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elstreem · 3 years

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ALBW Roleswap AU...thing?

Trying to write about this idea where it's Hyrule that got devastated and so Link seeks help from Ravio and Hilda in Lorule. Long post, but here's what I've written about it. I don't think I'm gonna do anything more substantial for it, but it's fun writing this.

Here's a google docs version that's prolly easier to read: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ar_f6wXBTeY3DGfWeM667QqwvyS-2GfrlZTMCcKQ6BY/edit?usp=sharing

ALBW AU: The Appointed Knight and the Feral Hero

Among the realms created by the Divine mothers, two were tied like the two sides of a coin - both fair kingdoms, with a royal family who protected the sacred relic, Triforce. The Triforce was the sum of the Goddesses’ powers left in these realms, and was even said to be able to grant wishes, leading some to seek its power...unbeknownst to the guardians of the Triforce, it also serves as the cornerstone of their respective realms. No one knows what would happen if the Triforce was broken in some form, for it has never happened before…

As mentioned, the Triforce was left in two particular realms, so close and yet far from each other. The realm bathed in warm sunlight was called Hyrule, while the realm under the cover of soothing darkness was called Lorule. Without knowing of it, the denizens of these two realms prospered similarly to each other. But they were never able to meet, save for when a slight distortion in time and space would show times and places through mirrors and reflections. Only a passing mystery, and were it not for a grievous calamity, perhaps there would never have been a time when Hyrule would need aid from Lorule…

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The clamor of war rang loudly throughout Hyrule Castle. The castle was besieged by terrible forces, slavering monsters and twisted ghouls, howling as they clashed with the soldiers of Hyrule. Men shouted and attacked, hoping to defend their kingdom to the last. However, this was not where the real battle was to be found. In the chaos, there was only one place of stillness - the castle sanctuary, where the princess stood and her knight stood against the demon king, who had risen again. Behind the two protectors of the kingdom, the Triforce shone with a radiant light. “Hand over the Triforce,” Ganon rumbled, hands flexed around a trident. The princess stretched out a hand, tapping into her magical heritage. Link readied his blade and shield - they would never let this monster ruin the world with the Triforce’s power. Never.

The battle began, trident slashing, magic weaving, sword and shield parrying. Link and Zelda fought desperately against the strength of Ganon, who shrugged off their attacks as though it could only annoy him. With a roar, Ganon swatted away Link, the young Hylian’s slight frame getting thrown into the wall with force to crack his bones. Zelda cried out, but she did not waver - even as Ganon lunged forward to lay his hands on the Triforce, she spun around and reached for the relic herself.

“Oh goddesses, protect us!” Zelda wished with all her heart, but even as her words tapped into the Triforce’s power, Ganon’s own hand had reached the relic.

Even while bloodied and bruised, and screaming from the effort, Link got up, trying to move, desperate, as Ganon wished for Hyrule’s destruction.

The two wishes, opposite to each other, warred within the activated relic. Link tried to run, to reach for Zelda even as the Triforce shattered with explosive power, with blinding light pouring out of it.

In those terrible last moments, Link saw the princess turn to him, her form becoming rigid. Ganon too, had stopped - and Link found his own consciousness dimming, burning with only one thought. He had failed his home.

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The sun was yet to rise and all was still in the dark hours preceding dawn.

Or so it was supposed to be, if it weren’t for the angry yells of a woman and a sound of scurrying feet.

The village Blacksmith groaned and hauled himself up from his bed, drearily wiping a hand across his face as his wife rushed into the room.

“Now what is this ruckus all about!?” the Blacksmith complained.

“The stinking thief is back! I told you to report it to the castle, but no, you just had to wait for proof! Well, here’s the proof you want!” the hassled woman said sharply, and she grabbed hold of her husband’s arm and fairly dragged him outside, causing a string of complaints. She ignored the fact that he was barefoot and still in his sleeping clothes and hurried him into the cold air of the early morning. She paused very briefly to grab a fresh torch, and continued along. When she stopped, the Blacksmith was not in the most agreeable mood, but even he could see the damage.

The pots they used for storing water and grains were smashed, and their little garden that had once been full of promising vegetables had been ransacked. But even with the messy scene one could see paw prints in the dirt.

“What was it?” the Blacksmith asked, taking the torch from his wife. He knelt to take a closer look at the destruction.

She sniffed and crossed her arms. “I wasn’t sure - I just heard the sounds of a pot getting smashed and I rushed on over here. I only caught it running away, but it looked beastly, all matted fur and glowing eyes - ugh!”

It would be no match for you in your state, the Blacksmith thought, and he hid a grin. Keeping a straight face, he stood up again and said, “Well, I’ll call on our neighbor to help. No need to alert the Castle.”

She gave a disbelieving snort. “That lad is good for nothing but lounging around!”

“But still, he’s the appointed knight of the realm. Go on inside dear, that is enough trouble for one morning,” the Blacksmith said.

After putting on work clothes and making sure that everything was secured, the Blacksmith walked on over to a house on a hill, keeping his eyes peeled for any lurking creatures. However, upon reaching the house, the man gave a groan - of all the mornings he made this trip, today was the miraculous day the appointed knight was not sleeping in. The house was dark and a piece of paper was tacked to the door. The paper read:

“If you’re looking for me, I’m at the Castle!” - Knight of the Realm, Ravio.

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Morning came and went, the sun’s rays bringing cheer and light to the land. Within the Castle’s kitchen, the maids and cooks were bustling about, preparing food for lunch. But in the middle of all this activity, a boy was sitting still, snacking on an apple as he idled the time away.

“Surely you have business to do, Ravio?” one of the exasperated cooks asked, watching Ravio take another apple from the kitchen’s stores and eat it.

“I’m in the business of filling my energy up after an early morning training!” Ravio said, grinning as much as he could with a mouthful of apple.

“...right,” the cook muttered. Sure, Ravio had been in the castle before dawn’s light, but all the staff saw of him was him taking a nap in the knight’s training room.

A page popped into the castle kitchens, and seeing Ravio, marched up to him. Ravio’s grin slid off his face as he saw the page’s gleeful look. He knew what that meant.

“Her Grace, Princess Hilda, commands the Knight of the Realm to the Counsel Room!” the page said as loudly as possible. The nearby kitchen staff snickered as Ravio stood up and wiped the apple juice off his face.

Ravio might not fear monsters, but he had a healthy fear of his closest friend.

-------

"I tell you, your Grace, something has been ferreting around, stealing food and making a ruckus. The missus reckons it’s some sort of beast from what she saw. Maybe a wolf? But then again…"

"There are no wolves in Lorule."

"Exactly!"

"Well, wolves or no wolves, if it is disturbing the peace our appointed knight of the realm should be looking into it," Princess Hilda of Lorule said.

Her crimson eyes flicked over to said knight of the realm, even if he wasn't acting like it. Ravio might have looked the part, wearing armor stamped with the royal sigil of Lorule. It was an impressive enough sight that most never minded the lack of a sword at his back. However, instead of standing at duty, he was slouching, idly tugging at his scarf and wishing the audience would be over.

Hilda cleared her throat and tapped her staff on the ground, making Ravio jump nervously. As carefree as he was, he did not like testing Hilda's temper.

"Yess, your Grace?" Ravio asked.

"The Blacksmith brought his problem personally to the castle, Ravio. And I say, you must look into it this time," Hilda said, emphasizing her last two words.

Ravio groaned. Hilda was annoyed that the Blacksmith had to bring this problem up personally. Okay, so he was the knight of the realm, but that did not mean he had to solve every problem his neighbors had, right?

Then again, it seemed like a monster was involved.

~~~~~~~

The bushes underneath the trees rustled, and as Ravio followed close, he saw a pair of eyes looking out at him from the shadows. They glowed as they caught the light, and Ravio hesitated - human eyes did not glow like that, which could only mean this was a monster.

He quickly grabbed his Hookshot, and fired - the claw shot through the air. The beast leapt clear, but was too slow by just a second and caught a glancing blow. Ravio heard a yelp, and some footsteps going away. Ravio gave chase - even a glancing blow from a Hookshot was enough to give the most hardened monster some pause. And a pause was all he needed for another shot, and whatever his faults, Ravio had a good eye. Again the Hookshot pierced the air, and this time he scored a direct hit. Ravio knew it from the way the Hookshot had struck.

He hurried after the beast and came into the circle of trees, where he found something lying limp on the ground.

"Got you," Ravio murmured to himself, grabbing his bow. He readied an arrow at the beast, and was about to loose the projectile when the beast twitched and groaned - but the groan did not sound at all beastly.

Ravio dropped the bow and came close - yes, now that he was near he could see a hand peeking out from underneath some clothing. Perhaps a humanoid monster? But in the next moment he heard a soft whisper, and the creature went still. Ravio dropped to his knees beside the figure and turned him over, gasping at what he found. The "monster" was a lad his age, covered in a dirty old cloak. He couldn't see much of the boy's face as it was covered in grime and dirty blonde hair that spilled over one side of his face, but it was definitely a human.

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

All he got as a response was a sigh. Ravio's blood went cold, remembering how the boy had gone still. Ravio dropped his head onto the boy's chest, and listened hard - it was faint, but there was breath and a heartbeat within him.

Moving quickly, Ravio pulled up a bottle of Red Potion and carefully tipped it to the boy's lips - he was unresponsive at first, but when Ravio put a drop of potion to his lips, the lad's tongue licked it away. Very, very carefully, Ravio put a small amount to the boy's mouth, and he swallowed it. In this way, the boy finished the bottle of red potion, which brought back some color to his face.

"Hey, hold on, okay? Stay with me, here," Ravio said. He slung the boy's arm over his shoulders, and putting his own arm around the boy's hip, he stood up. The boy's head leaned limply into Ravio's shoulder, and Ravio fought the urge to sneeze - the guy smelled bad - like he'd been sleeping in the wilds and rolled through mud, kind of bad.

The lad was dead weight, and Ravio had a hard time pulling him along. It was with relief that Ravio heard the Blacksmith calling.

"Ahoy! What have you got there? The beast?"

"Nah, I clobbered the beast good, it should stay away. But I found a stranger, he clearly needs help," Ravio reported. The knight's normally jolly tone was urgent and the Blacksmith knew he wasn't goofing around.

"Alright, here I go! Phew, this one needs a bath," the Blacksmith grunted as he scooped the boy up easily.

"And a good meal - he feels almost dead," Ravio panted, relieved at having the weight off his shoulders.

"Bother, the house is full of weapons to be shipped - we should put him in your house, yeah?" the Blacksmith said.

"Mine!?" Ravio said in dismay.

"Of course. You helped him, you have to see it through," the Blacksmith said.

"Oh, I guess. He better pay rent," Ravio muttered.

For all of Ravio's words he was anxious for the boy and was relieved when the Blacksmith put him into his own bed.

