#Especially when she hops through the portal and just moved him all over the place in relation to the flying carpet | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mama-qwerty · 1 month

Text

Returning the Favor

Super self-indulgent snippet, written specifically because I was feeling bad and needed a pick-me-up.

Dread comforting Callie. 'Nuff said.

~~~~~

Dread scrounged through the cabinets in the Sanctuary’s kitchen. He was the only Knuckles here for the moment—a rare occurrence—and he aimed to take advantage of the solitude.

Any leftover cookies were going back to No Place with him.

“All treats are meant to stay in the Sanctuary for the enjoyment of all Knuckleses,” Cyber called, as though he had read Dread’s mind. The blasted ghost always seemed to want to spout off rules and spoil his fun.

(Yes, Dread knew the others referred to Cyber as a ‘holler-gram’, but that really seemed like a silly word for what the echidna obviously was. Cyber was see-through, appeared and disappeared at will, and couldn’t interact with the physical objects of the Sanctuary. Only one kind of creature exhibited all those traits, and Dread was no fool. Cyber was a ghost. A sentient one, sure, but a ghost nonetheless.)

“At th’ moment, Cyber lad,” Dread said, digging through the last cabinet, “I happen t’ be th’ only Knuckles here. Well, the only real Knuckles here. No offense, lad. So any sweet treats be rightfully mine. Finders keepers an’ all that.”

The pirate uttered a triumphant laugh as he discovered a container filled with chocolate chunk cookies, and pulled the lid off to shove one into his mouth. He turned to give Cyber a crumb-covered smirk, and the transparent echidna produced a very convincing scowl. Dread had Cyber on a technicality, and although it seemed to annoy the ghost, he didn’t say anything.

The two stared each other down for a moment, before Cyber blinked, his eyes glowing green.

“Miss Callie, incoming,” he announced, just as a portal opened.

Dread nearly choked. He wasn’t scared of anyone or anything, but if the lass caught him scarfing down the rest of the cookies like this, she’d give him one of those looks. The one that was part disappointment, part annoyance, part irritation, and part disapproval. And he’d rather face down a dozen krakens than endure that look cast in his direction just once.

Callie came through her portal, moving at a fast walk.

“Lass!” he called out, hurriedly swallowing the cookie mush in his mouth. He slammed the lid back on the container and shoved it into the cabinet before turning around to throw her his best charming smile. “I were jus’ gettin’ meself a snack, an’ . . . lass?”

She didn’t stop. Didn’t even seem to notice him. Instead she made a beeline for the quiet room, pulling the tie from the bottom of her braid as she went. She dropped it, right before running her fingers through her hair, separating the plaits and giving it a sharp tug as she uttered a low grunt.

Then she was in the quiet room, closing the door behind her.

Dread’s brow furrowed. He’d never seen her like that.

Hopping down from his stool, the pirate walked over to where the lass’ hair tie lay. He picked it up, giving it a look before turning his attention back to the door of the quiet room.

“Miss Callie occasionally requires the peace the Sanctuary offers,” Cyber said, his voice softer. “She requested I keep her informed on the occupancy here, so she may come when it’s empty.”

Dread turned his attention back to him. “She’s done this b’fore?”

The holler-gram nodded. “Twice. She goes into the quiet room, and although I don’t directly monitor in there, sound carries, especially when it’s quiet out here.”

“What kind o’ sounds?”

Cyber hesitated. “I feel it would be an invasion of her privacy if I repeated anything more. I should not have told you what I have.”

“Well ye did an’ now I wanna know th’ rest,” Dread said, moving a step closer to the transparent echidna. “What sounds, ye blasted ghost?”

“Hologram. I am the avatar for the Master Emerald—”

“I don’t give a flyin’ fig if ye’re a holler-gram, avertar, ‘r jus’ a persnickety figment of me imagination.” A snarl curled Dread’s lip as his patience quickly ran out. “Tell me what sounds ye heard. Now.”

Silence settled over the two, and Cyber pulled his lips tight. “Sorrow.”

Dread’s face fell. “She . . . ye mean, she were cryin’?”

A short nod. “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s more of a frustrated scream. Emotions are tricky for me to decipher, I can only extrapolate from the data I’ve collected from the rest of you. And I have never observed Miss Callie in situations which conjure these types of reactions.”

The pirate turned back to look toward the quiet room’s door. He didn’t hear anything at the moment, just an ominous silence, one that rang in his ears as he stared.

Sorrow? What would cause the lass such a deep feeling of sorrow that she would (regularly) need to come to the Sanctuary to let loose those emotions? He could understand her wanting to do so when the place was empty—she was one of the group ‘moms’ and thus felt the need to be in charge, to have control of herself at all times. To be the voice of reason (even if she sometimes was as bad as the rest of them when it came to pranks and snarking at each other) and keep a level head when others were letting their own anger or sadness get the better of them.

She was the rock that many of the Knuckleses—him included—relied on to keep them sane and grounded. She was the one they leaned on when their feelings were too big, their thoughts too heavy.

But now that he thought about it, who was her rock? Who helped her when she was sad or angry or otherwise feeling like she was getting lost in her own head? When she felt like a great weight had settled on her shoulders, and it was slowly crushing her, little by little?

Maddie had her husband. Dread had met him once or twice, he seemed a decent enough bloke, for the most part. Kinda straight-laced. A bit boring. But devoted to his family. Supportive. That kinda thing.

But Callie didn’t have a mate. She was alone, raising her two boys (and dealing with a multitude of Knuckleses) by herself. There was someone—Wayne? Wyatt? Dread had met him once or twice, too. Reminded him a bit of Gnarly, to be honest. And the man seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for Callie, but the lass never mentioned anyone in terms of a romantic-type of interest. It was just her. All alone.

Who did Callie have to lean on?

Dread tossed the hair tie in the air, catching it in a fist as he turned and headed back toward the kitchen area. He tucked the tie into his pocket as he dug in a drawer, pulling out a well-worn brush. It was one she used to help calm and soothe many a Knux—yes, him included—and he picked out what quills and fur was stuck in the bristles as he headed toward the quiet room door.

His fist hovered for a moment. Should he knock? What if she refused to let him in? Would he simply go in anyway, thereby showing her that he didn’t respect her wishes?

Then again, how many times did she sit with an upset Knuckles, even when they thought they wanted to be alone? Wasn’t this the same situation?

But maybe that was different. She had come to the Sanctuary specifically when (she thought) there were no others around. Didn’t that mean she truly wanted to be alone?

A little frustrated huff left his lips. All this thinking and over thinking wasn’t productive. Dread was better when he listened to his gut and just acted, and didn’t waste a lot of time wondering and worrying if that was the right thing to do.

So he went with his gut.

Dread dropped his hand, resting it on the door handle and giving it a gentle push. He poked his head into the room, catching sight of a blanket covered lump on the couch, and a pair of glasses sitting on the table to the left. “Lass?”

The lump shifted, as though the person beneath curled tighter. “Go away.”

Instead, Dread moved into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. “C’mon, lass. I be a captain. Ye can’t give me orders.”

A sigh, shaky and wet. “Just go away. Please.”

Dread flinched. He’d never heard Callie sound so . . . weak. So defeated. So utterly broken.

He moved closer, holding the brush tightly in one hand. Suddenly this didn’t seem to be the best idea. But, good idea or not, Dread was committed. “Thought ye may need a brushin’. T’ help soothe whatever’s gotcha all . . .” He gestured toward her, even if she couldn’t see it. “Like this.”

She didn’t respond. The blanket pulled tighter, and she scooted toward the back of the couch. Dread had an idea she was lying on her side, facing the back, and simply wanted to wedge herself in as tight as she could to feel safe.

“C’mon, lass,” he said again, moving closer. “Talk t’ me.”

Another sigh, but this one harsher. “I came here because I didn’t want to talk to anyone, Dread. Leave me alone.”

Dread cocked an eyebrow. Anger. Okay. He could deal with that.

“Oh, that’s quite th’ double standard ye got there,” he said, moving to the couch and hopping onto it, by where he assumed her feet were. “How many times did ye make me talk when I said I didn’t want to? Jus’ plopped yerself right down an’ did that thing where ye prodded an’ questioned an’ dragged me thoughts outta me head anyway.”

A little growl answered him, and she flipped the blanket off enough so she could sit up and shoot him a glare. Her hair was a mess—a tangled mop of red—and she wiped at the tears on her cheeks.

“If this is how you felt when I did that then I’m sorry to have bothered you!” she hissed, right before her foot shot out and kicked him off the couch. “Get lost, echidna. Let me wallow in my patheticness in peace.” Then she rolled back over, pulling the blanket back over her head.

Dread hit the floor with a startled cry. Okay, that had been unexpected. He’d seen her angry before—her temper flared on occasion, and they’d had a few screaming matches—but he’d never seen her like this.

“Okay,” he said, pushing himself back to his feet. “We’re doin’ it like this, are we?”

Without giving her a chance to respond, Dread dropped the brush and took two handfuls of the blanket. With one quick motion he gave a pull, yanking it free and bringing her with it. She rolled, landing on the floor with a smack.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she spat, moving to sit with her back against the front of the couch. Dread uttered a sharp laugh.

“Me? What th’ hell be wrong with ye?” He moved to stand before her, hands on hips and an angry glare in his eye. “The lass I know wouldn’t wallow in self-pity. She doesn’t mope ‘neath a blanket. She faces trouble head on an’ back straight. What happened t’ her?”

Callie heaved a sigh, pulling her legs in to hug and resting her forehead on her knees. “Maybe she’s tired of being the one everyone runs to. Maybe she’s sick of being in charge. Maybe the rock everyone else relies on just needs some time to break once in a while.”

The anger drained from Dread at her words, at the soft, tired tone she spoke in. His thoughts from before came back to him. Who did Callie have to lean on?

It would seem the answer is no one.

Dread sighed.

That just wouldn’t do.

“C’mere.” Dread picked up the brush, moving to climb onto the couch behind her. “Let ol’ Dread take care o’ that rats nest ye call hair, aye?”

She didn’t respond for a long moment, instead keeping her head resting on her knees. Dread sat behind her, giving her the time she needed. His anger had drawn hers out, breaking through the initial wall of self-pity she’d put up earlier. Now he would wait, and let her reach out when she was comfortable.

A little smile curled his lips at that. Oh how the tables had turned.

After a moment, Callie let out a long sigh, lifting her head and brushing her long, tangled hair behind her, where he could reach it. He didn’t speak, opting to simply begin gently dragging the brush through her mane, moving slowly so as not to tug.

When the brush refused to move through some of the more difficult areas, Dread paused to pull off his gloves. His claws worked better through the tougher knots, and he used them to pick apart the worst offenders. He occasionally reached higher to gently scrape her scalp, making her shiver slightly from the sensation.

“Talk t’ me.” His voice was soft, his hands never stopped moving. “C’mon, lass. Get it off yer chest.”

She let out another sigh, lowering her head slightly, her fingers fiddling with the hem of the blanket. When she spoke, her voice was soft and quiet, like a child who was telling their deepest secret, their most hidden fear.

“It’s just hard sometimes.”

“What is?”

“Everything. Being the one responsible for making money, and paying bills, and taking care of the boys and the house and you guys and keeping the library running and dealing with the hundred little things that come up every day . . .” She pushed out another sigh, this one sounding more tired. “It’s like a bucket filling up, and every now and then, I just need to . . . empty it, I guess.”

“An’ ye have no one t’ lean on when it gets t’ be too much for ye.”

She didn’t respond, but she didn’t need to. He knew it was true, just as much as she did. Saying it out loud would make it even more true, and she was enough like him that she didn’t want to do that.

“I come here because time moves differently,” she said, her voice still soft. “It’s essentially like hitting the pause button on my regular life. I come, get my little breakdown out of the way, and then go back to do it all over again.”

“That ain’t no way t’ live, lass.” He shook his head, working the last knot from her hair. “Ye deserve better ‘n that.”

She pulled her shoulders up in a shrug. “It is what it is.”

“Don’t make it right.”

“It’s the hand I was dealt. You know better than anyone that life isn’t always easy, or fair.”

He supposed that was true. His own childhood was evidence enough that bad things happened to innocent people—children, even—and you had to learn to deal with it before it killed you.

Still, what she was dealing with wasn’t exactly the same. She wasn’t fighting to survive—not in a literal sense, anyway—but she was breaking under all the weight she carried. And she carried it all herself, because she had no one to share the burden with.

But it didn’t have to be that way.

“Ye c’n always reach out, ye know,” he said, turning back to the brush once all the knots were worked through. He dragged it down her hair, his hand running behind to smooth any stray strands. “Don’t have t’ face everything all on yer lonesome.”

“Everyone else has their own problems,” she said, and to Dread it sounded like an automatic response. Something she convinced herself of long ago. “They don’t need to deal with mine, too.”

“Aye, an’ ye have yer own problems,” he said, smoothing the final part of her hair. “Don’t need t’ deal with everyone else’s, too.” He paused, a little smirk curling his lip as he leaned to the side to look at her. “But ye do.”

She cast him a side eye, a little blush rising to her cheeks. The smirk on Dread’s face widened until it was a smile. Looking like this—the blush, her hair down, and no glasses—made her look so different than he’d ever seen her. More vulnerable. Less like a headstrong lass who could take on the world, and more like one who needed protection from it. Even if just for a little while.

“That’s different.”

“No it ain’t.”

“Yes it is.”

“Why?”

She gave a little shrug, turning her face away. “It just is.”

The smile faded from Dread’s lips when she turned away, and a little furrow appeared in his brow. Did she honestly not see that letting others help her was no different than her helping them? She wasn’t that stubborn was she?

He gave a little eye roll. Of course she was that stubborn. That’s why they got along so well.

The smile returned as he gave his head a little shake. He planted his hand flat on the top of her head, turning her back to face him.

“Ye wanna know what I think?” he asked, casting a cocked eyebrow. “I think ye convinced yerself askin’ f’r help be a sign o’ weakness. An’ if’n there be one thing the mighty Callie MacPherson hates, it be t’ show herself as weak. She likes t’ be strong. Likes t’ show care t’ others, but be so damn bad ‘bout acceptin’ it f’r herself. Lookit her now, gone all blushin’ an’ turnin’ away at the barest amount o’ care. Even from a nasty, smelly ol’ pirate such as meself.”

She stared at him, her blue-green eyes locked with his violet. He smiled wider, a chuckle rumbling through his chest.

“An’ now she be speechless,” he snickered, releasing her head and moving his hand down to caress her cheek with his knuckles, and tuck her hair behind her ear. “No doubt thinkin’ what a strikin’ specimen of a man be sittin’ b’side her. A man the likes o’ which she ain’t never seen b’fore. A pow’rful man, a fine fig’re of a man, one who makes her feel things she never—“

Callie snorted out a laugh, reaching forward to shove his face away. Dread responded with a laugh of his own, leaning back to rest against the back of the couch.

“You little dork,” she said, scooting herself around to lean her side against the couch. “Ruining my perfectly good pity party.”

Dread chuckled again, leaning forward to rest his weight on one arm. The color was still in her cheeks, but the heavy air around her had dissipated. Even without her glasses and her hair out of that signature braid, she looked more like the lass he knew.

“Turnabout be fair play, me lovely lass,” he said, dropping a wink. “There be plenty o’ times ye spoiled me rotten mood. All with yer kind heart an’ clever words.”

She chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Since when has the legendary Captain Dread ever cared about playing fair?”

He gave her a little smirk. “The legendary Captain Dread c’n play fair, so long as the legendary Captain Dread still gets the result he wants in the end.” The smirk melted into a more sincere smile. “An’ in this case, seein’ ye smile be worth every second of it.”

Her cheeks burned hotter at that, and he gave another chuckle. Despite outward appearances, Dread was actually one of the more engaging of the Knuckleses, and knew his way around a compliment. Yes, violence was a quick way to get what he wanted, but sometimes charming someone was more discreet, easier, and more fun.

But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t sincere in what he said now. While he hadn’t been serious in his flirting, he always enjoyed making her smile.

“My, my,” she said, giving him a little smirk back. “Dread actually has a heart. And cares about others. Wait ‘til the rest of the Sanctuary hears this.”

“Lies. I’ll deny everythin’. No one will ever believe ye. Think ye’re off yer rocker. The lass has lost it! Oh, ‘twere a shame, aye, it were. Bet Cyber may want t’ run tests on ye. Examine yer brain ‘r somethin’.”

She snickered. “Oh, good point. Guess I oughta keep this little chat to myself, lest I ruin your reputation, and my street cred for being, you know, sane.”

They shared a laugh, allowing the serious nature of the situation fade. This was something Dread really enjoyed. They poked at each other, tossed barbs and insults and snark like it was their job, but in the end their bond was different than either had with any other Knuckles. More sibling-esque.

He’d never admit it, but she was the only person whose opinion of him mattered.

A comfortable silence settled over them, and she rested her elbow on the couch, perching her head in her hand. She sighed, looking back to him with a little smile.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice soft. “For not going away.”

Dread matched her smile, giving his head a little shake. “Never. Ye be stuck with me. So quit bein’ so damn stubborn an’ jus’ ask f’r help when ye need it, aye?” He leaned forward, bringing their foreheads together. “Ye lean on me when ye need. I be strong enough f’r the both of us. Ye jus’ call, an’ I’ll come runnin’. Ye have me word on that.”

It was an odd thing to hear come out of his own mouth. For so long he’d been only interested in his own wants, his own needs and desires. Even after the Prism Shard incident, he felt disconnected from the rest of the crew. It had taken a while to overcome those feelings of greed and selfishness. Of possessive obsession.

But now, he was different. Part of something bigger. His crew, the Sanctuary, the other, well, hims . . . they all helped him understand who he was. It felt good to finally receive kindness and love and support.

And it felt even better to offer it.

“Thank you, you smelly little pirate,” she said, a smile in her voice. “Even though I wanna feed you your hat some days, I still love ya.”

“Aye, ye be a right pain in my backside most days,” he said, and she snickered. “But ye’ve wormed yer way int’ me heart.”

They sat with their foreheads touching for another moment, before pulling back. Callie gave him a little look, that smirk back on her face.

“How ‘bout we go and finish off the rest of those cookies? ‘Cause I know that’s what you were doing earlier.”

Dread gave a dramatic gasp. “Lass! Ye offend me.”

“I doubt it.”

He tried to keep his offended expression, but her gaze made him break character. He snickered, nodding.

“Aye, ye got me. They be so good, I couldn’t resist ‘em.” He cast her a sly look. “There be plenty t’ share.”

She gave him an identical look back. “Assuming I don’t beat you there and get ‘em first.”

They stared each other down for a moment, before Callie grabbed her glasses and made a break for the kitchen. Dread laughed as he sprinted after her.

In the end, Dread’s original desire to snatch away all the cookies for himself was replaced with the urge to share them with a friend as they sat and talked. They agreed to regular check-ins, under the guise of a free meal for the pirate, and that unspoken promise to be there for each other strengthened.

As they argued their right to the last cookie, Dread couldn’t help but marvel at how his life had turned around. Treasure was no longer the only thing on his mind. Right now, he couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be, than right here.

#knuckles the echidna #knuckles the dread #callie macpherson #cyber knuckles #knucklesverse

12 notes · View notes

eriquin · 2 months

Text

The Trolley Problem, part 26

Will convinces the rest of the party to believe him, at least long enough to regroup with Steve and his friends.

(master post)

They all biked over to Will’s house, like they’d done many times before.

Will led the way. He felt a little weird hearing his friends talk about the monster, but couldn’t warn them to keep it down. He hoped that it sounded like when they talked about their D&D games. They passed the spot where the monster had spooked him, and he slowed down just long enough to point it out. He couldn't tell if they believed him or not.

The big rut in his front yard made them pause a bit. Will wondered how Jonathan had explained that to Mom, or if she’d even noticed. He showed them all the places where the demogorgon had been; the shed in the backyard, the spot in the woods where it had disappeared, and the wall it had come out of when they ran past.

“It doesn’t look like anything,” Lucas said. “How did it come through? Did it make a portal?”

“It was freaky,” Will said. “The wooden slats kind of moved aside? The space underneath had a red glow, and then it stretched like... Like the dough in pizza commercials. Until it broke, and the monster came through.” He shuddered.

Dustin had the notebook again, and was reading through it. “This says it comes back on Saturday,” he said, “and Steve and Jonathan and Nancy fight it.”

“Wait, Nancy?” Mike asked incredulously. “Why would Nancy fight a demogorgon? She can’t even kill spiders.”

“She totally can,” Lucas said. “She killed that one in your mom’s car that one time, remember?”

“Yeah, but...” Mike shook his head. “No way is Nancy involved in this.”

Dustin pouted a little and flipped through the pages. “I mean, she’s not involved in it yet, but—”

“Guys, this is all going to change,” Will said. “I didn’t get abducted this time, so it might be someone else who fights it.” It was a bit of a relief that his friends believed him, or at least were playing along, but fighting over what would or could happen wasn’t going to help. “Come on, you’ve got to see the sword.”

They were all amazed by the broken sword, and also Steve’s machete. Will watched as Lucas took the machete and Mike took the hilt of the sword and they started play-fighting with them.

Dustin continued reading through the book. “It’s crazy how much we’re involved in this,” he said. “Like, especially me. Apparently, all the stuff that’s going on now is just the beginning, and the monsters keep coming back time again and again.” He grimaced and looked up. “One of them eats my cat.”

“Mews?” Lucas asked. He and Mike lowered their weapons. “Ugh, that’s awful. I hate it when something happens to a pet in movies and stuff.”

“Does it pretend to be your cat after, like in The Thing?” Mike asked.

Dustin shook his head. “No, it just says it ate her, and then I tried to get Steve to kill it for me.” He looked up at Will. “This is all about Steve, huh?”

“Well, he wrote it,” Will said. “It’s only going to be the stuff he knows about.”

“We should go talk to him,” Dustin said. He got up and handed the book back to Will. “See what else he knows.”

Mike nodded and put the broken sword hilt back in the box.“Yeah, I’ll bet if we quiz him in person, we can figure out if he’s lying or not.”

“He’s not lying!” Will crossed his arms. “There really was a monster. It took Eddie right in front of us!”

“Sure, but what about Steve? He could be lying about being from the future,” Lucas said. He put the machete in the box, too, and he and Mike hid it away under Will’s bed. “If he’s really from the future, he probably knows a bunch of other stuff that happened. Maybe he knows the winning lottery numbers!”

Will’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t thought of that. “Woah. We’d be rich.”

“Exactly!” Dustin said. “We’ve gotta talk to him.”

With everyone in agreement, it was a quick thing to hop back on their bikes and find their way over to Loch Nora. The roads there were winding, with a couple of dead ends and weird cross streets that doubled back on each other. Will had looked up the Harringtons in the phone book, but he had no idea how to find the right street. They rode around until it started getting dark, though that was more from storm clouds than from the sun setting.

“It’s here,” Will said, finally finding the right street and right house number. The house was huge, with a curved driveway and what looked like three garages. Steve’s car was in the driveway, and so was Tommy’s truck. He dumped his bike on the lawn and ran around to the front of the truck. “See? There’s the dent.” He ran his hands over the grill and showed it to his friends.

They looked impressed, but still a little skeptical. Will grabbed Mike’s hand and pulled him over to the front door. It was a big wooden double door with no windows or porch, just a concrete step up to it. Will rang the doorbell and stepped back.

“This is kind of weird,” Mike mumbled. Dustin and Lucas caught up and hid behind them. “Who needs a house this big?”

“We should totally come trick or treating here next year,” Dustin said. “I’ll bet these rich folks give out the best candy.”

