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upsidedownwithsteve · 1 year

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Eddie Munson x fem!reader [6.2K] prompt: can I hold your hand? Shy Eddie, some yearning and fluff.

Eddie Munson wasn’t quiet. No.

He wasn’t reserved, he wasn’t timid, he certainly didn’t let anything or anyone make him shrink. He was bold, brash, loud, dramatic and awfully, awfully charming about it all. He liked to garner attention, he liked to flirt, he liked to make himself known.

No, Eddie Munson wasn’t shy by any means.

Apart from around you.

It started off subtle, little things that took you a while to cotton onto. On the days that Steve was busy, working overtime and unable to pick up Dustin and Mike from their club meetings, you’d linger outside the classroom door, listening to the pretty cadence of Eddie Munson’s dungeon master voice.

You liked the lilt of it, the way he drawled out his script, his low tone dropping to a whisper before bursting out with a plot twist, the sounds of hands slamming on desks and groans and whoops from his enchanted audience.

Then you heard the applause, the sounds of papers shuffling and chairs scraping against linoleum and you knocked once to be polite, opening the door to see the group of boys, and Erica, turning their heads to stare.

Dustin waved, Mike smiled, Erica popped her gum at you and Eddie Munson stopped mid speech, big, brown eyes wide and his mouth in a pretty, pouty ‘o’.

Silence fell over the hellfire table.

You smiled, bright and warm, waving back to Dustin as you watched the kids gather their bags, sliding in their character sheets and murmuring their goodbyes to their friends. Eddie was still staring.

The boy didn’t speak until you were ushering Mike out of the door, telling them that Lucas had finished basketball practice ten minutes ago and he’d be waiting by your car. Eddie cleared his throat as the room emptied, smiling shyly at you when you met his gaze, letting your eyes linger too long on his silver rings, the tattoos that peeled out from under his rolled sleeves, the curls that bounced in front of his pretty eyes.

“Hi,” his voice was so much softer than the boom you’d heard from underneath the door, the one that had spoken about dragons and monsters and warlocks. “You’re not Steve.”

You grinned, looking up at him with more flirt than you’d intended and you watched him swallow hard, take a little step back and breathe out a stuttering breath that you probably weren’t supposed to hear.

“I’m not,” you agreed, “Steve’s busy, got caught up at work but, uh, he said you wouldn’t mind if I gate crashed instead.”

Eddie mentally cursed out his friend, unable to stop himself from looking downdowndown until his gaze found your bare thighs, the pretty light green sundress that skimmed the tops of them, your too clean sneakers toeing at the floor by his boots.

Eddie Munson was fucking blushing.

“I, uh— sure, yeah,” the boy winced, nose scrunched, eyes closed ‘cause oh my god, what was wrong with him?

But you laughed and it was a sweet noise, the prettiest sound Eddie had ever heard and suddenly he didn’t know what to say but he knew he’d go home that night and remember the smell of your perfume, something sweet like coconut and summer.

But then Mike was shouting down the empty hall, Erica pulling at his bag as he complained and each huff echoed off of the locker lined walls and you were stepping backwards.

You raised a hand in a small wave, smiling at the boy until you had to turn around to see where you were going and Eddie immediately missed the sight of your face. You were almost at the doors, all the way at the other end of the hallway and the boy was still standing, jaw slack, lips parted and eyes shining, watching you walk.

And then as if he’d been hit over the back of the head, he snapped into action, voice breaking like a teenage boy as he called out.

“Hey! Shit, uh—” Eddie winced when you turned, lips pressed together so it didn’t look like you were laughing at him. You waited, patient. “I, uh, fuck… what’s your name? I didn’t get your name.”

You grinned then, wide and easily, hands clasped behind your back as you stood, the setting summer sun lighting you up from the open doors behind you. Eddie thought you looked like an angel.

You called back at the same volume, amusement and intrigue colouring your voice, telling the boy your name. You watched him mouth it back, trying out the syllables on his tongue, as if he was making sure it suited the shape of his lips. He must’ve decided it did, ‘cause he grinned, wide and pretty enough that you could see his dimples from even where you stood.

“I’m Eddie,” he told you, arms folded a little shyly, one hand reaching to pull at his curls, hiding his grin behind them.

Behind you, Dustin scrunched his features, bewildered. What was going on?

You smiled, ducked your head and nodded. You made sure you caught his stare as you looked straight at him, starting to back yourself towards the exit, the cool evening air hitting the tops of your thighs.

“I know,” you told him, and god, Eddie looked shell shocked.

—————

The second time you bumped into Eddie, it was at the grocery store and he knocked down an entire display of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.

You were pushing a cart with your headphones on, wire tangled around your wrist as you shoved strawberries and cherries into the trolley, leaning against it until your skirt rode up too high and you were in danger of flashing the entire store.

You think that’s when it happened.

‘Cause you were straightening up to the tinny sounds of Joan Jett when you heard a dull crash behind you, the noise sounding far away from the way guitars and drums filled your ears. But you pulled away one speaker to look around, brows furrowed and lips parting at the sight of Eddie Munson staring at you from the midst of chaos.

Soup tins rolled down the aisle, some split open and creating a mess, puddles of noodles pooling at peoples feet. Steve Harrington was beside him, scolding the boy who wasn’t paying attention, a basket hanging from his arm. Mrs Collins, the town librarian, was scowling as she sidestepped a can or two, tutting at Eddie who was still standing there, motionless.

You found his gaze, lifted a hand in greeting and smiled.

It was awfully lovely the way he turned pink for you, cheeks flushed, eyes wide and doe like, blinking slowly as you moved towards him. The mess in the tiles and the tired store attendant with the mop stopped you from getting too close, but you grinned all the same.

“Harrington,” you greeted first, familiar and warm.

Steve huffed out a laugh at the way Eddie was staring, already well versed in the way the boy reacted to you, hearing all about your first meeting from Dustin who told him animatedly about how Eddie freaked out when he first saw you.

Now, with chicken soup at his feet and a fumbling Eddie by his side, he was starting to think the younger boy hadn’t exaggerated all that much. So Steve grinned and greeted you in a similar fashion, nudging Eddie not so subtly to get him to say hi too.

It was like Eddie suddenly realised what had happened and he blinked at the mess around him, toeing at a rogue can, sending it rolling down the other end of the store. The store assistant sighed and walked off with his mop but Eddie couldn’t really find it in himself to apologise, not right then, not he his throat felt too tight and his face was hot and you looked so pretty.

“H-hi,” Eddie managed, hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets so he wouldn’t do anything else stupid, like take down the Gatorade stack.

“Causing trouble?” You grinned, stepping over a cream coloured puddle to gain some closeness, skirting around Eddie to avoid stepping into the mess. You left your cart sitting, played pretend and made out as if you really wanted that bag of trail mix that sat on the shelf behind the boy.

“Us?” Steve smirked, “never. Just… some of us are easily distracted, it would seem.”

Eddie let out a strangled noise, chin tucking down to hide his pink cheeks. He could feel the warmth from them, the same way he could feel your eyes on him.

He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t say anything. Eddie wanted to hit Steve, a good, solid thump to the stomach because he felt like he was dying. He’d never felt that way before, so unbelievably shy and self conscious, unsure where to look, his stomach tumbling, his heart racing. It was wonderfully terrifying, made even worse by the way you looked, too pretty in another sundress - red this time - headphones blaring music he liked, dainty gold rings adorning almost all of your fingers.

“We’re actually just grabbing some snacks,” Steve went on. “Movie night at Robin’s, d’you wanna join us?”

Eddie took it back, he didn’t wanna hit Steve, Eddie loved Steve. He held his breath as he finally looked at you, electricity buzzing over his skin when he realised you were already looking at him, a small smile on your face as you stood with one hip popped, the bracelets on your wrist singing as you swung your unwanted bag of trail mix.

You pouted, genuinely disappointed that you had to say, “I’d love to but unfortunately I already have plans, thanks though.”

With another boy? Eddie wanted to ask. Did you have a boyfriend? A date? A girlfriend? Both? His head was swimming.

Steve tsked, feigning dramatic disappointment to get you to smile and it worked and Eddie hated it. That’s something he would’ve normally done, a whole thing of clutching his heart as if you’d broken it with your soft rejection, anything to get you to smile at him like that.

“Another time, then,” Steve told you and he slapped Eddie’s shoulder, a hand on leather. “Eddie’s hosting next week, horror night at his place. You should swing by, make sure he doesn’t scare himself stupid.”

You let out a soft laugh and Eddie swore he felt himself melt. He matched the sound, albeit a little more nervous than you, nose scrunching because he didn’t know what to say.

Steve was starting to think he was playing wingman for a boy who'd forgotten how to function.

“D’you need someone to hold your hand, Eddie?” You teased gently and the irony wasn’t lost on you because the boy was so much taller and wilder looking than you were, all leather and silver chains to your floaty, short dresses and his T-shirt today had a sun bleached print of Chucky on it.

Eddie stumbled and stammered and after a swift pinch to his ribs from Steve he nodded, heart stuttering and stalling when you grinned wide and bright. Oh, holy shit.

You turned then, stepping back over the wet tiles and grabbing your cart, dumping in the bag of nuts and dried fruit with a small laugh only you could hear before turning to wave at the two boys.

“I’ll see you both next week then,” you confirmed. You made sure to smile right at Eddie, not missing the way his gaze skimmed over all of you, the highs of his cheeks flushed. “You know, just to make sure Eddie’s looked after.”

And then you winked.

You’d barely disappeared around the end of the aisle before Eddie groaned out loud and clutched at Steve’s t-shirt, trying his hardest not to drop to his goddamn knees in the middle of the grocery store.

“What the fuck was that?” Steve choked out, holding back the laugh he wanted to release since Eddie first went into the tower of cans. “Where did your social skills go, hot shot?”

Eddie just shrugged, his head resting on his friend's shoulder. “I think I’m in love,” he replied mournfully.

—————

Low and behold, you actually did come to the next movie night.

Steve didn’t tell Eddie until the darker haired boy was setting up the movie, glancing at the time on the VCR and looking back at him questioningly.

“Where’s Nancy and Jonathan? They’re never fuckin’ late.”

Robin was already sprawled out on the sofa, legs pushed underneath the pillow from Eddie’s bed that she had a habit of stealing. He missed the way she smirked, the way her eyes flickered to Steve’s and how they shared a look.

But Steve didn’t miss a beat, sounding cool, calm and completely normal when he replied, “oh, they’re picking up your friend.”

Now, Eddie wasn’t Hawkins' most popular guy. In fact, he could count on two hands the friends he had that were over the age of eighteen and most of them were already here.

From the floor below Robin, busying themselves with the pizza boxes, Gareth and Jeff were laughing, eyes on food as they ignored Eddie’s glare. He looked panicked.

And when he caught Steve’s eye and he watched how his friend smirked and shrugged, Eddie knew exactly who he was referring to.

He whispered your name, each letter of it getting stuck in his throat and god, was he sweating? He felt too warm. “She’s coming? She’s coming here? Now?”

No one had a chance to respond before Eddie was on his feet, spinning in a circle, once, twice, before he made a noise that nobody could really discern. And then he was off, video tape only half way into the machine and the other movie boxes littering the living room floor, but Eddie didn’t seem to care as he disappeared into his room.

There was a thump, a thud, a curse and what sounded awfully like a quick prayer.

“Eds?” Robin called out from the couch. She looked concerned. “You okay?”

The girl only received a yelp in response and when Eddie reappeared he was in different clothes, his shorts swapped for cotton sweatpants, grey and almost new looking, free of ink stains. And his new shirt didn’t have any holes in the collar and the band logo on the front was less faded than his other choices.

If he was breathing funny, nobody decided to comment on it.

Eddie was combing his fingers through his curls, grunting at each tug whilst he kicked stray guitar picks and old notebooks under the sofa, pulling at Robin’s leg until she fell off with a whine, fluffing up the cushions she’d squished.

Steve was staring, Gareth was confused and suddenly, there were tires on gravel and the groan of Jonathan’s unreliable car engine.

“Oh my god,” Eddie whispered.

And then you were in his trailer, walking in behind Nancy with a four pack of Eddie’s favourite beer in one hand and a bag of gummy bears in the other. You were in another dress, Eddie immediately noticed, a longer one this time, the black button down material reaching your ankles and when you moved, there was a split up the side that showed a ridiculous amount of leg.

“Oh my fucking god,” Eddie mouthed again, staring at Steve with wide eyes before watching how you moved so easily into his small kitchen, smiling at Nancy when the girl showed you where to place the stuff you’d brought.

You were in front of him as the room buzzed with conversation and semi serious arguments about pizza toppings and snack choices, Jonathan taking over VCR duties as he knelt in front of the television. Everyone was decidedly not looking at you and Eddie.

You smiled, that same lovely smile you always seemed to save for him and Eddie huffed out a nervous breath.

“Hey,” you greeted softly, holding out the pack of beers, giving them a little wiggle. “Nancy said you liked this kind.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Eddie exclaimed, but he took the bottles from your hands, cheeks pink when your fingers brushed and suddenly the trailer had never been smaller and he swore all he could smell was your perfume. “But, uh, thank you. Can I get you a drink?”

And then just like that, the lights were off and everyone was squished onto the sofas and armchairs, pizza boxes on the floor and everyone had glass of something fizzy or alcohol. The room smelled like popcorn, the TV buzzed with static and everyone eventually settled when the opening credits for Poltergeist started to play.

Eddie really wasn’t sure how it happened, how you managed to end up next to him, both of you in the armchair that usually only sat one person, but the boy was certain it had something to do with Steve jostling and a Robin insisting there was absolutely no room elsewhere.

Eddie felt like he couldn’t breathe, he could feel you against him, all soft curves and softer skin, thigh pressed to his and you slipped your sneakers off and tucked your legs into your chest. Eddie’s curls tickled your neck and you smell his cologne, peppery and woodsy, smoke and something sweet and god, he was looking at you with eyes that were big and bright, even in the low light of the TV.

He was chewing on his bottom lip, gaze barely focusing and when you shifted slightly and your dress fell open a little, exposing the length of your calf and your knee, Eddie let out a choked sound and tried not to stare. But then the clown was putting his arms around little Robbie’s neck and pulling him under the bed and it seemed like the perfect excuse to move a little closer and hold out your hand, palm up.

“Can I hold your hand?” You whispered to the boy, so close that your nose brushed his shoulder. You smiled when you heard his breath hitch, wiggling your fingers once, twice as Eddie looked down at the way your rings glinted, gold to his silver. “I forgot how creepy this movie is.”

It took the boy a second and he could’ve sworn he had a full audience of friends staring at him in the dark, but he smiled soft when he brought his hand to yours, marvelling at the size difference when you pushed your fingers between his. He sat for the rest of the night like that, your joined hands resting against your knees and Eddie didn’t have any concept of time or reality.

All he knew was you, the touch of you, the smell of you, the solid, warm weight of you leaning into his side in the dark and god, his stomach flipped and his heart raced when you played with his fingers, toyed with each of his rings, spinning the metal around each digit.

It felt like he was free falling, head spinning, chest aching. And then the movie was over and someone flicked the lights on and you stopped touching him - it was awful, the way you let go of his hand, but you were looking over at him with the sweetest kind of smile and suddenly Eddie didn’t want to ever be away from you, heart palpitations be damned.

—————

Eddie hadn’t been working in the record store all that long. But he enjoyed the calm, the low lights, the way he got to choose the music. He especially liked the way you dropped in from time to time, leaning over the counter to invade his space, perfume and the smell of sunscreen taking over everything.

He never got much done during those shifts, the usual customers going mostly ignored as you hopped onto the cash desk, dress hiked, legs swinging, smiling just for him. Eddie had gotten a little more used to your presence, the way you liked to lean into him, the way you liked to brush a hand over his arm when he listened to you talk.

You liked the way he still went pink for you, pretty lips parting when you traced a finger over the tattoos you were sometimes lucky to see peeking out from under his shirt sleeves. And when the day turned to evening and you were still there, keeping him company through a slow, slow day, Eddie got brave and leaned in close to where you sat, forearms brushing against your thighs and you hummed thoughtfully at the close contact.

You reached for a pen, a black biro that you twirled between finger and thumb and you tapped at Eddie’s wrist, grinning when he looked at you raised brows.

“Can I help you?” He murmured.

“Maybe,” you replied sweetly. “Gimme.”

You wiggled your fingers at his arm, pulling at his hand until he relented (easily and quickly) letting you rest it in your lap. Eddie swallowed hard, a small noise coming from his throat that he quickly coughed away, trying his best to ignore how his arm was touching your bare thigh.

You seemed to favour dresses around him, any length, all colours but always pretty and this one was short and tight at your waist, flaring out with cute little daisies adorning the fabric.

Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

“What’re you up to, trouble?”

The nickname was still fairly new and it felt soft and sweet on Eddie’s tongue and the boy loved how it made you grin, preening a little as if it was the highest compliment he could give you. Maybe it was; a true testament to the havoc you played on his heart rate.

“Giving you a new tattoo, Teddy.”

That nickname was new too. It started out as a tease, a joke when he’d appeared at the diner one night late, the rest of the party half way through their burgers ‘cause Eddie had had a nap that turned into a small coma. His curls had still been messy and sleep mussed, his usual leather jacket replaced with a hoodie that was too large and awfully soft looking, a tan colour that made his eyes look like sticky honey.

And thus, Teddy slipped from your lips over strawberry milkshakes and as the rest of the group howled with laughter, the boy in question turned the prettiest shade of pink. But his boots knocked against your sneakers under the table and when he looked at you with a smile that was all bitten lips and dimpled cheeks, you knew he really didn’t mind it at all.

It still made him blush though, especially when you called him it all alone. ‘Cause you said it in a voice that was so much softer and sweeter, like you were saying it just for him.

Eddie stayed impossibly still, more still than he’d ever been, just for you. You’d pulled him even closer, heads bent together, his curls brushing at your cheek as you carefully drew out your design. Eddie hugged out a quiet laugh when he realised what you were doodling, the dark, thin lines tickling at the inside of his forearm.

But let you keep going, lips twisted into a fond smile and he wondered how he could keep the pen marks there forever, whilst simultaneously planning all the ways he could hide it from Steve and the other guys. They all laughed at Eddie when it came to you; the way you could make him flush, the way you could calm him down and make him softer and quieter. They all told Eddie he was whipped and well, the boy never argued.

“There,” you whispered and Eddie could hear the smile in your voice despite the way he couldn’t see your face from the way you were still curled into him. “All done.”

You moved back, only slightly, back straightening and bracelets jingling as you took Eddie’s hand in your own and moved his arm under one of the dim lights. The little black lined teddy bear shone a little wetly under the glow, floppy limbed and one ear a little smaller than the other.

You grinned, no, you beamed and Eddie’s heart stuttered and stopped at the sight. Your touch was so warm, hot against his skin and the boy was so sure that he’d never, ever get used to it.

He grinned, tucking his lips between his teeth to try and control it, all flushed and pretty in the way he lit up for you. He knocked his shoulder to yours, curls tickling your bare shoulders.

“Well shit, sweetheart,” Eddie whispered. “If that isn’t my new favourite tattoo.”

—————

It had been well over a month and Eddie Munson still hadn’t kissed you.

You didn’t want to sound dramatic, but it was really ruining your life. Maybe not ruining it, but it was definitely making things difficult. ‘Cause more often than not, you spent time with Eddie alone and the boy still blushed when you smiled at him, tripped over his own feet when you let your dresses stretch up too high on your thighs and god, god, he let his gaze roam everywhere when he thought you weren’t looking.

The air was a little thicker, heavier, warmer, when Eddie Munson was around.

And now, you were in his bedroom, somewhere you’d started spending more and more time in. It had become easier to slip your shoes off and laze on his bed, always on top of the sheets and you always had to pay the space beside you before Eddie let himself fall down onto the mattress too.

Music was playing, soft and fuzzy with static ‘cause the summer outside was a little too hot and the heat was fucking with the generator. Eddie was sprawled out beside you, his white t-shirt so threadbare and stretched out you could see the ink on his chest underneath. The day was warm enough for Eddie to pull his hair back, messy curls pulled into a haphazard bun, loose strands falling into his eyes as he pulled his rolling tray towards him.

He was too busy licking a neat stripe along the paper to notice the way you were pushing yourself to your knees, head tilted to the side as you carefully studied the boy. He was painfully pretty, soft eyes, softer lips and all strong lines along his jaw, his nose, the slant of his high cheekbones.

If you wanted to do this, you were going to have to do it soon. ‘Cause you wanted to be sober for this, Eddie too, and the boy was ready to slip the joint between his lips to light it and pass it to you.

So you cleared your throat and tried not to fall off the bed when Eddie’s head shot up and he gasped at how close you were. The joint fell to the bed, forgotten and Eddie blinked, lips parted as he tried to not freak the fuck out.

You had a new dress on, white with tiny cherries printed all over it, thin straps holding it up and Eddie had groaned at the sight of it when you first appeared at the van door.

You were so, so close. You could count the freckles on Eddie’s cheeks, the tiny ones that dotted across the bridge of his nose and the more you looked, the more the boy blushed. You watched his skin turn rosy, brown eyes blinking at you, messy curls slipping out of the purple hair tie he most definitely stole from your wrist last week.

“Wha—?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Silence. Shock and silence and awe and a painfully long pause. Eddie wondered if his heart was still beating.

You sighed, pushed yourself a little closer still, knees pressed the mattress and when Eddie didn’t pull away, you let your hands rest on his knees and your gaze met his.

“Do you not want to kiss me?” You asked and you were surprised at how brave you sounded, not a hint of shyness left in your voice and maybe that’s because you’d been so fucking sure that Eddie liked you.

Like, liked you, liked you.

Steve had said so. So had Dustin. Even Robin winked and smirked at you when Eddie entered the room.

“It’s okay if you don’t,” you assured him softly, lip tucked between your teeth. You bit down on the skin there and huffed out a breath when Eddie’s gaze zeroed in on the way your tongue peeked out afterwards to soothe the sting. “I just— I just thought you wanted to.”

Eddie didn’t say anything, he just gasped at you for a second or two - although it felt like hours - pink lips pouted and his jaw slack. He looked too pretty; genuinely, heartbreakingly pretty, with his tied up curls and flushed cheeks and the stretched out collar of his shirt that showed of skin and ink and freckles—

“I do, fuck, no, yeah— I do.”

The rejection that was curling into your stomach retreated and your head snapped back up. You stared at him, replaying his stuttering, stumbling words and you watched as the boy sucked in a deep, ragged breath. Then his wide hand was cupping your cheek, guitar string callouses rough against your jaw, fingers slipping your hair and he was pulling you forward as he moved in andandand—

The bed protested under your knees and Eddie’s, both of you colliding in the softest way possible. You met in the middle, you a little taller than the boy, ‘cause at the eleventh hour you’d gotten too impatient and pushed yourself up so you could grab at his face too.

He was rough stubble underneath your palms, pliant for you, willing to go wherever you moved him to and he titled his head when you moved in and down, cheeks a pretty rose colour and his eyes fluttered shut when your lips touched his.

Eddie was hesitant at first, just for a second or two, both of you adjusting to the feel of a new mouth against your own. But his lips were warm and soft and they tasted like smoke and the lemonade he’d been drinking, tart and sweet and like the summer outside.

And you pushed yourself against him a little bit harder, one thumb stroking over the apple of a cheek and you let your bottom lip slip between his own. Eddie groaned then, a wicked sound, dirty and low and you felt it vibrate through his chest and yours. It made you squeeze your eyes shut a little tighter, made your breath catch in your throat and want to test the waters a little more.

You let your tongue peek out, a slow, soft slide against the seam of his lips and he parted then for you with another pretty sound, a whimper that had your toes curling and without much warning, his hand dropped from your jaw to catch at your waist and you were being tugged onto his lap.

You knew your dress was hitched up a little too high to be decent, but you didn’t really care. You gasped out at the contact, Eddie’s fingers gripping you on the edge of too tight, your legs splayed out over his thighs as he kissed you back with so much wanting that you thought you’d cry.

It turned a little messy, a little desperate, tongues sliding, lips parted over each other as you both made dirty, little sounds they had both of your hips rocking towards each other. Your hands grabbed at the back of the boy's head and you whined at the curls that were tied away from your fingers, so you scratched at the nape of his neck instead, almost - almost - too rough, making the boy shudder and groan underneath you.

And when you both pulled away for air, Eddie was all shades of pink, flushed cheeks, lips kiss bitten and rosy, pouty and a little swollen from where you’d been loving on him. His eyes were glassy, glazed over, jaw slack and the muscle there ticked once, twice when you pushed yourself further into his lap. His hands flew to your thighs, bare and almost too exposed, fingers curling around the doughy skin and you weren’t sure if he wanted you to stop or keep going.

You were both panting, chests heaving and everything glittered now that Eddie Munson had finally kissed you. Dust motes sparkled in the sunlight that came through the gap in the curtains, the shades drawn to trap out the heat but my god, you were burning.

And it was like you couldn’t help yourself, couldn’t keep your lips off of him now that you’d started and you leaned back in, hearing the way his breath caught in his throat. It made you feel bold, powerful, reckless, it made you feel absolutely fucking wrecked.

You mouthed over his jawline, the sharp line of it covered by a rough stubble that hadn’t really been there that morning and Eddie moaned for you when you hit a little spot underneath his ear. You grinned, smiled against his skin and took the lobe between your teeth and nipped gently, sucked at it until he was fully shivering underneath you, grabbing at your thighs until you knew you’d have crescent moon shaped marks the next day.

“Is that okay?” You asked him, voice impossibly soft, almost a little husky from the way he’d kissed you. “This alright, Teddy?”

His eyes almost rolled at the pet name, he couldn’t handle the sweetness of it, not with you in his lap with your pretty dress rucked up all indecently, your lips ghosting along the shell of his ear.

But he nodded, weak, holding on for dear life when you sighed all prettily and kept up your touch. You kissed a line along his neck, mouthing and sucking at the strong column of his throat as his Adam’s apple bobbed under your lips. You kissed a bruise into the crook, where his neck met his shoulder and you sucked and bit down until it was the prettiest shade of lavender you’d ever seen.

When you pulled back, Eddie’s eyes were closed, lips parted and breath coming out in harsh pants. It was almost unfair and you could feel him underneath you, impossibly hard, thick and twitching every time you moved against him.

So you slowed it all down, softened yourself, your kisses a little sweeter as you peppered them across his face. His cheeks, the tip of his nose, the soft skin of his eyelids, bottom lip sweeping over his lashes. You kissed the corner of his mouth, his chin, his forehead and onto his hairline, messy curls tickling your cheek.

And the whole time you whispered to him, soft, pretty words that had him sighing and gasping with each touch of your lips. It was all too good, too much, too nice and Eddie wasn’t sure what this meant yet but he never wanted it to fucking end.

“So pretty, Teddy,” your hand dragged down the length of his bicep, lithe muscles wrapped underneath ink and soft skin. “You’re just so pretty, y’know that?” Your thumb swept over the faded outline of the bear drawing you’d penned on him a week or two before and you smiled, tucked your face into his neck.

“So pretty when you blush for me,” you whispered and god, Eddie was trying his best not to lose it. “All pink ‘n cute.”

You held his chin in your grasp, finger and thumb pressed gently there to bring his mouth back to yours and he complied happily. He sighed into you, sweet kisses turning into another slow, lazy make out session, the dirty flick of his tongue against yours making you squeeze your thighs over his.

“Shy boy,” you murmured against his lips. “Or so I thought,” you hugged out a laugh when one brave hand moved from your thigh to your hip, brushing the curve of your ass underneath the fabric of your dress.

“You’re gonna kill me,” Eddie groaned, forehead falling to rest against yours. “Babe, baby—”

You whined at that, let him push his mouth back to yours so he could kiss you again and it went on like that all afternoon, until the blue sky turned into a deep violet, until the stars blinked and Eddie had you pressed into his pillows, kissing his own line down your throat. It was dizzying, the way he nudged the strap of your dress out of his way with his nose, hands never leaving your sides, your hips, the dough of your ass.

And when it all got too much and you both got too close to going too far, too quick, you slowed it back down with soft kisses and lazy touches. You were nose to nose on his messy bed, one of your legs hitched over his hip as he held you close and you were smiling, cheeks sore, eyes bright kinda smile.

