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blackmissfrizzle · 4 years

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Don’t Make Me Say It

Characters: Angel Reyes x black!reader

Summary: Angel takes care of you after one too many drinks.

Warnings: it’s me so smut, duh 😂

A/N: Shoutout to my muse, my enabler, my lending ear @starrynite7114 for helping me brainstorm this!

If you like what you read, here’s my masterlist and if you want notifications here’s my taglist.

Gif credit @xxrouxx

“I can’t believe me you got me to wear this.” Angel pulled at the crotch of his costume, but you couldn’t stare at him for too long or you’d jump his bones and that wasn’t appropriate best friend behavior. “You could’ve chosen the other costume,” you whispered in his ear and ran away before he could catch you. Now he really had to readjust his pants as he watched your dress flap against your bottom showing a bit of the booty shorts you wore under.

“Damnnnn, Y/N!” Coco whistled while he twirled you around.

“You couldn’t have chosen another costume?” Angel snatched you back from Coco. You looked up at him with furrowed brows, “I thought you liked it? You said I look like a total badass.” Angel kissed your forehead, instantly feeling bad at poking at your self-confidence. “I do like it and you are a total badass. It’s just even with the booty shorts, your ass is hanging out. You’re lucky I can fight.”

“Coco is harmless.” Angel looked over your head to his brother who caught another glance at your backside. “Yeah, he’s gonna be harmless in a few.” Angel was making his way to the bar when Cynthia stopped him.

“Hey, Angel,” she gave him shameless head to toe once over and stroked his arm. You cleared your throat, there was no way you were gonna let this hoe ignore you. “Oh hey, Y/N. What are you? Supergirl?”

“No, dumbass, you’re thinking of Wonder Woman and you would still be wrong. I’m Xena.” Cynthia just looked at you with an open mouth and blank stare. “Warrior Princess?” You added, hoping it would help her out. “Nope, never heard of her.” She dryly stated but pepped back up when she turned back to Angel. “What are you, Angel?”

He looked down and smirked at you. If Cynthia didn’t know who you were then it was doubtful, she would get Angel’s. “I’m Ares.” She got that blank look again. You and Angel had to try your hardest not to laugh at her. “God of War.” Same blank look stayed on her face. “Okay, well catch you later,” he gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder and made a smooth getaway to the bar, where EZ had shots waiting for you two.

You took a group shot with the boys and immediately after told EZ to rack em up again. “Uh, chiquita you sure about that? We got that good shit.”

“Yes, I’m sure, Johnny!” You rolled your neck and took your shot. “I can match you shot for shot.” A sly smile crossed Coco’s face as he slid a twenty on the bar. “Wanna bet?”

Angel grabbed your wrist when you went for your wallet. “You sure you want to do that? Coco can drink.” You jutted your chin towards your opponent. “Him? See how skinny he is…man I’ll drink him under the table.” Angel threw his hands up in surrender as he watched you put your twenty down. “Okay, but I’m not holding your hair later.”

You overestimated yourself. You lost twenty dollars and to top it off you got a hangover.

Last night, Angel cut you off when you were dancing on the tabletop with Xiomara. And he’s glad he did, because as soon as you got to his house you ran for the bathroom.

“I told you so,” Angel sung while holding your hair. However, you didn’t have the energy to get smart, you were too busy throwing up your stomach lining.

Angel lived up to his name. He held up your hair until you were done vomiting, he started the shower for you. While you were showering, he got your clothes out since you kept some at his place for these types of occasions and before you went to bed, he made you drink some water and take some Tylenol.

But when you woke up the next day, Angel wouldn’t let you hear the end of it. “Just one more shot, Angel.” He mocked you, he made his voice higher to match your pitch. “Okay, okay you won. I should’ve listened to you.” Groaning, you roll over and grip a pillow for comfort.

Angel came and sat next to you and rubbed your back, making your back heat up from his touch. “Nah, but for real, you good?” Turning back towards Angel, you intertwined your fingers with his. “Better now, thanks to you.” Taking your conjoined hands, you turned them to kiss Angel’s. You missed the smile that graced his lips when yours met his hand. It was an asshole thing to think, but he wished he could get you drunk like this all the time, so he had an excuse for you to be laid up in his house.

“I got you, Warrior Princess,” he patted your thigh and got up, giving you a perfect view of his dick print in those damn sweats. “I’ll make you some breakfast. Don’t want you puking all over the place again.”

“Fuck you, Angel!” You threw a pillow at him. “Promise?” He clasped his own hands together and bashed his eyelashes like a schoolgirl. “You wish,” you scoffed. “Then no food for you.” Angel walked away, his wide back disappearing into the kitchen. “No, Angel come back! I was just kidding!”

Angel popped his head around the corner with a big ass grin on his face. He came back to you, his dick print at the arm of the couch, making it eye level to you when you lean your head back. “I know, querida.” He kissed your forehead and went back to the kitchen.

The whole time Angel was cooking you tried to wipe every impure thought of him. Currently, you were watching Lion King, hoping the children’s movie would cleanse you, but it didn’t. Angel kept interrupting your viewing by talking to you, his deep timbre leading you to daydream about how he would sound deep in your guts.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N, Y/N, Y/N, Y/N,” Angel repeated your name until he finally clapped in front of your face to get your attention. “Huh?” “I said, did you like the food?” “Uh huh, yeah it was great, thank you.”

Angel eyed you warily as he took your plate to the kitchen. “Okayyyyy, imma get you something to drink because you’re still out of it.”

Fuck it, you thought. The worst thing that could happen is that he rejects you and all you have to do is blame it on the alcohol. “Cum or water,” you asked boldly. Angel came out bugged eyed with a glass of water. “Excuse me?” Sitting up, you tried to make yourself as presentable as possible. “Do you want me to drink your cum or water?”

This had the be a cruel joke, Angel thought. “Shut up, you’re still drunk.” He shoved the glass of water in your hand and tried to walk away, but you stopped him. “No, I’m not Angel. I’m very sober right now and I know what I want.”

“And what do you want?” Angel asked, keeping his back towards you. Taking a hold of Angel’s bicep, you turned him towards you. His eyes were downcast, trying his best to avoid yours until you lifted his chin. “I want you Angel Reyes, but if this is not what you want, we can pretend this was a drunken mistake.”

His silence scared you and caused you to back away. Leave it to you to make a fool of yourself and possibly ruin your relationship with your best friend. “Alrighty, then, imma get my things and go home.” Dejected you bent down to grab your purse and went for the door, but Angel grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards him. His name barely left your lips when his was on yours. At first it was soft and hesitant, like he was testing the waters, but once he felt you kissing back it became harder, like he was making sure he never forgets the feel of your lips.

He gripped the back of your thighs and carried you until the back of his knees hit the couch. He only backed away, so you two could get an inhale of breath. Taking advantage of him releasing you, you slid down his body onto your knees. “I need you to hold my hair again,” you told him before you pulled down his sweats.

Good god almighty. Xiomara told you that the other girls at Vicki’s said that Angel’s dick was big, but you weren’t expecting this. How would he fit all in your mouth? And then who goes around not wearing any underwear around their best friend? “Scared, querida?”

“No,” you crossed your arms and pouted. “I was just wondering what kind of psycho doesn’t wear boxers with their best friend around?” Angel laughed and cupped your face to kiss you. “Maybe deep down I was hoping this would happen. Now are you gonna keep stalling or you gonna suck this dick, mami?”

Whew, you can do this Y/N. Taking a deep inhale, you rolled your shoulders and cracked your neck side to side. What was the first thing Xio said? Oh right, lube it up. Gathering the moisture in your mouth, you spit on Angel’s dick. In no way this could be sexy, you thought, but then you heard Angel mutter, “Oh fuck.” You gripped his dick and you didn’t expect it to feel so warm, smooth, and heavy.

His red, swollen tip was leaking precum and now you had to get a taste. First, it started with a little lick of the mushroom head, then it led to a lick from the underside all the way to the tip, then from his balls in your mouth while you jerked him off, and until finally your head was bobbing up and down from sucking him off.

“Yeah, just like that, querida.” Angel hissed, his hand wrapping around your hair. “Slow down, baby or I’m gonna cum.” You hopped off his dick momentarily. “That’s the point,” you smiled and went back to work, picking up speed. “Fuck, baby.” Angel grabbed your head and drilled his hips, fucking your mouth until his hot seed exploded in your mouth.

“Open up, baby. Lemme see,” he pulled your chin down to see his essence in your mouth. “Swallow,” he ordered, pushing your chin back up.

When he saw that you swallowed, he leaned down and kissed you, pulling you up with him. “Good girl. Let daddy return the favor.” He laid you on your back and pulled your shorts down with his teeth. “Mmm, you smell delicious, baby.”

The anticipation was killing you. His heated breath could be felt against your covered core, sending tingly sensations throughout your body. “Pretty ass pussy. Can daddy get a taste?” He snapped back your panties with his teeth.

“Mmhmm, please,” you whimpered under his touch. “But these panties are so soaked, mami. I think I should dry them out.” Angel fixed your panties into their rightful place and clasped his mouth right where your clothed clit was at.

Even through the fabric, you could feel Angel’s tongue and the man could work magic. Your vibrator paled in comparison to him. “Angel, please! I need the real thing.”

“You sure you can handle it?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Alright, brace yourself.”

“Angel, shut th- OHMYGAWD!” Your back lifted from the couch and you clawed at it. Angel should’ve given a better warning than that. How were you not supposed to lose your mind?

‘Fuck’ was the only word you seemed to know. “Come on, mami. Cum all over my tongue.” You followed Angel’s command with screams and quivering. Never before had you experienced such a strong orgasm and Angel took notice.

“Damn, you good? Nobody made you cum like that before?” Angel murmured against your neck as he started to finger you. “Nope.” Your answer was breathy due to Angel’s ministrations. “Cause you’ve been fucking with little boys. I’m a man and imma take care of you, mi dulce.”

He ran off to his room to get condoms. Should you tell him? Would it be bad if you didn’t? But what if he stops if you do tell him? But Angel would want to know. What if he laughs at? Would he laugh at you? Nah, he wouldn’t, not your Angel.

“None of them made me cum, because I haven’t fucked any of them.” You whispered, covering your face with your hands.

“Huh?” Angel stopped rolling the condom on and looked at you through fallen strands of hair. “What do you mean, Y/N?” Angel knew what you meant, but he needed to hear you say the words. He needed to hear it come directly and unmistakably from your mouth.

“You’re really gonna make me say it?” Angel looked at you patiently with raised eyebrows. Evil bastard. “I’m a fucking virgin!” You yelled and then covered your face with a pillow, hoping you would be able to disappear.

“Fuck, Y/N!” You peered from behind the pillow to see Angel rub a hand over his face and your heart dropped. Of course, Angel didn’t want to screw a virgin. What sex god wants to be with one?

“I’ll go now,” you tried to roll off the couch, but Angel stopped you with a hand on your hip. “Where you going?”

“Home, Angel. You clearly don’t wanna do this now.”

“Did I say that?” Angel pinned you beneath him, his face getting closer to yours. “No,” you whimpered, feeling yourself getting wetter at the waves of his dominance. “Then how did you get to that conclusion?” “Because you fucking blanched when I told you!”

“I fucking blanched, because your first time doesn’t need to be on my couch! You deserve the candlelight dinner, the wine, the flowers, a better fucking place than this!” He outstretched his hands around his home. “So, don’t you ever fucking presume that I don’t want you. I want you so damn bad that it hurts.” His voice croaked a bit, revealing his true feelings.

Cupping his cheek, you kissed him. “But I don’t want all that, Angel. I just want you. My first time will be perfect because it’s with you.”

“You sure?” He kissed the palm of your hand. “There’s no going back after this. I’m making you mines.”

You lifted your shirt and unhooked your bra, fully exposing yourself to Angel. His wanton gazed made you feel desired and a bit stupid for doubting Angel’s attraction to you. “Make me yours, Ignacio”

Angel growled and lifted you from the couch to carry you to his room. “Wait a minute,” he stopped in the middle of the hallway and pushed you against the wall. “How the fuck did you learn how to suck dick like that if you’re a virgin?”

“I had Xiomara teach me,” you nuzzled your face in Angel’s neck to escape the embarrassment. “Vicki’s Xiomara?! What the fuck, Y/N? Who the fuck was he?” He gripped your chin, fury covering his face until he saw you laughing. “What the fuck is so funny?”

“You,” you gasped between laughter, wiping away your tears. “Xio had me practice on a dildo, not on a john.”

“Oh,” Angel had that adorable little pout on his face when he got stunned. “So, did she wear a strap orrrr…” You slapped Angel against his chest. “None of your fucking business.” “Well, next time I see her I’m tipping her. She did a damn good job.”

He continued walking to his room and went to get a towel to lay you on. At first, he didn’t join you in the bed. Angel just stared down at you in disbelief that he finally had you naked in his bed. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Smiling up at Angel, you gripped his wrist to pull him down to you. “Yeah, I know. I love you, too.” Angel kissed you once more while he reached out for a condom.

He was trying to open the condom packet with his mouth when you snatched it out and threw it to the side. “I’m on the pill.” Angel had to remind himself that he couldn’t jump on you like he really wanted to. There would be plenty of that later once you got use to him.

“God, I love you.” He bent down to kiss you, to distract you from the upcoming pain you were about to experience. You hissed and bit on Angel’s bottom lip when he finally began to stretch you out. “You good?” He lifted up to check on you. “Yes, please keep going.” Angel continued pushing until he felt something pop and checked on you once more. “Angel, I swear I’m good.” You strained, clawing at his back.

Angel didn’t know how he was keeping it together. “Querida, you feel good. You were made for me.” He whispered against your lips. “Can daddy move? Can daddy make you feel good like you did to him?”

“Mmhmm,” you nodded your head, tears pricking your eyes from the delicious pleasure Angel was giving you. Angel pulled almost all the way out, just leaving the tip in then slowly slid back on. “Angel,” you gasped. “Louder, baby. I want my neighbors to know who’s making you feel this good.”

“Harder!” You were not beneath begging. Angel was going slow, almost pulling all the way out just to fill you back up while he laid his forehead against yours and gave you praises. “No, not yet. I gotta savor you baby.”

Angel pushed up on his arms allowing him to reach new depths and watch him slide in and out of you. “Such a pretty little pussy, especially with my dick inside of it. Don’t you think?” He grabbed the back of your neck to make you watch. It was glorious, a marvel to look at. “Oh my god, daddy. Please fill me up.”

“You want my cum? You want me to fill my pussy up so much it is leaking down your thighs?” Angel prayed you said yes because he couldn’t hold out much longer. “Fuck, yes! Please!” At your cries, Angel gave you controlled snaps of his hips and thumbed at your clit. As you screamed Angel’s name, he screamed yours, both of you cumming together.

Angel looked down at your conjoined bodies and admired his work. He did that to you. He made you cream like that, that it was dripping down your legs. But his eyes also caught the sight of blood, the evidence of him taking your purity and your well-being was back at the forefront. “I wasn’t too rough, was I?” He cradled you, scared that he hurt you. “No, worrywart. Actually, I was thinking next time you can go a little harder?” You shrunk yourself, scared that Angel might think you were weird for wanting it rougher.

“Alright, be careful what you wish for,” Angel warned you with a sly smirk.

Coco watched you limp across the yard all day. He knew it wasn’t with exercise because you told the crew you spent the weekend recovering from the Halloween party. But then he caught the little smile you gave Angel and the one Angel returned back and there was only one explanation he could come up with. “You hit that?” Coco tapped Angel’s knee and then pointed to you helping Chucky spread out some desserts.

“Y/N, come here.” Angel yelled from the picnic table. He watched you hold up one finger to Chucky and then run over to him. “What do you want, Reyes?”

