#Also yeah I KNOW my little guy isn’t shaded i never shade him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tiyoin · 1 year

Text

♡ 🐰 wait, you’re a girl?! ✩ೃ°

synopsis ───◌ where the twst guys find out the ramshackle perfects secret

characters ┈┈◌ jack howl ♡ leona kingscholar ♡ ruggie bucchi

cw ──♡⃝ cursing, leona’s overblot, ruggie basically black mailing reader 😭, questionable bonus,

𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐥

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ first impression ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

You smelt sweet. Yeah, that’s a weird thing to say but it’s true. When you walked past him in the hallways, he noticed this… sweet, almost refreshing scent that softly entered his nose.

Now he isn’t saying he doesn't like it, but he is saying that it’s odd for a guy to have such a dainty smell, and Jack's a smart guy. So he has 2 possible hypotheses of why you smell like that.

You're from another world and things might be different there

You're a weirdo and he should avoid you at all costs

So if you see Jack eyeing you, or just tensing up around you, just know you made his radar.

Whoops🤷🏻

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ how he found out ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

He reluctantly became your friend, let's get that clear. After the spell-drive incident, he couldn't seem to shake you, tweedle dee, and tweedle dum off his back. So there you three stayed like leeches.

It was only when Ace and Deuce got those anemone things on their heads that Jack truly joined your band of misfits. But that's not the point.

The moment when he found out about your little secret was when you were both hiding under Azul’s desk after trying to get to the contracts. You were squished up against either side of the dark oak deck when Jack couldn’t stop thinking about how unnaturally short you were. I mean, hey he doesn't judge, Heartslabyul’s dorm leader is short and Jack respects him. But he never noticed it until now, with his thigh completely overwhelming yours in both size and mass.

Or maybe he’s never noticed how small your hands are? Must come with the size he guessed. But the one thing that truly bothered him was your face, it was soft and delicate, so much chubbier and fuller than any guy he’s seen… and your smell… it almost reminds him of…

His eyes shot open as the door to Azul’s office opened.

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ the confrontation ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

It’s been weird lately. Besides the fact that Ace and Deuce are busy working slaving away at the Monstro, Jack has also started to act more… like Jack around you. Always hovering, carrying things, and nagging. Nag nag nag nag! ‘Y/n don't do this, y/n don't do that, y/n you'll get hurt, don't go in there it's dangerous!’ He was treating you like a damsel in distress when Ace and Deuce were the real ones.

Yet here he is babying you while treating them like normal! It’s gotten so bad that those two plus Grim started raising eyebrows whenever Jack did something for you.

So you decided to do what all smart people do; confront him.

So you do.

You pull him from his track practice and bring him under one of the trees that acts as shade for the runners whenever they're about to pass out from heat exhaustion.

Of course, you were trying to think about the correct way to go about this, because being in a school full of boys, especially teenage boys in mid-puberty, you had to learn to pick your words carefully.

“Why have you been acting weird lately?”

Great start.

Jack denies it, claiming this is how he treats all his friends, yet when you peek behind him to his low swinging tail, and back up to his cherry-sprinkled face, you know you’ve caught him in the act.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair to try and claim even a little of your nerves. “You know, don't you?”

He was silent before he spoke. “I do”

You bit your lip, the two of you unable to keep eye contact any longer due to the embarrassment of the whole situation. There was a pause, yet none of you said something. You both just let the cool autumn breeze cool your nerves before you spoke. Yet Jack beat you to it.

“I know you're wondering when I found out…” You nodded hesitantly. “Well, I’ve had my suspicions the first time I met you-“

“Was it my height?” You asked, but Jack quickly dismissed your guess which sidetracked him to commemorate Riddle and a kid named Epel.

“They’re both short but respectable, hard-working guys. So I thought the same about you. Being a magicless human in a school full of aspiring magicians can be hard, especially with no family or friends to back you up. Though I'll admit, at first I pegged you as a fool looking for trouble more than respectable- until the spell-drive tournament that is.” He added on quickly, not wanting to increase the raise in your brow.

“But I found out when we were in Azul’s office… I never noticed how soft you were. How… squishy you were”

You snorted “Squishy?” You repeated, causing the light flush on his cheeks to worsen. “Hey, this is embarrassing enough as it is! Just- let me finish talking alright!” He growled. Though that didn’t scare you as you kept silently laughing at his unusual choice of wording.

“Only then did it click for me that you were a girl.”

You nodded thoughtfully, looking up at the half-naked tree, a leaf fell and fluttered to the ground, before another leaf followed, and another, and another.

Yet kept your eyes on the tree, on the leaves as you kept thinking about everything he just told you.

“I’ll keep your secret you would like me to, and I apologize for how I’ve been treating you…”

Your eyes were still on the tree “But?”

“But.” He completed staring at you despite the far-away look you had. “I won't change how I’ve been treating you these past couple of weeks.”

Your eyes waivered to his as a cautious tone of curiosity laced your tone. “And why is that?”

“Because” He breathed in, searching for the right words to say, searching for the proper way to say the undeniable fact in a way that won't drive you away, or make you laugh.

“You’re not from here, you have no family or background, no nothing. You're not a beastman, let alone have magic. So there’s no way for you to protect yourself in an all-boys school. It isn't safe for you. If I know you're a girl the others will figure it out too, and where will that leave you? What will happen if the wrong people; Azul, find out? If we weren't friends” He made a face while saying it, like the word was foreign to him “I wouldn’t be doing this. But you are, so you can't stop me.”

“Jack for crying out loud! I’ve dealt with two house warden’s overblots! I can handle a few horny guys!”

He sighed, and his ears twitched. “You can’t change my mind.” That was all he said before he walked away.

Achievement unlocked! You just gained a wolf bodyguard!

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ what happened after? ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

You’ve gained a shadow is what happens next. Jack is practically all over you to the point where Grim and the Aduece combo felt a wee bit threatened. Claiming that he better not be trying to steal you away. But it’s fine, you’re actually kind of grateful (though you’d never admit it out loud)

People aren’t giving you scrutinizing looks or curious gazes anymore, instead, they're trying to avoid your gaze in fear of the brooding cc 6-foot buff freshman that follows you.

He has calmed down a bit, having someone consider your opinion was nice for a change. You carry your own stuff and take care of your own problems, unless it’s on a top shelf he can easily reach.

Sometimes you both brainstorm ways to mask your scent so you don't attract any eyes and noses. And the solution was scent blockers, usually reserved for female beastmen's heat. You were deemed the acceptance (Those things are like fucking horse tranquilizers)

𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ first impression ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

Who? All he knew was that you were probably gonna mess up his peaceful school life. If being from another world didn't make that evident, then you and your pussycat almost burning down the joint did.

He was already getting a headache from all the new scents and loud chatter, so he just wanted to go back to his dorm where his Egypt cotton-laced mistress was waiting.

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ how he found out ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

He would make it seem like he found out all on his own, but in reality, he overheard you say it yourself. Well, not outright yourself, but it was in an awkward- oh sevens that doesn't even cover the severity of how embarrassing the conversation was.

Jack’s mom somehow found out about your little secret (looks at Jack)

note, he slipped up when going on break, how might you ask? He forgot to shower and wash his clothes so when his mom confronted him about the new smell 👀 all he could do was curse silently under his breath.

yes there are scent blockers but c'mon, how effective can those things be all the time

Anyways! His mother created a feminine hygiene care package for you! Packed full of feminine hygienic products, deodorants, and razors, albeit a bit cheap but you couldn't complain.

Back to Leona, Ruggie had begged (bribed) him to at least do some of his house warden duties, like for example; making sure everyone got back safely from break, and that they were situated in their dorms. And after a hard day's work, he was on his way back to his dorm for some shut-eye when he heard a high-pitched squeal, one that made his ears twitch angrily.

Jack.

He had already checked in with the freshman and assumed he just had a girlish scream despite his masculine appearance.

“Oh my god Jack I love you so much!”

Leona’s head snapped towards the freshman’s door because what the fuck was that??

Girls weren’t allowed on campus, let alone in dorm rooms.

Leona groaned, a gloved hand sliding down his face as he groaned again, deeper. Great. More work for him. It was too much work to get Crowley involved so he’ll just warn Jack, sternly.

He did have to give kudos to the young freshman, because the last time someone tried bringing their girlfriend in, they were caught at the magic mirror and given detention. Of course, Jack could be given the same treatment, but he was feeling oddly generous… He stopped thinking as a slimy feeling crept up his back.

As previously stated, Leona has amazing hearing, if not the best hearing in the school- and he takes pride in that, he really, truly does.

Another thing Leona took pride in; he was hard to surprise. His aloof personality cracks for no one. Sure, there may be a quick eye raise, or maybe even a slight pause if he's talking. Other than that, nothing. Zip, zilch, nada, nothing.

So when Leona was surprised to the point where he whipped his head back towards the freshman’s door again, he was glad no one was there. Especially Ruggie.

“Y/N please be a little quieter, someone could be outside!”

All else was unimportant as Leona stood outside the door, frozen, hand just about to land on the door before it fell limply to his side.

There was a few seconds' pause before he backed away and slowly slinked back to his room to process what he just found out.

(He was conflicted because a girl helped stop 3 overblots.

But then again, Faerina’s wife could get him out of his room…)

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ the confrontation ⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

You were in the botanical gardens helping Crewel pick rare plants for next class. It was a nice arrangement if you do say so yourself; help Crewel prepare for class, grade papers and get alone time to study for your worst subject.

So the chance to explore the gardens after staying in stuffy classrooms all day was a Hail Mary for you.

Until you stepped on a snake.

Shrieking like a banshee, you heard the snake protest as it darted into the bush. Scrambling a few feet away, you kept your eyes locked onto the bush, waiting for the snake to fly out and exact its revenge.

That would have been the better scenario anyways. Instead, you were met with a towering lion beastman, tail in hand and his ears in flight mode.

Shit. It was Jack’s house warden. Leona.

After hearing horror stories, you knew no matter how low you bowed or how profusely you apologized, you were royally screwed.

“Oi, I’d watch where you're going if I were you” He stepped closer. “Cause you don't know what someone could do to a herbivore like you” He stepped closer as you took a step backward.

“So small and soft… not an ounce of muscle on ya. Makes one think if you're even a guy at all” He forced you to look up like he was challenging you not to.

“I’m not a girl!” your eyes widened in horror as his smirk deepened.

Uh oh. Voice crack.

Yeah puberty, and all, but you were well past the age of voice cracks.

“You should really keep your voice down” he whispered, leaning in on you. His breath rustled your hair which tickled your ear sending a sharp shiver up your spine and to your brain, sending it into a red alert. It was a whole chain reaction just from his breath. You haven't felt this pathetic in a while.

“As you never know who could be listening”

And with that, he walked away.

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ what happened after? ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

Nothing. Literally nothing.

You were skittish around him, anxious about the thought of him spilling your secret to the whole school. But little did you know, Leona did not care. Not in the slightest. At most, he's probably impressed.

I mean with 3 overblots under your belt, you were fine. So there’s no need for him to keep an eye out on you. Nope, none at all.

It’s all the same, as you and Leona barely interacted before so why would that change now? You already got a bodyguard, and who was he to impose his morals on you?

…yet that doesn't stop his sharp gaze from following you whenever you crossed paths.

Where he was from, girls were fierce, dominant, and controlling, a perfect example of that was his sister-in-law. And of course, he knew not every girl was like that, as not everywhere has the same traditions as the sunset savanna. But you were a magicless girl in an all-boys school. And that didn't sit right with him. (No matter how much he tried to ignore it)

He’s basically your convenient savior, popping up if Jack isn't around and claiming he was napping there and you were disturbing him.

Don’t be surprised when there's an unmarked package on your steps filled with a few months supply of premium scent blockers. And don't bother confronting Leona cause he’ll deny it.

𝐑𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ first impression ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

Yawn, just another extra.

He met you during the spell drive arc when you stopped him from pushing Trey down the stairs. You smelt nice, was all he remembered before scampering away. But as nice as you smelt you made him nervous and he couldn’t understand why.

I mean, he injured heartsbyul's vice house warden, he’s stolen from men thrice his size, and he’s friends with Leona for crying out loud! All of this would make one think he had balls of steel and answered to no one.

Except for Leona.... and his grandma of course… Well I mean, sometimes his sisters too but that's it! Really!

Women in the Savannah scare the shit out of him, all strong, dominant and all that junk made him shiver.

Ruggie is observant. So the fact that you could inflict the same kind of caution women give him... Strange. He’ll have to keep an eye on you.

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ how he found out ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

Hehehhehehehehhe

Unfortunately for Ruggie, he's going to be a victim to a trope, sorry not sorry. During Leona’s overblot your legs were shackled in the sand, unable to move, and unable to flee from the stalking lion.

It was just the 3 of you, the rest of your friends outside the swirling sand tornado, standing there helplessly.

Foolish herbivore was all Ruggie could think as you clawed up your ankles, feverishly looking between the house warden and your trapped feet.

Your eyes were wide with fear.

Oh.

An epiphany.

You reminded him of him, that's why he felt uncomfortable with you. You reminded him of a younger, scrawnier self. One that did anything and everything to survive, one that had to conserve food and the little money he had so he could've able to live. One that had nobody but his grandma and a few siblings.

Just a boy from the slums living off of stolen leftovers. Covered in rags, dirt, and bruises. A boy who hoped, dreamed, and prayed for a way out.

A boy whom you shared those same hopeless shimmering eyes with.

Fuck.

Ruggie didn’t know what he should do. Well, he lied, he did but he didn't know if he should do it. But as Leona hit the 10-meter mark Ruggie made a break for it

His legs carried him as fast as the sand would let him, and endless curses spilled from his lips as he saw Leona’s head turn in his direction. Shouting something, he threw a scalding hot gust of sand his way. Gritting his teeth as the searing grains of sand were pelted at him He kept repeating to himself: It was better than someone dying.

He didn't know why he chose to voluntarily go back into the jaws of death; he barely escaped thanks to Riddle.

Maybe it was those damned eyes of yours.

Tackling you onto the sand dome, you both just missed death's door as you both grunted at the sagging impact.

As much as you're both grateful for skating by the sandstorm, that couldn't bring attention away from the uh… obvious cushion.

“ Y-you're a girl!?”

“Not the time Ruggie!”

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ the confrontation ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

Basically a cat and mouse game. You spot Ruggie in the cafeteria, and Ruggie creates a clever way to lose you, may it be a crowd of people, laugh with me, or a ‘happy little accident’. He wants nothing to do with you so if you would just leave him alone that’d be great.

But of course you keep persisting, and eventually you catch up with him and corner him in the hallway.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“Good morning to you, too perfect. If you would excuse me, I have to get Leona's homework from Trein, then do my own. So I really don't have a lot of time-“

“Then I’ll join you “ You smiled, grabbing his jacket sleeve before walking towards Trein’s room. It was foolish of you to assume it would be that easy, he’s a sneaky hyena after all.

Retracting his arms from his jacket, he expertly shimmied out of it like an octopus from a jar. He smiled as you turned around glaring at him, his jacket dangling from your clenched fist.

“Sorry, perfect, but I’d rather not have this talk” He shrugged before walking away. He was free, the sunlight spilled through the dirtied glass windows and onto the walkway of the hallway, highlighting his path to freedom.

“Not so fast Ruggie Bucchi! You get back here!”

And just like that the gates to heaven closed and he was dragged back down to earth. “Shit” He whispered, already starting into a sprint as he heard you thundering footsteps behind him. He felt like Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, only he was Jack running away from the giant (you) who's ready to eat him alive for stealing his golden goose. (Over exaggeration, you just wanted to talk)

With lingering people in the hallways, he was able to disappear a few times, or purposely put them in your way. Yet each and every time you found him. No matter how hard he tried to lose you, you caught up. What was this a horror movie?

Finally, the hallway ended and he was trapped with no escape. You were stalking towards him, like a predator who had just found its prey.

“Ruggie I just want to talk” You put your hands up in surrender. “That’s it. I want to talk about what happened during Leona’s over blot”

Ruggie wanted to smack himself. God was he stupid. Not even once had he considered using ‘laugh with me on you’. Why? He wasnt sure himself. There were a few theories that popped through his head, but he had no time to entertain them as you were less than 2 meters away.

“Oh, real mature ruggie”

He let out the breath he was holding, the clatter of the lockers was heard as he straightened himself up. Rubbing the ‘dust’ from his knees he just looked at you. As he started to make his way towards you.

You couldn't read him. Did he have a face of relief, conflict, worry? You weren't sure. But when he passed you in your frozen state, all he said was:

“You really think I’d tell people? Really think that low of me huh” It was rhetorical.

By the time he was far away into the hallway, you were unfrozen. Stumbling a bit as you turned to him still walking. “Though my silence comes with a price!”

Ugh great. At this point you’d rather have him tell people

⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨ what happens next? ୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹

I wanna say he’d tease you but I mean… woman… No, he isn’t afraid of you! He knows you’re not going to be as rough or intense as the ladies back home, as you’re no beast-man, especially not a hyena beastman.

So there’s going to be a bit of distance between you 2. I mean, there already was to begin with, cause he never met you or talked to you before the spell drive tournament situation.

But after that, he’ll probably mess with you a bit. Not a lot like how he would with others, but a good enough amount to where you interact weekly. Like he’ll cut you in line with a cheeky smile, or he’ll pluck a particular sandwich out of your hand and hide among the masses as you (grim) yell out curses.

He will use your situation against you ngl. He would shamelessly dangle it over your face in exchange for something, mainly food.