~~~~~~

The boy wandered back inside, shrugging off his cloak. Ravio looked up with a smile and then gasped in surprise - with the grime wiped away, he could have sworn the face he was looking at was his own.

Well, not quite - the stranger's hair was blond and his eyes were blue. Also, he had seriously dark bags under his eyes and hollow cheeks, like he had missed many good meals and nights of sleep.

"Whoa - wow, this is a shocker - talk about seeing your twin," Ravio said.

The boy looked blankly at him.

"…look .are you really just speechless with shock all the time?" Ravio asked.

The boy shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"Well, nothing for it. Here, maybe some food will loosen you up. You look faint with hunger," Ravio said.

The boy nodded gratefully, and dropped himself into one of the chairs at the table.

Ravio brought out a plate, filled with goods from the castle - bread, butter, fried eggs and apple slices. He had a feeling that the boy was hungry, and he was right - though the lad tried to restrain himself for politeness, he gulped down the meal as if famished. Ravio busied himself with cleaning his kitchen, which was a little dusty.

“Well, you look much better now that you had a bite or ten in you,” Ravio said as the boy set down his spoon and fork with a sigh.

~~~~~~~~~

"Well Ravio, have you considered one thing?"

"What?" Ravio asked, shifting uncomfortably at seeing Hilda's raised eyebrow.

"That maybe…you're talking way too much to give space," Hilda said tartly.

"Hey!" Ravio said in indignation. Hilda didn't show any outward signs of amusement, but Ravio knew her long enough to know that her eyes were smiling at the joke. It almost made the little jab worth it.

"Anyway, I shall go see this stranger, see if I can loosen his tongue," Hilda said.

The response however, was far more dramatic than the two expected. On seeing Hilda enter the room, the boy's eyes widened, and he hurriedly dropped to one knee and put his hand on his chest in a knight's bow. Hilda and Ravio traded glances.

"Please stand, good sir. I heard from Ravio about your appearance…but please, tell us more about yourself," Hilda said.

The boy raised his head, but looked down again and sadly shook his head. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out. He raised his hands and folded them in front of his throat.

"Ah, so you cannot speak…I'm sorry to have asked it without consideration," Hilda said.

The boy shook his head as if trying to reassure her there was no offense.

~~~~~~~~

A stone statue stood inside the blasted courtyard. Even petrified, the beauty of the strange lass was not marred at all - her form perfectly captured in rock. She would have looked lovely if it weren't for the expression of horror on her face. The wolf circled the statue, and Ravio read a great sadness in Link's blue eyes.

Ravio drew close and saw, among the petrified waves of the lass's hair, a crown, and her dress bore a banner displaying a royal crest similar to Lorule's.

The wolf sat down, facing the statue, before raising his head and giving off a lonely howl.

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Aaaand that's it. I have a few more ideas to toss into this (Link and Ravio searching for the lost Master Sword of Lorule? Hilda facing off against Ganon?) but I highly doubt I can add anything more weighty to this. I don't even have a proper explanation for why Link turns into a wolf (though in my mind, what's happened to Hyrule is a similar situation to the Twilight, where time has stopped and the souls of Hylians are left as wandering, dazed wraiths.) I might post other writing scraps if I feel like it?

#oh look it's actually writing #like the thing I studied #man I'm so dried up when it comes to words #legend of zelda #a link between worlds #albw #link #ravio #zelda #hilda #gonna drop this and go

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shyampyari · 4 years

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1/4/23/28/30 ! For the ask game

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

More cereals. I live for the crunch (till it's still there)

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

I don't drink a lot of tea but I'm a coffee how. I love herbal tea and lemon tea and my mom mostly makes those for me. For coffee I make this paste (with coffee, sugar and some water) and it can be stored in fridge for around a week and I could just enter the kitchen anytime of the day and THE COFFEE MONSTER NEEDS HER- oh, there it is.

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

Sing or sketch. If im done with those I'll prolly bake. Growing up, my mom was very strict about wasting time and every time she would spot me doing nothing, she would give me something to do or probably just tell me to study. So every time, even now, if I'm doing nothing, this invisible force comes and smacks my head and goes 'kuch kaam karo, nalayak'

28: sunrise or sunset?

Sunset. It holds a promise, some hope too. Like telling you, 'today was done and you would not have to do it again ❤'

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

Ok so around this time last year, my brother's school sent these medical forms that required him to get an immunity injection. Every student from his grade was supposed to get that injection. My parents could not get it done that weekend so I had to get him the injection before class on Monday ( my coaching is in his school campus and the school is a 10 min walk from the hospital). It started off fine, I had around 45 min to get to my class and we were pretty early at the hospital so there was no rush.

My brother didn't even flinch at the injection (he is 8) and while I was looking for the report in my bag so the doc could sign it, my brother pulled me by my elbow and went 'my head hurts, I might throw up' before I could ask him what's wrong, he fainted in my arms (he kept saying 'didi' like I were going away from him). I started panicking in the worst possible way I could imagine. The nurse came to me and took him inside and gave me something to drink (apparently I was having a panic attack and I didn't notice I wasn't breathing). The other women around me tried to console me and then it hit me, how am I going to tell mom?( I mentally started chanting krishna's name and wishing this was just a dream)

I ran inside, people stopped me but I did anyway. Some people yelled at me and the other where yelling at the people yelling at me. My brother was seated on a bed, his oxygen level was being check, but he conscious again.

Apparently his blood pressure had fell severely. He had not eaten his breakfast properly and that did go well with the injection.

I dropped him home, decided he deserves to rest after this. He had cried in my arms after the nurse left him but I cried HARDER.

The sheer terror that I felt in that moment, I don't think I've felt something like that ever before or after. Watching a part of my heart pass out in front of my eyes probably the scariest thing that I could happen to me.

Thanks for the ask❤

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 5 years

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I just got caught up in all of the Heart to Heart stuff. Anyway, my first thought goes to neurological or perception differences. Like, I have aphantasia, meaning I can't make mental images. If one of those two had it (I've been headcanoning Shouta lately), then that will completely change how they are able to process their thoughts. I would prolly be overwhelmed and cry if it were me and I'd be able to SEE things in my mind? Imagine that kind of dramatic experience with these two.

I read and Erasermic short fic about Shouta having aphantasia and I fell in love with it and I’m now 80% it was a fic you wrote! Nevermind, double checked and I was right, you did write it - and holy crap I loved it! It was really interesting to read about those types of perception changes, and boy howdy do I have some idea of my own.

With Hizashi the man’s quirk builds up if he doesn’t use it or doesn’t talk for a long period of time and that buildup attacks his thoughts and makes his thoughts louder, harder to deal with, and it’s difficult to think things through or slow them down. There is no logical and calm thinking when, in any moment of silence, his mind is screaming at him in bits of words, song lyrics, and sounds - which is something my brain does! I have to constantly have some sort of background noise to focus on or my brain starts mixing together a jumble of words and sounds that are very, very loud!

Hizashi also has hearing problems, due to an accident in his youth with his quirk, and light sensitivity to the degree that he’ll get a headache or eye strain if he spends too long around bright lights or unfiltered devices. (Unfiltered meaning all my devices have a night light mode on at all times and the brightness dimmed as much as I comfortably can. I also write with black text on a dark grey background in Google Docs sometimes.)

Now with Shouta.

Shouta has insomnia and I also see him as having a form of narcolepsy that makes him pass out a lot during the daytime, hence all his naps in canon. He’s trained his body to react before his mind does because his mind is often slower. He’s not stupid in any terms, as we’ve seen, but I feel like there’s sometimes a processing delay in words and questions.

I also see him as having chronic pain and a lot of scar tissue he has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Most of the times it’s okay, but if he goes too long without sleep or pushes himself too much, that’s when the pain settles in. And guess,,, what he always,,,, does. Also, I can see him having a degree of color blindness? Like all the colors look dimmer or some are washed out completely into a greyscale, like darker browns and such.

So now we have these two panicking.

Hizashi is suddenly in a body that has a quiet, delayed way of processing, his body is constantly hurting, a bunch of scars make him tense up in pain, there’s the dry eye to deal with, and all the colors suddenly look washed out, he can’t sleep, and yet he keeps passing out. Hizashi can’t even work himself into a panic attack because Shouta’s body just isn’t as susceptible to the way Hizashi’s type of panic works. Shouta’s panic is slower and calmer and tends to shut him down mentally.

And then you have Shouta who suddenly is thinking too much too fast and can’t understand what anyone is saying because his thoughts are all over the place and he just can’t catch all the words at once. His hearing is completely shot, his vision is absolute shit and looking at his phone hurts what the hell, he constantly feels like there’s something ready to shake him to pieces, and he wants nothing more than to just scream and why can he not handle silence.

Lmao, they hate it so much.

