#I’m basically just making inhuman noises as I walk around my house right now

[beaubartley]

Do you guys remember this fancomic?

Well, Mr. Beau was kind enough to get GDL to recite the poem by Mahmoud Darwish!

I am over the moon right now. Thank you, Gareth! (if you ever see this, that is. You are so generous with your words, time, and talent!)

#solas #solas dragon age #fen’harel #gareth david lloyd #va #mahmoud darwish #beaubartley artley #fancomic #dragon age inquisition #dragon age #da:i #bioware #I’m basically just making inhuman noises as I walk around my house right now #comic dub #sort of #tumblr won’t let me reblog the video so I’m reposting it

[miss-smutty]

Only One Rule

A/N- a little bit late but I still have some valentine's Day one shots I wanted to do 🙈

Can you tell big, manly, dominant men are my kink? ✨ 🥵🥵

Summary- You and your best guy friend are single and decide to have an Anti-Valentines day night together watching horror movies, there's only one rule - NO mention of ANYTHING romantic. You get scared and one things leads to another...

Pairing- Thor x you

Word count- 2,260

Warnings- Swearing, smut

18+ only

Posted: 18th February 2021

Valentine's One-Shot Masterlist

"If you're coming over tonight, there's only one rule - NO romance what so ever and I know that's going to be so hard for you because you're all chivalrous and old fashioned but that's the deal, ok?" You said to Thor through the phone, trying to make plans for the night. It was Valentine's Day and you were pathetically single, luckily for you, so was Thor. It had been your idea to have an Anti-Valentines night with your best friend, the last thing you needed was to be reminded that people are actually in love. 

"What are you talking about Y/N?"

"Like no romance at all, no romantic movies, no describing women in a poetic way and even no holding doors open for me. Basically just don't be you for the night."

"You want me to be somebody else?" You're confusing his poor ditzy brain.

"Right, you know that show we watched together - Sons of Anarchy?" You ask.

"Yes, the one with the bikers" you can practically hear the cogs turning in his brain.

"Yeah... be like him, the main guy" 

"You want me to treat you like a whore and call you bitch?" Wow! Why did those words coming from Thor's lips, make your pussy flutter?

"Well not exactly but that's better than being all mushy" you were thankful he was on the other end of the phone because you were sure your cheeks were glowing, bright red.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about but I'll see you tonight" he hung up the phone before you could protest anymore.

Now all you had to do was spend the day avoiding anything love related, which meant you couldn't leave the house. If you did you'd be surrounded by couples, kissing and holding hands. Bleugh, thinking about it was enough to make you sick.

You spent the day picking out horror movies you could watch, preparing snacks and getting yourself ready. Just because you were anti-love didn't mean you couldn't look your best. You convinced yourself you were dressing up because you had nothing better to do, it's not like it's a date or anything, is it? You pondered the thought, he's your best friend, no definitely not a date.

*****************

Shaking the curls loose from your head and running your fingers through them, you stood up to check yourself out in the mirror.

The high-waisted leather look trousers, with a deep plunge, black cami top didn't look too much did it? You turned around in the mirror, checking yourself at a different angle and completed the look with some red lipstick. Just as you began to doubt your outfit choice you heard the doorbell ring, too late now.

You couldn't help feeling nervous as you made your way to the door, to let Thor in. What the hell is going on with me?

Thor's jaw fell to the floor as you opened the door, looking you up and down as you stood in the doorway.

"Is there a change of plan? Are we going out?" He asked, still unable to pull his eyes away from your chest. You couldn't help feeling sexy as hell when he couldn't take his eyes off of you. Seriously, what the fuck is going on? He's your best friend, been your best friend since he came back to earth and you'd never had these sort of feelings for him before?

"Erm no. I just... Erm. We're watching horror movies I thought I'd dress as the queen of darkness" shrugging your shoulders sarcastically.

"If you wanted to be queen you..." Thor started before you cut him off mid-sentence.

"Ah Thor, stop! I know you was just about to say something romantic and you've barely walked through the door"

"Right sorry, whores and bitches. Got it... Is that the look you were going for?"

"Are you saying I look like a whore? I don't know whether to be proud or offended" you scoffed, pushing his tall frame into the room.

"No, no... I..."

"Relax I'm just fucking with ya" poor Thor, doesn't know if he's coming or going, you laugh under your breath, putting your hand over your mouth when he glares at you.

"Why don't you pick a movie while I order pizza?" You pass Thor the remote while you search through your phone for the number.

After a couple of minutes he turns to you, smiling widely "Right, I've chosen the movie"

You look up from your phone to see he'd chosen a forbidden chick flick.

"No way!'

"Relax, I'm just fucking with you" he laughs, proudly.

"Ohhh, touche." You say, laughing along with him.

************

The movie you'd chosen was ridiculously scary, you'd had to grab a cushion from behind you to use as a shield on the really jumpy parts. Thor had gotten himself comfy on the couch with his long legs stretched out and feet resting on the coffee table in front, along with the snacks and pizza. His arm was stretched around the back of the couch, behind your head, his tall, thick physique making your couch look tiny and giving you no option but to snuggle up closely to him.

"Argh!" You scream at another jump scare, throwing yourself into Thor's side and hiding your face into his chest. Wow does he always smell this good? You sneaked a peek at him through your eyelashes and found him contently watching you, making your stomach flip when you look into his deep, blue eyes.

You move away from him, trying to put as much distance between you as you can on this small couch. Your thighs are still touching and you can feel physical sparks from the contact, Thor smirks at you when he realises what you're doing.

"Y/N - "

"Nope, stop" you cut him off, knowing he's going to say something that's going to melt your heart and make you lose all your restraint.

"But - " He continues.

"Shh" you say pointing at the screen in front of you, pretending to watch but you can't stop your mind from racing. He's your best friend, you can't feel this way? Can you?

He puts his big hand on your thigh, shocking you when it makes your heart stop. You look down, staring at it, unsure of what to say. You can see he's watching you, more than he's watching the movie and it makes you squirm in your spot.

Oh fuck, why is he looking at me like that? Your heart is racing so fast.

From the corner of your eye, you can see he's moved so he's facing you and he's now making his way towards you.

"What are you - " his lips make contact with yours, stopping you mid-sentence, pushing you back so your laid on your couch and he's hovering above you.

"Thor I said no rom -"

"Just shut up for once, will you?" Oh fuck me! Your pussy clenches. You're weak, so fucking weak. You release a inhuman noise, somewhere between a whine and moan and it stirs an animalistic nature in Thor. You can actually see the switch in his eyes as they swirl with hunger.

"Open your legs" yes fucking sir! You do as you're told and he settles himself in-between them, eating you up with his eyes.

"Thor - "

"Seriously, shh. You've been such a brat all day and then I find you wearing this, I can't take much more" his words and deep tone of voice make you welp. He smiles darkly, knowing what he's doing to you. Is this really the Thor you know?

What have you created? Whatever it is, you fucking want it!

"Take off your trousers - " you start peeling them down immediately but he stops your hands midway " - No. slowly" he groans. Oh fuck!

Thor bites his bottom lip and groans loudly when he sees your black, lacey panties. Unable to keep up the slow pace, he hungrily grasps your mound in the palm of his hand.

"Mmm, so wet" he smirks. How is this even happening?

"Wait, Thor - " you stop him, just before he pulled down your panties, his fingers hooked into either side.

"What now?" He sighs, exasperated.

"Only one rule -" he cuts you off, too eager to get started.

"Yes, yes, yes. No romance, I get it. I can fuck you without being romantic" he says gruffly. oh my dear fucking lord! Yes please! He rips your panties as he's pulling them down and flings them off to the side with a grunt, his strength and eagerness betraying him.

He kneels up inbetween your thighs, circling your clit with his thumb while he watches you intently, squirming beneath him. When he sees your stomach clench, he stops rubbing, making you moan loudly.

"If you don't like it, then why are you moaning?" He whispers into your ear. Oh god! You want to grab him but he's pinning you in place with his thick thighs.

"I didn't say I didnt like - " he didn't wait for you to finish before he buried his face between your legs " - ah fuck Thor" lapping at your wetness with his thick fucking tongue. Your body jerks as he repeatedly circles your clit with the tip of his tongue. It's truly agonisingly pleasurable, desperately pushing yourself up into his mouth.

"Fuck, you taste so fucking good" he says stopping to look up at you, his mouth glistening with your juices before he dives straight back in, making you writhe and moan.

"Oh god Thor, I can't take anymore" you scream as your legs begin shaking uncontrollably and your body turns ridgid as you gush all over his mouth.

"Mmm" he says while still pressing his lips to you, the sound vibrating your already swollen, aching clit making you release another orgasm. You still haven't recovered from the first and the whole room spins around you as you come down from the high, a ringing reverberating in your ears. Thor still sucking your clit into his mouth while his tongue flicks up and down relentlessly.

"I can't... Ah fuck. Pleaseee" you plead, unable to take much more of the unforgiving pleasure coursing through your core.

He moves his mouth away but replaces his lips with his thick fingers, so you only have seconds to breathe before your holding your breath again. Desperately grasping at the sofa cushions to brace yourself.

"Tell me" he says breathlessly, his hair tousled from your fingers.

"I... I -" you can't speak, you don't even know what day it is. Locked in a neverending loop of pure hedonism.

"I won't stop until you tell me what you want" he curls his fingers up to meet your spot, gazing in your eyes as he continually finger bangs you until you're gushing over his fingers. Melting into the couch with the euphoric rapture of yet another orgasm. Mewling beneath him as you unspeakably beg him for his cock without actually being able to speak out loud.

"Fuck... Me" you force out between breaths making him smile wickedly. All you can do is lay there and watch as he pulls his trousers over his cheeks, just until his cock is free. Before you can even take in the sight of his huge cock, he's slamming you into oblivion.

You instinctively wrap your legs around his back, pushing him impossibly deeper into you, with your feet. You watch his face screw as your walls clamp around his cock like a vice, groaning in your ear as he slams into you over and over again.

You've never felt pleasure like this before, the whole thing has felt like one giant orgasm from start to finish. You don't ever want it to end, his narcotic power over you. The way he can make you feel like a goddess but weak at the same time.

You roll your hips, bringing them up to meet his thrusts at a unbelievable pace. You can feel the gripping sensation rising through your veins again as you come harder than ever before, screaming at the same time. Thor looks at you, checking you're ok before he carries on the onslaught. You're an absolute quivering wreck and you don't know how you can take much more without shattering into a million pieces.

"You good?" He whispers in your ear, slowing down the pace ever so slightly.

"Hmm, kiss me." he smiles before kissing you tenderly, opening your mouth with his lips so he can find your tongue. You hold on to his back while he fucks you gently, a much softer, forgiving pace.

"I thought you said no romance?" You feel him smile on your lips, while you roll your hips into his, matching his pace.

He moves the hair from your face and holds your head in his hands, his forehead resting on yours.

"Look at me" he continues thrusting in to you while you gaze into each others eyes. The look of lust you see there, making your orgasm build again. You can feel his cock twitching when he's almost ready, grunting with the last of his thrusts. You can feel the power of his come as he pumps into you, then falls limply on your chest. You're both panting loudly as you wait for your climaxes to pass, your chests rising and falling so fast. He rests himself between your legs, trying not to put all of his weight on to you, waiting for you to recover in a comfortable silence.

"Well that escalated quickly" you say, laughing nervously, hoping that this wasn't going to make things awkward between you now.

"I'm not finished with you yet" or maybe it's just the start of a whole new relationship dynamic, one you were more than happy to pursue after that performance.

#thor odinson #thor x you #thor x reader #thor smut #thor #mcu smut #smut

[obeymeluv]

Quick! Kiss Me! [Part 2 - Lucifer]

So originally this was supposed to be multiple brothers per part but this got unexpectedly long and I only had the energy to get through Lucifer. I’ll definitely get to the other brothers. This project may take priority over the others until I get them all out. I know what I’ll be doing for Mammon’s, sort of for Levi’s, definitely for Satan’s, definitely for Beel’s, and I’m not quite 100% on Belphie’s or Asmo’s. Honestly, they’re not all supposed to get this long, but this one had some lead up + Lucifer. The other ones will probably be a couple of paragraph’s, maybe a page at most.

Note: The Thrall/The Call is something that came up in a Diavolo piece forever ago. Can’t even remember which one because I had to go back and find it myself. It’s basically one of their tell-tale signs they’re trying to seduce someone or flirt with someone.

Some of these kiss scenarios will get a little NSFW because the bros get to kiss you, have a crush on you, and are excited dorks. Everything under the cut just to be safe.

Any bolded italics are your/MC’s thoughts since you can’t currently speak.

Quick! Kiss Me! [Part 2]

--

After a few awkward moments of the brothers standing around, their hearts squeezing in their chests as they tried to hold back their individual Thralls to make your choice more neutral, they realized their wouldn’t be a choice. There couldn’t be. The lip color was too scrambled to work in such a small space with that many people. You’d just barely blinked and the brothers skittered off at inhumane speeds that made your skin crawl; in your human brain it was very much those ‘distant echoes of horror movie noises one should never hear.’ Lucifer turned so abruptly his cape snapped; he melted seamlessly into the natural darkness hiding around the House of Lamentation.

That was the starting gun for the others to disperse.

Belphie exploded into black wispy shadows, sinking into the floor. Asmodeus stretched his wings again, flapping leisurely towards his room as he blew you a teasing kiss. Satan’s eyes, somehow greener and more bewitching than ever, hesitated to leave you as he retreated up the steps, made it about three before deciding to jog, and finally teleported towards the top and around the corner, hints of his horns and a brief whip of his tail following him. A skin-prickling rumble sounded soon after; the fourth-born had embarrassed himself.

Levi sought the privacy of his room, as to be expected. He would die if he kissed you ANYWAYS, but to kiss you in front of his brothers?! He’d rather have a conversation with a stranger! Gross! He was more than happy to get his red face out of view and mumble…whatever he was talking about…into his handheld console.

Only Beel and Mammon remained.

You looked at them curiously, brows raised. Beel gave you his casual smile, a little humming laugh at this situation, and promptly picked Mammon up by the collar of his jacket as they walked away from the foyer area. It was clear the second-born would lounge around and maybe try to sucker into kissing him first. You’d like to think Beel was forcing him to hide so the lip color could give you an accurate reading, but you’d always wondered if the kind, ever-hungry brother got jealous. If he did, he never showed it (and for a guy with six brothers, that was impressive).

Brain and body calmed by the emptiness, by the fact that they were somewhere in the house, you set off on your quest for a kiss. No one’s going to believe this, you rolled your eyes, starting towards the right wing when a gust of cold air overtook you. A chilly numbness set in, nipping at your fingertips and pulsing in your lips and face enough to give you a headache. Not that way, you turned away sharply, the cold receding as you moved in the other direction. Some people have really cute ‘how did you meet?’ stories and mine was getting tricked into magic demon makeup that my boyfriend had to free me from, as you found yourself in the middle of a random hallway an aggravating realization set in: the House of Lamentation was so ornate and old that all the hallways looked the same.

Same walls, same tone of polished furniture, same light fixtures, and the carpeting was a given.

Hadn’t you already been down this hall?! Why was it when you really needed to find one of SEVEN people, you couldn’t find any of them?! You felt like you’d walked the whole house! The House of Lamentation was far bigger than it looked on the outside (was that even possible?) and now you were beginning to think the brothers picked the very corners of the house! You were honestly surprised the brothers hadn’t come looking for you. Some small part of you was too amused and couldn’t help but smile at the fact that centuries-old demons were freaking out and pacing in their hiding spots like schoolboys fixing to go on an overnight trip with their crush.

You shuffled forward, wondering what a positive response felt like. Time alone to just think was really odd, especially with how chaotic the Devildom could be, but it led to some really interesting thoughts. No one would believe the ‘magic demon makeup’ part of your story but you could lie and say it was a really intense game of Hot and Cold. Any of them would make good boyfriends, you admitted to yourself, glad none of them were around to see the pink in your cheeks. If one of them popped up, you’d just lie and blame it on the warm tingle prickling at your lips.

A warm tingle?! That was a lot like what you felt when your lips were sealing shut! You spun in a startled circle, not sure when the feeling began, and desperately tried for a stronger reaction. A prickle became a tingly bubble, like a glass of champagne going to your head too fast, and soon your body felt like it was floating, rolling on waves upon waves of a butterflies-in-my-stomach that washed you up in front of a door.

Inside you found…

Lucifer sitting at his desk, half-heartedly pouring over paperwork. You pushed the heavy door open, feeling like you’d pulled the curtain back on a privacy charm, and wiggled past the old wood. The lazy tapping of whatever he was writing with stopped, the eldest perking up like someone had set him free of the eternal coil of paperwork. If you hadn’t been looking at him while trying to pull your other leg through, you would’ve missed the boyish glow of hope, the they picked me! It’s me!, that was promptly devoured by his blossoming pride.

Face propped up on a gloved wrist, now lounging confidently back against his chair as his other wrist dangled off the arm, Lucifer invited you in with a sly smile and a beckoning roll of his fingers. You rolled your eyes. We both saw your heart stop. You don’t need this ‘tall, dark, and dom’ fake allure, you waved your hands about to emphasize the ‘allure’ as you flashed him a well-meaning smile. You felt pretty confident knowing you could fluster the first born, the one with the sin of pride.

It was actually really heart-warming to know he was so eager to be yours.

“This is no act, I assure you.” Lucifer abandoned his cloak on the back of the chair, undoing it with one hand as he rose to meet you. His wings unfurled slowly and softly, ever majestic, and feathered out to their full length. They shuddered and fluttered, blowing a gentle air about the room. His eyes, normally a gradient of red and black, looked completely red. Lucifer’s pupils had taken on some slit-like appearance that had flecks of black rimming the sides.

A purr rolled in his chest, something quiet but confident, enticing, as he waited for your hand. You found yourself hypnotized by his eyes—maybe for real?—dropping your hand delicately into his. The leather folded around your skin and you couldn’t look away, even as he brought it close to his chest and then higher still, like he’d put it on his shoulder. To pull you into a kiss as dramatic as this—in the quiet only surrounded by the sound of his wings and a purr and the fire crackling in the back of the room—was very Lucifer.

You stood on tiptoe, looking up at him expectantly. Hell, you even batted your eyelashes to really get at him.

WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Lucifer’s lips brushed your knuckles again in a stuttering kiss. He placed a few more open-mouthed kissed up your finger before the laughter took over him again. He knew exactly what he was doing, just like he knew what he was doing when he smoothed his hair back away from his face. “Have I left you speechless, my dear?” he’d started to stand to his full height, shit-eating smirk on his lips. His voice was wrapped in a sultry purr that was undoubtedly the first sin mankind ever heard.

That cool façade was strangled in the grip you had on his folded collar, bringing the first-born nose-to-nose with you. Lucifer was hardly intimidated by your glare but oh you were very darling.

BECAUSE YOU CAN’T AIM! Your nostrils flared as you pouted a bit. You’re supposed to kiss me HERE! You pointed to your lips.

“I can’t aim?” Lucifer’s wings twitched, probably in indignation. Were you implying he couldn’t do something? His lips twisted upwards in a little huff, the beginnings of a sneer even. All of that melted away when that large hand cupped the back of your head, fingers twining in your hair. You’d just registered the sensation when he brought your lips to his, head tilted and savoring the kiss.

It was a long with a slight suckle, the eldest truly indulging in this minuet of a moment compared to the usual chaos of his daily existence. He felt you sag against him, hooking his other arm around your waist to stumble towards his desk. You were an awkward clatter of bones against him, chest-to-chest, and one leg falling out of the chair, but you managed.

“This was how it was supposed to be,” Lucifer confessed softly, sitting you in the space he’d cleared for you. Literally. You just now realized the scant space on his desk was big enough for you to sit. He dragged the chair forward, your legs naturally coming to rest against the padded backing on either side of his waist. Lucifer tucked some hair behind your ear, cupping your cheek. “I wanted to kiss you this way,” but my pride got the best of me, he didn’t dare finish saying it, but he thought it.

You felt your lips open, swollen and beautifully tender. To breathe through them felt weird. They still tingled with the after-effect of the enchantment. Lucifer watched you lick your lips experimentally, draw in a breath, and allowed himself to be drawn in, too. You shared a few more languid kisses before his D.D.D started to go off.

You saw Mammon’s icon pop up, then Asmo’s. The brothers were looking for you. “That reminds me,” Lucifer patted your thigh before pushing himself away. He stole another kiss before rounding the corner of his desk. He opened the door just slightly, stepped out of the room, and bellowed something in demon tongue that had a clear message of finality ringing in the house. Whatever he’d said made him lock the door to his study with a quickness, a crimson spell burning into the wood.

Looking very much like a smug older brother, Lucifer dropped himself elegantly back in his chair. One hand situated your legs just as they had been, the other one pulling you close for good measure. He coaxed you into a few kittenish kisses, flinching against your lips when the banging started. You could hear Mammon complaining outside the door. A spell fizzled against the door; seems like Belphegor or Satan had fired one off. Content and exhausted, he found purchase in the curve of your neck, enjoying the silence and your scent.

“We’ll get through this.” You combed your fingers through his hair. You’d have to face the brothers eventually.

“I look forward to it.” Lucifer kissed your shoulder.      

#Lucifer x Reader #Obey me! #Obey me! x Reader

[gotmeringinghellsbells]

New Guilt

Fandom: Promare

Characters: Gueira, Lio Fotia, Meis

A/N: It is so hard to write t-fic for Promare but I have so many random ideas that just are weird and won’t work but thank you @kwaiipootato for the aid in idea execution. But Kray tickling Lio for his power is an idea that’s crossed my mind, and Galo saving him. Anyway, moving on. This isn’t a Galo x Lio fanfic because I do enjoy that aspect of them but also I thought their quick growing friendship was one of the cutest things ever. 

Description: Time has passed and the city of Promepoils and much has changed. Lio Fotia encouraged his fellow burnish to start over and follow whatever passion they wane to pursue. From this, time has built up, along with unmeasurable guilt. Was he a traitor? Did he abandon his breatharian? Galo offers the idea of inviting the other two members of the Mad Burnish over to the shared apartment for a “guys night” to aid with this feeling.

_

Hands fell from the fist bump, blue meeting purple. Synced smiles emerged as a restored city welcomed all, legally, into it’s area. Discrimination and arogance became a more hushed ordeal as burnish aidded the work force, the modern civilian in reconstruction. Most throught nothing would com from this but a waste of time or just helping others. They knew they’d be unwelcomed, despite the new charge having nothing against the former flames. 

She prefered to be called Governor, allowing Galo to even call her “Gov”. She was sweet, she was stern; but she was open to the idea of allowing the burnish to build their own city if they truly wanted too. She understood why they would, and no amount of money or apologizing would ever be able to make up for such harsh and inhumane treatment. 

Kray was locked away in his shut down facility; his legacy being burnt as it was rewritten. The Freeze Force was dismissed and shut down, the Burning Rescue became normal fire fighters, a new police force with basic equipment erupted.  Anyone could work and live wherever they please so long as they followed basic work ethics and had the right requirements. This caused some issues, but not too many. 

During this time of regrowth though, Lio found himself spending more and more time with his blue haired, idotic savior. Wherever Lio went, Galo would fallow; and vice versa. Before Galo could rent an apartment again, he would follow Lio into sheltered areas of rubble and sleep near him. They worked together throughout the project and when the time came that the city was rebuilt, Galo was excited to ask the other to sign the lease with him. 

Lio was taken off guard by this; but what did he expect? When he talked to his former team members, Meis and Gueira were less surprised than the blonde expected them to be. “Well, are you going to sign it or wait until we build our city?”  “Our city”? The idea that he, himself had proposed hadn't even stuck around after everything that had happened. 

As the blonde’s head fell, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Purple met red before a smile came across Gueira’s face. “A lot’s changed, yeah; but do you really want to live amongst these people? Sure, legally we can live here now, but do you want to? After everything they’ve done,” Lio lifted his head fully this time. “Kray. What Kray did, the orders Kray gave. The people don’t matter as long as you're happy, Gueira.”