But I know he wouldn't do anything too callous or too mean.

Though he does keep the promise of ‘silence coming with a price’ and usually that price is an extra pair of hands or food. So now you've got 3 mouths to feed. Great.

𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒔! I originally wrote this for Jack but I thought it was too ooc. Then I thought about Leona but then realized he would only do this in fanon.

Your back was slammed against a tree, Jack hovering over you as you struggled in his grip. His hand encased both of yours while his other gripped your hip, keeping you flat against the tree. His leg was bent awkwardly, pinning you against the tree at an angle that should make him fall, but he didn't. No matter how hard you tried, the leg that kept him braced didn’t budge. Not even an inch.

“Try to escape” Was all he said through your struggling and wiggling. Yet no matter how hard you tried pushing, shoving, kicking, or flailing away from him- nothing worked. You were stuck. Never once did he stop looking at you; through you as you grew more and more desperate to prove yourself.

But he was a wolf beastman, and you were a teenage girl.

And soon, as expected, your struggling slowly stopped, eyes downcast as you laid there, still, in his arms before he set you down.

Your hands rushed up over your chest as you struggled to understand the situation, to understand why he did that.

“I’m only a freshman” he spoke quietly “I don’t even have control of my magic yet, just think about what other guys would do if they found out. So please” You looked up at him, lashes heavy with locked in tears. His face was soft, gentle even which only confused your heart more.

4K notes · View notes

wannabeschyulersister · 1 month

Text

you keep his shirt, he keeps his word

The strong aroma of coffee woke you up that morning. It confused you because you were absolutely sure that your coffee maker was still in a box somewhere. Opening your eyes, it only took you a matter of five seconds to realize that you weren’t in your new apartment.

You were in Carmen Berzatto’s bed.

What started off as a night where you were meeting your best friend’s work friends ended up with you in the bed of one of them.

You never did this kind of thing. You never met a guy at a bar and went back to his place.

There was just something about Carmen.

When Sydney first introduced you to him in that small bar near The Bear, you literally fell in love with his eyes. They were this beautiful shade of blue. You instantly got jealous of him because of them. How ordinary your eyes were compared to his.

You wanted to stay far away from him, scared that you’d do or say something stupid. He eventually made his way back towards you and the rest was history.

Sydney gave you a rundown before you met everyone. She informed you that Carmen was shy as hell and often kept to himself. She also said to not be offended if he did so.

It surprised you when he made his way towards you and struck a conversation. It started off a little slow but there was this unspoken connection that blossomed.

He was shy in a totally adorable way and super charming. Sydney and everyone else that worked with him on a near daily basis was shocked at how he was acting. They didn’t dare think that he’d be the guy to approach a woman and have an actual conversation.

You sat with him in the little corner of the bar and talked about everything. He wanted to know what made you move to Chicago. How you knew Sydney. What your favorite food was.

His last question surprised you, “Would you like to go back to my place?”

Your response surprised you the most, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Fast forward to eight hours later and you were still tangled up in his sheets. You sat up and looked around for your belongings. You quickly found your phone, purse, jeans and undergarments. The shirt you wore last night was nowhere to be found.

You grabbed the first white shirt that you saw and slipped your clothes back on.

This was all new territory to you. You had no idea what you should do. Thank him for a great evening? Give him a high five? Run out without saying anything?

The door to his bedroom was cracked open. You heard the soft sounds of the radio playing.

As quietly as you could, you walked down the hallway and made your way to the main living area. You spotted Carmen in his kitchen. Shirtless.

He was at the stove. The sizzling of the pan and the smell made your stomach growl. Carmen turned to grab a plate when he saw you standing in the doorway.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” He asked you.

You nodded, “Uh, yeah I did surprisingly.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m one of those people that has a hard time falling asleep if it isn’t in my own bed.”

“I’m glad that you were comfortable enough here to where that wasn’t a problem.” He made his way towards you and tugged on your- his shirt, “Looks good on you.”

You looked down and he still had a grip on you, “I normally don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Have one night stands. Going back to a guy’s apartment after barely meeting him isn’t really my thing.” You confessed. Part of you hoped he believed you. The other part didn’t want to be ashamed if it was something that you normally did.

One night stands weren’t something to be embarrassed about. You were a single woman who could date/hook up with anyone she wanted.

“Was this just a one night kinda thing to you?” Carmen asked.

You shrugged your shoulders, “What do you think?”

You wanted him to answer before you could. It was killing you inside to figure out what he was thinking.

“I think that last night, I met a woman that I would really like to get to know better.”

You couldn’t help but smile, “Really?”

He nodded and grinned, “Yes, really. Plus, you look great in my clothes and out of them.”

“Well that was a smooth line if I ever heard one.”

“There’s plenty more of that if you stick around with me,” Carmen leaned closer and placed a sweet kiss on your lips, “I made you breakfast.”

“You’re going to spoil me, Berzatto.” You set your purse down before taking a seat at his counter. He served you a delicious looking omelette with a cup of coffee.

“I plan to do so as long as you’ll let me. I’m a man of my word.”

#carmen berzatto imagine #carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto x (y/n)#carmen berzatto x you #the bear x reader #carmy x reader #the bear imagine #carmy berzatto

637 notes · View notes

jayteacups · 8 months

Text

Levi Week Day 3: Shy & Blushing | Affections & Fondness

@leviweek2023

To celebrate your second anniversary together, Levi takes you to see the beach for the first time.

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x fem!Reader

Tags and warnings: Back on my soft Levi agenda :3 Fluff, established relationship, canonverse, civilian!Reader, takes place a short while after the beach scene in S3. Mild NSFW (very brief descriptions of oral sex, F receiving). Mild as it may be, I still don't want minors interacting.

Word count: 3.5k

A/N: So I haven’t written anything in a while but this event is helping me get over my writer’s block little by little! I missed the first two days sadly, and this is also a day late, but I wanted to at least get something done for Day 3 lol. This is based off a really cute dream I had a few months ago about a beach date with Levi, but I never got around to writing it, so this was the perfect chance to finally put it into words. I am absolutely incapable of writing anything other than soft sappiness lol. Hope you guys enjoy reading!

Before today, the biggest body of water you’ve ever seen was the lazy, winding river that runs right down the middle of your home village, where all the merchant boats come in, where all the kids go to play in the sweltering heat of the summer. You practically grew up in the river. It is a second home to you.

And yet it doesn’t hold a candle to the ocean in the slightest.

Miles and miles of pure blue stretch out far beyond the naked eye, the rolling waves on the horizon glinting as they catch the sun’s rays. Untouched by mankind, there is a serene quiet to the air, punctured only by the splash of water making land and the occasional bird cry.

Such a place could only ever exist in myth, or so you thought.

“It’s like something out of a fairytale,” you whisper in awe.

You feel Levi’s eyes on you from behind. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “Yeah, it is.”

The two of you are coming up on your two-year anniversary as lovers, and the Survey Corps’ last expedition to the coastline a couple months ago had inspired him to take you out to the beach to celebrate. He had wanted to show you it’s raw, untouched beauty, before the infrastructure development plans are put into motion.

The way the dry sand shifts under your bare feet catches you off guard. Soft, warm and pliant, which isn’t what you expected at all. The sensation makes you giggle. You can’t help but lean over and touch the sand with your hands, picking a handful of it up and letting the tiny grains slip through your fingers.

“Beware of the sand.” Levi says next to you ominously, taking off his forest-green cloak. “Before you know it, it gets everywhere.” He’s decked out in full uniform and gear. Even though Paradis Island has been declared clear of titans, Levi refuses to take any chances.

You look over your shoulder back at your lover, grinning giddily. “Guess we’ll just have to wash it off in the ocean, then,” you declare, heading right towards the sea. Gone is the soreness from days of camping and riding through endless grasslands, your arms clenched like a vice around Levi’s waist as you tremble atop his horse, feeling all too exposed without the safety of the Walls. Only curiosity and joy remain, propelling your feet towards the water.

“Shit—wait, don’t go too far,” Levi calls. You turn back. The reins on his horse are gathered in one hand, both of your cloaks and your shoes in the other. “I’m going to set us up under that tree over there. It’s hot and Mercy needs some shade.”

You tilt your head. “Okay. Need a hand?” You reach for your shoes and cloak to carry them yourself, but he shakes his head.

“It’s fine, I got it. Besides, I can tell you’re practically shitting yourself with excitement to go frolic around.”

“Mm.”

“So you can go ahead. Just not too deep, I know you can swim but the waves might be stronger than you think. And watch out for poisonous shit and don’t pick any sea creatures up. Hange got stung by this weird-ass blob called a jellyfish because they got too cocky after picking up several non-poisonous things despite me telling them every five seconds to not do that, and their hands were covered in welts for a fortnight.” Revulsion passes across his face for a moment as he recalls the memory.

Confused, you frown. He hasn’t told you this story yet. “What’s a jellyfish?”

“Fuck if I know. That’s what Arlert said they were called. Just watch out.” He leans forward and kisses your cheek tenderly. As he pulls away, you notice his ears are flushed. How cute.

“Alright, alright.” You laugh, and follow it up with a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll be careful. Come join me soon, yeah?”

The slightest of soft smiles graces his face as he nods, before you turn around and jog back towards the sea, lifting your skirt above your knees.

The sand grows colder, wetter, firmer under your feet, a change that rips another joyous laugh out of you. As you approach, the sea moves forward, as if to greet you, and a small wave splashes gently over your feet. You giggle.

“Hello, ocean,” you murmur, kicking the water to gently splash it back. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

A quick scan of the shallows revealed no sea critters. Bummer, you were hoping to at least see what a jellyfish looked like—what kind of an explanation is ‘weird-ass blob’?—but you suppose not seeing one is better than an accidental sting. Lifting your skirts up higher, you wade deeper into the ocean until the water reaches your thighs before looking back at the shore.

On the beach, Levi spreads out his spare cloak as a mat underneath a tree. Next to him, his horse, Mercy, sits and takes a well-deserved rest in the shade after a long journey. He then strips himself of his jacket and boots, before folding them neatly into a pile next to your camping packs. He does the same for your cloak and footwear that you’d discarded carelessly earlier, too caught up in excitement. As he loosens his cravat, Levi’s head turns back towards the sea, evidently looking for you, and offers you a little wave.

You wave back enthusiastically. “Come join me!” You call. As fun as frolicking in the water sounds, you don’t want to do it all by yourself.

Another handful of minutes is spent taking off his gear and straps, before he walks out towards the sea. You wait excitedly, as he slows to a stop, just a hair’s breadth away from where the water stops.

Levi rolls up his trouser legs and tentatively tests out the waters with the tip of his toe.

You grin.

“Don’t laugh.”

You purse your lips. “Not laughing.” He’s just so endearing.

He was like this too with the river near the Queen’s Orphanage, where you work as a teacher. One day, Historia took the orphans to the riverbank to play and invited Levi Squad to spend the day off there with her. You’d waded into the water and beckoned him to follow, only to find him standing hesitantly on the riverbank, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. There aren’t many rivers and lakes down in that shithole where I grew up, are there? I can’t swim to save my shitty life, you remember him saying. Eventually, you’d coaxed him into standing ankle-deep in the river, and he’d ended up watching over the children that didn’t want to venture any deeper either. After all, they had all come from the same place he did. On expeditions and even now on this camping trip, Levi uses a bucket and rag to wash instead of submerging himself in rivers or lakes like everybody else does.

“It’s okay.” You say reassuringly. “It’s hardly any different from standing in the river.”

He gives you a very familiar look of exasperation. “Give me a break. I didn’t get into the ocean when I was here with the others, and I still can’t fucking swim.”

“That’s fine. We don’t have to go any further than knee-deep.”

He nods. Despite that, Levi still lingers with his toes barely in the water. Slowly, you get the feeling that his hesitation has nothing to do with his inability to swim.

You purse your lips, holding in a laugh. “I see. You’re scared of jellyfishes, aren’t you?”

He blinks, deadpan. “You’re hilarious. I’m not scared of jellyfishes.”

Your face splits into a grin. “Yes you are.”

“I am not. This is ridiculous.”

“If a jellyfish was to show up right now, what would you do? Hide behind me?”

“If a jellyfish was to show up right now, you’d be the one hiding behind me, just like you do whenever there’s a spider in the house.” Levi crosses his arms and gives nothing away with his expression, but his ears are turning redder by the second.

You give him a teasing look. “Sure, sure.” And even if you did end up being scared of a jellyfish, you know Levi would help you without a second thought. Just like he does with the spiders. “You know, I still have no idea what a jellyfish is. How would I hide behind you if I don’t know what I’m supposed to be hiding from? What even are they?”

“Freaky little fuckers, that’s what they are,” he grouses.

“Okay, well, we’re not going to let a stupid freaky sea creature ruin our fun, yeah? We know that they exist now, and since you’ve seen one, you know what to look out for.” You hold out a hand. “We’ll be okay.”

Levi’s eyes drops towards your hand, clearly debating on whether or not he should take it. He’d been too shy to show any sort of physical affection towards you when Historia and his subordinates were also present, even though everybody was off-duty that day.

Now, though, there is nobody watching.

Just how the both of you like it.

Levi searches your face for a moment, before he quickly snatches up your hands, and takes another step into the water. A new wave rolls in, harder than the rest, and crashes against both of your calves, soaking the hems of his trousers and your skirt.

“See? All fine.”

Still holding onto your hand so tightly his knuckles begin to whiten, Levi scans the waters with narrowed eyes. “Mm hm.”

This won’t do. He’s still far too tense, far too on edge. What you wouldn’t give for him to be able to relax without feeling guilty about it. Concerned, you squeeze his hand.

“Hey. How about we get out of the ocean for a bit? You said we were going to stay here tomorrow for the actual anniversary too, so there’s absolutely no rush. For now, we can walk along the beach as far down as possible and then back up here again. The sun looks like it’s going to set soon too, so it won’t be too hot for us. You won’t have to worry about leaving Mercy alone for a short while, she won’t overheat.”

Bit by bit, the tension seeps out of him as he considers your offer. He squeezes your hand back.

You smile. “Let’s go.”

———

As you walk along the beach, two bright red, shelled creatures make you yelp as they abruptly cutting the two of you off in your tracks, scuttling sideways. You also come across the occasional pretty seashell that Levi offers to hold in his pocket, before eventually stumbling across a strange mass washed up on the sand.

Levi flings an arm in front of you. “Stop.”

“What the—” Realisation strikes you quickly. “Is that a jellyfish?”

He nods stiffly.

“So that’s what it looks like… well, you’re right. It is a weird-ass blob.”

“This one’s triple the size of the one Hange picked up.” Levi informs you in a whisper.

“Um, is it dead? It’s not meant to be out of the water, is it?”

“Don’t know. Don’t think so.” Levi looks back out at the sea, tugging on your hand slightly as he slowly inches backwards. The sun is beginning to set. “Should probably turn back anyway.”

“We could just walk around the poor thing, if you want to keep going.” You offer him a reassuring smile. “But I don’t mind either way.”

He shakes his head, the tugging on your hand growing stronger. “It’s been too long since I’ve fed Mercy. And the sun is setting; we need to set up our tent before dark. Come on, let’s go.”

He’d fed his horse not long ago, but you just suppress a smile of endearment and let Levi eagerly steer you away from the beached jellyfish. You squeeze his hand in comfort, and he squeezes back in thanks.

As the sun sets, the sky burns. Above you lies every shade of red, orange and yellow imaginable. The sight is gorgeous.

But not more so than Levi himself.

You’ve always attested to his beauty, though he’s always quick to say otherwise. But if he could see himself today, alight from the sunset glow, you aren’t sure even he could deny that whatever higher forces are out there took their time shaping every feature of his to perfection.

And he says he’s the lucky one.

As the two of you walk, hand in hand, you both gradually drift sideways towards the ocean, until the two of you walk ankle-deep in water, feeling the sand get drawn in and out under your feet as the ocean ebbs and flows.

Despite his nerves from earlier, Levi had chosen to walk on your left side, the side exposed to the big expanse of ocean. Content to stroll in silence, to simply take in this beautiful feat of nature around you, you notice Levi looking out to the sea every now and then, admiring how the light glints off the waves. Even the curve of his cheek—which is all you can see when his head is turned away from you like this—just fills you with an inexplicable joy. As Levi looks back in front of him to see how much farther the two of you have to walk, you notice his expression is softer, content. Dare you say it: he’s happy.

“It’s really nice seeing you like this.” You murmur, voice barely audible above the breeze.

He looks back at you. “Hm? Like what?”

“Like you’re at peace.”

His breath hitches. At a loss for words, Levi’s pinky curls around yours as he looks back out at the ocean for a moment.

“I have you to thank for that.”

The words are accompanied with an awkward clearing of his throat and a blush so undeniable he could not possibly pin it on the reddish glow of the sunset.

“The last time I was here, it wasn’t like this. It was… All I could think about was…”

He pauses, exhaling harshly, as his feet come to a stop. You come around to face him, taking his other hand. In times like these, you’ve found it’s best to not say anything, to give him the room to gather his words. It’s hard for him to express his feelings and thoughts, and from the small glimpses of his past he’s revealed to you, it’s not difficult to see why. There is no room for vulnerability in the life he leads. And yet, he tries for you. You’re so incredibly proud of him, beyond what your own words could ever express.

