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palaceofpassion · 2 years

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A Twist of Destiny

So! This is something I’ve been wanting to write for MONTHS now. Something I brought up a few times here, and I decided to go full indulgent in it.

It’s going to be a full on poly ship of four people, which name for the ship I have no idea! But ya know whatever.

So some warnings, this chapter gets pretty dark, mostly cause I have to pull from dark places to write depressing stuff.

If you don’t like mentions of death, or last moments, or helplessness please don’t read it.

Will contain smut in later chapters, and it’ll only be in escalation as chapters go on.

The story is going to move from the fall, to a bit of getting closer between JNPR+W+M, then to the travel with Ruby included. Will have a lot of good feels, and the main four will be the ones mentioned in the tags, with main supporting cast of Nora, Ren, and Ruby. Then Minor Qrow, Oscar, Yang, and Blake when they show up.

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“Pyrrha! No!” Jaune’s voice bled through his hoarse throat, his body ached and his eyes burned. Hands smashed into the speeding locker, all while he watched the woman who had meant so much to him vanish into nothing but a small dot. Further and further away she got, and he couldn’t do anything as she went to an obvious death. Tears burned against his eyes, he couldn't stop them so he cried, he cried and cried, but there was no saving her. That was the Destiny of Remnant, that was the world they lived in, played over countless of times, Pyrrha Nikos would die today at the hands of Cinder Fall.

That’s just how it was… except this time, something changed. He couldn’t let this happen, he couldn’t let her be taken from him. Jaune… he couldn’t give up, not when his most precious person was on the line. His aura flared, a rare bout of unique strength he had never displayed before surged forth. And his hand, clad in a brief golden spark, slammed against the locker door one more time.

The sudden burst of strength sent the Locker swirling out of control. The mechanism that handled the trajectory stopped functioning, if only for a brief moment. “Whoa!” Jaune’s body briefly spasmed while he adjusted to the sudden influx of aura. The sway of the locker caused his air-sickness, which he had sworn died down, to briefly flare up again. The locker, no longer on course, suddenly veered off, keeping him within Beacon grounds and turning the trajectory away from Vale.

It was this single moment in time that would change not only his life, but the lives of a several other individuals. His lungs burned as he was forcefully yanked from the steady course, the locker practically spinning out of control. Only for it to suddenly stop, a loud SQUISH and THUD rang through his ears as he ran into something, or someone. His eyes, burning from the tears, his heart racing from the panic, his body nearly numb from the sudden pain, everything was screaming at him at once. He… he landed… why did he land? Thankfully, the locker noted this impact as a successful journey, albeit a brief one, and opened. The excess air hissing from the hinges brought his attention back to reality. With no time to waste he suddenly huffed and slammed into the door forcing it open quicker than it would have moved without him.

“Ah!” He screamed, his body aching slightly, and before he could even think he was already reaching for Crocea mors and his shield, he needed to get back there! He… “I can make it! I can make it!” He cried to himself, the tower wasn’t terribly far from them! He swore he could! Then he heard a roar in the distance, and his eyes shot open wide… fear, dread, horror took over his body… he trembled in terror as a massive beast of death sored through the skies, grim paste splattering beneath it. For the second time today, he was left absolutely immobile… “No…” He whispered to himself… because he knew, that no matter what, he wouldn’t be able to save Pyrrha, that she was going to die, and he couldn’t do anything abou-

“No no no no no please! Please no!”

The sudden fear he felt due to the beast above washed away in an instant. His head snapped to his side to… to see what looked to be the remains of… bile rose in his throat as he recognized the chunks of clothing scattered around, as well as the various weapons. It had belonged to team BRNZ; the team that they’d faced in the first round… but there was screaming so…

“May!” He remembered her name, it was one of the few things Jaune felt he had going for him. Regardless of his fortune, the sniper girl, she was there, wounded, badly wounded at that, and panicking. An Ursa, because of course it was, and a few beowulves had her surrounded. They were gnashing, clawing at her desperately. She… she was going to die!

Jaune’s body ached and burned from the crash… though he only just noticed the sizzling of what appeared to be a Gryphon’s body vanishing beneath him… it didn’t take much deductive reasoning to realize that he had killed whatever had injured and snatched May in the first place. She had bruises indicating a crash… but she wasn’t out of danger yet. He wanted to save Pyrrha, he needed to go to her! He couldn’t waste time here, if he was too late then…!

But he couldn’t, he refused, to leave someone else on their own!

It wasn’t in him to do so… so he ran, ran away from the tower, away from Pyrrha.

“Aggh!” And he screamed, with intention to grab the grimm’s attention, even if it was only a little, to get them away from the wounded girl so she could have time to get her gun in her hands and hope to The Brothers she would save him in turn.

He was in over his head, he knew that this would be a fight that he'd have to handle by himself. He wasn’t going to be able to get help from anyone, hoping May would.be in any state to provide support was a fools hope, and he also knew that… that he was going to lose her. But he fought back tears, he fought back the chilling fear of the hopeless nightmare he was in. And he moved, he moved on instinct alone to save someone who he could save… he… he had to do something, anything, so his body did what it did. Did what she taught him to do.

Even as the Grimm turned to him and he felt the pale horror grip his heart, he mindlessly thought back to Pyrrha. And he thought back to how much his heart ached, and how scared he was, not scared of dying himself. But of losing her, of never being able to hear her voice again, of never being able to tell her how he felt about her. But… he had to move forward, he had to… he had to do it, he had to do what he could. “Leave her alone!” He would… he would do what he could, and believe. Believe and pray to himself… that somehow everything would turn out alright.

_________

Pyrrha Nikos, for as long as she could remember, had always found love and adoration from those around her. Had never been in want or need for things that were out of her reach, at least she had thought once. She'd been gifted from the start, which had only been enhanced by her training. In her mind, she had only ever thought about using these things for one single purpose. And that was for the sake of the world around her. She had never once, truly thought about her own needs, or about how she would feel if those needs were left to rot. She had never given much thought into relationships, though she had yearned for closeness and friendship.

Yet that single minded trajectory had come to a head at Beacon. It was true that she had come here to meet people, to hopefully make friends, to make real connections with people instead of merely as something to look up to or marvel at. She realized before Beacon that she was just an object to a great many people, and she wanted to get away from the praise, to work on her own merits. Yet… everything had been the same, had it not? She was still sought after, Weiss Schnee had been a good example of that, at the start anyway. People had only cared for her as far as her publicity went, it was the unfortunate fate she seemed to have. Yet… there had been a single boy, a boy who was clueless, weak, and insecure. Yet he had opened her world to so much more, while she had always wanted to make friends. She had never realized just how much they would mean to her. Through that young man, she was able to make bonds that she hoped would last her a lifetime. With people that she cared for, and for the first time, she felt like maybe she could be a little selfish.

But… she'd never taken what was on offer, she never acted on the chances, she'd continued to be selfless and now…

Her Xiphos clashed against the glass blade of her foe, the woman’s scorned smile never once leaving her face as she parried another one of Pyrrha’s blows. Her semblance had proven to be useless against a foe who didn't wield or wear metal, against an enemy who commanded flames. Pyrrha could feel the lick of heat bounce off her face, her skin reeling in panic and fear.

Pyrrha Nikos knew that she wasn’t going to win this fight. She knew that she wasn’t going to come out of this alive. And yet she put on a show, did her best to hold off the witch before her. Because… because if she didn’t, then who would? If the woman did what she wanted here, she knew she would then be free to go out and burn her friends, turn them to ash as she laughed with a wicked smile.

Pyrrha couldn’t let that happen, because, even if she only bought a few precious minutes, she hoped it would be enough. Pyrrha Nikos was brave and selfless, one more sacrifice to round things off seemed only right.

Once more their weapons clashed as she jumped away, her shield coming up to block a glass arrow, the feeble projectile shattering on impact and scattering around her. Her aura flickered slightly as she felt the shards speed past her thighs, nearly nicking at the flesh if not for the shimmering aura diverting it just enough.

Pyrrha Nikos was brave and selfless, not because she was unafraid, but rather she was terrified. Her very soul was crying out, wanting her to run away… and damned if she didn’t want to run away. But… but she had to do this, because even though she was afraid, terrified, crying and weeping on the inside. She wanted her friends to be safe, and she would do anything to make that happen. ‘I don’t want to die!’ She internally screamed to herself over, and over, and over again. She chanted, and prayed, but she knew none of it would matter. Because, as much as she didn’t want to perish, as much as she wanted to live, to have a life with the man she loved… She knew that her future was sealed and that she was going to die.

“Aaaah!” Her leg burned, an arrow piercing her achilles tendon, forcing her down onto her knees. She could feel the tears welling up, but she didn’t cry. She could feel her mouth drying, and her heart beating faster, lungs burning. But she didn’t weep. She… she looked up at the horrid woman before her, the damned bitch who had come to steal her future.

Today was the day that Pyrrha Nikos was destined to perish. This was the day that she would lose her life, and her story would end. She would be remembered as a hero, but she never wanted to be one. She would be remembered for falling at Beacon so others would make it out, but no one would know what happened, or who did it.

The Invincible Girl was going to perish and would surely be remembered, but Pyrrha Nikos would be forgotten by all but just a few. ‘I’m sorry… I love you Jaune… please… please.. Please be safe.’ She cried internally as she faced her death. The least she could do was face it with dignity. So she turned to her would-be killer as she prepared her bow, the arrow set to loose right into her. So Pyrrha could only do one thing, she turned her attention back to her killer, ignoring the arrow that would take her life. And asked her a simple question.

“Do you believe in Destiny?”

It was the last thing Pyrrha would ever say, or at least, that’s what it was supposed to be.

But something different happened that day, something… unexpected? Perhaps destiny had a different tale for her, perhaps this universe decided that it wouldn’t let one of it’s heroes fall. Maybe… just maybe, the cruel reality of the world would be overturned, and a new story would be written. One where hope could truly shine through. Both women stopped, because they felt it before they heard it. It was loud, echoing, and instant.

BANG!

The loud shattering echo, then pain… pain in just her shoulder, not her heart… and then a scream. Those were the last things that Pyrrha Nikos remembered…

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May was going to die, she was going to die, she knew she was going to die! She kept on playing back the last few seconds in her head over and over as the beast began to lift her off into the air. Her eyes red from the tears, and her throat sore from the screaming. Over and over again, in the span of just a few microseconds, she could see her teammates, all three of them being torn apart by grimm. Their bodies sundered to shreds and the light fading from their eyes. If she had bile to throw up, she would have done it again, but unfortunately she was fresh out, and her body was burning and aching. Her heart was beating fast, so very fast! She was scared, terrified, horrified.

“Let me go! Please let me go!” Her voice was quiet, nearly a whisper mixed in with all the other screams. It was hard for her to speak, hard for any words to properly leave her dried lips, because again, her throat was sore. She cried though, she still had plenty of tears. She tried, and tried to reach for her weapon, but her panic had caused her to lose her grip, the gun falling uselessly to the floor as she felt the air exhale from her lungs. Instantly she was off the ground, and she panicked, “No no no no no! Please please! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!” She cried over and over, May was downright horrified, because today was the day that she died, the day that she became a meal for the Grimm.

Her insides turned, and her heart nearly stopped. Because… At the end of the day, who was going to morn her? Her family? No… no they wouldn’t… they didn’t care about her. Her parents had nearly sold her off when she was younger, the only reason they hadn't was because the offer wasn't high enough. Her friends? What friends? She didn’t have those, her closest friends were her teammates, and they were only just that, teammates. And now dead. So no, May was going to be forgotten, just another corpse on the pile, with no one to save her.

“Pleease… please… let me go!” She struggled, if only her semblance would work! If only she had the Aura to twist the bird's leg! But… but… but she couldn’t! She was going to die today, she was going to be nothing but a stain… “I don’t… no… no please… I want to live… I don’t want this… don’t! Please!” She knew they wouldn’t hear her, that no matter what she did, her words were going to fall on deaf ears.

She… she cried, and closed her eyes, because, even if the Gryphon let her go… there were plenty of smaller Grimm beneath her… she could see their white maws open, fangs ready to tear her to shreds. She wasn’t going to escape… “I don’t want to die…” She cried one more time…

May Zedong would have normally been nothing more than a spec on history. A bit part in someone else's story, at best. No one would remember her, no heroic tales, nothing. She would disappear and not a care in the world would be given, her existence entirely forgotten. But… sometimes Destiny can be an odd thing, can’t it?

A loud crash rang through her ears. Her body was violently and suddenly sent flying. Though she lacked the proper aura to protect herself as she was suddenly sent hurtling into the ground, something caught her fall. Unfortunately that something was a rather large Grimm, thankfully it was softer than the concrete, but again: Grimm.

She had no way of understanding what had just occurred, not yet. She had no way of knowing that this single moment was enough to twist her fate… but when her eyes opened she saw a locker land in front of her and someone came out. She could only do one thing, she screamed.

“No no no no no please! Please no!”

