#looking again. yeah. that might be cur.

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 26: sometimes i get so tired, i don't even know myself

Working to Exhaustion

2330 Words; Ouroboros AU

TW for violence, bloodsport, exploitation, murder, death

AO3 ver

“Next one’s heavy.”

Dion grunted as another box was dropped into his arms. “They’re all heavy.” He muttered, carrying it over to the shelf. But he didn’t have to carry it far, and it wasn’t that heavy. It was kind of big, though, high enough to press against Dion’s mask.

The other guy on unloading duty—Hunter? It was hard to tell, when they were all wearing the same plain white masks—whistled. “I swear, it’s like you never stop.” He commented, as Dion shoved the box into place. “The fuck did they feed you in your old life?”

“...food?” Dion pulled out his boxcutter to cut the box open.

Hunter chuckled. “A kid your age does not just handle heavy boxes like that.” He insisted.

Most people Dion’s age also didn’t have a body count, but that was besides the point. Dion rolled his eyes behind his mask.

There was always something to do in Ouroboros. And if Dion wanted to live, then he needed to be doing something. And he needed to live, no matter what—if Dion didn’t survive, then Mirtala would be the only Aquato in Ouroboros. And he couldn’t—he wouldn’t let her be left alone here. Not if he could help it.

(Mirtala didn’t deserve to be here at all, but there was nothing Dion could do on that front. His powerlessness would drive him crazy if he wasn’t able to at least provide for her.)

“Right, this one’s gotta be at least a little heavy to you.” Hunter grunted, slowly sliding the next box off the stack to pass to Dion.

Dion took the box, wincing slightly. Yeah, this one was kind of heavy—he wouldn’t want to carry that many boxes like it. But Dion knew how to handle heavy things. It was part and parcel of growing up in the circus, after all, from equipment to the other members of his family. Frazie was at least as heavy as this box, probably. Dion hadn’t had the chance to lift her in a while. Maybe she had gotten heavier, gotten the kind of muscle to make girls swoon over her.

(Dion swallowed that thought down. With any luck, he might never see Frazie again—which was for the better, because the day any more of his family ended up in Ouroboros was a day that Dion never wanted to see.)

Dion shoved the box into place on the shelf, pausing for a moment once it was in place. Still, it wasn’t that heavy.

(Queepie might have handled the weight better than Dion—

Dion shoved that thought away immediately. Queepie would be turning four soon; he should be nowhere near Ouroboros, ever. None of his family should, really—none of them but Dion.)

“Heavy, right?” Hunter prompted, already holding the next box.

Dion grunted, pulling his boxcutter out once again. So what if it was? He could handle it. He had to handle it.

Hunter shook his head. “Kids.” He grumbled. “You’re going to run smack into a wall with that kind of attitude.”

Whatever. Dion would be fine.

He had to be—there was no other way. If he slowed down for even a moment, if he let weakness show—

Dion took the next box. He’d survive.

No matter what.

+=+=+=+=+

Mirtala came back that night with a fresh bruise on her arm, her hair still damp from her shower.

“Tala—” Dion started. Stopped, his words catching on the knot of feelings in his throat. He reached out. Stopped.

Mirtala stared at him with tired eyes. She sat down on her bedroll, not saying a thing.

Dion looked away. What was he supposed to say? He didn’t want to encourage this. He never wanted Mirtala anywhere near the arena—she only just turned six. It was Dion’s job, his responsibility to take care of her—and every time she stepped into that arena, he failed.

What was he supposed to say? He didn’t know. He didn’t know.

(An apology might be a good start.

But Dion had always been a coward when it came to apologies.)

Dion’s jaw worked, his shoulders tensing. He should say something—

Too late. Mirtala laid down on her own cot, facing away from him. She huffed, curling up without a word.

I’m sorry. Dion wanted to say it. He needed to say it.

I’m sorry. The words got stuck in his throat.

Dion clenched his hands into fists, his eyes darting away from where Mirtala was lying—

Wait. “Um.” He managed, the sound of his voice surprising even himself. “Do you… do you want your unicorn?” Mirtala usually always grabbed it, when the light in their room started to fade. Dion couldn’t fathom why it was on his cot.

Mirtala rolled over, squinting at Dion. “Her name is Francis III.” She muttered.

“Oh.” Shit, when did Mirtala name it? How long ago? Wow, Dion felt like an idiot. His face was already heating up. “Well, do you want Francis III?” He really needed to apologize.

“No.” Mirtala said. She blinked, and yawned. “But you do.” And with that, she rolled back over, pulling the blanket tight around herself.

Dion swallowed. He grabbed Francis III, running his thumb over the felt strips making up the mane. One of the Wolves had gifted it to Mirtala when they had first gotten here—Dion looked over at his baby sister, who was the nicest person he’d ever known, and he could guess why. Even if she wasn’t his responsibility, he still wanted her to get the best that she could. Mirtala was just easy to spoil like that.

And yet he still couldn’t find the words to talk to her…

Dion looked Francis III in her beady little button eyes. He wanted to put the plush into Mirtala’s arms, adjust the blanket around her like he was tucking her in—anything to prove that he wasn’t an awful brother.

But he just sat there instead, choking on the knot in his throat.

Like a coward.

+=+=+=+=+

Dion looked up at the sound of footsteps, the mop coming to a stop.

He immediately looked back down, moving the mop again the moment he saw who was waling across the tiled floor. Oh, god, was this the end? Was he somehow mopping wrong? Or was it just fun to torment him?

Creed came to a stop not far from Dion, hands folded behind his back.

Dion continued mopping. If Creed wanted him to stop, he’d say so. Probably.

“Boy.” Creed started. Dion gripped the handle of the mop harder. “Look at me.”

Dion lifted his eyes to meet Creed’s dark brown. He paused in his mopping—he needed to rewet the mop in the bucket again, anyway—and waited to see what Creed would do.

Creed’s eyes flicked over Dion. He immediately felt like an ant confronting a boot—certain doom was all that awaited him, now.

“You’ve got a fight tonight.” Creed commented airily. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of time to… recuperate.”

It had been a while since Dion had had a fight—he hadn’t been scheduled for the last two Death Pits. And he wasn’t allowed back into the regular fights—though Dion really didn’t want to think about that.

“Okay.” Dion said, hating the way it sounded so small in the empty air. “I’ll be ready.”

(He wouldn’t, not really—he never was.

But Dion didn’t survive by waiting until he was ready—he couldn’t. Either he got his head above water, or he drowned—and Dion refused to drown. He’d survive however he needed to.)

“Good boy.” Creed nodded. He turned around and began to walk away—

“Oh,” Creed paused, “And this next fight?”

Dion looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“Win it.” Creed growled. “Your opponent isn’t meant to make it out of that arena alive, you got it?”

Winning was what Dion normally did, though? Dion stared at Creed a moment longer, then nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He confirmed, still unsure why Creed felt the need to tell him this.

“Good.” And with that, Creed left.

Doubts and uncertainties floated around in Dion’s head. He was finally going back in the ring, and the notion terrified and excited him in equal measure. He could finally get ahead just a little bit more—but he’d have to kill someone to do so.

(Well, it wasn’t like Dion’s hands weren’t already covered in blood.

He would survive. He had to.)

Dion sighed.

Back to work.

+=+=+=+=+

Dion waited for the gate to rise. The bars of the gate casted shadows across him, the audience already a loud din outside. It sounded bigger than usual, too, which grated on Dion’s nerves. He watched as another gate opened and his opponent-to-be was forced into the arena, stumbling across the sand. His own gate hadn’t opened, yet—god, Dion hoped it wasn’t broken.

The announcer was saying something, now, trying to get the audience to chant—

“DEATH! BY! LION!”

Dion went rigid. Suddenly, the earlier interaction with Creed made a lot more sense.

But… why him? Surely Creed had more popular fighters, more capable fighters—

The gate began to rise. No more time to doubt. Dion walked out into the arena, out into the lights hanging down, the cage bars casting shadows across him—

The audience ROARED.

“AND THE LION MAKES HIS RETURN!” The announcer cheered. “Let’s see some BLOOD!”

Dion’s opponent stood, staring at him through their orange and blue Ox mask. They snorted.

“This is it?” They asked. “This is the big bad Lion?” Derision colored their voice. Dion’s face flushed behind his mask, his hands squeezing into fists. “You’re just some kid!”

“And you’re dead meat.” Dion snarled. It was him or them, and Dion had no intention of losing.

The Ox broke out into a charge, raising their hand. Metal glinted in the light, and they swung down—

Dion ducked out of the way, rolling to the side and using his hands to spring up onto a hanging cord. The “Jungle Arena” was full of hanging cords and bars, like some twisted trapeze, and Dion was quick to fling himself up out of the Ox’ reach.

You’d think I was the Leopard, with the way I’m climbing around. Dion thought to himself, coming to a stop halfway up the rope. He looked down at the Ox, considering what to do.

Him or them. Dion would survive, no matter what.

He was supposed to make a show of it, too.

The Ox bellowed, grabbing the rope Dion was on. They yanked—

And Dion twisted over to the next rope with practiced ease. He didn’t want to have a favorite arena—he didn’t want to be in the arenas at all, really—but if he had to choose, it was probably this one. So many things to climb, so many ways to fling himself around!

(The arena that Mirtala made her official debut was similar, but Dion didn’t want to think about Mirtala in any arena.)

The Ox couldn’t climb as well as Dion could—if they could at all, seeing as they weren’t even trying—so Dion couldn’t lead them on a merry chase through the ropes and bars. So much for that idea.

Still, how to make this look good?

The audience was chanting, jeering, roaring for blood and violence and death. It was either Dion or the Ox—and Dion intended to win.

“That might work…” Dion muttered, flipping over backwards onto one of the hanging bars. He lifted himself up so that he was doing a handstand on it, allowing his legs to hook onto another bar higher up. He let go of the bar and looked down on the Ox.

“Are you even trying?” He jeered, “Surely you can take out ‘some kid’!” He flipped over to a knotted rope, then flung himself with a forwards flip onto a sideways one. The tightropes back home were way narrower than this. Confidence filled Dion as he paced along it, the Ox yelling below him.

“Get down here!” They shouted. “You little shit!”

Dion laughed. The sound shocked him, escaping his throat before he even recognized what it was.

What was he doing? This was a life-or-death situation! The cage bars cast shadows across the arena. The audience was cheering, jeering, roaring. Dion’s mask pressed against his face.

Fuck this. Fuck putting on a show. Dion wasn’t here to entertain, for all that Creed wanted him to. He was in here to survive, dammit!

With a cry, Dion flung himself down. He rolled as he fell, kicking out as he landed to hit the Ox square in the back. The impact flung him away, and he rolled with the impact, springing up off the floor at the soonest opportunity.

The Ox whirled around to face him, snarling through their mask. Dion darted to the side, cartwheeling up onto one of the ropes. They charged, and instead of climbing up Dion flung himself onto their shoulders when they passed, locking his ankles together in front of their face.

The Ox reached up, trying to pull Dion off—

Dion squeezed his thighs together. The Ox’ hands scrambled against Dion’s legs, prying uselessly at his boots—

Crack!

Dion jumped away as the body fell, flipping over backwards. That probably looked cool, right?

The audience was cheering. The chant from earlier returned, harsh against Dion’s ears.

“DEATH! BY! LION! DEATH! BY! LION!”

Across the arena, the gate rose. Dion stared up at the audience for only a moment longer before darting back to the tunnel.

His hands were shaking. He needed to get his mask off right now. He needed a shower, he needed a drink, he needed to lie down and stare at the wall until he felt human again—

Dion stumbled, leaning against the tunnel wall. He'd just killed someone.

But he had survived. It was him or the Ox, and he had won.

Dion stared at his hands. He had survived. Grim satisfaction knotted in his throat, and he struggled to breathe around it.

Dion had survived.

He was more willing to pay the cost than he wanted.

#whumptober2023 #no.26 #working to exhaustion #psychonauts #zaz writes #violence tw #exploitation tw #bloodsport tw #murder tw #death tw #ouroboros au #dion aquato #mirtala aquato #creed of ouroboros #this one is. hm #work wasn't even that rough today but somehow i still came home exhausted 😭 #next time i write for this au i'm gonna have to start advancing the plot i think #i would have in this piece but i couldn't find a way to make the prompt work for it #so we just get dion feeling shitty and once again winning in the death pit

[hebewebe]

I’ve Told the Stars About you

The sun was setting into a perfect orange-pink mixed with the purple sky as the clouds slowly faded away and stars slowly made their way into a place in the sky. "Hey, hey, it'll be okay it's alright I'm here.. I'm actually here with you so no need to be crying alright?" He lifted your head and wiped your tears away with his thumb and stared into your e/c orbs as your fat tears slowly turned into small droplets that now and then would fall as you collected yourself, you nodded in compliance as you sat up and blew your nose with a handkerchief that was attached to your off-white button-up blouse. "I.. I'm sorry, that was pretty stupid and informal of me for wasting our time together by crying." You apologized, "No, no it's not cause that's just one of many things I wanted to do!" The blond exclaimed "You uh.. Wanted to be the reason I'm crying?" you questioned, it wasn't until you said what you said that he realized how wrong he sounded. "Oh no! Of course not, I hate seeing you cry! I just always wanted to be there to wipe your tears and hold you close while you cried and let out all those emotions you keep bottling up.." He spoke low in fear of making you cry again. "Uhm.. Y/n?" he asked, staring into your eyes as a small blush started to appear on his pale cheeks, "Yes Armin?" "Since I might not have much time left here.. May I ask for a dance?" "Why of course Armin.." you smiled warm like, and at that moment when he held you by the waist and waltzed around the open field of flowers and grass swaying in the moonlight sky, you felt whole like there wasn't a part of you missing it was like that feeling of putting together the last puzzle piece to a one-thousand piece puzzle. The sound of His heartbeat and his breaths evened out yours as you both just stared into each other's eyes as the sound of a stream sounded to be not so far off in the distance. "Y/n.. I love you.." he said softly into your ear "I love you too Armin.." you said softly back to him, "I think it's time for me to go." the blond said with sad eyes. "Just a bit longer, please?.." You looked up to meet his eyes only to see him slowly backing away, you sighed already knowing that this moment would have to come sooner or later. The tears that he once wiped away were forming in your eyes. "Will I at least see you again?" you said to him as the tears were steadily falling from your face and onto the corduroy pants you were wearing. Armin sighed to himself not being too sure for that answer, "I hope I do, I really love your company." he smiled at you with his own tears forming in his eyes, you ran over to him before it was too late and gave him one last hug, this time though you thoroughly took in all of his features like for instance the way he sometimes had to shake his head because of his blond hair that kept getting in front of his face, or the way he was a bit clumsy when dancing, the way he always smelled like rain with a hint of ash and smoke. It was a nice smell, a peaceful one at that, a smell you could easily get addicted to. Or how bright his eyes would get when he started rambling about what he thinks the beach would be like, or how instead of lighting up his blue eyes would sparkle like diamonds or ocean water when hitting the sun for the first time of the day. Armin pressed small kisses from your forehead all the way to your jawline signaling that it was time to let go. "Hey, Armin?.." "Yeah y/n?" you smiled a sad smile at that as fat tears strolled down your face "I've told the stars about you." the blond smiled at you as he faded away.Small droplets of water fell from the sky as you watched the blond-haired boy disappear into nothing more than mere fog in the drizzling rain, you sighed and glanced back towards the forest where you came from which led to the academy you were currently enrolled at, silently you made your way back to the academy's dormitory and unlocked the window with a spare bobby pin you had hidden in your trench coat pocket. It was currently pouring down raining and you were trying to silently get changed in the dark without waking your roommate up, once you were out of your uncomfortably wet clothes it didn't take you long to put on some comfortable pajamas, turning towards your nightstand you looked at the cold unlit candle and shivered under your blankets. "Jesus fucking christ it's freezing in here, how the hell can she sleep like this..." you mumbled glancing at your currently sleeping roommate Amber. With a sigh, you looked for the lighter they left in every dorm room and lit up the candle as it slowly flickered and warmed up your share of the room, with the light shining against the window you stared aimlessly out the window watching the once drizzle form into a heavy shower of rain. "Was I dreaming? Am I crazy? What even happened?" thoughts spiraled out of control in your mind while you tried to wrap your head around what just happened nearly an hour ago, Did he travel dimensions? Were you just imagining things? You may never know. "That's it. Tomorrow after classes I'm going to the library to find out what happened." you declared silently to yourself as you drifted off into slumber. The sound of your roommate rummaging around the dorm caused you to wake up, "Amber?..." you questioned sleep still being heavy in your brain, "Y/n! Guess what!?" she questioned enthusiastically, you hummed being curious as to what it was this time she was going to be blabbering on about. "So not only are we getting new students today! But somebody left this really weird note on your nightstand, and I know it's rude to prod in but I was oh so curious as to what it could be!" she exclaimed with excitement in her cheery sing-song-like voice. "Let me see it.." you mumbled sitting up and wiping the sleep away from your eyes, "it's from someone named Ar- Aar... Uh, Armeen?" she tried to pronounciate his name but failed miserably, though it made you wonder for a moment how she couldn't pronounce it, it was so simple! Ar-min that easy! But that didn't matter at the moment, "Let me see the note." you asked again only this time with a hint of venom that Amber missed read for a morning attitude, "No need to get all grumpy on me, but here the note someone left for you." she said wiggling her dark golden eyebrows with a sly smirk plastered on her thin lips. Scanning over the thick piece of cardstock only to be let down by the note being from a first-year student's love letter, you ripped the confession letter to pieces and trashed it while taking out your necessary items for a shower. "Y/n hurry it up I don't wanna go into world history alone!" Amber called outside of your shared bathroom, "Yeah, yeah I'm almost done!" you called back out turning off the steaming water and quickly drying off, not wanting to face your teacher if you were late. Swiftly you changed and rushed out of the dormitory building and towards the academy, "Hurry!!!!!!!! We can't afford to be late!" Amber squealed running close after you, sweat started to form on your forehead by the time you both had arrived outside the long dark oak double doors, "I... I'm here!" you almost yelled in an out-of-breath tone, panting and wiping the sweat from your forehead with your signature handkerchief, "About time you finally got here now let's go!" the two of you rushed inside and hurried into your seat before your teacher could arrive, seconds seemed like hours in the classroom as your teacher Mrs.Johnson just went on and on and on about the different wars, it went from the civil war, world wars, and then wars out of the country. As boredom made its way into your brain you glanced out the window to see a small figure with blond hair waving up towards the window your classroom was at, without hesitation you quickly raised your hand, and your teacher Mrs.Johnson called on you "Yes dear?" it was something she called everybody even though it made you a tad uncomfortable. "May I use the restroom?" you asked politely making sure you used the word "May" and not "Can" so you wouldn't fall for any of her stupid shenanigans, she smiled warmly at you before taking the hall pass and opening the door, "You may." she said as you made your way threw the rows of students sitting in their wooden chairs that connected to their wooden desks. Taking the hall pass you quickly closed the door and ran down different halls and different flights of stairs taking the short route that led outside to the open field in the back of the school where you saw what you hoped to whoever and whatever was up there, Armin. The sound of your Vince Camuto Kalb oxfords against the polished staircase echoed through the stairwell as you pushed the heavy wooden door open, you were greeted by the person who you hoped it was, Armin Arlert. He held out his hand gesturing for you to take it, with cautious you took his hand, and almost immediately you both ran through the open field and through the forest that surrounded the academy, you both went from a sprint, jog, to a peaceful walk with him spinning you around every now and then. "How are you here?" you broke the silence and to which he stared at you, ocean blue orbs staring into your e/c ones. "Darling please don't ask questions even I do not know the answer to." he smiled, "Dance with me before I go.." he smiled once again interlocking both hands with yours. It seemed as if time really did fly by, the hours seemed like seconds as you forgot all about your world history class, and soon enough before you knew it it was soon going to be dark. Armin and you sat in comfortable silence just holding the other, "Armin, do you have to leave?" you questioned looking at him as guilt and sadness rested on his face, "I'm afraid so." he said it was so quiet it was almost a whisper. He started fading again as tears ran down both of your cheeks, "Will you ever fall out of love with me?" You asked as tears started flowing like a stream. Armin took a sigh before placing your face in his cold hands, "My darling, you will never be unloved by me. You are too well tangled in my soul." he said sweetly to you before disappearing once again into nothingness. You were slowly awakened by the feeling of someone shaking your shoulder and telling you to wake up, slowly you opened your eyes to reveal a boy with blond hair that reached his shoulder and blue eyes that stared at you with concern as he held out his hand. "Oh I'm sorry for pushing you, I was in a rush!" He apologized looking at you as you got up and brushed off any dust that seemed to be on you. "I'm Armin, Armin Arlert and you are?" he smiled at you, "Y/n, Y/n L/n" you smiled back, "So uh can you help me find world history I can't seem to find it.." he told you looking at the ground in embarrassment. "Yeah it's this way, follow me." you smiled as the two of you walked off to find your world history teacher. Oh if only you knew what he sacrificed to be with you, but you'll find out when you watch the new episode of "Attack On Titan", you'll get to see that he sacrificed his humanity in his world just to be with you. He abandoned his friends and the girl who had a crush on him, Annie just to be with you.

