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surprisingmarch · 1 month
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Welcome to Patience: Make it rain, Harry (Chapter 5)
Joseph Rainier x F!Human Reader x Harry Vanderspeigle Rating: 16+
Fandom: Resident Alien
Story Type: Fluff / Thriller / Romance / Drama
4,477 Words
-Y/N = Your name- -L/N = Last name-
Music I listened to as I wrote: - Nothing! :)
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Slowly, your eyes flutter open. You gaze up at the man whom you fell asleep on, he's still sound asleep, softly snoring in the slight beam of sun peeking in through his dark red curtains. He has giant dark bags under his eyes and you can't tell if it's from the fact he was in a fight or because he cried or because he slept good. He looks so peaceful, it fills your heart with glee to see him sleep so well. You slowly return to your previous position, attempting to not disturb him. He groans softly, he gently adjusts his position as well. "Y/N..?" Joseph asks sleepily, his voice is slightly horse. You hum softly in response. "What time is it…" He grumbles as he stretches and rubs in between his brows. You reach up and grab his left arm, you pull it down to your face to read his watch. "Oh.. I should've done that.." He admits. "It's…. 6:45 A.M…" You answer, concern fills your voice. Did you fall asleep early or did you barely sleep at all? You feel rested… "Oh jesus.." Joseph groans. He sighs deeply before he scoots up so he can sit up propped against the arm rest. "You fell asleep around eight-ish… And considering I remember nothing after that I'm assuming I also fell asleep around eight.." He confesses. You sigh in response. "Uh oh… looks like today is going to be a long day…" You think to yourself. A male voice rings out inside your head. "No it won't.. be at least a little bit optimistic. It'll be fine… I promise." You look up at Joseph, he's smiling down at you. Huh… seems he can talk in your head.. seems like something he should have mentioned. There's no telling what else he can do that he hasn't revealed yet. Maybe he did mention or did it before and you forgot.. He winks at you in response, you roll your eyes and start to get up but he quickly wraps and arm around you and holds you against his chest. "No… noo… you love it here.. you love laying with me…" He says as he dramatically wiggles his other hands fingers over your head as if he's casting a spell. "Josephhh… it's too early for thisss…" You whine, he chuckles in response. "Nonsense.. I need my morning cuddles. Now lay down." Joseph demands calmly.
You try to get up once more but you're stopped by his iron like grip.. so instead you lean back against him in defeat. He starts to rub your back and carefully leave a trail of kisses along your forehead… maybe you needed morning cuddles too. "How did you sleep last night, dear?" Joseph asks quietly. "I slept good, like a rock. How did you sleep, lover boy?" You ask quietly. "Good.. thank you for asking." Joseph responds softly. "No, thank you for asking." You say with a giggle, Joseph giggles as well. "Soo.. what do you want for breakfast?" Joseph asks after a long moment of wonderful loving silence. "I want a diner burger! ..Or the waffles… they looked good." You answer. He sighs long and hard. "My, you're going to be a handful.." Joseph responds. "Heyy…" You pout. Joseph chuckles at you and kisses your head. "It's not a bad thing, it's simply a fact." He says chipperly as he pats you twice on the back. "Gee.. thanks.. that makes me feel so loved." You respond sarcastically. "Alright, since you want diner food, how about I eat breakfast here because I'm not a lunatic trying to eat unhealthy greasy burgers and get a heart attack at…" Joseph pauses and checks his watch before putting his hand back on your back and continuing. "Seven O' one A.M. and you go get diner food and you can either bring it back here orrrr we can meet up for lunch at your work place. I could stop by the diner to pester you before I run some errands. By the way… you start your doctor job at nine and it ends at one and you immediately start your police job at one and it ends at five. I'll be there to pick you up for dinner and I won't take no for an answer." Joseph finishes. You process the information and try to memorize the times, once you think you've got it you respond. "You're going to try to get me to live with you again, aren't you?" "I have no idea what you mean." Joseph quickly responds. "You're going to keep pampering me and being sweet to me until I come over here where you can have me all to your dirty little self." You tease. You roll over and grab at his pelvis before you blow on it making raspberry noises. Once you stop you sit on his legs and look up at him, he's flushed bright red. It takes him a moment to regain enough sentience to respond. "I am not…. totally not… going to do that…" Joseph responds quietly.
"So you're not planning on popping the question again after dinner?" You ask. "Shut up." Joseph says as he turns away from you. "Okay! That's enough cuddle time!" Joseph announces loudly as he starts to lightly push you off him. You stand up and stretch real big. Joseph swiftly slips off the couch and scurries to the kitchen where he stares at you behind the kitchen island. "What? You think that'll protect you from me?" You tease. "First off, be careful arousing me this early, I might just take you right here right now." Joseph says as he pats the island's marble counter. "Second, pop the question implies marriage and when I'll do that will be a surprise. But now you must live the the fact that I am planning on making you my bride and I won't stop until you fall deeply and madly in love with me, just as I have you.. if you aren't already. And I'll remove any and all obstacles. Trust me." Joseph threatens. You flush so red you feel like your head is going to pop. "It's a bit early to consider marriage.. isn't it?" You ask shyly. "It's also a bit early to have sex with someone you just met yesterday but that didn't stop you now did it?" Joseph sasses. You pick up a couch pillow and chunk it at him in retaliation. He catches it in mid air and throws it at your head, it hits you right in the face. Luckily, he did it gently. "Not to mention we BOTH considered marriage as soon as we met, don't act like you're immune to that argument.." Joseph states calmly, knowing damn well you can't argue with that. You lift up a finger and open your mouth but quickly snap your mouth shut and put your finger back down, realizing you have absolutely no way to get out of the corner he backed you into. "Mhm. That's what I thought." Joseph says victoriously. Joseph wanders about the kitchen getting various ingredients for his breakfast. You cross your arms and waddle over to him, he's setting the various items on the kitchen island. Once you're next to him you lay your head on his shoulder, he reaches a hand up and pats your head.
After he has everything organized he turns around fully and grabs both of your shoulders, he turns you so you're facing him as well. He grabs your chin and lifts your head up to face him, seemingly his favorite way to torture you, then he leans in and plants a kiss right on your lips. His lips are so soft, you're shocked. You're sure yours are probably shriveled as hell from dehydration. The hand that was left on your other shoulder slowly slips around your torso, pulling you close to him. He parts the kiss and smiles at you, you smile back as you feel joyful tears threaten to fall. "Y/N, I will never leave you.. I love you very deeply. I've never loved or cared about anyone before, but you… I could never live without. So any doubt you have in your silly little head needs to be extinguished because I assure you I love you with all of my heart and soul and I want you to be mine forever and ever. And if you doubt for even a millisecond that I'm not going to propose eventually then you're insane… a lot like me, ..apparently." Joseph chuckles. You giggle as tears stream down your face, you weren't expecting that this morning.. You reach up and cup Joseph's cheeks, he leans in and kisses you before you can kiss him. It seems he knows your tells already. Both of his hands drift down to your hips and he holds you steadily against him. You snake your arms around his shoulders and embrace him tightly, he leans into your touch, yearning for more affection. A few minutes go by before you both part once more. "Thank you Joseph… I feel the same way.." You confess, Joseph beams and a big bright smile stretches across his face. It's nice to see him smile without blood staining his teeth. His smile could weaken even the strongest heart.
He takes a thumb and holds it on your chin. "Are you sure you don't want to eat breakfast here with me? I could make you anything you'd like.~ Even a tasty burger if you pester me enough. Or.. perhaps, bribe me.." Joseph asks quietly. "Come to the diner with me, we'll have so much fun! We can gossip about the people that come in or plan future dates or talk more or.." Joseph slowly puts his index finger over your lips to shush you. "Go have fun baby, I would go, I want to go, but I really need to get ready for some thing as I eat. I've got to pack a thing and do… some things. I'll meet you for lunch, okay baby girl?" Joseph asks softly. His hazel eyes burn into you, you don't have an ounce of doubt that he'll do what he says. You nod. "What kind of errands?" You ask softly. "Alien business, none that you need be concerned about." Joseph responds. You catch his drift, alien business that could get you killed if he told you. "I'll miss you.." You say in a hushed tone as you reach up and give him a kiss on his jawline. You feel his shoulders untense slightly and he sighs softly. You pull away, he opens his shut eyes and looks at you like you're the light of his life. "Be careful, baby.." You whisper. He kisses your forehead before finally letting you go. His attention returns to his various items and he starts to concoct some scrambled eggs and.. something else? "Baby..?" You ask quietly, Joseph hums in response. "How is your eye and stuff doing.. does it feel at least a little better?" You ask with concern plastered across your face. Joseph smirks a little at your concern before he turns and lifts his light musky green T-shirt, revealing his giant brouse. It's no where near as big and it's already fading. You look back up at his face and realize his cuts seem to have healed already too, not completely, but enough to where he doesn't need the butterfly stitches anymore. You reach up and slowly peel the sticker stitches from his eyebrow and his lip, they look like they won't scar. "The eye will take a bit more time, however.. because it's an organ." Joseph informs you. You nod. You walk over to the stainless steel trash can located beside the island on the side closest to the entrance and drop the stitches in there. You respond as you watch the lid slowly close shut. "Okay.. I'm just glad you're healing so well and rapidly. I was so worried.." "I know you were.. I'll be fine. I told you I'd be fine." Joseph says softly before he walks over and plants a kiss on your forehead once more. You reach up and give Joseph a big giant bear hug which he happily reciprocates before you rush to his bedroom to pick up all your clothes from the floor.
You look around but you can't find a single piece of clothing until you look on the nightstand to the right of the bed, where they are neatly folded on top of one another. "Thank you Joseph!" You yell out as you grab your pants and slip into them. "No problem, sweetheart. Get back safe, will ya?" Joseph yells back. "Of course! I'm sure if there was any trouble you would know and come save me anyway!" You yell out as you make up his bed. "I can do that, dear!" Joseph yells with a slight huff. "I got it!" You respond as you finish up the bed. You quickly slip on your socks and shoes as you exit the bedroom. "What's with the rush? It's almost like you're tired of me already." Joseph says with a frown. "Oh, I'm sorry.. I'm used to rushing to go to work. It's a bad habit, I think I'll probably shake it while living here." You answer. Joseph walks up to you and grabs you by the waist. "What did you used to do?" Joseph asks quietly. "I don't really want to bring up the awful stressful past, just search in my mind real quick. I'm sure if you can talk to me through my head, then you can look through it as well. Just look through everything, actually. I don't care." You answer. Joseph nods before he places a hand on your forehead for a few minutes, then he drops his hand to his side. "Interesting.." He rubs his chin. The smell of almost burning food fills the room. "Joseph, the food, hun." You say. "Oh!" Joseph quickly rushes to the stove where he's making eggs, and though those do smell good.. you still want a tasty burger from down town. It's not that far, anyway. It's like a 15 minute walk at most. "It's…" Joseph looks at the microwaves clock before continuing to stir a bit. "It's seven thirty three, hurry and get to the diner before tons of people come in! If you do happen to want breakfast food when you get there, it sells out quickly, so hurry!" Joseph says as he trots over to you as you're leaving. He turns you around and dips you into a passionate kiss before putting you back on your feet… literally, then waving you off as you hurry down the stairs. "Be careful and don't trip on the stairs! No running on the stairs Y/N! I mean it! The suitcase situation was enough for one week, we don't need another incident!" Joseph yells out. "Will do!" You yell back. You make sure to be extra careful as you go down the stairs because he's absolutely right, you should stay safe and go a normal pace instead of risking a head injury for a burger. You here a distant "Good girl!" echo out before you hear a door shut.
You make it to the diner in what you are assuming was ten minutes, a new record, to be sure. There's barely anyone in here, just one random guy sitting at the bar and a woman in a colorful hippie-ish shirt eating waffles. You've decided to get waffles, they just look too good.. It doesn't help that the hippie looks like she's really enjoying them. You sit down at a booth to the right of the entrance, a waiter quickly assists you. You order the waffles with a bowl of fruit and you just have to try some of that pecan pie, so you order that too. The young man quickly speeds away into the kitchen. You have to say you love the diner's menu. It's probably because you're not used to such a local looking menu, you know, the ones with tons of facts about the town and pictures of the owner and stories about how the place came to be... But you just love it for some reason. You put the menu back into his little cubby and look out the big window. You hope you see Joseph scurry by here while he does his mysterious "errands". Someone walks over to your booth and slides in across from you, it's Harry! "Oh, good morning Harry! How are you this fine day?" You ask chipperly. You weren't expecting to see him here, especially this early, but it's a pleasant surprise. Harry smiles and responds. "I'm well, thank you. How are you?" Harry queries. "I'm good, thank you for asking." You answer. Harry frowns slightly. "You reek of oxytocin, I smelt it when I came in, but I didn't think it was coming from you. Did you have sex last night? Was it with Joseph? And you're wearing a man's red shirt? That is way too big for you... unless you just like to be comfy and those are your pjs, then it's fine." Harry interrogates. "Woah, woah… way too personal, Harry. For all you know I could've masturbated and that's why I smell like that. Mr fancy words. And second, how can you smell... whatever you just said. That doesn't seem like a very... human, thing to be able to do." You tease. "Ah, I apologize, that was rude. But I would not recommend having sex with Joseph, I have not checked him yet, he may have sexual diseases." Harry responds. It seems he chose to ignore your claims of it being weird to smell such a thing. You start to chuckle, Harry is a very funny guy. The waiter comes by with your food and Harry examines the plater carefully. "I would like a bowl of oatmeal with a bowl of fruit and a slice of pecan pie, please." Harry tells the waiter, the waiter nods and rushes back into the kitchen. "I will pay for yours." Harry announces. You quickly get out your wallet and pull out some cash. "No no- Harry, I can pay for it. Look, I have plenty of money…" You stare at the hundreds you just pulled out of your wallet. "I'll be it money you gave me, but I have plenty!" You finish.
"Too late." Harry quickly gets up and speed walks into the back where you hear some indistinguishable chattering before Harry rushes back out and sits down. "Done, It's done. You're too late." Harry says with a chuckle. "…What? No, here." You shove a hundred in his face. "No, that is way too much, and I do not need it." He responds. "Please?" You insist. "It is rude to give a gift back." Harry states with a straight face. He knows he just won the entire argument. You're left speechless, you both stare at each other for a moment before you put the money back in your wallet and pout. "Thank you Harry… Oh! I owe you a pie or a cake for getting me the job! What's your fav-" You get cut off. "Pie, any pie. I love pie... But blackberry pie is particularly good right now. They are in season." Harry answers. "Okay! I'll get the supplies for it after I get off work." You respond. The waiter zooms back over and sets Harry's food in front of him then scurries back into the kitchen. "That was fast.." You mumble. "They are VERY fast here, Mr. Twelvetrees only hires the best. He can't tolerate laziness or incompetence." Harry responds calmly as he takes a bite of his pie. "Well? How is it?" You ask. Harry uses his fork to cut his pie in half and sets it on your plate. "Harry- I have the same pie-" You stop mid sentence as you watch Harry take your pie and cut it in half and put it on his plate. he slides your plate back over to you. "Oh.. okay." You mumble quietly. "Now we both shared. Thank you." Harry says before he takes a big ol piece of pie and dips it in his oatmeal. You have to say... you're thoroughly amused by Harry's antics. "Thank you.." You say with a giggle. You take a bite of your waffles and they are a GOD SEND. You get so wrapped up eating your waffles you forget to speak, you and Harry just sit in silence for over five minutes just eating. Once you finish the last bite of your waffles realization hits and you look up at Harry who is tentatively observing you eat. "Hungry weren't you? A lot like someone who exerted an especially large amount of energy…" Harry says. You immediately notice what he's insinuating and respond. "Harry, for all you know I had an orgy with 5 men at the bar. Let's drop it, okay?" "That would be unsanitary." Harry responds. "It would be fun." You reply. Harry glares at you as you take a big bite of your pie, you close your eyes in ecstasy. It's delicious. You were planning on saying sorry for not speaking to Harry as you ate, but you get the feeling he probably liked observing you in silence.
"Does it please you to upset me" Harry says grumpily as he takes another bite of pie dipped in oatmeal. "A little." You respond with a giggle. You reach over and steal a grape from his bowl of fruit, you pop it into your mouth and pop it with a "pop!". "So… what did you do in New York? Were you a doctor there too? Or were you something else before you were a doctor?" You ask suddenly. Harry looks at you, his mouth is agape, he slowly directs the spoonful of food into his mouth and chews it before setting the spoon down and answering. "I was a scientist. My work was regarded as some of the best of my-… field." Harry answers some what hesitantly. "Oh! What did you do, if I may ask?" You query. Harry makes a high pitched noise as he stares at you. "Oh.. is it personal..?" You ask. "Oh…. no… I made… machinery." Harry responds. "Oh cool! Well anyway, do you like your current job?" You ask, clearly changing the subject for his sake. "No. Yes..? …Maybe." Harry responds. "Well that's okay, I'm sure it feels good to help people though… yes?" You say, throwing Harry a bone. Harry nods and takes another bite of his pie dipped in oatmeal, never breaking eye contact. You honestly think that oatmeal on pecan pie would be a tasty treat. Maybe you'll try it some time. Once he's done chewing he responds again. "I would love to tell you all about my past.. it's just… I can't right now. I'm sorry…" Harry confesses. "No no.. it's okay Harry, I don't mind. You can tell me when you can. Okay?" You say soothingly. Harry nods. "Alright." He says softly. "Hey, what's your favorite color?" You ask kindly. A slight smile stretches across Harry's face. "Red, it's an interesting color. One that is inside many animals, really red is a part of life. Not to mention you don't see it a lot, especially here. You usually see blues and grey that match the often snowy atmosphere... Which makes it all the more special." Harry responds. "Oh! I like red too." You look to the side and smirk, you think about Joseph's red obsession and the fact you're wearing his red shirt right now. You bet it would make Harry ultra pissed if you asked if he liked Joseph's shirt yesterday then told him you're wearing it. Honestly, you're surprised he didn't mention that Joseph was wearing the same shirt yesterday, but you assume since he was ignoring Joseph's presence eighty percent of the time that he probably didn't even notice his shirt. You decide not to poke that ant hill and find out. "What is you favorite color?" Harry asks. "I love the color (color) It's just so unique and pretty. It makes me smile and it brightens my day every time I see it." You answer. Harry smiles in response. He doesn't seem to smile often, but when he does, it makes you very warm inside. You still have no idea whether or not you like him, but you hope today at work you'll figure it out. "What's your favorite food.. ever… in existence?" Harry asks timidly. "Hmm.. probably (food) but I'm not too sure… there's just so many to choose from. How about you?" You respond. "Oh! I love beef steak! Medium rare, of course. I am not an animal. Any kind of beef steak is good with me." Harry answers enthusiastically. "Very good choice!" You say happily, Harry blushes and gazes to the side before looking back at you. You notice he tends to always keep complete eye contact. At first it freaked you out, but now it give you some sort of peace. It's probably because he's so honest and has nothing it hide.. other than the fact he's an alien. But that's a conversation for another time.
Suddenly, Harry stands up, his face bright red. He stares at the ground in front of his feet. "I have to go. Have a good day. Here's some money," He throws a few more hundreds at you. "Harry-" He cuts you off. "You can have the rest of my food, I have no illnesses… I'll see you at work, bye bye." He speeds out of the diner. You sit there in shock and awe before you quickly grab all the hundreds and shove them in your pocket to sort later before someone gets any funny ideas. "That guy.." You mumble under your breath. Suddenly, you hear a series of knocks on the window to the left of you, you look over and see Joseph. He smiles and waves, you wave back and blow a kiss, he catches it and blows one back at you before continuing his stroll down the sidewalk. You giggle to yourself, you're very happy he did end up making an appearance. You end up eating all of Harry's left over food and came to the conclusion that the pie was in fact, very good dipped in oatmeal. You head to the doctor's office thirty minutes early. Once you do finally get there and are shown around the place and your job is described to you, you sit down and start to work. And once you're finally alone you take those hundreds out of your pockets and shove them neatly into your wallet before someone steals them. You're absolutely going to have a talk with Harry later about throwing his money around.
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Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
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twistedtummies2 · 4 months
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The Scarlet Pirate - Chapter 6
This is the finale to a six-part "Chapter Story" for my OC for Twisted Wonderland, James Killian - based on Captain Hook from Disney's Peter Pan. (Also featured are Smitty McCarthy, based on Smee, and Matthew Satyr, based on Peter himself...oh, and Nakoda - my Kaa OC - also has a role here.) The basic premise of this story has been in my mind for almost as long as James has, but for numerous reasons, it wasn't till just within the past few weeks I finally got a chance to develop and write it out.
The result is, I think, the single longest "Chapter Story" for any of my OCs for TW I've created so far. Take that information however you will. So long as this tale, that it went from a planned three-parter, to a planned five-parter, to now being a six-parter, standing at approximately 150 pages in total! Hopefully, all the work and length will be for the best. XD
As is typical for my Chapter Stories, I have been posting this one chapter at a time per day over the course of this past week. You can find the previous chapter here.
If you wish to start from the beginning, you can find the first chapter here.
WARNING: While this story, throughout all six parts, does not FOCUS on my kinks, there are instances of very mild stuffing/belching related content sprinkled throughout, as well as various instances of implied or near vore situations. If you're into these things, good on ya. If you aren't, just be warned they will show up here and there, although not with any degree of spectacle.
With that said...I hope you enjoy.
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The skull-and-crossbones on the gauntlet flashed…and then it came again. The depression. The oppressive negativity. Sorrow and guilt, fear and pain, anger of the most hopeless sort…all of it flooded your mind. Hunger, cold, and darkness swarmed your mind, and you felt as if an anchor had been dropped upon you. All at once, you and your fellow students fell to the cavern floor, all crying out in the same tone at the same time: one of abrupt, gut-wrenching despair. Nakoda rolled onto his back, holding onto his belly, gasping and wheezing as if his gut was being compressed by some external force. Sebek was in a similar state, grinding his molars and curling up from pain. Azul was once again covering his ears, as if trying to drown out voices inside his own head. Matthew collapsed in front of you, directly beside Smitty, each clutching their chests, as if their hearts or lungs were in pain. Kes desperately buzzed her wings, trying to keep herself aloft, but as James began to walk closer, the waves of dark power that seemed to surround him overtook her, and she fell from the sky. “K-Kes!” Matthew gasped between harsh, ragged breaths, and caught her in his hands. “Wretched fairy,” snorted James, looking down as if the pixie were a vulgar insect. “James…James, p-please stop this!” Smitty begged. “How…how is this even…h-happening?” groaned Azul. “None of us t-touched him again!” meowed Grim. You couldn’t answer; it felt as if your tongue had gone numb. But you knew what had happened. Overblot always did this: everyone in Jamil’s vicinity had been put under his spell. Azul had easily begun to drain people’s powers. Leona had nearly turned the whole campus to sand. James no longer NEEDED to touch anyone; the magic was just POURING out of him at this point, and with it came the weight of Doubt & Despair. “Look at you all,” James grinned cruelly, pausing and lifting his clawed hand, flexing his fingers. As he did, you saw Nakoda start to writhe, as if every motion of that hand was creating lashings of new distress. “And I thought seeing you drop before me in the treasure room was pleasure enough. No…this. THIS is what I’ve LONGED for. What I’ve truly waited years to see! Everyone…at me feet…without a hope. Without a prayer. Dying of broken hearts and bad dreams!” A sadistic, unhinged laugh left James, jangling in your eardrums like nails on a chalkboard. As he cackled, Matthew held Kes to his face; she seemed weak. Frail. Her golden pixie light began to flicker. “No, Kes! N-No, please…please don’t go out!” he pleaded. “Oh, dear, dear,” tutted James Killian mockingly, noticing this, a wicked glint in his red eye. “Is somebody’s little pixie unable to take the weight of it all? Such a shame…” “James…you…c-can’t…!” “SHUT UP, YOU TRAITOR!” shrieked James, rounding on Smitty McCarthy. “I AM THE CAPTAIN HERE! I AM IN CHARGE! FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, I HAVE EVERYTHING I COULD EVER ASK FOR!”
