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sebstan2020 · 5 months

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Red Ties

Chapter 17

Mary, a sweet Christian girl living in the city of Brooklyn as a nurse had a simple life. She loved her work, her friends and attending church every Sunday and helping Reverend McCarthy. Her life was nothing out of the ordinary. However, it all changed one day when she bumps into the intriguing and intimidating James Barnes, Brooklyn’s notorious mafia boss and is introduced to a world of guns, lust and dominance.

Warnings: BDSM, Dom/Sub, Mafia, Violence, Gang, SMUT, Sex, Possessive Bucky, Overprotectiveness, Bondage, Sexual Themes, Dark Themes, Guns, Drugs, Gang Violence

Mary pulled up to the hospital, parked her car, and made her way up the stairs. She had been giddy all morning since James had dropped her off. She wasn't sure if she was just being silly, but it was almost as if she had a glow to her, like her complexion was gleaming. Her body didn't feel any different. It was probably all in her head because it was all so new to her, and she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to be feeling. But she felt good, and thinking about her first night with James made her want to do it all over again.

As she skipped up the steps into the hospital, it wasn't long until a squealing Anya came running to her, a grin on her face, and tugged her into the nurses station.

"Tell me everything right now," Mary huffed, not even being able to get a breath in as Anya forced her down in the chair and threw a hundred questions at her.

"Ok, what was it like? Did he kiss you? Did he undress you? Did you touch his coc-?".

"Anya!" Mary butted in before she could shout anything else at her. and Anya giggled, grinning from ear to ear like a chesire cat.

"What! I need to know the details.

Mary huffed, knowing there was no way out of this conversation.

"Well, he picked me up, and then we went back to his; he showed me around his house," Anya huffed.

"I don't care about that; get to the good part," she urged.

"Okay. He took me to his bedroom because it was the last room he was showing me, and then it kind of went silent for a bit, and then he kissed me." Mary couldn't help but smile at the memory of him cupping her cheeks and kissing her so gently, so softly.

"Then I got really nervous and said I'm not ready, thinking we were going to do it, but he said we weren't doing that. Then he undressed me and pushed me on the bed." Anya was in complete silence, eyes wide, as she listened intensely to Mary.

"And we were kissing and touching, and then he put his hand down there and was toucing me," she whispered, her cheeks flushing. She wasn't even sure she should be talking about this here, in a hospital where the sick come to be healed. What would God think?

"And that was it," she shrugged.

"And... did you like it?" Anya asked quickly, and Mary couldn't help the grin appear on her face. Anay aquealed in delight, with Mary smacking her arm to calm her down. She was jumping up and down like a toddler on Christmas Day, clapping her hands like a child, and Mary shook her head. She was more excited than Mary.

"Oh my god, I'm so happy." Mary furrowed her brows and laughed.

"You don't know how much this means to me," she said, taking a deep breath, and Mary scoffed, turning in her chair.

"You are crazy," but it was nice to know her friend was happy for her, and if anything, she was the one person she could talk to about this stuff.

"So your first orgasm?" Anya grinned.

"Stop. People can hear you," Mary hushed. She didn't exactly want the whole hospital, knowing she had her first orgasm last night at the hands of James Barnes with just his fingers. This was private information.

"Oh, shut up; they can't hear me. Do you feel different?" She grinned, and Mary sighed.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"You're glowing." Anya nodded, and Mary stared at her. So she wasn't just going crazy.

"Really, I thought I was just being silly," she giggled. She had to admit that the thought of James and his actions last night made her tingle all over, and she wondered if this glow was going to last forever. There was still so much she hadn't done, and she couldn't help but wonder where she went from here.

Just then, Peter walked in, carrying a clipboard with some paperwork on it. He immediately smiled as he saw Mary.

"Hey," he said cheerfully.

"Hey, I didn't know you were working tonight," she asked with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, they asked me to come in for emergancy; David called in sick," he shrugged. Peter glanced up at Anya, who was still grinning ear to ear, and he looked at her confused, peaking down at Mary.

"Why is she so happy?" he asked, and Mary sighed softly, about to explain, but Anya had already buttered in.

"Our girl just had her first orgasm," she cheered, and Mary looked at her with wide eyes as if she were saying, Shut up!

"Oh" was all Peter could say. It was awkward, and Mary blushed at him. For some reason, telling her guy's best friend that she had her first orgasm was more awkward than she thought. It was like telling a boy you're on your period, and Peter clearly wasn't sure what to say, not that Mary expected him to congratulate her on it.

"I saw James last night; is that what she means?" she said politely. That was the Christian way of explaining what happened last night.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked, trying not to be rude or awkward, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, you can probably tell from her reaction." Mary shoved her thumb in Anya's direction.

"Peter, you should be happy for her. Mary has finally found someone, and now she's not going to be sitting in that skanky apartment of hers all the time." Anya crossed her arms.

"I am happy for her. I just don't think Mary wants us screaming it down the halls," he clarified.

"Thank you, Peter," Mary agreed, and Anya groaned.

"Fine, fine, I won't scream and shout anymore. So, when are you seeing him next?" She grinned, getting all giddy again.

"Um, Wednesday, it's the only night I'm not doing nights this week."

"Well, I want every detail; I don't think you can bullshit me with anything either." Anya pointed her finger at her with a stern look.

"Language," Mary scolded, and Anya flicked her hair over her shoulder before strutting out of the office.

"God, she's crazy," Mary huffed.

"You're right about that," Peter agreed. There was a moment of silence before Peter spoke.

"But I'm glad you had a nice night." He wasn't sure if he should say anything. He didn't know if Mary wanted to talk about it anymore, but he didn't want to sound like he wasn't happy for her. He was happy—a bit.

"Thanks, and don't ask me for any details," she joked, and Peter laughed.

"I promise I won't.".

"How's the apartment?" she asked.

"It's good; I think I'm nearly there. I was thinking about hosting a superbowl night. Have some drinks and some food. What do you think?".

"Yeah, that sounds amazing. I'll bring something over. When is the superbowl?" Mary asked.

"Urh, I think it's next Saturday; I'll tell Anya as well, and you guys can stay over if you like.".

"Thanks, Peter," she smiled.

"Anway, I should get back; I'll see you later," he said with a smile, and Mary nodded. She was left to her own thoughts, which immediately went back to James, and she wondered what he was up to.

.........

James climbed the steps of Vanilla, his shoes clicking on the stone floor as he entered. It was quiet except for the little music in the background playing softly through the speakers dotted around the hotel. He strided over to the desk, resting his arms as he waited for Lily.

The subtle click of shoes made him turn, expecting it to be her, but instead it was Natalie, someone he didn't particularly want to see right now.

"Oh, I didn't think you were booked tonight," she said with furrowed brows as she flicked through the computer.

"I'm not; I'm here on business," he clarified, and Natalie grinned, running her hands along the marble top and spreading her arms wide to widen her chest area. She was wearing a skimpy dress with black heels, her breasts peeking out. Before, James would have been all over her, pulling her by her hand to the room or even the bathroom, slamming her against the wall, and fucking her brains out. But looking at her now only made him want to not do that.

"Well, now that you're here, maybe I can slot you in somewhere." She wiggled her perfect brow, and James stood up straight.

"I can't tongiht," he said simply, and Natalie straightened up, narrowing her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

"What's gotten into you? Normally, you're all for spontaneity," she huffed.

"I'm just busy tonight; now can you tell me where Lily is or I'll go find her myself?" he ordered. He wasn't in the mood for games tonight, and Natalie glanced at the computer, clicking on the mouse.

"She must be in the office; she's not booked with anyone." James took that as his answer and padded off, not giving Natalie the time of day. She huffed, rolling her eyes, and went off into the back room.

Since meeting Mary, she was all he could think about, and his taste for Natalie or any of the other girls was slowly going out the window. Last night, it took a big jump. If anything, he wanted Mary to be up in his room with him, rope tied around her beautiful body, cuffs adorning her wrists and ankles, and a gag placed in her pretty mouth while he reeked his dominance over her and had her begging and screaming Sir to him.

But she wasn't ready; she was nowhere near that stage, and he wondered if she ever would be. Hell, he was going to have to wait a while for her to have sex with him, and she was pretty sure she wasn't going to until marriage.

Marriage—it was something he never thought about. He always thought he was going to be one of those guys who never settles for anyone, that he could have anyone he wanted whenever. But meeting Mary was starting to change that for me. She was all he wanted, and being the greedy man he was, he was going to have her.

He took the elevator to the top floor, making his way down to the office. He had converted one of the suits into an office for him and Lily to use, mostly just for business regarding finance, stock, and the medical records of the girls. He took damn good care of them and provided them with the best wage they could earn.

He didn't bother to knock on the office door, as it was his own as well as Lily's, and pushed the door open, only to stop in his tracks in surprise.

Lily was sitting in one of the plush chairs, her legs stretched out and behind her, held by the young sub in front of her. William was a young boy, trying to make it in the wall street business, and somehow ended up being submissive to Lily. He had dirty blond hair and was thin around the body. The welts on his ass had turned to blotchy bruises, and it was clear this was from a few days ago. He was currently tending to his mistress's feet, rubbing the soles with his hands, and pressing light kisses on them.

But the sudden opening of the office door caused him to turn abruptly, his cheeks heating up instantly at the humiliation of someone walking in on them, and he stopped what he was doing.

"Don't stop; I didn't tell you to stop." Lily scolded him, kicking him with her other foot, and he gulped, turning back to his duty.

"I'm sorry, mistress," he whimpered, and he returned to rubbing her feet.

James closed the door, slightly smirking at the sight. He was no stranger to this; he'd seen men like William being dominated by powerful women before. It was the whole point of his club that men could come to either be dominant or be dominated by beautiful women. And certainly not with Lily.

"I didn't know you were coming today," she said as James threw himself in one of the other plush chairs opposite, folding his leg over.

"I'm only here on business," he clarified softly, and Lily grinned.

"Oh, is it that girl?" she said. James chuckled softly under his breath, looking to the floor as he smirked.

"Maybe," he shrugged. He was a man who didn't like to admit things.

"So it is... you like her," Lily grinned, and James huffed. She wasn't wrong. He does like her.

"She was around mine last night," he said.

"Of course she was; you fucked her?' she asked.

"No, I told you she's innocent; she's waiting until marriage for sex, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything else," he said rather smugly, and Lily was surprised.

"Wow, I'm surprised you were able to hold back," she teased, and James rolled his eyes. Again, she wasn't wrong.

"You want a drink?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Go and make James a drink." Lily snatched her foot away from William's hand and shoved him with it, ordering him to get James a drink.

"Yes, mistress," he answered softly, crawling from the floor to the drinks stand and pouring a glass of Whiksey. James smirked, glancing over at Lily, his fingers tapping on the arm rest as he waited. William turned and walked over slowly, holding the glass carefully, and handed it to James. He kept his eyes away, not because he was instructed to, but because of the sheer humiliation of standing naked in front of this powerful man with his cock wrapped in red rope. His balls separated, so they were almost turning blue, and his cock stood on edge.

"Thank you," he murmured as he delicately took the glass and sipped it, watching intently as William returned to the floor to hide his embarrassed face.

"Anway, how is business?" he asked.

"We've been good this month, very busy. The girls are booked for the next month; I'm wondering if we should employ new girls so the girls don't feel so overwelmed," she suggested.

"Sure, whatever you think we need. How's our finances?" he asked.

"We're more than on track. I've paid the wages, and then the rest can go into the business. We've made good money this month," she smiled.

"Well, I know I can count on you." Lily was the best person to run this business for him, and he could go months without checking on it and it would still be on track.

"So I guess you're finished with Natalie?" She asked, and James threw back the last of his drinks, licking his lips.

"So," he shrugged. He wasn't sad about it or anything; she was just there to keep him company.

'So I'm just saying because you know how she gets".

"What jealousy! She knew we weren't serious. I only went with her because she knows what I like and it's easy; besides, I'll tell her that I don't need her to serve me any longer and she can find someone else." James wasn't going to be all nice and cuddly about it; his interest was in Mary now, and Natalie was going to have to accept that.

"Well, you know she likes the attention of knowing she's your sub," Lily pointed out, and James scoffed, laughing softly.

"I'll tell her when I go down; there's plenty of guys she already subs for that would probably like to see her more often," he said, and Lily shrugged.

"Okay," she said softly.

James trotted down the stairs and walked to the reception, hoping Natalie was there, which she was. She was resting her head lazily in her palm as she sat at the desk.

"Hey," he said, and she looked over lazily.

"What? You changed your mind," she said, and James sighed.

"I need to talk to you," he said softly, and Natalie turned, crossing her arms with a slight smirk.

"Oh, you need to talk to me, sir.".

"I'm being serious," he said, and her smirk fell.

"Listen, I won't be requiring your service to me anymore," Natalie blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she groaned.

"What I mean is you won't need to sub for me anymore," he said simply.

"Why?" She snapped, and normally James would have sternly corrected her, but she wasn't his sub any more.

"Because I'm with someone now," he answered.

"So that's it; you just chuck me to the side like I'm nothing. I knew something was up with you, and you left it till now to tell me," she huffed.

"I'm telling you now, and I told you there was nothing serious with us; I enjoyed you being my sub, and only that," he said rather sternly.

"So who is she, some other sub in this buidling?" She raised her voice. She was well-and-truly pissed.

"Not that it's your business, but no, she's not another sub. Besides, there are plenty of guys you can sub for, and I wasn't your only dom."

"Oh, thanks," she said sarcastically, and James groaned. He had enough of this conversation.

"You take this however you want, Natalie, but I'm telling you this is over," he said finally.

"Whatever, fuck you," she spat and turned on her heel, walking into the back room. He didn't have the energy or time to carry on fighting with her, and although he technically was her boss, he just wanted to leave. He was going to stand and have petty arguments with little brats like her. He turned and stormed his way out of the hotel into his waiting car.

Chapter 18

Hey I written you guys a nice long chapter seeing as I haven't updated for a while, I hope you like it, let me know what you think in the comments

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#sebastian stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #sebastian stan smut #bucky barnes fanficiton #mafia Bucky barnes #mob boss Bucky barnes #dom bucky barnes

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theshotsheardacrossworlds · 5 months

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Pipe

In which Halsin offers his beloved Annie some weed to calm her anxious butt down. Mostly SFW.

“Do you mind?” Halsin rumbled, showing Anais his pipe. She was reading what she called “an extremely bawdy” romance novel and sitting next to him on her bedroll.

“Not at all. What do you put in there?” She watched him curiously as he packed his pipe.

“A variety of herbs used for relaxation.” Finishing that, he lit a match. “I thought perhaps we may both partake.” His hazel eyes met her brown ones. “You’re under such stress, my heart. I can feel wave after wave of anxiety pour off you.” You’re all smiles and full of cheer but underneath how you suffer so. I see how your muscles are always tense, even causing you pain. I’ve heard your cries of frustration as at every turn yet another tells you they cannot cure you. When you realize you cannot save someone. How you cry for your mother when you’re hurt. He put out the match and puffed on the pipe. “Let me help you.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “Is it that obvious?” She whispered, looking away from him.

Oh no. No. No. No. I must fix this. He reached one of his long arms around her broad shoulders, his hand resting on her pillowy upper arm. “My love, I did not say that to chastise or shame you. I said it because I love you and because…I have been there too. This helps my body and mind relax, and I hope it does the same for you.” Please believe me, Annie. Know that I only wish to help.

She leaned her head against him, closing her eyes. “I suppose it can’t hurt. So,” she opened her eyes again and raised an eyebrow. “What exactly do I do?” Picking her head up, she eyed the pipe in his other hand.

“Puff occasionally. That’s all, my heart.” He handed it to her, and she stared at it for a second before bringing it to her perfect lips. Those lips I long to kiss. On her first puff she coughed a little and eyed the pipe warily. “You’ll get used to it.” She doesn’t look convinced. What can I do? “Try again, and maybe—”

“I think slower.” She said, eyes still on the pipe. She puffed more slowly the second time, her tense shoulders already relaxing. Good. Good girl. Be at peace, my love.

An hour later, Halsin knew his beloved was at peace.

She’s staring at the sky, head against my shoulder. It’s as if all her tension has faded away.

“The sky’s just…so fucking pretty, you know?” She murmured.

She’s also high as the trees in High Forest.

He chuckled and rubbed her upper arm. “It is but pales in comparison to you, my heart.”

“You are so fucking cute, love. That’s the kinda shit Da always said to Mum.” Anais sighed dramatically, drawing another chortle from Halsin. “You know, Da…he was amazing. He was just a fisherman, and then he fell in love with a countess.” Her demeanor changed in an instant. “And he was disrespected from the day they married til the day he died.”

“Oh?” Let her speak and unburden herself. Maybe she’s keeping much inside that’s troubling her.

“The Wildhearts drew up an ironclad prenuptial agreement, detailing everything Mum and Da could and couldn’t do. Mum couldn’t take his name. Da had no claim to her wealth or title. Da couldn’t attend certain events with her, and even if he could, he wasn’t allowed to be seated near her.” Her brown eyes narrowed. “Or me. He wasn’t allowed to attend my eighteenth nameday ball. I mean fuck, he’s dead and not allowed to be buried in the Wildheart family crypt! He’s just…fucking in a grave!” I believe she could have worded that better. She suddenly shifted and pulled his face to hers, her expression almost pleading. “I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you treated like how Da was.”

My sweet Annie… He relished her touch and kissed one of her palms. “That you are so concerned for me is touching. However, I do not plan to ever marry.”

Her mouth dropped and tears began forming in her eyes.

Oh. Shit.

He quickly put his pipe down, taking her hands off his face and holding them tightly. “Annie, when I say I will never marry it is because of who I am. Remember what I said? I am unbound in nature, my love. That doesn’t mean I love you any less. What we have is more grounded in nature than the rules of civilization. I would never, never leave you. I always wish to be by your side, Oak Father willing. I love you. To be with you and have your love are the greatest gifts I’ve ever been given.”

She blinked several times, and Halsin noted that her eyes seemed unfocused. “Okay.” Anais nodded as if he had casually told her something unimportant. Realizing that perhaps he said something important, her eyes widened and kissed him soundly. “I love you too, my big sexy bear.” She then tapped his nose and turned towards her bag. “I need chocolate. I’m such a slut for chocolate, love.” She says the most amusing things. Pulling out a bar of chocolate (how long has that been in her bag, I wonder), she offered a piece to him with a smile.

He took the chocolate gratefully, his eyes never leaving hers. What a sight she is. And so generous too.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Anais spoke once more.

“You know, love…besides my little happy circle of Mum, Da, and Nadia, this is the first time in my life I feel like I belong. It’s nice.” Smiling softly, she took a very large bite of chocolate. “I’m the half-elf adopted daughter of a dwarven countess---I stick out like a sore thumb no matter what. But with everyone…this weird as fuck not-so-little anymore family…I fit right in.” Ah, such a beautiful and slightly awkward wink. “And then there’s you!” Her lips barely touched his before she began to giggle. “I belong with you all right! I belong in your lap and in your bed and on the ground when I feel like it,” When she feels like it is when she wants the bear, which is more often than even I would have predicted. “And…AND…” She popped the rest of the chocolate in her mouth and grinned. “Like this.” She snuggled into his shoulder and chest, holding onto him tightly. “Big sexy cuddly bear…all mine…not gonna leave me, my bear?”

Wrapping an arm around her with the other bringing her long legs over his lap, he kissed her not quite as pale as before cheek. “Never.” How could I let go the one dearest to me? The one who saved my life? Who saved the grove? Who continues with such grace despite impossible odds? Who makes my heart flutter when I glimpse her? Who has listened to my frustrations, ramblings, hopes, and dreams, and comforts and encourages me endlessly? “Never, my heart.”

The next sound Halsin heard was a soft snore from his lover. Trying hard not to laugh, he let a few chuckles escape as he continued to hold her. I will never let you go.

***

When Anais woke the next morning, she was very confused at first. “Wait…did I…sleep in your tent?”

The large elf beside her laughed heartily. “You certainly did, my love! Truthfully, I’ve never seen you so at ease than last night. How do you feel?” Considering all that happened, I hope she feels less anxious.

She hummed as she turned to rest her head over his heart. “Better. It was nice to just not think for a while.” A smile tugged on her lips. “Though, I’m sorry if I said anything weird.” Her brow furrowed, and her nose wrinkled. “Did I talk about my Mum and Da?”

He grinned. “You did. You clearly love your parents very much, as I’m sure they do you.” As I did with my own parents. So, so long ago. “Would you be open to doing this again? Not that I’m pressuring you, mind you—"

Giggling, she pressed a kiss far too close to a nipple. Silvanus preserve, you are too much. “I would, but only if you’re with me. Gods forbid someone like Astarion find me! I’d never hear the end of it.” They both laughed and then settled into a comfortable silence for a while. “I,” she began. “I don’t know if I say it enough, love, but…I’m so grateful for you.” As I am for you, dear one. “I never thought in my wildest dreams I could find someone who not only loves me for me but is as truly wonderful as you. I’m so very grateful, Halsin.” He could feel his eyes filling with tears and his heart near bursting with love as she spoke. Light of my life, how could I not love and cherish you? He suddenly felt her vibrating but not with anxiety---with excitement. “Oh my goodness, I just had a brilliant idea! You like sweets, right? What’s your favorite, love? Once we’re in the city, and I have a godsdamned kitchen again, I can make it for you! Or we can just buy it, if the bakery is a decent one…oh shit, what if it’s something you absolutely adore, I’ve never made it before, and I fuck up so badly you hate those for the rest of your life?!” She shook her head quickly. “Nah, that won’t happen. I’m not that bad of baker. I’d like to think I’m pretty good…sorry.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Getting ahead of myself there. Back to the original question, love---what’s your favorite sweet?”

He chuckled softly, giving her upper arm a squeeze. The next time we are intimate, worship her arms and hands. They are just as beautiful as the rest of her. “How very thoughtful, my heart! Both in thinking of that and not letting your mind run so far so fast. Hmm, I enjoy most sweets the same, but if it has honey, then I’d be most pleased.”

“Honey cakes for my loveable bear.” She sighed happily, rubbing his chest. “Loveable, cuddly bear…can we stay like this a while? Still early yet.”

“As if I could refuse you, my favorite slut for chocolate.” Halsin teased, suddenly tickling her. She playfully thrashed in his heavily muscled arms, eventually straddling his waist and her lips just above his.

Wrinkling her nose, she giggled. “Just how many sluts for chocolate do you know, love?”

His hands moved from her thick waist to her behind. Nature was very generous when making her ass. And her breasts. And her height. And her belly. And her heart, of course! His eyes twinkled as he rubbed her. “Only you, Annie. Thus, as the only one, you also just happen to be my favorite as you are my favorite sorcerer, my favorite star in the sky…”

“Flatterer.” She laughed softly, picking her head up slightly to meet his gaze. “Who knew the famous archdruid Halsin—”

“Famous? Ha!” Am I truly that well-known? Surely not.

She placed several kisses along his jaw and mouth. “The extremely famous, expert healer, and very comfortable bear, the archdruid Halsin is such a flatterer when he wants to be.” Her lips touched his, the kiss slow. “I love you,” Anais breathed. “Gods, I love you.”

He held her tightly to him, relishing the warmth and feeling of her. “I love you too, my heart.” Oak Father, allow me to care for and cherish her in all the days we have together, whether they be short or long…preferably long. She is my sun, moon, and stars---protect her, Oak Father, in the battles ahead.