The two males looked shocked. “What, you're saying it’s a good idea to stay here? With these people?!” Was this the same Lio Fotia that had earned the title as “Boss” to the Mad Burnish? The blonde thought for a moment. “I think it’s up to you to decide what you think is best. We’ll never fully be accepted, I know that. I’m willing to face that, to see this so called ‘equal’ city the new governor has proposed.

“I was offered a spot that I could enforce this so called equality and offer aid to those who need it. Without my flames, I’ve been at a complete loss of purpose. But I found i enjoy saving people and helping them. Other people have other dreams and passions they wish to pursue or education they wish to achieve,” he paused to motion to a moth holding her child to the side of the still abandoned market that the burnish were currently inhabiting. “Or an education and better chance at life for children. This is what I wish to do, your paths are your choice.” 

There was a shocked silence before Meis finally said something. “So…. your staying with that blue haired idiot then, right?” Lio’s demeanor shifted slightly, but not enough to be fully noticed. He was a bit shocked by that response but pushed it aside. He couldn’t expect everyone to feel the same. “Galo,” he corrected. “Yes, I’m staying here with Galo to save people.” The room was still tesne. 

The seconds in command looked to each other, unsure of what the next move should be. “So, that’s it Boss? You want to stay and try to build a new start,” Gueira asked. The blonde nodded. “Why not? Would our city be much different? We’d act with less respect towards a normal person if they stumbled upon us. Same give and take economic method they have. All I can say is the majority and minorities would be reversed. 

“Ignoring a social issue isn’t resolving it, it’s just that. It’s ignoring something of importance. If you wish to leave and start your own community to avoid those who’ve done us wrong, so be it. I, personally, am going to stand and show it doesn’t affect me. Their arrogance, their actions, their words. We’re all human; even if they don’t see it, I do.” 

His introduction speech played through his friends’ heads as they took in his words; his take on where they stood. They stood equal by law as stated, but socially they would have to make it know that they weren’t going to simply disappear into the shadows again because they weren’t wanted thanks to lies and oppression caused by Kray. 

“Well, if that’s how you feel,” Meis started, looking up from the dirty concrete floor. Lio was bracing himself for an orally harsh blow. :Then I guess we’re still right behind you Boss,” Gueira finished. Huh? Lio looked shocked at this, not masking the emotion. “You want to stay?” He couldn’t believe it. 

“Us two will, yeah. The others can decide on their own,” Gueira said with a smile as he looked around the quiet building. “They can't just force us back into hiding because it makes them feel better. We’re not bugs, we’re burnish,” Meis reasoned. “We’re people,” a woman said form the back. “We have rights too,” a man agreed. “It’s time to take action!” “We need to take advantage of this opportunity!” “Better living conditions!” “Better medicine!”

Soon enough the store was alive with the sounds of agreement. Lio looked a bit shocked. He’d honestly stopped by, not expecting for so many to understand or even want to stay. He smiled with no control of it before feeling two hands on his shoulders. Meis and Gueira looked down at him with unsure but hopeful smiles. “You’ll just have to see where life takes you,” was Lio’s departing words. 

He knew he’d see them around again; Meis had the address of the new apartment. But it felt like the right time to leave, to let everyone's growth start to bloom. “Oi, Lio!” A new voice called to the blonde as he left. A familiar blue haired male waving to the other as he jogged over. “That was pretty noisy, how’d it go?” Lio gently took the jacket off the back of the motorcycle before pulling it on. 

“Better than I could have ever expected.” The smile on his face was all Galo needed before he cracked a grin. 

The sound of a door clicking shut seemed to be the only noise in the night air before a parental tone broke through the temporary bliss. “I still can’t believe your letting two guys you hardly know spend the night in your apartment without you there,” it lectured. The male being addressed shrugged before turning to the woman who’d be housing him that night with a smile. “It doesn’t matter if I know them or not, Aina; Lio does. They were the Mad Burnish. Gotta be close to have a functioning group like them, right?”  

The pink haired girl shrugged before sighing a bit as she looked down past her crossed arms. “Yeah but have they been all that close since we defeated Kray? It’s not like they see each other all that often.” Galo gently took her arm before guiding her down the stairs. “Regardless, it’s his apartment too. His friends, his apartment and,” he sighed as he thought about the conversation that brought this plan about. “He needs some time with them.”

Aina looked at him with confusion as they walked down the street to her motorcycle. “Oh, is something wrong?” Galo shrugged as he stopped on the road side of the vehicle. “Ah, it’s difficult to explain. Frankly, I’m still not even sure what Lio was getting at. It’s like he feels guilty or something for everything. Like the burnish losing their flame, Kray being defeated, rebuilding the city, moving in with me and becoming a firefighter.” He stopped the list and shook his head. 

“I don’t know. He’s my best friend, I just want to help him. But I can't save him if I don’t know what I’m putting out. Maybe this’ll help?”  Aina thought a moment before shaking her head. “Your doing what you can, your being there for him. That’s all you can do sometimes,” she stated softly before climbing onto her vehicle. “Still though,” she started before looking behind her to see Galo following her lead, “I’m surprised Lio was so trusting of you so quickly. You guys grew a strong bond so quickly and from nothing. 

“If I was in his shoes, I’m not sure I could have done the same.” Galo thought about her words. He’d never really considered or stopped to think about how quickly their friendship took off.  “What I’m saying is, he trusts you a lot Galo. You thought this would be best to help him, right?” The blue haired male nodded; his face looked like that of a distraught child. “Then your already helping to extinguish his grief. Your a good friend Galo.” The other looked a little shocked before smiling. 

“I didn’t think about it that way…. thanks Aina.” The girl gave him a wink. “Now…. how about some pizza?” Galo let out a sound of excitement before the two took off down the shockingly empty street. 

_

It was both comforting and sickening at the same time. Guilt burned inside him, demanding action as if the flame had never left. He hadn’t been doing enough, he hadn’t been there for them like he should be; like he used to be. The blonde awkwardly stood in the kitchen with his former group mates before motioning towards the fridge. “Help yourself to whatever you’d like. We don’t have much, but I could try to cook.” 

Meis gave a small nod as Gueira snorted. “Yeah, let’s see how long until you burn down the idiot’s apartment with that.” Lio huffed before crossing his arms. “I’m not that awful.” The red head walked close to the blonde with a playful smirk. “Lio you’ve never cooked properly a day in your life.” Meis sighed as he opened the fridge for a bottle of water. “Neither have we Gueira.” 

He was a bit surprised to see some small meals here and there. Pizza from the shop nearby, pasta dishes; and a lot of  them. The dark haired male tucked some hair behind his ear before grabbing the plate of pizza and walking to the microwave. “Forty five should do it, right?” Lio nodded. “Yeah.” 

The sound of the microwave filled the awkward silence around the three before Gueira started to look around. “Wow, nice place you got here Boss.” Everything was rather plain and basic, yet homey all at the same time. There weren't many materialistic-type items except for a few pictures on the wall and a stack of dvds next to an average sized television. It made sense seeing as the burnish had to live as minimalists for so long. 

“Thanks,” Lio said, feeling even more awkward. “So, anything here yours or is this all…. Galo’s?” Meis wasn’t sure he got the name right. Lio gave him a nod before sighing. “The pictures are his, same with the dvds. Other than that he says it’s ours.” Meis quirked a brow. “That’s an odd way to respond.” 

Gueria walked back over before standing in front of Lio with crossed arms. “That Galo guy getting in your head or something? This and that is his but he says the rest is ours?” It didn’t sound right hearing it back. “That’s not what I meant,” Lio defended. “I’m just not used to all this.” Lio held himself awkwardly as he looked away, almost shamefully. He wasn’t clarifying much. 

“Then why stay here?” Meis shot daggers at the red head. “Gueira. If he’s happy here, leave him be.” Lio was staring between them, rather shocked from the statements. “He’s still not used to this place. It’s been nine months.” As the two started to argue back and forth, Lio finally came between them. “Alright, break it up.” They weren’t getting aggressive, just showing they cared for the other. 

It was clear that they were upset though. But was it about Lio leaving them? “Honestly, what’s this guy got that we don’t Lio,” Gueira asked with a more calm tone. “He’s a Burning Rescue member. He captured us, he captured so many of us.” “We wanted to get captured to find where they were keeping us,” Lio argued back with slight frustration. “But he didn’t know that!” Meis sighed. He was staying out of it until necessary. Turning back to the microwave, he pulled out the pizza and stood by the counter; watching his entertainment as he ate.

“I’m sorry. Do I need to remind you that he saved me? That he saved all of us? We’d all be dead if he hadn't helped. He isn’t against the burnish, he only had a problem with the fires we started, that’s it. The same goes for the rest of the rescue force. None of them hate burnish. One person can not dictate the beliefs and mindset of those bearing a similar label of identification.” 

The two growled as they leaned in closer. “And his whole promise to protect you from everything people who don’t believe in that do to you? He’s really got you around his finger there Boss.” Lio growled a bit more as he pressed his forehead against the other’s. “Why do you hate him so much? You don’t even know him!” 

“Because you were so quick to trust him and run off with him! For the love of everything you are wearing your work jacket! Your part of the Burning Rescue team!” Lio pulled back with widened eyes before looking away. Gueira looked shocked. Had he just…. broke the boss? Meis sat forward. “Enough, both of you. We’re a family, knock it off.” Lio was quiet as he took off the jacket and laid it on the chair beside him. Goosebumps popped up on his skin from the cool air in the apartment.

“So I’m a traitor?” Gueira looked even more shocked before, now Meis did too. “No one said your a traitor Lio. Look,how about we take a breath before anything else stupid comes out.” Meis glared at the red head as he spoke. “No, I get it. I left the burnish for a guy I hardly knew. Then to make matters worse, I joined the fire fighters.” He shook his head. This wasn’t a good idea, but the others had all the right to be upset with him. 

“Boss, we never said that,” Gueira said with a bit of panic in his voice. Meis leaned forward before taking another bite of his pizza. “What’s on your mind?” Lio still wouldn’t look at them. “I feel like I abandoned you all. I feel like there’s more I could be doing, that I should be doing, but I don’t know what if people don’t approach me about it. I can’t just track everyone down like before. We’re not all in the same area.” 

Purple eyes closed as a sigh escaped soft lips. “Maybe the city was a good idea, our own.” Meis and Gueira looked at each other before going back to the blonde. Lio suddenly squeaked, jumping as a hand squeezed his side. “Hey, what did you do with the Boss, huh?” Meis smirked as he walked around the back of the table to corner the blode. “Yeah, since when is he so insecure?” 

Huh? “What are you two,” he gasped again, cutting off his question. Oh no. Purple eyes widened before fear started to kick in. “Don’t even think about it,” he threatened as he tried to squirm out of the trap. The dark haired male started first, tickling the dark cloth shielding the small frame of the blonde softly. Lio turned his head away from the offending hands, biting his lip to keep from laughing. 

“What Gueira meant was that…. We’ll, we just don’t trust how fast you bonded to that blue idiot. We’re happy for you boss but we just don’t trust these people. You can handle yourself to an extent but we don’t have our flames anymore. You're like a sitting duck.” Four hands started to pinch up and down his sides. To keep his composure, Lio gripped the chair in front of him tightly, moving his body a little to try and avoid the touches. 

“See? By now you would have had flames defending you.” Which would normally encourage them to torment the poor blonde more. “St…. st…. haop!” He was losing it. Meis sighed before moving up to the ribs. “What it boils down to is you have your friends, and we have ours. We weren’t trying to guilt you back.” Gueira nodded before prying hand arm from the chair. 

Lio quickly grabbed onto the other with his free hand, only for both arms to suddenly before lifted overhead. Panic from his mistake hit him quickly. How careless could he have been?! Meis quickly moved behind the smallest, Gueira in front of him. Lio was pinned between the two. A hand held each forearm, keeping both arms over head as Meis dug into the exposed underarms. “Nhahahahaha! N-Nhahahahao! Shahahait- whahahait!” 

Both grinned evilly as memories from living on the run came back. Sure, these three weren’t overly lovey dovey, physically affectionate people; but they had their bonding moments. Tickling down each other sometimes was the closest they really got to that; and it was mainly to mess with each other (or especially Lio). “Where’s that protection now, huh,” Gueira chuckled. “Yeah Boss, where’s that hero of yours?” 

The blonde started to shake his head, not wanting to give either anymore satisfaction than he was. The red head chuckled before yanking Lio forward, quickly catching him and lifting him up from under his bottom. “D-Don’t even,” Lio squealed as he tried to balance himself by pressing his hands against the ceiling. 

“But Lio, we have to test you to make sure your body’ll be able to move in that stupid, tacky armor you need,” Meis said, mocking Lucia’s designs. “Tsk, tsk, you should be taking this job more seriously.” Lio nearly slipped from the ceiling, face bright red; a hand started to squeeze at his thighs. “Ghehehet the hehehell off mhehehehe!”

“Maybe after we work out a few deals here,” Meis started as he started to squeeze higher towards Lio’s butt. The blonde was thankful he had jeans on, it wasn’t as bad as it could be. “For starters, don’t worry about trying to help us with our rent,” Gueira huffed. “You have yourself to worry about. It’s not your job to watch for all of us.” 

There was no response. Slowly, Lio did move to hang himself over the red head’s shoulder as he couldn’t keep his balance much longer. Blonde hair flipped upward as tears started to form. “If you don’t say something your feet are next,” Meis threatened. Lio shook his head, laughing freely before finally choking out something. “What was that,” Gueira asked with a laugh. “Thahahat’s my jahahaob!” Meis shrugged before giving a short break to the blonde. 

Lio didn’t bother to try to pull himself off the taller, nor did he need to. Soon enough, he felt something firm pressing into his lower back. The couch. Shit. He quickly tried to escape, only to get pinned back down to the couch. This time, Meis held him, and Gueira was the executioner. 

Meis had his back to the arm of the couch, his body turned and facing the other. Lio’s upper body lay between his legs; his arms holding him down. “Wrong answer,” Gueira stated as he went to grab an ankle. Lio wasn’t going to make it easy for the red head. He tried kicking him, shoving him, anything he could before he felt a motion on his stomach. 

Purple eyes crinkled shut as his back arched. A snort escaped his mouth before he bounced slightly in Meis’s hold. “Nhahahao sthahaop,” he whimper giggled. “Stop trying to worry about everyone. If we lived in our own city now, you’d be stressed non stop. You wouldn’t see your blue haired friend much, and we’d have to do this a lot more to get you to relax and calm your shit,” Meis whispered into the blonde’s ear. 

Slowly, Lio started to relax as the fingers stopped. He wasn’t sure what to say, just relaxing in his friend's legs. He felt his hair move from his face, Meis wasn’t sure what else to do. “You were right back then. We can’t run away and hide because we’re not wanted. We’re people too, not bugs. We need to stand our ground, and we are. You inspired us to do that Boss. What happens from here isn’t your issue, it’s not been. Your a great leader Boss, but you take too  much responsibility.” 

The words did touch the blonde but all he could do was try to think of lightening the room. “Says the guy who had too little as a leader.” Gueira gasped before digging into the thighs once more. “I get all sentimental for you, and this is what I get? You're lucky I don’t rip these things off you so you can feel the full wrath!”  Lio gauffed out a laugh, fully falling weak into the two’s attack. 

He hadn’t laughed so freely or so much in so long. Body parts flew as he wasn’t going to make this easy on the other two and a few revenge jabs were sent out here and there. 

“Yeah, thanks again Aina,” a voice came, slightly stirring Meis from his sleep. He glanced through half lidded eyes to the door to see the blue idiot. It didn’t fully register as he curled up to sleep more, pulling the weighted heat closer. 

“Oi Lio,” the voice called out rather loudly as the door shut. “I’m ba,” he froze. A hand covered his mouth as his eyes widened. Was he supposed to be seeing this? Meis was in the same position as the night before, his hands up Lio’s shirt for heat. Gueira’s face was facing Galo, eyes shut as he rested on Lio’s stomach; using him as a pillow. His arms were wrapped around the blonde that started to stir a bit. “Mmm?” Gueira grunted at the noise and movement as Meis sighed. “Your boyfriend’s home,” he grumbled before trying to fall back asleep again. “Mmm,” Lio groaned. 

Boyfriend?! Was he supposed to be seeing this? What happened last night? Galo placed his bag down before nodding and awkwardly leaving to sit outside until the others would awaken. He covered his blushing face; he felt like a peeping Tom or something!Well whatever they did, he hoped it helped his friend out of his funk.

#promare #fanfic #fanfiction #2020 #lio fotia #gueira #meis #tickle #tickling #ticklish #tickle fight

[getthefckouttahere]

Two Hearts Fixed, One’s Still Broken

prompt/thank you to @lifesasickjoke​: nikki cheats on the reader (his fiancée) with tommy’s fiancée, tommy and the reader fall in love and get married. nikki is super upset and that’s why he did the whole drug thing at the wedding pairing: tommy x reader (with a nikki x reader history) A/N: hey this is my first fic for the dirt/mötley crüe so yeah i hope y’all like it and yeah, i guess reader replaces heather here. warnings: mentions of cheating, swearing, mentions of drugs, angst and fluff

“Hey Y/N, d’ya know where Nikki is? I want him to meet Roxie and my parents.” Tommy asked her, giddy like a child on Christmas.

Man, he looked so happy and so excited to get married, she just wished that Nikki would show the same enthusiasm toward her.

Sure, it wasn’t all his fault, seeing as the only other woman in his life had been nothing but a bitch to him. She understood that he couldn’t trust anyone, because the two people that he was supposed to love had let him down, but it still made her sad that he always spoke to she so coldly.

The day he asked her to marry him was both the happiest day of her life and the most relieved she had ever felt in the course of her relationship. She found out that he really did love her, it was just difficult for him to show that strong of an emotion. Because he didn’t know how to.

“He’s probably still in his dressing room getting ready. Follow me.” she replied, walking down the hallway with him following suit.

“You ready for the wedding?” she asked him, grinning when a little squeal emitted from him.

“I’m so pumped! I really like her, dude, and I’m totally ready to spend the rest of my life with her. Maybe even see some little Tommy’s running around the house, y’know?” he snickered.

Tommy really was ecstatic, but what made her feel bad was that his fiancee, Roxie, wasn’t all that interested in him. She had met her before…she really wasn’t that great. Pretty, but that’s where the good qualities end. It just seemed like she wanted to marry him because he was famous and he could buy her things.

It hurt to see her friend so blinded by love, that he can’t see how much he’s being manipulated and taken advantage of.

“Eww, that’s gross! I don’t wanna think about that!” she said, giving him a playful shove on the shoulder.

“What, it’s a perfectly normal part of life! Don’t you have the same thoughts with Nikki?”

“Well, yeah. But honestly if it were to happen, it’d probably be by accident. That man doesn’t make love, he fucks.”

“Fuck that’s disgusting, Y/N!” he laughed.

“Payback, asshole.” she giggled, deciding that her goal was now to make him as uncomfortable as she can.

“I’m serious, man. The noises he makes are basically inhumane-”

“You mean like the ones that are coming from his room right now?”

They were standing outside Nikki’s dressing room door and she only payed attention to what Tommy said right when he mentioned it.

And he was right, those were normally the sounds she’d bring out of him on a regular night.

But now, it was some other girl doing the job for her.

And it wasn’t just some other girl.

“Hey, those female sounds seem familiar too.” Tommy commented, his voice turning softer. She assumed that he had put two and two together.

He knocked on Nikki’s dressing room door and deepened his voice to make himself unrecogniseable.

“Yo Nik, you ready? Tommy wants you.”

They heard the shuffling of feet and what she supposed was them clambering to find their clothes, accompanied by muffled curses.

The door sprang open and confirmed all of their suspicions.

“Shit.” Roxie breathed out, freezing when her eyes met her fiancé’s.

His whole face had gone pale, his bottom lip was trembling. And she could’ve sworn that she could see tears glistening in his bright, blue eyes that were normally so full of joy.

Which was also the moment where she realised she weren’t even hurting for herself, but for him.

“Babe-” Roxie started to explain herself.

“Don’t.” his voice croaked as he turned and ran away.

“I hope you fuckers are happy.” Y/N spat in her face, shooting Nikki, who was stood behind her, a dirty look.

Maintaining the eye contact with him, she slid the engagement ring off of her finger and threw it at him before she ran off after Tommy.

“Tommy! Wait!”

He froze and turned around, tears were starting to fall down her cheeks when she noticed his own tear stained face. It broke her heart, because this was her fault. All of this could’ve been avoided if she’d just told him how bad Roxie was and she was bound to break his heart one way or another.

But she didn’t. She stayed quiet. And now, she was witnessing her best friend’s heart shattering before her.

“Y/N...shouldn’t you be yelling at Nikki?” he said between sniffles.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He couldn’t reply, he just smiled sadly at her while his sobs grew bigger. She ran towards him, wrapping her arms around his torso and buried her head in his chest. He was way too tall for this to be any sort of comfort to him, like he only wanted to comfort her.

But the reminder that the man she loved didn’t love her back made her weak, her knees buckled under her and he fell down with her.

It all felt like an out of place movie scene, the way that her tears slid down the leathery fabric on his shoulder, arms clinging to him while his own hands tightened their embrace.

The way Nikki had given her hugs in the past was nothing compared to how Tommy was holding her. She felt safe, warm and, dare she say it, she actually felt like she was needed. Loved.

She picked her head up from his shoulder to greet his eyes again, tending to the small strands of his black hair that had stuck onto his face. He gave her a toothless smile as a thank you. After all, the last time he ever got a hug that reassuring was from his mom.

Things were tense between the band and Y/N from then on. She had moved out of Nikki’s place in an instant, Tommy by her side helping her as she stuffed all of her belongings into a suitcase.

Tommy himself kicked Roxie out as soon as he could, not even giving her a chance to explain herself.

He cried himself to sleep that night - and every night onwards. He had never had a relationship that ended as messy as this one did, he had never loved a girl as much as he loved Roxie.

The pain got to him, so much that he had to isolate himself from the band for a while, as he couldn’t even manage to look at Nikki without having the urge to punch him.

Not because he stole his girl.

Because he broke Y/N’s heart.

The pair found themselves growing closer together. Tommy would frequently invite her over and they’d spend the day sprawled across his sofa, a platonic tangle of limbs, watching whatever distraction was on TV at the time. But she would never spend the night there.

Until one day where she left her coat at his place and only realised it when she got home. She excused herself out of the apartment she shared with her friend again and drove back to his house, entering his unlocked house, at this point she had her own set of keys, surprised to be greeted by sniffles.

Y/N knew that a week isn’t enough to get over something like this, but she was always under the impression that he was getting better. She immediately ran into his room, where she saw him curled into a ball, rocking back and forth. She took her place next to him.

“Hey, Tom.” she cooed, placing a hand on his shoulder that was shaking as a result of his continuous sobs and tears.

They subconsciously slowed down at the sound of her voice, because he was so used to being soothed by her gentleness, even when they talked about something random like the best flavour of Twizzlers.

Being around Y/N was like a soft, warm blanket, shielding him from the horrors of the world. She, herself, was his safe space.

She helped him sit up and he immediately wrapped his arms around her.

“She fucked me up, man.”

“I know.”

“I’m never gonna find anyone like her.”

That formed a pit in her chest.

Sure, she knew she was just a shoulder to cry on and the only one that offered to comfort him, but she couldn’t help wanting more. It was wrong of her to even think about it.

“No, you’ll find someone better.”

He pulled out of the hug, their faces no more than mere inches away from each other, while Y/N thumbed away the river of tears that had flowed down his face.

“I think I already have.”

She could feel his eyes switch between hers and her lips as he licked his own. He leant toward her, entwining his soft, pink lips with hers and the taste of salt had never been sweeter.

Maybe it was because their fond for each other had grown deeper, or maybe it was because they were both needy and desperate for someone to care for them again, but the kiss just felt right. 

Like it was meant to be.

At least, that’s what she told him during their wedding vows. And the two of them laughed her asses off at the fact that her vows were almost identical. He too mentioned that the kiss felt like something that the angels above controlled.