“Shy boy,” you told him again, nose scrunching when Eddie grinned at you and kissed it. He was still the prettiest shade of pink, but god, you’d never get tired of it. “My boy.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson blurb #UDWS10K

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lincolndjarin · 2 months

Text

Oh Honey. ✩ Chapter 5

chapter five : i'll decide where to go from here

series masterlist ao3 kofi main masterlist

a/n : happy last chapter of oh honey!!!! took a while to get out bc i was briefly on hiatus and then was in a slump (whoops) but here it is. this is another case of me writing an ending before the story so this has been the intended ending since i started and i hope you all like it as much as i do

pairing : monster!joel miller x mortician!reader

rating : 18+ mdni - explicit content, read all warnings

word count : 6.4k

summary : a look into the past and present of life in honey, west virginia

warnings, etc. : language, allusions to sex, angst & fluff, complicated relationships and people who are trying to handle them, an obscene amount of flashbacks, reader has hair and is carried by Joel, several timelines in no particular order.

“C’mere, bunny.” His stubble brushes against the back of your neck, his mouth is warm as you feel a kiss placed against your spine.

“Mmm, what’s on the agenda for today?” You hum, pushing back against him a bit, the camper’s freezing in the winter, your heater broke a week ago and the parts Joel ordered to fix it won’t be in for a week. So you’re stuck with a little space heater you’d bought at the hardware store.

“I was thinkin’ we’d just do this for a while.” His arms tighten around your waist and stomach with a sigh. “We could just stay in today, order food, watch a movie on your laptop.” He yawns before nestling close against you.

“It’s too cold to stay here, it’s supposed to snow all weekend, it’s only gonna get worse. Maria even closed the home early yesterday” You groan, rolling over in his arms to press your face into his neck. The tips of your nose and ears are freezing, the two of you are under all the blankets you own, bundled up, when you peer out the window you can see the snow falling and settling on the trees.

Joel mumbles into your hair, deeply inhaling. “Why don’t you pack a bag and we can head back to the house then. You can stay until Monday and can fix the heat while you’re at work.”

“I hate staying at your place, all of my shit is here.” You spend most weekends at Joel’s, it’s easiest that way, but packing up all of your things and bringing them back and forth is getting tiring.

“Just bring it with you.”

“I think you underestimate how much stuff I need for four days.” You’re already giving yourself a headache trying to make a mental list of everything you’ll need.

“Why don’t you just move in.” He mumbles with another yawn. “It would make it easier for both of us if all your stuff was there.” It isn’t until he realizes that you’re frozen in place that he opens his eyes. “Or not, just a thought.”

You stammer an excuse, hoping to alleviate the tension that’s suddenly lingering between you. “I just- I don’t know if we’re there yet.”

“I didn’t mean to rush you, just thought I’d offer.” He shrugs before pulling you close again.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper into his chest.

“Don’t be. You’re right, it’s too soon for that.”

You’ve been together for a year now, you almost never sleep apart, if anything you should have moved in six months ago.

What’s stopping you?

You’ve been distancing yourself from any concrete commitments for sometime now and even if he never says it you know it bothers him. When do you stop punishing him for something you claim you’ve forgiven him for? He doesn’t hurt people as often anymore, at least he’s trying harder not to. But it’s getting hard for the both of you to keep up this system of locking yourselves in his room for a week every month.

Sometimes your cycle syncs with Maria and Sarah has to drive in from out of town to watch Ellie, it’s just generally become harder to manage.

But you can’t leave him when he’s like that.

On the rare occasion that you’re too exhausted to stay awake and entertain him he��ll end up in the woods and a massacred corpse ends up on your table when you return to work.

Everytime you think you’ve found forgiveness and acceptance you’re reminded of the fact that you love a monster. A selfish choice that you make every day. And everytime you tell him you can’t live with the guilt he gives you the same option.

Kill him.

You’re sure he doesn’t mean to make it sound so grim, each of you have complicated relationships with death. You just don’t think you’ll be able to live without him, and it’s not like he expects you to kill him yourself, he always tells you he’ll handle it with Tommy but you always shoot the idea down and you’re back to square one.

“I just need a little more time, I promise this isn’t forever.” You mumble as you sit up.

“I’d do anything for you, anything at all. Just tell me what to do.”

You don’t doubt that. But he still doesn’t give you what you actually want, all you ask of him is options that don’t involve him, or any more innocent people, on your cadaver cart.

The bed is empty when you wake up.

You knew it would be when you went to bed alone last night but a part of you, after all this time, still feels incomplete when the sheets beside you are cold. The creaking under the floorboards is the only noise in the house.

Your alarm clock reads 6:58 a.m. and you know it’s only a matter of minutes before you need to be up so you throw the blankets aside, stretch your arms above your head, and stand. Right on cue you hear the familiar stomping down the hall before your door swings open, Ellie rubs her eyes before scurrying over to you. Her hair’s in disarray, having fallen out of the braid you put it in last night, you scoop her up into your arms, trying to smooth the mess down.

“Good morning, little monster.” You mumble, kissing her cheek before carrying her down the hall and into the kitchen. You can’t help but wonder how much longer she’ll be small enough to hold like this. She’s already almost too heavy for you to lift for this long, and the living room and kitchen are still decorated with banners and deflating balloons from her sixth birthday party yesterday.

Kids birthdays, elementary school, home owning?

Even after a couple years it’s still a little dizzying that this is your life now. You set her down at the table, retrieving the generic sugary cereal you’ve grown fond of from the cabinet along with bowls, spoons, and milk, setting them down on the table in front of her.

“Can I feed the sheep before we go?” She says before reaching for her spoon, you nod.

“If you brush your teeth without giving me a hard time.” You fill your bowls, you have to remind her to slow down a few times as she shovels cereal into her mouth, eager to go out to the barn. You’re only halfway through your bowl when she runs off in the direction of her room.

You hear the telltale sounds of her pushing her step stool across the tile of the bathroom as she rummages through the cabinet. As you finish up your own food and tidy up you make a mental list of everything you need to do today.

Get Ellie ready for school.

Tend to the sheep.

Drive Ellie to school.

You take your phone out of your sweatpants pocket, 7:16, and text Maria to make sure they’re still good to take her this weekend. Ellie hums as she brushes her teeth when you peer into the bathroom before making your way into your own room, changing quickly, you’ve got about an hour before you need to leave.

Drive Ellie to daycare.

Grocery shopping.

Oil change.

Making lists helps. You like knowing what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it, you’ve had enough surprises in your life, you don’t like when the routine changes. Without your routine you’d lose yourself entirely. Ellie helps, she likes structure as much as you do, you stand behind her in the bathroom now watching her finish up and making sure she did a good job. The sparkling stone on the counter catches your eye, a reminder that you’re constantly forgetting your ring. It’s a bit much for your taste but it’s a family heirloom and Joel insisted. Sliding it onto your finger as Ellie hands it to you.

Check on Ellie.

Clean the house.

Make dinner.

Before she can run back to her room you gently pull her back by the collar of her shirt, grabbing a hair tie off the counter you tie her hair in a ponytail before letting her go get dressed. By the time she’s ready you’ve got your jacket on, holding Ellie’s coat out for her to stick her arms through the sleeves. She already has a toothy grin plastered on her face as you both step out of the sliding doors leading to the backyard. You take her hand, knowing she’ll run ahead if given the chance, you know better than to let her out of her sight.

Dangerous things live in the woods of Honey.

She’s pulling you along through the short path between the trees leading to the barn with a fence surrounding it. Once you’re in the clearing you let her run ahead, once you’re able to see everything around you. The air is icy and damp as you follow after her, opening the gate as she slips under the fence. The sun is just starting to break through the trees, it’s still too cold for the sheep to be out, there isn’t much exposed grass for them to eat anyway. You’ve been keeping them in the barn most days unless it warms up, today isn’t one of those days. With a high pitched giggle Ellie rushes inside, you hear the familiar sounds of bleating as she greets all of them by name.

You watch in momentary silence as you make your own way into the barn, enjoying her little smile that warms up the freezing barn.

“Did you turn in your project yesterday?” You sit on a hay bale, watching her run amongst the sheep before turning to you, nose red from the chill. You hadn’t gotten to ask her about it since you’d been so busy with her party, it wasn’t really a “project.” Just a little assignment for the kids in her class, to draw something important to them.

Of course Ellie had wanted to draw her father, something you were happy to help with until she held the crayon in her fist and began to draw the sharp angles and pointed claws that you realized she couldn’t show it off to her class. You let her finish the drawing. It’s remarkable really, how someone so small and vulnerable can portray such a frightening creature without fear.

She loves him, that’s why.

You love him too but that doesn’t mean he didn’t terrify you. No amount of strange magical connection was going to change the fact that he scared you. The difference of course is that Ellie doesn’t know what he’s done. You had encouraged her to draw a background, concealing the mass of flesh and teeth in darkness and trees until only the two of you knew what hid behind the blue and green. Together you decided that it was a drawing of her favorite place. The national forest on the edge of town.

“Good, Riley guessed what it was though.” She says as she pats one of the lambs gently on the back.

“She guessed it was the Manangahela National Forest?” You give her a skeptical smile as she fills a bucket with feed before emptying it into the trough.

“Monongahela.” She corrects you proudly.

After all this time, you still never get it right.

“Smart ass.” You grumble under your breath as she carefully lifts the hose, filling the water buckets.

“Ass.” She says with a grin.

“Don’t say that.” You point at her sternly, stifling a laugh.

With a small huff she turns the hose off and rushes over to sit beside you and watch them.

“She said the forest was my favorite so it was easy.” She mumbles, briefly captivated by the sheep.

“She’s a good friend for knowing that.” You like Riley, you’ve watched the two girls play together several times before, she’s a good influence on Ellie as far as you can tell.

“Mhmm.” She hums, the silence returning between the two of you as you both watch the sheep.

You don’t tell her that you’re going to butcher one of them tonight.

You know that she can handle it. At this point in her life she can handle much more than any other six year old you’ve ever met but you just aren’t ready for that sort of thing yet. You haven’t been a parent long enough to know the proper way to go about that sort of thing.

“Time for school, kiddo.” You stand up abruptly and take her hand again, watching as she yells back to the sheep, saying goodbye to each and everyone of them.

The truck sits idly in the driveway but you ignore it, opening the door of your own car, Ellie throws her backpack in before climbing in herself. It was the first thing you’d bought with Darlene’s money. (The second thing you did was help Sarah with her student loans and put aside some for Ellie.) You hated driving the truck, it was too big and too loud, this just felt safer for driving Ellie around. Once she’s buckled into her seat you make your way over to the driver's side. The radio plays some rock song that immediately has her squealing in the backseat, with a grin you turn it up as you pull out of the driveway.

“Is she my mom now?”

You had been walking past Ellie’s room after your shower, wearing one of Joel’s flannels with the towel wrapped around your hair when her voice froze you in place, her bedroom door cracked open.

“That’s not exactly how that works, kiddo.” His voice has a nervous lilt to it you don’t often hear from him.

“Then why is she always here?” She sits up a bit and you hold your breath as Joel’s brow furrows.

“Is that a problem?” God you hope not.

“No, I like her.” The tension in his face relaxes with your own.

“I’m glad you do. I like her too.”

“So when will she become my mom?” Her persistence on the issue makes you feel as awkward as he currently looks.

“She’ll become your mom if she wants that. But that probably won’t happen until we’re married, and I don’t know if she wants that yet either.” There’s a beat of silence, you’re heart skipping a beat at the earnestness of the conversation. The silence is quickly interrupted by the little one screaming your name as you rush back to the bathroom, opening and shutting the door to try and make it seem like you hadn’t been listening.

“Yes, little monster?” You make a real show of stepping loudly down the hall as you push the door open. You’re greeted by the sight of Ellie trying to wriggle out of a rather flustered Joel’s arms, face red and flushed as he tries to shove her under her blankets.

“She’s just messin’ around.” He grumbles before throwing a pillow at the giggling mess.

Her voice calling your name from the backseat snaps you out of your thoughts.

“What’s up?” You turn the music down as you glance at her in the rearview mirror.

“Can Riley come over today after school if her mom says it’s okay?”

“You’re going to Uncle Tommy’s tonight, love. I’ll text her mom and see if she’s okay with picking her up from there if he gets you guys after school. Does that sound okay?” She nods happily when you look in the mirror before going back to singing along with the radio. When you pull up to the parent drop off you get out of the car to unbuckle her, kneeling down in front of her as she pulls her backpack straps over shoulders.

“Can we have a birthday party with Dad when he gets back?” She tilts her head to the side as she asks, you lean forward and kiss her on the cheek before pulling her into a hug.

“Absolutely we can.” You give her a soft smile before her attention is diverted towards a group of her friends. “Be good today, I love you.”

“Love you, bye!” She leans in to give you a kiss on your own cheek before rushing off, you watch her go, waiting until she’s in the building before getting back in the car. You send a quick text to Riley’s mom and Maria, scheduling plans for the girls before putting the car in drive as you head off towards a neighboring town. Honey has a grocery store but on days like this where you have so much free time you like to go to the nicer ones out of town.

You turn the radio off now that it’s just you, cranking the heat to keep warm as you drive in silence.

“We should get married.” You had brought the idea up, much to his surprise. About a year ago, as you were setting up for Ellie’s fifth birthday party, a year after you’d finally moved in.

“Are you serious?” He had been laying on his back, under the camper, working on the more technical aspects of the project. In his shock he’d rolled himself back out to stare at you.

Why wouldn’t you be? Sure, it took a lot of effort on his part but you finally feel like you’ve stopped holding everything against him. You had hoped that he knew that by now.

“Why not? Everyone already thinks we are, everyone at Ellie’s school calls her my daughter, Tommy’s been teasing me about it for ages-” He pulls himself to his feet, quickly putting his hands on your shoulders.

“Bunny, slow down.” He’s getting flustered, you swear his drawl is thicker when he gets like this.

“You’re the one who always says I take things too slow.” You frown, turning back to the flowers you’d been planting in the boxes under the window but he turns you back around to face him.

“You mean it?” His voice is a whisper and you quickly realize how much this means to him.

“Of course, I mean, we’re going to spend our lives together anyway, why wait.” You give him a reassuring smile as you tilt your head to kiss his cheek, briefly letting yourself indulge in the taste of his skin before pulling back. “As much as I’d love to talk about this more, we should get back to work if we want to finish this before she’s home.”

He doesn’t say anything else about it as he goes back to running the electrical under the camper and you can’t help but wonder if you crossed a line. Thankfully you’re on a time crunch to finish this and your mind is kept busy.

The two of you work in silence, almost synchronized as you move from task to task. He brings the cinder blocks out and lines the camper, creating a semi-permanent foundation as you string fairy lights along the outside and finish up planting flowers around the entire thing. Joel attaches the small porch he and Tommy made a few weeks ago that you had painted as you step inside. It’s unrecognizable after all the work the two of you put into it. The ceiling now painted a dark blue, glow in the dark paint dotted along the entire thing, when the sun goes down she’ll be able to see the stars from inside the camper. You painted the walls and changed out the curtains and sheets more to Ellie’s tastes. She’d always loved it here, when Joel was actually busy with work trips she’d stay with you in the camper. Even nowadays with you living with her and Joel she still often asks if she can play in the camper.

Just as you’re finishing up Joel steps inside as well, testing all of the faucets while wiping a bit of sweat from his brow.

“Think she’ll like it?” You ask, your fingers nervously twitch as you roll the hem of your shirt between them, he laughs as he leans back against the counter.

“She’s gonna love it, s’better than any gift I’ve ever gotten her.” You can’t help but smile as he holds his arms out towards you, you quickly step into them, leaning against his chest and taking a deep breath.

You open your mouth to speak, wanting to address your proposition from earlier quickly so it doesn’t hang in the air for too long but you hear the familiar rumble of Tommy’s truck pulling into the driveway and the two of you quickly rush out of the camper and down the steps. You straighten the bow on the door and quickly lock it. You hear Ellie’s laughter as she runs around the side of the house, Tommy and Maria walking up behind her.

She’s excited to see both of you, a paper crown announcing her birthday adorns her head as she runs up to hug her father. The second she sees the camper though she darts right past him.

“Why’s this here?” She yells excitedly, she knows exactly why it’s here instead of sitting stagnant on the piece of property you sold just a few days ago. You smile at Joel, nodding towards her as he leans down to pick her up.

“She got you a little birthday present, since you’ve been so nice to her and let her come live with us.” He points at you as she immediately starts squirming out of his grasp, tossing her backpack aside as she runs up the little porch steps. She turns around to look at you with a huge smile on her face.

“Are you fucking serious?” She screams. You can’t help it as a laugh slips out of you, thankfully Tommy can’t hold it together either as Joel immediately breaks into a lecture you nudge his shoulder as you hand her the key.

“It’s her birthday, she’s allowed to say it on her birthday.” You murmur through your continued laughter. She wraps her arms around your legs, hugging you tightly before turning around and unlocking the door. “Happy birthday, Ellie.”

She had loved her party, thankfully. And she loved her new playhouse much to your relief.

You and Joel laid on opposite sides of her as her little snores filled the camper, she had wanted a campout as a birthday treat and you were both more than willing to oblige. You’re staring up at the faintly glowing stars painted on the ceiling when he sets the box down next to you. You grab it, wanting to ask him more but not wanting to wake Ellie up you open it.

And you’re met with a ridiculously gorgeous ring.

Clearly an heirloom but he’s recently had it polished, one large diamond framed by two smaller ones on either side of it. Your eyes are wide as you stare down at it, shimmering in the moon light before sharply turning your head to the man with a dopey smile lying across from you.

“Been carrying that around for a while now, if I’d known you were ready I would’a asked sooner.” His voice is low as Ellie stirs a bit and you both freeze as she rolls over closer to her father.

Neither one of you speaks again, but the look on your face as you put the ring on was answer enough.

The beeping brings you back to reality as you scan every item in the self checkout lane.

You’re only feeding yourself while Ellie’s with Maria and Tommy, so you keep it simple. Another box of cereal, milk, an apple, a loaf of bread and deli meats. You’re pretty sure you have enough cheese and other essentials to get you through the rest of the weekend. On your way up to the checkout counter you grab a bag of dark roast coffee beans and a box of tampons.

You’re out of both.

You know you live in memories too often, especially without Joel to keep you in reality. You find him in the past when he isn’t beside you because something needs to fill the aching void that yearns for his smell, his taste, and his touch. And echoes of Joel are almost as good as the real thing. There’s a funny comfort you find in memories. Even unhappy ones. There’s no surprises in memories, you know what’s going to happen and you know you survived it.

Even the bad memories bring you comfort when he isn’t around to do it himself.

You pay quickly, loading everything into the cooler in the car as you head off in the direction of your mechanic. When you park you’re told it’ll take about fifteen minutes, nodding as you sit in the waiting room, where your mind inevitably wanders to one of the worst memories in the hours following your meeting in the Applebees that has since closed.

You didn’t pay attention to the road.

Instead you stared at your hands in your lap as he drove, not bothering with the radio, the two of you stewing in your silence as he pulled into the driveway. You didn’t even unbuckle your seatbelt, he had come around the truck and done that for you, pulling you into his arms and carrying you bridal style up the porch steps and into the house, only stopping to kick the door shut before bringing you to his room, clicking on the lamp he hadn’t bothered to remove, and setting you on the mattress.

He lays down beside you, taking your face in his hands but you immediately recoil, pushing him away.

“What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness? To show you I’m sorry? Cause I don’t see a point to any of this if it’s never going to happen, it’ll be better for both of us if we know where we stand.” He’s right, unfortunately. Neither one of you deserves to waste the other's time if this is going to mean nothing.

If you can’t forgive him.

“Can you at least let me love you? Do you think you can manage that?” His voice is dangerously close to cracking and you have to pray that he doesn’t break. If he can’t hold it together you know you won’t be able to either. “Neither one of us wants to deal with this but we don’t have a choice.”

“I don’t know.” You mumble, you really don’t know so why answer with anything else?

“I don’t even need a concrete answer, bunny. I just need to know if someday you’re going to be able to forgive me. I can’t live a life where you keep me at arms length.”

You hadn’t responded. Just slid closer to him.

And you let him hold you until you fell asleep, hoping that would be enough.

Your phone buzzing is what snaps you out of your empty thoughts this time. When you open the notification you’re met with a message from Maria, a photo of Tommy sleeping in the recliner, Ellie sitting in his lap, and Riley sitting on the arm of the chair, watching whatever movie they put on the T.V.

[ Made it back from school. Watching Treasure Planet. ]

[ love it ] [ thanks again for taking them ]

The mechanic returns shortly after, handing you your keys and telling you you’re good to go. The hour drive back isn’t terrible, you opt to listen to music on the way back. It’s quiet when you return home. Putting away the groceries and making yourself a sandwich as you look around the cluttering remnants of the party yesterday, the only sounds are your chewing and the soft creaking and scratching from under the floorboards.

Joel has so much pride for your home. He would hate it if he knew how dirty it was currently, the thought alone has you reaching for an empty trash bag once you’re finished eating.

You turn all the lights on as the sun starts to set, how much time did you spend daydreaming today? You try not to think too hard about it as you start cleaning up the plastic cups and paper plates that litter every surface of the living room, popping deflating balloons and sweeping up discarded streamers and confetti. There’s a feeling of solace that comes with cleaning the house, making it feel like home once more.

This isn’t just Joel’s house now, it’s yours as well, even if you thought this would never be the case.

“I know that you shot down the idea last time but I want to show you something.”

“Joel, I just don’t think…” Your voice trails off as you stare at the key ring he’s holding out towards you. If you can’t guarantee that he won’t hurt people you can’t share a home with him, it’s stupid and it makes you feel childish but you can’t come home to him knowing people are still dying, even if you can’t stay away from him.

“Just give me a chance to show you.” He puts the keys back into his pocket before taking your hand. Walking you down the hall towards his room, he stops briefly to check in on Ellie, still tucked into her own bed as you peer into her room before he closes her door quietly. “I don’t want you to think that a life with me is going to be only horrors, and I know that a part of you has already resigned yourself to such a thing but you don’t deserve that.” You’re about to interrupt him, tell him that’s not true despite the ache in your chest that tells you he’s right but he’s opening his own bedroom door and you’re too busy staring slack jawed inside.

It’s unrecognizable from the monster cage he’d created for himself.

Instead of resting bare and on the floor, the mattress has sheets and now rests on a low to the ground metal frame. The photos that were once taped to the wall are now in frames or pinned to a bulletin board he hung up.

He put a rug down that covers any claw marks on the floor and he’s done his best to hang up photos and paintings over the scratches on the walls. There’s even furniture now, a nightstand on either side of the bed with a matching dresser, lamps scattered around the room make the space feel warm and lived in.

“You- you did all this?”

“If you live with me I don’t want you to have to sleep in some sort of creepy homemade dungeon, you deserve an actual bedroom.” He whispers as you look at the paintings on the wall, all of them are Alice in Wonderland themed. “I borrowed those from Sarah’s room, we can change them out when- if you move in.” He quickly mumbles as you look up at a painting of Alice staring into a lake, her own image being reflected back up at her.

“It’s lovely, it’s perfect Joel.” You turn back to him as he rubs the back of his neck bashfully.

“This ain’t it, there's a few more surprises for you.” The shocked look remains on your face as he takes your hand once more, bringing you back into the kitchen and out the sliding glass door.

You had run outside without shoes on and took down the banner hanging on the camper before rushing back in and tossing it in the trash bag. When you look at the clock it’s just a couple minutes from 7:00 p.m. You bring the bag out to the porch before washing your hands.

You don’t bother taking a shower as you change into your pajamas, setting your ring on your nightstand, not wanting to risk damaging it as you pull up a pair of sweats you don’t care about being ruined and an old shirt you wore when you painted the bathroom a month ago. Grabbing the apple off the counter you shove it into your sweatpants pocket. Shooting Maria one last text and turning your phone on do not disturb, you tell her to say goodnight to Ellie for you before slipping your sneakers on and heading out the back door once more.

You don’t like going to the barn alone, and you should have put on a proper jacket, without the sun to warm you, your skin prickles with goosebumps. The dark doesn’t frighten you very much anymore, and it’s easy to follow the familiar path even in the dark. Your phone flashlight illuminates the ground in front of you as you walk, you’re trying to remember if there is a specific sheep Ellie isn’t attached to.

Most of the flock is sleeping save for a few stragglers, you decide not to overthink it, grabbing a lead and putting it over the head of the first sheep that’s brave enough to greet you. The unlucky winner is one of the older sheep, making its way over to you the second you open the gate. You reward her bravery with the apple in your pocket, the only sounds in the quiet night are those of chewing as you walk her back towards the house.

You swung your intertwined hands between the two of you as you walked through the trees behind his house. He must have worked startlingly fast to do that for you, no ones ever put in that sort of effort for you before.

The sun is just starting to set behind you as he takes a step back and covers your eyes.

“Hey-” You start to object with a giggle as he continues walking you forward.

“Oh hush, let this be a surprise.” He chuckles as he leads you further down the path before stopping abruptly and lifting his hands. “Surprise.” He whispers, taking a step back.

“Woah.” You exhale in shock as you stare at the barn in front of you. A white fence surrounding it.

It’s beautiful.

“Tommy and I grew up on a farm, we can raise whatever you want, pigs, sheep, chickens, anything you want.” He mumbles as he wraps his arms around you from behind, kissing your cheek.

“I love that idea, but can I ask why?” You let out a nervous laugh as you turn to raise an eyebrow at him.

“That’s actually a part of your last surprise.”

“Another?” Your voice pitches up, he built you a fucking barn, what else could he have done for you?

“I want you to know how serious I am about you moving in, I don’t want you to have any doubt.” He mumbles against your temple, inhaling deeply before pulling away and taking your hand one more time. “Come on.” He pulls you back towards the house as the sun sets for good, you walk in the darkness until he brings you to the basement entrance and pulls out the keys he’d offered you.

Several locks adorn the basement entrance, you sift through your key ring until you find each lock's respective key, letting them drop into the grass as you remove each one. When you swing the heavy metal doors open you’re met with the welcoming warmth that comes from below. Several lamps and space heaters create a warm glow that beckons you down the steps. Almost immediately the sheep pulls away, bleating fearfully. Animals are far more intelligent than anyone gives them credit for, they know when something is wrong.

You pull her down with you then reach up and let the doors slam down, sealing the poor thing in its tomb with you.

You drop the lead once the doors are closed, there’s no point in leading the lamb any closer to the inevitable slaughter.

“I have loved you since I first saw you in that bar. I have loved you every moment since, you could be cruel and terrible and I’d love you still and I’d probably deserve it. But you aren’t. You’re smart, and you care about everything, and you love everyone even if they aren’t worthy of it.” His hands caress your face as he whispers into the night air. “And you feel so much guilt for the things I do even though you shouldn’t. You can forgive me for all that I’ve done but it won’t change the fact that I’m still doing terrible things. I’ve done terrible things for so long that I didn’t really consider any other options, but you deserve other options.”

He pulls open the basement doors once all the locks are undone, and offers his hand to you.

“I want to show you that I can change, that I would do anything you need me to do, be anything you need me to be.”

It’s your choice, take it or leave, he won’t hold it against you if you crack and can’t handle it anymore. But you need him to keep yourself together in the first place so you take his calloused hand in yours and let him lead you down into the darkness.

The smell of vanilla and pine is dense down here.

As you descend further down the steps you see the familiar set up, a few lamps and lanterns are scattered throughout the darkness as well as a couple space heaters that are only there for your benefit. A mattress you insist on putting sheets on is pushed against one of the scratched up walls, the blankets and pillows scattered about the space, you walk over to the mess, picking up the scattered quilts as you throw everything back down on the mattress. You can feel the movement behind you, the scratching against the cement as you lay down, even with the heaters it’s cold. Thankfully you know you’ll be warm enough soon.

The panicked baa’s of the sheep are swiftly silenced, replaced with the wet tearing sound that once would have filled you with dread. It’s a bit morbid how comforting you now find them, you roll over as you pull another blanket up over yourself, watching the iron chains drag across the floor as the unseen figure pulls them in different directions.

You can see movement dancing on the edges of the lamp light, the smell of blood is almost as prominent now as the suffocating sweetness. A smile begins to tease the corners of your mouth as you hear him moving closer, the familiar, gravely voice that calls out from the dark recesses of the basement fills your ears like warm honey.

“C’mere, bunny.”

a/n : that's a wrap on oh honey folks, once again im sorry i made yall wait so long, i hope it was worth it <3

i no longer have a tag list but for fic updates follow @lincolndjarinnotifs !!