“Come closer,” he ordered. You stepped in between his legs and he buried his hands in your hair and brought his lips to yours. The kiss was supposed to be sweet and chaste, but Angel couldn’t help himself. One taste of you and he couldn’t stop.

“Okay, we get it!” Bishop yelled, slightly disgusted at Angel tonguing down the young woman he considered a daughter. “You finally got your heads out of your asses and got together.”

Angel pulled away from you and both of you had silly, goofy, ‘I’m in love’ smiles on your faces. “Reyes you hurt her feelings and I’ll bash your knees in!” Bishop threatened, even though he could tell it was useless by the way Angel was looking at you.

“Yeah! You’ll be a no knee having ass bitch!” You teased, pretending to bash his knees in with your air baseball bat. Angel mushed your face, “I got it, Prez!” He yelled over your forehead with no worries about being a no knee having ass bitch.

Taglist: @ourlittlesecretsoveragain @starrynite7114 @sambucky8 @mygirlrenee @richonne4life @readsalot73 @chaneajoyyy @ljstraightnochaser @my-rosegold-soul @angrythingstarlight @brattyfics @lovebennycolon @langiinspirations @chibsytelford @trulysuccubus @spookys-girl @brownsugarcoffy @thesandbeneathmytoes @fvckthisbxtchup @theartisticqueen @vsfavs

#black!reader #angel reyes #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes x black!reader #angel reyes fanfic #mayan mc #mayans m.c.#Mayans mc #Mayans #frizzlefic #frizzlesfic #frizzlewrites

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shadlad24 · 3 years

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Tumblr Master Post

(Third Mensiversary)

Hey, guys! So, instead of the usual monthly post, I decided to consolidate everything. From now on, I will update the following list and reblog it every 22nd. Enjoy!

Please note that Tumblr either cannot or will not preserve my formatting. So, I have used Google Docs as well. Please click on this link if you’d prefer that. It’s open to all. Thanks!

My posts are almost XWP-related and can be categorized into eight main categories (The pic below is merely for record-keeping and visualization purposes; scroll down for the actual links):

Questions

Curious— Why does everyone think Gabrielle/Renée O’Connor has green eyes?

A Favor to the God of War?— What in the world was the favor Ares wanted from Gabrielle during “Sacrifice”?

Smoking Gun?— Why did Hope knowing Solan’s name give her away as his killer?

Good Luck, Kid!— Why was security so bad in “Maternal Instincts”?

The Love of Your Love— Wasn’t the second verse of this song frustrating and hurtful to Gabrielle?

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares— Why does so little about Ares’s character make sense?

Hard Ask— Can I PLEASE get a willing, able, AND reliable beta-reader for my Xena fanfic???

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares [Reblog]— Three more questions about the god of war

No Way— Is the titular image of “Xena: Warrior Princess” what it seems?

Episode Reflections

Random Thoughts While Watching XWP— funny moments from “A Family Affair,” “Them Bones, Them Bones,” “Married with Fishsticks,” and “Coming Home”

Observations from “Sins of the Past”— fifteen things I noticed while watching the episode for the second time (first after completing the series)

Running Commentary on “A Family Affair”— just what it sounds like XD

Concluding Thoughts on “A Family Affair”— a defense of Hope and Gabrielle

Echoes Across the Years— how Solan’s last conversation with his mother echoed Gabrielle’s first with the warrior princess

Redeeming “Fishsticks,” Part 1— how the adults and themes in Gabrielle’s dreamworld held great significance

Redeeming “Fishsticks,” Part 2— how Crustacea’s monstrous children were re-imaginations of Hope and The Destroyer

Fault— my thoughts on the series finale

Good Luck, Kid! [Reblog]— a fun little extension of the original post showing the impression Gabrielle made on Hope

Original Fanfic Excerpts

The Mother of Hope, a collection of one-shots exploring Gabrielle’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences with/about her daughter

Disparity— Hope’s and Gabrielle’s conversation during the final commercial break of “A Family Affair”

Somewhere— Gabrielle searching Tartarus for Hope while Ares was harassing Xena and Solan in “God Fearing Child”

Super Challenge— the entire Rift Arc summed up in a single conversation, the lines of dialogue coming from each of the twelve Rift episodes of season three

Aperture— Gabrielle’s thoughts the night of her wedding

The Daughter of Duality, Hope’s life story from her perspective

My Great Hope— Seraphin prepares her goddess for childbirth

Hope Rising— Baby Hope makes a terrible mistake

“Tears of a Goddess: Blood Rain,” a one-shot exploring “Motherhood” from the goddess of love’s perspective

Useless— Aphrodite agonizes over what to do when alone with Gabrielle and Eve

Tears of a Goddess, a story in which Aphrodite comes clean about the large part she played in Gabrielle’s life behind the scenes

Gabrielle Rages against Xena— the bard finds herself at Aphrodite’s temple, heartbroken and lost after the series finale

Aphrodite Ribs Gabrielle— Aphrodite complains about Gabrielle’s mishaps throughout the show

Rapprochement, a story about Xena and Gabrielle hashing out The Rift Arc before finally coming together as a couple

The Answer— Xena reminds Gabrielle of who she is

Divine Intervention— Aphrodite blesses Xena and Gabrielle’s union

Adventures in Moving Forward, a chronicle of Aphrodite’s and Gabrielle’s adventures together post-AFIN and all my other XWP stories

Stranger— Aphrodite protects Gabrielle from a mob in Brittania

The Betrayer, Gabrielle's untold experience during “The Deliverer.”

Disturbance— Xena makes an unexpected suggestion on how to stop Gabrielle’s recurring nightmare

Deception— Khrafstar fills multiple voids in Gabrielle’s heart

Defilement— Reality slips away from Gabrielle with the loss of her blood innocence

Desecration— Gabrielle becomes one with darkness

Dissolution— The return of Gabrielle’s hero brings about only more tragedy

Fan Theories

Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes— how Xena and Gabrielle got their children through equal and opposite people and circumstances

Shazam!— how Xena might be able to come back after the series finale

Man-Killer— what really happened to Toris

An Unsung Hero— Aphrodite being Gabrielle’s guardian angel throughout the Rift Arc

Infamous, Infuriated— why Xena engaged in the GabDrag (and BardBraining)

Solving Some Problems with Ares— answering two of my own questions about the god of war

Odd, Sort of Beautiful Symmetry— how we ended up with Annie and Harry

Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes [Reblog]— an extension of the original theory that focuses more on Solan and Hope themselves

Solving More Problems with Ares— answering my next questions about the god of war

Episode Cracksubs

The Comedy of Amphipolis— “The Haunting of Amphipolis”

What in the Gurkhan?— “Who’s Gurkhan?”

Them Bones and Boneheads— “Them Bones, Them Bones”

TL;DRs— cliff-notes version of longer posts

TL;DR #1: Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes

TL;DR #2: Infamous, Infuriated

TL;DR #3: The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares

Funny Little Moments— (Five:) a series highlighting overlooked silly things from each episode, illustrated in pictures and cracksubs / (More:) summation posts showcasing additional funny moments from each episode, in half-season chunks

Five Funny Little Moments #1: “Sins of the Past”

Five Funny Little Moments #2: Chariots of War

Five Funny Little Moments #3: Dreamworker

Five Funny Little Moments #4: Cradle of Hope

Five Funny Little Moments #5: The Path Not Taken

Five Funny Little Moments #6: The Reckoning

Five Funny Little Moments #7: The Titans

Five Funny Little Moments #8: Prometheus

Five Funny Little Moments #9: Death in Chains

Five Funny Little Moments #10: Hooves and Harlots

Five Funny Little Moments #11: The Black Wolf

Five Funny Little Moments #12: Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

Miscellaneous

Golden Ticket— Renee O’Connor’s initial responses to me on Instagram

Bath Time— a fun self-challenge involving making a story from recently downloaded/screenshot images in just a few minutes

Mensiversary— review of my first month on Tumblr

Confirmation/Affirmation— Steven L. Sears’s essay of support for my Furies theory

K.O.— Renée O’Connor liking my comment about ^

Hooray!— The Mother of Hope is finished (kinda)

Aww…— a quick picture post to try something new while I was bummed about the deadly tech bug that obliterated my posts for weeks

Second Mensiversary— review of my second month on Tumblr

NOOO!— a lamentation related to The Mother of Hope

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares [Reblog/Response]— answering a reader

More Funny Little Moments #1: Season 1, Episodes 1-12

*Other

Black Hole— a poem about depression

It’s Nothing— a poem on invalidation

What the?— the beginning of the bug :(

#xwp #xena warrior princess #xena #xena and gabrielle #gabrielle #link post #fan theory #fanfic #fanfiction #xena fanfiction #gabrielle fanfiction #cracksubs

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buglife · 3 years

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Terra Lumina

A hollow knight au guide that I keep writing in. You can read all my writings and art stuff in the #terra-lumina tag. Mostly so I can just point to this post when explaining things awee. :3 Post subject to edits and changes.

Terra Lumina is an au where both Ghost (the little knight) and Quirrel are together and are the new rulers of Hallownest. So it's a royalty au! Pretty much it's slice of life where they do their best to be a better ruler than the Pale King ever was, ruling with kindness and intelligence. Seriously, like, the Pale King could have just talked to the Radiance instead of letting things snowball like they did. They both live in the new palace which is pretty much like the White House in that it's mostly dedicated to government with an apartment for the rulers to live in. It's where the old palace used to be, but now it's much greener and 100% less buzzsaws. It is post embrace the void ending and an everyone lives/nobody dies au where the only characters that are dead are those that were found so at the start of the game. Takes place about 5-7 years after the end of the game.

The two romantic rulers.

Ghost:Now taller than Quirrel and is the Shade Lord, god of void and dreams. Sovereign of Hallownest and rightful ruler due to king's brand. Can use telepathy but only does so with family/friends, as they are nervous about scaring people so uses sign language with them. Is very happy to have family/friends and overall liked by most folks. Is still scary to some and is sad about that. Married Quirrel. Considers Mato their adoptive father and calls them such. Still enjoys fighting (but for fun now). Since dreams are now their aspect, they gather up nightmares to help the population (and gives to their adopted grimmchild, Allegro, and Grimm themselves.)

Quirrel: Now called the Scholar King, rules alongside Ghost. He still has trouble believing that this is his life. Chaotic Good. Mostly deals with the logistics in running the kingdom. Adoptive mother is Monomon who found him when he was teeny tiny. Did not attempt to drown themselves, instead isolated himself when he thought Monomon was dead so Ghost had to find him. Still fights and can practically teleport. Spends free time in the palace library where a copy of all the surviving books were moved to and is free to the public to check out and read.

Family/Friends

Hornet: Still the Princess of Deepnest and was happy to have her mother Herrah rule again. Is officially Deepnest's ambassador and works closely with her sibling to be sure things that need to get done, get done. She won't admit it but she loves spending time with her siblings. Also randomly jumps Ghost to keep them on their toes and make sure they don't lose their skill. This can happen at anytime, anyplace. Is a close ally with the Hive and is helping the new Queen get used to her role. Also demands spars with Quirrel all the time because she does like her brother and law and the fact she doesn't kill him is proof enough in her eyes.

Mato: Dadmaster. Pretty much raised Ghost in between the end of the game to present day (and did a damn good job). Still lives in the Howling Cliffs and teaches students still, especially knight candidates. Is always on hand to cause trouble if needed. Is so proud you guys can't even. Keeps his home open in case Ghost and Quirrel need to hide for a bit. Officiated Ghost and Quirrel's wedding because of course.

Hollow: Part of the new great knights of Hallownest and is known as Hollow the Kind. Still likes to help people, and after having lots of care and therapy, is now more expressive and open. Is pretty much free to do what they please, and they choose to mostly patrol the kingdom and help when needed. Is constantly sneaking frogs into the palace because Hollow loves them. Can only use telepathy with other void beings and uses sign language to communicate otherwise. Is still missing an arm but had a magical prosthetic built. Loves to be in cuddle piles.

Tiso:Big brother figure and part of the new great knights of Hallownest. He is known as Tiso the Daring. Is actually a badass Captain America type fighter, just couldn't dodge a house sized mawlek and nearly died back then. Taught Ghost all the swears and often invokes 'Big Brother Rights'. Is also Captain of the Guard and has matured a lot since the end of the game. In a relationship with Myla and Cloth.

Cloth:Part of the new great knights of Hallownest and is known as Cloth the Strong. Makes sure people behave. Has healed from her near suicidal want to join her late lover, and now has a more positive outlook on life. Tends to organize tournaments that aren't fucked up and fatal like the Coliseum. In a relationship with Tiso and Myla.

Myla:Was saved from the infection, but it left her prone to sickness and a little weaker than most bugs. Compensates for still being cherry and wonderful to be around. Actually wicked smart and has helped Ghost restart the mining industry. Enjoys going to musicals/plays in her free time. Still loves being a geologist and provided most of the geological samples in the Capital's museum. Is in a relationship with Cloth and Tiso.

Ogrim: The only surviving great knight of old Hallownest. Is part of the new knights as Ogrim the Defender. Is the leader of the new knights and is a brilliant tactician. Has moved up from the Waterways to a new home and no longer lives in exile. Likes to plan parties and is generally doing better. He deserves it.

God Tamer: Real name is Xena (I seen it used around and I like it.) Part of the new great knights of Hallownest and is known as Xena the Tamer. Still works alongside her beast, ‘Pickles’. Has an uncanny ability to befriend dangerous beasts and pacifies them. Now has a small zoo’s worth of ‘friends’ that come and go for pats and treats. Dunks on Tiso a lot. Is surprisingly a conservationist. Will beat the shit out of people without hesitation if needed. Often fights new recruits to judge areas needing improvement. Has no tolerance for idiots. Was saved from the infection, but was not infected long enough to cause long term damage.

Allegro: The Grimmchild. Has chosen female pronouns. She is now past the grub stage and has left the kingdom to travel with her father, Grimm, to learn how to take over the Troupe. Still keeps in contact with Ghost through dreams and loves Ghost very much as their ‘Ren’. Was and still is, a little shit. Ghost misses them a lot but is comforted by her visits. Ghost saves nightmares to give to her so she can get big and strong!

Grimm: Considered a friend at this point, and taught Ghost about the dream realm. Visits through dreams. Ghost saves nightmares to give to him. Often has advice when needed.

Sheo/Nailsmith: Uncles. They both run an art school with Sheo teaching fine arts and Nail(Smith) teaching forging. They also run an art gallery. Are up to cause trouble whenever needed.

Oro: Uncle. The real sour one. Teaches new recruits and tends to weed out those that can make it from ones that can’t. Pretty much a drill Sargent. Ghost pays him not only in geo, but candy. Special, custom made candy just for Oro. It’s the only way they could get him to do this job. Oro won’t admit it’s also because he loves his former pupil no sir.

Monomon: Quirrel’s adoptive mother and currently is the royal researcher. Teaches classes as well. Ghost pretty much told her to do whatever as long as it will improve the lives of bugkind and she loves them for it. Is always down to cause trouble. Chaotic Neutral. Has some type of explosive with them at any given time. Tends to ‘vanish’ people who have wrong her or her son. Embodies chaos. Craves gossip. Former Dreamer and woke up when Ghost took the pantheon approach to defeating the Radiance.

Herrah: Queen of Hallownest and considers Ghost one of her children. Is happy to be Queen of her own people and is making up for lost time with her daughter. Likes to meet with the Hallownest rulers for a good shit-talking session. Is made of sass. Former Dreamer and woke up when Ghost took the pantheon approach to defeating the Radiance.

Lurien: Watcher of the Capital. Disaster. Will stay up for days on end working on things to accidentally invent new things in the process in sleep deprived delirium. Often gets drunk or high and contemplates the universe. Has the best edibles around I tell you. Is actually good at his job, which is finding suspicious things and investigating them. Former Dreamer and woke up when Ghost took the pantheon approach to defeating the Radiance.