She echoed her words from earlier, because she couldn’t think of anything else.

And she saw him, a familiar face through the black abyss that was the bodies suddenly converging around her. She saw him turn, and she could see that there was panic, that he was looking at the tower, with that… she froze as she saw IT in the sky… but… then he turned back to her. And it looked as if he decided something.

He yelled, and the Grimm were drawn to him…

That was only a few minutes ago.

May Zedong, would get to live another day.

Her life had taken a turn for the odd, for the terrifying, she was an insignificant piece, a non player. But… now she had the chance to do something. “Come on May, I believe in you.”

His words, Jaune’s words filled her with a sense of accomplishment. She nodded as she aimed down the sights. Her aura flickering to life as he held a hand on her back. Her savior had needed her help, and she would do it… no matter how terrified and scared she was. No matter what would come, she owed him that much. And… and if she could save someone else, someone who… who from the look beyond the scope, was just as afraid as she was, the Invincible Girl of all people, she would do it.

She watched, waited for a perfect time to fire, because the flaming woman was skilled. May knew she could dodge her shot if she wasn’t ready, and she could do more harm than good for Pyrrha. But then… then they stopped fighting, and Pyrrha was on her last legs, this was her chance. Her aura flared to life, her semblance taking form: Motion, the ability to push, though useless in most situations, it helped to add an extra oomph to her shots.

BANG

She fired her one shot, empowered by what she and Jaune could only call his semblance, something that had… had changed both of their destinies, had changed Pyrrha’s. The bullet flew faster than any she had ever fired, whistling through the air, except the projectile had hit it’s target before even the sound started.

She could see the shocked expressions, the confusion, then a blinding light. The girl that Jaune had called out to but a few minutes ago was on the roof, her eyes flickered and then the entire world was awash in silver.

___

Weiss was tired, she was frustrated, and more than anything she was heartbroken. Everything had been alright two days ago, everything had been fine. Their world hadn’t been shattered, and though certain things could have been better… they were whole. Now? Now her team was in shambles, if she could even call it that. Blake had run off before morning had come, Yang was passed out, surgery had taken a lot out of her. And Ruby? Brothers she wasn’t even sure! Her uncle had come back at the crack of dawn, with Ruby in hand. She had noted that Jaune and… May? Her name had been May, had been there too.

She could only assume that the loud bang she’d heard before seeing the blinding silver coming from above her in the tower had come from the femme sniper… though she wondered why she was clinging so close to Jaune? The thought didn’t matter of course, no, what mattered was Pyrrha… Pyrrha was being held in Jaune’s arms, she was just as quiet and silent as Ruby. And for a moment there, she was terrified that two of her friends hadn’t made it… but relief had struck then, when Qrow, Ruby’s uncle, had informed her they were both okay. That however didn’t do much to alleviate the fears she was feeling, especially as she watched the blonde stare back and forth between the two unconscious redheads…

Going back to the present, all Weiss could do was sit there, alone… with no one by her side. She felt… weak and small, just… just why did everything have to turn out this way?

“Hey… Weiss.”

Only for a voice, so weak, exhausted, and frail to call out to her. Her head snapped back, eyes focusing on Jaune of all people. She could see the clear red underlines beneath his eyes which had shown he’d been crying. She couldn’t blame him, because she’d been doing the same thing…

Weiss had no way of knowing that this little change in the flow of the world would alter her own decisions to come. Had this been another time, another place, the young Arc would have been too busy with self loathing and heartbroken with the loss of his dearest friend, that he wouldn’t have been able to offer her a shoulder. A shoulder, that she sorely needed, that she yearned to have no matter who it was.

“Ah… yes… hello…”

She always acted strange around Jaune, not because of any romantic feeling, rather it was just… strange for them. There was always this little air around the two, ever since he stopped pursuing her, and they’d… sort of become friends? Yes, she would like to say they did.

Regardless, the past still left stains that made it hard for either to talk correctly.

“Hey just… I wanted to check up on you.”

Her lips thinned into a flat line, her fingers digging into her dirt stained dress, “I appreciate it, however, shouldn’t you be with your team?” She tried to divert her emotions, Weiss had never been great at spilling her heart. Only Ruby had really been able to get her to talk, and now… she didn’t even have her.

“Well… Pyrrha’s awake, I wanted to let you know that.”

“Good.” She spoke in a matter of fact kind of way, but she was relieved. The thought that they could have lost her that evening frightened her. She could still remember the fear in Jaune’s voice as he called her. How he… he was terrified that she would die, and that chilled her to the bone. She had never heard anyone so desperate, so… so fearful. He had begged her and Ruby to save Pyrrha and… and they had. They weren’t too late… ‘Oh brothers… we could have been too late…’

She would have never been able to live with herself had something happened. She would have lost a strong footing, her self would have been destroyed… she would have succumbed to anything at that point.

“I’m glad… I’m glad…”

She spoke, but not directly to him.

“Thank you… thank you… you and Ruby…” His voice was cracking, breaking up, tears were running down his eyes. “If you hadn’t been there… I… we would have lost her…” She could see him crumbling, crumbling down to bits and pieces. She had never seen him look so small, not even when he coward and cowed at the beginning of the year.

She… she didn’t know what to do… her hand reached out to him… but then he moved shifted back up as he wiped his face, so she retracted it instantly.

“Thank you Weiss… so much… we’re… we’re here for you. I know that…” He inhaled again, “That your team isn’t… isn’t around right now. But we’re here for you, we owe you… and… if you need anyone to talk to… please, please come with us.”

She was taken aback.

“As far as we’re concerned, you’re family.”

And then… she felt her heart pulse, tears that she hadn‘t realized were there dripped down against her hands, her fingers curling into her dress.

“Thank you.” She whispered to him, very faint, very quiet.

She bawled openly, because she didn’t have to be afraid of being alone.

That evening, her father came. The cruel man that he was, had come to take her away, he threatened her, she would lose everything she fought for if she didn’t. Weiss knew that, at one point in time, she would have cowed, feared him, would have given up. But…

“No.”

“No!?”

He yelled, no he SCREAMED at her, his eyes were raging, fury building in them. His hand drew back, and she prepared for his palm to strike her… but it never came.

“Who!? How dare you!”

Though she had closed her eyes, she hadn’t full braced herself… but when nothing came and she slowly blinked her vision open. She found someone in front of her… “Jaune?”

Jaune was there, but he wasn’t by himself… May was by his side, Ren and Nora were there too, Nora looking like she was about to throw down with her father… and then there was Pyrrha. Pyrrha was there. Though she was currently in a wheelchair, she had caught her father’s hand.

“Mr. Schnee, I believe that’s quite enough.”

Never had Weiss heard the champion sound so… terrifying. A chill ran through her spine as the crippled woman seemed to eye him with a dangerous gaze, one that caused him to buckle under the weight of someone who had survived death.

“Weiss is a Huntress in training, she’s considered an adult. You were about to strike her… I hope you’re aware of the consequences.”

He huffed, putting on airs to pretend he wasn’t afraid, but Weiss could see the shiver that ran through his suited form.

“You dare to threaten me? No one would believe it!”

“Uhm… uh… well…” A quiet voice, one that Weiss had only grown used to very recently called out. “We have this…”

The sniper, May, pulled out her scroll, and on it was a clear recording of what had just happened. Of her father attempting to strike her, of him demeaning everything that had just happened here.

His eyes widened and he turned his attention back to Weiss. She… she stood tall though. She took to Jaune’s other side, opposite of May. “I said no… my friends… my FAMILY needs me.” Ruby was still here, and Yang… Yang had finally woken but she hadn’t said a word, she’d pushed everyone away… they were here and they needed her. And JNPR… she looked at them, all of them, including May. They were still here.

“I refuse.”

He fumed, but decided to give in, for now, “You will regret this! You hear me!”

Pyrrha for what it was worth, smirked, “I doubt it.”

Weiss felt a little tingle run through her… ‘Oh my.’

When her father retreated, she was surprised to find a hand on her shoulder…

“Weiss, are you alright?”

Her eyes gazed upwards to be met with a deep, solid blue, just like the wide ocean. He was concerned for her, and again she felt her heart do something she wasn’t used to. It flipped.

“Ye…yes… thank you, all of you.”

He gave her a smile, one filled with relief, “Any time.” And her heart did another flip.

“Well… I guess you probably don’t have anywhere to stay.

She shook her head, “I do not. I was thinking about going with Ruby and Yang but…”

“Right… yeah… we spoke with her uncle. They’ll be taking them back to Patch. Other ways of going back aren’t easily accessible right now so… it’s not too far from here, and fairly close to Patch, but the rest of us, are going to be staying with my family. If you would like to join us?”

She… didn’t really have much of a choice, “If they wouldn’t mind.”

“It’s a big house, and there’s already a lot of us, so one more won’t matter.”

She nodded… well then… for once Weiss was glad she put up a final stand… either way it wasn’t like his house would be too big right?

…

“Jaune! YOU HAVE A MANSION!”

Nora was right, despite her bombastic announcement, this was clearly a mansion.

Weiss felt herself woodenly turn to the blond. “Jaune, why do you own a mansion?”

She had to know.

“It’s not a mansion! And uhm… well we have a big family, and we aren’t wanting for money… we own a relatively big ranch and vineyard so…”

She had seen it coming here, a large outstretch of open land, filled with farm animals, and another portion filled with grapevines.

“That's all yours?”

“Mmhmm…”

It would seem that Weiss Schnee, and everyone else, hadn’t fully realized that Jaune’s family name, despite him only ever talking about the warrior lineage, was THE Arc’s…

“Wait, but you never brought this up.” Even Ren was perplexed.

“Ah… well… farm work isn’t really glamorous, you know?”

Pyrrha blinked, then chuckled, “Is this why you told me you could always work on a farm if Beacon didn’t cut it?” Her chuckle turned into a full on giggling spree.

“Oh uhm…” He blushed a cute pink, and scratched the back of his head, “Yeah… yeah…”

Well… it would seem that this minor stay would be… interesting to say the least.

#Jaune Arc #Pyrrha Nikos #Pyrrha Nikos x May Zedong #May Zedong #may zedong x jaune arc #Weiss Schnee #Jaune Arc X Pyrrha Nikos #May Zedong X Weiss Schnee #Pyrrha Nikos x Weiss Schnee #Weiss Schnee x Jaune Arc #Jaune Arc x Pyrrha Nikos x Weiss Schnee x May Zedong #Combined Arms #Arkos #Whiteknight #White knight #Arcshot #Ballistics #Schnarkos #Schneekos

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of-house-atreides · 1 year

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Supernatural Frontier | Chapter 2: The Cabin in the Woods

Series Summary: Former Delta Force soldiers, Santi, Frankie, Will and Benny, meet with fellow hunters, Dean and Sam Winchester, and team up for a rescue mission. Their objective: kill the demons, destroy their army, and save as many people as they can. Little did they know they'd find an angel in the pits of Hell, and that they'd have to put their lives on the line to save hers.

Chapter Summary: The girl wakes up. Santi warms up to her.

Pairings: TF!boys x OFC

A/N: Please note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 7089

Warnings: PTSD, nudity, mentions of blood, eventual poly relationship...

Minors DNI!

Masterlist

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 (coming soon...)

Tags: @moonchild-cupcake @littlenosoul

Please leave some feedback and reblog if you like it!

The feeling was too great. It overwhelmed him. He didn’t know it. He didn’t understand what was happening to him. He thought it was just exhaustion. The adrenaline leaving his body. The horrors he had witnessed haunting his mind, the evil sticking to his skin. He had plunged in the dark and had returned with its treasure. Like a pirate, killing and maiming his way to the hold of a haunted ship. What had he been fighting for all these years if not for her? She was all the answers to all his questions. Everything he’d been through seemed worth it now. She washed all his regrets away, erased them from his memory.

Will had always believed he had left the war behind, not for the hopes of a better life, but to put his skills to better use. He wasn’t killing other human beings anymore, he was killing real monsters, real demons. He was making his own choices. Every time he pulled the trigger now, he did it because he chose to, because he needed to kill a monster to save a person. Not because his generals had put someone’s name on a list. It wasn’t just his country he was protecting anymore, but the world, the people. He had always been good at his job, been good at death, but he didn’t want to do it any longer. He couldn’t. Hunting was just another kind of job, another kind of death. One that wasn’t as bad. He had seen what humans were capable of, and it had broken him. And sometimes, when he would look in the mirror, he would wonder if he was just as bad as the people he had been ordered to kill. Sometimes, he wondered if he would see them again one day, with black eyes, just like he wondered if he would one day look back at his reflection and see only darkness in his own. But still, he hunted. He hunted to help the vulnerable, to rescue the defenseless, to save the innocents. He did it all. He did it all to get to her. She was it. He knew it the moment he stepped foot in that room and laid eyes on her. She was the most vulnerable, the most defenseless, the most innocent.

She was his redemption.