#lincolndjarin #joel miller #tlou #the last of us #joel miller x reader #joel miller smut #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fic #tlou hbo #joel tlou #the last of us hbo #monster fucker #monster lover #monster romance #oh honey #fic : oh honey

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deadpool15 · 6 months

Text

Roomate part 1

This is some dumb fucking shit. How can someone be this bad at their job, while sitting here smiling in my fucking face. "So, explain to me, umm, what was your name again?" Mika said, staring at the realtor with absolute disgust and annoyance. "Just Kim would be fine, sweetheart," he states, staring me up and down with a flirty expression. "Yea, that's amazing. I'm gonna call you bitch ass, you cool with that?" I stated watching his face completely drop. "So, since this very kind women can't talk to you like a fucking adult, I'm just gonna talk to you like the man child you mother obviously failed to raise. Now, would you be a dear and tell me how exactly does someone manages to sell a place to two different people with knowing. We obviously don't fucking look or sounds anything alike. Therefore, that rolls out that pathetic ass excuse. I should whoop your ass bitch-."

As I went to jump on him, the unknown woman that was standing next to me grabbed me. Holding me while apologizing, causing the man to immediately leave in fear. "OK ok you can stop now, Ms." I roughly back away from her casting her to put up her hands in the air as a showcase of surrender. "I know we are in a bit of a predicament here, but the papers have already been finalized. Plus, this place is more than big enough for the both of us, so we can just share it." I stared her down before laughing and shaking my head. "If you fuck up, I'll whoop your ass too."

And well, that's how me and bada met. At first, there was a bit of hostile energy, mainly from my side. I wasn't really sure about her, like I was judging her character before I let the real me out. Then, it all changed one night. She randomly got home from a long ass day of working, saying she needed some self-care immediately. I mean, true enough, I wasn't so sure about her yet, but I'm not a monster, and a girl in need is simply a girl in need. I sat her on the couch while we did face masks and painted each other's nails. She was a little on the rocky side about the nails, but I managed to talk or more so threaten her into it. After a while, we started talking about life. I learned she had a boyfriend named Howl, strange ass name.

"Wait so like when you two fuck, do you moan out howl or just government name. Because u fucking can't right now." I said laughing and hitting the coach, while bada sat there embarrassed and pushing me over. "I mean, I don't know. Like I don't really sit there and think about it." She says shyly. "What about you?" "Oo I don't do relationships, I mean, it's enough me to go around right. Plus, this pussy game is crazy, will have a motherfucker all obsessive and shit." She stares atcthe ground shocked. "Wow, are all Americans like this?" "Like what?"Just open and out there." I chuckle before adjusting myself on the seat. "To be honest, babes, I mean sex is sex. We are adults we should be able to talk about it freely. Plus, Korea is just really hush hush and polite about that stuff."

That night, Bada and i bonded. We became like sisters. Telling each other everything. I even met her man. They were a hot couple. I could see why they would go for each other. But that's pretty much all about Howl. we got to know each other to a certain degree. I mean, at the end of the day, girl code still exists, and it's something i truly ride and believe in, sisters over misters, you know. Like him and Bada would help pick out my outfits and stuff. Like right now. "So, what do you think?" I ask both of them as they are sitting on my bed eating snacks. "Don't you think they are a bit revealing?" Howl said while opening up another bag of the hot fries I had shipped here, while bada shoke her head, agreeing with him. "First of all, I'm a grown ass woman who is everything but insecure so I can show off. Secondly, shawty was fine in that pic she sent me, so she must wanna see all this. So, which one sluty sexy or sluty cute."

Each outfit was revealing yet gave a different vibe. I never questioned why Howl was protective over me, shit I thought he saw me as his little sister like Bada. Boy was I fucking wrong. I started showing then the messages between me and mystery women. She was a hot masc with a long wolf cut. And the entire conversation basically consists of us trying to have phone sex. But why sit in bed and play with myself when I can have her do it for me. "Wow, you two really are going to do this on the first date?" Bada asked while staring at me, looking slightly nervous, yet I couldn't understand why. To be honest, they both had been acting weird lately. They were like my best friends, so I wanted to know what was happening but didn't wanna drag it on. Maybe it's nothing. "Now you know I don't plan on dating that girl. Anyways, I'm sticking with sexy, so I'll be back and you two can do anything you horny fucks can thing of. Except fucking on my bed. Move it along weirdos." I tell them walking out the house.

"What the fuck, this shit is getting out of hand, Bada I thought we agreed to tell her?" Howl said angrily thinking about all the things Mika could be doing right now with that girl, she had been gone for hours. "I know, this is hard for me too. But we can't just tell her out of the blue. Hey, me and my boyfriend are totally in love with you, and I know you don't do relationships, but are you willing to date us, so we can finally call you ours and stop listening to you fuck other people." Bada stated basically yelling at him. "We just need to tell her this is bullshit-"

Before they could finish their conversation, they heard something slam against the door, startling them both. The sounds kept repeating as if someone was trying to get in, causing Howl to immediately grab Bada and place her behind him, thinking someone was trying to break into the apartment. "Are we being robbed?" Bada asks Howl in slight fear, but before he could defend them, both Mika comes crashing through the door, drunk as shit. With what seems to be her date. Both of them kissed and basically dry humping each other with clothes on, paying no mind to the people in the house. Mika moves her hand trying to lock the door before, the unknown woman grabs her neck shoves her knee into pussy, making sure to rub away all the tension. They both moan into each other's mouths and finally lock the door stumbling into her room, still without acknowledging her fellow roommate and boyfriend.

As they bedroom door abruptly closes shut, they are now finally out of the eye sight of Bada and Howl, who are seething in anger. "I thought you said they weren't gonna work out, jackass?" Bada whisper yelled at Howl, hitting him in the shoulder. Though he can't even find the time to register the pain before all they can hear is the sound of the bed creeks against the wall. "They shouldn't have, I mean, they don't have anything in common. What the fuck does she has that we don't?" "We are telling her tomorrow, I don't care what we have to do but she is gonna know. We can't go on like this. It's supposed to be the three of us, ok?" Howl says while grabbing Bada's cheeks, looking into her eyes for reassurance. She nods along.

"Y-yes... shit.... right there.... ughhh... fuck me...". Bada turns to looks at the door with a sour expression, "but let's go, I refuse to listen to this shit any longer. Not when we can obviously make her moan way louder then that." Howl just smiles for a moment and nods, "exactly baby let's not feed into negatively. She will be ours by tomorrow night."

(See, I know yall are waiting on the mommy duties part 2 fic, but I just got sick as fuck and I feel like garbage. But I don't want yall to think I'm one of those writers that's coming up with a new excuse every week, so I will try my best to work on it, babes. Now tell me if yall feel like roommate pt.2 would be a good idea or nah?)

#swf2 #street woman fighter 2 #street woman fighter x reader #bada lee x reader #bada lee

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flieslikeamoron · 3 months

Note

Hi! For the first sentence game:

"You want to try that again?" he asks.

Sorry this took a while, but it turned into a whole thing. This is like 2.5K. Not really explicit, but there are some boners and stuff of that nature.

---

“You want to try that again?” he asks.

“I don’t need your pity,” Steve says sourly. “I’ll take my stupid three.”

“It’s not pity.” Eddie laughs and waves a hand, generous as a king. “You have advantage.”

“You get to roll twice,” Dustin says. “And take the highest.”

“I know what advantage is, dipshit.” Steve rolls his eyes as the number comes up. “A whole seven.” He makes a whoop-di-doo motion with his finger.

“Your persuasion check fails.” Eddie leans forward threateningly over the screen in front of him. “The guard rings the alarm bell.” A chorus of groans rise around the table. Eddie grins, shifting into the growling scream of a wrestling announcer. “Rrrrolll for initiative.”

___

Steve comes out of the kitchen with a garbage bag in his hand after the kids have all gone. The little shits leave a disaster area of junk everywhere they go: half eaten pizza crusts, scribbled notes, mysterious piles of crumbs that don’t look like anything Eddie actually saw them eat. Steve reaches across the table to pick up a paper plate. He ditched his sweater halfway through the game, a bit of chest hair peeking out of the V of his polo. Eddie blinks and looks away. He sweeps all the miniatures off the table into his old ammo box with a clatter.

Steve sets the garbage bag down and snatches the box from Eddie’s hand. He glares at Eddie and starts organizing the haphazard jumble. “Come on, man. There’s a system.”

“I have my own system. It’s called not having OCD.”

“It’s called not being able to find the ones you need next week.”

“What are you, alphabetizing them?”

“Like I know their names,” Steve scoffs, holding up a furry, long-fanged monster.

“Bugbear,” Eddie says.

“Nerd,” Steve says fondly. Like he didn’t spend four hours at the table tonight. Lately Steve has become, if not a weekly player, at least a recurring guest star. He likes to gripe and act like it’s such a chore. Like he’s doing Dustin a favor. Or humoring Eddie. Being supportive of his nerdy-ass hobbies. Giving up his oh so busy Friday night.

Eddie knows better. If he really hated it, he wouldn’t play. If he really hated it, he wouldn’t keep his character sheet updated. Wouldn’t cover the back with careful notes of the names of each NPC the party meets, bits of lore.

No, Eddie is onto him. Steve gets pushy about his XP in that competitive jock way he has about him. Just as excited about beating one of Eddie’s traps or monsters as the kids. That lit up glint in his eye every time he reminds Eddie he’s immune to charm or poison, like he’s getting one over on him. He’s having fun. And Eddie-

Well.

Eddie came to terms with the fact that he’s horny for his straight roommate long ago. That maybe he even has a fucked up little crush on the guy. But the really fucked up thing is Steve spends a pretty significant amount of time sweaty and shirtless around Eddie, and watching him total up his damage, not forgetting to add his bonuses, is somehow hotter.

Steve glances up from the minis. Whatever’s on Eddie’s face must be a doozy because his eyebrows knit together briefly. But then he smiles. God. The way a smile looks on him. He starts talking about the stat boost he’s going to get when he levels up. He talks about it like he’s been borrowing Eddie’s Player’s Manual on the sly. Hair drooping down over his forehead and that smile on his face and that polo tight against his chest. Eddie wants to jump his bones so bad, it feels like someone punching him in the dick. But in a good way.

“I could put it into strength or charisma,” Steve is saying. “I was thinking charisma, so I could get that plus two.”

“That’d almost catch you up to real life.”

“You think I have a plus three to charisma?” Steve cocks his head, half smiling, half curious. Like he’s trying to figure out if that was a joke or an actual compliment. This is where things get dangerous. Being around him makes Eddie feel almost feverish: too hot, fuzzy headed, all wound up with wanting shit he can’t have. And he’s around him all the time.

The problem with Steve is he doesn’t act like any straight guy Eddie’s ever known. Most straight guys treat Eddie kind of like he’s contagious. Not making a big deal, just… Leaving space. It’s fine that you’re gay, but don’t touch me. It’s fine, but don’t put it in my face. Don’t make it too real. It’s fine, but- It’s the kind of thing that makes Eddie want to push. Get up in a guy’s space, press right against that uncomfortable but. It’s almost a game. Pretty dangerous game, he knows that. Poking at the violence most guys have in them. But Eddie likes the fuck you of it, the little bit of fear in that step they take back when he gets too close.

Steve though- Steve doesn’t back down from anything. Not monsters, not an argument, not even a guy hitting on him. No matter how hard Eddie pushes, he hasn’t found anything that can make Steve blink, take a step back. When Eddie leans into his space, expecting him to flinch, he just slings an arm around Eddie to pull him in even closer. If he touches Steve, Steve touches him back. And Eddie can say the most insane shit. Flirty shit, blatant shit. Steve just plays along. Like it’s all good fun.

Is it really Eddie’s fault if he forgets himself sometimes? Starts running his mouth way too close to the truth? What is Eddie supposed to do when Steve takes all Eddie’s big boys and sweethearts with a pleased smile? What is Eddie supposed to do with the way Steve sprawls out on the couch after a date? Lays his head in Eddie’s lap and plays with Eddie’s rings while he talks about whether this girl gave good head or why he doesn’t think that girl will work out.

This is the kind of shit he’s dealing with, okay? Just the other day Steve came out of the bathroom, nothing but a towel around his waist. And Eddie leaned in to smell him. Look, he’s very aware of how weird that was. But he’d been half asleep, and he’d just- He hadn’t been thinking. It happens kind of a lot with Eddie, actually. He doesn’t think. Maybe that’s why Steve didn’t step back, or give him a well deserved push. Didn’t even look at him funny for doing something objectively weird. Objectively fucked up. He laughed and yanked Eddie in until his nose was squashed into the warm curve of Steve’s armpit. Steve’s hand wide on the back of Eddie’s head as he pushed Eddie’s face in there, tight.

“Take a big whiff,” he said, like he didn’t care that Eddie was pressed up against his bare skin, body to body with Eddie’s hand curving around his waist, brushing against his back. Like he didn’t care that Eddie’s hard dick was obvious against his thigh.

When he let Eddie go, his gaze flicked down to Eddie’s boner. Just as obvious. Making sure Eddie knew he’d noticed it. A teasing lilt to his voice as he said, “Bathroom’s all yours.” Practically inviting Eddie to jerk off. Practically inviting Eddie to think about him while he did it. And Eddie did. Not for the first time, or the last.

What is he supposed to do with any of that except want Steve even more? Sometimes he wishes Steve was just a little less- Cool with it. Not that he wants Steve to look at him with that “It’s fine, but-” on his face. It would be easier though, in a way. If Steve didn’t let him get so close. Didn’t let him press his grubby face up against the glass, so close to what he wants it’s hard to remember he can’t have it.

Steve turns to Eddie with his fist propped under his chin. “Tell me about my charms,” he says. “What is it about me exactly that makes me so damn charismatic?” Voice playful, flirty. Dangerous.

If there’s one thing Eddie knows how to do, it’s bluff. Hey, just joking. You can take a joke, right? “That face, mostly,” he says, putting a palm right into it, pushing Steve away with his cheek turned. Steve lets Eddie move him with an easy laugh. “And your modesty, obviously.”

“Fuck off,” Steve says, still laughing. He moves farther down the table to dump another plate in the garbage bag. He reaches over to gather up a few dice, pausing over the blue one he used during the game. He holds it up, turning it between his thumb and forefinger. He looks over at Eddie, his dark eyes catching Eddie’s. Catching Eddie staring. Eddie quickly busies himself with rolling up his battle map.

“I don’t think I had a single roll over ten all night.” Steve gives the die a toss down the length of the table, flailing a hand as it comes up a four. “I think it’s weighted.”

Eddie snorts. “It isn’t.”

“You gave me a weighted die. You’re a goddamn cheater.” He hides a grin behind the accusation, but Eddie plays along as if he’s serious. Who’s Eddie kidding? Half the fights they’ve had, Eddie picked on purpose just because it was fun. Riling each other up for the hell of it.

“I’m not,” he says. “I’ll prove it.” He plucks the die off the table and shakes it in his hand. “If I roll above a ten, you have to clean up this mess.”

Steve glares, flapping the garbage bag in his hands around in front of him like a matador cape. Annoyance is his second hottest look, in Eddie’s expert opinion. Indignant color on his cheeks, eyes bright. Eddie wants to bite the petulance on his lip. “I’m already cleaning it up.”

“Yeah, but I’m helping you,” Eddie says. “You have to do it by yourself if I win.”

“Doesn’t sound like I have much to lose.”

“Shut up, I’m helping.” Eddie performatively drops a plastic cup in Steve’s bag with a bow.

“That cup wasn’t empty,” Steve huffs. “How many times do I have to tell you to dump it in the sink first. Now it’s going to leak probably and I’ll have to…” Eddie tunes the rest out. Steve’s right, he has heard it before. He rolls the die down the table with a flourish, holding up a finger in Steve’s direction like “wait a sec” and watching as it lands on a fifteen.

“Not a cheater,” he said triumphantly. “And not helping anymore.”

“One good roll doesn’t prove if it’s weighted or not. It’s about the patterns.” Steve rolls again. A two. He motions to it with attitude in the sweep of his hand.

“Fine,” Eddie says. “I’ll go again. How about I roll above a ten two more times, or hey, let’s make it three, if you really want a pattern. If I win, you have to do my laundry.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Like you’ll follow through if I win.”

Eddie places a dramatic hand on his heart, his voice going shocked. “You’ve besmirched my honor.”

Steve breaks, a laugh cutting through his frown. He gives Eddie a skeptical “go ahead then” tilt of his chin. Eddie rolls. An eleven. He walks backward from one end of the table to the other, to pick up the die where it landed. Makes sure to bump into Steve as he passes. “Pardon me, big boy,” he says sweetly. Steve pushes him into a stumble, but he turns sharply like a flamenco dancer. Arm coming up above his head as he slings the die back down the table. Seventeen. A shit eating grin. Another walk down to the end of the table. Another bump. He can feel the daggers Steve is glaring at him itching hot between his shoulder blades. He tosses the last roll over his shoulder without looking.

“Blow me,” Steve mutters. Eddie turns to see the thirteen on the die. Steve’s delicious, disgruntled face. Grumpy is such a good look on him.

“If you roll under a ten again, I will.”

Steve’s eyebrows rise.

Jesus Christ, Eddie needs to wire his goddamn jaw shut. Steve hesitates on the edge of a laugh. It was a joke. Obviously. Whether it started out there or not, Eddie will make it a joke. But there’s something about the way Steve is caught on the edge of not sure if Eddie was kidding.

Eddie can’t resist a little push. He flashes his teeth. “Scared of a blowjob?”

“You’re serious?” Steve says cautiously.

“Why not?” Eddie shrugs. “It’s just sucking dick. I like dick.”

“Yeah…” Steve says. “But it’s… My dick.”

Like Eddie hasn’t lovingly built a shrine to Steve’s dick in his mind. Like he doesn’t prostrate himself before it basically every time he jerks off. Eddie’s hard as shit right now, his whole body tight with wanting, his blood fizzing, just because Steve hasn’t shut him down yet. Can’t he feel how desperate Eddie is for him? It feels like it’s pouring off him in waves, like ripples of heat off asphalt in the summer.

“Or it’s your mouth.” Eddie’s smile goes sharp. Just a little push. “If you lose.”

Steve flushes, his eyes huge. “You would want that?”

Jesus. Why hasn’t Steve shut him down? Why is he still playing along? It isn’t too late. Eddie can still play it off as a joke. But the way Steve’s looking at him- Steve doesn’t back down. Not from monsters, not from a dare. Would he really… Maybe he would actually let Eddie do it. “And then what?” the small rational part of him that tries to keep him from fucking himself over asks. He pays just as much attention to it now as he ever does.

“I’ll make it easy on you,” Eddie says. “You roll low, just like you have every roll tonight. You can have advantage, even. Triple advantage. Three chances. Get one roll ten or lower. I’ll give you the best blowjob you’ve ever had.” It’s not so much a bet anymore, as an offer. Eddie begging behind the thinnest pretense. Please, please let me suck your dick.

Steve still hasn’t said no. He stands there with the die in his hand instead of telling Eddie to fuck off. Looking at Eddie so close, this heavy, searching gaze that makes Eddie feel like he’s one snarled knot of heat from his throat to his balls. Steve notices Eddie’s hard-on, that heavy gaze lingering for a long second. He’s still looking at Eddie as he throws the die. Eddie can’t quite bring himself to look away, listening to the rattle of it until it stops.

Eddie has to look. Has to know.

A nineteen.

Fuck. He looks back at Steve. “You want to try that again?”

Steve is bright red as he shakes his head no, his teeth sunk into his bottom lip. There’s no hesitation in him now. He keeps his eyes on Eddie, as he sinks down to his knees.

---

These have been helping me get back into a writing habit, so I’ll keep it open if anyone else wants to play. The original rules of the game are you leave an ask with the first sentence of a fic, and I’ll write the next five sentences. But the rules I made up are I just write as much as I want. Five sentences minimum though.

#and they were roommates #dnd as foreplay #sex bets kind of #writing game #steddie fic #steddie fanfic #my fic #I know advantage wasn’t introduced to DnD until 5e but maybe Eddie Munson invented advantage as a homebrew #you can’t prove he didn’t

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emojellyace08 · 7 months

Text

Gun Park ; Park Jonggun x Reader! (headcannons)

A/N: Here's for the delulu simps like me bc why not :) Genre: fluff? (I guess) pairing: character x reader (gender neutral don't mind the pics if you're a dude reading this lol)

Headcannon: I don't really think Gun is affectionate? This may sound off putting for some but I just think he doesn't really care about dating. This man is obsessed with fighting.

But it will be a miracle if you managed to make this gangster fall for you. His type is pretty much someone who is physically strong yet still being fair and just. He really hates bratty and whiny people (except for Goo but he's still an ass tbh).

If you're the soft and quiet type, Gun won't bother you too much. He will just let you be. In fact it's much better like that because he's not really too talkative unless something interesting caught his attention (about gangs and crews to no one surprise). If you're really friendly and somehow bubbly yet act and think in a mature manner in tough situations he might peek a slight interest on you.

If you're physically weaker he won't mind being your personal body guard if you have the power (like money) to pay him off. If you're just acting like a damn coward he won't care in the first place and he'll let you solve your own problems. But if you really need assistance (at some points he does understand that not everybody is able to protect themselves from others) and if he doesn't mind your presence, he'll be willing to kick someone's ass to protect you. And if he sees a potential in your combat skills he would whoop you off in training.

But despite being a fearless monster at times, I do think Gun still likes a partner who still cares for him yet not too clingy. Someone who will be able to show it in their own and unique way is what I mean. I think he'll appreciate it if his partner can handle themselves on their own because he's really busy most of the time. He also finds it attractive when their partner puts effort on everything that they do and not giving up despite their situations getting shitty at times. He thinks that characteristic is one of the things that makes them strong, at least in a mental and emotional way.

If he started catching feelings for you, I'm sorry but it wouldn't be too obvious. It's just Gun being Gun. He's not really the flirty type of guy, but I guess his love language will be acts of service. Examples are when he opens the door for you and letting you walk in first and protecting you from everybody who tries to lay a finger on you. You may think that he's just doing his job, but the more times you spent together his attraction will be a little bit more obvious.

Not really the jealous type but he'll go a bit bonkers when someone tries to talk to you because of their really foul intentions. He'll use that ass as his personal punching bag if they ever tried to touch you. He might get a bit jealous with Goo when the blonde talks to you too much but he doesn't really mind for the most part. He knows that bastard is just messing around.

When Gun confesses to you, he'll be casual and cool about it. There's no hint of nervousness in his voice or body language. And he will talk about his feelings on the most random scenarios which can make you flabbergasted since it's really unexpected tbh. "Y/N, this may sound a bit intriguing but I think I like you in a really different way. You seemed very fascinating and it makes me really excited. I wouldn't mind if I made you my partner right now".

If you don't like him, you may see a bit of a disappointed frown on his lips and he'll apologize for being "rude". However he'll pretty much get over with it and move on. Yes, it's that fast. At least he confessed earlier before his feelings turn more intense. And he'll still be acquaintances with you if you don't mind. But he'll respect your decision if he makes you uncomfortable and he'll get a new job.

BUTTTT, if you REALLY LIKE HIM he'll get a bit surprised that you caught feelings for him. He wouldn't expect someone like you to fall in love with someone like him. And if you somehow see the good in him despite him being a total psycho in fighting, he'll actually appreciate it.

Gun will also appreciate if you cook for him after he's done with work. Fast food and take out taste good but he just thinks it's really unhealthy if he eats too much calories and fat. So preparing simple dishes is enough for him.

Not really a fan of PDA and public dates? Gun knows that you and him are dating. So it doesn't mean that both of you always need to go outside and waste your money in Disney Land 💀. But if you're pushy about it he can't do anything about it since in some ways he does want you to enjoy even if he's hating every single inch being in a childish amusement park. So expect him to have that poker face for a very long period of time lmao. But still, he probably enjoys it in some way and finds it a bit hilarious when you screech at the top of your lungs at rides and he's just staring at you like -_- "It's not even that scary" "SHUT UP I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF A HEART ATTACK THERE!". Knowing that this bastard loves thrills that will make him enliven, he wouldn't hesitate to put you in situations that will shock you in a good and bad way (like letting you ride a roller coaster) but he's not that boneheaded to put you in potential harm and push you off to your limits (unlike Goo who is a crack headed bastard).

He's not really empathetic but he will try to understand your situations when you're not emotionally well. If you're upset because of someone else's fault Gun will probably confront the person (even beating them if they tried to fight back and not being honest). But if he feels like you need to work on yourself, prepare to hear some constructive criticisms on his side. His words might sound harsh but he's trying his best to help you out, so don't take anything personally in a negative way.

Gun wouldn't really mind cuddling with you. It also calms his mind and body. And for him, it feels a bit different. Almost weird if you asked me. Now, don't get me wrong in some type of way he does like spending some time with you especially when he has his day off (which rarely happens my apologies). He's just really used with moving his body and beating 500 or more enemies. But he does find it a bit relaxing to get a break with you even for a single day.

Overall he's not the romantic boyfriend but not the worst if you're not ticking him off. It can be a challenge to get along with Gun with the first place so good luck with that.

A/N: I'll probably make a NSFW with Gun but I still haven't finished UI Daniel so if you don't mind, you can be patient about me procrastinating lol good night.

#lookism x reader #lookism x y/n #lookism x you #lookism fic #gun park x reader #character x you #character x y/n

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monstersdownthepath · 9 months

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Monster Spotlight: Onyvolan

CR 3

Chaotic Neutral Monstrous Humanoid

Adventure Path: War for the Crown: Crownfall, pg. 86-87

Y’know, Pathfinder borrows creatures from just about every mythological, folkloric, and religious sphere on the planet, and every Bestiary contains a generous handful of creatures based on existing properties with enough differences that most people who recognize them will go “hey, I know that one!” Cute homages and references abound in Pathfinder, something I DO genuinely enjoy... But this one? I think the Venn Diagram crossover section between “people who play Pathfinder” and “people who’ve actually watched Return to Oz“ (or read the original sequel books) contains maybe 7 people. While not the most obscure property or story Pathfinder’s ever referenced, it’s definitely up there! I enjoy that Pathfinder’s version goes all the way back to the original story’s first description of them, making their wheels keratinous appendages instead of the mechanical augmentations they were in the movie.

And god does it make these things weird. In the whimsical Land of Oz, the weirdness of the Wheelers is perfectly at home and almost entirely glossed over as just another example of the strange natives of an even stranger world. In Pathfinder? ... well, they also don’t have an excuse. There’s ZERO explanation of where these creature’s come from, why they exist, and why they do what they do! Not even a handwave explanation of mad wizardry, magical contamination, a bloodline curse, or alchemical muckery. As far as anyone care to tell, they’re simply forms of bizarre wildlife that have evolved--naturally, magically, or otherwise--to live in human cities. And only in human cities, unfortunately; their wheeled appendages make them quick as a pony (40ft movement) and quiet as a whisper (+10 Stealth!) on flattened ground, beaten dirt roads, and stone pathways, but uneven surfaces prove to be a bane to them. They’re Easily Hampered, and any difficult terrain they encounter costs them 20ft of movement per 5ft square, slowing them to a glacial crawl.

Onyvolan are curious creatures through and through. They’re intelligent as any human and can hold perfectly lucid conversations in Common, but their entire being and culture seems to revolve around being roving gangs of bullies, scavengers, and thieves. They squat in unused buildings and abandoned homes, roving out to scavenge what they can from any source they can, prizing junkyards and garbage pits to vandalize nearby structures, as well as find food, trinkets for their odd collections, and especially clothing, their alien mindsets causing them to prize clothes above all other forms of treasure; the more garish, eye-searing, and ugly, the better. Gangs of Onyvolan look like groups of hideously-dressed street toughs on roller skates, and they act the part, too. They seem almost instinctually motivated to bully and scare any Humanoid they come across, as if they were perpetually in the mind-space of being belligerent and aggressive teenagers. often surrounding victims on all sides and shouting, growling, hissing, spitting insults, laughing, and whooping until they’ve had their fun with the object of their attention and rolling off. Their Creepy Cackle is noted to be particularly chilling, any creature within earshot needing to make a DC 14 Will save to avoid being shaken by the sound, and though success on the save renders the victim immune to that particular wheel-man’s Cackle for a day, the monstrous creatures are almost never alone.

If feeling especially brave (typically, this means outnumbering their target 3 to 1), Onyvolans will tackle and trip their victims, their Nimble Charger giving them +2 to Bull Rush and Overrun maneuvers (for a decent +9) and preventing victims from making Attacks of Opportunity in retribution. Once on the ground, Onyvolans will pilfer items from their unfortunate victim, grabbing articles of clothing or bags of groceries in their sharpened teeth before running off, cackling into the distance as they skate away at speeds the average human cannot match. Unlike a great many city-dwelling humanoids with sharpened teeth, Onyvolan aren’t man-eaters or even murderers, preferring to keep their crimes to muggings or breaking-and-entering. Their two slam attacks, each dealing 1d8+1 damage, are more for discouraging guards or punishing people who don’t fork over their belongings than actual tools for murder, and Onyvolans are Cowards (as every single bully is), easily shaken by any creature trying to Intimidate them back and preferring to flee from fights than stick around and see them to their end.

