, because I don't feel anger towards Wanda and thinking about fighting with her was really weird haha But I hope you like this.
Attraction and Reaction / / AO3
Warnings: 18+, Smut, language.
Words> 2.415k (One)
Part Two Here
It was no secret on the Avengers team that you and Wanda did not have the best of relationships.
There were numerous warnings from Steve and Tony, and even Natasha, due to the number of arguments and disagreements that took place. You were sure that no action was taken just because you two function well on the battlefield, even if you don't get along off it.
At this moment, for example, you were in a meeting with the rest of the team about the next Avengers mission, but you weren't really paying attention as you scribbled on your notepad. And then your cell phone vibrated, and you pulled it out of your pocket to check it.
- Can you pay attention, Y/N? - Tony asked, and you looked away from the notification of a message from Carol to look at him. But before you could answer, Wanda muttered with irony:
- Typical.
You blinked, feeling a familiar irritation fill your entire body.
- Is there anything you wanna say to me, Maximoff?
- Just for you to fuck off.
You were going to hit back with a angry response, but the team let out a loud impatient grumble.
- Don't even start! - Tony ordered with a serious expression. - I need to go over all this, you can kill yourselves after the presentation.
- No one is going to kill anyone. - said Steve, and you giggled. - Just continue the presentation, please.
Tony rolled his eyes and resumed the presentation. You let out an impatient sigh and tried to pay attention. Fortunately it wasn't much longer before Tony finished. As the members began to get up, Steve signaled for you and Wanda to stay in the room, and you grumbled as you sat back down, throwing your feet up on the table.
- Girls, this can't go on any longer. - Steve said in a serious tone.
- I don't know what you are talking about. - You mock with your arms crossed. Steve doesn't laugh.
- I'm not joking. - He warns. - You need to work out your differences.
- Things would be easier if Y/N wasn't such an arrogant jerk. - Wanda says, and you let out a wry exclamation.
- If Wanda wasn't completely mental and stubborn it would also be easier for us to get along.
Wanda turns in her chair to look at you, her expression of anger.
- Oh, I'm the unstable one? Remind me who is known to lose her head around here?
You roll your eyes impatiently, but before you can respond Steve shouts.
- Stop it, you two, that's enough. - He says. - You are suspended from the next mission.
- Excuse me? - you exclaim looking at him.
- Until this conflict is resolved, you will work together. - He clarifies and you let out a nervous laugh, frowning. - You will be team partners, and you will learn to get along. That is my final decision. Now you can go.
You get up from the table in annoyance, and hurry to leave, with Wanda right behind you. As you stand in the hallway toward your rooms, she shouts:
- This is all your fault! You have to talk shit all the time, don't you?
You let out a wry laugh as you stop walking and turn toward her.
- You're so annoying. - You grumble with your hands in your pockets. - I can't believe I'm going to be stuck with you.
Wanda lets out an annoyed sigh, and you notice her reddened eyes and the magic slipping from her fingers, and you look at her in defiance.
- Come on, do it. - You tease. - I dare you.
- Girls! - shouted Natasha as she turned into the hallway, and quickly got between you and Wanda, putting her hands on her shoulders to calm her down. Wanda blinked in confusion, lowered her hands and her eyes returned to normal. - You two have lost your minds, haven't you?
Your heart was racing, and you thought it was the adrenaline. Licking your lips, you let out a laugh and gave Wanda one last angry glance before turning and heading for your room.
//-//
Steve was really serious about the suspension. The vast majority of the team was out of the tower heading to some city in Europe, and you and Wanda were basically grounded in the tower while Steve left Bucky checking up on you two.
At that point Bucky assigned you and Wanda to train together, and you didn't understand how the best alternative to resolve conflicts was to make you fight, but you didn't question it.
- I want a clean fight, girls. - He said sitting on the stool beside the mat, while you and Wanda climbed into the ring from opposite sides.
- Tell it to the little witch, there. - You retort, looking at Wanda, and she frowns at you.
- You're really going to piss me off before you fight me, aren't you?
You roll your eyes, getting into a defensive position. Bucky lets out a chuckle, getting to his feet. He picks up two sticks, and hands one to each of you.
- You two need to practice using bladed weapons. - He explains and sits back down.
And then you advance on Wanda, who narrowly defends your blow. She counterattacks with the stick towards your legs, but you jump and throw the stick at her, who ducks quickly. You take two steps back, preparing to attack, and as you launch a series of quick strikes which Wanda fights back, you manage to trip her, and watch with a wry smile as she falls backwards onto the ground looking extremely annoyed. But your smile dies when Wanda punches the tatami and her magic escapes, throwing you away.
You fall backwards, feeling your whole body boiling with rage, and get up quickly, but Bucky has already stepped onto the tatami and gets in front of you before you can reach Wanda, who has also gotten up.
- Let's just calm down, okay? - He says seriously, looking between the two of you. - A five-minute break? And no magic next time.
Wanda rolls her eyes, turning to leave the mat. You start to take off your training gloves.
- What's the matter with you two? - Bucky asks looking really curious. You roll your eyes impatiently.
- I don't want to argue about this again.
Bucky lets out a sigh, leaving the ring. You look around, and notice that Wanda is in the corner of the room, drinking some water. She is sweaty, and her hair is disheveled, and you look down at her exposed collarbone, feeling your throat suddenly dry. You imagine yourself kissing and biting the exposed skin as she moans your name. You blink, trying to push these thoughts away, and then step out of the ring.
- I don't want to practice anymore. - You announce it before you leave. You think Bucky says something, but you have already left the academy.
//-//
Bucky decided to try a different tactic to improve your relationship with Wanda. He described it as a trust technique, which was something he and Sam tried for a while.
So here you were in one of the empty rooms of the complex, sitting in a chair facing Wanda. Both of you had your arms crossed.
- Let's get started girls. - announced Bucky, standing in front of you. - I'm going to ask you some simple questions, and I need you to answer them honestly.
- Yes, sir. - You retort with mild irony, but Bucky doesn't mind.
- Y/N can you tell me something you like about Wanda?
You let out a dry laugh. But seeing Bucky's expression, you realize that you are going to have to answer.
- I like it when she shuts up. - You retort, and Wanda lets out an annoyed sigh.
- And I like it when you are not around.
- And I...
- Enough! - Bucky interrupts angrily, pressing his fingers to his forehead. - Let's try something else then. I have brought you a list of questions.
- This should be interesting. - You sneer as Bucky walks up to the living room table behind the papers.
When he reaches for the papers, he decides to stand against the table, looking at you.
- Well, Wanda. Tell me, what behavior do you think Y/N should change towards you?
Wanda smiles wryly.
- I wish she wouldn't talk to me.
- That's fine with me. - You retort grumpily, and Wanda looks at you angrily. Bucky sighs with impatience.
- I am serious. - He says. - Do you even know when this conflict started?
You laugh.
- I'm not the one who brought the enemy back to the team. - You point to the time when Wanda fought alongside Ultron.
- Seriously? - She replies incredulously. - Of course you had to bring that back.
- They are just facts.
- The only fact here is that you are an arrogant jerk...
- You just know two adjectives, don't you? - You mockingly interrupt.
- Oh, I have other adjectives for you, yes. - She retorts with irritation, starting to list them on her fingers as she speaks. - Immature, rude, selfish...
- Don't forget hot. - You hit back with a smile, and Wanda rolls her eyes, but before she can continue, Bucky gets up from the table.
- Okay, you guys are going to do the silent exercise. - he says. - Five minutes looking into each other's eyes. Now.
- You're kidding, right? - You retort incredulously, but Bucky's expression is serious.
- Now. - He repeats and you roll your eyes before looking away from him to Wanda.
It's weird, especially in the first few seconds. She looks at you with an impassive face, and you look at her with the same expression. And then you realize that she has very beautiful eyes. Has it been five minutes, you think, starting to feel strange. You hold your gaze, but your thoughts start to wander, and you imagine that you want to leave. But looking at Wanda like this, your thoughts begin to take a completely different turn.
You imagine Wanda sweating like that day at practice, only this time she's with her legs spread wide while you fuck her on your bed. Then you imagine her spreading her legs for you now still sitting in her chair, while you kneel down and touch her until she loses all control.
You also imagine pushing her down on the table, fucking her until her scream.
And then a noise startles you, and you blink in confusion, looking away.
- Damn, sorry. - Says Bucky looking at his cell phone that is ringing and vibrating in his hand. - It's Steve. It might be about the mission. Try not to kill yourselves while I talk to him.
Bucky rushes to answer it and out of the room, and you let out an impatient sigh. Getting up, you walk over to the desk, looking at the notes he has made.
- Couple therapy techniques. - You read aloud with irony. - This is a joke.
- We wouldn't be here if you weren't such a pain in the ass.
- Yes, it's all my fault. - You retort, throwing the papers on the table and leaning on the furniture.
- Are you implying that this is my fault? - she replies angrily. - You're the one who has hated me for no reason since I came here!
You blink in surprise and then you're laughing. You never hated Wanda. Your laughter seemed to irritate her even more because she stood up and assumed an aggressive posture.