#armin arlert #armin snk #snk armin #armin attack on titan #armin aot #armin #armin arlet x you #armin arlert x reader #armin arlert x y/n #armin x black reader #armin x annie #armin arlet imagines #armin arlert headcanons #eren mikasa armin #eren yaegar #mikasa #fluff #armin fluff #angst #armin angst #snk x you #snk angst #snk fluff #aot x reader #aot x you #aot #HebePosts

[frost-queen]

The little things (Fem!Reader x Harriet)

Requested by: anon  Forever tag: @missmelodramatic​, @theletterhart​, @alex--awesome--22​, @elllie-does-the-posts​, @floatlosers​, @merlieve​, @queen-of-books​, @glimmering-darling-dolly​, @denkisclown​, @wildieflower​, @meyocoko​, @bubblybrianna​, @justanothercoco​ @idkwhatmyusernam,  @subjecta13-thefangirl,  @m-rae23​, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr​  

You touched your cheek feeling the sting of pain. – “Shit!” – you called out. Spitting some blood on the ground. Sonya walked over to you, moving her gun to her back. Her face contracted with sympathetic pain. – “That is for sure going to hurt.” – she said. – “Why did that idiot had to use his gun as a puncher!” – you exclaimed, looking down at the man. – “Well at least have some comfort that he is dead.” – Sonya answered setting her foot on his thigh. 

“Yeah, thanks for that.” – you breathed out. – “No worries. Harriet would have my head if something would’ve happened to you.” – she replied patting your shoulder. You laughed quietly putting your own gun away. Sonya moved her arm around you, walking you back to the vehicle. – “I think Harriet will have my head after seeing this.” – you pointed at the wound on your cheekbone. 

Sonya shrugging her shoulder. – “Maybe today is a good day to die?” – she laughed getting behind the wheel. You hopped in the seat beside her. Dust flying up from underneath the tires. You kept touching the wound, flinching at the pain. Sonya sighed. – “Will you stop touching it, you probably make it worse with your dirty hands.”

“I don’t have…” – you started looking down at your hands. Grinning sheepishly, you tugged them between your legs under Sonya’s ‘told you so’ glance. Sonya drove the truck back to camp. It didn’t take long before Harriet approach the truck. Stopping in shock at the aftermath on your face. You smiled, the only thing missing was you say ‘tadaa’. – “What the hell happened!” – Harriet looked to Sonya, angered. 

Sonya shut the door of the truck hard. – “Some idiot bullet’s ran out so he decided to knock Y/n with his gun.” – Sonya told her. Harriet gaped at you seeing you pull your shoulders up. – “Don’t worry he didn’t lived very long after.” – Sonya said having approached Harriet. Leaving her hand on her shoulder. Sonya looked over her shoulder to you before heading off. You came closer to Harriet, swallowing nervously. – “Sorry…” – you said, eyes down. 

Harriet exhaled relieved, wrapping her arms around you. – “I’m just glad you are alive.” – she spoke hugging you tighter. You hugged her back, needing her comfort. – “Come.” – Harriet said, taking your hand. You followed her through the camp.

She seated you down near a bin that contained burning wood for heat. – “I’ll be right back.” – she said leaning down to kiss your forehead. You nodded watching her head into a tent. A moment later she returned with aiding supplies. Presenting them flirtatious to you. You dramatically waved yourself some cool. – “Oh I am so getting spoiled now.” – you teased when Harriet came sitting down in front of you. 

“Give me one more heart attack and I won’t be so spoiling anymore.” – she commented sarcastically. – “Then I’ll just have to do it for you.” – you answered with a wink. Harriet rolled her eyes at you. – “This might sting Y/n.” – she let you know, putting some liquid on a tissue. She touched your chin to keep your head in place. You flinched making Harriet lower her hand bothered. – “I haven’t even touched you yet.” – she said. 

“I know, I was just preparing.” – you answered. Harriet grabbed your chin firmly wanting to make sure you wouldn’t pull back again. The tissue touched your wound as you bit on your lip, fighting the urge to curs you heart out. – “Told you it would sting.”

“Fffff fuck!” – you blurted, needing to shout something for the pain. Harriet chuckled dapping your wound more. – “You are enjoying this aren’t you?” – you spoke seeing her smile. – “Not at all…” – she answered pressing the tissue deeper onto your wound, making you cringe in pain. – “Okay maybe a little.” – she confessed teasingly with a chuckle. You crossed your arms, finding it anything but funny. 

“Oh come on Y/n. I am just playing around.” – she said lowering her hand. She reached down for a bandage. Before she stuck the bandage on your cheek, she kissed you by surprise. You smiled, kissing her back. Harriet grabbed for your shoulder, taking it. You gulped, pulling away at something sticking on your arm. You looked at your shoulder, seeing the bandage stick half on your skin. 

Harriet laughed loud apologizing. She took a new bandage sticking it over your wound. – “Now you may once more.” – you told her, gesturing for her to kiss you again. – “Yes please.” – Harriet answered kissing you. Her fingers running through your hair.

Later that night you laid on Harriet’s stomach watching the stary sky. Harriet moving her fingers through your hair. Her other hand on yours that laid on your chest. – “Does it still hurt?” – she asked. You shook your head. Harriet’s fingers going through your hair was so soothing it made you sleepy. – “Harriet.” – you said hearing her hum loud in response. – “I love you.” – you needed to say out loud before you’d fall asleep. – “I love you too Y/n. My survivor girl.” – you laughed at the nickname. 

Harriet’s upper body shuddering with laughter as well. You removed your head from her stomach so that she could lay next to you. You snugged up to her, taking a deep breath. Her arms protective over you. – “I’ll always protect you, Y/n.” – she’d whisper. You drifted away, falling asleep from a long day. Harriet kissed your forehead. Enclosing you tighter in her embrace.  

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Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!  

#imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #Fic #the maze runner #the maze runner fandom #the maze runner fanfic #the scorch trials #harriet x you #harriet #harriet x fem!reader #harriet x y/n #harriet x reader #harriet fanfic #harriet fic #harriet fanfiction #the maze runner fic #the maze runner fanfiction #sonya #sonya & harriet #the scorch trials fic #the scorch trials fanfiction #imagine harriet #fem!reader #reader x harriet #the maze #wckd #the right hand #fluff fic

[talenlee]

MTG: TransMoremers, Part 3

That’s right, there’s a part three to this three parter!

Megatron presents some captivating stuff here. Particularly, he’s just a really high power creature — 7 power is one of the cutoff points for a commander clock. If Megatron deals combat damage to a player three times in this form, that player is out. You could build a version of this deck that wants to use, say, Aurelia, The Warleader and something for double strike to just delete opponents.

I wouldn’t, mind you: I think if you’re going to do that kind of thing in commander, you need to be able to do it repeatedly, and quickly, because otherwise you’re just telling one player they need to sit the game out. When you’re talking about an artifact creature, there are a lot of ways to blow him up.

What I like about Megatron is his means to turn a lot of leeching, or bleeding effects or just evasive creatures into a giant pile of mana. But that unbound mana production doesn’t just want to be poured into X-mana spells like Walking Ballista — because his back end cares about being able to cast spells with big mana costs to kill creatures and do excess damage to opponents.

I really like this because it creates a puzzle. You need artifacts you don’t mind sacrificing, you need them to have big mana values, but you don’t want to have them stranded in your hand. That means you need artifacts that you can cast for potentially big amounts but also don’t want them stranded in your hand waiting on other things, like say, Myr Enforcer. This is a pretty perfect space for the Prototype effect, where you can cast cards for cheap early on, but later on when you have large chunks of colourless mana available from Megatron, you can drop the bigger, more expensive versions. Prototype also pulls me towards playing with flicker and resurrection.

What I’d Look For: Artifact creatures with good mana values and price discounts, ways to recur or flicker creatures.

Examples: Autonomous Assembler, Phyrexian Fleshgorger, and weirdly, Far Traveler, Promise of Tomorrow and Teleportation Circle.

We have this already! Hey! Hey hang on a minute, we already have this! It’s Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit! What makes this better?

Oh it’s a five mana 6/8? Okay yeah that’s… probably a lot. And if it’s all you have to cast, it’s a 5 mana 8/10?! what the living hell? That’s incredible. And it self-recurs?!

Alright, Optimus Prime is a house, like an absurd beast of a card. I think this might be the most prepostrously big commander card I’ve ever seen and it has no green on it anywhere. When you look at Jeskai commanders, you normally are looking for tricky or evasive things, you’re not looking for things that can kill a player on their own like this. And I’m not kidding: Optimus on his own serves for 8, then 7, then 8 again – three attacks and he gets worse. He’s so tough too. Killing him resets the count, it doesn’t even get rid of him.

Optimus is huge.

I don’t feel like making him into a two-hit machine (like, say, giving him Double Strike) is a wise move. He’s so tough that if you put him alongside smaller creatures he’ll make your wider options better. Plus in those colours, there are cards that can spend counters, too. He can team up with Arcee and put counters on her, Arcbound Reclaimer can recur other robots, Etched Oracle and Mindless Automaton can draw cards. There’s also the Abzan counter boosters and Simic counter checkers, like Sapphire Drake and Abzan Falconer.

What I’d Look For: Combat! Stuff in these colours that wants to get on the board and attack. Counterspells and protection spells that just keep your things around and stop combo wins.

Examples: I uh already gave a bunch, but I particularly like Ingenious Prodigy and Twilight Drover.

Ultra Magnus has always been troubled as being the Bigger Dork in any given Transformers Story. Even in Animated, which addressed his character as an old, mentorly figure from a power structure that doesn’t have the flexibility to adapt to the current situation with the Decepticons, he was still always a narc’s narc. This version, depicted here from the G1 version of him, is, in my mind, voiced by Robert Stack, and has just such a Second In Command energy. It’s even a line in the movie – I’m not a leader, I’m a soldier.

Alright, then, that’s how Magnus doesn’t project a powerful personality. What’s his card do? Well heckadilly, he’s a 4/7 haste indestructible for 5.

That’s… that’s really good right?

Like just a 4/7 haste indestructible would be enough on his own. And he makes all your other creatures indestructible as well. And yeah, then there’s the other side of him, which lets you cheat creatures onto the battlefield, tapped and attacking, but then you don’t get the indestructible. Phew hard to say.

The indestructible and formidable combo makes me imagine wanting to attack with a bunch of small creatures – only three more power to keep Magnus from flipping – which also makes me think of deathtouchers, witherers, or infecters. Things that blocking them does cause a problem, but you don’t want to just let them serve forever.

A really twisted thought is to diminish Magnus’ power so that he can serve keeping more things safe, but that’s really silly. You can stack it though – so a card like Coastline marauders can attack, show Magnus a 0 power, then once his ability resolves, resolve its ability granting a giant amount of power. Or oh hell, you could run it along cards like Rasaad Yn Bashir, just smash people with toughness! That’s really cool!

Hm.

Lots of options here.

Still, Magnus is a green red white commander, and I personally think that that makes him a perfect place to play with big value. I mean all those greatest hit cards that are ‘just sweet,’ where Magnus can cheat them into play, or protect them in a big sweeping attack. I think my impulse here is fair Naya, head up by this sad soldier.

What I’d Look For: Two colour cards in this colour wedge that both enable building up mana and late-game high value plays. Ironically, there’s probably use for Prototype here too, since Magnus lets you cheat in big expensive cards.

Examples: Blight Mamba, Greater Tanuki, Shefet Monitor, Kogla and Yidaro

There! That’s all of the Transformers cards considered, and what I think I’ll do with them when I get started making decks about them!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Deck Speculation #Transformers #Games #Magic: The Gathering

[mageofspacemultiverse]

Children of Solstice Ch. 2 - Out Of Mind

Summary: A close encounter spawns endless squabbling between the two outlaws, but Casitt and Hyanna's journey eventually shows them a golden opportunity.

Word Count: 1,611

Hyanna Kekkel belongs to @memurfevur

Casitt Resshi belongs to me! B)

“Aaoow! Hey, easy, easy!!”

         “Oh my Gog, stop whining and hold still already...”

         Casitt stifled another whine as Hyanna examined his leg without much of a delicate touch. The remnants of the smashed drone were disarrayed next to them, clobbered to pieces. Some small bits of shrapnel had embedded in the skin just above his knee, with one noticeable sliver sticking a bit deeper than the rest.

         “Remind me again why I put up with this?” He hissed and growled, staring as blood sputtered around the shard’s edge. “Everything was-“

         “It was your idea! You’re lucky it didn’t turn you into pupa food.” She gestured with a foot to the razed patch of smoking dirt a few feet away where one of the drones blasts had aimed for.

         “You had to cannonball it, Hyanna? You almost hit me!!”

         “I didn’t almost hit you-”

         “Bullshit, I could feel the wind!”

         “-Hmm. If you keep talking I might actually, though.”

         “Look I was handling it, okay? I was learning how it worked, and besides it wasn’t like we could just leave it zoomin’ around, broadcasting where we are to Sightdog or whatever other- hgggh!”

         His air was frizzier than normal with sweat, and as Hyanna flicked at the embedded metal he stiffened his jaw, thumbing the dull points of his pendant to help ignore the feeling. “You didn’ ha- GHHHH, okay, okay, j-just, rip a fuckin’ piece of my pants off first!” When her face flushed, he couldn’t help but groan and rub his forehead even as the pain made his body tremble. “Stop being a weirdo to the injured. A small strip on the leg, just...tear it off slowly, I’ll use it as a bandage.”

         “This is so getting infected, you know that right?”

         “I’ve dealt with worse, but I- egh- can’t walk around getting freak-metal poisoning.”

         It was clear Hyanna was a bit resilient to tending to his wounds, and he bled bright lime as she worked. Barnum and Bailey panted from a near distance, their muzzles slobbering at the bloody mess, but were still a bit unnerved by the drone’s appearance to try offering their medical expertise.

         “I’m mad at you for wasting the soap too, by the way. Hehehe, I wanted to take a bath when we got to the coast.” She teased after pulling one of the smaller pieces out with a pair of rusty tweezers. The supplies they’d gotten from the last villagers they’d stayed with were scarcely enough – old hardened bars of soap with concerning blue spots and a small urn of dried curative herbs. A pacifistic diamond pair had offered sanctuary, though they’d accepted to Hyanna’s chagrin. It was a nice arrangement for a day or so ‘til some royal Indigo-blood had to come rolling in before they could really get settled, trying to hunt some heads; when she lost her head, they had to get going again.

         “I’m sure they’ll have fuckin’ soap wherever we’re going.” Casitt pouted, swathing his knee in the poor excuse for a wrap before standing with some effort. “It’s been four days of nothin’, but we should be there soon, right?”

"Yeah, map says so."

         None of their maps had panned out to much besides getting far enough away from Sightdog. Charity hives were a no-go, as was anything that needed to be bought. They’d been getting by on dine-and-dashes for the most part, alienating the vast majority of trolls they met along the way. It was an odd lifestyle that they somehow managed to make work, even despite their daily disagreement on just how they should be making it work.

         But their marathons and navigating said they should be coming to some sort of coastal port soon. Casitt had never been to any seafaring locale, but if these water-traveling ships were legitimate, maybe they could sail somewhere else, free from that influence. It was a long shot, but at this point so was everything.

         Hyanna helped him to his feet, and he wobbled and nearly buckled but managed to find some balance. “Oh well. One of these days you’ll listen to me. And when that day comes, maybe I’ll trust you to not get yourself killed, how’s that?”

         “Fine...point taken, no more drone duels.”

Even with his wounds, he tried to hobble back to their cart around the back of a grouping of boulders. Hyanna entertained his pride for a moment, but with a huff of frustration Casitt quickly found himself picked up off the ground by the back of his collar. “Hey! What-“

         “That was too painful to watch, I’m sorry.”

         “Fuck your pain, put me down!” He seethed, which only served to make Hyanna chuckle. “I can walk! I’m not your...bag of beans!”

         “Bag of be- I just dressed your wounds, you’re gonna make them worse, idiot.”

         “Shut! Up! Don’t patronize me chuckle nuts!”

         “Your threats are cute, hehehe. What’re you going to do?”

         “I will bite you," Cassit dangled and he flushed with embarrassment. "I will bite. So hard!!”

         “Heh, fine, you want down?”

         “Yes, I- EHAA??”

         His collision into the back of the cart after she hurled him was certainly disorienting. Too bruised and battered from the fight, Casitt just lay there as Hyanna collected the remains of the drone and brought them to their cart, before the party of four continued on the rocky trail.

         =========

         The afternoon...did not get much better.

         “We seriously followed the wrong map? Are you...kidding me?” Casitt rested his elbow against a thick wooden stick now they used to play ‘fetch’ with the twin hounds. The pain had mostly subsided, but the fatigue had killed everything from his tone except for despair. Hyanna was looking at the piece of paper in question, puzzling through images while he sulked by the stony mouth of some sort of cave network.

         Denial dragged into silence as she deciphered and he grimaced, but eventually even Hyanna’s patience broke and she flung the folded map to the ground. “Hell...I mean...no, we got the right one, but we were looking at the wrong half of it. They weren’t kidding when they said it was five-in-one.”

         “This is why I asked to be our guide, you know-“

         “Please!” She snapped, teething pressing against her lower lips. “We were going backwards towards the Carnival again with you leading. I had a panic attack dude?”

         Casitt rubbed the back of his head. “And again, I’m sorry, but I mean-“

         “But nothing. I trust you a lot, but you’re either a liar or an alien, and you’re definitely stupid.”

         “And you’re a shut-in with no life experience, it’s all even.” Casitt reacted unhelpfully. A fire smoked behind Hyanna’s expression, but uncharacteristically he was quick to acquiesce. “But okay...I take it back. I’m sorry.”

         The Carnival...he could see she was trying to not blink back tears, and it tugged at his heart. Sightdog’d had her by the neck when he stormed into that room, covered in purple blood from head to toe. Tried to blackmail him, and Casitt had seen the pain and defeat in her eyes. Years of abuse, years of...nothing but blood on her hands...he was crestfallen now sure, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty about even scaring her slightly at the thought of being back there.

Adjusting his position and crossing his arms, he glanced again to the cave. “So...do you know where we are, though?”

         “Not really. Map says there’s some ghost towns north and southwest of here. Exxogino and Kirithra. Old mining towns.”

         “Sure looks like the hole they crawled out of,” Casitt mumbled to himself, before he caught Hyanna staring for an explanation and he just shrugged. “Sorry, mumbling. So this is some...unmapped giant hole-“

         “I HEAR YE-{! WHOSE OUT THERE TRYNA TAKE A CUT -{?? COME OUT-{!”

         The dogs began to bark, and Hyanna got to her feet as two tall, burly trolls emerged from the darkness like comets in the night sky, both wearing head-lamps and juggling two large backs on both shoulders. The one who spoke, spittle flying onto the rocks he clambered over, was garbed in bright violet overalls adorned with some telltale symbol and enough piercings in his face to make a bracelet out of that took the attention of his garish multicolour mohawk. The other man looked to be olive of some sort, with an extra eye on the side of his neck and a club strapped to his back.

         Casitt, though, was drawn to the sight of something far more intimidating, far more captivating. A glimmer, an opalescent twinkle in the bulging pocket of both of them. Small crystals of cerulean blue embedded into a pocket of grey stone. He didn’t know the exact type, but he’d been ever fascinated by the prospect of holding them in his hands. Gemstones...there were gemstones in this mine?

         “Are you...are you seeing what I’m seeing, H?”

         “...I am, Cass.” He smirked despite himself, knowing the conflict on her face without looking. The two quickly zipped in the direction of the dogs, behind cover of another boulder.

         “And...are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

         “Hmhm...I don't know. Your leg’s still banged up, maybe we can try talking to them? Negotiating? Kind of getting sick of every encounter getting violent.”

         “Aren’t sea-dwellers like...all pompous pricks? Thought that’s what you said? C’mon, we need the money, and they have weapons!” The barking of the dogs and the sounds of some aggravated yells and whines escalated the feeling. “C’mon...Mutt and Other Mutt are gonna need us.”

         “Please, they aren’t touching our boys. Now, just listen to me for once and rest your freakin’ leg! I’ll take care of ‘em-”

         “Nah, not a chance.”

         She sighed. “...Yeah. I know...hehehe, well, don’t be too slow then.”

         Hyanna obligingly grinned, and in sync they raced over the stones towards the continued sounds of panicked shouts. Sure, they hadn’t found any ocean, but there were still thrills to be had. For better or for worse, they’d find a way.

#misery loves company #children of solstice #casittresshi #homestuck rp #homestuck oc #fantroll oc #creative writing stuff #mageofspacemultiverse #casitt

[thelightsabcr]

“Look, I can tell you’re a bit tense about my, er, ‘profession.’ Guessing you haven't met many decent-- Excuse me.” He kicked the bound-up criminal in the side as he was begging through the gag on his mouth. “Shut it! You’re lucky I don't put a round through your head after the things you’ve done, you little cur!” He turned his attention back to Obi-Wan. “Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm guessing that most bounty hunters you’ve met have been rather unfriendly towards Jedi, yeah?”

Obi-Wan couldn't say that he'd met many kind bounty hunters, but then again, perhaps he wasn't the right person to judge. He figured there was always a reason for anyone to be unkind even towards Jedi. It might surprise some, but not all people take kindly to Jedi anyway; a Jedi's presence usually meant something bad had happened or were suspected to happen, and so he could understand their reluctant ways.