It took a moment before someone answered the door, but when it swung open, Carol was there. She looked confused for a second, but then she recognized Will and she smiled. She turned and shouted into the house, “Will’s here! And he brought a bunch of other kids!” She gestured for them to come inside. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

There was a shout of, “What the hell?” from down the hall, and Steve ran in. His socks skidded on the wooden floor as he turned the corner, but he regained his balance quickly. He looked at all of Will’s friends together and for a moment, he was delighted. Then he must have realized that none of them knew who he was, and his face fell. He put his hands on his hips. “What are you all doing here? Did you tell them?”

“Yeah,” Will said. “I had to. We can help.”

“Oh my God.” Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course you told them. I don’t know why I thought this would go any differently.”

Steve’s annoyance seemed to spur his friends into reacting, and they all started talking at once as Will hung back and stared at them. Lucas wanted to know about sports scores and lottery numbers. Mike got snippy about something to do with his sister. But it was when Dustin pulled the notebook out of his backpack that Steve really seemed to snap to attention.

“Where did you get that?” he said, grabbing it out of Dustin’s hands. He flipped it open to confirm it was his, and relaxed a little. “I thought I lost it.”

“It was in your car,” Will said. “I started reading when we were all trying to leave, before Jonathan showed up. I kind of just held onto it.” He looked down at the ground and tried to look apologetic. “I probably shouldn’t have taken it. I’m sorry. I just... I wanted to know what happened next.”

Steve let out a tired sigh. “It’s okay, Will. I was just worried that someone from Hawkins lab found it.” He patted Will on the shoulder and gestured for the rest of them to follow him out of the entryway. Carol locked the front door behind them.

They went down to the basement. Tommy was lounging in one of the overstuffed armchairs with his feet over the armrest. “Holy shit, you’ve really got a little league team going here,” he said, sitting up slightly.

“Nah, there’s only four of them,” Steve said, smacking his legs. “And Sinclair’s the only one with any coordination.”

“Hey!” Mike said. At the same time, he tripped over the last step and had to grab the railing to keep from falling on his face. Will covered his mouth to keep from laughing. Mike looked embarrassed and said, “Don’t talk like you know us.”

“He does, though,” Carol said. “He was just telling us about all of you. Said you were a bunch of little geniuses, especially Henderson. Which one of you is Henderson?”

Dustin grinned and raised his hand. “That’s me,” he said.

“Aw, well, at least you have that going for you, huh?” Carol gave him a little smirk and plopped herself down on Tommy’s lap. He hadn’t sat up completely, so she landed half on his stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

Dustin didn’t know what to make of any of that, so he shook it off and went back to Steve and the notebook. He crossed his arms and gave Steve his most challenging stare. “Look, we heard what happened from Will. We’re caught up, and we want to help, but first, can you prove you’re from the future?” he asked.

Steve huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that. I just hid my Delorean over in the quarry.”

Everyone gave him a blank look at that, Tommy and Carol included. “Like, the car with the gull wings?” Tommy asked. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”

Steve groaned and rolled his head back. “Fuck, that movie was from ‘85, wasn’t it? I couldn’t keep this shit straight the first time through. I was pumped full of freaky Russian truth serum when I saw it.”

“Woah, wait, Russians? When did Russians get involved? You didn’t tell us about that.” Carol got up, knocking the breath out of Tommy again, and went over to try to grab the notebook from Steve. He held it above his head, out of her reach. “Well, then tell us the damn story already! You’re not making any sense.”

“None of this has happened yet,” Steve said, “and if I can help it, none of it is going to happen. Not the tunnels or the demodogs or the Russians infiltrating Hawkins or Vecna with his fucking psychic attacks.” He stopped and took a breath, trying to calm himself down. The hand with the notebook came back down and Carol took it from him without much of a fight. “Okay. Let’s start from the top. I might as well tell all of you guys together, because Will tells these little shitheads everything anyway.”

“Hey!” Mike and Dustin said together. Lucas just looked amused by all of it, and Will felt kind of proud of everything. They were all in it together, and with the things that Steve knew, they were going to figure out a plan to get his friends back.

#the trolley problem #time travel #stranger things #steddie #my writing

8 notes · View notes

banditcoyote · 3 years

Text

Wrangled and Tangled

Sasuga stood by the sink washing the last of the dishes from tonights meal. She smiled softly to herself as her tail flicked behind her, happy about the sets of cups and plates she had picked out, feeling domesticated and settled looking over the two sets of dishes her and her lover had shared, something about them in the drying rack felt almost romantic to her. But maybe it was just the way the sunset was showing so pink and purple over the water that was making her feel that way, the cool summer breeze blowing in from the open Lanai. She hummed to herself a little as she dried her hand and reached for the first plate, ready to dry them herself, when the dish cloth was plucked out of her hands swiftly.

“Let me take care of that.” Simon said perching himself onto the counter and starting to dry one of their plates.

“All the left overs put away?” she asked leaning against the counters and bringing her wine to her lips.

“Most of them.” he said with a nod. “Except for the second helping I couldn’t resist, which is now residing in my stomach.”

She laughed lightly, brushing her hair back behind her ear “Well I’m glad you enjoyed it.” She said with a nod, moving to cozy up to him just a little bit, her eyes full of warmth, and maybe a bit of mischief. “Maybe we can enjoy some other things when you’re done putting those dishes away.” She said with a curl to her lips.

Simon returned the smile and took a moment to lean down to kiss her easily, drawing back with a little hum. “I can think of some things for sure.” He added. “But before we get too distracted.” He placed the clean plate down on the counter and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small ring box and placing it on the counter next to her hand. “Happy Anniversary.”

Sasuga froze at the sight of the small velvet box and her large eyes went wide, slowly looking up into Simon’s face, searching for the meaning.

Simon at once realizing what she might have thought smiled and blushed. “I know we’ve talked about it, but this is just a promise ring.” Sasuga let go of the breath she was holding with some relief. He picked the box up and opened it. “See?” inside was a thing gold band with a small rose quartz crystal cut into the shape of a heart that side horizontal to the finger. He reached for her left hand and slid it on to her ring finger kissing it into place. “I love you Sasuga, I know that this might not be perfect, but I wanted you to know how much you mean to me.” Sasuga looked to the ring on her finger, feeling tears pull at the corner of her eyes. He hopped down from the counter “Oh no….is it too much? I know we said we weren’t going to do anything, that dinner was enough but-“

She shook her head “Don’t be stupid.” She said choking back her emotions. “I love it. I love you….Thank you.” She looked at the ring again before reaching up to tug on one of his horns pulling him down into a kiss. “Forget the dishes….come on.” She said, her tail already snaking up around his waist to guide him toward their bedroom.

Coyote woke up with a start, staring up into the dark ceiling above him. He contemplated for a moment what that dream could have meant, and his jaw tightened in his face. Did Sasuga sleep with Simon while he was away, it was the only rule he had given. Or maybe that had made the whole thing more enticing for the two of them. Still, why would Sasuga end up with Simon, he had the feeling he was absent, that house not looking familiar to him in the slightest. He closed his eyes again, almost willing it to come back to him, but some of the finer details were already fading from his memory, and all he remembered was the way the pair looked longingly at each other before they kissed. He gave a little growl and pushed himself up quickly to throw on some jeans and a shirt.

“Coyote?” Shishi asked lifting his head from where he was curled up on one of the pillows. “Where are you going?” he asked rubbing one of his eyes sleepily.

“I’m heading back to the Makai” he told Shishi as he pulled his shirt down over his torso.

The imp eyed the view appreciatively before his senses snapped back to him. “Should I be worried?” he asked knowing of Coyote’s sometimes prophetic dreams, and he wondered if he had some type of vision of Sasuga’s fights. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Coyote shook his head. “No. No. It’s nothing like that it’s….” only he wasn’t entirely sure he could begin to really understand it himself. He shook his head “Sasuga’s fine. I just need to see her. I only had that one other show at the end of the week anyway, stay here, I’ll go tell Russell to pack everything up and head on home. You’ll be fine finding a flight right? I mean, stay the night, don’t leave on my account.”

Shishi laughed “Oh it was that kind of dream was it?” he grinned. “Okay, Well, tell her I said hello and get back safely.” He said as he yawned and laid back down to sleep. “I’m sure Kurama and Gatlin will be happy to have me home, if they haven’t torn each other apart yet…”

Coyote slapped on his cowboy hat and grabbed a jacket though he felt his skin burning. “And you remember what we said about this right?” he asked as he headed toward the door.

“My lips are sealed.” Shishi murmured. “Not a word to anyone”

“Especially to Sasuga.” He confirmed hand on the door.

“Especially Sasuga.” Shishi promised “She’d probably be more upset with me than you anyway” and waved him off.

Coyote found himself easily at his ring manager’s trailer, pounding on the door. He felt bad to be waking Russell up like this but he knew he couldn’t just disappear in the middle of the night and leave Shishi to explain for him, things looked weird enough having him around. Russell answered the door, looking as if he was still blinking back sleep. “Coyote, everything alright?” he asked looking around.

“No…Um no, there was a fire back at the ranch.” He said lying on his feet. Thinking easily of the fire at Thom’s he could use as a cover even if the time line wouldn’t match up. He figured it would never get back to Russell anyways. The manager looked concerned. “It’s nothing big, a small one thank god, no one hurt, but I really should get out there, I know we only have the exhibit at the end of the week so I was just going to head home now. Would that be too much of a pain for ya’ll to handle?”

Russell cleared the sleep from his eyes with his hand “Yeah, yeah I can handle it no problem. Take care, hope it’s as small as you say.” He said and headed back to his bed.

Coyote made one more stop, saying farewell to Poncho in his trailer, before he headed towards the nearest portal in the woods, which was still pretty far, and Coyote had to be careful no one saw him as he slipped into the woods and transformed, having to sprint as fast as he could to reach the portal before daylight. He was glad he had the foresight to try and keep his motorcycle as close to him as possible, as the only other way he could have gotten there was to fly back home and then race to her, and he wasn’t sure he could stand being on a plane the way he was feeling. All cooped up without being able to run or move, or do anything. It would have been torture, not like the past few weeks hadn’t been. The time away from Sasuga had been harder than he’d like to admit, and he already knew he would never plan on being away from her like this again. All the time away from her he had felt like pulling his skin off. He had helped Thom around her house before he left, and at the rodeo he did more of the manual work than anyone really wanted him to. He ran Poncho as often as he felt he could without causing the poor animal too much strain, and then would run laps as fast as he could as long as he could well into the night. But it was never enough, the women that tried to greet him as soon as he stepped out of the rodeo corral still enticed him to the point he had to nearly run back to his RV. All that hair, perfume, and how the hell where they making such good bras now adays? Though he was sure that some of breasts out there weren’t only held up by a bra but maybe some type of surgery, that didn’t sway him away any. Then the fact that in some of the more populous areas there were actual demon women in the crowds, and those he really had to avoid. He was sure they’d sense something about him, and he was doing his best to be incognito. Luckily his prior years of fooling around with plenty of the women at these things rarely had any of his crew spotting him being social, so now that he was hiding out on his own it went unnoticed. Coyote tried to run himself ragged, exercise, the rodeo, his variety of plants and a few sex toys paired unironically with the body pillow he had snuck on board, none of it had done the exact trick. Which had then led him to call Shishi. It had been a long shot, but it didn’t take much convincing getting him to come out to see him in secret, even if he was a bit miffed at having to mostly stay hidden at the events. Coyote let him have the pass into where the wives or girlfriend’s normally sat, and he posed in his refinery during the events when it fancied him. It had helped tire him out, but he still hadn’t been getting enoug

He thought he could remain out here for the full month, and they had gotten so close, it was almost silly to run now. But after the dream with her and Simon he just couldn’t deny the ache he felt for his mate any longer and he had to find his way back to her. Dawn was just about to break as he reached the portal and he wasted no time heading through it and heading towards where he had hidden his bike. He felt like a dog that had gotten a scent, and he wasn’t going to rest until he got to her. **** Four days later still hours from dawn, Coyote stashed the bike behind the hotel, barely taking care to hide it, and stumbled into the lobby. He had all the faith in the world that Sasuga was still in the tournament, and held the most hope that meant she was still in the hotel room that he had the key stashed for. He limped into the lobby where the clerk paled at the site of him. “Sir….” He said rushing around the desk and towards him. “Do you need a medic?” he asked looking him over.

Coyote didn’t waste the energy to speak to him and only shook his head as he stumbled forward before catching his balance again. He knew what he looked like, but wasn’t stopped as it was clear the clerk in his pristine uniform was afraid to touch him at all.

“Is there someone I can call?” he said walking along side him as Coyote shuffled to the elevator, bracing himself against the lobby wall and causing a smear of blood to press into the wall paper.

Coyote considered it for a moment, but shook his head again. If Sasuga was still in the tournament this late in the game there was a chance she was injured as well, and he wanted her to save her strength for fighting. He’d be okay. He just needed a shower, some stitches, and her.

The clerk did not follow him into the elevator, being the main hotel for the tournament he was surely not the only injured guest they received, and he retreated back to their desk, probably to call for maintenance to clean up whatever other mess Coyote had left behind him. He leaned against the wall as it started it’s ascension toward the upper floors, again leaving a smear of dirt and blood where his shoulder braced himself. A few droplets of blood dripping from somewhere onto the floor. It seemed to take forever for the elevator to reach it’s destination, the doors pausing once as a couple was about to get on, but after seeing him let him go on without a question. Coyote almost passed out, unsure if it was from blood loss or exhaustion, but the dinging and wooshing of the doors riled him, and he staggered out into the hallway. Knowing he was so close to Sasuga spurred him on, and he was relieved to find that the card key still worked. He let himself into the hotel room, finding it dark and quiet and he did his best to move with stealth into the bathroom. He passed the bed and spotted Sasuga sleeping peacefully by herself, he was grateful for this because with the rage that was still somewhat in his veins if he had found Simon with her he might have taken a regrettable action. In that moment iat took everything in him to not simply cover her with himself, though with how dirty he was he knew it would only concern her more. There was blood in his mouth and under his fingernails, matting his hair down and sticking to his hat. Better to clean himself up first, and he shut the bathroom door behind him before turning on the light.

He did his best not to look at himself in the mirror, but finding it a necessity to assess some of the damage. If he had made it this far like this it couldn’t have been too bad. Still he was in rough shape. Not only was his face cut, bruised, and swollen, but he had also lost enough weight that he appeared gaunt under the torn and dirty clothes he wore. He slowly undressed, assessing each wound, fresh bruises forming on top of old ones, some cuts that were still bleeding every time he moved, gashes that would no doubt need to be closed up. He hissed as some of the clothing stuck to him where blood had dried, let his effects fall to the floor, his gun empty and tucked back in his holster, and stepped into the shower letting the water strike at his feet until it was warm enough to step into. He braced himself against the wall, letting it flow over his hair and down his back, feeling the sense of relief start to fill him as well. He had made it, he was close to resting, and he was close to his mate, that was all he could ask for right now.

#cut for length and posting

3K notes · View notes

dem-obscure-imagines · 3 years

Text

Growth Spurt

Jedediah Smith x Reader

Fandom: Night at the Museum

Summary: When a battle breaks out at the Smithsonian, you need all the help you can get. Your magic, however, has a mind of its own.

Note: Takes place during NATM 2. I’m a little out of my comfort zone on this one, so let me know what you think lol. I might be willing to write a part 2...?

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 1.3k

Reader is: Female

This was bad. Very, very bad. At the moment, you were in Washington D.C. Ahk’s brother was crazy, apparently, and he was recruiting all of the powerful villains he could possibly assemble, and he wanted to, basically, use the tablet to rule the world. Add to this the fact that he had captured Jed and stuck him in an hourglass.

Add to THAT the fact that he had snatched your family amulet from around your neck…you figured the man must have a death wish. If only he knew what he was messing with.

And yet, the forces he had assembled were too great for you to comfortably overpower without the rest of your friends present, so you figured it was best to keep your powers a secret, even if only to preserve the element of surprise.

“You got this, partner. I know you do.” Jed put his little hands against the glass, his eyes sad, but hopeful. “I’ll be fine. Go.”

“But—”

“Go!”

“Come on,” Larry gave your arm a tug, and though your eyes lingered on poor little Jed, trapped there in the glass, you followed after Larry.

It was an odd friendship you shared with Jed. He flirted with you, you laughed. It was impossible. He was about an inch and a half tall. And yet, the flirting never stopped and he never hesitated to remind you of your beauty, especially when you doubted yourself the most. You were powerful and he admired you for that, but he also loved your laugh, your smile…he knew it was silly and that there was no chance of something serious between the two of you, but that didn’t seem to prevent him from trying…

Amelia caught up with the two of you easily and you caught her up on the situation at hand.

You checked in with a Theodore Roosevelt without a body, but he didn’t have much to contribute to the situation. Neither did the Thinker. And so, the three of you headed out across the campus in search for answers. If not, Jed’s hour in that hourglass would be his last.

“So, this cowboy friend of yours, are the two of you…?” Amelia asked.

“Are we what? Dating?”

“Yes, that. You care about him, that much is clear.”

“I mean, yeah, but it just wouldn’t work out.”

“And why not?”

“He’s a miniature.” Larry explained. “He’s about two inches tall.”

“Oh!” She laughed. “Well, that would complicate things, now wouldn’t it?”

“You can say that again.” You thought for a moment. “Hey, weren’t there some Einsteins in the Air and Space Museum? I bet they’d be able to help.”

Larry snapped. “Good thinking.”

So, after a brief chat with the Einsteins, the three of you took the Wright Brothers’ plane and crashed it through the window of the building Kahmunrah had set up base in. Amelia ran to get help and you hopped off of the plane and took refuge behind a pillar, watching as Larry argued with Kahmunrah, wracking your brain for something, anything, some spell that would work to get Jed out of that hour glass.

And then it clicked.

It was a longshot, and you knew that, but if it worked…

As soon as Larry got the hourglass, you called out, “Over here!”

“Sparkle Fingers!” Jed lit up.

Larry threw the hourglass to you and you caught it, flipping it so the side Jed was trapped in was on top.

“Seize her!” Kahmunrah shouted.

You booked it as fast as you could down the hall and around a corner, listening as Kah’s guards passed, and once they were a safe distance away, you exhaled a long breath.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me in there.” Jed smiled softly up at you. “Alright, what’s the plan?”

“Well, there’s something my grandmother used to say. She said magic is really very simple; you just have to want something and then let yourself have it.”

“So…?”

“Hold still.” You told him, your power festering around your fingertips. You flicked it down and the purple rays shined through the glass, straight onto Jed.

“Hey, what is that?” Jed asked, somewhat fearful. “What did you do? I feel…weird.”

You bent down and set the hourglass on the floor, taking a few steps back and bracing.

Jed groaned, and then, all at once, the hourglass around him exploded as he grew to human size. He looked down at himself, holding his hands in front of his face as he moved his fingers. He kicked the pieces of the hourglass aside with his foot and looked up at you, his face awash in awe. “Holy smokes, Sparkle Fingers! I didn’t know you had it in you.”

You stared up at him, your eyes wide. You gulped. “Neither did I.”

“Well, I hope you’ve got some more in you. I have a feeling this night is far from over.”

You chuckled, “Me too.”

***

Once the battle was over and the dust had settled, Jed walked straight up to you, a nervous look on his face, his usual confidence dwindled now that he was standing face to face with you after all of this time.

“I…don’t know how much longer your spell is gonna last, so I’ve gotta do this now.” He said, taking off his hat and handing it to Larry, who was, understandably, shocked at the scene unfolding before him. Jed grabbed you by the hips and tugged you into a kiss, his lips exploring yours without hesitation. You kissed him back, your arms winding around the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

The rest of the museum exhibits, who had seen your relationship with Jed grow over the years cheered alongside your new friends, and when the kiss ended, Jed leaned his forehead against yours, smiling softly. His warm breath fanned across your cheeks.

He chuckled, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“Believe me, the feeling is mutual.”

“Oh!” He said, suddenly remembering something. He reached into his pocket and held up your amulet. “I believe this is yours.”

Your eyes widened and you stared at it. You were sure it had been lost when Kahmunrah had been pushed into the portal, but here it was, in perfect shape.

“You…how did you get it back?” You asked as Jed fastened the chain around your neck.

“Let’s just say Octavius and I have a few tricks up our sleeves.” He shrugged. “Speaking of…”

Octavius popped over the top of Jedidiah’s chest pocket. “Hello!”

“Hi, Oct.” You chuckled.

“At some point, I hope you feel so inclined to try that spell out on me.” Octavius said, causing you to smile. “If only to broaden my horizons.”

“When we get back to New York? Absolutely.” You promised.

Larry looked to Amelia. “Speaking of, Amelia, can you fly us home?”

“Certainly, Mr. Daley. It would be my honor.” Amelia nodded, grinning at the sight of you standing next to Jed.

He took your hand and pulled it to his lips, his fingers intertwining with yours. The whole flight back to New York, his arm wouldn’t leave your waist, and once you were finally back and inside the museum, Teddy had to do a double-take.

“Jedediah, my boy, is that you?”

“Had a growth spurt.” Jed shrugged, helping Octavius out of his pocket so he could get downstairs with the others. “And I feel like it’s gonna wear off soon…”

“Yeah…” You felt it, too. Your power slowly leaving him and you couldn’t do anything but watch as he shrank about an inch. And then another.

“Think I could get one more kiss for the road?” Jed asked.

You leaned forward and captured his lips with yours, kissing him one last time before the magic wore off, and when you pulled away, he shrank the rest of the way, back down to his normal size.

“Thanks for the adventure, Sparkle Fingers.” He saluted up at you from his spot on the floor.

“See you tomorrow?”

He winked. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

#jedediah smith #jedediah smith imagine #jedediah smith x reader #jedediah #jedediah x reader #jedediah imagine #night at the museum #night at the museum imagine

332 notes · View notes

darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 3 years

Text

More than just a game

Warnings: dark elements including noncon and rape, oral, fingering, doxxing, stalking, and other explicit content.

This is dark!Jake Jensen and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You find a new gaming buddy but he sees you as more than that.

Note: So this is my first Jake Jensen fic and it was lots of fun so let me know what you think and hope you enjoy. :D

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

Special shout-out to @navybrat817 for helping me with this idea

After too many nights scrolling through subreddits and searching for something to keep you distracted, you decided to bite the hook. Several other redditors agreed to hop on Minecraft and it had been a while since you logged in. You missed the almost relaxing ritual of mining and building.

You joined the chat, quick to hit the little microphone emblem as you listened to the voices in your headset. You learned long ago to keep your mic muted on the servers, especially with strangers. The last time you dared to speak up as a woman in a game chat, your DMs had become so overwhelmed you deleted and started a new account on Discord and changed your ID on Steam.

You were all given your tasks as players called out coordinates and you kept to chopping up the side of a mountain. You mostly worked alone, chatting through text instead of voice chat. As you placed a crafting table in your little mine, another player, JJ-Smooth, popped up and dropped some iron for you.

He stayed close but you didn’t mind. A lot of players tried to work together the deeper they got and you were used to it. As you uncovered some lava, he dumped water before you could get burned and helped you hack up the obsidian.

He thanked you on the voice chat but you knew any courtesy in return would earn you the attention of the entire server. So you dropped some gold for him and went on your way.

“I hear a zombie,” he warned.

You turned to hack up the undead before it could get you, only to be shot by a skeleton hidden on the next level. Another appeared and you died before you could hide, the bony villain killed by your ally as you watched your possession scatter over the death screen.

“Hey, I got your stuff,” he said as you loaded back up, “I’ll find you.”

You typed quickly in the chat, ‘sorry, mic busted, give me your coordinates and I’ll come to you.’