And it would’ve been the happiest day of Tommy’s life, if it wasn’t for Nikki deciding to act like a dick throughout. He regretted asking him to be the best man, but no matter what they’d all gone through, he was still a brother to him.

“She’s really gonna marry me, huh?” Tommy had asked the band when he walked into the lobby, straightening his tie. Vince was sat in a big armchair, spinning around as a result of his boredom, while Mick stared into space, fighting the urge to murder his friend every time he could hear the chair squeak.

“This isn’t some kind of a sick joke, is it?”

“Life’s a sick joke.” Mick chimed in, being the life of the party he normally was.

“Hey, what time is it? I think we should get out there. Hey Nikki, let’s hit it.” he said, looking at him. He was quite clearly doped up again, practically unconscious across the couch. That wasn’t what he meant by ‘hit it’.

“Yo, best man, let’s go! I got a wife waiting.”

Still no response.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tommy muttered, walking over to him.

“Nikki! Wake up, asshole!” he continued, slapping him awake.

“Fuck, dude.” Nikki grumbled as he sat up.

For a split second, he thought that the world he frequently hallucinated every time the heroin entered his bloodstream was real, that this was all for him and the boys were getting ready for his special day with Y/N.

But then he saw the rings placed neatly on the pillow next to him, the rings that weren’t in any way shape or form like the ones he had proposed to her with (he hated to admit it, but they were much better. Tommy had really outdone himself), the reality of what was actually happening hurt him more than Tommy’s slaps.

It got to a point where he was practically stabbing needles, careless whether it drew blood or not. He just wanted to use the heroin as a replacement for what (or who) was once the best part of his shitty life.

His primary sources of happiness were mostly reliant on Y/N and the band, so what else could he have turned to when he drove her away and broke the band with it?

He found his hand flying toward the necklace he never took off, the one Y/N bought for him on their one year anniversary - just a month before he proposed. His fingers toyed with the engagement ring threaded in the necklace, the one he wanted her to wear today. He had been wearing that ring around his neck since the day he broke her heart - and his along with it.

“I’m good.”

No, you’re not. Your best friend is getting married to the love of your life.

“It’s all good, man.”

No, it isn’t. That’s your wife. This was supposed to be your day, but you just had to fuck that up.

“It’s most definitely not ‘all good’, man, but whatever. Just clean up-” Tommy started to spit back, growing sicker of his sarcasm the more time he wasted.

He was interrupted by the sound of Nikki getting up, knocking over the contents on the table in front of him when he leant on it for support.

“Hey!” he yelled, grabbing Nikki aggressively by the shoulders, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

“Get your shit together. I don’t want Y/N to be embarrassed, okay?”

“I’m embarrassing? Cool.” Nikki scoffed. He pushed himself out of Tommy’s painful hold.

“Let’s go marry your fancy ass hand-me-down in this fancy ass hotel-”

“Hey, at least I know how to love the woman.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up. Neither of you even know how to respect a woman, not to mention love one. Nikki just set the standards really low so she fell instantly for Tommy.” Mick rolled his eyes, getting up with some struggle.

“I can be the best man instead if you want, Drummer.” he continued, losing the same amount of hope as Tommy did for Nikki.

“Nah, ‘s cool. I got the rings already. Let’s just get this over with.” Nikki sighed, making a start out of the hotel lobby, not looking back to see if Tommy or anyone else was following.

The time finally came when the boys had taken their spots in a semi circle around the vicar and Tommy, waiting for the heart and soul of the ceremony herself to walk down the white-carpeted aisle.

And what a truly magnificent sight she was, her hair and makeup done to the 9s and her dress…

Fuck, Nikki thought, his hand gripping tighter around the ring on his necklace.

Her dress was the exact same one Nikki had confirmed would be the best one for her.

He felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs and when he looked over to Tommy, he saw that he had the same expression.

That’s when he realised how much this meant for his best friend. He couldn’t ruin this day for him.

He found himself growing more nauseous as she walked toward the front of the church and a huge grin on her face.

The same grin he saw when he proposed. Or when he made cookies that were perfectly crunchy, but also chewy, fit for her liking.

“And do you, Thomas Lee Bass...”

Nikki could barely hear what was happening over the voice that echoed through his head.

You deserve this.

“...take Y/N Y/L/N to be your lawfully wedded wife

You deserve to be hurt,

“…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.”

sad,

“To love and to cherish…”

and jealous.

“from this day forward, until death do you part?"

You brought this on yourself.

“I do.”

“I do.” Nikki found himself whispering.

“Yo Nik, the rings.” Tommy whispered. When he didn’t reply, he looked behind him to see that the veins on Nikki’s hand were about to burst, his cheeks the colour of tomatoes.

“Nikki!” he said a little louder this time.

“What?” he jumped, blinking away the tears that started to burn up in his eyes.

“The rings.”

“Oh. Right.” he replied, giving the pillow to the officiant and stepping back, not meeting anyones eyes.

"And now, by the power vested in me by, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Their family and friends all cheered and applauded the happy new couple, giving Nikki the perfect opportunity to slip out unnoticed. He felt as if he would throw up if he spent one more second seeing Tommy in the spot where he should be.

Admittedly, he was happy that Tommy had gotten his moment with a girl that really did deserve it. That she deserved to be loved in a way he couldn’t.

He just had to live with the fact that, if he had gotten his shit together, if he could’ve been a better boyfriend, if he just had the chance to apologise and show how much he really loved her, this would’ve been his moment instead.

-

let me know what you thought :P

tags (for the dirt fics), ask to be added or removed @thathappylandfill @merlehs

#the dirt fan fic #motley true fan fic #tommy lee #tommy lee x reader #tommy lee fluff #machine gun kelly #nikki sixx #nikki sixx x reader #nikki sixx angst #douglas booth #the dirt #motley crue #colson baker #colson baker!tommy lee #douglas booth!nikki sixxx

[runaway-horses]

Wait For Me (I’m Coming) Part 2/2

<<Previous Chapter

Word Count: 5,119

A/N: *chanting* Comfort, comfort, comfort-

This is basically 5k words of me trying to fix everything I put Logan through in the last chapter. Reblogs and comments are extremely appreciated, I love this AU and I’d love to know what everyone thinks of it. Onto the story, I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Aftermath of torture, medical stuff related to the aftermath of torture, hurt/comfort, anxiety attack, PTSD-like symptoms, this is mostly comfort honestly. Please let me know if I need to add/remove anything!

Tags: @pippippippin, @a-cure-for-sentience, @stormcrawler75, @princeyssash, @quoth-the-sparrow, @theresneverenoughfandoms, @queer-guineapig

~~~

The rock wall is hard and digs into his spine, but Roman doesn’t shift away from it. His body is tired from the events of the day and he doesn’t want to risk disturbing Logan.

Logan, for his part, doesn’t look like he’s waking up anytime soon. His face is pallid and thin, his usually angular face even more pronounced, dark purple half moons under his eyes. He doesn’t even know where to start with his injuries. The back is the worst. He’ll have to have Patton look him over when he gets back. 

He’s still lost in tumultuous thoughts when he hears a shout from the trees. He looks up to see Virgil, surrounded by his men, sliding off his horse and running to them. Virgil is on his knees in front of them before Roman can blink, hands on Logan’s face and a hand lacing in his limp one and concern and fear and relief written all over his face.

“He’s alive, Virgil. Just unconscious.” Roman says, voice low and gentle. Tears spring to Virgil’s eyes and he nods, gaze never leaving Logan’s face. Roman feels as if he is intruding on a very personal moment, but he can’t extract himself from his position in any way, so he stays silent and allows Virgil to grip Logan’s hand tightly while he collects himself.

After a while, Virgil takes a deep breath and his tears slow, his expression steadying.

“How can I help?” All business, Roman knows Virgil is compartmentalizing his emotions. (He and Logan both do that. It’s one of the many traits the two brothers share. Roman believes it’s genetic, Patton blames their parents.) And that he’ll probably hide out in his tent once this all passes and fall apart in private.

(Patton will coincidentally be walking by his tent as the emotional storm subsides, and he’ll duck in to hold Virgil and keep him company. They make a wonderful team, those two.)

“I think we just need to get him back to camp, have Pat look over him, and we’ll go from there.” Virgil nods and stands up, prepared to help Roman stand and get Logan on the back of a horse. Roman sees the moment Virgil spots Logan’s back and the mix of emotions on his face, Horror, disgust, anger. Virgil’s face pales considerably but his hands are steady when he catches Logan’s shoulder while Roman stands.

Together, they make their way to Roman’s horse. They stand for a moment, contemplating, before Roman hands Virgil Logan’s limp body. He mounts with one smooth movement, patting Maximus’s neck in apology before leaning back as far as he can.

“Lay him across my lap, I’ll hold him until we get back to camp.”

Virgil’s face screws up momentarily, but he lifts Logan up to Roman and together they position him over Roman’s lap. Roman grips him tightly with his one hand and gathers the reins in the other.

As a group, they set off towards camp.

~~~

The dawn is just beginning to peak over the horizon when they get back to the little gathering of tents, and Patton is waiting for Roman when he arrives. He reaches up for Logan and helps get him down. Roman swings off Maximus and lands with an oof, the movement takes more energy than it should. He hands Maximus off to another man and follows Patton to his tent.

(Usually Roman always takes care of his own horse. He feels he owes it to them for carrying him safely to his destination and it’s the least he can do in return. Just this once, however, he allows himself the exception.)

Patton lays Logan out facedown on a pile of blankets and starts to work immediately, cutting off the tattered remains of Logan’s shirt and setting a bowl of hot water nearby. Patton doesn’t even hesitate at Logan’s wounds- thank God for level-headed Patton, he’s always been good in an emergency- and starts to gently peel the pieces of fabric stuck to the gashes off.

Roman’s hands shake with exhaustion but he kneels on Logan’s other side.

“How can I help?”

Patton fixes him with A Look and shakes his head.

“Roman, you’re clearly exhausted. There’s no way I’m letting you help me out right now. You need to rest. Heavens knows the last time you slept.” 

A retort is rising on the tip of Roman’s tongue but he’s quelled with another look from Patton.

“I can’t leave him, Patton. Not again.” Roman’s voice is small, and he realizes abruptly that tears are welling up in his eyes. 

Patton’s eyes are warm and he looks at Roman gently.

“I know, Roman. But I swear on my honor that nothing will happen to him under my care. If you stay in here, you’ll just be in my way. Go sleep, in your own tent, and once you’re rested you can come back and watch over him all you want. You’re of no use to me or Logan in this state.”

Roman deflates, closing his eyes. He still wants to argue, but the truth of Patton’s words are too heavy for him to ignore. He nods tiredly and stands up shakily. 

“You’ll come get me-?”

Patton cuts him off. “Yes, Roman, I will come get you if he wakes up before you do.”

Roman nods and ducks out of the tent flap into the fresh morning air. He allows himself a moment to breathe deeply. The dawn hasn’t looked this beautiful to him in about 18 days, not that he’s counting. With one last gaze at the tent that houses his beloved, he ducks into his tent and falls onto his pallet.

He’s asleep moments later.

~~~

When Roman wakes, the sun has already passed its peak and is slowly falling. The mid-afternoon heat has made the blankets on his pallet uncomfortable, and he kicks them off with a huff. Once he’s freed his legs from their fabric cage, he rushes out of his tent and towards Patton’s.

He pushes the flap open and sees Virgil and Patton bent over Logan, gently dabbing cotton balls at the edges of his wounds. He can’t decide if it’s better or worse with the dried blood cleaned up. 

Patton looks up at his entrance, and the lines on his face seem more pronounced than usual.

“How is he?” Roman asks, slightly breathless.

“He hasn’t woken up, if that’s what you mean. His injuries…” Patton trails off and Roman's throat goes dry. “He will be fine, physically. Given time and proper care, he will heal. He’ll always have scars, but rathered scarred and alive than...well. But Roman, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so disgustingly inhumane.” Fury is alight on Patton’s face, and there’s a tension in the room.

Roman knows what Patton is feeling, felt it himself and expressed it in the form of unmoving people left on the floor of that cave. He doesn’t know what to say, and just nods instead. 

“I know it is,” He manages to get out, before gently kneeling next to Virgil.

“Can I help?”

Virgil nods and hands him his cotton swab, leaning back on his heels. Virgil’s eyes are red and puffy and Roman wonders what’s going through his friend’s mind. He thinks they’re all feeling a little lost in the face of the events of the last three weeks. He’s just opening his mouth to speak when he feels Logan shift beneath him, and suddenly the room goes very still, and very quiet. 

“Logan? My dear, are you with us?” Roman is the first to break the silence, tentative.

“Roman?” Logan’s voice is raspy and faint, and Roman thinks he might cry at the sound of it.

“Yes. Love, it’s me. I’m here.”

Logan’s hand scrambled across the floor, the movement frantic. Roman grasped his hand in his and squeezed gently.

“I’m here.”

Logan turned his head towards the sound of Roman’s voice, his face dirty and drawn.

“We’re at camp, in the Alface forest. Virgil and Patton are here, so are most of the Guard.”

Logan’s gaze drifted past Roman and focused on Virgil, who was situated behind Roman. He went to move and immediately made a noise of pain, his eyes glossing over with tears.

“Virgil?” He asked, his voice small. Virgil looked surprised but quickly recovered, moving forward and kneeling next to Roman. Logan gave Roman’s hand a squeeze before letting go and reaching for Virgil. Virgil’s hand wrapped around his immediately, expression open and tearful. Virgil reached forward and pushed Logan’s hair away from his face, inspecting his brother’s face.

Logan stared at Virgil’s face intently, as if reassuring himself that he was here. His grip was surprisingly tight considering his fatigued state.

Virgil remembered the day he had come home and told Logan that he was going to be in the King’s Guard, and how scared Logan had been. He remembers how Logan’s hands shook but he hugged Virgil and told him he was proud of him. He remembers how Logan had hovered around him for the rest of the day, and when they two of them went to bed last night- two bodies on one small mattress, there wasn’t room for two in their house- Logan had pressed a little bit closer to him, how he had held his hand just like this.

So Virgil holds his hand now, knowing that he’s looking for security. He knows Logan, knows his brother likes to pretend he doesn’t have emotions, and he knows that right now he’s caught in a whirlwind of emotions that he doesn’t know what to do with.

“Logan?” Patton’s voice is a welcome distraction from his thoughts. “I’m going to dress and wrap these wounds. It will probably hurt, but I promise to be as gentle as possible.”

Patton would’ve made a good doctor, Virgil thinks. His voice is calm and steady as he pressed a hand to an uninjured section on Logan’s lower back. “Are you ready?”

Logan draws in a breath and nods but Virgil can see the tightening around his eyes. Virgil motions to Roman with his head, attempting to get his message across. Logan needed his family, and Roman was part of that. Fortunately, Roman understood the unspoken command.

He shuffled forward, towards Logan’s head. He settled himself down and then ran his fingers through Logan’s hair.

“Logan, put your head in my lap.” Logan seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Come on, I got you.” Roman coaxed, continuing to untangle Logan’s hair with his fingers. Finally, Logan gently lifted his head and allowed himself to be maneuvered into Roman’s lap, sighing softly when Roman resumed his gentle petting.

At Virgil’s look, Patton started dressing Logan’s wounds and bandaging them, mouth set firmly.

For the next hour, Virgil and Roman comforted Logan through it, shushing him gently and talking aimlessly about inane things in an attempt to fill the silence and give him a distraction. When Patton secured the last bandage, Roman had a slight damp spot on his pants from Logan’s quiet tears and Virgil’s hand aches from how hard Logan had squeezed it.

Roman realizes that Logan has fallen asleep, his breaths even and his grip on Virgil’s hand loose. He can’t help but be grateful. Roman hopes that he is free from pain in his sleep.

Patton packs away his supplies and sighs, exhaustion on his face. Roman absently wonders how much sleep he got last night, if any at all. Patton gives a tired smile to Roman. “You’re free to stay with him tonight, I’ll crash elsewhere.” Roman knows that ‘elsewhere’ means Virgil’s tent, and he nods in affirmation.

“Thank you, Patton.” 

Patton’s smile is soft and genuine when he says “Of course, Roman.” And then he ducks out of the tent.

Virgil is looking at Logan’s back, a mix of expressions on his face. Mostly he looks tired.

Roman nudges him gently to get his attention, and Virgil snaps back to himself.

“You can rest, Virgil. I know you didn’t sleep last night. I’ll keep an eye on him, promise.” Roman echoes Patton’s sentiment from last night, and a little bit of tension seems to ease out of Virgil’s stance.

“I know, it’s just…” He trails off, eyes clouding. 

“You can’t believe he’s here?” Roman finishes for him.

“Yeah.”

Quiet falls over the tent as Roman and Virgil both watch Logan breathe.

“I’ll be back later, Pat will need to change those bandages.” Virgil says, standing up slowly.

“Ok. I’ll come get you two if we need anything.”

That seems to settle Virgil and he nods before turning and exiting the tent, leaving Roman alone with Logan.

He notices how Logan trembles slightly in his sleep and his heart aches. He doesn’t know if it’s from cold or something else, but he pulls a blanket over him anyway. Logan seems to settle once he’s covered and Roman sighs to himself.

Minutes later, however, he starts twitching again, this time murmuring slightly in his sleep. It might seem benign to anyone else, but Roman has known Logan long enough to recognize a nightmare when it starts. Normally, he’d wake him and soothe him with kisses and a warm hug. Then the two of them would lay awake in each others arms, and talk until Logan drifted back off.

But he doesn’t want to wake Logan, knows he needs this rest, and instead he starts to sing.

Wait for me, I’m coming 

Wait, I’m coming with you

Wait for me, I’m coming too

I’m coming too

He keeps his voice low and leaves his hand on Logan’s head, hoping it offers some comfort.

I’m coming, wait for me

I hear the walls repeating

The falling of my feet 

And it sounds like drumming

And I am not alone

Logan lets out a sigh and shifts slightly before stilling. His trembling ceases and so does his mumbling but Roman continues to sing until the song is finished, and then one more time. When he stops singing, he just looks down at Logan, at his love, and he thinks of the bandages under the blanket, and the wounds hidden under them. 

He thinks of the damage that he can’t see, but can feel in the way Logan’s body tenses slightly in his sleep, his distressed noises as he slept, reliving horrors. He thinks of Logan apologizing to him, voice catching on the words even as speaking pains him, and of the state that he has been living in for the past 18 days.

The longer Roman lingers on it, the more helpless he feels. He doesn’t know how to fix this, feels so utterly small and helpless in the face of this foe.

But for now, in this moment, he holds Logan. There’s not anything that he can fix in one night. But he can sing Logan’s fears away, and keep him warm. And maybe, Roman thinks, that’s enough.

~~~

The trip home takes three days. It's arduous and slow going, and Roman is happy that their group is so small. 

It’s just him, Logan, and Patton. They had decided to ride ahead by themselves, as they could move faster without the entire King’s guard accompanying them. Virgil has stayed to lead the rest of the soldiers, and Patton goes ahead with Logan and Roman. They stop every few hours for Patton to change Logan’s bandages, and they make their goal getting back to the castle as fast as possible.

Logan rides with Roman. He sits behind him and wraps his arms around his waist in a position reminiscent of many hours spent riding together.

There’s nothing romantic about this ride, however.

Logan’s pained breaths brush against Roman’s ear, and the tightening of his arms around his waist are ones of pain and necessity, not from trying to press closer to Roman. They ride until Logan’s barely suppressed gasps of pain become too frequent and Roman forces them to stop.

(Logan has barely spoken since Roman carried him out of the cave. His silence is almost more concerning than anything else. Roman tried to fill the silence at first, but now they just ride.)

They come out of the forest and Roman feels relief knowing that they’re close to the castle. Logan gives his waist a little squeeze, and Roman knows he feels it too. 

They don't stop, just ride as the ground evens out, castle growing on the horizon with each stride of the horses' hooves. 

Patton cues his horse into a gallop, gaining ground ahead of Roman and Logan. They hadn't had time to send a message ahead of them, choosing to leave immediately. Patton will alert the castle doctors that the Prince is returning with the court astrologer, and he is in need of medical attention.

Logan pressed forward and hooked his chin over Roman’s shoulder.

“We’re almost there, love. Patton’s going ahead to alert them.”

Logan nodded against his shoulder and Roman swallowed regret at not hearing his voice. He tightened his grip on his reins and set his mind to arriving as fast as they could.

~~~

When Roman made it to the gates, there was a group of people waiting for him. He slid off Maximus and turned to help Logan down. His lips were set tight with pain and he landed on the ground with a huff. As soon as Logan’s feet hit the ground, Patton was there with the palace doctor, Emile, at his side. They wrapped an arm around Logan and steered him towards the entrance, Patton and Emile already rapidly exchanging words.

Roman went to follow them but found himself blocked by a small group of people, all clamoring for his attention. Several members of the court, all asking questions about Logan, one or two of his advisors who had issues that really required his immediate attention, as well as several servants who he figured were just lingering for hints of gossip.

He was momentarily overwhelmed with the movement and chatter, but he gained his wits enough to get their attention. 

“Enough! Your questions will all have to wait, I have more important matters to deal with. Please return to your jobs, I will be available later. And someone please return my horse to the stables.”

With that he pushed through the small gathering and followed the steps he had seen Patton and Logan take. Once he was out of sight of everyone in the courtyard, he started running.

~~~

Logan tried not to wince as he was directed to Emile's quarters, the hands on his shoulders only heightening his pain. At some point, he looked over his shoulder and realized Roman was not with them. He tried to swallow the panic that rose in his chest at the revelation. It was irrational, nothing was wrong. Or perhaps that statement wasn’t entirely accurate, but nothing was wrong that could be changed by Roman’s absence or presence. 

So why was he having a hard time breathing?

He was distantly aware that Patton and Emile were talking to each other, and probably talking about him, but as they weren’t talking to him he just let the conversation fade into noise. They ushered him into a room and sat him down on the bed, hands settling on his shoulders. Logan resisted the urge to flinch at the touch and tried to focus on the rhythm of his breath. 

Patton moved out of his line of vision, stepping behind him, and his chest seized up. 

Patton wouldn’t hurt him, he knew. But he couldn’t see him anymore, he was no longer observable, and memories of being in another room with stone walls and a person at his back were spinning through his mind.

His heartbeat was loud in his ears. Logan’s chest felt tight and it felt like he couldn’t draw in any oxygen. He was distantly aware that the hands were no longer touching him and he could faintly hear what must be Patton- or perhaps Emile?- talking, but he couldn’t discern the words. His vision blurred slightly at the edges as his breathing wheezed.

But then someone was kneeling in front of him. Logan became aware that his hands were balled into fists when warm hands covered them and eased them open.

“Logan?” 

Roman’s voice was clear and cut through the haze in his mind. He was kneeling in front of Logan, warm eyes filled with concern, and the panic eased. 

“Roman,” He said, voice quiet and raspy.

“Yeah love, I’m here.” He started rubbing circles into Logan’s hands with his thumbs. “What happened? You weren’t with us for a minute there.”

With Roman here, the panic was already draining away, Logan focusing on the touch on his hands and the rise and fall of his breath.

“It was rather illogical, I couldn’t see Patton or Emile once they went behind me and I panicked, I suppose.” Saying it aloud only heightened the sense that Logan had overreacted, and he steadfastly stared at the ground. He heard a small noise from behind him but ignored it, unable to muster up the energy to care about what it could have been.

A gentle touch on his shoulder drew his attention back and then he heard Emile’s voice.

“I’m sorry that we upset you, Logan. However, it is important that I look at these injuries. I will speak to you the whole time so you are aware of what I am doing. Is that alright?”

Logan nodded and gripped Roman’s hand a little tighter.

“I’m going to start by removing the bandages.” Emile said. Logan stayed perfectly still while one by one, his wounds were uncovered. Emile didn’t react, simply asking Patton to bring his bag over.

