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ourautumn86 · 1 year

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secret for a secret

fedra officer! ellie williams x dealer and teacher! reader

sypnosis; after being caught by a fedra officer, your perfect façade could fall apart, unless you end up working with her…

cw; drugs, violence, drug use and dealing, guns, threats, teasing, constant bickering, fighting, kissing, fingering, oral sex (r receiving), scissoring, dom! ellie, sub! reader, kinda hate sex??, needy sex, lotsss of praising, no use of y/n but pet names like princess, pretty girl, baby…, dirty talking, multiple orgasms, cum eating… minors dni!!! +18 content!

REMINDER: english is not my mother language so i apologize if there are some mistakes <3 !¡ either ways, i hope y’all like it. <3

REPOSTS AND COMMENTS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!<3

Please, under no circumstances, repost my work on any other sites. I do not consent to anyone taking my work and posting it as their own.

—

You were fucked, absolutely and incredibly fucked.

“Hands up.” your heart was fucking thumping, and your hands were soaked in sweat. Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

You showed the police officer your hands, your eyes squinting under the light of her pistol.

“Don’t move.” she ordered, and you swallowed harshly when she stepped closer.

You groaned when she harshly turned you around, pushed you up against the wall and tugged on your wrists, the metal of her cuffs digging on your skin.

You’re fucked.

“Let’s see what we have here.” she mutters as she starts rummaging through your pockets. She hummed and smirked when her fingers met the little baggy, taking it out to inspect it.

“Fuck.” you whisper…, pressing the back of your forehead against the side of the building in which you had been pinned.

“Illegal dealing and possession of drugs. You really are a bad girl, huh?” she mocked you and you groaned.

“Look please… I can’t have anybody know about this. It would ruin my career.” you begged, turning around, and you almost crumbled underneath her big green eyes. She was beautiful, breathtaking… An angel that had come to punish you for your sins.

“Well maybe you should’ve thought it through before getting into this shit, don’t you think so pretty girl?” your breath got punched out of your lungs when she muttered, so close that you could see the beautiful freckles on her skin.

“I’m a teacher… I love my job.” you pleaded, your eyes almost watery.

“If you love it so much then why fuck it up with your little side job, hm?”

You fell silent.

“Look. I’ll do anything you want. Just please… I’ll give you free weed. I’m sure inside there shit is as fucked up as shit is outside. Rations are growing thin. I needed the extra notes.” you muttered.

You knew it was dangerous to deal inside FEDRA’s QZs but even if you loved your job as a teacher, this world had left you with hunger and the need to survive even if that made you do things you weren’t proud of.

The officer looked at you, her emerald eyes squinting.

“One bag a week.” you offered, crossing your fingers. Please, please, please, please…

She scoffs.

“You trying to buy me off?”

You swallow, hard. You’re trembling. Shit.

She fell silent once again before her words gave you a gust of new and fresh air.

“Three.” you frowned. “Three bags a week.” she clarified and your eyes shot open. “If you’re not in I will…”

“No. Three bags it is.” you nodded, your whole body fluttering with relief.

“Then it’s a deal, pretty girl.” she smirked. “Just make sure I don’t catch you dealing again, or nobody else. People out here aren’t as nice as me.”

Nice my ass…

“You won’t officer. It’s a deal.”

—

Getting caught by a FEDRA officer was a really close call. It hurt you, you and your pride to crumble that easy underneath that green eyed girl, but you had to bend and accept her conditions or else you’d have probably ended up cleaning sewers for the rest of your life.

You kind of owed her. Three baggies of weed a week were a lot, but if you wanted her to stay quiet then three would be. But all of that went to hell when a rumor hit your ears. One of your current and close clients have told you that there was a new dealer inside the walls or FEDRA, selling weed at better prices than you and making a whole bag.

That was when it hit you. And after taking a closer look…

Motherfucker…

“A sight for sore eyes, aren’t you today, sweetheart?” Ellie, who you’ve had to grow close to, mocked you as she closed the door to your apartment before her back.

You were scowling, your blood boiling.

She frowned when you didn’t sat up from your spot, neither talked back. You always did. Something was wrong.

You looked at her, then back to your computer’s screen, a scoff leaving your lips before you’d turn it around for her to see.

“You’re smart. But not careful.” her skin grew pale when she saw herself dealing with another FEDRA officer at the back of their QZ police departments. She frowned.

“How did you… There weren’t supposed to be no cameras in that alleyway.”

“I put it there.” you smiled, leaving your place on your chair to stand up. “You know… It’s really shitty to try and steal clients from another dealer. It’s… Really offensive, Ellie. Even more when you’re using your dealer’s weed that they bribe you with…” she swallowed.

It was fun. See her fall apart like you had.

“Are you gonna tell FEDRA?” she inquired, and you smirked.

“Oh no… I called you to…, make you an offer.” you leaned against your table, your head lolling to the side as you gave her an innocent smile. She knew it wasn’t anything at all.

“An offer?” she inquired and you nodded.

“Since your little FEDRA friends seem to like my weed so much… I thought that maybe you could work with me, you know? Keep doing you dealing, keep making profits…”

“What’s the catch?” she inquired, and you smirked.

“So smart, aren’t you?” you sighed. “Well, since I’m the one providing for you, it’s only fair that I’d get the most profit. 60-40.” you said, and she scoffed.

“No fucking way.” she spat, and you shrugged.

“Well. If you don’t want to that’s fine. I’ll just go ahead and show your little bosses this amazing recording of you dealing with your friends. They’d probably give me a whole life worth of supplies for catching the rat living inside their walls.” you shrugged, but as you turned you and gave her your back, you heard her yell.

“Wait!” you smiled, turning once again with your eyebrows rose and your arms crossed over your chest. She sighed, looking at her feet as she clenched her jaw and fisted her hands. “Fine.” she mumbled under her breath, teeth gritted.

“What? I’m sorry… I didn’t hear you.” you mocked her, and she gave you a dead stare.

“I said fine.” she repeated and you smiled.

“There she is… My smart little officer.” you cooed, sitting back on your chair. “What are you waiting for? Sit down, we have a lot to plan.” you said, and tried your hardest not to laugh as she harshly pulled from the free chair and sat down.

—

After your deal was sealed, you and Ellie were making a lot. And you really meant it. A lot. You had even been able to move to a better and much expensive apartment on the south of the town, having a great view of the city beneath your feet. The profit was big. And it kept growing. And with new dreams came more days in a row that you’d see Ellie, spending hours on end with her due to new deals and spots.

You’d pretend you hated it. Her and her stupid remarks and bickering. Her and her stupid shiny green eyes, which would spark every time you’d talk back after her teasing. Her and how hot she looked while dealing, how her free hand would be silently holding the gun to come off as more impotent. How her tattoo would show, how the veins on her hands would pop and decorate her skin…

Yeah. Absolutely hated it.

Today was no different. The deal was done. And you were of course not looking at her and her hands through the whole three minutes that it lasted.

You left your backpack on the table, instantly going for a beer to your kitchen. You threw one at your back, fully knowing that Ellie would be there to catch it. She did.

She took out the profits of the day from her pocket and smirked, leaving your bit on the counter.

“You pulled 20 more from Jesse?” you inquired, impressed.

“He was gonna have a gathering with his little buddies. Hooked him up.” she shrugged and you shook your head, scoffing.

“Impressive.” you accepted, making her arch her eyebrows.

“Was that a compliment, pretty girl?” you pushed her away as she leaned closer, going to your living room and taking one of your already rolled blunts from your tea table before sitting down on your sofa.

“Keep dreaming, Williams.” you smirked, a spark lighting the joint, filling your lungs with the smoke and burning up the back of your throat.

She took the free space beside you. Chuckling when the smell of the weed hit her.

“‘M sorry officer.” you mocked her, falsely pouting. “Hey!” you said when she took it away from you, taking a deep and hard drag of the blunt.

“It’s confiscated now. You know…, the law and all that.” she smirked, and you rolled your eyes, leaning against your legs to reach down on your tea table and grab another joint for yourself.

Ellie tried really hard to not stare at your ass as you did so, but you had worn that tiny little skirt that you seemed to like to wear around her, and it was hugging you really good.

She quickly looked away, taking another drag of her joint and spreading wider on the sofa, leaning more on it.

You lit your blunt and took a drag, leaning against the sofa. Your tongue dampened your lips as your eyes met her thighs, clothed in a pare of skinny low-rise jeans. You really were thanking the summer as you checked out the muscles of her naked arms.

You looked away before you could get too lost on the lines of ink on her skin, closing your eyes with a new drag.

Ellie looked at you, plump lips surrounding the bud, rosy cheeks due to the warmth of the weather…

“You okay there, princess?” she inquired and you huffed.

“Why? Because I’m silent?” you answered.

“Just checking. Usually you’d be enjoying clawing at my neck and all that.”

“Oh, as if you’re not the same. Perhaps I’m not that interested in talking to you, Ellie, have you thought about it?” you squinted your eyes and she scoffed.

“Woah. That actually hurt. Harsh, princess.” she sarcastically and playfully grabbed her chest, and your rolled your eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry, officer. Am I a bad girl now? Are you gonna cuff me up, hm?” you innocently said, playful.

What you didn’t expect was the slight shiver that went down Ellie’s body, nor how her eyes seemed to get hazier.

“Is that what my bad girl wants? For me to get a little bit rougher with her?” she talked back, following your little game, although her voice was deeper, and more velvety now. She leaned in, a smirk on her lips. You were out of words. “What is it, hm? Cat got your tongue?” you swore you could hear your own breath hitching when she took your chin in between her thumb and index finger.

Your heart jumped when her eyes fell to your lips right before going back to your face.

“Look at you. All dumb and pretty. You look so pretty when you keep your mouth shut…” you swallowed, her tatted hand—that was holding the blunt— falling onto your naked thigh.

“Fuck you.” you spat, and her smirk grew, her emerald eyes brightening up.

“I bet you’d love to.” she muttered, and a shiver went down your spain when her hand travelled closer and closer to your core, slowly teasing you, warm fingertips against your skin. It was intoxicating. “Or maybe even the other way around. I bet you’d look so pretty beneath me, all sweaty and messy taking whatever I might decide to give you.”

You couldn’t help the way your thighs squeezed together at her words, your eyes widening as she chuckled.

“Come on princess, you’re growing quiet on me.” she taunted you, and you groaned.

“Oh, shut up.”

“You always know the way to make me.” she smirked, for a split of a second your eyes flickered to her lips…

And suddenly, your mind came up with two words that were enough to make you finally break the distance in between the two of you. Fuck it. Your need took over you when your lips crashed against the other, teeth messily clashing and tongue slapping the other.

“I hate you.” you breathed out in between kisses, hearing Ellie hum against your lips.

“Of course you do.” she nodded before harshly kissing you once again, a smirk tugging from her lips. Ellie took the blunt from you, and you almost cried when her hand left your thigh to leave the joints on the ashtray before getting back on your skin. You couldn’t help the way your thighs pressed against the other, your pussy already throbbing and begging for her touch.

Ellie clicked her tongue. “Nuh-uh. Keep them open for me, baby.” she said, and smiled when you did so. “That’s it, good girl.” you let out a breathy moan the moment her fingertips pressed against your dampened panties, the praise making your walls tighten around your awaiting to be filled hole. “Fuck. So wet for me already and I haven’t even touched you.” you moaned, just the mere thought of having her fingers inside of you making you almost beg for more. “Would you like that, hm? Would like me to fuck my fingers into your pussy baby?” you nodded, making her hum. “You look so pretty right now, being such a good girl for me… Look at you.” your eyes rolled to the back of your head when her fingers pushed aside your panties and met your clit, rolling your puffy bud in tight and slow circles. You moaned, back arching and a gasp leaving your lips. “That’s it, baby. Take it, come on.”

“Fuck, Ellie.” you whimpered, and her heart jumped, her own pussy growing wetter.

“Shit, forget it. I definitely like you better when you’re not quiet.” she cursed, slowly pressing a finger in between your tight and warm walls, making you sigh and rock your hips against her hand in search of more.

You were a whimpering and moaning mess by the time she started slowly fucking it in and out of you, her lips latched to your neck, leaving marks that would decorate your skin for days. You should probably push her away, tell her to stop with every new harsh suck on your flesh, but you couldn’t, ‘cause it felt so good…

“Fuck, Ellie, please…” you cried out, pleading for more, for her to be harsher, to kiss you deeper…

“Shit, you’re so fucking hot.” he groaned, quickly getting on her knees and in between your thighs. You couldn’t help the scream that tore your throat when her lips latched to your clit, another finger now fucking into you. “So sweet. Taste so good for me.” she hummed, lapping at your cunt like a woman starved.

Your fingers tangled on her hair when her own curled and hit your g spot, making you loudly moan and ground yourself on her face. “Right there, hm?” she teased, curling them again and leaving you unable to snap back. You were dumb on her fingers and tongue, on the pleasure she brought you with just her single touch.

You recognized the warmth that was building up on your lower stomach, how close you seemed to be to come undone for her. Your thighs trembled and she sucked harder on your clit, making you moan.

“Ellie, I’m gonna-“ a gasp left you mid-sentence, making her chuckle.

“You gonna cum, baby? Gonna cum all over my face, hm?” you moaned, nodding.

“Yes, fuck, yes. So close…” you cried out, rocking your hips against her face as the knot grew tighter. “I’m cumming, fuck!”

You let out a pornographic moan as you came all over her face, waves of pleasure hitting you as she helped you rode it out, hungrily lapping at your juices, not wanting to let any of it go to waste.

She was impossibly turned on, in need to touch you more, to hear you moan and scream her name more…

“I need to fuck you, shit. Can I fuck you baby? Gonna be good for me and help me cum too?” you nodded.

“Yes, yes, please, Ellie…” you whimpered, eyes widening when she took you in between her arms and quickly walked towards your bedroom, throwing you onto the mattress. You knew Ellie was strong, but fuck if that wasn’t the hottest thing you had ever experienced in your whole life.

“You’re dribbling a little bit there, princess.” she mocked you as she tugged her white tank top off, her beautiful and perfect tits making you almost moan. She was so fucking hot. “Why don’t you take your clothes off for me, hm?” she asked, and you followed. “That’s it. Atta girl.” you whimpered and she was back on top of you, smirking. “Aw, does my girl like it when I praise her, hm? You like being my good girl, don’t you baby?” you nodded, eyes on her now naked thighs and cunt. God, the things you’d do to return Ellie the favor and lay in between her legs.

You moaned when her hands cupped your breasts, mouth latching to your right nipple as the other got pinched and teased by her fingers.

“You look so beautiful just like this, all ready and needy for me to fuck…” you whined, your hips bucking against hers as she pulled from your thighs. Her cunt was dangerously close to yours, and you were dripping in need to feel her. For her to fuck you.

“Shit Ellie, please… Fuck me. Fuck me please.” you pleaded, your bones aching for her.

“Look at you. Asking so nice to make a mess out of you… So cute…” she muttered against your lips, and your back arched when she thrusted against your cunt, clits bumping together. She groaned and you moaned, whole body shivering as she started to rock her hips against yours, gushing and slick sounds coming from your cunts filling the room and making your cheeks grow pink. “That’s it, you feel so fucking good…” she moaned, and you gasped. You needed to hear her moans again, though you feared that if you did, you’d come faster than you’d ever before.

Your hands unconsciously travelled to her hips, pushing her closer, harder against your pussy, making your moans grow louder and louder as her speed caught up.

“Good girl. Shit, you’re gonna make me cum so fucking hard…” she cursed, kissing your neck, playing with your tits…

“Ellie…” you sobbed. “ ‘M close!”

“You close baby? Gonna cum for me? Gonna give me one more, hm? Go ahead, be a good girl for me and come. Let me have it.” she didn’t have to ask twice, with one last thrust against your clit, your back arched in pleasure, moans loud and non-stopping as you came. Your vision turned white for a moment, your hears ringing at the increíble pleasure that seemed to have no end as she too chased her peak.

“Fuck, I’m cumming. Shit.” she panted, moaning and coming all over your sticky folds, nails digging on your thighs as she rode it out, hearing your moans and calls of pleasure.

You whimpered when the overstimulation became too much, and she let go of you, a string of cum connecting your cunts as she pulled away. You almost moaned at the sight.

You looked into her eyes, and that’s when it hit you that you had forgotten one of the most important dealer rules; Never get too hooked up on drugs.

And Ellie Williams was a hard one.

＊＊＊＊

a/n; hope you liked it <3 i missed writing for cop Ellie!

here’s the link to the tag to find my masterlists! since tumblr seems to be having problems with the links on my masterlist pinned post <3

xxxxx

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tanglepelt · 1 year

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Dp x dc idea thing. 44

Someone says the forbidden words. I wish. Now it was a child’s wish. I wish we all were with our familles. One meant to be nice.

A ghost attack had caused the collapse of a roof. The child was just happened to be in a room with the trio. Danny hadn’t even had the chance to transform.

As Desiree twists her wishes. The worst thing for Danny happened. You see he was adopted. After he failed a mission for the league rather then return he noped out of there. Granted the mission was set up to fail. He overheard his twin discussing it with mother.

Being adopted by two mad scientists at 6 was the biggest reason they never found out he survived. The Fentons were astonished by his story. Helped hide him and forged new papers. Quickly accepting him as their own son. The family had no social media presence minus the Fentonwork site, no mentions of children.

Rather then be returned to the Fentons a green portal dumped him in the middle of a grand dinning room. A ton of blue eyed black haired people eating dinner. The one that stood out was the one with green eyes.

Nope.

No way

Well then the green eyed one lunges at him.

Okay maybe.

When he starts yelling about impersonating his dead twin. How dare grandfather clone him. Honestly he wasn’t listening until he spoke of killing all the other clones.

Yup. That was Damian.

If vlad could make clones he has no doubt grandfather could. For all he knows vlad could have handed the info over to him for some of the rancid ectoplasm they had at the base.

He knew the truth now.

The Lazarus pits was just remnants from the river of revulsion. It’s a wonder they brought anyone back.

Honestly Damian charging him was a pain. Danny didn’t even know how his twin suddenly had a sword. Getting cut was enough of that. This was a dinning room not a training room. He was just going to have to dine and dash.

He really needs to thank jazz and sam for getting him back into physical training. He enjoyed not worrying about it 24/7. Then the whole dying had to happen. As such he got back into it. This was starting to tire him out.

From the lack of people getting out of the way. They must be used to this chaos. The look in there eyes indicated they were going to get involved. Honestly he’d rather not.