He looked at the interaction there unfold, brows slightly furrowed as he resisted the urge to say something about the treatment of the bound-up criminal. "They haven't usually been nice, no, but I assume that lies in their line of work." He crossed his arms, gazing at the other.

He would be a fool to say that he wasn't somewhat tense. Of course, he could sense the others intentions and so far it seemed all good as for what his senses told him, but you never know.. "I sense there is something you want. What is it?"

#ic #ask answered #thank you for asking! #// i hope this works! #on mobile

[brightymir]

𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 [ 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬 ]

cw: brief mention of (titan) blood

word count: 1.2k

characters: veteran trio x gn!reader

❀ levi ackerman

you were busy checking your straps and gear when you heard the rapid sound of horses approaching. you did not bother to look at the incoming people, your brain too busy trying to comprehend the fact that you are on the front lines. most importantly, you are a recruit, a FRESH GRADUATE and the commander positioned you on the front lines.

you were nudged on the sides by a fellow graduate, making you turn to her with an exasparated expression, the anxiety clinging to your bones. she then pointed to the front with her lips, "hey, that's captain levi right?" she wanted to confirm to you.

you glanced at the front and sure enough, you saw the ebony haired midget busy checking his blades. "yeah? what am i supposed to do? clap and give him a grand entrance party?" you replied in harsh, hushed voice. your comrade rolled her eyes and fixed her boot.

you were calling to every god that might be out there when you encountered an abnormal who was keen on getting to you. it seemed like your prayers was answered when you spot a forest within your line of sight. you sped through the clearing and when you steadied yourself on a high branch, you let out a sigh of relief.

you anticipated the abnormal's incoming attack so when it passed by you, you seized the opportunity to slice its nape, making it fall to the ground. you let go of your worries and settled on the branch, taking a moment to catch your breath.

oh if you only knew how wrong of a move that was.

a quiet, abnormal titan was hiding behind the thick tree all this time, and upon seeing you relax, it took the opportunity to hold you in its enormous hands. you felt all air escape your lungs as its fingers digged into your ribs.

and when you thought you'll never taste your mother's meal again and instead become a titan meal, the familiar stench of titan blood and the foreign feeling of falling to the ground. before you could think, your body already reacted as you maneuvered yourself to the trunk of the tree.

on the head of the titan stood a small figure, drenched in blood and looking at you with a gaze you couldn't decipher. before flying off somewhere, captain levi turned to you one more time.

"don't let your guard down idiot. wouldn't want a recruit dying right now"

you guess you do owe him a clap and grand welcome party

❀ erwin smith

the air was stiff and a wave of unease was flying around in the crowd. a person began to turn, walking away from the packed crowd. another followed, then another, and another, until the people who remained can be counted on two hands.

your knees buckled, contemplating your choices. you ranked 4th goddamn it, so why are you going to the scout regiment when you have the option to live safely in the military police brigade.

when you thought about switching in the last minute, you looked up from the ground, just on time to see bright, blue eyes star back at your own eyes. the gaze was firm, but not condescending. the commander's eyes remained on you, and it seemed as if it was asking a question.

"will you turn back to live a life peace? or will you stay and fight for survival?"

at that seemingly loud question, you stood rooted in place and faced ahead with a firm expression plastered on your face, failing to see the small smile on the commander's lips.

let bygones be bygones. your knees no longer buckled amd all sweat that adorned your forehead earlier was no more. there was nothing to lose.

well, your life actually.

but nothing seemed to matter at that moment. because those blue eyes that stared at yours was similar to that of the sky, limitless and endless. going beyond the walls was crazy enough. but it would be crazier if you turned back and denied yourself the opportunity to see more of that sky.

"you are brave souls who dare to wander the world beyond these walls. strong minds whose curiosity can only be quenched by the truth. and honorable people who fight for humanity and its future. i welcome you all to the scout regiment. devote your hearts!"

you finally understood that this is commander erwin smith of the scout regiment. he wields power and uncontrollable desire for truth and freedom.

he understood you as well, in your brief moment of hesitance. you seemed like another body, another life he would willingly give up and add to the mountained pile of former members who ceased to be. as if atop all those countless bodies, was the truth he desires to see.

and as you saluted, your eyes faltered to the determined look on the commander's face. you let out a sigh, of relief or worries, you did not know. but one thing is certain.

you would not regret your decision in joining the regiment.

❀ hange zoë

you stood by on the sides, making sure that the titans were bound tightly and securely to the makeshift chains. you couldn't risk these two abnormals to be set free and wander in wall rose. you sighed to yourself, thinking about possible reasons why the scout regiment would take in these titans, just adding to the workload of the garrison.

though you really had no right to complain because you were just loitering around and guarding the walls while the other was risking their life beyond the walls to search for the truth and freedom. as for the other regiment, they can burn in hell already because all they know is how to kiss the monarchy's ass.

hearing the commotion outside, you surmised that the four-eyed section commander must be here to visit her "babies", whom she named sawney and beane. she was still at the prime of her youth but she seemed to have a few screws lose up there.

she began to approach the titan beside you, putting little to no distance between her and the titan's face. you stepped in and pushed her chest back a bit.

"hey, don't get too close, we don't have tools to restrain its mouth" you scolded and motioned to her assistant, who quickly came to aid and pulled her back. but yours and his strength was not enough to keep the brown haired girl from cradling the titan's face.

oh my god when will your shift end.

and when you sensed movements from behind the titan, you sped through and pushed the woman away before the titan's teeth even had the chance to graze her.

she laughed in delight and hooked an arm around your shoulders, pulling you in close as his assistant tried to pry her off of you.

she is insane.

"hey, that was a close one! i would've lost my head if it weren't for you! thanks a lot, soldier" she said and went back to cradling her titans, checking their pain tolerance and resistance.

you stared at her and antics, surely, she was of sound mind. she's just really amazed by titans and their abilities and qualities, which pushes her to know everything about her.

she is insane. you love your job here in the garrison and you hoped you'll never cross path again with that woman.

but there was something inside you that that tugged as you walked away.

do you really want to stay in the garrison? or does the scouts have something more to offer?

© 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐘𝐌𝐈𝐑 2021 - all rights reserved. please do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or share my work on other platforms. thank you.

#aot #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #snk x reader #aot x reader #levi x reader #erwin x reader #hange x reader #hanji x reader #scout regiment #survey corps #scout regiment veteran #veteran trio #veteran trio x reader #scenarios #by.kite #kite.hcs #kite.writes

[layce2015]

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Arthur Morgan x Female!Reader)

The Course of True Love

Previous Chapter / First Chapter / Next Chapter

The next day, (y/n) was watching Jack and Annebeth play with the new dog, a Catahoula Cur, that had just showed up at camp as she sits in a chair by the table. The kids had found him as he wandered up to the camp and both kids were curious but also excited to see the dog.

Dutch had saw them with the dog and approached them. They discussed about the dog and that's when Dutch told the kids that they were keeping the dog and then gave the lost creature a name, Cain. That's when Annebeth ran to go find (y/n) and tell her about the dog.

Both (y/n) and Arthur still felt a bit embarrassed for almost getting caught in the predicament they were in but since Annebeth didn't ask questions; they figured she didn't see anything, which they were thankful for. 

As she watches the kids, (y/n) pulls out her notebook and started to sketch the scene of the two kids playing with Cain. But as she did this, her mind wandered back to that intimate moment between her and Arthur. Just thinking about it made her heart race, her face starts to heat up and she felt like butterflies were in her stomach. She hadn't felt that way in a long time, not since Annebeth's father...Oliver.

But then she started to doubt herself. If that moment and time ever did come between them, would she be good enough? She stops drawing as she thinks this and thoughts ran through her head. What if I'm not experienced enough for him? I mean, I've only been with one man, he's been with a few women already. She thought before she shakes her head.

Why am I doubting myself? She asked herself. Because you're afraid of getting your heartbroken again. A voice said in her head. You need to let go of the past. You can't keep Annebeth from looking up to someone. She, at least, needs a father figure.

(Y/n) sighs at this and runs her hands over her face then looks down at her notebook to see an almost finished sketch. She closes her book and tucks it away, thinking she'll just finish it later, just as she heard footsteps behind her. She looks to the side and sees Mary-Beth and Tilly walking up to her and take the seats by her.

"Morning, (y/n)." Mary-Beth greets as her and Tilly sit down. "Morning." (Y/n) greets as the girls take the respective seats. "Whatchu girls up to?" (Y/n) asked them. "Trying not to be in Grimshaw's way." Tilly replied which made (y/n). "Yeah, we saw you here by yourself, thought you'd might like some company." Mary-Beth said and (y/n) smiles at them.

"Well, that's very kind of ya." (Y/n) said and they smile. "By the way, Mary-Beth, I noticed you were reading a book yesterday. What were you reading?" She asked the young girl. "Oh, just some silly romance." Mary-Beth replied. "Aren't all romances silly?" Tilly asked and (y/n) chuckled.

"Yes but this one is particularly silly. I know you and Karen laugh at me for reading this stuff." Mary-Beth said to her, annoyed. "Course we do. But then we read them ourselves." Tilly said and Mary-Beth lightens up at this. "Do you?" She asked, curiously. "Sometimes." Tilly said then she looks over at (y/n). 

"What about you, (y/n)?" She asked and (y/n) shrugs. "I agree, they are silly. I mean, they can give you a good laugh." She said and the girls giggle.

"What is it about this nonsense?" Mary-Beth asked with a chuckle. "I don't know. It makes you feel happy, even as it makes you feel sad and driving you mad for being so stupid." Tilly replied. "I know! Oh, this one I'm reading is particularly...particularly idiotic. About a Scottish Lord and a princess who was raised as a peasant but his noble blood shines through." Mary-Beth said as she smiles.

"Good grief." Tilly said as she lightly slaps Mary-Beth's arm as (y/n) laughs. "That does sound pretty idiotic." (Y/n) said. "I know." giggles Mary-Beth and Tilly looks down then back towards her. "Can I read it? Once you're done?" Tilly asked Mary-Beth. "Of course. Your secret’s safe with me." Mary-Beth said and Tilly smiles. "Same here." (Y/n) said.

"Although, sometimes...I think I can do better in my sleep." Mary-Beth said as some footsteps approach them. "Do better at what?" Karen's voice asked as she takes the last seat. "Writing a romance book." Mary-Beth said. "Then why don't you?" Tilly asked her. "Because she was born poor..." Karen said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She was born poor, but maybe she don't die poor." Tilly said. "We're all gonna die poor, maybe we can have some fun in the meantime." Karen said. "I disagree, I ain't gonna die poor. I know that." said Tilly. "Good luck to you, missy." Karen said, rolling her eyes.

"The world is changing for women." Tilly said to her and Karen scoffs. "No it ain't. The world is a place for men to do what they want with us and we try to survive." Karen said, a bit harshly. "Only if you let it." Tilly said. "You let 'em." Karen said. "I ran away from them boys." Tilly said, firmly, referring to this old gang she had been with before she joined the Van Der Linde gang.

"And join these fine gentlemen?" Karen asked her as she gestures around her. "They're okay...and we're gonna be okay...if you'd only see that." Tilly said then she turns to (y/n). "What do you think, Miss (y/n)?" She asked her and (y/n) let's out sigh.

"I honestly don't think there's much difference between women and men. There are some awful men and there are some awful women...." (y/n) said and then her mind goes to Arthur and she gives a small smile, thinking about him. "But there's a few...worth loving and dying for...if they'll let you." She said and Tilly and Mary-Beth smile, brightly, as Karen scoffs. "Whatever." Karen said and (y/n) rolls her eyes as she shakes her head.

"That's really romantic, (y/n)." Mary-Beth said and (y/n) blushes a bit. "Sounded like you were thinking of someone when you said that." Tilly points out and (y/n) looks down, embarrassed. "Maybe..." she said, starting to smile, as she rubs the back of her neck and the girls started to giggle. "Wouldn't happen to be a certain gunslinger, would it?" Tilly asked and (y/n) couldn't hide the smile anymore. The other girls started to giggle harder.

"Maybe..." (y/n) said again but the blush on her cheeks were obvious. “Don’t get all denial. We've seen the way you two look at each other.” Karen said and (y/n) shrugs. “If you say so.” she said and Mary-Beth, playfully, roll her eyes.

"It’s quite obvious. You two are meant to be. You don’t think you could, at least, have a happy ending of your own with him?” Mary-Beth asked and (y/n) chuckles. "Now you're sounding like your silly romance books, Mary-Beth." (Y/n) said and Karen and Tilly cackle at this.

At that moment, they heard someone walking up to them and they all turn to see Molly, who looked angry and she was glaring at (y/n). She stomped towards her and stood a few feet in front of (y/n), who was still sitting in her chair. "I heard what you said about me." Molly said to (y/n), in a firm and threatening voice. "What?" (Y/n) asked her, confused. "I said I heard what you said about me." She repeated.

(Y/n) looks over at the girls and they had the same confused faces as she did. "What are you talking about?" (Y/n) asked Molly as she looks back at her. "I don't think it's very fair." She said, angrily, ignoring her question. "Okay, good for you." (Y/n) said, shrugging. "You know, you're not so high and mighty and above everyone than you think you are." Molly yells. "Whatever you say." (Y/n) said, shrugging.

"He bloody well loves me, d'you know? He bloody well does!" Molly shouts. "Of course, he does. What exactly are we talking about?" (Y/n) asked her but Molly didn't seem to want to be civil about it. "Miss O'Shea, please calm down!" Tilly pleads but Molly wouldn't hear it.

"What is your problem, you little strumpet?" Molly asked (y/n) as she points an accusing finger at her. "I don't have a problem." (Y/n) said, starting to get annoyed. "What's your problem with me?" Molly asked her as she gestures to herself. "Molly, I don't have a problem with you. I've got more important things to worry about than you or...whatever's going on between you and Dutch." (Y/n) said and Molly continues to glare at her.

"Just go away, Molly." Karen said to her, annoyed, but Molly still didn't want to let things go. "Ah, shut up, you trollop!" Molly yelled at Karen, who glares at her. "Excuse me?" Karen said, offended, but Molly turns back to (y/n).

"Just who do you think you are saying them things about me? You think just because you have a child and you're sleeping with Mr Morgan, you can get away with anything?!" Molly said and (y/n) stands up to Molly and gets in her face.

"What happens between me and Arthur is none of your concern, but don't you dare drag my daughter into this!" (Y/n) yelled and, in a quick movement, Molly slaps (y/n) across the face, which knocked her down. Tilly and Mary-Beth gasped at this while Karen stands up, angrily.

"Damn you!" Karen shouts and she punches Molly in the face, which makes Molly stumble back and place her hands over her nose. "And you be careful before you hit her again or anybody else in this camp, you damn moron! Dutch or no Dutch, you'll be up there with the angels playing harp before sunset. You hear me?!" Karen threatened as Molly runs off while Tilly and Mary-Beth go over to check on (y/n).

"You okay, Miss (l/n)?" Tilly asked her as (y/n) places a hand over the cheek Molly struck. "Y-Yeah...I'm...I'm fine." (Y/n) said, shakily. "You sure?" Karen asked as she walks up to her while Mary-Beth places an arm around (y/n)'s shoulder. "Yeah, just...surprised is all." (Y/n) replied and she heard hurried little feet running towards her.

"Momma! You okay?" Annebeth asked, worried, and (y/n) smiles at her. "I'm okay, sweetie." She said as she gets up on her knees. "Why did Aunt Molly hit you?" Annebeth asked and (y/n) frowns. "Just uh...a disagreement is all." (Y/n) said and Annebeth frowns for a moment before she has this look on her face like she was thinking of something then she smiles.

"I know how to make it better!" She exclaims and (y/n) raises an eyebrow at this until Annebeth goes and kisses her cheek. The girls awed at this and Annebeth smiles, brightly. "There should feel better!" She said and (y/n) couldn't help but smile at this. "Thank you, Annebeth. You are the sweetest daughter a mother could ever ask." She said and she kisses the top of her head then she goes to stand up.

"Now you go and play with Jack. I'm okay." She tells her and Annebeth runs off back towards Jack while the smile fades from (y/n)'s lips. "You sure you're doing okay?" Mary-Beth asked her and (y/n) shrugs. "I just need a minute." (Y/n) said and she walks away from the girls and heads towards the shoreline. The three girls all give each other worry looks.

Sometime later, Dutch and Arthur decided to race each other after completing their first tasks as newly deputized lawmen, which was to stop the Braithwaite moonshiners. Arthur was the one who made it first to the camp, Dutch closely behind him. 

"I never knew you were quite so good…at running away, Arthur." Dutch said as he comes up next to Arthur. "Well, I never knew age…had slowed you down quite so much." Arthur teased and Dutch chuckles as the two dismount from their respective horses.

"Well, time is a bastard. When you get to be my age…well, you’ll know that better than anything. Be well. I had fun with you today." Dutch said and he touches Arthur’s shoulder. "You’re…I was gonna say you’re like a son to me…but you’re more than that." He said and he pats Arthur’s shoulder and walks back to his tent.

Arthur smiles then starts to walk into camp when Tilly comes up to him. "Hey, Arthur." She said. "Miss Tilly." Arthur greets but he noticed that she had a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?" He asked her. "It's (y/n)." Tilly said and now Arthur was getting worried.

"What happened?" Arthur asked. "Well...her and Molly got into an argument and...Molly hit her." Tilly explained and Arthur's eyes widen for a moment then he let's out a heavy sigh. "Where is she? (Y/n), I mean." Arthur asked her. "She walked off towards the shore." Tilly said as she points towards the water and Arthur nods his appreciation to her and goes over towards the water.

He looks around until he saw her standing on the little dock, nearby, as she was skipping rocks across the water. The look on her face, he could tell, was full of anger that he had never seen before. He could also see the red mark Molly must've left forming on her left cheek.

Every fiber in him wanted to go and have a talk with Molly but he decided that (y/n) was the main priority right now and he just wanted to make sure she was okay.

He cautiously walks up behind her and says. "You're pretty good at that." She turns to him and gives a forced smile to him. "Hey, Arthur." She said in a tone that didn't match with the smile she tried to put on. Arthur knew that the smile wasn't genuine, he's seen her smile hundreds of times as it always gave him butterflies in his stomach. But this smile didn't.

"What's wrong?" He asked her and her smile fades. "What do you mean?" She asked. "You know what I mean." He said, the tone in his voice turned into a soft timber. She frowns and looks down before she sighs. "You already know. I'm sure the girls told ya." She said. "Yes, but I wanna hear from you. Make sure you're okay." He said and she looks at him before she let's put a sigh.

"I don't even know what happened. One moment, the girls and I were just talking and the next...Molly just charges at me and accuses me of saying some things about her." (Y/n) explains. "I told I didn't know what she was talking about but she wouldn't hear it. Then she said something that pissed me off and I stood up for myself and she slapped me." She added and Arthur sighs and shakes his head at this.

"But...you're okay, right?" He asked and she nods. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She said and she looks him over then looks down a bit and noticed a badge on his chest. She raises an eyebrow at this, points at it then said. "Is that what I think it is?"

Arthur looks down at his shirt and sees the badge. "Yeah..." he said and she covers her mouth as she starts to giggle. "What?" He asked and she tries to hold back her laugh. "Nothing at all....Deputy Morgan." She said, stifling a laugh, and he rolls his eyes but was glad she was smiling for real this time.

"Yeah, Dutch was able to get Sheriff Gray to deputized him, me and Bill." He replied and (y/n) laughs a bit louder at this. "Bill Williamson as a Lawman...God, help us." She said and bother her and Arthur start to laugh.

Once the laughter died down, the duo share a look and both of them give soft smile to each other. Then Arthur clears his throat and then said. "Well...Dutch had asked me to go to Caliga Hall, to find out anything about the Grays. You wanna come with me? You know...to get out of the camp for a bit." Arthur suggests and (y/n) smiles. "Sure, I'll come along. Let me go tell Annebeth and I'll be ready." She said and Arthur nods and they walk into camp and towards the kids.

"Momma! You feeling better?" Annebeth asked and (y/n) smiles as she kneels down to her. "Yes, I am. Now, Arthur and I are gonna go out and do a job, okay?" She said and Annebeth nods. "Okay, please be careful." said Annebeth and Arthur kneels down as well. "Don't you worry, Annebeth. As long as she's with me, you're momma'll be safe." He said and Annebeth smiles, brightly, at him. "Okay! Thank you, Uncle Arthur!" She said then she hugs him.

(Y/n) smiles as she watches Arthur being taken aback by this but he smiles and hugs her back. "You're welcome, sweetheart." He said and they break the hug and the two adults stand up and start to head out.

"Take my horse?" Arthur asked (y/n).

"Sure." She said and Arthur mounts his horse then holds a hand out to her and helps her up on the horse behind him. Then he flicks the regins and the horse starts to take off just as (y/n) wraps her arms around his waist. Then Arthur smirks to himself as he thinks of something.

He tugs on the reigns and his horse nieghs a bit as it goes to stand up on its back legs. (Y/n) let's out a yelp and she tightly holds onto his waist and he chuckles at this. "You bastard!" (Y/n) exclaims and Arthur laughs a bit harder. "Sorry, was just too tempting." He said as the horses settles back down and starts to trot off. 

"Look, just cause you're a Deputy now, doesn't mean you get to cause harm to me." (Y/n) said and Arthur continues to laugh. "Fair enough." He said and (y/n) shakes her head at this.