You waited as ‘JJ-Smooth is typing…’ appeared at the bottom and finally he sent the numbers. You hopped over the blocky hills and through the forests until you found the mine again. He was just outside and handed over all your tools and ration. He headed back into the mine and you followed him. This time, you began your own path in the opposite direction.

Before you knew it, you’d lost track of time. You sat back as you realised it was only you and JJ on the server. The silence should have tipped you off earlier. He was the host and you felt super awkward for staying so long. You typed that you were logging off for the night and thanked him.

You hit the keyboard with your knuckle and yawned as you opened the screen,

“God, it’s late,” you muttered.

“Hello?” he said.

Your eyes rounded as you looked at the mic symbol and the lack of red line made you cringe. You’d hit an extra button without noticing.

“Um, hi, sorry, I just--”

“Mic busted, huh?” he asked.

“No, I--” you didn’t know what to say, “anyways, I should--”

“So, you’re a chick? Is that why you mute?”

“Uh, well, it’s just… easier, sorry, I--” even if you weren’t trying to hide from gamer dudes, you weren’t the best at conversation.

“A gamer girl, nice,” he said and you sighed, “sorry, that sounded weird, didn’t it?”

“Mhmm,” you touched your bottom lip as you cupped your chin, “it’s late, I have to work tomorrow.”

“You comin’ back?” he asked, almost hopeful.

“I don’t know--”

“I won’t tell anyone,” he said abruptly, “promise, lips sealed.”

“I really don’t know if I can do this too much, I usually work early mornings so… yeah,” you said.

“I get it but you know you’re always welcome, hope you don’t mind if I send you an invite now and then. No pressure,” he offered.

“Uh, sure,” you shrugged, “okay, yeah, good night.”

You left the chat quickly and pulled off your headset. Shit.

‘I’m Jake by the way,’ a pm popped up, ‘gg.’

You typed back, ‘gg, it was fun’ and quickly logged out. You sat back and rubbed your eyes. Well, he didn’t seem like a total creep, maybe just a bit awkward but so were you. You shut down for the night and stretched out as you switched off the lamp. You were going to pay for your session in the morning.

🎮

A few nights later you got an invite to the server. You debated it but as it was Friday, you decided to make good use of the PC you’d saved up forever to build. You spawned in the middle of nowhere and built a bed before you found the half-finished settlement. You joined the chat but you must have been early as you were the only one there.

You headed back to the same mine, some work done since the first night, and laid your torches as you ventured into the depths. You jumped in your seat as a voice broke your peace.

“I don’t think anyone else is gonna join,” JJ-Smooth, or Jensen said, “you think maybe you’ll unmute?”

You stopped your mining and stared at the screen. You hovered over the mic button and re-read his name, he was the only other one there. You clicked and gave a strained smile to the screen.

“So, um, what’s the goal tonight?” you asked.

“Get some materials and go back to the settlement, keep building, oh, maybe we could try a portal, you ever gone to the nether?” he said but before you could reply he kept on, “shit, I shouldn’t assume, you seem like an experienced player.”

“Yeah, a few times, but I’m more a casual miner,” you went back to harvesting stone and ore.

“Ah,” he said, and it was silent for a moment, “so, you work again in the morning?”

“Not tomorrow,” you said as you focused on the game, “daycare isn’t open on the weekends.”

“A daycare, huh? That sounds fun, I love kids… not in a weird way but you know, I… urgh, I have a niece,” he said with a nervous chuckle, “nah, that’s cool though, sounds more fun than my gig.”

“Oh?” you turned and kept your axe moving.

“IT. You know, some people would be like ‘hey Jensen, why do you spend all your free time staring at a screen when that’s what you do at work?’” he scoffed, “well, who says I’m not mining there too.”

You wrinkled your forehead and gave a small laugh. He was rambling and it was kinda odd. You were happy for once not to be the strange one.

“But anyway,” he said, “I found lots of diamond over here. If we get some lapis lazuli we can build an enchanting table and get some sick armour.”

“Awesome,” you pressed your fingertips to your lip as you leaned on your elbow, “should try to head back before dark…”

“Hard to tell down here. How about you mine and I’ll keep an eye out for monsters?” he offered.

“Sure,” you agreed as he came onto your screen, “that works.”

🎮

Another week went by and you ventured back into the server a few times but not for very long as late nights did not mix with young children. The next weekend, you joined again on Saturday night and like the last few times it was just you and Jensen. You wondered why no one else was joining when the subreddit was so popular but you didn’t worry about it for long.

You mostly played in silence, Jensen did most of the talking and it was never about anything more than the game or his niece’s last soccer game. That night when you left the game, he kept typing on Discord.

‘I like playing with you,’ his message blipped up.

‘Same, thx.’

‘Really, you’re awesome.’

‘Thx :) Tired, gotta sleep.’

‘Sweet dreams.’

‘Night.’

You changed your status to offline and dragged yourself to bed. You opened your phone as you laid in the dark and went to the subreddit, you scrolled through the builds and screenshots of other people’s catastrophes.

You came to Jensen’s last invite post from that night but all the comments complained that the world code was incorrect. Hmm, you should tell him next time.

You blackened your cell and plopped it on your night table. You rolled over and buried your face in the pillow, the light still etched into your vision. You fell asleep quickly and woke the next day to another invite from Jensen.

‘How about some Fortnite? If you’re into it?’

‘Srry, can’t, my mom’s expecting me for lunch.’

‘2 bad, maybe later.’

‘Maybe’.

You got ready to go see your mother for your usual Sunday afternoon visit and it went by like any other. When she asked you what you’d been up to, you didn’t mention the gaming, she was never a fan of it. When you got back home, Jensen was messaging you again. You didn’t open the notification and settled in to catch up on some streaming before another week of work.

Monday hit you like a train and you were glad you hadn’t spent the night mining again. If you had, you doubted you’d even be able to open your eyes. You got to the daycare centre and welcomed in the kids. You got them set up for the morning snack then cleaned up as Sandy took them over to the reading circle.

You wiped the tables and then did some painting before you went out for some play time in the yard. As you watched several of the children on the swings, you glanced around. There was a man across the street. You squinted through the chain link as he seemed to be watching but assured yourself it was nothing as he quickly headed for the corner and disappeared.

Inside, the kids were due for quiet time, some napped and those who didn’t, stared at the ceiling and yawned. You could have joined them but knew that wouldn’t be acceptable. The end of the day came and you helped the kids pack up their paintings and their sweaters. You waited in the yard with them as the parents showed up and handed them off one by one.

You waved to Danika as she clung to her mother and your eye was once more drawn beyond the chain link. The same faded grey jacket, the same glasses, and the hat with the frayed brim. It was a better look at the man. Was he looking at you? Why on earth was he hanging around outside a daycare?

“Sandy,” you turned and lowered your voice as she neared, “see that man?”

She peeked over and shrugged, “which one? The guy crossing the street?”

You looked up again and like before, he was walking away casually as if he hadn’t just been staring through the fence. You shook your head and huffed. “Sorry, never mind.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” she waved her fingers, “come on, let’s clean up.”

With the kids all sorted out, you went back in and tidied up the last of their mess. You and Sandy were friendly but like with any, you weren’t very talkative. You never really knew what to say but you were never unkind.

You pulled on your jacket and checked your purse for your phone and wallet. You checked the time and turned off the lights. You bid Sandy goodbye as she headed for her SUV and you took your usual route down the sidewalk towards your bus stop.

You stopped short as the man was there. You were paranoid, he must just be waiting for the same route. You approached and he turned to watch you as you sat on the bench. He smiled and the dread sank deep in your chest.

His rectangular glasses gave light to his blue eyes and a goatee trimmed his jaw. He was tall and well-built, you could tell even under his comic book tee. He was going to talk to you, another weirdo in the city.

“Hey,” his voice was chillingly familiar, “how was your day?”

You stared at him and blinked cluelessly. You looked around, it was only the two of you. You opened your mouth but you had to be wrong. He said your name and you winced.

“Jensen?” you breathed as you stood and squeezed the strap of your bag, “why? How--?”

“You weren’t answering me, I was worried,” he said, “just making sure you’re okay.”

“What the-- I don’t understand how--” He stepped closer and you backed up against the bench. “Don’t, I’ll scream.”

“Scream? Why? I’m just-- You know me, it’s me, Jensen.”

“You doxxed me?” you snapped, “what the hell?”

“No, I didn’t-- I’m just checking on you--”

“I don’t know you,” you said as your heart began to race, “so please, leave me alone,” you edged away from him, “and don’t message me again.”

You sprinted across the street and as you came up on the curb, you looked back at him. He watched you but didn’t follow. You could tell from there he wasn’t happy but the brim of his cap shadowed most of his face so you couldn’t guess if it was hurt or anger. You quickly spun away and continued down the next street to the nearest stop.

You couldn’t believe he’d just shown up like that. You couldn’t believe he would think that was okay. You couldn’t believe he’d think that much about you.

🎮

You blocked Jensen on Discord and left his world on Minecraft. That night you were shaky and nervous, afraid that he would show up at your apartment. Did he know where you lived? He must if he could figure out where you worked.

You didn’t open Steam that night. You paced your small apartment, jumping at every noise. Sleep didn’t come easily but in shallow spurts that left you even more tired. You watched over your shoulder as you walked to your stop and boarded with one eye on the door.

Work was little better as you found yourself distracted in the room full of toddlers. Sandy asked if you were okay as you kneaded play-do violently. You shook yourself out of your paranoia and assured her you were only short on sleep, not a complete lie.

You took out your phone when you stepped out for a small break. Your mom had called but you would have to get back to her when you had two hours to waste. There was another notification, that one from Discord, a friend request from JJ-NoRematch. It wasn’t hard to guess who it was and you declined it right away.

There were several others from Jensen, too. He followed your Insta, blocked; he followed your mostly empty twitter, blocked; and he even commented on your LinkedIn like a weird. You closed your phone and took a breath before you headed back into the kids, their voices rising in their excitement to go outside.

In the yard, you had another look around, expecting to see him there on the other side of the fence. You were slightly relieved when he wasn’t but still on edge. You joined a game of tag then watched several of the kids line up for the slide. You lost yourself in your job as you told yourself he must have gotten the hint, at least not to bother you irl.

Just like the day before, and every day, you left work and headed for your stop. He wasn’t there either and you sat down and phoned your mom, hanging up as the bus pulled up with a promise to call her again when you were home. At home, you felt almost normal again and checked your notifications; no more follows, no more requests, nothing.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday passed in a similar fashion. Each saw your anxieties less than the day before. You even resolved to open Steam and start a new world for yourself. You spent hours mining and almost fell asleep in your chair. When you nearly tipped over, you decided it was time for bed.

You slept better than you had all week and woke up before noon. You wanted to log right back on but you had life to deal with; groceries, cleaning, and of course, making that call to your mother you’d delayed the night before. After all that, you felt accomplished and you decided to treat yourself to take out, a rare divulgence.

You called the local Chinese eatery and waited eagerly for your feast as you turned on a new episode of your current binge. You played on your phone until the battery was low and had enough juice to buzz up the delivery man. You dug for your wallet as you went to the door and unlocked it without looking up.

“How much--” you asked as you opened the door.

Your eyes met a familiar pair, two blue gems behind a pair of narrow glasses. Jensen wore the same cap and held the paper bag of take-out with a smile. You grabbed the door and tried to swing it shut but he was too quick as he slapped a large hand against the peeling paint.

“It’s on me,” he said, “I love spare ribs.”

“What the--” you gasped as you pushed on the door helplessly, “please go away.”

“You’re not answering me,” he said as he stepped closer and forced you back as his body brushed against yours, “you blocked me and I can’t even get a hey, Jensen, how are you?”

“I don’t want you here,” you tried to shove him and he shouldered you away easily, “get out!”

He slammed the door and you flinched. He put the bag down on the corner table and reached back to twist the lock without a look. His eyes roved around your entryway and further into your apartment. He smiled as they stilled and focused on you.

“This place is cute… like you,” he said and you heard a slight hesitation in his voice.

You swallowed and backed away from him. You spun on your heel and ran for your couch. You reached over the back to your phone and unlocked it as the battery icon flashed. You had just enough juice to make the call. You dialed as you turned back to him.

“I’m calling the police so you b-better l-leave,” you warned as your voice and hands shook, “I me--”

He was quick and before you could pull away, he swiped your cell out of your hand. He scoffed and tossed it across the room. It hit the wall and landed screen down on the hardwood. You bit down and pressed yourself to the couch. You stared at him and kicked yourself forward as you tried to slip past him. He caught you and wrestled you back into the front room.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked calmly as you struggled in his grasp, “I’ve been nothing but nice to you.”

“N-no, you’re-- you-- let me go,” you stammered as he angled you around the couch. He pushed you down so you bounced on the cushion. You tried to push yourself up and he pointed his finger in your face and wagged it.

“No, you stay,” he growled and wiped his other hand on his jeans. He was nervous, even if he was angry.

“Please, why-- what do you want?” you grasped the cushion and hovered at the edge of the couch.

He sighed and sat in the chair. He took his hat off and set it on the table as he ran his fingers through his short hair.

“Good question,” he said as his jaw squared and his eyes turned to pinpoints, “better one, why did you block me?”

“Are you serious? You-- you--” you struggled to get your words out, your voice even more splintered by your fear, “you doxxed me, you came to-- to my work-- and…”

“I thought we were getting along. I thought you liked me,” he said with a frown, “I really did, you sure acted like it and-- I only wanted to make sure you were safe.”

“But why wouldn’t I be? I--” you shivered and crossed your arms as you withered beneath his gaze, “Jensen, this was only supposed to be online.”

He scoffed and stomped his boot on the floor. He shook his head as he looked to the ceiling and his anger bulged along his temple. He tilted his head and looked at you again.

“You know, for years, I have been a nice guy, I am a nice guy,” he pushed his shoulders to his ears as he threw his hand out, “I’m so patient and caring and you girls, you don’t even give me a second look.”

“Jensen--”

“No, really, I mean look at you, you’re no supermodel and yet it’s the same thing, ‘let’s just be friends’,” he spat, “but I watch guys all the time treat women like shit and they don’t have any trouble at all, they got them hanging off of them and I’m a creep for giving them a compliment or opening the door--”

“I don’t… know you,” you eked out, “you have to understand--”

“I don’t understand,” he stood abruptly, “I’m done trying to understand.”

He pulled his jacket open and slid it down his arms. You watched him sling it over the chair and as he turned back to you, you stood. He caught your shoulders and held you in place. His strength was plain in his grip as he squeezed then slowly moved his hands to cradle your face.

“I just wanna be nice,” he said as he leaned in. You tried to pull away but he moved a hand around the back of your head and forced your lips against his. He poked his tongue inside your mouth roughly as you tried to shove him away. Finally, he parted, his hands still firmly around your head, “wasn’t that nice?”

“Please,” you begged as he ran his thumb over your bottom lip.

His eyes searched your face as you stared back at him in terror. He sighed and dropped his hands back to your shoulders. He pushed you down to the sofa harshly and backed away.

“Fine, I won’t be nice,” he snarled as he took his glasses off and folded them carefully. He put them on the table beside his cap and twined his fingers together, loudly cracking his knuckles.

You blinked at him as your eyes grew glossy. You brought your legs up under you and pressed yourself to the back of the couch. You grasped the upholstery and turned as you launched yourself over to the other side. You stumbled as you landed on your feet and ran for the door.

You were yanked back as he snaked his arms around you and took you off your feet. You kicked out and screamed but it was cut off by his palm as he kept one arm around your middle. You scratched at his hand as he dragged you back to the couch. He pushed you face down onto the cushions and planted his knee in the middle of your back, slipping his hand away as he put enough weight on you to keep your voice suffocated.

“Listen, I know I look like some IT nerd but I’m a lot more than that, now don’t make me hurt you,” he played with your hair as he smiled down at you, “you try that again and I will shut you up and if someone hears you, I can take care of them too.”

You sniffed as tears pricked in your eyes and nodded frantically as it felt as if he would snap your spine. He pushed off of you and you stayed as you were, paralysed with fear. He sat and unlaced his boots one at a time. He looked up as he set them neatly beside the foot of the chair and he bent to catch your eye.

“Well?” he pointed at you and traced the line of your body in the air, “let’s go.”

You stared at him dumbly and he stood to pull his tee over his head. His torso was sculpted perfectly and his chest trimmed with hair that trailed all the way down to his pants. He stepped forward and tugged at the back of your shirt.

“You want me to do it for you, baby?” he purred, “I can help you.”

You swatted him away and sat up. You bent your legs to your chest and hugged them. “Please, I’m scared, just leave me alone--”

His hand rested on his belt and exhaled again. His fingers moved swiftly to unloop the striped belt and unbutton his jeans. He pushed them down, nearly tripping as he stepped out of them. He stood in his boxers, tented with his impatient excitement, and gripped his hips.

“It’s okay, baby, I know you’re shy, I am too,” he neared and you winced as he grabbed your wrist. He tugged on your arm and you resisted until he bent your hand back painfully and you cried out. He tickled your jaw as he looked you in the eye and tutted, “it doesn’t have to be like this, alright?”

You went limp and let him pull your arms apart. Your legs slipped down and your feet dangled above the floor. He got to his knees and pushed between yours. He slowly rolled up the hem of your shirt and bent to kiss your stomach as he bared the flesh. You trembled as he forced your arms up and swooped the fabric over your head. It fluttered through the air and to the floor as he cupped your tits through your bright pink bra.

“Is this so bad?” he asked as he nuzzled your chest and pushed your tits up.

He glided the straps down your arm and slid your bra lower so that you popped out. He nibbled at your flesh and traced your nipples with his tongue. You sat rigid and let him explore your body, too terrified to move a muscle. He reached around you and struggled with the hooks, frustrated he snapped the clasps and the band came free.

He continued to play with your chest, his fingers crawling up and down your stomach and sides. There was a genuine curiosity to his touch and it sent a chill through you. His fingertips pressed to the top of your pants and he pulled at them as his lips travelled down to your hip.

He tugged on your pants and jerked your entire body. He tore them lower as he pushed you up and you lifted yourself to let him peel away the layer. He added them to the floor and toyed with the elastic of your panties. The little bow in the front drew his attention as he pushed your legs wider and ran his nose along the cotton.

He hummed and rubbed his fingers down your crotch, pushing the fabric to your folds as he teased you through them. You inhaled sharply at the tingle it inspired and he pressed firmer against you, flicking his fingers along your bud as he noticed how it made you squirm.

He gently pulled aside the cotton and you felt his hot breath against you. You pushed on his head before he could delve into you. “Please, don’t--”

“Shhhh,” he threw your hand away from his head and bent over you, “just relax.”

He dragged his tongue along your cunt and lingered around your clit. You clenched as it sent a thrill through you and he moved his lips against you, suckling at you bud as your breaths grew raspy. You pushed yourself against the back of the couch and dug your nails into the cushion.

He slid a finger along your cunt and circled your entrance. He rubbed up and down as he kept his tongue swirling over your clit and you swallowed back as gasp as he poked inside. He felt around and added another finger, stretching you as he carefully pushed them in and out of you in time with his mouth.

He lapped you up and you closed your eyes, desperate to resist the coil winding within you. Your legs tensed against the couch and you tilted your pelvis without thinking. He sped up, the noise of his mouth and your slickness filled the silence. You let out a puff and moaned as you slapped the couch. The waves rolled over your flesh and you came into his mouth with a pathetic mewl.

He stilled his fingers as he lazily teased you with his tongue. He pulled his fingers out and sat back, the heat between your legs cooling in his absence as he licked up your juices. He watched you as he sucked his fingers and stood. Your head lolled and you edged forward on the couch. You tried to stand but he caught you and flung you back.

“We’re not done, baby,” he winked at you as he grasped the top of his boxers, “go on, lay down.”

You murmured your refusal and once more tried to get up. You slipped onto the floor and shakily crawled away as he dropped his boxers to his ankle. He grabbed you before you could get around the side and lifted you easily. He turned you and shoved you down onto your back as he lifted a leg over you.

He straddled you and again his hands roved over your body. You smacked at his fingers weakly but he easily ignored you. He kept one hand moving along your curves as he stroked himself with the other. He groaned and shook as he stroked his dick. Your eyes followed his hand and you gulped, he was thick.

He moved his knees back and pushed them up beneath your thighs as he kept a hand planted on your chest. He ripped your panties down your legs and untangled them from your feet.

He held you down as he ran his tip along your cunt, wetting himself with your coerced arousal. You groaned and grabbed the arm of the couch above you. You tried to pull away from him.

He pushed against your entrance and you looked at him in shock. You couldn’t stop him. His eyes were set between your legs as he inhaled and slowly eased into you. He gasped as he got his tip inside you and his muscles tensed. He bit his lip as he dove further in and you gasped as he filled you inch by inch.

“Shitttt,” he moaned as he reached his limit and you whined at how full you were, “oh, baby.”

His hand slid from your chest and he gripped your hips as he pulled back and thrust. You exclaimed and he did it again, slowly as he watched himself impale you over and over. You curled your fingers against the couch arm and your feet arch as you pressed your thighs around him. He lifted your pelvis high as he angled his dick even deeper.

“You feel so good,” he rasped, “oh, baby, you’re so good. Ahh-hh-hh,” his voice fizzled as your walls clenched him and you closed your eyes as you felt the heat building.

He moved his hand along your thigh and stretched it over your pelvis, pushing his thumb to your clit as he kept his pace. He purred as you writhed helplessly against him and you panted through the rising ecstasy.

“Please, please, please…” you chanted, unsure if you were begging him to stop or for more.

He moaned as he sped up and you sucked your lip under your teeth as you neared your peak. You quivered as your orgasm crashed into you and you let out a strangled cry. He snarled and planted his hands beside your head as he leaned over you, his hot breath tickled your face as he pounded into you.

Your legs bent around him as his pelvis rubbed against you and the friction drove you to another climax. You held onto the arm of the couch as he fucked your harder and harder. He kissed you and nibbled at your lip as he groaned and hooked an arm under to hold you close.

“You’re gonna make me cum, baby,” he said against your cheek and you turned your head away from, “ah, here I--”

He spasmed and slammed into you. He took several long thrusts and stilled. He grunted and drew heavy breaths as he rested his weight over you. He grabbed your head and turned your head up as he pressed his forehead to yours. You kept your eyes closed as the flames slowly dwindled.

“Was that so bad?” he stroked your cheek and trailed his finger down to poke between your lips, “No, it’s what you wanted, isn’t it, baby?” he wiggled his hips and you hissed, “yeah, you want me.”

#jake jensen #dark jake jensen #dark!jake jensen #jake jensen x reader #the losers #fic #dark!fic #dark fic #one shot

808 notes · View notes

mrows-fan-works · 2 years

Text

True Courage: Chapter Ten

Word Count: 1529

Tags: None

Rating: Teen and Up

Chapter Nine and Chapter Eleven

A03 Link:

After two days of trudging through snow Wind was sure he’d never ever live in snow voluntarily for the rest of his life. It clung to absolutely everything. It melted and got into the most inconvenient places. His ankles were freezing. Now he understood why Legend and Time hated the cold so much. Wind found himself cursing the person responsible for those damned portals once again. Why, of all places in Wild’s vast Hyrule, was he stuck in the few places that were cold and miserable? He was going to smack whoever’s bright idea it was to force him to be cold if it was the last thing he did.

The one thing that helped him in his misery was that he wasn’t alone in it. Elenor was with him every step of the way. Kit, lucky Kit, got to nap on the sled for most of the day, but occasionally he would hop out to hunt and join Wind on lookout. From the moment they set out to the second they stopped for the night she was dragging that sled.

