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bwabys-scenarios · 28 days

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Fixer Upper

Part 32

Perv!Kurapika x Fem!Reader

!!REBLOGS APPRECIATED!!

pt 31

pt 32.5

A/N: sorry this took so long. There will be a 32.5 chapter next to celebrate Kurapika’s birthday.

warning: death, misogyny

taglist: @tsukilover11 @ashdownunderscorebeloved @sweetstraberrybear @superweeniehutjrsblog @bugmomwrites @heartsforseo @lixiawinter @altaircc @itszenava @fiightforlovee @mimi-sanisanidiot @wow-im-gay @whorermoviestar @lightshowerrr @mama-m1na @nenggie @wicked-binch @jamayah @themanicwriter01

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As (Name) got ready to fight, the sound of whimpering and scraping filled the small enclosed space, making her wince. Before she could say anything, something started to crawl into the little guy from the middle of the tunnel.

“Oh my god.”

A centaur-like chimera ant led two human beings on leashes, forcing them to walk on their hands and knees. “Keep it down, you two.”

The ant pulled on their leashes, causing the poor men to choke. “Who are you guys? How dare you intrude on my turf?”

“Help… please help us!” one of the unfortunate men called out, tears running down his face. (Name) began to walk forward, but her arm was caught by Kite. He gave her a stern yet sympathetic look before letting her go. She bit her lip, staying in her spot.

“Stop talking Spot! You’re just a dog!”

(Name)’s eyes went wide with shock as the ant stomped on the man’s head, killing him instantly. Could she have saved him if she acted? “Oops, didn’t mean to do that. Oh well, I’m getting bored with these guys. Guess I’ll get rid of Rover, too.”

The surviving man panicked, trying his best to act like a pathetic, begging dog. It was a desperate attempt at survival, one that was in vain. “When you beg like that, I just want to kill you more.”

“STOP IT!”

Kite caught Gon’s arm this time as the boy lunged, causing him to look back. “Don’t move carelessly. There’s more than one enemy. They want you to rush over.”

Two more ants walked out of the separate caves, cackling as the centaur ended the other man’s life. Gon and (Name) looked away, which caused them to be scolded by Kite.

“Don’t look away! If they shoot a projectile your way, you won’t be able to see it.”

The two nodded slowly, and (Name) lightly brushed her hand against Gon’s, an attempt at comfort. It was her way of saying they were in this together, and that she understood. It wasn’t much, but his heartbeat did calm down slightly, and he couldn’t help but spare her a thankful glance.

“I’ve got it. You three will be my new dogs.”

(Name) tilted her head as the centaur ant the pointed to her. “And you? You will be my mate.”

The entire room went quiet, (Name) blinking rapidly, looking back at forth at the ant, Kite, Killua, and Gon. “Did… did I hear that correctly?”

Killua and Gon stood there in shock, looking both disgusted and angry at the same time. Kite looked as calm and collected as always, but he seemed slightly tense in his shoulders, as if he were holding himself back. “Chimera ants have always been aggressive, but it seems consuming malicious humans has made them even more evil.”

“H-huh? What do you mean?” Gon asked, still recovering from the chimera ant’s words. He hated that (Name) had been signaled out and disrespected. It only fueled his anger and resentment towards the creatures.

“Phagogenesis.” Killua answered.

“If we don’t deal with them here, many more will die!” Kite exclaimed. In response to his words, their auras spiked as they got ready to battle.

“Capture them!” the centaur ant ordered the other ants with a point of his finger, causing them to launch forward.

“I’ll take the one in the back. You boys will have to deal with the two rushing us. (Name) you’ll provide support, be ready to use your ability when needed.”

(Name) sighed in relief, then paused for a second to turn and look at Kite. She wanted to fight too, but she wouldn’t disobey him. There was most likely a very good reason he was making her stay back, either for her own well being, or for the boys’.

“Right!”

“Got it!

“Do not hesitate. You must fight to kill.”

As the two ran to fight the ants, Kite and (Name) stayed behind, staring down the centaur ant in front of them. It looked at her hungrily, licking its lips and chuckling under its breath. (Name) tried not to forget Kite’s words and kept a good eye on the beast, even when it grinned and purred lowly, biting its lip as it looked her up and down.

She was just glad the boys were there to see the way it looked at her, it grossed her out and was plainly disrespectful. Kite didn’t say anything, but stayed within an inch of her, his hip nearly touching hers. It was reassuring, a way for him to say he would protect her if needed.

“A lesson for you, (Name).” Kite said softly, his eyes trained on the ant. “A cocky opponent will let down their guard in front of someone they perceive as weak. Sometimes using your own weakness to your advantage is a good way to win a fight against someone that may be stronger than you.”

The ant watched as (Name) and Kite talked quietly, the two never looking away from it as they whispered back in forth. The creature sighed, cracking its neck in boredom.

“Hey. We should get started soon.”

Kite waves his hand dismissively. “Wait a little longer.”

“Screw that! You don’t have a choice in the matter,” it licked its lip, glancing between the two. “Now entertain me.”

“Very well.”

As Kite’s aura rose, (Name) darted to the left. The ant paid her no mind, focusing on the threat in front of him. She used this opportunity to go over to Killua, who had been injured during his fight.

(Name) approached him, crouching down to his level. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, the poison can’t-“

“Poison!?”

Killua groaned as she fussed over him, lifting up the back of his shirt. “Killua, does it not hurt? I’ll heal it, don’t worry.”

She placed her hand over the wound, closing her eyes in concentration. “It’ll feel better soon.”

He softened ever so slightly. (Name) was probably the only person that ever truly worried over him, that considered him a child. Gon cared about him sure, but he knew what Killua could and couldn’t take and didn’t worry.

But she worried regardless. When he was hurt, she wanted to make it better. As the wound stitched itself back together, he reached out and held her free hand. “Thanks, (Name).”

She smiled in reply, handing him a granola bar once it was healed. “Here, when I heal a wound it uses your stamina. Your stamina specifically is pretty high, but eating a snack will make sure you stay energetic.”

He took it, unwrapping the bar before taking a big bite. “Mmph… weird, I didn’t think I was that hungry…”

After devouring the bar, Killua joined the others, (Name) following behind him. “Oh it’s him!”

“The thing that shot us!”

Kite, having already defeated his enemy, had his nen activated. “I got a slot machine in my mouth! It goes from 1 to 9. Each number summons a different weapon. This is my Crazy Shot! Don’t forget the name!”

“Just go away…” Kite said, the weapon disappearing.

(Name) healed Gon’s wounds as the others talked, giving him a granola bar as well.

———————

As they made their way out of the cave, Kite continued to speak. (Name) didn’t pay much attention, too busy sorting through her backpack and trying to calm her nerves.

“Let’s hurry, the nest is close.”

That caught her attention.

The forest was dark, all of the animals had gone silent. It felt tense, especially when Gon looked to be on high alert. Usually, when Gon was tense, that meant something was about to happen. After all, his instincts were incredibly sharp.

Killua looked on guard as well, glancing between the gaps in the canopy. He stood close to (Name) as Kite sighed. “We’re surrounded.”

(Name) froze, the only part of her body that moved was her eyes. She searches the tree line for any movement, but it was too dark for her eyes to see.

“Their numbers are great.”

The bushes next to them exploded, along with things falling from the sky. They all landed in front of the four. “Now, then… let’s decide order and methodology. As for our targets, you have three choices. One..”

(Name) reached for Killua’s hand, trying to comfort herself more than him.

“Decide the order in which you will fight. Two, attempt to escape. Three, give up and let us capture you. If you choose option one, you will fight one-on-one battles with us for a chance to survive. I don’t recommend the second option. You’ll anger us, resulting in a brutal capture and prolonged suffering for all of you. Option three is out of the question. That would anger us even more than option two. So, what will you do?”

She felt like she was being leered at again. Each creature stared at her, licking their lips and making strange sounds.

Gon frowned. He was still feeling angry from the disrespect (Name) faced earlier, and from all of the death and pain those creatures had caused. “Kite.”

“We couldn’t have asked for a better deal. One-on-one fights with their Captains. We’ll start with whoever is prepared to fight.”

Killua stepped forward, in front of (Name). “I’ll go.”

“No I will!” Gon said, and the two immediately faced each other to play rock paper scissors. Gon was the Victor.

“Okay, I’m going first!”

————————

After Killua and Gon's fight, Kite pushed name to the front. "She'll be going next."

Killa froze, his hand shooting out to grab her arm.

"Wait, I can go again. She doesn't need to-"

"She's going, that's final."

His words left no room to argue. Killua let go of (Name) hesitantly, a slight shake in his hand for a split second before he was able to hide it.

... Killua, I'll be okay. I've been training too, remember?"

She handed him her backpack, taking a deep breath.

"Watch that for me, okay?"

The other chimera ants chittered and laughed as her opponent stepped forward. The creature was tall, looking like a large, muscular moth with brown wings. It stared down are her, it’s shadow covering her completely. “This is who I get to fight? She’s the size of a baby bear. I could crush her with one hand.”

“Did… did you just compare me to a bear?”

The ant attempted to reach its massive hand out to crush her head, but she dodged to the side. “H-hey, we haven’t started fighting y-“

The ant kneed her in the stomach, sending her flying in the opposite direction. “(Name)!”

Killua began to run forward to go and help her, but was pulled back by the collar of his shirt. “Don’t. You’ll only provoke the rest of them and make (Name) lose focus.”

The boy growled, planting his feet on the ground. He watched as she slowly got back up as the massive chimera ant approached her. “Done already? And after those two children showed you up. How pathetic.”

She wiped the blood from her mouth silently, her aura spiking. “Huh, it really does take just a single touch.”

The ant blinked in confusion as its comrades watched on in horror. The leg it used to kick her was withering away, the pain only now catching up to it. “W-what did you do to me!?”

It tried to rush her, but fell as the effect spread, causing him to fall as his legs became nothing but ash. She easily stepped out of its range. “I’m just speeding up what would have happened to you anyways. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust as they say.”

With that, her fight was over. As she joined the others, Gon and Killua stared on in awe and a bit of fear. “(Name), that was-“

“Scary.” Killua finished Gon’s sentence.

She smiled tiredly, sitting down. “Yeah, it’s something Kite suggested I try. Took a lot out of me and I had to get pretty close to my enemy to use it, but I think I can train myself to eventually have more control over it. Maybe I can even eventually use it from a distance someday!”

Kite walked forward, summoning his weapon as the others chatted.

“That’s enough… it’s my turn!”

The frog like ant stepped forward as Crazy Slots rolled a 2. “Two, huh? Damn, bad spin.”

A scythe appeared in his hands, the blade so long it nearly wrapped around him.

“Killua, (Name)…”

“That scythe is nasty.”

“Gon, Killua, (Name). In three seconds, jump up.”

And they did, all three of them leaping into the air and barely missing the attack that wiped out the entire group of chimera ants.

“Be cautious as we advance. As I mentioned, that won’t be enough to kill them immediately. Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“It’s only getting worse from here. If you start to sympathize with the enemy, you won’t be able to handle what’s coming.”

“Im fine. I have no sympathy for bugs that call each other trash.”

Kite, Gon, (Nams), and Killga headed towards the Chimera Ant Queen’s castle to prevent the king’s birth.

————————

They continued their journey, (Name) struggling a little to keep up after using her ability. She absentmindedly munched on a granola bar, Killua staying back a little to keep an eye on her.

They all stopped when Kite did, waiting for him to speak. “We’re being followed.”

They quickly turned around. “Not from there.”

He looked up, frowning. “There’s quite a number of them.”

Several Chimera ants flew in the air, one more humanoid than the rest. The four now raced through the trees, Killua seemingly angry at how clueless he had been.

“They’re coming from the left and the right. Keep up your guard.” Kite informed them just as a dragonfly like chimera ant flew towards them. The sound of its wings buzzing was so loud that it made (Name)’s ears hurt.

She attempted to seat one away, but they were way too fast. When she tried to get close to use her ability. They hid behind trees. “Crap!”

“The trees are getting in the way!” Gon exclaimed, getting frustrated over the same thing.

“Yeah.”

“Shouldn’t we get out of the forest?” Gon asked, his brow furrowing as another chimera ant weaves through the trees.

“This is a trap.”

———————

(Name) yawned, rubbing her eyes as Kite easily dispatched the chimera ants. They left the woods, the chimera ant that planned to attack them backing off once he sensed he was outclassed by Kite.

“He was able to understand that he was outclassed, and he calmly backed down at once. Most likely, he was a squadron leader.”

They watched as the chimera ants backed away. “We’re following them. Their nest must be nearby. If we follow them, we will find the Queen.”

The three ran through the night as the moon shown over them. Kite used his En to track the chimera ants, nodding. “They’re continuing to go straight. The Chimera Ant nest must be up ahead.”

“Amazing… he’s been picking them up the entire time, never losing them for an instant.” Killua said, hanging back with Gon and (Name).

“Kite said he could use En within a radius of forty-five meters.”

“I’ve heard that those called Nen masters can handle around fifty meters. Kite is nearly there. Actually, given that he’s kept it up for an entire night, he’s probably stronger.”

“Stronger than… a master… the Kite’s the real deal.”

“Yeah, he’s the first real pro Hunter we’ve met.”

(Name) smiled, listening in to their conversation. As they continued to speak, she couldn’t help but feel lucky to have Kite as her teacher. She held onto her backpack straps, watching as Kite continued to walk at a steady pace.

He was… quite handsome, the more she thought about it. Not only that, but he was intelligent and kind. He was kind enough to teach her on an important mission, even though she was noticeably weaker than Gon and Killua, who he already considered a liability if they couldn’t take care of themselves.

The fact he even offered them a chance to leave showed he cared. An uncaring man wouldn’t care if a few kids and a girl died due to their own weakness, but he obviously was not that type of man.

This revelation made her cheeks heat up. Did she… no, there was no way she had some sort of crush on him. She liked Kurapika!

But…

‘He obviously… doesn’t like me…’ her heart twisted in her chest. The memory of his words made her want to curl up into a ball and die.

“This is a pretty brutal place for training, though.”

(Name) began listening back into their conversation to distract herself. Kite responded to Killua’s words. “That’s why I keep asking if your resolve is firm. As you mentioned, Ging had certain expectations when he sent you to me. But I do not intend to train you during this journey. We don’t have that kind of time.”

Soft moonlight trickled through the trees as they continued on. To (Name), it felt like that night was lasting forever.

“I brought you te along because I thought you might be of use, and (Name) because I have a duty to fulfill. From here, it comes down to your resolve. If it’s strong, you’ll develop nen and grow strong via combat. If it’s weak, the ants will eat you.”

The three nodded slowly.

“But we can’t die. We are pro Hunters. Those who call themselves Hunters always get their prey. For Hunters, that is the first commandment. A hunt involves both Hunter and prey. It is a battle of resolve. Emerging victorious from a battle of resolve is what makes a successful hunt. The loser has to follow the winner’s rules and customs. Usually, this means the loser’s death.”

“Rules…”

(Name) paused by a small waterfall, for a moment she had an idea, hearing Gon repeat the word… but it was gone with the wind as soon as Kite continued to speak.

“If you don’t want that result, then win. Improving your nen is important, of course. But to be a successful Hunter, you must understand the enemy and yourself.”

(Name) went quiet again, the sounds of their voices fading away. During this time spent with Kite, Gon, and Killua, she had seen so much death and destruction. Even though it had been said so many times before, her very human mind couldn’t seem to comprehend the possibility of her own death.

Sure, she had thoughts of suicide and even made a few attempts, but she couldn’t quite get the concept of her life being in danger. How many times had she nearly died during the Hunter Exam alone? It was all a bit fuzzy… especially in the beginning when she was still so lost in the dark.

Kurapika had been that light that made the fog clear away. But now… it was as if he was the very fog itself, making the way in front of her unseeable. His words and actions had plunged her back into the abyss she had tried so hard to climb out of.

And part of her resented him for it.

She shook that thought from her head, her heart pouding in her chest. No, no she could never hate or resent him. Kurapika was the person she loved with her entire heart… she didn’t want to feel this way.

So, for the first time, she pushed down those feelings she had for him, attempting to cover them up with her feelings of love and affection. It felt suffocating, almost like her throat was swelling up, but it felt a hell of a lot better than trying to accept that she was human and felt anger for her she had been treated.

She didn’t want to hate him.

By the time she had recovered, Kite sat down on a small, flat boulder. “Ah. That’s right… I just remembered.”

He took out a Hunter’s license, holding it out to Gon. “A Hunter license?”

“This is Ging’s.”

“Huh? Ging’s?”

As they spoke, (Name) and Killua hung back a little. Killua, ever perceptive reached out to grab her sleeve. “You alright?”

She thought for a second before nodding. “Yeah, just… a bit tired, is all.”

After they finished talking, (Name) and Killua rejoined the pair. “Kite…”

He looked up as she spoke, noticing the slight heat in her cheeks. “Thank you… for bringing me. Even though…”

She paused for a moment. “Even though I’m not strong like the others. I-“

“(Name).”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “Do you truly think I would have taken you with me if I didn’t believe you could handle yourself? You’ve already proven yourself, so why do you still doubt your own strength?”

Her eyes were wide with surprise. Kite… thought she was strong? “I…”

Before she could say anything else, Kite stood up and walked towards the cliff’s edge, sweat bearing down his face. His eyes darkened as he looked over the landscape. “That’s a monster…”

He crouched down, muttering to himself. “What is this? I don’t believe it!”

“What’s wrong, Kite?” Gon asked as the three approached him.

“Gon, Killua, (Name). Run!”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up! Get out of here!”

(Name) stood there, taking a single step back and reaching to grab the boys.

“Get away from me!”

It all happened so fast. As Kite moved to block the way, (Name) yanked Gon and Killua back with all of her strength. Because she was so focused, she didn’t notice what happened to Kite until it was too late.

The sound of something falling onto the ground made her look up. Her eyes widened in terror, anger beginning to well up in her chest.

Kite’s arm was lying on the ground, blood gushing from the wound. Killua and Gon were in shock, trembling in both fear and anger as the Chimera Ant before them regarded the three with malicious so intense it made the air freeze inside their lungs.

It was a cat like creature, with a human looking face. The creature was no taller than (Name), but gave off the aura of a natural born killer.

Seeing Kite’s missing arm, both Gon and (Name) began to tremble in anger. As Gon charged up, (Name) got ready to heal him at a moments notice, the grass around her wilting.

Killua slammed his hand in Gon’s neck, knocking him out cold. But he was too late to do the same to (Name).

Unfortunately, she had caught the ant’s attention.

The second the ant laid eyes on (Name), it tensed up, it’s hair fluffy up as if it were a cat encountering a predator.

‘That woman… her power… it’s a danger to the future king!’

Killua picked up Gon, ready to grab (Name)’s hand, but was stopped when the Chimera Ant took a step towards her. (Name)’s aura instantly died down, the terror or being that beast’s main focus making her body freeze on the spot.

“Go! Now!”

Kite summoned his watching, catching the attention of the ant again. As soon as it wasn’t looking at (Name), Killua grabbed her hand and began to run.

There was no way for her to keep up with him, so she was dragged along, flying through the air. “Kite!”

She watched, tears rolling down her cheeks as Kite turned to face the monstrous being. He said nothing, but held a thumbs up, before getting into a fighting position.

——————

As the night continued on, rain began to fall over the three. After getting a good distance away, Killua slowed down enough so (Name) wasn’t being dragged behind him like a rag doll.

She breathed out a sigh of relief, jogging next to him. Soon, the ground would become to slick to run on, so they moved as quickly as they could.