"So, why does Dutch want you to look around at the Grays?" (Y/n) asked him. "There’s apparently some sort've feud going on between two families, the Grays and the Braithwaites. Supposedly, they're fighting over gold." Arthur explained. "Ah, the magic word." (Y/n) said. "Yeah...so he just wanted me to get an idea on the Grays while Hosea is dealing with the Braithwaites." Arthur said. "Alright. Let's hope this goes better than Valentine." (Y/n) said and Arthur nods. "That makes two of us." Arthur said and (y/n) chuckles.

Eventually, they come up to a mansion which had two guards with rifles at the main gate. "What you want, boy? This is private property, interlopers are not permitted." One of the guards said. "This here the Gray plantation?" Arthur asked. "Yup. Caliga Hall. And that’s as close as you’re getting to it." the first guard said, firmly.

"Sheriff’s orders. He wanted me to have a word with some folk on the property. I’m recently deputized, you see." Arthur said as he shows his badge to them. "Deputized? And I suppose Leigh was drunk when he did it…" the guard said then he noticed (y/n). "And the girl?" He asked. "She's my partner." Arthur replied and the guard looks between them, thinks for a moment then sighs.

"Fine...look, you can come in, but you ain’t talking with me." the guard said. "Obliged." Arthur said and he rides on the Grays property and come up to the front of the mansion, where there was a man sweeping the porch.

"Hey, can you talk?" Arthur asked him. "I look like I can talk? You want a talker, try Beau Gray. Out by the store houses. Man won’t lift a hand, but sure can move his lips." the man said and Arthur nods then dismounts his horse. He turns and helps (y/n) down off of the horse.

"Thank you." She said and the two walk over to the aide and towards one of the store houses. There they see a young man with a mop of curly brown hair, who was reading a book.

"I see you at the Sheriff’s Office?" Arthur asked as he and (y/n) walk up to him. The young man, Beau, looks up at the two, in surprise. "Excuse me, friends." He said, politely. "We friends?" Arthur asked him. "Not yet, but here’s hoping." Beau said. "I guess." Arthur and (y/n) said. "We don’t get a lot of traveling men here…then suddenly there’s a whole phalanx of mysterious…but strangely helpful Yankees about the place." Beau said.

"Is there?" (Y/n) said, feigning ignorance, and Beau turns to them. "What’re you two doing here?" he asked them. "We're just looking for work." Arthur said. "Well, looking for something. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me." Beau said. "What secret?" (y/n) asked him but Beau continues on.

"I’ve got a secret of my own." He said as he looks out towards his home. "Are you secretly normal?" Arthur asked, sarcastically, and (y/n) snorts out a laugh while Beau turns to them. "Excuse me?" Beau asked, confused. "Never mind." Arthur said, dismissively.

"The thing is…I don’t care if you kill the whole lot of us…and the Braithwaites." Beau said as he takes a few steps away and looks out towards his land again. "We don’t wanna kill anyone." (Y/n) said and Beau turns back to them. "I love her, you know." Beau said. "Love who?" Arthur asked. "Penelope. But it’s impossible…" Beau said. "Well, love tends to be complicated." Arthur said.

"She’s a Braithwaite. I’m Beau Gray, son of Tavish Gray…nephew of Leigh Gray the sheriff…grandson of old Murdo Gray. We Grays have been loyal to the State…and murderers to the Braithwaites for so long now…no one can even quite explain why. Beyond blind loyalty…and stupidity. I’m supposed to be loyal to some nonsense, while she…She’s amazing. She’s like a woman from the future. She’s like…tomorrow, if tomorrow turns out fine." Beau explains while Arthur and (y/n) exchange a look before she shrugs. "Well, we're sorry for your predicament." (y/n) said and Beau turns to them again.

"Would you help?" He asked. "We don’t wanna get involved in gang feuds…it seems unseemly." Arthur said. "I’ll pay…I’ve got money. We Grays, we’ve always got money…no brains, mind, but money. Well, in that case…I know she loves to sit out in the gazebo…on the edge of the Braithwaite property." Beau said then he holds up a letter and hands it to Arthur. "Take her this letter…and this bracelet. Please." He said as he also hands a box to them. 

"Look out for their guards…they’re worse with strangers than ours are! So long. And good luck." Beau said and Arthur sighs, puts the letter and box in his satchel then gestures for (y/n) follow him. They mount Arthur’s horse and they take off.

"Oooh, so we become the messengers for Romeo and Juliet. So exciting!" (Y/n) jokes and Arthur laughs. "I know but at least we're getting paid." He said. "I guess you're right." She said, shrugging, as they get to the Braithwaites'.

They make it to this mansion that was lined with trees on either side of the little road that lead to the mansion. But they go off to the side of the property and dismount the horse. "Alright, he said she'd be at the gazebo." (Y/n) said. "Yeah, let's just do this quietly." Arthur whispers and they quietly sneak around the property.

Minutes later, they find the gazebo and see a young girl with blonde hair and wearing a white dress sitting inside. "Are you Penelope Braithwaite?" Arthur asked her as they come to the gazebo. "Why yes, I am." she replied. "We’ve got a letter for you….and a gift." Arthur said as he hands her the items.

"A letter and a gift? Well we don’t even know each other." Penelope said, chucking a bit. "Well, it’s not from me, it’s from err…" Arthur said and Penelope's eyes widen. "From Beau!" she said and Arthur and (y/n) nods. Penelope goes and opens the letter and reads it.

"Oh, he is so…" she said, dreamily, before Arthur speaks up. "Strange?" He suggests and (y/n) elbows his side. "Well, yes, he’s a little strange…but also, so human. The rest of our families are stuck in the Dark Ages, or…well, I don’t know…cave people, perhaps." Penelope said as she pours a couple of cups of teas and hands it to the couple, who accept it.

"Beau’s different, but if they find out…they’ll kill him, and send me to live someplace awful like…Ohio. Have either of you ever been to Ohio?" She asked them. "No." Arthur and (y/n) said, in unison. "Well, neither have I, but my uncle has a factory there. He was sort of the black sheep, on account of having left…but now they tolerate him, because he’s a vicious snob. Families are…are…they’re something else! Have you two got a family?" she asked. "I have a daughter." (Y/n) said and Arthur shrugs.

"Well, they tolerate him, because of the money…but me, with my ideas above my station, they can’t stand it." Penelope said. "That sounds pretty complicated, I….I don’t know quite what to say." Arthur said. "Well nothing to say, except I hope they all rot." Penelope said, a bit harshly, then she gives a look like she kinda regrets that.

 "I-I don’t…well…maybe a bit…but here…if you see Beau again, will you give this to him?" She asked as she hands them her letter. "Sure." Arthur said and he and (y/n) sneak off the land, quickly, and get back on Arthur’s horse and head back to the Grays.

They make it back to the Grays' mansion and ride up to the guards. "You know us, we're on official business, for the family." said Arthur. "Alright, come on." the guard said and they make their way into the grounds and come up to the stables, where Beau was hanging around.

They dismount the horse then walk up to the stable that Beau was in, taking care of a horse. "You got our money?" Arthur asked and Beau turns to them. "Sure." Beau said and he gives them a couple of coins. "Did she give anything…for me?" Beau asked. "Yes." (y/n) said.

"Might I have it?" Beau asked. "Sure…but it’ll cost you." Arthur said and Beau looked a bit taken aback but Arthur smiles then let's out a sigh. "Oh, I can’t be bothered. Here, take it." Arthur said as he hands the letter to Beau. "Thank you…you’re…Thank you." Beau said as he takes the letter, steps out of the stables and begins to read the letter, eagerly.

Arthur and (y/n) turn to the horse and both of them start to pet the horse. "My God…what a woman. She’s…" Beau said, dreamily, then he stops and reads the rest of the letter. "This’ll get her killed for sure." He said and the duo turn to him. "What?" They asked. "Women’s suffrage. Round here, they don’t even like men voting. They’d bring back the monarchy given half the chance. Progress is a dirty word in these parts…unlike incest." Beau said and that takes Arthur and (y/n) off guard.

"Excuse me?" Arthur said.

"I'm sorry?" (Y/n) said and Beau becomes frantic.

"I don’t wanna marry my cousin Mathilda. I wanna marry Penelope. But they’re gonna…They’ll kill her at one of those rallies they’re holding. They’ve done it before. You two gotta help." Beau pleads, worriedly. "No, I’m afraid we don’t want no part of it." Arthur said as (y/n) nods. "I’ll pay. My family, we’ve still got some money." said Beau and Arthur sighs then looks at (y/n).

She shrugs and said. "Up to you, boss." Arthur looks down then said. "Fine. Just no more running round with letters."

"Thank you. Come on, we’d better get going." Beau said and he runs over to his horse just as Arthur and (y/n) get on their horse. "Follow me to Rhodes. Come on, come on. Heya!" Beau said and they take off. "We’ll go around the property and take the road to town." He said, panicked and worried, and he gallops off, Arthur and (y/n) right behind him.

"Easy, boy. Calm down." Arthur tries to assure him as they make it off the Grays property and out on the road. "I can’t be calm! If we don’t get there in time, my true love may be shot…" Beau said. "If she wants to rally, you got to let her rally." (y/n) tells him. "Good as the cause is, I can’t let her become a martyr to it. I want to marry a flesh and blood woman, not a statue in her honor." Beau said. "I’m sure they know what they’re doing." Arthur assures as they come up a hill and see a group of women, holding signs and standing near a wagon.

"There! There they are." Beau said as they ride up to the crowd. They dismount their horses and comes up just as Penelope looks over and notices them. "Beau, what are you doing here?" she asked him, shocked but also worried. "I cannot let you go through with this…you’ll be killed." Beau said as he comes up to her. "I’m prepared to die for the cause, Beau. You know that." Penelope said and she a few other women started to shout some phrases about their rights.

Beau, meanwhile, turns to Arthur and (y/n). "Do something, please." he begs them. "Do what? Fight this mob?" Arthur said as he gestures to the women. "They’d eat us alive." (y/n) said. "This is no laughing matter, sir and madam. They need protecting from certain elements. Mostly my family." Beau said then he turns to his love again.

"Penelope, I beg you." he pleads and she looks at him then to the women before she looks over at the couple. "I’ll tell you what…your friend here can drive the wagon for us. It’ll allow us to shout all the louder." Penelope said as she gestures to Arthur. He and (y/n) exchange another look before (y/n) nods. "Sure." he said and Penelope smiles and goes up to an older woman, who was the leader of this.

"Ms. Calhoon…my friend here says he can drive the wagon." Penelope said as she points towards Arthur. The older woman walks up to Arthur and (y/n) and smiles. "Olive Calhoon. Normally, I like to drive myself…but today, I feel like a man joining us…sends the right message." Ms Calhoon said as she gets up on the wagon.

"Well, my partner and I ain’t never been in a protest march before, madam." Arthur said, gesturing towards (y/n), as he gets up on the wagon. "Well, just treat us like the sheep…and the folks attacking us like the wolves…and I’m sure you’ll feel right at home. Shall we go?" Ms Calhoon said then Arthur looks down at (y/n), who nods and shows him her gun that was holstered. Obviously,  showing that she'll use it when she has to.

"Alright." Arthur said after he nods at (y/n). "Alright, ladies. We know our song is a good one…and we know our cause is a pure one." Ms Calhoon said and Arthur whips the horses with the reins and the carriage begins to move. The women in the wagon sing merrily, holding up posters of "Votes for Women," "We Worth More," and "Respect Your Worker".

"Now, now. Take us down Main Street, right through town to the steps of the Bank of Rhodes, Mr…what was your name?" Ms Calhoon asked Arthur. "Arthur Morgan." replied Arthur. "Very good, Mr. Morgan. Not too quick and not too slow. We need them to hear our voice." Ms Calhoon said. "They will hear it alright." Arthur said.

"Very good. Very good. Mr. Morgan are you and your partner old friends of the Movement?" Ms Calhoon asked him. "I’m just a driver, Mrs. Calhoon. And maybe we are shotgun messenger if it comes to it…but I hope it won’t." Arthur explains as they drive into Rhodes.

"Our message will be delivered peaceably, Mr. Morgan. You and your partner can keep your shotgun to yourselves. Stay on Main Street. It’s a left up here, Mr. Morgan." She said as men and women come out of the buildings to see all the commotion. "Look at these people. It’s about to get exciting…I can feel it." Ms Calhoon said just as the men started to yell at the women. "I believe you might be right." Arthur said and Calhoon noticed the Sheriff on the porch of his office.

"Good day, Sheriff! I trust you’ll make sure it’s a peaceful assembly?" She asked. "Easy there…" Arthur mutters to her while (y/n) looks around her as the men run out in the street and start booing or heckling the girls as the girls sang their songs. This started to worry (y/n) a bit but she walks up to the front of the wagon, feeling safer in Arthur’s presence.

"Head home! Head home!" One man shouted. "Oh, do give it a rest. You sorry fool!" Calhoon shouted at the man then turns to Arthur. "Mr. Morgan, I give you the male of the species." She said. "That’s a pretty dumb specimen, I grant it." Arthur agreed and (y/n) smiles at this. "A little further please. Stop just past the bank." Calhoon said and Arthur does as he's told. 

"This spot is fine, sir…" Ms Calhoon said and Arthur stops and she turns to the women that were sitting in the wagon. "Ladies, get down." she said and they get off of the wagon and continued singing their songs while a bunch of men come out and shout things at them.

"Come on, boys. It looks like the circus is in town."

"Go home!"

"You shut your mouth. What you doing here?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"Oh my God. Whatever you say… you don’t even know what you’re saying."

"Come on, get outta here. You should be with your children."

Ms Calhoon gets off of the wagon and walks up on the top steps of the bank while Arthur gets off of the wagon as well then walks over to (y/n) to stand by her, Penelope standing next to them. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a great day for all of us. For today is the day we begin to live as equals." Ms Calhoon said.

"Equals? Ha!" One man spat.

"Yes, equals, sir. Fair and equal." said Calhoon.

"This is unnatural…this is nonsense." Another man shouts.

"Fair, equal and free…just as the Founding Fathers intended." Calhoon said. "Founding Fathers, not Founding Mothers… you silly old goat." the second man shouts while a different man noticed Beau and walks up to him.

"Hey! What the hell you doing here, boy?" he asked. "Hello, darling cousin…" Beau said, nervously. "Don’t you ever speak to me like that! What are you doing here?" his cousin asked. "Listening, I suppose…" Beau said, shrugging, and Penelope watches them, nervously, then she turns to Arthur and (y/n).

"Go help Beau…his cousin is a moron…and stop them from ruining the speech." She pleads. "Sure." Arthur said and he and (y/n) walk towards Beau and his cousin. "You’ll learn yourself some manners, cousin." Beau's cousin threatens. "Haven’t you got anything better to do?" Beau asked him.

"You always was a…cocky little…" the cousin growls until Arthur and (y/n) come up to Beau. "Beau. Weren’t we just leaving?" Arthur asked and his cousin turns to them. "Who the hell is this?" he asked. "Follow me around here." Arthur said and they come around the corner of the bank.

"Come on, Beau. Let’s go. Quick now." (y/n) said and they head to the horses while Arthur turns to the cousins. "I’m sorry, friend…let the women speak! Your silly cousin, he meant no harm…look at him!" Arthur tells them then he starts to walk away while Beau gets on his horse. "Who the hell are you?" Scott asked but Arthur mounts his horse, helps (y/n) up and they start to gallop away.

"Oh Lord. Follow me, I know a place. It’s an old battlefield no one goes to." Beau said. "You don’t want to go back and hear the speeches? I ain’t voted before…but I’m kinda getting hot for voting rights." Arthur said and (y/n) rolls her eyes. "I don’t know whether to take you seriously, Mr. Morgan. My cousins are my primary concern right now…if everyone knows about Penelope and me…" Beau explains.

"Everyone knows about Penelope and you. We know about Penelope and you and we've been here all of ten minutes. Sooner it’s out, sooner it’s resolved." (Y/n) said. "The sooner it’s dealt with, you mean…We’re dealt with. Our families, the Grays and the Braithwaites, we bury our secrets and we bury them deep." Beau explain.

"Your secrets and your treasure…" said Arthur. "Catherine Braithwaite’s got a daughter…no one’s seen her in years…she weren’t right and Penelope said…" Beau started to say but Arthur shakes his head. "I ain’t heard about daughters, I heard about gold…" he said.

"The Yankee gold? I fear that’s just a story, Mr. Morgan. I don’t know." Beau said just as they come up to some destroyed buildings and stopped. "This is awful." Beau said, dramatically. "Nobody died…ain’t that awful." Arthur said.

"My brothers are vindictive bastards…my cousins are worse." Beau said. "They started it." (y/n) said. "I know, but…" Beau started to say but Arthur talks over him. "You should leave." he said. "I will, as soon as I have enough money…when my family…We have money, but I don’t." Beau said as he dismounts his horse and digs into his satchel.

"Is your family very rich?" (Y/n) asked. "Yes, well, I believe so…but, uh…they keep me out of the discussions. I have more of a…artistic temperament, so…" Beau started to say as Arthur nods. "Oh, is that what they call it?" he asked with sarcasm and (y/n) giggles a bit. "Yes. Oh, you made a joke." Beau said and Arthur gets off of his horse as Beau walks up to him.

"I really love her…do." He said. "Well, stick around…maybe you can die for her as well." said Arthur. "I thought you were trying to make me feel better?" Beau asked and Arthur laughs. "We gotta go." Arthur said as he gestures between him and (y/n). "Me too. Oh, damn, I’m gonna be late. My uncle is quite as bad as you would imagine. Here, your payment." Beau said as he hands the money to Arthur.

"Thank you." Arthur said as he counts the money. "Excuse me." Beau said and he gets on his horse and takes off. "Well, that was fun." (Y/n) said as Arthur mounts his horse. "It was a bit amusing." Arthur said, chuckling, and he gets the horse to gallop off.

"From a retelling of Romeo and Juliet to voting rights for women....today has been one hell of a day." (Y/n) said. "You're telling me." Arthur said, chuckling. "But...I do appreciate you asking me to come along. I really did need to get out of camp for a bit." (Y/n) said as she places a hand on his arm. "My pleasure, Miss (y/n)." He said and (y/n) smiles then wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him, which made Arthur blush.

They make their way back to the camp, the sun now fully set and the moon rising, and they dismount the horse just as they see Javier, Uncle and Sean near the campfire while everyone else was either eating, sleeping or talking amongst each other.

"Momma!" Annebeth said and she runs up to (y/n). (Y/n) smiles as she kneels down and picks her up. "Hello, sweetie." She said as Annebeth hugs her. "You're okay!" Annebeth exclaimed. "See, I told ya I'd keep her safe." Arthur said and Annebeth smiles at him.

Arthur smiled at her then ruffles her hair, making her giggle. Then they hear Javier starting to play his guitar. "C'mon, let’s go listen." (Y/n) said and her, Annebeth and Arthur go to sit on a log as Sean and Uncle begin to sing. Annebeth ended up sitting on (y/n)'s lap while Arthur sat next to her.

Mollie, O Mollie, it is for your sake alone

That I leave my old parents, my house and my home,

That I leave my old parents, you caused me to roam,--

I am a rabble soldier and Dixie is my home.

Jack o' diamonds, Jack o' diamonds,

I know you of old,

You've robbed my poor pockets

Of silver and gold.

Whiskey, you villain,

You've been my downfall,

You've kicked me, you've cuffed me,

But I love you for all.

Annebeth looks over at Arthur, smiles at him then she gets off of (y/n)'s lap and walks up to Arthur. (Y/n) looks over at her as the little girl looks up at the man. Arthur looks down and noticed her standing in front of him. "What is it, sweetheart?" He asked. Annebeth smile again then holds her arms out to him. He smirks a bit then picks her up and places her on his lap.

(Y/n)'s smile grew bigger as Annebeth leans her head against his chest. Arthur looks over at (y/n) and the two share a smile as Sean and Uncle continue to sing.

It's beefsteak when I'm hungry,

And whiskey when I'm dry,

Greenbacks when I'm hard up,

And hell when I die.

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey,

Rye whiskey I cry,

If I don't get rye whiskey,

I surely will die.

O Baby, O Baby, I've told you before,

Do make me a pallet, I'll lie on the floor.

Arthur sung along with them and (y/n) sways her head to the music. 

If the ocean was whiskey,

And I was a duck,

And right when they sang that last line, Arthur then pokes Annebeth's belly, lightly, twice just as he said. "Quack, quack." Annebeth giggled, Arthur laughing as well, as the men continued to sing.

I'd dive to the bottom

To get one sweet sup;

But the ocean ain't whiskey,

And I ain't a duck,

So I'll play Jack o' diamonds

And then we'll get drunk.

O Baby, O Baby, I've told you before,

Do make me a pallet, I'll lie on the floor.

As (y/n) watches Arthur and Annebeth, she starts thinking to herself maybe I was wrong after all. Arthur and Anne seemed to have a connection all along and I just didn’t see it till now. Here she was worrying that Arthur wouldn't want to do anything with Annebeth, but now seeing them interact with each other.

She realized that Arthur is the best thing that’s ever happened in their lives. He really does show some affection towards her and her daughter. It was right there the whole time and she was just worried over nothing. And that's when she knew, she had fallen more in love with him.