“Hange and my squad were having the time of their lives. Armin’s dream to reach the ocean came true. But all I could think about was how everybody who didn’t live to see the ocean should have been there to see it. How much they would’ve loved this place, just like you do.” He swallows thickly. “Then Eren, that brat, he… he goes and ruins the mood for everybody else. He goes and reminds us all of what awaits on the other side of the ocean. As if we could ever forget.”

You remember reading the article about it in the papers. How your blood had gone cold. How faint you felt at the realisation that everything Levi and his comrades fought for, shed blood for, offered up their hearts and lives for, had been for a truth uglier than anyone could possibly imagine.

No. It’s not like you could forget either.

“And if that wasn’t enough, he goes and contemplates what it will take to finally reach the freedom he thought was beyond the ocean. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what his first thought was.”

You feel sick to your stomach. The hurt and shock on your face must be clear as day to him, for Levi shakes his head and pulls you in closer to him, a hand rubbing your back.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have told you that,” he says quietly. “Sorry. I just… before today, that was my first and last time seeing the ocean. This time… this time is better.” Voicing it makes him blush once more. He looks away again. “Much better.”

Reeling from his words, all you can do is bridge the gap and pull him in close for a hug. Inside, there is a sinking, sickening feeling that things are only going to get worse for the Survey Corps from now on.

You close your eyes. “I wish this could all be over,” you mumble into his shoulder. He’s warm under your touch. “You must be so tired.”

In response, he holds you tighter, his body melting into yours, and sighs.

———

On your way back, you feel Levi taking quick, stolen glances at you when you’re looking elsewhere. Every time you turn back to look at him, he’s whipped his head in the opposite direction and is looking out at the ocean, presumably to hide his blush.

You grin to yourself, and look in the opposite direction. Beyond the sand lies a more firm, grassy area with those unfamiliar-looking trees just like the ones you left Mercy under. You and Levi quickly agree that once you get back, you’ll go a little further inland to set up camp, since he’s wanting to avoid getting sand in the tent.

In your mind, you replace a patch of the grassland with a cosy cottage facing out towards the sea. You can almost hear the sounds of joyous laughter being carried by the wind: yours, Levi’s, and perhaps a third voice, much younger, much less burdened by the weight of the world.

The two of you make it back to where you started with still some daylight to spare. You give Mercy some water, and prepare dinner from the packed rations, whilst Levi, having proven himself capable since he does this every time he goes on an expedition, walks a little further inland and puts up the tent.

The moment you two crawl inside and lay down your sleeping bags, Levi presses a searing kiss to your lips. It isn’t long before his head is between your thighs, bringing you to the edge. Always willing to give. Your fingers weave through his silken hair, and tears of pleasure—tears only Levi has ever managed to draw from you—sting at the corner of your eyes.

When you come, he comes—untouched. And after the two of you gather yourselves and clean up, he’s looking at you ever so fondly, like he will never get the chance to look at you again.

“If I could give you the world,” you say, pulling him closer (it will never be close enough), “I would.”

“I don’t want the world,” he mumbles, leaning down to kiss you, “I never have. I want you.”

———

Long after you’ve fallen into slumber, Levi lies awake, mind racing.

I want you.

He means it in every sense.

Out on the beach, walking beside you and admiring your breathtaking radiance, he’d come to a realisation he should’ve come to a long time ago: he wants to marry you. The question had lingered at the tip of his tongue the entire way back, but he had managed to hold back on asking you right there and then by looking away, catching his breath, letting his burning face cool with the breeze. He couldn’t let himself ask you in that moment. If he was going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with him, he was going to do it properly, with a ring that shines as brightly as you do.

It’s kind of ironic, how this entire trip to celebrate your two-year anniversary as lovers, would’ve been the perfect time to propose, yet he’d been too slow to realise it until now. He decides that the moment he gets back to the Walls, he’s visiting the nearest jewellers.

He’s always been that way, Levi supposes. It had taken him years after your first meeting at that teashop to tell you how he’d felt, and he almost never told you at all. For so long, he had been convinced this could never be in the cards for him. Everybody he has ever loved meets the same tragic fate, and he’s scared that one day, you will too.

But if you ever do meet that fate, he knows in his heart of hearts he will never regret loving you.

He reaches over to pick up his pocket watch. It’s dark inside the tent, but his eyes have always been keen, and he can make out the positions of the hands.

Fifteen seconds to midnight.

He takes a moment to look down at you in fondness. Your cheek is squished against his chest, soft lips parted to let out slow and deep breaths, your arm loosely draped over his side, legs entangled with his.

Ten seconds to midnight.

He dares to mouth the words. Will you marry me?

As if in response, you snuggle up closer to him with a sleepy sigh.

Three, two, one.

“Happy anniversary,” Levi whispers, heart full, and closes his eyes.

Masterlist

#leviweek2023 #levi x reader #levi x you #levi x y/n #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman x you #levi ackerman x y/n #aot x reader #snk x reader #levi ackerman fluff #m/dni

320 notes · View notes

purelyfiction · 2 years

Text

Crossfire -----✈︎ 4

Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x F!Reader | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |

Word Count: 2,955

Summary: So much is riding on this mission, including your future, and that of those you’ve come to adore like family. When a tumultuous turn of events has you doing emotional somersaults, you’re overwhelmed with everything this career has brought to you, including this moment.

Content Warning: This is a successor to the first parts, please read that first! || This story will have TopGun: Maverick plot line elements to it and will possibly spoil the movie for you. Please be aware. This - and all of my stories - is 18+. By continuing to read you agree that you are 18 or older and that any content you come across is by your own decision. || MOST DEFINITELY SPOILERS FOR TOP GUN MAVERICK!! you’ve been warned. Tw; topics of death, plane accidents

Author Note: oh hey there, you’re still reading this stuff? well i’m glad you are !! i’m in the midst of writing the next part and you guys are not ready for this. i also know this part is a smidge short, but i promise you it’s so so so much more than just a word count. with that - enjoy!!

✈︎ ✈︎ ✈︎

With the discussion with Maverick under your belt - and some newfound confidence thanks to the information that was revealed, you were able to get some food in you. You then sat on deck, drumming your fingers on your helmet as you watch the sun rise. You jump when you hear a voice from behind you. To your surprise, it’s Hangman. You look up at him as your mind registers his words. ‘It’s at least a clear day.’

“Yeah. Maybe it’ll be a little easier.” You hum, feeling him take a seat next to you.

“No luck with Rooster?” He asks, leaving you more surprised. It makes you look at his face, which for the first time doesn’t have the familiar daredevil grin on his features. Jake Seresin was never one to be serious. This was a version of him that you didn’t exactly enjoy.

“No.” You sigh, turning your head back to the brightening colors in the sky. “I feel so damn guilty. It was over nothing too.” Your fingers are tracing over the crescent moon shape that’s painted on your helmet, shades of navy blue, yellow and stars litter the surface, your callsign written in a pleasant calligraphy font.

“Well… maybe you try when he’s forced to hear you?” Hangman suggests and you furrow your brows, looking over your shoulder.

“Jake, are you suggesting I try talking to him in the air? Mid-mission? Don’t you think we’ll be a little preoccupied?” You ask with a breath of air moving through you with astonishment. He shrinks.

“Yeah… I guess.” The two of you sit in the quiet again.

“Thanks for trying to find a solution, Hangman. But I don’t think there’s any bandaging that’s going to stick before we get in the air.” With that, you’re standing from your crisscross spot, reaching out a hand and helping him to his feet. He takes it, standing upright, pulling you to his chest and gripping onto you tight.

“You come home. You hear?” A weak smile fills your face - not that he can see it with it hidden in his flight suit.

“Loud and clear.”

Taking to the flightdeck, you can feel your heartbeat in every step you take toward your jet. Coyote is right beside you, quiet as a church mouse. It’s not long after that your helmet is on, in your spot in the pilot’s seat, adjusting your mask to loosely hang from its snaps. You take one last look around the flightdeck, seeing faces watching you. You spot Hangman and Payback standing at attention, a firm salute to the six of you. As the canopy comes down to seal the two of you in, you return it, somewhat teary eyed.

You can only hope this isn’t the last you’ll be seeing them. God, you hope it isn’t.

The force of takeoff that used to be so thrill inducing instead feels like dread following you. You’re pushed against your seat with the movement, scaling into the air.

The airtower is confirming each of your names, confirming your radio connections. It’s the first time you hear his voice in what feels like weeks.

“Dagger 2.” It’s almost impossible to ignore the slight shake in his voice. He’s as scared as you are, and neither of you were ready to face this.

Yet here it was.

With each mile you gain towards the target, the more your stomach aches. Approaching the mountain range, you know that this is no dream, no practice run.

Don’t think. Do.

Each turn has you sliding, forcing yourself to take calculated breaths, making sure that you’re getting enough oxygen. It’s easy to forget that you’re already on the clock, but Coyote’s keeping track. Luckily.

You nearly graze the one mountain, and can hear Phoenix. “Easy, Dagger 3. You’re over-adjusting.” A breath as you enter your next turn, your entire body moving with the force. Finally, you’re out of the turns, pulling up in a straight climb. Your entire body is vibrating, your mind racing. You can hear Maverick in front of you, initiating the first round of firing. Miss. It’s now Rooster’s turn to take a shot. The carrier tower confirms the missile missed its target. As you’re climbing, you’re hearing him struggle to get the target to align. With no confirmed lock on target, he’s firing. Contact.

With contact made, half the miracle work is done. That was only the first shot. You had to make the second one.

The final one.

If you don’t lock on, you can’t take the shot. Then you risk Phoenix missing as well. All your efforts would be for nothing - leaving you running from enemy fire, in a desperate attempt to get back to the carrier. You dip into the valley, a shake in the jet as you shift the crosshairs, the screen flickering with the vibrations from the speed. “Starting targeting.” A breath in, one out. It feels like you’re hyperventilating, yet taking the slowest breaths. In a brief moment, the target locks and you take your shot - without confirmation.”Dagger 3, did you take the shot? Dagger 3?”

You don’t remember if contact was made. All you remember is shifting into escape mode. Rising from the valley, into smoke filling the sky, immediately pulling up as hard as you can, the entire jet shaking as if you were careening from the sky, yet you’re going the opposite direction. You’ve nearly cleared the peak when it comes over your comms.

“Dagger 1 has been hit. I repeat, Dagger 1 has been hit.” Your stomach drops, forcing you to push further. No, no, no. He needs help, he needs backup, a wingman. You want to get to him - need to get to him. As you increase the speed, your vision is beginning to go dark at the edges.

“Moonshine, we’re pushing 10 Gs as it is!” Coyote comes from behind you but you don’t hear him.

10.1 10.2 10.3

Finally you clear the peak,making the aggressive change in direction, leaving you plummeting to the ground, soaring down, beginning the onslaught of avoiding enemy fire. Your hands are moving faster than your brain. You barely register what’s happening, but it’s that drive that gets out and into the clear. You feel faint, on the verge of blacking out, and it’s likely showing. Your name is coming through the comms’ Coyote’s searching for confirmation that you’re alright. With no words exchanged, the tower is checking in, forcing a response from you: “Dagger 3 is clear. No damage.”

“We have to get him.” Rooster’s voice comes through. Oh God, Rooster don’t-

“Dagger 2 you are to return to the carrier. We have no signal on Dagger 1, there is nothing we can do.”

“We can’t just do nothing.” There’s tension in his voice, which leaves you with tears in your eyes. You want to go back, you want to support Rooster. Maverick. God, Maverick.

“You have firm orders.” Another voice, “Dagger 2 is out of position.”

“Lt. Bradshaw. Bradshaw!” There’s no response. You attempt to reach out to him.

“Rooster! Rooster come on.” It’s then that you realize you’re not getting any feedback. “Coyote, can you hear me?” Pressing every button on your comms, you’re not getting anything. Nothing from your RIO, nothing from Dagger 4, the tower, Rooster.

Nothing.

For the next thirty minutes, it’s you and the radio static as you lurch forward to the carrier. You rush your landing, well knowing that your aeronautics instructor would have heavily reprimanded you for such a landing. You’re numb, not from the vibration of the plane, or the screeching halt you’d suddenly come to.

You’re numb, because your favorite people were either MIA or on the way into enemy fire.

As soon as the canopy’s clear, you’re jumping from the craft and running, running to the tower. Despite the people yelling at you since the runway is active, Coyote begging you to stop. There’s no time for the elevator, so you’re taking the stairs, two at a time. Moving at such a speed, you inevitably trip, scraping the palms of your hands on the metal before getting up again. The sting of your hands pales to the ringing of your head, but you have no care or concern for your own well being at this moment. By the time you’ve reached the last landing, you’re gasping for air, barely any energy remaining. The door to the room moves with ease, and when you step in, all eyes are on you.

The room is quiet when you throw the door open. Admiral Simmons looks at you, your rank leaving his mouth. “Dagger 2. Did he find him? Did Rooster find Maverick?” You’re panting, your lungs on fire. Eagerly, you’re waiting for an answer.

There’s not a soul who dares to move, to speak. “Well??” One of the traffic controls turns to you.

“Dagger 2 was hit. We just lost signal.”

Your heart jumps into your throat. There’s barely any air moving through your lungs as it is, but now you can’t even begin to take a breath. Your chest is tight, the dark room spinning around you as tears flood your vision. “No… no .. but-but he’s okay? They’re okay… they have to be okay.” It’s a near sob that breaks through you, multiple sets of hands reaching your shoulders, guiding you out of the control tower room.

You can tell you’re moving, yet your legs aren’t going anywhere. It’s then that you realize that Bob has an arm under your shoulder, Payback on your left. They’re physically carrying you down the steps as tears leave you immobile. They move with such caution, such care, yet your vision blurs it like they’re moving 100 miles per minute. When they get to the bottom of the staircase, they’re taking a break, trying to get through to you. You can’t. You… can’t do this without them.

Without him.

Your day started with hours feeling as though they were minutes. Yet now, curled in your bunk, you feel like minutes have become hours. Luckily for you, most of the cohabitants of the room had their own tasks at hand so they were not bothering you. Though, that meant they didn’t know. In a blissful state of ignorance.

Two pilots were presumed to be dead. Two men who had helped you get to this spot, whether you were willing to admit that or not. The creaking of the quarter door has you shifting your head toward the sound. The lights were completely out, leaving a halo over the person entering, that was until she turns on the lights. “Shiner?” You pull the sheets over your head, a whimper accompanying it. Maybe you were being selfish right now. You were sure Phoenix wasn’t taking this easy either. With that reminder, you push the sheets back again, climbing from the bunk and to the floor where she joins you. “Bob and the rest of the guys were worried about you but… didn’t want to…” She nods her head toward the room, well knowing that men weren’t permitted in the sectioned off area of the ship.

“Right.” A slight laugh pairs with it as you wipe at your eyes. Sniffing, you take a look at her. Her hair is out of place from her helmet, her eyes just as red as your own had to be. You sigh and let your head hit the middle bunk, trying to stop the tears. Natasha speaks so softly in the eerie quiet.

“Did you tell him?” The words crush you further, another wave begins to drown you in grief. You fall into her shoulder, where she’s wrapping her arms around you.

“If you knew, I hope that he did.” Your voice cracks when you say it. “I can’t… it never got to be love. I loved him. I didn’t get to love him.” Natasha’s heart is breaking for you, her hand moving to the side of your head as your diaphragm muscle spasms, making your breath skip as you try to pull air into your lungs. She pulls your head toward her shoulder, your temple meeting the edge of her green t-shirt, soon enough stained with tears.

“We’re all here for you, hon’. I brought you something from the commissary, it’s not gonna fix anything, but I just.. Hoped it could ease some of the big emotions.” She’s reaching into her pocket, struggling to pull out whatever she crammed into it. When it’s successfully released from the confines, she hands the package to you, making you pick up your head as she presents it. A mellow smile stretches across your face as tears flood your eyes again, hands carefully taking the gold packaging. Looking at you through the clear window in the plastic is a parade of rainbow gummy bears. A laugh starts to breathe life into your lungs, Phoenix looks at you with a confused smile. “What?”

“Nothing.” You smile as you start to open the package, offering her some when it’s finally open. She’s happy to take some, leaving the two of you on the women’s quarter floor, a bag of gummies between the two of you, tears silently running down each other’s faces.

It takes you another half hour or so to collect yourself off the floor, wash your face with cold water, blow your nose - compose yourself. You would have a debriefing to get to, no doubt about it. You’re leaning onto the sink basin, taking a shaky breath before looking into the mirror. As you’re thinking of exiting - the mirror rattles on the steel walls, the floor vibrates, a roaring coming from floors above you.

Everyone had been grounded. So why was there a plane taking off?

Exiting the bathroom, you’re following the hallway to the nearest staircase. After already breaking into the control tower once, you move to the nearest jet and helmet, listening to the comms channel. “Lt. Seresin, ground your plane, immediately.”

“You said there was a signal, and with all due respect, if there is a sailor out there on their own, I’ll be damned if I’m sitting around and letting them die from my lack of action.”

Signal??

“What signal??” You jump on the line, only to be scolded as well. “I’m not flying, I’m listening. What signal is he talking about?”

“Maverick has a signal. He’s out there, I’m not letting him down.” A breath. Stay put, Mav. You’re mentally begging him to just sit and wait.

“Jake.” You warn, hearing him muttering something else.

“Yeah?”

“Bring him home.”

In the half hour it should’ve taken Hangman to get there, you learned that Maverick had stolen an enemy craft and was attempting to fly that back to the carrier. They had no line of communication, just some signals and plane stats. It was nail biting to say the least. The radio crackles to life again. “I have visual on Maverick - and what looks to be Rooster.”