Realistically he doesn’t think Damian would be able to find him. The fentons and then tucker have helped to conceal him. By all accounts his past life never existed. Only Daniel Fenton did. Amity was a nowhere town mostly hidden by the government anyways. The whole ghost thing was meant to stay secret.

They didn’t want people poking around there.

Danny was aware it just helped hide him so why expose it. Tucker sam and jazz knew. They all could bypass it.

With a sigh and a wave of his hand he froze them in place.

“Let all just cool down here. Damian i have and had no intentions of ever seeing you again. But genies like to twist wishes unfortunately. Desiree just had to screw me over specifically to get me out of town.”

“For all i care keep your title as heir, I’m much happier playing dead. I’m already half way there. Don’t look for me. You get to be the superior twin”

“No need for late night plots on how to kill me or prove yourself. Enjoy. I have friends and family to get back to.”

With a snap of his finger a green portal opened in front of Danny.

“The ice will disappear in five minutes or so. If i remember to unfreeze it” grabbing one of the rolls on the table. Danny left through the portal.

What Danny didn’t know was his twin had been trying to find ways around the botched mission. Grandfather has only wanted one heir. Easiest way to get that was to dispose of the youngest.

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phoenixsbby · 2 years

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From Here On Out - Hangman x WSO!reader

summary: returning home after your crash means facing the reality of your new relationship with Hangman

readers callsign is ‘bluejay’

WC: 4.7k

a/n: our favorite WSO (sorry Bob/Fanboy) is back!!! yes, this is a part 2 to All This Time

warnings: SMUTTTT, swearing, Simp Seresin™

Two weeks. 14 days. 20,160 minutes. An exact measure of how long it’s been since you were rescued from enemy territory. The same exact measure of how long it’s been since you last saw Hangman. The same exact amount of time that’s passed since you and Hangman kissed.

The thing is, you weren’t actively trying to avoid seeing him ... at first.

The day after you were brought back to base, you woke up feeling like you hadn’t survived the crash after all. Your entire body was sore, you were too cold then too hot and your lungs felt like they were crumpling up further inside you with every breath you took. A quick trip to the medic confirmed it, you had pneumonia.

Debriefing your mission would have to wait, your first order of business directly from the Admiral was to rest. And rest, you did. For an entire week, you stayed home, slept, and binge watched too many bad movies to count. By the time you felt better, you’d never been more ready to get out of your house and back in the sky.

After only one day apart from Hangman, you missed him. The proximity you shared on the mountain was like a drug that was too quickly flushed out of your system. You craved those feelings, the warmth, comfort, and safety, immediately once they were gone. Then you were gifted time to brew with the idea of it, reuniting. And suddenly, the idea started to morph into something else entirely - it terrified you.

What if everything Hangman had said to you on that mountain was a lie?

In the cold, our blood vessels constrict which means the normal amount of blood that typically reaches important organs such as the brain, doesn’t. Maybe the weather had pushed him to say those things, maybe he wasn’t thinking straight or needed to convince you he felt something for you when in reality, he just needed your warmth to survive. Now that the blood returned to its rightful place, maybe he won’t feel the same.

So instead of talking these worries out like the mature adult you are, you’ve been dodging him.

The first time you see him after the crash is the same day you’re back on base after being cleared to fly again. The anticipation of returning to the backseat of your jet and possibly seeing Hangman had been vibrating deep in your bones, making you jittery. The minute you step foot in the cafeteria to grab breakfast and see the unmistakeable dirty blonde hair on the back of Hangman’s head, you hide. You literally duck behind the corner of the wall and hold your breath.

A few people give you strange glances as they flow in and out but, luckily no one you recognize catches you. You can practically picture the look Phoenix would give you if she saw you now; arms crossed, a crooked smirk, one eyebrow raised. Busted. You wait there an unreasonable amount of time before your stomach growls, protesting loudly against your wimpy behavior.

You aren’t sure which is due to kill your first; your hunger or your fear of rejection.

You know you need to eat before reporting to your superior to get started for the day, fuel is as important for the pilot as it is for the jet. And you only have 15 minutes left at this point. Swallowing your pride, you peak around the corner and breath a sigh of relief when you see Hangman is no longer siting at the table. With a quick scan around the rest of the cafe and with no Hangman in sight, you finally leave your perch to get some much needed food.

You’re pathetic and you know it. But at least now you can be pathetic and full.

You saunter up the buffet and pile your plate high with all the eggs and bacon that can fit. You audibly groan when there aren’t any strawberries left in the fruit bowl - you suppose you deserve that for being such a coward.

You take the seat next to Bob, in the same seat once occupied by Hangman, and instantly start chowing down.

“Hi, Blue.” Bob greets you. You’re so hungry all the sudden, your intense focus on getting as much food in your mouth can’t be shaken by his presence. You grunt in response, mouth full and getting fuller by the second.

“Hangman left this for you.”

“Hm?” You hum and finally take your eyes off of the plate in front of you to look over. You meet Bobs eye and he motions to the table. You glance down and freeze mid-chew.

A bowl of strawberries.

Hangman left you a bowl of strawberries.

“Seemed like he was really looking forward to seeing you.” You feel the heat rush to your cheeks at the mere idea of it, Hangman waiting for you, eager to see you.

When you look up to Bob again, he’s smirking. You roll your eyes and shove him in the arm playfully before reaching into the bowl and taking a big bite of the ripe fruit.

— —

In the following few days, you really weren’t intentionally dodging Hangman, your schedules naturally fell into opposing rhythms. He’d be in the air while you were assigned a briefing, you’d be in the backseat of a jet while he was taking his lunch break. And by the time the days came to an end, you were too exhausted, still recovering from pneumonia to even think about being anywhere after work other than your bed.

The distance between you and Hangman lasted until one sweltering California day. The AC in the base must have been broken, the rec room was so hot and muggy, you thought you might suffocate. The warmth was practically lulling you to sleep as you waited for your turn to go up for training.

You’re basically nodding off when you feel a hand rest on your shoulder, gently shaking you back into the land of the living. You look up, connect your eyes to Nat’s and take in her grin directed down at you.

“Did you hear about Hangman?”

Suddenly, you’re not tired at all, a giant spike in your heart rate has you straightening up on the couch. Who needs coffee when you have adrenaline suddenly coursing through you?

“What about him? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Great, actually. He’s being promoted. To Captain.”

Holy shit. Hangman’s being promoted. He would officially become Captain Jake Seresin.

He deserves this, he’s an amazing pilot and is becoming a great leader. Being Captain was something Jake has always wanted and suddenly, you want nothing more than to see him despite your raging fear that nothing will come of your mountain side confessions. It doesn’t matter anymore, you’d take that rejection if meant you got to witness how happy you know he must be.

When training exercises are over, you start roaming the halls aimlessly until you find him. The base was eerily quiet, like everyone had cleared out just for you and Hangman to have this moment together. Similar to the first time you saw him when you returned to base, his back is to you when you find him but there he is, unmistakable, you think you’d recognize him anywhere.

“Captain!” You call out from down the hall. He immediately spins around, most likely at the sound of your voice rather than his new title. Regardless of why he turns so quickly, his grin is as bright as ever.

At first, you walk at a normal pace toward him, trying to act causal like his presence even from a few hundred feet away isn’t sending your heart into a tailspin. But then you remember what it felt like to be held by him, to have his arms wrapped so tightly around you and to feel warm and secure and happy. Then your pace quickens, your footsteps are moving faster and faster with the need to close this gap between you.

You’re outright jogging by the time you reach him. You throw your arms around his neck and practically jump on him, pulling an ‘oof’ out of him when your body comes in contact with his. His arms instantly wrap around you, holding you firmly against him and yeah, why did you avoid this for so long?

Being in his arms feels so good and so right.

His laughter comes out muffled against your hair and your shoulder, you can feel the vibrations of it radiate from his chest against yours.

“Congratulations.” You say, the sound of your voice coming out as suppressed as his laugh.

“If I knew being promoted was all it took to see you, I would have told people a lot sooner.” He says as he pulls away a bit, just enough to look down at you. You feel the heat prickle in your cheeks, slightly embarrassed thinking back on your behavior. By the way he’s holding you, it’s clear the weather had no effect on what he’d said on the mountain, he meant every word.

“I’m sorry.” You groan and hide your face in your hands. “I’m an idiot.” He laughs before gripping your wrists and pulling your hands away.

“Yeah but, at least you’re my idiot.” You scoff and give him a frisky shove in the chest. You’re still close, faces only inches apart.

“I thought,” You swallow thickly, here goes nothing “maybe you’d change your mind. You know, once your body temperature was regulated and the blood made it back to your brain.” You try to chuckle though, it comes out faint.

“Nope.” He grins, soft and sweet. “I’m warmed up and still, I feel it all.”

“Thank god.” You mutter before connecting your mouth to his. You feel him smile against your lips before moving his in perfect rhythm with yours, like this isn’t just your second kiss but something you’ve been sharing forever. The kiss is slow and conservative but drips with passion and an understanding that this is only the beginning.

You pull back slightly, a thought suddenly popping into your head. “Wait, I’m technically kissing my superior. Is that allowed?”

“Who cares?” Jake replies, eyes still shut, lips still slightly pursed, before reattaching your lips.

Conservative is not the word you would use to describe this second kiss. From the minute your mouths are pressed back together, Hangman’s tracing his tongue along your bottom lip, begging for entrance. You deepen the kiss and let his tongue explore your mouth while his hands roam your body. Your core temperature skyrockets past baseline and you’d love nothing more to peel the flight suit off your body to burn Jake’s palms with the heat of your skin. It's clear he wants it too by the way he contours your hips, down your backs then back up, across your neck, he needs every part of you as much as you need every part of him.

You’re suddenly accurately aware that you’re in the middle of a military base when his teeth naw into your bottom lip, pulling a shameless moan from the back of your throat. He lets out a deep, husky, chuckle as he breaks away from the kiss.

“So, Cap, any plans tonight to memorialize your big promotion?” You keep your bodies close and fiddle with the collar of his g-suit.

“People are getting together at the Hard Deck, I think. My plan was to swing by,” He traces the pad of his thumb across your jaw, leaving sparks of electricity in the wake of his touch. “shamelessly hoping to run into you.”

“Well if you aren’t set on that plan, I’d love to do something for you. To celebrate and well ... make up for lost time.” You bite your lip as Hangmans fingers dig deeper into your hips.

“Say when and where and I’m there.”

“My place at 7? I’ll cook for you. But, we’re keeping it casual. I’m a Weapon Systems Officer, not a professional chef. “

— —

You’re halfway through cooking dinner for you and Jake when you hear your doorbell ring. Your eyes flicker to the clock: 6:38 pm.

When you open the door, you fight back against the seize of your heart that threatens to kill you at the sight of Hangman in a henley and sweats, holding a bottle of wine.

“You’re early.” You raise your eyebrows and smile regardless.

He shrugs, “Haven’t you made me wait long enough?” He grins as you roll your eyes and grip him by the shirt, tugging him past the threshold of your door.

“Well, early admission isn’t free.” You lead him to the kitchen and hand him the spoon you were using the mix the sauce. “I’m putting you to work.”

“You can work me all you want, baby.” He winks and you let out a noise somewhere in between a laugh and a groan before guiding his hand with the spoon to start stirring. You work in tandem while swapping stories about growing up and your years in the academy. You laugh and flirt until your entire house smells like roasted garlic and rosemary and you’ve had one too many glasses of that wine.

When the food’s ready, you eat tucked close to each other, bodies always touching in some way, in your small breakfast nook. You share more pieces of yourselves and by the time the food’s gone, you feel like you’ve known him your whole life. Not just Captain Seresin, or Hangman, you feel like you really know Jake and have never wanted him more, flaws and all.

“Growing up in my house, we had a rule,” He says as he stands up, clearing your plates off of the table “whoever doesn’t cook, cleans. So let me handle this.” You bite your lip to stop from grinning too wide, you’re worried if you do the grin may be stuck on your face forever.

“I can’t let you do that, you’re my guest.” He raises an eyebrow and doesn’t budge. “At least let me help. We’ll tag team it.”

“Need I remind you what happened last time we were put on a team?”

“Hey!” You laugh and stand up. “We made it out okay, didn’t we?” You rest your hands over his on the stack of plates and hold his gaze, basking in the way his eyes sparkle down on you.

“That we did, m’love. That we did.”

After a small game of tug of war with the dishes and putting on the cutest, softest puppy dog face you can conjure, you end up working together. He washes, you dry and put away. You work flawlessly together, again, like you’ve been at this for years.

When the last plate is put away, Jake places his hands on your hips and turns you to face him. The dim light in the kitchen casts everything in a soft, amber glow, one that highlights the sheen of Jakes skin and the specks of gold in his eyes. Wordlessly, he pulls you closer and closer until he can connect your lips together, the kiss thick with passion and sweet like honey. There’s lingering hints of pasta sauce and red wine on his tongue, you’re sure you could get drunk on his taste alone.

You loosen your jaw and let him run his tongue along your bottom lip before swirling it with yours. You know where you want this to go and you start to feel like he feels the same when he pulls away and nips and sucks his was down your jaw and neck, still pulling and pushing, grabbing and tugging at your clothes the way he did on the mountain.

You half expect a helicopter to pull you apart again but, there are no interruptions coming this time. If you want all of it, you can have it. The question is, does he?

“Tell me what you want, Captain.” Your request comes out breathy and drawn out as an effect of his lips and his tongue dragging across all the sensitive spots of your neck.

He freezes momentarily against you before dragging a hand through your hair to cradle the back of your head. He tugs gently at your roots, making sure you’re looking him directly in the eye. His once sea glass green eyes have turned dark like a forest, blackened by the size of his pupils.

“You know,” he inches his face closer “once I take you to the bedroom and get you moaning that title, I’m never not going to be turned on when you say it at work.”

“Good.” You smirk, nudging your nose against his. “Maybe I want you to always be thinking about it. Maybe I want your mind to constantly be on me.”

“Already is, trust me.” His eyes flutter shut momentarily before they reopen only half way. “Do you remember what I said about how long I’ve thought about this, about your skin?” He pushes a hand up your shirt, tracing dizzyingly slow lines across the waistline of your pants. You nod pathetically fast, begging him with your body to dip his hand down just a bit lower.

“I need to taste it, to taste you. All of you. Can I?” His hooks his thumbs into the waistband of your pants and stills, waiting for the go ahead to take you apart.

“Yes. God, yes” You all but moan. He tugs and in one fluid motion, your pants are down by your ankles and across the room.

“You want to do this in the kitchen?” You release a weak chuckle while he runs his hands back and forth over the bare skin of your upper thighs.

“Is that a problem?” He pushes the hem of your shirt up slowly, again waiting for your confirmation.

“No, sir.” You bite your lip at the way he flushes a deep red. Next thing you know, your shirt has joined your pants on the floor and you’re bare in front of him. All parts of your mind, body, and soul are suddenly screaming for this man.

You contemplated for some time about whether or not you should forego wearing undergarments tonight. You figured the two of you would be frantically ripping each others clothes off and couldn’t be bothered with pesky layers slowing you down. However, this is anything but frenzied. It’s not hectic, the way he touches you, it’s measured and fervent, like he needs to touch every inch of your exposed skin and commit it to memory.

He’s starved, ravenous for your body but instead of diving straight in, he plans to savor the taste of it, of you.

“You’re gorgeous.” His thumbs trace half moons along the skin under your breasts, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “So perfect.” He tips your chin up and lays one more burning kiss against your lips before getting down on his knees in front of you. You have to fight every instinct you have to drop your jaw at the sight of it, at him kneeling in front of you like you are his alter and he’s about to prove his devotion.

His hands drag their way across your stomach and down your hips before they reach the top of your thighs. He hitches one of your legs over his shoulder, spreading you open wider for him. You should feel embarrassed, timid maybe. But like everything else that you’ve experienced with him tonight, you feel nothing but comfortable.

When his lips connect with your hip, as they trace lazy, wet kisses across the span of your naked skin, you whimper. He keeps one hand wrapped firmly around the leg perched on his shoulder, digging his fingertips deeper into your flesh after each sound he coaxes from you. His other hand drags across your inner thigh before it dips down, skimming over your already soaked core. You involuntarily jerk against him and feel the grin that forms across his lips press harder into your skin.

He’s methodical in the way he touches you, exactly where and how you need him to. You aren’t surprised it’s no different from the way he flies, with confidence and precision that ensures nothing but success.

A deeply rooted sound of pure pleasure falls from your lips when his mouth finally meets your clit, the feeling of his warm tongue and vibrations of his own groan stimulating you in a way you never knew you’d needed. The way his tongue works you is mind bending, your body chemistry will forever be altered after this experience. You will no longer be just a WSO harboring a crush on a fellow pilot, you will be a WSO who came against the mouth of her superior, Captain Jake Serein, in record time, naked in her kitchen.

“Oh my god, Jake.” You cry and let your head fall back and meet the wall behind you with a thud as you shudder, as all the muscles below your belly button lock and throb.

“I know, baby, I know.” He mutters into you, kneading at your thighs and peppering light kisses on and around your clit as you come down.

You grip his shoulders hard and pull him up the second you regain feeling in your limbs, satisfied but no where near satisfied enough. The sight of a small spot of yourself still glistening on his chin and the tangy sweetness of your own taste still lingering on his tongue when you kiss him has more searing hit ripping through you.

He wraps his arms around you and hoists you up, letting you guide him to your room before he places you on the edge of your bed. With you sitting and him still standing, you’re perfectly aligned with his lower half, your field of vision is filled with his bulge pressing tightly against the material of his sweatpants. You’re desperate to make him feel as good as he did you, he deserves that. You reach out, letting your palm press and rock against his cock until he groans.

He hooks a finger under your chin and lifts you head up so you’re looking at him through fluttering lashes. He brushes some lingering hair off of your forehead, away from your face so he can see all of you sitting pretty below him.

“What can I do for you, Captain?” You ask as he drags the pad of his thumb over your bottom lip.

“Fuck.” He releases a hoarse chuckle that settles directly in your core, leaving you more soaked than before. “I want this mouth wrapped around me so bad. But, I know I won’t last and I need to be inside you.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” You fist his shirt in your hands before pulling him over you and wrapping your legs around his waist, needing his hips flush against yours, needing his lips to be devour your own. You bunch up his shirt and pull at it up and over his head. You take your time exploring his bare chest and stomach, the way he did with yours, letting your hands skim over every inch of his soft skin, over every dip and ridge of his hard muscles.