@starjane312

@sukunas-cult-leader

@trinswhimsys

#fandom #fanfic #fan fiction #reader insert #x reader #arthur morgan #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption two #rdr2 arthur #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x female reader #arthur morgan x y/n #video game imagine #reader imagine

[redmeanslove]

number 3 for the prompts :)

Hii! Thank you so much for the prompt! It was "golden hour". I know it was a May prompts list but I decided that fall is also a great season for golden hours and the perfect timeline for some early pining Seblos...I hope you like it!! 💕

Carlos stepped out of the school building and instantly raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light of the sinking sun.

It was late Wednesday afternoon and he was finally satisfied with his choreography for Getcha Head In The Game and was ready to show it to the dancers tomorrow. So he had packed up his things and decided it was time to go home. 

Squinting against the early autumn sun which painted everything on the school ground in a soft hue, he was just about to round the corner when he spotted someone sitting on one of the benches next to the parking lot.

Hair almost golden in the light where it was falling into his face, Seb was scribbling something into a notebook. Carlos' heart skipped a beat at the sight and he stopped in his tracks, contemplating if he should go home or turn around and seize his chance to talk to the other boy.

After an embarrassingly long moment of contemplation, he decided to be brave and go for the latter.

"Hey," Carlos said when he was in earshot. 

Seb looked up, seeming startled for a second but then his face broke out into a smile.

"Hey Carlos!"

Carlos stopped in front of him and pulled at the straps of his backpack, feeling the sudden need to hold onto something.

"I'm surprised to still see you here? Rehearsal let out an hour ago," he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Seb chuckled and closed his notebook. "My sister was supposed to pick me up but then she got busy, so -" he checked his phone with a frown, "- she won't be here for another twenty minutes."

"Oh okay. That...sucks," Carlos said and took a seat next to the other boy, placing his backpack beside him. 

He couldn't imagine living that far away from school and always relying on someone from his family to chauffeur him around. Spending four hours trapped in a car with them every day sounded horrible to Carlos. 

But then again, Seb's family seemed to be the complete opposite of his from all the little stories he had picked up here and there, so Seb probably didn't mind having his sister as his driver.

"You know, you could've also waited in the bomb shelter, I'm there for at least another hour after rehearsal every day," Carlos said. 

As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly groaned internally. God, why did he have to say it like that? Now Seb probably thought he expected him to hang out with him after rehearsals. Which - yes, Carlos had spent the past month since the start of the drama club rehearsals trying to get as many opportunities as possible to interact with the other boy. And having company instead of being all alone sounded more appealing than he was ready to admit. But still. If there was one thing he did not want, it was to scare the other boy off.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that. But I'll definitely remember it next time," Seb interrupted his thoughts. "I need to practice some of the piano arrangements anyway, so I could do that while I wait," he said with a smile. 

Carlos smiled back in relief. 

"Sounds like a plan," he said, suddenly thinking that this might have been a mistake to suggest because there was no way he would be able to focus on anything if Seb Matthew-Smith was playing the piano in the same room where he was working on his choreographies. But maybe that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. 

They both sat in silence for a minute, watching the sun slowly disappear behind the mountains. It was quiet apart from the noise of cars in the distance.

Carlos stole a sideways glance at the boy next to him. Seb's hair was still illuminated by the last rays of sunshine, making it light up in an almost fairy-like glow. 

He wanted to reach out and touch it, run his hand through it to find out if it was as soft as it looked - but he stopped himself, curling his hand into a fist by his side.

Get yourself together, Rodriguez, he scolded himself.

"You don't have to wait with me by the way," Seb interrupted the silence, a frown on his face. "I don't want to like, make you get home late for dinner or anything."

Carlos waved him off. "Don't worry, you're not. Nobody else is home today so I can basically eat dinner whenever I want," he explained. 

Eat dinner meaning heat up some leftovers or order take out for the third time this week. 

"Oh. I'm sorry," Seb said, his face falling slightly.

Carlos shrugged and smiled. "No worries, I'm kind of used to that," he said.

That only deepened the frown on Seb's face and he seemed conflicted for a moment before he asked

"Do you want to come with us? I am sure nobody would mind if there was one more person at the dinner table."

Carlos' eyes widened. Did - did Seb Matthew-Smith really just invite him over to his house? To eat with his family? Oh god. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't prepared! And he didn't even have an outfit prepared, and….

"Oh, er - thank you, but - I think I have a bunch of homework to catch up on, so," he stuttered out. 

He smiled tentatively, hoping he didn't just offend Seb by declining his offer. Luckily it didn't seem like it as Seb just smiled and nodded. 

"Oh, honestly same. Like, that worksheet from Mr Mazzara's class?" he shuddered. "I've been putting it off for days but I think I finally have to face it today."

"Yeah," Carlos chuckled, pretending he knew what Seb was talking about. Crap, he probably really should catch up on all the homework he had put off in favour of working on choreographies for the show this week. There was no way Mr Mazzara's homework was the only one that had flown past his head.

Before he could come up with another conversation topic, a grey car turned into the parking lot. 

"Oh, that's my sister," Seb said, getting up from the bench and slinging his backpack over one shoulder as the car parked. 

Carlos got up as well, figuring he had no reason to stay any longer if Seb was leaving. 

"Thanks for waiting with me," Seb said, turning to go. 

Carlos smiled. "No problem. See you tomorrow, Seb."

Seb smiled and waved, then he walked over to the car to open the passenger door and disappeared inside. Carlos caught a glimpse of a head of curly blonde hair next to him before the car backed out of the parking spot. 

He watched as they drove away, then he started his walk home. But not before he fished his phone out of his pocket and put his earbuds in, scrolling through his music library to find a specific song he was looking for. 

Then he pressed play and started walking, humming along to the lyrics with a smile as he made his way through the streets of Salt Lake.

I used to get sad And lonely when the sun went down But it's different now 'Cause I love the light that I found in you Baby, don't you know That you're my golden hour The color of my sky You set my world on fire And I know, I know everything's gonna be alright

lyrics from "Golden Hour" by Kacey Musgraves! (adore that song)

#seblos fic #seblos drabble #prompt fill #redask #redfics #seb matthew smith #carlos rodriguez #seblos #hsmtmts

[travellingarmy]

║Venti║Sensitive

Requested from Wattpad.

Female reader as requested.

Warning: Usage of words such as "fat" and "ugly". I don't know about this one, but it will also mention anorexia.

Remember: All of you are beautiful and don't let anyone say otherwise.

Angst. Fluff.

Word count: 2.6k

---

You, on all counts, are very sensitive to the words spoken by others of you. You can't help it but worry about your impression of others, but this did not mean that you faked your identity in front of others. You had wonderful friends as well whom you are sure are the truest of all.

"Hey, (Y/N), wanna go on a mission with me?" Mondstadt's most famous Outrider, Amber, jogged up to you with excitement reflecting off of their eyes. "Ah, well, I don't have anything to do.. Alright, I'll join you," you said which made the female really happy. "Good. I was about to persuade you to some food if you didn't," she laughs. "Let's make this quick since an Outrider still has other things to do."

"But you'll still give me remuneration, right?" you ask, half-joking. "Haha, of course! I'll treat you when I have time, and that's a promise!" You and the Outrider had a little laugh and left the city to clear a couple of hilichurl camps around the premises. She thanked you afterwards and repeated her promise before waving you off as she goes and attends to her other tasks. Now that you were free, you decided to go and meet a special someone and ask if they'd like to join you for a meal since you don't like eating alone-- and you know for sure where they were loitering around at the moment: the tavern.

"Please, Master Diluc? Just one~ I'll play a song for your tavern." You opened the door to Angel's Share to see the person you had been looking for trying to negotiate with the tavern's owner. The male behind the counter notices your entrance and brings his attention to you, ignoring the bard. "(Y/N), what can I do for you?" he asks, completely dismissing the shorter male beside him. "Ah, nothing. I'm loitering around, really," you say, sitting down beside the never-stopping-pleading male.

"Well, since you're here, could I ask you a favour and help me get this guy here to leave?" Diluc asks, referring to no one else but the one who is sitting beside you. "He's being quite the nuisance."

"Eh? I promise I'll leave if you just accept the exchange!" Venti cries. "I am the most famous bard of Mondstadt, I will surely attract more customers for you!" Diluc shooks his head and sighs, turning to look at you once more. "Please, help me out?"

You cracked a smile. "Of course, Master Diluc! Now, let's go Venti." You got out of your seat and pull him along from the collar on his back, all the while hearing Venti's cries for his wine. "Aw, (Y/N), you could have helped me out back there," Venti pouts when the two of you were a good foot away from the sight of the tavern. "You should have your own money. Honestly, how are you surviving without mora exactly?" you questioned, earning yourself a mischievous giggle from him.

Sighing, you dismiss the topic altogether. "Alright, why don't I treat you to something else other than wine? It's always wine this, wine that anyway," you say. "Mm, as long as it's with you!" He smiles and the two of you went to Good Hunter for a small meal. Since you did just come back from a mission, you order quite a lot, but not too much to make you look like a glutton. "It's a shame they don't sell wine here." The bard pouts. You laugh at your friend and shaking your head-- it was always wine with him.

"Maybe you should do something else other than singing and make money out of it?" you suggested, earning yourself an 'are-you-kidding-me' kind of look from the male. "Anyway~" he changes subjects. "What is the deal with you stuffing your face up so much?" He laughs at your adorable face that was buried with food and rests his cheeks on one of his fists.

"But you'll still like me when I'm fat, right?" you ask, stuffing yet another delicacies into your mouth. The bard giggles at the cute question and decided to play a little joke on you to see a reaction. "Hm, I don't know.." he starts, grabbing your full attention. "I mean, I guess I might still love you since you already kind of are.. " Unbeknownst to him, you were actually hurt by the 'joking' words and made you self-aware, but you weren't going to show it to him. Although you know it was a joke, you don't know if he'd actually still love you when you're 'ugly'. Right now, it might just be empty words, but who knows if his views will remain the same when that time actually comes?

You have noted that every time you go shopping for clothes, the size seems to be getting bigger, but you didn't really think much about it then. You sat in silence, pushing away the food as Venti goes on chatting about. He didn't even notice how you haven't touched your food since the comment when the two of you left Good Hunter or your quietness throughout the day. It was saddening, but didn't say a word about it.

"Um, I think I should be going home now, Venti," you say weakly, eyes not once looking up from the ground you were so familiar with. "Hm? Oh, okay, good night then!" Venti says and kisses your cheek before you walked the opposite direction of your house.

You walked all the way to your room, not turning on a single light and lied down on the bed, not changing your clothes as you crept underneath your blanket and curled into a ball, allowing depressing thoughts into your head. Maybe you should change your style? If you were wearing larger clothes that hides your body, that might make him think you are gaining weight, or so you think to yourself. Then, you'll just have to change and make him see the best sides of you.

And so, the next day when you went out, you wore clothing you never thought you would- let alone other's. You wanted to prove that you haven't gained weight by exposing much more skin, but still keep yourself comfortable. People gawked when you pass them out on the streets, a bit disturbed by your sudden change of clothing. It wasn't wrong to do so and they understand that people will change their style, but to the extent that you were on?

"My, look who we have here," a cool and smooth voice of a man comes and greets you. You look to your right and see none other than the Cavalry Captain of Mondstadt with his usual smirk on his face. He stares down at your smaller stature and snickers. "A sudden change of style, I see."

"Does it look bad?" you question. "Well, I wouldn't say it looks bad. Let's just say it's quite new to me," he says and shrugs. "Say, what is the reason for the sudden change anyway? Suddenly got bored of the former?"

You honestly knew that someone will ask you about it, but didn't want them to know. It was quite embarrassing. "Yeah, I guess," you said, not meeting the captain's eye. You had a habit of not looking directly at the person when you are either trying to hide something or lying and people had caught on to that, which was a huge giveaway that something is up for the all-knowing Kaeya. "Oh? This is interesting," Kaeya says to himself. Hearing him, you look up to meet the gaze of the male who only chuckles and ruffles your hair a bit. "I have to go do some cavalry work. I will see you later, (Y/N)," he says, his back now facing you, a hand raised. He took no more than two steps before looking over his shoulder and smiles at you. "Oh, remember one thing: don't let others' words get you down." You weren't sure what he was getting at, but you couldn't ask him as he was now further from you.

"(Y/N)?" Another voice calls your name and you turned around to see none other than the famous bard of Mondstadt- Venti. "Oh, wow! It really is you. I almost didn't recognize you from your back because how different you look," he says, scratching his head and chuckling awkwardly. "It seems like something is off about you..?"

This was the moment of truth. Will he see it or not? "Does it look bad?" you ask, looking at his eyes for some sort of answer. He inspects you, which made you kind of embarrassed. You want him to never leave you alone, so that is the reason for the clothes. If you could prove that you are worth staying by his side, you are more than willing to change. "Ah! So, you've change your clothes.." he finally says, though it didn't seem like he was happy about it.

"Hehe, I think you should go back wearing your old clothes, (Y/N)," he says, "because now everyone can see how chubby you've become." He laughs, pulling the skin of your cheeks in a playful manner. You, however, didn't feel like going back now. You want Venti to stay by your side forever and make it so that he won't be ashamed of his lover to the point he rather not be caught dead with you. You had to change. You have to lose weight.

And so, that day was the last day anyone has seen you around. At first, no one was concerned and thought you had other things to do that was taking up your time, but when two weeks went and no one has seen you around, they start to worry. The guards at the gate had said that they haven't seen you left- just in case you went on a mission without their knowledge. Your Knights of Favonius friends were the first to worry. Venti, however, kept on saying how you were probably fine while drinking away at Angel's Share.

"I think you should go check on her," Diluc says behind the counter, cleaning a glass while his back is turned towards the bard. "Eh? Why?" the shorter male questions. "Aren't you her lover? If so, you should check on her since she is obviously locking herself in her house." Venti was about to say something back, but decide to choke it down with a drink. Deep down, he was worrying as to why you aren't stepping outside. He had gotten lonely.

He got off the stool and left the tavern. Diluc turns around and heaved a sigh of irritation, forgetting to remind the bard, again, to pay for his drink.

Venti was at the foot of your door. He sees that your light were off, even through the curtains, before knocking lightly on the wooden door. "(Y/N)?" he calls out, but was answered to silence. He did not wait to knock a second time and got out a spare key that was entrusted to him by you. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the coolness of the air and silence. The furniture was clean and in place, yet it lacked the warmth from its owner. He walked to your room, but was greeted by an unused bed. However, it was a mess-- meaning to say that you are indeed home.

Eventually- to his horror and ache- he found you sitting down beside the toilet, back against the wall and eyes closed. "(Y/N)!" he shouts your name and quickly walked to your side, kneeling to see your pale face. He put his ear close to your face and was relieved that you were breathing, worried you might not have been when seeing as your bones were seeming as though it were about to pop out.

He carries you to your room and lie your body on the bed and stayed by your side until you woke up to get answers from you. How come you were in this state, he questioned himself. He was worried but thought nothing of that feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him to go check on you. He thought you were fine, but to his guilt, you weren't.

When your eyelids fluttered open, his heart never felt any lighter as it was now. "(Y/N)!" The tears that had slowly crept, was finally trailing down his cheeks. "Venti..?" The call of his name made it so irresistible to hug you, so he did. "What happened to you?" he asks, his voice cracking.

Staring at his face, you felt ashamed. You had locked yourself inside without light, food, or water and constantly vomiting everything out. Knowing this, you push him away and stare down at the mattress.

Venti was hurt upon seeing as you pushed him away, but that doesn't mean he would stop there. "Hey, let's get you something to eat. You look like you're malnourished," he says. You didn't say anything so he took it to go and make food for you in the kitchen before returning to your side once more. "Here, I've made you soup, so open up," he says, moving the spoon close to your lips, urging you on to open up. Soup may not be enough to return you from your pale and frail state, but it was easy for you to gulp it down. He has also chopped some meat into little pieces to help nourish you.

You refused, not looking at him. He sighs and looks at you sadly. "Please, (Y/N)?" The way his voice was tainted with sadness made your heart ache. You ate it obediently, but immediately coughed it out, the food now on the floor opposite of where he was at, sitting down on the bed with you. "(Y/N)!" He puts down the spoon in the bowl and put his free hand on your back. Your body was too weak that your system can't even take in food, which worried the male. "Can you please tell me why you're like this?" he pleads, another wave of tears forming his eyes.

You were hesitant, but you would feel that ache if you see him tear up again. "I.. I want you to stay with me forever," you finally confessed. He was confused- you could see it in his eyes. "Why would I ever leave you?" he asks.

"Of what you said.. Two weeks ago.. I don't want you to be ashamed of me and leave me," you continued, answering his question. He recalls the joke from then and felt guilty and ashamed. "I, I'm sorry for what I said.. I was joking about it, but I guess it hurt you," he says. "What I said then, please don't take it to heart."

"What I said were empty words. Even if you were to become chubbier, I would never leave you for the world nor would I be ashamed of you. I love you for who you are and not what you look like." The words comforted you and you finally look at Venti. His eyes were stained of tears, but he pulled of the smile that was reserved for you only. "Let's finish this, alright?" He hints at the soup. You nodded quietly and tried your best to finish the food.

"Once you're feeling better, let's go eat every food you want to eat, okay?" he says, watching you ear the food obediently. You smiled and nodded at the suggestion. Throughout that day- after finishing the food- he stayed and cuddled with you whilst reassuring how much he loves you.

---

#genshin venti #venti x reader #venti oneshot #genshin impact venti #x reader #angst #venti angst #venti fluff #venti x female reader #female reader #genshin impact oneshots #genshin impact #genshin

[elsanna-shenanigans]

April Contest Submission #26: Brazen

Words:  ca. 5,000 Setting: mAU Lemon: no Content:  mild drug references, implied homophobia

It was a regular, sunny Thursday morning when the whole debacle started. Nothing out of the ordinary. The train was on time. My blueberry and cream-cheese bagel was fresh and delicious, and I shovelled it down at my desk, clicking away through banal emails about company fun-runs, goodbye-parties for employees I’d never met and rambling updates from the CEO.

I was working out the front with Hans, which was never ideal. Still irritated by his comment last week about women being natural manipulators, I told myself he was just “compassion fatigued”, grit my teeth, and chose to face the day with a positive attitude. That’s all I could do, right?

Hans set his enormous protein shake down on the desk and leaned back in his chair, sighing loudly. “Oh my god, you’ll never guess what happened at the gym this morning.”

I put on my best smile and began to click through random pages on our database, looking at yesterday’s notes, trying to look a bit busy and hoping he would get the hint. Listening to Hans’ gym-bro stories was more tedious than uploading invoices into the finance system.

“So, there I was, just wiping down my bench, and this ridiculously hot chick comes up to me, like, seriously, you would not believe the honka-bazonkas on this bird-”

His story was mercifully cut short by the buzzer signalling to us that someone had entered. We both leaned back to see a girl in the entry-way, looking lost and confused. They all look like that when they’re new, and judging by the school uniform, tear stains on her cheeks, and the way her eyes flickered around in uncertainty, this was most definitely her first rodeo.

“Check out Little Miss Grammar School over there.”

I sighed, disappointed but not surprised that he couldn’t even wait five minutes before judging the poor kid. “She looks pretty upset.”

“Probably because Daddy won’t buy her a new pony.”

I looked over at Hans, irritated with him before it was even nine o-clock. Typical. “Didn’t you go to Trottington Boys College?”

“Yeah, that’s how I know.” He gave me a smirk, and I just wanted to punch his stupid face. “She’ll be back home before lunchtime. Guarantee it.”

I sighed again, not in the mood to bother arguing, and went to greet the girl. Her bright red hair dangled in girlish plaits over her shoulders, and her school-bag was practically bursting at the seams. A planned runaway, perhaps? Or possibly just stuffed full with school stuff. Laptop, textbooks, maybe sports-gear. She looked young, and I prayed she was over eighteen, and it wouldn’t end up being a matter for police and child protection. That’s always such a gruelling process.

“Hey there.” I said. “What’s your name?”

“Hi.” She reminded me of a little baby fox, or a kitten or something criminally innocent with those big, wide eyes. Secretly, I hoped Hans was right, as irritating as it would be. The homelessness system would chew this girl up and spit her right out. “I’m Anna.”

“What brings you in here so bright and early this morning, Anna?”

“My parents kicked me out.” She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Up close, I could see that her fancy uniform was in fact quite dirty. Her skirt was crumpled, like she might have slept in it. There were a few sauce stains on her jumper and she didn’t smell too crash-hot, either. This girl, it seemed, was the real deal. “On Monday.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” I told her, and I meant it. I always did. It never ceased to baffle me how quick parents could be to cast out their own flesh and blood. My own included. Ten years later, it still stings. “Can you tell me a bit about what’s happened?”

“They told me not to come back, that they couldn’t even look at me. They won’t even let me get my clothes or my charger or anything!” Anna broke down into tears at this point, as they often do. I brought her into one of our small, cosy counselling rooms and sat with her while the tears poured, and my curiosity piqued. What could have caused such a dramatic family breakdown? She seemed like a nice kid. Drugs, perhaps? Pregnancy?

I made her a bowl of Coco Pops, and offered her a coffee but she didn’t drink coffee apparently. Only hot chocolate.

Bless.

After she was fed and watered, and the tears had stopped at least for a moment, I had to get down to business. I sat across from her and took out my notebook, “So my name is Kristoff, and I’ll be doing your assessment today.”