“Patton did a good job of treating these initially,” Emile commented, rummaging in his bag. “You’re lucky, they’re clean. My biggest concern is infection, but we should be able to avoid that by keeping them covered.” Emile placed a gentle hand on Logan’s arm. “I’m going to clean these now with some alcohol, it’s going to hurt.”

Logan had always liked Emile; he was gentle and kind but wouldn’t sugar coat things, always getting straight to the point. He nodded to show that he had heard, and didn’t even flinch when the cold alcohol made contact with his wounds.

Once he was done, he asked Patton to re-bandage them. Then he started his examination of the rest of Logam, taking note of the bruises on his torso, the cuts on his chest and face, and the ugly bruise blooming across the left side of Logan’s face.

“Logan, could you remove your trousers for me?” Emile asked, tone light. Logan stood with an effort and started tugging on his pants. They were tattered and dirty, blood staining them in some places. Once he got them past his knees, he sat back down on the bed, exhausted from the small effort. Emile cleaned and bandaged the cut on his thigh but deemed that his legs were uninjured for the most part. 

Logan looked at his pants, pooled around his ankles, and realized that he didn't have the energy to pull them back up. 

Roman seemed to notice this, and he hooked his fingers around the band of the pants, pulling them back over his legs.

It was a small gesture, but it made Logan’s eyes water slightly. Roman’s attentiveness since he had found him made his heart ache and his chest feel heavy with an emotion that he used to fear. There had been a time, a time before Roman, before this gentle affection, that nothing had scared Logan more than being vulnerable. He would have never allowed himself to feel this feeling, to put a name to it so boldly.

Love. It should be terrifying.

But there was nothing scary about loving Roman.

He didn’t even notice that Emile was done until Roman squeezed his hand and drew his attention back to the present. 

“Are you up to walking back to my room, dearest?”

Logan stood up off the bed, and promptly felt the world blur as he stumbled forward. Roman caught him by his arms, avoiding his back, and setting him steady.

“Easy there. I got you, don’t worry. One step at a time, there we go.”

Roman kept one arm secured around Logan’s waist as they walked together out of the infirmary. He murmured encouragement to Logan the entire time, letting him lean most of his weight against Roman. 

When they finally made it to Roman’s room, Logan was drooping with exhaustion, muscles aching and wounds throbbing. He was compliant as Roman eased his pants off again and dressed him for bed, each touch soft and only making Logan want to sleep more. Once he was dressed, Roman quickly disrobed himself and helped Logan into bed, crawling in behind him.

Logan laid on his stomach to protect his back, but felt anxiety prickle at his neck when Roman laid down beside him. He felt...exposed. And a little cold. He couldn’t help that little whine that left him, and Roman immediately was running a gentle hand down his arm.

“Logan? What’s wrong?”

He wasn’t sure. He wanted Roman to hold him, to be enveloped in warmth and love and safety, but he couldn’t press against Roman like he normally did. And he didn’t know how to put it into words. He didn’t want to ask, just the idea of it had heat rise to his face.

“Just...cold. Is all.” He said, hoping that that explanation would suffice. Roman’s hand stopped moving on his arm and Logan held his breath. Then he felt Roman shift, moving down the bed, until he was laying flat.

“Come here,” He said, gesturing to his chest. Logan crawled up, settling his head on Roman’s chest and letting himself sink down into his body. The gentle beat of Roman’s heart against his ear was soothing, and Roman wrapped one arm around his lower back before tangling the other in his hair, running through the strands.

“Better?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper. 