He froze…then grinned and looked towards the rock where the treasure chest still sat. “Well,” he snickered. “Almost everything.” James started to walk towards it…then stopped as he felt a hand grip his boot. He looked down and back, a repulsed look once more curling his features grotesquely as he saw Matthew Satyr holding onto his boot with one hand. “Leave them…alone…y-you stinking codfish,” he hoarsely rasped. James growled…and kicked the arm away. “You think I’ll take orders from you?!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE ANYMORE, SATYR!” James suddenly reached down, his gauntlet hooks snatching up Satyr by the front of his costume. Matthew’s hands loosened around Kes, and her little, limp form fell to the floor. Her wings twitched and she went still. Killian, meanwhile, dragged Matthew over to one of the stone walls, slamming his back into it. “I AM YOUR WEAKNESS! JUST AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MINE!” James roared into his face. “EVERY TIME YOU FALL! EVERY TIME YOU STUMBLE!” James Killian reached back with his un-hooked hand and began to punch Matthew repeatedly in the diaphragm. “I! WILL! BE! THERE!” James then tossed Matthew aside. Tears were in the half-fairy’s eyes. He started to crawl away. James let out a psychotic sort of giggle. “Oh-ho-ho-ho, no. No, no, no, you don’t get to fight it!” he grinned, with madness in his eyes. “LIE DOWN AND LOSE! JUST THIS ONCE! DAMNATION, LOSE!” James kicked Matthew, who cried out in pain. He then looked up, and grinned viciously, seeing his sword, still stuck in the rock at the top of the stone tower. He looked down, leaning close and patting Satyr’s cheek. “Wallow in misery for a second,” he said, softly. “I’ll be back in just a moment.”
As James began to ascend the tower, it was all too clear what he had in mind. A surge of light burst inside of you: this couldn’t happen! He wasn’t going to give up, but you had to stop him! Your eyes looked towards Kes. You bit your lip and began to crawl along the cave floor towards the fallen fairy. It was a slim hope, a slender chance…but you had to try. And that determination helped you crawl a little faster. “Prefect…ssstop,” you heard Nakoda hiss behind you. “Don’t…he might…might…see,” Smitty whimpered. You ignored them both. If James Killian was focused on Satyr, nothing would tear him away. You had to rely on that belief. You had to pray that you weren’t miscalculating. You had to stay focused. You had to believe. Your belief was answered. James Killian pulled his sword out of the stone, without ever noticing. As he did, the rapier-like blade changed in his hand, transforming into a cutlass, with a skull-shaped hilt, and ink staining its blade like black blood. He strolled back down the slope towards Matthew Satyr, who was shaking his head, as if trying to dispel bad memories. James paused, cocking his head with a smug look, as if taking in the despair…drinking in the moment… “How does it feel, Satyr?” he asked, calmly. “I didn’t get a chance to ask in the pit. What is it like? What feelings are filling your heart? What unhappy thoughts are weighing you down?” “Sh-shut up,” Satyr spat. “Let me guess,” James went on, inspecting his blade. “Loneliness, perhaps? The recognition that, for all your brass, you’re still an abandoned child, not wanted by fairy or human alike? Perhaps the disbelief that I’ve finally beaten you? Or perhaps the realization I was always destined to win to begin with?” “I s-said shut up!” Satyr responded, looking up with teary but indignant eyes. “HA HA HA!” James laughed uproariously. “Is that all you have to say?! Odds, bobs, hammer, and tongs, Satyr! YOU’RE PATHETIC LIKE THIS!”
With a beastly growl, James kicked Matthew again, and sent him rolling across the stone floor. You tried to ignore the scene as you were now just about arm’s length from Kes. You reached out; her little pixie eyes flickered as she looked up at you, her tiny chest heaving as she tried to breathe, to fight the negativity that threatened to put out her light. “Reach for me,” you whispered. “Trust me. Have faith.” Kes looked confused…but she seemed to believe you. Her little hand reached out, shakily, her miniature fingers just brushing yours… “I need you,” you whispered to her. “Matthew needs you. We all need what you can give us…and you know what that is, don’t you?” Kes’ wings twitched…suddenly, the light began to strengthen. You smiled, and felt the light in your own heart intensify… “Come on…we can do it. Together. If you believe in me…I’ll believe in you.” “What are you d-doing?” you heard Smitty whine out. “Using the one thing that James can’t extinguish,” you said, and began to hold yourself up on your hands and knees. “I just…need…time…!” Time was not something you had an abundance of. Matthew Satyr tried to pull himself to his feet, but James pounded his iron-clad hand down in a hammering blow, knocking him down again. “STAY THERE! Let me see it…let me see you weep, Satyr!” he spat. “Let the tears flow, like they did before! LET ME WIN AND DIE!” “You…you don’t…h-have to…do this…James, you’re…you’re not going to…survive this!” Matthew sputtered out, clutching the bruised parts of his body. “I’LL TAKE THAT CHANCE IF IT MEANS BEATING YOU!” screamed James. He raised the cutlass above his head. “SAY YER PRAYERS, MATTHEW SATYR!” “YOU FIRST, YOU OLD CODFISH!”
James Killian froze up, and turned to see who had spoken. He was astonished when he saw you standing, with Kes sitting in the palm of your hand, while all the rest remained on the ground. “Y-You?!” gasped James. “Prefect?” peeped Matthew…and slowly started to smile despite the pain. “K-Kes?!” “How are you up and about?!” roared James, pointing his sword at you. “YOU SHOULD BE PROSTRATING YOURSELF, CRYING FOR YOUR MUMMY AND DADDY!” “I haven’t cried for them in a very long time,” you said, gravely serious, then smiled. “I have a lot of bad stuff in my life. We all do. Everyone in this room has experienced terrible things, even DONE terrible things. I’ve lost people I cared about. But I’ve also gained friends, even a new family, and experiences people back in my world could only dream of. For all the reasons I could have to despair, there’s one thing I’ve learned since I came to this world.” “And what is that, pray tell?” snarled James Killian, scraping the edge of his sword and the claws of his gauntlet together threateningly. You just smiled wider. “There are three things in life that are certain,” you reminded him. “And it wasn’t what you said. Remember?” “If you’re about to sssay what I think you’re about to sssay,” you heard Nakoda mutter. “I ssswear to Chernabog I’m eating you…” “Seconded,” Azul grumbled. Sebek just groaned. You giggled at all their reactions, even as James took up a dueling stance, sword poised, claws held high. “I don’t think any of you have any place to argue,” you said, and looked towards James Killian as he began to inch towards you, eyes wild, like an animal ready to pounce. “Don’t you see, James? You’ll NEVER win! Not so long as there is Faith…Trust…and…” “Seriously, don’t say it,” moaned Grim, covering his ears. You said it anyway. “PIXIE DUST!”
Kes spun around you, sending a shower of golden, glittering dust onto your head and shoulders. James roared like a feral animal and plunged forward, ready to run you through with his blade… …And missed as you flew into the air, clean over his head. Every drop of despair and dismay fell away from you as you lifted towards the ceiling of the cave…then came swooping down, flying just above the surface of the lake. You caught some water in your hand and splashed it in the pirate’s face as you flew like a bird, getting behind him. You bowed tauntingly in mid-air, James eye twitching as his teeth gnashed. “No! NO!” he wailed, and ran at you, swinging his weapon wildly about. “I WON! I! WON! YOU CAN’T BE FLYING, TOO! NOT NOW! YOU CAN’T!” “Mere child’s play!” you teased, zipping away and flying out of the path of his weapon. Sparks flew as it scratched the stone wall. James hissed like a rattlesnake and whirled about, raking his hooked claws through the air to try and catch you, but you flew higher and further out of range. “GIVE UP ALREADY!” James yelled. “You first!” you mocked. Cursing in a wild, over-the-top fashion, James held out his iron hand. The red skull flashed again, and you could see a plume of dark mist come flying towards you. You dodged the wave of negative energy, flying in circles, racing out of the path of every shot of power. “DOUBT AND DESPAIR! DOUBT AND DESPAIR!” James howled, sounding very much like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “LET ME WIN! JUST LET ME WIN! JUST ONCE! I WANNA WIN!” You sighed and shook your head as you flew down and hovered near the ground. “Oh, James,” you said, sadly, then injected venom into your words. “Grow up.”
James Killian all but pounced towards you, sword and claws raised alike, as if he meant to cut you to ribbons. You flew out of the way just in time, and he crashed into the stone wall behind you. Hard. The instant he did, the wave of dreadful power that was overwhelming the others seemed. Cautiously, everyone began to climb onto their hands and feet…but James Killian was doing the same. He grunted and gasped, his clawed hand reaching up and slapping onto the stone wall… …Then, iron screeched against stone as James Killian let out a despairing, sorrowful moan…and finally collapsed, the Overblot effectively beaten out of him as unconsciousness overtook him. It was over. You touched down with a sigh, as you felt all the energy - positive and negative - fall away. Both spells had run their course. Kes zipped over to you and you smiled, holding up a hand as her own miniature mitt gave you a high-five. “Great work,” you said to the pixie. “I knew I could count on you.” “That might have been the corniest win I’ve seen in my life,” Azul’s voice spoke up, as he staggered to his feet, fixing his glasses. “But…I must admit, it seemed effective.” “Kes! You’re okay!” cheered Matthew, and flew over, weightless once more. The pixie flew into his hands and he smiled at her as she perched there like a little bird. “I’m so glad you’re safe…you stopped him! You saved us!” “Correction,” Sebek spoke up, rubbing his chest where his heart was, as it still felt a lingering heaviness from the fatal fury of James’ power. “A fellow student of Night Raven College has saved us. Your pixie helped, though. Proof that humans are not totally useless when aided by fairykind, I’d say!” “When I decide whether or not I should be insulted, I’ll respond to that,” you said to Zigvolt snidely. “Nya…what even happened?” Grim asked, staggering a little, as if dizzy. “It wasn’t a miracle, I promise you,” you chuckled, scratching behind his ears, then explained: “When James went into Overblot, and used his power on all of us at once, I somehow found it in me to realize that I couldn’t let him win. And in that moment, I realized something else: Matthew’s power was still working on us at the time. None of us were USING it, but it hadn’t worn off. I could still feel the light, still feel the happy thoughts; I just had to focus on them and replenish the pixie dust.” “Ssso it wasn’t AS cheesy as it ssseemed; jussst a matter of magical logic,” chuckled Nakoda. “I sssuppose I can avoid eating you for that. Thisss time.” “But how did you know that would work?” Matthew blinked. “Even I didn’t realize it!”
“You were being kicked around like a football,” you replied blandly. “I’ll forgive you for the oversight.” Satyr blushed, and you heard Grim snigger. Kes giggled, a sound like a music box, in the half-fairy’s hands. “I just had to have faith and trust to use Faith and Trust,” you shrugged, then gestured to your Night Raven associates. “If any of these guys are gonna kill me someday, it’s not gonna be from the mother of all depressive funks, I’ll tell you that much.” “I think we’ll have to remember that,” Azul said slyly, while Nakoda licked his lips and nodded in agreement. You blushed. The conversation was halted when all of you heard a familiar voice… “James! J-James, get up!” You all looked to see Smitty McCarthy, kneeling beside his friend, worry upon his face. James Killian was still in his Overblot form as the smaller man rolled him onto his back. However, as he was laying there totally unmoving, it was clear he posed little immediate threat. “James…James, please wake up,” whimpered Smitty, checking the pirate’s head. “I’m…I’m sorry, I…please…” “Relax, Smitty,” you called out, as your friends and allies approached the scene. “He’ll be okay. He’s just out cold.” “And I’m gonna guess not for long,” added Grim. “Nope,” you said with a shake of your head, and pointed to the white mist that was already starting to pool around Killian’s extremities. “Not long at all.” Smitty squeaked and jolted back; you caught him to prevent him from clumsily falling over. This was in reaction to James’ whole body shining like a pure white beacon, glowing like a star, as more and more silvery-white mist floated from his form. The mist gathered a few feet over your heads, creating an oblong, elliptical shape, like a mirror or a window. You all knew by now that meant. (Well, most of you did, anyway.) You watched as shapes formed in the center of the misty cloud, creating visions of days gone by. It was time to take a peek into the past…
“Come on, James! You have to do better than that!”
James Killian was younger. Smaller. Slighter. He was also much less flashy. Dressed more conservatively, almost shabbily, in the kind of outfit a humble sailor’s son might wear. His hair was shorter, and his expression slightly nervous. He was almost unrecognizable as the Killian of the Present. Two things were still visibly the same: the tattoo of a hook upon the back of his left hand…and the deft way he handled the rapier-like sword in his hand. Not deft enough, though, for his opponent, with a sudden, almost whip-like motion, knocked the fencing weapon from his grasp. It was sent spinning into the air…before being caught by said opponent. They didn’t have far to travel to catch it. After all. They were already airborne. Matthew Satyr grinned cheekily down at James Killian, as he held the hilt of the rapier out, his own weapon - a shorter sort of sword - held in his other hand. The half-fairy had not visibly aged or changed a bit.
“My game, James.”
James blushed and carefully took the sword. “It’s not fair,” he whined. “You always fly out of the way!”
“Hey, our instructor says use everything you can to your advantage,” shrugged Matthew, sheathing his sword blade and giving a teasing wink. “Can’t blame me for using my power, can ya? It doesn’t even generate blot!”
“You guys with light magic have it easy,” sighed James, then smiled. “Good form, though.” He held out his right hand. Satyr floated a little closer to the ground…and smiled before shaking that right hand. “You weren’t too bad yourself,” Matthew grinned. James smiled a little wider. His expression was bashful; his head dipped slightly. “Thanks,” he chuckled.
Matthew smiled back, his own grin widening as he gave James’ hand a light squeeze. Then both realized how long they’d been holding on and quickly broke away with a couple of awkward laughs.
“You’re gonna be more than ready when the contest comes up,” Matthew assured his friend, wiping his hand absent-mindedly on his dark green vest.
“Not as ready as you,” chuckled James. “I’m gonna need a miracle if we fight together.”
“Hey, you’ve beat me a few times!” Satyr replied, flying around James to his other side and placing a hand upon his shoulder. “I mean, I’ve beat you way more, buuut that’s just because I happen to be awesome.”
“Well, you aren’t very bashful,” smirked James, brushing the hand off his shoulder. “Got no reason to be,” Satyr giggled. “I’m half-fairy, I can fly, I’m super good with a sword, and everybody loves me! What do you expect me to do, lie?”
Before James could answer, two new voices broke onto the scene.
“HELLO, MATTHEW!” they called out at the same time.
The pair turned around to see the source of the twin call. Two young ladies - one a blonde with fair skin, the other a brunette with copper tones - came running towards the duo. Or, more accurately, they came running towards Matthew Satyr, not even seeming to notice James Killian.
“Hi, Gwen! Leela!” greeted Matthew, waving happily. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Gwen (the blonde) called out, with an embarrassed sort of look. “We thought you might be avoiding us.”
“Of course not!” said Matthew with a laugh, and flew over to the pair, gesturing back towards James. “I was just helping James practice for the contest coming up soon.”“Oh, Matthew, you’re always so helpful!” sighed Leela (the brunette), dreamily. She didn’t even look towards James, and neither did Gwen. “That’s why we came to find you!” “Oh?” blinked Satyr, cocking his head curiously.
“We were hoping you could join us for a study session,” Leela elaborated, while Gwen nodded in agreement. The two were nudging against each other, as if each young lady was trying to be at the forefront of Matthew’s vision, the center of his attention.
Matthew looked between the two. He seemed confused. “Well…I’d be happy to help, girls, but you know schoolwork isn’t my strong suit,” he chuckled nervously. Then his expression lit up, and he jabbed a thumb towards James. “Hey, maybe my friend can help you! James is super good with school stuff!”
James smiled, perking up a bit; he’d been looking rather dour and dejected this whole time…but his smile fell when, once again, the two ladies never even turned his way. “Ah, but it’s YOU we want to study with!” insisted Gwen, and smiled in a sneaky, flirtatious sort of way. “Maybe we can help each other.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” Matthew said, with a slightly uncertain sort of laugh. He didn’t seem to even remotely notice the almost vixen-like smirks on each girl’s faces, or at least, didn’t grasp what they meant. He then turned back towards James. “I’ll catch ya later, James! See you at the dueling competition, if nothing else! Stay safe, pal!” Matthew Satyr then flew off, with Gwen and Leela running fast to catch up behind him. He laughed, teasing them to go faster, while they giggled and chattered, bumping into each other, racing to see who could get closest to the half-fairy. James Killian watched them go, his expression hollow and sad. Silently, he sheathed his still-undone rapier and walked away.
The scene shifted to sometime later. James Killian was now sitting on a balcony, at the top of a great and mighty-looking clock tower. The tower stood high above a seaport town, and the Sun was setting on the horizon, coloring the ocean waters in gold and pinkish hues. “You shouldn’t let it get to you,” said a voice at his side. The younger, less spiffy James turned and smiled somewhat sadly. Smitty McCarthy sat beside him; each of them held a popsicle in one hand, as they sat high over the city.
“They never even noticed me, Smitty,” James said, softly. “Not once. It was like I wasn’t there. Like I was invisible.”
“I thought you didn’t even like Gwen and Leela,” Smitty said, between slurps of his popsicle.
“I don’t,” shrugged James, and gazed off towards the horizon once more. “But it isn’t just them. It’s…everyone. I don’t understand. I study hard, don’t I? I have better grades, I always do my work on time, and I have more practical knowledge than that silly boy will ever have. But because he can fly and is oh-so-sociable, everybody notices him.”
Smitty narrowed his eyes. “James,” he said, quietly. “Are you…angry with him?”
James blinked at Smitty. He looked surprised. “Angry?” he said, and chuckled. “Why would I be angry? No, no…I…I’m not…angry, Smitty.” He looked at the slowly-melting popsicle in his hand as if it were a magical mirror. “But I am…jealous, I’ll admit,” he murmured. “I wish…I wish more people would look at me, the way they look at him. I wish I could get that praise. I wish I could have that recognition. I wish someone would CARE about me the way they always seem to care about what he does, what he says.” Smitty looked hurt for a moment…then scooted closer. “I do,” was all he said. James looked at his friend again. He smiled gratefully. “Then know that you may be alone,” was all he said. “I don’t care if I am,” said Smitty with a smile. “You’re my best friend, James. You mean more to me than anybody else, Matthew included. I mean…it IS kinda cool how he can fly and do all the stuff he does, but…you’re just as good a swordsman, you’re way smarter, and you’ve helped me out a lot. That’s why I want YOU as my captain someday.”
James smiled wider, and slurped on his popsicle thoughtlessly. “Well, we can only hope that day will come soon.” “Oh, I think it’s gonna be closer than you think,” Smitty said slyly. James frowned and raised an eyebrow. Smitty reached into the pocket of his coat and held out an envelope. “Some of your mail got mixed up with mine,” he explained. “Figured you’d want this.” James slung himself off the balcony edge, naturally onto the solid floor towards the back. Smitty did the same, leaning against the railing as he watched James step away and open the envelope. Killian scanned the message inside…and his eyes widened, his jaw dropping in amazement.
“This…this is…!” “You got accepted!” cheered Smitty. “I knew it the moment I saw! James, the Naval Academy wants you to join!” James laughed, disbelieving, running his hands through his hair. “I…I…Smitty, I don’t know what to say! I’ve been waiting for this for ages!” “I know!” grinned Smitty. “Just think! You’ll be able to go to sea, you’ll be able to study a-and start moving up in the ranks! Our dream is coming true, James!” James beamed from ear to ear, looking up at the sky. He clutched the message to his heart. He couldn’t believe his luck. Already he could imagine being at the helm of his ship…then he frowned and looked towards his friend. “But…what about you?” “Ah, don’t worry about me. I’ll get by till the time comes,” shrugged Smitty. “All you’ve gotta do is keep going the way you’re going, and we’ll both be closer to what we always wanted.” James Killian swore he had tears in his eyes. “You’re right. And…and really, what could go wrong now?”
These unintentionally ominous words heralded another scene shift. James and Matthew Satyr were now dressed in dueling uniforms, and seemingly in what looked like a locker room. “You ready for this?” Matthew asked. “You’re not my opponent, so I think so,” joked James. His smile faded when he noticed Matthew looking at a tiny vial of strange fluid, before the half-fae put it in his locker. “What’s that?” James asked. “Huh? Oh!” Matthew grinned. “Just a…little prank I was saving up for my opponent. The guy’s kind of a meanie, so I wanted to teach him a lesson.” James frowned and narrowed his eyes. “After the competition, I trust?” “No, before,” said Matthew. James blinked and tilted his head, very suspicious. “What exactly is it?” “A confusion potion. Makes everything look like it’s reversed in a mirror,” giggled Matthew. “That’s cheating,” James chastised. “Psh. Not if he’s not suffering the effects when we’re fighting,” Matthew scoffed, waving his hand about airily. “I figure it’ll just make him stumble around like an idiot. Maybe bumping into a wall or two will teach him to be less rude.” “What exactly did this person do?” James asked. Matthew paused…then beckoned James over. Curious, his friend approached and peered inside…then his eyes widened. A tiny, golden pixie sat inside the locker. One of her wings was clearly injured. She backed away with a jingling whimper at the sight of James Killian. “It’s okay,” Matthew soothed. “He’s my buddy.” “What’s her name?” James inquired. “Kes,” said Satyr. “The big dummy was treating her like a dragonfly he caught, hurt her wing pretty bad. I saved her and brought here so she could heal in peace.” James nodded and smiled gently. “Don’t be afraid, Kes,” he said, tenderly. “You’re safe around me.” Kes gave a nervous smile back.