Even after getting several miles away, she could still feel the effects of that… thing’s aura. It made her skin crawl, every sound making her flinch. She half expected something to jump out at them from the shadows, bearing its teeth and ready to devour them.

They had all been too overconfident. The three of them were still weaker than Kite who’d lost an arm. That thing knew… but…

(Name) turned to see Killua glancing at her. ‘Why did that thing react to (Name) that way?’

Sure, Killua knew that her power was frightening, but it wasn’t nearly as strong or developed as Gon or Killua’s. What made her the one in need of eliminating? Why did she of all people catch that thing’s attention?

As the sun rose, (Name) stumbled along behind Killua, her legs shaky with exhaustion. She had never ran that much in her life, the Hunter Exam was a piece of cake compared to the previous night.

It didn’t take long for their guides to notice them as they walked across the desert again. It was all (Name) could do to not pass out as they helped her up into the horse. She held Gon in her lap, Killua riding on the other horse.

“…”

The ride back to where they began was quiet, the two occasionally exchanging a worried glance. Was Kite okay?

Had they just left him to die?

The two carried Gon, setting him down at the base of the tree once they finally arrived at the embassy. (Name) plopped down onto the ground, rubbing her swollen legs.

She silently took a granola bar out of her bag and handed it to Killua, who ate it without a word.

She laid her shirt out in the sun, putting on her cardigan to keep warm as they recovered from the long night they had experienced.

Killua took out his phone and called Kite’s friends, (Name) keeping Gon’s head in her lap. She gently brushed his wet hair out of his face, trying to stay strong for the boys.

They confirmed they were headed their way with reinforcements, so the two just waited together.

(Name) reached out and held Killua’s hand, squeezing it lightly as the truck carrying Kite’s friends and backup rolled up. He felt like a coward for leaving Kite behind, a weakling, but (Name) understood what they were up against.

Three men stepped out of the car, approaching the two. Netero was at the front of the pack, while the other two followed behind. The man to his left was tall, with a muscular body and gray hair and tan skin. The man on Netero’s right was tall and thin, wearing a business suit and glasses.

“That’s Chairman Netero…” Killua whispered, (Name) nodding slowly.

“What’s this? It’s just a bunch of kids. If you’re here to play, you’ll get burned. Go back home,” the muscular man said, grinning. He was carrying something big and heavy over his back that made him lean forward slightly, a testimony to his strength.

(Name) and Killua frowned. They both knew that they weren’t any ordinary kids, and (Name) was an adult!

“Stop it, Morel. That isn’t nice… they’re only children,” the man in a suit spoke. (Name) squeezed Killua’s hand, her eyes trained on the two.

Netero let out a little laugh, looking down at Killua. “You look pretty defeated. Was the enemy that strong?”

He said this with no malice. Netero knew that the three in front of him were no amateurs. The enemy they had faced was strong, so strong that even Kite lost an arm to it.

“One of them could use nen. That was the worst aura I’ve ever encountered. You guys are unbelievably strong, but I still can’t see you defeating that thing…” Killua said softly, looking down.

“Whenever humans encounter the unknown, they tend to lose perspective. Currently you’re experiencing a state of panic. We’ll take it from here, so go lie in bed.” the man in a suit said, looking down at the three as if they were toddlers that needed a nap.

(Name)’s eyebrow twitched, and her grip on Killua’s hand tightened.

“Haha, you’re no better than I am, Knov,” Morel, the muscular man said. “Kid… the minute you start talking about who can win in a nen fight, you’re wrong. In most cases, you won’t know your opponents abilities. One instant of carelessness is all it takes to turn the tables and cost a life. You can’t make assumptions based on the amount of aura displayed. The battle can turn at any point. That’s what fighting with nen means. But, regardless… you must always fight certain of victory! That is a nen user’s spirit. The moment you were overwhelmed by the opponent’s aura and fled, you were disqualified. You’re lower than a loser!”

With his last words, (Name) stood up. “The hell did you just say?”

She stepped forward, her nen spiking. “I’ve had just about enough of your high and mighty talk. If you had been out there in front of that thing, I bet at least one of you would have cried like a little bitch.”

Killua watched this, his eyes going wide. “(Name), stop it, they’re-“

She held up her hand. “And another thing, does it make you feel big and tough to pick on someone smaller than you? Do you feel like a real man when calling a child a loser after making a really hard decision that saved all of our lives? Why I should-“

She raised her fist, but Netero caught it. “That’s enough, (Name).”

Morel looked down at her as if taking her presence in for the first time. He snorted, reaching out his large hand to ruffle her hair. “Looks like this one has some spunk. Kite’s message was right, this girl has potential.”

Netero nodded, examining her aura. “Kite said that you’ve figured out your nen type?”

She nodded slowly, still trying to fix her hair after it was ruffled. “… yes.”

He nodded, looking to Killua. “Is Gon asleep?”

Killua stayed silent for a minute, only relaxing when he saw (Name) wasn’t in any immediate danger. “He was going to attack the enemy, so I used force to stop him. I didn’t have time to control my strength, so I don’t know when he’ll wake up.”

Morel laughed. “That kid shows some promise then.”

“Morel!”

“It’s difficult to believe that giant chimera ants are eating humans, but since it appears to be true, we must keep casualties to a minimum. If we send fighters who aren’t strong enough, they’ll only strengthen the enemy. Do you understand?”

“Yeah…”

Netero began to walk away, but turned the last second. “We sent two assassins to the nearest village. It’s your decision whether you want to fight. But you must defeat them before you come. If you wish to live as a Hunter… we are not desperate for help. We only seek the strong. That being said…”

He paused for just a moment. “(Name)… you will be coming back, guaranteed, if that’s what you wish.”

She blinked, pointing to herself. “Me..? You want… you want me to come back? Why-“

“There is no time to explain. If you wish to come, then use the time to train and refine your ability. Once the victors between Killua and Gon and the assassins are decided, you will come back with them.”

He threw two playing pieces, Killua catching them immediately.

Killua squeezed her hand, preventing her from accepting or declining.

She thought about Netero’s words on the way to the village. All she could think about was how did her abilities even compare to anyone present, and why weren’t Killua and Gon the ones picked?

(Name) took her turn carrying Gon on her back as walked into town.

She raised an eyebrow as Killua looked over a note left on a blackboard.

To: Gon and Killua

‘Will you fight?’

——————

(Name) and Killua sat at Gon’s side as he rested in bed. It was late in the afternoon, the sun filtering in through the window harsh on the two.

The entire way there, Killua had been completely silent. She didn’t blame him for that, the professional Hunters’ words had been harsh, but had a bit of truth to him. There was only so much comfort she could give him without making it seem like it was out of pity. That was the last thing he needed right now, to be coddled as if he was just a child.

She wasn’t surprised when Gon began to stir, raising his hand to block the light from his eyes.

“Killua… thank.”

Killua looked down, his eyes darkening. “Why would you thank me?”

“Weren’t you the one who stopped me? Had I lost control back there, I would’ve gotten in Kite’s way. Then, all four of us could have died.”

“But I… let Kite die…”

“Kite is alive! He wouldn’t ever let that thing beat him! But considering his injury, he’d have a hard time moving around. So he’s probably hiding. Waiting for us to return! So we should hurry back… once we’ve become stronger! To save Kite!”

(Name) watched the two, her gaze softening. Before her eyes, she was watching Killua’s heart open up, watching him fall in love.

“Let’s go. To become stronger!”

(Name) grinned, grabbing both of their hands and leading them to the bathroom. “But first, you two both need a bath and a change of clothes, pronto!”

She walked through town with them after they both bathed and had a meal.

“What are those?”

“Tokens. You take a piece of marked wood and split it, giving each half to a different person. They work as proof that you’re an ally, or to authenticate a document.”

(Name) stopped, ordering them all some ice cream at a stall before walking back and handing it all out. The three continued their journey, now with a special treat.

“In this case, each of the two assassins holds one matching token. We defeat them and take the tokens.”

They went back to the blackboard to see it had been erased. As (Name) licked her ice cream, the feeling of being watched made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“You must be Killua, Gon, and (Name).”

She jumped, turning to see a frightening looking woman behind them. Her hair was long and unkept, her eyes big and staring.

“Nice to meet you… my name is Palm. It’s a pleasure.”

It certainly didn’t seem like a pleasure, a black aura hung around her and her voice sounded far from happy.

“Boys, stranger danger.”

(Name) stood in front of them, hiding the two behind her back.

“Oh my… no need to be so tense. I imagine the chairman probably didn’t provide many details. Allow me to explain. Why don’t we have some tea?”

She began to walk away, and (Name) looked at the two. “Holy… boys, I think we just had a first hand encounter with an otherworldly spirit.”

“That’s not very nice (Name).”

“Gon, I’m with (Name). That was terrifying.”

The three reluctantly followed the women, (Name) and Killua grimacing every time she turned back to stare at them.

———————

“I am a student of Mr. Knov. He said I would only get in his way. But I insisted on accompanying him.”

“Who’s that?” Gon asked as the woman before them stirred a spoonful of sugar into her tea.

“She probably means one of the guys with Chairman Netero.”

“Yes, the one wearing a black suit. My teacher is an incredible person. Cool, intelligent, composed… ah, composed and cool mean the same thing!”

(Name) grimaced as the sugar began to pile in Palm’s cup, peeking over the edge as she poured more and more in. “Ah dear… oh, but I only respect him, that’s all. There’s nothing romantic about my feelings… at least I may wish that were the case.”

She continued to ramble, (Name) glancing at the boys. Killua met her gaze, shaking his head.

‘She’s nuts.’

After she finished speaking, Palm drank the tea, making the three wince. “No one can say what will happen… after all love is a spontaneous thing, don’t you agree?”

“Uh, can I interrupt you? Aren’t we supposed to fight you?” Killua asked.

“Huh? Oh dear… yes, I apologize. The chairman and my teacher said I couldn’t accompany them any farther. But I insisted on going with them. It feels like I spent a lifetime just trying to convince them of my determination. And finally they relented, with one condition.”

“Uh, I’m asking about…”

“My teacher may appear to be a cold person, but he’s actually quite gentle. But you have to spend a lot of time with him to realize that. Ah, by “spending time with him,” I don’t mean-“

“Okay, we get it! What’s the condition?!”

(Name) jumped when Killua snapped, finally having enough of the woman’s ramblings. She nearly had a heart attack when the woman went silent, glaring at them.

“Knuckle and Shoot’s defeat. To think those vulgar, barbaric unmannered brats will be allowed inside NGL before me… I cannot allow that!”

Palm’s aura rose, causing her drink to overflow, spilling onto (Name) and Gon. “Miss Palm, turn off your hatsu!”

———————

(Name) huffed, using the bathroom sink to wet a napkin before dabbing at the stain on her dress. It was one she just bought that day, and she could tell it would be a tough stain to get out later.

‘Damn crazy lady… I need to get back to Gon and Killua before-‘

(Name) nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. She nearly dropped it as she pulled it out of her pocket, her hands still wet while she struggled to unlock it.

“H-hello?”

The line was silent for a moment, and (Name) glanced at the number.

It wasn’t one she recognized.

“This is (Name) (Last Name), correct?”

But she recognized the voice all too well.

“C-Chrollo!?”

Her blood ran cold, the stain on her dress suddenly irrelevant. “Good, it seems you remember me. That makes this much easier.”

The line went quiet again, except for the sound of rustling paper. “I request a favor from you, (Name).”

“A… favor?”

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, her phone nearly falling with it, but she caught it just in time.

“Yes, a favor. What’s the saying… you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours? I need you to do something for me, and in exchange I will give you information that would be useful to you.”

She gritted her teeth, her grip on her phone increasing. “You’re a murderer, you killed the Kurta clan without any mercy, why would I ever-“

“Because I have information on the scarlet eyes.”

She paused, taking several seconds to process that information. Not a word was uttered as he continued.

“Your little boyfriend wants the eyes back, no? Then why don’t we form a little… truce?”

“Truce?”

She could hear him chuckle on the other end. “Yes, after you do this favor for me, perhaps we can form somewhat of an alliance… but with one condition. I will not use any means to get to the chain user through you, but you will not give the chain user any information on us that could lead to him finding our location or harming us.”

He worded himself carefully, keeping his voice neutral. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he probably had some loophole in mind, but the information he might have was too precious to pass up.

“… tell what the favor is. I’ll decide if I’ll do it after.”

She could almost hear the smug smirk he wore in his voice. “A member of the Phantom Troupe was injured in a job, and no one else is close enough to their location to help.”

(Name) frowned. “And you want me to help them?”

“Yes, that would be what I called you for. You have healing abilities, do you not?”

“How did y-“

He cut her off with a chuckle before she could even finish her sentence. “I have my ways. That’s not important though, what is of higher importance is whether you’ll do this favor or not.”

On one hand, if she didn’t accept this favor, a member of the phantom troupe would potentially die, lightening Kurapika’s load. On the other hand, the information Chrollo had was priceless, considering he was the one that sold all of the scarlet eyes in the first place.

“… alright, I’ll do this favor for you. But don’t get it twisted, this isn’t an alliance. It’s give and take, nothing more and nothing less.”

“And that’s fine.” Chrollo said, letting out a sigh. “I’ll send over the information via text message within the next 5 minutes.”

And with that, he ended the call. (Name) stared down at her phone, her heart heavy. ‘I wonder if I’ll… regret this one day.’

She dropped the napkin she had been using to wipe her dress into the trash, her hands shaking slightly when she opened the door.

As soon as she got back to the table, Killua noticed her strange behavior. His eyes darted from her shaky hands to the scowl on her face. “You alright?”

“Yeah… just saw a spider in the bathroom.”

Neither Killua or Gon felt comfortable with (Name) splitting off from them, but she was adult and they couldn’t really stop her.

“It’s alright, I’m just going some shopping. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

She tried to put them at ease, but Killua wasn’t easily fooled. He watched her leave, his stomach hurting. Killua didn’t quite understand why he felt so uneasy watching her go, but he knew that she wasn’t just going shopping.

“She’ll be okay, Killua.”

The white haired boy glanced back to Gon, who was smiling brightly. “She’s strong, we both saw what she could do in NGL.”

“Yeah, but…”

As her silhouette disappeared within the crowd of people, Killua couldn’t help but worry.

“She was never this nervous in NGL.”

———————

The directions Chrollo sent were concise and easy to follow, so much so that it was almost eerie. He correctly assumed there would be heavier foot traffic in some areas, and estimated the time she would get there with that in mind.

The location was a small, dingy motel on the outskirts of town. The lobby smelled like mothballs and piss, and the walls were stained a nasty yellow from years of guests smoking inside. ‘Gross…’

“Can I help you?”

The woman at the front desk spoke lazily, blowing out a puff of cigarette smoke between sentences.

“Um, yes. I’m here to visit the person in room 204.”

The woman waved her hand, pointing down the hall. Without another word, (Name) began following where she pointed.

The air felt thick, and it wasn’t just the cigarette smoke. Someone’s nen was making the air heavy with rage and frustration. ‘Must be the phantom troupe member…’

She knocked on room 204’s door, flinching when someone yelled out. “Hurry up!”

And yet again, she recognized that voice, groaning internally. When she opened the door, she saw the interrogator of the Phantom Troupe sitting on the edge of the messy bed, shirtless. He looked beyond irritated, tapping his foot and grumbling under his breath.

“Uh… Chrollo sent me to-“

“Already know. Get over with.”

She stood still for just a moment, but moved quickly went he sent her a glare. “Can I see the-“

He showed her his back, and she couldn’t help wincing at the sight. Large gashes, deep enough for her to be amazed she wasn’t seeing bone stretched out across his back.

“Stupid bitch… hit me when back turned, coward…” Feitan grumbled, shaking in anger. He didn’t wince in the slightest as she placed her palms over the wound, only growling out in warning.

“This is pretty bad… I’m not sure how much I can heal you with my current abilities.”

Feitan glanced back at her, a scowl on his face. “Just do it. Take too long.”

(Name) huffed, concentrating her aura into her hands and closing her eyes so she could focus on envisioning his flesh knitting back together, of the skin turning pink with scar tissue instead of being a deep red. Within a few minutes, sweat was pouring down her forehead as she finished, panting softly.

His back was still scarred and sensitive to the touch, but she had sped up the healing process to the point it looked like he had received the scars months ago.

Feitan stood up and looked in the mirror, nodding slowly. “Chrollo call you later. Leave.”

With that, he walked to the bathroom turning to watch her go. She took the hint, not wanting to anger a member of the Phantom Troupe.

As she walked down the street, she saw a man walking down the street, shouting into a megaphone and wearing sighs. His black pompadour caught her eyes…

“My name is Knuckle Bine! I am a beast hunter! I challenge the two punitive force candidates to a duel! Come tonight at midnight sharp, and face me! I won’t try to run or hide. I won’t bring any weapons or allies. It’ll just be me and me alone. So come and fight me!”

(Name) sighed, continuing down the street. ‘That’s Knuckle, one of the people Killua and Gon have to defeat. He hasn’t mentioned where they’re supposed to meet, though…’

“A man never turns his back on an enemy! I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth, you won’t get away!”

She stayed neutral, trying not to react to his words. If she gave any sort of reaction, it might clue him in to the fact that she was in fact allied with Gon and Killua, which could be bad for her.

As (Name) made her way back to their hotel, a few shopping bags in hand to make sure Gon and Killua weren’t suspicious of her, she felt… strangely tired. Healing Feitan had taken a lot out of her, and she didn’t know if she would be able to hide that exhaustion from the others.

Opening the door to their room, (Name) nearly jumped when she spotted Bisky training the boys in the middle of the room.

“B-Bisky?”

The woman turned quickly, her hands on her hips. “Finally, you’re back. You’ll be joining their training as well. Start with Ren.”

She blinked for a moment, yelping when the blonde whacked her on the head. “I said start with Ren!”

“Y-yes ma’am!”

After she went into ren, Bisky nodded. “Maintain that for three hours.”

The three looked shocked. “Killua…” Gon whispered, frowning. “How long can you last?”

“I’m too condition, I can manage around 55 minutes max.”

(Name)’s jaw dropped. ‘55 minutes? I don’t think I can even last 15…’

“Until you complete this, we can’t move on to the next step. Train like your lives are on the line!”

(Name) passed out after maintaining nen for a whopping 30 minutes after being forced to do it over and over.

‘She’s far behind the other two…’ Bisky thought, watching as the other two laid in a crumpled pile with her. ‘Yet Netero wants her to be the only guaranteed member that gets to go back to NGL… I’ll have to observe her further to see what that old man has planned.’

“Okay, you can rest for today! Tomorrow behind in 30 minutes. Looks like it’s time for me to use my power.”

She summoned Cookie-chan, who gave the three relief with a gentle massage as they slept.

——————

(Name) woke up to her cheek being pinched lightly. “Hey, girl. Go get us some drinks, you still need time to recover. Even with cookie-chan, there was still some severe exhaustion that even she couldn’t fix.”

Bisky gave her a look, as if inspecting her. (Name) stood quickly, avoiding the glances from Gon and Killua. “Okay, I’ll go. I should be back soon.”

The second (Name) was out the door, Bisky turned to the other two. “So, what do you two think of her?”

Killua grunted, struggling to maintain Ren. “Do we have to answer r-right now?”

Bisky raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”

Gon went first, a determined look on his face. “(Name) is our good friend. She’s kind, and her nen ability is a testament to that.”

Killua smiled, looking at the ground. “Yeah… she uses it mostly for healing, but while we were fighting the chimera ants, she completely destroyed it with her nen.”

Bisky raised an eyebrow. “How exactly? What’s her ability?”