Your forehead drops to the side of the plane as relief sings through your heart. He’s alive. He’s alive. There’s minimal time for celebration as a rapid succession of events occurs. In the time of spotting them, Jake is firing shots and missiles - just barely saving their asses. You can hear laughter on Hangman’s end, some sort of teasing response to being a hero, before telling them he’d see them on deck.

And you thought your landing was rough. The entire ship seemed to shake with intensity as the old craft scraped the asphalt - a horrifying sound pairing it. What without any wheels, there were less predictable endings. Upon stopping, you can see smoke and crew immediately hosing the nose of the jet down with extinguishers. Yet, the canopy pops up, a rather smiley Maverick popping up. “Did you guys miss us?” He cries out and you’re running again. You’re not the only one to start crowding the jet, but you’re certainly the closest to it.

As you’re running, you watch as the brown haired male climbs from the jet, a little unstable when he reaches the ground. “Bradley!!” His head pokes up just in time for your chests to collide, your arms wrapping around him in the tightest death grip, tucking themselves under his armpits, your face crushing into his chest. Sore arms reciprocate the grip you have on him to hold onto you, reassuringly his head comes to meet the top of yours as sobs start up again. You barely make out the shushing sounds he’s offering over the cheers and chants overwhelming the top of the ship. A hand rubbing your back slowly, he’s squeezing you with all he has left in him. You don’t dare let go, gripping the canvas of his flight suit, taking a deep breath of him into your senses. It’s instant reassurance, this isn’t an imposter, a doppleganger, a replacement. It’s Bradley.

“Moon,” Rooster finally speaks, his grip loosening on you, trying to pull you away. Instead, you hold on tighter, not wanting to release him. “Moon. Let go.”

“No. Don’t make me, please, don’t make me.” Your words are muffled by his shoulder, which he is prying you from. When your eyes meet, you witness a new kind of relief. Not your own, but his. The blonde is soon taking your hand, undoing the zipper of his suit slightly, only to guide your hand onto his chest. Hazel hues connect with yours again.

“You feel that?” He quips, forcing you to nod rather hesitantly, a sniff matching it. Under your palm you can feel his pulse, his heart absolutely racing. “I’m here. I’m alive.” Rooster’s grip on your hand tightens at the words. “I’m not going anywhere, Moon. I promise.”

———————————————— ✈︎

Did you enjoy this? Consider buying me a coffee!

Tagged by request: @kashee-h @thatchickwiththecamera @pleasedontblameme @babychaosnacho @mothersscos05 @mannstarkey @deadpoolgirl23 @lclove2012-blog @azari-anna @itscheybaby @wintersoldiersthings @A-mistake-tbh @swthxrry @Nilspettersson @Ashann7 @supernaturaldawning @sarahghae @amour1andyou @Adriannauni @discoseal @that-cute-stranger @caswinchester2000 @inglourious-imagines @ssaic-jareau @kana-austin @mochminnie @kyleed24 @americaarse @thesunsetphantoms @not-leaprvt @Gayforsteve @turningtoclown @nyotamalfoy @alainabooks143 @sodonebruh@winteroqers

If your user is on here but you weren’t tagged, it wouldn’t let me tag you! Sign up for the tag list here. If you asked to be tagged through the google forms and weren’t it is likely you were underage and i refused to tag you. i am reminding you now that this is an 18+ space and it is for your safety that I ask you not to engage with any of my content. thank you.

#top gun #top gun maverick #Bradley Bradshaw #Bradley Bradshaw x reader #Bradley ‘rooster’ Bradshaw x reader #rooster Bradshaw x reader #rooster x reader #Bradley rooster Bradshaw x reader #Bradley Bradshaw x f!reader #Bradley rooster Bradshaw x f!reader #roo

872 notes · View notes

deadlygronkle · 5 months

Text

Ancestors Legacy chapter 15

The Desert Chapter 5

Word count: 5156

Ao3 Prev

“We need to go after him!” Wild argued with Time, “It's been days since that sandstorm and we haven’t heard back from him!”

“It hasn’t been a week yet, we need to have faith,” Time stubbornly responded, arms crossed and looking down at the younger Hylian.

Ever since losing contact during the sandstorm all Time has wanted to do was go after him. He knew that Twilight would never forgive them and assume that they all thought he wasn’t strong enough to deal with it himself. So all Time could do was hold out belief that his Pup was safe and finishing up with the Zone.

“Sorry Old man, but I have to agree with Wild here,” Warriors spoke up, coming to join the argument, “By Twi’s own account he should have been done with it by now, but that dark pillar hasn’t weakened in the slightest,”

“I agree with Time,” Sky spoke up, holding Twilight’s scabbard, “There is no sign that Twilight isn’t doing alright, he may just be running behind,”

“There’s no sign that he IS doing alright either,” Warriors was quick to retort, as Wild nodded along.

The last they had seen Twilight was him looking at the golden poe- the Hero’s Shade- that was following them around days earlier. The chain had heard Twilight mention something about the Hero’s spirit before cutting out. His voice was filled with guilt that Time only heard at the grave of said Hero.

When Wild spoke up Twilight was quick to take off and look at the pendant, the light from the poe highlighting his face. What he told them was unintelligible between all the cutting out and glitches. He said something about being in a cave before the slate cut off the feed completely.

“Enough!” Legend snapped getting up, “You guys are arguing more than a bunch of little kids. Now before we make any rash decisions about whether or not to go and aid Twilight, let’s go over what we know,”

“Why are you in charge of this?” Four asked, pointed a whetstone he was examining at the other.

“Because the ones usually in charge are the ones squabbling, and besides,” Legend sighed irritably, “I have a dark world of my own back in my Hyrule,”

“Fair enough,” Four shrugged adding on, “We know that the Zones boost up monsters’ strengths, like black blood does,”

“We also don’t know if the black blood can make the monsters even stronger,” Wild glared back up at Time, “Which is why we should go!”

“Stop,” Legend got in between Time and Wild, “This will only work if we are civil. Understand you two?”

Time and Wild nodded as Warriors decided to change the subject, “We would have to deal with whoever made the Zones as well,”

“Which, if we go there and find Twilight, he would already have some information!” Wind added from his spot next to Hyrule, “If he hasn’t been captured that is,”

“I doubt it knowing him,” Legend turned to address Wind properly, “He is far too slippery for his own good,”

Time nodded along, electing not to say anything. Twilight was the one often chosen for getting the lay of the land. What most of the others didn’t know was that Twilight often did this as ‘Wolfie’. Monsters usually ignored or outright avoided Twilight in this form so it made it easy for him to vanish without a trace.

“Oh! Twilight mentioned stuff about the Zones tainting people. As well as people turning into poes and animals,” Hyrule spoke up, having watched everything silently.

“Yeah, though I have a fix for that, as long as it works similar to my own,” Legend pulled out a pearl, “Alright what else?”

“Twilight said that he liked goats for a reason, so maybe he is an Ordonian one?” Wind suggested, “Then he will be easy to find!”

“Good hypothesis Sailor,” Warriors thought for a moment, “We could also see Wolfie in there, from the murals we know that he was fundamental in restoring peace to the Hyrule,”

“We… have not seen him since we entered this Hyrule,” Sky admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“Exactly, so perhaps they are already there working together,” Legend look over to Time, “You look like you have something to say,”

“Twilight….he once told me the pain of the transformation was so bad he passed out for who knows how long,” Time answered begrudgingly, closing his good eye.

“Duly noted, anything else that we can remember?” Legend asked.

“He said he was going to go to the Great Fairy,” Wild said impatiently.

There was a moment of silence when no one spoke up and Legend spoke, “Alright let’s have a vote. All in favor of going after him?”

Everyone but Sky and Time raised their hands. Time was expecting no less from them, but Time was nothing but if he wasn’t stubborn. So he stood there watching as Sky’s hand sheepishly went up.

“Sorry Time,” Sky said sheepishly.

Time shook his head, “No worries,”

“Welp, going after Twilight wins! Everyone go pack up!” Legend clapped his hands.

Time lagged behind everyone going to his pack. He just hoped they weren’t making a mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was nothing in the desert, no life to be seen for miles. Just rolling hills and plateaus of sand. Even his own Hyrule had oases in Gerudo Desert and rivers of water, but here there was nothing.

“Such a dreary place,” Warriors raised a hand to shield his eyes.

“Yeah, but how the hell does Twilight survive this place with that wolf pelt?” Legend was already fanning himself.

“Wait! I got some stuff for this,” Wild pulled out his slate, grabbing blue potions and handing them out.

“What is this?” Time asked, popping the top off.

“Chilly elixir, it helps with the heat in my desert,” Wild took out his own and downed it in one go.

Warriors gagged, his only half gone, “What is the made of?”

“I think I used Winterwing Butterflies, and a Ice-breath Lizaflos tail for this batch, why?” Wild asked as he hooked his slate back onto his belt.

“.....Nevermind,” The Captain now looked vaguely sick.

Time followed Wild’s lead and downed it in one go, as did everyone else. Still it left a bitter aftertaste on Time’s tongue that wouldn’t go away.

“So that’s obviously our objective, but what is that thing?” Four asked, pointing off into the distance.

Time squinted his eye, it looked to be several pillars in a circle. There was a building at the center but Time couldn’t tell what it was from here. It gave Time a sense of deja vu that he couldn’t place.

“Who cares? Let’s just go to the Zone,” Warriors started going down the sand dune.

It was a relatively quick trip up to the Zone, despite the small worm enemies leaping up at them from the sand. They could have been a problem if not for the fact that they figured out how to deal with them. Wild’s bombs and the hookshots made quick work of them.

They occasionally had to drink more of the Chilly Elixirs. Wild assured them he had more than enough. Time still found himself holding off from asking until the intense heat got to him again. Heat exhaustion wasn’t going to help in the long run, but he had plenty of water to help cool him off.

When they finally reached the Zone’s magical barrier they were unsure of what to do. There was no discernable door, and the magic emitting from it was less than inviting. In fact all of Time’s instincts were telling him to get away, that it was dangerous.

Time ignored them however. No matter what he needed to at least see that his descendant was alright. Even if that meant going into a place that reminded him of Ganondorf's dark magic.

Time could barely see anything through the magic barrier. Only that the ground was pitch black and the sky was a dark shade of orange.

“So, should we go at the same time? Or do we need to space it out?” Warriors looked at Legend for an answer.

Legend thought for a moment, “It should be fine, if we enter right after another. Give it like 5 seconds before following the previous person in,”

“To make sure we don’t overload the barrier?” Four asked as he pressed a hand to the barrier,watching as it passed through and back seamlessly, “Weird…”

“Essentially, we don’t exactly know what’s waiting for us,” Legend stepped up to the barrier, “Well, I’ll go first,”

Once Legend went through the portal Four joined him. Then Hyrule, Wind, and Wild. Sky and Warriors hesitated for longer than needed before continuing. Time followed closely behind the two, giving the open, clear sky one last look before plunging in.

The magic from the barrier made the entire thing feel slimy and dirty to the touch. Time couldn’t even tell if he was walking in a straight line due to the current of the dark magic. All he knew was that he didn’t get turned around somehow and manage to make it to the other side.

Just like what Time saw on the other side of the magic barrier everything was far darker than normal, him being able to only see a few feet in front of him. There were particles of darkness floating in front of his face that seemed to avoid him like the plague. The sky was indeed orange just like it was outside the Zone as well. It reminded him of when the sun was below the horizon right before true darkness.

Is this where Twilight got his nickname from?

A bright golden glow drew his attention from his surroundings and thoughts. It was coming from underneath his right gauntlet, exactly where his Triforce was. It was even tingling like an allergic reaction to the Zone’s very air.

Time couldn’t ponder this for long however as pain shot through his entire body.

It started in his hand from the tingling to a searing pain that made him grunt. The pain traveled up his body, activating all of his nerves like he was on fire. Time fell to his hand and knees, only able to focus on breathing rather than staying upright.

It felt like his bones were rearranging, snapping and popping in places that they shouldn’t. Black splotches danced in his eye as he collapsed in the sand completely. The last thing he was aware of was the even brighter glow of his Triforce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey I found the old man!” Warriors voice called out, waking Time up from his pained slumber.

Time opened his eye groggily, everything was wrong. The world was brighter and sharper than it ever was before. The smells that came to his nose were too pungent, too different. Even the wind and the world around him was far too loud for his ears.

“Oh good he is waking up,” Legend’s voice was behind him, why was it so loud?

Time tried to stand up, only to fall right back down in the sand. His whole body screamed at him still, like all of his muscles were pushed to the brink. It seemed to be fading fast as he got ready to try and get up again.

He looked down at his hands ready to try again- or at least where his hands should be. In place of two armored hands were two golden furred paws. His triforce was still completely visible on his right paw being bright white against the golden fur.

Maybe it was out of surprise more than anything else, but Time leaped up, landing on all fours as he started inspecting himself. His fur was golden and white, with a long shaggy tail that twitched as he looked at it.

“Shit-” Warriors voice, seems to jump back.

Time felt his ears go back towards the noise, as he turned to regard the Captain. But he did not see the captain, rather a lion looking at him with mild concern. The lion was a lighter color of yellow compared to Time with blue and silver streaks in its large mane.

“Time? You in there?” Warriors’ voice came from the lion’s maw as it carefully stepped forward.

Time found his voice coming out with a small bark, “....Warriors?”

The lion- Warriors immediately seemed to perk up, an odd grin like expression on his face, “Good to know your brain hasn’t left you in your old age!”

“I heard- where’s Legend?” Time looked around, he could certainly smell Legend but seeing him was another matter.

“Down here,” Legend’s impatient voice rang out.

Time followed the sound of his voice and looked down. In front of him stood a bright pink rabbit wearing a small version of Legend’s red tunic.

Time was silent as he stared down at the rabbit. Out of all things Time was not expecting a rabbit. Maybe a weasel or a crow, but not a rabbit of all things.

The irritated rabbit stomped his foot, “stop looking at me like that! It isn’t my fault that the goddesses gave me this form!”

Warriors let out a chuffing noise, “Oh it matches your height Vet. Wasn’t expecting Time to be a wolf though,”

Legend put a paw up to his face contemplatively, “Yeah he looks a bit like Wolfie doesn’t he?”

“Wolfie has more fur and muscle though. It kinda looks like Time was built for speed instead,” Warriors got up, stretching as he did.

Time was quick to change the subject, “Where are the others?”

Legend turned to watch as Warriors stumbled as he started walking, “Up over that next dune. Turns out your golden fur made it really difficult to spot you,”

As Warriors walked by, clearly focused on putting one foot in front of the other he spoke, “Everyone else has some other color in their palette, you only have your face tattoos,”

“Come on Time, we need to go to the others and discuss our next move,” Legend paused as he watched Time shakily get up, “though be careful while trying to walk, we don’t need any injuries,”

Time let out a small growl as he stumbled taking his first step in his new form, “Got it,”

Once Time eventually made it up the sand dune he noticed and smelt the others. There was an otter, a fox-like beast, a small deer, a bird, and what looked to be a mouse. Time didn’t know how he could see the mouse, as he slid carefully down the dune, but he did.

The long legged fox perked up as Time reached the bottom, his voice being Wild’s, “Oh you found Time!”

The long legged wolf was a reddish blonde in color with blue markings across its torso. The scruff, legs, paws, and the tip of his tail were completely black. The white underbelly was a grayish white as well. What gave it away that this was indeed while was the blast scars from the eye down to the chest.

“He’s a wolf?” The otter- Wind’s voice asked from on top of Wild.

The otter was a light brown with a blonde underbelly. As Time stopped in front of the odd pack he could see that Wind’s lobster print that was on his shirt was now on his back.

“OK let’s see here, the fox thing is Wild, otter is Wind, the giant mouse is Four, deer is Hyrule, and the vulture is Sky,” Warriors told him, sitting down right next to him.

Hyrule was not a fully grown deer, being brown with green spots all over his sides. The rest of him was a dark brown with a little white on the muzzle and neck. Hyrule was laying down looking at Time curiously.

Sky had black tear tracks going down his feather around his beak. He had red feathers at the tips of his wings, but his back followed the same design he had on his cape in white. The rest of Sky was the same shade of light brown as his hair was.

Four was a bit harder to see as he was the smallest among them. He had all the colors that his tunic did, just muted by gray. Though the blacksmith was larger than the average mouse that Time has seen.

“Alright, so what’s the plan?” Time asked.

“Well my plan was to use one of my moon pearls to turn back to normal but-” Legend showed that both his front paws were empty, “Turns out transforming in the place takes everything you have with you!”

“So we’re left to wander aimlessly, trying to find either the Great Fairy or Twilight?” Sky squawked as he awkwardly tilted his head to look at the rabbit.

“It’s our best hope right now. Maybe if Time was experienced with tracking scents or Wolfie was here we would have better options,” Legend let out a chittering noise as he hopped forward.

“Alright, Wind hope on,” Warriors bent down enough so Wind could scamper up into the lion’s mane, “Sky, I guess you go with Hyrule and Four goes with Time,”

“For what?” Time asked as the small mouse got closer to him.

“It's faster if the people with long legs walk, and more energy saving,” Four explained as he sluggishly crawled up Time’s front leg, “Legend will walk ahead of us to try and lead us since he is this most experienced with this form,”

“You boys sure planned this out,” Time watched as Sky clumsily climbed up on Hyrule.