- Did I tell a joke, by any chance? Why the hell are you laughing? - She asked irritated, you bit your lips, she was hot as hell with her jaw clenched.
- Why don't you take a peek into my mind and find out? - You challenged, looking at her with intensity.
Wanda looked slightly surprised, but didn't flinch. And then her eyes turned red, and you showed her exactly how you felt about her.
You moving towards her, grabbing her around the waist and kissing her mouth firmly. Your tongue in her mouth, as she moaned against you. Your hands going down a little, steadying her before lifting her onto your lap to carry her to the table and have her sit down without breaking the kiss.
Once seated, you would move your kisses down her collarbone, sucking on her skin until it was red and sensitive, while your hands went inside her shirt at the waist and up to her breasts. You imagined Wanda moaning in your ear, asking you to touch her. And then you would.
Guiding your hand up her thigh, you would lift her skirt, running your fingers along her skin, until you touched her where she wanted you to. And you would kiss her hard when you reached it, hard enough to make her lose her direction.
You would start by superficially caressing her through her panties, until she began to tremble and push her hips against you.
Then you would push the panties aside, and penetrate her all at once, feeling her hot and wet in your fingers, while she moaned loudly against you.
You would bring your hand to her hair, pulling gently to expose the collarbone you wanted so badly to kiss, while Wanda would get overwhelmed with such intense satisfaction. You would push your fingers into her until her walls tightened around you, and she began to spasm, whimpering."
Wanda stumbled backwards with a surprised exclamation and a breathless sigh, the sound of the door opening and Bucky entering the room woke her up. You licked your lips, feeling extremely turned on by the playfulness.
- I see you didn't kill yourselves while I was away. - said the soldier, putting away his cell phone. Then he looked up at you two, and frowned. - Is everything okay?
You cleared your throat, trying to smile. But then Wanda spoke first.
- Everything's great. - Her voice came out a little hoarse. - We talked a little while you were out there. - She lies, but you cover it up. - Y/N and I are going out together for a while, to try to resolve this situation without involving the team.
Bucky looks really surprised, and you bite your lip to keep from laughing, and then Bucky smiles.
- Wow, that's great news! - He says - I am proud of you guys.
- Can we go now? - Wanda asks looking anxious.
- Sure, go ahead. - He says, still smiling. Wanda looks at you and the gleam in her eyes makes your stomach turn with anxiety.
You walk silently out of the hallway, and there is such tension in the air that it is hard to breathe.
About five minutes later, you are in your room, settling your differences in the best possible way.
621 notes
·
View notes
Don’t Leave Me
➳ 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: Over the past two years, the apocalypse has been raging, food has become scarce, and security has weakened. Will you survive as a small town girl living in a small apartment with your college best friend?
❥ 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: hoshi x female reader
❥ 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: zombie apocalypse au, suggestive/smut, angst, fluff,
❥ 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 6k
❥ 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: Trigger Warning- Death and use of Gun. There are some smut scenes so if you are not comfortable please do not engage. Other than that enjoy.- BT
➳ part of the song series
↳ I used to be so happy
But without here I feel so low
I watched you as you left but I can never seem to let you go.
If you had told me that the world will end in a few days, I would have told you that you were insane and that you should stop believing in government-created conspiracy theories.
The looming fact that her life was now ended and her dream was broken would have made old me giggle and shake her head. So much for my desire to be a doctor.
You didn't grow up believing in a zombie apocalypse or the end of the world, so you weren't prepared for this. You would have preferred to go out in a more pleasant manner.
It was wonderful to have some company to keep you sane during the end of the world as we know it, despite the fact that you and Soonyoung had been imprisoned up in this miserable flat for so long.
Today was the day, the one-year anniversary of the beginning of it all. The date is June 17, 2023. You recall the event as if it were yesterday. A day that began unlike any other.
Today was just another day, with loud music booming through the closed doors as you both changed for the day. It was routine: get up, go to work, eat a meal, and return home. There wasn't a lot of variation in either of your days.
There were days when things were entertaining, but life was monotonous in general, and you both wanted something to liven things up!
“Heyyy can you please turn your music down just a smidge, I’m trying to do my eyeliner and it's making my hand shaky.” You laughed at Soonyoung's response as he shouted out to you from the other room.
“Oh, so they're not supposed to look bad,” says Soonyoung. Your basic talent has nothing to do with the music.”
Fluffing out your hair and setting down your makeup brushes you trudge over to his room and rapped on his door, arms crossed and mentally preparing for his cheeky comments.
He leaned against the door frame after opening the door and staring at your stiff physique. You gulped as you examined his toned physique; there was something about his physique that drove you insane.
“Keep your eyes up here, princess.” As you smirked at his movement, he titled your chin. Your brushed past him and landed on his unmade bed, pushing him to the side. He laughed as he closed the door and resumed his preparations.
“So, Mr. Bodybuilder, what's on your plan today?” He spun around in his chair, palms on his thighs, cocking his head, chuckling at your inquiry.
“Well, I have some new dance students to coach until noon, but after that, I'm free.” Jihoon, on the other hand, had requested a meeting to work on various projects.”
As you flung a thumb up, you shook your head, taking in what he had to say and mentally organizing it in your thoughts. You let out a long yawn as you stretched your sluggish body, unwilling to face the day.
Soonyoung coughed and looked at you with an open mouth.
“Since it's just ten o'clock, I had a plan before we took on the world. “Do you think you're up for it?”
As the air in the room became tense, you sat up on the palms of your hands and crossed your legs, watching his behavior.
“You know I'm up for anything,” As you scoot back on his bed, you wink at him. As he lingered over you, Soonyoung stood up from his chair, chuckling.
He kissed your collarbone and ran his fingers over it, absorbing up all the energy you were releasing.
“After I'm done with you, you might have to fix your eyeliner.” You flung your arms around his neck and pulled him closer to you because you both knew you were going to wind up in this situation sooner or later.
“This is going to be a lot of fun.”
“Shut up and kiss me,” You retorted
As you hungrily stripped each other's clothes, you both started kissing each other, not splitting lips. His hands flew to your body to assist you in getting naked as quickly as possible. You sat up on your elbow, whimpering under his touch, undoing his belt.
Soonyoung was the sort to take his time when he was praising you, but as he pressed lips lightly on your core, you grew impatient. Thankfully, the time limit was short, so he set right to work, not wanting to waste this opportunity.
As your body jumped, he began to press kisses on your inner thighs while grabbing your breasts and rolling them.
You grumbled, “Fuck Soonyong,” as you pressed up against him, begging for more. As you peered up at him, his tongue touched your core, and he laughed.
“You're already a mess for me; look how drenched you are.”
He checked the dampness within by sticking his finger inside. You nudge him in the stomach as you hit his head, no longer whining.
“So help me, if you don't fuck me already. You're lucky I'm horny; else, I'd have taken care of myself by now.”
“Is my baby needy…?” As he thrashed two fingers in your wet folds, you whimpered as your body reacted nicely. As he pressed his digits deeper into you, your stomach began to erupt as your high drew near.
“Please, a-ah, f-faster.
“Patience, honey, I want you to cum on my dick.” As you felt empty, he pulled his fingers out, and you opened your eyes to find him yanking his underwear off and discarding it to the side.
You cry as he tempts your core before gently pressing into you and allowing you to adjust before proceeding.
Soonyoung grins as he angles himself to drive himself into you.
“Mmmhmm-ah Soonyoung, t-there!” As he repeatedly hits your g-spot, your back arches off the bed.
“Fuck, I can feel you tightening your grip on me. Darling, let me fill you up.”
“Yes, y-yes please.
As soon as he feels his climax coming on, Soonyoung fucks you faster. With a low sigh, he tightened his fingers around you. As he touched your area one time, he moaned out his name.
You gasped, desperately shouting out his name as your orgasm poured over you, forcing you to squirm as Soonyoung held you down and coated the insides of your body.
As you both fell back on the bed panting and relaxing your bodies, your name slipped from your lips. He kissed your forehead as you slowly turned over and let out a quiet groan once you had calmed yourself.
“Wow!”
“I know, speechless; it's one of my many skills.” Rolling off the bed and hurriedly picking up the stray clothing. Throwing his at him, you put on your underpants as you gathered the rest of your belongings and walked towards the door.
You turned back as you approached the door and winked at him before closing it.
He sighed, a broad grin creeping across his face.
“Oh the things I would do for her.”
---
Walking to work wasn't always so unpleasant, especially when you were accompanied by a talkative companion. It made the journey seem more annoying, enjoyable.
“Do you actually believe the government will do something like that? To their own citizens?’’
Hoshi scowled at you through his thick sunglasses as he went to take them off. He rolled his eyes and walked right up to you after opening the door in front of him.
“Unquestionably, the government is capable of anything. Nothing will be able to stop them from achieving their objective if they have one. All I'm saying is that we must exercise caution.”
“You and your irrational ideas. Stop watching Jerry Mason; he's simply fueling your fire.”
When you arrived at your location, you came to a halt, clocking in and retrieving some files that had been left over from the night before. You sat down and exhaled deeply as you entered your temporary office.