“Time, I think. Specifically the ability to speed up the growth rate of cells.”

Bisky paused, her eyes going wide. At this stage in her nen journey, (Name) shouldn’t have been able to completely destroy a foe with her nen. If she was this strong now, there was no telling how her ability would develop given time and training.

‘Netero… what do you have planned?’

(Name) walked down the street back towards the hotel. She had a bag of drinks in one arm, and some takeout in the other. Bisky had them training the entire night, not giving her the chance to get some dinner. ‘I’m so hungry, but that training made me so nauseous…’

She sat on a park bench, sleepily munching on her food. Maybe she could get a few minutes of sleep before she had to head back…

Before she could lay down and catch a few minutes of sleep, she heard a man call out to her. (Name) groaned internally, her eyelids heavy as she sat up.

“Hey, you!”

The man stomped over, and it was way too late for (Name) to do anything by the time she recognized him. It was the man from earlier, Knuckle.

“Ya think it’s safe to be sleeping on a random bench in the middle of the night!?”

She blinked, staring up at the man as he glowered down at her. “Um…”

“There’s a pervert on the loose, don’t you read the damn newspaper!? Tsk…”

He had took one of his hands out of his pockets. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

(Name) stared at his hand for a moment, biting back a smile. “How can I be sure you’re not the pervert?”

His face erupted into a red blush, and he began stuttering. “W-would never! It’s not manly to force yourself on a woman!”

She laughed, taking his hand. “I’m just kidding. You seem harmless enough.”

Knuckles was still pretty flustered, leading her away by the hand. “W-which way?”

“Just to the next block, I can walk by myself from there.”

He didn’t answer, probably still recovering. Once they reached her stop, he stood firm, crossing his arms over his chest. “Go on, I’ll make sure no one follows ya.”

She smiled, giving him a wave before she began her walk back to the hotel.

‘Gon and Killua will like him, he’s a nice guy.’

After she was out of his view, her smile dropped as her phone buzzed. She had a feeling she knew who it was, but looked at the contact just to be sure.

Chrollo: Here’s the information, as promised.

(Name) swallowed, looking over the pictures and walls of text. Once it was all saved she forwarded it to Leorio. Kurapika had blocked her, so she knew he wouldn’t answer her.

After she sent the text, Leorio called her instantly. It was late where (Name) was, but mid afternoon for Leorio. “(Name), where the hell did you get this information..?”

“… do you really want to know..?”

Leorio sighed. “Yes, of course. It couldn’t have been easy to get.”

“Yeah,” she said, rubbing her temple. “Working with the Phantom Troupe is a real headache.”

The line went silent as she continued walking.

“The WHAT!?”

—————————

Kurapika sipped on some coffee, reading the text Leorio had just sent him. There was information in at least two pairs of scarlet eyes, containing the buyers name and last known location.

‘How he got this info, I have no idea.’ Kurapika thought, setting down his drink. ‘But it’s too good to pass up.’

He stretched, glancing at the clock. Kurapika’s shift to guard Neon started in only 15 minutes, something that made him groan tiredly. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, his nightmares making a restful night impossible.

But unlike usual, it wasn’t images of his dead clan and their missing eyes that haunted his nightmares.

No, it was the image of (Name), her face unrecognizable after being smashed in. He didn’t know how his mind knew it was her, but he did.

“Why weren’t you here, Pika? Why didn’t you protect me?”

That’s the only thing she said, repeating as the bloody gore that was her face shifted and melted away, leaving only her crushed skull in its wake. Empty sockets stared back at him, the dark holes swallowing him up…

And that’s when he shot awake. As he stared up at the clock, now only 5 minutes remaining before he had to start his shift, he tried to push away the awful memory of his dream.

She was safe because of his absence. He… he hadn’t put her in danger, and she didn’t need his protection. That’s what he kept telling himself as he smoothed out his suit jacket and combed out his messy hair.

‘I… hope she’s okay.’

With one last look at the cardigan he had woken up with weeks ago, Kurapika left his hotel room, ready to start his day.

81 notes · View notes

snax-writes · 5 months

Note

omds i j realised your requests were open!!!! i’m so excited i love everything you write for harvey specter sm :)

i have a request for a secret relationship with him and the reader - maybe they hate each other at work but harvey j goes soft whenever she walks into the room or says smth (he thinks he hides it well but it’s obvious to everyone that he doesn’t hate her) maybe they get caught slow dancing in harvey’s office ( maybe even doing smth spicy 🤭 (ngl i wld die if they got caught making out cause harvey is such a dom im screaming) wld love for it to be spicy, but it’s up to you if you j wanna keep it fluffy!

this is my first time requesting anything, so i hope it’s ok! <3

[hey, i'm incredibly sorry it took so long! thank you so much for your request! it's not exactly like you described but i hope you like it anyway!]

Unsolicited - h. specter

summary: when Harvey asks Mike to assist you on your case, without you asking for it, you can’t help but take it as an offense.

warnings: none

word count: 302

You walked into Harvey’s office enraged. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

The man looked up from his laptop, an unbothered expression on his face. “I need a bit of context.”

“The AM General case. They are my client. Why would you ask Mike to research on my case without talking to me first?” You leant on his desk, towering over him.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Harvey stood up and rounded the desk as you straightened up, your eyes following him.

“Do you think I am incompetent?” You asked earnestly.

The man smiled. “I would never.”

You furrowed your brows. “Then why would you do something that undermines my authority as well as my competence?”

The man stepped closer. “Y/n.”

“What?” You stubbornly maintained eye contact.

“Smith is a flaming misogynist. He will try to make your life hell with belittling you and being condescending,” Harvey argued. “I-“

“And giving me unsolicited help is supposed to be… what? You always do this.” You exclaimed, interrupting him.

He exhaled. “I’ll admit I should have talked to you first. I’m sorry. I just wanted to protect you.” His gaze flicked to your lips for just a millisecond but you caught it.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be this protective of a colleague…” You murmured, suddenly entranced by his eyes.

“Oh, I definitely shouldn’t but it seems I got a thing for ignoring rules.” He whispered before he finally caught your lips in an ardent kiss.

Only the sound of someone clearing their throat made you separate, you both left breathless.

“You two will to talk to HR.” Jessica stated, a smug grin on her lips. “And as quickly as possible – in fact, first thing tomorrow morning.”

You nodded, biting your lips to keep from grinning, while a cheesy grin formed on Harvey’s lips as his eyes caught yours.

if i missed a content warning, please tell me and i'll add it!

#harvey specter x reader #harvey specter #suits tv #snax writes

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upat4amwiththemoon · 2 years

Text

The Scarlet Witch

Summary: What the Scarlet Witch wants, the Scarlet Witch gets.

Pairing: dark!Wanda Maximoff x female!reader

Warnings: Doctor Strange MoM spoilers!!, angst, death, violence, mind control

Word count: 2015

a/n: I’ll always be a Wanda apologist <3

Tags: @thought-of-you-and-me @rafecameronswhore @sayah13

“Honey,” Y/N walks down the stairs, her hair wet from the shower she just took. “Would you rather order takeout or should we cook?” She combs through her hair with her hand, staring at the show going on the television.

Wanda stares at herself from the kitchen window, her eyes flashing red for a brief moment. The sleep walking worked, she’s in her own body at another universe. She doesn’t look at Y/N, she doesn’t want to get distracted from her job.

“Where are you going?” Y/N stares at Wanda, worry clearly etched on her face. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to take out the trash.”

Y/N furrows her brows. “I’m pretty sure I took it out yesterday.” She sets her hand on Wanda’s shoulder, which makes her gasp. “Why are you crying?”

Wiping away the stray tear, Wanda turns to look at Y/N with a smile on her face. Her eyes go through her whole face, as if memorizing it. “No reason.” She whispers, bringing her hand up to cup Y/N’s cheek. Her skin is so much softer than she remembered.

“What’s up with you?”

Suddenly Wanda pushes Y/N against the closest wall, kissing her roughly. Her hands travel down her back all the way to her ass, squeezing it softly. Y/N gasps, giving Wanda access to push her tongue into her mouth. Her other hand moves under her shirt to feel her bare skin, while Y/N’s hands tangle with Wanda’s hair.

Wanda bites Y/N’s lower lip, pulling it as she backs away. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.” Y/N giggles. “But what was that for?”

“Just wanted to do that.”

Giggling, Y/N leans her head on Wanda’s shoulder. ”You’ll be the death of me.” She mumbles, out of breath from the activities that just happened.

Wanda freezes. Her grip on Y/N’s waist tightens as her breath hitches. You’ll be the death of me. You’ll be the death of me. You’ll be the death of me. Her mind goes right back to the day her Y/N died. At the hands of Thanos. She brought her to Thanos. It’s her fault she died that day.

Wanda loosens her hold and takes a step back. “I have to do something.” She whispers, moving her hand back up to Y/N’s cheek, caressing it softly. She is a delicate thing to her, Wanda can’t let her die again. “Why don’t you make dinner while I’m away, hm?”

“What do you have to do?” Y/N leans her head to the side, frowning as her mind racks through everything Wanda would need to do at this time.

“Something important. You trust me, right?”

“I do.”

“Then you’ll do what I say, yes?” Slowly her hand lowers to Y/N’s neck. She’s holding it gently, keeping away the urge to squeeze. Letting out a shattered breath, she lets go of her when Y/N nods. “I’ll be back soon, my love.” But before she can leave, Wanda’s eyes start to blurry. “No, no no no.” She starts muttering as she moves back and forth in her own reality and the universe she’s in.

“Wanda?” Y/N grabs her waist, letting her lean her weight on her. “What’s happening, Wanda?” Wanda turns to look at her, tears im her eyes as she finally faints. “Wanda!”

Y/N lays her to the ground gently, kneeling next to her. Her breathing quickens and her eyes tear up as she tries to wake Wanda up. It doesn’t take long for Wanda to finally open her eyes.

“Oh thank god, are you okay?” Y/N puts her hands on Wanda’s cheeks, leaning closer. “Do you need something? What happened?”

Wanda looks around the room, trying to clear her mind before her eyes stop on Y/N’s panicky looking face. She lets out a breath of relief, burrowing her hand in Y/N’s hair and pushing her head to her chest. “You’re okay.” She whispers.

“What?” Y/N mumbles, lifting her head up. “You are the one who fainted.”

“It wasn’t me.” With Y/N’s help, Wanda stands up.

“What do you mean it wasn’t you?”

“Someone…” Wanda tries to gather her thoughts. To be honest, she isn’t hundred percent sure what happened either. “Another me, a witch, was in me.” She looks at Y/N. “It was a spell, she came from another universe.”

“Are you okay?”

“I am now.” Wanda sets her hands to Y/N’s waist. It almost makes her flinch, remembering what just happened. “Are you?”

Y/N nods, wrapping her arms around Wanda’s neck to bring her into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

The Scarlet Witch takes residence in Wanda’s body again during the night. She wakes up on the couch, Y/N in her arms. The urge to stay on the couch with her is strong as she pushes her face into her hair, smelling the sweet and familiar scent of her girlfriend.

Her head gets fuzzy from the need to protect her and never let go. She’s all she has, she can’t lose her again. Which is why she needs to find Chavez and get her powers.

Squeezing Y/N one last time, burying her hands under her shirt. She finally lets go of her and carefully stands up. She picks up a blanket from the backrest of the couch and puts it on top of Y/N. “Soon you’re mine, my love. Just a bit longer.” Wanda whispers and kisses her forehead.

With a smile on her face, she leaves the house.

“Y/N!” Wanda slams the door open with her magic, running straight to the couch where she last saw Y/N.

Y/N wakes up with a gasp, sitting up instantly. “Wanda?” Still groggy, she looks around a little dazed.

The brunette almost cries out in relief. She drops to her knees in front of her. “You’re okay? You aren’t hurt?” She takes hold of her hands.

“I’m okay, what happened?” Y/N sets her hands on Wanda’s cheeks, swiping away her tears. Worry swims in her eyes as she finally notices the blood on her. “Whose blood is that? Are you hurt?”

“It was her again.” Wanda bursts out in tears, all the things Scarlet Witch did hitting her like a brick wall. “She killed them, she killed all those people. I killed them.”

“It’s not your fault.” Y/N drops to the floor next to Wanda, pulling her into an embrace and caressing her back. “You did nothing wrong, it wasn’t you.” She presses multiple kisses on top of her head.

Wanda’s grip on Y/N’s shirt is tight, trying to ground herself. “I have to keep you safe.” Her whisper is almost inaudible as she presses her face against Y/N. The closeness makes her feel better, it lets her know Y/N is safe.

“I’m not the priority right now.”

“She’s after you. She could hurt you.” Wanda sobs. “I would never forgive myself if you got hurt.”

“She has already hurt you, Wanda.” Y/N moves Wanda’s face so she could see her face. “My priority is keeping you safe.”

“I don’t deserve you.” The whisper is quiet.

“You deserve me and a lot more.” Y/N gives her a soft kiss. “Lets get you cleaned up.” Helping Wanda up, Y/N leads her into the bathroom, taking out the first aid kit. “Wounds or shower first?”

“Shower.” Y/N nods, putting the first aid kite to the side and helping Wanda out if the bloody clothes. “Come with me, please?”

“Of course.”

“What do you want to watch, Wanda?” Y/N flicks through the movies in Netflix while Wanda is preparing snacks for them.

The Scarlet Witch hasn’t appeared in a while, which of course didn’t completely erase their worries. But, they did feel a little more at ease, especially because she hadn’t possessed Wanda’s body again.

“Whatever you want, honey.”

Y/N hums, deciding on a movie she and Wanda haven’t seen yet. Although, before she can start the movie, a star shaped portal opens right in front of Y/N.

Flinching at the sudden change, Y/N freezes once she notices the Scarlet Witch choking a girl she doesn’t know. “Wanda!” She calls out to her Wanda, but it gets the Scarlet Witch’s attention as well.

Quickly the Scarlet Witch lets go of America. “Y/N?” She smiles, her eyes watering instantly. As she takes a step forward, Y/N backs away from her. Her face falls when Wanda steps in front of Y/N. “Get out of my way.”

“You’ll never get her.” Wanda snarls. Her magic dances around her fingers. The Scarlet Witch laughs, shaking her head. With a flick of her wrist, Wanda flies to the side.

Y/N gasps, running right after her. “Wanda!” She drops onto her knees next to her.

“You have to run.” Wanda whispers. “I can’t defeat her.”

“I’m not leaving you.” Y/N grabs a knife from the kitchen counter. She knows she has no chance against the witch, but she has to try. “I am never going to come with you.” She stands in front of the witch. “Just leave us alone.”

“I can’t, not when I finally found you.” The Scarlet Witch takes a step forward, which makes Y/N take a step back. “Why are you afraid? I’d never hurt you.” She looks desperate as she straightens her hand towards Y/N, hoping she’d grab it. “I love you.”

“I’ll never love you.”

The second the sentence leaves Y/N’s mouth, the Scarlet Witch starts seeing red. Her magic grows as she stares at Y/N with a scowl on her face. “You will.” She smirks. Her magic takes hold of Wanda and lifts her up in the air.

“No.” Tears start gathering in Y/N’s eyes. “No, no, don’t hurt her! Let her go, I- I’ll do anything, please.”

“Too late.”

A loud crack rings through the house and limp Wanda falls to the ground. Y/N’s world slows down as she starts screaming and sobbing for her dead girlfriend. She crawls towards her, wrapping her arms around her body and leaning her head to her shoulder.

She fails to notice the Scarlet Witch walking towards her after she blaster her magic at America, closing the portal. Grabbing bunch of Y/N’s hair, she brings her to eye level.

“Let go of me, you monster!” Y/N screams and tries to wriggle her away out of the hold.

The Scarlet Witch grins, her free hand coming up to Y/N’s cheek. “Now you’ll have no choice but to love me.” She whispers. Red tendrils of magic make their way into Y/N’s mind, turning her eyes red as the magic erases and changes her memories. “You’ll be mine forever.” Her voice is the last thing Y/N hears before her sight turns dark.

With a groan, Y/N wakes up. She presses her hand to her forehead, trying to ease the harsh bounding in her head. “Nice for you to finally wake up, sleepyhead.” Y/N turns her head to see Wanda playfully grinning at her.

“What happened?”

“You fell asleep during the movie.”

The end credits of a movie are playing on the television. “Oh.” She frowns, she didn’t remember starting to watch a movie.

“Are you okay?” Wanda pulls her into her body, wrapping her arms around her waist. “Are you having a migraine again?”

Again? Did she usually have migraines?

Y/N closes her eyes with a sigh. The bounding only seemed to grow the more she thought about it. “I guess.” She can’t help but lean more into Wanda, her warmth comforting her.

“My poor baby.” Wanda kisses her head, leaving her face there to keep her as near as possible. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Wanda, I love you.” Y/N mumbles out in a tired haze.

“I know.” Wanda grins widely. “I love you too.”

#marvel #mcu #marvel imagine #mcu imagine #mcu fanfiction #wanda maximoff #angst #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda mcu #wanda marvel #the scarlet witch #scarlet witch x you #scarlet witch x reader #doctor strange multiverse of madness #dark fanfiction #dark!wanda maximoff #dark!scarlet witch

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adelaidedrubman · 3 months

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wipfire wildsday. or something

was tagged for wip day by dearies @cassietrn and @direwombat, thank you! against all odds we are back on wildfire chapter 19! here’s a very shaky early draft little excerpt of jestiny being her lovable charming relatable self. warnings for violence and killing that is… not particularly gruesome or gory but perhaps particularly cruel. wildfire is a romcom as we know

“Alright.” She cut off his self-important monologuing with a press down of her thumb and a laugh, wedging the radio between her shoulder and ear to continue talking as she reached to place hands on either side of the cultist’s head. “Let’s play a fuckin’ game then, and you can show me just how much you actually fucking care.”

“Excuse me?”

“You value their lives so much? Let’s see if you can save this one.” She leaned down, so terrified sobs could be picked up by the meager speakers. “I let her limp off with no more than a broken arm. If you can do one. Simple. Thing.” She paused for effect before clarifying, “Tell me her name.”

“What on earth are you —”

“You fucking heard me,” she ground out. “Show me how much you actually care. Tell me the fucking name of the woman you sent out here to die for your fucking bullshit excuse for a cause,” she demanded. “Pale. Skinny. Ballpark five-two. Freckles. Green eyes. Curly brown hair. What’s her name?”

“Whatever infantile point you think you’re proving —”

“Would putting a voice to it help?”

She jammed a knee down on the twisted limb, grabbing a fistful of brunette curls to yank back and guide her screams towards the radio.

“Please —! P-Please —”

“I think she’d like you to remember her name too, John,” Jestiny offered in a sugary sweet sing-song, pressing a hand back over her mouth. “What the fuck is it?”

“Do you think you’re doing anything but displaying every ounce of bloodthirsty wrath pulsing through your —”

“C’mon, surely you remember her?” she pressed with a rise. “She’s family, after all. You wouldn’t have just been bullshitting about how much you care about ‘every single soul I rip from it,’ right?” she teased in mocking falsetto. “Shoveled pig shit at the farm for y’all. Would be leaving behind a younger sister by the name of Stephanie. Guess that brainwashed cultist!”

“— can all now see it isn’t enough for the Deputy to simply take from our Family, no. She has to revel in her cruelty, to —”

“Maybe he could use a phone-a-friend, ya think?” Jestiny hummed, yanking her captive up by the hair again. “Think fast — aaanything he would remember you by?”