I found out she had just turned eighteen - thank goodness - and had been sleeping in a cheap motel for the last few nights, paid for by her girlfriend’s leftover Christmas money. Immediately, my heart went out. I have a soft spot for the queer kids. I know how hard it can be.

She even showed me the text messages from her parents. Heart breaking, but good to know, should Hans come trying to pick her story apart.

Dad: We don’t know where we went wrong as parents but we cannot have you under our roof, especially with the younger kids around. They don’t need to see that filth.

            Where am I supposed to go???

Dad: If you two are so grown up, you can figure it out yourselves.

            Are you seriously kicking me out in the street?? Over a KISS??

Dad: Actions have consequences.

Yikes. I couldn’t believe there were people in this day and age who were still so closed-minded. I was determined to help her. To keep both of them safe. “So where’s your girlfriend staying? Does she need emergency accommodation as well?”

“She’s at uni today.”

“Yeah?” Damn, I hoped I hadn’t been too quick to make assumptions. Maybe the reason the parents had reacted so badly was due to age, rather than gender. “How old is she?”

“Twenty.”

Whew.

“She’s studying music down at Southbank. She has class this morning, but she’ll meet me here after. She’s, like, a music prodigy. She studies so hard and composes amazing songs. And she plays about sixteen instruments. She picks them up so easily, it’s like magic.”

Her face lit up when she talked about her girlfriend. Eyes shining like a cartoon character stumbling across a treasure chest. Noticing that the tears were gone, I encouraged her to continue, “How did you guys meet?”

“We met at church, actually.” Anna chuckled to herself, acknowledging the irony. “Our families know each other. I’ve loved her since I can remember.”

=x=

The girlfriend, Elsa, arrived in the afternoon. I recognised her straight away standing from Anna’s waxing poetic descriptions. The long, pale-blonde braid. Eyes “the colour of an ocean storm”. Okay, so the violin case might have also been a clue. Unlike her rambling lover, she gave short, curt answers. Part of my job is to make young people feel safe, to get a general story of their lives, but all I managed to discern was that her parents were religious. Fairly well off - she’d gone to the same private school as Anna. Didn’t seem particularly worldly. No job. Not a lot of friends or much of a support network. Poor thing was obviously anxious. She played with her braid throughout the whole appointment and looked down at her lap, shoulders hunched like they were carrying the weight of the world. She told me she was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder and took medication daily. Pretty normal stuff. We were just about finished when she burst into tears, and told me, “It’s all my fault. I’ve let her down. I’ve let her down. How could I let this happen!”

“It’ll be okay,” I tried to reassure her. “We’ll sort something out. None of this is your fault, Elsa.”

“It is.” She looked at me with pleading eyes. “It is my job to look after her.”

I didn’t bother arguing. Not now. It was first love - it was going to be a little melodramatic.

After Anna had collected some less conspicuous clothes, and the two of them took some food and toiletries for the road, I booked them in one of the less seedy hotels for the night and hoped for the best.

And that’s how it went for the next few weeks as they cycled through the system, like any other kids, slowly crawling their way up the waitlists for youth refuge.

They came in now and then for food, toothpaste, to wash their clothes, and collect their mail. As relaxed as anyone in their situation could be. Well, Anna was. She was a ray of sunshine, once she got over the initial shock, and we all enjoyed chatting to her and hearing about all her escapades. Hopes and dreams. She managed to transition to TAFE rather cheerfully, and was cautiously confident about finishing her high school certificate. Sometimes she even serenaded us with the little old ukulele we keep in reception. I suspected she may have tried marijuana a few times in the alley behind our building with the other kids. I had to gently redirect her, on one of these occasions, from eating Nutella out of the jar. Apart from that there were no incidents.

Anna was freer with her affection. A more expressive person in general, I figured. Elsa was more… businesslike. Tense and serious, a girl of few words. Her back was straight as a board, and she only smiled when she was looking at her girlfriend. She sometimes stiffened, gulped, and looked from side to side as though someone might catch and punish them.

I couldn’t help but wonder just how badly her parents had reacted.

=x=

“There’s something fishy about them.”

Hans was truly getting on my last nerve. He was from a youth justice background, and brought more punitive values with him. Always poking holes in clients’ stories, turning them away because they called up too late, or had a meltdown, or used another service. Or because they had a nice watch or a pair of shoes or a hat, something special to them they hadn’t hocked yet. Heaven forbid they keep one piece of their identity, one nice thing, before being deserving of help.

“What’s fishy about them?” I asked, not particularly engaged.

“Well, they went to the same school, right?”

“Yeah, that’s…” I rolled my eyes, “a pretty common way for kids to meet each other.”

“So, they come from these nice, middle-class families and went to this nice school, but they don’t have a single friend or relative between them who can help them out?”

It took all I had to bite my tongue. I didn’t want to just shout ‘homophobia!’ at the drop of a hat, being the only gay dude in the organisation.

But he really seemed to have it in for these poor girls.

“Obviously not,” I said, trying not to clench my jaw, “or they wouldn’t be here. Do you think it’s fun bouncing from one shitty hotel or short-term refuge to another for months on end? Do you think they just do it for kicks?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged and chugged his protein shake.

I came to the conclusion that he was jealous. Poor dude was constantly bulking and curling and getting facial peels or whatever, reading books and watching tutorials about how to pick up women. Swiping Tinder and Bumble and Match every spare minute. To no avail.

And these girls had just found each other without even trying. They were always so affectionate. Not in a gross, horny-teen, eating-each-other’s faces-way. But stolen kisses on cheeks, heads in each other’s laps, stroking each other’s faces and gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes kind of way.

It was so cute I almost died.

=x=

Elsa was late to her appointment, which was unlike her. She’d been crying, as well, which very much was like her.

I took her into a counselling room, where she explained she’d had to defer from university. Lost her scholarship, which was supposed to be paid to her in a month - her grades permitting. She’d been planning on using it for a rental deposit. The school had been letting her use hire-instruments to practise but it just wasn’t practical. She couldn’t cart them around. The hotels weren’t safe - a violin she’d been using had been stolen, and now she had a debt.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Elsa.” I felt responsible. It’s the hardest part of this job, the lack of options, the feeling of letting these kids down, constantly. But I swallowed it down and tried to reassure her. “It’ll be okay, though. You’ve got your whole future ahead of you. This isn’t the end.”

“That was our way out!” She was prone to catastrophizing. But in her defence, I guess, she was homeless. “I’ve sent my resume out to a hundred places in the last two weeks and heard nothing! We were counting on this money- I was counting on this money. I’m the worst- I feel like I’m ruining her life.”

I glanced over my shoulder, through the window, to the front space. Anna was smiling, pointing to the TV, chatting away with another client with a hot chocolate in hand. The situation wasn’t ideal, but ruining her life may have been a bit dramatic.

“Anna’s family are the ones to blame for putting her in this situation. They’re the ones who should be looking after her.” I said, with a bubble of irritation swelling in my chest, trying not to project my own feelings from my own life. “It’s not your responsibility. You’re only twenty. You’re doing great, supporting each other.”

“You don’t understand.” She looked down at her lap, tears dripping from her eyes. Nothing unusual. Of course we don’t understand, us silly workers. No one understands. She wiped her eyes, sobbed a little more, and repeated, “you don’t understand.”

I thought I understood. But she was right. I didn’t. Not yet.

=x=

Neither Elsa nor Anna was at the top of the refuge waitlist yet, but when the spots came up - 2x female, low mental health needs, low or no alcohol or drug use - I couldn’t help myself. I sent off two referrals, quickly, without getting the okay from my team or boss.

It was busy as usual. No one would notice. And I’m allowed to have favourites, okay? It’s not like they’re my kids. And how often do we get two spots in the same refuge?

Suzie noticed. She looked over at me, scrolling through the daily referrals and sipping on a mug of tea, and pointed out that we don’t usually house young couples together. It’s policy. Most of them are too unstable, then there’s all the drama if they break up. In general, it’s a recipe for disaster.

“Yeah,” I scratched the back of my head, trying not to look guilty.

But they’re so cute together, I didn’t say.

“But I think it’s probably one of the healthier relationships we’ve seen come through these doors.”

Suzie agreed with a chuckle, and Dave, too, who had been eavesdropping in the next cubicle, apparently. They wouldn’t be cycling through this system, month after month, year after year, with no end in sight. Like so many of our clients. This would just be a blip on the radar. They had bright futures ahead of them.

The only one who didn’t agree was Hans.

=x=

I didn’t hear from them for a couple of months. In my line of work, this is a good thing. I assumed it meant things were going well at the refuge. I didn’t see why they wouldn’t be. Anna was engaged in education. Elsa spending every waking hour looking for work. Neither using hard drugs, which, in this sector, is short of a miracle.

I hadn’t exactly forgotten about them. You don’t just forget about favourites, in this job. You always wonder what happened to them, how they’re doing, and usually you never find out. But let’s say, they weren’t at the forefront of my mind. The only thing was a phone call that Suzie took, I only heard briefly about it. The refuge called, asking for our health team to write a quick script for Elsa. Her refills had run out, or something, and she apparently didn’t know how to contact her psychiatrist. Looking back, I guess, it did seem a bit out of character, given how conscientious she came across. But she’d been through a lot. Psychiatrists take leave, or move to different practices. Her parents might have dealt with all that stuff before. All sorts of reasonable explanations. Suzie was following up, and I put them out of my mind again, hoping they were doing well. No reason to think they weren’t.

=x=

“Sisters.”

Hans stood in front of me, arms crossed, a stupid smirk on his face like the cat who ate the canary. I’d been in the middle of writing a long-ass case note and truthfully, I had no fucking clue what he was talking about. Probably another one of his weird fetishes. A made up gym story. “What do you want, Hans?”

“They’re sisters.” He said again, as though that meant anything, slamming a few sheets of paper onto my desk. “I told you there was something fishy about them. I knew it in my bones. And I thought it was weird that Elsa didn’t know how to contact her own psychiatrist, I mean, we know she’s not stupid.”

“You’re the one who sounds stupid right now. Or- or crazy! I’ve scanned their ID into the system, they have different last names. Anna Aren. Elsa-”

“-So anyway,” he cut me off, “I did some digging. Found a record at Southeast Mental Health services-”

“-Elsa didn’t sign the consent form for us to contact other services-”

“-Elsa Aren. She took her mother’s name, Frost, after the parents divorced. Cheeky little shit only gave us her school ID. It’s still Aren on all her official records. I even called the school, because I thought it had to be a mistake, but apparently it was a whole thing. Everyone knew about it. That’s why they have no friends or anything. I knew something didn’t add up.”

My heart sank. My stomach dropped. I didn’t know what to think. I got up, wordlessly, and headed to the kitchen. It was too early for this shit. I needed coffee, and a minute to think.

At first, I felt betrayed, I’ll admit. I know you can’t get too invested in the clients, but it’s a matter of pride in the job. I thought I’d built a connection. I thought they trusted me. I thought I’d made them feel safe. But they’d lied to me for months-

“Yeah, I know! Sisters! Gross, right?” Hans had followed, apparently, and was sharing this new juicy gossip with the whole goddamn office. Suddenly, the omission felt a lot less personal.

“Hans.” I stopped him in the kitchen, blocking the door. “What are you doing? This is confidential information, not one of your stupid gym stories.”

“My gym stories are fucking lit-”

“-I’m serious! Do you think this is funny? That kind of stigma’s no joke. The story spreads around and it could really fuck things up for them.”

“I kinda think it already has, bro. Maybe they should have thought about that before bumping donuts.”

I breathed out angrily through my nose, with any potential replies crashing into each other in my head, still kind of in shock. Still not sure how I felt about the whole thing. A bit grossed out, to be honest, and then a bit shitty with myself because my job is specifically to not judge young people with all sorts of strange and uncomfortable life stories.

“Hans, they’re my clients. Just, promise me you’ll tone it down, okay? Don’t go blabbing all about this. Or I’ll tell the boss you watch porn on the clock.”

“Yeah, alright, whatever.”

I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. That I meant business. He was already on a series of warnings from HR for constantly eating Suzie’s food out of the fridge, and making fun of Dave’s male pattern baldness, and probably a bunch of other stuff I didn’t know about. He couldn’t afford another.

But I still couldn’t shake the unease.

=x=

Unease bubbled into a panic in my throat the next time I saw Anna, in reception, arguing with Hans. Her voice was rising higher and higher with stress, as he stood there with his weight on one hip, that smug look on his stupid face. From what I could gather, he was turning her away.

My heart sank as I took in the details. She’d lost weight. Had dark circles under her eyes. Hair was a bit greasy, shoved into a messy ponytail and her clothes had that worn-for-a-few-days look. “Kristoff!” She budged past him, toward me, with pleading eyes, “I really need a housing appointment. We only need a few nights somewhere, Elsa’s getting paid on Thursday, she’s just started a job in a house factory! I mean, a box-house. A warehouse where they make boxes-”

“-Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” I told her, but she didn’t slow down. She kept rambling on at a million miles an hour, a stress response for her. I reverted to our default question. Bringing it back to basics. The reason we’re here. “Where did you sleep last night?”

“McDonalds.”

I gave Hans a scathing look and took her aside for a quick chat. She told me she and Elsa had been kicked out of the refuge, and claimed she didn’t know why - but in my heart, in my bones, I knew.

And in her eyes, I knew she knew.

Still, it seemed a little harsh to kick them out onto the street. Of course, some kind of therapeutic intervention would be expected, but I know for a fact they’d dealt with much more challenging behavioural problems than sisters dating each other. Both girls had been nothing but polite, friendly and agreeable in my experience. A little heavy on the PDA, sometimes (in hindsight, rather brazen), but they’d sprung apart whenever I’d cleared my throat pointedly at them. So I decided to call the refuge and have a chat. Suss it out. See if they wouldn’t rethink it.

Just as I suspected. They were contacted by “one of our workers,” (no guesses who) who told them about the… the nature of the girls’ relationship. They were concerned, obviously. Referred them both to BrighterWays Family Therapy Centre and created a plan to transition Elsa to an adult refuge, when a spot eventually came up. In the meantime, they’d booked her into Sandy Shore Motel.

Yikes. Colloquially known as “stabby-shore”, it wouldn’t have been my first choice for her. Or for anyone, really. But there are only so many places that take bookings from a homelessness service. Most prefer to avoid the risk.

So Elsa packed her bags contritely, the refuge-worker told me, and Anna stood there in tears, like her sister-lover was going off to war or something. Distraught. Begging them to reconsider. Standing in the rain as Elsa’s bus rolled away. She almost stayed behind. Almost. She lasted two nights after that, then she was gone.

In between one client punching a hole in the wall and another nodding off on smack, I struggled to find the time for her appointment and could see Anna growing more restless. Pacing around and texting furiously. Drinking cheap coffee after cheap coffee in our little paper cups - she drank coffee, now, apparently. “Sorry it’s taken me so long,” I said to her, and I truly was sorry. “Why don’t you head downstairs with some fresh clothes and take a shower. I’ll just finish up this handover with the health team and then we’ll do your appointment, okay?”

“You have showers here?” She was stunned, as though I’d just told her we have dragons here.

“Sure do.” I led her downstairs and opened a cabinet full of soaps, shampoos, body washes, moisturisers and the likes, and she stared like it was a pot of gold. “Take whatever you like.”

After her shower, Anna looked (and smelled) much fresher. But she was still agitated. Picking at her chipped nail polish and shifting in her seat. Eyes darting around the counselling room which suddenly felt very small.

“Anna, you’re still welcome at the refuge.”

“No, I’m not.”

“I just spoke to the worker, they’ll have you back-”

“-No, you don’t understand! I can’t go back there. They… they see me differently, now.”

“Yeah?” Honestly, at this point, I was just curious if she would come out and say it. “Why’s that?”

She was balled up in the chair, looking as small and vulnerable as the day we met. Worse, in fact, because she looked ashamed now. “I think you already know.”

“About you and Elsa?” I said. “Yeah. Look, Anna, I can’t imagine what it’s been like carrying this secret. And after the way it was received back home, I totally get why you’re having some reservations. But the workers aren’t going to judge you-”

“-you say that, but you weren’t there, Kristoff! You didn’t see the way they look at me now, with revulsion and disgust in their eyes. And how they talk to me, all careful, like I’m some kind of ticking time-bomb.”

I nodded, hoping that wasn’t true. Knowing it probably was.

“Would you be open to looking at other refuges?”

“I can’t leave Elsa there in that shitty place all by herself. It’s scary! And it’s…” Anna sighed. Her jaw tightened. There was none of the previous light in her eyes. None of the cheekiness in her face. “It’s hard for us to be apart.”

I went to argue, having heard this sentiment so many times before from young couples who felt like the world would end if they couldn’t be joined at the hip twenty-four-seven. But something stopped me. The fact that they were sisters, not just girlfriends, is what stopped me. My brain was still imploding, to be fair. Trying to make sense of it.

“We shared a room, back home.” Anna continued. “Not because the house was small. There was a spare room. Two spare rooms, actually. And a sunroom. We just… preferred it that way. I’ve spent all of two nights without her in my whole life and I-” she paused and shook her head, “It was like I couldn’t breathe. And knowing she felt the same, just…”

She trailed off.

“Anna…” I waited for her to meet my eyes, and I could see that any trust left was hanging by a thread. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“I know.” All traces of teen melodrama now faded away, there was only solemn understanding in her voice. A wisdom beyond her years. “But it’s true love.”

I pursed my lips, listening. It wasn’t that I approved of it exactly. And I didn’t understand, not really. But I could see that there was a devotion there. A willingness to make sacrifices, to give up everything for each other, to take this path less trodden. The path of uncertainty. Of risk. And what can I say? Something about that, well, it moved me.

Unfortunately, I knew my boss would make no concessions for true love. If they kept using the service there would have to be some kind of meeting about it. They would be booked separately, would be expected to engage in some kind of therapy, the likes. I told her this. I didn’t want to make promises I couldn’t keep.

In the end, I booked her for three nights, like she asked, and practically begged her to come in next week, anyway, even if they had a place to stay. For a welfare check. I even promised her a Target voucher. The kids love Target vouchers.

“Yeah, yeah.” She said without looking me in the eye. Checking her phone. “For sure. We’ll keep in touch. Anyway, I’d better go figure out how to find this hotel. Elsa’s finished work. It’s cold. She’s waiting for me.”

Of course she was

I never heard from them again.

Not for lack of trying. I called the other housing services, refuges, everywhere, trying to follow up. I called SouthEast Mental Health. I called the BrighterWays family therapy centre, and all the other family therapy centres, too. I called their phones, of course, but Elsa never picked up and I think Anna changed her number.

I won’t lie, it haunts me a little. Two girls, out there, in the big scary city. One meagre income. No support. Shit all street smarts. The only solace, I guess, is that I know they’ve got each other.

=x=

“Well, Mr Bjorgman, you’re quite the storyteller.” The CEO of CityCare looks down briefly at his bulky, expensive-looking watch, sitting across from me in a small, soundproof room, in his crisp, pressed suit.

“Well, it was quite a story.” I say, wondering if that’s a dig at my truthfulness. Wondering if I’ll be reprimanded for bumping the girls up the waitlist. Suddenly feeling the urge to scrutinise all my decisions. Should I have done more digging? Noticed that something was off? Showed less favouritism? “I still don’t know if they’re, like, still alive? Or…”

“Have there any other breaches in client-confidentiality that you know of?” He ignores my question, as his hard-faced assistant keeps typing on her little laptop.

“No.” I shake my head. “Is there a reason why you’re looking into this, now? Has something happened, have they made a complaint?”

“We can’t reveal anything about the investigation at this point.”

“Right.” My heart thumps. I have a sinking feeling in my gut. I want to ask again, if they’re okay, but I bite my tongue.

“Mr Bjorgman, you mentioned Mr Westergaard accessing pornogrphic material on the job. Can you tell us more about that?”

I take a deep sigh, and a sip of my water. It’s going to be a long afternoon.

#elsanna #april 2022 contest #prompt: home #submission #cw: homophobia

[futurewriter2000]

Assertive People

A/N: I just felt like writing this and I really did enjoy writing it. Hope yall like it. 

PAIRING: Sirius Black x reader

XX

“I am in love with you.” a sudden voice spoke next to your right. 

Slowly, carefully even, you turned your head to his face and decided to give him the cold shoulder. You turned your head back to your book and continued to read. 

“Ignoring me. The perfect type.” he bit his lower lip and leaned over the table and into your eyesight. He walked with his index and middle finger to your book and placed his whole palm on top of it. “Woo-hoo.” 

You shot him a deadly glare and pulled your book under his palm. You swung your bag over your shoulder in a flash, you were gone. Frustrated and angry, you stormed to the library instead. 

Hearing his footsteps run along after you, made you sped up and turn your current goal from library to the room of requirements. In a second, he lost you. 

“Bollocks.” he put his hands over his black curs and ran his hands down his face. 

---

He hadn’t seen you in the next few days. He told himself that you must have been avoiding him. The pretty, mysterious Durmstrang girl, who clearly wasn’t joyous from switching schools. He had always found you intriguing, made it his mission to make you his friend... if not more. 

Quiet, never smiling and always with a book tucked under your arm, you swiftly moved down the corridors, in the Great Hall and on to every corner of the castle. you hadn’t talked to anybody, made it clear you do not like making friends in this school. In and out was your plan. 

You never raised your hand but exceeded in every subject except Arithmancy. It was average but the grades started getting better throughout the following months. 