#anais wildheart #annie wildheart #halsin #bg3 halsin #halsin x tav #plus size tav #halsin x annie #annie like me irl has a ton of anxiety #bg3 fanfic #bg3 fanfiction #halsin x plus size tav #half-elf tav #these other two dorks and one of them can turn into a bear

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foxgirl95 · 2 months

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Back Into the Fray

A Bounty hunter Mandalorian, a young jedi, a talkative droid, and a former X-wing fighter pilot turned traveling mechanic. He’s willing to travel with them if it means someone out there has his back. They both have someone they would be devastated to lose. Can they all work together as a team and find the little green man's people? Or will they butt heads every step of the way? At least the baby and Droid can get along.

First couple chapters take place during season 1 of The Mandalorian, the rest will be in season 2.

Pairing: Din Djarin x Original Female Character (Anai)

Tags: Slow burn, Idiots in love, Found Family, Eventual Relationship, Fluff, Physical & Emotional hurt comfort, Creative liberties on Star Wars content both cannon and Expanded Universe, Light cannon divergence.

AO3 link

Chapter 1: The Mechanic

Chapter Description: The Mandalorian meets the fabled mechanic. Little does he know that this brief meeting will lead to.

Next Chapter >>

Dank Farrik…

That was the cursing thought of one beskar-clad Mandalorian as the ramp of the hull opened to the hanger three-five on the dust ball planet of Tatooine. The heat of the two suns encompassing his body, if he wasn’t already used to the somewhat similar heat on Nevaro he’d feel like he was melting. Today though seemed to be another, in a string of many, he had just escaped a dogfight and his nerves were through the roof.

As he stepped out of the ship, he heard the unmistakable sound of pit droids rushing toward him. He pulled out his blaster, giving them a warning shot as the shrill voice of a woman called out “Hey! Hey! You damage one of my droids, you’ll pay for it!” A wild-haired woman with her eyebrows burnt off came around the corner with her hands on her hips.

“Just keep them away from my ship,” Mando replied sternly.

She leaned forward “Yeah? You think that’s a good idea, do ya?” Snapping back as she walked towards the ship exclaiming about every little bit that she saw wrong with his ship. Mando rolled his eyes under his helmet as she went on, ‘Mechanics…’ As much as he appreciated their work, he also knew a lot of them tended to over exaggerate and scam pilots out of credits.

“How did you even land?” She barked as she made her way around pointing out things, he already knew were wrong “That’s gonna set you back.”

“I have 500 imperial credits.” He replied curtly holding out the last bit of money he had.

She raised a nonexistent eyebrow at him then snatched the credits from his hand “That’s all you got? Well, what do you guys think?” She turned to her pit droids that babbled on in a language Mando had no interest in learning as the woman turned back to him “That’ll at least cover the hangar.”

“I’ll get you your money.” He was starting to get annoyed.

She scoffed, leaning towards him “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”

Suddenly Mando noticed movement at the edge of his visor and quickly pulled his blaster firing another warning shot at one of the pillars “Show yourself!” He ignored the continued barking of exclamations from the woman next to him as he stared into the dark shade of the hangar.

“Woah, Woah, Woah! Calm down Mister Mandalorian, we're all friendlies here!” Slowly but surely a figure appeared and stepped out into the light with its arms up. It was another woman, this one was far younger than her counterpart, her sandalwood skin glowing like amber stones under the intense light of the two suns, and her clothes were tattered and grease-covered just like any other mechanic. What caught Mando’s attention though was her eyes, they were the greenest eyes he had ever seen on anyone that reminded him of his little companion safely tucked away in his bunk that very moment. “Hey man.” He heard her voice call, snapping him out of his thoughts. She stood there with an awkward smile on her freshly tinted lips “My arms are getting tired here. Can you put that thing away?”

Mando huffed with amusement and put his blaster away. The older woman jabbed him in the arm with a boney finger “Hey watch it bucket head, I don’t take kindly to those who threaten my friends.”

“Sorry.” He said quietly to which the woman in question giggled lightly. How is me almost killing you funny? He asked himself.

“It’s all good Mando.” She replied pulling a rag out of her pocket as she wiped the grease from her calloused hands “I should’ve known better than to try to sneak around you while you’re doing business.”

The older woman leaned out from behind Mando calling out to her companion “Hey Anai, this guy’s looking for work. Why don’t you take him down to the cantina to ask around.”

“I don’t need an escort” He interrupted.

“Have you ever been to Mos Eisley?” She asked.

“No.”

“Then it can’t hurt to have someone show you around, the best part is it’s free.” She playfully shoved the younger woman, Anai, towards the door “Now go on get out of here I’ve got work to do.”

Anai laughed lightly once again “Alright, alright.” She turned to Mando with a smile, “C’mon, it’s not that far.”

The Mandalorian sighed, shaking his head, “Fine.” He then turned back to the other woman pointing a finger at her “Just remember…”

“Yeah yeah!” She shouted back “No droids. I heard you. Don’t gotta say it twice.” She turned to get to work cursing at his demands as the other two headed to the door. On the way, Anai grabbed an old leather jacket with off one of the machines pulling it onto her shoulders. Once outside the safety of the hangar she stretched her arms over her head and let out a groan “Man it feels good to take a break…”

Mando walked up beside her and looked around the street “You don’t have to help me.” He stated, “I’m sure I can find it.”

“Oh! It’s no trouble!” She replied as her arms fell back to her sides. “Besides, I've been moping around that hangar for days now. Peli’s getting sick of me.” Anai smiled as she turned in the direction they needed to go. “Don’t take anything she says to heart, she can be a good friend once you get to know her.” Something in her voice told him she wasn’t lying.

“Noted.” He answered shortly as he followed after her. They walked in somewhat comfortable silence; he was still wary of the woman in front of him. There was no one he could trust, for all he knew she could be a guild member looking for the kid. As they came closer to the center of town Mando spotted something…ominous. There on several pikes were the discarded helmets of storm troopers, he stopped to stare at the display as a light wind blew by causing the blood-colored scraps of fabric tied to each of them to sway. After a moment he felt the presence of the young woman beside him “Kinda eerie, isn’t it?” She commented as she fiddled with something hanging from her neck. “Even though I wanted these guys dead more than anything, the first time I saw this it spooked me.”

He turned his head toward her slightly, now realizing what she had been playing with, a small silver medallion with the emblem of the former rebellion forces engraved upon it Dogtag… His inner voice spoke, “You were a soldier?" Anai turned to him, still rubbing her fingers over the small piece of metal “A pilot.” She corrected him. That surprised Mando, but it also explained her devil-may-care attitude. “Any good?” He asked, receiving a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin “I mean I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

Mando huffed out a chuckle “Guess so.” This woman had survived the war, probably a hero to her people, yet like the shock trooper Cara Dune she was out here assumably hiding from whatever duties she didn’t wish to perform.

Anai hummed playfully watching him as she nodded her head to one side “C’mon, the cantina’s this way.”

They reached their destination shortly afterward and now Mando was a little glad he had someone to show him the way. Out here most of the buildings looked the same and it was probably easy to accidentally walk into one while meaning to be in another. As they stepped down into the door Anai quickly turned around and put her hands out to stop him. He cocked his head to the side curiously looking for an explanation when the mechanic chuckled awkwardly “Uh, just to warn you this place is run by droids nowadays. So please don’t go shooting it up, they’re just doing their jobs.”

Oh. Mando thought, obviously she had seen what had occurred earlier and realized he was very uncomfortable with droids “Thanks, I’ll try not to.”

She smiled, seeming relieved, then turned to enter the cantina, the old doors sliding open to reveal the spacious area inside. It being midday it was pretty empty save for a few who were happily eating and talking amongst themselves. Anai made a b-line for the bar ordering a glass of Juma Juice from the droid wiping down the bar. Mando came up behind her and leaned against the flat surface “Hey, droid, I'm a hunter. I'm looking for some work.”

The tall droid looked towards the man as it poured Anai’s drink “Unfortunately, the Bounty Guild no longer operates from Tatooine.” Answered the mechanical voice.

“I'm not looking for Guild work.” His patience was being put to the test today.

“I am afraid that does not improve your situation…” The droid finished the drink, setting it in front of the pink-haired woman “At least by my calculation.”

“Think again, tin can!” A sudden voice called out catching the attention of everyone in the cantina. It was a kid, a boy barely out of his teens by the looks of him, sitting with his legs propped up in his booth. “If you're looking for work, have a seat, my friend.” Mando shared a look with Anai, who just spared the boy a glance before turning her full attention to her drink. He sighed before deciding to join the young man in his booth.

“Name's Toro, Toro Calican.” The boy stated. Mando wished there was anything else but looked like he was out of options here. He let Toro make his pitch though for a moment he let his gaze travel back to the woman at the bar. He knew she was listening in on the conversation, even if she was doing a good job of hiding it. “Fennec Shand, an assassin.” That was when Mando tuned back into Toro finally looking down at the puck between them. “She's been on the run ever since the New Republic put all her employers in lockdown.”

Well, this kid’s a goner… Mando immediately thought, there were a lot of people who knew that name and what came with it. Even his escort seemed to stiffen from her station at the bar. “I know the name.” He answered coldly already knowing this was not the kind of job he needed right now.

His answer though didn’t seem to phase Toro “I followed this tracking fob here.” He reached into his jacket pulling out the fob that beeped rhythmically “Now the positional data suggests she's headed out beyond the Dune Sea.” He looked back up at Mando nonchalantly “Should be an easy job.”

If Mando wasn’t so annoyed already he would laugh, he sighed as he stood from the booth “Well, good luck with that.” He turned back to the bar ready to try his chances with someone else.

“Wait, wait, wait, hey!” The boy sat up with a slight amount of panic in his voice “I thought you needed work?”

Mando snapped back to Toro “How long with the guild?”

Now the kid's attitude shifted like he was offended “Long enough.”

“Clearly not, Fennec Shand is an elite mercenary,” Mando explained, this boy had no idea what he was getting himself into. “She made her name killing for all the top crime syndicates, including the Hutts.” His voice was as calm as he could make it to push how serious this was “If you go after her, you won’t make it past sunrise.” Toro was quiet now, he seemed to get it now, so Mando turned to leave, maybe someone else in this town had something better for him.

“This is my first job.” The boy called out quietly now standing and pleading with the beskar-clad man as he turned to face him “You can keep the money, all of it. I just need this job to get into the guild.” He scoffed knowing how crazy this was “I can’t do it alone.”

The Mandalorian took a moment to weigh his options knowing how large a bounty the mercenary had on her. They could both get what they wanted out of this, Mando sighed “Meet me at hangar three-five in half an hour.” Toro immediately looked happy and relieved “Bring two speeder bikes and give me the tracking fob.”

There was a silent moment between the two as the boy looked down at the fob in his hands before tossing it to the wall, shattering it into pieces as sparks fell to the ground. Mando heard the unmistakable snort of laughter coming from behind him. “Don’t worry.” The boy in front of him spoke as he tapped the top of his skull. “Got it all memorized.” The Mandalorian sighed, turning to the door, spying a familiar shade of pink already heading outside “Half an hour.” That was all he said as he left the cantina and as he expected his guide was waiting for him with a smirk on her lips which he ignored as he pushed past her. The long strides of his legs kept him in the lead as he avoided Anai, causing her to walk a little faster following after him, eventually taking two steps for every one of his. She walked alongside him in silence until she felt the need to speak “So…” Mando steeled himself for whatever was going to come out of her mouth “I may not be a bounty hunter but, I don’t need to tell you to watch your back with that one, right?” He only sighed audibly before quickening his pace again as the sound of wheezing laughter followed him.

Once back at the hangar Mando immediately went back into his ship to gather supplies, not taking the time to see where the woman he had come in with went off to. He went to grab his bag before he noticed something was off, doing a double take he ran to his now open bunk finding it empty before racing down the ramp “HEY!” He called out as a scared pit droid walked by “Where is he?”

“Quiet!” He heard the familiar voice of Peli call out as she emerged from the office consoling the small green child in her arms “You woke it up. Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to sleep?” She complained.

Mando was still riding off the waves of protectiveness and sternly replied “Give him to me.” His hand instinctively hovered near the blaster on his hip.

“Not so fast!” The older woman scoffed, holding the baby on her hip away from him “You can’t just leave a child all alone like that.” She looked down at the little bugger adjusting him to sit more comfortably. “You know, you have an awful lot to learn about raising a young one.” The child in her arms cooed softly as Mando looked between the two of them. His little companion was alright, and she had a point, Kriff… he shouldn’t have left him alone.

“What is going on out here?” They both looked over to see Anai joining them with two canteens hanging from her shoulder. “I was in there waiting for someone to start shooting with all the commotion.” She came closer, her eyes landing on the child staring confused for a moment before a gentle smile formed on her lips “Well hello there.” She affectionately wiggled a finger in the child’s direction “Who's this cutie?”

“Anyway…” Peli cleared her throat drawing their attention back to her “I started the repair on the fuel leak.” She stepped over to a machine pressing a few of the glowing buttons and tapping the side of it to get it to start up as Mando walked back up the ramp into his ship. “I had a couple of setbacks I want to talk to you about.” She continued fiddling with the old machine in front of her “You know, I didn’t use any droids as requested, so it took me a lot longer than expected.” Anai crossed her arms in front of her chest listening to Peli ramble on to Mando as he returned with his pack in hand.

“Thank you…” That stopped both women where they stood, hearing the softly spoken gratitude come from the man that had almost come close to killing them both. They both looked at one another as Mando headed back towards the entrance. “Oh, so I guess I was right.” She handed the small bundle to the unexpecting woman next to her hot on Mando’s trail. Anai held the child awkwardly in front of her as she too followed them “Wait…” her words were lost under Peli’s continued ranting.

The small group made their way outside where Toro was now waiting for his new partner “Hey, Mando, what do you think?” Gesturing to the two speeder bikes he had brought with him “Not too shabby, huh?” Peli and Anai stood back out of the conversation as the Mandalorian inspected their transportation, visibly skeptical of their functionality “What do you expect” Toro shrugged “This ain’t Corelia.” He turned to the two women and nodded “Ladies.” Which earned him an unimpressed look from the both of them and laughter from the baby. Anai walked over to Mando holding out the canteens to him “Here, so you don’t keel over from dehydration.” He stared down at her for a moment before taking them “That going to cost me too?” He asked skeptically to which the pink-haired woman huffed “I may be an ass Mando but I’m not heartless enough to send you off into the dunes without water.” He nodded, humming to show his gratitude before his gaze went to the child in her arms “Behave, I’ll be back” with that both men jumped on their speeders heading off into the endless sea of sand.

The child cooed as he waved goodbye to his caretaker making Anai smile “Awww…” she patted him lightly “It’s alright kiddo, we’ll have some fun until Mando gets back, okay?” The little one just looked up at her with a toothy grin happily swinging his little feet through the air.

Author's Note: This is my first time posting a fic on tumblr and I'll be posting all the chapters I have up on AO3 one at a time but feel free to take a look at what I have up already!

Mudhorn divider: @dreamland-gallery

Header & Footer: @samspenandsword

#star wars #the mandalorian #din djarin #fan fic #original character #din djarin x oc #din djarin fanfic #din djarin x ofc #din djarin x original female character #star wars grogu #mandalorian and grogu #groguthechild #din and grogu #original droid character #fanfiction

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saiilorstars · 2 years

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Ch.26: The Pressure’s On

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

Current Masterlist | Previous Story

Pronunciation of OC: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic

[If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!

When Barry was truly back in his own world, he told Belén everything that'd happened to him. He told her about the other world he'd accidentally gone to — National City, Supergirl...Anais. Even if he hadn't been a speedster, Barry would've still rambled at light speed trying to retell the entire story from the moment he stepped foot into Earth 38 and the moment he returned.

Luckily, Belén knew him. She didn't interrupt his story; she silently listened from beginning to end. She would just snuggle closer to him each time he shifted as he made wild gestures during his story telling. She waited until the end to start sharing her reactions. "So you and I are married in this Earth-38 world and...and we adopted an-an...alien child?" Her face was warm and red just at the thought of it. Of all the things her doppelganger could have done, she chose to do all that...

Barry's face was just as red as Belén's. He stared at the ceiling until it would come down a bit. "We adopted Anais when she was a child. She's our daughter - well, our doppelgangers' daughter."

"Well, she sounds amazing," Belén tilted her head up at him, smiling when he finally met her gaze. "And it's not just cos she's an alien. It seems like our doppelgangers raised her well, loved her right." She couldn't imagine ever doing something like that but then again she hadn't really imagined herself being a mother. Those thoughts were still pretty far away.

"I wish you could've seen her," Barry lamented the fact that would probably never happen. Anais was as cheery as her adoptive mother was, definitely a fast-paced rambler too. He was sure that she and Belén would've gotten along so well.

Belén wished the same thing but she wouldn't dwell on the fact it would never happen. There was no point. It was a nice world but it wasn't their world. They would one day, hopefully, have something similar but absolutely their own. "Well, I could do without seeing an older me," she admitted with a chuckle. "Seriously, I'm over 40? How terrible!"

Yet Barry smiled from ear to ear. "You were hot."

"You don't have to kiss up, you already live with me and you get to share my bed," she rolled her eyes and made to turn away from him but he locked an arm around her waist, keeping her right where she was.

"I mean it," he looked down at her. "I get the feeling that no matter what version of you I meet, I'll always love them."

"But no more than me, right?"

Barry brought his hand up to her soft hair and ran his fingers through it. "You're my Bells. That other Barry got to marry his Bells and grow older with her. I want that opportunity too." He could vividly remember the way his doppelganger looked at his wife, the gentle touches they shared, they way they acted with each other. He would love to reach where they were, albeit at their own pace.

"And they were happy?" Belén asked after spending a few minutes in calm silence. "You know, despite all the alien nonsense they obviously go through?"

"Yeah," Barry grinned within the second. "She makes the chocolate amaretti cookies you do and he loves them. Anais was upset because he almost ate the entire batch that her mother brought."

Belén felt a warm tingle just hearing the word 'mother', but she did laugh at the cookie part. "Really?"

"Yup, I think that every Barry Allen in the multiverse loves chocolate amaretti cookies baked by Belén Palayta."

"Hm, well I'm sorry my batches aren't quite there yet. I imagine my doppelganger makes them better?"

"Yours are just as good too, Bells, I promise," Barry kissed the top of her head. "In fact, I wouldn't be opposed if you decided to make another batch today."

Belén playfully rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you already live with me, you clearly get me in every other world...you don't have to keep kissing up."

Now it was Barry's turn to roll his eyes. He shifted on the bed to see her sarcastic face. "I do love you, Belén. You have no idea what it was like seeing that other world, another world where you and I are married."

There was a brief grim look on Belén's face when she thought of Earth 2. "Well, it didn't quite turn out to be all sunshine and rainbows with our Earth 2 doppelgangers."

"One Earth, one different version," Barry said as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "But even then, it's true that we'd meet in any and every world."

Belén could smile at that. "It does seem that way, huh?" Their theoretical question of whether they would meet each other in a different timeline turned out to be real. It brought a rush of new warmth to her body, a happy warmth that she relished in. No matter what world they were in, they really would meet each other and fall in love. She draped an arm over Barry's shoulder and pecked his lips. "I love you my singing scientist."

"My dancer in the air," Barry chuckled as he gave her another kiss. He'd taken to watching her during her aerial dancing practices lately and he honestly felt like he would never get over her talent. "My beautiful dancer in the air," he started peppering her face with kisses, making her laugh. He lowered his arms to her waist and pulled her body against his.

He felt like kissing her for a much longer time now.

~0~

'I am truly content with your decisions as of late, Belén," the Green's voice filled the air around Belén. She rolled her eyes when it continued to go on and on about her latest choices regarding botanical metas, knowing exactly where he was headed with one precise decision she made. "Belén, you and Datura are doppelgangers who should have been working together from the very start."

"Kinda hard to do when she's been trying to kill me this whole time!" Belén exclaimed in full-on irritation. She was getting real tired of the Green acting as if this wasn't a fact. "And let's just be clear that I'm helping her because of humanity reasons. I nor like her, nor tolerate her."

"You were always going to be one of my most prominent child," the Green said as if Belén hadn't said her last statement. "The truth is, you and Datura are my most prominent children." Belén scoffed but the Green went on. "Belén, you and Datura will be intertwined for a long time. She is your doppelganger and while her choices are questionable, she will ultimately make sacrifices even she never saw coming."

Once again, Belén scoffed. She folded her arms and glared at the wide open forest. "And what's that supposed to mean to me? Is that why I should forgive her for everything she's done so far?"

"No. It is only to remind you that despite the different worlds you both grew up in, the different versions of people you had around you, Datura will return to her fundamental core in the end. She is you, Belén, just as you are her."

Belén rolled her eyes. "You know Barry just got back from another world where I don't have botanical powers. She's a scientist, and she's living nice and happily with her husband and their adoptive daughter. Are you telling me that evil, murderous Datura is just like her? And that Earth 38 Belén is just like Datura?"

"Choosing to ignore my words is not wise. The truth is when Time calls, you and Datura will work together. It's an inevitable event and when the job is finished, you will look back on the days of the Azalea fighting Datura, thinking of how times have changed and how it changed both of you."

Belén snorted and laughed thoroughly. "Right. The day I work with Datura is the day pigs will fly. I am choosing to help her but I don't expect promising results. Now if you'll excuse me, I do have to go converse with other botanical metas looking to hide from the very meta you foolishly think might be redeemable."

She thought for a moment that the Green would prevent her from walking away but she was able to make it to the spot where more botanical metas were gathering. She smiled at the group who already spoke so easily to each other; they were comfortable with each other despite the short amount of time they'd met.

"Hey, they're pretty much ready," Black Orchid was amongst the group, waiting for the Azalea to make her appearance. Shivhan had taken her role serious in guiding the newer metas in the world and Belén honestly didn't know what she'd do without her. She herself didn't know the Green so well. They all had things to learn.

"Alright," Belén called for the group only once and had the entire place silent for her. That was still pretty weird but Shivhan said it was normal that they would listen to her without protest. "Today we're just going to keep doing what we've been doing. We'll keep practicing and training, getting to know each of our powers because the more you know it, the more control you have over it. I'm curious, and you don't really have to answer, but...has anyone experienced any...darker sides of your powers?" Belén's eyes scrutinized as many of the metas as she could to get an idea but in the end she had full-fledged answers.

"If you mean have we lost control then yeah," a younger female meta had raised her hand. She couldn't be older than sixteen, least that's what Shivhan had guessed the first time they met her. She was one of the metas who didn't have a suit but, like everyone in the group, her face was covered with a mask of vines. "I-I have like this...this other side of me that comes out without me wanting it. It's like...it's like it is in control of me. It's why I ran away from home. I was afraid that I'd hurt my family."

"I'm sorry you felt like you had to do that," Belén sympathetically looked at the girl. "The same thing happened to me, and I'm sure it's happened or is still happening to more of you. It's okay if you don't want to share but I would like to work with you, even if it's one-on-one. That other side of your powers you feel? It's not 'another side', it's part of your powers."

"But it feels wrong," the girl brought her arms over her chest and shuddered. "I'm supposed to be connected to nature but instead this side makes me a reckless, dangerous meta. Not to mention it's what can get me outed and make me an easier target for Datura. I don't want it."