These creatures make for very strange encounters in metropolitan areas, wheeling in to harass and steal from the party before making a swift escape. Their relative harmlessness (in that they’ll beat you up but probably won’t kill you) and the low stakes they tend to involve themselves in (the most dramatic crime they’re stated to take is coordinated raids on clothiers and haberdashers) make them good targets for adventurers getting their own metaphorical wheels spinning, though despite their cowardice and the ruination that any amount of difficult terrain inflicts on them, one shouldn’t underestimate how punishing it can be to be shaken while surrounded by creatures that specialize in hitting people while they’re down. Just because you’re unlikely to die doesn’t mean you’re unlikely to lose and get all your clothes stolen, and few things are as damning to a beginning Wizard or Inquisitor as losing your big goofy hats. That’s practically like losing a class feature!

You can read more about them here.

#Monster Spotlight #CR 1 to 5 #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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onestepbackwards · 1 year

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Love That Bites Pt. 2

Hello everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of my Dracula x Reader fic! I felt very motivated to write this chapter (wrote over half of it last night hehe). I did write it on very little sleep though, so apologies if its a little messy. I still had fun writing it though! It was fun to move the plot on a little bit, even if it feels like it repeats itself a little... Whoops? Regardless, I hope you all enjoy!

Summary: After a rough night, you decide to finally confront your family’s biggest foe.... Only to suddenly have second thoughts. You are unaware of the affect this undoubtedly has on your imprisoned adversary.

CW: Anxiety, feelings of dread, minor self doubt, talks of murder, slight mental breakdown from stress, battle with morality.

Word count: 5059 Words! Previous: Link Next: Link

-----

Safe to say, you didn’t sleep well last night.

From nightmares of having to fight Dracula himself and dooming the world, to waking up every hour worried your little safe haven was being broken into by monsters.

When you finally forced yourself to get out of bed in the morning, you felt sick, and had a migraine. If you were being honest with yourself, the idea of turning tail and running back home felt more appealing than dealing with the Lord of the Night.

But you had to do this. Whatever this was.

You took your time getting ready, dreading returning to the castle. You couldn’t even eat properly, feeling sick made it near impossible for your stomach to settle. The only thing you could stomach was a few crackers and some water.

In a fit of frustration, you just threw some food in one of your bags, and decided to call it good. You could try and eat later if you got hungry.

After you prepared for the walk, and what would most likely be a battle, you set out.

A part of you hoped it had all been a strange nightmare. Perhaps the stress had finally gotten to you? You wouldn’t doubt it, given your current life struggles, and how sick you had been getting as of late. Despite not having any major symptoms of an illness like you had in the recent past, your body could have easily just given you a fever dream!

Deep down though, a part of you knew it was pointless to hope for such things. Everything that you had seen so far had been real, from the fear, the castle, and of course, the statue of Lord Dracula himself.

Shaking your head, you could only feel your anxiety worsen with each step you took.

Of course, that was nothing compared to the feeling you had when you arrived at the valley with the lake, where Castlevania loomed off in the distance.

It was much the same as it had been yesterday. Despite how it had been a bright, sunny morning when you departed from your cabin, clouds now ominously swirled above the area. Like before, lightning would occasionally strike, and thunder quickly followed.

And it was quiet.

The same, creepy quiet it had been last time. It did nothing to ease your bubbling anxiety.

Despite how much your legs felt like stone, you pushed forward towards the castle. Each step you took felt like it was once step closer to your potential doom.

As soon as you approached the gate to the courtyard, however, you were a bit stumped. Once again, no monsters were ready to greet you and try to tear you a new one.

Just the same, empty atmosphere as before.

With a bit more courage than yesterday, you pushed forward through the courtyard, arriving at the large doors that hid away the interior of the building.

“Well… no turning back now, I guess…” You mumbled, not feeling very enthusiastic.

You didn’t rush through the castle this time, but you also weren’t trying to search it either. The destination was clear.

But so was the path there.

Nothing but an empty, lonely castle. Cold, dark, and desolate feeling. As if any sort of life had been gone for decades.

Given the situation, you wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.

Unlike the last time you were here, getting to the throne room was remarkably easy when you knew the way to go. Though you would admit, you almost wanted to get lost. At least then you could have an excuse for taking a while to arrive and stall.

Here, you had no such luxury.

The doors to the room were closed this time, seeing as you had shut them on your way out yesterday. However, they were no less daunting and creepy. The weather didn’t help either, with the thunder and lightning making you jump every so often.

Mentally screaming in your mind, you gripped your whip tightly, and pushed the door open.

It slowly swung open with a creak, echoing loud in the humongous room before you. Though that was nothing compared to the sound of blood pumping through your ears.

Lightning once again was your only real source of light, the clouds blocking most the daylight outside, and the room eerily remaining unlit.

The room still had its main centerpiece as well, the giant statue in front of the throne.

Reluctantly, you strode forward, one step after the other, until you were a mere few feet from the sculpture once again.

It hadn’t changed since yesterday. Dracula simply remained in that kneeling, outstretched pose. His hand reached out towards you still, all while the same snarl was present on his beautifully sculpted face.

Of course vampires would still look good, even when turned to stone.

As you quietly studied the statue, you felt the hair on your neck stand on end, and your adrenaline spike.

You swore you were being watched.

Your eyes quickly met Dracula’s stone ones, and your breath caught in your throat.

He was watching you. He had to be.

Even if you couldn’t prove it, you could swear he was aware, watching your every move.

The hand holding your whip gripped it tighter, and it was as if you saw amusement in his eyes, just beckoning you to strike him.

‘Come on, little Belmont. Hit me, strike me down. Destroy me if you can!’

Your face scrunched up, and you were about to lift your whip to attack, before you stopped yourself.

The air grew tense, like the room itself was holding a bated breath.

Was this really what you wanted? Was it a good idea?

Was it a kind one?

Your arm dropped uselessly to your side, and the grip on your whip slackened.

Could you really kill someone who could not fight back, and currently posed no threat?

The thought made your stomach sour, all while you were screaming at yourself in your head.

“Why now, morality? Could you not hit me at a worse time?” You grumbled to yourself.

Dracula was definitely not some defenseless being, far from it.

But here? It just seemed cruel.

The fabled enemy of your clan, reduced to a statue, unable to even defend himself against you.

Again, it just seemed cruel, and highly unhonorable.

And… it was something your mother had drilled in your head as a child.

Never attack anything that poses no threat, and can’t defend itself. We are Hunters, but we are also Belmonts. We shouldn’t be needlessly cruel, even if it’s a creature of the night. Not all things that go hide in the shadows wish harm, and those who can’t cause it shouldn’t be slaughtered.

It was a rarity to come across a monster that posed no threat, or wished no harm. But for you, it wasn’t unheard of.

Your mother had been a kind woman, who wanted to give people and monsters a chance if they showed potential. She told you many stories of monsters wanting to just exist, and that needlessly killing made you no better than the ones deserving a hunt.

But did that apply to Dracula? Lord of Vampires? Chosen one of Chaos or whatever? Guy who sent the armies of hell onto the world?

Though that did give you pause. You had read something about that in an old journal when you were younger.

Your ancestor, Trevor, had mentioned something. He had fought alongside Dracula’s son, Alucard. The writing was old, but you faintly remember Dracula declared war on mankind, because humans had killed his wife.

The journal didn’t go into further detail about that. It was more about the journey he had, and other things that had happened in his life since confronting Dracula.

But what you remember about it, made your mothers words ring loud in your head. You didn’t know the details… And he did kill a bunch of people… But the church had killed his human wife.

Hell, if the church killed your partner, you’d be pretty pissed too.

Certainly not an excuse, but… It certainly painted him in a different picture. How many of your ancestors considered that every time Dracula was revived?

It left a weird taste in your mouth. The kills he had committed were unforgivable. But… that had been hundreds of years ago, because his wife was murdered.

How could you even kill him now, when he hasn’t done anything? Stuck like this?

Did he have regrets? Was he just bound by fate to be killed almost immediately after being revived? Again and again? When was the last time anyone in your family had a conversation with him, not just pointing fingers and telling him to die for being a monster?

So many questions, and you couldn’t get any answers. Not with him like this.

Your instincts were screaming at you to pull your whip back and just finish the job.

But you couldn’t. Not like this.

He was stuck as a statue. If anything, trying to kill him would probably make everything worse.

Say you did kill him by striking the stone. Great. Now you just had to wait another century or so for him to revive again. Then it definitely would be your children or grandchildren’s problem.

The Lord of Vampires was stuck here. He wasn’t able to hurt anyone. Perhaps that was best.

Even if this whole situation felt… weird? Awful? Bad? Off? Confusing?

You had a lot of words and confusing feelings about it, that was for sure.

With a sigh, you hung your whip on your belt, and ran a hand through your hair, looking at the statue while biting your lip.

“Is this really the best idea?” You asked yourself, once again mentally cursing your morality. This was a lose lose scenario to you, no matter how you looked at it.

Try and kill him, and you kill someone who can’t fight back, or currently hurt anyone. It goes against your honor and morals.

Or, you try to kill him, and accidentally free him. You either win, and feel awful about attacking him when he can’t fight back, or you get killed and possibly get humanity destroyed.

But even leaving him as a statue didn’t sit well with you either. Surely, if he is aware, then is this truly right? Leaving someone in what is arguably a position worse than death?

But it’s Dracula. Dracula!!

How can you possibly have sympathy or pity for a guy who has killed people?! Raised armies from hell? Had innocents slaughtered hundreds of years ago!?

You wanted to bang your head against a wall.

“That’s it. I’ve lost my mind!” You spoke, exasperated. Turning, you pointed a finger at the statue.

“I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for my mother. Wait, no-”

You wanted to scream. Why would you admit that.

Well… It’s not like he can use her against you, at least.

Though you certainly wanted to smack yourself, but you stopped from doing so when you glimpsed at the statue again. The air had almost shifted. It wasn’t tense like it had been before.

The statue was the same as ever. Same snarl on his face, same claws reaching out. But it felt different somehow.

It had to be the eyes.

You swear the bastard must be laughing at you from his mind, you could just tell.

‘This is the Belmont that is supposed to destroy me? They won’t even raise their weapon against me? Pathetic.’

You couldn’t read his mind, sure, but his smug bastard aura seemed to mock you.

Or maybe you were just taking this too personally. That was a possibility too. You came to this area to relieve stress near your breaking point, and all this happened. It wouldn’t surprise you if your stress was making this feel a little too personal.

Not that the statue needed to know that.

You shot a look at said statue. His smug aura continued to mock you. You held back from giving him a rude gesture.

“Some Belmont I am. Ha. Not even gonna kill the guy I’ve been ‘destined’ to destroy. Hmph” You muttered, now looking around the room.

It was kinda nice for a throne room, if you were being honest. You know, despite belonging to a Lord of Vampires and all.

“You know…” You began after a few moments, “This place doesn’t look half bad. I heard this castle takes different forms each time it appears, but it does look cool, I’ll give you that.”

You didn’t really want to think as to why you were humoring the statue with conversation. Well, more so your musings, but still.

“This throne room probably looks even cooler when actually lit up. I imagine the clouds probably stay with the castle or something, to help keep the natural sunlight out from the windows? Regardless, the lightning lighting up the room is a neat touch. Very gothic and atmospheric.”

The room was silent, though you heard the occasional clap of thunder. Awkward.

You sighed, and turned back towards the statue.

“Okay, look. I’m not going to attack you or kill you, or whatever. I’m firmly against just… Going in headfirst like that, and attacking someone who can’t defend themselves, or is a threat to others. I don’t even know if you can hear me. For all I know, I’m just making myself look like a jackass.”

You shook your head, almost unable to believe the words coming out of your mouth.

“Regardless, if you can hear me… If you break free from whatever…. this is,” You vaguely gestured to his stone form, “I’ll be here. I will make sure to finish the job if I have to. I won’t have you putting innocent humans in danger.”

Quickly, you turned on your heels, and looked over your shoulder.

“But… I’d love to have a conversation first. Did any of my ancestors just sit down and talk with you, or did they attack you on sight? Maybe that will be my downfall, but hey, I’m curious.”

Plus, you’d like to get some real answers to things. You couldn’t rely on century old journals for both sides of a story. Perhaps it was your mother’s words echoing in your head again, but you would rather learn more about your adversary before you made a decision on taking his life again.

If you came to the conclusion he would hurt more innocent people, then hey, you at least would no longer feel bad about having to kill the guy.

Though that sounded more morbid than you would like.

“I’ll be back. Just because I’m not doing anything now, doesn’t mean I won’t be keeping an eye on you.”

With that, you took a deep breath, and headed towards the exit. Despite the anticlimactic end to this ‘meeting’, your heart was pounding in your chest. It took all your willpower to keep your chin high, and avoid shaking.

It was hard to ignore the feeling of eyes baring into your back.

You didn’t falter, even as you closed the doors to the throne room, or as you quickly walked down the stairs and through the castle.

Even as you left through the courtyard, you continued on walking, head held high, not even looking back behind you.

It wasn’t until you reached the cabin, that you shut the door behind you, and threw your supplies to the ground.

Your back hit the door behind you, and you slid down it, and broke into a sob.

Why did everything in your life seem to always go wrong?

—-

It had been a long time since he had seen a living soul.

It had been years, decades even, since he had last seen anyone. Anything.

Dracula had to admit to himself, this curse had been one of the worst things he had experienced yet.

The other times he had been defeated, he was merely killed or destroyed. As much of a literal pain and annoyance as it was, to be revived time and time again, only to be killed off, this easily took the cake.

At least when he was killed, his soul was either wandering hell, or temporarily at rest. But this? Being stuck as stone for decades? Even he had limits to his seemingly endless patience.

There was nothing to do. Nothing he could do.

Nothing but sit here and think, all alone with his thoughts. If he wasn’t who he was, he no doubt would have gone insane by now.

Or perhaps he already had? He could not say.

But he had been here, alone for a long time. All thanks to those Belmonts.

The last Belmont had arrived not too long after he had been revived for the umpteenth time. He had come in, determined to ‘slay the beast, once and for all.’

Dracula had scoffed at the outlandish remark, one the Belmont’s ancestors all had said. How each would end his ‘reign of terror’ and save humanity.

Though most of the time, he hadn’t exactly been revived willingly, or had desired to come back. Nor in half those cases, had even done anything to humanity. Yet.

But this time, he’ll admit the Belmont took him off guard.

The battle had been going poorly for the human hero, and Dracula found himself quickly winning. A delicious change of pace from the past few hundred years or so.

However, he should have known the battle would have ended up being a farce.

The Belmont had played him. Behind the scenes, a little human friend had secretly been setting up a trap. A series of runes with magic power. Right when he thought he had the little hero pinned, a bright light had enveloped both, before the Belmont had slipped away.

Despite having happened so long ago, that final battle was still fresh in his mind.

Chains of light gripped his wrist, his body, everywhere. Everything burned.

“What… What is this!?” He yelled in shock and outrage, his victory stolen from right beneath him. The Belmont gave him a steely look, and raised the whip, striking him as he was stuck.

Dracula could only snarl, and gripped his side when hit with a particularly nasty lash.

Chanting filled the room, and his eyes landed on the human woman he had previously ignored. The chains glowed brighter, burning his eyes, burning his flesh.

“No! What is this!? Release me!” He demanded, attempting to struggle, though was only met with more licks from that cursed whip.

“Silence, beast. When we are through, you won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again.”

Dracula’s eyes widened, the chanting becoming clear. He recognized that spell. The runes on the floor, the chant, the spell.

“No! I will not be imprisoned-!” He growled, his face warping into a snarl. In a last ditch effort, he reached forward towards the Belmont with all his remaining might…

...Only for the light to begin to envelope his body. He was too late. He couldn’t escape this, his body was already beginning to harden.

“Hear me speak Belmont, and know this!” He spat out, trying to fight the spell as much as he could.

“It will be by your clan’s blood, I shall be revived once more!”

The Belmont’s eyes widened, and the human girls eyes widened, her chanting pausing for a brief second before quickly continuing.

“Your kin will find me, and through their blood, I shall be released once more! It shall be done!”

There was a strange snap in the air, and the curse slotted into place. Dracula grinned maliciously, before snarling once more in pain.

The light flashed once more, and Dracula could move no more. His body turned to stone.

The Belmont and the woman sagged, the tension leaving their bodies. However, they shared an uncertain look, one that Dracula mentally took glee in.

His power, even if he hadn’t been at full power at that fight, was not something to scoff at. Speaking such a curse into existence with his remaining strength was no issue, though he was not fond of relying on them.

And the satisfaction of seeing such unease on a Belmont after they ‘won’ the battle, was something he would keep burned in his mind. Even as they reluctantly left as his castle began to ‘collapse’, he couldn’t help but feel like he had the last laugh.

Especially when his castle disappeared, reappearing somewhere he knew not. Cold and empty, mirroring his status as stone.

Now, all he had to do was wait. Fate would find the Belmonts eventually.

And wait he did.

It was torture, but much like he had expected, the wait paid off.

He couldn’t say how long exactly it had been, since he had been sealed away here, but it was certainly long enough for a new Belmont to show up.

You.

He felt your presence the moment you entered the castle. At first, he wasn’t sure if it was a Belmont or not. He just knew it was a human.

But the moment you peeked through those large doors, he knew.

A nee Belmont had arrived, and he felt his excitement beginning to rise. Finally, he’d be free of his stone prison.

But… then he wasn’t.

You were a small, squirrelish little thing, jumping at every noise you heard.

He recognized that hunter’s instinct of yours. No doubt running wild with how confused you must be, given your expressions.

Though he had to admit, he was quite curious about this Little Belmont.

Surely, your ancestor explained to the family his curse, to keep you all away? Why were you here?

Surely, it wasn’t to slay him. You looked ill prepared for a battle against him.

When you hesitantly poked him, and jumped back, he wanted to laugh when it all clicked into place.

You had no idea why he was like this. Your family hadn’t told you about his curse.

It was obvious from your behavior, and how jumpy you were, not to mention the dagger in your hands.

You obviously knew who and what he was, but didn’t know why he was a statue. He could cackle at his luck.

This Little Belmont would be the one to free him. Their blood would be the blood to release him from his prison. He could feel it.

But you still managed to surprise him. Instead of attacking his little prison, you turned around, and left.

The little hunter was obviously very frazzled, but it hadn’t been what he had been expecting.

He anticipated you pulling out your family whip, and attempting to destroy him. Something no doubt would have happened, and you would have ended up injured, and your spilt blood freeing him.

But that didn’t happen. You just left.

He briefly wondered if perhaps, his mind had made the whole thing up, but alas, he knew it was true. After years of being stuck in the same position, day after day, he recognized that everything that had happened had been real.

And he always would recognize a Belmont. Their blood had a peculiar scent. A scent that he was far too familiar with, after all these centuries.

But this left him quite confused.

No matter, you would be back, he was sure.

He didn’t even have to wait long. The very next day, you had reappeared.

You seemed more prepared this time, your face blank, and your body language reflecting that more of a hunter. The Little Belmont looked ready for battle.

Oh, how he anticipated such a battle from you. You were such a tiny thing compared to him, it was almost cute.

But he wouldn’t underestimate you, oh no. You may seem weaker and unsuspecting than some predecessors, but he had battled enough of your family not to take you lightly.

Especially after the last battle he had. His prison was a cold reminder to never let his guard down in battle again.

You approached him, your gaze level with his. Slowly, you raised your whip, fully intending to strike him. This was it, the opportunity he had been waiting for! He was practically begging you to attack him. Surely, you would bleed, freeing him-!

…Except, you didn’t strike him. You simply looked at him, an odd look on your face. Your arm then went limp at your side, and Dracula was almost speechless. Were you not going to try and destroy him? Much like your predecessors? You came in, fully intent on doing so, if your get up and body language was anything to go by.

So why?

“Why now, morality? Could you not hit me at a worse time?” You grumbled to yourself, and suddenly it all made sense to Dracula. He almost wanted to laugh.

The Little Belmont pitied him? Felt they were going against their morals? Such things got people killed. How were you alive this long if you struggled with such emotions?

It was kind of amusing. And a little pathetic.

Perhaps it was his patience wearing thin, or his distaste for your clan, but he was about fed up.

But… He’d be lying if he said he didn’t find you interesting. You, a Belmont, were debating the moralities of killing your clan’s greatest enemy. It was so ridiculous, he would have scoffed if he could.

But you were a bit amusing. How long had it been since he had any form of entertainment?

“I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for my mother. Wait, no-”

Oh how he wanted to laugh, but also was intrigued. What did your mother have to do with this? Was she a soft hunter? Regardless, you seemed rather upset that you had admitted that to him, realizing your own mistake.

He didn’t know whether to laugh, or see this as a letdown.

Dracula chose to be amused.

Especially since you seemed to pick up on his amusement, only making him wish he could laugh even more.

It was almost cute, how you seemed to puff up like a tiny animal, with how upset you were getting. How prickly you seemed to become.

You weren’t happy with his amusement. It seemed to make you more irritated. Good.

He could just feel you trying to ignore the urge to say something crass or rude as time went on, and you talked with yourself.

Though it didn’t take you long to ‘calm down’.

But once again, you surprised him when you started talking about his castle, and the throne room.

Just who were you? Were you really a Belmont? Your quick 180 was throwing him for a slight loop.

Though he had a suspicion you were doing it to deflect. You had some idea he was aware, judging by how you were talking to him as if he was in the room, but you seemed unsure on how to move forward.

Though you seemed to pick up on the atmosphere, and spun around to face him.

You were, but hey, he was enjoying the mess of a show.

Though your statement did interest him. Surely, you shouldn’t be alive by now if that was your ‘morals’ that you had mentioned? Or had times truly changed through the centuries, and he hadn’t had a chance to see them?

But you still made a point to ‘threaten’ him, as weak as the threat was. But it was your next set of words that genuinely surprised him

“But… I’d love to have a conversation first. Did any of my ancestors just sit down and talk with you, or did they attack you on sight? Maybe that will be my downfall, but hey, I’m curious.”

You at least acknowledged that what you had said was a bit… odd. Didn’t you ever learn curiosity killed the cat?

Dracula could not lie though. This was a changing point for him. You wished to talk? With him? He normally would be amused, but… You were something else. Something entirely new.

When was the last time he had a civil conversation with a Belmont? No lives on the line for either side? No one yelling threats and obscenities?

He might have misjudged you. That alone struck a chord with him.

You seemed so weak and pathetic earlier, but… Getting a good look at you, you had a look of someone who was wise beyond their time. You stumbled a bit, and were scared of him, he could tell that much.

However, you had an air of wisdom he has not seen in a long while. A type of wisdom one got through hardship. He’d argue his old friend Leon was the last Belmont to act as such, and that opened his eyes.

You had since turned on your heels while he had been deep in thought, and your next words almost excited him.

“I’ll be back. Just because I’m not doing anything now, doesn’t mean I won’t be keeping an eye on you.”

If he could lick his lips, he would have. Oh, how he was so curious about you now. You were more of a Belmont than he gave you credit for. It all made sense.

It was about time there was a Belmont that was close to Leon in views and personality. They all matched and surpassed his old friend’s strength, and they all had a strong desire to protect.

But many didn’t have Leon’s desire to talk things out, and hear what the other party had to say. Some indulged Dracula after defeating him, but most did not care, just wishing him gone.

After that, you hastily made an exit, not even turning to look at him like you had last time. He watched you as you left, already looking forward to seeing you again, and what antics you might get into when you do so.

He ignored the small pull in his chest as he watched you leave, unwilling to admit he already missed your presence.

#castlevania #dracula vlad tepes #dracula #castlevania dracula #dracula x reader #castlevania x reader #x reader #reader insert #cw anxiety #cw death mention #reader is a belmont #zed.writes #Love That Bites #long post

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t-z-gow · 1 year

Note

First off, THANK YOU for writing for Brok. Sometimes I feel like the only one who likes him lmao. Also this got long whoops

I think he shows love with his smithing. He knows damn well he’s good with a hammer and uses his skills to improve the possessions of the loved ones around him. But I feel like he’d really go all out for someone he has romantic interest in.

So imagine this. You’re bringing him a weapon of yours, asking for a simple fix. He brings it back fixed, sharpened, chock full of enchantments and decorated to the nines. You question him about it, and he just gives you a Brok-ism and waves you off. Meanwhile, Sindri is just laughing in the background, having just watched his no-nonsense brother burn the midnight oil over a weapon with a a 5-minute fix, just because it’s your weapon.

You're welcome! To be honest I think most people don't write for him because the way he speaks is so hard to nail down. At least that's what I struggled with ^-^;

Anyway, enjoy!

Brok x Reader ~ Your Company

You hated this weather. This Gods awful, frigid, skin-freezing weather. Your feet tracked through the snow, your coat tightly wrapped around your frame. It almost reminded you of when you were a kid wrapped up in your blankets hiding from non-existent monsters. The thought gained a small smirk from you, though the bitter cold quickly wiped it away.

You should have been home right about now, warming by the fire, enjoying the hot meal of your recent hunt. That, however, wasn't meant to be.

Your bow had broken. Not the string, but the wood. Snapped right in half when a draugr sent you down a hill. You still managed your kill with the knife you had left, but if you planned on surviving this never-ending winter then you couldn't afford to have a broken weapon. So, in spite of your loathing for the weather, you sought out the only two you knew that could craft you a new one. The fabled Huldra brothers.

Finding them wasn't always easy. Sometimes they showed up the moment you needed them, other times it took a bit of wandering around their makeshift workshops a while. They couldn't be everywhere at once, you knew that. You just hoped one of them would show up soon-

"What's gone and got you all the way up here?" a familiar voice rang. You swiftly turned in their direction, relieved to have found who you had been looking for, Brok.

"I was looking for you" you replied. Your answer seemed to startle him slightly, his eyes flashing to you with a wide smile to match before quickly turning away again.

"And what's would be the reason?" He asked, his question similar to the first as he went back to collecting whatever he came here for. You took the broken pieces of your bow, laying them on the table in front of you.

"I broke my bow" you answered, causing him to pause and, had you believed there to be a reason, you would have said he looked almost disappointed. You quickly brushed it off though, suspecting you might have caught him at a busy moment. However you couldn't leave without the bow fixed, not in this place. So, despite believing you might be annoying him, you didn't take your leave.

He quickly stopped what he was doing, walking over to the broken pieces placed before him, his eyes focused on the items.

"S'ain't worth much now. I'll have ta make ya a new one" he proclaimed as he inspected the broken item. You nodded, reaching into your bag for your coin.

"And how much will that cost me?" You asked as you dug around. He turned his back to you, your broken bow in hand, seemingly returning to his rummaging.

"Won't cost ya nothin'!" He answered, your head shooting up once he spoke it, bewilderment covering your face.

"Are you...are you sure? I have plenty-"

"Course I'm sure! Right positive!" He spoke enthusiastically, though that did little to calm your confusion on the strange answer. You weren't going to argue your way out of a free new bow though, so you held the word 'why?' on your tongue, not letting it escape your lips as it had many times before when seeing the blue-skinned man.

"Alright..." You removed your hand from your bag, instead returning to hugging the warmth of your jacket closer, trying to avoid the nipping cold once more.

"How long should it take?" you asked with understandable concern. Earning his attention once more, his eyes fell over his shoulder and onto you, then turned to search for the sun in the sky before he found his answer.

"Not before s'dark if that's what you's askin'" a strange tone was held in his voice as he stopped his searching, instead quickly moving to put some things in a bag before fully turning back to you.

"Ain't safe goin' round in this shit hole without a weapon. You's best stay with me for the night" he stated flatly before beginning to walk off.

This wasn't an uncommon occurrence when you met with Brok. He did often take much longer to finish his work than Sindri, always saying it was about quality or something to that effect. Either way, it had led to you staying at the dwarves' home more than a couple of times. So you didn't put up a fuss as you followed, knowing it was simply a waste of time to argue with the stubborn man.

You both entered through a portal, finding yourselves in a place familiar to you, yet different than the last time you had seen it. They seemed to have built out even further. You admired the home for a moment as it was certainly a lot more aesthetically pleasing than your temporary homes found in the sides of mountains. You only lingered a moment before following Brok forward and into the house, as beautiful on the inside as it had been on the outside, likely Sindris doing.