The scene shifted once more. James Killian stepped onto the dueling field. This time, no words were uttered, the scene played out visually. Across from him stood a young man, with bangs that hid his eyes, in a dueling uniform. The two adopted their ready positions…but as the fight began, something was clearly wrong. James would lunge, and his enemy would abruptly, blindly swing out, gasping in alarm, as if he hadn’t seen the attempted strike coming till it was too late. He blocked each strike, but only just. He stumbled and staggered, and James had to struggle to keep his own form on the straight and narrow. The turning point came when, suddenly, James flipped off his opponent’s helmet. The young rival was supposed to call out “Touche!” and signal his turn had ended…but something must have gone wrong. Instead, he turned towards the blade, which had been given a point… …And a scream heralded the scene changing again. Now, James Killian was seated with a haunted, worried look outside of an office. Voices were chattering - one was yelling - inside. A few moments passed, then there was silence…before the door opened. Two people - a man and a woman - rushed the young man out, shooting a sour glare at James as they went. Their son’s face was bandaged. A moment later, another man came out, strict and tall in appearance. James looked up fearfully. “Headmaster?” he greeted questioningly. The Headmaster paused and knelt down. “I have good news and I have bad news,” he said. “The good news is that you won’t be penalized for this. No one can prove that you put that confusion potion in Mr. Dippet’s drink, and I don’t think you did.” “Confusion potion?” James repeated, eyes widening. “That’s…that’s what happened?” “He took a VERY large dose,” said the Headmaster, gravely. “He’s lucky something worse didn’t happen, since we were using pointed weapons. Both our school and his will be investigating the matter, but since you never had an opportunity to get anywhere near whatever he drank…” “What’s the bad news?” pressed James. The Headmaster paused again before answering: “I’m sorry, James, but…under the circumstances, you were disqualified. I don’t imagine that’s ESPECIALLY surprising, so I hope you aren’t TOO upset…”
James nodded sorrowfully, turning away. He supposed that made sense; he couldn’t be ranked for a duel he didn’t REALLY win, but it was still disappointing… “...But there’s something much worse.” James looked up in a start. “Worse?” he gulped. The Headmaster nodded. “Not so long ago, you received an acceptance letter from the Naval Academy. Well….I’m sorry to tell you this, James, but…they heard about what happened, and…I guess they smelled something fishy, because…they’ve rescinded their offer. You no longer have acceptance there.” James could only stare. “I know this hurts. That application meant a lot to you. Your father is furious - not with you, with them - but…there’s really nothing we can do. We could try to appeal, but…if they were willing to withdraw just for this…” James remained silent and staring. It was as if he were frozen. “There are other schools, of course. I’d personally suggest Night Raven College: they don’t have anything related to naval work, but…you might be able to find other avenues, and it’s  VERY prestigious school. If the Dark Mirror accepts you, you might have a chance at finding a way to…well.” The Headmaster trailed off. James was still staring at him silently. The man awkwardly stood up. “Ahem. Anyway, that’s…all I have to say, Killian. Given the situation, you are dismissed for the day. If you…want to speak to me about this later, you know my office hours. Good day.” The Headmaster retreated to his room. He never saw the look of absolute, gut-wrenching pain on James’ face as James looked out towards the glass door of the building. Something twisted when James saw a familiar, human-shaped shadow…flying through the air in the distance.
The scene shifted one last time. James Killian stood at the balcony atop the Clock Tower. He was facing away from the horizon. He could feel the clock gears turning, feel the vibrations of the mighty timepiece only yards below his feet. A sword was at his side. He felt, rather than heard, the moment a figure flew to the top of the tower behind him. His feelings were confirmed when an almost timid, bleating utterance of “James?” greeted him. He clenched his teeth, refusing to turn around…then took a deep breath to speak. “You’ve robbed me, Matthew.” Silence. “Why did you do it? Did you think it was funny? Making me look like a filthy, stupid cheat?” Silence. “No. No, YOU envied ME for once, didn’t you? You were afraid that just once, JUST. ONCE. I might win the tournament. And you had that potion right there. It must have been so tempting…” Silence. “I’ve lost my chance at the Academy thanks to you. My dream…Smitty’s dream…you’ve just gone and ruined it. I’ve wanted this all my life, and after all this time…all this time seeing you - hovering over my head, pretending you’re so important and special, and acting like YOU WERE MY FRIEND - you decide it’s time to make sure I can never have what we want most.” Silence. James turned, glaring, eyes misty and bloodshot. “Have you NOTHING to say?” Matthew Satyr’s face was hidden by the shadows. He simply…floated there. Silent. Unmoving. Hovering in stoic, unflinching silence. James felt his blood boiling hot in his veins. His fists clneched tighter and began to shake. “Tell them the truth,” he hissed. “That’s all you have to do. Just tell them what happened.” Matthew remained silent and still. “PLEASE!” James exclaimed, turning around fully. For a moment, the rage left his face. He became pleading. Desperate. “I’ll do anything you say, Matthew! I’ll…I’ll make sure nothing too bad happens! All you have to do is TELL THEM! Just…just tell them, I’m BEGGING you!” The silence and the stillness continued. James felt the tears run down his cheeks. They were very, very hot. He felt the anger flood him again.
“No. No, that’s too difficult, isn’t it?” he sneered. “You can’t tell the truth. You can’t feel guilt. You can’t even tell when people love you! You can’t even understand what it means to be someone’s friend, can you?! You IDIOT! You fly around, feeling like you’re better than anyone else, like you can’t do anything wrong! WELL, IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY! WHY WON’T YOU JUST TELL THE TRUTH?! WHY WON’T YOU JUST OWN UP TO YOUR MISTAKES?! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST GROW UP AND BE A MAN?!” Matthew Satyr seemed to flinch…and without a word, without a single other action…he flew away. James Killian reached for his sword…but then sheathed it halfway through. He ran to the balcony, looking around for Matthew, but couldn’t see him anywhere. “SATYR! SATYR, COME BACK HERE!” he shouted, his voice echoing across the harbor and the town. There was no reply. No sign of Satyr. James shuddered. He sobbed…then staggered back and collapsed, crying pitifully. A few seconds later, a small figure poked his head out from the doorway leading onto the balcony. A tragic look was on Smitty McCarthy’s features. He trundled forward, and smiled gently, reaching towards James. “Hey,” he whispered. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m still here, James. I’m-” James swatted Smitty’s hand away. He never noticed the hurt look on his friend’s face. James lifted his head, looking up at the sky. The sky that, even now, so high above the city, he could never touch. He reached out with his left hand, as if to do so… …Then closed it and growled, as the tattoo on his hand flared up with a crimson glow. “I’ll get you for this Satyr,” he hissed with pure hatred. “If it’s the last thing I do.”
Finally, the mist receded…and as the white cloud disappeared, James Killian - in his usual form - was seen laying upon the floor of the cave. The silence that followed was broken when Grim whistled, as if impressed. “Nya…I think that’s the longest explanation we’ve ever gotten,” he said.
You yanked his tail and he yelped. “HEY! What was that for?!” “For once in your flaming life, have some propriety,” you glared sternly. Grim just pouted in response. “Tell me what that word means first,” he mumbled to himself. You could only sigh irritably. “James.” You looked up to see Matthew Satyr had flown over towards the fallen pirate. He knelt down on the opposite side of Smitty, both looking worriedly at the scarlet-coated renegade. Matthew nudged him slightly. “Hey. James. Wake up,” he whispered. Killian groaned but didn’t react. “He must have hit that wall REALLY hard,” grimaced Smitty. Kes zipped over and rang her bells in both of their ears. “No, I’ve got this,” Matthew answered…and tugged on James’ hair. Hard. “YEOWCH!” exploded Killian, and sat up in a flash, clutching the side of his head. “WHAT SUBVERSIVE SAVAGE JUST ATTEMPTED TO SCALP ME?!” Kes giggled while Smitty sighed with relief. “Good as new,” he muttered to himself with a slight chuckle. James glanced about in confusion, as if startled…then his eyes fell on Matthew, who was still kneeling at his side. Satyr smiled in a sort of reassuring manner…which only elicited a growl from James. He looked around and saw his cane-sword - also returned to its usual state - on the ground beside him. He made a move to pick it up only to wince and half-collapse before he could. “Blast it,” he groaned, clutching his head. “Who hit me with the broadside of a galleon…?” “Memo to self: rock walls are very effective,” you chuckled to yourself. “I’m just glad that’s not what I got,” you heard Azul mutter. “Sssame,” shuddered Nakoda.
“James,” Matthew said, catching the attention of all again. “I…I think you and I need to talk.” “Oh, NOW you want to talk?” sneered James Killian, and heaved himself to his feet. “Well, regrettably, I feel the two of us are far beyond having anything worth saying to one another.” Matthew just looked at him. James glared back, then turned away, staggering a few paces away from the whole group. “Do you know what REALLY hurts?” he said, darkly. “About growing up? It’s not the dashed hopes. It’s not the aches and pains. It’s not even the stench of death, as it draws ever closer. No…” He glanced back coldly over his shoulder, at both Matthew and Smitty, the latter of whom winced. “It’s knowing that, one by one, the people you called your ‘friends’ will betray you, and abandon you.” “James, it wasn’t like that!” insisted Satyr. “I beg to differ!” James yelled, turning around fully, grinding his molars as he spoke. “This treasure is my key to getting what I always wanted! Something YOU took away!” “There were other ways to get it,” Sebek spoke up. It was strange to hear him NOT yell for a change. James shot him a heated glare, then looked back at Satyr. Matthew just looked with something like pity at Killian. “Why don’t you take it away again?” snarled James. “I’ve committed enough sins today to earn expulsion at best, and far worse beyond that. Go ahead, Matthew. Be the hero. Stop the villain. Send me away and win. We all know it’s too late-” “-To apologize?” James blinked. “Apologize?” he repeated. Then sneered. “You expect ME to apologize?!” “No,” Matthew said. He walked - not flew, walked - closer to James “I meant me.”
James could only stare. He seemed astounded. Matthew Satyr took a breath and looked up at the taller duelist, right into his eyes. “That day,” he explained, “I put the potion in the drink of MY opponent. But backstage, your opponent and mine…they were sharing the same room. I don’t know what happened exactly, James. Maybe I put the potion in the wrong drink. Maybe they two traded, or your opponent drank from the wrong cup. But I never meant to hurt you. I just…wanted a bit of fun, to get back at the person who hurt Kes. I never knew what was going to happen.” “You think that makes it better?” “No. Because you’re right: I should have owned up. I should have told the truth, and I never did,” Matthew admitted. He paused before finishing: “I’m sorry I did what I did. I’m sorry I hurt you, James.” James Killian just…stared. He was slack-jawed. Bug-eyed. As if he couldn’t believe at all what he was hearing. That was when you heard another intake of breath, and Nakoda Spivak stepped forward. “All of usss,” he hissed, the sound echoing through the cave and catching everyone’s attention. “We’ve been where you’ve been, Killian. I ssspent ssso much of my life feeling like I didn’t matter. Feeling like I was nothing but a worm; sssomething for others to ssstep on or ignore. I tried ssso hard to break that mold, and when sssomeone came along who threatened that desire…I sssnapped. I know what it feels like.” “As do I,” admitted Azul, stepping forward as well. “Like you, I reinvented myself from the ground up. I couldn’t stand who I was before. I couldn’t stand being weak. I couldn’t stand being seen as something lesser by so many.” Sebek squirmed. He didn’t say anything, but you knew memories of trying to live up to vast expectations were filling his mind. “Everyone in this room,” you said with a gentle smile, “Has a desire to be something greater, and everyone here has had to face a moment where that desire was threatened. But sometimes losing one dream just means there’s another out there you can find. And when someone makes a mistake, sometimes it’s best to forgive and forget. Because as long as you hold onto that hatred, that bitterness…you can’t escape it. Don’t let your rage consume you, James.” James Killian looked at all of you. His expression had chilled. It had become unreadable. He looked towards Matthew Satyr. Matthew’s own expression was unusually solemn. “When I was under your power, both times,” Satyr said, “You were my unhappy thought. It wasn’t fear of losing, James. It wasn’t feeling powerless. It was knowing that I’d let someone I considered a friend down, and all this time…I’ve never wanted to admit it. Just like you, I’ve had that buried deep inside me so long. And I think it’s time we made that stop.” He extended his hand. A hopeful smile was on his face. “It’s time we BOTH grow up, James,” he said, quietly. “If you help me, I’ll help you. That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?”
James hummed thoughtfully. “Friends,” he repeated, to himself, looking down at the offered hand once more… …Then a sadness flooded his face. A strange, unknowable melancholy. He seemed to smile, but it was a bitter, pained sort of smile, then he looked into Satyr’s eyes. “No,” he whispered, then turned away. “I’m sorry, but…no. It’s too late for that. Far too late.” Matthew’s hopeful expression fell. He closed his hand and pulled it back, crestfallen as he looked down morosely. “However…” Matthew looked up and saw James looking back over his shoulder. The brown eyes were warmer and more pleasant than they’d ever looked in a long time. “...Just because we aren’t friends…that doesn’t mean we have to be enemies.” Matthew blinked…then his expression brightened, and his feet lifted off the ground as he began to float into the air. James smirked as he turned to face him totally. “I will not rest till I defeat you, once and for all,” James promised. It sounded like a challenge, but not a threat. “And I will do so without any tricks. Without any magic at all. Nothing but my skills and my wits. I expect you to treat me precisely the same way. Do we have an accord?” Matthew nodded. “Sounds fair to me,” he replied. You and your friends smiled, looking at each other proudly. “Of course, since I won the game already this time, that will have to wait till next time,” Matthew added. All smiles fell. “Wait, what?” droned Sebek.
Matthew Satyr smirked. “Did you guys forget about the rest of my team?” he teased. “We figured out the clue ages ago! I sent them to find the ACTUAL prize chest, while I flew over to save Kes! And with how much time we’ve spent playing James’ own game, I’m betting by now they’ll have been at the beach AGES ago. So…yeah! I win again!” “Wait!” James exclaimed. “You…you KNEW it was a trap?! AND YOU KNEW WHERE THE PRIZE WAS?!” “I think I just said that,” giggled Matthew. “Seriously, James, subtlety isn’t really your strong point.” James eye twitched…and he roared, suddenly lunging forward to try and grab Mattthew Satyr. The fairy youth laughed, zipping to and fro as James danced around, trying to get hold of him. “SATYR!” he yelled. “Ye little crustacean-sucking, knock-kneed, squid-faced, plank-walking sack of soiled, sea-salted, unwashed fish buckets full of BAD BARNACLE BUTTS!"
“Wow, that’s gotta be one of your best insults so far!” laughed Matthew. “Too bad the game’s over! See ya later, James! Better luck next time!” So saying, Matthew Satyr flew fully out of James grasp and tipped his beret hat to all of you. “Same goes to the rest of you from Night Raven College! So long, suckers!” And with a whoop and a laugh - Kes trailing close behind him - Matthew Satyr flew out of the cavern and disappeared from sight. “COME BACK AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN! YOU DOUBLE-CROSSING PIPSQUEAK!” yelled James, shaking both fists and raging at the ceiling itself. “I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS! JUST WAIT AND SEE!” “In case you’ve forgotten,” Azul spoke up. “He’s the least of your worries right now.” James froze…and looked towards your group. Now that the sentiment had died down, he could see the anger in all of your eyes. He gulped nervously. “Ah…I…take it I’m not off the hook?” he peeped. “Not. Even. Clossse,” Nakoda glared.
“I will be benevolent and leave out the bit about you nearly feeding us to a giant crocodile,” Azul said. “But as team captain, I WILL be reporting how you were a very bad sport…again, to say the least. You jeopardized this game on more levels than I can count, even without counting your Overblot state.” “Let this be a lesson to you, Codfish!” boomed Sebek. “Thy cheating ways hath done thee in!” “Can we point out how I fell out of a tree thanks to him?” Nakoda suggested. “Oh, that will be an EXCELLENT start,” Azul assured the naga. James shrank back with seemingly every sentence. He chuckled nervously, face flustered. “H-Ha ha ha…ha…I…suppose I have no grounds to argue all this,” he said, in a strangled sort of way. “NONE,” you all chorused angrily, making him flinch. “Very well,” he mumbled, morosely…then, trying to salvage some dignity, he straightened himself up and adjusted his coat. “However, with your kind permission, I would at least like to ensure THAT…” He pointed to his boat. “...Will be returned safely to where I typically keep it, before we all return to campus.” “Ha! You think we’re gonna let you go off alone in that? You’ll run for sure,” huffed Grim. “Oh, I hardly think so,” Azul spoke up, and strode towards James. “After all, I think our Little Codfish knows that if he goes anywhere near the ocean in that little toy boat…” The octopus was almost nose to nose with James, his expression dangerously predatory in appearance. “...I won’t be far behind.” James gulped and blushed, and drew an X over his heart. “Back to school. No fleeing. On my admittedly dubious honor,” he squeaked out. “Good,” Azul crooned, and playfully patted James’ cheek, then looked towards your teammates. “Nakoda? Sebek? Pick up the treasure chest. If we can’t return with the ACTUAL prize chest, I think having that will make a decent consolation prize.”
“You’re not going to keep it!” Sebek gasped. “Why not?” smirked Nakoda. “Oh, no, he’s right, I won’t,” sighed Azul, looking VERY glum about that. “The Headmage will no doubt confiscate it and have it donated to a museum, or kept in a vault somewhere, or something like that…a shame, but I suppose raising our school’s clout will have to do. At least this will put us in his good graces for SOME purpose or another. Now come along.” Nakoda pouted, but obligingly helped Sebek lift the chest…not that Sebek needed much help, which he made clear as he pulled it clean out of Nakoda’s hands and started walking off with it, as easily as if it were stuffed with feathers. The naga in disguise called out - “Hey, wait up!” - before following as fast as he could, the pair following Azul towards the tunnel entrance. You lingered behind - you and Grim - standing beside James. The three of you watched the pair go, then looked at each other. “You fought well, for someone without magic. And you were quite clever in defeating me,” James congratulated. “Thank you for getting me out of that state; there’s nothing in which I revel as much as a worthy opponent.” “Nya! It was nothing!” grinned Grim. “I was talking to your human,” droned James, unimpressed. “Yeah, well, between you and me, I think I’ll leave the ‘swashbuckling hero’ act to experts from now on,” you said. James smirked and responded with a courtly bow, before turning towards his sailboat. “Come on, Smitty!” he called out. “We have work to do.” He paused after a few steps, when he realized no one was following him. Blinking in confusion, he looked back. “Uh…Smitty?” Smitty McCarthy had been quiet all this time. He was sitting beside the deep pool, and was looking into it quietly, as if peering at his own reflection. Something flickered in James’ eyes. He frowned, looking rather annoyed, and marched towards McCarthy. He soon stood beside him, hands on his hips. “Smitty!” he snapped. Smitty jumped, as if he’d just heard James speak and looked up, still seated. He blinked in an almost puppy-like manner up at the taller fellow.
“Why are you lollygagging about?” snorted James. “When I call, I expect you to follow!” Smitty blinked again. “You…you still want me around?” he peeped. James looked bewildered. “Why wouldn't I want you around?” he replied. Smitty bit his lip. He shuffled where he sat, tapping his fingers together guiltily. “I…w-well, I…I SHOT you, James. A-And I tried to hold you back! I…I u-used my-” “You betrayed me,” James cut in, glaring crossly. He waited till he was sure he had gotten Smitty’s attention before he continued: “You betrayed my trust. You betrayed our friendship. You betrayed everything I’ve stood for, for years, YOU LET ME DOWN!” Smitty flinched as James’ shout echoed through the cave. “Then…why?” squeaked Smitty. James’ hard glare softened. “Why?” he repeated. He paused…then sighed and knelt down. His expression was softer, kinder, than it had ever seemed before, as he looked into the smaller man’s eyes. “First of all, because you stopped me from doing something TRULY terrible. And second of all...do you really think you mean so little to me that a betrayal like that would make any difference?” James smile vanished instantly when he saw Smitty’s reaction. “Stop that,” he ordered. “With the eyes. Don’t do that thing with the eyes. How DO you do that thing with the eyes?! Brimstone and gall, it’s like they INFLATE!”
Smitty giggled and wiped some tears from his very, very wide eyes and smiled happily up at James. Killian’s own smirk returned, and he stretched out a hand, helping McCarthy to his feet and dusting himself off as he stood. “Come on, you kelp-brained lummox,” he chuckled affectionately. “I’ll never have a chance of beating Satyr without you.” “Aye-Aye, James!” Smitty cheered. “We’ll get him next time!” As the two boarded the ship, you lifted Grim and let him perch on your shoulder…but before heading off, a thought struck you. “Hey, Grim?” “Nya?” “How’d you like to take a little cruise around the island before we head back to school?” Grim blinked at you, and tilted his head. “What’s a cruise?” he asked. You smirked and chuckled, then looked over to where James and Smitty were readying to get the Czarina out of the cave. “Hey, guys!” you called out. “You got room for two more?”
By the time you all got to campus you’d discovered two things. One, that it was really quite splendid sailing along the river of Sage’s Island. Two…that Grim got seasick. Horribly so. Some splendid things can only be experienced once…
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…Or twice. “Ahhhh…thisss is the life…” You chuckled, opening one eye to glance to your side at the long and limber figure stretched out on a lounge chair upon the main deck of the Czarina. Nakoda Spivak was laying topless, wearing nothing but a pair of rattlesnake-skin-patterned swimming trunks and some sunglasses, soaking up the sunlight. Aside from his happy hissing, all you could hear were the gulls in the distance, and the sounds of the ocean waves - calm that day, and most serene - lapping against the hull of the sailboat. “Feels good, huh?” you teased. “Sssimply exquisite,” sighed Nakoda, and lifted his shades to give you a grateful smile. “I’ve never been on a ship of any sssort before. The jungle is wet, but there’s no real room for sssailing. I could grow to like thisss.” You shrugged, closing your eyes again and resting with a sigh of your own, expelled through your nose. “James has to do some ‘community service’ to make up for how he messed things up,” you explained. “I convinced the Headmage that giving some ‘seaside rest’ to his fellow students now and again could help. He wasn’t gonna say no, since it means he gets to sail and get easy points in the process.” “Hmmmm,” you heard Nakoda murmur, and then blushed as you heard his fingertips scratching at his bare belly as it gurgled. “And you decided to invite me because…?” “You saved us from that giant crocodile,” you replied. “The others may not know how to properly thank you for that, but I thought of a few ways.” There was a pause…then your eyes shot open as you suddenly felt the sun disappear. Your heart nearly skipped a beat as you found Nakoda looming over you, leaning across your lounge chair, smirking in his usual sultry, slippery way. “I jussst couldn’t bear the thought of anybody elssse having you for sssupper,” he cooed. “Yeah, well, get in line,” you mumbled, squirming in your seat. “Sss-sss-sss-sss!” Nakoda sniggered, and leaned closer still, voice dropping to a husky, dusky whisper. “Perhapsss there’s sssome other reward I’d like beyond a daytime cruise. Would you give it to me?” “Not even if you wiped my mind. So don’t bother.” Nako pouted. “You’re a ssspoilsssport sssometimes, you know that?” You smirked and booped his nose. Nakoda sneered and pulled back, blushing and covering his snout to protect it against further attack. “With pride,” you replied, then blushed anew as the serpent’s belly let out another whining gurgle. “Sounds like you could use something in that stomach of yours, though…” “Are you volunteering?” Nako grinned, uncovering his face…only to quickly cover it again when you lifted a finger threateningly.