“I — I —” she let out a few more sobs, before sniffling and continuing. “We never talked much, sir. But I was over at your r-ranch a little while back, with B-Brother Will and Brother Nathan. When Brother Nathan h-had to be corrected for gossiping about —”

“Well, that oughta jog his memory, huh?” she said with a click of her tongue against teeth as she shoved the woman’s head back down into the dirt. “Got a name for me yet, darlin’?”

“Brothers and Sisters and wayward souls in need of salvation alike, listen to the lows this sinner who would ask to be called a savior will stoop to in order to —”

“No! Please, please, please, no —” The woman cried up at Jessie, features that had been contorted in agony seeming to sink with hopelessness as John preached on. “I don’t want to die, I’ll do — anything! Please, I —”

“Clock’s ticking!” Jestiny chimed into the radio. “Give me a fucking name!”

“Do you think you set the rules here?” John snapped, finally breaking down to resume addressing Jestiny directly. “Do you think any of this cuteness and cleverness is going to save you when —”

“I think I’m the one asking the fucking questions!” she shouted over pained screams. “What’s her name?!”

“Deputy Rook, mark my words —”

“Her name!” she screeched, hands tensing. “What’s her fucking name?!”

“Jessie —”

“Bzzzzzzzzzzz-zzzzzt!” She kept her jaw pressed down on the talk button as she held tight onto her skull and twisted, so that telltale snap of her neck followed by the sudden absence of screaming could be heard punctuating the mimicry of an incorrect buzzer noise she drew out.

“So sorry, Caroline. No prize this time!” She released her hands to allow the woman’s skull to drop limp to the ground as she hopped up to stand, shifting her radio into her hand. “And a special thanks to all the Hope County viewers at home,” she enthused, pacing in circles around the dead body to run out unspent restless energy. “Be sure to tune in next week for another round of ‘Does John Seed Give a Minimal Fucking Shit About the Followers He Sends Out to Die?’ when the answer will still be hell fucking nope!”

She clicked the radio off with a final sharp inhale, clipping it back to her belt. She ran a hand through her hair as she tried to slow the still frantic heaves of her chest.

She turned in about-face to find Adelaide and Sharky having emerged from their battle positions to stand in the open space of the field, staring on at her with wide eyes and hanging jaws.

“What?” she asked, looking between the pair and the dead body at her feet with a shrug. “Did we start doin’ capture over kill and y’all forget to tell me, or something?”

Adelaide cleared her throat. “Killing is one thing, but sugar, did you have to drag it out for the poor gal like that?” she questioned, blinking away the look of shock with a shake of her head. “Edging is supposed to be for the bedroom, not the battlefield.”

“Making John Seed look like the lying, hypocritical, scumbag, piece of shit fraud that he is live on air is more satisfying than anything I’ve ever experienced in the bedroom,” Jestiny grunted in reply, nudging the corpse’s contorted arm with the toe of her boot. “She was gonna have to die anyways. At least her death proved a point.”

“Better than anything in the bedroom? Sounds like what we really need is to find you some more gifted lovers, then,” Adelaide mused, crossing her arms and looking down at the corpse with a pink lipstick frown. “And a, uh — more willing audience for the whole public humiliation kink deal. You know they have nightclubs for shit like that, right?”

sending no pressure tags out to @belorage @hctknives @fourlittleseedlings @galaxycunt @lordundying @florbelles @josephslittledeputy @afarcryfrommymain @poetikat @voidika @captastra @confidentandgood @deputyash @blissfulalchemist @shellibisshe @thedeadthree @nightbloodbix @miyabilicious @henbased @clicheantagonist @firstaidspray @strafethesesinners @jackiesarch @v0idbuggy @orionlancasterr @stacispratt @professorpineapple @strangefable @shallow-gravy @inafieldofdaisies @corvosattano @socially-awkward-skeleton @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @simplegenius042 + opt in/out for the wip day tag here!

#jestiny voice you delight. i was proving a very important point about claiming moral high ground while threatening hostages by. uh #the thing about wildfire that requires the greatest suspension of disbelief is accepting at this point #the resistance and peggies haven’t gotten together to say ‘‘we’re done dying for your sex game’’ and call a truce #wip

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skyfallscotland · 19 days

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I had a hard time today, so obviously I bawled my eyes out and started writing. I’ll be ok, it’s just…hard. It’s always hard. You think you’re doing fine and then something sets you off and it’s just…there’s no other feeling like it, the emptiness.

If you know the feeling, check the tags and consider whether you’re in the right headspace to read this right now, or ever. I promise if you never read it, you’re not missing out, you already know what happens anyway 🖤

And if you’re feeling it right now, if it’s not too presumptuous to say, the message I want you to hear is this: your sign is right in front of you. Hold on. You never know what you could be missing out on.

Remi / 14 years old / 628AU

“I don’t want to come out with you and Dain and listen to the two of you talk in your own secret little fucking language, ok?!” It explodes out of me, a yell I can’t control, can’t quite tamp down on.

“Remi, we wouldn’t use—”

“You always do.” I snarl. The two of them have all these dialects that only they know, that they’ve studied together without me and whenever they’re around each other it’s all they speak in. So they can ‘practice’ they say. Funny how they never need to practice Tyrrish.

“I promise I won’t.” Violet’s eyes are wet with tears. “I just want to spend time with you.” She begs.

“Why?” I spit. “You never did before.” I roll my eyes. “Face it, you don’t want to spend time with me, you’re just worried that I’ll die too and you’ll be left feeling guilty.” I scowl. “So don’t worry about it, consider this me absolving you.” I turn on my heel and storm away.

My sister’s never cared about me before, she sure as hell doesn’t now. She wouldn’t even miss me if I weren’t around, she’s already replaced me with Dain. My arms are crossed over my chest, the oversized jacket on my shoulders covering the way my hands clutch at my ribcage, hugging my waist as I try not to cry.

The jacket is my mother’s. I used to wear Brennan’s old one all the time, taking comfort in his things while he was off on the frontlines, but of course that was taken from me the moment he was—all his things burnt to ash in a heartbeat.

I don’t know why I bothered trying to take comfort from something of hers, it’s not like she cares for me either—none of them do, except maybe Mira and she’s not here. I’m more likely to get in trouble for taking the damn thing than anything else. I stumble towards my favourite turret, the one connected to the parapet. It’s the closest I can get to my older sister. I hate the height, so I try to never look over the edge of it, but sometimes I go sit up there, just looking out hoping that one day I’ll see a green dragon fly towards me—my sister told me that’s what she’d bonded, a Green. But that’s only wishful thinking.

My chest burns, my lungs constricting as I climb the turret, in the dark, up and up and up. I want to scream, to see if that will expel this furious fire in my chest, the way the dragons always do, but I know it won’t. All it will do is bring people up here and I…I hate people. I don’t want any of them anywhere near me. None of them have any clue what it’s like, how much it hurts.

I’m crying by the time I reach the top, wretched sobs shaking my body as I steady myself with a hand on the stones. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. For a moment, I wobble on my feet and fear has my heart leaping into my throat. I quickly make my way into the top section of the turret and slide to the ground, my back to the wall. I’d almost…

For a long minute, my heart thunders, but then I think at least it would have been over. Over. I don’t know if I believe in Malek, but if the world holds any kindness and the gods are real, I’d hope they would reunite me with Brennan in the afterlife. My breath comes in fast pants as I rip the jacket off and toss it aside, grief overwhelming me to a point where I can’t breathe, can barely think.

There’s a blade in my hand and my vision blurs as I stare down at it through my tears. It doesn’t have to be a fall. I could…

I look up at the sky, hoping for a sign, but there’s no dragon, no burst of flame or message in the clouds. All there is, is a few twinkling stars and an inky blackness. It’s beautiful in it’s own way, I suppose, like a living canvas of gold-flecked onyx. There’s something comforting about that and my sobs die down, a strange calmness washing over me.

It doesn’t have to be like this, I realise. I don’t have to do it anymore. No one can make me. I can just…go.

My brow furrows and I clutch the blade tighter. I’m ready. I’m so ready to just go. The blade glints in the low light of the moon as I lower it to my skin.

“You know, you don’t have to be—”

I jolt, staring up wide-eyed as I freeze in place, icy dread filling my veins. Dain stares back, lips slightly parted and I swallow hard. Before I can think of anything to say, to do, he’s crossing the distance between us in two quick strides and wrenching the blade from my grip, tossing it off the side of the turret. A moment passes, then another.

“Get up. Don’t be an idiot.” His eyes narrow, and I scramble to my feet, my lip trembling. He says nothing else, just…watches me. His eyes are alight with anger and I squirm anxiously, my breath stuttering under his gaze. There’s nothing I can say—nothing I want to say—and eventually I can’t stand it anymore. I turn on my heel and run.

#tw: suicidal thoughts #tw: suicidal ideation #tw: depression #try and be kind to yourselves; always #basgiath (remi's version)

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mycurrent-hyperfixation · 2 years

Text

There’s No Shame In Running: Eddie Munson x Reader (Fix-It Fic) Part II

Summary: Eddie Munson thought that maybe it was okay he was bleeding out in another dimension. That maybe he was meant to die this way after he had finally stood his ground; after he hadn't run away. But then there you were standing above him and he altogether realised that the thought of never seeing your face again completely and utterly terrified him.

Part I

Masterlist

Word Count: 4.1k

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Reader, Eddie Munson x Powered!Reader

Tags: fluff, angst

A/N: Hope you all enjoy! Let me know if anyone wants to be part of the taglist. All feedback is much appreciated xxx

“Mr Munson?”

The man that you had been trying to track down for the past two days finally stood before you, his hands outstretched towards the notice board as he removed Eddie’s vandalised poster and reattached a clean one.

“Can we talk? My name’s Y/N L/N. I-”

“I can’t imagine we got anything to talk about,” Wayne responded, his back still turned to you. “My nephew is innocent. I’ll put up as many posters as I need until he’s found.”

Finally, he turned around to face you.

“Good day to you.”

And then he was leaving and you didn’t quite know how to stop him. There was so much to say, so much to try to explain and a school gymnasium filled with stranded people was not the most ideal of locations. But his figure only kept getting further away from you.

“I was with him!” you blurted out, earning a few stares from the people around you. Wayne Munson stopped in his tracks. “I was with him when the earthquake hit.”

Wayne slowly turned around to face you. You could see the slight sheen form over his eyes as he tried to hold back his tears. It made it even harder to fight off your own.

“And…where is Eddie now?”

It was clear that he dreaded the question, the fear so prominent in his eyes. The air between you became thick as he awaited your response with bated breath. You leaned closer to him, dropping your voice to a whisper whilst making sure no one was listening in.

“He was badly hurt but he made it out alive.”

Wayne released a deep sigh of relief.

“We took him to a hospital-”

“I checked all the hospitals,” Wayne whispered back.

“We had to take him to one outside of Hawkins to…um…to avoid the police. We admitted him under a different name as well just to be on the safe side.”

And then all of a sudden Wayne Munson’s arms were wrapping around you, his grip so tight that for a minute you weren’t quite able to breath. But you did not pull away as the man sobbed into your neck. A few tears slid down your own cheeks but you hastily wiped them away. When Wayne pulled back there was a small smile upon his lips.

“Sorry,” he said, patting your shoulder.

“That’s alright,” you responded. “Would you like me to take you to him?”

Wayne, not trusting himself to speak, simply nodded in response.

The drive was slow.

The traffic was worse than you had ever seen it, family upon family having packed their belongings and left the small town. Music drifted lazily from the radio as you drove, wind rushing through your hair from the open window.

Neither you nor Wayne spoke much during the drive, but the air between you was comfortable. Periodically you would catch Wayne bouncing his leg up and down relentlessly and you could tell that the length of the drive was killing him, but you didn’t say anything hoping that his nervous ticks might bring him some semblance of comfort. Finally, when you pulled into the parking lot, Wayne practically jumped from the car, his figure following close behind you as you led the way.

Opening the door to Eddie’s room, the beeping of the various machines that were attached to him was the only sound that filled the space. You stood back as Wayne rushed forwards at the sight of his nephew still unconscious upon the bed. He brought his hands up to clutch at Eddie’s head as if making sure he was actually real before he bent down and engulfed the boy in a hug.

The scene was so intimate that you felt awkward simply standing in the doorway. But just as you had made the decision to give Wayne and his nephew some time alone, the older man called out to you.

“What did this to him?”

You hesitated, thinking over your answer.

“I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you,” you said. “But I’m afraid you might find out soon enough anyways.”

You could tell Wayne wasn’t satisfied with your answer, but he questioned you no further on the matter.

“Is he going to…” Wayne hesitated. “How long has he been like this?”

“Two days,” you responded, walking further into the room. Every time you glanced at Eddie now lying unconscious within the hospital bed you could never stop the tears from welling in your eyes. Tentatively, you rounded the bed before taking the seat that you had left situated by the bedside.

“The nurses say that he lost a lot of blood,” you continued, reaching a hand out to entwine with Eddie’s that sat limp at his side. “But they don’t think he’ll be in a coma for too long. Hopefully a couple of days at most. They’re still monitoring his wounds for infections though.”

Another chair sat in the corner and Wayne went to retrieve it, placing it on the opposite side of Eddie’s bed. He leant forward to brush a strand of Eddie’s hair away from his face before sitting down, his gaze coming to rest upon you.

“You care about him a lot.”

It wasn’t a question, and yet you answered anyway.

“I do.”

And although you fought bravely against the onslaught of tears, they eventually won, streaming relentlessly down your cheeks. You tried futilely to rub them away as Wayne looked upon you, a kind smile upturning his lips slightly.

“I think I love him.”

You weren’t too sure what had prompted you to confess such a thing, especially to a man you had just met. And although you were overwhelmingly embarrassed, you couldn’t quite bring yourself to regret it. For it felt good to finally get the thought off your chest, as if by speaking the words into the air it somehow took a slight weight off of your shoulders. In that moment you seemed to breath slightly easier.

“Eddie’s a very easy person to love,” Wayne responded. “He was always such a kind kid, even with the way he was raised.”

“I bet he was a handful,” you smiled, continuing to rub against your eyes until your flow of tears began to slow.

“Oh, he was a nightmare,” Wayne said causing the both of you to laugh. “But if there’s one thing I know about Eddie it’s that he’s not dumb, despite what his school marks might show. He wouldn’t let a nice girl like you get away from him if he had any sense.”

You smiled, and with a voice slightly cracking from a fresh wave of tears, said, “Thank you, Mr Munson.”

---

The smell of disinfectant instantly filled your senses upon your arrival to the hospital, the usual chaos of the place having died down now that most of the patients were asleep. Visiting hours were long since over so that you cautiously made your way down each hallway, ducking into nearby rooms and closets as the squeaks of nurse’s shoes passed you by. In one hand you were holding a large pizza box, a bouquet of flowers balanced precariously on top. In the other, your shoes were held firmly between your fingers, your footsteps having been far too noticeable when you had been wearing them.

Just as a nurse rounded the corner, you quickly pushed open the door to Eddie’s room, closing it gently behind you as the nurse walked by. With a small sigh of relief, you turned to look into the room, your eyes instantly coming to land upon the boy in the bed. The space was dark, the only light coming from the window, its blinds still partly open so that the light of the moon shone through.

“Hey there sleepyhead,” you said with a soft smile as you crossed the room and rounded the bed. Placing the items upon the bedside table, you emptied the vase that you had left there, the flowers inside having begun to wilt. You replaced them with the new ones you had bought, manoeuvring certain stems until the bouquet sat nicely. This time they were red carnations, the petals bringing a touch of colour to the otherwise dreary room. Reaching into your bag, you extracted a candle and some matches, placing the former upon the bedside table and lighting it with the latter so that the room was illuminated in a soft glow.

You smiled up at Eddie as he came into clearer focus in the light. Leaning forward, you brushed a lock of his hair away from his face, tucking it behind his ear. With a sigh, you reclaimed the seat by the bedside that had essentially become yours, reaching forward to grab the pizza box before propping your feet up upon the edge of the bed, careful not to touch Eddie’s side. Flicking the lid of the box open, you inhaled the scent of the pizza and moaned.

“The nurse said I should talk to you more,” you began, periodically taking bites of your pizza slice. “She said that you could still hear me, which I don’t really know if I believe, but...it’s nice...talking to you again. Even if you don’t answer.”

Your gaze explored Eddie’s face. The bruises on his neck were healing nicely, the skin having turned a sickly yellow with most of the purple areas having disappeared. More colour had returned to his skin, a healthy flush covering his cheeks as his breathing came out deep and even.

“It’s Saturday,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper. “I got all dressed up for our date and you didn’t show. I thought you said 7 o’clock sharp, Munson. It’s not nice to keep a girl waiting.”

Tears began to prickle at the corner of your eyes.

“I suppose I can find it in myself to forgive you though,” you said with a small smile, casting your gaze downwards as you picked up another slice of pizza. You sighed as you ate, a silence engulfing the room. The light of the candle flickered beside you, casting strange shadows across the wall.

You glanced down at the dress you had adorned, the length coming to rest in the middle of your calves in an attempt to cover some of the bruising your body had sustained from your fight with Vecna. It was a nice dress, one of your favourites, and although the night was chilly you had refrained from adorning a jacket even if Eddie wasn’t going to see it.

“Sorry I was late, sweetheart.”

Your head whipped up at the sound of Eddie’s voice, croaky and hoarse, his gaze fixated upon you. You couldn’t help the strangled sob that left your lips as you all but threw the pizza box to the floor, jumping up from your seat and leaping onto the bed. Eddie grunted slightly as you engulfed him in a hug, careful of the placement of your hands to avoid the majority of his wounds. His arms instantly came up to wrap around you, his grip slightly weak but his grasp upon you unwavering.

Tears flowed freely down your cheeks as you held each other, some coming down to drip onto Eddie’s hospital gown, wetting the fabric. You were shaking against him, you realised as Eddie somehow pulled you closer against him, the warmth of his skin against yours so entirely soothing that it eased your ragged breathing slightly. When you pulled away, Eddie’s hand instantly came up to rest upon your cheek, the pad of his thumb wiping away some of your tears. He smiled, and it was so wide and so genuine and so very lovely to see again that your tears were refreshed anew.

You smiled into Eddie’s touch as his hand continued to rest upon your cheek, his other hand coming up to brush away the hair that had fallen in front of your face. He looked at you like that in silence for some time, his hands continuing to brush against the skin of your cheek as if trying to decide whether you were real or not.

“Hello,” he said, finally breaking the silence, his voice deep and raspy.

“Hello,” you whispered back, not quite trusting your voice to speak any louder.

And then in that moment you altogether realised you were being quite neglectful to the man in your arms.

“Oh, god. I should get the nurse!” you jumped off the bed. “Can I get you something? Water? You’re probably thirsty so I should get you some water-”

But before you get very far away from the bed you found yourself unable to move any further, a tight grip fixated around your wrist. You turned to Eddie, his face contorted in pain slightly where he had leaned forwards to stop you.

“No,” he croaked. “J-just stay with me. That’s all I need right now”

He pulled you towards him and you willingly surrendered until you were back by his side. His eyes were captivating as they stared deeply into yours, his gaze completely unwavering. The grip he had around your wrist did not relent as he continued to pull you forwards, your knees hitting the side of the bed so that you had to lean over it until your face was inches from his.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed. “Have I ever told you that?”

“Oh, maybe once before,” you said back with a smile.

You leaned forwards as far as you could go, practically falling into Eddie as your lips crashed onto his. Where your last kiss had been tentative, hesitant, slow, this time it was desperate and frenzied as you all but devoured each other. Eddie’s hands came up instantly to tangle within your hair, trying to pull you closer. Your own hands fell onto his chest and stayed there, revelling in the feeling of him beneath you so solid and warm and alive.

