#because then the fucking government here is like taking pride on their protection measurements

[vettelcore]

yesterday i was reading about the wolves situation in my hometown and how on paper, they're a protected species and can't be hunted, but in reality you can get a permit to kill them, and how its basically given out to anyone who asks for it, making their "protected species" status useless and meaningless

out of all the articles that i read, this one headline caught my attention: "349 livestock animals killed by wolves this year", insinuating that's a big number and justifying the persecution of the iberian wolf by farmers???

how many fucking animals have died on the hands of humans??? one single farmer has killed FAR more animals than the entire wolf population there has killed this year

like what the fuck do you expect wolves to do??? starve to death after being pushed off their territories because some asshole wants to build a new farm on a protected land?? how the fuck does this make sense??

#farmers be like #im gonna let my cattle unprotected in a territory with wolf packs #*cattle get eaten by wolves that are hungry because humans are stealing their resources* #farmers: okay so its time to behead wolves and hang their heads on lampposts time!!! #<- that actually happens btw it was a big story a few years ago #this pissed me off so much #because then the fucking government here is like taking pride on their protection measurements??? #saying how its one of the best ones in the country and other places should implement them #FUCK OFF you pretty much give out licenses to hunt wolf packs outside of the church on sundays #a group of people took this issue to the european parliament when the whole beheading thing was happening but they were told to fuck off #so like most likely the wolf will go extinct in the next few years because we have to make space for slaughterhouses and farms :) #i think there's supposed to be a new law coming out soon for endangered species #but we don't know yet if wolves will be included or not :/ #hopefully they are

[therenlover]

Welcome Home (Part One of Till Forever Falls Apart, A Peter Maximoff/Reader Series)

Synopsis: As if getting thrown through the multiverse, trapped in an attic (albeit a cool one), mind-controlled to manipulate his grieving sister, and subsequently dragged out of Westview “for his own safety” by the FBI wasn’t enough, Peter Maximoff has now been shipped off to New York to live with a glorified baby sitter like some tragic orphan in a comic book until they find a way to get him back home. Things are not always as they seem, though, and this change might just be for the better.

Tags: Pre-Relationship, First Meetings, Slow Burn, Post-Wandavision

Rating: T

Warnings: Mild Language, References to Ralph Bohner

Word Count: 2400~

This fic has already been posted to my AO3, along with the next two parts! I’ll be continuing it on both platforms.

-------

“So… Ralph Bohner?”

Peter looked up from his mug, the tea inside having gone cold long before. His eyes had been fixed on the floor, his leg bouncing far quicker than what should have been humanly possible. It had been a little over 24 hours since the Hex had disappeared, and Peter was firmly of the mindset that he was taking it all very well.

Even to himself, he was a terrible liar.

“Ralph?” His new keeper spoke again, voice soft in the quaint kitchen of the brownstone that Peter would be calling home for the foreseeable future.

It had all been so strange. In one moment he was reorganizing his new attic and trying to figure out how to work the damn DVD player, and somehow in the next, he was a prisoner in his own mind, backseat driving as a witch used his face and voice to torment Wanda. Not his Wanda, though; a new, strange, grieving Wanda with unfathomable power at her fingertips. Thankfully, that didn’t last very long.

After just 2 weeks in this strange new reality, Peter missed the X-Men. He missed his dad, no matter how absent and strange he was. He missed his friends, and his sisters, and the strange normalcy that came with being a part of the team when the world wasn’t in danger. Peter found himself wishing that things would just slow down enough for him to catch up and figure out what the hell was going on. That was a new one for him.

At least he still had his speed. If he had lost his powers in the freak accident that sent him into another universe… well he didn’t want to think about that.

Despite this, the FBI guy who had dragged him out of Westview and across the river to New York had given him an explicit warning not to use his powers while civilians were present. Peter didn’t mind Agent Woo, he seemed like a good guy and treated him with more decency than most government lackeys would have back home, but it was gonna be completely impossible for Peter to avoid using his speed in public. It wasn’t like Agent Woo would even be around to stop him anyway. The only person who could possibly protest was the poor sap that the F.B.I. called in to babysit him, and they would never be able to keep up even if they tried.

“Peter? Are you okay?”

Fuck.

His eyes shot up to meet hers, “You aren’t supposed to know that name,”

“I’m not supposed to know a lot of things,” she replied almost nonchalantly, “but neither of us is known for doing the things we’re supposed to do, are we?”

Peter chuckled, and for the first time in a while, he cracked a genuine smile. “I guess not,”

The smile seemed to please the woman across the counter. Smiling back, she wrapped her hands around her own mug and sat down on a tall stool, leaning towards Peter. “Now, first things first! I want you to ignore whatever rules the FBI gave you while you’re here. My house, my rules, and despite the fact that you’re in witness protection I doubt anyone unwanted will come knocking at the door to snatch you up,”

As she spoke, Peter really took her in for the first time. She was a small thing, in shape and stature, but soft, all rounded edges and gentle touches. Despite her young face, there was an age to her, too. Looking deep into his memories, he realized she had the same haunted look in her eyes that he had seen all too often in the older members of his team. It was the look of someone who has seen unspeakable loss and survived to tell the tale. He decided at that moment that maybe staying with her wouldn’t be so bad.

“So about that rules thing,” Peter tapped his fingers against his half-full mug, doing his best not to speed up and break it, “I don’t exactly do well with rules. They aren’t my thing. I can’t promise that the cops won’t show up at the door, and I especially can’t promise that they won’t be there because of something I did that I knew was against the rules,”

When Peter met the woman’s eyes again she was still smiling, not a hint of displeasure on her face.

“If I had a problem with you being you, Peter, I wouldn’t have offered to take you in. Besides, as long as the cops that show up are human there won’t be a problem,”

Peter paused. “What?”

“That’s a question for another time,” The woman took a sharp turn then, hopping off of her stool and walking her mug to the sink where she proceeded to rinse it out. “Next, even in public, I refuse to call you Mr. Bohner. Ralph I can do if you care about staying anonymous, but I won’t be acknowledging any part of your… chosen last name,” Even as she shuddered, there was humor lacing her voice, “Bohner, though? Really?”

“It’s funny!”

She turned back to Peter with her face scrunched up in faux disgust. “Maybe to a middle schooler,”

“I had just been pulled out of my room, sucked through a portal, and thrown onto the steps of goddamn Quantico, so excuse me for not being on top of my game. Besides, Bohner wasn’t even my first choice. They wouldn’t let me go with Jack Ingoff,”

That was enough to send them both into a fit of giggles.

“Jack Ingoff?” She wheezed, “You tried to get the F.B.I. to give you the legal name Jack fucking Ingoff? That’s just so you,”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re both an idiot and the funniest person I have ever met,”

“I’d better be,”

As they continued to laugh, Peter found himself completely enthralled by this strange woman’s face and it occurred to him that she was incredibly beautiful.

It wasn’t as if she was a supermodel, though in Peter’s eyes it wouldn’t have taken much to make her one. Every part of her just seemed to glow as she gripped her stomach and stifled laughter. She was pretty in quiet ways, in soft glances and gentle touches and unrestrained joy. In the way that everything around her felt like it was full of life. In the kindness that had never wavered while Peter had sat at her kitchen counter, even when he had come through the door swearing at Agent Woo and demanding that he didn’t need a babysitter.

The longer he looked, the more beautiful she became, in actions and words and features combined, and Peter suddenly became aware that if he hadn’t taken the time to really see her, he never would have realized. He was glad he had slowed down for once.

Somewhere down the line, her laughter quieted.

“So,” he cleared his throat, “what’s your deal?” The cold mug in his hands was suddenly extremely interesting.

Across the counter she stilled, frozen in place for a moment. When she spoke, her voice held an edge of… fear? “What do you mean?”

Peter did his best to backpedal.

“I didn’t mean it like that! I was just wondering what you did to get stuck with me, that’s all. I doubt they would stick my annoying ass with just anybody, especially after… well everything that went down in Westview. Plus, I’m not just a normal dude. What average New York socialite would take in a kleptomaniac who just so happens to also be inhumanly fast out of the goodness of their heart?”