You yank at the waistband of his sweats until they’re dropped low below his hips and he takes over, then they’re on the floor and you’re both bare, open to each other in every way a person can be.

“I know you typically like to be the one in control,” You don’t let him hover back over you. Instead, you kneel on the bed and motion for him to sit down “but, I thought maybe I could be the one in the front seat this time.”

You push him back until his body meets the headboard then you straddle him, pressing your inner thighs against the outer flesh of his.

“Sweetheart, when you’re like this,” he runs a hand up your thigh before dropping it low into your folds and stroking your swollen clit “dripping wet, all for me ... I’ll do anything you want me to.”

“I’ll remember that.” You gasp as his fingers draw tight circles against you.

He kisses down the valley of your breasts as you align his tip over your entrance, already begging and sucking him into you slightly. He grunts against your skin at the feel of your slickness, the way you’re desperate for him.

When you do sink down, adjusting to his length, you think you’ve done everything up until this moment right. All that time spent with you two bickering instead of simply talking, scowling instead of smiling, it didn’t matter. You’d do it all again if it meant you ended up here, on top of him, while he holds onto you like you’re the the life line he needs to survive.

“Oh, Jake.” You moan as your hips move on their own accord, instinctually grinding and bobbing to chase the alluring high you feel building inside you. By the way he lets his head fall back and moans your name, you can tell if feels as good for him as it does for you. And that fuels you, to know you can break him down to a whimpering mess below you.

“I didn’t think you could be anymore perfect.” He says, voice strained and gravelly. “But, the way you fit me just right. Baby.” He groans, digging his fingers into your hips so tightly you’re sure they’ll bruise. You’re tormenting him, the way your rocking your hips is driving him absolutely mad and the sight of a thin layer of sweat gathering, glowing against your skin ...

If he doesn’t gain some control soon, he may just die.

The cries and moans are spilling from your lips without your control, like a pipe inside you has burst.

“Y/N.” Jake drags a hand through your hair and pulls you to look at him. “I need-“

You don’t let him finish, you don’t have to because you know exactly what he’s going to say. You want him to take over too. This pleasure that’s shooting through you has your once solid form turning into liquid, making it hard to continue. You nod and let him flip you on your back. Suddenly, he’s thrusting into you with such speed and power that your eyes start to roll into the back of your skull.

He tucks his face into the crook of your neck, sucking it, kissing it, moaning your name into it like he needs you to understand how crazy the sensation of being buried inside you makes him.

When he pushes himself up straighter, when he wraps your legs around him and pulls you further onto him, when he digs his nails into your skin and his eyes glaze over, you know what’s coming. You move your fingers down to your own clit only to have them shoved away and replaced by Jakes. That’s all you need to be seeing stars, to feel a burning, white hot flash of pleasure overcome you. He pushes over the edge, you push him back and for a blissful moment, the truest thing in the world is the way you need each other.

You’re panting into his mouth by the the time you feel yourself come back to your own body, with Jakes sweaty chest pressed against you and his lips connected to yours. When he pulls away and looks into your eyes, you see a promise of infinite potential, something so exciting and hopeful that digs its way into your chest and thrums like a jet engine.

“From here on out,” he laces his fingers with yours, pushing your hands above your head “it’s you and me.” And you wholeheartedly agree. From this point on, there will never be a part of you that exists without him. He’s burrowed himself into your skin and made a home there. You’d have it no other way.

You smile, “You and me.”

— —

#hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #hangman fic #jake 'hangman' seresin fic #jake 'hangman' seresin #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick fanfiction #hangman fanfiction #jake seresin fanfiction #top gun: maverick #top gun: maverick fanfiction #jake seresin fic

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birdiesaves · 1 month

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THE MARTIAN ( novel by andy weir ) change as necessary !

mankind reaching out to send people to another planet for the very first time and expand the horizons of humanity blah, blah, blah.

i’m pretty much fucked.

they got the parades and fame and love of the world, i got a firm handshake and a hot cup of coffee when i got home.

i would only be “in command” of the mission if i were the only remaining person.

what do you know? i’m in command.

it wasn’t your fault. you did what you had to do.

in your position i would have done the same thing.

it was a ridiculous sequence of events that led to me almost dying.

everyone thinks i’m dead.

ok, i’ve had a good night’s sleep, and things don’t seem as hopeless as they did yesterday.

i won’t be able to whip something up with tinfoil and gum.

fear my botany powers!

but hey, time is the one thing i’ve got.

i wonder if they'll ever find out what really happened.

i’ll spare you the math. the answer is _________

bleh. i’m going to bed

my life depends on you

i played a lot of dungeons and dragons.

i have an idiotically dangerous plan

i suppose i’ll think of something. or die.

the answer is: i don’t know.

all i accomplished today was thinking up a plan that’ll kill me

also, i have duct tape.

after a search of everyone’s personal items i found my answer.

that was sarcasm, by the way.

this all sounds like a great idea with no chance of catastrophic failure.

do you have any idea the magnitude of shitstorm this is gonna be?

how come aquaman can control whales? they’re mammals!

i expected it to be cold, but jesus christ!

now, on to my next task: sitting around with nothing to do for 12 hours.

i ask for a picture and i get the fonz?

the whole world’s been rooting for you.

really looking forward to not dying.

please watch your language.

sorry we left you behind, but we don't like you.

you're sort of a smart-ass.

your request for “anything, oh god anything but disco” is denied.

no. you’ll fuck it up and die.

i took it apart, found the problem, and fixed it.

i don’t see anything... i can hear it, but... it’s down here somewhere, but i don’t know where.

the subtle and refined “hurl my body at the wall” technique had some flaws.

named after the greek goddess who traveled the heavens with the speed of wind. she's also the goddess of rainbows.

i'm not giving up. just planning for every outcome. it's what i do.

your poster outsold the rest of ours combined.

why are you such a nerd?

you should try to be more cool. wear dark glasses and a leather jacket. carry a switchblade.

you started my training by buying me a beer.

so now i have to do boring-ass experiments with test tubes and zzzzzzzzzz....

frankly, i suspect you're a super villain.

just once i'd like something to go to plan, ya know?

no? ok... what was that!? oh, nothing? ok...

for now i just want to go home.

there's always hope

are we just watching a tragedy play out?

you’ll survive this. i don't know how, but you will.

i've defiled enough historical sites for now.

tomorrow night, i'll sink to an all new low!

tomorrow night, i'll be at rock bottom!

be a smart-ass to a guy seven levels above you. see how that works out.

i remember when you were shy

the attitude comes with the job

and by “enjoying” i mean “hating so much i want to kill people.”

there aren't many people who can say they've vandalized a three billion dollar spacecraft. but i'm one of them.

what's our role in all this? if something goes wrong, what can we do?

how do you come up with this shit?

i admit it's fatally dangerous, but consider this: i'd get to fly around like iron man.

i need you to come back in and make a bomb.

i knew that guy was a mad scientist!

i think we should just go with my iron man idea.

well if you won't let us then- wait... wait a minute... i'm looking at my shoulder patch and it turns out i'm the commander.

give me a minute. you're the first person i've seen in ______.

i think about the sheer number of people who pulled together just to save my sorry ass, and i can barely comprehend it.

i represent progress, science, and the interplanetary future we’ve dreamed of for centuries.

they did it because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. it might not seem that way sometimes, but it’s true.

yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.

#space memes #space rp memes #rp starters #rp memes #rp prompt #roleplay inbox prompts #roleplay meme #feel free to reblog and share!

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queerism1969 · 2 years

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Condoms, what you need to know

Make sure that you use condoms that are the right ones for your penis. It is a good idea to measure your penis.

Condom too big? Chances are it'll slide off during sex and end up in your partner. This is mostly not dangerous, but it's everything but sexy and it'll ruin the mood quite a bit.

Condom too small? It'll have a chance of tearing open when it... Starts to fill up.

Does a condom hurt? If the rim breaks, your Penis is big, the condom is small. If your glands hurt the condom is small. Essentially condoms don't hurt, if they do they are the wrong brand for you.

Condom itches? You might be allergic to latex... Take it off, don't finish. Sex is nice, but having a healthy working penis is better.

Condom breaks? Breaks at the bottom (rim), the condom is too small or you have sex too furiously. Breaks at the top, you pulled it down too far or it's too small. Breaks anywhere else, the wrong brand, and never buy again. Top "explodes" because your condom is filled with air.

Condoms do not survive long in your pocket or wallet, heat will break down the latex bonds. This means the condom can break or possibly leak. Store condoms safely. Dark and cold if possible, never in direct sunlight.

Buying condoms can be hard if you are a teenager or otherwise a bit prudish. But always know that one condom is cheaper than 18 years of raising a child.

"Skin-tight non-feel, invisible condom..." Sucks. You look at them wrong, they break. And it still feels as if you are wearing a condom. Go for the real stuff, Durex or Trojan or whatever exists where you live. I once had someone tell me "a good condom is one you can put your hand in up until your elbow without it breaking"

"Condoms break? But I filled it with 20 liters of water without it exploding when I threw it at Phil". Condoms do break, most often from friction, which there is more of if the size doesn't fit your penis. There is very little friction when filling a condom with water in a tub... But when you use a condom too small and go in a bit to dry... Things end badly for many reasons. Condoms are great but so if caring for your partner's needs.

As your local pharmacists for help, or if that's too hard or embarrassing, just take a stroll down google and find a condom supplier, these sites often have much more information

Only using one condom. No doubling up

If you put the wrong side on the head of your penis first, throw it away. Do not flip it and use it because you've coated the part that's about to be closest to the cervix in pre cum

Hold the condom when you're pulling out after you finish. It can slip off and spill

Pinching the tip as you put it on so there's a reservoir. Not just for volume but because semen comes out fast and needs a little leeway not to break the end

Do not open the package with your teeth trying to be sexy

Always provide your own condoms with a new partner, don't trust someone else to properly store the condom or not mess with it in some way

consent with a condom DOES NOT mean consent without a condom.

Female condoms are a thing. You can insert them ahead of time, your partner will not know you have them in use.

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avocado-writing · 2 years

Note

1. I love your writing it’s amazing!!! Ilyyy/p ❤️

2. Are your short sfw requests still open? If so are you okay with writing one for Ladybug? One where he and the reader (code name Cherry/Cherry Bomb) are both in the train during the time when it crashes and in a moment of panic they both just hug each other and hope they survive it (before they both fall together into that giant momomon plushie thing like in the movie) afterwards the reader is like: “how the fuck did we survive this?” Ladybug: “just lucky ig”

🥺 ilu2!

I don't really write for Ladybug (or give reader codenames, actually) so I kept this one short! Hope it hits the spot!

Rated M for Sexual References (thank u vvalliu for the gif!)

Well, with his fucking luck, you would end up in this situation.

It’s his first job back so they paired you up together. Wanted someone to keep an eye on him because he’s been acting differently, apparently. You drew the short straw and were stuck with babysitting duty.

“Come on, Maria. Don’t make me do it,” you’d whined down the phone. Your handler had given you a gentle tut.

“It’s one job. Be pleased it’s not with Carver.”

Admittedly, you are pleased with that. Carver is a dick. But Ladybug - at least, that’s what they’re calling him nowadays - didn’t turn out to be much better. With a stupid laid-back attitude and an even stupider hat, you’d found yourself grinding your teeth at his greeting.

“Hey! Cherry Bomb, I’ve not seen you for ages!”

“Just CB is fine.”

“Why’d you need a nickname… when you already have a nickname?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing under those ridiculous glasses.

“It’s a codename, not a nickname. Can we just get on the train, please?”

The old Ladybug might have bickered back and, secretly, you would have enjoyed it. But this new one just shrugs and acquiesces.

Snatch and grab.

Should have been easy. Of course it wasn’t. Assassins running up and down the train like no man’s business. Too many of you to be coincidental, all the while Ladybug’s bad luck dragging you deeper into the dirt. You’re sort of annoyed at him but know, realistically, that luck doesn’t exist. Doesn’t make it any easier to fight off a snake when it’s trying to bite you in the goddamn eyeball, though.

But through it all you can’t deny you’re… looking.

He’s attractive, that’s undeniable. Always has been, even back in the old days before he got that mature suaveness. Those arms, that hair. And he’s also kind of… nice. Which is a rare thing in this business. And you feel yourself soften to his new unwitting charm, smiling more than you frown, despite the circumstances.

Then, well, the train sort of explodes.

Which, yeah, why wouldn’t it? Why wouldn’t a train with Ladybug on it explode? And as you’re there, flying through the debris, you see him open his arms to you, as if in slow-motion.

You let yourself fall into him, feel him pull you flush to his body, scrunch your eyes shut so hard they hurt.

In his arms? It’s not a bad way to go.

Then… something soft. It still hurts, of course, but the softness is a surprise. And when you finally get the sense to look around you’re still very much alive. In the middle of a crash site and in pain, but alive. Ladybug is on top of you, having landed with one of his knees between your legs and his body resting on yours. You might have pushed him off of you if adrenaline wasn’t coursing through your veins.

His hair flops over his face, tickling your own. He’s close. Very close.

“How did we get outta that one?” he mutters.

“Just lucky, I guess,” you breathe back, and drag him down to kiss you. He tastes like smoke and blood and fuck, if it isn’t just perfect. You press your hips up into him and watch his eyebrows skyrocket.

A gun is fired into the air behind you. The two of you look over, and spot the White Death, clinging to life, abhorrent fury on his face at the sight of the two of you choosing now to kiss.

“Can you give me like, two minutes, bro? I’ve been waiting for this forever.”

And you burst into laughter, and despite everything, he kisses you again.

#ladybug x reader #ladybug bullet train x reader #ladybut bullet train #bullet train x reader #answered #request

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falcor-thee-luck-dragon · 9 months

Text

Of Monsters and Men

The Witcher Season 3

Chapter 1 - Shaerrawedd

Summery: Constantly on the run to protect Ciri’s life. You, Geralt, and Yennefer face deadly foes while trying to keep the peace between the three of you.

Warning: fighting, blood

Of Monsters and Men masterlist

They came for her again last night in the hills by the water. Before that, a few weeks past with some guards and a man with glasses. Some professor. All of them hired by that fire mage, Reince. The reason your traveling party hasn't been able to take a rest for longer then a week at a time.

You'd left Kaer Morhen a time ago with Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer. Jaskier choosing to go his own way for awhile, concerned about his safety and wellbeing and all that. Understandable. So the four of you left, traveling with the intention of living somewhere for as long as Cirilla needed. A place where she could learn to fight and tune into her natural magical gifts.

Somewhere safe and comfortable. A home to grow and enjoy life for all that it is and can be. The place you'd help raise Ciri until she was strong enough, until she was ready to force Nilfgaard back into their den. Or become a Witcher like Geralt. Whatever her choice, she would be well prepared for it by then.

However, life refuses to make this easy for anyone. Men hunting you four always. Hiding and sneaking in the dark, a few in broad daylight, a couple on horseback. All have come to take her and kill you, Geralt, and Yennefer. All have failed. Yet these events have made Geralt all the more paranoid, more so then he's ever been.

You go through it a day at a time. Teaching Cirilla how to fight, how to hold a blade, how to survive. Yennefer teaches her magic and control of chaos. Geralt teaches her about herbs, monsters, and Witcher things. Together she's got wonderfully exceptional teachers. The best at what they do, the perfect guides for her.

You understand her urgency to grow and learn, but you also know running from place to place is wearing her out. If not now, later. She's bright and fearsome as a spring flower. She doesn't deserve to be hunted for her existence. You know all to well what that felt like, how it still feels. Hunted for what you are. Tracked ruthlessly for days on end.

This is no life for a young girl. Being on the run.

Your hand touches the rough bark of a tree as you press your body against the trunk. High up into the canopy of an evergreen, watching over the snow covered forest for any sign of a threat. The night is dark and the snow falls gently from all around you. Below is your companions camp. They're sleeping near the horses in their thick blankets and clothing. Ciri is wearing your cloak.

You can't feel the cold so your attire looks slightly out of place here. You look more prepared for the spring then this chilly winter weather. All in all, it bothers you not.

You scan the woods but see nothing of any concern. You're far enough north, you haven't seen another person in days. You stay in the tree, siting down with your back against the trunk this time. Letting your head rest pressed to the bark. The scent is an earthy one with remnants of home in the pines outside your mothers castle. There, you'd do the same as you are now. Sit and watch from a hidden point of view.

Circumstances greatly different.

Your mind wanders to the events that led you thus far in your journey since the banquet. That damned party. The place in Cintra where it all began, where destiny chose to push you on a new path. Oh so long ago. A far away memory.

Their tranquil breathing is a good sign that they're all sleep. Some nights you'd keep watch till the dark blue hour before dawn and Geralt would still be awake. Other times that would be Yennefer. Yes, your dear friend Yennefer. She is doing her best for Ciri. She is an immensely patient help to the girl. She is what Cirilla has needed for a long time.

You have been giving her a hard time anyways. You love her, you really do. She's your friend, you considered her your sister at one point due to your closeness and history. You've known one another a very long time. Longer then Geralt. Yet she had hurt you deeply.

Many moons ago she had taken whom you have grown to love and protect. The Cintran princess. Ciri. She had been tricked and deceived by Yennefer just as she did to you. All in the name of chaos. Granted, Yennefer couldn't give Ciri away when it came time for the act to be done. She did go forth with the plans to obtain the enchanted girl anyhow. And she did succeed. She took Ciri from you.

Though Geralt gives a word or two to the mage. You haven't been able to bring yourself to say anything at all. You still feel all too strange about it. Puts a bad taste in your mouth. Most notably, it's severed the trust you had built with her. You'd wished it never happened, and yet it did.

You wished there was no battle at Sodden, you wished that Yennefer never disappeared and lost her powers all at once, and you wished she never took Ciri from you. Those things cannot be undone and you understand this. Some acts are meant to happen for other things to take place. No matter if they hurt or not.

Things will be better, you know this in your heart.

Your scarlet eyes fall upon Geralt tucked warm in his dark cloak, body sleeping on a thick mat. The fire next to his head flickers with the breeze, embers glowing deep fiery colors. You can smell the burnt wood. You can smell him. An odor you could find in the largest of cities, no matter how far he went wandering. A strong man smell of earth and metal. A Witcher's scent.

Tomorrow you'll sleep in a bed. You're sure of it.

———

The day turned to gray storm clouds faster then you'd have liked, bringing wet icy-cold snow from the heavens. Every time you exhaled a puff of white was sure to follow. You could tell the winter chill was beginning to weigh heavy on the other two ladies by the time you all reached Yarpen's home.