“I can fix that!” called out a voice, and the two of you looked as James Killian himself, garbed in his usual red coat and carrying his gold-topped sword-cane in one hand (currently sheathed, of course), sauntered out of the cabin of the sailboat. He was carrying a very large lunchbox - a sort of miniature cooler - in his other hand. “Smitty packed an abundance of snacks for this voyage! Typically I’m used to simply shoving off alone, or just with him at me side. Tis grand to have fellow shipmates on this brief voyage!” “We’re just taking a little ride around the island,” you chuckled. “I don’t know if that counts as a ‘voyage.’” “Well, forgive me if I want to call it one,” sniffed James, snootily. “Now, do you two land lubbers want anything to eat or not.” “Mmmm, that depends,” smirked Nakoda, as he returned to his own lounge chair, making a point of wiggling his tush as he got comfy and sat upon it. “Is codfish on the menu?” James blushed. He coughed and responded: “Ah…actually, yes. Yes, it is.” Nakoda’s eyes widened. He looked overjoyed. “Ssseriousssly?” he breathed out. James hurriedly pulled something out of the cooler to show it to the snake. “I meant this,” he said, not making eye contact with the half-serpent. “Smitty, ah…made some codfish filets, and…packed them with ice. Ahem.” Nakoda blinked…then smirked and shrugged. “I’ll take it,” he replied, and then winked. “I can always imagine it’sss a particularly filling sssomebody here…after all, you’ll tassste exactly the sssame.” “Um…d-don’t you mean THEY’LL taste the same?” James corrected, mildly. Nakoda just grinned wider. “I mean what I sssay, and I sssay what I mean,” he replied. James blushed more, and cleared his throat. “Ahem…Smitty?” “Aye, James?” came a call from the helm. “How long till we return to our docking position?” “Oh, uh…another hour, I think, at least.” James looked at Nakoda. The hungry fellow winked flirtatiously and licked his lips, rubbing his bare belly with one hand. “Speed it up!” James barked to Smitty.
“I’ll do what I can,” Smitty called back, oblivious as ever. James rolled his eyes, while both you and Nakoda snickered. Killian then passed out some codfish filets, wrapped in wax paper, which you all began to eat. “I’m surprised you two don’t have any hard feelings, given my scurrilous behavior at the Scavenger’s Hunt,” James pointed out, sitting across from you two. “In my cassse, I learned my lesssssson the firssst time,” shrugged Nakoda. “Plotting revenge againssst people jussst ends up with me getting bitten in the tail…possssssibly literally.” James raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. “As for me…meh. I think almost everyone on campus has either tried to kill me or nearly gotten me killed at some point by now,” you said dismissively. “Frankly, if I don’t go a month or two without nearly dying horribly, I start to worry the universe is outta alignment or something.” James and Nakoda chuckled. “Honestly,” you continued, looking seriously at James, “I’m surprised YOU don’t seem to be harboring any hard feelings. I’m, uh…kinda paranoid about it, to tell you the truth.” James smiled sincerely and looked out over the sea behind and beyond him. “No one till you was able to withstand against my Unique Magic,” he said, gazing off but addressing you. “If nothing else, that fact makes me curious. Perhaps you are more special than you give yourself credit for, Prefect, especially given all you’ve been through. Besides, I already have one obnoxious, brat-sized, bagoong-eating bootlick to hone all my rage against.” He turned to you with a slyer sort of smile. “Why form new enemies when I can form new…alliances?” “Still not fond of the word friends, eh?” you teased. “And I never will be,” said James, seriously…then added more softly, “But allies…those are always nice.” So saying, he passed out a few bottles of juice. You and Nakoda took them, and you held up yours like a cup in toast. “Very well then,” you said. “To alliances!” “Cheers!” chuckled Nakoda and James together, and the three of you toasted before drinking from the bottles. You and James took only a sip…but Nakoda slugged down the entire bottle. Soon, both yourself and Killian were watching, as if hypnotized, as each drop of fluid slid down the gullet, Nakoda’s Adam’s Apple bobbing in his throat with each swallow. “Paaaahhhhh!” sighed Nako, as he polished it off, then thumped his chest and belched crudely. “BLLLUUUURRRLLLLGP! Mph…sssweetly refreshing. Is there any more?” You and James were red as a couple of ripe cherries. You looked at each other wearily. “So, wanna bet on which of us is going to survive the rest of the trip?” you droned. “I think we’d both be lost causes,” James retorted. “Sss-sss-sss-sss! Don’t tempt me now, sssnacks,” taunted Nakoda. Smitty, from the helm, just rolled his eyes. His new friends were so strange…
As the four of you sailed on around Sage’s Island, you were unaware of a large pair of huge, green eyes, which poked up from the surface of the sea. They were attached to an equally huge, gray-blue head, and long, somewhat oily-looking black hair. A fanged sneer split a mouth large enough to swallow multiple sailboats whole, and a snort preceded the monster dropping back under the waves. “Let ‘em have some fun this time,” the sea beast muttered. “I’ve got bigger fish to feed on for now…” With a flip of a giant tail, the monster sank back into the darkest depths of the great ocean…but only for now. Pirates and serpents, it seemed, were far from the end of your adventures at Night Raven College.
The End
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likeysoob · 4 months
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Hey guys…
I know i owe like 6 chapters of heart attack
But im honestly busy and feel very depressed
I can barley think of what should be in each chapter
Im so worried about school starting tomorrow
And i was just trying to enjoy my christmas break
I will come back to it but i think i might just do more actually written stories then social media aus for my future stories
I might be more offline since school has so many assignments every day…
Thank you all for liking my chapters! 🫶🏽 and im sorry im going to be very offline :(
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Blood Rush
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summary: after Sanremo comes Eurovision, but Italian victory  isn’t the main thing you’ll focus of that night
word count: 3 k
contents: smut, angst, mentions of blood and violence, mentions of murder, the usual
tåglist | Måsterlist | other chapters
Part of you knew what might possibly happen once they win Sanremo. But nothing prepared you for the amount of work, chaos and attention you had to face. A new wave of fans, tons of interviews, countless people wanting to talk to them, all trying to reach you. And as if this wasn’t enough, an even bigger challenge was on its way: Eurovision. 
You had only a little over two months to make sure everything is in order. They had a song and a rough idea of what they wanted to do and how they want to look. But all the details, papers, press, rehearsals, travelling - this was on you. You spent most of those two months fulfilling your responsibilities. 
Damiano finally gave up on the task he planned for you, you kept telling yourself that maybe that last night during Sanremo, how you have shown your loyalty and kindness, changed his approach. Without a constant fear of his revenge and a much calmer atmosphere at home, you could focus better on what was actually important. Your relations with Ethan got sort of stuck in a grey area. He remained tender and soft towards you, yet the constant stress and lack of time made you two a bit more distant. You knew that it was just a rough patch and that soon it will be over. And that hopefully you’ll be able to indulge your inappropriate feelings for him a little more.
Finally, the day has come. A big finale. The tension, stress and anticipation were difficult to bear. Despite it all, and the pressure you felt as a beginner, you were proud and satisfied with how you handled things. Now it was all in the hands of the jury and the public. You sat with the rest of the team, waiting impatiently for the announcement. Shock. Disbelief. Screams. Adrenaline rush. Tears. Clumsy hugs and kisses. The warmth spreading all over your body, filling your every cell with happiness. They made it. They fucking made it. 
Once the official part was over, and the long press conference finally came to an end, the whole Italian team, with the band leading the way, was strolling through the hotel lobby, too drunk on joy to care. Vic grabbed your hand and pulled you into her room where Thomas, Ethan and Damiano were already in, half naked, with smudged makeup and bottles of champagne. 
“You can’t sit alone in your room, not tonight. We wouldn't be here without you.” She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on your lips. She smelled like champagne and leather, her eyes were wild and her cheeks pink. 
“Well, maybe I did help you a little.” You chuckled and sat on the sofa next to Thomas. He handed you his bottle.
“Don’t be so modest, We owe you.” Damiano winked at you and raised his bottle. “For our amazing assistant!”
The rest raised their bottles and took big sips. You felt how red your cheeks were getting. Thomas rested against the pillows, and slowly leaned on your shoulder.
“Well, we can continue celebrating tomorrow, you guys must be exhausted.” You said, gently stroking Thomas’ damp hair, pushing his off his forehead. 
“Yeah, maybe a little.” Ethan stretched and smiled at you with softness in his eyes. “Come on, cucciolo, time for bed.” He draped his arm around already half-asleep Thomas, walking him towards the door. 
“See you at the breakfast.” Vic kissed your cheek.
“I’ll walk you to your room if you don’t mind,” Damiano said while looking at you with surprising kindness. You nodded. 
As soon as you reached your room, the atmosphere got heavy. Something was coming, your senses heightened, expecting the worst. 
“May I come in?” Damiano asked, pushing his hair back. A loose curl fell back on his forehead. 
“Sure.” You said, trying to hide hesitance in your voice. He walked in and closed the door. “You want anything to drink? And don’t look at my neck.” You added with a smile.
“Well if your blood isn’t an option…maybe some whisky? I hate champagne, I need to wash it down with something…” 
You poured two glasses and handed him one of them, gently brushing against his skin. You sat on the edge of your bed, watching him carefully as he took his place on the sofa in front of you. 
“Well, my dear…I think that you realize that the situation has changed a little.” He said before taking a sip from his glass. 
“The situation? You mean your victory?” You frowned, feeling your heart pumping a little faster. 
“Yes. Well, I’m sure you remember what I asked you for, two months ago. I thought we could avoid that but…Now it’s different and I’m sure you understand. To some extent at least.” 
“What exactly are you asking me for?” Your voice was trembling.
“Don’t make it more difficult than it is. You’re smarter than that.” his tone suddenly got more serious.
“I don’t understand…” You mumbled, pinning your scared eyes in his face.
“I can explain.”
“Please do.”
“Well then…” Damiano downed the rest of the amber liquid. “Tonight everything changed. The world finally heard about us, not only Italy but the whole of Europe and America. Just think about it! All those opportunities!” He said loudly, full of excitement. “And that’s why I need you to get rid of our manager. She’ll never let us do what we want, spread our wings…”
“So you want me to kill her? Is there no other way? Can’t you just fire her like a normal person?!” You raised your voice, losing your temper. 
“My sweet little thing…sadly it’s not an option.” He smirked. 
“Why? Does she know? Who you are?” You asked, cocking your head to the side.
“Mhm, she does. She agreed to ignore this small inconvenient detail because she saw potential in us. But ditching her is too much of a risk.”
“What if I refuse?” You asked with a beating heart. After all, you also knew, so the chance that he’d love to see you dead was rather big.
“I don’t think you will…” He said with a grin.
“Oh really? I refused the last time.”
“Last time you were ready to fuck me to spare you, I wouldn’t say it was the toughest ‘no’ I've heard in my life. You like it too much, your current life. As fucked up as it is. And that’s the price. Either you kill her, or you can leave forever. And I’ll make sure that you never see Ethan again.” 
You bit your bottom lip, feeling your eyes filling with tears. The bastard was right. You could never go back to normal, and most importantly quit Ethan. You cared too much, even if you’d never admit it out loud. 
“Oh, you thought I don’t know? Please…”
“I want to talk to him, I think your visit is over.” You spat out through gritted teeth.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea, love.” He stood up with a grunt.
“And why is that?”
“No thoughts behind those beautiful eyes, hmm? He’s not the most faithful, or the most devoted man out there. From what I’ve heard he made plans for tonight with two girls from the French team. I’m pretty sure he’s a little busy now.” Damiano whispered the last sentence.
“Liar, fucking liar!” You growled. “You just can’t stand that I care about him more than I ever cared about you, hmm?” 
“Go! Go and see for yourself, you stupid girl.” 
You could barely hear his last insult, as you stormed out of the room. Ethan lived at the end of the corridor. It was the longest walk of your life, but finally, you reached the door. Right as you were about to grab the handle, you froze. The only thing you could hear were moans. Loud moans coming from at least two women. And low grunts. Bed squeaking, the frame banging against the wall. Your eyes filled with hit tears, and you felt that your heart is about to jump out of your chest. This couldn’t be real. Not him. The girl moaned loudly. You took your hand away and covered your mouth, scared that a painful cry will leave them involuntarily. 
Your walk back was slow and clumsy, you stumbled at least a few times. You barely saw anything through your teary eyes. Your cheeks were wet, your chest moving from your pounding heart. Your feet seemed to know the way, and you mindlessly followed. Once you realized in front whose room were you standing, the rage replaced the sadness. You banged on the door hard, shaking from anger. 
“Open up you fucking coward!” You screamed. The lock clicked and doors opened. 
“Oh, so you went to see him, hmm? Disappointed?”  Damiano smirked.
You barged into his room, without waiting for an invitation. he slammed the door shut and turned to you. 
“Did you do this?! Did you drug him or…”
“Another one…No, I didn’t drug him. open your fucking eyes, what were you expecting, princess? To be in a cosy relationship with a guy who’s not only in a rock band but is also a fucking bloodthirsty beast?!” He growled, his eyes getting darker. Only now you noticed his naked chest, glistening from sweat.
“He’s not like you, and you can’t fucking bear that!” You screamed, getting closer to him.
“Oh, I’m the one who can’t stand that? Maybe it’s too much for you, that in fact, between you and him, you’re the real beast!” 
You frowned.
“He’s just a whore, always has been, always will be. But you? Oh dear…just think about all the things you did over the past few months.”
“Stop it…” you whispered.
“Too much for you to handle? You helped to dispose of a body, you found us, victims, and you basically sentenced that poor reporter to death. With cold blood, you wrapped her in plastic, put her in a bag and dragged her out of the hotel. What a girlfriend material.” He snickered. 
“You know how it was, I didn’t have…” 
“Oh, shut up! You had a choice! Every time you could just leave…But you didn’t.” He took a step forward, his face was only a few inches from yours. “You can’t just leave, hmm?” 
“I…You don’t…” You swallowed hard, trying to control your heavy breathing. He smirked. 
“I will. And you won’t interrupt because you know I’m right. You’re fucking addicted. To us, to fear, to blood, to the adrenaline rush we give you. You can’t just go back to your pathetic and boring life. You’d die from misery.” he moved even closer, his lips almost brushing yours. “ that’s why I don’t need to worry about killing you. You’ll never leave. You won’t deprive yourself of what you need most. Us.”
You let out a quiet whine. You hated him, hated yourself, and every person who lead to you meeting them. He was damn right and it burned you from the inside that you couldn’t disagree with what he said. 
“You think you own me? That you cracked me and now I’m all yours?” You said, trying to save the rest of your dignity, knowing very well that it's long lost. 
“Oh, I don’t think…” Damiano grabbed your neck in a tight grip. “I know that. You belong to us. You belong to me.” 
His touch, his voice and smell, the anger and fury mixed with alcohol and complete helplessness filled your body and soul. You looked at him with big, teary eyes and instinctively placed your hand over his. He grinned and pinned his darkening eyes in yours.
“And the funniest thing is that even if I snapped your neck right now, you’d die in bliss. That’s how much you fucking like it.” 
You felt exposed. Nothing else mattered. He knew. You nodded, feeling that you might as well surrender. 
“That’s a good girl,” he said, making you whine again at his words. 
He was pushing all the right buttons. The way he could read your mind and soul made you vulnerable and oddly aroused. He knew exactly what he was doing. And you were too weak to pretend that you don’t like it. 
“Will you kill me now?” You mumbled, feeling dizzy from his grip. 
“Hmmm…” he purred into your ear, “I don't think so. But I'll surely try to fuck that attitude out of you…Unless you want to go back to your room? Or maybe Ethan’s? Some say four is a crowd but we both know that’s not an issue for you” He let go of your neck. 
“No.” 
“No, what?” He smirked.
“I don’t want to go.” 
“Oh so now you like me?” he misled and gently stroked your cheek. 
“I fucking hate you more than anyone.” You hissed. He grabbed your face, squeezing your jaw between his thumb and index finger.
“Good, that makes two of us, you insufferable little whore.” He growled and kissed your roughly, leaving you breathless.
He forced you to walk backwards till your legs hit the desk. He grabbed your blouse and with one sharp pull he ripped it apart, exposing your bare breasts. You gasped as his large hands cupped them hard, pinching your nipples. He smirked, dragging his nails down to the waistband of your skirt. He roughly pushed his leg between yours, watching your body react with a grin. You parted your legs, even more, letting him press his thigh to your wet panties. Through his ripped trousers, you could see his hardening cock, pressing against the thin material of his boxers. 
“Oh you’re just gagging for it, aren’t you? From the day you were spying on me and saw me fucking that girl…You thought I forgot?” He let his hand wander, teasing your clit with his fingers. 
“Stop it… don’t make me wait” You looked up at him, trying to turn your rage into the last ounce of courage. “Weren’t you supposed to fuck the attitude out of me?” You asked with a cocked eyebrow. 
This act of disrespect was enough. He firmly grabbed your arms and turned you around, kicking your legs apart. You placed both hands on the desk, arching your ass for him. He lifted your skirt and spanked you hard, leaving a red handprint on your skin. 
“You’re gonna regret that, you whore.” 
He spat on his hand and with a low grunt, he firmly pushed his hard cock in you. He wasn't gentle, but you didn’t want him to play nice. He filled you up and immediately started thrusting. Damiano grabbed your hips hard, slamming into you faster and faster. You couldn’t contain moans, wanting him to make you forget, melt your worries away. he grabbed your hair with his one hand and yanked your head back.
“So tight and good for me, too bad you're so stupid,” he mumbled, let go of your hair and gripped your throat. 
You started backing up, bouncing against him, chasing your own release. he was so rough and so deep, that only seconds separated you from coming. He got louder, losing control over himself. 
“Bite me!” You screamed, impatient for this one last push to come undone. 
He didn’t hesitate. he kept moving deeply in you but leaned down to your neck. His long fangs stung you for a moment, but then sensations hit all at once. You screamed loudly, both coming from his cock hitting all the right spots and the warmth spreading over your body starting from your neck. He came right after you, drunk on your cunt and blood. Once he was done, and both of you came down a little, he moved away and sat down heavily in a nearby chair. You turned to him, watching his satisfied face, blood dripping down his chin, his fangs still out, his cock exposed. You felt his cum dripping down your leg. You wiped your neck with the top of your hand and licked it, staring into his eyes.
“You want to make me hard again?” he chuckled. 
“Consider it a goodbye gift.” You mumbled, still panting.
“What? But you’ll do it, right?” He sat up straight.
You grabbed a black shirt of his that you found on the floor and threw it on your back, covering your bare chest and peeking from under the ripped top. You looked at him with a smile and turned around. leaving the room without a word. He did not chase you, convinced that you will stay. That you will obey. That you don’t have it in you to leave. But Damiano underestimated the anger, the heartbreak, the bitterness which filled your body once you realized that you weren’t that special after all. At least not for Ethan. 
You came back to your room and took a long, hot shower. You put dressing over your wound, got dressed and wrote two emails. One to your boss, one to their manager. In very polite words you submitted your resignation. You closed your laptop and packed your bags. The less you thought about it, the better. You used the adrenaline rush and bliss you still felt after fucking Damiano. You were numb, too numb to regret. You looked around the room with an aching heart. You left your keys in the lobby and ordered a taxi. A few hours later you were at the airport, impatiently squeezing your passport at the gate. You had to act fast, before your rotten soul tells to you stay, before your urge and addiction take over, forcing you to suffer even more afterwards.
Too bad you didn’t stay only three minutes longer. You’d see Ethan leaving Thomas's room. You’d see that he yelled at Leo for using his room to fuck those French girls. You’d know that he never was the man that Damiano described. You would, but now it was too late.
...
Tåglist
@oro-e-diamanti @coven-daddy @tempobrucera  @noemieprd27@que–sera–sera @wonderlandishell @maneskinbrainrot @elvirabelle @maneslut @ha-la-ansia @mortyandem @icarodamiano @myleftsock@iamtashaquinn  @mylittlegoldilocks@fanfictionandfluff @the-invisible-queer @superchristaldrug@paralianeyes @thewitchinthemountain @8iunie @bethanysnow @writingmaneskin @blackberryblossom @hiraetheral @theimpossiblehologramtree @ilwiwbysmv @weareoddlydrawn @jrj2 @bieberhoodforever @chesirecatt @butkutee @ohdamiano @stardustingold @woahzz11 @cuzimitaliano @thegeminisgirl @bisexual-babygirl-mj @eliseline @dpaccione @xweirdxsceletton @agentreid2 @roisinlove123 @vicdeangelis @ohladymoon @ykaaarus @androgynouscloudenemy  @mandy-bo-bandy
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squigglebottom · 7 months
Text
Blood Of My Blood
Chapter 2:
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Chapter 1
18+ Minors don’t you dare!!!
Word Count: 1873
Pairing: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Original Female Character
Warnings: Explicit, Mention Of Throuple, MMF, Dépression, PTSD, Death, Trauma, Panic Attack, Pussy Licking, Pussy Eating, Hand Job, Nipple Sucking, Clit Rubbing, Swearing, Monsters.
——————————————————————————
Layla tossed and turned in bed. It was hard to breathe, it was so cold. She began to tell Steve to close the window. Her eyes slowly opened after no response  to find she was not in Steve's room, but Eddie's. Yet, it wasn't his "real room", it was the Upside Down version. How did she get back here? Is this a dream? Has she been taken over by Vecna? She looked around the room terrified, lip quivering, and finding it hard to breathe. Then it hit her-Eddie. She jumped out of the bed and ran out the door. Layla tried to recall where his body was and got turned around because she couldn't remember. After what felt like hours, she finally saw him...but he wasn't lying on the ground. He was standing facing away from her. Her heart beat faster than it ever had before as she called out his name. Slowly, Eddie began to turn around...but he didn't look like himself. The scars from the demobats bites were fully healed, he held one with its head ripped off and laying on the ground in his left hand, and blood trickling down his chin. This wasn't Eddie...this was a monster. Layla started to walk backwards knowing she needed to get as far away as possible. As she did, "Eddie" started walking right toward her and picking up the pace. His eyes turned bright red and his teeth growing into points. Layla tripped backwards and fell...only seconds later being met with this monster right on top of her...
“I’ve tried so hard to tell myself that you’re gone. But though you’re still with me, I’ve been alone all along.” -Evanescence
"NO!!! EDDIE!!!" Layla screamed herself awake after the most vivid nightmare yet. Steve shot up and grabbed her arms.
"Layla!! Wake up! What's wrong? What happened?"
"Oh god...it was...oh fuck...."
"Breathe baby breathe...I'm right here. I'm right here. It was just a dream."
Steve held her in his arms tightly trying to calm her down.
"Omg Steve...it felt so real. I was back in the Upside Down....I found Eddie...but he wasn't dead. He was...this monster....and he didn't recognise me...he attacked me."
"Oh fuck...I'm so sorry Lays."
"It's ok. It's just....grief. Nightmares brought on by trauma. I'll be ok."
Only a minute later came the gang busting open Steve's door.
"WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?!?!?" screamed Dustin armed with his pillow.
"Layla just had a nightmare. Everything's fine."
Layla gave Dustin a quizzical look, "And what exactly was the plan for that pillow Dusty buns? Gonna force the intruder to have a slumber party?"
"Shut up! It was the first thing I grabbed."
Convinced that Layla was fine, everyone went back to bed. Her and Steve laid back down, holding her tightly.
"So...your nightmare. You said Eddie wasn't dead...and a monster?"
"Yah...he had blood all over him...and not just where he was bitten...but on his face. He was holding one of those demobats in his hand and it was...missing a head. It seemed like Eddie...ripped it's head off with his teeth."