Lemm: Runs the Hallownest museum and works in the back where he catalogs and studies findings and doesn’t have to talk to anyone and is the happiest he could ever be.

Seer: Holy shit she is old. Still lives in the resting grounds. Ghost visits often and brings tea and snacks. Grandma energy. Is currently working with Quirrel to recount as much as she can about moth legends and society so it can be preserved forever. It’s slow going because she is old, but it’s going.

The siblings: Are now at rest.

Everything else

White Lady: Is still alive and has left the gardens. She resides in a little hidden cottage outside the palace where she grows flowers. Is often called in to overlook agriculture efforts. Has long since revoked her crown and is content with a quiet life. Is not considered a mother by Ghost, and Ghost will not forgive her for her role in things. She is okay with this and hopes to atone someday for what she did.

The Pale King: Still fucking dead. Rest in Pieces you shit.

Eternal Emilitia: Is a member of the new noble class and takes her job seriously. She mostly keeps the other nobles in line when she can and helps delegate orders to places where they need to go. It’s like herding cats but she’s getting better with it the longer she’s around. Is respected by Ghost since she knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom and is quite sensitive to the needs to the people.

Radiance: Dead. Was going mad and in pain by the time Ghost got to her. Is now at rest.

Greenpath/Queen’s Gardens:Given back to the moss-kin and Unn. Unn has started to awaken more now that the infection is over and her children are freed from it’s influence. Is considered it’s own ‘kingdom’. Is in good relations with Hallownest.

Fungal Wastes: Still thriving. A hivemind made up of everything from microscopic spores to the entire fungal waste itself. The mushroom tribe trades with Hallownest and is in good relations with them. Still considered weird to most but they are good and peaceful people.

Mantis Tribe: Is in a good relationship with Ghost, Hornet and Quirrel, and not much else. Has complete independence but was asked nicely if they could help train the most dedicated of new guards/knights. Did not pass up the opportunity to be allowed to beat the shit out of willing Hallownest citizens who wanted to train.

Deepnest: Ruled by Queen Herrah and Princess Hornet. Good relationship with Hallownest and enjoys full independence. The beasts that reside are no longer hassled by Hallownest encroachment and thus does not push back into it. Exports silk products and is now a very prosperous nation.

Dirtmouth/Crystal Peaks: Still the same, but with now more people. All our favorite Dirtmouth folks are doing well. Elderbug is delighted to have a full town to be a mayor over.

City of Tears: Now called the 'Capital'. Plants are now on the ceiling to redirect water and stop the constant rain. It's much more pleasant now.

Colosseum of Fools: Left alone mostly. Ghost cannot stop people for wanting to go there if they are of sound mind to make the decision.

The Hive: Is now ruled by the new Queen Apis. Is fully independent and enjoys a cushy trade agreement with Hallownest and the rest of the various nations. She wonders if she will ever live up to her mother, Queen Vespa, but has many friends to help her grow into the role. Hive Knight is her loyal friend.

#hollow knight #terra lumina #au stuff #ruler au #ghost #quirrel #ghost/quirrel #myla/tiso/cloth #sheo/nailsmith #dreamers are alive au #everyone lives/nobody dies #my writing

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naralanis · 3 years

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Fic Writer Review!

Thanks @mssirey for the tag! I totally didn't have a crisis with the very last question, not at all bwhahaha

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

41, soon to be 42. ASJKLDBLAHSDSD how. And also why. But mostly, how.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

565,934 EXCUSE ME WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I was going to check my unpublished works but ya know what. Maybe I've written enough akdjsa

3. How many fandoms have you written for?

Technically speaking, I've written and published fics for five fandoms. However, I only have one story for OUAT (and I have @shadowdianne to thank for that... or do I?) and one for Captain Marvel. Mirandy was my first love, Cissamione the second, and Supercorp has burrowed in my brain and just won't let go.

I've also technically written for Xena, Legend of Korra, and Criminal Minds, but since I never published those, we're going to pretend they don't exist!

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

Only two are WIPs! YEAH! They're the top two, but WHO CARES, here they are:

1) Perhaps, aka my baby, my child, my darling, the apple of my eye. If I ever had to choose to finish only ONE of my WIPs, this would be the one. This story has grown with me, and I think you can tell when you read. Or maybe not!

2) For the Better. If the former is my baby, this one is like... my moody teenager. I love it dearly, but... it takes a lot out of me. An ode to one of the first fandoms I actively wrote for, it sits unfinished, but nearly, oh so nearly done. I will finish it, damn ittt.

3) The Date. Honestly, this one really surprised me -- it's one of my oldest one-shots, and something I definitely dashed off between lectures back in Scotland, maybe alternating with FtB chapters. It's one of my first attempts at humour, I think.

4) Bits and Pieces. AYY, I wasn't sure Supercorp would make the cut, WOOOT! This one was the second Supercorp fic I ever wrote, and I did it because Lena Is Baby and the idea just wouldn't leave my brain.

And lastly, the fabulous number 5... Perfect. AKA Nara's First (published) Explicit Fic, featuring Praise Kink and an Enchanted Dildo (for... reasons). I'm not gonna lie, I am so HAPPY this one made it, because it has a special place in my heart. It's where Soft Butch Hermione comes to life, and if you don't love Soft Butch Hermione, I'm sorry, we can't be friends. I love her.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

Eeermmm... some? I do want to respond, but I'm terrible with keeping up with comments, I really am. For whatever reason, even when I do my best, I don't really love responding directly on AO3. I also turned off all email notifications for AO3 because turns out my brain WILL be distracted by even a single one.

I'm much more responsive on Tumblr, I promise!

6. A fic you've written with the angstiest ending:

Any of my Narlily works, I guess? Like... All Flowers Wither or Carry On.

Unshackled would be another one, though it's Cissamione... but I caved and made a happy(ish) second part for that one.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Nope! Crossovers just don't do it for me, generally speaking (reading or writing).

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

EvEr rEcEIvEd hAtE-- yes. Oh, yes. I've been told my writing is terrible, I've been told my stories were a 'waste of time,' or 'overhyped,' I've had people tell me there was only One Way to write a certain pairing and my way was definitely Not The Way.

The list goes on.

It used to really, really bother me--still does, but in a much smaller way. Delete/Block buttons are my friends.

9. Do you write smut?

I write an absurd amount of smut. I just don't publish any of it because. Fear.

My pretty, pretty pens have created some filthy, filthy things.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

A couple of times -- only once or twice like, straight up attributed to someone else who acted like they were the one writing it. The other times were reposts or translations (without my permission, so still. stolen).

11. Ever had a fic translated?

I've authorized a couple of translations of a few of my DWP works. I'm usually cool with people translating my stuff IF THEY ASK ME FIRST and GIVE ME PROPER CREDIT.

9/10 it's some Brazilian who translates it to Portuguese without my permission and then gets upset when I, another Brazilian, do not endorse it and politely ask them to take the thing down. Thankfully it's been a while. ASK ME, DAMN IT.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Nothing published bwhaha!

13. All-time favourite ship?

Right now SuperCorp is definitely barking a little louder, so to speak, but I don't really have one favourite overall. It depends on the fandom, sometimes! Cissamione is very dear to my heart, because it's just so fucking out there and literally every one in this ship has some of the most fascinating headcanons for this pairing and it's just. So wonderful.

14. WIP you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

Eeeeuuughhh.... Right now? Probably The Appraisal. I forget what I wanted to do with it, I'm not sure if I'm still feeling the premise... IDK.

I think the same could be said of For the Better, but I PROMISED to finish it, and GOD DAMN IT, I am so close I can't throw in the towel just yet.

15. Writing strengths?

You want ME to say good things about MYSELF? I'm still learning how to do that asldkjbasdn it's a work in progress. But I think I'd say... maybe world-building, at least on my longer works?

I would also like to think I do pretty OK in... IDK, some of the punchy stuff? The 'oh wait a minute' moment? IDK if that makes sense!

16. Writing weaknesses?

Organizing. Plot (HAHA IKR). Consistency. Editing (which is rich from someone who literally edits shit for a living... but go figure). Pacing. Weirdly long sentences? Commas for DAYS.

I could go on.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I am a-OK attempting it in French/Spanish/Portuguese. It may not sound natural, but it will be correct. If I'm trying another language, I'll definitely get help! But I've got no problem with it.

18. First fandom you ever wrote for?

Harry Potter, Dramione specifically, and you'll never find a shred of it. I was like 12, and almost a decade later I figured out Hermione was much better off with Draco's mother.

19. What's your fav fic you've written so far?

DON'T MAKE ME CHOOOSE asdkljasdl I CAAANNN'TTTT

I mean, obviously Perhaps is one of them -- it is my baby, that has been established. I think Little Bumps in the Road is also up there, because it was just a random writing exercise that got out of hand, and honestly? I'm here for it. Andddd.... I GUESS I'll put A Valentine's Evening up there as well, because it was the first time I didn't second guess every word I wrote when posting smut. I just... felt it, went for it, wrote it, and it felt really, really good to release some of that into the world lol

WHEW, this was a long one! I'll be tagging @intheinkpot, @shadowdianne, @delirious-comfort, and @16-pennies because I am a curious bastard. But, as always, feel free to treat this as an open tag. Go nuts!

#tag game #this was illuminating in several ways #aka i need to finish my wips #(though that ain't exactly news)#but more importantly #i've written way more than I think I have #and ya know what #it's OK to be proud of that #i am proud of all my children #and i love them all equally #*side eyes Decisions Decisions Decisions*#even you #nara rambles

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hippohead · 4 years

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Happy New Year

Pairing: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel Rating: General Audiences Words: 2071 Summery: This is a Halloween fic. I promise.

Read it on AO3

- - - - -

The thing about being Rachel Berry’s best friend is, it’s a learned skill.

And Kurt had put in the work. He had looked past the diva-esque antics and the obnoxious Broadway tunnel-vision and the steamrolling, and underneath he had found the Rachel that he loved. The Rachel who would bring him a cup of tea when she knew he was feeling down; the Rachel who pushed Kurt more than he wanted her to but knew he needed it; the Rachel who was kindness and cared – a lot. And it was worth it, for the most part, to have learnt the skill and to have let her into so many parts of himself.

Except for when it wasn’t.

“You’re being pushy,” he warns, and he knows his tone is sharp enough that it would stop most people. Rachel isn’t most people.

“Kurt,” she says just as sternly, swinging around the doorframe of the bathroom so that she can look at him while she continues her delusional lecture, “I just think it’s time that you admitted it.”

He adjusts his cat ears because they’re already giving him a headache. He knows he should have thought of a more original costume idea but time means nothing when he’s juggling NYADA and exams and showcases and auditions and the diner and friends and- god, he’s exhausted just thinking about it all. If all he could pull together for tonight was a pair of black jeans, a tight black long-sleeve, and a pair of cat ears – well, he thinks that’s quite reasonable considering. “There’s nothing to admit.”

Rachel steps out of the bathroom fully now, her makeup finished and her bob wig firmly in place. “How do I look?”

Kurt breathes a small sigh of relief at the change in topic, finally. “You look like the perfect Fanny Brice.” And she does, but the snarky part of him wants to note that she also could have been a bit more original with her outfit. Rachel dressing as Fanny for a costume party? Groundbreaking.

She walks past him, almost dancing, and sings, “That’s because I am the perfect Fanny Brice.”

Kurt sips at the cider that some of Rachel’s older friends from NYADA had left at the loft after their last party and waits for her to come back from her bedroom. By the time she does – a small purse looking like it’s stuffed with emergency night-out supplies slung over her shoulder – he's already feeling a light buzz twirling through his bones. “What time are the others getting here?”

Rachel checks her phone, “Any minute now.” And then, because she’s the worst and unrelenting and incapable of letting anything go, she says, “I think you should tell Blaine that you have feelings for him tonight.”

“Oh my god, Rachel. I do not have feelings for Blaine.”

It’s the easiest lie when he’s saying it to Rachel, because it usually gets her off his back for a little while. There’s something complicated about the lie when he tries to convince himself. And it’s a lie he’d never say in front of Blaine, because saying it in front of Blaine means removing the maybe in their friendship. It would be Kurt clarifying boundaries he doesn’t want and making a possibility disappear that he always wants there.

And so he doesn’t know who he’s pissed off – karma or fate or the stars or whoever it is that controls the strings and the moments and time – because Blaine, Sam and Mercedes have pulled the door open to the loft just in time to catch his last sentence.

His back is to them but he heard the slide, and he glares at a very guilty, meek-looking Rachel. She bites her lips as if that’s an apology and then clears her throat, “Hey, guys!”

“Hey!”

Kurt turns around at Mercedes’ voice, and her eyes are big and wild and trying to communicate things with him that he doesn’t have the ability to decipher right now. She’s dressed as Christina from the Candyman music video, and she’s pulling it off effortlessly. He wants to tell her that but the air feels too weird to speak into. Sam is dressed as some Star Wars character he doesn’t know the name of and Blaine-

“Are you... a pumpkin?”

There’s an odd look on Blaine’s face and Kurt can’t figure it out. He lifts his eyes once he realises that Kurt’s question is obviously directed at him - the only one dressed as a pumpkin - and nods, “Yeah. I am.”

Well, it’s good to know that Blaine can be dressed as a pumpkin and still look adorable. It’s desperately unfair, really. Almost as unfair as the fact that Blaine just heard him rather decisively utter the words, I do not have feelings for Blaine.

Sam clears his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence that’s settled over everyone. “Should we get going? We’re already going to be late getting to Elliott’s.”

It’s enough to remind everyone that they’re close friends and long past the point of standing in awkward silences, so they bundle up in coats and make their way towards the subway station.

Rachel finds a moment to whisper a quiet, “Sorry,” in his ear once they're on the train. He wants to question her about it – if he was telling her the truth, then there would be no need for an apology. Blaine hearing him say those words wouldn’t be an issue. He wishes she’d just believe him, for once, but then he glances over at Blaine laughing at an impression Sam is doing, a smile growing on his face despite himself, and he realises how transparent he is.

Why doesn’t Blaine?

- - - - -

Kurt is definitely avoiding him.

He’s actually a little impressed. Elliott’s place is on the smaller side, so there’s not a lot of places for Kurt to be where Blaine isn’t. Yet he’s somehow managing to pick the perfect moment to slip to the bathroom, or to claim he needs a little air, or to gesture wildly at his empty cup as he starts to weave his way to the drinks.

“What’s up with Hummel?”

It’s Santana. She’s dressed as Xena Warrior Princess and he’d questioned her about it when they’d arrived – it didn’t seem like her kind of thing, or too stereotypical for her to buy into. She’d set him with an unimpressed stare and said, “It’s Lucy Lawless wandering around with her wife and beating up mediocre men. What about that isn’t my thing?” And, well, fair enough.

“I don’t know,” but he does know. “I think I’ll go see if he’s okay.”

Santana just shrugs, as if her initial question was as far as her concern was going to go, and Blaine starts to move through all of the capes and bright colours and masks. There’s a part of him that doesn’t really want to find him. That means saying things like It’s okay that you don’t have feelings for me and Just your friendship is enough and Let’s just forget about it. The reality is that he wants more than a friendship, but he doesn't know how to risk the friendship to get to somewhere else. And this, this is why he thought they had an unspoken agreement to never clarify what was happening. Because at least if they were living in a limbo that felt sort of hopeful and perfect, the door was closed but not locked.

Tonight, Kurt had keys and he used them.

He finds him in the kitchen by himself, nursing a gin and tonic. “Kurt?”

“Oh.” He looks a little scattered and – weary? “Blaine. Hi.”

It sort of hurts, the way he says that, like he wishes Blaine wasn’t there or looking for him or near him. Kurt’s never sounded like that before. “Can we- can we talk about before?”