Wind collapsed on the bed of needles that he and Elenor had created before dinner.

“Do we really need the sled Elle?” He flopped down on his back dramatically. “ It's so bulky and like…you pull it all day. There’s gotta be a faster way to move around right?”

Elenor had started gathering wood from said sled to start a fire. She sat back a moment contemplating. “Well. If we had a horse, we may be able to move around with everything we have. The chances of seeing a wild horse nearby, however, is a different story. Not to mention taming one.”

Kit sat up, “Mrumph.” He agreed as he looked over at Wind.

Wind stretched and sat up, “That won’t be too much of a problem. My brother taught me how he does it.” Okay, so he didn’t teach him specifically. But he was there when Wild taught Legend how to tame one. They had needed one for their trip through Hyrule field several jumps ago. Wind had been stuck as a passenger because he wasn’t ‘old enough’ to actually tame his own horse. Really, Wind thought they were just being nice enough to say he was too short. Whatever, he could tame a horse if he put his mind to it.

Elenor gave him a curious look as she lit the wood, “You have a brother that can tame horses?”

“Yeah, uh, two-wait- three that know how to handle them. My Uncle and older brother Twilight run ranches. They know everything about horses But if you want to know how to deal with wild horses, you gotta talk to my brother…uh well, Wild.”

Elenor whistled, “That's a lot of experience. So…Wild taught you how to tame horses?”

Wind made a so-so motion, “Yes? At least I was there when he was explaining it.” Wind tried to grin convincingly. To be honest, he felt the sled, while able to hold everything they needed, hindered them. Especially their speed. A horse would make things easier for both of them in the long run.

At this point dinner was heating up on the fire Elenor had built. She handed him the spoon for him to stir. “Well, I can’t argue with that. A horse would be faster and easier on the both of us.”

Wind kept cautiously stirring as Elenor continued, “The problem is actually finding a horse.” Bowls clattered as dinner was plated. Both dug in. The only sound to be heard was the evening chirps of birds and the rustling of trees. Wind began to sweat despite the chill. He could never handle silence for long, try as he might. Elenor seemed lost in thought. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared into her soup. Wind recognized the look from the one’s Time and Legend whenever they were remembering something. Twilight or Hyrule would always step in and talk to them. But…Wind didn’t really know Elenor that well and didn’t want to cross any boundaries.

So, instead of inquiring about the problem, he changed the subject. “Are we making good progress?”

That seemed to shake Elenor out of her thoughts, “We’re doing as well as expected. Thankfully we haven’t hit any setbacks as of yet. Actually, we should be hitting our first landmark soon.”

Wind took another bite of soup and nodded encouragingly to show he was following along. A grin lit up Elenor’s face, “I’m not sure what it’s called, but I found it after the Calamity. It’s just past the snowfield. It's at the very tip of Tanagar Canyon. It’s built into the canyon itself. Obviously, it looks a bit rough off by now, thanks to Ganon, but it’s still one of the most magnificent things I’ve ever seen.”

Setting down his bowl for a moment, Wind agreed, “It sounds amazing. I can’t wait to see it.”

With dinner finished, both travelers cleaned up the mess and curled into their furs. Wind was backed up against a large pine. Its gnarly roots provided a space for him to curl up comfortably next to the fire that blazed on. Elenor had chosen a spot on the other side of the fire near a bush. Granted, it was a large bush, but it was clear that she wanted to give Wind his space. Which he appreciated. He wasn’t in the mood to be in close proximity to anybody right now.

Wind snuggled into his makeshift bed, feeling the coarse fur of his new shawl. He made a point to lay on his shoulder that was unburdened by War’s spaulder. Taking it off didn’t feel right to him. The thought of it made his heart hurt, so he left it on. It also happened to be his injured shoulder. It felt much better after several potions and rest. But Wind could tell it was going to scar something fierce. He was glad that Elenor didn’t push when she pointedly looked at it, then him. She had a gift of asking questions without using her words. All Wind had to do was shake his head and she dropped it. She reminded him of Legend in that way, always respecting when someone wasn’t willing to do something.

Crickets had joined the birds in their nightly chorus. The fire crackled joyously into the night. Despite the clean air and calm atmosphere, Wind couldn’t seem to close his eyes. He shifted to glance at Elenor.

“Elle?”

“Yes?” It was obvious from her voice that she had been having the same trouble as he.

“Do you miss your life before the Calamity?”

Wind continued to look at her as she shifted to face the fire. He couldn’t identify the look in her eyes, “Sometimes.”

Wind looked away for a moment, “Do you miss anyone, you know, from before?”

A stranger look crossed her face, but her voice was earnest when she answered, “Every single day.”

“Can I ask who?” He floundered for a moment, “You don’t have to. I was just wondering if, maybe…” What was he doing? Why ask such a personal question? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t-”

“It’s alright, Wind. I understand. I miss someone very dear to me in my old life, and I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it quite yet. But,” Wind looked into her eyes at her change in tone, “I know what you’re feeling. The longing is hard to deal with. If there was any way I could see who I love again, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Nothing could stop me. Not even a country-wide trip.”

Wind sighed. It didn’t stop the longing, as Elenor had put it, but it did relieve some anxiety. She understood, at least in part, what he was going through. He felt something in him settle. Was this what he wanted? Someone to understand him?

“You’re really brave. You know that?” This got a laugh out of him. If only she knew how scared he really felt. It was strange. Many hylians thought that being a Hero of Courage meant an absence of fear. For the most part, yeah, he wasn’t scared of a lot of things, but when it came to the really

important things, like fighting Ganon, saving his little sister, saving Tetra, finding his family, he was scared shitless of never seeing them again. Sure, he’d succeeded so far, but this was so unlike any adventure he’d undertaken before.

Elenor sighed, “Look. I know that right now, this is the last place you expected yourself to be. It’s okay to be scared Wind. Fear does not define your bravery, your actions do. And you, Wind, haven’t given up on them for a second. If I was your family. I would be so proud of you.”

Wind looked away into the crackling fire, face tight. “Thanks Elle.”

He wasn’t sure if he believed her completely. The fear was still there, but the thought of someone understanding where he was coming from made it easier to relax completely. “Goodnight.” He could feel Kit snuggle up against his stomach, making him warmer than he would have been.

“Goodnight Wind.”

#true courage #linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu wind #linked universe fanfic

3 notes · View notes

quicksilversquared · 3 years

Text

Move to Safety: Chapter 5 (of 6)

After Adrien just happens to spy Nooroo in his father’s office, he’s sent into an panic. His father is Hawkmoth, which means that Adrien is in serious danger.

Thankfully the Dupain-Chengs are more than willing to step up to the plate and lend a helping hand.

links in the reblog

It didn't take long at all for the superheroes to gather at the warehouse. Everyone was tense, but there was a fair bit of determination and optimism in their group.

The plan was in place. They all knew what they were going to do. The plan was straightforward and in theory, should be easy enough. There weren't too many superheroes that could overcomplicate things or get in each other's way, and they were all pretty experienced.

"Okay, team, we know what to do," Ladybug told them, her expression completely serious. "Vixen, go ahead and do the Mirage. If you want to settle the Mirage of one of us over yourself to get closer and keep an eye on the akuma, that would be great. If your timer runs low before we can get there, you can leave. I can collect the Miraculous in a couple days." She glanced around. "That goes for everyone, really."

Vixen nodded sharply. "Of course. See y'all on the other side!"

With that, she vanished out the window.

"We'll give her a couple of minutes, then go in," Ladybug told the rest of the group. "We'll be working out of here. And remember- no banter. I'll need to give Seabiscuit instructions for the Portal, and any other talking will get in the way of that."

"The banter can come after Hawkmoth has had his Miraculous confiscated and is in custody," Hornet said, nodding. She paused. "Ah, what will we be doing with Mayura? I know that that plan was still up in the air."

"We want to have Hawkmoth's arrest be low-profile until we have her in custody," Ladybug said. Then she glanced towards Chat Noir. "And then- Seabiscuit, you'll have to recharge. Ms. Sancoeur is out of town, so we'll have to use Portal again. Chat Noir, did you happen to get an address...?"

Chat Noir nodded. "I did. And an itinerary." Nathalie, ever-prepared, had had her post-Fashion Week Break itinerary up on her tablet when Adrien stuck his head in to ask permission to go study at Marinette's house. She had been distracted by something on her computer, and Adrien had snuck a stealthy photo of the itinerary. He opened his baton, then tapped the screen. A moment later, a piece of paper spat out. Chat Noir pulled it out, flipping it over to reveal a printout of the photo he had taken. "We can look at it again when we finish, but I think we should be able to go to the house and jump on her when she returns."

Ladybug nodded as she took the itinerary. "That sounds good. Fingers crossed that the timing works out- and that's Vixen," she interrupted herself as her yo-yo let out a ding. "It's time to go. Sass, Tikki, combine!"

With a flash of light, Ladybug's outfit took on a few streaks of green. She glanced down at herself, then cringed.

"Oh, I look like a Christmas tree," she groaned. "Bad combination."

Chat Noir couldn't help but laugh, some of his tension easing away. Ladybug did look a bit ridiculous, but he had to admit that he was glad that she had taken the Snake instead of asking him to take that role. He might have had more experience using the Snake- and more experience than she knew about- but there was also the risk that he would freeze up and not be as effective.

Not that she knew that.

"Okay, focus," Ladybug told them all, smoothing down the greenish skirt that had appeared with her fusion. She flicked her bracelet, setting the timer. "Seabiscuit, go!"

The next couple of minutes, when Chat Noir tried to remember them in the future, all merged together into a little bit of a frantic blur. Ladybug had given Seabiscuit quick instructions to fix his approach to the lair, and hit it just right- Chat Noir found out later, after he asked- after only three tries, opening the Portal right behind Hawkmoth. As soon as the portal opened, Hornet was through with Sting activated.

Hawkmoth hadn't even had a chance to react before they were on him. Chat Noir ripped the Butterfly Miraculous off of him, turning away before the light could fade and Hawkmoth could turn back into his father in front of his eyes.

He already knew that Hawkmoth and Gabriel Agreste were the same. He didn't need to see that, and he didn't need to see the seething hatred and anger in his father's eyes. It would be too much.

"Hornet, please call the police and deliver Mr. Agreste to them when they arrive," Ladybug directed, and Chat Noir could feel her step up behind him, still focused. "Seabiscuit, can you recharge? We need to Portal over to the house that Ms. Sancoeur is staying at in the next couple of minutes."

Seabiscuit nodded. It didn't take him long at all to detransform and recharge, and then they were hopping through another Portal to Nathalie's family's house. It was empty- they were scheduled to be at the beach, and return for a late lunch- so the superheroes could head down to the first floor unhindered.

From there, it was somehow both not a long wait at all and an eternity before Nathalie returned and they ambushed her. One failed attempt at a transformation later, and they had the Peacock in their hands and Nathalie in handcuffs. Her family was gaping as the superheroes took her away, and Chat Noir couldn't help but feel bad for them.

He had had time to get used to the idea of his father being a criminal and having to arrest him. Nathalie's family had just gotten hit in the face with the shock.

"I think we should send one of the city's akuma victim counselors to them," Ladybug murmured to him as they Portaled back to Paris. "They could probably use some help coming to terms with her being a supervillain."

Chat Noir nodded. He would probably want to do the same thing as Adrien, but he had the extra complication of also being Chat Noir and actually having to deal with all of the extra baggage that came with having to fight his own father. At least he had both Marinette and Plagg to talk to. "Yeah. That's a good idea."

"Ah, and here's villain number two," the lead officer commented when they brought Nathalie down. He and his team took hold of Nathalie, pushing her into the back of the second patrol car. "We've got Hawkmoth in the other one."

"Great." Ladybug smiled, then froze at the sound of a crash across the city. "Ah, would you mind waiting here? We can give a statement, but the last akuma is still at large."

"Right, right, of course!"

"Ready?" Ladybug asked, turning to Chat Noir. She smiled, small but warm. "One last akuma?"

"One last akuma," Chat Noir agreed, letting out a breath. He was starting to feel a little shaky with relief- his father's arrest was over, Nathalie's arrest was over, now they were on familiar ground with an akuma battle again- so getting running again before his knees gave in would be a good idea. "Let's go!"

The final akuma was chasing after a retreating Vixen when they arrived. Vixen's timer was going wild, and she shot them a relieved look as she darted into the privacy of an alleyway to finally detransform. Her Mirages had evidently gotten hit out of existence earlier, so she hadn't been able to use them as cover, but they had arrived just in time.

"That's enough from you, akuma!" Ladybug yelled. "Get ready to be defeated!"

"That's right!" Chat Noir chimed in, rushing in to join her. "Hawkmoth is gone- and soon you will be, too!"

The final akuma battle- more than a skirmish than a battle, since the akuma had been taken off guard by the announcement that Hawkmoth had been defeated- was over in a flash, and then Ladybug and Chat Noir returned to the Agreste mansion. The police officers were still there, though the cars with Mr. Agreste and Nathalie had just pulled away. People had started arriving at the scene, no doubt curious about why the famous Gabriel Agreste was getting arrested. The officers were keeping them back, at least for the time being.

"Ladybug!"

Chat Noir frowned at the small voice, and both he and his partner drew to a stop before they reached the mansion. "Uh, what was that?"

"It's me!" A small head popped out from Ladybug's ponytail, and Chat Noir recognized Nooroo at once. Apparently the Butterfly hadn't been deactivated when Ladybug took it. "Before you head home, there's something I must show you."

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a look. Ladybug looked worried. "Something more?"

Nooroo wrung his tiny paws. "Y-yes, there's something more. And with Gabriel arrested, it will need to be taken care of sooner rather than later."

"We need to talk to the police first," Ladybug decided after a pause. "We can just give them the basics for now. They're used to us having to leave pretty quickly after battles."

Chat Noir nodded. His gut was churning again, wondering what surprises might be waiting inside. "Yeah. Let's go."

Ladybug jumped down, and Chat Noir wasn't far behind. She approached the chef of police confidently, looking every bit the picture of a superhero that no one was going to cross. He let her take the lead, figuring that she would be a better speaker than him, especially now that he was undeniably distracted.

What did Nooroo need to show them? Something that needs to be taken care of sooner rather than later didn't sound like something innocent, like the Miraculous book. Maybe there was yet another Miraculous, maybe from another box, and Nooroo wanted it to be reclaimed before anyone else could stumble on it and use it for evil.

But then why wouldn't Hawkmoth have used it at all? That just didn't make sense- unless he had just recently found it. But he still would have been frothing at the mouth to try it out, surely. He would have been wearing it, more likely than not, and Nooroo would have had to warn them about it right away instead of waiting for the akuma battle to finish.

So that suggested that whatever Nooroo wanted to show them was something else. And it was almost guaranteed to be something- well, bad.

...maybe it was better not to think about it too much. They would know soon enough, once Ladybug finished talking to the officer in charge.

"We can do a full press conference later this week," Ladybug was telling the chief of police when Chat Noir tuned back in to their surroundings. There were a few news cameras nearby, but they had yet to approach fully. He didn't doubt, though, that their microphones were picking up on every word his partner said. "I'm sure that everyone has a lot of questions about Hawkmoth's defeat and what happened, but- as I'm sure you can imagine- we're all pretty exhausted, and we still have to check on something in the mansion. We'll keep in touch so that we can decide on a good time."

"Thank you, Ladybug," Officer Auclair told her, beaming. "And we'll certainly be doing some interrogation of our prisoners and a sweep of the mansion, plus a number of interviews with people there. We'll let you know about anything we find immediately."

"Thank you." Ladybug smiled at him, and then her eyes flicked to the side, no doubt completely aware of the lurking reporters. "I should tell you, before you do that- we discovered Hawkmoth's identity thanks to the help of his son. Adrien spotted his father with the butterfly kwami and let Chat Noir and I know at once. We wouldn't have been able to defeat Hawkmoth today otherwise."

Both officers and reporters perked up at that, and Chat Noir had to let out a sigh of relief. He had to guess that without Ladybug's comment, he probably would have been dragged out into the public eye under a rather unfavorable spotlight, people wondering about how much he might have known. With Ladybug's comment- well, people were still going to stare and want to get interviews, no doubt, but they would be much less suspicious.

That was probably the best that he could hope for, honestly.

"That is very good information to know, thank you," Officer Auclair told Ladybug. He stepped back, clearly giving her the go-ahead to leave. "And thank you to all of the superheroes for defeating the supervillains!"

The superheroes waved- once to the police, once to the press- and then leapt over the walls surrounding the mansion. Nooroo phased through the door, popping the locks so that the superheroes could get in. Ladybug took the lead, glancing backwards to make sure that Chat Noir was still with her.

"We'll have to go to his office," Nooroo told them, flitting up ahead. "And then use his elevator- I hope I remember the code! We might accidentally end up in the upper lair first."

Chat Noir scooched closer to Ladybug, his nerves mounting. "There's more than one lair?"

"You'll see."

They fell silent as they followed Nooroo into the abandoned office. Their footsteps echoed across the floor, but no one came out to see what they were doing there. Maybe the household staff had already left the house, either because clearly Mr. Agreste wasn't going to be coming back or because the police had already asked them to step out for questioning.

"Step here," Nooroo told them, pointing to a spot on the floor. "You'll have to be close- it's only meant for one person, really." He paused. "Unless you want to go one at a-"

"No," Ladybug said firmly. "We'll stand close together."

Chat Noir nodded, hoping that Ladybug couldn't hear how fast his heart was racing as she stood in front of him, her back against his chest. His theory- his hope- that the thing that Nooroo wanted to show them was just another Miraculous was looking less and less likely. He couldn't think of any reason why his father would keep anything Miraculous-related somewhere other than his office or the lair.

Nooroo flitted over to the painting in front of them, punching in a series of buttons in quick succession. There was a pause, and then the floor they were standing on started moving down- and started moving down fast.

Ladybug's hand tightened around Chat Noir's, her shoulders stiffening. Chat Noir wrapped one arm around her waist, hoping that he wasn't trembling.

He didn't like this.

The floor-elevator shot downwards, lower and lower. There were a few lights along the path, just barely illuminating the tunnel that they were pelting down. It was undeniably spooky, and Chat Noir couldn't stop himself from worrying about what they would do if the elevator broke. The tunnel was tiny, just the width of the tiny platform that he and Ladybug were crammed together on, and it was long. Even when they were moving, he was feeling claustrophobic.

He had to get off. He had to get off now, couldn't this ride be over-

"Hold on, kitty," Ladybug murmured, squeezing his hand. "You're okay. I'm here."

Chat Noir just buried his face in his partner's hair in response. It was better than seeing the tiny tunnel flash past, though it didn't stop him from knowing that the walls were so incredibly close.

Half an eternity- probably just a few seconds- passed before the elevator came to a stop. Chat Noir kept his face down, not wanting to see how small of a space the elevator had taken them to, who knew how many meters before the surface. After a moment, Ladybug squeezed his fingers.

"It's a big space, kitty. You can open your eyes."

Chat Noir blinked, raising his head. Then he blinked at the giant chasm in front of them.

"This is under the city?"

"At least there's not an apartment building above all of this," Ladybug commented, grimacing. "Honestly, the most that should be above it is a park. Then if anything happened..."

She didn't finish her thought, instead stepping off the elevator platform. Chat Noir followed her, eyes flicking around.

There was something about this place that just screamed creepy to him, even without going further into it. There was rust on the walkway that was going over flowing water- if that gave way and they got dumped into that water, that could turn super dangerous really fast- and the lights on the sides of the cavern were just creepy, like ones that he might see in a haunted house. And then, at the far end of the cavern...

There was some muted light coming from somewhere, shining right down on what looked like an underground garden. And in the middle of that garden...

"Nooroo, what's that?" Ladybug asked, sharp and worried. She rested a hand against Chat Noir's arm, making him pause. He had started forward without realizing it, almost drawn to the garden. "This isn't a trap, is it?"

Nooroo shook his head, looking sad. "No trap. Just..."

He trailed off. Ladybug looked worried, but took the lead up the walkway. Chat Noir followed, his ears twitching every which way to try to pick up any sounds that were out of place. Any extra footsteps could be another enemy lying in wait, any excessive creaking from the metal could be a section of the walkway about to give out on them, any out-of-place clicks could be a trap set by Mr. Agreste.

And then Ladybug let out a quiet oh.

Chat Noir glanced forward, pulling his eyes off a flickering shadow on the wall that had caught his attention. Then he froze.

There, in front of them, was his mom. She lay in a glass container, her eyes closed, looking just she had on the day that she had vanished. She was pale in the murky light filtering down into the cavern, but she- she looked fine.

Was she just asleep? Maybe she had fallen under a spell, like Sleeping Beauty or something? Chat Noir's heart skipped a beat at the thought, then soared, hopeful. Maybe they could do something to break the spell, and then- and then-

He might have essentially lost his father because of the arrest, but maybe he could have his mom back.

"Nooroo, what happened?" Ladybug asked quietly. She stepped up next to Chat Noir, her shoulder brushing against his arm. "Can we help?"

"Emilie fell into a coma after using the Peacock for too long," Nooroo told them. He flitted around anxiously, flying up to Mrs. Agreste with a sad look on his face. "It was broken, so it was draining her and damaging her health every time that she used it. So Gabriel used magic to keep her alive as long as possible, and then to preserve her body after-"

The kwami kept talking, but Chat Noir couldn't hear him anymore over the sound of blood rushing in his ears, his heart dropping as Nooroo's words properly sank in. His mom wasn't in a coma anymore. She- she was actually gone. Dead. There was no coming back. No way to help her anymore.

No.

He- had had thought that he had come to terms with the possibility of his mom being dead years ago. She had been missing for ages, and her health hadn't been great before that. He had grieved, he had done a private memorial to her, and he had moved on. But then he had seen her, and for a moment- a glorious, terrible moment- he thought that maybe he could have her back. She looked fine. She looked like she was just asleep.

But she was actually gone.

Chat Noir's knees buckled, his breath coming faster. The whiplash from hope to grief was too much, too fast, too overwhelming. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't-

He had to get out. He needed to leave, now, he needed- needed-

"I need Marinette," Chat Noir managed. Maybe his mom was gone, maybe his father was a supervillain, but Marinette knew both sides of him and cared about him and was there for him and gave the best hugs and had been there when he found out about his dad and- "I- I need Marinette-"

"Kitty?" Ladybug sounded alarmed. Her arm slid around him, pulling him close to her. "Oh, gosh. Chat Noir-"

"I need Marinette," Chat Noir insisted. "Pl- please, I need-"

"Oh." Ladybug sounded worried. There was a pause, then, "I'm here, kitty. I've got you."

Chat Noir shook his head furiously, pressing his forehead into her shoulder as she pulled him closer to him. Ladybug was great usually, but she didn't know him. They were friends and partners and had an incredible bond, but Marinette had been his- his pillar for the past couple weeks. "N-no, I want Marinette, she's-"

"I'm right here, Adrien," Ladybug said again, rubbing his shoulder. "I've got you. We can go home soon, I promise. Then we can cuddle in my room. My parents will be fine with it, you know how much they love you. We'll all help you." She pressed her cheek to his. "Okay?"

Chat Noir startled at that, pulling himself back to stare at his partner.

She knew his name. How? Only Marinette knew his name. Maybe she had told Ladybug, except- no. Marinette wouldn't betray his trust like that, and he hadn't noticed Ladybug treating him any different than normal before. Maybe she had just guessed right when he broke down-?

But no. She had mentioned her room, and her parents knowing him which suggested-

He couldn't be this lucky.