“Mhm. Perfect,” He responded, letting his eyes shut. Logan drifted to sleep, secure in the knowledge that for the first time in weeks, he was safe. He was home.

~~~

In the following weeks, more security was added to the castle. Guards were around every corner, and weak spots in the castle’s construction were shored up. The astrologer, hardly a public figure as it was, was barely seen. To an outsider, nothing of importance was different about the castle.

To Roman, lots of things were. 

He rarely left Logan’s side, refusing meetings and bringing his work into his personal quarters. Logan had tried to argue at first, but the relief in his eyes when he saw Roman was enough to steel Roman’s determination. He didn’t mind changing his routine, this small changes were nothing compared to what he would do to keep Logan happy, to keep him safe. Having Logan home made breathing easier, filled up the negative spaces where an extra body was meant to be.

Home. It was a word that has kept Roman warm while he searched for Logan, knowing that home was with him. The castle was just brick and mortar filled with irrelevant material things, it was a place meant to be filled with people, and feelings.

Home was Logan's laughter, the turn of his lips when he frowned at Roman with barely hidden affection in his eyes. 

Home was in sleepy kisses and sleep softened touches, the precious moments when the Dawn sneaked in through windows and bathed Logan's face in a golden light. 

Home was in the touch of hands, of gentle caress of face, of an extra cup of tea appearing on his desk while he labored over papers and requests.

Home was also in the empty space between them on the bed when they disagreed, in words that were too barbed or too honest. 

Home was in loving Logan, and choosing to come back to him. To cross the space between them on the bed, to apologise for words that were said in haste, in the band-aid smoothed over the wound on his heart.

It was nighttime, and the candles set around the table were burning Roman’s eyes. He frowned at the papers in front of him. The disturbance among the nobles in the West was only rising, citizens being alerted to the brewing trouble and growing antsy themselves. He looked up from the tables at a gentle knock against the doorframe, seeing Logan standing there, holding a candle of his own.

“Roman, it’s almost midnight. Come to bed, the papers can be dealt with in the morning.” He said, stepping forward so he was standing at the edge of the table.

“I know, Logan, but there’s just so much to be done.” He said, pressing his hands to his eyes.

“Nothing can be done tonight, my dear.” Logan said, placing a hand on Roman’s shoulder. He blew out the candles around the table and reached for Roman’s hand. Roman looked up, about to protest, when he saw the dark circles on Logan’s face. It was clear that he hadn’t slept either, and was just as exhausted.

With a rush of guilt, Roman remembered that Logan hadn’t been able to sleep on his own since the cave. Roman’s habit of staying up till the early hours of the morning, only to collapse into bed and do it all again the next day was affecting him just as much. 

Logan pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, and murmured against the top of his head, “Whatever you’re thinking, I want you to stop. Everything is okay. Whatever has happened, has happened, and it is in the past. Let’s go to bed, and tomorrow will be better.”

Roman ignored the tears pricking at the back of his eyes and stood, allowing Logan to lead him back to their room. He shrugged off his clothes and tumbled into bed, Logan setting his candle down on the bedside table and blowing it out, climbing in after Roman.

Roman wrapped his arms around Logan, pulling him in close. 

Logan’s body was warm and he sighed, relaxing against him.

It’s not going to be easy, he knows. The problems will not have magically resolved themselves in the morning- his father will still be sick, revolution will still be stirring, there will still be scars on Logan’s back.

But it will be easier with Logan at his side.

He presses a kiss into the soft brown hair and whispers “I love you.” Before he allows his eyes to shut and drifts to sleep.

#athena rambles #love athena #logince #hurt/comfort #royal au #tw anxiety attacks #tw ptsd

[ain-t-bovvered]

Epiphany 1

read first ACT 1 

EDIT:  @waywardbaby​

Summary: Less than two years later, you finally passed the men of letters' initiation and, finally,you now set foot in America eager to be reunited with the Winchesters. But if Dean thought that you spent your days only with your nose in books and hands in monster's guts, he was dead wrong.

Your mission? Something that the British branch tried and failed miserably,  or at least that's what they told you anyway.

Pairing: Dean X Reader

Characters: Dean, Sam, Castiel and Jack

Warnings: slow burn guys…slow burn. Also, some fluff, humor, feels and angst.

Kiss it and make it better

Stepping outside the airport you were finally able to breathe real, unfiltered air, after so many hours of being closed up in an aluminum tube, sharing it with too many people. You stretched, feeling the uncomfortable tingling in your legs and a couple of bones popping here and there.  Dragging your feet and luggage, you squinted against the sun that, according to your internal clock, shouldn’t be up and about. Rubbing your eyes, you looked down at your phone, sending a quick group text telling everyone at home you were okay and that you'd call them soon so they wouldn’t bother you later when you'd have other priorities.

During the time you had said your goodbyes and up until now, you had kept in contact with the Winchesters via some random texts and even some late night skype calls with the brothers. They had wanted to know how things were and especially the thing with your search for the men of letters. 

Dean was always the same, old Dean. He always prodded and pried to know if you were hunting or not. And yes you had so you had lied about that, obviously, but he didn’t really need to know that, anyway. You bit your lip, drumming your fingers on the linoleum counter, suddenly feeling that old, guilty feeling creeping up your chest, as you waited for the rental car papers to get sorted out.  To their best of their knowledge, you were still in training and mostly locked in a lab dissecting monsters and helping with the weapons. 

Initially, your plan had been simple: Leave right after graduation.

The change of heart had been bitter but necessary. You knew all too well that if you had to crash in the Winchesters’ hunting life, you had to be prepared. The last thing you wanted was playing the damsel in distress. Therefore yes, you were locked in the lab, elbows deep in monster's guts and DNA, but at the same time, you had trained in whatever could be useful during a hunt. Basic combat, basic knife knowledge, witchcraft, and spells, refreshed your Latin which was still painfully mediocre, and let’s not talk about the guns skills. Honestly, things could be better, but considering how you started, things could’ve been far worse. 

The bunker was only a three-hour drive which, for where you were from, was a lot, but things here were different. A country this big? Almost thirty times bigger than yours? 

Yeah, days of driving were waiting in the future, and anyway, a couple of hours more and some leg cramps were nothing compared to how eager you were to see them. 

Lebanon wasn’t that far away and you had managed to get the bunker’s outer description so you knew what to look for. You’d figure out the rest on the road. 

You were not prepared for the boredom. The roads were almost completely straight. 

“Damn, this place is literally a slab of dirt, some trees, and a sea of crops”. 

Beautiful yes, but the road seemed to have no end. It just kept going on and on and on. Thank God for technology that at least showed that you were indeed moving closer to the destination. 

The power plant hadn’t been difficult to find. Fiddling with your personal key, that the office had given you, you hesitated, hoping that they were home. As you were about to slip the key in the hole, your hand halted.

“I shouldn’t barge in like I own the place.” 

It was a Men of Letters' bunker and it belonged to all of you but that one was Sam and Dean’s home. You retreated the key, slipping it in the back pocket of your jeans and you tried to knock, feeling silly. 

No one answered. Were they on a hunt? Should you have called them? Should you call them right now? 

Before your mind decided on what to do, you started texting Sam.

 -Hey guys, just checking in. How are things?

Nothing. 

Should you wait for them? But for how long? They could be days away or hours. You had no way of knowing. You decided to wait at least for a couple of hours. Maybe you could even take a nap to gain some sleep since jet lag was already being a bitch.

Relaxing in your seat, you started to doze off, in a light dream state.

Your phone chimed startling you awake. Confused, you squinted at the blurry screen. You’ve been asleep for hours. 

“Shit” 

You looked around but nothing had changed, no cars and no sign of them. You looked back at your phone

It was a message from Sam.

-Nothing much, same as always.  -Are you guys on a hunt? -No, research 

Oh great, already with the lies.

Moving the car to a more secluded spot between the sparse trees you looked at the time again. 

Not that you had anywhere else to go anyway. “I guess I can still wait a bit and test my luck.” which sucks, by the way, a little voice told you. 

After some time, a loud roaring noise woke you up. You straighten up, rubbing the drool from your cheek. From the muddy road, you saw this sleek black car rolling in and you fell instantly in love. That must be Baby. 

The beauty on wheels stopped and from the driver seat, a frantic Sam jumped out, running to the passenger’s side and helping a bloody Dean out.

“What the hell?!” you called out, running out the car to them.

You saw Sam freeze and then with inhuman speed, he spun around, gun lifted toward the source of the voice. You stopped and slowly stepped into the headlights, arms raised, smiling reassuringly.

“Hi Sam”

“Y/N?” he squinted, “ what- ….how-” you both looked at Dean as he groaned in pain, starting to slide off his brother’s grip.

“Later,” Sam said quickly and moved to the entrance, Dean’s weight mostly on him. You watched as he struggled to open the door, so you stepped in, pushing him aside, and opened the bunker’s door with your key. Sam’s eyes widened, but once the door was wide open, he stepped inside. The lights switched on by themselves and he dragged Dean down the metal stairs. Following Sam through two large rooms and corridors, you watched as he lay Dean down on a bed in one of the rooms.

“Research uh?” 

You gasped when he started to remove Dean’s coat, revealing an extended, deep blood stain on his shoulder.

“Vampire nest, one got a jump on him”.

You helped to roll up the sleeve while Sam brought in the first aid kit. You prodded the wound with your fingers to better understand the edges of the bite.

“It’s not that bad, looks worse than it is with all this blood”

Shrugging off your jacket you extended your hand to Sam who just stared at it.

“ …would you pass me the hydrogen peroxide so I can clean, sterilize and maybe stitch your brother up?”

“Ah yes, here”

When you sprayed the liquid on the wound to clean it, it fizzled and foamed, making you wince just as Dean’s eyes flew open and he sat up cursing. 

“Son of a bitch, Sam can you be a bit more delicate”

“Not if you want to keep your arm”

His head snapped to you and once again you lost yourself in those eyes, memory couldn’t really do them justice

“Y-Y/N?” 

“Hey, stranger”

“How… why… what?” 

He flinched when you sprayed the wound again. “What the hell?” he grunted, his shoulders and neck tensing and trembling as he fought the pain. “Shouldn’t you be all ‘there there Dean, I’ll kiss it and make it better?’” he joked flinching when you used gauze to wipe around the bite, cleaning dirt and blood.

“Mmm, that’s cute” you mused, biting your lip to conceal your smile. 

Oh, how have you missed him!! 

“Wait here a moment, I need to go grab a few things” 

You got up and touching Sam’s arm, “Don’t let him move an inch” you ordered.

“Yes ma’am”

“Hey, I’m the older brother!” he called as you disappeared outside the room, “what is she doing here, man?” Dean hissed once you were out of the room and they heard the bunker door close.

“Dude, I don’t know. She was just standing there, outside, waiting for us I think. She has a key for this place. A key of her own.”

Sam threw a look at the corridor outside the room and walked to his brother, lowering his voice, “You saw her ink, right?”

“Of course I saw the fucking ink. It’s right there on her arm” Dean stood up and swayed a little, Sam helped him be steady. 

“Real question is, why she needs it.''

“Shouldn’t you be sitting down?” you said out of breath from the door, a big bag under your arm.

“Shouldn’t you have stayed in the lab being a nerd?” he said, his voice harsh.

“I do that, and occasionally…” you said unfazed, dropping the case on the bed, “... if the team is understaffed, I’ll go with them and kick some ass. Now, sit!”

Dean sat down on the bed again with a grunt as you opened the black military backpack.

Sam’s brows shot up when he saw its content.

“This is for missions…” you started to answer his silent question, “... we have an infirmary at HQ but when we are on the field we use this.” you went on, laying down a sterile, surgical, blue towel. When you fished out a syringe, Dean stood up, shaking his head.

“Uuh, nope!”

“Dean, sit down,” you said unfazed while rummaging into the pockets.

“Hell no. I don’t need any of that crap. Whiskey and dental floss will do just fine”. Your hands stopped and you slowly lifted your eyes to him, smiling sickly.

“Dude ...what she said” Sam chuckled, curious about the rest of the equipment. Dean muttered something and sat down again, far from you.

“Now, Dean, what kind of vamp attacked you ?”

“The blood-sucking kind? What are you talking about?”

“No, I mean, was he well fed? Looked clean and tidy? How were the conditions of the nest?”

The brothers looked at you funny and you sighed, “Was it a dumpster vamp or a house vamp?” your voice a clear testament of how thin your patience was running.

“…a barn one?” Dean’s patience running thinner...

“Does it matter?” Sam asked, interested. 

“Umm, we know they can carry a different kind of bacteria depending on the type of environment they live…well, we are still working on the classifications but we have synthesized some antibiotics that can cover most of them, for now”

“AntiVamp-biotics?” Dean grinned as you chuckled. 

“Still, we never needed that before,” Dean said smugly but his eyes twitched when you inserted the syringe into the little bottle with the clear yellow liquid. Your eyes followed as his tongue nervously licked his lips. 

“Yeah? If they passed you something it could be dormant. This…” you said squirting the liquid out the needle, “... will get rid of it. Better safe than sorry, right?” 

You reached as Dean drew his arm back.

You cocked an eyebrow at Sam and he chuckled, walking up to Dean and keeping him still.

“Don’t worry, I’ll kiss it better.” you cooed and slammed the needle in his flesh.

Once Dean was all patched up and real grumpy about it, Sam left the two of you alone going for the overused excuse of dinner. Cleaning up the mess on the bed and the rolls of gauzes that rolled off on the floor, you felt Dean’s eyes on you. With a sigh, you turned to face him, ‘here we go’.

“Yes Dean, what is it?”, still rolling up a stubborn gauze that kept slipping.

“What’s that?” he nodded at your arm and you followed his eyes.

“An anti-possession mark...?”

“Yeah, thanks. I know that, kid” he passed a hand over his face tired. “Why is it on you, is what I’d like to know. I thought I told you not to do anything stupid”

“And I promised you that. But, shit Dean, life happens.”

He stared at you and you squirmed under his hard gaze. 

“Look…I did everything I was supposed to do, ok? We talked about this-”.

“-Apparently you forgot to mention some significant parts”. He grumbled over your rehearsed excuse.

“-recruited me as a science and tech assistant.” Your voice louder, “ I juggle between dissecting monsters, designing new weapons, upgrading old ones, and sometimes… sometimes I have field duty”

“That…” he stood up slowly and, son of a bitch you wanted out the room right fucking now, “... that right there is where I stop you,” he said pointing a finger.  “You couldn't just stay in the lab, right? No, you had to go all gun blazing…”

“Actually, I use a-”

“I DON’T CARE!”

You flinched and he looked startled at his own outburst, blinking before clearing his throat and combing a hand through his hair, which was longer than you remembered, combed very nicely... No, focus!.

“You’ve never mentioned that in your calls or texts, so you definitely knew you were doing something stupid”

“No no no, this…” you waved a hand in the space between you two, “... this is why I didn’t say anything; you are overreacting just like Cass said you wou-”. 

Ah shit.

“Oh …” a tight cold smile, “Cass knew?” his jaw clenched.

“Dean-” suddenly feeling very tired, you sat heavily on the bed, “you don’t know the big picture here, ok? ” 

“you sound awfully a lot like a Cass of some years ago right now,” he whispered, his eyes roaming over you and then stopping at your bare legs. 

Oh, fuck.  Gaze turning hard, he looked up to you again. 

“The fuck is that?” he said, dropping on his knees, between your legs. 

Awkward.

“What's what? ” you tried to get up.

His hand traveling up your leg, stopped you cold. Reaching under your knee and lifting it to take a better look. Right there, in your inner thigh run a long, silvery scar that he traced until it disappeared under your shorts.

“Oh that…” your tone trying to sound amused, “It’s actually quite a funny story, I-“

“Whoops, sorry! “Sam, still with his amazing timing, appeared on the door and misunderstanding, obviously, he quickly turned around. Dean didn’t let go of your leg, still staring at you all jaw tensed and fuming, and all hot rage, and you shouldn’t feel this turned on, but here we are.

“Nope, Sam, it’s fine, nothing to see here, so what’s up?” 

Sam cast a glance at you from above his shoulder, “Dinner’s ready…if you...you know... want it”

“Oh thank god, I’m starving” you chirped as you shook your leg out of his grip. Dean snapped out of his daze, stood up and walked out the room in silence.

“What happened?” Sam asked while accompanying you to the main room.

“Occupational hazards”

“That was amazing Sam, thank you," you said leaning back on your chair, satisfied and trying to stifle a burp.

“It’s just take-out and cholesterol, but you are welcome,” he smiled rubbing his hands clean from the greasy food with a paper napkin.

“For my first meal on American soil, I couldn’t have asked for anything better”

“Then we should celebrate.” Sam chuckled using his beer to nod at you. Grinning back you reciprocated and did the same in Dean’s direction but he was still brooding, picking at his food. Well, that’s definitely bad. You looked at Sam as he shrugged at you. Clicking your tongue, you put down your bottle. 

‘Well, time to face one Dean Winchester. I got this’

“Enough of that Dean. I told you I was going to do what I wanted. I’m not your responsibility.  I choos- “

“You didn’t. You just had the misfortune of meeting  me, by chance, while you were living your life…”

“Yeah, what a life! Sure...” you scoffed, his shoulder visibly tensing. 

‘Aw, shit that came out wrong’.

“You know what?” he snarled at you, “I told you about our lives, I told you how we didn’t have it easy. I told you we were forced into this shit, but you…,” he pointed angrily, “... you just dived in it like it’s no big deal, leaving your goddamn, normal life behind ”

“Actually that life found me, you found me ….”

“Yeah, and look what good that did “.

Sam was fidgeting uncomfortably, though he didn’t want to intervene because he would have taken your side, and besides, Dean was not in the let’s be rational mood, right now. 

“Everything I touc-”

“OH, SHUT UP!” you slammed your hands on the table, toppling your bottle, spilling beer on you and the floor. You didn’t flinch, eyes steady on him. Sam choked on his beer, startled at your outburst which was still echoing in the empty corridors. Dean stiffened, even more shocked, mouth hanging open.

“You…” began, lowering your voice, the anger still in it “... you want to know what I’d be if I hadn’t met you?” You lifted your head to look at him. You could feel your eyes, hot, and shit you really, really did not want to fucking cry in front of them.

“Dead” you paused, letting the weight of the word sink, “I would be dead.. in my car... that same night, like all the others.”

He opened his mouth but you made a gesture to zip it, “I wouldn’t have graduated, I wouldn’t have made my parents proud, I wouldn’t be useful, and wouldn’t be doing a job I love. You saved my life and I’m proud of what I’m doing with it.” 

You pushed the chair back with your leg and stepped away from the table, tearing your eyes from his. 

“So please… do not fucking spit your fucking judgment on it.”

Stuffing your backpack, angrily drying the few tears that had escaped you heard the door opens. 

“I don’t want to talk about it, Sam”

“What are you doing?” Dean’s low voice made your heart clench.

“What does it look like I'm doing?” You snapped and you winced at it, but fuck that.  You resumed packing, “I don’t want to stay where people seem to second guess and judge my decisions, don’t need that shit.” 

His hand stopped your arm and you drew a deep breath, his touch already soothing part of the storm you had inside.

“I’m sorry,” he simply said, and it was already enough. Hell, you forgave him the exact moment he followed you in the room.

“I-It’s okay,” you said relaxing.

“I don’t know your life and I shouldn’t have, you know…I’m just worried about what you’ve been doing without m-us, without us.” 

You let out a breathy chuckle and sat on the bed, looking up at him, patting the space beside you, “then let me tell you…”

He sat down and looked at you, eyes softening. 

“Hello Y/N “

You jumped startled and squealed when you saw the angel. 

“Cass!" You quickly engulfed him in a hug, which he returned awkwardly, though he was getting better at it.

“How was the journey? “

“Neverending,” you said stepping back.

“I could have brought you here directly “

“Yeah, yeah, I know,  but I wanted to surprise the boys”

“Cass…” Dean’s grave voice brought you back and you shot an apologetic look at the angel, mouthing ‘sorry’. “You knew what she was doing and you didn’t say anything.” 

The angel eyed Dean nervously “I gave her my wor-“

“We’ll deal with that later” Dean interrupted, “where’s the other kid?” you gave him an offended look.

“War room with Sam”

“Oh, do I get to meet Jack, finally?” you asked, suddenly giddy.

Following Dean and Cass to the main room again, you saw this scrawny figure from behind. 

“Jack…” Sam cautiously began, looking at you,“... um-this is Y/N…remember? We’ve talked about her“

He turned around.

What? That’s the antichrist?.

“What the hell?... how old are you?”

He tilted his head at you and you snorted by how similar he looked to Castiel, “I’m…a year, 7 months and 4 days ..old .“

“Oh, my God!” you shut your mouth, extending a hand to him. 

“Hello, I’m Y/N” you smiled. He looked at your hand and then at Dean and back at you. Starting to feel awkward having your hand hovering mid-air, you started to lower it, but Jack finally grabbed your hand and squeezed back, giving you a beaming smile.

“I’m Jack”

“Nice to meet you, Jack”

“You are ...not afraid of me?” he asked tentatively, sounding more like a statement than a question.

“Do I have reasons to?” 

He smiled, blushing, lowering his eyes, ‘oh no, he’s cute’

“Ok, now that we are all here… ” Dean clamped his hand on your shoulder, startling you, “... Y/N, care to tell us what you’ve been up to?” 

“And that’s how I found out the two families who were still active. I went to the one that was closer to me and knocked at their door. A real-life Cluedo like butler opened. Mind you, I almost laughed in his face and flashed the Men of Letters sigil. Next thing I know I’m being led to the poolside. There was this gorgeous woman sunbathing as the rich people do, you know?” 

You looked at Castiel and Jack, “...Like…one piece bathing suit, pearl necklace, big floppy hat, huge sunglasses. I swear I looked around for cameras because, I mean, you must be shitting me, and she was probably drinking vodka at 10 am but, hey I don’t judge. Anyway, I tell her who am I and all that jazz; she introduced me to her daughters. I ended up in some kind of  Amazon utopia and I was all for that. I talked about you. Well, not about you-you, but American hunters. They seemed awfully interested in ‘your kind’ which does sound a bit racist, I guess”

“Hear that, Sammy? Women of Letters' den just for you” 

Sam gestured for you to continue as he rolled his eyes, clearing his throat.

“Short story short they took me in, taught me everything I needed to know and introduced me to the HQ. They hired me to do what I do and that’s all. I completed the initiation and they gave me my key.” you said slipping out your bunker key from your pocket and stroking it affectionately.

“AH!” you slapped the back of your hand on Dean’s chest,

“…that, I didn’t miss,” he said blinking down at his chest.

“-I brought gifts for everyone!” you ran up the stairs and out the bunker to retrieve the little, silver trolley.

When you went back in, you stopped at the top of the stairs, taking your time observing the room below. You had missed them; you had missed them all so much. How could you have missed someone you’ve known for less than a week? They represented your new life, a life no one knew about. Your parents thought you were abroad to join a research team and so did all your friends.

Then, there was Dean. That really wasn’t the reunion you had in mind but you also didn’t know where you two were standing now.

“Hey, you need a hand there?” his voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Coming, coming”

With a pleased smile and a loud groan, you put down the trolley on the table. That thing was heavy.

“Jack, you first, since it’s my first time meeting you.” 

The boy lit up like a Christmas tree. “I don’t really know you but they told me you like these very much”. You threw him a bag full of different kinds of nougat. “It artisan, really expensive, really traditional, really good.”

He looked like he was about to cry. You stared as he stood up and came over to you.  He seemed scared to touch you so you opened your arms, giving him permission. He smiled and hugged you, and then he drew his head back and kissed you quickly and what the fuck.

You let out a whimper and froze, not knowing what to do.

“Jack! The hell you think you’re doing?” Jack let you go and looked at Dean in confusion.

“I’m just doing what you do with girls. They seem very happy when you do that. I wanted the same for Y/N”

Dean spluttered, Sam laughed and Cass just rolled his eyes.

You touched your lips blushing, “T- that’s a nice thought Jack and I appreciate the sentiment, but you usually want to do these things with something special, ya know?”

“No, I don’t. Are you mad?” 

The puppy eyes, he did the puppy eyes. Not the puppy eyes!

You ruffled his hair, Dean’s eye visibly twitching.

“Of course I’m not mad. Just…just ...guys a little help here?”

“Why don’t you give us the rest?” Sam took mercy on you. 

“S-sure ...here, Cass I – I hope this is the right color” you tossed a bunch of ties, silk cobalt ties, like his eyes.

“Thank you Y/N, you remembered.” he smiled warmly rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

One of the times Cass had visited you, was because you were choosing a tie and very intensely trying to find one to match the color of his eyes. It must have felt like you were calling to him. You had then spent hours trying to find the perfect match and you recalled that he seemed to particularly like the feeling of the cool silk.

“And now, Sam!”

He straightened, hearing his name. “Man, these were the heaviest things I brought back. I had to give up a couple of pairs of shoes for them, you better appreciate.” One after another you piled up four big old, dusty books. “This is part of the lore of my branch; I hope they’ll be useful, maybe. They also look pretty so...”

Sam stood up quickly and snatched one of the books from your grasp, gave you a quick hug and dived right in.

“Nerd!” Dean whispered. 

“Dean!” you called.

His head snapped up to you as you searched through the luggage, “Don’t think you got what I want in there," he said like the little shit he was, but you could see how his eyes tried to look inside the suitcase.

“Oh, really? Guess I’ll keep this for myself if I get homesick” 

You picked up packages of ground coffee, “... and this too!” you said lifting up a Moka by the handle, swaying it.

“Oh, hell yeah!” 

You spent the rest of the evening filling them with a description of the way the Men of Letters worked back in your country and listened to what they had been doing since the last time you had spoken.

“Guys, I think I’m gonna hit the hay” Sam announced getting up, a book under his arm, patting Dean’s knee “Y/N feel free to crash here for how long you want”

“Oh, but I don’t want to –”

“You heard Sammy. Besides, you are a Woman of Letters now. This is your home too,” Dean added, watching you while taking a sip of his beer.

#Epiphany 1 #epiphany #finally edited #reader insert #reader fanfiction #reader x character #reader x dean #dean winchester #dean x reader #dean x you #dean x y/n #dean winchester fanfiction

[unholyhelbiglinked]

Artifice | Chapter Five

CHECK OUT THE STORY FROM THE START HERE

[A/N: Guys, disclaimer, I know nothing about fencing, I did my best] 

Fencing was something Beca never allowed herself to think about. She didn’t have a desire to tap into a hidden skill that was driven into her mind like an ice pick. All things said and done, that was near impossible when the woman willing you into her yard was Chloe Beale. Those bright blue eyes and cutting stone jaw was enough to lull the young artist into a mess of putty on the floor. Moldable and controllable to anything that was thrown at her.

Just like the techniques she used when she held a brush between her forefingers, fencing was something she learned sparingly in Spain.

Because, even though she hated to admit it to a certain degree, Chloe was right. Fencing was like painting. It was a technique used to learn control and discipline. You needed to know where the tip of your weapon was going to go. Each move calculated and reckless, the damage being done the second you swiped up or down with a metal edged sword.

Though, living on the sea for the past two years had softened Beca to something more. When Pirates are mentioned it’s all about the swords. All about the cannons that shoot softly and blow gaping holes into the side of awaiting ships. Hell, it was even about the treasure that you could find buried under a red “X”. At least, those were the myths.

Now, Pirates had guns. They had guns and maybe the occasional pocket knife used for gutting fish or working away at a rope that couldn’t’ just be cut with expertly placed scissors. It made Beca stronger and weaker all at once, her sword skills staying so far behind her that she regretted putting on the guards that usually came along with fencing.  

Beca Mitchell was uncomfortable. She stood awkwardly in the yard, sweat already beginning to soak through her inner layer of clothes. Everything was too white; the jacket that stuck too close to her throat, the contrast in the gloves that covered her grip (Something the girl found quite important), the chest protector that was plastic and cutting into her circulation. This was all Chloe’s element. Not hers.

She swore that if that stupid mesh mask wasn’t covering the woman’s god-like features than a big taunting smirk would be visible. Art was Beca’s expertise, but sword handling was her vice. Something she hoped was like riding a bike. Fencing too stuffy and uncontrollable for her. At least that’s how she felt about the French.

“It’s simple, really.” Chloe rolled her shoulders back, Beca struggling to hear her over the sound of her own labored breathing. “You don’t have to look so frightened.”

“How can you tell I’m frightened if you can’t see a damn thing through this mask?” Beca griped, not happy at her wire view of the world. It made her feel like she was in a large terracotta cast, the Sabre heavy and weighted in her hands.

“Body language, my dear.” Chloe stated matter of factly. “Relax.”

Maybe she was right. It would have been easier to focus on the actual sport of it all if she could cast away the thought of Stacie and Aubrey staring through the patio windows. Of course, she and Stacie had done the same thing when the blonde was out here instead- but they were skilled, and Beca had the sinking feeling that Aubrey kept her nose pointed up just waiting to see her fall on her ass.

“We stay above the waistline,” Chloe instructed, standing a few feet from Beca. “Once I say go, I’m afraid we can’t be friends anymore Miss Mitchell.”

“Oh, is that so?” Beca tightened her grip on her blade. “What a shame, I wasn’t aware we had moved to the friendship level of our interactions.”