He sees the panic move through Kurt’s eyes and almost backtracks, but he can’t do this; can’t exist in the world with things being awkward between them. And he can’t even really understand why they’re awkward. There’s so much unpacking to do about that, but for now he just wants to reassure Kurt.

“Okay.”

It’s a small reply but it’s enough for Blaine. “I don’t really know why things have been a little weird, but I just want to- I don’t know, I guess. Figure out if we’re okay.”

“I lied.”

He’s suddenly very aware of his heart and that it’s in his chest, beating, faster than usual. “What do you mean?”

“I lied to Rachel.”

There’s some sort of plea in his rushed words, like he wants Blaine to hurry up and understand and put him out of his misery. So Blaine tries to hurry up and understand and - "Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Kurt deflates a little and looks down into his drink, “I’m sorry I’m being weird and all over the place. I’ve been trying so hard to be careful with our friendship, and now I’ve just ruined it.” And then, because Blaine still hasn’t said anything and the silence is stretching out in a suffocating way, Kurt says, “Gin makes me sad.”

“I’d be lying, too,” because he’s finally remembered how to speak.

Kurt squints at him, “What do you-”

“If I said I didn’t have feelings for you.”

It takes a moment, but the smile spreads onto Kurt’s face and it’s delicious and adorable and they’re both just standing in the kitchen, looking goofy and happy and risking it all.

“That’s a very stupid and roundabout way of saying- well, I really like you, Kurt.”

Kurt puts his glass down but doesn’t make a move towards Blaine just yet. “I really like you, too. Like, a lot.”

Blaine hums and lets that soak past his ridiculous pumpkin costume – he’s still not entirely convinced that orange is his colour despite Sam’s constant reassurances that it is – and into his skin, bones, being. He decides to be the one to close the gap a bit, moving towards Kurt and enjoying how heavy the air is, how he almost has to wade through it.

“Can I kiss you at midnight?” he asks.

Kurt giggles and it’s silly and Blaine wants to hear it again, and again, and again. “It’s Halloween, Blaine.”

“Mm,” he murmurs, not really sure why Kurt’s clarifying that. They’re both in costumes and there are fake cobwebs covering every surface – of course it’s Halloween. He starts to fiddle with Kurt’s cat ears, “It is.”

“Kissing at midnight is a New Year's Eve tradition.”

“Oh?” and he knows that somewhere in his brain, but he feels like he deserves to be forgiven for forgetting the specific details of which tradition belongs to which holiday because Kurt is very, very close to him and his eyes are sparkling and all he wants to do is kiss him. And so he does, or tries to-

“Wait!”

Blaine pauses, confusion riddling his eyes because were they not on the same page? But Kurt doesn’t move away. Instead, he keeps them in their tight spot together and pulls his phone out of his back pocket. Blaine can’t really see it and he tries to ask what Kurt is doing, but he just gets nicely shushed.

And then, triumphantly, Kurt holds his phone up to show Blaine what he was waiting for – the clock in the corner of the screen clicks over to 12:00 and Blaine gets it. Now he kisses him. It starts off sweet and he tastes like Halloween candy. He’s already addicted to the sugar and he starts to lick along his bottom lip. Kurt gasps a little, opening his mouth for Blaine, and that’s when their bodies shift, too. Kurt’s back is pushing into the bench and he’s trying to worry about whether or not he’s hurting him, but Kurt is somehow getting his hands under the pumpkin’s fabric and sliding at the skin on the small of his back. He’s struggling to find that compassion now when all that matters is kissing Kurt, Kurt's back be damned.

And then suddenly he’s not kissing Kurt.

Because Kurt has pulled away to drag in a breath and there’s an impossible grin on his face and a depth in his eyes that wasn’t there before and it means more, more, more. “Happy New Year, Blaine.”

“Happy New Year, Kurt,” he repeats. And then he laughs because he thinks they’ve just made their own holiday tradition, “Happy Halloween.”

#klainetober #klaine fanfiction #klaine #kurt x blaine #glee #i wrote this!#just something short and sweet because i felt like doing a little something-something

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pawsitivevibe · 3 years

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Okay I'm bored at this trial because it's break time, so here's a list of dogs I want in the future for sure:

English Cocker Spaniel. Hopefully next year. Henry, Arthur, Eleanor, or Ivy will be the name.

MUDI MUDI MUDI. Soon as we have a bit of land and room for another puppy. No real name plans.

Smaller longer-haired sighthound. Probably Silken Windhound or a Windsprite. I think I want to go female if I get a Silken because I hear the boys can be annoyingly horny lol.

Sport mix. I actually really like some of the Border Whippets and Border Staffies I've met. Alternatively a nice rescue dog who shows promise in disc especially. I want to name her Xena and get her custom discs printed with the chakram design lol.

An Aussie. Ideally with tail. I have a couple breeders in mind. I actually think they might be my ideal dog but they're not actually my fave breed (that would be Mudi).

Saluki or Afghan!! Let's go waaaay different lol. Can't decide which I like more. It might come down to availability. They're not super common around here, so I feel like if I'm going to jump through hoops to get one I'll probably show it, so we'll see how I feel about Afghan coat maintenance.

A little Doodle. Listen, I love my parents' dog Leia and I love a lot of mini doodles I've met when I worked at a vet. I think specifically mini Goldendoodle might be what I want, ideally with the curly mop coat.

Boston Terrier. No dog will ever be as amazing and perfect as Bree, but a Boston will likely some closest. I want someone breeding for sports and health and open nares. The brachy issue is not as easy as just breeding for longer noses though. So I think I'd want to find someone who knows what they're talking about to guide me in pursuit of a healthy sporty Boston.

And yes yes yes they are all varied! I don't want to stick with one breed! Some people would roll their eyes and say that they're too different and therefore I don't know what I want in a dog and there's no way all these breeds would suit me. But here's the thing .. at a certain point your "perfect breed" really doesn't matter. When you're in the dog hobby and doing sports and stuff and working with other people's dogs ... You shouldn't necessarily get whatever you want, BUT you are a little more equipped to handle varied personalities. When you run into problems ... Well you've got all kinds of training contacts, you'll probably be okay.

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strawberrymilkloadingscreen · 4 years

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Giving Up the Ghost Chapter 1 (Rise TMNT) (Donnie x Black&Female! Reader)

“Holy shit they’re turtle demons.”

You hadn’t believed April when she said that the demons and ghosts you were obsessed with lived in her tiny apartment. Every time you’d gone over in the last year and a half there hadn’t been that sort of itchy energy that you associated with demons, or the more groggy and cold one that came with ghosts. In fact, she didn’t live in a building considered a hot haunting zone online, her entire block was ghost free, and even the little sub place she was working at didn’t have a lick of phantom energy.

April O’Neil was as normal as could be.

However, there wasn’t anything you could say to refute the very clear evidence in front of you. Four gigantic turtles with weapons were crowded in your friend’s living room, yellow paint splattered on them, April, and the walls.

April scratched her head and ended up smearing hazard yellow paint through her cherry red curls. “Heeeey. What’re you doing here?”

“Me? Can we start talking about them?”

“Them? Psht! They’re just-“

A turtle in blue set a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, April. Talking about secret hobbies is embarrassing, but coming clean will do the body good. Like milk.”

“Leo…”

“The truth is that we’re… cosplaying.”

You rolled your eyes at that. “Seriously? That’s the best thing you can come up with? Even without my token I can practically see the energy coming from you.”

“Human girl say what?”

“She probably means the trace bits of mutagen from the oozsquitos in our blood.” A purple one muttered. “Which, I mean, is fair and accurate. Better question is how she can see anything since looking at her she’s obviously a normal everyday human.”

“WHOOOA!” You leaned back as an orange clad turtle got eye level with your chest. You weren’t sure when he got there, and that part concerned you more than a little. “What’s that!”

“What’s… Oh.” You plucked up the gem that had a perfect hole in the middle of it. “It’s the token. It lets me see ghosts, demons, but not 5’3 turtles dressed in neon orange.”

“It’s a great color. Is that violet or lavender?”

“I dunno? What are you?”

“Well I’m a warm shade of green with-“

The largest turtle plucked the smaller orange one up with one hand, and easily set him with all the others. “We’re mutants that are turtles… And ninjas. So don’t say a thing or we’ll make you disappear.”

“Isn’t that Hypno’s thing?” The one in blue wondered.

“Leo I’m trying to keep her from spilling our secret, annnd she’s fainting.”

You were in fact fainting into a pile of pure excitement and worry onto April’s paint splattered floor. The last thing you saw was April’s baseball bat, and four flinching turtles trying to get out her glitter encrusted door…

_______________________________________________________________

You ended up waking up on your front porch with a bottle of vodka tucked under your arm. You weren’t sure if it was April’s way to say sorry, or if it was to give your landlord and other passerby the idea that you passed out drunk. Either way the booze was welcome as you made your way out of the muggy summer heat and into the ice cold of your apartment. Your roommate’s cat, Xena, meowed at your return and followed you about as you took off your boots at the door. You went to the counter and pushed aside empty Chinese takeout boxes and mail to make room for the vodka.

With that task completed you quickly stripped, and tossed out the paint encrusted clothes in the trash, before cramming yourself in the shower and scrubbing hard. “How was I not robbed and murdered?”

Probably because you looked crazy. A Ouija board shirt and some booze was enough to make a handful of people back away from you; a wonderful lesson that college parties and your small town had taught you. The wet paint was probably another great deterrent. Whatever the case you were thankful enough not to get mad at the splotches that wouldn’t scrub off your dark skin. You quickly hopped out and towel dried before pulling on some comfy clothes and going back into the kitchen.

You paused beside a large tank sitting on top of some stacked books. With a groan you popped down on your knees and peered inside, a soft smile curling on your lips as you watched the turtle sitting on a pastel rock. “Hey Venus. Comfy?”

“Awe, are you talking to your turtle?” Your skin jumped and you quickly stood rod straight. “Hey don’t get jumpy on me now. Just me.”

“I mean it’s normal to get jumpy when around a walking talking garbage disposal.”

“I’d be offended if it wasn’t true.”

You rolled your eyes and grabbed the bottle of vodka. “What are you even doing here, Ricky? Jessie won’t be back for another week.”

“Forgot my phone charger here last night.” He waved the blue device around. “Oh, by the way, there was another haunting out at my Ma’s. Said she saw the pots moving. Think you could take a look?”

Ghosts… Wait, that was why you went to go see April. You’d seen some new ghost documentary on a streaming service, and you’d made plans with her to see it. When you got there…

Turtles.

Well, the red one said they were also ninja. That sounded utterly ridiculous, but you weren’t inclined to argue with demons or ghosts. Not that you had met that many, four in total including the ones today, but you’d read enough materials to know that it would be stupid to do so! Old ladies out in China Town though…

“Sorry Ricky, but I’ve got my plate full. Can you tell her I’ll try to make it some other time?”

“No prob. Pretty sure she’s just lonely and making up stuff to get some visitors. Should really go out there and scrapbook with her again now that I think about it.” He slicked back his blue hair. “Anyway, I’m heading out. If Jessie calls tell them I want some nudes”

“…No.”

“How about ‘I love you’.”

“Better.”

You waited until you heard the soft click of the door and snap of the lock before you went over to the cabinet and popped open a soda. You took a good swig before adding a splash of the vodka, and going back to the living room. Xena decided to take over your legs, but you couldn’t complain as you grabbed your laptop and began to do what you did best. Blogs were examined, newspaper articles scanned, and plenty of folklore was cracked open between sips of your boozy treat.

There were plenty of things for ninja that would come up for New York City. Everything from comic-cons, movie sets, and even a few historical events for museums. You were getting something similar for turtles as well. A new friend donated to the zoo, a fundraiser for conservation, and plenty of art meant to beautify the city.

However, when you entered the terms for humanoid turtles that’s when things were getting sketchy. Strange photos out outlines in a fish and ladder market, far more convincing ones during the hippo turtle meme a few years back, and a shaky video of black blobs ziplining down to a rooftop pool.

The more that you saw them the less you were convinced these things were demons or ghosts. Some type of cryptid maybe? Aliens? However, the term ninja made you lean more towards monsters, to be more specific kappa. Turtles that would drown their victims, rip orbs out of asses, and had a strange love for cucumber. You ended up falling asleep with Xena asleep on your keyboard and the new knowledge armed in your brain.

That was why you found yourself standing outside April’s, now non glittery, door the next morning. You had a basket hanging off your arm, and your cellphone fisted in your free hand. You kicked at the door, and only moments later it was ripped open by a still yellow streaked April.

“Oh it’s you…”

“Don’t get all excited to see me.”

The two of you stood in silence for a long moment, nervous smiles on both your faces and the air thick with tension. You took a deep breath and held out the basket full of sake and kappa.

“Here!”

“What is it?”

You looked away, your teeth sinking into your bottom lip until it stung. “Well, you had kappa in your house, and I wanted to give that as a peace offering. I dunno how you managed to meet kappa of all things in NYC, but I’m not gonna judge… Or tell. Especially that last one.”

April stared at the basket for a long moment, before looking at you with an equally bewildered look. She held up a single finger, before pulling her phone out of her pocket and tapped something out on it. “Wha-? You think they’re monsters from Japanese folklore? Girl, you really went all out with that vodka, huh?”

“I dunno what they were. One minute I was in your house, and the next it’s a mess and you have huge ass turtles in there. Isn’t that just the most interesting thing to ever happen!”

“Ahhhh not really?”

“Well, I guess you’re used to it. That’s fair.”

April gave a soft sigh before opening her door up all the way, and gesturing for you to come inside. “Look, I think the two of us are gonna have to have a long talk. Want some coffee?”

“Only if you’ve got whipped creamer.”

“Don’t you know it.”

You followed her into the apartment and your nervousness melted away. "So how'd you meet them?" "Well it all started when I was a kid thanks to a sad sad trolling attempt..."

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alchemeiarchive · 3 years

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A CROWN FOR LUCY FRONTMAN DYLAN MATHERS CATCHES UP WITH ANDY MAITLAND TO TALK ALBUM PRODUCTION, FLORISTRY, AND JUST WHO THE FUCK IS LUCY?