"I didn't want to tell you like this," Ladybug murmured, reaching out and pulling him close again. Her thumb stroked his cheek, wiping away his tears. "Tikki and I thought it would be best to wait a couple of days to let things settle down so that we wouldn't overwhelm you with another reveal, but..."

She trailed off. Chat Noir still stared down at her, trying to see past the mask and make out Marinette's features underneath Ladybug's transformation. It was hard, though that might have been because he really couldn't see much of anything right now. Tears were still leaking out of his eyes, making everything blurry. Her voice, though- now that she mentioned it, if Chat Noir hadn't known that it was Ladybug speaking, he probably would have guessed that it was Marinette.

Well. Apparently he would have been right either way.

"Nooroo, how long will Mr. Agreste's spell keep?" Ladybug asked after a minute's pause. Her fingers had threaded through his hair, petting him gently. It felt good, but in a distant sort of way. "If we could have a couple days..."

"Uh...a day or two?" Nooroo offered. "It had to be recast pretty often."

"And if we took her out of the, ah, case?"

"It would break right away."

"Okay." Ladybug let out a long breath. "Once we reclaim the Horse Miraculous, I can jump in here and- and bring her to the right people. The police, probably. They'll know what to do." She hugged Chat Noir close. "We should go now, kitty. Let's get you home."

"But Maman-"

"There- there's nothing we can do to help, kitty." Ladybug's voice wavered, threatening to break, and Chat Noir distantly realized that she was only just managing to hold herself together as well. "I wish there was, but..."

"She died two years ago," Nooroo volunteered quietly. "And had been barely holding on before that."

Two years. That- that had been several years after she vanished. If they- if they had known, if his father had told the superheroes instead of doing whatever it was that he had been trying to accomplish, would they have been able to save her then? If Hawkmoth hadn't driven Master Fu off and had instead approached him to ask for help- if he had seen the Temple and the other guardians return and had called off his attacks then to just ask for help- maybe his mom would be alive now. Maybe he could have had his family again.

But now it was too late.

"We can give her a proper funeral and burial," Ladybug told Chat Noir quietly, shifting against him for a moment before bending down and heaving him up into her arms in a princess hold, just before his knees could fully give way. She staggered for a second under his weight, then caught herself. "She deserves that, rather than being left down here. But we don't need to do anything today, and-" Ladybug's voice wavered again before she caught it. "I can take this set-up to the police tomorrow by myself, so you don't have to see it again."

"I want to help," Chat Noir managed through his tears, curling up against his partner- his best friend, his Marinette- as best as he could. His breath was coming faster, his throat feeling uncomfortably tight, but he had to tell her. He had to make sure that she would let him help. He needed to help. "I want- I'm her son, I should help. I just can't-"

"Shh," Ladybug soothed, pressing her cheek against the side of his head. "Okay, we can try to work with that. Nooroo, where's the spell? If we can cast it again, maybe buy ourselves another week to recover..."

"I can show the spell to you later. Tomorrow, perhaps."

"Thank you." Ladybug squeezed Chat Noir tighter to her. "Would that be okay, kitty? We use the spell once more to keep her- to give ourselves some time," she corrected hastily. "And then when you're ready, we can move her?"

Chat Noir nodded, sharp and jerky. He could do that.

The next few minutes flew by in a blur. They hadn't gone back up the elevator- Ladybug had clearly picked up that he wouldn't be able to handle it- and had instead forced their way up through the skylight. Chat Noir blanked out after that, and only came back several minutes later, detransformed and bundled up in a blanket on Marinette's bed, feeling completely exhausted and wrung out. Marinette herself was next to him, curled up against his side.

"I think my kid's back," Plagg announced, flitting down to land in Adrien's lap- or at least where Adrien's lap would be, buried under several layers of blanket. "Finally! I was starting to get worried, it's been forever. Adrien?"

Adrien swallowed, blinking at Plagg. His eyes felt dry and scratchy. "My- my mom-"

"I know, kid." Plagg let out a comforting purr, pressing up against Adrien. "Marinette told me. I'm so sorry. I wish we could have done something."

Adrien nodded, swallowing again. "She's gone."

Plagg could only purr.

"Nooroo wanted me to pass on his apologies," Marinette said quietly, rubbing her hand against Adrien's arm. "He didn't know that you were Chat Noir, so he didn't know to warn us beforehand."

"He still should have, I think!" another voice piped up, and Adrien startled as Tikki appeared at the foot of the bed. "I think anyone would have appreciated a heads-up. But it had become normal to him after being with Mr. Agreste for so long, so he didn't think of that."

"Oh," Adrien managed to croak, watching as Tikki floated across the bed, struggling to carry something limp and dark- a washcloth? "Okay."

"He and Duusu have gone back into the box for now," Marinette told him quietly, reaching across the bed to take the thing- it was a washcloth- from Tikki. She shifted, adjusting her seat, then started wiping down Adrien's face, washing off the dried trails of tears. Adrien closed his eyes, enjoying the cool, refreshing feel. "Any questions can wait. You got a bad shock."

"Mmm." Adrien relaxed into Marinette's touch, enjoying the attention. He couldn't make himself move, not that he would probably be able to with how snugly she had wrapped him up. Marinette kept wiping down his face, then gently pressed the washcloth to his eyes. It felt good against the puffy skin. He waited for a few minutes, then spoke again. "Mari?"

"Mmhmm?"

"You're Ladybug?"

There was a sigh, and then Marinette sat back. Adrien blinked open his eyes, distantly noting that they felt better already, not quite so swollen and puffy. Marinette was sitting facing him, but her eyes were on her lap. "Yeah. That- that wasn't how I planned on telling you, I'm sorry."

"We knew it was a possibility that something might happen and you would have to do a battlefield reveal, but we- all three of us- thought that the chances of something like that happening was almost nonexistent," Plagg chimed in, flying up into Adrien's line of sight. "But we figured that if we told you- well, the chances of you not being ready and things backfiring somehow would probably be a bigger concern. And we couldn't think of a way to ask without giving things away."

"I wanted to," Marinette said quietly. "So that you wouldn't have to worry about having to tell Ladybug when I already knew, and so that you could know that I was going to be there for you on both sides of the mask. But you were so insistent on Ladybug not knowing, I didn't know if telling you anyway would help or not. If I had known-"

Adrien managed to shake his head. "There- there wasn't any way of knowing. If I hadn't dug in my heels so much about not letting Ladybug know who I was-"

"Okay, okay, let's not get carried away with blaming ourselves," Plagg interjected quickly. "Things could have gone differently, we get that. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, huzzah."

Adrien had to smile at that. Plagg never changed.

"I'm glad everything is out in the open now, at least," Marinette said after a minute. "I've been trying to figure out how I could tell you, but I hadn't been coming up with anything. Like, would the best way be to just saunter up to your room with a cupcake, knock, and go 'surprise, I'm Ladybug! Have a cupcake!'"

Snorting, Adrien shook his head. "Why a cupcake and not macarons? Or cake? Why is there food involved at all?"

"Bribery?" Marinette suggested weakly, turning back around to settle down at his side. "Minor distraction?"

"Oh, bug." Adrien nuzzled down next to her. As if she would ever need to bribe him to- what? Not be upset with her? She had just been trying her best to respect his wishes and not make things harder for him. He could recognize that much. Adrien paused for a beat, then added, "Ah, just in the interest of full disclosure, I don't think I could eat anything right now. I think- I think my stomach is all twisted up into knots. I'd be sick if I even tried."

"I'm not surprised," Marinette admitted. "I'm feeling a bit ill, too, and I didn't get as big of a shock as you did. Don't feel like you have to eat unless you actually want to." She started rubbing his back again. "Maman came up while you were out, so she knows- sort of knows, at least- what happened, so she already knows not to expect us at dinner. I didn't tell her that we're Ladybug and Chat Noir," she added quickly. "Just that- that they had found your mom and that- that nothing could be done." Her voice got quieter with every word, and Adrien guessed that she regretted bringing it up again. They had more or less changed topics to something less unpleasant before, moving into safer topics for discussion. Now they were right back where they had started.

Adrien felt nausea welling up again, the image of his mother just lying there flashing through his mind again. He forcibly pushed it away, not wanting to break down again. "Okay."

"She said that she's going to look up food that should be less likely to upset your stomach so she can make it for dinner," Marinette added. "So that there will be leftovers for us to eat whenever we feel ready."

Adrien nodded again. "Okay."

"Do- do you want to maybe lie down and take a nap?" Marinette suggested after a moment. "I can unwrap the blankets so that you don't overheat. It might help you feel better."

A nap sounded like a great idea, actually. The cool washcloth had woken him up a little before, but now that Marinette mentioned sleep, that was all Adrien wanted to do. "Yes, please."

"Okay." Marinette pushed herself up and made short work of the blankets, freeing Adrien. "You can scoot down now so that you can lay down properly."

"But this is your bed!" Adrien protested, pushing past the approaching fog as best he could. "I don't want to take your bed away-"

Marinette giggled. "You don't take up that much room. And I don't mind, kitty. Really." She helped him slide down, then arranged her pillow under his head. "How's that?"

"Good. Are you sure-"

"Positive."

"Okay," Adrien managed around a yawn. He reached out, even as his eyes drifted closed, and his fingers found Marinette's. "Stay with me?"

Marinette threaded her fingers through his, giving them a light squeeze. "Always."

The funeral for Emilie Agreste was a quiet affair. Since her remaining (non-jailed) family- Adrien, his aunt, and his cousin- didn't want it to become a public spectacle, the whole thing was private, by-invitation-only, and had bouncers at the doors. Amelie had managed to track down a handful of Emilie's friends, and Adrien had invited a few of his own friends for support.

And the Dupain-Chengs, of course. He couldn't ask for better support than them. They had closed the bakery for several days so that they could be available for him, even if he had ended up only wanting Marinette's company for a large chunk of that time. They made sure to stock their cupboards with plenty of foods that he could eat even if he was feeling queasy, and hadn't put any pressure on him to eat when he didn't feel up to it. They had even done the work of reaching out to his aunt for him, relaying the news when Adrien didn't think that he could do it, and had handled most of the correspondence about funeral arrangements until Adrien was more ready. While Adrien was spending time with Sabine, Ladybug ventured out on her own to tell the police about their discovery and to cast the spell to give them a couple more days before they would have to deal with Mrs. Agreste.

Going into that cavern again and Portaling the case with Mrs. Agreste in it out a week after their discovery had probably been the hardest thing Adrien had ever had to do. It was hard not to let the memories of shock and grief overwhelm him again, and to keep himself composed while delivering the body to the police. But he had managed it.

And then he went back to the Dupain-Cheng house, tried to drown himself in the shower, and then curled up in Marinette's bed, because it was comfy and Marinette was nearby and she had loads of blankets that he could burrow beneath that smelled like her. She curled up next to him for a bit, then headed down to the main part of her room to give him some space and get some sewing done. The sound of the sewing machine had been really comforting. Adrien dozed off to the sound, happy knowing that his Lady was so close nearby.

He was going to go right back to their house as soon as the funeral was over. Maybe being at the funeral wasn't as hard as getting his mom's body out- or finding it the first time- but it was still pretty draining, and there was really no better place to recover from that. The Dupain-Cheng home just felt so safe, comforting and warm and welcoming.

He would spend time in his own room, but it just... it was different, and it didn't have Marinette in it. Maybe if he wanted to spend some time alone then he would go to his own room, but Adrien liked the quiet company.

The day dragged on even with the limited guest list. There was the service, then a trip to the cemetery to finally bury Emilie Agreste. Then there had been a reception at a hall nearby, at the insistence of Adrien's aunt, and that had been the most exhausting part by far. Everyone wanted to talk to Adrien and express their condolences for both Emilie's death and Mr. Agreste's arrest, and since he didn't have any other siblings, pretty much all of the attention was on him. Amelie had joined him for a bit to divert some of the attention, but it was all just so much.

Adrien was very glad when the Dupain-Chengs decided that it was time for them to go. They waved good-bye to all of the people who had come to mourn his mom, and then the day was done. Finally.

Adrien sighed, leaning back in his car seat as Mr. Dupain maneuvered the car down the streets back towards the bakery. That was done. It was over. He was still going to mourn his mom, of course, but he could focus on something else now. His mom would want him to move on with his life, like he had been doing the past several years.

And thankfully, he had a new family to help him do just that.

#Miraculous Ladybug #my writing #Move to Safety

22 notes · View notes

the-edge-of-great · 3 years

Text

this is for @jatpdaily‘s JATP Secret Santa 2020!! my giftee is @agentsofoakenshiield, and i present to you: a modern royalty AU in two parts (bc it kinda got long lol) hope you enjoy!! :)

summary:

Their countries could not have created a worse pair than Julie Molina, princess of Seneca, and Alexander Mercer, prince of Koray. Romantically, of course. Really, they're the best of friends, but there’s just some minor problems: Alex is gay, and Julie’s in love with someone else.

There's an event on Friday, Julie's last before she turns eighteen. Before everything changes—her bond with Alex, her relationship with Luke, her friend group altogether. She and Alex need to figure out a way to change their countries' agreement with their limited power.

With Luke and Reggie, obligated to attend the party by law—and moral support, of course—and Professional Party Crashers Flynn and Willie by their sides, they might just pull it off.

WEDNESDAY

JULIE

A greenhouse sits at the edge of the palace, shrouded in a mess of greenery and blooming wildflowers. It’s not far at all from the castle—actually, they can see the watchtowers from its own peak—but the barrier of trees looming over the forgotten building is a portal into another world, one of flourishing life beyond what they’re taught within the castle walls. The air is softer on the other side. Everything is quieter—she feels she can speak and actually be heard. When the gravel crunching beneath their shoes silences to soft thuds across the grass, a grin breaks free, and she runs.

Her shoes are off in seconds, kicked to the side as quick as she can. She misses the earth beneath her feet, soft blades of grass tickling between her toes. She’s been here enough to know where to step and what to hop over—besides, the glass shards shimmer in the sunlight anyway. Behind her is a yell, then a laugh, then they’re chasing after her, boots stomping in her haste, trying to reach the greenhouse first.

Reggie and Flynn rush past on either side, and once they reunite in front, Flynn leaps onto Reggie’s back. Reggie shouts, stumbling and regaining his balance all in two steps. Flynn leans forward, an arm stretched out, desperately trying to brush the edge of the door to claim victory.

Julie never sees who actually makes it because arms hook around her waist, hugging her close to someone who, quite literally, sweeps her off her feet. She leans into him, head resting on his shoulder as she laughs out loud. He spins her once before putting her down, chuckling in her ear, leaving a trail of kisses across her cheek. Once she’s on her feet, she hugs him. He’s a difficult person to wrap her arms around with the armor and all, but she makes it work—especially because in an hour, she’s going to have every layer stripped away until it’s just him: regular Luke. Her Luke.

The last of their group��the reason they’ve even reunited in the first place—are slow to arrive, valuing their time in every step, every lingering gaze and smile. The corners of Julie’s mouth curl for them: Willie is always his happiest when he’s with Alex. Even more so when they can come out here, away from the world and Alex’s impending reality inching closer each day. He and Julie have agreed: they won’t talk about it unless their friends bring it up first. And even then, maybe not.

Julie takes Luke’s hand in hers and tugs him inside. It’s kind of funny how willingly he follows her, he and Reggie immediately abandoning their jobs for some friends and a building. But they’re leaving Alex with Willie, and that’s possibly the safest place in the world.

The greenhouse doesn’t have a known story, just that it’s theirs and theirs alone. It’s overgrown with thorns they admire from afar and vines curling around the spiral staircase in the center of the room. There are steps missing in places and others threatening to fall away with one wrong move. Luke and Reggie, the literal guards of their group, always watch with bated breath and tense shoulders, swearing quietly when the staircase creaks and groans under their weight. Julie and Flynn think the danger makes it more exciting.

Flynn’s already on it, sitting halfway up with her legs dangling over the side. Reggie’s beneath her, kicking away broken glass as he tries to catch a frog leaping across the floor. Julie brushes dirt off of a counter before hopping on it, and as soon as she’s seated, Luke is there, pulling her into that kiss she’s been craving since they arrived.

“Are you guys going to the dance on Friday?” Flynn asks Reggie, curling a hand around the rail as she leans back to look down at him.

“Probably.” Reggie pauses near the back wall, rocking on his heels, eyeing the brown frog resting innocently on a pile of leaves. “If we’re invited.”

“Why wouldn’t we be invited?” Luke asks, climbing on the table next to Julie. “Seneca’s going.”

Julie chuckles. “Of course we’re going. Everyone loves Seneca.”

He smirks. “Yeah,” he says, already going in for another kiss, “who can blame them?”

“Are you guys talking about the event on Friday?” Alex asks, shutting the door behind Willie. “We’re going.”

Reggie cheers. Luke corrects him quickly, “We’re going to be working, Reg.” He throws a look at Alex. “No fun for us.”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one who signed up to be palace guards.”

“I don’t remember signing up either?” Reggie says. “I think we just hung out with you so much that they gave us swords eventually.” He lunges for the frog, arms outstretched, hands ready to grab, and then it leaps just out of reach. He catches himself on the wall, muttering a “Damn it” under his breath.

Alex laughs. Luke shakes his head. “That’s not how it happened,” he mumbles, sharing an amused look with Alex.

“Sounds kind of legit for you three,” Julie teases.

“I think it’d sound more believable if they took the swords themselves,” Alex argues.

Julei grins. “Maybe we should send that to the tabloids. Get them talking about something else.”

Alex breathes a laugh, giving her a look as he passes, transferring silent messages that only she could understand. Her smile falters only a little. They don’t talk about it.

“So, back to the dance,” Flynn says, kicking her feet.

“Is, um…” Reggie leans against the staircase, gaze jumping between his friends. “Is something going to happen at this one?”

Alex pauses. Julie frowns. “What do you mean?” she asks.

Flynn’s shoulders slump. “This is your last event before you turn eighteen, Jules.”

Oh right, Eighteen is a big deal in their world. Eighteen means permission granted to thrust her headfirst into the political world of the monarchy. Eighteen means the beginning of preparations for Twenty-One, when she’ll become queen. And, worst of all: Eighteen means marriage.

That Look passes between Alex and Julie again. Their smiles are gone; they have to talk about it.

“I don’t know of anything, but…” Alex wrings his hands. “Maybe.” “This is so unfair,” Flynn complains. “It’s the twenty-first century! Why are arranged marriages still a thing?”

“Because monarchies are still a thing, I guess,” Julie mutters.

Their countries could not have created a worse pair than Julie Molina, princess of Seneca, and Alexander Mercer, prince of Koray. Their relationship is strong—they really, truly care for each other a lot—but there’s just some minor problems: Alex is gay, and Julie’s in love with someone else. They’ve known about the arrangement since they were children of course, and their friends just a few years after, but their predicament has never felt as set in stone as this day and the next, the true Final Countdown.

“I don’t see why the countries have to be bound by marriage,” Luke says. “I mean, this—” He gestures around the group— “what we have right here, is stronger on its own than any arranged commitment between Seneca and Koray could be.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to convince our parents of,” Julie says. “It’s more official than an agreement from when we were babies, though. It’s a whole peace treaty.”

Willie frowns. “Then make a new peace treaty.”

“We totally would…” Alex agrees. “If either of us had any actual power yet.”

“Can’t you just fake it until you’re crowned, and then change the rules?” Flynn asks.

Alex shakes his head. “We don’t know what effect breaking that kind of agreement would have on our countries.”

“Besides,” Julie adds softly, reaching for Luke’s hand, “faking it feels wrong. I don’t know if I could do it.”

“But hey, we still have a few days until anything happens,” Alex reminds. “We’ll figure something out. For now, can we just enjoy this time together?”

Although the air is stiffer now than before, their afternoon is still well spent in good spirits. They stay out there all day, only returning to the palace when the sun is setting over the horizon. Their stomachs are growling monsters by then. Somewhere along the way to the castle, they get separated. Purposely, and not very far apart—because if Alex’s parents catch him arriving without Luke and Reggie, there will surely be hell to pay—but enough for Luke to pull her around a corner and kiss her in the privacy of bushery and an apple tree.

“I wish you didn’t have to go already,” she whines, raking a hand through his hair.

“Pretty sure they’re not going to send us away without food.” He chuckles. “We’re the guests, remember? Well, Alex is.”

She smacks his chest. “You are too, dummy.”

“Not as important as the prince and princess.” Luke grins, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’m kidding. Kind of. I’d much rather be a guard than a royal anyway. The only thing that sucks is we won’t be able to share a dance on Friday.”

Julie frowns. “Wait, but we’ve danced together at other parties?”

“Yeah, but from what I hear, this is going to be much bigger than usual. There are gonna be nobles from other countries, so security has to be tighter.”

“Don’t you have to stay with Alex, though?”

“We have to have eyes on him, but we aren’t allowed to mingle with the important people unless it’s an emergency.” Julie makes a noise of protest, which makes him laugh and dip his head, kissing her softly again. “Don’t worry, I’ll make damn sure we see each other before the night’s over. Or, maybe even after…”

She chuckles. “You’re really looking for a death wish, huh?”

“You know I’d give my life for you, Julie Molina.”

“That’s so cheesy.”

Luke grins. “Only the best for you, babe.”

Somewhere nearby, they hear a side door creak open. A voice rings through the air. It’s the royal seamstress, Flynn’s mother, “Flynn, where are the others? Lunch has been ready for fifteen minutes.”

“They’re on their way!” Flynn replies. “It’s a nice day; I think they just wanted to take the long way.”

Bless Flynn’s mother; she knows what’s really going on with Julie and Alex—and likely suspects where their group has scattered off to—and she never says a word. Although she’s already regarded highly in the kingdom for her talent in design, when Julie is queen, she’s going to make sure Flynn and her family receive the best treatment possible. Maybe master bedrooms on the top floor of the castle, with balcony views of the countryside.

Before they depart, Luke leaves her with a final passionate kiss. It’s the kind that pins her to the tree truck, hand pressed into her back, fingers in each other’s hair, and when they pull away, they’re breathless, his forehead resting against hers, bodies as close as possible, savoring the touch because it’s going to be a long time before this can happen again.

“Hey,” Luke whispers, pulling away enough to find her eyes. “No matter what happens, I love you, okay?” He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“We’re going to figure it out,” Julie promises. “Alex and I. We’re going to figure something out.”

Luke smiles gently, halfheartedly, like he doesn’t really believe her. That’s fair; she doesn’t know if she believes it, either.

“We’d better get back.”

When he turns to leave, she catches his arm, pulling him back. With a smile—a real one that stretches her cheeks and brightens her eyes—she tells him, “I love you, too.”

Grinning, Luke pulls her along. He curls an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

When they round the corner of the shrubbery and reunite with their friends in front of the side door, they’re apart. All of them, even Willie and Alex, who are emerging from the other side of the path. They share looks with each other then fall into formation: Alex and Julie lead into the castle, Luke and Reggie follow five steps behind, and Willie and Flynn carry the end. The last two split away from the group as soon as they cross the threshold. The others don’t even look back.

Like diving headfirst into ice water, they’re back in the real world. The greenhouse is miles away.

----

THURSDAY

LUKE

The thick, century old book slamming against a chipped wooden dining table echoes in the empty armory. A cloud of dust explodes from beneath and hits Luke and Reggie square in the face. Reggie sneezes. Luke sputters, waving a hand to clear it away in vain. They should be used to it by now—this isn’t the first time they’ve been given the Book Punishment.

“You’d think General Wilson would be more creative by now,” Reggie says, flipping open the book.

“So, you’d rather be doing four hours of PT instead?” Luke asks dryly. He yawns into his hand. They overslept—again. It doesn’t happen regularly, but enough that they know this Book of Laws well enough to pass a test (which they’ll have to do that evening, and if they fail, they will get four hours of physical training).