#aizawa shouta #yamada hizashi #heart to heart #tagging their names because these are most of my headcanons for them #megers67

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princess-julianna · 6 years

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Flashback RP

Keith would just shrug and jokingly be like “yeah she beats me up all the time too...but really, what happened to ya?” "She really beat me. She tried to /kill/ me, I think." *raises eyebrows* “we’re talkin’ ‘bout the girl that puts bugs outside because she don’t have the heart ta squish ‘em.” "She does that- yeah. Her. My height, blonde. Yeah. Jay and I were out in the yard and she came tearing at me." “...I still ain’t sure we’re talkin’ bout the same Peach here. I left a damn lobster on her bed once and she was in tears fer /hours/.....what were ya doin’ that made ‘er so mad?” He thought hard for a moment before throwing his hands up. “Ya got me beat, man. Yer gonna hafta call in a Peach expert fer that one.” "Where's one of those." “Well if El ain’t hear ya’ll fightin’ he’s prolly not around. Ya can try tha shop, or ask yer girl ta call her sister.” He offered with a shrug. Bigby wiped some of the trailing blood off of his face, swaying his feet a bit in thought. "He have a phone I can contact him?" “Hell, use mine. You tell ‘im somethin’ happened with ‘is Peach an’ he’ll fly over here in a hot minute,” he mused, pulling out his phone and handing it to the shorter man as he plopped down next to him. "Thanks." The wolf quickly tapped out a message to Ellis To: El From: Keith Hey, this is Bigby, mind telling my why your girlfriend would attack me? "And sent." Jayne sat Jules down gently on her bed. "You okay?" Keith sat back, folding his hands behind his head and looking up at the sky. “And now we wait.” Julie didn’t respond, hugging herself and staring into space. To: My Buddy From: Ellis What do ya mean? What were you doin? "Do you know what just happened?" Keith took the phone back this time, composing his own message. To: El Yer wife is on a killin spree apparently and Jay stopped her “...H-He was gonna hurt you, I couldn’t let him.” She finally looked at the redhead. “It was him again.” To: My Buddy Wait, hold on. You mean /my/ Peach was on a killing spree. Jayne's hard eyes softened as she gently put her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "Oh, Peach..." she looked down a moment. "It wasn't him, it wasn't. Out in the yard just now, that was Bigby." To: El That’s what *I* said. I told him bout the lobster story and everything and he still says she was the one comin after him. I’m thinkin you wanna be a part of this Julie flinched slightly, recoiling. “No, I /saw/ him. He came after you just like he did last time, and last time I couldn’t do anything,” she spoke quickly, shaking her head. “It was /him/.” To: My Buddy Are you okay with me leavin the shop? I can be back there. Jay pulled back, opting to crouch in front of her. "No, honey. That monster is gone. Who you saw was Bigs, he's kinda like me. He wasn't gonna hurt me, though I appreciate knowing you'll have my back." “You ain’t dead yet, are ya?” Keith asked nonchalantly, glancing at the man beside him. To: El I don’t think he’s dead yet, but yeah. Don’t want ya to be disappointed when ya get here She looked away again, running a rough, shaky hand through her hair. “He’s g-gone,” she reaffirmed to herself, leaning forward to hold her head in her hands. “And I hurt Bigby.” "Hmm?" Caramel eyes wondered lazily over to the redhead. "Don't think I've bled out yet." He mumbled, losing him in thought. To: My Buddy Disappointed? What about? I'll leave Dave in charge. Jay relaxed a bit in front of her. "Don't worry, he'll be okay, he's a Fable. I'll take care of him soon enough. But I wanna make sure /you're/ okay." Keith nodded with a small hum of acknowledgement. To El: Well I told ya that she’s been killin people but she only tried to kill one guy and he ain’t really dead...Nevermind, it don’t matter. That’s fine “Go help him.” Julie looked at the redhead again, nodding anxiously. “G-Go, I hurt him. He needs help,” she murmured, eyes ready to spill over with tears. To: My Buddy I'll be there in bout ten minutes "He's okay, he's not the one on the verge of tears." She sighed "I should have warned you, but it slipped my mind..." “Can you stay alive fer bout ten minutes?” Keith inquired in a casual tone. “I mean, if yer gonna die he might be expectin’ it, but you should hang on ta tell ‘im about what happened.” She wiped her eyes with the inside of her wrist. “I don’t think it would have prepared me,” she murmured, sniffling lightly. “It’s not /your/ fault,” she added, leaning forward and looking down with a shaky sigh of her own. Bigby sent Keith a deadpan expression, leaning against the bed wall with a grunt toward his ribs. "It'd be a damn shame." "Maybe not, but I should have told you my boyfriend was a big brown wolf." She murmured. Keith glanced the smaller man over. “You alright?” He asked more seriously this time. “She really did a number on you...” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe we oughta git you some ice or somethin’?” He offered. “He needs your help. You need to go help him.” She responded, avoiding the redhead’s statement. “Tell him-“ she paused, thinking. “-t-tell him-“ she stopped again, biting her lip and holding her head again as tears leaked from her eyes. “I don’t know what to tell him,” she cried quietly hugging her knees to her chest. "Hunky dory." He huffed, pulling out his Huff&Puffs, stamping the carton on the heel of his palm and grasping the one that popped out between his teeth. He struggled for a moment to grab his lighter, and took in a deep breath. "I've had worse." He mumbled "at least she didn't use silver." "You could just tell him the truth, he's actually pretty understanding." She offered. "How else do you think he could handle me?" She tried to lighten the mood. Keith smirked lightly at his response. “Aw, hell....don’ tell me yer a stick up prick like Nick who don’t deal in nothin’ but gold,” he mused jokingly. “So I guess that’s a real thing, huh? Think it’s the same fer Jay too, if she were ta git hit with one?” He asked curiously. “Now?” She questioned. “I can’t, Jay...” she murmured, wiping her eyes again. “He probably thinks I’m nuts and he’s probably pissed off...” She paused, glancing to the window. “I was so excited that you found someone who you really connect with, and I really wanted him to feel welcomed here...so much for that.” "Not unless she's infected with lycanthropy as well." He responded, blowing a cloud. Of smoke the other way. "Sounds like Ellis is here." He murmured. "Not now, but at another time." She waved off her concerns "he's perpetually like that, it's just his face." A soft smile came to her face. "If a fight scares him off, then I don't think he deserves the title 'The Big Bad Wolf'." "Not unless she's infected with lycanthropy as well." He responded, blowing a cloud. Of smoke the other way. "Sounds like Ellis is here." He murmured. "Not now, but at another time." She waved off her concerns "he's perpetually like that, it's just his face." A soft smile came to her face. "If a fight scares him off, then I don't think he deserves the title 'The Big Bad Wolf'." “Nah, see, I used ta think she was inta girls too, on accounta tha fact that she used to talk about bangin’ Jules all the time-“ He paused at Bigby’s statement, looking up. “Huh?” She listened, smiling lightly at the redhead’s responses with a nod and relaxing slightly. “I just...I need a couple of minutes,” she murmured, taking a deep breath. "What-no, that's not what that means." He sighed, shaking his head. "I can head his truck." He stated plainly. Jayne stood up. "I'm gonna check on him. If yer okay." Keith let out a low whistle. “Man, it must be cool ta have goodass hearing like that,” he mused, looking up with a wave as his buddy’s truck approached. Julie nodded, taking another breath. “Just, let him know...” she trailed off, looking up at the redhead with pleading eyes. "If I weren't smoking I could probably tell you everything in it as well." He smirked lightly, snubbing out the cigarette on Jay's tailgate as Ellis pulled up. "I will, hun." Jayne kissed her forehead before going to get the medical kit. “Hey, so, what do dragons smell like? Like, without all the garage grease or farm stank an’ shit?” He teased somewhat loudly, shooting a sly grin towards his best friend. The blonde smiled again, watching the redhead. After a moment she laid on her side, staring into space again. Bigby tilted his head back, sniffing the air as Ellis got out of the truck. "Mildly of sulfur, something sweet, probably the soap of his wife's he used,-" he paused "pine, and clean cotton are pretty present, but campfire too." He added in thought. "Ya can tell I used her soap this morning?" Jayne peeked in on her one last time. "Chin up, hun." She murmured, heading outside to Bigby. Keith laughed, lightly smacking Bigby’s arm (forgetting about his condition). “Maaaaan, he /nailed/ you brother!” He looked over as Jay came outside. “Hey Sis, ya gotta come listen ta yer boyfriend describe El,” he chuckled out. Julie hummed in response with a small smile, curling up and taking a breath before zoning out again. The smaller male hissed, yanking back as a dangerous amber flashed in his eyes. "Hey, bro, you gotta stop hittin' my boyfriend right now." She huffed, moving the taller's legs. "Hey, Ellis." She murmured. "You oughtta go talk to Jules, she's pretty shook up." Ellis nodded, waving as he headed to the house. Jayne set up the kit, rustling through it. "C'mere Bigs." She murmured, encouraging him to scoot to the end of the tailgate again. “Whoops...” Keith smiled sheepishly, moving out of the way. “He gonna live, Doc?” He mused, crossing his arms. “....Y’all still never told me what ya did ta make Peach so upset.” The blonde flinched slightly when she heard the new noise out of the silence, sitting up with a start and staring towards the door. She gripped the comforter, knitting her eyebrows slightly as faint silhouettes of markings began to appear on her skin. Jayne elected to ignore Keith for the moment. "She didn't mean to hurt you." She murmured, working the buttons of his shirt. Bigby cocked a brow at her, slowly pulling off his tie. "What does that mean." He inquired gently. "It means it was an accident." She stated "it ain't really my place ta tell the whole story." She spoke, pushing his shirt off and setting to work with the bottle of alcohol. She finally answered Keith. "Bigby's a big brown wolf." She explained. Ellis looked around. "Peach?" He called out gently, heading towards their room. Keith watched her, listening to her explanation to Bigby. He smacked himself lightly in realization after a moment. “Oh, shit...I guess that /does/ explain a lot,” he murmured in a surprisingly serious tone. She relaxed somewhat at his voice, but still let out a shaky half-sob as she laid back down. “Muffins...” she mumbled, knowing he’d hear her anyway. Keith watched her, listening to her explanation to Bigby. He smacked himself lightly in realization after a moment. “Oh, shit...I guess that /does/ explain a lot,” he murmured in a surprisingly serious tone. She relaxed somewhat at his voice, but still let out a shaky half-sob as she laid back down. “Muffins...” she mumbled, knowing he’d hear her anyway. “...On the flip side, y’all could best friends as long as ya don’t turn into a big brown wolf in front o’ her again,” he offered with a chipper smile. “Maaaan, those’re gonna be some good ones.” He leaned forward, looking over Bigby’s wounds. She curled up tighter and covered her face with her arms, biting her lip to stop herself from crying. “Is Bigby okay? Is Jayne with him?” She asked avoidingly. The smaller looked over at Keith again a 'really?' Look on his face. "It's not like I couldn't handle it, but it shocked the shit outta me." He admitted, tensing as his girlfriend applied some butterfly stitches to the cut across his cheek. "I /don't hate/ her. If she has a reason, she does, I guess..." he looked down. "Quit yer movin'." Jay scolded. "Fine, sorry." He returned to his previous position "I just hate to scare her." "He's alright, he's a bit scraped up, but he'll be right as rain in no time." He replied softly "yeah, Miss Jay is helpin' out." Ellis smoothed a gentle hand across her back. “Well, yeah...like I said, Peach ain’t exactly the heavyweight champ...