For someone who is a self-proclaimed ‘spotlight avoiderer’, Dylan Mathers is doing a wonderful job of handling the new attention being thrust his way. ‘I never wanted to be a frontman,’ he tells me over coffee at his local. ‘But I guess that’s just kind of how the pieces fell.’ Lead singer, guitarist, and main lyricist for newcomer A CROWN FOR LUCY, Mathers has had a lot on his schedule penning the band’s debut release and preparing for their first headlining tour. He’s gracious enough to remind me of the hard work his fellow band member put in when I mention this, and I’m once again reminded of how put together he seems. We last met hot off the heels of the band’s supersonic rise in popularity, and both times I’m struck at his modesty. It/s no wonder the band has positioned him to be the frontman - he has the marketable good looks and the talent, but he’s never willing to overshadow the other members. ‘Lucy has never been a one-man-show,’ he says. ‘Never has been. I’d be nothing without the guys.’ The guys are of course bassist Miriam Fasil, drummer Rupert Faulks, and rhythm guitarist Allison Ishikawa. A group of people who met whilst in detention, the comparisons to both The Breakfast Club, and the DCOM Lemonade Mouth are plentiful and unavoidable. ‘It’s not like we were fucking around cleaning and suddenly realized we were jamming,’ Mathers is quick to clarify. ‘It was more like a gradual realization and acknowledgement. I think Ali wore a shirt Miri and I commented on, and Rupe later mentioned something about a new kick drum he had to get. But we didn’t, like, put it all together for a while afterwards. It took us following each other on TikTok to see the potential.’ And TikTok is, indeed, what has helped their career. It was thanks to a series of videos in which they created short songs based on followers comments and suggestions that really propelled them into the stratosphere. ‘We got a comment that used the word bardolatry and it just kinda of ... stemmed from there. We posted it and the next day my sister called me saying it had blown up. She was like ‘Fuck, I should have got your signatures for eBay.’ Making songs from random words found in their comments does seem on-brand for the singer-songwrier - not only is his mother a high school English teacher; he shares his name with a famous poet. ‘Dylan Thomas, yeah,’ he nods. ‘The ‘do not go fearful into that good night’ guy. Mom was reading him when she went into labor with me, I’m pretty sure.’ It’s insights like this that make one think Mathers and the band are open and public about themselves - after all, they found fame through a social media app. But then I remember that the insights given are curated in such a way that, whilst they seem open, don’t divulge too much. We still don’t know the true origins of the band’s name, though many have asked - myself included. Is it a Narnia reference? A Beatles reference? A Xena: Warrior Princess reference somehow? They stay tight-lipped about it, smiling knowingly. As their audience, we can know the color of their bedroom walls, but not, who LUCY is. Still, we will take any and all insights we can. I ask him how the debut is going, and if he’s excited for the upcoming tour. ‘Real nice,’ he replies, a fervent glint in his eyes. ‘I think it’s gonna be something people’ll really like. Or maybe not, you know. Music’s subjective an’ shit. You like what you like and you don’t what you don’t. If you like it, fuckin’ great. If you don’t - that’s cool too, and I hope you find something you vibe with.’ He takes a moment to talk about how so many people base their opinions using other people’s as a metric, which almost always skews their own in a certain direction. I ask again about the tour. Their first headlining tour, with their own opening act. ‘Absolutely nuts,’ Mathers says with a nod of his head. ‘If you’d asked me a year ago what I’d be doing, I would’ve said helping Dad with his floristry business. Miri was gonna go into Medicine. I still don’t think her parents have quite got over her telling them she’s not going to Med school and instead gonna see how this band thing’ll pan out.’ He grins. ‘And we’ve got an opening act! For me, that was like ‘oh, yeah, I think we might be something here.’ I’ve been a fan of their for a little bit so it took me by surprise when we found out. It’s gonna be great. I think people‘ll really enjoy it. I know we will.’

TICKETS FOR THE BACKWARDS AND IN HIGH HEELS TOUR GO ON SALE APRIL 15TH.

#theres typos in the image but rn idc im too lazy to fix them #ALSO HEY YOU #PLOT W ME #MAKE THE BAND #MAKE NPCS #BE A TIKTOK FOLLOWER #BE A ROADIE #BE A JOURNALIST #PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEE #i wanna make this . like . A Thing #i have Plans for him ....... pls #dylan tbt.

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zeta1offical · 3 years

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Episode 1: Classes in Session, Part 1: Introduction

In the well lit hallway of Site 22’s 13th floor a young boy stares at the door before him with the number 1307 on a sign just below the widow as an armed guard stands by. The boy says to himself “You're gonna be fine” repeatedly almost in a trance until one of the guards spoke up “SCP 2241?” the young boy jerks snapping out of his trance. “You okay?” the purple haired female guard asked him “I’m fine just, I’m fine, Mis- I mean Officer Opal is there anyone else in there?” the young boy asked timidly. “Most of the other subjects are in there, hey kid don't worry I’m sure they'll like you” “You think so?” “Positive” the young boy takes a deep breath before exhaling “Okay I’m ready.” Private Opal proceeds to swipe her level 2 keycard and the young boy walks in expecting a laboratory like the ones he’s been tested in before. Imagine his surprise when he walks into something less like a lab and more like a classroom. White board behind what looks to be a teacher's desk, light green walls decorated with several posters, desks in various shapes and sizes, a projector attached to the ceiling, and shelves filled with all sorts of books. Once the young boy had a minute to take it all in his eyes turned to the center of the classroom where a bunch of individuals were gathered around a single desk.

Each of the individuals were focused on whatever was on the desk, some were giggling while most were watching in awe, it took a bit before one of them looked up long enough to notice the newest arrival. “Oh hi there!” one of them, a little girl, said which caught the attention of the others, they all looked at the boy until one of them, a girl with pink hair and different colored eyes stepped forward extending her hand. The boy understood and shook the girl’s hand to which she said “I’m SCP 040 but call me Rosalia, it's nice to meet you..” “SCP 2241 but my name is Cameron” the young boy responded. “C’mon Cameron let me introduce you to the others” an Rosalia said while still holding onto the boy’s hand.

One by one Rosalia introduced Cameron to the other subjects most like the cyborg girl Victoria, SCP 191, were shy but some like the orange slime Xiaying, SCP 999, were excited to have a new friend. “So Cameron what makes you an SCP?” the little girl Abby, SCP 053, asked him “Well it's probably cause I can do this” Cameron said as he used his powers to lift Abby and two nearby desks in the air with his mind. To which the others gave a small round of applause as Cameron set the little girl and desks gently back down. “That's just one of my powers I can also-” a small beam of light appeared and Cameron had disappeared only to reappear right behind the group “-do this.” “That's pretty cool,” said Rosalia, to which others nodded in agreement. The largest student, a giant octo dragon humanoid named Cthulhu, SCP 2662, then asked “So Cameron I guess you got a letter like the rest of us right?” “Uh yeah along with some stuff and this cool suit, I feel like more of a superhero with this gear on” he said while gesturing the SCP 5000-B1 to 4 outfit. The others were wearing the same gear, each coming in various shapes and sizes to accommodate the wearer, with each bearing the same mysterious book and quill insignia. “I wonder what this symbol is for though?” Xena, SCP 2599, asked out loud but before anyone could say anything the door opened again.

Rather than another single subject entering like before, two highly armored guards pushed in a teenage girl, skin pitch black with several white patches, who was strapped heavy in a wheelchair with a muzzle around her mouth giving a barely audible growl. Cameron noticed the girl was wearing the same gear as him before one of the guards spoke “Alright 029 is in, bring in 2192” over the radio. It was not long before another guard who was not as armored, came in holding the hand of a young burn skinned girl wearing similar gear except her suit was much more bulky than any of the others. “Thank you ladies, I’ll take it from here” the unarmored guard told her subordinates who gave an uneasy look before responding “Uh you sure Capitan? I mean 029-” “I’m fully aware of the threat Rajani opposes, I got this, please vacate the perimeter, you're freaking the students out.” “But-” “That's an order Sergeant White” to which the heavily armored guards left. The unarmored guard sighed before speaking “Apologies for the armored spectacle, it's just two of your fellow teammates require some…... extra precautions. Anyway The girl strapped like Hannibal Lecter is Rajani, SCP 029, this little lady in the space suit is Milaya, SCP 2192, and I’m Captain Anastasia Zima, feel free to call me Anastasia.” A few minutes went by before the door opened again and four more somewhat familiar individuals stepped in. They were foundation psychologist Dr. Anne Evans, Senior Researcher Dr. Jordan Wolfshire, Agent Embo Ravencroft aka SCP 5000-B, and Omega 7 Iris Thompson aka SCP 105. “Sorry for our tardiness, we had to get the last member of your squad, say hi Timmy” Dr. Wolfshire explained while holding up a birdcage engraved with a sign that said SCP 1192, the inhabitant being a bird named Timmy. “Oh right I forget you're a Cockatoo not a Par-” “Ahem!” Agent Ravencroft exclaimed to which Dr. Wolfshire went quiet. Dr. Evans then spoke “Now that everyone’s here I’m sure many of you have questions, each of you please sit in your assigned desk’s and they will be answered shortly.”

To be continued.....

#part 1 of 6 #pilot episode #ZETA-1 #SCP Foundation #scp oc #scp mtf

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sierraraeck · 3 years

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Ancient History and Open Wounds (Pt.1)

BAU x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Summary: In an effort to save Aundreya, the BAU has to turn to some unlikely allies before it’s too late. Story twenty.

Category: Angst.

Warnings: Cussing. Kidnapping. I don’t explicitly talk about torture, but it happens. Someone gets shot. Quick mention of previous sexual abuse and drug abuse.

Word Count: 4.1k

A/N: I’m very proud of how this story went, it’s kinda chaotic, but hopefully worth it. Also, prepare yourselves. A lot is about to go down.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

We planned for a lot, Niko, Mateo, Roman, Deen, and I. We ran through as many scenarios we could come up with and our next steps for each one. This, though. This we did not plan for.

I was always waking up with some sort of physical pain now-a-days, but this pain felt different. My head hurt, and my nose and throat burned. Not to mention, I started with a jolt, like the panic I felt right before passing out was just put on hold, and was rushing back to me all at once.

I rapidly blinked my eyes open, scanning my surroundings. There was something about it that seemed familiar, even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. There was dust everywhere and the room was warm, like we were over a giant boiler. There were two windows to my right that didn’t look very functional with newspapers covering them, but the rest of the room looked actually kinda cozy. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said it looked like a mini nursing home for one.

I moved my fingers around a little, then my toes, waking my body up little by little. I was bound to a pole, chains clasped to something above my head and on the other side. My legs were useless as well, multiple rows of chains holding them to the pole. That really only left my midsection stretched and exposed, like a pig about to be roasted above a fire.

“Morning.” Hot breath scraped across my ear, and I hadn’t even heard the person come in. “I was starting to worry that your ability to resist drugs and such was starting to wear off, but I was wrong.” He finally turned to face me and my stomach fell to my feet.

It was those same grey eyes, those same tattoos on his neck. His hair had changed, gotten a bit longer than his usual buzzcut, but his face was the same. A little stubble along his jaw as well, but it was like I was transported back in time to my first day after initiation with the Cloaks.

I knew this was coming, I did, and I tried to prepare myself, but there was no way in hell I felt remotely prepared to see him again. I wanted to kick myself for my initial reaction to do whatever he said and get out of this as quickly as possible. But I knew that couldn’t be how this time went. No, it couldn’t be, because I’d angered him much more than I ever had before. Not only that, but I was above him now. I took his gang, had my own ring, escaped a supermax, joined the FBI, and killed his love. I was supposed to be stronger than him. Fiercer. But I felt none of that at the moment. I was fucking terrified.

But I’d rather die than show him I was still scared, “DeLeon.” I spat his name like the shit it was.

“We were close once,” he mused, “You know, you can still call me Jamar.”

“We aren’t close now, DeLeon,” I hissed, making sure he got the point.

“Come on, Aundreya-”

“Chambers,” I raised my eyebrows, “You can call me Chambers.”

“You don’t make the demands around here,” he almost sang. Before I could make a smart comment back, he cut me off with a ‘tsk.’ “I’d stop talking if I were you.”

“I will never take your orders.” I immediately shot back.

“You know, this could all go away if you just stop fighting,” he replied smugly, knowing very well what my answer would be.

“I will never get on my knees for you.”

He grinned, “Oh, I know you wouldn’t do it for me, but that’s why I didn’t come empty handed. You see, I’ve heard that you have a weakness.”

“Oh, uh-huh, and what’s that?” I probed.

Without answering, he disappeared behind me. He gloated, “That little team of yours.” I heard some clanking and maneuvering, and then he reappeared lugging a massive cart.

“Trust me, that is not my team.”

“Sure, you say that, but let’s test that theory shall we?” On the cart were three different television screens. He gave me a smile before turning them on one by one. When they buzzed to life, whatever I was supposed to be seeing was dark and indecipherable. “Thanks to Doctor Madden’s lovely hospitality, and loaded bank account,” he gestured at the three tvs, “This was a successful and brilliant set up.”

That’s when I figured out why this place was so familiar. We were in Doctor Madden’s attic. When her mom was sick a few years back, she transformed the attic into her own little care facility, which I only ever visited once. Oh fuck. “What did you do with Doctor Madden?”

He completely ignored me, instead, reaching for a small remote that he aimed over to my left side. I turned that way and saw a small camera blink to life, the faint red light letting me know it was on and recording. He turned back to the tvs, his back facing me, and I heard him whisper into what I assumed was his phone. The moment he turned back around, all three of the pictures on the tvs panned out, showing me a perfect view of the outside of Spencer, Rossi, and JJ’s house.

“What is this?” I asked, the words barely making it out.

“Now, you said you’d never get on your knees for me, and I believe you, but would you get on your knees for them?” He was speaking very calmly, which was drastically different from the hot-headed DeLeon I once knew. Which scared me even more.

We waited in silence while we watched the tv screens. Rossi was having another house party, it appeared, with himself, Aaron, Derek, Emily, Penelope and Tara all drinking and laughing, JJ was at her house with Will and the boys, and Spencer was at his apartment. The curtains were still open, and he looked like he was alone for a moment before I saw someone’s head peek out of his bedroom. Maeve. He was with Maeve. At his apartment, in his bedroom, probably sharing the same experience I once did on the same goddamn mattress. I saw his eyes light up when she coaxed him into the bedroom, and I turned my attention back to the other two screens.

“In a few seconds, the live feed of the two of us will be transmitted to the BAU’s network. They’ll get to watch and hear everything that goes on,” DeLeon assured. I waited for what had to be at least a minute without any change.

But then I saw Penelope running out to the rest of the group, iPad in hand. She pulled Hotch and Derek aside first, frantically showed them what was on it, and then they called out to the rest of the group. They all grabbed their stuff in an instant, and made their way out of the backyard. The camera angle changed then, showing the front of Rossi’s mansion as they all piled into their respective cars, driving the same way. I turned to JJ’s screen, where I saw her rush out of the house on her phone. She kissed Will on the cheek, then got in her car and sped away. At the same time, I saw Spencer emerge from the bedroom, readjust his clothes, then run to his car. Each person had multiple camera angles on them, and then, all three of them changed to show the BAU.

And then the full force of dread came crashing down on me. DeLeon noticed it too, and started chuckling. “Figured it out yet?”

I swallowed, and looked at him, mouth agape. “You put snipers on them.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

~2 months earlier~

“Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys,” Penelope rushed into the round table room, stopping all conversations. They’d just gotten a new case, and were confused why she was back already, and so startled. “Stop what you are doing.”

Everyone had already stopped what they were doing, and waited for her to get whatever it was up on the big screen.

“Meet Xena Adaland,” Penelope said, gesturing to the crime scene photos.

“You mean…?” Derek trailed off.

“Xena as in Xena from Aundreya’s list? Yes,” her eyes grew about three sizes. It was a miracle they didn’t just fall right out of her head.

“How’d you pull that off? Isn’t her identity completely untraceable?” Derek questioned.

“Uh, it doesn’t really matter, and yes,” she quickly answered the other question, “But trust me, it’s her.”

“Where is this?” Hotch asked.

“This is just outside of Chicago in an old MMA gym that’s been closed for over three years,” Penelope informed.

“In Chicago?” Emily confirmed, “If Chambers is running, isn’t that too obvious a place for her to hide?”

“Yes, but if she didn’t want Xena knowing any of the other places she’d been staying at, going to where they first met wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Derek chimed in.

“Plus, she’s smart. We’d obviously think she’d go somewhere that can’t be connected to her, so going someplace too easy might be overlooked,” Rossi added.

“Do we think this was just her? I mean, if this girl was one of Chambers’ biggest rivals, she’s got to be smart, right? There’s no way she would have let herself be lured into a trap that obvious without other people being involved,” JJ offered.

“I’m not so sure,” Rossi mused. “I think there is a lot about Chambers we don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did that all on her own.”

“And come on. She had all that time in prison to plan something like this,” Derek said. “Plus, she used to be, and obviously still is, one of the highest profile criminals ever.”

“Prentiss, Rossi, I want you two to fly out to Chicago and check this out. As for the rest of us, we will be working the other case,” Hotch commanded.

The two of them headed toward the door, but stopped shy. They’d all been thinking this, but Rossi was the one who voiced it, “And the kid?”

‘The Kid’ in question was not currently in the room. He had one more day left of vacation, and would be flying out to the team the next day. Spencer hadn’t been handling things well, and just started to round the corner with the team, and Maeve’s, helps. This was not the kind of information he needed right now. Not to say that the team thought he was fragile and incapable of handling this information, he’d dealt with much worse and still been able to do his job, but why give him information they don’t know for sure was relevant?