“Hell no. I’m just saying, where’s the flavor, huh? He’s been a war general for, like, ever. Why doesn’t he make us…” Reggie waves his hand aimlessly. “Survive in the forest for two days, like that one time before we officially became guards. Remember? We just chilled by the lake and ate those berries.” He sighs. “I miss that sometimes.” “Well, maybe we can go on a camping trip after we figure out what’s gonna happen with Alex and Julie.”

Reggie perks up at the idea; he’s blind to the eye roll Luke adds at the end of his statement.

“Wonder if there’s a chapter in here about changing the rules when you’re not actually in charge,” Luke mutters, chin in his hand as he flips through the pages.

“We could always overthrow the monarchy.”

“Overthrowing the monarchy means overthrowing Alex.”

“No way. He’d be on our side.”

Luke pauses on a page describing something along the lines of rules altered by a third party. “Reggie.”

“I mean, he’d have to take out his parents somehow,” Reggie continues thoughtfully. “Which probably wouldn’t be an issue. It’s Lainey we’d have to worry about.”

“Reggie.” Luke smacks his arm. “Look!” He points to the text, looking over with an eager grin. “Think we just cracked the monarchy, dude.”

While Luke gathers the book in his arms and heads for the door, Reggie calls, “You know Wilson’s gonna kill us if he finds out we skipped out.”

“A military general versus the prince of a whole country.” Luke laughs over his shoulder. “You do the math.”

Reggie shifts his weight from one foot to another, chewing on his lip. Then, he breaks into a jog. “Wait up,” he calls. “You know I’m bad at math!”

~**~**~**~

The issue with Alex’s guards being more like brothers to him—at least according to the king and queen—is that they often act like guests in the castle instead of trained personnel.

Neither knock before barging into the conference room. Luke has tunnel vision, clutching the book tight to his side, with newfound hope in his heart. Alex needs to see what they found; nothing else matters in that moment.

Nothing except… a heated conversation between Alex and his parents that they absolutely just interrupted. Quickly, Luke hides the book behind his back. He and Reggie come to an abrupt halt just inside the doorway, heels pressed together, bodies stiff with nerves. There are rules to be followed when it comes to approaching royals—they know them well, but when it’s just them and Alex, it’s easy to forget the divide.

“You two better have a damn good reason for interrupting us,” the king growls, looking over sharply.

Luke avoids his cold glare—he doesn’t like people beneath him making eye contact. “We—” Luke begins and ends immediately, realizing he doesn’t know what to say without sounding suspicious. Or like he’s planning treason.

“Does it matter?” Alex demands, moving between them. “The conversation was pretty much over anyways, wasn’t it?”

The king takes a dangerous step forward; only Alex shuffles back. Luke glances at Reggie. His fingers twitch at his sides. This is the one thing that truly irks them both about their job: they’ve sworn to protect the prince from any threats, but the king himself? They’re powerless.

“You are still a prince,” the king reminds in a low, careful tone. “You’re not in any position to begin calling shots.”

Alex flinches under the heavy clap on his shoulder as his father exits the room, with the queen following close behind. Nobody moves until the door clicks shut, and they’re engulfed in silence.

“Alex?” Luke calls.

Hesitantly, Alex turns to them. There’s a red tint to his face and a glossy layer over his eyes that goes unmentioned. He runs a hand through his hair, short breaths racking his body.

“I was just, um…” Alex squeezes his eyes shut. “We were talking about the marriage agreement again.”

Luke nods, handing the book over to Reggie. “Hey, why don’t you take a seat?” Fingers curling under Alex’s arm, Luke guides him to an upholstered bench by the window.

“I’m fine,” Alex declares quietly as he sits down.

“Okay.” Luke nods Reggie over. “Then, listen to this: I think we found a loophole around the law. According to this, the Next In Line himself can create or alter a law as long as a member of the royal family and the High Priest bears witness.”

“But it’s a peace treaty, not a law. Seneca’s leader has to have a hand in it as well.”

“Maybe there’s a way for Julie to get around it, too,” Reggie suggests hopefully. “We can figure it out next time we’re together, but dude! We have a chance here!”

Alex pulls at his sleeves. “I don’t know, guys. You know my parents; they won’t be convinced that easily.”

“Doesn’t matter if they’re convinced.” Luke chuckles. “Even they can’t argue with the High Priest.”

“You think the High Priest would go for it?”

Reggie shrugs. “Worth a shot, man.”

Sighing deeply, Alex agrees halfheartedly, “I guess so.”

“Hey, what’s up with you?” Luke asks, nudging his arm. “You okay?”

Their relationship is odd because a guard would never be able to be so personal and informal with a royal. But it’s Luke and Alex; they’ve always been an exception, ever since they were kids when Alex invited him, a commoner he met playing near the front gates, to a sleepover in the cinema room. Ever since, they’ve been inseparable.

“I’m just a little freaked about everything, that’s all. Mom and Dad aren’t helping, either. They’ve been planning this wedding since I was five years old, which is weird.” He sniffs, looking to the side and rubbing a hand across his face. “Before I had a chance to even try liking guys or girls, they’d already made the decision for me.” Luke and Reggie share a concerned look. Alex shakes his head, laughing humorlessly as he rises to his feet. “Gladys wouldn’t approve. You know what she says, ‘There’s no room for emotions in this castle.’”

“Gladys isn’t here,” Reggie reminds softly, but firm.

“Yeah,” Luke agrees. “It’s just us.” They don’t dislike Gladys; for a noble, she’s kinder than most. For an advisor, she’s damn good at her job. One of her best attributes—according to the king, the queen, and General Wilson—is her ability to ‘shut off’ her emotions when needed. Luke doesn’t get it; how can shutting off your emotions really solve anything?

The corner of Alex’s mouth twitches into a half smile that doesn’t last more than five seconds. “Yeah, thanks guys. Um, I’ll think about what you said, but I don’t think I can talk to Julie about it before tomorrow night.”

A door swings open, silent as a mouse, but the soft creaks of the floorboards are enough to alert their ears. General Wilson steps inside; Luke and Reggie exchange nervous glances.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” General Wilson greets. His eyes drift over Alex’s shoulder for just a moment, but a single look freezes Luke to his core.

Inwardly, he groans. They’re totally spending the rest of the day flirting with death on the training grounds.

“General Wilson,” Alex responds, lifting his chin. “Can I help you?”

“Apologies, I was just looking for those two—” He swallows thickly, like whatever he’s trying to say is difficult— “star pupils. They’re missing important training.”

Alex looks over his shoulder at them; Luke and Reggie give him a toothless, sheepish smile in return. To Wilson, Alex says, “Sorry, I need them right now.”

Luke chews on his lip to keep from smirking. He loves when Alex uses his authority over the general.

“But—“ Wilson takes a breath, hooking his hands behind his back. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, tomorrow night is an important event that these two, among the rest of the guard, need to prepare for.”

“Why?” Alex frowns. “It’s just another social gathering.”

“There will be leaders from countries we’ve not interacted with face to face in years.”

“Any in particular we should be suspicious of?”

“Well no, but—“

“Then I don’t see an urgency in needing them right now.” General Wilson opens and closes his mouth. “Shut the door on your way out,” Alex adds, waving him off.

Giving Luke and Reggie a final, heated glare, he turns and marches out of the room.

Alex waits for the door to shut to sigh loudly. “Thank God,” he says, turning to his friends. “That man is terrifying.”

“He thinks the complete opposite of you,” Luke admits, grinning. “Which makes it even funnier.” Next to him, Reggie gives Alex a high five.

Their laughter is a weight lifted. Luke just hopes it’s still around after tomorrow night.

----

Part Two

#jatp secret santa #julie and the phantoms #jatp #royalty au #modern royalty au #julie molina #luke patterson #alex mercer #reggie peters #nick jatp #flynn jatp #carrie wilson #willie jatp #juke #willex #angst and anxiety #what a pair #jatpdailysecretsanta2020

66 notes · View notes

the-scooby-gang · 4 years

Text

Us... But not quite

Part 5

Summary: after falling thought a portal while they were being chased by their most horryfying monster yet, The Scooby Gang finds themselves in a place they have never been before. A place called Crystal Cove.

Making a herculean effort to not speed out of there like they were being chased by hellhounds again, Fred turned the van towards the direction of the town-that-should-not-be-feasible, putting as many miles as it was physically possible from the creepy vitamin-D deficient waitress nest.

When they no longer could see the restaurant on the rearview they collective let out a breath of relief.

“And here I was thinking that the creepiest thing that has ever happened to us was Shaggy’s British doppelganger” Daphne reclined against her seat, one hand over her eyes, one of her maps on her lap and a GPS on her other hand, trying to pin their location.

“Hey! Like, I will have you know that Tidy is no way as creepy as whatever the hell is going down on that dinner!” Shaggy opened one of his eyes to glare at the redhead right by his side. “Willian is many things but worse than omnipresent waitress is not one of them.”

Ah yes. Willian “Tidy” Rogers was not the creepiest event on their lives but he was by far the most surreal. After all, is not every day that one of your best friends goes to a summer camp and the person that comes back is his long-lost twin brother. But that is not here or there.

Shaggy was on the back of the van in a lotus position, a crystal ball on his lap and his book of spells floating close to his head. While Velma was using one of the computers on the van to search for information on their new location, Shaggy was trying to contact his coven with little success.

“Like, its not working! Man, this makes no sense, Grand always answers my calls. It’s not Tuesday so is not date night and even if they had one spontaneous date, Minerva would have let Neko in charge of the crystal ball!” Shaggy passed his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Rould rhe be on the rarden?” Scooby stopped making his sixth sandwich giving Shaggy one of the finished ones.

“Or the graveyard?” Fred looked sheepish from his place on behind the steering wheel.

Even after Shaggy embraced his wizard-ness back on their teenage years there were still things that the gang still haven't fully get used to. Like daily strolls to the graveyard to get ingredients or to pass through portals and such.

Not that they cared much. Being a wizard was as much a part of Shaggy now as was his culinary prowess and they did not love in fractions. It was just another facet of their lives.

So what that their lover went into the closest liminal space that he could find every Halloween to go into the Grim Reaper Railway to join his coven of witches and comes back with his spellbook magically bigger and his pockets full of magical cookies? It was jus a part of their new normal.

“No, if she was in the graveyard Broomy would have noticed the crystal ball flashing and had gone get her.” Shaggy shrugged, half of his sandwich long gone. Fred nodded his head. He remembers Broomy. The broom may cheat on poker like nobodies business, but he was a good friend and would never just let Shaggy calls go to whatever the version of magical voice message was.

Shaggy was middle bite when the GPS went flying dangerously close to his nose followed by an infuriated growl from their shotgun. Their eyes turned towards their resident redhead who was one pull away from taking full chunks from her hair in frustration.

“THERE IS NOTHING! THIS ENTIRE PLACE IS JUST A GREAT PILE OF NOTHING!” she threw her hands towards the ceiling just for them to fall graceless on her sides, her head hanging in defeat on the backrest.

“Oh, Love” Fred looked at Daphne then at Scooby, who quickly got what was being asked of him and made a move towards the front seats. Taking off his seatbelt, Fred changed places with their canine friend.

Gently cradling Daphne in his arms they seated snuggling one another.

“This place doesn’t exist, Freddie” Daphne hid even further on the blonde’s neck. “GPS is useless. It’s working on our home maps and no matter how much I try to upgrade it; the thing keeps showing me our world roads… or lack thereof”

Velma left her place in front of the computer. Approaching them she calmly took both in her arms and brought them to the back. Shaggy removed his crystal ball from his lap and crawled closer to his friends.

“What do you mean by ‘lack thereof’?” Velma was trailing her fingers thru Daphne’s red locks hopping a little closer to her girlfriend.

“Exactly what it sounds. Crystal Cove is not in none of my maps! The GPS is showing me what should be: a bunch of trees and rock formations. There should have nothing here. No road, no dinners, no town! All my maps are telling me that the road that we are on should be a patch of forest at best or a jagged cliff at worst”

Fred, Velma and Shaggy shared a look. As one they converted towards their purple-clad lover, cuddling together.

Scooby looked at them thru the rearview mirror with worried eyes. The day was going from weird to worst fast. The reality was starting to set in for the young historian and the overwhelming lack of concrete facts to anchor herself was getting to her.

Whoever was responsible for sending them here was going to get their ass bitten, that Scooby promised. He hated seeing his humans in such distress.

Fred kissed Daphne forehead “That’s ok, love. Tell you what, when we arrive at the town we are going to get you all the maps that they have available.”

Daphne sniffed softly “Even the geological maps?”

“Especially the geological maps” Velma gently arranged one of the red locks behind the other girl ear than kissed her temple.

Shaggy took one of the young historian hands giving it a small kiss. “If you want, I can try to magically upgrade the map”

Daphne perked up immediately, her eyes twinkling “Really?”

“Really” he squeezed her hands once more before moving towards the front seat.

Taking the advantage of his lanky body he perked half of it over the seat division. Opening the glove compartment, he removed one of the many purple-marked maps from its neat place under the nail polishes. While he was folding his body back to the back of the van (not after giving their driver a well-deserved pat), Fred had passed Daphne to Velma all the while the redhead giggled over the ease off with they passed her to each other like she weighed the same as a pillow.

Fred and Velma smiled over her head. They hated seeing her distressed in any way. The situation was going to get to them all eventually and Daphne being the first was no surprise to them. After all what was worst to a young amateur historian and archaeologist than removing all the information in where she thrives from under her feet?

Fully back, Shaggy approached one of the many compartments that Fred added over the years. Removing an assortment of colourful bottles from there, he quickly mixed them together with precision and efficiency. When he finished the resulting concoction was bright purple, emitting a soft glow.

“Purple potion for my purple lady” he offered the bottle and the map to the Daphne, a soft smile in his face “Like, just drop it into the map. It will mix with the air from this place and will update the missing roads and locations”

Daphne’s smile could outshine the sun. Like a blur, the redhead bear-hugged the lanky man hard enough to hear clear pops from his spine.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” holding his face in her hands she gave the young chef a long kiss. Shaggy melted, his fingers entangling themselves on the red mane. Slowly they untangled themselves from each other and, together, they started the process of magically upgrading the map.

Meanwhile, Fred and Velma had smiled at their artistic lovers letting a sigh of relief.

“Who do you think is going to be the next one to snap?” Velma said as quietly as she could, turning back to the computer.

“From the way things are going? Me, probably” Fred shrugged, “Found anything on the internet or is it not working as the GPS?”

“Ah no. no, no, no. You are not changing the subject on me now mister, what do you mean you are the next?” She turned to him, a disbelieving looks in her face.

“Can’t you feel it, Honey Bee?” He turned his head slowly towards her with a wide deranged smile, his eyes large “I’m on the limit.” Raising his hand, his thumb and forefinger dangerously close from touching “I’m this close to going absolutely ape”

She smiles at him “Oh, Love. We all are”

They giggled together. If it sounded slightly like it was going to soon turn into a crazy laugh they didn't dwell on it.

“Uh, Ruys…” Scooby turned his head slightly towards them, confusion lacing his voice.

“What is it, Scooby?” Fred moved slightly towards the front seats, Velma just behind.

The Great Dane didn’t remove his eyes front the road. Just ahead of them was a blob of movement, a car, coming in the opposite lane. It was a van. It looked an awful lot like…

“It’s that the mystery machine?” Daphne said with a voice laced in disbelief.

It was a fraction of a second. Just enough for both vans to align. Just enough for both drivers to get a good look at each other.

Scooby would have lied if he said that looking at the driver didn’t give him a small bound of nostalgia.

It has been years seen he saw Fred that young.

114 notes · View notes

rawritzrobin · 3 years

Text

Glitter and Crimson

Title: Glitter and Crimson Chapter 1

Pairing: Jason Todd x Stella Covington (My OC)

Warnings: Cursing, past major character death, a little bit angsty, fluff.

Summary: Stella has moved on from her time in another universe. Her life with Jason is better than ever. But what happens when someone from that universe still wants his revenge? Old friends meet again, but this time, in Stella's universe.

Sequel to Angel Amongst Bats

A/N:

More of this is on my AO3, but I wanted to keep it on my tumblr too.

Masterlist

Chapter 1: Crazy Love

“I got eyes on them!”

“Good, I’ll be there in a sec. Don’t let them get away.”

“Sending my coordinates."

Jason revved his bike twice and drove off into the direction of Dick’s location.

--------------

The night started out calm. But, a calm night quickly turned into a wild goose chase as Nightwing had spotted Jester and Giggles causing some trouble downtown. They had stolen a Gotham City bus and were driving it down the street, destroying several cars and injuring several citizens. They jumped out of the bus last minute and crashed into a city bank. Luckily the explosion was small, barely scratching the exterior of the bank. Nightwing had started his pursuit on the couple.

Giggles was Jester’s new sidekick.

She appeared out of nowhere one day. Jester was all too ready to introduce her to Jason. She was a young woman light blonde hair. It was clear Jester shared his dad’s taste in women. Although, she was a lot less violent and crazy compared to Harley, she had Harley’s signature jester outfit, only hers was a dress and not a leotard. She always wore a mask and never spoke a word. She only let out soft giggles. Let’s just say her name fit her perfectly. She had a thing for toxins. She seemed to have something for every situation. One time she hit Nightwing with a potion that knocked him out for a week. To this day they still don’t know what the contents of that toxin contained.

Jester had made a name for himself in Gotham. He was a lot less psychotic than Joker, but they shared a similar hobby: Pissing off the Bat Family. He would rob banks, just for fun. He would kidnap the mayor and scare the living hell out of him. But the one thing he would never do: Kill. Sure he did injure hundreds of people when he placed that bomb on a cruise ship. But his intentions were to destroy, not to kill. Jason could never understand why he did what he did. It didn’t make any sense. There had to be more to him.

Despite the fact that Jester had made his appearance in Gotham more than once, he never got caught. Somehow, he would slip away from them at the last moment. It was even worse when Giggles showed up. She always had some sort of toxin ready to help them escape. That frustrated Jason to no end.

Because Jester never really killed anyone, Bruce didn’t make him a priority. He was low level scum to Batman.

But he was always Jason’s priority. Especially after what he did to Stella. Jason spent years tracking him down, but he always evaded him.

Renegade looked down at his GPS and saw Nightwing was headed to the warehouse district. He leaned forward to speed up, determined to catch them tonight.

—————

Renegade hopped off his bike and shot his grappling hook onto the roof.

“They’re here. They slipped in through a window.” Nightwing said through his comm.

“I’ll cover the roof. Cover the floor level. Drake monitor the cameras from all angles. I don’t want them getting away this time.”

“Copy that Renegade. I can see all the entrances and exits on my end. I’ll signal you if I see any movement.” Tim said.

They weren’t getting away this time. Jason was ready. He had custom made a mask for this particular instance. He had a little influence from his counterpart The Red Hood. With this mask he was ready for whatever Giggles had to throw at him. He quietly made his way into the warehouse through a vent. He slips down and leans against a wall, taking in his surroundings.

“Well look who finally decided to join the party.” Jester’s voice echos through the warehouse.

Out of nowhere a bright light shines onto Renegade’s face. It takes him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the lights. His face darkens when he sees what is in front of him. Jester and Giggles are standing in front of what looks like a bright yellow portal. In front of them was Nightwing, tied to a chair with what looked like a large gas filled bomb next to his feet.

Jester pets Nightwing’s head. He was clearly unconscious.

“That was a lot easier than I thought. Walked right into one of Giggle’s handmade darts. He pretty much fell right into our laps.” He said with a laugh.

Giggle’s let out her signature giggle.

“Well, you caught us at a bad time Ren. Hate to cut this short, but Giggles and I have some important plans with my parents. It looks like you’ll be quite busy here seeing how you have about 45 seconds to get poor old Nightwing out of here before that nerve gas goes off.”

Jester takes a step towards the portal behind him. He raises his left leg and steps inside.

“Catch you on the flip side Renny.” He says with a grin as he hops into the portal.

Giggles follows him, but turns around to watch as Renegade sprints towards her. She giggles softly and jumps into the portal.

Renegade launches himself at her, but Giggles and the portal disappear before he can reach it. Renegade falls directly onto the concrete floor. He groans as he pushes himself up, onto his feet. That was going to leave a mark tomorrow. He shakes his head and quickly cuts Nightwing’s restraints. With ease he throws him over his shoulder and runs as fast as he can outside the warehouse.

He hears the bomb go off behind him. He is far enough from the blast that the gas wouldn’t be able to hit him. With his free hand he signals for backup. He turns around to see the warehouse he was just in engulfed in a purple smoke. The smoke dissipates in a matter of seconds. Renegade looks around and lets out a relieved sigh as the warehouse was in the middle of several abandoned warehouses.

This meant no casualties.

They chose this specific place for a reason. They never planned on letting anyone get hurt. They even gave Renegade and Nightwing enough time to escape the blast radius. But why would they do this? Where did they go? Why not just jump into the portal without alerting the cops with their bus joyride earlier? It was as if they wanted Renegade and Nightwing to know they were headed somewhere.

“Drake, I need you to read the signatures of the area near us. Find out exactly where the crazy couple decided they wanted to vacation together.”

“On it.”

A few minutes later, Batman and Robin drop by with the Batmobile, and they all head back to the cave.

#Glitter and Crimson #Red Hood #Jason Todd #Jason Todd x OC #Nightwing #Jester #Giggles #Batman #Sequel #Tim Drake #Robin #DCU #DC #I write things #fanfiction #Stella Covington #jason todd x original female character #AU

18 notes · View notes

thegoodgayshit · 3 years

Link

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Emperor Belos and his Nuclear Eye Drops

Luz’s dream hadn’t given away just how deep the caves of Mount Pelion actually were.

There was a moment when she was running where it felt like she was just sliding straight down, and she panicked for a moment, praying to every god she could think of that she was going the right way.

The torches on the wall were her only source of light, and the screeching and shouting from the battle in the armory were getting quieter and quieter the farther down she descended.

As she walked, Luz realized that this was the first time she was alone, truly alone, since she’d hopped on a bus to escape from Lina on her last day of school. Luz had been alone most of her life, so she knew what it felt like, but she had forgotten how uncomfortable it really made her feel.

She’d made friends, fantastic, lovely, and incredible friends since she’d come to camp. She definitely wouldn’t have made it as far as she had without them. But now that she was alone, she felt every cut she’d gotten during the last few weeks’ worths of battles… every bruise, every sore muscle, every piece of hair that had fallen into place. Without her friends, exhaustion was creeping into her bones, and she was starting to wonder if she should have run away without anybody following her.

She was just one demigod. How was she going to do this on her own?

Eventually, she made it.

All at once, the cave felt familiar. Luz had seen it plenty of times before in her dreams, enough times that she instantly recognized the widening of the halls, the damp aroma of the cavern, and the sinking feeling in her gut that something very unnatural was lying within.

Then, she saw the portal.

Luz didn’t understand how it was possible, but it had somehow gotten even more terrifying than it was in her dreams.

It was still around the same size, but Luz was no longer able to see what lied within it. Instead, the ten foot tall border of obsidian and metal was protecting layers and layers of dark mist. Instead of having one little hearth on the top of the portal, now there was two huge flames sitting on either side of it. The smoke seemed to rise up in to the air and get sucked into the depth of the portal, sinking deeper and deeper until it wrapped into the mist entirely. Next to the portal was the small table and the chalice she had seen in her first dream, and while it looked expensive, it was quite underwhelming sitting next to something like the portal.

Dread started sinking into Luz’s stomach. How in Hades was she supposed to destroy that?