“Do you think this is even worth it?”
Soonyoung frowned and moved over to you, kneeling to get a better look at your troubled expression. He knew you'd be exhausted, and all he could do was be there for you.
It dawned on you when you were young that you wanted to be a pediatrician. It felt as if you were born to do this. You'd always adored children, seeing their faces light up when you offered them assistance or simply being there for them when they needed it. Despite the fact that you had just completed an eight-year school career, you still had three years left.
Regardless of what happened, you were going to make it.
“Hey, look at me.” As your eyes meet in the middle, he caresses your face.
“You got this; the long night of studying and grieving was for naught-" You smiled as you snickered at his remarks and allowed him to continue.
“This will be a breeze for you; the difficult portion has already been completed. All we have to do now is get through this summer together before moving on to the next level. Okay?”
As you rubbed his shoulders, he tenderly caressed your cheek and pulled you in for a forehead kiss.
“Thank you, Soo.”
As you jumped from your seat, you both heard a cough out of nowhere. As Soonyoung stood up and adjusted himself, you let out an uneasy laugh at your boss.
“I apologize if I interrupted anything, but we need to talk about the intern program with you.”
You coughed and tidied up as you walked to the door with him, shaking your head quickly. As you strolled down the corridor, trekking away to another room, you blew Soonyoung a kiss before leaving.
You noticed a man coughing on his approach towards you as you made your way to the rear room. He tripped towards you and grabbed your arm as he gathered his breath, his face showing symptoms of tiredness and worry.
“So-Sorry” He leapt to his feet and dashed out the rear entrance, out of the building and into his car.
You walked into the room, indifferent to his cries, and said, "No problem." While sitting next to the employers, you shook your head and took a long breath.
Many subjects were explored as the meeting progressed. One of the most crucial was when we would begin exercising our skills. Despite the fact that we still had schoolwork to complete, the boss had opted to get some exercise.
“It won't take long, but I want you to think about why you picked this profession. You understand why this is your calling and are free to write as much as you want about it. I'll be gracious and recommend that only one page be required. I'm excited for these papers, and it's a nice day today, so you may take the afternoon off.”
As everyone walked out of the room, loud whoops and hurrahs swept across the room, signaling that the weekend had arrived. As we were all leaving the room, you came to a halt and gazed out the building's window at a scene.
You saw a major shift in the man before you. As he smacked his head against the frame of his car, he twitched and screamed. You took a step forward, scrunching your brows and covering your mouth.
It all happened too quickly as the suddenly insane man leaped onto the nearest person and began biting them. You shuddered in terror as you hurried out of the room, falling back on your butt.
You yelled out to everyone, telling them about the man and his odd actions. Not only did you notice another woman twitching in the rear, but you also learned on the news that it was starting to happen all around.
*News* “Hello, this is NTC News, and we have just received word that unknown persons have been bitten and are biting others. Please don't stop for these people; we want everyone to get to safety as soon as possible. They are harmful to your health and can even kill you. We implore you once more to ge-”
As everyone gazed in horror, his voice was cut short. You yelled as you noticed a woman approaching the group after a man leapt on him and began biting him.”
“You guys heard him, runnnnn.”
You studied a puzzled Soonyoung as he waved to you, avoiding the crowd. You gently peered out the door, grabbing his hand and some items from your desk, and found it to be secure.
“What is going on, Y/N?”
“When we get home, I'll explain; we've been exposed here.”
As you ran down the corridor, panicked at the sight of the outside world, you took the emergency exit as you exited the back door. It was in shambles; they were swarming everywhere. Soonyoung kissed your hand and dashed through the horde, dodging stray onlookers.
It felt like you and he were in a movie, running and evading attacks and bleeding faces as they wiped out the people in front of you. You didn't know if you'd make it, but you clutched his hand as you rushed up the stairs to your apartment building.
As Soonyoung looked at you, you took your key and held it between your fingers.
“Are you ready for what we'll find when we get in here?”
Shaking your head, you hastily pecked his cheek before sprinting into the apartment complex and towards your room.
(Present Time, 2 years later )
Wasn't it supposed to be a typical day? In our town, nothing strange ever happens. Life had taken a different path and decided to run amok, and it didn't feel right to you or anybody else.
“Y/N, we have to leave; you're coming this time.”
“Yeah I’m coming” Soonyoung was strapping on his utility belt and grabbing his homemade weapon when you shot him a glare. “I know what you're thinking, and you're completely incorrect.”
He threw you the bat and also strapped you into your armor, shocked by your tone.
“We've been in this apartment for a long time, yet you still think I'm wrong. Hmm, it sounds amusing.”
Chuckling at his antics you quickly heard a voice on the other side as you both went silent. The sound of moaning and groaning never grew on you; hearing them reminded you of who they were before they transformed.
Where they are aspiring actors ready to take on the stage or innocent children on their way to school. It wasn't fair.
“This may be the most practical weapon, but it'll look pretty impressive if I can kill a zombie with it.” You giggle as you swing your bat in the air.
“I’m wondering how long I should leave you before I intervene and save your ass — again.” As he held the walkie up to his ear, Soonyoung heard a beep before tapping you.
“On the walkie, we got the all clear Y/N. It's time."
Shaking your head at him, you tightened your grip on the bat and went out the door gently, looking around to make sure no one was nearby. You and him did this on a regular basis when you were out scrounging around for anything. You know signs of life.
You and he discovered a group of survivors in your building as the outbreak was spreading for the past two years. It was a blessing to find individuals alive in this place attempting to survive; even though we only see them when we schedule weekly meetings, it's great to hear their voices every now and again.
“This is GoldenFox on level 6, and there are no zombies on this floor as far as we can detect. It is okay to proceed.”
After fully exiting the room, you placed a finger crossed kiss on the door frame. As you both made your way to the nearby stairwell, you turned around and observed his six.
To Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, Rule 21 is to Avoid Taking the Elevator. Stairs are your best friend.
Soonyoung crept over to the door, slightly cracked it open, and motioned you over after noticing no unusual activity. Shaking your head, you entered the stairwell straight behind him, pointing your bat in the direction of the vacant stairwell.
Slowly creeping up the stair the lights flickered on and off as you saw dried blood stains on the wall. You could never get over the fact that bodies were gruesomely taken as you approached the sixth floor entrance door.
When you walked out the door, you were greeted by a familiar sight.
“Hey guys, it's been a long time since we've seen one other.”
As he strolled alongside the girl, Soonyoung reached for your hand and gripped it tightly. She was escorting us to the survivors' debriefing meeting, or at least the ones who could make it.
“Hey Chae, how are you doing?” As a frightened expression washed across her face, you began to explain.
“Well, it hasn't been good; are supplies are rapidly depleting, and security is deteriorating. Tae-ho will elaborate, but things aren't looking good.”
You drew Soonyoung closer to you when you arrived at the correct door, pushed it open, and saw friendly faces.
“Ahh, here comes the couple; please take a seat; we have some business to discuss.”
You smiled and sat down next to Soonyoung, coughing softly before listening to Tae-ho's concerns.
“Because of a lack of hands and space, our inside and outside forces have been swiftly diminishing as the virus has become more prevalent in our area. We haven't been able to communicate with the military in a long time, and we're in serious trouble. Finally, I convened this meeting because we are in need of volunteers for a job tomorrow. We needed to connect our generator to the electricity grid, but it was out of juice.”
When you look around the troubled faces, you find that no one wants to look Tae-ho in the eyes, which is understandable. Isn't it normal not to endanger your life? Although, prior to all of this, you would have been ready to seize such an opportunity. Whatever it takes to help the community.
Soonyoung raises his hand after only a few seconds have passed. As he looks at you with his tiger-like gaze, you jerk to the right and broaden your eyes.
“What...no one else was willing to help.” Besides, instead of being locked up with you all day, it would be good to get out.”
As you rolled your eyes at him, you gave him a smack on the arm.
“Jerk,” you sneered, before slumping back in your chair and allowing Tae-ho to continue.
“Anyway, Soonyoung, Chan-woo, and Jong-ho have offered. Is there another volunteer who wants to join them?”
“Fine, I'll go,” you muttered under your breath, rolling your eyes and pursing your lips.
Low shouts of cheer rushed in the room as the teams were set for the trip tomorrow.
“Okay great, meetings adjourned. We go after the sun rises since the walkers get up early in the morning. So by ten o'clock, I'd like you to be packed and ready to travel. Soonyoung is the trip's leader, so pay attention to him.”
“Did you actually just call zombies ‘walkers'? God, you're having much too much fun.”
As he stood up, Tae-ho burst out laughing and ordered everyone to scram. Everyone in the room agreed and began filing out of the room, returning to their lowly abodes. You grabbed Soonyoung's hand and squeezed it strongly.
“Ow, what was that for?”
“I don't know, I guess I just wanted to annoy you.” You rolled your eyes and smirked, your arms crossed in front of his face, pouting.
“Don't be like that, you know I was joking.”
Hiding his smirk he gazed at your eyes before kissing you all over.