“He’ll be working with us,” is all Hotch offered, but it was enough to relay the message to the rest of the team: Do not mention this to him. Let me handle the excuses.

Prentiss and Rossi landed a couple of hours later and immediately drove to the crime scene. Garcia told them that she’d called the police chief and he’d be waiting for them there.

“Hello agents,” he greeted, extending his hand.

“Agent Prentiss, this is agent Rossi,” Emily took his hand then gestured to Rossi who followed suit.

“Chief Welter. This way,” he led them inside the abandoned gym which they could see pretty well in the daytime, despite all the dust and boarded up windows. “It’s pretty bad, but I’ve got to ask. Why’re the Feds interested in some one-off?”

“Might be connected to something else,” was all Prentiss offered. The man just nodded, giving her a slight side eye, but her full attention was already on the scene. There was a lot of blood, nearly dried, that left only a small oval shaped area that was uncovered. There were obvious signs of a struggle, but overall, things felt too clean. I mean, there was a little dribbled blood here, and a small splatter there that could have occurred from the fight, but something about it felt off. It didn’t seem staged, and there was no obvious evidence that the scene had been tampered with, but it just felt wrong. Maybe it was just because they already knew who did it, and they had a very complicated relationship with her.

But whatever the reason, they continued on as planned. They evaluated the scene, then went to the station to make sure they had all of the pictures and all of the evidence available. The next stop was the ME.

On the car ride there, Emily asked, “Did something feel off to you?”

“Expand,” Rossi said.

“Like, did something about that scene feel wrong to you? I don’t really know how to describe it, but something about it seemed so perfectly ordinary and perfectly random that it couldn’t have been random? I don’t know if that’s making any sense but-”

“I get what you’re saying. Like everything seemed so staged yet not staged at the same time?” Rossi looked over at Emily and she nodded. They parked the car and headed toward the ME’s office.

“Do you think we should tell the rest of the team about when we saw her?”

Rossi sighed and pushed open the front door, “Let’s wait and see how this pans out, and then we’ll figure out if we need to tell the rest of the team.”

“Tell the rest of the team what?” The moment they heard those harsh words, they didn’t even have to look at him to know they were in deep. Spencer just looked at them expectantly. “Tell us what?”

“Spence, look-”

“Don’t, Emily. What the hell, guys! Does no one tell me anything anymore?” he spat.

“We were going to tell you-” Rossi tried.

“Were you? Then why’d I have to profile it out of Penelope?” Neither one had a good answer for that. “So what else are you not telling me, hm?”

Prentiss exchanged a look with Rossi and sighed. “We saw her.”

Reid seemed speechless for a moment before whispering with wild eyes, “What?”

“At the hospital. She came to visit Morgan, Hotch, and JJ after … you know. It was like two am but she was there. Just watching them. And we saw her,” Prentiss finished.

Reid was frozen for a few seconds before asking, “How was she?” All the anger seemed to seep out of his voice.

“Fine. We didn’t talk but she looked okay,” she tacked on, “Physically, at least.”

“So she’s alive?” Reid confirmed.

“Sure is, kid,” Rossi assured.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this,” Reid accused, venom returning just as quickly as it had left, “You know this has been driving me crazy for months now, how could you not tell me? You were just going to let me lose sleep and struggle to figure this out and spin out of control and then solve it behind my back? I can help, so why won’t you let me? You know how important she-” he rapidly stopped himself. He slowly released a breath and brought his volume back under control, not having fully realized he was yelling, “how important this is to me.”

Rossi and Prentiss shared yet another look, then Rossi said, “Okay Reid. Then help us.”

That was all he needed to hear before turning to enter the office.

They were all relieved to find out that, as far as evidence could tell, Aundreya was fine. Actually, she should be more than fine. Not even a single drop of her blood was at the scene. It was like Xena was fighting a ghost, a very vengeful one at that.

But they all knew that if Aundreya was so worried about this girl that she must be good. And if she was good, there was no way that she walked away without a scratch.

Emily realized that’s what felt off about the scene. It was incredible, actually, if she thought about it. An entire fight and murder took place that they were sure Chambers was involved in, yet, evidence of anyone else being there didn’t exist. Somehow the scene had been set up and cleaned without even a shred of evidence to show that it had been set up or cleaned.

It made them wonder, though. They knew Chambers had a network of people she was in charge of, a group only referred to as ‘the ring,’ but they didn’t know anything else about them. Now, however, seeing that crime scene, all they knew was that they were fantastic at their jobs. And it was terrifying. Not to mention, if she was the leader of this group, what did that say about her?

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

~Present~

The team rushed into the bullpen just after the 10 o’clock hour completely in a panic, but all trying to control it. Penelope already had the live feed up on the big screen.

It was Aundreya, there was no doubt about that, but she looked like a wreck. She was chained to a pole, bruises everywhere and her stitches visible.

“Those should be healed by now,” Spencer pointed out. No one had anything to say about that, all their minds coming to the same conclusion that it was either the man in front of her or Xena that had opened them back up. How she got them sewn shut again was a whole different matter.

The man Penelope still couldn’t identify was talking to her, “I started to worry that this wouldn’t even work, considering the tension between you and the team. I mean, maybe they don’t care enough to look for you, and maybe you don’t care enough about them to make your decisions interesting.”

“What decisions?” Aundreya spat.

The man continued on as if she hadn’t spoken, “But then I remember that I know something they don’t. Something you aren’t even willing to admit to yourself.” He flashed a hateful smile.

“Which is?” she sounded bored more than anything, but their profiler ears could hear the slight panic in her voice.

“You. Care,” the man said it like it was an insult, “You care so deeply, actually, that it physically pains you. And it’s true that you don’t care about much, but when you do, you care about it more than anything else and no matter how many times it hurts you or betrays you, you can’t help but care. That’s why this will work.”

“What will?” Aundreya sounded like she was fed up with his games.

“I’m glad you asked, and you’ll figure it out in due time. But why don’t you tell your friends over there,” he waved to the camera, “how you got here.”

“A lot has happened, you might want to narrow that time frame down.”

“Think of the biggest reason for me to have you here, like this,” he hissed, gesturing to her form. Aundreya just smirked at him. “Say it!”

“Look, if they’re actually watching this, which maybe they aren’t,” she shrugged, “they either already know what I did, or are about to put it together within the next thirty seconds, so there’s really no need for either of us to waste out breath.”

Penelope was the first to comment. “Does she really think that we wouldn’t care enough to watch this?”

A couple heads turned toward her, but it was Hotch that spoke, “I’m not sure there is much either of them is going to say that we can weigh too heavily on.” As much as Spencer, or Emily, or Rossi wanted to protest that statement, defending her character, they couldn’t. He was right. They knew her to lie. Plus, it was in Penelope’s best interest (who were they kidding, all of their interest) to hear that as well.

Their attention was brought back to the screen when the man spoke again, “Well then I hope they see this.” He walked out of frame only to come back with a small dagger. He reached up and carved an ‘X’ into one of her palms. Aundreya squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw, but other than that, she didn’t flinch.

“You think that’s going to do it?” she spat, “That’s not anywhere near what you’ve done to-”

Her words were cut off by the sudden sound of skin on skin, head whipping to the side.

“Oh, that?” the man asked, gesturing toward the large scar down her chest, “I’ve got more in store for you than that. Just taking my time. So I won’t ask again. Tell them. You know what else is on the line.”

“Son of a bitch,” Spencer froze in his spot. This is the man that gave her that? That bastard, I swear to god, I’ll-

“Spencer, what?” JJ asked, looked at him startled.

He was careful not to say anything she wouldn’t want them knowing, but rushed, “She once told me about some guy from the gang who, uh, hurt her while she was there. He gave her that scar before he left and she took over. That’s him.” The rest of the team turned back to the screen with a new understanding.

Aundreya dropped eye contact with the man before admitting, “What? That I killed Xena, ‘your love’ or whatever.”

“Don’t mock her!”

Aundreya’s voice was surprisingly level when she replied, “She was keeping things from you, DeLeon.”

“DeLeon?” Emily breathed, “That’s him?”

“No wonder he’s the last name on her list,” Derek chimed in. He followed what Reid was implying even though it seemed like no one else did, and he could understand the amount of rage coursing through her and why, even though she was the one chained up, she still talked to him like it was the other way around.

Their attention was pulled back to the screen at Aundreya’s next words, “You think, you both thought, that the other was perfect and aligned with your goals and wants, but guess what? That’s not true.”

“You don’t have a right to talk about us,” DeLeon hissed, but they could see him falter just slightly.

She continued, “You were working together out of necessity, you were both broken, and you thought you loved each other, but you didn’t. She was lying to you and going behind your back and just because you helped each other through a tough time, and supposedly were in love, doesn’t mean that you were on the same team. It doesn’t mean you wanted the same things and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re right for each other. A mutual hate for someone or a mutual goal to ‘get the bad guy’ does not make you compatible, that’s not how it works!” Aundreya’s voice quieted as she took a deep breath, some sort of understanding in her eyes. She looked at the camera for the first time and repeated, “That’s not how it works.”

“Don’t try to send them messages!” DeLeon marched over and shut off the camera, but not before promising, “We’ll be back.”

The team was silent. They were sure she was sending them a message, but they didn’t think it was quite in the way that DeLeon thought. Slowly, all eyes drifted over to Reid, who hadn’t reacted at all since the camera had been shut off.

Is that what she thinks happened between us? That we were broken and transferring and not on the same team and-

“Garcia could you get a trace on that?” Hotch asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

“I’m trying, sir, but he’s really good,” Garcia’s voice sounded watery.

“Okay, the rest of us need to start on a profile,” Hotch commanded, and they all started moving toward the round table room. Reid stayed cemented in his spot. “Reid?”

“Yeah, um, you guys start that, I’ll be right back,” he rushed, now frantically moving to grab his jacket, without his satchel, and headed out the door.

“Where are you going?” Derek called after him.

“I think I know someone who can help,” Spencer shouted back, then continued his path out the door. They watched him out, but then quickly got to work.

Series Taglist (open)

@justanothetfangirl @kris-stuff @blameitonthenight21 @wooya1224 @unded-bride @swiftingday @dezzxmx

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mercy-misrule · 3 years

Text

so ya boi Raz was out of the crate before the door was fully open. he was so curious and completely at ease. he smelled everything, walked near us, all three of us sitting on the couch just watching them. he immediately engaged with toys.

Xena was a tiny bit more cautious but it wasn't even 15 mins before she was out. she took her time, maybe half an hour slowly investigating. she was immediately calmer when she could have an eye on the goblin son.

then Raz came up and settled behind my foot and fell asleep. Xena played some more but then she came and found him, groomed him a bit, and then settled in herself.

and later on i was the first to pat Raz and he started purring.

Folks, its a little overwhelming to receive such trust and affection from little animals so fast, on such a big day for them. im so happy.

#ancient son #large child

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maniacalshen · 4 years

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Ficlet: Monster

Hey, @moddieeee, I hope you don’t mind that I used your post as a prompt.

Title: Monster

Fandom: Xena: Warrior Princess

Characters: Gabrielle/Xena

It was one of those times where the crisis was resolved but not over, at least not for Xena and Gabrielle. They had uncovered a plot to sabotage a moonlight wedding between an acolyte of Artemis - so that she might leave her goddess' service in full view of her and with her blessing - and the lordling set to inherit the nearby city. The lordling's friend who was also the acolyte's romantic rival meant to curse the girl to spend the night as some kind of... something that wouldn't be welcome at a wedding. And Gabrielle had stepped in front of the curse. Xena had gotten the cursing artifact away from the girl and put her in the town's jail, but while everyone else was setting up for the wedding, she and Gabrielle now sat in a borrowed hut with a barred door, waiting to see what would befall the bard.

Some helpful bystanders had suggested Xena wait outside the barred door, but as the sunlight waned in the small window, and Gabrielle looked up at her with tremulous green eyes, she internally scoffed anew at the idea. Hands on the younger woman's shoulders, she promised, "Whatever happens, I've got you, Gabrielle. Just one night; we can handle this." "If I hurt you, I'll never forgive myself." "Pff, your greedy old former warlord has plenty practice wrestling with green-eyed monsters." Xena watched the pun wrinkle Gabrielle's nose and make her laugh despite herself. "Besides, we still don't know what'll happen. Maybe you'll turn into a squirrel and run right out that window, or I'll get to cuddle a puppy all night." "If I'm a puppy, you won't tell anyone if I piddle inside, will y-" Gabrielle cut off her question with a grunt, bending over as her muscles seized. Xena squeezed her shoulders tighter. "Gabrielle?" Muscles seized again, then expanded along with Gabrielle's whole body. The ties holding her brief top and skirt made painful-looking depressions in her skin, and Xena bent over her to untie everything as quickly as possible. After furious finger-work and another body expansion, accompanied by a rough howl of pain from the bard, the top fell to the ground, but the arm bands were goners. The bracelets, deformed; the skirt in tatters on the ground. And Gabrielle? Hoarse gasps held a deeper tenor than Xena had ever heard from her partner, and even though she was still bent over, their heads were of a height. Xena blinked, fascinated. Gabrielle's eyes were still squeezed shut, but the rounded contours of her face had expanded and sharpened, giving her angular cheekbones and a wider jaw. She kept her cute nose, though, and out of her brief blond locks now protruded pointed, fuzzy ears like those of a golden-furred dog. Similar fur had sprouted down the back of her neck and along her arms and legs - basically anywhere she usually had thicker body hair, with just a smattering in places like her belly. The transformation added new definition to every muscle and notable extra bulk to her shoulders, arms, and legs. "Gabrielle?" Xena whispered. Gabrielle's eyes finally opened - and were green, exactly like usual. It took some of the unsettling otherness away from her form, even though recognition hadn't yet found her gaze. Those eyes snapped to Xena's after a moment, and Gabrielle stood up to her new, imposing height - a full head and shoulders over Xena's. She cocked her head. "Easy, sweetheart." Xena kept her hands at her sides and her shoulders relaxed, but she held Gabrielle's gaze, reasoning that she didn't seem to take it as a challenge. She wondered if her partner could hear her heart racing, unsure whether there was danger. "It's me. I love you. Are you okay?" With startling quickness, Gabrielle swooped down to look at Xena's face straight-on again, and it it took a lifetime of mastery over her reflexes to keep Xena from reacting in any way. Gabrielle sniffed, then tilted her head again and smoothly brought her face right up to the juncture between Xena's neck and shoulder. She sniffed again, then relaxed her posture a little. Now that she was bent over further than before, Xena could look over her shoulder and see a pale gold tail protruding from her partner's backside, sinuous like a big cat's, and it gave what looked like a happy little twitch. The edge of hysteria started to push against Xena's control. Her partner had turned into an enormous, surely-dangerous beast - with fuzzy ears and a a cute tail, and for some reason, the latter was almost more than she could handle. Right as Xena bit down on her laugh, Gabrielle sniffed and snuffled right into her cleavage, sending a frisson through her whole body and forcing a strangled noise through her composure. But Gabrielle just gave a contented-sounding little growl/hum. Then she moved to nose Xena's other shoulder and trailed around to the back of her neck. "Xena..." she breathed against the back of Xena's ear. "My... mine. My mate?" The undercurrent of a growl couldn't hide Gabrielle's sweet voice, though it did make her speech rumble through Xena's back where they touched. That was... kind of pleasant, actually. "I'm Xena all right. And I'm yours if I'm anyone's." Actually sounding amused, Gabrielle posited, "You're mine," and playfully bit Xena's shoulder. Just a light nip, but sharper than it would normally have been, and then she let go with her mouth only to wrap her long arms around Xena's middle. Xena leaned into her out of almost sheer confusion. The sharp teeth, the loving arms, the enormous muscles on those arms, the comforting vibration of Gabrielle's voice against her back, her feral body language - Xena's instinctual fear response tangled up with a variety of other responses and tripped over a bushel of new stimuli, rendering her unsure what to do or feel. But not unhappy about where she was. Perhaps pleased with that small capitulation, Gabrielle rubbed her cheek against Xena's and hummed again. She pulled away and leaned forward to catch her eye, her visage the image of beastly contentment. "Okay?" Xena looked at this beast that held her - the partner that cuddled her securely - and couldn't help herself. Slowly, she reached up with the hand on Gabrielle's side of her body... and touched her fuzzy ear. It twitched. She took the ear between her fingers and rubbed it. So soft... Gabrielle sneezed and shook her head vigorously before gently butting her temple against Xena's. She grumbled, "That... tickles." She bent to lick the side of Xena's neck, and an involuntary shiver from Xena followed. After a pause, she licked again, slower, and Xena felt herself lean against Gabrielle even more. A delicate nibble on her earlobe came next, and Xena couldn't help the gasp. Gabrielle's hands moved to Xena's hips and trailed up to her waist... and higher, slowly. She sniffed the air and chuckled. "My little mate wants me... Would you like me to be gentle?" Well. This was one way to fill their time while they were barred into a hut. Xena swallowed as large hands slid over her breasts. "Just... a little gentle. Maybe." Her desire shouted down every question she almost thought to ask of herself in this situation. She wanted - enough she was weak in the knees and already breathing faster. And her mate surely wanted. Xena felt the tug of clever teeth pulling the ties of her leathers undone. "Let's play."