"You saying that, is only gonna make it worse," Shivhan flatly said, making Belén roll her eyes. Their training styles differed even in their personalities. Shivhan wasn't the type of cover up the clear dangers of things while Belén preferred to ease the newer metas into the truth. "The Azalea went through the same thing, so why don't you be that first one-on-one?"

"I guess," the girl shrugged.

Belén offered the girl a warm smile as she motioned for the girl to follow. "C'mon."

Shivhan waited for the two to be gone enough to where they wouldn't hear, to where Belén wouldn't hear. "K, anyone else who has the same problem as that girl needs to meet with the Azalea at some point. You don't want to be outed because you couldn't control your powers."

"Easy for you to say," muttered a young man. "It'll take eons for us to learn how to control our powers."

"It doesn't have to," Shivhan rolled her eyes. "That's why the Azalea is doing this - that's why that reporter made the article."

"You mean the reporter who got fired over it?" went another man who appeared slightly older than the first. It was hard to tell when everyone was wearing their masks.

"Yeah," Shivhan crossed her arms, her tone taking on a tinge warning the others to watch their next words.

"I heard the same thing," a blonde woman said, shaking her head. "Is that really true? Did she get fired because she published the article for us?"

"She's not fired but...she could be," Shivhan looked from one meta to the next and was pleased to see that they had the decency to feel a little guilty. "But it doesn't have to end like that. Now the Azalea cannot get involved in what I'm thinking of because it's an established fact that she knows the reporter. It would look like she pulled some strings for the civilian."

"What do you mean?" the older man from before asked.

"This reporter has risked her life countless times to help the metahuman community and this last article she published is what brought all of you to this place. Without her and that article, you would all still be clueless about your origins."

"So what do you want us to do?" the blonde woman genuinely smiled, as did many of the others.

~ 0 ~

"So your powers are kind of interesting because you can willingly change anything into plant matter," Belén sounded just as awed as she truly was. It was the first time she met a botanical meta with that specific ability and the fact this girl, who was so young, already had a hold on those powers was amazing. But it also meant she was an easy target for Datura and since the girl held a special type of power that could, possibly, be linked to what Datura would need to survive, it was urgent for the girl to get a tighter grip on her powers.

"Sounds cool but it's not," the girl said with a flat tone. "I accidentally changed my cat into a frikin mess of vines. I didn't know what to do so I told my Mom that he ran away." She shook her head and sighed. "I'm a mess."

"No, you're not. You just need to train more," Belén said. "Now, first thing's first, what can I call you?"

"What, like...my meta name? Or my real name?"

"It's your choice."

"Kinsley. That's my real name. I don't...really have a meta name," Kinsley awkwardly shrugged her shoulders. "I...don't really have anything but my name actually."

"It's nice to meet you Kinsley," Belén offered the girl another kind smile.

"Believe me, it's really good to meet you," Kinsley's eyes slightly widened, making Belén chuckle. "I have read everything about you, I've watched you fight. You're good."

"If I am then it's because I've practiced and I've had some really good friends helping me. It's what I'd like to do for you and anyone else who wants it."

"Why? I mean, why bother teaching someone like me?" Kinsley gestured to herself. Her outfit was ruddy enough, showing signs that she truly had been on the run and no doubt on the streets for a while. "I'm no one important. So what if Datura finds me?"

For a moment, Belén wondered if that was how she sounded to her own friends when she made comments like that about herself. If it was, then she truly understood now how ridiculous it could sound. Sure, she didn't know Kinsley but she didn't have to in order to know that she had great power and was incredibly smart. Kinsley had been one of the first metas to get into the Green after the article was published.

"It matters because the world needs a Kinsley in it," Belén walked up to the girl and put her hands over her shoulders. "My Dad used to tell me the same thing when I put myself down and I didn't really believe him, but now I do. You don't know all that you might do for this world in the future, and you'll never know if you don't let yourself grow as a person and a meta."

"You sound like a mom," Kinsley playfully rolled her eyes and missed Belén's reddened blush on the parts of her exposed face. "Hey," Kinsley suddenly garnered a smirk, "Are you a Mom? Is the Azalea a Mom!?"

"God no!" Belén waved her off and walked a few steps away. "Let the record show that I am not a mother and that I'm just here to help you train. So—" she clapped her hands together, "—let's see what we're working with."

~ 0 ~

When Iris walked into the cortex, she was mighty surprised to find a gleeful Barry while Caitlin and Cisco looked ready to bury their heads in the piles of papers on the desk. "What is going on?"

Cisco didn't answer with words but instead with a groan. "Mr. Allen over here thinks we can crack the code to get back to Earth 2 today!"

"I did not say today!" Barry frowned at him. "I just said if we could work on it to get some progress—"

"Yeah, yeah," Cisco waved him off.

Iris' eyebrows raised but if she was being honest, and she would be, she had zero interest in continuing with that conversation. She turned to Caitlin instead to talk about why she came. "Caitlin, are you free tonight?"

"Uh, yeah..." Caitlin slowly nodded. "Why?"

"I'm trying to do this girls' night out to sort of help cheer up Belén. It's stupid but it's all I got at this point."

"Any word what the verdict is going to be?" Barry came up to the desk, forgetting all the work they had spread out around them.

Iris shook her head. "No." She felt terrible seeing his face drop, just like when Belén would 'casually' ask the same question. There truly was no obvious sign of what direction CC Pictures would take concerning Belén's job status. "How is she?"

Barry shrugged. "I mean...she's just being Bells. She's focusing entirely on the Green and the metas she's managed to meet through the article. She and Shivhan are in the greenroom right now."

"At least she managed to do what she wanted," Iris pointed out. Belén made it very clear that she was ecstatic to see the article working. "So girls' night...?" she turned a hopeful glance on Caitlin. "I'm trying to get Nina too and it should be no problem getting Shivhan."

"Why? You got booze?" Cisco asked with a smirk.

"Shut up," Iris waved him off.

"I'd love to, Iris," Caitlin smiled.

Iris beamed. "Great! You—" she pointed at Barry, "—are going to stay at my Dad's place because girls' night is going to be at Belén's."

Barry rolled his eyes but since it was for Belén's well-being, he wouldn't protest. "Fine."

"Eight p.m," Iris told Caitlin before taking off.

~ 0 ~

Belén returned from the Green to discover Iris' plans sent to her in a quick text, the same text that Shivhan had on her phone.

"Cool, booze," Shivhan punched the air with a fist. "I'm in!"

Belén sighed. She knew there was no talking Iris out of it. She appreciated the attempt of 'cheering her up' but she honestly didn't see the point of it. She wasn't sad. She wasn't upset. She stood by her choice whether or not the article did its thing...and it had.

"I say just have fun with it," Barry told her while they watched Caitlin draw blood from Belén's arm. "But, uh, not too much fun. Don't want you doing things you'll regret."

"Yeah, right," Belén rolled her eyes while Caitlin chuckled. She looked at the brunette just as the needle stopped poking her arm. "So, are we done with that?"

"Ow," Belén winced when Barry pulled the needle out from her forearm. She watched him carefully bring the new syringe with her blood to a table. "Is this really necessary to save her ass?"

"Yes. Your DNA is the basis for the cure so this is where we need to start," Caitlin carefully moved the syringe over to a table.

"Okay, but why do I have to do this twice?" Came Belén's grumbling question. Caitlin had first extracted a blood sample while Belén was in her "green state" and then proceeded to ask her to return to normal for a second withdrawal.

Barry patted Belén's hand, offering her a warm smile. "We need to focus on the differences between your two states and then compare them to Datura's."

"Wouldn't that mean you need some of her blood too?"

"Yeah, but...since we haven't seen her yet, we'll start with you."

"How romantic," Belén playfully rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she still couldn't get over the fact she was truly trying to help the evil doppelganger. "So, have you two thought about a way to get the breaches open again?"

"Well..." Caitlin turned around to fixate a sharp look on Barry. Yes, they had but it wasn't a very welcomed one.

"What I miss?" Belén blankly stared at the two until someone answered.

"I thought that maybe Cisco might be the key," Barry ultimately answered. Belén's eyes widened in shock. "I just thought that his doppelganger could do it-"

"Because he was evil, did we forget that?"

"But his powers are the same as Cisco's so that means that Cisco can do it!"

"So what did he say?" Belén asked even when she had a pretty good idea of how it all went down in her absence. Caitlin's face behind Barry confirmed it.

"He wasn't all that for it. And neither was Harry."

"Mm, shocker," Belén slid off the medbed. "So I guess I know what you'll be doing tonight: trying to convince Cisco to open a breach. Yeah, I'll definitely take Iris' girl night out plans."

"Yeah," Barry released a breath. That would take a lot of convincing but he just knew that Cisco could do it if he really tried.

Belén would let him figure that out all on his own. She had other issues to resolve herself and right now Caitlin was holding onto one of them. "So this cure, how is it going to work exactly? Will I have to give blood like some transfusion or something? Or like... swapping things in general?"

"We'll figure out how to pass it on when we actually have the cure," Caitlin smiled at her. "For now, we have to really study your DNA. Although, I may have a theory that could really help us."

"What is it?" Barry was quick to ask. Leave it to Caitlin to help solve their problems quickly.

"Well, like I said, it's just a theory right now but I was thinking about Belén's 'green side'. You had trouble controlling that part of your powers so maybe the way you got control over that side is what we might need to help Datura gain control of her powers."

"Is there like a specific gene for that, then?" Belén folded her arms over her chest. "Because it took a long time to get that under control and you're telling me this whole time I could've just let you switch it on?"

Caitlin shook her head with a light laugh slipping through. "Not exactly. It could've been biological for you but it was more of the mind mixing in with that. I suspect Datura's case is a lot more biological than the mindset. I'll have to really look into your blood before I keep making up more theories. The only other problem right now is that we don't have any blood from Datura."

"I know Cait," Barry sighed. This wasn't the first time the subject was brought up and he had nothing for her. It was why they really needed to open up the breaches.

"Great, so we really need the breaches to open up soon," Belén said. "But even then, where are we going to get a blood sample from Datura? Every time we see her she's trying to kill us. You'd think she'd be more grateful that we're trying to save her life." Oh. She's always busy trying to kill me. Belén smirked. "Oh, wait a second. It would just be hilarious if we got a blood sample from her without letting her know."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked with natural confusion.

"Let's say when we get the breaches open, Datura comes to fight me - which she really will - and I just happen to punch her little nose or something. I can get her blood.

"I don't like the idea of you fighting her to get blood off her," Barry shook his head but Belén grabbed onto his hand with a mischievous grin on her face.

"But this time I'll be one step ahead of her. I wouldn't be fighting her to win, I'd just be hitting her until I get blood. And I am very willing to keep hitting her until she bleeds."

"Bells..."

"Oh shut it, I am trying to save her life so the least she could do is let me punch her on the nose!"

~ 0 ~

After much insistence - and there really had been a lot of insistence - Cisco agreed to give the breach opening another go. He had tried it in the breach room of STAR Labs without success so of course Barry would come up with another alternative.

"You know, I can't think of a lot of guys who would prefer to go to an abandoned warehouse in search of a multidimensional portal instead of hanging out with his girlfriend," Cisco made sure to say loud and clear when Barry brought them inside a horrible, smelly warehouse.

Barry just rolled his eyes. "To be fair, Belén kicked me out. She's having a girl's night and I'm not allowed."

"Can I kick you out too?"

Barry sucked in a sharp breath and side-glanced his friend, none too pleased with his sarcasm. "Look, I know this is hard but we really need to find a way. And this-" he raised the handheld scanner he was holding onto, "-says that this area has the highest levels of residual trans-dimensional energy. We should be able to open the breach that used to be here." He walked into a long room, probably a room for dozens of people at one point, and came to a stop in the center when the scanner beeped again. "It's right here. This is it.

"For real? In this Patch Adams nightmare right here? Yeah. Love it," Cisco grumbled. It was a place of horror movies!

"All right. Look, dude, if this doesn't work, I'll stop asking you to do this, all right!"

Cisco would take that deal any day. "Fine," he exhaled deeply and struck a hand forwards, intending on letting out that power to open the breaches...but nothing happened. "What? Look, I can't do it!"

Barry frowned. There had to be something missing for this to keep failing!

And if he heard him, Harry strolled into the room. "That's right. You can't."

"What are you doing here?" Barry raised an eyebrow at him. "You said you weren't going to help!"

"I know what I said. But you're not gonna stop, are you?"

"No."

Harry inwardly groaned. Joe was right. Barry would keep doing stuff like this and get himself hurt or killed one day. He needed supervision, as did everyone else in the team. "Okay, Barry Allen, then I'm gonna do what I can to make sure you don't get killed." He came up to Cisco with a pair of black goggles for Cisco. "I recalibrated these to the electromagnetic frequency of this Earth. It should help you access enough of the trans-dimensional energy to manipulate it."

Cisco didn't look that impressed. Actually, he wasn't. "Just like Reverb," he muttered as hr took the goggles into his hands. "All I'm missing is the guyliner and the transformation's complete."

"Take 'em out for a spin!"

With a sigh, Cisco put the goggles on and tried again. He struck his fist forwards and this time, it was engulfed by a blue energy that sprouted into a breach. He had done it.

~0~

Zoom was in his lair, going crazy just waiting. He wasn't alone, though, for he still had his 'loyal' follower, although she was acting like her usual self.

A weary Datura leaned over a table. Her eyes struggled to stay open but she fought to keep them so. Across her was Zoom, perched at a chair waiting expectantly for her...and for something else. The two went hand in hand.

A small gasp slipped through Datura's lips. Her eyes flashed a menacing red and when she spoke, it was someone else's voice. "He's trying to open a breech."

Zoom stood up, pushed the chair out of his way, and stalked towards her. "Where?" he demanded to know.

There was a distant look on Datura's face as she focused on the spur of images in her head. The power was all too new for her and she was still struggling to keep it under control, but Zoom couldn't know. This one was actually taking a toll on her more than the others. She really shouldn't be on the hunt for new abilities. Poison Ivy would tell her that.

"O-over by the old hospital…" she said and Zoom wasted not a second in speeding to the location.

As soon as she was alone, Datura deeply gasped (and struggled too). The redness from her eyes faded and she slowly came back as herself. She rubbed her gloved hand across her face and hope to God the weakness plaguing her was not as noticeable as she felt. Once Zoom found out she was progressively becoming useless, he would not hesitate to kill her.

~ 0 ~

Cisco sucked in a sharp breath when he started to feel the true power of the breaches. He could feel it, creeping up from his fingertips, up his arms, to his head...to his mind. Suddenly, he ripped the goggles off him and the breach disappeared.

"No! What happened!?" Barry whirled around to Cisco. "You were doing it!"

But Cisco was dead scared of what he'd been doing. "No, no, no, no. I-I can't do this!"

"What-"

Cisco chucked the goggles back to Harry, shaking his head fervently. "Don't. Please, don't ask me to do this. Please!" He ran out of the room without looking back once.

~ 0 ~

"It's mine!" Shivhan exclaimed once she saw the bottle of wine Iris was bringing over to the living room.

"It's called 'sharing' Shivahn, geez," Iris cautiously set the bottle on the coffee table thinking that she might lose a hand if Shivhan decided to go for it.

"How did you work as a bartender?" Caitlin chuckled with amusement as Shivhan hurriedly poured herself a glass of wine.

"Flawlessly," the woman in question smirked as she saluted with her glass.

"I don't think I should be drinking," Belén apologized when Iris offered her a glass. "I'm undergoing certain medical tests..."

"What? Like pregnancy ones?" Shivhan carelessly asked but took great pleasure when Belén's face flushed red.

"I really hate you!"

Shivhan smirked. "It's just too easy sometimes," she told the others while Belén continued glaring daggers at her. "And plus, you did tell us about that weird adopted alien child you have in another world."

"Yeah, now I'm regretting that."

"It's so weird that you keep bumping into your doppelgangers," Nina remarked as she accepted her glass from Iris. "But then again, so completely you."

"Well this version sounded a lot nicer than Datura. Hell, if she was here, I'm sure she would've found the cure already and put the rest of us out of our misery," Belén grumbled. She eyed the remaining glass of wine on the table meant to be for her. It was a lot more tempting as she got to thinking about her problems. She shook her head. She couldn't get drunk and then let the Azalea have a hang over the next day.

"I think it would be completely weird to meet a doppelganger," Caitlin admitted especially since she knew that her doppelganger had existed on Earth 2, an evil doppelganger as well.

"I think it would be cool," Shivhan leaned back on the couch. "You know, if they weren't evil. Think of all the shit you could pull."

"Okay, maybe let's not talk about doppelgangers...?" Iris made a discreet nod towards Belén who was growing distant with thoughts. "Or anything meta related. This is meant, after all, to be just a fun and casual night. Belén, take a glass." She picked up the last wine glass from the table and held it out for the ombre-blonde. "I'm sure Dr. Snow wouldn't get mad over one glass." Caitlin playfully rolled her eyes. "C'mon!"

Belén took the glass and immediately drank from it. Shivhan laughed. "Oh shut up!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Thanks Iris, for setting this up," Belén looked at the woman in question. "Maybe I do need just a little bit of a distraction. But I'm sorry you had to give up a night for me when you could be going on another date with Scott."

"Oh, um...actually..." Iris made a face. She could've sworn she told Belén this but now that she was thinking about it, she had told Barry instead. "That's not really happening anymore."

"Why not?" Belén blinked. "It's not because of me is it?"

"No, no, of course not! I just..." Iris' shoulders shrugged purely because she couldn't put her thoughts into words at the moment.

"Did you guys break up?" Caitlin then asked just to see if she could help Iris find her words again.

Iris exhaled and shook her head. "No, well...can't really break up if we were never really together. Actually, I kind of did it when Barry showed me this video of Eddie wishing me a happy birthday. He said all these nice things about me…" Iris smiled to herself as she remembered the video. "And I thought it was time to move on but...I guess it's easier to say it than actually do it. Plus, I can't really see myself 'moving on' with a guy who can't really appreciate what metahumans do for us."

"Still, sorry," Belén said and offered her glass to clink with. "But I'm sure there's someone else out there."

"Well when you find one, let me know cos I want to find one too," Nina said suddenly, making the others laugh. "What? I'm past thirty. I need to find me a man."

"Me too," Shivhan said, then added, "Or a woman. I'm bisexual and I still can't find someone."

"Cisco said you had a girlfriend in college," Caitlin pointed. They were all now aware of Shivhan's backstory and her terrible time in her early metahuman days. "Have you ever thought about maybe calling her up now that you've gotten control over your powers?"

Shivhan shook her head. "Nah. What's the point? I almost hurt her. I don't think I could face her."

"Never say never," Belén smiled encouragingly at her. "Because hey, what if she's still waiting for you to call her?"

"Yeah, right," Shivhan rolled her eyes. "Someone just serve me more wine. I've got a lot more comments about that adoptive daughter Belén has!"

Belén's face fell flat but the blush creeping up her neck was all the motivation Shivhan needed to follow through.

~ 0 ~

"Soo...a little birdy told me you almost opened up a breech last night," Belén took the stool across from Cisco in his workshop. She smiled proudly, because it was a really big thing to be proud of, but Cisco didn't pay her attention.

"Almost," he stared hard at his goggles like the conversation was coming from it and not Belén.

"Barry thinks you're scared. Zoom has a way of getting into your head, but...I don't think that's the fear. Or at least that's not where the fear comes from."

Cisco briefly looked up to see Belén studying him intently. "It's not?" he asked.

"Cisco, I had a hard time getting my powers under control and to this day it still scares me that I could succumb to the dark side of them. It's a unique sort of fear, and... it's kind of like the one I'm seeing in your eyes right now."

"What do you mean?" Cisco tried playing dumb.

"You're scared of your powers, or at least something along those lines." Belén saw the shift Cisco gave in his spot. She stood up and walked up to him, placing a comforting on his arm. "What is it?"

Cisco sighed. He saw no point in hiding it anymore. "It's like... It's like right now I'm Anakin Skywalker. I got the midi-chlorians. I've got the goods. The force is strong with me. That is something I can feel. But if I start opening breaches into other worlds, doing all this other crazy stuff Reverb was doing, then... what if this is how I become Vader?"

"You're afraid of becoming like your doppelganger?" Belén would have laughed had it not been a serious matter. "Cisco, that could never happen. Literally."

"You don't know that. That is what happened to Reverb," Cisco said. "He learned how to use his abilities, and when he felt that, when he felt that power, he succumbed... to the dark side."

"I get that fear. Let's not forget my doppelganger still lives to create evil," Belén sighed. "And I was scared too, until Barry made me see something. Those doppelgangers of ours had no one. Those they had... wasn't the same relationship. Your doppelganger, as far as we know, had no Caitlin Snow, no Barry Allen, no STAR Labs team. My doppelganger had Barry but it wasn't the same relationship. She didn't have enough confidence in him to share with him what was going on. Let's not even get into what Earth's 2 Caitlin was missing. My point is, we-" Belén pointed between them, "-have the best family on this Earth. They are what keep us grounded. We are never going to turn into our doppelgangers. You are Vibe and you are a whole lot better than Reverb."

"You didn't even meet Reverb," Cisco remarked but Belén detected traces of his usual humor in his tone.

"Yeah but I didn't need to. I just know it."

Cisco chuckled. "Thanks, Bells."

"Well I figured since you've given me a thousand ways to get back on my feet, I owed you one," Belén secured him in a tight hug, refusing to let go until he promised to again with the breeches.

Once she was clear, she left the workshop to find Barry lingering just a tad too close to not be able to hear what she said. He was smiling strangely at her, making her laugh.

"What?"

"I forgot to pass on a message from your Earth 38 doppelganger."

"Oh? What was it?" Belén wondered if it was a tip for the future like, eat more of this and less of that. She could do with those cheat sheets.

"She said that you are the best version of all the Beléns in the multiverse," Barry came closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're the bravest because you fight every day against metas, put your job at risk for people you don't know. You're the best."

Belén actually felt a few tears trying to come up in her eyes. "She really said that?"

"Mhm, she just missed one thing..."

"Like what?"

"That you are such a good friend."

Belén blushed under his intense gaze. "You think that's true?"

"I know it's true. I see it every day, I just saw it right now. You're the best, Bells." Barry lowered down to press a soft kiss over her lips. Belén wrapped her arms around his neck just to keep them close for a moment.

They still had plenty to do afterwards.

~0~

Harry had added onto Barry's suit's emblem proposed to help Barry stop Zoom. He placed the emblem back on the suit and turned the others in the cortex. "You're all set. He won't even know it's there."

"Cause whoever said aesthetics aren't important," Cisco meant as joke but Harry retorted with a sarcastic 'not me' and walked away from him.

Barry noticed how Caitlin was throwing uncomfortable looks all around the room. "Hey, Cait, I know how hard this is gonna be for you, but we have to stop him."

"I know, and I want to be supportive," Caitlin promised and scooted closer to Belén. "I just... I can't face Jay. Or whatever his real name is."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, you remember when I was looking for his doppelganger, right?"

"Yeah. And you couldn't find him."

"Because there is no Jay Garrick on this Earth. His doppelganger's name is Hunter Zolomon."

From across the room, Harry stopped. "Hunter Zolomon? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?" Caitlin dreaded yet another lie of 'Jay' would come out.

Harry flipped the lid of his watch and started pulling up images. "Well, because on my Earth, Hunter Zolomon was a convicted serial killer."

Two conviction pictures of Jay - or Hunter Zolomon - faced the group. He had long, messy hair and an equally messy long beard.

"Is that really Jay?" Belén nearly had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing something else.