“Well it's been like an hour since we woke up, and you woke up less than 5 minutes ago,” Hyrule reasoned as he shifted uncomfortably, “This… isn’t going to work,”

“Yeah I don’t want to accidentally hurt you with my talons,” Sky cooed as he jumped off, flapping as he went.

“Here we can trade. Time, can you bring me over to him?” Four squeaked from the top of his head.

Time walked over to Hyrule, lowering his head so Four could pass safely over, “Was I that far away from everyone?”

“This is about where we woke up,” Warriors answered as he looked around, “Between waking up like this and your fur blending in with the sand it was difficult to find you,”

As Sky climbed onto Time’s back he felt sharp talons pinched and pulled at his fur. Time knew that Sky didn’t mean to do it, just that the younger was getting used to his new form. It wasn't like the grip was painful, it just made his skin itch.

“Let me know if I am holding too tight,” Sky requested as he settled between Time’s shoulder blades.

“Don’t worry you aren’t,” Time reassured him.

“Alright! Let’s just walk around and see if we can spot anything,” Legend yelled out, hopping forward.

“Aye Aye Captain,” Warriors replied snarkily, causing Wind to let out an amused noise.

“Don’t you even start,” Legend snapped back, his ears going completely flat.

“You two, now is NOT the time,” Time tried to give his best stink eye, it luckily working.

“Fine, hopefully it won’t be long before we find something,” Legend hopped forward quickly, the rest of them slowly following.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were lost. So lost in fact that Time couldn’t even tell which way they came from. Everything just looked the same, and with no sun it was impossible to tell which direction they were going in as well.

Everyone was getting cranky from the long travel. Especially with no signs of any type of civilization, good or bad. Time felt even his nerves fraying as they continued. How Twilight ever managed to find his way through this maze was beyond him.

“I knew we should have turned left rather than right!” Warriors complained, a loud growl could be heard.

“That would have taken us right back to the barrier!” Legend stopped leading them and hopped to Warriors.

Warriors bared his sharp teeth, “Well at least then we would have something to go on! Everything in this damn place looks the exact same!”

“Come on guys-” Sky, ever the peacekeeper, tried to reason, “We don’t need to be fighting about this,”

“Yeah,” Four agreed, “There was a reason why Twilight didn’t want us to follow him, and this right here is the reason,”

“Uh guys?” Wild’s ears were pinned back.

“What is it now?” Legend and Warriors looked over at the long legged fox.

Time had enough of their snippish tones, “Enough! I’m sick of you two arguing! We are all in this mess together, and it is no one’s fault that we are lost!”

Both of the younger Hylians fell silent at Time snapping, particularly because Time’s lips were curled showing off his sharp teeth. This whole time Time had been silent, gradually getting used to his new form. Now though Time was taking charge, and not allowing the arguments to continue.

“Now Wild, what do you see?” Time asked, in a much kinder tone, teeth no longer bared.

“Oh- uh-” Wild pointed a paw in the distance, “The golden poe is back,”

“What?” Time quickly turned his head where Wild was gesturing, seeing the golden light up a dune.

Time remembered what Twilight had said that night. This was Twilight’s old mentor who made him able to survive his journey. The same one that Twilight was crying over that he failed to ease the other’s burdens.

“It looks like a person now?” Sky’s voice was unsure, Time could feel the other shifting on his back.

“So what should we do? I don’t think we can take it on in a fight,” Four spoke, carefully balancing on Hyrules nose to look.

“No!” Wild spoke quickly, “Twilight told me, it wouldn’t hurt us. Maybe we can ask it for help?”

“He also told us to stay away from it,” Wind answered, his head poking out from Warriors’ mane.

“When did that happen?” Hyrule asked curiously, turning slightly to look at Wild.

“Before we got to the castle in this Hyrule. We were changing shifts and it actually started to look like this,” Wild answered, almost frowning.

Before anyone could continue the conversation, Time watched as The Hero’s Shade seemingly turned around. Time could have sworn he felt the gaze of the golden figure land on him in particular. Then Time heard it.

No one should know it here. Particularly in a place this dark and corrupt. Yet here Time was, listening to the Requiem of Spirit float gently down to the Chain from the poe.

Time could feel his soul becoming lighter and more at peace. Though something sat heavy in his gut. The only people who know that song are him and his Zelda, the one who originally taught him it. How did Twilight’s mentor know this song?

“Time?” Sky asked, apparently feeling that Time tensed, “Are you alright?”

Time physically shook his head, “I’m fine, let’s just go see. We can always run away if it attacks,”

Warriors gave Time a hard look before turning away, “Alright, let’s hope it can help us,”

As the Chain got closer to the poe, the music stopped and Time could see who was there clearly. Or as clearly one could see a poe wrapped in armor and bandages.

Much like its aura, the shade was wearing golden armor, with a familiar helmet covered in vines on the poe’s head. Any part that would show skin was wrapped in old soiled bandages, even over one of the poe’s eyes. All in all the armor was in decent condition, just looked old and worn from time.

A bright red eye regarded the chain as they came up and stopped in front of it. As Time made eye contact he could feel something freeze within him. Pure cold dread pooled in his gut as he continued to make eye contact. Something told Time he wasn’t supposed to see it, he wasn’t supposed to be here. Though whether that feeling was directed towards himself or the poe was unknown.

“Isn’t that Time’s helmet?” Four whispered, only to be shushed by Legend.

Time felt cold. All he could see was contempt and coldness in the one visible eye of Shade. It felt like Shade knew exactly what Time was made of and despised him with its entire soul.

The gaze was painfully familiar, like a song that one knows the tune for but not the words or name to accompany it. Something old enough, few would recognize it and fewer would know the meaning. Time was not one of the lucky few, and scraped at his brain to try and remember.

“Excuse me,” Warriors stepped in front of Time protectively, “But could you help us? We are looking for our friend Twilight?”

They broke eye contact, and Time felt he could breathe freely once again. Like all the pressure the poe was exerting was now on The Captain. Though Warriors did not back down or even falter at the red eye gaze.

“Giant wolf pelt on his shoulders. The one who you seem to keep following around? Does that ring a bell, or are poe’s deaf?” Warriors continued, almost bristling underneath its gaze.

“Maybe we shouldn’t try and antagonize the incorporeal ghost,” Wild hissed, tail almost going in between his legs.

The poe straightened up, its gaze somehow softening. Slowly raising a hand the shade turned and pointed behind it- where it was originally facing. A soft golden white glow emitting from something in the distance, moving quickly through the sand.

“You want us to follow the light?” Warriors asked the Shade.

The Hero’s Shade did nothing but point onward, turning its head slightly to give an unreadable look at The Captain. If Time had to guess it meant ‘what do you think’ or something to that effect.

“Right…” Warriors looked onward at the rapidly fading light.

“Well if we are going to follow it we need to get a move on,” Hyrule noted.

“Hop on Legend,” Wild lowered himself to the ground, “No offense, but you aren’t fast enough to keep up if we want to catch that thing. I don’t care what you do to hold on,”

Legend seemed to weigh his options before hopping over to Wild, “Fine,”

Once Legend was securely on Wild, using his hind legs to keep stable, they took off. Warriors and Hyrule were quick to follow them at a dead sprint. From the hours they spent wandering aimlessly had made them confident enough to do so.

Before Time followed he took one look back at the Shade. They made eye contact as Shade stood motionless. Its gaze was still angry but now accusatory, no words were said but Time could feel the anger.

“Time?” Sky’s talons clenched down harder on his fur, “We really need to go,”

Time didn’t waste anymore time in the stare off, taking off after the others. The anger that radiated followed Time through the sandy dunes. A part of him wondered why the Hero’s Shade hated him so much, and what happened to the poe to act like that.

Then he heard it, a voice that wasn’t his own ricochet through his head. It was an older, colder, and a far more accusatory version of his own. Time knew instinctively it was Shade’s thoughts, perhaps the poe no longer had its own voice, but the sentiment was still there.

It’s your fault.

Time let out a small whine, slowing down to look back at where Shade was. The poe was nowhere to be seen, as if it just vanished into thin air. Time sped backup to catch the others, trying to ignore his swirling thoughts. All he could hope for was that he never became as angry and bitter as Shade has.

Time slowed down to a stop behind the others, “What’s the hold up?”

“The glowing…. Beast if you can call it that is on the next dune over,” Legend informed him, as he hopped down from Wild’s back.

“What do you me-” Time started.

Then they heard it, a loud, victorious howl. Time knew from both his instincts and prior knowledge that this was a wolf closing in on a kill. Whatever prey that the beast had cornered had no chance of escaping.

Not unless they did something.

Warriors from years of combat training was already bending down, “Wind get off. Now please,”

“Wha- Ok?” Wind scurried down into the sand, making confused noises as he went.

“I don’t want you to get hurt with what I’m about to do,” Warriors got up and took off up the dune.

“HEY!” Time barked, but it was too late, “Fuck- Sky?”

Sky hopped down without any protest, wings flapping allowing him some air time, “What are you planning to do?”

“Try and hopefully stop Warriors from getting hurt. Maybe since I’m a wolf I can stop the one out there, or at least stall them,” Time shook his whole body, getting sand out of his fur.

“I’m guessing you want us to stay here?” Legend asked, also getting down from Wild, “A good chunk of us aren’t exactly combat ready,”

“If you would, I’ll call if it's safe or we need back up,” Time’s voice left no room for arguments as he bolted up the dune to survey the situation.

What he saw was straight out of a nightmare. Warriors was on the floor pinned down with a single paw from the large wolf. The wolf was far from normal, it was much larger than any that Time had seen. The glowing was coming from the wolf’s fur and eyes, highlighting the blood dripping from its maw onto the sand near Warriors’ head.

What worried Time the most was the blood. He didn’t know if the Captain somehow was injured, or what caused it. All Time could smell was the pungent iron as he went down the dune, watching with rapt attention as it happened.

The wolf turned back to look down at Warriors, like it was furious at him for intruding.

“WARRIORS!” Time yelled, quickening his pace down the dune.

The wolf’s head snapped towards him, the light coming from it dimmed. The wolf sniffed the air intensely, seemingly trying to figure out the new opponent,

The wolf, in an almost frantic manner, looked back down and sniffed the captain. The light had almost all been snuffed out, and now Time was close enough to see two blue eyes in the wolf’s face. The wolf stumbled back, a muffled clanking noise coming from its leg.

The wolf looked over at them, all the light was gone as Warriors got up. The wolf’s ears were pinned back and his tail was in between his legs. It was breathing heavily like something scared it.

Twilight’s voice, distorted, rough, and horrified, “Captain?!”

#ancestor's legacy #linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu hyrule #lu legend #lu time #lu twilight #lu warriors #lu wild #lu wind #lu fic #lu sky #lu four #hope you enjoy!

24 notes · View notes

the-french-belphegor · 6 months

Text

I finished another fic for the @critter-genfic-events's bingo card! "Beach day", this time. I swear I did mean it to be funny and only funny, but then it was also Vox Machina post-campaign, so "Missing someone" ended up being A Thing. Plus "Found family" because that's unavoidable when Grog and his gnomes are concerned 💜

I'll be posting this on AO3 shortly here if you prefer to read on AO3!

—

Grog wiggles sand between his toes and squints at the Marquet sun shining through a passing cloud.

“Oh man,” he hears Scanlan sigh from the chaise lounge thing next to him, “this is the life.”

Meh, Grog thinks, just a little.

Sure, it’s a nice day out, and it’s great that they finally got everyone for a little vacation weekend in the Bay of Gifts – even Keyleth, who’s very busy being leaderly, and even Vex and Percy, who have their hands full with Whitestone but mostly with little Vesper. (Grog still calls her ‘Whisper’, because it became A Thing, and to be fair she’s a fairly quiet kid, in his meagre experience.) Now the girl is napping with her dad under the shade of the parasol after burying Grog into the sand (with helpful pointers from her mum, her uncle Grog and her auntie Keyleth) and playing in the shallows with her auntie Pike and her uncle Scanlan. That’s a lot of things to do, and the little mite is all tuckered out. So’s mostly everyone, it seems, except for Trinket, who is having fun chasing seagulls in the distance.

And Grog is slowly but surely getting bored.

Of course, that’s the moment his insides choose to give a twinge at the lack of Vax shenanigans. One of the many things Grog misses about the guy is that you’d never get bored when he was around. Sometimes not getting bored meant getting half your beard shaved off or various belongings stolen for a prank, but… well.

Pike, Wilhand and Scanlan all say that it’s normal to still be sad about Vax even now. Privately, Grog wonders if it’s stupid to miss some of the truly infuriating things Vax did, like the beard thing. He has a feeling the answer would be “no”, but there’s no way in hell he’ll ask.

“Hey Pike!” he calls out, mostly to distract himself from the oncoming boredom but also from being sad on what’s supposed to be a fun day out. “Wanna go fight the sea?”

Pike is in the process of gathering Vesper’s discarded beach toys and eyeing Percy – who is currently fast asleep near his daughter – with Vesper’s shovel in her hand and a gleam in her eye. Just as Grog is starting to think pranking Percy might be a good distraction as well, she turns to him and grins.

“Sure, buddies. How d’you wanna do that?”

“I was thinkin’ I could walk into the waves and just, like, not budge. Or put you on my shoulder and then see how far we can go till you get splashed.”

“Okay, yeah, that sounds nice,” she says, nodding. “Scanlan? Wanna come with?”

“Eh,” says Scanlan from under the hat covering his face, “I had my share of the ocean earlier. Might work on my tan for a little bit.”

“Come on,” says Grog, because the first time they took a beach holiday Scanlan wasn’t there and their second trip to Dalen’s Closet was, well, A Lot – way too much to just let loose and have fun afterwards, “I have two shoulders. That’s one for Pike, and one for you. It’s huh. Balance.”

(He’s really proud to be able to say a number and not hesitate even a bit. Long sentences with lots of letters still elude him, but he’s starting to know numbers well.)

One of Scanlan’s eyes peeks out from under the hat, along with a smile.

“Aw, big guy. Okay, for balance then, but on one condition.”

“What’s that?” asks Pike with something sharp in her grin, like she really wants to laugh but she’s saving that for a better moment.

“My hair stays dry.”

“That’s it?” says Grog, eyebrows raised. He was expecting something a lot less simple.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

That sounds pretty fair, so Grog agrees.

So maybe walking into the surf isn’t quite fighting an entire ocean, but the three of them manage to make it fun, just like Grog thought they would. Pike stands on his left shoulder, hanging on to his head, and shouts at every wave just as loud as he does; meanwhile, Scanlan sits on his right shoulder, beating a rhythm on his chest with his toes and humming a vaguely familiar tune. There may be something magical at work there, because Grog is feeling a tingling warmth along his spine and into his ribcage, like they’re in the middle of a battle and Scanlan is singing to give him inspiration. That’s nice of him to do that. Maybe it’ll give Grog and Pike an edge.

(Even wearing no armour at all and with waves rolling up to his chest, Grog always feels just a little invincible with those two on his shoulders.)

“You know what, Grog?” says Pike after a while, settling down on his shoulder and grinning at him, her cheeks red and her chest heaving. “That was really fun. I think we could all do with some screaming at the ocean once in a while.”

“Seconded,” says Scanlan, who didn’t do any shouting and mostly either chilled with his eyes closed or looked at Pike like he does sometimes, all soft eyes and slight smile.

Pike gets the same sort of look every now and then. It’s this kind of little details that tells Grog that one of these days the guest bedroom in Wilhand’s attic might become a real guest bedroom again (that and the fact that dawn often finds Pike and Scanlan tiptoeing out of each other’s room). As long as they keep most of the lovey dovey stuff out of sight Grog is fine with it.

“Well, I’m smart like that,” says Grog with a grin, like a joke where only he knows the punchline. Which is kinda the case, actually, if the joke is The little bits are dating and Grog did notice. “I got lots of good ideas.”

Scanlan leans his back against Grog’s head and nods.

“You sure do, buddy. And you guys definitely win in my book. Eat your heart out, ocean!”

“Hey guys!” They all turn – which means the gnomes have to turn a second time because they’re facing the wrong way now – to the beach, where Vex is standing with her hands cupped around her mouth. “Keyleth says there might be some jellyfish in the water by now, have you seen any yet?”

“Some what?” asks Grog, and promptly steps on something squishy.

It’s like walking into a bramble bush. The sole of his foot is fine, but tendrils sneak up his ankle and fire up a prickling pain that instantly runs up his whole leg. The surprise, more than the actual sting, makes him bark a shout and instinctively jump back, but this is uncomfortable as hell.

His shoulders suddenly feel somewhat lighter. Oh shit, he thinks with a flash of fear, old habits taking over, Scanlan should float but Pike’s in heavy armour, she’ll go straight down—

But they’re on vacation, not adventuring – no weapons, no plate armour, just sun hats and bathing suits. When he whirls around he spots Pike easily treading water not far from his elbow. The waves rolling in towards the beach make her go up and down, but she’s completely unfazed.

“You okay, Grog?” she asks, looking a little startled, and Grog isn’t even sure if that’s from being thrown off her perch or on his account.

“Sure,” says Grog, not that sure. “Except, uh, question. Can people die from jellyfish?”

“Well,” says Pike reasonably, “that depends on the jellyfish. I saw some really big ones on the Broken Howl, like big big. But the ones around here just burn a little.” Then her eyes zero in on something ahead of her and her nose crunches. “Yikes. Yeah, you can tell Vex Keyleth was right, look.”