"Oh...like that Ozzy guy?"
She looked at Steve with a very confused expression.
"How the hell do you know about that?"
"Oh...when we were walking in the Upside Down to find Nancy's house and you were up with her and Robin...Eddie told me about it. It was pretty gross."
Layla smirked and shook her head.
"Eddie loved Ozzy, thought he was so bad ass. Maybe my nightmare was just me reliving the worst moment of my life and subconsciously Oz man made his way in there."
"Well of course it was just a dream, it's not like you have psychic powers."
Steve laughed followed by Layla hitting his arm.
"Fuck you Harrington!"
She laughed as she kept punching his arm that turned into playful tickling. Steve hovered over Layla, caressing her hair.
"It's really great to hear your laugh again. To see your bright smile. It's been agony seeing you so sad...and...I feel like there's nothing I can do to help. I feel so...useless. I just want you to be happy."
Layla stared into Steve's eyes with a small grin.
Steve stares back, breathing heavily, as he plants his lips on hers. They began kissing deeply, passionately. It had been so long since either of them kissed anyone, let alone each other. A small tear ran down Layla's cheek. She had been so lonely and lost, she was grateful for all of Steve's help with everything that had happened. He could've backed out at any time realising that it was all too much for him to handle. Yet, he stayed...he helped bring her back from the darkness that was her grief. She also felt guilt, like she was betraying Eddie's memory. Their love for each other was so strong that she felt that she could (or should) never love anyone as much as she loved Eddie. Lastly, her tear was for realising how much Steve loved her and she didn't feel the same. She did care for Steve and loved him but only as her best friend. Where they going to end up together? Get married? Have children? If they did, she knew that he'd realise he was never going to be loved by her the way she loved Eddie...and that made her feel like absolute shit. Could Steve live the rest of his life being second fiddle? He shouldn't have to...it happened with Nancy and it's happening again and he deserved better...he deserved real requited love.
Steve started to plant kisses down Laylas neck as his left hand began to rub her thigh. With his right hand, he lifted up her shirt exposing her bare breasts. Taking one erect nipple into his mouth, Layla gasped and arched her back. The hand that was on her thigh began to move towards her already wet pussy. He gently rubbed his finger in circular motions on her clit as she started to breathe faster.
"Oh fuck...Steve...yes right there...go a little faster."
They started kissing again with Layla's hands moving towards that famous Harrington cock. She slipped into his loose shorts wrapping her fingers around it moving her hand up and down his lengthy, hard shaft.
"Yes oh fuck...keep going baby...my cock is aching right now."
Steve placed his forehead on hers, breathing hard, moaning with his eyes closed. After a minute or so of jerking his cock, Steve continued, "I need to taste you babygirl...I need to lick that sweet pussy of yours."
He pulled the comforter off them and inched his way down the bed until he reached her perfect, pink pussy. Steve recalled the first time he ever came face to face with it. Eddie was right beside him, he was definitely proud and in a way showing off. He wanted to show Steve the goddess that was his girlfriend. They both ate her out and Steve remembered it being exquisite. Every time the three of them had sex, Steve was always overly eager to get his tongue in that mouthwatering cunt, even Eddie joked that he was never going to get a turn.
He slid Laylas panties to the side as he dove right in. His tongue licked up and down her folds, occasionally sucking on them and her clit. He parted her opening with his fingers as his tongue caressed inside. Steve was getting so hard he thought he was going to burst. He positioned himself so could grab hold and rub out some of that tension. He wanted to continue eating her pussy, but he couldn't hold it any longer-he had to be inside her. He sat up about to ask Layla to reach into the drawer of his nightstand for a condom, when he noticed something was wrong.
"Lays? Are you ok?"
Layla had her eyes shut tight and breathing heavily. Her hands rested on her forehead and stomach.
"Baby? What's wrong? Talk to me!"
"I feel weird...I can't breathe...my stomach is killing me."
"Are you having a panic attack? We don't have to do this it's ok."
"I don't think I am...my stomach hurts so much. Omg...I'm gonna be sick!"
With that realisation, Layla sprang out of bed faster than her weak body should've been able to do. She ran to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet bowl.
Steve ran after her, everyone peaked their heads out of their rooms wondering what was happening.
"She's just sick...it's ok baby I got you."
After she felt fine enough to go back to bed, Steve cleaned her up and carried her into his room. Robin and Nancy grabbed a small trash can, crackers, and ginger ale to bring to Layla. Before they left, they called for Steve.
"Ok so I was just thinking....what exactly made her sick?" Robin asked.
"What do you mean? We were just in bed and next thing I know she's running to the bathroom."
"No I mean what could've made her sick? She's been on pretty much a flu diet of soup and crackers for 2 weeks and I doubt that she has food poisoning."
"Robin has a point...maybe there's a bug going around? No that doesn't make sense....she hasn't been outside or around anyone really."
"I really think we need to take her to a doctor, Steve. I just feel like something is really wrong. Plus....it wouldn't hurt to get a recommendation for...you know...what she's going through."
"You've been incredible taking care of her...but your just one guy. We want to help...her Mom wants to help...but it's like you won't let anyone help her."
"And what's that supposed to mean Nance? Why's it so bad that I take care of her and only me? She's my responsibility and.."
"Your responsibility?" chimed in Robin. "Why are you responsible for her? What because you, her, and Eddie were a thing for a couple of months? That doesn't mean you have an obligation to take care of her. The only person that can 'fix' her is herself."
"I think your getting too stressed out worrying about Lays and you need someone else...a professional...to help her. Your a great friend Steve...and can continue to help her...but you can't cure her. She may move on but she will never be the same. I'm sorry but someone needs to bring you back to reality."
Steve sighs and shakes his head.
"Well, if anyone is going to be blunt and knock some sense into me...it's you Buckley. Fine....I'll take her to the Doctors tomorrow."
Steve hugged Nancy and Robin and walked back into his room. Layla was passed out. He slipped under the covers carefully as not to wake her. He laid there for a while replaying Robin's words. He pulled the covers up over Layla's shoulders and placed his arm around her. What could be wrong with her? Is it something bad? Was it simply nerves from what we were doing? Is it guilt? What am I going to do? I don't want to lose her. Steve started crying before eventually falling asleep.
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Pity Party Yandere!Kevin Owens x Reader (ch. 1/?)
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Story summary: Kevin found something, the only thing, worth protecting in his world
Chapter summary: You get your chance at the main roster, but you meet an asshole named Kevin
Chapter warnings: swearing, ring violence, Yandere like feelings beginning to blossom, pastel aesthetic reader
An: This first chapter isn’t supper long, I wanted to see if people would be interested in the idea.
Taglist: @fiskers7136 @peachmango-kombucha @kcloveswrestling @bellalutionn @xkennyxomegax @tummyyellin @legit9thlunaticwarrior @auburnwrites @blaquekittycat @thesusbunny @writtingrose @melissahausen @shanie-the-toyaddict
“Holy fuck…” You whispered, sitting in the parking lot of the arena. You were finally being moved up from NXT, and you were getting your chance at the Royal Rumble. You weren’t supposed to win, but there was the promise of a storyline if you impressed fans tonight. And as excited as you were to have the opportunity, you were terrified to fuck up. One mistake, and you were done. Tossed to the side to make room for someone else.
While sitting there, you practically jumped out of your skin when someone knocked on your car window. You glanced out the passenger window seeing Sami’s smiling face. You smiled lightly and unlocked the door so he could slid into the seat.
“Ready?”
“Fuck no,” you mumbled with your face in your hands. “I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“You’ve got this, you’re a great performer and everyone on NXT loves you.”
“But this,” you motioned around you. “Is way more. If I mess up, I will never get another chance. Should have stayed in the fucking indies…”
“Don’t talk like that. You’ve got to hype yourself up, otherwise you will fail.” You knew he was right, you were just psyching yourself out. But you were scared.
Sami reached over, taking your hand in his. It brought you back to when you would go to performances with him when first starting. The whole reason you got into wrestling was Sami, and he went out of his way to make sure you were confident and comfortable.
“Do you want to meet some superstars?” He grinned as you reached over to steal his beanie and stick it on your own head.
“Ok.” You whispered, squeezing his hand.
Once inside, you felt immediately overwhelmed. Everything was moving so quickly, and you were afraid to get in the way. You basically followed Sami like a lost puppy, while he gave people smiles and greeted them you stayed silent. You have a few smiles to people you recognized, but other then that you said nothing.
“Y/n!” You stoped and turned to see Rhea, who you had known in NXT. You didn’t really work together, but had traveled together plenty.
“Hey!” You greeted pulling the women into a hug. As nervous as you could be, you were strongly affectionate with others. She chuckled and allowed you to hug her, even wrapping an arm around you being used to your greetings.
“I didn’t realize you would be here.”
“I’m getting my shot!” You nervously chuckled, picking at a small scab on your hand. A nervous tick.
“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine,” she punched your shoulder lightly.
“Stealing my friend?” Sami questioned her as he walked up behind you.
“Be nice,” you shamed the man, which caused Rhea to practically cackle at him.
“She’s got you whipped.”
“Are you saying she doesn’t have you trained?”
“Don’t talk like I’m not here.” You complained to your two friends. But you really didn’t mind. For the first time all day, you were relaxed.
———————
“Fuckin killed it,” Sami cheered as you held an ice pack to your slowly blackening eye.
“Really? I felt like a fuck up…” you admitted. You had entered at 15, and you got an ok pop, but nothing huge. The best moment you got was a moment where you were standing in the ring with Alexa Bliss and you slapped her across the face. Then she threw you out of the ring.
“Are you kidding? People are already talking about the new girl who stepped up to Alexa!” He explained, grabbing his phone to show you Twitter. You had to admit, for an app that’s almost always negative, it did make you smile.
“Do you think it’s enough?” Before Sami answered, a man walked up to the two of you.
“Sami! Someone is looking for you in catering,” the man called your friends attention.
“Oh! Y/n, Kevin,” he pointed to the man. “Kev, y/n!” He quickly introduced. “Make her feel welcome!” He called at Kevin before running off to talk to whoever needed him.
You glanced at Kevin, slightly surprised by how the man was staring at you. Sami had talked highly of the him, always say how great he was, but right now you felt like his gaze was going to suffocate you.
“Hi,” you tried but he pushed past you, nocking into your shoulder. “Nice to meet you too,” you mumbled before walking off to look for someone to distract you for the rest of the night.
———————
“Make here feel welcome!” Sami yelled at Kevin before running off. He turned to look at the women, y/n, ready to make awkward small talk, maybe say he heard good things about your performance. But the moment he saw you, he froze. Your gear consisted of black shorts with a pined on pink skirt, a black top, and matching pink jacket and boots.
He didn’t know what it was, but he felt like something had slammed into his chest. He wanted to look away from you, but he just….couldn’t. You seemed so…delicate? How your body wasn’t as bruised as your eye was a mystery.
“Hi,” you tried, a small smile in your face. All that went through his head was that he needed to get the fuck out of there. Without saying a word he walked past, and he felt his shoulder run into your eyes. It felt like you shocked him, and it just caused him to walk away faster. He was sure you’d tell Sami, and he would get an earful for his actions, but he didn’t care.
He was fucking terrified of you. 
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tsunami-tears909 · 16 days
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It it time for a story I have been working on for a long time...
FADE TO THE STARS~
Mark shot up after waking from a nightmare, feeling tired and disoriented. After he calmed down he looked around his messy room he shared with his partner, Theodore. It was bright outside, meaning he slept through his alarms. He huffed before moving his feet to the cold floor.
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Then, he looked down and saw a pile of black goop on the floor before the thing started moving onto his leg, causing him to scream then fear freeze. The goop went up his leg and he watched as it carefully scaled his body.
After a few minutes, the thing was on half of his face. But something felt different about himself. There was a second deeper voice saying things.
"Mark Eleanor Robert..." the voice spoke, leading Mark to shriek once more. "W-what?...who are you?..." Mark asked out loud, as if the voice was in his room.
Then, a new perspective appeared to him, one that was in his head. There, he saw a dark grey humanoid figure. This figure had bangs that covered their eyes. On the other hand, Mark was all purple but maintained most of his appearance.
"I am-" they'd then make an unpronounceable sound, "but maybe I can-". "Excuse me???" Mark would interrupt. "First off, who are you? Second off, what are you doing in my head!?" Mark would ramble out in a confused manner.
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"What? Did you not hear me?" the being answered. "Yeah, I can't say it even... at least tell me what you're doing-" he'd pause, hearing something distant in that same space "wait..your lost?.." Mark questioned. "It's...complicated.." the being said, rubbing the back of their head but the slime on Mark's face too.
"Wait...you're that slime on me?!?" He'd exclaim in confusion. "Yes, again, long story-"
Just then, most of his roommates and partner would burst in. "Mark, the hell are you screaming about??" Eduardo said, frustrated by the abrupt sound it caused. He stared at him before tensing up at the goop on his face. "Mark, what are you doing?.." questioned Joan, seeing the slime too. From this moment Mark realized it would be a long day…
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enidsinclairaddams · 4 months
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A Thousand Memories
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~Description~
~"Tell me you love me" she says holding his hands and cupping them with hers. He looks at her eyes unsure, but his heart tells him that he doesn't have a choice. "Tell me Al" she repeats. But he couldn't open his mouth to tell it; to tell the three words, eight letters and one meaning. . . But if he says, will he mean it? "You don't like me" she says as a tear rolls down her beautiful brown eyes. He swallows hard. He has to say it, for her sake. . . for his sake. "I love you more Addie" saying so, he slipped his hands between her waist and pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips against hers.~
Adelaide Marlowe, a shy, miss. imperfect meets Alvaro Rodríguez a nerdy bad boy and a Mr. perfect. They say; 'Love at first sight is not true and won't last long', but this isn't the case for these two love birds. But they also say; 'Once you fall in love nothing can stop you' but this is also not the case for Addie and Al. 💕 Theme songs; ~ Die for you ~ by The Weekend. ~Adelaide~ by Johnny Orlando
~casting~ Main Actors ~ the ones who give life to a story!
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Alvaro Mel ~ starring for "Alvaro" and "Brandon" (and yes, my character's are twins) {Alvero is the younger one by 12 min} Alvaro is the male lead.
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Xavier Serrano ~ Starring for Caleb. (My bad boy is playing as the antagonist❤️)
And for Adelaide Marlowe ~ Our big female lead! Any Spanish girls (Brunette) would suit....Orrr you could just imagine Adelaide as yourself! I honestly don't mind.
I'm Sorry if you don't like the casting, it's just in my pov. So basically u can imagine anyone!
And if u might arise a qn in ur mind "why I chose Spanish ppl as my story cast?" Its because I LOVE SPAIN! One country I still did not visit... yet!
Side Actors ~They are the base of any story!
Ginevra McDonald (Ginny) ~ Adelaide's bestie.
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Miles Malcome (Miles) ~ Adelaide's friend (more like a brother)
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~A Small Note~
⚠ The character names used here in this story AND the story script is totally fictional. If the characters names, history, or places used in this story is similar as in real world its purely coincidental and unintentional. The theme songs used in this story are copy write to the respective artists. And images used aren't mine, credits to respective owners.
Warnings: I don't write smut, so this is PURELY Pg 16, as there is some violence. Love Language"s", angst, fluff, fluff and a lot of fluff. Stalking too.
And let me know your thoughts on this! Should I write more?
THANK YOUU!
Yours,
EnidSinclairAddams =)
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s-creations · 1 year
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The Forgotten - Chapter 7 'In Which A Relationship Grows And An Unwelcome Ending'
The BeanBean Kingdom has lived peacefully for centuries, due to the wild ocean and towering mountains that surround them. No one being able to get in or out. Which makes it strange when a stranger enters the kingdom, but not in an expected way.
Close to death and with little memories about his previous life, Peasley has to uncover where this 'L' came from. As well as who would want to hurt this confused human.
Fandom: Super Mario & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Relationships: Luigi & Mario (Nintendo), Luigi/Prince Peasley Warnings/Additional Tags: Luigi don't remember who he is, AU to Super Star Saga, There will be mentions of torture, PTSD, Bowser's gonna be intense in this, At least far more than in comparison to the games, Mario's a worried older brother, It's a dangerous game of cat and mouse
So…being in love was weird.
Not ‘bad weird.’ It was just different. Because there was now such an important person, someone new in a way, who was not family, that you worried and cared deeply about. Who suddenly becomes such a big part of your life.
Peasley was absolutely giddy. Doing what he could to keep his smile muted while working. Trying to focus on his duties. The professional appearance immediately dropped the moment he entered the medical wing. Keeping himself from sprinting across the room to be at L’s side. His seat changed from a bedside chair to right on the edge of the bed itself. Leaning over to give L a kiss to his forehead, cheek, or a property one if they were alone. 
It always caused the human’s cheeks to turn a brilliant red. Which Peasley had officially become absolutely obsessed with.
Now that L had better mobility, along with the kingdom knowing he was there, the duo weren’t confined to just remain in the castle. There was still the time dedicated to reading, now with L leaning against Peasley. The human follows along with an arm comfortable wrapped around him. Along with quiet moments to just bask in the sunshine and the glory of what the gardens had to offer. 
But most days were spent out of the stone walls. Allowing L to take in more of what the kingdom had to offer. 
Peasley made sure everyday they were going somewhere new. Announcing each event as, “The activities planned for our date today are…”
L’s heart would leap with joy and surprise with how casual Peasley would say it. He didn’t hate it, it would always just…catch him off guard. Because he was feeling like all of this was just some strange dream that he’d wake up from any moment. Even with Peasley constant assurance that this was real. 
L wished he could be as open with this all…
It was now a common occurrence for the citizens to see the duo out together. Just as thrilled to see L as they were with Peasley. The latter was pretty understanding as he was the future ruler of their kingdom. L, however, was a little surprised when he received the same attention. Believing at first it was because he was with Peasley. But was quickly proven wrong when the citizens went out of their way to talk to him. Asking about his opinions about recipes, how he’d been adjusting to everything, how the healing process went, his absolute luck of landing the prince as his partner.
L felt part of the kingdom more each day. 
The human was honestly overwhelmed with how well everything was going. He wasn't in hiding anymore. He was close to being completely healed and his abilities were under better control. Not perfect, but it was something. It was all going so well.
Except L couldn’t sleep.
More often than not, L was woken in the middle of the night. Tears flowing, hair matted with sweat, heart pounding painfully, clawing at the blanket that covered him. Wide, fearful eyes darting around the darkened hall. Looking for a towering intruder that wasn’t there. Hands eventually leaving the death grip of the blanket to run over phantom pains. As if expecting to pull them away to see blood covering them. Only to find nothing. Lost in fear among an empty room.
L thought he was hiding it well. Sure, Dr. Pinto commented he had something to help with sleep, and Peasley worried over the dark circles under L’s eyes. The human would just wave it all off with a smile, saying he was fine. 
Until his mind seemed to break down a mental wall towards the darker parts of his memories. L recalling how his legs were broken. How he’d been tormented as he lost his ability to walk. A deep laugh echoing in his ears. Waking from the nightmare with a scream being ripped from his throat. Clutching his legs from the stinging pain he swore was real. 
He was pulled away from his dark thoughts feeling arms quickly wrapping around him. Peasley’s voice chased the darkness away as the prince cradled him close. L desperately clinging to the other as he breathed harshly. He wasn’t sure how long they sat like that. His body was sore, exhaustion heavy on his shoulders, but still on edge as he eventually collapsed into Peasley. 
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The prince’s voice was quiet. Not accusatory or angry. Just overly concerned, saddened. 
“...I don’t know.” L lamely offered. He didn’t argue as he was carefully moved back. Eyes opened to find Dr. Pinto standing nearby. Carrying a glass of some sort of bright blue liquid. He watched as it was silently passed to Peasley, who held it up with a small smile to L. “...What’s that?”
“It’s going to help you sleep. A nice, dreamless sleep so you can wake up well rested.” Peasley answered. L looked very unsure, eyes flickering down to the glass before back up to the prince’s face. “It’s safe, I promise. I’ll be by your side for the rest of the night.”
That seemed to placate whatever fear L may have been feeling. He took the glass, shakily holding it with both hands, and started to drink. The effect was almost instant. Feeling dazed, Peasley needed to step up to help L finish the rest. 
“Drink it all up, you’re okay…” Peasley’s voice was soft. Pulling the glass away when L’s arms dropped to his side. Dr. Pinto stepped forward to help lay the human back down. 
“He’ll be okay.”
Peasley didn’t reply. Instead deciding to focus on tucking L in tightly, brushing hair out of the human’s face. “...Will he? I feel horrible that he has to relive it all over again. What if he shuts down? What if his mind makes him forget again?”
“Peasley, I know this hurts, but this is forward progress. I did warn that with him getting his memories back that they wouldn’t all be pleasant. However, that doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. You being here, with being a constant support, you’re doing what you can to make him feel safe.”
“But it feels as if none of his memories are pleasant. I wish I could help him remember the good times. Where his home is. Who this ‘Mario’ is…”
Dr. Pinto sighed softly, placing a hand on Peasley’s shoulder. “We can only help in ways that we can control.”
The prince gave a nod, eyes not leaving L. “Would you mind if I remained here tonight?”
“Of course not. Let’s get you settled.”
Another medical bed was pushed until it was flushed against L’s. Dr. Pinto handed over a few more blankets, allowing a bit of comfort to his patient and visitor. Peasley was settled down soon enough. On his side to face L as the human slept on, left alone with the darkness and his thoughts.
“Well…I didn’t think us sharing a bed for the first time would play out like this,” Peasley said weakly. Trying to make it a joke, possibly to make himself feel better. But the following silence was tense. “...I wish I could take some of your pain, all of your pain, anything from you… You don’t deserve this. No one does, but especially not you. You’re…kind, generous, and just… Even without fully knowing you, I just know you’re so wonderful. This is all…unfair…”
Sighing softly, Peasley reached out to take L’s hand. Pulling it up to place a kiss on the back of it. Holding it close to his chest, Peasley inched closer in hopes of preventing L from waking with a sore arm. 
“I suppose Dr. Pinto is correct. I just need to keep you happy, safe, and chase away anything dark from your mind.”
What else could Peasley do? He thought he’d been doing that already. Showing love, affection, adoration, and all the attention he could offer. Even the citizens had stepped up to help. Peasley received reports of how they all enjoyed L’s presence. The human was surrounded by support and care. 
But he supposed that wasn’t going to be enough. Not if L was suffering from such nightmares. Nightmares that were created from his own memories. How was Peasley supposed to fight against that? What else could he possibly do?
The answer came a few days later. Peasley arrived at the medical wing at his usual time. Finding L and Dr. Pinto talking, standing by the window and-
Wait, standing?
Peasley did a double take to realize that, yes, L was actually standing. No crutches, no cast, the human appeared completely healed. “Why was I not told the cast was coming off today?”
L turned, beaming as he faced Peasley. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, color me surprised! …Oh,” As the prince drew closer, he became aware that L was…taller than him. Not substantially. But Peasley was used to L being in a chair or lying down. The height was…different. His cheeks were definitely not heating up. “You…hit quite the growth spurt.”