"We got company!" Brok suddenly yelled, his voice echoing as he did before he immediately turned to his workshop, busying himself with your bow and likely other weapons. It was then that your eyes fell onto unrecognized faces that sat in the odd corners of the building. They turned to you upon Broks yelling, giving you the same looks of caution that you did to them. A moment of silence occurred before another voice cut through.

"Y/n! I wasn't expecting your company" The man coated in gold armor yelled from atop the stairs in a tone of joy with a hint of tension, likely from failing to inform him of your company ahead of time. He quickly made his way down the stairs as you took off your shoes, stepping further into the building. A smile of recognition falling upon your face as you did.

"Sindri! It's been a long while, hasn't it?" You spoke as you met him at the bottom of the stairs, his own smile now forming.

"And what brings you to our neck of the Yggdrasil?" He questioned, his body leaning away ever so slightly, though that was to be expected.

"My bow broke" you answered for the second time this evening, earning a knowing nod from him.

"I didn't know you had other company" you spoke as your eyes turned to the tall man who stood above a cauldron of food along with a young boy sat talking to a...head?

You brushed off the weird scene, comforting yourself with the thought that you've seen stranger.

"Yeah well it was originally just the boy and his father but uh...others followed" his voice held noticable annoyance for a moment though you didn't take offense to it. You knew how stressed Sindri became with company, having overheard him and Brok arguing the first time the blue dwarf ever brought you here unannounced. The thought made you smile a moment, though you had most certainly not been smiling then.

Quickly knocking yourself out of the memory you turned back to Sindri, only to see a thoughtful look on his face as he stared, focused on something in the distance. You were about to turn to see what caught his attention but was stopped when he spoke again.

"Anyway! I have...work I have to do. So feel free to make yourself comfortable! Though not too comfortable. Oh and uh, you should speak with Brok. He enjoys your company" his words were slightly scattered as he spoke, quickly walking off. Before you could question him any further he disappeared, leaving you with only his words as a guide. Quickly deciding you'd rather do that than introduce yourself to new people, you walked over to where you had seen Brok leave to earlier: his workstation. As you walked you let the words Sindri spoke rest in your head, a certain sentence sticking in your mind.

'He enjoys your company'

You wondered what Sindri had meant by the comment, if anything at all. The man had seemed in a hurry to leave your presence so it was likely just strange wording. Still, you couldn't find yourself parting with the sentence, inscribing more meaning to it than Sindri had likely meant by the comment.

Approaching the workstation you let a smile fall on your lips, seeing just who you thought you would.

"So I heard you enjoy my company?" You spoke, causing the man hard at work to jump slightly, turning over his shoulder. Upon recognizing it was you he gave a short nod before turning back around. It took a moment for him to process what you spoke before waving his hand at the words, knowing exactly where they had come from.

"Sindri told you that, didn't he? The little bastard's terrible at keepin' his mouth shut" he answered, earning your intrigue quickly.

"Is it true?" You asked. He still had yet to turn to you, even as his body tensed at the questioning.

"S'pose so" he hesitated when the words left as he quickly busied his hands. You gave a hum of contentment at his admitting to it.

"Not so bad yourself" you replied, moving further into his forge, soon finding a place to sit and watch. There were a few moments of silence between the two of you, a silence that felt a little strange yet not uncomfortable. Still, you decided to break it.

"Got any new stories I should know of?" You asked, earning a chuckle from him. You couldn't help but smile at the sound, it always felt so nice hearing him laugh.

"Well I do. They ain't no happy stories though" his eyes focused on his work, even as spoke with you. You let out a short laugh at his words, causing his eyes to flick towards you in slight confusion, especially upon seeing the joy that wrote itself on your face.

"Oh please. You could make death seem like a daisy field" you snickered as you spoke. His confusion melted into a soft smile at the compliment, feeling his chest burn at even your smile.

"Really? That weren't nothin' I've heard! Usually s'the opposite!" His voice rose slightly before he joined in laughter with you.

Both of you were fully unaware of the listening ears nearby.

"Mimir," the boy whispered

"Aye, I see it too lad" the head responded, his words more exasperated than intrigued.

"Why's he acting so weird?" Atreus asked, eyeing the strange situation. Mimir chuckled at the boy, knowing full well what was going on. Atreus turned to him about to ask why he was laughing when another voice suddenly rang.

"Sad isn't it?" The boy jumped, quickly turning and, to his relief, seeing Sindri. He settled back into his seat before moving his questioning stare to the dwarf instead.

"What?" Atreus asked, though was seemingly ignored when Mimir spoke up again.

"For such a brash man he really doesn't know what he's doin'" Mimir replied, Atreus only further bewildered by the strange conversation.

"I've tried to help him, you know? But there's only so much I can do. He doesn't make it easy" Sindri continued and was, at this point, outright ignoring the wide eyes and furrowed brows of the young boy.

"Aye, I wouldn't expect him to-"

"What are you guys talking about!" Atreus, utterly confused and at this point frustrated, cut through the two's conversation with desperation at his unsatiated curiosity. The two looked at him for a moment before Mimir held back a laugh and finally, with great amusement, answered the boy.

"Broks boot-over-head for that stranger over there" Mimir explained, a chuckle in his voice.

"Oh," the boy quickly spoke, still not fully understanding what he meant. That was until a few seconds later when it really hit him.

"OH!" He exclaimed, earning a hefty round of laughs from both Sindri and Mimir, leaving the boy more than a little embarrassed. He tried to get the two to shut up, but when their laughs only grew louder he felt himself too red-faced to stay there anymore.

"Screw you guys! I'm going to bed" Atreus yelled, quickly leaving the scene to save what little bit of his pride he had left. The boy was right to leave though, as tiredness began to grip at most of everyone nearby.

This included you; your eyes drooping and exhaustion building. With a few more words exchanged you spoke your goodnights, even if the moon never met this place, before leaving for bed.

You arose from your sleep in the makeshift bed you had made yourself, with the help of Sindri. You would have asked Brok to help, but he was already doing a great favor for you, so you didn't want to bother him any more than you had.

Not that it matters now, your eyes blinking back into the waking world, a yawn escaping your lips as you sat up. You stretched before standing and, hoping to be out of the way as quickly as possible, you grabbed all you had come here with, preparing to take your weapon and leave.

Upon leaving your room you found that the place was rather quiet, at least quieter than the night before. It didn't unsettle you as you had been some of their only company before, but it did allow you to immediately notice the sounds coming from the workshop. You rose a brow towards the sound, taking a few careful steps forward, letting the forge come into view, only to see Brok, still hard at work.

"Brok?" You questioned, the man not so much startled this time as he was surprised. He turned to you, his eyes a little bloodshot and with dark circles beneath them. You gave him a concerned stare, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Mornin'" was all he spoke, moving to complete whatever he was working on. You continued to stare, a little worried that he'd been up all night. He was a grown man though, so you weren't about to dig into his business.

"Morning...what are you working on?" You asked, curious as to what took up so much of his time. He didn't say anything for a moment, seeming as if he was doing a few final touches. You were going to ask a different question, assuming he might not have liked the first one, when he turned around.

"Yer bow" he spoke proudly, gently laying the item in front of you. Your eyes widened at the piece, as it was more than you could have ever asked for. Covered in beautiful carvings and runes, laced in gold and silver. You stared at him wide-eyed as if waiting for him to take it away, for him to say it was a joke, for him to make fun of the face you were making. When he didn't, you truly had no clue what to do.

"Brok this is...this is beautiful" you spoke the words, having frankly nothing else you could think to say. His smile grew at your astonishment, seeming pleased with himself. Your hands reached out for it, but retracted a moment later.

"I can't just take this. Surely there's something you want from me-" you tried to reason, confused as to why he would let you even near such a beautiful weapon. He didn't even let you finish your protest before speaking again.

"Ain't a thing" he spoke assuredly. You looked at him with another hesitant stare. Why did he do this then? Why did he make this for no coin? And stay up all night to make it? And make it so perfect?

All of these thoughts wandered through your head as you stared at him, his motives unknown and his smile crumbling your weariness by the second. You finally turned back down, picking up the shining piece of equipment before you. It felt so important in your hold, as if meant to only be held by a god. You moved the item within your hands, observing all of its finer details, along with the weight of it in your grip. After a moment you turned away and pulled the string of the bow back to test its resistance, but was surprised to see it sparkle with a blue magic. You put the bow at rest, turning back to Brok with an amazed look. It was truly the highest quality bow you had ever seen.

"I don't know what to say" you spoke, still blown away by its beauty. His face was lit with glee. He seemed truly proud of himself.

"Weren't nothing. Here. Made ya a couple'a arrows too" he knelt under the table as he spoke before pulling out around fifteen gorgeously shaped arrows, the colors matching your bow.

And it was then that you couldn't hold that word on your tongue. The word you knew only ever got you a blank answer from the man, yet a word you couldn't resist saying anyway.

"Why?" You asked, your gaze turned to look straight at him. His smile fell slightly, his look hard to decipher for a long moment before he turned away again, distracting his hands, his mind.

"Cause I enjoy your company" he answered frankly and you knew you would get no other answer. Truly you were surprised to get even that. Without another word you placed the arrows into your quiver and the bow on your back before beginning to leave. However, where most times you would simply just go, you hesitated. His back was turned to you, yet now you knew that he wouldn't mind you staying.

But you knew you couldn't. You had responsibilities and work to do, as did he. So instead you reached into your bag, pulling out the only valuable thing you could offer in return for his extreme generosity.

The flower of your mountains. Rare and undying. You placed the flower upon the bench your new bow once sat before finally taking your leave.

You hoped you'd find yourself in his company again. Hopefully sometime soon.

Brok stood still as a wall, his calloused, toughened, burned and bruised hands holding the delicate, soft flower in his grip. He didn't know what to think, or if there even was anything to think. He simply held the flower at a loss, your astonished look from earlier repeating in his mind, in his soul.

"Did it go well?" A voice called, startling him for the hundredth time in the past day. A strange occurrence for the man usually so hard to sneak up on.

"Would y'all stop with the sneakin' up on me!" He yelled, yet still held the flower gently. Sindri's eyes turned to it, a smile shining clear on his face.

"Was that from them?" He asked, almost teasingly.

"That ain't none’a your damn business ya rotten nosed snitch!" He yelled once more, hiding the flower from his brother's view, embarrassed that he'd seen him with it. A quiet fell between them for a moment, neither daring to say a word. Eventually Sindri realized that whatever had happened, it hadn't been a confession. So he ended the quiet.

"You know you're going to have to tell them one of these days-"

"I know I know. It just-...it weren't today" Brok turned away, finding something that resembled a vase to place the flower in. He would find it water later. He was currently preoccupied with another task, his feet leading him to a semi-reclined chair

"But for right now, I'm going ta fuckin' bed" he said those final words before practically collapsing into the chair, snoring only moments later.

Sindri slightly shook his head, grabbing a coat from nearby to place on him. He would tell you eventually, Sindri was sure of it ...

He only hoped he didn't wait too long.

#gow ragnarok #gow x reader #god of war ragnarok x reader #god of war x reader #god of war #gow brok x reader #gow brok #god of war brok x reader #brok x reader

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problematic-rwby-shipping-poll · 2 months

Text

ABUSE BRACKET - FINAL ROUND: FALLEN PETALS VS KNIGHTFALL

Propaganda is below the cut.

FALLEN PETALS

"can't call this one abusive yet specifically but it totally would be but it would also be fun. Literally that 'lets just add some hatred- oh, no, that's obsession, whoops' meme. The red/black/gold colour scheme vs red/black/silver, magic vs antimagic, (if you really wanted you could do a dark fairytale aesthetic: girl lost in the woods vs monster in the woods), this could truly be so deep and you know that if Cinder got her hands on Ruby she'd break her mind into shards goddamn, can't get more fun then that."

"Cinder would think death is too good for Ruby and would try to mentally break her."

"The OG hero/villain toxic doomed yuri of RWBY—what’s better than Cinder becoming violently passionately obsessed with a teen girl who doesn’t care that she exists? Wanting revenge in any way she can get it, desperately trying to possess the evidence of her failures… while Ruby doesn’t know what’s going on but can’t tolerate Cinder’s crimes—it’s juicy <3"

KNIGHTFALL

"he's her favorite punching bag."

#rwby #problematic rwby shipping poll #ruby rose #cinder fall #fallen petals #jaune arc #knightfall #abuse bracket #abuse bracket final round

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heartfullofleeches · 2 years

Note

Daina excitingly tells monster rereader about her day while they lay barely conscious on the floor with a pitchfork on their chest and two bullets on their head

Tw: light gore

Daina spins as she walks in the room, stepping in a puddle of blood of which origins were a mystery. She wears a bright pink bomber jacket; an "E" embroidered on its right chest.

"Hey baby! Managed to slip this off one of the counselors when I went back to pick up the bag I left at the campsite. Cute right?"

You hold a thumbs up; not caring much either way, but knowing it's what she wants so you have have chance to heal in peace. This entire time, you had been pinned to the floor from the combined weight of exhaustion and a farming tool through your chest. Various holes ripped through your clothes; a single through your cheek and forehead. The muscle in your face had already began to heal; your mouth still too numb to speak as if you did much of that already.

Being a near immortal creature of the night, you'd be back on your feet in no time. The only hassle was waiting for bullet wounds to heal or repairing a lost arm. Unluckily for you, you had your loyal fangirl turned helper to occupy the time - whether you wanted to or not.

"Whoops! Let me help you out with that." Daina plants her foot firm in the ground, ripping the pitchfork from your torso with one hard yank. She tosses it aside and kneels down beside you, wiping the blood from your face with the sleeve of her new jacket as she lifts up your mask.

"All better. I'll get some ice for your joints and when you're all better we can order pizza, and have some fun with the driver before we have to leave. Anyway, as I was saying, today was the first day back at the campus and so I had to rush and-"

#Slasher reader #Undead reader #Yandere final girl #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere scenarios #yandere oc #yandere imagines #yandere x you #yandere headcanons #female yandere #yandere insert #tw yandere #yandere writing #Daina my oc

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arcvmonth · 11 months

Text

ARC-V Month 2023 Prompt List

Starting June 15th, all works under these prompts are to be accepted and reblogged here. Any form of content is welcome, and so are late submissions! Scroll through the prompts, take your pick, and most importantly- have fun!

(Don't forget the tags and the @arcvmonth mention, though! We don't want your post to get eaten by Tumblr, now do we?)

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Day 1: Lights, Camera, Action... Duel!

We're starting off light and sweet with a simple introduction day. Present yourself, the type of content you do, or the charaters you'll be working with- anything goes, just let the audience know of you in your own way!

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Day 2: Kahyoreigetsu

Flowers, Moon, Winds, Birds. Four wonders of nature, gentle and pure, and four matching bracelets around the wrists of one girl each. For the first time in too long, today's show stars our very own quartet of Bracelet Girls, so be sure to celebrate those beautiful sweethearts!

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Day 3: Duetto of Duelist and Spirit

The primary principle of Entertainment Dueling is to become one with your cards, to put on the best show ever in tandem with the monsters in your Deck. Show us your favorite cards today, and the story behind your partners of choice!

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Day 4: The Merriest Band of Misfits

With such a diverse world and a massive ensemble, it's only natural for interesting chemistry to be found between quite a few characters in this show, and today is all about those neat little dynamics! Show us your favorite unconventional gang of idiots, stick them in one place, and let the chaos commence!

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Day 5: Action Magic - Overpass

Whoops, someone seems to have mixed up our cast's scripts! Bracelet boys? Riding Duel King Kurosaki? What is this?? Whatever shall we do?? Show us your wildest swaps today- be it roleswap, bodyswap, or whatever else you can think of!

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Day 6: Understudy Spotlight

You ever see a character and instantly like their vibe... only for them to disappear into the background for all eternity? Well, here's your chance to take them out for a little spin! Show us your favorite background character today, and give them the shoutout they deserve!

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Day 7: Of Amores, Per the Prophecy

That's right, today is the day to celebrate your favorite ships of all time! Show us your sweet OTPs, OT3s, or any sort of polys, and spread the love all around!

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Day 8: The Regular- ah, Standard Show

Standard dimension day! Give a shoutout to all those unique duel schools, or the chill and cozy atmosphere of Maiami City, or the original motley crew from the olden days of the very first arc! Every journey has its beginning, and this one is as good as they come.

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Day 9: Light Across the Aether

The ARC-V story tends to be something of a mixed bag at best, but today, we only look for the best things to find within this bag. Show us your favorite story arc, episode, or even a singular moment of greatness!

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Day 10: Take Five! ....Or Ten!

First free day! The momentum is slowly ramping up, but to carry on with a good show, one must take a breather every now and then. Take the day off to talk about whatever, make any work you want, or just chillax and wait for what comes next.

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Day 11: Legacy For the Future

ARC-V featured five Duelists from all across the previous spin-offs, each bringing an interesting twist to the show, and a curious few differences from their original selves. Today we celebrate those legendary legacy Duelists- them, and whoever else may have been among them in another world.

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Day 12: But You Still Take the Damage

Meme day! Get silly, go crazy, be cringe and be free! ARC-V is a circus of odd puns and bad jokes and dumb gags that never get old, so go ahead and toss out all your funny gold!

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Day 13: Abyss Beneath a Smile

No one is born evil, and yet some choose to let go of the light in favor of embracing the other side, for reasons one may find to be rather baffling at first glance. Today is all about these oh-so-villainous figures, so show us your favorite antagonist of choice!

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Day 14: Halfway to Heartland Tower

Xyz dimension day! Who doesn't love a good city that shines like a literal beacon in the night? Heartland certainly has its charm, and so does its lovable cast. Even in the face of adversity, they continue to inspire hope in every way they can, and that sure is something to celebrate.

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Day 15: Salt For the Salt Lord!

Remember the mixed bag, and how we looked for the best of it last time? Well, now's the time to take a look at the less favorable parts of the story. Show us your least favorite arcs, episodes, or a certain pet peeve you had with the show- let the salt flow and flood the whole land!

(We'll mop it up by tomorrow, don't worry ;D)

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Day 16: Actually, He Would Say That

Look, we all like our cast with their pros and their cons, but sometimes there's just something... missing, when you look at canon portrayal. Some more depth. Some trivial details and silly nitpicks, to add to their flair... which are exactly what today is all about. Show us your weirdest little headcanons and most random thoughts!

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Day 17: A Salad of Heavenly Proportions

Four dimensions, four summoning methods, four heavenly dragons.... and of course, four quarters of a whole idiot. Please give it up to the kiddos, the twinsies, the complete and utter dorks of all time: the Yuu-salad boys!

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Day 18: D/D/D - Different Dimension Day

Canon divergence, modern settings, fantasy, sci-fi and series fusions...yes, ladies and gentlemen, today is the day. It's time to throw canon to the wind, because we're making our own stories through the wondrous magic of AUs!

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Day 19: My Heart Beats 'Till Overdrive

Synchro dimension day! We are here to visit the city of speed, spectacle and freedom!... or the lack thereof. Progress is a non-linear road, but our daring riders are working their way there, so do give them their due credits today!

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Day 20: We Interrupt Your Schedule for A Commercial Break

Free day 2: electric boogaloo! We're well into the swing of things by now, but a short stop is due before we move on to the final stretch! Perhaps you could mention some of your favorite creators in the fandom, or just roll around with anything else you're working on. There's also the option to simply take a day off- we even have some popcorn for those who want to just sit back and watch the show.

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Day 21: League of Dueling Seriously

Or LDS for short- no, not the school, the Lance Defense Soldiers. Today we celebrate the single most chaotic group in the whole show- yes, it's the Lancers' time to shine!

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Day 22: Prismatic Rare, Prismatic Pair

"Man, these two are such an adorable pair! Lemme just look them up- what do you mean, there's no content for them??"

Sometimes, one must dig pretty deep to find those rare, hidden gems, so show us your own gem of a rarepair today!

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Day 23: Back At Class, They Never Taught A Thing

Fusion dimension day! Beyond the shores of Academia lies a trove of possibilities, and the same goes for the walls of the ornate castle as well. Every student and teacher has a story to tell, and together they weave quite the curious tapestry... though what is there to be seen in such a creation is up to you alone.

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Day 24: Oh. My. G.O.D

Manga day! Loathe as we all are to remember that last panel, the manga is actually surprisingly good otherwise. It introduces a handful of new faces while reimagining old ones, and has a nice underlying message that makes it well worth celebration overall.

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Day 25: Woe, Angst Be Upon Ye

Oh, would you look at that? Today we are gathered here for the express purpose of hurting our poor little meow meows and giving them more trauma on top of their existing issues! How fun!

... alright, fine, they might get a happy ending. No promises on that front, though.

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Day 26: Action Magic - Crossover

Oho? What's this? Our cast has been given an entirely new script!! Such curious mixes can create infinite possibilities, each more intriguing than the last. Show us how you're crossing over ARC-V with other media, and let's dive into a whole new world today!

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Day 27: Square Zero

Original dimension day! Very little is known about the place where it all began, but this is a blessing in its own right, for it lets us explore what may have been with greater freedom. Pray tell, how do you picture this world to once have been?

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Day 28: Hey, Who Hired This One?

Strangely enough, an anonymous figure has shown up to the performance today! Whoever might that be? Well, the answer is yours to decide! Introduce us to your OCs, and let them roam the world alongside the rest of the cast.

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Day 29: Into the Games!

While the anime and manga may be over and done with, it so happens that our beloved characters still exist in several games, and are even getting further development and chances for interaction! Let's talk about how YuGiOh video games have been handling ARC-V in the past, present, and future.

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Day 30: Curtains Down

Final day everyone, woohoo! It's certainly been a ride, and reaching its end feels more than a bit surreal, but now that we're here... it's high time we do the curtain calls.

Tell us your favorite days/works from this year's ARC-V Month, or as always, do with the day whatever you will. Here's to another great event next year... 'till then, ladies and gentlemen!

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Extra Prompts:

1) Time Pendulumgraph

Hey, who fast forwarded the timeline- wait, isn't this four years before the start?? Looks like we're dealing with some weird chronography here, so show us your pre/post-canon ideas today!

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2) Guest Appearance

A wild VIP guest has appeared! Take one character from outside the series, and thrust them into the ARC-Verse while hoping for the best. Anyone goes! Literally anyone. Go wild.

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3) Doodlebook - Uh Uh Uh!

A sad truth of this world is that we do not hold the power to materialize cards out of thin air when pushed against the wall... however, what we do have is the ability to create the card concepts ourselves! Pop out a few custom cards of your design today!

#arcvmonth2023 #arcvmonth #yugioh #yugioh arc v #fanwork prompts #long post

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taybatwo2 · 11 months

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WIP of a G1 Werewolf, using my Creepover Clawdeen.

First things first: choppy, choppy! I didn’t bother to keep her hair because it was poly (even if it did feel a bit better because I had already heavily conditioned and straightened it- thinking I was going to just take her stock and resell the doll- whoops).

Honestly Clawdeen wouldn’t look bad with a flocked head…she could show off her cute ears more.

Wiped her face off with pure acetone and a cotton pad. I love seeing blank Monster High heads; they look so detailed (the sculpted eyelids and all of the sculpted ear tuffs on her ears).

Off with her head! I dunked her head in some hot water, until it was soft, and pulled the head head parallel with the neck (using some tweezers to get around the barbs on her neck peg- the G3 doll heads are MUCH more difficult to try and remove). I then removed her bits of hair by scraping a screw driver inside her scalp and pulling out the hair bits with tweezers. I cleaned off most of the paint on her scalp with pure acetone, and then I dunked her back into hot water to close her hair plug holes.

Her pointy ears make Clawdeen look more like a werefox more than a werewolf. Haha.

I painted her scalp with acrylic paint (I know that I don’t need to do it, but I still like to). While that was drying, I took my multicolored orange yarn skein, unwound it, cut out the separate oranges I wanted, bagged the extra colors (the two other oranges in the skein were waaaay to bright), cut these into manageable lengths, and unwound them to make lovely waves.

Hopefully I’ll get her re-haired before June is done!

#doll customizing #custombyaleta #custom doll wip #doll wip #monster high #monster high werewolf #monster high custom #monster high custom wip #monster high doll wip #monster high doll custom

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aggimaginary · 6 months

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The Moon Shines In Friendship (Nimona fanfic) - chapter 2

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Hello everyone! I am so sorry that it took me a month to update my story! I mean, I loved what I had planned for my first Nimona fanfic, but I was busy in college school, and I had more personal things to deal like fanart and other fanfic. So, here's chapter 2, It took me a while too because this chapter is really long. This chapter is a flashback chapter that took place before and during the events of the film! I hope you have fun reading this!

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22 YEARS AGO

At the Academy, young knights-in-training were working very hard to achieve their goals and dreams of becoming real knights. Some used wooden swords to defeat their individual monster dummies, some pushed themselves through an obstacle course, and some practiced duels. Particularly young Ballister Boldheart and Ambrosius Goldenloin. They were assigned together as partners for dual practice. They didn't mind, they were excited. They were always a duo and bow, they had to battle each other. They would try not to play around with the Director's presence. They have to be serious and play as if they are enemies.

At that moment, Ballister poked Ambrosius' hip with his wooden sword.

"Whoops! Careful there," Ambrosius chuckled quietly.

"Sorry," Ballister whispered. Knights never apologize, so he lowered his voice when he said that word.

As the children kept on training, the Director had been observing each and every child in the Academy. Most of them did so well. Ballister had always been the best student she ever had, but she also wanted Ambrosius to be as best as the former, just to maintain the status of his bloodline.

"Cadets, may I please have your attention?" The Director announced, having all the students' attention as they all left their station and placed themselves in line, and stood straight, "We have a very special guest today, and she brought us an unexpected surprise. Students, welcome, Queen Valerin."

As the Director stepped aside, Queen Valerin walked calmly in front of the students as they all bowed respectfully before their queen.

"Please, don't be too formal. I know you are all very busy and well-focused on being knights, but I have a very special announcement to all of you," Queen Valerin announced as the students all stood up straight from their bowing, "We have a new student today, and she's very new, she doesn't come from a noble bloodline."

Todd snicked quietly, "Oh great, another street rat, a girl street rat."

The other kids chuckled quietly as Ballister and Ambrosius heard Todd's insult for the new student, not to mention they also thought about Ballister being the only commoner knight-in-training. Now that there were going to be two, there will be double punching bags in this Institute. Ambrosius just wanted to march right at Todd and punch him, but Ballister extended his arm to stop him, shaking his head and gesturing not to continue what he was doing, especially not in front of the queen.

"Everyone, I like you to meet Chasina," The queen lowered her hand, and pointed below her, but there was no one there, "It's okay, Chasina, you can come out."

Behind the queen's dress, a female child timidly and shyly crept out to show herself. She was very afraid and very shy to show her face, but, as a young commoner, she loved to obey the queen. She then slowly stepped out, fully showing herself. A little girl, probably a year younger than Ballister and Ambrosius' age, with short brown hair that covered half of her right eye, wearing a sky-blue blouse, a cerulean skirt, and a cyan hairclip bow. She was also holding a gray mouse plushie in her arms, and she was covered with a little amount of dirt as if she hadn't showered for a while. It made sense because she had been living in the streets all her life.

Ambrosius gasped in delight as he nudged at Ballister, making him think he was lucky that he wouldn't be the only commoner in the Institute.

Queen Valerin bent down to reach the little girl's level as she placed a hand on her head, "I saw this little girl sneaking into the headquarters, and I saw in her eyes when she held a sword. It inspired me that we should have another lower-class child in the Institute. And I hope you should make her feel welcome."

The other young knights-in-training quietly snorted as if they wanted to welcome this young commoner into the Academy. They already have one. They didn't want to deal with another one.

Ballister just stared pitifully that the new student would have to deal with the same prejudice from the other cadets as he had, while Ambrosius glared spitefully. This was like how Ballister got into the Institute, but since this was a very young female commoner, the young Goldenloin knew those bullies would do something worse to her.

"Well, I should leave you all to carry on with your training," Queen Valerin reported before turning at the young girl, "Chasina, you're going to be alright here, and you'll be the hero that I see in you."

While looking up at the queen, Chasina was scared. She wanted to be a knight, but her lack of self-confidence made her doubt herself. But since the queen herself was the one who brought her here, Chasina just nodded at her, hoping the queen was right with her words. She had no idea what she put herself into when she snuck into the Institute's castle and held a sword from one of the display cases of the deceased knights.

Queen Valerin stood up straight once again and walked out to leave the students back to their training. Chasina quickly tried to follow the queen as she was too scared to be left alone without her supervision, but the door was already closed. The queen left. Chasina was on her own now. She was really scared. She didn't know if she could survive here… Alone.