Benny kept a close eye on his brother, checking in the rearview mirror if he had moved at all. They had been driving for hours, and yet Will hadn’t moved a muscle. He was holding her, her head resting on his lap, his eyes focused on her thin face, his large hand cupping her cheek. Every breath she took he took with her, like she was allowing him to breathe.

He was waiting for her to wake up and yet he hoped she wouldn’t. He wanted her to be in a safe, warm place when she opened her eyes, wanted her to be able to run from him, from them, and see they weren’t going to hold her down and tie her up. He didn’t want her to feel trapped by the size of the car, or scared by the dark of the night. He wanted to be able to give her clothes and access to a bathroom. He wanted to give her a sense of safety, her dignity, and her humanity back to her. He wanted her to trust him.

He wondered how bad it would be, once she woke up. Because he knew she would be scared. He knew it would take time for her to trust him, and his friends. It wouldn’t take days or weeks, or months. It would take time. And patience. And he would do anything to make it happen as soon as possible.

The feedback of the walkie startled the two brothers. They jerked on their seat then sighed out of annoyance. Will let out a little laugh. On the other side, Santi’s voice was tired and low, probably because Frankie was sleeping next to him.

“They rent cabins not far from here.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Benny nodded. “We hunted a Wendingo in those woods once.”

“Fuck, don’t remind me,” Santi chuckled, earning the same reaction from Will. “Let’s see if they have a cabin for us.”

Finally coming to a stop, the three men jumped out of their vehicle with unspoken relief. They stretched out their arms and legs as quietly as they could in the cold silent night. Benny had to hold back a very loud tired sound that almost escaped his throat as he extended his arms above his head. Frankie was still sleeping on the passenger seat, his forehead resting against the foggy window of the car. Santi didn’t waste any more time and went in to ask the dreadful question. Every second he was inside was agony to his weary friends.

“I don’t think I can get back in the truck,” Benny whined, almost praying for a miracle.

Will turned back to check on the girl, still sleeping on the back seats, before turning back towards his brother.

“Me neither.”

The door of the front desk opened to show Santi holding up a key like it was a medal won after a great victory.

“Thank God!” Benny laughed, releasing a shaky breath, almost falling to his knees.

“How many beds?” is the first thing Will asked.

His friend smirked, ready to defy his eternal pessimism.

“Six.”

Benny straightened up as his breath caught in his throat, while his brother raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Six?!”

“And that’s not the best part.”

“What?” Will said, doubtful he could do better than that.

“Ask me how many bathrooms there are.”

“How many bathrooms?”

“Five.”

“You’re kidding,” Will shook his head.

“Nope. It was the last cabin they had.”

“And how much is that costing us?”

Benny rolled his eyes, annoyed by his brother‘s restless negativity. Santi dug his hand into his jeans pocket and took out a credit card in the name of Hector White.

“It’s not costing us anything.”

“Come on, Will, aren’t you tired enough?” his brother scolded as he put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just go to bed. Wait… how many double beds?”

“Four.”

“Ha-ha!” Benny jumped, like he’d just won the lottery. “Perfect, let’s go.”

The younger brother got back into his truck, gesturing for his brother to hurry up and for Santi to lead the way. It only took a few minutes to get to the cabin, but those minutes were the longest. Benny could already see himself in bed and sleeping for the next few days. The little wooden house was the furthest away from the road, deep into the forest, but that didn’t scare the hunters. When they parked the trucks on the designated spots, Frankie was awake. Their relief could be seen on their faces. It was such a comfort to know they wouldn’t be hiding in a cheap motel, sleeping in uncomfortable beds and taking cold showers for the near future. That cabin was a luxury they couldn’t usually afford, both for financial and practical reasons. And it put Will’s mind at ease as well, knowing the girl would have a safe and clean place to wake up to. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she was trapped in another tiny, smelly, dirty prison.

He carefully wrapped his coat around her before he carried her out of the vehicle. Quickly, he walked up the stairs and crossed the porch to enter their new temporary home. It was luxurious indeed. From the outside, the place just looked like an oversized log cabin one could find in the woods, dusty and dirty, stocking the usual hunting and camping gear. The kind of place people owned on the side, to escape the city for the weekend. But, perhaps, it would look better in the daylight. However, in the inside, it looked like a palace. Or at least, as close to a palace they would ever see. Will almost felt ashamed to walk on the beautiful rug with his muddy and bloody boots.

The entrance was a large square. The hardwood floor was covered by a giant beige rug, and in the middle stood a high glass square table on which had been placed a vase of obviously fake white lilies. Above it hung a chandelier with candle shaped lightbulbs. The walls were adorned with paintings not unusual for a vacation home. They weren’t unpleasant to look at, but no one really did want to look at them. He was surrounded by three archways. The one on his right led to the living room. It looked pretty comfortable, especially with that big TV, but that wasn’t what he needed at the moment. The one on the left led to the kitchen, and the one before him led to a staircase and a hallway.

“There’s a bedroom with a bathroom over there,” Santi said as he pointed towards the hallway. “There’s another bathroom next to the kitchen. Everything else is upstairs.”

“Let’s go upstairs then,” Benny yawned, knowing Santi had already claimed the bedroom on the ground floor.

It happened naturally, like it always did when they didn’t have to flip a coin for it. Benny entered the first bedroom he found. Frankie picked the second one, and Will was left with the bedroom at the end of the hallway. It wasn’t as big as the others, but at least he had the best bathroom, with the modern shower and the large bathtub.

He settled the girl on the bed, not caring for a second about staining the clean sheets. He brought the covers up to her chin, before turning on the night lamp and turning off the room light.

“And where are you gonna sleep?”

He turned around to find Santi in the doorway, his bags in his hands. Will gestured towards the couch.

“There are six beds in this place and you’re gonna sleep on the couch?”

“I can’t leave her alone.”

“Take the single beds.”

“She’ll be more comfortable here.”

Santi sighed. He sounded desperate. He put Will’s bags down on the dresser before he leant against it and crossed his arms over his chest.

“What’s your deal with her?” he asked, although it didn’t sound like a question, because he knew Will didn’t have an answer.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m keeping her.”

“Keeping her? She’s not a pet, Will.”

“She’s staying.”

Will’s aggressive tone and the seriousness in his eyes concerned his friend the most.

“Nobody’s making her leave.”

Will nodded. To him, that was the end of the conversation. That was the end of the issue.

“Seriously, though,” Santi started and Will sent him a warning look. “You do realize this isn’t… I mean it’s weird, man.”

“What do you propose we do?”

“Exactly what we’re doing now, just… be careful.”

“I will be, okay? I just… I just know she’s not what they said she is. She’s not dangerous.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. Did you see her down there? She’s not a monster.”

Santi frowned and tilted his head to the side as he stared back into his friend’s eyes, hoping he would see and understand his worry. He spoke his next words quietly.

“Maybe she was the biggest monster there.”

Will opened his mouth, but then closed it without saying a word. He looked down at the floor as he clenched his jaw in frustration. He made his way to the couch and sat down, his eyes remained focused on his boots, until they moved back onto her.

“I guess we’ll see when she wakes up,” he said, giving up, too tired to keep debating, as he knew there was nothing he could say to make him understand what he knew in his heart.

“I guess we will,” Santi repeated in a whisper. “Do me a favor, though. Get some sleep.”

Will nodded. “Yeah, I will.”

Santi chuckled as he pushed himself off the dresser and exited the room. Will had always been a terrible liar.

***

Spinning in darkness, untethered, floating like a leaf in water, drifting away in the infinity of her unconsciousness… she rose slowly from the deep sleep she had been forced under. It didn’t feel like waking up, because she hadn’t really been asleep. It was another kind of slumber. She emerged from the shadows of her mind, yet felt like she was drowning in them.

Memories echoed in the obscure chambers of her consciousness, compelling her to return to her comatose state. She didn’t want to go back. That was the only thing she was certain of. The only thing she knew. She fought against it but found herself unable to go back to the peaceful darkness. She was too weak for it. And trying made her feel worse.

She had been taken to the deepest corners of Hell, and they had used every weapon, performed every experiment, put to the test every theory, used up all their ideas… And the lack of satisfactory result never discouraged them. In fact, it became just another excuse to use new tools and new methods to torture her. They quickly learnt how to subdue her, how to make her weak, and her power mute. She had lived most of her life trapped between spells and sigils that had paralyzed her, body and soul. She had only known pain, had only felt their touch, the cutting of their knifes, the breaking of her bones… In Hell, there was no music but the sound of cries, and no song but the demons’ laugh.

That was all she knew.

They had driven her mind away, broken it like they had broken her body. Except it couldn’t heal the same. She was immortal. She was eternal. They couldn’t find a way to stop her heart, so they stopped something else. They had pushed her to meet her end. She had done it to herself.

She had put herself in a box where they couldn’t reach her, where she wouldn’t feel the pain, or their hands on her skin. She had turned herself off, had used those sigils and those traps to her advantage and had locked her mind away. The only way she could escape them. The only death she could ever have.

But something had changed. Now, she was free. The chains had disappeared. She could no longer feel the effect of the sigils on the walls, the traps on the floor and ceiling. She could no longer hear the screams, no longer feel the pain. She could no longer recognize where she was.

It was warm, and soft, and comfortable. And she wasn’t hanging from the ceiling, nor was she chained to the corner of a cold cage. She was lying down, but she wasn’t tied to the surface. It felt weird. Like she could actually move.

***

The sun rose and set on an eventless day chased away by the merciless night. Resting, relaxing… those were not words part of the soldiers’ vocabulary. They almost didn’t know how to do either of those things. They could appreciate a warm shower and recognize a comfortable mattress when they had one, but they were used to the opposite. So when they woke up from their restful sleep, they felt even more tired than they were when they went to bed. It didn’t help that it was almost midnight when they woke up. Or maybe it did help. Because even though they were used to living at night, it was just a good excuse to get back into their comfortable beds.

Will stayed up as long as he could, and he tried not to fall asleep, but he was human, with human needs, and no man, as strong as he might be, could stay awake, as exhausted as he was. But when he woke up the next night, unlike his brothers, he never went back to sleep.

He was awoken by a whimper. It startled him. Like he had just caught himself falling asleep at the wheel. He almost fell off the sofa. His eyes immediately searched for her, fear driven, as an irrational thought crossed his mind that perhaps she had vanished in silence, escaping the house and the attention of the four very skilled men who had been trained to not let such a thing happen. But she was still there. Sleeping. Her chest rose, and when he saw her breathe, so did he. He let out a sigh of relief before running a hand over his face.

He was staring, he didn’t realize it. Once again hypnotized by the sleeping beauty. He came to dread her waking up. The apprehension made him uneasy. Still panic settled in his heart as if he could feel the moment getting closer with each agonizing second that went by.

And then, he heard another whine. Suddenly, finally, she flinched, and his heart stopped.

A grimace twisted her face. A whimper broke the silence. And he froze like a deer in headlights. Like any movement from him would make her pain worse.

Her eyes shot open as she sat bolt upright with a cry that stuck in her throat. She gasped, like the air burnt her lungs. She whined as she found herself free to move and breathe without pain, the surprise almost as painful. She grabbed her wrist and looked down at herself, ignoring the dirt and blood covering her skin, instead focusing on the fluffy cover that kept her warm.

“Hey.”

Although he spoke calmly and as quietly as he could manage, she jumped, and as she saw him, the confusion on her face vanished and terror came to replace it. She seemed to shrink under his gaze, as if she was trying to make herself disappear.

“You’re okay,” he quickly added, holding up his hands before him to show her he meant no harm, “it’s okay.”

She whined as he stepped forward. He stopped.

“My name is Will. You’re safe, I promise no one here will hurt you.”

He could see she didn’t believe him, or maybe she just didn’t understand him. She was trembling, holding back tears, as if she was afraid to move or make any sound, as if that would lead to more scary, more painful things.

He hesitated, for minutes, he just stood there, holding her gaze, nodding at her, whispering promises, begging her to calm down. But she wouldn’t. She just wouldn’t. She just looked at him with her big wet blue eyes as if he was going to do unspeakable things to her. And the more she looked at him, the more scared she got.

“I p-“

She fled. She fled like a rabbit scared of hunting hounds. She pushed herself off the mattress, away from him. Tangled in the sheets, she struggled to get out, and fell on the floor, but she never stopped. She dragged herself in the corner of the room, between the wall and the old-fashioned wooden wardrobe, dragged the sheets with her, brought them up, covered her body under them, hid inside them.

Will sighed as he gave up. He really had no idea how to deal with this. He knew PTSD. He knew how to help soldiers, veterans coming back from war, but this? An angel tortured by demons? He had no idea what she had been through. No idea how to help her. But he knew he had to be patient. And kind. And gentle. And he couldn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to. Even if she needed to.

He slowly walked up to her and she pushed herself against the wall like she wanted to melt and disappear into it. He had never heard such broken cries. As if she knew no matter how much she tried to fight back, how much she begged, how much she cried, the pain would inevitably come. So he had to make her understand it wouldn’t. He had to make her understand he wasn’t one to bring pain.