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Only thing I ever think she gets upset about is when someone messes with one o’ us.” He glanced to Jay, unsure if he should say more. She flinched slightly when he touched her, but settled again right after. “I hurt him, El....I hurt him because I didn’t want him to hurt /her/...” She sniffled a little, wiping her eyes. "I don't want her to think I'm some monster. .." he mumbled, shifting for Jay to dress his other wounds. Jayne locked eyes with Keith for a moment. "It's alright, Peach." The dragon murmured softly "he's okay, and so is she..." “It ain’t /you/ though, man...I think she thought-“ He paused, bracing himself just in case. “-you were someone else,” he finally spoke. “She ain’t one ta judge. It was prolly just a panic.” “I couldn’t stop myself,” she murmured through tears. “He turns into a big brown wolf...just like-“ She stopped, sitting up so she could properly wipe her face. “I wanted to kill him. I was /going to/ kill him,” she cried, holding her head. The auburn haired man sighed. "That's better than it being /me./" he mused. Jayne finished placing the last bit of gauze, and grabbed a wet wipe to clean off the blood from his face. "Jules is tha most accepting of all of us, honestly." She offered "She just didn't know." "But you didn't. Yer both okay, you can explain it whenever you're ready." He said softly "but he'll want to know that it wasn't /him/." “Yeah, I’m sure she loves ya!” Keith added. “...Jus’ maybe don’t turn into a giant wolf ‘round her fer a lil’ while,” he added with a sheepish laugh. The blonde sighed, pushing her hair back and taking a deep, shaky breath. “Lord knows how I’m going to do that,” she mumbled. “How do you apologize to someone for /intentionally/ trying to kill them?...I really wanted him to feel welcomed here....” Bigby's eyes slid over to Keith, frowning. "It's not like it was planned." He grumbled. "I bet has been, I mean, Hell, even Nick seems ta git along with him. If you told him /why/, I'm more than confident he'll understand." Ellis gently rubbed her back "do you want me to tell 'im?" “Then what happened? Were y’all /actually/ fightin’?” The tall redhead cocked a brow. “Because that’s /definitely/ gonna make Jules hop in and defend one o’ her girls.” “I do but I don’t...” She covered her face, leaning against her husband. “/I/ need to explain it...I need to talk to him alone. I just don’t know how.” "Nah... I mean, I jumped on him, it threw us in the yard though." Jayne murmured, packing up since she was satisfied with her work. "We /were/ transformed, though." Bigby offered. "Do-do ya want me to send him in here?" Ellis asked softly. "I can if ya want, but don't rush yerself." “Well then that’s just it then, she saw ya’ll havin’ yer lil scuffle, an’ probably panicked since it looked like when ya’ll were attacked by that other dude, right?” He asked obliviously, proud of himself for figuring out his logic. “...If he’s up to it.” The blonde finally looked up at Ellis. “If he doesn’t want to talk to me...I understand,” she murmured sadly. The smaller man glanced at him in confusion as he tugged his shirt back on, setting to work on the buttons. "Wait, you guys were attacked by someone like me?" Ellis kissed her forehead "I'll go git 'im, remember I'm here if ya need anything, hun." He murmured gently “Not /me/...Jus’ tha girls, an’ El, an’....Peach.” He shrank slightly, now realizing how much he’d babbled. “Yeah, it jus’...I heard it wasn’t a fun day,” he spoke in an uncharacteristically serious tone, rubbing the back of his neck and shooting Jay an awkward side glance. “I know...I love you,” she responded, standing. She placed her hands on his shoulders, gently resting her forehead against his and closing her eyes. After a few long moments she pulled away, heading towards the kitchen and trying to start up the coffee maker with still shaky hands. Jayne placed his tie back around his neck and fixed his collar, gently resting her hands against his neck. "It was a hard night for everyone involved." She sighed. Bigby tilted his head slightly as he looked up at her. "You'll need ta ask her for specifics." "I love ya too." Ellis leaned into her as well, cherishing the moment. He followed after her, softly steadying her hands before heading out to the yard Keith glanced between the two unsurely, looking over when he noticed Ellis and standing up. “Everythin’ okay, brother?” She smiled softly, watching him out the door before returning to her task. She put a kettle of water on, reaching into the cabinet for two mugs. She set one mug at one end of the table, staring at it in thought as her fingers curled around the remaining one in her hands. Jayne and Bigby both directed their attention to Ellis upon Keith's announcement. "Yeah, um, she was wonderin' if you'd be willin' ta talk to her, Bigs." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck. The auburn haired male briefly looked up at Jay before nodding. "Yeah... yeah, I'll talk to her." Jay gave a slight nod in approval, moving so he could get down. Keith walked over to Ellis, crossing his arms and watching Bigby. “Well that’s a start I guess...right?” The blonde finally moved to make herself a cup of tea, setting it at the opposite end of the table to steep. She grabbed the ready pot of coffee, walking over to carefully pour it in the other mug she’d pulled out for Bigby. Bigby carefully hopped out of the El Camino. "Where's she at?" He inquired to the taller. "She's in the kitchen, waitin' fer ya." He nodded his thanks and continued to the farmhouse. “...If ya need backup ya know where to find us!” Keith called after him, trying to lighten the mood a little. Julie set the coffee pot down, moving over to sit at her end of the table. She held onto her teacup, staring down at it in anxious thought as she tried to mentally prepare on how to explain herself. He gave a small wave in acknowledgement before he got to the door. "Jules?" He called softly through the screen "is it alright if I come in?" Julie looked up, blinking for a moment. “Y-Yeah, yes. Please....” She called in response, thinking about getting up to greet him but deciding to stay where she was so as to not give any indications of being a threat. "How're ya doing?" He asked somewhat awkwardly after he let himself in. Bigby hazard a glance in her direction with a small smile, not wanting to frighten her. “Better than you, I’m sure,” she murmured guiltily, looking him over before meeting his eyes again. “You don’t have to sit if you don’t want to, but I poured you some coffee...if you want,” she added, sitting up a little straighter. "I'm alright, still kicking." He offered. "Uh, thanks." He nodded, pulling out the chair and grasping the mug, the hot ceramic a welcome feeling She watched him, trying to offer a small smile. “...Jay told me you weren’t always like this,” she began somewhat apprehensively. “I wasn’t either.” He took a sip of his coffee, his lighter suddenly feeling very heavy in his pocket he opted to leave it. "You mean human?" He looked up from his mug "no, I wasn't." “Well, I mean just different from how you used to be....I /was/ human.” She paused, looking at her mug in thought. “...Did they tell you anything?....About me?” She inquired, looking back up at him. "Not much, I know there was apparently an... /incident/, involving a brown wolf?" He relaxed lightly in his chair, dark eyes focused on her. "That and that you set bugs free." He added a bit lightheartedly. A smile finally came to the blonde’s face. “Yeah, that’s who I am normally....I want you to know that,” she responded, the last statement in a more serious tone. “I’m no killer. Even when I help the girls I just don’t have it in me. But what happened outside just now...” She looked up at him with guilty eyes. “I want you to know that it wasn’t because of you....I’m so sorry,” her voice cracked lightly as she spoke. He quickly averted his gaze, unsure how to properly handle other's emotions. "I'm still here, aren't I?" He inquired. "It's alright..." he offered lamely. "I didn't mean to scare you." “At this point I think I’m more scared of /me/...” Her grip on her mug tightened as she stared down at her tea. “If Jay hadn’t jumped back in...I don’t know what I would have done to you...” She wiped teary eyes on her sleeve. “I just panicked. I thought you were going to hurt her like last time.” He stared at her for a moment. "If-if you don't mind me asking, what /did/ happen?" He asked gently. She pushed her hair back, sitting back in her chair and taking a breath. “There was this demon they had been hunting in the area before all this...before Ellis was a dragon, before I had magic...” She stared at the table as she spoke. “He went after them, at first as a big brown wolf...and then he just kept changing. Ellis grabbed his shotgun, and I came out to help too. Obviously I was just useless and got in the way...But because the girls were so dead set on protecting me, this guy decided to /target/ me...” Bigby's eyes widened for a flicker of a second, realization hitting him. "And when you saw me..." he trailed off, understanding why she had had such a violent reaction. "I didn't know." “You shouldn’t have /needed/ to know...It wasn’t your fault. I just had this panic that he was back, and I knew what he was capable of...” She trailed off, wiping her eyes again. “I was stuck in this frenzy where I knew that I couldn’t afford to stand by and be useless again...I couldn’t let him kill again.” The wolf's face softened. "You were only protecting your family..." he looked down. "I know exactly what you mean." He added. "In another time you wouldn't have really been off base to attack me." He avoided looking at her at this. She frowned, looking up at him again. “But this is /now/. I shouldn’t have just /assumed/...It was like my mind snapped and went blank of everything except for that day, and the only thing I could think about was killing you before you killed another person...” She held her head, sniffling a little. “I didn’t even know who you /really/ were, and I was ready to just do it, no hesitation...I’ve never /ever/ felt like that before...It was terrifying.” He frowned, wanting to comfort her but unsure on how to. Bigby offered his hand over the table, not moving too fast, and letting it sit there if she wished to grasp it. "You're not like that from what I've learned. You had a PTSD break it sounds like, and that's not your fault." She looked up when he moved, glancing to his hand before her eyes came to his again. She smiled softly, leaning over to place her hand in his. “Do you think you could give me another chance?” "If you could give me one." He returned gently. "I'll try not to... transform, if I can unnecessarily around you for a while." He added, giving a small squeeze to her hand. “Of course, that’s the least I can do....” She smiles lightly, shaking her head. “Well, now I know...As long as you give me like...a warning, or something. I should be fine,” she assured him, standing up. “...Thank you. So much. I’m glad you don’t hate me.” Bigby followed her lead. "I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled "of all people, what am I to judge you on one action." He replied, a seriousness in his tone. "I don't hate you." He looked over at her "you're a fuck lot stronger than you look though." She laughed a little at that. “I like to think so....I’m glad someone else does. I feel like I’m the meek one of the group.” She walked around to his side. “Everyone is allowed to make mistakes I guess....Do you, uh-...Do you do hugs, or...?” She smiled sheepishly. A playful glint hit his eye. "I'm sure I could make an exception." He offered albeit a bit awkwardly. "I'm glad you wanted to talk." The blonde smiled, carefully wrapping her arms around him, mindful of his injuries. “...I didn’t do /too/ bad to you...did I?” She asked quietly, her frown returning as she looked over the bandages Jay had placed on him. "Don't worry about it, I heal quickly." He offered her a small smile "Perks of being a Fable I guess. give me a day or two, I'll be fine." He scratched his stubble out of habit "just as long as you don't use silver." He semi joked. “I’ll definitely try to avoid that then.” She glanced to the window, sighing. “I really don’t want to make a big scene...Not any bigger than I already have, anyway,” she mumbled, picking up her tea and moving to lean against the counter. “You can go back out if you want...Or you guys can all come in now. I’m done,” she murmured guiltily, sipping her drink and looking down. Bigby decided to pick up his mug, and stand with her. "No sense in wasting a good cup of coffee." He replied, taking a drink. "Everything's alright." “I don’t know if it’s /actually/ any good...I’m not a coffee person. It’s whatever Ellis drinks in the morning.” She smiled sheepishly with a shrug, happy that he decided to stay. She sighed, taking a sip of her tea. “I’m glad /you’re/ alright...I don’t know about everything else.” He chuckled "he's got a good choice." Brown eyes slid over to the blonde beside him. "I'm okay, no worse than what I'd receive from the job in Fabletown." He waved off. “You’re not the only one I’ve done this to.” She shrank a little. “It kind of sucks when your powers are so affected by emotion.” Bigby let out a bark of laughter. "You should see me when other Fables-or Jay for that matter- push my buttons." He grinned "it's all amber eyes, sharp teeth, claws and it looks like I haven't shaved in weeks. Emotion triggered powers, I get." She was quiet for a few moments. “I got frustrated by the way my best friend dealt with her enemies and tried to overthrow her by killing her and both of her sisters,” she stated, staring straight ahead. “That’s how I repaid them for /literally/ bringing me back from the dead.” He watched her for a few moments before looking back into his mug. "I was the runt, so full of spite that when my father, and brothers left and my mother died I vowed to kill something bigger each day." He looked back at her "I /ate/ people." She stared at the floor, listening. After a moment she scooched closer to him, looping her arm under his and taking a sip of her tea wordlessly. He turned his gaze to the floor as well, continuing to drink his coffee, not disturbing the oddly comfortable silence that had settled. “....I think-“ She finally started after a few moments, trying to compose her words. “-that all of this sort of /comes/ with these lifestyles. Like, there’s suddenly this ultimatum of good versus bad, but sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which...and sometimes that decision is made /for/ you...” She murmured, thinking again. “...Ellis has issues with snapping too.” She looked up at him. He considered staying silent for a moment. "I'm not so sure it's 'snapping' more than letting temper and instinct get away..." he mumbled. "I've been trying, /really/ trying these last centuries to atone for what I've done." “I’d say it’s working...How else could I have attacked you so brutally and come away with hardly a scratch?” She looked up at him. “I was about to kill you.” "I couldn't kill you." He replied. "I know who you are, and you gave an indication to being ruthless. There was no explanation, and if I killed you?" He shook his head “And don’t you think the old Bigby might have saved his own butt first and asked questions later?” She looked up at him, a small smile visible in her eyes. He looked back to her and shrugged 'fair enough' written on his features. "You're not wrong, I suppose. " She laughed a little, nodding. “I have to be honest...I really didn’t know what to expect when Jayne first introduced you to us. I don’t know if you’ve realized but she’s a little, uh...unpredictable.” She took another sip of her tea. “But I think you two might ground each other a little.” Bigby snorted into his mug. "That's putting it mildly." He interjected, looking at her as she continued. "I'm not so predictable myself." He crossed one leg "I wasn't sure if you guys were going to be... aware? Of magic, or a bunch of Mundies. If we're being honest." “Luckily for you, you