The first and last time Grog saw a jellyfish, it was in Vesrah. Two kids were poking a small blob with a stick until their father told them to stop. What’s floating close to the surface five feet from them is still a blob, but it’s got long thin tentacly things that look like a bunch of transparent seaweed. They’re trailing underneath like it doesn’t know what to do with them. It’s creepy, and it’s weird to think these are why his ankle and calf are stinging like he kicked through embers without a boot on.

Grog scoops Pike up, holds her up out of the water, and makes his way to the beach, trusting Scanlan to meet them there.

When he’s close enough to talk without shouting, he tells Vex, who’s been watching them curiously, “Yeah, maybe don’t let lil’ Whisper into the water just now. There’s at least a couple of the suckers out there. I even got bit, look.”

“Stung, Grog,” Pike corrects, hanging on tight to his arm to avoid toppling over when he lifts his foot. Oops. “Jellyfish don’t bite.”

Vex throws him a look, complicated and quick – worried-sharp-relieved – then grins.

“You know, I’ve heard you can treat a jellyfish burn by having someone pee on it. Not that I’m volunteering, but perhaps if you ask—”

It’s the way she says it. Something flashes in Grog’s mind, like he’s realised something isn’t right but his brain is taking a while to catch up on what, exactly. (It happens.) It’s not that it’s wrong for her to say that – although in the old days Grog wouldn’t have put it past Vax to bring it up instead – so much as she shouldn’t have been the first to say it.

Fortunately, Pike’s brain works much better and faster than his. Her eyes go wide real quick and she exclaims, “Wait – where’s Scanlan?”

A small sliver of cold creeps its way up Grog’s spine. Oh. Shit.

“Didn’t he swim to shore?”

“He didn’t,” says Vex, tense and sharp once more, but worse, like she used to just before a fight. “I would’ve seen him.”

“Well, he has to be somewhere, he can’t just – oh gods no.”

Pike’s voice goes sideways on the last word like someone tripping and falling down a flight of stairs. Grog looks into the same direction and goes cold all over.

There is a shape bobbing along in the water a little ways behind the waves crashing onto the beach.

Grog runs.

He does kind of end up fighting the sea for real today after all.

When he reaches Scanlan, what feels like the next second but also so much time later, the gnome is floating belly down just under the surface of the water. His arms and legs drift a little in the current, like the jellyfish’s tentacle things did. It looks so much creepier. But not as creepy as the way Scanlan lies completely still when Grog picks him up, arms and legs at odd angles like his limbs and joints are missing strings. Both his eyelids and his lips are a little bit blue.

At least there’s no blood. It would bring back real bad memories if there was blood. Well, it does, because this is not the first time Grog’s carried his second best little buddy cold and lifeless like that, but the absence of blood makes it a bit easier to push those memories away.

Pike takes charge as Grog limps out of the water, white seafoam frothing around his calves. Her face is nearly as pale.

“Lay him down,” she says, her voice steel under the usual warmth, and Grog does. He watches her press her ear to Scanlan’s chest, tip his head back, open his mouth, and blow into it. And look, Grog usually doesn’t like it much when they start getting kissy and too wrapped up in each other, but it’s the last thing he’d mind right now. This is the worst kiss he’s ever seen. He’s not even sure it counts as one.

Pike lays her hands flat on Scanlan’s chest and her arms find a steady rhythm – “…three four five six come on eight nine ten—” and Grog winces when he hears something crack. Pike with her gauntlets and her mace and the Blessing of the Everlight is strong, second only to Grog in strength in Vox Machina, but even without she’s a force to be reckoned with. Scanlan’s going to feel that when he wakes up. If he wakes up.

They can’t lose somebody else that’s theirs. They can’t.

Sometimes people go and you never get them back, Grog remembers Kerrek say to Keyleth once, that time Scanlan was dead and Grog spent a very complicated few hours grappling with the fact that all those powerful spellcasters couldn’t bring him back right now. Kerrek had looked surprised way before that when Grog had told him that when someone died, they just brought them back. Like that was usually not the way of things. Like sometimes even people you knew and loved a whole lot just died, and that was it, no Revivify spell, no resurrection.

Grog hadn’t really understood that before Vax died and then became feathers.

If Scanlan dies now, for real, is he going to become feathers, too?

Just as the terror starts to give way into rage – that’s always been Grog’s default way of handling things like that, mostly – Scanlan’s body gives a lurch and he upchucks more liquid than Grog’s ever seen him down in one go in all their years of tavern hopping.

The next second he hears Keyleth yell, “Turn him on his side!”

She’s motioning the water out of Scanlan’s lungs with her hands even as she’s full-on running towards them, spraying sand where her feet hit the beach. In the distance, Vex talks urgently to Percy sitting up next to Vesper before following her, almost as fast.

By the time she’s standing nearby, Keyleth is drawing out the last of the water and replacing it with air with complex arm gestures, long fingers flexing fluidly. The second she’s done, Pike flips Scanlan on his back again and smacks her hands flat on his chest with a flash of intense light that makes Grog see bright spots for a while. A heartbeat later, Scanlan is coughing and retching as if it would make more sense for his insides to be outside. Between dry heaves he takes big gulps of air that sound painful.

But at least he’s breathing.

Grog’s knees suddenly feel like jellyfish tentacles. Sea salt burns in his eyes, and wiping them doesn’t really help. He spares one furious thought towards the ocean – I still won, motherfucker, you don’t get to keep him, just a fleeting remnant of rage – before sitting down on the sand a lot more abruptly than he means to.

From there he catches some soft whispers, some in Gnomish he doesn’t understand, some in Common he does – “It’s okay, you’re okay”, “Slow down, deeper breaths”, and “I know, sorry about your ribs, babe, hold on a sec” – as well as the faint glow from Pike’s fingers as she runs her hand gently along Scanlan’s back. Scanlan’s breaths do come easier after that. (So do Grog’s, incidentally.) He still looks a wreck, though, his soaked curls all over the place, ashen-faced under his tan and half covered in a fine layer of sand. So much for keeping his hair dry. Oops.

“Are you gonna be okay?” asks Keyleth, her voice trembling just a little.

“What the hell happened?” Vex’s voice sounds clipped and almost angry, so sharp it could cut through diamonds but also kinda like it could break if she wasn’t careful. It only does that when things get bad.

Scanlan blinks up at her; he looks at Pike, at Keyleth, and at Grog, and blinks again.

“Good… question?”

It’s because of the jellyfish, Grog realises, and only notices he’s said that aloud when everyone turns their eyes to him. He concentrates hard on not voicing the niggling doubt that it’s his fault more than the jellyfish’s. The squish and the burn might have startled him, but letting both gnomes fall was on him alone. And that… that sucks. A lot.

Pike helps Scanlan sit up, one hand in his and the other still on his back.

“We were just messing around. Grog stepped on a jellyfish – by the way, you okay, buddy?”

“Yeah,” says Grog, even though his ankle still burns a lot, kinda, because he’s – they’ve all – gone through way worse during battles. Fortunately they’re not battling anyone, so Pike still has plenty of magic, and he almost immediately feels the familiar warmth of a Heal spell down to his toes. The next second the red welts on his skin are gone. “Thanks, Pike. And, uh… sorry for getting your hair wet, Scanlan.”

“That’s… a way of putting it, I guess,” mutters Vex.

Scanlan stops brushing wet sand off his face, still looking a little dazed. He looks up (and up, and up) at Grog and waves off the apology with a slightly shaking hand.

“Eh, it’s fine. I probably should’ve told you I can’t swim in the first place.”

Everyone stares at him in a stunned silence that Keyleth finally breaks.

“Wait,” she exclaims, “you can’t swim?”

Scanlan gives half a shrug. “Just never learned, I guess. And I learned Polymorph years ago, so I can just turn into something that swims better than I ever would anyway.”

That does nothing to placate Keyleth, whose voice climbs straight up.

“But – how did we not know that?!”

“It never came up!” protests Scanlan, eyes wide, almost defensive.

“How the hell did that never come up?”

“Guys.” Pike’s voice is clear and sharp; it’s not brittle like Vex’s was, but it’s a fine edge that slices easily through the rising tension before it turns back into her usual soothing tones. “Thank you,” she says to the two women. She opens her mouth, closes it again, and finally just says, “You know. Just… thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Vex says in her normal voice, but her face is pretty pale for all that she just ran a bunch of yards to go get Keyleth. “And Scanlan?”

Grog almost expects him to look up and go “Oi?” with a small smile that could mean pretty much anything. But he just looks up at Vex and doesn’t smile. His eyebrows go up a bit.

“A soon as we can find a body of water that doesn’t have waves in it –”

“Or jellyfish,” adds Grog, whose takeaway of the misadventure is that those things are more dangerous than ocean waves. One corner of Vex’s mouth twitches.

“– or jellyfish, we are teaching you how to swim, darling. And that is non-negotiable.”

Scanlan’s face is still a bit white, his voice still a bit raw when he nods and says, “Understood.”

“I mean it. I hope you can handle a crash course.”

“Well,” says Scanlan, sounding a little more normal, “you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks, but I—” Vex’s eyes glint, “—yep, okay, swimming lesson, no prob.”

Vex flashes a satisfied smirk, but it only stays up for a second. The next moment she’s hugging Scanlan, and it’s over just as quickly before she mutters, “I’d better go and inform Percy that nobody died, thank the gods…”

And it’s like Grog can hear the ‘nobody else’ hidden in that sentence, clear as day.

After she leaves, Scanlan looks at Keyleth with one of those smiles that mean he’s being serious.

“Thanks, Kiki. You know, you’re pretty awesome.”

Keyleth looks less spooked now. She gives a short snort of a laugh and unfolds her long lean body from where she’s sitting on the sand.

“Yeah, well. I spent a long time learning these spells, so. I’m glad you’re okay, Scanlan,” she adds in a softer voice before following Vex.

It’s when her back is turned and she’s a few feet away that Pike – who’s been so still Grog almost expected her to start vibrating – grabs Scanlan by the shoulders and then throws her arms around him. Doesn’t kiss him, just goes straight for a tackling hug that seems to drive the air from his lungs (again).

“I thought you’d Dimension Doored to the beach,” Grog hears her say in his hair, a little muffled, because after a second of surprise Scanlan is hugging back, just as tight. “I thought you’d swum back. You should’ve said you couldn’t, you… I should’ve checked… Holy shit, Scanlan. That was so fucking dumb.”

But she’s trembling a little as she says this, so maybe it’s not really dumb to be scared still, even though everything is okay now.

…Well, kind of okay. No matter what happens, Vax will stay dead. Which means Vex, and Keyleth, and Scanlan, and Pike, and Percy, and Tary won’t really be okay okay for a long time. They’ll still have those moments where they go quiet and still and kind of fragile, like they’re made of glass you can’t quite see through. Like Grog, when his memory betrays him and he thinks I gotta show this to Vax, or Vax will go nuts when he hears that – and then he remembers that Vax is gone and they’ll never get him back.

Maybe that’s part of why Pike is holding Scanlan so tight, and why Scanlan is murmuring to her in Gnomish looking like he just smacked his head into a wall.

And since there’s no kissing involved, just ‘holy crap you’re alive I love you you’re alive’ hugging, Grog picks up his gnomes for some hugging of his own.

The thing is… well. It’s like this. It’s Wilhand and Grog and Pike and Scanlan, living in Wilhand’s house. It’s Grog and Scanlan and Pike, going to taverns and sometimes – less often than they used to, but still sometimes – going home so smashed they can’t walk straight. It’s Pike and Grog and Scanlan going to Vasselheim via teleportation circles; Grog and Scanlan check in at the Slayer’s Take headquarters while Pike drops by the Temple of Sarenrae first, Pike and Grog fight at the Crucible while Scanlan sneaks them some inspiration from the stands, and Grog and Pike and sometimes Scanlan take a contract from the Take to kill some big beast that doesn’t hold a candle to a dragon or a god but is still fun to fight.

The thing is… Grog knows gnomes live a long time. The particulars are unclear and not really interesting to be honest. He just knows that one day, he’ll be too old to fight anything – which sucks, so he hopes it won’t last a long time – and he’ll die for good, and Pike and Scanlan will still be young compared to him. That’s not scary in itself. Grog Strongjaw has never been afraid of dying (especially not since the two halves of Kevdak’s corpse hit the cobblestones of the Westruun town square). But Grog Strongjaw has learned to fear death like he used to before he learned about resurrection spells, whether it comes from the fingertips of a snarling god or the whisper of raven wings. Revivify doesn’t always work, and it gets harder if you died and got brought back more than once. And then sometimes they’re just. Gone. (They could have lost Vex for good as well at the not-wedding a couple of years ago. Sometimes Grog looks at her playing with Vesper, or slumped against Percy with her head on his shoulder, and the thought goes through his brain and leave ice in its wake for a while.)

The thing is… They’re not always out of harm’s way, but they are safe now.

They killed dragons. They thwarted a god. They lost family. They’re entitled to safe, now, right?

None of them are allowed to die before Grog. Not for real. That would just be unfair.

(Especially because of a stupid misstep and a stupid jellyfish.)

So yeah. The gnomes hug each other, and Grog hugs his gnomes.

“Hey, Scanlan,” he says when the two break apart – slightly – and make themselves comfortable against his chest without even thinking about it, out of habit.

“Yeah?”

“Are you mad we didn’t know you can’t swim?”

Something complicated flashes across Scanlan’s face for a second, but then he shakes his head.

“I’d be mad if I’d told you and you’d forgotten,” he says, and Grog believes him.

“I wouldn’t forget a thing like that.”

“I know, bud.”

“We’re gonna teach you, anyway,” Pike points out as the three of them make their way up the beach towards the others, the towels and the parasols. “And no Polymorph allowed. You’re not cheating your way out of this one.”

“That’s not cheating, that’s just… creative thinking! Swimming is boring – why would I want to swim when I can turn into a porpoise instead?”

“Why didn’t you do that earlier, then, instead of giving us all a heart attack?”

“I was taken by surprise, obviously!”

“Wait,” says Grog, “how the hell do you turn into a purpose?”

“P-o-r-p-o-i-s-e, buddies. It’s an animal. Kinda looks like a dolphin.”

“Dolphins are usually purposeful, so that tracks.”

“You’re not helping, Scanlan.”

“Yeah, you’re not helping me cultivate my litter-a-see, Scanlan.”

Grog isn’t sure (yet) how to spell ‘literacy’ and he mostly means it as a joke anyway, but Scanlan’s whole face lights up with delight, so maybe it means he stuck the landing.

Of course this is where Vesper’s little voice pipes up to ask what ‘literacy’ means, and what’s a porpoise, and then what does a jellyfish look like, because she’s a curious little one and she loves to know things and figure things out. Scanlan spins a tale on the spot for her that only looks like what actually happened if you tilt your head and squint really hard; at some point a giant whale is involved and Pike, Vex and Keyleth swing down from an airship to save the day. Percy’s eyebrows shoot up from behind his glasses at that, Keyleth laughs, and Vex grins and takes a mock bow before returning to scratch the spot behind Trinket’s ear.

Vesper listens to Scanlan with increasing awareness that this is A Story – firmly in the land of make-believe, where no one dies, nobody is ever in real danger, and all’s well that always ends well – and gives dramatic gasps and laughs at the right places.

Pike plops Scanlan’s hat on her head and settles behind him to comb the sand and the knots out of his hair with her fingers as he talks. Sometimes she smiles the same soft little smile Scanlan had earlier, while she and Grog were screaming at the ocean.

And Grog?

Grog settles on the ground, wiggling sand between his toes, and watches his family being alive.

—

Raise your hand if you love Grog Strongjaw and his gnomes 🥰

Me a couple of months ago seeing this post:

"Ooh, that's great! Great potential for comedy!" So I jotted down these lines -

“Wait, you can’t swim!? How did we not know that?” “It never came up!” “How the hell did it never come up??

- and then a couple of months later came up with the fic above 😅

Hope you liked!

#critter genfic bingo #critical role #vox machina #pikelan #grog strongjaw #pike trickfoot #scanlan shorthalt #vex'ahlia #keyleth #percival de rolo #fanfiction #tlovm spoilers

35 notes · View notes

darkness-and-books · 2 months

Text

Star Trek (TOS)

so I was making bracelets the other day and I thought of these. They’re just some little headcanons for how some of my favourite TOS characters would react if you made them a bracelet (when you guys are dating and not public) SFW

James T. Kirk

You 100% stole an Enterprise emblem pin off of something to use as a charm on it.

The beads are arranged in a pattern of one plain yellow bead and then one yellow bead with glitter in it (rinse and repeat pattern)

when he sees it he’s kinda surprised, but only for a moment before absolutely melting 🫠.

he can’t believe you thought of him while doing crafts because he knows you do crafts to unwind after a long day.

is not nearly as concerned as he should be about where exactly the pin came from

Will get very upset and hide away until he finds it again if he ever loses it

“This is for me?” He sounds a bit floored, “umm, yeah, it’s okay if you don’t like it, I could-“ he doesn’t let you finish your sentence. “No, no, no! I love it!” He quickly slipped it onto his wrist before you could even think to take it back.