You deepened the kiss, impatient to taste him once more and needing him closer to you in any way that you could have him. He kissed back just as eagerly, panting into your mouth as he tried to explore every square inch of it. It was as if Eddie was a starved man having been given a feast.

When you pulled away, Eddie whined in protest even though he was slightly light-headed from the exertion of it all. His heart was beating rapidly causing the machine beside him to beep faster. He worried for just a moment that it might alert one of the nurses but then he turned his gaze back to you and all his thoughts were dispelled from his mind. You smiled at him, your lips slightly reddened and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat even though the monitor beside him said otherwise.

“You should have kissed me sooner,” Eddie said with a wide grin, his heart aching as you pulled away to stand back up. “I bet you I would have woken up.”

“Who says I didn’t try that?” you questioned with a smirk. “Sleeping Beauty was my favourite film as a child, you know.”

He watched on as you made to sit back in the chair beside his bed.

“No. Come here,” he whined, trying to shuffle over as he patted the space beside him on the bed. “Lay with me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” you said, unable to stop yourself from smiling at Eddie’s disappointed expression. “You’re literally full of holes.”

“We’re all full of holes,” Eddie said, wiggling his eyebrows in such a way that had you stifling a laugh. “Now get over here. Or I swear I’ll get out of this bed and carry you instead.”

“Alright alright alright,” you said, relenting.

With hesitation, you slowly and cautiously sat upon the edge of the bed, making sure not to touch Eddie’s side as you swung your legs up. You were uncomfortable, that much was obvious from your stiff posture and rigid frame as you continued to be hyper aware of the placement of each of your limbs. Eddie whined from impatience before he leaned over, planted his hands firmly upon your waist and pulled you into him.

“Eddie!” you protested, seeing the slight grimace of pain cross his features as your hip collided with his abdomen. Yet he continued to smile down at you, nevertheless.

“Much better.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes before leaning into his side. You brought one hand up to rest upon his chest, revelling in the faint beat of his heart under your fingertips, whilst your other arm folded beneath you as you laid back against the pillow. Eddie smiled down at you, his hands never leaving your waist.

“Sorry I missed our date,” he whispered into the silent night air.

“You’re here with me now, aren’t you? That’s all I could have asked for.”

Eddie smiled down at you as he leaned his head back to rest fully upon the pillow.

“I wanted to do it all properly though. Buy you flowers and pick you up and open all the doors for you.”

“Well, let’s see,” you said, glancing around the room. “We have flowers.” You pointed to the vase upon the bedside table. “We have the romantic candlelight. And we have a delicious meal.”

You leant forwards and reached down to where the pizza box laid discarded upon the floor. Resting it upon your lap you could already tell that the meal had gone cold, and yet Eddie’s smile widened nonetheless.

“Oh god,” he moaned, instantly reaching over and grabbing a slice.

“Are you allowed to eat? You’ve been on a drip for days and-”

But Eddie had already shoved half of the slice into his mouth and was chewing quite contently. You reached up and wiped at a stray remnant of sauce that adorned his upper lip, smiling as you did so.

“You dressed up as well,” Eddie said, his eyes glancing lazily across your body.

“Of course I did,” you responded, a sly grin upturning your lips. “I wanted to impress.”

“Well you most certainly did,” Eddie replied almost breathless as his gaze continued to linger on your figure.

“I like your dress as well,” you added.

Eddie barked out a laugh as he looked down at his hospital gown.

“I know right,” he said. “Very fashion forward.”

The two of you stayed like that for some time, grinning up at one another as your bodies pressed up against each other, Eddie devouring his slice of pizza in what felt like mere seconds. His hand had not parted from your waist and you couldn’t help but shiver at the warmth that spread across your body at his touch. Without a word, Eddie leaned forwards and pulled the bed’s blanket upwards until you were tucked underneath it with him.

“What happened?” Eddie said, breaking the long silence that had sat between you for some time. “After I passed out?”

The air between you stilled slightly as it became more serious.

“I had to go back and help Max,” you said back, burrowing your cheek into the curve of Eddie’s shoulder as you sank into the bed. “I barely made it in time. Vecna had her all tied up and she was screaming in pain and I thought for a moment that I was too late and-”

You hadn’t noticed that you had started crying until Eddie leaned over and brushed away your tears.

“But Max is alright now?” Eddie asked, his voice soft and wholly soothing.

You nodded your head. “Vecna managed to break one of her arms but I stopped him before he could do anything else. Everyone’s signed her cast. It’s quite cute actually.”

“You are so cool,” Eddie breathed.

You looked up at him and smiled, Eddie’s hand coming up to brush against the length of your jaw.

“So then how did I end up here? You levitate me all the way to the hospital?”

“Not quite,” you chuckled. “I only barely managed to get you back through the portal without collapsing. We, ugh, borrowed Max’s mom’s car. I’ve never seen Steve drive like such a lunatic which is really saying something.”

A silence lingered between you, Eddie’s gaze seemingly fixated on the roof as he laid back against the pillow. His thumb was drawing light circles where it was touching your waist, and although you were quite sure Eddie wasn’t aware he was doing it, you revelled in the touch nonetheless.

“Why aren’t I in handcuffs, Y/N?”

You could tell he had been dreading the question; his voice softer, his body more rigid beneath you as he awaited your response. You propped yourself up onto your elbow so that you could see him better, and the fear that met you within his eyes had your heart aching. Gently, you brought one hand up to cup Eddie’s cheek, stroking your thumb over the curve of his jaw where some stubble had begun to grow.

“Well, for one,” you leaned down and placed a soft kiss over Eddie’s mouth, “we drove you to a hospital outside of Hawkins and admitted you under a different name,” you began.

“Very metal,” Eddie commented as the corner of his lips upturned into a small smile.

“Thank you. I’ve watched enough spy movies to know how to evade the police,” you responded, unable to stop yourself from smiling down at Eddie. “And for two,” you kissed him again, “as we speak the government is covering up this whole mess just like they normally do. So in a few days I’d say you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

“The government?”

“Yeah, some super-secret underground organisation that know all about the Upside-Down and stuff. Oh, and Hopper’s back so he’ll be on your side which will help with the police side of things.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot upwards, his eyes going wide. He couldn’t quite believe how casual you were being about the whole situation

“Hopper? The cop that died in that mall fire?”

“Yeah. Turns out he was actually kidnapped by evil Russians and taken to a Russian prison. Oh, and the mall fire wasn’t actually a mall fire but-”

“Let me guess,” Eddie interjected. “Some Upside-Down related crap?”

You smiled down at Eddie one last time before laying yourself back against the bed, leaning snugly into his frame.

“Yeah, let’s call it that,” you responded with a sigh.

Leaning up against Eddie, his heat completely encompassing you as you continued to sink into the bed, you were finding it quite difficult to keep your eyes open in that moment. You felt as Eddie shifted slightly against you, bringing his hand around to stroke at the hair around your temple.

“I should probably call your uncle,” you whispered into the silence of the room as your eyelids fell closed. “Tell him you’re awake.”

“Mmm,” Eddie moaned as his eyelids began to grow heavier. “It’s late, he’s probably asleep.” He nuzzled his nose against the top of your head, inhaling your scent as he did so.

“I should call Dustin too. That kids been worried sick.” You voice was barely above a whisper, your breathing having grown deep and peaceful

“Really?” Eddie breathed.

“Oh yeah, he makes me drive him up here everyday,” you responded. “It’s a good thing I’m always going anyway.”

“You came to visit me everyday?”

You could feel Eddie’s gaze upon you again.

“Of course I did,” you said looking up at him, furrowing your brows slightly as if it were the most stupid question you had ever heard.

Leaning over, Eddie connected his lips with your forehead before you pulled his face lower and connected his lips with yours. The kiss was lazy; a slow, gentle thing that somehow still had you breathless as you pulled away.

“I love you.” It came out as a whisper from Eddie’s lips, almost as if the words had fallen from his mouth of their own volition.

The grin that grew upon your features was so wide that Eddie thought for just a moment that he had never before seen something so beautiful.

“Maybe the nurse was right,” you whispered back, unable to stop yourself from connecting your lips to Eddie's once more. The taste of him was intoxicating, addictive even so that you weren't quite sure how you had lived your life thus far without him.

Eddie furrowed his brows in confusion but kissed you back just as passionately.

“I love you too,” you clarified as you pulled away, revelling slightly in the beauty of the smile that Eddie offered you in that moment. Eddie brought his hand up to clasp at the back of your neck, pulling you towards him once more until your forehead was pressed against his.

“Stay with me tonight?” Eddie questioned, his voice soft.

“Okay,” you whispered back. With one last peck, you leaned over and swiftly blew out the candle upon the nightstand.

“That was a bit of a fire hazard,” Eddie mumbled, his eyes already half closed.

“Shut up,” you responded lazily. “I wanted our date to be nice.”

“Trust me sweetheart,” Eddie said lazily. “We’re going to be having so many dates that will be way nicer than this.”

You leaned your head back against the pillow and burrowed further into the crook of Eddie’s neck as his scent engulfed you completely. His hand that was still clasped firmly around your waist pulled you somehow closer towards him until all you could feel was him—his heat, his skin, his life—emanating around you.

And maybe it was because the night was cold and the bed was so very warm, or maybe it was because you could just faintly hear the thumping of Eddie’s heart as you leaned upon his chest; so strong and so soothing and so very much alive. So that in the end it took only minutes for the two of you to fall asleep in each other’s arms.

---

Taglist:

@alicetweven @juggernort @theh3aven @manamitoyota @mimiluvsualot @cherrypieyourface @kaqua @c0untryclub

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #Eddie x reader #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #Eddie Munson fluff #stranger things #season 4 stranger things #stranger things season 4 #stranger things s4 #joseph quinn #Joe Quinn

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mybworlds · 3 months

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Chapter 9: Kissed by fire

Pairing: The Hound x Sansa Stark

Summary: Sansa and Sandor meet the brotherhood without banners and Sansa reunites with her sister Arya.

Chapter Warnings: language, violence

Masterlist

Before to start... thank you to follow me, if you want to be tagged in the next chapters, please let me know! if you want to ask me smt, you can write down here or you can inbox me. Please remember English is not my first language. And in this chapter you can read many abstracts of the chapter thirty four of "A Storm of Swords" book; I put them in italics.

Thanks @vase-of-lilies for the banner

Her eyes had grown accustomed to blackness. When a man pulled the hood off her head, the ruddy glare inside the hollow hill made Sansa blink.

A huge firepit had been dug in the center of the earthen floor, and its flames rose swirling and crackling toward the smoke-stained ceiling. People were emerging from between those roots as she watched; edging out from the shadows for a look at the captives, stepping from the mouths of pitch-black tunnels on all sides. In one place on the far side of the fire, the roots formed a kind of stairway up to a hollow in the earth where a man sat almost lost in the tangle of weirwood.

Big as the fire was, the cave was bigger; it was hard to tell where it began and where it ended. Sansa saw men and women and little children, all of them watching her warily.

"Who are you?" Sansa asked frightened as she looked around.

"Sansa?" a voice made her turn to the left, Sansa could not believe her eyes and ears, it was her sister Arya, she was alive. Sansa stood up and went to meet her sister hugging her, Arya did not return the hug, she remained rigidly composed in her position.

Sansa dissolved the embrace "I thought-I thought you were dead!"

"But here I am!" she replied coldly, Sansa looked at all those men, women and children, who were they?

"What is this place?" a strong-looking, dark-haired young man asked sitting next to Arya.

"A place where neither wolves nor lions can disturb us." Thoros of Myr replied.

Sansa and Arya shivered even as one hid it from the other.

Sansa looked around for the Hound and saw him standing by the fire with a hood over his head and his hands bound.

“How did you take him?” the priest asked.

“The dogs caught the scent. He was sleeping off a drunk under a willow tree, if you believe it.”

“Betrayed by his own kind.” Thoros turned to the prisoner and yanked his hood off. “Welcome to our humble hall, dog. It is not so grand as Robert’s throne room, but the company is better.”

The shifting flames painted Sandor Clegane’s burned face with orange shadows, so he looked even more terrible than he did in daylight. When he pulled at the rope that bound his wrists, flakes of dry blood fell off.

The Hound’s mouth twitched. “I know you,” he said to Thoros.

“You did. In mêlées, you’d curse my flaming sword, though thrice I overthrew you with it.”

“We are brothers here,” Thoros of Myr declared. “Holy brothers, sworn to the realm, to our god, and to each other.”

“The brotherhood without banners.” someone shouted “The knights of the hollow hill.”

“Knights?” Clegane made the word a sneer. “Dondarrion’s a knight, but the rest of you are the sorriest lot of outlaws and broken men I’ve ever seen. I shit better men than you.”

“Any knight can make a knight,” said the scarecrow that was Beric Dondarrion, “and every man you see before you has felt a sword upon his shoulder. We are the forgotten fellowship.”

“Send me on my way and I’ll forget you too,” Clegane rasped. “But if you mean to murder me, then bloody well get on with it. You took my sword, my horse, and my gold, so take my life and be done with it . . . but spare me this pious bleating.”

“You will die soon enough, dog,” promised Thoros, “but it shan’t be murder, only justice.”

Sansa's eyes widened in terror at the idea that Sandor - the Hound - could be killed.

“Aye,” said the Mad Huntsman, “and a kinder fate than you deserve for all your kind have done. Lions, you call yourselves. At Sherrer and the Mummer’s Ford, girls of six and seven years were raped, and babes still on the breast were cut in two while their mothers watched. No lion ever killed so cruel.”

“I was not at Sherrer, nor the Mummer’s Ford,” the Hound told him. “Lay your dead children at some other door.”

Thoros answered him. “Do you deny that House Clegane was built upon dead children? I saw them lay Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys before the Iron Throne. By rights your arms should bear two bloody infants in place of those ugly dogs.”

The Hound’s mouth twitched. “Do you take me for my brother? Is being born Clegane a crime?”

“Murder is a crime.”

“Who did I murder?”

An endless string of names resounded along the cave walls, and Sansa looked worriedly at the Hound.

“Enough.” The Hound’s face was tight with anger. “You’re making noise. These names mean nothing. Who were they?”

“People,” said Lord Beric. “People great and small, young and old. Good people and bad people, who died on the points of Lannister spears or saw their bellies opened by Lannister swords.”

“It wasn’t my sword in their bellies. Any man who says it was is a bloody liar.”

“You serve the Lannisters of Casterly Rock,” said Thoros.

“Once. Me and thousands more. Is each of us guilty of the crimes of the others?” Clegane spat. “Might be you are knights after all. You lie like knights, maybe you murder like knights.”

Arya screamed “You are a murderer! You killed Mycah, don’t say you never did. You murdered him!”

The Hound stared at her with no flicker of recognition. “And who was this Mycah, boy?”

“I’m not a boy! But Mycah was. He was a butcher’s boy and you killed him. Jory said you cut him near in half, and he never even had a sword.”

“Who’s this now?” someone asked.

The Hound answered. “Seven hells. The little sister---" Sandor's eyes sought Sansa's, who immediately returned the gaze.

“The girl has named you a murderer. Do you deny killing this butcher’s boy, Mycah?”

The big man shrugged. “I was Joffrey’s sworn shield. The butcher’s boy attacked a prince of the blood.”

“That’s a lie! It was me. I hit Joffrey and threw Lion’s Paw in the river. Mycah just ran away, like I told him.”

“Did you see the boy attack Prince Joffrey?” Lord Beric Dondarrion asked the Hound.

“I heard it from the royal lips. It’s not my place to question princes.” Clegane jerked his hands toward Arya. “This one’s own sister told the same tale when she stood before your precious Robert.”

“Sansa’s just a liar,” Arya said, furious at her sister all over again. “It wasn’t like she said. It wasn’t.” the Stark shouted, forgetting that her sister Sansa was in the cave with them.

Thoros drew Lord Beric aside. The two men stood talking in low whispers, Dondarrion turned back to the Hound. “You stand accused of murder, but no one here knows the truth or falsehood of the charge, so it is not for us to judge you. Only the Lord of Light may do that now. I sentence you to trial by battle.”

The Hound frowned suspiciously, as if he did not trust his ears. “Are you a fool or a madman?”

“Neither. I am a just lord. Prove your innocence with a blade, and you shall be free to go.”

Sansa breathed a sigh of relief, the Hound was virtually unbeatable with the sword, everyone knew it, including her sister Arya who was furious.

“So who will it be?”

“It’s me you’ll face,” said Lord Beric Dondarrion.

Thoros brought the Hound his swordbelt.

The Hound ripped the sword free and threw away the scabbard.

The Hound made to step toward his foe, Thoros of Myr stopped him. “First we pray.” He turned toward the fire and lifted his arms. “Lord of Light, look down upon us.”

All around the cave, the brotherhood without banners lifted their own voices in response. “Lord of Light, defend us.”

“Lord of Light, protect us in the darkness.”

“Lord of Light, shine your face upon us.”

“Light your flame among us, R’hllor,” said the red priest. “Show us the truth or falseness of this man.

Strike him down if he is guilty, and give strength to his sword if he is true. Lord of Light, give us wisdom.”

“For the night is dark,” the others chanted, “and full of terrors.”

And then the sword took fire.

The Hound retreated half a step totally shocked at the sight of his flaming sword, Sansa for her part was totally astonished.

The Hound charged him, he moved fast enough.

The flaming sword leapt up to meet the cold one, long streamers of fire trailing in its wake like the ribbons the Hound had spoken of. Steel rang on steel. No sooner was his first slash blocked than

Clegane made another, but this time Lord Beric’s shield got in the way, and wood chips flew from the force of the blow. Hard and fast the cuts came, from low and high, from right and left, and each one Dondarrion blocked. Each move Lord Beric made fanned them and made them burn the brighter, until it seemed as though the lightning lord stood within a cage of fire.

Now it was Lord Beric attacking, filling the air with ropes of fire, driving the bigger man back on his heels. Clegane caught one blow high on his shield, and a painted dog lost a head. He countercut, and Dondarrion interposed his own shield and launched a fiery backslash. The outlaw brotherhood shouted on their leader. “He’s yours!” Sansa heard, and “At him! At him! At him!” The Hound parried a cut at his head, grimacing as the heat of the flames beat against his face. He grunted and cursed and reeled away.

Lord Beric gave him no respite. Hard on the big man’s heels he followed, his arm never still. The swords clashed and sprang apart and clashed again, splinters flew from the lightning shield while swirling flames kissed the dogs once, and twice, and thrice. The Hound moved to his right, but Dondarrion blocked him with a quick sidestep and drove him back the other way . . . toward the sullen red blaze of the firepit.

Three steps up and two back, a move to the left that Lord Beric blocked, two more forward and one back, clang and clang, and the big oaken shields took blow after blow after blow. Lord Beric’s flaming sword whirled and slashed. In one wild flurry, the lightning lord took back all the ground the Hound had gained, sending Clegane staggering to the very edge of the firepit once more. The Hound screamed as he felt the fire licking against the back of his thighs. He charged, swinging the heavy sword harder and harder, trying to smash the smaller man down with brute force, to break blade or shield or arm. But the flames of Dondarrion’s parries snapped at his eyes, and when the Hound jerked away from them, his foot went out from under him and he staggered to one knee.

Sansa cried out in terror.

At once Lord Beric closed, his downcut screaming through the air trailing pennons of fire. Panting from exertion, Clegane jerked his shield up over his head just in time, and the cave rang with the loudcrack of splintering oak.