As he spoke, her shoulders relaxed and she loosened her grip on the edge of the marble countertop. “Oh, my deal,”

“Yeah. There’s more to you than what meets the eye, I can tell,” Something in the way her face flushed at his words made Peter’s heart fill with pride.

“I… well I had a unique upbringing,” she responded, voice careful and measured while she watched the floor, “I’m not a mutant, not like you, but I have a little bit of power at my disposal that makes me useful to heroes and hero adjacent agencies. I’m not a part of the team, my skills aren’t usually helpful when it comes to fighting, but they keep tabs on me just in case I’m needed. This was one of those times,”

Peter snorted. “Sounds like a pretty shitty deal,”

“Trust me, if I didn’t have to have the government breathing down my back, I wouldn’t, but after I worked with the Avengers they pulled up my file and found out I shouldn’t exist, so they’ve been keeping a pretty close eye on me ever since,”

“Ah… well, next time just don’t get caught,”

“Not all of us have the luxury of being able to dodge bullets and outrun law enforcement, Peter. Besides, I like this house and I’m not quite in the mood to have to abandon it just yet.”

He shrugged. “To each their own. Now how the hell did you get stuck with me? Were you just the closest or did everybody else refuse,”

“Well, actually I offered to take you in,”

Peter choked on the air. “Why the hell would you do that?”

She was quick to defend herself, and in a way him too.

“Because Jimmy is my friend, and when a friend needs a favor I try to help them out. It’s more than that, though. I won’t lie. I’m fascinated by you, Peter Maximoff. I find you wonderful exactly how you are and I couldn’t stand to let any of the other assholes in New York try to stomp out your personality. Here with me, you can just be you, and knowing that you’re able to be comfortable until we find you a way home was more than enough of a reason for me to volunteer to take you in. Besides, if you weren’t with me you’d probably be in the tower’s holding cell, and believe me, that wouldn’t be any fun,”

It took Peter a minute to fully digest what he was hearing.

He wasn’t going to be a burden. There would be no curfews or screaming matches or long lectures about his chosen pastimes. She wanted every single part of him there and had already gone out of her way to assure him that even the worst of him was welcome under her roof. Even during his time at X-Mansion, he had never been treated like this.

Sure, he had been himself there. People would yell or try to stop him from doing what he wanted but their efforts were futile. He couldn’t be tamed. At best the other members of the team had just tried to ignore him until his powers came in handy. He was an annoyance at worst and the household funny guy at best, and yet now a total stranger wanted him around. It took all of Peter’s small reserve of restraint to not take a victory lap around the block there and then.

Being wanted was the best feeling in the world.

When his head cleared, he smiled again. “You know, when Agent Woo brought me in here I was fully prepared to wait for him to leave then make a run for it, but I’ve decided to save you from the F.B.I.’s wrath and stay for a while instead. You’re welcome,”

He expected a snappy retort, but instead, her words came out strangely genuine, almost a whisper.  “Thank you for saving me, Peter. I appreciate it,”

“Any time,”

Slowly the flush from before crept back onto her face.

“I know you’re not the type who likes to be tied down, so I won’t keep you here much longer,” she said, before taking Peter’s mug to the sink, “but there are just a few more things I need to tell you before you go off to do whatever it is you do on a Thursday morning.”

He would never admit it but Peter felt anything but tied down. Instead, he just nodded.

“Go for it,”

She washed the mug as she spoke. “Alright, well first of all what’s mine is yours. Unless I specifically ask you not to use something you have free reign over whatever you need. You can come and go as you please, I keep odd hours and don’t mind a little noise even when I’m sleeping. The house is pretty simple layout-wise, you can explore whenever you want, but the room at the end of the hallway to your right is my bedroom and I’d prefer if you didn’t go in there unless you need to. Your room is the first door at the left of the stairs on the second floor and… well, I think that’s all,”

There was a sort of sorrow in the woman’s eyes when she stopped, placing the now clean mug on a drying rack before turning to face Peter again. A yearning. It made Peter want to… well, he didn’t quite know what it made him feel. He just wanted to do whatever would ease the strange pain that resided in his new friend.

He went to speak but nothing came out.

“Is everything okay Peter?”

It was Peter’s turn to flush, face red with shame. “I...uh, well, I wasn’t quite paying attention when the agent introduced us. I’m gonna need to know your name if I’m living with you,”

It came as no surprise when she laughed gently, making her way across the kitchen towards the living room, passing Peter at the counter on her way. “My name is Y/N. It’s nice to finally meet you, Peter,” The strange sorrow was still present, reflected in her words, but it seemed lighter than before, more manageable.

“Nice to meet you too Y/N,”

“I’m heading to work,” she pulled on a light jacket as she spoke, “so feel free to explore at your own leisure while I’m gone. I’ll hopefully be back by 5, but sometimes things run late. Do you need anything while I’m out?”

Peter shook his head no. “If I can’t find something I need I’ll just run out and grab it myself.

Y/N laughed again. “Just don’t get caught, you won’t know the number to call from jail yet,”

“I’m sure I’ll manage,”

She paused, halfway out the door. “Oh, and Peter?”

“Yeah?”

“Welcome home,”

----

a/n: Thank you so much for reading! I have 3 1/2-ish parts of this series written, but the plan is for it to be a long haul where each part is a connecting oneshot. I hope you’re excited! 

Please don’t post my work to other sites, thanks!

#peter maximoff #peter maximoff x reader #evan peters #quicksilver #x-men #quicksilver x reader #marvel #wandavision #ralph bohner #fanfic

[ikkaku-of-heart]

Her Brother's Blood is on His Hands

(Originally written for @heart-pirates-week for Ikkaku’s day with the prompt “Family” but ended up being delayed until now. Inspired by discussions with @shambledsurgeon and @medicus-mortem)

Ikkaku awoke slowly, the persistent beeping of a heart monitor resembling that of a particularly slow but annoying alarm clock. She tried to sit up but a sharp pain in her side dissuaded her, so she was forced to remain on her back, looking around at the sterile walls of the infirmary. She was hooked up to an IV, there were several machines monitoring her vitals, and she could feel the pressure of tightly-wound bandages around her torso and arms.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Law said from the chair at her bedside, putting down the medical book he’d been reading. The circles under his eyes appeared darker than usual, but his grin was comforting and sure. “I was beginning to wonder if we’d have to resort to drastic measures to wake Sleeping Beauty.”

“Law?” she asked weakly, grimacing at how hoarse she sounded due to the dryness of her throat. “The fuck happened?”

“Gonna have to be more specific,” he stated as he carefully helped prop her up enough that she could safely drink some water. “Do you mean how did you end up here? Maybe the extent of your wounds? Or how about what, exactly, I did to the fucker who hurt you?”

Her eyes widened as she recalled what had happened. She’d been taking a walk with Jean Bart, venting about how much she hated that they were now government dogs because Law’d insisted on handing the Navy one hundred hearts. They’d run into a squad of Marines. Her brother’s squad, to be exact. Ushi had decided it was pointless trying to climb the Navy ranks the normal way, and thus had come up with the idea of sucking up to the Celestial Dragons. And what better way to do so than to return to Saint Rosward his wayward slave?

Heart clenching at the thought of her shipmate being handed back over to those bastards, she asked, “Is Jean—”

“He’s fine. Discharged yesterday,” Law promised, nodding towards the empty bed on the other side of the room. He picked up a chart, studying it as he continued, “Needed a lot of stitches for the lacerations across his back and arms, but nothing life-threatening.”

“Good,” she sighed in relief. He hadn’t been killed or taken. Jean Bart would continue to live as a free man for a while longer. He deserved that much.

“Was quite the sight, seeing him charging towards the ship, covered in blood, carrying you like a baby while you bled out from a stab wound,” he commented, voice even, though there was an unmistakable tightness in his jaw. “I’m just glad he managed to tell me who’d done this to you two before he passed out.”

White teeth sank into her bottom lip, guilt pulsing through her. That’s right. It hadn’t exactly been a victory. They’d managed to take down most of the Marines, but Ushi had managed to get behind her, and then there’d been excruciating pain as he’d driven a knife deep into her side…

“I’m sorry, Captain,” she whispered, black curls hiding her face as she hung her head in shame.