“Stop,” you said, flailing your arms in an attempt to free yourself from his grasp. As he sighed, you completely surrendered and let him rest on you.
“Well, at the very least, we'll be going on a mission together tomorrow.” I was wondering whether you were planning on attending. But I'm glad you are.” He looked down at your lovely state.
You wrapped your arms over his neck and placed your hands on either side of his ears, narrowing the distance between you and him.
“Mmmh”
You were both shocked when Tae-ho coughed loudly, interrupting your conversation.
“How long have you been standing there?”
He laughed as he walked out the door, waving his hand in the air and said in a girlish tone.
“Oh, I love you, no, I love you,” You both laughed as you flipped him off, then grabbed your bags and walked down the stairs to your apartment floor.
Soonyoung arrived safely at your door, opened it, and swiftly shut it while he stripped you and him of your clumsy armor.
“Is this a make-up for the earlier remark or...?” Soonyoung kissed you and dragged you closer to the bedroom, soon shutting you up with a kiss.
Despite the horrible cries of walkers reminding you of what you were now living in, the night was young. When you glanced at Soonyoung, though, all of your worries and fears vanished because he made you feel safe no matter what was going on outside.
Soonyoung wrapped his arms around your waist and said quietly, “You're more lovely than anything else in this whole big universe.”
“Not more lovely than you, my baby,” you muttered as his handsome face drew you in closer.
Soonyoung chuckled and kissed your lips before resting his brow on yours and closed his eyes.
“I love you,” he said softly.
You grinned and pulled him in for a genuine kiss, saying, "I love you more than anything."
He nipped your bottom lip, eliciting a little whimper from you before sliding his tongue inside your mouth and kissing you hungrily, exploring every inch of you.
As a sticky pool formed between your legs, you could feel his hardening cock pressing against your thigh. You drew him upon you, already undressed, as he teasingly kissed your body.
You looked up at his toned figure, appreciating his abs as you ran your fingers on his solid stomach, your mouth watering because you knew this was just for your eyes. Soonyoung lifted your chin softly as you locked eyes.
“I'm not sure whether you're up for it, but I'm in the mood.”
“When are you ever not horny?” you asked, laughing. “I'm actually fairly hit, but I don't mind helping you feel good.”
The pupil of his eyes dilated. As you opened your eyes and looked up at him, he rapidly flipped you around.
“Oooh my favorite.”
Slowly, you slid onto his throbbing member and began to move; it was almost like muscle memory for your mouth as it went to work right away.
As tears began to collect at the corners of your eyes, you felt his palm on your hand, almost like clockwork, guiding you down.
“Yes, baby...right there,” As his movement became jerky, he mewled. As you looked up at his trembling form, you chuckled.
Your name falls from his lips as his dick twitches in your mouth one last time before filling you up with his warm seed.
He drew you closer to him and kissed you for the twentieth time tonight when he cooled down.
“Ahh, I'll never get bored of that,” As he tenderly caressed your cheek, he complimented you.
“It is my area of expertise.”
As your eyelids began to drop, you both chuckled. You mumbled into his warm chest as you nestled closer to him.
“Goodnight, my love,”
“Princess, good night.” He drew the blankets over your nude bodies, blew out the melting candles, and brought you closer to him, pressing one last kiss on your forehead. Allowing sleep to take control, the sound of his heartbeat and soft breath soothed you as you drifted off.
---
Thanks to the large windows, you were both awakened by the warm sun as it crept into the room, bringing the warmth and light needed for the day.
You snuggled closer to your love and crawled on top of him, sighing, as your tired eyes adjusted to the light.
“Hmm honey, we have to get up.” He began to get out of bed as you begged him not to leave you.
“5 more minutes,” you said as you drew his arm back and began kissing him on the arm and neck. He hauled you on his back, dropping you at the bathroom and making his way to the kitchen, smirking at your game.
“Get ready; I'm going to try to come up with something other than canned corn and rice.”
With a shake of your head, you took out the ladle and water bucket and began scooping up water for your shower. You quickly became accustomed to this way of life. You did miss your warm baths and your once-weekly takeout. At the very least, you had Soonyoung to help you get through it.
Stepping into the shower, you cleansed your body while singing a song; today would be a regular day. After a fast mission, the rest of the day would be laid-back, with nothing too serious on the agenda.
“LOVE GUESS WHAT I FOUND IN THE FREEZER, SOME FROZEN KIMCHI.” You giggled as you walked out of the bathroom in a towel, seeing how thrilled he was.
“I'm surprised it's still good; the freezer went out about two weeks ago.” He carefully set the chilly container down and pretended to choke while pinching his nose.
“At the very least, we got rice.”
“You can never go wrong with some fresh steamed rice.”
Before walking back to your shared room and locking the door to get dressed, you kissed Soonyoung on the cheek.
You pulled on some old sweatpants and a worn-out shirt and checked your appearance in the table stand's cracked mirror. You came to a halt as you looked around the once-bustling room, stunned at the extent to which an outbreak can devastate a space.
After giving it one last look, you stepped out the door, sat down at the table, and took a taste of the rice with a fork. Soon after, Soonyoung returned from the cabinet and sat down, smiling.
“I found some seaweed wraps stashed away. I mean, it's not that horrible; it should still taste fine after two years.”
Taking the package from his grip and swiftly opening it, you were greeted by the salty sea aroma as you both savored every last bite.
“Dig in!”
After devouring your meal you and he got prep and dress for your trek this morning. Making your rounds around the house one more time Soonyoung grabbed your hand and exited the apartment.
“Well, the generator site is 3 miles from camp, and if we get there quickly enough, it will only last around 45 minutes. But that's just if we find another generator; it could take an hour or so.” As you looked around, you noticed your team's expressions as they tried to understand what Tae-ho was saying.
“Finally, the path you're travelling is a back road, which, while riskier than the street, provides more area to hide if walkers are noticed. I believe you can all do it; everyone will have walkie-talkies, so don't hesitate to call if anything goes wrong.”
Soonyoung grinned and shook his head as he counted his teammates and exited through the rear door. Before he left the building, Tae-ho grabbed him and handed him a pistol in case things went wrong.
“I know what's going to be out there, and I just wanted to let you know that if things go south, I won't hesitate to save you,” you said, thanking Tae-ho and pulling Soonyoung to the side. I know you're thinking the same thing, but these folks rely on you and your abilities, and I don't want to be in the way if something goes wrong."
“Don't even say that Y/N we're going to make it back safely all in one piece everyone of us,” he said as he pulled you in for a hug and lifted your face to stare at him.
“If you say so but still-”
“Shh, let's just concentrate on our mission and be ready, okay?”
As you gathered the rest of the squad for a group huddle, you rested your hands on each other and said a quick prayer before shouting, "Let's go!" Tae-ho waved goodbye to you before closing the door behind you.
There was no going back now; it was now or never.
To ensure that everyone was safe, everyone had their backs covered just in case we were ambushed. You ran following Soonyoung, heavily gasping, as he dodged in and out of the automobiles and debris strewn everywhere. As we neared a small group of walkers, he came to a complete stop and raised his hand, motioning for us to move to the left.
These walkers were not your typical zombies; they had a poor sense of sight but a keen sense of smell and hearing, allowing them to track down humans even when they were not visible. Aside from that, they were normally fast, not lightning fast, but fast enough to put anyone who wasn't lightning fast to the test.
We were wary because we didn't know what kind of zombies we'd encounter. Tae-ho insisted on dousing us in a spray that penetrated their senses and messed with them for a while. Despite the fact that it smelled terrible, it kept us secure for the most part. All we had to do was spray it on ourselves every 30 minutes to keep the aroma from wearing off.
Soonyoung pulls the group around him, whispering, “We have about 2 miles to go until we reach the first checkpoint; we can stop at the old home on the right.” We shook our heads and waited for his next call, pointing to the house ahead of us.
“I want Y/N and Chan-woo to go first, to get to the building, and to keep an eye out for us when we arrive.”
As you carefully rushed to the building, you looked at Chan-woo and pulled him up, afraid of the walkers behind you. The next two were up as they quickly walked by the walkers, signaling that you had made it safely to the house.
“All right, get whatever supplies you can find and meet in the back in ten minutes.”
Soonyoung told the group to look around, and it was common knowledge that we should look for supplies. You left your companion and walked upstairs to get some fresh clothing; yeah, you still have to appear presentable.
When you got to the top, you went through random rooms until you arrived at a room that was clearly a teenager's room, despite the fact that it was blown out with dirt and litter. Not only did it break your heart to see all of their stuff crammed into the same space, but you also knew they were on their way to becoming a walker.
It was difficult, but you had to persevere. You stumbled throughout the room, thankfully discovering batteries, a few shirts, a first aid kit, duct tape, and some pads. Needed at all times.
Nodding, you threw your belongings into your bag and descended the stairs, only to discover everyone going for the back door. You looked around and swiftly moved to the back, where you saw them waiting for you in a defensive position.
“Hopefully, we all got some excellent things, and we'll be able to go through them more thoroughly when we go back. Now that the extra generator is only three houses away, we're into walkers territory, so stay vigilant."