He sat with her. Without saying a word, he just sat there. And he waited. He waited for her to understand.

***

Hours passed and they hadn’t moved. Slowly, though, she came out from under the sheets, eyeing him, wondering what kind of game he was playing. Usually she could tell what they would do to her that day by who was holding the knife or the room they took her in. But this was new.

He seemed to have fallen asleep, and a thought she hadn’t had in a very long time crossed her mind. She could run. She could try and run. And she might have tried it, had she been certain her legs could carry her out of there. She might have tried it, had she been certain he was really sleeping. She might have tried it, had she known for a fact the door was unlocked. It could be a trap. It was most certainly all a trap.

She moved, slightly, just to see if she could get a reaction out of him. Little by little, and it took minutes, she got herself on her hands and knees and slipped out of her corner. What she was doing terrified her, but her survival instinct pushed her to move, pushed her to seize her chance.

Slowly, quietly, she made her way to the door. She kept looking b ack at him just to make sure he was still sleeping. Then she got on her feet and almost fell down. This was a terrible idea. She wouldn’t go anywhere in that state. She could barely walk. But she tried it anyway. Because even if they caught her, at least, maybe, they would be mad enough to put her back to sleep.

The door opened, and the empty hallway smelled of freedom. A wave of relief surged through her, but she still had miles to go. She staggered her way to the stairs, falling down a couple of times, but always getting back up. She gripped the ramp tight and was careful with each step she took down the stairs. She could see the front door and she knew it was too good to be true. But she didn’t give up. Even when she fell down again, her knees hitting the soft rug. Even when her legs were too weak to get her back up. She didn’t realize she was crying, because she had spent so much of her life with wet cheeks, and she worked through the pain, because she had known worse. She dragged herself to the big door, pushed herself up enough so that she could reach the handle and pull. And pull.

But the door was closed.

A broken sob escaped her throat as she collapsed to the floor and broke down in tears. She cried until she couldn’t breathe anymore. She cried until she felt a pair of hands around her waist.

She yelped as she was lifted off the floor and the stranger helped her sit up. She was expecting to see scary black eyes and the sadistic smile of the bored jailor that had played this cruel trick on her, but instead was met with the gentle brown-eyes of a man with dark disheveled curls. He looked nothing like Will, but for the pity in his eyes. He sighed as he looked at her, and she felt shame as his eyes travelled on her dirty self. She was only wearing a large brown coat and it had opened up on her way downstairs.

She flinched and shut her eyes as he brought a hand to her face and cupped her cheek. When she opened them again, when the pain never came, when all she felt was the soft touch of his hand on her skin and the gentle rub of his thumb wiping away her tears, fear had made place for confusion, and she dived into his eyes and saw the promises they were making her. She wanted to believe them. She wanted nothing more than to believe Will’s words; that she was safe here. So when the man moved his hands onto the coat, she didn’t move, and she let him button it up in silence.

“Do you want to go outside?” he asked, a question needing no answer, as he knew she wouldn’t give him any.

He slid his fingers in his jeans pocket and retrieved the keys to the door. She gasped when he scooped her up in his arms, but found herself holding on to him. She didn’t know why but she held on to him. The air outside was fresh and wet and she sobbed as it hit her skin and saw the sunrise in the horizon before them, behind the forest. She couldn’t remember the last time she had set foot outside. Had felt the wind in her hair. She buried her head in the crook of his neck to shield her eyes from the natural light. They would have to get used to it again, after all those years in the darkness.

The stranger smelled nice. She didn’t know what it was, but it was different. It was a strong rich smell that had her rub her nose against his collar bone. He smelled clean. He smelled alive. It filled her lungs with unspoken relief. At least, it didn’t make her sick. She shivered at the contact of his skin. He was warm, almost burning the hand she had wrapped around his neck. She wasn’t used to being around the living. She only knew cold death.

There was a swing on the porch and he thought she might enjoy it, perhaps the rocking would calm her down. Soothe her.

She was still trembling in his arms, and he knew it wasn’t because of the temperature. She needed pants… well, she needed everything. He could hear her sob, feel her fingers tap on his skin, and slowly move up to his hair until eventually she slid them in his soft curls and mindlessly, gently, started to pull on them. He rested his cheek on her icy forehead as he hushed and whispered promises, telling her everything was going to be okay.

Eventually, her breathing settled and her sobs disappeared, replaced by the quiet sounds of the calm forest. Her shaking now was mostly due to the cold morning, and while her fingers were still playing with his hair, her free hand had, at some point, seized the collar of his shirt and hadn’t let go.

That was the only thing she could control, the only thing she possessed. That bit of fabric attached to a man she didn’t know, trapped inside her tiny hand like it was a source of power that could allow her to stop time and remain like this forever. It was the shield she had put up around herself, the walls she had built for protection, the leash around his neck to pull on should he or anyone try to end this moment.

She pulled on it when Will ran out of the house in panic and found them on the porch. She pulled on it even though Santi, as Will had just called him, tightened his hold on her and told her it was okay. She pulled on it when Will knelt at his friend’s feet and took her face in his hands. She saw his lips moving, but a sudden ringing in her ear stopped her from hearing him. She whined as she shut her eyes in pain and once again chose to find shelter in Santi’s arms, hiding her face in between his neck and shoulder.

“What happened?”

“She tried to leave. Freaked out when the door wouldn’t open.”

Will sighed. “She’s not scared of you.”

“I don’t know what to tell you man. She keeps smelling me.”

“It’s the cologne I got you for your birthday,” Frankie said as he joined them, cigarette in hand, leaning against the doorframe.

“You didn’t get me anything for my birthday, pendejo.”

“She awake?” Benny asked, appearing behind him with a hot cup of coffee in his hand. “She a monster or what?”

“She can barely walk, Benny,” Santi answered.

“Yeah, she doesn’t exactly look like the most dangerous creature on earth…” Frankie said.

“She looks like she needs a shower.”

“Shut up, Benny,” Will spat as he leant forward to retrieve the girl from Santi’s lap.

She gasped as she felt his hands on her and quickly wrapped her arms around Santi’s neck, desperately holding on like Lucifer himself was trying to snatch her from her safe place.

“Come on, man,” Santi complained. “She’d just stopped crying!”

Will stepped back, obviously frustrated, as Santi stood up. The sudden move made her panic.

“It’s okay, baby,” he hushed as he made his way back inside the cabin without giving another look to his friends.

He took her back to Will’s room where he laid her on the bed. It was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. She just wouldn’t let him go, and her cries made it harder for him to put her down. They came to a compromise. She got back under the covers, and he remained by her side as he held her hand. She played with his fingers for a while until they moved onto his wrist. She seized it and, little by little, started pulling him towards her. Gently, at first, then forcefully. He kept telling her that it was okay. That she was going to be okay. After a while, the words started to make sense to her. Not that she started to believe them, but her brain heard the words, and understood their meaning. Reality was still blurry. But her senses were slowly coming back to her. Eventually, he gave in, and climbed into bed with her. He slid under the covers and brought her to his chest, and she surprisingly didn’t hesitate to embrace him. She laid her head close to his neck and started tapping her fingers on the exposed skin of his chest.

Will appeared at the door with his hands in his pockets. He took in the sight before him then looked away.

“We’re gonna go into town, get some food, some clothes… you need anything?”

“I’m good.”

“Right…”

Silence settled awkwardly and he started to rock on his heels.

“Get her some girl stuff, will you?”

“Girl stuff?” he chuckled. “Sure. Try and get her to take a bath, yeah? I looked around, there’s everything she needs in there,” he said as he pointed to the bathroom.

“Sure,” he scoffed. There was no way that was going to be easy.

Benny called for Will from down the stairs and the older brother waved goodbye before he disappeared in the hallway. Santi heard the front door close behind them and the car drive away. She didn’t move. She didn’t move when Will stepped in, and didn’t move when he stepped out. She just laid there, running her fingertips on his skin. She just held on to him.

She held onto him when he sat up, when he got out of bed. She held onto him when he took her to the bathroom. But when he tried to put her in the tub, she let go. She fought against him, suddenly, startling him, and he was unable to stop her from falling on the cold hard floor tiles, hitting her head on the edge of the tub.

“Shit!”

She pushed against him when he knelt to check her forehead, she screamed in panic. She tried to get up and run but he easily caught her, causing her to fight back even harder. She cried and begged, and he hushed and comforted, but she wouldn’t calm down. He had no idea what he had done wrong.

Frankie arrived soon after, running in, worried about all those screams that echoed from the bathroom.

“Close the door,” Santi told him.

Bad idea.

Once closed, the girl’s screams got worse. She never stopped trying to escape Santi’s arms, and started kicking Frankie as he tried to approach them.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“I think she’s scared of the tub, just lock the door.”

“Are you kidding? She thinks we’re gonna drown her or something and you wanna lock her in here?”

“I don’t want her to run away, just lock the door and help me calm her down!”

Frankie had been right, though. She did lose it when he locked the door. Somehow finding more strength to fight them off.

“Show her the water, show her… damn it,” he hissed in frustration as she almost managed to slip away, “just show her it won’t hurt her, will you?”

Frankie sighed. He made his way to the tub and turned on the tap, putting his hand under the water.

“See? Look. It’s just water, it won’t hurt, look. It’s just water.”

He kept shushing, repeating the same words over and over again because he didn’t know what else to say to make her understand. Her screams, her cries, her begging just wouldn’t stop. And all the while, he wondered why on earth would she be afraid of a bathtub. He stepped back into the corner of the room, still facing the tub. Steam evaporated from the water filling it while her cries worsened.

“We’re gonna get you in the tub, it’s not gonna hurt, it’s going to be nice and warm, and we’re going to get you cleaned up, wash away the blood, wash your hair, you’ll feel so much better, you’ll see. It’s not going to hurt. I promise. It’s not going to hurt.”

She screamed as he stepped forward, and every kick and punch from her broke his heart. But Frankie helped him take her coat off and finally get her in the tub. She fought all the way in, water splashing everywhere. They had to pin her down to keep her from getting back up once they had finally gotten her to sit. Her hands gripped the edges of the tub, as if she was afraid they’d push her under the water. Santi covered one with his own.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” he said as he caressed her skin. “Will said there were some products around, grab some,” he instructed Frankie, who came back with everything he could find.

Bottle after bottle, body wash, shampoo, conditioner… he opened them all and only kept the best smelling ones. He made her watch as he brought them to his nose then asked her to do the same.

“See? Smells good, right?”

The water had gotten cold by the time she was calm enough to let him bring a bottle to her face. But that wasn’t an issue, on the contrary. The water had also gotten quite dirty.

“We’re gonna change the water, okay? So you’re not too cold.”

She watched, with fear, but also a bit of fascination, as the water disappeared around her. She brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. Santi took the showerhead and explained to her what he was doing as he turned it on and checked the temperature. She was still scared, but her panic had gone, and although she was still wary of him, she let him do it. She even let him bring the water to her face and hair.

“Close your eyes, I won’t be long.”

When most of the blood and dirt had been washed off her skin and hair, he filled the tub again and asked Frankie to find a washcloth. He could see she wasn’t completely at ease, but hopefully she would remain calm until she saw they wouldn’t hurt her.

Frankie had sat on the other side of the tub and rested his forearm on the edge. He watched as his friend put the cloth in the water and brought it to her face. She jumped and moved back, but then let him clean her face.

“Did you pick the bottle you wanted?” he asked, as he showed them to her again. “This one?”

It was a kids body wash that smelled like strawberry, that he could use to wash her hair as well. After he was done with her face, he handed the cloth to her, but she only gave him a confused look.

“I’m sure you’d rather do it yourself.”

He shouldn’t have been so sure, because she didn’t move. She only looked back down at the water. Santi sighed.

“Right.”

He started with her arms, and she started looking at the bubbles that had appeared in the water, like she had never seen any. He did her back as she tried to grab some, only to watch them explode under her touch.

“Do you wanna do your legs?” he asked again, but still, no answer. She was too captivated by the bubbles. And it smelled good too. Perhaps, that was why she seemed so calm as he touched her.

“I think she’s lived through worse things, Pope.”

“That doesn’t mean I get to touch her like this.”

“I think she’s used to it.”

“It doesn’t make it right!”

“I know that.”

He reluctantly brought the cloth to her legs and she didn’t move when he reached her knees. When he looked up, he found her eyes on him.

“Come on, baby, you can do your thighs, yeah?”

She tilted her head to the side, like she was considering it, but she was just trying to understand. Eventually, she stretched her legs, revealing her upper body to them. They looked away.

“Take the cloth. I’ll wash your hair. Deal?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer because that would have just been a waste of time. She watched it float in the water as he did his best to clean her very dirty and tangled hair. To his relief he remembered Frankie had handed a detangling spray to him earlier as well.

Frankie had spent the entire time looking away from the girl. He didn’t know why but she freaked him out. At some point though, as he dipped his hand into the water to check the temperature, he saw she was looking at the ring around his finger.