A couple of weeks later you assume that he probably took it off and left it somewhere in his quarters to be forgotten

but he would NEVER dare take it off

you honestly almost cry when you see him still wearing it

When you bring it up he’s a little insulted no he’s not that you would even think that it would leave him ever

Jim is riled up about something as he’s talking to Spock and you were listening, but then he put his hands down on the table in front of him and you noticed something. He was still wearing the bracelet you made him! Of course, McCoy being McCoy, he has also noticed this and has to put something in about. “I get that you love the Enterprise, but isn’t that a bit much?” Leonard shouts across from across the bridge. Kirk turns a slight shade of pink at the jest, but does a surprisingly good job of ignoring it. Later when he leaves the bridge you run up to him and give him the biggest hug you can manage. “I know I’m irresistible, but this a little unusual, even for you, sweetheart” Jim jokes, “You’re still wearing it” you say softly into his shoulder. It takes him a moment to catch onto what you’re talking about, but when he does, he lets out a soft chuckle that you can feel rumble through his chest. “Of course I am” he whispered into your hair as he gave you a kiss on the head.

Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy

You have a bit of a harder time trying to figure out what charm to put on his bracelet

you definitely spend a long while overthinking because you want it to be perfect

one night as you’re about to go to bed though the perfect idea hits you

its so brilliant and yet so simple

you decide on a little femur 🦴 charm, actually two, so it’s plural just like his nickname

You’d use black and blue beads and put one of each colour between the two charms to separate them a little.

At first he doesn’t even look up at you because he’s going through some medical records.

so in a small fit of anxiety you toss it on his desk and literally run away before he can look and see how stupid cutesy it is

When he does see it though he makes heart eyes at it😍

His, no backsies

Pretends to go back to work after slipping it on is secretly kicking his feet and bubbling up inside

He will track you down after his shift to thank you for it because he LOVES it

“I brought you something” you softly announced, “just a second, darlin’ I’ve some forms to finish” he really didn’t mean to dismiss you, he just couldn’t afford to loose his train of thought just then. There was a clatter on the desk in front of him and before he could properly process the event you had disappeared. He looked up from his padd to see a little bracelet with two bone charms on it, on his desk. For a brief second he smiled ear to ear, it was so quick that any nurse passing by would have sworn it was a hallucination. He quickly put his padd down to put the bracelet on and then quickly pretended to go back to his work. Later, after his shift, he finally found you in your quarters. Your door swooshed open and you looked up. “Oh, hi” you blushed as you saw McCoy. He sat down next to you and kissed you on one cheek, then the other, and finally gave a quick peck to your lips before thanking you. “I love it so much, darlin’, thank you” he declares as he gives you another kiss.

You’re entirely certain that he only wore it for a little while to humour you and it was probably sitting in the drawer of his nightstand now

he just doesn’t strike you as the kind to wear jewellery.

boy are you wrong though, he’s an absolute sap sentimental

Would eat a tricorder rather than willingly take it off

You scraped your knee up when the Enterprise hit some unexpected turbulence. It seriously barely even bled, but Leonard still RAN to you. He had you sit down on a biobed while he inspected your knee. When he reached up with some disinfectant you noticed he was wearing the bracelet. Your heart leapt as you reached for his wrist. “I know that disinfectant stings, darlin’, but you still have to let me clean it for you” he insisted. You pulled his wrist up to your lips and placed a kiss right on his pulse point, “You’re still wearing the bracelet!” You softly exclaimed. Leonard looked at his wrist before looking lovingly into your eyes. “Of course I am, it’s amazing, thoughtful, and reminds me of the girl I love” he cooed, “but I still have to disinfect your scrape” he raised an eyebrow at you as he slowly pulled his wrist away from your face.

Spock

This gives you soo much anxiety to do

what if he doesn’t like it? Or doesn’t understand? Or doesn’t like it because it’s “highly illogical”?

Sure he’s half Vulcan, but he’s also half human

in the end you decide on a charm of the Vulcan salute 🖖, which you picked up on a shore leave awhile back

unlike with the other two, you had decided on some very nice glass beads instead of the big plastic ones, they’re sort of marbled various shades of blue

(Maybe like these) I put a link in the picture to them on Amazon in case anyone decides they actually want them

You definitely hold onto this bracelet for what feels like way too long before you muster the courage to give it to him

You probably give it to him when he’s looking a bit down, or as down as he would ever allow himself to look

he probably turns a light shade of green when you give it to him

not that he’s actually sure why you’ve given it to him or what it means, but you gave it to him and for about 30 seconds that’s all he actually cares about

which might be a record amount of time for him to go without following a logical thought process to its exhaustion

internally warms him, he finds it endearing, feels the need to gift you something in return

As you hand it to Spock he slowly raises an eyebrow before turning the slightest shade of green and putting it on with so much care, as if one breath might shatter every bead now resting on his wrist. He clears his throat slightly before starting, “It’s very nice, why are you giving it to me?” He doesn’t mean it as an insult he just assumes he must have done something to deserve it. “Oh, it’s okay if you don’t like it or want it” you wilt a bit at the idea that you were entirely wrong in thinking that it would cheer him up. “Oh no it’s quite lovely, really” he insists, you smile a little still not sure of his words “okay”

You’re pretty sure he took it off as soon as you turned around and had probably been haphazardly tossed somewhere in his quarters, if not directly in the trash 🗑️

you just don’t think he even likes the concept of it, let alone your tacky one

entirely incorrect in that thought process

logically explains it to anyone who asks about it: “My wearing it, assures the person who gave it to me of my affections for them” sounds cold, but he came up with an explanation, basically as good as married now.

would cut off his own ear before he would part with it

As you walk by you can hear things getting shoved around in Spock’s quarters. You run in assuming that some kind fight is going on. You’re both relieved and confused to find him alone, but still in an odd state of disarray. “Umm, are you alright?” You ask “It’s nothing, Y/N. I’ve just misplaced something” Spock informs you. Nothing my ass, you think to yourself “Are you sure? It’s kind of a mess in here” You point out “What have you lost?” You inquire. He turns green from his cheeks to his ears. “I seem to have.. erm… misplaced my bracelet” he murmurs the last part and your heart flutters at the thought that he cared enough to not only notice it was gone, but then also to tear apart his quarters looking for it. “Well when was the last time you had it?” You asked, knowing full well that he had probably already been through that thought process. “I was wearing it when I went to sleep last night” he admits sheepishly, “did you shake out your bedding?” You look over to see his bed stripped down “Yes, that was the first thing I did”. “What about under the bed?” You look back to him and he’s turned an even brighter green, “No, I hadn’t thought to do that yet” he reveals, “would you mind looking for me? You would fit better than I would” he requested. “Of course” you complied as you got down on the floor to look under the bed. “Bingo!” you exclaimed before sliding under the bed to reach it. When you stand up again he snatches it away and puts it back on before going to reorganise his room. You smile to yourself. He’d never be caught dead admitting it, but he nearly had a heart attack this morning when he realised it was missing.

sorry it might not be any good, hope you kinda like it anyway, thanks!

#Star Trek #Trekkie #Spock #leonard mccoy x reader #Bones #James T. Kirk #bracelet #headcanon #cutesy #Fluffy stuff

15 notes · View notes

countryclubkillanowhuh · 26 days

Note

Prompt idea! Can you please write about rafe getting too high and flirting and being all touchy with barry. Rafe saying things he’d normally only think about out loud without realizing he’s doing so. Things about how pretty his eyes are or how sexy is drawl is. It can be sfw or nsfw.

Okay so I’m not sure if this really fulfills what you asked for and also it’s kind of in Barry’s point of view which probably isn’t what you expected but I tried. Also, thank you for the prompt this is the first thing i’ve successfully written in a year and i’m not sure how good it is but it’s something so I appreciate the idea. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rafe is high out of his mind.

That’s all Barry keeps thinking as the rich kid he met only a year ago sits next to him on his couch, talking nonsense with a joint barely grasped in between his fingers.

It’s not the kind of high Barry’s used to with Rafe though. Coke high. All hopped up on energy and

bad ideas, freaking the fuck out about something or other that he thinks is gonna ruin his Kook ass life.

They haven’t done any lines tonight, Barry’s dealer is late on restock so their options were weed or nothing at all. Rafe high on just weed is like a whole new thing, all his panicked, erratic behavior siphoned out of him every time he exhaled. It’s interesting, makes the nineteen year old seem almost normal for a while.

“Are you even listening to me bro?”

“Yeah Country Club, i’m listen to ya.”

He wasn’t, but in the state of mind Rafe is in Barry doesn’t really think he’s gonna be called on his bluff.

“Okay good, so what do you think?” Rafe slurred, proving Barry wrong immediately. Which is something the other man did almost as much as he proved him right.

“About what?”

“Jamie having a boyfriend man. You know, I asked him what he even found attractive about the guy and the first thing he said was ‘his eyes’.” Rafe mocked, dropping the joint from his fingers as he used them to make quotation marks in the air, rolling his own eyes at his coworkers response. “Like, how can a dude find another dudes eyes attractive?”

Before Barry even had a chance to respond, Rafe was scooting closer and making more eye contact with him than he ever had before. Which honestly really wasn’t hard considering the guy was usually constantly looking around like he felt like people were watching him, never fully focused on one thing.

“What’chu doin, Country Club?”

“Shh, i’m looking.” the oldest Cameron explained. It wasn’t much of an explanation, but Barry had no qualms being looked at so he let the man do just that.

After about two minutes of staring into Barry’s eyes like he was trying to uncover all his secrets, Rafe leaned back a little and let out a little “Hmm.” before speaking one of the most surprising sentences to ever leave his mouth in Barry’s presence.

“I guess you have nice eyes.”

Barry’s eyebrows raised at that. Rafe had said a lot of things in the past that eluded to a bit of a disinterest in women, but he’d never said anything like that about a man, let alone Barry himself.

“You think my eyes are nice?” Barry questioned, waiting for Rafe’s foggy mind to realize what he said so it could backpedal.

“Mhm.” Rafe answered, bending over to pick up the forgotten joint and then lying his head back, closing his eyes as he took another hit. “They’re like, a good shade of brown, or whatever.”

“Why thank ya’ J. Crew. Anythin’ else you like about me that you’d like to share.”

“Well your voice is nice.” Rafe answered, head still laid back, eyes still closed, tired and seeming uninterested in having this conversation when he could be sleeping. “Like, whatever accent you have that keeps the last letter off of all your words.”

The shock kept Barry silent, and apparently whatever had gotten out of the weed and into Rafe took the quiet as an invitation to continue.

“And your arms.” Rafe said, sleepily reaching up his hand to poke at the muscle in Barry’s upper arm. “Strong.” He let his hand relax there, just resting on Barry’s arm right where he poked it.

“Well god damn, Country Club, I didn’t know ya’ could be so nice. I outta get you this high more often if imma get an ego boost like this every time.” Barry joked, trying to keep his mind from making anything out of Rafe’s intoxicated rambling. “Would ya’ like some compliments too princess, or are you just interested in givin’ to me?”

This time it was Rafe who was silent, and one look over at him confirmed that he was out like a light, the weed finally forcing him to go to sleep after hours of on and off smoking. Barry tried not to be disappointed, kind of hoping he could goad a little more flirtation out of the other man. But it was probably for the best, Rafe wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning and if it had gone any further Barry would have to remind him of it.

And that wasn’t a conversation that a slightly more sober Rafe would be able to handle.

End.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay if it was bad don’t tell me i’ll cry 🤠

#rafebarry #barry obx #rafe cameron #outer banks #fanfic

10 notes · View notes

buckarooey · 10 months

Text

The Dnap Ex Best Friends to Lovers AU

so it goes like this. It all begins with these two little nerds who meet on an mcpvp server. You've heard it before, 123 and all that. So little Sap and Dream become bestie friends! Until that fateful incident happens

There was an agrument that was had with one of dream's other friends that resulted in Dream blocking Sap! HE begged and begged and BEGGED Dream to unblock him and make things work out... but that never happened. With advice from Sapnap's circle of friends and shared mutuals, it was decided that it would be best to move on. So Sap, being the ever sensitive one, takes this very hard. While still in contact with other friends, him and Dream drifted apart just like that

They both grow up not knowing much about what happened in each other's lives. Doesn't help that they're half the country away from each other. Dream's other friend on the other hand, turned out to be a bit of an asshole. So Dream dropped him, but he still felt horrible for the way he treated Sap. When going to unblock him, he sees that Sap had moved onto another account, one he doesn't know of. He decides to let this sleeping dog lay and picks himself up and try to heal from the heartbreak that he caused to himself

Cut to years in the future, college. Love it, hate it, it's a unique experience either way. Dream is at one of the local frat parties. You could easily mistake him for a football player, but after a short time you'd see how much of a sweet dork he really is. It's the first party of the year and a lot of freshmen are here to whet their party appetites. Dream was going to go look for his friends when he caught the glimpse of one of the more shy freshmen.

Even from his distance, he can see that the younger man is much, much shorter than him. Compared to the other guys at the party even. He had on an anime hoodie and a dark cap that had cute reddish brunette hair curling around it. And oh god... those shorts are short on him. His thighs filling up the garment quite deliciously. He was looking around expectantly while also nursing a drink.

Oh he's cute!, Dream thought, Gonna take my shot!

So Dream strolls up as nonchalant as he could be (as in, clumsily working his way though a fairly thick crowd of drunk college students). Once he was able to make it to the wall the other was leaning on. The small man's eyes widened at the realization that this over 6ft tall jock looking guy is trying to talk to HIM!? Dream sees the way his cheeks deepen in shades of red, not helped by the drink no doubt

"This you're first party?" Dream asks

"Um... Yeah- is it that obvious? This isn't really my scene. I'm here with a friend..." His eyes dart around frantically at the waves of inebriated twenty-somethings in the vain hope of finding his friend. It really shouldn't be this difficult! Unless he's in another room.

Dream pulls up a move he's seen some other guys pull on girls. He rests his arm up against the wall, he thinks he looks so cool and suave. Even without the move, he still towered over the other. They get to talking and find out their both compsci majors! It doesn't take long to get into video games (nerds). The younger mentions that he's pretty into Valorant, aiming to gt platinum within the week! Dream, being a lover of simple things in life, brings up that he loves to play minecraft. Even works with his roommate to make sick mods for it. The other also expresses his fondness for the game, but admits it's been a long time since he's picked it back up. He's usually forced to play Roblox with his friend.

"We should play together sometime! Can I get your number so we can swap details later?"

"Y-yeah sure." Even under the dim lights of the house, Dream could catch the hint of excitement at the prospect of spending more time with this handsome young man. After he sounded out his number, all that was left was his name. FUCK! He actually forgot to introduce himself! He didn't even ask for the other's name!

"Sorry to- uh, ask this now but, what's you're name? My name is Dream, by the way!" It was hard to tell exactly what had happened in the next few seconds. First, was the other flinching, softly, but noticeable enough, wide and shocked eyes now looking up at him. Next was the shout that rang right behind him.

"SAPNAP! There you are! You had me so worried." A tall (but not as tall as Dream) guy rushed past him and inserted himself right between him and the stranger. In a quite rue manner by the way! A soft "Karl!" was all Dream could catch before a few more whispers exchanged between them. Karl quickly yet softly grasped Sapnap's(?) hand and they were out in a flash. Just another second later he heard commotion in the kitchen. Something about someone stealing a few of the (many mind you) bottles that were provided. The mixed laughter of the two freshmen filled Dream's ears as they ran out of the party scott-free.

It took a bit to prcess what happened. Then he looked down at his phone. Name still blank. Without even thinking, he typed in Sapnap. Then he sent a quick text.

Can't wait to talk again.

He then proceeded to find his own friends and tell them what happened

alright, so Sap knows who Dream is, but doesn't know who Sap is, and he wants to get to know him! Sap is really hesitant bc, well, the odds of this dream being his dream are not likely, but never zero. And the more Dream opens up about himself, yep this is- was his Dream. Sap is pretty cold on his end, but think he's an emotional masochist and lets himself be friends with Dream, even if he tries to keep it at arms distance

Soooo I want Dream to find out, but I'm not exactly sure how. My first idea was him looking at Sapnap's user on Namemc for whatever reason and he spots it. PandascanPVP. It made it heart swell. the world stopping but going by too fast at the same time.

Pandas. His Pandas. Before he knows it he's crying thinking back to what happened. How he carelessly took his other friend's side who turned out to be a huge asshole. But they're together again, just how the universe was meant to be! When he an Sap meet up again at Sap's room Dream gives him the biggest bear hug filled with all the love he was never able to give Pand- Sapnap over all these years

Dream says he's sorry for ever doing that to him. And that he really missed his friend, and that he's glad that they're back together! They can really catch up on life and play as much MC as they want and play with George's cool mods and-

Sapnap, on the other hand. Stood stock still as Dream poured his heart out. He could barely focus on what's going on around him. He thought he would be prepared for this moment, mostly because he wanted to be the one to bring it up. But now, it's all too suffocating. Whereas Dream cried with hop and happiness, Sapnap's tears sprung at the memories of what happened that night. The argument, the blocking, the constant begging to be acknowledged by one of the most important people to him at the time. It was hell. And Dream couldn't be there for him because he was the one that cut the contact. He didn't want to be there for him. And now here he is, in person all these years later. Acting like he can just sweep it under the rug and act like they can start all over with a fresh start.

Sapnap wasn't prepared to face this again. He never was. The worried questions from Dream were drowned out by the sobs wracking his body, too much was happening for him to deal with. He was too distraught to hear footsteps rushing in, his roommate Karl yelling at Dream and kicking him out. Karl goes through the steps on calming Sap down from his attack, enough to make sure that he's back down to earth and that Karl was there to help his friend no matter what. Sap really loved Karl for this, he's really appreciative to have a friend like him. Karl makes some fruity (contraband) drink to help calm the younger's nerves and they talk it out

Dream on the other hand is stunned. He feels horrible for what happened. This was the exact opposite of what he was trying to accomplish. But now he just made things worse it looks like. But... FUCK he can't lose Sapnap now, not when they just met each other again! Once he gets back to the apartment he asks George for some advice.