The feisty foul mouthed dwarf you first met on the trip to kill that dragon. He welcomed you four nonetheless, though he made himself clear not to touch a thing. And that payment would be due for this unexpected arrival. He did remember you however, and he made it known to stay away from him. Joking of course. Well......you couldn't completely tell.

Fortunately he had room to spare. You, Geralt, and Ciri to one house. Yennefer to the other. You could tell she would have liked your distance to be within a few feet. And maybe a word or two. But you didn't look at her so she knew better then to join you three in the small house. You're not ready to share a conversation just yet.

A few nights passed after the first. You all finding your new home quiet suitable for the time. It's safe and warm. It's far from people and any towns. Secluded. Just how you'd prefer. Just how Geralt likes it. Just what Ciri needs.

You've talked it over with Geralt a few days back. To live here with Ciri and Yennefer until the girl is ready. Keep here through the seasons and let her grow in body and magic. Stay in this quiet place by the water and the pines. You'd like that, but you know Geralt too well.

—

The axe cuts through cold wood on the stand, two chunks of now smaller wood falls to either side. Geralt reaches down for another while you stand nearby with the letter Yennefer stuck to your door. You hold the parchment in your hand and begin. "Dear friends, we're so far off the map here that we may never leave again. Come to think of it, would that be such a bad thing? We'll continue magic lessons before the ice melts, I promise. But for now, perhaps the girl deserves a break. Perhaps you both and I do too. Your friend, Yennefer."

Geralt says nothing. You let the moment pass while he cuts another log in half. "Well?" You ask.

"Hmm?" Another log is cut.

You fold the paper, glancing over to Yennefer and Ciri ice skating together a short distance away. "You have nothing to speak of it?"

"She's trying." He grunts. Two more pieces of wood fall to the piles in the snow.

"I do agree this place is good for us, all of us. But I don't know about waiting too long for these lessons."

"She is still young."

You absentmindedly turn the paper in your hand. "So was I."

He cuts another chunk, then he gives you his full attention. "Her mother wasn't a vampire."

"But she was a queen. Just like my mother. She cannot waste time."

"She has us, do not forget that." His golden eyes shine bright with truth. "She is bound to us."

You watch the young girl smile and laugh with Yennefer, they're a sweet pair losing their footing on the slick ice. They're not very good with skates and yet they're enjoying themselves immensely. You can't help the small smile forming onto your features. "You're right. She has us and she needs laughter if she means to live to her eighteenth birthday."

"You should join them." He suggests with a kind grin.

You set your eyes back to Geralt, "Don't be ridiculous, I'd look a fool." His laughter is sweet as you kick a piece of wood, sending it sailing towards the forest. "Why don't you join them?" He holds up his axe and you flick a hand at him like you mean to swat him like a fly. "Oh shut up."

He smiles again, admiring you dearly.

———

The days pass and the snow stops falling yet it still sticks to the ground. Still keeping your boots wet and some feelings damp.

It may have taken awhile, but one evening Geralt let Yennefer in for dinner. She invited herself, but you could tell Ciri was glad to have her there, so you didn't mind. The time spent was not wasted and the meal was good, though you could not let yourself speak to her. At the end of the night all you gifted the mage was a simple good night and that was it. She smiled when she left. You looked to Geralt and he smiled at you. Giving your hand a squeeze.

A day later you said hello when passing her to hunt for deer in the woods. The next evening you invited her to dinner, well you sent Ciri to invite her. But Ciri told Yennefer you did....you were simply too busy to do it yourself. And now, much to Geralt's surprise, you're about to give Yennefer some extra wine.

You're not forgiving her, but you do miss talking to her. Geralt isn't exactly the best conversationalist of the group and Yarpen is more or less off-put by your presence. Ciri is kind but sometimes you merely want another adult woman to talk to. The horses don't care to listen. So Yennefer it is.

Your boots press into the snow covered earth as you grip the wine bottles handle. You're still uncertain of this decision but Geralt insisted it was the right choice. You are all Cirilla's parents in one way or another, so keeping ties strong should be important. You're still not sure if this is a good idea.

It's too late once you reach the thin wooden door. Just before your knuckles make impact with the wood, it opens. Surprising you, however you don't flinch. Long black hair and two exquisite lavender irises stare back at you. She smiles warmly. "Y/N." A soft, happy voice.

"Yenns." Her old nickname slips out before you can stop it.

Her smile never fades. "You need..."

"Wine." You finish. "I know you needed some more. So I brought you this." You stiffly hold up the large bottle for her to take.

"Oh?" She takes the unexpected gift. "Thank you. I did need some more."

You give a small nod, taking a step back as you mean to leave now. She's unsure of herself or what to say and you don't stick around to listen. You're halfway across the yard when she calls for you. Unlike other times, you stop and turn around.

She's still at the door with the wine bottle in her hand. "Maybe we could share this an evening?" Shaking the bottle to further promote the hopeful question. You can hear it slosh around from here, you can still smell it too. What a lovely scent. Reminds you of the vineyards in Rinde.

"Will there be dancing and music?" You jest.

She tilts her head knowingly, appreciating your light humor again. "It can be arranged."

She watches you flash a quick half grin before turning and continuing on your way. She has waited months for that, not sharing a few words with you has been almost as horrible as losing her magic. Perhaps she'll tell you that when the time is right.

———

Outdoors and crouched by the fire a short distance from the houses, you poke the burning embers with a stick as Yarpen pulls his wagon past you. His horse flicks it's tail as he shouts for it to stop. You stand and go to help unload, Geralt and Yarpen are already taking baskets off the cart by the time you reach them. Though it appears the dwarf is less satisfied with this haul.

"Wish I had more for ya, but the Squirrels hit Henselt's convoy." He says, standing on the porch, picking up a potato from a bag. "Look at these. Potatoes the size of gnome nuts."

The Squirrels, some band of thieves that keep bothering travelers.

Ciri and Yennefer join when you grab a leather bag of something smelling of old bread. "Did they attack your convoy as well?" Asks Geralt, setting a basket onto the porch.

Yarpen scoffs. "I'd like to see them fuckin' try it!" He states, leaning into the wagons side. "The elves' gripe is with the kings, not us. They're just trying to soften the North for the grand cock of Nilfgaard." He makes a little gesture with his thumb and pointer finger. Insinuating Nilfgaards cock is indeed tiny.

"Nilfgaard gave elves refuge, and now they're fighting on their behalf." Adds Yennefer while you walk past with a bag of apples, giving her one in the process. "Amazing what people will do when you give them a second chance." She muses, taking a bite to hide her smile.

Yarpen doesn't miss the subtleties. His brows furrow as he points between you two. "Hold on! You're talking to creepy eyes again?" You glare at him as he laughs. "Bout' time too. I was fearin' we'd never have Spring if you two lassies didn't lighten up. Reminds me, our Belleteyn festival is just down the valley." He turns his attention to Ciri. "You should come."

Ciri grins, excited at the thought. "I'd love to."

"Bad idea."

"It's not safe." Are promptly heard by Geralt and Yennefer just before you add. "Alright." In agreement to this lively spring gathering. A princess should have fun after all, shouldn't they?

The two of them look at you, surprised. Ciri appears rather elated. You shrug at the hesitation from the older ones. "No one's asked about her in months. Everyone will be in costume and we'll be there." They remain unconvinced. "We can handle ourselves."

"And...I was born on Belleteyn." Adds Ciri, looking between the three of you.

Yarpen grins mischievously. "Ah! You'd have had a shot at bein' May Queen. Except my niece's beard is comin' in nice and full this year. May be some competition. Hahaha..." His laughter is rapid and annoying with that accent of his, but you don't mind his enthusiasm. Geralt gives him a warning glance as he walks around him to pick up more stuff from the wagon.

"Just say yes, already!" Shouts Yarpen, irritated with Geralt's usual disapproval. "About time for a fuckin' thaw round here." He walks off to sort his things, no doubt fed up with the lack of adventure radiating off of your group.

Ciri approaches Geralt. "I promise I'll be safe." He sighs, taking his focus off of the wooden box he's about to grab from the wagon.

Taking out a bottle of wine from the box in your left arm, you casually flip it in your hand. "We may not have the grandest luck, but honestly with us so far out here. How bad can a Spring festival be?"

———

"I feel ridiculous in this thing."

Sat diligently in his chair, Geralt turns around to meet you in a rather beautiful dress. You stand there like a fish out of water in a green thing that makes you look like some sort of queen of the water nymphs. It is gorgeous and spring-like, but it is Yennefer's extra gown. Not quite your taste by any means.

Geralt keeps silent, too awe struck to speak a word, no less think to create one. He's never seen you in such color before. His golden eyes scan all over your dress, the way it sits on your body, the way it hugs in just the right places. He finally stands and approaches. His eyes are dazzling as he looks into yours. "You look lovely." He says softly. "So beautiful my dear Y/N."

Your irritations slink back with the sweet words. You can't help but reach up to hold his cheeks in your nimble hands. His strong ones resting on your hips. "Thank you. Though I may have neglected to realize I would need a dress for this thing."

He squeezes your hips. "Would you have me take it off you then?"

Heat immediately blossoms in your nether regions with his sly words, enticing question indeed. You rub your thumb over his lips. "Perhaps." You gift him a tender kiss. "When we return."

"Now let's get going shall we?" Geralt parts from you to open the door, he holds it for you and gives a slight nod of his head. "Your carriage is waiting my princess."

You step past him but not before running your finger across his broad chest. "Why thank you sir. Will you be with me all night?" Gerald chuckles as he follows you out the door.

"If you'll have me." He adds, playing along.

You smile deviously. "Wonderful. We're going to have a brilliant time."

———

It didn't take long until the lot of you had made it to the Belleteyn festival. It didn't take long for you all to get to comfortable and thus before you knew it, shit went south. The night was filled with fires and food and music. Joy and laughter and drunken spirits. Then in the maze, a place that was meant to be an enjoyable time with company. A place to get lost in for a little while and act silly as you tried to find the way out. It was fun.

Then you heard something. So faint, a movement on the earth. A rolling vibration, many legs, a mass of energy larger then anything that should have been at Belleteyn. Geralt didn't hear it. No one around you wandering the maze revealed any inclination of hearing this mysterious being. You knew it was alive and going somewhere.

Then you caught it's foul scent when the wind changed. Putrid and stinking like an insect left with a rotting corpse. Then the sound and the smell intertwined as it neared wherever it was in the maze. Yes, it had entered the maze. And no sooner did the name of the creature leave your lips did the terrified screams begin.

Geralt ran and so did you. Luckily Yennefer came to Ciri's aid faster then either of you could get there. Together, the Jackapace was defeated and no one from your company was wounded. But it hurt knowing what this meant, and so here you are now. A new plan settled and mapped. A different turn in your ongoing traveling protection team. One crafted by Ciri herself.

To lure Reince out of his hole. The fire mage who sent the Jackapace, the one who has been sending all those men after your group. After Cirilla. After you. He stole her Elder blood in Kaer Morhen and used it on the Jackapace, once they have a scent, they never stop hunting. Always a problem, always running and running and running.

You miss those days before all this. Before Ciri and Jaskier and when it was just you and Geralt traveling the Continent. Just you and your Witcher together. Old times. Good times they were.

Now you're being sent to the closest city over to bring back Jaskier, so he can help your merry band lure Reince out. You would greatly enjoy a week without this hiding and moving to just sleep in a tavern with Geralt. Oh how destiny has other plans for you.

———

Redania isn't so bad, well if not for the smell it really wouldn't be such a dull place in your eyes. Though you've never been fond of cities to begin with. Always terrible smells and loud noises, drunken folk and watchful guards. Too many people.

You walk past merchants selling their wares, children running with a dog, and others shopping in the streets. Men laugh loudly from a tavern on your right while a horse screams on your left when a fool smacks it's arse. Women hurry past you to get to where they're going. A boy almost runs into your legs, not looking as to where he's going. If there's one blessed thing about cities, people don't pay you any mind here.

You hunt for the Sandpiper. You know where he stays when he's not at the taverns or wooing ladies at the court. And if you're lucky, he won't be in the middle of entertaining that blonde woman again. What she sees in those bright blue eyes of his, you have not a clue. He's a bit too loquacious for your taste.

You still love him for his quirks anyway.

Past a man with a brown and yellow snake around his hand, you turn the corner and stop, your legs have brought you to a riveting sight to be seen. A woman with dark hair and plush deep red lips is, what it appears to be, threatening Jaskier. She's close to him and she reeks of magic. A mage. A man with reddish blonde hair stands off to her right, he wears royal clothing. Furs and red. They are undoubtedly Redanian figures of importance you're sure of that.

Unfortunately, you don't catch the conversation and just as you came, they leave him. You watch them walk off somewhere else, a few guards following dutifully behind. Not wasting a moment longer, you're behind Jaskier and holding up his lute that was on the ground for some reason. He doesn't hear a thing.

"Will you sing me a song for a few coins? It's all I have." You tease the distraught bard. He instantly recognizes your voice.

"Now this..." Jaskier turns around to see you at long last and by the looks of it, he's genuinely glad to see you. "Is a delightful surprise." He smiles blissfully, not even aware that his lute is in your hands. "Still ever so radiant, and terrifying and uh why...why are you here? Is Geralt here too? Ciri? You guys hunting something or just stopping by finally to hear me sing with my...oh right. My lute."

You give it a little strum. "Just me."

"Yes and though I am thrilled to see one of my very best of friends again. Whenever I see you and those magnificent ruby red eyes of yours. I know it means trouble." He points. "Or you've come to your little vampirey senses and realized I'm way more interesting then Geralt and a joy to hang around."

Plucking some cords, you share a fangy grin. One that is devilish and beautiful. "Oh how I've missed you. But no, not here to listen to your sweet voice nor protect your bum when that mouth of yours gives more then your coins do."

Jaskier laughs. "That's fair I suppose."

"Yes, but I do need you." You insist with a nudge to his shoulder.

Jaskier's face falls. "Oh no, no, no. What is it this time?"

•••

"Bait!" Exclaims Jaskier. "I rode for days with Y/N, mind you, to get here. Battling hunger, battling the elements, only to discover upon my arrival that I'm being used as..."

"Jaskier, me." Interrupts Ciri as she walks with her horse, Jaskier doing the same, you in between them. Notably without a horse to lead.

"...bait."

"I am the bait. Rience is after me." Adds Ciri matter-of-factly.

"Yes, which means he wants you alive, and me very much not alive. You see my anxiety?" He insists, loudly. Dramatic.

"We're not gonna let anything happen to you Jaskier." Says Geralt now as he and Yennefer ride near on their own horses. The three of you stop as they approach closer.

"I saved your arse once. I can do it again, Pankratz." Adds Yennefer as Jaskier casts his eyes on her doubtfully.

"You didn't save me..." He glances between you and Ciri. "She didn't save me. She.." You both begin to smile as his horse snorts at him. "She didn't! But seriously, you are gonna save me, right?"

"Of course, Jask." You pat him on the arm. "Have we not before?"

He scoffs. "Well, there's been moments. Moments where I've feared for my sweet lovely life."

"Seem fine to me." Whispers Ciri, holding back a grin.

"Ah, ah, ah! I may look it, yes. But the memories. The things I've seen because of them." Jaskier waves a hand at you and Geralt and Yennefer. "I should be more traumatized then I appear. I probably am really."

"Oh you little princess." You playfully start as Ciri begins to giggle with amusement. Jaskier just swats you away, poking at you until you move out of reach from him.

"Be gone woman!" Says Jaskier, still whipping his hand around. "Mean." He leans his head close to Ciri, trying real hard to whisper. "She may save your life but she won't save you from her insults." Ciri simply nods, holding back a laugh.

Rolling your eyes, you rest a hand on your hip. "I can hear that."

"Oh I know you can!" He shouts dramatically, enjoying your friendly squabble. "Maybe I wanted you to!"

You stick your tongue out at him. Jaskier does it back. You make your face contort a little to show off the more vampiric side of you. Jaskier hisses, pulling down the bottom eyelid of his left eye. Your skin begins to turn grey, irises glowing blood red and fiery orange near the pupils. Jaskier kicks a foot out like some drunken man attempting to brawl.

"Alright you two." Sternly breaks the voice of Geralt. You and Jaskier return to your composure. "We won't make Hagge by sunset." Geralt looks to his left, the landscape with its small hills, trees, and an old ruin. "We'll make camp here."

"Sleeping in the woods again?!" Complains Jaskier. "Honestly!"

—

Your party, consisting of your friends and Yarpen's, settle among the broken rock of the ruined tower. You all take your time to set up camp, built small fires for their warmth and let the horses feed. When curiosity takes the better of Cirilla, yourself, Geralt, and Yennefer follow her to the center of the ruins. A more quieter place from the others.

Here the ground is open dirt with little grass but in fair patches scattered about and near the rocks. Further is an unambiguous platform made of stone, a large statue of an elven woman in the center. Two sets of stairs lead on either side of her to another platform the same as the first. Around this, and this old courtyard of sorts, the walls are tall with open doorways of high arches leading further into the structure. You can feel the energy of this place, it's violence and pain.

You can almost smell the blood.

"What is this place?" Asks Ciri as she goes on ahead, captivated by its melancholy beauty.

"It's Shaerrawedd." Answers Geralt. He knows the story just as Yennefer and you do. Though you were alive on the Continent when it took place, they had yet to exist.

Your scarlet irises linger over the white roses growing in patches here, below rocks, and at the bottom of the weathered statue. "Tread lightly. This land is full of stories." Warns Yennefer, not wanting Ciri to touch something and risk a vision. The imagery would be a horrible sight, you know this just as they do.

Ciri approaches the stone platform, enchanted blue-green eyes bewitched by the flowers in such an odd place. "Never seen so many wild roses in one place. They're beautiful." She admits, stopping in front of the elven woman of stone.

The three of you stand to either side slightly behind her. You focus onto the moss crawling up the sides of the carved robes. "Their story, sadly, is not." You stop next to Ciri who looks up at you, your eyes never leaving the moss. "Aelirenn. A brave and inspiring elven warrior who thought she could defeat the humans. She was wrong."

Yennefer steps closer to the roses. "A rather condensed version of the story." Spoken with a tinge of bitterness. She is of elven blood so you understand.

"And what's yours, then?" Asks Ciri.

Yennefer turns to address the young girl. "After the Conjunction, humans arrived. The elves thought the humans were just a nuisance, like a plague of locusts or a drought. That they would die off in the blink of an elven eye. But the humans kept multiplying. And killing." Yennefer glances up at the statue. "Aelirenn knew the threat wasn't going away. So she rallied all of the young elves to fight, at Shaerrawedd."