"No, that is Hunter," Harry pointed at the pictures. "Last public photo of Hunter Zolomon. Instantly recognizable. And people from my Earth... on my Earth, serial killers are an anomaly, so a lot of media attention to this. There was a podcast. When Hunter was 11, his father killed his mother right in front of him. Father sent to prison, Hunter grew up in the foster care system. Years later he was convicted on 23 counts of murder."

Cisco gawked at the number. "23? That's, like, some real Hannibal Lecter type level."

"Well, with that kind of background, there was always a potential risk for something like this to happen," Belén crossed her arms and received odd glances from her friends. "What? I took an elective Child Development course."

Harry continued with the story for them to know the ending. "After the trial, Hunter was sent to the Saint Perez Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane... given daily electroshock therapy. Cure him of his urges and then faded from view."

"Until the night your particle accelerator exploded," Belén realized.

"That's right. The dark matter crept into the mental asylum. I had thought... piping the explosion underground would limit exposure. I was wrong. All it did was create an unstoppable monster." Harry grumbling took the images down and closed the lid of his watch.

Barry had began to think of the new information and wondered if he could use it against Jay/Hunter. "He's not unstoppable. Jay doesn't know that we know who he really is. He thinks that his past is a secret."

"You've got your thinking face on," Belén noticed, her curiosity growing by the second. What had he thought of?

Barry smirked. "I think I have an idea of how we can stop him."

~ 0 ~

Harry and Cisco led Belén, Caitlin, Iris, Veronica and Joe into the safe room. Caitlin held onto a handheld tablet recording the future movements of Barry. They couldn't risk Jay getting to them as using them as bait. And since they would be inside, they made sure that Shivhan and Nina would be far away as well, just in case. 'Jay' was never close to either woman but it didn't mean they wanted to risk them, so Shivhan took Nina to the former's old neighborhood in the lower parts of the city for a while.

"Are you sure Jay can't get in here?" Iris looked around the safe room with some bad memories seeping through.

"Pretty sure, but just in case," Harry handed Joe a large gun-like weapon.

Joe secured the weapon in his arms. "How do you use this?"

"All right, so you aim it, and then you pull the trigger," Harry said, dead serious.

"Smart ass," Joe spat but Harry smiled nonetheless.

"Barry and Cisco are in position," Caitlin looked up from the tablet.

Belén made sure to be right next to Caitlin. Since she wasn't allowed to help, she would at least know what was going on at all times. "Let's hope this thing works."

~ 0 ~

"You ready, buddy?" Barry stopped in the middle of the abandoned hospital.

Cisco stood next to him, nervously putting on his goggles. "Yeah. You guys always believed in me. Thank you."

"You got this," Barry assured.

Cisco nodded and got ready to open the same breech.

~0~

Datura's eyes flashed red as a rush of images passed in her mind. Each one hurt more than the last. "He's going to open another one…" Zoom turned on her expecting much more than she was giving. She swallowed hard and focused more. "U-uh...the hospital, again. But…" her eyes drifted to the side, "... you're gonna need my help."

"I don't need anyone's help," Zoom towered over her.

"You will. They're going to pull something. Retribution. I'm good at that." Datura failed to look the speedster in the eyes. "Let me come...please…"

~0~

Cisco felt the familiar strain of opening the breech but this time he did not fall back. He was determined to help put an end to Zoom's reign of terror. This was his part and he would he damned if he let his friends down. The blue energy circled in the air until it formed a direct breech into the next world. Almost immediately Zoom jumped out but he was not alone.

Cisco let out a small noise at the sight of a maskless Datura behind Zoom. She was getting braver. "She's not supposed to come!"

Barry was stunned with her presence but he had to force himself not to pay her the attention that would inevitably hurt him.

"Well I have," Datura did her best so that her voice resembled nothing but strength. "And I'm ready to play...but you're the wrong players." Thick green vines entangled themselves around her body until she was no more. The vines made a beeline for the cracked window and disappeared.

"She's heading to STAR Labs…" Cisco didn't need any clue to figure that out. Barry gave him a nod to get going. Cisco ran out of the building and intended on breaching as fast as possible to STAR Labs.

"Reverb's doppelganger has increased his powers," Zoom took notice.

Barry directed his fiercest glare at him. "Hatred is a strong motivator."

"You were unwise to reopen the breach."

"I'm not gonna let you terrorize another world anymore."

"Without your speed, you won't be able to stop me."

Barry almost laughed. " Let's see," he began the game and sped out.

Zoom followed after him.

~0~

Caitlin didn't mind the fact Belén was gripping onto her arm to the point blood circulation was close to shutting down, it was justifiable. Caitlin held the tablet in her hands and was following every movement of Barry's, which now showed the speedster running downtown.

"Zoom's gaining on Barry," she informed the rest.

"He can't catch him!" Belén exclaimed. "Oh my God, what if he does? What if—"

"He won't," Iris put a hand on her arm, reassuring her with a small smile.

Cisco walked into the safe room with an urgent look on his face. "She's coming!" Everyone else gave him confused stares. "Your—" Cisco threw a finger at Belén who merely blinked, "—doppelganger. She's here — I mean, she's coming! Now!"

"What? What for?" Iris made a face.

"We have her cure and her redhead friend locked up in the same building…" Belén said slowly, exchanging a knowing look with Caitlin. "Looks like we're doing this right now."

"Doing what?" Harry narrowed his eyes on her, pretty sure where this was about to go. "You are not leaving this safe room!"

"She is coming!" Belén snapped, already backing away. "And do you really think she'll just come in and take Poison Ivy and just leave? No. Not in a million years! She's not leaving until she finds me so I might as well just go out!"

"Belén, she's a killer!" Veronica was terrified of the idea of her daughter fighting that doppelganger.

"Yeah, I know, which is why I have to go and stop her! I just said that!"

"I hate to agree but she is Datura so she can access the pipeline system and any of our other security systems," Cisco scrunched his face when everyone's gazes turned to him. "In retrospect, I should probably try to find a way around that already."

Veronica wished he would shut the hell up already.

"Zoom's almost got Barry!" Caitlin suddenly shouted, too startled to have kept it down. Everyone crowded around her to see how the speedsters were doing outside.

"He's getting away again," Iris relaxed when she saw Barry's track-dot getting farther and farther from Zoom's.

"They're almost to the building," Caitlin told the others.

"Guys…" Cisco's voice drew their gazes from Caitlin's tablet. He made a motion for them to notice that Belén was already gone.

"Belén!" Veronica shouted incredulously.

"Dammit," Harry gritted his teeth. "She's just as crazy as Allen!"

"What do we do now!?" Iris frantically waited for someone to say something.

"We can't do anything…" Caitlin said, looking up from her tablet. "This thing just detected a visitor and it's not a speedster."

"Great," Harry muttered.

~ 0 ~

The pipeline room was dead empty and far too easy to get into. Datura hummed as she made her way up to the access controls. She was about to pull off her black glove when a vine grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

"You didn't actually think you were just going to waltz in and get what you want, did you?" Belén swallowed hard now that she was face to face with her doppelganger. It was so weird seeing her own face, herself, standing across her.

Datura got over her initial agitation and smiled, amused with Belén's reaction. Fire erupted over her arm, burning away the vine on her wrist. She refit her glove over her hand, her brown curls bouncing with the movement. As soon as she did, Belén froze in her spot. Her eyes were wide but her fists were balled for a fight.

"What's the matter?" Datura's voice was mocking. "Take your breath away?"

It was hard for Belén to see her face on someone else, and much more on a person who looked ready to inflict pain on anyone. There was no getting used to that.

"When did he get the courage to tell you? Did you cry? I bet you cried," Datura slipped a smirk between her words. "Are you as much of a crier as I once was?"

Belén's jaw tightened. Datura lived to make her life miserable whether it was with violence or the old fashion word jabs. She couldn't keep falling for it and give Datura what she wanted. She raised a threatening hand towards Datura. "Zoom and Barry are downstairs and when Barry catches Zoom, you and him are going to go in the pipeline."

Datura raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she laughed. "It's funny you think that's going to work. Now please, go back into hiding or something and let me get my friend, alright? You're actually second on my list tonight."

Belén almost laughed when she was waved off. Belén thrust forwards a vine that knocked Datura to the side. "You are not getting anyone!" she stalked towards her doppelganger.

Datura peeled herself off the wall and glowered at her. Eyes flashed blue and a familiar voice rang through her mouth. "You're an idiot if you think you could ever win against me!" Her hands billowed with icy smoke.

"Caitlin?" Belén's eyes widened. She would recognize that voice anywhere, even if it was on someone else. Datura pulled her hands back and shot icicles forwards. Belén had to throw herself on the ground to avoid being hit. "How are you Caitlin!?" she asked after being able to raise her head off the ground.

Datura was smirking with eyes still flashing blue. "I'm Killer Frost," she said in the icy meta's voice. She threw more icicles at Belén who rolled to the side just in time.

Belén picked herself up and blew her strongest breath outwards, poisoning the air in the room. She didn't expect to make a strong blow since poison was probably nothing against Datura - just like she was - so she was mighty surprised to see Datura wobbling on her feet for a second. The blue in her eyes faded rapidly and, if Belén had to describe it, the woman looked far too pale to be "normal".

But then Datura pulled herself together and a yellow hue swirled in her eyes. Electricity crackled around her hands and she didn't waste a second shooting at Belén again. "Run, birdy!" Datura's voice was overlapping with a male's voice.

Belén dismantled into vines and disappeared from Datura's sight. Her figure formed behind Datura and easily kicked her on the back. Datura rolled on the ground and Belén jumped at chance to keep her down. She wrestled with Datura to keep her on the ground and was subjected to various power changes from the siphoner. There was frost, electricity, energy beams, light and more but Belén wouldn't give up. She delivered two punches across Datura's face - a very satisfying moment - and got blood on her hands.

Datura's head lulled to the side but she was not unconscious. There was a visible weakness in her face that Belén took into consideration. This didn't exactly look like the killer siphoner she'd been fighting this year. Granted, she was vicious in a fight but there was an unaccounted new weakness lacing her movements. Her overall strength seemed to falter after one blow.

Redness passed through Datura's eyes as she gasped. New images were delivered to her mind, ones that delivered several painful jabs to her head. "Your plan... it's going to fail. The shackle… it's going to break" Belén was taken aback from the certainty in the woman's face. Datura smiled through her weakness. "And Barry's going to give it up."

Belén's eyebrows knitted together with further confusion. "Take what back?"

Datura merely chuckled. She latched a hand onto Belén's arm and quickly said, "Tell Ivy I'm coming back for her soon." The electricity passed onto Belén in aggressive shocks, making her scream until she fell to the side and lost consciousness.

~0~

The next time Belén was awake and looking at things, she was in a side room of the cortex with Caitlin acting as her overprotective nurse. Her mother was on the other side of the bed. It took a couple of minutes for Belén's ears to start working again but she could pretty much make out the scold her mother was giving her.

"...it was unnecessary! She could've killed you! What were you thinking!?"

Belén lazily blinked at her mother. "Please, my head doesn't already hurt. Caitlin, tell me you got the blood?"

Caitlin came over with a sigh. "Yes, but your mother's right. You shouldn't have gone off like that without backup."

"Bells, you're awake," Barry came right in. He was back in his regular clothes but Belén couldn't dismiss the pure disappointment in his face. "Cait, is she going to be okay?"

"Well, never mind the fact she received a massive surge of electric shocks-" Caitlin began in her reprimanding tone.

"Caitlin," Belén warned her to simply stop.

The brunette sighed as began again. "Yes, she'll be fine."

"That doesn't mean you can just keep doing that!" Veronica huffed as she got up from her seat. "Can you please tell her that?" she asked Barry on her way out.

"Hey, guess what?" Belén smiled at Barry despite her mother's scold, eager to tell him what she'd gotten for the cure. "I punched my doppelganger enough to get blood for your samples. Tell me I did good."

Even though the night hadn't turned out like he wanted, Barry smiled back at her. He'd been extra scared after learning what she'd done while he dealt with Zoom and seeing her frazzled body in the pipeline hadn't been any better. He leaned closer to her and grabbed her hand. "You shouldn't have faced her like that. Who knows what she could've done."

"She can't kill me yet," Belén said matter-of-factly. "And with how she looks now, I doubt she'd ever be able to."

At that comment, Barry straightened in his chair. "What do you mean?"

Belén pushed herself to sit upright. "She looks...sick. Like, pale face and weak. She's supposed to be this big, bad siphoner but I nearly took her down with minimal poison from my system."

"It is possible that her illness is advancing and affecting her stamina," Caitlin offered as a reason. "It's natural."

"Which means if we want to cure her, we have to work fast," Barry nodded. "But with Zoom still out there I don't see how that's supposed to happen."

"Zoom is still out there?" Belén blinked. She hadn't yet been informed on how the original plan had gone.

Barry sighed and looked down, almost ashamed to see her in the eyes. "I let him get away. I had him - I was so close - and he...just got away."

Belén gripped his hand already around hers. "It's not your fault."

"I lost again and now he's out here again," Barry couldn't stop feeling guilty.

His words, however, made her think of Datura. She was just about to speak of that when Cisco came running in to tell them Iris had called with devastating news. Despite Caitlin's caution to stay in bed, Belén followed them to the cortex to where Cisco and Harry were. They had pulled up the image of a text Iris had sent them.

'Your speed for Wally's life.'

"He took Wally," Caitlin covered her mouth in horror.

"Iris said the whole house is thrashed," Cisco filled them in. "Wally's nowhere to be seen."

"Speed…give it up…" Belén mumbled, her mind replaying what Datura had said. "That bitch warned me."

"What?" Barry looked at her oddly, for a second thinking Caitlin had missed a possible concussion.

Belén faced her friends with a frustration she had for herself. "When I was fighting Datura, she said something like this," she motioned to the phrase on the screen. "She said Barry would have to give something up and I-I didn't make much of it but... I'm so sorry," she said with devastation. Her eyes met with Barry's and he could see they were filling fast with guilt. "If I had paid more attention I could have seen it coming and I-I…" Barry took her into a hug, his face expressing deep confusion much like the rest in the room.

"No, sorry," Cisco laughed sourly as he grew more and more outraged, "Are you implying that psycho siphoner can now see the future?" All Belén could do was shrug unsurely. "No! She can't have all these powers! That's just not fair!"

"Calm down," Harry ordered him. "Datura must have just known the plan Zoom had."

"She knew you were going to use the shackle to keep Zoom put," Belén told Barry. "She laughed at it. She knew our plan. Not even Zoom knew it right?"

Barry thought back to his fight with Zoom. The way he had reacted when he saw the cutouts of his parents was far too raw to be fake. He couldn't have known. "So she siphoned psychic abilities recently…"

"She's crazy," Belén declared. "You know she said she was Killer Frost at one point during our fight? She even sounded like Caitlin…" she threw her friend in question a look.

"Me?" Caitlin didn't even want to think of her dead doppelganger.

"She talked like she was actually Killer Frost and...and these other people," Belén crinkled her nose. "She's really is sick."

"She's deranged and she needs to be locked up," Harry put it into simple terms. "No cures, no anything but right now, we need to focus on getting Wally back. Come back to your psychiatric profile later."

He parted with those words that did ring truth for the moment.

~0~

As Wally began to wake up, his ears picked up a slur of an argument from a distance. It took him only a minute to realize he'd been put in a worn out cell somewhere far and dirty. He picked himself up and the first thing he saw was a second prisoner hidden behind a thick, metal head mask.

"You lied to me and that is lethal to your condition," Wally then heard from the side. He turned to find the black-masked figure who had taken him in the first place. He was arguing with a smaller, female figure.

"I had to get Ivy! I need her!" The voice sounded familiar albeit with traces of a...cold? Who knew.

Zoom snatched her by the neck and pulled her towards him. "You begged me to take you with me and this is how you repay me?"

"I-I can't...siphon...without her!" Datura struggled to say it one go with the lack of oxygen she was getting.

"You're going to siphon the speed force out of Flash and if you don't I'll kill you on the spot," Zoom unceremoniously let Datura fall on the ground.

The woman coughed violently the moment her lungs could extract air from outside. It was then that Zoom noticed the newest prisoner had awoken and was watching them.

Wally stepped back when Zoom started coming towards his cell. "Scared?" Zoom taunted him.

"Someone's gonna get me out," Wally said with some level of determination. Someone would have to notice he was kidnapped right?

"There's only one person who can help you now," Zoom neared the bars of the cell. "The Flash."

Wally blinked. "The Flash? Why would he help me? He doesn't even know who I am."

"Someone he cares about... cares about you."

~ 0 ~

Everyone had re-gathered in the cortex with the intention of getting word to Zoom he had a deal. It only took one vibe of Cisco to get Zoom ready.

"Barry, are you sure?" the speedster kept hearing over and over in the meanwhile they waited for Zoom to show up.

And over and over, Barry kept tell them that he was. He wasn't happy about handing over his speed to a monster but it meant saving Wally's life. He was definitely sure about that. He was also sure this wasn't over. It was a bump in the road, admittedly a big bump, but they would cross it and come back with something big.

Eventually, Zoom arrived to the cortex with Wally in hand. His other hand was latched onto Datura's covered arm. As soon as Wally saw his family he tried going to them.

"Let him go," Barry ordered him.

"We had a deal," Zoom reminded just in case they tried anything with him. Both Veronica and Joe were aiming at him with guns and who knew what else they had hidden around.

"My speed for Wally's life. Hand him over, and it's yours."

Zoom let Wally go with no questions. Wally rushed to hug Iris and was promptly rushed away with car keys in her hand. They were not taking a second chance.

"Let's get this over with," Barry had nothing left to say.

Zoom tore his mask off and smirked. "Indeed." He pushed Datura forwards, the woman threw him a hidden glare but dared not to actually back. "Siphon him," he gave the order.

"I can't," she said quietly, surprising the others.

Zoom looked nowhere surprised like them. He expected it, and he didn't care. "I said siphon him."

Datura pursed her lips and looked down. "I told you I can't!"

"And I said do it!"

Datura lost her patience and whirled around. "You had me siphoning left to right just to find a metahuman with similar abilities to Reverb and I told you it would weaken me! I siphon one more person and I might not make it. You are not gonna do me like you did with Killer Frost — I know what I can do with her powers!"

There was a tension-filled silence in the room and no one knowing what would happen next.

"She doesn't...she doesn't have to do anything," Barry was the one to speak up and was grateful to have Jay's attention.

Datura, on the other hand, shot him a glare. "Contrary to your usual routines at home, I—" she gestured to herself, "—don't need your help."

"Shut up if you want to live," Belén said through gritted teeth. This only infuriated the doppelganger even more.

"We've got the way to get the speedforce out of my system," Barry went on, acting as if Datura had never spoken in the first place. "And no foul play. Harry?"

Begrudgingly, Harry stepped forwards a familiar device in hand. "This thing is how I stole The Flash's speed the first time. Now all he needs to do is run, and his Speed Force will transfer into this vial. but only as long as I calibrate it. "

"Get to work," Jay gestured for them to get to work then. He didn't care how he got the speed he just wanted it and he was gonna get it.

Harry despised the man already but with the smug face of Jay, he nearly lost it. "One day... I'm gonna knock that smug expression clean off your face."

Jay smirked as Harry was forced to go get things ready.

"So this was your plan all along, huh?" Barry couldn't take his glare off Jay for anything.

Jay, on the other hand, was gleeful as ever. "Ever since the skies parted and showed me another world... with another speedster. Once I saw you, I came here, figured out what I had to do."

"How the hell are you still alive?" Belén had to get the answer for that mystery everyone was still questioning about. "We literally saw you kill yourself."

"Yeah, you did," Jay said, quite proud of his action.

"So what was that? A speed mirage?" Cisco wondered.

"Speed mirage?" Jay laughed as he leaned back on the desk. "Uh, no. Even I'm not that fast. I knew that I couldn't be on two Earths at the same time, so I went back in time and, uh, met another version of myself."

"Your time remnant," Caitlin blinked. "Like the Reverse-Flash."

"I also knew that the only way to make Barry become faster was if you all witnessed your old pal Jay die."

"When did you decide to do that?" inquired Iris, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Oh, once you closed all the breaches, went to Earth-2. Believe me, getting my time remnant to agree to me murdering him took a bit of convincing. But once he saw the... well, the genius in my plan, he was all for it."

"Who's the man in the iron mask?" Barry recalled the prison who he still had a promise to keep.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Jay answered, giving the face that was all they were going to get over that.

"But why the charade?" Joe asked. "Running around dressed like The Flash?"

"To give people hope, Detective."

"Hope?

"So I could rip it away from them. It's so fun pretending to be a hero."

The last statement frustrated Caitlin to no point's end. She worked with actual heroes and Jay was certainly the opposite of that. "You are no hero. You're nothing but a monster!"

At the same time, Harry returned and was angry to say everything was ready. Jay was the first one to go for the training room.

Belén nudged Cisco and motioned him with her head to look at Datura. The woman was standing sideways, her face distant yet calculating. Belén recognized the flicker of red in her doppelganger's eyes.

"Quite the new power you got there," Cisco spoke up. Datura slowly looked at them, however there was no describable emotion on her just yet. "Shame you can't use it all, though," Cisco smirked. "There's no way you can master that ability in the condition you're in."

"We can help you…" Belén had to force herself to say it with a straight face. She glanced at the training room where she could see Harry explaining to both Barry and Jay something.

Datura laughed shortly. "How romantic. A twisted, romantic story but an interesting one nonetheless. I know what I need to survive and I'm looking right at her."

"You can't take her anywhere," Cisco stepped forwards. "You won't."

"We'll see," Datura briefly gave her doppelganger a lookover before her eyes laid on Barry. "His neck is going to hurt." She walked towards the training room with a devious smirk on her face.

"Watch her," Belén mumbled to Cisco as the two followed her.

~ 0 ~

The group was forced to watch Barry glumly get on his special treadmill. Jay was closely standing next to Harry over the controls. Barry began to run in his normal, speedy manner but as the seconds ticked by it progressively became slower.

"He's slowing down…" Belén said quietly. On the computer, she could see the speed force filling the syringe Harry had plugged in.

"The Speed Force is leaving his body," Harry registered.

"He's becoming human again," Cisco mumbled. He noticed Datura silently stepping back. She was planning something alright.

Eventually, Barry's speed vanished and he toppled over the treadmill and fell on the ground. The others bolted into the training room to help him up.

"Barry, are you okay!?" Belén helped him sit upright on the ground.

"I'm okay. I'm okay," Barry tried to say amongst the commotion.

Jay was intently watching Harry put together the syringe and snatched it out of his hands the moment it was ready. He didn't hesitate to plunge it into himself. Blue and yellow smoke hissed out from the action. His eyes darkened in blue for a second until everything vanished. He then sped into the room and snatched Barry by the neck off the ground.

Datura smirked and ran out the other direction. Cisco tried stopping her by grabbing her by the arm. "You're not going anywhere!"

Datura raised an eyebrow. When her smirk widened, Cisco knew he was about to get it. She pulled the same trick of electricity that shocked him to the ground.

"Cisco!" Belén didn't know in what direction to go to. Datura had ran out to no doubt get Poison Ivy, and this time she would succeed. On one side, Belén had Cisco on the ground, probably unconscious, and on the other side was Zoom threatening to choke the life out of Barry.