“You like it?” he asked as he removed it and handed it to her. She gave him a puzzled look. “Go on, take it. Take a better look.” But she never did. She had learnt long ago not to take anything that was handed to her under any circumstances. She jumped and moved away when he reached for her arm, but didn’t fight back. She watched as he placed the ring in the palm of her hand. It was big and heavy, golden, with details all around it, an eagle in the middle. She looked at it for a while. It could have been seconds, it could have been minutes. Time had taken another meaning inside that bathroom. But at some point, she handed it back to him.

“Thank you,” he said as he put it back on his finger.

In a surprising move, she took the cloth out of the water, and handed it to him. He sighed.

“Alright.”

He wrung the cloth out before bringing it to her neck. Then down her shoulders. Down to her cleavage. He watched carefully for any sign of discomfort, but she seemed lost in thought, her eyes looking once again at the bubbles in the water.

“Frankie,” Santi warned.

“I know.”

He ran the cloth in between her breast and onto her stomach, down to her thighs. He was meticulous. He slowly brought it back up to her breasts. She didn’t move. He made it quick. When he was finally done, she brought her knees back up to her chest, and he looked over at Santi who was still struggling with her hair.

“Do you need a hairbrush or something?”

“Maybe. Hand me that detangling spray you found earlier.”

“If we hurt her, she’ll lose her shit.”

“I know, I’m doing my best here.”

Santi started to wish he had waited for Will to come back and make him do it, because he definitely hadn’t signed up for that. When Will and Benny came back with food and clothes, he was still struggling with it. But at least it was clean.

“That shit ain’t working,” he said angrily, feeling like throwing the bottle out the window.

“Just let me do it,” Will said as he removed his shoes and stepped in the bathroom.

He knelt before her first, and asked her if she was okay. As expected, she gave no answer.

“Let’s just get her out of the water first, we can deal with her hair out there.”

He grabbed a robe that was hanging from the door and Frankie left them to join Benny down in the kitchen and help him with the groceries. Will emptied the tub and asked her to get up, promising they wouldn’t look, although they weren’t sure that information mattered to her. Seeing she didn’t move, Santi leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“Let me help you.”

He put his hands on her waist and she instantly turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, surprising him once again.

“Oh, okay…”

He helped her back onto his feet, allowing Will to get her inside the large white warm fluffy robe. Although she wouldn’t look at him. She kept her focus on Santi. Will tied the belt around her waist and once his hands were off her, she hurried back into Santi’s arms.

Will sighed. “Come on.”

They took her back to the bed where they sat with her, Will behind her, armed with a bunch of hairbrushes and detangling products that didn’t work, Santi before her, holding her hands in his, whispering the same thing over and over again.

“You’re safe. We will never hurt you. You can trust us. I promise.”

Will managed, by some miracle, to fix her hair around noon, and they wondered if she was starving just like they were. Santi gently took her chin in between his fingers and made her look up at him.

“You hungry, baby?”

As usual, she didn’t understand the question, and moved towards him for only response.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her, wrapping an arm around her. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

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siennahrobek · 3 years

Text

Fic Idea Masterlist

Who He Is – Qui-Gon Jinn, right before the Naboo mission, is tossed forward in time where he meets a young Togruta padawan right off the coast of a battle. As she brings him to the base to meet with the High General, he talks a bit about his own padawan. (Time Travel)

Bending Jedi – The Jedi can bend the four main elements they have been keeping these specific abilities hidden away from the populous when they can, as people tend to fear them with what they can already do, the discovery of bending in Jedi would breed more distrust and fear. But the war has made that too difficult, as the Jedi are desperate to protect, and the clones are the first to discover the Jedi’s abilities, more than what they were told in their training. (Bending Jedi Avatar-Style)

Together Twins – An attack on Polis Massa forces Obi-Wan Kenobi to flee with both Luke and Leia Skywalker.

Chances – Trading their silence and obedience for the clones’ freedom at the end of the war, the Jedi find themselves nearly shunned and hated with the intense anti-Jedi sentiments that run rampant due to Palpatine’s influence. The clones refuse to accept this.

Order & Academy – After being rejected by Qui-Gon Jinn, initiate Obi-Wan Kenobi finds himself forward in time during that of the height of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. (Time Travel)

Third Systems Unprepared – During the explosion where he received his iconic scar, Commander Cody’s chip was knocked around to the point of disuse. When the Chancellor calls on Utapau to Execute Order 66, Cody has no idea what it means, therefore unable to send the orders to the rest of the 212th Attack Battalion and much of the Open Circle Fleet. It changes a lot.

Reverse Psychometry – After coming back from his stint with the Dark Side, Quinlan Vos spends some time with Obi-Wan Kenobi and touches his cloak with an ungloved hand. Instead of his psychometry giving him flashes of the past, he’s fairly certain it gives him a flash of the future. One where Obi-Wan’s grief is overwhelming, everyone is dead, and Anakin Skywalker burns without his limbs. (Reverse psychometry)

Kamino Investigation – Instead of chasing Jango Fett off Kamino, Obi-Wan Kenobi stays on planet, giving the tracker to another nearby knight, while he investigates the clones and the events surrounding them.

Space Survival – An explosion goes off on the Negotiator, which is in low orbit over the Republic world for repairs. Obi-Wan Kenobi is aboard and holding as much of the ship together as he can for the evacuation of the wounded.

Bracca Detour – Upon an accidental detour to Bracca after being sent to Tatooine for exile with Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi finds Cal Kestis.

Lothal AU – Owen Lar’s disbelief and mistrust of Obi-Wan chases him away and the Jedi leaves with Luke (or Leia), eventually finding himself on Lothal where he befriends the Bridgers.

Bit Age Swap – Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker has no intention on taking a padawan just as the war is starting, despite being a knight for nearing a decade until his master, Mace Windu, comes to him with an orphaned padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, whose Master died on Geonosis and is determined to fight in this war, whether the Order likes it or not. Skywalker quickly discovers there is more to padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi than first meets the eye. (Smidge of Age-Swapping)

Din Djarin Au – With the Sith and Separatists defeated, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the 212th are finishing the last of the battles against the droids and stubborn Separatist leaders. It is on a planet, during one of these battles, where the droids are invading a city, that General Kenobi rescues newly orphaned and force-sensitive Din Djarin.

Stay Out of it – Obi-Wan and the 212thare in bound to Coruscant for a few days’ rest, refuel and new orders when Anakin and Padme’s marriage comes to light. And then, Obi-Wan can’t get back to the front quick enough.

This is Different – Coming back from Melida-Daan has proven more difficult than anticipated for Obi-Wan Kenobi and it only gets worse when he wakes up, decades later, only to be found – and accepted – by a monstrous Sith Lord, who seems to have some odd soft spot for him. (Time Travel)

Lineage Reconnection – Obi-Wan brings it upon himself to contact Qui-Gon’s lineage and friends to inform them of the news of his death. Yoda does what he does best and meddles. At least, it appears this time, it worked for the better of everyone involved.

Back with Hope – Obi-Wan Kenobi, a while after Order 66 finds himself back in time, reliving events. He doesn’t entirely know where to start with changing things until something changes for him. The Jedi receive a call from an unknown source – it is tiny clone children calling for their only hope – Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Time Travel)

Undying – It is on Bandomeer when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn discover that the former cannot die, and it is used to their advantage. Obi-Wan keeps his secret, even after Qui-Gon’s death, until he can’t anymore. It is the revelation of the Chosen One prophecy that his purpose is revealed – as a Guardian, Obi-Wan Kenobi cannot die until the Chosen One has brought balance to the Force.

Lineage Last – Anakin and Ahsoka both leave the Jedi Order after she is accused – and proven innocent – and although Obi-Wan understands, the fact that he they left, and he is the last of his lineage doesn’t hurt any less.

Amor – Obi-Wan has been to war before; no one needed to convince him to wear at least some armor. Now how much, that is a different story.

Canon Switch – Anakin Style – After saying something he would come to regret; Anakin Skywalker finds himself in a universe where Obi-Wan had died on Naboo... and Qui-Gon had lived. It is not nearly as he dreamed it would be. (Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence – Time Travel)

Canon Switch – QuiGon Style – A heartbroken Qui-Gon survived Naboo while his padawan did not. Barely surviving for the next ten years, Qui-Gon finds himself in a universe where the opposite is true. (Time Travel)

Dooku Set Up – Tired of Palpatine’s schemes, Count Dooku thinks of defecting when the master Sith Lord is killed. Someone is setting him up and Dooku reaches out to the only person he desperately hopes can help - his grand padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Extra Weird Jedi – The Jedi end up being different than the clones had expected. More odd, dangerous, intriguing. The Kaminoans had told them one thing, the populace’s view of the Jedi. But up close, working with them? It’s so much different.

Baby Counselor – Obi-Wan Kenobi is the youngest member of the Council and is known a bit as the Council baby – at least with other masters – and those on it, are not afraid to treat him that way. It just a tad changes things.

Crechemaster Obi-Wan – When the war comes to an end, Obi-Wan Kenobi decides to become a creche master while Anakin and Padme expect their first child. But when the Senator dies of a cause that is no one’s fault, Anakin is left bereft and leaves his children behind. Obi-Wan takes Luke and Leia into his creche clan.

To be Chosen – Jedi Luke Skywalker is thrown back in time to that where the Order still exists. Finding he cannot go back; he constructs a new life and home into the Temple. Several years later, even though Master Yoda tries to keep a specific initiate away from his sight, Luke encounters him anyways and thinks, perhaps he and Obi-Wan were linked, always meant to be. Perhaps it was Luke’s turn to give back to his master. To be Chosen. (Time Travel)

Kamino Defense – Peace is restored after the war, although the work isn’t done. In response to the controversy surrounding his padawans marriage to Senator Amidala, Obi-Wan accepts a post to protect the clones and their young from power hungry warlords and greedy businessmen on Kamino while the Senate debates what to do with them.

Burned Deep – A thousand years ago, the Jedi chained themselves to the Senate and Republic and dismantled their military as a show of good faith. Now the Senate controls the Jed strictly to keep them from taking over. The Temple becomes a beautiful cage, their stringent parameters for missions a leash. In this world, when the war begins, Jedi are let loose as more of attack dogs than Generals. (Alternate Universe – Canon History Divergence)

Jumping Ages – In an attempt to use what she thinks is a Sith weapon, Ventress just ends up causing some chaos for Obi-Wan and the crew as he ends up popping in at different ages and stages of his life over the course of an unknown amount of time. The only one who doesn’t seem to be rattled is Cody. (De-Aging/Age Regression)

Padme Lives – After surviving Order 66, Padme is forced to hide away with her children, leaving Obi-Wan free to find surviving Jedi and learn about the clones’ predicament.

We Are Burning Stars - Instead of on a faraway planet, fighting the last battles of the war, Obi-Wan Kenobi is walking aside his Commander in the Jedi Temple when Order 66 hits.

Revolving Suns - Raised by Obi-Wan Kenobi, teenaged Luke Skywalker finds himself back into the Clone Wars while General Kenobi falls into an unexplainable coma.

#fic ideas #star wars fic #star wars #obi-wan kenobi #star wars prequels #i don't know if i will write any of these #but i've been writing a lot lately #so maybe #inspo drawn from several sources #cause I pick up a lot with looking and reading and thinking #these aren't the nice summaries that I usually write #however #i usually have more of a grasp on the idea when i write those #i have this really weird vaguely sort of talent that involves writing those summaries you see on book backs #if anyone has any ideas #feel free #suggest #use #whatever #i should really try thinking a bit more about Anakin's padawan days #my mind is generally stuck in the clone war era #or fix-its afterwards #time travel is fun sometimes #although not always a huge fix-it #because changing a few things or knowing a few things #doesn't always fix people #or events #obligatory de-aging #man i talk too much in the tags sometimes #okay im done now

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captastra · 2 years

Text

Relationship and Courting Asks

Part 1:

1. ♥ Do they seek out love or let it find the? Are they even interested in romance?

Rhea doesn’t seek love and, in a way, actively avoids it. She lost her family, was hurt once, and decided it wasn’t worth getting hurt again. She’s not against love since a part of her wishes she could experience the same lover her parents had, its simply hard for her to ever put herself out there.

Felix is more likely to actively seek out “love” but is not against letting it come to him. He’s been with multiple people, mainly passerby’s who stop on the Groundbreaker, but they have always left him and some even hurt/used him. That doesn’t stop him from wanting more, but I don’t think its love that he actively looks for, until he stumbles on it with the most unlikely of people.

2. ♥ When they have a crush on someone, how do they let them know?

Rhea would never actively make it known, but it would show in very subtle ways. The way her eyes would linger on the purpose, but quickly look away when they catch her watching. The way she would want to spend more time with them, listen to them, it would be obvious every time her face lights up when they are in the room with her.

Felix is just plain obvious and has no shame at all. If he has a crush, he won’t directly say it but its obvious in every action, gesture, and the way he talks to the person. They become his whole world and he’s never afraid to show it.