"Sounds like she fought for what she believed in." Says Ciri, admiring the statue as well. "To protect her people."

Geralt rests an arm around her shoulders. "She did fight for what she believed in. She led those young and passionate elves to war. They revered this place. This is were they fought. They fought for her. And they died with her name on their lips and their honor and integrity intact. And in doing so, they condemned their species to annihilation. She led them all to their deaths." Geralt explaines, giving a remorseful sigh. "Neutrality. It won't get you a statue. But it'll certainly help in keeping you alive."

He gives her shoulders a comforting squeeze before releasing her and choosing to head back to camp. You can sense his unsettlement with this place the longer he lingers around. Yennefer stays a moment and then turns to leave as well, you doing the same. This is no place to sit and remember it's history.

———

The night arrives and you tuck in close to Geralt. There is not much to say with Ciri and Yennefer sleeping so near, a usual and necessary occurrence these past few months. The four of you can't seem to get away from one another for too long. Then again, the world hasn't quite let you. Ciri is much too important for you all to disperse and go your separate ways. A ridiculous thought really.

You can't complain with a white haired Witcher at your side and a heart beating only for you. He is moody, tranquil, and formidable. Yet he is gentle, soft-hearted, and deeply alluring. You would never trade him for all the gems and gold in the entire world. And at your origins, you are a princess. Daughter to the Vampire Queen, the first vampire in all of the Continent. A pure-blood vampire. One who was never turned, simply born as she is. A true terror. Your mother.

You haven't seen her in centuries.

Geralt pulls you close, his chest pressed to your back with his arm slung lazily over your waist. He's sleeping though his hand holds yours, a soft grip that remains with his unconsciousness. He holds you when he sleeps, you know this is the only time he fully relaxes. He knows you sleep light and would, and have, protected him when he slumbers. He knows he's safe now.

Your lips press to his fingers and you snuggle in closer, if that's even possible. You relax and listen to the careful thudding of his heartbeat. You can feel his chest rise and fall. Hear the expansion of his lungs, the contraction of the heart in his chest. At first when you began traveling with him, these human sounds would bother you. You'd close your eyes and smell the blood through the skin and hate yourself for the thoughts that would arise.

Then, as a new night would arrive, those thoughts of blood and natural hunger would disappear. Disappear until they were no more. Now you relish in the presence of Geralt and all his essence that keeps him alive and well. The vessel containing spirit. The soul of your beloved Witcher. Without him in your immortal life, even knowing this will not last, you wouldn't have ever changed meeting him.

So you sleep and wait for dawn.

—

When the first morning bird fluttered down from its perch on the thin branches above. Before it opened its throat to sing of the rising dawn, you woke. The rustle of feathers and the quick movement of its three pronged feet reached your ears in sleep. Your ears with their slight pointed look, the inherent characteristic of a vampire. No matter if you are half or not. Your mothers blood is far too powerful. By right you are a damphir, yet your blood gives you the strength of a pure-blood.

Not all attributes are a delight. The noise of the small bird is enough to keep you awake, granted more time spent held in the wee hours of the morning with Geralt is bliss. But when you find the pink of the sky readying to turn everything bright again. You cannot make yourself stay and lay docile when you know others hunt for your people. And you.

Silent as the winter snow falling from the heavens. You slip from Geralt's embrace and away from Ciri and Yennefer who continue to catch needed rest. You make not a sound as your legs take you throughout the camp, this is unintentional but you cannot help the gentleness of your footing.

You check on Jaskier who is fine. Then the dwarves still sleeping and the horses keeping watch. When your nose picks up the scent of smoke, are you following it to a small gathering of branches. Yarpen tending to it with a stick in his hand. You stand silently, observing his movements like a fox on a hillside. He remains unaware for a few minutes until your curiosity causes you to speak.

"Cold?" Your voice cuts through the morning chill though gentle it may be. Yarpen jumps like a startled dog, almost managing to throw his stick in the air.

"Well fuckin' gods ye tryin to kill meh?" He yells with a hand over his chest. "When in the great fuck did you get here?"

"Apologies. I did not mean to scare you."

Yarpen laughs merrily, shoulders relaxing as he takes a seat on the rock near him. "Ay, not many bastards can do that." He points the stick at you. "You're not like those silly old cats anyways. Odd bugger you are." He chuckles, resting the stick over his knees.

You glance at the ruins of Shaerrawedd. "Indeed." Voice soft and reflective.

Yarpen cannot tell if he's offended you or you're simply lost in thought, perhaps pondering a matter intuitively. He shrugs. "Eh, you ain't so bad if Imma be honest with ye. Just uh, guess I'm not so fond of those sharp toothed bloodsuckers from the north." He muses.

You let out a humored breath. "I respect you for your truth. But I trust you because Geralt does." You swiftly turn to leave but stop a moment to speak to him from over your shoulder, he's intrigued by this. "Thank you for your help." And with that said, Yarpen blinks, readying to speak though you have already gone. He jumps up looking this way and that but you're nowhere to be seen.

He sits again, contemplating your words.

In the stronghold of the ruins of Shaerrawedd, you stand below the towering statue of the elven warrior. A she-elf who died fighting for her people. You remember her. That name from so long ago, you remember when your mother told you about what the elves were doing. What happened here. You could only see it as unfortunate but brave, not that a whole species was condemned in one battle.

Your kind was here before them and the humans. Surely these beings were meant to rise and fall and change and evolve. That's what creatures do who can die easily. That's how their kind survives and thrives.

You are immortal and cannot die like them, so you can only watch and understand, your mother would explain. Vampires are meant to remain forever and protect their own, keep the world in a sort of balance.

Whatever that meant.

Footsteps sound from a short distance behind you, small and delicate, coming to the place where you stand. They have not entered into this ruin but you need not move from panic, it is Cirilla. You wait for the young princess to join you if she chooses. The wait is not long.

When she gingerly approaches to your right, you give the girl a nod of acknowledgment. "Out for a walk?" You ask. Ciri goes to take a seat on a broken chunk of the ruin.

"I had another dream." She answers softly.

You nod. "Dreams huh? No dream you bring to me is ever filled with sweet marshmallow bunnies. Was it a nightmare?"

"No, it wasn't frightening. Just couldn't sleep thinking about Aelirenn. And my grandmother." She explains as you go to sit next to her. "They lived centuries apart, but burned with the exact same mission. Wipe the other species off the Continent."

Ciri stands up, eyes set to the statue and the white roses crawling up it from below. "When I finally fell asleep, it came to me." She kneels down to touch the beautiful flowers. "If I can offer something different. A way forward that doesn't divide, but unites." She stands once more. "I'm part elf, I'm part human. I understand both because I am both, and that is my strength."

"I understand what you're saying. History, it..." You sigh. "...has a way of repeating itself. Even for the idealistic."

"You say Aelirenn's idealism is what led to the massacre of the young elves, but maybe if her elders had supported her instead of abandoning her, they could've won." Ciri glances at the statue. "Yennefer said they have a saying."

You reiterate that saying in perfect Eldar. "What has been need not always be." You speak in common tongue. "Yennefer told me the elven queen, Francesca, could offer more to her people."

"So could I." Adds Ciri, defiantly. "Geralt taught me how to fight. Just like Calanthe. Yen has been teaching me how to harness my powers. Like Mousesack. And you, Y/N, you've taught me how to weald a blade. Something I always wished to know. What if this is the reason destiny brought us together? Nenneke said I have the power to change the cycle of hatred. And I want to. To bring balance between kings and mages, and to align the Continent, instead of constantly putting parts against each other. Because I am sick and tired of destruction and loss."

Her eyes are close to filling with tears of great frustration and sadness. You quickly stand and go to her, resting your hands on her thin shoulders. Sincerity in your voice. "I don't doubt you, Ciri. I do doubt the world, though." Your sensitive ears prick with the sounds of many footsteps. Clang of metal and hushed voices in the distance. Ciri immediately picks up on your abrupt silence.

Her eyes grow with confusion. "Y/N what is it?" She quickly turns to the sounds of Geralt and Yennefer running into the grove. "What's happening?"

Geralt has his sword in hand. "They're here."

"I know." You reply, taking hold of Ciri's hand. She looks up at you. "Be brave, child. We'll be near." You slip from her fingers and silently walk into the shadowed parts of the ruin.

Yennefer and Geralt talk to Ciri a moment before joining you in your hiding spot. You keep still and listen, they watch your face for the sign that Rience and his men are here. The one you four have conspired to draw out, luring him to his death as you'd planned. Ciri completing her duty well as the bait.

You didn't think they'd arrive so soon, but he is a fire mage who can portal after all. And he's irritatingly clever when it comes to tracking what he so desperately wants. You have no choice but to keep quiet and wait for the right time.

From under the ruin archway to your left, behind the statue of Aelirenn saunters out the fire mage and his equally as appalling men. You can smell the stink of horse and ash on them. The scent of magic, putrid and rotten, coming from Rience's vessel.

Ciri snaps her head around at his decrepit voice. "Cirilla of Cintra. Alone at last. Well, not quite. I've brought some friends this time." Says Rience, moving in with swaggered steps.

They get close, surrounding her in a half circle, preparing to strike. You resist the urge to move and aid her. The men begin their assault yet they are met with great resistance by the princess. She wasn't trained by the best of Kaer Morhen for nothing. She fights them off the best she can until Yennefer leaves the hidden space near you. She knows Ciri cannot do this alone.

You and Geralt join her with swift destruction. Yennefer duels with Rience as yourself and Geralt kill his men easily. That is until a few moments later when Rience is able to get a handle on Ciri. He holds her against his chest, one arm around her neck and a dagger to her throat.

A war cry is heard as Yarpen's men and Jaskier follow suit. They bare their weapons and clash with the fearsome enemy. You knew they'd come just when they were so desperately needed. This rush of noise and new faces takes Rience off guard. But not you nor Ciri.

You're busy with two angry men to help her but no sooner is one of the men bleeding on the ground when Ciri races away. A strangely blackish portal behind them. Rience holding his nose, more pissed off then ever. You watch as he falls back in pain straight into his portal, it begins to close when Yennefer holds out her opened hand. She forces it to remain open.

Before you can run after the fire mage, Geralt races into the unknown after him. Leaving Yennefer to keep the portal open until he returns. You hope he returns.

You drive your blade into the throat of a screaming man, blood spatters everywhere as it slips gracefully out again. You run to Yennefer and Cirilla but halt, deciding not to follow Geralt. You hear something new that keeps you back on the battlefield.

You whip around just as a small army of elves race out to join in the battle. Who they are and why they're here are half a mystery. You can only assume they must be with those rouge elves of the queen. While the why can only be known as Ciri as it's source. Of course they're here for her. Everyone always is. All the time. How would this be any different?

Not putting into question their exact motive. You only know to protect your own.

Yennefer stays her ground. Ciri runs for cover and you swing your sword at an approaching elven man, ready to let it taste blood. He's tall with dark hair braided back, his eyes sting with anger as he runs to you with swift footing. His arm moves a sword in hand, following its masters command. The metal clashes with your block, sparks flying from the force.

He draws forth for another attack, this time his sword arrives with a pointed jut. He tried to simply stab you. The point is easily deflected off to the side. When his body pulls with it, you cut his arm off and finish him with a slash to his back. He falls instantly. Screaming out in pain, blood splattering everywhere.

Two more follow after him, however they attack you simultaneously and without much fear. Their attacks are precise and clean, aiming to go for your head. This tells you they know who protects the Cintran princess. It's not every day you face someone who knows how to properly kill a damphir. If there's no fire and no silver. A decapitation will do just fine.

To die without your head. Not how you plan to go out.

The two elves are skilled, more then Reince's men, and more then some of the elves you've fought before. This excites you. They thrash and throw their blades at you, stepping and moving out of your attacks. Their hearts beat heavily within their chests, you can smell the sweat off their brow. You waste no time in bringing them down, however.

Then it's time to move again. You're off on your feet dodging through the mess of men, elves, and dwarves. Swords and axes singing on the air, voices shouting, limbs moving and falling around you. You smell the spilt blood. You hear the strained breaths.

Your eyes spot Ciri amongst the carnage. She's perused by a blonde elf with short messy hair and another with long brown hair. Less unkept then the first. They chase her but the blonde is struck down by a lone arrow, his partner remains. You follow. No sooner has the elven man grabbed her shoulder, yelling, "I've got her! I've got her!" Have you sent your blade straight through his armored chest from behind.

Ciri gasps. The elven man makes a soft wheeze of pain, your sword retreats from his body and he falls to the side. You hear a heartbroken scream erupt from further away, a woman's voice. The voice of anguish. You pay this no mind and continue to protect the wanted Cintran girl until Geralt arrives from out of Yennefer's portal hold. Wonderfully unharmed.

——

A few days past.

The night is wet and dark above a cloudy sky. You wait outside a tavern in the damp street for Geralt. He's inside getting any information he can on the fire mage from whoever wishes to share. You, appearing rather unruly to some locals, decided to stay outside and give them peace of mind. It is simply natural for people to fear vampires. Same goes for a half-blood.

Footsteps sound his return. No sooner have you glanced up has Geralt reached Roach's side. Golden eyes quick to find you leaned up against the brick wall. He recognizes your thoughtful expression.

"Ciri will be fine." He assures you sweetly. "She is with Yennefer.....I know my love, I know your thoughts are heavy. But you know this must be done. Ciri needs to learn and we.." He walks over to take your hands in his. "..are hunting Rience for her. There is purpose in our departure from her. This is how we save her."

"We cannot know this." You whisper, frustrated on the matter. You hated to leave them.

Geralt's eyes soften. "My dear Y/N."

"I know, I know." You squeeze his hands. "I'm trying."

"I know you are." He grins, parting from you to return to the saddle of Roach. Your mind wanders for answers. You wonder if there was a better way to keep Ciri safe without you, Geralt, and Yennefer splitting up. But it's pointless, it's done with and you must track Rience now. With his death and with the discovery of whomever is puppeteering him. That could unlock the mystery of why Ciri is so desperately hunted by so many people.

For the time being, you stay by Geralt's side.

"Y/N." Speaks Geralt gently. Your attention falls to him and a piece of rolled up parchment he's opened. "Dear friends, I miss you both already. Or should I say, we miss you? Your friend, Yennefer. P.S., if Ciri decides Aretuza is not to her liking, I have my eyes set on our next home. A dollhouse on a squid farm." He reads, smiling at the last part of the letter.

You snort and snatch it from him, looking at the words yourself. They are in Yennefer's hand writing. The paper of her scent, a smidge of Ciri and horse. You shake your head, grinning anyhow.

"A squid farm? Not if I can help it."

—————

Authors note:

Alright kids this is the last season I’ll be writing for dear reader and Geralt. It’s been a time and a good one at that, but Henry is Geralt and without him it’s just not the same :( I do hope you all enjoy! I’ve tried to pack each episode in every chapter the best I can so I hope it works. There’s more to come!

#the witcher #the witcher season 3 #the witcher series rewrite #the witcher fanfiction #the witcher reader insert #geralt x reader #geralt x y/n #the witcher x reader #geralt of rivia #geralt of rivia x y/n

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horsechestnut · 8 months

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Reverse Robins!

But specifically Stephanie and Tim (with a little Jason added when it's relevant).

Note: I'm of the opinion that in Reverse Robin AUs they wouldn't actually use Robin as their code name, but for convince and clarity's sake I will be using it here.

Damian is gone. He left in a blaze of anger. They'd fought before, but this time came with a finality Bruce doesn't known how to handle.

Batman is spiraling. Without Damian around there's no need to be Bruce Wayne, no reason not to follow one more lead before turning in. No young eyes looking to him to be an example. Nothing to keep him from beating the bad guys into a comma.

Tim Drake has been watching Bruce Wayne for awhile. He's been watching Batman for longer. He saw the turn, the way the Wayne Foundation is slowly being corrupted without Bruce's over site, and the more extreme injuries criminals are coming in with. He looks at Bruce Wayne and Batman, and the man behind them both and thinks "Yeah, I can fix that." Maybe it's teenage nativity, maybe it's a drive to do something good, maybe it's the need to be in control of something in his life. Whatever it is, he acts on it.

Bruce doesn't want to let Tim be Robin. Damian was his son, and a trained assassin, Tim is a random kid with no formal training. But Tim is a random kid who figured out his identity and is actively blackmailing him with it, so he doesn't have many options.

Batman and Robin are back together. Bruce Wayne is back in board meetings. The criminals are getting a lot less bruises. Robin is far more impressive than Batman ever would have guessed he could be. Tim is falling asleep in math class, but he already knows it all anyway so it's barely worth mentioning.

There's a new vigilante in Gotham. One who sets a dangerous precedent. It's one thing for Batman to have allies, it's another for outside agents to start taking matters into their own hands. Especially when they're untrained teenagers who are looking for personal vengeance.

He does everything he can to get Spoiler to quit. He tells himself it's not just about his personal dislike of her, it's for the sake of every other misguided kid who might try to follow her lead.

He fails.

The Joker attacks Robin. He doesn't kill him, he has a worse fate in mind. He takes Batman's prodigy and makes him his own. Tries to prove that even the Bat's closest ally can be corrupted if he has a bad enough day. He succeeds, and for one terrifying night The Batman faces off against Joker Jr.

Tim survives, but he's not the same. It takes months for his injuries to heal, and even then he's haunted by what Joker turned him into. Terrified that he could snap again at the wrong moment. He tells Bruce he can't be in the field anymore, it's to big of a risk. He promises Batman he'll find another way to help.

Cluemaster is dead. He died on a suicide mission. No matter how Steph feels about it personally, logically she knows Gotham is safer without him around. Part of her can't help being relieved, and she doesn't hate that part of herself as much as she knows she should. There's no longer any need for The Spoiler.

There's an opening for Robin and Steph wants the job. Wants to prove she can do it. That she's just as good as Tim. That she's not her father. That she can make a father proud.

Batman doesn't want Stephanie. He wants Tim. But maybe Stephanie is a way to get there. To make Tim jealous enough to come back.

Bruce tells himself it's for Tim's own good. Stephanie's too. Tim needs the push, needs to be Robin again so he can overcome his fear about being the field. And Stephanie needs the training, and the focus now that Cluemaster is gone.