That’s exactly what they were at this point, interactions sprinkled with an odd sexual tension. There was, of course, that one moment out by the swamp. The one that kept drawing Beca back. If it were anyone else she would have forgotten the commission and the money, and of course the housing. None of it was important. But Chloe was.

She had her feet splayed at two angles, a fighting position that Beca knew would spring her forward with expert craft. She held most of her weight in her back foot, the girl lulling her shoulders as she lifted her weapon- the tip staring at Beca like it had its own iris that was silver and cold.

“En Garde.” Chloe barked out roughly, having enough of the teasing today.

Beca drew in a careful breath as she stilled her own stance. Raising her blade so it was a mere centimeter away from Chloe’s, if her hand shook, they would have clanked together loudly like wind chimes during a summers day. A swampy day like this one.

“Allez.”

Beca knew that Chloe would advance first, this was her element. Her left foot would spring forward, the tiny brunette moving her right one back as she avoided the pointed tip like the plague. It was almost like dancing, the girl swinging her blade under Chloe’s, metal making a loud noise as it scraped against one another. She moved her arm expertly, pushing Chloe’s blade down to the soft soil. Chloe stalled a bit in her movements- knowing Beca had a bit of experience- but this was meant to be an easy match.

Chloe raised her sabre once more, swiping it down, only to be blocked once more by her opponent, an annoyed growl emerging from the woman’s throat.

“I thought you didn’t’ know what you were doing?” Chloe said, voice breathy.

“Oh, I don’t,” Beca spoke. “Maybe you’re just that bad.”

The taller woman let out a dark breath as she lunged forward once more, this time with more contention. Beca wasn’t fast enough to block the attempt, but she pulled her left shoulder back, all the same, the redhead not grazing her skin in the slightest.

“La verdadera Desterza” Beca said, pressing the shaft of her sabre against Chloe’s once more, sliding it fast enough to create sparks if the metal was heated enough. “You were taught with Linear footwork?”

Chloe stilled her movements for a moment, a quick and quiet second. “Of course, were you not?”

“Mm,” Beca hummed softly “Moving directly towards your adversary is dangerous and Reckless. You must move for an angle of attack, Chloe. It’s favorable if you ever intend to win.”

“Oh, I have full intent.”

“Good,” Beca lifted her chin “Than I suggest you focus on the degree and strength of your blade instead of the target you wish to strike.”

That was basic sword fighting knowledge. Something told Beca that the girl in front of her had studied under Lecole Francaise d’escrime. It was the historical way of fencing, something that was driven by tradition. It reminded Beca of stories from the American Revolution, the British ultimately falling to its demise after forming straight lines to walk into gunfire. It was fruitless, Beca could almost predict Chloe’s every move.

“Fencing seems like a far cry from sword fighting.” Beca took a small step to her side, beginning to circle the girl like prey. “And you’re pretty well versed in fencing, aren’t you Chlo?”

Beca had to admit, she wasn’t too confident in her own skills. Sure, she had blocked a few shots, but it was all about the confidence. She had plenty of that, and by the way Chloe whipped around, blue eyes undoubtedly following her every move, Beca knew she had the girl.

The sound of steel against steel was quickly heard as Chloe swung her blade under Beca’s feet, the girl lifting a brow as she quickly jumped into the air, letting her boots hit the soft soil with a dull thud, Chloe’s chest heaving up and down as she let out another lycanthrope growl. It almost sounded inhuman, the competitive nature of the woman showing through her mask.

“Ah, we said above the waist, remember?” Beca stated clearly “Those are the rules.”

“Screw the rules.” Chloe huffed.

In a way, Beca was trying to get a rise out of Chloe. She had seen many aspects of the girl at this point. The calm and collected version that kept her poised stature about her. The playful side that reminded the young artist of the color yellow (Reckless, but joyful). Hell, she had even seen pink, a vulnerability in a soft mess of color. But now Beca wanted to draw out red. A fire filled anger that came with beating an heiress at her own twisted game.

“I thought you loved to play by them?” Beca kept her Sabre raised, anticipating anything.

Instead of answering Chloe sprung forward, Beca nearly missing her cheap shot by a few seconds, adjusting her touch on the grip as she and Chloe began to fall into a strange pattern. The taller woman would step forward with haste, Beca falling behind in her step almost like a maliced tango. It was fast paced and fueled by annoyance; a thick brine of sweat had collected under Beca’s clothing, her arm guard pinching at tender skin as she worked with confidence.

She drew in a sharp breath as the back of her heel hit the base of the oak tree, she had nowhere to back into- nowhere but down. In a sharp twist of fate, Chloe had her pushed into a corner, swiping the tip of the sabre towards her inner shoulder. Beca let out a yelp as she ducked down quickly, the metal edge creating a long and unforgiving gash in the tree’s bark.

The girl quickly sprung back up, not finding her baring for a few seconds as Chloe skillfully got the right angle on Beca’s touch, knocking the only weapon the woman had to the perfectly groomed grass, Beca’s chest burning with activity as she stretched her fingers for a few seconds before flashing her stare back up to Chloe. She could make a dive across the yard and get her weapon back. But something told her that with the fire in Chloe’s disposition, she would never make it.

The redhead panted slightly, her own weapon straight in front of her as she tilted her head to the side, even with the mask, Beca could imagine the look on her face; determined, tired, maybe even a little lustful. Not for her, at least she didn’t think so, but for the sport. For that very control that she wished she possessed.

Despite her eagerness, Chloe took one simple step forward, Beca holding her hands up in surrender as she stared the girl down. She was slow with her movement, extending her arm until the metal tip of the sabre pressed lightly into Beca’s shoulder, barely noticeable against the guards and quilt-like uniforms.

“Point,” Chloe said in a husky voice, finally dropping her hand to the side, her shoulder more or less a sore jumble of nerves at this stage.

Beca nodded softly, almost accepting her defeat as she placed her gloved fingers under the edge of her mask, pulling it over her head. Even though the air was soupy and thick, there was a slight breeze. One that quickly cooled the girl's cheeks as she brushed her hair from her forehead. Watching carefully as Chloe pulled her own mask from her face.

“You don’t play fair, Mitchell.” She grumbled, tucking the sabre under her arm as she raised her wrist to her teeth, tearing away at the Velcro that secured her gloves. It was reckless and almost seductive in the messy kind of way.

“Yeah, well.” Beca panted, pulling her own glove off without unlacing it. The air felt cool against her fingers as she stretched them out. “I had to get a read on you.”

“A read on me?” Chloe cocked a perfect brow. “Is this another art thing?”

“Maybe.” Beca shrugged her shoulders, instantly regretting it as a sharp ache pressed against her spine. She flinched, lungs pulling in a quick breath. Averting her gaze as Chloe cocked her head to the side.

“I’m guessing some ice would be in order?” Chloe ignored the eye roll that she received in response. Beca was never one to admit her pain, or revel in it. She almost cursed her features for betraying her as they scrunched up in pain. “I think one half of our audience could help you out with that.”

“I don’t see how you do this all the time.” She finally admitted, bringing her ungloved hand back up to her adjacent shoulder, digging her fingers into her sore muscles.

“Like I said, Beca” Chloe smirked, “It takes patience and precision.”

#Beca Mitchell #Chloe Beale #Bechloe #Fanfiction #request #bechloe fic rec

[the-mf-bread-babies]

29/5/20

– REBUILD III –

= RUNAWAY RENEGADES =

· COLLECTION I ·

“backstories”

– VOLUME ONE–

“Dennis, Aaron, Damon, Sawblade”

· PART TWO ·

———————————————————

“Hm? Yeah. Look at Twitter, dude, it's trending,” Damon replied casually as the two quickly pulled out their phones. “What? It's not– oh, it changed,” Aaron stated, “It was normal, then it refreshed, and now I have over twenty notifications and DMs. Sorry, Denny,” Dennis narrowed his eyes at his husband. “I literally gave you that raccoon video last night. I know you didn't look at it,” he pointed out, petty. “How was I supposed to kn–” he argued, before Damon cut it off.

“So are you guys having the apocalypse Twitter now or what?” he asked, interrupted their quarrel. “Oh, I never update mine so I can still have the square icons and stuff,” “I'm just getting normal stuff right now; cat videos, ads, recipe videos, the occasional out of context fandom drama and discourse. The usual,” Dennis confessed. “Like, ever? Never updated it? You don't have lights out mode?” Damon asked, trying to understand this man's level of dedication for square icons. “Yup. Minecraft's square, which is nice,” he replied, smiling honestly. “Okay…” Damon processed.

“Oh, like, she really stabbed him. Like, with a knife. Like, to death,” Aaron said, bringing them back to the current conversation about apocalypse Twitter. “Hm? Oh, yeah, that. The dude, like, died, and stuff; F,” Damon said respectfully. “Chrissy Teigen bought rights to a nuke…” Aaron added. “And Hatsune Miku is leading a protest. Good for her,” He scrolled through his timeline. Dennis made a sad face. “Why's my feed so boring…” “I'm getting hockey spoilers. HOCKEY,”

“Maybe if you had circle icons…” Damon suggested quietly. “SQUARE ICONS ARE GOOD, DUDE, AND I–” Dennis's passionate and tenacious yelling was suddenly interrupted by an inhuman growl. “Oh, stupid cannibal rats. This isn't New York, goddamn it,” Aaron grumbled as he grabbed a broom and walked angrily towards the noise. “This is why stray cats are important, you dumbass mayor,” “Just friggin’, spay and neuter ‘em if you hate them so much, clip their ears and shit…”

“So, about Borderlands. Which one’re you playing?” Dennis said as they both waited for Aaron to investigate. “TWO!! I'M PLAYING BORDERLANDS 2, ON MY THIRD ULTIMATE VAULT HUNTER MODE PLAYTHROUGH, AND ALSO THE PRE-SEQUEL, AND I'M PLANNING TO BUY BORDERLANDS 3 WHEN THERE'S A GOOD SALE LATER!!!! I LOVE BORDERLANDS!!!” Damon explained excitedly.

“I wanted to buy the legendary collection on my Switch, but I… panicked and bought Animal Crossing instead. I have Raymond on my island, by the way,” Dennis said sadly. “I built a cage around his house the other day,” Damon stared sadly at this man, understanding his complicated dilemma. “That's very nice,” he said, “how does your island look like?” Damon leaned against the wall, holding Sawblade, who was now sleeping. “Bad,” the man replied, looking down in shame.

Aaron, on the other hand, was whacking the living hell out of the ground, determined to find the creature. “Wait, I probably shouldn't scare it off or something,” He realized, calmly holding the broom. “C'mere, lil guy,” he repeated as he whistled. Another odd growl echoed in the alleyway, sounding much closer than the previous one. “Hm,” Aaron thought as he stopped walking for a bit, unsure whether to call the two over or to keep going alone. “DENNIS! DAMON!” he yelled, extremely scared of whatever monster was luring him over. “Yeah, I have Graham, he's just ok–” Dennis conversed. “Aaron?! Did you find it?” He shouted.

* CHAPTER TWO *

The Mystery

“COME OVER HERE!!” Aaron yelled back. “What about Sawblade?” Damon worriedly asked. “SAW– Uh, just– just put her in the back, there's some food, water, litter boxes, toys, treats, ghosts, cable,” Dennis listed down as he carefully took her from the boy and carried her to the back room. “Well, basically, it's for cats,” He said as he closed the door. “Alright, let's go,”

As Aaron was waiting patiently for the two to follow, he took out his phone and browsed through a shopping app. Unsurprisingly, this had also changed. The feed was filled with knives, jackets, concrete powder, more knives, advertisements for people looking for commissions, and… snacks. “Oh, apocalypse stuff, huh?” he mumbled as he eyed the “Food” tab, tapping it, eager to know what apocalypse snacks are like. Hopefully not like, chips made out of gasoline or something.

Wow.

WOW .

“Tubby custard, Cookie Monster cookies, Why Does Anime Food Look So Tasty, Hottie's Microwaved Chicken, Salad Fingers’ Salad Fingers, ACTUAL rice fried by chickens, Lembas bread, and–”

“Zeruel meat, $20”

Aaron hastily pressed the “Add to Cart” button, uncaring if it's a scam or not. He continued browsing all the snacks sold in this new world, forgetting what he was doing before until Dennis and Damon came running into the alley. “YOU OKAY?!” Dennis yelled, the surprise of it giving his husband a flinch. “Yeah, honey, do you want to drink the blue milk from Star Wars?” Aaron said calmly. “Is Aunt Beru there?” Dennis asked, casually placing his head on his husband's shoulder to look at the phone screen, his arms wrapped around his neck, but like, in a loving and non-strangling way, you know how, placing a kiss onto his cheek.

“Hey guys, I have bread at my house. It expires tomorrow, so I'd recommend eating it if you want :)” Damon suggested. However, his voice was too quiet for them to hear it and they continued doing gross couple stuff like holding hands and premarital eye contact. Ew. “Now about that cannibal rat…” Dennis retracted his arms from around Aaron's neck, his hand still lightly wrapped around the other’s shoulder. He placed himself in front of the shorter man, close enough for Aaron to smell his stinky-ass breath that reeked of ranch dressing. Dennis smiled softly, waiting for an answer. “cannibal what now” Damon asked to himself.

“That can wait,” Aaron replied, his arms slowly wrapping around Dennis. “I dunno, guys, what if you're kissing and stuff, and then we all die or something,” Damon interrupted the couple's flirting. “When the hell did you– Uh, yeah, okay, let's, um, take care of that first,” Aaron said, only now noticing the boy's presence. “Hell yeah! Let's kill some rats!” Dennis yelled exuberantly. “Capture, Denny, don't kill anything,” Aaron corrected. “That's literally the first thing I taught you about the pet shop thing, honey,” Dennis looked down in shame and disappointment.

The trio went further into the alleyway, staying close to each other in case anything happened. “Wouldn't it be funny as hell if, like, it turned out to be a fridge or something?” Damon asked. “And the fridge was full of killer snails,” Dennis added sarcastically. “Killer snails are scary, you guys don't understand,” Aaron said angrily, “Just imagine sitting at the beach and some bitch-ass cone snail runs straight at you and you die right there on the spot. That's scary as hell,” he explained. “Run. A snail. That would take five months,” Dennis questioned his co-worker, “Babe, for a vet, you have really weird and specific and unrealistic fears,”

“It's because–” Aaron argued back, his sentence cut off with another growl, this time coming from the wall on his left. “A fridge, guys, a fridge,” Damon assured. “Nah, it's a zombie bear,” Dennis said, smirking. Aaron looked around for a door, or a window, so he could investigate. “Aliens, guys, aliens,” he mumbled, finding a foggy window. “Aha!” Aaron yelled as he turned on the flashlight on his phone. “So, Damon says it's a fridge, Denny says it's killer snails and zombie bears, and I said it's an alien, right?” Aaron said smugly, knowing his vague theory is way more likely than their guesses.

He directed the light through the window, its light revealing the inside of the building. It was dusty and empty, probably built as a store room. Or a weird cult place. “Well, that's that,” Dennis said, disappointed in the truth. “Cobwebs, huh? We're all wrong, then,” Damon said sadly. “ALIEN cobwebs!! I'm right, suckers!” Aaron yelled enthusiastically.

“You sure about that? Could be normal ones. Only way to find out is to go in… ;)” Dennis said, taunting the others. “Really? We wanna know that? They're clearly aliens. Not fridges…” Damon asked, looking down. “Suuuure, man. But y’know, it could be zombie bear fridges in those cobwebs… We could be right, and Aaron's wrong…” Dennis suggested. “So, honey, if you wanna make sure you're right…” Aaron scrunched up his face in offence. “I am. Do zombie bear fridges not sound alien to you.”

“Yeah, but… Florida probably has that, yeah?” Dennis said, angering Aaron more. “You think I'm gonna rush in there to prove that I'm right? You think I'm that dumb. Den, babe, I won't go in there,” Aaron asserted. While the two was arguing, Damon, bored, just walked around them in circles. As he was dragging his feet blindly, he accidentally stepped on something hidden under dried leaves, sinking it down. “SECRET DOOR!” he yelled out excitedly.

Damon kicked apart the leaves from each other, uncovering the part of the ground. “Who the hell puts a button here?” he questioned. “Oh, what the–” the ground shook, a piece of it falling down, revealing a staircase. It was carved from stone and it looked straight out of a history book. “Uh… should we go back, or?” Dennis said, weirded out by it. “Homestuck says we shouldn't trust stairs, so,” he added. “Karkalicious, definition: Makes Terezi loco,” Damon sung. “She wants to taste something something photo, dyin’ just to know the flavour, I ain't doin’ HER NO FAVOURS, no reason just season fresh and comes and goes like seizures, I'm Karkalicious,” he mumbled. “What the fuck?” Aaron whispered.

The three stood in front of the staircase, unsure what to do. Aaron was gripping a broom, while Dennis and Damon considered making a quick pit stop at the pet shop.

* CHAPTER THREE *

The Pit Stop at the Pet Shop

Dennis had made the decision to go back to get some tools to help them, and Aaron and Damon waited in the alley.

“So, you wanna look at the stuff they're selling here?” Aaron asked, passing the time. “Sure, why not?” Damon agreed as he peeked at his new friend's phone. “Alright, what're we gonna browse? There's video games, food, clothes, weapons…” “VIDEO GAMES!!” he shouted happily. “Okay…” Aaron said as he clicked a tab.

“Doom Crossing: Eternal Horizon Solid III Dawn”

“Borderlands: The Pre-Threequel – Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Apology Video ft. Tiny Tina: The DLC”

“Overwatch 2: Please Buy This Game – $3 Super Duper Legendary Deluxe Origins Edition”

“Gun Shooting War Tanks Rockets Missiles VR Simulator 46”

“Low-Poly Art Game with Hidden Metaphors”

“Gritty Old White Men Who Are Detailed And Angry 3: This Time There's More Pores”

“Not-Subtle-At-All Metaphor for Society and Politics, As Told By A Cishet White Man, Ultra 4K HD”

“Racing But Very High Quality and Immersive and Also Like $80”

“Ah. This is basically the same.” Damon stated sadly. “Wait, what about this?” Aaron pointed to a familiar video game. “Angry Birds Seasons,” it read. They both began to cry out of nostalgia. “Maybe this world isn't so bad after all…” Damon said gratefully as Aaron downloaded the game.

Meanwhile, Dennis struggled to carry an assembled cat cage, a carrier, a bottle of water, a ball, dog toys, flea shampoo, gloves, cat and dog treats, cat and dog food, and a partridge in a pear tree at the same time. Somehow, he did, and he wobbled over to his husband and the kid, his vision completely blinded by everything he carried. “Man… Aaron's gonna be so… impressed when he sees this. I'm so friggin’… strong…” He whispered to himself as he panted.

“Holy shit, it's Angry Birds, dude,” Damon said happily. “Rock, paper, scissors, whoever wins plays,” Aaron suggested. “Nah, you go first. I'm not really sure if this is the Angry Birds Seasons normally in our world or if it's some weird clone of it.” Damon said, scratching his head. “Wonder what's Sawblade doing,”

As the sound of dry food rattling and a cat cage being dragged across the street grew louder, Aaron excitedly went to help his husband, who immediately fell on his back in tiredness at the sight of him. “Carry,” Dennis panted, closing his eyes and probably about to take a nap. “Why'd you bring toys and treats?” Aaron asked honestly. “Just in case the little guy's angry,” Dennis explained badly. “It could be a zombie or whatever, you know… I'm pretty sure that growl didn't come from an ‘angry little guy,’ dude,” Damon argued.

“Well, okay. Who's going down first?” Aaron asked, making a face that was a combination of scared and taunting. “Uh, I'm like, a minor, and could die, so it's kind of illegal if I go first. Like, I'm all endangered and stuff. Yeah,” Damon stated. “I have scoliosis,” Dennis blurted out, giving Aaron puppy dog eyes. “I could trip and fall and die,” he added, nodding slowly while still maintaining eye contact. “I ate a doughnut for breakfast today, so I'm pretty full; if I go first, I'll just slow you guys down,” Aaron said. “Wolves do that. The slowest and oldest ones go in front so they don't get left behind,” Dennis replied with a smile. “Uh, my leg hurts a lot, I can't go downstairs,” Aaron added. “How about you roll down? It's a much more fun solution :)” Damon replied back, really not wanting to be the first one.

“Fine, we'll do rock paper scissors, then,” Dennis suggested impatiently. “There's three of us, it'll probably take a long time,” Aaron said, tilting his head and looking away from his husband's demanding glare. “Oh, lat tali lat,” Damon said casually, confusing the two. “Huh?” “Shooooot. Um, well basically, where I'm from, there's this game where it's like rock paper scissors, but it's for more than two people,” Damon explained in a very complicated manner, clearly wanting the situation to drag on longer.

After explaining how the game works, the trio finally came to a conclusion on the sequence they enter in– first, Dennis, then Damon, and Aaron behind them. “Oh. So who's carrying the luggage?” Dennis asked to Damon and Aaron. “Do we really need to bring that big ass cage?” Aaron asked. “Like, how the hell are we supposed to bring it down there? Just kick it downstairs and run?” Dennis thought for a bit. “Um, yeah.” “Oh, good idea, you can check for traps and stuff,” Damon agreed.

“A: What about the food? What if this alien–”

“D: No one said it was an alien except for you.”

“A: Fine, this zombie bear–”

“d: – Killer snails in fridges,”

“A: THIS THING, THIS ALIEN THING,”

“D: Ok”

“A: You think it eats kibbles? Little seafood delight kibbles?”

“D: Uh…”

“A: Maybe some of those chicken flavored ones?”

“D: I guess…”

“A: Huh?”

“d: Yeah, why'd you bring dry food?”

“D: Because if I brought wet food, I'd have to bring a plate and stuff.”

“A: Or, you know, just serve it in the can it was in,”

“D: What if it hates the texture or whatever?”

“Aliens probably like crunchy food better.”

“I like crunchy food better than… like, mashed-up meat drenched in some weird liquid. Aliens are like that too.”

“d: Good point, dude,”

“A: Hm. Yeah, can't disagree with that, man.”

“D: See? This is because I was kin with Megamind back in middle school,”

“A: That– okay.”

“D: Yeah. Take that, bitch.”

“Hell yeah.”

“d: So Megamind likes catnip too? We're bringing catnip downstairs?”

“D: That's to make him all chill and stuff.”

“A: Chew toys? Bouncy balls?”

“D: That's if there's guard dogs.”

“d: Oh, and the crab treats are for Jessica, only child, Illinois, Chicago?”

“D: Yeah…”

“A: You really brought everything from the shop, huh?”

“D: Yup! Except cat beds, leashes, collars, custom collars, microchip trackers, heat lamps, cat litter, litter boxes…”

“A: Okay, well just enough for this, then,”

“D: Yeah!”

“d: What if they're lizards, and they're too cold?”

“D: … Shiiiit.”

“A: Aliens aren't– Oh damn, you're right,”

“d: Well, let's just hope I'm not,”

“I don't want them to shit everywhere or whatever, man.”

“D: What.”

“d: This one time in kindergarten, my teacher brought in her iguana and it was shitting all over my desk. My poor, poor, desk.”

“A: Um? How?”

“d: I dunno. Just did. Like, splat, bitch, fuck you,”

“Wait, oops, sorry,”

“D: That's very sad.”

“d: Yeah. Thanks,”

“…”

“d: So are we going in or what?”

“D: No”

“A: dennis.”

“D: do i still have to be first”

“d: DUH”

“D: FIIIIINE OKKKAAAAAY”

“D: this is like that one anime with the big guys”

“the one thats pretty racist”

The three finally went downstairs in the order they agreed upon, and their discovery will be told…

In the next part.

—

still reading this? loser

—

??????? go do smth else

—

...

—

helloooo get outtttt

—

hey? you're reading this?

hisoillu is fucking canon

and Fuck parigings. if future me is reading this i really hope ur not pouring your heart out for the rat and the pig men. Really , Dude , Really .

nah jk if they g/y , they ok

unless its weird.

n e ways next part coming soon ,

uhhhh written by rocco wulfram cyaaaa

[reid-like-roses]

All I Need - Chapter 3

Read on FF.net

Summary: After the Mountain Glenn plot failed, Roman was imprisoned while Neo escaped. Enraged by Roman’s failure of her plan, Cinder punishes Neo by torturing her, banishing her from her faction and occupying Neo’s hideouts. Now homeless and without a weapon, Neo winds up far from Vale and is trapped in a blizzard. But then she’s saved by the most unlikely of heroes. Post Volume 2 AU

Content Rating: T

Word Count: 5,218

Author’s Note: Post Volume 2 AU where basically none of Volume 3 or beyond happened. Neo is mute in this story and any dialogue from her is implied or inner monologue and will be written in italics.

TRIGGER WARNING!!! Implied torture and implied rape/non-con contained in chapter. If you do not wish to read these events, turn back now.

RWBY and all the characters within are the intellectual property of Rooster Teeth Productions, Miles Luna, Kerry Shawcross, Gray Haddock and the late Monty Oum. I am not being compensated in any way for this story and wrote it merely for entertainment purposes.

“You can come out now, sis,” Yang told Ruby as she rolled her eyes at her sister’s behavior. Ruby opened the door fully and tried to exit the closet but she tripped over a bucket and crashed down to the floor with a shrill yell. An avalanche of cleaning supplies, Christmas decorations and old videotapes fell on top of the young reaper. As Ruby struggled to extricate herself from the mess, Yang sighed and shook her head.

“Honestly, I don’t know why you’re so freaked out, Ruby. You really need to chill out,” scolded Yang as she held out a hand to help Ruby up.

“Gee, I dunno, Yang,” snapped Ruby. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the last time we saw her, she was kicking your ass so hard that I’m surprised it’s not still bruised.”

“Language, young lady” Taiyang said as he came downstairs to investigate the loud crash. Ruby muttered something under her breath as she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled a jar down from on top of it labeled ‘Swear Jar.’ She then fished a lien out of her pocket and stuffed it in the jar before returning it to its place.

“Yeah, last time she wiped the floor with me,” muttered Yang bitterly, clearly not fond of the memory Ruby just brought up. “But this isn’t last time. I mean just look at her.”

“Regardless of her current condition,” Taiyang said calmly, holding up both hands to try to appeal for peace between the two sisters, “we still need to have a talk about what’s going to happen with our new guest.”

“I already told you that I’m not going to let you kick her out, Dad.” Yang bristled.

“I know. And I agree with what you said. I let my emotions get the better of me and you’re right, it would be inhumane to kick her out with nowhere to go in weather like this. But we have to stay on our toes because we don’t know how long it’s going to be before her friends come looking for her.”

“I don’t think she’s a threat right now,” said Yang far more calmly than she had been a moment ago. “She had a bit of a breakdown and during it, she told me how she’s lost everything, including her house and all her friends. And I could tell it wasn’t just an act. She’s legitimately at the end of her rope right now.”

“And you believe her?” Ruby asked incredulously.

“Yes, Ruby, I do,” Yang shot back with a scowl.

“I know you want to believe her, Yang," sighed Taiyang wearily, "but the fact remains that she’s not somebody who deserves our trust.”

“I know she doesn’t deserve it but I dunno. I just have this gut feeling about her that she really needs somebody to help her. And I feel like I can do that for her. Maybe we can make her an ally?”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” muttered Ruby just loud enough to be heard by everyone.

“At some point soon,” Taiyang said sharply to counter Ruby’s interruption, “you need to talk to her and get as much information out of her as you can. We need to know why she’s here on Patch and what she was doing before you found her.”

“I’m not going to interrogate her, Dad,” Yang said in annoyance. “She’s not some prisoner. She’s done nothing wrong to us.”

“Does helping crash a train into downtown Vale and letting the city get overrun by Grimm not ring any bells?” Ruby asked sardonically.

“That’s enough, Ruby,” snapped Taiyang as he rounded on his younger daughter. “Upstairs to your room, now.”

“But Daddy!” Ruby protested.

“No buts. Yang and I are trying to have a serious talk about this matter and you’re not contributing anything positive. March upstairs until we’re done.” Ruby huffed in annoyance and stuck her tongue out at Yang who just rolled her eyes. Ruby then stomped loudly upstairs and slammed her door behind her. Taiyang grimaced and shook his head in disappointment. As mature and gifted as Ruby had been to be accepted into Beacon early, sometimes she could still be a teenage brat.

“Anyway,” said Yang to break the silence, “as I said, I’m not going to interrogate her. If you want answers from her so badly, call up Qrow or Ozpin.”

“I really don’t want it to have to come to that if it doesn’t have to,” Taiyang said heavily, worn out from all that had happened in the past day. “I’m hoping that she’ll be willing to talk simply because of what you did for her.”

“Even if she would be willing to talk to me, do you really think she’d give me a straight answer?”

“It’s tough to say. I guess it really depends on how much she wants to protect her allies. If what she told you already is true and she’s acting on her own, I see no reason why she’d lie.” As Yang was about to offer another retort, the smoke alarm suddenly started beeping. “Oh no, I forgot about our dinner!”

Taiyang dashed to the oven and threw open the door to find the roast he was cooking had been badly burned. Acrid smoke poured out and caused Taiyang to start coughing. Yang groaned and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the closet Ruby had been hiding in and quickly doused the flames.

“So, spaghetti then?” Yang asked as she waved her hand to try and clear the smoke from her face. Taiyang simply nodded as he pulled the burnt roast from the oven.

————————————————————————————————-

“Neo? Wake up Neo,” said a cool, menacing female voice. Neo did come to and the first thing she saw was the glinting amber eyes of Cinder Fall. Behind her were her lackeys, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. All three were wearing identical malicious smirks on their faces. Cinder reached up to lightly caress Neo’s face as she spoke again. “I don’t think you understand this game, Neo. If you die, then I can’t keep inflicting pain on you. And I’ve been having so much fun.”

Neo wanted to sign something nasty to her in reply but her hands and ankles were bound and she was unable to move. The cool air hitting her skin made Neo shiver and she realized she was naked. Neo looked down at her body and saw a large amount of scratches, cuts, bruises and dried blood all over her skin.

“I haven’t even gotten to have my turn with the little slut yet,” crooned Mercury, suggestively fiddling with his belt as he said it. “You two ladies have gotten all the fun so far.”

“Please let me know when you plan on doing that so I can be as far away as humanly possible,” growled Emerald. “The last thing I need to see is your disgusting ass in mid coitus.”

“Aw, but Emerald, I need your tips on how to properly fuck this bitch. You seemed to really enjoy making her scream earlier.”

“Quiet you two,” snapped Cinder, letting her fake pleasant façade slip for a second. “You’ll get your chance to get your rocks off Mercury. But there’s more pressing matters to attend to right now. Tell me Neo, have you ever read the works of Shan Yu?”

“Uh, she can’t tell you anything, boss,” interrupted Mercury in befuddlement. “She can’t talk, remember?”

“It’s an expression, you dense moron,” Emerald hissed as she elbowed Mercury in the abdomen hard enough to drive the wind out of him. “Shut up and let Cinder finish.”

“Thank you, Emerald,” said Cinder with a smile. She then walked over to a table nearby and picked up an instrument with lots of sharp, pointy ends on it. Cinder flipped a switch on it and it hummed to life with a threatening buzzing noise. She then sauntered over to Neo and pressed the tip of the device right against her belly button.