Sandor Clegane had fought his way back to his feet with a reckless counterattack. Not until Lord Beric retreated a pace did the Hound seem to realize that the fire that roared so near his face was his own shield, burning. With a shout of revulsion, he hacked down savagely on the broken oak, completing its destruction. The shield shattered, one piece of it spinning away, still afire, while the other clung stubbornly to his forearm. His efforts to free himself only fanned the flames. His sleeve caught, and now his whole left arm was ablaze. “Finish him!” someone shouted “Guilty!” Arya shouted with the rest. “Guilty, guilty, kill him, guilty!”

Smooth as summer silk, Lord Beric slid close to make an end of the man before him. The Hound gave a rasping scream, raised his sword in both hands and brought it crashing down with all his strength.

The Hound’s cold steel plowed into Lord Beric’s flesh where his shoulder joined his neck and clove him clean down to the breastbone. Sandor Clegane jerked backward, still burning. He ripped the remnants of his shield off and flung them away with a curse, then rolled in the dirt to smother the fire running along his arm.

Lord Beric’s knees folded slowly, as if for prayer. The Hound’s sword was still in him as he toppled face forward.

“Please,” Sandor Clegane rasped, cradling his arm. “I’m burned. Help me. Someone. Help me.” He was crying. “Please.”

Sansa jumped up and made to grab the canteen of one of the men who were watching the fight, but Sansa was stopped by her own sister Arya "What the hell is wrong with you?" she scolded her "You know who he is, don't you? Then why are you going to him?"

"He saved my life, I owe him that," replied Sansa who made to get past her sister, but to no avail.

"He's a murderer, he doesn't deserve your sympathy," she shouted angrily.

“You go to hell, Hound,” she screamed at Sandor Clegane in helpless empty-handed rage. “You just go to hell!”

“He has,” said a voice scarce stronger than a whisper.

When Arya turned, Lord Beric Dondarrion was standing behind her, his bloody hand clutching Thoros by the shoulder.

With Arya's disgust, the Hound was freed: the outlaws had healed Sandor Clegane's burned arm, returned his sword, armor, and horse, the only thing they had taken was his gold.

Arya felt a great and very strong anger at seeing him go, while Sansa a great despair: her only, their only chance of return was fading and she was once again a prisoner along with her sister, who, however, hated her.

"You're such a fool!" railed Arya to her sister's despair.

"Stop it!" implored Sansa with shining eyes.

"Crying for that monster! A murderer! You're crazy." Sansa pulled up her nose "Stop crying, you're pathetic!" continued Arya "That one doesn't care about anything or anyone but his own filthy skin!"

"That's not true." replied Sansa between sobs "He's rough, but…he saved me, he took me with him from King's Landing, he could have abandoned me to my fate, but he didn't, how can you call someone who saves your life a monster? " then Sansa continued her tale by narrating to her sister all that she had experienced, but Arya did not flinch, in fact her features became even harsher and her lips stretched into a straight line laden with reproach toward her older sister.

"You are a fool, Sansa, as well as a liar. First you defended Joffrey and forced me to let Nymeria go, with your words you condemned Mycah to death, and now you are defending that filthy murderer. You are a disgrace to our family!" sentenced Arya with contempt.

Sansa lost control of herself and forgot her manners, she slapped her sister who vehemently attacked her by scratching and beating her, it was that guy, Gendry, who separated the two sisters, someone else looked on in curiosity at that scene.

"What's the matter with you people?" the light-eyed, dark-haired boy intervened, tearing up Arya, who had thrown herself impetuously at her sister.

"My sister is mad, that's the matter," replied Arya furiously.

Sansa breathed heavily, then curled up in a corner and began to cry.

"All she can do is cry," Arya continued, "And lie."

She hated her, she hated her sister.

"Come on, leave her alone. Calm down," Gendry said again and then dragged the little Stark away from Sansa.

Sansa brought her knees to her chest and wept silently.

She wanted him to come back to her, to find a way to keep his promise, but days passed, the Sun rose and set, and he was gone.

Maybe she really was as stupid as her sister said!

"I brought you something to eat," Gendry told her when again the moon was high in the sky.

Sansa's eyes were swollen, hurting, and she was sure she looked decidedly grotesque, but by now the elder Stark did not even pay much attention to her appearance.

"Thank you." said Sansa.

She reached for the small wooden plate from which she picked up a cooked potato and chunks of meat with her hands; she had not eaten these foods for so long that they seemed a real treat to her palate.

"Don't mind Arya." he told her "She's angry, she's seen … so many bad things she'll never forget."

Sansa nodded "I know, I know how she feels. But she can't stand me. She didn't before… she won't now that I've taken the side of the Hound she despises with all her might. Arya and I will never love each other, even trying. We are so young and yet we have so much resentment already toward each other."

Gendry laid a hand on hers gently taking on a sorry expression "I hope you will understand each other and be able to talk peacefully sooner or later." he said to her before walking away from her and leaving her alone.

Sansa remained alone for the next few days, she struggled to sleep and eat, but by now she was getting used to even not eating or sleeping anymore, on the sixth day-when she got up again-every muscle ached, she had to maintain herself. She found in a corner not far from her Arya staring into the fire, she had an angry expression, when she approached her, her little sister looked venomously into her face "Gendry is gone too! Your prayers have been answered. I am alone too. The difference between us is I have lost a friend, you -- a lousy murderer!"

"Where did he go?" asked Sansa.

"The Brotherhood has… sold him." replied Arya, angrily throwing a handful of dust into the fire.

"Why?"

Arya did not answer, "We cannot trust them. They might do the same to us in exchange for a few gold coins! We have to…" Arya looked around before adding "…flee." Sansa looked at her for a long time, "Are you capable of doing that? Or are you going to cry and ask for help?" bounced Arya at her.

Sansa just looked at her sister, there was nothing she could do she had not forgiven her for losing her direwolf, not forgiven her for supporting Joffrey, not forgiven her for being there and doing nothing to prevent her father's death, not forgiven her for supporting the Hound.

Night came and along with it many men went to sleep, but neither Sansa nor Arya slept. They were awake and ready to flee. Arya had a strange light in her eyes, thought Sansa who instead merely stared at the exit in the hope of seeing Sandor Clegane enter it, take the two Starks and flee, but that did not happen. The Hound must have been many leagues away by now!

"Lannister guards a hundred feet from us!" someone shouted, that was the signal the two sisters had been waiting for, the two in the general confusion managed to easily get past the two knights placed to guard the cave. Sansa and Arya fled at breakneck speed into the dark woods, Sansa trudged on, but did not stop. She was suddenly grabbed as she ran, the one who tugged her was strong and had armor that stood out clearly in the moonlight, she kicked and flailed, but when she heard his voice she stopped, "By the Seventh Hells, stop!" Sansa turned around; it was the Hound.

She wanted to hug him, smile at him, but he asked her abruptly, "Where is that little monster?"

"She kept running."

She didn't even stop to check to see where I was….

The Hound left her there saying, "Hide in this bush and don't make a sound, got it?" then ran and ran in the hope of not making too much noise.

The younger Stark was running, she was fast.

Although she was fast, Sandor was more. He caught her from behind by encircling her by the arm and then said in her ear, "Kick all you want, little wolf, it won't do you any good."

Sandor would have liked the little one to be as docile as Sansa, but if Sansa was as gentle as a lamb, Arya was uncontrollable, a veritable wild wolf, he, for their sake, was forced to strike her, and so, having loaded her onto his shoulders and retrieved Sansa, the three of them walked away from the Whispering Wood.

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lumpiya · 1 month

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Blood Runs Thick | Kaeya Fic

chasm affects kaeya, reader pov, angst story, romantic relationship(s), character deaths but thats later

Chapter 4

kaeya and reader arguing, praying to statue of the seven, kaeya breaking down uhGAIN 🤡, (not many warnings now but the next couple chapters are gonna have more)

“I’m going to look for Albedo.” Kaeya says, face serious. His unwavering expression made me more worried.

“No you’re not,” I say, countering him. Trying not to lose it right then and there.

“He’s out there somewhere and he needs to be stopped.”

“That doesn’t mean that you’re gonna go look for him. That should give you more reason to not go…” my voice started to get more stern.

“Someones gonna have to do it Y/n,” his voice was starting to get stern as well. At this point we were arguing.

Kaeya was really wanting to go look for Albedo, despite all the dangers to do so. Abyss, Hilichurls, and who knows what else.

“And you’re not going to.”

“Yes I am.”

“No you’re not!” At this point I’m yelling at him, “I’m not gonna let you do that to yourself!”

I watch his jaw clench. I could tell he was irritated and frustrated with me right now. His eye narrows, his chest rises and falls dramatically.

“I’m going to, whether you like it or not, Y/n.” His voice was calm but his demeanor was on fire. I swallow, just looking at him.

The tension between us both was so tense. We’ve never felt like this to one another before. Angry, frustrated… I refuse to let my best friend run into a wildfire. We have no idea what's actually happening up on that mountain. Besides, he literally had to be put on break because of a random meltdown.

“I’m coming with you,” I say after a good minute of silence. If I’m not able to convince him otherwise, then he’s gonna have to take me with him.

“What?” He says instinctively. He looked at me like I was crazy.

“You heard me.”

“No, you’re not.” This argument switched sides.

“If you’re gonna step foot on that mountain, then so am I,” I bite the inside of my cheek.

“Just because I’m going, does not mean you’re coming,” he mumbles through his teeth.

“That’s exactly what that means.”

I could see Kaeya getting more angry as I spoke. But like he said, whether he likes it or not, I’m going.

“You’re gonna need my help,” I stand up, voice softer than before. “Who knows what you’ll run into up there…” I stretch my arms out and brush my clothes down.

I look down at Kaeya and I see him seething.

I sigh before kneeling down and putting my finger underneath his chin and tilting it so he looks at me. “I know you’re angry with me. But if anything were to happen to you and I wasn’t there to stop it, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”

The anger in his eyes still didn’t die down, but I could tell he finally accepted the fact I was tagging along.

After sighing once more, I stand back up and look at Kaeya. “I’ll tell Diluc. We’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

Kaeya still sat in silence, throwing a fit while I went to the owner of the estate and told him what we planned to do.

Diluc wasn’t very agreeing with the idea but he knew he wouldn't be able to convince either of us. He offered our help but I refused, knowing he had other things that were more important.

The maids were nice enough to set up the second guest bedroom for me to stay in. I insisted it was alright since they already had a lot on their plate, but they did it anyway.

I went to sleep with a keen ear, making sure Kaeya wouldn’t sneak out without me, and surprisingly nothing was heard.

Next morning rolls by. I made my bed after I got up, helping the maids out to the best of my ability. I freshen up before going downstairs and seeing bags filled with clothes and other essentials.

Looking over at the bare table, I see Kaeya sitting on the wooden chair, waiting for me. It was honestly surprising seeing Kaeya still inside the house and not on his way to Dragonspine.

He sees me and stands up, already ready to take our leave.

“You ready?” he sighs. I could tell he wasn't too happy with the fact that he was dragging me along, but he had calmed down thankfully.

“As I’ll ever be,” I say to him, trying to give him as much reassurance as I could.

Waving to Diluc and all of the maids, we walk out of the mansion, heading southeast to the mountain.

Dragonspine’s beautiful view was still blocked by the same purple smoke. Weirdly, it wasn't as dark as yesterday. I was able to see behind the smoke, seeing the stone that wasn’t covered in snow. It's been a few hours since the cloud appeared but it hasn't moved at all. It was stuck in the same movement, rotating around the peak of the mountain.

There also weren’t as many Hilichurls or Abyss Mages. There were a couple still walking towards it, but not nearly as many as last night.

“Where do we start?” I break the silence between us, trying to at least break some tension.

“Best bet is his camp,” he says.

I nod at him, looking back down at the grass and continuing to walk.

The tension that was between us was mostly gone. I cracked some jokes on the way that made him laugh a bit. He started matching my mood which made things less awkward. Thankfully, it started feeling normal again.

“This trip would be so much easier with your horses,” I smirk, knowing that was equivalent to a poke at his side.

“I know you aren’t complaining when you travel much more than this every day,” he bites back. He was right, but I wasn’t going to let that slide.

“And yet those trips would still be easier with those horses.”

“Even if I still had my horses, I wouldn't let you use one,” he smirks at me.

I jump in front of him and start walking backwards. “Why?!”

“Cause you have an attitude like that.”

I chuckle a little, bringing my hand up to my mouth to laugh. “Well-“

Suddenly, I get cut off by Kaeya pulling me towards him. I yelp in surprise at the quick and sudden movement. It all happened so fast I wasn’t really able to process it.

All I knew was when I was able to come to my senses I heard small twinkle noises, like glass shattering. Kaeya had used his vision against something. I turn my head and see a hilichurl disperse in that familiar red dust.

I looked up at Kaeya and he looked down at me. “You okay…?” he asks, voice soft yet low.

I couldn’t say anything. My body wasn’t listening. Just looking in Kaeya’s eye I felt this strange feeling… I don’t know if it feels good or bad.

For the very first time, I was able to see the details in Kaeya’s face. The gold lining on his eye patch, the blue strands of hair that had a habit of staying in front of his face, how long his lashes were, and that light blue diamond in the middle of his eye.

I never actually looked at Kaeya’s face this close before. Never looked at all the details in his face. I noticed them, just never actually looked at them… How pretty Kaeya was.

I wasn’t so hard headed to actually deny that he was a handsome guy… But I never actually saw how pretty he is.

“…Y/n?” I hear his voice once again. My brain finally comes back to reality. Eyes widen and my cheeks get hot after realizing how long I was looking at his face.

I push off of him, creating much needed distance between us both. My head turns, hiding my now flustered face that would make his ego grow in size.

“I-I could’ve handled that…” I mumble.

I hear the smirk in his voice, knowing that I was hiding my face for a reason. “I’m sure you could have.”

We continue our journey towards the mountain. It was silent, but this time it was comfortable. Of course I was still embarrassed about what happened, but the trip was peaceful. Realizing Kaeya and I never actually fought side by side before. I knew he was a skilled fighter but I finally got to watch in the front row.

“We’re almost there,” Kaeya sighs.

I look at his face and see a worried expression. It was only reasonable since we don’t know what we’re going to run into. This is an unpredictable trip.

“I got your back,” I smiled at him and gently elbowed his arm. He looks at me and smiles; it was small but it was still a smile.

The distance between us and the giant mountain was already closed. The temperature changed dramatically. It was extremely cold, our tracks being recorded from the snow.

“Jean doesn’t know we’re here huh…?” Kaeya brings up.

My eyes widened, realizing I never told Jean. This was such a last minute spur of the moment decision.

“Hopefully Diluc tells her?” I cringe and raise a brow. He chuckles at my reaction.

We walk around east, heading toward the Snow-Covered Path. Taking a breather between the fire places that were along the path.

Something was strange though… We saw all of these Hilichurls and the Abyss going towards the mountain, but on the mountain we saw nothing. There were Hilichurl camps everywhere but they were all vacant. This shouldn’t be possible.

“Where are all the hilichurls…?” Kaeya questions, just as confused as me. We go investigate an empty camp. There was lettuce and wheat scattered around the place, some of the fences were knocked over or broken.

“What’s going on…?” I mumble, my breath visible from the temperature.

“This makes no sense,” he says standing up after looking at all the debris of wood that was peaking out of the snow.

“Let’s just keep moving.” I suggested. He nods and we head towards the Statue of the Seven in the Ancient Palace.

Walking on the brick that was somehow not broken due to gravity was nerve racking. The air around the statue was comfortable, warm… felt like hope. Kaeya never really felt like that though. I’ve always paid my respects and prayed once we passed one of the Statues of the Seven, but Kaeya didn’t. He always just stood next to me, looking at the blue aura that surrounded it.

“Still don’t know how a statue is all the way up here,” I hear Kaeya speak.

I put my palms together and close my eyes, paying my respects to the anemo god. Kaeya of course didn’t do the same but he patiently waited for me to finish.

“I also don’t understand how this statue is still standing when the bricks are practically floating.”

I finish and sigh. Turning to him, I tilt my head with a brow raised. “Just don’t ask questions and you won’t fixate over it.” I walk past him running a finger across his shoulders, both of our hair flowing in the wind. I walked towards the metal that was somehow still holding the statue up but Kaeya didn’t follow.

Turning around, I see Kaeya staring at the statue. It couldn’t be the view because it was blocked by the purple clouds that continued to rotate around the mountain. “Come on Captain.” I call out to him. I watch him take a breath and turn around.

We resumed our trip to Albedo’s camp. The rest of the walk was easy. Just follow the path and we will get there. One of the bridges between mountain ridges was broken, but it was an easy solution, thanks to our gliders.

We turn the corner and see Albedo's campsite… or what was his campsite. Everything was knocked over and destroyed.

My eyes widened seeing everything a mess. Kaeya and I walked closer to it, investigated all that was visible. His potions were shattered on the ground, bookshelves toppled on top of each other and his alchemy table was broken. The liquid that lays in the shallow bowl at the top was dented. The iconic pattern that everyone knows wasn’t recognizable anymore.

“What happened…?” Kaeya says, shocked as ever.

The thing about Dragonspine was that all evidence and clues were covered by snow or moved over from the strong winds. There were zero leads about what happened here.

“He has to be here somewhere…” I mumble.

On queue, a huge explosion at the top of the mountain startles us both. More purple smoke emitted from it, as if there was a volcanic eruption.

Kaeya and I both stumble in shock, both the noise and the rumble of the mountain scaring us.

That has to be Albedo. It has to be.

Without saying a word I grab Kaeya’s hand and start dragging him up the path that leads to the top of the mountain.

“Y/n!” he calls out in shock.

I ignored him, trying to get to Albedo as quickly as I could. He just made another move. If we don’t stop him now, who knows what could happen.

Following the path, Kaeya and I ran to the top of the mountain as quickly as we could. Not even taking a break by the fire places. The trip was exhausting but we made it.

The wind was so strong up here, it was hard to see what was right in front of us.

“Here’s there!” I hear Kaeya shout at me. I raise my hand to block any snow or ice that hits me in the face. Turning my head to see where Kaeya was pointing, I saw him. Albedo was working on something. There was an alchemy table, but it was different. It was gigantic in size. I've never seen anything like it.

Kaeya and I make eye contact, nodding at each other that we should start moving towards him. We push against the intense gusts of wind, using all the strength we can muster.

Weirdly, getting closer to the pale man made the wind less strong. As we closed the distance, the wind was barely moving. That meant two things… We could see him better, but he could also see us.

“Alb-” I start. Suddenly I hear something fall against the snow from behind me. Painful grunts follow.

I turn around and see Kaeya on the ground, holding his head in pain.

“Kaeya!!” I ran to him, kneeling down. I look at his face with worry. “What’s going on?!”

He doesn’t answer, just whimpering in pain. Just like how he did at the Tavern. I grab the back of his gently and put him close to me, wrapping my other arm around his shoulders.

“Kaeya this isn’t the time!!” I let out. I look at Albedo and he's smirking at both of us. Before I know it he starts running from the scene.

“Dammit!” I curse. I look at Kaeya who’s still writhing in pain and I look at the direction Albedo ran off to.

I don’t want to leave Kaeya… But Albedo is right there…

My breath gets heavy, not knowing what to do; eyes flashing between my best friend who’s having another episode and the alchemist who fled from us. I look back down at Kaeya.

When this happened to Kaeya before he shook it off after a while… right? So that means if I would still be able to chase after Albedo. No… but I can’t leave Kaeya… but he’d also be mad if I didn’t hunt him down… God, what do I do?

I argued with myself for what felt like hours, but only mere seconds had passed. My breathing was heavy with panic, but I had to do what had to be done.