"Jay, stop! Please!" Caitlin ran up to the two speedsters. She was in tears but determined to save her friend. "If anything you ever said to me was true, or anything we ever shared was real, then please just let him go. Please!" Zoom did not move and Barry grew paler and paler from the lack of oxygen. "I know some piece of you did care for me, so if you have any humanity left, then please, let him go!"

Zoom dropped Barry to the ground and zipped out of the room...with Caitlin.

#ocfairygodmother #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #the flash imagines #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #arrowverse ocs #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: rise up

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bard-llama · 2 years

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WiP Wednesday

I toooootally didn’t forget that today was Wednesday! But it’s STILL Weds for another 2 hours where I am, which means you get a snip! I started rereading (Im)Perfect Strangers today so have a snip from the Don’t Cry for Me, Temeria ‘verse.

“Mr. Zoltan,” Boussy tugged on the dwarf’s clothing one evening in the public dining hall. Roche was busy bullying Fenn into letting Imadia look at his broken wrist, because the idiot kept trying to use it, but he saw the way everyone in the area turned at least partial attention towards the boy. It was, after all, less common for Boussy to initiate conversations, especially in public.

“What can I do for you, Wee Lad?” Zoltan asked, smiling behind his bushy beard.

“How come dwarves hate elves?” Boussy asked innocently, probably unaware of the immediate tension that spread across the room. There were the dwarves within hearing distance, of course – Zoltan, Yarpen, and Skalen, most notably – but there were also several elves, because Iorveth had followed Imadia and Rinn was sitting next to Anais. In other words, this could end badly.

“Ah,” Zoltan coughed. “Well, the easiest answer is because elves hate dwarves.”

“They do?” Boussy tilted his head.

“Magda said,” Anais interrupted loudly, “that it’s cause elves were like humans before humans were here.”

That certainly didn’t go over well with the elves present, though Zoltan nodded.

“She’s not wrong, though I wouldn’t, uh, use those words, exactly.”

“What does that mean?” Boussy asked, frowning down at his hands.

“Well, uh…” Zoltan cleared his throat, glancing around quickly to search for either support or an escape.

Roche would love to help, but honestly, he knew nothing about the history between elves and dwarves. And he was kind of curious, though very on edge. There were an awful lot of people around who might have personal opinions about that history, and that tended to get messy.

Skalen Burdon, the alderman’s nephew, ducked his head, pointedly not making eye contact with Zoltan, but Yarpen Zigrin seemed to take pity on him.

“Elves were the conquerors of the continent before humans came along and did it better,” Yarpen said bluntly, and Roche winced, practically able to feel the offense coming from Iorveth.

“Excuse you,” Iorveth’s voice was snippy. “We spread culture across the continent.”

“Yeah, by conquering people,” Yarpen glared at him. “Bah, are you even old enough to remember?”

Now Roche was the one frowning. Wasn’t Iorveth like… really old?

“Not many are,” Imadia said gravely, somehow spreading a sense of calm. “The times Yarpen speaks of started long before the Conjunction of the Spheres. And yes,” she held up a hand in Iorveth’s face, “you are too young. When you were born, elves already ruled the continent, though not without conflict.”

Zoltan snorted, “that’s one way to put it. Elves tried – and failed – to conquer Mahakam.”

“Wait, really?” Thirteen blurted out, blinking in surprise. “But like – even Foltest didn’t really conquer Mahakam. And everyone said he was mad to even try!”

“No, he didn’t.” Yarpen and Zoltan both looked smug.

Roche decidedly kept his mouth shut. There was no need to remind people that he’d been part of that campaign.

“Plenty o’ other places they did succeed in conquering, though. Just look at Loc Muinne!”

Iorveth stiffened. The matter of the extinction of the Vrans was a complicated one, and Iorveth had personal connections to Loc Muinne’s history. It was probably best to move on from this quickly.

“So what about dwarves?” Roche asked.

“What about us?” Zoltan asked, eyeing Iorveth in a way that meant he too was aware of why Roche was changing the subject.

“Well, humans came and conquered. Elves came and conquered. Did dwarves ever? Or uh, other species before the Conjunction?”

“Not really,” Zoltan shrugged. “Not to say that there weren’t some who tried – I’ve no doubt every species has at least some of those. But as a species, we dwarves live in the mountains, which many other species find… inhospitable. Not all of them, though! Dwarves and gnomes have always gotten along well enough.”

“Wait, but we live in a mountain,” Anais pouted.

“Ah, but remember,” Pillow Tits smiled kindly at her, “humans can’t live without sunlight. So we can live in mountains, but we need to return to the surface fairly regularly or our health will start to decay.”

“But dwarves don’t?” Boussy asked.

Zoltan shook his head. “Not really. I mean, there are effects on vision if you don’t experience sunlight fairly regularly. But I think maybe that came later – that we adjusted to sunlight later, and that’s why we can lose that, if we stay under the mountains for too long. Sunlight hurts if you’ve been out of it for too long.”

“Hmm, that’s an interesting theory,” Imadia tapped her finger against her chin and Iorveth rolled his eye. “Dwarves came from stone, yes? I’ve heard some say that you’re eternal like stone as well, but – well, I think that was more poetic than accurate.”

“Mmm, sort of,” Skalen grunted. “I dunno anything about the pre-Conjunction stuff, but when dwarves die, we return to the stone. You can visit our catacombs here, in fact. They’re quite something, I must say.”

“Full of wraiths,” Geralt grumbled under his breath. “Every fucking body had a wraith, pretty much.”

Roche blinked. What had Geralt been doing with the bodies in the Vergen Catacombs and why?

#rorveth #iorveth x roche #don't cry for me temeria #the witcher #WiP Wednesday

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ereteinx · 3 years

Text

MEET MY MC

name: Vienna Maxine Byrne

faceclaim: (blonde) Chyler Leigh

birthday: 5th february 1993

zodiac sign: aquarius

nationality: american/irish

born: Dublin

raised: Dublin, moved to USA when she was 12

love interest: Ethan Ramsey

family: Vienna's the oldest from 4 siblings, she has a sister, Venice and two brothers, Lochlan and Lorcan. Also a twin nephew and niece.

some more information, funfacts and headcanons:

general:

●born in Ireland to Irish father and American mother

●aside from medicine, her passion while growing up was singing, she was a part of high school glee club and was basically a star

●Vienna has a soft spot for soccer and watching Lochlan play for national team is a dream come true

●she loves fantasy books, when she was younger she often spend whole days in her room reading.

●winter is her favourite time of the year, especially christmas, she's a sucker for a good christmas movie and hot chocolate.

●Vienna watched all seasons of Grey's Anatomy and even forced Ethan to watch a few episodes with her (but if asked he'll never admit it)

●First time Vienna felt something more for Ethan was Miami, she knew she was in love with him after the attack

●as their relationship started to be a basic knwoledge to everyone at Edenbrook, people started to notice Vienna's impact on Ethan.

●basically, simple "Ethan" and a hand over his shoulder was enough to calm him down and save another innocent intern.

●even the staff that knew Ethan for years never saw him smiling that much at work, yet even laughing, as when Vienna was around.

●seeing him bickering and joking with her around the hospital was a shock to many people.

●Vienna took his last name after the wedding and thanks to Ethan being mostly called "Chief" these days, it didn't cause much trouble.

●As Vienna once said "Ethan was all bark and no bite", she became the opposite. She was patient, she often didn't had a reason to even warn. But when she had enough, you better run.

●"The Ramseys" became a powercouple. As they walked together arm in arm through the hospital corridors, it screamed power.

●And their speeches as they welcomed new interns, standing above everybody. Power.

engagment, wedding and first pregnancy:

●Ethan proposed to her in January 2021, in Miami, on the same balcony where they had their first kiss and this time no one was stopping themselves from going further

●she gave her roommates (mostly Sienna) a heart attack when she came back from Miami as she told them, with a stone cold face "Ethan is no longer my boyfriend".

●after a few seconds of dead silence she added "because he's my fiance", and showed them a ring, Sienna started to hit her with dish cloth - she really thought they had broken up (if Elijah hadn't stopped her, there would probably be casualties)

●night in Miami had consequences

●Vienna found she was pregnant not even a month after their engagement, yet she was kinda scared to tell Ethan, as they never really discussed having kids, but in the end his reaction was priceless.

●yes, he cried and was the happiest Vienna ever saw him.

●they wanted to keep in private for as long as they could which turned out to be almost 3 months

●first person to realize Vienna was pregnant was Harper, one day during diagnostic team meeting, she looked at her, suddenly told her to stand up and just said "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

●Ethan become even more protective over Vienna and if he could he would became her shadow.

●he was scared every time he didn't saw her, even through he kept checking on her every half an hour.

●yes, they had a few spats about that.

●Ethan wanted her to go on a pregnancy leave really early, but of course Vienna wanted to work as long as she could, which gave Ethan his first grey hair.

●Flynn Naveen Ramsey was born on 19th November 2021 and since that day, Ethan Ramsey, a man who not so long before never imagined himself as a father, became the best dad a kid could have and his dream, he never even realized he had, came true.

●Vienna and Ethan's wedding took place in october 2022, at Naveen's lake house. It was small, private ceremony with family and closest friends.

●wedding reception was in gold and dark green theme, with a lot of fairylights and candles

●Sienna was Vienna's maid of honor and Tobias was Ethan's groomsman.

●they had their first dance to Everything by Lighthouse.

●Naveen's speech made everyone cry.

●just like Vienna's siblings speech, but this time it was from laughing.

●Flynn took his first steps on his own at the wedding.

kids:

●four and a half year later, on 2nd April 2025, their little family welcomed a baby girl - Harley Dolores Ramsey.

●Harley was the only planned baby

●on Christmas 2026, Vienna suprised Ethan with another ultrasound picture.

●newest and final addition to the Ramsey family was Anais Sienna Ramsey, born on 10th June 2027.

●Flynn is his father physical copy with longer hair, when it comes to his character he's the perfect mix between Ethan and Vienna.

●since he was a toddler he was fascinated with his parents work, so it wasn't a surprise to anyone when he decided to become a doctor as well.

●but he shooked his parents, when he announced he wants to be a surgeon (yet studying under Bryce, he become an outstanding one)

●Harley, on the other hand is defenitely Vienna's clone, no exceptions, she's just a little bit more of a tomboy than heir mother was.

●always wanting to help everyone and everything, never afraid to speak her mind. She wanted to make a change in the world.

●unlike her brother she didn't follow her parents footsteps, but she was always doing something, always founding someone she could help all around the world.

●Anais is a total mix. A little ray of sunshine, with dark, ginger hair and smile that lights up every room she shows up in.