The Director approached her closer from behind, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Alright, Chasina, why don't stand over there next to your classmate, Ballister, over there?" she pointed her staff to where Ballister was standing. Chasina looked up and saw a young commoner boy waving at her. Chasina wasn't so excited about this. She was very new, so she didn't know how the system worked here. When Chasina, still holding her toy, walked slowly towards the line, one cadet beside Ballister moved aside, not because he would give her space, it was because he was disgusted by a dirty new commoner. The other cadets laughed while covering their mouths as they watched Chasina stand in line beside Ballister.

Ballister extended a hand to Chasina, but she just stared at him and looked away. She was too scared to meet another kid at her age…, or older. She wasn't ready to socialize yet. Ballister understood that. On his first day here, it was hard to socialize with other cadets. Nobody liked him here… except for just one kid. Chasina just needed time to find trust in other kids. Ballister put his hand back behind his back, giving Chasina some space for herself.

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At recess, Chasina was sitting on the dining table alone, eating a grilled cheese sandwich. This was the only thing she could afford to get at the cafeteria. She wasn't comfortable eating different food since she only ate leftovers and food from trash when she was still living on the streets.

There were so many things in her mind today. It was her first day, and things were getting hard. It was because she started late. Unlike Ballister, Chasina started training a little later than the rest of the cadets. She couldn't keep up with the classes. She needed to read more textbooks and observe demos of how to hold the sword, dodge attacks, etc. She was too slow and even scared that she wouldn't reach her dreams too soon. There was so much pressure already. Her training was too advanced for her to catch up. It was a stressful first day already.

Recess was the only thing she could rest herself from all that training. She hoped she got her head straight once she finished eating her food.

Just then, a group of kids approached her with smirky faces.

"Look what we have here, guys. Another kid from the streets!" Todd laughed as he raised his hands for his fellow cadets to give him high-fives. Chasina remembered Todd from earlier. The guy who would made fun of her already. Chasina decided to ignore him and proceeded to eat.

"Wha- what are you eating? A grilled cheese sandwich?! What are you? A street mouse?" Todd laughed loudly as so did the rest of the knights-in-training. It wasn't her fault that she liked cheese. Chasina loved cheese. The only food she could eat when she tried to survive.

"Look, she is a mouse!" One of the students pointed out.

Chasina tried not to cry when the other cadets called her that as her hair covered half of her face and took another bite.

Shockingly, her mouse plushie got snatched away from beside her. Todd held the toy by its tail.

"Hey!" Chasina yelped, witnessing her favorite toy got taken away.

"She has a stuffed mouse as a pet, too!" Todd showed the stuffed mouse to his fellow cadets.

"Give it back!" Chasina demanded, throwing her unfinished sandwich on the table, and stood up to get her mouse back.

"Awww, you want this?" Todd cooed before throwing the mouse at another student.

It became a Hot Potato Game for the other students as they passed the mouse plushie to each other and prevented Chasina from catching her beloved toy.

"No! Cherry!" Chasina cried, trying to catch her mouse, "Please, I want Cherry! Give her back to me!"

Todd then caught the mouse back into his arms and held it by the tail again. He handed the mouse to Chasina, but he raised it up to prevent Chasina from retrieving it as she was too short to reach her toy, "If you want it, you have to catch it!" He threw the mouse again to another cadet.

"No! Please! Give her back!" Chasina sobbed, still trying to catch her mouse, and extending her arms to reach for it.

"Hey!" Ballister's voice was heard behind the other cadets. They all turned around, and Chasina was surprised to see the same boy she stood next to earlier, "Why don't you give her that mouse back? She did nothing to you!" Ballister bravely marched up to Todd.

"Aww, isn't this sweet? Ballister here thought he was a real knight already!" Todd teased with a chuckle with other cadets chuckled along with him. He grabbed Ballister by his shirt collar, and pulled him closer to his face, "By protecting a very weak princess!" Todd threw Ballister in front of Chasina, who scooted backward slightly, "You know, you're lucky the queen sent in another commoner because if neither of you would become a knight, then you'd both be losers together. High-five on that!" Todd raised both his hands, letting other cadets high-five him again, and they all laughed at Ballister and Chasina.

Surprisingly, the mouse plushie around Todd's arm got snatched from behind. It was Ambrosius as he held the mouse gently in his arms, "Leave them alone, Todd. It's none of your business to tell them what they'll be in the future, especially her," he eyed Chasina, who was shocked to see a noble student would stand up to commoners like her and Ballister.

"Pfft! Whatever, Goldenloin, have fun with your servant and your new toy, and I'm not talking about the mouse," Todd scoffed as he walked away before bumping his shoulder at Ambrosius', and the other cadets followed him.

As those bullies already left, Ambrosius turned, and offered a hand to Ballister, "Bal, are you okay?"

Ballister accepted Ambrosius' hand, and stood back up on his feet again, "Yeah, I was supposed to get that mouse… for her," he tilted his head at Chasina. She was still on the ground, feeling scared to come forward towards the two boys.

Ambrosius looked down at the mouse plush he held, and handed it over to the little girl, "Here. I think this belongs to you."

Chasina almost hesitated to come close and retrieve her mouse because it was held by another noble child. She was afraid to be bullied again. But that was her toy. She needed her mouse. If this child was handing it over to her, then now was her chance to get it back, "Ch-Cherry!" Chasina rushed to her mouse, and snatched it back, hugging it so tightly like she never wanted to let it go again. Small tears flowed down on her cheek. She really loved her toy.

"I'm sorry about Todd. He's always been like that," Ambrosius explained as he stepped forward, causing Chasina to back away a little while holding her adorable little mouse, "Hey, don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you."

But Chasina remained distant while still hugging her mouse. It was hard for her to make new friends, especially when she had already been bullied. She still stayed still while staring at the two boys at the corner of her eyes. Her left eye was covered by her hair as she was too shy to even look directly.

Ballister and Ambrosius glanced at each other, knowing the girl was too scared to come closer. They understood her, so she needed more time and space to socialize.

"Anyway, I'm Ambrosius," the young noble kid introduced himself.

"And I'm Ballister," the young commoner boy took a step closer to the young girl, and kneeled to her level, "Um, what's your name again?"

Chasina was too nervous to talk, but it was rude of her if she didn't speak at all when she was asked. She responded quietly, "Um... I'm Chasina."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ballister asked, leaning the side of his head a little closer to hear her.

"Um... My name is Chasina," Chasina answered even quieter.

"A little louder," Ambrosius requested.

"It's Chasina," the young commoner girl whispered quickly.

"I think I almost hear 'Chasina'. It's that your name?" Ballister tried to clarify what the little girl was saying.

But Chasina only let out a small squeak.

Seeing that the commoner girl felt so pressured and nervous, Ambrosius told her calmly, "Okay, you don't have to say it again. So, you dream of becoming a knight one day?"

Without saying a word, Chasina just nodded. "So do we! Your parents must be really proud," Ballister exclaimed while approaching closer to Chasina, "Where are your parents, by the way?"

That was it. Chasina only lived in a street with no memory of her parents. Yet, she grew up without parents or a family either. She lived alone, all by herself with her toy, "Umm… I don't have parents," she answered, still quiet but clear to hear.

Ballister felt pity for Chasina. He had the same life as she had. All alone in the street, "Aww, it's okay. I don't have parents either. I came from the streets, like you."

"It's true. Ballister here snuck up into the training course and attacked a monster dummy. It's pretty funny," Ambrosius recalled the day Ballister snuck into the obstacle course, and the knights tackled him down. Ballister wasn't so proud of himself that day, but he was glad he was brave enough to sneak in like that.

Chasina let out a little giggle. It was funny.

"Hey, why don't you hang out with us?" Ambrosius suggested.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother," Chasina said, feeling like a burden already.

"It's nothing. We want you to stick with us. We'll help you along the way since you missed a couple of sessions. You didn't catch up when our training started. We'll help you out with make-up sessions," Ballister suggested.

Chasina wasn't sure if this was a good idea. She just met these boys. Why were they so nice to her? Why didn't they like those other cadets? But hearing their voices sounded like they were serious about accompanying her. Chasina slightly turned her head to show both her eyes from her hair, "Well… alright. Thank you."

Ballister offered Chasina's hand as she accepted, and he helped her get up on her feet. She then approached Ambrosius, trying to be brave to face a noble child. He responded by just rubbing Chasina's hair, and she giggled like she was tickled.

It was a good start to a beautiful friendship.

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At the Glorodome, there was the knighting ceremony, and senior cadets were going to be knights tonight. Ambrosius, Ballister, and Chasina snuck out of their dorms just to see the ceremony. They found the right spot for them to watch the whole view. Ambrosius climbed up on the stadium rafters first before Ballister and Chasina tried to catch up with him, "Come on, come on!"

Ballister came up next, then offered Chasina's hand, who was still trying to climb up while holding her mouse toy.

"Careful, Chasina," Ballister grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

Once the children were up on their feet, they continued to walk a little farther to find a better view while Chasina felt hesitant but followed the two boys anyway.

"Are you sure this is safe? I don't think we're allowed here," Chasina said.

"Don't worry. No one will know we're here. We've been here before," Ambrosius reassured her, sitting at the edge of the rafter.

"This is also the place where we hang out sometimes," Ballister added, also sitting down.

"Wow, that's really great," Chasina still felt hesitant about this idea, but she didn't want to feel left out of the fun, so she sat down beside Ballister.

As the knighting ceremony started, new knights rode their horses into the arena, and the whole crowd cheered for their new knights. The knights headed towards the middle of the arena.

"Wow, that's a lot of knights," Chasina commented, couldn't take her eyes off the scene.

"Here's the best part," Ambrosius whispered excitedly.

The three children proceeded to watch the scene. A knight stepped forward before the queen, and she used the sword to announce his knighthood to the public. The crowd cheered loudly.

Chasina was puzzled at first about what was happening, until she figured it out for herself, "Oh, so that's how they would become knights? The Queen officially made them knights?"

"That's right. And someday, it's gonna be us down there," Ambrosius said proudly.

"Do you think we'll be able to do it?" Chasina asked in doubt. Seeing the other knights reach their dream tonight, she couldn't imagine herself being down there with the queen who would knight her one day. She wasn't sure what the future held for her as Chasina doubted if she would ever be a knight, "Do you think I can do it?"

Ballister placed an arm around her shoulder, "Of course. We saw how you worked hard back at the Academy. First make-up sessions, you're already learning."

"I can be a fast learner sometimes." Chasina chuckled proudly, trying to remove Ballister's arm from her, "I'm just afraid that… I might not be able to do it."

"What makes you say that?" Ballister asked with him and Ambrosius glanced at her worryingly.

"I mean, come on. Look at me! I'm no noble, I'm from the streets, and I'm a girl…. A weak little girl," Chasina curled herself and hugged her knees.

"You're not. Did you already know that Gloreth is a girl herself?" Ballister reminded, still seeing Gloreth's statue (its backside) from up here.

"Yeah, but she's brave and determined. I'm just scared and timid. Knights are not like that," Chasina was filled with self-doubt. She even stared at Gloreth's statue from afar, comparing herself to the legendary hero.

"Hey, I was like that too," Ambrosius admitted.

"You are?" Chasina refused to believe that.

"You just didn't know you were talking to the direct descendant of Gloreth," Ambrosius rubbed his thumb and index fingers together while staring at his nails, before glancing back at Chasina with a smug look.

Chasina was confused by Ambrosius' words. She didn't know what he was talking about. It was confusing, until… She stared at Gloreth's statue then back at Ambrosius. She looked back and forth at the giant statue and her friend a couple of times before she realized a shocking revelation.

Ambrosius is Gloreth's descendant that she never ever knew before!

"I didn't know that!" Chasina exclaimed, making the two boys laugh. They couldn't believe Chasina was still clueless about that fact. She should've gotten out more.

"I thought you'd figured it out yourself!" Ambrosius laughed really hard.

"I didn't know!" Chasina admitted. She was completely unaware. She knew Ambrosius came from a noble family since all cadets were born noble with Ballister being the only commoner before her arrival, but she couldn't tell which ancestry belonged to every student in the academy, "But I do know now," Then, she remembered Ballister being a commoner like her. He was so brave and hardworking, while Chasina had a little lack of self-confidence. That made them so different, "How do you get so confident, Ballister?"

"I wasn't so confident, but I did work very hard in class, and it's my dream. And if it's your dream to be a knight too, then I know you'll be able to be one," Ballister advised, making Chasina nod in agreement. It was her dream to be a knight and to protect the kingdom. It was merely impossible for her until the queen decided to let a commoner boy like Ballister train into the Institute. Now, Chasina was brought in as well.

But there was another thing Chasina was thinking in her head, much more important than her dream, "I'm more worried about another thing."

"What would it be?" Ballister asked, but Chasina was hesitant to answer, "Come on. You can tell us."

Chasina sighed in embarrassment. It would be too cheesy or sappy to tell them what was on her mind right now. She held her toy again, and confessed, "It's just that… you guys are my friends. You guys were the only ones who welcomed me here. And what would happen to us if we became knights? Would we ever be friends? Would we… still be friends? What if… we won't be?"

"That's not true. We'll always be friends," Ambrosius assured her.

"But, friendship isn't part of a knight's oath. Our oath is to protect the kingdom, which means taking the risk… even giving up our friendship…" Chasina's voice trembled and nearly cried. She sat back and looked down, proceeding to watch the ceremony. She would imagine that all three of them were down there but wouldn't be friends like how they were today anymore, "We go alone."

With Ballister feeling pity for Chasina and trying to comfort her, Ambrosius looked down at the ceremony. He had the same idea as Chasina's. She was right. For now, they are just children, being happy together while training to be the best knights. But, in the future, as they grew, they would risk losing their friendship when they fulfill their duties. Friendship couldn't last forever sometimes. It depended on how adults would see when they grew up.

Then, Ambrosius had an idea. It would be a risky idea, but it was the only option. He stood up and announced to the two commoners, "You know what? Why don't we make our own oath?"

"Our own oath?" Ballister asked.

"Yes! It might not be a knight's oath, but this is our oath together, knights or not."

"I'm pretty sure you will be a knight, Ambrosius."

"Even if I do, we still have to make a promising oath."

When Ambrosius took a knee down, Ballister and Chasina moved away from the edge and gathered into a huddle.

"From here on out, we swear to each other that we always be best friends. Even if we become knights, nothing and absolutely nothing would stand between our friendship. Not even the Institute would break us apart. We'll always stay close together, and be knights together at the very end," Ambrosius just made an unbreakable and sworn promise. As a noble-born knight-to-be, it was in his honor to make a promise that would never be made to be broken…, ever. To prove it, he put his hand in the middle, to be the first out of the three to swear that promise, "That's a promise I'm willing to keep. I swear," he was now waiting for any of the two to join him. He wanted to make sure that Ballister and Chasina would swear the same promise he was keeping.

"I swear," Ballister was the next one to put his hand on the middle, over Ambrosius' hand. He wanted to make this friendship last forever like Ambrosius and Chasina.

Once Ballister touched Ambrosius' hand, there was a feeling between them that they hadn't felt before. In his defense, Ambrosius already had an interest in Ballister, but they were still children. It might be just a normal liking, nothing more.

Ballister didn't mean to make things awkward between him and Ambrosius when the former touched his hand. The way Ambrosius stared at him made Ballister blush a little while his hair covered one of his eyes, and tried to look away from him.

Seeing the two boys staring so strangely at each other, Chasina didn't know what was happening as she interrupted them, "Um… you guys know I'm here right? Eyes on me," The kids just chuckled hysterically while Chasina still stayed with the same topic they were talking about just now, "But… I swear," she put her hand over Ballister and Ambrosius' hand, she also agreed with this promise. She wanted to stay best friends with the boys who had been so nice to her ever since she first stepped at the Academy. Even if they would reach their dreams as knights, she wished that they would stay like this for a long time.

"Trust me, we'll always be best friends… no matter what," Ambrosius declared as the three had their hands lifted in the air.

Throughout the years, Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina grew close together as a trio. To lock up their promise forever, Ambrosius made his own "Decree of Friendship" with just a piece of paper and crayons. He put his signature under the text with a yellow crayon. He passed the paper to Ballister, signing his own signature with a black crayon. He passed the paper to Chasina, who signed her signature with a blue crayon. With the "decree" being signed up, Ambrosius rolled the paper into a scroll and kept it in a small chest.

Ballister and Ambrosius then acted like older brothers to Chasina. Ambrosius gave one of his family's swords to Chasina, just like he gave one to Ballister. He gave her a blue one and modified the G initial of the sword to a C.

When the three were stargazing together in Ambrosius' dorm, Chasina was fascinated by the crescent moon. This gave Ballister the idea of giving her a last name; Moonlight. Chasina loved that name and decided to keep it.

One day, Chasina lost her favorite toy mouse, which was hidden in the corner under her bed. Ballister and Ambrosius found it until Chasina declared she didn't need her toy now that she had two amazing big brothers to look after her. Secretly, Ambrosius kept her toy mouse, just in case she would need it again one day. When the three were stargazing together outside their dorms and laid down under the stars, Ballister surprised Chasina with a new hairpin by removing her old hairclip bow and replacing it with the one he made. When Ambrosius gave Chasina a mirror, she saw the new hairpin Ballister made for her. It was a blue circular hairpin with a navy blue crescent moon surrounded by tiny silver gems. She loved it! She totally loved her new hairpin. She had been wearing that pin ever since and never took it off.

There was also that day when Ballister and Ambrosius helped Chasina dye a streak of her hair with blue and white.

As they grew, Ballister and Ambrosius continued protecting Chasina from being severely bullied until she was a bit old enough to defend herself, and gained confidence.

Years later, Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina were now teenagers. Possibly 16 or 17. They did great at the academy together. All three, fight together, side-by-side. No solo, no letting each other down. Even though there were classes that the three had to train alone, most of the time, they were studying, learning, training, and fighting together. They always had each other's backs.

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Another day in training, the three took a hard level at the obstacle course. The three were working together to pass this training test. It was the mid-terms, and they must have to survive this test together. No one should be left behind.

Queen Valerin and the Director were watching them impressively from the side. The queen was delighted by the sight of three knight-in-training fighting together while the Director showed a worried expression.

"Look at them, my queen," the Director said calmly, trying not to express such emotion about her concern.

"I know. Three brave future knights, fighting together to protect our kingdom," Queen Valerin sighed proudly. She loved how three cadets trained together.

"But this isn't the will of Gloreth, Your Majesty. Friendship is a distraction to the duty of knights. Not even friendship helped Gloreth to be a hero," the Director confessed her opinion about the students' friendship.

The queen turned to her, and explained with confidence, "Director, you might not see it, but the way I see it, these three would make a better future for our kingdom. You may think their friendship won't fulfill their duties, but to me, they would do very well, even better than one knight alone," the queen and the Director returned their gaze to the three students as Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina finished the whole obstacle. Nothing but debris and messes around them. They defeated dummies and traps together, and they celebrated with cheers and group hugs for their success. Their laughter was still heard by the two women, "I think Gloreth would've done the same, having friends to fight with her for the kingdom."

But the Director thought of it otherwise when she was observing the trio, "Would you even think that friendship would bring threat to the kingdom, Your Majesty?"

"I think not. Knights are stronger when they work together, especially in the name of friendship, so there's nothing to be worried about, Director. The future remains bright in their hands together," Queen Valerin added proudly before deciding to leave to get back to her duties.

As the queen left, the Director completely disagreed with applying this "circumstance" to a future incredible knight like Ambrosius since he was Gloreth's direct descendant and he had to fulfill his duties just like his family and his ancestor had ever done. She believed Ballister and Chasina were a distraction to Ambrosius' future in knighthood and the kingdom would fall apart because of their friendship, as she had always feared when she was young. At her last glance at the three students, a broken robot was still functioning, and about to shoot Ambrosius, but Chasina pushed him out of the way, and deflected the ammo back onto the robot, breaking it down in the process. The three friends laughed at this moment.

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The trio reached the age of 25 or 26. They completely reached adulthood. 4 years left before their dreams would come true.

One night, Chasina went to Ambrosius' dorm to talk to him. She was standing in front of Ambrosius' door room very nervously. She took a deep breath as she wasn't sure she was ready to do this, but she couldn't do anything until she wanted to say something to her "big brother", "Okay, here we go,"

She knocked on the door, and the door was already opened by the Goldenloin, "Chasina, my baby sister!"

Chasina giggled when he called her that as she playfully smacked his shoulder, "Stop calling me that. Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure," Ambrosius stepped aside for Chasina to come into his room. When she was finally inside, Ambrosius closed the door, and turned to his "little sister", "Do you need something, Chas?"

"Oh, I just wanna talk to you," Chasina answered as she sat on Ambrosius' bed.

"Alright. What is this all about?" Ambrosius asked, sitting next to her.

"Well, umm…" Chasina was too scared and too nervous to tell Ambrosius what she wanted to tell him. She didn't want to say anything literally, but it would be something like it was a goodbye message. She has to be specific, but, at the same time, metaphorically. She exhaled for a moment before confessing, "I just wanted to tell you that you're the best big brother I could ever ask for. You're always there for me when I need you."

Ambrosius was touched by Chasina's words as he scoffed in laughter, "Aww, it sounded like this would be your last words to me. Don't scare me like that!" He threw his arm around her back, making Chasina chuckle with him.

"No, it's true, Ambrosius. I just… I realized how important you are to me. I looked up to you since we were kids, and… I could never forget that," Chasina smiled before leaning herself into a hug.

Ambrosius hugged her back like a big brother protecting his little sister with just his arms, "Me too, Chas. You're the little sister I never thought I had," he planted a kiss on Chasina's head before pulling himself from the hug to look down at her, "Hey, what's really going on?"

"Nothing, nothing, I just…" Chasina didn't want to tell Ambrosius what was happening lately. He let out a little yawn, and her eyes were half-closed.

Ambrosius observed the look on Chasina's face. He helped her up and guided her out of his room. He opened the door for Chasina, and led her out, "Maybe you're just tired. You need to get back to your room. I'll take you there."

"No, no!" Chasina quickly answered. She wasn't ready to head to her room yet. There was something else she wanted to do next, "I-I want to go to Ballister, just to say goodnight to him."

"Alright, Chasina, just be careful on your way. Okay, sis?"

"Yes, Bro, I will."

"Great. Goodnight," Ambrosius smiled at Chasina before he closed the door.

Now that Chasina was alone with her thoughts with Ambrosius closing the door, she turned around, dropping her face to sadness. She had to act fast before she could do what she wanted to do tonight.

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Chasina made it to Ballister's dorm room as she knocked on the door.

Right away, the door opened and Ballister was surprised to see Chasina, "Hey, Chasina!"

"Hi, Ballister," Chasina greeted him with a normal expression.

"What are you doing this late? You must get back to your room before the Director finds out," Ballister instructed, concerning for his "little sister."

"Can I just at least talk to you, just one last time?" Chasina requested as if it would be her last request.

"Umm, okay, come on in," Ballister was a little confused at the last part, but he moved aside to let Chasina in. Ballister then closed the door, and turned to Chasina, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Umm," Chasina fiddled with her fingers while sitting on the stool. She couldn't bring herself to say what she wanted to tell Ballister. She loved him so much like a big brother, and she didn't want to hurt him. She had to compromise, "Bal, I want to say thank you for… staying with me this whole time. I thought I would be alone, but you and Ambrosius were always there for me, mostly you. You know what it's like to be an orphan commoner, and you made me feel that I'm not alone."

Chasina's speech made Ballister wonder why she would say something like this like it would be the last thing she would ever do. He took another chair, and sat down in front of her, "Okay, where does this come from?"

"Nowhere! Just from me," Chasina lied, making a sheepish smile.

Ballister rolled his eyes and cupped Chasina's face with one hand to make her look at him, "Chasina, you know that I'm always here for you. You know we commoners must stick together," the look on his face made Chasina smile and nod at him. Both of them are commoners, and they still stuck by each other's side every step of the way, "And Ambrosius was there for us as well!"

Chasina chuckled, remembering the protective one of the trio, "Yeah. He's a very nice guy."

"But I was worried. What's gotten into you for saying these things to me?"

"Nothing. I just… I just love you."

"I love you too, sis," Ballister smiled as he kissed Chsina's forehead, and helped her get up from the chair to guide her out of her room. It was already late, and Chasina needed to be in her room, "Let's just talk about it tomorrow, okay? You need to go back to your room." When Chasina was out of the door, Ballister couldn't close the door without telling Chasina, "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

As soon as Ballister closed the door, Chasina's face dropped to sadness as she turned around, whispering, "There's not gonna be a tomorrow," she let out a sniff before walking back to the direction of her room.

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In her room, Chasina already packed the stuff she needed in her suitcase. Before she left, she turned around just to look at her dorm room one last time. On her bed was the sword Ambrosius gave to her with a carved C behind the G.

Chasina let out a few tears in her eyes. She would regret what she would be doing, but it was for the best of her and her two best friends, "I'm sorry, guys. I don't think I can do this," she slowly closed the door as the light that shined onto the sword got narrower and narrower until it was gone. The sword was just door on her bed, waiting for anyone to hold it.

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Sneaking out of the Academy wasn't easy. Chasina had to improvise her plan to escape with other knights seeing her. She used everything she learned from her training with a couple of new techniques to be sneaky and get out of the fence. She threw her suitcase first over the large fence. Then, it was her turn to jump over, but she lowered herself a little bit to avoid being spotted by a light beam from one of the towers. When the light passed by her, Chasina quickly climbed up the fence and threw herself down to the other side.

Chasina ran as far as she could from the Institute's palace. She just hoped no knights would see her leave, not even her adoptive brothers. When she was already gone so far, she looked back at the palace. She remembered that day she snuck into that place, only to be discovered by Queen Valerin and let her train to be a knight at the Academy. Now, she was sneaking out. She thought she could do this. She thought she could be a knight like she always dreamed of. She thought her two best friends' encouragement would help her, but she was wrong. She had been staying at the Academy for years, and only to this day, she had a lot of thought about going down this path, and it wasn't worth it. Chasina just lost her confidence in continuing her dreams, and had some self-doubt about herself; a female commoner being a knight was highly impossible. All her training was a waste of time if she couldn't reach her dreams for real. She wouldn't know that, but she was sure that she couldn't be a knight… like her friends. Most of all, she didn't want to let her friends down. She didn't want to be a burden on them. She wanted them to succeed… without her. She was only doing them a favor, that's what best friends do… what a friend would do. Even if far away, Chasina wanted to keep her promise to her friends that they made when they were still children. She had to stick by it.

Chasina took out a photo of her, Ambrosius, and Ballister together. They were so happy when they took a selfie. But deep down inside, Chasina had a lot of doubts about herself. She wouldn't know if their friendship last forever if she didn't succeed in what she was trained to be. And she couldn't let her friends go down with her… for her. She had to do what's best for all three of them

Chasina first glanced at one brother whom she looked up to, "Ambrosius," and then the other brother whom she grew close to "Ballister," she wiped a tear with her hand before sobbing softly, "Maybe you're better off without me," she put the photo back on her pocket before walking off even further, "I'm so sorry."

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2 years later after her departure, Chasina tried to survive on her own. She went through a couple of jobs and tried to stay hidden from the Institute. During her free time, she had been self-trained with a lot of new hand-to-hand combat and self-defense moves. Now that she was on her own, she had to protect herself. Without her sword, she was defenseless. She had to fight in a different way this time.

There came a time when she was caught in the middle of a gang that would attack her. Thanks to her self-defense training, she defeated a lot of goons many times, and even had to kick them in the nuts! Unfortunately, she was intruded in an abandoned warehouse, and the structure was unstable. Who knew how long this warehouse was standing?

When she was punching and kicking goons, her moves sent them crashing into walls and structures making the warehouse stand still. Seeing that the whole place would fall down, all of the surviving goons moved out and Chasina tried to flee as well, but the whole building collapsed on her.

Chasina was out cold for a few hours until she woke up, looking unharmed, but she felt her left leg get stuck by heavy debris from what was supposed to be a warehouse. Chasina tried to pull her leg out from under the debris, but she was stuck real tight. She even tried lifting with her hands, but the debris was too heavy. She then tried kicking the debris with her spare leg, but it was no use. She tried kicking it again, causing a broken roof to tremble and close to dropping onto her.