“I’ll be back… I promise…” I whisper to Kaeya before letting him go and running after Albedo.

#kaeya angst #kaeya fanfic #kaeya x reader #kaeya alberich #genshin kaeya #genshin impact kaeya #genshin angst #genshin impact fanfics #genshin fanfic #genshin impact

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elflock-magician · 10 months

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"Haunted House!"

Summary - After the second case, the third floor is revealed to have a Haunted House in it. Veronika immediately takes advantage of this, and with the help of J, Rose, and Whit, she puts it into action. Much to the dismay of some of her classmates. (this is kinda fluff? I think?)

Tw - There’s some vague mentions of violence, mild body horror mentioned for one of Veronika's stories, and some mentions of dry heaving at the end.

“Welcome one, welcome all!” Veronika called out happily as she stood at the opening of the haunted house. “Welcome to Veronika’s Haunted House!!” She said enthusiastically. “AHEM!” J’s voice called out over the intercom. J was doing all of the special effects and such for the Haunted House, meaning she also had control of the intercom.

“Yes yes, with help from the wonderful J, Rose, and Whit!” Veronika added and took a little bow. Veronika’s peers stood outside of the Haunted House. Veronika was also wearing a black suit that sort of broke into a dress of sorts. “MonoTV really screwed us all with this one.” Teruko muttered.

“C’mon, don’t be like that Teruko! It could be fun!” Eden protested and smiled.

“Indeed. Veronika and her lovely helpers put a lot of work into preparing this event. You should all be excited, it was made for you all.” Hu stated and smiled slightly.

“Well, if it is a work of Miss Rosales, then of course I must go and experience it!” Arturo stated and began to approach the front doors.

“Yes yes, that’s the spirit! Come along, I’ll be your guide.” Veronika said and gestured for the group. “Wait– Whit,” Charles turned to Whit, “You helped plan this all, correct? Does this have any… you know…” His voice trailed off a bit. “Fake blood? Course not! Does fake blood even trigger your fear?” Whit asked and tilted his head. “I’m not the most sure, and I do not plan on finding out at any time soon.” Charles replied coldly. “Yes, alright, get your bearings before we enter!” Veronika said and awaited them to get better.

“A… H-Haunted House…? H-Haunted?! B-By ghosts?!” Ace called out and nervously started nibbling on his fingers.

“The ghosts aren’t real, you fucking idiot.” David commented. David still looked just as sad and pathetic as any other day.

“Hey! I wasn’t talking to you, asshole!” Ace shouted as his head snapped in the direction of David.

“Try not to burst a blood vessel. Or even better, try not to get a heart attack and die from the cardboard cutout zombies in there.” David said and smirked before laughing at Ace. “Eat shit and die! I’ll go through there, and not die! I’ll show you!” Ace shouted, David having provoked his pretty competitive nature. Ace boldly strode up to the front door of the Haunted House. “Ace, now don’t get ahead of yourself.” Levi muttered and followed after Ace. “Well Davey? Are you going to along with us?” Veronika asked and looked to David. “Am I getting paid?” David muttered. “Getting paid?” Veronika began, sounding slightly confused. But then her eyes lit up, “Oh right! Because you think humanity is pointless and corrupt, so you appeal to that belief and refuse to do anything unless it benefits you! And especially now that you’re no longer acting.” Veronika analyzed and leaned into her hands as she dissected David’s character. “Wow. How many wikipedia pages did you have to read to come to that conclusion?” David mumbled.

Whit and Charles approached the door, but Whit then suddenly leaned closer to Veronika. “Hey, maybe it’s for the better if David doesn’t tag along. The guys… A little.” Whit began speaking but his voice trailed off.

“Interesting! No, very interesting! Besides, this will be great for my character analysis.” Veronika replied before approaching David and yanking him to the door. “Hey!” He yelped, “Hands off!” He shouted. But he was ultimately ignored by Veronika.

Nico stared at the door. They seemed to really want to go along with everyone else, but also didn’t want to get too scared. “Are you alright hon?” Hu asked and checked on Nico.

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright.” Nico commented. Hu seemed to notice Nico’s worry. “You know, Nico, if you do not want to go, I wouldn’t mind staying back with you.” Hu offered.

“N-No, it’s okay! I want to go. But…” Nico’s voice trailed off a bit, “Just a little scared.” They added. Hu smiled empathetically.

“Well, that’s alright. If you get scared I’ll be right by your side the entire time. No need to worry. Besides, if something bad really does happen, then I’ll have Teruko and Eden protect you.” Hu said and giggled a little at that as she and Nico looked over at the two. “Isn’t that right?” Hu added. “...Huh?” Teruko replied and raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes a bit, “No promises, but sure. I’ll try.” She muttered.

“Of course we will!” Eden called out. She approached Nico and put her arm around them. “This’ll be lots of fun!” She called out.

“Well, is everybody ready?” Veronika called out and smiled.

“I guess.” Teruko answered. “Mhm!” Eden agreed excitedly. “Let’s just get this over with.” David grumbled and rolled his eyes, doing that gun motion to his head again.

“Let’s hurry up and fucking go!” Ace urged. Veronika giggled. “It seems like everyone is ready! So let’s go on ahead then. No reason to keep the darkness waiting.” Veronika said as her expression darkened, and yet her smile growing more wide. “N-Ngh…” Nico slightly whimpered at that. Veronika swung the doors open. The haunted house was frighteningly dark, the only light coming from a few candles that were lit. “Don’t worry, I’ll lead the way.” Veronika stated as she led the group down the dark hallway. “Now, let me tell you all a story. I call this story… Ravenway.” She began. The hallway had the look of stone walls, with black fathers that slowly became more and more abundant as they walked further down. And the ground soon became decorated with a fake train track.

“Ravenway? Awe! Is it a story about a cute bird?” Eden asked excitedly. “This is a Haunted House, Eden. We wouldn’t be hearing about it if it was.” Teruko muttered. “Well, allow me to answer all of your queries! And tell the story of Ravenway.” Veronika began. She turned her back to the group as she walked. “The raven has always been a symbol of death and coming doom. Ever since the sacred poem- ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe.” Veronika began. “But one story of a raven has stuck out since the 1800’s… Stories of people seeing a mutant… human sized, flesh sack with the head of a raven hastily crafted together on it, and covered in feathers. The feathers of the bird would be left wherever it went. And people would see this raven, only glimpses of it every day. But every day, the raven would slip closer to them, and leave more and more feathers.” Veronika explained.

CA-CAW!!

“W-Wah!” Nico called out. They didn’t seem very scared by the story, but rather the loud sound that protruded the air from the intercom.

“GAHA!” Ace screamed out and latched onto Levi. Levi seemed caught off guard by the touch and didn’t really know how to react, and just opted to awkwardly let Ace hold onto him.

Veronika chuckled at that.

Charles seemed to be paying attention, the story getting in his head, and he seemed fairly invested, which Whit slightly smiled at.

“A-And what happens when the raven keeps getting closer?” Eden stuttered out, taking it very seriously.

“Well, my friends, no matter how far you run and no matter how hard you try and hide… The raven will find you. And when it does, it’s said that all you hear is the raven’s call before you are never heard from again. Once you see the raven once, that’s the end of you. You die no matter what. As you try desperately to escape the raven, you may end up on train tracks, or perhaps on the edge of the roof. All of the victims are found with raven’s feathers stuffed into their stomachs.” Veronika reached the end of the hallway, and snuck her hand behind her, and pressed a button that was hidden beneath some of the feathers on the wall. She clicked the button, and a trap-door in the roof opened, and from it, a terrifying replication of the described raven was hung. “GaaHH!” Ace screamed again and continued to hold onto Levi’s arm. “You scream like a prissy.” David commented on Ace’s scream.

“What beautiful effects! This must be the work of Miss Rosales.” Arturo stated and made That Face (you know the one) at the very thought.

“Oh my!” Hu seemed startled, before chuckling. “How clever.” She stated.

“If that were me, I could totally get the raven to be my bud. We’d be gossip besties.” Whit said and shrugged a bit. “Y-Yeah! That’s the spirit, Whit!” Eden agreed. “How do you know that the raven even talks? There’s a good chance it would just ignore you, you know!” Charles replied. “You don’t need to talk to communicate. I’d make ‘em tea and everything.” Whit said.

“That sounds more like hallucinations than anything. There’s no way that’s real.” Charles stated, though Charles was very clearly invested.

“Wh-WHAT?!? I-Is there no way to stop it?! I-If you see it- is that it? BOOM! Dead? Oh fuck oh fuck- like totally fate fucking sealed?” Ace questioned, still latching onto Levi like he was his lifeline. “Indeed. But when has there ever been an escape of death?” Veronika replied before giggling.

“W-Wow… That’s pretty interesting! Can you tell us more?” Nico asked, genuinely really interested in where the legend was going.

“How about another story?” Veronika offered as they turned the corner, and Veronika pulled a black curtain out of the way, revealing a staircase. She then went ahead and began going up the stairs. “It’s called Cymbal Bunny Head Smasher.” Veronika said, her voice darkening. “Well they sound friendly.” Teruko muttered. Various ‘thud’ sounds protruded the air as the group went up the stairs.

“Cymbal Bunny Head Smasher is the story of a giant, robotic bunny animatronic. One who’s code was hacked into. And one day, during a children’s party, Cymbal Bunny’s cymbals began to smash together.” Veronika began to explain. As the group walked down the hallway, the room was themed after a children’s sort of party room. But there were fake children corpses placed variously around the room. And thankfully, for Charles’ sake, bloodless.

“And the Cymbal Bunny animatronic began to move towards the children. Loud thuds followed each of their footsteps. And the sound of the cymbals smacking together was heard.” Veronika continued. CLASH thud CLASH thud CLASH thud

The described sound of the bunny’s loud footsteps and the clashing of the cymbals was played over the intercom.

“All until the Cymbal Bunny got too close to the children, and the Cymbal Bunny stuck the heads of it’s little victims right in between it’s clashing clashing cymbals! Hehehahah!” Veronika giggled manically at the thought. “It’s so terrifyingly gross!” She added. “Ngaaah!” Ace groaned and put his hands over his ears. Levi put his arm around him.

“Wait wait, let me guess,” Charles began, “Now a bunch of cymbal sounds are going to plAY–gaH!” Charles called out in fear as he was indeed right, and the familiar cymbal sounds played.

The walls of the room were shaken as the cymbal sounds played, implying that the Cymbal Bunny animatronic was breaking down the walls or something. “Clever right? I made that story up, so you don’t gotta worry about it being real.” Whit said and vaguely tapped Charles on the shoulder. “YOU, Whit Young, thought of that?” Teruko questioned, even she seemed surprised that Whit was capable of that.

“G-Gosh… I’ll never go around animatronics again!” Eden called out.

“...Five Nights at Freddy’s?” Nico muttered quietly.

“Ah, your fear fuels me. Now why don’t we do one more story to close off for tonight? This one I like to call… Zombieland.” Veronika said. She giggled excitedly, “Now this one is my favorite. So pay attention!~” She said. “Zombieland…? You mean like Zombieland Saga? The cute Idol Anime??” Eden called out excitedly.

“I’d suppose you’d hope for that. But no, dear Eden, no.” Veronika replied and was still smiling ear to ear. Veronika led the group up another set of stairs. This next area was far more open compared to the narrow hallways from before. Yet they were still boxed in by wooden gates. The room was resembling a farm’s sort of field at night, a fake moon hung up in the corner of the room.

“The story of Zombieland…” Veronika began, “It takes place in a small, small town in Missouri, but after Zombieland, some call that place just Misery.” Veronika cackled at her own joke. “Just get on with it!” David shouted. “It’s fun to watch you all shit your pants over nothing, but this is getting boring.” He grumbled.

“Yes yes… Well, an acidic chemical had slipped into the water stream after a horrible accident… And slowly, one by one, people began to go crazy, and become violence-craving due to the chemicals in the water… Practically turning the people into zombies!” Veronika exclaimed. “And slowly, everyone began to get infected. And the chemicals got into the rain. And sooner than later, things only got worse! The situation was utterly hopeless- absolutely full of despair.” Veronika explained. “Everyone began to rot away as the rain turned acid burnt away their flesh! And yet that did not stop them as they craved violence!” She continued, smiling ear to ear. “The only survivors were forced to hide away in places like schools, cars, and apartments. But no doors and no walls can keep the hordes off for long. There is no one to go to and nowhere to hide.” She stated. “That is terrifying…” Levi muttered, he himself seeming a little scared by this one. “Having no where to go… How absolutely horrific…” He mumbled. “You guys can’t actually be taking this seriously…” Teruko face palmed as she said that. “Oh they totally are!” Whit called out and giggled. Charles was invested and was trying to find a way to disprove it.

“That’s impossible.” Charles spoke up. “Any chemical that could impact the brain that much would simply end the victim in a few hours.” He stated. Eden perked up before sighing in relief. “Thanks Charles… You’re definitely making us more comfortable.” Eden thanked genuinely. “What? I wasn’t–” He searched for words, Charles feeling slightly afraid to just… accept gratitude. “...You’re welcome.” He stated simply beneath his breath.

“Some say that the left-overs from that accident are still roaming today.” Veronika said and smirked almost evilly. The group reached the end of the hallway. Veronika had her hands up, waiting for something to happen. There was a long silence as nothing happened. Veronika tilted her head a bit as her smile faded. “I said… Some say that the left-overs from that accident are still roaming today!” Veronika repeated, simply louder this time, though her excitement did not fade.

Suddenly, J’s voice came back on over the intercom:

“Ugh! You’ve gotta be joking…” J muttered. “Rose! Wake up! Do your part!” J screamed into the microphone.

“W-Wah!” The familiar voice of Rose called out from behind a curtain. “Oops. My bad.” Rose muttered before emerging from behind the curtain. She had on very good zombie make-up, more than likely done by Veronika.

“BllaHHhh!” Rose let out some sort of half-hearted cry as she leaned over the wooden gate, shaking it a bit, trying to scare them. “W-Woah!” Eden called out and recoiled back. “Awe! How cute.” Hu said and put a hand to her chin and smiled at Rose.

“F-Fuck! Holy fuck! Shit!” Ace whined out at the sight of Rose’s bad acting. Ace was pretty easily tricked by that. “SHIT! Z-Zombie!” He screamed. Poor Levi was now sandwiched between Eden and Ace, and Levi himself semed a little off-put by the act.

“Tehehehe!” Veronika giggled at that. “Wow. This is somehow worse than I could have even imagined. It’s almost funny.” David mumbled. “Calm down Eden, you’re gonna burst a blood vessel.” Teruko said and pat Eden on the shoulder. Eden took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “You’re right, Teruko.” Eden said. She shut her eyes and calmed down a bit before opened them again. She recoiled back, startled again.

“Oh gosh! It’s another zombie!” Eden cried out and pointed into a darker part of the area, where a set of yellow eyes were seen. This zombie, not being Rose, was standing in the dark. But suddenly, the person the eyes belonged to stepped out of the darkness.

“It’s just me, you dumb fuck!” David hissed, his voice drenched in venom before stalking off ahead.

“Sorry bro, but you can’t blame her, you do look kinda dead!” Whit agreed. David simply rolled his eyes. He was clearly only there to watch them suffer.

Veronika coughed into her hand, calling the attention back to herself. “Now, where were we?” She asked no one but herself. “Ah yes… But some say that the chemical is still going around. And that one day soon, so very soon, there may be a repeat of history.” She said, her voice darkening into a low whisper.

And suddenly, the lights flashed, and a hologram was projected across the room. The hologram was of various undeads, courtesy of J and her special effects talent.

“What wonderful quality!” Arturo called out, immediately taking the chance to praise J. “Waahah!” Eden cried out and hid behind Teruko, who just seemed to be confused. Ace looked like he was about to pass out, and the only reason he wasn’t on the ground was because Levi was now holding him up a bit.

“How… violent…” Charles murmured at the sight. “S-Still impossible.” He insisted.

David stared at the effect right in the face. “See, this. This is why I hate humanity.” David stated offhandedly as he walked right through the CGI hologram creatures to the exit. He walked past Veronika and pressed the door open, revealing the light of day.

“Ah, well that’s all, folks! I hope you’ve all enjoyed this journey!” Veronika said and smiled brightly and yet sincerely. Veronika turned to the fourth wall, “Especially you all.” She added.

Everyone had ended up leaving and going outside.

Ace was sitting on the steps of the Haunted House and was hunched over a trashcan given to him by Hu, while dry-heaving from how nervous the Haunted House made him. Levi was gently patting him on the back and holding back his hair for him.

Nico was asking Veronika a bunch of questions about the legends, becoming quite enthralled in it. Rose was sitting on the stairs as well, with Hu removing the make-up from her face. J was excitedly and proudly explaining the effects she used to Eden, Teruko, and Arturo. David had just left. Whit and Charles were just debating on if they could actually survive any of the scenarios, Charles using facts and logic, while Whit was still somehow winning the debate?

Veronika stood outside of her Haunted House and seemed very proud of her work.

A/N - Been writing a lot of angst recently so I just wanted to write about these little guys shivering in their timbers a bit. Today is Day Two of writing DRDT fics until I just can’t anymore and so far: light work, no reaction. Easy as pie. Simple. Silly.

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #danganronpa #danganronpa despair time fanfiction #danganronpa despair time fanfic #ace markey #levi fontana #veronika grebenshchikova #nico hakobyan #teruko tawaki #eden tobisa #charles cuevas #whit young #rose lacroix #arturo giles #j rosales #j moreno #hu jing

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thefathersbride · 4 months

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Spell your url ✧˖°.

Spell out your URL using song titles that can describe your muse/OC, then tag as many people as there are letters in your URL!

@cove-holdens tagged me for this game, thank you! This was really hard, I cannot remember with how many songs I was like "this is perfect for X or ship Y" - only to realize that they did not have the right starting letter :( But, here we are, I managed! :) I am tagging, without any obligations as always, @glowwormsmith @jacobseed @starsandskies @illithiad @alyssalenko @theviridianbunny @baldurians @fenharel @ginadotjpg @honeypunks and... YOU YOU YOU YOU and YOU!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

T - THE GOOD LIFE by THREE DAYS GRACE. "the good life is what I need, too many people stepping over me. the only thing that's been on my mind, is the one thing i need before i die" for Daphne Bosworth

H - HAD ENOUGH by BREAKING BENJAMIN. "when all is said and done, i will be the one, to leave you in your misery, and hate what you've become" for Eleanor Strand and Joseph Seed

E - EVIL by HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD. "evil, am i evil, through the empty eyes of you people? evil, i am evil, or are your eyes deceitful?" for Daphne

F - FIREDANCER by POETS OF THE FALL. "But fire doesn’t dance to their dictates. and now you’re dancing with the greats, let the fools have their fates, for time it never waits" for Iris Hawke

A - APOSTLE by DARKHAUS. "you gave words that were true, and you have made my life brand new. i was lonely and you were the only thing keeping me in line" for Eleanor and Joseph

T - TYRANT by DISTURBED. "but the love turned to hate we kept pushing away, and the words that came out turned it into a mess, and it's like pulling teeth 'cause you'll never confess." for Eleanor and Joseph

H - HAMMER OF DAWN by HAMMERFALL. "i can't pretend, never let it go, 'cause everything comes with a price. what you have done, what you put me through, the devils incarnate is coming for you" for Jayna Cousland

E - EMPIRES by RUELLE. "empires rise, empires fall. we live or die to take the throne. empires rise, empires fall. we live or die to take the throne. only one will stand at the end of it all" for Daphne

R - RISING SON by STURM UND DRANG. "can't you see me coming, coming for you baby? coming there to take you from the light. can't you hear me calling, calling for you baby? so you better take on to the night, i'm the rising son" for Jayna

S - SURVIVOR by 2WEI & EDDA HAYES. "i'm the survivor, i'm gonna make it, i will survive, keep on survivin'" for Caivyre

B - BEYOND THE HORIZON by POETS OF THE FALL. "beyond the horizon, i’ll follow where love has gone. twilight finds me here alone. beyond the horizon, i see your love shining, oh. my ghostlight, my afterglow" for Iris and Anders

R - RAISE YOUR GLASS by PINK. "so raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways, all my underdogs. we will never be, never be anything but loud and nitty-gritty, dirty, little freaks" for Caivyre

I - INTO THE HEART OF DANGER by BATTLE BEAST. "walk into the heart of danger, and don't let the darkness enchain you. walk into the heart of danger, face your fear" for Iris

D - DEFENCE OF MOSCOW by SABATON. "they don’t belong, we stand our ground, a million strong. we are ready for their strike, face the army of the reich. a million strong, this is our land, they don’t belong." for Dagmar Trevelyan

E - EVERYTIME WE TOUCH by CASCADA. "your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky, they wipe away tears that I cry (that i cry). the good and the bad times, we've been through them all, you make me rise when i fall" for Dagmar and Cullen Rutherford

#my OCs #OC: Daphne Bosworth #OC: Eleanor Strand #OC: Iris Hawke #OC: Jayna Cousland #OC: Caivyre #OC: Dagmar Trevelyan #this is a good basis for any potential playlists i might wish to create later

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a-bucket-of-trash · 1 year

Text

For Your Eyes Only - Kelvin x Female Reader – Part 1/2

Prompt: Kelvin sometimes can be a little naughty, especially when you're away from him. Idea by @hubbelebubbele

Tag: Very smut, explicit, nsfw.