He had seen you in the common room, tucked behind a book. 

Gryffindor. Just the perfect house for you. He was excited to hear you got into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin since you had shown more characteristic of one than the other. 

“Here is why.” he sat down and grin, his eyes lifted up into the ceiling. “I think it was love at first sight. I saw you and you were this stunning woman I had ever laid my eyes on. You clearly did not even look at me, nor anybody really- which I don’t get.” he sat and leaned forward to you, this time his eyes blazing into you and the other way around. “You don’t talk. I don’t think I had ever heard you talk- you voice. It doesn’t matter.” he leaned back again, his eyes on you. “I think no matter the voice, it’s gorgeous.” he winked flirtatiously at you but you haven’t changed your expression. “Why don’t we start properly?” he cleared his throat and reached out his hand. “My name is Sirius Black.” 

You kept looking at him with perplexion in your eyes, then glanced at his hand and slowly reached down on it with your right hand. It was large in your hand, soft and it squeezed your hand firmly and shook it extremely slowly. He kept looking at you with a sparkle in his grey arms that resulted into baby blue colour close to his iris. 

“(y/n).” you said without any hint of emotion in your tone. “But I figure you already knew that.” you finished and pulled your hand away from him, leaning back on the sofa and turning your gaze back to the book. 

He felt his cheeks lift up to his eyes. “That’s something... (y/n).”  he rolled your name gently off his tongue, reaching into his bag and pulling out his own book- not just any book but the same book you read currently. He leaned back on the sofa and turned to first page. 

From curiousity, your eyes couldn’t stay long on the written words when you saw him shuffling on the sofa. You looked up and saw the same title of your book, written over his, the coverage, however, was green instead of orange like yours. He glanced up at you, his grey eyes meeting yours. You saw them lift as if he smiled but you couldn’t see due to the book that hid lower half of his head. 

You turned back to your book, hiding your own little simper. 

---

Sense of time isn’t present when you’re reading a book. You have no idea whether it was an hour or 10 minutes but you knew it was long when you heard him gasp in the middle of your reading session. You looked up and found him staring profoundly into the book. 

“No!” he gasped again, getting so close to the book that you thought he might consume it. 

He must be at the part where the little girl drowns. 

He flips back a page, tracing the sentences with his fingers and flipping fiercely the page forth- then back, then forth again, then he just kept doing that until he only moved the page front and back until he stopped and stared at you. “She dies?!” he frowns at you with his lower lip pointing out and his eyes about to tear up. “Bu- but it was supposed to be happy- he was supposed to-” he stopped as he finally saw your facial expression. 

You were smiling at him, your eyes sparkling at his reaction to the book. He felt his heart do a back flip as he found you hiding your lower half of your head behind your book, your chest jumping as you laughed a bit. 

“You think it’s funny?” he quirked an eyebrow. 

“No. I think your reaction is as close to mine when I read the chapter. Wait a few more chapters.” you pressed the whole book on your chest and pulled yourself up to the sofa. 

He watched you with wonder in his eyes. He had never saw a woman so gorgeous with her hair messed up like that. Your lips in a soft smile, your cheeks red from the fire and hands wrapping around the book. 

He can’t ruin this. Stick to the book, Sirius. Stick to the book. 

“Does he end up happy?” he asked, putting the book away just like you did. 

“I don’t know.” you smiled, looking at the fireplace, then back at him. “It’s fiction, not a fairy tale. Knowing a few works of this author, I’d say he will end it in a way that it’s comforting.”

“Comforting?” 

“No- is probably the answer.” you smiled, pulling your legs up to your chin. 

“You were just going to let me down easy, huh?” 

“You’re assertive. You rush into things.”

“That’s a sudden change of subject.” he said. “ Though if I’m the subject it’s a good change then.” he flashed you a smile. 

“I don’t like assertive people, that’s why I read books because it’s a slow process.”

“That I do not like. Being assertive also means confident, which you have.”

“I don’t think being confident is something bad.”

“I never said it was.”

“Then what did you mean by that?” 

“That we are both assertive, both confident and I do maybe rush into things but only because I wanna get it before it disappears.” he smiled at you, mirroring your position and pulling his legs up to his chin. “It’s not a bad thing.”

“I never said it was.” you smirked.

“You implied.”

“I did, didn’t I?” you looked at the fireplace again, then back at him. It was a moment of silence, a nice moment and so you made it count to read his expression, take in his wonderfully structured face. “What really caught your eye with me, Sirius Black?” 

“I thought I told you.” 

“No. You told me what I wanted to hear.” 

“Your ignorance.” 

“Alright.” 

“You walked the halls with pride and ego, your head high, your chin up- too much confidence for a british woman, which you are not since you are from Durmstrang. Students there are cocky, high society-”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Students there are eager to learn because nobody wants to go back to their homes and live the life of their parents.”

“Cold.” 

“It is cold there- what do you expect?” you tilted your head.

“You miss it?”

“Yes. All my friends and family went there.”

“Then why don’t you make friends here?” 

“It’s not my priority.”

“Then what is?” 

“Succeeding. Achieving my goals.”

“How come you’re not in Slytherin?”

“I told the Hat I want to be in Gryffindor.”

Sirius wanted to say something but your answer surprised him. “Wh- I mean, aren’t-”

“You said it yourself, Sirius Black. We are assertive people.” you smiled again, then started to gather your things and prepared to leave. “Plus I prefer red over green.” you looked over your shoulder and sent him a wink.

He chuckled to your answer and shook his head. 

---

He had found you in the same place the next evening. Same sofa, same position, however, this time you brought yourself a blanket to cover your legs. 

He sat himself to his place and opened himself the book. The two of you met with your eyes, smiled and turned back to the book. 

Time passed and this time the reading was interrupted by your sharp intake of breath. Sirius looked up at you, found your eyes confused and tearing the book apart. Your eyebrows were drawn together and tears started to gather in your eyes. You flipped another, the last page and read aggressievely, your finger tracing the sentances until it reached half of the page and your eyes stopped. 

You stared at the page, then your eyes flickered up to his and a tear rolled down your cheek. You smiled through it and wiped the tear away. “Guess it doesn’t end up happily.” you tilted your head and he gave you a comforting simper. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah.” you let out a chuckle. “Just... a really shitty ending.” 

“Do I even want to finish this book?”

“Honestly?”

“Yeah.”

“No, you don’t want to.”

“But I probably will because now you sparked my curiousity.” 

You let out another laugh, leaning on the back of the sofa. “What chapter are you on?”

“Not far behind you. I spent last night reading another half, so I’m-” he put his arm up and checked his watch. “Maybe ten minutes away.” he smiled then looked down at your blanket. “May I?” 

You looked down and nodded. “Yeah, sure.” you threw him the other end of the blanket and soon felt his cold feet touch yours. “Wow. You’re freezing.”

“Yeah, no thanks to your selfish arse.” he joked and you laughed. 

“You could have easily asked.” 

“And you could have easily offered.”

“My mind wasn’t on your cold feet or your needs.”

“Should be.” he continued to joke. “I was born to be served.” he threw his hair back and you laughed again, throwing pillow at , then leaning back and watching him. He looked at you and furrowed his eyebrows. “So you’re just going to stare at me?”

“You saw me cry. It’s only fair, I see you.”

“That’s unfair. My masculinity!” he put his hand over his heart and backed away.

“You’re pretending like you already had one to begin with.”

“You’re pretty mean.” 

“I’m being nice.”

He gasped, mouth open before turning into a grin. “Fine but let me tell you I won’t shed a tear. I never liked this characters anyway. I’m a man.”

---

You observed him as he read the next 10 to 15 minutes, flipping from one page to another, his expressions always changing. Sometimes he would mouth the sentences and furrow his eyebrows, re-reading them again. You could see he wasn’t much of a reader to begin with but he clearly enjoyed the book, living in it as he had completely ignored your gaze. 

He bit his lower lip as he flipped to the last page, leaning back with his mouth open and you could see his eyes changing colour. He wasn’t sad... no, not like you. He was furious, angry even. I guess, everybody has their own reaction to things. 

He slammed the book shut, fury on his face up until his eyes met yours. You were looking it him with affection- comfort maybe?

“How could you cry after this? It’s abominable.”

“It’s a book.” you smiled, leaning back and stretching your arms over your head. 

“Fine. Then it’s an abominable book.” he spoke with frustration and you only chuckled. 

You shrugged. “Wanna go get ice-cream?” 

Sirius’ face went through three different expressions when you asked him that. “What?” 

“You clearly need some comfort after what you just read.” you smiled and uncovered your legs, pulling them away from the warmth. 

It was at that moment, when you placed your feet on the ground that had Sirius realized how close the two of you were. The moment he felt cold again when you removed your legs from his; they were intetwined together all this time since he was reading. He just didn’t realize it because he was completely lost in the book. 

He felt something burn his cheeks and it wasn’t the fireplace that caused it. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, grinning. When he stretched and cracked some of his joints, his arms fell right on your shoulder and pulled you a bit close. “Is the ice queen asking me on a date?” he teased, whispering to your ear.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. “No, the ice queen wants some ice CrEaM to drown her sorrows in, now are you in or out?” you said but never removing his arm from your shoulder. 

“Only if we eat from the same bucket.” he wiggled his eyebrows and you laughed. 

“Get lost, Black.” you pushed his arm off and started walking. 

“Oh, I knew you’d warm up to me eventually.” 

“The book was a nice way in.” you shrugged.

“I know. Quite opposite of assertive, wouldn’t you say?”

“Bog off.” 

“I’m going to love what we have.” he wrapped his arm around you and pressed you close as the two of you walked together. “Especially if we share the ice-cream together. Imagine the bond. That won’t ever go away.”

“Are you always this dramatic?” 

“Depends on who you ask.”

“Don’t make me regret this.”

“I won’t for the life of it.”

#sirius black #sirius black imagine #sirius x reader #sirius black x reader #Marauders #marauders era #the marauders

[gumnut-logic]

“Hold still.”

“’irg’l, ‘m fine!”

“You’re not fine! Hold still!”

“’S only a bl’d nose.”

“I need to check it anyway. I hit you hard.”

“Lucky sh’t.”

“Hold still!”

Gordon let his shoulders drop and held still. Virgil was beside himself over this. It was obvious. It was only a blood nose, for crying out loud. It wasn’t like it was his first.

The scanner’s yellow light flickered over him and Gordon flinched. So damned bright.

Of course, this just set off Virgil even more. “We’re going to the infirmary.”

“’irg-“

“Now.”

Okay, that was an elder brother command. Gordon wasn’t stupid enough to disobey that. His shoulders dropped just that bit lower and Virgil’s gentle hand wrapped around his arm and led him from the gym.

“I’m sorry, Gords.” It was said with so much guilt, Gordon rolled his eyes.

Ow.

The hand on his arm tightened.

It was a lucky shot. There was no way in hell Virgil could best him in hand to hand. If Virgil pinned him, maybe. He had the mass and the strength. But Gordon was fast and his smaller stature a major advantage. His big brother couldn’t catch him on the best of days.

Except for today, apparently.

The infirmary loomed as they exited the elevator. It did that. Gordon hated any medical setting…for good reason…and the infirmary on the Island was no exception.

He was deposited on the bed with a firm but gentle nudge, told to sit upright and to tip his head forward.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he knew the treatment for a nosebleed.

Blood tasted awful.

He closed his eyes a moment.

A soft touch to his face and blood was dabbed off his skin. A quiet rumble of query.

It repeated and a frown formed in the air.

A hand on his shoulder. “Gords?”

“Hmm?”

Ow. Virgil’s fist had definitely left a mark on his sinuses.

“You with me, Gordon?”

“Mmmmhmm.”

A rustle of instruments and a finger peeled back his right eyelid. A sharp flicker of light hit his retina and he flinched away. “’irg!”

“Hold still.” Strong hands made him do exactly that.

His reward was another finger peeling back his other eyelid and that retina being equally assaulted.

“’irg!” He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned as that caused his whole face to echo the pain in his nose.

Virgil didn’t answer, but he didn’t let go of the now firm grip he had on Gordon’s shoulder. A hum started up and Gordon let a breath out as the scanner flickered over him again. “’irg’l, ‘m fine!”

His brother still didn’t answer, but the bed under him shifted, its head rising under his right hand.

“Lie down.”

“’irg-“

“Lie down.” Okay, there was something in his brother’s voice that bore no argument. Gordon opened his eyes and found worry in his brother’s.

Those brown eyes blurred a little.

What?

He dragged his feet up onto the bed, his exercise sweat pants riding up above his bare feet. A shuffle and he had to admit it was a relief to have the back support, top half of the bed up as far as it would go. His head was throbbing. He must remember not to try and stop Virgil’s fist with his face ever again.

As to why his brother had managed to even touch him was a worry in itself. Virgil was good, but he wasn’t that good. Gordon had been dancing around him for years. As his co-pilot, Gordon saw it as part of his duties to help his brother with his hand-to-hand. Of course, between himself and Kayo, they helped all the brothers, even Scott who had his fair share of training in the Air Force. But Gordon had always had a special thought for Virgil. His brother was a wall of muscle, ‘built like a brick shithouse’ was the popular phrase. But muscle didn’t necessarily equate to good self-defence and Virgil was a softy from way back. There had been incidents with the occasional over zealous fan, but also one of Gordon’s nightmares was what would happen if someone with less kind intentions got a hold of any of his brothers.

Virgil was too damned nice for his own good.

So, Gordon took it on to look after him.

But today…why had he let Virgil hit him?

“What happened?” The deep voice of his eldest brother and Gordon realised his eyes had slipped closed again. Opening them was a mistake. The lighting in the room had apparently taken on nuclear fusion in an attempt to compete with the sun.

He groaned and shoved his eyes closed again.

“Gordon?” Virgil’s hand landed on his arm.

“You suck.”

“And you’ve got a concussion. I’m sorry, Gordon.”

What?

“Report, Virgil.” Great, the Commander was out which meant Scott was upset. It was only a bloody nose, for goodness sake.

Virgil’s sigh was a mix of worry and regret. “My fault. I hit him.”

There was silence for a moment. All Gordon could hear was his heartbeat in his sinuses.

“You hit Gordon?” Gordon should be proud at the amount of disbelief in his eldest brother’s voice. Or worried at his lack of confidence in Virgil’s skill.

One or the other.

Maybe both.

God, his head hurt.

“I shouldn’t have let him spar. But he was upset after today and I wanted to help.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Because I wasn’t much better, Scott!”

Oh, shit, Virgil. “’S not your fault.”

There was a lack of an answer and that worried Gordon more than anything Virgil could have said to him. He threw out a hand and scratched at a shirt. Fingers caught his, but they weren’t Virgil’s. “Sco’, ‘s not his fault!”

“Gordon, rest you have a stage two concussion. You know that is something you don’t mess with.”

Yeah, well, Virgil has a lot of muscle behind his fist.

Gordon let a breath out between his teeth and relaxed into the bed. Virgil was obviously pissed at himself and he would have to talk him around at some point.

Gentle fingers touched his face again. Soft cloth wiped a cool liquid across his skin.

“The bleeding has stopped.” Virgil’s baritone was quiet and worried. “However, there is some swelling….and there will likely be bruising.”

Swelling? Bruis-….aww, hell, he was supposed to be going out with Penny tomorrow night. A charity gala, it was important to her.

Hell.

“I’m so sorry, Gordon.” Little more than breath.

This just sucked.

He knew the results of an impact to that part of a face. He’d had to do it enough himself.

Then something else occurred to him.

“Did you break m’ noze?”

Silence.

“’irg?”

“Not broken. Hairline crack.”

“’uck!”

“I’m sorry, Gordon.”

He flung out a hand again and this time managed a handful of cotton t-shirt. He dragged it closer. “’Snot your fault!”

Virgil didn’t answer, but his fingers were pried from that t-shirt and held for just a moment, only to be let go as Virgil moved away suddenly.

Gordon flailed, reaching. A footstep and those hands returned with something cold. Towelling, cold as ice.

Gentle hands gathered his and moved to his face. The cold pack melted into his skin and gave him some blessed relief.

“Hold that there.”

“’Snot your fault.”

Again, there was no answer.

A finger brushed hair from his forehead.

God, Virg.

“Rest, Gordon.”

He wanted to yell at his brother. It was a lucky shot after a sucky day. It wasn’t anybody’s fault.

“Rest.”

A blanket was draped over him and its warmth became something he hadn’t realised he needed.

“Grandma’s on her way back from Auckland.” Scott said it to the room at large.

Oh crap.

“Good.”

Gordon mentally went through what he had in his own fridge in his rooms and came up with very little. Maybe he could coerce Virg to grab him something otherwise he might expire from his grandmother’s ‘curative’ efforts.

“Don’t worry, Gordon. I have a stash. You’re covered.”

Actually, come to think of it, Virgil would probably go out of his way to do anything and everything for him over the next few days.

There was both glee and worry attached to that thought.

“Rest.” A hand returned to his forehead and stroked away what was likely a phantom hair. Virgil always had the urge to touch.

To heal.

Too good for his own good.

Those fingers slipped away again.

Gordon let himself sink a few more millimetres into the mattress.

Scott was still in the room. He could hear his breathing. Virgil was beside his bed.

He was safe.

His head hurt.

It had been an ass of a day.

Too tired to get out of the way of his brother’s fist.

Stupid move.

Stupid.

Virgil murmured something.

Scott whispered in return.

Gordon let himself drift.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Gordon Tracy #Virgil Tracy #FishTank #nuttyfic reblog

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The New Doctor Chapter 9

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The New Doctor Chapter 9 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 9/? SUMMARY: With the Doctor newly regenerated, he and Elise must now navigate their new relationship. The Doctor is an old man and Elise is a headstrong young woman. She is no longer the scared little girl the Doctor saved all those years ago. Will Clara be able to keep them from killing each other?

“In the contest for the golden arrow, after ten rounds, the battle is betwixt our Lord Sheriff and the stranger known as Tom the Tinker!”

Robin stepped forward and the crowd cheered.

“Take your places!”

“Shall we make the contest a little more interesting, my Lord? The targets seem a little close. What say you? Another twenty paces?” Robin asked the Sheriff.

“Why not?”

The target was moved further back and the Sheriff fired a black arrow from his bow. It hit the bullseye.

“Now, Tinker. Let us see thy true face,” the Sheriff said.

Robin’s white arrow split the Sheriff’s.

“Ye Gads! He has split the arrow! Truly, he is the finest archer in all England. Come forward, Tinker. And claim your prize!”

Before Robin could grab the golden arrow, a multicolored feather split Robin’s.

Elise rolled her eyes, although she was rather impressed.

“He still loves showing off, doesn’t he?” Clara asked.

“I'm the Doctor. My skills as a bowman speak for themselves. I claim my reward.”

The herald knelt and the Doctor took the golden arrow. “A mere bauble.” He tossed it to the side. “I want something else.”

“Name it,” the Sheriff said.

“Enlightenment.”

Robin split the Doctor’s arrow with another one of his. The Doctor fired an arrow that ricocheted off the armor of a guard and split Robin’s. Robin fired an arrow without looking and split the Doctor’s arrow.

There was something stirring in the back of Elise’s brain. This situation was familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She knew the memory was there, but her brain wouldn’t let her access it.

“This is getting silly,” the Doctor grouched and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the target.

It went up in a fiery explosion.

“Fascinating. Seize him!” the Sheriff ordered.

Three knights drew their swords, while Clara grabbed what looked like a spear and tried to swing, but it was obviously too heavy for the small brunette.

“What are you doing? Put that down!” the Doctor told her.

“I'm fine. I take Year Seven for after school Tae Kwon Do.”

Robin ran over to their small group. “Don't worry, fair lady. I'll save you.”

It took a moment for Elise to realize he was talking to her. “Hold on! I don't need saving!”

“Your honor is safe then.”

“My honor?”

Clara hit Elise lightly on the arm. “He’s flirting with you!”

“By implying I can’t take care of myself? I’m a Timelord.”

“Well he doesn’t know that!”

Robin whipped off his hat and everyone cheered. “For I am Robin. Robin Hood!” Robin sliced off one of the knight’s arm, but instead of blood spurting from the wound, it sparked.

The Doctor ran over and picked the arm up. “Robot.”

The knight’s visor opened to reveal a metal face.

“Now we're getting somewhere.”

“Take them. Kill the rest. Kill them all!” the Sheriff ordered.

The robot knights fired energy bolts from their forehead.

“He surrenders!” the Doctor yelled.

“What?” Robin asked.

The Doctor knocked Robin’s sword from his hand.

“You miserable cur. I had them on the run. Flee, lads, flee! Live to fight another day!” Robin yelled to his Merry Men.

“To the dungeons with all of them,” the Sheriff said.

The knights grabbed them.

“What are you up to?” Clara asked.

“Quickest way to find out anybody's plans, get yourself captured,” the Doctor told her.

Elise scoffed. “We always end up captured.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They were taken to the castle dungeons.

Again, this situation felt too familiar to Elise, but the memory wouldn’t come to her.

The four of them were chained to posts in the room.

Clara and Elise were chained to one together.

“Splendid. Enchained,” Robin complained.

“Yep,” Clara said.

“Trussed up like turkey-cocks. Thanks to your friend.”

“Shut it, Hoodie. I saved your life,” the Doctor snapped.

“I had the situation well in hand.”