3. ♥ Tell us about a time they were rejected.

Rhea forever has to live with the rejection of a family that never wanted her even before she was born. Romantically, she never put herself out there to be hurt because of this.

Felix doesn’t dwell on his rejections, openly or internally. He was rejected by many who came off ships that he found larger than life and most didn’t want to deal with that.

4. ♥ Do they spend a lot of time in the courting stage or attempt to get to first base as fast as possible?

Rhea wants to go on dates first before they do anything physical. It takes a lot for her to trust someone so openly as to give herself to them, so she wants to get to know her partner first before they get that far.

Felix is willing to do pretty much anything, be it a few dates, going all the way, or not at all, depending on his partner. He struggles to put his own desires first in this aspect.

5. ♥ Do they wait to be intimate until after marriage or break all the social rules?

Seeing as how both of them didn’t wait till marriage, they don’t care about those rules, but are respectful if their partner wishes to wait.

6. ♥ Do they have open or closed relationships?

Both prefer closed relationships because they are loyal to their partners and would want that loyalty too.

7. ♥ How do they feel about polygamy?

Rhea supports anyone who is in a poly relationship, but she would prefer to be with one partner.

Felix is both a supporter and would be willing to be in a poly relationship, but communication would need to be there for him.

8. ♥ Are they loyal to their partners?

Absolutely! Both Rhea and Felix would give their all to their partners.

Rhea struggles with trusting someone that much but once she does trust them, she would give her all.

Felix gives his all from the start. It doesn’t matter how much he’s been hurt because he doesn’t focus on the past, he focuses on the here and now and if he’s with you, then you are his here and now and forever if you want it to be.

9. ♥ Are they patient with their partners?

Rhea is very patient. There’re very few times she will lose it and that tends to be because she doesn’t communicate it, which is something she works on. She understands what its like to be ignored, talked over, not given a chance and the last thing she would want is to make her partner feel as if they can’t come to her when they need patience and understanding.

Felix struggles with this. It’s not as if he doesn’t want to be patient, he does. But if they come to him with an issue or a complaint about something, he wants to fix it. He doesn’t want them to continue feeling anything bad, so he sometimes jumps to conclusions or charges ahead in fixing a problem that was really only meant to be talked about or needing patience.

10. ♥ Do they include their partners in most aspects of their life?

Maybe not everything but they would always want to talk about their lives with others. Rhea may hold off on including them in a part of her life that maybe she doesn’t care for (such as her time trying to run Halcyon post-game) because its stressful and she’d rather focus on her time with her partner than share that stuff. She may struggle with it too, if she feels ashamed or see a part of her life as boring, but if her partner shows they support her no matter what, she would be willing to share some aspects of it.

Felix would basically drag that person through every aspect of his life because he is so excited to have someone to share his life with. He doesn’t care if its boring, only if its dangerous would he be hesitant because he wouldn’t want his partner to get hurt, he is simply beyond excited to have someone that wants to be with him and share in his life.

#the outer worlds #rhea hawthorne #felix millstone #rhea and felix #trying to get myself to write so I can write other stuff #my headcanons #ask game #relationship and courting ask

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softrozene · 4 years

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I hope I'm doing this right ! It'smy first ask on Tumblr 😊 I love "HeNeeds a Pirate Queen" and my fav chap is 64 for jealous Luffy 😂. May I get some hcor scenarios about lufdy kid and law being jealous over their fem mc. Thanks for being an amazing writer !

Omg, thank you for the request! This was so sweet. I can’t believe how many people have been telling me they love the story as of late. It makes me so happy! I hope you enjoy lovely! (Since you brought up Chapter 64 though I would love to say that Luffy doesn’t get jealous until someone points out that he should be.)

Kid’s came out more like a headcanon scenario? Anyway Jealous Luffy would be so cute lol

Random thought: a poly relationship with robin? Sign me the fuck up

Warnings: Fluff (we are looking at the cinnamon roll Luffy), jealousy, since Law and Kid are in here there will be suggestive actions (I am looking at Kid. If you know, you know.) Probably grammar errors- I’m tired

Words: 1365

Eustass Kid-

If you are the type of partner to make him jealous on purpose, the relationship will not last at all. His jealousy gets ugly and rather fast. It can lead to a different situation that we do not want. Thankfully, I would hope anyone who wants to be his partner would not mean to make him jealous on purpose. If that is the case it would make handling him a lot easier.

Kid will never admit he is jealous. That just is not his style. No, instead he becomes aggressive, passive-aggressive, or usually both. Passive-aggressive towards you and aggressive towards others. It does not take a genius to know that he is just jealous but if confronted about it he will throw hands.

So, Kid likes to keep his eyes on you constantly. It is not as if he does not trust you. He does not trust other people. This is how it would usually go. A party out in a random town on an island. He will watch you with boredom as he drinks (if he were single you bet he’d be mingling). He will keep his eye on you and his crew members may tease him, but he will ignore it or glare at them to make them shut up.

It is when someone from the island decides to chat you up. His crew is not dumb enough to ever chat you up like that. He will watch for a bit see your reaction, feel proud when you ignore, or start to yell, but all bets are off when the person touches you. You are his so why the hell are they touching you?

It will most likely be immediate anger. He does not hesitate to cause harm or maim them. He did not receive his reputation for nothing. He would never harm you but anyone else that dares try to get him to stop protecting what is his? They are fair game for sure.

Killer is the only one who can stop his captain from going too far but if that fails you have to make it up to him tonight. Expect a lot of claiming marks by morning.

Monkey D. Luffy-

Luffy is too pure to know jealousy (Unless it comes to food), so he will need a pointer from a friend or have to really be into his emotions. It would probably go like this:

It is just a normal day out on the Thousand Sunny. He was having a blast just messing with Usopp and Chopper like always when he noticed you were laying on the deck with Robin and Nami by your side. He thought nothing of it but felt something odd in his chest when Sanji came out and offered to put sunscreen on the girls’ backs.

He is not really bothered by it but that weird feeling will not go away. He wants it to because it makes him uncomfortable, but he just ignores it. That is until some crew member (definitely Zoro) points out Sanji being too happy to help the girls.

“Should you be the one putting sunscreen on (Name)’s back?”

Luffy tilts his head and asks, “Why?”

Zoro scoffs as Brook lifts a finger to agree. “Ah! You would be right! When courting putting on sunscreen would be more of an intimate act, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re thinking too much into it. Sanji’s just… helping… putting… it on…” Usopp realizes that it is definitely something more if Sanji is doing it. He continues, “You need to go put it on her!”

“Why?” Luffy asks again not getting it as the feeling in his chest grows.

Franky thankfully interrupts after pausing in his tinkering of the toy the trio wanted to previously play with. “How do I explain this? Uh, you know how meat is like super cool to you?” He starts off.

Luffy nods his head with excitement and Franky continues, “It is sort of like that to Sanji? Oh, that came out super not cool. Let me try-“

“(NAME) IS LIKE MEAT TO SANJI?!” Luffy’s eyes widen at the realization.

The nasty feeling in his chest grew and the jealousy takes over as he does not hesitate to gomu gomu the fuck out of Sanji’s face. Sanji moves just in time and out of the way so the girls are not in danger, but it fuels Luffy more. Franky realizes the way he worded it definitely came out wrong for multiple reasons.

Chaos is ensuing everywhere. Usopp, Brook, and Zoro are laughing while Chopper is worried. The girls watch with bemusement. You hesitantly decide to call out.

“Luffy, do you want to put sunscreen on my back? I was next.”

That stops the fight immediately as Luffy’s jealousy goes away in a split second and his excitement as if he were eating food comes in full.

Yeah… Definitely expect whiplash for sure.

Trafalgar D. Water Law-

Homeboy ain’t worried about you with other people. He does not get jealous easily. It is an extremely hard feat for someone to do. However, that was before he realized that the Straw Hats are something totally out of this world. His crewmates flirt with you but of course, they never go too far knowing that their captain’s wrath is something not to deal with so they are surprised too when Sanji is open about his affection for you (as he is with any girl).

It is something Law passes off with ease until a few other Straw Hats decide to see if he has emotions. Robin, Zoro, Brook, and Franky decide to take on this feat.

Robin and Brook of course being the actors in all of this (and an absolute saint for letting you know what chaos is going to happen beforehand). It starts with Robin. She starts to get really chatty in the morning, asking about you, Law, and the crew. You respond with enthusiasm since you like her. Then she starts the plan at breakfast after everyone has engaged in a conversation or another. Her hand casually slides over to yours, and she keeps that smile on her face as her fingertips slowly slide in between your fingers. She stops and leaves them to be. You and her both can feel Law’s harsh gaze but do nothing else.

She slowly continues moving the conversation about you and lord the way her acting is? It’s actually terrifying you with how flustered you are becoming. You stay strong and try not to cave in but the warmth in your cheeks makes your head fuzzy. Robin is fully aware of the effect she has and continues with a chuckle.

“You’re so cute! I could just eat you up,” She murmurs the last sentence being more intimate than she planned.

A glass breaks and you look over to see Law looking at his now wet pants. Oops. The plan must continue. Brook is next as he takes your fingers into his bony ones and does not hesitate to say his famous line.

“Will you show me your panties, (Name)-chan?” Brook states.

It’s taking Zoro and Franky everything they have not to laugh while the others are just absolutely confused and slightly panicky on why Robin and Brook would pull the moves in Law’s girl. It is okay though. Their plan works. The outcome is delicious to them as Law gets up, makes his way to you, and without any hesitation forces you up so he can sit and have you flush against him on his lap.

He starts to eat from your plate like that all while glaring at Robin and Brook. You finally cave in and start laughing making Law scowl.

“The only reason why you two aren’t dead is because of our new alliance,” Law states.

Robin giggles and Brook starts to laugh too. You lace your fingers through his free hand and say, “Don’t worry Law. I’m the only one for you and you’re the only one for me.”

“Though we did scare you for a second, didn’t we?” Robin muses.

Law can’t wait to get off this ship. He pinches your thigh and you know you are getting his wrath later.

#my writing #one piece #one piece x reader #kid x reader #law x reader #luffy x reader #fanfiction #scenarios #one piece fanfiction #one piece scenarios #female reader #eustass kid #trafalgar law #monkey d. luffy #eustass kid x reader #strawhat luffy #trafalgar law x reader #hnapq

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james-rowan · 3 years

Text

Here’s my (very late, sorry 😓) contribution to the @dualrainbow Pride event. Thank you To_Dragons for helping me edit.

Ships: Montagne/Blitz, Lion/Doc, Valkyrie/Finka and Castle/Maverick

The Pride Festival

The Austin Texas Pride Festival was held on a hot, sunny afternoon, and it smelled of fair food, sunscreen and energy. It was colorful, and bright, mrainbows everywhere, adorning stalls, signs and, of course, people.

To the European operators who had been to Pride events before, it was not only loud, but bold. From the outfits, that ranged from simple rainbow wristbands to full on outrageous outfits (or just a jockstrap), to the signs and stalls and performance stages. Couples were embracing, kissing and making out openly and passionately, without shame or guilt, not only couples but the rare poly groups, finally able to carry on with open affections and taking full advantage. The atmosphere was infectious. It had already claimed Maverick and Castle, who walked very close to each other -despite the heat- hands in each other’s back pockets. They also were very unrestrained with the kissing.

And Montagne thought that he and Blitz could be overly affectionate. But then he was still waiting for his lover to meet them there. He had flown out on his own specifically for this.

Their group included the aforementioned Castle and Maverick, Valkyrie, Finka, himself, Lion and Doc.

They had traveled from Fort Polk, Louisiana, where they, that being the FBI SWAT, SEALs and GIGN, and one tagalong (at her vehement request) Finka, were doing training with the U.S. Army rangers stationed there. After two weeks of a field exercise in muggy swamplands, their Pride group had been excited to go somewhere dry, but unfortunately Houston did not live up to the Texas desert stereotypes; it was almost as humid as Fort Polk. But at least here there was civilization. And Montagne himself was excited to finally see Blitz.

“Schatz!”

Speaking of whom, he was charging at them, looking very much the part of a Pride attendee. He caught his lover in his arms, swinging him around once, despite the soreness from training, then dipped him into a deep kiss. that gained the awe and cheers of not only from some in their own group, but several onlooking strangers as well.

When they finally parted , Lion muttered, “They’re acting like they haven’t seen each other in a year.”

The couple ignored him as Blitz held Monty out in arms length to appraise his outfit. He tutted, “Not to live up to the stereotype, Schatz, but what are you wearing?”

Montagne looked down at himself. He was wearing a lightweight button down with rolled up sleeves, dark trousers and shined shoes, nothing offensive, if a bit formal compared to everyone else, but the reason was important.

Blitz himself was dressed the complete opposite, wearing a loose stringer tanktop that exposed his toned shoulders and even his pecs when he moved just right. Jean cutoff shorts, sneakers with colorful laces, large sunglasses, a backwards ball cap, wristbands: every article of clothing was either rainbow colored, or had an inclusive pride flag adorning it.