Robin tries, she really does. She does everything Batman asks of her, always. Except once. And once is all it takes. Robin is fired, but as she leaves the cave Stephanie grabs on to one last desperate chance to prove herself. Batman never intended for the file to be used, but Stephanie doesn't know that. Batman didn't tell her. He never told her anything.

The war that erupts is unlike anything Gotham has ever seen.

Damian comes home. It's not for Bruce. It's for Gotham, for the city that took him in despite everything.

Batman isn't listening to Oracle. He's cutting him off, overriding his systems, and treating him like nothing more than a glorified phone operator. Tim can't just do nothing. Not when his city is burning.

Black Mask captures Spoiler, and nobody notices.

Robin is back on the scene. He's reluctant at first, but once he starts it's like a switch flips. The moves are second nature, the danger is exhilarating. It isn't a game, but part of him can't help relishing it all the same. He can't remember why he stopped.

Spoiler manages to get free. She manages to ambush Black Mask. She manages to pin him to the ground, gun pointed at his head. But Steph can't pull the trigger. Two months ago she would have, but now Batman's voice is in her head. She can't let him down. Not again.

Stephanie hesitates, and in that moment Black Mask breaks her hold. He gets his gun back. There's no moral code running though the back of his head. He doesn't hesitate.

Gotham is safe. Batman did his job. Damian is back. Robin is in the field again. But Bruce is haunted by what happened. Damian is injured, Tim has nightmares, and Stephanie...

Jason Todd isn't new to being poor. He knows how to be hungry, how to fend for himself. But he is new to being homeless. The gang war left lots of kids in the Narrows orphaned, of course some of them were going to fall through the cracks, and Jason happens to be one of them. Maybe it's for the best. He's heard how the Gotham Foster System treats kids. Maybe he's better off on his own. He just needs to find a way to make some money.

Batman descends with all the furry he's been holding in. But instead of an overconfident car thief, he finds a twelve year old boy desperately clutching a tire iron, trying to seem angry instead of scared.

Bruce recognizes something in him that he can't fully explain. He takes Jason back to the manor. Gives him a home. Does everything he can to keep him away from the cave.

That lasts about two weeks.

Jason wants to give back to his community, to make sure kids don't have to deal with the shit he had to deal with. He wants to thank Bruce for helping him. He wants to be nothing like his dad. He wants to make his new father proud.

Damian is against it. Tim is against it. Bruce is against it. Jason is insistent. He decides to take matters into his own hands, to steal an old Robin suit and sneak out after the others have left. It doesn't go well. He thinks he's blown his chance, but to his surprise Batman relents. If he doesn't Jason will find a way to do it on his own, and he won't let another kid go out untrained.

Tim goes back to Oracle. The way he felt the night of the gang war still scares him sometimes, reminds him to much of Batman back when they first met. Guilt washes over him whenever ever he thinks about it. How happy he'd been, all well Steph...

He should have been in the Clock Tower that night. Should have been keeping better tabs on all of them. He should have known she was missing in action, should have been monitoring her suit's location or trying to reach out instead of just listening when Batman said not to involve her. So if there's a new kid running around in the suit, their suit, he's going to make sure this one is safe.

Robin is good. Really good. He's to angry, he's rash, he's impulsive. But he learns fast, and he seems to almost fly over Gotham. He fits the role in a way Tim never truly did.

Black Mask is dead, and someone else is using his name. Someone who's dismantling the Gotham underworld piece by piece.

Steph has a duty to the people she hurt, a duty Batman will never understand, and one she has to handle her way. Batman stopped the war, but he didn't stop the gangsters. He didn't stop Black Mask, or Scareface, or any of the others. It's not about what they did to her. She deserved it. It was her own fault. But so many others suffered because of them, because of her, and Batman did nothing to stop it. So she will.

Black Mask isn't planning to confront Batman. She doesn't care about him. She's done seeking his approval and following his rules. Doing that got her killed. It got other people killed. But there's another Robin running around, and someone needs to explain that. Steph knows by now that she was never really Robin, it was all just a trick to get Tim back. A trick that worked. So who the hell is this kid? Is he like Tim, someone Batman will keep safe, or is he just another pawn he'll sacrifice the second it's covenant? And when she finally gets around to asking, she lets more slip than she should have.

Batman knows the truth, but that's okay. It was only a matter of time before he did, and it doesn't change anything. Bruce tries to appeal to her, but what can he possibly say that could make a difference? That he's sorry?

He is, but it's to late for that. Stephanie knows the truth. She knows he never took her seriously. She knows he never trusted her. She knows it was all a game, and that in the end Batman got what he wanted even if not in the way he intended. And Bruce can't argue, because she's right. He created her, and he knows it.

Stephanie Brown is dead. She died in Leslie's clinic. She died because her doctor decided teaching Batman a lesson was worth more than her life. A lesson he didn't even bother to learn. She died because she listened to Batman even though he never bothered to listen to her. And she died because Batman used her as a chess piece. Because he wrote her off before she'd even properly begun.

Black Mask is not Cluemaster. She refuse to ever be her father. But she's not Batman either. He never gave her the chance to be. She's something else. Something between those two extremes. Something that's fully hers. She's going to protect the people Batman's to busy to care about, and if she has to kill a few people along the way, so be it. She's not playing by his rules anymore. She never will again.

Black Mask is Batman's greatest failure. Not because she died, but because he never took the time to teach her how to live.

Stephanie is Bruce's biggest regret. Not because she died, but because he didn't care about her until she did.

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nutklcker · 2 months

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New oc idea you ready?

- Nutcracker-Jester-Masked conglomerate, manmade to be that way. Jester uses she/her, Mask uses he/him, and Nutcracker uses they/them. They aren't too fond of being called it/it's as a conglomerate (read: all three of them will start trying to kill you) (this is due to lore reasons <3) but they all do use it/its pronouns individually.

- Visually they look mostly like a Nutcracker but WAY BIGGER, like, maybe double the size of a normal Nutty. They also have a third arm that's attached to their left hip, and between that arm's shoulder and the left arm above it is a Jester crank.

- Their body is mostly purple and red/pink, but in the center of their chest is a yellow circular plate with a hinge at the top of it from which the skull and, unlike normal jesters, shoulders, arms, and upper ribs pop out of. Like Yagluth, if you know who that is.

- The mask is affixed to their face and is so tightly stuck there that the Nutcracker can't actually open up and reveal their eye. They don't really need to though since together they have the normal spatial awareness that Nuts do, the normal spatial awareness that Jesters do, and the sight that Masks have. However, you can occasionally spot their vibrant red eye in the mouth of the Mask.

- They still have the normal Nutcracker shotgun, meaning it's TINY in their hands. In fact, they have a lot of trouble reloading it with their giant hands, but they also have WAY more ammo wrapped around their body. They mostly use their shotgun to pistol-whip employees but on occasion they do shoot it. Their unusual shared sight also makes it harder for them to accurately shoot things, they mostly rely on the Jester ability to kill things, and from there it's a fight between the Jester and Mask on which one of them gets the body (the Jester wants to eat it, the Mask wants to convert it.)

- Any employee converted by the Mask part of this thingy will, instead of having a normal mask, get a mask that wraps around their helmet entirely and slowly grows a wood-like layer around them that mimics the nutcracker's head.

- When they hunt something, the Mask will start to bleed in anticipation, the Nutcracker focuses on chasing their quarry down and occasionally shooting (though it does get slowed down by doorways and obstacles due to their size and requirement to move slow), and the Jester immediately starts winding, there's no grace period, however the Jester's winding will get interrupted or paused whenever they shoot or whenever the Mask tries to grab something.

- I've decided their name is Pop-Up and they have the potential to be friendly since, as three consciousnesses wrapped up in one, they had to become friends with one another in order to survive. I think they were probably created by an ex-employee of the company that made the Nutcrackers and Jesters and, when they were found breaking in at night and creating this giant monstrosity, they were placed on a moon with them and left there to die, however, Pop-Up survived of course and made a small burial site/shrine for their creator and friend somewhere in the mansion, probably as far away from main as possible so no scrap crews can desecrate it.

#I now have two lethal compant OC's and I love them equally 🩵🩵🩵#OC Pop-up #🎭#I love them so much #PLSSS SEND ASKS ABOUT THEM I would LOCE TO TALK ABT THEM MORE!!!!!!!#I think these three would be great friends with my other OC

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beemers-hell · 20 days

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Can you drop more lore on Raina???

I wish I had visual images to accompany this, but oh well lmao, anyway Raina lore beneath the cut cause i like running my mouth!

Basically, Raina's kinda just vibing! Like Bank, she was born riiiiiight before Nevada went to absolute Hell, so she has very vague memories of what Nevada was like before the madness really took over n' everything. For a while, her and her family were doing well enough surviving through the early years of Nevada's newfound apocalypse state, however, one by one, her family members would be killed off, through random incidents. Eventually, around the time she turned 11, she was the only surviving member of her family, and she was, as you can imagine, incredibly distraught about it. Confused on what to do now that she was alone in the world, the only thing she could think of was making her way to a site inhabited by the Agency, since she at least knew there would certainly be adults there.

Obviously, since she was a tween, it's not like they were gonna hire her or anything, however the site she found herself at was in need of test subjects for a new series of experiments they were conducting, and, yanno, it's not like a kid is gonna survive for very long out in the wilds anyway, so they decided to take her in as fodder. There, she would be subjected to various experiments that were meant to test a new idea some scientists had been brewing; Maybe there was a way to turn Nevadeans into ultra powerful, supernaturally gifted entities, by somehow harnessing the powers of places and entities from beyond Nevada (ie. The Other Place, Dissonance, The Betrayers)? Which would certainly beef up their soldiers, if they were able to figure it out. So, the subjects of these experiments, including Raina, would be rung through the ringer in order to try and manipulate their bodies into becoming capable of supernatural abilities. Though many of these early attempts were unsuccessful, by the time Raina was registered into the experiment, the Scientists running it had finally broke through the initial troubles they were having and were at a place where some of the experiment subjects were actually surviving, and were displaying abilities they had not wielded before. So Raina's chance of survival/success was pretty assured.

And, yanno, trying to warp the body in order to make it capable of unnatural powers is gonna involve some pretty invasive procedures/testing, and Raina was subject to that shit! But she would eventually make it through the prep stages, which involved such procedures as; A couple of brain surgeries, multiple DNA splicing procedures, many rounds of injections with various substances, etc, etc...But she made it out alive so that's good! Though her physical body had been warped, as a result of her DNA and genetic material having been spliced with that of romp material. Oh well!

Raina showed pretty promising results; the Scientists in charge of her had been wanting to develop a way to engineer a grunt into being able to teleport, and they had managed to get it figured out with Raina. So she was teleporting! It was very uncontrolled and she seemed to have developed some sort of seizure disorder as a result of the signal misfirings occurring in her brain when she teleported, but kinks like those were to be expected and they were working on ironing it out with her. Unfortunately for them though, she managed to escape when a false alarm had been called on the facility she was stuck in, and managed to teleport herself outside of the perimeter of the building. And then she just fucking BOOKED it. By now she was around 14, and she was determined to figure out how to ensure her survival without relying on any outside help, since, yanno, her first attempt at relying on someone resulted in her getting turned into a science experiment lmao.

So she worked very hard on developing her survival skills, and learned how to make do for herself out in the wastelands. She'd picked up some skills from some of her fellow experiment prisoners, and had internalized a lot of the academic information she'd been exposed to from the scientists around her, so she spent a lot of her time split between honing in her ability to survive in the apocalypse, as well as nurturing her newfound interest in science and engineering.

Not much else happened in her life for a while, she was just busy surviving and learning, but by the time she turned 18, she had come across a little group of people calling themselves "W.M.S.Q." and at this point, she figured she could make a more educated judgement on if she could trust people around her by now, so she joined their little faction as a worker for them. And they were very good to her! So she stayed with them, and that's where she's at currently. She's a fantastic worker, a very skilled marksman, and extremely gifted in the engineering department, having gotten so good at her craft that she's just straight up inventing her own specialized weapons to use, just for herself. She's learned how to use her teleportation powers to the absolute effectiveness in combat situations, as well as whatever the hell it is that her weird romp abilities allow her to do. She's a very laid back type of guy in spite of the horrors she bore at a young age, in fact, due to them, she has no sense of fear left in her! Which has been proving to be a difficulty for her, but yanno, everyone's gotta struggle with something lol

#beemer asks #beemers ocs #beemers lore

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sarcasmsweetie · 2 years

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A Better Life, Part 4

After a week’s worth of editing constantly, only to go back to the original draft and tweak a couple of things... Sigh. But we’re here reuniting with the family and IC!!

Pairing: Azriel x Older Archeron Sister

Word count: 9.8k

Part 3 | Masterlist | Part 5

Taglist: @lunalilyf @londoneyes-glasgowbones @eerievixen @hollyismentallyillhelp @parker-natasha @tbmaybank @poison-iv3 @morks-watermelon @a-little-disguised @officialmarvelwhore @vera0124 @xxoverthinkerxx @prongsraven @moontawnx

Feyre almost didn’t make it.

Nesta saved your sister.

I hope you can come meet your nephew soon.

Feyre hopes to see you.

Flashes of Rhys’ letter announcing the birth of his and Feyre’s son flashed through my mind as I frantically finished packing my bag. Various gifts I collected for the Winter Solstice and never sent. Some favored baked goods. The baby blanket I’ve knitted for my new little nephew. Everything was haphazardly packed once I confirmed with my boss that I could take a couple of days off to visit the Night Court. Cordelia was more than willing to allow me to take a few extra days than I had asked for, but Callum gruffly reminded me they’ll need me soon to prepare for the large event we were hired to cater.

I dropped Fenrir off at the royal stables, confirmed I had everything I intended to bring, then finally winnowed outside the property of Rhys and Feyre’s river home (courtesy of Rhys’ instructions within the letter he sent last night). I walked quickly up the path to the door, simultaneously grateful to Rhys for the protective wards he puts around his home, but also cursing him for having the winnowing site be so far from the house.

Knocking on the door, I reigned in any remaining panic I felt after reading the letter outlining that Feyre went into labor early and barely survived it. I pretended I wasn’t terrified at who might be in the house right now, and who I will most likely run into during my brief visit. My only focus right now is seeing for myself that my baby sister is alive and well, and that her son is as perfect as Rhys claims he is.

After a moment, the door swung open and I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Cassian looked at me with surprise before smiling. “I had hoped you were coming.” I smiled back.

“Like I would miss this.” Cassian opened the door further, allowing me to walk in. I glanced around the entryway, smiling slightly at the decorations that were so obviously Feyre, it warmed my heart.

“It’s really good to see you, Y/N. You look good. Real good, actually.” He scratched the back of his neck, starting to look nervous. “I’m sorry, Y/N . For everything.” I started to wave him off, but he cut me off. “You may not want to hear it, but I need to say it. We all swore to protect you, and we have failed in every possible way.” He dropped to his knee with a bowed head, and I stepped back in surprise. “I understand if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive us and the pain we have caused. But I swear to you right here, right now, that I will spend the rest of my days trying to make up for where we lacked, where we caused you the most pain.” His head remained bowed, and I remained silent as I processed what he said, what he was promising.

After a moment, I lowered myself to my knees, and gently grabbed his face so he could meet my eyes. “What’s done is done, Cass. I appreciate what you are saying and where you are coming from, but yours is not the apology I have been waiting for.” I smiled sadly and moved to grab his hands, pulling him to stand with me. “Now. I hope we can have an opportunity while I’m here to talk more, but I’d really like to see my sister right now.”

He tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow. “Their room is down this way. She’ll be thrilled to see you. All she’s been able to talk about is your latest letter, when she’ll be cleared to visit you again… I will warn you to be prepared for Mor to pounce. She and Viviane are close, and she feels incredibly left out that she has yet to be invited to one of your infamous weekly dates.”

“Infamous, you say?” I raised an eyebrow and he smiled.

“You know how she likes to exaggerate everything to make her point. Just smile, nod, apologize that you’ve waited this long but you wanted to take some time to get to know your new friend, and that you’d be thrilled if she could join you on your next date. All will be well after that.”

I chuckled, imagining the conversation with Mor going exactly the way that Cassian described. “Where is Mor, anyways? Everyone in the room with Feyre?”

“They all stepped out to grab various supplies. With the little guy arriving a bit earlier than planned, there were some things missing. They left about an hour ago, so I would imagine they’ll be back soon.” I nodded, but was distracted by the soft voices I could hear at the end of the hall. Cassian smiled at me and knocked. “Sorry for the interruption, but I found someone lurking around the property.” I smacked his arm as I walked past and he laughed.

Walking through the door, I saw Feyre on her bed, holding a little bundle of blankets with Rhys sitting beside her. Her eyes brightened as she and Rhys smiled at me. “ Y/N!” I smiled at Feyre, greeting Rhys as he stood and moved to hug me.

“Thank you for the letter, Rhys. I came as soon as I could.”

“Thank you for coming. I know it means the world to her.” I pulled back and smiled at him.

“How have you been feeling, dad? Sunk in yet that you’ve got a little one of your own?” His answering smile was so bright I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll check in again in about a week, see if you’re still smiling like this when you no longer sleep through the night.” He pinched my arm, narrowing his eyes.

I turned to Feyre, fighting the tears wanting to break free at seeing my little sister, who fought so hard to be where she’s at, be safe and health with her son. “I am so proud of you, mama.” I kissed her forehead, moving some hair behind her ears before sitting on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling? Rhys shared some of what happened, and I am so sorry I wasn’t here – “

“I’m fine now, Y/N . We’re all fine. Nesta made sure of that.” I wiped away a tear that escaped, reinforcing my mental note to cook Nesta’s favorite meal tonight for dinner. “Do you want to meet your nephew?” I glanced down at the bundle in her arms, catching sight of the dark hair that matched his father’s. Feyre started to extend her arms, and I immediately adjusted so that she could safely transfer her son to me. “They’re tucked in the blanket, but be careful of his wings when you hold him.” Once he was settled in my arms, I did note the slight bump on his back that must be the wings in question, so I adjusted again ever so slightly to make sure they weren’t pinned funny while holding him. “Auntie Y/N, meet Nyx. Nyx, this is your Auntie Y/N. She came a long way to meet you, so I hope you behave for her.”

Almost as if in response, his big blue eyes opened and looked up at me. More tears started to fall as I immediately recognized the Archeron eyes staring back at me. “Hello, sweet boy. It is such a pleasure to meet you.” He began to wiggle and fuss, so I stood so I could sway him back into his nap. I hummed a bit under my breath, falling back on the old routines I had when trying to get one of my sisters to go back to sleep.