“Now, if you haven’t read his works Neo, he was a dictator many centuries ago who had some rather fascinating insights on war and humanity. One of my favorite things he wrote was, ‘Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano’s edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man.’ Now we’ve been associated for a little while, Neo, but you’ve always been hanging around with Roman while I was busy with my plans. And I don’t feel we ever really got the chance to get to know each other. But now that we have all this time to ourselves, I’m dying to meet the real you.”

As Cinder pressed a button that caused the device to stab into her, Neo’s eyes flew open as she woke up in terror. After a frantic few moments of looking around, she realized that she was back in the guest room of the house on Patch. Pain shot through her left leg and she winced as she started unraveling herself from her cocoon of blankets. When Neo finally got to her leg, she was horrified at how mangled it looked. She hadn’t had a chance yet to survey the damage she’d suffered from the beowolves and falling out of the tree.

Neo tried desperately to fight back tears as she heard a small yip come from the floor beside her. She glanced down to see Zwei looking up at her with as much concern as a dog’s face could manage. He ran to the bedroom door then back to where he was, looking between Neo and the door every couple seconds. Neo realized he was asking if he should get help and Neo nodded emphatically at him. Zwei ran back to the door and began scratching at it, barking as loudly as he could. A few moments later, Neo heard heavy footsteps running down the stairs and an instant later, a disheveled looking Yang burst into the room.

“What is it Zwei? What’s wrong?” Zwei ran back over to the bed and put his front paws up on the mattress to draw Yang’s attention to Neo. Yang saw her face screwed up in agony and she quickly moved to Neo’s bedside. “What happened? What do you need?”

“I had a bad dream and I woke up with my leg killing me. Do you have any pain meds?”

“Of course, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Yang dashed back out of the room as Neo laid back down on her pillows. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed the pain before but assumed that she must have just been so numb from the cold that she didn’t notice. A minute later, Yang was back with a handful of pills and a glass of water. Neo took both and quickly downed the pills.

“Thanks,” Neo signed as she set the glass down on the bedside table.

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything else? Should I hang out for a bit?”

“That would be nice.” Yang nodded and went back to the door to close it. She then sat down at the foot of the bed and scanned her eyes over Neo. Yang had been too preoccupied with getting her warm that she hadn’t noticed just how beaten up Neo was. Ugly scars and bruises, both fresh and still healing were all over the skin that Yang could see. Neo shivered as she realized just how cold she was and retreated back under the blankets. But it was still too cold for her.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” replied Yang with a self-satisfied smirk. Neo shot Yang a death glare that Blake would have been impressed by before she resumed signing.

“When I came to, I felt very warm and safe. And then I hit you, which means you must have been close by me. Were you cuddling with me?”

“I mean, if you want to look at it like that, sure.”

“Pervert,” Neo signed with a joking smirk on her face.

“Hey, it wasn’t like that at all, got it?” Yang shot back defensively. “Your body was ice cold and I needed to take every measure I could to keep you alive. So I held onto you all night and made sure you got warm.”

Neo paused for a moment as a deep blush crept over her face. “Would you be willing to do it again?”

“For real?” Yang asked, a blush of her own blooming on her face. “Uh, sure. I could do that again.” Yang pulled the blankets aside and stepped into the bed with Neo. After taking a moment to get herself comfortable, Yang apprehensively snaked her right arm under Neo’s neck and held it close against her. Neo stiffened up as she felt the warmth of Yang creep over her. She suddenly felt very small and helpless as she was wrapped up in the arms of the huntress.

“Are you okay? You’re very tense. Are you sure this is okay?” Neo realized she wasn’t in an optimal position to sign a reply so she pointed to the dry erase board on the bedside table. Yang grabbed it and handed it over to the mute woman.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just never been cuddled with before. At least not as far as I can remember.”

“Torchwick wasn’t much of a touchy-feely kinda guy, eh?”

Neo glared at Yang and quickly wrote back, “Not that it’s any of your business but no, he’s not. And Roman and I never had a relationship like that.”

“Okay, sorry. Didn’t mean tick you off.” The two fell silent again as Neo tried to get used to the feeling of being cuddled. Even though she was still scared to be touched so intimately, the thrill of how good it felt intoxicated her. She buried her head against Yang’s chest and heard her heart beating rapidly. Eventually, Neo reached her arm around Yang’s abdomen and hugged her closer to her.

“You feel really good.” Neo spelled out on Yang’s hip.

“Hey,” giggled Yang as she began to squirm, “watch it! That tickles!”

Neo reluctantly withdrew her arm so she could write and replied, “Sorry. I wish I had a better way to talk to you while keeping my arm around you.”

“It’s fine, you can go back to that. Also, you feel pretty nice too. You’re much warmer than the last time I did this.” Neo placed the board beside her on the bed and returned her arm to around Yang’s torso. They spent a few minutes snuggling, both getting drunk on the feeling of the other’s skin. Even though she was in utter bliss, Neo really had something to tell Yang so she once again picked up the dry erase board.

“I think I’m ready to talk to you now.”

“About your nightmare?” Yang questioned, a little sad that their great cuddle had come to an end.

“No. About me. About how I ended up like this.”

“Yeah?” Yang asked, trying to contain her excitement. “You sure you want to?”

“I’ve got nothing else to lose in my life. I might as well tell my story.”

“Okay, well what do you want to talk about first?”

“Whatever you want to know most about.”

“Well, there’s lots of things I want to know about you,” began Yang slowly, pondering the question. As she thought, her father’s request came back to her mind and she knew what she had to ask first. “But the first thing I should ask about is the one that I’ve been told I need to find out from you. Am I or anyone in my family in danger because you’re here?”

Neo started writing a lengthy response. Yang couldn’t help but be slightly nervous as to what would be waiting for her when Neo was finished. She really hoped that Neo wasn’t just being overdramatic earlier and really meant that she was by herself now. When Neo finished, she passed the board to Yang.

“Not as a direct result of me, no. After the train incident, I was severely punished for Roman’s failure and banished from the faction. I tried to lay low in one of our safehouses but I was captured again and dumped out of a plane. I think they meant for me to drown in the ocean but I ended up here instead. But the point is, anyone I was previously associated with is either imprisoned or considers me an enemy. And none of those individuals know my current whereabouts.”

Yang breathed a small sigh of relief that her family could stop worrying about being in danger from Neo. But Neo had mentioned something she couldn’t help wanting to hear more about. “You said you were punished. How bad was it?”

“It was bad. I’ll just leave it at that.” Neo wrote with a pained grimace on her face as the memories of how she was tortured came back to her. “Cinder probably should have just killed me but she chose to make me suffer instead.”

“Wait, Cinder? You mean that girl from Haven?” Yang asked in shock.

“Yeah, her. The whole thing was her plan. She, Emerald, Mercury and a bunch of pricks I didn’t get to meet are on some big crusade to punish the rest of the kingdoms or some shit like that for all of Mistral’s problems. I don’t know. I wasn’t ever really interested in their bullshit. I just did what I was asked to.”

“Wow. I can’t believe it was them all along. They fought alongside us in Vale. They helped clear out the Grimm. And it was them the whole time?” Neo nodded her head solemnly to confirm Yang’s question. An awkward silence fell between to two for a minute. Yang couldn’t believe what she had just been told. Was she going to have to go through the rest of her time as a huntress not knowing who to trust? Cinder and her friends had been so pleasant but they were the bad guys. Meanwhile, Neo had seemed like a complete monster but Yang was finding out she was nothing of the sort either.

“You still want to talk about me?” Neo wrote and stuck in front of Yang’s glazed over eyes.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” replied Yang, snapping out of her train of thought. “Sorry, that whole thing with Cinder just kind of threw me for a loop. Um, how about this? Were you born mute or did something happen to you that caused it?”

“No, I wasn’t born like this. I haven’t talked since I was a little girl. My parents’ house burned down and killed them but I somehow managed to survive. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to speak.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Where did you go then?”

“None of my other ‘family’ would take me in so I was sent to an orphanage to hopefully get adopted. That’s where I met Roman. His mom died giving birth to him and his dad didn’t want to raise a kid on his own so he just gave him away. He took pity on me and was my protector when we were there. I can’t even count how many times he was beaten for sticking up for me when the people who ran the orphanage or the other kids tried to give me trouble for not speaking.”

“So, did you ever get adopted?”

“No. It became clear to both of us when we hit our teens that we were lost causes and we were sick of all the shit at the orphanage. So, we ran away, just the two of us against the world. I unlocked my aura and learned how to fight and disguise myself. And Roman did all the talking.”

“Is that how you became criminals?”

“Look,” Neo began writing with a stern look at Yang, “you call it being criminals but we were two kids on our own with nothing in the world but each other so we did what we had to to survive. Did we rob people and steal things? Yeah, we did. Would you have done anything differently if you were in the same situation? If it was you and your sister who were homeless street rats, wouldn’t you do the exact same thing?”

“I guess,” admitted Yang begrudgingly. “So, then how’d you get mixed up in the whole take over the world stuff?”

“Roman never really gave me all the details as to what happened. He just told me that this woman came to him with an offer that was too good to pass up. He said that if it worked, we wouldn’t have to worry about being petty thieves ever again. We’d be set for life and all the people in power would get what’s coming to them.”

“Do you regret what you did at all?”

“To a point. Do I regret doing whatever it took to scrape out a living? No. Do I regret getting dragged into business with those assholes? Absolutely. I never wanted any of that. I just wanted to keep living like how we were.”

“What do you think you’re going to do once you’re better?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, ideally, I’d love to find Cinder, break every bone in her body and then chop her up into a billion pieces. But beyond that, I don’t know.”

“Have you ever given thought to being a huntress?” Yang asked her hopefully. “With your fighting skills, you could be a really damn good one.”

“Ah, so that’s your game, is it? You’re gonna see the potential deep down inside me and try to turn me into a good girl, is that right? Turn me into a model citizen and make me renounce all my wicked ways?”

“No, that’s not it,” replied Yang with a guilty tone. She had to admit that the idea had crossed her mind even though she figured it was a lost cause. “I just figured that fighting is what you’re probably best at and why not make a proper career out of it?”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. I may not be interested in bringing down Ozpin, Ironwood and all those pricks anymore but believe me when I say that they’re still pricks. And I don’t really care to be one of their lapdogs for bullying the rest of the world into behaving just like them.”

“You’re probably going to have to work with them if you want to get to Cinder so badly. And as good as you are, you’re not going to be able to take her down by yourself.”

“Yeah, I know I’m not good enough to beat them all myself. But I refuse to fight their war for them. If you’re fine with being their little disposable hero, you go right ahead. That’s not how I want to live my life, though.”

“I’m not really interested in that sort of stuff, either. I just want to travel around the world, have some adventures and kill some monsters. And if doing that helps out some people in need, that’s a bonus.”

“You may want that but that’s not what they want for you. And if this war really does end up kicking off, they’re going to drag you into it whether you want to fight or not.”

“Do you really think it’s going to come to that?” Yang asked nervously. “Do you think we’re gonna go to war?”

“It’s tough to say. Cinder and her cronies do have quite a lot of shit together and they’re certainly pissed off at the world enough to try something.”

“Remnant’s been at peace for so long. I can’t imagine what would happen if the kingdoms went to war against each other again.”

“Has it really? I bet your White Fang buddy would have something to say about that.”

“Neo, please,” said Yang in desperation, “you have to do this one thing for me. Promise me that you’ll do whatever you can to make sure that this war doesn’t happen.”

“And why should I help you with anything?”

“I don’t want to have to play this card but I did save your life. I know you don’t owe me anything but please, it would mean everything to me if you can somehow keep us from going to war. I’ve lost too many people in my life already and I don’t want war to take any more. Please, I’m begging you.”

Neo paused for a few moments to consider what Yang was asking for her. Finally, she closed her eyes and let out a defeated sigh as she began to write, “Okay, fine. I can’t guarantee that I can stop it. But I’ll give your leaders all the intel I can so that they can maybe put an end to it.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Yang hugged Neo tightly against her and caused a searing surge of pain from Neo’s wounds. Neo frantically flailed against Yang to try and get her to release her. Yang realized what she’d done and quickly backed away from Neo who was gritting her teeth in agony.

“You know I can’t be an informant if I’m broken in half, right?” Neo signed as the pain slowly began to ebb.

“Sorry, I got carried away,” muttered Yang sheepishly. “I should probably go and let you try and get back to sleep, yeah?” Yang went to leave but Neo quickly grabbed onto Yang’s wrist and held onto it tightly. Yang glanced back at Neo and saw she looked as surprised at her actions as Yang was. With her free hand, Neo grabbed her marker and wrote out a message for Yang.

“Please stay?” Yang read the message and then looked to Neo. She looked terrified and Yang wasn’t sure if it was because Yang might leave or because she’d written that note. Yang couldn’t help noting the similarity to Ruby when she was younger and would beg Yang to let her stay in Yang’s bed. Yang then soberly nodded and readjusted herself to how she was lying before. Neo returned her head onto Yang’s chest and listened to her heartbeat again. As strange as it was, just hearing that made Neo feel very safe and protected. Within a few minutes, both girls drifted off to sleep.

————————————————————————————————

Neo panted for breath as she glared at Emerald who was holding Neo’s parasol and malevolently twirling it in her fingers. Neo made a lunge for her but Emerald simply teleported away again and reappeared a few feet to her left. As Neo tried to strike Emerald again, a sudden kick from out of her vision landed right in her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. As Neo struggled for breath, another kick came at her, this time striking her in the jaw. Neo flopped to the ground but immediately tried to get back on her feet. As she raised her head, she saw Mercury standing above her, his leg poised in the air. He then brought his foot down with a smashing axe kick, causing the ground under Neo’s head to crack.

Emerald then hooked Neo by the back of her collar with the crook parasol and pulled Neo into a kneeling position. Through the fog caused by the kicks, Neo could faintly see the glowing eyes of Cinder walking towards her. As her vision fully recovered, Neo noticed the bow in Cinder’s hand with a frightening black arrow cocked back and aimed right at Neo’s heart.

“Tell me Neo, do you believe in destiny?” Cinder asked. But before any sort of answer could be given, the lights suddenly went out. Neo heard an arrow whiz by her face and clatter to the ground.

“Whoa, what happened?” Mercury yelled in surprise. “Everything suddenly went dark!”

“No kidding, genius,” grumbled Emerald. “The power went out. Go check the fusebox and see if it needs a new one.”

“No, wait,” Cinder said with a noticeable twinge of fear, “we must have been found out. Quickly, retreat.” The three villains tried to make their way out of the dark but suddenly Neo could hear blows being landed and grunts of pain. An enraged yell rang out and Neo looked up to see Cinder flashing in and out of light as muzzle blasts illuminated her while loud shotgun shots rang out. After several seconds of being pummeled, Cinder crumpled unconscious to the floor. Before she knew what was happening, Neo was scooped up by a pair of strong, sculpted arms and was being carried princess style away from her captors.

“It’s okay Neo, you’re safe now,” her savior said. Neo broke into a wide smile as she realized that she had been saved by Yang. She threw her arms around Yang’s neck and nuzzled her face against the blonde’s. Yang finally got the two of them out of the room and removed the night vision goggles she’d been wearing. She looked down at Neo who looked very relieved to be out of that mess.

“I always wondered what it would be like to be saved by my hero,” Neo signed to her.

“Yeah? Did I meet your expectations?” Yang asked cheekily.

“More than you ever could have done. I think you deserve a reward.” Neo then readjusted her body until her legs were wrapped around Yang’s torso and she was looking the blonde in the eye. She then pulled Yang in for a passionate kiss. Yang was all too happy to reciprocate as she ran her free hand through Neo’s hair.

“I love you,” Yang whispered against Neo’s lips. Neo shivered as goosebumps erupted down her spine and she slid her head down onto Yang’s shoulder. Yang hugged Neo tightly against her but not too tight as she lightly rubbed Neo’s back.

Neo tilted her head up and said hoarsely into Yang’s ear, “I love you too.”

Neo’s eyes snapped open and she found herself back in Yang’s guest room. Down the hall, Neo could faintly hear the sound of sizzling bacon and the delicious smell of pancakes. She then noticed that Yang was no longer in bed with her and judging by the temperature of the space next to her, she’d been gone for a little while. Neo felt a stray tear leak out of her eye and she sadly placed her hand on the pillow Yang had been using. She then recalled the dream she had been having and her heart fluttered at the memory of kissing Yang. As much as she enjoyed the thought of that happening, Neo had to admit that this was not good. Things were starting to get very complicated for her very fast. And if she didn’t get her emotions in check as soon as possible, she could end up falling for someone she knew she shouldn’t.

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #rwby fanfic #baked alaska #neopolitan #neo politan #yang xiao long

[kybalious]

ECHOES (Prztok)

Prologue

Wait. There’s nothing here to make any sense of my surroundings. I feel like I’m positively surrounded by madness, or maybe that’s just the air coursing through my lungs. My mind is just a machine, an automaton, rambling through the chorus of existence. I don’t know how I came to be in this place, or even more so, what this place is.

Instinct tells us all that we must keep moving forward, however. But I can’t discern exactly what forward is; basic geospatial concepts like forwards, backwards, what have you, seem meaningless in this infinite void. I hear voices sometimes, calling out to me trying to lead me towards them, issuing from every side surrounding me.

“It’s okay. You can come this way. I’ll guide you, just trust me.”

“nodontlistentothemtheyareonlyheretohurtyou”

“I bet you couldn’t come this way even if you tried. You don’t have the gall for it.”

“maybe you could please come to me? i promise i won’t hurt you.”

How many more voices am I going to have to hear? I don’t know who to trust. I don’t know what to think. But it’s strange, all of these voices sound so familiar. I can’t place them no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try. They just seem like echoes in a void. I don’t know how much longer I can stand being in this void.

Awareness

I open my eyes and suddenly, nothing is made clearer for me. This isn’t my house that I’m in anymore. In fact, I have no idea where I am. I look around, and all I can see for miles is just grass, trees, and general assorted nature. The night sky is intense, I feel like I can see every single star that this hemisphere would allow me to say.

“Wait. What hemisphere is this? What world is this?”

Nothing about this world seems to make any sense to me. I mean, it feels like I’m in my own normal existence, lost to the annals of time on Earth, but something about this place seems so foreign, so alien, so insane.

So, I guess it’s time for me to figure out my plan. Looking around, I try and get my bearings. I was never good at navigating according to the environment around me; I was always told you could figure out which way was north by finding the brightest star in the sky and following it, but the problem with that right now is every star seems to be casting the same ferocious illumination forth. So at this point, it seems like it’s just a crap shoot.

I rotate to and fro slowly over the course of what seems like five or so minutes, trying to make a plan for which way I should plan to go. After contemplating my situation, I decide to just close my eyes again, and spin without any guiding force. After what seemed like an eternity of rotation, my body finally decided to settle upon a direction; I opened my eyes and started walking forward, with the hopes that it might lead me somewhere.

Anathema

After what seemed like hours, I finally came across what, according to my memory, would fit the definition of a sign of civilization: an abandoned dirt road. A welcome change after what seemed like miles and miles of trees and emptiness. I could almost swear that the darkness itself was watching me, peering into my soul. On more than one occasion, I was certain that there were eyes hiding behind the veil of darkness, just watching me as I walked along. It was strange, however; I don’t think I saw any sign of life, be it human, animal, or otherwise.

Well, good riddance to all that, I finally found a sign of something more than just desolate, empty arboreal madness. So, I look to the left, look to the right, trying to find any signs of life along this road. All I could really see, at least, as far as my senses would allow me to, was the road coalescing into an eternal darkness, a veil of unawareness, shadows keeping me from identifying anything short of the fact that that direction exists. So, I decide to turn to the right, and wander that way, in the hopes that it would lead me somewhere.

Roads are meant to connect two locations, right? So, no matter which way I go, I should come across some sort of life, some sort of civilization… right? About this time, I notice that there’s something rattling around in my pocket. Curious, I wonder why I never noticed that earlier.

I fumble through my pocket and pull out two items; one, a small, rectangular container of some sort, inscribed with these weird glyphs that I just couldn’t recognize for the life of me. The container itself was mostly white, with a small red chevron in the middle of one of the faces. The sides of it were inscribed with more of the strange glyphs. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but they look like they’re forming a sentence of some sort.

The top of the item seemed to retreat backwards if I fooled around with it, I noticed. I also noticed that there was some sort of strange, clear substance protecting the main body of the item. I looked to the item, then to my other hand, where I held the other item I recovered, and things started to make a bit more sense to me.

I opened up the rectangular item, and noticed that inside of it there were about 14 strange little cylindrical implements, looking like they were basically paper of two different colored sections. One end appeared to have some sort of cotton sticking out of it, while the other end had some brown substance just barely contained within it. It seemed that this brown substance filled up the majority of the white paper.

“I know that I know what this is, but for whatever reason, I just can’t make heads or tails of it… Why do I know what this is?”

I started to get extremely irritated. I could feel the identification of this device on the tip of my tongue, springing forth from my brain. I just sat there and stared at the device for a few minutes. I felt like I started to sweat; my head was aching. There’s some strange magic contained in this device, it seems. I felt perfectly fine, maybe a little irritable from being lost, but then I saw this and now for all that’s good in the universe, I feel like screaming.

I decide to use my mouth to hold the device while I return the rectangular item to my pocket. For some reason this just seems like the right place for me to hold this item in, anyways. Maybe I’ll keep it here while I walk and try and figure what I’m doing.

Promethean

As I continue walking forward, I examine the second device I found in my pocket. It seems to contain some sort of liquid that I can’t identify, inside of a plastic receptacle. The receptacle itself feeds up to a metal head with a hole inside of it, and some sort of strange gear attached to a button. I can’t really make heads or tails of it; I fidget with the gear a little bit, as I figure it must be part of the operation of this device.

It spins back and forth with great ease, an almost comforting practice for me. A mind-numbing ritual, to be certain. I depress the button down, but nothing seems to happen. I hear a noise, like wind blowing through my ears, which is strange considering the only draft of wind I can feel is barely present. I keep spinning the gear more, trying to figure out the point of this device.

Surely this device and the tubular item I pulled from the rectangular box must be connected in some way. I hold the device up to the end of the item sitting in my mouth, and depress the button. Predictably, nothing happened. I guess that’s not how it’s supposed to work.

I go back to examining the device, when suddenly I become aware of the fact that there’s a light on the road, growing larger as I walk forward. That’s strange, there hasn’t been a single source of light this whole time. I keep following the light, trying to see where it’s going to, but as I do it just keeps getting exponentially further from me, moving at speeds that just seem inhuman.

All of a sudden, with the intensity of a great storm, I begin to perceive what seems like a furious monster overtaking me, and then just like that, it’s gone. I saw its eyes, though. For just a moment. They were watching the spot of light that was being cast in front of me. Maybe it’s trying to follow the source of light, catch up to it. Maybe I’m not the only being lost in this world. As it passed by me, I could have sworn I heard it issue some sort of loud sound, like it was trying to communicate with me.

It was a high pitched noise, very intense. My ears rang after hearing it, with the combination of it growling and the loud noise that it registered. My irritation just grew further, and I started fidgeting with the device in my left hand even more. I noticed that if I spinned the gear fast enough, it would produce some sort of temporary light. It would fade out just as quickly as it came, however. I was fascinated with this, though; it was the first bit of control I felt I’ve had since I opened my eyes.

While fiddling with the gear, I noticed that if I let my finger slip onto the button after twisting the gear, I could sometimes get it to produce some sort of heated light, which I could maintain by keeping the button held. I decided to try and use this light to examine the item that I had sitting in my mouth.

After holding the light up to it, I noticed the end of the device started transforming. It was no longer pure white paper; it turned to shades of black and gray, and started emitting some strange, foul smelling substance. I can’t quite explain what it was, but I do know that there was something comforting about the smell.

I began to notice as I was walking that when I would breathe in with the item in my mouth, the substance itself would somehow travel through the item, and transfer into my lungs. It felt like it was wrong, like I shouldn’t be doing this, and yet at the same time, my irritation seemed to finally fade. It’s almost like I figured out what I was supposed to be doing, but nothing about it made sense.

I took a large breath in, and suddenly found myself violently coughing; the item flew to the ground, and for a brief second, I noticed that the end of it was glowing; some little bits of glowing matter issued from it as it crashed into the ground. I picked it up and realized that it was shorter than it had been when the device had made contact with it. I decided I should probably hold the item in my hand instead of my mouth to prevent that.

I placed the other device back into my pocket, and continued walking, looking at the illuminated item in my hand. I don’t know what it was about that noxious substance that it would emit, but for some reason, when I breathed it in, it was like everything was just wondeful for a few moments. I held the opposite end up to my mouth, and sucked in, pulling the substance into my mouth.

It had a very bitter taste to it, almost like it wasn’t meant for this sort of thing. I realized that if I drew it into my mouth first, and then attempted to inhale, the harshness turned from a consistent burning in my throat, to just a minor sharp pain that passed after a second or two. I was fascinated by this; I would exhale, and it was like I was breathing out clouds of this substance.

After experimenting with it for a while I noticed that the paper had been reduced down to the end containing the cotton. I kept trying the process I had discovered, but all it ended up doing was make my fingers feel hot. Getting frusturated again, I decided to throw the item away, as I still had plenty more to experiment with.

#ECHOES #h͚̖̜̍̃͐e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊ #writing #fiction

[stevenuniversesplitstarau]

Episode 1: The Power Within Us

Sunni sat upside down on the couch looking on his phone.  It was way past time for him to go to bed, but it was also way past the time the Gems said they’d be back, and he always stayed up till they got home.  So, he tried to occupy himself until they got back.  He smiled at the TubeTube videos of cute puppies and kitties that he's been watching for the past couple of hours.  Staring at the screen wasn't doing anything good for his eyes, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.  It was extremely boring being home by himself and it was too late to be going out on an of his late-night walks.

Sunni frowned when he turned to look at the warp pad, still, no one coming, and it was almost midnight.

He flipped himself upright and laid down on the couch.

They’d be here any minute.

It did affect Sunni that he’s been saying that for the past two hours.  He wanted to know how their mission went.  Since he still couldn’t go on Crystal Gem missions yet, he’d always stay home wait.  Though, he could feel it.  One day soon, he'd be able to go out with them on missions too.

Sunni yawned, stretching his limbs before standing up to grab another snack.  Something little wouldn't hurt.  He tucked his stuffed cat, KitKat, under his arm.  The boy blinked down at his apparel with his one visible eye.  He wore his typical pajamas.  A long-sleeved light-yellow shirt with a bee in the middle and a pair of black and yellow striped pants.  His curly, dark brown hair hung to his face, covering over his right eye.  After giving his eye a quick rub, he walked over to where the fridge was.

He grabbed a pudding cup and then a spoon from the cupboard before going back to sit on the couch.  He found himself having to blink a few times as he took a spoonful.  It wasn't helping that he laid down, one of the pillows under his head.  His thoughts got slower.  Mainly they were about sugar and possible missions he'd get to go one with the Gems.  Sunni found himself smiling, cuddling Kitkat a little more.