“Euh… what’s wrong with it?

“If it were any other day, nothing,” Blitz said. “You look sharp and sexy as ever. But this is Pride, American Pride, ja? Look around.”

Almost everyone was wearing Pride merchandise, had flags draped on their shoulders, or had face paint of various LGBTQ+ symbols, from obvious t more subtle. The bolder were the ones wearing much more and the even bolder much less.

Blitz grabbed his hand, “Come, we’re fixing this.”

“Aren’t we a little old for…”

“Psst, nein. This will be fun, ja? To dress up as we please, get swept up in the atmosphere.”

“We can already dress as we please.”

“I mean colorful, and silly, no fashion rules to hold us back. Come on!”

With that Blitz dragged him off, leaving the rest in their wake.

“Well,” Finka chuckled. “Hi to you too, Elias.”

“Those two are disgusting,” Lion snickered. “How long have they been together? A year?”

“Two,” Finka said. “With no signs of slowing down.”

“Their honeymoon phase is going to last forever at this rate,” Valkyrie said.

“That explains why Gilles is going to…” Lion stopped himself, eyes wide.

“What is Gilles going to do?” Valkyrie was now very interested.

“Olivier, you wanted to show me something?” Doc, the amazing man he was, quickly interjected.

Had it been a few months ago, Lion would have been confused, but now Doc had bailed him out enough times during conversations that he immediately went, “Ah right, this way.”

“We’ll go with you,” Valkyrie smirked.

“Non, non, it's private,” Lion said.

“The good Catholic boy he is, he cannot share,” he said, steering Lion away before he could reveal too much.

Out of earshot, Lion mumbled, “How can you be nice while mocking me at the same time?” Lion was a bit prickly at the Catholic comment. It has always been a point of mockery for people outside the church.

“I could ask you the same. You have quite the talent for it. Far more than I can hope to achieve.”

“Most of the time I don’t mean to.”

“I know.” Doc’s tone softened into a reassuring one, giving his side a squeeze. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have found common ground, mon coeur,” he said. “People also tend not to question when a Catholic needs to do private things, no? With Islam it works quite well.”

Lion took a deep breath, but understood. It was nothing malicious. “Thank you. I didn’t want to be the one to fuck that all up.”

It had taken years to come to a mutual understanding, let alone to find a way to deal with their mutual attraction to one another. It was a rocky, long road, but here they were. Lion hoped one day they would be exactly like Blitz and Montagne, or even just Castle and Maverick.

Lion brushed his forefinger against Doc’s hand, tentatively seeking to hold it. Their relationship was so new, so fragile, like a baby bird or sugar glass, too easy to hurt or shatter. A hundred things, even things gentle or nice, could ruin a relationship, if you looked into it. And considering their history, before they got together… where just one off hand remark would destroy a truce they had established between each other, setting them at each other's throats once again. Lion never wanted to go back to those times. He’d do anything to keep it from degrading back.

Doc immediately took hold of his hand, as if he had been waiting to do so all day, giving a loving squeeze.

Warmth flooded Lion, he felt a giant stupid grin spreading across his face. It was almost too much, as he felt pricks in his eyes, as he squeezed back. He glanced sideways at Doc, finding him gently smiling, mellow as always when he was content. He wanted nothing more than to sweep him up and kiss him fiercely, but maybe then it’d be too much. He’d settle for this for now.

After browsing a couple stalls, he remembered something. What did the relationship advice he found on that one website say? That he should always seek to compliment and let someone know how much their actions mean to him, so he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the right words.

“You know,” Lion said, barely able to be heard over the crowd. “I’m so glad you’re willing to hold my hand.”

“Willing? I want to,” Doc corrected, bringing it to his lips and kissing his knuckles.

Lion smile only grew wider, and he had to look away as red creeped from his ears to his cheeks now. “J’taime.”

“J’taime.”

The warm fuzzy feeling in his chest threatened to burst, helped along by with the anxiety, the pervasive fear that this was about to be ripped from him at any moment.

They grabbed something to eat and sat down on a bench. If American food was considered greasy, their fair food was simply lard on a plate, with maybe some sugar or ketchup for seasoning. They commented on this to each other, when something caught Lion’s eye. There were older women and a couple of men wearing t-shirts, that said “free mom hugs.” (the men’s shirts said ‘dad’) As implied, they hugged everyone who came up to them. Some hugs were light and quick, and some deep and heartfelt, lasting many minutes. Lion’s eyes followed one of them until he came upon a group of them, holding signs, the same message written on them.

“Is that what I think?”

“Hmm?” Doc looked up. “Ah, probably. Hold on.”

To Lion's horror, his fellow frenchman asked a nearby American who they were; the man explaining with a bright smile that they were a charity organization that helped LGBTQ+ youth, and they gave out hugs - of course -, for any who had been rejected by their families for their sexuality.

Small talk ensued, in which Lion was only half-participating in as he ate, and when the man finally left, Doc nudged his side.

“You’ve been glancing at them this whole time. Go on, go talk to them.”

“I don’t need a hug.”

Doc tsked, “That’s a lie.”

“Huh?”

“If anyone needs a hug from a father figure, it is you, no?”

“I…” Lion paused then shook his head. “No, I’m over it, I put it behind me. It happened over a decade ago, after all.”

Doc raised an eyebrow, one of his infuriatingly knowing smiles tugging at his lips.

“They are for this who were disowned for being homosexual, Gustave. I was not...”

“And your father would have accepted you being with another man? Or is it only teens getting their girlfriends pregnant that he takes moral issue with?”

Lion didn’t have an answer for him. Well he did, just not a verbal one. There were so many reasons his father wanted nothing to do with him.

“I’m over it,” he repeated, but this time with less conviction.

“Then it would be of no consequence,” Doc said, squeezing his hand. “Go on.”

It was an awkward walk to approach them. He had to remind himself he was a soldier, he had faced death multiple times, fought against some of the most dangerous people in the world and this- This was just a civilian man at a pride event. Much older than him, sure, with a kind face and beard. But he realized as his step grew increasing hesitant that it wasn’t the human he was afraid of, but his soul, and what it could do to his own with just a few brash words.

What was he even going to say? “Hey I saw your sign, my dad hates me, can I get a hug?” That was ridiculous. Maybe lean into the role this man was offering to play, “Sorry dad, I was a fuck up, I can't change?" Or… "sorry you were not capable of loving me the way I am?" Both sounded completely rude to say to a stranger.

But as he approached, the older man met his eye, and there was no need for questions, nor words. The dad only smiled at him and opened his arms.

Lion found himself in the other man’s embrace before he even realized, hugging him as if his life depended on it. The older man matched his energy, a hand on the back of his head as if Lion really was his own child. Time seemed to stretch on and on; Lion had been anticipating a quick hug, just a little taste of what he got so envious of every time he saw someone have a loving moment with their parent, but no, his body refused to let go and so did this stranger. This stranger who held onto him with a fatherly patience Lion once thought only existed in fantasy.

The lump growing in his throat ached. He tried swallowing it down, but it only made it worse.

He shouldn’t have done this. He thought he was over it, yet it hurt, it hurt so fucking much…!

He wanted to run, he wanted to stay, he wanted…

“It’s alright to cry,” the man whispered. “I got you.”

“My real father disowned me.” Lion wasn’t proud of how strangled his voice sounded, or how he let some tears escape.

“I’m so sorry, son,” the man replied, rubbing his back gently. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t. Nobody does.”

“I never could give him a reason to love me.”

“Children don’t need to give a reason. They’re supposed to be loved by their parents, no matter what mistakes they made, real or imagined. You deserve to be loved.”

Lion was biting the inside of his cheek, trying to will away the need to sob. This was a happy moment, a validating moment, with kind words, and warmth, why did it hurt so much then? His fingers clutched at the man’s shirt, as he gently rocked them. It didn’t feel infantilizing, it felt relieving, needed, like a hole finally being filled.

“You can cry, you know,” the man whispered again. “Emotions are made to be expressed. You don’t have to be strong, not here, not with me. I know you’re hurting, Don’t worry, I’m here.”

A choked sob escaped, and Lion pressed his face into the man's shoulder. “There you go, let it out, I’m proud of you.”

There was no coming back from that. He broke down, and it was ugly.

Lion sobbed into his arms, all rsesemblance of control disappearing, but the father held him through it all. It lasted way longer than Lion thought possible, but they eventually subsided, and he was still being held as he calmed down. When he felt strong enough to break the embrace, he was met with a gentle, fatherly smile.

“Do you feel better?”

“Oui.. yes, thank you,” he wiped his face with his own shirt. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” the manhe said. “I’m just doing what fathers were meant to do.”

“Merci.”

They talked for a little while after. About what happened with his father, his family, himself. The cynical side of him expected them to reveal their ulterior motive, asking him for charity donations, to attend a church service, or even a cult, but they didn’t offer him any flyers or business cards, just warm words... water and tissues. At least he wasn’t the first grown man to cry like this in their arms. They were genuinely good people.

Doc had been waiting patiently for him on the bench, and stood up to embrace him and kiss his cheek upon his return. “How do you feel?”

“Drained,” he said. Then he added, “Relieved. I guess you were…” he caught himself. “No, you were completely right.”

“I’m glad you went then, mon coeur.”

Lion needed a smoke. Before got to know him, Lion would have assumed the doctor was too high and mighty for a nicotine fix, but then found out he was a man in a high stress job like the rest of them, and didn’t judge. Except on the mandatory substance abuse powerpoints they all had to sit through every few months.

He lit up, drawing the smoke in and letting it mellow him out. Every so often he would think back and a few more tears would leak out.

He wiped his eyes with his thumb. “You know why I was so happy that you took my hand?”

“Non,” Doc said, rubbing his back. “But please tell me.”

“I was at the store with my mother and father,” he said. “I was just following along, and I see my mother offer her hand to hold, you know, this gesture…”

He made it. Doc patiently nodded.

“Well I was nearest to her, I think. I was so happy, I remember feeling loved, all warm, because my mama wanted to hold my hand.”

He paused, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Go on, I’m listening.”

Lion took a deep breath. His voice shuddered, “She let go, non.. she threw my hand away from her, in utter disgust. As if I were disgusting. She snapped, ‘I don’t want your hand.’”

Lion ducked his head. “It was a small thing, yes, but it hurt, it hurt so much. Turned out she wanted my father’s hand, not her son’s, not mine.”

It was a few beats later before Doc said, “How old were you?”

“Four, maybe five,” Lion said. “I hate that feeling, those moments where you finally feel happy and loved, and the next second someone shatters it completely. Despair is a good word for it, I think.”

“How often did these types of things happen?”

“Plenty, I was a disgusting child, after all.”

“No,” Doc said. “She was just… cruel.”

Lion huffed, not a wry laugh, just disbelieving. “You’re not going to tell me that she tried her best?”

“Did she?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“Then I think not,” Doc said softly, cupping Lion’s cheek. He leaned into the warmth.

"I still get this horrible… fear when I want to take someone’s hand, or show any affection. So I usually don’t.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you, mon cher. And if I ever make you feel the way your mother did, I want you to tell me.”

Lion nodded, looking down, not entirely sure if he would. Doc tilted his head back up. “Hey, I mean it.”

Lion took his hand and almost went for a kiss, but the deep moment was interrupted by Blitz and Monty approaching. Lion quickly turned away so neither of the two could see his red puffy eyes, but he did see Monty was wearing a stringer tanktop, tie dyed rainbow, and adorned with rainbows in body paint and a look of subdued embarrassment any time Elias had his back turned. Blitz was going a bit overboard on this look.

“Have you seen Meghan?” Blitz said, “unless you have a bag?”

Doc pointed them into the right direction, as Lion quickly drank his water.

“Olivier, are you okay?”

“He just needs some alone time with me,” Doc saved him. Again.

The pair offered their sympathies to Lion (much to his annoyance) and wandered off to find the two women.

“Don’t you ever dress me up that garishly,” Lion snickered.

“Please, mon coeur, I have taste,” Doc said, before grabbing his knee and squeezing, voice now whispering in his ear. “Besides, I prefer you out of your clothes.”

He nipped his earlobe before Lion could exasperate out his name, earning a yelp instead.

Any semblance of protocol melted into genuine, unmasked joy just to be in each other’s company, in a welcoming space where they could be open about themselves Gustave himself was intent on kissing his lover better.

Finka and Valkyrie had been watching a stage performance when Blitz appeared at Valkyrie’s side, grinning, as usual, and... now covered in glitter?

“Meghan, can we borrow your purse?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to have to carry around Gilles’s shirt all day.”

Valkyrie turned fully to see Montagne, who had trailed in after him, no longer wearing his tasteful, understated ensemble, but had been attacked by rainbows and what looked to be the same shimmer bomb that Blitz must have been caught in.

“No, you’re going to get glitter in it,” Valkyrie frowned.