#xena #fanfic #gabrielle/xena

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shadlad24 · 3 years

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Lucky Number Seven, Part 1

Seventh Mensiversary Post I

Yep. It’s that time of the month again! 😆

My posts here are almost all Xena Warrior Princess-related and can now be divided into ten main categories. Because Tumblr cannot accommodate even a listing of all my work in one post, I have to break the link tree in two.

(Of course if you’d prefer to see everything in one place and without frills, then you can always use the open Google Doc.)

Questions

Curious— Why does everyone think Gabrielle/Renée O’Connor has green eyes?

A Favor to the God of War?— What in the world was the favor Ares was after?

Smoking Gun?— How did Hope knowing Solan’s name give her away as his killer?

Good Luck, Kid!— Why was security so bad in “Maternal Instincts”?

The Love of Your Love— Wasn’t the second verse of this song insensitive to Gabrielle?

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares— Why does so little about Ares’s character make sense?

Hard Ask— Can I PLEASE get a willing, able, AND reliable beta-reader for my Xena fanfic???

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares [Expansion]— three more questions about the god of war

No Way— Is the titular image of “Xena: Warrior Princess” what it seems?

Hard Ask (Redo)— Plz???

Five Funny Little Moments— a series highlighting overlooked silly things from each episode, illustrated in pictures and cracksubs

#1: “Sins of the Past”

#2: Chariots of War

#3: Dreamworker

#4: Cradle of Hope

#5: The Path Not Taken

#6: The Reckoning

#7: The Titans

#8: Prometheus

#9: Death in Chains

#10: Hooves and Harlots

#11: The Black Wolf

#12: Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

#13: Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards

#14: A Fistful of Dinars

#15: Warrior… Princess

#16: Mortal Beloved

#17: The Royal Couple of Thieves

#18: The Prodigal

#19: Altared States

#20: Ties That Bind

#21: The Greater Good

#22: Callisto

#23: Death Mask

#24: Is There a Doctor in the House?

Fan Theories

Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes— how Xena and Gabrielle got their children

Shazam!— how Xena can come back after the series finale

Man-Killer— what really happened to Toris

An Unsung Hero— Aphrodite being Gabrielle’s guardian angel throughout the Rift Arc

Infamous, Infuriated— why Xena engaged in the GabDrag (and BardBraining)

Solving Some Problems with Ares— answering two of my own questions about the god of war

Odd, Sort of Beautiful Symmetry— how we ended up with Annie and Harry

Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes [Expansion]— a focus on Solan and Hope within the main theory

Solving More Problems with Ares— answering my next questions about the god of war

Another— who The Destroyer might have been

The Jinn of War— who secretly helped Najara

The True Deliverer— NOT Khrafstar

The Jinn of War [Expansion]— an exploration of another arrow-catcher

The Lord of War: TMPSSEA Version— how Draco might be more than he seems, sans my usual image overload

The Lord of War— how Draco might be more than he seems, with the usual image overload

Joyous Celebrations

Golden Ticket— Renee O’Connor’s initial responses to me on Instagram

Mensiversary— review of my first month on Tumblr

Confirmation/Affirmation— Steven L. Sears’s essay of support for my Furies theory

K.O.— Renée O’Connor liking my comment about ^

Hooray!— The Mother of Hope is finished (kinda)

Second Mensiversary— review of my second month on Tumblr

More Funny Little Moments #1: Season 1, Episodes 1-12

Tumblr Master Post— originally the third mensiversary, this is the post I updated and reblogged each month for some reason

A Friend— Alexandra Tydings treats me to kindness much like Ren did :)

Tumblr Master Post [Update]— fourth mensiversary post

Hooray! [Expansion]— the final lines of The Mother of Hope

More Funny Little Moments #2: Season 1, Episodes 13-24

Top 25— a collection of my favorite images (and one GIF) I’ve made, to celebrate my 100th post

Heyy, Just a bit about myself (Reblog)— a response to one of @xenawarriorprincess’s 10th-anniversary posts

Tumblr Master Post [Update]— fifth mensiversary post

Sixth Mensiversary— chart only ’cuz Tumblr is uncooperative

Sixth Mensiversary Links, Part 1— Questions, Episode Reflections, Original Fanfic Excerpts, Fan Theories, and Episode Cracksubs

Sixth Mensiversary Links, Part 2— TL;DRs, Funny Little Moments, Miscellaneous, and Other

OMG; OMG; OMG! WHEEEEE!!!— breakthrough

TLDRs

TLDR #1: Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes

TLDR #2: Infamous, Infuriated

TLDR #3: The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares

TLDR #4: Redeeming “Fishsticks”

TLDR #5: “Sacrifice I” Analysis

TLDR #6: You Have an Infection???

TLDR #7: Like Family

Please click here to continue.

#xena warrior princess #xena #xena and gabrielle #gabrielle #meme #fan theory #xenafic #cracksubs #fan observations #fanfiction #fanfic #xena fanfiction #gabrielle fanfiction #celebration #comedy #tldr #funny #link post

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buglife · 3 years

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Bend and Not Break - Ch 4: A Scar

Read here on AO3 :3

Contains 100% more smooches!

Xena stepped lightly as she opened the door to one of the interrogation rooms, narrowing her eyes as she adjusted to the dim light. The room had been quickly converted to a makeshift recovery room, the table that usually sat in the middle of the room had been pushed aside and replaced with a cot. Said cot was loaded with pillows and blankets in an effort to take as much pressure off the occupant's injuries as possible. Resting peacefully on it was Poppy, the scorpion rescued from the basement of a disgraced noble and had her venom forcibly extracted by torture. She seemed to be doing much better, her body was now criss-crossed with bandages and she was no longer twitching. She seemed to be sleeping at the moment.

She took a look at the clipboard left behind on the table where Monomon’s notes were scribbled. Electrical burns, blunt force trauma, eye damage, nerve damage...the list seemed to go uncomfortably long. She was glad she managed to get to her in time, but was disappointing that she and the other knights didn’t find out about the assassination plot sooner. Maybe they could have prevented a lot of suffering, but she couldn’t know for sure.

“Hello?” Poppy blinked awake, most likely from hearing Xena walk around. She was lying on her back and couldn’t twist her head to see who had entered the room. “Who’s there?” She asked, a tinge of worry to her voice.

“I am Xena, one of the Great Knights, I was there when you were rescued.” She pulled up a chair next to the cot and sat down. “Do you remember me?”

Poppy took a moment to breathe and then smiled the best she could through half a bandaged face. “I do.” She sounded coherent, but her speech was slurred and slow.

“You look much better,” Xena smiled in what she hoped was in a comforting way. “You must be on the good stuff, right?”

“Yeah.” Poppy didn’t bother trying to nod. “Nothin’ hurts. It’s great.”

“Well I won’t keep you long, I just need to ask a few questions and then you can go back to resting, okay?”

“Mmhmm.” The scorpion mumbled softly and did her best to focus her one working eye to the ant’s face. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all I’m asking for. Do you remember how you were abducted?” Xena had a quill and a tablet ready to take notes. “Take your time and try to remember what you can, okay?”

Poppy mulled over the question for a while, and started speaking. “I was at my flower shop in...in Deepnest. Some Hallownest bug came in...I asked if they wanted flowers...I grow flowers by the way and make them into arrangements. It’s nice.”

Xena nodded, knowing full well that she was on some of those good painkillers, and would probably will go off into tangents. “What kinda bug came in?”

“It was that um….beetle. Yes, that beetle. From...the place.” Poppy swallowed thickly, “Where they were...were...hurting me…”

“Don’t worry about him, he can’t hurt you anymore.” The ant put as much conviction as she could muster into her voice. “He won’t be hurting anyone else, after today.”

“Good,” She wheezed a little, catching her breath.

“What did the beetle want from you?” Xena pressed gently. “I think I could wager a guess but I need to hear it from you.”

“He uh...he asked to buy my venom...and I told him I sell flowers, not venom! It was weird...and creepy , and its against the law cause um...uh...it’s dangerous. You hafta have a license to get some and you get it from the...oh...what do you call it…” The scorpion hrmed to herself. “Oh I can’t remember, it’s the place where you can get dangerous stuff if you are a uh...professional? Scientist?”

“A supplier is what I think you mean. Where controlled substances can be given out dependent on research or medical use.”

“Yes! That! Well he got mad and started saying something about the fate of bug kind and how there was monsters in Hallownest? He said I should work with them to save everyone and I told him to leave cause I’m just a flower bug. And then something hit me on the back of my head.” She reached up with a free arm to touch the back of her bandaged head. It looked like a mess when she was first found and Xena was glad that Poppy couldn’t feel any pain right now.

“Then I woke up all tied up and the beetle was there with some other people. He said that I was going to help them get rid of the monsters and I told them I wouldn’t! Then they...they….” She sniffled, her eye tearing up.

“Then they hurt you and forcibly took your venom.” Xena knew when to stop asking questions. Poppy was starting to get a little upset, and she felt awful that she even had to bring up what happened to her so soon. But, she had to get this down for the record, and it was better to do it now while Poppy wasn’t in physical pain than wait and do it later.

Poppy nodded in response. “Mmhmm. I don’t know how long I was there.”

“That’s okay, Right now what I need from you is to rest and get better, okay? We’ll send word to your Queen and Princess and they’ll probably send someone over to help you home once you are well enough to travel.”

“Okay...thank you.” Poppy sighed. She wasn’t going to be able to stay awake anyway with the meds she was on and was quickly falling back into the realm of dreams. “There'll...be someone outside...right? Watching?”

“There are, I promise.” Xena nodded. “Nobody will let you get hurt again.”

“Mhmm...thanks…” Poppy fell asleep, a combination of reassurance and the ‘good stuff’. Xena took a bit of time to make sure she was comfortable, and then left the room. She glanced at the two guardsmen stationed outside.

“Nobody gets in that isn’t a Knight, the King, or Monomon, got it?”

They both saluted and stayed in place.

“Good...now excuse me, I have someone to see.”

She turned and headed towards the holding cells. The cells were kept underground, and as she descended the stairs she began to hear the annoying sound of metal scraping together. There was the sound of someone loudly complaining before descending into shrieks as the scraping got louder. She took a moment to rub her eyes and sighed, locking the gate behind her and stepping into the corridor.

Tiso was just sitting there, making god awful noises as he happily ran a fork over a metal plate. He was making sure to press extra hard, making terrible squeaking noises that made Xena’s antenna twitch under her helmet. The ex-noble within the cell was close to tears, looking around to Xena as soon as he saw her.

“Oh, oh bless you. Please! Please make him stop!” The jewel beetle was in the dirtiest cell they had, tear tracks marking his face and generally looking disheveled. He crawled to the bars on his knees, gripping the bars with shaky hands. “Please! It hurts!”

“I’m not even doing anything! I’m trying to serenade you with my beautiful music, you uncultured bastard.” Tiso scraped the fork loudly and it set the hairs on her carapace standing up and the beetle to cry out in pain. “It’s not my fault you can’t appreciate artistic talent. Frankly, I’m insulted.”

“That’s enough for now, Tiso.” Xena sighed and dug out her keys. “Monomon needs this guy and she’s going to be pissed if we’re late.”

“Oh?” He casually tossed the dishes to the side. “Going to be testing the antidote then?”

“Testing the what now?” The beetle looked around, confused.

“Most likely, yeah.” Xena ignored the beetle. “Now that she has a pure sample of the poison as well, she thinks she’ll know for sure if the antidote is legit or not after a couple hours.”

“Hours?” Said beetle was rapidly turning pale as he realized what was about to happen.

“Did I fucking stutter?” Xena snarled, opening the cell door. “Get your ass out here or else I’ll drag you out.”

“You can’t do that to me! I’m Lord Maximus Pennington Chrysoch the third!” They tried to dodge her hands, but she was too fast. She seized him by the wrists and began to bodily drag him out.

“I don’t give a fuck who you are! A traitor is a traitor to me.” She looked to Tiso. “Help me drag this sack of shit to Monomon and then you can take a break.”

“Hells yeah!” He jumped up, grabbing the free wrist of the condemned and hauled them to their feet. “Think I’ll have time to head to the museum to see Myla?” The beetle started wibbling and sobbing, but was completely ignored.

“Eh, take Cloth with you and you all can have an hour together. You’ll have to be back at a reasonable time though, we need all hands on deck with this situation.”

“Yeah I got ya. Thanks.” Tiso was noticeably happier, cheerfully dragging the sobbing beetle down the corridor and to their fate. He didn’t care what happened to them, all he could think about now was finally getting to smooch his girlfriends.

---

Monomon arrived outside the door to the royal suite, a capped syringe gripped gently but firmly in her tentacles. As soon as the antidote proved to actually work, and not just be another poison, she rushed as quickly as she could to the top floor. Hollow was standing guard outside of the room and nodded to her. Seeing that there wasn’t time for chit chat, she attempted to open the door.

To her surprise, it was blocked off. She looked at the knob, confused, and tried to push again. “What’s going on here?”

Hollow chirped to get her attention, and signed. <”Father is in there. I think he is sitting in front of the door.”>

“Mato? Of course he would.” She knocked on the door. “Mato! It’s Monomon!”

There was a shuffle from the other side, and the door was pulled open to indeed reveal the Nailmaster. He seemed rather rough looking, he must have booked it from the Howling Cliffs as fast as he could. “Monomon,” he nodded, and stood out of the way.

She floated inside to see what was going on, eyes immediately going to the nest that took up a good portion of the room.

Ghost was cuddled around Quirrel, doing their best to hold him in a way that would hopefully reassure him that someone was watching over him, but not tight enough to harm him. Quirrel was still unconscious, breathing heavily and shivering and once in a while his nerves would shudder, making him twitch and spasm. Ghost was already awake, no doubt hearing the door open. They looked at her, the dark fathomless eyes behind their mask tired and fearful. Their eyes darted from the door to the syringe held in her tentacle.

“Is that…” Their voice was so small and weak, but there was a bloom of hope behind it that Monomon could feel.

“Yes.” She drifted closer and uncapped the syringe. “We have it.”

They sat up quickly. “What do you want me to do?”