“Long-haired ninny versus robot killer knights? I know where I'd put my money.”

“If you had not betrayed me, I would have been triumphant.”

“You would have been a little puff of smoke and ashes.”

“Oh, ha!”

“You'd have been floating around in tiny little laughing bits in people's goblets.”

“Balderdash. Ha!”

“Oh, right, here we go. It's laughing time.”

“Well, you amuse me, grey old man.”

“Guard! He's laughing again! You can't keep me locked up with a laughing person.”

“Oh, I find that, I find that quite funny. Do you know, I feel another laugh coming on. A-ha-ha-ha!”

“Guards, I cannot remain in this cell. Execute me now.”

“If you two keep it up, I’ll execute you both!” Elise yelled at them, but the two men ignored her.

“You heard him. Execute the old fool.”

“No, hang on. Execute him.”

“I do not fear death, so execute away.”

“Execute him. I'd like to see if his head keeps laughing when you chop it off!”

“Oh, Robin Hood always laughs in the face of death.”

“Yes, rolling around the floor laughing, I would pay good money to see that.”

They both started yelling for the guard.

“Will you two, shut up!” Clara yelled, “Do either of you understand, in any way at all, that there isn't actually a guard out there?”

“Oh,” the Doctor said.

“I did, in fact,” Robin insisted.

“No, you didn't.”

“I said, shut up,” Clara snapped, “The Doctor and Robin Hood locked up in a cellar. Is this seriously the best that you can do? You're determined to starve to death in here squabbling.”

“Well, I'll tell you one thing. I'd last a lot longer than this desiccated man-crone,” Robin said.

The Doctor snorted in amusement. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, you know what? I think you'll find I have a certain genetic advantage.”

Clara yanked on the chain attached to his wrist.

“It is not a competition about who can die slower,” she told them.

“It would definitely be me, though, wouldn't it?”

“There was supposed to be a plan. Do either of you two have a plan?”

“Yeah, of course I have a plan.”

“I too have a plan,” Robin said.

“Okay. Robin, you first,” Clara told him.

“Why him?” the Doctor asked.

“Doctor, shut up. Robin, your plan.”

“I am biding my time.”

“Thank you, Prince of Thieves. Last of the Time Lords?”

“Yes, I have a plan,” the Doctor said.

“Can you explain your plan without using the word sonic screwdriver? Because you might have forgotten the Sheriff of Nottingham has taken your sonic screwdriver, just saying. It's always the screwdriver. Elise, you got anything?”

Elise sighed. “No. There’s nowhere to put my screwdriver in this dress.”

“You used to have a holster for it,” the Doctor said.

Elise’s eyes widened. “I what?”

The Doctor shook his head. “Never mind. Let's hear Robin's plan first.”

“Oh, for God's sake,” Clara groaned.

The door opened.

“See? There was a guard. There was guard listening the whole time, I knew it. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Robin said.

The guard was a man with no teeth, only rotten stumps. “The Sheriff himself commanded me to listen, to find out which of you is the true ringleader.”

“Ah, so he can do the interrogating. Very wise,” the Doctor said.

“Excellent. He will get nothing from me,” Robin insisted.

“No, no, no, no. no. He will get nothing from me, because interrogation, that's where I always turn the tables. You see, that's my plan.”

“Just hurry up and take me to him.”

“No, no, chop-chop, come on.”

The guard unlocked Clara’s chains.

“Seriously?” Clara asked.

“Come on,” the guard said, pulling her along.

“Take your hands off her!” Elise yelled, “Oi! I’m talking to you!”

“No,” the Doctor breathed.

“What are you doing?” Robin asked.

“Don't be ridiculous!”

The door slammed shut.

“If something happens to her, I will never forgive you,” Elise told her father.

“Clara will be fine.”

Elise laughed.

“What?” the Doctor asked her.

“Nothing. Nothing. It’s just…reminds me of the Pandorica is all.”

“The first time you spoke. ‘Course I’d heard you speak before…”

“Before what?”

“Nothing.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Robin said, “I need you to moan.”

“I'm sorry?” the Doctor asked.

“Beat your breast. Moan. Groan as though twenty devils possessed your guts.”

“What for?”

“So as to attract the attention of that gargoyle-faced guard.”

“It's your plan. You moan.”

“No, no. No, it won't work.”

“Why?”

“Oh, because you're clearly more advanced in years and you have a sickly aspect to you.”

“I have a what?”

“You're as pale as milk. It's the way with Scots. They're strangers to vegetables.”

“Oi!” Elise snapped. She would not stand by and let him insult the heritage of the woman who influenced this regeneration in both herself and her father.

“I'm not moaning. You moan,” the Doctor told him.

“Fine. If you want something doing...” Robin moaned loudly. “Can I rely upon you to do the rest?”

“Yes, yes, I know the drill.”

“What is this din?” the guard asked.

“No business of yours, cur.”

“Speak up. I can't hear you,” the Doctor muttered at Robin.

“What ails him?” the guard asked.

“None of your business.”

The guard entered the cell. “I said, what ails him?”

“Well, if you must know, he's having a nervous breakdown.”

“A what?”

“He's like this whenever he's in any kind of danger. He just can't seem to cope. He gets so afraid. He goes into a kind of fit. I honestly believe that he may die of sheer fright, like some tiny, shivering little mouse. Oh, God, I think he's soiled himself.” “Let him die. It will save us the trouble of executing him.”

“And what will happen to the reward?”

“Reward?”

“Oh, God, I shouldn't have said that.”

“Tell me!”

“He carries a vital message. The Prince has promised a bounty.”

“A big one?”

“An enormous one.”

Robin mumbled something.

“What’s that? Say again?” the guard asked. He leaned in towards Robin.

“Come closer. Your breath stinks like a serpent, has anyone ever told you that?” Robin head-butted the guard, knocking him out. “Soiled myself?” Robin asked the Doctor.

“Did you? That's getting into character. Okay, keys.”

The two of them started fighting over who was going to get the keys.

“I'll get them.”

“No, no. I'll get them.”

“I'll get them. I'll get them.”

“I'm fine, no, no worries. I've got them!”

“I've got them! I'll get…”

They ended up kicking the keys down a drain.

Elise groaned and slammed her head into the post. At this rate, they were never getting out.

“Well, there is a bright side,” the Doctor said.

“Which is?” Robin asked.

“Clara didn't see that.”

#Twelfth Doctor #twelfth doctor imagine #twelfth doctor fanfiction #doctor who #Doctor Who fanfiction #doctor who imagine #clara oswald #clara oswald imagine #the littlest timelord #the littlest timelord: the new doctor #robots of sherwood

[whumpwriterforlife]

Ooh I saw the Bad Things Bingo and was wondering if you could do Impaled Palm for Prompto? Please and thank you!

Here you go!! I wasn't sure where to go with this exactly but the muse took me on an adventure and this is what came out! I hope you like this! This is the first time I'm actually posting my Prompto whump... This one comes with soft ending!

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Characters: Prompto Argentum, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ignis Scientia & Gladiolus Amicitia

Whumpee: Prompto Argentum

Word Count: 1235

Warnings: ...impaled hand? No descriptive injuries though

--

“Noct!” Prompto moved on instinct. He saw the arm pull back, the glint of a blade in the late afternoon sun before it soared through the air. Noctis had his back to them, deep in a conversation about a close-by fishing spot with Ignis. He wouldn’t see it coming. Prompto’s feet, his whole body really, moved on its own accord as his training kicked in. There was no time for fear, no time to panic as he threw himself in front of the dagger.

A scream ripped out of Prompto’s throat as the dagger hit him, his hand. His vision went white, the pain taking over his whole being for the moment, making everything else muted and far away. Prompto thought he might have heard Gladio roar — an angry, protective sound that was reserved only for when one of them was hurt. A wet gasp left Prompto’s lips as he shifted and pain sparked through his hand, sharp and vicious. He curled protectively around his hand, belatedly realizing he wasn’t standing anymore, but lying on the ground. The gravel was rough against his temple but he barely noticed it as he opened his eyes to slits. A terrified noise, one between a gasp and a sob, left his lips as his gaze landed on his hand — and the dagger that had impaled it.

Panic ignited inside Prompto’s chest and stole his breath away. He jolted into a sitting position, a scream on his lips but then Ignis was there, instructing him to breathe, hands gentle, one on his face, one on his arm. Just follow my lead. In...out. That’s good, you’re doing great, Prompto.

Prompto tried, he really did. Breathe in, hold, then slowly release and repeat. Ignis’ eyes were kind and patient. There was no disappointment, no annoyance on his face at all. A sob burst from Prompto’s lips and then there was another figure by his side, hugging him gently. Noctis. Prompto leaned against him and breathed in the familiar, comforting smell of his friend. Noctis wasn’t hurt. If Noctis was hurt, Ignis would be with him, not with Prompto. Prompto hiccuped. He needed to be sure. “You’re— you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, all thanks to you,” Noctis assured him. He sounded slightly out of breath. “Iggy, how is he?”

“The dagger impaled his hand. I’m afraid we will have to remove it ourselves which won’t be a pleasant task,” Ignis said. He was as calm as ever but there was an undertone of worry in his voice. “We cannot use a curative before the dagger is out of the way.”

Prompto’s lip trembled and he drew in a shuddering breath. He brought the injured hand closer to his chest. “That— that’ll hurt? Like, a lot?” It was a stupid question, he knew. Of course it would hurt, they would be pulling a dagger out of his hand! Prompto wiped tears from his eyes with his good hand. It was already hurting so much. “I— I can’t— “

“Prompto, it will be alright.” Ignis squeezed Prompto’s knee softly. “As soon as it’s out, we can use a curative on it and it’ll be as good as new. Time is of essence, however, and we need to do this as soon as possible.”

Ignis turned to look at Gladio, who had at some point appeared on Noctis’ other side. “I will need you to hold him down, make sure he doesn’t move and injure himself further. You too, Noct. It won’t be easy but it is the only way. We’re far from a hospital.”

Prompto whined at the words and Noctis pulled him closer in response. He could feel the tension radiating from Noctis and realized none of the guys were any happier about the situation. The only difference was that he was the one that could feel the pain. Could feel the blade in his hand, the blood dripping down his hand. The pain was already excruciating. How was he going to survive having the dagger pulled out? It wouldn’t be as fast, Ignis would have to be careful to keep the blade as stable as possible to keep it from causing more harm.

“Blondie, look at me,” Gladio said, now from next to Ignis. Prompto swallowed hard and did as told. There was an unreadable expression on Gladio’s face, a mix of worry and something akin to...pride? Prompto whimpered. Gladio dropped to his knees and offered a strip of leather to him. “Bite down on that. We’ll do this as fast as we can, okay?”

Prompto nodded shakily and reached for the leather strap. He blinked the tears from his eyes as he looked at each of the guys. They were so good to him. “I— I trust you.”

As the guys had promised, they worked fast. Prompto still screamed, the sound barely muffled by the leather strap between his teeth. It hurt, white-hot and excruciating. The world spun in his eyes. A sickening feeling was building in his stomach and he was sure he was going to throw up but then the blade shifted again and he blacked out.

He came back to, when a curative was broken over his hand and a calm and cool sensation spread through his hand and up his arm, replacing the burning pain. The world was still spinning, Prompto realized he was trembling and overall feeling as weak as a kitten. He pulled the leather strap out of his mouth with his good hand.

“You back with us?” Gladio asked. His voice was rougher than usual, and when Prompto shifted his head to look at him, he could see an oddly shaken expression on the Shield’s face.

“Y—Yeah,” Prompto replied weakly. He brought his newly healed hand up with some difficulty — he really was absolutely drained — and looked at the thin pink line that remained of the wound. There was still a tiny ache in his palm but it was way more manageable than what it had been. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Noctis exclaimed. He grabbed Prompto from under the armpits and pulled him so he was sitting up and leaning against his chest. “What are you sorry for? You saved me. Us. There’s nothing to apologize for!”

“Noct is correct,” Ignis said, putting his hand on Prompto’s knee. He was smiling softly. “You did really well. If you hadn’t been as observant today, things could have gone a lot worse.”

“You should listen to them,” Gladio told him and squeezed Prompto’s shoulder. “You did good.”

“Aww, you guys!” Prompto couldn’t help but blush under the praise. He dropped his gaze down to his lap, pondering on his next words. “I’m just happy Noct is okay. I just acted. I couldn’t let him get hurt.”

They talked for a while longer and Prompto’s blush only deepened as the guys praised his actions. Soon, though, it was time for them to leave as the night was starting to fall. Despite Prompto’s protests, he found himself in Gladio’s arms as the Shield carried him towards the Regalia. There was no way he would have made the walk on his own, not when he was still feeling shaky from the whole ordeal, and the guys had known it. There was a bit of good natured ribbing and everyone was in a good mood. In the end, Prompto fell asleep before they even reached the car.

#badthingshappenbingo #impaled hand #prompto argentum whump #hurt prompto argentum #whump #final fantasy xv #ffxv #prompto argentum #noctis lucis caelum #ignis scientia #gladiolus amicitia #bthb #my writing #hurt/comfort #this actually has a soft ending

[zuffer-weird-girl]

You want a chubby Kai hurt/comfort ask? Alright chubby Kai feels that he doesn’t look good enough to be with angel because Angel has this one handsome friend so Angel asks him what’s wrong

"For God's sake..." he grumbled as he was having a battle against the buttons of his shirt, trying to close his attire to just start the day for once.

"Need any help love?" You giggled from the bathroom as hos golden orbs narrowed before sighing and rolling his eyes. Giving uo on the dress shirt and hoing for anothe rone on his closet instead.

He would be lying if he blame it on you for his gain weight but was not entirely wrong about the issue as well. He had spacked off on his aleating habbits a bit over the past year, still remaining eating healthy things like always but increasing his appetite with some... appetitiziers you had suggested.

"Hey dont get mad at me!" You cooed as he huffed a annoyed sigh, buttoning up his shirt before he tensed at your warm embrace from behind while nuzzling on his shoulders blades.

"Enough." His hands brushed you off but you smiled instead of being offended. Knowing that even despite the years of dating, your boyfriend wasn't one used to touch neither be touched... but the tips of his ears getting all red over a simple kiss on his back and hug told you everything that he packed off on saying.

"Geez, grumpy today aren't we?" You pouted as he fixed his shirt and put on his jacket.

"If you stop commenting about my humor dearest I will take you out to that place you wanted badly." He flinched at your excited and surprised gasp before receiving a kiss on his covered cheek as you printed off to get your things as he scoffed, gloved fingers brushing against the area where your lips had been.

.

.

.

"There's that stand of crepes over there!" You tugged on his jacket as he deadpanned at you.

"If I remember correctly you saw the issue with my prwvious shirt this morning didn't you?" He arched one of his eyebrows up as you pouted.

"Is just a shirt Kai! Come on!!" You looked at him with puppy eyes "Is not every day we get one pleasee??"

That damn look of yours was gonna be the death of him...

Sighing and hating himself at already feeling aome sorta of craving for the sweet, he picked his wallet on his pocket as you squealed happily.

No one could tell by looking at his eyes that he was actually happy... seing your face brighten up like that just because of a simple sweet that HE bought to you was slightly... like a warm feeling inside his chest.

He could simply overhaul someone or his commurates that joked that he had grew "soft" on both ways because of you... but he couldn't deny it either.

"Which one will you get?" You asoed with a smile as he handed the cash and soon got his napkin put to rub his gloved hands.

"None. You asked for it, so only you get one." He eyed your pouty lips as he sighed, rubbing your cheek affectionaly, a rare sign of affection from him "Stop with that face. Im fine."

The man handed the sweet to you as he walked a bit away, waiting for you to catch up with him until he noticed you talking excitedly with another male.

His eyes immediately narrowed at the sign but before he could actually just pry you off and kill the young male he notices something... the guy had a fair share of muscles, much more than he jad before gaining weight. He was constantly speaking with a bright smile on his face as he stood way too close to his liking near you.

You... actually looked like a coupke from afar.

His teeth gritted as his hands tightened into fits... remenbering that for a long time now he couldn't even see himself in the freacking mirror anymore. Not only he had an illness but also was disgusting on appearance as well?

Constantly he got intrusive thoughts that you should have someone better. A man that could bare to have you clinged onto him qithout getting tense over it, a guy who actually took you out on dates constantly and also didn't got you in danger like he did... someone with better appearance...

"Kai?" His thoughts were interrupted when he heard your voice, looking at him with some sorta of worry "You're standing there for a while now... didn't even came when I called you to meet my friend."

He stayes quiet.. bored look locked with yours as he merely sighed, started to walk and waved at you.

"I have other places to be with. Need to finish a job Pops assigned to me."

"Oh.." you muttered, dissapointed present on yoir voice at only heating he was going to be busy for the rest of the day "Then maybe on the evening we-"

"Dont wait up. I might only be free by night time." He eued you for a bit before sighing and looking ahead of him "Dont bother with it."

"I see.." you muttered, his heart clenching at seing you, once so cheerful now just looking like a cloud was over your head...

Yet he decided to ignore.

.

.

.

He couldn't even concetrate on his work anymore... evertime he got closer to qrite or sign somwtjing he could feel his stomach double over as the movement made his ahirt and pants feel tigher than before.

"Fucking fat ass." He growled in anger as he signed with more forece than necessary a paper and almost threw it on some pile before heating some knocks "Say your name and bussines."

"Hi." You cooed, showing aprehensively your face on the door as he arched an eyebrow at your presence.

"I recalled you had other places to be qith at this time?" He said while looking at the clock stuck on the wall as you aproached his desk with a cup.

"Yeah, but it got cancelled... So-!" You put the warm cup on his desk "I thought maybe a treat could bright up the day of my handsome boyfriend."

He scoffed at that word... "handsome"... sure, as if he could be now in the state he is in.

"What is this?" He looked down at the cup and saw a white cloud with bits of caramel on top of it.

"A frappuccino!" You skiled brightly "I saw it on the menu of a cafeteria and I thought you might like it."

His eyes soften at your gesture but still he was adamant on just even breathing near that thing... it looked like one gulp of that he could gain at least 100 pounds...

"I appreciate your gesture, but Im curring all the sugary things for now." He scoffed while pushing the drink back to you before turning to get on his laptop.

The hurt you felt wasn't what bothered you but what Chisaki has been doing all day... Getting away from you like you were the plague and everything eatible at this point.

"Ok. I know how much you hate when I get like this, but what the hell is going on?" Your words seemes to stop Chisaki right when he was about to write something as he looked at you with only one narrowed eye...

"I beg you pardon?"

"Kai you cant say to me that you dont like caramel anymore! You hadn't eat nothing but a freacking apple all day and been avoiding me as well!" You exclaimed qith open arms, lowering them as well as your gaze, feeling your vision burn a bit at the feeling of tears forming "Did... did I do something..?"

A sigh once again escaped his lips, gloved fingers brushing over his darkbrow looks as he thought over his next words... Lying would get him no where and he absolietly hated the aspect of it...

Getting up he walked over you. His fingers picking on your chin and tilting it up to meet his eyes.

"You did nothing. Its only a problem of mine."

"So what is it?" You put your bottom lip out as your eyebrows furrowed. The sign of it made his own furrow deep as his jaw tighten.

"... I.." he sighed, seeing that you wouldn't back off until you knew exactly what was going on "The incident with the shirt and that encounter you had quth your friend just.. Made me think that I fallen out of shape... If I dont stop with this nonsense I might look like that filthy hero fatgum or worse... I wouldn't want you to have shame while walking besides me anyway."

It was so quiet after he finished his rants he swore he could hear his hearbeat on your ears as he waited anxiously for some sorta of response to him. Anything. Really.

"... all this because you gained a couple of pounds?" Ypu finally asked as he gritted his teeth, only to widenhis eyes at the few giggles that escaped your mouth "S-Seriously?"

"You little br-" before he could finish it yoh had pulles his mask down to kiss his lips. The shock was evident on his eyes and his body was tense and arms awkwardly hanging in the air until finally he eased uo and holdee your waist while finally kissing you back.

"You should know by now.." you panted after the kiss ended "That no matter the size or shape, I love you. Just like you dont care a bit if I gained or lost weight you love me to no ends..." you cupped his cheek as he could only stare deep i to your eyes. Someyhing you didn't know, it was that he was looking at you with so much love and adoration that even hurted.

"So that friend of yours you dont have any interest?" He carresed your hips with his thumb as you shook your head with a smile, rubbing noses against eachother.

"Nope."

"Perfect. One less sick in this world." He smirked at your gasp and call of his name in desperation, but you stoll remained glued to him.

The moment he could describe as it almost perfect if it wasn't for some intruder.

"Hey fatass we got a problem down and you need to get there." He only arched an eyebrow at Rappa but soon felt the dark airea coming out of you as you stared at Rappa with rage.

"Kai.. my beautiful man. Would you mind if I take someyhing of your office for just a bit?" He eyed you suspociouslu but nodded.

His eyes widened when you grabbed the sword Pops gave to him years ago and chased after Rappa screaming obscenities that he never thought he would have heard it from you. Especially from you.

He stared a bit astonished at where you left only to notice the drink you had brought to him. Taking into his hand he took a tentative sip before sighing in bliss.

"Sweet.."

#chubby kai x reader #chubby overhaul #chubby overhaul x reader #chubby chisaki kai x reader #bnha villains x reader #bnha villains #bnha fanfictions #bnha fanfics #zuffer writings