George calls him a huge idiot!!! But, actually does sit down and strategizes some possible plans. Overall. Go. Slow

So when Dream and Sapnap meet up for classes, it's hella akward. But Dream takes the advice to heart and doesn't jump right into it. Asking if it's ok if he can talk to talk to him today. Sap says no, but to give him time. Dream agrees and gives Sap the space he needs. Whenever there's college activities/ parties that they both attend, that gets awkward as well.

omg don't even get me STARTED on guard dog Karl. He's around Sap more since the incident as emotional support, and glares daggers at Dream. Making sure to let the him know that he hasn't forgot about what happened that night in their dorm room. So at some point Dream employs the help of George to distract Karl while he tries to mend whatever is left of his and Sap's relationship without Karl keeping him away

Over time they do get to talking about both sides about what happened and how that affected the both of them growing up. Maybe even imply that they would like to be something... even more

ehhh maybe throw in another wrench in Dream's plans by something happening that hurts Sapnap emotionally again, but it gets addressed properly this time and it doesn't take as long to start the healing process once more! They do have sex btw that's a guarantee!

#Sapnap #dreamwastaken #Dreamnap #Rooey Brainrots #okay here it is hope you like it ^___^

27 notes · View notes

daintyduck99 · 11 months

Note

“you still wear that little bracelet i made you?” “it’s like my good luck charm..” screams any Julie ship to me.

This is also for @invisibleraven, who asked for the exact same prompt!

Julie sits on her freshly made bed, patting the covers with a soft little smile.

If she squints, it looks exactly the same, adorned with a floral quilt from abuela and a battered pillow, plus the book she brought for security purposes, which honestly haven’t changed since she was a child (staving off boredom, the inability to sleep, or trouble making friends).

She never did need to crack it open back then, and she doubts she will now.

Though the cabin isn’t the one she used to stay in, it’s also incredibly similar, barring the artwork on the walls. Even the busted AC hasn’t changed, and she has to huff a laugh as she gathers her hair into a ponytail, hastily getting it off of her neck. She plucks at her thick camp t-shirt.

A trio of masculine voices floats through the nearest window as she forces it up.

“Dude, I don’t think this is our cabin.”

“It has to be! I know this place like the back of my hand!”

She smothers a giggle at the whuff of a hearty sigh before the third guy says, “Okay…”

And she gives them a cheeky grin when they waltz through the door.

“Unless your name is Kayla, I don’t think this is your cabin.”

Two of them stammer apologies, but the guy in the middle just gawks at her, slack-jawed.

A slap on the arm from the sleeveless guy to his left prompts the gawker to close his mouth, but his eyes are still big and bright and fixed on her.

They’re the second prettiest shade of green she’s ever seen.

He takes a tentative step into the room.

“Julie?”

She’s on her feet instinctively, racing toward him, and it all rushes back: the faint field of freckles blanketing his nose, his crooked grin and his bright, melodic laugh, his stories and his accent and the silly songs they’d make up. Feathery dark hair that he was always pushing out of his face and how pink he’d turned the one time he let her clip it back, studding it with equally pink butterflies, his ever-fidgeting hands.

Those pretty green eyes.

He folds her into his arms and she knows.

“Reggie!”

He graces her ears with that laugh she remembers so well, squeezing her tight.

"I can't believe—it's really you!"

"I can't believe you haven't introduced us to your hot friend yet," Sleeveless drawls.

The other guy snorts as she and Reggie sheepishly unravel. He's tall and blond, with piercing blue eyes.

"Okay, well, I'm Alex. And I assume that this isn't cabin fourteen."

Julie nods dazedly. "Opposite end."

Sleeveless clicks his tongue, turning to Reggie with a shit-eating grin.

"Before you say anything," Reggie rushes to say, "I just got everything flipped. And I didn't know Julie would be here! But technically—"

He flashes his wrist, and she nearly gasps.

A worn purple bracelet lives there, no longer too large but snug against his skin.

"That's my first wife, so show some respect."

She swallows, struck more sharply with nostalgia, the sheer sentimentality of it all.

"You still wear that little bracelet I made you?"

"Come on, Luke," Alex interrupts, half-dragging him out the door, "I'm going to prove that I know where you're supposed to be."

Their bickering tapers off. Reggie clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah. I mean, I usually carry it on me instead. It's silly, but—it's like my good luck charm. All those summers—you really were my first, you know?"

Julie melts. She takes him by the hand.

She flips her suitcase open to show him the red bracelet sitting on the very top.

"Yeah. Trust me, I do."

As it turns out, she's his only wife, which everyone coos about when they make it official a few summers later.

#childhood friends to lovers prompts #rulie #reggie x julie #ficlets with ash #yes Luke has mutilated his camp shirt already #julie and the phantoms

17 notes · View notes

jedi-grandmaster · 2 years

Note

Hello! I've been following you for a little while now and I'm curious about something I see pop up in your feed every so often: is there a serious conflict online about the jedi order being good or evil? I just watched the prequels for the first time recently and I never considered them as bad, just human. I always viewed the conflict, especially in ROTS, as multiple "shades" of good (ex: the Jedi council are wary of Anakin because he has the potential to be dangerous while Padme wants to save him because she loves him, but neither are inherently evil), and that it just added to the whole tragedy. Do you know a little more about this? (Btw, no pressure to answer, opinions on social media are scary! I'm just very new to the fandom and you seem pretty level headed and more seasoned than me :))

Hi anon! Opinions on social media can absolutely be scary, but this blog isn’t scary, so don’t worry!

Ah, I guess you could say I’ve got some seasoning here lol. Welcome to the Star Wars fandom, watch for the landmines.

To be 100% clear and upfront, there is no conflict in canon at all about their morality: they are good guys working and giving everything they have for goodness. They are shown to be heroes time and time again and are only ever shown to be “iffy” by narrators who are known to be untrustworthy, “gray,” or straight up evil in the first place. Fandom is different. There is absolutely conflict, it’s a spectrum from what I’ve seen, and some of the “hot takes” are rancid.

Yeah, I’ve been here for a while, and unfortunately many people believe the Jedi are oppressive child stealers (literally been refuted in canon about a million times; literally the main argument used against them). @monjustmon and @gffa have spoken about this in great length in the past. Personally, I think it comes from people stanning groups of people who have historically rivaled the Jedi and looking for excuses to call their favs “good” and their antagonists “flawed”. (Problematic favs are great, just please accept that doesn’t make them good).

To start, I wouldn’t call the Jedi council acting the way they did with Anakin as shades of good, but just them acting as they should have in an unprecedented and potentially dangerous situation. Anakin was sus, 100%, no ifs, ands, or buts. Them being cautious about what they let him do in a galactic war makes sense (especially considering that when he was out of Obi-Wan’s direct line of sight he murdered an entire village, including the children and got married to a senator. He also had a major hand in the genocide of his people not too long after).

The conflict itself was initiated, fueled, and ended by the sith. The skirmishes? The sith. The battles and slaughterings? The slavery rings? The sith. The stolen children? The sith! The genocide of a peaceful culture? The sith! Every slanderous campaign and the growing, cultivated attitude of the Jedi in the period leading up to and during the war was because of palpatine and his little followers.

I don’t want to get too into it in case this isn’t what you were expecting (come back to my inbox if you want any clarifications or anything, anon!), I just think it’s important that the fandom remembers to take a step back and look at it from an objective point of view.

Thanks for the ask, anon!

#thanks for the ask anon!#and welcome to the fandom!#my thoughts are a little jumbled but I’m tired:’)#Jedi council #star wars #ask #anon #tempo talks

43 notes · View notes

officialtayley · 10 months

Note

i’m so sorry but this will be long. no offence to the anon that said this, i’m just kinda using it as something to spring my pov from but: i kinda hate the notion that you shouldnt count past “love” songs which are about chad (like siy, toe, proof etc) as love songs just because hayley wasn’t in the best place when she wrote them and/or they’re not as meaningful as the ones she has since written about taylor.

again, no shade to anon, this just made me want to speak about what i see on a wider scale. of course hayley and chad had a shitty relationship, he pretty much groomed her, cheated on her and from what we know abused her at least mentally. he was a horrible person and an even worse partner, we know that much is true. however, i think sometimes people can be really dismissive of hayley’s very real feelings and love that she clearly felt for chad at the time and that makes me a little bit mad sometimes. she was with the guy for 10 years, she wasn’t secretly hoping he was taylor throughout their entire relationship and to say that she was is again, dismissive and a bit disrespectful i feel? one thing we know for sure about hayley is she is loyal as fuck and she wants to fight through tough times, she wouldn’t have done all of that if she never really loved chad.

of course, her love for taylor is deeper and has more history and meaning but it’s not right to invalidate her past feelings. she doesn’t mean siy, toe etc in the same way anymore but at one point or another they meant a lot to her and they still probably do, just in a completely different way now. i know we all hate chad but please just bare in mind that hayley is a real person, she isn’t just a tayley content machine lmao, her love for chad was very real once upon a time and we don’t need to rewrite history about their past songs. two things can be true: 1. SIY and TOE are love songs about chad 2. chad is a horrible person but was still a very important figure in hayley’s life in the past for both positive (in some ways i’m sure) and extremely negative reasons.

mhm. like no matter what they are love songs and always will be, they're more darker/negative but there's still positivity in most of them (pool is tbh debatable cause she rlly did force herself to write that after everything so while it's a love song it's a bit... odd to also call it one). but yeah she prob was not wishing he was taylor for 10 years like that would've been weird 😭 but idk... i don't think fighting thru tough times means she really loved him like for ALL those years, and im just basing that off how she's spoken about feeling trapped, the shame of how they got into their relationship, failed marriages also making her want to stay so she didn't feel like a failure, and one interview iirc she said she knew very early on it wasn't a good relationship/wanted out, that also doesn't mean there was never real love there cause there obviously was for sure! but yeah.

she isn't a tayley content machine and ppl should be more respectful, i get you cause i've seen it on a wider scale too and i think sometimes i can catch myself thinking that way, but i think sometimes people let the hatred for chad sort of get in the way of everything.

#anon #answered

2 notes · View notes

galactic-pirates · 1 year

Text

Ok buckle up it’s story time. I’ve been musing on the whole Jack Crusher thing on Picard and I have joked (as I have seen others do as well) being a fanfic OC, coming in and making everything be about him. Not to put shade on fanfic OC’s at all but what is fun in fanfic hits a little different on screen in canon. But anyway I am getting off topic and possibly digging myself a hole I don’t mean. So moving on!

It made me remember Warehouse 13 because for reason beyond all understanding they suddenly gave Artie a son in the show finale. A son that he hadn’t known about, and I can’t quite recall how old the son was when he learned. The implication seemed to be that they had one adventure snagging an artifact and there had been pretty much no contact before or since which I guess explained why this phantom son had never been mentioned before??? Except not really because damn Artie makes you look seriously bad. I suppose it was “oh the warehouse is dangerous” but ugh anyway I was more annoyed that this plot thread had just been dropped in the finale! Like why? Can’t do anything with that. It was so weird to come up with something so huge and then show ended, nothing to see here.

So obviously my fanfic writer brain started chewing on this and wondering how to make it interesting. So yeah true fanfic OC time because why the hell not? It is undeniably fun. Also I never wrote this so it exists only in my brain for my own amusement, and now potentially yours by summary if I ever get to the point.

For the plot of the phantom son to not unfairly take attention from the main characters, it would be ideal to introduce him earlier like perhaps forshadow and then actual appear towards the end of season 1. Which would make him a legitimate character that can have plot.

Now I think the story on Warehouse 13 was Artie had a girlfriend when at the NSA and she was pregnant and didn’t know/hadn’t told him, and then he was arrested/recruited to the Warehouse and left behind everything of his old life as a quasi-witness protection type deal. The son was completely normal, had a family of his own, and I guess actually you know that’s nice that somebody had normal relatives not bothered by Warehouse drama. Certainly everybody else got dragged in like Myka’s parents. Pete’s ex-wife etc. So I guess the actual story isn’t bad it just doesn’t go anywhere because apart from Artie being sad he can’t see them because he has to stay away for their protection (which I kinda hate because surely precautions, effort could be made etc.)

Anyway I figured if we were going to make it plot then make it fun. Bring in another plot line of the Warehouse they never really explored and I was always fascinated by - the competition I am sure they had but never admitted to.

What if Artie got the girlfriend AFTER joining the Warehouse? Someone else with Russian roots, who could relate about the fear for his relatives in Russia. I mean Artie did what he did to save them and then when it all went bad he must have been scared it would have undone it all. Plus that had been a weakness in the past, so why not go for the weak spot that works? Obviously the Warehouse would have flagged it but the key to a good lie is that a lot is the truth. If she was open about her Russian roots why would there be any suspicion? A Russian spy would surely want to be as non-Russian as possible right? Because let’s face it height of the Cold War even if the Warehouse did manage to be neutral it is still in the USA, and so Russia wanting to infiltrate it just makes sense. Also critical point (for my own enjoyment) is I very much liked the whole Irina plot in Alias. Only Irina was a good guy (kinda) and this spy girlfriend is definitely not.

Obviously cover was blown, the Warehouse learned the truth, and the spy left and then discovered she was pregnant. So when did Artie learn about the kid? I am thinking initially when the kid was a few years old. Old enough to be thought loyal to Russia but young enough to tug on heartstrings. Another way to infiltrate the Warehouse. Only it doesn’t work. The Regents offer to get the kid but Artie declines. The boy doesn’t know him. It would be wrong to strip him from the only family he has ever known. Plus Artie does do the helpless head in the sand thing. I can hear him splutter “what would I do with a kid? How could I raise him alone? The work has to come first.” I mean even after 20 years Artie still feels he needs to make amends for the artifacts to Russia so just a few years later? Plus having had the second brush with nearly letting someone into the warehouse. So much of his self-worth is tied up in being a good agent and making it right.

Now obviously the fun part comes when the kid grows up. I am thinking the first time he and Artie actually meet they are going after the same artifact. Yup the kid grew up to be a retrieval specialist. Now who else do we know who is in the black market artifact trade? Who would have been highly interested in Artie’s son? Oh yes I am quite sure that James MacPherson would have been delighted to contract Karl (yeah I named him) to be his right hand.

Am I done? No I am not done because math is hard and I am not entirely sure. Plus the years are hard to work out for when the Phoenix incident happened. But I think it might pretty much work for either Artie to fall into this femme fatale trap when MacPherson married Carol, or when MacPherson used the Phoenix to save her AND (fun stuff) for Karl to then be about the same age as Claudia… Claudia who hunted for everything she could find on the Warehouse and how she could break into it. I would say a retrieval specialist with a bit of a grudge against the Warehouse would have been a solid source. One that Claudia cut ties with when she chose to join the Warehouse lest the regents think she was a traitor.

When Leena framed Claudia as a traitor that would have added an extra dimension. Plus I am just imagining the drama if Karl told Claudia his bio dad was an agent but never said his name, and then the reveal of “Artie?!?!”

I know I know this is getting a bit of a soap opera but that’s part of the fun of a fanfic OC. Bring in all the drama. Make it ridiculous with Russian spies because why not? It’s fun. Plus I don’t know if you can tell with what I have said but I am trying to think about this mostly in relation to what meaty conflict it gives Artie and Claudia to chew on. That is even in fanfic what interests people - the real characters. I can try and make the fanfic OC compelling but at the end of the day they aren’t the point. I can write it for me and do what I find amusing but that’s why the OC exists at all.

Anyway I like dimensions and layers and I can’t quite decide how this would affect the season 1 finale. No matter what HG Wells needs to be unbronzed. But then? If MacPherson had another option would he have accompanied HG back to the Warehouse to break into the Escher Vault or would he have sent Karl instead? When Claudia left the Warehouse upset that everyone thought she was a traitor Joshua was half a world away, what if Karl was closer? They broke up but he knows about the Warehouse and would understand.

Now the thing with villains is if they stay at large it makes the heroes look incompetent. So it wouldn’t be good for Karl to be allowed to be a rival retrieval specialist competing for artifacts forever. But equally having him in that dubious gray area of kinda enemy, kinda friend. Sometimes working against them, sometimes giving them information/help. That feels interesting.

Of course with this kind of AU the ripple effects start and get bigger and bigger, and then it’s hard to think about what happens and the consequences.

I think it’s pretty known that I ship Artie and MacPherson. The parallels to HG and Myka, plus the echoes of James and John from Sanctuary just planted the idea in my head and it wouldn’t leave. The whole element of “Uncle James was more a father to me than anyone which I guess makes sense, as if things had been different he would have been my co-dad” the tug of war of the two different paths, whether the Warehouse is morally right or wrong, the corruption - which side? Etc. I mean there is a difference between principles and practice sometimes. Like the Warehouse has the bronzer and other very bad things. It’s not totally black and white even if on the surface it sometimes seems that way because the agents of the Warehouse whom we love and cheer for have the best intentions.

Anyway I think I have rambled long enough to cover most of what is swirling in my brain. I have almost certainly forgotten something but ehhh no matter. After all this is just for fun 😉

#warehouse 13 #in which I am undeniably back on my bullshit #will this make sense to anyone but me? probably not but it is fun anyway #don’t mind me just chilling with the brain idea gremlins this sucky Wednesday #sam rambles (a lot)

2 notes · View notes