She heard the clanking of chains, and her gaze was ripped from the portal when she saw the cage, and the girl lying within.

She looked like a ghost. Luz hadn’t seen many goddesses before, but based on the ones she had seen, Luz had a hard time believing this girl could be one. She was so small and tiny she barely looked a day over nine, and she was bent over on her knees, her face pressed into the floor of the mountain pitifully. She was straining against the chains, but they might as well have been pinning her in place because despite the obvious effort she was putting in to move, she wasn’t budging an inch.

“Lady Hestia?”

The girl looked up, and Luz’s heart sank. Her eyes… they’d gotten so dark they almost looked black. All the warmth they’d had the first time Luz saw her in the cage was gone.

“You’re too late, brave one,” she said, and despite her voice being barely a whisper it cut through Luz’s ears like an icy wind. “Belos has stolen the last of my flame, and in mere moments the mountain will fall. You must run! Leave this place before it takes you with it.”

Luz froze, blinking. “Leave you? But I came all this way to free you.”

“Do not sacrifice yourself for this,” she insisted, “you have a chance to regroup and fight another day. Do not fulfill the prophecy here… not when the portal has already taken my flame and all the nightmares of the Underworld will rise and serve their Emperor!”

The prophecy. Amity had told her the rest of it… she’d said something like that… Luz wracked her brain trying to remember.

From what you find in the nightmare, a hero’s life ends.

There was another tremor, the whole mountain shaking right beneath Luz’s feet. She stumbled, gripping the side of the cave as the walls shook around her. Eventually, they began to subside, and Luz grit her teeth pulling herself to her feet.

Nobody’s life was going to end. She didn’t come all this way to fail.

“I’m not leaving you here,” Luz retorted, “if the mountain falls, there’s nothing any of us can do to stop Belos.”

So Luz made up her mind. With a furious scream, she charged, sprinting across the room towards the cage and hacking down with her sword. The metal bars split like she was cutting through paper, and five of the thick steel bars fell. Luz cut a hole through, leaning in to crouch down next to Hestia, who was still chained to the floor.

“This is foolish, hero,” Hestia warned, as Luz lifted her hands to examine the chains, looking for the right way to cut through. “The mountain-”

There was another tremor, the metal bars of the cage rattling. This one was much stronger than the last and lasted almost a full thirty seconds. Luz had to cling to the slashed metal to avoid falling on her own sword.

“Nobody is getting left behind,” Luz panted as the shaking subsided, “we promised Demophon we would free you, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Demophon?” Hestia breathed, and for the first time since Luz found her, Hestia’s eyes seemed to flicker with warmth. “You spoke to him?”

Luz opened her mouth to reply, but Hestia’s eyes suddenly widened.

“The Mist!”

Luz cocked her brow, confused before she looked down and her eyes widened in horror. All around her, black mist had slowly begun to fill the area around the mangled cage, and Luz had to scramble back to avoid it. She didn’t miss it all though, and some of it managed to creep up around her face near her nose. She choked, her nostrils filled with the horribly familiar smell of rotting meat.

Death Mist.

Luz wasn’t proud of how fast she ran to get away, especially with Hestia trapped in the cage unable to move, but she couldn’t stand it. Her eyes had already started to water, and by the time she pressed back against the wall next to the door she’d come through, she wanted to drown herself in water just to get it out of her lungs. She debated turning and running when she heard his voice.

“Up-pup-pup! Don’t go anywhere. I’d actually like to have a word with you, demigod.”

All at once, the mist vanished. When Luz took a few shaky breaths, she looked up and saw him.

Belos was standing between her and Hestia, one hand on his staff, the other watching her with what looked almost like interest in his neon eyes. The horns on his golden mask leered over her, casting a shadow in the haze of the torches hanging along the mountain wall.

Luz glowered at the sight of him, all the rage towards the way he’d been tormenting her dreams rising up in one furious bubble. Gripping her sword tightly, she felt her mouth twist into an angry scowl.

“Let Hestia go, or else!”

She yelled and swung her sword, feeling it collide hard with Belos’ staff as he raised it to block her. Luz strained against it, but he was completely unmoveable.

“Okay,” Belos said, and all at once, Luz felt him push, sending her skidding backward against the mountain floor. “I’ll play.”

He charged, his staff extending into a wicked four-foot sword, and Luz’s eyes widened. She did the only thing she could think to do; deflect.

Belos was stronger than her in every way imaginable. He had speed, strength, and strategy. If it wasn’t for Luz’s adrenaline keeping her dodging and deflecting, he would have already sliced her open.

She was gritting her teeth with every move, her chest heaving as she looked for an opening. She reared back, swinging at his shoulder when she thought he might be leaning too hard on the other side, but she nearly got her hair chopped off the top when he spun and swung right above where she was standing.

She was going to lose, and he knew it.

“What’s wrong, demigod? I thought you wanted a fight.”

With one brutal kick, he knocked Luz backward. She fell right onto her knees, Aletheia skidding away from her hand and back into a ring. Luz covered it with her left hand, breathing hard as Belos pointed his sword at her, tilting his head.

“Had enough?”

He was about two feet away. The perfect opening.

“Not even close,” Luz smirked, scooping up the ring and flinging it right towards his face. The ring shifted into a knife, striking him right in the left eye. Belos hissed, recoiling as there was a shattering sound, a piece of his mask falling at her feet. He clutched his face, and Luz scooped the knife into her hands, clutching it while she heaved on the ground, still recovering from his kick.

But she’d made a mark.

Belos chuckled, his back still turned from her, and Luz watched as his hand covered over his eye.

“I like your spirit,” he said, turning to look at Luz. His mask was chipped, two thick lines running above it. It made his neon eyes look more menacing like he’d been using nuclear eye drops.

“Try that again and things won’t end well for you.”

Belos turned, kicking Luz again and sending her spinning into the ground. She coughed, clutching her chest as she struggled to look up at him.

“I am just a man on a mission. In the grand scheme of things, the goddess’ life is inconsequential. But now, you’re here. And the mountain is falling, whether we like it or not.”

Luz was wincing as she looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing as she listened to what he was saying.

“If you want to save the life of everybody here in the mountain, let me use the portal. I will bring my army through, and spare the life of your friends, and the hearth goddess.”

It was an impossible choice. One that put Luz right between a rock and a hard place. She couldn’t pick.

“But… Olympus…” she whispered, biting her lip.

The mountain shook again, and Luz cried out as the shock of it flattened her right against the ground. This time, the mountain was not left unscathed, and the earth began to shift, the back wall of the cavern splitting away from the earth. Chunks of rock collapsed, and Luz shouted in terror as the wall of the cavern fell back and into the open air, and light suddenly rushed into the room. The back of the mountain dropped like an avalanche, and thank the gods it didn't take Hestia's cage with it, just some of the huge metal crates Luz had hidden behind in her dreams when she was spying. As bright morning light hit her face, Luz winced, doing her best to blink it out and take stock. She was alive, and the tremors hadn't dropped her off the mountain yet.

But it was also just after dawn, which meant it had almost been forty-eight hours since they left the Blight manor.

They were almost out of time.

Belos chuckled menacingly as the tremor’s eventually subsided, and it looked like he hadn’t even been phased by the earthquake.

“You probably think I want to invade Olympus. But the will of my army is not so boorish. We want to purify this world, rid them of the gods and every awful thing they stand for. There will be order and peace, a chance for demigods and the will of man to decide the fate of the world.”

“You want to take this world all for yourself,” Luz spat, glaring up at him. He tilted his head curiously at her outburst, but let her talk. She wondered if he found it humorous. Probably.

“You think getting rid of the gods will solve our problems?” Luz exclaimed, getting slowly to her feet, clenching her knife tightly against her chest. “That it will fix everything wrong with this world? Look at what you’ve done! You’ve brought back heroes from beyond the grave and instead of making things better you’ve only made the lives of demigods worse!”

She pointed her knife at him accusingly, all the frustration she was feeling from the quest, and her life back at camp, and from the way this quest has treated her friends… treated Amity. All this chaos and pain was Belos’ fault.

“You’ve done nothing but hurt the people I care about since I realized I was a demigod. You’re no better than the gods you hate.”

There was a twitch in Belos’ face that Luz might not have seen had she not broken a part of his mask. For a moment, Luz thought he was going to charge. She would have been dead, with him holding a sword and her the knife. But then, he straightened, turning away from her and towards the portal that was swirling again. The mist was getting thicker and thicker, the flames next to it rising higher and higher… and Luz realized what was about to happen.

It was going to open again.

“I think it’s best you reconsider,” Belos said, watching it. “Tik-Tok, demigod, time is almost out. Attack me, and die. Leave this place, and your friends shall live.”

The portal began to glow a deep purple, and the mist changed. Now, it was translucent, and Luz could see with terrified eyes the horrors that were behind it. Armies upon armies of the undead, souls waiting to come back to this world. They were clawing at the door, waiting to be the next one out.

The flames around the portal began to rise, and Hestia groaned from behind her chains. The mountain started shaking, and Luz knew then it was too late. She was out of time.

Then, her eyes locked on the chains.

The chains.

How far away were they? Ten feet? Fifteen? Much farther than the strings at Orpheus’ manner. She’d probably just hit Hestia. But she had no choice. There was nothing else she had up her sleeve, no other tricks she could pull. It was her last chance.

So, she threw her knife.

It sailed through the air, slashing through one of the chains right as Belos realized what she’d done. He twisted, his eyes following the knife as it made its mark, cutting through the ones wrapped around Hestia’s right hand. For a moment, the portal weakened, the mist darkening, and Luz could no longer see the hundreds of souls of the other side.

But she’d only cut one chain. She hadn’t done it, Hestia was still locked against the ground, her knees wrapped, one hand free to desperately try and throw the knife back towards Luz. It clattered against the floor to the right of Belos, just past his shoulder.

She’d never get there. She knew it. She’d failed.

Roaring, Belos turned, rearing his sword up and swinging towards her. Luz squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the slice that would inevitably kill her. She’d never be able to dodge, not without a weapon, and certainly not without Belos catching her.

But when she closed her eyes, she wasn’t greeted by death.

“Luz!”

She felt a body slamming into her from the side, sending her reeling against the mountain floor. She gasped as she landed hard on her stomach, her eyes flying open to see what hit her.

Well, more like who.

Amity had blocked the strike, meeting Belos’ sword with her own. She’d shoved Luz out of the way, and she’d managed to keep Luz alive, if not for a few seconds.

“Bah!” Belos spat, glaring at her. “Aphrodite’s brat. I see Achilles was thwarted by you yet again.”

“He should have thought twice before taking on a Blight!” She hissed, pushing back and swinging again. Belos blocked it, his eyes narrowing. Amity had always been better with a sword than Luz. The sight of it began to fill Luz’s chest with hope. The tables were starting to turn.

Luz scooped up Aletheia, shifting it into a sword, and charged, rearing back to swing at Belos while he was occupied with Amity.

He saw her coming, sidestepping both of them. Now, Luz and Amity were side by side, guarding the portal with their swords raised. Their eyes were narrowed in determination, their bodies tensed in a silent agreement.

They wouldn't let him open that portal. Whatever it took, they were going to stop him.

Belos’ eyes shifted between them, before spinning his sword into a staff. The pole was double-edged, with a foot of wicked bronze on either end. Perfect for when you were outnumbered.

The mountain rumbled again, and Amity gasped, stumbling. Luz reached over and caught her, dropping both of them to their knees while the quakes wracked through the cavern. Even Belos shifted, needing to grip his staff with both hands to keep himself steady. When they subsided, Luz helped Amity to her feet.

“Are you okay?” She whispered, and the daughter of the love goddess whipped her head to look at her like she had three heads.

“Am I okay? I’m not the one who ran off to try and free Hestia on her own!” She hissed, and Luz winced, shrugging her shoulders.

“Lilith saw an opening and told me to run.”

Behind them, the portal's flames popped, rising up again despite Luz cutting one of the chains. In the cage, Hestia flinched, but she was now at least on her knees and pulling at the other chain trying to free herself. Belos was stepping closer to them, his eyes narrowed, obviously angry.

This was a bad situation. One that kept getting worse. But at least now she wasn’t alone.

Luz turned back to Belos, gripping her sword tightly. “You’re outnumbered. Surrender, and close the portal for good.”

Belos chuckled and shook his head, his staff pressing hard into the ground leaving white slashes along the rocky floor.

“Oh no, demigod. We are not done here,” he said, lifting his left hand. The mountain got colder, the temperature dropping as Belos flicked his hand, and Death Mist curled out from around his cloak.

“Before this mountain falls, I am going to kill you both. Then I will open that portal and run Olympus to the ground.”

#the owl house #luz x amity #Percy Jackson AU #lumity #shelby speaks

20 notes · View notes

writing-the-end · 3 years

Text

LoL Chapter 46- Fractures

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

The hermits discover it’s not just Dolios feeling the repercussions of their work.

___________________________________________

Litow wasn’t very far for the likes of Cub, even though it was all the way on the other side of Lairyon. In between Kilton and Addows, on the lower peninsula of the crescent shaped kingdom, it was one of the furthest places from Eremita and the Ashioll sea.

But with Cub’s portal magic, and only three other people to teleport, it was no more than a skip, hop, and a jump. Even better, he’s been to Addows before, so he knew exactly where to go with his magic. Doc was the brave first soul to step through the portal and out into the open world, and kept watch while Scar, BDubs, and Cub passed over as well.

Lucky for them, there was very little presence of arcane guard in Addows, and they’ve only passed one patrol along the road since they began their journey. Doc was ready to fight tooth and nail, remind the guard that they aren’t going to be cowardly criminals. But BDubs yanked him into the bush he had created seconds before Doc could get his words out.

It’s been a few weeks since they all became wanted criminals, Lairyon’s most wanted. Admittedly, things have gotten harder. None of them can show their faces at Snapdragon port, which is crawling with guards and Gedeons. All of their suppliers have cut them off. Luckily, they have BDubs’s garden and a whole sea of fish. On their missions, they can’t take main roads, can’t saunter into wherever they’re needed. Even the villages they’ve come to help will meet them with a mix of hope, disdain, and downright hostility. They have to prove themselves as well as battle off husk storms and darkness crystals. Dolios has turned the whole nation against them. He’s turned the heroes into villains.

It wasn’t the entire town of Litow that asked for their help. A single letter, written by a young boy who had heard stories from another group of wizards, of the hermits and their escapades. Scar looks down at the note as they walk, reading over it once more.

The boy’s parents are missing, and even when he tries to use his own magic- very proudly declared to be arbor magic- the forest that Litow sits at the edge of refuses to bend to his will. Most of the village’s magic has disappeared, and now so are its people. At night, howls of creatures keep anyone from leaving their beds, much less their house.

If Scar has ever read a classic evil black crystal infestation, it would be this. For sure the work of Dolios is plaguing this town. “Litow isn’t a small village. It’s no town like Coral Shores or Shellor, but it’s not as little as Gildara either.”

“Dolios is getting stronger.” Doc growls, his shoulders bent forward as he marches down the road. “He’s getting braver, stealing magic from greater sources. He’s leveling up. Next, it’ll be the towns. Then the cities.”

“Doc does have a point. Everyone loves him, no one would suspect it’s Magistrate Dolios causing this corruption across Lairyon.” Cub waves his hand flippantly, as if batting away flies rather than his unfinished thoughts.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t started blaming us for that.” BDubs sighs. “Do you think people are starting to notice that this is happening? Do you think news has spread about the darkness?”

“If it is, then the Council is surely stifling it.” Cub picks up a rock, holding it in the palm of his hand. Beneath the stone, blue embers of magic curl and twist into his magic circle, and a second later the rock is gone. A parlor trick, but still fun for Cub. “But they can’t stop ideas from growing, and it’s clear from this letter that news is getting around. About the dark magic and us.”

The quad rounds a bend, the road meandering with the creek bed, turning and guiding them to the interface of forest and field. At the edge of the two environments, Litow sits. Three hermits stop, and Doc reaches out to grab BDubs and yank him back from proceeding as the others take initial notes of the mission before them.

Litow seemed to still have it’s color, though one building nearest to the forest edge has become entangled in the grey wisps, slowly being claimed, siphoned of life. The town still held it’s people, bustling as if nothing was wrong, continuing to cut lumber and plant trees in an everlasting cycle of give and take.

Scar takes a step back, not sure if he wants to test his luck with a bunch of Lumberjacks. If they preferred Dolios’s story, he can just imagine the damning blow their axes could deal, with or without magic. Scar rubs his neck nervously, glancing to Doc.

Doc keeps moving. He holds his head high as they enter the town, meeting the lingering gazes as they walk past. Daring anyone who even thinks of turning them in to face his wrath. And while most people don’t say a thing, the others can all tell the lumberjacks are thinking it.

But one brave lumberjack dares to step between Doc and the shadowed forest edge. She places her hands on her hips, tall enough that Even Doc has to look up. “Yer kind ain’t allowed here. Git before I call the guard on you. Could pay for all the lost work we’ve had lately.”

“We’re here to help that!” BDubs chitters, though he’s quaking in his sandals. “I mean, not the work thing directly, but we can bring your magic back!”

“I ain’t listening to no lies from a buncha mercenaries. If the magistrate don’t trust ya, I don’t either.” The lumberjack hefts her axe onto her shoulder, the blade as wide as Scar’s chest. Even Doc decides it’s best not to pick a fight, and retreats from the town.

“Well now what do we do?” Cub questions, watching the timber town return to work, though not without keeping an eye on the four outsiders.

“Psst! Hey! Over here!” The men turn, and see a boy more than halfway out a window of a log cabin, waving with a toothy grin. As they near, the boy chatters excitedly. “Oh I’m so glad you came my best friend’s sister saw you guys in Danes and when I saw what was happening here I knew I should get a letter to you guys. My aunt Bethy thinks yer a buncha thugs but i know the truth my parents always said I was smart!”

The boy points over to the forest, the tangle of trees and bushes, most of it sapped of life by dark magic. “My family’s house is all sad and grey now, but it wasn’t like that until recently. Before, we just thought it was the forest preparing for winter early.”

“So the crystal must be in the forest.” Cub notes, looking at the canopy of trees, green canopies marred by grey tendrils, sprouted up into an ashen cloud. The boy nods, earning a sincere pat on the head from Scar. “Thanks kiddo, you’re our hero today.”

The group leaves their tiny informant and the town that doesn’t want them behind, and BDubs uses his own plant magic to crest a path through the foliage. They pass by young trees, growing tall with the aid of the arbor mages and their familiars, logs freshly cut with the sap still flowing like blood, and stumps of the felled, waiting to be reclaimed or burned to make way for new life.

They’ve become used to the sensation of a dark crystal, the pressure exerted on their bodies, their magic. Doc can even use it to guide them in the right direction, when the tension ebbs and when it grows, until they come across a tree. The behemoth of an oak tree twists it’s roots, dirt hollowed out by animals and time, creating a burrow just big enough for a crystal to be nestled inside. It’s a shame, Scar sighs, that something used for evil has been placed where skavader would normally raise their young. How it destroys the environment, leaving nothing but death behind. “Let’s destroy this magical menace.”

Scar raises his hands, magic circles already cast. When he attempts to cast the spell, however, he finds his arms are immobile. No matter how hard his mind screams at his hands to move, they’re frozen in place.

A snap of a twig sends Doc and the others skittering for a fight, while Scar whimpers pathetically at his unmoving appendages. Movement catches BDubs’s eyes, and he launches a whipping vine to capture whatever he saw. But the ivy is met by fire, coiling around, igniting leaves aflame. When BDubs refuses to let go, then the opponent on the other end of the whip takes control, and the plant wizard is thrown into the air, an screaming arc over the trees and on the other side of Idelens and her crew.

The Council guildmaster lets go of the charred vine, wiping her hands free of the stained ash. Behind her, husks appear from the woodwork, their shifting grey bodies and gaunt faces like ragdolls, toyed around by dark magic. A bolt of dark lightning creases through the stormcloud hovering above them. A husk storm. Idelens may be in charge, but she’s not in control.

The master of Midas’ Medallions straightens the severe bun on her crown, not a single hair out of place. “You and your friends have been such a thorn in the Council’s side. Not mine, but you have made everyone else quite unhappy. Especially Magistrate Dolios. He’s quite displeased that the others have been failing their duties.”

“You say that like we give a damn.” Doc sneers, watching the husks circle around them. Men and beasts, wyverns and wizards, farmers and feathered serpents.

“Oh, but you should care about anything I say, because what I say goes. And I say what better way to remind everyone why I’m the best guildmaster, why I determine the S-Class trials, is by removing a few thorns from the rosebush.” She snaps her fingers, and in the short burst of sound in the forest, several things happen at once.

First, the husks attack. Lunging at the hermits, teeth and spells ablaze. All vying to rip the hermits limb from limb, or force them to join the ranks of husks, sapping their lifeforce and stealing their magic. Just like what happened in Danes.

Second, Idelens’s magic takes hold. Sprites of magenta swirl and dance from her fingers, seeking out the hermits and embedding themselves like burrs to their skin. Cub’s knees quake, struggling to keep him standing. All his strength sapped like he’s ran a marathon, though his magic remains strong. Scar trips trying to run away from the bright bursts of energy, as if he needed the vertigo the magenta magic bestows upon him.

Third, Doc casts his own magic, his consciousness leaping out of his body just before the debuffing magic can steal his strength, and into BDubs instead, trapped on the other side of the husk horde. He feels little concern with controlling his friends- he’s sure BDubs will understand.

Through BDubs’s eyes, Doc can see all three instances, as well as his own body teetering lamely at the center. He’s woefully vulnerable, and every husk knows that his corporeal body is just begging to be attacked. So when a mage turns their magic on him, he turns BDubs on it. Slamming the plant wizard’s hands down on the ground, roots rise from the earth like massive snakes of wood, twisting around Doc’s body and encasing it in a capsule. Doc forces BDubs to his feet, verdant eyes trained on the guildmaster as she watches. Watches Scar and Cub struggle to fight with their strength and coordination gone, and not watching her back.

Doc forgets how weak regular humans can be. He’s used to his tough green skin, and his mechanical prosthetics. He shoves Idelens off her feet with a body check, bruising pain shooting up BDubs’s body. The pain threatens to push Doc free from his host, but Doc keeps a firm grip on the controls. Idelens stumbles forward, and before she can regain her composure, Doc brings a tree down on top of her.

It should have killed her. He meant for it to kill her, but she still had tricks up her sleeve. Magic swirls across her skin, showing that she buffed herself before being brought to the dirt by the tree. Pinned beneath the trunk, Idelens whines to anyone who will listen. At this point, Doc thinks she just likes hearing herself talk.

“Do you know how annoying the other guildmasters have gotten? How many problems you have caused us?” She spits, trying to push the tree off. Doc, still controlling BDubs, glances up, but sees that her magic has left Cub and Scar. She needed to focus on not getting crushed. “Sidero is such a whiny brat, taking all his anger out on me just cause no one cares about his stupid inferiority complex! His guild wasn’t anything special to begin with! The Gadai are losing partnerships and trade deals left and right, which is making Okui all pissy because she can’t have all her nice things anymore! Gluttonous whore. And don’t get me started on Eros!”

“Like I said before, I really don’t care.” Doc starts to let go of BDubs, to return to his body and finish things off, but Idelens is far from finished.

“You should, because it’s all your fault! You’re ruining the Council! Dolios blames us for not working hard enough to stop you, which is why I’m going to have to clean up all your fucking mess. Because apparently I’m the only one who can babysit these idiots and actually get things done!” With a burst of strength, Idelens kicks through the tree, sending BDubs flying once more and knocking Doc back into his own body.