●when she was four it turned out that she has photographic memory.

~~~~

So, hi 😅 it's my first time posting anything here. I've never wrote any fics (yet) but I had this in my notes for a long time so I decided to finally post something

I know it's a lot but OH's mc is defenitely my favourite

and I congratulate anyone who read the whole thing 😶

#ethan ramsey #choices ethan ramsey #choices #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey x mc #dr ethan ramsey #meet my mc #open heart #open heart choices

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the-drunken-huntsman · 3 years

Text

Hmm alright here's my one shot, based on the Heart Of Dibella quest :)

The Forsworn were taken care of and the girl was safe, though leaving Broken Tower seemed to be taking longer than getting through it, as Fjotra gawked at each body they passed. Anais let out an exasperated sigh as they stopped for the fourth time, and Teldryn sent a look her way she couldn't discern from under the helmet.

She's seeing death for likely the first time, of course she's not okay, she reminded herself. She stepped forward to place a gentle hand on the girls shoulder. Her mind blanked as she tried to offer some generic words of comfort, it had been a long time since she'd helped rear her little siblings and it seemed the skill of calming frightened children had slipped from her.

So lost in her attempts at comfort, Anais was startled when her companion dropped to his knees and held a hand out to the girl. "It's alright little one, we're going to get you somewhere safe." His voice was so calm and easy that despite the emotionlessness of the mask, the girl still accepted his embrace as he hummed a small tune to further ease her nerves. Fjotra's breathing began to even and the glistening in her eyes faded. And they were moving again.

"Since when do you hum?" Anais asked as they made their way onto the road.

"Since we've had a frightened little girl in our charge," he answered plainly.

"Oh. I never knew you were so good with children," she chuckled.

"There's a lot you still don't know about me, Dovahkiin." She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

It wasn't until they were halfway to Markarth and the sky began to turn orange that the girl would speak up. "Could we stop for just a moment? I'm so thirsty."

The pair looked at each other before Teldryn shrugged. "I can watch the road while you take her to the river."

So Anais led her down the slope on the roadside to the riverbank. When Fjotra knelt down to cup her hands in the water, Anais dropped beside her to splash her face. She realized the flecks of blood that had begun to dry on her cheeks probably did nothing to ease the poor girl's mind.

Fjotra looked up from her drink and over her shoulder. "Does he always have that on?" she inquired, turning back to Anais.

"What?"

"Your friend, does he ever take off his mask?"

"Well he doesn't eat or sleep with it on, if that's what you mean."

"So you've seen his face?" the girl pressed.

"Of course," Anais replied, hesitant of where this was going.

"What does he look like?"

"Um..." How to put this? "Well he... um... he's quite... handsome, I suppose."

"Really? You think so?" Fjotra looked over her shoulder again, her gaze locking to the back of Teldryn's helmet. Then her eyes changed, like she was looking through him. "He thinks you're beautiful."

"W-what?"

The girl looked back at Anais, "He likes your eyes and your freckles," Her eyes dropped, as if doing inventory of the elf's form, "and your chest."

"Okay! Break time's over!" Anais announced, standing from her squat and startling the girl. "We need to get you to the temple before sundown."

Damn gods, always poking their noses into my business. Dibella's no better than the rest of them it seems, Anais decided.

#my writing #teldryn sero #one shot #pre relationship #hmm im kinda nervous about this one but still excited #:)#anais/teldryn #oc: aneis

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field-s-of-flowers · 3 years

Text

Shining like your eyes

Or, a Zukka one-shot based on Anais Mitchell’s Orion, for @littlespoonsokka

Sokka paces around his apartment, fiddling with his last remaining drumstick. The other has been broken, in a fit of anger brought on by some slight from somebody. He couldn’t tell you who. Ever since Sokka moved to Austin, time has been a blur of failed auditions and whiskey, against a backdrop of his empty bank account.

Spirits, what’s he going to do now?

He can’t play anytime soon, that’s for certain. If Sokka spends the last of his money on a new drumstick, then he won’t be able to calm his hands enough to play at whatever dive bar he comes to next. But if he spends it on drugs, he won’t have a drumstick to play with. Mom would know what to do right about now. She always knew what to do.

Of course, Mom is probably very disappointed in him from wherever she’s watching from. Sokka was just her little boy, and that’s all she ever knew him as alive. What’s she going to think of him? He’s spiraling again. Great. If he spirals, he can’t think of a solution to his fucking drumstick problem.

Sokka Nakoyak needs a drink. Or something. He doesn’t care.

He shuffles towards the little cabinet in what serves as a bathroom. In reality, it’s barely bigger than a linen closet. Someone who lived in this dump before Sokka must have managed to fit both a toilet and a cabinet in there. For the first time, it occurs to him that whoever did it probably needed the drugs as much as he does, if not more. Huh, he thinks to himself. Or maybe Sokka says it out loud. Nobody’s here to hear him.

There’s nothing but a little, half-empty bottle of pills in the cabinet. He can’t quite recall what they are: the bottle isn’t labeled, and some guy gave it to him at a party last week without saying anything. He doesn’t really care. Sokka downs the bottle in one go, and a minute later he thinks that maybe he shouldn’t have done that because his eyes are closing, and oh-

Never mind. It feels fine. A curtain summons itself in his mind, and just as soon it closes, soft and heavy on Sokka’s back. Just a minute…

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…

The first thing Zuko noticed on entering Sokka’s building was that he wasn’t waiting outside, like they’d agreed upon. That was fine. He didn’t like an unexpected change of plans, but it was Sokka, so it was fine. But Zuko did begin to worry when twenty minutes passed without a sign of his boyfriend. He stopped a passer-by, something he normally wouldn’t think of doing, just to ask:

“Excuse me, have you seen anyone named Sokka? He’s about my age, very tall, has an undercut-”

“Nakoyak?”

Zuko didn’t know why he was startled. He supposed this was one of Sokka’s neighbors, coming into the building, but it was weird to hear that name in someone else’s mouth. “Yeah.”

“Yes, I know Sokka, the poor thing. Normally he’s banging around on his drums in his apartment-”

“Yeah, I know,” he interrupted. “He’s my boyfriend, and he was supposed to be here like half an hour ago, do you know where he is?”

“Check his apartment, son. I think he just forgot.” The man started to walk away, then seemed to think better of it. “If he’s not there, then go to the front desk and ask for Mr. Piandao.”

“Thanks, sir,” Zuko said, a little breathless. He wasn’t scared before now, just anxious and a bit annoyed. But something about the way Mr. Piandao said poor thing set Zuko’s teeth on edge.

Sokka’s room was 5c, on the very top floor. The flights of stairs only served to heighten Zuko’s anxiety. The words poor thing echoed in his mind. Even in those soft, sympathetic tones, the meaning was harsh. Poor thing? What had happened to Sokka, then? Zuko’s mind always liked to jump to the worst, but that had to mean something, didn’t it?

There was his apartment. 5c. The door was unlocked, and it smelled like blood. Shit, Zuko thought.

“Sokka? You in there, baby?”

No answer. Zuko headed in, against his better judgement. The apartment was so small, barely big enough for a whole person to live in. So it was only one corner to turn until Zuko saw Sokka- or, what was left of him by now.

The first thing he saw was Sokka’s last remaining drumstick sitting on the counter. Then, the broken pieces of another one, smashed in what was probably an accident. Sokka’s ankle came suddenly into view, twisted at an ungainly angle and bleeding. Zuko turned a bit more, and saw the boy he loved, lying very still. It was exactly what he’d feared, but nothing could counter the terror that was… this.

And the drumset, right next to Sokka… it shone like a star. Or maybe that was just Zuko’s teary eyes. But as he came to his knees to hold this now-unfamiliar body, it was all that he could see.

Hey Orion, now he’s falling, and you’ll catch him if you can

Hey Orion, he’s a-falling, amen, amen, amen

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willa-marino · 4 years

Text

“We need to find Damon,” Sutton and I finish Bianca’s sentence at the same time, and I curl my hands into fists.

There’s a second’s worth of silence and then - “I’ll do it,” I go on to add, standing up slowly and stretching my arms above my head, turning to look out of one of the many huge windows in our villa. When I swivel back around to face the girls, I catch them hastily looking away from each other. I do my best to ignore their shared look, and the pang in my chest that comes unbidden. I push it away, down, lock it up tight. There’s no time. I’m already heading to my suite of rooms to pack.

“One of us can go with you,” Bianca says quietly, letting herself into my room, but only just so. She doesn’t trespass in further than the threshold, and I don’t say anything for a long moment, focusing on my current task at hand, which is packing. I tend to overdo it, so I’m trying not to. Just two dresses, a pair of heels, tennis shoes, jeans… fuck, I already know it’s too much. The tremor in my hands pisses me off so I flick my suitcase closed and order myself to take a deep breath, and then another one when it doesn’t initially work. It takes me a moment to form a reply. I clear my throat.

“It’s fine, B. You can’t leave Sutton and she can’t leave you. Obviously it was always going to be me to track him down. I know him the best.” I laugh, trying to keep it light, but it doesn’t sound right. I cut myself off immediately and frown, feeling Bianca’s gaze on me. I know she wants to say more and so do I, honestly, but I don’t know how to form the words. I’m not good with them. I just want a knife in my hands, or one of my guns. I want the adrenaline rush that comes during a mission or right after, I want to smell blood, I want to run. But in the opposite direction of where I’m headed.

I call myself a coward and stand up straighter. I respond well to cruelty. Sometimes you have to be a little mean to yourself. To get shit done. Whatever.

I force myself to look at Bianca.

“We should be back in a few days,” I say, and my voice and hands have calmed. Thank god. I toss her an easy smile, but I know it doesn’t quite cover the raging anxiety pumping through my veins. “Wish me luck.”

That had been two days ago.

Tracking down Damon hadn’t been as difficult as I had initially thought, but deep down I knew it wasn’t going to be; I had been dragging my feet for the last month. When you worked for people who had the world’s best hackers at their beck and call, finding anyone was elementary school shit. That’s what Tom told me, anyway, as he sent me the last known coordinates of Damon’s cell phone. As a mentee, I didn’t have full access to the network that made getting this type of encrypted information possible, but I would. One day.

“Can I do anything else for you, sugar?” His easy laughter made me wince, but Tom was cool. We got along fine, and I knew he looked forward to hearing from me, which is why I normally only spoke to Anais when I needed IT. Oh, well. There were worse things, and at the very top of that list was the job I had given to myself: find Damon. Kick his ass. Drag him back by his fucking earlobe if I had to. But time was running short and my connecting flight to Hawaii - really, Damon - was about to leave. I hung up after chirping back my thanks, mentally preparing myself to sit tight for a six hour flight. At least there’d been one last seat in first class.

See you soon, Damon, I think to myself, and shut the window shade next to my seat vehemently closed.

Kauai is an island in the Central Pacific, part of the Hawaiian archipelago. It's nicknamed "the Garden Isle" thanks to the tropical rain-forest covering much of its surface. The dramatic cliffs and pinnacles of its Na Pali Coast have served as a backdrop for major Hollywood films, while 10-mile-long Waimea Canyon and the Nounou Trails traversing the Sleeping Giant mountain ridge are hiking destinations.

Well, we do love a quick Google search. I had a healthy dose of curiosity instilled in me thanks to the kind of work I do. I had already checked into my hotel, luggage safely stowed away, my more serious weapons locked away securely in the safe. I had been wandering around aimlessly for the better part of the last few hours, not quite ready to face my fate, but time was against me, as it always had been, and I forced myself, finally, to pivot myself in the direction of Damon’s coordinates.

He’d picked a beautiful place to vacation; I would give him that if nothing else, because this was easy to give. This was nothing. I did not think about the circumstances of his trip or his company, who he was with. It didn’t matter, ultimately. We had a job to do.

Don’t make it personal, he had told me once, so long ago now that looking back on the memory felt like looking back at someone else’s life. Don’t make it personal, and yet he conveniently left out the most important part: But don’t mind if I do.

Put that away, I tell myself, and I finger the place where I have my favorite knife stowed. I can feel my heart beating against it and this comforts me when nothing else does: not the white sand beaches of this guttingly beautiful place or what I have to do next, what I have to face. I take a deep breath in through my nose, approaching the villa. The palm trees stir quietly in a near non-existent breeze. The sun is hot on my skin, the top of my head.

I find myself reverting back to an old habit: counting. I count the steps it takes me to reach the front door, I count the pebbles on the ground at my feet, the number of flowered pots lining the walk. I count these things and other things too, and roll my shoulders back, steeling myself against this moment. For this moment.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” I say softly under my breath, and its almost as if he hears me, because the next moment finds me looking directly up into his face. Does he have the place rigged and he saw me coming? Possible. Very probable.

“Willa,” he says, and I have not heard his voice in a month, and that’s what pushes the adrenaline through me, beating in time with my heart, filling my veins, overflowing into my mouth. I swallow it back, and for a moment, just a split second, really, that’s all I’ll allow myself, he is himself and I am me, and everything I deny to everyone, including myself, rushes up into my face and I let him see the truth, shining openly, plainly and thickly on my face like scar tissue. I undress the wound, peel the bandage back. I let him see what he has done to me, and surprise flickers intently on his face before he wipes it away too, but not so quickly that I didn’t see. In all the world he is the one person I know like the back of my hand. We are the same, I want to laugh and in my head I do. But I didn’t come here for this.

Instead, I reach for my knife, taped beneath my left breast, and I swing my arm outwards, aiming for him, but he’s quicker, always has been, and I knew it was fruitless and futile to try but he knows how I am, and it is so much like him. There’s an appreciative curve to his mouth when he turns to block my blow, knocking my knife from my hand, and it clatters to the ground and I’m disappointed but accepting. His hands close down on both of my shoulders and it's like no time at all has passed except it has; eons of it.

“Damon,” I say, and his name sounds normal in my mouth and the buzzing in my head has finally shut the fuck up after a month and I already know what that means, “Time to go.”

He looks away from me, over his shoulder. Wistfulness replaces the expression on his face and I know why he wants to linger.

“Time for that later,” I tell him simply, and I can almost believe it doesn’t hurt. “Leave a note if you have to, but we need to go. We have a flight to catch. They’re waiting for us.”

“Yeah. Yeah, alright, just give me a moment.”

I watch him turn on his heel. I force myself to look at his back, retreating from me. It certainly won’t be the last time I’ll see him like this. Better I get used to it now. Better I’m prepared for what is already inevitable. As with everything else, it’s only a matter of time.

#[ willa x narrative ]

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ajokeformur-ray · 4 years

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Somewhere alone in my bitterness // Arthur x Reader // comfort.

Summary: With everything building up within you and making you ready to explode in a fiery wave of emotions you loathe to experience, there is one thing you need, just one, which will make you remember all of the reasons why you don’t give in. The one thing which keeps you calm, keeps you full of love, keeps you soft and yet simultaneously does it fill you with strength. Your Arthur Fleck.

This is a piece inspired by a conversation I’ve been having with @daincrediblegg, alluding to the duality of human emotions. Here’s to you, you brilliant Egg!🥰🥰🥰 I hope you like this, darling.

Word count: 1, 119.

“Arthur?”

Arthur makes a small noise to let you know that he’s listening to you, though he doesn’t look away from the small, old television which Penny won in a radio competition several long, cruel years ago. His face is illuminated with the harsh blue light given off by the large pixels on the screen and those sea green eyes, which hold all the sadness of the world within them, reflect the old war film he is watching. Interested is he by how the gentlemen in the film interact with the ladies and members of the upper classes and you know that he is simply itching to take notes in his government issued brown journal. Why he does not, you know not.

In any case, it works out well for you. You leave the kitchen, two cups of coffee in your hands, and you walk through the small, cramped space, concentrating only on not spilling your drinks until you reach the coffee table. Upon putting them down do you turn so that you can face Arthur. Oh, but you’re so irritated, not with him but with yourself. There were things which had happened and indeed, are still happening in your life and you had little to no control over the situations at hand or even your own emotions; so hurt had you been in the past and so scared are you currently for more bad blood, and the rising anger over all of this only bred more of the same. Sometimes your own capacity to feel anger and other such emotions scares you. You are a gentle and kind soul, one of the purest Arthur has ever known, and this is not the kind of person you want to be.

Despite your anger and your fear, your anxiety and your sadness, you are still so completely yourself and that is a strength which few people, most especially those who reside within Gotham, possess. All of your reasons why, all of the things you cling to, all of your love and all of your passion, desire, all of your pure emotions, heavy though they are in their intensity, are because of the man who is sat before you, his green eyes shifting now from the television screen to you, his one and only person.

“What is it, Y/N? Talk to me.”

You move so that your knees are touching Arthur’s and he leans forward, his arms coming up to encircle your waist as he nuzzles his face into your belly. Love blooms hotly in your heart and spreads strongly through your veins and you bend down, down, to nuzzle your nose into his dark curls, your nose taking him all in. He smells like home and you make a small noise of contentment, feeling Arthur purse his lips to feather a kiss to your t-shirt; any excuse to love on you will he rightly take, for you deserve nothing less. You feel your resentment and other negative emotions alleviate some of their crushing pressure on your chest and what feels like the first time all day do you take a deep breath and feel yourself relaxing.

This is what you have been wanting.

“I’m okay, Artie, I’m just... feeling like I’m stuck in a cage of my own making with all of these bad emotions.”

Arthur leans back at your words and his arms, still around your waist, tighten and he pulls you forward and down. You come to sit with your thighs either side of his slender waist, your knees locked around him, your arms around his shoulders. You lean forward and rest your face into the crook of Arthur’s neck, your reverent lips leaving worship upon your temple, your daily religion is he. Arthur hums and presses kisses to your clothed shoulder, one of his hands moving to hook into the collar so that he can move the material aside and reach you with greater ease. For every affectionate gesture do you afford him does he grant you one of his own; equal in every way are you.

“I know what that’s like, Y/N. To want to werewolf and go wild,” Arthur giggles at his own articulation and you smile, not knowing that you would be hearing those words again soon, spoken in a more ominous, foreboding tone, and Arthur’s lips linger against your bare flesh, his blood already beginning to travel south as he wonders how else he can help you to vent your frustrations. “But you’re so strong, angel, to feel the way that you do and to still be so full of love. You’re better than those things making you feel angry, and it hurts, it does...” Arthur shrugs with one shoulder. You can’t see but he has a self-deprecating smile on his face. You would kiss it away if you saw it. “But you have me, something those people don’t have. You’re special. Y/N. You’re my one and only.”

“Thank you, darling,” You rise your face up from his neck, somewhat reluctantly for never can you have enough of your clown, nor he of you, and you claim his thin lips with your own. His flesh is cool but quickly does it match your temperature and Arthur pulls you tighter against him. His kiss is slow and the intensity within is matched only by the fire which burns within you. Your heart is the key for the cage which has so imprisoned your soul, and it resides firmly in Arthur’s hands. He had set you free long ago but you had yet to turn around to see things for yourself, and so with a gentle touch, a loving embrace and encouraging words as his weapon does Arthur this day once more save you from yourself, turning you around and showing you that, with him by your side and with you by his, you were the wealthiest couple in all of Gotham.

Thomas Wayne could eat his heart out.

You are still angry and you still hold resentment and sadness and you are not wholly free from the injustices you have suffered just yet, but you have your Arthur and he has you and you know that you are in the best hands. Arthur will never think of you any less, be any less proud of you or love you any less, and he understands what it’s like, more than anyone ever should. Remain do you in his embrace as you set foot from one cage and settle into another, but this is the safest one and you don’t ever want to leave it, for better or for worse, for you are not imprisoned in this one.

No, dearheart, in this one are you free.

AF/J @impulsiveclown @astheworlddturns @fluffedstar @jokersqueenofchaos @germansarechill @tsukiakarinobara @lynnesm @sagyunaro @docsportello @flowerglitterwoman @ben-solos-writing-avenger @jokers-doll @jokerslilhyena @arthurjokersgirl @antonija89 @lilliryth @hotpacino @obsessedandthirsty @call-me-harley-quinn @anais-angel

#arthur fleck #arthur fleck x reader #arthur fleck imagine #arthur fleck x you #arthur fleck x y/n #joker #joker x reader #joker imagine #joker x you #joker x y/n #joker 2019 #joker 2019 x reader #joker 2019 imagine #phoenix!joker #joaquin phoenix #phoenix!joker x reader #phoenix!joker imagine #Joaquin phoenix joker

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wordofrecall · 4 years

Text

character playlists: ori

so. let’s do this. my playlists are long and scattered, but they make me happy, so i might as well share them and the thoughts behind song choices. so. here’s some songs for runaway knights & wannabe witches, and what have you.

something holy - childhood & riches & wonders

pearl diver - mitski - oh hunter, if you didn’t want the beautiful so badly, perhaps you would’ve found it in your spirit singing softly - look. it's on the nose, considering that her title is "the pearl hunter," but also, like, that rules. this is a song for wren, i think; ori in the present reflecting on her mother and the similarities between them.

icicles - the scary jokes - i can only be forgiven if i’m giving myself up to you on a silver serving tray / must i bare myself to the stabbing of your knife & gnashing teeth while our lovely company appears so entertained? - aaand a song for childhood. 99% of ori's socialization came from her parents having important guests over, so. uh. yeah. show off your reclusive child prodigy like a pageant whenever you have the opportunity. she probably won't grow to loathe you.

life: the cruel interlude (on god) - kilo kish - why do i dare believe in me when i bleed? - questioning was. always a big thing for ori. i don't think she ever believed that the mirzha was god, and i known that she never truster her father's patron, but. in her studies, in her passions, there's always this tiny sense of desperation for something to have faith in something. not herself.

bluejays & cardinals - the mountain goats - the stars come out of hiding for you, & i would too - there is. a lot, in ori's relationship with her brother. she was the favorite child, yeah, the one destined for great things in spite of her... troubles. but he never had those troubles! she didn't, doesn't understand how he went through life so unafraid. there's envy there. i also think that the line i quoted is terribly true, like, canonically. because. she sure did do that stupid shit.

be calm - fun. - take it from me, i’ve been there a thousand times--you hate your pulse because it thinks you’re still alive! - sometimes you have intense social phobia. and that's okay!

country death song - violent femmes - kiss your mother goodnight & remember that God saves, kiss your mother goodnight & remember that God saves - i think andrei is a much less pitiable or even sympathetic man than the narrator of this song, but. like. it's a country song about a father killing his daughter while preaching godliness. i had to.

i’m all bloody inside - liam lynch - inside me, well, it’s dark & gross as hell, i’m not a pretty sight - the family business!

the hazards of love 3 (revenge!) - the decemberists - but father, don’t you fear, your children are all here - fantasies. part of the fantasy is imagining a world where she doesn't feel terrible about the thought.

shankill butchers - sarah jarosz - they used to be just like me & you, they used to be sweet little boys - "blood hunters are ghost stories." "and also, they're fucking terrible. violent, cruel, zealous. the worst."

sparrow - st. vincent - & no eyes are on the sparrow, eyes are on the sparrow, how could that be the case? the lark keeps whistling his number, silly little number, as if he isn't prey - pity for the boy. sort of retrospective, but it's a thought that's been there since she was a child.

something burning - rituals & fire & running

starchild - ghost quartet - but i will transcend & vomit this loser out of me; i will become the next big thing, i will light myself on fire - maybe she is some kind of angel? bursting with radiance and terrifying to look upon.

arsonist’s lullabye - hozier - don’t you ever tame your demons, always keep them on a leash / when i was sixteen, my senses fooled me - oooor maybe she is a sixteen year-old who is having a panic attack and setting everything in sight on fire by accident.

blood - my chemical romance - i’m the kind of human wreckage that you love! - so she's broken.

girl anachronism - the dresden dolls - it’s not the way i’m meant to be, it’s just the way the operation made me - so she's failed and she's broken and she's sick, and there's no time to fucking think.

when the chips are down - anais mitchell - cast your eyes to heaven, you’ll get a knife in the back. - so she does what her mother did before her, and she runs from that which she has always known.

body terror song - ajj - i’m so sorry that you have to have a body / one that will hurt you, & be the subject of so much of your fear - feelings on being built Wrong; feelings on your mind's undue control upon your body.

in corolla - the mountain goats - & no one was gonna come & get me, there wasn't anybody gonna know, even though i leave a trail of burnt things in my wake every single place i go - very good as an ori song in general but this is her justification to herself in the water. under the docks, she says this to herself.

the harrowed & the haunted - the decemberists - will i be so brave? - just to get that oceanic vibe up.

luna - the mountain goats - rise through the flames & end again in flames at last - an inexplicable feeling.

unwhere - reeder - a song for leaving what you've always known.

something lonely - years & woods & dreaming

runs in the family - amanda palmer - run from their pity, from responsibility, run from the country & run from the city, i can run from the law, i can run from myself, i can run for my life, i can run into debt, i can run from it all, i can run 'till I'm gone - she is broken and all she can think to do is get as far away as possible

panic attack - liza anne - i hate that i can be seen like this

black eyes - david wirsig - my hammering heart hears the voices of spirits that tempt us, the scorn that they’ve spoken

for the departed - shayfer james - they will bury me alive, but i’m not inclined to care; i am too far gone now

hurt - johnny cash - everyone i know goes away in the end; you can have it all, my empire of dirt

my body’s made of crushed little stars - mitski - i work better under a deadline! i work better under a deadline!

blood in the cut - k. flay - guess i’m contagious; it’d be safest if you ran--fuck, that’s what they all just end up doing in the end

little pistol - mother mother - i think i might be scared of the world & the way it makes you feel afraid & how it gets in the way

villains pt. 1 - emma blackery - built to create, designed to destroy

the beer - kimya dawson - & the christians gave me comic books as if i would be scared of burning in hell while i was already there [...] i tried to scream fuck you but blood was pouring out my mouth

something safe - family & finding it & fighting together

haunted house - sir babygirl - i’m running just to hide & i’m hiding just to breathe & around every corner is the same night on repeat

your heart is a muscle the size of your fist - ramshackle glory - i love you & you make me glad to be alive; i promise that i’m gonna pay you back / you always know how funny everything is, even when i’m so serious that it’s gonna be the death of me

medicines - the taxpayers - o, but our rotting corpses lying there soon began to leak & grow these lesions that all smelled just like a rose / & all the blood & guts inside us germinated into timeless pages stained with lines of lovely prose

autoclave - the mountain goats - i am this great unstable mass of blood & foam

alligator skin boots - mccafferty - i’m cool to the touch, leap to my death, i’ll die for you all, i’ll die for my friends, it goes like this

100 years - florence + the machine - lord, don’t let me break this, let me hold it lightly, give me arms to pray with instead of ones that hold too tightly

tomorrow will be kinder - the secret sisters - but i feel warmth on my skin, the stars have all aligned

armour - rae spoon - you know i placed was to build a life for you

amy aka spent gladiator 1 - the mountain goats - play with matches if you think you need to play with matches; seek out the hidden places where the fire burns hot & bright / find where the heat’s unbearable & stay there if you have to--don’t hurt anybody on your way up to the light, and stay alive

curses - the crane wives - won’t you stay with me, my darling, when my walls start burning down?

something daring - islands & visions & loss

jane’s dream - janelle monáe

beekeeper - keaton henson - hear me, o woman that has gone astray, gone astray

fire - kimya dawson - i’m reading books about how they’re corrupt [...] as long as i’m burning, i’ll keep on yearning to save the world, not sure how, but i’m learning

cosmic hero - car seat headrest - i love you, but i can’t stand the touch, & of course i’m alright with death

turn the lights off - tally hall - everbody likes to get taken for turns to see how bright the fire inside of us burns [...] should be stronger, books abandoned

eat you alive - the oh hellos - child, i’m afraid for your soul; these things that you’re after, they can’t be controlled

cry for judas - the mountain goats - hallucinate a shady grove where judas went to die

o death - monica martin - no wealth, no land, no silver, no gold, nothing satisfies me but your soul