As the group starts out toward the last house on the street, careful of walkers in the route, you tighten your hold on your bat and look about. You and the group make it to the last house, carefully moving across the wreckage and immediately entering the house.
“Okay, we've got a few minutes before they notice we're here, so let's finish packing.” Keeping in mind that these generators were compact, they were suitable for storing in tight locations. You take the tiniest ones and place them in Chan-woo's bag before returning your gaze to the larger ones.
“How about those? Aren't they going to be more effective than the smaller ones?” Soonyoung paused for a moment, staring at the generators while walking back and forth as he pondered.
“That is correct, but we don't have enough people to bring it with us; we can get it later when we have more people, but for now, let's just go with the four we have.”
As we got to the door, everyone glanced around and said, "OK." Jong-ho stepped out the door, completely oblivious to the fact that we were in the middle of the apocalypse. We were greeted by a group of walkers.
As we all rushed at him, one of the zombies grabbed his arms, and Chan-woo kicked him off of him and whacked him with his axe. Looking above, we could see a swarm of them approaching us, and we were all terrified.
“LETS GO.”
As the walkers soon approached us, we grabbed hold of Jong-ho and pulled him with us.
We were quickly losing them, so we paused for a while to gather our breath before continuing on to the automobile portion of our adventure; we were almost there, and nothing could possibly go wrong.
Well in fact everything was just about too. When you turned back, you were confronted by the most scary of walkers, the runners. You yelled out to the group that we had to go right now.
We sped past the automobiles, grabbing everyone's attention and daring them not to turn around. Soon after, Soonyoung retreated behind the group to ensure that everyone was safe. You were almost there; the door was visible. You observed a bunch of familiar faces as the door opened.
Tae-ho kept the door open while telling you to duck, spraying bullets through the air and catching some walkers in the back.
“We're almost there,” you exclaimed as you turned around. Soonyoung was fighting the runner, gnashing his bleeding teeth. You panicked, unsure of what to do, as fear surged through your body. As you yelled, you could see the zombie rip into his skin.
You witnessed the zombie fall to the ground after hearing a shot travel through the air and hit it. You had a worried expression on your face as you gazed at Soonyoung.
“We don't have time to discuss this, Y/N.” You must leave right now.”
As tears flowed down your swollen face, you screamed at him.
“I can't leave you behind...,”
As he strained to stand, he noticed them struggling and staggering toward us. He yelled again, worried for your safety, tears streaming down his bloodshot eyes.
“Please, Y/N, I'm sorry, but I can't let them take you. You have to go now before it's too late.”
You shook your head and raced towards him, barely hoisting him up, sobbing into your torn up sleeves.
“I’m sorry Soonyoung, but I can’t leave you.”
You watched a couple guys rush up to you and carry you and Soonyoung to the door, which they swiftly locked, not wanting to hear the walkers' cries.
When you saw the big bite mark on Soonyoung's arm on the floor, tears flowed down your face and your throat started to close up. You cried as you fell into his lap as he patted your back.
“You can’t leave me please.”
---
It was going to be a long night, not just for you, but for everyone else as well, and if someone got bit, there were two options. Make the pain less easy or to set them free outside, we couldn’t let the infection spread inside. That's how we survived, but you didn’t know if you could do it.
He was your entire world, and you and him would go to the ends of the earth, yes, even to the apocalypse. Why him? It wasn't right.
You awoke in a cold sweat, anxiously looking around.
“Was it all a nightmare?” As you entered the living room, calling out for Soonyoung, you heard a grunt.
It wasn't a dream in the least. Reality has smacked you in the face.
Slowly approaching the couch, you noticed his sweating face; the virus was growing quickly. As you saw him twitch and groan in anguish, it hurt your eyes. You wished you could just take the pain away for a moment.
You sat crouching at his side, clutching his hand in yours as you kissed it, thanking the guard. As he turned to face you, he felt your touch, and his red eyes met yours as you sobbed as you saw his devastated state.
“Hey..hey look at me.” He gently sat up, tears in his eyes, and embraced you, kissing your forehead.
“It was bound to happen, Y/N; all we have to do now is stick together and get through this.” For the sake of both of us, you must be strong.” You clutched him tighter as you became choked up, unsure whether this was the last time.
“I guess our family has to wait.” You wailed into his chest as tears welled up in his eyes. Fearful of what was to come, he brought you closer to him and kissed your head as he cried.
It happened so quickly that neither of you realized what was going on. What he had asked you to do was unthinkable; you couldn't do it. Was it the virus or him who was speaking?
“Babe I can’t.” As tears streamed from the corner of your and his eyes, the worn-out pistol in your fingers trembled.
“Love, you have to, it's growing worse and I can feel it taking over my body,” he began shivering as he attempted to regain consciousness. "Allow me to spend my final moments with you as Soonyoung.”
As you sat back, he grabbed you and held you in his arms as you flung your arms around his neck, holding back tears.
He gave you one more glance as he crawled up to you and kissed your lips as you drew him back to you, savoring every moment.
“I believe this is it, I love you so much Soonyoung, please never forget and I'm so sorry,” you chuckled as you looked down with a tear-streaked face. You gripped his hand as you silently cursed as you drew him closer. "
You brought the gun up in front of you and pressed the trigger while closing your eyes.
*BANG*
His body slid to the ground, the warmth of life snatched from him by death's icy grasp. Blood gushed from his gaping wounds, tainting the once-pristine earth with the wry wit of someone who had been gone far too soon. His chest lay motionless, with no signs of life or his customary purity in his bosom, indicating that he was dead.
Holding the rifle to your chin as you gently close your eyes, you take another look at his body. Everything was taken from you by the world: your happiness, your source of clarity, and your life. As the bullet flew through your head, you wiped the tears from your eyes and pulled the trigger.
As you fell to the ground, you felt your body's life drain away as you saw it fade from your eyes.
“I won’t ever leave you.” You kissed his hand one more time as your whole body went limp and drifted away into the light, holding his hand closer.
And then, out of nowhere, two lights dimmed, never to be seen again in this messed-up world.
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
➳ Navigate to the Maze
80 notes
·
View notes
Brave Heart: Chapter Twenty-Four
Attack on Titan
Rating: Mature
Warnings: sexual themes, death, gore, mature themes, extreme violence, body horror, blood, weapons, major character death, age-gap relationship
Arm outstretched, Vera continued to call to her friends for help. With every thundering step the Armoured Titan took away from the forest, Vera's footing almost gave way and she wondered how bad it would actually be for her to fall to the ground.
Right then, a couple of broken bones sounded immensely more tolerable than being kidnapped by someone who forced her heart and mind to go to war with one another. Reiner had lied to her about so much and caused her so much pain, but when he had kissed her—even if his lips had only just grazed her's—she had felt that same, familiar warmth spread throughout her chest.
Vera felt disgusted with herself for feeling such a way about a murdering psychopath who had brought about the death of her father. But at the same time that the soft spot she harboured for him continued to live on, the rest of her being was filling with rage—rage about what he had done to her and, more importantly, what she had let him do to her.
This, however, was not the time to be so wrapped up in personal, complex feelings. What Vera had to focus on instead was the squad of Scouts racing after her and the others on horseback, Commander Erwin leading the charge.
Tears pricked Vera's eyes. They were coming for her and Eren. Their comrades were coming.
Despite the fact that the smaller Titans from the forest were following suit, hot on the heels of the Scouts, Commander Erwin didn't falter once; and thankfully, the fact that Reiner had been forced to transform before he had fully recovered meant that he was now slower than his usual pace in Titan form, allowing the Scouts to remain caught-up to them.
Reaching into its mouth, Ymir's Titan pulled a saliva-coated Krista out. As soon as a breath of fresh air entered Krista's lungs, she started coughing.
"Krista!" Bertholdt exclaimed.
"Ymir!" Krista beamed when she noticed that the large hand wrapped around her belonged to her dear friend.
Steam billowing from the back of the Titan's neck, Ymir's human form emerged. Dripping with sweat and with strings of muscle still attaching her to her Titan, Ymir looked up at the blonde girl. "Krista!" she sputtered. "No, Historia. I'm sorry about eating you. You're probably pissed."
"What is this?" Krista's eyes darted around, spotting an unconscious Eren strapped to Bertholdt's back and a very upset-looking Vera. "What's going on? Talk to me! We came to rescue you and-"
"Just shut up!" Ymir snapped, bringing the soft moment of reunion to a screeching halt. "I don't need rescuing. Things have changed. I'm with Reiner and Bertholdt now. Like it or not, you're coming with us. There's no future inside the walls! Hear me out for a second, okay?"
Eyes wide and brows furrowed, Krista remained silent, fully willing to listen to what Ymir had to say. Krista was always willing to hear people out, even when it wasn't in her best interest to do so.
"Life outside isn't as bad as you think, believe me," Ymir continued. "For starters, there's no one saying the world would have been a better place if you'd never been born."
"Yeah, I don't think Titans would say much either way!" Krista retorted. "They'd be too busy trying to devour me!"
Ymir scowled. "We've all got flaws! They're not so bad if you just give 'em a break! It's complicated, all right? Get off your high horse!"