While shielding herself with her arms when the broken roof startled her, Chasina noticed the photo slid out from her pocket. She examined the photo of her, Ambrosius, and Ballister. Oh, how she missed them so badly. She even wondered how they were doing when she was gone. Were they worried for her. Were they thinking of her everyday? Or did they just move on and concentrate on their training with her? Either way, she never stopped thinking about them everyday for the past 2 years. She just hoped that one day, if Ambrosius and Ballister would become knights, they would see each other again.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the broken roof was about to crash down on her, so close to her face. Chasina was horrified and tried kicking the debris off her stuck leg, but still no effect. She then gave an angry and frustrated look.

"Good Gloreth. Just great."

Two months later, Chasina found herself a temporary hideout where she was working on something. Other than her training both from the Institute and her self-training, she also learned gadgetry. What she had been made was not easy. It took her two months to figure out her new and only invention. After fixing a couple of things, she attached it to where her left leg was supposed to be, replacing her old flesh leg with a mechanical one.

In order to free herself from the heavy debris that got her leg stuck two months ago, Chasina had no choice but to chop off her own leg when she found a saw nearby. It was painful and a lot of blood bled out from her body, but she managed to survive as long as she could. She always looked at the photo of her and her friends, which motivated her to keep going, and in hopes of seeing them again when she was ready.

It took her two months to build her a new leg, but it was worth it. She wanted it to be as functional as possible in order to live and survive alone.

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These past two more years, Chasina was still living on her own, still trying to get used to her prosthetic leg, and continued her self-defense and hand-to-hand combat training. If not a sword, then she customized her own weapon of defense and attack; her own hairpin that Ballister gave to her when they were younger. She even made copies of her favorite pin as she used them as shuriken.

She remembered that tonight was the night of her friends' knighting ceremony… when she would have been a knight if she had stayed four years ago.

Even if she won't be a knight tonight, not if anyone would remember her, she can't miss her friends becoming knights they had dreamed of since they were all still children.

A male reporter was currently delivering a report for the whole kingdom, "Good evening, folks. We are coming to you live from the Glorodome. I'm Nate Knight."

His female co-worker introduced herself next, "I'm Alamzapam Davis."

"And tonight's the night we knight the knights! Ain't that right, Pam?" Nate declared as a spotlight shined over one of the helicopter lights, bringing to light the shiny statue that is of the great Gloreth herself.

"It sure is, Nate," Pam replied before pointing out as the two reporters could be seen doing their report in front of the stadium, "But this is also the most controversial knighting ceremony in a thousand years."

"You can feel the excitement and the tension," Nate added on, explaining as crowds of people started to pour into the city, gazing at the giant screens around them to watch the report live. "Tonight, tradition will be cast aside, and the kingdom will change forever because of one man."

Chasina was walking on the streets quietly, blending in with the crowd with her blue cloak on. She removed her hood that covered her face to watch the news on a nearby screen.

"Ballister," Pam identified before a video clip showed of Ballister, when he was younger, eagerly going through a training course, "The street kid with the impossible dream of being a knight."

"I'm here to slay monsters and protect our kingdom," young Ballister declared before getting tackled by a bunch of men in armor.

While watching that clip, Chasina let out a little giggle. She never knew what happened to her adoptive older brother when he got into the academy. Chasina hadn't been there yet, so she didn't remember that time.

A new video then showed young Ballister with the queen and the Director, who gave him a shiny sword with Nate explained, "Impossible, that is until the queen herself made a shocking decision."

The little boy was amazed by how mighty the sword looked while the queen explained to the reporters, "No, he doesn't come from a noble bloodline... but he might just have the heart of a hero."

A new video clip then showed Ballister, who was now all grown up as an adult, duked in silvery black knight armor, and easily defeating all the obstacles that stood in his way while Pam elaborated, "And Ballister made the most of that chance, graduating top of his institute class. A class that includes none other than…"

A new clip showed a video imagery of the handsome, charming man in gold armor, while Nate declared his name, "Ambrosius Goldenloin."

"Hey," Ambrosius said with a shiny smile.

Nate explained a little about Ambrosius, "Direct descendant of Gloreth herself, and the most anticipated knight of a generation."

A new video clip showed Ambrosius shouting "Whoo," which prompted the crowd to respond with the same cheer before he knelt down and posed for a picture with a little boy.

While watching, Chasina rolled her eyes, remembering her other older brother with that ego.

She was waiting for her introduction in the news, but she wasn't mentioned nor shown in the video footage. It was possibly the fact that she had gone for 4 years, and no one knew she had gone missing or left the Institute. Guess she was already forgotten. It was already 4 years, and time flew so fast.

Pam the reporter then mentioned, "With Ballister joining the ranks, for the first time in history, our safety will be put in the hands of a commoner."

"I don't feel safe," a female resident mentioned when asked for an interview.

"It's not what Gloreth wanted," another female resident replied, not liking the idea one bit.

Back with the news reporters, Nate then stated, "So tonight, only one question remains. Will the kingdom accept this knight who might not be right?"

Hearing negative comments from other citizens of the kingdom, Chasina knew both she and Ballister wouldn't be accepted to be knights because they were both commoners. Now that she left, and Ballister was back to be the only commoner left in the Institution, all hates went to him now. She just wished she would be there for Ballister, reminding him he wasn't alone in this… but she wasn't there for him… not at this time since things got complicated for Chasina. All she would do now is wish her luck from afar.

"Good luck out there, Bal. I wish you the best," Chasina sighed as she put her hood back on and walked off.

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In the stadium, everyone far and wide had gathered, excitedly anticipating the knighting ceremony to begin. This year was to be a historic ceremony, and whether the outcome was good or bad, all that mattered at the current moment was the sea of new knights that were to be honored by the queen herself.

Meanwhile, Chasine successfully snuck into the Glorodome and found herself an empty seat where she could see the whole arena. With her self-trained skills, she was stealthy, making it impossible to be noticed when she snuck into the stadium. She still covered herself with her cloak, hoping no one would recognize her. Of course, nobody would recognize her because nobody knew her. She was unrecognizable, probably ever since before she left and disappeared. The knighting ceremony just started just in time when Chasina took a seat. She could now relax and watch.

Lights flickered, spotlights brimming brightly, and the announcer declared, "And now the newest heroes of the realm!"

All of the knights rode into the stadium horseback, decked in armor and swords in hand, with the crowd cheering loud and proud for their arrival.

As Ballister entered the arena on his horse, the bright lights and the loud cheering amazed him; sure, it was always thrilling to watch the ceremony, but it was a whole new surreal feeling to BE the one receiving the cheers and applause, having the lights shine down on him, seeing the excitement and intrigue on everyone's faces. He almost wanted to pinch himself and see if he was dreaming, but now was not the time to be distracted.

Ballister rode up to Ambrosisus, who was soaking in the chanting, but turned his head and offered a warm smile to Ballister, as partial sharing of his excitement, and partial reassurance, letting him know that things were going alright so far.

Within the audience, Chasina clearly noticed Ballister and Ambrosius. She was so excited for them, but nervous for only Ballister and sad for herself that she wasn't there with her brothers. She has regrets about leaving, but it was for the best of her two best friends. She knew they did great without her around, and it was fine with her. She wanted her friends' dreams to come true.

As the knights rode their horses up to the white stage, blue carpet decorating its floor and the stairs, the announcer proclaimed as the lights dimmed, shining a spotlight down on a single throne that stood on the stage, "My lords and ladies; her Majesty. the Queen."

The queen, with the director standing next to her, rose up from her throne and approached the edge of the stairs.

On cue, the knights, in unison, lept down from their horses and approached the queen, standing straight by their horses, as orderly as any army would appear.

Ambrosius was the first to come forward and greet the queen. Before he did, he whispered to Ballister, "Here come the whoo," He turned back to the audience, and shouted very loudly, "Whoo." He earned a large round of cheers for him, many responding back with the same cheer.

Ballister couldn't help but smile, and Chasina, from the bleachers, rolled her eyes, chuckling; Sure, they both knew that Ambrosius would be receiving a lot of praise and cheer for becoming a knight; after all, he was a descendant of Gloreth, who was a legendary knight in the kingdom; any knight would be more than honored to follow in the footsteps of such a legacy, and be very well-known for it.

Ambrosius climbed up the steps and dropped to one knee, bowing in front of the queen and giving her his sword.

The queen accepted the sword and declared while tapping his shoulders ever so lightly with the tip of the sword, "I hereby pronounce you Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, hero of the realm."

The crowd went absolutely bonkers with applause as the queen then told Ambrosius, "Stand, Sir Knight."

Ambrosius stood up on command and went to stand off to the side, near where the queen was.

Chasina let out a small squeal with happiness. She was happy for Ambrosius. He was destined to be a knight because of his ancestry. But Chasina never focused on that. All that mattered to her was Ambrosius was her friend. And he still is. She should be happy for her friend. Now, it was her other friend's turn; she started to be very nervous for him.

Ballister watched this and knew that he was up next to be knighted; this was it, everything he had worked for had led him to this moment. It was time….to fulfill his goal and be named a hero of the realm. He was excited, nervous, determined, and even slightly scared, but history was gonna be made tonight, and now was his time to make it happen. So, with a breath of air he released slowly, Ballister whispered to himself and made his way up the stairs, "Here we go."

While walking up, he saw the proud smile that the queen had; it was a smile resembling that of a proud mother watching their son. Although the Ballister was but merely a commoner, being handpicked by the queen herself to proceed with training at the institute and succeeding, making it this far, well, that qualified as an accomplishment to be very proud of.

Albeit, the closer he got, the more nervous Ballister began to feel, but seeing the reassuring smile Ambrosius had helped his nerves, although the stoic stance of the Director did not do much to calm his nerves. At the bleachers, Chasina was biting a finger real hard, praying that everything would be alright.

When Ballister was soon standing face-to-face with the queen, she spoke to him, "I've been looking forward to this moment."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ballister responded as he bowed down to one knee, feeling gratefulness and sincerity in his tone of voice.

Then, the queen made a surprising announcement, "My people, starting today, any of you should be able to hold the sword if you want it; if you earn it."

This announcement made the entire audience murmur in curiosity, confusion, excitement, and so many other emotions! While yes, the idea of even simple folks like themselves becoming knights did seem fairly exaggerated, and perhaps an improbable task, would this be something that COULD become a viable option for their future?

While the audience had their own doubts and questions, Chasina sighed sadly. She held a sword once and got into training, but she had self-doubt and a lack of confidence during her time at the academy. She doubted herself if she could ever earn a sword like both her brothers. She just wished she could continue, but there was a part of her that made her think she couldn't do it. She snapped out of her thoughts to continue watching.

"I've watched this young man earn it many times over," Before questions could arise, the queen then looked back at Ballister, asking him for his sword, which he easily took out and presented. The queen picked up the sword and gently tapped the tip of it on his shoulder, "I hereby pronounce you Sir Ballister Boldheart, hero of the realm!"

There was an eerie wave of silence in the beginning; did no one want to cheer for him? Did many people still not think Ballister would be a formidable knight because he was a commoner? Was this silence gonna break part to a loud ringing of boos or worse?

Both Ambrosius and Chasina couldn't help but feel a little concerned when the two separately saw the small frown Ballister had when he received no praise after being knighted by the queen herself.

Just then, there was a cla- then another, followed by a loud cheer, and then more cheers. Soon, to Ballister's surprise, the entire stadium was cheering loudly in applause, chanting his name at the top of their lungs, "Boldheart! Boldheart!"

"Boldheart! Yeah," Ambrosius cheered with a laugh also escaping his throat as he felt very happy for Ballister; he knew that if anyone deserved to have a moment like this as much as any other knight, it was him.

"Yes! That's my brother!" Chasina shouted happily as if anyone could hear her. She was happy for Ballister. She believed from the very beginning she met him that he could make a difference for young commoners like both of them.

Ballister himself could hardly believe it; the people finally saw him as a knight. He defied the impossible and made it possible; becoming a knight from common background! He didn't know what to think, other than…It truly is…a dream come true.

As the crowd continued to chant his name, the queen told the knight while giving him back his sword, "Congratulations, Sir Boldheart. Let a new era of heroes begin with you."

However, when Ballister had got his sword back, something strange happened; the end tip of the handle which the queen was holding earlier had…turned on? And it not only turned on, but a green light was emitted, and pointed directly at the queen herself.

The handle of the sword turned into a sort of high-gadget ray, and before Ballister could even know what was happening, the ray blasted a green beam of light that hit the queen square in the chest and sent her flying.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; the ray being blasted, the queen getting hit, her crown falling, the shocked look on everyone's faces, and even the disbelief on Balister's face. Everyone in the stadium, the Director and even Ambrosius and Chasina, who let out a horrific gasp, could not believe what was happening!

Without thinking, and acting in quick defense to save the queen, Ambrosius pulled out his sword and sliced it right through the arm that was holding the sword ray, sending the ray's blast upward at the sky, just narrowly avoiding the screens above the stage. Everyone in the audience looked up in shock, not only for what the blast from the ray was doing but also for what had been done; the queen was shot right in front of them, by how they saw it, none other than Ballister!

As much as she was shocked that the queen was killed by a green ray, Chasina just couldn't help but keep her eye on both Ballister and Ambrosius. She saw the whole scene, the way Ambrosius indeliberately sliced Ballister's arm with a sword. It was horrifying. One of her best friends who was her brother at heart got his arm chopped by her other friend and brother at heart. She never ever expected it would come to this. None of the three would think this would happen.

Ballister reeled in pain after his arm had gotten chopped off, but looking away from his arm, he saw the sword/ray drop and shatter upon impact hitting the floor. Broken light shards fell down from the ceiling, but all were oblivious to it for the shock of the events that have transpired were of much more importance.

Ballister looked up and saw the look of disbelief on Ambrosius' face, as well as the surprised expressions everyone else had, but none of their looks shook Ballister's more than Ambrosius'. From afar, Chasina still stared at her now shocked brothers as she covered her mouth in disbelief with her hands and little tears came out of her eyes. She felt that her worst expectation might come true… this might be the start of a faded friendship.

However, no words could be spoken from the three, with one being distant from the two; all that lay between them were the remains of the actions done.

Before that thought could come through, the chandelier from above broke off and fell down, damaging a hole through the stage floor between Ballister and Ambrosius. Chasina helplessly closed her eyes, not wanting to see more of them. She couldn't handle this anymore so she quickly rushed through the crowd to find an exit.

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She didn't know how long it was; hours, days, or weeks. Chasina still couldn't get over what just happened at the Glorodome. It was a nightmare back there. She was still in disbelief at what her brothers had done. On a rainy day, all Chasina had was a cloak, and wet, the rain couldn't stop her from thinking. She wasn't even running from the rain. Just letting it all in. Chasina didn't like to believe, didn't want to believe it. But something in her mind made her ask questions. Did Ballister really kill the queen? Did Ambrosius do the right thing? Her head got messed up with sadness, anger, and confusion. She couldn't tell anymore.

As she passed by, Chasina got a chance to stop at nearby screens of the news.

"The queen killer is still out there."

"Everyone is scared."

"Not since Gloreth's monster has anything been so hated."

"He never should've been a knight."

"He wasn't one of us and hated us for it."

"A commoner."

"He's vile."

"He's got no place in this kingdom."

"He's a murderer."

"He's a monster."

Looking at the news, Chasina shed a tear. She realized that this whole thing started 4 years after she left. It made her wonder if this was the consequence of her disappearance from her two best friends… that they changed without her presence. She didn't only think about herself or her two friends, she thought about how it came to this for all three of them.

Deep down, despite how she and everyone witnessed, Chasina refused to believe Ballister killed the queen. She had known him for a long time. He wasn't the kind of person to murder someone, especially the one who believed in him and Chasina as well. But would it be because she left without telling either of her two friends? Chasina hoped that wasn't the reason. If it did, then it might be her fault, and she wished she would've been there to prevent it from happening.

"Oh, Ballister, what just happened?! What did you do?" Chasina squeaked while holding her tears, and holding the picture of her and the two boys together. She stared at Ballister, having mixed feelings if she would believe he would do such a vile thing. Then, her eyes shifted to Ambrosius, and she let out more tears from her eyes, "Ambrosius, what have you done?!"

She couldn't get over the fact that Ambrosius would do that to Ballister. She wanted to believe it was an accident, but even if it was, it didn't change what she saw. Her brother hurt her other brother.

Chasina turned around, and started sobbing while hugging herself, "What is happening to my brothers?" She really hoped that she would've been there for Ballister and Ambrosius, and maybe protected them from hurting each other in any way.

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When a month passed by, while trying to get her mind off of things, Chasina went to the marketplace to get some food. Living alone in her temporary apartment was so lonely and scary sometimes. She had to survive by herself ever since she left the Institution. Because of taking multiple jobs and getting fired for 4 years, she earned her paycheck every now and then.

While getting some vegetables she needed, she heard electronic wanted signs from a newspaper stand, and it alerted her. She turned around to notice Ballister bumping into a few folks, who looked at him weirdly before walking away. The nearby window of a newspaper stand he passed kept showing electronic "WANTED" signs with his face on it, making him desperately cling to the hood he had on to try and cover his head and face. He almost crashed into a man who was reading a newspaper that had a "WANTED" poster of him on it. Ballister quickly, and desperately tried to hide his face so NO ONE could see him, but it was getting harder to have his identity concealed safely without someone spotting him. And low and behold.

"Wait, Bal?" Chasina said with a very low voice, curious about what her so-called criminal bestie doing out in the open, "What is he doing here?"

"I know he's here! Find him," she heard Ambrosius' voice order out, making Ballister hide behind a car to stay out of any line of sight.

"Ambrosius!" Chasina quickly hid behind a tower of crates with vegetables in them. She took a peak to see Ambrosius leading other knights to search for Ballister.

Then, a woman noticed Ambrosius and smiled, saying, "Look, it's Goldenloin!"

This stirred a crowd to come over and gather around Ambrosius in excitement, which turned out to be the perfect distraction for Ballister. With everyone looking at Sir Goldenloin, no one would even think to turn and spot him!

While Ambrosius tried to tell the crowd that they had to move because he was looking for Ballister, a kid then asked him hopefully, "Can I get your autograph?"

Mentally just biting his tongue, he figured one autograph couldn't hurt, replying while holding out a pen, "Just one signature. Who am I signing?"

While hiding and watching, Chasina remembered that night… the night of the knighting ceremony. How could she forget? It was unnecessarily graphic. She didn't want to think of how Ambrosius would hurt Ballister so badly. But what concerned her the most was that Ambrosius was the one who led the other knights to find Ballister! Despite not having the right information as to why Ambrosius was doing this to their best friend, Chasina could see, hear or even feel with her guts that he was serious with his duties as a knight, even putting his friendship at risk.

"Is he serious right now?" Chasina whispered angrily.

Ambrosius signing the autograph gave Ballister the perfect chance to sneak out and enter the car, hiding out inside of it.

A minute later, loud music was heard from the car Ballister was holding in. It started to get Ambrosius and Chasina's attention, with the golden-armored knight and a blue-cloaked figure turning their heads and seeing the car blasting the music the roof down, and some sort of figure, though Ambrosius couldn't tell who it was, inside with the saleslady while Chasina already knew who. But Ambrosius had a hunch that it could possibly be Ballister hiding in the car, and, after finishing with the autographs, he tried to get the crowd to move so he could take a closer look. This feared Chasina that her "wanted" brother would get caught for sure by her other "heroic" brother. She wanted to just step out of hiding, and help Ballister, but she couldn't show herself yet, and wasn't the right time yet.

But something else caught Chasina's attention. While still hiding behind a tower of crates, she noticed the squire was running for his life, asking the people around him,

"Please help me, help me, please! A little demon baby is after me! Please help me!"

Curious about what was going on, Chasina followed the commotion.

When Squire ran under a bridge pass, he stopped and screamed in fright when the "Demon Baby" appeared in front of him. Frantically wanting to get away, he threw a meek punch, which led to the "demon baby" biting his hand and making Squire shriek in pain.

While witnessing from behind a few people who were helplessly watching the squire get beaten by a "Demon Baby", Chasina let out a little chuckle. She found this scene a little funny. She sometimes liked to watch people get hurt in a comedic way, one thing she wasn't proud of.

Then, Chasina moved aside when the "Demon Baby" tossed Squire around like a beach ball, making the blue-cloaked woman laugh, but she tried to cover her mouth as she was supposed to ignore the commotion as other people in the market did.

The Squire was being dragged against his will by the "Demon Baby", who had him by his ankle, all while the crowd of people watching did nothing but view the current situation, as merely they had no idea what to do, while Chasina just couldn't do anything but watch this hilarious moment. You couldn't see this kind of shenanigans every day.

The Squire kept throwing whatever he could get his hands on at the "Demon Baby" to get it to let him go, but nothing worked, until he threw a piece of pizza at it, making the "Demon Baby" pull it away from "his" face, "Pineapple on pizza? Bleah!"

"There," a knight's voice rang out, making the "Demon Baby" look over her shoulder.

It caught Chasina's attention as well as she looked behind her.

Scrambling to come down the escalator was Ambrosius, who told the people he passed by, "Excuse me; I need to get through; move!"

Adding onto the predicament as the "Demon Baby" accidentally let go of Squire's ankle to get the pizza off gave Squire the chance to get his foot out of the shoe and start to run, freedom in his sight! Nothing could stop him now-

CRASH!

Nothing except getting hit by a car that rams him into a box of pots and pans, making the pans spill over him.

Chasina was a little surprised there, but she couldn't help but find this funny than horrifying. She still kept herself hidden behind the crates but kept her eye on the "Demon Baby" and Ballister, who came out of the car.

"Aw, why did you get to kill him?" The "Demon Baby" asked, pouting.

"He's not dead, I hope," Ballister frantically responded as he and Nimona picked up the unconscious squire while Ballister desperately hoped that running the car into him REALLY did not kill the guy.

"Is that Ballister?" a male passerby commented after seeing Ballister.

"It's the queen killer!" a female passerby exclaimed in shock.

"He's working with a demon baby!" another male passerby stated as Nimona and Ballister placed Squire's unconscious body into the car trunk.

Chasina started to wonder if this "Demon Baby" was associated with Ballister. It made her wonder how did this happened. Chasina even remembered on the news that Ballister was partnered with a pink-haired girl. The "Demon Baby" wasn't that girl. Something felt different for Chasina because of the way she observed her best friend in the shadows.

"Ballister, stop," Ambrosius, holding a crossbow, shouted as he and the other knights headed right towards him.

Chasina was alerted by Ambrosius' presence, and about to catch Ballister for sure. She stayed hidden, but she sat down and took three hairpins as her shuriken out from her pocket, just to prepare for what was going to happen.

Ballister and the "Demon Baby" tried to put Squire's body in the trunk, but the door was not closing.

When Ambrosius got a clear shot at Ballister with his crossbow, Chasina was ready to throw her hair pins at Ambrosius. They won't knock him down or anything. Chasina only wanted to distract Ambrosius to let Ballister and his new companion escape.

When Ballister looked up and saw the concerned/stunned look on Ambrosius' face. Chasina was observing this and got curious as to why Ambrosius suddenly lowered his crossbow. She waited for Ambrosius to get ready to shoot so she could take some action, but it didn't turn out what she was expecting.

As Ambrosius couldn't take the shot, but the other knights did, it was all the more motivation for Ballister to get into the driver's seat and get as far as he could as fast as he could.

The saleslady was kicked out of the car, the "Demon Baby" hopped in, and Ballister immediately drove off, flying the car up into the sky before any more arrows could be shot at the car by the knights below.

While Ambrosius was still trying to process what was going on and why Ballister was doing all of this, the other knights were frustrated, and the people around them were in a panic.

Meanwhile, Chasina went back into hiding behind the crates, and kept herself from laughing as she enjoyed the shenanigans in this market. She rolled her eyes and sighed in relief, but from enjoyment and knowing Ballister was safe for now. She couldn't stay any longer or the other knights and Ambrosius might notice her. Chasina picked up her grocery paper bag and left her hiding spot without being noticed by the people around her. She just hoped she'd see Ballister again, and she would help him in the shadows. She hoped he'd be safe. She began to wonder why Ambrosius lowered his weapon when he got the chance to capture Ballister. It made her think there might be hope between them. Might be hope that their friendship remained intact.

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Early in the morning of the next day, Chasina went out for a little stroll while reading a newspaper. She was already mad when the newspaper was about "the queen killer" and a girl with pink hair. Chasina angrily crumbled the newspaper and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"Ugh! Why do people think of this?!" Chasina mumbled as if she wanted to shout, "My best friend is not a killer."

Just then, at the corner of her eyes, she saw two mysterious figures heading into the Institute headquarters. Chasina turned in that direction just to make sure if she noticed what she thought she knew. Yep, it was Ballister, along with a girl with pink hair.

"Ballister?" Chasina muttered quietly, "What is he doing?"

When Ballister and his companion snuck into the headquarters, Chasina had to follow them, wanting to know what they were up to. But it would be difficult if someone or Ballister himself would see her. Chasina wasn't ready to show up to one of her friends yet. Things got complicated lately.

When she found another way into the Institute headquarters without guards around, Chasina just had to get in from the outside. It might be tough since she might be out of the open, but she was stealthier than being inside the building. The walls of the building were smoother than she remembered. She used to climb these walls as a kid, and now, it felt different when she touched the walls and she had a prosthetic leg. Remembering her self-training when climbing walls without proper tools, she had to improvise by using the building's structure. It'll take her a lot of time, but he had to try. She wanted to know what Ballister was doing here, even if it put him at risk of being arrested. Chasina started to climb by jumping sideways in a narrow gap in the building.

It took her maybe 15 minutes and she got tired, probably because her robotic leg added extra weight to her body, but Chasina made it just in time when Ballister and his "sidekick" faced Ambrosius and the Director. Chasina had to remain low so no one could see her. She remained holding tight at the edge and kept her face hidden. She hoped no one would see her on this side of the building or she'd get caught for sure. She could see and hear everything that was going on.

Ambrosius was standing in front of the Director in defense, set to protect her if needed, while Ballister walked down the stairs, meeting up with Nimona. Both sides at a standstill, he then spoke up, "Ambrosius, the Director killed the queen."

"What?" Ambrosius, surprised to hear this, responded.

Chasina gasped softly with her fist covering her mouth while her other hand still held onto the edge. The person she depended on killed the queen? How? And why? As a little girl, Chasina was always dependent on her teacher, and the Director had always given her advises and wisdom that she needed for her training. She never thought her "favorite teacher" was evil all the time!

The Director snidely responded quietly to try and lure Ambrosius away from thinking she was the suspect, "Another desperate lie,"

"He's not a liar," Nimona quickly remarked, defending Ballister.

The Director let out a laugh, "Says the miscreant, whispering in his ear."

Nimoan took no offense to the tease, answering back, "Aw, thank you."

Ballister then spoke up, saying, "I'm innocent, and I have proof," and reached into his pocket to grab the evidence he and Nimona had gotten.

The Director, noticing this, became a little worried; if Ballister had proof, then it'd mean she'd instantly be exposed and her plans would fall apart! To try and stir Ambrosius to stop Ballister, she told him, "He's got a weapon."

Just before Ballister could show the picture on the phone, a light beam was shot and it destroyed the phone, and the evidence, along with it.

Up in the sky, the knights were on large, white helmet-based hoverbikes, flashlights shining on the duo below, and holding ray guns in their hands, with Todd exclaiming, "Not anymore! Todd rules!"

Then, a lot more knights came in and surrounded Ballister and Nimona, set to shoot in defense if need to be.

Seeing so many knights riding on their hoverbikes and light beams pointed at Ballister and Nimona, Chasina lowered herself a little bit, trying to be as stealthier as possible, but she didn't want to miss what would happen next… though she was hoping for the most important thing.

Surrounded on the roof and up in the sky, with possibly no spot of escaping, Ballister was not gonna run, not at least before he had the chance to try and clear things up with the truth, telling Ambrosius, "It doesn't matter, you shouldn't need proof. you know I'm not a murderer."

Ambrosius stood there, still, and while not verbally responding, emotionally, he was at a standstill; he's known Ballister the longest out of anyone, but still….did he know him enough to know if Ballister…would even do something so…dark?

Then Director, growing more impatient by the minute, told him, "What are you waiting for, Captain?"

"Hurry before the whale gets here," Todd added.

While Ambrosius was still standing there, thinking what meant to be done, Chasina was still hoping that another one of her best friends/adoptive brothers would believe Ballister. In her heart, Chasina believed that he was not a murderer. She was hoping Ambrosius would believe him too. All three of them knew each other very well. Nothing could ever change what they had between them… could it? They made a promise those years ago. Chasina expected Ambrosius to stick by that promise if he remembered.

Nimona tried to encourage Ambrosius to make the right choice, telling him, "Come on, man. Do the right thing."