blood of angels - brown bird - and i would wage my soul to bet that there ain’t no one throwing lightning anyhow

the universe is going to catch you - the antlers - the arms of the universe kept you from falling [...] those arms did not come back

a burning hill - mitski - i am the fire & i am the forest & i am the witness watching it / i stand in the valley watching it

something terrifying - conversations & selfhood & divination

the lamb - dessa - but blood is blood, & what’s done is done; blood is blood, & its burden is a beast

going invisible 2 - the mountain goats - i’m gonna burn it all down today & sweep all the ashes away

the lion’s roar - first aid kit - she plays a tune for those who wish to overlook the fact that they’ve been blindly deceived by those who preach & pray & teach, but she falls short & the night explodes in laughter

the villain i appear to be - connor spiotto - even if you can’t see the good inside me, i don’t have the time to tell you why i do the things that i do, just please hold on & soon you’ll seem

up the wolves - the mountain goats - there’s bound to be a ghost at the back of closet, no matter where you live; there’ll be a few things, maybe several things that you’re gonna find really difficult to forgive

thursday girl - mitski - glory, glory, glory to the night that shows me what i am

at the bottom of everything - bright eyes - we must take all of the medicines to expensive now to sel; set fire to the preacher who is promising us hell

everybody does - julien baker - i know i’m a pile of filthy wreckage you will wish you’d never touched, but you’re gonna run when you find out who i am

tongues & teeth - the crane wives - i know that you mean so well, but i am not a vessel for your good intent

a pearl - mitski - you’re growing tired of me and all the things i don’t talk about / sorry, i don’t want your touch--it’s not that i don’t want you

#original #this is. so long. and i will probably add more. but. Daughter.#ori #playlists

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foxgirl95 · 2 months

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Back Into the Fray Ch.9: Trouble in Dystopia

Chapter Description: The Mandalorain and Anai fight off bandits as they make their way back to Mos Eisley. Mando starts to wonder about strange things he's noticed in his new friend. Also, enter the adorable Frog Lady!

AO3 Link

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First Chapter

They had been traveling back through the dune sea when it happened. Mando had figured out a shortcut that morning that took half the time then when they had arrived. They were so close having just passed the halfway point not expecting any danger, not knowing what lay ahead. Anai held on tightly to the Mandalorian as he drove them through the sand enjoying the feel of him against her, not paying attention as her hands lay flat against his stomach and her legs squeezed his hips between them. A move that also thoroughly distracted the driver to the point he barely registered the rocks they were about to pass through. He pushed the handles down engaging the accelerator hoping to get through quickly when *Twang,* next thing the trio knew they were flying through the air. Anai had released her tight hold on Mando in surprise, landing smack onto the sand and knocking the wind from her lungs. *Damn this planet…* was her singular thought as she quickly flipped onto her stomach taking out her blaster and firing at the first body that came into view. The armored man activated his jet pack just before the speeder hit the ground causing it to explode into pieces and the child rolled along the sand beside it. “Get the child!” One of them yelled as they began firing at the Mandalorian who quickly moved for his own blaster but found it missing from its holster. “Anai!” She instantly whipped around shooting the boulder the would-be kidnapper passed making him shriek away into the safety of cover. The mechanic jumped to her feet running for the kid when a hidden attacker jumped out tackling her to the ground and knocking the weapon from her grasp. She punched up at the man’s face before unsheathing a vibro-blade from her boot and quickly stabbed it into his shoulder making him howl in pain. The two shooters grabbed each of Mando’s arms pinning him to a boulder and Anai finished off the one she tussled with as she managed to straddle his back and blindly stabbed into the flesh until he no longer moved. The smallest of the group appeared from behind the rocks toting a high-power blaster rifle but had no time to use it as Mando freed his arm to shoot out his grappling hook and using the blaster to knock the men unconscious. The mechanic jumped to grab the weapon firing at both men before he could rise to attack again. Both adults huffed heavily thinking it was nearly over. Unfortunately, when they turned to face their last attacker, they found him holding the child with the blade of a knife to his small throat.

“Wait! Don’t hurt the Child.” The Mandalorian’s hands went up in surrender before turning his head to Anai silently asking her to do the same. The Mechanic sighed in defeat, throwing the riffle she had acquired to the side and raising her hands. “If you put one mark on him, there’s no place you will be able to hide from me. We can strike a bargain.” Mando offered, his voice a strange mix of calm yet threatening. “There’s a lot of value in this wreckage.” He gestured to the bits and pieces around them “Take your pick but leave the child.” Anai knew what he was doing, this small creature was a Jawa, and scavenging was their basic instinct one that would override any thoughts of harming the baby. After a moment of scanning the area, the hooded one pointed his knife towards Mando shouting something that the mechanic didn’t understand but the hunter seemed to “Okay.” He moved slowly as he removed the jet pack from his back and stepped forward to place it between them “Here, It’s yours.” He calmly encouraged the Jawa who slowly placed the little one onto the sand “Take it. It’s okay.” The Jawa quickly snatched up the jet pack and started running as quick as his little legs could take him. When he was far enough Mando practically leapt forward scooping his son into his arms “You okay?” He asked feeling the presence of the mechanic at his side. Anai stared worriedly at the child checking him over for a moment before turning to his father “You’re not going to actually let him get away with that right?”

“Nope.” Shifting the little one in his arms the armored man pressed a button on his vambrace sending the jet pack and the thieving Jawa into the air. They all watched as the pack flew wildly as he continued tampering with the controls. It didn’t take long for the creature to lose its grip and fall to the ground with a resounding “Thud.” Pushing another button, the jet pack returned to its owner landing in front of the group and lightly toppling into the sand at their feet. They each paused a moment before it was broken by the child turning to stare up at his father with a huff. Mando could only shrug in response as the woman next to him scoffed a small laugh. With the show over Anai turns to the bodies and starts pulling items from them. The child cooed at the mechanic curiously as his father's gaze followed her “What are you doing?” The Mandalorian asks tilting his helmet to the side as the child in his arms does the same. “Looting.” She answers as she pulls a random item from one of their pockets and deems it worthless before tossing it over her shoulder. His helmet tilts the other way as does his son’s head “Why?” She shrugs her leather clad shoulders as she answers, “They’re dead they don’t need it anymore so why not?” The armored man sighs shaking his head disapprovingly “Fine but you’re carrying whatever you take.” Her lips curl into a smile as she pulls a rather hefty bag of credits from one of the men “Deal.”

The Mandalorian and his friend gathered up as many salvageable items as they could. The speeder was shot since Anai didn’t have all the tools she would’ve needed to fix it. Only choice they had was to load up and start walking. Mando carried the bulk of it on his shoulders each item (including the little one in his satchel) strapped to the body of their broken transport. Anai offered to take turns, but he adamantly refused, besides she was loaded down with her own looted treasures. Not only had she found more credits, but she had taken their weapons and a random pair of boots too. “Do you really need those?” He’d asked to which she just smirked “You really think I’m going to leave a good pair of shoes to rot in the desert?” Whatever, if she wanted to wear a dead man’s attire that was on her to the armored man though it was a rather morbid undertaking. Now they trekked through the never-ending sea of sand on foot with the heat of the twin suns beating down upon them. When they came across a rock formation with some well needed shade, they stopped for a moment to rest. “You must be dying in there.” Anai commented as she pulled herself onto the slightly cooler surface of a shaded boulder with the child sitting comfortably next to her. “Not really.” Mando groaned as he relieved the weight from his shoulders. He turned to her tapping his chest plate “Temperature controlled, keeps me comfortable in any climate.” The mechanic’s mouth hung open in disbelief at his explanation “Okay that’s just not fair.” She complained as she leaned back to lay across the stony surface “Might be something to this Mandalorian thing, I don’t think I can do the helmet rule forever though. There any wiggle room in that?” She asked. The armored man’s helm shook before he spoke “Only if you’re absolutely alone even then it’s only for meals and bathing.” She pouted leaning her head back “I wouldn’t be cut out for it then.”

“It’s not for everyone.” He shrugged. Anai turned to him with a smirk “Just for the hardcore types, like you right?” She lightly teased. “Sure.” He said flatly as he handed a ration pack to the little one. Mando didn’t really think he was a “hardcore “Mandalorian; dedicated and loyal, yes but there were others were much more rigid than he. The Armorer, of course, as she was the one who lead them. Paz Vizsla was another but unlike him the larger man was born into “The Way.” He pondered that for a moment as he dug for another ration pack and holding it out to his friend when he found it “Here.”

“I’m good.” She pushed the bar back towards him, but he persisted “You haven’t eaten since this morning. Take it.” His gloved hand moved towards her again.

“I’m not hungry, you have it.” The mechanic says up right repeating her action of pushing it away as she spoke.

Mando sighed “Don’t be like that.”

She raised one of her pink colored eyebrows “Like what?”

He starred her down through the t-shaped visor “You need the energy, just take it.”

Both their actions were repeated in the same vein “I have plenty of energy.” Anai was adamant in her words, she was under no circumstances taking the well-deserved nourishment.

“Eat. It.” He was close to shoving it into her mouth when the mechanic’s hand tightly grabbed hold of his wrist scowling up at him sternly stating “Okay seriously I’m going to puke if you put that thing anywhere near my face right now.” He paused a moment before finally relenting “Fine.” Mando put away the offending bar and replaced it with a canteen and an offering of truce “At least drink some water.” He spoke softly, hoping it would make her see reason. This time she happily took it from his grasp as she spun the top open “Now that I can do.” The Mandalorian shook his head as he took the bar for himself and stomped around to the other side of their shelter to safely consume it out of sight. As he ate though he started to think back to their time with the Tuskens, he remembered seeing that Anai had eaten but she’d shared most her meals with the child. Those were already meager portions of what their hosts could spare, it couldn’t have been enough. Maybe she didn’t need to consume as much food as he initially thought? Or had the heat of the sandy plains stolen her appetite away? In the end the Mandalorian rationalized that it wasn’t really something for him to worry about, but he knew how high the likelihood was that he still would.

The rest of the walk through the sandy seas had been just as miserable when they started but with the fall of night there came reprieve. The cooler air soothed against the sweaty skin on Anai’s cheeks as she pulled her visor down over her eyes. In the distance she could see the city of Mos Eisley come to life as the lights of each building illuminated. “Oh, sweet sanctuary!” The mechanic called out and the minute they were closer she ran forward embracing one of the many rounded buildings “I never thought I’d be so happy to see this stinking slug hole again.” It was a comedic display, but her Mandalorian friend couldn’t help but agree. The Razor Crest was only so many feet away, they were nearly home “Tell your droid to start the ship” Mando tiredly ordered “I want off this cursed planet.” The mechanic acknowledged him with only a turn of the head, but her silence told him that she was giving him a look of defiance under her visor. With a sigh he softly added “Please.” Anai’s colored lips curved into a smirk as she reached up to activate the communication system in her visor. The child stirring in his satchel caught the armored man’s attention for the moment until he heard the words “What do you mean you’re not with the ship?” Anai questioned to a series of beeps and whistles “Peli took you where?” In a few strides Mando was at her side cocking his head silently in question. With a sigh the mechanic turns to the armored man now pointing in the direction of the Cantina and their little troop immediately headed off. Passing a few townsfolk as well as a pair of fighting Jawa’s the doors opened, where the sound of soothing melodic music floated past them. Once inside Racket rapidly rolled up to greet them “What are you doing here?” Anai confronted the droid as she lifted her visor and Mando leaned in to add, “You were supposed to stay with the ship.” He let out a number of beeps and discontented whistles that the armored man couldn’t decipher as Anai raised a dyed eyebrow “Oh really? Peli MADE you come with her?” The mechanic looked around the room and a noticeable shudder ran through her body as her eyes landed on the table where her older friend sat across from a large bug like creature “I need a drink.” She sighed before hastily walking towards the bar. Mando pondered her reaction for a moment then shrugged it off as he continued his way in.

Peli’s voice sounded as he approached the table and the Mandalorian watched her fiddle with a set of sabacc cards “I don’t know.” She told the bug skeptically “Looks like someone’s gonna be going’ home empty-handed.” He stood in front of the table silently as the older Mechanic quickly scanned Mando, and the items slung over his shoulders “You finally found a Mandalorian, and you killed him?” She scoffed. “He wasn’t Mandalorian.” He defended “I bought this armor off of him, though.”

“What’d that set you back?” Peli incredulously huffed.

“Killed the krayt dragon for him.” Mando shot back starting to feel a prickle of annoyance travel up his spine. “Oh?” She turned back to her cards sarcastically commenting “Is that all?” The armored man had to stele himself for a moment, he was much too tired for this “He was my last lead on finding other Mandalorians.” The bug across the table chattered as Anai appeared at Mando’s side with drink in hand “Can’t believe Peli’s playing him again” She whispered to him “She almost lost the hangar to that bug.” He only responded to her words with the curious cock of his head thinking to himself ‘Oh?’

“Okay.” Peli seems to internally translate the last of the bugs rambling as she looks back to the trio “Well, you might be in luck.” She states gesturing to her opponent “Dr. Mandible says he can connect you with someone who can help you, if you cover his call this round.” Anai narrowed her eyes a bit at Peli’s words, but the older woman simply shrugged “It’s what he said.”

“What’s the bet?” Mando coldly inquired as he felt the prickly annoyance once again. Peli’s remained unfazed though as she stated the amount “Five hundred.” Anai nearly choked on her drink only to fore the liquid down in defiance “Peli Moto!” She quickly went to chide her friend, but Mando stopped her from making a scene “That’s a high-stakes game.” He tilted his helmet skeptically as the child cooed in his satchel. “Hey, he’s on a hot streak.” Peli defended before pointing to Anai accusingly “And you have no room to judge missy.” Dr. Mandible uttered a few clicks of annoyance and the Mandalorian relented with a sigh as he reached into his pouch of credits dropping the right amount onto the table. “Is the pot, right?” Peli asked her opponent and as he confirmed it the mechanic threw down her metallic cards showing her winning hand “Ha! Idiot’s Array! Pay up, thorax!” She laughed much to the annoyance of both the bug and Mando “I thought you said he was on a hot streak.” Peli just waved him off as she collected her winnings “Oh. stop your crying! You’ll rust.” Anai stepped into her older friends’ space whispering to her “I told you to stop playing like that!” She scolded as her droid trilled beside her in agreement “And I really hope that’s not why Racket’s here.”

“Relax.” Peli scoffed “I wouldn’t bet your astromech, he’s only here because I got sick of him complaining about being cooped up in that ship for days on end.” The bug interrupted them as he rattled off the info “All right.” She turned towards Mando “He says the contact will rendezvous at the hangar.” The mechanic translated to him “They’ll tell you where to find some Mandalorians.” She stuffed the last of the credits into the pockets of her flight suit “That’s what you wanted, right?”

“Yes.” Mando curtly confirmed. “Alright, well, stop your moping.” Peli started leading their little troop towards the exit “More importantly, did you bring back any of that dragon meat?” Anai hung back a moment as the woman rattled on and she leaned closer to the armored man next to her “I promise she only treats you like that because she likes you.” The Mandalorian could only bring himself to sigh in defeat once more.

Once back at the hanger Anai took the opportunity to use Peli’s sonic shower to relieve her body and clothes of the coarse sand making her feel refreshed despite the lack of water. Though once again she used what little water that could be spared to wash the makeup from her face. *It’s fine* she told herself as she pulled her leather jacket back onto her shoulders. It had been literal years since someone, besides Peli, had seen her without makeup. It wasn’t that big of a difference in her opinion, but she nervously wondered if her Mandalorian friend would notice. With her visor in hand Anai headed out into the low light of the hangar. She promptly came upon the scene of the large block of dragon meat skewered upon the thin arm of a Treadwell droid as it was cooked rotisserie style beside a small, modified engine. The mechanic couldn’t help but to snicker lightly when she spotted the child practically drooling as he watched the meat turn. Mando had been keeping his eye on his son when he heard their green-eyed friend rejoin them. He turned in her direction and nearly choked when his limited view landed upon her. She looked…different, her skin no longer held the reddish complexation he was accustomed to. Now it was more of a warm bronze with almost greenish undertones and it suited Anai exceptionally. The armored man shook the thoughts away, but his silent hesitance hadn’t gone unnoticed “You okay there, Merichetara?” The words leaving her bare lips in a way Mando tried not to reflect on for too long, he simply nodded as she moved to stand closer to the roasting spit. Despite himself he gawked as the flames of the engine made her glow, it hit him then what had made her look so different “You’re not wearing your makeup.” The words had unconsciously been uttered as they passed through the modulator of his helmet. “Oh…” Anai flashed a nervous smirk his way “Yeah… you noticed, huh?” She chuckled “I got all clean you know didn’t feel like clogging up my sweaty pores all over again, it uh…it must be pretty weird right?”

“No.” The Mandalorian softly interrupted her ramblings “It..it’s not weird at all, it’s…. good.” His armor may have kept the armored man at optimal temperature in all environments, but it didn’t stop the flush of heat that passed over his skin. Whoever heard of a blushing Mandalorian? Certainly, something no sane person would believe and luckily no one could ever tell through all the layers. As the light in those dazzling emerald eyes of hers flickered though Mando felt Anai’s gaze pierce right through his defenses. ‘How? How did she do that?’ He watched as her lips curled into that sweet smile that deepened the dimples on each of her cheeks “You think so Merichetara?”

“Hey, don’t overcook it, Treadwell. I like medium rare! I’m not some Rodian, for crying out loud.” Peli’s voice echoed across the hangar breaking the moment between the two. Anai took her cue to move back and sit upon the ramp of *The Razorcrest* leaving plenty of room for her friend Peli to conversate. The older mechanic exhaled heavily as she began to relay the information “All right, here’s the deal. A Mandalorian covert is close. It’s in this sector, one system trailing.”

“Are they the ones that left Nevarro?” The armored man asked back to his monotonous tone of voice. “Don’t know.” Peli shrugged “All I know is that the contact will lead you to them.” Mando was skeptical though given the events that had taken place so far that day “How much will it cost me?”

“Well, that’s the great news!” She joyfully proclaimed, “It’s free!” Though she mumbled on something about a “finder’s fee” under her breath.

“What’s the not-great news?” He asked still skeptical.

“Nothing. It’s all great.” She defended.

“Okay.” Mando turned back to the watch the meat slowly twirl once more. Anai though starred past the Mandalorian shooting a pointed glare at her fellow mechanic. As much as she cared for the woman Peli was notorious for leaving out the “little details”, a skill Anai usually appreciated when it wasn’t directed at her. The older woman seemed to take the hint as she spoke once again “However, there is one small skank in the scud pie.” ‘Here we go…’ Anai groaned as she wondered just how bad it could possibly be this time.

“Which is?” Mando asked tiredly annoyed once again. “The contact wants passage to the system.” Oh, so it wasn’t too bad then. Sure, the younger mechanic didn’t necessarily like the idea of another person on board the ship, but it was just a transport. Mando continued his questioning however “Do you vouch for them?” Peli simply nodded “On my life.” To Anai though it sounded like her friend was trying to stay uncharacteristically calm before she dropped another bomb that could derail the deal. “Fine.” The armored man begrudgingly agreed only to predictably be hit by another unexpected term. “And…” Peli trailed off before sheepishly saying “No hyperdrive.”

“What?!” Anai jumped to her feet because it was such an absurd request. Even Racket, who had been keeping his processer on the child, whirled his head to gawk at the request. “You want us to travel sub light? Deal’s off.” Mando moved his hands with finality as he spoke. “It’s one sector over.” Peli nonchalantly shrugged, but the armored man argued back “Moving fast is the only thing keeping us safe.”

“He’s right, Peli.” Anai interjected from her spot on the ramp and bringing their attention to her “It's too big a risk.” However, the older woman waved her off with a tinge of her own annoyance showing through “These are mitigating circumstances.” The Mandalorian sighed heavily with a shake of his helm he asked, “What do you mean “mitigating”?” Peli paused for a moment and a small shuffle of movement was heard. Both concerned adults watched as a small frog-like woman stepped into the light with a polite grunt of greeting to them. Anai cocked her head to the side curiously, she recalled seeing this woman once before. It had been on the first trip she and Mando took to the cantina not long after meeting but back then the amphibious being had just been another patron conversing with a fellow town dweller. Perhaps Peli was genuinely trying to make this deal as fair as she could. The Madalorain however surprised, was not as easily won over as he put hands on his hips and muttered to the older mechanic “I’m not a taxi service.”

“I know, I know, I hear you.” Peli put a gloved hand up to try and calm the miffed Mando “But I can vouch for her.” The little woman waddled up beside Peli adjusting a clear tank strapped to her back with contents neither one of them could quite identify. Seeing as their contact was already present though the former hunter decided to hear her out “What’s the cargo?” He inquired and which Peli graciously translated into the croaking language and receiving a small croak of reply. “It’s her spawn.” Peli informed them “She needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox or her line will end. If you jump into hyperspace, they’ll die. She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben.” The Mandalorian was quiet for a moment as he turned to share a look with Anai emphasizing the amount of unbelievability was reaching its peak. Anai however could only offer a comforting shrug, and though he continued his annoyed tone the younger mechanic noted a sarcastic edge to his voice “She said all that?” The wild haired woman also shrugged lightly “I paraphrased.” Mando dropped his hands from his hips letting them hang loosely at his side once again “Is she sure there are Mandalorians there?” Peli turned to confirm in the strange croaking language before translating once more “She said her husband has seen them.” Without much of a confirmation the frog lady took the initiative to board the crest as she happily waddled her way past Anai and into the hull. The Mandalorian could see the way Anai’s expression warmed at the sight. Damn her bleeding heart and damn his along with it.

The armored man turned to Peli again “Do you know the husband?”

“No.” She rested her hands atop her tool belt “I met her ten minutes before you walked in.” Anai couldn’t hold back an exasperated laugh as it bellowed out of her “Oh Peli…” Meanwhile Mando could feel a pounding headache coming on “I thought you said you vouched for her on your life.” Peli shrugged as she grabbed a slice of dragon meat one of the pit droids presented to her “What can I say, I’m an excellent judge of character.” The chortlling laughter of Anai reached his ears again as she tried to speak “H-Honestly though…” He held up a singular gloved finger feeling much too exhausted to hear anymore. Mando stomped his way into the hangars living quarters and partook of his own sonic shower. The last thing he needed was for the sands of this cursed planet following him through the vastness of open space.

Author's Note: Well we're officially all caught up now! Don't forget to go on AO3 and bookmark this fic to get the lateset updates and follow me here on Tumblr for more!

All graphics by @saradika-graphics

#star wars #the mandalorian #original character #din djarin #fanfiction #din and grogu #din djarin fanfic #fan fic #din djarin x ofc #din djarin x oc #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin x original female character #groguthechild #mandalorian and grogu #original droid character

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airis-paris14 · 4 years

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Human Nature Pt.1

Summary:T’Challa Udaku has a secret. He’s tired of loving her in secret.

Warnings: None

A/N: This is a short story I wrote about a month ago and posted to Wattpad. It’s all completed and I’ll be posting weekly. Just let me know if you want to be on the taglist for all my stories. Hope you enjoy! ✨

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Looking out, across the nighttime

The city winks a sleepless eye

Hear her voice, shake my window

Sweet seducing sighs

Get me out, into the nighttime

Four walls won't hold me tonight

-Michael Jackson “Human Nature”

T’Challa Udaku was lying. He had been for some time now. He felt like a Gemini twin. One side here with a life in Wakanda and another with a life in the States. Now he was a king, and he had no time for lying. He had a country that looked up to him and there’d be no time after this moment for anything to blow up in his face. He twisted the chain around his neck and sighed. He glanced at the clock. It was midnight, on what should have been the happiest day of his young life. Except it wasn’t. His phone pinged and he grabbed it off of the nightstand.

Queen: I know it’s late, I hope your business trip is going well. Call me when you wake up. I love you. Sweet dreams my love.

“Business trip,” the king sighed. “Another lie for the ages,” he thought. Deciding he wouldn’t get any sleep in his room he threw on some clothes and decided to go for a drive. He ignored the offers of accompaniment from multiple guards and Dora Milaje before pulling out onto the streets. A small smile graced the king’s face as he drove through his hometown. Several of the clubs and restaurants were in full swing. People laughed and danced inside and outside of the establishments. He drove around the city center for a while, before deciding he needed to be alone. He drove to the edge of the city and headed off-road. Twenty minutes into his bumpy trek, the king pulled up outside of the Temple of Bast. The building scanned his vibranium birthmark before allowing him access to her silent depths. The king’s footsteps echoed on the stone floor as he made his way to the garden of the heart-shaped herb. He took a seat on the edge of the stone walkway and let his feet sink into the water at the side.

“My king, you are here late,” The high priestess’s voice startled the new king. “Anai, I did not know anyone would be here tonight. I apologize if I am disrupting you.”

Anai smiled. “It is no problem, the flower is it’s most active and vulnerable at night. It is the best time to tend to the plants. It is also nice to be here when no one has much need of me. Zuri taught me that. There was something about this building that gave him peace, he hoped it would one day do the same for me.”

“Has it?” T’Challa asked. “It has kumkani wam,” the older woman smiled before making her way to stand closer to the king. “I assume that tonight it has found you looking for solace as well.”

“I used to come here and ask the advice of Zuri as a young boy, I thought being here might give me some clarity of mind,” the king confessed.

“Well, I am no Zuri, but I might offer my own advice if you wish.” Anai offered. “I do not want to draw you away from your work Anai.”

“Advising my king is part of my work. Besides, I am sure the herb will be glad to be rid of my incessant pruning for the night.” Anai smiled and gestured toward her office. The king stood and followed the priestess into a small office. She took a seat in a small alcove carved into the wall. T’Challa opted for a chair that twirled slightly as it hung from the ceiling. “What is troubling you kumkani wam?”

“I have a dilemma that will hurt multiple people that I love. I know it is not right, but I have been lying to all of the people involved and I am afraid that me being king will make the situation for one of them worse. I am at a crossroads with how to go about rectifying the situation. I want to be honest, but do not know where to begin.”

“I am afraid that undoing the damage done by a lie is not easy my king. Ultimately someone will be hurt, lest you start another lie to soften the blow of the other. Though, I do not encourage that.” Anai clarified.

“I know, but at this point, my deception is so complex and layered that I am not sure where to begin unraveling the web.”

“Every knot or web has one string that when pulled, will undo the whole set up yes?” The king nodded his understanding. “I would not pull that string first. I would decide who in the scenario should be the first to know. Whoever will be hurt the most by this news, is who you should address first. After that person is made aware, then you will have someone else to help you decide who you should tell next.”

“I think that is something I have known, but not wanted to admit.” The king sighed. “Then your heart is leading you in the right direction. Your earnestness in correcting this error means that you care. Believe it or not, you are still a good person. Just keep patience in your pocket, especially when people are hurt. Be aware they may say something they do not mean.” Anai advised.

The king stood. “Thank you, Anai.”

“Anytime Kumkani wam. I hope you enjoyed your festivities. One more week and all of the fun stuff is over,” Anai smiled, “At least for a little while.”

The king smiled his thanks before finding his way out of the temple. He checked his kimoyo beads for the time. 2:15 A.M.

He knew that he should head back before Okoye had the Dora Milaje deployed to search for him, but he had one more place to go. He turned away from his car and started the hike up the hill behind the temple. The heavens shined above as he wove his way through the grass and around the rocks along the hillside. When he reached the top the quiet roar of warrior falls calmed his thoughts. He took a seat on the edge and thought back to her. His love. His heart longed to bring her here, and hopefully one day soon he could, but for now, he needed to talk to someone else. “Baba, Zuri-” the king called into the heavens, “I know you are both up there and I could use some advice. I know that you all are watching me. This means that you probably already know of my deception, but I am tired of living that life. I want to make it right, do the honorable thing. Like an honest man, and king.”