It takes the puppeteer a second to remember how to control his own body. A portal appears beneath his feet, freeing him from his own confinement. “Welcome back, brother.” Cub hums, splicing a husk in two with a simple open and close of another rift. “We’ve got the ashen abominations, you deal with her.”

Doc turns, facing down the guildmaster. He remembers her face so vividly, so perfect and coy. When he ran the S-Class trials, she was worse than almost any challenge she threw his way. He’d like to give her a taste of her own medicine.

He casts his circle, alarming Idelens. She buffs herself, preparing for him to attempt to take control of her body. But he was bluffing. And she fell for it. While she’s busy casting her spell, he uses his own brute force, punching her in the jaw and into a muddy puddle. The golden tassel of her dress drags through the mud, the dirt making it nigh impossible to tell that she’s a Council mage. To Doc, there is no difference. Bones still break the same.

He pulls free his knife, marching forward. He doesn’t stop, even as Idelens frantically casts her magenta magic once more. Even when it slows him down, to the pace of a tortoise, he doesn’t stray from his intended target.

Idelens scrabbles back, her perfection fracturing. Her perfect dress, stained with mud and ash, locks of brown hair wisping free from her bun. Even her voice no longer carries pride. Only pure, seething rage. “I will kill you, puppeteer. I will kill you for lowering me to the likes of those scum.”

She’s gone before Doc’s knife even has a taste for her blood. He stumbles forward, freed from his slow pace. Scar, BDubs, and Cub return to work destroying the crystal, considering this battle a victory- they fended off Idelens and the husk storm she brought, and they destroyed the dark crystal killing the land.

But to Doc, her words echo in his head. And he knows this wasn’t a victory.

This was just a stalemate.

#this is being posted early cause i have therapy at 8 #hermitcraft #hermitcraft au #hermitcraft fanfic #wizard hermits #wizard au #light of lairyon #lol #wizard cub #wizard doc #wizard Bdubs #wizard scar #cubfan135 #docm77 #bdoubleo100 #gtwscar

13 notes · View notes

elisaphoenix13 · 4 years

Text

An Attempt At Normalcy

They wanted a bit of normalcy. Well, Stephen was trying to get the kids to have some semblance of normalcy so instead of eating at home with either takeout or a home cooked meal...they went out. Of course considering they were a large family of nine, they needed a large table to be accommodated and something in the back and a little private since Tony was there. Even after all these years, the paparazzi couldn't get enough of him and the family.

All of the kids were sitting and looking at their menus sans Valerie who was coloring on the paper kids menu she and Diana had been given. Diana was at the age where she could read now, and quite well so she was also trying to decide what she wanted for lunch. The place was a family establishment so it wasn't fancy and wouldn't make things extremely difficult for the kids to find, but still Stephen stared at the extra kids menu with a look like he was trying to set it ablaze with his eyes.

Tony looks up from wiping the drool off Lucy's mouth and ignores the infant as she slams her hands on the table and babble nonsense. "Honey, it's going to burst into flames if you keep looking at it like that." He chuckles.

"I'm just double checking to make sure there isn't any mango in any of the food or juice Valerie may want." Stephen sighs as he sets the menu down to pick up his own.

"Duchess, mango is hardly served at places like this. Just get her the chicken fingers with fries and a glass of milk. She'll be happy."

Stephen grunts. "Worry about your own leech."

Tony grins and tightens his hold around Lucy where she's comfortably placed on one of his legs. She had found her father's silverware and was currently slobbering all over the spoon since Tony had moved the knife and fork out of her reach and was even a little offended when he tried offering her one of her toys in place of the spoon. The glare she gave him was definitely inherited from her mother and Tony vocally said so since Stephen had been in the room the first time it happened.

The doctor was considerably less salty about her clinginess to Tony when the glare came out. All over a bottle that Tony took away too fast. He learned his lesson and let Lucy keep her bottles until she let go or she was just sucking on air. Tony endured the angry glares when it came to empty bottles.

"She has her spoon. She's happy." Tony shrugs.

"I really wish she'd play with one of her toys instead." Stephen sighs and puts his menu back down after deciding on his lunch.

"I tried. You saw the glare."

"If you keep letting her have her way, she's going to grow up a spoiled brat."

Tony rolls his eyes. "It's a spoon not a credit card."

Stephen huffs but a smile does finally grace his features as the waitress comes over with her own smile. She was a nice younger girl trying to pay her way through college and even though their trips to the restaurant were rare, they always asked specifically for her. Tony always left an enormous tip.

"Who's this cutie?" She coos at Lucy who looks up at her and babbles and drools around her spoon.

"This is the Baroness. Her name is Lucy." Tony says. "How are classes going Olivia?"

"Great! So what are we all having today?" Olivia asks.

Lunch was ordered and brought out in good time and they ate happily as they all conversed about one thing or another. Harley and Peter were talking about another possible project to work on in the lab, the twins eventually joined in on the conversation, and Diana was telling Stephen about the cookies she made with Cassie. The sorcerer listened intently as he wiped off the ranch dressing smeared across Valerie's face, and Tony alternated between feeding Lucy and feeding himself. It was about halfway through their meal when another family walked nearby to be seated but stopped and looked at them.

"So this is where you ran off to. You got Tony Stark's pity." The woman sneers and both William and Thomas freeze.

The rest of the family stop eating collectively and look up at the family that William was actively avoiding eye contact with. Thomas was glaring and Stephen...well Tony managed to catch the glint of gold that flashed in his eyes. Mama Dragon was clawing his way to the surface and Tony had to stop it. He really didn't want to pay for damages.

Tony stands with Lucy in his arms and glares at the couple and their four children. Foster kids? Actual kids? He wasn't sure at the moment but didn't care. No one disrespected his children, especially in front of him.

"Excuse you?" Tony glowers angrily. "Who are you to come in here and verbally attack my kids while we're trying to enjoy a family meal?" He snaps.

"They were more trouble than they were wor--" The lady starts.

It was then that Lucy threw her spoon, with deadly accuracy, at the woman's forehead. Tony's lip very minutely quirked up humorously but he managed to keep himself under control. Maybe it was the woman's tone that angered the baby but she was babbling angrily at her and the woman had looked both appalled and infuriated. When the man opened his mouth to say something, Tony held up a finger.

"Ah! No. You and your family go sit down and eat. I don't want to hear another word about Thomas and William or the rest of my family or I will sue you of everything." Tony threatens.

"They are not a burden." Stephen finally says. "Thomas and William are amazing kids and you among the rest of their previous homes restricted them. I'm sure you only cared for the money."

"And you don't?" The man says and Tony scoffs.

"I'm a billionaire. What the state pays you is pennies to me. I told them not to bother and they're officially ours anyway."

The woman smartly keeps her mouth shut and walks away with her family with a huff and to Tony's surprise, a couple of the kids looked at him and the twins apologetically. Tony was starting to wonder again if they were foster kids. He stamped the thought down quickly though because if he gave off the slightest hint that he might want to save those kids, Stephen would hop on the train. Not even they could save all the orphans and foster kids of New York and Tony was a little afraid that Stephen would try.

Lucy babbles angrily at the retreating family as Tony sits back down and the twins finally relax and go back to enjoying their food.

"That's my good girl." Tony grins and smooches a chubby cheek multiple times, making the baby laugh.

Stephen looks over at Thomas and William. "I shouldn't condone running away from home but I'm glad you did. I don't know what they did but you're safe with us." He pauses and frowns a bit. "You feel safe don't you? Despite the circumstances."

William looks over and nods. "We... we've never called any of our foster parents Mom and Dad."

"At least not willingly." Thomas mumbles.

Tony grunts and ruffles Thomas's hair, and they finish their food just as Olivia comes over to bring the check. He pays it and pulls out some cash for her tip and the waitress takes it with a grateful smile and a thanks before walking away to take care of the check. The family gets up and starts filing out of the restaurant and Tony follows once he gets his card from Olivia. Lucy babbles to the waitress as Tony leaves and meets Stephen and the kids outside.

"Daddy, can we go get ice cream?" Diana asks as Stephen hands Lucy a teething ring.

"I think we can do ice cream." Tony nods.

"Last one there--" Thomas starts and turns to dash away until Stephen grabs the back of his shirt.

"No running!" He says and Thomas huffs.

"Aww...no fun."

The ice cream parlor was a short walk away so the family decided to hoof it instead of driving, that way they could take the girls to the park. Valerie was carried by Stephen, and Harley gave Diana a piggy-back ride all the way to the parlor and even the park before he let her down. They all ate their ice cream before spreading out in different directions, and Stephen discreetly got a frisbee through a small portal for Harley and Thomas to use. Diana pulled Peter over to the monkey bars and Valerie quietly asked if William would take her to play on the swings which he of course agreed to, leaving Tony and Stephen on a bench with Lucy.

A blanket and a few of the baby's toys were also retrieved through the portal and Tony handed Lucy to Stephen so he could lay out the blanket for them to lay on. Lucy was content to chew on her teething ring until the blanket was spread and then the couple laid on it themselves after placing her between them with her toys.

"It took a lot of willpower not to laugh when she threw that spoon at that woman." Stephen finally says after a few minutes of calm.

Tony bursts into laughter. "Diana did it too but unfortunately I was the target." He sobers a bit at the memory. "It happened after…" he trails off and sighs, causing Stephen to sit up and look at him.

"Tony... we're home. Yes, I missed those memories and milestones but I got a second chance with Valerie." Stephen smiles. "Now we have Lucy and you've robbed me of her attention and I'm here."

Tony snorts. "Hey, I had nothing to do with that. Maybe your book decided I needed my own leech...the princess was Cassie's from the moment we left the compound."

"I don't think she minds. It might have helped her too to be honest. If it was just you and her--" Stephen starts.

"Cassie would have had no one to talk to. I...wasn't in the greatest state of mind for a while. She was heaven sent." Tony admits.

"It all worked out." Stephen says softly and grunts when Lucy chucks her teething ring at his forehead. "She is definitely your child."

Tony snickers and sits up to look at the rest of the kids before looking back at Stephen.

"Think there's a chance Harley has something to do with it?"

"I wouldn't put it past him." Stephen answers as he picks up the ring and gives it back to Lucy after checking it for dirt.

"He's looking at William again." Tony states with a smirk when he looks back over at their oldest.

He had just thrown the frisbee over to Thomas and his attention was directed to their youngest son who was pushing Valerie on the swing. Tony didn't miss the faint smile on Harley's face before the frisbee hit it and chuckles when he groans and holds a hand over his face.

"I really wish he would say something." Stephen sighs. "The pining is getting to Scott and Quill's level and I don't think I can go through that again."

"Ah, give it another month."

"It's been two years Tony."

"Then it's way past Porcupine and Thumbelina's level." Tony grins. "It only took them a few months.

"Thank the Vishanti for that."

"Mom! My nose is bleeding!" Harley says as he walks over with his hand over his nose. "Do you have a tissue?"

Stephen fishes a packet of tissues out of his pocket and holds them up to Harley. "Maybe pay attention next time." He smirks.

The blush that creeped onto Harley's face was well worth the tease.

#ironstrange #stephen strange #tony stark #supremefamily #mama bear stephen strange #mama bear au

44 notes · View notes

citrusrick · 4 years

Text

Neighbors (Chapter One) - Rick Sanchez x Reader - Rick and Morty Fanfiction

Chapter One: Friends?

You woke up to a bright, green light illuminating your bedroom. You let out a cry of fear as you shot up into a sitting position.

“H-Hey, s-sorry, it’s me,” the familiar gravelly voice said.

“Goddamn it, what are you doing here?! It’s the fucking middle of the night!” You attempted to rub the sleep out of your eyes.

“C-Come on. You gotta come with m-me, (Y/N).” Rick started pulling on your arm as he shot another portal.

“Where?! Why now?!” You started to stand up, but remembered you’re not wearing any pants. At all. You were only wearing a soft t-shirt.

“Just come on! Wh-why are you still sitting there?!” He started pulling harder on your arm.

“Shit, Rick, I need to get dressed!” You gone on adventures with him and Morty before, but never in the middle of the night like this.

“Ugh, f-fine. H-h-hurry up.”

You rolled your eyes at his impatience. He continued to stare at you.

“Do you mind?! Can you at least turn around...?”

“Oh-oh my, God. (urp) I-I-It’s n-not like I h-haven’t seen human female p-parts before like a m-m-million times. A-a-and I was under the i-impression that we w-were pretty good f-friends and I-I’ve seen my friends n-n-naked too f-fucking much, h-honestly.” He turned around regardless.

Friends? Wow, that kind of shocked you. Rick practically only had two other beings he called friends.

You hopped out of bed and quickly threw on a comfy bra and panties set, along with some shorts to go with you t-shirt from earlier.

“O-Okay, l-let’s (urp) go.” He grabbed you by the arm again and pulled you through a portal. You stepped out right next to his ship.

He got into the driver’s seat and popped your door open for you. You rolled your eyes as you got in, luckily for you tomorrow was Friday and you didn’t have any classes or work.

“So...can you tell me what’s going on now?”

“W-well (urp), honestly, th-there’s this f-f-fucking amazing concert on this planet called Glopezorpian-Strumbon. A-a-and I wanted to-to take y-you and n-not Morty. H-He can’t handle h-how fucking sick this c-concerts going to be!” Rick was grinning ear to ear. It was a weird experience, honestly, he looked...giddy.

“That’s it...? You just wanted to take me to a concert?”

“H-hey, don’t f-f-flatter yourself, (Y/N). Y-you were j-just the closest thing b-better than Morty.”

You rolled your eyes, smiling to yourself, “Shut up.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wow! That was fucking amazing!” you gushed when you got back into the ship.

“I-I told you!” Rick laughed.”T-Totally worth it.”

You flew off the planet and into the inky blackness that was space. You were still in awe of all of it: space, flying vehicle, the fact that the smartest man in the universe lived across from the house you moved into just a year ago. Even more surprising, when you came over to hangout with Summer, he took a liking to you and started taking you on adventures.

You were surprised Summer even invited you to hangout at all. She reminded you of the popular girls in high school that would never want to be seen with you. You were now a junior in college.

“H-Hey...why’re you so (urp) qu-quiet?” Rick’s voice broke you out of your introspection.

“Just thinking. I didn’t realize you’d want to be bored by my mere human thoughts and opinions.” You joked, smiling at him.

He shot you a soft smile back, which made you blush and turn to look out your window again. He rarely smiled like that. You may be naive, but it felt like you two shared some sort of secret.

“Sh-shut up. Y-Your h-human thoughts and opinions are s-s-some of the only ones I want to hear.”

“Awe, I’m flattered.” You said, giggling. You didn’t giggle often. Especially not around Rick. What the fuck?

“You sh-should be. Not every random c-college girl I meet gets the honor of being m-my friend.”

It sent a pang through you for him to have said “friend” so many times today. You loved being something special to him, but you wished it was a little more than that sometimes. Maybe that was just the dumb, childish crush you had developed on him and didn’t want to admit to yourself.

“Maybe I don’t want to be just your friend.” It was out of your mouth before you could stop yourself. You had never been this bold. You’d never even dated anyone before. Oh god, what have you done?

You tentatively turned to the side to see his reaction. He had stopped piloting the ship completely and turned his entire body to face you.

“You r-really mean that?”

You nodded timidly, meeting his eyes, but quickly looking away.

“Th-there’s no coming b-back from this (Y/N), i-i-if we start so-something.”

You nodded again, “I know.”

He got closer to you, placing a hand on your knee, “Are you s-sure? One-one hundred p-percent?”

You nodded, peering up at him.

“I-I need to hear w-words, v-verbal c-c-confirmation.”

“Yes, Rick, I want this.”

He surprised you by grabbing you by the shoulders and crashing your lips against his.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, all! I hope you enjoyed this new story I whipped up! It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I almost always turn those into chapter stories...oh well! Chapter two is coming soon! Thank you so much for reading!

#rick sanchez #rick and morty #rick x reader #rick and morty fanfiction #rick and morty season 4 #rick and morty imagine #rick sanchez imagine #rick sanchez one-shot #rick sanchez oneshot #rick and morty oneshot #rick and morty fanart #rick and morty reader insert #soft rick sanchez

137 notes · View notes

shima-draws · 5 years

Photo

OKAY OKAY SO I had this idea that’s similar to Reverse Falls—except everyone’s personalities/roles are swapped, so for example Stan takes the place of Ford and ends up in the portal, and Ford takes the place of Stan and is stuck trying to get him back for thirty years. Mabel and Dipper swap, as do Soos and Wendy, and Gideon and Pacifica, Candy and Grenda, etc.

They’re the same people with the same likes/dislikes and talents, but their personalities are all switched around!! So while Dipper is still mega fascinated by science and mysteries and stuff, he’s very outgoing and energetic and silly, while Mabel is more reserved and very shy about her creative passions—which leads to her being the one to find the journals, and take interest in them because they’re quirky and entertaining—and written by Stan :’) Dipper has a million different sweater vests, and Mabel has buttons and pins all over her clothes!

I see Ford and Stan’s story playing out as like, Ford was the one born with six fingers but it never bothered him much, and he was a very energetic personality as a kid, leading him and Stan into tons of trouble. Meanwhile Stan has always had self confidence issues, and he always took people calling him the “lesser twin” to heart, despite Ford encouraging him not to. Stan always had an interest in the mysterious, as well as Ford, but Stan’s fascination of it stemmed from his own anxiety issues, and found that he could relate a lot to the weird and unusual (because really, a lot of them were like him, labeled as weird and dumb because of his “mental” issues)

Rest is under the cut because it got LONG lol

This all came to a head during high school when Stan started writing fiction;; and really GOOD fiction at that. He couldn’t outwardly express himself and his interest in the supernatural, but he could do that through fiction, which made everything so much easier for him since he has social anxiety! And he found he was really talented at it. Which leads to a great big story writing contest, and the principal telling Stan that if he wins he can get a scholarship and go to college for writing. (The principal also says Ford is going places, too, but the things Stan can do will get him far, while Ford will always be stuck with the more…disapproving of careers. Assuming writers are a big hit, and scientists are just seen as frauds and losers.) Stan gets REALLY excited about this, which bums Ford out a lot because he wanted to do the treasure hunting thing and search for anomalies together, but Stan protests saying this is his passion and he’s finally being given an opportunity to do something good and worthwhile with his life.

The night before the contest, Ford sneaks in to the library where all the entries are set up, and accidentally mixes Stan’s story up with someone else’s—the pages get all intermixed and weird, and he quickly leaves before he can fix it because he’s about to get caught by night security (but he THINKS he got the pages in order when he in fact did not). The next day the judges read Stan’s story and say it makes no sense, it’s all out of context and the writing is all over the place and sloppy—so Stan loses. Of course he realizes that something must have happened, and after seeing a pen that belongs to Ford on the floor, he realizes what Ford has done. Which results in their enormous fight, and Ford is the one to be thrown out of the house.

Ford still manages to make it into college anyway, despite being homeless for a time, and starts studying hard. It’s not…a good college, at all, and he gets roughed up a lot and teased by frat boys, and struggles endlessly to make ends meet financially, and battles with intense depression. But he manages, somehow :’)

Stan, on the other hand, is so torn up about Ford leaving that he is essentially writers blocked—and he can’t write anything of any worth for a LONG time. Eventually he’s forced to get a low paying job in Glass Shard, wondering where it all went wrong, and missing Ford fiercely but still too upset to reach out. (He’s sure Ford is doing fine on his own, anyway.)

Eventually Stan manages to catch the attention of a publishing company along the way, and gets enough money to finally move out and continue his work! Which leads him to Gravity Falls, a place rumored for being weird, so Stan goes there to get inspiration for his writing, and starts a new life.

Ford, meanwhile, has graduated from college, but with a degree from such a shitty place he’s turned down for many job offers. He essentially starts traveling around the country, trying and failing to get noticed, and things start getting really tight for him moneywise, and people start chasing him down to repay his college debt. Yeah. It’s bad lol

Stan decides to call up an old friend of his that he encountered working part of the industry, Susan!! Susan happily comes up to Gravity Falls to act as an “editor” of some sorts for Stan’s latest in-progress novel. Stan also starts keeping a record of all the weird things he sees in Gravity Falls in a journal—and as time passes, the more he gets involved, and the more crazy he gets about discovering the source of all the weirdness there…which leads to him discovering a cave full of symbols and eventually ends up summoning Time Baby (yes, he and Bill are swapped in this!). Time Baby tells Stan that he’s brilliant, that he can bring all of his stories to life and live out his wildest fantasies if they work together. And so, Time Baby helps Stan in order to build a portal—but not a DIMENSIONAL portal, no. A TIME portal. Because I see Time Baby wanting to extend his rule to every time period possible in this AU, but being limited by time laws and possibly a revolutionized force trying to stop him. If he gets access to a time portal he can spread his influence farther, and attempt to take over all timelines, the past, the present, and the future. And Stan, who in this AU hadn’t grown up knowing when someone was trying to con him, falls for Time Baby’s flattery EASILY, and starts building the portal with his instructions. Susan also helps, being a mechanic alongside an editor. But unfortunately, an accident during testing gave Susan a glimpse into the future, where she witnessed the horrifying truth of Time Baby’s rule. She quit the project and decided to leave Stan on his own, who realizes Time Baby’s lies and started to lose his mind as he attempted to protect himself against the overlord’s influence. Which leads to him calling up Ford!!

Ford, who is currently barely scraping by, drops everything to go see Stan in Gravity Falls, in an excited attempt to reconcile. Of course Stan is driven by paranoia and anxiety at this point, so he snaps at Ford, demands him to hide his journals, and this results in their enormous brawl. Ford gets burned, they accidentally activate the portal, and Stan falls in—to be sent to an apocalyptic future.

Unfortunately without Stan’s other journals Ford has no IDEA how the portal works. And seeing as Stan worked with a being from a future with extreme technological advancements, even with his genius he can’t figure it out right away, and especially without the other journals to help. So, as Ford struggles to bring the portal back online, he decides to take over the Shack and transform it into a science museum of some sorts. Being as outgoing as he is, Ford’s able to draw people in with his friendly personality and contagious energy, which earns him enough money to keep the Shack running. He fakes his own death (mostly to escape the mountain of debt he’s in—I know, Ford isn’t the type, but he really didn’t want people sniffing around after all he’d been through, and paying back loans is the last thing on his mind, especially since he’s avoided it already and is labeled as a criminal anyway), opens the Mystery Shack, which is home to tons of crazy inventions and neat science factoids and tours, and thirty long years pass as he struggles to work the portal again. (He tries tons of different complicated things, but nothing works. He gets very frustrated with it sometimes.)

Eventually, the summer of 2012 arrives and with it comes Dipper and Mabel! And you know, things play out pretty similarly to how the original GF universe did. Bill is an interdimensional demon who keeps track of people dimension hopping (which Mabel and Dipper inevitably end up doing once they get their hands on a space tape), Gideon is filthy rich, Pacifica is a fake psychic who has an interest in Dipper, Wendy is the girl who fixes up the Shack, Soos is the guy always slacking off and being cool (and the thought of Mabel having a crush on him is. WEIRD but consider it being like, teen Soos or smth. Soos but COOL. He could pull it off), Fiddleford is a cheeky waiter at the diner—you get the point lol.

Anyway I am dubbing this AU as UPSIDE-DOWN FALLS! (I apologize if anyone else has ever had a similar idea, but it just popped into my head and I couldn’t disregard it man;;)

Also I feel that Ford and Stan might eventually go traveling the dimensions, or a mishap occurs and they get separated or something—and Ford runs into the regular GF verse Stan, and he has a great fondness for him because they’re practically the same. (Stan won’t admit it but he really likes Upside-Down Ford too.)

3K notes · View notes