kind of came around at a good time. You missed what was probably the /biggest/ shitshow we’ve gone through....But Ellis and I are getting used to being like this. Well, despite a few hiccups, I guess,” she murmured sheepishly. “Nick isn’t a hundred percent on board with it, but he tolerates it.” "Ellis seems to be as natural as if he were born with it. If I couldn't smell it, I'd think him a Fable." He took another sip of his coffee. "No? He isn't magical from what I can tell. You /voluntarily/ keep a mundy around?" Julie smiled, shaking her head. “I think Ellis actually likes it, being so strong and stuff...He was kind of a protector as it was. This just makes it easier for him.” She laughed sheepishly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s not like we could just kick Nick out. If that were the case he and Trinny couldn’t be together....And despite how much of an ass he can be, he’s a part of this family too.” Bigby nodded, listening to her speak. "He takes the roll seriously, at least." His eyes flicked to her "he doesn't seem so bad, Nick I mean." “Yeah, Nick’s okay...I just wish he’d freaking propose already, like god /damnit/,” she huffed, gulping the rest of her tea and setting her mug in the sink. “At this rate Trinny’s probably going to have to do it for it to actually happen. Me and Ellis are gonna have like thirty kids and they’re still going to be /dating/.” She crossed her arms in a joking pout. He chuckled, thumbing his empty mug for a moment before turning to rinse it. "You guys sure do have a nice tight knit family..." he thought for a moment "I almost feel as if I'm intruding on it." He frowned. The blonde’s bright mood suddenly fell, a frown coming to her face. “....If this is because I attacked you-...” She stopped, looking at him seriously now. "No-no! Not at all." He paused, thinking on how to phrase his words. "It's almost like a pack. You all have your positions and places... I just don't quote have mine-yet." His nose crinkled at his own ramblings. "You've all been more accepting than i ever could have imagined." She smiled softly. “I’d say you found them, it’s just a matter of letting yourself in at this point...I’d be honored to have a brother like you.” His eyes locked on her as she spoke, his gaze softening. The auburn haired male shuffled silently, averting his eyes, at a loss of what to say. He opened his mouth for a moment before closing it again. "It'd be an honor to have a sister like you." He murmured almost inaudibly. She played with her fingers anxiously after a moment when he didn’t respond, looking away. Her eyes came back up to him when he finally spoke, a large smile coming to her face as she pulling him into another hug. “You’re stuck now.” Bigs stiffened for a moment, letting a puff of air out of his nose before slowly returning the hug. "Yeah?" He asked softly “I have to ask the boss if we can keep you though,” she mumbled, not letting him go. “BAE!!” She yelled towards the door. "Of course." He sighed, his arms falling to his sides. Jay popped up, turning to the farmhouse before booking it out of the bed of her car. "What!? What's wrong?" “Nothing is wrong, I have a question and I need you to come here!!” She called in response, still clinging to Bigby. “Sorry, just a sec,” she murmured to him in a jokingly formal manner. She skid to a stop in front of the door and pulled it open, immediately stopping to look at the two, her brow quarked. Bigby huffed and threw up his hands. The blonde rested her cheek on Bigby’s shoulder to look at Jay, reaching up behind him to pat his head. “Can we keep him?” She stuck her lip out in a pleading manner, shooting the redhead her best puppy dog eyes. The redhead bit down on her tongue trying not to laugh at the look on both of their faces. "I dunno, a dog is hard work, are you gonna take care of him?" She teased, grin growing at the light glow touching her boyfriend's eyes. “I mean, I take care of /you/...AND Ellis. Don’t you think that’s more than prepared me for this?” She teased, laughing a little herself. Jayne growled lightly at the comment, and Bigby's snicker. "Fine, you gotta clean up after him though The blonde abruptly released him. “Nu-uh. You can have him,” she joked, shooting him a smile. “I just think he’s a keeper.” The flush that ran across her cheeks could challenge the red of her hair. Bigby glanced at Jules before sending Jay a sheepish smile. "Guess you're stuck with me." Julie’s hand flew to cover her mouth. “Did you just-?” She bounced giddily in her spot, glancing to Bigby briefly before walking over to Jayne and placing her hands on the taller woman’s cheeks. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush in my /life/,” she whispered quietly. "Shut up!" The taller barked in embarrassment. Bigby cocked a brow, crossing his arms. "Oh, her face flushes a gorgeous shade." He prodded earning a hard glare from the redhead Julie giggled excitedly, squeezing the redhead in a tight hug. “I’m so happy,” she murmured, nuzzling against her. Jayne whined, finally giving in and hugging her back as she glared at her boyfriend while he pulled out a cigarette. She nuzzled close to the blonde. "I am too." “I’m so glad, Bae...you deserve it,” she murmured. She cleared her throat after a moment, coughing lightly and glancing behind herself at Bigby when she realized it was because he was smoking. “I, uh-..I’ll go outside,” she murmured with a sheepish smile to the redhead, hurrying towards the door. "Sorry, sorry, I'll go outside, that was a dick thing to do, I should have asked." Bigby shook his head, gently passing the blonde, holding his breath as to not let out any more smoke. “No, no! You don’t have to, I could just-“ She stuttered out, sighing and turning to Jayne with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry...” Keith slid off of the hood of Jayne’s car when he noticed Bigby coming out. “What’s all the commotion ‘bout?” He called. "Don't be, he might be a chain smoker, but he tries to be consoderate. It just slips his mind sometimes." She waved off her concern. "What commotion?" Bigby inquired with a shrug. "I forgot about the whole smoke thing She smiled again, warmly this time. “He’s really a nice guy,” she murmured, moving to sit back down at the table. “What do you think?” Keith leaned against the passenger door. “Jay shot to the house so damn quick, I thought maybe y’all was fightin’ again or somethin’.” The tall redhead shrugged. The redhead took on almost a Divi-like posture. "I think so too." She murmured, biting back a smile "I do really like him" "Oh, that." He shook his head "Julianna was just being goofy." He smiled Julie giggled lightly, leaning on the table with a bright smile. “So then, in terms of important stuff for /you/-“ She started, shifting in her seat a little and thinking on how to phrase it. “How /is/ he?” She raised her eyebrows, holding one of her cheeks with a half-embarrassed smile. Keith rolled his eyes. “El, yer wife is a permanent emotional rollercoaster,” he teased. “So everythin’ is good right?” He shot a glance toward the house before looking back at Bigby. “No hard feelings or nothin’?” A cheeky smile crossed Jayne's features. "He can be a real /animal/." She joked "it's weird, I used to the usual one-night, hard an' fast ya know?" She squirmed a bit in slight embarrassment "but he does this-this /thing/. I'm not sure what exactly, but he draws it out." Ellis threw his hands up in surrender. "She is perfect. Okay, she might have crazy emotions, but I love her." "Yeah, everything is okay." Bigby responded, flicking ash from his cigarette. Julie laughed a little at her first comment. She knitted her eyebrows together, trying to understand what the redhead was trying to explain. She sat up suddenly after a few moments. “Jay, this is going to sound super cheesy...and I don’t exactly have a lot of experience to tell you much else...but I think what you’re trying to get at is ‘love’.” “One-woman soap opera, I swear,” Keith muttered, shaking his head. “Well I’m glad ya’ll are- what was it? ‘Hunky dory’?” He snickered playfully. “Yer weird as hell man...I like you.” He gave Bigby a playful slap on the back, forgetting his injuries for the umpteenth time. The redhead froze, a deep flush working it's way up her chest and neck. "A-are ya sure?" She inquired so quietly you almost couldn't hear it. She looked down at her hands, suddenly very interested in the dry bit by her pinky nail "Might be, but she's my favorite soap opera." Ellis declared proudly. Bigby let out a growl in response to the slap. "Would you cut that shit out for today, Keith? I'm kinda sore." Julie smiled kindly. “Come here, Jay. I’m sorry,” she murmured, patting the chair next to hers. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable...I just figured that’s what you’d be more eager to talk about since that’s all you /ever/ really bring up about /my/ relationship.” Keith flinched and jumped away slightly at the growl, scooting over to stand next to Ellis with a sheepish smile. “I guess that’s why yer such a suck up then, huh El? ‘Cause ya know /that’s/ what’s gonna happen to ya if ya piss Peach off?” He gestured to Bigby. "Oh.. it's not that." She mumbled, moving to take the offered seat. "It's just. /love/?" She mulled over the word. "It's just weird, ya know? Me an' love in the same sentence." She shook her head "sex, that's something entirely else, I can cat about it all ya like." The hard glare the dragon set on Keith could freeze blood. "Don't even joke like that." He rumbled out "she ain't like that normally." Julie laughed at her last comment. “That’s what I mean...I figured that’s what you’d /want/ to talk about.” She cleared her throat, thinking a second, more seriously. “It’s not something you really need to /worry/ about. It’s feels good, right? That’s all that matters.” Keith flinched away from Ellis this time, taking a couple steps backwards with his hands up defensively. “I was jus’ teasin’, man! Promise.” "I s'pose yer right." She smiled. "/buuuuut/ if ya wanna talk sex. Oooh man." A wolfish grin spread her lips. Bigby rolled his eyes, snubbing out his cigarette. "It's a little sensitive to poke at today." The blonde rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a laugh. “Go for it...It’s the least I can do,” she mused, sitting back to lean on the table and resting her cheek in her hand. Keith rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. “Jus’ tryin’ ta lighten the mood a lil,” he mumbled, looking to the farm house. “She still upset, or...?” "Okay, so, it's fantastic." She chuckled "don't let his height fool ya." She winked. The redhead shifted to face Jules, more comfortable with the topic. Her face softened in thought for a moment. "While we're on the same page sometimes, hard an' fast-good lord' she huffed a grin "but like I said, he takes it slow too-never knew I'd like that." She mused. "No, we're /hunky dory/." He chuckled, pulling himself into the bed of Jay's car again. Ellis hopped onto the side of the car. "So y'all're smoothed over now?" He smiled when the smaller nodded. “Oh, Lord,” she muttered when the redhead started, holding her head in her hand but listening with a light blush across her face. She glanced up at her last statement. “It’s definitely different than what /you’re/ used to I’m sure...but sometimes honestly slow and gentle is a better stress relief than trying to rush through it,” she commented, still half covering her face. “That’s good...I’d hate ta see Jay tryin’ ta choose between ya’ll,” he mused. “She ain’t much of a compromiser.” Jayne contemplated what the blonde had said. "You're not wrong. It's kind of a peaceful feeling afterwards." She mused "oh!" She snapped to attention "cuddles! Cuddles after are the best kind." She said matter-of-factly. There was a moment of tense silence. "I don't think I'd want her ta have ta choose." Ellis voiced. "I mean, she ain't tha type to actually bring someone home-here. Ya know?" Bigby chewed on the thought for a moment, unsure on what to do with that, sure he had an idea about her past... /endeavors/, but was he the first really brought home? “Oh good lord, /yes/ they are,” the blonde replied enthusiastically this time. “It’s just sleepy, and gentle, and ugh,” she trailed off smiling contentedly in thought. “It’s the worst when he has to leave or something after though, because then you miss that.” “Yeah but none o’ them people were really anythin’ more than a lay,” Keith pointed out. “Ya see, Jay’s a little, uh-“ He thought a moment. “-physically /demanding/,” he finally laughed out. “She must really like ya to have actually brought ya here and interduced ya.” Jayne nodded in agreement. "It sucks how often that happens when I go to visit him in New York." She growled lightly "everyone is so demanding of him there, the amount of times they've come bangin' on tha door. They're stealin' cuddles." She pouted. The smaller male rubbed the back of his neck. "I've heard that, when she was driving here she mentioned it." He shrugged. "I don't really blame her though, ya know?" “Next time bring me with you...I’ll show you /my/ side of New York and provide cuddles on command,” she mused. “But now you understand why get so tiffed when I go so long without it,” she mumbled, leaning on the table with her own huff. Keith shrugged. “I mean, I can’t really talk...I used ta be kind of a man ho m’self,” he chuckled out sheepishly. “It took a while to set me right.” Jayne laughed lightly. "Ya know what, I will, it'll piss Snow off all the more." She grinned. "Stuck up bitch." She mumbled. "Tha minute Ya saw Miss Divi it was the end." Ellis snickered. "Divinity? That's one of her sisters, right?" Bigby questioned up to him. “I’ll pretend to be Bigby’s other girlfriend too if you want.../really/ piss her off.” She giggled. “....Thank you, by the way,” she spoke quieter this time, looking up at the taller woman seriously. “Now listen here, Mr. ‘love-at-first-sight’. You ain’t about ta tease me ‘bout fallin’ fer a /literal/ angel when you’s tha one that got all googly-eyed over a chick ya met at a farmer’s market /one time/,” he scolded Ellis playfully. “The /best/ sister, in my humble opinion...You meet a girl like her, and damn near everythin’ just changes...” He leaned against Jay’s car, staring off dreamily.