Maybe the Gems would let him go on their next mission. 

________________________________________________________________

Snapdragon’s head turned towards the sleeping form on the couch when the Crystal Gems returned.  He quickly made his way over to his brother, who seemed to be completely out of it. The brother pulled the food Sundrop had been eating away from him and lifting him up into his arms.  Sundrop didn’t weigh much to him.  Perks of being a gem.

Currently, he has only been able to unlock super strength from all things he should be able to do from his gem.  It was enough though, as the Gems let him on missions with them now.  He mainly had to stay on the sidelines, though.  Occasionally, he might be able to through a boulder or something, but since he was still so much younger he had to get familiar with his powers, and going out on missions helped him.

He made his way up the stairs before setting his brother in his bed and placing the covers over top of him.  He could hear the Gems downstairs talking, but he didn't give them any mind.  Focusing on his freckles that if you looked closely, almost looked like tiny stars on his cheeks and nose.

“Sundrop knows to get to bed by ten,” Pearl frowned when she glanced at the two brothers.  "He shouldn't be straining himself too much."

Amethyst pushed past her, “Let the kid live a little.”

“Shh,” Garnet glanced at the two before looking towards the brothers.  “You’ll wake up Sunni.”

Snapdragon brushed some hair off Sundrop’s forehead.  His brother turned on his side and snuggled into his stuffed cat.  He watched his brother sleep most nights.  He had no use for it, so he just watched.  His brother looked so peaceful and sweet like this.  It was different compared to his normal silly and extroverted self.

He heard the other Gems go off to their rooms. 

Sundrop was going to sleep in tomorrow.  He usually did when staying up for missions.  It was kind of his brother to do so, but it was also unhealthy.  His brother really wasn't the healthiest person he knew.  He really needed to monitor himself better, but he was just so naive about his conditions that he simply did whatever he wanted.

Every time he gets the chance, Sunni asks to come on missions, but the Gems didn’t think he was ready.  So many things could happen to his very human brother.  It was clear that Snapdragon was the one to inherit their mother’s powers, as he was the one who had the gem and he’s already gain inhuman strength.  So, there weren't that many ways for him to be able to protect himself if a gem monster tried to attack him.  And the Gems wouldn't be able to watch over him and take on a Monster.

His mind continued to wander as he watched his brother breathe in and out.

________________________________________________________________

“THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!?” Sunni held onto the Cookie Cat freezer in his arms.  Sadie let him take it with him since the Big Donut had no purpose for the machine anymore, however, the boy was still in mourning.  Cookie Cats were still a major part of his life and if they stopped making them, then what?  How could he just let go of their ice creamy goodness?

The Gems stood around the small human.

“What’s wrong with him?” he heard Amethyst ask.

Snappy settled next to him giving a sigh, “He is upset.  His favorite ice cream treats have been discontinued.”

This caused the boy to hug the freezer hard, “And for Lion Licker!  They don’t even look like real lions!”

He remembered Lars telling him that at the Big Donut.  Lion Lickers were all melted when they came in and whenever they froze again, they'd become all saggy.  He hated them with all his heart!  They went and took away his favorite treat.  Now here he was, even with the freezer he felt the pain of their absence.

“You mean those sandwich things in the shape of a feline?” Pearl frowned. 

Sunni nodded, continuing to mop.

Amethyst walked over and nudged him with her foot.  The boy gave a mumbled noise, burying his face into the freezer surface.  He didn't have the energy to do anything else.  

“Dang I haven’t seen him like this since the season finale of that one show he watches,” she said, vaguely remembering it.

“Crying Breakfast Friends,” Snappy reminded. 

Sunni heard Garnet hum.

“I have an idea,” she replied, and suddenly the warp went off. 

When Sunni looked up, no one was there.  They probably had more important business to handle than him moping.  He clutched the freezer a little tighter.  There wasn't any amount of baby animal videos to cheer him up.  He might try that later, but right now all Sunni wanted to was cry into a metal surface.  He'll cry until there weren't any more tears to be cried.

He didn't know how long he was like this.  Hugging a metal freezer with a cartoon character on it, sobbing into one of the cold sides.  He didn't know if he had the willpower to move from his spot.  He just wanted to stay here until his body would seep into the wooden floor

There was a noise somewhere a little ways from him.

“Sunni,” a voice said.  “Sunni.”

He blinked open his eyes to see Pearl, who had an armful of Cookie Cats.

The boy gasped, seeing that all of them had an arrangement of the ice cream treats in their hands.  Sunni gasped even louder.

“I thought they stopped making them!” he stood up quickly, getting a slight head rush.

Pearl smiled, “Yes, well we out and we—”

“Stole a bunch!” Amethyst finished.

Pearl growled, “I went back and paid for them.”

Sunni was quick to lift the freezer up and set it on the counter, working to plug it into the wall.

“It was my idea,” Garnet stated.

Amethyst frowned, “It was everyone’s idea.”

“Not really,” she replied.

Once he finished setting the freezer up, the boy managed to stuff all of them into the freezer.  All but one, which he held in his little hand.

“All that matters is that Sunni is happy,” Pearl stopped the two from fighting.

So much excitement filled Sunni.  He was basically buzzing around at this point.  So, when the Cookie Cat song from the commercials entered his mind, Sunni couldn't stop himself.

 “Oohhhhhh! 

 He’s a frozen treat with an all-new taste!

 ‘cause he came to this planet from outer space!

A refugee from an interstellar war!

 But know he’s at your local grocery store!

 Cookie Cat! He’s a pet for your tummy!

 Cookie Cat! He’s super-duper yummy!

 Cookie Cat! He left his family behind!

 Cookie Caaaat!  Now available at Gurgens off Route 109!”

He finished the Cookie Cat’s commercial song, and all the Gems applauded.

“Thanks so, so much!” Sunni smiled.  “I’m going to save these forever…right after I eat this one!”

He tore open the wrapper and bit into the ear.  He always ate the ears first.  It was something that had developed over time.  When he was much younger, he'd try to crame the whole cookie in his mouth.  That did nothing more than give him a brain freeze.  Now, he understood the importance of savoring his food, so he'd started with the smallest part. 

Bouncing in place, he almost didn't hear the rumble.

“What—” before anyone could say anything a green bug-like creature broke that door down and entered into the beach house.

The Gems summoned their weapons, quickly going into battle with the creatures as more entered their house.

Sunni stared in awe of them.  In his whole life, he's never seen anything like them.  He wanted to bend down and touch one of them.  He was about to, too.  However, an arm around his waist lifted him off the ground and on top of the counter.

“Hey!” he frowned as Snapdragon grabbed a broom and smacked one into the wall.

“You’re safer up there,” he stated.

“Safe from what?” Sunni crossed his arms.

To answer that, one of the monsters spit up some acid which melted the floor.

Sunni frowned, sitting down on top of the counter, sitting criss-cross.  He looked over at all the little creatures that crawled around the house.

“So, what are they?” Sunni asked out of curiosity.  It wasn't every day he was in the middle of a gem fight!

“They’re Centipeetles,” Pearl replied.  “I think they’re trying to get into the temple.”

Sunni turned his head, seeing that a good bit of them were trying to charge into the temple, however, Pearl was stopping them.  Garnet was to his right.  Amethyst was by the couch.  Snappy was by the door.

“Um, guys?” the purple gem called out.  “These things don’t have any gems!”

When she poofed one with her whip nothing fell to the ground.  That was an unusual sign.  Every time Sunni saw a monster get poofed a gem fell, then one of the Gems would bubble it and send them to the temple.

“There must be a mother nearby,” Garnet replied as he punched away two of the centipeetles.

“We have to find her before anyone gets hurt,” Pearl replied.

An idea formed in Sunni’s head, “Can I come with you guys?  Please?!”

Even if they didn't say anything, Sunni seemed to already know the answer from their silence.  Sundrop was human.  And a pretty sick one at that.  It wouldn't be safe for him to go out on these long and dangerous missions when he could get hurt.  Even if he tried to tell him, nothing that serious has happened to time since he was nine, they all told him that it would be better to wait until he was ready.

“Sunni,” Pearl replied while snapping the neck of another centipeetle, “Why don’t you leave protecting humanity to us?”

The boy frowned to himself, “Aw…”

He didn't get the chance to feel that sorry for himself because one of the centipeetles had climbed up onto the counter.  Acid bubbled from their mouth, melting one of the towels that had been settled on the edge of the counter.  Sunni gave a slight scream before kicking it away.

It was now anger, screeching before launching itself right at him. 

________________________________________________________________

Snapdragon had smacked another creature away with the broom when he heard Sundrop scream.  He turned his head over to where his brother was.  Still on the counter, but with one of the creatures making his way towards him.  The others were all preoccupied with the others. 

It was like a wave of overprotective instinct washed over him.

Time seemed to slow down to Snapdragon as he placed himself between the centipeetle and his twin brother.  A warm, fuzzy feeling came from his navel with a dull grow coming from under his redshirt.  A familiar instinct took over when he placed his arm up. 

At first, he thought he would take the blow.  Better his human form, than his brother's human body.  However, the attack never came.

Because in between himself and the green creature was a pink shield.  Nothing was fancy about it, just a blank pink shield.  However, it was his shield.  This was his weapon, like how Pearl had her spear, Amethyst her whip, and Garnet he Gauntlets.  Snapdragon had his own shield.

The acid seemed to have no effect on it.  The green substance just rolled off.

Everyone stared in awe at the sight.

“Snapdragon,” Pearl whispered just loud enough for him to hear.  “It’s a shield.”

Garnet made quick work of that centipeetle, which appeared to be the last one.

Suddenly, just as fast as it happened, the shield dematerialized.

Everyone was silent for a second.

Snapdragon didn't know what to think.  He's heard about this shield.  Heard many stories about it, but to be the one to bear it.  This felt like something in a fantasy.  He wanted to see it again, to know that it wasn't just some sort of joke.  He needed to know that he was able to summon his mother's shield.

Before another attempt could be made, there was a weight on his back and arms wrapped around his neck.

“You did it, Snappy!” Sundrop smiled.  “You summoned your weapon!”

A tiny smile formed a Snapdragon’s face, shifting himself so he could support his brother’s weight.

“How did you manage to do that?” Amethyst asked him.

He shrugged, “I don’t know…it happened really fast…”

Sundrop gasped, “Maybe yours will only appear if you really, really need it!”

Pearl frowned, “I don’t know…most Gems develop a technique in order to summon theirs whenever they’d like.”

Snapdragon tilted his head, “Techniques?”

He’s never heard this before.  If Snapdragon was being honest, he didn’t think it works like that.  When they were much younger, Sunni had told him you can simply pull it out of your gem.  That’s what appeared to them anyway.  Of course, when the two tried, it didn’t work.  For a while, Snapdragon thought maybe he didn’t have any powers.  Maybe his gem was just useless, but after he had gained a remarkable amount of strength, he began to regain that confidence that he once had.

Sundrop settled his chin on his brother’s shoulder, “How do you guys do it?”

Pearl clapped her hands together, “Oh, I’ll go first.”

She took them to a hill.  On top of it was a large tree filled with light pink flowers.  Petals fell from it.  Gracefully dancing in the sky.  Sundrop smiled reaching a hand up, letting one of them fall on his hand.

“Pay attention to these petals, Snapdragon. The petals' dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real-time based on the physical properties of this planet. With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem and perform your own dance!” her gem on her forehead began to glow before she pulled her spear from it.  She held out her hand and a singular petal fell into her hand. “Like so.”

Snapdragon placed his hand on his gem, while the other reached out to grab a handful of the petals.  He thought for a second.  Just focus…

He turned to his brother, who had a bunch of flowers in his hair.  A smile formed back on Snapdragon's face.

Next, they meet Amethyst behind the Big Donut.  She had a donut in her hand, watching Snapdragon through some of the petals he had collected in the air.  He focused on the petals to the best of his ability.  Trying to see if he can harness the power of his gem again.

“Did Pearl tell you the petal thing?” she asked.

“Yes,” Snapdragon replied, beginning to take some of the petals out of Sundrop’s hair.

“He needs to practice really hard, so he can dance like a tree,” Sundrop replied.

“Listen Snaps,” Amethyst pointed at him with her donut.  “All that practice stuff is no fun.”  She took a bit of her donut.  “Whenever I want to summon my weapon, it just happens,” her gem glowed, and her whip formed.  When she fully pulled it out, the end went over and cut the dumpster in half.  “See, didn’t try at all.”

Snapdragon rubbed his head.  So, it should just happen.  He shouldn’t be overthinking it.  But Pearl had basically told him the opposite.  What was he supposed to do?

Before he could ask anything, Lars had run out of the Big Donut, “Ah!  Not Again!”

Finally, the two ended up on top of the hill next to the lighthouse just above their house with Garnet.  Snapdragon hoped that she could clear this all up because everything was getting extremely complicated.

“So, I’m supposed to work really hard, but not try at all at the same time?” Snapdragon asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

The pink gem blinked, not expecting that.  He was about to ask her how she summoned her gauntlets, but Garnet started to speak again.

“Or,” both the gems on her hands began to glow.  “you could link your mind with the energy of all existing matter. Channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem, which results in—” her gauntlets formed.  “At least that’s my way of doin’ it.”

Snapdragon’s eyes widened much larger.  So many questions filled his mind, but it seemed that the Gems couldn't help him with this.  They had only seemed to add to the questions.

Now, he sat on the beach.  His brother brought his Cookie Cat freezer out with him and was finishing the one that he started before the centipeetle attack.  

Sundrop fell on his back.

“So, I guess that was a bust,” he replied.  “But at least we know you have mom’s shield.  Just like Captain La Merica.”

Snapdragon dug his hand deeper into the sand, “What if I can never do the things mom did?  What if when she passed it down something happened and now I'm stuck with a useless gem?”

A flick on his arm stopped him from spiraling, “Hey!  No quitter talk on me, Ginger-Snaps!  You do have mom’s powers!  And I will be with you every step of the way until your able to harness this power!”

He smiled at his brother’s determination.

Even if his gem didn’t listen to him, at least Snapdragon had Sundrop.  He brought a hand down and patted his brother’s shoulder.

“Another wouldn’t hurt, right?” Sundrop asked, looking up at his brother then at the Cookie Cats.

“You had dinner five minutes ago,” Snapdragon answered, but his brother already opened it.  “You’re going to make yourself sick.”

Sundrop blew a raspberry, “I perfectly capable of holding my food.  Thank you.”

Snapdragon rolled his eyes before laying down too.  It was nice to have these moments.  Moments he could have with Sundrop.  Because Sundrop wasn't just his brother.  He was his best friend.

“That one looks like a butt,” he pointed up at one cloud, which was just two circles.

Sundrop busted out laughing, “It does!  And that one looks like a winged whale on a unicycle in the middle of the summer.”

Snapdragon tilted his head as he looked at the blob, “I don’t think you’re playing this right.”

Sundrop leaned over and punched his brother’s shoulder, “There are no rules to cloud watching!”

Before the other brother could reply something shook the ground to the core.  A shadow loomed over them, a large shadow.

When they turned, the two both stood up.  Their eyes widening, hands interlocking.

In front of them was a giant Centipeetle.  They stood on the beach in front of their house.  The noises coming from them were horrible and hurt to hear.

Snapdragon was quick to get in front of his brother.

“It’s the mother,” he heard Garnet yell to the others.

The three went down, but before they could summon any of their weapons, the Centipeele spit a large amount of acid forcing the Crystal Gems to hide behind a broken part of the statue.

“Um…this would be a really good time to summon your shield,” Sundrop said peeking over his brother’s shoulder.

He tried.  He really did try.  What made this time different?  People he cared about were going to be hurt.  Didn’t his gem see this as a dangerous situation?  Should his shield be forming!?

________________________________________________________________

Sunni looked around, trying to see if there was anything he could do to help.  His brother was too in his own head, trying to form his shield.  The Gems were pinned…he had to think of something quick.

What did he have on him?

A cell phone…paperclip…extra ribbon…the freezer!

“Snappy!  When I tell you, throw the freezer at the Centipeetle!” before an answer Sunni started to run towards the monster.  

He had to get his attention somehow, get him away from the Gems.  He looked back at Snappy, the Cookie Cat freezer was held above his head, waiting.

An idea formed on how he can gain the Centipeetle's attention, “Cookie Cat!  He’s a pet for your tummy!”

The monster turned towards him, tilting their head in confusion at the shout.  The gem within their mouth glared down on him.   Than the Centipeetle charged at him, ready to attack the tiny human.

“Cookie Cat!  He’s super-duper yummy!” he ran towards the ocean, stopping right in front of it.

This had to work.  He stayed in place, even as the Centipeetle continued to get closer and closer.

“SUNDROP!” he heard multiple voices yell for him, but he had to stay here if his plan was going to work.

“Cookie Cat!  He left his family behind!  Cookie Caaaat!” he continued and when she was just a few meters away Sunni threw his body to the left making sure he was out of the way of both the Centipeetle and the water. “NOW!”

Snapdragon threw the freezer hard enough that the cord wrapped around their body.  When they began to struggle acid began to form from the Centipeetle's mouth, both she and the freezer fell into the water, electrocuting the Centipeetle.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst summon their weapons and poof the creature.  Garnet was the one that bubbled the gem.  However, Sunni couldn’t pay that much attention because his stomach made an unusual flip.  Too full…too much running…

“Now available…nowhere,” he fell to the ground.  “Okay, tum-tum work with me here.”

A hand came down and grabbed his shoulder, “Nice job, Sun-man.”

“Thanks…” he placed a hand on his stomach.

Pearl smiled, “Yes, that was very resourceful.”

His brother knelt next to him, “Sorry about your Cookie Cats.”

For the first time in his life, Sunni didn’t want to hear that…

Garnet gave him a thumbs up.

Sunni managed a smile, “Thanks guys, I just—"

Before anything else could happen, he vomited on the sand.

“I told you so!”

________________________________________________________________

Sundrop was curled up next to his brother, his face still extremely pale from being sick.  Snapdragon combed his hand through his brother's hair, while with the other hand he read a book.  It was quiet since the Gems had retired to their rooms.

"Do you want to watch the stars?" Sundrop asked, pressing his cheek into Snapdragon's shoulder.

He was about to protest.  Sundrop needed to stay in the house in order to regain his strength.  Running around like he did had weakened his body, so Snapdragon didn't want his brother to go out.

"Fresh air will help me feel better," Sunni added with a weak smile.  "And it will only be for a couple of minutes."

He relented, bending down so that Sundrop could jump onto his back.  His blue detached sleeves came into his sight as his brother's hands clasped each other.  Snapdragon's hands went under his brother's knees, making sure to hold him up.  His chin rested on his shoulder.

"Ready?" he asked.

Sundrop gave a nod and Snapdragon went outside. Now to the roof.

Making sure Sunni was secured in place, he jumped up onto the railing and then jumped up on the roof.  His brother laughed and giggled.

If Snapdragon wasn't any missions, the two would go on the roof and stare at the sky.  Watching clouds, stars, sunrises, or sunsets.  They did it from the window if it was rain or snow.

The little human, snuggled into his brother's side as they watched the sky.

#split star au #episode #su pearl #su garnet #su amethyst #sundrop rose universe #snapdragon quartz universe #sunni and snaps #steven universe

[sseamudd]

My Best Friend’s Hot P2

@maddzroks

_____/—–\_____

Janna sat straight up in her bed in a cold sweat. No she didn’t have a nightmare, she just had another dream…about Star…for the fifth time…in the same night.

‘This sucks.’ Janna thought.

It had been no secret that Janna liked Star. Well it was, just not a well hidden one. You can blame Star for the amount Janna was suffering. It’s bad enough that Janna liked her but Star was the biggest tease in the world.

Janna attempted to go to sleep one last time before deciding to make a horrible decision. The teen jumped out of her bed, narrowly avoiding stepping on her snake. She slipped a jean jacket over her black tank top and slipped on some cargo pants. She grabbed her signature beanie before slipping out the window of her bedroom.

The thief’s breath was very visible in the October air. Walking below the street lights, Janna formulated a plan. She was going to break into the junkyard with Star, just because. The problem was that she was probably going to have to kidnap the blonde.

It was Saturday so Star and Marco were probably watching a movie marathon of some sorts.  Luckily,  Janna’s plan was simple. She make some inhuman noises outside, causing the Latino and the princess to go check it out. Next she stabs Marco and drugs Star. Unfortunately chloroform is hard to come by these days and stabbing Marco isn’t the best thing Janna could do, to get Star to like her.

So she’ll just have to separate the two and convince Star to go with her without telling Marco.

Will this probably leave Marco extremely worried? Yes. Will this ruin Star and Marco’s movie night? Also yes.

‘This is fine and not completely morally wrong.’ Janna thought, ‘Things will only go south if Star finds out that I ruined her time with Marco because I’m jealous of how much time he gets to spend with her and how I kind of, sort of, kidnapped her for my own selfish needs.’

_____/—–\_____

Janna arrived at the Diaz household minutes later. She looked at her phone. ‘Yup, still past my bedtime.’

The teen snuck up to the household and did exactly as she planned.

Janna screamed like all the ghouls from Hell had suddenly risen up from the depths of the abyss. Which is basically the same as a fan girl screaming after seeing Jake Paul.

Everything executed perfectly. Marco and Star came out and they ended up separating. Janna followed Star to the back of the Diaz house.

“Hey, Star.” Janna whispered from behind the girl.

Star made a small ‘meep’ noise and jumped, but when she saw Janna her face lit up.

Before Star could squeal something like 'Janna Banana’ the bluenette slipped her hand over the blonde’s mouth.

“How about we go trespassing?” Janna whispered.

“That sounds great!” Star whispered back, “But tonight’s movie night with Marco…and he made, uh, nachos and…stuff.”

“Pssh, Star you live in a Mexican household, the Diazs’ probably have nachos stored in the freezer.” Janna said, hoping her slight racism would prove true.

Star considered this for a second before speakong, “Yeah, you’re right! Who needs nachos anyways! Certainly not me, Star Butterfly!” Star spoke with great enthusiasm but Janna couldn’t help but feel that it was to convince herself of something.

“Alrighty then, let’s go.” Janna smiled devilishly. A smile that was devilish enough to come out of an ink machine.

Janna was about to hop the fence when Star tugged on her sleeve.

“Shouldn’t I tell Marco though?”

“Ha, nope.”

_____/—–\_____

“So what is the place?”

“The dump. It’s where humans take thier garbage, but sometimes you can find cool things.”

“What kind of cool things?”

“Stuff. One time I found a Pennsylvania license plate, and last week I found a goat skull.”

“Oooooh, skulls.”

Janna peared through the holes in the fence, watching a flashlight wave past the two.

Janna never knew why there were security guards at dumps. It’s trash people, nothing to guard here. Unless being a hipster and thinking trash is cool is a crime, Janna saw no point in barbed wire at the top of the fence.

To be honest though, even if it was a crime she would still probably break that law.

The two girls walked around (more like crouched, walked slowly, then fell to the ground everytime a guard got close) the perimeter until Janna found spot where the fence had been curved.

She lifted a heavy rock away from the bottom of the chain link fence, revealing an area where the metal was weakened and could be bent easily.

“Go ahead and move the fence up.” Janna whispered. This should be an educational trip. Really teach the kids lessons they need to know.

Star pulled the fence towards them, but Janna interupted and “accidentally” touched Star’s hand.

“My bad, I should have been more specific. You want to push it away from you so the bottom comes out the other side.” Janna told her and did as she said.

“Uh, why?”

“Because then you’ll be going with the grain, not against it. If you pull it towards you, your clothes could get caught and you make a lot more noise in general. This way you just slip through in the direction the fence is going.”

“Ohhhh.” Star nodded her head and tried to look like she was sincerely understanding the concept, Janna knew this wasn’t true.

Star has a lot to learn about being a criminal.

_____/—–\______

The two girls successfully made it into the junkyard. They both were sifting  through a pile of metal in the back of a rusty pickup truck.

Janna felt Star shiver next to her and she realized that the entire time they were out, Star only had a dress on.

“Are you okay?” Janna asked, still looking through the junk.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I’m a little cold-”

“Do you want my jacket?” Janna answered a little too quick.

“What? No. I can’t take your jacket, you’ll be cold then.”

“I don’t know about you but I’d rather have me, a person who has had the security of a jacket all night, be cold than you, a nice princess who has been wearing a dress all night, be cold.”

Star stopped moving the metal around for a moment and stared at the a random piece of aluminum for a second.

“Yeah, okay.”

Janna rolled the jacket off her shoulders, realizing that she only had a tank top under it, and transferred it to Star’s shoulders.

Star slipped it on and Janna buttoned up the front for her.

Janna got to the top button, the one that she always struggled with, and attempted to click the two sides together with ease.

But of course the gods were not in the Philipina’s favor and made it extra difficult this time.

Star giggled until Janna finally won over the jean jacket. The bluenette and the blonde’s eyes connected for a moment and they just stood there.

After awkwardly staring into each other’s faces for a while, Star cleared her throat.

“Uh, thanks, Janna.”

“Yeah, sure, no…no prob Bob.”

_____/—–\_____

After the two’s awkward encounter a question was presented. How would they carry all their hidden treasure? The two went in search for some sort of wagon, or backpack.

Janna decided to go a little closer to the security tower lights in order to see what they’re touching.

The girls searched for a while, and a while more, and so many whiles later that now we’re here.

“Hey, Janna can I talk to you about something?” Star asked suddenly.

“Go for it.”

“Okay, well it’s more like admitting  something more than telling something.”

Janna swallowed hard, “I’m listening.”

“Okay, earlier today I was a little upset with you because I… I really wanted those nachos and movie night.”

“Oh? Okay, that’s fine I guess?”

“Yeah it is but…ugh…that’s not why I was upset.”

Janna was deeply confused. What the heck is Star going on about. It doesn’t really matter to her if Star is a little upset with her (that was a lie). And for what? Nachos?

Actually that’s understandable.

“It’s weird to say.” Star said.

“Um, okay? What ever it is you can tell me, Star.”

“Fine. I’m upset because I wanted to spend time with, Marco I guess.”

Janna paused for a second. Again, what the heck is Star babbling about.

“Uh, Star you live with the dude. You spend quite enough time with him.” Janna told her, adding a little venom to the 'quite.’

“Yeah, I know, but movie night is like, the only time he’s not with Jackie.”

Janna could be interpreting this completely wrong. This could all be a misunderstanding. But for some reason Jackie’s name made something click in Janna’s brain.

Like a puzzle piece that you lost and the entire puzzle is done except of that one spot in the middle. Then a month later you find that piece and boom.

The puzzle is complete.

Janna turned her head, more upset than she realized.

“You still like Marco!”

“What! No! I don’t like Marco!”

“Yes you do, Star! I’m suprised you haven’t been talking about him all night!” Janna yelled.

“You wouldn’t get it!” Star yelled back, looking angrier than Janna’s ever seen her.

“I wouldn’t get what, Star? I wouldn’t get what?”

“I don’t need to tell you!” Star’s face turned red and she turned around with her arms crossed, leaving Janna to stare at her own clothing. Janna, being as mad as she was, walked up to Star and turned the girl around. “Um, I think you do!” Janna pushed a finger into Star’s chest.

“Do you know what it feels like Janna? Do you know what it feels like to love some one and no matter what you do, they love you not?” Star asked angrily, looking on the verge of tears. Janna was too upset though. The question left her a little mad to say the least.

“Yes I have, actually!” Janna said without realizing, her tendency want to have the last word kicking in. Star, expecting to hear a no, went from upset to angry again. “Oh yeah? Who then?” Star shouted getting into Janna’s face this time. “With you!” There wasn’t time for Janna to blush at what she said and be sorry. There wasn’t time for the color to drain from Star’s face when she realized that Janna had a crush on her the whole time. There wasn’t time for the two girls to kiss and make up. Janna already shoved Star onto a pile of junk and created a avalanche of garbage around them. Every guard that didn’t already hear the pairs shouting most definitely heard the trash collapse like it was 'The Shot Heard Around the World.’ Yelling from came from the distance and Janna and Star glanced at each other, mouths open. Janna grabbed Star’s arm and ran for it. She ran and led the princess through the yard. Not caring if she ran into flashlights. Not caring if every time she fell she earned a new scar, or that the cold air felt like it tore her skin when she ran against it. When she ran against the grain. Janna eventually found it though. She eventually found the part of the fence that had been bended. The only entrance and exit they could find. Janna practically shoved Star out the other end. Star was going to stay, going to help but Janna yelled at her to run. She told Star that she would be right behind her. And maybe it is less scary than it seems. Maybe these words and this format and the context make this seem like a horror film. I assure you it’s not. But that did not make this any less terrifying for Janna. The very thing that Janna told Star when they made it to the entrance. “If you pull it towards you, your clothes could get caught…” Janna’s words echoed in her mind when it happend. When she crawled through the fence she went against the grain. Her clothes got caught on the fence. /----\ Oof I dont know why the last paragraphs are messed up but I finally did it sjsjhajrhhrsnej