“The hell are you apologizing for?” he asked, gold eyes flicking up from the clipboard and narrowing in displeasure.

She wrung her hands, anxious and guilty. “Jean Bart got hurt because of my family baggage.”

“He got hurt because of an opportunistic asshole who decided that Jean being under the protection of a shichibukai didn’t matter,” he snapped. Pausing, he took a deep breath to compose himself. “The fact that said asshole came out of the same uterus as you is irrelevant.”

“We both know that’s not true,” she countered, refusing to look at him. “He targeted the Hearts because of me. He always has. And he wouldn’t have been able to go after Jean Bart if I’d let you kill him years ago. Or killed him myself. You deserve a subordinate with the stones to kill her own brother.”

Internally, she berated herself for that last part. None of this would be a problem if she’d just toughened up and put an end to that bastard. Why did she always seem to stop herself? Morality? Because she knew how heartbroken her parents would be? Because even years later, she was still scared of her childhood boogeyman?

Her thoughts were disturbed by the clipboard lightly smacking her on the head in reproach. It didn’t hurt, but Ikkaku rubbed her head anyway, frowning up at her captain. “You trying to knock me unconscious again?”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to stop talking bullshit,” he retorted. He glared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh, a tattooed hand falling heavily on her shoulder. “Ikkaku,” Law stated, tone brokering no argument, “what I deserve is a subordinate with the stones to stand up to a power-hungry bastard looking to sell her nakama to a bunch of delusional inbred freaks, which that’s exactly what I’ve got. And what you deserve is to not get stabbed in the spleen by your own blood.”

Well. It was hard to argue that logic. “I guess. But next time—”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“You don’t know that.”

The hand on her shoulder fell away to flip through the pages of her chart. “Ikkaku, you nearly bled out before you even got to the sub. You’re lucky Shachi and Penguin share your blood type and were basically tripping over themselves to donate. I had to replace your spleen and left kidney, and if that knife had gone in at a slightly different angle, he could have punctured your stomach or lung. In other words, this bastard nearly cost me my engineer. You’ve known me for goin’ on five years now; do you really think that once you were stable I just sat around twiddling my thumbs while I waited for you to wake up?”

Dark eyes widened in realization. “Did you kill him?”

“Would you be mad if I said I had?”

No. Not at him at least, but she still felt like she’d let him down by not being able to do it herself. “He shouldn’t have been your problem to solve.”

“You’re right. He shouldn’t have been a problem,” he replied harshly. Before Ikkaku could internally berate herself further, though, Law ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and there was a spark of guilt in his eyes. “No Marine should have even touched you guys. That’s supposed to be one of the fucking perks of being a shichibukai. I told you when I took this damn title that you be safe and look how that turned out.”

Yes, that had been a major argument between them, hadn’t it? For Ikkaku, not wanting to be affiliated with the World Government hadn’t just been a matter of pride or general hatred for the bastards who ran the world – she’d been afraid. Terrified that her brother would be waiting for her around every corner. That he’d find a way to get her alone, to finish the job he’d started when she was seven, to finally get her out of his hair. Law had promised she’d be safe, that he wouldn’t let him so much as breath near her. Eventually, she’d come to believe him, but things hadn’t gone to plan.

“You can’t blame yourself for Ushi not following the rules, Law,” she insisted. Yeah, she could have berated him for not listening to her, but in reality, Law’s logic had been sound; Ushi shouldn’t have dared to try anything. Ikkaku didn’t just have the Hearts protecting her anymore – the Navy itself had become another obstacle in his way. She should have been safe.

However, even she hadn’t fully considered why Ushi would go this far, but in hindsight, it made sense. Last she’d checked, he hadn’t been promoted in a while. Hadn’t advanced as quickly as he wanted or earned any accolades for heroism like everyone back home had been expecting. He was a commodore still – not even a rear-admiral, and his name didn’t strike fear into the hearts of pirates like Smoker’s did.

Because he’d been put on a pedestal, her brother had always gotten away with everything, which had only enforced his cruel and abusive nature. The whole island had believed that he’d become a famous Marine and boost their reputation, which was why they’d been willing to overlook the bruises that littered his sister’s arms, or the fact that she’d gone missing for three days while under his care.

If he’d come home a failure, everyone would have to finally admit he was nothing but a twisted, cruel bully. And instead of accepting the blame for enabling, they’d likely make him answer for his crimes.

But more than that, he’d be forced to accept that he was never that special to begin with, and she knew a man as arrogant as him wouldn’t be able to bear that.

Shaking her head, she almost felt pity for him. “Ushi was desperate, and desperate men are unpredictable as fuck. You couldn’t have known he’d be crazy enough to try to suck up to the Celestial Dragons.”

“Neither of us could have known, but I still could have protected you better,” Law retorted, crossing his arms. He still didn’t look fully convinced of his own absolution, but he declared quite plainly, “The fact is, brothers shouldn’t murder their younger siblings, or even try to.”

Well, not even Ikkaku could argue that.

But actions had consequences, and there was still a strong chance Law’s retaliation, justified or not, would bite him in the ass.

“Ushi might have been no one special, but the Navy’s not going to be happy about you killing one of their own,” she said, genuinely worried. Even if Ushi had been going against orders, shichibukai weren’t supposed to attack their Marine allies. What if they decided to strip Law of his new title? Sure, she hated that he was a government dog, but it was a vital part of his plan to take down Joker, and if that had been stripped away because he’d recklessly pursued revenge on her behalf…

The way he smirked at her belied that he didn’t share even a fraction of her concern. “The Navy’ll have a hell of a time pinning a murder on me when there’s no evidence. It’s unlikely he was ordered to attack you and Jean Bart, so there’s no paper trail. The man was obsessed with advancing up the ladder, so likely only a select few are even aware you’re related, thus no one knows of his unfortunate connection to the Heart Pirates. And unless they plan on gutting a bunch of Sea Kings and piecing together chunks of half-digested flesh, I doubt they’ll find enough of his body to even determine his cause of death.”

“You fed him to Sea Kings?”

“His remains, at least. As for how I killed him…well, I won’t bore you with the details.”

It was highly doubtful what he’d done could be described as boring, but Ikkaku decided not to press him. Knowing Law, it had been slow, painful, and had probably involved dissection. “You didn’t have to do all that for me, Captain.”

He dismissed her concerns with a casual wave of his hand. “Of course I did. You’re family. Besides, if I hadn’t, the rest of the crew would have gone after him themselves, and they wouldn’t have done as good a job covering their tracks. Or made him scream quite as loud. No offense to them, but conventional torture methods just can’t match the agony of having your heart slowly crushed to a pulp.”

Was she a bad person for not feeling sick at the thought of her oldest brother—her own blood—being subjected to the Surgeon of Death’s sadism? That instead of anger or disgust, she felt relieved? Sure, he was a massive piece of shit who deserved to die for everything he’d done to her, her other brothers, and who knows what else, but he was still family, wasn’t he?

No. The Hearts were family. Law was family. He was right – Ushi was blood, but he wasn’t her brother.

Law’s brow furrowed with concern and he reached forward, cupping her cheeks and wiping tears away with his thumbs. Ikkaku hadn’t even realized she was crying.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he said, looking genuinely guilty. “I shouldn’t have overstepped like that. I should have at least waited until you were awake and asked—”

Though she was tired and weak and it took far more effort than she’d like, Ikkaku lifted her arm and flicked Law squarely in the forehead. He didn’t quite flinch back, but he did give her an annoyed grunt, but his brow did smooth out when he saw her bright smile.

“Thank you,” she said, cheeks streaked with tears but voice warm with love and affection and gratitude. It might take a while for her to fully accept that Ushi was no longer laying in wait at every Marine base, but for now, she could breath a little easier. The monster from her childhood had finally been vanquished.

Trafalgar Law might not have been a knight in shining armor, but he was something better. He was the big brother she’d always wished for.

Relieved that she wasn’t angry, Law gave her a tiny but sincere grin back. His engineer was alive, safe, and giving him that sunny smile that could light up a room. Well worth the blood on his hands, and quietly, he vowed to keep her, and the rest of his Hearts, safe from whatever hell might come their way.

They were a loyal bunch of fools, but they were his family. He’d set the world on fire before allowing anything to happen to them.