“Uh, yeah. Dr. Pinto thinks I’m the second tallest person in the BeanBean Kingdom. Behind the Queen, that is.” 
“Yes…I would have to agree.”
Standing off to the side, Dr. Pinto’s eyes darted between the two flushed lovebirds. When a few seconds passed with no change, he stepped forward. “L has officially been given a clean bill of health, physically. Meaning our guest here currently doesn’t have a place to lay his head. As he can’t remain in the medical wing.”
It took Peasley a moment to comprehend what Dr. Pinto was inferring. “Oh, yes, of course! I-I’m not sure where my mind is this morning. How about we go find you a room? Give you a chance to really stretch your legs.”
L merely nodded. Beaming as Peasley took his hand, happily following the prince out.
Leaving Dr. Pinto to shake his head while going back to his office. “Young love.”
The walk was slower than what Peasley was used to. He wasn’t pushing L around in a wheelchair, so he wasn’t setting the pace. As well as L was trying to get used to walking again. But it didn’t damper the mood between the two. It was different to walk a familiar hallway while being hand in hand. The location wasn’t new, but the sensation was. 
“So, how do you feel now that you’re up and about?” Peasley asked. 
“Um, honestly a little weird. I’ve been sitting for so long. Being able to move on my own, I sort of feel like I’m floating. But also heavy… Does that make sense?” L gave a sheepish smile as Peasley laughed. 
“No, not really, but I’ll still take the answer. We should do something to celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?”
“The fact that you’re up and moving around! Everyone’s going to be so excited to see you up on your own. Oh, here we go.”
L looked to where Peasley was gesturing to. A large red door with gold trim stood before them. The prince opened it to reveal a grand room. Filled with plush and lush furniture, a set of French windows showing the large garden. L looked around with a look of absolute awe. His hand ran over the red sheets. 
“If it’s not to your liking, we have plenty of other guest rooms for you.” Peasley offered. 
L looked over hearing the nervous undertone in the prince’s voice. Providing a smile as he joined Peasley in the middle of the room. Taking the other’s hand gently. “It’s perfect Peasley, thank you.”
That caused Peasley’s shoulders to drop in relife. “Of course! Nothing but the best for you.”
They pressed their forehead together, Peasley making a flustered mental note that L had to bend over slightly to do so. Sharing a smile before their eyes closed in contentment. Eventually starting to sway gently to some unheard music. Forehead touches soon turned to Peasley resting his head on L’s shoulder, arms now wrapped around each other. 
“We should have a ball.” The prince suddenly announced. The swaying didn’t stop, but L did move to look down at Peasley.
“What?”
“A ball. A way to celebrate you being healed. What I was talking about before.”
“I don’t know… I just got the achievement to walk again. I don’t think I’m leveled up enough to dance.”
“You do more in a ball than just dance. It’s just an event to bring everyone together. I think it would be fun. Besides, it would be a wonderful opportunity to see you in a suit.” Peasley chuckled as L’s cheeks turned a deep red. Gently pulling the human down into a soft kiss.
“...Fine, maybe it’s not that bad of an idea.”
“Oooh, is that all it takes to get what I want?” Peasley teased. 
L’s entire face turning red. “No! That’s not at all what that means!”
“Sure, it just shows me a weakness of yours.”
“You’re being rather cheeky, aren’t you? You seem to have forgotten that I have full mobility now!”
Peasley couldn’t hold back the shriek of surprise as he was suddenly lifted off the ground. Arms under his shoulders and knees, L offering a smirk of triumph as he easily carried the prince. It was Peasley’s turn to blush. He was already shocked by the height difference. But Peasley wasn’t ready for L to be that strong, especially that fast. It left him more than a little speechless.
“Suppose I just found your weakness too.” L teased. 
“Grambi above, no, stop, p-put me down L! This is so embarrassing!” 
“Aww, I like the fact that I can carry you so easily. You’re so light.”
“L, please!”
“Okay, okay, sorry.” L attempted to sound apologetic. But his smile was still in place. 
Peasley huffed, straightening himself out before poking L’s chest. “You’d better be happy you’re so cute.”
The human’s only response was to steal a quick kiss. 
Queen Bean was absolutely thrilled when Peasley asked to hold a ball in L’s honor. Giving both a huge hug as she eagerly offered suggestions to what they could do. 
Invitations were sent out with a date marked one week from then. Peasley wouldn’t allow the human to see what was happening. Wanting to keep it all as a surprise until the day of. What L was directly involved in was selecting his outfit. A little flustered at the attention put on him as they worked to find the perfect suit. Sleek black with green accents. L’s hat was put in place as they found a set that fit him like a glove. 
Peasley kept his professional appearance up. All the while his mental thoughts kept unhelpfully commenting on how good L looked. 
The entire kingdom was filled with excitement as the days passed. Those living in the town surrounding the castle go so far as to decorate their own abode in celebration. The small hotels were soon filling up with other villagers that traveled to the city closer to the event. Excited chatter traveling around as the day finally arrived. 
The night came faster than what L was expecting. Peasley ends their time in the garden sooner than most days before escorting L back to his room. 
“Now, before you panic, there will be two servants waiting for you inside. They’re there to get you ready.” Peasley said.
“I can dress myself.”
“You remember which piece goes on first? Or how to tie your tie?” The prince smirked at the silence that followed. They reached L’s room, Peasley offering a kiss to the flushed human. “They’re there to help you, don’t fret. Get dressed and wait for me to come back. I’ll escort you down, okay?”
L gave a small smile before giving a kiss of his own. “Okay.”
“Alright, head inside. I’ll be back soon.”
L waited for Peasley to disappear around the corner before walking into the room. Sure enough, two Beanish people were waiting inside. Giving a small bow before gesturing to the suit resting on the bed. While it was strange that he had people helping him dress, L was thankful. Because it was a little confusing as to what layer was supposed to go on first. 
The servants were finished soon enough, giving another bow before departing from the room. Leaving L alone, standing before the mirror, looking himself over. Tugging at a few things to see if it would offer a pick more breathing room…
“Doing okay b̤͐̍ͯ͆̑̍r͍̥͖̫̝͓̬̻̉͑͒ͪ́̉͛͌ó͓͎̺̺̮̗ͤͨͨ͋͐?”
L jumped and turned hearing the voice. Only for the BeanBean castle to be replaced with one seeming to be drenched in pink. One that only existed in his dreams. A familiar figure standing on the other side of the room. Face still blurred out, but the overalls were replaced with a suit of his own. 
Heart hammering, L desperately wanting to call out ‘Who are you?’. But all that came out was, “You know suits are my forte.” 
“I know, but I’ll admit I don't understand why. You clean up so well!”
“Eh, it’s all just so tight and stuffy.” L felt his arms moved to tug at his sleeves again. Only to still feeling hands cover his own.. His dropped to the side while the other’s hands straightened out what L had pulled at.
“You’re just not used to it. You’ll forget you’re wearing it in a few hours.”
“It’s not the only thing I’m not used to…” L muttered.
“Hey now, where’s this coming from?” 
“Well, I mean… It’s just this whole event is… It feels weird.”
“To…be recognized for your work?”
“...For being remembered.”
L didn’t fight as he was directed towards the bed. Both sitting down, the other letting the silence settle a little longer before saying, “Talk to me…”
“...I don’t really feel like I deserve this.”
“Of course you do! I can’t imagine where I would be if you hadn’t been with me. P̹͆ͩ͐̐͛ͬe̖̭̦̪ͫ̓ͥͧa̭̫̔̉ͫ̑ͤͣcȟ͓̤͇̫̻͇̓̐ͤ̐̈͒ understands that as well.”
“You would have been fine. Probably would have been faster actually if I hadn't gotten in your way.” A small whine left L as the other pulled gently at his cheek.
“None of that! Seriously L͗u̿̏́ͥ̊ͧḯ̏ͫͮg̓ͯ̅̓͒ͯ̒i͗ͯͮͮ̀̉, having you there, by my side, fighting with me… It made me more confident, stronger, like…like  I could take on anything!”
L couldn’t help but laugh at the confident pose the other took. “But…you’ve gone on loads of adventures. Without me.”
“Which means I should be used to it, yeah? I mean, kind of am, I still get nervous, worried… But knowing I have someone on my side to fight with me. Especially my b̓̆ͦr͟oͨtͮ͆̿h҉e͂ͣ̔͜rͥͩͭͭͩ͘? Well, I could take on anyone.”
“...Really?”
“Really.” L couldn’t help but give a wide smile. He didn’t fight as he was made to lean closer. His hat tilted up enough to allow a gentle kiss to be placed on his forehead. It was different than when he received it from Peasley. Still filled with love. But of a different kind.
“Non preoccuparti fratello, ti troverò."
“L?”
The human let out a sharp gasp as he was pulled from his memory. Eyes landing on Peasley, who was looking extremely worried. “Peasley? …H-How long was I standing here?”
The prince didn’t respond right away. He instead reached up to wipe something from L’s cheek. “L…you’re crying…”
“I am?”
“What happened?”
L’s shoulders slumped, leaning desperately into Peasley’s touch. “I had another…memory flash thing…”
“Was it about-”
“No, it was about Mario.”
“Anything new?”
“Nothing useful… I’m sorry. We’re supposed to be celebrating. You spent all this time planning and I’m just over here, wallowing.”
“Hey, none of that,” Peasley offered a gentle smile before claiming a kiss, “Don’t force yourself to put on a face for the sake of someone else.”
“But…we have an event and I look like a mess. I feel like a mess.”
“You’re fine. Do you still want to go?” L’s eyes widened at the question. Going to argue, only for Peasley to hold up a finger. “Everyone will understand if we don’t go. Your mental well being is my biggest concern right now.”
“We?”
“Well, I won’t nearly look as good if you’re not on my arm.”
That caused L to flush darkly, giving a soft laugh. “Peasley-”
“I’m serious!”
“You’re the prince.”
“Or, that’s just natural beauty. You give me a wonderful glow.”
“That makes no sense!”
“Oh Grambi, L just take the compliment!”
Both dissolved into laughter at that. Peasley felt light upon seeing how bright L now appeared. The human reached up to rub away a patch of dry tears from his cheeks. 
“Thanks Peasley… I think I’m ready to go.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” L smoothed out his suit before posing before the other, “How do I look?”
“Beautiful.”
Peasley would never get tired of seeing that smile.
L was blown away upon arriving at the decorated hall. It had been adorned with fabrics of gold and green. Large arrangements of roses adorned every surface and hung above in beautiful bouquets. One end of the hall held a set of large double doors that guests were currently pouring in from. Seeming as if every citizen had arrived for the event. On the opposite side was a large orchestra, already playing to fill the area with wonderful music. At the center was a cleared area, dedicated to dancing, while the sides of the long hall were meant for eating and socializing. Numerous round tables lining the area. 
The large hall was filled with light notes and joyful chattering. 
A spike of worry did hit L suddenly. His body tensing as a feeling of extreme nervousness filled him, standing before such a large crowd. Only to calm down when Peasley squeezed his arm. Giving a smile before moving them to enter the hall proper. 
The chatters turned to cheers when attention was drawn to them as they entered. Peasley giving a flashing smile and a grand wave. L a bit more subtle on both similar gestures. It became a whirlwind of socializing, food, and merriment. The citizens filled with joy upon seeing L standing on his own. The human goes from being to being, congratulations and stories trading easily. L at some point felt he was more popular than the prince. As Peasley was more often than not merely watching instead of talking.
Much to L’s panic, there were a few moments of dancing. Thankfully, all very slow, nothing too extreme. Just two lovebirds standing among the crowd, foreheads pressed together as they gently swayed to the music. 
As the song ended, the crowd erupted into applause before another song started. 
L let out a sigh of relief as he sat in the first available seat. Flushing for another reason as a kiss was placed on his cheek. “Peasley.”
“It’s not a secret,” the prince laughed, “Want something to drink?”
“Please.”
“Alright. Sit tight, I’ll be back.” 
L couldn’t argue when Peasley tilted the green cap up to place another kiss on his forehead before running off. The human merely laughed, rolling his eyes as he leaned back into the chair. Even with how late (or early) it was, there was still a large crowd mingling around. The opened doors to the outside world showed the moon was starting to descend. 
Even with the wild unknown over his head, L felt content. Safe. Even with the episode from earlier, there was a feeling that he was going to…be…fine…
There was someone standing in the entry to the hallway that led further into the castle.
The same one he and Peasley had walked down hours ago. A being dressed in blue robes and staring right at L. Who had gone very tense. Looking back. 
L wasn’t sure how much time had passed. It was most likely only a few seconds, but neither looked away. No one else seemed to have noticed the strangers. As a number of Beanish citizens passed by said being and seemed unaffected.
Something was screaming at L to run.
The being turned and started heading deeper into the hallway. L was up, ignoring the warning signs. 
He needs to turn. To find Peasley. Where was Peasley?
No one stopped L as he crossed the celebration and into the smaller hallway, stopping just past the doorway. Eyes roaming the area, believing the other was just inside. Only to find them further down. Almost hidden in the shadows. The only proper illumination offered by the moon light being washed onto the ground. 
The stranger gave a smirk, a wave to L to follow, and walked further in. 
Curiosity winning over, L left the celebration behind and entered into the darkness.
Peasley had just arrived at the table, looking around worriedly at the now empty table. 
Drinks in hand.
Searching for a different spot of green in the large crowd with a worried frown.
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xdruby1234 · 8 months
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The separation restart (AvA planet AU), Chapter 1: The explosion
Warning:
Not all information is true (this is a made up story so don't expect a lot of information to be real.)
Swearing.
Cringe.
Grammar??
Uranus is Navy, thanks to someone who suggested me that :)
It was a normal day in the solar system, The sun (M.T) was sleeping, Mercury (purple) was just spinning around, not knowing what to do, Venus (yellow) was making stuff with asteroids, Earth (Victim) was also sleeping, both moon (TCO) and Bloodmoon (TDL) were in war (fighting), Mars (Red) was playing with the stars, making Animals, Jupiter (green) and saturn (TSC) were talking to each other, Uranus (Navy) doing absolutely nothing and Neptune (Blue) was just starting a storm in him.
In Jupiter (green) and saturn (TSC) conversation
Jupiter (green): anything to do? saturn (TSC): nope... Jupiter (green): dang ittttt- *he was fittling with the Asteroids* Uranus (Navy): yo- Jupiter (green): shut up Uranus (Navy): WHAT DID I- Sun (M.T): please shut... I'm try'na sleep... Uranus (Navy): WHY IS IT ALWAYS- Earth (Victim): SHUT UP!
Everyone went silent after that, not a single noise was heard. Even moon (TCO) and Bloodmoon (TDL) stopped their war.
Earth (Victim): sorry I was talking about these two assholes... Bloodmoon (TDL): hey!! I'm not a an asshole! Moon might be one but I ain't! Moon (TCO): WHAT DID YOU SAY!? Earth (Victim): OI! Jee-
Suddenly, sun (M.T) feels hotter then normal.
sun (M.T): I feel hot... Venus (yellow): your the sun- sun (M.T): I mean hotter! Uranus (Navy): I don't feel shit Venus (yellow): your literary the coldest one, shut up- Earth (Victim): I do not like this especially because I'm already suffering-
sun (M.T) then sees a supernova and starts to panic
sun (M.T): YALL THERES A SUPERNOVA!!! Neptune (Blue): WHAT!? Uranus (Navy): that didn't happen in 65 million years ago- Venus (yellow): SHUT UP WE ALL LEARN THAT IN HISTORY CLASS- sun (M.T): YEAH SHUT UP!! Uranus (Navy): WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME-
Everyone starts to panic as the Supernova goes closer to them like a rocket laucher. sun (M.T) goes in-between them causing a massive explosion that separated them all, again.
After a while, Jupiter (green) and saturn (TSC) wake up next to eachother, they were alone and they had to find their way back, Sun (M.T) was probably very injured but they dont know since they wake up alone... in the endless space of no where....
Earth (Victim) wakes up feeling extremely weak... mostly the planet being very cold since the sun wasn't around. He instantly looked around to find the moons, they were there but... sleeping? Still?? He just looked at them and sighed as he walks through the space trying to find some sort of light
Both Mars (Red) and Mercury (purple) wake up together extremely tired, they felt like they can't do anything at all! So then just stayed low until they were able to move.
And both Neptune (Blue) and Uranus (Navy) were waking up they both also felt weak but Uranus (Navy) was able to stand up but Neptune (Blue) couldn't.
And Sun (M.T)....? Well he's still unconscious. He was still badly injured and might or might not live...
This is so short I'm sorry-
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Flashback Friday: Mistakes
Today we got my first chapter story ever! And it suuure shows it hahaha! For the Invader Zim fandom once again;
Mistakes
AU. Dib goes to a fair and finds an Alien named Zim on display in a freak show booth. Feeling sorry for it he attempts to free the poor creature. —Originally Published: Jul 31, 2008
Read on AO3 ➤
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surprisingmarch · 2 months
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Welcome to Patience: Gifts? (Chapter 3)
Joseph Rainier x F!Human Reader x Harry Vanderspeigle Rating: 16+
Fandom: Resident Alien
Story Type: Fluff / Thriller / Romance / Drama
5,596 Words
-Y/N = Your name- -L/N = Last name-
Music I listened to as I wrote: -"H.S / Tom Cardy"
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Slowly, you unload your various fridge and pantry items into their designated places, occasionally struggling to find room in your fridge to shove your food into. Joseph ended up convincing you to buy WAY too much food with the money Harry gave you. In his words, "It's good to be prepared and to have everything you could possibly want at your disposal." On the bright side, you won't need groceries for weeks, on the downside, you're going to have to store some things in his fridge… which he offered as he shoved more meat into your basket. You actually ended up getting a second basket from Joseph with things he thought you would like, he just randomly disappeared for several minutes as you perused and you figured he forgot something, but then he came back with a basket piled mountain high with a giant smile on his face and at that point you knew instantly it was for you.
You should have suspected considering before he left he asked if you have any food allergies. Your puppy like friend ended up carrying half of your groceries for you as you both walked home.. he is awfully sweet. He warms your heart with his goofiness.You can't stop thinking about Harry, why on earth did he have so much money on him? Is he doing something illegal or is he just paid really well? You wouldn't care if he was doing something illegal, you just don't want him to get hurt. You highly doubt as a small town doctor he's making that much, but he is from New York, so maybe he has a lot saved up from when he worked there that he's blowing. Either way, you're deeply bothered by the fact you have like 300 dollars of Harry's savings, it was thoughtful but also pretty careless to just throw several hundreds at someone you just met then rush out… You're planning on returning the money the next time you see him.
You hear a string of very loud knocks on your apartment door, you rush over to the door expecting to see Joseph, only to be met with the very man you were just thinking of, Harry. He's holding various gift bags of things, you can see a lamp poking through one, and some kind of… pig in another? "You got the job." Harry informs you as he slides past you and carefully sets all the bags onto the floor. "I got you some things for your new home… I put them into gift bags so it would be like Christmas." Harry chuckles. You look down at the array of brightly colored bags sitting around on the floor. "Thank you Harry… that's very sweet.. Oh! Before I forget.." You say as you pull out the three hundred or so dollars you owe Harry. "I do not need that.. I have plenty at home. You keep it… consider it a…" Harry looks to the side in thought before looking back down at you. "Late birthday present." Harry finished.
Knowing that Harry will most likely make you keep the money even if you insist on him taking it back, you give up and shove the money back down into your pocket. "Thank you Harry… that's awfully sweet.. And oh my goodness.. that's so many gifts.. It must have cost so much.." You quietly say as you look around at the many bags on the floor with a hand on your cheek. "And they are all for me..?" You ask quietly, still completely awestruck by the sudden kind surprise. "I have just the thing for that.." Harry rushes over to one of the bags, this one being bright blue, and pulls out a giant piggy bank. "And of course they are all for you. Who else do you see around here… A ghost?" Harry says sarcastically as he looks around your apartment and gestures widely to the large empty space. You giggle at him. "Yeah I guess your right.." You respond. Harry walks back over to you and carefully hands you the piggy bank. He's so gentle when it comes to touching you or handing you things, almost like he's afraid he's going to break you. "I saw it and thought of you.. you remind me of something innocent.. like a piglet. Also no, it did not cost too much, I assure you, I have plenty of money to spare. Spare me your guilt, you deserve gifts." Harry says softly.
It's very cute.. just like any ol' piggy bank but MASSIVE.. and it has cute blushing cheeks. "Thank you Harry.." You say as you feel your heart turn to mush. "Any time." Harry responds calmly. "Oh!" You exclaim, you almost forgot to put your money into it. You pull out your newly "earned" three hundred dollars and shove it into the bank. "It's so cute Harry… Thank you!" You smile brightly, you're genuinely almost brought to tears by all the kind gestures these two dumb dumbs are making. You've never had anyone go this far out of their way for you.. which sounds sad now that you think about it. Tears start to weld in your eyes but you push them back down as you sit in the floor with your legs crossed in front of your various gifts and start to dig. You start to pull out some things from the bags, honestly you think this is better than any Christmas you've ever had because instead of it being expected and obligated, these gifts all came from the heart of a guy you just met. It just feels so much more genuine, he didn't have to do all this, but he did. And that shows a lot about his character.
"What's cute?" You hear Joseph ask to your right, you look over and see Joseph standing in the still very much wide open entrance. He has some sort of dirty towel shoved in his front pocket that's half way hanging out. Harry quietly grumbles something under his breath and a loud growl can be heard underneath that, some how even further proving he's not human. You thought there was no way to further prove it, but no, turns out there's many more ways to do so. Now the only question is, what is he? "Come on in, you vampire. What? Do you need to be invited to enter someone else's space?" You playfully interrogate. "No.." Joseph replies timidly as he swings in and out of the doorway before finally coming in and glaring at all the gifts on the floor. "Please don't tell me that's all from Harry.. If it is, I'm going to have to up my game." Joseph declares some what determinedly. "I'm afraid it is.." You answer sassily. Joseph glares down at you, very much implying a warning, before looking over at Harry. "Please do not "up your game". There is no need for uping your game." Harry quickly pleads. "But you're stealing my girl away." Joseph says quietly, his voice is practically a hush, and there's this undeniable danger lying underneath it.
"YOUR GIRL!?!?" Harry shouts. "Oh? Your girl? We haven't even had our first date yet.." You playfully respond. You continue to look through all your items for a moment before you feel a sense of danger coming from your right. A chill surges down your spine, you look back up at Joseph who is staring at you quite hungerly. "Actually.. that's why I came over here. I'm making us dinner right now and I won't take no for an answer. And based on the fact you have no job and all you were planning on doing today was grocery shop and look for one.. and you're done grocery shopping…" Joseph squats down next to you, never breaking eye contact. "Actually she does have a job.. You start tomorrow at 9 o'clock exactly, by the way. I probably should have told you that earlier.. Oh well. There is no need for her to have-" Harry gets cut off by you. "Nu uh uh.. I said both of you get to get me a part time job so there would be no fighting." You remind him. Harry frowns and grumbles. You look back at Joseph who is still staring at you, seemingly not even acknowledging Harry's presence.