"Ymir, I don't know what's going on in your mind, but you're not making any sense! Come on! What did Reiner and Bertholdt say?" Krista asked. "You're doing this against your will! They threatened you!"
By that point, Vera was too emotionally and physically drained to step in. She'd already tried and failed to warn Ymir about Reiner and Bertholdt. She didn't have the strength to try to warn Krista as well.
"It's the opposite, actually," Bertholdt whispered to himself.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Krista struggled against the grasp of Ymir's Titan. "Let me go! Whatever they've got on you, I don't care! We can fight them! Put the past behind you. What matters is right now! I'm here! I will always be your ally!"
Ymir's face stilled with contemplation. It was clear she wanted nothing more than to believe Krista's gentle, accepting words, but whatever had happened in her past had obviously conditioned her into thinking she wouldn't ever deserve such compassion.
"Ymir, in case you haven't noticed, the Scouts are closing in," Bertholdt told her. "If we'd left earlier, there might have been a decent chance of outrunning them. Going back for Krista was your idea. You forced us, remember that. We waited . . . for what? Damnit, Ymir, what the hell did we do this for? You can't have a change of heart! You want her to rot inside the walls? Does that seem acceptable to you now? Don't be a fool! Think!"
"Let go!" Krista kept her bright blue eyes trained on Ymir. "Don't listen to him!"
"I can't." Ymir's face soured with distress. Head hung, she began to cry. "I wish I could. I'm sorry, sweetie. I know you think I did this for you, but at the end of the day, I did it for me." She looked up at Krista, the setting sun casting harsh shadows onto her face. "A long time ago, I stole the power of the Titans from one of their comrades. Not much I can do against them. Sooner or later, I'm screwed. But they said if I cooperate, hand you over, maybe I've got a shot at leniency. Maybe my crime gets overlooked. You're crucial to the church. You know the truth about the walls. When this world started going to hell, I thought to myself, 'it wouldn't hurt to have a bargaining chip in my back pocket.' The castle is as close to death as I ever want to get. Old experience traumatized me, gave me perspective. If I have to play dirty to stay alive, then I have to play dirty. Pathetic, yeah. Doesn't make me the ideal friend. Like I said though, I didn't do this for you. You deserve better, but there it is. I need you. Please save me, Historia!"
The words 'I need you' struck something deep inside Vera. The way that Krista's face flooded with emotion when Ymir said it to her was almost a carbon copy of Vera's expression when Reiner had said it to her; confusion, joy, anger, denial . . . love?
"Well, like I said." Krista looked up at Ymir, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm here! And I will always be your ally!"
At that heartfelt statement, Ymir began to tear up once more. After her speech, it was clear she had been fully expecting to lose Krista altogether. That was why she had dove headfirst into her selfish persona. That was why she had tried to leave emotion out of it completely and only focus on survival.
It hadn't worked, however, because Krista was a person who only ever acted on emotional impulse, and it was her feelings toward Ymir that led her to this situation in the first place.
Still holding on tight to the Armoured Titan's exterior, Vera startled a little when she heard a grunt from below. Looking down, she recognized Hannis, the soldier from the Garrison Regiment. Along with him, the Scouts had finally caught up enough to make a move.
When Vera turned to see how Bertholdt was reacting, she was pleased to notice that Eren had woken up. Blinking wildly with his head on a swivel, he tried desperately to understand where he was and what was happening.
As an anchoring line sunk into the Titan's muscle between Vera and Eren, Ymir's Titan grabbed the line and tossed it away with ease, sending the Scout who had attempted to make an attack to the ground.
This mission, however, was nowhere near over. Mere seconds later, Mikasa had swooped in out of nowhere, slicing the eye of Ymir's Titan and making a bee-line for Bertholdt and Eren.
"Reiner!" Bertholdt called out in fear. "Protect us!"
As Bertholdt jumped onto the Armoured Titan's collar bone, Mikasa dove in. Just before she could reach Eren, however, the Armoured Titan wrapped its hands around its neck, shielding them from Mikasa.
"Mikasa!" Vera tried to flag her down frantically, but she had tunnel vision when it came to rescuing Eren and at that moment, no one else mattered.
When Mikasa switched her target to Ymir, opting to take the smaller Titan out first, Krista jumped in between the two to protect her friend. "Mikasa, no!" Krista cried. "You're not going to kill Ymir?!"
"That all depends on her!" Mikasa replied. "What'll it be? She can step aside or she can die. Her choice!"
Krista shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "That's not fair! She'll die if she doesn't go along with what Reiner and Bertholdt tell her to do! She's screwed either way!"
"Listen, there's only so many lives I can give a damn about," Mikasa said, her tone dripping with animosity toward anyone standing between her and Eren. "Cruel, but that's the world our enemies gave us six years ago. Sorry, I don't have any heartstrings left for you to tug on. You want compassion? Move on. You want fair? Tough shit. Time's wasting. Pick your side, Krista. Eren or the bitch I'm gonna kill?"
Ymir, whose human body had been sucked back into the nape of her Titan, snarled and got ready to swipe at Mikasa. "Ymir, stop!" Krista warned her. "Look at her face. She means it! Don't make a move!"
Accepting her fate, Ymir's Titan huddled up against the Armoured Titan's back and surrendered against Mikasa.
Meanwhile, Vera had moved from the Titan's shoulder to the collarbone as well, her eyes peering through the gaps between the fingers at Bertholdt and a struggling Eren.
"Let them out, Reiner!" Vera pounded on the muscle with her bare hands, knowing full well he probably couldn't even feel it. "Bertholdt, give Eren back! Let us go!"
From inside the protective barrier of flesh and bone, Bertholdt was fighting against Eren. "Good luck talking sense into that one, Bertholdt." A familiar voice remarked. "When something lights a fire under him, that's it. Getting Eren to calm down is a lost cause. Take my word for it. I've been on the receiving end more than you have. What do you say we teach him patience? Come on, show yourself!"
When Vera looked back over her shoulder, she spotted Jean hanging onto the Armoured Titan as well. Before she knew it, Mikasa, Armin, Connie, and Sasha had joined as well.
"You guys came!" Vera felt relief wash over her at the sight of them actually in front of her, so close she could touch them.
"Of course, we did!" Sasha beamed. "We're friends, right? That's what friends do."
Vera's mouth curled into a smile as well. "Yeah . . . friends."
"Give him back right now!" Mikasa's eyes had clouded over with determination. Her grip tightened on her blades, ready to start slicing as soon as the occasion called for it.
"Guys, really?" Connie looked up at the Armoured Titan and then through the gap in the fingers at Bertholdt. "This is some kind of joke, right? No way this is you. You've been lying to us this whole time? We were supposed to be comrades!"
"They still are!" Sasha insisted, her heart of gold shining through even at a moment like this. "This is all just a misunderstanding."
Vera just sat back and let the others work through their emotions. She had had plenty of time to process this sudden influx of important information regarding those they had, up until recently, regarded as one of their own.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jean asked. "You can't keep running forever. We're not gonna let that happen, rat bastards. Through thick and thin we slept under the same roof as soldiers for three years. Matter of fact, the positions you would sleep in were an artform, Bertholdt. I'm not kidding. We all loved waking up to see your contortions in the morning; used to predict the weather with them." There was a short pause, Jean's face falling after remembering the good times. "How'd you do it, Bertholdt? Must not have had a care in the world. Lying beside your victims, yet you slept like a log."
"Was it all just an act to you?" Connie peered in at Bertholdt. "What about the way we used to talk about surviving this together? About growing old, looking back at the worst of it over drinks. Remember? Was that all bullshit? Answer me! Go on! What was the point? What were you trying to do?"
Before Bertholdt could even think about answering, not that there was much chance of that happening anyway, Mikasa stepped in. "It doesn't matter anymore," she said. "Shut up and focus on opening the traitor's neck. Hesitate for a moment and we forfeit Eren. Who cares what they pretended to be? This was their choice."
"No! You're wrong!" Bertholdt shouted from inside the Armoured Titan's hands, his voice shaky and filled with pain. "Who chooses to be this? Tell me! What do you think I am, huh? What?! You think this is what we aspired to be? People loathe us, and why wouldn't they? We're monsters. We deserve to die for the things we've done. We're lost. We could live a thousand years and never again know peace. Try to imagine that darkness. The only light was our brief time as soldiers. It was never a lie! Do you understand?! We're not who we said we were but it wasn't an act! We genuinely thought of you as our friends. I'm not stupid, I know I have no right to ask forgiveness, but please . . . I beg of you, if we were comrades, someone find us."
Silence fell over the Scouts, each and every one of them torn between cutting the traitors out of their lives and welcoming their friends back. Well, everyone except Mikasa.
"Give him back," Mikasa requested once more. "I won't ask again."
"I'm sorry, I can't," Bertholdt told her. "One of you has to do it. One of you has to stain your hands with my blood."
Before anyone could even think about entertaining that idea, Hannis called up to them from the ground where he was riding horseback alongside the Armoured Titan. "Guys!" His voice was loud and stern. "Get down from there and take cover!"