A hand adorned with the word DEATH retreated from Ikkaku’s cheek to ruffle her hair. “Don’t mention it.”

#The Engine is the Heart of the Ship (canon) #Join the Hearts: We Have Uniforms #Heart Siblings #Drabble #(been wanting to go into what happens to Ushi during the timeskip) #(and how it would definitely be Law that kills him instead of Ikkaku) #(hope people like this!) #(not sure about the title but it's the best I could think of without being cheesy or cliche)

[rosexknight]

@arceusfan493 Here’s that Dragon Age 2 rant you wanted.

Because I am still not over it.

Under the Read More, I have for you: - Lore Context - How Dragon Age 2 is Amazing - How it Hurt Me Enjoy~!

Oh yeah and major spoiler warning for Dragon Age 2 and minor spoiler warning for Dragon Age Origins and Awakening.

Lore Context ((Note: It is way more in-depth than this, I am simplifying ALOT))

Okay so. In the Dragon Age universe, magic is seen as super dangerous, because mages and those who have magical abilities are connected what is called the Fade, which is like a world that mirrors ours. It is also known as the Dream World, and every race but dwarves dream, but Mages specifically are connected to it in a way that lets them manipulate it for magic. In the Fade there are spirits and demons that can be brought into the real world by a mage or take over a mage’s body to enter our world. When this happens the mage becomes what is called an “Abomination” and loses all semblance of themselves. Demons are dangerous, spirits not so much, and demons are actually just spirits that have been twisted from their original purpose, usually by desire/pride/rage/etc. Spirits are the embodiment of virtues, where as demons are usually the embodiment of sins. There’s also Blood Magic which is hella powerful but corrupting and usually links back to demons.

There is also some religious reasons why magic is so feared, as it’s basically said that mages that got too close to God caused all the bad shit happening in the world (specifically a literal and metaphorical plague called the Blight) and also there are political reasons since there is a country/kingdom that’s all mage-run and it’s not great.

So for the protection of all the non-mages, they lock all mages in these towers called Circles so that they can study, hone their skills, etc. But they're essentially prisons, and the mages are watched over by Templars, which are like anti-magic paladins. And all this is ran by the church called the Chantry (there's a shit ton of lore and all these fears are linked back to that religion I mentioned earlier.) In order to become full mages, you have to pass a test where they put you against a demon in the Fade to prove you can handle your magic. If you fail you become an abomination. If the Circle thinks you will fail this test, they will (literally) brand you Tranquil, which cuts off a mage from the Fade but ALSO makes them 100% emotionless. Also if you get too good, they might also brand you a Blood Mage and kill you anyway.

Also, there is no escape. You can try to escape, but when you come to the Circle, the Chantry takes your blood and puts it in a vial. They then use this blood to track you down if you slip away.

Now, in the games we have seen that SOMETIMES the Circles are not that bad. Mages can get special permission to live outside the Circles as long as they can get jobs. Some mages are perfectly content there, while others aren’t. The mages might be governed by the Chantry and Templars but usually each Circle is kind of given its own freedoms to have its own politics, etc. HOWEVER, whether or not you're put in a good Circle is a toss-up, completely dependent on where you are, who is in charge, etc. And also the Templars can call upon the Right of Annulment if they feel the things in the tower are getting out of control, which essentially nukes the tower and destroys it and all the mages. OH and you are sent to the Circles when your magic starts manifesting (between the ages of 4-14) with no say from you or your family. Just “Oh you got magic? Time to lock you in this tower.” SO needless to say, things between Mages and Templars are fucking tense, and the game is not shy about giving this whole thing a prison feel. The mages are very obviously the oppressed class here (elves are also oppressed but in a different way and I’m not going into that.)

Also you can play as a mage in-game, which makes this all hit especially home if you do since you as the player both see and experience it.

OKAY that should be all the lore context you need.

How Dragon Age 2 is Amazing

DA2 takes place in a town with one of the bad Circles. The Commander of the Templars, Meredith, has basically gone insane. She’s become paranoid, and is turning mages Tranquil (illegally btw because we know that she turns some Tranquil even after they passed that test I mentioned earlier,) or killing them left and right. However, in conjunction to that, there's ALOT of shit that happens that are all mages fault. Blood magic, demons, your mom (basically the only family you have left at that point btw) gets killed by a crazy necromancer, etc.

So it puts you, the player and your PC Hawke, in this situation where you clearly see magic is HELLA DANGEROUS, but you also see that the mages are being pushed too hard by the Templars and are taking drastic measures to escape or fight back. And again, it hits doubly hard if you play as a mage. The game also takes place over the span of 7 years, so you see it all build up and get worse and worse as you play.

So it presents the conundrum: Do all mages suck or is it because of what is happening? It's fucking brilliant. Especially coming from the first game, Origins, where you see a good Tower that's super chill until one crazy mage fucks it up. You see what horrors magic can bring but also see and hear how crazy Templars can be when they face such horrors (this is clear with both Meredith herself AND a recurring character named Cullen but if I talk about him we’ll be here all day.)

Anyway, point is there's clearly no right answer to which side is right or wrong, and the game builds up on it alot. It gives you all the perspectives with Meredith, the paranoid Templar Commander, Orsino, the leader of the Circle who is just trying to keep the peace and defend the mages, and the Grand Cleric in the Chantry Elthina, who refuses to take a side even though she has the power to basically end it all. Your companions also have opinions on all of it as it unfolds. And it puts you right in the middle of it all. And you experience all of it.

Like I said, fucking brilliant.

How it Hurt Me

One of your companions is Anders, who is a mage that has run away from the Circle you know of from Origins. He's a healer that is helping people from an underground (free) clinic, and has also been helping mages escape the city. He's all about freedom for mages, and has fused with a Justice spirit that he became friends with. The spirit saw the injustice that was happening to the mages and wanted to further help. Both Anders and Justice are from Dragon Age Awakening, which comes after Origins. They are companions in that game and you see how their friendship grows and how they come to be able to help each other.

Now I LOVED Anders and Justice in Awakening. I was ALL FOR seeing them again seeing how the years had changed them, and helping them. I also played as a mage in both games so I was also all for mage freedom. It’s also worth noting that in Awakening you learn the Circle was NOT kind to Anders. He’s a free spirit, a lover not a fighter, and he was suffocated. He tried to escape like 7 times and after the last one they put him IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR A FUCKING YEAR. He was 100% expecting to be killed every time he was caught. “Oh but couldn’t he have used those methods you mentioned earlier to live outside the Circle?” you may ask. And like, yeah maybe. But also...No one should have to do that?

I romanced Anders because I adore him. He’s a bit of a broody boy in DA2 that tries to push you away, but he’s hella sweet and supportive. Funny. Small hint of danger with Justice. He's great. And it was great to romance him in DA2 since I was playing Awakening going “No please why can I not romance YOU?”

Well throughout the game you see that due to the anger Anders has, Justice is getting morphed into something more akin to a spirit of Vengeance as things are pushed more, and that Anders is having trouble controlling him. Depending on what route you take with the romance, he and Justice can either fuse into something like only one being, or Justice can be turned fully into a demon of Vengeance. Both of these are heavily implied more than confirmed, so it’s kind of ambiguous, but the ending is the same. Anders becomes consumed by this, and everything else is drowned out.

Eventually, towards the end of the game, when Meredith has sent off for permission to the Right of Annulment, and Orsino can’t control the many other mages wanting to fight back, and things between mages and Templars are coming to a head, Anders asks you to come with him to get some ingredients that will make a potion to separate he and Justice. Then that turns out to be a lie and he asks you to distract Elthina in the Chantry so he can do...a thing. And he won’t tell you what. And you know he's up to something. BUT in DA2 and Awakening he's ALWAYS said that violence isn't the answer and that we have to show people mages can be good by example, and been against blood magic, etc. So you have the option to help him or not.

I helped him because SURELY he wouldn't do anything crazy. And SURELY he wouldn't ask/trick me, the woman he loves, to do something crazy. He simply asks you to trust him, and I did.

Aaaaaaand then I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

He blew up the Chantry in that town. Confirmed death toll from game lore is 100, but people estimate it could be more. This was the second time I had to walk away from this game due to emotions, the first being when your mom dies.