He leans in closer to you. "And you've been guaranteed two jobs.. you have the whole day free… with nothing to do.." Joseph gets right next to your ear. You start to feel your face get hot, you hear Harry protesting in the background but can't make out what he's saying due to your flusteredness. "I think you can spare a few hours for me.. can't you? My dear Y/N." Joseph whispers. You nod slightly in response, Joseph purposely blows a bit of air into your ear, causing you to get chills. Your face flushes bright red, damn, you weren't expecting him to be this forward. You wanted to tease and annoy him a bit more before the date "That's it! We are having a talk!" Harry announces as he grabs one of Joseph's legs from under him, pulling him towards the door. Joseph falls forward and lands right into your chest, he flushes bright red and you some how blush even deeper than you already were, but there's no time to acknowledge the situation at hand or for him to even start to apologize as Harry continues to quickly drag him all the way across the hall to his apartment, Joseph protests the whole way there and you can hear him still protesting through the door as Harry slams it shut and locks it.
The two of them are now in there together.. completely alone… you're sure that won't go terribly wrong. Funny enough, Harry seemingly didn't even notice the incident he just caused as he was facing forward the whole time. You're sure he'll have a fit once he finds out, if he ever does. You can see it now, you chuckle to yourself. You know there's probably going to be a cat fight and try to think of a way to get in but you can't since you have no key and you definitely heard the door lock. You start to hesitantly continue looking through your bags, pulling one of the last items out, a beautiful ceramic orange tabby cat, it's just sitting there, being an absolute delight. Harry really nailed all these gifts, you love each and every one of them. They seem to have a theme too, cute animals or very tasteful table pieces, such as the Dale Tiffany blue butterfly lamp. You think it's kind of sweet that he got you a purple unicorn pillow pet, maybe he thought you were lonely up here by yourself. Suddenly, you hear the door unlock, you quickly look over and see Harry storming out of Joseph's apartment with a black eye, mumbling swears quietly under his breath as he stomps down the stairs and out of sight.
That was way too fast for an entire fight to happen, it's only been like a minute at most! It's been just enough time for you to pull out a kitty from the last bag! Not to mention you didn't hear any punches being thrown or anything break or anyone walk or really move at all, you're pretty sure you would hear their loud footsteps, they are absolute units. You look back at Joseph's open doorway, Joseph walks out of his apartment, slamming the door behind him, and starts to walk over to your apartment. He wipes some blood from his mouth, he also has a black eye on the opposite side as Harry. Once Joseph is inside your place he quietly shuts your door then turns around and smiles brightly, his blood stained teeth on full display. It's deeply disturbing to see someone who normally has pristine white teeth with red ones.
"Okay! Now that that's out of the way, how are your gifts?" Joseph asks, he's clearly trying to act like that didn't happen and brush it off. "What-" You try to ask what the fuck happened and how a whole fight broke out in less than a minute but he quickly interjects before you can even get the second word out. "Oh! The food!!" He blurts as he rushes out of your apartment, leaving the door wide open to both yours and his apartment once more. You throw your hands up in the air in frustration and slowly stand, letting the blood rush back to your brain. You have a nice big stretch and that spot in your back that always pops, pops. You sigh in relief. "Come on! The food is almost done!" You look over and see Joseph's head peeking out of his apartment, after a moment of eye contact he retracts and disappears into his domain. "Coming, just… hold on..!" You yell back. You're already planning on doctoring him once you get over there, obviously he won't be able to enjoy dinner with a bloody mouth. You rush over to Joseph's place, shutting all the doors he left open behind you.
You take a good long look around Joseph's place, his kitchen is to the left of the entrance and to the right there's a wall with two doors. There's food and dirty dishes scattered all over the kitchen's white marble looking island and the marble looking counter tops by Joseph are looking particularly brutal. They seem to be covered in splatters from some kind of red sauce, you assume tomato.. but you're unsure. God, he has a lot of cabinets. There's two rows of them above the stove and fridge… speaking of the fridge he has a giant stainless steel one that makes you envious just looking at it. Yours isn't even close to that big, no wonder he offered to store some of your food. Oh! Your food! You rush back over to your apartment and grab all the food setting on the counter that you couldn't store and rush back to Joseph's place, carefully shutting the doors with your right foot as you go. Joseph notices you carrying a ton of shit and opens the fridge doors for you, he has plenty of room in there. You carefully find a spot for everything then shut the fridge. You look over at Joseph, he takes the small towel out of pocket and wipes his hands on it then leaves it on the counter. "So that's what he had that for.." You think to yourself.
You continue to nose about, there's a giant stainless steel microwave to the right of the fridge that's built in. You think you got a bit ripped off, you don't have a built in microwave either.. maybe he added it in. Maybe he's just slowly upgrading his whole apartment. Joseph looks up at you and smiles. "Welcome to your fall back place. Nose all you want, I have nothing to hide." Joseph says confidently. He turns back to the stove and continues to stir something in a damn expensive looking pot. "Just so you know I'm going to doctor your wounds before we eat." You inform him. "Aww.. How sweet." Joseph responds teasingly, never looking up from the concoction he's stirring. You grumble under your breath and start to walk further in, looking for anything that would show a single ounce of information about Joseph and his past.
As you walk against the wall that you were greeted with to the right of you when you entered, you scope the perfectly clean white walls for any photos of himself or family and friends, but find none. All you find are weird modern prints that you assume came with the place considering you also have some that look the exact same in your place. All that you find that interests you in this part of the large room are the two doors that you assume lead to the bedroom and bathroom… or maybe one is a closet. You almost open one of the doors, you finger tips barely brush against the cold steel door lever before you retract your hand. You don't want to seem like a creep on the first date… you'll at least wait until the second date for that. Joseph starts to whistle a little tune as he cooks, you giggle at him.
You continue forward, trying to ignore the doors that are just begging to be opened. There's a small wall on the left side of the open room that separates the living room from the kitchen. Right next to that small wall is a large, beautifully carved, dining table with spirals and some sort of symbols etched across the edges of the whole thing. It's seemingly made of spruce and has matching dining chairs with the exact same patterns carved along the sides, they're tucked neatly underneath the table. You pull one out, silently claiming it as the spot you will sit at for dinner and probably every time you come here. You admire it's deep, blood red, cushions and gently brush a hand across it, it's so soft.
You push down on it, it seems comfortable too. It seems everything he has in here is of good quality, even the pots and pans he has scattered around seem name brand. You walk back to the corner of the table and trace the symbols embedded into the edge, you examine the symbols but don't recognize a single one of them… For some reason they call out to you, almost like you've seen them before… perhaps in a dream. They almost look.. alien. You quietly try to change your minds subject and glace at the table's centerpiece, a large beautiful wooden bowl with tons of fresh fruits is sitting in the center of the table, along with 2 silver candle holders with a burning white candle in each on either side of the bowl. He seems like a damn good decorator.
You move on to the living room. Sleek, red, futuristic lamps that look like something straight out of a GTA pimp's pint house sets on either side of a big brown leather couch. The side tables they are perched upon are also made of spruce and have the same symbols and pattern as the dining table. You assume all his furniture are made by the same person. You respect the time and dedication someone took to make all these beautiful pieces of work. You gaze over towards the fire place, it's just a normal fireplace, though there are LOTS of knickknacks on the mantle.. you choose to save those for another time. You admire the coffee table in front of the couch, yep, same pattern as all the other furniture. God, it must have taken someone years to complete this whole set of furniture. It has two white marble looking coasters on either end of the side towards the couch and the remote to his tv is neatly sat in front of the left coaster.
Well, from that you can gather that he usually sits there, but you could be completely wrong and that could just be where he keeps it. You look above the fireplace, he has a giant flat screen tv with two speakers drilled into the wall on either side on the tv. Of course he has a separate sound system for his tv, you should have assumed based on his… more than comfortable lifestyle. You're starting to question the salary of the sheriff deputies of this town, there's no way it can be that good.. can it? You examine the rug underneath the coffee table and couch, it's quite spunky, very colorful… oddly enough. Kind of Boho-ish, but otherwise a normal rug. Maybe he wanted to confuse people with the sudden change of color scheme, because he seems to have a dark brown and red theme going on here. Even the throw pillows on his couch are blood red.
You walk over to the kitchen to check on Joseph, he's still stirring away but whatever he's cooking is starting to smell really good, so you assume it's very close to done. It does smell like some sort of tomato sauce.. your stomach growls in anticipation. You start to look for ways to help, you feel bad for not helping him, he's injured and he took the time to make an amazing meal for you both and you're just wandering around like a weirdo. You know he's going to try to stop you, but you have to at least try. You start to bring the MANY dirty dishes Joseph's accumulated to the sink but he quickly grabs one of the dishes that you're very precariously holding and won't let go. "What are you doing? I'm cooking, not you. I'll do the dishes, don't worry about it." He snatches the dishes from you and sets them carefully into the sink. "Shoo Shoo." Joseph says as he dismissively waves a hand at you, he turns off the stove unit he was using and puts the pot of delicious looking sauce onto the spruce cutting board to the left of the stove.
"Go sit at the dining table while I finish up." Joseph orders, you stand there, unmoving. Joseph looks up at you and squints his eyes at you. "It's a surprise, go.. shoo." Joseph waves his hand at you once more, you squint your eyes at him in response but reluctantly go and sit at your spot at the dinner table. After a few moments of just sitting there and piddling with your hands, Joseph yells out "Done!" You look up, Joseph sets a piping hot plate in front of you. "Do you want me to sit beside you or in front of you?" Joseph asks shyly. "Next to me." You answer with a smirk. You're trying to tease him and make him buckle, but he catches on immediately and gives you a look… one that screams "now get ready for the storm." You gulp. He sets his plate next to yours on the left and plops down. You take a long look at the beautiful food he's prepared, it's ratatouille with a tomato sauce spread across the top. He didn't give you a small amount either, thank god, you're famished.
"WAIT!" You shout, causing Joseph to jump out of his skin. "What? What's wrong? Is something wrong with the food?" Joseph asks frantically. "I FORGOT TO DOCTOR YOU." You announce loudly, Joseph looks at you absolutely dumbfounded. You stand straight up. "Do you have a first aid kit?" You ask. You look at Joseph and at such a close range you can see every little detail of his injuries, he has a pretty bad busted lip and his right eye looks like it's killing him, he looks like he can barely see out of it, not to mention it's bloodshot. You can't even imagine the damage Harry took. God, what are you going to do with these two idiots? Are you going to have to keep breaking up their arguments forever? "I have one in the bathroo-" Joseph gets cut off by you grabbing his chin to examine his face even closer.
"How the hell did you two fight and land punches in under a minute? I had just enough time to pull out a ceramic kitty cat and suddenly Harry came out of your apartment with a black eye and you were off the ground and somewhere else. There's no way either of you could have possibly moved that fast, it had been like.. forty seconds AT MOST. Not to mention Harry said he just wanted to talk, and he seems like the type of person who MEANS what he says. I know this is bit of a stretch but… I know you're not human. I don't care what you are, I don't need to know right now, tell me when you feel comfortable enough to, but I know you're not one. There's been too much evidence, the way you and Harry move is just… to precise and without flaw, you're both, no offense, bad at understanding anything to do with social boundaries or how to communicate or really anything human, and you both seem to have endless money. You both are extremely gentle around me, almost like you're scared to hurt me, and you both seem just a bit too smart. Not to mention you both stared at me flustered when I was thinking about you two not being human. I just wanted to tell you that I know and I don't care, I believe in ghosts and aliens and cryptids and shit and I'd care for you both even if you were both bigfoot. Now where is your bathroom?" You finish your rant and Joseph blinks at you in response. He sits very still for a few seconds before he finally snaps out of it and points towards the door closest to the front door.
"Thank you." You respond. You walk over and savor every moment of opening that damn door, once you're inside the bathroom you don't examine much, all you notice is the pretty grey and white shower curtain and the fact it seems VERY clean in there. You rummage under the bathroom counter and find a red plastic first aid kit along with a shit ton of cleaning supplies. "Well, at least he's cleanly.." You think to yourself as you shut the cabinet door. You leave the bathroom and shut the bathroom door behind you, unlike someone, and speed walk back over to Joseph, who is sitting there staring at you like a confused cat. You carefully look Joseph over and find a small cut on his right eyebrow and a brouse on his right arm. You lift his shirt to which earns you a very surprised and flustered reaction from Joseph, his face flushes bright red and he starts to breath very heavily.
He's ripped, he has a 6 pack and very pink pretty nipples. You find one very big brouse under Joseph's right arm, but otherwise find nothing. You think it's kind of weird that he only has injuries on the right side of his body, but decide not to mention it. You make him lean forward and you check his back, nothing. You sigh and push him back against his chair and pull his shirt back down. "I don't think I need this right now.." You say as you quietly set the first aid kit on the table next to your plate of steaming hot food. You rush over to the kitchen and grab a few paper towels and wet them under some warm sink water, after that you grab a couple of bags of frozen peas from Joseph's fridge then you run back over to the dining table and sit back down. Joseph looks a little teary eyed but you can't tell if it's from the pain from his injuries or not so you don't comment. You carefully start to dab at his lip, he winces and whimpers then clamps his eyes shut in response.
"Shhh… it's okay. It's okay.." You say quietly. You hear a soft sigh come from him and he untenses. His eyes remain shut but he seems more relaxed and at ease from your reassurance. A single tear runs down Joseph's left eye, you carefully wipe it with your thumb and continue to dub at his lip. You fold the paper towel each time too much blood gets on it. After you're done with his busted lip, you carefully lay the dirty paper towel to the side, neatly folded into a square, and grab a new one to start dubbing his eyebrow with it. Upon further inspection the blood from his eyebrow had actually dripped into his eye a bit, that's probably why it's so bloodshot and painful looking.
You appreciate the fact that he was so determined to cook you dinner that he neglected his own needs to do so but you also feel awful about it. Obviously, you wish he had taken care of himself first, you wouldn't have minded slightly burnt food.. or even mildly burnt food. You just want him to feel better. You very gently wipe his eyelid clean and he gasps slightly and tenses up once more, but quickly untenses and sighs after a moment. "Sorry.. it's okay.. It's not too terribly bad." You reassure him. You reach behind him and rub his back a bit, tears start to stream down his face. His face contorts and he starts to silently cry. "Oh Joseph.." You whisper, before pulling him into a big bear hug. He hesitantly hugs you back and sobs quietly into your shoulder. This is definitely not just from pain, you wonder what bothered him so badly.
"Shhh… it's okay… I'm here.. Was it stressful? Do you want to talk about what happened?" You ask. Joseph shakes his head slowly. "It's not that." Joseph replies, his voice is horse and quiet. You rub comforting circles into his back. "What is it then, honey?" You gently push for information, after a moment of contemplation Joseph responds. "I never had parents.. or really anyone who showed me any kind of affection.. in fact, I grew up alone.. I had people who supplied me food and the bare minimum of what I needed to survive, but otherwise, that's about it.. Actually, I think I'm what people refer to as "touched starved"." Joseph says, solemnly. He starts to break down even more and squeezes you close to him, but not enough to hurt you. You hug him tighter in response and in response to that he pushes out his chair a bit and picks you up, his hands are right under your ass. You squeak at the sudden touch and he sets you right in his lap, his hands return to their original positions, protectively wrapped around you.
You rest your chin on his left shoulder as he continues to sob into the crook of your neck. You rub his scalp through his neatly kept hair for a while, you quietly shush him and whisper sweet nothings into his ear. You reassure him that it's okay and that he's safe and that you won't leave him. After a while of consoling, he calms down slightly. You pull away and grab his chin, he looks up at you with tears still flooding from his eyes. You give him a gentle kiss on the nose and continue to dab his right eye. He closed his eyes when you kissed him and when he opened them they were full of nothing but love. He smiles as bright as the sun and sighs. He tries to calm his breathing, he takes deep breaths through his nose and out his mouth. "It's okay… take your time. I just didn't want you to hurt anymore.. I figured it would feel good for you to be clean and have some frozen peas on your eye.. So I'm trying to hurry and finish up here so you can have some relief." You say as you finish up cleaning his final wound. "Take your time.." Joseph playfully responds with a smirk.
You set the dirty paper towel on top of the other one and open the first aid kit, you grab two butterfly closures and place on on his eye's cut and the other on his busted lip. It seems to help a lot, you grab one of the bags of frozen peas and place it right on his right eye. He lets out a deep sigh of relief and he pushes his face into your touch. "Good boy.." You quietly praise him, he groans in response. You grab the other pack of peas and attempt to lift up his right arm, he gets the memo and lifts his arm for you to put the peas under there. He holds the peas with his arm on the giant brouse and sinks back into his chair. He reaches up with his other hand and places it over your hand that's holding the peas. "Joseph..?" You whisper. "Mmm?" Joseph hums, calmly. "Don't you wanna eat?" You ask quietly. "I don't want your food to get cold… you worked so hard on it.." You confess. "No.. I'd rather sit here like this for the rest of eternity, but I will."
Joseph sits up straight with a long dragged out groan and you get out of his lap and sit in your chair. His hand slips off your and you put the peas in his hand. You grab a spoonful of your food and start to say "ahhh" for Joseph to eat it but when you look over and see Joseph's disappointed little puppy face you can't help but laugh at him a bit. He furrows his brows at you. "I'm sorry, you're just so cute." You respond as you hide your smile with your free hand. "You are too." Joseph says, you gurgles a bit of water to get the blood out of his mouth before he takes a bite of the food. He hums in approval. You use the same spoon take take a bite for yourself, damn.. it's good. "You did an excellent job, chef." You praise him. "Thank you, madam. I had to make sure I gave you only the best food in the whole town." Joseph responds. You giggle at him as you both start to feed each other.
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twistedtummies2 · 4 months
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The Scarlet Pirate - Chapter 5
This is the penultimate section of a six-part "Chapter Story" for my OC for Twisted Wonderland, James Killian - based on Captain Hook from Disney's Peter Pan. (Also featured are Smitty McCarthy, based on Smee, and Matthew Satyr, based on Peter himself...oh, and Nakoda - my Kaa OC - also has a role here.) The basic premise of this story has been in my mind for almost as long as James has, but for numerous reasons, it wasn't till just within the past few weeks I finally got a chance to develop and write it out.
The result is, I think, the single longest "Chapter Story" for any of my OCs for TW I've created so far. Take that information however you will. So long as this tale, that it went from a planned three-parter, to a planned five-parter, to now being a six-parter, standing at approximately 150 pages in total! Hopefully, all the work and length will be for the best. XD
As is typical for my Chapter Stories, I will be posting this one chapter at a time per day over the course of this week. For future reference, you can find the previous chapter here.
You can find the next chapter here.
WARNING: While this story, throughout all six parts, does not FOCUS on my kinks, there are instances of very mild stuffing/belching related content sprinkled throughout, as well as various instances of implied or near vore situations. If you're into these things, good on ya. If you aren't, just be warned they will show up here and there, although not with any degree of spectacle.
With that said...I hope you enjoy.
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“Heigh-ho, and up she rises! Heigh-ho, and up she rises! Heigh-ho, and up she rises, early in the mornin’!” The shanty’s tune echoed almost eerily through the bowels of the shadowy stone labyrinth. Down a sloping tunnel, at one end of the vast, maze-like network of passages in the old, abandoned mine, James Killian and Smitty McCarthy carefully marched. James had his right hand on the treasure chest, while Smitty used his left, as they cautiously carried it along between them. James grinned as he looked around at the dank cave at the bottom of the slope: long ago, the Dwarfs had found this spot in the midst of their mining. A part of the river, which ran through the woods and then down into the sea, came into the mountains via this cave. A deep pool of water stretched from the cavern into a short, black tunnel, beyond which was the river itself. There were several tall, rocky formations in the cavern, including one very high, flat-topped stone, almost like a miniature cliff or a rock hill, and a smaller, flatter spot towards the bottom. In one part of the pool, near the tunnel, a sailboat had been moored. Its sails were closed, its anchor stretching into the water; for extra insurance, a sturdy rope had been fastened (with an equally sturdy knot) around a stalagmite that jutted out of the cave’s watery floor. On the boat was brass plaque, which offered the name of the little craft: The Czarina. “Ah, my pretty little crate! We’re now only moments away from TRUE victory, Smitty!” laughed James Killian, his boisterous, booming voice rebounding off the cavern walls. “Who needs a contest prize, when I have enough treasure to pay off a King’s Ransom? This will be plenty for our purposes, once we reach a safe port!” “Aye, James!” smiled Smitty, and paused, closing the eyes behind his glasses and tilting his head upwards, almost dreamily. “Just think of it…finally, out on the open ocean…in a proper ship, doing what we always wanted…” “Indeed,” nodded James, with a more supercilious smile, flourishing his cane in his other hand as he spoke. “Where I shall be captain, and you shall sail with me! Split me infinitives, tis me hour of triumph!” James laughed again; Smitty winced, wringing out one ear with his free hand, and offering a nervous sort of smile. There was a sort of wild gleam in Killian’s eyes, which the smaller man didn’t much like…and there was a strange scent in the air, too. Not just the brine and the earthy odors of the watery cave, but another, chemical sort of odor…like ink… “I just hope it won’t take us too long to sail our way along the river to the sea,” McCarthy fretted. “Ha! Would you think I’m fool enough to not check the miles and depths along the path, Smitty?” scoffed James, resting the long end of his cane upon his shoulder. “I sailed Czarina here meself, and checked the distance to the ocean from this part of the island. I tell you, Smitty, I’ve reached my peak already! NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW!” “HA HA HA HA HA HA!” James and Smitty froze as a sudden, shrill, deranged laugh echoed through the cave. They looked around, startled to say the least, trying to spot the source. “What in blue blazes?!” exclaimed James. “Wh-who’s th-th-there?” stammered a rather scared Smitty. The mad laugh came again; it sounded lower, more ominous. Cautiously, the pair put down the chest, glancing from the left to the right, peering all around the damp cavern. “Speak!” demanded James. “Who are you, stranger?” A diabolical sort of voice came drifting through the cave. “You have stolen the cursed treasure,” it growled. “Now you shall face the ultimate penalty!”
“What are you talking about?” sneered James, standing defensively in front of the chest. “Tell me your name and show yourself, you craven…!” “JAMES! LOOK!” Smitty’s frightened shout alerted James. He saw his stout little companion pointing with a shaking finger up towards the ceiling of the cave. The scarlet pirate looked up…and his eyes widened as a group of five white-cloaked figures flew out from behind the stalactites that speared down from the roof of the cavern. They giggled and laughed and jeered, drifting together in a circle, like a collection of vultures. Most were roughly human in size, but one was much smaller, no bigger than a tiny child, at best. Sizes aside, it was clear what the pale, hooded creatures were. “G-G-GHOSTS!” squeaked Smitty, and ducked behind James. “What jiggery-pokery is this?” bellowed James, trying to seem unintimidated, but his voice carried an unsteady quiver. “We are the Keepers of the Treasure!” declared the smallest figure, in a yowling sort of voice. “Return to us what is rightfully ours, human!” another snarled. “Or you may face the consequences,” another warned, in a sneaky, subtle, smooth tone. “HA!” James rapped, and grinned ferociously. “I fear no ghosts. We have dozens of them at Night Raven College!” “I fear them,” peeped Smitty, who was trying to hide behind his superior. “Surrender the treasure to us!” hissed a fourth phantom. “Or we will be forced to take it,” the fifth said, rather plainly. James glowered. He had not come all this way to be foiled by a collection of meddlesome specters. “You want it?” he growled, shifting his feet to brace himself. “Ha! Well come and get it!” He then nudged the scared McCarthy aside and snapped at him: “SMITTY!” “Eep! Y-Yes, James?” Killian gestured to the ghosts with a hard, stony sort of glare. “Blast them,” he ordered, in a cold voice. Smitty blinked. He looked pale as a ghost himself. “But…b-but James…!” “BLAST THEM!” James roared. “That’s an order, you blundering blue-footed booby!” Smitty gulped nervously, lifting his arms, as if he were afraid of being struck, then nodded. “Aye-Aye, James,” he whimpered, and paused to adjust his cap, jacket, and glasses before waddling forward. He looked up at the circling white spirits, who were making spooky “Ooooooooh…!” noises as they hovered. Smitty took a deep breath and seemed to pluck up courage…then lifted his right hand, holding the palm outwards.