Unsure what it was they were supposed to take cover from, everyone turned to look in the direction the Armoured Titan was running. Sure enough, heading in their direction was a horde of Titans led by Commander Erwin and some of his Scouts. There were way too many Titans to even begin counting, but nevertheless, Reiner kept moving forward, his pace never slowing for even a moment.
At that point, with Titans behind and in front of them, the outcomes of this situation—as many as there were—didn't seem the least bit pleasant. Unfortunately, Vera didn't see a way out without a least one of them paying the ultimate price with their life.
"Jump, damn you!" Hannis shouted. "Get the hell out of there!"
As the others started to leap off of the Armoured Titan one by one, Vera realized that she had nowhere to go. With no ODM gear and no way to get down herself, Vera was along for the ride whether she liked it or not.
"Vera!" Armin called up to her, he and the others realizing too late that they had abandoned her. "She doesn't have ODM gear! What do we do?"
"Hang on, kid!" Hannis told her. "We'll get you down!"
Vera knew, however, that there was no time for a rescue attempt before the Titans reached them.
"Squadron, break!" Commander Erwin ordered. "Make the Titans scatter!"
As the Titan horde in front got closer and closer, Reiner leaned in with his shoulder and picked up the pace, clearly hoping he could just muscle his way through them. When he made contact with the first two or three smaller Titans, Vera felt her grasp from around the Armoured Titan's finger slipping. Krista, who was still holding onto Ymir's Titan, let out a yelp.
At first, it seemed as though Reiner's plan would actually work, but as more and more Titans clung to him, weighing him down, he eventually dropped to his knees.
Fear coursed through Vera's veins when she found herself eye-level with the sea of Titans. When one of them reached for Krista, Ymir used her Titan form to fight back. When one of them reached for Vera, however, she fully believed this was how she was going to die.
"No!" Vera tried her best to climb higher up the Armoured Titan's body to escape, but it was no use—her unsteady legs kept failing her and she kept losing her footing.
As one of the Titan's fingers brushed Vera's back, the Armoured Titan let out a ground-shaking scream and headbutted the other Titan, managing to protect Vera while still keeping Bertholdt and Eren safe behind his hands. Then, before she even knew what was going on, Bertholdt was reaching between the Armoured Titan's fingers and pulling her into safety.
Gradually, more and more Titans piled on top of Reiner. Ymir's Titan was dealing with them at a steady pace, but not nearly fast enough. The Armoured Titan let out scream after scream as it tried to stand up again, but for every Titan Ymir bit the nape of, two more seemed to pile on.
"Is he going to die?" The words left Vera's mouth before she even knew what she was saying. When Bertholdt looked to her, the same fear etched on his features, she spoke again. "Is Reiner going to die?"
Bertholdt opened his mouth to answer, but before he could get a single syllable out, one of the hands protecting them lifted away from the Titan's neck. Taking a gamble, Reiner used one of the Titan's hands to start fighting back while still trying to protect Vera, Bertholdt, and Eren with the other.
"Advance!" Vera heard Commander Erwin's voice echo over the plains, and as she looked over to see him and the other Scouts approaching, she let out a scream when she watched a Titan sneak up beside the Commander and bite down on his raised arm, completely tearing him off of his horse.
"Commander Erwin!" The other Scouts slowed their paces, unsure what to do should their fearless leader die.
Erwin wasn't one to give up so easily, however. "I said advance, goddamnit!" he ordered, his arm still trapped in the jaws of a Titan while his body dangled underneath. "Eren's right in front of you! Do not falter!"
While Commander Erwin continued to struggle against the Titan, unwilling to let this be his demise, the Scouts under his command followed what very well could have been his last order and charged the Titans.
Vera watched Scout after Scout get stepped on, snatched up, and eaten. Every time, she pictured herself being the one meeting such a gruesome end and her stomach knotted and twisted.
Unsurprisingly, Mikasa was able to make it through the onslaught of Titans with ease. In the blink of an eye, she was taking advantage of the fact that Reiner had left Bertholdt, Vera, and Eren slightly unprotected and was diving head-first toward them.
Mikasa slashed at Bertholdt, sending him and Eren flying out of the way when the ladder dodged the attack. So focused on saving Eren, however, Mikasa had just unintentionally thrown herself into the grip of one of the many Titans.
Eren's scream was muffled by the cloth gag in his mouth, but the sound was just as chilling. Mikasa let out a cry of pain when the Titan's hand clenched around her.
"Mikasa!" Vera wished she could do something, anything; but as things stood, it seemed she was going to have no choice but to stand there and watch her friend be eaten.
"You piece of shit!" Jean swooped to the rescue just in time, sinking his blades deep into the Titan's eyes. "Get your hands off of her!"
In that moment, Vera was sure that both she and Mikasa were eternally grateful for Jean's hopeless crush. Sure, there had been many a time in the past when Jean had been an insufferable jackass, but now Vera was just glad he was on their side. That, and he was one loyal son of a bitch.
"We've come too far to give up now." Vera heard Bertholdt say, and when she spun around, he grabbed her hard by the wrist and began pulling her up into the Armoured Titan's hand. "We are going home and Eren and Vera are coming with us!"
Vera tried to pry her arm free, but Bertholdt's hold was too strong and tight around her wrist for her to escape. "I already told you I'm not coming!" Vera fought tooth and nail against him.
"Bertholdt!" Armin's soft voice interrupted the situation. Brows set and jaw clenched, he was perched atop the Armoured Titan as well, glaring down at them. It was clear he was trying to think of something to say to make the whole situation go away, but even Armin's words weren't that powerful; that's what Vera thought, at least, until a large grin spread across his face. "So you're okay with this? Leaving your friend behind to face the music? I guess Annie was weighing you down. Do you know where she is?" Armin poked and prodded at Bertholdt's weak spot. "Way up North in the Utopia District being tortured. The silent treatment only goes so far. The body may heal, but her screams are an object lesson on the limits of endurance. Oh, don't worry, they're taking special care she doesn't die . . . or get a moment's rest. So many methods, so little time. Mustn't waste a prized specimen like Annie. She's too precious."
"Shut your mouth, hellspawn!" Bertholdt snapped. "I'll kill you!"
As Bertholdt lunged forward, taking the bait just how Armin hoped he would, Armin utilized this moment to advance as well, using his blades to slice the bindings attaching Eren to Bertholdt's back.
With Eren free and falling toward the ground now, Mikasa swung in to grab him before he hit the grass. Before Vera had a chance to congratulate Armin, the blonde boy was wrapping his arms around her waist and descending toward his horse with her in tow.
"My turn to save you," Armin told her with a smile.
Vera couldn't help but laugh; a mixture of relief, exhaustion, and joy filling her. "My guard dog." She hugged him tight as they landed upon his horse and started off in the opposite direction.
"All soldiers retreat!" Command Erwin, who had escaped the Titan's jaws by severing his own arm, led the remaining squad away from the Titans. With Eren secured, the mission was deemed completed.
The Armoured Titan let out a menacing cry as the Scouts rode away, and even though Vera wished she hadn't, she peered back over her shoulder for a split second. When she did, her eyes met with the glowing yellow ones of the Armoured Titan—of Reiner.
After Krista had killed her first Titan in the midst of saving Ymir, Connie rode by and snatched her up. Ymir's Titan bounded after them while Krista tried to convince Connie and Sasha that she needed to go back with Reiner and Bertholdt to save Ymir's life.
Before anyone could get very far, however, a Titan was hurdled through the air from behind, landing in front of the retreating Scouts and blocking their path home.
"He's tossing Titans now?!" Jean looked back at the Armoured Titan. "That son of a bitch has gone berzerk."
A scream echoing through the air, Reiner tossed yet another Titan in their direction. Before long, the fields had been clouded over with Titan steam and dust.
"Eren! Mikasa!" Armin stopped his horse and turned around, eyes wide when he spotted his friends lying face down in the grass after having been struck, either by the Titan itself or the shockwave of it landing.
As the haze began to dissipate, a huge Titan with a wide grin on its face emerged. Never picking up the pace or slowing, it took steady steps toward Eren and Mikasa, who were now staring up at it, frozen in place.
Rushing past Armin and Vera on his horse, Hannis raced to the defence of the two. Just as the Titan swung at Eren and Mikasa, Hannis put himself between them, taking the force of the giant hand and stopping it from reaching the kids. With a grunt, Hannis sliced off the thumb of the Titan and grinned when the Titan pulled his hand away.
"Can you believe this luck?! Crazy right?" Hannis laughed before turning back to the Titan, blades at the ready. "Watch me! This is the least that I owe your mother! She'll finally have the vengeance she deserves!"
"That's the Titan that killed Eren's mom," Armin explained as he kicked his horse into action just as Jean rode up as well.
Without hesitation, Hannis secured his anchoring lines into the Titan's skin and went in for the kill. "He needs backup!" Jean pointed out, but before they could make it, another Titan landed in front of them, startling the horses.
"Reiner." Armin looked over at the Armoured Titan, who had just thrown that Titan right at them; clearly to stop them from getting to Eren. "Doesn't he care if Eren gets eaten?"