The Chantry runs the Templars, and the Templars watch the mages. Things were coming to a head. It had been a silent war raging. The Knight-Commander of the Templars was seeing shadows, threatening to basically rip the tower apart to find Blood Mages where there weren't. The leader of the Mages supported the Circle but was doing little to lead the mages against the Templars, and if the mages snapped all hell would break loose. The Cleric in the chantry refused to take sides, even though her word would essentially sway the masses into siding with someone. But she had to stay neutral because she couldn't choose as it wasn't her place, and she agreed there was no right answer both sides had a point. He blew up the Chantry, and forced people to take sides. Change had to come, and he decided he had to take the matter into his own hands to do it. And whether or not it was him or Justice or both is ambiguous and dependant on the route taken.

And I fucking helped him.

The game at this point forces you to choose a side, and I chose to side with the Mages because I WAS one and also Meredith wanted to kill every mage there for what Anders did.

I was betrayed by this character I had loved for two games, who my Hawke fell in love with, who I trusted, etc. And THAT hurt worse than anything else ever. You then had the option to kill him, which was the third point I had to walk away and agonize over a decision. Whether or not Anders was right is a topic still viscerally debated in the Dragon Age community too and it gets ROUGH.

So yeah. That is why I’m not over it and why I love this game so much but also how fucking dare it do this to me.

#dragon age #da2 #dammit anders #dragon age 2 #i still love him tho

[audriel]

caught

Surprise! I’m your Secret Santa, @noehhmii! I picked the first on your list: Bounty Hunter Kuroo x Wanted Criminal Daichi. I’m not sure if this is what you have in mind but I hope you like it (though i feel like i bit more than i could chew, honestly when did i not?). This is my gift to you, not only for celebrating these wonderful holidays, but also for giving me and other kurodai fans a wonderful place for us to play and mingle together. XOXO, audriel.

Apologies in advance for any medical/scientific inaccuracies, and all the cursing lol.

Read in AO3.

A square of light suddenly appeared in the dark. Two shadowy figures carried a hunched figure between them who gave no resistance when they tossed him forward. The square of light was gone as soon as it appeared, plunging what appeared to be a small, cramped room into darkness. The figure remained unmoving save for the tremors wracking his body. Eventually the tremors stopped, the taut lines of the man slowly eased. With difficulty, he turned himself over to lay on his back. The action alone seemed to take a lot out of him, as seen from his heaving chest.

Daichi blearily opened his eyes. The darkness was much welcomed respite after spending inordinate time in that bright room. He slowly, carefully measured his breath, keeping his body relaxed in order to make the pain more manageable. They were methodical in their approach, confirming his suspicion that his captors were either professional or military. However, he had endured worse. It would take more than that to break him, and he suspected that they knew it.

He managed to glean enough information from those sessions, enough to know that they were fully aware who they had in their grasp and what information they sought from him, enough to know that they were smart and resourceful, enough to know that he was in deep trouble. Not only because of the people who captured him, but also the place where they kept him. He was no longer planetside. He was in blasted space.

If he was on a planet, mounting an escape plan (or in his team’s case, rescue plan) would not be difficult. Even with the high security level of the place, he was confident they would manage, but in space, it was another level of difficulty, and near impossible considering how his captors were capable of warp jump. It would be hell to run the calculation even with Tsukishima’s cybernetic brain. It also didn’t help that he destroyed everything on his person that could be traced back to his team. It was foolish, in hindsight, but he was not willing to take the risk considering the condition of his team.

Daichi exhaled heavily, brow creasing in worry. The last he saw of them, Suga had started to regain the color on his face and Kinoshita’s moments of lucidity had grown longer and more frequent. Yamaguchi—who had taken on the role of team’s medic in Kinoshita’s stead—had stated in confidence that their condition had been stable enough for transport without risking a relapse. They had already been pushing it, staying for so long in such busy capital. They always took care to avoid capital cities and planets. While the number of activities and people made it easy to blend in among the sea of unfamiliar faces who came and went to try their fortune, the same reason made it more likely for them to be recognized with the easy access to information and the pervading presence of technology.

Their government had made their displeasure seen, to great lengths. Their faces were plastered on every screen and their crimes reported by every news outlet in the farthest reach of the galaxy. They were branded as cowards and traitors, painted as the lowest of the low, enormous bounty placed on their heads. They wanted to make an example out of them, making it near impossible for them to run and hide. But the Crows, the pride and joy of Karasuno military and government, who had managed to pull off miraculous feat after miraculous feat, managed to do the impossible. All twelve of them led their former employer on a merry chase, none sent their way came close to catching them... until now.

Daichi had turned the past events that led to his predicament over in his mind, and he came down to the same conclusion every time: they simply had rotten luck. They had made do like they always did. They had made the best decisions they could make. This was the best outcome in the face of overwhelming odds. He was caught, but only him. They were separated but they were all alive.

Their pursuers were good. They were a huge improvement from the last people sent their way. They had certainly learned from their past failures. They knew that their best bet was in separating all of them, and they would have succeeded if Daichi hadn’t realized it and taken drastic measures to prevent it by having them focused on him instead. Asahi had been with him and completely against the idea, but they had run out of options. With two of them weak and vulnerable and the rest focused on protecting them, the Crows had been at great disadvantage. Between the two of them, Karasuno wanted their former captain and leader of the Crows more. It had been a plan that would only have worked if it had been him who had acted as bait and decoy. And fortunately, it had worked. He had received confirmation that his team—his family—had gotten away safely before he had destroyed his comms.

He never failed to remind himself of this every single day in this hellhole. He drew strength that so long there was life there was hope. However, it was getting more and more difficult. He tried to find any weakness to take advantage of, but he had yet to find any. He was worn down to the bone after every session that he could barely stay awake long enough to make concrete plans. He barely ate and drank since he couldn’t trust the food and water given to him. He noticed they were ramping up the intensity of their sessions, but also that they remained physical. They hadn’t taken chemical or biological route, but he was certain that they were capable of it. The possibility alone terrified him, because there were no defenses he could prepare for it. He needed to escape fast. He knew that, he believed the urgency in his gut, but his mind kept going in circles, unable to come up with feasible plan. He was also feeling lightheaded, in the verge of fainting, due to a mixture of hunger, thirst, pain and fatigue.

He was completely, utterly fucked.

He tried to think of the slightest possibility, to hold on to the sliver of hope, just to keep despair and hopelessness at bay, but it kept slipping out of his grasp.

In the midst of his anxiety and frustration, Daichi was not prepared for the bright light that seared his eyes, forcing his eyes closed in instinct. But it was gone as soon as it appeared, making him wonder whether he was starting to lose his mind. However, his skin prickled in unease. He couldn’t see much in the dark, but... he had a feeling he was no longer alone. This was new. None of his guards had ever crossed the threshold of his cell. They always stopped right before the door before depositing him like he was no better than trash. His hands clenched at his sides tightly, his body tensed in the unexpected development. He cursed the weakness of his body, he could barely lift himself, let alone fight.

“Oh my. Did I get into the wrong room?”

Daichi knew that voice. He must be hallucinating, but why here and now? Why him of all people? That made no sense.

“Black Cat?” His voice was barely audible, but it was loud in the silence. He saw something moving in the darkness, but the first thing he saw was lone golden eye that he could recognize anywhere, stunning him speechless.

“Oh hello. I didn’t see you down there.” The bounty hunter squatted next to him while Daichi could only look on incredulously. The other man was clad from head to toe in his usual skintight black gear and hood, leaving only the eye not covered by his hair and mask. He could be easily mistaken having materialized from the shadows.

“What- How- Why are you here?” Of all people, the bounty hunter that had become the bane of his team was the last person he expected to be here, in the cell of highly secured space prison.

“Heard that you got yourself captured. Gotta check for myself.” The Cat had the gall to lean his face against his propped hand, looking down at him. “Tsk, tsk. You disappoint me, Sawamura.”