“Please? I’ll clean it out for you myself.”

“Glitter?” Finka said, turning around. “We have to ride back with your boyfriend, and you wore glitt-”

Finka must have caught sight of Montagne’s giant pecs escaping the too small, flimsy shirt, because she turned bright red and turned back to stare very intently at the performer.

All Valkyrie herself could think was ’damn Montagne is strong and it shows’, but that was it, of course. Her girlfriend however was bi, with a particular weakness for large people with muscles.

“Och, I almost forgot,” Blitz said cheekily. “You have any sunscreen? Gilles wasn’t prepared for this outfit.”

“I don’t think any of us were prepared,” Finka snipped, still keeping Montagne out of her line of sight. She pulled out a sunblock bottle from her cargo pocket and tossed it over.

“You alright there, Lera?” Blitz asked as he caught it.

“I’m fine, it's just hot,” she replied, still avoiding eye contact, “The weather, I mean.”

Blitz grinned, “He is hot, isn’t he?”

“Mon cher…” Montagne groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just…”

Meghan clapped her hands, “Okay, go away, go be gay somewhere else. We have enough that of our own over here.”

Blitz ignored her, looking at Finka with a grin, “What do you think of us getting temporary hair color? I was thinking of dyeing our hair rainbow.”

“Well, you’ve gone this far,” Finka said, pointedly staring at Blitz’s eyes. “Might as well go full golubok.”

“Hah, ja, I like the way you think, I…”

“Here,” Meghan said, grabbing Gilles’s shirt from Blitz’s hands and stuffing it into her purse. “Go dye your hair now. Go on.”

“Alright, all right.” Blitz grinned, holding up his hands and going. Montagne sighed deeply, a twitch working its way through his cheek before following. Odd, but not her problem. She had someone much more important to worry about.

“You’re into muscles, huh?”

“You know I am,” Finka said sheepishly. “Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting that.”

Valkyrie laughed, “It’s fine, he got great boobs.” That caused Finka to snort. “You know, for a man.”

Finka laughed longer than she expected, but it was always nice when her girlfriend had one of her genuine laughs.

“It's always nice to see real muscles,” Finka said. “Real ones, from being big and strong, and healthy.”

“Oh, you mean some like mine?” She flexed, tattooed arms positively sexy as the bulged.

Finka’s eyes got a hungry glunt to them, she put her hands on Valkyrie’s arms, feeling the solidness beneath her fingers, “Yes, just like that.”

Finka kissed her girlfriend long and deep, and Valkyrie relished being able to do so in the open, without the anxiety of having some bigot laying eyes on them and causing a scene. It was annoying enough to deal with the old people (and the occasional man similarly aged man) she had never met before tsk at her for daring to have tattoos and being too buff, saying she was too pretty to mark herself up like that and ask how she was ever going to find a man looking like that. She had already broke the glass ceiling for women in something as prestigious and hardcore as the Navy fucking SEALs, but there were still so many in American society that were convinced that women existed to look pleasant to men, regardless of if said women even wanted a pet man or not.

The kiss was broken when Finka’s wristwatch timer went off, and her girlfriend quickly drank from her water bottle. It was such a practiced motion, Valkyrie wasn’t entirely convinced Lera was aware she was doing it, and it made her heart ache. When she was finished, she wrapped her arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple.

Later they were browsing stalls, and Finka gravitated towards one that was selling pride flags and shirts, not only the standard colors for each identity group, but also the ones that represented multiple identities within the same flag. Finka fingered a nonbinary one with a heart in the bisexual colors on its center. Interesting choice.

“I’d love to see you wear one of these, babe.”

Finka smiled, but shook her head, “I don’t know…”

“Come on, I’m not trying to pull a Blitz on you, I’ll wear one with you.”

“And what am I going to do with it afterwards?”

“Keep it? We’re not in Russia, our base is in Greece, basically its own sovereign territory.”

“When you went through SEALs, there were dissenters that tried to prove your were lesbian so they could get you removed from the program, didn’t they?”

Valkyrie shrugged, “Yeah, but they failed.”

“The last thing that the Russian government wants is one of it most elite spetsnaz operatives in an international effort to be homosexual,” Finka explained. “Its not illegal, yet, but my existence could be considered ‘propaganda.’ I might not just be removed from Rainbow, or Spetsnaz, or the Russian military, I could be jailed.

“Ah.”

“You know what Russian prison is like? I might be able to survive the system if I wasn’t sick, but I am diseased. They’d deny me my medication, not let me stay hydrated or fed or exercised and I’ll...”

“Hey, hey,” Meghan said, quickly drawing Lera into a hug. “I’m sorry, it was just a silly idea.”

“I’m…” she took a deep breath then nodded. “Thank you.”

Meghan kissed her forehead, holding her hands. Lera usually had to be stressed, well, more stressed than usual, to go on such a downward spiral so quickly. Being at such a Pride event, probably, if anyone found out. Finka didn’t believe her own Rainbow Spetsnaz brothers to out her, they were too close, but it was still risky.

“The Soviet Union used to accept openly gay people, did you know that?”

Valkyrie shook her head.

“Not a lot of people do, even in Russia. It was the early years, of course, but they gave gays rights they never had before. But then, of course, the Soviets needed more bodies. Bodies for war, and bodies for work, and of course, they believed gays were the reason that their population wasn’t pumping out babies at a fast enough rate.”

“Oh.”

“It all comes down to child production, doesn’t it? You know this.”

“Unfortunately I do,” Valkyrie said. “Not even just governments but families too. When my grandma found out I was lesbian, she sobbed, crying about how she won’t have any grandbabies from my father’s line. Then she blamed my father for raising me too military, while blaming my mother for letting me compete in high level sports.” She adopted a shrill, tottering grandma voice, ‘Sports always turns girls into dykes. I wanted greatgrandbabies from every child! But you made her want to turn into a boy!”

“Blin.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“My own parents alway knew I would like girls,” she said. “Enough to be surprised and confused when I brought home boyfriends that I was genuinely happy with. They cited my, uh, how you call it, boyishness? Well, I never felt comfortable in the woman’s role and they, knowing what my siblings and I had…, they didn’t really feel a need to pressure us to do anything but stay as healthy and active as possible.”

Meghan slowly began to realize this was turning into much more than a simple sharing of stories, and squeezed her hands in support.

“I never liked being…. I don’t know how to put this. I didn’t like the gendered language used for me. And I never felt when people were talking about women, they were talking about to me as well. Just as I thought the rules and expectations boys are taught growing up applied to me as well. You know, don’t cry, be tough, treat women with respect, fight those who try to push you around. Then I learned of this new concept a couple years ago, someone could be neither. I laughed at it at first but...”

“Lera…” Valkyrie said softly, with a loving smile. “Do you want me to use they/them for you?”

Her… their eyes lit up. “Would you? I mean, I’m not sure just yet, but I would like to try them out. “Non pun intended?”

“Hmm? Oh yes,” they were positively beaming. They were so beautiful.

“Just to see. I mean, I still have to use she and her at work but, just in private.”

“Of course, babe.”

Valkyrie cupped their face and kissed them deeply.

She ended up buying Finka something, a silver bracelet in the colored stones in the nonbinary colors as the setting. Something simple and discreet yet powerful where it mattered.

Montagne had texted the couples to be on their way back to the group when Blitz finally realized he wasn’t just looking like a rainbow, but rather a discontented victim of a rainbow being sick.

“What’s wrong, Schatz?”

The giant man sighed, folding his arms over his chest.

“So… there is something wrong…?”

“If it were any other day, I wouldn’t have minded, but today…”

“Where else could you do this…?”

“It is not the location, it is the look!” he gestured down at himself. “The timing of it!”

“I don’t understand… ok, ja, I can see why I might have gotten a little carried away.”

Montagne raised a glitter encrusted eyebrow.

“Ok, completely carried away.”

“Mmm.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It is not the fun you were having that I have a problem with, I am used to your antics.”

Blitz went pink, and bashful. Like a puppy being scolded.

“And you know I love your antics, ge added quickly. But why of all days,” Gilles trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose, and very nearly getting glitter in his eyes.

“Because… its Pride…”

“Yes, you’ve been saying this the whole time.”

“We can go wash it all off, I’m sorry,” Elias said, crestfallen as he moved past him towards the bathrooms.

Montagne caught him around the chest with his arm just as the rest of the group returned, “Non, it's fine… its fine. Perfection is not needed.”

He saw Doc and Loon quickly fumble for their phones, thankfully behind Blitz’s back. Once they nodded, he guided Blitz back to in front of him. “These past few years I’ve known you, you’ve done nothing but make me happy. Your antics, your jokes, your dedication, your downright sweetness, even the way you tap your helmet during exercises. Even before we started seeing each other, your smile would light up my heart and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Gilles…”

Gilles sank to one knee, pulling out a shining wedding ring from his pocket.

“Will you marry me?”

Elias had clapped his hands over his mouth, unable to process this. Their group, except for the GIGN of course, were surprised and estatic. Valkyrie even exclaimed “So that’s what you French bastards were hiding.”

Blitz still hadn’t answered, his eyes shining.

“Elias?”

“Ja! Natürlich sage ich ja, du großer Dummkopf!”

“I assume that's a…”

Blitz very nearly bowled him over to give him his acceptance kiss. He lifted him up as he stood, Elias straddling his hips and swung them around, a dazzling display as the glitter caught the sunshine.

“I’m sorry I got irritated, I just wanted this to go a certain way,” he breathed when their lips parted.

“Schatz, you could have proposed to me covered in mud and sweat.”

“I know,” he said. “But I still wanted to make an effort. I wanted to do it right.”

“You did,” he said. “Look at you, covered in rainbows, just to make me happy, ja?

“Mmm,” he said as Elias lowered himself back to the ground.

Blitz understood now. Gilles was a traditional romantic after all, wanting the candlelit dinners and picnics at the parks on Sundays. He wanted that to extend to his proposal but Blitz was too excited to have silly fun to notice.

“Hey,” he said. Despite the heat they couldn’t stop embracing. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you too.”

“If you want,” he whispered. “We can still have your perfect proposal night.”

“Two proposals?”

“Ja, why not? I’ll still be excited.”

Gilles gave it a thought. “I’ll have to make things more romantic between us,” he murmured. “Just to throw you off so you don’t know when its coming.”

“Oooh,” Blitz said, draping his arms over Gilles’s shoulders. “I like the sound of that.”

They dazzled them with another sweeping, showstopping dipped kiss, because of course they did.

“I agree with Lion,” Finka laughed with a grin. “You two are disgusting.”

Blitz laughed into Gilles’s mouth, and flipped her off without looking away.

“Great, now those two set the standard for romantic proposals,” Maverick said.

“Does that mean we’re going to be competing now?” Castle said, perking up.

“I’ll win,” Valkyrie declared. “The rest of you might as well quit now..”

“Pfft, nah, man, if anyone’s winning that it's me.”

“You know, we French have romance in our blood,” Lion said. “I wouldn’t even have to try and I’d win.”

While they dissolved into bickering, the silent ones of their pairs all shared a look, realizing at once what their partners had implied.

Blitz and Monty still had yet to look up from their glitter makeout, oblivious to what they had just started.

#rainbow #rainbow 6 seige #rainbow 6 #dualrainbow #montagne #blitz #Valkyrie #finka #lion #doc #lion/doc #finka/Valkyrie #monty/blitz #gay #nonbinary #coming out #pride #lgbtq #lesbian #bi

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headcans-oneshots-and-stuff · 4 years

Text

(The new and improved) Masterlist

DC Universe Masterlist

Marvel

Tony Stark

OneShots

Sugar (Soulmate AU) Summary: You’re supposed to meet your soulmate at one of Tony Starks Galas, but will you be brave enough to face your future?

Salted coffee (platonic!tony x child!reader) Summary: You’re always the source of every single instance of childish mischief in the Avengers Compound, so having you actually be silent for once must clearly not be a good sign…

Headcanons:

Jason Todd x Stark!reader

Peter Parker

Headcanons:

From Spider to Spider Request: Peter and you are a relatively new couple but what happenes when you go through some changes and an unexpected web of complications?

Drabble

Love Letters Prompt: “Do you like them?”|“I’m fucking terrified and I don’t know what to do or how to stop feeling that way, okay? I’m scared…”|“I’m getting married? Since when were you choosing my future spouse!”|“I kept every letter…”

Eddie Brock/Venom

Headcanons:

Eddie Brock x reader x Venom

Drabble:

Little Bug Prompt: knows your schedule from the back of their heads (and gets shocked when there is a sudden change to your routine)

Loki

OneShots:

Club ‘Illusion’ Summay: With your hero work taking up most of your time you decide to find an outlet - that outlet turns out to be your own soon to be opened club. On the V.I.P. list for that evening? Two of the most important groups of people in your life. The only problem: they have yet to meet each other, not to mention the little fact that you’ve been keeping not just the club a secret…

Boku No Hero Academia