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noonmutter · 6 years

Text

Antorus Advance Party: oh, Ship

“I refuse to meet a goddess of Life while covered in my own still-damp blood.”

“You'd rather be covered in mine?”

Shedwyn shuddered and shot a glare over her shoulder at him. She knew he was just making a failed attempt at a joke, but she still felt attacked. Guilty, for dying. Later, though. “Absolutely not. Under no circumstances do I want any situation where one of us is covered in the other’s blood.” Her belt creaked as she tried to open the buckle and free herself from Terry’s attempt at first aid. “Fucking tight… Can barely breathe.”

He'd only been half paying attention, trying to think about nothing at all, but at that he reached forward to yank on the belt. It knocked a huff of breath out of her, but it produced enough slack for him to jerk out a handful of wadded, blood-soaked bandage. The slightly sticky sound as it came away from unbroken skin, and the dark stain marring her skin and his hands, he knew they would show up in his nightmares later. For now, he shoved the soiled bandages in her hands and tromped ahead a few steps.

She rubbed at her sore belly, and the bandages went up in flames, followed shortly by the two wads stuck to her front. “If I didn't know you were trying to save me, I'd think you were trying to kill me,” she grumbled.

“I’ll get t’tha’ part later. Business, pleasure. Y’know.” The attempt at humor fell flat again, in part because he was still clearly off in his own head somewhere.

With a few softly-spoken words of command, her armour began to weave itself back together, golden sparks showering around her as her blood and the grime of the last few hours was pulled from her armour and incinerated. She gave the bald patch of her cloak a consolatory stroke before filling it in with a few illusionary feathers. A proper fix would have to wait until after this was all over.

Shedwyn was a touch bewildered to find him standing with a hand out to her, palm up, but staring at her so intensely she was certain she'd done something wrong. She placed her hand in his and he finally blinked, trying not to laugh. “My armour, Dwyn.” He'd never come out and asked her to clean or fix it before, though she'd done it. Embarrassed, she cast the spell on him and held his hand through it, even though he scrunched her fingers a little. The mending spell felt weird, but the cleaning one came just shy of hurting. Anything to have her blood off him, though.

“There you are. As hideous as ever.” She didn't release his hand, instead pulling him along with her as she picked her way down the oversized stairs.

The interior of the temple was only more impressive--and felt more immense--when walking out into the middle of it. Catwalks and great bridges spanned what was once a small valley on the mountaintop before Eonar had chosen to build, and waterfalls seemed to decorate the rim at every possible point. Everything was suspended over the pools below, and despite the immense pillars supporting the structures, it felt as though they were suspended by will alone.

Eonar was waiting for them, of course, but only as a projection, comprised of what seemed like a tiny collection of stars. Terry had heard stories of something like this in Ulduar, but he’d never seen one up close. The display was housed in a relatively small enclosure of vines as thick as Terry’s torso, curling up and around in a spherical formation. From there, the titan “spoke,” ringing through Shedwyn and Terry’s minds and shunting out all thought elsewise.

“This ‘Paraxis’ and I are at a stalemate: it cannot overcome my defenses, but while maintaining them I cannot spare the energy to prepare an attack. However, I sense a second ship approaching, bearing a great many footsoldiers. I have found others to counter the incoming demons, but I require your assistance to bring the stalemate to an end.

“Are you ready to honour your end of our deal?”

Terry nodded. He didn’t trust himself to say or do anything more; being grateful to be alive didn’t change the fact that Eonar hadn’t really given them much choice but to accept whatever terms she set. Dread began to creep in on him, familiar as a security blanket and often serving the same purpose. He had a nasty feeling he knew what she was going to say.

Shedwyn reached up toward the Titan, but hesitated and withdrew her hand. “She sounds broken…. Like a cracked church bell, isn't it? Did the Paraxis do this? Did Magni send us here to fix her?”

“She cannot understand me, and time grows short. Your task is not a complex one. You must board the legion ship and destroy its primary weapons.”