“Fuck. you.” Daichi was not prone to much cursing, but the Cat brought the worst out of him, had always been since their first encounter. Many groups went after their team after they were declared as wanted criminal, from the armed forces of the allies of Karasuno to hired professionals from the dark underbelly of the galaxy. None gave the team as much trouble as the Black Cat. He was one of the few independent parties that went after their team, but the only one who was close to capturing them, had captured few of their members actually, though they managed to get them free. He was also annoyingly persistent, not deterred by his failures.

“Ah there it is. Glad you still have your claws.” The hunter sounded far too smug. “To answer your question, I’m here to bust you out of here.” Before Daichi could say anything, he kept going.

“Now, do you trust me?”  

Daichi couldn’t help looking like the Cat has grown two heads at the question, but it was enough of a distraction that he didn’t react fast enough when the hunter jabbed something into his neck.

“That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.” The Cat said lightly as though he was merely commenting the weather.

“What the fuck did you do?” Daichi growled, hand darting out to seize him by the neck, only to end up staring at his hand, the hand that he could barely move not a moment before. The Cat simply raised his eyebrow, completely unfazed that he could have been easily strangled.

“Adrenaline.” Daichi let go, looking at his hand in wonder. Emboldened, he raised himself up into sitting position, finding that not only he was regaining his strength, but also his reflexes.

“Why would you do that?” Daichi could meet the other’s eye with no difficulty in this position.

“I doubt you want to be carried around. That, and I need another hand to get out of here.” Daichi’s eyebrows flew up in surprise.

“You’re on your own?”

“Have you seen the security in this place?” Daichi saw the truth in his words, it was easier for a lone man to get through such iron-clad security undetected, but from what he knew of the Cat, he suspected that he was not willing to put his team at risk. Though it brought up the question why the Cat took such risk for the man he was supposed to capture and turn over for bounty.

“Unless you think your team have better chances.” The Cat wiggled his eyebrow, which pulled involuntary snort out of Daichi. Stealth and infiltration were definitely not his team’s strength. His team was a strike team. They were meant to strike fast and hard. Living on the run did improve their skills, and surprise was still their middle name, but the Cat was in another league altogether. The evidence was right in front of him. He managed to enter his cell and no guards had come running. The realization lighted a spark inside him. Between the two of them, escape would not be impossible. Deciding not to look a gift horse in mouth, Daichi determinedly looked to the hunter, to his enemy-turned-ally even only for this one time.

“What’s the plan?” He would have thought the Cat would be smug at his show of deference, but there was only a flicker of pleasant surprise, replaced with something akin to genuine appreciation, which oddly made Daichi warm all over. In a fluid motion, the Cat stood up to his full height, followed by Daichi.

“We’re currently in the prisoners’ block. You might realize by now that it is completely isolated from the rest of the prison.” Daichi nodded in acknowledgment. He never saw the prison guards and staff came and left. He surmised it was designed to make it difficult to escape from. “The prison also doesn’t have their own hangar, but they have escape pods.”

“And let me guess, they are right in the middle of the command center.” But it made sense, from tactical viewpoint, it added another layer of difficulty for prisoners to escape.

“Bingo.”

“Of course.” Daichi dryly noted. It rather explained the adrenaline shot. That reminded him, “How long would the adrenaline last?”

“Thirty minutes, give or take.” That was quite a generous dose, but there was also underlying challenge from the glint of the golden eye enough to send his blood boiling.

“Thirty minutes will be more than enough.” Daichi accepted the challenge. Only as they moved towards the door it occurred to him that he was ill-equipped for their escape, especially in comparison to fully-geared hunter. He was stripped down to his undershirt and cargo pants upon capture and they barely provided any protection against the temperature, let alone against any weapons the guards had. “Got a weapon for me?”

“I’m nice, but I’m not that nice.” It was a casual throwback to one of their most frequent topics of argument whenever they exchanged blows with the Cat assuring that he was actually nice and Daichi refuting that claim throughout, but even as he said so he pulled out one of his serrated knives and flipped it over so the end was offered to Daichi.

“Don’t cut yourself on it.” Despite the teasing remark and casual manner, the Cat’s gaze was heavy and intent.

“Never dreamed of it.” Daichi recognized the gesture of faith as it was. He held the other’s gaze as he slowly wrapped his fingers around the knife, not looking away even as their fingers brushed and the knife was already in his possession. He didn’t know how long they were looking at each other, but he didn’t miss the way the Cat’s features softened and the way his heart sped up at the sight. He felt there was something more exchanged between them, but he had no idea what it was. Before he could make heads or tails of it, the door slid open. Now the amber eye held the familiar sly, mischievous look.

“Keep up, Sawamura.” Without warning, the Cat disappeared from sight. It was only because he was used to the hunter’s speed that he could easily follow his movements. Without thinking he propelled himself forward with all his might, giving chase to the shadow, determined not to lag behind. In the back of his mind, he noted how the roles had switched: the pursued became the pursuer, the pursuer became the pursued.

The Cat weaved his way through the labyrinth that was the prison with the ease and grace he had come to associate him with. Daichi made sure to take the exact path he traversed and never more than a step behind him. Inwardly he marveled how they managed not to trip any of the alarms. He knew whoever Black Cat had in his team as his hacker was good, but being able to guide him through what likely to be highly confidential and secured space base-slash-prison was no cakewalk. No less impressive was the way the Cat effortlessly absorbed the information given to him as though it was part of his own thought process and successfully applied the knowledge without delay or hesitation, it was no wonder that everyone who had heard of Black Cat and his reputation thought he was only one man.

They finally reached a door, taking position opposite of each other, flattening themselves against the wall right next to it. The Cat met his gaze across the door, giving a sharp nod that this was the door to the command center, which would be heavily guarded and occupied. Confrontation would be inevitable. At the thought, he gripped the knife tighter, but returned the nod with his own.

The Cat seemed to wait for something before the door hissed open. He made a cursory glance around before he stepped inside. Picking up the hunter’s wariness, Daichi was immediately on alert. The Cat tilted his head towards one direction and Daichi was quick to follow. They were more careful now, stopping at intersections and hiding in the corners... until they couldn’t.

“Intruder!” They had avoided one patrolling guards only to run into another. It seemed finally their luck ran out.

“Alert command!” The man who appeared to be the leader ordered one of his men who reacted quickly, activating the comms in his ear.

“Command-” Before he could make any report, a knife was embedded in his chest, cutting him off. At the sight of their fallen comrade, the guards opened fire. Daichi ducked and kept himself moving in order to avoid getting hit, but the Cat charged ahead, successfully turning their attention to him. It seemed within moments he had closed the distance between them and before they could react the Cat took out two of them. Before the two guards had even fallen, he already moved to the rest of them, slipping low under their guard. They were so taken aback that it didn’t occur to them to spread out and keep their distance. By not doing so they made it difficult for themselves to point and shoot in fear of hitting each other, which was the Cat’s aim.

This was the other reason why people easily bought the idea that Black Cat was working alone. He was fast and agile, with mastery in multitude weapons and fighting styles. He was calm and patient that he was not easily baited and taken by other’s pace. He was also cunning and observant, with sharp mind and keen instincts that kept him ahead of his opponents. He managed to soundly beat Asahi on one-on-one, who was the Crow’s best fighter, and took down Noya who came to Asahi’s aid, by taking advantage of his surroundings. It was not that the Cat was particularly strong, but he was the kind of opponent that the Crows were badly matched against. Of all the Crows, he was the only one who could fight Black Cat on his own.

Not wanting to let the Cat to all the work, not to mention the mocking that would follow, Daichi used the distraction the hunter provided to get close to one of the guards. Keeping his blaster down and his finger off the trigger, Daichi knocked the guard out with an elbow to the head. With blaster on hand, he made a quick work of the rest of the guards, leaving only the two of them standing.

“They heard the commotion. Take what you need.” Daichi didn’t need to be told, he fell to his knees and started stripping the guard of his gear. He caught the Cat standing guard in his peripherals, so he pulled the tactical vest over his head, pocketing the most useful ones in record time in order not to stay any longer than necessary.

“Let’s go.” In response, the Cat started running, Daichi not far behind.

“They found the guards.” Right on cue, alarm blared throughout the hallways.

“Intruder on base. Intruder on base. Activate code Blue. Repeat. Activate code Blue.”