"Move it or lose it, asshole!" Jean seethed. "I'm tired of your shit!"
Jean took the initiative first and charged forward, Armin soon following suit with Vera clinging to him from behind.
Slash after slash, Hannis eventually managed to distract the Titan away from Eren and Mikasa and direct all the attention onto himself. Using the time Hannis had given them, Mikasa slowly rose to her feet, paring blades drawn and ready to help despite the fact she could barely even stand. Then, she cut Eren's hands free, which had just finished growing back all the way.
Stepping forward, Eren locked his eyes onto Hannis and the Titan as he bit down on his hand. Just like the time in the tunnel, however, nothing happened.
Feeling the ground beneath them tremble, Vera looked over her shoulder once more, jaw dropping when she noticed the Armoured Titan was stumbling toward them, tossing the Titans off of him one by one.
"Jean!" Armin screamed, alerting Vera to look forward just in time to watch another Titan land right in front of them.
Ground splitting from the impact of the Titan, Jean's horse reared and he was thrown. Letting out a garbled grunt, his body rolled a few meters before coming to a motionless stop.
"No!" Armin leapt from his horse, momentarily forgetting Vera was holding onto him and pulling her down as well. Together, the two hit the ground, managing to take the fall rather well and jumping back to their feet in seconds to rush to Jean's side.
"Oh, God." Armin lifted Jean's unconscious body into his arms. "Stay with me, Jean."
Looking up, Vera's heart sank when she saw a Titan coming their way. Trembling, she looked from Jean, to Armin, to the Titan, over and over again.
Terrified, Armin began to back away with Jean still in his arms, swinging his blade in an attempt to deter the beast. Vera felt a sense of fear she had never experienced before overwhelm her, but as she looked back at Armin and Jean once more, suddenly it was all gone. She felt nothing; she felt at peace, even.
Knowing what she had to do, Vera stood to her feet, her legs threatening to give way any second, and stepped forward.
"Vera, stop!" Armin cried out. "What are you doing?!"
With a soft smile on her face, Vera turned to Armin. "You know, when I first signed up to be a cadet, I did it because I wanted my life to mean something. And when I died, I wanted my death to be for the greater good," she told him honestly. "But all this time, I've struggled to figure out what, exactly, giving my life for the greater good would look like. How would I know my death wasn't going to be in vain?"
Armin's eyes welled with tears. "Vera . . ."
"But now I know," she grinned wide; the happiest, most genuine smile she had ever displayed upon her face. "There is no greater good than protecting my friends."
Armin continued to yell at Vera, his voice breaking and tearing at his throat as he screamed, but she tuned him out; if she was going to go through with this, she had to.
Walking toward the Titan, Vera was surprised by how steady and confident her steps were. Every time her boot hit the grass, she pictured Armin and Jean escaping and living on to become great Scouts, and that alone gave her the strength to push forward, step after step.
Looking over, Vera caught a glimpse of Hannis's limp body in the Titan's grasp and immediately knew he was dead. Then she spotted Eren and Mikasa kneeling in the tall grass, tears in their eyes as they shared what they assumed would be their last moments alive.
All around her, Vera watched people die. Swallowed whole, bitten in half, crushed, stepped on, swatted, beaten. And all around her, she watched people take their last breaths, say goodbye, prepare to die.
This was what they had all signed up for. No one forced any of them to choose this path in life. No one held a gun to their head. They had all joined for the same reason: to pave a way forward for humanity. And similarly, they would all die for that same reason as well.
When Vera felt the Titan's slim fingers wrap around her body and lift her from the ground, she closed her eyes. Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to picture a future where humanity thrived, finally free from the oppressive reign of the Titans.
She felt the Titan's hot breath on her skin and exhaled. "For the glory of humanity," she whispered to herself.
That was when Eren let out a scream so loud it tunnelled right through Vera's skull and took root deep in her brain. Eyes shooting open, she looked up at the Titan that was looking down at her, mouth open, grip firm, but not making any attempt to eat her.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the Titan dropped her to the ground before turning and charging toward Eren. Stunned, Vera watched as the Titan that had had her in its grasp not two seconds ago lunged at the Titan that had killed Hannis.
In turn, every single Titan in the area did the same thing. Frozen in place for a few seconds after Eren's scream, they all turned their attention toward the Smiling Titan and charged, completely ignoring the humans around them.
Before long, the Titan that had killed Eren's mother and Hannis had been pushed to the ground and piled on top of by every other Titan within earshot of Eren's scream. The Titan was ripped limb from limb, flesh torn off and organs bitten out.
Not wasting any time, Eren hoisted an injured Mikasa onto his back and started running in the opposite direction.
Pushing herself up, Vera spotted the Armoured Titan, with Bertholdt on its shoulder, thundering toward Eren and Mikasa.
After just witnessing whatever it was that Eren had done, Vera knew she couldn't allow him to be kidnapped again. Vera thought back to when Reiner had casually referred to Eren as 'the coordinate.' At the time, she hadn't paid it any mind, but now things were different.
Vera made a move to run after Eren and Mikasa, hoping that if she threw herself in Reiner's path, it would deter him from anything too violent. What she quickly found out, however, was that Eren had everything completely under control.
Skidding to a stop, Eren turned to face Reiner and Bertholdt head-on. "Get away from us!" He demanded. "Rat bastards, I'll kill you where you stand!"
With that, the Titans that had been devouring the Smiling Titan stopped, stood up, and started toward the Armoured Titan. Before they knew what hit them, Reiner and Bertholdt were surrounded.
Knowing she needed to get out of there quickly, Vera ran over to where three horses were standing around, grazing lazily as if nothing bad were happening at all. Hopping on, she helped Armin and Jean first.
"What were you thinking?" Armin whimpered as Vera helped hoist an unconscious Jean onto the back of his horse. "You almost died!"
"Yeah." Vera nodded, unable to deny the relief of being alive that she was currently feeling. "But I didn't, and most importantly, neither did you guys."
With that, she smacked the horse just behind the saddle, encouraging it to take off before Armin could spiral into any more of a panic. Vera then mounted her own horse with the third one in tow for Eren and Mikasa.
As Eren and Mikasa climbed aboard their ride, Commander Erwin rose from the chaos to order a retreat.
While the Titans swarmed the Armoured Titan, Vera forced herself not to look back this time. Not even when she heard Bertholdt's distressed pleas for help. Not even when Ymir said goodbye to Krista before turning back. Not even when she could feel Reiner's eyes staring holes into the back of her head.
Gaze focused forward, Vera fought the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She had to accept that she would probably never see Reiner again. She had to accept that her time with him was all for not and that that part of her life was over. And worse of all, she had to accept that he had never been the person she thought he was.
The Reiner she knew was never real.
But Vera didn't have the luxury to dwell on the past; not when the future waiting for them behind the walls was so dire.
With reports maintaining the likelihood of wall Rose having been compromised, citizens of the region were forced to take refuge in a subterranean city within the confines of wall Sina. However, though emergency provisions had been stockpiled for the purpose, with over half the population relying on them, rations could last, at most, a week.
Beyond that, lurked a terrible choice: turn on each other like animals or face the prospect of starvation.
To avoid a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions, within a week of the Titan onslaught, authorities declared wall Rose secure.
"I allowed myself to be kidnapped," Eren said as he, Vera, Mikasa, Armin, and Jean waited for Connie to return after reporting to Commander Erwin, who was still recovering after the loss of his right arm. "It's my fault. Because of me, the Scouts lost over half of their veteran contingents. All in a single rescue attempt."
Vera, who was staring up at the bright blue sky, sighed. She wanted to say something to make him feel better, but no words came to mind; nothing that would help, anyway.
"Still though, there were no casualties on the way back," Armin pointed out. "The Titans completely ignored us. They were too fixated on Reiner and the others. Jean and I, we mulled it over between us once we got back. Hear me out . . . supposed they acted that way because of you."
"It's just a thought, of course," Jean added. "But as far as an explanation, it's about as good as we've got. I'm not saying I envy the position you're in. Maybe all those people really did die for nothing. That all depends on you. If you're really worth the sacrifice, you'd better prove it. There's no time for second-guessing."
Balling his hand into a fist, Eren nodded. "You're right, I have to be decisive. If this is real, if I can control Titans, I have to plug up wall Maria then make Reiner answer for what he's done. People died for me. I have to earn what they gave."
"What about you, Vera?" Armin drew her into the conversation. "How do you feel about all of this . . . you know, considering . . ."
"You don't have to tiptoe around the subject," Vera told him. "We all know what happened between Reiner and me. I'll be okay . . . after all, it isn't like I'm the only one who lost someone. I'm just glad I figured out the truth sooner rather than later."
Eren leaned against the wall they were standing beside. "What about what Reiner said about your mom being alive?"
"I honestly have no way of knowing if he was telling the truth or not." Vera shrugged. "All I do know is that there is a great deal more going on in the shadows that none of us is aware of. . . and I have a feeling that once we uncover those secrets, nothing will be the same."
17 notes
·
View notes