“Hold one of his arms still, I don’t want the needle to break if he has a spasm while injecting him.” She checked over the syringe, going over the calculations in her head one more time. She had already triple checked everything, but it wouldn't hurt to check it one more time. Ghost sat up, pulling Quirrel into their lap and used their lower set of arms to cradle him, and the top set to grasp an arm and hold it straight. Quirrel continued to shiver, making a raspy noise of discomfort from being moved.

“Good, like that.” With Ghost holding him, it was easy for her to find the joint in his elbow and sterilize it. Then, she injected the antidote slowly, watching the liquid within disperse into his hemo system.

“There…it should take effect soon.” She deposited the used needle in a box she carried to be sterilized later. “We may not notice a difference at first, but within half an hour he should be more comfortable.”

Ghost kept Quirrel in their embrace, resting their chin on his head and tucking him up close. “Thank you.” They said, moving slightly to adjust themselves. Monomon watched them tilt their head slightly, listening to his breathing as he continued to wheeze.

“How did you get that?” Mato had stayed back to let her do her thing, but now that there wasn’t any needles involved, he approached the nest again.

“A combination of work from the Great Knights, good old science, and some very helpful mandatory volunteers.”

“That’s fucking terrifying.” Mato took a step away from her.

“It’s what they deserved. They at least did something useful with their lives instead of just being executed.”

“How many prisoners are left?” Ghost’s mental voice was whisper quiet, as though they were scared that they were going to disturb Quirrel’s rest.

“I’m not sure. Tiso has the numbers. The ring leader is still alive, he was the lucky one who tested the antidote. What are you going to do about them?”

Ghost was silent for a moment, idly smoothing back Quirrel’s antenna as he lay in their embrace. “I think I will wait for Quirrel to weigh in on it all. He was...the most hurt.”

“He wasn’t the only one hurt,” Monomon drifted down to the floor to sit, curling her tentacles under herself. “There was another victim who is thankfully alive. You’ll have a report on that soon, but you may want to keep her in mind too, as well as yourself and my son.”

“It seems like the best thing to do is to let them stew in their own fear and guilt until you have a chance to deal with them.” Mato also sat, leaning against the wall. “They are not going to have any type of peace as long as they are down there with Tiso at the same time.”

Ghost actually chirped a laugh at that. “That is true.”

As they conversed, Ghost noticed Quirrel subtly shift a little over the course of twenty so odd minutes. His twitching was definitely dying down, leaving him still for the first time since he was poisoned. They could hear his breath change as well, the raspy wheeze was getting smoother and less labored. It would be a while before he was back to normal, but just being able to actually rest was something sorely needed for the pillbug.

“He’s doing better.” The vessel sagged in relief, tears once again welling up in their eyes. “He can breathe now.”

Monomon floated up from her position on the floor and placed a tentacle on the pillbug's forehead. She felt it for a moment before she spoke. “His fever has gone down.”

“He’ll be okay now, right? He’ll be okay?” Ghost shivered, black streaks dripping from their eyes as they pulled Quirrel closer to their chest.

“Yes Ghost, he’ll be okay.”

Ghost broke down into tears, a combination of relief, love, and the bitter fear of loss. Once they started they couldn’t stop, the emotional dam had broken. The sheer stress they had been bundling up for the past two days refused to be ignored any longer. Thick, choking sobs filled the room as they held their husband close. He’ll be okay, they won’t have to say goodbye so soon. They knew one day they would have to, but for now, he’ll be okay. He’ll live and they can continue to share the love that never ran out in their heart. He’ll be okay.

Mato and Monomon both embraced them, and for once, they let their family help them carry the huge amount of stress and emotions swirling around in their void. They kept repeating that simple phrase to themselves, over an over, to keep them grounded in the here and now.

He’ll be okay.

---

Myla hummed to herself as she looked over a crystal in her claws. She turned it around in the light, squinting through a monocular as she studied it’s structure. It was a beautiful fluorite specimen, still rough and unpolished. Broad bands of green, purple, and blues swirled around the stone in a rainbow of colors. She just needed to do a little cleanup on it and then it would be ready for display.

She looked at the basket of rocks on the floor next to her work station, all of them mined and found by her. She was pretty proud that she didn’t lose her knack for finding the beautiful and unusual. The infection left her unable to mine professionally anymore, but she had enough energy to go on little expeditions, following her heart as she explored the corners of the kingdom.

Of course, she didn’t go alone. Either Tiso or Cloth would come with her, keeping her protected as she jumped into holes to hack away at the rocks. She wasn’t very strong, but she can still knee cap people who threaten her, and she keeps her pickaxe nice and sharp. It was fun! Especially when she could spend the time with her partners.

She sighed, she hadn’t seen Tiso and Cloth for several days now. She knew what happened, the whole kingdom knew by now. She knew they had important work to do, but she still missed them.

As if the universe was listening to her thoughts, there was a knock on her office door. She glanced at her clock, it was about time for lunch. Maybe it was a coworker asking if she’d like something?

“Come in!” She called.

The door opened, and to her delight, her two knights tried to squeeze their way inside at the same time. Tiso gasped, smushed up against the door frame as Cloth tried to force her massive bulk through, getting equally wedged in.

“Cloth! Back up!” Tiso kicked his legs that were a good foot of the ground. The force of the attempt to beat Cloth inside had angled his body upwards to get stuck on the frame, one arm free and trying to pull himself free.

“No! You back up!” She retorted, trying to squeeze her shoulders in. “I want to kiss her first!”

“Like hell you -wheeze-” Tiso started going a little blue, a stark contrast to his black shell as he got squashed harder.

Myla never in her whole life, expected that she’d ever be a girl that someone would fight over, let alone two. She knew they were just playing around and joking with their fake little rivalry thing, it was endearing, but sometimes Cloth forgot her own strength. She remembered once when Cloth gave Tiso a ‘gentle’ punch to the arm and accidentally sent him through the window.

“How about both of you back out, and I’ll come to you?”

Cloth and Tiso looked at each other. Cloth nodded and with some effort, pulled herself back and out of the door-frame. Tiso, no longer supported, just fell on the ground and wheezed for breath. Cloth helpfully picked him up and set him on his feet again and dusted off his armor.

Myla giggled, bouncing forward to leap at the two of them and was caught into a three way hug. It was a happy moment of hugs and little smooches that was sorely needed after days of being apart. “I’m so glad you two are here!”

“Unfortunately, we only got a short amount of time, then we have to go back.” Cloth replied, sounding very apologetic.

“Yeah...we still got idiots to process.” Tiso took the time to give them both a nuzzle. “Duty calls and all that.”

“That’s okay, I’m just glad you’re here for now!” Myla wriggled to escape the hug, and promptly headed back inside the office. “I processed some new minerals if you’d like to take a look!”

“Of course we would!” Tiso booked it to the door.. and ended up getting wedged in again when Cloth tried to get in at the same time. This time it was worse, because Cloth didn’t put her club down first, and Myla could hear the wood creaking under the strain of it all. She rubbed the back of her head as she watched them both struggle.

She wondered if she should just have a second door put in.

---

It felt like ages since Grimm started talking, telling Quirrel of fantastical worlds both old and new. It was fascinating, hearing of so many places that were different and unique. For the most part Quirrel listened, asking a question here and there. It seemed like the Nightmare King had visited the places Quirrel had during his wanderings on the surface world, and offered some interesting insight to things he may have missed.

“It seems our time is nearly up.” Grimm folded his claws together under his chin, looking at the pill bug who sat in front of him. He had just finished telling Quirrel about a colorful world with a legend of an eternal sprout that was constantly being searched for. “You will need to wake up soon.”

“Really?” Quirrel leaned back in his chair and poked himself a couple times. “If I’m well enough now to wake up, how come I don’t feel any different?”

“It’s because your mind is protecting itself. You won’t feel pain while in a dream. I can however, change that aspect if it is a nightmare, but I have no reason to do so here.” Grimm gave him a sinister grin, exposing many needle sharp teeth, but Quirrel wasn’t afraid.

“Thanks.” Quirrel sighed, and put down his cup. As soon as it hit the table, it began to dissolve into essence, floating away in motes of white and red. In fact, it seemed like everything that wasn’t Grimm or himself was beginning to look blurry and grainy.

“I am not going to lie. You will most likely be in for a lot of pain once you awaken, but you must wake up.” Grimm looked to the side and off to the distance, watching the walls of the cozy room fade into white. “But you will live.”

“Will we ever get to chat again sometime? Despite the circumstances, I quite enjoyed our conversation. It would be nice to revisit it sometime.”

Grimm smiled softly, hiding his wicked looking teeth once again. “Of course we will.”

“Great!” Quirrel watched the last motes of color leave the dream, leaving nothing but a white, featureless void. Somehow they were still sitting, despite the lack of anything coherent around them. “Hrm...how do I wake up then?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Grimm laughed, his voice distorting and echoing, as though retreating backwards. “You /[Quirrel]/ just need to /open[ed]/ your /[his] eyes./”

Suddenly, he was awake.... and he hated it.

Quirrel’s first thought was a mess of confusion. He had managed to open his eyes, a jarring jump from the dream world to reality. It was easy, but hard at the same time.

What Quirrel managed to see through his stinging eyes was nothing but a blurry mess of darkness and shapes. As soon as his brain caught up with the rest of his body, a deep sharp ache radiated from within his core, spreading all the way to the tips of his limbs. It felt like he tried to cuddle an ooma and paid the price for it. He had no idea how, but even his mandibles hurt. At least Grimm warned him, but it still sucked.

He could tell he was lying on something soft and warm at least. Wriggling his antenna (with a wince, cause how the fuck is his antenna sore too!?!) slightly gave him the usual smells of his home in the palace. His mind was still a little foggy, so when he detected three other people around him, he wasn’t quite sure who they were at first. It was silent, so he couldn’t identify anyone by voices. He was exhausted. Everything hurt. Breathing hurt. Having his eyes open hurt. It sucked and he resolved to complain about it soon enough. He had no clue what happened other than 1. he got poisoned and 2. he got sick from it.

What he needed right now, was his spouse. They probably knew what the hell happened and could fill him in on what he missed. He didn’t even know how long he was out for. It didn’t seem so long while he conversed with Grimm, but he suspected that time doesn’t really hold all that much meaning in a dream. He moved, at least, he tried to, gasping in pain as his hand squeezed something hard and slender. He nearly jumped out of his chitin when something squeezed back. A shape moved in front of his vision, a blurry mess of white that seemed to shine in the darkness.

“Quirrel?” The voice was tinged with the feeling of hope as it whispered through his head. He knew that voice, and he relaxed.

“Hello, love,” he wheezed. His throat was dry and scratchy and he coughed on his words. He closed his eyes for a moment as the blur moved and tripped his sense of vertigo. He heard a chirp in response before he was being hauled upright and held with four arms. The sudden movement flipped his stomach around and he groaned in response. “Ugh…”

“I’msorryi’msorryi’msorry.” He was being peppered with kisses all over his face as a soft whining noise emitted from a throat that was voiceless. He managed to lift up a shaking hand to rest it on the side of Ghost’s face, happy he didn’t accidentally poke them in the eyes since he couldn't see. He rubbed them as well as he could, struggling with the effort of keeping his arm up.

“It’s alright... dear…” It was difficult to talk, he had to stop and take a breath between each word. As much as he loved kisses, it was starting to overwhelm him, so he tried to soothe his spouse. “I’m fine.”

“You are not fine. I...I…” There was another wheezing sob and he was thankfully nuzzled instead of kissed. “You could have died.”

“Heh...heh...like you could...get rid of me...that easy.” He dropped his arm, no longer able to keep it up. His hand was captured in one of Ghost’s, and they rubbed it gently. “I plan to...be around...for much longer…You couldn’t...keep me away...if you tried…” He was losing his voice and he swallowed with a wince. He opened his eyes again, it was still blurry, but he could see clearer shapes. A blob of green and a blob of red was approaching, mixing together as he struggled to focus.

“Here you are, my dear.” A glass of water was placed in his free hand and encircled with a tentacle. “Sip slowly.”

“Hi mom…” He knew what his mom felt like, how she always had this sort of static energy around her, like you could get a good zap if you pissed her off. The same tentacle that used to rock him to sleep at night when he was a pip helped him drink and he gratefully swallowed down the water. It was absolute bliss. He may be king, but all the finery in the world couldn’t compare to that nice cold glass of water.

“You gave us a hell of a scare, how are you feeling?” Oh, that must have been Mato. It made sense that he would be here. The blurs of red mixed with gray and was certainly big enough to be the Nailmaster. They moved to stand closer to Ghost...at least he thinks they did. It was hard to tell for the moment.

“Hurts.” Quirrel could have lied but his mother was right there and she would have no trouble putting him in the corner for it. “All over. Hard to see.”

“I figured as much,” Monomon was still holding the glass of water for him, and another tentacle bumped against his mandibles. “Open up, I have something for the pain.”

He did just that, letting the pills go down with another few swallows of water. He imagined that he should feel hungry or something too, but he just didn’t feel like it. She must have sensed the question because she continued talking.

"Let’s wait for half an hour and see if you can handle some soup, okay?”

Quirrel nodded with a sigh. He was awake but tired again, it was rather frustrating. He closed his eyes again, letting them rest as he just laid there and breathed. He could feel the medicine begin to work, a numb tingling working down his limbs and into his core. Soon, every movement didn’t result in pain, and he managed to sit up a little. Ghost helped, sitting so that his back could rest against this chest and belly.

“What happened?” It seemed like a sensible question to ask. He was not surprised that Ghost was the one to answer.

“There was an assassination attempt and you were poisoned by the nail that cut you. The Great Knights led an investigation and arrested the ringleader and several members of the group. They are still investigating, but they are confident they caught most to all of them. You were unconscious for almost three days.”

“Three days?!” Quirrel raised his voice at that. Three whole days? As in seventy two hours?

“Yes, three days.” Monomon piped up. “If it makes you feel any better, half the kingdom has been keeping vigil outside, hoping that you would get better.”

Quirrel blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“She isn’t lying.” Mato was the next to say something, his voice moving around the room. “I nearly had to fight my way inside, there were so many people out there.”

Quirrel...didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, he didn’t feel like he was a person who would warrant a three day vigil, and on the other, he was touched and humbled. He had always been a bug who was fairly social and had a lot of friends, but to have that many bugs sitting around and waiting for news about him...it was astonishing. It must mean that he is doing something right.

“You two need rest,” Mato continued. “Ghost? There’s a pot of soup in the icebox, just warm it up. I’ll go out and tell the masses that things are okay so they can go home.”

“That is a good idea.” Ghost leaned their head down to nuzzle Quirrel some more. “Thank you.”

“And you, my little scholar, are going to stay in bed.” Monomon added. “Strict bed rest until further notice, got it? I will know if you get out of bed, trust me.”

“Yes mom.” Quirrel believed her.

Soon, both parents departed, and once again the room was quiet, save for a soft rumbling. Quirrel realized that Ghost was purring as they cuddled against them. “Stay with me...for a little?” He asked. Now that their parents were gone, it felt strange, like he was a small thing in a sea of uncertainty. Most likely, it’s trauma from the experience, but he didn’t think he could stand being alone for very long now. Now that he was awake, he wanted to stay awake, but he doubts that his body will let him for long.

“I would never leave you,” came the reply. “Everything is on hold for now and will be for a little while.”

“You can’t just... shut down the government...love.” Quirrel chuckled. “Even though...I think most would...enjoy the vacation.”

“I am a king, I can do what I want. And if I want everyone to fuck off so I can care for my beloved husband who survived an attack on his life, I will make it so.” There was a hint of amusement in their voice as they gave him a nuzzle.

“What about...the assassins?” He would not be surprised if they were all dead by now, but he still wanted to know.

“The knights have them. We can talk about it later. I would rather kiss you and talk about how much I love you, if that’s okay.”

Quirrel managed a laugh as he relaxed against his spouse, feeling happy and full of love. “You know what? I would...like that very much.”

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