Ambrosius got a good look at Nimona and asked Ballister, "Who is she, Bal," Then, something in her eyes made him rephrase his question, "What is she?"

Chasina had the same question in her mind ever since she learned about Nimona's presence with Ballister. She squinted her eyes to see a little closer and clearer while keeping herself hidden.

Worried that Ambrosius would do something to hurt her, Ballister tries to calmly, though worryingly, tell him, " Ambrosius, I am begging you to trust me."

But without a clear answer, and the safety of his people at hand, Ambrosius held the sword up high, pointing it right at Ballister.

Both Ballister and Chasina, who just witnessed this, were shocked and in disbelief. Ambrosius, the guy they thought was their friend. Their best friend. A lover, a brother, an only noble who believed to be different from others. Yet, they were wrong.

Ballister thought Ambrosius would believe him. They had known each other when they were still children. They shared each other's dreams. They shared each other's lives. They shared everything together. The only crime they ever committed to each other was they stole each other's hearts. They had been in a romantic relationship for 14 years, though it felt like at the beginning they first met. It was a childhood crush at first sight. They always had each other. Ballister trusted Ambrosius all his life and heart, even when Nimona warned the former about the latter. Ambrosius would've been the only person Ballister had to ask for help because he was the only one in the institute he could ever trust. He loved him. He won't use him to clear his name because of their relationship. It was about that. It was about how the years went by, and they stayed close together and promised to love each other in every single way.

And yet, here they were now. Ballister was heartbroken and Ambrosius made him think their relationship wasn't worth his duty and his legacy as a knight and Gloreth's descendant respectively. Ballister thought there was hope with Ambrosius, but he chose his family's legacy over his heart, over the man he loved.

Chasina couldn't believe what she just witnessed. In all her life, she thought nothing would get in the way of her and the two boys' friendship. She still remembered that day, the day the boys brought her to the stadium where they sat on the rafters, and they all made a solemn promise that she, Ballister, and Ambrosius would stay best friends forever, no matter what. Not even their duties would tear their friendship apart. Chasina wanted to believe it would be true, but it wasn't. It was a lie. Ambrosius' promise was a lie this whole time. He was the one who made the promise first. It was his idea to make it their own oath. Chasina hesitated that day because she believed this promise would break someday. And it happened anyway. Chasina was heartbroken for the same reason that Ballister thought. She even believed that Ambrosius wouldn't let his family's legacy and his duty as a knight stand in the way of their friendship. But she saw it in her own eyes. Her adoptive older brother pointed a sword at her other adoptive older brother. Arm chopping might be an accident, but pointing a sword at a friend was a choice, and he made this choice without having second thoughts at all. He broke his promise. The promise that was sacred to all three of them. And she thought she was the one who broke the promise first, but at least she wasn't a backstabber like Ambrosius.

"Ambrosius… why?" Chasina whimpered as tears streaming down her face. She kept holding on to the edge, but she couldn't stop her tears from forming and shedding because one of her friends made an unfair decision. She looked up to Ambrosius when they were kids. And then, the person she looked up to betrayed their friendship. It made her wonder if he would do the same for her if she were in Ballister's shoes. Would he still be choosing his legacy then their friendship? Then, he might though, "You promise."

He then declared, in possibly the coldest voice that Ballister had heard him talk in, "Arrest them."

Seeing that talking no longer was an option, it left to do one other thing, one Ballister was more than welcome to. He stood firm, telling Ambrosius, "You wanna know who the kid is?"

Nimona seemed to catch what Ballister was planning, commenting in determination, "Oh, I like where this is going."

"You wanna show 'em," Ballister asked Nimona.

"I'd love to," she eagerly responded.

"Let's break stuff," Ballister declared.

"Metal," Nimona replied, her eyes glowing red and her teeth baring fangs as she leaped up.

Ambrosius, the Director, the other knights, and Chasina gasped in surprise as they witnessed Nimona shapeshifting into her mighty gorilla form again. As she landed, she bellowed a very loud roar towards Ambrosius, one that shook him, not a lot, but to a great degree that it stunned him before she ceremoniously booped him in the nose and started to help Ballister fight the knights off.

The Director, seeing that things were now gonna go poorly for them, asked Ambrosius to, "Give me a sword."

However, Ambrosius was more concerned about the Dirextor's safety, blocking her while replying, "We need to get you to safety."

Meanwhile, the fight continued, with Ballister using his sword to block the strikes of the knight while Nimona shapeshifted from gorilla to cat, clawing away at a defenseless knight.

Ambrosius had gotten the director into their aircraft, telling the pilot, "Get this thing in the air now!"

As the aircraft took over, taking the Director to a safe place, Ballister and Nimona continued to defend themselves from the knights that were attacking them.

Wanting to help Ballister and Nimona without showing herself, Chasina remained hidden at the edge as she took out 5 hairpins from her pocket with a spare hand, and threw them at some of the knights that charged at Ballister, knocking them down while the pins made clanking sounds at the metal armors. The hairpins spun back at Chasina, grabbing them immediately when they flew back to her. Chasina hid below before anyone noticed what she did. Helping out without revealing herself was so much fun for her. It made her feel alive.

Just then, two light beams shined in front of her, thus blowing Chasina's cover, and were discovered by a couple of knights on their hoverbikes.

"Halt!" One of the knights shouted, "Who goes there?! Who are you?!"

Instead of fear and doubts that she had been piling up in her head forever, Chasina smirked sinisterly, and answered, "Your worst nightmare!" She had been waiting years to get back at the other knights who wronged her and Ballister as she had 6 shurikens in her hands and quickly leaped from the wall.

Chasina punched a knight off the hoverbike. It was her hoverbike now. Two other knights shot at her, but she managed to dodge them and three her hairpins at them, knocking them off their vehicles. Another three knights approached her when her hairpins didn't hit them. Chasina clung over the hoverbike and swung the knights off.

Even not directly, she was actually helping Ballister and Nimona, giving them fewer knights to fight than more, and it'll be easy for them.

Meanwhile, Ballister blocked his sword at the incoming strikes while Nimona continued to use shapeshifting to knock the knights away. She changed into a wolf to pounce at a knight that came from behind before shapeshifting into an ostrich and running on the knights' heads, knocking them out with heavy foot strides.

While the fight was very serious, Nimona was laughing away, having a ball with getting to fight off these metallic knuckleheads.

Topping things off, she leaped into the air and shapeshifted into a rolled-up armadillo, which she got thrown by Ballister and nailed one knight in the ribs very hard.

"Sorry, no sorry!" Nimona commented as the knight fell over.

When a knight on the hovercraft was firing lasers at him, Ballister quickly pulled up an electronic shield to block before he headbutted the knight on the ground.

Deciding that it was time to get off this roof, he asked Nimona, "You see a way out of here?"

"Of horse I do," Nimona answered, trying to be funny as she shapeshifted into a big horse, getting Ballister onto her back and galloping away.

"Okay, that was terrible," Ballister commented but with a smile as he and Nimona made a grand escape.

Ambrosius chased after them, "Stop that… horse?"

Nimona galloped over to the edge, where two knights were already there, firing at them, Ballister asked Nimona, who showed no signs of slowing down, "We're going over, aren't we?"

"Yep," Nimona answered, adding before making a huge leap, "The only way out is down."

"Why are we always falling?!" Blister shouted as he and Nimona began to free fall from the roof of the Institute.

While Chasina was still standing on the hoverbike, banging two knights on each other's heads, and throwing a hairpin on the other knight behind her, she noticed Ballister and Nimona falling off the roof. She sighed when she realized the fight was moving back to the ground. She didn't want to climb down like how she climbed up earlier, so…

"Guess we're going down!" Chasina let herself fall freely.

Luckily for her, her free fall was safer when she used the knights on hoverbikes to break her falls as she punched and kicked every knight she encountered on the hoverbikes, lowering herself way down while trying to follow Ballister and Nimona, still keeping herself on a low profile.

Nimona easily shapeshifted a pair of dragon wings and caught Ballister, "Ha ha! Told you you'd want the wings. Whoo-hoo!"

Ballister was happy to be not free-falling anymore, and grateful that their fall was now gonna be a little smoother until he saw that company was trailing behind them.

Nimona shapeshifted into a gorilla again, sliding down the building's banister carefully while hugging Balister tightly, before she threw him onto a hoverbike.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo," Ballister shouted as he headbutted the knight riding on it, hopped on, and held on tight, riding it down.

Nimona, meanwhile, leaped up and ceremoniously shapeshifted into a whale, using her mouth to swallow the knights in the air. She landed belly-first on the ground and used her blowhole to shoot the knights out in a wet fashion.

As Ballister arrived and hopped off the hoverbike, he commented to Nimona, "Okay, that was super gross."

"Haha, I know!" Nimona cheered out loud as the group of knights fell down in a splashy glop.

Chasina made it down safely to the other side. When she saw a few more knights coming after Ballister and Nimona, Chasina jumped into their path, waving her index finger before giving one of them a punch in the face

Left alone to fight off a few of the remaining knights that were waiting for him on the ground, Ballister and Nimona fended them off before Ambrosius came charging in, riding on a hoverbike before he leaped down, sword in hand.

As Nimona quickly shapeshifted to fend off the other knights, Ballister and Ambrosius went toe to toe, sword and sword, with Ballister saying, "Well, if it isn't the golden boy."

While Chasina was still fighting incoming knights, she saw both Ballister and Ambrosius dueling with swords.

That was it! Her worst fears came true!

"Oh no," Not only she was worried about the two fighting each other, but also she was out of the open. She couldn't let her two best friends see her. She's not ready. Chasina grabbed an unconscious knight and used him as a puppet to fight approaching knights while keeping herself hidden.

She overheard Ballister and Ambrosius' argument while they kept dueling it out.

"Did I ever mean anything to you? Or was it all just a lie?" Ballister remarking angrily towards Ambrosius.

"A lie? Says the guy running around with a monster," Ambrosius harshly retorted back.

But he got him back with a snark from Ballister, who quickly came in defense of Nimona, telling the golden knight, "Don't call her that! She's smart, kind, and quite sophisticated."

On cue, as the two knights separated, one of the guards was running away in fear, with Nimona, still in otter form, pointing out in hilarity, "That guy just peed his armor! He peed his armor!" Not the most sophisticated comment, but a perfectly timed one, nonetheless.

And adding more to the pleasure, it only made Ballister's point stronger, especially when he mentioned to Ambrosius bitterly, "And she has my back, unlike you."

Ambrosius could feel his strikes becoming overpowered, valiantly trying to fight back while stating, "You lied to me about everything!"

"Only one lying to you is the Director," Ballister retorted back before knocking Ambrosius to the ground.

With the shift of power in play, Ambrosius felt like, now that he was defenseless, that this was gonna mean that he was gonna get "killed" and asked Ballister bitterly, "What? You're gonna kill me now too?"

Overhearing that part in disbelief, Chasina suddenly dropped the unconscious knight. For something in her life, she never heard of Ambrosius saying something heinous about Ballister before. This was the first time, and it hurt her that a friend would say that to her other friend.

Ballister almost felt incredulous by that comment; why would Ambrosius think that?! He was trying to save him, not kill him! He quickly responded in shock, "You believe that?" After stabbing his sword into the ground near Ambrosius's head, just to send the message straight to him, Ballister stated with anger in his voice, "Then you never knew me at all."

Just before Ballister could do anything else, Todd zoomed in on his hoverbike, grabbing Ballister and throwing him into a nearby cereal stand, the booth's theme song playing while the cereal boxes fell and littered the sidewalks.

Todd jumped off his bike and cracked his knuckles, approaching Ballister while telling him, "Yeah. Now I'm gonna punch you in the face."

Chasina gasped when Ballister got beaten up by Todd and the other knights. To save her friend, Chasina ran towards the wall of the gate, where she decided to take the other way around to prevent being seen by her friends by going over it. It was tough to climb onto the wall, but when it came to her friend, she had to take the risk. But when she made it outside and landed on her feet, a few knights piled her down. She didn't see that coming.

Meanwhile, otter Nimona was toying with a knight's arm, saying, "Now, I'm no doctor, but this cast looks delicious," she used her teeth to tear into the armor.

However, when she didn't catch sight of Ballister, she looked up, calling out, "Boss?" When she saw where the crowd of knights had gathered, she assumed that they possibly had him surrounded and were trying to hurt him.

Furious, her eyes glowed as she shapeshifted into a wolf and ran across the courtyard before turning into a rhino and barging through the doors.

Back at the stand, Ballister was trying to put up a fight, but got knocked in the back by Todd, who taunted, "You think this hurts? Wait till you see what we do to your pet monster."

On cue, before Rhino Nimona could reach him, she got shot at with waves of electricity that dragged her to the ground, and no matter what she tried to change into, the electricity kept pouring onto her.

Ballister tried to push his way toward her, but the knights surrounding him kept pushing him back, even his plea "No! Leave her alone," fell on deaf ears.

Hearing Ballister pleading for Nimona, Chasina turned to see how that pink rhino got electrified. She might not know Nimona completely, but the tone of Ballister's voice pleading for her made Chasina realize he cared for that girl. Chasina struggled to break free to help Nimona, but the other knights held her arms and shoulders, refusing to let her go and about to arrest her.

When Nimona caught what little sight of Ballister getting surrounded before her view was obscured, it made her rage go to defying levels, and in a puff of smoke, she shapeshifted into a gigantic dragon; the same dragon that was the mascot brand of the cereal at the booth.

The sight of dragon Nimona made Todd turn around and say happily at first, "Kwispy," before asking in confusion, "Wait, what?"

"Hope you brought milk," Nimona declared in response before shooting gigantic pebble-like cereal out of her mouth, which pounded all the knights away with ease and made them slip and fall to the floor.

While Chasina and the other knights who held her captive were distracted by Nimona's "Kwispy" form, Chasina realized the knights' eyes were on the dragon. It was her chance to escape as she shoved the knights with her shoulder, and punched them aside when they tried to hold her again.

She had that open window to escape now and tried to hide before anyone else saw her.

Ambrosius had noticed the sight of the dragon, asking himself a very confused, "What?"

Dragon Nimona let out a happy roar and shot her hands/claws up in the rock fashion sign.

Just then, a car that was on the road turned and flipped over, narrowly about to hit an innocent little girl who was hiding from the madness before Nimona stopped the car with her tail.

Nimona couldn't help but look up down at the girl and see how scared she was looking up at Nimona, who was possibly the most intimidating "monster" she had ever seen.

Ignoring the warning sirens and calls, Nimona quickly shapeshifted into a small girl and tried to approach her gently, "It's okay."

But the scared girl quickly held up a wooden sword, stepping back in fright because she was scared Nimona was gonna hurt her. It prompted her to nervously say in terror, "M-Monster" before her mom rushed in and picked the girl up, taking her to safety.

It left Nimona reeling in guilt, and at the same time, seeing how scared the girl was… it bothered her seeing how many still viewed her as a "monster" in their eyes.

Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't hear the knights approaching her, ready to capture her.

However, just before they could grab her, Ballister came riding in on a hoverbike, "I've got you, kid," he grabbed Nimona before they could, escaping into the dusty streets, with Ambrosius sadly watching on after being unable to have captured them.

Chasina was watching behind the damaged vehicles and saw what just happened. She saw what Nimona did when she saved that little girl, but she was feared instead. It concerned Chasina for Nimona about how she felt that way.

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4 days later, at the Antlered Serpent restaurant, Chasina was taking a drink… or more or less than 10 drinks already after what happened at the Institute castle today.

"Hey, another glass over here!" Chasina called while raising her glass, slightly drunk.

"Don't you think you had enough?" The cashier asked worryingly.

"Another glass! Something stronger!" Chasina yelled. The cashier rolled his eyes and went to the back to find a stronger drink for her

Everything was all messed up in her life. Ballister was framed by the Director, Ambrosius betrayed him, and both of her friends started to hate each other. It was like their friendship fell apart. Chasina refused to believe this was happening. Her worst nightmare had come true… for real. She still believed all of this happened because she left 4 years ago. It made her wonder what would happen if she stayed with her friends. She even believed their friendship was a worthless child promise that the trio made as… children. She was so mad. Mad about what was happening. Mad at the Director for killing the queen and framing Ballister. Mad at Ambrosius for choosing his duty and the legacy of their friendship. Things would never be the same again, until…

Chasina heard a buzz from her phone. She took her phone out and tapped the notification she received.

It was the news about the Director who revealed the shocking confession.

"I framed Ballister. I killed the queen."

Chasina snapped out of her drunk state and reviewed the number of views and comments in this video. She read all of the hate comments about the Director and the Institute. It was unbelievable! A lot of people believed in this video. They believed in Ballister now.

Chasina sighed in relief that the problem worked itself after all. She was so frustrated about what happened lately, but maybe things would get better soon. She took out the bills from her pocket and put them on the corner. She wore the hood, Bal. Well done." She was heading out of the exit, expecting something improving tonight.

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The next night, Chasina was strolling at the alley when she was watching an exclusive report on her phone about the Director's clarification about her confession. She didn't catch up with the live news, so she watched it on video.

"Citizens of the realm, that is not me in the recording. I know it looks like me and sounds like me, but it is not me. That was the monster working with the real queen killer, Ballister. They are trying to trick you. We are under attack by something that can take any form. It could be anyone. Your spouse, your child, your best friend, the person sitting next to you. None of us are safe so long as the villain and that monster are still out there."

Chasina gripped her phone so hard out of anger, it almost broke into half. She was so angry at the Director's lies that she still accused Ballister and had everyone believe his sidekick was a monster. Chasina couldn't take it. She was sick of having one of her best friends being called a villain when he had never been.

"Ugh! Can't believe this! That liar! That b-" Chasina cut off her words as she wasn't used to swear. She swallowed her words back and took deep breaths.

Hearing the news and the alarm about a "Monster Attack", Chasina was a little startled by one of the warning signs above her.

"What the heck? She rushed out of the alley and turned to the back of the streets. She squinted her eyes to see from afar. A giant black kaiju was crawling into the city and got attacked by firing missiles.

"Oh no," Chasina didn't want to think of who that monster was. She remembered Nimona was pink, and Chasina couldn't want to imagine if that was her. She covered herself more with her cloak, and backed away into the alley, where she would be safe for now. She could still watch live news on her phone when she changed windows.

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It might've been a while since Chasina was still hiding in the alleyway, but she could see live that the "monster" was heading to Gloreth's statue. Chasina was somewhere in that area when she noticed that the "monster" was passing by. Chasina was leaning back against the wall to avoid being spotted. When it was all clear for her, Chasina slowly leaned forward to take a little peak at what was happening in the streets.

Nimona was attacked several times and a lot of civilians ran away from her in fear. She got hit by another blow, knocking her down to a nearby building. Awaking from the impact, Nimona's dark form slowly came to it, but the sight she was greeted with was anything but pleasant. Destroyed buildings around, and all these people who either threw stuff at her or said hateful remarks of her being a monster.

She eyed the statue of Gloreth and, deep within the sadness of her glowing eyes, something… really dark came to mind. After so long of fighting off these people who just want to put a sword through her… why not just make it easier on them and… have it done herself?

Standing up, Nimona approached the statue, stopping just at the tip of the statue, with a minimum of a foot away from her. People watching far and wide, wondering what this creature was gonna do next. Chasina already come out of hiding and ran closer to the street to take a closer look at what was really going on.

Nimona's chest seemed to open up, revealing a white light shining from inside of it, most likely where her physical body was. She raised her head up, and with a scream loud enough to shatter glass, she was about to take the dread step forward that… ended everything.

Nimona thought that it was all gonna be over; all the pain of people seeing her and treating her as the monster they saw her as, the pain of being alone because no one understood who she truly was… one simple poke of the sword of Gloreth's statue through her heart…would end everything. She'd feel free… she'd feel the pain go away… she'd feel… alone?

Suddenly, in all the darkness that consumed her… there was a light….and it was coming from… outside… on her chest?

All of the people around gasped at what they had witnessed. Chasina had the biggest reaction of all as her eyes sparkled with worry and surprise.

Standing on the tip of Gloreth's sword, using his prosthetic hand to touch her, both metaphorically and physically, was Ballister, and the impact of his hand on her made a white light that shined very brightly.

Nimona did not appear to show any response to it, but something about Ballister being there, trying to reach out to her… it… it was like… a beacon of hope? No, a beacon of… empathy. He risked going up to a freak of monstrosity like her….to stop her from going through with this?

Ballister was breathing fast, but not once did his hand move away from her heart. He dropped his sword, which fell to the city of passersby below, who all looked on in shock. The sword literally landed in front of Chasina's feet, and she yanked herself away from the impact. She continued staring at Ballister's sword before looking up again Why was Ballister… trying to stop this monster…from hurting itself?

Everyone looked on in stunned silence; was this a way to defeat it? Or maybe…. was Ballister… trying to save it? But why? It surely did not show any emotions like humans do…. right?

But no one in that kingdom knew how Nimona felt more than Ballister, and he knew of Nimona's pain, anger, and sadness; he's witnessed first-hand how being viewed as someone bad can impact your relationship with others. He knew what it felt like to be cast aside and seen as someone who won't amount to anything just because of what you are, and he knew, what it felt like….to not be seen.

Back at where the incident occurred, Nimona finally showed a bodily response by looking down at Ballister.

Ballister could feel her eyes piercing through him as he looked up, but he did not run; he did not hide, he did not even want to fight; all he wanted to do…was help her.

With guilt and regret heavy in his heart, he told her, "I'm sorry."

She didn't respond, but listened, as Ballister spoke out, "I'm sorry. I see you, Nimona."

His words seemed to not only be impacting Nimona, but also everyone who watched. They were speechless; Ballister, who they saw as a criminal, a queen killer… he was defending them. Not only that, but he was risking his life… to help the life of this monster… who really wasn't a monster. Just a lost soul who wanted to be seen.

Ballister saw that his words seemed to go through to her, and he added, "And you're not alone."

Suddenly, the white light that had come from Ballister's touch began to absorb the darkness that had become of Nimona, making it all eradicated. Once the darkness was gone, all that remained, was the battered bruised, and bloodied, but alive, well, and standing, body of Nimona.

Nimona tearfully looked up at Ballister, and struggled to walk forward, only to wind up falling. But in the nick of time, Ballister caught her, and pulled her into a close hug, with Nimona, while not able to speak for the time being, showing her gratitude by wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging back.

All over the kingdom, everyone watched this interaction….and it was…..unbelievable. Ballister truly was….a knight unlike any other. After all, there'd never been a knight before who could even face a monster head-on and….touch them on such a strong emotional aspect. But Ballister did.

Seeing a beautiful friendship between her best friend and his friend, Chasina held a fist onto her left chest and cried with tears of joy. She never felt so proud of her friend for doing the right thing… the important thing for someone who needed a friend. This moment reminded Chasina so much of how Ballister and Ambrosius offered their friendship to her. Now, their friendship was shared with anyone who needed it.

Ballister and Nimona both separated from the hug, with Nimona shooting Ballister a thankful smile.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud explosion prompted the pair to turn their heads and look over beyond where the wall was, seeing a green light that sparked from where the explosion happened.

Even Chasian down below heard of the explosion as she turned her head and looked in the direction where the explosion was. She might know what was going on, but she could sense that something was wrong, very wrong.

From on top of the statue, Ballister and Nimona could see all of the people scrambling to get away, and Nimona even caught sight of the same little girl from before, who looked up at her in wonder, before her mother pulled her away. While everyone ran in panic to get somewhere safe, Chasina remained still while still wrapping her cloak around her and had her hood still covering her face. She still stood where Ballister's sword was still lying beside her. She couldn't move, she couldn't leave, not when her friend and his sidekick were still on the sword of the statue. She only kept her eyes on Ballister and Nimona, wondering what their plan was now.

Nimona couldn't help but feel bad for all of these people. That cannon, once shot, was gonna have a blast strong enough to hurt so many innocent lives who didn't even deserve such a fate.

Ballister was aware of this too, saying in disdain/concern, "That gun's gonna kill everyone."

Nimona saw the worried expression on Ballister's face, and she thought of a really crazy idea that she knew was gonna work, and it'd help save the day. Was it reckless? Yes! Was it dangerous? Yes! Was it gonna involve something getting broken? Yes….and this was where the idea was gonna be at its scariest.

With a grin of determination, Nimona told Ballister, "Hey, boss."

When Ballister turned his head to look at her, Nimona turned around and told him, fear not once present on her face or mind, "Be right back. I'm gonna go break some stuff."

Ballister had a bad idea about what Nimona was gonna do, starting to ask her, "Wait, Nimona. What are you…?"

"It's time to rewrite this story," Nimona simply answered as she turned around, about to make a leap of fate.

"Nimona! Nimona," Ballister quickly called out to her, but she was already into it, leaping down from the statue, and just before she hit the ground, shapeshifted into a beautiful, fiery phoenix.

The sight of phoenix Nimona wowed everyone in the city as they watched it fly right towards the cannon, which was all set to fire. Its light was bright, but Nimona's flames were even brighter, and it was time to put these flames to the test and rewrite the story.

Back by the cannon, Ambrosius was weakly trying to help the other knights escape when he saw the incoming fiery phoenix and was taken aback greatly.

Before the cannon could properly fire, Nimona crashed right through it, making it blow up with a fiery explosion. The light and impact of the explosion were so bright, that all the knights and citizens turned their heads and shielded their eyes so that they would not be blinded by the light and heatwave that followed.

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A year had passed, and the kingdom never forgot Nimona's heroic sacrifice to save them all. They held a memorial for Nimona as they held out flowers and drawings as their way of thanking her.

Still covering herself with her cloak, Chasina took out a red paper and put it with the rest of the kingdom's tribute for Nimona. The red paper contained a chrome colored "THANK YOU" note, showing gratitude for Nimona. If Nimona was still alive, Chasina wanted to meet her in person to thank her for taking care of Ballister for her. She felt bad for Ballister that he lost his new best friend. She wished she could do something for him… but she wasn't ready. Showing up to Ballister won't fix him just yet.

Chasina… needed more time than she thought.

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She didn't know how long it had been. 5? 6? 7 months? Chasina heard Nimona's return, alive, much to Ballister and the whole kingdom's joy. Everyone loved Nimona now. She wasn't the monster they heard of from their history. She lived a normal life now with Ballister. It was a good thing for her… but not with Chasina. She was still alone in her apartment. She was living under a rock while her friend got reinstated as a knight with his sidekick by his side. She bet Ambrosius was with them as well, not that Chasina' was interested in him anymore.

She and the boys used to be a trio! They worked hard together. They had always been together. But now, Chasina was all by herself. She was a coward, a weakling, a NOBODY.

She couldn't face her friends because she couldn't face her fear of confessing and showing up and couldn't face the past. She left because of self-doubt and never even got in touch with her friends. She felt ashamed that she erased herself from her friends' lives and thought that they didn't need her anymore.

But deep down, Chasina missed them all the time. She wanted to visit her friends all throughout 5 years and even tell them she was still alive, but she still had self-doubt about this decision. She kept wishing for years that she shouldn't leave. She shouldn't left her friends and made them think she was gone. She wished she could be with them and be known to the whole kingdom like them.

Then again, she got tired of hiding and being a nobody to the whole kingdom. Heck, she got tired of even hiding from her friends. She had been gone for too long. Now was the good time to fix her mistake of abandoning her friends and remaining hidden from them for years. Chasina marched towards the door while taking her cloak from the rack.

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Wow! This chapter was really long, but I love the results.

I had a lot of notes for this chapter.

It wasn't confirmed how old Ballister and Ambrosius were as adults, so I guess they were 30 years old, and, as children, they were 8 years old. So, since Chasina is a year younger than both Ballister and Ambrosius, I had her age as a kid was 8, and 29 as an adult. Since this fanfic took several months after Nimona's return, which probably took place a year after her "death", then the three were a year older than their ages in the film.

I do want to have my OC inserted in the film (that was a little lie), but the film was already amazing, so I had my OC appear after the events of the film. Instead, my OC is the character that was "hidden in the shadows" during the film's timeline.

The scene where Young Ballister and Young Ambrosius meet Young Chasina was referenced by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls when Twilight Sparkle first met Fluttershy (both pony and human versions).

This flashback revealed that Chasina lost her left leg in an accident, and she built and designed her own prosthetic leg, similar to Ballister building his new arm. However, Chasina lost her leg 2 years prior, making her the first one to lose a limb. Her flashback was also referenced by Ducktales: Whatever Happened To Della Duck.

Special thanks to MasterClass60 for helping me with this chapter as she made half of the chapter while I was doing a couple of edits.

I hope you like my new chapter so far. Stay tuned for more! Hope I'll update sooner than last month.

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