Moving to the window, I continued to sway with him. “You know, little one. There was a song I always sang to your mummy whenever she couldn’t sleep, whenever she was upset or fussy. I bet you would enjoy it just as much, yeah?” I heard Feyre gasp, and I turned to look at her with a soft smile. Rhys was sitting next to her and holding her hand as they both watched me as I tried to put their son back to sleep. “I think I know why it was her favorite song back then, seeing where she is today. Maybe this will be your favorite, too, my sweet little Night Prince.”

Come in close, now it’s time to tell a story Long ago and so many years before we Ever were, ever dreamed we even could be There was her and her very first heartbeat

All alone in the corner of the night sky Spiral bones of a supernova starlight Fell in love with another burning bright she Dreamed of a way to ignite she said,

Tonight Come on, come on collide Break me to pieces, I I think you’re just like heaven why

Come on, come on collide Let’s see what a fire feels like I bet it’s just like heaven

I noticed Cassian move out of the doorway, making way for everyone who had been absent to file into the room. Nesta stood in front of Cassian, eyes bright as she watched me sway with Nyx, just as she always watched me as I tried to get our sisters to settle down and rest. Mor moved into the room to sit on the other side of Feyre, sending me a small smile in greeting as she settled in. I tore my gaze away from the door as Elain and Azriel walked in, turning my focus back onto Nyx and pretending I didn’t care that they walked in together and continued to stand with one another.

Such a shame nowhere near, even the near mist light years away From the hope of being sun-kissed anchored home in her interstellar sea but, poor lonely Cassiopeia So she sighs and she burns with desperation Learns to cry over love of constellations Then the spark from a star shooting too close They both smiled what a day to explode, she said

Tonight Come on, come on collide Break me to pieces, I I think you’re just like heaven why

Come on, come on collide Let’s see what a fire feels like I bet it’s just like heaven

Just like heaven Just like heaven

Long ago in a sky built before us A supernova grew up to be stardust

I saw Nesta quickly close her hands over Cassian’s. “He’s back asleep and you want to startle him awake with your applause?” she hissed quietly. He looked sheepish, but shot me a wink.

“If this was Feyre’s favorite, any chance you can share with us what got this little fireball to calm down? Maybe it still works today, yeah?” Nesta elbowed him in the ribs, but I could see the smile she tried to hold back.

“All three had different favorites?” I looked to Mor and smiled.

“Oh, yes. All as different as could be. I could give you every detail about what each of my sisters liked, disliked, dreamed of, list out every tell they had when they’d lie, anything about them.” I glanced at Elain, who looked like she couldn’t even stand the sight of me, before moving back to Cassian. “But we’ll hold that concert off for another time. We’re not here to listen to me singing this sweet prince back to sleep, after all.” I looked down to him with a soft smile. He was beginning to fuss a bit, and I furrowed my brows. I don’t think it was the conversation waking him back up, so I brought a finger up to his mouth, and he blindly tried to latch onto it.

“The curse of being the youngest is that I never once heard Nesta’s song.” I glanced at Feyre with a small smile.

“The curse will sadly have to continue. Nyx is hungry.” His fussing started to worsen, so I walked over to Feyre.

“You’ll have to teach me all the songs you know while you’re here so that I have a library to work with when he gets fussy.” I chuckled along with Rhys.

“I’m sure anything will work, no matter the lyrics. I remember sometimes I’d just sing whatever thoughts came to mind when any of you woke up in the middle of the night.” I heard Mor laugh as she helped Feyre with the cover so she could feed Nyx comfortably with all of us still in the room.

“What was your song, Y/N?” I cleared my throat, trying to keep myself from fidgeting with the hem of my sweater, but my fingers still twitched.

“As far as I know, I didn’t have one. Mother wasn’t the most maternal of people. It’s why I raised us – she didn’t know how to.” It was silent for a moment, so I turned to my bag to try and break up the awkwardness.

“But have no fear, little dove, because I did not come here empty handed.” I pulled out a box and passed it to Rhys so he could open it for her. Feyre’s eyes lit up when she saw what was inside.

“Peach crumble bars? Oh, Y/N, thank you. Rhys can you pass one to me?” Rhys handed one to his mate, and we all watched Feyre take a bite while closing her eyes with a content sigh. “No one makes them like you. Y/N would always get as many peaches as she could while they were in season, then preserved them so she could make these for my birthday. Thank you. Truly.”

I tried to fight the blush crawling up my neck at the praise, but clearly failed. “I have a second box for you in the bag, but I was also hoping you’d let me commandeer your kitchen while I’m here so I can make a bunch of easy finger foods for you. Nyx will be stealing more calories from you than you can try and pack back in, so it’s incredibly important you eat at every possible opportunity. I did this for mother as well, and it was always easier when she was feeding you if she had something small and easy to eat at her side.”

“How long are you able to stay?” I smiled sadly at Feyre, turning back to my bag to get the second box of bars for her to try and lighten the blow.

“Two nights at most, if you can have me both nights.” Feyre looked like she was about to argue, so I quickly hurried on. “I have to get back to work. My bakery was hired to cater a mating ceremony this coming weekend, and the guest list is upwards of 300.” Out of instinct, I glanced at Azriel after mentioning something related to mates, but quickly looked away when I saw the cold look on his face. “My boss wanted me back by tomorrow morning, but his mate convinced him I can stay an extra day. Plus, I can’t leave Fenrir for too long. Viviane was kind enough to let him stay at her stables while I’m gone, but I don’t want to inconvenience them too much.” Mor narrowed her eyes.

“You and Viv have grown quite close, hmm?” I glanced at Cassian and we both bit back our smiles.

“I’m incredibly grateful for everything she’s done to help me settle into my new life. I was actually thinking that it would be lovely if you could come to one of our breakfasts. I had to cancel this coming meal because of the mating ceremony we’re catering, but if you’re free next week, it would be an honor to have you with us.” Mor released the fake glare she had in place as she let a smile take over her features.

“I thought you’d never ask. I’ll let Viv know right away to expect me. And maybe I can extend the stay for a day or two we can spend some time together?”

“I would love nothing more. I have a spare room in my cottage that has your name written all over it.” We smiled at each other, and I mentally started cataloging everything I’d need to do to prepare for guests when Elain spoke up for the first time.

“So you’re really not here to stay? Just going to leave us all over again?”

“Elain,” Feyre hissed with a glare, but I shook my head.

“You know as well as I do, Elain, this isn’t my home. I’m sorry if my departure hurt you, but when I left, you seemed to be doing just fine without me.” I took a deep breath before turning back to the bag of goodies I’ve brough with me. “Before I forget, Feyre, Lucien asked me to pass this along to you for Nyx.” Feyre smiled and before she could say anything, Elain stormed up to the bed.

“Lucien? You speak with Lucien? You think that I stole your mate, so you try and steal mine?” I raised my eyebrow at my sister, rising back to my full height after passing the stuffed fox to Feyre. I was the tallest of the four of us, standing about five inches taller than Elain and I glared down at her.

“Yes, I speak with Lucien. We’re pen pals, actually. I reached out to him asking how he’s doing and if he has any tricks to make the hollowness of your mate not choosing you go away. We’re quite good friends now, and even formed the ‘Rejected by Our Mated Like Fucking Morons’ club. We meet monthly for dinks and a good cry. It’s quite therapeutic, actually. And considering I know for a fact you have yet to make any sort of contact with him, I find it funny you try and claim him as your mate in front of me.” Elain flinched, but I didn’t care. Grabbing the final pastry box from my bag, I shoved it into her hands. “I made your favorite apple pie. Enjoy.”

I turned back to Feyre, feeling a little ashamed as I remembered where we were. “I’m sorry, Feyre. This is no place for that kind of talk. If you can direct me to a place I can set my things down, I can get cleaned up and start on making those goodies for you like I promised.”

Mor stood from the bed and raised a hand out for me to take. “I’ll show you to one of the spare rooms you can use.” I nodded, moving to reach for her and following along. Azriel was close to the door, and I made sure I avoided both physical and eye contact as I walked past him into the hall. “There are a few different guest rooms, but we have all admittedly taken them over so we can all be nearby in case Rhys or Feyre need anything. There’s one left, and if I’m right, I believe Feyre decorated it for you specifically. It also just so happens to be the furthest from Elain’s and Azriel’s rooms, if that’s any consolation for you while you’re here.”

“Thank you, Mor. Any room would have been just fine since I’m not here for very long, anyways.”

“I do wish you could stay longer, but I get it. And I promise you when I visit next week, we will have tons of fun catching up and getting wasted on wine.” I laughed, shaking my head as we entered the room that was supposedly made for me.

“Best be prepared for Winter Vodka instead. Your cousin and I bonded over it when he and Feyre first visited me. Sad that Feyre couldn’t join the fun as she was pregnant, but we’ll get her on the next visit.” More shuddered in response.

“I forgot about their love of vodka. Reminds me that I will pack plenty of wine for us instead. We can have some vodka, but I can’t make a whole night of it.” I chuckled at the dramatics, thinking back to what Cassian mentioned about her love of exaggerating things. “Well, I’ll let you get settled in here. My room is right across the hall, so don’t be a stranger if you need anything!” I smiled in thanks and watched her close the door behind her.

With a sigh, I looked around the room and smiled. Soft purples, blues, and creams covered the space. Dark hardwood floors were covered by an incredibly soft rug, and the blankets and pillows on the large bed matched the curtains that were open to showcase the gorgeous view of the Sidra. The furniture in the room matched the flooring, and I softly caressed the art hanging on the walls, clearly Feyre’s own work. The paintings all held the same blues and purples of the bedding and curtains, feeling like Feyre tried to mirror the tones of the Winter Court for me. I laughed out loud at the painting over the desk: a portrait of me petting Fenrir, which just confirmed Feyre’s designs purposefully matching home.

I set my bag on the bed, putting aside the small packages of scarves and mittens I knitted as a Solstice gift for everyone, and hung up the few clothes I brought with me in the armoire. I also took out the blanket for Nyx. It was almost completed – just waiting for me to stitch his name into the material. I planned on finishing it once I retired for the evening so that I could pass it along to him in the morning. Having everything unpacked, I freshened up in the washroom before making my way to the kitchen to focus on the main task I’ve set for myself while here.

Nuala and Cerridwen were in the kitchen and were more than happy to show me where everything lived within the cabinets. Once I was comfortable with knowing what was in stock, I asked the twins if they would be able to run to the market to pick up a few ingredients I needed both for tonight’s dinner, as well as everything I planned to make for Feyre. They nodded without question and vanished into the shadows.

I was able to start preparing the first part of tonight’s meal, so I pulled out some flour and other ingredients so that I could start making a pastry dough. As I kneaded everything together, I felt someone else was in the room with me. Looking up, I saw Nesta and smiled.

“I hope beef wellington is still your favorite. I know you’re not a fan of sweets, so I’m sorry for not having anything pre-made for you like I did the others. But hopefully I can make it up to you with your favorite meal to celebrate your fancy new title, Ms. Valkyrie.” I kept my smile up as she entered the room, sitting on a stool at the counter across from me.

“Are you sure it’s not also to honor what I did for Feyre? That’s all everyone seems to want to celebrate.” I dropped my smile, but kept my eyes on her.

“I’m not everyone else, am I? I know that was you did was as traumatizing for you as it was Feyre and Rhys, and that you still haven’t fully processed it yet. So why would I push those reminders on you when you yourself are not ready to talk about it?”

She remained quiet, so I continued to work the pastry to give her time to get her thoughts in order. “Yes, beef wellington is still my favorite. Elain tried making it soon after you left, but quite honestly, it was disgusting. Soggiest thing I’ve ever eaten.” I snorted at Nesta’s ‘high and mighty’ tone.

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. But I’m more than happy to make this for you tonight.” She watched me as I worked, and I know she came into the kitchen to talk to me about something, but I could wait until she was ready. That’s the thing about Nesta: trying to push her into doing something, even if it was something she already started, results in her backing off and never touching it again. So that’s how we sat for a while: Nesta sorting through her thoughts while I worked through preparations for tonight.

“Cassian asked me to speak to you about the Shadowsinger.” I briefly paused my work, but kept my eyes down.

“And what did he ask you to talk about?” I watched her shrug as she picked her nails.

“He wants me to ask you to give him a chance. To at least talk to him. But I told him to fuck right off with that because why should I ask you to talk to Azriel when everyone was more than okay with Elain treating Lucien like actual trash? Yes, I acknowledge I was in favor of it in the beginning, but I admit he’s been nothing but respectful of Elain’s wished and I respect him for that. Especially now that I know what the bond feels like. So I told Cassian the only way I would force you to talk to Azriel is if everyone else will force Elain to talk to Lucien.” She was quiet, so I looked up.

“I’m guessing he shut up real fast about this request, then.” She nodded, moving her gaze from her nails to me. “Thank you. For being on my side.” We stayed quiet, each thinking about what to say next. During this time, the twins had arrived from the market with everything I asked for. Sensing the slight tension in the air, they sat everything on the counter before quickly making their departure.

I sorted through everything the twins brought, separating out what I needed tonight from what I would be using tomorrow, and I thought about what it was like growing up with my sisters. Nesta and I have never been open with one another, or anyone else for that matter, so I’m wondering if this is her way to extend the olive branch, give me the opportunity to talk to her like a sister. Taking a deep breath, I took the dive.

“I am happy for you and Feyre, you know. Finding someone who would go to the ends of the world for you. Someone who picks you over everything else, every time. Everyone deserves to be cared for like that. I hoped maybe to find that here, but your mate’s brother made it clear he would never pick me. And I am trying to live with that. But it’s almost impossible. Especially knowing he knew better than any of us that no one gets a second mate, yet he chose to believe the lie that Elain was his instead of me.” I turned back to the stovetop, moving forward with dinner, but continued talking in hopes it would be easier to talk to her without risking looking at her.

“When I first got to the Winter Court, Viv and Kallias were there at the border to greet me. They took me to their home and we had tea. They were asking pretty normal questions, trying to get to know me. But it was made clear I had nothing for myself. Viv asked me what I enjoyed doing, and every answer I came up with involved you three. ‘Oh, I would check in with the local bookstores to see if there was anything new Nesta could enjoy. I sharpened Feyre’s weapons when she wasn’t using them for more successful hunts. I looked for seeds for Elain’s garden.’ Not a single answer was about what I enjoyed doing, which made it clear that my sisters were my only personality trait. For 25 years, my whole life revolved around raising and caring for you that I was never allowed to figure out who I was. And it got me thinking: why would anyone choose someone like that?”

“ Y/N…”

“No, Nes. Tell me. Would you have accepted Cassian if he wasn’t so sure of who he is as a person? If he wasn’t so confident in every aspect that makes him so uniquely Cass? So why would I expect anyone to choose me, when I was so broken beyond repair and didn’t even know myself? Does recognizing that make the agonizing pit in my chest disappear? Absolutely not. I considered talking to Rhys, considering Feyre was with Tamlin when their bond snapped. But it was never quite the same – Feyre had no idea the bond was there. Instead, I chose to start writing to Lucien. He’s the only one who understands exactly what I’m feeling.”

“So you created a club and get wildly drunk once a month.” I chuckled.

“After the first time we met up, Viv and Kallias decided one of them needed to chaperone us whenever the alcohol came out. We got so drunk in the tavern the first night I couldn’t stop sobbing. I wasn’t kidding when I said we meet up to drink and cry. I may have cried more these past months than I have my entire life, but doing it with Lucien in one fell swoop every once in a while makes it easier. I don’t have to carry it with me on a daily basis, trying to hold anything back. We meet up, let it out, and then we can breathe again for a while. Maybe it’s not the best way to cope, but unfortunately we don’t know anyone else who’d been rejected by their mate, so we can’t get additional feedback on how to move on.”

“It’s not fair, Y/N. You deserve happiness just as much as the rest of us, if not more than us.”

“It’s not a competition, Nesta. And it’s not up to us to decide how others act. Everything happened the way it did, and that sucks. But I can’t change it. All I can do is figure things out for myself, one day at a time. So that’s what I’m going to do. Some days are so hard that I can’t even get out of bed. Some days feel easy in that I can smile and laugh at work, but then I come home to an empty house, and it feels like my imagination slaps me in the face with what I could have had but was never given the opportunity to even try.”

“It sounds to me like you only have bad days with a splash of good.” I smiled sadly as I finished up dinner, moving to put everything on serving platters to bring to the dining room.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever have a truly good day. Not for a long time, at least. And as Fae now, all we have is time.” Seeing that everything is ready to be moved, I turned back to Nesta. “We can talk more later if you’d like, but can you tell everyone that dinner is ready? I’ll start moving everything to the dining rom.” Nesta grabbed the bowl with the glazed carrots and platter of asparagus as I brought the whipped potatoes, and she set off to find everyone else once we placed them on the table. By the time I returned with the main dish, everyone was settling into chairs.

Feyre sat at an end of the table with Nyx, and Nesta kept a seat open between the two of them for me. “In honor of our fierce Nesta making the Blood Rite her bitch, I dedicate tonight’s meal to her.” There was a chorus of cheers (mainly from Cassian) supporting the little dedication and I smiled as I placed the platter in the center of the table. “I hope you all enjoy.”

Mor who is seated across from me, reached across the table to fill my glass with wine. “Everything smells delicious, Y/N. Thank you for cooking for us all tonight.”

“It’s nice cooking for a crowd. Though, I hope this is enough for everyone…” I trailed off, looking over everything on the table and starting to doubt if this would be enough to feed the Illyrian general, let alone a whole family. Feyre immediately placed her hand over my own with a smile.

“This is more than enough. Thank you for doing all of this. I’m sure Nesta especially appreciates it.” Nesta was already carving through the beef, placing portions on the plates of those around her, my own included.

“It looks cooked to perfection, though I expected nothing less from you.” I smiled in thanks, wondering if Nesta was making a jab at Elain after hearing about her failed attempt at making this, and began to fill my plate with other side dishes. Plates were passed along as everyone picked up whatever conversations they were having before Nesta summoned them to dinner.

Azriel was sitting next to Mor, which meant he was in my peripheral vision as I passed dishes along. I paused, wondering if him eating this would mean the bond is accepted, and I felt myself panicking a bit. I certainly haven’t forgiven him for what I’ve gone through, and would he even want to accept the bond given his own feelings for Elain?

Before I could spiral further, I felt a familiar talon brush against my mind.

You look as though you’ve stopped breathing. Are you alright? I glanced up at Rhys, noticing the slight furrow between his brows.