Daichi threw a questioning glance at the Cat who directed his gaze at the closing doors between hallways.

“Shit,” Daichi cursed loudly.

“We need to turn at that corner and get to the second hallway.” They put a burst of speed, not looking back even at the sounds of approaching footsteps. They barely made it to the second hallway, slipping through the small opening left by the closing doors. It was a dead end.

“Give me a lift.” As he approached the hunter and followed his line of sight, he realized what was their aim: the vents. Daichi slung the blaster over his shoulder and was about to form a foothold for the other only for the Cat to launch on top of him and sit on his shoulders, almost taking him by surprise.

“Are you a cat or a monkey?” Daichi couldn’t quite hide his annoyance being the designated stool although he kept himself steady so the Cat could pry open the vents.

“Who’s to say I’m not both?” He did his best to hold on his annoyance, lest he was distracted by the long, lean legs around his head and on his shoulders. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the Cat pulled himself up into the vents after managing to remove the cover and stuck out the hand Daichi looked on dubiously.

“Come on. I’ll pull you up.” The Cat sounded amused, as though he knew what he was thinking. Not wanting to prove him right, Daichi leaped up, only to find his hand seized in strong grip and pulled into the vents easily.

“Put the cover back, we’re going this way.” This time he detected the smug tone in his voice for admittedly impressive feat. He might have lost some weight but he was not light by any means. Of course, he would not give the hunter the satisfaction that he was right. They crawled through the small, cramped space that was obviously not meant for two grown men while trying to move fast without making a sound.

Daichi didn’t know how long they were crawling, his joints and limbs felt stiff and uncomfortable, until the Cat stopped in front of him.

“...They’re expecting us.”

“So no getting around them?”

“No. It did narrow our options though.” Daichi was not deceived by the lightness of his tone. The Cat’s lone eye glinted in the darkness. “Any preference for making our entrance?” Daichi didn’t need to think long and hard what kind of entrance he’d like to make.

“Like a civilized person, and with a bang.”

“Ooh, I like the way you think.” the Cat purred.

Not long afterwards they were found standing before the last obstacle standing between them and freedom, counting down the second. Daichi watched in morbid fascination as the door blasted inwards, catching the armed men waiting behind it completely unawares. Daichi and the Cat exchanged a brief look before throwing themselves into the fray, with the Cat leading the charge and Daichi covering his back from the distance with the blaster. It was not a familiar position to him. He was usually at the front of his team, taking the lead and opening the path for them. He had given the cover fire for his team when it was the best course of action. Regardless, it was quite a novel experience giving it for the bounty hunter that gave his team so much trouble and a challenge of and in itself because it was hard for Daichi not to look away.

Daichi never got to truly observe (and appreciate) the hunter in the middle of the fight, because it was usually against him or his team. Now that they were temporarily on the same side, he had the opportunity to do so. Black Cat... was really something. His style was nothing like the military style he was trained in, all about brutal and efficient moves, taking down the opponent fast and hard. Simple and rudimentary, if he was to sum Karasuno’s fighting style. His team stood out because they were capable of mixing them up while making them their own. The Cat was actually similar in that regard, but instead of mixing up standard moves, he was mixing up different fighting styles, not to mention he always changed it to match his opponent. He had suspected it but to have it confirmed raised his respect and admiration to the hunter another notch. Then there was the way he moved, so easy and smooth, confident and graceful. There was no wasted movement, no split-second hesitation.

He was poetry in motion.

He was beautiful.

Daichi nearly tripped over his own feet and got himself killed at the abrupt, unwelcomed thought. He could have his existential crisis later for getting attracted to a man who was supposed to be the enemy, not to mention whom he didn’t know what his face even looked like. Right now, he needed to get out of this prison alive, preferably before the adrenaline ran out. He ducked when he saw movement at the corner of his eyes, but had his blaster shot out of his hands, making him curse loudly.

Daichi made his way towards the Cat. At the questioning glance, he answered. “Sniper!”

“Fuck.” Daichi agreed with the sentiment wholeheartedly. “Back to back.” It seemed they came to the same conclusion, putting their backs against each other to give complete view of their surroundings and eliminate their blind spot. The Cat might have additional eyes, but they didn’t come with hands.

He thought it would be strange and awkward, fighting with instead of against each other. However, the familiarity transferred well to fighting together in such close proximity. He knew when and how to give the other the support he needed, from giving the space he needed to move to becoming a decoy for him. So was the other way around. It was both terrifying and exhilarating how in sync they were. It was something he only achieved with Suga and Asahi who had been with him since the Academy. Together, they made quick work of the prison guards, clearing the path to the transportation chamber where escape pods were.

Riding on the high of the amazing teamwork, he forgot to keep track of the time. Daichi realized a moment too late that the adrenaline effect had worn off when he failed to evade the incoming blaster shot, hitting him on the side. The vest protected him, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, especially on the side that had been tender.

“Well, it looks like I end up carrying you anyway.”

Before he could protest, Daichi was thrown over broad shoulder and blinked stupidly as the Cat made a mad dash to the transportation chamber. He slipped under the door before it closed shut. However, their combined momentum made for a rough landing as they turned into a mess of limbs on the floor.

“Owww, you’re pretty heavy, Sawamura.” The Cat groaned underneath Daichi.

“And you’re pretty bony, Cat.” Daichi managed to retort despite the returning pain and fatigue.

“As much as I’d like to lay down and catch my breath. That door’s not gonna hold.” At the Cat’s words, Daichi could see through the glass opening the guards trying to open the door. It was a matter of time before they used force. Out of sheer willpower, he managed to push himself up and would have face planted on the floor if not for firm hand holding him up.

“Let’s get you into the pod.” The Cat’s touch was surprisingly gentle and grounding that Daichi couldn’t find it in himself to be embarrassed to lean on him as they made their way to one of the pods. The pods were more like small spacecrafts, which was reasonable considering that they were the only available means of transport. The Cat seated him on the pilot’s seat, activating the display to put in coordinates into navigation. Daichi frowned at the coordinates. It was in Alpha Quadrant, which was only two jumps away from the planet they had been in.

“Your team was given the same coordinates.” The Cat answered the unspoken question as he fastened the seat belt on him. “They will be in position to pick you up.”

It took Daichi a while to register that he said you instead of we.

“Wha-wait! Aren’t you coming?” In his panic, he managed to grab the Cat’s wrist.

“Someone needs to make sure they cannot follow us. And that someone is definitely not you.” The hunter removed his hand from his wrist. Daichi chalked it up to his imagination the gentleness and hesitation in that gesture.

“What do I owe you?” Daichi found himself asking. “You did not answer my question. Why you were doing this? What do you want from me?” He didn’t know why he was questioning the Cat. For all he knew, the Cat was doing it out of the goodness of his heart and he would be the one putting the idea of debt in his head by raising the issue. But he wanted to know why the other man went to such lengths for him.

The Cat turned his golden gaze upon him.

“What I want, Captain? Do you really know what I want?” The intensity in his eye made his breath catch, but Daichi held his gaze nonetheless, raising his chin defiantly.

“Yes.”

He found himself unconsciously holding his breath when the Cat slowly leaned down that there was nary a distance between their faces, that his covered mouth was next to his ear.

“Don’t get caught by anyone else but me.”

Daichi couldn’t help the shiver not only at the quiet demand, but also at the sound of his voice and the whisper of his breath. He didn’t realize he had closed his eyes only to find the Cat was already walking down the ramp back to the chamber when he opened his eyes. The Cat stopped at the threshold between the pod and the chamber, turning his head slightly to look at him.

“I’ll get that knife back, Captain.”

His tall, broad back was the last thing Daichi saw before the door slammed shut. Before he could say or do anything, he was launched into space, trying but failing to get a glimpse of the hunter. Remembering his parting words, his hand went to the sheathed knife now burning a brand against his leg, taking comfort that this would not be the last they saw of each other.

Next time... probably they would no longer be enemies.