His eyes bulged. “Are you takin’ the piss?” Being right didn’t make the request any less startling.

Shedwyn glanced back and forth between Terry and Eonar. “Wait, you can understand her?” Whatever he’d just heard, she knew it had to be ugly just from the face he was making, but not knowing was already grating at her nerves.

“Gimme a second," he said, not taking his eyes off Eonar’s projection. “I know you just saved our asses, but isn’t that a bit much fer two people? Two people with no gear?”

“Your hesitation is understandable, child, and I cannot fault you. What your task lacks in complexity, it compensates with risk. However, if that ship is able to fire, this place shall be lost, and possibly all of creation with it.”

“What does she want?”

Terry didn’t respond. He couldn’t hear her over Eonar’s “voice” in his head, but Shedwyn had no way of knowing whether he was intentionally ignoring her or not. After spending a few more seconds trying to make words out of discordant chimes, Shedwyn threw up her hands and snuck off to explore.

“You have lost much and nearly lost more, only to be snatched from the precipice by a power you cannot--and will not--fathom. I have been watching you, however, and I know the two of you can complete this task, especially with my power to aid you.”

Terry’s palm met his face and began to scrub. “All right. But even if we can do it, we can't get up there.”

“As I said, I have granted you a touch of my power. She has already found it.”

Shedwyn whooped in the distance, and Terry looked up. Waaaay up… Shedwyn was soaring through the sky on lacy, viridian wings.

Above Eonar’s shield.

Terry’s hand closed around one of her ankles before he realized he’d left the ground, drawing an undignified “WARK” from her before they both began to descend.

The chimes were amused again. Smug, he thought. “It seems you are not wholly averse to its uses, either.”

Both humans watched another volley from the Paraxis splash against Eonar’s shield--clearly aimed to pick off the foolish, enticing little target buzzing around outside Eonar’s protection. Before the last of it had dissipated, Shedwyn commented, without really looking away from the fireworks, “If we time it right, I'm sure we can land on the ship's observation platform between volleys. How do you feel about wreaking some havoc inside?”

"Deja vu-y."

Shedwyn gave a little lopsided smile as she tilted her head. "Probably. But probably best not to use the wolf this time. Close quarters, he doesn't like me, et cetera. And even if you do, no eating fel!"

Shedwyn was focused on the display; Terry was eyeballing the ship as best he could through the flashes. "Not sure 'ow much I kin do on a ship. Th' machines're one thing, they build 'em on th' ground an' they're kinda slapdash.” Glancing sidelong at her, he added, "An' there's prolly no fel buffet. Savages."

She chewed on her lip a moment. "I don't have any blasting charges, but I have a few grenades, and if we can get me close enough I have a spell that will take apart most small machines."

"What're you gonna do without 'em?"

"Without blasting charges? I don't know. Is Doc loaded for doorbusting today?"

He looked at the rifle over his shoulder, then sat down and pulled his ammo pack around to his lap. By some miracle it hadn't lost most of its contents after their mad scramble, but he swore anyway. "My tools're gone. 'E's a snipin' rifle or nothin' fer now."

She cussed and looked back up at the ship, head cocked to the side and one hand on her hip. "Remind me to start carrying backups of some of your gear... I can burn through any doors, if it comes to that, though you'll have to cover me while I'm at it." Running a hand through her hair, she cussed again. "Wish we had a plan, but even if you can read schematics and I can read demonic, I don't think we're going to find anything like that just sitting on the ground." She pointed at gunwales as they fired another suppression volley. "Think we could find our way to those from inside?"

"If they din't build it like they never planned t'get out of it without teleportin', probably."

"... How about the controls, then?"

"Those I know 'ow t'find, more're less. They always like 'em in th' fat bit there in th' middle, either on th' main deck or accessible by portal thinger."

Shedwyn slowly grinned and brought her hands together. "Then we have a plan." She puts one hand over her heart and holds the other out to him, wiggling her fingers for him to take it. "Shall we?"

Terry didn’t quite mirror her enthusiasm, but he didn't hesitate in taking her hand, either. "When I suggested th' very same plan fer th' big robot, you were a lot less keen on it..."

“You were going in alone. This time, we go together."

“Oh, well then. What could go wrong?”

“That smart mouth is going to get you slapped.”

As it turned out, that smart mouth did not get Terry slapped.

It did, however get them both:

captured

carted across the length of the ship in chains

nearly tortured

separated

briefly disintegrated and reassembled

shown the very face of God (it looked like a guy with a dad bod and a lovingly cultivated white-streaked goatee who liked to voice his own characters in stories)

blown up--once by conventional explosives and once by one of Shedwyn’s grenades, and

into the control room at speed.

And one final arcane bomb got them back to the ground even faster, pursued by fire and demonic swearing.

What seemed like hours later, after they’d patted out the flames on their clothes and were preparing to teleport out, and Eonar was briefing the Meddlers on what was expected of them, Shedwyn asked, "So, what was it Eonar wanted from us, anyway?"

"We just finished it."

“...I hate you right now.”

“No you don’t.”

zoop!

( @shedwyn )

#antorus advance party #and so arrives terry #shedwyn #terwyn #my writing #collab

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xadoheandterra · 7 years

Text

Title: Wanted Fandoms: Overwatch | Harry Potter Characters: Gabriel Reyes, James Potter, Lily Potter, Lena “Tracer” Oxten, Jesse McCree, Angela Ziegler, Jack Morrison Tags: Swearing, uncomfortable with needles, somewhat naughty medical practice, drugging your boss so he can sleep with his boyfriend, or the other way around, pre-fall, established r76 Summary: Gabriel didn’t know. He kind of blew up before he had the chance to find out, but that wasn’t an excuse. Gabriel couldn’t count it as an excuse because he could’ve tried to at least check in. Now, a mercenary, a killer, an assassin, and suddenly he finds himself…well, dealing with this shit. Talon is definitely not the best place to raise a kid. An undead smoke monster filled with rage is definitely not fit to be a dad, but here he is, dealing with this shit. Fuck

Gabriel stretched lazily as he stepped off the plane with James and Lily trailing behind him. The entire trip was rather refreshing in that no one spoke a word and he got a few minutes to rest his eyes and not think about things. Lena dashed in front of him with a blur of blue, waved, and then raced back away Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Damned kid,” he grumbled, fished around for another smoke, and lit it up. Gabriel glanced back to James and Lily who stared wide eyed and somewhat open mouthed. “She does that a lot.”

“How,” James squeaked.

“Fuck if I know the specifics,” Gabriel grunted. “Figure only Winston has any fucking idea what Lena’s capable of these days.” He leaned back and then gestured for them to follow along. “Short end of it? She’s fast. Any more than that you’ll have to ask Lena herself.” The girl wouldn’t divulge the truth, Gabriel knew that much, especially not to a pair of unknown possible not civvies. They didn’t choose Lena for the flight program for shits and giggles after all. Her track record with the RAF sang enough of her praises, but it was the covert side of things that cinched it.

Pity Lena went with Overwatch. Gabriel stuffed his hands into his pockets. Blackwatch could’ve used the girl’s talent, before it went up into the burning flames that the division now was.

“Angela’s this way,” Gabriel started down the halls without any another words. He kept himself fully aware of where James and Lily where although he let them have a semblance of privacy in their whispered little conversations. Obviously they weren’t quite enough for Gabriel’s hearing, but everything out of their mouths was the typical childish awe that he’d seen out of most civilians on an Overwatch base for the first time.

Lily eventually grew brave and moved up to walk beside Gabriel. She looked nervous, so he gave her the time she needed to spit out her obvious question. It was only when James moved up beside her and grabbed her hand that Lily seemed to steel herself.

“What is…Angela like?” Lily asked.

Gabriel sighed. Kids, he thought tiredly. “Stupidly optimistic,” Gabriel eventually said. He pulled the cigarette from his teeth and pinched the butt. “Wants to save everyone, that type of bullshit. Complete genius, though. You won’t find a better doctor, especially at her age.” Gabriel glanced back to the kids. “She’s not much older than either of you.” He tried to think about how long ago it was that they brought her to Overwatch. She couldn’t have been, christ, more than twenty at the time? Same time they pulled in Genji; in fact she joined because of the kid. Saved his life with the help of Winston.

Gabriel frowned. How long ago was that? Golden days of Blackwatch, merely eight years after he’d yanked Jesse out of Deadlock. Genji’d been…what, twenty-one? So young, and already so horribly fucked over. In the grand scheme of things it couldn’t have been that long ago, Genji was nowhere near thirty yet, but between the recovery and then the missions—and now this fucking mess—Gabriel couldn’t pinpoint the dates. How old even was Genji now? How old was Jesse? Fuck, Gabriel couldn’t even remember the last time they’d sat down and just celebrated another day alive.

For a moment Gabriel wondered where the days, the years, went. Ever since the reveal of Blackwatch to the public his sense of time grew more and more skewered. It didn’t help that Jack seemed more likely to yell at him these days than actually talk, and the amount of stress he found himself under…Gabriel rubbed at his eyes. He was only thankful he hadn’t had another heart attack. Fuck this mess would just pile on the rest of the shit, in the end, wouldn’t it? Proof that what Petras and the other political dickbags claimed was true—that Gabriel Reyes was nothing more than a complete fuck up.

Gabriel didn’t even realize he’d stopped walking in the hall to rub at his temples until Jesse tapped him on the shoulder. He blinked and then frowned.

“Jesse?” Gabriel muttered.

“Ang sent me to find out where ya were,” Jesse said lowly. “Lena stopped by fifteen minutes ago.” Jesse smiled and waved over Gabriel’s shoulder at James and Lily. “Purdy sure you were worryin’ yer tag-alongs, jefe.”

Shit. Gabriel sighed and shook his head. “I’m fine,” he grumbled.

“Yer sure?” Jesse asked. He tilted his head back to look Gabriel up and down, to which Gabriel just rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Jesse,” Gabriel grunted. “Just a headache.”

Jesse frowned for a minute, but then stepped back. “I’ll walk ya jes in case of another headache,” he said, utterly cheerful and more for the two kids who hovered uncertainly. Gabriel gave them a wane sort of smile. “Anyway Ang’ have my hide if’n I don’t escort ya’ll like a proper gent.”