“Hold back no longer. Throw restraint to the wind. Fire at will,” he intoned in an incantation…and as he did so, the ghosts could see what seemed to be a crimson aura, gathering around his right hand. Then Smitty seemed to physically brace himself, as he uttered the name of the signature spell he now planned to use: “CORKSCREW CANNON!” BOOM! With a sound like a cannon being shot, a crimson sphere of energy shot out from the gathered aura around Smitty’s hand. It blasted towards two of the ghosts, who darted out of the way as the ball of red light flew between them… …But as the sphere hit the stone wall of the cave, it suddenly rebounded back again, bouncing like rubber towards the ghosts once more. The energy sphere struck one of them, and - BANG! - burst like some magical balloon. The concussive explosion knocked the ghost aside as they cried out, and flew back into a wall. “What the…?!” exclaimed one of the phantoms. “HA HA!” James crowed. “My compatriot’s Unique Magic creates an eruptive blast that stuns any enemy it comes in contact with. However, it only affects living things…or, in your case, things that were once living. If it hits anything else, it just bounces off.” “It can only bounce three times,” peeped Smitty, seemingly blushing at James’ elaboration.” “Minor details,” shrugged Killian, and pointed dramatically at the other ghosts, as the one who had been hit rather dizzily hovered away from the wall. “FIRE, SMITTY! SHOOT THEM DOWN AT ONCE!” “Aye, James,” Smitty replied, and sent another ball of energy zipping up towards the cave ceiling, aiming this time for the smallest of the white-cloaked figures. The force of the blast was so great, that it actually made him stumble clumsily backwards, nearly knocking him off his feet. The tiny ghost spun through the air, twirling out of the way. The Corkscrew Cannon once again rebounded off the wall behind them, but this time, the ghost was ready for it, and flew higher, the sphere passing beneath the cut of their white sheet. One of the other ghosts, however, was less fortunate, and got struck, smashing into a stalactite. They had not recovered before a third sphere went zooming upwards. It passed over the head of one ghost, who ducked…bounced once, and missed another, who swerved to the side…bounced twice, missed ANOTHER, who cartwheeled out of the way through the air…but on the third rebound, it struck the tiniest phantom, who yowled and flew back… …Only for one of the other ghosts to catch them.
“We have to avoid those blasts,” the small one whispered. “I know,” their savior nodded, then looked to the others. “GATHER UP!” The ghosts all huddled together, weaving and bobbing through the air as Smitty turned around to try and get a solid shot at them…but they kept ducking behind the stalactites and other cave formations. “LET ‘EM HAVE IT!” James raged, waving his cane around like a madman. “COME ON, YOU IDIOT! HIT THEM AGAIN!” “I-I can’t get a clear shot!” squeaked Smitty. The ghosts suddenly dispersed once more, nodding to each other, as if they’d decided on a plan of action. One of them went flying at Smitty straightaway, while the other four flew off in other directions. Smitty opened fire, and the ghost zoomed out of the way… …And as the red sphere of power struck the wall beyond, it came bouncing back…straight at Smitty McCarthy. Smitty froze. “...Oh, no.” BANG! The little man’s glasses fell from his face, and his cap was knocked askew, as the concussive blast burst before him and sent him shooting backwards. Two of the ghosts caught hold of him and lifted him into the air from under his arms. Smitty kicked and squirmed, crying out in alarm as they carried him to the sailboat. One of the pale, hooded specters in the white sheets produced a length of rope, and they tied him to the mast, making sure his hands were firmly set at his sides. Smitty struggled against the bindings as fiercely as he could. “JAMES!” he hollered. “JAMES, HELP!” James Killian hesitated, torn between helping his associate and guarding the treasure still behind him. Just then, he felt a rush of air behind him, and turned fast…just in time to see the remaining two spirits lift the treasure, each cackling wildly with seemingly crazed glee. “GIVE THAT BACK!” James yelled, and threw himself forward…only for the chest to be pulled away before he could reach it. He fell onto his belly, growling as he pushed himself back to his feet, and watched the spirits lift the treasure into the air… …Then felt something inside of him turn to ice.
The ghosts lowered the chest…and placed it on top of the high, sharp, flat-topped “cliff” of rock, overlooking the water. And there, hovering just a foot or two over the very tip of that outcropping, was a familiar, boldly grinning figure, dressed in green. A pixie sat upon his shoulder. James felt one of his eyes twitch. His free hand curled into a tight, white-knuckled fist, as he gripped his cane tightly. “So, Satyr,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “This is all your doing.” Matthew Satyr grinned wider. “Aye, James Killian,” he teased with a wink, hands on his hips. “Tis all my doing.” “Hey!” one of the ghosts called out. “Don’t take all the credit…” …And at that moment, you threw off the white sheet Sebek had conjured up, revealing yourself. One by one, your fellow “ghosts” did the same. You knew who they were. “After all,” you continued. “It was MY idea.” “Meh. Minor details,” shrugged Matthew, in a joking sort of way. James Killian just glared with more hate than you’d ever seen another human being wear upon their face. And by now, you’d seen a LOT of hatred. “How did you escape the beast?” he snarled. “Beast?” Smitty piped up, stopping his struggling. His eyes widened. “James! Wh-what do you mean ‘beast’?” “I believe he’s referring to the giant monster that attacked us in the pit,” replied Azul, as he touched down upon the deck of the sailboat, standing beside the mast. Sebek touched down beside him, smirking and leaning back against said mast. Nakoda touched down on James’ right, while you touched down on his left. Grim landed directly beside you. All of you glared at him critically. James briefly glanced at the three of you, but soon turned his attention back to Matthew. “What saved you?” he demanded to know. “I would have thought that thing would have at least slowed you down.” “You knew?” Smitty gasped, jaw dropping. “About…wh-whatever was there with them?” James briefly looked back over his shoulder towards Smitty. His expression was dull and vacant. Smitty looked hurt. “But…but you said…” “Quiet,” growled James, and then looked back at Matthew with a vengeful sneer. “How did you get away? Faith and Trust and all that rubbish?” “That, and a little bit of help from my new friends,” Satyr shrugged cheerily. “Easy on the ‘friends’ thing,” muttered Nakoda, who looked a bit uncomfortable at that endearment. James just snarled at Matthew, his fingers tightening harder around his cane’s topper. “Don’t you DARE use that word around me,” he said, venomously. “That’s enough, James,” you interrupted, firmly, and began to approach him. “We’re going back to Night Raven-” “WAIT!”
You jumped back as Satyr flew down from his perch and stopped, hovering about six inches off the ground, and a few feet away from James Killian. He pulled out his metal fighting rod, whipping out the collapsible object to its fullest extent, a steely look in his youthful eyes. “We’re not going anywhere. Not yet,” he said sternly. James grinned, as if he were pleased. “Are you insssane?!” hissed Nakoda. “We’ve already beaten him, what’sss the point?!” “I agree!” Azul called out. “We have what we came for, we should-” “NO!” Matthew said indignantly…then a sort of sadness crept into his voice and his expression. “None of you understand. This isn’t a normal fight. This is a duel. And it’s been waiting for a very long time. I need this…we BOTH need this.” He pointed his baton at James. “This man is mine.” James chuckled darkly and lifted his cane, holding it lengthwise in both hands. “Well spoken, Satyr,” he slithered. “If it’s a final duel you want, I shall gladly give it to you.” CLICK. James gave his topper a slight twist, and a sound like a lock being undone was heard. Then - SCHLING! - the sound of steel scraping against wood rang through the cave. Yourself, Nako, and Grim all stepped back, and worry crept into the faces of Azul and Sebek alike. James Killian flung aside the wooden “sheath” of his cane…and pointed the sharp, dangerous, very real sword tip of the weapon towards his nemesis. “Proud and insolent fool,” he challenged, grandly. “Prepare to taste defeat.” Even in the presence of an actual sword, Satyr showed no fear at all. “Dark and sinister man,” he returned. “Have at thee!” With a sort of scoffing battle cry, James Killian immediately plunged forward, and swung his sword around his head. CLANG! It connected with Matthew’s blade, as the smaller, hovering young half-fae blocked the attack. James whirled about, sweeping out for another, rather theatrical slash. CLING! His blade skimmed the rounded edge Matthew’s weapon, as it was batted away easily. Matthew then went on the offensive himself, whipping his baton about to try and strike at James’ face. With sharp, jerking, almost imperceptible motions, James parried the attacks. From that point on, for a time, there was no advantage on either side. Matthew Satyr was a superb swordsman, jabbing with the baton the way a wasp does with its stinger, in between parries that knocked his rival’s attacks aside with dazzling rapidity. He had the shorter reach, and no cutting or stabbing edge, but his weapon was sturdy and his movements fast.
James Killian was scarcely inferior in brilliancy, but not quite so nimble in wrist play. The Pirate of Hearslabyul forced his opponent back by the weight of his onset, swinging hard and strong. Time and again, he thrust his weapon forward, and each time he did, a collective flinch flew through every heart of those of you that watched. Each time, however, the thrust was turned aside by Satyr’s dueling rod, and Killian was frustrated again. Kes flitted about the dueling pair, ringing her bells in alarm. Annoyed, James swiped at her with his left hand…then squealed as Matthew smacked him in the rear, just as he had in the forest. With a roar of outrage, James lifted his sword up in a chopping motion, but the harsh blow was blocked by Satyr. Kes zipped over to Sebek, flailing her arms as if to get his attention. He seemed to understand what she said… “We should stop them!” he bellowed. Nakoda hissed with a nod, and began to stride forward in an attempt to do just that…but Azul halted all with a sharp call. “Don’t!” he snapped, and his own attention was on the dueling pair, his expression wary and razor-focused. “Let them sort out their differences. This is between them. It’s out of our hands now.” “Then shouldn’t we leave?” Grim suggested, and winced at another loud CLANG! as the metal weapons met each other. Azul shook his head, still focused on the battle. You soon understood… “James is out for blood,” you whispered, worriedly. “If he manages to get an advantage…” Grim gulped nervously, immediately realizing the gravity of the situation. You could see that Smitty McCarthy, still tied up where he was, seemed more than a little concerned. He was watching with very nervous eyes, chewing on his own fat little lip. “B-be careful!” he called out to the fighters, as each swung and blocked the other’s weapon. Which one he was addressing remained a mystery thereafter.
James seemed to grow tired of the even nature of the duel. His sword had yet to gain its prize. He glared, trying to back Matthew towards a wall…but just as Satyr grew close to the stone behind his back, he leapt up and over James’ head, flipping clean over him and landing on the other side. James spun ‘round and lunged, but Matthew spun out of the way, flying over the water. He laughed and came swooping back, swiping with the baton. James ducked the attack, and scowled as he watched the young fairy-boy fly upwards again. At that moment, as he saw Matthew zipping about overhead, a lightbulb seemed to come over James’ own head, and he began to move up the slope of the “cliff” inside the cave. “Go on!” he called out, mockingly. “Fly! Fly! Fly, you COWARD!” Matthew paused in mid-air, once more at the “tip” of the stone hill. “Coward?” he repeated. “Me?!” James laughed tauntingly as he prowled up the slope in a creeping predatory manner. “Ha Ha HA! You’d never DARE to face me man-to-man, foot-to-foot! YOU NEVER COULD!” he barked. “You’ll always fly away, like a COWARDLY SPARROW!” The words “cowardly sparrow” echoed through the cave for several seconds, as James finally reached the flat top of the rock, standing upon it at the ready. Matthew glared down at him, clearly offended. “No one,” Satyr said, seriously, “Calls ME a coward. Least of all you, James!” And then, Matthew Satyr did something you didn’t think you’d ever see him do on his own: he hovered down slowly towards the tall, stone tower…and landed upon it, his feet finally touching the ground. “If that’s how you want it,” he said to James Killian, daringly, and held out his rod almost invitingly. “I’ll fight you man-to-man. One hand behind my back!” James grinned ferociously. He leaned close, lifting his sword. Steel and steel slid against each other as weapons crossed, and he moved till he was almost nose to nose with Satyr’s defiant face. “Do you mean…you WON’T fly?” he cooed. Something about the way James said that made your blood run cold. “Don’t agree to that!” you shouted up at Satyr. “Keep the advantage!” Azul called out. “LISTEN NOT TO THAT RUFFIAN!” bellowed Sebek. “It’sss a trick, I promissse you!” warned Nakoda. Matthew Satyr didn’t seem to hear any of you. “I won’t fly,” he promised. “I give my word, James.” You heard Grim facepaw at your side and mumble, “Moron.” James Killian, for his part, looked like he’d just been made the happiest sleaze to ever sail the seven seas. “Good!” he cheered. “THEN LET’S HAVE AT IT!”
Without warning, James slammed himself against Matthew, knocking the smaller young man backwards. Matthew stumbled back with a grunt, and barely managed to avoid falling off the edge of the cliff. He had just enough time to block a ferocious, hacking slash from James’ sword, before the taller duelist swung up again, hammering blow after blow upon his foe, in a wild, frenzied sort of way. Killian seemed determined to drive Satyr over the edge. Finally, Matthew managed to duck and get behind James, but if he hoped to find an advantage that way, he was sorely disappointed. James spun around and slashed again. Matthew barely had time to duck, and then lifted his rod to block another strike. James wasn’t slowing down at all, and - unable to flit and swerve out of the way as he so often did while airborne - Satyr was clearly beginning to lose the fight. “I’ve had enough of thisss!” hissed Nakoda, clearly growing anxious, and began to try and run up the slope. “NO, DON’T!” you called out, afraid he would end up cleaved by Killian in the proverbial crossfire. James soon spotted Nakoda approaching and glowered. “DON’T INTERFERE!” he roared, and shoved Matthew aside. Satyr cried out as he fell over the edge…but managed to catch himself before he could hit the water. As Nakoda approached, extending an arm in an effort to grab hold of James, the left hand of his quarry swung out and slapped him across the cheek. Before Nakoda could recover from the sudden smack, James snapped his fingers…and Nakoda hit the stone slope like a sack of potatoes, weighed down by the crushing intensity of his own negativity. “Nako!” you cried out, and hurried up the slope to check on him. Nakoda had his hands on his ears, gritting his fangs as he curled upon the ground. “Sh-shut them up,” he whimpered, as if the fear, loathing, and sadness that filled his heart was bringing voices to his head. “Shut them up, please!” Grim mewed as he trotted up beside you, nudging the naga, but Nakoda just flinched away. Both of you looked up with great concern as you saw Matthew then return to the top of the stone. James wasted no time and swung his sword again… …And, to your horror, just as Satyr regained footing, his metal dueling rod was sliced clean in half. It had been weakened by the battle, and a final, strong strike had rendered it officially useless. Desperately, Matthew flung the blunted half at James, who swatted it aside, then jabbed out with his sword. Satyr stumbled and fell onto his back. Matthew looked more scared than you’d ever expected, as James Killian pointed the tip of his cane-sword at his throat. “Looks like I’ve got the upper ‘hook’ now!” taunted James, showing off the tattoo on his left hand. He then swept it behind his back and reeled back with his sword hand. “And now we end this…”
“NO! JAMES DON’T!” you shouted. “YOU CAN’T!” Grim yowled in alarm. James wasn’t listening. There was murder clearly visible in his eyes… …But you two weren’t the only ones who saw it. “He’s…he’s actually going to do it!” Azul gasped, as he heard James’ words. “We should stop him!” insisted Sebek, as Kes frantically nodded in agreement beside him. “How?” Azul said. “If we get close he’ll use his power on us.” “We can hit him from afar!” Sebek insisted. “Don’t you think he’d be expecting one of us to try that?” Azul snapped back. “Let me loose.” The two looked up at Smitty McCarthy. “What?” they asked in unison. “Let me loose!” Smitty repeated, struggling against the ropes. “And fast, before it’s too late!” The head of Octavinelle and the guardian of Diasomnia looked at each other…then nodded. The octopus and the crocodile hurriedly undid the knots…and just as James began to ready himself for the killing strike, Smitty landed on the deck, and lifted his right hand. “JAMES!” he shouted. Killian looked up, alerted…just in time to see the red energy gathering around Smitty’s hand. His face showed something close to horror. “HOLD IT, YOU FOOL!” he shrieked. “NO! NO!” Smitty shut his eyes tight, as if to try and give himself deniability…and launched his attack. BOOM! The Corkscrew Cannon fired…and the sphere of concussive energy rocketed towards James. Killian quickly tried to plunge his sword down and finish the job…but Matthew, now with ample time and warning, was able to roll out of the way.
The sword’s edge was stuck in a crack in rock…and a second later, the concussive blast struck James Killian, and he was blasted clean off the cliff. He flew off the edge and plunged into the water below, landing with a murky, loud SPLASH! Thus the duel between James Killian and Matthew Satyr was finished by Smitty McCarthy. Smitty opened one eye…and when he saw the ripples in the water, indicating where James Killian had fallen, both eyes leapt wide open. “JAMES!” he shouted, and scrambled his way off the Czarina, racing around the rocky “port” to the side of the deep pool in the center of the cave. Matthew, no longer obligated to keep his word, flew over to Smitty’s side as they approached the water’s edge. Azul and Sebek crept off the ship and over to join them. You, meanwhile, helped Nakoda onto his feet, as he was still reeling from James’ Unique Magic. The naga was clutching his stomach with one hand, letting out sort of hissing whimpers, as if he felt as if he hadn’t eaten in days, or even weeks. “Easy there,” you whispered, and helped him limp along to join the others. “I’ve got you.” Nakoda just let out a feeble sound and slumped along beside you, one arm over your shoulder as your own arm slung over his. Grim followed close behind you both as you approached the lake. Kes was floating over Matthew’s head, a nervous look in her eyes, as if she was scared of the water…or something inside of it… “James!” Smitty called out again to the water, as the pool began to still. His voice held a note of panic. “James, please, come up!” “I’ll go in and get him,” Matthew said, sternly, and began to rise higher into the air. “But he tried to kill you!” Sebek exclaimed. “Yeah, I know,” Matthew sighed, and gave a sort of weary smile. He seemed ready to dive down into the water from his height. “It’s hard being a hero, isn’t it?” Kes suddenly rang her pixie bells in wild alarm, and flew in front of Matthew’s face, shaking her head frantically. “Don’t try to stop me!” Matthew snapped. “I can’t just-” KA-ZLOOSH! Satyr’s words were cut short, as was any attempt to rescue James Killian, when the water of the cave suddenly seemed to explode outwards, as if a bomb had gone off. Kes hid behind Matthew in an instant. All of you stepped back, Grim yelping and ducking behind your legs…as a familiar swirl of inky black mist came spiraling out of the cavern lake. In the middle of the black cloud, pulsing red and violet light could be seen, like a glowing heart beating rapidly. “Wh-what’s going on?” Matthew exclaimed, somehow jumping in startlement in mid-air. Azul and Grim shuddered. They knew very well. “Overblot,” hissed Nakoda, ominously; he was equally familiar.
Sebek growled, gritting his teeth and moving into a battle-ready pose. As for yourself and Smitty, the two of you watched with matching, anxious expressions, as the black cloud began to dissipate… …And the first thing you saw were the iron hooks. Upon James’ left hand was visible a metal gauntlet, the fingers of which ended in long, hook-shaped claws, almost like a raptor’s talons. Upon the back of the gauntlet was painted the image of a red skull and crossbones, a shade of crimson that matched his long, red coat. The coat now more closely resembled a red Naval uniform coat from days long past…the cuffs of which were completely soaked in black ink, as if they had been dipped in the stuff, some of the ink spilling in ribbon-like patterns back along the sleeves. The brass buttons of the coat also were speckled with ink, and the black lapels seemed to drip ink onto other parts of the tarnished red outfit as well. The coat and the skull-and-crossbones were the only signs of vibrant color upon the whole ensemble. Beneath this, James’ usual outfit was visible, but the colors had changed; the boots were still black, but now ended in what looked like steel toes, which were spattered with drops of ink. He wore black trousers, a black shirt, and a belt the color of mud, the Jolly Roger buckle of which had turned silver instead of gold. Instead of a bandana, atop his head was perched a tricorn hat, colored a sort of pale, grayish purple, with a raven’s feather stuck in it. To top all of this off, the rings around James’ fingers on his un-gauntleted hand had also turned to silver…and one of his eyes had turned a glowing shade of crimson, with a familiar, fiery aura surrounding it.
James glared at you all, sneering as he floated downwards, soon lighting upon the rocky poolside of the dank cave. His voice echoed through the cavern, and seemingly through the entire mine, as frigid as a bitter North Wind. “Children,” he snarled. “I am surrounded by children. Selfish, idiotic, backstabbing little monsters who think they know better, when they know absolutely nothing. And the worst part is, when I decide to show the same form, they seem to think I’m being unfair. Loathsome! All of you! Well, I’m through playing games. I’m through spoiling you all with victory after victory. This time, I’M going to win! This time, I’M going to come out on top! And so I think it’s time all of you recognized…” He held out the gauntlet clad hand, fingers splayed out. “...What it feels like to grow up.”
To Be Concluded in Part 6…
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likeysoob · 5 months
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Deep Regrets
obsessive male oc x past obsessed! gn oc
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MAIN CHARACTERS
male oc - Ein
gn oc - Ash
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PLOT
Ein sees Ash in 9th grade and wants to talk to them. Hopefully nothing is awkward ever since he unfriended you on snap with your failed attempts to talk to him. But everytime Ein tried to talk to Ash, they would always turn away or only say a few words back. He didn't think much but he couldn’t help but look their way. Why? That was until 11th rolled around. Ash came back with a whole style and seemed even happier too. They definitely weren't Ein’s type but suddenly ash was his type. He figured out Ash wanted nothing to do with him ever since he unfriended them. How does that make Ein act?
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UPLOADS
I upload every thursday
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STATUS
on hold!
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TAGS
Please comment if you want to be tagged when a new chapter comes out!
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CHAPTERS
1. COMING SOON..
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see you soon 🦇🎃🧛🏻🧛🏼🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏼‍♀️🎃🦇
main Måsterlist
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So...who wants to hear some bad news? 
My motherfucking laptop corrupted the WCB chapter I was writing....so.....I need to start again..... 
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I finally got some sliver of motivation to continue Chapter 3, and when I tried to transfer the chapter to my new pc, for some reason it has corrupted it. Now I can’t see it either on the laptop or on the usb I used to transfer.
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