#fanfiction #fanfic #kurodai secret santa exchange #for noemi #kurodai #kuroo tetsurou #sawamura daichi #space au #sci-fi au #bounty hunter x wanted criminal au

[thefuturistknows]

Anthem of the Lonely | Steve (One-Shot)

This time, Stark was wearing black leather loafers, jeans and a navy blue turtleneck. He could make that look CNN-discussion-panel-worthy enough with a nice blazer thrown on top, but he had left that in the chopper. He shouldn’t have. This place was cold and Rhodey had helped him pick that blazer.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to be seeing each other anymore,” Steve said, as soon as Tony stepped in the field of vision Steve was afforded from his cell.

(Had Steve asked for him? He hadn’t been informed at all.)

“I’ve only got a few minutes before this means trouble.”

It wouldn’t take long before the guards realized he was tampering with their security recording as he lingered two levels below the area he’d been granted clearance to access. Still, in contrast to his words, Stark’s tone didn’t betray too much urgency or haste. He’d made sure that, any emergencies and other special circumstances aside, he would only come back here when relatively well-rested and able to maintain a steady front.

“There’s something for you in your meal slot.”

Steve eyed him for a moment. Tony shrugged back his shoulders and pocketed his hands, then directed his attention elsewhere. He was going to wait.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for long. Stark blinked his gaze back to Steve once he moved away from the window to open his end of the meal slot in his cell. When he came back, he was holding and examining the platinum bracelet Tony had left for him. The Avengers logo was engraved on it. Tony kept looking at Steve’s hands, the blue of his veins was showing, his skin looked as if it had forgotten what sunlight was.

“It will adjust itself to fit your wrist perfectly, it’s a tracker.”

Steve huffed a laugh.

“Thanks,” he said. “Less bulky than the government-issued one, I appreciate the upgrade.”

Stark inhaled and exhaled a deliberate breath before looking up to meet Steve’s eyes. He remembered the afternoons he and Steve spent discussing uniform and gear upgrades. The last equipment demonstration Tony had hosted exclusively for Steve had included asking him to fling the shield toward one of Tony’s cars, and then watch as the modified electromagnets on Steve’s new gauntlets pulled the shield back before it landed on its target.

I always worry that glorified frisbee won’t make its way back to you, Tony had told him then. Star-spangled banners and brute stubbornness aren’t viable protection against bullets.

Steve’s shield was locked away, along with other confiscated Avengers gear.  

“It’s not a replacement for that ankle monitor,” Stark told Steve now. “There’s a panic button – yes, there. Don’t push it. It’s for emergencies, it will send me your vitals and location in real-time.”

“You?”

“Just me.” Tony nodded. “I know you’ll get rid of the anklet the very moment you’re able to, just don’t get rid of this one. Please.”

He could already tell Steve wasn’t buying it.

“It’s a contingency measure. It’ll only send me your coordinates if you choose to send them.”

“Sure, and then you can share the information.”

“I won’t.”

“How do I know?”

“You don’t know!” Tony beat one of the metal bars with the heel of a hand, the other was curled into a fist in his pocket. “You just trust me.”

So much for not letting the urgency show. Stark closed his eyes, rubbed the creases on his forehead with a now trembling hand.

“You’re in pajamas. I worry, you know I worry.”

Tony sighed, dropping his hand against his thigh. Even if Steve wasn’t tired of hearing versions of Tony’s fruitless ‘I’m trying to protect you’ argument, Tony was certainly tired of bleeding his heart out by delivering it.

“How rough are things out there?”

“Just put the damn thing on, Rogers.”

“Not a chance.”

“Listen to me–” Tony stepped forward, and this time he grabbed a metal bar with both his hands. “The only people who can reach you in here are those guards. By the time your jack ass feels threatened enough by them to swallow your pride and decide to call me, then I’m pretty sure that means they’ll have done enough to guarantee I won’t side with them against you.”

Steve didn’t move at all. Tony let go of the bar, turned around, stepped back, and then turned to face Steve again, hands on his hips.

“This thing’s unique in all the world. You mentioned Stane the other day, and if you know anything at all about that story –” anything besides what you can use to hurt me, “—then you know that I don’t just give this stuff away.”

Stark’s voice caught in his throat. He had to swallow something back.

“I wouldn’t give you that technology –”

“It’s a tracker.”

It wasn’t just a tracker.

“I wouldn’t give this to you if my plan was to get you trussed up like a pig in the back of somebody else’s car.”

“What if it’s your car?”

Tony scoffed, and muttered a “Damn it” under his breath. “It’s for you, Steve,” he said. There was a plea in there. “I made it for you, it’s not a prison thing, it’s a you thing. Just try it on.”

Steve didn’t.

“Try it on, please, it’s not going to fucking bite–”

“Fine.”

Stark watched as the latches clicked around Steve’s wrist, and the blue control light blinked once.

“Perfect. I’ll get a ping if you ever move ten feet away from it.”

Steve groaned. “Damn it, Tony.”

“Fuck off, Rogers--”

Steve looked up, taken aback by something in Tony’s voice. Tony was taken aback by it as well. It was like Steve had been about to perform some act of physical cruelty against Tony himself by starting to remove the bracelet.

“If you decide to drop the damn thing in a ditch and then bolt, I’m going to come for it, not you.” He swallowed. “Give me some credit, by now I know I can’t stop you, I’m just not about to try to help you in good faith and trust that if you reject it, you’ll still have the decency to destroy my technology just to spare me the sleepless nights.”

“Help me,” Steve echoed. He broke eye contact for a second, looking to the side with a crooked, embittered smile, before turning back to Tony. “Yeah, a few weeks ago I might have thought your sense of justice is finally knocking and you’re gearing me up and encouraging me to make a break for it.”

Steve’s smile lasted another moment before it faded.

“Now, it just feels like you’re playing me.”

Tony lifted his chin and straightened his back to resist – whatever it was that made him want to curl up against the floor. His hands were in his pockets again.

“I’m not giving you a sword, Steve, it’s a shield.”

And it really was, behind the metaphor. It was the holoshield Stark had spent the better part of the last four years perfecting for Steve. The panic button wasn’t there just to send out vitals and coordinates (that was a situation-specific addition, actually), it would also project the shield. Tony couldn’t tell Steve because he didn’t want Steve to immediately ram the damn thing into the door and “make a break for it,” but Tony had been hearing about some unsettling things going on in this place and – contingencies, contingencies – if someone lay a hand on Steve heavily enough to get Steve to ask for back up, then there would be back up. Some level of it, at least, even if a hologram was all that Tony could provide.

“You know I’m a little paranoid,” Tony added. Current events weren’t helping.

Steve was quiet.

“Your friends don’t really appreciate personal items,” Steve said eventually, indicating the metal band around his wrist.

“I’ll handle that.”

It wouldn’t take much work to convince people that Steve Rogers needed an extra tracker.

“That’s all I have for you.”

Tony counted a few heartbeats, holding Steve’s gaze.

Then he turned around.

“Tony, wait.”

Tony did, and some naïve part of him was still holding out for hand-in-the-doorknob I love you’s.

“Can you track this by default?”

Tony turned to face Steve again, but didn’t step back toward the window.

“Come again.”

“Don’t you–”

Play innocent, is what Stark thought Steve might say. Instead, he let out a frustrated, tired scoff, and Tony’s jaw clenched.

“You can commandeer this thing whenever you want, can’t you? And the button is just a manipulative formality.”

“Of course I can track that if I try to, I’m not a fucking Neanderthal.”

Steve finally undid the latches again, and tossed the device back into the open meal slot. That wasn’t far enough to activate the proximity alerts.

“Holding people hostage and then asking them to trust you,” he said, more angrily this time, “I could give you some historical precedent to remind you where this is all headed–”

“I won’t track you.”

“Sure.”

“I won’t.”

Steve still seemed unconvinced.

“There’s nothing I can do to prove it.”

“Probably not.”

Tony sighed again, until it turned into an exhausted laugh.

“You know, in certain rooms people pray for the serenity to accept all the things that they can’t change,” he said. “And – and this is -- you–”

He waved vaguely with one hand, to express whatever hopeless abstraction that he just couldn’t capture. Then he dropped his hand against his thigh and buried it back into his pocket with a shrug.

“God, grant me serenity,” he said, with a last-ditch smile and nod to Steve. “I guess.”

That was the last time Tony saw Steve in his cell at the Raft.

#anthem for the lonely #a man outof time #//sunglasses emoji hiding its tears etc