Gabriel huffed and flicked the Stetson off of Jesse’s head with a faint smirk. “Yes, a proper gent.” Jesse rolled his eyes and retrieved his hat. “Introduce yourself, cabrón.”

Jesse perched his hat back on his head and tipped it in the direction of James and Lily. “Jesse McCree, sir, ma’am.” He turned on heel and kept pace with Gabriel when the older man started walking again. Jesse side-eyed Gabriel for a moment and tilted his hat back down with a small frown. “You look like shit, Gabe,” Jesse eventually said under his breath.

Gabriel grunted.

“’M serious,” Jesse growled. When Gabriel refused to grace Jesse’s concern with a response he sighed. “Ang’s called Genji in for a check up.”

Gabriel’s head snapped to Jesse. “What? Why?”

“Dunno,” Jesse shrugged.

“He’s grounded what the hell did he do now?” Gabriel grunted and ground his teeth together.

“Fuck if I know,” Jesse scowled. “Ain’t like he wanna deal with me these days.” Jesse glanced to him. “Prolly overworked himself in trainin’ ‘gain.”

“Fuck that kid,” Gabriel shook his head with a sigh. “Get a hold of me when.”

“Sure thing,” Jesse nodded, and Gabriel could see some of the tension ease out of the kid’s shoulders. He wondered just what his sharp command told Jesse, before Gabriel decided it didn’t matter much. “Oh, fair warnin’? Jack’s on th’ warpath.”

“Duly noted,” Gabriel responded dryly. He already expected as much.

Jesse came to a stop and hooked his fingers into his belt loops. For a minute the young man rocked on his heels, then tipped his hat to James and Lily, and then to Gabriel.

“Well I’ve held up my end of th’deal,” Jesse said. “Safely delivered t’Ang. See ya’ll later.” He walked off and left Gabriel to open the door.

Gabriel glanced back at the young couple and jerked his head after Jesse.

“Kid means well,” he said eventually. He watched James mouth ‘kid’ almost as if he couldn’t quite believe it, and Gabriel smirked. “Anyway, this is Angela’s…office.” Gabriel couldn’t hide the slight distaste that left his mouth at the words. He sighed, and pushed open the door.

“Angela?”

The room was sterile, like pretty much any medical facility and doubly so for Overwatch facilities. Gabriel led James and Lily into the room and peeked around to find out where Angela was specifically—he saw her hunched over at a computer screen, pen being ground between her teeth as she looked over something. Gabriel caught sight of a familiar logo—SEP—before Angela realized he was there. She jerked and shut off the computer and quickly bustled her way over to them.

“I see Jesse found you,” Angela nodded. “Table,” she said shortly and gave a smile to James and Lily.

“I’m fine,” Gabriel grumbled.

“I’ll be the one to decide that,” Angela said without looking at him. “Table.” Grumbling Gabriel headed over to the table and sat himself upon it. He kicked his feet up, shifted, and got himself comfortable laying down. He propped his head up with his arms, and kicked one knee up as he stared at the ceiling. Angela calmly introduced herself to James and Lily while he did this.

“I’m Dr. Angela Zeigler, although you can call me Healer if you prefer.” Gabriel didn’t pay attention to James and Lily’s response, instead cataloging the term away for future reference. “Gabriel! The scan can’t work if you aren’t laying down properly,” Angela chided.

Gabriel huffed, and shifted to lay flat. “Sure thing, doc,” he grumbled irritably.

Angela lead James and Lily over, introduced them to the paperwork and calmly informed them to read through everything before she made her way back over to Gabriel. Gabriel glanced to the kids to see that they were taking Angela’s words seriously, thank fuck for small mercies, and refocused his attention onto the young Swiss doctor.

“Fuck no,” Gabriel grunted and moved to sit up when he saw the needle and vials in her hands.

“Ah!” Angela pushed him back down and gave him a stern glare. “None of that.”

Gabriel gave Angela the best put upon face he could make as she shifted around and directed him to pull off his hoodie. Gabriel did so reluctantly, and then refused to watch her apply the tunicate.

“Tell me what happened last night,” Angela commanded, then sighed a second later. “Fist, Gabriel. Honestly.”

Gabriel grunted and formed a fist. He kept his gaze steadily forward while Angela felt around for his vein. “What’s more to say?” he said. “I got drunk.”

“How much did you drink?” Angela asked. “What brought this behavior on? Any pain?” When Gabriel kept silent she added as she slipped the needle into the vein, “You can tell me, or you can tell Jack when he gets here.”

“Bitch,” Gabriel growled under his breath. Angela smacked him over the head and he sighed, winced when he felt the first vial attach to the needle, and then began to recount the events as he could recall them.

“Jack and I argued,” Gabriel reported dispassionately. “I felt like shit and decided to go out for a while.”

“To London?”

“I wanted to get away,” Gabriel ground out. “Ended up at this ritzy place with a decent bar. Good drinks, none of it really doing shit for me though.”

“How much did you have?” Angela questioned. She switched out the vials. “How long were you drinking?”

“Dunno,” Gabriel refrained from shrugging if only by the grace of Angela’s rather hard grasp on his shoulder. “Five, maybe six of some fruity bullshit. Couple of hours?”

“What was this ‘fruity bullshit,’” Angela questioned. She switched vials again.

“Just normal fruity bullshit,” Gabriel said.

“And it got you blackout drunk?” Angela raised her eyebrows at him.

“No,” Gabriel drew out slowly, “that was after the fruity shit. Fire something or other.”

“Firewhisky,” Lily pipped up. “About eight glasses of it by the time I found him, according to the bar tender.”

Angela pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes onto Gabriel, almost accusing. The next vial for blood hilted onto the needle a little more harshly and Gabriel winced.

“How many did you have?” Angela questioned, her voice cold.

Shit. Gabriel rubbed at the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. Angela switched vials again.

“Can’t remember,” he eventually said. “How many more fucking blood samples are you going to take?”

“As many as I need,” Angela said sharply.

“Demon,” Gabriel hissed and Angela laughed in the way that most people associated with an angel. Gabriel could hear the subtle mocking tones under it. She made a gesture for him to continue speaking and here Gabriel did shrug, pleased at Angela’s outraged huff at how it upset her drawing of his blood. She snapped the tunicate off his arm and finished up her last vial while he answered. “Vaguely remember running into Lily. Rest of it’s lost.”

“Wonderful,” Angela mumbled. She placed a cotton ball over where the needle rested and pulled her hand away. Gabriel easily reached up and held the ball in place when Angela moved off to the side. She settled the vials into something that Gabriel couldn’t quite see, and then reached into a drawer for something else. She shoved two bottles into his chest—one glowed a faint blue, the other yellow.

A nano-booster and health booster, Gabriel noted dryly.

“Your liver so far seems fine,” Angela told him. “A little worse for wear, but within normal parameters. Your kidney’s have me worried.”

Gabriel grunted and popped the cap on the yellow drink.

“The nano-booster first, Gabriel,” Angela scolded him and Gabriel rolled his eyes. He popped the lid back onto the health booster and popped open the nano-booster instead.

“You know I hate the side effects of these things,” he told Angela and tossed back the drink.

“Jack will help you,” Angela dismissed casually. “He’ll be here in a minute.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Gabriel grunted. He doubted Jack would be happy to help him out after this mess.

“Doctor’s orders,” Angela shot him a sly smile and Gabriel groaned. Great.

“Get out of my sex life, doc,” he said tiredly.

“I don’t think I will,” Angela countered calmly. She turned back to James and Lily while Gabriel drank the health booster next. “Any questions?”

“Not so far, ma’am,” Lily said, although she shot a worried glance to Gabriel.

“He’s fine, Mrs. Potter,” Angela said lightly. “Just a stubborn old man.”

Gabriel groaned, flopped back onto the table as he felt the two booster’s race through his system, and calmly flipped Angela the bird. He could already feel the liquid fire bounce back and forth the minute it was picked up by the aged nanites he’d been stuffed with back during his SEP days after a nasty series of injections. Gabriel closed his eyes to block off the sudden sensitivity that wanted to overwhelm him. He wished he could turn off his ears because that was definitely the sound of Jack Morrison’s boots out in the hall.

The door slipped open and Gabriel turned his head in that direction with a somewhat incoherent mumble in Spanish.

“Angela?” Jack asked. “He’s all yours, Strike Commander,” Angela informed Jack calmly. “Bed rest until my results are in.”

“Really, Angela?” Jack sighed. He was right next to Gabriel now—Gabriel could feel him. He reached out a hand and grabbed at that tacky blue jacket and buried his face into Jack’s stomach.

“Smell nice,” he mumbled.

“I’m worried about his kidney’s, Jack,” Angela said quietly, although it still felt terribly loud to Gabriel. Gabriel wrapped both arms around Jack’s waist and mumbled something about no hips and a flat ass.

“I know, Gabe,” Jack grumbled back and hauled him up off the table. “Come on…”

“Missed you,” Gabriel said and leaned heavily into Jack’s shoulder. He buried his face into the other man’s neck.

“That’s the medicine talking,” Jack rolled his eyes.

“S’not,” Gabriel clutched at Jack tightly. “I fucked up. Missed you ‘n’ fucked up.”

For a moment Jack was silent and Gabriel tightened his grip, wanted to convey how sorry he was while he tried to block out the rush of the booster as it raced and wrecked havoc on his system. Eventually Jack sighed and gripped him tightly around the waist and pulled him just a bit closer.

“Missed you too, asshole,” he said softly, placed a kiss to Gabriel’s temple, and started to haul him out of the room. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Gabriel groaned. He didn’t want to sleep.

“I’ll take care of you, cariño,” Jack whispered. The word sent a shudder straight through Gabriel—he always did like to hear Jack utter Spanish; it reminded him of how much of a complete sap the other man could be. Gabriel squinted his eyes and peered up at Jack as the man practically dragged him from Angela’s office and the medical center.

“Fucking pandejo you did that on purpose,” Gabriel growled, and Jack smirked at him somewhat pleased. If that smirk didn’t make Gabriel weak at the knees in moments like this, Christ, it just reminded him how much he loved this man. “Wish I wasn’t drugged.”

“Hush,” Jack said. “I got you.”

Yeah, Gabriel thought. You do.

#r76 #overwatch #gabriel reyes #jack morrison #harry potter #crossover #fanfic #fic: wanted #lily potter #james potter #jesse mccree #angela ziegler

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