T’Challa looked down at the grass beneath him, “Please, give me strength. A sign to if you will. A sign to show me that I am going about this the right way. I am going to leave in the morning to start making it right. I have to get this right. She means too much to me.” T’Challa sighed. His beads hummed on his wrist and he instantly knew sneaking back in was no longer an option.

He turned his wrist over and Okoye’s face appeared in the hologram. “T’Challa! Where are you? It is 3:30 in the morning for Bast’s sake. A panther is missing from the menagerie and we need your assistance in locating it. I look into your room and what do I find? An empty bed. None of your guardsmen knew where you had gone!”

“I appreciate your worry Okoye, but I am a grown man. I can take care of myself,” the King teased. A rustle floated through the air and T’Challa turned towards the sound, his suit silently covering his body. A panther emerged from the darkness and sat in front of the king before beginning to purr. A vibranium chip glowed in the vein of its left ear. “I have located the panther Okoye. I will meet you and the specialists at the temple of Bast.”

“Very well-” T’Challa hung up before Okoye could continue. “Looks like you and I will be in trouble tonight,” the king rubbed the large cat between its ears. “Thank you, Baba. You too Zuri,” The king called into the darkness once more. A shooting star flew past as the king smiled. He began the walk back to the temple, the panther in tow. As they got closer to the temple the king gathered his courage. When they made it back to where his car was located the panther’s caretakers escorted the large animal away before T’Challa was met with Okoye.

“What kept you up tonight?” The general started, leaning on the car next to her king. “I have to leave in the morning,” T’Challa revealed, turning to glance at his general and best friend.

“Where could you possibly have to go?”

“That is for only me to know at this moment general. I will be going alone. It is a personal matter, not diplomatic or dangerous.”

“Any time you fly an airplane it is a dangerous journey,” the woman teased. “Oh shut up,” the king laughed.

“Will you be back in time for the start of the coronation festival?” Okoye asked once the laughter died down. The king nodded, “I will have to be. When I return I will explain everything that kept me up tonight.”

“Good. I hope you find the peace you are looking for kumkani wam.”

“It is not my peace I am worried about,” The king sighed. Okoye frowned but crossed her arms in salute. The king watched as she got back in her own vehicle and pulled off, leaving the king to make his own way home.

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#tchalla #tchalla fanfiction #tchalla imagine #tchalla x reader #blackpantherimagines #t ‘challa x reader #humannaturefic #apbpfics

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dharmadischarge · 3 years

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Annunaki chapter 1

"Dying is a wild night and a new road."

– Emily Dickinson

"Love never dies a natural death."

-Anais Nin

"We all float down here."

-Pennywise, the clown.

Cynthia "sam" Lynskey: was a chubby, tired librarian. Who had been looking for a fix. "I am in control,"; she wanted to tell herself, yet she knew this was a regret waiting for honesty to validate it. She is standing in the hall of a house, Out in the hills. The lights are grim with heavy shadows. Heavy contrasts of black and glowing gold highlighting whites of skin.

The preacher and his family were squatting in a dilapidated hell-hole they called home (or at least a place of business which, if we were honest, that is kind of what home is). The walls had holes from punches in the plaster with splintering cracks. Roaches that were long-dead sprinkled across the carpet that is piss-yellow from decades of nicotine stains.

A single couch in this room and a stained mattress her eyes are locked onto in the next room. That Sam is uncomfortably familiar with; she was responsible for some of those stains—over six months of talking herself down from sobriety, talking herself down from pride or dignity.

The couch was near the entryway, with a trinity of sleeping, dirt-covered "white trash." One child, the rest could be anywhere from twenty to forty years old. Sam's clean floral dress and translucent scarf aligned her with a world of, "I am fashionable even if it looks like Sunday best for the Walmart crowd."

She was waiting next to the preacher's bedroom, which in her mind meant that she would be eating out his wife tonight. "if I have to fuck two of you," she thought, "then I better get double." Out of a kind of politeness, Sam started to cough, looking at the women sitting on the couch before saying,

"you look good tonight, jenny."

The door opened to a short fat man wearing a black colored button-up shirt and a straw hat fedora before the women could respond.

"Hi, preacher," said Sam.

"hey," he said, standing to the side so she could enter.

Sam walked into the room, anxious and excited. She had been out of her meds for most of the day and agitated at a world that didn't seem to hurt as much as she did. The excitement left, however, when she saw the kid in the corner of the room. He had a nervous smile.

"who's the kid? and why is he here?" Said Sam glaring with evident frustration at the preacher, who didn't seem shaken from her exclamation

. "I'm, no fucking kid," The kid's voice shook.

The preacher said, "calm down, boy." then he looked at Sam, "It's his birthday."

and turning red in the face, she whispered, "so?"

"how much you have?"

"Just a twenty? but we had an agreement."

"and we still do, Just it's not me. It's the kid,"

"I'm not a kid,"

"How old is he?"

"he just turned eighteen. Now before this gets any more awkward, James, show her your id."

The kid listened and did what he was told.

"it says July 12. That's today," said Sam.

"You wanted a ladder? I'll give you that and two oxie."

"I want it in advance," Said Sam.

"no." said the preacher, but he reached in his pocket and pulled out a joint. He lit it, taking a hit, holding it out to Sam while he said, "we have a deal?"

She said nothing but took a hit off the joint held it in so long when she finally breathed again. There wasn't all that much smoke. She looked at the kid and held it out to him. His legs were shaking as he walked over to her. Then he sat on the bed.

The preacher said, "I will square it off when you're finished." then left, closing the door behind him.

She rubbed his shoulders, leaned forward, and kissed his neck. "let me see your tits." he said red-eyed. "she didn't say anything but pulled down the front of her dress. Awkward hands fumbling towards violence, pinched, and fished.

"Hey, you're hurting me." said Sam

"shut your face," Said James.

"This isn't working," said Sam, facepalming.

"Hey, come on, I'm sorry." then he stood up, unbuttoning his jeans.

"Just lay down, kid," she said. "I will do the rest."

He lay back, and she took his small sour cock in her mouth and began with eyes closed to fulfill a bargain. And when he was hard, she said, "Let's get this over with." lifted her skirt. Her pussy had stubble where she had shaven it yesterday. She laid back and guided him into her. Her distracted mind was saying, "you pull out, this isn't an all cum served buffet." he went on humping while she covered her eyes with arms. After ten minutes, she felt him squirt it off and then kiss her lips more fragile than she thought him capable of while all evidence of decency was gone when he continued to grope and play with her despite the tears.

Sam wiped his mess off of her, not hiding any disgust, and waited for the preacher to get her pills. The kid gave the preacher deliberate and obvious a self-assured smile and walked out.

"So who was he?" said Sam,

"James? He is my sister's boy. his dad thought he was a queer, and they ask for a favor."

"so what was I? his birthday present?" Said Sam.

"no, can't give away what you don't own; your more like a runt that is almost useless with its mouth taped shut so the fighting dogs can get a taste of blood." Said the preacher.

Hair frazzled, she tried to straighten it up and saw James sitting on the porch's warped stairs. He was smoking a self rolled cigarette; he didn't look at her.

"Those will kill you," she said, going by.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," said James.

"I let you do it, so don't worry about it," said Sam.

Then, as if he was trying to impress her, he looked up to the sky and said, "there are not even any stars, no sir, not tonight."

She got in her car, turning the key, a rough idle than the reverse. She saw him in her headlights, still on the front porch as she drove off into the darkness and was comforted by it.

The drive home was pleasant enough — the whitewashed walls of her house revealed itself through the tall grass around it. Sam's life was in the valley, where the mountains glowed on the horizon. With the majority of civilization hidden behind walls of a prison. The privately-owned prison/factories of indentured labor.

"shit," said Sam as she paid closer attention to the lights from the city hiding the stars. Dreamy, stoned eyes and a whisper of "it ain't that bad."

She saw the black cat for the first time while making her way up the creaking stairs of the porch. She did a dance of cracking the door and "shoo, shoo, I got nothing for you." trying to escape from its overt friendliness. The way it tried to rub against her shin as she ascended the stairs. Following her from the first of her "shoo's."

In a magnificent leap, it landed on her back, climbing up her dress, running over her bare shoulder, and leaping as she leaned down to pick up her keys. the door is pushing open as she reached for the black cat, Sam saying softly, "oh, damn it."

She lit the lamp and looking for any glare of reflection in the black cat's eyes, hoping it would give away the location that it was hiding in. She said, "oh fuck you," then Sam exhaled in exasperation. "You can, fucking stay, but I am getting high and going to bed." she locked the front door then went upstairs carrying the lamp to her room.

"Cynthia, why do they call you, Sam?" The voice was scratchy, calm, and with no visible source. Sam sat down the lamp on her end table and went back down the stairs.

"excuse me," she said, looking around.

Then she reached for the drawer that held the revolver; her father had owned before his passing. There she saw the black cat, sitting on the kitchen counter, staring into her eyes out of the darkness, and it started to sing. "jimmy cracked corn, and I don't care. Jimmy cracked corn, and I don't care, the monster's gone away."

Then she saw a spiral of smoke, and the cat was gone.

"Sam?" said a voice behind her. "is this what you were looking for?"

she felt the barrel push against her spine. "Maybe," she said, embarrassed that she had said anything.

The gun pulled away, and she heard a chair drag across the floor beside her.

"Sit down, please." said the voice.

Sam sat down and crossed her arms on the table. Walking casually to the chair opposite her, she saw something not human, but at least humanoid.

"I'll be staying awhile," it said. but was then noticing how wounded she seemed.

"It's for your good," then it held up the gun, and it turned to dust in its hand.

"he laced me with LSD? Didn't he," she said to herself.

"no, I am not a hallucination." said the thing,

"what are you?"

"I am a god or a monster, you could say. I'm not from here. You can call me Teki, and I am a cosmic tourist."

"tourist?" said Sam.

"If you are going to ask a question, you really should ask less ambiguously...for example. What is a cosmic tourist?" after a painfully long silence, he raised his scaly eyebrow and leaned forward as if to say, 'are you serious?'.

Sam, surprised, said, "I'm sorry; I am a little high right now."

"don't let me stop you go on ask your question."

"Why does everyone have to be an asshole, even aliens?"

"Why does everyone have to be an asshole? That is a good question."

Then he held his chin as if in deep thought, rubbing his gill-like whiskers. "maybe that is the core of tourism? I might just be looking for someone to surprise me. someone to make the whole mess worth it" then, clapping his hands together once he said, "it's settled; you will be my new passport."

"So, What does that mean?" said Sam.

"Well, my last one died, so I have been stranded for over a month in this hell hole. looking for his replacement, but luckily I found you."

"Your passport died?"

"My former one, yes, but I am hoping to replace him"

"I am a person, not a passport."

"A passport has to be a person. It is the nature of passports to be conscious and alive. Though your feeble human mind can't comprehend much, that isn't your fault. But alas, there is the downside of traveling to these obscure corners of the zoo. If your passport dies, then well, you are stuck with a serial killer monkey, for forty or fifty years."

"Fuck you."

"oh, come on, you will have a better life than here. Didn't you ever find it strange that a hundred-foot wall surrounded your whole tiny world?"

"well yeah."

"Well, now you get to go beyond the wall! Think about it; there is a universe out there, and not all the stars are artificial like in the zoo."

"can I think about it?"

"no!" he said with a smile.

"your first job is to dispose of this body," he said as he opened the closet door revealing a shriveled grey octopus creature with humanoid legs and eyes.

"Can't you make him disapear? Like you did my dad's gun?" said Sam.

"I could, but this little fella was with me for almost a century, and he deserves a burial."

"you do it."

"I," said Teki, with false pride, "am a God, and we don't do manual labor."

"well, I am tired, and that is just as good a reason," said Sam.

"Well, he doesn't have any bones...let's go burn him in the yard. Just know that your funeral will be just casual."

"he's your friend. Why am I supposed to be sniveling." Said Sam. Teki, in his first sincere moment, looked at her emotionless, and picked up the tentacled creature, and carried him out to the front yard.

After he laid the alien down, a suit appeared over his sexless body, and he solemnly closed his hands together. Him standing in his new funeral attire before his expired passport. With eyes closed. With startling immediacy, he raised his hands and said, "let there be light!" and the dead creature was in flames. Sam sat on the porch for awhile but was told by Teki, "it could take a few hours for this guy to cook down. You get some rest, and I will see you in the morning." So that is what she did, curled up under her quilt. She thought about how she would kick the preacher's ass for lacing her drugs with hallucinogenics.

#Novel #fiction #outsider art #outsiderfiction #literature #first chapter #horror #goth #goth aesthetic #goth fiction #punk #punk fiction #romantisism #dark romanticism #dark romantic suspense #dark grunge #tramacore #cringcore

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bard-llama · 3 years

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WiP Wednesday: A Single Spark

I don’t think I’ve shared this whole scene before, but it’s one of my favorite scenes I’ve written, ‘cause there’s so much going on with everyone as they try to figure out where their political alignment is.

Premise: This is from a fic series called A Single Spark where Foltest orders the forest burned to destroy the Scoia’tael - only it does a lot more damage than just that (and the Scoia’tael survive, because they actually know how to care for forests and periodically burn the underbrush. Also, Roche and Fenn risked going into the forest to warn them, ‘cause Foltest has gone off his rocker.) With the help of Triss and Keira, the Blue Stripes manage to help the locals keep Ellander and Flotsam from burning down, and after the fire has burned out, everyone tries to figure out where things stand now that they’re technically all traitors in Foltest’s eyes.

Iorveth’s voice was entirely reasonable as he said, “all we want is the right to live freely. Is that truly too much to ask!?”

“He’s right, John,” Roche found himself saying and saw Iorveth turn to him in surprise. This was going to sound callous, but, “just look at the numbers. If we want a single chance to stop this from happening again? We need nonhumans. Is granting equality really that much to ask?”

The look on Iorveth’s eye made him feel strangely warm and he cleared his throat.

Natalis shook his head, expression openly uncertain. “We are fighting for a Temeria where our king won’t burn down forests. But I don’t have the authority to promise that kind of change. The nobles would never support it.”

“Hang the nobles!” Roche swore. “They’ve already made their stances clear! If they stand for the reckless destruction of Temeria, then who cares what they approve!?”

“I know you’ve never been fond of us,” Maria Louisa La Valette chided calmly as she walked into the room, “but not all the nobles have betrayed Temeria, thank you very much. And that is a good thing, because I believe I have exactly what you need.”

“Oh?” he scowled.

“You should know better than any,” Louisa sniffed, looking down her nose at him, “if we are to have a real chance of opposing Foltest and his loyalists, we’re going to need a viable option for someone to rule in Foltest’s stead.”

Roche opened his mouth to protest – and then his brain finally kicked into gear and reminded him exactly why Louisa La Valette would be the one to make this point.

“Foltest won’t claim them if they oppose him,” he reminded her softly. He didn’t particularly like Louisa La Valette all that much, but she was a proud woman and, unusual amongst her peers, she was actually invested in her children’s lives. And she knew Foltest, probably as well as he did. She had to know how this action would cause Foltest to respond.

Her throat moved in a quick swallow before she nodded sharply. “I know. I’ve discussed this with my family, and we’ve made the decision.”

John Natalis coughed light. “Pardon me for interrupting, my lady, but what–?”

Louisa cleared her throat, sweeping her eyes over the assembled group – not that there were many of them. She was the highest ranked noble present, and he had no doubt that she saw that as meaning command should automatically fall to her.

Unfortunately for her, neither Roche nor Natalis were the type to turn over command in the middle of a crisis. Which meant they had 3 commanders, a Scoia’tael elf who probably wouldn’t listen to any of them, a mage who rarely did anything she didn’t want to do anyway, and another noble. Great. No way that was going to be a problem.

“My children, Natalis,” Louisa said, gesturing towards the door as a young man with dark hair opened it and guided two small children with lighter hair inside. All of them were Louisa’s children, but considering the old Baron (may he rest in peace) had had black hair, and Louisa herself had dark hair, it was clear to anyone who looked that the young twins had a different father than the older boy.

Roche knew that people often did not look, but even so, there had been more than a few rumors about Louisa’s affair with Foltest. They were discreet – Roche knew this because often times he would be the one providing the discretion – but they were both nobles to their core. Nobles never noticed the servants, never thought about the fact that servants could gossip just as readily as other courtiers did.

Natalis had obviously heard said rumors, because he stared for a long moment at Ari, the oldest child, then assessed the twins in silence for another long minute. Then he cleared his throat. “My lady, what precisely are you proposing?”

“I am proposing that Foltest’s children be his heirs to the throne,” Louisa was calm as she delivered the news, and in any other circumstance, her declaration would be cause for Roche to panic. A dispute over the line of succession could destroy a reign if rulers weren’t careful. But Foltest had been planning to claim the children as his own, once the right politically expedient moment had arrived. They were bastards, so there would still have been some dispute over the rightfulness of their claim to the throne – but Foltest had only one other child, and if their claim was viewed more strongly than hers...

Shit, Roche really should’ve invited her. He hadn’t even thought of it, and–

The door opened again and this time, Triss Merigold entered with a white-robed priestess of Melitele who was technically the Crown Princess of Temeria. Technically, because while the reality was that Foltest was her father, no one knew that. To the world, Princess Adda the White was Foltest’s niece, daughter of the late Princess Adda of Temeria.

To a noble, a sister’s daughter was less respected than the primary family line – aka Boussy and Anais, Foltest’s direct children – but she was at least considered legitimate. Sort of. The cover story Roche had concocted when Adda had appeared – and he did mean appeared, as in, out of thin air in many ways – was that the late Princess had secretly married a nobleman, who had then hidden their child from the King after the Princess died. He’d had to specify that the nobleman had hidden Adda from Foltest, because none of them had known about Adda’s existence until a witcher lifted the curse from a striga. Eight years after the late Princess’s death.

The public had accepted the story, fortunately, but the fact was that until the curse had been lifted, Adda hadn’t known anything but the life of a monster that hungered for human flesh. She was cured of that, but its effects remained even as the Sisters of Melitele taught her how to be a person. Roche was proud to say that he’d played some small part in that, in raising the young woman standing in the doorway.

He also had a recurring nightmare where Foltest decided that his former-striga daughter was too nonhuman to be tolerated. She wasn’t, of course. Adda was human. The witcher had cured her.

Sure, maybe Roche had noticed little ways in which she was still a little… effected, shall we say? Like the way that her growl made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. Or the way that she could hear people moving two rooms over when Roche certainly couldn’t. Or the way that she preferred her meat rare enough to still be bleeding.

Little things. Not enough to make her not a human, though. It wasn’t as if she was an elf or a dwarf or a halfling or something. She was human. And just a little superhuman as well.

Triss Merigold cleared her throat and addressed everyone assembled in the room. “May I present Priestess Adda the White, Crown Princess of Temeria.”

Natalis, Keira Metz, Duke Hereward, and Louisa all bowed courteously, some noticeably lower than others. Belatedly, Roche remembered that he was supposed to bow too, which got him some odd looks from the others, but Adda just smiled at him. Iorveth didn’t move a muscle, looking at them all balefully.

“Gentlemen,” Adda’s voice was soft, yet it easily commanded the room, “ladies, I understand this is a strategy meeting to determine what to do next about Foltest.”

Natalis cleared his throat, “yes, my lady.”

“Wonderful. If you wouldn’t mind filling me in?”

“Of course,” every single one of them said, automatically assuming that she was addressing them as the leader. He’d known that was going to come back to be a problem.

Triss rolled her eyes and called on her fellow sorceress. “Keira? Would you mind?”

“Of course, your highness,” Keira nodded. “We haven’t exactly accomplished much.” The mage’s voice was scathing as she flicked a glance at Iorveth. “Roche brought Temeria’s Most Wanted Terrorist to the meeting, which understandably bothered some people.”

Roche rolled his eyes. “And Iorveth made the surprisingly rational argument that if we want to change Temeria, why not give nonhumans equal rights and protections, too?”

“The people would never accept it,” Louisa dismissed easily.

“I rather think the nonhumans would,” Adda said, soft words ringing in the silence that followed. “I am not sure that working with the Scoia’tael is the right answer, but why not make this change as well? I assume you’re already intending to ask for Foltest to step down.”

“And his children,” Louisa emphasized, squeezing each of the twins’ shoulders. Anais and Boussy mostly just looked uncomfortable. “Will take their rightful place as his heirs.”

Triss arched an eyebrow. “Rightful place? You do recall that you are speaking to the Crown Princess, don’t you?”

“Who is Foltest’s niece. Not his direct descendant.”

Roche rolled his lips together, determined to take the particular secret that meant she was wrong to the grave.

“Niece?” Anais spoke suddenly, eyes fixed on Adda. “You’re Papa’s niece?”

Adda blinked down at Anais for a long moment and then knelt down and smiled. “I am. It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t know I had other family.”

And there was a rebuke in that that had Roche wincing, but nonetheless, there was something incredible about watching this meeting of Foltest’s three children. It was only right that they should know each other.

Louisa’s hand tightened around Anais’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’d be delighted to get to know you,” the noblewoman said, eyes sharp and hard, “provided you do not contest their claim to the throne.”

“My lady,” Triss interrupted, “with all due respect, they’re children. Adda is of age.”

Louisa was not moved, but Adda cleared her throat, smiling at Anais and Boussy as she rose. “I’m sure something can be worked out. More importantly, I would like to know where everyone stands on the nonhuman issue.”

“More important?” Louisa muttered, but obligingly shuffled her children to be seated around the table. Natalis, Keira and Hereward were all already sitting at the table, and Triss and Adda joined them.

But Iorveth didn’t move, and Roche twisted back to cock an eyebrow at him.

“That ‘nonhuman issue’,” Iorveth grit out, “happens to be my life, my people’s lives, and the survival of our entire species in the face of those who seek our eradication.”

Roche blinked, taken off guard by the venom in Iorveth’s words. But then, he supposed he’d never really thought about it like that before. To him, hunting elves was just – well, just following orders. He’d honestly never thought much about the experiences of nonhumans from their perspective. Foltest had never been interested in hearing that intel and Roche had never even thought to gather it.

Swallowing down the turmoil of emotions that thought caused, Roche looked at Iorveth and forced himself to see. To see beyond the enemy commander and the wily opponent and the talented warrior, down to the elf underneath all of that. To Roche, that Iorveth was an elf had never really mattered. Well, obviously it did, because those were Roche’s orders, but he’d just… never really thought about it. Iorveth was a terrorist, a criminal. Who cared that he was an elf?

Except… except Iorveth was a terrorist because he was an elf, wasn’t he? Because he wanted freedom and equality for his people. His elven people.

Weird how Roche had never thought about that before. It made him feel… something. Something uncomfortable and sour and a little too close to guilt for comfort.

“You’re right,” Adda said, and the whole room stared at her. She simply bowed her head to Iorveth. “I apologize for minimizing your fight. While I don’t personally agree with your tactics, I can understand what might lead you to taking such actions. That does not make them forgivable,” she was quick to say as Duke Hereward jumped to his feet, “but you are right to remind us that there are real people behind these issues, real lives affected by what we decide.”

Iorveth looked gobsmacked, but then, so did most of the room. Adda was certainly different to what they were all used to with Foltest.

The elf still didn’t join them at the table, but he did reluctantly ghost slightly closer, leaning against the wall behind Roche, which Roche was weirdly okay with, considering Iorveth could conceivably knife him in the back at any time.

But why would he? At the moment, Iorveth needed him, needed his acceptance to keep from getting slaughtered. Of everyone in this room, Roche would bet that only Anais and Boussy were unarmed. Iorveth wasn’t stupid enough to start a fight he couldn’t win, and seven against one, even this one, was a fight he could not win.

“Your highness,” Hereward said, shifting uncomfortably. “You almost sound as if you support the nonhumans.”

“That would be because I do, Duke Hereward,” Adda’s voice was firm and spoke of absolute faith in her words. “I believe that Temeria should be an equal Temeria for all Temerians, regardless of species. That is the Temeria I stand for.”

Roche tried not to gape. It probably should not have been as much of a shock as it was to hear Adda’s words. In retrospect, she’d always been very insistent that Melitele looked after all people, no matter what their ears looked like or how tall they were.

“That’s absurd,” Louisa scowled. “Temeria is a human land. If nonhumans want their own land, let them go somewhere else.”

“You are sitting on top of the ruins of the city I was born in, dh’oine. This was my land long before it belonged to you.”

Louisa and Ari bristled, and Roche could see Natalis frowning in thought even as Hereward closed himself off entirely, clearly uninterested in anything the elf had to say. Keira looked phenomenally unimpressed, and Triss mostly just looked concerned, but he kept his focus on Louisa. If any of them might try to stick a blade through Iorveth’s throat, it was her.

Without really thinking it through, he held his hands up placatingly, “there’s no need for this to get heated–”

“Heated!?” Louisa snarled. “What happened to the Blue Stripes commander who defended Temeria against the nonhuman threat? You stand there and let him tell lies, you bring him here and vouch for him – what has he promised you?”

Roche frowned. “My loyalty is to Temeria, and it isn’t for sale,” he said firmly. “This is a meeting to determine our next steps, as people who are all considered traitors to Foltest now.” And oh, that hurt something deep in his chest, made it ache with the memory of everything Foltest was to him. Had been. Now? Now, Foltest was clearly mad, and Roche had to think of what was best for Temeria. “We’re talking about standing against the King and all his armies. If you believe we few have the capability to stand up to those forces, then you’re deluded. Even the men in your own service aren’t enough, Lady La Valette, and to send them into battle without support would mean a slaughter. Hundreds of Temerians dead, for no other reason than because you could not sit and discuss what might be possible if we worked together. Is that really something you want on your conscience?”

Natalis cleared his throat authoritatively, “what is it you’re proposing, Commander Roche?”

“I’m not proposing anything. I’m saying that the leader of the Scoia’tael is literally here, in this room. And all he’s asking is equality for his people. That sounds like the beginning of a negotiation to me.”

Hereward scoffed, wrinkling his nose. “Negotiate with elves? When have you ever known an elf to keep their word!?”

“Have you ever known a human to keep theirs!?” Iorveth growled, low in his throat, and the sound reverberated around the room, setting more than a few people on edge.

Roche had to try hard not to smirk. These people didn’t understand Iorveth in the slightest. Maybe some elves were liars and oathbreakers. Hell, plenty of humans were liars and oathbreakers too. But Iorveth? Iorveth had his own sense of honor. It was warped by his morality, of course, but it was there. Why else would Iorveth save him in exchange for warning the Scoia’tael of the coming fire? Why else would Iorveth send his men out to look for Fenn?

“Enough,” Adda said, quiet voice somehow cutting through all protests.

The end result of this is gonna be 3 factions warring for control of Temeria.

The Loyalists

Foltest and his cronies, including a mage. They say a king can do whatever he damn well pleases and that’s the way it should be. Foltest fully intends to keep his position as king.

The Pragmatists

Louisa La Valette, John Natalis, Keira, and the others that stand with them that say kings shouldn’t be able to abuse their powers that way. They want Foltest to step down and his children to take the throne.

The United Temerians

Roche, Iorveth, Adda, Triss, and others who stand with nonhumans. They say that while Temeria is undergoing this change, why not include nonhuman rights as part of it. They want Foltest’s ‘niece’ to take the throne.

Of course, before this can happen, there’s all the build up with the forest fire which I still gotta write. But eventually, some of this ‘verse will actually be published and I am excited for that.

#rorveth #iorveth x roche #politics #a single spark #fic planning #my fics #adda the white #triss merigold #keira metz #louisa la valette #john natalis #king foltest #the witcher

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