The sun had gone down on that pleasant spring Saturday and you had already finished bathing, you just needed to choose an appropriate outfit and dress up a bit, being that in a while you would meet your friends to spend a few hours between drinks and chats at the bar, one of those “Lady Nights” that you needed so much when you had juicy information for the gossips of your friends. And now that you lived with your boyfriend Kelvin, most of the gossip was about him. Those harpies almost asked you how many moles he had on his buttocks.

You scratched your head, naked, thinking, seeing your clothes scattered on the bed and the open closet. You had no idea what the fuck to wear. You wanted to look decent, but they were your friends, you weren't going to flirt around, so you also wanted something comfortable and simple. Something you could dance around with and not die in the process. You tried on almost fifty things, until your outfit seemed consistent and simple, a blouse as dark blue as night, a black skirt loose to the knees, nice boots, some jewelry, your bag. You left a couple of written messages for your boyfriend and ran off since you were going to be late.

About half an hour later, Kelvin was walking into the house, coming back from his own friend night. You two had agreed that, from time to time, both of you would go out with your own friends to relax and get some fresh air. He looked around, in case he saw you still at home, although he didn't hear anything. He smiled, feeling in the air your delicious and delicate feminine perfume, mixed with your shampoo, aromas that he knew well, already after a few months living under the same roof. Smelled clean and sexy.

He left the keys in the wicker basket on the cabinet by the door and read the note you'd left: “I won't be away long, honey, wait for me to sleep, so we can gossip. I did the shopping when you went out, I brought the muffins that you like so much. Can you make sure the washing machine has turned off? It still sounds weird. Don't worry about the clothes I left on the bed, put them away if you want to lie down, I'll put them in their place when I get back. I love you, you are the best, I miss you baby, my beautiful boy" and a little heart drawn at the end.

"Yes my lady" He laughed softly, touched as usual "I love you too, my bunny, have fun" He said, to himself, before walking to the kitchen and checking the washing machine, which luckily had turned itself off. While he was there, he took a long drink of cool water and checked the fridge, taking a chocolate muffin out of the package, and taking a good bite, happy, reading another note from you on the fridge, attached to a magnet in the shape of a skull. It read, "You're my fudge, my hazel-eyed darling." He blew the note a kiss and walked over to the couch in the living room, turning on the TV, standing, flipping through the channels, thinking, trying to decide between watching something or maybe trying to play a game, eating thoughtfully.

Kelvin clicked his tongue, hesitating, leaving a music channel, feeling uncomfortable with the clothes he had arrived in, so he went into the bedroom to change into something more comfortable. There he saw the chaos of clothes and laughed, noticing everything in disarray.

"A pretty bunny that I know was late..." He walked, dodging the clothes, changing into pants and a simple t-shirt, and then, calmly, starting to sort your clothes. You usually left everything fairly tidy, except when you ran off, like that time. It wasn't the first time he'd ordered your mess, just as it wasn't uncommon for you to order his, after all, you two worked especially well as a couple. But putting everything away, he came across something that made him instantly sigh.

You were chatting with your friends, beer in hand, laughing, fooling around, listening to the juicy news from the gossipiest of them, when the phone in your pocket vibrated. You checked it out of the corner of your eye, seeing the notification, seeing your boyfriend's name, so you read the message that said "Watch alone, with headphones on ;)". You got confused, but, knowing him, you played along, so you apologized to your friends for a moment and went to the bar bathroom, phone and headphones in hand.

"What kind of nonsense are you doing, puppy?" You thought, looking at the empty bathroom, walking into one of the cubicles and sitting on the toilet, noticing your phone vibrate again. You put your headphones on, looking at the screen. "A video" you thought "Now the headphones make sense…".

You pressed play and the dark screen went from a rare incomprehensible movement, to the image of his fully hardened dick in HD, obviously filmed from his chest, since you could see his slightly raised shirt, his sexy stomach in full view, his tempting happy trail, his legs open and the wall in the background. You gasped, instinctively pausing and hiding the screen against your chest, as if someone could see it, even if you were alone in the bathroom.

“You fucking dumbass…” You whispered, feeling your cheeks burning and your heart bouncing in your chest, but still you looked at the screen and played it again, watching that delicious show, from his hand stroking his thick cock, moaning and whining you name, his fingers rubbing his skin, playing with his own folds.

“O-oh baby… I miss y-you…” You heard him moan as his strokes became firmer and faster “Babyyyy a-ahhhg… I w-want to… to aaahh!... T-to fuck you… sssoo hard …”.

You licked your lips, eager, watching the video like it was the key piece of information in your life, feeling your body react to it, your groin heating up with desire.

At a certain point, you saw him drop his penis to take something off screen, while his cock moved slightly, reddened, dripping. You saw his hand come back quickly with something to which he half wrapped with around his dick, going back to jerking off. You recognized that it was, it was one of your black laced panties, one of the ones you had tried on before leaving, and which he now had slung around his cock, pushing his tip where it clung to your crotch, as if his body wanted to find yours, the delicate fabric rubbing his wet glans.

“Fuuuuuckkk… I p-ppromise… t-to wash it laaater…” He moaned loudly, accelerating, his legs moving restlessly, the camera shaking a little. “B-babbeee… babeee I gonna cum babe!! Ahhhg! FUCK! I love you!! I FUCKING LOVE YOU BABEEE! HARDER!!”

You saw the giddy despair of him catapulting himself, the viscous white liquid gushing out, drenching your panties and his hand with it, he still moaning like crazy, making a mess, gasping.

“S-shit…” He breathed heavily, gently rubbing his glans with your wet panties, parting the fabric slightly, just to show you the happy stickiness of his daring action “B-babee…” He moaned softly, with a tired chuckle “Have f-fun...Yes?... I love you daaaamn much, my cupcake... See yaaa..."

You stood still, mouth agape, watching the video end, partly in shock and partly exaggeratedly aroused. You whispered "You'll see...". You weren't going to leave it like that, and you couldn't leave it like that either.

Part 2

#kelvin #sons of the forest kelvin #sotf kelvin #kelvin x reader #sons of the forest

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mizumech · 7 months

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Day 7: Blade/Ocean/Death

Hi! It’s mizumech. I know I’ve been late on Day 5 and 6, but Day 5 is spiralling out of control in length. Well, here’s Day 7, inspired by the Magnus Archives, coming in at 2451 words named ‘Gone Fission’.

(Subtext: I have never interacted with the original Magnus Archives)

TW: Death, Altered state of consciousness, Bloodlust

Enjoy!

[Click]

[MARTYN]

Statement of Ren “The Dog” Lycan, regarding an…incident of violence and potential altered state of consciousness during a LARP session. Recorded direct from subject today, 17th September, 2023—

[REN]

…do we need to be so formal, my dude?

[MARTYN]

It’s mainly for the sake of archival and whoever the next archivist is, my liege.

[REN]

…

[MARTYN]

You—you know what? Tell you what, I’m going to…re-record this. Or something. If that’s okay with you. God, I should not have taken that coffee from Grian this morning…

[REN]

Yeah, I’m okay with anything at this point—wait...Grian works here?

[MARTYN]

Yeah, surprising, right? I always thought he would be in architecture or something else that has to do with eyes.

[Click]

[MARTYN]

Statement of Ren “The Dog” Lycan, regarding an incident of violence and potential altered state of consciousness during a LARP session. Recorded direct from the subject today, 17th September, 2023. Statement begins.

[REN]

So, backstory first. Death’s been a big thing for me all my life. I love acting and storytelling, and Death is always a big theme. I die a lot, actually.

[MARTYN]

…what? You never told me about this?

[REN]

Yeah, I’ll come back to that later. Anways, I first died when I was…uh…when was that? I think I was like…ten? I drowned on a beach trip, and everything was white. I think I might’ve even met Death herself! Death’s not as strange as it seems. It’s like drifting away with the sound of your family accompanying you. It’s also moist. She waved to me, and I waved back, but then I got pulled back to the living world where Ma and Pa Dog were lookin’ down worriedly at me. They later told me that they had done CPR and mouth-to-mouth on me and that had saved me life.

I don’t think that’s true. CPR in fact fails most of the time, did you know that?

Well, as a ten year old, I didn’t know that.

I jumped off the roof of my house back then at night and I think I broke my neck or something,

Now, neck breakage doesn’t always kill you. I’ve actually heard that immediate medical attention regarding injuries like that can save lives.

Well, I didn’t have that. It was nighttime and I hadn’t told anyone that I was planning to jump.

I just kinda laid there for a while.

When I finally died, Death and I met again. She offered me a seat, and I think we chatted a bit. We might’ve talked about Transformers.

[MARTYN]

Sorry to interrupt, but you met Death and you talked about Transformers?

[REN]

Heck yeah! We talked about Optimus Prime and Bumblebee before I came back. This proved that I could die and come back, which my ten-year-old-self did not think to take advantage of.

I love kitter-me to death, heh, but he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Well, I got through life rather smoothly until my sixteenth birthday. I participated in a group-outing-friendly-championship with some friends; Falsie, H Mama, and Fruity were on my team. This time, the game was some sort of tag with darts and normal other rules.

So. You know by now. I somehow died. Something about the darts. I broke off from the group and got ambushed by Sapnap. I don’t even think anyone noticed. The recovery period this time was so short that I didn’t even get to wave to Death before I got pulled back.

We won that game, for the record.

There weren’t really any major events like that other than a different tournament where I might have died. For that one, I’m not sure. It felt more like I had gotten on a train, fallen asleep, and missed my station.

That was a strange dream, I tell you. I dreamt Zed was with me, and there was a melancholy guy called Wilbur. There was also a guy called Schlatt.

[MARTYN]

The name Zedaph sounds familiar. Has he made a statement here before?

[REN]

I don’t know. He does seem like the sort of person to do that, though.

When I got off ‘the train’, people patted me on the back with nicknames like “Grimdog”, and “The Reaper”, which is kinda strange, if you ask me.

I know for a fact almost no one knows I can die.

Okay, maybe Falsie knows. She looked at me like she’d seen a ghost when I came back from that whole deal with Sapnap, and she’d already made quite a few death related jokes in front of me when we first became friends. That’s not even her normal humour!

Well, so do you.

[MARTYN]

...excuse me?

[REN]

I even died one of the first times we met.

Remember?

Grian organised a LARP thing with his friend groups, which included you and me. He called it a social experiment. Well, to him and Mumbo, everything is a social experiment, I guess.

Did I tell you about the time Mumbo put a button near our office pantry that dispensed chocolate coins? It had lights to indicate when it had last been pressed and the number of chocolate coins dispensed depended on how long we waited to press it. If no one pressed it for too long it would supposedly explode. He even found a way to make the timing pressed correspond with a different coloured sweet wrapper!

Hilarious, I tell you! Workplace drama for days!

Oop. I think I’m off topic at this point.

Anyhoozle, you and I were allied. All of this game was merely meant to be a game, if you don’t remember. I was the king of a fictional place called Dogwarts and we were against Grian and Scar’s faction. I lost my ‘green life’ to an explosive trap, and my ‘yellow life’ to you.

That was a real life.

Remember?

That axe I gave you, it was supposed to be foam. I knew it was foam. Grian wouldn’t have allowed the circulation of weapons made of anything other than foam.

You know what happens next, I get you to behead me, right?

Funny story: that was inspired by a thick epic that appeared in my mail one time. I think the inside was stamped “Library of Joe Hills”?

Well, I see the axe come down. Mumbo’s behind the camera, and he’s recording this.

And then the axe glints.

I see that axe glint in the moonlight, and deep down I know that’s not plastic, or foam. That’s metal and it’s coming for my head.

One moment, I’m sprawled out on Blackheart Altar, and one moment, I’m facing Death.

I think I even got some pickup lines in there.

(a laugh)

Does that make me a more successful Thanos? Ladies get in line! Ladies, gentlemen, anyone can get in the line!

[MARTYN]

Ren…

[REN]

When I came back, I was not the same. There was something in my head, and it was telling me to kill. It was urging me to snatch the axe to lop off your head, actually!

But I have to resist, right? No killing of the bros.

Besides, only I get the private landline to Death herself!

Back to the story.

I think there were voices in my head. All of a sudden, it felt like I was the character I had been illustrating. I wholly believed that we hated Grian and we hated Scar and we all hated each other.

I don’t know why this death was so different.

I wholly believed that you were my Hand, and that Scar was nothing but—nothing but scum!

It’s a horrible thing, to think of your friends that way, and it’s so terrible to actually consider killing them.

I didn’t even know you well back then, but I would’ve trusted you with my life.

But in that moment, when I was staring at the pool of my own blood, those voices wanted more blood.

It wasn’t just a game anymore. I wanted them to die. Those voices were pushing against each other, overlapping and reaching at fantasies of revenge.

Kill. Kill. Kill.

When I was still vaguely sane I knew my plan was to gift you that axe. But when I knew that was a real weapon, my hindbrain could not take not having it for myself.

I needed their blood dripping down my hands. It was going to be me and Scar to the death, my Hand.

That axe…

I think the thing that should have really rattled me was when I ‘killed’ Joel.

We were chasing him and his ‘wolf army’ and we chased him into the woods. Now, normal me would not have had the stamina to do that. I would’ve been panting and on my knees at that point if I was normal, pre-death Ren.

But I wasn’t. This wasn’t a roleplay anymore to me.

I was the Red King, protector of my country; and my vision was tinging with red. Literally. I had a doctor check it out a week later. Nothing.

It was an animalistic sort of desire. At the speed I was going, I wasn’t even feeling tired. I knew I could freakin’ eat him whole if I wanted to, but I was just nipping at his heels and taking big swings at him with a foam blade.

Thank God I wasn’t holding the real axe. I don’t think you realised the danger of that axe at the time, to be honest.

I would’ve killed him. I would’ve.

Eventually, I caught up. In Joel’s eyes was some sort of fake bravado.

I don’t even know how I could tell. Normal me would not have been able to do that.

I think the Red King could smell the fear rolling off Joel, because I was suddenly in his space; punching him and snarling like one of his wolves.

I didn’t stop. I wanted to tear him to pieces. I wanted him dead. I needed him dead. I didn’t stop until Mumbo started frantically gesturing at me to stop and you were pulling me away.

In that moment, I had never felt more…alive.

It’s a strange euphoria. It’s strange to feel so good to beat someone up.

Now that I look back on it, that’s a terrifying sensation; the electric tingle I had after I did what I did.

Joel was just lying there; trembling.

He looked so…small to me.

I think he might’ve been hyperventilating.

We never spoke much after that, in any of the later LARP sessions.

I still couldn’t get the idea that this was a game to stick to my brain. It was all so real to me.

Even after I lost my ‘red life’—my last one, I couldn’t get the bloodlust out of my brain.

I watched you die in vain; trying to protect Dogwarts, and it took me all my self control not to stand right back up and stab Scar.

I watched your axe fall.

It had turned back to foam.

When I got back to the car, I realised I couldn’t remember how to drive. I had to get you to drive me home.

I couldn’t figure out how any of my technology worked, in fact.

It was only halfway home when my ears kinda popped.

My heart was racing because I didn’t know you.

All the voices seemed to shut up all at once.

I didn’t know who you were.

I knew how to drive. I knew how to use a comm. I knew that I had been invited to LARP.

But I didn’t know you.

You were talking about how believable my improv was and I was just sitting there in the passenger seat with adrenline coursing through me like a drug.

Something had shifted.

At that moment, I don’t think I recognised you. I don’t think you recognised me either.

Just a moment before that, we had been as thick as thieves. Then, it felt like I was looking at you through a periscope across the ocean.

Your eyes…they were blue. I don’t know why that shocked me. Blue is one of the colours I see best. But it did. I could’ve sworn they were a more purplish-grey.

It was weird.

I eventually got to know you normally, and we have a great friendship now.

Well, I don’t think I’ve died since.

I don’t think I’ve tried to kill anyone since.

(a laugh)

Or at least I don’t think so.

End of statement?

[MARTYN]

Thanks for coming in, man. I really appreciate it.

[REN]

Love ya face. See you sometime soon!

[MARTYN]

You too, my lord!

(audible sigh)

[Click]

[MARTYN]

For the sake of archival and the benefit of the next archivist, I want to contribute my side of the story to the tape.

So. Ren. He’s a funny guy, has a big heart. He’s a good friend.

What he’s just said all really did happen. While I can’t verify whether Death is a woman or whether dying is moist, I do admit he wasn’t really the same after he turned red.

Context here. Grian’s social experiment gave all LARPers three lives each. On your green life, you just had to survive. On your yellow life, you were supposed to be more anxious and cautious.

On your red life, you were supposed to be aggressive, and you were allowed to ‘kill’ people.

I say ‘kill’ with big air-quotes because no, you were not supposed to actually kill people.

When I pretended to behead him—

(clears throat)

Beheaded him. Actually beheaded him, I guess.

I did note a change in his behaviour.

I chalked this up to something else. After all, that was part of his character.

He had asked me to behead him so he could be permitted to kill his enemies, and after I killed him, he said that “Red Winter is Coming!”

Pardon the accent. I can’t do it the same as Ren.

Speaking of which. He had some sort of accent on his last life. He never tripped over it. Some sort of inflection I’ve never understood.

Well, when I cut his head off, it actually came off.

I didn’t really think about it at first. I don’t know why. There was actually blood all over, but I had thought it was just some movie magic I didn’t understand.

I know this seems unlikely, but being Ren’s Hand? That was of my own accord. I don’t think I was brainwashed into it.

I think I would’ve known if I had been brainwashed.

Right?

Well, my character was so…devoted to Ren’s.

Even now, I do cherish our friendship. It’s a deep one. Love hanging out with him.

Well, him and me forever.

I hope he’s doing well.

[Click]

#treebarkweek2023 #treebarkweek #trafficshipping #3lshipping #martyn inthelittlewood #rendog #magnus archives fusion

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