If Azriel eats this, does this mean the bond is accepted? I didn’t even think about that when I was cooking – Rhys interrupted me, face relaxing as he began to understand my concerns.

As you’ve made this for everyone, this has nothing to do with the bond. It only matters if you make and deliver something for him and only him. I understand how that can be a little tricky, but you can rest assured that nothing is being decided with the bond because you made a fabulous family dinner. I smiled at him, hoping my gratitude was clear in my expression and he nodded.

Feeling more comfortable knowing that I didn’t make some sort of mistake, I glanced around the table only to catch Azriel’s eye. His face was a neutral mask, but I know the spymaster didn’t miss the fact that Rhys and I were having a private conversation. I stared back, almost as if challenging him to voice his questions out loud. Before we could see who would win this particular battle of wills, Feyre gasped and grabbed my hand yet again.

“It’s almost your birthday!” I looked at her in confusion as we’ve never done anything for my birthday.

“Yes, and I believe you all will be receiving invitations from Viviane soon. The moment she realized it was going to be my 30th, she began planning a party almost immediately. I can’t even imagine what she has in store… Weekly meals are a huge ordeal to her, so I can only imagine what she’ll do with a milestone celebration like this.” Mor started to squeal in excitement at the thought of a party as other chimed in either bits of agreement to Viviane’s wild planning or just general excitement, but that didn’t cover the scoff I heard on the other side of Cassian.

“We all know you’re 28, so I don’t know why you haven’t corrected the Lady of Winter so that she doesn’t feel embarrassed for trying to celebrate a milestone that you haven’t reached yet.” The table was quiet, and I felt myself grow more frustrated than confused.

“You think I’m still 28? Elain. I left Velaris almost a year ago. Surely I would have had a birthday between then and now, making me 29 today.” I leaned forward so that I could look around Nesta and Cassian to look at her directly. “But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised seeing as you never knew when my birthday was in the first place.” I felt Nesta stiffen beside me, though I fought the urge to grab her hand as if I wanted to comfort her. But just because we started opening up doesn’t mean the years of problems we’ve had are suddenly resolved. She never acknowledged my birthday, either. So instead of grabbing her hand, I moved to eat some of my meal.

“Of course I know when your birthday is, Y/N. Don’t be stupid.” I watched out of the corner of my eye as she angrily stabbed a carrot, but never moved to put it in her mouth.

“So enlighten us, Elain. When is your oldest sister’s birthday?” I glanced between Mor and Amren, immediately getting the sense that they’ve been an enemy of Elain since I left. I appreciated the thought of them being in my corner. I also noticed that Azriel didn’t look like he was going to step in any time soon to defend Elain like he was always so quick to last year. If anything, he looked curious for the answer.

Looking back at Elain, I found her watching Azriel as if she still expected him to help her. That’s when I realized she had no intention of providing an answer. “Just admit you don’t know, Elain. It’s frustrating, but I’ll get over it. Just like I’ve gotten over it for every other birthday.” I watched her grip her fork, and I shook my head.

“What about you, girl? You’ve been awfully quiet.” Amren was watching Nesta, and she cleared her throat.

“Eleven months ago. She’ll turn 30 in a few weeks.” I looked to Nesta but didn’t say anything. I shouldn’t be surprised she knew and didn’t say anything as that is the Nesta trademark, but there was still that sting of disappointment. Amren turned her attention to Feyre.

“And you? Do you know?” Feyre nodded, a sad look in her eye.

“I remember asking Y/N when I was around 9 when her birthday was. I figured she hated her birthday as much as I hated mine, and that’s why we didn’t celebrate it. Since I assumed she never wanted to make a big deal out of it, I would give her a hug on her birthday, a silent wish for another good year. None of us ever asked how she wanted to celebrate...” Amren nodded.

“At least you did something –“

“I remember.” We all looked at Cassian in confusion. “I remember seeing Feyre hug you the night you left. It was after dinner, and I called you both to join us in the living room.” He looked up at me, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cassian look so sad. “None of us knew, or did anything to celebrate. And then you were gone.”

The room was quiet, and I looked back down to my plate. I had barely eaten any of it, and I felt guilty Nesta’s celebration dinner turned to this. No longer having a desire to finish with everyone, I stood with my plate and the intention of finishing my food in my rom. “I think I’m going to head to bed for the evening. Nes, I am really proud of everything you’ve done and accomplished. I’m sorry the conversation ran away from that, but I don’t want you to think otherwise.” I kissed the crown of her head, then Feyre’s cheek, before moving towards the safety of my room.

As I approached the hall, fully ready for the night to be over, I heard Elain call out from somewhere much closer behind me than I thought. “I’m not done speaking to you, Y/N!” I sighed, closing my eyes, but knew something like this would have happened at some point during my visit. I selfishly hoped it would have happened closer to the end of my trip so I could run away and hide, but I suppose the Cauldron has other plans.

“What more could you possibly have to say, Elain?” I turned to look at her. She stood at the other end of the hallway, and I noticed a few heads starting to poke around the dining room entrance to watch. “You’ve made it abundantly clear you know nothing about me, that we all suck at being sisters, and that we’re essentially allergic to communication. What else is there?”

Her brows furrowed, but she didn’t make a move to come any closer to me. “You left.” I stared, not entirely sure how to respond.

“Yes, I did. That’s not entirely news, though, Elain.”

“You left me. You’ve always taken care of me, and you left me. Why would you do that when you know we need you?” I placed my plate on a hall table that sat between a couple of bedroom doors as I got the sense I shouldn’t have any sort of projectile in my hands for this.

“You’re an adult, Elain. I shouldn’t have to keep taking care of you.” I felt my eye twitch, but decided to just let go of everything I’ve bottled up. “And yes. I took care of all three of you because Mother and Father wouldn’t. I had to pick up the slack of their own selfish desires and I became a mother at five years old. Because that’s what I became, Elain. I wasn’t your sister. I was your mother. Do any of you remember calling me mommy instead of Y/N? All three of you did that, and I had to correct you time and time again.” I looked away at Elain and back towards everyone who was no longer hiding in the doorway and stood completely in the open. “I didn’t have a childhood like you three did. I didn’t have the luxury of having someone take care of me like you three did. I was always the one doing everything for everyone and I am just so tired of it all, Elain. I am tired of being forgotten, of being taken advantage of, of not being the person that someone wants. I am tired of simply being the sister who took care of it all. For the first time in my life, I chose me.”

Elain was crying, but I could see the anger warring with sadness in her eyes. “You never said anything to us –“

“We never said anything to each other about anything!” I laughed. “Quite frankly, I think we’re all some of the worst sisters that exist. There’s no genuine interaction, there’s no support. Everything is always so one-sided with all of us, always expecting something in return. How could I possibly open up to any of you knowing that not a single thing would change?”

I watched as Elain’s shoulders drop, but she nodded. “You’re right. We are all selfish. So stay so we can work this out. Learn how to be sisters. Please.” I looked at her big eyes and if she were talking to Y/N from last year, that Y/N would have caved in a heartbeat.

“Sisters can happily exist without living in the same house, in the same city. Velaris isn’t my home, and I love the life I’ve built for myself in Winter. You talk about wanting to build relationships with one another. Then how about instead of asking me to leave the life I chose, you ask me what it’s like in Winter? What do I enjoy doing in my new home? What are my friends like? Can you come visit? That’s how you build relationships, Elain. Asking questions, getting to know the person standing in front of you instead of hoping that living under the same roof again will magically fix any issues you have.” I glanced back at my door behind me. “Hang on.”

I turned and ran into the room, quickly grabbing my Solstice gifts for everyone. Coming back into the hall, I walked towards Elain, and handed her the package with her name on it. “Happy belated Solstice.” I walked past her to everyone else, tossing the appropriate packages to everyone. Now standing between the group and Elain, I looked among everyone. “Once I got settled into my house, I took up knitting. I couldn’t finish these in time for everyone to send them all together at once for Solstice, so figured a later gift is better than nothing. They’re not anything special, but they’re things that I made for each of you.” I watched as everyone opened the packages, finding the scarves and gloves that are paired up. “At the time I made these, I wasn’t all that great yet, so the patterns aren’t intricate. And honestly, all of them are the same except for the colors. So if you want to trade or whatever, no hard feelings.” I turned to Elain. “But that’s how you start to get to know someone, Elain. You talk about their hobbies, their likes and dislikes. You share things with them, you don’t make demands of them. You accept them for who they are and don’t try and change them.” Elain was looking down at the blush pink set in her hands, but I watched her give a small nod.

“What’s your favorite thing to knit?” She looked up at me, almost nervously, as I grabbed my plate from the hall table. I nodded my head towards my door.

“You can join me while I finish up a gift I’ve been knitting for Nyx.” She looked between me and my plate briefly.

“Can I bring my plate in, too?” I nodded, giving a small smile.

“Of course.”

________________

I woke up that morning to find Elain still fast asleep on the other half of my bed. We stayed up well into the night talking. While it was occasionally tense and primarily awkward, we did end the evening feeling better than when it started. Similar to how I felt after talking with Nesta, I know everything isn’t magically fixed. There are a lot of problems we still need to sort through, but at least there’s some starting ground for us.

I silently moved around the room, getting ready for my day in the kitchen. I mentally planned out what I was going to work on as I left the room with Nyx’s blanket in arms, closing the door quietly behind me so Elain could continue resting. Passing Rhys and Feyre’s room on my way to the kitchen, I set the blanket against their door. Content that the embroidered “Nyx” was in clear view with the way I folded the blanket, I walked off with a smile on my face.

The kitchen was empty when I entered, and I took a deep breath in. The space was beautifully done with endless counterspace, so I could work on multiple things at once and not feel constricted. First thing’s first, I lit up the oven so that it would be hot and ready for me as things were ready to be baked. Looking around at everything else, I got to work in getting the various crackers, cookies, breads, and preserves ready to go.

Breakfast wasn’t that big of a meal that the family shared together, so throughout the morning, folks popped in at various times to grab a bite to eat on their own time. Elain came down about an hour after I started, almost shy in approaching the kitchen before mentioning she was going to spend the morning in the garden. Cass and Nesta followed in a little while after Elain, clearly finishing some training. I stayed out of Cassian’s way as he made a quick breakfast of eggs and toast for him and Nesta.

“I don’t know how long you’ve been up and working, but I made enough for you to have a small plate yourself, Y/N.” I smiled in thanks to Cassian before doing a double-take at the plate in question.

“This is a small plate?” The food in question rivaled what Cassian had piled onto his own dish and he laughed.

“Hell no. Yours is on the counter next to the stove. That’s Azriel’s. He’s finishing up with some of his students and will be in soon.” I fought to hold any reaction in check as I nodded in understanding.

“Thanks again for the food, Cassian. I’ll be sure to let him know that’s his.” He nodded and followed Nesta out into the dining room. I overheard Nesta hiss something about him being too pushy, but couldn’t hear his response.

By this point, I had plenty of items ready to be transferred to baking sheets and into the oven. I popped a few trays in and turned to the plate of food Cassian made. Simple eggs and toast, but it was especially delicious since I didn’t need to make it myself.

About halfway through my eggs, I noticed some shadows growing in the corner of the kitchen, and that was the only warning I had before Azriel appeared in the kitchen. I tried to look away, but post-exercise Azriel was a sight I had forgotten I missed. Tanned skin flushed from exertion and hair messy from constantly pushing it back out of his eyes. My traitorous little brain was disappointed he had put a shirt on before entering the house. Forcing my gaze back to my plate was my punishment for letting those thoughts slip through.

I felt more than saw him pause in the kitchen when he realized I was in here as well. I watched the shadows in the corner move back to him, almost as if he were trying to hide behind them. I had heard stories of him doing that, and I snorted at the thought of him wanting to hide from me.

I nodded my head toward the plate on the counter. “Cass says that’s yours.” I turned back to my own plate, taking a bite of my toast. He hesitated a moment before slowly moving to the counter. He rested his hands on the side of the plate, tapping his fingers lightly as if in thought.

“Do you mind if I join you?” I looked back at him, taking note of his expressions. His face looked calm, but the shadows racing around his upper body told a different story. I shrugged in response.

“This is your kitchen as much as it’s mine.” I turned away to take a look at the baking sheets in the oven. With the crackers being a thinner crust, they bake quickly but could burn without a moment’s notice. I gently pressed a couple of them, noting they could use another couple of minutes.

“I’d disagree there. Already you’ve used it more than most of us combined.” I thought about Nuala and Cerridwen, understanding that no one uses the kitchen when they’re here.

Silence enveloped us as I went between finishing my breakfast and checking to make sure the crackers aren’t burning. When I finished eating, I set up a few different cooling racks on the counter next to the oven, getting everything ready to get crackers off the hot sheets as quickly as possible.

Glancing back at him, I noticed he didn’t put anything on his toast. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Risking the wrath of the oven, I passed him blackberry jam I made earlier this week. “I refuse to see anyone with bare toast.” I didn’t wait to see if he did anything with it as I turned away to get back to work.

We continued on in silence – him eating while I got the next batch of crackers in the oven. If it weren’t for my wild imagination coming up with countless scenarios of this not going well in any capacity, this could have been comfortable. I forced myself to control my breathing and focus on what my hands were doing.

“Are these recipes something you learned recently, or something you learned in the human realm?” I jumped slightly, having not expected a comment.

“I suppose you could say it’s a combination. I learned the basic recipe years ago but made some adjustments with Prythian ingredients. Most of my old recipes have followed that same path.” I felt him watching me as I took out the second batch of crackers.

Some on the end of a sheet started to burn, and I frowned at them. I broke off the burnt end of one of them and ate the rest of it. I smiled slightly at the taste, grateful that rosemary was an herb common on this side of the wall. I put the last batch of crackers on sheets and put them in the oven. I turned back around, pulling up my mental recipes for Feyre’s favorite cookies. I worked through getting everything ready, hoping the cookie dough would be ready around the same time as the crackers coming out of the oven so I could steal back the sheets.

“I’m glad you were able to come.” I bit the inside of my cheek, not entirely sure where his comments have been coming from.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Feyre is important to me, and now Nyx is a new kind of important to me.” He nodded, but I watched as he slid his fingers through his hair, almost as if frustrated.

“I’m sorry.” I almost dropped what I was holding as I spun to look at him. His eyes were wide, almost as if he didn’t think the words were going to slip out.

“Excuse me?” I watched him take a breath, almost as if accepting that this conversation is happening, if it’s not how he imagined it starting.

“I’m sorry. For everything. For hurting you. For making you think you couldn’t stay here. For causing you to leave your sisters.” His eyes were sad, but I felt the fire burning in mine.

“You’re sorry? Really?” I dropped the baking sheet on the counter, no longer paying attention to what I should be doing. “Let’s get one thing straight here, Azriel. You didn’t make me do anything. I chose to leave for me and my own well-being, and nothing else. You may have been a factor in my decision, but you were not the cause.” I started pacing, feeling a bunch of pent-up energy randomly flowing into my system.

“I have been doing a lot of self-reflection since I left, and I’ve gotta say, Azriel: I deserve significantly more than a lame-ass ‘sorry’ for the pain and hurt that you’ve been putting me through. Do you have any idea what it’s like for me? To not be good enough for the one person who was supposed to accept me for everything that I am? To not even be good enough to be an afterthought? You made your decision, and I know that I cannot control the actions and choices of others, no matter how badly I wish otherwise. But you chose Elain. I may never be okay with that, but I can accept that. And I am working on accepting that. I don’t know what other kind of reaction you could expect from me right now, or what else you want from me, but I can’t give you whatever it is you’re looking for. Forgiveness? I’m not ready for that. Understanding and happiness for making the choice you did? I have not felt happiness at all since becoming fae, so that one is never going to happen.” I felt the tears build behind my eyes as I looked him over. His hazel eyes were bright with his own unshed tears.

“I didn’t choose Elain.”

“How can you say you didn’t choose Elain when you actively chose to believe the bond snapped with her instead of me?”

“I knew what to expect with her: that I couldn’t have anything. I never believed I was worthy of a mate considering everything I’ve done in my life, and some twisted part of my brain believed that it clicked with Elain as further proof that I couldn’t have anything good in my life, that I would never be enough.” I stared at him like he grew a second head.

“That is quite literally the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life.”

“Stupid it may be, but it was the safest and easiest route.” My glare hardened.

“Fuck you. You’re going to sit there and say to my face, to your mate’s face, that you would rather live alone, that you would rather condemn me to a life of utter loneliness, because it’s easier for you? No. I don’t accept that. I refuse to accept that.” I noticed something in his eyes shift. “You don’t accept that either, do you?” I walked around the counter so I could stand face-to-face with him. I noticed the bob of his Adam’s apple and I wanted to punch him. “For a Spymaster, you’re a shitty liar. What, is this your way of punishing yourself? Push me away, make me hate you? To what end? What’s your goal here, Azriel?” He remained silent as he looked at me. “Don’t think I didn’t notice those questions you asked while you were eating. Did what I say to Elain last night about taking time to get to know someone resonate with you? Did you decide after a couple of questions that getting to know me as a person wasn’t ‘safe and easy’ anymore?”

“That’s not true.” I could start pulling my own hair out with the way this conversation was going.

“Then tell me what is true! Honesty shouldn’t be this hard!”

“The truth? Fine. The truth is that I think you’re the most magnificent creature on this planet. You are beautiful, you are kind, you are fierce, and you take care of what is yours, to name a few truths.” I stared at him for a moment, trying to wrap my head around the hurricane this morning has been.

“Here’s a truth for you: I don’t appreciate when others decide for me if they are worthy of me taking care of them or not. If they are worthy of my time or not.” I turned to look around the kitchen, at everything I still wanted to get done before I left tomorrow and suddenly felt exhausted. “Here’s another truth. I’m not willing to forgive you. But I am willing to get to know you. The way we should have gotten to know each other when the bond first snapped into place.” I moved back to where I was working before, picking up the previously forgotten baking sheet and placed it in the oven. “I have a lot I need to get done before I leave tomorrow morning. If you’re willing to ditch ‘safe and easy’ and actually get to know me the way it looked like you wanted to earlier, I’m willing to have another pen pal.”

One of the shadows he kept close to himself escaped, moving towards me almost as if celebrating. Feeling the shadow was like a cool breeze flowing around the kitchen. Before he could call it back to his collection, I raised a hand, allowing the shadow to weave between my fingers and I couldn’t hold back the small smile. I glanced up, watching him watch me. “It would be an absolute honor to be your pen pal.”

#azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel angst #a better life #bri's writing

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